[SFS Talkies] Halaw - Ways of the Sea

Going at It Again

There has been a number of films about human trafficking, or with subplots dealing with the subject, to hit our shores over the last few years, such as the star studded Crossing Over. But most of these films have dealt with the issue from halfway across the globe between the Mexican/South American and borders of the USA. With Halaw, which in Bahasa Melayu meaning “Driven Away”, this issue couldn't come any more closer to home as it examines the same between the borders of Bongao, the Philippines and Sabah, Malaysia, where the film begins with a harrowing, audio only, threat by the Malaysian customs authorities who threaten to shoot.

Illegal immigrants can be found just about in any country in the world, more often than not fleeing from various conditions from their home country, into another where there's promise of a new world, and new opportunities to start life afresh. That is if you don't get caught, stay below the radar, but more often than not become fodder for exploitation because the threat of deportation by the authorities is always looming over one's head. Halaw, an independent Filipino film, explores exactly this illegal supply chain, with willing traffickers out to fleece fellow countrymen in taking them abroad away from their troubles, that may seem at times to be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Shot more like a docu-drama (I had initial thoughts that this was going to be a documentary exploring the human trafficking subject, but I guess that's for another film to develop), director Sheron Dayoc, whose intricate research with various personalities caught up in this web, crafts an amalgamation of characters, each personifying the typical caricature one would find onboard a boat that's illegally crossing borders under the cover of darkness of night.

There's a young lass (Arnalyn Ismael the child actress being the revelation here) who is trying to reunite with her mom at the other side of the crossing, John Arcilla's pimp character out to convince two potential quitters about the missed opportunities if they were to give up at the very last minute of not boarding the boat – this scene Is all powerful given the audience's knowledge that he's outright lying about their tutor's job, and one involving a frequent crosser (Maria Isabel Lopez) who unwittingly through her flamboyant arrogance and show offing of her various expensive material goods, may have set the stage for many more innocent villagers to want to emulate her “success”, with that confident, outward nature rarely betraying that tinge of fear and doubt hidden deep underneath.

The final act of the film is where everything came together as the strangers come on board a leaky boat for their final journey southwards toward Sabah. Shot on digital and with as natural a misc-en-scene as possible, Dayoc puts us as one onboard the same vessel as we make the journey together, with one pitstop made for an exploit to happen, and for Arnalyn Ismael to further demonstrate her strong potential for future films. The soundtrack is haunting, as are the images of the group's final flight into the darkness of an unknown future and fate that brings it full circle in this powerful, succinct 78 minutes narrative. Just exactly what the film is driving at, is summarized with intertitles full of grim statistics.

It isn't always that issues can be found on one side of the world and not another. We share this same single planet we live in. Problems and issues faced in one part of the world will most likely be found in another, and Dayoc's important film, which has been travelling the film festival circuit, helps to spread an awareness of something that's happening quite close to home. Recommended!

*****

Director Sheron Dayoc and co-writer/ producer Lilit Reyes were present today for a post-screening discussion, as moderated by David Lee of Singapore Film Society. Here's the entire proceedings for those who have missed it!


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Part 3 of 3

Romancing in Thin Air (高海拔之戀 2 / Gao Hai Ba Zhi Lian 2)

Return of the Queen

I am never quite the fan of Johnnie To's romantic films of recent times, especially since Linger shouldn't have lingered, and Don't Go Breaking My Heart had an interesting premise, but ultimately you can feel that it got made with an eye for the Mainland market, and had a final act in China which bordered so close on the ridiculously impossible. But with his Milkyway creative team firmly behind him, they have now roared back with a solidly crafted romantic classic that would put the Nicholas Sparks films that Hollywood consistently churns out these days to sit up and realize that this part of the world can play the same game.

Romancing in Thin Air welcomes the empathic return of Sammi Cheng since her last film outing in Lady Cop & Papa Crook back in 2008. She plays Sue, a woman who has been holding onto memories of her missing husband Tian (Li Guangjie), refusing to give in that after 7 years since he's lost in a thick forest that he had simply passed on. Adamant that he will one day return to where they last parted, she now works at the Deep Woods Hotel in the snowy picturesque mountainous region of the Yunnan province (which accounts for the thinness of air in the title), waiting for that eventual day to come.

But here comes a movie star to gatecrash that melancholic mood. Louis Koo's Michael Lau is a big time Hong Kong actor who got unceremoniously left at the altar after his actress wife to be Yuan Yuan (Gao Yuanyuan) decided to skip out publicly when her husband in China paid a tearful visit for her return home, leaving him an emotional wreck who turned to the bottle, and eventually found his way to Deep Woods Hotel by mistake (or by chance, depending on how you would like to interpret it). Koo keeps his character bearded for the most parts, charming everyone in the small province from the hotel staff, to the doctor (Tien Niu) who treated him, everyone eager to pose for a picture especially without his knowing and in his most unflattering state.

As you would have guessed it, this is a story about two characters whose togetherness will bring about natural therapy from the pain each of them are bearing, and would find that spark of companionship and romanticism thanks to frequent bike rides and sunsets. This rehabilitation of two broken souls provide that emotional grounding that's requisite for a romantic film like this one to work, and screenwriters such as Wai Ka-Fai and Yau Nai-Hoi pile such moments on, especially since both Koo and Cheng share some wonderful chemistry on screen together. And you know the characters are made for each other when Sue is discovered to be a long time fan of Michael Lau the actor, just like how fairy tales get crafted with one about to be fulfilled now.

It's curious to note that the Chinese title had a "2", implying a sequel of sorts. I had gone back to To's filmography to look for the original, but unless my research came up short, I believe it's referring to the two stories we get for the price of one here, the first being that of Sue and Ting which took up a significant portion of time in the middle act, before it goes on with the present in Sue and Michael. Or of course referring to the second chances that both characters have in front of them, if only they were to let go of the past and commit to the present. In a certain way you can say this is more of a Sammi Cheng comeback vehicle and marks her second film renaissance and career resurrection, which in itself overpowers that of Cecilia Cheung's collective comeback film efforts last year.

I am always of the opinion that the more successful romances on film are either romantic comedies, or romantic tragedies. This film had a sprinkling of comedic moments mostly put into the first act, although not the main focus of the movie, and making it the latter will just shortchange the audience and perhaps spoil the mood for some as they celebrate this February's main celebratory highlight. But still it managed to tackle and include an aspect of it in brilliant terms to allow for a meta based finale that says a lot more than was left unspoken, and provided that oomph to the finale that had some unavoidable morbidity put into it.

Romancing in Thin Air is obviously Milkyway's offering this Valentine's Day period, and given its down to earth treatment, nevermind it being steeped with certain cliches, set against a breathtaking backdrop of snowy white mountains and plains, it scores with its moving soundtrack, wonderful cast and having just about everything right to make this an unforgettable trip for old fashioned romantics. Recommended for all lovers the week to come!

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (एक मैं और एक तू)

You Need To Grow A Pair

You know Valentine's Day is just around the corner when a slate of romantic films get positioned by distributors to capture that whiff of love in the air. Postponed from an October release last year, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is this year's major Bollywood offering for the romantic season and has two successful stars of recent years, Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, pairing up for the first time in what would seem like a typical comedy of opposites attracting, but this Karan Johar produced film had other plans to stand out, and it did, quite surprisingly, by being spiritual cousin of Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer.

Why? Because it's a story about friendship more than that of romantic partners, not that they don't try, or at least one character did. But it stuck to its Bollywood roots quite firmly in being an all round entertainer rather than to embroil itself around strong, tearful emotions that (500) Days brought about. And it's interesting to see how signals can be (mis)interpreted, with the story by Shakun Batra and Ayesha DeVitre, the former who also directed the film, dealing all the cards through examples that very often those in love, or out of, would face from time to time.

Some detractors would have judged this film prematurely from its trailer and thought that it was yet another unauthorized Bollywood remake of What Happens in Vegas, since this film contains characters who are vastly opposites hanging out in Sin City, and through a drunken stupor gotten married in one of the many quickie marriage chapels the city has to offer, before waking up the next day not only with a massive hangover, but realizing that they are married. There might be a hint of similarities in that setting, but the story was anything but similar from that point on.

Taking place over the Christmas to New Year period where year end celebrations of sorts are abound, where ties amongst family and friends get reaffirmed and renewed, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu shines precisely because of the leading actors' chemistry, range and their vivid fleshing of well written characters. All other aspects of the film really didn't matter as you'll be transfixed by their interaction, although I would like to say that the song Aunty Ji was memorable and remarkable. Imran and Kareena sparkle each time they share loads of screen time together, making you wish you were somehow involved in the plenty of fun they get to find themselves in.

Imran Khan has had a series of successful films where he plays the alpha romantic lead, but here he transforms into the meek and geeky Rahul Kapoor, a man, or boy rather, who has been brought up shackled to do what his parents (played by Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah) so desire, with Dad always thinking his son never measures up, and his mom being a frivolous woman interested with only the family's social standing. If one does not dare talk to Dad, and in general doesn't connect with one's parents, frankly I weep for that person, being programmed to approach life in a certain way rather than to take in whatever unexpectedness that life can dish out. Imran makes his Rahul believable and likable, with that dorkiness no thanks to being belittled and shackled throughout life, sapping and stifling all spirit within him. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is the story of his breaking free.

And Kareena Kapoor becomes his emotional crutch to do just that. You may wonder if she's acting cute, but I have to admit that her approach doesn't make it look too artificial, or forced so badly that you'd begin to dislike her role. Granted Kareena isn't the youngest of the stars in Bollywood of late, but she sure showed who amongst the industry possess incredible acting chops, and she shines as the ditzy, and expense conscious Riana who's emotionally not so stable, and Captain Vice to Rahul's many unplanned shenanigans. It helps of course that when the movie has to shift locales back to India that her zany, quirky family members were that breath of fresh air needed to counterbalance and contrast that with the rich, stiff upper lip folks of Rahul's.

It's that overarching theme of finding contentment and happiness in one's life, short that it already is, that makes this film a winner. It is simple in its execution without many fanciful bells and whistles, entirely focused on the story that we should be living life the way we want to, rather than to spend it living the way others would want us to. And perhaps as a date movie for the Valentine's Weekend, a reminder that it's also a celebration of friendships as well, not only reserved to those with whom we share a romantic relationship with. And perhaps it will hurt less as well, for those amongst us who are have uneventful or unsuccessful love lives, that it's not really the end of the world, really. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is highly recommended fare!

Safe House

I'm Watching You

Safe House, as its title suggests, offered no thrill a minute moment, and instead conjured up something that was pulling its own punches all the way. In other words, it stuck to the middle ground, with the good and the bad all laid out nicely even if the story by David Guggenheim had tried to work in some surprises, which were really borrowed cliches from a dozen action thrillers. You'd know who's on the side of the upright, and those on the other side of evil schemers no matter how hard the characters try to hide their intent, wasting its wealth of acting talent for a mediocre storyline.

Helmed by Swedish director Daniel Espinosa, this film seemed to serve as refuge for Espinosa to try and emulate the way Tony Scott films work with Denzel Washington in the lead, such as Man on Fire, Unstoppable, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Deja Vu, and this went right down to having cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Rchard Pearson follow the fast cuts and edits that's styled to try and bring out that adrenaline flow they had hoped you'll feel for in the film. It tried to be gritty, being in unfamiliar and lesser seen territory of South Africa, employing a really grainy though unnecessary look and feel, as if following a documentary of one covert agent's mission, right down to quick edits and extreme close ups to try and bring out that sense of urgency, and raw power when it comes to fisticuffs.

Alas these are nothing but gimmicky techniques that betray its lack of story. Beginning with an extremely lengthy prologue that can be done without a few scenes, Safe House stars Denzel Washington as the notorious Tobin Frost, an ex-CIA operative, one of the best in the business, having to turn rogue and having his head on the most wanted list. He gives himself up at the American consulate, but not before a big hullabaloo about meeting an MI6 agent and being engaged in an assassination attempt on his life. So Frost gets sent to a CIA safe house managed by Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), who has so far garnered zero field experience having spent the last 12 months waiting for some serious responsibilities and action. As the adage goes, beware what you wish for, as not before long a bunch of heavily armed hoodlums come gunning through the front door in search for Frost, killing every CIA operative in their wake.

The film follows the formula of having Eraser, Assault on Precinct 13 and 16 Blocks all rolled into one, with South Africa being the playground, as Weston needs to move Frost from their compromised safe house to another, on one hand keeping both of them out of harm's way, and the other in Weston keeping Frost on a tight leash, where the latter's experience and immense reputation puts the rookie quite at awe yet confused, being very green in this big bad world of espionage where killing someone for information is nothing but second nature. One naturally comes to expect plenty of gun battles, danger lurking at every corner, and also some camaraderie to be developed in the relationship between rookie and veteran, giving their now on the same boat having their lives at stake against an unknown enemy.

Alas the film didn't live up to its promise, having constantly gently teasing at every point only. Curiously the film began with a romance with Weston's relationship with student Ana (Nora Arnezeder) and developed along the lines of secret agent having to lie to protect her, but didn't go beyond having to show the sacrifices that are to be made. True this isn't the main emotional crux of the film, but that again didn't provide any boost to the expected chemistry between the leads. Ryan Reynolds have perfected the deer-caught-in-headlights look at being startled and blindsided for the most parts, and it's a pity that the Frost role was nothing to challenge Denzel Washington, who could and had sleepwalked through this role that straddles the fine line between good and evil. He's played characters on both sides of the law before, and this one didn't even manage to scratch the benchmark he had already set for himself. Being a fan of both actors I had expected more from their screen time together, but alas this wasn't that movie with wasted opportunities to really cement what could be a classic rookie-veteran pairing.

Ultimately, Safe House plays it all too safe. It didn't try to be too smart, or too action oriented, but touched on a little bit of everything to piece a movie together. Which is a pity that it could have been bolder with the kind of actors at its disposal, making the likes of Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson and Sam Shepard quite redundant (fans of Robert Patrick however should take note of his small role in the movie). At best this is a film that is reminiscent of other Tony-Scott-Denzel-Washington productions, but even then this reminded you of how successful that formula and pairing had been, and Daniel Espinosa sorely needed to be his own man here. Main theme song No Church in the Wild by Kanye West and Jay Z rocks though.

DVD Release - Red Light Revolution (红灯梦 / Hong Deng Meng)

Nominated for Best Unproduced Screenplay at Australia's 2008 Inside Film Awards, Red Light Revolution by Sam Voutas has been travelling the festival circuit, and was the opening film of last year's Singapore International Film Festival where it walked away with the People's Choice Award.

You can read my review of the film here.

The DVD will be released on 13 Feb onwards, but you can always pre-order from retailers like Amazon or Play.

More details can be found at the Terracotta Distribution site that includes the trailer, and at this point the confirmed DVD Special Features include the Director's intro, Deleted scenes, Audience Q&A's at Terracotta Festival, Director's Masterclass at Terracotta Festival, Audience Q&A's at Wuhan Film Club, Making of…, and the Featurette: Art Auction.

Synopsis

Unemployed Beijinger, Shunzi (played by Zhao Jun), fresh from being fired from his cab company and still wounded by news of his wife running away for another man, decides to risk it all and follow his friend, and opens a sex store, much to the disappointment of his parents. At first battling with blow up dolls, and getting to grips with some of the vibrating merchandise, he soon realises that not only has he become a victim of a high pressured sales operation (with a gangster like supplier), but his neighbourhood is very conservative and inhabited by an ageing population. Slowly though, he starts to win them over and unites the community, but will he convert enough of them to customers to pay off the gangsters? A humorous clash of the Chinese traditional etiquette with modern sexual values.

[DVD] Revenge: A Love Story (復仇者之死 / Fuk Sau Che Chi Sei) (2010)

Conspirators

Director Wong Ching Po has to date helmed a handful of Hong Kong films that centers upon the triads and crime, and his solo efforts in Jiang Hu and Mob Sister boasted a stellar ensemble cast each of the who's who in the industry, with the films bursting with strong visuals that would become his signature style. Revenge: A Love Story is exactly just as its title describes, a tale that meshed two genres together in one explosive narrative that's tender one moment, and next bursting into an all out revenge flick that's slickly bathed in its fair share of blood and gore.

Based on a story by Juno Mak, who also plays the protagonist Chan Kit, the story sets off as a serial killer mystery, where pregnant women got morbidly killed and having their unborn fetuses forcefully carved out of their womb, then left to die. The cops are all out wondering which sick bastard out there had the heart to do what he did, and it's not before long that detective Jeff (Chin Siu Ho) gets on the case, realizing the victims were the wives of his missing colleagues.

Unravelling the narrative in chapters complete with intertitles (that I felt had a lot more meaning in its original Chinese text than the English translated ones), the romantic and emotional center of the film revolves around that of Chan Kit, a lowly steamed bun hawker who falls in love with a student, the somewhat mentally slow girl called Cheung Wing (Japanese AV Star Sola Aoi), who lives with her grandmother until the latter passed away and got handled by the welfare department. Breaking her out, Chan Kit and Cheung Wing share plenty of first love moments, until an unspeakable crime of violation takes place and they soon find themselves at the mercy of corrupt cops who put their collective camaraderie and brotherhood at a level higher than justice and the law they are supposed to uphold.

The screenplay by Wong Ching Po and Jill Leung puts you on the sympathetic side of the lovers Chan Kit and Cheung Wing, that is set to enrage when you'd find it inevitably sick when those tasked to protect turn out to be tormentors, and possessing questionable morals when in a position of power and trust. And once the seeds are sown, the narrative that went on the path of vengeance and hatred become that typical revenge flick where the audience rallies behind the killer as he goes on his rampage. Thanks to the strong emotional anchors in the story, this film did not fall into the territory of the mediocre, but managed to stand out on its own amongst its peers that deal with the themes of hate and revenge.

And credit to that standing out is Wong Ching Po's visuals, who together with Director of Photography Jimmy Wong, crafted something that's highly memorable with its use of slow motion that punctuated each action sequence nicely, without over-using the technique or going overboard with it. The many shades of grey mirrors the muddy field where the law gets crossed by either side, that the events that unfold have gone beyond simple black and white. Both the director and his cinematographer gave rise to this film's stylish look, coupled with very inventive camera angles and its distinct money shots that seamlessly combine practical effects and make up, with computer generated images. Dan Findlay's score is something you have to pay attention to, as he conjures musical themes that provides the film with yet another emotional and thematic dimension.

Juno Mak, a one time music heart throb, shows off his acting chops here, something that I never once would have imagined he's capable of, and I'm glad to be proven wrong. He becomes both the hunter and hunted all rolled into one, and has this charisma to carry the film and not be overshadowed or overawed by the presence of veterans like Chin Siu Ho. Sola Aoi proved to be a revelation of sorts, with the production team making the call to cast an AV star for obvious reasons, and in some way I'm sure it's also a calculated effort on their part to pull in fans of hers into a film like this one to see their idol in a very different light. I shall say that she can act, despite having a role with minimal dialogue because she's not fluent in the language, but does her best in bringing that sense of vulnerability to the role.

Revenge: A Love Story is a film with dark themes blessed with stylish delivery that keeps you hooked right up to the very last minute with a shocker of an ending that made it look pretty much like a rugby brawl. If you're game for a Hong Kong crime thriller that's outside of the usual production big wigs, then remember the name Wong Ching Po, whom I feel is on a roll onto more stylishly told films to come. Highly recommended!

The DVD release by Terror-Cotta, a newly launched imprint label devoted to horror and thrillers from Terracotta Distribution, autoplays with the trailer for Korean horror film Death Bell (2:06) when it's popped into the player, and presents the feature film proper in a gorgeous anamorphic widescreen transer with audio available in 5.1 Cantonese Surround Sound, 2.0 Cantonese Stereo and 2.0 Mandarin Stereo. English subtitles are available, and scene selection is over 12 chapters.

There are only two broad Extras packed into this one disc edition. The Making Of (26:13) is the standard behind the scenes production with talking head interviews with various cast and crew from director Wong Ching-Po to lead actors Juno Mak and Sola Aoi, split into chapters talking about the action and stunts of the films, the casting decision to go ahead with an AV star, and the special effects and make up that contributed to the blood and gore.

The Producer Interview (6:14) is in English, is a somewhat informal chat with Conroy Chan who details the founding of his 852 Films production house, providing some insights as to what they want to achieve in breaking the boundaries of filmmaking, and about casting. The minor extras included are About Terracotta which contains a series of web URLs to Terracotta Distribution, and its social media sites on Facebook, Twitter and Meetup, in addition to a short clip called What is Terracotta Festival (2:45) which is essentially a trailer of the said festival that includes clips from behind the scenes, the festival guests, programmers, the lineup, etc.

Rounding up the Extras are Trailers for Big Tits Zombies (1:47), Hansel and Gretel (1:45), The Fox Family (1:31), The Detective (1:47), God Man Dog (1:54), Breathless (1:57), Sparrow (2:10) and Death Bell (2:06).

You can find out more about the DVD release from this Terracotta Distribution website, and with the release of the DVD on 23 Jan 2012, proceed to make a purchase of it from Amazon or Play.

South East Asian Film Festival - 2 to 31 Mar 2012

As far back as my memories serve, The Singapore International Film Festival almost always had a relentless focus in championing films from around the South East Asian countries, of course amongst other film offerings in its main programme. In recent years with the dilution and frequent change in festival programmers, leading to the festival experience fiasco of last year's edition, more mainstream films had crept into the SIFF's programming, and film buffs had to look elsewhere for their fix of what's up and coming in the region.

I suppose the South East Asian Film Festival, now into its second year and as hosted by the Moving Image Gallery, Singpoare Art Museum at 8Q, may prove to be that silver bullet response to fill that dearth. After all, it's curated by none other than Philip Cheah, one of the founding members of SIFF, and looking at its lineup, one cannot help but to feel excited about the festival coming up and occupying almost the entire month of March, just about the same time as SIFF usually was (in April, until the shift last year to a September calendar slot).

And what's more, tickets are kept at the usual festival-affordable S$10 (S$8 with the appropriate concessions), with filmmakers in attendance for selected post screening Q&A sessions, and a free to attend discussion panel with the directors on the topic of the Southeast Asian Wave. The festival booklet is already out and contains a comprehensive writeup on the films and their respective director's statements, essays, plus the usual nitty gritty festival essentials that spell out the screening schedule and ticketing details, amongst others. You can also visit the Festival Website here.

A warning though to get your tickets early, as the 8Q venue isn't as large as say, the National Museum of Singapore's Gallery Theatre, so expect that they'd be snapped up as soon as ticketing begins. I've already earmarked four films, if not for a clash of dates with a possible overseas trip and In Camp Training.

See you at the movies!

Quick (퀵 / Kwik)

Tick Tock

The producers of the Korean disaster movie Haeundae probably had enough of water and massive flooding in their blockbuster film, that they had turned their sights and efforts into making an action adventure that's just the opposite, this time playing with fire and bombs in an action comedy that at first glance looked very much like Jan de Bont's Speed starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. But save for some slight narrative references, Quick is very much its own film, with impressive bike and vehicular stunts in addition to the typical Korean sprawling narrative that expands it beyond a simplistic chase film.

Quick begins with a prologue about a love triangle gone awry. Super cool biker Ki-Soo (Lee Min-Ki) is seen leading a pack of mean bikers down a road during the Independence Day holiday and is nonchalant to the pursuit of Choon-Sim (Kang Hye-Won) his girlfriend whom he's trying to dump, who in turn is being chased on a bike by another suitor Myung-Sik (Kim In-Kwon). The scene ends with one big mess of an accident and pile up that leave things unresolved, and the events here will have its repercussions some six years later where the film proper picks up.

Ki-Soo has become a bike courier, putting his skills to legitimate use in order to earn a living. Choon-Sim is now one part of a massive Korean K-pop all girls group (like so many out there) and unknowingly hires Ki-Soo's services to get her from one location to another. However a switch of a helmet was made, one that contains a bomb, and soon both Ki-Soo and Choon-Sim find themselves held ransom by an anonymous bomber who communicates with them through a mobile device - that they are to deliver bombs to designated spots within 30 minutes each mission, and should they fail, or alert the cops, or remove the helmet, or do anything that's detrimental to their mission, they'll get blown up. So begins a madcap race around town to perform the dasterdly deeds, and for Myung-Sik, now a traffic cop, sort of engaged as well to bring them to justice.

Narratively this may seem like Speed, with its bomber dictating the terms that the couple have got to go through, and wielding tremendous power over his hostages to do his bidding. And the final act was really quite like the Hollywood film with it taking place on a train and Choon-Sim vested up with an improvised explosive device. But what you have to tip your hat to, is the story writers having to tie up all the loose ends in order not to make the selection of victims quite random, as well as managing an all out gang land rivalry that's taking place beneath all the bombings, leaving you guessing just who the perpetrator might really be.

And in true Korean movie style, as previously discussed with screenwriter Lee Shin-Ho, Quick has its plate full of bumbling police officers who get outwitted almost every step of the way, right down to lean and mean SWAT members being anything but capable of addressing the simplest of threats and orders, leaving it open to plenty of slapstick comedy situations. And the genuinely funny moments in the film don't even have to try too hard to bring on the laughs, with most of the cast being adapt to perfecting their respective comic timing for maximum effect.

But what truly stood out are the countless of motorcycle and vehicle stunts that pepper the film landscape, since this is after all touted as an action film first and foremost, and has enough meticulously designed sequences to thrill. The outtakes provide a glimpse at what was practical stunts involving daring stunt people who risked life and limb to make the death defying stunts believable, leaving the rest of the more hokey aspects to computer generated images. Unfortunately for the filmmakers with experience in dealing with spectacular special effects, it seemed their touch of experience got lost here, with efforts drawing too much attention to themselves with a constant over-exposure of scenes that betrayed a probable studio or soundstage setting, coupled with some CGI that were left quite unrefined that they stood out quite obviously like a sore thumb.

Quick, despite its flaws, still had enough in its tank to entertaining an audience out for a light hearted action adventure spectacle that don't come to our screens too often these days, and story and funnier bits to thank for making the film that way.

After Dark Originals 2 Announced - Paul Soter's DARK CIRCLES‏

First came 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR, then AFTER DARK ORIGINALS, now the #1 Horror Brand in the World is proud to announce the second installment in the AFTER DARK ORIGINALS series (ADO2), and it’s first film from this series, DARK CIRCLES

After Dark Films, in conjunction with Lionsgate and IM Global, is proud to announce that they will be bringing another set of 8 terrorizing films to theaters in 2012 - After Dark Originals 2 (ADO2) - which is expected to make the genre proud, with supernatural demons, psychological killers, gruesome mysteries, and even a sci-fi sector fully equipped with aliens and a killer leprechaun. Beware horror fans, After Dark Films is giving the fans exactly the type of horror movies they asked for!

After Dark Originals 2 kicks off with its first chilling feature of the new series called DARK CIRCLES, written and directed by Writer-Director Paul Soter (of Broken Lizard infamy, the team behind CLUB DREAD, SUPER TROOPERS and BEERFEST) and starring Pell James (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do), and is scheduled to have its blood-curdling theatrical release in 2012.

Synopsis

After Dark Originals 2 with its first chilling feature of the new series that will send shivers down your spine. DARK CIRCLES, written and directed by Writer-Director Paul Soter (of Broken Lizard infamy, the team behind CLUB DREAD, SUPER TROOPERS and BEERFEST) and starring Pell James (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do), will have its blood-curdling theatrical release in 2012.

Watch for it!

Underworld: Awakening in IMAX 3D

Eat Lead!

I will not make any excuses. This film appeals to the religious fan boys who have been following the Underworld series since 2003, where Kate Beckinsale burst onto the screen in her now iconic tight black leather as a vampire Death Dealer firing her automatic handguns on all cylinders in what would define to be the aged old folklore of Vampires versus Lycans/Volves way before Twilight came to give a teenage saccharine romance in place of hardcore action. It gave rise to a sequel before going backwards to an origin film with the third installment minus Beckinsale's Seline, who was sorely missed.

Picking up after a quick recap of the first two films, we learn that the constant overt bickering between the Vampires and Lycans have gained the attention of the humans who naturally start a genocide to exterminate these horror film staples through fire and silver bullets. Selene and Michael (a stand-in for Scott Speedman who refused to reprise his role as the powerful hybrid) soon find themselves trapped, and for 12 years are housed in a research corporation facility known as Antigen that's experimenting on them to seek a cure for any known infection of humans either way, although head scientist Dr Jacob Lane (Stephen Rhea) harbours a more sinister intention beneath his fuddy duddy looks and demeanour.

Soon Selene gets broken out from her cryogenic state thanks to Subject 2 / Eve (India Eisley) her hybrid daughter conceived in Evolution, and they find themselves running from Lycan enemies and being rejects of the Vampire race given Selene's bad reputation of betraying and slaying her own kind in the earlier films. Mother and daughter soon get separated again and Selene gains allies in the form of David (Theo James) a fellow vampire and a human cop Sebastian (Michael Ealy) to get her daughter back, and continue in their search for Michael so that this dysfunctional, hybrid family can reunite once again.

I suppose you can guess by now the story's really flimsy, and being nothing more than perfunctory to allow a series of action sequences to be strung together, and compensate for what's been missing in the previous film - Kate Beckinsale's icy cool Selene, now being a lot more powerful since her transformation in Evolution. It's still pretty amazing to imagine how Beckinsale can breathe in all that skin tight leather, and deliver her fair share of slinky action poses and moves without her heart skipping a beat. It's a lot more grittier in directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein's version of the world and the fair share of gory violence shows the extent of just what's required to dispatch powerful enemies, given the one-sidedness with very weak vampires, and much stronger and meaner Lycans no thanks to an experimental serum extracted from Subject 2 / Eve.

And the action doesn't disappoint, especially for moments geared to exploit 3D since it was shot using the RED EPIC cameras in 3D. It's a lot more varied through the use of automatic weapons, silver blades, silver nitrate fragmentation units, and good 'ol fangs to puncture the neck, and even so, the new Lycans prove to be too much of a handful for one all-powerful Death Dealer. But some aspects could have been dealt with in a better way, with the Super Lycans being nothing more than double their size and strength, though worse would be Eve's transformation that looked a little bit like Linda Blair from The Exorcist having an Incredible Hulk moment.

The earlier Underworld films with Selene as chief protagonist had a lot more going in its story than this installment, given the references and thicker conspiracies hidden in the sins of the fathers, which ultimately had been resolved in the third film being the prequel and origin. This one doesn't have that need to flashback or reference those any longer, which may also explain a shorter run time, and the feeling of a chunk of missing storyline that had been staple in the earlier movies contributing to that empty feeling. It tried to parallel the relations of parent-child in Selene-Eve, Thomas (Charles Dance)-David and Jacob-Quint (Kris Holden-Ried), but these attempts were never fully explored, otherwise it would have provided some form of an emotional anchor or deepen the character sets a little bit more.

Just how this film can progress from here is anyone's guess, although like Superman 2 / Superman Returns, it comes with an extra baggage in the form of Eve and her near invulnerability and powers par none, together with Selene may make the proceedings a little bit stale and boring. But until that happens, the Underworld franchise should have legs similar to the Resident Evil franchise which is also due for another outing this year - films that cater to fan boys, not too much depth in its stories, with superbly crafted action and headlined by a sexy actress kicking a lot of ass in style. It has the sporadic sprinkling of brilliance, but otherwise a relatively bland affair if not for its charismatic lead.

J. Edgar

Ooh, Have I Got A Dirty Little Secret On You
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight (2008)

A quick look at the director and leading star's filmography will point to the fact that both have acclaimed biographies under their belts, with Clint Eastwood having tackled Nelson Mandela in Invictus, and Leonardo DiCaprio becoming Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. Both men now combine to bring to the big screen an adaptation of the story behind the creation and the early days of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, or the FBI as its better known acronym, under the leadership of its charismatic founder J. Edgar Hoover, who as a character has already been in countless of films set in post war America charged with the need to neutralize US domestic criminal threats at times where being a gangster was sexy, and being a revolutionary (on whichever side of the fence you see it from) harbouring the hopes of thousands for change.

You can just about trust Clint Eastwood to bring his economical style of direction to a biography as colourful as it is epic in the life of Hoover's life and times, intertwined so closely with the FBI's given his almost singular vision and objective to see his creation survive countless of politicking and handling of high profile crimes with hands tied around its back. For those interested in a particularly skewed version of history, the film does this quite handsomely, with high production values brought in to recreate eras long past, starting from the pre-WWI days, right up to the Nixon administration where Hoover finally comes face to face with a president able to play his kind of mind and intimidation games, and to probably turn the tables around.

Amateur history buffs will find joy in discovering the many historical milestones that Eastwood had peppered in the film, thanks to Dustin Lance Black's story that captures key events that J Edgar Hoover and his agency had inevitably had a role to play in, as we follow how they struggle from their relatively humble origins to become one of the best funded in country, sowing the seeds as one of the few professionally run, reputed investigation agencies in the world. And at times you'd just wonder if Hoover was actually the right man for the job, willing to bend the rules, and seek out advantages that may not always be legal or morally right, such as the much suspected and speculative theory of him compiling naughty dossiers on prominent people so as to bring about personal advantages and one upmanship against any leader who has the potential of disagreeing with his views.

Then there's also the ensemble of historical characters making their way to this film, such as the Charles Lindbergh (Josh Lucas) whose kidnapped son became the catalyst Hoover needed to consolidate and expand his range of powers, Jeffrey Donovan as Robert Kennedy, the presidents of Dwight Eisenhower (Gunner Wright), Franklin Roosevelt (David A. Cooper), and Christopher Shyer as Richard Nixon right down to the swear word he uses, child star Shirley Temple (Emily Alyn Lind) and Judi Dench playing Anna Marie Hoover, the motherly figure who occupies such a prominent role and influence in her son's life. In some ways the costuming and make up departments of the film were unjustifiably robbed of at least some OScar nominations from this year's awards season, since they did an incredible job in making everyone look their very best like the characters, and coming up with a range of looks for the key figures in the film as we follow them through the most parts of their lives.

And as if the engaging story that's focused on the more operational functions of the FBI and J Edgar's influence in leading the Bureau to operate the way he wants it to be run, coupled with getting credited for bringing cutting edge forensic science and technology of the time to the Bureau, some which are taken for granted in investigations of today, Eastwood balances the film with insights into Hoover's personal life and even sexual orientation which had always been the subject of speculation. A fair bit gets put into examining Hoover's relationships with his close inner circle of trusted associates, such as Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) his confidential secretary and Clyde Tolson (Arnie Hammer) who eventually became his closest ally in the Bureau's fight against crime and his rumoured lover, that it pokes some serious holes into the gung ho persona of a crimebuster, and showed the more vulnerable side of the man.

These will include the innuendos spouted when in the privacy of his companion Tolson, as well as the much talked about necessity (or otherwise) in having to show J Edgar in drag, which I felt had tested the spectrum of Leonardo DiCaprio's acting skills and his recent snub at being nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars is keenly felt. And credit has to go to the star for taking up challenging roles in his choice of films to date, here having to portray a man who has dedicated his life to the building of an agency, to (at least to him) the fervant domestic defense of his country against external threats in whatever form they may ta1ke, and yet having to repress his innermost feelings and desires because it's the right thing to do, and not go against his much adored mom, nor want to stain the reputation of his office at a time where skeletons were still best kept in the closet.

But while credit has to go to DiCaprio, I felt that Arnie Hammer also did an equivalent of a job as Tolson, having to be the counterfoil to the more volatile J Edgar, and also being a witness to a series of historical events that will come back to haunt the growingly inconsistent FBI head honcho. It will be interesting to track this star's progress from The Social Network where he played twins, to next year's The Lone Ranger as he takes on the titular character. Naomi Watts had an important character role to play, but was ultimately shelved from anything more interesting once her character ditched the early opportunity to be married, only to be so to her job, and the painstaking moments both she and Edgar share even when she disagrees with the methods her boss employs.

Clint Eastwood may be getting along in years, yet possesses so much energy to helm films, to direct and produce, as well as to come up with the score for his movies' soundtracks, that it's really quite remarkable that he would be able to sustain working with a group out there to make the best possible out of their little film. You may have seen Hoover in or mentioned in many films from time to time, but I'd bet that nothing has yet so far given him far a film focused on his exploits that's bound to polarize audiences toward the film. It's not the movie's role to set the record straight or be definitive in its account, but herein lies the purpose in showing how people tend to skew accounts to their benefit of course.

Told in a timeline that jumps into flashbacks, J. Edgar has all the ingredients necessary for it to become a great bio-pic, and told in the way only Clint Eastwood knows how, to engage, entertain and provoke some thought into the legacy of a man who had founded an institution. Highly recommended!

Chronicle

X-Men

Just when you thought there's no more innovative films coming out of the well milked Found Footage formula, here comes Max Landis and Josh Trank's film Chronicle to demolish all genre lethargy and inertia to move away from its comfort zone of horror flicks, and introduce in very successful terms the Superhero genre, while actively taking narrative pains to eradicate the shaky-cam, which to date has almost been a staple so long as a character starts to wield a camera to document a series of events from his or her solo perspective.

Chronicle provided a good reason to have steadicam, and to expand upon its solo universe to have viewpoints from a multitude of sources, making this somewhat like an Assembled Footage film, with content scoured and drawn from a series of different devices, be it mobile phones, or newsreels, in addition to a video camera that the protagonists have to lug along. We follow the adventures of a trio of characters, each distinct in maturity level to hammer home certain plot plots and character development, when they chance upon a crater leading down a tunnel into something strange, mysterious and endowing our characters with the powers of telekinesis.

Which just about allows them to do almost everything they wish in their minds, starting modestly with the slow experimentation of their abilities, before growing in strength and skill to do a lot more, including the ability to take flight. And the filmmakers superbly handled the spirit of superhero lore by adapting from very common, yet deeply discussed themes and plots involving the nurture of such powers, and how they actually can change the unsuspecting wielder, whether they would allow power to corrupt them, or to use them for a greater calling. And it's no surprise how it developed the way it does, since most of us would harbour equally similar desires, or bewilderment at the onset during the discovery and exploration of such abilities, that all these contribute to a very believable story that plays on our secret fantasies, and consequences of some of our would be actions as well.

Technically, this film boasts plenty of well blended special effects with a solid narrative that it's quite remarkable everything got put together and paced perfectly for 83 minutes, which is compact yet long enough for such a genre film, deliberately keeping some things unanswered and the doors open to follow on films, and leaving you wanting much more, a lot more. Highly recommended and this is to date, one of the best its genre has on offer, which hopefully will convince some of the genre detractors.

You can read my review of Chronicle at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.

[DVD] Sisters (1973)

I Need Me Pills

Brian De Palma's career to date is quite topsy-turvy, creating classics and commercial successes one moment, before tossing in a dud or two, then coming back right up again in subsequent films. Two of my favourite films in his filmography include Mission: Impossible, which I thought was the slickest and most sophisticated in the franchise until Ghost Protocol rolled along, and The Untouchables, one of the best Al Capone/Elliot Ness films that ooze class that never found repeated to date in other Capone films. And I have to admit that the annual 50% Criterion Collection sales at Barnes and Noble prompted me to pick up one of his earlier works, the psychological thriller Sisters starring Margot Kidder.

Kidder would be better known to most people as Lois Lane in all the Christopher Reeve Superman films, and it's quite refreshing to see her in a film that's out of that go-getting Lois Lane persona. In sisters she plays one half of a separated Siamese Twin, a model and aspiring actress called Danielle Breton, whom we see taking her blouse off in a Candid Camera inspired game show called Peeping Tom, where contestants have to guess just how the unsuspecting victim Phillip Woode (the late Lisle Wilson) would react. Bringing both the victim and the actress together on stage in the programme, they hook up, and spend the night together in her apartment after fending off what would be introduced as her ex husband Emil (William Finley), whom Brian De Palma brilliantly set up quite obviously when panning through to the Peeping Tom crowd.

Up until this point one would have thought this would go the horror route, since Siamese Twins have always been the subject of fascination of filmmakers. And Brian De Palma's story may have suggested that something's not quite right with Danielle, having to pop pills to sooth some pain before running out of more pills, and that deliberate revealing shot of a huge scar on the thigh of Danielle to hint at a separation that may not have gone down too well, with an unseen visit made by her sister Dominique. But De Palma plays on our imagination, and ups the ante to turn this into quite the Hitchcockian like film, inspired by the likes of Psycho and Rear Window to name but a few in a tense filled, violent sequence early in the film that combined fear and gore - repeated stabbings with a huge knife, groin attacks and a plunge into the mouth before splitting it - which looked quite tame by today's standards (this was made in the early 70s) with its amateur delivery and fake blood galore.

This gets seen by a reporter neighbour in the next block, Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) who sees the potential in a huge story should she uncover and unravel the murder, given the cynicism by the police when she made the report, and their warrant-less search of Breton's house turning up naught. It is from this point that the real theme of Voyeurism starts to rear its head, with how we'd have this tendency to want to peer into other people's lives and making some deal out of it, baseless or otherwise, just like how the film began with the Peeping Tom game show. And there are countless of other scenes from hereon that dealt with this theme, of people from the outside always looking in, right up to the final act that takes place in psychiatric clinic, where Grace has her questions answered in the most surreal like fashion, no thanks to a dream like sequence.

It may be baffling since this dream sequence tosses up the narrative where things are never quite definitive, offering what could be one version of Danielle's origin in a frightfully covered flashback involving freakshows and the likes, containing deep hypnotism and efforts to link Grace and Danielle together through the brainwash of the former. It's suspenseful yes, with the last half hour being the creepiest moments in the entire film, but contains an unresolved plot thread that was left in very open ended terms right up to the last frame, which brings to mind a little bit of the injustice as felt in The Lovely Bones. Only the opening credits with the extreme close up of a small fetus rivaled the final moments of the film in terms of making one's hair stand, with the introduction setting up the stage of what's to come even if the story had drifted off a little when introducing the main characters.

But like most De Palma films, what it lacked in the story, it more than makes up for it in brilliance of its technical details. There's the use of the split screen, amongst the director's earliest in doing so, again tells of impeccable clockwork timing especially when characters in one crosses over to the other and here we're dealing with real time challenges involving lifts and a race against time to rid a room of tell tale blood stains. And who can forget that the soundtrack and music played such an instrumental role in elevating this film to, as mentioned, Hitchcockian heights, since the composer Bernard Herrmann did the same for classics such as Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest, amongst others.

As with most films one views that's a blast from the past, many things occur in the story that could never have happened in today's context, given technology advancements such as mobile phones and the video camera, which will sort of eliminate the constraints the characters face when needing to contact each other, or to cough up with documentary evidence to back up and justify one's accusation. Cumbersome hand signals and creative use of the land lines help to bridge communications except when geography gets in the way, but while these challenges can be overcome, much larger innate ones like the slight racism amongst smaller characters here would requite a monumental effort.

In any case Sisters was Brian De Palma's earlier feature film works, and being the technical person he is, his subsequent films will boast larger technical challenges such as Snake Eyes' long opening tracking shot, and more complex mysteries like that covered in the narrative of The Black Dahlia. Sisters showcases De Palma's more humble beginnings and shows how far he has come.

The Code 1 DVD by Criterion Collection presents the film in an anamorphic widescreen format which was a little grainy at times, with monaural audio. Scene selection is available over 18 Chapters, and subtitles are in English with close caption.

Most of the extras here are text based, with the chapter "what the devil hath joined together..." made up of The Making of Sisters; An interview with Director Brian De Palma which is conducted by Richard Rubinstein originally published in Filmmakers Newsletter, September 1973, and the article that had inspired Brian De Palma to make the film stored under the chapter of Rare Study of Siamese Twins in Soviet which talks about Masha and Dasha, a pair of Russian Siamese Twins in the 8 April 1966 issue of Life magazine.

There's also the Original 1973 press book containing some 42 pages of extracts and excerpts from ads, as well as a whopping more than 330 black and white and photo stills from Behind-the-scenes and publicity photos, before like most of the early Criterion discs, having a Color Bars presentation included for colour calibration.

The DVD insert includes an essay written by Bruce Kawin, Professor of English and Film Studies at University of Colorado at Boulder, as well as an anecdote filled article written by Brian De Palma himself in a 1973 Village Voice that details his working with renowned composer Bernard Hermann.

I Love Hong Kong 2012 (2012我愛HK喜上加囍 / 2012 Ngo Ngoi HK Hei Seong Gaa Hei)

Spreading the Love

One of the final film offerings this year for the Lunar New Year, I Love Hong Kong 2012 blinked first and got relegated out of the lucrative holiday long weekend, and that may dent its already slim hopes of a respectible box office returns since almost everyone here knows that the comical flavour of a Hong Kong film will almost all be lost due to the Mandarin dubbing. But those expecting plenty of nonsensical mo-lei-tau humour may be surprised that this version has a little bit more narrative structure to its formulaic plot, that like its All's Well Ends Well rival, ends with resolution for the star-studded couples in question, and a moralistic lesson thrown in that family matters at the end.

The story centers around the romantic and kinship trials and tribulation of the Kwok family, headed by Kwok Jing (Stanley Fung), the patriarch who has been in the weather broadcasting news reporting service for decades, unable to break into anchoring a news program for his company. A blooper during the covering of a typhoon led to his son Kwok Fu Seng (6 Wing), his cameraman, being voluntarily let go as the scapegoat, as we learn that from his rival at work Ms Shen (Shaw Yin Yin) that the company has been recently acquired by William So's Roberto, an egoistical maniac conglomerate king who has four Thai transvestites as bodyguards.

Kwok's brother (Mak Cheung-Ching) is a good for nothing loafer who free loads in his home, and his children's all have personal relationship issues to deal with. There's the return of Teresa Mo as Kwok Mei Mei, a successful lawyer married to a less than successful husband Yao Ming (Eric Tsang) who essentially serves as the butler for the entire household, with the couple having to struggle with childlessness, a busty foster daughter from China, as well as the keeping up of appearances in high society circles. Denise Ho stars as Kwok Jing Jing, a tomboy supermarket manager whose beau is the effeminate top selling salesman (Bosco Wong) in the same supermarket she works in, who may have to fasttrack their path to marriage when she discovers she got knocked up. And son Fu Seng who on his last day of work falls in love with Roberto's latest squeeze Vivian (Vivian Zhang), and conjures up plenty of tricks to try and woo her.

Not all the jokes hit their mark though, and in many ways having too many screenwriters (I counted around 10) meant a potential to be a messy affair, though I suspect that some had contributed only to certain segments since the comical moments were quite compartmentalized. So we have slapstick reserved for Teresa Mo and Eric Tsang to deliver, with the best being their bedroom ritual involving cosplaying as superheroes, and jokes about sexuality centered around Denise Ho and Bosco Wong's characters since they're opposites that work, like When Hainan Meets Teochew in certain ways. The more mo-lei-tau moments were left to the 6 Wing and Vivian Zhang segment, with the guys buddying up to assist Fu Seng in his quest for their personal ulterior motives, before Fu Seng has to go for it on his own when the rest have more pressing matters on their own fronts to attend to.

You would have thought the screenwriters of rival films All's Well Ends Well and I Love Hong Kong might have compared notes to decide upon providing a structure framework to craft their stories in, because compared to the previous installments, those were more laissez-faire and had almost everything including the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. This time round with a little bit more discipline the trade off was less comical moments or spoofs - only the one for You Are The Apple of My Eye had prominence, and at times may sound a little bit preachy with its moral message about a family that sticks together to emerge stronger at the end even if the world should end.

For a Lunar New Year film, there's this underlying, less than auspicious treatment with a narrative fixation about the end of the world, clearly playing on the much talked about end of the world Mayan prophecy. For those who want to go to the cinemas during this period to laugh out loud at a light hearted comedy, this may prove to be counter-productive even if the subject matter was treated lightly, with various weather anomalies being experienced, which will be explained in due course naturally to keep things still celebratory. And it was also a curious affair to have Auld Lang Syne for a Chinese New Year film in the final scene where all the stars from Shaw's television stable come out to break the fourth wall for the Lunar New Year greetings that didn't happen, choosing instead to do a choppily edited song and dance sequence that you'd have to struggle to identify your favourite television personality - the one in the trailer shows more, so that tells you something.

But this film served as a welcome return for the likes of Teresa Mo and William So who have been away from the big screen for the longest time, with the former still showing her class of good comic timing is not lost, while the latter playing it really hard as the unlikeable conglomerate executive. If you're fans of either of them then this film is for you.

Agneepath

Hulking Down the Path of Fire!

I guess it's not just Hollywood dipping into its rich archives for story ideas to be remade for the modern day audience. Bollywood's Dharma Productions' cult classic of a revenge thriller Agneepath, starring Amitabh Bachchan back in 1990, now gets produced by Karan Johar, son of Yash Johar who produced the original, so there's a real Generation 2 connection here in creating this update of the highest production values, pulling out all the stops in its desire to equal or triumph over the original on many fronts, and succeeding in doing so.

It's a tale that's timeless with themes that resonate, touching on family and violence, crime and vengeance, that in my opinion is of the scale as operatic as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Directed and co-written by Karan Malhotra, the film takes its time to develop the lead character of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan) that makes us ally to his cause of revenge, even if it means having to support him in a life of crime to rise up amongst the ranks, to gain power in whatever means possible to be of an equal to his mortal enemy Kancha (Sanjay Dutt), while at the same time battling his softer emotions that deal with love and acceptance from a mother (Zarina Wahab) hell bent against her son's chosen path to destruction.

And what makes Vijay so mad stems from the framing and public persecution of his dad Master Deenanath Chauhan (Chetan Pandit), a well respected school teacher and community leader in the village of Mandwa where landlords exploit the poor, who got enticed by Kancha's promise of leasing their land to built factories and create jobs. That he did, but only after enslaving the villagers through his brand of violence and control, and cultivating cocaine on their land to become a drug baron. But before the impending execution of his plan, Kancha has to get rid of naysayers like Master, turning him against the simpleton villages and subsequently hanging him mercilessly from a Banyan tree with public support baying for blood.

This triggers something in Vijay (as a child played by Arish Bhiwandiwala, who did a great job) who had to endure being helpless against the mob mentality, having to bear witness to an atrocious injustice, before taking flight with his mother to Mumbai, where his sister Shiksha (Kanika Tiwari) was born. Now staying alive with only one sole objective in mind, Vijay chances upon Mumbai's underworld led by Rauf Lala the drug lord and woman trafficker (Rishi Kapoor in an excellent support role) and plots to align with the bad hats to gain a reputation before getting back at Kancha. Doing so meant estranging himself from his mother and sister, in a way protecting them as well from his deliberate life of crime, making Kaali Gawde (Priyanka Chopra) perhaps his only childhood friend and lover to know him better than anyone else, although almost always goading that they get married.

What made Agneepath stand out amongst the usual triad and gangster crime flicks, is the path Vijay decided to undertake in his path of vengeance. Choosing to meet violence with violence, and to build an army of his own based on generosity amongst his adopted community of the poor and curiously predominantly female, Vijay schemes at different sides to ensure he's top dog, even if it means stepping on his "father"'s toes in Rauf Lala, and exploring avenues where he can usurp the underworld throne. And the balance of power also involves the cops led by Commissioner Gaitonde (Om Puri) with whom Vijay also strikes a testy relationship with, making Vijay a character with really grey intentions never being black or white and keeping his adversaries on their toes whether he's there to cover their back, or to spring a surprise by playing the opposite side. Talk about keeping your friends close, and enemies closer.

Hrithik Roshan did a fantastic job as the vengeful Vijay, with steely eyes that shoot pure hatred, balancing many negative emotions with more heartfelt ones especially in a scene where he bore his soul to Kaali revealing his yearning for his mother's love and acceptance after spending some 15 years apart in order to seed the opportunities of his planned revenge. Sanjay Dutt looked like he had loads of fun portraying the character of pure evil, a bald man who cannot stand the look of himself in a mirror, exacting control over his crafted empire built on the blood of Mandwa through guns, hired help, and Katrina Kaif as an item girl for the song Chikni Chameli. Priyanka Chopra as the love interest, teaming with Hrithik Roshan since Krrish (in films that I've watched), unfortunately had only a bit role to play here that showcased her broad acting range, being the livewire through her song and dance numbers that in fact made Katrina Kaif's much talked about item number look a little bit pale in comparison.

But besides the casting, the production values were of the highest quality and reminded me why I'm almost always thrilled to watch an Indian film epic anytime. The vibrant colours, customs and culture on display from religious processions to celebration of festivals or moments through song and dance, are elements that make an Indian film unique, and to not have all these ingredients coming together and gelling up well just meant that something's sorely missed. Plus the melodrama that finds a sweet spot in the narrative to become the emotional anchor for characters to allow you to feel, and in this case, empathize with their respective plight, blessed with irony and poetic justice when the time calls for it.

Agneepath befits its path of fire title with its bloody brutality, never gratuitous but necessary to bring out the senselessness, and the eye-for-an-eye treatment that Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is going after. Cinematography was gorgeous especially with Malhotra's many raining scenes as metaphors to try and quench the fiery moods and environments all round in Mumbai and Mandwa to no avail. As a remake, this version of Agneepath soars for its ability to stand on its own two feet and retaining an original flavour of its own, with minor quibbles such as what would be a rush toward its inevitable finale that brought everything to a tearful full circle. It seems like Agneepath has the bandwidth to become a classic of its own, and has indeed fired the first, early salvo in 2012 as being one of the best this year has on offer. A definite recommendation!

One For The Money

Classical Loggerheads

The trailer would remind you of the forgettable The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston with the former being the titular character whose target happens to be his ex-wife, having them bicker and run from various misadventures together. Reverse the roles in order to have a female bounty hunter going after an ex-boyfriend, and the stage is set for more of the same, no? Not quite. One for the Money has a lot more going for it, predominantly being a film written by and made by females for its intended audience, and being an engaging flick chick that wonderfully encapsulates a whodunnit.

Katherine Heigl seems to be on a successful roll on celluloid, and is in her element here in this romantic action adventure comedy as lead character Stephanie Plum, a rookie bounty hunter drawn to the profession only because she's desperate for a job to pay off impending bills. An ex-lingerie model, we follow her transition from girly girl to a somewhat tough cookie ready to hold her own in her cousin's business, where an added incentive is to hunt down and bring in her ex-boyfriend Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara), a cop wanted for the gunning down an unarmed felon.

Yes one would expect the usual laughs coming from her inexperience in a new field, her constantly being outwitted by slier opponents in the big bad town of Trenton, New Jersey, and having that pitch perfect sexual charisma with her mark since they share a common romantic history before in their youths. But to my surprise One for the Money has a little bit more depth in its story than I would have imagined, playing out like a mystery with a crime at hand to solve, with Stephanie stumbling her way from fact to fact, interacting with various interesting caricatures who don't bore, and plays out exactly like an 80s private detective film of old in spirit.

Written by Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray and Liz Brixius off the well received novel of the same name by Janet Evanovich, this probably accounts for a lot of female-centric focus on elements in the storyline, as well as director Julie Anne Robinson's ability to center this very much like a chick flick, wrapped around an old fashioned whodunnit. I mean, only in a story with an attractive female protagonist would you have other females in the story either old, or matronly, and having not one but two hunks - Morelli and fellow alpha-male bounty hunter Ranger (Daniel Sunjata) - involved at the crossroads of her life. Plenty of characterization goes into the lead character of Stephanie Plum, and Heigl brings a certain sass to the role, with little street smarts that cover for her lack of experience in the field.

Granted the mystery doesn't quite play out with that kind of tension and suspense as one would expect from a true blur genre film, but it does enough with its slight touch and managed to keep interest afloat. While there are 18 novels to date in the series of Stephanie Plum's adventures in bounty hunting, with each novel title starting with a number / numerically related, reality is that any subsequent film will have to rely on how much this makes at the box office. My bet is that it'll likely be something quite modest with a potential of 17 more films made only if Heigl wants to be stereotyped (if not already) or typecast. Still, One for the Money sits above average on the entertainment scale, and can be recommended fare if you'd give it a chance.

[DVD] Throw Down (柔道龙虎榜 / Yau Doh Lung Fu Bong) (2004)

Grand Slam

Mention Johnnie To, and imagery of ultra cool triad members and handsomely crafted stand offs and shoot-em-ups come to mind, in addition to stories that are allegories to the social situation in Hong Kong, with multi-faceted characters peppering the landscape. He's been around the Hong Kong industry for years, and of late has been amongst a handful of filmmakers credited for sustaining the industry, and to think that he too had dabbled with the comedy and romance genres in addition to his much acclaimed crime thrillers.

Throw Down from 2004 is slightly different, retaining the technical qualities his films are known to exhibit, but having a storyline with themes that are more personal, and in essence a shout out to anyone found struggling with whichever aspects of life at a point in time. There are no guns nor weapons galore, nor are there cops and clear cut villains who are baying for blood. While it's about Judo, don't come to expect a fight-a-minute film because this is not that movie, with action sequences kept to a bare minimum, though it does boast a scene which I thought was pandemonium done poetically with wonderful choreography that looked like a Judo free for all tournament is in progress, set within the confines of a crammed pub premises that spilt over to the sidewalk and roads outside.

Amongst the various Asian martial arts, I never really come to understand the spirit of Judo, and thus was my least favourite of them all, until this film. Almost every martial art would have found a representative film to promote the art or the sport version, and I haven't seen one that focused on Judo until Throw Down came along, and the metaphor couldn't be more pronounced. In essence it may seem like a series of throws to get your opponent off balance and gaining an upper hand, but it's truer of its spirit and intent. the message of dusting oneself off the ground when one gets defeated, to get up on one's feet and try again. It is this spirit of perseverance and encouragement that is very much alive through the protagonists in the film, a spirit that To explores in this movie.

Written by Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee and Yip Tin-Shing, Throw Down follows the story of Sze-To (Louis Koo), a one time Judo champion who decided to abruptly call it quits, and now manages a karaoke pub and lounge, spending his time wasted in drink and gambling, void of the zest of life. Nobody knows the real reason behind this sudden change, and it is we the audience who will journey with him down the trodden path of redemption. I think this film also marks Aaron Kwok's rare acting tutelage under Johnnie To as he plays the youngster Tony, a Judo enthusiast who seeks out Sze-To for a genuine challenge, and decided to stick around when he doesn't get the quality of challenge he's looking for. And Cherrie Ying rounds up the protagonist trio as Mona, a cannot-make-it singer wannabe from Taiwan who tries hard to make it to the entertainment scene, ending up at Sze-To's pub looking for a job.

Each character is vastly different and encapsulates the different approaches toward this journey we call life. In Sze-To we see someone zapped of zeal and spirit, giving up on what he does best and going through the motions, nary wanting to lift a finger to help his one time master Cheng (Lo Hoi Pang) to continue his legacy and fight in an upcoming tournament, much less helping anyone else. In Tony comes optimism, forward looking and almost always seizing the moment, be it the bouncer at the door, or a formidable opponent he knows of, just to spar for the sake of sparring to improve himself, broken arm notwithstanding - where he even designs his own one-arm wrestle. And in Mona's case, one who simply never gives up even with the realization of a void of talent, determined to want to breakthrough no matter what, and seeking out her own opportunities to do so wherever it make take her, home or abroad.

Perhaps this film had remained Johnnie To's underrated best in terms of very focused characters each who will emerge quite differently by the time the final act rolls by, given the active metaphor of Judo sparring throughout the narrative, of being thrown down hard onto the ground, yet finding strength from within to pick oneself up again. And To doesn't feel the need to be verbose about everything, preferring to let the long takes, with minimal dialogue, allowing the music, and the basic mood and feel of each scene to tell the story, where even a key plot element has to be figured out that provides the answer why Sze-To acts the way he does, and his reason for quitting while at his prime, providing a sort of a mystery for the audience to unravel themselves.

And the technical strengths of this film is very Milkyway, gorgeously photographed by Cheung Siu Keung in both the interior shots and the outdoor ones that romanticizes the streets of Kowloon, with plenty of light and shadow play being very pronounced in the film, highlighting the state of mind each character find themselves in at any particular point in time. The Judo spars and fights are vividly designed to be real, sans wirework and mats, coupled with an engagingly punchy soundtrack that consistently accentuates the mood of the entire film. A superb support cast like one third of The Grasshoppers Calvin So as an outright homage by Johnnie To to Akira Kurosawa, Eddie Cheung as a ruffian who talks to himself under his breath spewing insults, and Tony Leung Kar-Fai as a mean dojo owner with a menacing single Judo technique, make this journey a classic one to undertake, and definitely one of Johnnie To's best works in his filmography that deserves to be widely seen. Highly recommended!

The Region Free DVD by Panorama Distributions autoplays with the trailer for A-1 Headline, presenting the film proper in an anamorphic widescreen transfer with audio options available in Cantonese Dolby Digital Stereo and 5.1, or Cantonese DTS-ES, or Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, Traditional and Simplified Mandarin and Scene Selection is over 12 Chapters.

The Bonus features on the DVD are presented in a letterbox format and are subtitled, beginning with an Exclusive Director Interview (40:00) with Johnnie To, split into the various discussion topics with a play all function: The Judo Spirit, 70's Characterization, Lighting, Action vs Non-action, Long Take, Acting, Actors, Supporting Actors, The Four Scenes, Kurosawa, Sanshiro Sugata, Shoe, Values, Box-Office, Film Festival, where Johnnie To provides plenty of insights into his filmmaking philosophy, his influences, and the ideas behind Throw Down, right down to the mechanics of his working with various acting talent here, as well as production technicalities.

The Making-of Documentary (10:55) is standard fare behind the scenes look at how the action sequences got designed and made, predominantly focusing on them, besides talking to cast and crew members about their characters and thoughts about the movie. The Photo Gallery contains 20 stills that autoplays in slide show format that lasts 1:18. A Teaser (1:21) and a Theatrical Trailer (2:03) gets packaged together with a whopping 11 TV Spots that is designed for characters, cast and various montage shots, lasting anywhere from 0:31 to 0:45. And the bonus material rounds up with On Judo, which is text based in Mandarin and English about the martial arts.

[Short] Quinkin (2011)

Secrets
To catch it, you need it
If you need it, you can't catch it

The riddle here forms the centerpiece of writer-director Michael Wannenmacher's short film Quinkin, set in a post-apocalyptic future where two hunters, Vox (Brett Swain) and Paul (Wannenmacher himself) trek across vast, barren landscapes in search of the titular Quinkin, a shadowy creature from the Aboriginal Dreamtime. From the get go we know who amongst the two calls the shots, with Vox being very much the bullying leader and navigator, leaving most of the grunt work for Paul. This delicate balance of power is what becomes explored in this 15 minute, compact film.

Wannenmacher knows a thing or two about building suspense, which he does expertly in not falling into cliches, feeding onto the audience's apprehension and anticipation of what exactly is a Quinkin and how it actually looks like, since glimpses of it extend out of existing shadows cast by various objects, and the director gives you just enough before holding back for a future exposition. Then again the Quinkin isn't the main plot point here, unlike the shifts in the balance of power when the two men chanced upon a fallen comrade, where his notebook got pinched and a series of riddles got played, until the one above becomes the stumbling block, and obsession, for Vox.

The film then draws you in when you inevitably participate in the guessing as well, when the two men have to go about their chores to build traps in time before dusk approaches, and we see how for once Vox begin to lose his cool and his edge when his fixation to solve the riddle escalates the already tensed, bickering relationship between both men, into something a lot more deadly when fisticuffs, and weapons come into the picture. The shift in the balance of power has begun, culminating in what would be a tension filled finale that shows more of someone than meets the eye.

As with quality short films, nary a frame nor a scene is wasted in the delivery of a tightly crafted story, with solid production values in costuming, sets and art direction that makes the apocalyptic future a credible one even on a shoestring budget. The two actors share an incredible, raw chemistry that made their master-servant relationship believable, and brought to life Wannenmacher's story completely centered on the two characters. If you still haven't figured out the solution to the riddle posed at the top then perhaps it is time to give Quinkin a look!

Related Links
- Before Dawn FilmsWebsite
- Quinkin Website with Trailer

[DVD] Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

Busted

Based on the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peer Elkind, Alex Gibney's documentary charts the stratospheric rise and meteoric fall of Enron, an energy, commodities and services company based in Texas that was the darling of Wall Street in the buildup to Y2K, before tanking itself at the turn of the new millennium through greed and fraud, most notably taking down its auditors Arthur Andersen, one of the largest auditing firms at the time, with it. As a young man at the time looking for a job, Arthur Andersen was one of the companies many in my cohort had aspired to join, and some did, until the now infamous shredding of documents incident brought the giant down to its knees, and a sorry and rude awakening that no company was infallible.

It's as if we never learn from history, with the latest Wall Street woes still boiling essentially down to white collar crooks being creative with the books, and innovative in their design of instruments set to confuse, yet hyping themselves up to be money making tools that can never fail. These signposts - guaranteed returns, guaranteed protection of principle, and all round too good to be true feeling, are ingredients to failure that we would all likely not consider, preferring to look at the brighter side of things and turn a blind eye to, and in this fashion be susceptible to manipulation and lies. Films like Margin Call and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps are fine films that fictionalizes the basic greedy human condition, until the time when shit hits the fan that everything comes crumbling down.

Alex Gibney's documentary takes a more academic approach in showcasing the important points that stem from deregulation of the energy market, and the charismatic approach that its founders went to sell the promises of the company, and essentially making money from nothing - but options and promises of something of a future value to come. The obsession with numbers, showing how profitable the company was quarter after quarter, which is as amazing as it is nearly impossible without concrete, substantial, tangible goods and services, highlights how obsession toward money and pure capitalism combined with the succumbing to want to win at all costs, lead to temptation for committing fraud. To repeat lies continuously and with conviction makes it look as if it's the truth, pulling wool over many people's eyes, with everyone wanting to jump on the money making bandwagon, and treating naysayers as idiots who just don't get it. And with billions to be made at so short a time, who wouldn't want to get on it?

The film concentrates on the three top honchos of Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow as key players who are undoubtedly smart, but applying their smarts in the wrong fashion of wanting to create the corporation of the world where everything else was beneath them, and collectively building that tower of untouchability and incredible profits as they pied piper everyone on Wall Street about their potential. Better yet, their ability to make money out of everything, such as bandwidth, electricity and the likes. The film introduces their work ethics or the lack thereof, and while on hindsight it's easy to see where the obvious danger signs are, I'm pretty certain one will find it easier to be suckered into what they were selling, if they had any tangibles to sell it to begin with, other than a soaring stock price and an entire flimsy system built on mark to market accounting.

Skeptics are put down ruthlessly, and the largest irony here is Enron's slogan being "Ask Why?", but nobody dared to do so when scrutinizing their books or questioning how Enron managed to be the new economic miracle it seemingly was, getting caught up in the euphoria of money, money and more money. Lessons learnt came from the incorrect corporate culture where celebration was at hand when profits come from the less fortunate - there is no zero sum game - and what may be applicable here even, that having private companies run public infrastructure and utilities, and the power to determine prices and service quality, is essentially asking for trouble, with California's power outage problems, despite having more than enough capacity, brought down no thanks to unscrupulous wheelings and dealings from within Enron to both cause the problem with restricting supplies, skyrocketing demand and price, and profiteering from it in the markets. There's nothing illegal here given the workings within the confines of a deregulated framework, but highly unethical given the ability to profit in such a fashion - listening to the tapes of the transactions, will boil your blood.

The film summarizes the countless, countless of scandalous dealings and even containing inside footage where you can see the perpetuation of blatant lies and profiteering from insider training of sorts, and manipulation of a big bully against its detractors and obscenely rewarding the top echelons with hundreds of millions. You have to tip your hat at the gall of the unholy trinity of Lay-Skilling-Fastow as they seduce everyone with their promises built on empty lies, where regulators, banks and what you would deem as the checks and balances inherent in the financial system would be bypassed so easily and failed when they should have mattered, highlighting how fallible everything is when having money stare straight at one's face, ripe for the taking without accountability.

It's a horror story that's effectively told in succinct terms summarizing the spectrum of fraud, though one that has to be learnt from and to have one's eyes propped open to the tactics of conmen and schemes that continuously evolve with time. What was lacking was the first hand talking heads interview with the unholy trinity, instead we get interviews with a lot of other, related characters who are involved either as employees or external parties, enough to build the persona of the chief culprits involved. For now this story becomes a classical business and fraud case study, but if true, smartest guys anywhere were to put their heads together to think up of a scheme to fleece everyone, no thanks to our inherent greed system, we won't be seeing the last of an Enron equivalent anytime soon. If you want to know more about Enron, this is the documentary that you should go to first. Highly recommended!

The Region 1 DVD by Magnolia Home Entertainment autoplays with Trailers (4:56) in the letterbox format for The World's Fastest Indian, One Last Thing..., and an HDNet advertisement. The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen format, with audio available in its original English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Subtitles are available in English close caption and Spanish, with Scene Selection available over 15 chapters.

There are tons of Bonus Material included in the release of this DVD presented in the letterbox format. There's the Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Alex Gibney that is chock full of information both about the making of the film, and to give it additional content and insights as he covers a lot more stuff that couldn't be covered in the film proper, otherwise this will turn into a mini-series instead. Extremely informative as Gibney covers the spectrum on both the content and filmmaking angles.

Deleted Scenes (19:30) comes with a Play All option, for The Silverpeak Incident dealing with more details about the California power crisis, Car Salesman talks to one who details how the Enron traders would drop by to pick up their luxury cars, Ken Lay's Indictment provides a behind the scenes look at the media circus outside the Houston Federal Courthouse, as well as Ken Lay's address, and Gray Davis and the California Crisis dwells a little bit more about the Californian governor's tussle with Enron.

We Should All Ask Why?: Making The Enron Film (13:55) has director Alex Gibney talk us through his filmmaking process and the breaks he had when making the film, with clips from the film rather than any behind the scenes moments, with some repetition on content that's already covered in the documentary proper. He continues to provide an update on Where Are They Now (2:44) at the time of the DVD release, for the top executives of Ken Lay (who is now controversially dead), Jeffrey Skilling, Andy Fastow and Liu Pai who probably got the best deal amongst all for walking away very early. A Conversation with Bethany McLean (7:35) and A Conversation with Peter Elkind (5:05) are talking head pieces with the writers of the book, although containing nothing already heard in one way or another in the film itself.

HDNet's Higher Definition: Highlights from The Enron Show (12:11) is hosted by Robert Wilonsky, critic from the Dallas Observer who conducted separate interviews with the authors of the book Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, while Firesign Theatre: The Fall of Enron (3:17) is a behind the scenes look at the comedy skit broadcast recorded by Firesign Theatre, and more comedy of sorts come from Alex Gibney Reads Enron Skits (4:28), one of which you would have seen in the film, and you really don't know if you should laugh or cry at the blatantness and irony of the jokes.

There are 18 political cartoons included in A Gallery of Enron Cartoons, while Fortune Magazine Articles contains the text reproduction of three articles which are "Is Enron Overpriced" that was featured prominently in the film, "Enron Banks Dodge a Bullet" and "Partners in Crime". Updates on the Web & Enron Book is just a page containing links for the latest information and updates, the book on which the film is based upon and its soundtrack. Rounding up the Bonus Material is a series of Trailers (7:26) for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Bubble, The War Within and League of Ordinary Gentlemen, with a Play All option.