SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, Pawnshop stars acclaimed actor Krissada Sukosol (13: Game of Death) who decides to pawn his soul to the ghosts in exchange for money to pay his debts. Like the other customers of the mysterious Pawnshop, he does not quite know what to expect.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Director Parm Rangsri calls Pawnshop a horror with a lot of drama. In reality, I think he doesn’t know how to make one.

Pawnshop is an arthouse flick disguised as a ghost movie, it has sparse sets, boring pages of dialogue and seemingly forgettable characters. Actually it has a rather simple premise to follow. In order to revive his business, Long Zhu, a struggling pawnshop owner decides to make a pact with the female ghost he has been worshipping: His wife’s soul in exchange for his wish. Obviously, Long Zhu went for it and now his resurrected pawnshop business deals with the trading of souls to people who are desperate for money.

One of the customers is Neung (Krissada Sukosol Clapp from 13: Game of Death), a guilt-ridden pub owner who ran over his neighbour’s daughter while drunk driving. In order to pay for her hospitalization bills, Neung went to seek Long Zhu’s help. And the consequence is obvious.

Since Krissada Sukosol Clapp receives top billing, naturally he gets the most screentime. In another movie, perhaps this might be a good thing. But in Pawnshop where there’s little character development, Neung is just another soul waiting to be sacrificed to the ghost and all that screaming and over-emoting from Clapp doesn’t help much in the acting department. Long Zhu has three other customers on the list besides Neung. A girl, a bearded man and a fat gay man (as shown on the subtitles) but it’s done in such slipshod manner, you probably won’t even recall they exist in the movie.

In addition, the scares are virtually non-existent and all that endless vomiting of blood from the female ghost is tiresome and unsanitary. The dream within a dream sequences are pointless and to the extent of repetitive. Okay we get the idea, can we move on please?   

The only saving grace is the brooding dark cinematography that makes it a good pretext for arthouse viewing. Pawnshop is definitely not commercial material for a Thai horror flick. It’s a slow and frustrating watch.    

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

A serviceable DVD with burned in English subtitles. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

SYNOPSIS: JATE (Nawat Kulratanarak) has a psychic ability that allows him to see spirits and foresees the karma of people around him. He can see how unpaid dues in people’s past lives haunt them now. That ability once made him a freak among his friends, so Jate decides to keep his unnatural ability to himself. JOOM (Ratha Pho-ngram) is Jate’s girlfriend and the only person who knows about his spooky gift. Joom doesn’t want Jate to get involved in the hit-and-run case committed by KAEW (Virapond Jirawetsuntorakul), a teenage girl who caused a death of a pedestrian. But Jate knows that what happened was not an accident and he wants use his gift to help Kaew. As Jate digs deeper into the case, something pursues him day and night, while Joom is hounded and terrorized by a demon too. Can Jate rescue Joom and Kaew?

MOVIE REVIEW:

There are bad debts and there’s bad karma in the world. You might be able to default on the former but as shown in The Second Sight, you can’t avoid paying a price for the latter.

Just like Cole Sear in The Sixth Sense, Jate (Pong Nawat) has the ability to see ghosts and possesses psychic ability to foresee future events since young. Living with his musician girlfriend Jum (Yaya Ying), Jate is now a successful lawyer. While driving home one night, Jate encountered a car crash which killed several people on a bridge. Coincidentally the next day, Jate is hired by the suspect’s father to be her defense lawyer. As Jate takes on the case, Jum and the suspect, Kaew (Mild Jiravechsoontornkul) starts to encounter avenging spirits and supernatural events.  

While The Second Sight offers a nice insight to the recurring theme of karma, the execution and storytelling is a total disaster. The three main characters come across as dull and unaffecting not to mention goofy looking ghosts lingering around courtesy of poor makeup effects. At the very least Yaya Ying has a sexy PG13 shower scene to relieve the boredom. Adding to the macabre, there’s a cop with the ever presence of snake spirits around his body reason being you guess it, he loves to eat snakes!    

Director Gun Hongrattanaporn stages and litters the scares like an amateur, one supposedly terrifying scene that involves Jate asking Kaew to lie inside a coffin to appease the spirits is nothing more than a mere bleargh. To worsen matters, he wastes much of the resources on fake CGI, outrageously silly 3D effects and the not so convincing love triangle that the twist in the end doesn’t make much sense at all. And you thought it’s going to tie up the loose ends instead it throws out more questions.

Thai horrors have come a long way since the success of Shutter a decade ago. While it was once a much-lauded genre in the past, it has since turned into some cheaply made, cash-on flicks that nobody will pay good money to watch. The Second Sight unfortunately is one. 

Trailer

AUDIO/VISUAL:

This DVD boasts a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack sufficient for the loud sudden sound effects. Visual is clear and brimming with details.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Director: Denis Villeneuve  
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes and Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 April 2014

Synopsis: ENEMY tells the story of a university lecturer named Adam (Gyllenhaal) who is nearing the end of a relationship with his girlfriend Mary (Laurent). One night, while watching a film, Adam spots a minor actor who looks just like him. Consumed by the desire to meet his double, Adam tracks down Anthony, an actor living with his pregnant wife Helen (Gadon) and engages him in a complex and dangerous struggle. The film is a haunting and provocative psychosexual thriller about duality and identity, where in the end only one man will survive.

Movie Review:

Ecstasy wasn’t the first thing on this writer’s mind when he was assigned to review Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s last film Prisoners. Sure, the American production had an impressive ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano – but the 153 minute runtime spelt d-r-a-g-g-i-n-e-s-s. It didn’t help that the distributor arranged for a late night screening, which only means that viewers will be dead beat, especially after a long day’s battle in the corporate war zone.

Surprise, surprise. The thriller turned out to be one of this reviewer’s favourite films last year. Without giving too much away, let’s just say the last shot will leave you unsettled for some time (we are still wondering why the two lead actors were not recognised at any major film awards).

So it was with bated breath as this columnist awaits Villeneuve’s latest work to reach our shores. After all, the mainstream audiences here probably only got to know him from his Oscar nominated Incedies (2010). His works before that (2009’s Polytechnique, 2000’s Maelstrom, 1998’s Un 32 aout sur terre, amongst others) probably do not ring a bell. The first thing this writer checked when this film was on the distributor’s schedule was the runtime. 91 minutes – was there a printing error? When was the last time you sat through a one and a half hour movie? Could this brevity be a good thing?

Villeneuve teams up with Gyllenhaal in this psychological thriller to tell the story of an academic who in increasingly uninterested in his beautiful girlfriend (Inglourious Basterd and Now You See Me’s Melanie Laurent). Things take a twisted turn when he spots his lookalike while watching a movie. He decides to track this person down, and again, without giving too much away, things do get spookily intense.

This is clearly Gyllenhaal’s show, having to portray two different characters. You learn to empathise with both characters, despite their very different personalities. There comes a point when you do not bother who the protagonist is, and whether the antagonist is one that should perish by the end of the film. Gyllenhaal had his fair share of impressive on screen performances, including a gay cowboy in 2006’s BrokebackMountainwhich earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination (he lost to Syriana’s George Clooney) and various charismatic characters in 2005’s Jarhead, 2007’s Rendition and 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

But the one film which Gyllenhaal may have tapped on for inspiration for his latest performance is the indie hit we knew him from: 2001’s Donnie Darko. The twitchy and edgy performance by the 33 year old actor is one you will not forget easily. Couple that with Javier Gullon’s screenplay based on Jose Saramago’s novled The Double, and you get a tense but sometimes frustrating thriller that may not go down well with impatient viewers.

There is suspense, weirdness and a metaphysical structure in this film which demands your full attention and appeals for you to expect something out of the ordinary. The ensemble cast which includes Isabella Rossellini (My Dog Tulip, Late Bloomers), Sarah Gadon (A Dangerous Method, The Nut Job) and Stepen R Hart (Oz the Great and Powerful, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones) deliver competent performances.

What about the 91 minute runtime? Under Villeneuve’s masterful direction, the film is succinctly told in a intriguingly existential manner that will leave you pondering long after the credits roll. 

Movie Rating:

(A hypnotically original and suspenseful film that features strong performances and masterful direction) 

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Fredrik Bond  
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Til Schweiger, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Vincent D'Onofrio, Melissa Leo, John Hurt
RunTime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films & InnoForm Media
Official Website: http://www.charliecountryman-movie.com

Opening Day: 6 March 2014

Synopsis: While traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying.

Movie Review:

We couldn’t help it. The moment we saw Shia LaBeouf on screen, the only thing we could think of was a paper bag. If you don’t already know what we are talking about, the actor who was almost Hollywood Golden Boy (thanks to his leading roles in Michael Bay’s Transformers movies) donned a paper bag with the words “I  Am Not Famous Anymore” on his head to walk the red carpet at the premiere of his new film Nymphomaniac. This is just one of his erratic behaviours of late, following his plagiarism scandal and an attempt at putting up an art show.

Sorry but during the preview of this Fredrik Bond directed romantic comedy action film, we couldn’t help but think how hard LaBeouf is trying to make a statement in his career, Which is a little unfair, as we came to realise, because the story written by Matt Drake is arguably innovative. The film, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was screened in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival is an odd piece of work, and LaBeouf’s involvement as its leading man may be both a good or bad thing.

The star of 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 2010’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps plays a normal dude who falls in love with a Romanian girl. Little does he know that she is married to a violent and mentally unstable crime boss. As the title would tell you, our protagonist realises he has to die to save the girl of his dreams, not before he endures one bruising beatdown after another.

As some people would tell you, art is a painful thing, and it truly shows in this 108 minute film. The titular character gets beaten up so many times, we don’t know whether to feel sorry for him or not. You see, Charlie Countryman isn’t the most likeable person, given his trying naivety and unlovable persistence. Maybe it’s because of LaBeouf? We don’t know.

The 27 year old actor’s leading lady is Evan Rachel Wood, who has impressed us quite a bit with her performances in Across the Universe (2007) and The Ides of March (2011). Here, we feel that she is mismatched with LaBeouf, and we don’t feel sparks flying. Again, it might be due to LaBeouf. We don’t know.

To be fair, you can feel the actor giving his all to be fully immersed in this role. This is the kind of role actors want to break out of their caricatured moulds (think Daniel Radcliffe and Robert Paattinson), but maybe it’s because of LaBeouf’s unflattering media presence that we can’t help but think little of his capabilities.

However, we did enjoy the company of other cast members, particularly the creepily evil looking Mads Mikkelsen. The Danish actor from 2006’s Quantum of Solace and 2012’s The Hunt is the best thing about this movie – you have to see his performance to know what good acting is. Elsewhere, you get Rupert Grint (Ron from the Harry Potter series) trying his best to be rugged, Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds, Rabbit Without Ears 2) and John Hurt narrating the story. This are perfect elements for an indie film, but like LaBeouf, there are occasions when we felt it was trying a little too hard (like ahem, LaBeouf himself), resulting in a movie that prefers style over substance. 

Movie Rating:

(Shia LaBeouf gives it his all, but the showy movie offers nothing particularly exciting)

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Roger Michell  
Cast: Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, Jeff Goldblum, Olly Alexander, Brice Beaugier
RunTime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/LeWeekendFilm

Opening Day: 6 March 2014

Synopsis: A married couple, Nick and Meg (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan), revisit Paris to revitalise their marriage, and run into an old friend (Jeff Goldblum) who gives them a new vision on life and love.

Movie Review:

Roger Michell made a little movie back in 1999 called ‘Notting Hill’ starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant which became one of the highest grossing romantic comedies of the year and turned that area near Kensington Gardens into one of the must-see tourist destinations in London. Fast-forward more than a decade, and Michell has not only grown older but also more introspective, which probably explains why the Paris-set ‘Le Week-end’ trades Roberts and Grant for the decidedly older Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan.

There is no meet-cute in this Hanif Kureishi-scripted drama; instead, the film explores the dynamics between a couple who has been married for 30 years and are celebrating their anniversary by spending a weekend in the City of Light where they had their honeymoon. You would assume after so many years that Birmingham college philosophy professor Nick (Broadbent) and schoolteacher Meg (Duncan) would be happily wedded to each other, but it isn’t quite so straightforward.

The place Nick initially books their stay turns out to be a cheap dump, and Meg plainly refuses to stay in what she terms ‘depressing beige’. She takes charge to move them into a much swankier hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower, but Nick grumbles about the unnecessary expense. Turns out that Nick’s flippant comment to a student has gotten him into trouble with the university, who is forcing him into early retirement following the latter’s formal complaint. Whereas Nick is disillusioned, Meg wants to grab life by its horns with a renewed sense of vigour, refusing to accept her existing circumstances as all that can be.

And so in between visits to the museums, bookstores, churches and cafes in and around Paris, Nick and Meg find themselves confronting their personal and professional ennui.  The admirable thing about Kureishi’s script is that it refuses to be defined along narrative convention, so don’t be expecting Hollywood-type sentimentality - nor for that matter misery - and any easy answers to the broiling tensions that the middle-aged married couple are forced to confront. Indeed, one can’t help but draw similarities to Richard Linklater’s ‘Before Sunrise’ trilogy, in particular the most recent ‘Before Midnight’ in which Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s characters also reflect on their relationship over the course of time.

Nonetheless, it is unlikely that ‘Le Week-end’ will win over many fans, if at all. It is easy to understand Kureishi’s intentions with a rational mind, but his material fails to connect on a deeper, more emotional level. There is a lot of talking that goes on which hints at the deep bonds and equally significant fissures in the couple’s relationship, but Michell directs the proceedings with such restraint that one can’t help but feel distanced from their introspective talk.

The introduction of Jeff Goldblum’s American expat Morgan midway into the film brings a frisson of excitement, but that energy barely manages to get one through till the somewhat more engaging climax at a dinner party which Morgan invites both Nick and Meg. There is a particularly well-scripted exchange between the trio where Nick delivers a prompt rejoinder following Morgan’s toast which earns a similarly tart response from Meg; it is singlehandedly the most compelling sequence of the entire film, not least for the fact that most of the rest of it is just so blasé that you actually do need to force yourself to pay attention in order to stay awake.

That the film turns out emotionally uninvolving is also an unintended consequence of Broadbent and Duncan’s understated performances. Sure there is nuance in their acting that makes for a refreshingly honest exercise, but somehow one wishes that there could be more emotional cadences throughout, with a little bit more of the over-acting that we are used to. Goldblum, on the other hand, is perfect as the generous yet self-absorbed American, whose loud and amusing act is in sharp contrast to that of his two lead actors and brings a welcome joie de verve.

It’s not likely then that ‘Le Week-end’ will do for Paris what ‘Notting Hill’ did for its titular neighbourhood. The fact that the performers aren’t as attractive isn’t quite the reason why; rather, it is so muted that it hardly registers, worse still if you’re in the same age bracket as the characters. There is no romanticism here in case anyone is looking for that here, and while it is easy to say this is for a mature intelligent adult audience, we suspect that it wouldn’t hurt if everything unfolded with a little extra dose of passion and fervour. 

Movie Rating:

(Honest and insightful though it may be, this intimate look at the personal troubles of a middle-aged married couple is also too emotionally uninvolving for its own good)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Peter Lepeniotis
Cast: Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Liam Neeson, Brendan Fraser, Stephen Lang, Maya Rudolph, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham
RunTime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: GV
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheNutJobMovie

Opening Day: 13 March 2014

Synopsis: In animated 3D, THE NUT JOB is an action-packed comedy in fictional Oakton that follows the travails of Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a mischievous squirrel, and his rat friend Buddy, who plan a nut store heist of outrageous proportions and unwittingly find themselves embroiled in a much more complicated and hilarious adventure.

Movie Review: 

When we talk about animated films, we often think about Pixar and DreamWorks. If the entry is from neither of these big names, then there surely needs to be a ‘wow’ factor to convince and draw crowds to the cinema for the animated feature. Unfortunately, that can’t be said of ‘The Nut Job’.

The Nut Job is a story about a community of animals living at the park, trying out all ways to gather enough food for the winter. An outcast squirrel, Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), plans to raid a nut store to get enough food for only himself. However, a more righteous female squirrel, Andie (voiced by Katherine Heigl), propose that they work together for the good of everybody at the park. However, behind all these, it turns out that the leader of the lot, Raccoon (voiced by Liam Neeson), has deeper motivations all along…

In short, the story is one that is predictable and unattractive. It’s even mind boggling as to why the ‘human gang’s bank robbery’ was even worth mentioning in the movie’s official synopsis. It certainly did not have any anchoring or value-add effect to the film. The development of the movie was also too cliché – even little children will need more engaging storyline to maintain their interest.

In its attempt to pitch at achieving ‘family entertainment’, there were several attempts at getting laughs from adults as well. Sadly, they didn’t work out well. The intended jokes were too intentional and stale, barely entertaining anyone in the theatre.

Expectedly, given the current technology, the graphics were vibrant, sharp and clear. The computer animation was also smooth and easy to watch. These would have worked to the advantage of the film, but the design of the characters simply lacked characteristic and charm. That, coupled with a rather bare storyline, hardly made the 90-min in the cinema worthwhile.

Overall, The Nut Job is at best a boring pastime film. Since a sequel of this film has already been decided for release in 2016, we can only wish the best for the team. FYI, the trailer of the film is cut very well. You may wish to watch that 10 times over on YouTube than to set foot into the cinema for this film.

Movie Rating:

(Unless you’ve really exhausted all other options, this movie shouldn’t be listed as a choice)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Director: Eugenio Mira  
Cast: Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Allen Leech, Kerry Bishé, Tamsin Egerton, Don McManus, Alex Winter
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.magnetreleasing.com/grandpiano/

Opening Day: 27 March 2014

Synopsis: Tom Selznick, the most talented pianist of his generation, stopped performing in public because of his stage fright. Years after a catastrophic performance, he reappears in public in a long-awaited concert in Chicago. In a packed theater, in front of the expectant audience, Tom finds a message written on the score: "Play one wrong note and you die." Without leaving the piano, Tom must discover the anonymous sniper's motives and look for help without anyone realizing.

Movie Review:

You’ve got to hand it to director Eugenio Mira for essentially setting a race-against-time thriller entirely within the confines of a crowded concert hall. Yes, you read that right; however unlikely it does sound, ‘Grand Piano’ is a minute-by-minute ticker that sees a young classical pianist fight for his life - and that of his beautiful actress-wife - by ensuring that he hits all the right notes with each of the pieces that he plays.

Elijah Wood stars as the celebrated pianist Tom, who after a five-year sabbatical, is making a much-hyped return to the stage. His last performance of an impossible piece called ‘La Cinquette’ had left him with stage fright, and in the opening minutes, we see how the prodigy is just as nervous despite the hiatus. But still, with the support of his wife Emma (Kerry Bishe), Tom manages to steady himself to make it back onstage to perform live with a full orchestra.

As he turns the pages, Tom finds a warning scrawled in red ink: “Play one wrong note and you die”. There are of course some frantic minutes where Tom rushes back off and on stage in order to verify the authenticity of the threat, notwithstanding the red beam from a sniper’s rifle which he sees trained on him and then Emma from somewhere within the circle seats of the hall. But mostly, Mira wisely has Tom going forcefully at the keys of the piano, which forms the basis for some of the more intriguing and interesting scenes of the movie.

Indeed, Mira’s use of music to amp up the tension is impressive to say the least. As a director who has composed the music for his own films before, Mira effectively chooses the pieces to fit each scene, in particular such that Tom’s musical performances effectively convey the mood of each sequence, crescendo-ing just as one reaches its climax. But Mira’s mastery of the art of the thriller goes way beyond that.

Clearly influenced by the B-movie thrillers by Hitchcock and Brian De Palma, Mira employs a similar bag of tricks - long Steadicam follows, deep-focus split screens, vertigo-inducing swoops and aggressive dollies - to keep his viewer on tenterhooks, complemented by Unax Mendia’s fleet camera moves as well as Jose Luis Romeu’s fidgety editing. Even as writer Damien Chazelle’s script slowly loses its lustre as it reveals an all-too conventional reason for Tom’s predicament, Mira never lets the suspense let up one minute, making sure that his audience remains enraptured by his manipulation of images and sound.

It’s no secret from the trailer that John Cusack plays the villain here, but those looking for a head-on confrontation between Cusack and Wood will probably be disappointed, as the former only makes an appearance right at the end. Most of the time, the two trade barbs over Tom’s phone, which he uses to maintain voice contact with his nemesis while pounding the custom Bösendorfer that once belonged to his mentor. Nonetheless, Wood more than holds the screen with his saucer-eyed stare locked in a permanent state of panic, playing Tom as an ultra-neurotic aesthete.

Though it does strain credibility, ‘Grand Piano’ still enthrals with a suitably loopy premise, confident execution and some truly mesmerising combination scene compositions. Unlikely as it may seem, Mira’s high-concept thriller does come close to matching the adrenaline rush that other such race-against-time movies hope to accomplish in their audience. Just accept first and foremost that this is no more than B-movie pulp; then sit back and enjoy the music. 

Movie Rating:

(Tense and thrilling - this race-against-time thriller set in a concert hall will have you enraptured)

Review by Gabriel Chong
  

Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Jon S. Baird
Cast: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, Joanne Froggatt
RunTime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scenes And Coarse Language)
Released By: GV
Official Website: http://www.magnetreleasing.com/filth/

Opening Day: 6 March 2014

Synopsis: Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson wants a promotion. He is clearly the best man for the job - the rest of his colleagues are just idiots. Annoyingly, there's been a murder and Bruce's boss wants results. No problem for Bruce. He's in control and when he solves the case and wins the promotion, his wife will return to him. No problem. But is life that simple? Is Bruce the man he really thinks he is? The tragic, hilarious and memorable answers unfold in FILTH...

Movie Review: 

You know how some people will forever be remembered for that one piece of work he or she has done because it was so darn good? Yup, we are talking about actors and filmmakers like Mark Hamill (fans of Luke Skywalker unite!) and Richard Kelly (any self respecting cinephile will tell you how much he loves Donnie Darko). If you really had to, feel free to include Brandon Routh (we have no idea what the Superman Returns star is doing now either). Then we have authors like Irvine Welsh. The Scottish novelist is recognised for his novel Trainspotting, which incidentally often quoted by any self respecting film fanatic. You know he’s still living with that fame when every single film adapted from his works comes with the “From the creator of Trainspotting” marketing tag.

After the somewhat disappointing Ecstasy (2011), the filmmaking industry picks up another one of Welsh’s works and turns it into a movie experience. This time, we get the very likeable James McAvoy as the protagonist in this crime comedy drama. He plays a bipolar and bigoted junkie policeman who manipulates and hallucinates his way through the 97 minute production in a bid to secure promotion and win back his family.

Like Danny Boyle’s modern classic and the little known Rob Heydon film before this, this film deals with un Disney elements like recreational drug use, denial of opportunity, hooliganism, sex and a very strong Scottish identity. And the filmmakers hit the right spot by picking McAvoy as their leading man. We loved the 34 year old actor in 2006’s The Last King of Scotland (his supporting role beside the Oscar winning Forest Whitaker is a head turning one), 2007’s Atonement (how can you not weep when the poor guy died in war without seeing the love of his life?) and of course, 2011’s X Men: First Class (way to go, Professor Charles Xavier!). Oh, the Scottish actor was also Mr Tumnus, the loveable hooved creature in 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

It’s nice to see how McAvoy has come this far, juggling roles of different genres, comfortably moving from indie productions to Hollywoodblockbusters. Here, he turns in another impressive performance as a down and out cop who is as confused as anyone of us urbanites is. Amidst the fast talking, cocky behaviour and can’t care less attitude is a vulnerable individual who is in desperate need of redemption. Forget the Oscars and BAFTAS, McAvoy nabbed the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Award.

The rest of the film isn’t too shabby either. The themes explored are aptly translated on screen by director Jon S Baird. There are some truly hilariously terrifying images – without giving too much away, you may want to get yourself ready for some animalistic shock. The ensemble cast is also a capable one, from Imogen Poots’ bossy colleague and Jaime Bell’s rookie cop to Eddie Marsan’s mild mannered friend and Jim Broadbent’s scary psychiatrist.

The film moves along at a nice and almost addictive pace, before culminating in a satisfactory finale played to Clint Mansell’s effective score. The last shot before the innovatively animated end credits will leave you pondering how one can cleanse himself of the filth that is life. 

Movie Rating:

(James McAvoy impresses again with his enigmatic performance in this addictively reflective indie film)  

Review by John Li

SYNOPSIS: Two-time Academy Award® winner Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon) teams once again with two-time Academy Award®-nominated writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) on Rush, a spectacular big-screen re-creation of the merciless and legendary 1970s Formula 1 rivalry between gifted English playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth of The Avengers, Thor) and his disciplined Austrian opponent, Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl of Inglourious Basterds, The Bourne Ultimatum). Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of racing, Rush portrays the exhilarating true story of the charismatic Hunt and the methodically brilliant Lauda, two of the greatest rivals the world of sports has ever witnessed. Taking us into their personal lives and clashes on and off the Grand Prix racetrack, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Rush miraculously washed away all the bad taste which Stallone left us years ago with his half-baked attempt at producing a Formula 1 inspired movie, Driven.

Based on a true story of Formula 1 champions, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Rush is a tightly woven tale of friendly rivalry (though it remains debatable during their earlier years) between two passionate drivers who simple love the adrenalin and the high stakes involved. Hunt, the carefree, sex-loving British man while Lauda born into an Austrian privilege family but a true genius when it comes to engines and racing.

All thanks to writer Peter Morgan and director Ron Howard (both who also worked on the superior political drama Frost/Nixon), we get to know how fierce, determined Hunt and Lauda are on the racetracks plus a surface look at their complicated personal lives. While other filmmakers filled their biography with plenty of characters, Howard and Morgan keep things simple on the whole, their focuses never leaving the two main characters throughout the two hours duration.

With a clever mix of CG, vintage cars and sets, we are treated to numerous cleverly shot, exhilarating race sequences courtesy of Oscar winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire). It’s a mighty dynamic experience probably the closest you are going to get unless you buy a pricey ticket to the next Formula 1 race here.  Replicating the 70’s settings with rich costumes and lavish details, it’s undeniable layers and layers of eye candy.   

Chris Hemsworth successfully shed off his Thor image to give a stunning performance as the late James Hunt and that includes German actor Daniel Bruhl (The Fifth Estate) who is extremely believable as his real-life counterpart, Niki Lauda. The two actors simply sizzles and surprisingly hotter than all the burning tires combined.

Absolutely one of the finest movies of 2013 and definitely one of Howard’s best movies since Apollo 13, Rush is a genuine, heart-pounding tale of bromance on wheels.  

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The DVD comes up with excellent detailing and imaging. Sound wise, it would have greatly benefited from a 5.1 track given the movie’s bombastic sound effects.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: David Ayer
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Mireille Enos, Olivia Williams, Joe Manganiello, Terrence Howard, Malin Akerman, Josh Holloway, Harold Perrineau, Max Martini, Gary Grubbs
RunTime: 1 hr 49 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/SabotageMovie

Opening Day: 10 April 2014

Synopsis: In "Sabotage", an elite DEA task force deals with the world's deadliest drug cartels. Specializing in complex mobile operations, the team executes a tactical raid on a cartel safe house. What looks to be a typical raid turns out to be an elaborate theft operation, pre-planned by the DEA squad. After hiding millions in stolen cash, the team believes their secret is safe - until someone begins assassinating them one by one.

Movie Review:

You can’t blame Arnold Schwarzenegger for wanting to play bad at this stage of his acting career; after all, his post-Governator roles haven’t exactly ignited the box office in the same way he used to before he assumed political office, so reinvention is probably less of a choice than a necessity. Anyhow, in David Ayer’s ‘Sabotage’, Schwarzenegger plays against type as the drug enforcement agent John “Breacher” Wharton, who in the opening scene is seen sitting in front of his computer screen watching a video of a woman being tortured. Yes, indeed, this ain’t the typical macho-hero role we’ve been used to seeing Schwarzenegger in, and you know what, the movie is all the better for it.

Indeed, there’s no denying that as the morally questionable leader of an undercover team of DEA bad boys, Schwarzenegger gets to do some serious acting. Like Ayer’s heroes in ‘Training Day’, ‘Street Kings’ or his most recent ‘End of Watch’, Schwarzenegger’s Breacher is a good guy with varying degrees of flaws. It is Breacher who, during a raid on a drug cartel safe house, joins his rogue band of federal agents in skimming $10 million in cash seizures; and though that money goes missing after being sent down a clogged toilet to a waiting sewer pipe, members of Breacher’s team start dying in extremely bloody ways after a desultory FBI investigation.

Among Breacher’s team are James “Monster” Murray (Sam Worthington), Joe “Grinder” Phillips (Joe Manganiello), Julius “Sugar” Edmonds (Terrence Howard), and Lizzy (Mireille Enos), the only female member of the team and arguably the most interesting one of the lot. On their backs are Olivia Williams and Harold Perrineau’s homicide detectives, the former of which more than holds her own going up against Schwarzenegger and his team, while the latter serves as occasional comic relief to bring a spot of much-welcomed levity into the otherwise grim and gritty proceedings.

Structured as a cop-centred thriller wrapped around a whodunit, Ayer, who co-wrote the movie with Skip Woods, tries to keep his audience guessing just who the betrayer among Schwarzenegger’s team is and exactly what his - or her - motivations are. There are a fair share of twists and switchbacks, and more so than in his previous movies, Ayer tries to keep the suspense up by keeping the identity of the culprit close to his chest. Unfortunately, the task ultimately proves too much for Ayer to handle, and those looking for the same realism of his previous works will undoubtedly be disappointed by the story’s gripping improbabilities.

What we suspect will prove even more problematic is the graphic violence that Ayer resorts to in the movie. To Ayer’s credit, the largely handheld shot action sequences are exciting, in particular a lengthy car chase which culminates in an especially brutal end for one of Breacher’s men. But there is plenty of blood here from open wounds and autopsy shots, whether from being pulverised by an oncoming train or being disembowelled and nailed to the ceiling. Ayer’s refusal to shy away from graphic depictions of human viscera has been criticised for bordering on pornography, and we’d like to take this opportunity to warn more squeamish readers that it does get pretty bloody violent. Nonetheless, those who love their action served with gore will definitely be pleased by this firmly R-rated thriller.

We won’t deny that Ayer has gone rather over-the-top here, and in the process sacrificing the kind of credibility that his firsthand knowledge of police work has brought to his previous cinematic depictions of it. But even though it hardly counts as his better works, it is nonetheless a must-see for fans of the aging action star Schwarzenegger, whose impassive performance is well-matched for his role as a veteran agent whose work battling the cartels has ultimately taken its toll on his personal life. This is one of Schwarzenegger’s finest performances in a while, and if you can look past the rest of the flaws, you might just find it reason enough to watch this.  

Movie Rating:

(Violent and over-the-top, this gruesome B-grade actioner is worth watching only for Schwarzenegger’s finer performance in a while)

Review by Gabriel Chong