Scandal Makers (Kwasok Scandle)

P@WN3D

It's little wonder how Scandal Makers turned out to be a blockbuster hit in South Korea. It doesn't have any offensive jokes that could put anyone off, relied on slickly crafted humourous situations that don't try too hard, and has characters that will endear and grow on you. It has some feel-good messages to impart without being preachy, and one would almost be surprised that this is a first time effort from writer-director Kang Hyeong-cheol.

Sure the premise may not be something that's new, and coming to mind is The Game Plan, where Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson finds his orderly, playboy life being abruptly interrupted by a kid claiming to be his daughter. Over here though, this Korean film upped Hollywood's ante by adding to the family tree complexity, and also to the magnitude of laughs. Hyeong-cheol's story has three generations living under the same roof, and it played out very nicely with little scenes that go to waste. I suppose with first time fearlessness, Hyeong-cheol provided the story with an air of freshness over a tried and tested formula about unexpected gate-crashing family members.

Nam Hyeon-soo (Cha Tae-hyun) is a radio DJ whose afternoon talk show gives him a new lease of life and popularity, especially with a single mother sharing her story on his show about her search for a long lost father. Bur his orderly, playboy lifestyle and bachelor pad get unceremoniously imposed upon when Hwang Jeong-nam (Park Bo-yeong) and her son Hwang Ki-dong (Hwang Seok-hyeon) come knocking on his door claiming to be his daugher, and grandson even! I think for any bachelor in the 30s (*ahem* like myself), this would either turn out to be a bad April Fool's Joke of mistaken identity, or horror-of-horrors, a tryst early in life that had gone totally wrong.

What more, with such a scandal – a swinging bachelor with a young adult daughter, who in turn is a single mom at a young age – it threatens Hyeon-soo's career and lifestyle, and so begins the comedy of keeping under wraps the situation, as well as to learn how to live and tolerate his new found family who have come from the village, where Hyeon-soo's only common ground with Jeong-nam, besides their talent for music, is their propensity to have early offspring.

A perfect dysfunctional family that serves up as a perfect scandalous story given the follies of youth. But this film is more about perceptions despite its title. We have a man who perceives himself as a major celebrity who would be ruined, as he has observed, should the paparazzi expose his childhood shenanigans. We have a daughter who perceives that it would be easy for her never-seen-before dad to accept her when she appears out of the blue with kid in tow. And the young kid too perceives that his crush (it's in this family's genes to start young) will only like him if he wears fancy clothes, rather than to rely on his musical talent.

While Cha Tae-hyun plays his selfish character, who through the course of the film learns something important about family, with aplomb, Park Bo-yeong's single mom role seemed to be too entrenched in her live-the-singing-dream subplot, and little is seen in the dynamics with her young son. In fact Hwang Seok-hyeon is the ultimate scene stealer here as the round-headed kid with curly hair, and his story-arc opposite Tae-hyun as grandfather and grandson is perhaps the best of the lot with plenty of laughs guaranteed. This kid just oozes charisma and charm, and from the moment he appears the magic got weaved and you'll find him totally endearing himself to you, the audience, with his smile-non-smile antics, and those crazy sleepwalking spells.

Scandal Makers is easy going fare that would appeal to a broad spectrum of audiences with its fine comedy and positive messages of love and enduring family ties that remind you of blood running thicker than water. Bring a date, take your whole family, and discover just why the South Koreans went ga-ga over this. It could be that kid Hwang Seok-hyeon, whose performance alone would justify the price of a movie ticket! Highly recommended!

[DVD] Hulk Vs. (2009)

Hulk Vs is a 2-disc DVD containing 2 Marvel animated match-ups, very much akin to the comic book series where fan favorite characters are put together in an episode to see who comes out one up against the other. Usually these are quite cop-out, and that's nothing new too when translated into an animated film.

Disc 1 - Hulk Vs Wolverine
One's a gamma powered monster coming alive under stress and anxiety, while the other is virtually indestructible with adamantium claws and probably the most liked X-Men. One would expect a great slugfest between the two, but somehow there was the involvement of Weapon X guys (Omega Red, Sabretooth, Deadpool and Deathstrike), and with that comes the token origin story of Wolverine all over again.

But for all its worth, the fights between Wolverine and Hulk in the forest setting is, by animated film standards, violence par none. There's plenty of blood and stabbings, because the filmmakers decided to go for a more realistic fight sequence rather than say, Wolvie's claws being used to chop vegetables, or the Hulk's Smash being nothing but just cosmetic. They really rip each other apart, and when the Weapon X folks join in the fun, it's just pandemonium from start to end in a somewhat Royal Rumble style. Plenty of gruntings, if not saved by Deadpool's periodic wisecracks to break the monotony.

Animated by Japanese animation house Madhouse, the artwork here is just superb, though do look out for a fair share of decapitation of body parts, and just some beautiful effects that the animators put in to highlight the tremendous power of the Hulk. Which in some ways I thought should be given more screen time, because occasionally you feel that this was going to be usurped by Wolverine given his screen time, enemies and origin all thrown in.

Still, it's an interesting fan-based movie, and stay tuned until after the end credits roll for a small hilarious scene involving Deadpool.

The Code 1 DVD from Lionsgate Films is presented in anamorphic widescreen format, with audio available in English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 which brings all the fight scenes to life and puts you in the middle of the ring. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish, and Scene Selection is over 16 chapters.

There are a number of Special Features packaged into the DVD, which makes it all the more worthwhile to get your hands on. There are two Audio Commentaries, one with Craig Kyle (Supervising Producer and Co-writer) and Chris Yost (Co-writer), and another by Frank Paur (Supervising Director), Kevin Altieri (Storyboard) and Butch Lukic (Board artist / Story Illustrator). Between the two, the former seemed to sound more like a duo of fanboys who rave at every detail and sweet spot that they had included in the film. The latter group though was more technical, and explained plenty of the hows with background on the design and animation process. They were also surprised at the level of violence in the film too, and you could here their audible gasps of disbelief almost throughout their commentary.

This is Gonna Hurt: The Making of Hulk vs. Wolverine (20:09) is the standard making of documentary. There are plenty of comic book panels here which show you how the iconic moments in the comic books were carefully selected for inclusion into the film. You also get to learn of the character treatment and design (though Madhouse only got cursory mention), and comes complete with interviews with the filmmakers and voice talents.

Fan Frenzy: Hulk vs. Wolverine - 2008 Comic-Con (8:02) is the panel presentation by the team at the said event, which comes complete with plenty of cheering fan boys and their Q&A, which surprisingly has the questions done up in text mode only. First Look: Wolverine and The X-Men (5:45) is the shameless plug for the other Marvel Animated film, which is done in an alternative world style with Wolverine as the leader of the X-Men after Prof. Xavier, and Cyclops being the more angst-ridden role ala Hogan. There's also a flashback to this film, and this sneak peek successfully piqued my interest in picking this up should I chance upon it.

Trailers contain the previews for the following films on DVD, and this section autoplays as well when you pop the DVD into the player - Disaster Movie, Ultimate Avengers 2, The Invincible Iron Man, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Speed Racer: The Fast Track Movie, and Woverine and the X-Men.

Disc 2 - Hulk Vs Thor

With the introduction of Thor, mighty god of thunder, this story takes on a more magical realm, which somehow pales in comparison to the all out whack fest which the Wolverine movie had brought on. The introduction is very brief, and those in the know will realize the rainbow bridge being used in the opening credits scene to shortcut Bruce Banner being transported to Asgard, together with a very quick introduction on the background of that realm in order to put Odin out of the picture.

Compared to the previous film, this is more a Bruce Banner film than a Hulk film, even though it had its fair share of violence when the Hulk gets unleashed to wreck maximum havoc by Loki. He goes one step further with Sif's help to use magic to separate Banner from the green monster, hence leaving behind a shell which is of pure rage, that Loki could control. Needless to say the rampage that Loki-Hulk exacts on Asgard, looked pretty much like Doomsday's short lived visit to Metropolis. Plenty of the usual violence expected with flying bodies, which does get tiring after a while because the foot soldiers protecting the city are of no match, leaving it open for Thor to intervene.

As mentioned, this Banner story follows arcs where one questions whether the meek (and very whiny Banner being portrayed here) is the ironic counterbalance used to control pure rage. Harnessing Hulk's power is the temptation of many villains, but the exploration of the self-control mechanism with Banner hidden sub-consciously inside the Hulk, is what this film tried to do, which brings forth plenty of themes like sacrifice and courage, because Banner can effectively walk away after relinquishing his nightmare, and proceed to live a normal life with Betty.

That aside, the story did get a little too bloated with needless deaths and a visit to Hela, mistress of Hell, just so that whatever wrongs that had been done can be corrected and addressed. A lot more faceless adversaries get thrown up against the Hulk as he smashes his way through to Odin's resting place, and the parallel story of Thor working with Loki to convince Banner to reclaim his rightful place within the beast, which on its own as a standalone film would seek to stand out, but when packaged together with the other Wolverine story, well this one lags behind by a mile.

The Code 1 DVD from Lionsgate Films is presented in anamorphic widescreen format, with audio available in English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 which brings all the fight scenes to life and puts you in the middle of the ring. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish, and Scene Selection is over 16 chapters.

There are two Audio Commentaries included in this disc. The first is with Craig Kyle (Supervising Producer) and Chris Yost (Writer) who provide specific insights in the making of process, while that between Frank Paur (Supervising Director), Sam Liu (Director) and James Peters (Colourist) provides a different angle of input to this massive project, with details on technicalities and even the basis of the story to keep Odin out of the picture. Together these commentaries put into perspective the sheer magnitude of a project like this, spanning between countries and artists.

Of Gods and Monsters: The Making of Hulk Vs. Thor (18:24) is a standard making-of documentary with interviews with cast and crew, and explanation on the storyboarding, character and set designs. There was also plenty of shots with the voice actors doing their thing in the voice booths, since these guys are the ones who have a huge role to play in bringing the 2D characters to life.

Jack Kirby + Thor (4:46) is a documentary where it talks us through the origins of the Thor character starting from his August 1962 comic book appearance. Craig Kyle talks about Kirby's iconic interpretation of the character, defining it through a number of comic book panels in a tribute to the comic book artist. First Look - Thor: Tales of Asgard (4:41) is a sneak peek into a story in the veins of Young Hercules. It's not done yet though, with numerous black and white storyboards filling in most of the preview.

Trailers contain the previews for the following films on DVD, and this section autoplays as well when you pop the DVD into the player - Disaster Movie, Ultimate Avengers 2, The Invincible Iron Man, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Speed Racer: The Fast Track Movie, and Woverine and the X-Men.

[6th Singapore Short Cuts] Week 1 - 2nd Session

Most of today's shorts seem to have a running thread of youth and old age. In Swimming Pool, we see the strength of the relationship between an old man and his granddaughter, where his easy going nature clicked very well with the child when they share a common secret kept away from the antagonistic mom. In Outing, an old man makes the painful decision that it's time his grandchild had care from those who are more able. With Dawn, though unseen, an aged man reminisces about times gone by and inevitable change. Older Children centers around pre-pubescent youths, and The Moth Catcher is firmly rooted in the fantastical genre. My personal take as follows:

Swimming Lesson
Dir: Kat Goh Phek Siang
2009 | 13 min | Cantonese and English with English subtitles | PG


Written by Kelvin Tong, this story would likely to strike a chord with those who have overly concerned parents who are forcibly domineering in their children's lives, dictating the do's and don'ts, and the endless reminders that follow. Kelvin's story had captured such domestic dynamics in his story, which Kat Goh translated beautifully for the big screen.

If you have a nagging parent, then perhaps you can draw the spot on similarities, especially with a dominating, nagging mom here imposing her will on what her daughter should and should not do prior to her going overseas for studies. While it is natural to express concerns and anxieties, this can put a strain on relationships, where a complete opposite comes in the form of the grandfather, as the silent patriarch, putting in a reminder of the need to let go, against the motif of swimming - hold the hand and support, and the learner swimmer will never go far.

Older Children
Dir: Ho Rui An
2008 | 6:32 min | English | PG


This looked very much like a family home video capturing children as they go about their shenanigans during playtime. Here we see two of them playing with fire, in the form of lit candles and sparklers. There's some forgettable conversation involving, probably jokingly, about a queer dad. All in all, very video like in treatment and delivery, being unscripted and quite voyeuristic, though it had brought to bear the moments we have had experienced before where the world seemed way smaller and our concerns then centered around play, rather than growing more aware and weary of worldly issues and problems.

The Moth Catcher
Dir: Iyvone Khoo & Miguel Guzman
2009 | 8 min | English | PG


It's always a treat to see a short programmed into a festival like this one, when it belongs to the animated genre, or stop motion. In The Moth Catcher, the filmmakers had used puppetry to tell a story about a cybernetic nymph in a sci-fi fantasy short, with an awesome soundtrack provided by The Leaf Label. Even without dialogue, the sumptuous visuals and attention to detail alone will make you marvel at the effort that went behind the scenes to craft the final product.

Dawn / 早晨
Dir: Benjamin Tan (jmin)
2009 | 2:38 min | Hainanese with English subtitles | PG


This film comprised of a series of visuals centered around the landscape of today's Singapore, with scenes especially that of construction of the integrated resorts, the 50-storey HDB flats and plenty of road networks and expressways, amongst others. It's much like a contemporary version of Rajendra Gour's Sunshine Singapore where its value will come from an era much later for anyone wishing to capture a glimpse of an ever-changing Singapore. The story's in the voiceover, where an old man reminisces and probably resigns to his fate of being left behind in the constant of change, speaking in the Hainanese dialect.

Outing / 出门
Dir: Jow Zhi Wei
2009 | 17:43 min | Cantonese, Mandarin and Hokkien with English subtitles | PG


Unravelling in a rather slow pace, Outing makes you wonder up until the final frame, where it dawns upon you that a really sad film had just passed you by. It tells of an aged grandfather and his orphaned grandson being two to face the world together, one primarily the caregiver to the child whose parents got robbed of their lives prematurely. There's a certain sense of dread hanging in the air as they go about doing things together, hanging around the neighbourhood, meeting up with old friends and such, akin to a last supper of sorts until the inevitable parting. It's not death I'm referring to, but an equally painful separation because one realizes the limits Time has imposed, and the ability that dwindles with its passage. The wonderful acting also brought out its sentimentality and heartbreak.

***

The Q&A session is moderated by Juan Foo, and save for Kat Goh who is away in Hong Kong, the rest of the filmmakers were present to talk about their films and field questions from the audience, moderated by film producer Juan Foo. Instead of relying on a potentially error-prone transcription, why not watch the entire session here:


LtoR: Juan Foo, Iyvone Khoo, Jow Zhi Wei, Ho Rui An, Benjamin Tan (jmin)


Part 1 of 5


Part 2 of 5


Part 3 of 5


Part 4 of 5


Part 5 of 5

***

We Are Arsenal!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Management

To Friendship

Sure if someone has hot as Jennifer Aniston were to offer you to touch their butt, I'm sure almost every male out there would jump at the chance of doing so without thinking twice. It's a no brainer offer, and a teaser of course to a larger, more sentimental story out there about the relentless pursuit of love, the romanticism attached to wanting to be with someone, without being consciously bogged by the harsh realities of life and survival. With affairs of the heart, to me at least it's a seizing of opportunities presented, rather than to adopt the wait and see approach.

The hook for the film, written and directed by Stephen Belber, is of course that much talked about scene between Aniston and Steve Zahn, the former being Sue, an art saleswoman who on a business trip had stayed at a motel, which Zahn's Mike is the night manager of his family's business. Smitten by none other than her buttocks, Mike crafts simple yet really strange excuses just to be close to Sue and talk to her, and the initial scenes which they share in her hotel room, is something that both actors brought out superbly – the awkwardness, the suspicions, and that hopeful look that something good might arise from all of the nonsense.

Thus began Mike's obsession with Sue when she allowed him that grace to fulfill a fantasy, and that translated to the borderline of stalking, where he dumps everything, and pursues her across state lines. Turning up at someone's workplace unannounced can have a very chilling effect, especially when one is only nothing more than an acquaintance and a one-nighter, to pass time and in an attempt to claw out of loneliness. After all, anything else is better than being holed up in your hotel room playing Solitaire on a computer.

Management is pretty much about the idealistic and pragmatic lenses that we wear from time to time in our view of romantic relationships. Here, it's a Mr Idealistic versus Ms Pragmatic in the approach. In Mike, we see someone with a hope of going beyond his comfort zone of his parents' business, in the pursuit of a romance that he only wishes to turn out positively. There's no plan, there's no ulterior motive, there's only the want to be with someone and spend time with her, pure and simple. Heck he doesn't even have enough money to begin with.

For Ms Pragmatic, it's all about the plan, where such a situation will lead to, Complications arrive through the introduction of her ex-boyfriend Jango (Woody Harrelson), an ex-punk band member who is now an established businessman. This means a nobody Mike is against a somebody Jango, and presents a choice for Sue to choose – the one for that undying romance, or the one who can pay the bills and allow her to continue hiding behind charitable causes to coast through life without spontaneity that the former may bring. It's a matter of love for genuine love of a person, or a love that is a matter of convenience and timing, which in itself is truly sad because you know that there's a compromise, which may not be for the better.

The film also went beyond the usual romantic elements, and tried successfully to insert other aspects of relationships such as family (Mike's Mom and Dad played by Margo Martindale and Fred Ward respectively), and friends. The role of Al (James Hiroyuki Liao) as Mike's best friend was curiously interesting as well, as here's an almost mirrored character in having a waiter working in his parents' restaurant business too. Despite being present only in the middle act, Al's role served as comedic fodder, and to catalyze that life changing idea for Mike in learning to let go, but never forgetting.

In many ways, the character of Mike had reminded me of a younger self where caution is thrown to the wind with the chasing of skirts, in the same way zoning on that singular tree while forsaking the forest, never mind the issues of incompatibility that loomed in the horizon. Not a very wise move of course on hindsight, but given the intoxicating passionate nature then, I suppose that was that. Naturally between then and now I had realized that there had been irreversible change in our characters probably, and the ones in the past vaguely seem like distant characters who only remotely resemble who they are now.

But Management somehow was more hopeful and optimistic in nature, and I suppose that suited the movie just fine, bringing you through the stages of passionate infatuation to love through the power of naive sincerity. With an excellent selection of songs in its soundtrack, Management may just end up as a surprise when I compile my top 10 list for the year. For those who are looking for that little extra in a romantic comedy, then Management may just be that little gem which will set you thinking.

[6th Singapore Short Cuts] Week 1 - 1st Session

One of our premier festivals showcasing the very best of Singapore short films, this year's edition somehow found itself starting off with some controversies with regards to its lineup. Presented this time by the National Museum of Singapore and Singapore Film Commission without the participation of The Substation, the format has also been tweaked slightly, compressing 4 sessions into 2 weekends, from the traditional Saturday afternoon screenings.

The Robber / 打抢
Dir: Eric Youwei Lin
2009 | 7 min | No dialogue | PG


The Robber tells of a face off between a young boy and an old bearded man in and around the latter's provision shop in an idyllic village. Centered around the misunderstanding of a misplaced currency note, it explodes into something deeply personal, with a treatment that leaps out of a martial arts epic over the theme of revenge, with an operatic feel thanks to its use of classical Chinese instruments in a dialogue-free narrative. Kept extremely simple and accessible, with very beautiful production values.

Dirty Bitch
Dir: Sun Koh
2009 | 14 min | Mandarin, French and English with English subtitles | R21


Sun Koh's Dirty Bitch could probably be a companion piece to Royston Tan's Cut, except that the latter was more direct in its criticism and hence resulted in a ban. Dirty Bitch had what I felt was similar threads of criticisms, where you can't run from the metaphor of a scissors wielding woman who barges without much welcome into her brother's home, and then forcefully takes over when told she has no place in his abode. Naturally this resulted in vengeance, control and a blinding of senses which she gleefully preceded over.

No prizes of course for attempts to allude the imagery to real life, where we are at the mercies of others who probably and likely have no welcome in any of our lives if we're given a choice, especially not when they're forced into our world. It's something unfortunate we live by. Anyway Sun's short film was inspired by Claire Denis' Nenette and Boni, which has the basic characters, and is largely divided into 3 acts – the inspiration portion from Denis' film, a french rap music video which was quite psychedelic, and an aftermath which I felt was a reminder that the antagonist has zero respect for in the larger world. That's just my thoughts. Rated R21 of course for its first act which was full of wild sexual innuendos.

Sex, Trauma & Violence
Dir: Brian Gothong Tan
2009 | 7:40 min | No dialogue | M18


Sex, Trauma & Violence is an experimental piece by Brian Gothong Tan. Presented in black and white and sans dialogue, this psycho-drama of sorts follows the life of a woman with what I felt was a voyeuristic look into her own past being played out like a projection of her mind into reality. You know I don't fare too well with reality and fantasy meshed up together especially when it isn't too pronounced, and this film had each of the moments in the title carefully presented in sections.

***

As with all editions of the Short Cut series, a Q&A session will follow after the film screenings, and today's session was moderated by film producer Juan Foo. I had decided not to film the session, but I probably would (because I can't read my handwriting already) for the subsequent ones. Here are some of the excerpts:



Sun Koh shared about how she had gotten the inspiration for her short Dirty Bitch. She was commissioned by the International Film Festival Rotterdam to make a short about Claire Denis. Not being familiar with her works meant Sun had to study them, but the libraries here had them under the Restricted section, meaning you had to request for special access permission. Given that Denis' Nenette and Boni was not restricted, Sun had decided to watch that first while waiting for approval to the others. Curiously, there were about 10 moments of that VHS tape which was blacked out, which was approximately 20-30 mins worth of film being censored, so Sun was inspired by that episode to make her film Dirty Bitch.

Sun also mentioned that she had to reject a few jobs just to do this commissioned film. She also explained for the benefit of those not familiar with Nenette and Boni that the film was about this brother-sister relationship, where the girl was pregnant and gatecrashed into her brother's home. In her opinion Nenette and Boni was melodramatic, but very classily done, and quite poetic, although very little happened in the film.

Brian Gothong Tan's short was commissioned by the BlackBerry Digital Cinema 2009 as a showpiece for their new Asian short film initiative and competition, where the requirements are simple - No longer than 5 minutes based on the theme "The Future of Communications", and black and white with a splash of colour. BlackBerry had approached Brian with 10K to do anything he wants to for the short, and Sex, Trauma & Violence was the outcome, having wanted to work with all the actors featured.

As for Eric's film, it was made when he was still in film school, and the version was edited from footage shot for his thesis project. All audio was done in foley, and the music was an experiment in itself, having wanted to try out using Chinese instruments and Teochew opera.

***

Brüno

I'm Not Funny

Vassup! So the new flim by funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen finally got the green light to be screened, but alas it's a censored version instead. More on that later, but I suppose the word now is whether Cohen's gay fashionista model-host from Austria is able to replicate what his Kazakhstan reporter Borat succeeded in drawing out some genuine laughter. My personal verdict, and I had enjoyed Borat, was that this gay icon fell short on many counts.

Larry Charles seemed to have followed his Borat film strategy closely again since the formula ain't broke, but somehow, this film came across feeling too staged, unlike its predecessor. The skits that pepper the narrative, especially when you have Bruno interviewing real folks and capture their reactions and response in candid camera-like manner, fell too short and centered too much on Bruno as a personality and taking the brunt of the comedy, rather than allow for the comedy to come out naturally from the dumb things other people do and say.

Bruno begins in rather boring terms, where Charles had felt the need to walk you through Bruno's life in Austria, before getting unceremoniously dumped for being an irritant, and breaking up with his partner (which irked the censors enough to leave their love making antics on the cutting room floor). He then decides to cross the Atlantic for the USA to become a celebrity and gain world fame. So this gives rise to its potential clashing of cultures and lifestyle values, primarily since Bruno is openly homosexual and doesn't mince his actions to demonstrate so, when imposing them on unsuspecting victims from agents to test audiences, from glamorous charity patrons to religious leaders.

If anything, one should give credit to Cohen for his in-your-face, daring insults by playing it crooked. As mentioned, Bruno bore the brunt of most of the jokes, and it probably wasn't easy since you can see the adverse reactions of everyone else that Bruno interacts with, being totally disgusted. At times the film did seem to be exploring 101 ways of insulting and shocking people, captured in the film, as well as the audience, rather than to deliver a comedy. One can only wonder if the open showing of male genitalia (which includes a singing dick head!) and so on, are shrewdly used as a benchmark to test every country's censorship board in order to see which is the more stringent of them all.

Given its rather offensive nature, the censors here have decided that even with the highest available rating for a screening cannot go unscathed without a reportedly cumulative one minute's worth of footage being left out. This automatically meant that chunks and segments of the skits get left out quite abruptly, and along with those scenes, probable worthy punchlines as well. You may have seen stills or clips of the moment where Bruno is with his African child amongst African American parents in a talk show. Well that got cut out badly as a scene prior had primed you for what's to come.

So for those who intend to watch Bruno strut his stuff, you might want to do so elsewhere. It's already quite hard up in trying to forcefully deliver some laughs, and being butchered further meant you'll be really hard pressed to find something to laugh at. If Borat was to have a say, he'll tell you it's not vair nice.

District 9

The Lie

It's not everyday for a new filmmaker that one gets a renowned, establish peer admire your work enough to invest 30 million dollars in your feature film. What does one do with that kind of money? Make the most inventive film that one can of course, and District 9 cements itself as a contemporary classic, totally inventive and a definite breath of fresh air that puts all the recent mind-numbing, overblown big-budgeted same ol' hollow blockbusters all to shame with superb visuals and an excellent story that doesn't insult your intelligence.

South African director Neill Blomkamp, who co-wrote this film with Terri Tatchell, and an extension to his short film Alive in Joburg, will be someone on my radar for this thrilling roller coaster ride that blew my expectations many times over with its concept and slick delivery of an action piece with plenty of social commentary about the negative human conditions that easily plague the best of us, especially when it comes to self-preservation where we are likely to go on autopilot to ensure our interests and survival over and above others. Not forgetting too that the aliens portrayed here are rather peace loving, perfectly fine with living within the confines of their assigned territory and not take advantage of their weapons, to say, take over our world.

For someone who had grown up during the apartheid, it is easy to notice how Blomkamp had included elements of those conditions into his narrative. From a bigger picture perspective as well, the extreme negativity in humanity's flaws stemming from fear, also got itself a place in its criticism, which Blomkamp intelligently crafted into the underlying narrative passage. We fear the unknown and what we do not know, and often name-call others whom we don't understand just to stand on a perceived moral high ground, as well as constantly looking for avenues to exploit any situation for money or power.

As a concept though, Blomkamp adopted from the best of science fiction, and put them all together in an eclectic mix containing the best of the best. One can't deny that homage to The Fly, where a character through his own complacent doing, gets to see himself turn into something he despise initially. Then there's this overgrown conglomerate in MNU (someone say OCP?) which has its finger in many pies, such as the provision of security contractors and mercenaries and interests in high-tech weaponry, with corrupt bosses who would sell out their own children to make that extra penny.

But what I felt to me was familiar ground in the setting up of its basic introductory premise, is that of the 1988 film Alien Nation. In that film, USA got visited by a mega spaceship which hovered in the air, and as my memory of the story goes, the aliens on the ship, slaves in their own planet, got welcomed to live on Earth and integrate with everyone, quite unlike the segregation in District 9. The Newcomers have a penchant for fanciful names which give rise to some comedy, and while they don't boast powerful weapons, they are in many ways stronger in intellect and in physical aspects than the average human, which allows for fear and prejudicial behaviour towards the new citizens of Earth.

The distrust in District 9 is more pronounced of course, which consists of setting up concentration camps within which the aliens are forced to live in. Sharlto Copley stars as Wikus, a newly promoted employee of MNU (and son-in-law to the company's head honcho) to take charge of evicting the aliens from their current District 9 compound, to a supposedly better District 10 hundreds of miles away from Johannesburg, where the city folks are getting increasingly frustrated in their attempts to move the aliens out of their backyard. Excited by his appointment, we follow Wikus around in the first act, which is about something similar to the original short film in treatment, providing the basis in which we learn more of their environment the characters all operate within, with interesting nuggets thrown up that is testament to a science fiction world carefully created.

This documentary feel soon dissolved into an action-adventure that's pretty much expected, if not for how the story made you feel for Wikus as a hunted man desperate to escape from the clutches of scientists and board room stiffs who see him not as a human, but as a commodity to be mined for research and weaponization. And it is in this desperation that perhaps a sliver of hope and humanity could arise from his rather arrogant yet timid outlook and self, which Copley portrayed with the experience akin to a veteran thespian, shuttling between various emotions over a wide spectrum.

In fact, Copley's performance provided that extra push almost single-handedly in engaging you to the character and the premise that Fate has thrown him into, as we journey with him on a strange ride involving the symbiotic relationship he has to strike up with one of the "Prawns", and through this interaction which involves everything from family to an eye-popping, edge of your seat action sequence that seem to continuously top its own earlier scenes as it charges toward the finale, we see the change in Wikus from despair, to one coming to grips with, and eventually learning to respect differences. Like Alien Nation's cops of different cultures who learn to compromise and even fight for each other, District 9 also evokes those same sentiments, which Copley aces perfectly.

Adopting the kind of Cloverfield and [REC] concept as well with the fourth wall periodically broken, I thought the cinematography here was extremely subtle in its transition to and from that documentary feel of unsteady cam, to the steady tripod shots for the more traditional capture of big action up close. WETA is responsible for the wonderful looking creature and technological designs, and once again proves itself as a premier effects and creature creator.

District 9 brings plenty of fresh perspectives, narrative maturity and teaches contemporary filmmakers a thing or two about shooting exciting action sequences, building of tension, and just about what makes a film so awesome that it just begs for a rewatch. Definitely highly recommended stuff that you cannot afford to miss, and if you're planning to view just one film in this noisy blockbuster season, then look no further than Districct 9, which gets my vote as one of the worthy favourites of the year!



Alive in Joburg

[World Premiere] The Insomniac

Imagination

There's always a certain buzz for me when I learn of a new made-in-Singapore film by a first time feature filmmaker. For one, there's this eager sense of curiosity wondering very much how the film would play out according to the premise and synopsis set, where expectations get laid out, and the audience ready to be wooed. It's not every week in this small, fledging industry of ours that we get a locally made film making its world premiere here, especially one which is independently financed and produced, with an extremely modest budget to make the best little film out there.

Madhav Mathur took up the challenge and plunged himself into the deep end of the pool wearing 3 major hats, as the writer, director and lead actor of The Insomniac. Undoubtedly the film ended up being a little raw on all three counts, though you cannot deny the sheer intense amount of effort that went into making this indie project. You can tell where Mathur was heading toward with the story, but I suppose being rough around the edges translated to a lack of ruthless exploitation of its potential. Being experimental in nature also helped to provide a rationale why some narrative aspects didn't gel as well as they should have.

Mathur plays Ali, a writer who has consciously decided to smoke and drink to pave the way for his relentless drive to finish his book by the 15th of September, at the expense of sleep. Into his 9th day of self-inflicted sleep deprivation, he begins to lose track of reality and fantasy, where others find him talking to himself, as he sees his own fictional characters from his creations, and various acquaintances from the past as well come alive in front of him.

Imagine having to deal with weapons wielding ex-girlfriends who have ganged up ala John Tucker Must Die, where one more girl using a nun-chucks would have made a fantastic homage to heroes in a half shell, or having an old teacher Mrs D (Shradha Nair) from school telling you that you're still not good enough. Or how about Sharon the shrink (Lishi Lee) periodically trying to get inside your brain, or being faced with an army of soldiers in which Zola (Jacob Thomas), the tortured revolutionary who tries to recruit you into his cause. And out of nowhere too are two English coppers (Mark Bartram and Joe Paterson) trying very hard to be funny, and a doctor you meet who's very much resembling the girl you have the hots for, with an obvious embedded metaphor that she's the one who holds the cure to all these madness?

While schizophrenia could have been Ali's ally in the writing of his book, even helping him in crafting dialogue, thanks to the Jekyll and Hyde, Angel and Demon type subconscious whisperers in Old Man Nas (Navneet Jagannathan) and geisha Lady in the Robe (Ipshita Bhattacharya) who never fail to put Ali down at every chance. As his writing aid, as Ali calls them, they provide at times much needed comic relief in the three realms the movie finds itself in – the actual, the stories Ali wrote being played out, and one where both worlds combine. You can tell Mathur's attempt at a seamless straddle across all realms, with the infusion of personal experience and probably frustration being translated for script and screen, but what came through was largely episodic pieces with little relation, making it seem very much like a stage play delivered scene by disparate scene.

Simply put, the film can be largely split into two acts, one his current lifestyle and writing process, and the other the descend into deranged madness in one night, all the way to breaking point. The premise was helped by the fact that almost the entire film was shot in the dead of the night, with little happening in the background, be it sans vehicular or human traffic, to provide that rather surreal feel of the fantastical world that slowly envelopes Ali's increasingly fragile mind. That world however seemed to drag for one too many scenes that overstayed their welcome, if not for an excellent soundtrack to distract you from the pacing.

As far as debut feature films go, this is still pretty much a decent effort. It's not too confusing, nor too cerebral, with little method to the mad randomness that got played out. Largely episodic with plenty of forgettable, throwaway characters, The Insomniac would probably have benefitted from a professional cast who would have owned and fleshed the characters in more convincing terms, though you cannot deny that this would largely serve as learning points for Mathur and his team, just like how Talking Cock the Movie was for filmmakers Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen before their award winning Singapore Dreaming.


Trailer

***

A Q&A session with the filmmakers followed the screening of the film. From LtoR: Inez Maria (Sinema Old School), Madhav Mathur (Writer, Director, Actor), Siddesh Mukundan (Composer, Musician, Music Director) and Varun Viswanath (Producer, Editor, Visual Effects)


Part 1 of 2


Part 2 of 2

Japanese Film Festival 2009

The Japanese Film Festival is one of a select few festivals that are constantly well attended, probably also because that this is one of the rare festivals that comes with free screenings.

It's no different this year too, though with some very slight changes due to the economic crunch I believe. Brought forward to August this year, the festival screenings have been considerably scaled down to a period of 6 days showcasing a total of 9 films - 5 of which are free, and 4 ticketed. Well, it's the quality that counts. While there's a director-in-focus in MASUMURA Yasuzo having 2 of his films featured, this year won't see a director-in-attendance, where in previous editions the festival had the honour of hosting KAWASE Naomi and the late ICHIKAWA Jun.

The latter's final film, buy a suit will be screened separately from the festival - it will be shown this Saturday at The Picturehouse, but no tickets will be sold. Instead, admission is open to the public through SFS membership. Memberships from $30 available at the door. You may bring up to 2 guests if you hold a SFS Reel membership card. Non-members may sign up online or at the door 30 min before the screening. You can get more details here.

This year's theme for the festival is, well if you can read the characters in red above, Best in Japanese Horror, Mystery and Supernatural (OK so in Mandarin it reads "Horror"). The bulk of the film ratings being R21 will give you an inkling of what you're gonna be in for. You can click here for the Festival Committee's introduction, and here for the lineup of films this year.

Need I remind you that the National Museum Gallery Theatre seats about 250 pax thereabout, so if you're interested to watch the films, especially the paid ones, get your tickets NOW! I've got mine already, so see you there!

Related Links
Official Festival Webpage
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[World Cinema Series] A Swedish Love Story (En Kärlekshistoria)

Where Do I Begin...

It's been a while since I attended a World Cinema Series screening at the National Museum, and this 1970 film by Roy Andersson, making his feature film debut with A Swedish Love Story, was an opportunity to head back to soak in yet another important film in the history of cinema, and a film that perhaps is making its premiere in Singapore as well. Presented by Ben Slater, he managed to confirm with a Swedish member of the audience that En k‰rlekshistoria means just that in English, something which I thought probably would have translated to something more sophisticated rather than to seem as if it's differentiating itself from the Ryan O'Neal-Ali McGraw American romance movie Love Story.

And sophisticated this film may not be at all, on the surface at least. Being a film made in the past, there was this scene that brought back some nostalgia and giggles from the audience for what we would now take for granted, with the proliferation of digital technology in photographic cameras. In an instant we can take a picture with our loved ones as easy as 1-2-3. Back then when a camera still requires film, focus, and plenty of patience to frame your subject, the icing on the cake was the lack of a timer and auto-shutter, relying on a stick long enough to click a picture for posterity.

This romantic tale follows teenagers Annika (Ann-Sofie Kylin) and Par (Rolf Sohlman) from courtship to the consummation of a young relationship. Like all great romances, they meet by chance in their respective family outings, before actively pursuing each other through the games people usually play. One thing's for sure, that basic human attachment and attraction for another follows a relatively set path, and these young lovers have their fair share of ups and downs, passionate expressions of love and passive tiffs. Andersson had succinctly captured the exhileration of such passion, that probably wouldn't even begin due to their shyness and initial reluctance, relying on proxies to help each other communicate.

Some standard "practices" (if I may), like the visiting of each other's parents, also got into the narrative, and will likely strike a chord with many viewers. As will the way the teenagers are decked out with their bikes and leather jackets, which initially I felt leapt right out of the musical Grease (made much later of course). There were plenty of smoking as well which I can't help but notice - I think almost every character here lights up at some point - where cigarettes and booze seem to be the norm for the teenagers seeking a good time.

I felt Ann-Sofie Kylin probably got an easier role as compared to Rolf Sohlman as her opposite. Hers somehow got stuck to a single minded pining for a guy who for some reason is terribly attractive to her, never mind that Andersson had made him somewhat of a wimp, being unable to stand up to a bigger sized bully. That arc though mysteriously disappeared other than eliciting a one-line from Pär to want to seek revenge, probably because the message here is of love and not war, even at the expense of not being able to redeem some face back when being out-slapped in the playing fields in full view of his peers.

The film was nicely bookend by the involvement of family. At the beginning, we see how the families, then strangers, had one party visibly and audibly perturbed by the other's barking dog. But that didn't turn out to be Romeo and Juliet feuding proportions of course, and Fate has this wicked sense of humour to allow both families to come together again, this time over a party atmosphere thanks to the friendship of the teenage lovers. There's a healthy dose of cynical humour in the last act, which stood out because it was rather out of place, given everything else up until then not infused with similar comedy.

Not all's fine and dandy too, as there were ample moments throughout the film, and especially the end (where it seemed everything got squeezed together) where there was a sudden outburst of frustrations, as if being the mouthpiece of the director echoing some sentiments felt, from being a lowly employee, to class division, and earlier on in the film, even the brand of a car received a swipe.

A Swedish Love Story retains its romantic angle for the most parts, which took a backseat really in the last act after they have more or less firmed their relationship, giving way to a shift in focus to family members on both sides. With excellent landscapes and beautifully crafted scenes (I love that bike ride in the twilight), it goes to show that Love as a human condition and theme for a film well made will resonate amongst audiences, regardless of time and location.

[DVD] Children of Men (2006)

Help Me

I still can't fathom the reason how this film was left out of a theatrical release here. After all, Clive Owen should be a draw based on his roguish persona and audiences here would be familiar with his works like Inside Man, Derailed and Closer. Then again, science fiction may not be everyone's cup of tea, although this film is deeply rooted in basic humanity themes like despair and hope.

Set in the year 2027 in Britain, we learn that the future is not as glitzy as many would make it out to be. It's grimy and very much bleak in nature, where the world is already collapsing, save for Britain being the last country standing with some semblance of order that's in the form of a police state gone wrong, and the deportation and treatment of illegal immigrants becoming one of the hot spots. "Fishes" spring up in anti-government protests, being the freedom fighters battling for equal rights for all immigrants. Add to that, humanity itself is on the brink of extinction, where the youngest person, an 18 year old, has died, and the human fertility problem goes onto an overdrive. We can't reproduce, and as such, all hope in the continuity of our civilization goes down the drain as well.

Yes, that's an interesting premise to begin with, where we can question the What Ifs, whether our evolution can begin to go down that slippery slope, and if that chief reproduction problem could be tied down to technology, or ecology, that Nature or God just decided that our plundering of the Earth is enough, and it's time for us to take our place in history. For those who had enough of apocalyptic issues threatening us human beings, what with the Sun dying, or an alien invasion, or a disaster so extreme that it'll obliterate all of us in one swoop, this premise is a breath of fresh air, even though it may serve as an immense red herring, that the much larger context here lies in hope and faith.

Curiously, much of the context can be tied back to the current world sentiments, with issues like freedom fighters, homeland security, the corruption of those in power, and even a reference back in time to a flu pandemic which we are facing right now. There are plenty of imagery here, be it icons, or religious linked ones, right down to security issues, that makes this film deserving of more than 1 viewing just to pick them all up. Based upon the novel by P.D. James, director Alfonso Cuaron deftly incorporated many of today's world into this not too distant future that we may be in danger of slipping into (except for that human fertility problem, but who knows?) and the despair that will come and plunge everyone into, which is expertly placed in and around the visual backdrop of the story.

Children of Men accomplished what films like Babylon A.D. failed, where both on the surface deals with a protector of the last hope of mankind, and having to overcome various obstacles posed by those who are corrupt, and want to politicize humanity's last chance for their own ends. It goes to show that special effects if done right, will add a superb cinematic dimension and wow you. Babylon A.D. didn't offer anything new, and neither did Children of Men in terms of its cinematography, but its detailed and brilliantly crafted continuous take in action sequences, simply steals your breath away. And as if the filmmakers here are set on sadistically challenging themselves, they do no less than 4 of such scenes with increasing complexity, that has to be seen, admired and appreciated.

With amazing landscapes created, Children of Men tells a lot without showing you everything in verbatim. It has plenty of cultural references and metaphors, back stories of characters that make you care about them, eye popping effects and an excellent cast, it's no wonder why this film had wound up on many critic's top 10 lists for the year. If given a chance, do watch this film that had already placed itself on my list of recommendations and must watch list!

The Code 1 DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment is presented in anamorphic widescreen format, with audio in English, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in the same languages as well, and scene selection is available over 20 chapters. The disc autoplays with trailers running some 4:40 for films like Smoking Aces, The Good Shepherd, Hot Fuzz, Alpha Dog, The Hitcher, and television series Heroes. Not to forget too is the promotion for the now defunct HD-DVD format.

The Bonus Features are presented in letterbox format, and all contain subtitles. They are:

The Deleted Scenes here do not add much to the narrative even if they were included in the final cut. A total of 3 scenes in letterbox format running 2:22 where one expands on the landscape of the environment the film is set in, one dealing with Theo's arrears in rent, and one builds on the scene with Theo and his cousin.

The Possibility of Hope (27:16) is a very bleak documentary where you have a panel talking about their idea of utopia within the perspective of their various fields, from philosophy to culture, sociology to futurology, involving activists to historians. They call into question the current economic model which is heading toward disaster (not that we already have not experienced) that are now affecting our lives and future. In some ways these interviewees could have been the folks onboard the ship Tomorrow in the film, working on The Human Project.

"Children of Men" Comments by Slavoj Zizek (5:43), a philosopher and cultural critic, explains why he enjoyed the film and talks about the 2 significant changes between the novel and its cinematic interpretation.

Under Attack (7:36) goes behind the scenes of 2 of the very fluid long takes that are the hallmarks of the film, where you get to see some of the amazing rigs used to set up and film the scenes in the car, and one in the beginning where a cafe blows up. It's really a technological marvel at what the crew had achieved, coupled with intense rehearsals, choreography, and the challenge extended to everyone including the actors.

Theo and Julian (4:40) has director Alfonso Cuaron, as well as leads Clive Owen and Julianne Moore talk about their respective characters. Futuristic Design (8:37) has the production crew talk about the look and feel for the film, where they're tasked to come up with an "anti-Blade Runner" look with ugly locations, real life iconographic references from sets to costumes in order to communicate that bleak world without hope that the characters inhabit. And finally, the last feature here is a 3:05 clip explaining the Visual Effects: Creating the Baby done through plenty of prosthetics and CG layering.

[Korean Film Festival] Dream (Bi-Mong)

We Dream of Each Other

Someone mentioned to me once that the films by Kim Ki-duk is like an acquired taste. Personally I had not taken that advice and dove into the deep end, only to find myself stuck in a confluence of mixed feelings, where some of the films had excited, others had disappointed going nowhere, though you must admit that there are always plenty of imagery in his films to admire, and a premise like none other.

Within the first 20 minutes, we get introduced to the main characters, and the interesting, though weird premise that they find themselves in. Jo Odagiri stars as Jin, a man who often finds himself dreaming about some very vivid events, then out of curiosity one day, he visits an accident site that he dreamt about, and lo and behold, the exact same situation that he had seen subconsciously.

His curiosity led him to dig further, and here he comes across Ren (Lee Na-yeong), a woman who sleepwalks. In more bizarre terms, Jin soon realizes that whatever he dreams of, Ren somehow will sleepwalk and execute it on his behalf, in real time. Hence the stage is set for this fantastical movie, where a couple find themselves having power over each other, and made more acute when they discover that perhaps their respective ex-lovers have got a part to play in their predicament as well.

You'd come to expect that perhaps Jin and Ren would fall for each other, and this was even suggested at, but of course Kim Ki-duk would never go for the plain and ordinary. Instead he skews this potential love story into something more intense, and comical even especially when the couple try their very best not to fall asleep, one to prevent executing things against her wishes, while the other not wanting to impose his will onto another.

Alas the ingredients that went into the film turned out to be not my taste. Everything went really weird especially when Kim settled for some gory moments of imagery to continue his story, some of which are squeamish enough to want to make you shut your eye from the nightmare. Also, having Jo Odagiri speak in Japanese throughout, and the only character to do so, seemed too strange as well, where everyone else was speaking in Korean. I suppose like Kim's earlier film in casting Chang Chen resulted in his character being mute, was nothing more than overcoming a technical challenge in making the actors speak the Korean language. Straddling the thin line between reality and fantasy would have afforded a tale told in this manner, but certainly this wasn't my cup of tea.

The Closing Film of this year's Korean Film Festival, those in attendance will attest to bewildered voices whispering sighs of disapproval and sniggering at how ridiculous the film had unravelled itself into. I suppose if not for Jo Odagiri's role, many would have not batted an eyelid at yet another Kim Ki-duk offering for the masses. Was I disappointed? Yes, as the film could have been much more rather than a self-indulgent movie.

Orphan

Jealousy

The Orphan belongs to the "demonic-kid" genre of horror films, and recent antagonists such as Damien from the Omen remake, and Joshua, just cannot hold a candle to what Esther the Orphan here can do. Perhaps the more frightening aspects that this film dished out, is how they're sans supernatural elements, and contained pretty much what someone can accomplish with just a cunning mind, and a merciless heart.

Then again, full credit goes to Isabelle Fuhrman who plays Esther. She has enough creepiness in her when she glints at you with that unsmiling face, or can do an about turn when she requires some sympathy points. Fuhrman is THE reason to watch the film as she fleshes out her role with wicked perfection, the kid from hell with an angelic face. Being an ace manipulator, the horror that she dished out is on all levels, from the emotional, psychological and right down to causing physical distress as well, I cannot think of a more multi-faceted evil character that's intelligent to know how to play the cards right at every step of the way. I suppose Esther could become Fuhrman's calling card, just like how The Professional became Natalie Portman's, and would probably garner as much attention this point on.

But that's not to say that the rest of the cast didn't do their part in this Alex Mace story, directed by Spaniard Jaume Collet-Serra. Peter Sarsgaard (one of my favourite contemporary character actors) and Vera Farmiga (who spent time in the other genre film Joshua) play John and Kate Coleman, a couple who lost a child, and are looking to adopting another to add to their family of Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) and Max (Aryana Engineer, extremely cute as a button, and hearing impaired in real life). So in comes a mysterious 9 year old girl Esther (Fuhrman) into their lives, and while all may seem to be fine and dandy with Esther needing time to settle into her new household, their lives soon turn upside down, with acts of violence committed against children and adults alike, some of which will shock because of the unflinching camerawork.

Collet-Serra directed this with as much shrewdness as Esther too in a way, able to manipulate the audience along the journey. You'll be hard pressed not to cheer at appropriate times, or feel exasperated when characters refuse to heed warning signs and listen. You'll be pretty much engaged while watching the film, and kudos to the director for keeping the narrative tight and stylishly executed with wondrous cinematography set in a snow filled landscape.

However, he relied too much on the soundtrack to give the audience a heightened sense of alert and expectation that something would appear behind an open door, or a mirror, or just around the corner, which 99% of the time turned out to be nothing but red herrings. While it may be novel for a start, it soon wears on for far too longer than welcomed, and you'll soon find this trick being too tiresome that it could well be omitted from the film as it serves no purpose than to set your heartbeat racing.

Despite that, Orphan is still a top notch thriller despite its B-grade type genre that would put you at the edge of your seat as it builds a crescendo to the finale. It's been some time since I've had a positive experience with the genre, and Orphan firmly sets itself out as an instant classic, with a memorable villain. Definitely highly recommended, and probable to make it to my shortlist of the top this year.


SPOILERS BELOW, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN BOTH MURDERER AND ORPHAN
Both Murderer and Orphan dealt with a condition of dwarfism where adults cannot seem to grow up physically, and maintain their bodies as a kid, while intellectually and emotionally they begin to mature. Both "kids" here are highly manipulative and utilized their condition to fulfill their objectives. As a film, this one is delivered more stylishly, and the anguish caused to the intended victims more real and painful. There wasn't a need to momentarily stop the narrative in its tracks and traded it for a monologue, something which Murderer had sloppily executed.

Where Got Ghost? / 吓到笑

Quite Funny Leh!

If memory serves me right, the Singapore film renaissance in recent years only has one film belonging to the horror-comedy genre, given that one of the city's most bankable directors, Kelvin Tong, had his foray with Men In White, performing dismally at the box office. So perhaps it now takes another prolific writer-director in Jack Neo, together with long time collaborator Boris Boo making his directorial debut and sharing responsibilities with Jack, to pave the way and prove that the genre is not box office poison. And the shrewd strategy here is not to put all the eggs in one basket, but to spread them out into Twilight-Zone/Outer Limits type short films, each having a supernatural ring to them.

Starring familiar faces from the Neo Studios/J-Team stable in order to draw in the crowds, Where Got Ghost? continues Jack's track record of collaboration with our neighbours up north seeking a larger market, and the usual complaints that his films look like tele-movies, may no longer hold water. Gone too are the blatant in-your-face type of product placement (with the injection of funds from major studios), as this looks set to position itself nicely in time for the Lunar Seventh Month, and to erase what was the box office disappointment (relative to Jack's multi-million average box office receipts) in Love Matters earlier this year.

In Roadside Got Ghost and Forest Got Ghost, Jack shrewdly puts two of our charismatic actors in each to anchor the short film. Who can rival the evergreen Richard Low when it comes to playing shady characters conversing in Hokkien, perhaps only John Cheng? The former has shown that he's pretty much versatile in roles and genre, and one of his best performances for Singapore cinema had been in Singapore Dreaming as the elderly, old fashioned patriarch of a middle class family. Here he's at his element in the first short playing a bogus priest who discovers a new way of swindling, but falls prey to a similar scheme.

John Cheng revisits his Pulau Hantu reservist soldier role in Forest Got Ghost, about two reservists on a topological exercise, trading barbs with each other as they find themselves lost in a "dirty" forest. Typical of slacker soldiers, they venture off on a short-cut despite repeated warnings from their superiors, and encounters things that go bump in the night. Probably the short in the film that has plenty of wisecracks that army fellas will find pretty amusing, if not for the erratic pacing.

House Got Ghost happens to be the epilogue to Money No Enough 2, reuniting the cast and characters once again to examine the aftermath a year after the events in MNE2. Here, the three brothers (played by Jack Neo, Henry Thia and Mark Lee) get spooked by their deceased mother (Lai Ming), and they decide that since her spirit did not grant them their "get-rich" wishes, it's best that they leave her altar at a temple, in what would seem like a parallel from the feature film. The jokes here unfortunately relied plenty upon what MNE2 had established, though this time seemed to have run out of gas and got delivered in tired terms.

And of course Jack cannot fail to include some moralistic messages at the end of each short, of which you can probably guess for House Got Ghost. As I mentioned earlier, the shorts were probably similar in spirit (pardon the pun) to Twilight Zone/Outer Limits, but the delivery of course needed a little improvement. The storylines were quite expected and the twists for some could be seen from a mile away. None of the shorts were a laugh-fest from start to end of course with some jokes falling quite flat, though it's pretty amazing still how one can feel time ticking by for a series of short film, where some parts of the narrative were played out for too long, and could have been cut off.

Jack Neo had mentioned in an interview before, that he's always willing to try new techniques and especially to incorporate technology into his work. In all his recent feature films, special effects became a staple, although to varying degrees of realism. From the effects now shown in each of the shorts, I dare say that they have improved tremendously, especially scenes filmed against a blue screen which passed off successfully as a photo-realistic backdrop, and the finale for Forest Got Ghost had made me realize that quality special effects aren't too far fetched or out of reach anymore for a local film.

Where Got Ghost? isn't perfect, but as a broad piece of entertainment, it does seem that Jack has found his magic touch again in bringing about yet another crowd pleaser, and probably banished the real ghosts here - the presumption that a "hor-medy" is something that we find hard to accept. Not anymore.

Up 3D

This is a Private Flight!

Much has been said about the opening montage, and I fully agree that it's an extremely touching sequence in itself, bringing out and establishing the lonely character of Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner), a man living out his twilight years, finally deciding to take the plunge and fulfill a lifelong dream and a promise made. If the first few minutes doesn't make you cry, then you must have a heart of stone, or never loved before.

What transpires in the film is more or less captured in the trailers already, with Fredricksen lifting up his home with thousands of helium filled balloons, off for his adventure of a lifetime, only to find a stowaway, little wilderness explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai) scared stiff on his front porch. While the boy offers to become Carl's sidekick for that final badge of honour to be promoted to senior explorer, little did he know that he too is up for a crazy adventure in South America, joined by a talking dog Dug (Bob Peterson) and an endangered bird, to Carl's dismay as they detract him from his mission.

While seemingly implausible in many ways (for instance having the flimsy contraption the size of a house with perishable balloons survive a mean thunderstorm), in order for the narrative and plot elements to work, you have to accept what's going on with a pinch of salt. Pixar has so far never disappointed me with its films, and Up continues the company's successful box office juggernaut by reminding everyone that it's all about the story first, the strong characters next, and animation just going about getting the job done.

It's a moving tale about loss and the prospect of letting go. Essentially it's a Carl Fredericksen story, where through the interaction with his new found friends, as opposed to fiends such as contractors and developers eyeing his property, discover new meaning to life, and a second chance for that sense of adventure that's been buried by life's unfortunate ups and downs. While a chapter has been closed in his earlier life of companionship, herein lies another opportunity to live out a new adventure, no point sitting around and mope in self pity. It's quite uplifting in that it's full of hope, yet dishes out enough nostalgic reminiscence that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.

There were two moments that I particularly enjoyed, outside of the opening montage. The first was that parallel with The Fountain, where one is tasked to complete a beautiful experience by making new ones, on one hand never to forget, but on the other never to make a crutch of an excuse out of it, and to move on. The second was how life as depicted unfolds itself in phases, where the unexpected can crop up and derail even the best of intentions and plans. But so long as you have someone to share the spoils with, good and bad, then perhaps everything else is tolerable.

If there's a complaint about the quality of the 3D here, then I must say that amongst all the 3D live action and animated ones shown here to date, Up is unfortunately most disappointing of the lot because there wasn't much sequences that maxed out its 3-dimensional ability. You might just be better off with the 2D version, to save some cash for films that are truly designed to envelope your senses, rather than just to provide some depth of field.

Up is utterly moving, a romance story if you'd like in its inner core, filled with plenty of lovely moments that never lose you, and punctuated with adequate and well timed comedic. The short film that preceded Up, called Partly Cloudy, also served as a great appetizer to the feature, and reinforces the notion that a simple tale about a stork and a cloud that addresses the perennial children's question on where do babies come from, and without dialogue at that, can still move you if told in a way that's sincere and full of heart.

Mongol

I Am Khan!

I guess behind every successful man lies a woman, and in Mongol, depicting the early life of Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan Temudjin, this couldn't be more true. In fact, Russian director Segei Bodrov had pivoted the film and its narrative on the love story between Temudjin and his young bride Borte, whom had provided him objectives, and also an advisory insight into what he should, and should not have done under various circumstances.

And I suppose given her resolve to stick by her man despite whatever hardships and injustices thrown at them, is more than reason enough for Temudjin to accomplish his destiny. Of course this biopic has loads of artistic license taken, but I felt this angle was a unique one at looking at one man's rise to power and becoming an historical legend in his own right. Books notwithstanding, my only other film exposure to a Genghis Khan character, would be some Hong Kong television serial a long time ago.

The story begins when Temudjin is nine (Odnyam Odsuren), and his father Esugei (Sen Ba) takes him to select a bride from another tribe. Who would've guessed that Temudjin got smitten by the girl Borte (Bayertsetseg Erdenebat) who is very direct and speaks her mind, and without hesitation coupled with some sexist comments from dad, makes his very obvious choice. But things don't go smooth sailing for our young chap, who got to witness his dad's demise leading to the looting of his household property, which sets the stage for his realization that the Mongols as a people, are nothing but loose sand.

Art house familiar face Asano Tadanobu takes over the adult Temudjin role, and we see that great men are not born overnight, but have a number of hurdles to clear and overcome before they earn their recognition. For Temudjin, his life is mainly that of being prey to enemy Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov) who sees the boy as a threat, and also the falling out with sworn brother Jamukha (played by the excellent Chinese actor Sun Hong Lei). For the most part, Temudjin's early life is not remarkable, only owing to incredible luck that he wasn't dispatched to heaven early, and spent a long time being under chain, a slave, or an exhibit.

So that's when Chuluun Khulan's adult Borte comes in. As Temudjin's wife, she performs sacrifices time and again to bail her man out of trouble, each time with faith that she'll never be separated from him again. But with the propensity of Temudjin getting into unwanted trouble, such becomes wishful thinking on her part. I would have loved to see more scenes of this character of strength and spunk, and great insight into the psyche of their people, since she imparts that aspect of her knowledge to Temudjin in too far and too few terms.

This international production comes with plenty of beautiful landscapes shot on location in China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, which makes it a pretty gorgeously looking film to follow. If anything, it compensated for a relatively choppy narrative which fast forwarded itself for convenience, which sometimes leave you begging for more since things happen quite miraculously without explanation. Take for instance Temudjin's sudden meteoric rise to have conquered half of Mongolia. One moment he's praying to the gods for strength, and the next he's one more obstacle away from being Khan.

The story by Arif Aliyev and Segoi Bodrov also sought to examine why Temudjin would become a great Khan, and I felt that a clearer explanation through demonstrations in scenes would serve to reinforce the message further. We know that he has his mercies, and his sharing of the spoils with his troops make him popular and just. And not forgetting the laws that he would instill amongst his fearsome warriors, whom we do not see much in action, despite having some mean looking but outnumbered masked riders go headlong against their enemies with curved swords drawn.

For those who might be seduced by the notions of watching yet another film steeped in historical battles, you might just come away a tad disappointed. This is not to say that the fight sequences here were weak, but there could have been a lot more, and an extension of the sequences wouldn't be unwelcome. Loads of CG blood got spilled on screen and the sword fighting's nothing but lethal with its slash and parries, slicing and dicing, and decapitations. Don't go looking for that fulfillment of a promise of superb military strategy ala Red Cliff, because sadly it doesn't happen.

But that aside, the film still works because of its focus on the man himself, much like Oliver Stone's Alexander, his predicaments, love life, and some statements about the infighting of the various nomadic Mongolian tribes, and the desire by Temudjin for unification. The original trilogy planned by Bodrov is now a two-parter, and I'm definitely looking toward the next installment, which this one had left you wanting more. Definitely recommended, especially for the fans of biopics about legendary conquerors.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Real American Heroes

I have to confess I'm not much of a G.I. Joe fan when I was a kid, partly because the other Hasbro product in transforming robots had more appeal to a boy than a bunch of plastic figures in military garb. The cartoon series too didn't convert me either, as it was up against a whole host of classic series from MASK to Silverhawks, Centurion to Starcomm. Ahh, the wonderful 80s to be growing up...

So while I do not hold G.I Joe in as high a regard as Transformers (the toys or the cartoon series that is), between the two films this summer based on the Hasbro toys, I will unabashedly proclaim that G.I. Joe triumphs over the other by a long mile. Michael Bay in his second robot outing has exposed himself as a two-trick pony, relying on countless of larger than large explosions - hardly a frame passes by without being engulfed in an inferno - and of course, Ms Fox's bouncing assets in slow motion. While one can afford to leave one's brains at the door for popcorn flicks such as these, Bay had forgotten than they have to be basically fun to watch, and magically he had dumbed Transformers down to a mind-numbing bore.

Enter Stephen Sommers, who had a couple of box office successes with the action-adventure genre in The Mummy movies, so this guy obviously knows what he's doing, and it shows. Forget the excuse of a story just to link up the big set action pieces, and it is precisely in the action that Sommers understood when to show restraint, add in a dash of humour, pepper it with proper camera angles, though of course still unable to buckle the trend of slowing things down just before any impact. Slow motion unfortunately is here to stay I guess.

There are obviously some updates to this big budgeted flick, that while it's still a military-type based movie per se, some common sensibilities have crept in. No more are the soldiers "Real American" heroes (though that iconic phrase still managed a mention), and a more inclusive (but still token in a way) United Nations type best-of-the-best elite troopers get invited to this highly classified unit blessed with unlimited budget for high tech weapons and toys. Unlike Bay's invasion-and-conquer type of US troopers, these guys do get arrested after they unleash their weapons of mass destruction, diplomatic immunity not withstanding afterwards. And of course having futuristic toys help to lift this into fantasy-land, than an all out US Military commercial selling the virtues of why Uncle Sam needs you.

Sommers also managed to blend in the myriad of characters from the beloved toy lines and series, akin to what Bryan Singer managed to pull off with X-Men, but of course without the cerebral material to go along. Everything here is plain and simple, with black being black and white being white. It doesn't get bogged down with trying to tell the origin stories of everyone, but does so at precise intervals. I suspect if there was going to be more movies, then the case dossiers of the Joes would get their respective air time.

Otherwise, like the subtitle mentioned, it's more of a bad guys take all film, where surprisingly the Joes always a step behind, from the first action sequence until the last. It was smart too that the film had action over land, sea and air, covering a wide range of military operations to mop up a growing conspiracy involving arms dealers and nano-technology that doesn't seem to far fetched (in fact also seen before in other science fiction films). The best part of course is echoing some sentiments whenever opportunity allows in lambasting a superpower's policies, including a subtle jibe that most of the world's terrorist type problems, stem from ineptness and how the monster came to grow from within.

G.I. Joe was much better than expected as pure entertainment, and you really shouldn't give this a miss as it might just restore your faith in big-action summer popcorn flicks that takes a huge leaf out of their cartoon counterparts. A bevy of good looking, established stars in its casting also helped in making this watchable, even though some, like Ray Park, had to spend all his time behind a mask. See if you can spot an uncredited Brandan Fraser as well!