Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Cast: Emily Browning, Cam Gigandet, Frances Fisher, Xavier Samuel, Brandon Jay McLaren, Dawn Olivieri
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 17 October 2013 

Synopsis: After losing her band mate and brother to a drug overdose, rising rock star and married mother of two, Hayley finds herself in a downward spiral. The new album from her band, Plush, is a critical and commercial disaster, but she finds hope and friendship in Enzo, the replacement guitarist who inspires her to reach new creative heights. When their collaboration crosses the line, Hayley retreats from Enzo's advances. As Enzo's dark and troubled history is slowly revealed, she begins to fear what she has invited into her home.

Movie Review:

Catherine Hardwicke has been somewhat of a difficult filmmaker to pin down. After her well-acclaimed breakout of a teen movie ‘Thirteen’, she went on to the critically panned ‘Nativity Story’, on to the first movie of the ‘Twilight’ series, and then to the middling reinterpretation of ‘Red Riding Hood’. And yet despite a rather uncertain filmography, her stories have always gravitated towards placing a young female protagonist at its core, a trait which she continues in the twisty thriller ‘Plush’ set in the world of rock music.

The heart of her tale lies with Hayley (‘Sucker Punch’s’ Emily Browning), the front-woman in the titular rock band who finds success earlier on in her teenage years with her guitarist brother Jack (Thomas Dekkie), settles down and has kids with a crime journalist Carter (Cam Gigandet) in her early twenties, and then is hit by depression when Jack dies from a drug overdose. All that in fact is mere backstory, laid out by Hardwicke and her co-writer Arty Nelson in a lengthy prologue as she relates the vicissitudes of her life to an interviewer on the eve of the launch of her new album.

Billed as a psychosexual thriller, ‘Plush’ instead takes off with Hayley launching her comeback alongside new guitarist Enzo (Xavier Samuel), the latter proving to be quite the enigma which the narrative exploits at different turns. Starting off as Hayley’s creative muse, Enzo quickly becomes someone else altogether - initiating a torrid sexual affair that includes rubbing himself against her while she’s intoxicated, directing her in an S&M music video, and inviting himself to be part of her family. It’s a tale of obsession all right, with an ending pitting Enzo against Carter and Hayley that you can probably see coming.

There’s nothing especially interesting about this particular tale, set as it may against a musical backdrop, and indeed one wonders why Hardwicke bothered with such a familiar B-grade story. Not even with the provocative elements of sexual kink and psycho horror does the storytelling get any bit more exciting, and much as Hardwicke might have pushed her leads Browning and Samuel to certain lengths, she lacks the conviction and indeed the sheer audacity to pull off a truly lurid picture the way a male director like Paul Verhoeven or Brian de Palma might.

Thankfully, Browning’s gutsy performance makes up for some of the movie’s failings. Displaying much more range than she did in Zack Synder’s ‘Sucker Punch’, Browning dials in a more than convincing portrayal of a flawed individual in both her desires and insecurities. It’s a role that calls for a gamut of emotions, and Browning succeeds in pulling it off most of the time. Ditto for Samuel, who blends sexy and dangerous into a seductive mix that will draw you into his character. Gigandet however is largely sidelined in a one-note character as the faithful unfailing husband whose trust in his wife is ultimately betrayed.

Try though the actors do, you’re still likely to find ‘Plush’ a letdown. Sure it does pack in some kinky scenes with leather and straps, but the tease rarely leads to any real lasting erotic tension; nor for that matter does its supposedly psychological undercurrents of lust and obsession amount to any genuine menace. Pity that this was supposed to be Hardwicke’s return to the kind of edgy indie stuff that kickstarted her directing career - it’s hard to think how ‘Plush’ might restore any of the cred she’s lost over the years. 

Movie Rating:  

(Some edgy performances barely save this perfunctory and surprisingly juvenile psychosexual tale of lust and obsession)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, will.i.am, Jemaine Clement, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Jamie Foxx. Andy Garcia, Rita Moreno, Bruno Mars, Kristin Chenoweth
RunTime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: G
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/RioMovies

Opening Day: 10 April 2014

Synopsis: The entire cast of the animated smash RIO returns in RIO 2, and they are joined by a new flock of top actors and musical talents. Rich with grandeur, character, color and music, RIO 2 finds Jewel (Anne Hathaway), Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and their three kids leaving their domesticated life in that magical city for a journey to the Amazon. They encounter a menagerie of characters who are born to be wild, voiced by Oscar nominee Andy Garcia, Oscar/Emmy/Tony-winner Rita Moreno, Grammy winner Bruno Mars, and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth.

Movie Review:

Coming off a snappy and clever original, this sequel which is once again helmed by Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha and voiced by pretty much the same cast members feels lazy and perfunctory by comparison. In place of the playful vivaciousness of 2011’s surprise hit is a frenetic hodgepodge of carefully engineered sequences that aim to be family sitcom one minute, a “fish out of water” premise the next, an environmental primer the next, and even an avian-based episode of “American Idol”.

The excuse for the overcrowded story is the discovery by Blu’s (Jesse Eisenberg) human keepers Tulio and Linda (Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann) during an expedition into the Amazon rainforest that the blue macaws might not be quite so endangered as they had originally feared. That is enough for Jewel (Anne Hathaway) to convince Blu to take their brood of three on an expedition to meet their long-lost ancestors, despite the latter Minnesota-raised macaw’s continued reliance on manmade gadgets stuffed into his fanny pack, including an all-purpose multi-tool and GPS navigation.

Returning to join in the fun deep in the heart of the jungle are Blu’s pals - the party-hearty toucan Rafael (George Lopez) and his sidekicks, Nico (Jamie Foxx) and Pedro (the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am) - but this time, they have to contend for attention with Jewel’s long-lost family, led by her proud authoritarian father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and former childhood playmate Roberto (Bruno Mars). Further adding to the character clutter is Blu’s former nemesis Nigel (Jemaine Clement), whose quest for vengeance finds company in the form of an adoring protégé - the poisonous frog Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth).

Oh and did we mention that there is also a group of illegal loggers who are desperate to keep all human attention out of the patch of forest? As you’ve probably guessed, that’s just yet another one of many plot strands in the crowded yet underdeveloped script by the quartet of Don Rhymer (who passed away in 2012), Carlos Kotkin, Jenny Bicks and Yoni Brenner. Whereas the original bothered with wit and invention, the writers here seem to have adopted a ‘go-for-broke’ attitude, which explains why there are half-hearted musical interludes amidst a “Meet the Parents” equivalent that frankly reveal a hackneyed and insincere narrative.

The occasional puns aside, Saldanha compensates for the lack of any real sense of character and story by keeping things busy and hectic throughout. Making full use of the jungle backdrop, Saldanha ups the ante on the visual imagery, whether is it the plentiful song-and-dance numbers or the raucous action sequences. Aided once again by Sergio Mendes’ presence as executive music producer, the former pop off the screen especially in a showcase of the macaws’ synchronized flying routines set to Brazilian body-percussion group Barbatuques’ ‘Beautiful Creatures’, as well as in a Carnaval-styled procession in the Amazon right at the end.

But despite the striking colourful aesthetic and the carnival-like atmosphere complete with plenty of samba and bossa nova music, older audiences will find themselves struggling to make it through even a relatively modest running time. Indeed, the diversions may work for the kids, but there is something scattershot about the entire enterprise that is hard to ignore, in particular coming off an extremely good year in animation with Disney's instant modern classic ‘Frozen’ and Warner Bros' ‘The Lego Movie’. There is little to hook our imagination nor our attention once you look past the vivid scenery, and even less poignancy this time round with Blu pretty much left out in the blue no thanks to an overstuffed story.

On their part, the voice actors do their darnest best with each and every one of their respective roles - though the scene-stealer here is Clement, whose interactions with Chenoweth as his poison-frog sidekick are probably the most entertaining parts of the movie. But the chuckles come fewer and further in between than in the first outing to ‘Rio’, and despite being just as bright and cheerful on the outside, there is too little story, too many characters and too few decent gags to warrant this trip to the Amazon. You can take the birds out of Rio, but as much as the filmmakers have tried, there’s no transplanting Rio into the Amazon, which probably explains why this incongruently titled sequel possesses few of what made its predecessor such a crowd-pleasing delight.

Movie Rating:

(Don't go looking for 'Rio' in the Amazon - despite the same striking colourful visuals, this Amazon-set sequel suffers from a distinct lack of story, character, humour and poignancy)

Hans Zimmer is back yet again for another high profile piece of work – this time for Ron Howard’s formula one drama, Rush. Having scored all of Ron Howard's films since The Da Vinci Code, it's no surprise that Hans Zimmer is back in the driver's seat for this one. He's had a prolific year thus far, creating the controversial new sound for the Man of Steel and helming the so-so Disney flop The Lone Ranger, and he'll finish it off with another assured Oscar lock, Steve McQueen's unflinching 12 Years A Slave.

His score for Rush is expectedly high-octane, fast-paced, and even exciting, though avid fans of the composer may find it often a little too familiar. 

The score opens with “1976″, sound effects gradually fading before a subtle piano figure with sampled strings and eventually a synth organ creating a distinctive, colourful sound world which screams that excitement is coming; this leads, surprisingly, into a soulful cello theme. This leads directly into “I Could Show You If You’d Like”, which is where the rock begins – for now fairly laid back, electric guitars and drums rolling forward initially in pretty languorous – and very attractive – style.

Elsewhere, “Loose Cannon” is a more subtly dramatic interlude before the pounding percussion and wailing guitars of “Car Trouble” and then the soulful “Glück”.  ”Nürburgring” ushers in the final act, and it’s another tremendous piece of music, a passage of desperately strained emotions being wrung from the simplest of keyboard patterns introducing the piece before the drums come back, now accompanied by a very simple sampled string and brass figure that again brilliantly captures the tension and danger. 

The album features classic period songs by the likes of Steve Winwood, David Bowie, Mud, Thin Lizzy and Dave Edmunds that really add to the films' setting and perfect backing of Zimmer's score. This is a very solid album which does exactly what it's supposed to do: thrill. Hans Zimmer's score works perfectly and has to be one of his best efforts of the year.

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (1) 1976

Review by John Li

Hands up, those who think that this American 3D movie based on The Smurfs comic book series is a critically acclaimed piece of work. No takers? Then how do you explain the success of this sequel which has already earned $307 million worldwide, and has a third film scheduled in July 2015? Just like this soundtrack album featuring music from and inspired by the family comedy, you don’t need to win critics to be a win quick bucks.

The 33 minute album features 10 songs headlined by Britney Spears’ (hey Miley, there was Ms Spears before your “controversial” stage antics) original contribution “Ooh La La”, which was played at the movie’s credits. The synthpop song has a catchy tune, and it reminds us of the good old days when Ms Spears crooned electoronica bubblegum radio friendly hits. This cue kickstarts the CD on a good note, and leaves everyone in a feel good mood.

Following the recommended song is girl group G.R.L,’s “Vacation”, a song which spells g-i-r-l p-o-w-e-r. American hip hop singer and rapper Becky G and pop singer Austin Mahone brings on Magik 2.0, a contemporary take on B.o.B’s hit “Magic”. Elsewhere, OwlCityperforms “Live It Up”, Sophia Black sings “Everything Breaks” and Cady Groves buzzes with “Forget You”.

You’ll probably not search for the connection with the Smurfs with Kiana Brown’s “Hey Chica”, Nelly Furtado and Ace Primo’s “High Life” and Buckwheat Zydeco’s “Tutti Frutti” – songs which would go down well with teenage listeners.

It is not until English band Right Said Fred brings on “I’m Too Smurfy”, a fun take on their own 2007 song “I’m Too Sexy”, when you realise there is some smurf-iness in this album yet. The song recorded for World Smurfs Day is an apt closure to this commercial compilation of songs.  

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (1) Ooh La La – Britney Spears

Review by John Li

You’ve got to give it to Jay Chou. While it remains debatable (in this reviewer’s opinion, at least) whether the Taiwanese musician/ singer/ songwriter/ actor/ director (yup, that’s indeed a mouthful) is talented, you have to admit his influence in the entertainment industry. How else would you explain his alarmingly popular sold out concerts and his effortless ability to make fans lap up every single media product he endorses?

Take for example this soundtrack album to his second directorial feature – just look at the packaging. Just. Look.

Presented in an elaborate cigarette box style packaging, the 64 minute album seems like an accessory here. Besides the CD, you’ll find yourself going gaga over the 30 postcards featuring key scenes from the movie. Flip over these postcards and you’ll find information about every cue from this 35 track album. For die hard fans, there is also a poster featuring a very forlorn looking Jay Chou. Ah, love that retro licious head band!

The rationale driven part of our minds tell us to concentrate on the music presented on the CD. There are 22 score cues composed by Huang Yu Xun, and you’ll be brought back in time with nostalgic tunes like “Bao Ling Nan Hai” (Bowling Boys), “Mei Jing” (Beautiful Sight) and “Long Men Zao Tang” (Dragon Gate Bathhouse). Elsewhere, there are sentimental tracks like “Shui Guan De You Qing” (Water Pipe’s Friendship), “Wu Ding Shang De Yuan Wang” (Wishes From The Rooftop) and “Xiong Di De An Wei” (A Brother’s Consolation) that makes easy listening.

The highlights here are the 13 songs, from the fusion rap “Bo Ye” (Master Bo) headlined by Eric Tsang (whose role in the movie musical is, well, subsidiary) and the cheery “Tian Tai” (Rooftop) performed by the ensemble, to Jay Chou’s signature ballads “Tian Tai De Yue Guang” (Moonlight On The Rooftop) and “Na Li Dou Shi Ni” (You’re Everywhere).

As with other Jay Chou merchandise, this one’s strictly for fans only. And those who adored the movie. Okay, and those who love all things pretty.   

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (24) Na Li Dou Shi Ni

Review by John Li

SYNOPSIS: Forced to leave service after turning blind, former detective Chong See Tun (Andy Lau) ekes out his living by solving cold cases for police rewards. During a bank robbery case, he meets an attractive hit team inspector Ho Ka Tung. (Sammi Cheng). When Ho notices Chong's strong sense of hearing and smell, she enlists his help in a personal case and he decides to take a stab…

MOVIE REVIEW:

On a good day, Johnnie To gave audience Election and Drug War. Once a while he delivers duds liked Linger and Yesterday Once More. Blind Detective happened to fall inbetween those listed above even though it marks the reunion of Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng after a span of 10 years.

Blinded after an accident, Lau’s Johnston is an ex-cop now living as a bounty hunter. Helping to solve cold cases for promised rewards, Johnston stumbles upon a lady cop, Ho (Sammi Cheng) who hopes that the once brilliant detective can help her solve a personal case of hers: the mysterious disappearance of a childhood friend, Winnie and also be her mentor in polishing her detective skills.

Scripted by To’s frequent collaborators, Wai Ka-Fai (who also co-directs), Yau Nai-Hoi and two more writers, Blind Detective is part-crime, part-comedy and part-romance. The constant shifting of tones can be pretty distracting at times. Like a child who suffers from attention deficiency, Lau and Cheng’s characters constantly screams at high pitch, moves around a lot and carrying out slapstick antics which obviously are more unnerving than funny. Comparing this to the much superior Mad Detective, the movie suffers as a result of this quirky attempt by To and his crew.  

Still, the movie has its strong points especially when it comes to Johnston being in action. A shrewd sleuth in sniffing out the fine details of a crime, Johnston prefers to imagine himself being at the crime scenes, communicating with the various victims and indulges in role-playing with Ho. As strange as it sounds, these methods of deduction are stylistically shot by Cheng Siu Keung and cleverly choreographed especially the first murder case which occurred in a dark, bluish morgue.

Yet for most of the time instead of some chilling cases to work on, the script wasted hell lot of golden opportunities by squandering it on totally unnecessary subplots such as Johnston’s crush on a tango dancer (Gao Yuan Yuan), his squabbles with buddy and ex-colleague, Szeto (Guo Tao) and numerous close-ups of his enormous appetite on mouth-watering cuisine which gets tired after a while.

The last 30 minutes or so starts to kick to high gear with the revelation of a sociopath serial killer, played so convincingly by Philip Keung and the true happenings of Winnie who was presumed murdered earlier. Any further descriptions will definitely kill your movie experience. All I can say if Blind Detective has opted to go down by this approach and shake away all the oddball comedy, this will certainly be one of To’s classics.  

Despite To’s mishaps, Lau’s over-enthusiastic performance as Johnston and Cheng playing hard to catch up on her acting after a long period of absence, Blind Detective nevertheless is an entertaining, appealing piece of commercial work from Milkyway. Not To’s best but worth a single viewing of the two heavenly entities.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

A brief eight minutes Making Of in Cantonese, Trailer and Photo Gallery.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Equipped only with a dubbed Mandarin audio track which makes everyone sound unnatural, sound effects are minimal, the visual on the other hand remains serviceable, nothing impressive.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: It’s the spring of 1922 in New York City, a decadent playground of shifting morals, glittering jazz, bootleg empires and skyrocketing stocks. Chasing the American Dream, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Golden Globe® nominee Tobey Maguire) arrives from the Midwest only to land next door to Jay Gatsby (three-time Oscar® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious millionaire whose estate overflows with endless parties. As Nick’s beautiful cousin Daisy (Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan) and her blue-blooded husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) fall into Gatsby’s orbit, Nick bears witness to a tragedy of impossible love and incorruptible dreams. Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless epic, “The Great Gatsby” mirrors the struggles of modern times in a dazzling visual journey from the mind of Baz Luhrmann, director of the Oscar®-winning* Moulin Rouge.

MOVIE REVIEW:

On hindsight, Baz Luhrmann should be the last filmmaker on this planet (besides Michael Bay) to turn F. Scott Fitzergerald’s greatest novel into a live-motion picture.

Known more for his visual flair as demonstrated in Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! than his storytelling skills, the Australian director’s ambitious take on the literature offers an insane amount of splendid production design, lush visual effects and a good looking cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire donning in Brooks Brothers and Tiffany. You are definitely in for a treat if you appreciate eye candy otherwise you might as well re-read the book.

Almost as faithful to the book in terms of plotting, DiCaprio plays the mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby while his real-life buddy, Maguire is Nick Carraway, the narrator and other leading man. The year is 1922, New York. Carraway has just moved there to dabble in bonds after giving up his dream as a writer. Living next to Gatsby, Carraway later learnt that the magnate is in fact very much in love with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Mulligan) though she is now married to another rich guy, Tom (Joel Edgerton). What follows is a tragic event consisting of jealousy, murder and the pining of a woman’s love.

While Fitzergerald’s novel is an attack of the decadent high-living lifestyle, social climbing norms at that time, Luhrmann’s adaptation becomes a plodding affair that doesn’t really do justice to the writer’s work. Bizarrely, the movie version only turned everything into a piece of adulterer-getting-his-own-deserts-in-the-end shallow dramedy. Imagine sitting through the 144 minutes movie only to expect a frustrating, unsatisfying experience.

Yet again, Luhrmann attempts to make up the lack of substance with a mostly out-of-place soundtrack with songs contributed by hip-hop artist Jay-Z, Beyonce and Lana Del Rey. The two flashy party scenes which serve as the movie highlights are staged with overflowing champagne, acrobats, fireworks and a dazzling amount of absurd colours and noise. Precisely what Luhrmann is most at ease with.

DiCaprio despite being in his late 30’s is still a chick magnet and it’s hard to find an alternative choice for the role of Jay Gatsby in the current movie industry. Probably under the guidance of Luhrmann, Mulligan turned into sort of a dreamy, classic-looking starlet for the entire time, looking detached and uninterested. The up-and-coming Edgerton fortunately is scenery-chewing as the despicable Tom while Maguire just doesn’t have the depth to pull off Nick Carraway’s sufferings resulting in his character an utterly bland one.

While not exactly a first rate tragedy, The Great Gatsby scores high for recreating all the authentic lavish sets, architectures and costumes from 1920’s New York sprinkled with a genuinely fair amount of CGI for the huge backdrops. Every scene and sequence looks like they are lifted out of a Monet painting and quite frankly, pretty astonishing. The stylistic choices aside, those wishing to be touch by Fitzergerald’s story of ill-fated love, ambition and lies will be left empty and languishing in the end. It’s quite a pity, old sport.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Luhrmann provides a detailed commentary as to why three scenes are deleted and the reason for the Alternate Ending in Deleted Scenes.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Audio is a blast when it comes to the music and soundfield although there are times when the score overlapped the dialogue but these instances are few. Images are sharp and rich overall. Colours on the other hand looks sickly unnatural, I must add this is an intended choice from the filmmakers though.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: College student Holly Teller (Elisabeth Harnois) is drawn to the mysterious small town of Riddle, Pennsylvania in search of her missing brother. Against the will of the local Sheriff (Val Kilmer) and town elder (William Sadler), she begins to unravel a mystery connected to an abandoned psychiatric hospital on the edge of town, uncovering a terrifying past the town is determined to keep hidden.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Riddle definitely is one of the biggest non-event movies of the year despite having two directors at the helm and a staggering four writers having a go at the script.

High school student, Holly Teller (Elisabeth Harnois) has a younger brother, Nathan who mysteriously went missing after two school bullies took him out for a joy ride. Years later, Holly manages to stumble upon some clues leading to the whereabouts of her brother. Driving into the eerie, quiet town of Riddle, she tries to enlist the help of local Sheriff Richards (Val Kilmer) but the law enforcer went on to dismiss Holly’s plead. Befriending the Sheriff’s daughter, Amber (Diora Baird) and the same old school bullies, Cameron and Matt who took Nathan out on the ride years before, the foursome embarks on their investigation and discovers Nathan’s missing might be linked to the town’s wicked past.    

If you are thinking along the line of Silent Hill, you are giving yourself too much hope I must say. And if you are suggesting Holly might be possessed by some sinister beings (since she dreamt about some horrifying looking nurse), you likely caught too much Supernatural. Obviously, Riddle is one hell of a hack job promising nothing exceptional and believable. For a start, try stepping into a bear trap and walk several miles to get help. One character actually does that here, just don’t roll your eyes off the floor. You can’t classify this hot mess as a drama nor does it function on the whole as a suspense thriller. Heck, even a random Scooby Doo episode fares better.

The biggest name in this direct-to-DVD production is none other than Val Kilmer who sports a ponytail and looking as overweight as Mickey Rourke. Appearing for less than 10 minutes and shot sitting behind a desk, on a chair and in a car for the entire time, Kilmer probably has a clause in his contract that says ‘no shooting below the chest’ and this for sure marks another cross in his already flagging career.

While Elisabeth Harnois and Diora Baird are two hot looking beauties, they are simply too old to be playing college girls, mother of two maybe just not student roles. There’s even a familiar face, William Sadler (Iron Man 3) as a fellow townsman but the script apparently does little justice to his presence except having him killed off in the least imaginative way.

Saves for some of the technicalities liked the cinematography which is still passable; this is one bad movie that desperately in need of several more rewrites. And you thought a creepy looking asylum and a killing spree can salvage the effort in the end? The answer remains a big NO.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Audio and visual is serviceable for this bare bones DVD.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Danny Trejo (Machete), Anthony Michael Hall (The Dark Knight) and Oscar® nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) star in this unrated, action-packed battle for vengeance. As a ruthless gang overruns a small mining town, they murder their own leader, Guerrero Hernandez (Trejo), in a cold-blooded power grab. Sentenced to eternity in hell, Guerrero finds himself confronted by Satan himself (Rourke), offering a daring proposition: deliver the six souls of his former gang and he will escape damnation. With time running out, he sets out on a brutal rampage to avenge his own death!

MOVIE REVIEW:

More of an appetizer than a full meal, this straight-to-DVD Western, Dead In Tombstone stars Danny Trejo as Guerrero, an outlaw who is betrayed by his half-brother, Red (Anthony Michael Hall) after a robbery in a small mining town.

Obviously, Guerrero isn’t going to stay dead for long and he is revived by Satan himself, Lucifer (Mickey Rourke). After offering to bring the six souls of his former gang to the latter, Guerrero is given one day to accomplish his mission before he is wanted back in hell again.

It’s a rare treat to see a Western nowadays. The recent major Western on the big screen was a flop if you recall. Filmed in Romania where I suppose the costs are much lower, the overall production values displayed here are decent and even with the limited backlot space, director Roel Reiné who is an old hand when it comes to video titles (he did stuff liked Pistol Whipped, Death Race 2 and The Marine 2 if you are keen to check them out) deliver the goods when it calls for it. There are copious amount of gunfires, explosions and violence, bad acting and dialogue and a few cheap shots of unnecessary nudity bits in this surprisingly long 99 minutes feature.

I’m not sure which one is more embarrassing. The almost flat, predictable plotting from two credited writers or watching Academy Award nominated actor Mickey Rourke hamming it up as an overweight Devil. There ain’t much of a supernatural element to talk about. The introduction of it is to mainly serve as a mechanism to bring Guerrero to live, nothing fascinating or imaginary. It’s a straight-forward revenge flick after all. Guerrero on the other hand is a role made for poker face Danny Trejo and I’m not going to urge with that.    

Ultimately, Dead In Tombstone is another run-out-of-mill action flick hampered occasionally by poor ADR, shaky camera moves and clumsy edits. It does have its merits, rising slightly above the average crop of straight-to-DVD titles or you might simply want to wait for Trejo’s Machete Kills instead.  

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Although boasting a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the foley never actually deliver a convincing, powerful listening experience despite numerous scenes featuring gunfires, sound of horses galloping and explosions. Visual is perfunctory and has a TV feel more than a movie.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: When a Russian Military Convoy is taken down in Moscow, Agent Hobbs goes to the only man who can help him find his target - Dominic Toretto. Toretto agrees to help when he discovers Letty is alive and working with Hobb's no.1 target - Owen Shaw a Special Ops mercenary running an equally brilliant crew. Toretto's elite outfit including Brian O'Connor and all the entire original crew pursue Shaw and his crew in a series of heart-stopping heists across Europe, each chase outgunning the other for size, scale and sheer excitement. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

No one would have thought the Fast & Furious franchise can last a whopping 6 instalments and more when the original came out twelve years ago. Since then, it has turned into a major cash cow for Universal and a career saviour for leading man Vin Diesel.  

When we last left Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his gang of car racers and criminals, they have just pulled off a successful heist in Rio and are now peacefully retired though they remain wanted fugitives. Fast & Furious 6 continues from there and the gang are offered a chance to return home clean by DSS agent Luke (Dwayne Johnson) in exchange for their services to help capture a mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans).

Director Justin Lin and regular scriber Chris Morgan once again pulled off a fantastic job of combining insane hot wheels and the antics of the once ragtag army of small time crooks into a no-brainer action piece where the audience actually care for the characters more than the automobiles as the series proceed. I’m kidding about the last part but to recap, Brian O’ Conner (Paul Walker) is now happily married to Toretto’s sister and has a son. The return of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Toretto’s ex who was earlier killed in Fast & Furious 4 is mysteriously found alive and working as one of Shaw’s henchmen and with major characters in the series being killed off and a new villain being introduced at the end of this instalment, the driver seat is just getting warmed.   

The main idea of this sort of movie is to sit back and marvel at all the deafening dumbness and jokes. What’s the point of rolling at your eyes at the wooden acting and ludicrous action sets isn’t it? In fact, it’s such a tough job for Lin and his action crew to top off the prolonged climax in Fast Five that they have to bring in a super long runway and a plane for some over-the-top action to conclude the movie. Speaking of over-the-top, there’s an unbelievable shot of two characters flying mid-air in slo-mo and a crazy tank chase, wait there’s also Tyrese and Sung Kang’s characters battling Joe Taslim (from The Raid) at a Tube station. There are simply too many cool things happening that Lin needs more than two hours to tell his tale.

Just by holding the DVD cover, Fast & Furious 6 alone exerts as much calories as a dozen cans of cheap beers; this is how manly the movie is. We can’t wait to see what James Wan will conjure for part 7, the last we heard it is still scheduled for summer 2014. So pop in the DVD and have a roaring good time, beer and gasoline not provided. Ride or die. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Making of is a series of short features that mainly showcase the camaraderie of the cast members including newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano and Justin Lin’s feelings about the closure of his work on the franchise.  

A not-to-be-missed feature, Planes, Tanks and Automobiles takes viewers on a journey on how the many practical stunts in the movie are choreographed and carried out. For all the 200 or 300 cars destroyed, there’s amusingly a fake plane used. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Destined to give your surround a thorough workout, the audio of Fast & Furious 6 is loud, aggressive and provides a full-throttle experience. Visual is neat and clean.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee