Genre: Drama
Director: Gregg Araki
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Shiloh Fernandez, Christopher Meloni, Thomas Jane, Gabourey Sidibe, Angela Bassett, Dale Dickey
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.magpictures.com/whitebirdinablizzard/
Opening Day: 22 January 2015
Synopsis: Kat Connors (Shailene Woodley) is 17 years old when her perfect homemaker mother, Eve (Eva Green), a beautiful, enigmatic, and haunted woman, disappears - just as Kat is discovering and relishing her newfound sexuality. Having lived for so long in a stifled, emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother's absence and certainly doesn't blame her doormat of a father, Brock (Christopher Meloni), for the loss. In fact, it's almost a relief. But as time passes, Kat begins to come to grips with how deeply Eve's disappearance has affected her. Returning home on a break from college, she finds herself confronted with the truth about her mother's departure, and her own denial about the events surrounding it...
Movie Review:
Gregg Araki has always been associated with bold and provocative, beginning with 1995’s ‘The Doom Generation’ and reaching his peak with 2004’s sensuous and gripping ‘Mysterious Skin’ starring a pre-‘Inception’ Joseph Gordon-Levitt. We can’t say much about 2007’s ‘Smiley Face’ or 2010’s ‘Kaboom’ because both those titles never made it onto our shores, but from what we have seen of his adaptation of the Laura Kasischke novel ‘White Bird in a Blizzard’, his sensibilities have certainly dulled over the years.
It’s so much that his latest isn’t engrossing – for the record, it is – but we frankly expected much more of his exploration of family dysfunction and sexual awakening than this somewhat flat coming-of-age mystery that sees ‘Divergent’ star Shailene Woodley play a 17-year-old teenager who struggles to come to grips with her mother’s sudden disappearance. You can see why Araki was drawn to Kasischke’s book – told entirely from the girl’s point of view, it sees her awakening to her urgent sexual desires as she courts and loses her virginity to the not-so-bright and mostly shirtless kid next door (Shiloh Fernandez) while dealing with an unstable mother (Eva Green) and wimpy father (Christopher Meloni).
Araki preserves Kat’s (Woodley) storytelling perspective from the book, with frequent voiceovers that punctuate the character’s recurring dreams of her walking in a blizzard and finding her mother naked under a snowdrift. Like the book, he has also retained the same chronological structure, telling the story linearly at two points of time – first, right after Eve (Green) disappears; and second, three years later as a college student returning home for the holidays – and saving Kat’s relationship with her mother for several flashback sequences; only with a coda does he significantly deviate from the book, drawing a connection between Kat’s father Brock (Meloni) and her first boyfriend Phil (Fernandez) that frankly strains credibility.
Thankfully, most of the rest of the movie is much less incredulous. The flashbacks reveal Brock and Eve to be an utterly mismatched couple whom we frankly have no idea how they managed to stay together for so many years; nevertheless, as Eve watches her daughter’s physical transformation from a chubby girl to an attractive teen, she grows increasingly unhinged, even going to the extent of openly competing with Kat for the affections of Phil. In short skirts and slinky bathing suits, Eve teeters on the brink of sanity, madness and outrageous sexuality with the kind of fierceness that only an actress like Green would be able to bring to the role – a scene where she bursts into the bathroom and catches her daughter checking out her breasts in the mirror display the actress’ propensity for such electrifying personalities.
These scenes are in stark contrast to that just after Eve’s disappearance, which, despite the addition of Kat’s sassy pals – one a heavy-set African American girl named Beth (Gabourey Sidibe) and the other a gay Hispanic guy named Mickey (Mark Indelicato) – are relatively muted. Kat does manage to get our attention by her relationship with the scruffy police cop Det. Scieziesciez (Thomas Jane) tasked to investigate her mother’s ‘missing persons’ case though, if for nothing else than the very fact that the age difference between them does make it creepy. As a character drama, it is uneven all right, in parts exciting to watch and in others dull and tepid.
More effective is the second half of the movie, which plays as a suburban thriller built on Kat’s suspicions that something nasty may indeed have befallen her mother. From Scieziesciez’s disclosure that her dad isn’t the emotionally withdrawn person he seems to be, to Beth and Mickey’s confirmation of the same, and finally to Phil’s confession that her dad knows exactly what happened to her mother, Araki builds a quietly unsettling atmosphere which leads of course to the revelation of just what had befallen Eve that fateful day three years ago. By this time, Araki forgoes the character beats of the earlier half of the movie, and focuses instead on the mystery that lies at the heart of Kat’s titular dreams.
And through the tonal shifts, the one actress that holds your attention is Woodley herself. Perhaps her most daring performance yet, Woodley goes nude for a couple of scenes meant to demonstrate her character’s blooming sexuality, but even without the show of skin, she is compelling to watch as she vacillates between anger, apathy, rebelliousness and insecurity. Though Araki’s script fumbles the characterisation at some points, her performance never loses the clarity that one has come to expect from the intelligent and sexy actress who first burst into the scene with equal alacrity in ‘The Descendants’.
Had this not carried the Araki brand name, we would probably be quite taken by its combination of sexual drama and domestic mystery, but the fact that it does is inevitable that certain expectations be set, not least for the fact that the themes within are familiar elements of Araki’s works. Unfortunately, we expect more from such an auteur who has deliberately built up a filmography on such issues. Even the 1980s setting filled with the filmmaker’s beloved alt-rock tunes from the era - Cocteau Twins, New Order, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure – is what his fans should be used to, so the fact that ‘White Bird in a Blizzard’ turns out to be blander than what one expects surely qualifies as a slight disappointment to say the least.
Movie Rating:
(Not quite as bold and provocative as you’d expect from a Gregg Araki movie, this coming-of-age story cum domestic thriller rests largely on Shailene Woodley’s singular performance)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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FIRST TRAILER AND CHARACTER POSTERS FOR 'PAN'Posted on 27 Nov 2014 |
SYNOPSIS: When a jobless recluse John Moon accidentally shoots and kills a young woman while hunting in the backwoods, his panic turns to greed when he finds her campsite and a small fortune in cash. Hiding the body, he takes the money in hopes it will win back his estranged wife. But when his sudden wealth draws the attention of a vicious ex-con, Moon is dragged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
MOVIE REVIEW:
To start with, A Single Shot is set in a bleak, depressing world. It’s always cold and dark for whatever reason and almost every character depicted here is a roughneck of sort and talk with a slur; don’t say I didn’t warn you to switch on the subtitles.
Anyway, the underrated Sam Rockwell plays John Moon (ironically he starred in a little sci-fi thriller called Moon back in 2009); a man so down on his luck and on the brink of a divorce accidentally shot dead a woman while on a deer hunting trip in the woods. Instead of calling the cops, Moon took her body back to her campsite and stumbled upon a box of cash. Needless to say, Moon took the money and finds himself in a whole lot of trouble liked receiving mysterious phone calls and his dog killed.
Matthew F. Jones who adapted the screenplay from his own book clearly has problems translating his words into action. Numerous characters fade in and out to push along the story and mostly it’s the dreading atmosphere that keeps you glue to the screen instead of the plotting. Among the colorful characters are William H. Macy’s as a small-town lawyer Daggard Pitt who might have an ulterior motive of his own but who knows. Moon’s best friend, Simon (Jeffrey Wright from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) who tends to appear onscreen garbling garbage about women and drinking booze and a tattooed psycho dubbed The Hen (Joe Anderson).
Its no doubt Sam Rockwell is one capable actor. He doesn’t really have lots to say in A Single Shot yet beneath all that bushy facial hair, we came to believe his character is a man who sets out to become a better person to his estranged wife and infant son but unfortunately destroyed by one costly mistake.
It’s a simple story through and through and it’s most gripping when the menacing antagonist Jason Isaacs finally shows up in the third act revealing himself as the threatening Waylon. However before the climax, director David M. Rosenthal prefers to take things to a crawl thus forestalling the tension and adrenalin in this unnecessarily long dragged out movie.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary with Sam Rockwell and Director David M. Rosenthal is an often-informative track. The duo is funny, lively and provides some interesting off-screen anecdotes liked the deer Moon thrown into the water is road killed instead of being slaughter specifically for the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
This is one movie that sets out to test your eyesight. The scenes are mostly set in low light, dark and brooding. Occasionally you can’t even make out what’s going on. Not the fault of the DVD but the artistic choice of the D.P. and director. The audio track is relatively quiet save for the sound of gunfire, clear dialogue and ambient effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: When Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen - and zest for life and love
MOVIE REVIEW:
Written by Favreau, Chef returns the Iron Man helmer to his indie roots. Independently financed and co-starring Favreau’s many superstar friends, the movie is an eye-opener to the world of food trucks in the States.
Favreau stars as Carl Casper, sort of a celebrity chef in the culinary circle who quits his job in a huff after his boss (Dustin Hoffman in a cameo) wants him to stick to his usual acclaimed dishes. With his desire to branch out and the egging of his ex-wife, Molly (Sofia Vergara) Casper decides to run a food truck with his ex-assistant, Martin (John Leguizamo).
While there’s nothing out of the extraordinary about the premise, Favreau manages to keep things charming, slick and often very funny. It’s a tale about mid-life crisis that generously took swipe at the current state of social media in our life. Casper’s meltdown at his former workplace is captured on YouTube thus questioning his state of mind and his ongoing war with a food critic (played by Oliver Platt) on Twitter only worsen matters.
Food might be the primary theme of the movie and it certainly served up plenty of sizzling, close-up shots of delicious Cuban sandwiches (created by Roy Choi, creator of gourmet Korean taco truck in LA) that makes you want to wash down a couple of those with a cold beer. The secondary message however is about family and relationships. The father-and-son relationship takes center stage when Casper and his son, Percy (Emjay Anthony) embark on an exciting road trip on their food truck across the country. Not forgetting Casper’s on-and-off relationship with his sexy wife who supports him emotionally and financially after he burnt out.
Of course, in addition there’s a minor Avengers gathering with Robert Downey, Jr and Scarlett Johansson appearing in small roles. Most agree that Chef is the movie that sort of revived Jon Favreau’s flagging directing career after the dismal performance of Cowboys and Aliens. It certainly is.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The no-frills DVD comes with serviceable visual output and decent audio track.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Set in a future London, THE ZERO THEOREM stars double Academy Award® winner Christoph Waltz as Qohen Leth, an eccentric and reclusive computer genius plagued with existential angst. He lives in isolation in a burnt -out chapel, waiting for a phone call which he is convinced will provide him with answers he has long sought. Qohen works on a mysterious project, delegated to him by Management (Matt Damon), aimed at discovering the purpose of existence - or the lack thereof - once and for all. But his solitary existence is disturbed by visits from the flirtatious Bainsley (Mélanie Thierry), and Bob (Lucas Hedges), Management’s wunderkind son. Yet it is only once he experiences the power of love and desire that he is able to understand his very reason for being.
MOVIE REVIEW:
‘The Zero Theorem’ is about the search for the meaning of life, or to be more precise, one man’s search for the purpose of his life. Yes, we thought we’d get that clear before we plunge into our review of Terry Gilliam’s latest, said to be the final part of a dystopian trilogy that began in 1985 with ‘Brazil’ and which continued with the critically acclaimed Bruce Willis-Brad Pitt starrer ’12 Monkeys’. Through and through a Gilliam invention, this thematic capper boasts Gilliam’s trademark visual inventions, what with its carnival-type sets and wacky-coloured costumes, but as Gilliam’s fans will also tell you, it can be overdone and underdeveloped at the same time.
Pat Rushin’s script provides Gilliam with a familiar protagonist – a drone named Qohen Leth (pronounced Co-hen, rather than Quinn) working for a vast corporation called Mancom, in the not-too-distant future. Qohen is excellent at his job of “crunching entities”, but he isn’t happy; on the contrary, he’s anxious and jittery waiting for a phone call, one that apparently promises the answer to the meaning of existence which he had missed the first time. So obsessed with he with the call that he applies repeatedly for disability, just so he can work from his home in front of the phone. His wish is granted on one condition – he is to work on proving the zero theorem, which posits that everything in the universe really adds up to nothing, “a one-time glitch” that will contract into a perfect nothing.
If you’re a Gilliam fan, you’re probably already tearing element by element of the story apart to analyse – and possibly over-analyse – it for some meaning. Far as we know, Qohen is meant to reflect us, caught up in our humdrum lives wondering what the purpose of us living is for. And so when someone calls offering that answer, we jump at it immediately; but in the midst of that search, we, like Qohen, tend to forget living in the first place. Among Qohen’s cheerful supervisor Joby (David Thewlis), a red-wigged sex worker named Bainsley (Mélanie Thierry) and his delightfully nutty online therapist (Tilda Swinton), the one character that isn’t window dressing is Management’s lively wunderkind son Bob (Lucas Hedges), the only one in the movie in fact who offers more answers than questions.
True to Gilliam’s style, there is plenty of excess and extravagance, including a pair of tall-short henchmen called the Clones (Emil Hostina, Pavlic Nemes) and pizza deliveries that sing whenever the box is opened for the first time. Yet amidst that, there are also moments of brilliance that you can’t quite ignore. It isn’t coincidence that Qohen’s residence is a former monastery, which he had acquired in a fire sale. Nor is the fact that Management’s camera watching Qohen’s every move is positioned right at the top of a cross whose vertical dimension has broken off. There is also a fantastical depiction of a totally Qohen falling through the cosmos which resembles Michelangelo’s painting of the creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. Gilliam’s imagination is unbridled here, without the kind of studio constraint that made ‘The Brothers Grimm’ a far too conventional picture.
As his muse, German actor Christoph Waltz is excellent. Yes, since bursting into Hollywood on the back of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’, Waltz has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation, and he here slips into a role that had both Ewan MacGregor and Billy Bob Thornton cast at different points in its production. Despite the demands of the multi-faceted role, Waltz portrays his character’s obsession, desperation and delusion with poignancy and persuasiveness. And oh, Matt Damon does make a memorable appearance in a few scenes as Management, a firm supporter of Gilliam since ‘Grimm’ and ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’.
In order to appreciate ‘The Zero Theorem’, you’ll have to first learn and accept Gilliam’s style, which doesn’t have the discipline of modern-day filmmaking but is nonetheless peerless in terms of sheer inventiveness. Though Gilliam doesn’t exactly cover new ground with this movie, there is still more than enough Gilliam here to entrance and intrigue you, notwithstanding that you probably won’t get closure with the ending. Yes, this is Gilliam at his best and his worst, but there is no mistaking that this is through and through a Gilliam invention.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visuals deserve to look better in a Blu-Ray presentation but are otherwise acceptable in this DVD format. Audio is passable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
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3688 TOPS THE OPENING WEEKEND BOX OFFICE CHART FOR A LOCAL FILM RELEASED OUTSIDE OF CHINESE NEW YEAR THIS YEAR!Posted on 21 Sep 2015 |
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WILL SMITH SET FOR DC COMICS' SUICIDE SQUADPosted on 03 Dec 2014 |
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Cast: Shota Sometani, Eri Fukastu, Sadao Abe, Ai Hashimoto, Nao Omori, Tadanobu Asano
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Encore Films & Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.facebook.com/encorefilms
Opening Day: 15 January 2015
Synopsis: One Parasyte latches onto a regular high schooler, Shinichi, but he prevents it from taking over his mind and body completely. Instead, the Parasyte isolates only on his right arm. Shinichi cannot reveal his terrible secret to those around him, and during this time of turmoil, he developed a friendship with the Parasyte creature which he calls "Migi" ("Righty"). Before long, they begin to encounter other Parasytes that launch savage attacks against them and put the life of his childhood friend, Satomi, in danger. Things take a sudden turn for the worse. Shinichi's beloved mother is killed and taken over by a Parasyte. When the creature launches an attack on him, he has no choice but to kill her. It becomes a head-on war between two species- Parasytes and mankind. Are the Parasytes here to wipe us out to restore nature? Which specie ought to win? Amidst this conflict of values, Shinichi and Migi have no choice but to hurl themselves into the fight against the complex attack of the Parasytes.
Movie Review:
Adapted from one of the most reread Japanese shonen manga which was crowned the best manga of the year in 1996, Parasyte is recently adapted into an animation series and live-action movies. Parasyte Part 1 is the first of two movies that is due to release. This imaginative sci-fi horror received a lot of hype and was under lots of pressure because of the loyal following of its original series. It was almost mission impossible to be able to remake manga author Hitoshi Iwaaki’s classic. However, many of these concerns became unfounded when the film was first shown as the closing film at 2014’s Tokyo International Film Festival.
Parasyte Part 1revolves around a story worm-like creatures, known as Parasytes, which enters a human body through the nostril or ears. It consumes the brain of the human host it inhabits and continues to feed on human beings while maintaining a human form. Shinichi (Shota Sometani), a regular high school student is different from the other victims. The Parasyte that entered his body was unable to reach his brain, and end up inhabiting only on his right hand (hence the name Migi, which means right). Migi first appeared as an eye on Shinichi’s palm and it was later known that the Parasytes can morph into many forms, including sharp blades and even a bow. These two learn to co-exist and help each other from the attacks of the Parasytes as Shinichi’s knowledge of them poses a threat to their survival in the human world.
The premise of having alien-like creatures invading the world is certainly not an entirely new concept. There had also been many sci-fi horror movies about freak creatures combining with the human body. What make Parasyte Part 1 stand out from the rest are Shinichi, the film’s relevancy and the Parasytes’ ability to learn.
Shinichi started off as being cowardly, fearful of confrontations and totally weak for battle. However after one significant turning point which he underwent a great deal of distress, he began to toughen up. Sometani aced his role as Shinichi and really brought his character to maturity towards the end of the movie when it was geared to the climactic battle.
The Parasytes’ ability to learn is the key reason why they could maintain their disguise well in the human society, which gives you the chills and goose bumps. They mimic human behaviors and infiltrate bureaucracies through the knowledge they pick up from observations, books and even the internet. The film adopts a dark sense of humour and takes this opportunity to ridicule many of our taken for granted social habits and norms through the standpoint of the Parasytes.
Some strict followers of the manga series criticize that the first half of the movie was quite packed and rushed through events. Some also say the creative adaptation of the source material killed the core of the story. Well, after all, the movie attempts to adapt and condense 5 volumes of manga material into 110 minutes. Even so, what is key for any movie adaptation is to serve a film that seeks not only to satisfy the fans, but to achieve a movie’s purpose to entertain and appeal to wide audiences. In this respect, Parasyte Part 1 achieved so and even successfully created a hook for its concluding movie.
Needless to say, there is a lot of blood and gore in the movie that not everyone would be able to handle. The visual impact intensifies the emotional and psychological struggles of the character which make it thrilling to watch. Packed with high quality CG, VFX and decent action sequences, Parasyte Part 1 did not disappoint. This sci-fi horror film may be a little extreme in its way of portrayal, but that's exactly the appeal of it.
Movie Rating:
(A gentle consumer advice: this is not for meat lovers. And do make sure that you've got a good sense of humour and an appetite for gore!))
Review by Tho Shu Ling
SYNOPSIS: After a disastrous blind date, single parents Lauren and Jim agree on only one thing: They never want to see each other again. But when they each separately sign up for a fabulous family vacation with their kids, they are all stuck sharing a suite at a luxurious African safari resort for a week.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Nowadays, it’s easier to hate an Adam Sandler movie as opposed to loving an Adam Sandler movie.
Blended reunites Sandler with Drew Barrymore, their third outing together after the much successful The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates and Barrymore very much saved the movie from being yet another Grown Ups.
Barrymore’s brand of girlish goofiness is evidently contagious and likeable. Her character Lauren, a recent divorcee with two sons ended up meeting a widower, Jim (Sandler) with three daughters showed that the E.T. star has matured into a woman while her co-star; Sandler is still playing the same old character in various incarnations over the decades.
It does make a difference when Sandler don’t write his own movies though there’s no escape from his brand of lazy humour liked abundance of cheap one-liners. He is still the star remember?
Instead of bringing the audience to a resort in Hawaii (go and watch Just Go With It), Happy Madison with the courtesy of Warner Bros is generous enough to bring the entire crew to Sun City, South Africa for half of the movie shoot in an attempt to mask the predictability of the plot.
Despite that, Blended does have some heart in it especially when Lauren starts to care for Jim’s tomboys-looking daughters while Jim takes care of Lauren’s rambunctious sons. But you must first beware that this family movie actually contains more sexual innuendos than expected especially an old man and his young trophy wife, Ginger who tends to embarrassingly kiss and fondle all over.
It’s not an entirely flawless Sandler movie nor is it as crappy as Grown Ups 2. Ultimately, it’s Barrymore and the young cast (Bella Thorneas portraying the awkward Hilary and Braxton Beckham as the babysitter-smitten boy) who stole the show with their occasional sentimentality and sweet comedic touches. Not forgetting the always-welcome Terry Crews popping in once a while as the resort’s resident singer.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Watch Sandler constantly making fun of Barrymore in Adam and Drew Back Together Again.
A behind-the-scenes look at Thorne’s tomboy transformation in Bella Thorne's Makeover
There’s six minutes of Deleted Scenes and another six minutes of Gag Reel
In Georgia, the key filmmakers talked about filming in the state of Georgia.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Images and colour look fantastic on DVD except for some obvious dodgy CG background. The surround 5.1 soundtrack offers clear dialogue and occasional directional ambient effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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SPECTRE VLOG #6 - The ActionPosted on 25 Sep 2015 |
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