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TRAILER WATCH - MOWGLIPosted on 22 May 2018 |
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Sho Sakurai, Suzu Hirose, Sota Fukushi, Hiroshi Tamaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Lily Franky
RunTime: 1 hr 56 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 June 2018
Synopsis: When a series of inexplicable deaths by hydrogen sulphide poisoning occurs, a university geochemistry professor Shusuke Aoe (Sho Sakurai) is engaged to consult on the cases. During his course of investigation, he meets a strange girl Madoka Uhara (Suzu Hirose) with extraordinary abilities, who is searching for a missing friend. Calling herself "Laplace's Witch", she will bring new clues to the table that will change Aoe's beliefs forever...
Movie Review:
Laplace’s Witch is adapted from a novel by award winning Japanese novelist, Keigo Higashino. To date, his works have been adapted into 25 movies, including 3 Korean, 1 Chinese and 1 French adaptation. His better known works would be the Detective Galieo series, Devotion of Suspect X (2008) and A Midsummer’s Equation(2013). More recently, his fantasy novel has also been made into the movie Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2017).
Much like most of his works, Laplace’s Witch is a story which revolves around a mystery; this time it is about the death of two men who are poisoned by hydrogen sulphide. A geochemistry professor, Shusuke Aoe (Sho Sakurai), was invited to help in investigating the cause and possibility of murder. However, it appears to be insolvablemystery as it is almost impossible for a human being to plot a murder using nature’s forces! While still being perplexed by the phenomena, Professor Aoe encounters Madoka Uhara (Suzu Hirose), who seems to hold the key to unlock the mystery.
The narrative of the story is interesting. While geochemistry is not a popular theme for sci-fi / supernatural movies, intertwining the Laplace’s equation (which can be used to accurately describe the behaviour of electric, gravitational and fluid potentials) in attempting to calculate and plot the murder was quite intriguing. There was also a surreal scene where Madoka demonstrated to Professor Aoe how that could be done!
Director Miike Takashi is quite notorious for depicting scenes with extreme violence, bloodshed and sexual perversions. But fret not, Laplace’s Witch is nothing like it. In fact, the way Miike had brought out certain scenes, such as the unveil of the truth of the father, was appropriate and skilfully depicted. The camera work may look sloppy at first, but it matches the psyche of the father. His style of directing and imagination gave the film a unique touch.
It is not Sho Sakurai’s first time working with Director Miike. Co-actor Sota Fukushi has also worked with Miike on As the Gods Will (2014). In fact for Sho, it has been 9 years since he last worked with Miike. Over interviews, Sho has said that majority of the production crew are people who he has worked with 9 years ago, hence a great teamwork in the cast and crew members. For fans of Sho, you’ll be glad to know that there’s ample screen time and lots of close-ups! His interactions and exchanges with Madoka (Hirose Suzu) are also cute to watch.
Towards the end of the movie, it did feel like the resolution was bland and too hurried. But overall, the movie was still quite entertaining. Borrowing the famous quote, “with great power, comes great responsibility” - so what good or bad can it make when one has the power to foretell (not predict) the future?
Movie Rating:
(A Miike styled storytelling of a mystery and surreal phenomenon - novel and intriguing!)
Review by Tho Shu Ling
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: James Franco, Bruce Thierry Cheung
Cast: James Franco, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Suki Waterhouse, Snoop Dogg, Margarita Levieva, Jeffrey Wahlberg, Method Man, George Lewis Jr
RunTime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 June 2018
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world, where water and gasoline have long since dried-up, a prince from the oasis (one of the last known safe-havens) must venture out to find medicine for the ailing queen (Lucy Liu), but along the way he gets mixed up with the warlord (James Franco) and his robot Ash (Suki Waterhouse), which leads to a daring journey through the desolate wastelands.
Movie Review:
Unfortunately for James Franco, what ambition, hope or potential there might have been of establishing himself as a serious actor with last year’s much-lauded ‘The Disaster Artist’ was derailed in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct which resurfaced during the peak of the #MeToo movement. Yet equally, it’s unclear if the Academy or its members would have looked past his dubious filmography as a director, which has yielded more than a dozen barely watchable movies, despite being seemingly respectable adaptations of literary works by Cormac McCarthy, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. Certainly, his latest attempt at the science-fiction genre won’t help his reputation one bit, considering how abysmal, derivative and downright incoherent it is – and some may say self-serving, given how he receives top billing despite being in barely half the movie.
Co-directing with his frequent collaborator Bruce Thierry Cheung, the movie scripted by Cheung, Jeremy Craig Cheung and Jay Davis is a shameless ripoff of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. Oh yes, the similarities are so patently obvious: from the extended sequences of masked men riding motor bikes over barren rocky wastelands; to the story of a kept woman (though supposedly synthetic in this case) who undergoes an awakening; and last but not least to a mythical place in the post-apocalyptic landscape that promises a better future. But even as an imitation, the storytelling is so clumsy that you wonder what on earth these three screenwriters were even thinking. Anyhow, long story short, the plot revolves around a young man named Prince (Jeffrey Wahlberg), who journeys through the desert to procure a miracle drug that could save his dying mother (Lucy Liu). Along the way, he crosses paths with Franco’s vicious Warlord and his gang of dirt bike-riding toughs, and finds an unlikely ally in Warlord’s female robot Ash (Suki Waterhouse).
Throughout the movie, we are hardly given any reason to care about Prince and/or his quest. In fact, there is barely any depth to any of the other characters here – certainly not Warlord, who comes off as a one-note teeth-baring villain; nor for that matter Warlord’s henchman Tattooed Face (Cliff ‘Method Man’ Smith), who barely registers at all. Ash could potentially be a much more intriguing character, but hey her soul-searching seems no more than filler in between the bike chases and fight sequences. Perhaps the most memorable among the inconsequentials is Milla Jovovich’s Drug Lord – who runs the beachfront refuge of druggies where Prince finds his drug – because Jovovich seems to be relishing the opportunity of playing an unhinged mad(woman) rather than the gun-toting ‘Resident Evil’ heroine. Notwithstanding, it is shocking why she and the rest of her respectable supporting ensemble would waste their time, talent and credibility on such a poorly conceived project, if for anything else than as a favour for Franco.
As its co-director, Franco deserves blame for how terribly executed it is. For one, his decision to film almost the entire movie in nomadic Steadicam shots is utterly frustrating, not only because of its lethargy but also because its effect is akin to a spectator standing on the sidelines watching everything unfold without ever getting into the thick of the action. Not that the action itself is anything to shout about; indeed, the choreography here is lazy, uninspiring and tedious to the point of numbing, which is so clearly evident in how indifferent the actors performing them are. That is not helped by the monotonous electronic score by Toydrum, or the random bursts of violence that come off more exploitative than anything.
Make no mistake, ‘Future World’ is a completely dreadful piece of work that doesn’t warrant being seen at all. Not only does it run down what credibility he may have built up from ‘The Disaster Artist’, it also reinforces the troubling allegations that have cast a cloud over the future of Franco’s career in Hollywood. But really, Franco has only himself to blame, especially when we see his character calling women ‘bitches’ and reprogramming Ash to be his personal sex slave. There’s also the fact that the movie has an establishment called ‘Titty Town’ in it, where strippers and prostitutes are forced to obey orders or suffer electric shocks delivered by their electronic collars. The future is bleak indeed, but none more so than for Franco, who desperately needs to rise above his own apocalypse.
Movie Rating:
(One of the worst movies we have seen. 'Future World' is an abysmal 'Mad Max' rip-off that cannot even tell a coherent, engaging or entertaining story)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TRAILER WATCH - SKYSCRAPER TRAILER #2Posted on 25 May 2018 |
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TRAILER WATCH - SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO TRAILER #3Posted on 25 May 2018 |
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: David Lam
Cast: Louis Koo, Julian Cheung, Kevin Cheng, Stephy Tang, Michael Tse, Adam Pak, Patrick Tam, Louis Cheung, Jessica Hsuan
RunTime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 August 2018
Synopsis: ICAC Investigator William Luk (Louis Koo) and JFIU Chief Inspector Lau Po-Keung (Julian Cheung) both hit a dead end in their investigation of a bribery case and a money laundering case. In the meantime, Luk was suspended when model Eva Ng (Stephy Tang) went to Inspector Kenny Ching (Kevin Cheng) of ICAC’s Internal Investigation Group L, to file a report against him for accepting a $12M bribe. Lau discovered that Luk was set up and whoever framed him was connected to the case. He began to suspect the bank manager Thomson Yau (Adam Pak) as an accomplice to Wong Hoi-Wo (Patrick Tam), a gangster involved in money laundering activities. When Director Hong Liang (Ding Hai-Feng) of China’s Anti-Corruption & Bribery Bureau (ACBB) provided Lau with crucial information, it became clear the money laundering activities were connected to a corrupted Vice-Ministerial Level cadre. To clear his name, Luk has to put everything on the line…
Movie Review:
If you’ve seen either or both of the earlier chapters in the ‘Storm’ series, you’ll probably know why we greet this third instalment with equal parts surprise and trepidation. Indeed, 2014’s ‘Z Storm’ and its 2016 follow-up ‘S Storm’ were middling crime thrillers at best, plagued by dreadful scripting and clumsy execution that would have been inferior even by TVB standards. It’s hardly likely anyone would have asked for a third helping of the same tedium, let alone one penned yet again by writer Wong Ho-wah and director David Lam; and so with almost no expectations of ‘L Storm’, we’re relieved to say that it is by far the best of the franchise, which by objective standards means it is really just a perfectly average movie.
Both Louis Koo and Julian Cheung reprise their roles as ICAC Principal Investigator William Luk and Inspector Lau Po-keung respectively, although the latter has now been transferred from the Major Crimes Unit to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit owing to his injury in the previous movie. Luk and Lau find themselves after the same group of criminals – namely, a criminal syndicate run by Liu Kai Chi’s Tsui Yau-choi and Michael Tse’s Dik Wai-kit. A joint undercover operation which sees Lau impersonate a Philippines drug dealer is blown at the last minute, and Tsui and Dik end up giving the authorities the slip. Unfortunately, they are done in by the ambitious and ruthless Dutch Chinese criminal Wong Hoi-wo (Patrick Tam), who together with his right-hand man Thomson (Adam Pak), decide to eliminate the competition and take over the money laundering business.
To throw Luk off their tail, Thomson frames him by transferring HK$12 million into his personal account and arranging for Dik’s mistress Eva (Stephy Tang) to make the tipoff to his very own ICAC colleagues. Thus pits the ICAC against themselves: the no-nonsense by-the-book Ching Tak-ming (Kevin Cheng) of the ICAC’s L Team or Internal Disciplinary Investigation Team turns up the heat on Luk, refusing to believe the latter’s integrity unless backed by compelling evidence against the allegation. Not surprisingly, rather than leave Ching to clear his name, Luk enlists Lau’s help to track down the person who had reported him, and ends up teaming up with Eva as they attempt to evade Ching. Because any self-respecting movie with the ICAC has to have some conflict between them and the wider Police force, Lau will also be pitted against Ching when the former swoops in to detain Luk just before Ching is able to arrest him.
Arguably, all this is distraction before the cops – whether JFIU or ICAC – figure out who they should really be after. To make the stakes even bigger, there is even a Mainland corruption angle thrown into the mix as Ding Haifeng’s Chinese Anti-Corruption Bureau director Hong Liang turns up late into the film to seek Lau’s collaboration in arresting a Ministerial cadre who is using Wong’s front to wash his own dirty money. And as with any Mainland Chinese film dealing with such themes, this Hong Kong-China co-production dutifully trots the official line by ensuring that the law not only catches up with all the criminals here, but also sends an unequivocal message that crime does not pay. Oh yes, if it isn’t yet obvious, there are no shades of grey here, and the line is very clearly – no matter how simplistically – drawn between who the good guys and the bad guys are.
That’s a lot of plot to cover in slightly more than an hour and a half, and like the previous two movies, this one unfolds like a procedural. That utter preoccupation with story means however that there is barely any time left for substantive character moments, not even for the sort of buddy dynamics that you’ll probably envisage in a movie like this between Luk and Lau. As with its predecessors too, the pace is frenetic to the point of being hectic and haphazard, flitting from scene to scene without much regard for proper scene construction to build any sort of dramatic tension. Except for the open gunfight at the end, the rest of the action comprising foot and vehicular chases is directed without much thought for inspiration and/or choreography, so don’t go in expecting much more than you would see in a TVB actioner.
And yet, despite these shortcomings, ‘L Storm’ trumps the earlier two chapters by simply being a lot more coherent from start to finish. At least within the bounds of cinematic realism, we’re prepared to accept its logic of events and character motivations, which is much more than we can say for either ‘Z Storm’ or ‘S Storm’. There are also no major eye-rolling cringe-worthy moments, which again both the earlier movies were guilty of. We’d even say that we were actually reasonably engaged in the proceedings, in the same way you would reading a pulpy crime novel. It doesn’t hurt too that the film has assembled a whole roster of recognisable Hong Kong actors – besides Cheng, Tse, Tam and Liu in supporting roles, there are also glorified cameos by Louis Cheung, Law Lan, Lo Hoi Pang and Jessica Hsuan.
So as long as you keep your expectations in check, ‘L Storm’ is really no worse than your average Hong Kong crime thriller. It is nowhere near the gold standard that Dante Lam had set for the genre before moving on to Mainland military blockbusters, and probably not quite as good too as the ‘Overheard’ trilogy which dealt with such white-collar criminal activity too. At least though you won’t want to rip your ticket apart after sitting through it, which is how we felt after watching the first two movies, and if that’s slight endorsement for yet another chapter of an unexpectedly resilient franchise, then let’s hope it continues to get better from here on end.
Movie Rating:
(The very best of the 'Storm' series so far, this third chapter is a frenetically plot-driven crime thriller that is at least on par with TVB standards)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TRAILER WATCH - CHRISTOPHER ROBINPosted on 26 May 2018 |
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Bart Layton
Cast: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson
RunTime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 14 June 2018
Synopsis: AMERICAN ANIMALS tells the extraordinary and thrilling true story of four friends living an ordinary existence who brazenly attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in US history. But not everything is as it seems, and as the daring theft unfolds through each of their perspectives, each of them start to question whether their attempts to inject excitement and purpose into their lives is simply a misguided attempt at achieving the American Dream.
Movie Review:
Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious heist ever and this is not merely based on a true story, but instead, this is a true story – so the film claims in its opening title card. Prior to the film, I have heard of Bart Layton, who’s pretty much known for his documentary works and who made one of my most liked documentary film The Imposter. I have already had somewhat an expectation that his first fictional debut would consist of elements of documentary storytelling.
While I have also previously read reviews about how this film ‘can’t quite decide what it wants to be’, I feel that this is where the authenticity of the story lies. At times, it could be viewed as a comedy about four young men undertaking a crazy wild adventure of their lifetime as they dress up – though rather convincingly (and comically) – as old men to break into the Special Collections Library at the Transylvania University. This really reminded me of Harold and Kumar somehow, but on other moments, you could also see it as a critique of American society and the pursuit of the American Dream. Layered dimensions to the storytelling and characterization makes this film a powerful and of course, a highly enjoyable one.
Coming from a documentary background, Layton draws inspiration from the genre and aptly incorporates interviews with the actual persons behind the actual incident intermittently, which are littered comfortably throughout the film. There were many times during the film I asked what exactly Layton was trying to do, and where the film would lead to. At some point, I even questioned if the actual incident really took place, or did Layton script and conduct fake interviews with fake interviewees? Well, I would leave you to the end of the movie to find out the answers but you will be surprised.
The heist film is told in a tongue-in-cheek tone, as you watch how the four men – Spencer (Barry Keoghan), Warren (Evan Peters), Chas (Blake Jenner) and Eric (Jared Abrahamson) craft a plan to steal one of the most valuable printings of Darwin’s paintings in the Special Collections Library. References were also made to Ocean’s Eleven,The Killing, and even Reservoir Dogs, which make the film quite entertaining.
As a fan of heist movies, I fancy watching how a team of robbers work their way up, getting away with the obstacles for the greater goal – to steal the prize. But in American Animals, it’s the reverse we are seeing – how the team of supposed robbers are working their way ‘down’ (unbeknownst to them), and finally landing themselves in prison. So it’s quite a refreshing take on heist films, and soon after the movie, I realized that the film isn’t so much about the heist. It’s not about the car chases, or whatsoever, but it’s a relatable story of how a young person – any young person – wants to make it big in life, who doesn’t merely wants to float, but swim (as a friend whom I attended the screening with shared about his aspirations). The only thing ‘wrong’ or deviant about the way these four young men work towards their goal is – they engage in crime. Suppose Warren applies the same amount of dedication to another meaningful work, he might have been one of the featured people in Forbes today.
A riveting crime-drama it is, American Animals does deserve a special shout-out and worth a watch.
Movie Rating:
(A college book theft that studies the importance of perception and memory, as well as the unanticipated consequences of one of the most audacious heist in the history of United States)
Review by Jason Lee
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TRAILER WATCH - A STAR IS BORNPosted on 07 Jun 2018 |
Genre: Thriller
Director: Han Yan
Cast: Li Yifeng, Zhou Dongyu, Michael Douglas
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 June 2018
Synopsis: Muddling along a path in life without any aim, Zheng Kaisi (starring Li Yifeng) lands himself in debt, with his mother in a vegetative state relying on him and his childhood sweetheart Liuqing (starring Zhou Dongyu) for survival. In order to repay his debts, he boards a gambling ship called “Destiny” to attend a mysterious gambling party. If he wins, all his debts will be cancelled. The game rules seem very simple, however, any tricks can be used in the game. Kaisi is soon overwhelmed by the countless traps and schemes. He must survive the game well-planned by Anderson (starring Michael Douglas), the leader behind all the tricks at the gambling party…
Movie Review:
We had many questions when the trailer of this action fantasy thriller surfaced online. Why are the characters travelling between alternate realities? Why are there clowns fighting scary monsters? What is Michael Douglas doing in this Mainland Chinese production?
In this adaptation of a Japanese manga (a rarity for Chinese films), the story takes place on a cruise ship aptly called Destiny, where a young man gets involved in a dangerous bet to save his ill mother. Things get messy when the antagonist doesn’t play by the rules, and our hero travel from one universe to another battling strange creatures which spurt gooey liquid.
Sounds absurd? Things are not going to be that easy to understand throughout this 132 minute movie. The protagonist is a disillusioned teenager one moment, and before you know it, he is a terrifying clown who gives Pennywise the Dancing Clown a run for his money. You aren’t sure whether he possesses superhero powers, but the wildly imaginative scenes are so engaging, you won’t be too bothered by the unrealistic setup.
Things don’t get any simpler as the screenplay attempts to introduce you to a game the protagonist has to play to get the happy ending he deserves. You try your best to understand the developing plot, but the well choreographed action sequences distract you. As a result, you do not realise you haven’t fully grasped the storyline. This is not surprising, considering how the original concept was from Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s manga Ultimate Survivor, which was previously made into two movies in Japan. And viewers who are familiar with films adapted from manga would know that there are countless twists and turns in the story.
Fortunately, the confusing screenplay isn’t a critical flaw of this film because the scenes manage to maintain your attention. The production design is gorgeous: the psychedelic colours are generally splashed across the screen, the editing is fast paced and the music score is epic. The special effects aren’t too shoddy either – the budget dedicated to this movie that opened the Shanghai Film Festival earlier this year must have been huge.
It also helps that the cast is likeable. Li Yifeng (The Founding of an Army) takes on the role of the protagonist, and he is earnest enough to pull off the character of a hero who is shortchanged in life, and righteous without being irritating or whiny. Zhou Dongyu (This Is Not What I Expected) plays a nurse and is her usual sweet self. Before you see Douglas returing to the big screen as Hank Pym, he does what he does best here by playing a snarky villain. With limited screen time, the veteran Hollywood actor manages to leave an impression.
Will this movie helmed by Chinese writer director Han Yan (First Time) work make a mark in cinema history? The effects are dazzling and may leave the less impatient viewers dizzy in their heads. But somewhere out there, there is definitely a demographic who will embrace this adrenaline pumped brave new filmmaking approach from China. While we can’t be sure whether the general masses will lap it up, there is definitely room for a sequel and we are hoping to see it materialise.
Movie Rating:
(The dazzling fantasy action thriller is entertaining enough for you to see beyond its sometimes confusing plot)
Review by John Li
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