Genre: Thriller
Director: Levan Gabriadze
Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Heather Sossaman
Runtime: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.unfriended-movie.com/

Opening Day: 30 April 2015

Synopsis: Ushering in a new era of horror, Universal Pictures’ Unfriended unfolds over a teenager’s computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure who seeks vengeance for a shaming video that led a vicious bully to kill herself a year earlier.

Movie Review:

Despite the ubiquity of cameras and camera devices, the found footage genre has lost its relevance especially in recent years, so much so that what once used to be a technique is now often regarded as no more than a gimmick. It is therefore with some wariness that we approached the latest found-footage chiller ‘Unfriended’, which plays out almost entirely from the MacBook screen of one of its characters. And yet it won’t be because of lowered expectations that we were frankly quite taken with this low-budget horror, a terrifying cautionary tale for the zeitgeist that will make you think twice about posting some nasty comment on anyone’s social media page.

At the centre of this Timur Bekmambetov-produced feature is a ho-hum revenge plot, which revolves around six teenagers haunted by a malevolent spirit reaching beyond the grave to exact sweet vengeance against those who were responsible for her death. But it isn’t the story itself that is particularly interesting; rather, the ingenuity lies in the execution, which unfolds in real time over the course of a single evening. Chosen as the chief protagonist and audience surrogate is Blaire (Shelley Hennig), who at the start is looking at a video on LiveLeak captured from a cellphone of her childhood friend cum high-school mate Laura Barns commit suicide. In the same breath, we also get to see the opening of the Youtube video entitled ‘Laura Barns Kill Urself’, and it is pretty clear from the title alone that it was what drove her to kill herself.

As scripted by one of Bekmambetov’s former employees, Nelson Greaves, Blaire’s evening begins innocuously enough with some flirting with boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm), before being joined online on Skype with their mutual friends Jess (Renee Olstead), Ken (Jacob Wysocki) and Adam (Will Peltz). Someone else happens to be in the same chat group, a mysterious anonymous avatar whose online identity Blaire later on discovers matches that of Laura. Just as ominously, both Blaire and Mitch receive Facebook messages from Laura Barns’ account, confirming that it was not some fluke that someone by that same name happens to be in their Skype group. And just to verify it isn’t one of them playing a prank, they add a sixth member, Val (Courtney Halverson), into the group.

Just as well actually – Val turns out to be the one who started a forum thread taunting Laura to end her own life. She is also the first to be killed by Laura in an apparent suicide, convincing the group that whoever is behind the avatar is not to be messed with. Suspecting it to be Trojan, Ken tries to pull a fast one by getting the rest to install a software to remove any bug on their computers, but ends up being the next to meet his end in gruesome fashion. Without giving too much away, the rest don’t get it any easier, as they are forced to play a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ and manipulated to reveal each other – as well as their own – secrets, lies and personal betrayals.

Across multiple windows and multiple open applications, Russian director Levan Gabriadze digs deeper into the psyche of today’s youth to portray their insecurities, expose their hypocrisies and contemplate their herd-driven behaviour. Not only does it shed light on the consequences of what may seem like harmless trolling at the start, it fiendishly confronts the nature of truth and responsibility in the digital realm – and we dare say it does so that successfully that it will make you squirm in your seat, especially because you might find yourself guilty of some of the sins in real life that the characters are forced to atone for.

Gabriadze’s success is also in how he authentically creates the 21^st-century social media experience in the way that teens switch from Youtube to Spotify to Gmail with perfect dexterity or move effortlessly from group chats on Skype to individual messaging on iMessage. While the format he has chosen limits his ability to express what his characters feel, Gabriadze uses Blaire’s self-editing before she hits the ‘send’ or ‘enter’ button to give us a sense of her emotions as she faces down a technological entity who seems to know it all. There is even some pixilation added in for good measure, just so to make the footage look even more realistic.

Count this as the ‘Ringu’ for the Facebook generation, for ‘Unfriended’ deserves to be regarded as a similar cultural touchstone. This won’t be the first movie to perpetuate evil through computer mediation, but Gabriadze’s film stands out because it so accurately captures the anxieties and horrors of our increasingly interconnected social communities. It is also an excellent use of the found footage format, which itself is in need of a jolt equivalent to that which ‘Paranormal Activity’ gave it a decade ago. And seeing as how this is better educational material than any ‘Safer Internet Day’ campaign about the dangers of cyber-bullying, there is no doubt that it is an efficiently effective high-concept horror, one that so deftly taps into its audience’s real fears to deliver some truly spine-chilling moments. 

Movie Rating:

(If the fact that it will probably make you lay off cyber-bullying more so than any official campaign would is anything to go by, you can bet this found footage horror for the social media generation is spine-chillingly effective)

Review by Gabriel Chong 

Genre: Drama
Director: Sylvia Chang
Cast:  Isabella Leong, Joseph Zhang, Lee Sinjie, Lawrence Ko
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: NC16 (Sexual Scene and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 23 April 2015

Synopsis: Nan and Mei are brothers and sisters growing up on the beautiful Green Island, off the shore of the port city of Taitung in Taiwan, and often to their mother’s fairytales of mermaids and angels. But soon their parents separated. Four-year-old Mei goes to Taipei with her mother, while seven-year-old Nan stays on Green Island with his father. Nan grows up to become a local tour guide on Green Island. Although he misses his mother and sister, he’s never had the courage to look for them. A few years after moving to Taipei, Mei’s mother dies in childbirth, and Mei moves to Ryukyu and grows up with her mother’s family. She returns to Taipei as a young woman, teaches art to young children and struggles to become an artist, painting to express her feelings and regrets. Mei’s boyfriend, Hsiang, is a boxer with his own ghosts to battle. The expectation and memories of his dead father pushes him to become a prize fighter, if only his eye problem does not get in the way. When Mei finds out that she is pregnant with Hsiang’s child, memories of an unhappy childhood return to haunt her. For Hsiang, a boxing match that gets out of control makes it painfully clear that he would never qualify for the Olympics. Whereas Nan, after confronting his father’s death and now living a seemingly solitary and quiet life, decides to go look for his sister. As the three young people struggle to come to terms with themselves, the “angels” in Nan and Mei’s mother’s fairytales come to give guidance and bring a ray of light into their lives. Magical encounters make them realize that there is always another side to any story, and that one day, they will find inner peace and joy in their hearts.

Movie Review:

The year was 1999 – this writer remembers the melancholic heartache after stepping out of the theatre. He had just watched Tempting Heart starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Gigi Leung and Karen Mok. The romance film about lost opportunities is an intimate look at love and fate. The established filmmaker behind this is Sylvia Chang, herself an accomplished actress, writer, singer and producer.

This writer went on to hunt down her past works (1995’s Siao Yu and 1996’s Tonight Nobody Goes Home) and looked forward to her new films (2004’s 20 30 40 and 2008’s Run Papa Run). After a seven year hiatus, 61 year old Chang is ready to touch our hearts again with a story about three young people with a broken past, each struggling and trying to find compassion in their relationships.

We see familiar names in the cast list – Malaysian actress Lee Sinjie (Out of Inferno) is a loving mother to Macanese actress Isabella Leong (12 Golden Ducks) and Taiwanese actor Lawrence Ko (Au Revoir Taipei). Besides the estranged relationship between these three individuals, there’s Taiwanese actor Joseph Chang (Soul), whose romance with Leong is rocked by an unwanted pregnancy. Elsewhere, expect to see Wang Shih Hsien (from popular Taiwanese drama Night Market Life) as a boxing coach and Julian Chen (from 90s Taiwanese boy band Little Tigers) as an emotionally volatile father.

In this day and age where overacting, screaming at the top your voice and crying like it’s the end of the world is the most convenient way to tell your story, Chang opts for a quieter, and inevitably, much slower approach to tell this story about longing, forgiveness and ultimately, coming to terms with oneself. The 119 minute film takes its time to transit between the past and present, even bringing in elements of fantasy like mermaids and ocean creatures to stir your imagination a little.

The film is beautiful to look at, with every shot looking like a painting, thanks to cinematographer Leung Ming Kai’s gorgeous composition. Composer Chen Yang’s score is quietly affecting, while Chen Po Wen’s editing doesn’t rush through the story. Kudos also to the art direction team for giving the film a poetic touch, paying attention to the finest details.

The actors do their best to portray their characters – there is a sense of lost forlornness in Leong’s artist, while Ko is likeable as an earnest tour guide trying his best to figure out his life. Chang is handsomely rugged, while Lee effortlessly pulls off the role of a mother who left her children.

Although there are no big showdowns and climatic finales, there are a few scenes which will leave you aptly moved. Watch out for a sequence where Ko chats casually with Lee in his dream, and another one where Chang speaks to a mysterious man about his boxing dreams. These bittersweet moments will linger long after the credits roll, and have you thinking about how you have dealt with your own issues of love and longing. You just need to shut out the noises (both literal and figurative ones) around you and appreciate the quietness of this thoughtful film.  

Movie Rating:

(A quietly reflective film about how people in pain deal with loss and longing)

Review by John Li

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: James McTeigue
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, SDylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Brief Coarse Language) 
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 9 July 2015

Synopsis: A Foreign Service Officer in London tries to prevent a terrorist attack set in New York, but is forced to go on the run after she is framed for crimes she didn't commit.

Movie Review:

Despite its A-list pedigree, the espionage thriller ‘Survivor’ is far, far away from genre standards like the Jason Bourne trilogy or even any of the recent James Bond films. Yes, even though its lead actor was the face of the latter for a good many years, not even Pierce Brosnan can inject credibility into this spy-terrorist-evil plot that requires a complete suspension of disbelief. That’s not to say that it isn’t enjoyable in a low-rent way though – which thanks to some muscular direction by ‘V for Vendetta’s’ James McTeigue, it is – but rather to say that it requires you to set your expectations just right, in order to appreciate its cruder, baser pleasures.

In a break with tradition, Brosnan plays the baddie here, a professional assassin codenamed ‘The Watchmaker’, whose most recent assignment is to employ his sharpshooting skills to detonate a chemical bomb somewhere in New York. That same plan by his shadowy employers also involves smuggling five scientists into America, which is where Milla Jovovich’s embassy official Kate Abbott comes in. Dispatched from Washington to the U.S. embassy in London, Kate suspects these seemingly innocuous individuals of being up to no good, which only deepens when she finds out that her fellow colleague Bill (Robert Forster) had been involved in each one of their visa applications. 

But before Kate manages to confront Bill, the restaurant where she and the rest of her colleagues are gathered to celebrate his birthday is blown up by none other than the Watchmaker, with Kate emerging as the lone survivor (hence the title) after having stepped away to get his present. To make matters worse, the subsequent emergency rendezvous at Kensington Gardens goes awry when Kate kills Bill in an act of self-defence and is photographed by onlookers with camera phones. Not only does she end up on the run from the Watchmaker, Kate also is forced to flee from her own fellow operatives, who think she is responsible for both the bombing as well as Bill’s death. 

And so as narrative convention dictates, Kate goes rogue, as she attempts to stop the Watchmaker and his cohorts from executing their heinous plan while proving her innocence to a not-so sympathetic Ambassador (Angela Bassett in a thankless role), with the help of her loyal boss (Dylan McDermott in a mirthless role) and IT expert (Frances De La Tour, yet another actress in a thankless role). It’s a well-worn setup, and first-time screenwriter Philip Shelby’s script doesn’t stray far from formula, but McTeigue executes the cat-and-mouse sequences with flair and brio, including a thrilling three-way chase through St Pancreas station and its adjoining underground rail tunnels.

No doubt benefitting from McTeigue’s previous filming experience in London, the first two acts set in and around the city are gripping in no small measure due to adroit location work. The last act however stands in stark contrast, let down by a ludicrous build-up even to anyone who has never been to the countdown party at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. What used to be brisk becomes utterly harried, especially as the perpetrators seem to be able to smuggle in a whole truck filled with explosive gas into the heart of Times Square by simply waving a sheaf of papers at a random street cop. The eventual showdown between Kate and the Watchmaker is also disappointingly anti-climactic, dashing any hope of a suitably exhilarating finish to make up for the preposterous chain of events in the Big Apple.

Indeed, there are glaring logic gaps not just in Shelby’s script but also in McTeigue’s filming, which distracts from an otherwise tense, briskly paced hour-and-a-half of pure escapism. Though it is deadly serious, there is no doubt just how plausible (or should we say, implausible) this spy drama really is – and no, like we said at the start, the top-notch ensemble doesn’t make it any more credible. That doesn’t mean it isn’t watchable though; oh yes, if you enter without prejudice, and perhaps even expectation, you’ll find this by-the-numbers thriller reasonably engaging and even surprisingly gripping.

Movie Rating:

(As formulaic as spy thrillers come, 'Survivor' barely overcomes some ludicrous plotting with a breakneck pace and well-executed chase sequences)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Drama
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Cast: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cook, R.J. Cyler with Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal, Connie Britton
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language & Sexual References)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 3 September 2015

Synopsis: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is a uniquely funny and moving story about Greg, a high school senior who avoids deep human relationships as a way to safely navigate the social mine field that is teenage life. In fact he describes his best friend Earl, with whom he makes bizarre short films, as being ‘more like a co-worker’. But when Greg’s mom insists he spends time with Rachel – a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer- Greg discovers just how powerful and important true friendship can be.

Movie Review:

As its title suggests, ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is by-and-large a three-hander featuring a socially awkward teenager named Greg (Thomas Mann), his only friend named Earl (RJ Cyler) whom he calls a ‘co-worker’, and a girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) whom he befriends just after she is diagnosed with Stage 4 leukaemia. Greg is also the narrator of his own real-life story, which we learn from the start that he is writing into a manuscript – hence the chapter-titles such as ‘The Part Where I Meet a Dying Girl’ or ‘Day One of Doomed Friendship’ – while assuring us that it is not a romance and we should not expect the usual clichés.

Despite that assurance, Jesse Andrews, who penned the screenplay based upon his raunchier 2012 YA best-seller, largely sticks with convention established by films of the terminal teen melodrama (think: ‘The Fault in Our Stars’) and the bittersweet coming-of-age story. Greg is that nerd who struggles to fit in socially, whose way of coping is to establish superficial low-key friendships with all the different cliques in school. Though at first they have nothing to say to each other, Rachel grows to respond to Greg’s offbeat sense of humour and the couple develop a deep affection for each other (even if the ‘L’ word isn’t explicitly mentioned). And last but not least, even though Greg tries to convince us several times otherwise, Rachel does indeed succumb to her disease at the end.

Perhaps to compensate for that nagging sense of familiarity, Andrews surrounds his three central characters with a group of quirky indie film character types – including Greg’s pigfoot-eating dad (Nick Offerman), Rachel’s boozy, flirty mom (Molly Shannon) and an overly tattooed history teacher (Jon Bernthal) into Vietnamese ‘pho’ and Werner Herzog documentaries. More significantly, Greg and Earl are infected with an idiosyncratic hobby since young remaking classic movies using stop-motion animation and silly costumes, gifting them punny titles such as ‘A Sockwork Orange’, ‘Monorash’ and ‘A Box of Tulips, Wow’. It is gimmicky all right, but there is no denying the short film parodies are amusing in a completely ingenuous way.

Not surprising, the film culminates with a movie that Greg and Earl make for Rachel, which she gets to view just before she slips into a coma that she never wakes up from. Yet it isn’t so much what happens between these characters as much as how it happens, and therein lies just why director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s debut received a standing ovation at Sundance and went on to win its top two prizes. Juggling humour and heartbreak with deftness, Gomez-Rejon creates a thoroughly winning comedy/ drama that touches on darker subjects like mortality and the will to live without ever becoming maudlin or mawkish. Instead, it is witty and rueful at the same time, perfectly comfortable injecting witty doses of humour amidst portraying the debilitating effects of leukaemia.

Such a nuanced treatment of a potentially tricky subject is also credit to the actors, who deliver stunningly sympathetic performances. Mann brings a sweet Everyguy charm to Greg, while Cooke exudes poise and vulnerability in equal measure as Rachel. In particular, the chemistry between Mann and Cooke is warm and endearing, without ever needing to resort to sexuality as a form of attraction. Cyler downplays his character for a good part at the start, but steps up nicely to the mantle as the surprisingly mature one when Greg becomes disillusioned by Rachel’s decision not to continue with her treatment as she comes to accept death as the inevitable fate awaiting her.

A film of this genre doesn’t often get praised for technique, but Chung-hoon Chug’s cinematography here deserves special mention for his long tracking shots that are impressive in both choreography and execution, especially one which follows Greg as he walks down the entire length of the centre aisle of the cafeteria during meal time. Chug’s camerawork gives the film a distinct feel both fluid and energetic, which is further complemented by a gorgeous and touching score from Brian Eno and Nico Muhly. Yes, though death is never far from our protagonists’ minds, there is never a moment when the proceedings get too morbid for their own good, with even a touch of the whimsical – such as a recurring stop-motion animation to depict an analogy that Greg comes up involving a moose and a squirrel – to enliven the bittersweet.

As familiar as the material may seem, ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ overcomes these trappings with heartfelt poignancy and genuine earnestness. Sure, there are the self-aware and self-referential jokes that range from the peculiar to the downright absurd, but Gomez-Rejon earns your emotions with the sensitive yet grounded way in which he handles tough topics of adolescence, love and death at the same time. There is also a profound lesson in there about how we seem to learn more about the people we think we know after they have passed. Even though it starts off being wry and meta, it settles into quite something else altogether, and is all the much more better for it. 

Movie Rating:

(There is more than a whiff of familiarity in this terminal teen melodrama, but Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's film earns your emotions with its deft balance of humour and heartbreak and some delightfully nuanced performances)

Review by Gabriel Chong 

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Henry Hobson
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson, Laura Cayouette, J.D. Evermore, Amy Brassette, Wayne Pere, Mattie Liptak, Aiden Flowers, Taylor Ashley Murphy, Douglas M. Griffin
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.maggiethefilm.com

Opening Day: 14 May 2015

Synopsis: By the time a necrotic viral pandemic spread cross-country to small town America and infected the film’s titular character, 16-year-old MAGGIE (ABIGAIL BRESLIN), authorities had established a protocol for patients infected with the deadly virus: they are removed from society and taken to special isolation wards to complete the agonizing and dangerous transformation into one of the walking dead. The authorities do not speak about what happens after that. Wade Vogel (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER) is not ready to give up his daughter. After weeks of searching for Maggie when she runs away following her diagnosis, Wade brings his daughter back to her home and family – stepmother, Caroline (JOELY RICHARDSON), and her two children - M-- for whatever time may be left as the teenager begins an excruciatingly painful metamorphosis. Having lost Maggie’s mother years earlier, Wade is determined to hold on to his precious daughter as long as he can, refusing to surrender her to the local police who show up with orders to take her. As the disease progresses, Caroline decides to take their two younger children and move out, leaving Wade alone with Maggie to watch helplessly as she suffers.

Movie Review:

‘Maggie’ is a zombie drama, but you should probably know right from the start that it is no ‘The Walking Dead’. Indeed, those looking for a similarly gripping survival tale with a tight blend of character blend and heart-stopping action will most definitely be left disappointed. So will those hoping for Arnold Schwarzenegger to carry some ridiculously large machine gun and blow apart hordes of crazed flesh-eaters – the only gun that Schwarzenegger carries is a shotgun, and he doesn’t even fire it at any point in the entire film. Yes, ‘Maggie’ takes place in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse all right, but at its heart, this is a rather unusual drama about a family coping with a terminal disease afflicting one of their own.

Not much background is offered about the viral epidemic that is apparently sweeping the nation; according to a newscaster from NPR at the start, the necro-ambulatory virus responsible for the epidemic may not have an antidote yet, but it is somewhat under control. Chief to this is the fact that the transformation from normal person to zombie takes place not in seconds or minutes but over the course of six to eight weeks, which gives the infected and their family members time to say proper goodbyes before the former are sent off to quarantine. Abigail Breslin plays the titular daughter to Schwarzenegger’s Midwest American farmer, who happens to be one of the infected that the latter takes home to look after during her metamorphosis.

Making his screenwriting debut, John Scott 3 keeps the focus squarely on the bond between father and daughter. Not only after Wade (Schwarzenegger) brings Maggie (Breslin) home, they run into two of their neighbours-turned-zombies whom Wade has no choice but to kill, if only because the mother refused to commit her husband and daughter to quarantine by the mandated timeline. That reality also underscores the options which their family doctor (Jodie Moore) presents to Wade: send her to a government quarantine facility; inject her with a drug cocktail which they administer at these facilities to trigger a slow and very painful death; or “make it quick”.

At first, Wade tries to pretend that everything is normal by going about his routines at the farm, but there is no doubt that Maggie’s condition is deteriorating. For that matter, Maggie does likewise as well, re-establishing contact with a group of close friends, including a boy named Trent (Bryce Romero) whom she is clearly in love with and who just happens to be even more advanced in the “turn” than she is. Yet, as her ghostly pallor turns greyer and the outline of her veins become more pronounced, Maggie’s eyes start to turn milky and she starts to smell food whenever people are close. Thus, slowly but surely, Wade is confronted with the inevitability of his daughter’s transformation and to make a choice about her fate.

If that doesn’t sound like a lot going on, you’re right. This is probably one of the leaner, if not the leanest, plotted movies we’ve seen in a while, which is also short for saying that there isn’t much happening. There isn’t also a lot being said – for what Scott’s script was worth, the dialogue is as sparse as it gets. The fact that both occur in the same movie is a pity. Though we get what it intends to do, there is not enough character or drama in this character drama, which makes for a very deliberately paced journey that feels twice as long as its supposedly brief 95-minute duration.

Thankfully, it scores better on both acting and direction. Trying on a very different role, Schwarzenegger successfully conveys his character’s sense of despair and grief as he watches helplessly at his daughter slipping further and further away from him. Like we said at the beginning, there are no heroics here, just a tortured father with no control of the circumstances around him. Breslin is equally good, if not better, doing much of the dramatic heavy-lifting by portraying her character’s physical change and concomitant emotional struggles during the course of the movie. The more she becomes less human, the more we sense how much she is trying to cling on to the vestiges of her humanity, and it is a finely balanced performance which is quite heartbreaking.

Thanks to their strong performances, ‘Maggie’ isn’t a total washout. In his feature debut, award-winning credit designer Henry Hobson creates a grim washed-out look to fit the solemn tone of the proceedings. Truth be told, he could have made his movie a little less bleak, to let back a bit more humanism that seems drained out as well, and perhaps even add in a few moments of levity to let his characters have some reprieve. It would be cynical for us to say that ‘Maggie’ seems lifeless most of the time, but we fully understand why some may think so. Still, for a Schwarzenegger movie as different as the ones we’re used to and for a different take on the zombie genre, this intimate two-hander of a father protecting his daughter from herself is something worthwhile to check out but only with the right patience. 

Movie Rating:

(A most uncharacteristic Schwarzenegger movie, this grim character study of a father protecting his soon-to-be-zombie daughter boasts good performances from the action icon and his co-star Abigail Breslin, but lacks enough dramatic heft to be truly compelling)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Comedy
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, David Henrie, Daniella Alonso, Neal McDonough, Nicholas Turturro, Eduardo Verastegui, D.B. Woodside, Gary Valentine, Loni Love, Ana Gasteyer
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/PaulBlartMovie

Opening Day: 7 May 2015

Synopsis: In this sequel, in which Kevin James reprises the role of Paul Blart, the security guard is headed to Las Vegas to attend a Security Guard Expo with his teenage daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) before she departs for college. While at the convention, he inadvertently discovers a heist—and it’s up to Blart to apprehend the criminals.

Movie Review:

There was a time not so long ago when wholesome comedies like ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ ruled the box-office roost – and that was also a time when comedians such as Tim Allen, Steve Martin, and even Adam Sandler were top draw. Sadly, humour in the cineplexes these days seems to be synonymous with vulgarness, so much so that every single movie feels compelled to out-gross its predecessor whether in language or antics. And so even though it has only been six years since Kevin James’ New Jersey security guard rode his Segway into the hearts of audiences, this sequel and its brand of family-friendly humour feels dated.

Yes, you would do well to remember that ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ was never a ‘Bridesmaids’ or ‘The Hangover’ or ‘Horrible Bosses’ or ‘Ted’; rather, the mustachioed, huffy-puffy police academy washout was always meant to be an ‘aw-shucks’ underdog story. Sure, his insulin condition meant that he kept falling on his face or colliding with heavy objects, but Paul Blart was also at his core a hardworking man who took pride in his job and also a loving father to his half-Latina daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez). For many audiences who made it a $183 million hit, that seemed good enough, so you can’t blame James (who also returns to co-write with Nick Bakay) or director Andy Fickman for sticking with formula.

So even though the setting is now the Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort where a security officers’ trade convention is underway, it is the same Paul that we are reunited with, who we learn in the opening minutes has been beset by a string of bad luck. Not only did his wife leave him after six days of marriage, Paul’s mother (Shirley Knight) was also shortly after killed by a milk truck. For that same reason, Maya doesn’t dare tell her father that she has been accepted to UCLA, for fear that he will feel even more alone and isolated; instead, she agrees to accompany him to Vegas, where he believes he has been invited to deliver the keynote speech.

A huge reason (and we’re not just referring to the size of James’ girth) for Paul’s popularity is his geniality, and the first half of the movie is perfectly content to coast by on that. In addition to his signature Segway, Paul gets to fumble with other non-lethal James Bond-type gadgets, such as a glue gun, one that spits marbles and another that releases beanbags. Never mind his wife who left him whom we don’t even get to see – Paul easily wins the attention of the hotel-casino’s gorgeous manager Divina (Daniella Alonso), who seems enamoured by his confident masculinity. There are no laugh-out-loud moments, just pleasant chuckles along the way, and a generous dose of James’ Everyman appeal that, at its very least, is never ingratiating.

Like the first movie, Paul gets to display his MacGyver-style instincts by foiling a criminal operation in progress. This time, however, Paul is also out to save his daughter, who is taken hostage after a wrong turn leads her to stumble upon a group of criminals stealing priceless artworks on display in the hotel. The ensuing cat-and-mouse game pits criminal mastermind Vincent (Neal McDonough in yet another stock villain role) and his goons against Paul and some of his fellow security buddies (including Loni Love, Gary Valentine and Shelly Desai) whom he first makes the acquaintance of at the trade convention. And just like its predecessor, the fun here lies in watching James attempt to be an action hero, sliding across floors, dodging bullets and Taser-ing his opponents.

Frankly, it’s hard to dislike Paul. How can you dislike a man who is proud of the work he is doing and gives it his best? How can you dislike a father who, despite going overboard with his paternalistic instincts, is only trying to protect his only daughter? How can you dislike a man who knows he is way out of his league but is driven by the same instincts to throw himself in harm’s way? And last but not least, how can you dislike a person who isn’t afraid to stand up for justice? Even though some of the gags are silly (such as Paul’s grudge against an angry peacock), there is no denying James’ inherent likeability, which pretty much carries the entire movie from start to finish.

And so, even though the laughs are not new or particularly inspired, this undemanding sequel to ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop” does offer mild amusement so innocuous we cannot imagine it hurting anyone. If you like your laughs risqué, look elsewhere. But if you’re looking at something pleasant enough to bring the whole family to, well we can think of many worse ways than to spend one and a half hours with Paul Blart. Frankly, we cannot find anything to dislike about it, and that may in fact be the best compliment one can pay to this slick but forgettable rehash.

Movie Rating:

(Same Blart, different location – this sequel trades a New Jersey shopping arcade for the Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort but otherwise recycles the formula of its predecessor)

Review by Gabriel Chong

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Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham
Cast: Tony Jaa, Dolph Lundgren, Ron Perlman, Celina Jade, Peter Weller, Michael Jai White, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Conan Stevens
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes and Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.facebook.com/skintradefilm

Opening Day: 16 April 2015

Synopsis: New Jersey detective, Nick Cassidy (Dolph Lundgren) heads to Bangkok where he teams up with Thai detective, Tony Vitayakui (Tony Jaa) to hunt down Viktor Dragovic (Ron Perlman) and destroy his human trafficking network. Nick had mistakenly killed Dragovic's son in a sting operation on the New Jersey docks, and Dragovic responded by attempting to kill Nick and his family. Nick miraculously survived the brutal attack, but his wife and daughter were killed. With nothing but vengeance to live for, Nick and Tony traverse their way through the Bangkok underworld in search of the elusive Dragovic. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Eddie Reed (Michael Jai White) is sent in to bring Nick home. But as the crossfire ensues, Nick has to determine who his true allies are.

Movie Review:

Every inch of ‘Skin Trade’ feels like a B-movie, but the good thing is that it doesn’t try to pretend to be more. A passion project of Dolph Lundgren who started work on its script close to eight years ago, it knows exactly what buttons to push to get its core audience satisfied even as it tries to shed light onto a matter close to his heart, i.e. that of human trafficking. So if you’re expecting a very angry Lundgren on a revenge rampage, or a mano-a-mano between Lundgren and Tony Jaa, or a similar one-on-one between Tony Jaa and Michael Jai White, we can reassure you that you won’t be disappointed.  

A brief prologue establishes the mechanics of Viktor Dragovic’s (Ron Perlman) despicable business – under the guise of offering them employment, the former Serbian national’s fourth son Janko (Leo Rano) and his accomplices lure gullible village girls from Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to leave their homes and journey to the city, where they are subsequently drugged and shipped to America and Europe to be sold as sex slaves. Lundgren’s Newark police detective Nick Cassidy is tracking Viktor’s latest shipment in order to apprehend him and his sons, while Jaa plays a Thai police officer Tony who is onto the same case from further down the food chain.

Their paths cross after Viktor is let loose upon diplomatic pressure and skips town, seeking refuge in a corrupt general’s mansion near the Cambodian border. Unfortunately for Nick, Viktor’s sons manage to get to his family before fleeing town, so after regaining consciousness from an RPG strike on his house, Nick decides to take his quest for revenge to Viktor. Thanks to Michael Jai White’s rogue government agent Reed, Nick is framed for the murder of Tony’s partner soon after setting foot on Royal Thai soil. Of course, who’s good and who’s bad will become clear quite quickly, but Lundgren and his co-writers have specifically engineered enough twists and turns precisely to fulfil their audience’s expectations to see each one of the marquee action stars have a go at the other.

Much of the heavy lifting here is done by Jaa, whose speed and agility has not dimmed one bit since his ‘Tom Yum Goong’ and ‘Ong Bak’ days. While his Hollywood debut in ‘Fast and Furious 7’ may have been overlooked because of the crowded ensemble, Jaa’s lead turn here will definitely not go unnoticed. His one-on-one with Lundgren in an abandoned warehouse is the film’s halfway high-water mark, pitting a lean mean warrior against a much hulkier opponent – though there is no question in our minds just who is the one that is the better fighter.

It is no wonder then that Jaa is the one chosen to take on Jai White, the latter a much worthier opponent than Lundgren skilled in the art of kickboxing not unlike Jean Claude Van-Damme in his heydays. The fight between them is brutal and ferocious, choreographed specifically to illustrate the strengths of either actor, and next to the noisy and overblown finale at a remote airstrip that it precedes, is easily the climax that the film deserves to be remembered for. Indeed, while a sizeable amount of the limited budget on which the film is made for has been reserved for explosions and other fireballs, it is the raw thrill of seeing these natural born fighters go at each other knuckle-to-knuckle that is where its charm lies.

And in that regard, Lundgren deserves more credit than what may be apparent. It is no doubt thanks to Lundgren that we get to see Jaa in such a significant capacity – not only in a movie that respects the actor’s Oriental roots but also one that gives him a role with both the breadth and depth for Jaa to showcase his abilities as an actor and as an action star. It is probably also thanks to Lundgren that the likes of Jai White, Ron Perlman, Peter Weller and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa have come together in the same film, a combination that is any self-professed B-action movie fan’s wet dream. And it is Lundgren who manages to pull a movie with so many potential clichés together in a respectable fashion – as the latter scenes demonstrate, its director Ekachai Uekrongtham has a long way to go in learning how to stage a proper action sequence.

Like we said at the beginning, ‘Skin Trade’ doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is – and much as there is a social message in here, it never tries to drive it too hard. Indeed, it is precisely by embracing its B-movie roots that it truly delivers, not just in the fact that it makes no compromises in keeping its action hard-hitting but also by ensuring that its actors are right up there without any doubles performing each and every one of the stunts. More than sex, that is the skin trade which truly matters, and which we suspect its audience will be more than happy to partake in. 

Movie Rating:

(Through and true a hard-hitting B-movie, this union of Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa and Michael Jai White is any self-professed action fan's wet dream)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Almereyda
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Milla Jovovich, Dakota Johnson, Penn Badgley, Anton Yelchin, Ed Harris, John Leguizamo, Delroy Lindo, Bill Pullman
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 30 April 2015

Synopsis: An epic battle between dirty cops and a drug dealing biker gang set in a corruption-riddled 21st century America.

Movie Review:

Like he did with Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ more than a decade ago, writer-director Michael Almereyda takes what has been regarded as one of the Bard’s plottiest plays and stages it in a modern contemporary setting. So for anyone familiar with the text, King Cymbeline (Ed Harris) is now the leader of the Briton motorcycle gang in a scrappy American town, refusing to bow down to the local police chief a la Roman tax collector Caius Lucius (Vondie Curtis-Hall), thereby setting in motion a confrontation that will shatter the years of peace between them. And yet, the politics is really just second-fiddle to the romantic intrigues and family in-fighting that King Cymbeline has to contend with.

Displeased that his daughter from his first marriage Imogen (Dakota Johnson) has fallen for the handsome but penniless Posthumus (Penn Badgley), Cymbeline banishes the latter and grounds the former. Unbeknownst to him, his second and current wife, the Queen (Milla Jovovich), is scheming to secure her claim to the throne by hitching her son from a former marriage, Cloten (Anton Yelchin) to Imogen. Upon his banishment, Posthumus crosses paths with the duplicitous Iachimo (Ethan Hawke), who wagers that he can seduce Imogen and eventually tricks the former into thinking that he had done so by using his iPhone to take a selfie with her.

All that plot machinations may have seemed right at home on the Bard’s page, but even with a significant degree of paring down, Almereyda’s modern-day update seems too over-plotted for its own good.  With so many characters and so many character motivations to flesh out, Almereyda stumbles trying to translate the Bard’s nominal setting in Roman Britain around the time of Christ to an unnamed post-industrial town with gangs, turf wars, automatic weapons and iPads. Notwithstanding the ill-fitting mise-en-scene, there isn’t much dramatic heft left in any of the characters as Almereyda flits from one to the other in order to stay as faithful as he can to the classic text.

And so, one doesn’t quite sense the tussle between Cymbeline and the law enforcement officials who show up only in a few scenes threatening the rule of the former’s authority. Neither do we comprehend why Posthumus, as dedicated as he is to Imogen, would agree to Iachimo’s challenge, or for that matter, what Iachimo’s intentions are challenging Posthumus in that way, especially since that would only court Cymbeline’s ire. What to make of Cloten, who pines so overwhelmingly for his half-sister that he masturbates in her bed? What too to make of Imogen herself, who after surviving an assassination attempt goes into hiding by drinking a sleep potion that puts her in temporary death and later on passes herself incognito as a boy?

Amidst the very literal translations of Shakespeare’s situations into this contempo refresh, there is no doubt that it demands a complete suspension of disbelief. But even if it is meant to be appreciated as a pure work of fiction, Almereyda’s decision to retain the Bard’s original dialogue is completely alienating. Not only does it serve to reinforce how anachronistic the contemporary setting is, it also underlines how stagey the entire enterprise is, as if what we are really watching is a theatrical performance acted out against real-world backdrops. The fact that the story shifts tone mercurially only makes it even more frustrating, difficult as the film is to keep up from being a tragedy at the start and almost a dark comedy by its end.

It is understandable therefore that the acting is just as uneven. Hawke, who was the titular lead in Almereyda’s ‘Hamlet’, manages the few lines he has nicely. Ditto for Harris, who also brings much needed gravitas to this challenging – and challenged – drama. Unfortunately, the rest of Almereyda’s cast are literally lost in translation. Jovovich seems woefully miscast as the equivalent of the evil queen, and for that matter, Badgley and Yelchin are just as flat. Johnson, hot off her audacious turn in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, is an attractive ingénue here, but she cannot quite find the emotional core of her character.

As slick as the ensemble Almereyda has assembled may read, ‘Cymbeline’ is ultimately a slapdash attempt at transplanting the Bard’s complex blend of court treachery, family tragedy and swoonsome romance to a modern-day setting complete with dialogue intact. It isn’t that we have to sit through one-and-a-half hours of Shakespearean English uttered by characters dressed in motorcycle jackets or tank-tops, but rather how stodgy the proceedings are from Almereyda’s blind fidelity to his source material. Besides being straight-out boring, it is also frustratingly opaque in plot and character, and if those two things mean anything to you, then stay far away from ‘Cymbeline’. 

Movie Rating:

(As ill-fitting as seeing a dude in a motorcycle jacket speak Shakespearean English, this contempo refresh of the Bard’s titular text is stagey, dull and flat-out boring)

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: Thorin Oakenshield and the dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed the vast wealth of their homeland but now face the consequences of having unleashed the terrifying Dragon Smaug upon Lake-town. Meanwhile, Sauron, the Dark Lord has sent forth legions of Orcs to attack the Lonley Mountain and Bilbo Baggins finds himself fighting for his life as five great armies go to war. As darkness converges, he races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide - unite or be destroyed.

MOVIE REVIEW:

It’s not a surprise The Hobbit trilogy has more haters than fans. It’s basically a repetitive Middle-earth affair stretched from a thin children’s literature book.   

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies continues with the journey of the thirteen dwarves whose sole aim is to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and their gold. Of course, the movie wastes no time in tying up loose ends from the second instalment such as the death of Smaug before unleashing plenty of CG spectacle and sprawling fights.

On one hand, The Battle of the Five Armies proceeds more like a studio-demanded affair. Loud, fast and ultimately empty. On the other hand, you might like to ask just how much more material Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens can squeeze and imagined for the prequels despite their genuine nods to the much loved Lord of the Rings.    

Old friends such as Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Saruman (Christopher Lee) and even Gandalf (Ian McKellen) appear briefly to remind audiences the evil power of Sauron still exists. Young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the obvious central character is left with the pathetic task of protecting the Arkenstone from the “dragon-sickness” suffering Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). The gung-ho female elf, Tauriel (Evangeline Lily) has some brief superfluous romance moments with dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner). Fan favourite Legolas (Orlando Bloom) showcases some swift, gravity defying moves in the end. But what happens to Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans)? Apparently nothing much after he killed Smaug.  

Yes, Sir Peter Jackson still delivers an epic experience worth watching on the big screen. The battles, which involve practically every race, creatures and weaponry in Middle Earth are often bad-ass and visually arresting. It’s Jackson’s big fond farewell to six movies, which spanned almost 15 years, and he is going out with a bang. If you think The Hobbit trilogy lacks in the story department, there’s always the extended editions to look forward to. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Recruiting the Five Armies is a segment dedicated to the hundreds of extras as they rehearse and wait patiently days after days for their scenes.

Completing Middle Earth has Peter Jackson and his teammates talking about completing the trilogy and the original LOTR.

"The Last Goodbye" Music Video including a making of featurette which shows us how original LOTR star Billy Boyd prepare himself for the recording of the musical number.

New Zealand: Home of Middle Earth Part 3 is a tourism promo spot which takes viewers to the various breath-taking locations seen in Five Armies.

The extra features also consist of two Trailers. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Hobbit continues to deliver stunning imagery and impressive color palette mostly courtesy of aggressive digital grading. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is a dynamic listening experience with plenty of flawless sound effects (rear and front) and clear dialog.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee