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COLD WAR 2 Singapore Press ConferencePosted on 02 Jul 2016 |
After being nominated for 13 Academy Awards and three Golden Globes, we are really hoping that composer Thomas Newman will be recognised with an Oscar soon (he did take home two BAFTAs, six Grammys and an Emmy Award, but nothing beats having the term “Academy Award winner” associated with your name right?.
If you are familiar with the 60 year old’s work, you would not be a stranger to how he creatively uses instruments to create a uniquely engaging soundscape. Some of our favourite scores composed by Newman include 1999’s American Beauty and The Green Mile, 2002’s Road to Perdition and 2004’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Newman returns to score the sequel to Disney Pixar’s hugely successful Finding Nemo (2003). In this sequel, the soundtrack brings back some familiar moments (“Kelpcake”, “One Year Later”, “Gnarly Chop”), but there are many more wondrous cues to check out in this 68 minute album (it’s been a while since we have enjoyed a CD with such a generous runtime).
After creating a otherworldly sense of awe with “Finding Dory (Main Title)”, Newman dives straight into the core of things with numerous brief but effective tracks. “Squid Chase” starts off mysteriously, but transits into a frantic chase action cue. “Nobody’s Fine” has an ominous feel initially, but surprisingly becomes a curiously engaging piece of music that brings to mind a detective searching for clues. “OpenOcean”, as the name suggests, brings you into the realm of a wide watery space and leaves you exploring its wonders.
Our favourite track on the soundtrack is “…Shells” (incidentally, it’s the longest cue at almost five minutes) – Newman displays his flair for leading listeners into a emotionally affecting state of things with simple instruments (near the three minute mark, where the cue swells into a fuller sound, is spot on).
The album may not leave you with many impressionable main themes (Sia’s cover of “Unforgettable” may be the closest thing you get to a radio friendly track), but upon repeated listening, you will understand why we hope Newman will be recognised with an Academy Award soon.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (25) …Shells
Review by John Li
The movie directed by James Bobin may not have been well received by critics (it received a 30% rating on film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes), but its soundtrack is easily one of the best we have heard in a while. This proves one thing – no one conjures music for the fantasy genre as well as American composer Danny Elfman.
The 63 year old brings to life the characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories in this 76 minute CD (when was the last time you were pampered with such a luxurious amount of music on a soundtrack?), and capitalises on the memorable theme he created for the first movie in 2010.
“Alice”, a lovely six and a half minute cue that sets the tone right, kicks off the album. The dazzling track brings listeners down the rabbit hole one more time, and it easily gets you hooked to continue listening to the rest of the highly recommended album.
It’s probably due to the sheer brilliance of the main theme, that the other new themes composed for this sequel do not come out as strongly. Not that it is an issue though, because you will still be thoroughly engaged throughout the album (“The Hatter House” is melancholic, “The Red Queen” is adventurous, “Tea Time Forever” is sinister and “Time is Up” is exhilarating).
Elsewhere, “Asylum Escape”, “Oceanof Time” and “Kingsleigh & Kingsleigh” are masterfully orchestrated pieces of music that shows how talented Elfman is when it comes to using melodies to tell stories. Trust us, playing the soundtrack from start to finish is like listening to an adventure movie. In this case, it works perfectly without visuals.
Closing the album is P!NK’s end credits song “Just Like Fire”, a radio friendly pop song with aptly penned lyrics to tie in with the movie’s theme of “running out of time”.
With the bad reviews that plagued the movie, the music is unlikely to get any attention during award season. But deep down, we are hoping that it will be a dark horse and recognise Elfman for his work.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (1) Alice
Review by John Li
Genre: Adventure/Action
Director: Daniel Lee
Cast: Lu Han, Jing Boran, Ma Sichun, Wang Jingchun, Zhang Boyu, Mallika Sherawat
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 25 August 2016
Synopsis: This fantasy-adventure film tells the tale of Wu Xie (Luhan) who is an antique shop owner with a family history of tomb raiders. While he delves into his family trade he finds lost treasures of the Warring States as well as the answers to the tragedies of his family’s past. With the help of his grandfather Zhang Qiling‘s (Jing Boran) notes and his team, Wu Xie sets out to find the lost treasures as well as the people responsible for the extermination of his family.
Movie Review:
If you need further proof that China’s filmmakers are chasing after Hollywood’s former glories, then the latest CGI-laden modern-day fantasy adventure ‘Time Raiders’ is the perfect specimen. Bearing many glaring similarities to the last film in ‘The Mummy’ trilogy, this big-screen version adapted by the author of the Internet novel on which it is based – who goes by the moniker Uncle Three - is like its inspirational predecessor loud, overblown and often utterly nonsensical, even as its compendium of extravagant action sequences does offer mildly diverting fun.
Like ‘The Mummy’, the protagonist here is a young budding tomb explorer with an irrepressible sense of curiosity and optimism. Oh yes, we’re not sure if Lu Han (aka China’s ‘Star Wars’ ambassador) had researched Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell to prepare for his role as Wu Xie, but he sure channels much of the same attitude. Ignoring the warnings of his Third Uncle (Wang Jingchun), Wu Xie follows the trail hinted at by an ancient clockwork key he finds while stumbling around The Widow’s Tomb, which leads to an underground city of labyrinthine passage-ways and booby traps that turns out to be no less than the legendary tomb of the Snake Empress (Mallika Sherawat).
Just as Jet Li’s Dragon Emperor in the last film of ‘The Mummy’ trilogy, Sherawat’s Snake Empress thirsts for immortality, and has preserved herself, her lover King Xiang (Sammy Hung) and his armies for the past 2000 years in order to return and conquer the world through might and sorcery. At the point Wu Xie unearths the key, the countdown is set to end eight days later; and by the time he and his Third Uncle assemble a team of strongmen that includes Jing Boran’s Zhang Qiling, it is mere hours before the planets align and the Snake Empress wakes from her slumber. They will however encounter unexpected adversaries in the form of a team of foreign mercenaries led by Captain Ning (Ma Sichun), under orders by a mysterious backer Hendrix (Vanni Corbellini) who wants the Empress’ secret for himself.
As much as Lee invests much of the first act developing Lu Han and Jing Boran’s respective characters – the former still traumatized by an incident in his childhood years where he came face to face with a man in a golden mask and the latter as an ageless monk who saved his number from Hendrix’s attack on his temple some fifty years ago – there is little in either that is compelling enough for us to recognize them as no more than stock types or for that matter regard the movie as more than a special-effects laden spectacle. Sure enough, it is only when our ragtag band of explorers get to the Snake Empress’ tomb that the film comes alive with one CGI-heavy action sequence after another.
Obviously not a lot of logic applies here, with no less than flesh-eating beetles, eerie wooden puppets and Groot-like warriors the stuff that Wu Xie and his buddy cum protector Zhang Qiling have to contend with. Lee can’t quite match the visual imagination of his Hollywood counterpart Rob Cohen (director of ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’), but his deliberately over-the-top posture does make for some madcap fun in between the self-serious moments. Oh yes, from deus-ex-machinas like Wu Xie turning Pied Piper to chase the beetles away to the ex-EXO singer turned lead actor putting his former dancing moves to good use, there is evidently much leeway Lee requires from his audience when it comes to suspension of disbelief.
And yet even then, that goodwill is pretty much exhausted by the time we get to a poorly conceived finale which relies too much on cut-rate CGI and too little on actual practical stuntwork. The showdown between Jing Boran’s Zhang Qiling and Sammy Hung’s King Xiang is a letdown, and Sherawat’s entry thereafter is just as anti-climactic given how she is mainly called upon to snare menacingly while her CGI-ed venom suckers go jab-jabbing away at Qiling. It is also too much of a stretch to believe that Wu Xie could all of a sudden morph into Indiana Jones, especially since he remains no more than a pretty boy throughout the earlier parts of the movie.
Mostly therefore for worse, ‘Time Raiders’ shows China still trying to play catch-up with Hollywood, whether in terms of the kinds of stories that it tells or the standard of its visual effects. There is some throwaway fun to be had in this summer blockbuster, but not enough for you to check out this China-made copy of much superior Hollywood ‘tomb raiding’ pictures that have come before it. It is even less than ‘The Myth’, the Jackie Chan romance-across-time adventure which also starred Sherawat, and considering how that was a decade ago, just proves how ultimately unnecessary this journey across time is.
Movie Rating:
(Loud, overblown and often utterly nonsensical - 'Time Raiders' represents an ultimately reductionist effort by China to capture Hollywood's former glories)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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Hong Kong Police Action Blockbuster COLD WAR 2 Tops Local Box OfficePosted on 11 Jul 2016 |
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Director: Na Hong-Jin
Cast: Kwak Do-Won, Hwang Jung-Min, Chun Woo-Hee
Runtime: 2 hrs 36 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror and Coarse Language)
Released By: Clover Films and Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 July 2016
Synopsis: An old stranger appears in a peaceful rural village, but no one knows when or why. As mysterious rumours begin to spread about this man, the villagers drop dead one by one. They grotesquely kill each other for inexplicable reasons. The village is swept by turmoil and the stranger is subjected to suspicion.
Movie Review:
“’Why are you troubled,’ Jesus asked, ‘and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see — for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’” – Luke 24: 37-39
Na Hong-Jin’s supernatural police procedural ‘The Wailing’ opens with the above Biblical quote, but make no mistake, there is hardly any spiritual hope or redemption to be found in this unrelentingly grim story of demonic possession. Set in a quiet, rural village called Goksung (which is also its Korean title), it weaves its tale largely through the eyes of a portly local police sergeant Jong-gu (Kwak Do-won), who first believes the string of grisly murders occurring within the village as a case of bad mushrooms but later comes to suspect the taciturn middle-aged Japanese man (Jun Kunimara) whom some locals say is no less than a demon. And yet, because Jong-gu is played here as a bumbling caricature of police incompetence, one suspects that he isn’t at the heart of the story for his investigative skills.
True enough, after a slow-burn first hour, the stakes are significantly upped when Jong-gu’s only and beloved daughter Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee) starts developing a rash not unlike those seen on the skin of the purported murderers, which quickly descends into full-on ‘Exorcism’ mode with Hyo-jin shrieking obscenities, suffering from seizures and developing a voracious appetite for everything in the refrigerator. It is also at this point, following an illegal raid on the said Japanese man’s house deep in the woods that leads to the discovery of one side of a child’s shoe he recognizes to be Hyo-jin’s, that Jung-gu starts freaking out – not only does he confront the latter on his own with a Catholic priest who speaks the language in tow, he will also assemble a group of friends to raid the man’s house and hunt him down.
If all that does seem a little too simple for a two-and-a-half hour movie (which we reassure you feels nothing like its length), it isn’t; indeed, there is a delicious bit of misdirection thrown in at the middle involving a local shaman (Hwang Jung-min) whom Jong-gu’s mother-in-law calls in from Seoul as well as a mysterious woman-in-white Moo-myeong (Chun Woo-hee) who is more intimately involved with the hauntings than she first appears to be. There is a palpable aura of evil and paranoia that grips you from start to finish, but you’d be advised to brace for a most viscerally intense last hour as Jong-gu’s white-knuckled alarm comes to a boil, culminating in a string of shocking reveals that offer no reprieve right up to its heart-breaking finish (and may in fact leave you even more emotionally bereft).
That his movie has such a powerful effect on its viewer is testament to two things that Hong-jin accomplishes – first, in creating an evil so elemental that one feels utterly helpless in its wake; and two, in portraying just as elemental the bond between father and daughter that sees the former abandon rationality and reason in order to save the flesh and blood he holds and loves so dearly. The former sucks you in almost insidiously; at first, one assumes a more conventional explanation behind the murders – not quite the mushrooms but perhaps a demented individual into the occult – which only makes it more terrifying when one realizes that no less than the devil has come to town and daring mere mortals to ‘touch and see’. On the other hand, the latter is appealing in its very simplicity, buoyed by a deceptively straight-forward performance by Kwak that draws you into his plight.
Oh yes, it is Kwak who keeps the film grounded on its feet, even as much of the time is spent suspended between the real and the supernatural. There are a couple of excellent set-pieces here that add to the mood of tension and hysteria. A frenzied traditional ‘exorcism’ ritual with the thundering clash of drums and gongs is staged with magnificent detail here, and superbly intercut with a much lower-key but also more ominous one by the shaman’s apparent nemesis. Similarly, the extended finale unfolds in parallel action, with Jong-gu’s desperate attempt to separate truth from lie as his family’s massacre hangs in the balance juxtaposed against the priest’s own search for the identity of the Japanese man based on a hunch that he gets from a nightmarish dream. The vivid natural settings also provide a strong atmosphere that is rich, lush and intoxicatingly immersive.
Yet it is just as important to bear in mind that there are no easy answers to be found, with perhaps the most frustrating question being why such god-awful things are happening to this particular village and its generally good-natured protagonist. No matter though – there is no doubting that ‘The Wailing’ is a horror masterpiece uncompromising in its portrait of pure evil and the powerlessness of human strength and willpower against its sheer force. Like we said earlier, you’d do best to brace yourself against its inexorable sense of dread and despair, but the method behind the madness is virtuoso filmmaking that makes this one of the best Korean films we’ve seen this year.
Movie Rating:
(Dark, unsettling and yet thoroughly gripping, this unrelentingly grim Korean supernatural police procedural is a chilling portrait of elemental evil and a heartbreaking portrayal of parental love)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Koan Xu
Cast: Jet Li, Jacky Heung, Fan Bingbing, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Louis Koo, Huang Xiaoming, Angelababy, Andy On, Wen Zhang
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 29 July 2016
Synopsis: An imaginary time zone parallel to the Shang Dynasty, 1000 BC: The kingdom is in trouble. The autocratic King Zhou (Tony Leung Ka Fai), entranced by his favourite concubine Daji (Fan Bingbing) who is a vixen spirit in disguise, oppresses the people and banishes all opposition. A band of rebellious warriors from the Ji clan unites allied forces to overthrow the tyrant. Amongst them is Ji Lei (Jacky Heung), an orphan of the Wing Tribe who was rescued as a child by the powerful Wizard Jiang (Jet Li) on the fateful day of his Wing initiation into adulthood, when his parents were massacred by King Zhou. Haunted by his loss, Ji Lei is sent by the Wizard on a mission to seek the Sword of Light that will awaken the courage to spread his hidden wings and help restore balance to the world.
Movie Review:
Before attending the preview of this Chinese summer action fantasy blockbuster, this writer came across an online article about how the movie is being billed as a “Chinese X Men”. Next, he watched the trailer and had a nagging feeling that he will have nothing good to say about this star studded production (if you are not the hugest fan of overdoses of special effects and computer generated creatures, then you are on this reviewer’s side).
True enough, the 110 minute movie throws scene after scene of pompous action sequences at its viewers. There is nothing particularly original about this production – it is really a messy mashup of things you have seen elsewhere.
Based on the Ming Dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods) by Xu Zhonglin, the story starts of with a tyrannical king (a bored looking Tony Leung, who had seen better days in movies like the recent Cold War 2), who is also bewitched by a beautiful empress (Fan Bingbing, who is the best part about this movie), who is in fact an ancient fox demon (watch out for her giant tentacles!). Just as the evil duo are about to kill off a good guy who is holding the secrets to destroy the ultimate baddie known as the Black Dragon, good guys in the form of a righteous young man (an earnest Jacky Heung who can’t save the movie) and a powerful sorcerer (Jet Li, who can definitely do much better than this).
Elsewhere, there is a villainous general who rides on a CG black panther (Louis Koo, who probably is happy from earning some easy bucks), a rebellious warrior who flies around on CG fire wheels (Wen Zhang, who took over the role from Cecilia Chung after she was fired for poor behaviour) and a righteous warrior who yields CG weapons (an underused Huang Xiaoming). Oh, there is also the love interest character (Angelababy, looking as pretty as ever with her big dreamy eyes) who looks really happy when she sees CG blue butterflies. The good guys are supposed to hunt down a mighty sword which is supposed to save the world (but of course).
To be honest, the story does have quite a bit of potential to capitalise the characters’ campy abilities and the demons’ out of this world powers to produce an entertaining piece of work. Unfortunately, when you have HK$300 million to blow on a movie, budget is spent on trying to impress the masses with CG scenes (this columnist might have been more impressed if there were animatronics on display). Money was probably also spent on “foreign talents” like composer John Debney (The Jungle Book), animation director Randall William Cook (The Lord of the Rings), sound designer Brent Burge (The Hobbit) and editor Wayne Philip Wahrman (I Am Legend).
The result? A mess that can hardly be salvaged. We just need to mention one scene for you to know what to expect – A CG Nezha invades an underwater palace and destroys CG sea monsters with CG fart. Yup, you read it right. We rest our case here - till the sequel comes along (yup, there will probably be one).
Movie Rating:
(Even the star studded cast is not enough a reason for us to recommend this soulless mess of a movie)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama/Musical
Director: John Carney
Cast: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor, Lucy Boynton, Kelly Thornton
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/singstreetmovie/?fref=ts
Opening Day: 28 July 2016
Synopsis: Like his earlier films ONCE and BEGIN AGAIN, SING STREET is inspired by writer/director John Carney’s life and love for music, and tells the story of a 14-year-old named Cosmo growing up in 80’s Dublin who must break free of a home strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles, deal with his drop-out older brother’s antics, and survive a new public school where the kids are rough and the brothers are tougher. Cosmo writes a song, forms a scrappy band with some school mates, writes more songs, and shoots some wicked music videos. How to shoot pop videos in a recession ridden country? Beg, borrow and steal. And steal. But when he realizes he can’t save his family, he must make a family of his own.
Movie Review:
We all had that one point in life when we felt that nothing else was more important than pursuing our dreams, and what we really enjoyed doing. While each and every one of us has to deal with a certain something called reality, it takes a film like this to remind us that there is more to life than hard facts, logical justifications and absolute numbers.
There is something simply termed as “a feeling”, and that following that “feeling” will make you feel that you have lived your life fully.
After the low budget 2007 indie Once Again (the film was a surprise winner at the Oscars for Best Original Song “Falling Slowly”) and the 2013 Adam Levine and Keira Knightley vehicle Begin Again (in this writer’s opinion, Lost Stars is one of the best songs ever written), writer director John Carney follows up with his yet another story about how music has the power to communicate emotion. Like the characters in the two other movies, the personalities in this Irish musical drama and even to stand in for conversation.
The protagonist in this 106 minute film is a teenage boy (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who is trying to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton) by starting a band. Soon, amidst family and school problems, music becomes his life – something which gives him drive and motivation. The story by Carney himself is based heavily on his own high school experiences.
There is much to identify with in this film. Viewers can easily connect with the endearing characters and exhilarating music (nostalgia is a commodity, which works to the movie’s advantage in this case), and more importantly – it reminds people what it feels like to create something, and how it’s the little things in life that matters the most. Music is a wonderful tool, and how it represents the language of life is aptly brought across with this film. The story isn’t anything dramatic or extraordinary – it is a tale you and I remember because it is something we have experienced before.
The film also reminds us poignantly that there are all sorts of personal problems we encounter, and there is a kind of “sad happy” that we indulge ourselves in. That, essentially, sums up what life is about.
By using relatively unknown actors (the only familiar face you may recognise is Aidan Gillen from the hit series Game of Thrones), Carney manages gets his audiences focus on the story instead of hinging on star appeal. The result is a charming piece of work which you want to hold on to dearly, because it is a piece of your life you may never get back.
Of course, like Once Again and Begin Again, you will want to add the songs featured to your personal playlist after walking out of the theatre. From Motorhead’s “Stay Clean” and Duran Duran’s “Rio”, to The Cure’s “In Between Days” and Hall & Oates’ “Maneater”, there is never a dull moment throughout the film. The cast also performs lovely tunes like “The Riddle of the Model” and “Drive It Like You Stole It”, which will have you tapping your feet to the infectious rhythm. When the film ends with Adam Levine’s “Go Now”, it will leave you with a newfound hope that life can be lived differently, as long as you have the courage to pursue what you want.
Movie Rating:
(A charming film about life that shows how music is a powerful tool to communicate emotions)
Review by John Li
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BOOK REVIEW #15: GHOSTBUSTERS: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORYPosted on 15 Jul 2016 |
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Trailers..Trailers from SAN DEIGO COMIC CON 2016Posted on 24 Jul 2016 |
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