SYNOPSIS: Academy Award nominee Clive Owen delivers an electrifying performance as a fallen warrior who rises against a corrupt and sadistic ruler to avenge his dishonoured master.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Everyone is clamoring for more Game of Thrones these days that they forgot absurd violence and nudity wasn’t part of the draw in those classic action movies.
Last Knights attempts to bring viewers to the past where movies feature honorable knights who serve their master with such loyalty and pride that they will avenge their master’s wrongful death even if their own heads will roll. This is a medieval action flick where heroic acts are discussed and carried out and no gratuitous violence and unnecessary nudity appear for the sake of appearing.
Call it old fashioned or familiar, the plot has it that a Lord Bartok (Morgan Freeman) after refusing to bribe and subsequently hurt a corrupted minister Geza Mott (Aksel Hennie) is being ordered to be execute by his own loyal retainer and bodyguard, Raiden (Clive Owen). This of course triggers a course of avenging plan by Raiden and his fellow knights including his Lieutenant Cortez (Cliff Curtis) and young disciple, Gabriel (Noah Silver).
Even though the movie takes its time to take out Geza’s head and we are not exactly warned of Raiden’s eventual plans except watching his ongoing dispirited self wondering around pubs and brothels, Japanese director Kazuaki Kiriya (Casshern, Goemon) manages to assemble an international cast of fine actors including Peyman Moaadi (A Separation), Ahn Sung-kee (Sector 7) and Tsuyoshi Ihara (13 Assassins) to keep the generic narrative going.
Freeman shines in whatever limited material and screentime you gave him and Owen is simply incredible as the fallen knight. Unfortunately, both actors have very little screentime together and that’s perhaps its Kazuaki’s biggest mistake. Swedish actor Aksel Hennie is particularly menacing as the obsessed Geza and we genuinely hope to see more of Hennie’s in future mainstream productions.
To some extent, Last Knights is as predictable as any sword and dagger flicks. The unknown era and setting doesn’t add up to the story arc and the action choreography lacked an impressive edge. However, credits should be given to the lush environment created despite obvious limited funds and the performance of the amazing cast. It’s an all-out old-school experience, which might appeal to a select group of moviegoers.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Behind the Scenes of LAST KNIGHTS Featurette lasts 20 minutes and delves into the fight choreography, costuming, production design aspects of the movie.
A Look at the Special Effects of LAST KNIGHTS is a 5 minutes pre-viz showcase of the effects done.
Main talents liked Clive Owen, Morgan Freeman, Cliff Curtis and Kaz Kiriya are interviewed in Cast and Crew Interviews.
The Theatrical Trailer and other Lionsgate Trailers are included.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Even though the director prefers to employ natural lighting, the entire movie is drabbed in icy blue and gray tones although it still looks good on DVD. Imaging is not a problem and the Dolby Digital 5.1 provides lots of directional sound elements when it comes to the action sequences. Otherwise, the dialogue is clean and clear.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Since she was a little girl, Amy (Amy Schumer) has been taught that monogamy isn't realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo, enjoying an uninhibited life free from stifling, boring romantic commitment. But when she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of a new article she's writing, a charming and successful sports doctor (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be onto something.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Undeniably, Amy Schumer is the breakout star of 2015 all thanks to the success of Trainwreck, her major big screen debut and one in which she received sole writing credit.
Schumer plays Amy, a men’s magazine writer who believes monogamy isn’t realistic, a value imparted by her womanizing father, Gordon (Colin Quinn) since young. Even though she has a sort of steady gym-rat boyfriend, Steven (Wrestler and sometimes actor John Cena), she still sleeps around, drinks a lot and smokes weed. Not exactly the kind of woman you want to be with unless you crave for one nightstand or a wild night of boozing.
But with any other romantic comedies, there sure bound to be a boy lurking somewhere and right here, we have Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins) playing Aaron Conners, an up-and-coming sports doctor whom Amy is assigned to interview for her article. No surprises here, they met, fall in love, break up and get back together before the credits roll.
This is very much a conventional love story if not for the A-game performance Amy Schumer has brought with her. The stand-up comedian who is not exactly a household name in this region is absolutely a comedy gem. Her comic timing is perfect and she has no qualms making her character despicable and detestable all because Amy is a character that simply doesn’t believe in loving someone so wholeheartedly. There are even touching moments mostly between Amy and her potty-mouthed dad and her younger sister, Kim (Brie Larson).
While the script has it’s fair share of hits (fast and furious one-liners) and misses (occasional lag in the middle), director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) surrounds Amy Schumer with a bunch of affecting funny co-stars including Cena who obviously is not known for his funny bones, SNL Vannessa Bayer and Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) as Amy’s co-workers, Tilda Swinton as Amy’s stuck-up boss and the always likeable Bill Hader. He even has real-life sports stars LeBron James playing Aaron’s buddy and feature appearances by Amar’e Stoudemire and Tony Romo.
Like Melissa McCarthy’s breakout performance in Bridesmaids (another Apatow production), Amy Schumer proves that there’s always room for more female comedians. With enough punchlines and vulgarities to cover the whole of New York City, Trainwreck is one of the best-wicked comedic vehicles we have seen this year. Unapologetic and all-out bitchy.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
A whopping 50 minutes of Deleted Scenes are included here.
There are an additional 12 Extended/Alternate Scenes.
Method Man discusses the origins of the Wu-Tang Clan in Secrets of the Wu .
Gag Reel consists of12 minutes of goofs.
Another 7 minutes of goof in Line-O-Rama.
The Dogwalker is the fake indie movie starring Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei.
A tongue-in-cheek look at how Apatow treat his athletes stars in Directing Athletes: A Blood Sport.
Behind-the-Scenes boasts a total of 11 featurettes which takes an insight look at mainly the cast members liked John Cena, Tilda Swinton, Amy’s dance sequence etc.
Trainwreck Comedy Tour follows the cast around various cities to promote the movie.
Audio Commentary: With Director Judd Apatow, Writer/Star Amy Schumer and Associate Producer Kim Caramele is one funny commentary you shouldn’t miss.
A Red Band Trailer is also included.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
With the exception of some loud club music and songs, Trainwreck is expectedly a dialogue based, front heavy title. Colours and imaging details are perfect even for the darker, nighttime sequences.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Guan Hu
Cast: Feng Xiaogang, Kris Wu, Li Yifeng, Zhang Hanyu, Xu Qing, Liu Hua, Liang Jing
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 January 2016
Synopsis: Mr. Six (Feng Xiao Gang) was a hooligan when he was young. After 30 years, the has-been is diagnosed with heart disease and lives by himself, running a convenience store. His son, Xiaobo, doesn’t get along with him and moved out long ago. One day, Xiaobo is taken by a group of rich kids after scratching one of their fancy cars. Their head, Xiaofei, is the son of a powerful government official. Mr. Six tries to reason with them but gets humiliated instead. Enraged by the overbearing gang, Mr. Six summons his old pals and plans to pick one last fight to win Xiaobo back.
Movie Review:
This reviewer wishes to age like the protagonist in this Chinese crime drama film directed by Guan Hu (Eyes of a Beauty, Design of Death). Affectionately known as “Lao Pao Er” (also the film’s Mandarin title), our hero is a 50 odd year old uncle who used to reign the streets of China’s Beijing as the neighbourhood gangster. Now retired, the man just wants to sit back, relax and take care of his pet mynah bird.
While he doesn’t seek out trouble, it comes to him when his son causes a dispute with a street racing gang. The doting father decides to take matters into his hands and return to the scene, only to find out that a younger generation is in charge – one with a different worldview and way of doing things.
Played by Feng Xiaogang, a blockbuster director himself (If You Are the One, Back to 1942), the protagonist is one you’ll easily identify with – especially if you are world weary like this writer. One issue comes after another in the series of events after his son’s kidnap, but you see “Lao Pao Er” trudging on tirelessly and quietly. He obviously does not take joy in dabbling in such matters, but he is a man who just moves on and on – until he can do so no more.
This characterisation works on several levels. “Lao Pao Er” is a symbol of the older generation in Mainland China. He is loyal to his friends, takes traditional culture seriously and enjoys life’s simple pleasures. What’s this generation’s place in the contemporary world then, one that places emphasis in all things digital, flashy and provide material comfort?
Besides a reflection on the current culture, the movie also seems to be of the view that the art of filmmaking has changed. What will happen to the good old style of storytelling with the advent of digital effects, green screens and computer generated movie characters?
The answers to the above questions are obvious, as suggested by the final sequence of the 137 minute movie. Melancholic? Yes. Inevitable? That’s a yes too.
Feng is a joy to watch – the director actor writer delivers a perfect portrayal of the film’s central character. You feel that this is one man who you can sit down with at a coffee shop, listening to his stories and realising there’s more to life than chasing accolades. Called out of retirement to rescue his son, you see the man selflessly pursuing his objective, while abiding by his age old values. One highlight of the movie is seeing the father and son exchange which takes place over dinner in a local eatery. Feng’s nuanced yet powerful performance earned him a Best Actor win at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards.
Supporting “Lao Pao Er” is an ensemble of interesting characters. There’s the loyal friend played by Zhang Hanyu (Special ID, The Taking of Tiger Mountain), the lover played by Xu Qing (The Founding of a Republic, Looper), the somewhat bratty son played by Li Yifeng (Forever Young, Fall in Love Like a Star) and the brash gang member played by former boyband EXO member Kris Wu. It is also apparent from this cast list that the veterans are the ones calling the shots.
The film has drama, comedy and even surrealism. Watch out for a bizarre yet calming scene towards the end of the film. Without giving away too much, the sequence involving a runaway ostrich may hold the answer to what life is really about.
Movie Rating:
(With the rapid changes in our society, this film featuring a powerfully nuanced performance by Feng Xiaogang as “Lao Pao Er” tells a timely and heartbreakingly real story of inter-generational differences)
Review by John Li
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BOOK REVIEW #14: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORYPosted on 30 Dec 2015 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Chen Sicheng
Cast: Wang Baoqiang, Liu Haoran, Tong Liya, Chen He, Xiao Yang
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 14 January 2016
Synopsis: A talented young boy called QIN Feng failed entrance examination of police school so that his grandmother sent him to Thailand with his cousin TANG Ren, who is known as ”the best detective of Chinatown”. Actually, TANG Ren is an “obscene” man and becomes a mysterious murder suspect after a night of crazy drinking with tons of pretty ladies. QIN Feng and TANG Ren have to run for their life…… Then “Crazy Dog” Detective HUANG Landeng who is in hot pursuit, TANG Ren and QIN Feng need to mutually reinforce and try their best to escape the hunt of police and thieves. Meanwhile, they have to find the lost gold and solve the real murderer within seven days…
Movie Review:
If you don’t already know, there isn’t abundant originality in the world we live in. Just take a look at the movies around you – remakes, sequels, comic book and novel adaptations are aplenty. And that’s the reason why we are not faulting this comedy mystery from Mainland Chinese singer actor director Chen Sicheng.
This is basically a Chinese Sherlock Holmes story set in Bangkok. The protagonist is a budding police detective who finds himself in the hustles and bustles of Bangkok with his loud and crass uncle. The two have to team up to solve a mystery involving a dead man and lost gold. Introduce campy comedy (expect lots of screeching and screaming from the characters) and action sequences boasting high production values (the car chase scenes are truly awe inspiring), and you have a crowd pleasing movie which earned US$43.6 million during its opening weekend back home, proving that the Chinese does love domestic goods – we won’t be surprised to see countless other similar genres being produced in time to come.
The meek but likeable Liu Haoran plays the young man who fails his police school entrance examination back home. Liu, who first worked with the director in 2014’s Beijing Love Story, is amiable as the stammering protagonist who has to make things work in a foreign land. His personality is effectively contrasted with Wang Baoqiang’s (Kung Fu Jungle, Monk Comes Down the Mountain) loud and blundering character, who is supposedly the best detective in Bangkok’s Chinatown. The two are your reserved Sherlock Holmes and dumbass Watson who are out to solve a mystery case.
They are accompanied by many supporting characters along the way. There’re two seedy policemen (Xiao Yang and Chen He) who are hot on their heels, a foxy landlady (Tong Liya), and countless local thugs – all playing their part to ensure that you have a rollicking ride through Bangkok’s Chinatown as the mystery is unveiled piece by piece.
There are scenes shamelessly inspired by Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies. Liu sees things around him in slow motion and words can fly out of books to make sense in his powerfully analytical mind. These are intercut with action packed scenes and a loud soundtrack.
The ensemble cast is fun to watch and although the movie stretches past a two hour runtime into 136 minutes, you never feel a moment of dullness or dread. It helps that Wang (albeit being a little irritating at first with his high pitched voice) pulls off his character perfectly – the 31 year old actor who made an impression with the equally commercially successful Lost in Thailand (2012) shouldn’t be a stranger to the Thai culture as he guffaws and trudges his way through the movie. Watch out for a surprisingly affecting moment where he talks about how he left China to find adventure in Thailand – it’s a testament of the actor’s skills. Liu, on the other hand, is fresh faced and while he may be a tad to pretty for viewers who like their men rugged, the role seems to fit him well. You see the character fit the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle one by one, before the secret behind the intricately plotted mystery comes to light.
All the above, coupled with a perfectly executed production design and a outrageously enjoyable editing pace and a brassy soundtrack, makes this trip through Chinatown a truly enjoyable one.
Movie Rating:
(An enjoyable mystery comedy headlined by Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran that will leave you wanting more – no worries because a sequel is coming up in 2017!)
Review by John Li
Genre: Comedy
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Fisher Stevens, Tilda Swinton, Dolph Lundgren, Clancy Brown, Christopher Lambert, Channing Tatum
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: UIP
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/HailCaesarMovie
Opening Day: 10 March 2016
Synopsis: Hail, Caesar! is an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood's Golden Age. Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum, Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.
Movie Review:
To enjoy the Coen brothers’ latest movie, Hail Caesar, properly, one has to remember that this movie is intended to be a madcap goofy comedy milking it for laughs with gags.
The plot itself is aimless and the characters aren’t exactly strong. In fact, they border on being stereotypes and would have fallen flat as two-dimensional characters even if it wasn’t for the amazing cast.
Kudos to the Coen brothers for casting the actors, particularly George Clooney and Ralph Fiennes, in roles that they are not typically known for. The courage of these two actors to play against type is a delight for the scenes that feature them are comedy gold. George Clooney ditches his cool debonair image and is an utterly believable as a clueless Hollywood himbo whose flummoxed vanity brings on the laughs. He believably shrivels and whines as Josh Brolin’s Eddie Mannix, the Hollywood fixer, slaps him making you forgot this is the George Clooney who rather coolly saunter into a casino to rob it of its cash as Danny Ocean (thrice). I had always known that Ralph Fiennes was a talented actor but it was only through watching Hail Caesar did I realise what a fine comedy actor he secretly is and what a pity it is that we hardly see him in comedies!
Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson are entertaining as they hams it up as the muscular and handsome musical star and the glam diva who can do no wrong but actually has a secret to hide. Tatum’s big number, a barely suppressed homerotic song and dance medley called “No Dames” which you know is the Coen brothers’ way of being ironic about how the 1950s were so unmentionably gay while modern society makes a big fuss over such supposedly implied homosexuality, is essentially just an enjoyable interlude and literally a showstopper for it does little to further to add to the plot. Similarly, Johansson’s appearance doesn’t do much for the plot although the handling of her secret does give you a better sense of the kind of stuff that Eddie has to handle as a Hollywood studio. Their existence is entertaining but really not necessary.
Sadly, while Eddie is supposed to be the anchor of the movie, his character is ironically, the most stereotypical one. Essentially Eddie is the archetypical Hollywood tough guy with a heart of gold, who is always looking out for those he must protect, solving problems created by these weaklings. You feel a bit sorry for him but never quite form a bond with him such that you are able to cheer him on. Eddie is more of a distant cousin than a real close friend.
Cast aside, the Coens do an impeccable job with the look and feel of the movie. The movie is beautiful as they employ several Hollywood backlots to help create the Old Hollywood feeling. The production and costume designers show their flair for decking the cast out in varied assortment that helps bring you back to the year of 1951 (even if you’ve never lived through it except in photographs) and the cinematographer manages a smooth look that evokes the grand Old Hollywood of yester years without feeling dated.
While the Coen brothers’ reimaging of a real Hollywood tough guy, Eddie Mannix, may entertain Hollywood outsiders like us, you can’t help but wonder what would Hollywood insiders and the real Eddie Mannix make of this movie?
Movie Rating:
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![](\"http://www.moviexclusive.com/image/half%20mx%20star.gif\")
(While not as masterful as some of their other pieces, the Coen brothers’ latest piece of work, Hail Caesar is enjoyable and is bound to make you laugh a fair bit)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.thehuntsmanmovie.com/
Opening Day: 14 April 2016
Synopsis: The fantastical world of Snow White and the Huntsman expands to reveal how the fates of The Huntsman Eric and Queen Ravenna are deeply and dangerously intertwined. Long before the evil Queen Ravenna was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya, suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric and warrior Sara —only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love. When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable...unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.
Movie Review:
Neither Snow White nor Kristen Stewart from the earlier ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ return for this follow-up, though it is anyone’s guess whether their exclusion is due to the actress being too expensive for this decidedly lower-budget instalment or because of her relationship-ending fling with the first film’s married director Rupert Sanders. In her character’s place, it is perhaps only natural and inevitable that Chris Hemsworth’s axe-wielding hero Eric would be elevated to lead status, in order to form the narrative glue between the events of that 2012 original and this latest – and if you’re wondering about Charlize Theron’s evil queen Ravenna, let’s just say that she plays at best a supporting role that is much less significant than the promotional materials have made her out to be.
Rather than choose between a prequel and a sequel, French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and his writers Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin have decided to make their live-action fairytale a bit of both, resulting in a time jump that will leave those unfamiliar with the earlier film more than a little confused. With no small measure of help from narrator Liam Neeson, we are introduced to Ravenna’s younger sister Freya (Emily Blunt), a romantic-at-heart who turns into a bitter icy-hearted villainess following the death of her child at the presumed hands of her lover cum daughter’s father. It is perhaps no coincidence given ‘Frozen’s’ box-office success that Freya develops icy-related powers in her post-traumatic process, transforming into the Ice Queen who goes about establishing her kingdom of ruthless killers by kidnapping kids and training them to be warriors she calls huntsmen.
Two of her best warriors happen to be Eric (played in his teenage years by Conrad Khan) and the flame-haired Sara (Niamh Walter; then Jessica Chastain), who defy Freya’s commandment not to love by doing just that with each other. When she finds out that Eric and Sara have secretly gotten married and intend to leave her kingdom, Freya separates them with a wall of enchanted ice that leaves Eric thinking that Sara has been killed by a fellow huntsman and Sara thinking that Eric has left her there to die. The plot then fast-forwards seven years to after Snow White’s defeat of Ravenna in part one, where Sam Claflin’s handsome prince makes a brief return to implore Eric to track down and destroy Ravenna’s magic golden mirror that has gone missing but continues to exert its evil influence over Snow White.
That mission is of course but excuse for Eric to be reunited with his thought-to-be-dead wife Sara and team up to end Freya’s icy dominion once and for all – but not without vanquishing her ‘cannot-seem-to-stay-dead’ sister Ravenna at the same time. Since Eric and Sara are not quite people of good humour, their journey gets some welcome comic relief in the form of two male dwarves Nion (Nick Frost) and Gryff (Rob Brydon) as well as their romantic interests of the opposite sex Mrs. Bromwyn (Sheridan Smith) and Doreena (Alexandra Roach). As distracting as their snappy salty banter may be, their presence is easily the best thing that the film has going for it, not only because of their easy chemistry but also because they get the scant memorable lines from an otherwise clunky and leaden script.
As sympathetic as we want to be to the writers for having to keep Snow White out of the picture, the seven-year leap around the events of the original does their film absolutely no favours. What transpired between Ravenna and Freya in those seven years, or Sara for that matter, is probably the most glaring logic gap, not to mention why Freya would suddenly decide upon her sister’s death that she should acquire the magic mirror for herself. It also begs the question why Freya never sought to doubt Ravenna’s hand in orchestrating the death of her daughter in the years since the former left to create her own fiefdom, and only decides to do so when the latter is somehow magically resurrected by the mirror.
Nicolas-Troyan’s experience in the visual effects department (as opposed to the storytelling department) also means that his priority is to deliver spectacle, and true enough, the wintry vistas as well as the CGI-ed sorcery looks sumptuous. There are Colleen Atwood’s lavish costumes to feast on as well, the veteran designer on many a Tim Burton film going all out to make Freya look coolly stunning and Ravenna wickedly ravishing. Yet all that style cannot quite distract from a distinct lack of substance, which borrows liberally from a certain Disney animated hit with that song ‘Let It Go’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and even ‘The Hunger Games’. Oh yes, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a shred of originality in this half-baked mish-mash of a product which makes no apologies for taking ingredients from other vastly superior fairy-tales and/ or fantasy adventures.
If that sounds like we’re bashing up ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’, that’s largely because it is quite embarrassingly devoid of imagination, inspiration or excitement – and no minotaur-like monster or elfin wood nymph changes that. That’s not to say that it isn’t watchable, especially if all you’re looking for is some diverting fairy-tale entertainment; but when you have actors off the quality of Chastain, Theron and Blunt, you’d probably expect much, much more than a throwaway popcorn flick that squanders them in such shallow caricatured roles. Hemsworth might be one of the hottest male actors today, but even his fit, rugged presence cannot quite save you from this cold.
Movie Rating:
(As visually sumptuous as it looks, this prequel-slash-sequel to 'Snow White and the Huntsman' is a half-baked mishmash of vastly superior fairytales/ fantasy adventures that will leave you in the cold)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, Eric Bana
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: Walt Disney Motion Pictures Singapore
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/thefinesthoursmovie
Opening Day: 18 February 2016
Synopsis: A heroic action-thriller, “The Finest Hours” is the remarkable true story of the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history.
Movie Review:
In the winter of 1952, a fierce New England nor’easter tore not one, but two, oil tankers off the coast of Cape Cod in halves. One of them was not quite so lucky – not only did it not manage to get a distress signal out, most available Coast Guard resources at that time were already directed to saving the crew members of the other ship, leaving few to respond to its call for help. ‘The Finest Hours’ is the story of a four-man Coast Guard team that did, braving the storm in a motorised 36-foot lifeboat to rescue the 33 remaining men on board the SS Pendleton. It is also a Disney movie, and on that account alone, you can bet that it will be as earnest an account of their heroic feat as it gets.
True enough, this is an old-fashioned rescue yarn that has no qualms wearing the heroism of its real-lie characters on its sleeve – and for the record, they are the young sailor Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), veteran seamen Richard Livesey (Ben Foster) and Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner), as well as rookie Ervin Maske (John Magaro). As much as the rest of the men had a part to play in the rescue mission, it is Bernie whom the movie chooses to place its focus on, setting up a romance between the shy straight-jawed Coast Guard and the spunky bright-faced telephone operator Miriam (Holliday Grainger) that leads to the latter asking the former for his hand in marriage just before the fateful day at sea.
Understandably, the aim of their sweetly nostalgic first-act romance is to raise the emotional stakes once Bernie goes out to sea. Alas neither their initial meet-cute encounter at a blind date nor their subsequent atypical marriage proposal resonates as it should, in part due to the lack of chemistry between Pine and Granger as well as the monotonous staging by their director Craig Gillespie. There is not so much as a heartbeat to be found in these painfully slow scenes that drag on for way too long, which are basically pointless considering how they serve no other purpose than as prelude to the disaster sequences.
To Gillespie’s credit, the subsequent two acts do pick up the pace considerably. There is tension between the newly posted station chief (Eric Bana) and his local crew, the latter believing that the former’s order to send Bernie out in the storm is as good as a suicide mission. There is also tension between the survivors of the SS Pendleton, deliberating whether to stay put or take their chances on the lifeboats. But most of all, there is jaw-dropping spectacle – first in how Bernie and his crew navigate a treacherous sandbar just to get out into the open ocean, then how the Pendleton’s first assistant Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) fashions a rudimentary tiller to steer the ship (or what’s left of it) and run it aground against a reef, and lastly the very rescue itself.
No expense has been spared in re-creating the harsh conditions that the men faced that day or the details of the SS Pendleton’s amputated stern, and the realism is simply breathtaking. From the towering waves of the sandbar threatening to submerge the tiny rescue boat to the hurricane-force waters and ferocious waters of the open sea buffeting the SS Pendleton, one feels the sheer force of nature keenly and profoundly. Yes, there is never any doubt the odds that were against both Bernie and his crew as well as the men he had set out to save, and by extension the bravery of the former and the wits of the latter – in addition to just pure luck – that allowed both of them to survive the ordeal.
There is a third centre of action that is also the least engaging of the three – not content to wait for news at home, Miriam drives herself to the Coast Guard office and chides Bernie’s commanding officer for sending him out to die, just before she crashes her car into a snowbank. Though her inclusion is meant to honour the family members of the Coast Guard officers who live each day knowing that their loved ones’ every mission might just be his or her last, these scenes are an unnecessary distraction from the action out at sea, causing the film to lose its rhythm every time it looks like it is about to hit its stride.
Especially given that you already know how it ends, ‘The Finest Hours’ should really be about the journey, one of valour, duty before self and the indomitable nature of the human spirit. Yet this feel-good disaster movie doesn’t quite move you as you expect it to, chiefly because its emotions feel manufactured than genuine. As a thrill ride, it has its moments, but these exhilarating parts are unfortunately bogged down every now and then with dull character drama that not even a committed cast can make work. Like we said at the start, this is as old-school a tale of square-jawed heroism as it gets, but ironically it is also as much as this fitfully engaging story is worth.
Movie Rating:
(An old-fashioned rescue yarn that treats its real-life subject with utmost sincerity, 'The Finest Hours' stays afloat only on account of its thrilling action scenes)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TOP GROSSING TAIWANESE HORROR IN TAIWAN FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS "THE TAG-ALONG" OPENS IN SINGAPORE ON 21ST JANUARY 2016!Posted on 05 Jan 2016 |
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Cheng Wei-hao
Cast: Wei-ning Hse, River Huang
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Horror)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/tagalongmovie/
Opening Day: 21 January 2016
Synopsis: The movie starts with Wei’s (River Huang) grandma disappeared for no reason but her housework and routines were always completed, strangely. Wei was clueless about it till he finds a video in his grandma’s camera showing that there was a little girl in red tagging along her. Oddly, after Wei’s grandma finally returns, Wei goes missing instead. Struggling to unravel the enigma, Wei’s girlfriend Yi-Chun (Wei-ning Hse) gradually discovers that the mysteries behind missing Wei and his grandma might be linked to the “The Little Girl in Red”, but what is worse is yet to come…
Movie Review:
‘The Tag-Along’ takes a well-known urban legend in Taiwan and turns it into a bone-chilling mystery built around themes of loss, regret and familial love. Depending on your knowledge of Taiwanese folklore, you may or may not have heard of the ‘little girl in red’, who was infamously captured by a group of climbers on home video making their way along a mountain trail. That video was broadcast on television way back in 1988, and since then, others have reported similar sightings of a little girl in a red dress just before they had met with some form of calamity. Legend has it that the girl is a mountain demon known as ‘mo-sien’ (or 魔神仔 in Chinese), which preys on fear and guilt and is particularly drawn to children and the elderly.
So it is that the first to disappear in the film is an elderly woman who happens to be good friends with our lead male protagonist’s grandma (Liu Yin–shang), a curmudgeonly lady confronted with the same fate one typical morning after making breakfast for her grandson Wei (River Huang). It will be a couple of days before Wei realises that she has gone missing – despite being his caretaker from young, Wei’s busy work schedule as a real estate agent have kept the two apart in recent times, leaving his grandmother in constant lament about how little he sleeps every night and how little time he spends at home with her. Their estrangement is also in part due to Wei’s relationship with his girlfriend Yi-chun (Hsu Wei Ning), who harbours no plans to get married, settle down or have kids even after five years, much to Wei’s grandmother’s dismay.
As you can expect, there is a lesson here on taking the ones who love us for granted – and as we learn through a series of flashbacks, Wei had made a promise to his grandmother when he was a kid that he would have dinner with her every night, even scribbling it on the underside of their dinner table. But it isn’t just Wei who has a lesson to be learnt; midway through the film, Wei’s grandmother is found walking lost and disoriented along a stretch of highway, right after Wei himself vanishes. Just as Wei had been taking his grandmother for granted, so has Yi-chun been doing likewise of Wei, and the second half of the film is as much about Yi-chun digging deeper into the legend of the ‘mo-sien’ as it is about her learning the depths of Wei’s love for her.
If there is one thing that Jian Shi-geng’s screenplay gets right, it is in establishing the relationships between Wei and his grandmother as well as between Wei and Yi-chun with careful attention and detail. Not only do we feel for Wei mourning the loss of his grandmother, we empathise with Yi-chun coping with the sudden departure of Wei, and within these two relationships, Jian makes keenly felt the regret we often face when the people who love us but whom we take for granted are abruptly taken away from us. The latter allows the climax set deep in a patch of dense forest to be both scary yet heartfelt, as Yi-chun resolves to save Wei from the clutches of the mountain demon that assumes the form of the ‘little red girl’.
On his part, Cheng Wei-hao, who makes his feature filmmaking debut here, largely succeeds in sustaining a tense and uneasy atmosphere throughout the film. There are a couple of nicely earned ‘jump’ scares here, but what lingers is the sense of dread that he builds with the creaking of a door, the rustle of the wind and the voice of a little girl. Cheng loves to play with his audience’s sense of focus, and an oft-used but nonetheless effective technique is how he teases us with something that we should be seeing on the periphery of the frame just before it jumps in our face. Just as well, Cheng hits the emotional beats of Jian’s script nicely – in particular, an early sequence that shows Wei’s grandmother trying to wake Wei up for work when his alarm rings and then preparing his breakfast and lunch box for him pays off subsequently in unexpectedly emotional ways.
No wonder then that ‘The Tag-Along’ has gone on to become the most successful horror movie in Taiwan in a decade – like the best of its genre, it isn’t just a scattershot collection of scares but rather a poignant lesson on human nature that tugs on your heartstrings as much as it rattles your nerves. To be fair, it does owe its audience a couple of loose ends, and the CGI-heavy climax does border on overkill, but on the whole, Cheng’s maiden entry to the horror genre is a spooky atmospheric affair that bears a foreboding omnipresence. At no point do you ever feel that its thrills are cheap or convenient, nor does it lose its emotional hook along the way, so if you’re looking for a good scare, you’ll find yourself in good company if you follow the little girl in red.
Movie Rating:
(Tense, atmospheric and unsettling, this tale of loss, regret and familial love packs a surprisingly moving lesson on cherishing our loved ones whom we often take for granted)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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