You know this is no ordinary soundtrack score album when the first track pumped into your ears is named “Zombie Attack in the Eighties”. The fun cue is a spot on throwback at how zombie movies were scored, well, in the eighties. That, however, does not set the tone for the highly recommended 65 minute album, as we eventually found out, before proudly declaring that this is our favourite soundtrack album for 2012.
Following a brief “Normanat the Piano/ Main Title”, we are brought into a melancholically whimsical fantasy land with “Norman’s Walk”, a quirkily engaging main theme which will be heard later in the album.
The music on the soundtrack also fits nicely into the mould of the genre of animation films. Want something adventurous? You’ve got “Alvin Attacks”. Looking for something suspenseful? Listen to “Goodbye Mr. P/ Historic Drama/ Grounded/ Heavy Visitation”. Dying for an action cue? Jump straight to “The Dead Shall Be Raised”.
The sounds created for this stop motion animated comedy horror film is distinctively Jon Brion, if you are familiar with his past works. Having worked on other offbeat films like Punch Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Synecdoche, New York (2008), the American pop multi instrumentalist has channeled his indie feel into this score. Whether it’s the underlying percussion beats, the grandly despondent string orchestrations, or the resonating lonely chimes, the sounds created for the film are not what you’d hear very often in conventional productions.
One highlight to listen out for is the 16 minute “People Attack”, a track that brings a surprisingly refreshing feel every other time you listen to it. There are other lengthy tracks on this album, like the eight minute “Zombies Attack” and “Aggie Fights”. These cues allow for different themes to be infused into the track, and they provide a wider spectrum of context for the film, which is also very highly recommended.
The heartrending “Resolution” is so emotionally engaging, it may just bring a tear to your eye. It sure helps if you’ve seen the film and know how this cue plays out in the story. Make no mistake, this soundtrack is definitely one underrated gem of 2012.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (15) Resolution
Review by John Li
Granted the soundtrack for this Adam Skankman directed musical film is more “Glee” than anything else, it is still a joy ride down the nostalgic yesteryears. More importantly, can Tom Cruise sing? Hell yes, he can – if every song credited to Mr. Cruise was really recorded by the Hollywood superstar himself in the studio. Somehow, a mental image of the charismatic star shaking a head of long unkempt hair while screaming into the microphone surfaces.
Kicking off the fun album is “ParadiseCity”, the first track which will have you believing that anyone is cut out to be a performer these days. Following the four minute track is the medley “Sister Christian”/ “Just Like Paradise”/ “Nothing But A Good Time” featuring the cast from the movie. Most surprising isn’t Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta or Russell Brand, but a very coarse voiced Alec Baldwin, who personifies what a real man should sound like. They return on the medley of “Juke Box Hero”/ “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”, which only leaves listeners wanting more..
What we get next is Catherine Zeta Jones belting out “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”. Given the Oscar winner’s familiarity in 2002’s Chicago(yes, we can’t forget how the star, who was pregnant then, gyrated and sang in a manner that will put some professional performers to shame), this should be a breeze to her.
The duller moments of the soundtrack come from the lovey dovey tunes like “Waiting for a Girl Like You”, “More Than Words”/ “Heaven” and “Harden My Heart”. What we want are wacky songs like Mr. Cruise telling you to “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, or Brand and Baldwinserenading to “Can’t Fight This Feeling”. Even Brand and Zeta Jones battling out in “We Built This City”/ “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is a hilarious mash up.
When the soundtrack ends with the grand finale of “Don’t Stop Believin’”, you know this bubblegum pop collection of songs is a guilty pleasure more than anything else.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (19) "We Built This City"/ "We're Not Gonna Take It"
Review by John Li
This Salim Akil directed film was not released locally in cinemas, and we continue to wonder why, because it is, after all, Whitney Houston’s fifth and final feature film before her death on 11 February. What we have then, is this soundtrack album to remember the much loved singer by.
Inspired by American female singing group The Supremes, you can bet the soundtrack to this movie contains a whole lot of powerhouse vocals. Interestingly, the 37 minute (yes, we wished the album’s runtime could have been longer too) disc kicks off with singer rapper Cee Lo Green’s “I’m a Man”. Pardon us, but we just can’t get the multi talented record producer’s “Forget You” (you know what this radio edit version’s real title is) when we heard the album’s opening track.
Elsewhere, you’ll find new recordings of four songs from the original film’s soundtrack. While you may not have seen the 1976 version, these tunes will leave you impressed with the performers’ wide range of vocals. The new music on this album is more notable, simply because of Houston.
“Celebrate”, a duet with R & B pop singer and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is a soulful tune you’ll fall in love with easily. Written and produced by R Kelly, this is easily the signature song on the album. Houstonalso recorded “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” (also written and produced by R Kelly), is, in retrospect, a heartrending composition which makes this album a must own for any fan of the legendary singer.
We are just wishing that there would be more material on this recommended album that we can remember Houstonby. Meanwhile, you may want to hunt down the movie to see her final performance on screen.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (11) His Eye Is On The Sparrow – Whitney Houston
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: Take a heroic journey with Merida, a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the unruly and uproarious lords of the land. When Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos in the kingdom, she must harness all of her skills and resources - including her clever and mischievous triplet brothers - to undo a beastly curse before it's too late and discover the meaning of true bravery.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Disney has a long history in producing beautiful princesses for the little girls in the world, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel the Mermaid, Pocahontas just to name a few. Add to the growing list are Tiana and Rapunzel from “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled” respectively. Finally it’s time to reveal a Pixar’s princess, Merida. A totally different kind of princess you would expect from the jumping lamp company.
Merida is an independent, free-spirited princess of King Fergus in Scotland. The Queen wanted her daughter to be prim-and-proper at all times and adhere to the rules, customs of being a princess so that she can be betrothed to one of the princes in her father’s clans. But wait, since this is not the usual customary Disney animated production, the core of the story turns out to be less of a romantic adventure between a princess and a prince but took on an entirely new life as the story progresses to how a feisty, rebellious teenager comes to terms with her beloved and sometimes overbearing mother.
Throw in a little magical tale involving a witch, spells and a terrifying legend of the Mordu and we have the year’s most charming animation, “Brave”.
After the disappointing “Cars 2”, “Brave” proves that the jolly folks at Pixar are back doing what they does best. The narrative and plotting might not be on the same level as “Wall.E” or “Finding Nemo” yet its close enough to captivate most audience with its genuine display of family ties, humour and a touch of old-school Disney magic. The animation details are top-notch and detailed for example Merida’s orangey hair, the beautifully crafted Scottish landscape and castle. For a period piece that matches the standards of “Brave”, DreamWorks’ “How To Train Your Dragon” awkwardly comes to mind.
The voice cast might not feature many familiar/big names as per any Pixar production yet Kelly McDonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd and Craig Ferguson shines with their authentic Scottish accents. The Scottish composer of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Patrick Doyle provides an absolutely brilliant music score with Julie Fowlis singing the catchy theme songs.
Under the magical spell that involves turning one into a scary bear (some scary moments included), the bow and arrow of Merida and the antics of her cutesy triplet brothers lies a lesson to be learnt. Packed with adventure and plenty of imagination, “Brave” is an absolute blast for the whole family.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Director Mark Andrews, co-director Steve Purcell, story supervisor Brian Larsen and editor Nick Smith gather for an informative Audio Commentary that discuss about the design, story development, voice casting and many other aspects of the movie.
The Legend of Mordu is a bonus short that introduces viewers to the origin of the terrifying Mordu the bear.
The original theatrical short, La Luna is also included here.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Expect nothing less from Pixar as Brave storms into DVD with a stunning visual presentation that is filled with gorgeous details and colours. The booming and rich sound effects create a wondrous audio experience for children and adults alike.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: From DreamWorks Pictures, the studio that brought you The Help, comes the smart and witty drama People Like Us, featuring an all-star cast, including Chris Pine (Star Trek), Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games), award-winning Michelle Pfeiffer and Olivia Wilde. Sam (Pine) is a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman whose latest deal collapses the day he learns his father has suddenly died. Against his wishes, Sam is called home to put his father’s estate in order and reconnect with his estranged family. While there, he uncovers a startling secret that turns his entire world upside down — he has a 30-year-old sister he never knew existed. Complete with bonus material that reveals how people like us became People Like Us, this is an inspirational and touching movie everyone can relate to.
MOVIE REVIEW:
For someone who made his fame and fortune scribing blockbusters such as “Transformers”, “Mission Impossible III” and “Star Trek”, writer turned director Alex Kurtzman’s directing feature is surprisingly low-key. It’s so low-key that it even skipped the local theatrical release.
Captain Kirk aka Chris Pine plays a fast-talking corporate barterer, Sam who has just learnt his cancer-stricken, record-producer father has passed away. Although his father has left a will, Sam didn’t get any money from him except his vast collection of vinyl records. In addition, his estranged father has asked his lawyer to pass Sam a shaving kit, in it contains $150,000 with a note that says the money is meant for Sam’s half-sister, Frankie (Elizabeth Banks), someone Sam has never known of in his life.
Of course the right thing to do is keep the money. Frankie never knows of the money and Sam at this point is in quite a debt. But hey I’m only kidding; Sam is not a bad person mainly an angry son who can’t get over his relationship with his distanced father and a mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) who only stood by her husband. Kurtzman and his usual writing partner, Roberto Orci has crafted an affectionate family drama that deals with an absence father. Sam’s version of his father is a person who is more absorbed in his job than anything else. And Frankie of course hates his dad for abandoning her family when she was eight. It’s hard to imagine the two writing partners known for their trashy action writings to come up with a plot that touches the heart and emotionally engaging with only the half-siblings onscreen for most of the duration.
For that factor to succeed, Kurtzman owes it to both Pine and Banks for their terrific chemistry. They banter liked old friends and they fight liked real siblings. The scene of them at the tacos is one example. Throw in young actor Michael Hall who played Banks’ troubled son together with Michelle Pfeiffer and the performances in this 113 minutes drama is simply compelling. Pfeiffer stood out in just a few heartfelt scenes opposite her onscreen son, that’s the power of an award-winning actress while Olivia Wilde (“Tron Legacy”) unfortunately has little chance to shine playing Sam’s love interest, Hannah.
“People Like Us” is shot beautifully by Salvatore Totino (“The Da Vinci Code”) and “Slumdog Millionaire” award-winning composer, A. R. Rahman provides the score. While the story reeks of schmaltzy and sugary occasionally, you can’t help feeling yourself rooting for this pair of half-siblings along the way. The ending I must say is a class act, definitely one to unleash the tear ducts and finish the story on a sweet note.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
As it turns out, this is an interesting Audio Commentary with Director Alex Kurtzman and Actors Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks. Banks and Pine successfully manages to keep the track lively and funny which makes the track a must-listen.
Select Scene Commentary with Director Alex Kurtzman and Actor Michelle Pfeiffer is another must-listen feature purely because of the participation of Pfeiffer. The latter is engaging, thoughtful as she discusses her acting and onscreen character with Kurtzman.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
For a dialogue driven movie, the Dolby Digital 5.1 is capable in delivering a clear audio track with sparse ambient effects. Picture is rendered perfectly with striking skintones and realistic textures.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: "Channing Tatum is electrifying" (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly) as Magic Mike, an entrepreneur with many talents and loads of charm. Mike spends his days pursuing the American dream from roofing houses to designing furniture. But at night...he's just magic. The hot headliner in an all-male revue, Magic Mike has been rocking the stage at Club Xquisite for years, with his original style and over-the-top dance moves. Just as another summer heats up, an intriguing new woman enters his life, causing Mike to think twice about his future as a dancer.
MOVIE REVIEW:
On paper, it’s easy to churn out a movie about male strippers. Throw in a couple of young hot stars with sizzling abs, choreograph a few exotic dance moves to go with it and more or less, you have a sure-win movie on hand. However when you have a certain director named Steven Soderbergh at the helm, you can be sure it’s not some cheap, exploitative flicks.
A cross between an indie drama and mainstream title, “Magic Mike” is loosely based on leading man, Channing Tatum’s experience as a male stripper before he moved to Hollywood. The gist of the story isn’t that original thankfully, it has a story that has a lot of soul and features plenty of charm from the cast.
Tatum plays ‘Magic Mike’, a star male stripper at the local club owned by equally flamboyant owner, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). Mike is no ordinary stripper, he doubles as a construction worker in the day and he is an ambitious man who plans to venture into his custom furniture business but simply has no luck securing a bank loan. When he brought Adam (Alex Pettyfer from “Beastly”) dubbed ‘The Kid’ into their club, Mike realized he has slowly fallen in love with Adam’s sister, Joanna (Olivia Munn) at the same time questioned his own future as a male stripper.
Those coming for some tantalizing male skin won’t be disappointed by the numerous energetic numbers, gyrating, bare bottoms and crotch grabbing. Tatum and Pettyfer are both magical right here especially the former who has since come a long way from “Step Up”. Coming off from the success of the sleepy romance hit “The Vow” and the remake of “21 Jump Street” and with “G.I. Joe 2” in the can, Tatum has proven to the critics that he can actually act and produce in “Magic Mike”. But nothing beats the 43 years old Matthew McConaughey who breathes much life into the character of Dallas. The Texas born actor still has the abs and slicky moves to give the young actors a run for their money.
What’s disappointing in fact is Soderbergh’s ditching of the darker side of the trade. Although the character of ‘The Kid’ has brushes with orgy and drugs, both subject matters are lightly touched on and just before it gets too serious, the story did an immediate u-turn into conventional territory, one that involves Mike’s love angle with Joanna. Even the characters of Mike’s fellow performers played by Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez and Kevin Nash rarely get enough screentime to satisfy the audience.
Yet “Magic Mike” dazzles with raunchy fun to make it an enjoyable experience. No doubt Soderbergh’s involvement ensured there’s enough heart in the story to go with the rich visual. Pity the crotch thrusting is not presented in 3D. Imagine a G-string throwing at your face. That alone will definitely go well with the females.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Shot in high definition, the DVD transfer retains the intended visuals while dialogue remains clear throughout, the bombastic dance sequences are restricted by the 2.0 soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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20 Warner Bros films in the IMAX ExperiencePosted on 19 Nov 2012 |
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CZ12 DVD to be released on 7 March 2013!Posted on 07 Mar 2013 |
Genre: Drama
Director: Kim Tai-sik & Park Chul-soo
Cast: Ahn Ji-hye, Lee Jin-joo, Oh In-hye, Cho Seon-mook
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scenes and Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 December 2012
Synopsis: The Red Vacance - 30-something Hee-rae is having an affair with Tae-mook. They decide to take a vacation abroad, but he never shows up at the airport. Tae-mook’s wife discovers their affair and takes him to Moojoo, a remote village, to keep him away from Hee-rae. Hee-rae, in turn, thinks that they’ve broken up but receives a text message, urging her to come to Moojoo, never suspecting anything devious.
The Black Wedding - He is on his way from his lover and favorite student's wedding, where he was the wedding officiant. He can only think about their days of living together. He goes back to the house where they used to live to reminisce, when there’s a knock at the door. She’s standing there, still in her wedding make-up, before going on her honeymoon. Could he let her go? .
Movie Review:
The poster would have you think that this is some Korean erotica like ‘Natalie 3D’, but this compilation of two shorts from Korean directors Kim Tai-sik and Park Cheol-su is anything but. At best, the two-part anthology revolves around the theme of adultery and therefore contain sexual elements, but if you’re here looking to get some ‘high’ from people making out, you’re likely to be sorely disappointed.
Instead, as the prologue explains, the movie was in fact an experimental work by Kim and Park, who thought that it might be interesting to each contribute a mini-feature length film using the basic premise of an older man falling for a younger woman and getting the same group of actors to star in both. Despite the similarities in subject matter, Kim and Park’s shorts are utterly different in tone and style, so much so that you’re better off considering them separately than as two halves of a whole.
In the same order in which the shorts are arranged, we’ll start with ‘Red Vacance’, which pits a vengeful wife, Bok-sun (Lee Jin-ju), against her philandering husband Tae-muk (Jo Seon-muk) as she kidnaps him on the very day he is supposed to go on a vacation with his mistress Hui-rae (An Ji-hye). Not only does he bring him to some secluded bungalow to exact her revenge, she also texts his mistress using her husband’s phone to meet him at that location. From chaining him like a dog to dousing him with gas to force-feeding him with Viagra so he would get ‘up’ for her, there’s little the broken-hearted and distraught Bok-sun wouldn’t do.
Stripped of excesses, Kim uses minimal dialogue, wide framing shots and some playful music to establish the offbeat comic tone. The result is definitely quirky but surprisingly engaging to watch, as if Kim were constantly toying with the expectations of his audience – and certainly he does with those expecting some manner of titillation, tantalising them with a five-minute long sequence of Tae-muk and Hui-rae having sex and then leaving them high and dry with just the occasional shot of Hui-rae’s braless breasts.
Park might be the veteran here, but we’re sad to say that we enjoyed his ‘Black Wedding’ short a lot less. Designed to be the very embodiment of irony, it has the middle-aged college professor Kim (played by Seon-muk again) officiating the wedding of his former student Su-ji (Oh In-hye) whom he is having an affair with. Kim retreats afterwards to their favourite hangout place ‘M Story’, and when Su-ji surprisingly arrives, we get flashbacks of their all-consuming passionate affair that we are made to believe is tearing both of them apart on the inside.
More like the soft-porn flick that the poster promises, this one contains slightly more titillating scenes of Kim and Su-ji making out. There’s no denying actress Oh In-Hye is sexy (if you don’t believe us, just Google her name and see the pictures of the dress she wore to the premiere of this film at Busan), but there are only two prolonged softcore sex scenes at the beginning and at the end – while the remainder of the movie remains largely a bore as the illicit romance between the pair proves shallow and unconvincing.
Not only is there little to make us believe that someone as beautiful and eligible as Su-ji would fall in love with Kim, it is also equally far-fetched that Su-ji would go ahead to marry someone she barely loves if she is indeed in love with Kim. The only interesting stylistic technique that Park uses in his film is the interchanging of colour and black-and-white scenes, with the latter being used especially in the parts where he tries to demonstrate how the characters are living in shades of grey.
Even by the end, ‘Black Wedding’ never fails to redeem itself as nothing more than a superficial take on love, sex and marriage. Like we mentioned earlier, ‘Red Vacance’ is the better short here, mixing dark humour with revenge drama to achieve an eccentrically appealing fairytale-like tone. We’re not so sure that Kim and Park’s genre experiment worked as a whole – certainly it won’t be the softcore erotica some are expecting – but we’re willing to recommend at least that you catch ‘Red Vacance’. It’s a different kind of Korean cinema, and the more likely among the two to take the industry in a bold new direction as this experiment had intended.
Movie Rating:
(An uneven package of a quirky and original short mixed with a shallow and superficial one – i.e. ‘Red Vacance’ the former and ‘Black Wedding’ the latter)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: This is a cute romantic love story which takes place in a neighbourhood where there are many "cram schools". A young man works at a copy shop and is stuck in the daily boring routine of making copies for test papers. On one of these monotonous days, he finds a drawing of a sheep on the back of a piece of test paper, which leads him to an unexpected journey.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The ultra-success of “You Are the Apple of My Eye” turned the unknown Kai Ko into a hot property. Since then the twenty two year old has released a full-length album and romantically linked to pop singer Elva Hsiao. “When Wolf falls in love With Sheep” marks Kai’s second feature and we finds him yet again in familiar territory.
Kai Ko plays Tung whose girlfriend abruptly left him a note which says “I’m off to cram school” and is never seen again. A strange way of breaking up with a boyfriend you might say. But Tung decides to move to Nanyang street where the cram schools are situated to search for her whereabouts. Working in a copier shop, he met Yang (Jian Shu-Man), a budding illustrator who is looking for her big break while working in a cram school. Mesmerized by her drawings of a wide-eyed sheep, Tung and Yang began to develop a friendship when the former drew her a drawing of a wolf and as one expects, a blossoming romance is just round the corner.
The script by Taiwanese writer and director Hou Jiran takes a philosophical look at romance with plenty of comedy and quirkiness added to it. Sure the romance part took a while to lift off as Hou inserts a series of gags to drive home his meaningful messages liked the appearances of mysterious noodle seller cum priest (Seediq Bale’s Lin Ching-Tai) spouting nuggets of wisdom and Tung’s money-grabber boss (Hokkien pop singer Tsai Chen Nan) for the occasional comic relief. There are also some solemn back stories regarding Yang’s way of dealing with things that are genuinely well-handled and a sad story of the fried rice seller near the cram school. “When Wolf falls in love With Sheep” is filled with such touching stories that at times it exceeds the romance between Tung and Yang.
Some inclusion of metaphors by Hou however just proved a little indigestible for example the lost dog of a sticky rice seller that reference a lost lover and Tung’s insistence of delivering discarded items back to their rightful owners. Fortunately, the clever animations in addition to the drawings of sheep and wolf deliver the right amount of cuteness and whimsical. Kai Ko is a charming young man and his pairing up with Jian makes all of us root hard for the screen couple to be together. Guo Shu-Yao who is known for her busty figure makes her maiden big screen debut as a salesgirl for a cram school. Not forgetting the lush camera angles, editing and production values that makes this Taipei Film Commission’s funded title strangely addictive.
“When Wolf falls in love With Sheep” might not be on the same level as Kai’s feature movie yet it is amusing and touching enough to warrant a single viewing for audience not accustomed to youthful rom-coms.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visual on the whole is wonderful though the dark levels are soft and gritty. Dialogue in a mixture of Mandarin and Hokkien is clear with passable sound effects.
MOVIE RATING:
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DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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