SYNOPSIS: Based on true events, this fast-paced global thriller takes you behind the shocking headlines. It reveals the mission of WikiLeaks' rebel founder to expose fraud and corruption to the world. With an all-star cast including Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci and complete with exclusive never-before-seen bonus material- The Fifth Estate is a riveting story of intrigue and espionage.
MOVIE REVIEW:
When anyone mentioned confidential news leaks, a certain Edward Snowden comes to mind. Before Snowden, there’s of course Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks who is now granted political asylum by Ecuador.
The Fifth Estate based on "WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World's Most Dangerous Website" by Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Assange’s former associate) and "WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy" is generally a fleeting account of both Assange and Berg. The narrative hardly paints a definitive picture of WikiLeaks let alone it’s charismatic, cocky founder, Julian Assange.
Writer Josh Singer (The West Wing, Fringe) attempts to delve into the conflicting nature of the website and the beliefs of Assange. In the end, it throws up more questions than answers perhaps only intermittently brought up some thoughtful questions: what are the costs of exposing top secrets as opposed to keeping them? For example, do we honestly need to know innocent civilians are killed in the course of war?
There’s no doubt that Director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga) is at a loss with the flimsy material on hand. Condon tried hard to make the subject matter thrilling and interesting by constantly jumping between countries and states to applying quick cuts to the government officials at the White House and even a Libyan informant. Ultimately, failed to impress one that this is a race against time international thriller.
Fortunately, Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Daniel Bruhl (Rush) are excellent as Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Their chemistry is the sole factor that keeps this drama alive for the two hours running time. Other familiar faces include David Thewlis as an old-school reporter with The Guardian while Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci and Anthony Mackie appear in forgettable small roles.
Neither gripping nor riveting as a conspiracy thriller (with Assange publicly renounced the movie’s accuracy), The Fifth Estate is worth only a single viewing partly because of Cumberbatch’s performance. Don’t be surprised if Oliver Stone approach him to play Edward Snowden.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Submission Platform is a 10 minutes segment that talks about the visual development of the online platform.
A Trailer and TV Spots round up the extras.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Dialogue and ambient effects are clear and engaging. The visual presentation are generally free of visible defects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: After a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their kind, 47 leaderless samurai vow to seek vengeance and restore honor to their people. Driven from their homes and dispersed across the land, this band of Ronin must seek the help of Kai - a half breed they once rejected as they fight their way across a savage world of mythic beasts, shape-shifting witchcraft and wondrous terrors.
MOVIE REVIEW:
One of the biggest bombs of 2013 is none other than the fantasy action flick, 47 Ronin. Based on a Japanese legend about a group of masterless samurais who came together to avenge the death of their Lord, the long-delayed US$225 million production failed to ignite audience’ interests and ultimately bored the rest of the paying crowd to tears.
The entire affair is muddled all thanks to screenwriters Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious) and Hossein Amini (Drive) who infused the heroic tale with a touch of mythical and a half-breed Kai (Keanu Reeves) character. The plotting loses all senses of direction and stranded in a sea of clichéd dialogues and CGI despite the lush costumes and props.
The story begins in ancient feudal Japan where a benevolent Lord Asano adopts an outcast by the name of Kai. Years later, Lord Asano is framed by a scheming Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) and a mysterious witch played by Pacific Rim’s Rinko Kikuchi and is ordered to be executed by a Shogun. Vowing to take revenge, Lord Kira’s right-hand man, Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) seeks the help of Kai and his band of samurais to fight against Kira and to have their honor restored.
No matter how you criticized The Last Samurai, it remains very much a tale of honor and mostly, adheres itself strongly to the Japanese culture. On the contrary, 47 Ronin instead of being respectful to the origins decide to throw in an underwhelming main lead in the form of Keanu Reeves. Of course, it’s a tall order to match the charismatic Tom Cruise and Reeves given his limitations in acting certainly has the disadvantage of bringing to life to a stumbling character.
Even the always-reliable Hiroyuki Sanada looks incredibly restless while Tadanobu Asano probably wins the top award for most clichéd villain of the year. Rinko Kikuchi on the other hand has the opportunity to flaunt her seldom-seen foxy side and not forgetting the cool visual effects, which stylishly render her character’s shape shifting skills. First time helmer Carl Rinsch was rumoured to have removed by Universal from the editing room closer to the release date. Whether the fault lies in his original vision for the movie, the screenwriters’ folly or the involvement of Universal executives, 47 Ronin remains a mundane adventure that lacks exciting action pieces and importantly an authentic epic story.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual and images are strikingly beautiful on DVD. Dialogue and sound effects during the action sequences rattle the surround making it an impressive listening experience.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey- teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven - to find her sister Elsa whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Krisoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom.
MOVIE REVIEW:
After years of falling behind Pixar, Walt Disney Animation finally got its revenge (and mojo back) with the release of Frozen, the top grossing animated movie of all time!
Continuing the path of its fairy-taletradition, Frozen consists of the usual ingredients of a typical Princess animation. Filled with catchy song numbers, handsome prince, not one but two beautiful princesses and goofy sidekicks, Frozen never differs much from its two recent offerings, The Princess and the Frog and Tangled except for two things. The spectacular icy setting and magical powers.
With a story that underwent years of development and finally ended up in the hands of directors Jennifer Lee (Wreck-It-Ralph) and Chris Buck (Surf’s Up), Frozen is about how Elsa and Anna, both princesses of the Arendelle kingdom came to embrace their sisterhood after years of being separated from each other. Elsa the elder sister possesses the power to create ice and snow at will. After accidentally turning her entire kingdom under eternal winter, Elsa ran off to the mountains and cast herself into solitary. Anna sets off and with the help of an ice-seller, Krisoff and his goofy reindeer, Sven went on a treacherous journey to convince Elsa to come back to Arendelle not realizing an evil prince is already eyeing their kingdom.
Frozen is all about siblings, love and most importantly, accepting who you are. There are some who interpret the message as one about homosexuality but I shall leave it to you to discuss this with the kids. Generally speaking, the younger crowd won’t be affected by LGBT issues, they are probably too amused by the antics of Sven and Olaf, the walking and talking snowman. Of course, the musical soundtrack written by husband-and-wife team, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez plays a major part in making sure every kids in the neighborhood knew the lyrics to the the hit, “Let It Go”. At times, the story becomes too ambitious for its own good that you never feel satisfied with the whole magical trolls thingy.
However, Disney’s mixture of traditional hand-drawn animation and CGI technology brought plenty of surprise to the overall look of the characters, effects and the Norwegian inspired setting. It’s not mere imaginary, grandeur looking castles and lush forests this time round as the animators relied heavily on several real-life landmarks in Norway to create a compelling world. Tony award actress Idina Mentzel and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) soars with their incredible voice work while Jose Gad (Jobs) is a delight as Olaf (without being an irritable sidekick in this case).
Produced in the old fashioned ways of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Frozen is an instant Disney classic full of magic and adventure! Most kids have yet learnt to let it go by the way.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Can’t get enough of “Let It Go”?The extras have the end credits version by Demi Lovato and the Spanish version by Martina Stoessel. The Get A Horse! Mickey Mouse short is also included.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The imaging details and colours are superb unless you got the far superior bluray edition. Just because it’s meant for kids doesn’t mean it can’t have an immersive soundtrack and dynamic sound effects. Absolutely one solid track for the record.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson bring to life the untold true story about the origins of one of the most treasured Disney classics of all time. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) directs this acclaimed film that reveals the surprising backstory behind the making of Mary Poppins. Determined to fulfill a promise to his daughters, Walt Disney (Hanks) tries for 20 years to obtain the rights to author P. L. Travers’ (Thompson) beloved book. Armed with his iconic creative vision, Walt pulls out all the stops, but the uncompromising Travers won’t budge. Only when he reaches into his own complicated childhood does Walt discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together, they set “Mary Poppins” free.
MOVIE REVIEW:
This is not a story of how Walt Disney broke the bank to fund his Disneyland project nor is it a tale of how Disney started his animation craft. Instead this is a whimsical tale of how Disney courts the rights from author P.L. Travers to turn Mary Poppins into a feature film.
The screenplay by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith did a fine job detailing why Travers is such a complex character as the story is interspersed with flashbacks to her childhood days in Australia and how the death of his alcoholic father (Colin Farrell in a small role) have affected her since. Though creative license has been taken, majority of the story focus on the unseen side of Travers hence Hank’s Disney only ends up playing second fiddle.
The role of Travers can be considered as Emma Thompson’s best performance in years. The Love Actually star practically nailed down the part of a difficult, no-nonsense and unpredictable person to a tee. Aside from his limited screen time, Tom Hanks nevertheless is pitch perfect as Walt Disney, from his mannerisms right down to his moustache. The rest of the supporting players include Paul Giamatti as Travers’ chauffeur and also Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the famous songwriters, the Sherman Brothers.
Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) did a tremendous job balancing the emotions and drama and he never forgets to bring in the laughs especially during Travers’ creative process with the Sherman brothers in creating the songs for the movie. The last act with Disney and Travers in her London home might be a little cringing and as always salvage by the strong performances of the leads.
From the airport, Disney’s office to a visit to Disneyland, the production design team in many ways successfully replicates the look from that era. It’s good to know some props were actually provided from the vaults of Disney archive. Wall-E composer Thomas Newman’s effective score enhance the magical viewing experience and also, not forgetting the absolutely amazing looking photography by John Schwartzman (half-brother of Jason).
Although Saving Mr Banks is a respectful piece of work depicting Disney’s difficulties in dealing with the Mary Poppins author, one can’t help walking away feeling unsatisfied. We are still hoping one day, there will one drama that touches solely on Disney or even the talented Sherman brothers.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Only a single Deleted Scene named Nanny Song is included.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually, details and lighting are excellent. Dialogue is clear while the numerous song numbers come across as lively and soothing.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage, Melissa Leo, James Earl Jones, Hamish Linklater, Sutton Foster, Richard Kind, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Lee Garlington, Daniel Raymont
RunTime: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene & Coarse Language)
Released By: GV
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 June 2014
Synopsis: Henry Altmann is having a horrible day, made much worse by his visit with Dr. Sharon Gill, who abruptly informs him that he only has 90 minutes to live. After storming out of the hospital in disbelief, Henry panics and races through Brooklyn in an attempt to right all of the wrongs in his life, while Sharon desperately scrambles to find him and get him into surgery.
Movie Review:
What would you do if you suddenly discovered that you had only 90 more minutes to live? That, in a nutshell, is the crux of Phil Alden Robinson’s film, which stars Robin Williams as the titular individual who is told by the doctor he sees at the public hospital that he has a brain aneurysm and therefore a much limited lifespan on Earth. Ironically, his volatile temperament will apparently only exacerbate his condition, which means he can’t even afford to get angry with the whole world even in his last few moments if he wants to have a little more time to live.
The premise isn’t new - Robinson is in fact remaking the 1997 Israeli comedy ‘The 92 Minutes Mr Baum’ in which a bitter man must, within the 90 minutes he has told he has left, reconnect with his estranged family and make sense of his whole entire existence. And in adapting this English language remake, screenwriter Daniel Taplitz has not only retained the original’s faux-existential framework, he has also kept its dual voiceover track - one by Williams and the other by his Dr Sharon Gill played by Mila Kunis - though admittedly the storytelling technique doesn’t work as well here.
Other than for the novelty of it, there is hardly any compelling reason why Williams’ agitated crank Henry Altmann or Kunis’ Dr Gill would have the capacity of narrating the inner thoughts of the other character, especially not when it’s hardly clear that there even is a palpable connection between them. Not to say that the story doesn’t try - for more than half its duration, it has Kunis chasing after Williams in a bid to tell him that she has grossly exaggerated the duration of the time he has left to live, and that her answer was in fact taken from the cover of a cookbook on just how long it takes to cook a turkey.
In the meantime, Williams is on his own quest to make amends with those he had inadvertently alienated due to his irksome personality - a son (Hamish Linklater) whom he chastised for giving up a legal career to become a dancer as well as his wife (Melissa Leo) whom he has not made love to for the past two years. Needless to say, by the end of the movie, he would have made the requisite reconciliations with his family - and maybe even bought himself a little more time to spend the last few moments of his life with the ones that he loves; that however does not include the foreign-born cabbie (Daniel Raymont) or the stuttering shopowner (James Earl Jones) both of whom he insults during the course of the day.
There’s a thin line between being mean and portraying the mean streak of a character, but Robinson takes a ham-fisted approach to the material that conveniently dismisses the importance of such nuances. Indeed, it’s hard to tell exactly what he intends especially with the tonal inconsistencies of the story, which lurches clumsily from jokey set pieces to melodramatic confrontations to occasional bursts of aggression without much rhyme or reason. The sum of all these disparate reasons makes for a particularly disjointed whole, which can’t quite make it its mind whether it wants to be a comedy or a thoughtful family drama and ends up being neither amusing or poignant.
As the lead on whose shoulders the entire movie rests on, Williams unfortunately disappoints. He is a comic actor first and foremost, and there is a dramatic weight to the movie that he fails to lift. Even in the examination room where he first learns about his condition, Williams fails to get his audience to believe in his predicament, his strain to convey the conflicted emotions of his character showing in every sinew of his face. He also has zero chemistry with Kunis - not that it matters much anyways, because she barely registers as well.
We’re not quite sure what prompted the filmmakers to choose Williams as their lead, but whatever their intentions, Williams’ alternately shrill and blubbering routine isn’t the only reason why the film is a mess. It isn’t just anger that the film fails to convey, but also a whole lot of funny and heartwarming that it clearly aspires but doesn’t achieve. And as the surest indication of that, it isn’t even long enough to last the full 90 minutes its character has to endure, even though it does feel much much longer than that.
Movie Rating:
(Neither amusing nor heartwarming though it aspires to be, this tonally inconsistent dramedy also falters on a weak lead performance from Robin Williams)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Martial Arts
Director: Daniel Lee
Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Choi Siwon, Wang Ruoxin, Lin Peng
RunTime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 February 2015
Synopsis: Huo An, the Commander of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, protects China’s border, securing peace among the warring tribes on the Silk Road. He often has to enter fights to settle disputes, slowly earning respect from all the tribes. When a convoy of gold bearing a foreign insignia is discovered inside China, he is accused of treason and sent to the border as a slave laborer. With only a small group of his most loyal soldiers, he must fight to survive in the prison camp. General Lucius leads a small army of Roman soldiers to the border gate and outmatch the Chinese border guards. But when Huo An enters the battle, he single-handedly turns it around and earns the respect of Lucius. Among the Romans is a blind boy called Publius, the youngest son of Rome’s Consul Crassus. Crassus was assassinated by his ambitious eldest son, Tiberius, who is leading 100,000 soldiers towards the border gate, employing subterfuge to kidnap Lucius. With the help of the neighboring tribes, Huo An builds an army that can fight the Roman war machine. In the midst of battle, Huo An locates Lucius who has been tortured, but it is too late to save him. He avenges the death of the Roman general, killing Tiberius in single combat. Despite the great loss of life, Huo An has restored the honor of Lucius and secured the borders of China from ruthless invaders.
Movie Review:
So desperately does writer-director Daniel Lee’s historical epic strain for authenticity that it opens with a prologue set in the present day, when two archaeologists (Vanness Wu and Karena Lam) set out to find an ancient city known as Regum hidden high above the mountains in the Silk Road region. As the opening title is presented, we are taken back to 480 BC, when peace was as precious a commodity as gold in the restive region, which saw a total of 36 nations fighting to claim their rights over the land. On the brink of a war between two of them – the Huns and the White Indians – Jackie Chan’s General Huo An is introduced as the Commander of the Silk Road Protection Squad, a small but fiercely loyal band of men given the seemingly impossible task of keeping the peace.
Lee might as well have named him Saint Huo An, because really that’s what he’s been made out to be. Even at the risk of danger to his life, Huo An resolutely refuses to pull a weapon against the Huns’ icy warrior Cold Moon (Lin Peng) – and in the process taught us how to get a Hun bride, i.e. inadvertently grab the lady’s boobs in the midst of fighting (that’s classic Jackie Chan for you, we say) and then inadvertently taking off her mask. Framed for treason, Huo An turns the other cheek and readily accepts his and his men’s punishment to be sent away to a ravaged city known as Wild Geese Gate. And when conflict breaks out amongst the various factions of inmates within the city, Huo An steps in to urge peace, even though everyone else seems to be itching to get at the other’s throats.
Frankly, we still might have given Lee’s ‘Dragon Blade’ the benefit of the doubt about the noble General Huo An – that is, until John Cusack’s General Lucius rode into the picture with his cavalry and our dear Chinese general opened his mouth to converse in English. Even if we could accept that Huo An is a man of different tongues, Chan’s deliberate attempt to portray his character’s strength – or to be more precise, lack thereof – in the English language is utterly cringe-worthy. It is so appalling that it is truly embarrassing, and what’s worse, the humour is unintentional. One line we simply cannot get out of our heads is that which Chan asks Cusack “Why you want to ‘bao chou’” in exactly those words, after teaching the latter how to say ‘revenge’ in Chinese. F**king awful, in our opinion.
Anyhow, the Roman part of the story is completely fabricated for this movie, so we might as well fill you in quickly. As the story goes, Lucius was fleeing the eldest son of one of the two serving Consuls, who had murdered his father and intends to murder his younger brother Publius (Jozef Waite) to claim the throne. Needless to say, Lucius’ alliance with Huo An brings the Roman conflict to their doorstep, culminating in a mano-a-mano of Huo An against the villainous Tiberius (Adrien Brody). Oh, along the way, Huo An gets betrayed by his deputy Yin Po (K-pop star Choi Si-Won), who meets an ignominious death at Tiberius’ blade too early and too quickly in the movie to ever appease his fans whom his casting obviously courts.
There is no other way to say this – ‘Dragon Blade’ is simply terrible. Huo An is honourable to a fault – and boring no matter how many times Chan tries (unintentionally) to goof him up. Lucius hardly looks like a Roman general, and that’s not just because Cusack looks perpetually tired in the role. Brody poses a lot for his slo-mo shots, but it is a performance so full of cheese you’d think his trophy for ‘The Pianist’ was made of it. The friendship between Chan’s Huo An and Cusack’s Lucius is unconvincing, and so too the message of peace, not war, that Lee drums in at every single opportune or inopportune moment. There are also inexplicable moments of gratuitousness, such as when Huo An rushes to save Lucius only to find that his eyes have been gouged out.
Though he has made several period epics of varying quality (his last, ‘White Vengeance’, was his best), Lee is completely lost here. Veering from self-seriousness to campiness to utter ludicrousness, Lee seems tone-deaf to the way his movie looks and sounds, which keeps hitting all the wrong and false notes. Anyone hoping for this to be a return to Chan’s CNY blockbusters of the 90s will be sorely disappointed – besides some close-combat sequences which largely sees Chan do his signature dodging more than anything else, this is no ‘CZ12’ or for that matter the Jackie we grew up loving. We might also warn Choi Si-Won fans as well – we’re not quite sure how much filming he did, but he appears in a total of two scenes here for no longer than ten minutes in a two-hour plus movie.
Not even Chan as action director manages to redeem this fiasco. The battle scenes employ a lot of extras and enough widescreen lensing to awe, but the staging itself is pretty dull and uninvolving. The climax is a utter rip-off of ‘The Hobbit’, from the moment several different legions unite against the common Roman enemy to the very use of eagles by the Huns to create a strategic turning point in the battle. There is even a ‘WTF’ moment when Chan is first crowned First Centurion of the Roman Legion to take over Lucius’ troops and loses half his men to his enemy’s arrows and spears before realising with a shout of ‘stones!’ that they could use the boulders behind them to throw at their enemies. By the time he gets to go one-on-one with Brody to prove a point more than anything else, Chan seems completely spent and it is as disappointing a fight scene as the worst we have seen from him.
Perhaps to emphasise just how absurd the entire enterprise is, Lee circles back to Vanness and Karena in present day to decide that they want the city to stay hidden, to claim it as their own, and therefore not to tell the rest of the team. It is a moment that, while incomprehensible in itself, makes perfect sense in the context of the whole movie. Indeed, ‘Dragon Blade’ is a hot mess and a spectacular misfire, not just by its star but also by its director, and if anything, further confirms that the once-promising careers of Hollywood stars John Cusack and Adrien Brody are going the way of Nicholas Cage..
Movie Rating:
(Utterly awful in every respect, this spectacular misfire from Jackie Chan and writer-director Daniel Lee is a complete mess from tone to character to action)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Jack Neo
Cast: Hu Jing, Jae Liew, Camans Kong, Goh Wee-Ann, Zhou Yu Chen, Joseph Ng, Glenn Yong, Terence Cao, Collin Chee, Selena Tan, Xixi Lim, Patricia Mok
Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG (Some Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment, Clover Films, Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 6 June 2024
Synopsis: Zi Hao, a Chinese Primary 6 student in Singapore, faces academic pressure when his classmate Jayden frames him for cheating to maintain his top-ranking status. Meanwhile, Zi Hao's mother, Wen Ting, is falsely accused of illegal work by Jayden's competitive mother, Sophia. Amidst the turmoil, the two mothers realise the toll on their sons and unite to prioritise their well-being over grades, fostering reconciliation.
Movie Review:
Didn’t we just watch Jack Neo’s Money No Enough 3 in the cinema back in February? Probably Singapore’s most commercially successful director, Neo is perhaps the nation’s most hardworking filmmaker as well. Four months after the release of the third movie in the Money No Enough franchise, he is back to earn big bucks at the box office.
It has been more than two decades since we laughed and cried with I Not Stupid (2002), and 18 years after the second instalment – can Neo still deliver messages that are relevant to today’s education system?
This time, we see two Primary Six boys (and their mothers) battle for the top spot in class. And boy, things turn really ugly.
Zi Hao (Zhou Yu Chen) left his Shanghai home to study in Singapore, and he is accompanied by his mother Wen Ting (Hu Jing). She gave up her accountant job in China to focus on her son’s studies, with the one hope that he will excel academically. Yup, she is what we affectionately know as. “peidu mama” - if you have kids (or friends who have kids), you would be familiar with these “study moms” from China. She makes Zi Hao memorise the dictionary and a “Hally Peter” novel, although it is clear that the poor boy has dyslexia.
On the opposing side of this stressful competition is Jayden (Camans Kong), a bright student who has been effortlessly acing his tests and exams. When Zi Hao’s results improve by leaps and bounds, Jayden’s mother Sophia (Jae Liew) becomes a truly frightening tiger mum to make sure her son remains number one in class. She canes and verbally abuses the poor boy. As things get out of hand, she throws up a fit and home and in school, even resorting to some dirty tricks with the supposed noble intention to ensure a bright future for her son. Her antics are despicably frightening – kudos to Liew’s performance that leaves a impression.
Viewers accustomed with Neo’s works would recognise his all too familiar approach. The 132 minute movie attempts to explore more themes than it ideally should. Are elite schools better than neighbourhood schools? Are children with a less than glamourous backgrounds not meant for big things in life? How can students in this AI powered society leverage ChatGPT for their assignments? Many of these touch and go topics, and you wish the movie devoted more time to explore how the new teacher’s (Glenn Yong) broadminded education approach goes down with the older generation of teachers and parents. And as much as you know that a character is going to get into an accident, you still shed a few tears during the hospital scenes.
Neo, who probably is counting on the fact that nostalgia sells, assembled an ensemble cast featuring actors like Selena Tan, Richard Low, Patricia Mok and Cheryl Desiree Chan from the original movie. Together with other known names like Collin Chee, Terence Cao and Xixi Lim, there is something for everyone in the audience. You can count on the director behind other money making franchises like Ah Boys to Men and The Diam Diam Era to know how to draw the crowd into cinemas.
And you won’t be watching a Jack Neo movie if you aren’t spotting the product placements. The ones that stand out in this movie are the F&B sponsors, ranging from mookata and bak kut teh to fish ball noodles and bread. In fact, this viewer is so intrigued by a very yummy looking burger being chomped down by one of the characters, he went to check out the bakery after the show.
Movie Rating:
(While shedding light on what we already know - that children and parents are facing immense stress in Singapore's demanding education system - this movie delivers comedy, drama and tearjerking moments in a signaure Jack Neo style that audiences are familiar with)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke
RunTime: 2 hrs 46 mins
Rating: NC16 (Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/boyhood
Opening Day: 14 August 2014
Synopsis: Filmed over short periods from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood is a groundbreaking cinematic experience covering 12 years in the life of a family. At the center is Mason, who with his sister Samantha, is taken on an emotional and transcendent journey through the years, from childhood to adulthood.
Movie Review:
So this widely acclaimed film by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Schoolof Rock) has a runtime of 166 minutes. That’s two hours and 46 minutes. To be honest, as much as this reviewer has heard so much praise about this movie (there seems to be zero negative reviews), he wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to sit through almost three hours watching a young boy grow up from six to 18 years old. 15 minutes into the film, he was sure this was a journey worth taking, simply because it’s like watching himself grow up from a 30 odd year old adult’s point of view. And this experience, while reflective, can be bittersweet, inspiring and sometimes helpless at the same time.
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Linklater's latest work tells the universal story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason, who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. You see him living with their recently divorced mother in small town Texas, then moving to Houstonfor a new life, before his elder sister having a boyfriend and eventually moving to Austin. Amidst these seemingly inconsequential life events, you meet Mason’s father who is committed to meeting his children regularly, his two stepfathers (an abusive alcoholic and a strong headed war veteran), and watch him go through several stages of his academic life, take on different worldviews and perspectives and wonder what life has in store for him.
Yes, one can argue that there isn’t much of a plot in this movie, and how viewers seem to be watching a reality show is a convenient gimmick, but you can’t deny the fact that this is the exact thing every filmmaker wants to do – to chronicle a protagonist growing up in real life. The film could have been shot in a month, using actors of different ages, but you’d have to admit that’s really the cheaper alternative to tell a story this real and true to life. Hence, the result would be much less compelling.
You’ll smile and identify with the film’s countless cultural and popular references over the span of 12 years, from Britney Spears’ “Oops! I Did It Again” and Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” to Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Daft Punk’s “What is Life”; and references to the Harry Potter fan boy period, Christopher Nolan’s Batman reboot, the popularity of Disney’s High School Musical and the influence of social media – you’ll feel like the film is telling your story.
Linklater’s masterful direction has brought out brilliant performances in the cast. The relatively unknown Ellar Coltrane’s portrayal of Mason is engagingly heartfelt, his daughter Lorelei Linklater displays an enigmatic screen presence as Mason’s elder sister (we love the scene where she irritates Mason with her nasal singing), Patricia Arquette is wonderful as the capable single mother (watch out for the unforgettably powerful final scene where she reflects on how life has turned out for her) and Ethan Hawke is as charming as ever as the seemingly good for nothing father.
The 54 year old filmmaker won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, and deservingly so as this is truly a landmark in filmmaking. He is no stranger to such a style (having helmed the interlinked Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight over 18 years from 1995 to 2013), and with his latest film, you’d have to admit Linklater is one hell of a storyteller on what life is all about.
Movie Rating:
(Put it simply, this film shows you what life is all about)
Review by John Li
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Nick Cheung
Cast: Nick Cheung, Annie Liu, Carrie Ng, Cathryn Lee, Lam Wai
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 July 2014
Synopsis: The movie tells the story of a Cantonese opera troupe that is harassed by malicious spirits ten days before the Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as Yu Lan Jie. Footages from the CCTV, installed by Zonghua (by Nick Cheung), affirm his suspicions. Who are these spirits and what exactly are they after?
Movie Review:
Frankly, we didn’t figure acclaimed Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung would make his directorial debut with a horror film - after all, the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards Best Actor is better known for his intense performances in Dante Lam’s cop thrillers or even for his comedic roles in Wong Jing’s gambling comedies. Unfortunately for Cheung, his greenness to the genre works to his disadvantage as a novice director, and it suffices to say at this point that ‘Hungry Ghost Ritual’ fails on many counts from being a well-made horror.
Scripted and produced by ‘The Wedding Diary’s’ Adrian Teh, the Seventh-Month themed story has Cheung playing Zonghua, the prodigal son of the owner of a Cantonese opera troupe who returns home after a failed business venture in China. Zonghua is greeted warmly by his father Xiaotian but somewhat less so by his half-sister Jing Jing (Cathryn Lee) - though the reason for this isn’t clear at the start, nor for that matter, by the end of the movie. Instead, Zonghua spends more of his time with the lead actress of the troupe, Xiaoyan (Annie Liu), who is a lot more accommodating and encouraging than Jing Jing ever is.
At the same time, a parallel narrative has veteran actress Carrie Ng playing the lead actress of another Cantonese opera troupe whose master sidelines her for her younger protégé when she has an accident onstage and ends up spraining her ankles. It isn’t until the very end that we are told just how this secondary plotline fits into the central story, which predictably becomes the raison d’etre for the hauntings which plague Zonghua’s troupe after a sudden stroke renders his father incapacitated in hospital - not only does Zonghua begin to see ghastly faces along the street, he also receives ominous gifts (e.g. offerings for the dead) and narrowly escapes death a couple of times.
But the real kicker is when Xiaoyan gets possessed by an evil spirit which must have seen one too many exorcism movies from the West. Yes, much to Zonghua’s horror, she starts contorting her body the way Linda Blair used to in ‘The Exorcist’ and countless other imitations and knockoffs since then. The thing which puzzles Zonghua even more is that each time she does it, she wakes up from a trance-like state and claims that it is merely a medical condition which she has suffered from since young. Needless to say, Zonghua isn’t convinced, and starts doing some ‘Paranormal Activity’ by installing video cameras around his house to record (well) the paranormal activities going on around him.
If almost all of the film’s horror tricks sounds familiar to you, that’s because it actually is. Borrowing from the aforementioned classics of the genre, Cheung combines elements from the typical 1990s Hong Kong-styled horror films with tropes from these recent luminaries. Alas originality (or the lack of it) is not the movie’s greatest flaw; rather, it is a lack of coherence that ultimately undoes the entire premise. Sure, we know there are spirits going around, but one never gets a clear idea of just who is doing the possessing or for that matter why. At one point, Jing Jing is possessed; then it’s Xiaoyan’s turn; and later on apparently everyone else in the troupe, except of course Zonghua. Even up till the last frame, one keeps waiting for these answers, but it seems those are questions which the film can’t quite answer for itself.
To his credit, Cheung does a decent job building and sustaining an air of intrigue and foreboding throughout the movie; but without a satisfying enough resolution which explains in no uncertain terms just how the events are meant to make sense as a whole, his film doesn’t afford his audience the closure that one expects. Those looking for a good scare should also note that it isn’t anything that you haven’t seen before, the moderately interesting premise of spirits returning for the Seventh Month opera barely explored before descending into another standard-issue possession thriller. It isn’t ritualistic, but this 'Hungry Ghost Ritual' sure feels awfully formulaic.
Movie Rating:
(Nick Cheung's decent acting and direction can't save a muddled and unoriginal script that confounds and confuses when it should scare and terrify)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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HONG KONG AWARD-WINNING ACTOR NICK CHEUNG, TOGETHER WITH ACTRESS CARRIE NG, IN SINGAPORE TO PROMOTE HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT FEATURE "HUNGRY GHOST RITUAL"!Posted on 19 Jun 2014 |
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