Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Mackenzie Davis, Benedict Wong, Eddy Ko
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website:
Opening Day: 1 October 2015
Synopsis: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, Watney must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.
Movie Review:
As tempting as it may be to compare ‘The Martian’ with ‘Interstellar’, the two couldn’t be more different – and we mean that in a good way. Whereas Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi odyssey got (literally) lost in space with its own quantum physics, Ridley Scott’s stranded-on-Mars survival story stays rigorously grounded for pretty much its entire duration, relying on hard science and good ol’ human ingenuity to pull off a high-concept premise with ambition, derring-do and genuine heart. It is less fiction than fact, but that doesn’t stop it from easily being Scott’s best film in recent years.
Scripted by Drew Goddard from computer programmer-turned-author Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, it chronicles the ensuing days of a NASA botanist named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) in the aftermath of a sandstorm that forces his fellow Ares III crewmates to abort mission and head back to Earth, assuming because of a freak accident that he has been killed. Because his communication equipment has been damaged, Mark’s best hope in getting back to Earth is to wait four years for the next manned mission to arrive – that is, if he can survive that long.
Mark’s challenge is twofold – one, he has to make enough food in order to last 400 sols; and two, he has to drive 3,200 km across Mars terrain to get to the Schiaparelli crater where Ares IV is expected to land. Undaunted, Mark decides to overcome his first by growing his own food, an arduous feat which entails using recycled human waste to make fertiliser and burning hydrazine fuel to create water, in the hope of farming the potatoes meant for the crew’s Thanksgiving dinner. As for the latter, well let’s just say that the two Rovers which the crew left behind would need to do the trick.
Unbeknownst to Mark, NASA is quite aware that he is alive, thanks to an eagle-eyed NASA technician (MacKenzie Davis) who spots activity at the Ares III Hab – though not before the presumed dead astronaut is duly mourned. Leading the rescue mission is the head of NASA Terry Sanders (Jeff Daniels essentially reprising Will McAvoy from HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’), the team comprising of the head of PR Annie Montrose (Kristen Wiig), head of Mars missions Venkat Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), flight director Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean) and director of the Jet Propulsion Lab Bruce Ng (Benedict Wong). It is Venkat who surmises from Mark’s movement patterns that he is attempting to use the unmanned Pathfinder lander to communicate with NASA, thereby allowing both parties to have a direct line to each other.
Not to give anything away to those who have not read the novel, it suffices to say that a freak accident forces a change of plans to retrieve Mark sooner than previously planned, the eventual rescue effort both an unlikely collaboration between two distrusting world powers as well as a demonstration of the selflessness of Mark’s former crew members (played by Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie). Those who have read the book however will notice that Goddard has whittled and condensed some of the details to give the film a leaner but much punchier narrative, and perhaps most significantly, abandoned the use of Mark’s video logs which Weir had used in his novel as a framing device.
Quite astoundingly though, Scott’s film loses none of the intimacy of its source material in portraying Mark’s personality and emotional psyche. That is as much credit to Scott’s ability to translate Goddard’s writing into a spare but effective character study as it is to Damon’s warm, sincere and effortlessly winning performance. Much of the movie is held together by Damon and Damon alone, and the actor hits the character beats perfectly with just the right balance of optimism and cynicism to pull off the good dose of wry humour that made Mark such an engaging person in the first place. It isn’t difficult to root for someone in Mark’s circumstance, but Damon captures his character’s hopes, fears, disappointment and helplessness in such a tangible manner that it is hard not to feel an intimate connection with Mark.
On that same note, there is also much humanity in the interactions between the staff at NASA headquarters as well as Mark’s former crew on board the Hermes spacecraft. It is pleasantly surprisingly that the former is devoid of any political agenda – even a controversial key decision which Terry makes midway into the film is less out of expediency than a genuine concern of the risks involved – and the latter, like we said earlier, proves a rousing display of team spirit. As much as there is spectacle to be had in seeing the execution of a rescue mission of a man on Mars, Scott roots his film in the heart of the people involved in the process, such that the suspenseful climax delivers not just a thrilling send-off but an emotional payoff.
Yes, it is pretty much a given that ‘The Martian’ will boast of Scott’s striking visuals, and even with such heightened expectations, the 77-year-old filmmaker doesn’t disappoint. Together with his ‘Prometheus’ cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and production designer Arthur Max, Scott makes the most of the picture’s Wadi Rum filming location to create awe-inspiring images of one man against a harsh inhospitable environment, conveying both scale and isolation in breathtakingly elegant frames. From the opening standstorm to the sprawling deserts of Mars to the deep reaches of space, Scott immerses his viewer into an otherworldly beauty that makes for mesmerising viewing on the big screen.
That Scott is still able to astound us with his vision of space is in itself a notable achievement, but ‘The Martian’ stands out as one of his best films for being much more than spectacle. This is a celebration of the triumph of wits and will against the odds, especially notable in its generous dose of humour and whimsicality that is reflected also in an eclectic 70s pop soundtrack comprising of ABBA and other disco tunes. It is also tonally an uncharacteristically upbeat film from Scott, and a befitting shout-out to NASA and the brave men and women who have left our planet to find our place amongst the stars.
Movie Rating:
(By turns emotionally and viscerally thrilling, this outer space survival story has as much humour and heart as it does spectacle, and is easily Ridley Scott and star Matt Damon’s best work in years)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Timothy Kendall
Cast: Zhao Wei, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei, Sarah Li, Sung Kang, Rhys Coiro, Stephen Tobolowsky, Simon Helberg, Robert Patrick, Kat Dennings. Tyrese Gibson, Missi Pyle
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 9 July 2015
Synopsis: He Yuming (Huang Xiaoming) is a hard-working car salesman; all he dreams of is to propose to the love of his life, Yan Yan (Sarah Li) who is supposed to come back from the US soon. However all of sudden, she breaks up with him on the phone. To fly to Los Angeles and win back Yan Yan, Xiaoming joins a “Hollywood Adventures” tourist group and unwillingly joins forces with fellow traveler Fang Dawei (Tong Dawei), who sees life through the lens of the movies, and reluctant travel guide, Wei Wei (Zhao Wei), a beautiful woman who is everything Xiaoming is not. The trio then goes on an epic cross-cultural adventure where anything is possible in Hollywood.
Movie Review:
You probably are guilty of this as we are – poking fun at, or worse, making mean comments about the Mainland Chinese. But one thing we’ll have you know: Chinais a force to be reckoned with. How else would you explain the number of foreign investors flocking to China? If we were to talk context, remember the large role Chinaplayed in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, the latest installation in the shamelessly money making franchise?
The latest example we have is this Timothy Kendall helmed action comedy starring Zhao Wei, Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei. Those of you who are familiar with Chinese showbiz would know that these three are big names in the entertainment industry. What does this all translate to? Moolah, of course.
Huang plays a by the book man who scoots off to Los Angelesafter being dumped by his girlfriend over the phone, hoping to win her back. He ends up on the titular Hollywood Adventures honeymoon tour led by an able guide (Zhao), and being constantly harassed by a chatty tour mate (Tong). The trio’s misadventures begin when they cross paths with criminals trafficking rhino horn powder.
Kendall’s debut feature almost crosses the line of caricaturing clichéd Chinese stereotypes (the ‘ching cheong’ characteristics and badly accented English spouted by Tong in particular are too glaring to be missed), but if you are able to see beyond the sometimes predictably tired humour and soak in the energy of a story taking place in Hollywood, where anything is possible, you’ll enjoy the ride and appreciate the filmmakers’ possible intent of poking fun at American pop culture.
The draw of this 115 minute movie is definitely its leads. Zhao (12 Golden Ducks, Dearest), who also took on the role of the movie’s producer, has a natural chemistry with Huang (The Crossing, The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom). The two have a long time friendship dating back to their schooling days in Beijing Film Academy, and one does hope that the two are couple in real life (Zhao is married to businessman Huang Youlong; Huang is engaged to actress Angelababy).
The actor you’ll be rooting for is Tong (Meet Miss Anxiety, American Dreams in China). Playing the earnest but talkative member of the motley crew, he displays an earnest personality that you can’t bear to brush off. When he makes countless references to Hollywoodmovies (the character is a walking IMDB chockfull of movie related information), you’ll want this dude to be your best friend when you’re down and out. You know you’ll smile when someone reaches out to you and says “Come with me if you want to live”, or cheer you up with his rendition of “ET phone home”.
Elsewhere, there are delightful cameos, courtesy of Sung Kang (who’s probably on board because of his involvement in producer Justin Lin’s Fast and furious franchise), whom Tong thinks looks like street racer Han; and Robert Patrick, who puts on his best scowl as T-1000 from Terminator: Judgment Day.
Put everything in the mix, and then add a number of car chases, explosions and hilarious scenarios. The result is an enjoyable action comedy that’s not short on laughs.
Movie Rating:
(You’ll enjoy your ride with this motley crew through Hollywood, where impossible but fun things happen)
Review by John Li
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Fung Bo Bo is WONDER MAMAPosted on 29 May 2015 |
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Park Gyu-Taek
Cast: Jung Yu-mi, Yeon Woo-jin, Soung Jae-lim, Min Do Hee, Woo Hee, Lee Si-won, Son Byung-ho, Song Sam-dong, Lee Jae-hee
RunTime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Sexual Scenes and Horror)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 11 June 2014
Synopsis: Starring Korean up-and-coming popular stars, including Jung Yu-mi (Rooftop Prince), Yeon Woo-jin (When a Man Falls in Love) and Soung Jae-lim (Moon Embracing the Sun), Kpop girl group members Min Do Hee (Tiny-G) and Woo Hee (DalShabet), THE TUNNEL tells a story of a group of friends who kill an old man by accident. They decide to throw away the body in the coal mine, but get caught inside the dark tunnels facing the buried horrors within. Will they be able to escape out of the dark tunnel?
Movie Review:
The Tunnel is a story that revolves around a group of friends who went to a new concept holiday resort which is refurbished from a coal mine facility. At the opening party, an uninvited guest – a hideous looking and unkempt old man – appeared and warned them of the dark curse and black blood. However, none of them heeded his advice and stayed on for their holiday.
Later, the old man reappeared near the bungalow the group of friends was staying at. He went hysterical and even turned violent in his bid to chase them out of the vicinity. Seeing that the life of his girlfriend was being threatened, the leader of the group accidentally killed the old man. Desperate to conceal this accident, they decided to dispose the body at the coal mine where no one visits. Little did they know that they had already started the journey of no return…
The Tunnel barely qualifies to be known as a horror-thriller. No doubt there were disturbing scenes which were pretty much ‘in your face’, they were weak in execution and hardly value adds the movie. The ‘ghost’ at the vicinity was also non-existent as the story developed to a frenzied and senseless massacre. The ‘great’ revelation of the motive behind the killing was also lackluster and lacked impact, simply because the setting up of it was too deliberate from the beginning.
The story later suddenly switched tone, and went into the standard Korean league to be sappy and melodramatic. However, those scenes too were jarring and did not flow well with the already weak narrative. The emotional scenes also came across as too over the top and felt isolated from the rest of the movie.
Although the cast is touted to be the ‘up and coming popular Kpop stars’, clearly they do not belong to the A-line league and lacked maturity in their acting. The attempt to sensationalize and sexualize the female cast, e.g. an entire frame which focused on Woo Hee’s spread legs, was also too obvious - honestly quite a turn off.
Disappointedly, The Tunnel did not manage to break out of the slum of Korean horror movies. Looks like it will take quite a long while till we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Movie Rating:
(Once you get into The Tunnel, it’s 87 minutes of your life wasted and of no return)
Review by Tho Shu Ling
Genre: Drama/Mystery
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Cast: Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks, Corey Stoll, Drea de Matteo, Tye Sheridan
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language and Drug Use)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 July 2015
Synopsis: Set in a farming town in Kansas, Dark Places follows Libby Day (Charlize Theron), the only surviving witness of a horrific massacre that took her mother and sisters. Believing the slaughter to be the work of a Satanic cult, Libby testifies in court against her own brother. 25 years after the murder, she remains haunted by the gruesome violence of her past when she meets a group of amateur investigators who call themselves "The Kill Club". Looking to satisfy their morbid curiosity, the group begins their own inquiry about the case, believing Libby's brother is innocent. In order to help them, Libby must unearth painful memories of the event and learn that her past may not be what it seems.
Movie Review:
Thanks to David Fincher, Gillian Flynn’s novels are the hottest page-to-screen property around Hollywood, and the first out of the gate following ‘Gone Girl’ is this Kansas-set thriller built around class poverty, twisted family secrets, true-crime obsessives and Satanic cult worshippers. At the heart of ‘Dark Places’ is a tragic murder one fateful night which claimed the lives of a mother and her three daughters on their family farm in 1985, for which one of its sole survivors Libby gave testimony against the other, who happens to be her older teenage brother Ben, that led to him spending the next three decades in prison. As you may expect, the truth is hardly as simple as it sounds, and which we spend the next two hours puzzling about until the final reveal.
Indeed, Gilles Paquet-Brenner, who assumes both screenwriting and directing duties here, keeps the mood tense and suspenseful as she sends Libby in her late thirties (played by Charlize Theron) tracing the dots from a girl whom Ben allegedly sexually molested as a teen as part of a Satanic ritual to her no-gooder father who abandoned them when they were kids and now lives in a toxic waste dump outside town and finally to Ben’s girlfriend at that time who happened to be pregnant with his kid. Just as the novel, the present-day events unfold largely from Libby’s perspective, and Paquet-Brenner also retains the first-person narration of her protagonist’s own thoughts as her investigation slowly unearths her own long-buried memories of her childhood days.
Like ‘Gone Girl’, perspective is a defining characteristic of the storytelling here; instead of just Libby, the complex narrative toggles back and forth between past and present, the former provided from the point-of-view of Libby’s mother Patty (Christina Hendricks), who was struggling to make ends meet as a single mother of four children, as well as the taciturn Ben (Tye Sheridan), whose obsession with goth and Devil worship got him in trouble not just in school but also the local community at large. Thanks to deft cinematography and some ace editing, the intertwining time-periods play out with absolute clarity, in particular when one bleeds into the other as part of Libby’s flashbacks or daydreams.
But it is also due to the multiple perspectives that this mystery thriller turns out surprisingly character-driven. Not only do we appreciate the emotional and mental trauma which Libby had to endure as a kid, we empathise with her current haunted self-loathing state, living off donations from sympathetic strangers and the dwindling royalties of her ghost memoir. Theron plays the character to a fault, which is also why Libby remains compellingly watchable. On the other hand, we have considerable sympathy of a different kind for Patty, especially as she is confronted with a heartbreaking option to ensure that her daughters have enough to go by. Hendricks brings both grit and vulnerability to Patty, and though Theron is top-billed, the former provides just as strong an emotional anchor.
Alongside Theron and Hendricks, other supporting actors also add vim and vigour to the grim Midwestern setting. Drea de Matteo plays a former child abuse victim who is now a stripper. Sean Bridgers is Libby’s deadbeat father, whom you wish were the one shot dead instead. And most memorably, Chloe Grace-Moretz is Diondra, Ben’s psychologically unhinged girlfriend who is needy and manipulative at the same time – oh, she also teaches Ben to slaughter cows as a sacrifice to Satan. You’ll wonder if any of them are in fact responsible for the deaths of Libby’s mother and older sisters, but the ending will surprise and break your heart anyways.
Those hoping that we’d end by comparing the book and the movie need not bother; as with such adaptations, it is inevitable that fans of the former will consider the latter a poorer cousin. But having not read Flynn’s novel, we’d dare say that Paquet-Brenner’s version is captivating in itself, unfurling a twisty narrative with a deep sense of atmosphere, intriguing characters and a gut-wrenching revelation at the end to top it off. It may not boast the showmanship of ‘Gone Girl’, but this is also tonally a much more downbeat thriller that thoroughly lives up to its title.
Movie Rating:
(True to its title, this gripping mystery is brooding and atmospheric, but with a gut-wrenching revelation that will leave you reeling)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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DREAMWORKS ANIMATION THE EXHIBITION: JOURNEY FROM SKETCH TO SCREENPosted on 17 Jun 2015 |
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: Elizabeth Allen
Cast: Nick Jonas, Isabel Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Kandyse McClure, Paul Sorvino, Graham Rogers
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 18 June 2014
Synopsis: A guy gets more than he bargained for after entering into an affair with the wife of an investment banker. Soon, a suspicious death and substantial life insurance policy embroil him in a scandal.
Movie Review:
If you’re curious what the Jonas Brothers have been up to since their break-up two years ago, this wannabe erotic thriller will give you one-third of the answer. Indeed, lead singer Nick Jonas plays the lead here, a clueless adolescent who gets more than what he bargains for when he falls in love with the sexy wife of his new next-door neighbour. Yes, this is that sort of movie where the adulteress is up to no good, where the well-known and wealthy husband will turn up dead in an apparent act of self-defense, and where our dear Nick will naively be complicit in covering up the husband’s death but realise that he has been played the fool all this while.
Pretty much most of the movie unfolds just as you would expect, with Jonas’ character Doug getting horny watching Lena (Isabel Lucas) from his bedroom window, accepting an invitation from Lena to go over when her husband Elliott (Delmot Mulroney) goes on a business trip overnight, falling head over heels for her after a night of sex, and pledging to protect her when she claims that Elliott has been physically abusing her. By the time Doug finds her standing seemingly helpless over Elliott’s dead body, he is already too consumed by her to suspect that things may not be what they seem. An investigation by the local police, led by Sheriff Jack (Paul Sorvino) ensues, but what threatens to blow the lid off their affair is the arrival of an insurance investigator, Angie (Kandyse Mcclure), who believes that Lena engineered Elliott’s death to claim the US$10 million payout.
Like we said, this is a film that is completely by-the-numbers, not surprising given that this is its screenwriter Chris Frisina’s first full-length feature. Not even a very late twist saves it from being entirely formulaic, and that in itself is probably reason enough for some to simply avoid this. Yet those who do not mind a Saturday-evening cable-TV quality movie will probably find that you can do much worse than this competently directed potboiler from Elizabeth Allen (whose only other feature to her credit is the teenage comedy ‘Aquamarine’). Allen knows her material ain’t too original, so instead of overplaying the predictable plot turns, she focuses on keeping the pace sufficiently brisk and engaging.
As for Allen’s cast, Jonas is convincing enough as the sexually immature teenager whose head is manipulated by his hormones. Lucas, on the other hand, is too slight to be a femme fatale, and the role could certainly have benefited from an older mid-30s actress like Charlize Theron. The rest of the supporting cast are adequate, but there is frankly nothing demanding about their characters. And yes, you’ll do well to bring the same mentality to this modest thriller that doesn’t aim to be anything more. It could be better of course, but you could do much worse if you’re in need of something just to occupy your time.
Movie Rating:
(An entirely by-the-numbers wannabe erotic thriller that is sufficiently engaging for the most undemanding viewer)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Romance/Thriller
Director: Andrea Di Stefano
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson, Claudia Traisac, Brady Corbet, Carlos Bardem, Ana Girardot, Laura Londoño
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 July 2015
Synopsis: Nick thinks he has found paradise when he goes to join his brother in Colombia. A turquoise lagoon, an ivory beach, perfect waves? It’s a dream for this young Canadian surfer. Then he meets Maria, a stunning Colombian girl. They fall madly in love, and everything is going great. That is, until Maria introduces Nick to her uncle: Pablo Escobar.
Movie Review:
If you’re looking for a straightforward biopic on the fabled drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, then you’d be advised to look elsewhere. Instead, Italian actor-turned-screenwriter/director Andrea Di Stefano has taken the story of Colombia’s most notorious criminal and fashioned a romantic thriller built around two fictional characters – Nick (Josh Hutcherson), a Canadian surfer dude who has moved to the beaches near Medellin to help out in his brother’s shoestring surf business; and Maria (Spanish newcomer Claudia Traisac), a beautiful native whom he falls in love with, and whose uncle just happens to be the man Pablo himself.
It isn’t just any actor who can slip into Pablo’s shoes, but thankfully for Di Stefano, Benecio del Toro is nothing less than compelling in the titular role. Our first sight of del Toro as El Patron is in 1991 on the eve of his negotiated surrendering to the police, his portly and physically imposing presence shrouded in shadow as he rises from his bed. Not many actors can muster gravitas with understatement, but del Toro pulls it off beautifully, portraying both sides of the man with charm and charisma – one as the dedicated family man and well-loved folk hero, and two as the ruthless dictator who did not bat an eyelid to eliminate his enemies and everyone else who stood in his way or could compromise him in any other way.
As Di Stefano’s narrative goes, it is the former side of Pablo that Nick is first acquainted with. The first time he meets Pablo face to face is at the latter’s sprawling Hacienda mansion on the occasion of his birthday, where surrounded by family and close business associates, Pablo serenades his wife under a cloudless evening sky. No wonder then that Nick receives such a rude shock when he hears over the news how the local Colombian authorities and the United States are planning to apprehend Pablo for his role in a vast cocaine empire that was responsible for the death and ruin of hundreds of thousands, and how he and Maria are suddenly forced to go underground lest they be hauled up for questioning to determine their complicity.
The prologue we see at the beginning is in fact from this halfway mark, when Nick and Maria are jolted from their haste to flee the country by a knock on the door. Blindfolded and taken to some undetermined place in the woods, Nick is entrusted to drive to Ituango, meet up with a local who will show him the way to a cave where he is supposed to hide boxes of Pablo’s riches in diamonds, and then kill that same guide immediately after. If the first half of the movie was about building the mirage in the Milton-alluding subtitle, then this second half is precisely about the dissolution of that paradise as Nick confronts the monster that Pablo really is.
Ironically, it is also during this time that we see less of Pablo and more of Nick himself, who engages in a cat-and-mouse game with Pablo’s henchmen out to ensure that he doesn’t live to breathe another word. As much as we’d love to see more of del Toro, Hutcherson does carry the weight of the latter half capably on his own shoulders. The Hunger Games star, who also serves as executive producer of the film alongside del Toro, cuts a convincingly naïve persona at the start, whose innocence and desperation belies an inner tenacity, canny instincts and an unyielding will to live. It is Hutcherson’s character with whom we are meant to empathise with, and Hutcherson makes Nick both sympathetic and believable.
On his part, Di Stefano keeps the proceedings brisk and engaging, which makes for an appropriately tense thriller, if not necessarily a fine film. Yes, no matter that it isn’t and doesn’t aspire to be a character study about ‘The King of Cocaine’, there is no denying that one expects a movie with his name to place more emphasis on the man himself, especially given del Toro’s commanding performance. Instead, the point of view we are given is almost singularly that of Nick’s, and while it isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, it certainly feels as if it could have been much more intriguing if there were more of Pablo Escobar. But as a tragic love story that Di Stefano had intended it to be, it is suitably engrossing, all the way from an idyllic start to its unsentimental heart-breaking finish.
Movie Rating:
(No matter that the El Patron is often just sideshow, this sturdy romantic thriller is still gripping stuff thanks to a great performance by del Toro and a capable one by Hutcherson)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Horror
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Alexandra Daddario, Oliver Cooper
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence and Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 9 July 2015
Synopsis: In Burying the Ex, a new film from visionary director Joe Dante, a twenty-something's romance with his dream girl takes an unexpected turn when his dead ex-girlfriend rises from the grave and thinks they're still dating. Seamlessly merging classic horror with screwball comedy and a poignant romance, Burying the Ex is a radically unique spin on the zombie genre.
Movie Review:
If there was one person whose name was synonymous with horror comedy in Hollywood, that would be Joe Dante. Yes, Dante is the man behind such 80s classics like ‘The Howling’, ‘Piranha’ and ‘Gremlins’, which in turn spawned a whole subgenre that counts other icons like ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Child’s Play’. His latest has a lot in common with these earlier films, so those who loved them will immediately recognise the same loopy blend of romance, screwball comedy and shlocky elements. In fact, that’s precisely the disposition we’d advise that you approach this piece of throwback entertainment, which is perfect viewing with a group of like-minded aficionados.
Scripted by first-time writer Alan Trezza from his eponymous 2008 short, it is efficiently constructed in three basic acts. The first tells of the relationship between Max (Anton Yelchin), who works in a horror novelty store named Bloody Mary’s, and Evelyn (Twilight’s Ashley Greene), a high-maintenance Type-A control freak. Despite the great sex, their relationship isn’t quite working out. Not only does she object to Max’s oafish half-brother Travis (Oliver Cooper) in his apartment – although Travis arguably does himself no favours by using Max’s place as a humping ground for his threesomes – Evelyn tries to force Max to embrace her vegan diet and environmental conscious lifestyle.
When Evelyn freaks out after Max bonds with an ice-cream seller Olivia (San Andreas’ Alexandra Daddario) over horror pop culture that she has zero interest in, Max decides to break up with her, but not before she is hit by a bus and laid in the grave. Unfortunately for Max, a little Satanic tchotchke in his store cements her promise of undying love to him, such that Evelyn literally rises from the grave as a zombie to resume their relationship. And so, Max spends pretty much the second act throwing off Evelyn’s suspicions while kindling a potential romance with Olivia, which turns out surprisingly amusing thanks to Trezza’s witty scripting.
As is de rigueur for the genre, most of the humour comes from death-related puns that would be especially meaningful for those steeped in pop culture, many of which are delivered with perfect timing by Travis. “There’s a freaking Tim Burton movie in your living room!” he exclaims when he meets Evelyn in Max’s living room for the first time since her funeral. There are also plenty of screwball situations, most of which derive from Max’s efforts to kill Evelyn all over them, like ordering three double absinthes for her. “Your funeral,” says the bartender. “Been there baby, done that,” Evelyn retorts. Yes, if that sort of humour tickles your funny bone, there are many other such chuckles to be had.
Needless to say, Evelyn isn’t quite so good-natured when she finds out about Olivia, and the first to encounter her wrath is unfortunately Travis, after he arrives at Max’s house to behead her. Dante knows a fair number of his fans are gore hounds, and he reserves the bloodletting for the last third where Evelyn goes on a murderous rampage after both Max and Olivia. True to the nostalgic spirit of the movie, Dante aims for over-the-top rather than down-to-earth, so unlike modern horror films which try to out-do each other in realism, there is never any doubt that humour is the order of the day. Dante knows exactly the right note to hit for this zom-rom-com, and the cast gamely embrace the quirkiness of the proceedings.
It isn’t wickedly inventive if you’re asking, but ‘Burying the Ex’ is an entertaining enough blend of horror and humour that should do well for an undemanding audience. Sure, Dante has done much better stuff in his heyday, but the times since would probably have built up enough nostalgic goodwill for this good-hearted retro comedy horror. As long as you are in a generous mood for some old-school B-movie entertainment, you’ll enjoy his latest as much as we did.
Movie Rating:
(One of Joe Dante's slightest, this zom-rom-com nevertheless offers some low-key retro pleasures for an undemanding audience)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Mabel Cheung & Alex Law
Cast: Tang Wei, Sean Lau, Amanda Qin Hailu, Boran Jing, Jue Huang, Elaine Jin, Jianyi Li
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 September 2015
Synopsis: Set in turbulent China in the late 1930’s during the Sino-Japanese War, FANG (Sean Lau) falls in love with CHEN (Tang Wei). However, Fang’s former life of espionage makes him the target of both the Nationalists and the Communists. Together, they struggle across the country in an attempt to flee from his past, but the surrounding danger forces them to separate not only from each other, but also from their own children. Through the bombings of Shanghai, the massacres in Nanjing, and other atrocities that are born through war, their unbreakable bond gives them the strength and courage to endure. Through amazing twists of fate, they overcome insurmountable odds, encounter amazing individuals, and experience heart-warming miracles. Based on a miraculous true story and brought to the screen by two of Asia’s biggest stars, the love between Fang and Chen reflects a generation’s strength in a time of despair, and a country’s hope for a brighter future.
Movie Review:
And why wouldn’t you watch anything starring Sean Lau? The 51 year old Hong Kong actor is good playing any role – from comedies like My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) and Himalaya Singh (2005) to intense dramas like Life Without Principle (2011) and The White Storm (2013)., this reviewer would watch anything the multi award winning actor is in. Of course, old timers would remember the struggling jazz musician he portrayed opposite Anita Yuen’s cancer stricken girl in Derek Yee’s C’est la vie, mon cheri (1994). The tearjerker is an integral part of Hong Kong’s illustrious film history.
And that is why, sparks aren’t exactly flying between Lau and his latest on screen partner Tang Wei (The Golden Era, Only You), we aren’t complaining. In this Chinese Hong Kong war romance film set in the late 1930s, Lau plays a secret agent who falls for a Tang’s beautiful fresh faced village girl. Doesn’t matter if the two of them are widowed, because true love prevails in yesteryear’s happier times. Their epic romance will bring them from Anhuito Shanghai, and then Hong Kong. Nothing will stand in the way for the ill fated lovers: not trying wartime circumstances, not fiery civil wars, not even the boatman who decides to throw an ailing Tang off the boat to avoid trouble with immigration officers.
Before you scoff at the unrealistic setups, you may want to take note that this wartime courtship is based on the lives of Jackie Chan’s parents. Yup, in the past, relationships are stronger as couples overcome the most difficult odds to stay together. Mabel Cheung’s (Echoes of the Rainbow, Beijing Rocks) latest film spares no budget to excite your senses. You see big sets and countless extras, you hear loud explosions and soaring soundtracks – the filmmakers are not shy about letting you know how much money and effort they’ve put into this project. Tim Yip’s (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) production design is a feast to the eyes. This is definitely a strong contender to represent Hong Kongat the Academy Awards.
Together with regular collaborator Alex Law (An Autumn’s Tale, The Soong Sisters), Cheung pens a story which seems too incredible to believe. The melodrama is over the top, and subtlety sure wasn’t taken into consideration. What makes this 131 minute feature engaging is Lau and Tang’s realistic acting. Lau puts his manly gruff to good use by playing a rugged man with nothing to lose. Tang is perfectly cast as the sweet faced villager who wants nothing more than a man to love her.
The two capable actors are complemented by equally wonderful Mainland Chinese actors Jing Boran (Lost and Love, Monster Hunt) and Qin Hailu (After This Our Exile, Red Amnesia). The man is a bespectacled agent who is charismatically likeable, while the older woman is a ‘big sister’ who knows a thing or two about being street smart to survive the era’s ordeals. These two will fall in love and be subjected to the same star crossed fates as their friends. While everything’s pretty predictable, watch out for a thoughtfully played out sequence towards the end of the film which may leave you holding back your tears.
Movie Rating:
(The epic melodrama offers nothing new with its predictable plot, but its cast does deliver top notch performances)
Review by John Li
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