Habibie & Ainun

Lovers
We have Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie to thank for in coining that Little Red Dot term for Singapore, which was meant to be derogatory, but as it turned out, it became a nice little moniker that we use from time to time with a certain degree of endearment. Given this biography of the man, based upon his memoirs, I'm now more inclined to think that he was not dismissing our country, and that it was all an honest mistake in having himself misinterpreted. After all, this movie turns up the praise of a man portrayed to have grown from the school of hard knocks, with determination and an impressive professional track record, before being called on to lead the country during times of turmoil. All that within what is essentially a love story.

Aptly titled Habibie and Ainun, director Faozan Rizal firmly put the spotlight on this central relationship, which could be anyone's love story for its struggles, romance and celebration of a union between two people, charted over more than 5 decades to the matrimonial vows of till death do us part. With the real BJ Habibie's inputs during the production process, Faozan assures the audience of authenticity of the highest degree, where we follow the charming courtship of Ainun, share and peek into Habibie's ideals and prime motivation in life, and follow his career both in Germany and Indonesia where he rose to become a prominent engineer and businessman.

Actor Reza Rahadian nailed all the mannerisms of Habibie just right, from the limited news reels I've seen of the real man from time to time on television, so it's not hard to compare how, in biographical films, the leading man disappears and on comes his persona of the person he's portraying, down to that hearty laughter. Bunga Citra Lestari as Ainun was a little bit wasted in character though, because it became a tale of two halves for the character. Starting off as immensely likeable and independent, her role once she becomes a wife, somehow took a backseat, as if mirroring and in parallel to some aged old Asian tradition of the dutiful wife who stays in the background rather than continuing in her independent ways. Or at least that's not how the film had the character come across.

And given that it's a love story, expect nothing more than the usual cliches at various points of the story, from wooing teenagers, to a young couple, then that of a couple whose marriage is rock steady and at maturity, before finally touching on the notion of how the difficulties every couple will face when called upon to make decisions to let go, especially if it deals with one's soulmate and likely best friend for decades. It dabbles with his work in Germany as well, and the inevitable brush with corruption when back in Indonesia, which is something so sensitive, it got brushed aside very quickly, attributed to a nasty and shady businessman.

But as much as the timeline involves key markers in Indonesia's history, that inevitably ties in with Habibie's short lived presidency, this was breezed through very conveniently and quick, leaving the audience with little to know of the key policies when he was in power. This is not the tale, unfortunately for it would make it quite definitive and complete, that deals with that aspect of his life, but perhaps left for another filmmaker, for another film. Here, the story is firmly set on the couple, with everything else being peripheral if it doesn't further develop the relationship between them. Habibie's crowning glory in Indonesia's aviation industry took centerstage as well because of exactly that, while even his family with his two sons taking an obvious back seat with their token roles, if only to paint that he had a functional family to speak of, besides his wife.

Easily one of the first narrative films that puts the spotlight on a prominent political figure in the region, Habibie and Ainun provides that personal look at the private life of a man and his wife, which I'm sure many other political leaders in this region, for our young modern history, would have similar stories that can be easily translated to the big screen. In Singapore there's the 1965 movie project that's now perpetually stuck in production hell, but I suppose all we need is a filmmaker with courage to put LKY's well known love life, which he recounted in his own memoirs as well, for the big screen. A likely blockbuster success, if done with the right cast, since it would likely draw about 60% of our population to the cinemas.

Stoker

Dreaming
Park Chan Wook probably outdone himself with Stoker given the casting coup of his leading players in the film, which surprisingly is written by Wentworth Miller of Prison Break fame. It's quite unlike any other, telling of a twisted tale of grooming, steeped in sex, violence and coming of age, with an exuberance of sensuousness draping every scene, so seductively shot that you'll clamour for a repeated viewing to partake in its themes and probably gawk at its visuals all over again in this psycho-sexual thriller like none other.

It takes a while to piece things together, where we meet up with India (Mia Wasikowska), a teenager who seems extremely disturbed, aloof and all, having to deal with the recent death of her father. Mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) seem to have taken it in her stride, then again because of the presence of her husband's brother Charlie (Matthew Goode), a man whom both mother and daughter have not met in years, who had now come as a source of comfort living under the same roof, with both women being drawn to the enigma of the man, only for a slow nightmare to unravel, and serve as India's catalyst in growing up.

Park's first Hollywood film continues in his tradition of tackling narratives that come with complexity, where nothing is just quite what it seems, providing that bit of discomfort when you finally thought you had nailed down to just what the story's about, but not quite. And credit goes to Miller for this unconventional story in what I thought was an extremely sly take on growing up, identity, and grooming even, though not of the usual positive values one inculcates in a young one. It's almost like the making of a killer with the pushing of one's boundaries with temptation, and constant goading even, as epitomized by Goode's Charlie in being there when India needed someone, and then equipping her with the confidence necessary to go over the edge, given her at her most vulnerable, and impressionable.

It's a psychological game being waged, with Charlie being the most fascinating of the characters here as the spark in one's life that throws it topsy-turvy, complete with a backstory and in current terms can be considered as the Devil incarnate, looking for that earthly apprentice to pass the reins to in becoming a walking havoc machine, and yet keeping you constantly wondering who's who, and what's what, untangling true and hidden intentions through perverse love affairs that's romantic and yet almost incestuous all at the same time, with possessiveness the main negative by product of an affair going to get, or already gone wrong.

Mia Wasikowska plays her darkest role in a character yet, as her previous roles have somehow bookended her and limited her acting range, and she has Park Chan-Wook to thank for something like this to roll along, and break out from her usual stereotype to take on something more sinister and challenging. Nicole Kidman was under-used, appearing in a few scenes and being nothing more than a flower vase, and lending star power to the marquee. Goode on the other hand stole the show being the thorn amongst the roses, and indeed if not for his fiendishly good performance, you wouldn't find it credible how one man can string both women along to an explosive conclusion.

While you grapple with the story, you're likely to be wowed by the sumptuous imagery that fills the landscape in the film, blessed with rich cinematography by Chung Chung-hoon, Park Chan Wook's frequent collaborator, that does the least in betraying the twisted tale that comes with the film. With music contributed by Clint Mansell, whose soundtrack lifts the movie up altogether into another dimension, Stoker has elements that demands repeated viewings to capture the nuances and gems layered in its story, with commanding performances being that icing on the cake. It's not an easy film to sit through for its subject matter, but boy it sure is gorgeously done.

Ghost Child (鬼仔 / Gui Zai)

Something Under
23:59, despite its weak storyline, became the sleeper hit of 2011 at the box office for Gorylah pictures, and thrust director Gilbert Chan into the ranks of the few local directors in the million dollar club that is increasingly expanding. Which is a good thing, at the very least, that audiences here are beginning to give local films a chance, good or bad. Started off as co-director for the indie crime caper S11 and the romantic comedy Love Matters, it seems that the horror genre is becoming his calling, with Ghost Child probably trying to prove that 23:59 was no fluke a success.

But strangely though, if put side by side, 23:59 didn't have the strongest of stories, but had scenes intended to scare audiences relatively well executed, despite genre cliches by the truckloads. But Ghost Child seemed to have done the reverse, in having developed a stronger, more coherent storyline, but strangely devoid of any real scares. One can hardly find having one's hand being forced into marking correct answers in a test, or having one's head repeatedly smashed into a mirror, or simulating a ghost-pulling-leg moment in a pool, horrific to make audiences jump at their feet. Nor is having characters running away from a camera looking afraid anything scary. If you're looking for some shock jock moments, then Ghost Chlld is not the horror film you're seeking, since it's remotely anything scary by horror standards.

The ghoul here is the titular Ghost Child also known as a Toyol, made by unborn fetuses through black magic, and will bring an owner a spirit that will help in various tasking, for rewards such as toys and sweets. The consequence is that this spirit gets envious and jealous easily, which will go on to inflict harm to others, and in the worst case scenario, go out of control. Ghost Child had its title to ruin possible red herrings that tried to force their way into the narrative, only for these opportunities to be quickly debunked no thanks to knowing what this film is all about and the ghoul it decided to focus on.

Chen Hanwei and Carmen Soo headline this film, coming off the Toggle.sg original film production Love... And Other Bad Habits that had made it to the big screen, where they appeared in different segments. Chen plays Choon, a businessman desperate to sell his shares in a successful company to a business partner (Vincent Tee), only for the latter to constantly stall and play him out. In the prologue, Choon meets Na (Soo) in an under-developed situation - why was he there in the middle of nowhere, what was he doing there, and so on, were questions that were left unanswered, so you'll just have to accept that this couple met, and decide to get married.

In Singapore, Choon's daughter Kim (Jayley Woo) lives with her grandmother (Cecilia Heng) and hasn't seen Choon for far too long, only for him to return with new wife in tow. From the onset, they don't get along, and soon, things start to go bump in the house, with valuables going missing, and toys that strangely got strewn around, with further disturbances to everyone's bedtime. Punches were obviously pulled when the filmmakers decide not to lapse into cliches so as to sophisticate the type of scares they can pull off, but sadly this is a film that could have benefited from the cliched jump scares, rather than to skirt and waddle around traditional opportunities presented in creepy toilets, and the likes. It had two separate and lightweight arcs, one to focus on the granny who you know is asking for it when she gives her amulet away to Kim, while the other deals with Kim's struggle with being outcast in her school, her swim team misadventures, and grappling with poor grades.

Amongst the few key cast members, it is Jayley Woo who stood out playing the scream queen teenager, holding her own opposite veteran Chen Hanwei, who really had little to do other than looking perplexed when he can't figure out his business decisions, and to look elated in the coming of his character's new born, an event that was announced in the most unconvincing part of the story. Carmen Soo didn't have much to do in the film other than to lend her accented Mandarin in passing off as n Indonesian, with scenes that go one step further to cast stereotypes and prejudices locals have toward those providing caregiving and domestic household work here.

It would be a surprise if Ghost Child were to make as big an impact as 23:59. But in any case, I would suggest that the next Gilbert Chan film should break away from the need to have unnamed characters sitting around in a circle telling each other ghost stories. It was a plot device used in 23:59 with army recruits gathering around in their bunk, and now a group of students gathering around a camp-fire doing exactly the same thing. This does nothing more than to provide additional scary scenes outside of the main narrative, which is an extra that's unnecessary should the main story be solidly created.

Outrage Beyond (Autoreiji Biyondo / アウトレイジ ビヨンド)

Go Ahead Punk, Make My Day
In Takeshi Kitano's Outrage, we sat through some heavy plotting and counter-schemes where every one, a collective of Yakuzas and gangsters, is a bad guy, fighting over power and control when being unwittingly manipulated, together with shifting alliances. The story was pretty brilliant then, since you're really unsure how the concocted plans would turn out, suffice to say it boiled down to very violent affairs, with plenty of firearm action all round.

But Kitano kept his direction well balanced then, as he does so again now, with dramatic scenes happening in the first half of the film, followed by a build up to various violent crescendos in the latter half. We continue where we last left off, where the victors of the first film's schemes, Kato (Tomokazu Miura) and the Otomo Clan turncoat Ishihara (Ryo Kase) return to the top of the food chain, grabbing control over the Sanno-kai crime organization, although not without their detractors from within who will jump at every seductive, suggested opportunity to usurp the throne. It didn't help that their leadership style, parallel to some real world techniques of cost cutting stinginess, doesn't cut it through the rank and file.

And you just can't put a good man down, or a bad man in this case, with Beat Takeshi's Otomo returning to the mayhem as orchestrated by Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata). Wait a minute, didn't we witness his key scene in the finale of Outrage? I suppose if one is at the creative helm of the film - directing, writing and editing - then anything's possible. Otomo, as it turns out, is still sitting pretty in prison, but has his enemies quaking in their shoes when rumours got squashed, and Kataoka accelerates Otomo's parole to get him released and back in the fray. With preference for a lowly life amongst the hood, it is genre mantra that one never walks away, but gets pulled back into the hustle and bustle of vengeance and violence.

Between the two films, perhaps I will have to throw my hat of preference over to the first one, if only for a plot that involved a lot more stakeholders, and onscreen violence that was more balletic than this follow up's rather tame, and usually off-screen mayhem. Sometimes we get to see flashes from muzzles, compensated by the awesomely rendered loud sounds of multiple rounds leaving the chamber of the gun. And stylistically, which is a fair counter-point to the explicitness of what Hollywood does today, we find ourselves staring down barrels of guns on screen, before cutting to the aftermath.

When put together, while the films touches on tit-for-tat revenge, and perhaps contain a shade of real world organizational politics given the structure of the Yakuza, not only do we get to compare leadership styles and skills of those at the top, but rather how one should be aware of the little man running around, stirring trouble only for personal benefit. Fumiyo Kohinata steals the show each time he comes on screen as the corrupt Detective Kataoka, on the payroll of the force and striving to go up in his career ladder, while on the take from the clans, yet at the same time scheming against all to advance his personal agenda at both sides of the law.

I had nothing but chuckles especially during an interrogation scene which Kataoka engineers, which probably cuts a little close to home given the series of gaffes in high profile court cases that didn't quite put the Home Team in good light. And characters like Kataoka, are not hard to imagine nor stranger than fiction. His opposite would be the ramrod straight Shigeta, who for all his righteousness, couldn't influence the corruption going on in his face, as executed in arrogant style by his counterpart. It's really Kataoka's show from the get go, being the key character, and catalyst in almost all twists and turns, with Fumiyo Kohinata being the quintessential villain amongst all villains here.

Outrage Beyond opens in cinemas from 14 March 2013.

CZ12 (十二生肖) DVD Release

What's Up?
It isn't everyday that I promote a DVD release, but that's also because it isn't everyday that local DVD releases of movies get the whole nine yards treatment of extras packaged together.

The fully loaded DVD release of CZ12 (十二生肖) comes with more than 50 mins of special features from behind-the scenes to exclusive footages of the Singapore gala premiere held in Singapore last December. So if you were camping out for a glimpse of Jackie Chan then, perhaps you'll spot yourself somewhere amongst the sea of eager fans.

And those who attended the Singapore gala would know that it came with generous freebies given out from the main man's own pocket as well, and the number of freebies packed into the DVD sort of mirrors that giving-away spirit.

Packed with the CZ12 (十二生肖) DVD is also a copy of Fengshui Consultant Grand Master Tan Khoon Yong’s 2013 Chinese Zodiac Forecast (十二生肖蛇年运程) DVD and Handbook which retails for S$15; and a mystery gift worth $900. Plus, to mark the release of the CZ12 DVD, InnoForm Media is introducing a “Growing Jackpot” Campaign from 7 March to 1 May 2013 with the cash prize starting from $1,088, which all DVD buyers can participate through an SMS and referral scheme.

How much then, is the CZ12 (十二生肖) DVD priced at? S$14.90. Which is about half the price of a typical new barebones DVD release in Singapore that sometimes come with the obligatory trailer / photo gallery (that frankly isn't all that special).

So to recap,

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
1) Movie Trailers (宣传短片)
2) Behind-The-Scenes (幕后花絮)
a) Full body in-line skating (幕后解密之极速滑轮篇)
b) Mission in Paris (幕后解密之巴黎任务篇)
c) Treasure hunt in South Pacific (幕后解密之南太平洋寻宝篇)
3) Singapore Gala Premiere Highlights (新加坡首映礼花絮)
4) Photo Gallery (相片馆)

Subtitles: English and Chinese
DVD Format: 16x9 Letterbox (2.35:1)
DVD Audio Status: Mandarin 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital, Cantonese 2.0 Dolby Digital

Judgment Day / 世界末日

And I was just lamenting the other day that Singapore movies should not continue to flog the dead 4D plot elements and gambling themes, because it just shows the lack of originality of scriptwriters these days, stuck to the old mindset that they can bang on 4 digits and its appeal to the heartlanders, to draw the crowds in. Filmmakers have to realize that unless you have a solid story to tell that necessitates the use of 4D, Toto, Lottery and whatever combination and permutations one can concoct, it's best to leave this alone since there are countless of other stories and genres that are still left untouched.

Which is why Ong Kuo Sin's Judgment Day / 世界末日, is that breath of fresh air and shot of the unexpected that the community here firmly requires. From the trailers, one can see the story revolving around the what if scenario of the world ending in three days. You can argue that this could have been done to death as well in films such as Melancholia and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World which couldn't be more explicit than that, but having a familiar cast challenged outside of their comfort zones with roles they don't normally get, is interest piqued.

This could possibly be the final feature film that the late John Cheng / Ah Nan could star in, while I'm also intrigued by the restrained performance that Henry Thia puts in, as a family man who has a secret to tell his loved ones. Again, while this is nothing new (Glen Goei already touched on this as far back as Forever Fever), but there's nothing like shaking things up a little in recent times.

Interesting local films ahead, people!

Teaser 1:

Teaser 2:

Trailer 3:

Shunyo Awnko (Act Zero)

Holiday Album
The Bengali film Shunyo Awnko, written and directed by Goutam Ghose, is one of those films that have plenty of grand ideas rolled into one, so much so that each of these points degenerate into discourse that was too serious for its own good, meandering around presenting scenarios without as much as suggesting solutions, laying things out like a complaint letter and making it all seem rather awkward and clunky for the film medium chosen. It's a sprawling epic over ten disparate acts together with an interval, and would have benefitted if the narrative got ironed out and with plot points clearly gelled.

It had notions of the evil profit driven corporation up against the lifestyle of the rural folks, where the former is seeking to displace hundreds, if not thousands of poor farmers and their families, so as to mine valuable bauxite, used in aluminum. Being a private company, making money is first and foremost, and they send one of their top executives Agni Bose (Priyanshu Chatterjee) to go broker a deal. Needless to say, in that part of West Bengal, the film touches upon the Maoist rebels operating insurgencies against forces of the authorities, and this displacement becomes a political pawn, with the rebels gaining brownie points for putting up resistance, and championing the cause for the rural poor. Goodwill attempts at bettering the livelihood of those affected only becomes an afterthought in the final act, and I guess this mirrors what life is all about, with quarters thinking that throwing money at a problem will lead to solution.

But while that served as the grand background in which the film played out, Shunyo Awnko becomes a curious piece of character portrayals, introducing an ensemble, each with different motivation, with most of the separate acts concentrating on their personal adventures that didn't seem to be headed anywhere, or to make anyone seem a little bit more appealing. Being a little bit indulgent as the story wore on, we really don't care too much about the characters, nor the situations they get put into, which is a pity. Agni Bose by Priyanshu Chatterjee is that corporate rat climbing the ladder at work, focused and negligent toward his wife Jhilik (Priyanka Bose), who suffers some manic depression, and as if a solution to that problem, Jhilik got raped by her husband.

Time out. Yes, this was one of those sensibilities that didn't quite work, which immediately after sets off a series of romantic interludes that bring the couple some time out from their work, and into the nice sprawling, snowy mountainous grounds where they meet a reclusive scientist Dr Kabir Chowdhury (Soumitra Chatterji) and his wife Laila (Lolita Chatterji). It may seem like the perfect homestay holiday, if not for the narrative to drag its feet with uninteresting domestic scenes that could have been done without, what with celebrating of birthdays, plenty of acapella singing, and what not. And to expand it even further, we learn of Layla's innate hatred for Hindus, blamed for her son's death, and the scientist's rather amateurish plan of hacking and virus creating from a Mac desktop, to disrupt the networks of his enemies. That's a James Bond plot and arch enemy there for you!

Perhaps the only saving grace here is the character Raka, played by Konkana Sen Sharma, a reporter with the Indian Times out to seek the truth, being that embedded journalist with the rebels and doing some decent investigative journalism out in the field. Linking her character to the main narrative came courtesy of Agni Bose, with whom she communicates frequently with, much to the chagrin of Jhilik, but that's another melodrama of jealousy that comes to haunt the plot in the latter half. The film has grand ambitions in making statements, drawing sides and having grand plans in tackling political touch points, but found itself wandering aimlessly within the uninteresting character subplots that were aimless to begin with, that don't engage the audience because of weak writing.

While cinematography is great and gorgeous, thanks to the lush, natural landscapes in which this film was shot at, it's most unfortunate that it didn't have that strong core story to exploit its visuals. Music and songs were conveniently worked into the plot either as montages, or having Jhilik exercise her melodious voice to while the time away when stuck in the reclusive scientists home, where she got a fan base of one in Laila. Supposedly a successful woman herself with the promise of a budding business taking off, the most startling issue brought out would be that domestic set up, with the wife undermined by societal expectations and the glass ceiling, and making desperate pleas of needing and wanting a man in her life.

And this rather bigotry outlook, will undoubtedly go back to the filmmaker, perhaps wanting to challenge these norms and turn things for the better with greater awareness that such issues still exist.

Jack the Giant Slayer IMAX 3D

Jack Be Nimble
Besides comic book movies, it seems that Fairy Tale ones are gaining traction in being reinvented for the big screen, given new twists and updates in characters and motivations, while keeping some core elements in order to retain some legitimacy with its origins. The latest attempt was Hansel and Gretel, which went the uber-violent way, while others such as Red Riding Hood tried to appeal to the Tweens. Then there are those which are swashbuckling action-adventures, which Jack the Giant Slayer belongs to.

And comic book movie directors can also find opportunity in this arena, with Bryan Singer, known to many for his X-Men films and his sole attempt at the Man of Steel, taking up the helm in creating a family friendly tale with its fair share of action and romance. Written by Darren Lemke and David Dobkin, the story draws parallels between the lives of a poor farm boy and a princess, brought up with legendary tales of Kings, Giants, and magical objects, who will have their lives converge when they meet and get involved in exactly the tale they're so familiar with, where Giants rule the land between the heavens and the earth, and are looking for opportunity to come back down again to feast on human flesh.

With the tale they grew up with validated, Jack (Nicholas Hoult) now has to join the rescue party led by the King's knight Elmont (Ewan McGregor) and the treacherous Roderick (Stanley Tucci), the latter harbouring intent to lord over the Giants and usurp the throne of King Brahmwell (Ian McShane), to rescue Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) from the Giants' clutches. Most of the set action pieces happen while en route up the intertwined beanstalks, large and thick, and also in the Giant's domain, which you would already have a glimpsed of from the trailers, mixing some light comedy to thanks to some of the clumsy ways of the big guys, some with grotesque looks and habits.

Singer's narrative pace is kept fleet, never wasting much time dwelling over any certain point, with the legend and rules of the game laid out in the prologue, then falling back on the familiar need by Jack to sell his horse through which he got his magic beans, before having to traverse the beanstalk up and down, before finally building up for that large scale attack in the finale, befitting of the genre. Most of us would have been jaded by scale of attacks where armies have to lay siege to a city, and while it may be no different here, things are kept fresh through its surprises in weapons used in this fantasy-medieval period, with again, simplicity being key to the equation, the centerpiece of the action in the final act being one large tug-o-war. Scenes are kept short and sharp rather than lapsing into indulgence, making them seem a lot more intense, keeping that adrenaline pumping.

But for something family friendly, Singer and team had to opt for a lot of off-screen violence. There's nothing like the power of suggestion, and if not for a rating to appeal to a wider audience, this could have been a lot more violent. Which is that breath of fresh air given Hollywood's obsession of late to have everything graphically told, with that competition to see who can design on screen violence with the most blood and gore involved. With human-munching Giants, it's suggested, but no less powerful even when it's not explicitly shown.

Characterization in the film is kept simple, with most chracters being caricatures of the roles they are supposed to play. Ewan McGregor, easily the most recognizable of the lot, has a suave mustache and goatee help in his balance between the comical and the serious. The titular role went to Nicholas Hoult (painted blue as X-Men: First Class' Hank McCoy, who proved to be charismatic enough to pull off a role about the farmer boy made good (Luke Skywalker anyone?), while Eleanor Tomlinson did enough as the quintessential damsel in distress, which is quite the departure from the recent slew of strong female characters who are able to hold their own against adversary. Supporting roles were quite rote, such as Ian McShane and Bill Nighy as the main CG villain General Fallon, while Stanley Tucci could have benefited more from an extended screen time.

Still, Jack the Giant Slayer managed to slay a few sweet spots as far as action-adventure goes, and Singer shows he still has that bit of a touch when it comes to crafting big budgeted spectacles. So Fee Fye Foe Fumm, do make a beeline to watch this, with an epilogue that's extremely cheeky!

Beautiful Creatures

Winter Sonata
The word on the street is that this is the expected successor after the conclusion of the Twilight film franchise, having some parallels in its tale that deals with the supernatural, and love between a being of higher power and that of an ordinary human except for the reversal of genders, and set in a schooling environment of an idyllic small town where people know just about everyone else. It's also based on a successful series of novels by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, so it's everyone's bet just how this first installment would perform that would determine its future as a potential film franchise, where many other potentials have fallen after its initial start - The Dark is Rising, The Golden Compass, and I am Number Four, to name but a few in this genre.

Beautiful Creatures starts off rather beautifully, with awesome visuals that would set to engage and create that visual feast for the eyes, crafting a mystery from the onset in the dreams of protagonist Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), who see an ominous sequence of events, only to not see who that raven haired female is due to a deliberate obscuring by her long tresses. But soon enough the latest stranger in town happens to be Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), who brings forth with her immense powers, conveniently unleashed against those who taunt her because of their small town mentality, especially that of Ethan's ex Emily (Zoey Deutch).

But Lena has other problems to worry about, and that's due to an internal family feud, with different camps set up who want her pledged allegiance, being a caster and thought to be one of the most powerful ones yet. On one hand there's Macon (Jeremy Irons) her uncle who serves as adviser and father figure. But on the other, is mom Safarine (Emma Thompson) and evil cousin Ridley (Emmy Rossum) who try to turn her, all of whom come together for that merry celebration of computer generated imagery that in all honesty, are gorgeously rendered, making Beautiful Creatures live up to its namesake. It's almost like Star Wars with Safarine dead set in getting Lena turn to the dark side when it's her 16th birthday, so that they can rule the universe and galaxy with their powers, between mother and daughter. Lofty ambitions, but that's what evil folks fantasize about.

The romance is something you'd have to get used to though, since it forms the bulk of the story here. If you're a fan of Twilight and its treatment of first love between two unlikely beings separated by life, then this would be something quite up the same alley, with inherent powers that define the abilities of one side of the couple, which are used for that effective courtship. There's plenty of cooing between the love birds here as they spend time together like any teenager in love, if not researching with Amma (Viola Davis), who is a seer of the town, and an ally in Lena's identity crisis.

If I had to give this film its due credit, it will be how it set up the hook for that emotional resonance in the final scene. There has to be some personal sacrifice in store for our protagonists in order to cement their relationship, although the solution presented here was of a taller order, that called for some twists during the big magical battle set against the recreation of the Civil War's Battle of Honey Hill. It was in fact, the final few minutes that became the movie's saving grace, and lifted it from mediocrity, providing it that bit of a heart beat and soul that primed itself for subsequent episodes in the series.

Safe Haven

Lifeguard on Duty
There are romance genre films coming out which are unconventional, creative and quirky, and then there are others which subscribe to the Nicholas Sparks brand of storytelling, which you would probably know by now what to get if you're a keen follower of his novels, or movies, which had adopted almost every book in his bibliography. In Safe Haven, Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom returns to the director's chair, having directed 2010's Dear John, with Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders and Julianne Hough playing key characters in a tale about the unlikely relationship between a widower and an abused woman.

If you're entering the movie without prior knowledge of what the key twists are in the film - there are two - then you may just enjoy the revelations when the cat's let out of the bag at the appropriate time. Hough plays Katie, who escapes to an idyllic town en route to Atlanta, and meets with Duhamel's Akex and his two children Lexie (Mimi Kirkland) and Josh (Noah Lomax), who have lost their wife/mom recently to cancer. But sparks fly and both Alex and Katie fall in love faster than you can say "Nicholas Sparks!", with the usual issues about potential step parents, where Lexie accepts Katie into their lives, but Josh being a little more resistant.

Meanwhile, the cops are after Katie for what would be an investigations into a murder, putting in a potential road block into Alex and Katie's relationship when the latter hasn't really revealed everything to her new beau, and then there's the mystery of Jo, Katie's neighbour in her rustic, quiet property in the forest bought on the cheap, who had always provided her encouragement to let go and accept the love and concern from others. It's about emotional baggage one drags along, and how others help to lighten the load through assistance without personal agendas, or so we would like to think. Surely there's a hidden agenda, and the minute she appears, it doesn't take much of a rocket scientist to find out why. And folks, you can really start sobbing from this point on.

Being part of the Nicholas Sparks universe, one would come to accept a few game rules here, where things fall in place quiet conveniently, with some element of danger or threat looming to derail what could be a fairy tale, and as far as I can remember, someone always kick the bucket. In Safe Haven, the finale will make one camp rejoice at the introduction of something new, while the other camp may finally give up at knowing the logical envelope has been pushed over the limit, and reject this. Whatever the case, seasoned movie-goers would already see this coming if one stayed eagle-eyed throughout the movie, and guess from the get go what this supposed impact would be, since Hallstrom left clues so large, they just cannot go undetected.

Josh Duhamel doesn't get a lot of romantic roles despite his hunky stature, but fit like hand in glove here playing the single dad figure to the characters of Lexie and Josh, the latter who will endear herself to audiences for her portrayal as the child who helps out at her father's convenient store. Julianne Hough's stock is on the rise, and does credibly well as a woman abused and escaping from her past, finding herself given a second chance at love and life if only her emotional baggage doesn't come back to haunt her.

However, being right and right in casting the leading actors, the casting process probably overlooked their discrepancies in height. I know falling in love is illogical, but for the sake of camera angles and pitying Hough's toes and calves when she has to resort to tip-toeing each time camera angles and perspectives fail to frame both of them together neatly. And sometimes when all else fails, I am guessing the good ol' soapbox helps to put them almost eye-to-eye. This discrepancy is distracting, where you'll sometimes sneak a peek to see if her character's wearing heels at the time, or had suddenly discovered genome solutions to grow inches taller at a whim.

Safe Haven is precisely just that, with comfort zone sensibilities in its narrative and filmmaking technique. Those hard up for a romantic flick will be up for this, as would thousands of Nicholas Sparks fans around the world. However, it does seem that the better Sparks novels turned films are already way past and done, and it would take something quite extraordinary to reinvent and reinvigorate the film franchise and brand.

The Man with the Iron Fists

I Wanna Try Big Iron
The Chinese martial arts genre have undergone some attempts at making it sexy again, with Stephen Fung flying the flag in the east with his genre mash up given that steampunk flavour, and RZA in the west adopting a mash up with the Western and hip hop music added to the mix. And RZA aka Robert Fitzgerald Diggs made The Man with the Iron Fists his labour of love, working the story together with Eli Roth, putting himself in the lead role, and having directorial duties, all with the stamp of approval from Quentin Tarantino, bringing all the goodness of those Shaw Brothers classics now updated for the modern audience.

Does it work? Very much, for the martial arts film fan in me, this movie has it all, with RZA going to painstaking lengths and making it all inclusive, with probably more genre elements put into this movie than any I can remember in recent memory. The only key difference is the use of the English language amongst a smattering of Chinese and Cantonese, and violence - not that the Shaw Brothers Classics didn't have their fair share - that were amplified to stratospheric heights with blood baths following blood baths, and possibly every kind of bodily dismemberment you can imagine. On one hand, this continues the discourse whether screen violence, which is getting more explicitly graphic, is necessary, while on the other with its ultra-realism, made it seem a little bit cartoony as well.

But as mentioned, what made this film stand out, is that adherence to the rules of the game, and ingredients that had made this genre a success. There are femme fatales, secret and hidden weapons, booby traps and dungeons, formidable opponents, assassins, clans and more clans, animal motifs, sexy-sounding names, a brothel that's more than meets the eye, inns serving renowned cuisine, motivations of revenge, corrupt government officials, gold, escort services, lovers wanting to call it quits and retire into the sunset, betrayals from within, and not forgetting some good old Shaolin involvement. Not forgetting the martial arts themselves, featuring a whole variety from those which are metal-enhanced, naturally with a title like that, yin-yang combination courtesy of the Gemini-Twins, enhancements with wire work, and made all the more fluid with real life martial arts practitioners, all under the choreography of Corey Yuen.

And RZA also wastes no effort in bringing together recognizable names from the East in roles big and small, such as Gordon Liu as a master monk, Cung Le as the number three in the Lions Clan, Daniel Wu as a supporting antagonist known as Poison Dagger, Chen Kuan Tai as Gold Lion under thick makeup, MC Jin and Leung Ka Yan. Other recognizable actors of Asian descent include Lucy Liu as Madam Blossom the brothel mistress, Jamie Chung as the main squeeze of RZA's The Blacksmith, Rick Yune as Zen Yi The X-Blade, the heir apparent of the Lions Clan, and the list goes on, with Westeners like Russell Crowe as Jack Knife, a man riding into town with a unique gun and rotating blade weapon, and others such as Pam Grier in a short tangent of a flashback, and Dave Bautista who plays Brass Body. In short, it is serious fun to see who pops up next, if you haven't already glanced through the cast list.

Nothing's too serious in this film, as narrated by RZA's Blacksmith, telling his tale about the time when the governor's gold has to pass through Jungle Village, and how many started to converge upon the village to set their sights on such treasure, while those minding their own business start to get drawn into the same series of events. Characters are split down the middle into good and evil, and fighting is just one other scene away. Given Western inputs, I'm not at all surprised by the level of sex and violence to obviously creep into the main narrative, with everything being too explicit rather than subtly suggested, but the hip-hop music worked with incredibly crafted visuals from the filmmakers.

If you, like me, are a fan of the genre, then perhaps you should make a beeline for this and witness how possibly everything get thrown into the story, and still coming up on top with its inventiveness and creativity at breathing some freshness into its version of an update. A definite recommend!

9-9-81 (บอก-เล่า-9-ศพ)

I Need Numbers!
Nine short films and twelve directors. This omnibus horror film project doesn't get any bigger, with each creative team providing their inputs in creating a sub-universe of their own, revolving around Wipawee (Patitta Attayatamavitaya), a woman dressed in a wedding gown, who had jumped to her death from an apartment block. Exactly why she did so, and the impact this fateful event had in the lives of those around her, whether family, friends acquaintances or in ways remotely linked, will get revealed in less than 90 minutes, where the full picture will be painted, not in chronological order, but in a fashion that will throw up some fine surprises.

If you're interested to find out the synopsis of each of the short films, you can do so at Wisekwai's definitive site on all films Thailand. Or you may prefer to keep the cards close to your chest and not sneak a peek, allowing each title card to flash up on screen with the segment's and director's name, to provide you that remote clue as to where the story might take you. Some of these segments are collaborative in nature, with light comedic touches introduced in some stories, while in others they somehow lapsed into dipping from the usual bag of visual tricks and cuts, and sound effects range that feature in just about any horror genre.

Patitta Attayatamavitaya plays the bride whom we get to know a little bit more of in various stories, and are given various perspectives just like how we play different roles in life, toward different people. Obviously her role here is central through all the stories, and Patitta gets to exercise a wide spectrum of emotions in her portrayal. Standing out in the various segments are her best friend, who's more of an obese and envious fiend at Wipawee's blessed physical outlook, and Setthasitt Limkasidej, who plays the boyfriend who had a more direct role in Wipawee's demise. These characters stretch across more than a single short film slice, and provides the anchor on which others get built upon.

The more powerful stories come from those whose characters are more directly related to Wipawee, while light comedy crept into the narrative as these relationship links become more diluted. And being Asian, you can bet (ahem) your last dollar that there will be a tale about superstitious folks being involved in rituals to ask dead spirits for lottery numbers, which in a way is asking for it, and playing with fire.

Makeup effects were basic, usually centered around the grotesque aftermath of a suicide victim from height, whose spirit appears up close to try and elicit cheap screams. They do work for a while, until you get acquainted with the makeup in which this tactic loses its effect. But that didn't stop the different filmmakers from trying. Omnibus films are usually fun to sit through, as it provides for a great cooperative platform in which to showcase different talent in cast and crew, and has that mix - some bad but mostly good - to keep things interesting and leaving audiences guessing.

Kai Po Che!

The Three Amigos
Some 3 years ago, Chetan Bhagat's novel 3 Point Someone was made into Rajkumar Hirani's film 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, and the movie was an instant blockbuster success, despite some controversy surrounding the placement of the writer's credit. In Kai Po Che! adapted by director Abhishek Kapoor, there's no such dispute given the opening credit to Chetan Bhagat as the original novelist with The 3 Mistakes of My Life, and from the get go you may see some shades to 3 Idiots, especially when the story deals with three friends, but this time round the narrative spins into a darker territory, against an explosive time in Gujarati history in the early 2000s.

The first Indian film to feature in the World Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival, Kai Po Che! has all the artistic trappings of a film that's quite unlike the usual mainstream Bollywood masala fare, sans deliberate song and dance sequences, and possessing an extremely strong storyline centered upon detailed and deep character studies on all three protagonists. There's hardly a scene that goes wasted here, as we're drawn into the world that these three friends inhabit, experience how things around them start collapsing, and permanently changing their relations forever.

In a way it reminded me of an entrepreneurial session I attended many years back, where a businessman dispensed some advise to those budding and raring to head to the world with their big ideas, that if possible, avoid running a business with friends. You can become friends with your business start up partners, but never quite the other way round, where you'll likely risk relations souring because in a way, familiarity breeds contempt. That's about what happened to Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Omi (Amit Sadh) and Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav), three friends who decided to open a business made up of a sports store and an academy combined, steeped towards cricket which is the national sport, and potential cash cow on the demand side. And things looked rather rosy with their firm camaraderie oblivious to the hardships and obstacles placed in front of them, such as the lack of finances and having to be sponsored by Omi's uncle Bittoo Mama (Manav Kaul), who is also an active member of a Hindu political party.

What I thoroughly liked about the film, is its equal opportunity provided to all three leads, such that each story arc does not overshadow the other, giving every one of them a focus, objective and dream of their own, that will inevitably converge towards the finale, making it so gripping, and heartfelt all at the same time. Ishaan finds a cricket prodigy in the kid Ali (Digvijay Deshmukh), where he becomes like the big brother, protective and ever so concerned about his professional development and welfare, sometimes at the expense and patience of his friends. In Omi, he has to fend off, and finally having to give in to help out in his uncle's political campaign, drawing him away from what he loves in life, to put his skills into work in another field against his wishes. And in Govind, the calculative one who had seen his lofty plans to expand their shop in a mall go up in smoke, he has the romantic angle to tackle when he falls for Ishaan's sister Vidya (Amrita Puri) and they maintain a secret relationship for fear of Ishaan finding out.

Making things more complex, is how politics, race and religion all play a part in the proceedings, leading everything to a heady and explosive mix with fear, tragedy and loss all being featured in this tale that dealt with plenty of darker themes. Many have cited the story by Chetan Bhagat to be amongst the weakest in his bibliography, but I suppose Abhishek Kapoor found the right formula in translating this for the screen in just a little over two hours. How the story arcs finally converge and come together was handled expertly, with that perfect mix of its limited songs, and adopting a cinematographic style and production values that opted for realism in the vast outdoors than having to cower in studios, bringing to life that real sense of urgency and tension as events escalate into an inevitable crescendo.

Whether it's a devastating earthquake, or the dangerous cocktail of race/religious based politics, armed violence and senseless killings, Kai Po Che! has these put in the background as tests of the friends' resolve to being larger than that hate and catastrophe around them, using their friendship and love for cricket to try and transcend negativity, albeit to varying degrees of success. Each actor, being relatively new to the scene, also bring about a certain breath of fresh air with their earnest performance, and are just about the perfect cast, sans big names and their associated egos, to bring Kai Po Che! to the big screen. My favourite Hindi language movie this year to date! A definite recommend!

Hyde Park on Hudson

A Presidential Welcome
The distributor of Hyde Park on Hudson here could have prepped this as counter-programming during this Oscar season, having release this film at the same time as Lincoln, which had amassed the most Oscar nominations, and is a biography about one of the great US Presidents. Franklin D. Roosevelt is also one of the few war presidents, and the film touches upon the King of England's visit to the USA in the late 30s to obtain the support of FDR should England have to go to war, which is an inevitable conclusion as Hitler started his campaign.

Unlike Lincoln, this story by Richard Nelson takes on a more intimate view. It's not about politicking nor about FDR's rise to the White House. Rather, and rather repeatedly so, it's stated many times that this is about seeing those in power as people, who share the same hopes and fears as do any other. Told from the viewpoint of Daisy (Laura Linney), one of FDR's many mistresses, this is a somewhat romantic tale about a president with an indomitable spirit, being paralyzed in his legs, and having to rely very much on others for his mobility.

And while Daniel Day Lewis was born to play Lincoln, the casting of Bill Murray in the role may raise a few eyebrows. Granted that Murray is rather eccentric and erratic in his choice of roles, it's quite the surprise to see him play a president, and FDR at that. There's not too much effort going into trying to make Murray resemble his character to the real McCoy, but as good an actor as any other, Murray shows why he's correct for the role. There's no hint of the comedian in his character here, keeping it rather jovial and positive on the outside, while hiding immense pressure on the inside, pressure coming from his household of many women - from his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams), secretary Missy (Elizabeth Marvel) and mother (Elizabeth Wilson), the latter who is host to the English King's visit, and that from running a country, though the latter we see less of.

If you've watched Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, then you should be fairly familiar with King George VI / Bertie (Samuel West), and his Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman), with this particular milestone visit being an event before that in Hooper's movie. When excited or afraid, Bertie chokes up and begins to stammer, but unlike the esteemed, regal presence one would expect from the monarchs, the way they are portrayed here is with plenty of humanity, warts and all. Being in an unfamiliar location that's hardly the resemblance of a castle, the Royals get to be entertained by their American hosts, and on one hand trying to keep up appearances, we see more of their moods and genuine attitudes behind closed doors, which Nelson's story had humanize them to something believable, and likeable.

But the story's firmly on the romantic side of FDR's heart, wit his womanizing ways being given the spotlight. It's not that there's anything graphic or obvious about it, but it goes to show his human tendencies, and desire for companionship, that you may feel that he could have been quite the cad in expecting the women he loves to come accept one another. This takes centerstage and most of the first act, which makes it take a while to build momentum, making you wonder how much longer this tale, as narrated by Laura Linney, would have to run before the Union Jack comes into sight.

We don't get to see much of FDR's administration here, given that this is a more personal portrait and biography of the man, rather than about the series of events in his life, and that of his policies that got shaped as America entered into WWII. Perhaps there is room for those stories, but that is material for another film other than this one. This one, stripped to its bare essentials, is about a man and the loves of his life, playing host to visitors from abroad coming with specific objectives and motives, and how any professional relationship would benefit from the personal touch and firm friendships formed that would be hard bonds to break. Recommended!

Vamps

Urge to Bite
How far the mighty have fallen indeed. In 1995, writer-director Amy Heckerling hit the nail on the head with what would be the definitive chick flick of that decade with Clueless, and propelling its lead Alicia Silverstone into super-stardom, launching words and phrases into collective acceptance. Fast forward to today, both didn't quite have projects under the belt that rivaled their early success, so I guess coming together again was probably an opportunity to find their collective magic, and what's none better than to tackle a popular subject matter for film - Vampires.

Granted that Alicia Silverstone is no longer the teen that she was, Amy Heckerling has created quite a smart plot device, which provides Silverstone with playing an older character, but able to retain her relatively youthful looking features for the story of the undead and immortal. She plays Goody, a 2nd generation vampire who was turned by Sigourney Weaver's Cisserus in the late 1800s. In today's context, Goody managed to save Stacy (Krysten Ritter) from Cisserus, convincing the latter of Stacy's fashion sense and the need to stay with the times. So Goody and Stacy become "blood sisters" after the latter gets converted, staying in their coffins in an upmarket swanky New York apartment, leading the good life but only at night, but are at the beck and call of Cisserus when she goes out hunting for human blood.

It is probably in the mantra of human-friendly vampires to be sucking on blood of vermin, following the Twilight model. And Twilight dictates the falling in love, so there's a huge sub-plot revolving around Stacy and her relationship with a Van Helsing bloodline in Joey (Dan Stevens), where soon their differences get discovered because you can't really hide the fact that one is without a pulse, or body warmth, with pale skin that had hardly seen any sunlight. This of course raises the suspicion of Joey's father Dr. Van Helsing (Wallace Shawn), himself a vampire hunter given their heritage, and with Cisserus going around killing folks for sustenance, you'd know everything would converge and come to that necessary climatic finale to have all narrative loose ends resolved.

But underneath this candy and sugar coated sweetness, lies a rather dark tale about love, and the cruelness imposed by immortality. People you love would come and go, and there's always more than enough folks wondering why you just won't age together with them. It's an incredibly lonely process, and a heartbreaking one, as epitomized by Silverstone's character of Goody. But of course there are those who live it up given selfish motivations, and drunk by immense power that the undead status brings. This contrast is what propels the story right to its touching finale, which is rather surprising if one happens to contend and condemn the film solely on its trailer and promotional material.

Effects are laughable though, if you forget that this film is firmly set in B-territory. There's no masking of its limited budget, and the deliberate use of plastic props whenever possible, with tongue-in-cheek effect. Even the CGI is completely amateurish, a throwback to things down some two decades ago, which highlights just how cheap the production really is. But it contains a decent story, with romance and comedic elements to allow it more breadth in its narrative. Sigourney Weaver hamming it up these days in various support appearances also makes it a little bit fun, but the winner here are the darker tones that lie beneath its surface, if you'd only give this film a chance, and look a little bit deeper. Recommended!

Movie 43

Wait Till You See What I Got Hidden!
If you're up for some short stories in the comedy genre, then this film is for you, if you don't mind jokes that are offensive and appealing to the lowest common denominator, with a star studded lineup to sweeten the deal. Touted as a film with the most stars, it's quite like the many ensemble effort that Hollywood has been churning out of late like Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, although this consists of no less than 13 separate shorts that for sure had tickled my funny bone.

It would be insane to review each and every short film contained within, which were held together and presented as a screwball screenwriter wannabe (Dennis Quaid) whose ideas for a feature film are getting pitched to a studio executive (Greg Kinnear), which allows for a variety of content to be laid out for the purpose of cramming plenty of recognizable faces into lead roles in the respective shorts. Having different directors helm each segment also brought about different styles in presentation, and it couldn't be more over the top crazy when a peek in the credits list see Peter Farelly and Seth MacFarlane having producer credits, the latter seeing his stock rise in recent months.

Some highlights of the film that I had enjoyed somehow centered around speed or blind dating - Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman on a blind date with the latter playing an eligible bachelor which the former will find out why, speed dating amongst a group of superheroes played by Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Cannavale, and Halle Berry and Stephen Merchant playing truth or dare during their first blind date with insane results. Others include the segments that poked pun at people's penchant for doing the impossible with technology in iBabe with Richard Gere playing an executive, and Terrence Howard playing a coach in the 50s giving that motivational talk to his basketball team before their all-star match up.

There were duds too, such as Emma Stone and Kieren Culkin playing an unlikely couple giving each other sexual innuedos over a supermarket check out counter, or Johnny Knoxville and Seann Wiliam Scott playing the best of friends who get to celebrate the latter's birthday with a leprechaun, that somehow tried too hard and didn't hit its intended highs. Thankfully though these misses were kept to a minimum, and while the others were passable, they benefitted from having a scene or two that were outrageously offensive and funny.

This is probably Paris Je T'aime and New York I Love You in cruder, and grosser terms. where toilet humour is never out of place, and political incorrectness gets embraced with open arms. A definite must for those who haven't smiled in a while, and need the simplest of reasons to laugh out loud.

Lincoln

Walking Into History
Daniel Day-Lewis is primed for another Best Actor Oscar, and the truth is it's not hard to see why, and he doesn't become the 16th President of the United States, but transforms into him, disappearing completely and immersing himself into the role. And yes that voice, somehow made the entire illusion complete, and it's hard to see how any other actor could top his effort to play Abe Lincoln, given that Day-Lewis probably gave us the most definitive interpretation to date, despite the Vampire Hunter parallel universe version being one of the most fun.

And with Steven Spielberg at the helm as director, quality is assured and stamped on every intricately crafted scene, that none go wasted, and will totally engage you for more than 2.5 hours, even if most of what's transpiring on screen happen to be plenty of politicking amongst politicians of the day. And you know it's done right when something so steep in one's country history, can be compelling to others who are largely at best remotely aware of the many milestone events, beginning from Lincoln's second term in office, with the American Civil War into its fourth year, and Lincoln pushing hard for the 13th Amendment in the US Constitution to abolish slavery.

Adapted in part from Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln the movie fights its narrative battle on these two fronts, which is probably what has framed the Lincoln administration and set the president in his course in United States history. Those looking toward having violent scenes of war that Spielberg is capable of creating, may be a tad disappointed, though compensated with the opening scene after a short prologue, that had a bloodbath of a battle between the Unions and the Confederates, which highlighted the urgency of the current administration to seek peace rather than to have American kill American by the thousands.

But on the same agenda is the table to abolish slavery, and here, Lincoln and his trusted aides and advisers, such as State Secretary William Seward (David Strathairn) have to draw upon their experience in policies, compromises, sheer gut and will, and personal convictions, to fight not only what's on the battlefront, but something more challenging against lawmakers, to try and turn the tide by doing almost whatever it takes to obtain votes for their cause. It's easy to turn these scenes into boring, paint-watching where rhetoric after rhetoric get blasted from one side to the other, but under Spielberg's execution, these scenes of cajoling, influencing and encouragement, highlights the frailness of a newly formed democracy, and their emphasis to seek reunification of sorts amongst a country divided by war, and a war against one's way of life.

If there's a small quibble, it is perhaps this screenplay, written by Tony Kushner, is relatively void Lincoln's personal life, save for a couple of scenes in private between him and his wife Mary (Sally Field) where they bicker a lot, and through heated conversation we learn a little bit more about their married past, and those with his sons Tad (Gulliver McGrath) and Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the latter finding it hard to step out of his big man's shadow, and finding opposition when wanting to join the many other sons who decided to leave family to take up arms for their cause. Supporting characters were also fairly one-dimensional save for Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens, leaving the spotlight firmly on the titular president and his fight for just cause.

It's little surprise then to find that Lincoln had emerged as a frontrunner with the number of nominations chalked up for this season's Oscars. With Spielberg and his frequent collaborators in John Williams providing music, Michael Kahn tightly editing this, and lensed by Janusz Kaminski, this is one solid biography of an American President that's befitting of the man, full of intricate details and crafted with love in every aspect of its production values, and probably will set the bar with which how presidential biographies in future could be benchmarked against. A definite recommendation, even if one knows what the outcome would be, since Daniel Day-Lewis gives a one of a kind performance here, as always.

Flight

No We're Not Serving Coffee Now!
You'll probably know Robert Zemeckis through his films such as the Back to the Future trilogy, and of course Forrest Gump. Those films had a feel good quality to them, and created thriving cultural icons. So I guess there's a need to walk down the wild side for a change, and get back in touch with directing real people as opposed to dabbling predominantly with CG and 3D in A Christmas Carol and Beowulf, and with that brings Flight, which may seem like a legal thriller about one pilot's daring flight strategy that saved a lot of lives, but is actually a tale about one man's alcoholism and drug abuse, and the shame he has to live with in covering up his addictions from the public eye when propelled into the limelight.

Wait, does this mean that the trailer's wrestling of airplane controls that resulted in the money shot of flying it upside down, was nothing than a peripheral plot device? Unfortunately, that is an affirmative, with Denzel Washington's Whip Whitaker, a veteran pilot executing everything in the books to correct his jet's sudden nose down scenario, culminating in the upside down glide of the plane to an open field that minimize ground casualties. With 6 perishing under the circumstances out of more than a hundred passengers, Whip's steady hands, which we'd have experienced given his punching his plane out of a stormy weather, once again demonstrated that experienced pilots, compared to the younger officers (Brian Geraghty), are miles better with vast experience and cool head to deal with any unexpected situation.

But Whip's character comes under scrutiny, when the film opens with an eyebrow raising booze and drug abuse, hours before his ill fated flight. I don't know anyone who would not mind travelling on a plane with the pilot on likely DUI charges if found out. One could get away with it most of the time, but when found out, the circumstances surrounding one's state of mind, whether or not one's alert, would mean scapegoats are quickly identified, and blame pinned on something that's easily grasped, versus to scour through hundreds of materials, eyewitnesses and various reports. It's as if it's an open and shut case, and if it is, the film wouldn't be too much, would it?

Which means Don Cheadle's lawyer character Hugh Lang, appointed to defend Whip, didn't get much to do, since this is not a legal thriller, and most of the charges got easily defended, deflected, and covered up through technicalities. It probably also reflected some hard truths in life, that perception is everything, and who's who in your network is just as important when it boils down to knuckle fights and you need some biasness to swing results in your favour. So exit Cheadle once he's done his supporting role. And Flight is temporal in its treatment of supporting roles, with John Goodman being Whip's principal supplier of his vice, popping up when needed to help sober him up, and Bruce Greenwood as Whip's pilot pal in the union, offers little advice, if any at all, there to represent the interests of most parties that would expectedly be in any lawsuits thrown at either direction.

Then perhaps Kelly Reilly's role was the most peculiar here, one that could have been done without as well. Her introductory scenes were edited in at the beginning quite haphazardly interspersed with what's going on thousands of feet in the air, and having little bearing with that panic in the sky. It's fairly irritating to be engaged in a mid-flight crisis, then cut toward Reilly's Nicold role as a junkie who got propositioned for a pornographic film in order to feed her drug addiction, then cut back toward the flight in the sky, then back at her woes of being unable to pay the rent, and passing out on a junkie high. We don't really care about Nicole at that point in the narrative, and having been put off, we continue not to care about her hook up with Whip, being rather peripheral in the character's motivation and intent, as being the fodder for Whip in a what-if scenario that he'd man up to his addiction, and take active steps to correct it, like Nicole did. We know that's the intent, and to add a little bit of loving between the two characters in the same boat, but editing 101 says it could have been done better.

Denzel Washington owns the role of Whip, but perhaps a little too much in successfully bringing out the helplessness of the character who repeatedly refuses to help himself, that after a while it stopped eliciting sympathy from the audience, and alienating Whip further away through his lies and cheating ways. It's consistent with those battling addictions, in that he never really admitted, and is in constant state of denial. Denzel's character is repulsive, and can lie to anyone straight in the eye. We'd like to root for the pilot who had saved lives from the jaws of death, but after knowing his character inside out, that fame and idolatry dissipates, and it became quite laborious to observe that one man's desperation for assistance when he had visits key witnesses to try and influence decisions and statements. Denzel nails his role and that nomination in this year's Oscars, but I suppose the statue will elude him no thanks to the overall negativity that role brought to the party.

Robert Zemeckis had teased Flight to be something more, but it boiled down to be an intense character study on alcoholism, drug abuse, and just about the most repulsive of human traits one can bring to the big screen. It's a departure away from his usual feel good movies, quick to remind us on the failings of the human being, that quickness to judge and condemn, though the pacing of the film sagged in the middle as it muddled around these issues far too much. The first act, without the unnecessary introduction of Nicole, and the final act, are what made the film excitably engaging, but I suppose having been out of the game for some time, it takes a little bit of getting used to, so let's hope Zemeckis next film will return him to the heights he was once known for.

Red Numbers (红字 / Hong Zi / Ang Jee)

Crawl Away, Nice and Slow
Are Singapore movies becoming predictable, and is there an unwritten rule that first time feature filmmakers ought to consider putting Gambling and a Chinese dialect (Teochew in this case) into their movie to appeal to the large Chinese-speaking heartlander base, and our penchant for betting? You can scroll through the list of Singapore films on the right panel, and tick off the movies that either has Gambling/4D as a theme, or feature it as a plot device, and the number would probably surprise. It's time to break away from this unnecessary and unhealthy obsession, and proclaim - movies with such scenes and themes, are B-O-R-I-N-G. And the truth is, they actually are.

Written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Dominic Ow, Red Numbers is that early local box office counter to Jack Neo's Ah Boys to Men: Part 2 success this year, with that film being the crowning glory at the box office, and this one more than likely to see empty halls. The cast list is fairly unimpressive even as co-producer Edmund Chen, a familiar face in television, got a starring role, and roped in some of his studio colleagues such as Hong Huifang, Chen Shucheng, Eunice Olsen and some of those from yesteryear, even if you get the best acting talent available on this island, you'll not be able to bail the film out of its insipid storyline.

Which may be why, like the mantra that's economically fashionable in country, if you can't find locals willing to partake in any work, go foreign! The leading role in the film went to Zhang Lu Bin (credited as Rubin), who stars as the world's most unluckiest person Xu Xiao Xu, booted out of his hairdressing job, and finding his luck turning for the worst each passing minute. He chances upon geomancer and Fengshui master known as Master Hui (a real life practitioner) who enlightens Xu that the latter only has a 3 minute window in his entire life for good fortune. And Master Hui also serves as consultant to the Gao family, whose patriarch Lao Gao (Chen Shucheng) had kicked the bucket, and returns to the world courtesy of bad CG effects, to try and bless his wretched family of his grand-daughter (Kanny Theng) and her no good live-in boyfriend (Sugie Phua), her bar girl mom (Hong Huifang), her voyeur dad (Henry Heng), her aunt (He Jie) and her aunt's lover (Lee Chau Min).

What transpires is an extremely laborious plot (if you can call it one) development involving Xu and the Gao family trying to avert the misfortunes, and death, that awaits them, while Edmund Chen's Lollipop, in what would be one of his worst roles ever, figures into the entire mix that tried to hoodwink the audience and pass itself off as a mystery. And not forgetting the obsession of the characters to try and second guess what Lao Gao has in store for them as far as 4D numbers go, which flashes across the screen at random intervals, encouraging you to take note of them and go buy them later.

Spoken lines are awkward, and the non-actors cannot act even if their lives depend on it, with Ow as director not being able to coerce any credible performances. Master Hui, the real deal, looks and sounds just like how he does on television during the Lunar New Year eve celebratory variety shows, and is obviously not an actor, with his namesake on screen being just a reader of lines, imparting Fengshui tips that you may care about to take notes. Everyone else seemed out of place and unsure about what their characters stood for, with hardly any development, with the likes of Eunice Olsen as a bargirl, and James Wong as yet another random pop up character, prone to exaggeration and over-acting.

Technically, the colors looked very saturated, and the narrative was so bad it wasn't even funny. Ow probably tried too hard in wanting to impress with his first feature, and fell into the many pitfalls that await the eager. Between Ow and his editor, someone probably thought it was a good idea for quick cuts each time Xu has to run from place to place. It's charming for a while, but restraint is something not in the vocabulary. And the same goes for the necessity to pepper every other scene with highlights of numbers, enlightening you that these digits in the show mean something in real life, being 4D numbers that won the lottery at some point in time. Trivial? Yes. In-movie easter egg? Overdone.

And one thing to note about differing standards. Sex.Violence.FamilyValues got into issues with the censors for purportedly making racist remarks in the film. Eventually, the decision to ban it became a decision to mute over the offending statements (muting itself is bloody irritating, though effective in making John McClane sound like a pussy). But why did Red Numbers manage to make a racist joke/remark, and got away with a PG-13 blessing? It boggles the mind, and one can only reckon that the same complainant / censor did not have the good fortune (or had!) to watch Red Numbers.

If there's only one consistent Fengshui prediction for this, I'm sure Master Hui would have seen this coming, that the film is going to be a box office dud, dead from the get go. For a film with commercial aspirations, it lacked mainstream sensibilities, and is harping on the rehashed elements that audiences are probably already tired of (Oh, yet another Singapore film, about gambling). It's time for local filmmakers to up the ante, because films like these that continue to get funding and made, just limits the genres of films that can be made here, and give Singapore films, on the whole, a bad name of being devoid of creativity and talent. Skip this at all costs, as it certainly qualifies, albeit early, as one of the duds this year.

Bekas

You Can Be Clark Kent
There's almost always something special about a director's early films, as the charm comes from its inherent rawness, and perhaps willingness to take greater risks to get something finished. And this lack of experience at the helm also meant an appeal that audiences would be more forgiving, and open their hearts out in giving the film a chance. The magnificence is, when it works, like Bekas, you're going to embrace it wholeheartedly and completely.

Writer-director Karzan Kader draws deep from his own personal experiences of having to escape Kurdistan, Iraq as a young kid in the 90s, to come up with Bekas, a road trip tale of hope, following two orphaned boys Dana (Sarwar Fazil) and younger brother Zana (Zamand Taha), who have to fend for themselves at every corner and turn, growing up under harsh circumstances with little adult supervision. They have to rely on their street smarts, brotherly love and loyalty to each other to get themselves through day by day, earning their keep as shoe shiners for pittance, and homelessness meant sleeping out in the open at any random, but available rooftops.

And you would be mistaken to think that Kader would take the easy route out and flood his film with plenty of melodrama, to tug at your heartstrings at the plight of the boys. Instead, he fills his narrative with plenty of anecdotes and shenanigans that the two boys get into, which often result in either one, or both, being at the wrong end of a slap, ear pull, or in terms of greater insult, the slipper. But this is a story about growing up, and growing a hide that's thick to ensure survival, that the boys will have you in stiches most times when they get to the central plot device - of getting out of their predicament, and relying on any of their own means possible to get to America, and meet their idol Superman, whom they hope to enlist in a fight against Saddam Hussein, and to ressurect their dead parents.

Despite being non-actors, both boys Dana and Zana are set to charm your socks off with their banter, sibling rivalry, and inevitably, love. Kader knows when to push the right buttons in crafting scenes that will make you root for them to escape impossible situations, or to cheer them on as they encounter adversity after adversity in getting to their eventual destination, which is "just miles away" on a map that looks more like one from a discarded Risk board game. Anyone who thought Quvenzhane Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild, should take a look at these two boys, who are naturals despite their penchant to raise their voice most of the time. Whether or not it's Dana finding first love, or Zana being disappointed time and again by his older brother, these two boys put on a masterclass performance that makes your heart go out to them.

Filmed on location, the cinematography is excellent, capturing scenes seldom seen by many unless you've travelled to the region. And there's no more to ask for when the visuals have aural accompaniment that accentuated mood to provide that extra dimension of feelings. Through a road trip, Kader manages to link scenes up perfectly, as the boys go from episode to episode atop their donkey, and every other conceivable mode of transport from cars to trucks, to evade detection and capture as they pass through guarded borders. Whether or not they reach their destination, would be immaterial by the time the story ends, painting a bigger picture of hope and love, narrative themes which are far more powerful than the fictional deity they seek to locate in a foreign land, whom they probably found in each other.

Bekas is one fine film set in the Middle East, such as Son of Babylon, that will endear. A definite recommendation!

Bekas opens in cinemas from 28 Feb 2013, as part of The Picturehouse Selection.