Genre: Drama
Director: Dante Ariola
Cast: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, Kristin Lehman, Sterling Beaumon, David Andrews, Autumn Dial, Nicole LaLiberte
RunTime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://arthur-newman.com/

Opening Day: 11 July 2013 

Synopsis: Wallace Avery is tired of his life. Divorced, disconnected from his son, dissatisfied with his love life, he decides the time has come for a radical solution. He literally walks away from his life, buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman, and sets out toward his own private Oz ? Terre Haute, Indiana ? where he believes he has a chance to work as a golf pro. Wallace’s idea of a second chance is to become a second person. His road trip is derailed by the entrance of Michaela Fitzgerald, whom Arthur discovers passed out poolside at a motel. It takes her all of a couple hours to bust Arthur’s identity scam. It takes Arthur a lot longer to bust hers. Colin Firth and Emily Blunt co-star in this gently comic love story set in a perfect storm of identity crisis. ARTHUR NEWMAN, from a screenplay written by Becky Johnston, looks at how two people, desperate to remake themselves, fall in love and find a way to accept responsibility for who they really are.

Movie Review:

Ennui. Everyone has it. Hollywood loves to film it, especially the ennui harboured by older, jaded men who fantasise about escape amid that inevitable mid-life crisis.

Arthur Newman is a film that makes this “search-for-the-self” premise shamelessly clear in its trailer and promotional materials. But the formula of straight-laced old man who meets young, rebellious wild chick and from there embarks on crazy sex-ventures and feral shenanigans in a life-transforming road trip? It is always old. It never gets fresher with each re-hash unless - and I believe here the producers were being hopeful – one engages the services of fine actors capable of putting new spins on old tricks.

As a fan of both Colin Firth and Emily Blunt’s acting, I bought into this hard-sell that the two, who are more commonly known for shining in side roles, share a sort of underdog romanticism in their acting careers, and must admit being overwhelmed with such hope that the meeting of these two would give birth to some very fine, magical onscreen chemistry. Alas, Arthur Newman never quite lives up to this potent promise.

For a start, the film takes an awkward, extended length of time to develop. There is a segment in the film where the two leads, Wallace (Colin Firth) and Michaela (Emily Blunt) house-break and role -play as different couples that is fleetingly cute. By “fleetingly”, I mean a total of ten minutes of the film vaguely entertained. A distinct sense of contrived chemistry between the two who almost seem to scream, “This story isn’t working, what am I doing here?” as they perfunctorily play their roles becomes a deadened weight on the already paper-thin scaffoldings of a story that lacks true substance.

While it was hard enough seeing the gentlemanly “Mr Darcy” engage in explicit love scenes, it was harder still to see the endearing Firth falter in his acting. Never really finding the momentum in his role, and without the assured execution of his trademark helpless charm in his past romantic comedies, including Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Firth’s steady acting sense goes limp in this starring role. Blunt is the only character who saves the film with her valiant attempt at faking chemistry. But the character she is made to portray – girl, interrupted, with all that chipped black nail polish to boot, is a glaring stereotype that feels like a false skin pulled over her.

Supposed advertising and design whiz Dante Ariola, who puts on his director’s hat for the first time in this project, proves thoroughly amateur for the big screen. Relying too heavily on mood music for tenuous bridges instead of a solid story does not a film make, but rather, a very sub-par music video that tries too hard to justify its existence. When you tire of this film that is built on the most pathetic script fit only for B-grade actors, try predicting the next line of dialogue – it is a game most easy to win.

The next time you find yourself wanting to watch a show about strange men with all sorts of dissatisfactions with their half-lived lives, watch American Beauty (1999), Sideways (2004) or Down in the Valley (2005). Arthur Newman should never come into your radar.

Movie Rating:  

(Startlingly bad, this film is an ugly dent on the thus-far impressive métier of Colin Firth and Emily Blunt)

Review by Tay Huizhen
  

Genre: Drama/Biography/Sports
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, Julianne Nicholson, Mckenna Grace
RunTime: 2 hrs
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: https://www.itonyamovie.com/
 
Opening Day: 1 February 2018

Synopsis: Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

Movie Review:

It's true. Our society is hardly forgiving towards those who makes mistakes. And quick to condemn at that.

Tonya Harding was an Olympic figure skater, who in a 1991 competition, did a triple axel on the ice. Not was she the first American to ever do so, even after a quarter of a century, only 8 women in the world have ever managed this athletic feat.

Sadly, this was eclipsed by a scandal that rocked headlines. Her competitor Nancy Kerrigan was bludgeoned at her knee, and Harding was implicated in its involvement. This quickly ended her career and she was banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

Steven Rogers who doubles as producer and writer, got a chance to speak with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly in separate interviews, and because they were so contrary in nature, found hit script material in his hands.

Margot Robbie comes on board as the title character, while Sebastian Stan plays her well-meaning but incompetent husband Jeff. Allison Janney comes in as the abusive mother LaVona Golden, and the bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt is played to perfection by Paul Walter Hauser. This casting is dead on, both because it doesn’t adhere blindly to pure physical similarities, but also because the actors put in incredibly believable performances.

Robbie pulls away from her nymphic imaging, rendering a double-edged Tonya that is easy to love and hate. Stan layers his character with enjoyable nuance, seeping a darkly obsessive energy from his deceptively gentle eyes.

The tour-de-force Janney is rooted in her abusive persona, never letting a moment up with her egoistic ways. She even matter-of-factly jumps in during a cut to complain about her airtime. But my favourite has to be Eckhardt’s Shawn. Although at times a little bit too much of a cliche (cue the Star Trek reference and gross eating habits), there are incredible moments where with unfocused eyes and shallow breathing, he is totally convincing as the one who instigated and eventually unravelled this entire debacle.

And maybe the believability also comes from the fact that there are real-life links. Janny herself used to Figure Skate before an injury stopped her dreams, while screenwriter Rogers worked with Nancy Kerrigan at an agency he was working for, 3 months before the incident happened!

This authenticity has paid off handsomely at the industry level. I, Tonya has been nominated between 2-5 categories at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild and the Academy.

You usually can’t pair tragedy and comedy, but the director Craig Gillespie has worked his edgy perceptions into the movie. With hard cuts, unrestrained acting and dizzying camera work, I, Tonya is as gutsy as the heroine/villain it portrays. Cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis has injected a pendulous style that spins freely around the happenings, enhanced by a skating camera operator Dana Morris.

The shots pivot around grounded interview scenes with the characters, and the entire film dances through accompanied by the sometimes-apt, sometimes-ironic classics like Barracuda, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, and Devil Woman.

Meant to humanize and give the actual Tonya Harding a fair break, this has, of course, resurfaced old hurt from the real-life counterparts. As the audience, we are given a free pass to do what we do best - judge - but hopefully, a little more kindly.

Movie Rating:  

(A hard-hitting and explosive real-life tragedy, laced with dark and inappropriate humour, insane camerawork and riveting performances)

Review by Morgan Awyong

Genre: Biography/Comedy/Drama
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry, David Walliams, Tamsin Egerton
RunTime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scenes, Nudity And Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheLookofLoveMovie

Opening Day: 24 October 2013 

Synopsis: Michael Winterbottom’s “THE LOOK OF LOVE” stars Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People, The Trip) in the true-life story of Paul Raymond, the man behind Soho’s notorious Raymond Revue Bar and Men Only magazine. Paul Raymond began his professional life with an end of the pier mind-reading act. He soon realized that the audience were more interested in watching his beautiful assistant, and that they liked it even more if she was topless. He quickly became one of Britain’s leading nude revue producers. In 1958 he opened his Revue Bar in Soho, the heart of London’s West End. As it was a private club, the nudes were allowed to move. A huge success, it became the cornerstone of a Soho empire, prompting the Sunday Times in 1992 to crown him the Richest Man in Britain. The film focuses on Raymond's relationships with the three most important women in his life: his wife Jean (Anna Friel), his lover Fiona (Tamsin Egerton) and his daughter Debbie (Imogen Poots). It is a modern day King Midas story, with Raymond acquiring fabulous wealth, but at the cost of losing the people who are closest to him.

Movie Review:

If you haven’t heard of the British impresario Paul Raymond, then think of him as Britain’s answer to Hugh Hefner, the man a maverick behind a lucrative empire of strip clubs, soft-porn magazines and expensive real-estate in the heart of London, as well as being the country’s richest citizen for a time. Paul is the subject of Michael Winterbottom’s autobiographical drama ‘The Look of Love’, which sees ace Brit comedian Steve Coogan play the character in a rare and rather impressive dramatic role.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the film as a whole, which largely paints a by-the-numbers portrait across three dozen years of the mogul’s colourful life. Using the occasion of the death of his most beloved child, Debbie (Imogen Potts), as a framing device, Winterbottom and screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh capture the key highlights without ever delving much into each of the turning points - nor for that matter the crucial relationship between Paul and Debbie. Indeed the narrative choices here seem more perfunctory than inspired, so much so that by the end of the film, Paul remains as elusive a subject as he has ever been in the public eye.

And yet even without a lack of depth in its exploration of its subject character, there is seldom a boring moment in the film. In black-and-white, Winterbottom traces the roots of his infamy from his Cirque Nu de Paris days, where his first wife Jean (Anna Friel) would appear topless in a lion-tamer act. Paul’s first real breakthrough would come in 1958 with the opening of his Soho members-only nude Revuebar, and that episode is captured in loving detail - G-strings, feathers and all - thanks to Stephanie Collie’s lavish costumes and Jacqueline Abrahams’ impressive production design.

Juxtaposed alongside the passing of the times - Paul’s venture into theatre in the 60s with productions such as ‘Pyjamas Tops’ and his subsequent dive into the publishing business with the wildly successful ‘Men Only’ magazine in the 70s - is his relationship with two important women in his life, namely Jean and his lover-muse Fiona (Tamsin Egerton) whom he auditions for one of his plays. While his well-known promiscuous lifestyle is well emphasised, Winterbottom makes it a point to depict how that ferments his relationships with both Jean and Fiona.

Ditto for his own lack of discipline in his life, including feeding Debbie’s drug habit by supplying her cocaine while she is lying on the delivery table in pain waiting for the birth of her baby daughter. The last third of the film completes the circle of Paul’s relationships with women by focusing on that with his children - his son Howard (Matthew Beard), another son (Simon Bird) he abandoned from decades earlier and most importantly Debbie, the last of whom most drastically veers from the swinging mood of the first hour and gives the movie an emotional heft that is encapsulated beautifully in the wistful tunes of its titular song reserved for the end.

This their fourth project together, Coogan continues to find in Winterbottom an inspired director to show off his acting chops. Often typecast in fluffier roles, Coogan finds the right balance of humour, self-awareness and vulnerability to put forth a self-absorbed but never too absorbed portrayal of a complicated figure – complete, we may add, with the side-swept crop of hair that was Paul’s signature look right from the 1960s. Supporting parts are adequate but never really impressive, though one should also keep your eyes peeled for cameos by Stephen Fry as a lawyer and ‘Little Britain’ duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas.

It’s a pity that even after the film one gets the sense that we haven’t really peeled off the layers to a fascinatingly complex character. Instead we settle for an engaging rise-and-fall story of who has been dubbed ‘The King of Soho’ that purposely captures the bigger moments and leaves little room for the smaller intimate ones in its subject’s life; still, Winterbottom captures the mood and feel of the various eras perfectly, and he does it with a kick-ass soundtrack to boot. 

Movie Rating:

(An always absorbing, if never quite as penetrating, portrait of a colourful and yet complex character best described as a cross between Hugh Hefner and Donald Trump)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Adevnture/Thriller
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, Samuel L. Jackson, BD Wong, Wayne Knight
RunTime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/jurassic-park-3d-blu-ray/

Opening Day: 30 May 2013

Synopsis: Universal Pictures will release Steven Spielberg's groundbreaking masterpiece "Jurassic Park" in 3D on April 5, 2013. With his remastering of the epic into a state-of-the-art 3D format, Spielberg introduces the three-time Academy Award®-winning blockbuster to a new generation of moviegoers and allows longtime fans to experience the world he envisioned in a way that was unimaginable during the film's original release.

Movie Review:

Very few live action movies get the 3D re-release treatment - for one, their conversion is harder to accomplish than animated films; and for another, there’s also the worry that adults are more naturally sceptical of paying extra dollar to watch a movie with that extra dimension, seeing it as no more than a gimmick. So the question you’re probably asking about ‘Jurassic Park 3D’ is - is it worth shelling out box office money to watch the same movie in stereoscopy that you could otherwise watch on a Blu-ray/ DVD/ VCD/ video tape or even on Channel 5?

Well, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, because Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking action blockbuster was always better off enjoyed on a big screen; and no, because the 3D doesn’t make the movie significantly more thrilling than it already is. Indeed, how much you enjoy ‘Jurassic Park 3D’ will likely depend on whether you have seen it and if so, how much you like it. And here’s where we start revealing our bias - ‘Jurassic Park’, in our opinion, is truly a timeless classic.

Not just for pioneering some of the most advanced special effects of its time, the movie was an intelligent sci-fi action adventure that had something for everyone. At first sight, it’s easy to dismiss it as no more than an attempt to boost sales at the similarly-titled theme parks at multiple Universal Studios around the world - ours included. But really, its concept was first borne out of a bestselling novel from techno-thriller savant Michael Crichton, who intended it as a cautionary lesson towards mankind’s relentless pursuit of using technology to not just harness nature but in fact to control it.

The fact that Crichton bandied complex ideas like cloning and the Chaos Theory meant it wasn’t going to be - pardon the pun - a walk in the park to adapt the book. But in the hands of one of the best living directors in Hollywood, the big-screen adaptation became rollicking entertainment for the whole family, losing none of its academic concepts or its eco-message for the more savvy sci-fi viewer at the same time. Cannily aware of the lure of such a premise, Spielberg sought to convey the same wide-eyed wonder such a theme park with live dinosaurs would no doubt bring to its visitors if it were real.

He does a brilliant job transporting his audience into the surrealistic world of ‘Jurassic Park’, and within that two hours, successfully turns that experience into one of white-knuckle tension and sheer terror as anything and everything on the park goes amok. Who can forget the first time the T-Rex makes an appearance in its full glory, beginning so memorably with a series of tremors reflected in a glass of water? Or the pair of Velociraptors which had developed the amazing ability of opening doors and played a cat-and-mouse game with a pair of children in the kitchen?

Whereas most modern-day action movies are built around a number of major setpieces, Spielberg uses the entire park as one giant setpiece, unfolding the action on multiple fronts at the same time to ensure a consistently gripping edge-of-your-seat ride. And because many of the shots are designed to immerse the viewer into the scene, the 3D conversion isn’t entirely a waste of time. The depth makes a perceptible difference in many sequences that matter - in particular, it seems that Spielberg and his team at StereoD have paid special attention to the ones with T-Rex, and whether stationary or in motion there is an eye-popping quality to the fearsome predator.

Still, if you were to ask us whether those same sequences are as good without the added dimension, we’re inclined to say yes. There is good reason why the movie was the highest grossing movie of all time until James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ came along four years later, and that was clear even without having to put on any glasses. Using the veritable power of storytelling, Spielberg has made a movie that is as engaging and entertaining whether you were a 12-year-old kid in the cinema twenty years ago or a 32-year-old adult now wearing them 3D spectacles. More than any stereoscopy, the joy is in reliving this on the big screen, or introducing your kids to how it was meant to be seen. 

Movie Rating:

(A motion picture experience to be relived and relished on the big screen - whether or not in stereoscopy)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Thriller
Director: James DeMonaco
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, Max Burkholder, Rhys Wakefield
RunTime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence And Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 29 August 2013 

Synopsis: If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In "The Purge," a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity—including murder—becomes legal. The police can't be called. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin’s (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide.

Movie Review:

A perfect example of a good premise with bad execution, ‘The Purge’ is yet another low-budget horror from Jason Blum - best known for producing the ‘Paranormal Activity’ series, ‘Sinister’ and ‘Insidious’ - who teams up this time with ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ helmer James De Monaco. The intriguing concept will no doubt hook you, but let us warn you that such expectations will undoubtedly be dashed once one realises how limiting writer/ director De Monaco’s vision for his movie is.

We’ll be brutally honest by stating that whatever inspiration De Monaco began and ended with his conception of the class-warfare setup.  The year is 2022, with the rebuilt Government of the United States sanctioning a yearly night of law-breaking - that includes murder - in order to purge the populace of their anti-social inclinations. Besides fulfilling a cathartic purpose, it also ultimately ‘cleanses’ society of its weak, seeing as how the poor and homeless are usually the ones victimised and even eradicated within that one night of violence.

De Monaco spins the idea in the form of a home-invasion movie, where upper-middle class type family James Sandin (Ethan Hawke), his wife Mary (Lena Headey), their 16-year-old daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and 14-year-old son Charlie (Max Burkholder) are forced to defend themselves against a group of murderous intruders gathered outside their door. Though rigged like a fortress - James, we are told before the start of the Annual Purge, runs his own successful home-security business - the weakness here is human, as the sweet-natured Charlie lets in a wounded stranger (Edwin Hodge) whom the mob gathered outside their house was pursuing moments before.

The bloodthirsty crew led by a marvellously creepy Rhys Wakefield demands the return of their prey, which De Monaco establishes as a moral dilemma facing James and Mary in the film’s midsection. Do the right thing or do the selfish thing? It’s hardly any secret which the family eventually chooses, though it is only in the last third that his intentions become clear. Yes, while one may be fooled for thinking that he is decrying America’s violent mentality, De Monarco indulges those very tendencies with a violent showdown filled with machetes and assault rifles as soon as the gang breaches the house’s defences.

And so what might have been a fascinating dystopian sci-fi about aggression, morality and class warfare is in fact no more than a dressed-up home invasion flick, complete with the sort of exploitation that characterised other such genre pictures like ‘Straw Dogs’ and ‘Funny Games’. Granted that there are moments of pure dread and De Monaco does an okay job sustaining the tension for the movie’s brief 89-minute running time, but what transpires is still unequivocally a let-down given the potential of its high-concept premise.

That is even more so when one considers that the performances are also far better than what the movie deserves. As with De Monaco’s ‘Assault’, Hawke is a solid lead actor for the morally ambiguous James, whose ethics are put to the test by no less than his very own teenage son. Ditto for Headey, forced to make a choice between her own maternal instincts and her humanity over the course of the night. While Aussie thespian Wakefield is chilling as the clearly well-heeled, smart and manipulative psycho, his menace is somewhat curtailed by one-note characterisation that fails to build on a mesmerising introduction.

Indeed, De Monaco’s film seems good only as a collection of missed opportunities, whether as social critique or as a smart thriller. By the time one is aware of its B-movie aspirations, you’ll already be disappointed by what you had expected this movie to be, or really what it could have been. It’s an emptying experience all right, purged of ambition, intelligence or ingenuity, so you’ve been warned to similarly purge yourself of expectation if you’re going to step into this all-too generic home-invasion exploitation thriller.

Movie Rating:

(Far from the smart dystopian sci-fi thriller it could have been, this dressed-up home invasion flick settles for generic B-movie thrills)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Enrique Gato
Cast: Meritxell Ané, Óscar Barberán, Belinda, Carles Canut, Fiona Glascott, Adam James, Michelle Jenner, Miguel Ángel Jenner
RunTime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/tadeojones
 
Opening Day: 13 June 2013 

Synopsis: Tadeo has always wanted to become an adventurous and famous archeologist. However, he spends his days daydreaming between the cranes and the cement on the building site where he works. The chance to fulfill his dreams offers itself when his friend, a celebrated archeologist, receives a mysterious stone tablet, the key to the route to the Lost City of Paititi and its legendary treasure. Just as he is about to start out on his journey, the archeologist suffers an unfortunate accident and Tadeo has to take his place on the expedition. Upon reaching Peru, Tadeo discovers that Oddyseus, an important gang of treasure hunters, is also on the trail of the Lost City of Paititi and will stop at nothing to find it. With the help of Sara, an intrepid archeologist, Belzoni, a mute parrot with a strong character, Freddy, a strange guide with a surprising multipurpose overcoat and Jeff, Tadeo’s inseparable dog, he will undertake a risky adventure which will lead them up and down the whole country to save the Lost City and to keep the mysterious treasure out of the claws of their enemies.

Movie Review:

The months of May and June have been seeing several animated film releases, including this recent release of Tad, the Lost Explorer. The film certainly seemed promising initially; after all, it has won five awards from three award ceremonies (mainly ceremonies to honour the best of Spanish films), including three wins of Best Animated Film/Best Animated Feature. However, you are bound to leave the cinema with disappointments if you set your expectations that high…

Tad, the Lost Explorer tells the story of Tadeo, a young man who always longed to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist. However, he only finds himself picking up worthless artefacts from his construction site, and got fired time after time because of his failure to focus on the right things. One day, as he pays a regular visit to a local archaeologist professor, they received news that the missing half of the key to a mysterious ancient civilization is found. The professor is invited over to bring his half of the rock tablet so as to combine and unlock the door to the lost civilization. Unfortunately, due to some twists and turns, the professor was unable to fly over to complete this mission. Not wanting to let go of such a rare opportunity, Tad decided to take a leap of faith and flew over to Peru in place of the professor.

Tad’s journey was quite a ride. As he sets off on his adventure to pursue his passion, he met with the bad guys who have their eyes set on the treasures in the ancient civilization. The action was not sophisticated and overall easy to follow. The 3D definitely gave it an added dimension. The visuals are quite colourful, but lacked brilliance. They certainly could not match up with pictures produced by Pixar’s and Disney’s, the two other strong competitors in the market. The characters in the movie are also not exceptionally adorable or loveable, not those you would expect to be made into cute merchandises. The main character, Tad, also lacks charm and personality – even the two little animals and the Peruvian driver showed more character and focus. As a result, it led on to a rather dull and uninspiring story.

As you could already tell, the story started off with lots of imagination, but hardly delivered it well enough. The story line was easy to follow, but way too predictable. In its attempt to impart ‘good values’, it came across as a little didactic and cliché. Even kids nowadays expect a little more surprise from the films. Entertainment value wise, it did evoke some laughter in the crowd from the blunders Tad and his friends make. But regrettably, the 3D effects were not used to their optimum. The smooth animation was really a plus though.

All in all, this could be just another option for the kids during school holidays, another filler to watch while waiting upon the summer block busters and major animated film releases (like Monster Inc. University and Despicable Me 2). Watch Tad only if you are interested in a virtual tour to Peru and would want to have a taste of foreign flavour.

Movie Rating:  

(Not all those who wander are lost; but all those who wander into the cinema for Tad are indeed so)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Joe Chien
Cast: Yvonne Yao, Morris Rong, Tai Bo, Jack Kao, Dennis To, Jackson Liu
RunTime: 1 hr 26 mins
Rating: R21 (Gore And Sexual Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 
 
Opening Day: 6 June 2013 

Synopsis: A virus gets loose in Taipei. Army and SWAT teams oversee evacuation but in Ximending the gangs don't want the police. They attack the military but when both find themselves under attack by zombies there is an alliance as they try and escape.

Movie Review:

‘Zombie 108’ is a lot of things, but one thing it isn’t is a good movie.

Billed as Taiwan cinema’s first zombie film, it is on the surface a survival story built on a shaky alliance between a SWAT team and a local mafia gang who team up to fight the hordes of walking dead. That’s a promising premise no doubt, one seemingly ripe for a taut and tense thriller that you are probably expecting.

But what potential you might have thought writer/ director Joe Chien’s movie had going for it quickly disappears like the life within one of them flesh-eating fiends. First off, the way it is shot is terrible. Opting for lots of shaky cam and quick shots, there is little excitement to be had in any of the zombie mayhem, especially since there is little continuity or coherence to the way it unfolds.

Then, almost immediately, one realises that Chien is absolutely clueless about how to develop his story. Sure there are the occasional flare-ups between the cops and gangsters, but the petty arguments rarely add up to anything much. There is also not one character- whether on the right or wrong side of the law - that possesses anything akin to personality; and most ingratiatingly, the events seem to unfold in such random disorientating fashion that you will quickly grow frustrated trying to make sense of what is going on.

If that is bad, then wait till you hear about the second half of the movie. Yes, there are two parts to Chien’s film, stitched together as badly as the zombies in it look. Besides the SWAT/ gangster alliance, another significant half of the movie is essentially a sexploitation flick that is none too subtle and likely to offend feminists and non-feminists alike. In a grungy basement, we are shown how a sadistic pervert has kidnapped two women and takes turns humiliating, raping and torturing them.

One of these women is the very first lady we glance in the movie, Linda (model Yvonne Yao), who wakes up after a car accident to a deserted street in Taipei, wanders into a Carrefour supermarket searching for her missing daughter, and runs into a pack of zombies inside. Yes, picked up by said pervert with her daughter, she is shackled in his basement and forced to perform oral sex on him; but that isn’t as bad as her other companion, who is tied to a table and injected with ‘zombie poision’ just so he can experience what it is like to have sex with a zombie.

That subplot plays out like torture porn and is indeed disturbing on an elemental level. Chien’s misogynistic tendencies are also obvious in the way any woman for that matter is portrayed - and from topless pole dancing lesbians to cops to mafia wives, the preference for any character of the female gender to show as much skin as possible is impossible to ignore.

By that sheer fact, Chien’s film descends from bad to detestable. Under the guise of Taiwan’s first zombie movie, Chien has made a thinly disguised sexploitation flick that goes way beyond its incoherent plot and clumsy direction to a whole different level of objectionable. Never mind that it was crowdfunded for NT$10 million, it is just tasteless sleaze and gore masquerading as a bona fide movie. Avoid at all costs. 

Movie Rating:

(Beyond the incoherent plot and clumsy direction, this is a thinly disguised sexploitation movie made by a misogynist that is objectionable and plain distasteful)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Comedy
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello, Nick Swardson
RunTime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: http://www.grownups2-movie.com/

Opening Day: 18 July 2013 

Synopsis: The all-star comedy cast from "Grown Ups" returns (with some exciting new additions) for more summertime laughs. Lenny (Adam Sandler) has relocated his family back to the small town where he and his friends grew up. This time around, the grown ups are the ones learning lessons from their kids on a day notoriously full of surprises: the last day of school.

Movie Review:

If you’re going into ‘Grown Ups 2’ looking for plot or character, then don’t even bother. Adam Sandler’s first ever sequel is no more than an excuse for him to get together with his Happy Madison pals for some male bonding time, to which he has also graciously invited some easily recognisable faces like Taylor Lautner (yes, we mean Jacob from the ‘Twilight’ movies), Shaquille O’ Neal (remember that NBA star?) and even Steve Austin. How much you enjoy their get-together really depends on how much you enjoy Sandler and Co’s brand of humour.

Anyone who’s a fan of Sandler will recognise his regular big-screen pals, many of whom like himself were ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumni - including Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Nick Swardson, as well as Steve Buscemi, Jon Lovitz, Tim Meadows and Colin Quinn in smaller parts. There is unmistakable chemistry among them honed from years of goofing off each other, so there’s really no point chiding them for indulging in man-boy humour; instead, all you should be prepared to do is to laugh along with them - and occasionally at them.

The script by Sandler and another two of his regulars - Fred Wolf and Tim Herlihy - provides the loosest structure for him to knock around with his pals. Set entirely in the course of the last day of school before summer break, it reunites Sandler’s former hotshot Hollywood agent Lenny with his trio of childhood friends - Eric (James), Kurt (Rock) and Marcus (Spade) as they plan a 1980s-styled party at his house; the only noticeable absence from the first movie being Rob, no thanks to Sandler regular Rob Schneider sitting out this adventure.

Each character gets his own individual storyline - Sandler objects to his wife’s (Salma Hayek) wish to have a fourth kid in the family; Eric secretly hides out at his mother’s place because his wife (Maria Bello) isn’t affectionate enough; Kurt is feeling excited about his “get out of jail free” pass after remembering his twentieth wedding anniversary when the missus (Maya Rudolph) hasn’t; and Marcus has just met his son who happens to be a tattooed teenage delinquent. All that, plus their children’s complications of the heart, are however just filler among the string of episodic gags and infantile humour which follow.

Keeping with the spirit of the first movie, bodily discharge is still very much in vogue; there is urination (the opening scene has a deer peeing on Sandler’s face), simulated defecation and ‘burpsnarts’ (a one-two-three combo of a burp, sneeze and fart). Ditto for leering - first with Lovitz’s janitor impersonating an aerobics instructor and getting the women to jiggle their breasts and spank their butts; then moving on to a hot ballet teacher at school; and then to a car wash by young nubile cheerleaders.

Yes, this is that kind of movie, exactly the type Swardson’s high-on-drugs bus driver can fit snugly in by stripping to his knickers, sleeping on a bed in Kmart and pooping in their toilet bowls on display. It is also that movie which Lautner’s crew of frat boys form a childish rivalry with Sandler and his pals, resulting in an impromptu insult contest, naked dives off a 35-foot cliff, and culminating in a showdown at the very party on Sandler’s home lawn where the very same deer that appears at the beginning returns for a ball-breaking finish.

Not all the jokes work, not all the humour will resonate (in particular, those that aren’t physical in nature), and the pace does slack from time to time - despite Sandler’s go-to director Dennis Dugan’s best efforts. But this is a movie that hinges on a bunch of grown-ups who refuse to grow up, that very circumstance mirrored by the kind of humour Sandler and his company indulge in and invite their audience to revel in. Call it slack and lazy if you like, but if you’re not into watching Sandler slack and laze and relax with his pals, then ‘Grown Ups 2’ ain’t for you. 

Movie Rating:

(A compendium of man-boy humour including flatulence, urination, simulated defecation, abundant leering and frat boys, this is a movie that’s all about hanging with Adam Sandler and his company of Happy Madison pals)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Klay Hall
Cast: Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Cedric the Entertainer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, Priyanka Chopra, Gabriel Iglesias, Roger Craig Smith, Colin Cowherd, Sinbad, Oliver Kalkofe, Brent Musburger, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: G
Released By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyPlanes

Opening Day: 5 September 2013

Synopsis: From above the world of “Cars” comes “Disney’s Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar. 

Movie Review:

‘Cars’ may not have been the most well-received Pixar animation, but it and its sequel did make a ton of money at the box office and even more through its merchandising. There’s no disguising therefore the motivation behind DisneyToon Studios’ spinoff ‘Planes’, which was supposed to go direct-to-DVD before being scheduled for a theatrical release with 3D prints no less.

As if the ads didn’t scream it, the opening scene of the movie makes absolutely clear of its relationship with that Pixar franchise by unabashedly announcing “From Above the World of ‘Cars’”. Indeed, in many ways, one could consider ‘Planes’ a ripoff. One of its key characters, Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook), hails from an American Midwest town called Propwash Junction much like that of Radiator Springs. Like either one of the ‘Cars’ movies, this one is also set in the world of competitive racing, or more accurately in this case competitive flying.

Within a perfectly identifiable context unspools an entirely familiar underdog tale not unlike ‘A Bug’s Life’, ‘Ratatouille’ and most recently ‘Turbo’. Unwilling to accept his crop-dusting fate of spraying fertiliser on farm fields, Dusty instead dreams of competing in the Wings Around the Globe race, refusing to be daunted by his colleague Leadbottom (Cedric The Entertainer) nor his four-wheeled pals Chug (Brad Garrett) and Dottie (Teri Hatcher) despite their efforts to talk him out of it. But when he unexpectedly wows the crowd at a local tryout, Chug and Dottie begin to see that there just might be hope to achieving his seemingly impossible dream.

Besides them, Dusty gets some invaluable help from the crusty Skipper (Stacy Keach), a veteran Navy Corsair whose past exploits commanding the celebrated Jolly Wrenches squadron are the stuff of legend around town - and in yet another parallel from ‘Cars’, Skipper is cast from the same mould as Paul Newman’s Doc Hudson. Whereas Pixar might have taken some time to develop the mentor-trainee relationship between Dusty and Skipper, screenwriter Jeffrey M. Howard cuts straight into the racing’s big leagues, with Dusty’s only impediment being his fear of heights.

Since ‘Cars 2’ made most of its coin overseas, ‘Planes’ too adopts a similarly globe-trotting premise, as the race takes our characters from New York to Iceland, then to Germany, across the Himalayas to China, over the Pacific Ocean to Mexico, and finally back to the Big Apple. Along the way, Dusty makes friends of his French-Canadian competitor Rochelle (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), her scene-stealing Mexican suitor El Chupacabra (Carlos Alazraqui), and a stiff British upper-lip Bulldog (John Cleese); oh, he also finds a possible romantic interest in Indian competitor Ishani (Priyanka Chopra).

Rather than risk losing its core audience’s (read: kids) attention, director Klay Hall doesn’t allow much down time in between the various legs of the race; instead, a lot of time is spent in the air delivering the vertiginous thrills sure to delight the young ones especially with the added joy of 3D. And as Dusty conquers the odds within himself and Mother Nature, he also gets to deal with a nasty competitor Ripslinger (Roger Craig Smith), a world champion racer determined not to let some upstart upstage him.

Yet the fact that there is hardly any time for any substantial dramatic beats in between the action is not likely to bother anyone just looking for some good-ol’ midair adventure. Hall dutifully trots out the iconic imagery at every stopover (including we might add some pretty niftily-designed automobiles from Nepal), while ensuring that the scenery during every section of the race is definitive enough on its own to never seem repetitive. In particular, a frightening storm at sea is one of the more exhilarating bits, preceded by an amusing segment on board a USS aircraft carrier.

For all its derivativeness therefore, there’s no denying that this is a perfectly agreeable animation. Every bit of its design is reminiscent of ‘Cars’ - ditto for its underdog story and the overarching theme of believing in oneself no matter the odds; but once you put aside all expectations of originality, you’ll find a reasonably appealing action adventure, a perfectly game voice cast (including the likes of former ‘Top Gun’ actors Anthony Edwards and Val Kilmer as a pair of F-18 Hornets), and a surprising amount of attention to detail to please aviation buffs.

So to use its own analogy, this ‘Planes’ may not soar, but it certainly does find a nice cruising altitude to please the young ones and keep their adult companions sufficiently engaged - that is, we suspect, more than enough for its core family audience. 

Movie Rating:

(No matter whether you consider this a spinoff or ripoff of ‘Cars’, ‘Planes’ is a perfectly amiable action adventure that offers plenty of midair thrills to keep the young ones entertained)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Drama
Director: Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Annasophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James
RunTime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thewaywayback/

Opening Day: 12 September 2013

Synopsis: Written and directed by the Oscar winning writers of THE DESCENDANTS, THE WAY, WAY BACK is the funny and poignant coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (Liam James) summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and his daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin). Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen (Sam Rockwell), the carefree manager of the Water Wizz water park. Through his friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world - all during a summer that will change his life.

Movie Review:

Congratulations, Steve Carell – you have successfully made us dislike a character you portray. We used to be on your side for every personality you played on screen. Andy Stitzer from The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) left us in stitches, Dan Burns in Dan in real Life (2007) was a heartbreaker and Burt Wonderstone’s harir piece in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) was a hoot on its own. Let’s not even talk about Michael Scott from your hit TV series The Office. But with this latest big screen role as an overbearing boyfriend, you’ve played the first nastily unpleasant character in your career.

And that’s not a bad thing, because that is life as it is. Carell and an ensemble of fine actors star in this American comedy written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who are known for their Oscar winning screenplay for The Descendants (2001), The duo’s directorial debut tells the story of a shy 14 year old boy who goes on summer vacation with his mother, her arrogantly obnoxious boyfriend and his daughter. As all coming of age dramas would go, he has a difficult time fitting in, and ends up being friends with a manager of a water park.

There may not be enough dramatic twists and turns in the plot, but what is notable about this 103 minute film is how it paints life’s every moment with empathy. There are many moments in the film that you will be able to connect with, from a teenager’s desperate attempt to find meaning in life and his curiosity in the opposite gender, to a parent’s sudden outburst and her uncontrollable emotional breakdown. These are moments in life that you have seen, or even experienced, but may not always be courageous enough to talk about them.

Faxon and Rash’s screenplay does not overplay or overdramatise the emotions of the central character, and manages to introduce a myriad of other seemingly unnoticeable personalities that essentially make up life itself. There is the loving mother who wants nothing more than the best for her son, the playmate who is enigmatically attractive, her brother who makes life more chuckle worthy with his weird behaviour, the new friend whom you want to know better because of his larger than life nature, and his love interest who is one of the hundreds of people you walk past every other day. These profiles surround the protagonist in his pursuit to find himself, and with is developed well with a finely paced script.

The directors also have a fine cast to thank for this highly laudable production. Besides Carell, there is the always reliable Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, Hitchcock) who plays the protagonist’s mother, Allison Janney (Juno, The Help) who plays the hard drinking neighbour, and AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Race to WitchMountain) who plays the attractive love interest. Liam James (Fred Claus, 2012) takes on the role of Duncan, the central character with an inspiringly praiseworthy performance.

Most noteworthy is the highly underrated Sam Rockwell (Moon, Seven Psychopaths) who makes an unexpected connection with Duncan. The 44 year old actor is a fine reminder of how the most unremarkably inconspicuous person you come across in life can make the biggest impact. His fine acting is complemented by Maya Rudolph (Away We Go, Grown Ups 2) and co-director Faxon himself.

When the last scene of Duncantravelling across town in a car comes on screen, you’d be gently reminded that life is but a journey where no one has definite answers how things will turn out – but also one where everyone trots along with consolation and solace from companions. 

Movie Rating:

(The highly recommended movie boasts wonderful performances from the ensemble cast, and an affirming life lesson that will leave you moved by life’s seemingly insignificant moments)

Review by John Li