Genre: Drama/Suspense
Director: Charlie Young
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Gwei Lun Mei, Chang Chen, Xia Yu, Liu Kai Chi, Qin Hailu, Wan Qian, Pat Ha
RunTime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 May 2013
Synopsis: Tim (Kwok) is a defence attorney with a heart of gold. Refusing to be simply a hired gun for his clients, he quits his high-powered job to become a prosecutor for the Justice Department.With the support of fiancee Megan and cop buddy Nam (Liu Kai Chi), Tim decides to start afresh. When he meets a handicapped piano teacher, Jing (Gwei), who urges him to help her. She is accusing her doctor, Zhou (Chang) a renowned surgeon of sexual harassment during a routine check-up. But with no witnesses and only their own conflicting testimonies, a Rashomon-like mystery unfolds. To make matters worse, Zhou's defence attorney, Freddy, is Tim's successor at his old law firm, and proves to be Tim's toughest opponent to-date. As a media frenzy encircles the case, it slowly destroys the lives of everyone involved.
Movie Review:
It sure pays to know people in high places. That’s the first thing that came to our mind when we saw how this Charlie Young directed movie was marketed. Besides the big names that are Aaron Kwok (Conspirators, Cold War), Gwei Lun Mei (Girlfriend Boyfriend, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), Chang Chen (The Grandmaster, Red Cliff) and Xia Yu (Double Trouble, The Painted Veil), Tsui Hark and Jacob Cheung’s names are slapped on in the most indiscreet way as producers. One should have noticed by now how the cast members come from Hong Kong, Taiwanand Mainland China– to increase the ease of marketing the movie in all three territories. This being Young’s directorial debut, it won’t hurt to have such big names backing her up.
This courtroom drama has Gwei playing a handicapped girl who accuses Chang’s renowned surgeon of sexual harassment. Enter Kwok’s prosecutor and Xia’s defence attorney for an emotionally charged showdown of what it takes to unveil the truth, and whether it really matters in this day and age where media messes fact, reality and justice up in the most unimaginable ways.
If Tsui and Cheung’s involvement in this movie was to guide Young along the treacherous paths of filmmaking, they have done a fairly good job. The 90 minute production is well worth your time, considering how it left us pondering about how the world has morphed into a state where appearances matter more than true emotions, which were once held more dearly when things were simpler. Young’s script had gotten substantial funding from the Asia Film Financing Forum, and while the plot could have helped with a little more melodrama, the fairly tight pacing of the storyline manages to keep viewers engaged.
The cast delivers noteworthy performances. While Kwok doesn’t turn in any surprises with his portrayal of a emotionally tormented and torn man, he still manages to leave his fans impressed with how he has transformed into a credible actor in recent years. Gwei whispers a lot in this movie, and it proves how we are often conveniently bought by appearances. The award winning actress shows us again how volatile she is, with this character that may just be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Chang’s cool and almost menacing portrayal of a doctor under the media’s spotlight is one of his best performances yet, and one cannot help but feel for the immense pressure his character is experiencing. Again, a Mainland Chinese actor effortlessly steals the show from his co stars. Xia’s screen presence is undeniably strong, and his scenes with Kwok are memorably powerful.
There is little wham bam action in this drama, and most scenes take place in the courtroom where characters pit their wits against each other. One may diss this as yet another courtroom story with little new surprises to offer, but we’d like to think it serves as a stark reminder how truth isn’t of utmost importance these days, as much as we often swear by it, making it a mantra we tell others we live by.
Movie Rating:
(A commendable courtroom drama by first time director Charlie Young, complemented by some of the talented names in showbiz)
Review by John Li
Genre: Thriller
Director: Robert Redford
Cast: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Susan Sarandon
RunTime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/thecompanyyoukeep/
Opening Day: 9 May 2013
Synopsis: Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is a civil rights lawyer and single father raising his daughter in the tranquil suburbs of Albany, New York. His world is turned upside down, when a brash young reporter named Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf), exposes Grant’s true identity as a former 1970s antiwar radical fugitive wanted for murder. After living for more than 30 years underground as a lawyer, Grant must now go on the run. He is the center of a nationwide manhunt and with the FBI in hot pursuit, he sets off on a cross- country journey to track down the one person that can clear his name.
Shepard knows the significance of the national news story he has exposed and for a journalist, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell-bent on making a name for himself, he is willing to stop at nothing to capitalize on it. He digs deep into Grant’s past. Despite warnings from his editor and threats from the FBI, Shepard relentlessly tracks Grant across the country.
As Grant reopens old wounds and reconnects with former members of his antiwar group, the Weather Underground, Shepard realizes something about this man is just not adding up. With the FBI closing in, Shepard uncovers the shocking secrets Grant has been keeping for the past three decades. As Grant and Shepard come face to face in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they each must come to terms with who they really are.
Movie Review:
Like its title suggests, the company you keep makes a whole lot of difference. Thankfully then, Robert Redford keeps good – even great – company in this nail-biting political thriller about 1970s radicals forced to go on the run decades later when their past catches up. Besides casting himself, he has assembled a who’s who of venerable Hollywood actors –including Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Chris Cooper, Brendan Gleeson, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott, and Richard Jenkins among others – and the ensemble ultimately lends distinguishable heft to a whole roster of supporting characters.
Adapted from Neil Gordon’s novel of the same name, it revolves around the hunt for a member of a former 1970s radical anti-war group The Weather Underground who goes on the run after the cover he has carefully built over the last thirty years is shattered by a young tenacious local reporter. Redford plays the wanted fugitive Nick Sloan, who arranges a plan for his brother (Cooper) to look after his 11-year-old daughter Isabel (Jackie Evancho) and then embarks on a cross-country trip looking up former comrades (played by Nolte and Jenkins) to locate the one person who can possibly clear his name - his ex-lover and former cohort Mimi Lurie (Christie).
While Nick searches for Mimi, another parallel narrative sets up reporter Ben Shepard’s (Shia LaBeouf) hunt for Nick, joined by no less than the very FBI led by Agent Cornelius (Terrence Howard) and his junior associate Diana (Anna Kendrick) who happens to be Nick’s former college hookup. Ben suspects that Nick isn’t simply running, and his own investigation leads him to former Michigan police chief Henry Osborne (Gleeson) and his adopted daughter Rebecca (Brit Marling). And oh yes, there’s also Ben’s prickly editor played by no less than Stanley Tucci.
Indeed, you can hardly go wrong with such a heavyweight cast, but Redford – working from Lem Dobbs’ adroitly penned screenplay – goes one step further, setting up the two separate groups of actors/ actresses shrewdly to portray generational differences. On one hand, Redford and the rest of the bench of older actors represent an older bygone era of fractious left-ist politics; while on the other, LaBeouf depicts both the fecklessness of the modern generation as well as the imperfections of today’s journalistic methods (e.g. how simply giving light to both sides of the story doesn’t automatically equate to fairness and balance). It’s interesting how the casting mirrors the dichotomy in these two narrative threads, and Redford’s method in pairing cast and character makes this actor-driven showcase even more compelling.
Yet Redford’s inspiration here goes far beyond great casting – instead, this latest sees the 76 year-old legend at his creative best in recent years. Marked by the preachy moral lectures ‘Lions for Lambs’ and ‘The Conspirator’, one can be forgiven for thinking that Redford had gotten too self-absorbed as a filmmaker. And yet with Gordon’s novel and Dobbs’ screenplay, Redford has found a more fitting vehicle to offer crowd-pleasing entertainment amid his left-leaning political outlook. To the casual viewer, this is a tense yet restrained thriller with a Hitchcockian feel; and to more discerning audiences, there are deeper reflections on the price of dissent and the costs and consequences of different forms of its expression.
Older viewers will also certainly draw comparison with a younger Redford’s own journalistic crusade in the 1976 classic ‘All the President’s Men’, and like that film, this one again dwells on the grey areas. The ambiguity makes for an even more intriguing time, whether in the form of exposition (kudos to both Redford and Sarandon for particularly thought-provoking moments) or in the form of deed (a point empathically brought across by Christie). Redford keeps the pace taut and brisk, but what truly makes the film so engaging is the excellent performances all around. If not for anything else, then watch this for the sheer joy of seeing veterans Redford, Sarandon, Nolte, Jenkins, Christie and Gleeson in the same movie. Oh yes, they are wonderful company indeed.
Movie Rating:
(A who’s who of venerable Hollywood actors make this Hitchcockian political thriller - which also happens to be Robert Redford's best film in a long while - a genuine thrill)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Fede Alvarez
Cast: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: R21 (Violence And Gore)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: http://www.evildead-movie.com/
Opening Day: 9 May 2013
Synopsis: In the much anticipated remake of the 1981 cult-hit horror film, five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.
Movie Review:
Those who lapped up Joss Whedon’s delightfully meta ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ will know that Sam Raimi’s 1981 groundbreaking ‘Evil Dead’ was that classic which gave birth to the titular premise. And in working from a script he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues, first-time feature filmmaker Fede Alvarez retains that setup – five friends visit a secluded cabin where all hell breaks loose when one of them accidentally unleashes a demon by reading from an ancient book bound in human flesh and tied with barbed wire (also known to fans as the Necronomicon).
To be sure, the original never did have much of a plot beyond that; rather, as the demon went from human to human, pitting one against another, Raimi filled his movie with some macabre geek-speak humour, improvised gross-out effects (there wasn’t much of a budget to speak of in the first place) and some never-before-seen terrifying scenes to leave an indelible impression on its early-1980s audience. At least then, this remake attempts to give some purpose by establishing one of them, Mia (Jane Levy), as a drug addict trying to kick the habit cold turkey and the others (Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Elizabeth Blackmore) there to lend support.
Unfolding at a breakneck pace, it isn’t long before – as genre conventions dictate – Mia becomes the first to be possessed by the demon. Fans will be happy to know that Alvarez adopts the same iconic camera movement as that in the original, using speeded-up motions to suggest a rampaging poltergeist racing and smashing its way through the surrounding forest. And oh, the infamous ‘tree rape’ scene is also reproduced here – though arguably, seeing it the second time round just doesn’t inspire the same shock and awe as it did before. Nonetheless, if the fact that Raimi, original collaborator Rob Tapert and star Bruce Campbell are on board this remake as producers isn’t quite reassuring enough, these scenes will no doubt convince fans that Alvarez isn’t here to mess with the original.
Yet there is little point in mirroring it too closely – after all, the likes of ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’ have all but made Raimi’s film seem tame by comparison. So as one would expect him to, Alvarez ups the ante by amplifying both the gore and the splatter. There is shooting, sawing, burning alive, nailing, mutilation, decapitation and dismemberment, all of which Alvarez stages with little apology and which we think everyone going into this movie should be well aware of just to be sure of what you will be in for. Amidst the flying blood and limbs, Alvarez also weaves in a steady stream of fan-friendly references, in particular the use of a chainsaw.
But even if it does succeed at terrorising you on a visceral level, it rarely entertains you in the same way as the original does. Key to that is the often dead-serious tone of this remake, managing only the occasional wisecrack few and too far in between to break up the monotony of stomach-churning moments. Only the demon seems to have kept his sense of humour intact, dishing with macabre glee such vulgar lines as ‘I will rape your soul in Hell!’ Unfortunately absent is the consistent sense of icky perverse fun that characterised the original, replaced by a one-note desire to pile on the shlock to petrify and disgust.
That is hardly enough to leave the same indelible impression with today’s audiences as the original did back then – face it, there’s only so much the filmmakers can push the limits of modern-day horror without crossing into torture porn and getting barred from general release. Perhaps in recognition of that, Alvaraz wisely makes sure that his version walks the fine line between tribute and update – and if anything, this is one remake made with care for fans of the original. But yet again, there is often little point in revisiting a classic for the sake of doing so, and this remake offers little compelling reason in itself to be seen by those already familiar with its predecessor.
Still, if measured using the barometer of recent horror remakes, this one stands tall amongst the rest for being not just reverent, but also at the very least, competent. It just is, as we said earlier, unnecessary. Watch it if you’re interested, and don’t watch it if you’re not – either way, you’re not missing out on anything much.
Movie Rating:
(Ups the gore but loses the humour – this remake is reverent enough to Sam Raimi’s 1981 original to please fans, but never offers a compelling enough reason to be seen)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama/Crime
Director: Johnnie To
Cast: Sun Honglei, Louis Koo, Huang Yi, Wallace Chung, Lam Ka Tung, Michelle Ye
RunTime: 1 hr 48 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Drug Use And Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 18 April 2013
Synopsis: When Mainland Chinese Inspector Zhang runs into the Hong Kong man Cai at the hosital, who has been in a car accident due to chemical poisoning, he immediately senses something fishy about him. It turns out Cai is indeed a drug manufacturer closely linked to the notorious drug lord Li. To save his own neck, Cai agrees to help Zhang arrest Li by facilitating his disguise as a buyer in order to lure Li into a drug deal. Right before this undercover operation is about to bear fruit, Zhang realizes all too late that the relationship between Cai and Li is not what it seems, and instead of having played Cai as a pawn in a battle of wits, he himself has been a pawn in Cai’s own game all along.
Movie Review:
For the uninitiated, ‘Drug War’ marks acclaimed Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s first crime thriller to be shot in Mainland China, an understandably wary prospect considering how his usual sensibilities in the genre are highly likely to run afoul of the Chinese censors. But fans of the auteur can rest easy – To is as sharp as he has ever been here reuniting with his regular screenwriter and producer Wai Kar-Fai, delivering a tense and engrossing procedural around a complex anti-drug trafficking police operation.
To be sure, the subject matter is an extremely risky one – after all, the tough stance that the country has adopted towards drugs means that the authorities are only going to scrutinise a movie about that hot-button topic very, very closely. It is therefore somewhat of a miracle that To manages to remain politically correct without ever being preachy, and even better, to mirror the authorities’ no-nonsense approach while offering the kind of nail-biting entertainment perfectly accessible to mainstream audiences.
But then again, we should have expected no less from To, and right from the get-go, we are treated to both Wai Kar-Fai’s elegant storytelling and To’s classy direction. Cross-cutting seamlessly between two seemingly unrelated series of events, To introduces his audience to Louis Koo’s Timmy Choi, who is seen driving away from a factory billowing in smoke while foaming at the mouth, gradually losing consciousness until finally he crashes in spectacular fashion through the glass walls of a restaurant. Meanwhile, Sun Honglei’s Zhang is on a dilapidated bus going through a toll booth, whose commuters are really mules transporting drug-packed ovules within their body.
When his partner-in-crime panics after their overheated bus pulls to the side just after crossing the booth, Zhang reveals himself to be no less than the very captain of the narcotics squad. At the same hospital where Zhang and the other drug mules painfully excrete their smuggled goods, Zhang runs into an unconscious Choi, covered in skin lesions and bearing the unmistakable whiff of a drug-making operation. Immediately, Choi is put into surveillance, but Choi’s identity only becomes clearer when he is brought into questioning, turning surprisingly compliant as he tells Zhang that he is but a middleman between a rich businessman turned drug dealer Boss HaHa (Hao Ping) and a powerful supplier named Uncle Bill.
Even then, Choi remains an enigma – we’re sceptical of his plea to escape the death penalty in exchange for his cooperation – and yet a cautious alliance emerges between the tough grim-faced Zhang and the persuasively suppliant Choi. Keeping the proceedings entirely realistic, To unspools the action through a series of undercover infiltrations, surveillance and stake-outs filmed with the same breakneck urgency and unnerving tension of such real-life operations. Moving from posh hotels to lavish cabaret nightclubs to busy seaports, To switches from location to location without any let-up from a consistently gripping pace.
Yet despite the breakneck pace, each sequence is tautly choreographed. Particularly effective is the pivotal setpiece in the middle section, which sees Zhang masquerading first as Uncle Bill to meet Brother HaHa and then posing as HaHa (the character’s signature hysterical laugh included) to meet Uncle Bill’s representative. Both close-quarter setups ripple with edge-of-your-seat tension, with Zhang’s charade threatening to unravel itself under the villains’ scrutiny. Also worthy of mention is the film’s climactic shootout in front of an elementary school, as Choi finally reveals his hand as a cool-blooded conniver interested only in his own self-preservation. Though less violent than the usual To actioners, the action is nevertheless exhilarating in its rawness, with To subverting genre expectations of who dies and who prevails.
In true alpha-male fashion, Zhang remains an inscrutable character throughout, defined only by his doggedness when hunting down his targets. Ditto for Choi, who doesn’t get any backstory to explain how or why he got into the drug business. Like ‘PTU’, To keeps his focus singularly on the nuts-and-bolts of the police work at hand, deliberately refusing to let his audience get to know more about any of the characters aside from their relative positions in the unfolding mission. Such a clinical approach may frustrate some viewers, but anyone who’s been a fan of his trademark understatement will embrace it – along with Xavier Jameux’s pulsing score – as nothing less than To’s brand of cool.
Just as certain to delight fans is a nifty twist late into the story that turns the movie into a reunion of sorts for To’s regulars – Lam Suet, Gordon Lam, Eddie Cheung, Lo Hoi Pang and Michelle Ye. Of course, that’s not to diminish Sun Honglei and Louis Koo’s strong lead performances – the former bringing gravitas and an unexpected touch of humour when imitating HaHa’s over-the-top behaviour to an otherwise stoic role; and the latter playing both cunning and desperate in thoroughly engaging fashion.
And so despite the Mainland setting, ‘Drug War’ remains a distinctly Johnnie To movie, using the bleak wintry settings of the Mainland city of Tianjin to lend the film and its subject matter a gritty sobering feel. Eschewing the visual aesthetics of ‘Exiled’ and ‘Sparrow’, it is also easily his most commercially accessible action thriller of late, with a documentary-like realism that mirrors Derek Yee’s style in another drug-themed movie ‘Protége’. Like we’ve said, To’s fans will enjoy this as much as his previous works, and this is a movie that demonstrates once again why he is easily one of the best directors in Hong Kong today.
Movie Rating:
(Taut and gripping from start to finish, Johnnie To’s intricately choreographed procedural of a complex anti-narcotics operation pulsates with a gritty and realistic feel)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Joey King, Rachelle Lefevre, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Jason Clarke, Jake Weber, Garcelle Beauvais, Michael Murphy
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouseDown
Opening Day: 27 June 2013
Synopsis: In Columbia Pictures’ White House Down, Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation’s government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.
Movie Review:
Forever etching his name on the ‘blacklist’ of the highest office in Washington, Roland Emmerich is back at destroying the official residence of the President of the United States. As if it wasn’t enough to have aliens blow up the White House in ‘Independence Day’ or obliterate the place using an aircraft carrier riding on the crest of a tidal wave in ‘2012’, Emmerich is at it again, employing home-grown radicals to take over the building from within and bringing the United States to the brink of nuclear war with its enemies.
Alas, Emmerich has been beaten at his own game, his White House under siege premise coming less than six months after the similarly-themed ‘Olympus Has Fallen’. Besides cast and character, both are essentially variations of the same movie - or to sum it up succinctly, ‘Die Hard’ on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And having lost the novelty factor to ‘Olympus’, what matters is only whether it is in fact a better movie than its predecessor, to which our answer is unfortunately a resounding no.
Yes, despite a bigger budget and perhaps more bankable lead stars (Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx are still surer box-office bets than Gerard Butler going by their respective track records), ‘White House Down’ is a disappointing letdown. To be fair, that ain’t the fault of Tatum and Foxx, both of whom are the saving graces of an otherwise embarrassing exercise in hokum; instead, Emmerich and his screenwriter James Vanderbilt are squarely to blame here, the latter for throwing any semblance of logic out the window and the former for trying too hard to emulate Michael Bay.
Whereas ‘Olympus’ had the real-life threat of the North Koreans to lend some authenticity, Vanderbilt engenders none with his far-fetched premise of the President’s Head of Secret Service, Walker (James Woods), recruiting a hodgepodge bunch of right-wing ex-military fundamentalists to kidnap the President and exploit his nuclear arsenal so as to wipe out America’s enemies in the Middle East (here’s looking at you, Teheran) off the map. The trigger for that? A G8 speech where current President, James Sawyer (Foxx), essentially tells the world that the U.S. will be pursuing peace diplomacy by taking the first step to lay down its weapons.
Despite a backstory that tries to explain Walker’s motivations, there is little coherence to just how the Head of the President’s Secret Service detail would be so compelled to attempt such an act of treason, let alone assemble a ragtag team of militarists with past criminal records and sneak them into the White House to aid his ‘noble’ cause. Ditto for the likelihood that a hacker, however brilliant he might be, could simply run a programme to crack the NSA’s firewalls without even so much as alerting anyone else in the process - and may we add thereby precipitating a thoroughly laughable chain of swearing-ins that goes from the Vice-President to the Speaker of Parliament Raphelson (Richard Jenkins). If you thought ‘Olympus’ was just implausible, then ‘White House Down’ pretty much operates on its own system of reasoning.
Further turning the proceedings to farce is the buddy team of aspiring Secret Service agent John Cale (Tatum) and President Sawyer. A classic case of the right guy in the wrong place at the wrong time, Cale finds himself rising to the call of duty when the terrorists launch their attack just as he and his daughter Emily (Joey King) are on tour in the White House. But instead of repeating the formula of one man saving the day (or the President for that matter), Vanderbilt introduces a twist to the dynamics between Cale and Sawyer by turning them into partners - though how much it really does veer from the earlier cliché is questionable.
Nonetheless, Tatum and Foxx make a pleasantly amusing pair and are - truth be told - the best things that the movie has going for it. But the immediate trade-off of injecting comedy into a premise that intuitively demands a certain degree of solemnity is that you cannot quite take anything else that happens in it seriously afterwards. Nowhere is this more evident than in an utterly ludicrous sequence where Cale and Sawyer are in the President’s limousine driving round and round the fountain in the middle of the White House lawn while being chased by the bad guys, the sheer stupidity of it matched by the fact that Sawyer is in the meantime figuring out how to assemble a mini rocket launcher in the back seat.
Whereas ‘Olympus’ kept its pacing taut by emphasising the gravity of the threat facing the nation, there is nary a frisson of tension even as Walker comes dangerously close to acquiring the President’s nuclear commandership. Simply put, the self-aware humour that is the only reason why the movie remains watchable sits at odds with the self-serious tone in the last third of the film, and no number of fighter planes nor surface-to-air missiles can regain the credibility of its premise.
It doesn’t help that the action, which consists largely of close combat fights, is surprisingly lacklustre, choreographed with neither finesse nor technique to distinguish one from the other. Wherever Emmerich gets the opportunity in the screenplay to stage the action against a wider canvas, he squanders that chance to make it count, the surfeit of CGI and excess making for a toxic combination that renders what is shown little more than an afterthought. Indeed, a similar sequence as that in ‘Olympus’ where the Special Forces attempt to land on the roof of the White House from helicopters unfolds with so little excitement that it might as well have been cut out altogether.
Therein lies perhaps the biggest problem with ‘White House Down’ - even as a summer popcorn flick, it just isn’t thrilling enough. Emmerich tries to keep every frame busy - hence the countless number of times Tatum leaps over couches or slides over tables - but the action is just loud, dumb and plain boring. Only the humour between Tatum and Foxx manages to be entertaining, though it’s hard not to regard the movie as farce afterwards. Call us biased, but we like our White House under siege thrillers to be hard-hitting, intense and gripping, none of which can be used to describe ‘White House Down’.
Movie Rating:
(Whether or not you’ve seen the earlier ‘Olympus Has Fallen’, do yourself a favour and avoid this loud, dumb and boring poorer cousin that is best described as an utter farce)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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SAVING GENERAL YANG Singapore Press ConferencePosted on 30 Mar 2013 |
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Flemyng, Sally Hawkins, Ewen Bremner, Olly Alexander
RunTime: 2 hrs 4 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.greatexpectationsmovie.co.uk
Opening Day: 30 May 2013
Synopsis: Young orphan Pip is given a chance to rise from his humble beginnings thanks to a mysterious benefactor. Moving through London's class ridden world as a gentleman, Pip uses his new found position to pursue the beautiful Estella; a spoilt heiress he's loved since childhood. Yet the shocking truth behind his great fortune will have devastating consequences for everything he holds dear.
Movie Review:
Often regarded as Charles Dickens’ best novel, ‘Great Expectations’ gets a serviceable if none too inspired big-screen adaptation from British director Mike Newell and novelist-turned-screenwriter David Nicholls. Neatly distilled from its source into just a little over two hours, it covers necessary ground without much by way of flair or flourish, which is perhaps disappointing considering how Nicholls’ screenplay was in 2009 placed on a list of best unmade scripts of the year in the United Kingdom.
Following the chronology of the book, the movie opens with Pip’s crucial meeting as a young orphan with escaped convict Abel Magwitch in the marshes. Pip might have responded under fear of Magwitch’s threat, but when he obeys the latter’s orders to bring him food, Magwitch regards the gesture with much gratitude. Shortly after Magwitch’s capture by the authorities, Pip is sent off by his strict and authoritarian older sister (Sally Hawkins) to be Miss Havisham’s (Helena Bonham Carter) plaything. There he meets the beautiful Estella, whom his love for will define the later events of his young adult life.
To be fair, both Newell and Nicholls seem keen on fleshing out the relationships in Pip’s early years that matter - chiefly, the fatherly bond between Pip and his brother-in-law Joe (Jason Flemyng) as well as the budding love between Pip and Estella; unfortunately, despite occupying about a third of the movie’s screen time, their portrayal of either affiliation lacks focus, never quite allowing their viewer to develop a connection with any character. Thankfully, the storytelling does get better as the narrative jumps ahead to their older selves.
Given a chance to break free from the shackles of his social status, Pip gives little thought to leaving his blacksmith apprenticeship at Joe’s - much to the latter’s chagrin of course - and moving to London to become a gentleman. Yet there is only so much he can hide his humble origins, especially to the boorish Bentley Drummle (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), whom Estella chooses to marry for wealth and little else. Pip’s blind pursuit of social status is given singular focus here - both in terms of reason (he thinks that will win him Estella’s affections) and consequence (his relationship with both surrogate fathers - Joe and Abel) - and proves to be much more captivating than its dull start.
That is also credit to the adult performers in the movie, including some of the best British actors of this generation. In particular, Ralph Fiennes holds the screen with his feral portrayal of Abel, whether fighting for survival in the marshes or fighting for some measure of affection from Pip. Helena Bonham Carter is just as compelling as the hard-hearted spinster Miss Havisham, excelling once again in a role that calls her to be eccentric but this time with an added measure of fragility. Probably less well-known but just as deserving of special mention is Flemyng, whose coarse but kind-hearted Joe forms the emotional core of the movie. And next to these veterans, both Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Granger (who play Pip and Estella respectively) just about hold their own, though it is quite apparent that the supporting actors steal the show.
Yet as a whole, you could of course get worse than this adaptation of the literary classic. It won’t be remembered in the same light as David Lean’s 1948 masterpiece, nor even Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron’s 1998 revisionist take; but fellow ‘Harry Potter’ alumni Mike Newell does an adequate job condensing the book into something brisk and engaging enough to inspire neophytes to pick up the literary classic thereafter. But if you’re already well acquainted with the story, then this functional but none too brilliant adaptation will probably be an unnecessary retread.
Movie Rating:
(An adequate adaptation of the literary classic that doesn’t offer much flair or flourish to its retelling of the familiar tale)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Byun Sung-hyun
Cast: Ji Sung, Kim A-joong, Shin So-yul, Kang Kyeong-joon, Kim Seong-oh, Jeong Soo-yeong
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual References)
Released By: Encore Films & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 16 May 2013
Synopsis: Here comes the brave, hot sexy idol! Devastated by a recent break-up, Hyun-seung (Ji Sung) can’t get a grip on life. After learning his ex-girlfriend has a wonderful new boyfriend, he struggles with sleep and seethes with jealousy. One night, he receives a mysterious phone call from a stranger. Even with flawless beauty and seemingly perfect boyfriend, Yun-jung (Kim A-joong) feels deprived of real affection. She sets up a plan to get his complete attention by spicing up their relationship with a sexy phone call. But the guy on the other end of the line isn’t her boyfriend! Don’t hesitate. Be frank! Don’t be shy. Play wild! Everything you need to know about R-rated relationships. It doesn’t get hotter than this!
Movie Review:
Raunch meets rom-com in the Korean crowdpleaser “My Phone Sex Partner”, which in other territories has been given a perhaps sexier English title “Whatcha Wearin”. Like its Hollywood brethren (that includes the many Judd Apatow produced and/or directed movies), it doesn’t so much as tinker with the boy-meets-girl formula as add a layer of naughty – but like the best of its genre, there is something winning about the actors, the characters and the situations the characters find themselves in that ultimately makes the entire package delightfully entertaining.
The couple at the heart of this romance is the recently dumped Hyun-seung (Ji Sung) and the attached-but-disenchanted Yun-jung (Kim Ah Joong). Their meet-cute happens over the telephone one evening, when Yun-jung misdials her boyfriend’s number and unwittingly gets into an accidental phone sex session with Hyun-seung. Though, as convention dictates, Hyun-sueng and Yun-jung will start off antagonistic – especially after the latter is left red-faced when she finds out her mistake – it isn’t long before they find themselves bonding through sharing in each other’s romantic quandaries.
Is it any wonder where they will end up? Well not really, but what matters is the journey to that inevitable destination of happily-ever-after, one which director Byun Seung-hoo (who also co-wrote the script with Kim Min-soo) makes both funny and touching. Between Hyun-seung and Yun-jung, there is definitely something in their respective circumstances you will identify with – whether the heartbroken Hyun-seung thinking back at how he could have treasured his ex-girlfriend more or the disillusioned Yun-jung who has been stuck in the same relationship for too long with a boyfriend that has grown too complacent.
And in the midst of their emotional doldrums, it is the sincerity and spark between the pair that is unmistakable, a union of kindred souls that proves disarmingly endearing. Most significantly, Seung-hoo isn’t afraid to address the obvious physical attraction between his couple, manifested both in the way they openly share intimate information about each other over the phone at the start as well as their subsequent meet-ups. Rather than shy away from the topic of sex, he tackles it head-on, which gives a refreshing and realistic modern-day spin on urban relationships today.
But rom-coms are often only as good as the chemistry between the actors, and it is in this respect that the movie truly shines. Both are appealing in their own right – Ji being a surprising combination of emotional and independent; while Kim exuding both sass and femininity in equal measure – and the scenes with them together simply sparkle with verve. There is never a doubt that the two are great for each other, and that assurance not only makes you root for them more but also keeps you waiting with bated breath throughout an extended finale specifically designed to tease.
Yet to be fair, Seung-hoo’s dexterity in applying a generic rom-com formula in a less than typical fashion extends beyond the finale. Particularly impressive is how he stitches together one of the first conversations between the pair that evolves seamlessly from an argument they have while Hyun-seung is drunk and despondent along a dark alley to a gentle and intimate exchange with both lying in their respective beds – in particular, the cinematography in this sequence deserves special mention, brilliantly conveying the connection that develops between them. Whereas many rom-coms are good only in parts, this one has great parts that make a satisfyingly engaging whole.
And indeed, its achievement is perhaps even more significant as one of the first rom-coms of the Korean film industry to add raunch into the mix. Yet the naughty talk and bare flesh isn’t simply a cheap titillating tactic, but a invigorating spin on a genre that could certainly do with more such breaths of fresh air. It’s no wonder then that the movie has come out of nowhere to emerge one of the biggest box-office hits of Korea last year - now let’s just hope the inevitable copycats don’t ruin the raunch-com too soon.
Movie Rating:
(A winning mix of raunch, romance and comedy, this refreshingly adult take on the traditional rom-com is funny, touching and heartwarming)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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ILO ILO (爸妈不在家) DVD RELEASE ON 23 JANUARY!Posted on 20 Jan 2014 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Justin Zackham
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Katherine Heigl, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Diane Keaton, Christa Campbell, Marc Blucas, Kyle Bornheimer
RunTime: 1 hr 29 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual References and Some Nudity)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films & InnoForm Media
Official Website: http://www.emperor-themovie.com
Opening Day: 9 May 2013
Synopsis: THE BIG WEDDING is a smart, witty and often outrageous comedy that gives an intimate view of a modern family through their highs and lows over a single weekend of celebration. Don and Ellie Griffin (Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton), long divorced, are suddenly thrown back together for the sake of their adopted son’s wedding when his very conservative biological mother decides to come in for the nuptials. The Griffin’s soon learn that acting the happily married couple is not so easy and especially awkward for Don’s girlfriend, Bebe (Sarandon). In the midst of these charades, the Griffin’s children face their own troubles as Lyla (Katherine Heigl) struggles with a secret, Jared (Topher Grace) contemplates his love life or lack thereof, and Alejandro (Ben Barnes) tries to keep everyone together, including his new bride, Missy (Amanda Seyfried) who is appeasing her parents by getting married, by a priest (Robin Williams) in a traditional Catholic wedding. Throughout the film, the Griffin’s are amusingly and poignantly forced to watch their past, present and future unravel for everyone to see... all while trying not to kill each other in the process.
Movie Review:
One is very suspicious when a star-studded cast fronts the line-up for what seems to be a simple romantic comedy. Are they there to hide a lacklustre plot? Or is this what it takes for most rom-coms to succeed nowadays?
The title of this film gives a lot away, and it should come as no surprise that with a big wedding, comes…a big reunion. The story develops in this vein: Alejandro Griffin (Ben Barnes) and Missy O’Connor (Amanda Seyfried) are getting married. The young couple is deeply in love, and the only thing that could get in the way of blessings is the adopted Alejandro’s dysfunctional family, or more precisely, adoptive parents, and his conservative, Catholic birth mother come to visit. What ensues is a weekend of pretense and guises undertaken by the Griffins to ensure that Alejandro and Missy walk down the aisle with nary a hitch. But, as expected, charades fall apart and in the process, more than a few skeletons in the closet surface to chaotic but heartwarming consequences in a climactic wedding scene, set in a Martha Stewart-approved pastel-and-cream pavilion by the lake typical of bourgeois American, suburbia-type events no less.
With all that visual fluff and the shameless milking of a famous cast on its poster alone, it’s easy to stereotype films like The Big Wedding, but as it unfolds, it’s hard not to. Directed by Justin Zackham, better known for the film The Bucket List (2007), The Big Wedding is one of what many would call Hollywood’s bread-and-butter films— those which take little artistic effort to pull off and solely produced to keep accounts afloat and stars happy during non-blockbuster seasons. The jokes in the film are often flat, most notably being a forced love interest between Jared (Topher Grace) and Alejandro’s inexplicably promiscuous Spanish sister Nuria (Ana Ayora) that generates forced smirks at best. Many other instances in the script reflect this cringe-worthy pattern of premature jokes served cold to distribute precious air time amongst the multitude of stars.
A final litmus test in which I tried to lift the wool over my eyes by imagining the exact same script being delivered by an unknown cast, drew my attention to what was ultimately a severely lacking script. It’s apparent that the producers have gone to great lengths to bring together a very colourful cast for a very mediocre story. On one hand, we have the shining old guard, made up of Robert de Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams, who starred in their fair share of “serious films” and displayed “serious acting chops” over the years. On the other, we have the up-and-coming starlets and teen heartthrobs, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes and rom-com darling Katherine Heigl, to appeal to a younger generation who might have missed—just by a few years—the winsome formula of the old school rom-com craze launched with Four Weddings and a Funeral (1996).
But what studio executives still don’t understand, is that it’s really a chicken-and-egg situation, because if they were keenly banking on the face times of a popular cast alone for the film to shine, a script that is neither witty nor memorable enough will ultimately give a half empty glass away. I’m not sure the adapted screenplay from the original French film Mon frère se marie (2006), does the central story much justice. I don’t like bread-and-butter films like this for the reason that stars get an excuse to be lazy; lapses in chemistry happen with a film full of too many famous celebrities who don’t quite gel. This shows in an unconvincing and underdeveloped romance between newlyweds-to-be, Alejandro and Missy, just as the relationship between straight-talking sister Lyla (Katherine Heigl) and her brother Jared was a disastrous blur.
The core theme about lying to protect one’s loved ones is ultimately too hackneyed, although the dynamics between Sarandon and Keaton, who plays de Niro’s current and ex-wife respectively, form the only admirable and refreshing moments of the film, even as it dangerously strays into territory that potentially celebrates infidelity.
There are plenty of romantic comedies out there that pack better wit.
Movie Rating:
(If you’re into sub-par romantic comedies that try to mask its flaws with a star-studded cast, then this movie is certainly one for you)
Review by Tay Huizhen
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