Genre: Drama/Musical
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Freya Tingley, Jeremy Luke, Erica Piccininni, Joey Russo, Mike Doyle, Johnny Cannizzaro, Kathryn Narducci
RunTime: 2 hrs 14 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 July 2014
Synopsis: From director Clint Eastwood comes the big-screen version of the Tony Award-winning musical "Jersey Boys." The film tells the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. The story of their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the songs that influenced a generation, including "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Dawn," "Rag Doll," "Bye Bye Baby," "Who Loves You," and many more. These classic hits are now being embraced by a new generation of fans through the stage musical, which has been running on Broadway for more than eight years and has also enjoyed successful tours around the globe.
Movie Review:
You have to give it to Clint Eastwood. The cultural icon of masculinity is still directing movies at 84. This reviewer isn’t sure about you, but he isn’t sure he’ll live past that age, let alone do something with his life after being in existence for over eight decades. From modern classics like Unforgiven (1992) to recent productions like Gran Torino (2008), Eastwood is one filmmaker who deserves every budding movie goer’s respect. Although this writer didn’t exactly appreciate the award winning Million Dollar Baby (2004) and the slightly controversial J. Edgar (2011), he was particularly impressed with the angst ridden Mystic River (2003) and the World War II series Flags of Our Father (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006).
With an illustrious filmography of movies exploring serious themes (racism, war, sports – you name it), it is a surprise to see Eastwood helm a musical. Based on the Tony Award winning musical of the same name, the biographical drama tells the story of the musical group The Four Seasons. Whether or not you’ve seen the stage version (or whether you’re a fan of the infectiously entertaining production), the story is a familiar one – four young men from Jersey’s different walks of life cross paths and come together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. The story progresses to chronicle their ups and downs, to the eventual breakup and resolution.
If there’s anything that’s signature Eastwood in this 133 minute movie, it’s the crime tinged context involving mafia leaders and shady business dealings. Here you get the always reliable Christopher Walken playing a mob boss looking after the aspiring musicians. You also give points to Eastwood for giving the film a washed out look, and not resorting to excessive
The group consists of Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), Francesco Castellucio who would later be known as Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) and Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen). Each actor brings his character to life, with Young being the most comfortable with his role, having played Frankie Valli on broadway (and winning a Tony for it). The character arcs are nothing new to movie storytelling, but it works – especially with Valli’s likeable and DeVito’s sometimes obnoxious personalities.
The film also gets credit for bring the 1950s to 1960s setting to life. Watch out for vintage musical instruments, recording setups and those oh so cool vehicles. The most respectable aspect of the movie, or in this case, Eastwood, is how everything is back to basics: simple storytelling, uncomplicated cinematography, frills free editing and a collection of familiar tunes (to those who grew up listening to hits like “Walk Like a Man” and “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love”).
When the film ends with a wonderfully choreographed sequence starting from the four men singing under a street lamp, you’d be humming and tapping your feet to good ol’ favourites like “Sherry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.
Movie Rating:
(Fall in love again with the good ol’ days when back-to-basics music meant so much more)
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: This new chapter of the epic saga 300, told in the breathtaking visual style that defined the original blockbuster brings the fight for glory to a challenging new battlefield: the sea. Greek general Themistokles is pitted against massive invading Persian forces who are ruled by god-king Xerxes and led by Artemisia, the vengeful commander of their navy. Knowing his only hope of defeating the Persian armada is to unite Greece, Themistokles leads the charge that will change the course of the war.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Eight years have passed since 300. Gerald Butler has become a bigger star than he originally was. Zack Synder has gone on to become Warner Bros’ go-to-man for superheroes adaptation. Frank Miller on the other hand has yet finished his comic book for the sequel given that he was the one who initiated the idea.
This sequel, prequel or what director Noam Murro says ‘an equal’ to 300 touches on the events that surround the Battle of Marathon where King Leonidas and his faithful 300 warriors met their glorious death. You can’t resurrect a dead King thus the plotting focuses on General Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) who led a band of free men from Greek against an invading Persian naval led by their ruthless commander, Artemisia (Eva Green).
Without the energy and enthusiasm, 300: Rise of an Empire or should we say, 1001 ways to die violently by sword is a mere pale copy of the original. Every single scene is punctuated by insane deaths of beheadings, severed limbs and copious amount of CG bloodshed. More blood doesn’t mean more guts as the brutal killings become a recurring joke after the second round of battle on sea. Even though it’s the compelling visual style of Synder and Miller which made it so famous in 300, Noam Murro only proved you can’t cut the same dress from the same cloth.
Eva Green (Casino Royale) rises above all the testosterone and nonsensical sea fights to deliver an outstanding performance as Artemisia, a once sex slave who fights to avenge her families’ death. Opposite Australian Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) who gave a less rousing performance compared to Butler, the duo will go down in history for giving viewers their version of angry sex on a ship. Lena Headey returns for a brief stint as Queen Gorgo and rising star Jack O’ Connell (starring in Angelina Jolie’s upcoming Unbroken) stars as a young warrior who fights alongside Themistocles. Rodrigo Santoro is once again wasted as God-King Xerxes though he seems to be the most interesting character of all.
It’s all about glory, death and revenge in 300: Rise of an Empire. The visual is still dazzlingly but the thin narrative with plenty of historical inaccuracies and boring speeches are just excuses to make way for a third instalment.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Behind the Scenes: The 300 Effect is a 30 minutes featurette that is divided into four parts: 3 Days in Hell, Brutal Artistry, A New Breed of Heroand Taking the Battle to Sea. To sum it up, the featurette on the whole delves into the plotting, the visual effects, the set and costume design.
Real Leaders & Legends has historians talking about the real Greek/Persian war and comparing the actual historical characters to the ones portrayed onscreen.
Women Warriors delves into the history of Lena Headey’s Queen Gorgo and Eva Green’s Artemisia.
Savage Warships feature archival footage of the recreation of a Greek warship and the technology behind the building of the naval warship.
Becoming A Warrior, the shortest feature of all takes a look at how the male actors turned themselves into well-built warriors under the guidance of an instructor.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
300: Rise of An Empire looks stunning on DVD with a flawless mixture of deep black level, abundance of desaturated and detailed CG images. Audio is often strong and dynamic, you expect nothing less of a movie that features cutthroat battles, explosions and a pounding score by Junkie XL.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Patrick Hughes
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Robert Davi, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger
RunTime: 2 hr 6 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence & Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://theexpendables3film.com/
Opening Day: 14 August 2014
Synopsis: In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team come face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
Movie Review:
At first, it was fun. Then, it got familiar. And so to avoid the inevitable sequel fatigue that had set in among the franchise’s core fanbase of baby boomers as well as to broaden its appeal to a younger audience, Sylvester Stallone has decided to expand the cast list from 80s and 90s action stars to young upshots like Kellan Lutz, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey. That is in addition to adding Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford to the ‘Expendables’ he had already recruited over the past two instalments.
Does it bloat? Most definitely. The surest example of that is how Jet Li only appears on screen for a grand total of five minutes during the messy extended finale, confined to a helicopter firing a machine gun. It’s hardly the best use of a talent like Li, but hey series regulars like Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren and even Jason Statham also get short shrift this time round. For that matter, so does Stallone, but that is also because Mel Gibson as the villain is hardly a substitute for Jean Claude Van Damme in the previous chapter even though Stallone lets himself and Gibson have the same mano-a-mano finish.
It is therefore only logical to ask – has ‘The Expendables’ gone the way of its title? Yes and no. Let’s begin with its flaws, the most obvious one being that there is just too many actors and too little of each actor. In order to introduce a younger, fitter, and more tech-savvy team, Stallone and his co-writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt force his old crew to sit out a good hour of the film. And yet that time-out hardly gives their newbies any much time to define themselves either individually or as a team, since their grouping is prefaced by a barely necessary recruitment drive where Stallone and a mercenary head-hunter played by Kelsey Grammer travel around the United States to pick them up.
Don’t get us wrong – we’re not expecting more exposition to do the character development; after all, the Expendables have always been characterised by their unique s(killing)-sets where each plays a complementary role to the entire team. Sadly, even up to the finale, none of the actors get enough limelight to distinguish themselves from one another or to live up to the expectations of their fans; more significantly, their teamwork lacks the grease of a well-oiled machine, so much so that their collective presence is no different than a ragtag group of well-trained mercenaries whose common trait is that they just refuse to die. There are glimpses of the latter – like how Snipes and Statham cover each other’s back during the climax – but such moments of chemistry are few and too far in between.
Its cardinal sin however is even more fundamental. For none other than commercial reasons, Stallone and his director Patrick Hughes have intentionally toned down the violence, trading the grisly R-rated brutality of the last two movies for a virtually bloodless PG13 outing. That’s an undeniable – and some may think unacceptable – cop-out when you consider the roots of the franchise back in the 80s, one that robs the film of a more visceral impact especially during the plentiful gun battles. It is also particularly alienating for fans of these old-school action stars which Stallone has assembled, who are understandably expecting the carnage to be much more brutal.
Yet even though it is flawed, it isn’t completely expendable. Save for a handful like Statham and Ford, none of the other stars can open a movie on their own, and Stallone here gives fans of Wesley Snipes and Mel Gibson a chance to see their icons on the big screen once more. In turn, Snipes proves that he has lost none of his brash charisma as the knife-wielding, probably psychotic Doctor Death; and Gibson chews up the scenery as the megalomaniac ex-Expendable Conrad Stonebanks, enjoying every minute of his screen time with swagger, pomp and chilly menace.
There may not be as much humour as there was in ‘The Expendables 2’, but the zingers still pop. You’ll find digs at Snipes’ tax evasion, Stallone’s stroke, Bruce Willis’ absence from this one, Statham’s accent and even Schwarzenegger’s famous line from ‘Predator’. Some of the most amusing moments are reserved for Banderas, who as the fast-talking eager-to-please desperado Galgo add some fleet-flooted verve to the middle stretch of the movie, which – with the absence of the old guard – comes quite close to feeling like a stretch.
Hughes does some commendable work with the action, which compared to the earlier two ‘Expendables’, comes off sleeker and more polished. The opening sequence where Stallone’s old team break out Snipes from an armoured prison locomotive is literally a bang, and from their next mission at a seaport in Mogadishu to the new team’s maiden one breaking into a high-tech building, Hughes maximises his mid-sized budget for some skilfully executed mayhem. Even the obligatory overblown conclusion deserves grudging praise, maintaining some sense of coherence while giving each one of the sprawling cast something meaningful to do before the credits roll.
It’s the biggest assembly of action stars yet, even by the standard of “The Expendables”, but like we’ve said, that comes at a cost to both the old and new cast as each character gets even less defined as before. Still, no other movie has ever come close to bringing together such an ensemble, and probably no one other than Stallone ever will be able to. If you’re in the mood for nostalgia, then this throwback to the 80s and 90s will probably do just fine; but other than that, this third instalment is unlikely to win any new fans to either the stars or the franchise.
Movie Rating:
(Still as action packed – without the blood – and still as humorous as before, but this burgeoning ensemble of old and new action stars has gotten too bloated for its own good)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Thriller
Director: James DeMonaco
Cast: Frank Grillo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Michael K. Williams, Keith Stanfield, Carmen Ejogo, Zoe Soul
RunTime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://blumhouse.com/film/thepurgeanarchy
Opening Day: 18 September 2014
Synopsis: The sequel will once again center on the futuristic annual purge, a 12-hour period during which all crime is legalized. It takes place in the city where there are no security systems and it's just like a war zone where people are just trying to survive.
Movie Review:
Nudity is one way to sell a movie and violence is the next. Wrapped around a controversial premise, The Purge: Anarchy relied heavily on the latter in this sequel to the sleeper hit, The Purge.
In Anarchy which is once again helmed and written by James DeMonaco, the annual purge is into its eighth year. Backed by the NFFA, the night where all crime is legal for 12 hours and supposedly a healthy outlet for American outrage, the rich is getting ready to purge out the poor just for entertainment sake while the poor simply are left to fend for themselves.
At this point, if you are still muddled by all the fuss surrounding the purge, I suggest you sit back and soak in all the tension that is happening onscreen. Anyway it doesn’t make much sense that just because it’s legal to kill once a year, unemployment rates will go down and a perfect union will be formed. In other words, taking us back to stone age for a night will fix all the economic, social and enforcement problems. Wow.
Through the eyes of five people, we are taken on one hell of a ride through the deserted streets of LA. Sergeant Leo (Frank Grillo from Captain America: The Winter Soldier) is hell bent to take revenge on a drunkard man who knocked down his son a year ago. On his way there, he happens to save a pair of mother and daughter, Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and Cali (Zoe Soul) from a group of heavily-armed military-dressed men and a couple, Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez) from a masked gang they encountered earlier. With his car broke down, Leo has no choice but to escort the rest to a safe spot while at the same time avoiding the impending attacks from both the mysterious armed men and masked gang.
DeMonaco truly has an exploitative statement to make and to his credit, The Purge: Anarchy is a slight improvement over his predecessor where the actions are much better handled. While the first took place almost entirely inside a suburban mansion, the sequel takes viewers to the streets where snipers are stationed on the roofs, booby traps are laid on the road and gang members armed with everything from flamethrowers to automatic rifles are everywhere to lay their hands on the innocent. Its scary, edgy and for the most part effective in sending chills down your spine. You know you are probably going to get shot just for throwing the trash.
The most unsettling part of the entire movie is the poor and homeless which are picked up from the streets are sold to the rich for their killing enjoyment. Talk about getting rid of social class, there’s even a secret government funded army that is going around killing the poor in masses. But in the end, Anarchy is not that movie that is going to delve deep into social commentary or changes how the world is going to function. It’s one that is filled with lots of bloody maniac shooting, explosions and plenty of Grillo’s heroic antics to keep you glue to the screen.
Movie Rating:
(A B-movie that shoots first before it makes you think)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Philip Yung
Cast: Kabby Hui, Rainky Wai, Heidi Lee, Mak Tak Wo, Dominic Ho, Irene Wan
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scenes and Sexual Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 July 2014
Synopsis: Set in the generation where We-chat is the modern way of communication among youngsters, the film follows three troubled girls Yan (Kabby Hui), Wei-Wei (Heidi Lee) and Yi Ji (Rainky Wai) who will do anything to escape their troubled lives. Yan comes from a rich family but is often lonely, Wei-Wei works at a bar to support her family but is consumed by drugs and Yi Ji works as a teen prostitute at night. They go to the extremes and consume their youth in the most fearless and reckless way but everything comes with a price to pay. One day, when Yan suddenly disappears, Wei-Wei and Yi Ji starts to track her whereabouts, only to find out shocking truths about her that were never revealed…
Movie Review:
If you haven’t yet heard of the social messaging app ‘WeChat’, then the context of this movie might seem foreign to you. The rage among teenagers and young adults today, it allows the user to chat up random strangers, meet new people and of course engage in casual dating. But for all its wonders of making the world a smaller place by pulling individuals closer together, the app from which the movie’s title derives from clearly has its pitfalls - and it is this which director and co-writer Philip Yung’s sophomore film attempts to explore.
Intended as a cautionary tale, Yung begins by introducing his audience to the three lead female protagonists. Yan (Kabby Hui) comes from a rich background, but chooses to rebel against her absentee mother (Irene Wan) by partying hard, experimenting with drugs and sleeping around with boys she meets through WeChat. On that app, Yan happens to be in the same chat group as the deaf-mute Yee-gee (Rainky Wai) who lives with her grandmother and does tricks for cash on the side - which is given the politically correct term of ‘compensated dating’. Last but not least is Wai-wai (Heidi Lee), whose mother is a drug addict and therefore has to assume the responsibility of caring for her younger sister.
Can you say it’s a hard life? Yung’s focus is on the disfranchised and marginalised youth of our society, whose tendencies and excesses are exacerbated by the unfettered use of social media. Before pleading caution, Yung though gets his audience immersed into this microcosm of the modern teen world. Yan, Yee-gee and Wai-wai’s lively interactions appear alongside each other in split screens. Their texts also pop up on screen in gaudy speech-bubble fashion, complete with emoticons and avatars. Together with some sharp outdoor lensing by Shi Yue, the effect is a busy, colourful and captivating visual palette that seems to count towards a bright and breezy teen flick.
But as they say, things go downhill really quickly. The trigger for this is Yan’s disappearance, following news that she was rescued in spectacular fashion after she had attempted suicide by jumping off the roof of a building. Yee-gee and Wai-wai team up to track her down, as it only becomes clear that the three WeChat group mates had in fact never met with each other in real-life. Nevertheless, the app proves a blessing in disguise, enabling the pair to work through friends, enemies and acquaintances that mostly also belong on the sidelines, including prostitutes, hoodlums, and pimps.
Even if we can ignore the disjointed way in which scenes are pieced together in seemingly haphazard fashion, we cannot quite brush aside the fact that Yung’s film fails to rise above low-budget exploitation fare in the second half. Aiming for maximum shock value, he depicts with surprisingly graphicness a brutal killing (complete with a shot of full-frontal male nudity that is we warn you not pretty at all) and two separate rape sequences that carry more than a whiff of sadism. Unfortunately for Yung, he doesn’t shoot with enough restraint for these scenes of extreme violence to rise above shlock, and his own tendency for melodrama also further undermines the seriousness of the subject matter to which his film tries to serve fair warning of.
He does however regain some respectability by referencing an earlier cultural touchstone in Hong Kong cinema, the gritty 1982 teen film ‘Lonely Fifteen’. Those who are familiar with it will immediately recognise that film’s stars Irene Wan and Peter Mak in supporting roles here, the former playing Yan’s mother and the latter a close friend cum former triad boss whom Yan’s mother reaches out for help to locate her daughter. Their appearances are not only preceded by grainy film clips of their younger selves in ‘Lonely Fifteen’, but also by relevant sections showing the surprisingly relevant parallel between adolescent rebellion then and now.
Yung must also be thankful that he has found a fearless group of female performers. The roles aren’t easy in and of themselves, but certain scenes in particular require a certain confidence that these three leads gamely step up to. On the other hand, the script accords the male actors very little to do except be bastards, and even if the sympathy for the girls is artificially manufactured from the script’s contrivances, there’s no denying you’ll still feel a fair degree of indignation for them.
Still, we suspect that ‘May We Chat’ is likely to get a fairly polarised reaction. You’ll either hate it for being plainly manipulative and amateurishly made, or you’ll give it its fair due for attempting to tackle a timely and important subject even though it does so in a plainly manipulative and amateurish fashion. If only Yung were a better filmmaker, this may have been better social commentary; as it is, its intentions are good but its execution far less so.
Movie Rating:
(A well-intentional teen drama built on the dangers of social messaging that falls flat due to a contrived script and clunky direction)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Global action star Liam Neeson stars in NON-STOP, a suspense thriller played out at 40,000 feet in the air. During a transatlantic flight from New York City to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Neeson) receives a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the government to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes. NON-STOP, which reunites Neeson with UNKNOWN director Jaume Collet-Serra and producer Joel Silver, co-stars Golden Globe Award winner Julianne Moore.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Liam Neeson reunites with Unknown director Jaume Collet-Serra to deliver yet again a mystery thriller this time set onboard a transatlantic flight from New York to London.
Bill Marks is the name of the character he plays here, essentially the same tough guy character he played in Taken but with an alcoholic problem. A former cop, he now works as an U.S. federal air marshal and on one such flight, Bill received a mysterious sms stating that a passenger on the plane will die every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a bank account. When the captain suddenly dies and the account number is revealed to be belonging to Bill, the mystery deepens. Is Bill the hijacker or is there really a killer hidden among the passengers?
Non-Stop offers a compelling 102 minutes viewing experience with plenty of twists and turns and chunk of Neeson getting rough with his opponents. While he is not busy twisting someone’s neck or hand, he is getting cozy with a fellow passenger, Jen played by Julianne Moore (Neeson’s co-star in Chloe). But wait, could the suspect be Jen instead of Bill? Or could it be that cell phone programmer Zack White? No, no, no it’s more likely the other guy.
Plausibility and logic doesn’t count when you are watching a movie liked Non-Stop. Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra knows how to up the tension, suspense but apparently is pretty helpless when it comes to delivering a coherent twist. Still, it doesn’t matter because the movie entertains for the most part and also the screen presence of the growling, lanky Liam Neeson that has us grabbing on to our seats.
This is not by any chance setting a gold standard for a whodunit thriller. At the very minimum, it offers a rather smooth watch until the next Taken arrives in theaters.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD looks good on TV but the 2.0 soundtrack is a little disappointing as the action unfolds in the finale.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: This epic motion picture spans Mandela's extraordinary life from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected President of South Africa. MANDELA: A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is the thrilling story of an ordinary man who rose to the challenge of his times and triumphed - an intimate portrait of the making of a modern icon.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s a pity Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom based on the late South Africa President’s autobiography is largely forgotten at any major awards (though U2’s Ordinary Love was nominated at the Oscar), the least it should get is a nomination for Best Actor for it’s leading man, Idris Elba (Thor).
While the biography drama is not without its flaws, the script by William Nicholson offers viewers a vital, condensed study at one of history’s extraordinary men. To be fair, this is not an episodic HBO series in the first place. To both Nicholson and Justin Chadwick’s (The Other Boleyn Girl) credit, the narrative is never that heavy and generally takes an uplifting look at Mandela and the political scene of early South Africa.
You can’t deny the entire life of Mandela is too complex to be told in 144 minutes and the movie no doubt skimmed through parts and only feature the man’s milestones and inspirational moments. In-between shots featuring the people’s riots and oppression, the often bullet-point treatment might irked the perfectionists and the glaring mistake I must add is the proceedings failed to cast further details on Mandela’s life other than highlights which you probably have read somewhere.
Forget about the obvious missteps along the way, Idris Elba on the other hand is amazing as Nelson Mandela without a doubt. The English actor thoroughly inhibits the role and despite the physical differences (especially in the later years), his portrayal alone is worth the price of admission. Another English actress Naomie Harris (Skyfall) does an admirable job portraying Winnie Mandela, Nelson’s controversial other half until 1996.
Nicholson, which caused a stir with his comments on 12 Years A Slave ruining his Mandela biopic might be unabashed about his scribing work. We can only say it’s best to let audience judge for themselves how good (or bad) the historical drama is.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer is outstanding and during the more aggressive scenes, the 2.0 soundtrack is immersive and clear.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: John Carney
Cast: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, James Corden, CeeLo Green, Catherine Keener
RunTime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: NC16 (Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://beginagainfilm.com
Opening Day: 3 July 2014
Synopsis: The latest film from writer-director John Carney (ONCE), BEGIN AGAIN is a soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.
Movie Review:
Begin Again is director/writer John Carney’s latest effort, telling the story of how a heartbroken British songwriter, Gretta (Keira Knightley) meets down-and-out music producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo). The plot does not sound especially groundbreaking, and there are indeed few surprises in the film. The storyline is largely predictable – Gretta performs at a pub and attracts the attention of Dan, and they collaborate to cut an album. Through the process, the two main characters get closer and solve problems plaguing their personal life.
With the high level of predictability, the stereotypes, surprisingly, add a dash of much needed humour. The film also tries, and was somewhat successful, to provide a critique on the current music industry. Through Dan, the film blasts the inane lyrics and unimaginative rhythms present in current popular music. On the other hand, Gretta’s refusal to surrender 90% of her album earnings to the record label blasts the large corporations for taking large cuts from the artiste while not doing much.
In essence, the film revolves around music – the industry, the stereotypes, the songs – and primarily, the power of music to bring people together and pull others apart. This might sound cheesy, but it might be true. Gretta and Dave were first drawn together by a discussion about music, and later, gets even closer to the point of sharing their playlists. Through making Gretta’s album, Dave’s family also reconciles. Ironically, when one becomes familiar with another’s music, nothing can be kept from each other, making betrayal and cheating harder to hide, although this is a bit of a stretch.
Being a musical, it is important that the film’s music, original compositions by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, and Glenn Hansard, amongst other composers, does not disappoint. In fact, the songs, performed by Knightley, Adam Levine and Hailee Steinfield, are easily its highlights. Standouts include ‘Lost Stars’ performed by Knightley and Levine, and ‘Like A Fool’, by Knightley. Knightley’s singing is unexpectedly good, changing from raspy to saccharine, which compliments the songs and makes her convincing as a lovelorn and sentimental songwriter.
The film’s music also receives a boost in street cred through the inclusion of Maroon 5’s frontman, Adam Levine. In Levine’s first movie outing, he plays Gretta’s boyfriend-turned-rock star, Dave, a largely one-dimensional role. This is a pity, actually, as fans would probably expect more screen time and development in Levine’s character. Hence, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Levine’s greatest contribution to the film is his distinctive singing voice and experience at being, well, a rock star.
As a whole, the film is enjoyable and feel-good, portraying New York City as a place where dreams, musical dreams in this case, can come true. A main drawback for us, however, is the awkward pairing of Knightley and Ruffalo. Perhaps it is the differences in ages, or styles, or personalities, but these two actors are an odd mix. As both characters take long gazes into each other’s eyes, it would a good time then to close your eyes and enjoy the soundtrack in the background.
Movie Rating:
(Despite being largely predictable, Begin Again is enjoyable film, with the original compositions performed by Knightley and Levine acting as the main draw)
Review by Goh Yan Hui
SYNOPSIS: The first ever full-length theatrical LEGO movie follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Making an animated movie without dumbing down its contents for children isn’t easy. But directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller manage to score a homerun with their latest movie based on the famous brick toy, Lego even though it sounds like a ridiculous idea at first.
Lord and Miller who also co-wrote the effort place a construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt who will be appearing in his true original form in Guardians of the Galaxy) in the center of the story. A more than average ordinary worker in Lego city, Emmet stumbles upon an ancient red block known as the Piece of Resistance and finds himself unwittingly becoming the savior of the world.
Essentially a movie made for Lego to sell more toys (Remember Transformers?), The Lego Movie in the end contains more heart than economic intentions to transport viewers to a land made of bricks and inhibited by plastic minifigures. It’s a Lego movie made for fans and non-fans. But the latter will have the ability to spot many hilariously sight gags liked the evil Lord Business’ horns are actually made of red Lego coffee cups and the constraint movements of the characters as per the real plastic figures and clever one-liners, one that took a stab at one of the Danish company’s failed product line- Bionicle.
Since it’s an adventure for Emmet, the movie widely took viewers to the Old West (a reference to a cult, short-lived product line) to a colourful Cloud Cuckoo Land that features a cute character called Unikitty (not to be confuse with Hello Kitty) to being rescued by a pirate named Metal Beard and meeting a 80’s spaceman Benny (another classic product line reference). Star Wars and DC comic fans will marvel at the cameos and yes, Batman joining Emmet and gang on their adventure. On many levels, it not only entertains but gorgeously animated and wildly imaginative. Even though the entire movie is done via CGI, a portion of the visuals is purposely animated to look aged and stop motion-like.
The spirited voice casting also includes Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius the wizard, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle the love interest, Will Arnett as Batman, Charlie Day as Benny the spaceman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, Liam Neeson as bad cop/good cop among many.
The Lego Movie is one animated flick that is unexpectedly meaningful and charming for the kids. It’s not just the younger ones, the Master builders, Lego fans and many others will also brimmed with pride after catching it. Totally awesome.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Fan-Made Films: Top-Secret Submissions is a collection of homemade Lego clips made by fan for a contest.
"Everything is Awesome" Sing-Along is a karaoke video for everyone in the family to of course sing along.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Lego Movie looks awesome with bright colours and detailed images. Audio quality is superb as well with lots of surround activity and aggressive sound effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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