Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Chai Yee-wei
Cast: Julie Tan, Daren Tan, Seah Jiaqing, Kenny Khoo, Jayley Woo, Hayley Woo, Kelvin Mun, Sherly Ng
RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: GV
Official Website: www.thatgirlinpinafore.com

Opening Day: 1 August 2013

Synopsis: Should you follow your heart or your head? That Girl in Pinafore is a coming-of-age tale set in 1993, Singapore, about dreams, friendships, and first loves.

The story follows four teenagers' efforts to bring business back to a struggling folk music pub, and the blossoming love between Jiaming and May, both fans of Singaporean folk music. 1992 – Singapore is on the verge of electing its first President, and chewing gum has been banned. Hope and rejuvenation is in the air, everyone believes in the Singapore Dream. Young musicians strive to give birth to a local music industry, creating local music at a rapid pace. Music cafes spring up everywhere alongside the hot new trend, karaoke. Jiaming is a free spirited teenager who has never taken school seriously. His parents own a music pub called ‘Meng Chuan’, and Jiaming feels schooling is useless as he wants to help out at the business.

True enough, Jiaming flunks his ‘O’ level exams and drops out of school. Jiaming’s buddies Caogen, Haoban and Xiaopang pass their exams and move on to Junior College. But they are caught renting porn magazines by the principal and are suspended for a month. During this month, the boys take part in a local music competition, have a taste of first love, and work hard to bring business back to the struggling ‘Meng Chuan’.

This coming-of-age tale sees Jiaming and gang learn the harsh realities of pursuing dreams in the real world. In growing up, the boys learn that choosing between your heart and societal expectations is akin to losing your innocence to the adult world. The eventual closure of the pub ‘Meng Chuan’ paralells the real world demise of the ‘Xinyao’ movement around the mid-90s. It signifies the lost of youthful innocence to the necessities of growing up.

Movie Review:

Chances are, if you were a male student who had spent your teenage years in Singapore’s education system, you’d have at some point had a crush on a girl in a pinafore. But more than just a heartfelt ode to that formative experience, Chai Yee-Wei’s sublimely beautiful ‘That Girl in Pinafore’ also portrays the heady feelings of teenage love that whether male or female will surely be able to identify with. Yes, those tentative words, that sweet first kiss, the nights talking secretly on the phone, and then perhaps for quite the majority the eventual heart-breaking parting, all that is lovingly captured in one of the most affecting local films we have seen.

Comparisons with Taiwan’s own smash hit ‘You’re the Apple of My Eye’ are inevitable, but to dismiss this movie as a slavish copy of the other is a gross injustice. After all, even before last year, such chronicles of the growing pains and puppy loves of local teenagers were already captured on film thanks to ‘The Teenage Textbook Movie’. Chai’s film is however also much more than just an update of that earlier movie for a different generation; rather it also pays tribute to an era of local music that has sadly gone out of fashion - and we’re referring here to the ‘xinyao’ movement, which saw its heydays in the 1990s with well-known household names such as Liang Wern Fook and Billy Koh.

It’s an absolutely winsome combination - that of teenage romance and ‘xinyao’ - with one complimenting the other in significance and ultimately poignancy. The most heartfelt type of romances have somehow always found their expression in song, and Chai - who co-writes the script with Violet Lai - has crafted a tender love story to give new meaning to the ‘xinyao’ tunes of yesteryears - including ‘细水长流’, ‘黎明的心’ and ‘麻雀衔竹枝’. No less than Liang has contributed to their new arrangements, and whether amping some to rock-n-roll or simplifying others to just guitar, the songs perfectly mirror the mood of the film at different points no matter in rapture, wistfulness or sorrow.

That in a nutshell describes the narrative arc of the film, which begins in cheerful insouciance as lead protagonist Jia Ming (Project Superstar winner Daren Tan) and his group of three closely knit friends - Hao Ban (Kenny Khoo), Cao Gen (Seah Jia Qing) and Xiao Pang (Kelvin Mun) - make acquaintance with May (Julie Tan) and her two friends Jayley and Hayley (Jayley and Hayley Woo respectively). Jia Ming is enamoured with Julie from the start, but Hao Ban and Cao Gen only start cosying up to Jayley and Hayley after the three girls agree to help Jia Ming and his friends revive the former’s struggling music café business.

The fairly standard boy-meets-girl routine gets a surprisingly earnest treatment by being rooted in a strong sense of time and place. The year is 1993, the heydays of the ‘xinyao’ revolution, where cafes like Jia Ming’s parents’ ‘Dream Boat’ were a dime a-dozen and ‘xinyao’ competitions were the rage. And yet a good education was still first and foremost in the minds of most parents, be it Hao Ban’s working-class ‘cha kway teow’ stall parents, or May’s well-to-do single mother, with lines being drawn by arrogant kids like James between the ones in JC and the ones who could not make it.

The latter is also the reason why Jia Ming isn’t in the same school as his other three friends, and spends his days instead helping out with the family business. Yes, the hard truth is that academics matter very much where you end up in life, and the film finds deep relevance in its setting and context by portraying keenly the attitudes, norms and fads of a distinctly 90s cultural and social environment. Chai has obviously drawn from his own experiences growing up in such that era, which we guarantee will certainly resonate strongly with anyone who’s been through the Singaporean education system and even more with those who have spent the early part of the 90s in that system.

Through music and lyrics, Jia Ming and May’s mutual attraction takes shape. Ditto for their attempt to revive ‘Dream Boat’ - well, at least at the start. On the first night of the boys’ makeover from ‘bo chap’ open mic singers to chic rock-star wannabes, May succumbs to the condition of her weak heart and is rushed to hospital, precipitating a meeting of two worlds - one, her social world where Jia Ming and his group of friends belong; and two, her home background where her single mother is trying too hard to secure the future she wants for May and removing any obstacles (including the wrong company) along the way.   

At the halfway mark, what began as an upbeat celebration of the carefreeness of youth takes a decidedly melodramatic turn, and here is where we suspect some will criticise it for being heavy-handed. To be sure, Chai does succumb to the overdramatic as May’s mother takes draconian steps (including locking her inside her room) to thwart her relationship with Jia Ming - yet in parts where restraint might have served it better, the sincere performances from Daren and Julie keep the movie afloat, as well as their audience emotionally invested in a happily-ever-after.

Alas only the idealistic are likely to hold on to that hope as the beat gets more melancholic and the mood more circumspect; but Chai ultimately brings a beautifully bittersweet closure to the proceedings with an arch coda set 18 years later in present time. The reason for such a time jump isn’t immediately clear, but when revealed, is surprisingly elegant and meaningful, conveying an evocative point about how teenage memories are never quite forgotten even if don’t always surface in our everyday consciousness. What’s also clear is how this must have been a personal tale for Chai, the feelings of wistfulness quite likely his very own looking back at his teenage years, a similar sentiment that he knows many young and middle-aged adults share.

And so even though its teenage coming-of-age romance isn’t anything new, the fact that it is so rooted in a uniquely Singaporean context makes it all the more special and moving. Chai captures the details of the Singaporean teenager so attentively, evoking memories and feelings we are sure many will be able to identify with or reminisce about. Of course, the fact that it boasts some lovely ‘xinyao’ tunes only makes the whole experience all the sweeter and touching. Yes, we admit we are very much biased here, but there is something indescribably charming and delightful about the chord it struck in our hearts - and we dare say this will be our favourite local film this year. 

Movie Rating:

(Brimming with cheerful insouciance, heartfelt poignancy and bittersweet wistfulness, this uniquely Singaporean coming-of-age tale is both a beautiful tribute to the teenage experience and a lovely ode to the ‘xinyao’ movement)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Comedy/Adventure
Director: Kim Yong-hwa
Cast: Xu Jiao, Seong Dong-il, Kim Kang-Woo
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village
Official Website: 
 
Opening Day: 25 July 2013 

Synopsis: Young circus ringmaster Wei Wei has only bat-swinging gorilla Ling Ling to depend on as her only family member and friend when her grandfather dies in the Great Sichuan Earthquake, leaving behind an insurmountable debt. When a loan shark threatens to sell Ling Ling and the circus kids to cover the debt, Wei Wei (Xu Jiao) has no choice but to allow Ling Ling to be scouted in the Korean Baseball League by the materialistic sports agent Sung. Ling Ling, now dubbed ‘Mr. Go’, becomes an instant hit with fans and leads his team Doosan to a miraculous winning streak. No pitcher can stand up to Mr. Go’s powerful single-handed swing, and they watch helplessly as the ball flies out of the park. His popularity grows so immensely that even the fans of his opposing teams cheer for him, and single handedly attracts worldwide media attention to the league. Wei Wei and Sung are stunned and blinded by the sudden success, and neglect to detect Ling Ling’s worsening knee injury, just as Japanese clubs are drafting ground breaking trade propositions…

Movie Review:

‘Mr Go’ is one of those movies that you go in thinking that you have it all figured out, only to realise that it packs so much more than you had ever expected it would. Not that it isn’t unabashedly a family film, but the real surprise to Kim Yong-hwa’s expensive 3D film is how it deftly confounds audience expectations with its engaging plot, offering a thoroughly enjoyable experience for both young and old alike.

Based on the classic 1980s comic ‘7^th Baseball Club’ by Heo Young-man, the titular character refers to a 285 kg circus gorilla who is recruited by a savvy baseball agent to join the professional league by batting for the Doosan Bears. Such a high-concept premise seems primed for formula, especially since Mr Go is also the de facto guardian of a 15-year old precocious girl named Wei Wei (played by Mainland actress Xu Jiao), so one might be excused for already anticipating a rousing finale which simply affirms the ties between human and primate.

For the record, as well as for the benefit of audiences looking for that sort of an uplifting conclusion, it does end on such a stirring high note. Yet that is only half of the story, and Kim and his co-writers - Kim Hyun-chul and Kim Jong-hyun - deserve credit for coming up with some interesting surprises along the way. Instead of proceeding on a straight trajectory therefore, this one twists and turns thanks to some nicely timed curveballs, charting an altogether different path from where you think the various narrative threads are going.

Setting the stage for said gorilla Ling Ling’s journey to Korea is the 2008 Great Sichuan Earthquake, which causes the death of Wei Wei’s grandfather and leaves her in charge of his circus with a huge debt over their heads. As debtors come calling, Wei Wei is left at her wit’s end how to save the circus as well as the forty other orphans who claim shelter under its roof. And so when the wily Sung (Korean actor Sung Dong-il) comes knocking, she readily accepts his offer to transform Ling Ling into a baseball star.

Whereas other genre movies might have settled for making Sung the villain who turns over a new leaf by the time the credits roll, Sung is none of that here; rather, questionable though his motives may have been at the start, he forms an almost immediate bond with Ling Ling even as the latter uses the leaves of his prized Japanese tree in a garden within his apartment to make its bed. Neither does Ling Ling have any trouble settling into the game; in fact, he takes to baseball like the glove that fits the hand.

Reserving Sung’s cover-up of Ling Ling’s weak knee for almost the very end, Kim works on the debtors’ continued harassment of the orphans and more importantly, a second gorilla named Lei-Ting whom Wei Wei had tried but failed to train and tame. At least for the first half of the movie, it isn’t quite clear how Lei-Ting will come into the picture, but once you see how the filmmakers weave him into the story, you can’t help but be awed for both their ingenuity as well as their ambition.

Indeed, for what marks the first fully CGI-ed character to be created in Korean cinema, Kim has certainly set the bar high for himself and the larger industry. Working together with his VFX supervisor Jung Sung-jin under Kim’s own studio Dexter Digital, he brings Ling Ling to life with amazing vividness. Not only is the CGI seamlessly integrated into the live-action shots, Ling Ling is animated with impressive detail to both emotion and character. That feat is even more significant when one compares Ling Ling to Lei-Ting, the former gentle and generous while the latter rash and rowdy.  

Undoubtedly impressive are the scenes where Ling Ling gets in the heat of the game; in particular, one where his trainer Wei Wei goes AWOL leaving Sung to take over is exhilarating to watch as Ling Ling gets out of control and is pursued by an emergency helicopter over the roof of the Jamsil Stadium. But Kim reserves the best for last; the finale where Ling Ling and Lei-Ting end up on opposing teams and go up against each other is jaw-dropping to say the least, particularly so when one considers that both gorillas are in fact computer-generated.

With a keen sensibility tuned to the game too, Kim choreographs the baseball matches with throbbing excitement, sparing no expense at replicating the sheer thrill of the games. Baseball fans will also appreciate how he takes care to intertwine finer intricacies of the sport as a business, as Ling Ling’s talent attracts the interest of two rival Japanese baseball teams which Sung proceeds to milk for maximum gain. Such details add richness to what could easily have been a run-of-the-mill family movie, and demonstrate Kim’s endeavour at both creative and technical artistry.

His achievement is also even the more notable for being the first major Korean-Chinese co-production - a significant part of its US$22.5 mil budget (considered sizeable by the terms of the Korean film industry) was put up by Huayi Brothers. Notwithstanding the necessities of ensuring some Chinese element in the story (Wei Wei’s circus hails from China), Kim’s film is a brilliant example of cross-strait collaboration that does not need to pander to audiences on either side. Most of all, it is amusing, heartwarming, poignant and inspirational, one of the very best family films we’ve seen in a long while. 

Movie Rating:

(A smarter-than-expected narrative and some truly astounding technical achievements combine to create one of the best family films in a long while that delivers big laughs, big emotion and huger thrills)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

SYNOPSIS: When a deadly fire breaks out in an apartment tower, rescuers and those trapped share a common goal: To get their loved ones out Single father Dae-ho (KIM Sang-kyung) is the facilities manager at an exclusive residential complex, Tower Sky. Despite having to work late, he promises his young daughter, Ha-na the best Christmas Eve ever. Yoon-hee, who Dae-ho is privately infatuated with, offers to watch Ha-na while Dae-ho is called to an emergency and the girls quickly forge a bond. Young-kee (SUL Kyung-gu), a veteran fire captain at Yeouido Station, takes the evening off to spend Christmas Eve with his wife for the first time. It's supposed to be the happiest evening of the year for everyone, but a terrible accident starts a fire in Tower Sky and changes everything. Amid one of the city’s worst disasters, a story of ordinary people who hang on to hope to the bitter end unfolds.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Clearly inspired by the 1974’s classic Hollywood disaster movie, The Towering Inferno, this Korean’s take on the disaster genre after Haeundae is yet another showcase from the local pool of talented and ambitious filmmaking community. Fast catching up with Hollywood in terms of technology, The Tower is no doubt another winner in the special effects department.

Produced by South Korean’s media giant, CJ Entertainment, The Tower takes its blueprint out of several Hollywood productions and replaced it with their own stars and the audience taste for melodramatics not forgetting a slice of Backdraft thrown in for good measure.

For a 120 minutes movie, the first 30 minutes expectedly established the various core characters including the building manager, Dae-ho and his young daughter Hana, his crush - an event manager Yoon-hee, a young couple, the brave Captain of a fire station together with his recruit and sergeant and lastly a poor cleaner aunty. The rest of the cast are some cardboard characters who chipped in as the fire commissioner, the evil Chairman of the tower, a pregnant woman, some rich uncle and aunty and a number of generic cowardly men who met a fast death.

Like mentioned earlier, the real star of this movie is the state-of-the-art visual effects which in general just a little bit off compared to their Hollywood counterparts. The mayhem starts once the chopper that is hired to create fake snow for a Christmas celebration held at the latest luxurious residential twin towers in town called Tower Sky crashed into the building due to a wind draft. While it never reaches apocalyptic proportions, the large scale effects which consists of massive flames, explosions, glass shattering, water tanks bursting (just to name some of them) delivers much tension and thrill, one particular scene that stood out has the survivors walking across a collapsing sky bridge to the other unaffected tower.

Director Kim Ji-hoon (Sector 7) sure knows how to balance effect with melodramatics. In between the deafening explosions lie the emotional aspects that are require for audience to root for the remaining survivors be it the young Hana or the fumbling fireman sergeant played by the goofy-looking Kim In-kwon (Haeundae, My Way). It’s also a good thing he has the likeable Kim Sang-kyeong as the doting father Dae-ho, the beautiful Son Ye-jin (My Girlfriend Can See Ghosts) as the female lead and Seol Kyeong-gu (another Haeundae’s alumni) as the heroic Captain Young-kee to save the day literally.

Ultimately, The Tower is a disaster popcorn flick, repackaged and made entirely by the Koreans. Those who are not fans of Roland Emmerich’s stuff should very much avoid this. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Only a Trailer is included

AUDIO/VISUAL:

With the exception of some obvious poorly rendered CG effects, The Tower burnt up on the screen with detailed, impressive images and a deep black level on the whole. With only a 2.0 soundtrack available, the many explosions and bass activities are confined only to the front speakers making it incredibly less effective for such a title.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

Genre: Animation/ Adventure/ Comedy
Director: Cal Brunker
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, ane Lynch, Craig Robinson, George Lopez, Sofia Vergara, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Jonath Morgan Heit, James Corden, Rob Corddry, William Shatner
Runtime: 1 hr 29 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.escapeearthmovie.com/

Opening Day: 6 June 2013

Synopsis: The animated family comedy catapults moviegoers to planet Baab where admired astronaut Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) is a national hero to the blue alien population. A master of daring rescues, Scorch pulls off astonishing feats with the quiet aid of his nerdy, by-the-rules brother, Gary (Rob Corddry), head of mission control at BASA. When BASA's no-nonsense chief Lena (Jessica Alba) informs the brothers of an SOS from a notoriously dangerous planet, Scorch rejects Gary's warnings and bounds off for yet another exciting mission. But when Scorch finds himself caught in a fiendish trap set by the evil Shanker (William Shatner), it's up to scrawny, risk-adverse Gary to do the real rescuing. As the interplanetary stakes rise to new heights, Gary is left to save his brother, his planet, his beloved wife Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) and their adventure-hungry son Kip.

Movie Review:

If you’re looking for Disney/ Pixar quality animation, then this second tier animated action comedy will not cut it. But lower your expectations a little, and you’ll find that there are still quite a few chuckles to be had with storyboard artist-turned-helmer Cal Brunker’s brisk colourful diversion.

Built on the familiar premise of aliens trapped on Earth, it imagines a parallel intergalactic planet named Baab similar to many respects to Earth save for the fact that it is inhabited by blue-skinned people. Baab’s hero of the moment is astronaut Scorch Supernova (voiced by Brendan Fraser with much macho swagger), who has more than a hint of Buzz Lightyear about him.

Baab’s older brother is the timid egghead Gary, who works at Mission Control and has been responsible for bringing him home safely on every mission despite the former’s own self-absorbed delusion of his own abilities. So the familiar brotherly love turned sibling rivalry gets a spin here when Baab ignores Gary’s advice and boards his shop bound for the Dark Planet - otherwise known as Earth - and promptly gets captured by the megalomaniac General Shanker (Star Trek’s William Shatner clearly loving every hammy moment of it).

Some bit of double-crossing aside, Brunker and co-writer Bob Barlen (with story credits to Cory Edwards and Tony Leech) stick to a largely straight-forward narrative as Gary puts his fears away and blasts off to Earth to save his brother - oh, and incidentally too, earn the respect of his young kid, Kip (Johnathan Morgan Heit), who thinks less of Dad and more of Scorch. Mom Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) also gets a bit of the action back at Baab, and ends up contributing her own to save the day.

It all comes off a little generic to say the least, but to compensate for its mediocrity, Brunker ensures that everything moves at a brisk enough pace so that you won’t get bored. In particular, the couple of chase sequences should prove exciting enough to keep preteen audiences in their seats, especially if they have them 3D glasses on; and for the adults, there are the occasional bits of wink-wink pop-culture references - including the use of Area 51 as a base for General Shanker and a nod to the 1953 sci-fi cult classic ‘It Came From Outer Space’.

What should also interest adult auds is the excellent supporting voice cast. Fraser and Corrdry make a good complementary pair as brothers, notable too for the fact that it makes a departure from the usual kind of cocky personas Corrdry lands up playing. Ricky Gervais contributes some witty moments as the voice computer assisting the mission; while Steve Zahn and Chris Parnell pop up briefly as a pair of trailer-park stoners turned unlikely allies for Scorch and Gary. Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson and George Lopez top off the star-studded ensemble, having good fun as fellow aliens captured under General Shanker.

So even though many of its parts seem built on recycled parts, ‘Escape to Planet Earth’ still offers a reasonable fun-filled time for parents looking for some kid-friendly diversion at the cinemas. Don’t go in expecting the same level of ingenuity as Disney/ Pixar’s works or even the quality of animation in Dreamworks’ products; with a relatively engaging storyline, lively characters and some occasional wit, this escape is an entertaining enough ride to take. 

Movie Rating:

(Brisk and colourful animated action comedy that isn’t all that original but will still be entertaining stuff for kids and engaging enough for their accompanying adults)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Thriller
Director: Neil Jordan
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones
RunTime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence And Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/ByzantiumMovie

Opening Day: 10 October 2013

Synopsis: Eleanor and Clara, two mysterious and penniless young women, flee the scene of a violent crime and arrive in a run-down coastal resort. They try to find money and refuge along the tawdry seafront and in the dilapidated hotels. Clara, ever-practical, sells her body. She soon encounters shy and lonely Noel, who provides a roof over their heads in his seedy guesthouse, Byzantium. Clara, always looking towards the future, turns it into a ‘pop-up’ brothel. Meanwhile Eleanor, the eternal schoolgirl, meets Frank, a kindred spirit who unwittingly prompts her to tell the truth about her life. She tells him that Clara is her mother; yet Clara is only a few years older. She says that she was born in 1804; yet she is just 16. She confesses that she must drink human blood to stay alive – and so must her mother. In the small, quiet town, people start to die. And the past that the girls have been running from for so long, finally catches up with them – with astonishing consequences.

Movie Review:

Directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Breakfast on Pluto) and based on a teleplay by scriptwriter Moira Buffini, Byzantium is a dark fantasy faintly reminiscent of Jordan’s 1994 hit adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel, Interview With The Vampire.

The story follows two vampires who are struggling vagabonds: the irresistibly charismatic Clara (Gemma Arterton), aptly described as “morbidly sexy”, plies her trade on the street and is fiercely protective of her child, Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan). Dreamy and graceful, the ever-youthful Eleanor lives on the outskirts of life; eschewing the seedy underbelly her mother makes a living out of while pining for a more conventional life. Donning a red jacket with a cape for most of the film, Eleanor is a twisted version of Red Riding Hood, with an innocent enough appearance that masks the monstrous truth. Unlike her mother, she steadfastly holds onto the rule of only feeding on the elderly or the sick, those who are ready to have their death wishes fulfilled. She dutifully performs a similar rite for every killing. Like any family, their relationship is tumultuous: Eleanor is resentful of her mother’s way of living, even as the latter is doing the best she can.

Interspersing the present are flashbacks of a time during the Napoleonic Wars that layer the characters’ history and are essential to giving meat to the story. Clara’s backstory is cripplingly miserable: After being forced into prostitution by a certain Captain Ruthven (Jonny Lee Miller), she seizes the secret to eternal life through his comrade Darvell (Sam Riley) and eventually condemns both herself and her daughter to becoming vampires.

Driven by the fear of old enemies and the consequences of being found out for who they are and what they do, mother and daughter are constantly on the run, shifting from town to town. As Clara seduces and schemes her way to set up a makeshift brothel in an unused hotel called Byzantium to earn their keep, Eleanor befriends a leukemic teenager Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) after impressing him with her piano-playing. Giving in to the urge of wanting to make her 200-year old secret known, Eleanor takes a misstep that threatens both her and Clara’s tenuous livelihoods.

Gothic and visually elegant with occasional shocks of violence, the film may be excessively introspective at times, thanks in part to Ronan’s ice-blue stare and the lonely strains of piano constantly in the background. Jordan creates a cold atmosphere of relentless despair and hopelessness in possibly one of the less sanguine vampire films to emerge in recent years, similar to 2010’s understated Let Me In.

While Ronan’s sensitive portrayal of a conflicted teenager grappling with remorse and age-old wisdom is praiseworthy, it isn’t much of a breakthrough from her performances in recent films such as The Host or Hanna. The film’s highlights are credited to Arterton. Clara is a spitfire that lends Byzantium much-needed life, with her zealous motherly instinct forming most of the story’s heart.

Movie Rating:  

(Let down by a ‘Twilight’-style ending which ties up too neatly, ‘Byzantium’ won’t appeal to recent converts of vampire-lore, but fans of original vamp literature in the veins of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice may appreciate its gothic cinematography and quiet introspection)

Review by Wong Keng Hui
  

Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Danny Nam
Cast: Lee Hong-Gi, Baek Jin-Hee, Don Lee, Lim Won-Hee, Jun Min-Seo, Shim Yi-Young
RunTime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 22 August 2013 

Synopsis: Inside a hospice ward where patients are getting ready to bid the world goodbye, there are ‘wacky’ terminally ill patients who smoke and have part-time jobs? Something is not right! There is an ex-gangster with terminal brain cancer who goes crazy over sausages. After getting caught up in an assault case, ‘Chung-ui’, a troublemaker teen idol singer gets ordered to social service at a hospice ward. He pretends to be sorry and tries to sneak out of duty, but gets caught red-handed by some odd patients! There is also a man with terminal liver cancer who goes out to work at a nightclub every night, a young girl with leukemia whose hobby is secretly filming things, and there is even a tough hospital volunteer lady who maintains military style order of the ward. How did ‘Chung-ui’ end up at a wacky place like this of all places! From day one, he has major run-ins with the weird, unpredictable, terminally ill patients. Then one day, desperate to escape from the ward, ‘Chung-ui’ jumps at a chance to cut his volunteer hours in half and ends up helping a group of terminally patients to audition for a rock band competitions in order to save the hospital from getting shut down. The miraculous challenge of terminally ill patients and a troublemaker idol singer begins!

Movie Review:

What if one day you are given a time limit and all you can do is to wait upon death?

“I want to feel that I am living every moment.” was what An-na responded.

At first glance, Rockin’ on Heaven’s Door seem like a really unconventional depiction of people who are waiting upon death. How can they remain so cheerful despite knowing that death is creeping near?

The movie begins by introducing us to Chung-ui (played by Lee Hong-gi), a popular idol singer who got himself into trouble when started a fist fight with someone who provoked him at a club. To make up for his wrongdoings, he had to break away from his frivolous lifestyle to volunteer at a hospice. Chung-ui was depicted as a bratty and two-faced idol, who simply acted remorseful because he had had to upkeep his idol façade, a playful poke-fun at the ‘idoling’ industry. Hong-gi definitely stole the show and was a natural at his role. He was bubbly, cute and easy on the eyes, to say the least.

The bulk of the comedy and drama of course happened at the hospice. Chung-ui experienced quite a bit of culture shock, such as being bullied by a gangster-like patient and being tasked to bathe an elderly person. On top of that, he was subsequently pestered to join some of the patients to compete in a rock band competition in order to raise funds to keep the hospice running.

Chung-ui’s character development was easy to follow but rather predictable. At first of course he was unwilling help those patients, but eventually caved in due to his selfish reasons. And when he got reminded of his past and his deceased mother, who was also plagued by a terminal diseased, things suddenly took a 180 degree change. You wouldn’t need to know more to know how the story continued.

The story was pretty bare, and it was a great pity that the character development solely focused on Chung-ui. The other patients’ stories had great potential for development but unfortunately remained very fictional and distant. Also, it is quite characteristic of Korean films to mish-mash genres, and in this case, drama and comedy. In its attempt to strike a balance, it made it feel like it has neither achieved here nor there, and ultimately came across as half-baked. Of course, Korean films are still pretty good with tear jerking scenes, but the ability to make one cry does not necessary equate to the success of a film.

The film attempted to conclude with a heartening and uplifting one, but failed to make the impact. Given such a cliché and unoriginal story, one can’t help to think that it was just conveniently borrowing the popularity of Hong-gi to make this film sell. The only consolations are that the movie was short, easy to watch, and you can get to see many faces of Lee Hong-gi. 

Movie Rating:  

(Movie debut of Lee Hong-gi!!!!! For fans only)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Zhao Wei
Cast: Mark Chao, Han Geng, Yang Zishan, Jiang Shuing, Zhang Yao, Zheng Kai
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG13 (Scene of Intimacy)
Released By: Festive Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 
 
Opening Day: 6 June 2013  

Synopsis: SO YOUNG is the debut film of the renowned Chinese actress Zhao Wei as a director. It is based on the best-selling novel "To Our Youth that is Fading Away" by Xin YiwuIt, adapted by Li Qiang ("The Postmodern Life of My Aunt") and produced by Stanley Kwan. It is a film about the love, joy, and pain of a group of young students in their school days and their harsh confrontation with the realities and a lament on the loss of youth to adulthood.

In the brink of the 90s, 18-year-old Zheng Wei steps into her university life with a hopeful heart for love. She forms a great friendship with her roommates and united as a group, they embark on their university life together. Wei meets Chen Hao-Zheng in a chance encounter, and despite initial reluctance, Chen accepts Wei as his girlfriend and the two become inseparable. Four years of university life pass and Wei looks forward to establishing a life together with Chen. However, Chen is forced into an impossible decision to leave Wei. Devastated, Wei decides to start afresh. A decade later, Wei's previous lovers Lin and Chen both find their way back into her life and she has to make a choice of her next step in life..

Movie Review:

If you grew up watching Pretty in Pink (1986) and all those brat pack era college movies, it's likely a sign of being over-saturated with the by-products of Western acculturation. Truth be told, it’s not often that we think of what high school life must be like, for the Chinese, and this film shows their many travails and hopes in the springtime of youth.

In the vein of these coming-of-age college dramas, and portraying the excitements and tribulations of teenage romance in a much better way than the faux-hit that was the Taiwanese Cape No. 7 (2008), Zhao Wei makes her directorial debut with So Young.

More commonly known as the titular feisty, spunky princess of the popular Huan Zhu Ge Ge series, Zhao Wei has her character imprinted deep in this film. Originally approached by Xin Yiwu,the author ofTo Our Youth that is Fading Awayto play the lead role, Zhao Wei eventually turned down the acting role to direct the movie.

The first 30 minutes of So Young is a hilarious joyride as the camera moves through the seedy, hormone-charged hysteria of the Chinese college hallways. As the audience are given a taste of college dorm life in China through numerous campus shenanigans, we are introduced to the different characters, their relationships and dynamics.                                                                                                                                                                                                               It’s often the interesting and varied people we meet at school that stay on in our memories, and the fresh cast, made up of many first-time actors, brings tons of character into their different roles. The hot-tempered, boyish Xiao Bei (Liu Yase), demure Ruan Guan (Jiang Shuying), and bookish Chen Xiaozheng (Mark Chao) are but a few who make up the colorful cast. The film scores high in this aspect, evident from the heaps of delight and reactions from an ostensibly amused audience.

Yang Zishan, the actress who plays the lead character Zheng Wei, that uncannily sounds like "Zhao Wei,” is the star of the movie with her thoroughly loveablespirited, cheeky, girl-next-door demeanour. Her loud, curt airs are uniquely paired with a vulnerable naïveté that steals the show in a moving climax of the film.  

Partly-inspired by her experiences living in a Chinese college dorm, Zhao Wei portrays these spaces in the film as hothouses for academic excellence, but also the fertile, experimental grounds for teenage angst, passion and innocence. For the parts which could have potentially tipped into the realm of “cheesy,” Zhao ingenuously turns them into slapstick laughs. She proves to be quite the savvy producer as well, adding in interesting bits such as the cameo of a popular mainland singer as a radio DJ with a late-night Aunt Agony talkshow, and a side story with a very cathartic payback scene involving Xiao Bei.

Many years later, with the shift into adulthood, most of the characters will lose the spunk of their youth. When once they wore their hearts on their sleeves, they have now matured, or rather, become jaded with the harsh realities of life and having to be responsible for themselves and others. Poignantly, one of the film’s deeper themes revolve around this resignation, and the bitter realisation of what it means to live “successful” lives and the sacrifices it takes to achieve this lie. It is here that the warm, dreamy hues of young adolescence fade into a cold, sombre grey that characterises a subdued adulthood. It is a stark transition, manifest in the mise-en-scène, and critiqued by many for causing a sudden sag in pacing. Yet, this is where I think the film truly excels, in not only being able to spin the audience wild with its characters’ carefree insouciance early on, but to also portray the heart-wrenching life-changing moments that they experience growing up.

To add to the free-spirited, whimsical tone of the film, ice queen Faye Wong lends her vocals to the theme song of the film, “To Youth.”But be warned, however, watching So Young will have you strongly yearning for your youth.

Movie Rating:

(A fantastic, masterful directorial debut by Zhao Wei, this film is fearless, delirious, tender and full of heart-warming nostalgia—everything it takes to become an instant classic)

Review by Tay Huizhen
  

Genre: Comedy
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Coté Soler, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Carlos Areces, Raul Arevalo, Javier Cámara, Lola Dueñas, Carmen Machi, Laya Martí, Cecilia Roth, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Blanca Suárez, Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R21 (Homosexual Theme)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/imsoexcited/

Opening Day: 13 February 2014

Synopsis: When it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers of a plane heading to Mexico City look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.

Movie Review:

You’re probably thinking the Pointer Sisters’ tune and indeed, that’s the raison d’etre for the title of this latest Pedro Almodóvar film. Part of a running gag which sees the male flight attendants lip syncing to the titular song, it is but one of the sure signs that the Spanish director better known for melodramas like ‘The Skin I Live In’ and ‘Talk to Her’ is opting for a change of pace and tone. Indeed, this is the Almodóvar from earlier films like ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’ and ‘Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!’, though whether or not fans of the auteur will take to it is yet another question entirely.

Described by the man himself as a “very light comedy”, it is essentially built around the doomed Peninsula Airlines Flight 2549 from Madrid to Mexico City, which due to a fault in the landing gear, has no choice but to circle in the skies above Toledo, Spain while waiting for an empty runaway. But even as the passengers seem headed for certain death, you probably won’t realise that from the intentionally campy mood on board, as family secrets and romantic betrayals come to light in a bawdy comedy that plays like a gay version of the classic ‘Airplane!’.

Yes, gay, because the three exuberant lead characters in Almodóvar’s farce just happen to be of that sexual orientation, and as portrayed by Javier Camara, Raúl Arévalo and Carlos Areces, they are a hoot. In particular, Camara steals the show with his loose-libbed performance of the alcoholic and compulsively honest chief steward Joserra, who has an especially sharp and amusing monologue at the start where he reveals the sexual shenanigans of the pilot Alex (Antonio de la Torre) and co-pilot Benito (Hugo Silva). Ulloa (Arevalo) and Fajas (Areces) are also just as distinctive in their own ways, the former a sharp-tongued booze-and-pill addict and the latter a superstitious worrier who carries a portable altar with him all the time.

For narrative convenience, Almodóvar has the passengers in the economy class drugged by the stewards, so that basically leaves only six other awake passengers in business class. Each are made to be just as eccentric, though admittedly they turn out quite the two-dimensional caricatures - there’s a sex-obssessed psychic virgin, Bruna (Lola Duenas); Norma (Cecilia Roth), an uppity star hooker to Spain’s political and business elite; Senor Mas (Jose Luis Torrijo), a corrupt banker; a honeymooning couple carrying a pharmacy full of party pills (Miguel Angel Silvestre and Laya Marti); a mystery man dubbed a ‘security advisor’ (Miguel Angel Silvestre); and a soap opera star, Ricardo (Guillermo Toledo).

The latter provides the only time during which the drama unfolds outside the confines of the cabin, as the actor juggling several grounded lovers makes phone calls through the public address system to an unstable painter girlfriend (Paz Vega) and ends up being in contact with another former girlfriend (Blanca Suarez). Those expecting story and development will undoubtedly be disappointed, as Almodóvar seems content with letting the film unfold in a purely episodic fashion, padding out the runtime with a stream of raunchy sex and drug jokes while trading gossip about everyone else. In between, the Valencia cocktails are mixed and guzzled, mescaline is ingested, and attractions are even consummated.

To hold this against Almodóvar’s critically acclaimed ‘All About My Mother’, ‘Talk to Her’ and ‘Volver’ seems unfair for a movie which arguably had no such ambition; rather, ‘I’m So Excited’ sees Almodóvar in an unusually generous mood to bring cheer and mirth to his audience. The strain at some parts is obvious, playing like an unfunny Greek chorus that doesn’t quite know exactly how and when to hit the right notes; but there is an irrepressibly jovial and liberated spirit about the proceedings, reflected too in the candy coloured palette which Almodóvar has chosen. It’s not screwball funny in case you’re wondering, but if you are in the mood for some exotic laughs, this one just might hit the sweet spot. 

Movie Rating:

(A throwback to the his earlier outré comedies, this Pedro Almodóvar sex farce plays like a gay version of ‘Airplane!’ but with fewer and less sustained laughs)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

SYNOPSIS: In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed by the city's most powerful figure, the mayor (Russell Crowe). Billy’s relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force – and the mayor’s worst nightmare.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Both Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe are relatively good actors even though their respective resume contains some taints here and there over the years. Despite their gung-ho performances here, Broken City looks like it’s going to go down the record to be one of them.

It’s an All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet when it comes to the screenplay of Broken City. Politics, extra-marital affair, corruption, scandal, redemption, blackmail and much more. Unfortunately writer Brian Tucker bites off more than he could chew and the result, an unbelievable, draggy affair.

Mark Wahlberg plays the role of Billy Taggart, a disgraced former New York City cop turned private eye. Hired by Mayor Hostetler (Crowe) to check on his wife (Catherine Zeta Jones) whom he is suspecting to be having an affair with his rival campaign manager (Kyle Chandler), Taggart ended up digging up more dirt than intended and that includes his tortured past.

Director Allen Hughes (minus his brother Albert) fails to elevate the sputtering material into a masterful thriller even though he is surrounded by a credible cast that also includes Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale) and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan). What happen to good old investigation when the Taggart character simply stumbles upon one event following another which he is unable to comprehend. The plotting constantly keeps the audience guessing on the other hand it revealed unnecessary bits and pieces that is simply laughable and incredible. It ends up everyone involved is connected in some way or other and basically, you already knew who is the main villain behind all the mayhem even before the unfolding.

It’s funny to see Wahlberg credited as one of the producers. As the leading actor and key player, I’m surprised to see his character obviously underdeveloped and instead of leading, he is constantly being led around by the nose though for the record, he still turned in a satisfactory performance. A subplot involving his girlfriend’s indie acting career goes up in smoke with no following up later. And for additional information the girlfriend’s sister is raped and killed by the young man Taggart shot during the opening sequence (now you see why everyone is connected here).

Russell Crowe is at least watchable as the smarmy, cocky Mayor and Catherine Zeta-Jones appears haggard and too short a screentime to be memorable. In the end, Broken City is a disappointment. It’s neither an engaging political thriller nor a mesmerising detective drama, there’s too much of everything everywhere.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Except for a few scenes that require some ambient sound effects, “Broken City” sounds rather tame to the ears while the images has an intended gritty, grainy look to it.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Comedy/Action
Director: Yuichi Fukuda
Cast: Ryohei Suzuki, Fumika Shimizu, Tsuyoshi Muro, Takashi Tsukamoto, Yoshinori Okada
RunTime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: R21 (Mature Content And Sexual References)
Released By: Encore Films & Filmgarde Cineplex
Official Website: http://www.encorefilms.com/forbiddensuperhero
 
Opening Day: 27 June 2013 

Synopsis: High school student Kyosuke Shikijo (Ryohei Suzuki) is the most talented member of the school's martial arts of the fist club. His late father was detective and Kyosuke share his father's strong sense of justice. Kyosuke also has a secret. Kyosuke likes to wear female underwear and transforms himself into the alter ego "Pervert Mask," wearing female underwear and gaining superhuman powers. This unusual interest also comes from his parents, with his father a masochist and his mother a sadist. By chance, Kyosuke gets the underwear of female high school student Aiko Himeno's (Fumika Shimizu). With her underwear, he gains various pervert techniques and attempts to protect Aiko from a dirty and heinous teacher (Ken Yasuda).

Movie Review:

Chances are if you are a fan of the manga that you would already be waiting in line to watch this live-action adaptation, which also of course means that you know what you are in for. But for the uninitiated, consider this fair warning that ‘HK Forbidden Super Hero’ isn’t your typical superhero movie; rather, the ‘HK’ in the title stands for ‘Hentai Kamen’, literally translated as ‘masked pervert’, which is an apt description for our titular superhero, whose powers are derived from the smell of a pair of used panties pulled over his face.

That’s not all - no thanks to the source of his superpowers, most of his killer moves revolve around stuffing his crotch into the face of his enemies, them “golden balls” shielded from view only by skimpy white Speedos.  Besides the pair of panties, some facial makeup and the Speedos, our hero wears nothing else while in the line of duty - but really, we’re quite sure when the ladies in the audience get sight of his ripped body that they will wholeheartedly agree that he is better off with as little cloth as possible.

You should know better than to take such a superhero seriously, so there’s hardly any point criticising how shallow the premise is; rather, if you’re going to watch a movie about a ordinary person who transforms himself into a superhero by his perversion, then you should jolly well know what you are in for. Indeed, the only way you are going to enjoy this parody if you like is if you are prepared in the first instance to accept it on its own terms - and for a start, that means being prepared for countless in-your-face crotch shots that are designed precisely to elicit a reaction out of you, no matter delight or disgust.

To match his signature over-the-top move, there are also a bunch of equally caricatured baddies - including one that calls himself Very Serious Mask, another that goes by the nickname Cool Guy, another with the moniker Gay Mask and yet another with an equally baffling name of Skinny Macho Mask. Still, all serve little purpose than throwaway comic relief before Hentai Kamen meets his match in an impersonator, who proves to be an even bigger pervert than he is and is most importantly not ashamed about it.

Yes, despite his abilities, our hero is really a sweet-natured and kind-hearted high-school student called Kyosuke Shikijo; in fact, he discovers his powers inadvertently while rescuing the object of his affection, Aiko Himeno (Fumika Shimizu). Afraid of what Aiko would think of him if he discovers his perversion, Kyosuke keeps his identity a secret from her, despite turning up time and time again to rescue her from the brink of danger. It is in his ultimate battle with his evil twin that Kyosuke will overcome his own insecurities and be enlightened about the true nature of his superpowers.

That’s some self-realisation for you, no matter how unlikely such a theme might seem in a movie like this. Nonetheless, besides giving manga fans some twisted fun, director Yuichi Fukuda wants to tell both an unusual high-school love story as well as an even more bizarre coming-of-age tale - and for what it is worth, we can say that it is fortunate that his movie is much more than just about face-fulls of crotches, sexual poses and BDSM techniques.

Fukuda also has his cast to thank for gamely stepping up to the challenge of such an outlandish movie. Shimizu is suitably sweet and demure, while Ken Yamada is befittingly off-putting as Hentai Kamen’s antagonist. But truly amazing here is Suzuki Ryohei, who plays our titular superhero; more than just his physique, what impresses is how he manages to switch between his shy awkward persona and that of his decidedly showy superhero alter-ego - panties, crotch-thrusting and all.

Still, despite Ryohei’s best efforts, we’re sure this will be a movie you either love or hate. It’s weird to say the least, the humour mostly in-your-face (pardon the pun) and largely vulgar. Yet there is something undeniably engrossing about it, its mixture of teenage romance and disturbing perversion within the superhero genre making it a captivating watch. Don’t say we didn’t warn you about what you should be prepared for, so don’t get your panties in a wad when you find them pulled over the face of our superhero. 

Movie Rating:

(Weird and wacky, this bizarre superhero movie isn’t for those whose sensibilities are easily offended, but everyone else should be suitably captivated with its curious mix of cute and crass)

Review by Gabriel Chong