Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, Céline Sallette, Corinne Masiero, Bouli Lanners, Jean-Michel Correia
RunTime: 2 hrs
Released By: Festive Films, Scorpio East Pictures and Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes And Nudity)
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/rustandbone/
Opening Day: 10 January 2013
Synopsis: It all begins in the North of France. Ali suddenly finds himself with a five year-old child on his hands. Sam is his son, but he hardly knows him. Homeless, penniless and friendless, Ali takes refuge with his sister in Antibes. There things improve immediately. She puts them up in her garage, she takes the child under her wing and the weather is glorious. Ali first runs into Stephanie during a night club brawl. He drives her home and leaves her his phone number. He is poor, she is beautiful and self-assured. Stephanie trains killer whales at Marineland. When a performance ends in tragedy, a call in the night again brings them together. When Ali sees her next, his princess is confined to a wheel chair; she has lost her legs and quite a few illusions. He simply helps her, with no compassion or pity. And she comes alive again.
Movie Review:
Jacques Audiard’s followup to his galvanic prison yarn ‘A Prophet’ is a gritty but heartfelt story about the human condition in its rawest – broken, beaten but yet never defeated. As is convention for such stories, ‘Rust and Bone’ has two flawed people making an unusual connection with each other – on one hand, a homeless single dad of a five-year-old son who moonlights as a street fighter; and on the other, an orca trainer who loses both her legs in a horrific accident one day at work.
Inspired by Canadian writer Craig Davidson’s short story collection of the same name, Audiard works with co-writer and frequent collaborator Thomas Bidegain to establish a new set of characters led by Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) and Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) who play the aforementioned trainer and fighter respectively. Before they meet, Ali has just moved in with his son Sam (Armand Verdure) into his sister’s place in Antibes, whom he has not seen in the last five years.
Taking a job as a bouncer at a club, Ali meets Stephanie when he rescues her from a brawl she started but could not overcome. Despite her job entertaining people at an oceanarium, she is living an unhappy life with her overly controlling boyfriend, whom she defies by going clubbing simply to antagonise him. The similarities in their personalities are significant – both are equally strong-headed people frustrated with their existing circumstances – and given their independent nature, it is Stephanie who reaches out to Ali only after her accident.
Even so, their initial connection is not what you would expect. Stephanie knows that there is little room for pity in Ali, and is looking for in him someone who would not constantly remind her of her predicament through his or her compassion. Indeed, Ali’s only visible reaction is one of shock, the time they spent together further showing his emotionless demeanour. Yet in his matter-of-fact way, Ali shows that he does care – not in words, but in action, as he brings her to the beach, carries her into the sea and lets her regain a sense of empowerment through swimming out in the open by herself.
But it isn’t all about Stephanie – as she struggles to make a physical healing, Ali is ironically testing the limits of his physicality by participating in brutal street fights arranged by a shady promoter (Bouli Lanners). The way Stephanie looks with utter bewildering concern as Ali gets bruised and bloodied shows that there is indeed more to their relationship, which goes one step further when Ali proposes sex. At first, it seems no more than a mutually consenting act of pleasure, but Stephanie realises it has become much more one night when they visit the same club Ali used to be bouncer and the latter takes off with some other hot girl.
As Stephanie is made to confront her feelings for Ali, so too is Ali forced to come to terms with his own growing infatuation for her. Theirs is a relationship that defies easy convention, and just as Stephanie and Ali continue to discover and define the limits of their relationship, so too are we forced to grapple with these boundaries. Does it get melodramatic? Sure, the very premise of the story already spells that, but this is not the sappy kind we are used to; rather, it is a tale told with rough unsentimental compassion, as Audiard makes his audience accept these characters as they are – neither good nor bad, just two protagonists trying to figure their way through life with a little help from each other.
Speaking of which, Audiard gets more than a little help from excellent performances by both French actress Cotillard and Belgian actor Schoenaerts. Like her breakout performance in ‘La Vie En Rose’, Cotillard again abandons all sign of glamour and throws herself completely into the tough challenging role of Stephanie. Though it would not take much for us to empathise with her character, Cotillard eschews such conveniences in favour of a brutally honest and unpretentiously down-to-earth portrayal that fully conveys her character’s distress at first and grit and determination thereafter.
Schoenaerts is her perfect foil, their interplay of tough and tender complementing each other beautifully. As an essentially two-character drama, Audiard has to rely heavily on the chemistry between Cotillard and Schoenaerts, and both actors prove to be well-matched for each other. In turn, Audiard builds some powerful scenes around them – particularly one where Schoenaerts is almost beaten by a much stronger opponent until Cotillard steps out of the vehicle she has been anxiously watching the match from and gives him renewed strength just by the very sight of her two mechanical legs.
Because of the atypical nature of their relationship, we never quite know how they will end up, especially since Stephanie and Ali are themselves figuring out just how far and intense they are comfortable on emotional levels – and every connection they make with each other is compelling for that very reason. Yet in their raw unsentimentality, we witness the power of the human connection as two individuals learn to draw strength and inspiration from each other to overcome their bitter circumstances.
Significant too is the soundtrack of the movie, which mixes Alexandre Desplat’s sparse score with American top-40 tunes from the 80s and 90s. The combination is daring to say the least, but one soon realises that it is carefully chosen to enhance the emotional beats of the movie. As sobering as it is uplifting, this is one edgy and emotional movie which forgoes Hollywood storytelling conventions to tell a gritty yet intimate human drama which feels almost documentary-like in its realness and rawness. And as a sign of just how potent it is, we guarantee you that you won’t feel the same listening to Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ afterwards.
Movie Rating:
(Raw, edgy and gritty, this is an unparalleled romantic drama that thrives on daring and beautifully accomplished performances from its lead stars)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the perennial bestseller, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING is a hilarious and heartfelt comedy about five couples whose intertwined lives are turned upside down by the challenges of impending parenthood. The movie features lots of laughs, heart , and a terrific ensemble of actors at their best (Pete Hammond, Box Office Magazine) and is A must see! (Gayle King, O Magazine). The film stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Falcone and Joe Manganiello.
MOVIE REVIEW:
After giving birth to twins in real-life, Jennifer Lopez seems to develop a penchant for baby scripts. First is the “The Back-Up Plan” now comes “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”. Joining Lopez in this ensemble comedy is a host of familiar faces that includes Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Chris Rock and Dennis Quaid.
Inspired by the self-help book of the same name, this absolutely unnecessary movie about pregnancy and parenthood is a drag to follow through despite the number of stars top billing it. Following the format of star-studded rom-coms, “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve”, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” is a disjointed affair, filled with numerous characters that appear just to mouth some one-liners and lament the agony of pregnancy and raising kids. Take for example the Chris Rock’s character, Vic whose only exposure onscreen is to appear with other insignificant dudes in the park pushing strollers and strapping their kids on their backs. The dudes are redundant in the whole story and I guessed their inserts are mainly for multiple toilet breaks.
The main stories arc are Wendy (Banks) who runs a baby store and yearns to have a kid of her own with husband, Gary (Ben Falcone from “Bridesmaids”). Add to the fun is Gary’s ex-racer dad, Ramsey (Quaid) who married a much hotter younger woman, Skyler (Brooklyn Decker) and coincidentally, she is pregnant with twins. Diaz on the other hand played a tough celebrity fitness instructor, Jules who got knocked up by her dance show’s partner, Evan (Matthew Morrison). Kendrick pairs up with “Gossip Girl” Chace Crawford to play two young lovers that lead up to an unplanned pregnancy. The last story belongs to Lopez, she plays a photographer waiting to adopt a baby from Ethiopia after failing to conceive.
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting” delivers (sorry for the intended pun) practically every scenario and gag of pregnancy from the screaming and yelling of childbirth to even the extend of arguing over the issue of circumcision. All these are probably good material to be placed at clinic for expectant mothers including those preparing for parenthood but all these messages made a happy movie just not an appealing one.
Elizabeth Banks no doubt stole the limelight with her performance as Wendy, an advocate for breast-feeding turned disastrous-mother-in-the-making as she suffered from pregnancy blues. Falcone who played her husband looks awkwardly older compared to his onscreen dad, Quaid and their competiveness nature results in plenty of mildly amusing situations. Helmer Kirk Jones who helmed the equally schmaltzy “Everybody’s Fine” turned in a piece of work that promptly round up all the stereotypes of pregnancy and feature plenty of stars liked Lopez for the audience. At the very least, Jones is the best candidate for the remake of “3 Men And A Baby” if there’s a need for it.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
What to Expect and the Pregnancy Bible interviews the original author of the book.
The Dudes Unscrewed is a 15 minutes featurette that has Chris Rock and Amir Talai talking about how good the book is.
A series of unfunny Deleted Scenes are included.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD transfer is as good looking as most of the stars onscreen. Colours and images are solid while the Dolby Digital 2.0 serves its purpose dishing the occasional ambient effects and a clear dialogue track.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Director: Jo Sung-Hee
Cast: Song Joong-Ki, Park Bo-Young, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jang Young-nam, Kim Hyang-ki, Lee Yeong-ran
RunTime: 2 hrs 26 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures & Festive Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 December 2012
Synopsis: Summoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits the cottage she used to live in as a child. She recalls the memory of a boy she knew 50 years ago… When her family moved to a small rural village, Suni discovered a “wolf boy” hiding behind a bush. The girl, now an old woman, has never been able to purge the images of his wild eyes and animal-like behavior from her mind. She recalls teaching the boy how to wait patiently before a meal, to wear clothes, to speak, to write and to behave like other humans so that he could one day live like a normal man. She opened her heart to the innocent boy and he fell in love with the girl, the only person to ever show him affection. However, when threatened, the “wolf boy” let loose his bestial instincts and became the subject of the villagers’ fears. In order to save the life of the boy who risked his to be by her side, she left him with a promise: "Wait for me. I’ll come back for you."
Movie Review:
The season of the vampires is finally over, and for those Twi-hards on the Jacob camp, perhaps you can lick your wounds with this Korean romance melodrama instead, where I'm certain despite the lack of abs and flesh, has a lot more heart and soul in telling a sincere fantasy love story that will tug at your heartstrings, and open up those tear ducts many times over than what all of the Twilight movies combined cannot achieve. With A Werewolf Story, the Korean wave in the genre continues to grow strongly, with strong support shown back home as this film climbs the box office charts.
Written and directed by Jo Sung-Hee, it's a love story that's pure and simple, weaved around a somewhat isolated and idyllic neighbourhood in which lead protagonist Suni (Park Bo-Young) has to live in, for a weak lung condition. Her family, made up of siblings and mom (Jang Yeong-Nam), have been moving around of late to find the perfect home to settle in, but given the state of finances, can only afford something from the goodwill of their landlord Ji-Tae (Yoo Yeon-Seok), the slimy son of their late father's business partner who has that sense of sickening, rich man entitlement which he imposes on the family, adamant that he'll get his dream girl Suni sometime soon.
But as fate would have it, the house she stays in has a long-staying guest in the barn, that of a teenager thought to be raised by wolves, exhbiting traits of the canine family, and without the ability to speak. Taken in by the family because it's inhumane to just throw him out, the boy, now christened Chul-Soo (Song Joong-Ki), becomes a part of the family as he dines, well, gobbles, and plays with the children. But his disgusting ways, being away from human contact for years, irks many, until Suni takes it upon herself to train and tame the beast within, slowly reintroducing him to the ways of humanity, and in so, a friendship, followed by a strong relationship develops.
Humanity though is not always about the benign, and soon we have the darker aspects of the human condition come through by Ji-Tae, who sees Chul-Soo as an obstacle to his acquisition of Suni's heart, and not before long once we're let in to the secret behind Chul-Soo that allows for some excellent CG effects to be shown to justify the film's title. The Boo Radley mockingbird in Chul-Soo becomes hunted inevitably, by scientists who want to know more about this freak of science, and the military as always, wanting a cover up on a project that had gone awry. And these incidents only serve to deepen the lover's relationship a lot more, since it hits home emotionally when a couple destined for each other, have to be forcifully kept apart by circumstances.
You can just about draw parallels from many films, two of which stood out in my mind when viewing it. The first being the rather obvious Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan from 1984, which the movie somewhat adopted its premise from, with a girl and Tarzan having to connect given the former's surely and steady ways to teach her fellow friend how to read, write, and just about spend as much time together that they inevitably connect on an emotional level. Then there's the Incredible Hulk, except that Bruce Banner isn't the brilliant scientist that he is, but remains the Hulk most of the time, unleashing his rage when his lady love is under threat. That, together with the growing forbidden love the couple share just as the identity of the monster beneath couldn't get controlled any further.
Park Bo-Young puts in a commendable and lovable performance as the teenage girl at the cusp of a budding romance that sprung from nowhere, and has the acting chops to highlight a spectrum of emotions from the highs of being in a relationship, to the lows of having to take drastic action to protect the boy she loves. As the titular character, Song Joong-Ki continues to convince he's a force to be reckoned with, showing that hours of research paid off as he moves, and behaves, very much like a typical canine/wolf with that unswerving loyalty toward his owner/trainer, together with that innocent twinkle in the eye balanced with the ability to turn into a rampaging monster at any sustained provocation. You will silently root for this underdog when he deals his brand of animal justice that cannot be reasoned with, when up against those with sense of entitlement, and schemes that bear false witness for selfish reasons.
A Werewolf Boy is clearly targeted at the female demographic across all age groups given its ending, which I obviously cannot reveal. It's a melodrama that's all set to polarize opinions from any male audience member, so much so that an alternate ending was being offered in Korean cinemas, and it'll be interesting to have a sneak peek at what that had actually entailed. But give the original finale a go, and see how divided your and your friends' opinions can get. A Werewolf Boy scores in its screenplay, characterization and the delivery of its leads in making you feel for them every step of the way. Highly recommended!
Movie Rating:
(As close to a perfect melodrama as can be)
Review by Stefan Shih
Genre: Comedy
Director: Adrian Teh
Cast: A Niu, Elanne Kwong, Cynthia Wang, Kara Hui, Marcus Chin, Jack Choo, Shaun Chen, Maggie Theng, Ericia Lee, Rosa Chong, John Cheng, Mindee Ong, Chapman To
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: GV & Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 14 February 2013
Synopsis: Soon after marriage, Weijie and Zhixin face pressure to conceive. When it finally happens, amidst preparations for the Full-month celebration of the new family member, Zhixin’s dad Colin’s business meets with investment failures and he suffers a stroke as a result. Zhixin has to step up to take over Colin’s business. Between ensuring that her mum Alison does not have a mental breakdown and tending to her young family, Zhixin has to run the company and deal with insubordination from the veterans. It pains Weijie to see Zhixin under such stress and he quits his job to be a stay-home dad.
Over in Penang, Weijie’s dad Ah Sai heeds Colin’s advice and expands his humble salted-fish business. As his workload increases and he shuttles between Singapore and Penang, the harmonious family starts to disintegrate.
Meanwhile, Alison is taken aback by the sudden appearance of Reese, who claims to be Colin’s illegitimate daughter. Zhixin cannot come to terms with having a half-sister and even suspects Reese of seducing Weijie.
At the same time, Weijie faces much pressure being a stay-home dad taking care of Xing’guan. There is talk that he is living off his wife and the couple ends up in a big quarrel.
Amidst all these problems, one day, both Reese and baby Xing’guan disappear! Has Reese anything to do with baby Xing’guan’s disappearance? Will the couple overcome their differences?
Movie Review:
From marriage to parenthood – that life-stage trajectory also represents the progression from ‘The Wedding Diary’ to ‘The Wedding Diary II’, a journey which – going by its first-ever screening as the Closing Film of ScreenSingapore – has taken just nine months. More amazingly, returning director Adrian Teh has managed to assemble the entire ensemble cast for this second outing – including our very own Zhu Houren and Marcus Chin, Malaysian actor A-niu, as well as Hong Kong actresses Elanne Kwong and Kara Hui.
Presuming that its audience is already familiar with the various characters as well as their respective personalities, the movie wastes little time in setting up Weijie (A-niu) and Zhixin’s (Elanne Kwong) new addition to the family Xing’guan - which when taken with his surname ‘Cai’ sounds like the vegetable but in a bottle. Indeed, Teh and his screenwriter Rebecca Liow get the predictable stuff over and done with quickly – Weijie’s father Ah Sai (Marcus Chin) and Zhixin’s parents Colin and Alison (Zhu Houren and Kara Hui respectively)’s persistent nagging at their childlessness; Weijie’s conniving (but successful) attempt at getting Zhixin pregnant; and subsequently Zhixin’s excruciating process of childbirth.
More attention is in fact spent on the days after, which also shrewdly gives more screen time for the ‘oh-so-adorable’ Xing'guan. At his first-month celebrations, Colin suffers a stroke after getting some upsetting news on his company’s investment in China, setting into motion a chain of events that ultimately tests each family unit’s resilience and each member’s commitment. Those expecting light-hearted fun like the last time might be in for a surprise, since the dramatic arcs that Liow (working from a story by Teh and executive producer Lim Teck) chooses are more sober than that previously.
It isn’t just Daniel and Tina’s marriage that is at stake now – the sudden appearance of an illegitimate daughter, Reese (Wang Xinru), claiming to be from an affair Colin apparently had in Taiwan tests the lengths Alison is willing to look past her husband’s possible transgressions; while Ah Sai’s greedy ambition to expand his small-time salted fish business tests his relationship with his family. Between the disharmony in both their respective families, the perceived disdain on Weijie’s part from being a house husband and the pressures on Zhixin’s part from having to step into her father’s shoes at the company threaten their once blissful marriage. Throw in a late twist involving Weijie’s alleged indiscretion, and you have a movie that is about twice as busy as its predecessor.
The challenge of juggling so many plotlines does make for a less coherent movie overall - especially in the first half where the individual narratives unfold quite independently of one another – as well as a choppy viewing experience. Thankfully, while the parts don’t make for a very complete whole, there are still stellar bits that will tickle you silly. Notwithstanding the irresistible cuteness of Xing’guan that will never fail to melt your heart, the most entertaining bits come from the witty dialect jokes delivered with panache by both A-niu and Marcus Chin.
In place of the repartee between Houren and Marcus, Teh inserts a priceless sequence where the former’s character asks Marcus’ semi-literate character to send a letter of apology to his wife. The results of that are truly hilarious – one of our favourite parts of the whole movie – and most reminiscent of the cheerful tone of the previous movie. Another inspired bit sees Hong Kong actor Chapman To in a cameo doing a Peter Chan impersonation as ‘Liang Dao’ and that sequence where a frustrated Chapman in Cantonese-accented Mandarin teaches Ah Nan (aka Johnathan Cheng) and Mindee Ong how to act out a childbirth scene is side-splittingly funny.
Admittedly the aforementioned sequences might not add to the main or sub-plots, but they provide some much-needed levity in a movie that would otherwise be a sombre affair what with quarrels, betrayals and misunderstandings abound. Just when you think the movie is going off in different directions, Teh manages to pull it all together in the last act, emphasising the important values of empathy, understanding and trust in any marriage – whether it is of a young couple like Weijie and Zhixin or a seasoned couple like Colin and Alison. Not just that, the fact that he has turned the ending into something so poignant guaranteed to touch the hearts especially of married couples out there is genuinely admirable.
Of course, part of that achievement belongs to the mostly outstanding cast. A-niu might not be the most natural choice for the lead in a romantic comedy, but like the previous movie, he brings a low-key charm and a winning chemistry with Elanne. Deserving of mention too is Kara Hui, who delivers a well-nuanced performance as the faithful wife caring for her stroke-ridden husband Colin while coming to terms with his past faults. Next to the rest, Xinru sticks out with a rather stilted performance, but for better or for worse, her awkwardness fits her role as an outsider to the family.
The inevitable question that you would ask is whether this sequel is as good as the first. It’s not as straightforwardly entertaining that’s for sure, and credit must be given to the filmmakers for taking on more mature issues surrounding marriage than the first movie – just as how the adage ‘a wedding is a day, and a marriage is a lifetime’ goes. There are certainly amusing parts that will have you laughing out loud, but the subject matter they take on is much more complex than you would expect – even if the ‘baby’ factor is exploited for maximum likeability. For having surprisingly more ambition, and ultimately delivering a story rich in meaning and poignancy, we’re giving our vote to ‘The Wedding Diary II’ as a touching yet humourous look at marriage that you should make a date with next Valentine's Day.
Movie Rating:
(This post-wedding chapter may not be as instantaneously funny as its predecessor, but is still an amusing and surprisingly poignant look at married life)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Cast: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Dennis Quaid, Judy Greer, James Tupper, Iqbal Theba, Noah Lomax
RunTime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.playingforkeepsmovie.com/
Opening Day: 20 December 2012
Synopsis: A romantic comedy about a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star (Butler) who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy's soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an "adult" are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive "soccer moms" who pursue him at every turn.
Movie Review:
This holiday season, as Playing for Keeps’s tagline so curiously pursues, what do you really want? Apparently, it’s a rumpled-haired Gerard Butler, seen here taking on bifurcating duties as a doting father who wants to make up for lost time with his son and an unlikely sex magnet for soccer mums after he agrees to coach his son’s ailing soccer team. At the benefit of the multiple-point premise, one would like to desperately believe that there’s a charming father-son tale somewhere. But what comes of Playing for Keeps is far worse than what one would imagine it to be, and it starts with the fact that the movie never really comes together in any sort of sensible manner.
Blame must be laid at the feet of director Gabriele Muccino, whose beleaguered execution of the material flips the movie awkwardly between sedate scenes of Butler’s devoted parent character doling out the typical sugar-coated words to his pint-sized son and outrageous shots of grown women shamelessly throwing themselves at him. Sentimental family drama or kitschy rom-com, the identity of Playing for Keeps is left hanging by the thinnest of threads as neither side is given the full development it deserves. Butler’s parenthood comeback is hardest hit by the lack of focus, distracted by countless cheap jokes and robbed of valuable depth.
It’s a shame because the chemistry between Butler and his on-screen son is actually one of the movie’s best parts, matched only by the soulful interaction between him and his estranged wife, played here by Jessica Biel. Seeing Butler rekindle his relationship with the mother-son pair is nothing short of a heartwarming experience, and suffice to say that only a well-conceived solution can prevent the family from moving on again without him. Unfortunately, buying into that solution can feel strange as you aren’t treated to nearly enough backstory to be sure that the solution isn’t simply a stop-gap measure to keep his wife and son. In a sense, you’re required to suspend a certain level of belief to really appreciate the movie.
The same cannot be said for the rest of the movie, because down the road lies true madness. Judy Greer, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Uma Thurman all play crazy-about-sex soccer mums delineated with a flair for ignoring logic. Greer is Barb, an emotionally depraved divorcee who cannot seem to stop begging Butler to call her. Zeta-Jones is Denise, a former sportscaster who is ready to offer Butler a position at ESPN in a sex-for-contract scheme. Thurman, as a clad-in-lingerie Patti, eagerly awaits Butler on his bed. The actresses don’t embarrass themselves, but one would like to think they’d be the first to admit that they’re merely making terrible, one-note characters look less dysfunctional than they already are.
As forgettable as these soccer mums may be, one thing they have going for is being entertaining. And entertaining is what I want to leave the review with. Playing for Keeps may not have the sharp focus needed to make its family drama work wonders, but its easy humour will most certainly scatter bouts of laughter across the cinema hall. Alas, the movie can feel more than a little tonally confused at times and it’s hard to pinpoint what was intended to be achieved here. It really begets the question: How can you know what you really want when the movie doesn’t even know it really wants? Apparently, Playing for Keeps doesn’t give you the answer to its question.
Movie Rating:
(Playing for Keeps doesn’t really know whether it wants to be a sentimental family drama or kitschy rom-com, but it’s at least charming and entertaining in parts)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
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THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY crosses half-billion mark worldwidePosted on 28 Dec 2012 |
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, John Cho, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Jordi Molla, Edgar Ramirez, Noel Clarke, Nazneen Contractor
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.startrekmovie.com/
Opening Day: 16 May 2013
Synopsis: In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness. When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Movie Review:
Rebooting a pop culture cult classic with a 50-year legacy is no mean feat, but successfully doing so twice while juggling loyalists’ expectations and attracting fresh eyeballs is an accomplishment. Director J.J. Abrams’ 2009 take on the original science fiction TV series more commonly popular among a niche audience transformed it into fun mainstream fare, producing a box office hit that surpassed all previous outings. Remarkably, most of its success was driven by overseas sales, an achievement considering that Star Trek films are known for not travelling too well beyond American shores.
In this 2013 follow-up, we take off with a sprint in middle of a mission on an alien planet. Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Dr Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban) are escaping from an aggressive horde of indigenous beings on the brink of civilization. In the meantime, resident paragon of reason and truth First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) is tasked with suppressing an erupting volcano with a freezing device. This prologue will feel like déjà vu for viewers who caught the nine-minute trailer preceding the IMAX screenings of The Hobbit back in December. While Spock navigates the complicated waters of a committed relationship with romantic interest Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Kirk lives it up as a bachelor, bedding and picking up attractive aliens at his convenience. The core dynamic between the two leads is quickly established, playing Kirk’s brawn and passionate “leave no man behind” approach against Spock’s adamant reliance on rules and obligations. What makes a great leader? It may be the unlikely melding of these two extreme perspectives.
Despite the overall success of the mission, Kirk’s superior / mentor Rear Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) reprimands him for disobeying direct orders, after Spock submits the mission report without his knowledge. This results in his demotion, but the arrangement turns out to be temporary when the bombing of a secret Starfleet intelligence facility and subsequent acts of terrorism throw the Federation into chaos. The adversary is identified to be a certain ex-officer John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who has gone into hiding in hostile Klingon territory.
An enraged Kirk regains command of his ship, the USS Enterprise, and in typical fashion goes right into the fray on a mission to kill. Armed with 72 undetectable missiles of questionable origin and an entire ship crew advising against the operation, there is every indication that things will take a dangerous turn. With the help of the alluring weapons specialist Dr Carol Marcus (Alice Eve), the crew engage an opponent who’s practically the equivalent of Superman. [This review aims to be spoiler-free, but it suffices to say that many online fans have already sussed out the antagonist’s identity].
Chronicled on an alternate timeline, Into Darkness is a product of creative tinkering with familiar characters while retaining the spirit of creator Gene Roddenberry’s stories. It’s easy to draw parallels with today’s newspaper headlines and political discourse with its accompanying moral quandaries – Star Trek storylines have traditionally been analogies for real-life current affairs – be it the morality of weapons of mass destruction, what constitutes justice, the costs of revenge or whether the utilitarian reasoning is necessarily the best way forward.
Although the motivations of individual characters receive screen time, this doesn’t translate to greater clarity. Cumberbatch’s character in particular could have used a more compelling and convincing backstory, considering how the entire movie (even the promotional material) apparently revolves around him. While the big reveal was delivered well by the British thespian, more attention could have been paid to fleshing out the trigger points and rationale.
Into Darkness is polished to such a high shine that it’s almost blinding: Gleaming spaceships calmly sail against a backdrop of black space and the impeccably tailored uniforms are so crisp it’s distracting. Perhaps even more distracting are the lens flares reflecting off nearly every frame, which felt artificial when used so liberally, despite fitting the space travel premise by approximating solar glares and connoting “hi-tech. That said, the action is first-class, with thrilling aerial chases, fight scenes and set pieces of total destruction that justify the price of an IMAX ticket.
Scene-stealing star of the movie Cumberbatch is the cool personification of warped morality: empty of empathy, brilliantly manipulative and ruthlessly efficient both mentally and physically. Having bulked up considerably since his last outings in War Horse and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he rises up to the occasion for his numerous action scenes and fully deserves the praise his co-stars have lavished on him. Quinto delicately portrays Spock’s emotional growth and journey towards maturity, spurring a few memorable laugh-out-loud scenes. Suitably rough-around-the-edges, Pines’ earnestness is put to good use as a leader whose first instinct is to protect the ones he loves despite his heavy responsibilities.
As Abrams has shared, the film wasn’t designed solely for die-hard Trekkies but targeted to movie fans in general. It establishes itself as a standalone movie or it can interpreted as part of the overall series, ultimately appealing to the mass audience as a whole. One shouldn’t let unfamiliarity with the original series hinder a chance to catch this.
Movie Rating:
(Be it for the action, the villain or if you’re a Trekkie, everyone can boldly go Into Darkness: it’s a high-octane journey fuelled by a storyline that analogises contemporary conflicts, the ensemble’s emotional dynamics, and a killer performance by Benedict Cumberbatch)
Review by Wong Keng Hui
SYNOPSIS: Disney brings enchantment home with The Odd Life Of Timothy Green, an inspiring, magical story for the whole family starring Jennifer Garner. Cindy (Garner) and Jim Green are a happily married couple who can't wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim - and their small town of Stanleyville - learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life's greatest gifts. From Academy Awardr-nominated director/writer Peter Hedges (About A Boy, Best Adapted Screenplay, 2002; Dan In Real Life; What's Eating Gilbert Grape?), it's a heartwarming celebration of family as only Disney can deliver.
MOVIE REVIEW:
At first glance, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” looks destined to be a Disney title. It has sort of a fantasy element to it and also features a nice kid in the leading role. But the script by Ahmet Zappa and written for the screen by writer-director Peter Hedges (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, “Dan In Real Life”) surprisingly offers a slightly different outlook though it does get a little too sentimental in the end.
Knowing that they will never ever be able to conceive and have kids on their own, Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim (Joel Edgerton) decides to write down the traits of their dream child and bury them in their garden before they move on with their lives. On that faithful night during a thunderstorm, a mysterious boy named Timothy with leaves on his shins emerges out of their backyard and instantly becomes the couple’s adopted child.
If you can get past the fact that the people in the small town which Cindy and Jim lives has no qualms or questions with Timothy’s sudden arrival in the Green family then you will buy into the charm that the boy is almost as real as the couple has expected. Timothy on the whole is genuinely adoring, he forgives the boys who bully him in school, he successfully cheer up a dying uncle and he is busy finding love with another school mate, Joni. Most importantly, he teaches his overbearing adoptive parents on how to behave in life. Without relying on fancy effects and filled with well-intended messages, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” is a modern day fable that is likely to appeal more to adults than kids so to speak.
There’s a subplot involving a pencil manufacturing factory that is on the brink of closing, one which conveniently has both the Green couple working in and Jim’s constant issues with his distanced, demanding father (played by David Morse) both which are poorly handled. Luckily, Garner and Edgerton and together with young actor CJ Adams (Timothy Green) are competent enough to put in commendable performances to distract the otherwise awkward moments.
In the end, Peter Hedges has turned in a somewhat magical tale; you might even call it a half-baked drama about adoption and family. The ending which I shall not spoil here is by far and large a predictable schmaltzy affair knowing Timothy’s falling leaves has an impact or two. Yet what’s the harm in getting some Disney magic once in a while.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The extras consist of 5 Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by director Peter Hedges and a music video, “The Gift” by Glen Hansard.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually, the movie looks fantastic with beautiful images and pleasant skintones. In terms of audio, the feature is more front-heavy and dialogue is clear without any distraction.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Andrew Adamson
Cast: Matt Gillanders, Jason Berrent, Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov, Dallas Barnett, Lutz Halbhubner, Sophia Elisabeth
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.worldsaway3d.com/
Opening Day: 10 January 2013
Synopsis: From the big top to the big screen, visionary filmmaker James Cameron and director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Narnia) invite you and your family on an all new 3D adventure: Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away. A young couple who is separated, must journey through the astonishing and dreamlike worlds of Cirque du Soleil to find each other, as audiences experience the immersive 3D technology that will allow them to leap, soar, swim, and dance with the performers. This Holiday Season, Cirque du Soleil brings their world to your city!
Movie Review:
The thing about documentaries, especially documentaries about performing arts, is that at their best times they become transformative experiences. A famous troupe might only stage a few shows – often over a very limited period of time – in the region, and it would cost large sums of money to see the performances, not to mention the effort to plan your schedule around the tricky timings. By bringing these performances to screen, a documentary is not only able to give you a portrait of the troupe you would never otherwise see, but also show you the best parts of their works and talent more spectacular than any single performance might be able to demonstrate. At the low price of one movie ticket, documentaries deliver an easy starting point.
Which is to say that I find them important and incredibly intriguing in general, but specifically when they tackle a troupe as accomplished as Cirque du Soleil. The Canada-based company is the architect behind over a dozen shows, with a good bulk of them attached to permanent runs in theatres across Las Vegas. Such is the genesis of Worlds Away 3D, in which Shrek and Narnia auteur Andrew Adamson points the camera at the stages of various Las Vegas performances, extracts the most unique – and always amazing – set-pieces of each show and weaves them around the charming tale of a girl whose search for a particular aerialist leads her to the dream-like, fantastical alternate dimension of the movie.
Worlds Away 3D is then, when you think about it, straightforwardly crowd-pleasing. One might suspect that Adamson, whose oeuvre hitherto mainly involves him working with characters of mystical origins, finally got his wish fulfilled here. Stripped of a tangled, complicated chronology, and indulging in neither extended digressions nor any sort of exposition or dialogue, Worlds Away 3D is a clean, ravishing presentation on the raw beauty of Cirque du Soleil’s best performances. Above all else, these performances are meticulously designed to exhilarate even the most sceptical of audiences, and Adamson continues to push the envelope in terms of what these performances are able to achieve by piling on the slow-mos, close-ups and underwater cameras.
Yet for each skipped heartbeat and drop of magic that is more keenly felt, Adamson takes a step back with a warm, if slightly distracting and entirely unnecessary romantic story that struggles to connect the movie as he cuts between performances of wildly different themes. A good portion of the blame must be laid at the feet of big screen debutant Erica Linz, who portrays the role of the wide-eyed ingénue with either facile sentimentality or complete confusion. In the hands of a more experienced actress, the simple, well-defined character might have provided a real, relatable human focal point to an otherwise enigmatic world, but here the character is wastefully tried on as a cute costume that adds little to the movie.
This misstep prevents Worlds Away 3D from becoming the perfect entertainment vehicle you can feel is somewhere in there, but when taken as no more than the sum of its stunning set-pieces Worlds Away 3D is shockingly awe-inspiring in its own right. Those who dislike the shows of Cirque du Soleil or performing arts in general might as well stay home. But anyone who loves the international troupe should be thoroughly pleased with this film translation, and anyone who has seen the performances, invited to rewatch them from the refreshing perspectives offered by Adamson’s astute stylistic choices, while anyone who has resisted the call of the troupe all these years should give it a chance. There’s a reason why it has been provoking applause for the last two decades.
Movie Rating:
(Shockingly awe-inspiring in its own right, this film translation of circus group Cirque du Soleil’s best performances is only let down by a story that fails to add to the stunning set-pieces in any sort of meaningful manner)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
SYNOPSIS: When terrorists try to seize control of a Berlin-Paris flight, a soft-spoken young American co-pilot struggles to save the lives of the passengers and crew while forging a surprising connection with one of the hijackers.
MOVIE REVIEW:
With a budget that is probably less than the catering fee for Air Force One, Executive Decision or Liam Neeson’s Non-Stop, 7500 is a claustrophobic thriller set solely in the cockpit of a hijacked plane.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays First Officer Tobias Ellis who is on a routine flight from Berlin to Paris. Shortly after the plane took off, a group of terrorists attempt to take over the flight by forcing their way to the cockpit. Tobias managed to subdue one of the terrorists but the Captain is seriously injured during the scuffle. The other terrorists threatens to kill the onboard passengers unless Tobias opens the cockpit door. At the same time, the plane is diverted to Hanover on the pretext of refuel under the order of the Air Traffic Control.
Rather than being a dumb action flick, 7500 is a tense thriller that takes place entirely in the constraint cockpit. Directed and written by German filmmaker Patrick Vollrath, the flick is a showcase of Vollrath’s wondrous creativity as a filmmaker proving that Indie and arthouse movies are not just talky dramas, they can be heart-pounding thrillers as well.
Besides Vollrath’s solid directing, cinematographer Sebastian Thaler deserved credit for an immersive, well-lit shoot inside a real but destined for scrap Airbus A320. Even the production design is impressive given the amount of fake control panels and lighting. The technical jargon is also well-written if you are an aviation fan.
Gordon-Levitt who bounced back to the big screen after a long hiatus is absolutely compelling as the helpless emphatic pilot. Trying his best to protect his onboard passengers and also trying to calm down the young terrorist, Vedat (Omid Memar) who changes his mind after learning that his accomplice plans to down the entire plane into a city, Gordon-Levitt’s performance is the reason why he deserved more screen roles.
But 7500 is not totally without its flaws. There’s a cliché-ridden, stereotyping reason why the terrorists want to execute their plan and a finale that loses much of the momentum which the movie has competently created earlier on. Otherwise, it’s mostly taut and suspenseful.
7500 works effectively well on the small screen. Tobias Ellis is not a character that has a particular set of skills to outwit his enemies but the Hitchhockian-like theme and engaging performances keep the movie from going auto-pilot. No major turbulences expected only a sweet cocktail along the way.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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