SYNOPSIS: Life doesn't always go according to plan... Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything--his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet--and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

MOVIE REVIEW:

This is a story of how a man with bipolar disorder met and falls in love with an ex-sex addict and more.

As weird as it sounds, this is actually a charming rom-com starring two excellent leads, Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) and Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games). Based on a novel by Matthew Quick, “Silver Linings Playbook” tells the story of Pat Solitano (Cooper) who has just been released from a mental health facility and is now living with his bookmaking father, Pat Sr (Robert De Niro) and mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver). While eagerly trying to reconcile with his ex-wife, he develops a friendship with the sister-in-law of his best friend, Tiffany (Lawrence). Tiffany was a sex addict who practically has sex with everyone in the office after the passing of her husband. As they cope with their conditions, the two lost souls slowly develop feelings for each other in ought to be the oddest romantic relationship on the big screen in a while.

Director David O’Russell (The Fighter) manages to successfully juggle a mixture of humour, romance, dysfunctional family matters and mental illness into one huge entertaining flick. The first act is a serious nod to all the common mental illness including OCD and depression with the character of Pat Solitano displaying a series of angry outbursts in the middle of the night and the reason behind his violent tendency which is explained later on in his therapist’s office. The development is slow and intimate but it also allows the audience to connect and empathized with the character during the process.

Add to all the craziness is Pat Sr with his obsession in getting Pat Jr to join him in his football matches, an equally nutty friend, Danny (the under-work Chris Tucker) from the health facility and a hilarious jogging routine with a garbage bag attire, the seriousness turned into screwball comedy and before you know it another troubled character, Tiffany comes to the picture delivering an initial movie about mental disorder into a romantic drama.

However, “Silver Linings Playbook” does have its fair share of down points especially the last act which turns remarkably uninteresting with Pat and Tiffany partnering up for a ballroom dancing competition. Not to mention it also ties with Pat Sr’s betting with another fellow friend. Things get a little busy and head-spinning towards the end I must say yet the solid cast makes things so likeable that you probably forgive Russell’s missteps.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack supplied sufficiently provides a clear, excellent listening experience for a talky movie. Images are detailed but hardly astounding.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: From the director of Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin comes an unfiltered, comedic look inside the life of an American family. After years of marriage, Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are approaching a milestone meltdown. As they try to balance romance, careers, parents and children in their own hilarious ways, they must also figure out how to enjoy the rest of their lives. Featuring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Segel, Megan Fox, John Lithgow and Albert Brooks, This Is 40 is a candid and heartwarming comedy about the challenges and rewards of marriage and parenthood in the modern age.

MOVIE REVIEW:

To really appreciate the Judd Apatow’s latest comedy, This Is 40, you need to be at least 35 and above, married with kids, preferably with mortgage and car loans under your belt and perhaps squabbling parents thrown in for good measure.

Married life is never easy and using his real-life as inspiration, Apatow delivers a hell of a knockout, non-stop funny movie about Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann) and their two daughters (Apatow’s daughters, Maude and Iris Apatow). The gags are fast and raunchy despite it’s a movie about a family with young kids.

The opening scene which involved Pete swallowing Viagra to give his wife a turbo penis on her 40th birthday tells you exactly what to expect for the next 134 minutes. A lot of critics complained it is way too long in fact I thoroughly enjoyed it and compared to Apatow’s previous directorial efforts, this doesn’t feel at all bloated.

There are simply too many comedic moments and the numerous characters appearing including a few Apatow’s regulars such as Jason Segel, Chris O’Dowd and Charlene Yi are hilarious as well. Comedian Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo) appears as Pete’s father who ridiculously continues to pester Pete for money to support his young family. Yet This Is 40 has its serious messages to deliver, Pete is not just facing problems with his father, financially his indie record company is on the brink of collapsing and he has a midlife crisis to deal with as well. Add to the wife’s insistence to lead a healthier life and a problematic 13 year old teenage daughter, the jokes and improvisation are endless.

The only gripe right here is that there are too many happenings on the screen that just took away too much attention away from our two central characters. The bizarre antics of the salesgirls at Debbie’s fashion store, Debbie’s personal trainer, her estranged father who turned up at Pete’s birthday and a brush with a fellow parent are some of the subplots that become short sketches that are never fully developed. But then when you have funny people liked Jason Segel, Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox in a rare role, and John Lithgow playing those supporting characters, you are not likely to complain much in the end.

The pairing of Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann is simply irresistible and Apatow’s two daughters deserved some credit for their performances as well. Too bad they are too young to watch the finished product. This Is 40 marks one of my favourite comedies for 2013, it has its flaws but with the movie containing so much laughs, that already means a lot to a married man. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Since this is a dialogue heavy movie, the Dolby Digital 5.1 more than suffices in delivering a funny listening experience. Textures are fine, skintones look natural for the visual presentation.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: The quaint seaside town of Chesapeake Bay thrives on water; it is the lifeblood of the community. When two biological researchers from France find a staggering level of toxicity in the water, they attempt to alert the mayor but he refuses to create a panic in the docile town. As a result, a deadly plague is unleashed turning the people of Chesapeake Bay into hosts for a mutant breed of parasites that take control of their minds and eventually their bodies. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, THE BAY chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.  

MOVIE REVIEW:

Barry Levinson doing a found footage horror movie? Unlikely as that may sound, the director of such acclaimed films as “Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog” collaborates with the producer of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ movies to deliver an environmental thriller that uses the found footage format. We were sceptical too we must admit, but having seen the movie, we must say that we are duly impressed.

Herein lies a director who understands that the appeal of the format lies in its ability to bring the viewer first hand into the thick of the action as it would have unfolded; and with that in mind, Levinson uses not one perspective but multiple first-person amateur footages from around the town of Chesapeake, Maryland, to piece together the ill-fated events of July 4^th 2008 that were subsequently covered up by the Authorities.

Framing the proceedings is novice TV reporter Donna Thompson (Kether Donohue), who was an inexperienced student going out and around town filming on the day when all hell broke loose. Speaking directly into the camera to address us, she explains in a grave tone how all the footage we are about to see was confiscated in the wake of the mass tragedy and only recently leaked via a Wikileaks-type website.

Our interest piqued, Levinson uses Donna’s voiceover to establish the various recurring characters - the mayor (Frank Deal) who was responsible for doing nothing to avoid the events of that day; the doctor in the ER at the hospital (Stephen Kunken) who stayed behind to help the townsfolk and eventually died; as well as a couple (Will Rogers and Kristen Connolly) travelling via yacht into the town to visit their parents. A word of caution though - Levinson doesn’t so much as develop the characters as use them as a barometer of just how serious things have gotten.

Indeed, the whats and whys of the story take precedence over the whos, but rest assured that we will not reveal any spoilers here. Suffice to say though that Levinson and his screenwriter Michael Wallach keep the proceedings realistic through and through, and instead of trying to spin some big conspiracy theory or turn the movie into some sort of creature feature, they offer a real possibility of just how our foolhardiness at taking the environment for granted might just result in disastrous consequences.

Like a well-coiled spring, Levinson ratchets the tension as he reveals bit by bit of just how the ecological catastrophe came to be. Truly commendable is how he maintains coherence throughout the film despite cutting between multiple timelines to provide a more well-rounded perspective of the disaster; and though comparisons might be drawn to Steven Soderbergh’s viral epidemic thriller ‘Contagion’, Levinson opts for more dramatic excitement through some gory and graphic images that is likely to leave the faint-hearted squeamish.   

Some glaring loopholes aside (most significantly, why everything had to take place over the course of one single day), Levinson shows in ‘The Bay’ how the found footage format need not be merely a gimmick; instead, with the right story and the right choice of first-person angles, it can be an effective technique of conveying immediacy and urgency. Even if it does mark an unusual detour for the filmmaker, it is an inspired move that marks one of the best found footage films we have seen in recent years. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is befittingly rough and realistic for the movie, while visuals are clear and pristine as far as the footage allows.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: The third collaboration of Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley with acclaimed director Joe Wright, following the award-winning box office successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, is a bold, theatrical new vision of the epic story of love, adapted from Leo Tolstoy's timeless novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard. The story powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness and marriage, change comes to all around her.

MOVIE REVIEW:

The biggest challenge facing most big-screen adaptations of literary classics is this – where do you start and where do you end? Often much denser and sprawling than can be fitted into the typical length of a motion picture, such tomes end up tripping even the most sophisticated of directors, admired more for ambition than execution. Surprisingly, British director Joe Wright has managed to overcome the inherent obstacles of adapting his source materials in his last two movies – ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’ – so it is with similar expectations that we look forward to his retelling of Leo Tolstoy’s most famous novel ‘Anna Karenina’.

Though Wright had opted for substance over style in his earlier two films, he has taken a decidedly different approach this time round, so much so that his latest is an exercise of style over substance. Not that it is a bad thing in itself, but it does mean that the storytelling is somewhat lacking – despite a script by renowned playwright cum screenwriter Tom Stoppard, he who was also behind the Academy-Award winning ‘Shakespeare in Love’. Indeed, a rudimentary knowledge of Tolstoy’s book is probably best if you want to fully appreciate this adaptation; otherwise, you might be left scratching your head why the characters behave as foolishly as they do.

So for the uninitiated, the gist goes like this – a prominent Russian socialite and wife to Imperial minister Karenin (Jude Law), Anna as played by Keira Knightley starts off the story journeying to Moscow to convince her sister-in-law Dolly (Kelly MacDonald) to forgive her brother Stiva’s (Matthew Macfadyen) marital indiscretions. Nonetheless, Anna ends up falling in love with a caddish cavalry officer Prince Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), their affair quickly becoming the much-talked about scandal in Russian society. A significant bit ensues – too much, in our opinion – to the extent that it feels as if both Wright and Stoppard were trying too hard to give due justice to every single twist of Anna’s fate in the book.

Rather than build our sympathies towards Anna, the twisty events only turn more and more caricatured, with the same to be said of the titular character. Trapped by her yearning for true love and hemmed in by the prevailing societal norms which equate her pursuit of true love as no more than adultery, Anna’s initial confidence and poise gives way slowly to her jealous rages and anxious insecurity – but instead of feeling pity for her, we are instead prone to chastise what appears to be a petulant and self-absorbed character who cares little except for her own selfish desires. Too much plotting ruins how we are supposed to react towards Anna, which is ultimately to the detriment of the story.

And that is despite the fact that Keira Knightley’s performance is rather impressive, imbuing her character with dignity and grace before managing a convincing transformation into romantic anguish and eventually obsessiveness. On the other hand, her romantic other half, Aaron Taylor-Johnson lacks the gravitas to make us root for his character, coming off instead as a philandering lover who can’t quite be bothered about the consequences of his actions even on those he loves. Instead, one ends up rooting for Jude Law’s Karenin, who through his woundedness upon discovering her affair and subsequent gracious gesture that can only be borne out of true love, makes it even more difficult to empathise with Anna.

The unevenness of the production is perhaps most apparent in Wright’s staging, which combines a mixture of backstage spaces, theatre sets, film settings and lastly outdoor locations. Switching among the various artifices rather unpredictably, Wright ensures that there is always visual dazzle in the production, though the effect is disorienting at times and too ostentatious for a novel that was never meant to be that showy. What it does succeed is in getting to think about the adage about life being a stage in itself, which nonetheless works against the film in getting us to buy into the chain of events.

Perhaps then instead of aiming for a more ambitious style, Wright could have placed more emphasis on the substance of the film, or rather, the substance of Tolstoy’s novel. The same could also be said of Stoppard, this adaptation nowhere near any of his best works. So yet again, this is one literary adaptation that stumbles under the weight of its source novel – certainly, one cannot fault Wright for trying something different than his earlier two films, but as we said earlier, ambition itself is not often good enough in execution. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio package is a pretty neat one, packing in the surround where possible to deliver an immersive experience, though largely this dialogue-heavy movie relies on the crispness of the delivery of your front and centre speakers. Visuals are equally sharp and immaculate. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong
 

SYNOPSIS: Ari Graynor (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), Lauren Anne Miller (50/50), Justin Long (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) star in this hilarious and sexy comedy. Overachiever Lauren (Miller) is suddenly on her own after her boyfriend breaks up with her. Free-spirited Katie (Graynor) is about to lose a dream apartment unless she can find a roommate. They reluctantly agree to room together even though they have nothing in common, until Lauren discovers that Katie is working as a phone-sex operator and decides to get in on a good business opportunity. But as their partnership starts bringing in the money, their newfound friendship finds unexpected challenges that may leave them both hanging on the line.

MOVIE REVIEW:

More appropriately titled ‘For an OK Time, Call…’, this latest addition in a string of female-centric raunchy comedies sees talented comedians Lauren Anne Miller and Ari Graynor play a pair of cash-strapped Manhattan roommates who start their own phone-sex business in order to pay for their apartment. The premise seems ripe for a sitcom the likes of ‘New Girl’, and indeed neither first-time feature filmmaker Jamie Travis nor his screenwriters Miller and Katie Anne Naylon come up with enough material for this to rise above its TV trappings, settling instead for a moderately amusing affair that seems more suited for the goggle box.

Unfolding over a brisk 88 minutes, it is at least shrewd enough not to overstay its welcome, and so expect a quick setup that introduces Lauren (Miller) as a timid young woman whose boyfriend has just broken up with her, Katie (Graynor) as a phone sex operator who realises her apartment is no longer rent-controlled, and Jesse (Justin Long) as their mutual gay BFF who brings the two together. In typical genre fashion, both Lauren and Katie realise at first that they still hate each other from one time in college when the latter splashed urine on the former.

And yet circumstances quickly yield a partnership between the pair, tapping on Katie’s regular pool of clients to get their privately run business up and running quickly. Much of the humour derives from Katie’s hysterics when on the phone with her clients and later on when she coaches Lauren to learn the ropes of the business after a failed attempt to hire a second operator (no thanks to Sugar Lyn Beard’s hidden agenda). Among their string of clients are some notable cameos - including Kevin Smith as a taxi driver and Seth Rogen as a commercial airline pilot, both of whom make their parts funnier than the material they were given.

It’s a bit of stretch to accept how effortlessly the two become best pals, but Miller and Graynor share some sparkling chemistry between each other that overcome the narrative shortcomings. But even they succumb to cliché when the third act forces some tension between the characters, as Katie starts getting serious with her ’10 o’clock Sean’ after meeting him for real and realising that they do hit it off pretty well in the physical world. There was never any doubt how the faux-crisis would end, which makes the obligatory happily-ever-after resolution even more tacky.

On his part, Travis doesn’t do the movie any favours with a consistently flat direction that shows no visual flair or rhythm to the material. Were it not for his spirited performers Miller and Graynor, this would be even more monotonous; but let’s just say this transition into feature filmmaking after several well-received shorts is not going to leave much of an impression. Similarly, despite all that sexual banter, this is a surprisingly mild and meek outing that offers little full-bodied laughs. If you’re in the mood for mediocrity though, you probably won’t be too disappointed.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio offers little more that the 2.0 track cannot for this dialogue-heavy movie. Visuals are clear and colours look dynamic.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong
 

SYNOPSIS: Ethan Hawke plays a true-crime novelist who discovers a box of mysterious, disturbing home movies that plunge his family into a nightmarish experience of supernatural horror.

MOVIE REVIEW:

A scary house, a creepy kid, unexplained murders, you probably have seen it all if you are an avid horror fan. With the success of found footage horrors on the rise, the makers of “Sinister” have come up with a clever way to mix all the above elements to create a genuinely scary and chilling movie.  

Co-written by director Scott Derrickson and online movie critic C. Robert Cargil, Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswalt, a once bestseller author of true crime stories. To embark on his new book, Ellison moved his family of four into a house in which a terrifying murder once took place. Soon, strange things start to occur when Ellison found a box of Super 8 reelsin the attic that depict gruesome murders of families. And to top it all, Ellison spotted a mysterious figure and painted symbol in the films. Is it an occult behind it or a truly supernatural force lurking out there?  

Who actually has the balls to put your own family at risk? Apparently Ellison Oswalt does. The story doesn’t explain much why he has to move into a crime scene except he faced some sort of financial difficulty living in their previous house. But hey to get inspiration for your new book in such a creepy place doesn’t abode well. Derrickson owes it to Ethan Hawke and his DP for effectively create the ominous mood because practically the whole movie took place in the house with Hawke’s character rubbing shoulders with things that go bump-in-the-night. We never know why he never switches on the lights while investigating the strange ongoing but that’s the fun of watching a horror movie right?  

Besides the occasionally cheap jump scares (don’t you all love it when kids go to the bathroom in the middle of the night) and shock moments (one creepy kid is never enough), the introduction of a mythological character, the demon Bughuul effectively makes the tale more compelling. It started out as sort of a serial killer mystery, becomes a crime solving flick in the second act and ends on a pretty twisted note. All the while, it’s so predictable yet it fares better than the horror titles in recent times in terms of execution.

There are a couple of tense moments between Ellison and his wife and kids. His son for instance has strange bouts of sleepwalking and tends to end up in bizarre places while his wife has a heated argument after learning the truth of the house they are residing. The cast is excellent on the whole including the local deputy played by James Ransone and of course our leading man Ethan Hawke for his meaty performance.

“Sinister” might not be a flawless horror movie but it did impart three important lessons to us. One: Never buy a house that is on sale despite the crazy property market in Singapore right now. Two: On the lights if you hear any suspicious sounds and lastly, never let your kids do their drawings on the wall.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Since this is a horror movie, visual on the whole tends to be on the dark side but details and colours remain impressive for a movie shot originally on HD. The sound mix and the eerie score by Christopher Young are excellent as it managed to convey a scary, sinister mood throughout.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: From the writer of Training Day comes a gripping, action-packed cop drama starring Academy Awardr nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. In their mission to abide by their oath to serve and protect, Officers Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Pena) have formed a powerful brotherhood to ensure they both go home at the end of watch. But nothing can prepare them for the violent backlash that happens after they pull over the members of a notorious drug cartel for a routine traffic stop. Seen from the point of view of the officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, dash cams and citizens caught in the line of fire, a 360ø perspective creates a gritty, compassionate and intense portrait of the city's darkest streets, and the brave men and women patrolling them.

MOVIE REVIEW:

David Ayer is the person to go to if you are in the mood for gritty cop dramas, just check out his “Training Day” which won Denzel Washington an Oscar and “Street Kings” about corrupt cops. Now Ayer has taken the genre a step further with his latest self-scribed, directorial piece, “End of Watch” employing the in-thing in filmmaking – a buddy cop drama shot in found-footage style.

“End of Watch” follows two LAPD cops, Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) on their daily routines patrolling and keeping the peace in the streets of south central LA. As an excuse for Gyllenhaal’s character who is doing a part-time filming course, the majority of the movie is seen through Taylor’s video cam and the cruiser cam from their patrol car. The good thing however is Ayer’s refusal to stick to only one source during editing thus we have a large variety of P.O.V to view from in the end and that includes security cams, night vision cameras and ironically the gangsters carry video cams to videotape stuff as well which make things a little more digestible if you are not a fan of shaky found-footage movies.

The gimmicky cinematography aside, “End of Watch” is a compelling piece of storytelling despite the somehow disjointed plotting. Ayer manages to show the startling side of (and you thought it’s just donuts and coffee) police work through the eyes of Taylor and Zavala. These cops are in fact fighting war after war daily meeting crack addicts, armed gangsters and drug cartel with Ayer’s picture leading to the latter for the finale. Ayer keeps the tension as realistic as possible without resorting to the usual shortcomings of a typical Hollywood police drama. Of course, don’t say I didn’t warn you for some shocking and grisly moments.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena would have won the Best On-screen Buddy award for 2012 if there’s one as the duo displayed electrifying chemistry together and spouts believable, often funny dialogues. Both actors successfully breathe life into their characters which make us care and root for them and not because they are men in uniform, on the right side of the law. Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick on the other hand play the wives of Pena and Gyllenhaal respectively though their screentime is pretty limited. Other familiar faces include Frank Grillo (Prison Break) who plays Sarge and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) as a fellow cop.

Law enforcement is never an easy task and “End of Watch” completely nails the spirit of the police as they stand watch together protecting the prey from the predators and the good from the bad. This probably would have been a stronger movie had Ayer had chosen a less fanciful way of shooting.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Intended to be a rough presentation, don’t be surprised if “End of Watch” transfer suffers from frequent noise and artifacting. Audio is clear though gunfire and shootout is restricted by the 2.0 soundtrack.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

SYNOPSIS: Over 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation. The new documentary BULLY directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lee Hirsh brings human scale to this startling statistic offering an intimate, unflinching look at how bullying has touched five kids and their families.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Lee Hirsch’s documentary ‘Bully’ will probably best be known as that film for which Harvey Weinstein publicly clashed with the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) over its ‘R’ rating, arguing instead that it should be given a ‘PG13’ rating in spite of the foul language which appears in the film in light of its topical relevance. Though it’s easy to dismiss Harvey’s actions as no more than a publicity stunt, we have to say after watching the movie that we agree wholeheartedly with what Harvey had tried to accomplish.

Simply put, ‘Bully’ is a movie that needs to be seen across a whole cross-section of people. An honest and unflinching look at the state of ‘bullying’ across America’s schools, it is necessary viewing for not just parents and those involved in the school administration, but perhaps more importantly children and teenagers who might be in their own lives victims of bullying afraid to tell a parent or teacher about. Why so? Because as the movie perfectly portrays, the long-term consequences of not doing anything will just be too much to bear.

Acting also as cinematographer, Hirsch brilliantly captures different perspectives of this urgent social malaise through the real-life stories of several victims of bullying. We’re not talking here about physical bullying, for which with bodily evidence is often met with swift but ultimately overdue action; this is about the verbal bullying that causes psychological hurt, the kind that is too easily dismissed with the rhetoric that ‘boys will be boys’. Which is worse is irrelevant; what’s more important is recognising that it is a form of emotional abuse, the scars of which might be invisible but nonetheless destructive.

How better to understand the nature of this bullying than to hear it from those who have been through it themselves? One of those we hear from is Alex, a 14-year old whose protruding lips have earned him the nickname of ‘fish-face’ from his peers and made him the subject of ridicule by his schoolmates who ride on the same bus to and from school – a particularly damning video has them knocking things out of his hand, poking, shoving and even strangling him while on the trip home. Then there’s Kelby, a 16-year old girl whose ‘coming-out’ as a lesbian has since caused her to be insulted, ostracised, kicked out of the basketball team, and even knocked out by a car.

Still, both are luckier than 14-year old Ja’meya, who grew so upset at her peers’ taunting that she brought her mother’s gun one day and pulled it out on 22 other children in the school bus, thus ending up in reformatory facing the same number of felony charges. Is there a pattern to whom gets bullied? It’s no necessarily clear – at the very least, it appears as if anyone who is different or less socially comfortable is already at risk of being bullied. Hirsch doesn’t offer any explanation – and to his benefit, there probably isn’t any rational one – of the behaviour that these kids are subjected to, but what is clear is that early intervention is essential.

Sadly, his portrait of both the family and school system points out that it isn’t as simple or as straightforward. In the first instance, children aren’t as forthcoming to tell an adult their problems, and at the next, even if they do, it isn’t met as receptively as it should be. The most concrete example of both these instances is seen in Alex’s case, when his mother is astonished at the kind of mental torment his peers have been inflicting on him and subsequently the response of the school authorities when this is highlighted to them.  Suffice to say that the latter is often inadequate, which is why the distress for the victim continues until it reaches breaking point.

Not for hyperbole but rather to stress why it is important to use what means possible to intercede, Hirsch also includes interviews with the families of two boys who had committed suicide to escape bullying – and it is through their recounts that Hirsch emphasises how easily one can dismiss such concerns as well as how fatal the consequences can be. The silver lining is that both families have since found peace and are galvanised to prevent similar such instances from happening by starting support groups for other such parents and children.

The message Hirsch wants his audience to take away is this – it is time to take a stand, a collective stand against bullying. It is told empathetically, but not through false emotions or any theatrics the way Michael Moore usually does in his documentaries; rather, through a matter-of-fact presentation of the pervasiveness of the problem, the cost it inflicts on the victim and the consequences of ignoring that it exists. Indeed, ‘Bully’ is one of the must-see films of the year thanks to its timely subject – and though one may say that the context isn’t Singapore, all you have to do is look at the harassment going on online to realise that it is one issue that requires just as urgent attention right here. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio reproduces the interviews clearly, while visuals are pristine enough given the circumstances under which some of the footage was shot.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong
 

SYNOPSIS: Return to a place of insanity and blood-curdling chills in this shocking sequel to one of the most surreal and gruesome horror films ever created. Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) and her father (Sean Bean) have always tried to stay one step ahead of the malevolent forces intent on their destruction. But on the eve of her 18th birthday, a dangerous revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her in a nightmarish landscape forever. Based on the hugely popular video game series and written and directed by Michael J. Bassett (Deathwatch), it's a psychological trip into absolute terror unlike anything you've ever known.

MOVIE REVIEW:

With director Christophe Gans pulling out for no apparent reason and writer Roger Avary getting in trouble with the law, the sequel to the moderately successful “Silent Hill” spent years in development hell before director-writer Michael J. Bassett (Solomon Kane) took over. And it sure isn’t a worthwhile effort comparing to the first.  

The sequel took place ten years after the original after Rose and Sharon is assumed trapped in Silent Hill dimension as seen in the ending of the first. However, Sharon is free by her adoptive mother using one half of a talisman called the Seal of Metatron. Since then, her father, Christopher (Sean Bean) and Sharon now renamed Heather (Adelaine Clemens) has been moving from one place to another to avoid The Order who are out to abduct Heather back into Silent Hill so that the demon Alessa can be destroyed.

Fret not if you are getting slightly disoriented by all the confusing developments because all it takes for Bassett is to bring back one of the original cast members Deborah Kara Unger who played Alessa’s mother to do a quick revision of what actually happened. And that’s about how far the exposition goes. Essentially, “Silent Hill: Revelation” goes from one atmospheric sequence to another without much suspense or scare to speak of. Bassett did such a rushed job with the plotting that all he can think of is to come up with some fancy 3D effects which nobody wanted (except the financers) in the first place.

Even the creatures and monsters featured here lacked the shocking factor this time round. Bassett himself is pretty proud of the originally created Mannequin Monster and the recurring creatures such the armless man, the nurses and Pyramid Head. Honestly the standard of visual and creature effect remains respectable but sadly the script does no justice to the videogame material in which this is based despite all the fancy gore that is on displayed.  

Its amazing that actors such as Sean Bean and Carrie-Anne Moss decide to appear in this train wreck without much of a thought. Adelaine Clemens on the other hand should be commended for her peerless performance. Nevertheless this is another nightmarish title that should be banished to hell forever in this case it should remain in the foggy realm of Silent Hill. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio Commentary with Michael J. Bassett is a competent track by the filmmaker who talks tirelessly about his vision and story of the videogame adaptation.

Instead of showing us how they did that, the filmmakers briefly talk about the new and old Creatures of Silent Hill.

The Cast is a short spotlight on the various cast members such as Sean Bean and Adelaide Clemens.

Once again, the filmmakers talk about Making Silent Hill in 3D

A brief segment on how Universal brought Silent Hill to their annual Halloween celebration in Universal Attraction: A Halloween Horror Night

There’s a number of Deleted Scenes (with Director's Commentary) and the Silent Hill Revelation Trailer.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Dialogue and sound effects are bombastic and aggressive just as what everyone expect a horror movie to be. Visually, the presentation suffers from occasional traces of blurriness and muddiness. That said, it doesn’t really affect the watching experience much.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Thriller
Director: Jung Byung-gil
Cast: Jung Jae-Young, Park Si-Hoo, Kim Yeong-ae, Choi Won-yeong, Jang Gwang, Kim Min-sang-I
RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.murderer.co.kr/index.htm

Opening Day: 14 March 2013

Synopsis: 15 years ago, an infamous serial killing case that left 10 women dead shook the nation. Now its statute of limitations is about to expire, and a member of the victim's family throws himself off a building in front of the detective Choi who is the primary detective on the case. 2 years later, a man named Lee Du-seok publishes a book titled “Confession of Murder”, claiming his responsibility for the murders that took place 17 years ago. His book becomes a huge success, making him an instant celebrity thanks to his beautiful façade and innate danger that is associated with his presence. Choi can only watch from the sidelines as his hands are tied, because Lee has been pardoned legally. The law has forgiven him, but even after the expiration of statute of limitations, the case is not yet over!

Movie Review:

The latest Korean action-thriller to hit theatres in Singapore, 'Confession of Murder' is a gem of a film that can be compared to the likes of 'Old Boy' and 'Memories of Murder'.

At the heart of this movie is the tale of Detective Choi, whose quest is to capture the one thing that evades him. It’s a very human resolve and one that is particularly relatable to the people of our time. We’re not all cops searching for a suspect, but very much like Detective Choi, we have that one answer that we seek our entire lives and work hard to find out. The prevalence and influence of the media, plastic surgery, as well as blind devotion to a public figure have all been gracefully written into the script, and so surrounding that story is a context so rooted in reality that it could very well be our own daily lives.

The performances in this film are truly commendable, particularly those of the stuntmen for the deadly accurate excecution of the stunts. In particular, the main actors brilliantly brought in the subtle aspects of their characters, in order to bring humanity to a larger-than life drama, effectively giving a hook for the audience to relate to the movie on a deeper level.

There is also dark humor in the movie, which brings some levity into an otherwise dark world that the audience becomes immersed in. One almost feels guilty for laughing, which is a testament to the irony of the humor. What makes the situation on screen so humorous is how exceedingly close it is to what would happen if such a thing were to take place in real-life. Such a thing is almost never portrayed in films for the sake of cinematic impact- but by doing the opposite, 'Confession of Murder' turns itself into almost a satire and criticism of popular culture.

This is one film that defines ‘order in chaos’ and does so with a great deal of style. The makers of it have taken a complex plot and planned it out with such precision that even to the non-Korean speaking viewer, the story being told is clear and concise. There is no beating around the bush with this film. The pacing is just right such that Confession of Murder never loses the audience’s attention, and even at the most tumultuous times of this film (such as one of the many fast-paced dialogue exchanges), details are never lost. Even the action sequences have been tightly-choreographed in order to mould into the complex camera-work and it shows on screen as a beautiful and graceful wedding of skills from both cast and crew. 

The twist at the end is also a reminder of what great cinema is and is capable of doing, i.e. shocking the audience by leaving out one aspect of the story and then revealing it at the end only to change the audience’s entire perspective of what has happened all along. It is making the audience feel like they should have known better. It also proves the uncomfortable truth that we are capable of being fooled, and that reality as we percieve it is often imperfect.

In this film, the peripeteia then leads to a startling climax which fulfils the purpose of every character in this film before moving down into a resolution which leaves no loose ends untied. Indeed, 'Confession of Murder' is a film indeed worth watching and a tale highly relevant to our celebrity-obsessed times.

Movie Rating:

(This is Korean cinema at its very best, an edge-of-your-seat thriller that brings you into the demented psychologies of seemingly ordinary individuals in everyday life)

Review by Nishanthini Ganesan