Genre: Martial-Arts/Drama
Director: Wilson Yip
Cast: Donnie Yen, Max Zhang Jin, Lynn Hung, Patrick Tam, Bryan Leung, Karena Ng, Kent Cheng, Louis Cheng, Danny Chan, Babyjohn Choi, Mike Tyson
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw & Scorpio East Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 December 2015
Synopsis: Ip Man (Donnie Yen) takes on disciple, Bruce Lee, and engage in frequent sparring sessions to hone his skill after seeing great potential. Meanwhile, a well-known property developer- cum-street fighter played by American boxer Mike Tyson, challenges Ip Man in an incredible showdown of Wing Chun kung fu versus heavyweight boxing.
Movie Review:
Five years and more than a few false starts later, Donnie Yen reprises his iconic role as the revered Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, capping a trilogy that saw Ip Man rise to distinction in 1930s Foshan, survive the Japanese invasion in the late 1930s and early 1940s, move to Hong Kong in the early 1950s and finally start up his own martial arts school in the British territory during the same time. Despite an epilogue in ‘Ip Man 2’ teasing the appearance of Bruce Lee in this immediate sequel, those expecting the legendary movie star to make more than a glorified cameo will undoubtedly be disappointed; whether because of copyright reasons or otherwise, Danny Chan (who first made good of his physical resemblance to the late Lee in the TV series ‘The Legend of Bruce Lee’) only appears twice in the whole film – once, at the start to ask Ip Man to be his master and twice, in the middle to teach Ip Man to dance cha-cha in exchange for some kung fu training.
Instead, ‘Ip Man 3’ finds the titular Master Ip rise up to protect the principal, staff and children (including his own younger son Ip Chun) of an elementary school from a ruthless property developer Frank (Mike Tyson), while preserving his own reputation under challenge from an aggressive fellow practitioner Cheung Tin Chi (Max Zhang). Besides the much touted mano-a-mano fight with Tyson, the former sees Master Ip cross paths with the cocky gangster Ma King Sang (Patrick Tam), an ex-disciple of Master Tin (veteran martial arts actor Bryan Leung Ka-yan) who has no qualms kidnapping children in order to force the principal’s hand. The latter however is more Master Ip’s antagonist by circumstance than by choice; in order to prove his name in an already crowded field of martial arts masters tacitly competing against each other for name, fame and disciples, Tin Chi touts his technique as the authentic Wing Chun and openly challenges Master Ip to a competition in order to emerge from the latter’s long illustrious shadow.
There are at least four good to great fights here – the first at the Western Union shipyard where King Sang and his gang hang out, the second between Master Ip and a Muay Thai kickboxer (played by Simon Kuke of Tony Jaa’s stunt team) sent by Frankie to ambush the former, the third between Master Ip and Tyson’s Frankie himself, and the last but not least between Master Ip and Tin Chi at the latter’s school. Like its predecessors, the best fights here are essentially two-handers between Donnie Yen and a worthy martial arts actor, so it isn’t surprising that out of the aforementioned four, it is the latter three that stand out. Of particular note, Yen’s duel with Kuke has an added thrill of taking place within the very confined quarters of a lift before moving on to a narrow stairwell; while Yen and Tyson’s one-on-one have the added urgency of time (i.e. within three minutes) and Yen’s finale with Zhang the added novelty of poles and knives in addition to pure fists.
In Sammo Hung’s place, it is the hugely respected Yuen Wo-ping who is taking over as action director here, and the latter opts for less showy set-pieces that lack the sheer adrenaline rush of those in the first two movies but nonetheless are note-worthy for being grounded in realism. Yes, there is no equivalent of the tabletop fight between Yen and Hung in ‘Ip Man 2’, which though thrilling to watch was also criticised for being too heavily reliant on wirework and a suspension of disbelief; rather, Yuen assembles a supporting cast with actual kung fu abilities and talent – if not brute force (we’re talking about you, Tyson) – to spar with Yen and leaves the rest up to the performers’ speed, agility, strength and skill. If there was the ambition of topping the earlier films, there is no hint of that here, and we suspect those who are just here for the action will probably come off a tad disappointed that there is no one standout moment of utter exhilaration that defines the entire movie.
Yet ‘Ip Man 3’ is all the better for not trying to better its own predecessors; instead, it finds its own rhythm by being a touching portrayal of marital love and devotion between Master Ip and his wife Cheung Wing Sing (Lynn Xiong). More than the earlier films, Wing Sing’s supporting role is especially poignant here, as her character discovers from a persistent pain in her abdomen that she is in the late stages of cancer. A good part of the middle act of ‘Ip Man 3’ is composed of intimate scenes between Master Ip and Wing Sing as they struggle to come to terms with the latter’s frailty and impending fate, and what emerges in these quieter moments is a touching portrait of Ip Man’s profound love for his wife above all else, retreating into seclusion from the wider martial arts fraternity even as his reputation is on the line so as to be by her bedside day after day.
As always, it is Yen who anchors the film from start to finish with his nuanced portrayal of Master Ip. A passionate speech he makes to Kent Cheng’s Sergeant ‘Fatty’ Po about not bowing to his corrupt Western superior would have sounded sanctimonious if not for Yen’s expert under-playing; but more than his character’s dignity or honour this time round, Yen depiction of Master Ip’s equanimity amidst his grief at his wife’s debilitating state is especially moving. The emphasis on their husband-and-wife relationship also gives Xiong her most substantial take on her character yet, and her scenes with Yen are also the most textured among the three films yet, brimming with warmth and affection. None of the other supporting characters are anywhere as compelling, but between Tam’s hyperbolic over-acting and Yen’s subtle understatement, it is fortunate that Tyson’s bit of stunt casting comes off less caricatured than one would have feared.
That is no small measure credit to its director Wilson Yip as well as its trio of writers (namely, producer Raymond Wong’s son Edmond Wong, Chan Tai-li and Leung Lai-yin), who nicely balance the action-oriented setpieces with a solid and grounded character study built upon the personal real-life struggles of their titular character. While that in ‘Ip Man’ was a combination of two halves from pre-war and wartime Foshan and that of ‘Ip Man 2’ felt like no more than narrative glue to hold the ostentatious action sequences together, the storytelling here is much more cohesive, organic and purposeful on its own. These are small but no less significant achievements for ‘Ip Man 3’, which eschews an ultimately self-defeating quest to top its ownself in favour of a poignant finish that underscores the Man’s principles, philosophy and passion. Oh yes, it may not boast the most incredible fight scenes of the trilogy, but in spirit and in tone, it is a beautiful and fitting conclusion to quite possibly the most outstanding martial arts series of recent time.
Movie Rating:
(‘Ip Man 3’ goes for the heart as much as the the jugular in an exciting and unexpectedly moving finish that is as much about the man as a Wing Chun grandmaster as a loving and devoted husband and father)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Cast: Miura Haruma, Hiroki Hasegawa, Mizuhara Kiko, Kanata Hongo, Jun Kunimura, Miura Takahiro, Sakuraba Nanami, Watanabe Shu
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 September 2015
Synopsis: Having transformed into an ultimate Titan right in front of everyone, Eren now faces suspicion and fear from the rest of human kind. He is held captive and tortured by his own kind, who demands to know the truth behind his ability to transform into a Titan. Just when he is on the verge of receiving a bullet to his chest, he is saved by yet another powerful Titan, one with intellect just like him. Shikishima tells Eren about his past, where he was used as a subject by his own scientist father, who injected Titan DNA (that triggers explosive cell divisions) into Eren’s body when he was still a baby. Eren then reunited with his friends and fought to plug the hole in the wall, only to be prevented from doing so by strong forces. Yet another twist occurs towards the end of the story as the protagonists’ ult imate nemesis---the colossal Titan that destroyed the wall in Part 1---appears and threatens again to wipe out what’s left of human kind. Numerous deaths and injuries follow, as Eren and his friends fight for honour and freedom and to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.
Now, the final battle begins as they give their all to restore peace in their homeland…
Movie Review:
Attack on Titan: End of the World makes a great study piece for all film students- in terms of what not to do when making a film. Sequels are usually not terrific but Attack on Titan: End of the World takes the cake for being a terrible follow-up act to the first movie.
The plot is simple and continues from where the first movie. The squad, transporting explosives to blow up the upper part of a wall to create rubble to fill up the hole in the lower part of the wall, wants to carry on with this mission although all their explosives have been used up. Filling up this gap in the wall is pertinent to mankind’s survival against giant monsters known as Titans who can enter through the wall and feast on helpless humans. The simplicity of the plot – go on a journey fraught with danger to plug a gap in a giant wall- is not the failing of this movie. After all, many great movies had similarly simple plots. Case in point: The Lord of The Rings trilogy- go on a journey fraught with danger to get rid of a gold ring.
Rather than the plot, the movie screwed up (yes, screwed up) on almost everything else. The sole exception is the audio track which was the least distracting and strange thing about this whole movie.
In my review of Attack on Titan - Part 1, I mentioned how director Shinji Higuchi marred the movie with illogical context and character behaviour. In this second movie, he takes the lack of logic to greater height, displays great laziness and terrible direction, completely ruining this film. Practically every time there’s a need to further the plot, boom! somebody becomes a Titan and hey, we can carry on. Such a lazy way to move the story along results in the audience no longer viewing Titans as the scary human-eating creatures that they are but rather as giant fighting machines.
Higuchi’s laziness is also evinced in how he fails to develop the characters and their motivations. Towards the end, Captain Shikishima miraculously puts aside his extreme ideals and sacrifices himself to save Eren all because a minute ago Mikasa delivers a cliché line to him, questioning him about his inner wall. Rather than use the most logical explanation of Shikishima being Eren’s long-lost older brother to explain Shikishima’s sudden change of heart, Higuchi stubbornly holds on to his illogical bent and chooses to have the audience believe Mikasa has the hidden ability to change people’s minds with words (perhaps she escaped from the X-men franchise). The lack of character development proves extremely helpful to the audience who didn’t experience any anguish or sadness when characters die (and they do that quite a lot). The only character whose death might result in you feeling a slight tinge of pity would be that of Sannagi, portrayed commendably by Satoru Matsuo under a terrible script and equally bad director.
Satoru Matsuo and Satomi Ishirara (portraying Hans) aside, the acting is contrived. Eren is reduced to a character full of teenage angst who keeps crying out in anguish at everything that doesn’t go his way; Mikasa is a brooding girl whose sole expression is to look like she carries the weight of the world on her shoulder; Shikishima is a wannabe; Jean is basically a spoilt rich kid; Sasha behaves like a mute while Armin is just too much of a smart alec. The only bright sparks are Sannagi, a likeable big brother figure and Hans, a soldier obsessed with technology and weapons. Such consistently bad acting across almost the entire cast points to Higuchi’s poor direction.
Higuchi’s strange attempts to pander to yaoi (boys’ love) andyuri (girls’ love) fans of the anime and manga (ironic considering how he took huge liberty with the source materials) results in out-of-place scenes with homoerotic overtures. Captain Shikishima captures/rescues (depending on how you look at it) Eren and seduces him ideologically. At the same time, Shikishima’s hand wanders around Eren’s face, neck before finally stopping at his chest as he looks lingeringly at Eren, hinting at another kind of seduction. You see similar meaningful looks exchanged between Sasha and Mikasa as Sasha brings Mikasa flowers and offers her precious potato to Mikasa. What makes these scenes strange is not the homoerotic overtures but the fact these are very forced exchanges as prior to these scenes, there were absolutely no build-up or even hints that these ‘couples’ saw each other even as acquaintances let alone objects of desires.
There are also issues of continuity and awkward scene changes. Being bored by the horrible acting, I found myself noticing and wondering why the room where Shikishima and Eren talk about ideals abruptly transformed into a mini-beach completed with deck chairs and Eren and Shikishima wearing matching outfits. Eren’s complete acceptance of what seemed like magic only made the lack of continuity more obvious. Higuchi applies the same abruptness when, during a cliffhanger moment when the audience doesn’t know if Mikasa’s actions will end up killing or saving Eren, he chooses to cut to another scene showing that Hans lived through the collapse of a clocktower. While these scenes were weird, the most terrible scene was when Mikasa and Eren stretched out their hands towards each other in mid-air as rubble fell around them and they sparkled (yes, like Edward in Twilight did), resembling a photo with an badly chosen filter applied to it.
Despite how lousy this movie is, I’m sure it will reap a handsome profit thanks to a steady fan base. If there’s a third Attack on Titans movie, my advice is not to watch it unless there’s a change in director.
Movie Rating:
(I gave it 1.5 stars only because of Satoru Matsuo and Satomi Ishihara’s acting as well as the decent set, costume and audio design. Seriously, don’t bother watching this)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Johnnie To
Cast: Chow Yun Fatt, Tang Wei, Eason Chan, Sylvia Chang, Wang Ziyi, Lan Yue Ting, Cheung Siu Fai, Timmy Hung, Tien Hsin, Stephanie Che, Mickey Chu, Mimi Kung
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 September 2015
Synopsis: Billion-dollar company Jones & Sunn is going public. Chairman Ho Chung-ping (Chow Yun Fat) has promised CEO Chang(Sylvia Chang), who has been his mistress for more than twenty years, to become a major shareholder of the company. As the IPO team enters the company to audit its accounts, a series of inside stories start to be revealed. Lee Xiang(Wang Ziyi), a new hire at Jones & Sunn, brings with him youthful ideals and dreams. Within the neoliberal market, the logic of intrigue rules, complicated by entanglements of love-hate relationships, which weaves a power play and a pathos-laden tragedy inside the office.
Movie Review:
At a ripe old age of 60, Hong Kong’s gangster noir master Johnnie To seems to have mellowed. In place of hard-boiled male-driven films like ‘The Mission’, ‘Election’ and ‘Exiled’, To has preached about the corruptibility of money in ‘Life Without Principle’, broken his cardinal rule against sequels in favour of a sappy slapstick rom-com in ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2’, and is now doing a full-fledged musical about corporate politics. ‘Office’, adapted by Sylvia Chang from her own hit play ‘Design for Living’, is probably the most uncharacteristic Johnnie To film we have seen to date, though it is also hardly one of his best, be it from a critical or commercial standpoint.
As with her play, Chang stars as the high-powered CEO named Winnie of the lucrative company Jones & Sunn that is about to launch its IPO. Established early in the narrative is that Winnie used to be the Chairman’s secretary, and that their relationship goes beyond that of a mentor and a mentee. Indeed, it is an open secret among the company’s rank and file employees that Winnie is Chairman Ho Chung-ping’s (Chow Yun Fat) lover, and it is also hinted later on that his comatose wife (Mimi Kung) whom he visits regularly in hospital with a bouquet of flowers has never quite gotten over his affair. On the other hand, his bright Harvard-graduate daughter Kat (Long Yueting) has just joined the company as an ordinary employee, in order to give her an opportunity to prove her worth to her fellow colleagues.
Though Winnie was a pivotal lead character in the stage version, Chang’s screenplay instead cedes more time to three other characters – her vice CEO David Wang (Eason Chan), a bold but impetuous go-getter who has been using the company’s money to dabble in stocks; the company’s financial controller Sophie (Tang Wei), who has just been dumped by her fiancé back in China because she keeps putting off their marriage in fear that it would affect her career progression; and last but not least, Li Xiang (Wang Liyi), an eager bright-eyed new employee whom Winnie favours to David’s resentment and who has a thing for the Chairman’s daughter Kat. Their collective fates unfold against the backdrop of the looming Lehman crisis in 2008, with profound ramifications on both the company and its employees.
Commendable though it may be for Chang to reduce her role in order to give voice to the other characters occupying different strata of the company hierarchy, the absence of a lead character unfortunately makes for several under-developed subplots that don’t quite flow or blend into each other. David comes off as the most fully formed character of the lot, but his tryst with Winnie and subsequent manipulation of Sophie in the midst of her emotional meltdown lacks credibility. Ditto for Li Xiang’s attraction towards Kat, which isn’t given a raison d'être beyond love at first sight. But most lamentable is the relationship between Chung-ping and Winnie, which has been condensed into a handful of scenes with both exchanging knowing looks at each other during some corporate event or with Winnie staring wistfully at pictures of Chung-ping on her desktop.
Without enough time to properly develop these intricate workplace relationships, To struggles to find the right tone for his blend of office drama and satire. On one hand, the musical numbers strike a comic note on the grind of the everyday work life; on the other, the rest of the film want to portray in all seriousness the different corporate archetypes, whether the over-achieving newcomer, the brash yet insecure senior management executive, or the shrewd but Machiavellian head honcho. That uneasy balance falls apart in the third act as To tries to build towards a finale that is meant to bring both reckoning and closure for the characters, what dramatic resonance in the proceedings sadly undercut by the frivolity of some musical numbers that seem awkwardly inserted to lighten the mood.
These flaws however do not diminish the film’s technical accomplishments, of which there are many. For one, the US$6.3 million set designed by William Chang on which the whole film was filmed is impressive to say the very least, especially the open-concept office space comprising one floor of orderly rows of tables and chairs and two converging staircases leading to the upper floor where the CEO’s office is. Much thought has also been put into the visual design, which aims for a clean-cut minimalist look that either does away with opaque walls altogether or makes them transparent. In that respect, the staging (pardon the pun) feels almost as if we were watching actors on a stage, performing in a series of interconnected cells defined by thin metal bars and brightly lit florescent tubes.
That’s not to say To’s direction has been similarly constrained. Aided by his veteran cinematographer/ collaborator Cheung Siu Keung, To’s cinematic flair remains undiminished despite the theatrical nature of the sets, most significantly in a number of tracking shots both within and outside the confines of the office building. To also gets the best out of his actors, including a nuanced performance from Chan who goes from self-confident to insecure to plain desperate and whose duet with Tang Wei is probably the most memorable number. Speaking of singing, the ensemble pieces are probably better choreographed than sung, especially since To’s supporting regulars like Eddie Cheung and Stephanie Che are better actors than singers. And though Chow doesn’t sing a single note, it is a delight to see him and Chang on screen together more than two decades after ‘All About Ah Long’, their chemistry evident even in the few scenes they share.
As unique as ‘Office’ may be amidst To’s oeuvre, it will likely not be remembered among one of his best. That has largely to do with Chang’s script, which tries to balance too many characters at the same time and ends up being unwieldy in the process. It also lacks the clarity of purpose and voice as his best films, unable to decide if it wants its audience to take away a serious moral message like ‘Life Without Principle’ or simply be entertained like ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2’. It ends up doing neither well, and instead coming off better as a technically accomplished exercise full of style but somewhat lacking in substance. Oh yes, it is pretty to look at, but it is ultimately also pretty empty inside.
Movie Rating:
(A clear example of style over substance, Johnnie To’s musical-drama is visually impressive but narratively empty)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Kevin Greutert
Cast: Isla Fisher, Jim Parsons, Eva Longoria, Gillian Jacobs, Anson Mount
Runtime: 1 hr 22 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Horror and Some Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 September 2015
Synopsis: Leaving her hectic city lifestyle behind, young mother-to-be Eveleigh (Isla Fisher) joins her husband David (Anson Mount) at their beautiful new vineyard home only to be plagued by terrifying noises and visions of a sinister hooded figure. No one else hears or sees these hallucinations, not even David, who grows increasingly worried about his wife's well-being. Desperate to prove her sanity, Eveleigh hunts down locals who reveal the haunted history of the vineyard in which she now resides. But when the pieces come together, the answer is far different – and more dangerous to her and her baby – than she ever imagined.
Movie Review:
From the director of Saw IV, Saw VII and Jessabelle, Kevin Greutert, comes Visions written by Lucas Sussman.
The 82 minutes of horror unfolds with the opening credits that are a series of haunting visions upon visions.
Eveleigh (Isla Fisher) is in the ER badly hurt after an accident. She winces at the hurt of injuring a mother and baby and even more when she comes to know that the baby is no more. To drift far from all the bad memories Eveleigh goes on anti-depressants to put the traumatic episode behind. She moves to a vineyard with her supportive husband David (Anson Mount) who ventures into winery. Not just century-old wines but time-old visions start occurring to Eveleigh who is now expecting. She seeks the local medium Helena’s (Joanna Cassidy) help only to find out more than she wants to.
One wouldn’t have seen Fisher in any serious role than this except in Now You See Me where she plays as just a stem role among the boys (like a rose among some thorns) and The Great Gatsby as an unfaithful woman. Fisher plays the central character who is a pregnant woman.
In Visions you would be able to sense roles that fit cleanly. You would recall Fisher from Confessions of a Shopaholic, Now You See Me, and The Great Gatsby playing the preggie mom who begins to see things around her with intuition at its peak. Mount is from Hell on Wheels show and he had undeniably brought his wildness from that show to Visions where he plays to be the husband who had invested their all in a vineyard. Eva Longoria casts as Fisher’s bestie who seems to be an alpha female (no, not a desperate housewife) travelling around the world. Cassidy (a real retro babe) takes forth her eerie good looks to be a local medium in this film and of course, one wouldn’t get to hear her hallmark howling laughter (google it at your own peril) in Visions. Gillian Jacobs is the girl you would recall from the Walk of Shame, HBO’s Girls and NBC’s Community. This time she enters the Visions as a friend to Fisher and who is also into her trimester. What was a lot harder was to maintain a poker face with Jim Parsons of The Big Bang theory as the doctor who administers meds and one would probably sit there wondering if he is going to say “Bazingaa!” anytime soon to break the tensions building up in the plot.
A full-blown horror genre? Not quite. Yes, there is a safe measure of supernatural content. But there is also a mix of suspense, violence, thriller, etc. It was scary; the kind where you keep watching for some plot twist. And it irrefutably falls in the vein of The Others.
The trailer isn’t too inventive for a 2015 horror flick but a reasonable plot could be sniffed out lurking somewhere beneath it if you could excuse the amps of scary scenes planted in the trailer to pull more horror content lovers. It wouldn’t have beckoned eye-rolling for the overly-exaggerated scenes viewed in the trailer. But it sure does feel a lot more different when watching it in the movie itself.
Climax? Very arresting pre-climax as the pieces come together. Although it felt a little hand-fed as Eveleigh’s character would try fitting the pieces together, it was creepily bizarre.
Movie Rating:
(Watch this if you had liked The Others and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle)
Review by Asha Gizelle M
Genre: Animation
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: The Filmic Eye
Official Website: www.facebook.com/filmiceye
Opening Day: 28 to 30 August 2015 @ GV Suntec City
Synopsis: Utter is a special Singapore Writers Festival initiative which showcases the best of Singapore writing and celebrates its potential to be adapted into different media and across languages, giving audiences fresh perspectives and a deeper understanding of our homegrown authors. In this year’s edition, the written word meets the creative and aesthetic sensibilities of established and emerging animation directors from Singapore. Targeting at literary and film aficionados, Utter 2015: Head Trips also aims to reach out to the general audience through animation’s unique accessibility, with the hope of encouraging greater appreciation for Singapore’s literature and animation. The showcase is presented by the National Arts Council and produced by The Filmic Eye. There will be a 30 – 45 minute post-screening dialogue with selected authors and animation directors after each 45 minute screening session.
Movie Review:
Ever read a piece of text and visualised it with pictures in your head?
Six animation directors have come together to bring five very varied texts from page to screen, celebrating the endless possibilities of infusing writing and visual media. Aptly named Utter 2015: Head Trips, you may want to walk into this special Singapore Writers Festival initiative with zero expectations - so you can fully immerse yourself in an eye opening psychedelic journey.
In ‘The Tiger of 142B’, directors Henry and Harry Zhuang adapt Dave Chua’s short story of the same name from the book ‘The Beating and Other Stories’, a man finds it increasingly difficult with his girlfriend. Things are made more intriguing with a roaming tiger in the vicinity. The 11 minute short explores the human psychic, and how human relationships are breaking apart. The exquisite animation has a somewhat exotically absorbing feel to it.
Samantha Seah adapts Amanda Lee Koe’s three stories ‘FlamingoValley’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘The Ballad of Ariene & Nelly’ from the book ‘Ministry of Moral Panic’ into a surreal nine minute short titled ‘Round’. The analogy is well expressed in this piece about two girl’s love hate relationship. With the forlornness that lingers after the credits, there is also a whimsical feel that makes this artfully directed romance piece unique.
The most accessible of the lot, Darran Kuah’s 10 miinute ‘The Fat Cat, Ate Dad’s Hat!’ chronicles the nine lives of a cat, and how its fate is determined by the circumstances around it. Adapted from Vanessa Ng’s short story of the same name from the book ‘From the Belly of the Cat’ edited by Stephanie Ye, the interesting narration script is brought to life by voice actors of different genders and ages.
In Tan Wei Keong’s ‘The Great Escape’, viewers get to explore the intimate relationship between two men and their olive tree. The most experimental (read: artistically abstract) of the five shorts, this adaptation of Alfian Sa’at’s poem of the same name from the book ‘The Invisible Manuscript’ may not go down well with the masses, but be patient with the six minute work, and you’ll be rewarded with an affectionate tale of human connection.
The only Chinese short ‘5 Shades of Solitude’ is a melancholic piece about a man’s experiences with depression, yearning, denial, divergence and boredom. Ang Qing Sheng visualises Chow Teck Seng’s poem ‘5 Colours of Melancholia and Silence’ from the book ‘The Story of You and Me’ with this nine minute short, and poignantly hits the gloomy nerves in viewers.
The five shorts are nothing like your typical commercial animation, so watching them with an open mind would do you good. You may just be inspired to pen something, or take to animation to interpret your favourite with pictures. Imagination knows no boundaries, and this collection of short films is a fine testament to that.
Movie Rating:
(Immerse yourself in these short films with an open mind, and you’ll be rewarded with afterthoughts beyond your imagination)
Review by John Li
Trust Disney to enchant audiences worldwide with an animated mermaid donning a purple seashells padded bikini. If you are an adult fan who went head over heels who saw the golden age of Disney animated classics in the late 1980s, you’d know how this musical film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker became an instant phenomenon when it was released.
It is only apt then, that The Legacy Collection from Walt Disney Records celebrates this movie with a two disc album in November last year to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film.
This reviewer remembers forking out his pocket money to buy the soundtrack cassette tape when he was in primary school. Some years later, he would use his first army salary to purchase the CD version. Now, things come full circle with this commemorative release.
Disc One gives fans over 70 minutes of material. The music is presented in film order, which means you get to hear the songs and score as how they were presented in the movie.
One never gets tired with the hilarious “Daughters of Triton”, and there’s always new inspiration to be found with each listen of “Part of Your World” (though the real emotional kicker is in the reprise of the song). Elsewhere, the Oscar winning “Under the Sea” will still have you tapping your feet to the infectious tune, and “Poor Unfortunate Soul” will still send chills down your spine (this tune now comes with a never released reprise version!). The lyrics by Howard Ashman, who would die two years after the release of the film from AIDS, pens the lovely lyrics.
The evergreen score by Alan Menken (who won an Academy Award) is a joy to listen to: there’s the folksy “Fireworks”, the romantic “Ariel in Love”, the ominous “Flotsam and Jetsam”, the action packed “Ursula’s Defeat” and the triumphant “Happy Ending”. Fans will be pleased with some of the never before released cues, giving a more complete listening experience.
On Disc Two, you get 12 demo recordings by Menken and Ashman, providing insights to how the music was created. You hear the two men singing to synthesizer demos and piano recordings, fully appreciating the imaginative work behind the scenes.
Like the other albums in the series, you’ll enjoy flipping through the pages of the collectible booklet, learning how Menken became involved with this project, and how Musker sought out Ashman to write the music. You’ll also reminisce the good ol’ days of animation with the artwork featured in the album. They really don’t do music (or films, for that matter) like this anymore, do they?
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (6) Under the Sea (Synth Demo) – Disc Two
Review by John Li
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max Von Sydow
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Official Website: http://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens
Opening Day: 17 December 2015
Synopsis: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, and features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker. The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
Movie Review:
After watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you can easily conclude that one of the best decisions Disney has ever made was to cut George Lucas out of the creative process of any more new Star Wars movie.
A second and even better decision Disney made was to let JJ Abrams helm the first of the new Star Wars movie trilogy.
Arguably the best Star Wars movie out of all of the seven movies released so far (Star Wars fans out there know it’s the truth), Star Wars: The Force Awakens more than lived up to the hype and anticipation that has been surrounding it since news of its production were released.
Yes, it is THAT good.
Abrams does an amazing job obliterating painful memories of the prequel trilogy (if you aren’t familiar with the Star Wars prequel trilogy, take my advice and just read the synopsis of the prequel trilogy online rather than sit through all the movies. The grief and time you save yourself will make you immensely grateful to me). Proving himself the maestro with the Midas touch when it comes to revitalising tired yet beloved movie franchises (think the rebooted Star Trek), Abrams finely balances the need to respect die-hard fans by paying homage to the original trilogy and making the Star Wars: The Force Awakens accessible to audiences new to the Star Wars franchise.
The essence of the original Star Wars trilogy is captured without resorting to cheap tricks such as sprinkling trite lines of “May the Force be with you” (that line was only uttered once throughout the entire movie). Instead, Abrams pays homage to the original trilogy through small gestures such as using the classic spiral and swipe transitions of the Star Wars series or by having familiar scenes between new characters (I won’t spoil it for you but keep a lookout for a father-son confrontation scene that immediately reminded me of the confrontation between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vadar). He also appropriately uses Han Solo to mock some of the similarities by having Solo point out that the main difference between new planet/weapon that the First Order uses is and the Death Star except that “it’s bigger”.
Perhaps the combination of one of the original co-writers for the first Star Wars trilogy, Lawrence Kasdan, and Abrams is what makes this new Star Wars movie have a sense of continuity in the plot that makes it so familiar yet at the same time, have a certain freshness to it that makes it interesting enough to keep the viewers wanting to watch on despite recognising the similar plot devices such as father-son relationship issues or the awakening of a young Jedi prodigy who is strong with the force or a perilous journey to deliver a droid with precious information that can be a gamechanger in the entire good versus evil war.
Abrams is well aware that Star Wars is not just about special effects (George Lucas clearly forgot about that and got way too caught up with the special effects) and that the special effects and fight scenes are really for the purposes of furthering the plot. His respect for the storyline and characters is what elevates this above the original Star Wars series which had some puzzling plot developments and scenes that Lucas simply put in for his own entertainment. Abrams’ prowess as a director comes through right at the beginning of the movie where he manages to humanise and make you sympathise with Finn as a Stormtrooper without any dialogue and with Finn still wearing the expressionless Stormtrooper mask. Similarly, Kylo Ren’s menacing disapproval of Finn comes through just as strongly with no dialogue and underneath an equally expressionless mask. At the same time, Abrams easily let new audiences grasp the personality of original characters, Han Solo and Leia Organa as well as C-3PO with a few simple lines that will make Star Wars fans go “Oh, that’s so typical of [insert character name]!”
I could go on and on about what this movie is worth a watch but why wait your time making you read through all of that? Just go watch the movie and you’ll see why it’s getting such rave reviews.
Movie Rating:
(Star Wars fans rejoice! Your patience in waiting for an amazing Star Wars movie has finally been rewarded)
Review by Katrina Tee
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