Genre: CG Animation
Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
Cast: Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, Cloris Leachman
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.thecroodsmovie.com/

Opening Day: 21 March 2013

Synopsis: THE CROODS is a 3D comedy adventure that follows the world's first modern family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always been their home is destroyed. Traveling across a spectacular landscape, the Croods are rocked by generational clashes and seismic shifts as they discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures -- and their outlook is changed forever.

Movie Review:

Movie Rating:

(To Tomorrow, and Beyond!)

Review by Stefan Shih

Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Haneke
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, William Shimell, Rita Blanco, Laurent Capelluto
RunTime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Nudity)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://sonyclassics.com/amour/

Opening Day: 27 December 2013

Synopsis:  In the film, Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva) are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter (Huppert), who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.

Movie Review:

The title means ‘love’ in French, but the love portrayed here is not the kind of love that Hollywood likes to show, nor for that matter the kind of romantic love the French and their capital Paris are commonly associated with. Rather, Michael Haneke’s latest film depicts a test of the kind of love pledged in a marriage vow – “in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, till death do us part”- through an elderly husband’s care for his dying wife in the wake of two debilitating strokes.

We’d like to warn you first and foremost that this is not an easy movie to watch, especially for the recently bereaved. Haneke’s portrayal here is no less cruel than the realities of life, and his keenly observed and intimately told story of married love in the midst of adversity might cut too close to reality for some members of the audience. That however in no way diminishes the value of this movie, and indeed we’d like to think that it is a very important movie, one that should be seen by all married couples in fact.

The reason for this is simple – it’s easy to love a person when everything is fine and dandy, but the true revelation of the depth of one’s love for his or her spouse comes when the other falls ill and becomes incapable of looking after himself or herself. Such a predicament is exactly what Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) finds himself faced with one morning at breakfast, when his wife Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) suddenly loses any sign of response or recognition. Without showing Anne’s visit to the hospital, Haneke cuts straight to the chase – as a result of her first stroke, she has been paralysed from the waist down on her right side.

Their subsequent days together are the subject of the movie, as we are shown in great detail how Georges looks after Anne with tender loving care. Not only does he keep her company by reading and talking to her, Georges also takes it upon himself – despite having an uneasy gait – to look after her daily needs of food, bath and movement. Though many of the scenes concern the minutiae of their daily lives, they ultimately paint a detailed and engrossing picture of the day-to-day challenges faced by Georges.

But Haneke isn’t content to just relate the story from Georges’ point of view; at least for the first half of the movie, we are also privy to Anne’s thoughts of her illness. When Georges steps out of the house one evening to attend a funeral, Anne tries to commit suicide by jumping out of the window – and underneath her desperation we see a woman filled with pride and dignity who is unwilling to let nature’s course rob both away from her, so much so that she even refuses to let her own daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) visit her.

As such circumstances are prone to get in life, Anne’s condition takes a turn for the worse in the second half of the movie. A second stroke renders her bedridden, incoherent and almost non-responsive, and her sharply deteriorating state means that Georges even has to employ two nurses in shifts to look after her. If the first half was a mildly hopeful picture of enduring love, then this second half is truly a painful watch. Particularly heart-wrenching is a scene where Anne refuses to eat nor drink despite Georges’ pleas that she would die otherwise, leading to a momentary outburst by Georges that takes the both of them as well as the audience aback.  

More so than any other movie in recent history, we are led to feel for the caregiver – in this case, Georges – whose patience, determination and commitment goes beyond what the human mind can envisage. It is a selflessness beyond any other, and what makes it even more affecting here is how Georges continues to care and tend for Anne despite knowing full well that little of what he does will ultimately alleviate her suffering. Even though the ending which explains Anne’s eventual demise might prove controversial to some, there is still never a doubt of Georges’ love for Anne.

Credit for that also goes to Trintignant and Riva, both veteran actors putting away all signs of pretension to deliver riveting performances as Georges and Anne respectively. Without the appropriate nuance, both roles could easily have been farce, but thanks to Trintignant and Riva, the film manages some remarkable shots -  such as one continuous sequence where Georges feeds Anne one mouthful at a time or another where Georges strokes the upper-side of Anne’s palm to stop her from crying like a little child.

Like we said at the start, this is not a movie you go to feel good about. In fact, it is utterly sobering, waking you up to the realities of life, love, sickness and death. Coming after an equally intense ‘The White Ribbon’, Haneke displays yet another brilliant example of raw minimalist filmmaking that cuts deep and hard into such realities. ‘Amour’ may not portray the kind of love that we’d like to see, but this is nonetheless an extremely important movie about love –  ultimately, it is a love that remains strong in the midst of adversity, a love that endures through sickness and in health, and a love that remains the same through good and bad times that is a love worth keeping. 

Movie Rating:

(A bleak and unflinchingly realistic portrayal of enduring and undying love)

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband. When she hears of a renowned couple's specialist (Steve Carell) in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her skeptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough - the real challenge for both of them comes as they try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place.

MOVIE REVIEW:

“Sex, love and the elderly” should be the more appropriate title for “Hope Springs” but that would turn out sounding crude and ungracious for the big screen. The last thing studio executives want is a title picked from the medical leaflets placed at hospitals and clinics.  

In this obviously aimed at mature audience drama, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones play Kay and Arnold respectively. Years of a mundane marriage has taken its toll on Kay. Their children have grown up and moved out of the family and all Kay has left is Arnold who hardly talks to her and just lazes in front of golf channel every night after work. Damn they even sleep in separate rooms. What Kay wants is a bit of intimacy and love from her husband and she boldly arranges marriage counseling sessions with a renowned therapist, Dr Bernie Field (Steve Carell) as she attempts to reignite their feelings together with a skeptical Arnold.  

There’s no need for further introduction especially with big names such as Streep, Jones and Carell anchoring the picture. The award-winning Streep is excellent as the long-suffering wife who yearns for her husband’s touch. Her performance opposite the obstinate Arnold is simply terrific and with Jones in the role of Arnold, we have probably the best dramatic performances of the year. Carell is more subdued as Dr Bernie. Comparing to the usual funny stuff he did, I would say his acting is closer to the one in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and it’s really good news to see Carell being so adventurous in his career selection.

“Hope Springs” at times risk itself of being long and boring despite a running time of just 99 minutes. The talky story by Vanessa Taylor spent a large portion in the therapist’s room sorting out the couple’s differences and going through the marriage exercises. But once the old couple had a major fight after the first session, the story becomes heartwarming, funny and awkward all rolled into one nicely package film. Trust Streep and Jones to deliver superb performances every moment they are onscreen. The non-showy attempt by the director is also worth a mention especially a frequent shot of Arnold’s everyday breakfast – Bacon and eggs, a subtle jab at the boring relationship of Kay and Arnold.   

This David Frankel’s (“The Devil Wears Prada”) directed film may not be a laugh-out-loud comedy nor it is a raunchy arthouse drama about old people making out and getting intimate. Instead it is sending a strong message to all married couples that a lasting, passionate marriage definitely needs two pair of hands to clap.  

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

With the exception of a rich, clear dialogue and some ambient sound effects, you don’t really expect much from the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack for such a talky movie. Visual images come across as faultless, natural and warm on the whole.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

SYNOPSIS: In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a 'looper' - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good - until the day the mob decides to 'close the loop,' sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

I don't want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about it then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws – Old Joe

How true. To really appreciate a movie liked “Looper”, you need not worry about the incomprehensible time travel logic that are discussed instead just allow yourself to be absorb into the world of loopers as conjured by writer-director Rian Johnson.  

The year is 2044, Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a looper (or assassin as commonly known) working for a crime syndicate that is run by Abe (Jeff Daniels). Their job is to dispose anyone who is sent from the future because time travel although outlawed has been invented 30 years later. The catch is if the crime syndicate wants to silence the looper, they will send their future self to the past for the looper to kill him so as to close the loop. The looper is given bars of gold as a form of compensation and lives out his life for another 30 years. And Joe finds himself looking at his future self, Old Joe (Bruce Willis) when he accepts a job one day. But Old Joe has plans of his own; he wants to escape the killing and restart the time loop hopefully to rescue the woman he loved.

Fret not if you are feeling a bit wozzy now. Take a panadol or two as Johnson is just warming up. Things start to get more complex with the introduction of a woman, Sara Rollins (Emily Blunt) who lives on a farm with her son, Cid. Young Joe who is on the run from Old Joe and the syndicate realises an evil crime lord who has overtaken all organized crime and has been closing all the loops in the future might be linked to Sara and Sid after all.

Johnson’s direction and smartly-written script is both intriguing and surprising. For a start, Johnson makes good use of the limited budget on hand to create an almost dystopian future decked in retro-futuristic styles. The sets might be a bit sparse at times but you realized it’s not that crucial when the storytelling is far more ambitious. The latter is more of a make or break when telekinetic powers are introduced later on in the story. It’s truly stunning when the revelation came but I can’t help feeling the part about telekinetic powers is too gimmicky compared to Johnson’s clever concepts of time logic and travel. The frequent gunplay is violent but not excessively grotesque unless you include the killing of Joe’s friend, Seth (Paul Dano in a short cameo).  

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the creative license to mimic Willis since he is playing the younger self, equipped with facial prosthetics and recognisable Willis’ trademarks expression, watching Levitt for the whole duration is a blast. Take note especially of the scene when Young Joe is having a conversation with Abe and also the diner scene where the Old and Young Joe is conversing. Emily Blunt provides the eye candy and the young kid who played Cid, Pierce Gagnon is a remarkable talent to watch out for.   

The ever generous Hollywood provides audience with one smart sci-fi thriller a year and the winner goes to writer-director Rian Johnson’s “Looper” for 2012. The year before was “Source Code” and “Inception” in 2010 in my opinion. Far more accessible than Terry Gilliam’s time-travel tale, “12 Monkeys” (which also stars Willis) and resemble a bit of the original “Terminator”, “Looper” is a sci-fi actioner worth catching if you survive the challenging first act. If not, you can always time-travel back to the first frame and watched again.     

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Audio reproduction is decent but not impressive. Dialog is clear while the sequences involving gunshots and moving vehicles are constraint by the provided soundtrack. Visual is satisfying but several night scenes look murkier than usual.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Roger Michell
Cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Williams, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Eleanor Bron
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://focusfeatures.com/hyde_park_on_hudson/

Opening Day: 21 February 2013

Synopsis:  Academy Award nominees Bill Murray and Laura Linney star in a historical tale that uniquely explores the all-too-human side of one of history’s iconic leaders. Blending literate wit and drama, Hyde Park on Hudson is directed by Roger Michell from a screenplay by Richard Nelson. In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (played by Mr. Murray) readies to host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – marking the first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to America. As Britain faces imminent war with Germany, the royals are desperately looking to FDR for U.S. support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams), mother Sara (Elizabeth Wilson), and secretary Missy (Elizabeth Marvel) will all play a part in making the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Ms. Linney), Franklin’s neighbor and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy – and through her, for us all – a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.

Movie Review:

Hyde Park on Hudson is like a throwback Hollywood version of all those sex scandals that dominated the local 2012 calendar. Told from the point-of-view of Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, a previously unknown paramour of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt, the film unfolds slowly but surely. The audience is treated to many pretty scenes in which the couple’s relationship blooms over idyllic drives in the countryside, stamp collections and quaint vintage classics from the era.

Their relationship develops alongside a diplomatic visit to the United States by King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth. With the arrival of the British monarchy, the humor picks up quickly around cultural clashes residing in tense pre-Allies British-American relations. Olivia Colman and Samuel West is passably amusing in their roles as an overanxious queen, and an insecure stuttering king respectively—the king with the speech disorder whom Colin Firth played in the King’s Speech (2010).

As the gimmicky side comedy subsides, one realises that the film does not quite shed light on the nitty-gritty of Daisy’s and Roosevelt’s relationship, but rather focuses on larger portraits of the president as a person. Roosevelt, who suffered from polio in the middle of his life is played by Bill Murray as one whose tribulations with his handicap develop into keen empathy for others. The president’s gift for uplifting others plays out when he extends a sort of benevolent kinship to King George VI, culminating in an exquisite smoking scene involving the two in the president’s study that is perfectly framed and beautifully shot.

The manner by which the film unfolds through Daisy’s voice-over diary excerpts is storytelling in its most old school fashion, and yet conveys salient messages that are ultimately quite modern in their outlook. Indeed, the conceit that “everyone pretends not to notice anything” out of sheer sensitivity for the president’s handicap also extends to his seemingly questionable sexual life. Though the film at times awkwardly and dangerously borders on coolly celebrating a polygamous figure of authority, its charm lies precisely in the way it withholds judgement. Ultimately, it seems to say, Roosevelt was a man who made choices—decidedly questionable ones—and yet whose gifts of eccentricity and penchant for veiled acerbic wit poignantly touched those around him.

To be honest, I expected the film to be quite the snoozefest, and it does take some patience getting through an awkward beginning, but it’s not as boring as the poster or trailer will have you expect. In the hands of director Roger Michell, who is known for light-hearted romantic fare like Notting Hill (1999) and Morning Glory (2010), Hyde Park on Hudson is strangely optimistic and full of whimsy for a film that deals with a relatively controversial issue as an (possibly historically inaccurate) incestual scandal involving the president. Yet, the film does not take itself too seriously for sure, and the audience is expected to do the same.

Movie Rating:

(Hyde Park on Hudson is not a humourless film, but there’s a lot of awkward humour in the mix)

Review by Tay Huizhen

SYNOPSIS: Kate (Halle Berry) is a shark expert whose business has been failing since a shark attack killed a fellow diver under her command. Once dubbed "the shark whisperer," Kate is haunted by the memory of the attack and unable to get back into the water. With bills piling up and the bank about to foreclose on Kate's boat, Kate's old flame Jeff (Olivier Martinez) presents her with a lucrative opportunity: lead a t hrill-seeking millionaire businessman on a dangerous shark dive…outside the cage. Battling her self-doubts and fear, Kate accepts the proposal -- and sets a course for the world's deadliest feeding ground: Shark Alley.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Winning the Oscar is no guarantee of a rosy career in Hollywood; just ask Halle Berry, who won the Best Actress award in 2001 for her gutsy fearless performance in ‘Monster’s Ball’ and has since seen her career go into a tailspin. Unfortunately, ‘Dark Tide’ marks yet blemish on her resume – though admittedly the fault is less hers than of director John Stockwell and his writers Amy Sorlie and Ronnie Christensen.

None of the trio refuse to recognise that their material is not the stuff of serious drama, and so right from the beginning, the film already gets off on the wrong footing. A prologue establishes Kate (Berry) as an explorer whose shark-swimming expeditions have earned her the nickname of ‘shark whisperer’; yet one fateful day, she is left traumatised when her fellow diver (Sizwe Msufu) gets killed by a Great White on a dive that she insisted he accompany her on.

A year later, with her tourist boat business on the brink of bankruptcy, she reluctantly accepts an offer by her ex-boyfriend Jeff (Olivier Martinez) to take a rich businessman Brady (Ralph Brown) and his teenage son Luke into the water up close with the sharks. That one voyage turns out to be the subject for a good hour and a half of the film, where Kate’s personal challenge of overcoming her fears takes place against Brady’s insistence on throwing caution to the wind as well as his own communication problems with Luke.

Nothing exciting actually happens, partly because the scenarios are constructed with so little conviction it is almost as if they were inconsequential and partly because the actors look equally nonplussed. If the drama fails, then so does the action. Despite spending a lot of time underwater, most of the close encounters with the sharks are no more than false alarms, so much so that you actually end up caring little even when the next shark comes swimming near a human.

Admittedly, Stockwell does try to avoid cliché by opting for a more realistic approach in shark-human encounters, so rather than have a shark go after any human that it spots in the water, the attacks – as they are meant to be in real life – are kept only to the occasional. But while trying to be better than the next B-grade shark thriller, he offers little in compensation, especially since the human drama is too pedestrian and uninteresting.

Then, to try to end things off on a high, the expedition gets caught in a torrential squall that capsizes the boat and renders the entire crew at the mercy of the Great White in the exact area where Kate’s friend was mauled – but by then, it is honestly too little and too late. It is surprising that, despite the thin material, the acting is more than decent. Berry’s performance is nothing to shout about, but she hits the emotional beats of her character well. Ditto for Martinez and Brown, the latter employing just the right smarmy without overacting.

Pity then that ‘Dark Tide’ drowns in its own self-seriousness, and fails to offer neither compelling drama nor thrills. The only thing it manages to do is to convince you to visit Cape Town one day, the South African location where the movie was shot simply gorgeous to look at. And speaking of gorgeous, there is the subject of Halle Berry’s boobs, which is featured amply on the keyart of the movie – but even that is not enough guilty pleasure to make up for close to two hours of tedium. This Tide isn’t dark – on the contrary, it is simply shallow. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio comes alive during the underwater scenes as well as the climax; other than that, there’s nothing much more it offers via the back speakers. Visuals could definitely be sharper, and the contrast made more distinct especially during the nighttime sequences – including the climax.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: Adrien Brody stars as a man who awakenes in a mangled car-wreck at the bottom of a steep cliff. Injured and trapped inside with no memory of how he got there or who he is, he must rely on his most primal instincts to survive. But as he attempts to free himself from the carnage and escape an impossible situation, a darker side is revealed. Even if he manages to survive, the man may have to face the horrible consequences of an earlier, forgotten life. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

Like ‘The Pianist’ – for which he became the youngest to win an Oscar for Best Actor – Adrien Brody once again finds himself with the indomitable task of sustaining his audience’s attention for pretty much the entire duration of ‘Wrecked’. The lone survivor of a horrifying car accident, Brody wakes up to find himself at the bottom of a steep cliff and with little recollection of who he is and how he got there.

Writer Christopher Dodd must have been inspired by the likes of ‘127 Hours’ and ‘Buried’, so in ‘Wrecked’, he fashions essentially a one-man show where the audience is made to watch Brody literally crawl his way on the forest ground to try to get out of the ravine and in the process attempt to recover his memory. Unfortunately, despite a bravado performance by Brody, there is too little by way of plot to make the entire exercise worth the while.

In line with Dodd’s script, first-time feature film director Michael Greenspan takes an appropriately minimalist approach to the material. The details form much of what takes up time on the screen, so minutiae like Brody trying to pick up a mint on the car floor or unjamming the door on the passenger side are shown in their entirety. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself, and indeed the prospect of such a terrifying scenario does keep you riveted at the start.

There is also added suspense when the camera pans, 20 mins into the film, to reveal that there is someone dead in the back seat of the car, and when the radio crackles to tell of a bank robbery where the robbers were seen fleeing in the exact same model of a car Brody finds himself in. Later on, the bags of money in the boot will confirm that, though just what role Brody had played and the identity of a woman he keeps hallucinating about (Caroline Dhavernas) who is somehow connected to the robbery remain unclear.

What promise such a tantalising premise might hold out for soon dissipates as the middle section of the film is content to show Brody wiggling around the forest floor to try to get to higher ground. Sure, that might truly be a feat in itself given his condition and the elements he has to brave, but it simply doesn’t make for very interesting cinema – and soon enough, you’ll find yourself hoping that the film would simply fast-forward itself.

Even if you manage to summon the patience to get through that monotonous stretch, the eventual denouement doesn’t pack enough of a payoff to leave you satisfied. Granted that there is a twist you might not have seemed coming, but after the ordeal of sitting through a one half hour movie that seemed like three hours, you’d expect something more substantial to justify that determination. As it is, the experience comes off more as a gimmick that was pushed way too long.

Had it been a mini-feature for instance, ‘Wrecked’ would have been a great idea. But at feature length, it just doesn’t have enough to keep you engaged, or for that matter to reward your patience at the end. Brody is great in the part, but like his audience, he is ultimately let down by the plotting. The eventual film isn’t a wreck like its title suggests, but it is just a trip that goes on for too long to a destination that is too slight. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 is a surprisingly strong package that uses the ambient sounds to good surround effect. Visuals are clear and crisp.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong
 

Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Tiddes
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Nick Swardson, Cedric the Entertainer, Essence Atkins, David Koechner, Dave Sheridan, Liana Mendoza, Jamie Noel Marlene Forte
RunTime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Humour And Scenes)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films 
Official Website:  https://www.facebook.com/AHauntedHouse

Opening Day: 31 January 2013

Synopsis:  Malcolm and Keisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm - determined to keep his sex life on track - turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help.

Movie Review:

Give a filmmaker the seminal horror movie franchise of our time and what could you possibly get in return? If the filmmaker is Marlon Wayans, the co-producer and co-writer behind such strangely gratifying parody movies like Scary Movie 1 & 2 and Dance Flick, you tend to get no further than A Haunted House. Setting his sights on the found footage sub-genre of horror movies, Wayans hammers tempests of raunchy jokes out of the Paranormal Activity series while also taking potshots at The Last Exorcism. This is supposed to be the definitive spoof for the new generation of movie-goers, so how did it end up being so wrong?

Wayans himself – like he always does in movies that he co-produces and co-writes – plays the lead role of Malcolm, who together with his girlfriend Keisha, moves into a new house in an attempt to bring more intimacy into his relationship. He buys a camcorder with the intention of chronicling every moment that he spends with his girlfriend but instead captures mysterious events. The situation takes a dive into farcical proportions when the couple calls in a pair of wacky home security guys moonlighting as ghostbusters, a gay psychic and a drug-sniffing priest who hides his poison in the Bible to investigate.

Surely there’s no shortage of cracking sex gags, underlined by an overly extensive reel of Malcolm pretending to vigorously hump his girlfriend’s teddy bear and a faintly disturbing scene of Malcolm’s girlfriend enjoying some paranormal sex with the ghost – and yet another shot of Malcolm in a bondage outfit designed to appease the demon possessing his girlfriend. If you find yourself sneaking a laugh while reading the previous lines, then you’re probably A Haunted House’s target audience. In which case you’ll find the movie’s racially-charged schtick where Malcolm mistakes his Filipino maid for a thief and a ghost fairly amusing too.

Less amusing is the fact that Wayans – literally – reaches into the deepest of his bowel to fetch us a scene in which Malcolm unconsciously defecates on his late father-in-law’s ashes after returning home drunk one night. For the purposes of humour, it’s more than being needlessly cheap, but for the unsuspecting audience – I might warn – the experience is mildly distasteful, offensive even. Such humour should be kept under the lid of Jackass, a TV series and (very briefly) movie series which is specifically formatted to run crude stunts under the banner of niche entertainment and not be extended to a general satirical movie.

Add to that the endlessly recycled scene of Malcolm and Keisha being dragged aggressively from their bedroom (which is, of course, a reference to one of Paranormal Activity’s most infamous shots that will be parodied – again! – by Charlie Sheen in the upcoming Scary Movie 5) and there’s a consensus Wayans has simply ran out of ideas after so tirelessly orchestrating comedies for the good part of the past decade. As a whole, the humour is poorly connected and the comedic timing feels foisted on the viewer rather than actually being acutely judged for applause. There’re few laughs in A Haunted House and it’s no surprise why.        

MOVIE RATING:

(Largely a victim of overly insensitive humour and a shortage of ideas, this misguided parody of Paranormal Activity is only amusing in a few parts)

Review by Loh Yong Jian

SYNOPSIS: Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie - super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who's used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when his last envelope of the day - a routine "premium rush" run - turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. Also starring Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez and Jamie Chung. For International Only: Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie bike. Riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who puts his life on the line everyday is about to get more than even he is used to when his last envelope of the day - a routine "premium rush" run - turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan.

MOVIE REVIEW:

You probably have seen countless chases that involve cars and other heavy vehicles. But when it comes to messengers on bikes, I doubt you have seen one yet in recent times.

Co-written and directed by one of Hollywood’s famous script doctors, David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), “Premium Rush” is a fast-paced action thriller that is as breezy as the speed of gushing bikes. The in-demand Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Wilee, a daredevil New York bicycle messenger (he rides with fixed gear no brakes!) who crosses path with a rogue cop, Bobby (Michael Shannon). Tasked by the roommate (Jamie Chung) of his ex-girlfriend (Dania Ramirez) to deliver a ticket that is worth $50,000, the gambling addicted Bobby plans to intercept Wilee to lay his hands on the ticket to repay his debts. Unwittingly becoming the unlikely hero, a deadly chase between Wilee and Bobby ensue.  

Seriously, Koepp and John Kamps’ script is nothing exceptional. A cop that is way out of his line and a hero that refuses to give up. Elements you have seen countless times before. Even the purpose of the ticket appears clunky and contrived. Though obviously in this swift no-frills 91 minutes movie, this is not what Koepp is placing his bets on. Setting aside the simplistic plotting, the filmmakers compensate with endless chases across Manhattan. The technicalities in addition to the difficulties of filming on location in busy New York City add to the realism and thrills of one being in danger. The frequent POV shots, crazy stunts and the clever inclusion of CG effects make it an exhilarating watching experience. And even a scene with Wilee fleeing and hiding in a toilet from Bobby in the police station is just as heart-pounding.

The constant flashback, flashforward and a real-time setting is nothing more than gimmicks. Fortunately, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is such an appealing actor that you will rather devote more attention to his survival from the ruthless Bobby than the ticking clock. Michael Shannon, the underrated actor from “Revolutionary Road” hams it up as an over-the-top villain, honestly one close stare from this guy will send shivers down your spine alone. Jamie Chung and Dania Ramirez provides the eye candy respectively with the former playing a young mother who is awaiting the safe arrival of his mum and son. Ramirez on the other hand is a fellow courier who helps Wilee in the process.

“Premium Rush” is a small budgeted action movie that truly entertains and provides instant adrenalin. It doesn’t matter if it lacks characterization at least the flick gives viewers a fresh perspective of being a bike messenger on the deadly roads of the Big Apple. We dare you to actually don on a helmet and embark on your first courier mission on a bike without brakes.  

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Starting Line is a 9 minutes feature in which the cast and crew discuss the story development and bike training.

Behind The Wheels continues from the previous feature and delves deeper into the stunts, visual effects and shooting on location in New York

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The video transfer is filled with bright pristine images and clarity. Sound presentation is energetic and bombastic especially incredible detailed ambient sound effects.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Tom Elkins
Cast: Katee Sackhoff, Chad Michael Murray, Abigail Spencer, Emily Alyn Lind, Cicely Tyson, Andrea Frankle, Brad James
RunTime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: PG13 (Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 14 March 2013

Synopsis: The Wyrick family moves into a historic home in Georgia, only to learn that they are not the house's only inhabitants. Soon they find themselves in the presence of a secret rising from underground and threatening to bring down anyone in its path.

Movie Review:

What does the haunting in Connecticut have to do with the ghosts of Georgia? Strictly speaking, absolutely nothing at all, other than the fact that the producers of that modest hit have decided to make an in-name only sequel to the 2009 original. Most such movies often reek of cash-grab attempts based on audience familiarity (and certainly the release pattern of this movie, both in Singapore and the United States, would seem to attest to it), which was why it is surprising that ‘The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia’ proves to be a surprisingly effective low-budget horror.

Like its predecessor, this one begins with its principal characters moving into a house with a history. Whereas the first movie was that of a mortuary, this one is a historic country home that was once used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. More than that, it was also a sanctuary for runaway slaves during the Civil War, who were kindly offered food and lodging by the humble Station Master. But as you no doubt know, there is a much darker history behind the house, one which will only become clearer over the course of the movie.

Instead, for pretty much the first two acts of the movie, we are led to believe that the spirits which the young Heidi (Emily Alyn Lind) are seeing are that of the slaves who died somewhere around the compound and now desire to have their bodies found and returned to their descendants. Heidi’s ability to see ghosts isn’t coincidental; apparently, it is a gift inherited from her mother, Lisa’s (Abigail Spencer), side of the family – though the latter has painstakingly tried to suppress her extrasensory perception referred to as a “veil”.

In fact, Lisa is so bent on denying the presence of spirits that she refuses to believe what Heidi says she is seeing, even when her husband Andy (Chad Michael Murray) starts to realise that there could be no other possible explanation and her very own sister Joyce (Katee Sackhoff) corroborates Heidi’s claims. First-time feature screenwriter David Coggeshall takes a character-driven approach to the story, setting up the various characters in relation to the supernatural sightings – so unlike the run-of-the-mill horror flicks that go for the jugular right from the start, this one bides its time to set up its premise, which may frustrate more impatient viewers.

And editor-turned-first time director Tom Elkins in turn responds with a steady and engaging buildup that pays equal attention to both the unfolding mystery as well as the characters caught up in it. He rewards his audience’s patience in the film’s third act, which begins with a plot twist that reveals a much more sinister facet of the house’s past and quickly spirals into a potent mix of old-school scares and new-fangled gore. It is gripping stuff to say the least, and one that proves surprisingly coherent because of its links to real-life historical events.

Any character-driven narrative works as best as its actors’ investment in their roles, and thankfully, all the lead players here more than step up to the game. In particular, the one standout is Lind, who gives a riveting performance as young Heidi forced to confront matters way beyond her age and imagination. Despite being perfectly competent in their parts, the adult leads unfortunately can’t quite match up to Lind’s compelling act – though there is a nice cameo by the great Cicely Tyson as an elderly woman with a personal connection to the house’s past.

To be honest, we weren’t expecting much from this low-budget sequel - but even though it won’t become a horror classic anytime, ‘The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia’ still packs both thrill, suspense and shock value to satisfy genre fans. Ignore its awkward title, the fact that it boasts nothing more than a B-list cast, and its defeatist direct-to-VOD aspirations in the United States, this ‘Haunting’ is, we dare say, even better than its predecessor, and a solid bet if you’re in need of a horror fix. 

Movie Rating:

(More than just a shameless sequel to the original, this low-key horror offers its fair share of thrills, suspense and shock value to satisfy genre fans looking for a horror fix)

Review by Gabriel Chong