Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Ben Lewin
Cast: John Hawkes, William H. Macy, Helen Hunt, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Rhea Perlman, Robin Weigert
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Content)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thesessions/
Opening Day: 24 January 2013
Synopsis: Starring Academy Award® Nominee John Hawkes, Academy Award® Nominee William H. Macy and Academy Award® Winner Helen Hunt, the film is based on the true story of California–based journalist and poet Mark O’Brien. Portrayed by the exceptionally gifted John Hawkes – who gives a career-defining performance, O’Brien’s story is the immensely poignant and surprisingly funny tale of a man, paralyzed by polio who - at age 38 - is determined to finally lose his virginity.
Movie Review:
Rarely is the topic of sex treated with the maturity and candour that ‘The Sessions’ demonstrates, and that in itself makes writer-director Ben Lewin’s film fresh and interesting. Even more unexpected is how Lewin’s film in fact explores sex in the context of the sexual awakening of a 38-year-old quadriplegic male named Mark O’Brien, who in real life was a victim of childhood polio. Yes, you read that right, he’s a 38-year-old virgin, but one who’s practically bedridden and whom you never would have thought possessed the physical capacity for it.
No thanks to his disease, Mark is unable to control most of his body, spending most of his time on artificial respiration in what is referred to as his “iron lung”. Despite his disability, the man attended the University of California, Berkeley, shuttling between class and his apartment using a motorised gurney – that is, until he was deemed a safety hazard. The opening prologue establishes his background, as well as his wish to experience sex before what he knows is his imminent death in a few years.
The only impediment besides his physical condition is his Catholic faith, which is where William H. Macy’s Father Brendan comes into the picture. Putting aside his initial reservations, Father Brendan eventually assures him, “I know in my heart that God will give you a free pass on this one — go for it.” So he does, contacting a centre at Berkeley specifically set up to assist the disabled with sexual issues, and receiving a referral which brings him to Cheryl Cohen Green (Helen Hunt).
Cheryl’s a sex surrogate, and in case you’re wondering if that’s merely a euphemism for prostitute, Cheryl points out to Mark that the two are different. Her job is part therapist and part sex partner, essentially to assist her clients to learn about the sexual act so that they can then share that intimacy with their loved ones – although in the case of Mark, he doesn’t quite have one in mind yet, since the first person he had developed feelings for was a former caregiver Amanda (Annika Marks) who was scared away by his sudden proposal of marriage.
It might come as a surprise for some that persons with disabilities do have their sexual needs as well, and Lewin makes it crystal clear that in this regard, their urges are by no means diminished by their physical debilitations. In fact, so too their emotional needs – basically their desire to receive love and affection – which are as strong as ours. And then, as the sessions begin, it’s fascinating to reflect on how one intertwines with the other, just as how they often do for us in life.
The question here really is this – can there be sex without love? Although Cheryl keeps her sessions clinical, the same cannot be said of Mark, who upon their first sexual encounter, starts projecting his feelings onto her, so much so that during intercourse, he involuntarily tells her that he loves her. His regular talks with Father Brendan will also reveal as much, and bringing his feelings into their sexual therapy not muddles the doctor-patient relationship that Cheryl aims to maintain, it also complicates Cheryl’s own personal life.
It is ironic indeed that whilst Cheryl tries to help others to have sexual intimacy with their partners, her own sexual relationship with her husband is somewhat lacking – though the reason why their marriage is cordial rather than passionate is never quite explained. But still, that dimension reinforces the core theme of the film – can sex and love be separated from each other – especially since Cheryl’s affections seem to be leaning more and more towards Mark instead of her own husband.
Staying true to Mark’s own autobiographical experience, there is no grand Hollywood-style ending to their physical and underlying emotional connection. Instead, it ends just as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Mark more physically complete as an adult human being but ironically even more emotionally empty. Of course, there was to be a silver lining to that whole life-changing experience before he would pass away back in 1999 at the age of 49 – though that isn’t the subject of the film and therefore not explored in much detail.
Although it focuses on just one episode of his life – which Mark had written in an article for the literary magazine The Sun called “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate” – Lewin uses it to offer up an engrossing look at a person who refused to be defined by his impediments. Not only is that demonstrated in his determination to write by holding a stick in between his teeth to tap words on a computer, it is also shown in the way he continues to maintain a sunny wise-cracking optimism despite being fully aware of his own physical limitations.
The fact that we leave the film with such a full-bodied understanding of Mark is testament to John Hawkes’ brilliant performance, of which we feel that the actor has been robbed of at least an Academy Award nomination for. His character’s physical limitations mean that Hawkes only has his face and voice to express Mark’s struggles with love and God, and the actor uses both to convey his character’s hopes and fears while making his character funny and endearing.
Hawkes has a perfect complement in Hunt, who rewards one of her best screen opportunities in recent years with a brave and unrestrained performance. Whereas Hawkes has only his face to work with, Hunt has to do so with her whole body, albeit often without clothes. Not that she doesn’t look great at the age of 49, but Hunt truly puts herself out there to play a woman who uses her body as an instrument for instruction. Her Cheryl is also a finely tuned balance between warm and cold, that allows her partner to feel relaxed in order to perform sex but yet not too comfortable to forget it is but a lesson.
Lewin too walks a tight balance, in his case, by managing without a fault the more clinical bedroom scenes between Mark and Cheryl and the more convivial scenes between Mark and Father Brendan. In treating sex with a humanistic touch, he makes this sexual journey one that is emotional, physical, affirming, heartfelt and uplifting. And with 'The Sessions' through the unlikely protagonist of a physically disabled person, Lewin has created a truly exceptional movie that respects the oft-portrayed but oft-misunderstood act of sex as both the physical and emotional desire to be intimate with another human being.
Movie Rating:
(You’ll be hard-pressed to find another film that treats sex with the same maturity and candour as ‘The Sessions’ does – and this is a warm, funny, charming and ultimately uplifting movie about the universal need to feel loved on the outside as much as inside)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: The macabre and lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life - and - death - in this stylish, gothic thriller starring John Cusack as the infamous author. When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Poe's darkest works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe in a quest to get inside the killer's mind in order to stop him from making every one of Poe's brutal stories a blood chilling reality. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, which escalates when Poe's love becomes the next target.
MOVIE REVIEW:
More than a century after his death, Edgar Allan Poe remains an iconic horror writer, poet and literary critic. Like painter Van Gough, Poe didn’t exactly have a flourishing career during his time. His constant suffering life would have been the perfect material for an indie biography drama definitely not for a commercial Hollywood title.
“The Raven” takes a creative spin on the last days of Poe who was reportedly found in a delirious state on the streets of Baltimore in 1849. And this is where our story begins with Poe dying on a park bench with a flashback to the events that resulted in the sorry state of Poe.
Detective Fields (Luke Evans) and his subordinates are hard on a case that involves plenty of grisly murders. The victims unrelated to one another, motives unknown but they are all tie to the works of Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack), a now down-and-out, alcoholic writer suffering from writer’s block yet has a love interest in the form of Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), the precious daughter of Captain Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson). With Emily now being in captive by the ruthless murderer, Poe must join forces with Fields to track down her whereabouts and the clues lie beneath his written words.
Directed by James McTeigue who did the excellent “V For Vendetta” and also the rather awful “Ninja Assassin”, the quality of “The Raven” wavers between the both of them. It is at times a compelling mystery crime drama in the vein of Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” series. At times a messy pile of gore substituting for thrills and spills. This movie truly lacks in the latter but fortunately it has the underrated John Cusack putting on a decent performance as the tragic Poe given the minimal plotting.
His character is letdown by the lack of exposition and that applies to the rest of the characters liked Fields and Emily. There isn’t much explanation to Poe’s meltdown and his persistence in winning the hands of Emily nor is there much background about Evan’s Detective Fields. The numerous characters in a way functions as mere mechanism to introduce a serial killer on the loose and a detective and a literary icon working hand-in-hand to solve the case, nothing truly is of more concern to the scriptwriters other than getting them running from point A to B. Quoting scenes from Poe’s stories such as “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Cask of Amontillado” don’t really help at all given most would not be familiar with his works anyway.
“The Raven” fails miserably as a serial killer thriller and probably Poe himself would have distanced himself from. If not for the excellent gothic mood, lavish period costumes and sets (all thanks to an Eastern Europe on location shoot), it might be a total disaster.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Black level engulfed this DVD transfer together with a certain level of intended colour grading. It suits the mood but you need to tone down your lighting in the room to truly appreciate the visuals. Equipped with a clear dialog track, the audio is overall serviceable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE wins big at the 49th annual Golden Horse Film AwardsPosted on 25 Nov 2012 |
Genre: Supernatural/Romance
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Cast: Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Emmy Rossum, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, Jeremy Irons
RunTime: 2 hrs 4 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Frightening Scenes & Supernatural Theme)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://beautifulcreatures.warnerbros.com
Opening Day: 14 February 2013
Synopsis: A supernatural love story set in the South, "Beautiful Creatures" tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers: Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich), a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena (Alice Englert), a mysterious new girl. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.
Movie Review:
Comparisons to the much-beloved / much-vilified ‘Twilight’ franchise are understandable, but ‘Beautiful Creatures’ – the latest young-adult literature sensation to be given the big screen treatment – is so much better than any of the ‘Twilight’ movies. More than just another teen supernatural romance set in a small town, it is more accurately a Romeo-and-Juliet love story told against a Southern Gothic backdrop complete with witches (or ‘casters’ as they prefer to call themselves here), enchantments, spirits and some good ol’ family mystery.
Whereas the ‘Twilight’ films had been too timid to please the fanbase built on the Stephanie Meyer books, writer/ director Richard LaGravenese shows little hesitation in compressing and condensing both dialogue and characters in order that his film boast the aesthetics of a motion picture – as opposed to a visual representation of the book. Fans of the Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl however can rest easy – at the heart of LaGravenese’s story is still the swoon-worthy romance between the bookish yet sensitive Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) and the mysteriously beguiling Lena (Alice Englert).
At the very least, LaGravenese has retained Ethan as the narrator of the story, introducing us at the start to the fictional South Carolina community of Gatlin which Ethan finds himself trapped in. There where its denizens love their Civil-war re-enactments (“They keep re-enacting the Civil War like it's gonna come out different,” says Ethan), our protagonist dreams of the day when he gets to uproot himself from the town – although more recently, he has had a different kind of dream, where a girl appears as if in a Civil War-era period along with a lone tree set against a plain meadow.
When Lena turns up one day in his high school, Ethan immediately recognises her as the girl of his dreams, and despite the ostracision of his fellow Bible-thumping classmates who see her and her Ravenwood family clan as devil-worshippers, falls hard and fast for Lena. Both quickly bond over banned books (like the works of Charles Bukowski), but the greatest test to their fervid romance is Lena’s inevitable coming-of-age at her sixteenth birthday. Turns out that the superstitious townsfolk aren’t wrong – Lena belongs to a long line of Ravenwood ‘casters’, and will either be claimed by the darkness or the light depending on the true inclinations of her soul.
Those not familiar with the novel will be surprised at the amount of material that LaGravenese has to cram within the two-hour duration of the movie, including but not limited to the proclivities of Lena’s family members – namely, her uncle Macon (Jeremy Irons), vampy cousin Ridley (Emmy Rossum), and her very mother Sarafine (Emma Thompson) – as well as an age-old curse that binds the fates of the Wate family with that of the Ravenwood. Even so, there will be those who feel that LaGravenese had been ruthless in dropping some of the characters from the book, though as a neophyte to the story, we can reassure you that it all makes for a much tighter and ultimately engaging film.
It is to LaGravanese’s credit that the movie never feels as heavy as its source material. The mystery central to Ethan and Lena’s destinies unfolds at a rivetingly suspenseful pace, its telling made even more spellbinding with evocative locations (from production designer Richard Sherman) and beautiful cinematography (courtesy of Philippe Rousselot). Its characters never feel false, each of them well sketched out with their own agendas and secrets. And at the heart of it all, the romance between Ethan and Lena never feels hackneyed, as LaGravenese forgoes sappy proclamations of love with sharp snappy lines packed with plenty of pop-culture references (did you know there was a Finale Destination 6?).
The veteran filmmaker also proves to have a keen eye for casting, with none of the actors – young or old – hitting a wrong note with their respective characters. Ehrenreich may not be the most handsome teenage actor around, but he has a spirited charm that is naturally appealing. The same can be said of Englert, daughter of filmmaker Jane Campion, who effuses spark and spunk as Lena and shares an effortlessly winning chemistry with Ehrenreich as they relate as two teenagers who find their soulmates in each other.
But if all that adolescent love seems too lightweight to you, the presence of Irons, Thompson and Viola Davis should be more than enough to lend the movie the gravity you are looking for. In particular, Irons brings class and elegance to the picture as the debonair uncle with edge and menace, while Thompson gleefully relishes the chance to camp it up as both the town’s most conservative church lady and the most fearsome dark-caster.
And with ‘Beautiful Creatures’, LaGravenese demonstrates how it is possible for a movie to shrug off the limitations of its word-bound source material and become something that can be enjoyed by more than just its built-in fanbase. Of course, purists might still be upset by the creative decisions that LaGravenese has taken with the book, but hey that’s precisely the reason why the ‘Twilight’ films have been ridiculed. Those open for a more elemental retelling of the mythology, as well as those who have no clue what ‘Beautiful Creatures’ this movie purports to contain, will find that this blend of supernatural teenage romance and Southern Gothic mystery is a potent brew that is hip, witty, amusing, romantic and thrilling all at the same time.
Movie Rating:
(Effectively paring down the book’s fundamental conceit of a supernatural teenage romance within a Southern Gothic mystery, this franchise starter of a film is a heady brew of love, suspense and excitement that is as beautiful an adaptation as you can get)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Thriller
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse, Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale, Eric West, Julia Levy-Boeken, Elyes Gabel
RunTime: 1 hr 56 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence and Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.worldwarzmovie.com/
Opening Day: 20 June 2013
Synopsis: This summer, one man (Brad Pitt) will race against time to bring a divided world together on the eve of its final hour. Every culture, every weapon and every army will rise because the only hope for survival is war.
Movie Review:
It’s seldom a good sign when gossip about a movie spreads before you get wind of a proper synopsis or catch a peek of the trailer. The genesis of World War Z began six years ago when Brad Pitt’s production company bought the rights to Max Brooks’s bestselling novel of the same name. Controversy has since been fuelled by rumours of repeated script rewrites, reshoots, costly action scenes and an army of extras, all of which supposedly ballooned costs to over $200 million (check out Vanity Fair’s detailed chronology of the drama here). Contrast that to another film in the same genre, Danny Boyle’s 2002 critical success 28 Days Later, which had an estimated budget of US$8 million.
So expectations are high for World War Z, which many may know as ‘The Brad Pitt vs zombies show’. Directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Finding Neverland), Pitt headlines as Gerry Lane, a family man / prized ex-United Nations investigator who gets a ticket out of hell when an unknown virus breaks out in his hometown of Philadelphia. It's contagious among humans, needing just a minimum of 12 seconds to transform a functional human to a mindless zombie with the athleticism of an Olympic sprinter, sensitive to both sound and visual contact. The UN requires Gerry’s expertise and in exchange offers refuge aboard a vessel in the middle of the Atlantic. With his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and two daughters in tow, he flees via helicopter after a heart-thumping escape from a swarm of infected chasing them through an apartment stairwell onto the rooftop.
Entrusted with the goal of locating the mysterious source of virus outbreak (otherwise known as ‘patient zero’) in the hope of finding a cure, Gerry unwillingly leaves his family behind and sets off on an international hunt for clues. Every step of the way is plagued with misfortune and accident – some so predictable and trite that you wonder if it was intended to be humorous. After a luckless stopover at South Korea, he looks for answers in Israel, a country that completed walling itself in just before the outbreak. Just as Gerry gets limited information from a Mossad head, the sanctuary transforms into a torture chamber when the infected masses crawl in, ant horde-like, lured by echoes of celebratory singing. Hubris has no place in a zombie apocalypse. In the middle of a nail-biting escape, genius strikes as Gerry pieces his observations together to form a hypothesis on a possible cure… Testing and executing it, however, will require an extraordinary dose of luck, good fitness, and a WHO laboratory.
Forster’s World War Z is targeted at the mass audience and is possibly one of the least gory zombie outings in recent times. The crazed infected horde flawlessly demonstrates mindless herd mentality and despite being noticeably CG (unlike the uber-realistic ones in AMC’s The Walking Dead), they're easily the scene-stealers. The script is sparse and loose, occasionally borderline sexist. The story busies itself with demonstrating Murphy’s Law, throwing out crisis after crisis but rendering each character a level of development that is barely skin-deep. Gerry has little space to emote, and perhaps it is the material that limits Pitt from displaying his characteristic spark so evident in previous outings such as Inglourious Basterds, Fight Club and the Ocean’s franchise.
The zombie apocalypse is an arguably overused premise, yet still commands rabid obsession among pop culture fanatics. It’s been explored in books, on TV and of course the big screen: the all-important 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead set the tone for cinema. But today, the zombie genre only truly works when it is at its most contemplative, serving as a reflection of ethical, moral and emotional dilemmas or as political commentary. And here’s where World War Z falters in mid-sprint: it is entertainment that is exciting, but essentially empty.
Movie Rating:
(World War Z has sufficient teeth to entertain you (and the kids) with zombie-led thrills and spills, but its bloodless bite marks will disappear before the ending credits are done)
Review by Wong Keng Hui
SYNOPSIS: Dr. Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) is an ambitious but anxious young doctor. In his first days of residency he is eager to Impress his superious and colleagues – Chief Resident Waylans (Rob Morrow), the successful and self-assured fellow intern Dan (Troy Garity) and the no-nonsense nurse Theresa (Taraji P. Henson). But things are not going Martin’s way and he can’t seem to shake off his insecurities. When 18-year-old patient Diane (Riley Keough) is admitted for a kidney infection. Martin gets the much-needed boost of self-esteem he craves. He enjoys the fact that he’s in charge of her health and starts to develop feelings for her. However, his enthusiasm turns into an obsession, and when Diane’s condition starts improving. Martin fears losing her and begins tampering with her treatment so that she will have to stay at the hospital with him. When orderly Jimmy (Michael Pena) discovers the doctor’s budding relationship with his young patient and blackmails him for prescription painkillers, things get out of hand and martin is no longer just fighting for respect, but his reputation and career.
MOVIE REVIEW:
In between the blockbuster franchises, ‘The Good Doctor’ is Orlando Bloom’s way of telling both critics and audiences alike that he can be a serious dramatic actor. Almost the entire movie revolves around Bloom’s titular character, a Brit just beginning his medical residency in a hospital in Southern California, so it’s therefore not an overstatement to say that the movie practically rests on his shoulders.
The good news is that it actually works, with Bloom turning in one of his more sophisticated performances in an un-Hippocratic role. Indeed, we’re not just talking about the fact that our “good doctor” shows a disproportionate amount of care to a young and nubile female patient; on the contrary, this doctor even goes to the extent of changing her medicinal dosage just so her stay under his watch in the hospital could be prolonged.
At first an exploration of the ethical line to be drawn in the relationship between a doctor and a patient, writer John Enbom’s script morphs in the second half to an intimate study of our protagonist, Martin Blake’s, solitude and alienation. There is no mention of his friends and family; and outside of work, his time is spent either sleeping or warming up microwave dinners in a sparse apartment. No wonder then that he finds himself drawn to Diane (Riley Keough) – not helped by the fact that she exudes an alluring vulnerability that Martin cannot resist.
Director Lance Daly deftly builds a slow-burn tension in the first two-thirds of the movie, drawing his audience into the connection between Martin and Diane as well as into Martin’s routine and monotonous life. He leaves the unravelling for the gripping last third, when an impudent orderly (Michael Pena) chances upon evidence of Martin’s transgressions and blackmails him into getting pills for him to “party”. Suffice to say that it doesn’t end well for someone, and be warned that some viewers might be disturbed by the conclusion.
We’re not too sure if the movie’s reflection of the health care profession is indeed accurate – especially in terms of their psychological mindset or their attitude to climbing the corporate ladder – but it makes for a compelling watch, even if it is an uncomfortable one at times. And that credit goes to Bloom, who uses his boyish good looks to play against type as a none too upright doctor cycling between delusion, panic and diffidence.
Still, viewers expecting a fast-paced thriller like ‘Extreme Measures’ – we can’t quite recall a more recent mainstream medical thriller – will need to keep their hopes in check. This character-driven tale takes a while to crank itself up, but when it does, it is an absorbing story that will also convince you that Orlando Bloom is more than just a pretty face.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on this disc uses the back speakers surprisingly well to convey a sense of foreboding dread through the soundtrack. Visuals are clear and sharp.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Supernatural/Action
Director: Harald Zwart
Cast: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kevin Durand, Robert Sheehan, Lena Headey, Jared Harris, Jemima West, Kevin Zegers, Aidan Turner, CCH Pounder, Robert Maillet, Godfrey Gao
RunTime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Frightening Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://themortalinstrumentsmovie.com/
Opening Day: 22 August 2013
Synopsis: Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray, discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother, Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures.
Movie Review:
Hot on the heels of movies based off bestselling young adult books such as the Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games comes the film adaptation of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the first of six books in Cassandra Clare’s urban fantasy series. The recipe is textbook: Expect a detailed chronology of the lives of nubile teenagers embroiled in the trappings of young love while seeking their identity and/or destiny; struggles with family demands and social awkwardness, and throw werewolves, warlocks, vampires and witches into the mix. The stars here, though, are Shadowhunters, a clan of demon-slaying angel-human hybrids with a penchant for leather jackets and skintight black attire.
In the centre of this universe is a teenage girl who, much like Twilight’s Bella Swan, initially appears ordinary. A fresh-faced girl-next-door with an artistic streak, Clary Fray (Lily Collins) starts subconsciously recognising and drawing a rune that no one else, especially not her geeky best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan), seems to see. She witnesses and reacts to a demon killing, leading the Shadowhunters to realise that she isn’t just a normal ‘Mundane’ human. One of them, the handsome blond Jace Lightwood (Jamie Campbell Bower), brings Clary into the fray, saving her life in the aftermath of her mother Jocelyn’s (Lena Headey) disappearance after an attack at her home.
As Clary gets inducted into the Institute of Shadowhunters, she sets off on a search to uncover her past and locate her mother. The rules include trusting no one. Everyone, including a mysterious Shadowhunter named Valentine (Jonathan Rhys Myers), has got their eye on a cup that was previously under Jocelyn’s care, a treasure rumoured to hold immense power.
The CG may be passable but the demons are commendably unsettling, in particular one of the first demons faced by Clary is a dog that transforms into something that is the stuff of nightmares. Yet this is all overshadowed by the ludicrous script, courtesy of first-time writer Jessica Postigo Paquette. Some of the most laughable revelations [spoiler alert] include that of a certain 18th-century German composer being credited for being a Shadowhunter who invented the art of using the piano as a demon-sensing instrument (although frankly this is one possible spinoff that sounds like it has much potential).
Tightening the script and applying a more liberal hand at editing would have benefited City of Bones, considering how much the young actors flail at their main responsibility of emoting. Collins is passable in the lead role, likeable but altogether vanilla. She lacks both the oddly engaging coldness of Kristen Stewart and the acting chops of Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, whose grounded performance in The Hunger Games’ made Katniss somewhat relatable and minimally annoying. Bower is presented with some of the better lines in the movie, but fails to capitalize on it. Veterans Headey and Rhys Myers, who demonstrated skill at playing intense and complex characters in medieval settings on Game of Thrones and The Tudors respectively, are underused and relegated to making the best of their limited screen time and cringe-worthy dialogue. Meanwhile, Jared Harris plays a professor whose actions are utterly baffling.
There are elements that set certain young adult book series apart from their competition, separating stellar book / film franchises from mediocre ones. Unfortunately, it’s not just about having a dark-haired ‘ordinary’ girl find out she has been inexplicably blessed with overwhelming power around the same time she meets the love of her life. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, for instance, invested effort into characterisation and meaningful dialogue, fleshing out everyone’s strengths and failings while ensuring real-world parallels can be easily drawn amidst a fantasy setting. City of Bones falls in with Twilight at the other end of the spectrum: not only do you have to suspend logic to accept the two-hour long story; you’re given very little reason to care about it at all.
Movie Rating:
(A loose, indulgent and oftentimes draggy adaptation reminiscent of Twilight: not recommended for non-fans and post-adolescents)
Review by Wong Keng Hui
Genre: War/Drama
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Cast: Zhang Guoli, Adrien Brody, Zhang Mo, Fiona Wang, Xu Fan, Zhang Hanyu, Tim Robbins, Chen Daoming, Li Xuejian, Fan Wei, Feng Yuanzheng, Li Qian, Zhang Shaohua, Zhao Yi
RunTime: 2 hrs 26 mins
Rating: NC-16
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 6 December 2012
Synopsis: In 1942, Henan province was devastated by one of the most tragic famines in modern Chinese history, resulting in the deaths of three million men, women and children. Although the primary cause of the disaster was a severe drought, it was exacerbated by locusts, windstorms, earthquakes, epidemic disease and the corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government. At night, hundreds of famished farmers descend with sickles and torches on the household of Landlord Fan (Zhang Guoli) in North Henan province. He holds the final stocks of grain in Laozhuang Village. Terrified of the angry mob, Fan prepares a banquet for them in his own courtyard home. But old feuds break out and his property is burnt to the ground in an accidental fire. Meanwhile, war is about to break out between Japanese troops and Nationalist forces in North Henan. The province's full supply of grain is to be diverted to the Chinese troops. Realizing the danger, provincial chairman Li Peiji (Li Xuejian) pays a visit to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Chen Daoming) in the temporary capital of Chongqing, but when he is face-to-face, he doesn't have the courage to speak up. Homeless and hungry, Landlord Fan is forced to join the millions of refugees who are walking on foot to Shaanxi province, where they have traditionally sought refuge in times of crisis. Fan is among the most fortunate, with his own horse-drawn cart to carry his 16-year-old daughter Xingxing (Fiona Wang), loyal servant Shuanzhu (Zhang Mo), tenant Huazhi (Xu Fan) and the remains of their grain supply. On the perilous journey south, marching in the opposite direction to the Chinese army, Fan encounters four men, each facing a crisis: impassioned American journalist Theodore H. White (Adrian Brody), chef-turned-judge Old Ma (Fan Wei), the pragmatic priest Thomas Megan (Tim Robbins) and the Reverend Simeone (Zhang Hanyu), whose own religious faith is being put to the test. As the weeks pass, the social difference between Fan and his farmhand Shuanzhu steadily evaporates. They dream of a future after the war, ruling as landlords together. Fan does the unimaginable and sells his own daughter to a brothel for a few quarts of millet. She insists, desperate for the chance of real meal. Shuanzhu, who has long cherished Xingxing, is brokenhearted. Shuanzhu finds consolation when the older Huazhi offers to marry him. After one night with her new husband - having secured a new father to care of her starving children - she sells herself to two slave traders. Her new family have enough food to survive the perilous crossing of the border into Shaanxi province. Alone and with nobody left to live for, Fan returns north again to die in his hometown. Theodore H. White publishes his scathing report that reveals the extent of the famine in Time magazine, embarrassing Chiang Kai-shek (Chen Daoming) and the Nationalist government. The Generalissimo orders the Chinese troops to retreat, leaving the amassed Japanese army in complete confusion. Then the Japanese troops make a completely unexpected move... they begin feeding the famished population.
Movie Review:
Which is worse, famine or war? The two are not mutually exclusive of course, but when a great famine strikes the province of Henan in China just when the Japanese are about to invade, the resource-starved Chinese government has to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Should they support the multitudes of soldiers risking their lives to protect the motherland, or destitute civilians unable to feed themselves? All are Chinese but there is only enough for one group.
This ethical dilemma forms the crux of Back to 1942—an adaptation of a novel by Liu Zhenyun, a Henan native who also wrote the screenplay for the film. For director Feng Xiaogang, it is clear that his sympathies lie with the ordinary civilians, who become helpless collateral as they are caught in the throes of the double disaster. From the opening voice-over sequence, to scenes of staged parades, the burden of nationalism and its costs are made vivid and problematized in the nature of this dual catastrophe.
To add to the fray, petty conflicts and provincial disputes within the larger pandemonium get in the way of relief distribution. Diplomatic bottlenecks and lip service would ultimately lead to the death of 3 million Henan people. Meanwhile, Japanese troops exploit the famine as a way to turn the Chinese against their own. Governor Li (played by Li Xuejian), the provincial representative of Henan makes a half-hearted attempt to plead with Chiang Kai-shek (Chen Daoming)for aid, and at one point, contemplates saving himself. It is all too tempting to frame a character like Li in the stereotypical mould of sycophantic, grovelling and spineless official. Thankfully, Feng and Liu exercises restraint in the portrayal of this character and there are moments in the film that capture Li’s inner struggles, as he becomes a figure to both pity and hate.
With all these in mind, it is not hard to see how Back to 1942 is a nuanced effort for a film of such epic scale and Feng is able to weave in tender moments and subtle humour among scenes which depict the atrocities of war.
The cinematography is at times spectacular, especially because Feng makes use of the Chinese landscape very well. This, combined with a moving soundtrack, is especially evocative in a scene where Shuanzhu (Zhang Mo)and Huazhi (Xu Fan)exchange their tattered pants in a field. However, there are moments where the night scenes are inadequately illuminated, and dare I say, disappointingly blur at others. So there are spaces for improvement, even for a competent storyteller like Feng.
At the 2 hour mark (the film is 146 minutes long), I was also starting to wonder if the director was taking his time with plot developments and started to look for scenes that could be axed with sharper editing. But each was special, and the director has a technique that is strangely immersive and patient, leading the viewer to take apart each and every scene as a pivotal point in history. In anaction-packed, blockbuster era, a director’s keen sensibility to observe discipline in pacing and achieve it successfully—both aesthetically and functionally—cannot be appreciated enough.
Indeed, for all the multiple plot developments and twists in the tale, Back to 1942 is not a difficult film to follow. It is riveting and full of political suspense and tension, yet thoroughly Chinese. It’s always tricky when involving westerners in films about Chinese history, and one does not have to look too far back, to Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War (2011), to see why this is so. While hauntingly and beautifully shot, Zhang’s film had many critics cringing from the need to illustrate a period in Chinese history from a Westerner’s perspective. We’re not talking Flags of Our Fathers (2006)-Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)-type productive cross-cultural understanding here, but where casting and scripting insidiously panders to Hollywood tastes and marketing ploys.
Although Hollywood heavyweights Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody appear in the film, as a Catholic priest and an inquisitive reporter for Time magazine respectively, Feng is careful not to portray the Westerners as the ones with the greater moral imperative, choosing instead to make a distinctively Chinese film that focuses on the stories of his people and their spirit.
I get the feeling that with the choice of projects like Aftershock (2010), Feng is, of late, driven by a social obligation to document history in his films, almost as if he is duty-bound to do so. If he is, he does so with the support of a very strong cast and script in Back to 1942, and the searing image of a flag-bearing orphan girl stoically tearing on cue in one scene and the subdued and resonating ending of the film alone attest to these qualities. Not a bad feat for a film that took almost two decades to be made.
Movie Rating:
(You don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate this film, because Feng condenses a messy period in Chinese history into a thoroughly absorbable and often fine film, but like approaching any war film, be prepared for the violence and tragedy that unfold onscreen)
Review by Tay Huizhen
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Patchanon Thumajira, Kirati Nakintanon, Issara Nadee
Cast: Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Focus Jeerakul, Vivid Bavornkiratikajorn, Thanawat Prasitthisomporn, Nayapak Bhumisak, Iirah Wimonchailerk (Tony), Kanklao Duaysianklao (Grace), Peter Knight, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Ray Macdonald, Prachakorn Piyasakulkaew, Toeyhom Kanyarin
RunTime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Mature Content and Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 6 December 2012
Synopsis: Thailand’s latest horror is made up of three chilling and stomach-churning stories... ghosts, demons and vengeful spirits are all out to haunt at 3AM, the scariest hour of the night.
In a wig shop crammed with lifeless heads of dolls, something turns out to be not really lifeless… Mint and May are sisters from a wig-making family, the two can’t get along but were made to man the shop while their parents went out of town. Their nightmare came alive when May unknowingly acquired hair of a dead person….
In a stranger’s house with a dark history, two corpses lie peacefully, side by side… Tos is assigned to take care of Mike and Cherry - a couple killed in an accident just before their wedding. Their parents decide to keep their corpses, as the couple loved each other so much – and their parents still treating them as if they were still alive. With Tos spending all his time with the corpses, he soon falls in love with the dead, but beautiful Cherry… what will this twisted love leads too?
In the middle of the night, the office is as deserted as a graveyard, strange things happen… Karan and Tee are owners of a company whose office is in building rumoured to be haunted. The two aren’t scared, and actually enjoyed playing pranks on their staff who work late at night. But soon, the pranksters are no longer certain if the strange things that happened in the office are their game – or someone else’s…
Movie Review:
There was a time not too long ago when Thai horror movies used to stand for something; these days however, even the occasional one that reaches our shores is hardly worth your time. ‘Dark Flight’ earlier this year was one good example, and here to prove once again that the heydays of Thai horror are all but over is this latest anthology of three short stories set around what is supposed to be the spookiest time of the night.
In what is a foreboding sign of just how much to expect from the compendium, Patchanon Thammajira's “The Wig” gets the movie off to a tepid start. The premise shows promise – a vengeful spirit follows her snipped locks to a wig shop looked after by two bickering sisters, May and Mint, while their parents have gone on vacation. The older and more responsible May places her attention squarely on the business; while the bratty and playful Mint seems concerned only about what spot she and her friends will be spending the night partying at.
That very night the tresses are delivered, Mint decides to invite her friends over; but when one of her equally irreverent friends makes fun of said wig, its owner takes revenge by going after each of them one by one. The kills are bloody all right, but this short has nothing to offer beyond that. There is little we know about the ghost, nor about the characters for that matter, so why we should care about either’s predicament is necessarily suspect. If there is any consolation, it is that the artificial time limit imposed on each one of these stories ensures that the futility of the proceedings doesn’t drag on.
So the next one we are made to bear with is Kirati Nakintanon’s ‘The Corpse Bride’ (not a live-action version of the Tim Burton animation mind you), where a caretaker of a sprawling mansion which has just witnessed the deaths of a young wedded couple gets more than he bargains for. When the former goes against advice and enters the deceased couple’s bedroom with impunity, you can already guess that there won’t be a pretty ending in store for him.
Despite its pedestrian story, Nakintanon tries to spice things up by hinting at some form of erotic human-ghost romance when the caretaker takes an instant liking to the dead but beautiful bride. Unfortunately, the eroticism – presumably to keep the movie below the bounds of adult classification – is too mild to get much of a reaction. What’s worse is the laughably bad execution, further exacerbated by an unconvincing twist that easily makes this the worst one of the three.
Then for a while it seems Isara Nadee might be poised to deliver the best of the lot with ‘O.T.’, a satire that pokes fun at employees who deliberately slack off during the day and work late into the night to claim overtime pay. At one such company whose name ‘Ortho GraphyT’ riffs on that of the short, its two bosses have decided to teach two such conniving employees a lesson by staging a series of spooky encounters to frighten them home. Alas the two employees in question turn out to be smarter than their bosses make them out to be, counter-‘Punking’ them in what eventually becomes an increasingly tiresome game of back and forth pranks – until, as you would probably guess, it turns a sudden turn for the serious.
The self-aware attitude that Nadee injects into the material is a welcome break from the seriousness of the earlier two shorts; unfortunately, Nadee doesn’t know where to stop, so much so that the string of pranks become too illogical and repetitive to be smart or, for that matter, interesting. By trying too hard and too long to be clever, what starts off intelligent becomes smart-alecky and self-indulgent; and when it finally decides to get serious, you no longer care anymore. If it remains the best out of the three, it is only because its two other genre relatives are just consistently bad and it is only half so.
And as a feature made for 3D (though that format is not being screened in cinemas here), there are the obligatory shots where something or someone reaches out at you. Such gimmicks might have worked in the past, but given the deluge of 3D flicks of late, a movie that uses the technology for quick audience gratification is simply juvenile. That said, if a movie is not worth watching without the extra dimension, it seldom is with – and ‘3 A.M.’ is an excellent case in point.
With such drivel like ‘3 A.M.’, it is no wonder that the Thai horror movie has long lost its allure. The surest indication that any horror film is grasping at straws is when it starts resorting repeatedly to ‘boo-scares’ to offer something frightening to its audience – ‘3 A.M.’ is unfortunately packed with plenty of such embarrassing moments.
Movie Rating:
(Not one of this anthology of three stories can save this Thai horror flick from being a perfectly disposable entry that is low on genuine scares)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Dan Scanlon
Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Dave Foley, Joel Murray, Julia Sweeney, Peter Sohn
RunTime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Walt Disney Motion Pictures
Official Website: http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/
Opening Day: 20 June 2013
Synopsis: Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. “Monsters University” unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.
Movie Review:
Pixar may be a brand name, but it is one that is built on some solid, creative storytelling skills and savvy digital wizadry. You don’t need me to tell you it’s hard to be disappointed with a Pixar film. So let’s just say you are reading this review to affirm your own belief that Monsters University did not and could not suck.
The film, as with all Pixar's full-length features, starts with a cute little short entitled “The Blue Umbrella”. I've always been fond of Pixar's strong range of shorts and an unabashed fan of its witty, charming and even succinctly moving films. The Pixar Short serve as a great platform for Pixar’s tech newbies to have a taste of the game, and is also a teaser of the creative giant's knack for finding, or rather, inventing a heart and soul in inanimate, everyday objects we too often pass by but take nary a look.
However, “The Blue Umbrella” which had a very promising trailer, smacks more of a Turn Left Turn Right (2003)-type, sentimental Jimmy-esque cartoon that is more passingly cute than genuinely affecting; a little flat, to say the least, and made one wonder if the novelty of digital anthropomorphisationis getting old; if Pixar is losing its touch as it gravitates towards formulae rather than focusing on the heartwarming stories it has always magically told. I don’t think I speak just for adults when I say it is simply not possible to feel for every creaking tin, can, or manhole that has some semblance of eyebrows or a smile on it. A part of me wants to root for Pixar, and yet another part, having witnessed over the years, a sampling of the company’s creative possibilities, cannotshrug off the feeling that often, Pixar could have done so much more.
The actual characters of Monsters University, however, are a real show-stopper. Some of these creatures do not seem very monster-like at all. In fact, many designs appear to be mere spins on a regular garden snail, scorpion or furry animal. They do, however, come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colours. Just observing their different appearances and quirks is an eyeful, and a whole lot more interesting than with the rather characterless “cast” of Cars (2006). This makes Monsters University a film worth re-watching just to catch all those intricate details that one might have missed on first viewing.
The story itself is a charmer, and the Pixar producers milk all your typical high school stereotypes in setting up the tiny, geeky green creature, Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) against his behemoth anti-thesis, the towering resident jock Sulley Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman). A big part of the film revolves around how the ability to be “scary” forms the very bedrock of a monster’s identity, and the crushing disappointment of discovering the limits of one’s “scariness.” Thankfully, these salient, universal and meaningful themes are not explored in a didactic manner and prove equally entertaining as they are educational.
The beauty of a Pixar film is also the promise of ever-tasteful endings that are innocently fairy-tale like, and this comes at the coda of Monsters University, where the film gradually, lovingly segues into a bridging finish, cementing its position as a prequel to Monsters, Inc. (2011).
When I’m often too preoccupied with scribbling away reviewer’s notes in the theatre, and gloating with the pleasure of having mastered the art of writing in pitch darkness, it’s films like Monsters University which transports me so seamlessly into its world and jams the cogs of an analytical brain. There are few films that are able to make us forget that we are watching one, let alone make us feel like kids again, but Pixar does this so well.
Now we only have to re-watch Monsters, Inc. to ride on that wave of nostalgia, and await with bated breath for the release of Finding Dory.
Movie Rating:
(A fun and touching prequel to Monsters, Inc. which, with the exception of those who vehemently detest animation, will be watched by the whole town regardless of this review’s existence! Keep your eyes peeled for a particularly entertaining library scene and stay till the end of the credits!)
Review by Tay Huizhen
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