The Last Circus (Balada Triste De Trompeta)

Trouble

A bizarre love triangle set against the historical backdrop of Spain from the 30s to the 70s, with fantastical elements thrown in for good measure, complete with grotesque images that firmly puts this amongst cult favourites demanding an acquired taste. It won writer-director Alex de la Iglesia a Silver Lion at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, and so I'm quite surprised it actually did make it to our shores some two years later given a subject material that is steeped in Spanish history with its allegories, without which it may just appear to be a violently dark film.

It begins in 1937 where a laughing clown is in the process of entertaining children, but for the Spanish Republican militia to rudely interrupt the circus act to conscript every able bodied man to fight off the insurgent Loyalist forces. The clown is given a machete and he proceeds to really hack off countless of adversary soldiers, before being put down, jailed and soon gets sent to work on the Valle de los Caidos. He leaves his son Javier with advice to be the sad clown because Javier had lost his childhood with the war, and we fast forward to the 70s where the now grown up Javier (Carols Areces) finally heeds his dad's advice and got a job as a sad clown, playing opposite the laughing clown Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), a sadist behind the makeup, but so popular that he's single-handedly responsible for the circus' financial viability.

Of all people, Javier has to fall in love with Sergio's wife, the acrobat Natalia (Carolina Bang), who herself is quite the cock-tease for stringing Javier along, who personifies the type of girl who just cannot pull herself away from the bad boy. Javier insists that she leaves Sergio during one of their secret outings at night, and soon the entire narrative blows apart when Sergio catches them together, and beats the living daylights out of both. Here's where everything becomes a little bizarre, with Javier seeking revenge and almost killing Sergio, if not for their fellow circus troupe members sending him for emergency surgery at the nearest vet, causing disfiguring and in essence, puts his inner, ugly personality on the outside for all and sundry. As for Javier, he hides out in a cave stark naked, feeding on animals who drop in, before being caught by a one-time enemy, humiliated, and in a dream sequence, becomes the violent, angel of death strapped with every conceivable gun, going on a rampage to get his lady love back.

While the narrative may be strangely held together by plots that don't really connect, with disparate scenes and sequence of events, it is the imagery that gets put on screen that becomes somewhat magnetic to watch, keeping one glued to how everything would turn out, especially since violence has now entered the picture. Alex de la Iglesia challenges you to keep watching even as he presents some of the vividly horrific scenes of self-mutilation as Javier literally turns into the sad clown, and a gun toting one at that, driven to madness just for the unattainable love of a woman who repeatedly continues to spurn this one time gentle giant of a man, for a drunken who can satisfy her fetish for violent sex. de la Iglesia never shied away from fusing history into his plot, with old newsreel interruptions to point out specific historical milestones that ties in with the story he wants to tell, but the best parts as the film wore on was the battle between the two clowns, with a final shot that's really quite poignant as they become truly who they are, with make pretense in an arena turning into actual, permanent emotions.

If you're up for a film that can easily be a staple in fantastic film festivals, then The Last Circus will be right up your alley. Otherwise the narrative may border a little on the unbelievably absurd, coincidental, and may not actually make much sense, and easily become B-grade exploitative fare if not for its love triangle that connects the protagonist together, and the strong statements Alex de la Iglesia has depicting the tumultuous, violent history of the country.

The Rabbi's Cat (Le Chat Du Rabbin)

No Pets Allowed

Winner of this year's Cesar Awards for Best Animated Film, The Rabbi's Cat directed by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux is based on a comic series by Sfar, which made the narrative seem a little bit too choppy as it sprawls from a focused introduction, to something of a wandering road trip for the second half of the film that didn't seem to have a point other than to drag it out beyond its welcome. Sure it had enough comedy and quirkiness thanks to the titular cat, but alas repetition doesn't serve it well when issues and comical moments get recycled.

The animation of course is gorgeous to look at given that it's something different from the usual Hollywood studio products, and hand drawn rather than something polished off a computer, or dabbling with the 3D gimmick (though I read elsewhere that there was a 3D version overseas, which is strange given the lack of usual 3D styled visuals). The cat itself requires a little getting used to for the way it's designed and drawn, looking quite unlike any cat you've seen, with its elongated facial features and an extremely long tail.

We follow the adventures of the titular cat, who got his speaking voice (by Francois Morel) thanks to an envy and fatal attack which we don't really get to see, against the parrot of his mistress Zlabya (Hafsia Herzi), the voluptuous daughter of the rabbi Sfar (Maurice Benichou), an easy going religious man. He speaks, to the surprise of his owners, and soon declares that he wants to be a Jew, and to complete the bar mitzvah, in order to get Sfar's approval to remain by Zlabya's side (he has the hots for her you see), instead of being chased away as a monstrosity with his new found voice, akin to being the work of the devil.

Much of the narrative for the first half of the film could be seen as an open discussion between religions such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity, set in 1920s Algeria where there's a clash of cultures with the French, as well as the highlighted differences between the various religions, factions and groups that co-existed at the time. One would need to be sensitive of Algeria in that era in order to milk the most of out this picture, given the lack of background focus as it jumps directly into discussions assuming one would be knowledgeable of the issues of the time (so do a little bit of homework first!).

But even if you're not, then the second half's road trip is probably where you can still follow, where a whole host of characters got introduced, such as an Arabic Sheik of the desert (Mathieu Amalric) with whom the rabbi, his cat and their entourage got into a tangle with, a Russian painter and an African girl that they pick up, and a surprisingly little episode involving a famous Belgian reporter and his dog. It's all downhill from there in their quest to find utopia, as the narrative meanders in too episodic a fashion without an end in sight, leaving things quite open ended in its finale perhaps promising of more adventures to come, but is probably a cliffhanger just like chapters in the comic books.

[SFS Talkies] A Small Act

Nothing warms the heart more than passing on an act of kindness that was extended to you, more so when it comes from a total stranger who does not know who you are, and doing it with the intention that the deed will help one's life and change it for the better. And when that opportunity is an education, which most say is one of the major keys in combating poverty and breaking out of the poverty cycle, then you can just about imagine the immense assistance this would have been, especially when one makes it in life, and return to see how those who have not been afforded the same chance, get to be unfortunately languished behind.

Produced by HBO, this documentary written and directed by Jennifer Arnold takes on two narrative tracks, one that tells the story of Kenyan Chris Mburu, who was an exceptional student but if not for the graces of Swede Hilde Back, a Jew who had fled Nazi Germany, he would not have made it to secondary school as he can't afford the fees. Now a successful United Nations human rights advocate, he returns to his home country to set up a scholarship fund of his own, and the other narrative track follows the story of three potential students whom one of them may be a recipient of the same opportunity extended to Chris himself - a paid for education.

Jennifer Arnold puts tremendous focus on each of the real life persons featured in this documentary, taking its time to paint their background and their individual stories, revisiting their past, and providing a snapshot of their present. We learn of Hilde Back in a little more detail rather than to wholly center this film in the African nation of Kenya, and see how she lives a life that's self-sufficient, and never flinching in sieving out opportunities to help others who are less well off, in other parts of the world. Substantial screen time gets devoted to Chris Mburu, his academic path taken and professional career track, since he anchors the film in both narrative arcs, being one who had benefitted from a kind act, and wanting to pay it forward.

But unlike Hilde's rather anonymous effort, this documentary provided a more personal feel in getting somewhat involved in tracing how his scholarship programme got off the ground, and engages the audience as we follow how it will finally boil down to one winner amongst three children featured, all with bright potential, but the resources, always finite, will determine funding for one. It's a little bit heart wrenching to see the kids pit themselves against one another at this level given they are friends, and have comical anecdotes to share, but there's a little ray of light that shone during the end credits that I would be surprised given the level of involvement if it wasn't resolved in that fashion.

Perhaps this documentary will touch and move you in similar fashion to want to do more for the underprivileged, and to contribute within one's means, something meaningful to better the lives of others. It reminds us that giving doesn't necessarily mean to do so with fan fare, extravagance or with ulterior motives, so long as it comes from a willing heart, and a genuine concern in helping others become better people, or to assist in the fulfillment of potential, that hopefully one remembers to pay it forward and snowball such efforts from there, like a ripple effect. This film also helped to open one's eyes to the natural landscapes and issues faced in Kenya, but help doesn't always need to extend to a great distance. Just start in one's own backyard.

Dark Flight (407 เที่ยวบินผี)

Bump in the Dark

Dark Flight 407 may have its being touted as one of the first Thai stereoscopic 3D horror films to help pull in the audience, but I suppose not having the 3D version shown here is telling of the distributor's confidence in the film, which could have been one scary trip, but turned out to be unintentional comedy for the most parts. Filled with horror cliches and a plot riddled with loopholes and really going nowhere if not for knowing its flight path is from Bangkok to Phuket, the only way to enjoy this is to have lots of screaming kids who jump at every cliche to scary, and yell their lungs out for no apparent reason.

Headlined by Masha Wattanapanich whom horror fans here will identify as the star of Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom's Alone, and was in one of the segments in Phobia 2, her character of the air stewardess with a past, having survived an inexplicable fight where she turned out to be the lone survivor, suffers from a very bad script that paid her character little attention, allowing supporting ones to upstage her, and worst of all, involved in a needless twist ending that served no purpose other than to try and be a little bit smart. Written by a slew of writes, one suspects there could be internal competition, rewrites and adjustments everywhere in the story, otherwise how can one account for a tale that ultimately just strung together alternating scary and cliche moments?

Like most airplane related films, we begin on the ground and get introduced to a whole host of personalities scheduled to be on board Sunshine Airlines SA407, where we have an obnoxiously alpha-wife (Anchalee Hassadivichit), her meek bespectacled husband (Poramet Noi-Um) and kid (Patree Taptong) who is engrossed with her flight simulator game on her ipad. Right, that already tells a lot. Then there's a Hong Kong girl who doesn't seem a bit from Hong Kong (Sisangian Siharat), a surfer dude complete with dreadlocks (Namo Tongkumnerd), an old woman who's afraid to fly, a monk for convenient's sake, and a number of Caucasians there to contribute to body count. The flight attendants besides Masha's New, include an effeminate male attendant (X Thiti), and if I recall correctly I read an article before where the flight attendants have to dance the safety procedures out, which they do on board the plane before it takes off. To round things up, a technician (Peter Knight) accidentally got locked up in the cargo hold, and happens to share some emotional background with New.

Once in the air, the fun begins. Apparently the plane is haunted, and the exterior takes on a new colour and texture change, and internally ghouls start popping up everywhere, threatening all passengers on board, who also begin to hallucinate and turn on one another. It seems that whatever is possessing the plane, knows best to play on man's fears, causing them to imagine fellow peers as spirits, ghouls and goblins, so that they start to attack and kill anyone deemed a threat to their lives. This means plenty of blood spilling, and off screen violence complete with icky sounding bone crushing, stabbings, and other creative use of airline equipment to terminate the lives of another. From something suggested to be on a spiritual realm, Dark Flight turns into an all out slasher film where anyone can be the slasher once they believe what they see.

I get turned off right away when production teams don't respect the real world rules they have to play by especially for airport and airline related films. The minute the interior of the airplane came up, I knew this had bad and convenience written all over it, and the filmmakers probably think they can fool everyone and get away with it. Squarish windows don't make the cut, as do seats that look like they come straight out of a bus, in unrealistic cabin configuration as well, with gaping spaces in between and such. Even the interiors of the worst budget airlines don't look like this, and don't get me started on the unrealistic aisle space that allows for two food trolleys to be pushed side by side to each other.

The rare positives to come out of this films include the make up and special effects, that made the spirits featured look genuinely creepy, although director Isara Nadee seeemed to have run out of ideas fast when deciding how to make them appear and haunt the passengers. The worst technique employed was it crutch to milk its 3D production values, deciding it was best to almost always have a shot of spirits angled perpendicular to the camera, and reaching out toward it with hands grasping. Do it once to startle those wearing the 3D glasses, but to the rest, it just looks plain stupid when used repeatedly, betraying one's lack of creativity in coming up with distinctly different shock tactics.

Dark Flight turned out to be quite a messy affair, although it could have been a lot more fun if it was a horror-comedy and didn't take itself that seriously, with audiences bound to find many reasons to laugh at the film. The English subtitles were badly done and provided one source of comedy in itself, and there's a moment near the end in what would be a brilliant jab at all things bureaucratic involving a control tower manager, if not for what's to follow during the finale languishing in absurdity and destroying a good build up. As a warning to all potential passengers, watch this at your own peril.

Housefull 2

More Than Three's a Crowd

If I may provide an observation from the outside, it seems that some of the best Indian comedies that do well at the box office involve a certain degree of deceit, at least those based on identities where people pretend to be someone else they're not, and involving shenanigans that the characters try to keep from one another, with allies and adversaries either into the same scheme, or trying to uncover the truth from the complex web of lies spun, leading to comedy of wit, and loaded with slapstick. The first Housefull was a riot, but I guess when you try to pack a house with more characters, it reaches breaking point and disintegrates instead of bringing it up to a while new level.

Given that this is not a direct sequel to the first film, where Akshay Kumar was playing a Loser, such a Loser, only the ideas and key moments got repeated here in trying to establish and repeat a formula of success, which if this film proves to be successful at the box office, is sure to be used again for yet another film. And this involves comedy revolving around one identity which everyone impersonates to deceive characters in their respective arcs, especially the father and family figures, in order to earn the hand of the girl they so desire, and having everything come together in a big mansion which provides plenty of opportunity for opinions to clash, and to be avoided.

In essence, there are four pairs of lovebirds now, who mostly start off as adversaries only for make pretend turning into something real, and that took almost the entire first half of the film to plod through before the interval, jet setting between London and a beach resort that provides for plenty of swimwear modelling moments, and a number of ridiculously crafted wire-fu action sequences, coupled with the most absurd cases of courtship rituals. But I guess all these play into what's known as the equivalent of Hong Kong's mo-lei-tau brand of fun. So if you enjoy such madcap moments, including rubber animals being passed off as the real McCoy, then surely you won't be bored here.

Otherwise, the second half kicks things into gear. centered around Jai (Shreyas Talpade) and his revenge against Daboo (Randhir Kapoor) who had insulted his family honour. Daboo is in turn loggerheads with his step brother Chintu (Rishi Kapoor), and both of them create another rivalry to see whose daughter can marry the scion of the richest man in London, Jolly (Ritesh Desmukh), who happens to be Jai's friend. So they enlist the help of confidence trickster and small time pickpocket Sunny (Akshay Kumar) and Max (John Abraham) to go after the two men's daughters Henna (Asin Thottumkal) and Bobby (Jacqueline Fernandez), while at the same time Jai and Jolly have their individual women challenges in Parul (Shazahn Padamsee) and JLo (Zarine Khan) respectively, the former being strung around because of Jai's indecision, while the latter setting an ultimatum to become Mrs Jolly, only because Jolly has father-issues and cannot bring himself to communicate with his dad, Forbe's man of the year JD (Mthun Chakraborty).

Throw in another dad in Parul's with Boman Irani in the role of Batook Patel, a one time police inspector who shares a history with JD, put them all together in JD's sprawling mansion, and with all the four guys pretending to be Jolly one time or another in their respective arcs, you would hope for a lot of comedy to spring up, which they sometimes do thanks to Johnny Lever as JD's butler Vishwas Patil, the only one who suspects a rat amongst the shenanigans. The fun was of course witnessing the web of confusion spun by Akshay Kumar 's Sunny - who again is unfortunately memorable for his crazy sticking-of-the-tongue-out gesture - and how those in the know continue to pull wool around the eyes of the father figures. But alas this dragged on for far too long, and had a resolution that's of the most convenient.

Compared to the first Housefull, this edition seemed like it wanted to play catch up, and if the predecessor can do something, so can it. With the Queen's appearance in the first, this one followed up with a Prince Charles lookalike who didn't look a like, finding opportunity to pull a fast one with a random Camilla joke. The initial rivalry between Akshay Kumar and John Abraham's characters also seemed like a pale shadow to what's already seen and experienced in their most recent collaboration in Desi Boyz, so to dedicate significant screen time for this was like watching that film all over again. The songs also weren't as fun as its predecessor, save for Papa Toh Band Bajaye which was accused of ripping off We Speak No Americano, and the ultra sexy Right Now Now where you have three couples frolicking in the mansion to the disbelief of Vishwas since they're all romancing, in his opinion, the wrong partners.

If only the set up took the more direct route and trimmed itself down rather than to bloat it through a lot of unnecessary bickering and out of this world romancing, because the second half, except the finale, was the highlight. As mentioned, I still have to figure out Bollywood comedies which I suspect could have a lot more dialogues being lost in translation, but still this failed to reach the heights and level of fun set in the original. Still, if this does well at the box office, there could be yet another installment utilizing the same formula, and it remains to be seen then if another set of cast can work the spirit of the original rather than try to be a clone.

The Vow

Mind Mapping

Inspired by real events, the Vow takes a cold hard look at how we are who we are because we're made up of memories that shape our lives, and if taken away from us, we can almost be someone else, because we're robbed of what we had remembered, and from there the experiences drawn that craft our actions and reactions. Not to mention the opportunity to relive and take a different path in choices presented, although what we cannot have is to rewind the ticking biological clock that continues to surge forward.

If five recent years of our lives were to be wiped out and we cannot remember what had transpired, with scant records lying around and even so they don't do squat in jogging our memories, how would we cope, and how would others, especially loved ones or enemies even, cope? There will be frustration as normalcy is slowly eased into a life we never knew, loved ones will be exasperated when we spurn their care and concern because they're strangers to us now, and enemies may find it timely to exact revenge, or take the easy path to reconciliation since we cannot remember what had transpired.

This forms the premise for The Vow, which starts off just as the trailer presented, with married couple Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) getting involved in a car accident, and Paige suffering the brunt of the impact because she had her seat belt unbuckled (traffic safety warning so subtly sneaked in). In a comatose state, Paige cannot remember who Leo is after she wakes up, and thus begins the road forward in trying to jolt her back to remembering what would be the best years of their lives in Chicago.

A good part of the film transpires in flashbacks to set the movie firmly in the romance genre, showing how the couple met, their courtship, their marriage and lifestyle, with him still involved in a sunset industry with the setting up of a recording studio, and she pursuing the dream of being an artist much to her parent's disdain in wanting her to become a lawyer. Played by Sam Neill and Jessica Lange, Paige parent's see the chance to reclaim their estranged daughter back into the household which Leo fights tooth and nail against, and Lep's story dwells a lot on this contention on which party should be able to provide the best care - the one with money, or the one with love.

Complication and challenges come from an ex-fiance (Scott Speedman) who sees it apt to try and woo back his one time love without much effort since in Paige's mind she's still engaged to him, and not married to Leo, and with Paige's automatic drift toward her graduate school days and her friends then, leaving Leo pretty much in the lurch when he decides to tag along just to make sure she's safe.

With the leads having cut their teeth in Nicholas Sparks film adaptations to date with The Notebook and Dear John, both Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum I might add, have what it takes to play lovebird in a romantic film outside of the Sparks series. McAdams nails it playing almost two characters, one spoilt and very much dependent on others, and the other fiercely independent who leads her own life the way she wants to. This causes trouble and pain for Leo, which Tatum to my surprise tackles it quite well, having come from being a dancer to an action star and perhaps now a bona fide romantic lead.

Together they share incredible chemistry that makes you root for their coming back together again somehow, especially with Leo's lofty ideals that wooing his wife all over again will be a walk in the park and a piece of cake since she had done it before and will perhaps do it again, but I guess the harsh reality is that it's never that simple to expand effort and not expect something in return, which in this case expectations built by one does prove to be a bummer when the returns aren't exactly what was planned for, especially with the increasing amounts of cold shoulders, being ignored and witnessing someone carry on their lives as if you don't exist.

What I thought was interesting in the narrative is how it played out almost like a time travel movie, where we're presented the current timeline, that got interrupted and we go back to a past where the couple hasn't met yet, and then from that point tangent off into an entirely new timeline in itself. Moments become a big deal in the film as the monologue narration makes a huge point about the impact that moments can have, and in some ways it's true to life if you reflect upon what makes you, and how you remember events in specific, memorable snapshots.

Released during the Valentine's Day week in the USA and only finding its way to our shores now, The Vow will still pack an emotional punch for couples out there who will likely flock to this like bees to honey, and Kleenex may be the order of the day as well. It's really very standard lovey dovey moments and time spent apart that drives everyone in the film, but just how it played out in the end really served to anchor this with a heavy dose of reality without the need to pander to the general romantic inclinations of how a romantic movie must end. I like possibilities, and The Vow firmly delivered on that promise.

American Reunion

Check That Out!

It was 1999 that American Pie launched what would be a series of teenage sex comedies, given a relatively cost effective formula loaded with nudity and toilet humour, that exploded at the box office and made everyone sit up to take note which of its cast members would go on to make it big. The film spawned two more films that would culminate in a wedding, before going direct to video in the many spin offs lie Band Camp, Naked Mile, Beta House and Book of Love that had very little links to the main characters. It's almost a decade already, and it's perhaps time to put those spin off films to rest, and bring back the original cast and their characters to the big screen in a logical reunion. And why not, given that the individual cast members never really made it to the big league, that coming together in a show of unity may rekindle memories of an audience who grew up with them from 1999's original, and in some ways provide one last shot in the arm for their individual careers.

And so it's a warm hello to old friends with whom we have last left off without much of a closure for all the characters, and like a real reunion, we discover just what our friends have been up to during the course of their absence in our lives. Some are successful, others not, and some are depending on what definition you're using. There's Jason Biggs as Jim Levenstein who's still married to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) with a kid in tow and having trouble with their non-existent sex lives, Oz (Chris Klein) being a successful television sports anchor and celebrity with a model girlfriend (Katrina Bowden), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) who's also happily married but dreading a very routine lifestyle filled with TV and more TV, who would have thought Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) being very much of an all round adventurer, and Stifler (Seann William Scott) the jock who, well, according to unwritten rules, finds himself in between jobs, getting really nowhere in his career, and still bearing a grudge towards Finch for nailing Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge).

Some things never change too, as we usually find out during meet ups with old friends, old flames and once rivals, that when we rekindle the past, we'll at times tangent into the what ifs. And there are plenty of such situations that make up the narrative of Reunion, with Jim having to fend off the advances of his neighbour Kara (Ali Cobrin), whom he babysat a long time back and is now a nubile 18 year old eager to lose her virginity to Jim, and both Oz and Kevin discovering old feelings with their exes Heather (Mena Suvari) and Vicky (Tara Reid). Stifler faces challenges at work especially that threatens to cancel his attendance at the school reunion ball, while Finch seems to get onto a real relationship with Selena (Dania Ramirez).

There's also the return of the evergreen favourite, Jim's dad (Eugene Levy), now a widower but still finding time to talk about sexuality very openly to an always embarrased Jim, and that of a slew of supporting characters from the earlier films that I will not name to contain the surprise. But it's a full reunion as the filmmakers pulled out all the stops in order to make sure of a proper representation rather than a half-hearted event, in order not to short change the audience. And surprisingly though that directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg seemed to have restrained themselves a lot from their Harold and Kumar days, and like touching a holy grail of teenage sex comedies, treated the material and characters here with a lot of respect rather than going for the jugular because getting the team back together again with a valid excuse will seem like a long way ahead.

But when the jokes came, they came fast and furious since we have Stifler in the party and ensuring that his posse of friends get the best deal out of their short weekend stay in town, and this balances out with more dramatic moments which can be seen coming from a mile away. Stifler's party forms the centerpiece where the shit hits the fan, and for all the amount of nudity in the earlier movies, American Reunion would win for being the tamest of the lot, toning blatant nudity down by a lot of notches, and keeping things in relative PG mode as the narrative chugged along drama rather than comedy, for the most parts of the second half anyway.

The first American Pie film garnered an R21 rating here, and this one, although having full front male genitalia on display, male on male kissing, the requisite foul language and subject matter that will earn it an R21 easily, its M18 rating perhaps also reflected a relatively loosening of ratings here in Singapore, although this remains to be seen whether one off, or gets sustained and gradually loosened up even more as time goes by. Still, American Reunion, whatever the rating, is definitely for franchise fans (whether considering the direct to video titles or not), and I really enjoyed how it went full circle in the group's reunion in their final scene together. Hopefully this breathes new life into the relatively forgotten careers of most of the cast here. If you're a fan, then what are you waiting for?

Mirror Mirror

The Fairest of Them All

Not only are comic book characters finding screen time in the cinemas, but fairy tale ones as well, with films such as Red Riding Hood going through a reinvention of the character, as does Snow White this year with no less than two big budgeted productions, each with its unique take on the character in what would be a face off between Lily Collins and Kristen Stewart in the title roles, one still very much that demure teenager, while the other going by the trailers happen to be more warrior princess instead.

The Snow White I believe most of us know is likely the Walt Disney version, her trademark being that of her songs, dance, and ability to uncannily communicate with birds and other small, cute animals. Tarsem's Snow White does the same too, well almost, albeit influenced in more Bollywood terms with the supporting dancers, their twirls, colours and costumes on display (designed by the late Eiko Ishioka), and she's basically is on a mission to rediscover her kingdom's penchant for celebration all over again given the void after the disappearance of her father the King (Sean Bean). After all, Lily Collins shows she's up to the mark and a bona fide Disney-ish version with the provision of her singing voice (hey, she's Phil Collin's daughter!) in I Believe (In Love) in a sequence that could be liken to be as out of place as Jai Ho in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

But while her Snow White is that demure damsel who's the fairest of them all, she also does show a little bit more character in her ability and grit determination to wield a weapon to wage war against her enemies, namely her stepmother The Evil Queen (Julia Roberts) and her minions, made up of court bootlicker Brighton (Nathan Lane) and other mystical creatures, including her own magic mirror reflection in a stunning CG sequence each time she calls out to her. But don't expect a full on battle ala the other Snow White played by Kristen Stewart, as this one gets trained by her seven thieving dwarves who decide that she joins them in their mission if she wants to continue seeking refuge in their humble abode, and passes with having looks, brains and brawn, with plenty of heart going out to her people when she learns of the truth of the suffering in the villages.

Visionary director Tarsem Singh is well know for the imagery of his films, full of the fantastical, strange, but always fascinating view of the created world. While his previous film Immortals may have suffered by the lack of a strong plot and action that made it look like a poor cousin to 300, he's back in his element with Mirror Mirror, providing the audience a visual treat while treading on a story structure that is familiar with most, which more or less follows the line of the evil Queen being jealous of Snow White's beauty and gets rid of her, only to have the planned assassination attempt botched with the killer taking pity, her venturing into the woods and meeting up with the seven dwarves, with the Queen poisoning her with an apple, and to be rescued by Prince Charming, or in this case, a certain Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) from Valencia.

But be warned that this version too may not go down well with some, especially since the story by Melisa Wallack reworks most of the major details on how the Prince meets up with Snow White, playing a major role here rather than appearing as a cameo at the end, and giving each of the seven dwarves completely different personalities, with names like Napoleon (Jordan Prentice), Half Pint (Mark Povinelli), Grub (Joe Gnoffo), Wolf (Sebastian Saraceno), Grimm (Danny Woodburn), Butcher (Martin Klebba) and Chuckles (Ronald Lee Clark), who are almost Robin-Hood like in a subplot about not being loved, and discriminated against. But thankfully some of their personalities come across with good natured humour.

Much has been said of Julia Robert's role as the sarcastic Queen whose heart is filled with plenty of black humour, and her character is quite man-crazy, finding it necessary to quickly hook up a rich prince/king in order to continue with her lavish lifestyle at the expense of the kingdom's coffers, raising taxes to fund her whims and fancies. Probably the first Snow White story to have both the Queen and Snow White tussle for the love of the Prince, all I can say is Armie Hammer, who did a great job as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network and as J. Edgar's right hand man, continues to impress in his roles - in this one having a shirtless running joke - that I am anticipating his turn as The Lone Ranger come next year. Lily Collins will have you believe she IS Snow White, and carries what is expectant of the fairest of them all pretty well, and doesn't make you wonder why so many become mesmerized by her beauty. But flower vase she is not, as she has two missions to fulfill, one to bring back laughter to her kingdom, and to track down the whereabouts of her father.

Mirror Mirror has plenty of tongue in cheek jokes, and slapstick scenario at times, that puts it close to being an outright comedy, yet not quite. Instead it's as close to what a fairy tale will look like on the big screen with the plenty of beautiful sets and scenarios crafted for the characters to operate in that made it quite dream like, and Tarsem being at his element in crafting a visually impressive outing that draws first blood in rival Snow White films. The I Believe (In Love) segment has already earned brownie points from me, so let's see what the other Snow White film can come up with something unique. Recommended!

Melancholia

The Unhappy Bride

Melancholia will probably be best known for two things, that Kirsten Dunst showcased that she can be a serious actress rather than just another pretty face for yet another summer blockbuster, and for writer-director Lars von Trier's disastrous 2011 Cannes Film Festival press conference for the movie that resulted in him being declared persona non grata. Which is unfortunate because Melancholia proved to be von Trier's magnum opus to date, like how Malick's The Tree of Life had an epic operatic feel to it, so too does this film in taking on science fiction proportions when dealing with the issue about how different people treat and approach life in different fashion.

The first few minutes of the film will take your breath away. With detailed imagery and slow motion, complete with CG laden effects, this prologue puts up almost all the issues and themes that von Trier has injected into a simple, straightforward narrative. If Tree of Life showed the creation of Life at the beginning, von Trier's film deals with the end of Life as we know it, culminating in the destruction of planet Earth quite unlike the usual asteroid smash, but rather a bigger planetary object obliterating everything in its path. It sets up the finale because of this preemption, and the ending was nothing short of balls dropping scary when maximum impact becomes imminent.

And how we deal with the expected end of the world, is the focus of Melancholia and its characters, specifically that of Justine (Kirsten Dunst), her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and Claire's husband John (Kiefer Sutherland), each personifying very broad categories of people and attitudes that we adopt and can identify with. The narrative is broadly split down the middle into two arcs, each titled under the sisters. The first is set during Justine's wedding to Michael (Alexander Skarsgard), relatively ostentatious at John and Claire's resort home, complete with huge mansion and its own 18 hole golf course. Things all look mighty fine and dandy at first, blushing bride and all, until ugliness started to rear its ugly head in almost every aspect, from a disgruntled mom (Charlotte Rampling), womanizing dad (John Hurt), a disrespectful boss (Stellan Skarsgard), and even a sister who's a little too uptight in the planning of the wedding event.

The layers get peeled away systematically in what I thought was the more human-centric of the narrative in the first arc, dealing with a lot of characters, and each an aspect and facade of Justine's life, which isn't as rosy as we thought it was to begin with, but full of troubles and woes, hidden behind an extremely emotional and unstable person who finds herself wandering in and out of festivities, either dozing off, giving back as good as she got, or having random sex with someone she hardly knows. On her wedding day, yes, obliterating relationships with almost everyone in her life. And a nonchalant observation of a distant star by Justine set the stage and premise for the next arc, which deals with an impending doom where Earth gets threatened as it gets in the way of an inter-planetary collision course. Part of the appeal in this first arc as compared to the second, more intimate interaction between the key characters, is the ensemble cast who make their rounds playing various support roles here from family members to friends.

Developed by Lars von Trier when he was fighting a bout of depression, and working on the plot with Penelope Cruz who would have been Justine if not for her opting of the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, Justine is von Trier's depressive experience rolled into the character, with Kirsten Dunst exhibiting her best in being all confused, troubled and finding it paralyzingly difficult to even perform the simplest of chores in taking care of herself. This character is of course in direct contrast with her sister Claire, who perhaps is the more normal of the three in exploration, dealing with how some would give way and panic, as compared to an already depressed state that cannot care any more, when faced with troubles and doom beyond one's control. Then there's John, who is constantly in denial with his belief that Earth can pull off a great escape, and finds an escape outlet himself when faced with irrefutable facts about how things would turn out.

And in between these character studies, is a plot and story that will find agreement with science fiction fans, and a cinematography that is most upsetting and unsettling, as it contains a lot of uncomfortable close ups that usually frame a person's facial features and expression, with little else during interaction. Production values for this film is kept remarkably high, despite knowing how von Trier can also work with sparse or sets that are close to nothing such as Dogville and Manderlay. Melancholia is a film to be experienced for its audacity and grandeur, and of course if you have never been convinced by Kirsten Dunst's acting chops, then this film will perhaps surprise the sternest of detractors.

Book Launch: The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide To Film Festivals by Rona Edwards

OK this isn't exactly film related, but I guess a book launch for this title should make some sit up and take notice.

Date: 21st April 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 2.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m.
Venue: Kinokuniya Singapore Main Store (Ngee Ann City), Crossroads

Hollywood film and television producer Rona Edwards has collaborated with Monika Skerbelis, a former studio executive to write The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Festivals, the first step-by-step ‘How To’ guide to film festivals, offering filmmakers a bird’s eye view of what it takes to have a successful festival experience. The book includes practical, hands-on information with examples such as targeting the right festivals, creating a press kit, promoting and branding your film and yourself.

Rona Edwards is currently an assistant professor at Chapman University Singapore, one of the top film schools in the world, and has previously also written the critically acclaimed book I Liked It, Didn’t Love It: Screenplay Development from the Inside Out with Monika Skerbelis. Together, they also founded Edwards Skerbelis Entertainment Film Workshops Online – an online website that provides a unique opportunity to learn the ins and outs of today's Hollywood from working industry professionals via online workshops.

Aspiring filmmakers, here’s your chance to meet Rona Edwards in person during the launch of The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Festivals at Books Kinokuniya on Saturday, 21st March 2012 at 2.00 p.m. Grab this opportunity to pick up useful tips on film festivals and also get your copy of Rona Edwards’ new book signed personally by her.

The Woman in Black

Ghostbuster

Is there screen life after Harry Potter for Daniel Radcliffe? The answer is a resounding yes, going by how the actor has now matured and is able to carry an entire movie on his own, and better yet, having extended scenes with nothing else but his character on screen the entire time, groping in the dark, figuring out what's lurking behind sinister shadows, looking afraid, yet resolute in sticking to what he's been tasked to do for family.

The Woman in Black, based on the novel by Susan Hill and is still an actively staged play, has more working for it than just Daniel Radcliffe's singular presence on screen. It's adapted for the big screen by Jane Goodman, responsible for adapting some of the best, in my opinion, stories in recent years such as Stardust, Kick-Ass, The Debt and X-Men: First Class. And director James Watkins may only be one film old, that effort was the remarkable Eden Lake, and he follows up that horror effort which was more slasher, with one that's more ghoulish here. I suppose having a strong story, which kept to its spirit (pardon the pun) rather than to follow verbatim, worked wonders, and Watkins pulls out all the stops despite having to dig in deep from the bag of old scare tactics and tricks.

Radclife plays the lawyer Arthur Kipps, who's given one final chance by his company to prove himself by heading out to a remote village to wrap up the paperwork for a, well, spooky mansion. A widower, he reluctantly bids his son farewell, and hops onto the next train hoping everything could be completed in time for the weekend, where he can be back in London to spend quality time with his kid. But Murphy's Law means that desire never really got fulfilled, as Arthur takes it upon himself to find out what exactly was going on in town when kids happen to die during his visit, with the villages adamant that he packs his bags and head home.

And with kids dying and dropping like flies, it got really creepy from the get go, where three girls inexplicably take off from their attic window, complete with eerie sounding music, and scary looking toys that seem to be popular items used by the art director to pepper the set with. And as a friend puts it, one can't really go wrong with haunted mansions, as we get one main mansion and a few other for red herring fun, but nonetheless having them milked for light and shadow play to perfection, complete with long dark corridors, creaking staircases, and a beautiful marsh in its immediate perimeter that isolates the house from civilization when the tide comes in. And when Watkins amplifies the horror quotient from the midway point with Arthur single handedly exploring what's behind some fast moving shadows and whispering noises, be prepared to let out a little girlie scream now and then, because such scary moments catches you offguard even though you're primed with anticipation of the usual tricks that come out of the bag. They all worked quite effectively to make you squirm a little in your seat.

The Woman in Black isn't all just silly scares with little substance though. At its core it wrapped things up pretty nicely in a sort of bittersweet fashion, and given its success at the box office, a sequel has recently been announced. The strength comes in the characters and their potential in adding a lot to the plot, such as Ciaran Hind's rich landowner Mr Daily, and his wife (Janet McTeer) who goes into a trance, seemingly possessed by their deceased kid who communicate through his mom. Mr Daily on the other hand isn't quite the believer despite the strange incidents happening around town, and proves to be quite the reliable ally for Arthur to maintain his sanity. As already mentioned, Radcliffe's Arthur will draw you to his cause as the man who's backed to a corner professionally, and having supernatural disturbances is the last thing he needs to derail his putting food on the table.

What also worked in the film's favour is its period setting, which somehow provides an additional dimension to the level of creepiness throughout, with plenty of shades of black and grey. The art direction is superbly handled, as is the cinematography and its score by Marco Beltrami, where without these strong technical attributes, The Woman in Black will probably pale in comparison to its film peers. It isn't everyday that a horror film has elements that clicked and don't come off as silly, so if you're in the mood for a little creepiness, then this film will undoubtedly and should be your choice. Recommended!

36th Hong Kong International Film Festival Index Page

Reviews
- Beautiful 2012 (World Premiere)
- Go! Boys' School Drama Club / 行け！男子高校演劇部
- Love in the Buff / 春嬌與志明 (World Premiere)
- Robo-G / ロボジー (International Premiere)
- Side by Side
- Vulgaria / 低俗喜劇 (World Premiere)

HK FILMART Reviews
- Nightfall / 大追捕
- The Second Woman / 情谜

Interview
A Conversation With Shinobu Yaguchi, Writer-Director of Robo-G

Press Conference
Painted Skin II The Ressurection / 画皮 II
Saving General Yang / 忠烈杨家将

Red Carpet / Stage Appearance
6th Asian Film Awards Red Carpet
6th Asian Film Awards Results
Beautiful 2012
Love in the Buff / 春嬌與志明
Master Class - Keanu Reeves

[HKIFF 2012 Interview] A Conversation With Shinobu Yaguchi, Writer-Director of Robo-G

It isn't everyday that you get to meet one of your favourite film directors in person, and get a 15 minute window to have a quick conversation before the International Premiere of his latest film takes place. Shinobu Yaguchi was in Hong Kong to introduce his latest film Robo-G, and to interact with the audience in a post-screening Q&A, and I've managed to get a window of opportunity to speak with him before the festivities started.

Many thanks and gratefulness to the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Vera and Cici of New Point Marketing and especially Mr Shinji Sakoda, General Manager, Licensing & International Business Affairs, Pony Canyon Inc, for his immense help in bridging the language barrier as the volunteer translator between myself and Shinobu Yaguchi. The interview was conducted on 23 March 2012 at UA Cityplaza.

Stefan S: Thank you Shinobu-san for agreeing to and making time for this interview. You have been credited for perfecting the zero to hero, feel good film formula. How did you develop and create that?

Shinobu Yaguchi: I want to make the protagonist's image, so that from the audience point of view, they can feel that "it is me". It's unlike making the hero a "Hero" in the beginning, as I want to create the image of the protagonist such that he may not even start from zero, but even from here, minus, then in that way the audience can feel, oh it's me, or this image is just next to me, and can feel close and attached to the protagonist.

Stefan S: That's an interesting way to craft it the way you do, that even other filmmakers see and start to adopt almost the same formula for their films. Are movies like yours considered more mainstream or festival fare in Japan?

Shinobu Yaguchi: It doesn't matter. I've never thought about it that way, as long as the film can make it and play in the theatres.

Stefan S: I haven't seen Robo-G the movie yet, and will be doing so later tonight during its International Premiere. Robots have lately been explored by other filmmakers in other countries such as the 2 huge Indian blockbusters on robots and artificial intelligence. What provided you the inspiration for making your own robotics or artificial intelligence related movie?

Shinobu Yaguchi: There have been many robot movies from Hollywood and elsewhere, and it's never my intention to compete with them. It's not that way. The reason why I made this film is because of the inspiration I felt from the ordinary Japanese manufacturing companies that try to make and develop their own humanoid robots.

Stefan S: In the movie, a man takes the place and goes inside, pretending to be the robot and this poses interesting questions, and I would like to ask if this is a message that robots, no matter how sophisticated, cannot do without human input, program or instruction?

Shinobu Yaguchi: You'll be surprised when you watch this film tonight. This film is not the film about robots. The way I see it in Hollywood robot movies, many of them try to reach out and show that the finest robots can be made nearly human. However this film is more about the people and developers who are forced to develop robots in a short span of time, and in attempting to make their creations real, they've to resort to relying upon and putting a person into the robot to make it robot-like. This film is about the developers and the people behind the robots, and not about the robot itself. Moreover, like Honda or Sony which are big manufacturers that are trying to make and develop their own robots, there are also smaller companies in Japan nationwide that are also developing their own, and with this as a background, I thought that this film and concept will work will for an audience.

Stefan S: Youth is something key in your previous films, and although you have used an elderly person in Robo-G, he's still very young at heart. What is your fascination with the theme of youth that's being revisited frequently in your movies?

Shinobu Yaguchi: I wanted to see what is the total opposite image for a person who is tasked to fit inside a robot suit. From that idea, I decided to pick up from the thought of an old guy in it, which could be a total mismatch, and this opposite can be humorous.

Stefan S: Now that you made a film about robots, what do you hope the field of robots and artificial intelligence would one day achieve in the future beyond being stuck at research labs and science fairs as depicted in the film?

Shinobu Yaguchi: Developers of robots seem to want to develop robots as house mates, in supporting roles. In my film Robo-G, this robot creates many problems for the people surrounding it. But under these trouble filled circumstances, the people involved in these crucial situations have to develop themselves in order to survive well in those circumstances. In the future, because of that, it may seem perhaps that "useless" robots may even be used to make human development better, like Robo-G.

Stefan S: And as always I usually like to round the session up by asking, what is your next film project, if you can share and divulge?

Shinobu Yaguchi: First of all Robo-G has to be a big hit, then it's possible to get another chance to work on a new project with sponsors coming on board. My desire now is to make Robo-G a big success.

Stefan S: Thank you very much, and I wish Robo-G all the best and success during its festival circuit run, and in its commercial release as well!


You can read my review of Robo-G here.

The Flowers of War (金陵十三钗 / (Jin Ling Shi San Chai)

We'll Figure A Way Out

Between the nominees in the recently concluded 6th Asian Film Awards, I would have thought Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung was the shoo in for the Best Newcomer Award given his heartfelt performance in Giddens Ko's You Are The Apple of My Eye, but trust Chinese director Zhang Yimou to have unearthed yet another fine Chinese actress in Ni Ni, whose starring role in his Nanking war epic The Flowers of War have had the jury sit up and take notice, and given her the award instead. And having seen her in action, I dare say it is something truly deserved even though it was at best a support character rather than a leading one.

The lead is of course Christian Bale, starring in what would be his first Chinese production, and a major one at that, that both sides can claim a coup, one in having a major Hollywood star be at the centre of one of the most tumultuous times in Chinese history, and the other getting involved in a production that brings him back in touch with his Empire of the Sun days in telling a tale set during World War II. Nanking has always been at the centre of controversy for the Japanese's refusal to admit to the atrocities committed and to downplay the number of casualties involved, and this has led to numerous films from documentaries to Lu Chuan's excellent City of Life and Death to have dealt with the pain and suffering by the Chinese during the Japanese invasion and occupation thereafter.

The central character to Zhang Yimou's Nanking tale happens to be a young schoolgirl by the name of Shujuan (Zhang Xinyi), escaping from the soldiers who have come to occupy the city, and seeking refuge at their own church and convent school. She narrates the entire tale as seen through her eyes and experience, and naturally she, and her teenage friends, are targets of the soldiers in their lust, pillage and plunder. But the priest of her church had died, and in his place is a fellow teenage caretaker (Huang Tianyuan) entrusted to protect the schoolgirls, who would have been at wits end if not for the timely arrival of mortician John Miller (Bale), caught up in the city and refusing to leave unless being paid for his trip and unwanted services.

Hiding in the same convent happen to be a group of prostitutes from a famed brothel in Nanking, who were promised safe passage and a hiding place within the confines of the church since it's owned by Westerners, and this forces a faction of sorts to emerge amongst John, who sees impersonating a priest to his advantage, the group of working girls, and the convent girls who see the former group as immoral and undeserving to be sharing their hiding place and scarce resources. If anything, this also becomes John's story in keeping things harmonious amongst the groups, and finding it within himself to hold the key to everyone's survival as much as he can, given he's a foreigner and by and large having whatever little influence to keep the Japanese at bay, which is right outside the gated courtyard.

Nanking atrocities have been told countless of times through various mediums and through film, and Zhang had probably decided not to overdo, or overly place a focus on the atrocities committed by soldiers, which becomes tempting to focus on the plenty of blood, gore and of course the much talked about sexual violence against the womenfolk in the city, whatever their age. Rather it's a very distinct three separate acts he adopts that provided different focus each, and that had worked while keeping the narrative keenly on target to dwell on the titular characters. Since the tale started with the invasion of the city, Zhang Yimou sees opportunity in presenting a mini war action film, that deals with one small squad's, and then one Captain's, relentless fight against impossible odds to keep the convent girls safe from harm.

Then it became John's story-arc in his transformation from uncaring drunkard with his skirt-chasing ways, to a man finally woken to the harsh realities of war, and the atrocities that are being committed from right under his nose should he choose to be passive, stand around and watch, or better yet, escape when being presented a chance to do so. And knowing that their prolonged stay at the church isn't a long term plan, his responsibility laid in getting an unused truck working again for their collective escape, as well as to figure out a way to save the young girls from their summons to the Japanese Imperial Army HQ where a cruel, expected fate awaits, giving rise to the notion that there's no such thing as a free lunch / freedom, but a peace enjoyed that had to be repaid many times over. Bale got to exercise his Mandarin again, which is nothing new to the actor, although here his attempts were confined and limited to keywords rather than phrases, communicating with the schoolgirls, and Yu Mo (Ni Ni) the prettiest amongst the working girls, using English since they have been schooled in a convent.

The final focus boiled down to the hatching of an elaborate plot to trick the Japanese as well as to save the innocence of the convent girls. It's no surprise what came up at the end, and the pace takes on a deliberate slow spin in preparation, to provide for reconciliation and heroism to a certain degree, touching on sacrifice and the provision of a fighting chance for the new generation to overcome the obvious adversary faced. This singular event ties everything up together that some may find convenient, but I thought it developed in what would be the best possible manner without the need to sensationalize, and keeping things rather open-ended was probably the best since it would have mirrored the lack of information coming out from a city in lock down mode.

A love story tried to force its way into the narrative, but it proved to be a relatively non-event between Yu Mo and John Miller, with the more interesting scenes involving entire groups from both the prostitutes and the school girls being the most touching of the lot, each knowing what they're in for, yet preferring to look at the brighter side of things despite the doom and gloom hovering over the horizon. Those looking for plenty of war violence will also probably not find this film fulfilling since the focus was on a more human story told from the survivors' point of view as they spend each day, which was a bonus, living in fear and not knowing what was in store for them. It's also a pity that many of the girls and women in the film were reduced to mere glances save for a few vocal ones who have had their names mentioned, or Li Yuemin's Dou and Bai Xue's Lan getting a little bit more screen time for the ordeal they have to go through.

Unlike most Nanking films, Zhang Yimou's film, based upon the novel by Yan Geling, chooses to focus on what would be a great escape, and a singular primary challenge that everyone had to overcome through sheer wit with death as a possible outcome, that makes the film really moving when it broaches the theme about sacrifice. The director's works are commercial fare and accessible compared to his earlier works, and The Flowers of War prove to be no different in offering a big budgeted tale about one of humankind's darkest period in our history. A recommended must watch, although not in the same vein as City of Life and Death which had a more holistic view of the initial days of the Nanking invasion.

War of the Arrows (최종병기 활 / Choejongbyungki Hwal)

Taking Aim

One of the largest Korean blockbusters of last year, it's not too difficult to understand why it's such a crowd pleaser of an action movie. Lone skilled marksmen almost always makes for a beeline at the box office; just look any war film and you'll probably find the sniper the sexiest of the lot for that one shot one kill mantra that gets translated on screen in romanticised terms. If it's a period piece, then that will be the skilled archer, relying on his ranged weapon to take down enemies before they even know what hit them.

But it's not just plain wall to wall action from start to end, as there's a proper story to ground and root the audience emotionally to the characters involved in this period war film. Set in the 17th century, it tells of the brother and sister pair of Nam-Yi (Park Har-Il) and Ja-In (Moon Chae-Won), having to escape from a purge by the King on their household for what would be treason supposedly committed by their father. He sacrifices himself to get them going to one of his friend's abode, where they grow up and Ja-In is soon to be married to their benefactor's son Seo-Goon (Kim Mu-Yeol). But the marriage ceremony got rudely interrupted by the second invasion of the Manchus, who come in full force to plunder, rape and enslave.

Separated from his sister and her groom, War of the Arrows becomes that one man bow-and-arrow Rambo who's forced into violence and killing of anyone standing in his way to be reunited with his sibling. The stage was carefully set to let the audience know just how skilled our leading protagonist is, using what would be his father's famed bow, with the ability to bend his projectiles ala Wanted, except that this is more science than science fiction. For amatuer archers out there, there's also a distinction pointed out by the invading Manchu forces who compare the difference in skillset and equipment used by their lone enemy, involving a shorter and thus more mobile bow as compared to their longer versions, with a half pound arrow tip able to bust through bark, trunk and tear a hole in the body. There's also the crossbow involved, but it's just not as sexy as the traditional stringed weapon.

Writer-director Kim Han-Min maintains a keen pace and never lets the narrative sag once danger sets in from all quarters, with everyone involved, both hunter and prey, realize that the tables can be turned at any time. Battles are kept tremendously tensed, with build up just like how one would arm the bow weapon, building up a good old fashion tension before letting it all rip. And a good balance is struck in keeping things quite varied rather than to be reliant on the stringed weapon all the time, especially since Seo-Goon doesn't have any fighting ability other than the ubiquitous sword. And it's not just kill or be killed as a mantra, as Nam-Yi has decent humanity put into him, never wanting to kill for the sake of, and demonstrating fair play even if the enemies fail to reciprocate.

Park Hae-Il plays the mustachioed leading man with aplomb, and draws you to his cause without much fuss. Everyone will be able to identify with the need to rescue one's family and sibling, and the story has it all to include daring raids and treacherous escapes, heightened by the cat and mouse game of pursuit almost all of the time as it races toward a fantastically set up finale. Moon Chae-Won also won the 2011 Blue Dragon and Daejong Film Awards for Best Mew Actress, and it's no surprise to see why, being the feisty sister who doesn't back down without putting up a good fight, a marked difference in the standard damsel in distress role, which makes the final battle all the more exciting with a random factor thrown into the entire equation.

With all round good performances and a story that sucks you in from the get go, it's a standard fare action film done right, with likable heroes and heroines and villains that you'll love to hate drawing a very clear and distinct line between good and evil, death and survival, that makes this a clear blockbuster and crowd pleaser. It's not every day that one gets to see a Robin Hood equivalent film that's grittier and more gripping with plenty of edge of your seat material, and War of the Arrows is that kind of film done to perfection. Highly recommended!

Sleeping Beauty

Checking For Flaws

With the re-imagination of fairy tales such as the take on Little Red Riding Hood and two upcoming snow white movies in Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsmen, filmmakers are digging deep into fairy tales for inspiration for their stories, giving them a little twist to the characters and scenarios, that sometimes court a little more controversy like in this case.

At first glance, this film is likely to be mistaken for a fantasy adventure for elite club old men, who maintain a hush hush membership to a somewhat clandestine dining club where they are served by naked women, and then for those who want to, get to spend some alone time as well with the girls. The catch however is that these girls are given a tea to drink prior to the nights accompaniment, that sort of works like a date rape drug, but the pact that the old men have to promise to adhere to, is that there should be no penetration. But who's there to check anyway?

Writer-director Julia Leigh in her debut feature puts us there like a fly on a wall, with that exclusive sneak peek into what goes on behind those bedroom doors, but alas like the pact the old men have to keep to, we don't get to see anything in exchange for some privacy, where the narrative fades to black as things get a little more risque. And what we do get to see in having our voyeuristic tendencies fed, is plenty of Emily Browning in the titular role, being moved around, abused even, in her birthday suit, and one wonders if she's really fast asleep given the sick things these men have up their sleeves, and whether their promises of not sticking it in will be kept. All that we're getting is a tease, and suggestion, with little else on offer.

Browning plays a poor university student desperate to make some money on the side, and we don't actually get to see whether she gets paid for spending the nights with random strangers picked up from bars. Her house-mates don't like her for not paying rent on time, and she spends half the time on campus looking for jobs, or sustaining her waitressing one during the nights, or volunteering for some health probes and screening just to earn a quick buck. Opportunity knocks in the form of a job under Clara (Rachael Blake), where discretion is key and expectations get set, and she's to maintain her nubile body and not abuse it with smoke, drink or drugs, which of course this girl of the night finds it hard to do without. Whatever free time also gets spent on a man (Ewen Leslie), with whom she seems to be sustaining a strange, domesticated relationship as well.

We journey with her into her new job, and get to see various old men taking her to bed, treated like a piece of meat. Naturally throughout the course of making it good and getting paid handsomely for her efforts, curiosity will creep in and comes in the form of a spy camera, which she installs during one of the forays to capture and witness for herself how her body would get abused. This set up promises to shock during the end, but all we get is a whimper instead after all the expectations built into the narrative given its premature transitions (at least to audiences wanting more) to the next scene.

Some may say that this may have touched upon the theme of empowerment of her sexuality, but I would prefer to go as far as saying this is like the Emperor's New Clothes. There isn't nearly anything much to see, and the narrative is pretty bland. We spend more time ogling at what's going on because it's so in-your-face and the desperation of the old men somewhat hilarious as well, though we're probably wishing we have membership to such an exclusive club, than to try and peer beneath the veneer of ostentatious clubs. One wonders what Browning sees in the role other than to announce her hastiness in wanting to arrive in the big leagues, thinking that going without clothes could probably fast track her career as the fearless actress willing to bear all for an arty role. She plays her character convincingly, although I'm not quite sure if Sleeping Beauty would give her the mileage she expected to receive.

As a first film, it is daring, bold and provocative, but if you'd sit back and think about it, you're likely to feel, what's the point in this more style than substance film?

ATM (ATM: Er Rak Error / ATM เออรัก เออเร่อ)

Let's See Who Quits First!

I always believe that competition will bring out the best, or the worst, in a partner and oneself, and it's always either fun if things go right, or a challenge if otherwise, during the course of this discovery that could make, or break, relationships. Reality shows like The Amazing Race has demonstrated time and again that the best of couples stick with each other even if decisions or tasks at hand seem to put them at odds, and the worst that could happen after these disagreements given time and other pressures, is the inevitable split given new found hard truths that cannot be reconciled.

As I've mentioned before, GTH is on a roll in its horror and romantic film offerings, and continues this streak with their latest film ATM, a true blue romantic comedy that provides plenty from both genre mixes into one massive film that's suitable for the family, and definitely right up there amongst the best contemporary love stories from around the region. With good looking protagonists providing eye candy while we enjoy and endure their one up-manship against each other, and a story that's kept simple to follow, ATM is one madcap, fun filled adventure about machines gone awry, and the recovery of money from withdrawals that exploited a system glitch.

At the bank they're working at, Jib (Preechaya Pongthananikorn) is assistant department manager in charge of the bank's ATM machines country-wide, while her boyfriend Sua (Chantavit Dhanasevi, last seen in another GTH comedy hit Hello Stranger), happens to be a lowly co-worker in the same bank. There's an employment clause working in the bank, and that is co-workers cannot be dating one another, since it believes that will perpetuate into opportunities for fraud to take place, and while Jib is the unit's clause enforcer, she's essentially leading a hypocritical life since she and Sua are into a relationship for years already, with colleagues none the wiser. To take the pressure off her, Sua proposes and makes arrangements for an upcoming wedding, but they cannot decide just who amongst them should resign.

Then comes an opportunity to resolve this given an ATM glitch in a small town where extra cash got dispensed to an unknown number of people to the tune of a some thousands of Baht. Sua and Jib agrees that whoever is able to recover the amount for their employer will stay employed, and the loser to resign. From then on it's game on, as they try all sorts of means and ways to stay ahead of the game, which is almost akin to finding some needles in a haystack since preliminary investigations churn out no useful information from whatever logs and records the bank would have kept.

Expect plenty of comedy to come from each of the couple in their own respective story arcs in their quest to stay in their jobs. With Jib, there's a small sub plot involving the bank manager's son who joins the company as a trainee and is not bounded by the non-dating rules, doing his very best to try and woo Jib, and on Sua's end, finding himself amongst the small townsfolks trying their very best to hide the fact of their unexpected ATM windfall, and getting himself into a needless romantic triangle involving a young teenage couple when the laundromat's daughter happens to develop a crush on him. Aiding both Jib and Sua is the small town bank branch's manager who has his loyalties tested constantly, and plenty of support characters who add colour to the simple plot, each having their own reasons why they are keeping their ill gotten gains.

The draw here is of course both Chantavit Dhanasevi and Preechaya Pongthananikorn playing a couple who find themselves deep into competition that puts their relationship on the brink of breaking up. Director Mes Tharatorn paces the film expertly and doesn't lose the audience one bit in his brand of humour brought to the table, which is filled with plenty of sight gags and crazy situations that range from an arsenal of jokes stemming from repetition to even toilet humour. Chantavit Dhanasevi continues to show that he's capable of being a comedy leading man without the need to go over the top with his delivery, while Preechaya Pongthananikorn possesses enough sweetness and tenacity to give romantic heroines from Korea and Japan a run for their money, fitting right into the looks department, with great comic timing to boot.

ATM is zany, slapstick, and has just about everything in it that will bring a smile to your face by the time the end credits roll, and the NG clips come on. It's perfect as a date movie, and cements GTH's reputation in competing with the best of romantic comedies that the Japanese and Korean film industries can conjure. Highly recommended, as it slots itself as a genre contender to be amongst this year's best.

A Dangerous Method

Exchanging Notes

A Dangerous Method marks the third film that director David Cronenberg had collaborated with actor Viggo Mortensen, casting him as the famed Sigmund Freud in a tale that examines the relationship between three prominent scientists in the early days of psycho-analysis, with the other two being Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), set in the early 1900s, adapting from the play The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton, which in turn was based on the non fiction book A Most Dangerous Method by John Kerr.

While one of Cronenberg's most accessible and straightforward films as are his other Mortensen starrers in recent years, the story based on real people provides that compelling watch as it takes the viewer on a relatively scientific journey full of hypotheses and theories on psychosis, psychiatry and sexuality even, listening keenly on heavy discussions that even the layman can pick up, and stay engaged that I won't deny may be attributed to the charismatic cast who play their real life counterparts with aplomb. Events that unfold and with scenes set in are based on real incidents, so that provides a bit of historical accuracy, albeit there's always that dramatic license adopted to tell a tale especially involving more private moments amongst the characters.

Michael Fassbender, Hollywood's recent It guy, sets the stage as Carl Jung, who in his active practice in a Swiss hospital sees him introduced to Sabina the patient, brought in from Russia and having treatment by Jung using Freud's methods. A correspondence with Freud results in the two spending time with each other exchanging ideas and concepts, forming a professional friendship although Jung admits to Sabina that he's a little bit wary and apprehensive. Who wouldn't be, when one takes another's theory and sees the results obtained when utilized.

It's a tale about professional rivalry, and how sometimes one's perception of friendship becomes totally jaded when feelings aren't really reciprocated in expected terms, such as when Jung shares his most intimate dreams with Freud for interpretation and analysis, much to his slight disgust for Freud's penchant for dissecting and co-relating everything in fairly sexual terms, but for the reverse to never happen because of the big fear that in doing so renders one vulnerable to the other. And this professional relationship turned rivalry under the most natural and expected terms, with Mortenssen and Fassbender disappearing into their roles thanks to heavy makeup, is what makes this somewhat like a mirror to our own personal life when we reflect upon our own friendships kept.

But with Keira Knightley's Sabina Spielrein in the picture, it provided an additional complexity between the two men, especially when Jung breaks the doctor-patient relationship and enters into a more intimate, sexual one with Sabina, in a certain way also goaded and encouraged by Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel in a minor role), to whom some proponents of free love will credit him for that concept. This adulterous relationship behind the back of Jung's wife Emma (Sarah Gadon) adds a tinge of danger and destruction to the professional life of Jung as it threatens to boil over, with Sabina's emotional instability, and threats of blackmail, especially when rumours and anonymous letters start to fly, points to a difficult resolution in having to confess one's deeds to a mentor or peer. It's not an easy thing to do, and instead of physical violence as seen in the other recent Cronenberg films in A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, this one sees more of a psychological tussle and one-upmanship between the three historical characters involved.

Lush in production values to bring back the early 20th century with sets, costumes, and even an ocean liner thrown in for good measure, what will result in A Dangerous Method will be that spark of interest to read up more about the true life characters involved in this story, to dig a little bit deeper into the theories they created and the ideas they each support and differ from one another. Knightley, without a signature look to hide behind, is memorable as Sabina in the introduction, fighting against her inner demons, and then growing into a confident professional complete with Russian accented English to boot.

Bel Ami

Three's A Crowd

Robert Pattinson is probably trying very hard to shake off his glittering vampire role in Twilight that had earned him millions of fans and followers worldwide, opting to play a shady character who's not very talented, but possessing enough good looks to tempt and seduce his way up the social ladder in 19th century Paris, and to chase fame and fortune by milking the right female connections in his established network. He's a cad with a capital C, without much of a plan except to sleep his way to get what he wants.

The story, by Rachel Bennette based on the 1885 French novel by Guy de Maupassant, deals with the notion of how far good looks can get one ahead in life when one is without much talent or smarts, having a number of doors that can be opened from a simple praise, or a smile, and to have urges satisfied by being emotionally and physically available, even if the former mindset and actions are nothing more than a little play pretense.

This is the classic rags to riches story and the story about insatiable greed in always wanting something more, or someone more beautiful. Pattinson plays Georges Duroy, an impoverished man who just came back from the war front, and given a leg up in life when he runs into an old acquaintance who himself is married to old money. Pattinson almost sets his eye on his friend's wife Madeleine Forestler (Uma Thurman), if not for her to spurn his advances and to set the record straight that she's there only to help him initially in his job as a columnist..

It is Madeleine's doing however, to set him off into the arms of her friend Clotilde de Marelle (Christina Ricci), whose husband is almost always out of town, and soon both Georges and Clotilde become adulterous lovers, made all the more convenient when Clotilde gets their own love nest where they can carry out their illicit affair. In effect Clotilde becomes his sugar mommy, and of course tongues will start to wag and Georges becomes increasingly erratic in not able to control his emotions, before ruining a life that's perfectly set up. But second chances always present themselves, and Georges couldn't get it any better with being reinstated in his job thanks to Virginie Walters (Kristin Scott Thomas), and ultimately being able to get married to Madeleine.

But life isn't all that rosy, with Madeleine spending a lot of time on politics behind the scenes of a revolution spear-headed by the newspaper and editors Georges works for, and herself having her own lovers that Georges was warned way early of, and when Georges starts to plot, things get very ugly indeed as his true colours start to show, emotionally breaking Virginie, and unleashing his vengeance on Madeleine, made all the more worst when he felt he had been played out of a huge chunk of wealth, and going after the innocence of Suzanne Rousset (Holliday Grainger) as revenge against her father and his one-time corporate nemesis.

And the surprise package here is Pattinson. Sure we can take out potshots and laugh at his turn as the glittering, pale vampire involved in a romance that doesn't know when to call it quits, but his effort here as the amorous and the evil Georges Duroy is something to sit up and take notice. But of course the women surrounding him all made him look good as well, with Christina Ricci being relatively underrated here as a woman desperate for true love, while Uma Thurman does quite the about turn now from her early debut during Dangerous Liaisons, progressing from what was once the equivalent of a Suzanne Rousset, to an ambitious woman who will do what it takes to secure a stake in the power play amongst men. Kristin Scott Thomas is perhaps the most underused here, only appearing in a handful of scenes toward the end, playing the most vulnerable of the female characters bearing full brunt of Georges Duroy at his most despicable.

Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod has quite a classy film in their hands, with lush sets and costumes transporting the reader instantly to a period Paris, and with the quality of cast at their disposal, delivered an intensely engaging drama about the temptation and seduction of power, and the incessant obsession with the climbing of the social ladder given the promises of fame and fortune that comes automatically with the ascension of each rung. Recommended!

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

I See Salmon There!

With a title like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, it's either a story about the impossible, or that which deals with fishing. It's thankfully the former which makes it a little more engaging and less of a focus on what could be a solitary activity, and a romance-comedy-drama that centers about the theme of hope, even though this British film has plenty of elements to keep one entertained, especially the good ol British wit and humour that comes fast and furious when the need calls for it.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom whose last film was an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' Dear John, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is based on the novel by Paul Torday, that tells the unlikely romance that sparked between Dr Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor) and investment consultant Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) while working on a theoretically possible project funded by a rich Yemeni Sheikh Muhammad (Amr Waked). Dr Jones, the bureaucrat stuck in a dead end job and happily coasting along in spite of having useless superiors, is the initial skeptic, preferring the status quo than to question and set challenges for himself, being the expert on fishing and a mean fly-fisher himself, while Harriet is that can-do go-getting consultant who doesn't take no for an answer, herself in a sub story arc involving a British soldier sent to the frontlines in Afghanistan.

Together, they work under a programme mooted by the Sheikh to bring salmon fishing to his country, which of course has plenty of detractors especially from extremists who see this as a waste of resources spent on infidel activities involving the West, especially so since Kristin Scott-Thomas' thrash talking Bridget Maxwell, the publicist for 10 Downing Street, sees it as opportunity to raise the Anglo-Yemeni friendship and profile. The character of Bridget Maxwell is probably the one bringing in most of the laughs for her potty mouth ways, with expletives almost always finding their way into her communications, verbal, over the internet, or otherwise, and you'd wonder just how the Prime Minister's Office could have survived one PR disaster after another.

Most of the narrative circled around the friendship and relations formed between the trio of Dr Jones, Harriet and the Sheikh, developing bonds that wouldn't have existed if not for this 50 million pounds project. It's not as if it is about those with plenty of oil money and finding themselves not knowing what to do with it, but about the spreading of far larger ideals that go into community bonding. And the romantic tale almost felt like an after thought into the second half, finding it irresistable not to have now fellow colleagues fall in love because it's a waste of good looking talent not to. There isn't any threat in the film to put things in a spin other than the battle against nature and elements that get systematically addressed, and extremists who don't get air time lest this film gets spun into a war on terror story, aside from an assassination and sabotage attempt.

It's been too long since Ewan McGregor played an Englishman, and one with impeccable manners at that, which is something his character will strike you from the onset, minding his Ps and his Qs, with the penchant for the prim and the proper. The subplot involving a slowly estranged wife was something seen coming since it stood in the way of a possible relationship with Emily Blunt's Harriet, and essentially is a weak point in the narrative that could have been done without, since it added little emotional depth to the plot. Harriet on the other hand had an equally tit-for-tat plot arc that also didn't do wonders for the story, and together they made it feel as if there was a need to throw each character into their respective romance (or lack thereof) arcs with someone else until work got in the way. It didn't help of course when Kristin Scott-Thomas was in her element being cast against type.

ultimately it's a feel good movie about hope and that leap of faith, so long as someone is funding a dream to fruition or failure. The more important central arc of fulfilling the titular dream was the most engaging, with sub plots being nothing more than a distraction that didn't offer any emotional depth, and padded the story to a feature length one. Thankfully there's comedy thrown in now and then, otherwise this would really have been like a solo fishing trip and attempt that calls for plenty of patience for something to finally bite.