Phobia 2 (5 Phrang)

Alone Again

With the success of 4bia, it's a no brainer for the sequel to be made, now with the addition of Visute Poolvoralaks joining the original team of four in contributing to an anthology that sees each helming a segment, an opportunity to showcase their brand of scare tactics.

This time round though, gone are those unifying moments in one another's stories (like news segments etc) that provided a link of sorts that threaded throughout, though I can't help but to notice that motor-vehicles now took over as a common plot element. The runtime too is also a tad longer given the involvement of 5 directors and their shorts, and I felt almost all had areas where it could be trimmed to allow for a tighter run time. Nonetheless Phobia 2 still makes for a thrilling, scary and comedic horror film outing, with enough bandwidth for a franchised, crowd-pleasing series.

Novice – Paween Purijitpanya
Given his part to play in a crime, Pey (Jirayu Laongmanee) gets hidden away in a monastery by his parents, but for the evil Pey has committed, no holy place will serve to be his refuge, and he gets haunted by his guilt. It goes to show that Karma will catch up with you no matter where you're at, and just deserts will get served. Very well thought out with its narrative, and great use of special effects especially in the last scene. The animal battle is something to behold, and will likely give you the creeps as well. I felt this film had set the bar in its mature presentation of its theme and story that the rest had to follow, but being an anthology, managed to cut the rest some slack.

Ward – Visute Poolvoralaks
The lead character here probably is the world's most unluckiest patient. Warded after a motorcycle accident which provided a scene of bloody gore, he gets warded next to a brain-dead old man, with mean looking relatives and visitors. As the adage goes for curiosity, there are plenty of scare tactics employed to heighten anticipation and build suspense, playing up cliches for dark comedy. It's pretty standard fare with an outcome that you'd come to expect, though credit must go to Dan Worrawech as the one-man show transforming from cheeky, to outright scared.

Sound department was top notch though, as it worked the surround sound of the cinema perfectly, so much so that my friend had thought I had fallen asleep, by virtue of snores coming out of speakers from my direction.

Backpackers – Songyos Sugmakanan
This was fun, although it took a while to build up given its back story of drug mules and trafficking. It's a little gimmicky too involving a Japanese couple hitchhiking on the wrong vehicle at the wrong time of course, only to find themselves stuck in the middle of an inexplicable chain of events involving, well, zombies. You can tell that director Sugmakanan was influenced to craft his zombies after 28 Days/Weeks Later, the fast-running variety, rather than the lumbering undead of George A Romero's.

I would have loved to see this as a feature film though (yeah, I'm a zombie-fan), and its ending leaves plenty of room, perhaps to be continued in Phobia 3 (I wish!). Don't expect some aspects of this short to make sense though, just accept it for the campy fun that it is at certain points, and enjoy.

Salvage – Parkpoom Wongpoom
This segment is probably the simplest amongst all storywise, which had great premise though its execution seemed to reflect more from contemporary films such as Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, and Franck Khalfoun's P2. Nuch (Nicole Theriault) is an unscrupulous car saleswoman who accepts vehicles damaged in accident on the cheap, sends it for some massive refurbishment and repairs, before passing them off as near brand new for unsuspecting customers to purchase.

With horror films, you know that the guilty parties will be duly punished, though this film does seem to borrow a couple of scenes from the mentioned Hollywood films, especially with Nuch going up against the supernatural in the confines of a cramped car cabin, or going about conducting a search from within a sprawling car park. It's a standard, average fare that sets out to do exactly what it planned to, with some special effects thrown in as good measure.

In The End – Banjong Pisanthanakun
Helmed by Pisanthanakun who did In The Middle in 4bia, here he's shrewdly the last slate because it wrapped everything on a high with his brand of hormedy, and would bound to leave you remembering this crowd-pleaser rather than some of the relatively serious approach that preceded it. Pisanthanakun reunites his original cast from the first film, since the formula isn't broke (so why fix it), and continues his very tongue-in-cheek take at horror films, this time adding Marsha Wattanapanich into the mix, and having the characters here as filmmakers making Alone 2.

This simple short impressed upon what a hormedy should be like, and Jack Neo clearly can take lessons from Pisanthanakun in learning how to make a film that had proper elements of both genres. The chemistry and interplay between all the male leads here also served up bucket loads of fun and laughter reminiscent of their effort from the first film, and Marsha just hams it up totally as the exaggerated, hypocrite bimbo who puts in the looniest performance of her life. It goes to show that people often scare themselves with preconceived, unverified notions, and rather err on the side of caution when dealing with superstition and the supernatural. Needless to say, I like this installment best.

Have fun with Phobia 2, because I know I did. If I had to rank them in descending order of preference and enjoyment, then it'll be In The End, Backpackers, Ward, Novice then Salvage.

Inglourious Basterds

Boys To Men

While Quentin Tarantino's love for movies is unquestionable, Inglourious Basterds tops his previous efforts in genre revolution, tossing a whole of of ingredients together and mixing them up, and you'll be put into a mental dizzy just keeping track of the numerous odes, homages, and pure love for the cinema that Tarantino included in this film, a misnomer most definitely that this is anything but a WWII movie about a group of US-Jewish guerrilla soldiers inserted into enemy territory to strike fear through their inhumane ways of exterminating Hitler's army.

Told in chapters (which I felt could actually stand alone as short films) and running some 153 minutes, Inglourious Basterds isn't your father's war movie, where it's flat out action from end to end. In true Tarantino fashion, you've got to brace yourself for a lot, and I mean a whole lot of dialogues and conversations as only how Tarantino knows to craft in an engrossing, engaging fashion. While the violence and F-bombs have been considerably toned down, the way the characters interact, from egoistical monologues to a pair of lovebirds realizing their calling, from intense conversations to foolhardy game play around a table, are pure gold, with such talky scenes getting milked dry, before mayhem got unleashed akin to pressing the reset button, only to have the next chapter repeat itself stylistically all over again. I continue to stand amazed at how Tarantino fashions and crafts his dialogues.

If you're geared up for some rowdy action as the trailer made it out to be, then you'll be disappointed outright, since you don't really get to see the Basterds in action all the time, especially after that rousing speech by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) outlining the Basterds' mission, with the narrative fast-forwarding many years to the tail-end of the war. Not that I didn't mind of course, as there are a lot more going for the film, than a straight-out action whack fest, knowing Tarantino being at the helm.

And in Tarantino-verse, the chapters here are designed with a lot of precision, despite having a lot going for it. I especially enjoyed the opening, quite unconventional in a way, but what an introduction to the villain, played in such low key terms as it built up toward quiet revelation. The gem of the film is undoubtedly Christoph Waltz's chilling performance as Col. Hans Landa, aka The Jew Hunter, earning a reputation of always getting his man through extremely convincing techniques of interviews, interrogation and negotiations. Tarantino has crafted a highly complex villain, and I dare say the best amongst his stories thus far, who's always full of surprises for his enemies. A cunning linguist as well, he's tremendously gentlemanly in his demeanour, never betraying the sick and ruthless core hidden behind that shiny medal-filled uniform. Waltz is definitely worthy of all accolades coming his way by virtue of his sterling performance here.

The other scene which worked magically, was that in a tavern, where Lt Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) and Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) meet up with double agent actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) to discuss plans for Operation Kino, only to be constantly interrupted by Major Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl). What transpired is something that bordered on the hilarious, yet constantly teething on knife's edge given our heroes' bluff on the verge of being exposed. And with two Mexican stand offs done in Tarantino style, what more can you ask for as it continued being played out with pure glee.

The story arc of Shosanna Dreyfus may run typical of a revenge flick, where the victim swears vengeance over her once German hunter, but thanks to Melanie Laurent's luminous presence as Shosanna, it got elevated to a lot more as she held her own, allowing you to sympathize with her plight and steely resolve in her mission. This arc is also one of the most beautifully shot (especially the scenes in the movie theatre), having importance as the melting pot primed for regime change. Filled at every moment with nuggets of cinema information that only Tarantino can weave together in an engaging fashion, it even features a movie-in-movie directed by Eli Roth, who had also donned his acting hat as one of the Basterds.

Tarantino continues to leave his indelible mark on modern cinema, and like the final, permanent branding, this film has certainly served to be the masterpiece reflective of what he does best. Definitely worth repeated viewings just to lap up all the gems you've missed the first time round.

Whiteout

I Need Warmth

Billed somewhat as a investigative murder mystery, Whiteout is unfortunately lacking in building anticipation and suspense, opting for something that's flatline on the adrenaline-meter, where one couldn't help but to cringe at how monotonous it can get. Granted of course that life in the Antarctic is routine just like how Kate Beckinsale's US Marshal Carrie have experienced, until one day a corpse turns up and leaves behind a trail of questions that have to be solved prior to a total evacuation of their camp from an impending snow storm.

Action sequences here aren't deftly crafted by director Dominic Sena, who probably wanted to reflect the titular conditions at the ice continent, but clearly lacked the experience in ensuring that they do get a reasonably translated for an audience to partake in the action. Characters too all felt cardboard, especially all of Carrie's sidekicks and friends. There were some nifty special effects involving the cold temperatures, but nothing enough to wow. Plenty of missteps along the way, which didn't help to elevate the rather flat storyline which lacked a catalyst to spice things up.

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

The Ugly Truth

That's How I Like It

How my friend and I got to watch an advance preview of this film is an interesting story in itself, given the circumstances and what we had experienced and observed, somehow playing a little bit on the theme of the movie, but I suppose that is something for another day. The Ugly Truth didn't fare all too well when it got released in the States, perhaps most people found the content too hard to swallow, in self-denial, or basically too prudish to let the hair down and guffaw at the situations being presented, however unlikely they could be.

If you had thought the trailer had some of the best lines in the movie, then may I assure you that you'll be up for a lot more. Maybe it's because I have bad taste, or a potty mind at times that took over, and found that hey, I could be the equivalent of a Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) too, with filth that comes out of the mouth without thorough processing. Butler's Chadway is a shock jock, who on late night cable television hosts The Ugly Truth, passing on sound but cynical judgement about the state of modern relationships to his viewers. Katherine Heigl's Abby is a television producer whose languishing ratings on her show translates to a threat of cancellation, until Mike gets contracted to present his pointed viewpoints on a segment of her news programme.

Needless to say, sparks don't fly between the two because the control freak in Abby is automatic loggerheads with Mike's loose cannon (pardon the pun), and made worse when Mike is deemed as the saviour of her show and career. The two enter a grudging professional relationship when Abby seeks help from Mike in order to snag the man of her dreams (according to a checklist, no less!), and I guess for a romantic comedy you can fill in the blanks all the way to the finale.

Sure the story isn't rocket science, full of fluff that could be used to fill a king sized mattress, but who cares about the story when you have insane, chauvinistic situations (and this is written by three women!) plastered left, right and centre full of sexual innuendos and references all targeted squarely at making you laugh, probably sometimes at yourself when you realize that you've utilized the same tips and tricks, or found yourself stuck in the exact same situation where the advice become “words of wisdom”. It's pretty much the games people play, laid out flatly on the table, and as such, adds to your ability to identify and participate in the film.

The film worked wonders because of its star pairing of Butler and Heigl. I always thought Butler could do action and romance with his eyes closed, but who would have realized that he makes an awesome shock jock who's convinced with exactly what he's preaching, and practising those lessons to the T. If anything it adds to his versatility that he can do comedy as well. Heigl needs no introduction, and she amplifies her comic timing a lot more in this one, which I think easily endears her. Playing essentially two proverbial roles like the Librarian and the Stripper in her real, and perceived, fake self thanks to Mike's creative input, it's a little bit of fantasy thrown in, as who can imagine anyone looking like Heigl, having a lack of suitors lining up her doorway. That goofy dance of hers each time she literally jumps for joy, should be immortalized.

Hold on, did I actually enjoy this film? Yes, really, so don't laugh (at me). I have to admit again that it relied plenty on cliches, cardboard characters, and unreal situations crafted just for laughs (such as the one just begging to challenge When Harry Met Sally's iconic scene in a restaurant), it's quite inexplicable how I could have come to really laugh at nearly every moment, and had a field day with it. Inexplicable, just like falling in love with someone is.

[5th Singapore Short Film Festival] Korean – School Days

For those still unaware, the 5th Singapore Short FIlm Festival, is now ongoing at the Substation this week. I wish I could attend every single screening there is, but unfortunately my schedule didn't permit. In any case, do check out the Festival Website to see which programs tickle your fancy, and head on down to check them out!

I only had time today to check out one of the screenings, and it happens to be a selection of Korean shorts with a similar, unifying theme throughout dealing with, erm, high school girls.

A School Rep
Park Sang-joon / 2008 / 17min / South Korea / PG

Amongst the shorts screened today, I had enjoyed this the most, even though it chose to address things in open ended fashion. Wonderful play between the leads, where the teacher-student line got crossed because of mutual attraction, and conflicts of interest come into play. It's always interesting to note that there's a reason for the adage of not eating and shitting in your own backyard, and I guess it's a lesson learnt here. Moral dilemma rears its head as a major theme, as one has to decide whether to pull the brakes and halt a promising student's aspirations, if only just because of the realization that what's pretty on the outside, can be so rotten within.

Everything Jisoo Always Wanted To Know About Sex
Lee Ji-soo / 2007 / 10min / South Korea / NC16 (Sexual Reference)

This is a very simple documentary, where the filmmaker Jisoo goes around interviewing her teachers and peers with questions about sex. For those too shy to look into the camera, you get shots that are trained anywhere but at the face of the interviewee. Those less shy of course will look straight into the camera to make their point, which can range from the misinformed, to the serious, to the downright hilarious. Nothing too fancy here as it got wrapped up with a simplistic analysis.

Girl
Hong Sung-hoon / 2008 / 17min / South Korea / RATINGS TBA

Victim of the shaky-cam indie filmmaker syndrome, Girl had an arresting plot if only because it revealed its characters and relationship links in quite measured terms, leaving you guessing for the most parts in the beginning should you not have read its synopsis. Talk about being put on a spot, as you would likely guess the worst of the man who got cornered by a teenage schoolgirl who claims to be pregnant. A little too serious for my liking too, which on one hand highlights the plights of irresponsible, pre-marital teenage sex, while on the other, like A School Rep, left things quite hanging without a clear resolution, probably in parallel to case-by-case situations where it's always very easy to judge and jump into conclusions without first getting a clearly picture.

High School Girls
Park Ji-wan / 2008 / 15min / South Korea / RATINGS TBA

A group of schoolgirls looking forward to an outing where they congregate in a clubhouse and basically hang loose, but first, one had to return back to school to pick up something, while another two tangent off to get drinks. Basically nothing much but a banter between the characters, from things like grades, yet another student-teacher crush, and one which I liked, where a character says it's either you're born pretty, or you've to be rich, echoing the plastic surgery sentiments where beauty can be fixed, at the right price. Plenty of girlie concerns getting thrown around, but the finale, which got presented in quite unexpected terms, rounded this off quite nicely.

Whatever Works

No Late Nights

Whatever Works, worked. To a large extent, this Woody Allen film just happened to be right up my alley with its level of sarcasm, and impressions ranging ranging from relationships, religion and just about everything that life's about under this crazy sun. Having jet-set to Europe with his last few films, Allen returns to New York, and has Larry David star as his mouthpiece, the self-proclaimed genius and know-it-all Boris Yellnikoff, who serves to be our guide through this quirky film with some keen observations and sharp commentary.

Boris, to begin with, is not very well-liked, depending on which side of his fence you're happening to be standing on. Extremely grumpy though full of wit that rolls off his tongue as smoothly as hot knife through butter, we learn why he's so bitter as he breaks the fourth barrier and communicates directly with us, and in a way educates us through his meanness, which also involved bullying school kids at chess, complete with verbal barrage.

His less than complete, unsatisfactory life of loneliness gets interrupted when Evan Rachel Wood's Melodie St. Ann Celestine (what a mouthful!), a beauty queen down from the South, comes gatecrashing into his home. One can smell instant romance in the air despite plenty of obvious obstacles, for starters their age, but between these two characters, Allen's creative banter for them became the highlight, and you can't help but to chuckle at one's intellectual superiority over the other, as Wood really hammed it up as the bimbo with a heart of gold.

An old man with a nubile young blonde makes for perfect comedic fodder, but Allen pours on more quirky characters, especially with Patricia Clarkson's Marietta, Melodie's mom steeped in traditional values, being brought about town and given an eye opener to what's more than life than bending over an oven in the kitchen, or religion even. Her appearance and transformation too cast doubts into Boris' and Melodie's relationship, especially since she's very disapproving just because her daughter's looks is more compatible to hot hunks like Randy James (Henry Cavill).

The dialogue in the film is undeniable the highlight and the best of what this film is about, though Allen over-indulged himself with the addition of yet another character, Melodie's dad John (Ed Begley Jr) late into the game, just so as to become all inclusive in his exploration and address of modern liberal relationships, the kind that will raise an eyebrow, which you can see coming from a mile away.

But the best advice dished out by Boris, to someone in mid-life, would be the titular Whatever Works. It's Carpe Diem in a way, though it comes with a tone of resignation that one shouldn't be too choosy, too fussy, and basically to go with the flow and accept what life, change and fate decide to dish up and throw at you, to take things in stride. It isn't Woody Allen's finest, but it sure does have its moments as it served to entertain, enlighten, and remind.

Thirst (Bakjwi)

Fragile Power

The response to Park Chan-wook's Thirst is nothing less than polarizing. You either love it like one of my friends who rated it amongst the best he'd seen, or you loathe it like another who had staged a walkout. Personally I do not think this film deserved such a negative response, however, it did get a little indulgent at times, and schizophrenic too in its narrative, but had its moments which basically boiled down to the power wielded by and given to the female of the species, and the havoc that it creates.

Song Kang-ho is one of my favourite Korean actors, and he's extremely versatile as seen from his filmography, which his Shiri happened to be my first Korean film ever seen in a theatre. One of his latest film, Secret Sunshine, had his character convert to a religion because he had the hots for a member of the opposite sex. Here in Thirst, Song plays Priest Sang-hyeon, a devout man of god who decided to subject himself to a medical experiment which went somewhat awry, but it turned him into a vampire. Keeping his secret under wraps, he soon gets worshipped and exalted to sainthood because he's the first of 500 survivors of that experiment, and gets called upon to do miraculous favors that he knows he has no ability to perform.

That about sums up the premise of the first act, with Song caught in a dilemma of being a man of faith, and being the object of worship instead. And Park's story begins to tempt the vampire-Priest, who has so far managed to keep his urges repressed, despite the constant need for blood to keep his condition under control. The temptation comes in the form of a woman (naturally), and a beautiful one at that. Sang-hyeon's childhood friend Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun), his wife Tae-joo (Kim Ok-vin) and his mom Lady Ra (Kim Hae-sook) enter his life, and the games begin, with the seduction, lust and plans for murder being suggested so that Sang-hyeon can make away with Tae-joo.

Kim Ok-vin's Tae-joo probably enveloped the evolution of the female standing in society, and it is her character that stood out strongly in the film. When we're first introduced to her, we see that she's extremely depressed, and unhappy with her life, seeking escape through routine and harsh treatment in waiting hand and foot at her husband, sprinting away into the darkness of night, only to know that she has no where to go but to return home. But with the Priest, and the knowledge of what he is, there's more than meets the eye to the character, whom I feel overshadows the story of the vampire-priest even, as she schemes her way toward a level playing field.

Possessing the innate power to tempt, and sacrificing her body (hence Kim Ok-vin's screen nudity) even to the extent of inducing Sang-hyeon to renounce religion (much like Adam and Eve and their fall from grace after munching on that forbidden fruit undoubtedly spurred on by you know who). It dwelt on the possession of absolute power, and with it the ability like Sang-hyeon to either do good, or do nothing but keep it under control, or like Tae-joo to careen irresponsibly toward freedom now that there's absolutely no barriers weighing her down.

The relationship dynamics between the lovers also undergoes massive changes, especially with Tae-joo being Sang-hyeon's equal, and from the days of old where the woman is reliant on the man to bring home the bacon (or blood in this case), her ability to do the same pretty much makes him redundant, and in some ways, inferior as she bites the hand that feeds, relegating him to domestic duties and becoming a constant nag in his check and balance of her extreme, violent ways.

This pretty much propels the film in its violent crescendo to the finale. While Park's earlier works have demonstrated his deft handling of violence, fans of those films wouldn't find such scenes lacking in Thirst, although the director does string you up high and dry for quite a while before allowing your desire for screen violence to be quenched. And these come nothing less than bone-crunching, bloody acts where crimson blood gets spewed and spurted, especially in stark contrast to the all-white rooms that one of the sets got furnished under.

Thirst however is far from the perfect film, although as one basking under the guise of a violent, romantic tale it does work to a certain extent thanks to the characters created, and both Song Kang-ho and Kim Ok-vin's captivating performances. There are a couple of scenes in the last third which stuck out like a sore thumb as it didn't gel with the rest of the narrative smoothly although it yet added another dimension to Tae-joo's character, and I suspect that the 10 minute extension to Thirst which will be shown at the upcoming Pusan International Film Festival, would probably address this.

Moon

One Way Ticket

Written and directed by Duncan Jones, Moon is strangely unique because while it contained a series of familiar cliches, it still managed to string itself together in an engaging manner, also in a large part thanks to Sam Rockwell's stellar one-man show, acting against himself with the occasional banter with a computer voiced by Kevin Spacey and represented by a smiley emoticon interface.

In the future, Man has found that we can power our planet harnessing the H3 gas found in abundance in our moon. As such, Lunar Industries had begun sending astronaut contractors to the moon in order to oversee the harnessing of the vital resource. Each contract lasts 3 years, and we are soon introduced to Sam Bell (Rockwell), who has 2 weeks more to the end of contract, and just cannot wait to get out of his career isolation, where the live communications link has been severed, and his contact with the outside world relies heavily on pre-recorded messages being sent to and fro.

To say anything more would be to spoil the story, since a major turn of events happen very early, and from then on it's the posing of questions ranging from existentialism, to the circle of life. The plot elements in Jones' story are nothing new, and in fact quite overused in contemporary science fiction films of late, though the advantage here is that its quiet, soundless environment provides plenty of room for thought as opposed to loud action films. It allows its ideas to sink in, while at the same time, thanks to Rockwell's tour de force performance, allowed you to buy into his plight, and experience the same level of despair and disbelief of the truth, and that degree of loneliness should you happen to be in his shoes.

The production sets and miniatures used are intricately designed, which will provide space junkies a field day in just gawking at the level of detail, which is quite impressive given that it's shot on a relatively shoestring budget. And who can fail to mention the magic of Clint Mansell's score which once again provides an additional dimension with its extremely memorable theme that would set the entire mood and tone for the film, which hypnotically guides you through the story and move you.

Moon has plenty of positives going for it, especially if you prefer a thinking man's science fiction film with great acting against beautiful sets accentuated with a wonderful musical score, and despite some familiar themes, you'd find yourself appreciating this simple work of art.

[Israel Film Festival] A Matter of Size

One Two Hut

For some of us, it's at times an uphill battle with the bulge. Some blame it on lifestyle, others on physiology, while some become resigned to genetics. I suppose it's not only a concern with females going into a fluster when additional weight is gained, but males as well as we wake up one fine day, and discover that our six packs have merged into one singular blob. The choice is clear - do something about it - hitting the gym at least - or continue to indulge in our current lifestyle of choice. For me, the latter is quite evident.

It's easy to label Israeli movie A Matter of Size as just another "fat movie", where comedy comes naturally from the meanness in poking fun at another's huge waistline. A lot of comedies are guilty of this to the point that they become grossly offensive. This film thankfully shied away from offending, though it still came with plenty of pot calling the kettle black, at times the characters themselves mirroring some of us, where we utter insensitive comments without a clue on the damage and hurt they will cause.

Written and directed by Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor, the duo had crafted an endearing tale about self-identity, and the challenge to always be comfortable with oneself in mind and body. It's easy to cheer someone on in doing what seems to be natural for us, but one heck of a mountain to climb for the other. For Herzl (Itzik Cohen), being part of a fitness club is sheer torture for his lack of results, and constant ridicule from the trainer, who thinks that it is in her arsenal to insult Herzl into becoming thin again.

Facing discrimination everywhere, from home and to the workplace, he chances upon Sumo wrestling when he got a job washing dishes at a Japanese restaurant, and realizes that one can still gain respect and admiration despite being fat. He gathers a few close but skeptical friends who share his similarities in girth, and thus begin their journey into sumo training, but what they're about to gain is not just techniques in wrestling, but some important lessons about life itself, where it is always convenient to put the blame when things don't go right onto their physical exteriors, or someone else, yet always failing to look at what's lacking inside, and coming to terms with it.

There's a little bit of everything in the film, from comedy, to romance, friendship, relationship and the likes, that will keep you engaged throughout. Itzik Cohen is extremely charismatic as he chews up the screen with his presence, and I'm not referring to physical size here. The cast did an admirable job in bringing some realism into their sumo moves (their 3 months training paid off), and carried off their individual arcs convincingly, especially Itzik's counterpart Aharon (Dvir Benedek), who can shuffle between having the meanest mouth amongst the group, and arguably their greatest critic, with his mean streak and prepping the way of being the roadblock to Herzl's chance for success at a tournament.

Maymon and Tadmor steered clear of having the group's reluctant instructor Mr Kitano (Togo Igawa) as a caricature or a homage to Mr Miyagi with his wax-on-wax-off nonsense. Kitano doesn't spout fortune cookie words of wisdom, or has some trickery move up his sleeve to impart, and despite that tough man demeanour and violent back story, is also capable of an encouraging, funny line or two.

What I had enjoyed about the film is how it subtly reminds us to be who we are, and not look down upon ourselves just because we are different from the expected norm. In fact it is this uniqueness that we can harness to becoming something special, and so long as we are true to ourselves, success in some way will come, measured by a personal yardstick and not that which is imposed by society. I like this film, and it's highly recommended.

It's currently sold out for the festival given its great word of mouth from festivals and being nominated for every award in the Israeli equivalent of their Oscars, but fret not as this should soon be coming to a theatre near you as well.

Crows Zero II (Kurôzu Zero II)

In Flight

Takeshi Miike returns to helm the second installment of Crows Zero, which is arguably amongst his more mainstream work, based upon the manga by Hiroshi Takahashi. Bringing back almost all the major cast from the first film, one should expect more of the same story of high school violence given the thuggish micro-society amongst the academic community, where it's sans teachers and books, replaced by life's experience though the school of hard knocks (at times literally), coupled with the opening of old wounds and settling them through some good 'ol fisticuffs.

This sequel essentially picked up from where we last left off from the first film, with a prologue that went back some 2 years to set up the introduction of the rival thugs in Hosen Academy, where their leader got gutted by Sho Kawanishi (Shinnosuke Abe) in a cowardly manner against the rules where a weapon was used. Upon Sho's release, he's hunted down by Hosen members, where his flight from punishment landed him onto Suzuran's turf. Given a truce between the two schools, it got quickly broken by a standoff, caused by de-facto current leader Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri). So begins the reason for more action, broken bones and bruised egos in whack-fest sequences.

For those who have not seen the first film, it's not really necessary as you'll be quickly primed into the scheme of things, though those who had will undoubtedly enjoy some more detailed insights as to who the characters are, and their respective motivations. For starters at least, one would have expected Genji to have united Suzuran under his banner, but the truth is far from it. As with most aspects of leadership, respect is earned, not a given, even though you've defeated the biggest bad-ass in school, Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada). Suzuran is still very fragmented amongst its various levels and cliques, and made worse because of the perceived ineptness of Genji to lead them.

In classic united we stand, divided we fall scenario, Hosen students, in their skin-head motif, bring about some fearful raw energy as they wage war against their rivals. Leading the pack are Taiga (Nobuaki Kaneko) who sports a mean-looking goatee (which for an Arsenal fan like myself, I can't help but to associate his resemblance to Robert Pires), and a Michael Jackson-like character in Ryo (Gou Ayano), with pasty white skin, soft spoken demeanour and an aversion to sunlight (hence the umbrella), but packs quite the wallop when allowed to do his own thing in unleashing mayhem against his opponents.

The fight scenes replicated what has been experienced in the earlier installment, and I suppose even those who are new to this may find it a little repetitive at times although the fights are more realistically designed sans impossible leaps and superhuman powers, save for some unbelievable endurance of the combatants. In the finale battle for instance, which lasted some more than 20 minutes of screen time, brought out an interesting, battle-to-the-top scenario as attacks come wave after wave, which is kinda smart as it gave the various characters ample opportunity to show off their moves and abilities to hold their own ground. Miike, for all his morbidity infused in various genre films in his filmography, again chose not to include unnecessary blood and gore,

Fans of Meisa Kuroki (like *ahem*, myself) may take some delight in having the idol appear in all but 3 different scenes, 2 of which are spent consoling Genji, and one performing on stage at the pub (like what she did in the first film), though this time round it's a rather tame and shortened version of Bad Girl (those of you who have seen that music video, will know what I mean). But hey, at least Miike brought her back, so no complaints I guess. The soundtrack is again amply peppered with pop-rock music, and the main theme just accentuates perfectly the proud swagger each time the characters band together to battle. You can't help but feel that it's arse-kicking time, each time the theme comes on, cliché as this technique may be in inducing you to swell with pride as if you too are wearing a Suzuran badge.

Crows Zero II may seem like a rehash of the first film, but under different circumstances. The key subplot here involved Sho's attempt to reintegrate back into the society he knows, which is very similar to ex-convicts seeking a second chance at forgiveness after a major wrong. Other than that, there's very little emoting by the characters, or what passed as emoting in Genji's moping of why he's still pretty much the loner despite being Suzuran's top dog, and Serizawa being very much a shadow of his first film self, waiting menacingly in the wings in threatening take over looks, but very much more like the fallen hero awaiting an opportunity for a comeback. I guess fame and power doesn't account for anything especially when you belong to the same house. While the first film was essentially an ego trip for the protagonists in gaining and holding onto turf and reputation, this one rang home the importance of banding together and putting aside differences and ego for the greater good and survivability.

Thankfully the action sequences get interspersed and are brutally solid throughout, which naturally is the draw of this fantasy film. It's surprising too that for all the simplicity in its storyline, it still managed to extend itself to more than two hours, which flew by especially when you're having fun as observers to major fights. The perfect antidote after a stressful day at work (besides hitting those kickboxing gym classes)!

9

Look At The Size Of That ...

Just like how Peter Jackson had produced Neil Blomkamp's first feature film District 9 and I loved that to bits, 9 has visionaries in Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov lend their producing creds in Shane Acker's debut animated science fiction film, and the result is nothing less than stunning, telling a crisp narrative with plenty of scrumptious apocalyptic styled visuals.

In yet another post-apocalyptic world brought about by humans versus machines which had turned against their creators, the land is now barren and the skies completely dark, still smoking from an all out war that left little survivors, save for some curiously designed, hand-made dolls brought to life. Ackers had created nine of such dolls each of distinct design that you can't help but to stare in awe at how intricately they have been brought out. 9 has a huge zipper in front of him, while others have buttons, buckles and the likes to secure their bodies together. In fact, I smell an opportunity here for some merchandising where the dolls could be sold as a boxset.

I digress, but these are but some of the most uniquely looking animated characters I've seen in a long while, each epitomizing certain qualities of the human spirit, good or bad. And having these characters are more than half the battle won actually, with even the machines looking terribly menacing despite their rather make-shift appearance, gifted with powers that range from being Medusa-like, to the big Deux-Ex Machina, accidentally brought to life by a curious 9, leaving much of the plot to survival from annihilation.

The story jumped straight into the action, leaving you with many questions that will only be addressed as it went on. Which of course is OK to me as it kept things under wraps so as not to bore you with the many who, what, why, how, when, where questions, nor alienate you especially when the animation is eye-popping, and full of kinetic energy that will leave you breathless immediately after each sequence, as if you're participating directly with the characters in their thrill ride and fight for survival.

It calls for patience, and only those willing to wait will be rewarded. The back story is something quite interesting, involving a fascist government and a scientist who had sown the first seeds of destruction, which while nothing new since it's been done by other films before (think Terminator and The Rockeeteer even), it did provide sufficient levels of detail to move the narrative forward, leaving room for open, imaginative interpretation. But as I already mentioned, the story just did enough and smartly took a backseat for its visuals to lead the way, which is after all what we're here to gawk at.

One of the plus points here belong to the voice casting. With the likes of Elijah Wood as the titular character, and supported by Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly and Fred Tatasciore (yes, 7 because 2 of the characters are mute), at times I can't help but to chuckle that it looked very much like Lord of the Rings all over again, with Wood reprising his role as the chosen one, and their mission which brings them to the heart of evil, having to do battles with whatever contraptions that got designed by the evil chief architect. Heck, his 9 even has a preferred sidekick, and two elders who can't be any more different on polar opposites, and a female warrior companion who chews up every fight sequence she gets featured in.

What I also found curiously addictive in the story was how it told of natural selection, where the weak tend to get looked over or disadvantaged, and the strong favoured not only just because they possess what it takes to ensure propagation of the species. I felt it was something quite unavoidable, even for inanimate objects brought to life which are subjected to the same rules and unfair playing field.

Beautiful visuals, wonderful voice casting and a layered, engaging plot all make 9 one interesting ride that kept its loops and turns very tight. What more can one ask for in an animated science fiction film, and I like it enough to shortlist it as one of my favourites for the year too. Highly recommended!

Aliens in the Attic

E.T. Go Home

I think I'm in a phase now where this holiday season's family friendly fare such as G-Force have more than surprised and satisfied in its entertainment value. They're not fantastic films, and perhaps my judgement over them has given way to nostalgia, where once I had unabashedly enjoyed films such as Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Home Alone, with kids triumphing over the clueless adults in the films.

I didn't expect Aliens in the Attic to entertain as much as it did, given that the trailer was too cheesy and has that all too familiar storyline where it's kids versus aliens who want to take over the world, as usual. Moreover, the first 15 minutes in setting up the premise was pretty much a chore to sit through, where the family characters get introduced. Parents aside, we have Tom Pearson (Carter Jenkins) and his cousin Jake (Austin Robert Butler) leading the charge, together with Tom's little sister Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) who's in this reminiscent of Drew Barrymore's turn in ET, and twins Art and Lee (Henri and Regan Young respectively), as kids are immune to the alien's mind-control weapons.

In a mix of CG and live action, the CG aliens' lack of size makes for situations for laughter. Led by the voice talents of Thomas Haden Church, three of them are hell bent on completing their mission which has something to do with the Pearson's holiday home in calling for an invasion. But their weapons and tactics all seem to be impotent against the kids, especially since their engineer Sparks (voiced by Josh Peck) is very reluctant in assisting the cause of its peers, and somewhat drawing a parallel with Tom as the geek outcast standing out amongst the cool crowd.

Much of the fun here comes from the use of the “human Wii controller”, which allows the wielder to become the puppet master on its unfortunate victim. This you would already see in the trailer where grandmother Nana (Doris Roberts) slugs it out with an obnoxious teenager Ricky (Robert Hoffman) in quite artificially crafted scene. Thankfully though the best and funnier parts got kept under wraps, and credit goes to Hoffman for doing some really crazy antics that would likely leave you in stitches.

The plot's pretty straightforward and lightweight as well besides the fact that it's very much a predictable fare suited for a family outing, with positive messages to take away such as cooperation, and obeying your parents (told you this was a film targeted at kids). Stay in your seats as the end credits roll, because some outtakes will come on screen midway through, which provides a last hurrah for laughter.

Gamer

One Man Army

"Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused" - Sweet Dreams

One wonders if social networking coupled with MMORPG similar to the likes of 3D avatar-based Second Life, would take off on an extremely large scale, with the hardware to support it, coupled with some X-factors to actually induce active participation. We know how fractured such sites and high-tech designs can be, though it didn't work against Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, famous for their Crank movies, to think up of a cautionary tale about the obsession with the virtual over what is real.

Their chief villain Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) is a Bill Gates type who made his fortune by designing two such virtual worlds with a little twist. Just like Sweet Dreams (the Eurythmics classic covered by Marilyn Manson here), his "Society" based MMORPG comes with real persons being that empty vessel for you to partake in various pleasures. In this reality, people pay to either be controlled - no need to think and giving up free choice, or to be the controller - presiding over the life of somebody (younger/hotter/etc) to achieve some objectives that one can only dream about. In the confines of the virtual outline, Think of it as The Sims, only that it comes complete with a living, breathing human ready to be controlled, though I do not know if everyone in the right mind would choose to be the puppet rather than the master.

Then Neveldine and Taylor treaded on the more controversial aspects of their creation, that of "Slayers", a separate MMORPG which basically plays to our basal morbidity for gladiatorial fights. There's nothing new with this concept of course, in having death row inmates being promised freedom back into society so long as they survive long enough. It's similar to films like The Condemned and Death Race, where the wronged (played by Gerard Butler) have to find a way out of this crazy inhumane game and clear his name / rescue his family / save the day / walk the dog and preach about the dangers of technologists seducing the world with a programmable lifestyle through sexy nano-technology, while harbouring world domination ambitions via mind control and slavery.

However, as the trailer would have suggested, and how the film played out its first act, it's quite a complete mess with its action sequences, with cuts so fast and furious that you wonder just exactly what's going on. Also, there's nothing not unseen from the trailer, as everything goes into this incredibly huge mess, and all the while never really permeate a feeling that Kable (Butler) the #1 killer controlled by teenage computer game whiz kid Simon (Logan Lerman) would actually be in danger. There's nothing fancy about the action here, which is a bit of a disappointment, presented in very strained colours, shaky-cam and you wonder what's being smoked during post-production.

And the disappointment continues as the film shifts gear in its second half, with a backstory that is muddled and poorly presented, coupled with attempts to expand the characterization of its supporting cast, but having everything fall flat on its face. Which is somewhat of a letdown since it has recognizable faces, such as Amber Valletta as Kable's wife who works as a Society avatar controlled by a fat slob (yeah, that's the stereotypical guy who spends too much time in front of a console), Kyra Sedgwick in a completely useless role of a talkshow host, Alison Lohman, Aaron Yoo and Ludacris being hackers of a resistance group up against Michael C. Hall's villain, John Leguizamo who's here just to talk in a strange, cryptic whisper, and the list of wasted characters go on.

I felt that Michael C Hall had plenty going right for him as the twisted billionaire with a diabolical plan, somewhat psychotic and unpredictable until he became one of those weak villains who enjoys lapsing into self-important monologues with a penchant for song. Gerard Butler on the other hand, while he's not into romantic films, is perfect for one-man army type shows such as 300 and RocknRolla, such that he could jolly well be given an action figure for his foray into physically demanding roles. Logan Lerman would probably feel a little short-changed as well, being the human master of Kable with the expectation of being more than just a whiz-kid, but it was not to be, as he got pretty much forgotten for the most parts of the film.

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor hit all the right buttons with the Crank films, but fell way short with this gaming effort. Sure their elements of gratuitous nudity, sex and violence still continue into here, but in having to concentrate on those trees to draw in the crowd, they essentially sacrificed the rest of the forest, with the cast being grossly underused, the potential of being more cerebral exploring the symbiotic relationship being puppets and masters, being traded for mediocre, unexciting action sequences, and not to mention slapping in plenty of scenes just for the sake of. Those who nausea easily are warned to steer clear.

Year One

Whee!

Compared to the other comedy, I had somehow enjoyed Year One a lot more than Dance Flick if not because the latter had lacked more coherent scenes, slapping incident after incident of spoofs in clear narrative disregard in what would be a sad state of affairs where Hollywood comedies are concerned. Year One, written and directed by veteran Harold Ramis was a lot more fun, even though it had Jack Black and Michael Cera not in top form while playing off one another.

As the trailer would have already suggested, Black plays Zed, a bumbling hunter who just cannot spear, and is seen as a chief liability to his tribe. His good friend Oh (Cera) is not a favorite either, in an era where only those who cannot, become gatherers in a time where one's career is either one of the other. Driven out of their tribe, or the duo would like everyone to think that they are seeking better fortunes, so begins a life full of adventures, self-discovery and the likes, involving capturing of prisoners and the rescuing of the loves of their lives Maya (June Diane Raphael) and Eema (Juno Temple), quite like Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, except our characters here all speak English.

Ramis went imaginatively wild with the premise, setting the stage for our unlikely heroes to meet up with various Old Testament legends, like Cain and Abel (David Cross and Paul Rudd respectively) and their parents, Abraham (Hank Azaria) and Isaac (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka McLovin from Superbad), amongst others. As we are likely to know what was recorded in books, Ramis played it fast and loose, and short of being blasphemous, was actually insanely fun, given huge does of self-deprecating and toilet humour, courtesy of Cera and Black.

With themes like friendship, developing of character strength and redemption, perhaps what would make you sit up and take notice, is the film's rather pointed aim at religious fanaticism and the belief in self-proclaimed prophets. As the people of the land suffer from a prolonged drought, it is the clergies and the self-righteous who claim to have direct links with the guy upstairs, who eat and sleep good, while creating a mythical aura of invincibility surrounding their beings. Which of course Zed and Oh tear down in a jiffy, and in quite an unnecessary, unfunny but preachy tone, set out to make a comment or two with regards to such profiteering of mankind's superstition.

Jack Black and Michael Cera didn't exactly share much chemistry together as buddies, which Ramis had preferred that they stick tot their duly recognizable sterotypes of the bumbling idiot, and the nerdy, less athletic sidekick with a penchant for weak sarcasm and self-deprecation. Most of the jokes here work, though some invariably had to fall off from being too cheesy, but all in all, something that's still quite enjoyable especially if you're in a crappy mood, or just booked out from camp.

Dance Flick

Copies

One wonders about the appeal of parody movies, taking genres that happen to be the flavour of the moment, and then adding doses of comedic spoofs into something of an abomination of a film, very much like a patchwork Frankenstein brought to life by the need to make fun of everything. While I could have swore off such films with the likes of the very unbelievably bad film Meet the Spartans, somehow the need to laugh after a rigourous in-camp training, and wanting to give the Wayan brothers a chance as I've enjoyed their Scary Movie spoofs, brought me to their Dance Flick.

The Wayan clan banded together to make the film, finding their blood relations from acting and directing right down to coming up with the story and producing it. At times I wonder just how one can find the funds for these kinds of films, especially when recent outputs like Superhero Movie and Disaster Movie were really, really bad, and when you read of people conscientiously wanting to avoid such films so that they result in poor box office, and will never get made again. Unless of course there are so many people out there who are just craving for laughter, of any kind.

There's no prize for guessing the films that the Wayans had decided to spoof. With the recent dance flicks like Step Up, Step Up 2 the Streets, and musicals such as Fame, Hairspray and High School Musical, there's no lack of source material to base the spoofs on, which extends its reach to films such as Black Snake Moan even. The art is of course to try and piece everything together for some semblance of a storyline in order for it to work.

The liberal application of lazy narrative glue comes in the form of borrowing the backbone from the Step Up movies, where you have a wannabe dancer Megan (Shoshana Bush) enrolling herself to school to master her craft and find confidence to dance again, while street dancer Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr) finds a common romantic bond with her. One needs to dance to fulfill her life's ambition, while the other just needs to repay his debts after his street dance circuit attempt with his crew resulted in tragedy (of the comedic sorts).

That basically sums up the story, as very random scenes get strung together played just for laughs. You can guess the quality of such scenes from the get go, where toilet humour was the first off the blocks, and set the stage for many more to come. with political correctness getting thrown out of the window in expected terms. One wonders too about the license that the Wayans have in telling many racists jokes about their own race, and also the many celebrity jibes from Britney to Halle to Lindsay that find their way into the scenes through many one liners. Sexual innuendos, and at times very in-your-face explicit display of sexual organs become part and parcel of the shock-and-awe strategy to elicit cheap laughter as well.

If you're seriously game for some laughs no matter what the quality is, or probably can laugh at anything the Wayans throw on screen, then you'll survive Dance Flick. If you prefer your humour to be witty, then this is obviously not the comedic film for you.

Blood Ties (Huan Hun / 還魂)

The Avenging Angel

I had developed a keen interest in Chai Yee-wei's body of short films, besides personal reasons that my friends and I did go up against his many years back in a competition (no guesses needed to know who won of course). In fact it was during that 48 hour contest that made me sit up and take notice that here's someone who can tell a good, entertaining story under similar constraints and resources, and his shorts throughout the years are testament to that. Some two years ago during a screening of Blood Ties the short film, he had made mention that he's developing the feature length version, and here we are today. My verdict? It's a stellar debut feature film from a young director from our shores, and possibly one of the very best debuts we've seen over the last few years.

Films dealing with the supernatural make for easy commercial success, going by demographics and habits of our film going culture. But not always of course. In recent years we've had Kelvin Tong's The Maid which proved to be a box office hit, making Tong one of the rare directors we've had who managed to find success in both the commercial and festival scenes. Men in White was somewhat of a blip in experimentation, but Tong had redeemed himself with Rule #1. There aren't too many narrative features that get the big screen treatment here and even rarer are those which do not have perceived art-house connotations. Jack Neo films face the usual complaint of being lacking in cinematic quality despite them being consistently money spinners, such as his recent "hor-medy" Where Got Ghost? and while I know judging from one film might be a little premature, writer-director Chai Yee-wei has demonstrated his potential for mainstream success.

As a debut feature film director, Yee-wei doesn't shy away from challenges nor stuck to the safe and the predictable. He had instead gone straight for the jugular in a bold style to tell his story. Blood Ties is presented in a non-linear narrative, and you can try as hard as you can, but I didn't spot any obvious plot loopholes when it went back and forth in time. What more, it doesn't serve to confuse, but rather enhanced the entire mood of the central plot, unravelling itself through a series of bizarre events based on the belief of a spirit's return on the 7th day after death, leaving you guessing and through its revelation of its secret bit by bit, keeps you adequately in suspense up until the last act.

Blood Ties is somewhat similar in spirit (pardon the pun) to Alex Proyas' cult classic The Crow, where the slain returns to take revenge upon those guilty of his demise, but of course with inputs from Chinese mythology to make it uniquely Asian. To call it horror would be a misnomer, or to think that it dwelled on gimmicky moments for that supernatural spin would be unfair as well. It steered clearly away from the usual cliché bag of tricks to thrill and elicit an audience to scream, and being possibly one of the most violent local films without the need to become exploitative for the sake of.

There are a number of excellent technical plus points in this film, such as the production sets used that can place the film in any Asian country, and the beautiful photoplay of light and shadow. Added to that, international screen veterans such as Cheng Pei Pei playing the mother of the slain cop Shun (David Leong) and Kenneth Tsang as a police inspector all served up wonderful screen presence and gravitas in their respective roles. However, screen debutant Joey Leong who plays Qin, Shun's younger sister, is the one to watch, stealing the show from everyone with her role as the lovable sister, before the possession turned her into a blood-seeking vessel for Shun's spirit as he/she sought revenge. The support cast, such as Vincent Tee, and a slew of fresh faced actors as the villains, all pulled their weight convincingly in delivering this Chai Yee-wei story.

Which is chiefly what Blood Ties excelled in, not about the horror, or the supernatural elements, but it has a fantastic storyline which left no loose ends, being tightly knitted without unnecessary frills, and directed with such maturity that it had raised the bar as far as local debut feature films are concerned. Besides the obvious tale of cold-blooded revenge without remorse, I felt that Yee-wei had snuck in some little bit of a social commentary about the dangers of corruption of those in power because of the human nature of greed, if you would pay attention to a short television interview in the first act, and the call for transparency, which is something quite current in our local current affairs. A little sub-plot which forms the basis for some character motivation and accusation, which did not overstay its welcome by being too preachy.

The language used in the film also deserve mention. Blood Ties has a more realistic smattering of Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, English and mixed Chinese dialects. The latter is interesting because while Hokkien has been condoned in many recent feature films (which I felt undoubtedly helped the film reach out to older audiences), I applaud the use of Cantonese as well because this meant the likes of Tsang and Cheng need not be unceremoniously dubbed over, relying on the third party dubber to enact and bring across their feelings and emotions, something which was done in one version of the trailer. I had hopes that their actual dialogue in the film would be kept intact, and I'm glad that they were. And the dialogues here were some of the best because they felt like music to the ears, a more realistic, everyday experience because we tend to switch around with ease, or substitute words from other languages without being obviously conscious about it. Since this film has the endorsement from the Singapore Film Commission (being the first film to be completed under its Feature Film Fund) under the auspices of the Media Development Authority, I hope that this is indeed a sign that things are beginning to loosen up, for our filmmakers to keep to their artistic vision. Don't worry of course, there are Mandarin and English subtitles for those who do not speak the languages uttered on screen.

Blood Ties is a film that I would add to my shortlist of simply the best this year I've seen, and something I would proudly proclaim to have been done in Singapore and will not fail to mention this should anyone abroad asks what recent local films should they take note of. I'm also hedging my bets that Yee-wei would be knocking on the doors of our more established filmmakers who have so far defined our local film industry, and stamp his contribution to Singapore's fast growing filmography. If you're game for a local film this season with high production values, a great story with a supernatural element, and featuring a fresh cast, then Blood Ties should be your automatic choice, hands down! Highly recommended!


Trailer
Opens in cinemas next Thursday 10 Sep!

G-Force 3D

The New Chipmunks

Before you laugh at me for watching this obviously made for children movie, I thought it was somewhat interesting to observe how a Jerry Bruckheimer produced film, his first 3D one at that, would have fared should it have gone up against his long time director Michael Bay in the summer blockbuster stakes. While Transformers 2 had made cash registers worldwide go into overdrive, I thought G-Force had plenty going for it to have trounced those mega-robots. In my opinion, yes G-Force is way better than Transformers.

Perhaps it was somewhat refreshing for me to sit through a G-rated live action film that didn't take itself too seriously, and comes with a very simple, direct plot aimed at kids so that they can enjoy this action-adventure with nary a swear word, revealing clothes, and sequence that serve to confuse by throwing everything on-screen. The 3D effects here are relatively limited, but that didn't bar any enjoyment of the film, which tells of a wannabe FBI unit led by Ben (a relatively muted Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover), who has trained many insects and animals into being ready for covert operations.

Think of it as the animal version of the Impossible Mission Force, where Ben's proudest achievement is to have 3 guinea pigs in Darwin (Sam Rockwell), Blaster (Tracy Morgan) and Juarez (Penelope Cruz) as field operatives, fly Mooch as a surveillance agent, and a mole Speckles (Nicolas Cage) as their systems expert. Together they aim to prove themselves to the higher echelons of the FBI in order to become recognized agents. Their plan is to dig for hidden secrets of a conglomerate's CEO Leonard Saber (Bill Nighy) whose consumer products seem to have more than meets the eye, but things go awry, and G-Force soon find themselves battling against the Feds who want to shut them down, and fighting against time to stop whatever sinister plans Saber has for the extermination of the world.

The novelty of the CG talking animals go beyond just that of the G-Force team, as if to demonstrate the level of complexity achievable by technology in having speaking hamsters, mice and the likes gelled perfectly with their live-action counterparts. And to disgrace Transformers even further, the film also featured robots, with action sequences which doesn't serve to confuse nor are poorly delivered by bad camera angles and techniques. In that sense, this film had bettered the other when it came down to the action, by a long mile.

The story's pretty straightforward as mentioned, with the characters being no more than one-dimensional stereotypes so as not to confuse its target audience. Some subplots involve Blaster's perpetual hitting on Juarez since the latter is the only female guinea pig in the group, who plays her womanly tricks to perfection in having eyes only for the leader of their group. Thankfully this angle didn't get played up too often, as the team does spend some time in the middle act apart, before coming together for a wham-bang finale.

I have to admit I was pretty much entertained by G-Force, probably because I had went in with zero expectations other than wondering how it managed to get its voice talents to perform for the film, and even then, I suspect some tinkering had been done because the familiar voices do sound like they've been modified, and it only took the credits list to piece together who did which role. It's something done for the kids, but if you have one still inside your heart, then I would recommend you give these little animals in G-Force a chance.

Oh and one more thing, don't just go out buying guinea pigs as pets just so because you liked how they look in the film. No whims and fancies please, as keeping a pet calls for a lot of commitment. Plus your guinea pig will never be able to do what their CG counterparts here can.

I Love You, Beth Cooper

One Crazy Party

Thumb through a video store catalog, and there are a dime a dozen of many teen comedies out there that you'll be hard pressed to find something that either didn't deal with hard partying, road trips, one crazy night of post-graduation party, self-discovery, friendship and the likes. In fact, I Love You, Beth Cooper, has almost all those cliché moments filled with stereotypical characters, but under the direction of Chris Columbus, this story by Larry Doyle actually came across in quite enjoyable terms, thanks to what I thought made the movie – a line that was uttered upon stark realization, and the fear as expressed by the titular character, which made it quite distinct and standing out amongst the competition.

But first, the crazy premise that became the catalyst of everything laid out in the film. Imagine if you're nursing a huge crush on the school flower and have absolutely no guts to go introduce yourself to her. On what's effectively the last day of school, as valedictorian, you seize the opportunity to express your feelings toward her, as suggested by your best friend, lest you allow not doing so become the largest regret of your life. You buy the idea, and declare your love (yes, even if you have no iota of that person's character at all) to her in front of the entire school and witnessed by teachers, peers and parents, while at the same time, insulting your enemies. So on one hand, you crafted some mindshare into the object of your desire, and on the other, you've made a slew of enemies ever ready to bay for your blood.

So it becomes one crazy night for Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) and his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) who has to battle his school reputation of being gay, while getting acquainted with Beth (Hayden Panettiere) and her posse Cammy (Lauren London) and Treece (Lauren Storm) when they turn up for his un-happening graduation party, before proceeding to show him and Rich what could possibly be the wildest night of their lives, especially for the nerds. It might seem like the usual revenge of the nerds styled comedy with its set pieces, but it is not about getting the girl and riding into the sunset, or about getting laid as most teen comedies seem to be obsessed with these days. In fact, it's more about surviving through the night, given the determined pursuit of a psychotic, buffed up boyfriend (Shawn Roberts) high on drugs, while getting to know one another.

While Larry Doyle had fueled the story with plenty of stereotypes, such as the rich proud bitch, the lead cheerleader who's all sugar and spice, the military-jock boyfriend of hers, the nerds, the bimbo posse etc, what he managed to do as the film progressed, is to smash those stereotypes away, well most of them anyway. What was ace in the film, were the key characters who you'd probably identify with amongst yourself or your peers. Paul Rust brought out the everyday average brainy teenager without being too whiny or irritate the heck out of you, and you'd find yourself rooting for him despite the many loser-type situations his Denis got himself into. Panettiere would be familiar to fans of TV series Heroes, and her cheerleader is sans powers except that her Beth drives her car like a maniac and managed to stay alive at such throwaway recklessness. And the character which I thought was the icing on the cake, was Jack Carpenter's Rich as the movie buff spouting and enacting countless of movie dialogue and references, while reliving a classic movie moment from Robin Hood.

But all those aside in a story that unravelled itself in one night. Two aspects of the film made it a winner for me. The first was when Denis uttered "You're not Beth Cooper". That hit like a sledgehammer because it represented so succinctly the kind of affection that Denis had for his crush - based on a very superficial exterior, without any inkling of who the person exactly is, which of course sets up plenty of pitfalls as that exterior got stripped away every moment he spent those crazy times with her. That perfect being sprung from his unilateral imagination is far, very far from the real thing.

The second is when Beth expressed her fear of the unknown, which is something that really brought out the sincerity of the character. Her shenanigans for the entire night got addressed, and did allow Beth to be a tragic character of sorts, knowing her place in this materialistic, pragmatic world where her "talent" or lack thereof, sent shivers down her spine knowing that her crazy-cool persona could no longer hold water once outside the confines of the high school community.

These are precisely the moments that sold, and I was indeed surprised since what I was in for, was one of those mediocre run off the mill teen movies. Larry Doyle's story had a lot more undercurrents going for it than many would have liked to believe, and Chris Columbus, through a no-frills style, had delivered just that, allowing one to find balance in being entertained, as well as having some takeaways for further mulling over.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Grab the Bacon the Next Time You're Back

The Time Traveler's Wife is one book that I've always wanted to read, but just didn't find the time to get down doing so. I suppose with some travels later this month and the next I would be able to read what friends have been positively talking about, and I'm especially intrigued about the component of time travel here, in how it could wreck crazy havoc in a romantic couple's life since nobody knows how and when one of them could just come and go randomly. Which of course sounds like what anyone can do these days if you're tired of hanging around with someone else, and I'm sometimes guilty of that as well.

Like many, I thought this film was a troubled project because of the tremendous delay it took to get itself seen in the light of day, and I've read that it was because Eric Bana had to have his hair grow back after his Star Trek stint that led to delays. Reviews for the film has not been as stellar as those for the book, so I suppose not having read it yet would already allow me to start from a clean slate as opposed to comparing what author Audrey Niffenegger had written and what millions of readers have envisioned in their mind, that perfect filmic interpretation from scenes down to questioning why Rachel McAdams was chosen for the heavyweight role of the titular character who's going through the strangest, relationship-wrecking experience nobody should be.

Well, for once, the point of view had been changed. If what I've glanced from the book would have suggested that it was written, diary style from the point of Claire (and hence the title), it has now been changed to that of the time traveler himself, Henry (Eric Bana), who suffers from what is deemed to be genetics when his fits would cause him to time travel very randomly, forward or backwards, and through space as well. The only constant seemed to be the preference to find himself back in his favourite spots quite frequently, and hence his ability to meet his future wife Claire when she was still a child (OK people, junk those pedophilic thoughts aside), and to visit his deceased mom whom he misses dearly.

The first half of the film dealt firmly with basis of his condition, and that of the developing romance between Claire (McAdams) and Henry, who are so close physically yet so far in emotion, because one obviously had known the other almost her whole life, while the other is only just discovering what he would do in the future. Whatever happens next is pretty standard fare of any romantic story, sans the time travelling piece of course, which serves up the additional spice of a subplot in not always being there when needed, for festivities and such. One can imagine how big a deal it is to even be able to miss certain milestones in one's life, only to have some other you attend it on your behalf. Call it a cheat if you must.

Which of course means that the viewer have to accept the time travel paradox, which the narrative tried to explain away by saying that Henry has absolutely no control over events that Fate deemed would happen, so there's no fear in changing the course of history, or the future, by just interacting with people, or doing anything that would thwart the entire space-time continuum. So accept that please, otherwise you'll be asking too many questions since there are multiple Henrys in the same timeline. The only way to get through this is to hold some things constant and allow it to become the crux of the entire time-mess (not only 1 person time travels, mind you), so that constant and reference comes from the point of view of Claire.

What I had enjoyed more than the standard romantic angle between the lead characters, are those of its subplots revolving around the blessed aspects of the condition, besides having to arrive naked and spend the crucial first few minutes in protection of modesty through breaking and entering. The subplots involving that of travelling back to spend some crucial, important moments with loved ones who have gone too prematurely, is something that is highly touching in the film. How we sometimes yearn to have that little extra more time to be be someone special, is probably how it would be played out if we're given the same opportunity, in telling them we miss and love them. I thought this aspect, happening to and for Henry, was one of the stronger points in the film that would likely bring a tear to those with soft hearts.

The sadder moments, besides the fact that McAdams and Bana struggled to find that perfect chemistry given the relatively lack of screen time in the same frame, involved the concept of eternally waiting for someone to appear and return. Without the time travel component, I believe those who have experienced those random disappearing acts of someone else, would likely identify with this, as would Henry's selfless act of wanting Claire not to wait.

The narrative had enough moments to point the audience to the inevitable, and there's nothing worse than to anticipate the morbid to happen, both for the characters, and the audience. For the characters, having prior knowledge could reap advantages in being able to plan for certain events, and I suppose being ready is half the battle won. Then again as an audience, we constantly hope that things would change for the better, and it is this constant interaction of hope that would engage you throughout the last act

If there's a complaint, it's how director Robert Schwentke failed to make Eric Bana look different between 20-30-40 years of age, save for some shots of grey hair, and moments where he asked/got asked what age / which year. This may prove to be slightly frustrating as you try and piece together the current timeline on screen (didn't help with its shifts), or when a different Henry comes on screen and you'd have to wait for an answer. Nonetheless as a romance movie, this has one of the more unique romantic stories that full credit goes to the author, and would want you to pick up the book to find out exactly what you are missing.

September - The Month of Film Festivals

I guess some nights off permit me to provide some small updates to this site, so here goes:

5th Singapore Short Film Festival

First up, here are some details about the upcoming 5th Singapore Short Film Festival, which is Singapore's only international short film festival, returns from 13 – 21 September as an annual film festival.

Featuring over 120 short films from all over the world including films from Belgium, France, Sweden, Australia, Russia, Spain and Singapore, the festival offers a spread of award-winning films that are as wide and varied as there are genres in film.

Some notable short films include “Danse Macabre” & “Next Floor”, which are Midnight Cinema films featured at Cannes, “The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5”, a Spanish Sundance favorite, “Limoncello”, a fun ride of a Spanish Western, “Love Child”, a surreal Swedish Midnight Cinema and our local animation talents which have progressed amazingly over these few years.

Some highlighted programmes include the Asian Film Symposium, Korean and UK short films and a Midnight cinema segment that will feature horror, scifi, zombie short film flicks.

Catch more details of the festival here at the official website.

Also check out the Facebook events pages and the Festival Trailer

On a separate note, Wise Kwai has written a memorium on the passing of Alexis Tioseco, news which had stunned me when I first heard of it yesterday. While I did not know Alexis personally, I did have the pleasure of sharing the stage with him and Ben some 2 years back during the Singapore Writer's Festival over a fun session where we talked about movie blogs, which he had gamely participated over Skype.

As one of the founding programmers of the S-Express program, he was to attend the screening of S-Express Philippines screening, and other Singapore Short Film Festival programmes too I believe. The screening will be dedicated to him.

RIP Alexis.

Animation Nation

I may be jumping the gun here since Animation Nation, one of the most highly anticipated film festival screenings, returns from Oct 14 to 21 at the National Museum Gallery Theatre. This month there's a Pre-Festival Program with 2 FREE outdoor screenings at China Square Central, on
Sep 11 and 12. You can also support the festival by purchasing the festival T-shirts at S$15 each.

Read on for more details:

KOMANEKO: THE CURIOUS CAT
2006 | Japan | 60min | G
Children, Comedy, Stop motion animation | Directed by Tsuneo Goda
September 11 (Friday), 7:30 pm

Komaneko is an episodic story of a young cat who decides to create a "stop-motion" animated film of her own. She soon begins writing the storyboards, making the stuffed animals, and drawing the background art. Before long Komaneko starts making her film - taking one picture after another with her small 8mm camera, carefully checking each frame.

Award - 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival (Jury Recommended Works)
Official site

USAVICH Season 1 - 3
2007 - 2009 | Japan | 60min | PG
Comedy, 2D and Computer Animation | Written and Directed by Satoshi Tomioka
September 12 (Saturday), 7:30pm

The wacky and episodic adventures of Putin and Kirenenko, two rabbits stuck in a Russian prison, as they make their escape and try to avoid the fearsome Soviet bunnies hot on their trail!

Official site

17th Israel Film Festival 2009

The 17th Israel Film Festival returns from 10 to 16 Sep and runs at The Picturehouse, with a total of 5 films being screened over the festival period. The director for A Matter of Size, Sharon Maymon will be in-attendance after the Sep 11 screening of his film for The Picturehouse Explores programme for a discussion at the PIcturehouse Lounge. To reserve your attendance, email: thepicturehouse@cathay.com.sg

You can click here for ticketing details, synopsis of films and the screening schedule.