MovieXclusive.com -

SYNOPSIS: Megan Leavey is based on the true life story of a young Marine Corporal (Kate Mara) whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, Leavey identifies with a particularly aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him. Over the course of their service, Megan and Rex completed more than 100 missions until an IED explosion injures them, putting their fate in jeopardy.

MOVIE REVIEW:

There’s no lack of Hollywood movies that are based on true stories. But you got to bear in mind accuracy is somehow not Hollywood’s strongest forte.

In this surprisingly well-told movie (I suppose pretty true to source) which is based on a true story and person, Kate Mara (Fantastic Four 2015) plays Megan Leavey, a directionless young woman who found her life purpose after joining the marines. After being posted to the military dog unit, Megan became partner and friend to a ferocious German Shepherd, Rex. Before long, the two is posted to Ramadi for active duty when they encounter a life-threatening incident while on a mission.

Megan Leavey is a part war, part inspirational movie. For those seeking out some intense war sequences, Leavey delivers a heart-pounding combat sequence set in the middle of nowhere. It gamely reproduced the danger Megan and her bomb-sniffing partner is exposed to without resorting to flashy cinematic action treatment. You are definitely wrong if you think dog handlers and their canines are never stationed in the frontline in fact they are very much involved in most of the missions.

While Megan Leavey indeed have some scripting and pacing issues especially the third act when Megan begins to suffer from PTSD and her longing for Rex after she got out of active service, it’s still a good drama about love and loyalty. The low-key exchanges between Megan and her dad (Bradley Whitford) stood out for it’s earnesty while Common (John Wick 2) and Ramon Rodriguez (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) plays Megan’s direct supervisor and boyfriend respectively.

For a movie blessed with modest budget, the production values are generally solid, rivaling other similar themes movies such as American Sniper and Max. The debut feature of documentary filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) handles both the emotion and action aspects equally well. Adding to that, Kate Mara gives an outstanding, solid performance. Megan Leavey comes highly recommended for those seeking out some sentimental, meaningful titles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Never Give Up is a 2 minutes feature that delves into the character and story.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Colours are satisfying and detailing on the DVD is fine for this digitally shot movie. The Dolby Digital 5.1 delivers an explosive thundering listening experience during the crucial sequence of the entire movie. The rest of the movie is peppered with impressive ambient sound effects.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Drama
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Cast: Huang Xuan, Yang Caiyu, Xu Fan, Lydia Peckham
Runtime: 132 minutes
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Clover Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 9 January 2020

Synopsis: Dongfeng is a middle-aged man living in New Zealand. He has been suffering from sorrow and loneliness ever since the death of his beloved wife, Yun. Unable to overcome his grief, Dongfeng instead decides to retrace the journey he shared with Yun and fulfil a dream that she never had the chance to.

Movie Review:

There is a sequence in this romantic drama which involves the protagonists grieving over their dying pet dog. The couple looks sad and delivers melancholic lines while the poor animal whimpers lifelessly. This scene may have lasted about 10 minutes. In the hands of a less capable director (and also less impressive actors), this supposedly moving scene would have been a pain to watch.

The 132 minute film is mostly made up of such emotional scenes, and they are dealt with effectively, thanks to China’s Feng Xiaogang, who has made a name for making movies which ensure box office success. He may have made arthouse favourites like I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016) and Youth (2017), but he has also delivered mainstream blockbusters like Assembly (2007) and Aftershock (2010).

If you have watched the abovementioned titles, you would realise that he has successfully dabbled with films of different genres. What about romance? We haven’t mentioned that two of his most commercially successful works are If You Are the One (2008) and its 2010 sequel. And that’s why we are not surprised that the 61 year old filmmaker is the man behind this sappy love story about a Chinese couple’s earnest but heart wrenching tale.

We are introduced to Sui Dongfeng (Huang Xuan) at the beginning of the film, who has an English name Simon because he is living in Auckland. He is trying to summon the ghost of his wife Luo Yun (Yang Caiyu), who also has an English name Jennifer. Things feel woeful, and we feel that there is much sorrow in the air. As the story progresses, we see how the couple met, married and eventually parted ways in life.

The story unfolds in two main sections: the first happens in time, where the newlyweds move to a small town and open a Chinese restaurant (they also meet a chirpy local who works as a waitress and becomes their very good friend), while the second covers the couple’s journey as young immigrants to Aucklandfrom Beijing. These backdrops are perfect for the film to take place in picturesque locations, and coupled with an emotive music score, there is really nothing to fault about the film’s technical aspects.

Much of the film’s plot is predictable, but you will be engaged throughout as the characters are played with conviction by Huang and Yang, who have worked with Feng on the nostalgic coming of age drama Youth. You care for the couple while they trudge through life together as Chinese diaspora. You can expect episodes which illustrate the challenges brought about by cultural differences. As an Asian, you’d root for them and hope they make it through the difficulties.

Cynics may feel that this is a story that lacks cleverness, but when the film ends and you realise it is largely based on the life of Feng’s filmmaking colleague, you can’t help but applaud the sincerity that comes through a fairly straightforward film that you have invested your feelings in for more than two hours.

Movie Rating:

(Huang Xuan and Yang Caiyu deliver strong performances in a sincere production helmed by the ever-reliable Feng Xiaogang)

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama
Director: Andy Serkis
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander, Diana Rigg, Hugh Bonneville
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:

Opening Day: 18 January 2018

Synopsis: Andy Serkis brings to life the inspiring true love story between Robin Cavendish (Academy Award(r) nominee, Andrew Garfield) and his wife Diana (Golden Globe Winner, Claire Foy), an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease. When Robin is struck down by polio at the age of 28, he is confined to a hospital bed and given only a few months to live. With the help of Diana's twin brothers (Tom Hollander) and the groundbreaking ideas of inventor Teddy Hall (Hugh Bonneville), Robin and Diana dare to escape the hospital ward to seek out a full and passionate life together ― raising their young son, traveling and devoting their lives to helping other polio patients. Written by two-time Academy Award nominated writer William Nicholson, and shot by three-time Academy Award winner Robert Richardson, Breathe is a heartwarming celebration of love and human possibility.

Movie Review:

There is a compelling, even uplifting, story at the heart of the late disability advocate Robin Cavendish’s extraordinary life, but ‘Breathe’ isn’t the movie to tell it. At best, it provides an overview into the saga of a well-to-do adventurer who was paralysed by polio at the age of 28, and then proceeded to defy the odds by outliving his expected lifespan by almost four decades and regaining his independence in ways that no one could ever have imagined possible. Oh yes, the film itself aims to squeeze these 40 years into the duration of two hours, and inevitably ends up jumping from one major episode in his life to another without going into sufficient intimate detail in any, leaving us ultimately unmoved.

That is truly a pity for many reasons, one of them being the fact that Robin’s real-life son Jonathan is one of the film’s producers and had clearly intended for it to be both an inspiration for the physically disabled as well as a deeply personal eulogy to his parents. The latter explains why this portrait of Robin’s life is as much his story as it is that of his devoted wife Diana’s, who was pregnant with their one and only child Jonathan at the time when he became paralysed and could only breathe with the assistance of a mechanical ventilator. In fact, the film’s most gripping moments lie in its first act, where we see how the newly married couple’s lives were torn asunder upon his contraction of the disease in Kenya and the depression that Robin immediately plunged into, so much so that he dared not look directly at his son until the boy was a couple of months old.

Unfortunately, that messy struggle seems to be over once Robin settles into his new house in the English countryside with the invaluable help of Diana and her twin brothers (both played by Tom Hollander). Ostensibly more cheery than when he was lying in a hospital ward surrounded by other paraplegics, Robin enlists the help of his friend Teddy (Hugh Bonneville) to retrofit a wheelchair with a custom-made portable ventilator, which in turn enables him to venture further and further outdoors in a specially modified van. As an incident on a Spanish vacation shows, not even a broken respirator can get him down it seems; instead, the family enjoys the company of an impromptu fiesta with the locals, complete with guitarists and flamenco dancers, while waiting for Teddy to fly over and fix the machine.

That same warm, fuzzy optimism extends to Robin’s alliance with Dr Clement Aitken (Stephen Mangan) of the Disability Foundation, who turns the former’s invention into a line of mechanical chairs for the severely disabled and encourages the former to use his own life experience for social advocacy. For reasons quite unknown, first-time director Andy Serkis (yes, the motion-capture actor better known for his roles in ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’) seems strangely adamant at keeping the mood buoyant in the film’s second act, so much so that a sombre scene which shows how polio patients are housed in a German hospital is hardly dwelled upon before being succeeded by an uplifting speech that Robin delivers to somewhat backward-thinking medical professionals at a disability conference.

But to his credit, Serkis doesn’t shirk from ending the film on an elegiac note, jumping ahead a notable number of years to show the debilitating after-effects of being on a respirator for decades. Than leave it to fate to drown in his own blood one night, Robin decides to end his life on his own terms, and Serkis wisely opts for restrained understatement in the depiction of Robin’s death than outright histrionics, without losing sight of the conflicted emotions Diana and Jonathan must certainly have felt. It’s as graceful a farewell as it gets for a man who chose self-authority and autonomy at every turn, and a befittingly bittersweet ending that will leave a lump in your throat.

But as beautiful a closing as that may be, too much of the film feels like a series of joyful larks that diminish the challenges that Robin must no doubt have encountered as a responaut, or as a reformist whose innovations would certainly have been met with considerable resistance at the start. That explains why despite his debilities, Garfield seems to put on a cheerful smile for most of the movie, given how it hardly calls upon him to do any dramatic heavy-lifting at all. Same goes for Foy, who is duly established as a tenacious wife early on but whose role is gradually diminished over the course of the film. Still, insofar as their mutual scenes are concerned, Garfield and Foy definitely share enough chemistry with each other to convince us of the deep and enduring love between their characters.

As a romance therefore, ‘Breathe’ is entirely and very much watchable, but as a biopic of such an illuminating person as Robin, it is undeniably underwhelming. Not only does it fail to get under the skin of its central character, it also glosses over the significance of key turning points in his life, flitting from one to another without ever finding their resonance. At best then, it remains a tasteful prestige picture, complete with gorgeous cinematography courtesy of Academy Award-winner Robert Richardson; and at worst, it is a by-the-numbers account of Robin’s life that lacks the verve, inventiveness and derring-do of its very subject. Even though it never does run out of air, ‘Breathe’ could do well with a jolt of life of its own.

Movie Rating:

(Pretty, tasteful but ultimately unexciting, this by-the-numbers account of the late disability advocate Robin Cavendish's life leaves you unmoved)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Cast: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Silverman, Alan Cumming, Andrea Riseborough, Bill Pullman, Natalie Morales, Fred Armisen, Austin Stowell, Jessica McNamee
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Rating: M18 (Some Mature Theme)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website:

Opening Day: 23 November 2017

Synopsis: In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women's movement, the 1973 tennis match between women's World #1 Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men's-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.

Movie Review:

44 years after the event in which this movie is based on, women are still fighting for equality everywhere in the world. Battle of the Sexes is a fascinating watch and though it revolves around tennis, it’s more than just a sports movie in this biopic about the clash between two tennis titans.

It’s the year 1973, after failing to fight for equal rights and equal pay for female tennis players, tennis champ Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) started her own tournament with her manager Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman) and at the same time, the married King begins a relationship with her hairdresser, Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough) in an era where homosexuality is a no-no for a competitive athlete.

The other half of the story focused on ex-tennis champ and compulsive gambler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). Upon seeing the rising King, Riggs hits upon the idea of challenging the current top woman player to a match. Calling himself a male chauvinistic pig, the restless 55-year-old Riggs finally gets to meet the 29-year-old King in the tennis court in a match that not changed the tennis world but proving that it’s not always a man’s world.

Coming from husband-and-wife Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris who gave you Ruby Sparks and Little Miss Sunshine, Battle of the Sexes unfolds predictably in their trademark quirky manner, adoringly captured the magic of the cast and story in the process. Packaged as a feel-good movie, the story is a mixture of humour, important messages about LGBT and the struggles of life.

Despite having a loving, supportive husband and a successful career, Billie Jean King is struggling with her sexuality while her constant arguments with tennis promoter and commentator; Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) is not helping matters. The has-been Bobby Riggs has his own fair share of problems. He is going nowhere in his rich father-in-law’s company and his wife (Elisabeth Shue) is leaving him because of his addiction to gambling.

Oscar nominated actress Emma Stone is perfect as King. She is equally strong and vulnerable and Stone seems to be destined to play the part of Billie Jean King. Carell who is amazing in an earlier sports related movie, Foxcatcher while perfect in his role as the clowning hustler suffers from a limited screentime and obviously overshadowed by his far more dazzling co-star, Stone.

The well-written movie by Simon Beaufoy (who wrote Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours) balances drama and humour beautifully. It touches on taboo subjects which are amazingly still relevant over 40 years later. The production design, which portrayed an overall 70’s feel, is great although the entire movie still feels like an indie flick. Battle of the Sexes is a fun, semi-serious biopic which features two stars at the height of their career. Not forgetting the galore of supporting stars liked Silverman who lights up the screen the moment she appears with her Virginia Slim and Alan Cumming as King’s costume designer and adviser.

Movie Rating:

(The battle for female empowerment continues even after the end of this appealing movie)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Sho Tsukikawa
Cast: Minami Hamabe, Takumi Kitamura, Shun Oguri, Keiko Kitagawa, Karen Otomo
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:

Opening Day: 14 September 2017

Synopsis: Sakura Yamauchi (Minami Hamabe) and “I” (Takumi KItamura) were former high school classmates. Inspired by Sakura’s words, “I” (Shun Oguri) has now become a teacher at the school they both attended. While talking to his students, he is reminded of the many days he spent with Sakura. Sakura, who was suffering from a disease of the pancreas, kept a diary of her struggle against her illness and how she tried to live with it. After he discovers the diary by chance one day, “I” and Sakura gradually start to spend more time together. Sakura is determined to live out her days brilliantly, but finally, the end draws near. Twelve years after her death, her best friend Kyoko (Karen Otomo/Keiko Kitagawa), who is soon to marry, also begins to remember the time she spent with Sakura, just as “I” does. Then, because of something that happens, the two realize what Sakura really wanted to convey over the distance of those 12 years.

Movie Review:

With Halloween being just around the corner, it’s no wonder that some people may mistake Let me eat your pancreas as a horror movie. Ironically, it has nothing to do with the horror genre; it is in fact a romance / drama movie. This movie is adapted from a popular Japanese novel of the same name (literally translates to “I want to eat your pancreas”). Its main narrative is about a girl called Sakura (played by Minami Hamabe) and the ‘legacies’ she left behind.

‘I’ had his life turned topsy-turvy when he accidentally learned about Sakura’s sickness 12 years ago. What appeared to be a chance encounter disrupted his world and changed his perspectives since. The movie starts off with ‘I’ (adult played by Shun Oguri) working as a teacher and it was later revealed how that decision was also influenced by Sakura, despite his naturally introverted nature. The movie progresses with him relating to his student about the memories shared with Sakura, as they were working on a project to vacate the school’s library. The library was somewhat pivotal, where much of the memories between Sakura and ‘I’ were formed.

The movie uses flashbacks to bring the viewers back in time to progress along with the blossoming friendship between ‘I’ and Sakura. As typical of any high school drama, Sakura’s best friend, Kyoko (played by Karen Otomo), acts as the jealous one, who cannot understand why a boy suddenly grew so close to Sakura. Despite having an incurable disease, Sakura masked her discomfort in front of others, and only reveals part of her vulnerability to ‘I’, as he seems the most composed and different. He played along with her moves till but grew frustrated as he found he’s constantly being tugged in her directions. Predictably, they had a fight but came to consensus that they care for one another and that none of it was of any coincidence. (Best explained by Sakura in the movie! The lines were poetic and beautiful.)

Some people have criticized the movie for being too typical and single dimensional. However, while the high school drama part and the ambiguous relationship were very predictable, the movie has chosen to convey their sentiment about the meaning of life. And that focus was rightly positioned, and tells a moving and coherent tale from beginning to finish. The unexpected plot twist nearing the movie’s end further accentuates the drama and tugs the right heart strings.

The end of the movie trailer says, “At its conclusion, you’ll cry at this title”. Indeed, that holds true. Taking my hats off to the Japanese for the attention to details, and ending the movie so poignantly with backdrop of the fully bloomed cherry blossoms. As with the Japanese’s obsession with cherry blossoms, there’s a common expression which says, “It’s precisely because sakura is fleeting, that’s why it’s beautiful.” Subtly establishing that parallel between Sakura’s life and that fleeting beauty scores a home run. More than just a tear jerker, Let me eat your pancreas is a moving expression of love for life and friends!

P.S.: An animated movie of the same name is scheduled for release in 2018.

Movie Rating:

(If you haven’t been crying for weeks, months of even years, dare you to take the challenge against ‘Let me eat your pancreas’. We bet you’ll need a pack of tissue, or even two!)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, J. Quinton Johnson, Deanna Reed-Foster, Yul Vazquez, Graham Wolfe
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language And Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:

Opening Day: 25 January 2018

Synopsis: In 2003, 30 years after they served together in the Vietnam War, former Navy Corps medic Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) re-unites with ex-Marine Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) on a different type of mission: to bury Doc’s son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides to forgo burial at Arlington Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire. Along the way, Doc, Sal and Mueller reminisce and come to terms with shared memories of the war that continues to shape their lives.

Movie Review:

**WARNING: MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Dealing with the truth is not easy.

But what if the truth you know is not the truth and your knowledge was a lie packaged to beautify and cover up the painful truth?

Last Flag Flying is a story of one veteran, Larry 'Doc' Sheppard (Steve Carell), dealing with the loss of his son, who was killed during the Iraq war while serving the nation and his journey in getting the rights to opting out from an official military ceremony at Arlington Cemetary and taking his son back to his hometown to be buried, with the help of his former military mates, Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishbourne).

The film starts off with ‘Doc’ on a cold December 2003 night, taking time off to search for Sal, a man-child still stuck in his past post-Vietnam War and Richard, a family man who found God in his life and became a reverend to break the news of his son's death during the Iraqi war and his need for their assistance with following him to collect the body.

It then moves on with the trio on their journey to the Dover Air Base where Doc's son's body was to be collected. Conflicts arose when the story that the Colonel in charge told with regards to his son's death does not match the story that was told by his best mate, who witness his son's death (note: dying in a war versus dying while off duty).

That led to a whirlwind of emotions and a brush with the authorities when they wanted to take things in their own hands and then they realised the only way they can get the body back to their hometown instead of being buried in official military grounds is to have the officials bring the body back, on the condition that the dead soldier is still given a military funeral ceremony.

This then leads to a form of ’road trip' back to Doc's hometown for the 3 veterans, reliving their memories during the Vietnam war, both painful and fun, while realising that they have found different ways to cope with the trauma that happened when they were fighting in the war, including the truth behind the death of one of their other mates and how they wished otherwise for the fallen soldier and if they should reveal the truth to his family. The film then ends with the proper burial of Doc's son, next to his mum who suffered from breast cancer previously.

One would ponder on how truth and reality may be masked under white lies for many reasons. Do we do it to protect others from getting hurt? Or do we do it to protect ourselves from facing bigger and drastic consequences? Is the truth worth finding out? Are these 'stories' that we hear a way that the bigger power uses to manipulate the masses?

One would also be able to see how the military do have protocols to abide by and to follow through, leaving no space for 'individuality' and choices, as per seen in the negotiations between Doc and the Colonel. What is the position of a military personnel when in service? Are they their own individual or property of the government? Have they no say even on their deathbed?

The valuable lessons learnt during the duration of the film is surprisingly thought-provoking, interesting and relevant to today's society.

However, throughout the film, one would feel uncertain at the direction that Richard Linklater was trying to move towards, toying between being a slow independent film and a mainstream drama. The extreme slow pacing, along with unexplained fragments of ambiguity scenes, strong military jargons and slight misogynistic remarks, makes the film unbearable for the regular viewer.

The three leads did their best to sustain the film, preventing it from falling into monotony, with a tinge of dry and somewhat infectious humour and with pleasant performances, especially from Steve Carell, playing a character quite unlike the usual comedic characters that he plays. Even then, there was only so much that they could do, as the humour dries up after a while.

Overall, Last Flag Flying is thoughtful and carry valuable lessons that is unfortunately marred by a strange direction that does not give the film the strength that it needs and a lengthy pace that requires the patience of a saint to carry on through the film.

Movie Rating:

(A thoughtful movie but you might want to save this for the weekdays.)

Review by Ron Tan

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Peter Landesman
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Lane, Maika Monroe, Josh Lucas, Ike Barinholtz, Michael C. Hall, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Eddie Marsan, Marton Csokas, Tom Sizemore, Bruce Greenwood
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Nudity)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 5 October 2017

Synopsis: "Deep Throat" was the fictitious name given to the notorious insider who revealed one of the greatest scandals of all time. Amidst the chilling uncertainty of the Cold War tensions, the true identity of the conspirator remained a mystery and source of much public speculation for more than 30 years. That is until in 2005, special agent Mark Felt shockingly revealed himself as the tipster. This powerful, gripping and unbelievable true story of the brilliant and uncompromising spy who risked everything and ultimately sacrificed everything to expose the most carefully guarded secret in intelligence history.

Movie Review:

Better known as ‘Deep Throat’, Mark Felt was the instrumental source – or the notorious whistleblower, depending on which way you look at it – who provided reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post with insider information from the FBI that led to the unravelling of the Watergate conspiracy and eventually the resignation of President Nixon himself. Felt wasn’t some low-level agent; oh no, he was a career FBI officer who had spent 31 years within the labyrinth walls of the hallowed institution, who was once considered next in line to succeed J. Edgar Hoover before Nixon decided to install one of his own cronies from outside the organisation. As seen through the eyes of writer-director Peter Landesman, Felt may have been driven as much by his wounded pride as by what he perceived as existential threats to the organisation whose very fundamental basis of independence was about to be compromised by a corrupt White House administration.

Two comparisons are inevitable – first, to the 1976 classic ‘All The President’s Men’, which unfolded as a procedural centred on Woodward and Bernstein but featured Felt in a supporting role played by Hal Holbrook; and second, to recent events surrounding the current Trump administration, especially with his firing of FBI director James Comey. On the former, Landesman has shrewdly differentiated his own film by fashioning it as a biopic – as opposed to say, a procedural on investigative journalism – which focuses on his title subject’s psychological and emotional motives for becoming the most famous leaker of the 20^th century; and to his credit, both are compellingly portrayed, thanks too to a sharp lead performance by Liam Neeson. The latter, however tempting, should be read as accidental than intentional; indeed, it doesn’t serve the movie at all to view its retelling through the lens of contemporary events, chiefly because the circumstances (including the fact that the same party to which the President belongs to controls both Houses of Congress) are in fact significantly different.

From Felt’s point of view, the Watergate scandal unfolded as a series of bureaucratic scheming, and Landesman dramatizes these with a fair amount of dramatic flair. Between Felt’s one-on-one meetings with Nixon’s toady L. Patrick Gray (Martin Csokas) to Felt’s huddles with his inner-circle of trusted FBI colleagues (played by a talented supporting ensemble comprising Josh Lucas, Tony Goldwyn, Ike Barinholtz and Brian d’Arcy James), there is plenty of cloak-and-dagger intrigue to keep you absorbed. In particular, the first half of the movie sees Gray try to out-manoeuvre Felt, including getting one of Felt’s associates to share detailed information from Watergate, suppressing evidence, curtailing further investigation, and working with the attorney general to mischaracterise findings and make false statements; on the other hand, the latter half depicts an increasingly agitated Gray as well as a concomitantly nervy Felt deal with the fallout from the stream of leaks, especially with the White House breathing down their necks.

Somewhat disappointingly though, there doesn’t seem to be enough attention placed on Felt’s leaks to the press. There is a familiar scene here (from ‘All the President’s Men’) of Felt meeting with Woodward (Julian Morris) in a dark parking garage, but there is little details or suspense in this re-enactment. Felt’s scenes with Time reporter Sandy Smith (Bruce Greenwood) at a local diner pack more punch, both because their exchanges are played out a lot more and because Greenwood is a much more convincing Smith than the all-too boyish Morris is as Woodward. Otherwise, it isn’t quite said just how Felt manages to slip past the scrutiny placed on him by the White House to arrange those meetings with Woodward and Smith. Ditto the undoubted rapport that must have developed between Felt and Woodward over the course of those tense few months, seeing as how it was Woodward who gave Felt the nickname that he is most known for in popular culture.

There is also a whole domestic subplot concerning Felt’s home life, what with a wife (Diane Lane) who dutifully shouldered the responsibility of moving from town to town 13 times over the course of Felt’s career assignments and with a daughter who walks out of the house to join the counterculture against the very FBI. That and an epilogue that has Felt face a Grand Jury for illegal wiretaps into the leftist activists of the Weather Underground attempts to humanise Felt, but these are scarcely developed enough to serve as balance to his covert life. Despite her usual grace therefore, Lane is largely stuck in a thankless role here, appearing in so little of the movie that you wonder why she even bothered. This is Neeson’s show through and through, and the actor is a mighty aura indeed – dignified as always, steeped in gravitas, and sharp yet sufficiently nuanced to portray his character’s inner conflict especially in the later scenes. If the ‘Taken’ series has somehow reduced him in the public’s eye to a stock action type, this is as timely a reminder as any that the one-time Oscar nominee is long overdue for a Best Actor award.

Pity then that Neeson’s commanding performance towers above the very film itself, which is an engaging but incomplete biopic of its intriguing subject. What it does best is to provide an alternate perspective to the Watergate era as well as a peek into the turmoil within the FBI during that period, through and especially for the agents who have fiercely protected and prided their institution’s independence and integrity from politics itself. What it fails to do as much as it does try is an understanding of Felt himself outside of his identity as the legendary Watergate mole; and what it fails to do because it doesn’t try is showing how Felt managed to accomplish those very leaks in the midst of the watchful eyes of his very own colleagues. As with his previous films, ‘Mark Felt’ sees the former investigative journalist Landesman try to work his filmmaking instincts around real-life socio-political controversies, and though there is some way to go before his skills match his intentions, this is a flawed but important film that deserves to be seen, accidentally relevant or otherwise.

Movie Rating:

(Liam Neeson gives a commanding, dignified and mighty performance as the title character, but the film - absorbing and important though it may be - is an incomplete and ultimately flawed biopic of its intriguing subject)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: Joe Miale
Cast: Lee Pace, Bérénice Marlohe, Amy Louise Wilson
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:

Opening Day: 28 September 2017

Synopsis: REVOLT is an action-packed sci-fi thriller about humankind’s last stand against a cataclysmic alien invasion. Set in the war-ravaged African countryside, an American soldier (Lee Pace) and a French foreign aid worker (Bérénice Marlohe) team up to survive the alien onslaught. As they journey through the battlefield in search of refuge, their bond will be tested when the soldier discovers his true identity.

Movie Review:

Revolt is basically an amalgamation of many sci-fi movies you have seen way before. It’s set in South Africa, that’s when District 9 comes to mind. Then there are soldiers involved in the fighting which reminds us of Battle: Los Angeles and the robotic aliens look like they just escaped from Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds.

When we first met Bo (Lee Pace from The Hobbit, Guardians of the Galaxy), he is in the midst of fighting some unseen but powerful opponents before he is knocked out cold. Dressed in army fatigues, he is next found locked in a cell beside a female doctor, Nadia (Bérénice Marlohelast seen in the recent Kill Switch). Before long, the duo are on their way to some American satellite station to seek help because at this point Bo has no recollection of who he is, what has actually happened prior or what is that mysterious scar on his arm.

Thus the audiences are left equally befuddled as Bo as we faithfully follows the duo. Along the way, they are met with attacks from countless robotic aliens and countless armed men. Surprisingly, none of the humans actually care to explain what actually happened and where do all the aliens came from, they simply appear on the screen for seconds brandishing guns before being disposed off by the aliens. To paraphrase the tagline from Edge of Tomorrow, the entire movie can be summed as “Shoot, Chase, Hide, Repeat”. And this tedious process went on for an hour before Bo actually met a group of resistance soldiers that actually bother to provide some insights.

By now, there’s nothing in Revolt that is particularly interesting or stands out among the crowd unless you love all the shooting and explosions. Apparently this is Joe Miale’s directorial feature though I must credit his team for delivering some nifty visual effects given the relatively low production budget. There’s zero tension or excitement to talk about despite the apocalyptic setting with aliens. If you have problem rooting for your lead character, it goes to show how terrible the movie is. The payoff if you are still hanging around to wait for it is as ridiculous as you expect it to be.

Lee Pace is more than a decent actor and he is easily the most recognizable face as compared to the many unknown African actors. Unfortunately, Revolt is not the decent sci-fi actioner to showcase his machismo that we actually feel bad for him. French actress Bérénice Marlohe who also starred in Skyfall deserves better roles consider she has appeared in two duds in a row. Simply put, Revolt is yet another forgettable, cut-and-paste alien invasion movie that no one should pay a ticket to watch.

Movie Rating:

(If humans insist on producing such hollow, mindless and pointless movies, we rather surrender the planet to the aliens)

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone (JFK, Born on the Fourth of July) tackles the most important true story of the 21st century. Snowden, the politically-charged thriller reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the controversial figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the National Security Agency and became one of the most wanted men in the world. A hero to some and a traitor to others, the provocative story of what led him to that fateful decision makes for one of the most compelling stories in recent history.

MOVIE REVIEW:

To some, Edward Snowden is an American hero but to others, he is merely an attention-seeking whistleblower or worst, traitor.

Oliver Stone is no stranger to conspiracy-laden projects; the filmmaker has previously tackled JFK, Nixon and Born On The Fourth of July. Snowden seems to be a walk in the park for Stone. For such a controversial figure, the movie version of the man comes a little too matter-of-fact and very much a digestible piece compared to Stone’s earlier achievements.

For the uninitiated, Edward Joseph Snowden was a contractor for National Security Agency (NSA) who leaked classified documents about the US government’s massive monitoring activities on the world to the media in 2013. It was another embarrassing scandal for the US government following the criminal investigation on WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange.

Unlike Julian Assange who is a much more colourful character in real-life, Snowden is much more down-to-earth. He might simply come across as plain dull or just an ordinary bespectacled computer geek though his intention and principle for which he stood for is remarkable. Stone who also co-wrote the script starts the story at The Mira, Hong Kong where Snowden is holed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson).

Shortly, the narrative took us back in time when Snowden is recruited in the army, how he met his girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) and slowly his disillusioned with how the way the CIA and NSA operate. The pacing might be trying for some audiences who are expecting a high-tech chase thriller but this is not one movie that is going to sensationalize the subject matter. Stone known for his tedious research portrays Snowden as a man who struggles constantly for the hope of a better world. No doubt, Stone is portraying Snowden as sort of a hero for people to look up to.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt puts on a flawless portrayal of Snowden, from the way he talks right down to his mannerisms. This is effectively Gordon-Levitt’s best cinematic performance as at now. Under the direction of Oliver Stone, Snowden has no lack of star power. Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) surprisingly has quite a screen presence as Snowden’s mentor, O’ Brian and Nicolas Cage ought to be commended for his ten minutes appearance which surpassed most of his recent screen outings. Up-and-coming Scott Eastwood also has a role as Snowden’s superior with Timothy Olyphant (Justified) and Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line) in minor roles.

Unquestionably, this is a movie that makes you ponder over Snowden’s actions. Like the man himself said, he could have easily carried on leading his life with love ones and having all the riches he wants. At the end of the day, it’s not so much about Stone’s conventional treatment of the material but a glaring statement on the mundane, aimless life we are leading right now.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The extras consist of 8 minutes of Deleted Scenes, a brief Finding the Truth promotional feature and most detailed of all, a 40 minutes Snowden Q&A panel which feature director Oliver Stone, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley and Edward Snowden via video satellite.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 delivers clear, crisp dialogue and the digitally shot movie looks fantastic even with various colour grading on DVD.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee