SYNOPSIS: Jen (fearlessly embodied by Matilda Lutz, Rings) is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend which is suddenly disrupted when his sleazy friends arrive for an unannounced hunting trip. Tension mounts in the house until the situation abruptly--and viciously--intensifies, culminating in a shocking act that leaves Jen left for dead. Unfortunately for her assailants, Jen survives and reemerges with a relentless, wrathful intent: revenge. A white-knuckle tale of transgression and transformation, REVENGE gloriously blurs the lines of vengeance and survival while simultaneously delivering a ferocious dissection of gender and genre..
MOVIE REVIEW:
The title says it all – this is no less, and no more, than a rape-revenge film, but one that is brutally, bloodily and beautifully executed. Written and directed by French newcomer Coralie Fargeat, it injects a feminist sensibility into the traditional (male) exploitation genre, and antithetical as that may sound, the combination of misogyny and reprisal makes for a gripping, even compelling, watch.
The first 15 minutes show how deftly Fargeat plays up audience expectations: in hyper-saturated colours, our star Jen (Matilda Lutz) alights from a chopper at a luxurious modern villa in the middle of the desert with her married boyfriend Richard (Kevin Janssens), suggestively tonguing a lollipop while peeping through candy-coloured sunglasses. The camera lingers over every inch of her taut, tanned skin, aping the male gaze as ostentatiously as it does obviously.
Jen has accompanied Richard for a weekend of sex, booze and hunting, and though she’s a little surprised by the early arrival of his hunting buddies, Stan (Vincent Colombe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchede), she eventually gets over their leering and even gets into the mood to titillate one of them by dancing provocatively against him by the pool that night. She’s all too aware that both Stan and Dimitri want a piece of her, but is clearly too basking in their attention as an object of both their desires.
What she doesn’t expect is Stan sexually assaulting her in the morning while Richard is away, and when she tells Richard expecting that he would somehow help her get even, he tells her instead to let it go. She refuses, and after some protracted running in the wide open desert, she comes to the edge of a cliff where she has no choice but to confront all three men at once. Little does she expect that Richard will push her off, although she is both saved yet severely injured by a wooden branch sticking out from the ground that pierces her in one side.
It’s no surprise that she survives, and the rest of the movie sees her not only evading Richard, Stan and Dimitri, but also transform from prey to predator in order to exact sweet comeuppance against them. Jen’s rebirth as a Valkyrie is truly a sight to behold – cauterising the gash with a beer can, her belly is thus branded with the logo of a phoenix, and it is a symbol that needs no further explanation. It’s raw and intense all right, even more so when she starts taking the fight to Stan and Richard, but equally it is undeniably cathartic watching her claim payback with bullets, blades and even mangled glass.
Oh yes, there is plenty of violence and gore in the second half, so those looking for any hint of subtlety need not apply. Such excesses have always been part of the subgenre’s indulgences, and Fargeat here makes no attempt to disguise those same tendencies. Neither is she interested in trying to pretend that hers is any more than a B-movie, so the story is kept simple yet just effective enough to offer the backdrop for scenes of sheer adrenaline-filled terror.
We should add too that Fargeat has a wicked sense of humour, no more apparent than in how Richard is fresh out of the shower and naked throughout his cat-and-mouse game with Jen back at the house. It is these little touches, plus Fargeat’s firm grasp of the subgenre beats, that make ‘Revenge’ such an effective rape-revenge addition. Of course, the feminist spin makes it even more relevant in this day and age, so if you’re into such movies, we guarantee you that you’re in for an exhilarating thrill ride.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TRAILER WATCH - DUMBOPosted on 13 Jun 2018 |
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TRAILER WATCH - CREED IIPosted on 22 Jun 2018 |
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TRAILER WATCH - THE NUNPosted on 14 Jun 2018 |
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Cast: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade, Kathryn Hahn, Mel Brooks, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Key, Joe Jonas, Molly Shannon, Chrissy Teigen
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 July 2018
Synopsis: In Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, join our favorite monster family as they embark on a vacation on a luxury monster cruise ship so Drac can take a summer vacation from providing everyone else's vacation at the hotel. It’s smooth sailing for Drac’s Pack as the monsters indulge in all of the shipboard fun the cruise has to offer, from monster volleyball to exotic excursions, and catching up on their moon tans. But the dream vacation turns into a nightmare when Mavis realizes Drac has fallen for the mysterious captain of the ship, Ericka, who hides a dangerous secret that could destroy all of monsterkind.
Movie Review:
Continuing the misadventures of Count Dracula and his monster entourage, Genndy Tartakovsky returns to the franchise for the third time that he started back in 2012 with Adam Sandler and a whole ensemble of comedians including Andy Samberg, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Kay, Molly Shannon, Fran Drescher and Mel Brooks. Whereas the earlier two movies saw Sandler’s Count Drac fretting over his family, namely his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and his grandson Dennis (Asher Blinkoff), it is Mavis’ turn to fret over her father this time round, fearing that he has been too caught up for too long looking after the titular hotel and its eccentric denizens without having time to look after himself. And so, Mavis books his father and the hotel crew a holiday that consists of a life-endangering flight on board Gremlin Air followed by a cruise to the lost city of Atlantis.
But wait, as the prologue primes us, it isn’t going to be smooth-sailing for Count Drac, who may very well have to confront an old nemesis by the name of Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan). The nasty professor had been on a witch-hunt for Count Drac in the late 1800s, but had never succeeded in eliminating him, before finally plunging to his apparent death off a vast cliff. Fast-forward to present-day, his grand-daughter Ericka Van Helsing (Kathryn Hahn) is now the captain of the cruise, and it isn’t long before we find out that Ericka has dastardly intention to continue her grandfather’s legacy, or that Abraham Van Helsing had bested death over the past century by substituting his human organs for a hodgepodge of machine parts. While her grandfather insists that they wait till Atlantis to unleash an ancient monster upon Count Drac, Ericka has no such patience, deciding to set her own honeypot trap to kill the lord of the vampires once and for all.
It isn’t difficult to figure out that Tartakovsky and his co-writer Michael McCullers (who also wrote ‘The Boss Baby’) will have Count Drac and Ericka falling in love with each other, or that Mavis will initially harbour suspicions about her potential stepmother that Count Drac will promptly dismiss. Indeed, there aren’t that many surprises in the story, which squeezes in two stopovers at an underwater volcano and a deserted island before the final destination of Atlantis and the unleashing of the legendary beast known as the Kraken. In fact, more so than its predecessors, the narrative this time round is quite evidently meant only as a device to unleash a barrage of slapstick gags aimed at tickling the kids, although Tartakovsky does insert a couple of references (such as one about Egypt and being in denial, get it?) that only the adults with the right cultural background will probably grasp.
As for the gags, there are thankfully more hits than misses. Among the hits, some play like a ‘greatest hits’ compilation from the earlier films – such as the ever-versatile green blob monster known as Blobby and the overwhelming brood of werewolf children born to Wayne (Buscemi) and Wanda (Shannon) – and others like Dennis’ giant puppy Tinkles and a porcupine-like bride and groom Mr and Mrs Prickles are new. There are also a couple of amusing sequences, including one where Count Drac, Mavis and Dennis evade Ericka’s harpoons while scuba diving by aping the motions of a seahorse and sting ray, another where Ericka discovers that garlic ain’t quite so deadly to Count Drac as folklore suggests, and yet another where Count Drac follows and ends up saving Ericka from a myriad of booby traps in a secret chamber which contains the ancient scroll to awaken the Kraken.
But at the same time, there are also enough misses for you to realise that the humour this third time round isn’t quite as inspired. That talk about ‘zinging’ with a special someone is mildly amusing at first but gets increasingly stale. A game of volleyball in the ship’s swimming pool is awkwardly unfunny. And last but not least, the showdown between Count Drac and the Kraken culminates in a deejay competition that feels dull and tired, especially given that the ultimate tune which manages to put the Kraken in good vibrations is a pop hit from more than two decades ago. It doesn’t help that the list of supporting characters has grown even larger from the last outing, leaving little time or space for Count Drac’s usual quirky companions like Frankenstein (James), Griffin (Spade) or Murray (Key) to have any more than fleeting moments. Considering the sheer voice talent Tartakovsky has assembled, it’s a shame that many aren’t given much memorable to do, if at all, in the film.
Compared to the first two movies, ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ plays exactly like a summer vacation that you’ll enjoy for what it’s worth while it lasts but will likely forget once it’s over. It is arguably the weakest in the series, lacking the eccentricity that made the first so refreshing and even the poignancy that made the second welcome. We’re happy that Count Drac got to go on, in his words, a ‘hotel on water’ and found someone to spend the rest of his life with for however long Ericka manages to last (she’s a human, after all); still, we’d be lying if we didn’t say that we expected more from this sojourn. It’ll keep the kids entertained all right, and so long as that’s enough to please you, you’ll do fine checking into this perfectly disposable vacation.
Movie Rating:
(Lacking the freshness, eccentricity and poignancy of the first two movies, this third entry is divertingly amusing but ultimately forgettable)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Louis Garrel, Tracy Letts, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, Meryl Streep, Emma Watson
RunTime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 16 January 2020
Synopsis: Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms -- is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothee Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
Movie Review:
This reviewer is not much of a reader. Mention classic novels like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and he’d tell you that there are film adaptations of these great literary works out there. And that he’d choose to watch them over flipping through the pages of a thick printed book.
This isn’t the proudest trait to shout about, but there are probably others like this writer who prefer the visual medium instead of imagining stories through printed material.
When news got out that Greta Gerwig is helming the seventh film adaptation version of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, this reviewer knew that it was the perfect opportunity to finally know why this coming of age tale is so celebrated. Gerwig’s first solo directorial effort was the highly lauded Lady Bird (2017), which also deals with a coming age theme. Hence, telling the screen story of four sisters growing up during and after the Civil War should be a breeze for the talented 36 year old filmmaker.
For the uninitiated, Little Women follows the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, the four March sisters whose father is off fighting the war. The ladies face hardships and social expectations, and we see them grow from girls to women. The story is believed to be loosely based on Alcott’s life with her three sisters.
On paper, the story has the potential to be preachy and old fashioned. You know, it could have turned out like one of those righteous tales about how women do not have it easy when it comes to earning their places in the society. To this writer’s pleasant surprise, the 135 minutes throughout the film were entirely engaging and the themes explored feel relevant although the source material has its roots in the 1860s (the novel was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869).
A winning factor of this film is its ensemble cast. Leading the March sisters is Jo played by Saoirse Ronan, who worked with Gerwig on Lady Bird. Here, she portrays the protagonist with lots of heart. There are many instances where she gets to display a wide range of emotions, reflecting the different life stages the character goes through. With a Best Actress nomination for her performance, Ronan has made history by becoming the second youngest four time nominee. Another standout character in this film adaptation is Amy March played by Florence Pugh. After her unforgettable performance in Midsommar (2019), the 24 year old actress has shown viewers and critics the maturity of her acting skills by leaving a lasting impression with her noteworthy portrayal of the emotionally volatile sister.
Elsewhere, Emma Watson is ever so pretty as likeable Meg March and Eliza Scanlen will break hearts as the physically unwell Beth March. Lauren Dern and Bob Odenkirk take on the roles of the sisters’ parents, while Meryl Streep has the showy role of a frumpy aunt. Oh, how can we forget Timothée Chalamet and his gorgeous flock of unkempt hair – the actor plays an important male character who makes an impact on two of the sisters’ lives. The impressive cast also includes Chris Cooper, Tracy Letts and James Norton.
Of course, it is the four sisters who take centrestage in this well made film. Told through flashbacks and flash forwards, the story brings viewers to various important periods in the sisters’ lives, and the pacing is perfect. You won’t feel confused by the transition from one period to another, and this is the outcome of a good screenplay, which in this case is penned by Gerwig (she received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but was snubbed in the Best Director category).
When the film ends, you feel like you have gotten to know the sisters on an intimate level, and can fully relate to their lives.
Movie Rating:
(A well-crafted film showcasing impressive performances from its leading ladies led by Saoirse Ronan)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Steven C. Miller
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, Curtis Jackson, Huang Xiaoming, Jesse Metcalfe, Jamie King, Alphonso A'Qen-Aten Jackson
RunTime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 July 2018
Synopsis: Years after he fought his way out of an inescapable prison, Ray Breslin (Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner Sylvester Stallone) has organised a new top-notch security force. But when one of his team members goes missing, Breslin must return to the hell he once escaped from to save his friend from the prison’s brutal human battleground known as Hades.
Movie Review:
No one was asking for a sequel to ‘Escape Plan’, least of all one without the original pairing of Schwarzenegger and Stallone that made it such guilty B-movie pleasure. But apparently the producers of that film thought having one half of the duo was on board was good enough, so here we are with Stallone reprising his role as security specialist Ray Breslin, who as the opening minutes establish, is now the head of his own eponymous firm whose specialty is breaking people out of prisons. Yet equally, that same sequence which finds Breslin’s associates rescue a trio of journalists held hostage by Chechnyan terrorists establishes that Stallone is no longer the star of his own show; instead, this sequel riding on his coattails rests on his younger proteges, including that played by Mainland Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming and former ‘Desperate Housewives’ star Jesse Metcalfe.
Neither for that matter should anyone expect new addition Dave Bautista to take over Schwarzenegger’s role in the previous film in any meaningful capacity; though Bautista’s mercenary-for-hire Trent DeRosa is Breslin’s ally for breaking out of the new state-of-the-art prison named Hades, it isn’t until the final act that these two characters actually work together. It goes without saying too that those expecting a mano-a-mano showdown between Stallone and Bautista need not even bother, since the sloppily written script by returning writer Miles Chapman doesn’t give DeRosa much of a backstory and/or much by way of interaction between Breslin and DeRosa. Less we suspect out of artistic license than investor obligations, the lead of the movie is Huang’s Shu Ren, who finds himself trapped with his cousin Ma Yusheng (Chen Tang) in Hades so some Russian company can extract advanced satellite tech knowledge from the latter’s enterprise.
Ren’s imprisonment triggers a race-against-time by Breslin and his team to rescue Ren, and the stakes become higher when another of Breslin’s operatives Luke Walken (Metcalfe) is also kidnapped after pursuing a lead by himself. Meanwhile, from the inside, Stallone’s voice provides sagely advice for Ren to try to outsmart the intricate prison design, which seems to have been stolen from the classic indie science-fiction movie ‘Cube’. Ren also has to contend with regular ‘Fight Club’-styled brawls with the other inmates, the winners of whom are given a couple of hours of zen time in an artificial sanctuary. There is a midway twist that the filmmakers may have intended as a ‘wow’ moment, but which discerning audiences will simply be waiting for from the point it is set up at the start of the movie.
At the very least, there needed to be two things that the film needed to get right. One, the very design of the so-called impenetrable prison, given how that is what the premise rests on. Sadly, neither direct-to-video specialist director Steven C. Miller or his production designer Niko Vilaivongs seem to have given enough time and thought into fleshing out the design fully and satisfyingly. There is some talk about Hades being a moving prison whose layout changes by way of an AI named Galileo, but aside from the occasional animated blueprint, we never get a good sense just how the logic of that automation works. Because Hades remains less concrete than conceptual, the whole escape plan isn’t quite compelling at all, which in itself makes the film fundamentally – and we might even add, structurally – flawed.
Two, as an action movie, it needs to deliver on the action. Alas, Miller and his cinematographer Brian Cox cannot seem to shoot a proper action sequence for nuts. From what we are able to make out, Huang, Metcalfe and Chatham do have some pretty good hand-to-hand combat scenes, but much of that effort is unfortunately lost to the cardinal sin in action photography, the shaky-cam. Oh yes, this is another one of those films which is either naively inspired by the ‘Bourne’ trilogy or is simply using the technique to cover up its own lack thereof, so every single one of the fights is lost in a flurry of moving close-ups. For the record, Stallone has only one fight scene at the end that lasts for all about one minute, and Bautista doesn’t even have the chance to get physical with anyone else in the movie.
To give due credit, Huang is actually quite a charismatic sort of lead – and by sort of, we mean that the film actually loses interest in Ren in the second half, becoming an ensemble that gives Ren, Luke and two other of Breslin’s associates (played by Jaime King and Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson) equal screen time. That is also why Huang is underserved by the film itself, especially since he does give his full physical and emotional commitment to his role when he is given the chance to. The same cannot be said of anyone else on the cast; indeed, not even Stallone looks or sounds invested in the movie at all, even though this is a franchise that he arguably kickstarted.
The least the filmmakers could have done is to make good on whatever goodwill that audiences who have seen the first movie have had for it, but no, ‘Escape Plan 2’ is little more than a hack job casually tossed out for the direct-to-video market in some territories and the unsuspecting cinematic audience in others. Even more shocking is how the producers have gone ahead to complete a third film starring Stallone and Bautista yet again, who are seen here in the closing minutes promising to take the fight to the founders of Hades. We won’t say that this sequel belongs to the depths of hell (because we’ve seen much worse from this group of producers), but unless you’re in the mood for some truly mediocre B-action movie thrills, you should know better than to have to escape from this tedium.
Movie Rating:
(If even Stallone can't hardly be bothered, you should know better than to waste your time on this half-baked sequel that's badly plotted and sloppily executed)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action
Director: Eiichiro Hasumi
Cast: Mackenyu Arata, Masahiro Higashide, Aoi Morikawa, Takumi Kitamura, Keita Machida, Kaname Jun, Kotaro Yoshida
RunTime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 June 2018
Synopsis: Two brothers Naozumi (Mackenyu Arata) and Atsuhiro Hiyama (Masahiro Higashide) are the racer and chief mechanic of SPICA Racing Factory respectively. Aiming for the World Rally Championship, Naozumi has to beat his rival Akira Shinkai (Takumi Kitamura) at the Seiko Cup Rally Series (SCRS), in order to qualify for it. Desperate to win, Naozumi drives recklessly, often crashing his car, much to Atsuhiro's dissent. Naozumi believes that speed is all it takes to win, but to Atsuhiro, it is more than that. Their conflict in opinions causes their relationship to sour. Will the brothers work through their differences to win the ultimate race?
Movie Review:
If you’re entering the cinema with the expectations of catching a Japanese version of Fast & Furious, you’ll be utterly disappointed. Over Drive is not about sexy cars, unmatchable speed and endless thrills. Instead, it’s a movie about two brothers, whose relationship happens to built around cars.
Over Drive revolves around the two brothers - a hot headed rally car driver (played by Mackenyu) and a passionate lead car mechanic (played by Masahiro Higashide). In his bid to enter the World Rally Championship, Naozumi joins SPICA Racing Factory, after making a name for himself in other regional competitions. However, he faces stiff competition with Akira (played by Takumi Kitamura). Being overly zealous and eager to win, he got into conflicts with his brother Atsuhiro as their opinions clash. Their relationship is strained and Naozumi goes on an emotional roller coaster as he recalls their past…
The narrative of the movie is built on the relationship between the two brothers. Naozumi and Atsuhiro both hold similar regrets, as they both didn’t tell the ‘truth’ to their childhood sweetheart (and yes, sense rivalry). Having promised her that he’ll be the quickest, Naozumi appear ruthless and cold-blooded towards his rally races. However, having experienced the letdowns during the races, Atsuhiro uncovers the truth behind his motivation and also sees a new perspective in supporting Naozumi in his aspiration to represent Japan in the World Rally Championship.
Although the movie was mainly about the brothers, the side arcs about the mechanic (played by Keita Machida) and the new sports manager (played by Aoi Morikawa) also complemented the movie. Since the theme of the movie was about ‘realising dreams’, the development of the supporting characters and each of them inching towards their goals was a good touch to the main narrative.
In terms of the cast, there’s almost nothing to nit-pick at! Mackenyu is one of the young rising stars in Japan, who returned to Japan after graduating from Beverly Hills High School, a renowned high school known for its many celebrity alumnae. He not only won hearts, but also won recognition with his acting in the Chihayafuru series. Coupled with talented Masahiro, who has also bagged many awards over the years, their on-screen chemistry and brotherhood was natural and genuine.
Some people may find that it is yet another construct of a typical Japanese human drama and can even get overly sappy. But overall, the movie was an enjoyable one. Not only do you get to learn more about the motorsport, the unique relationships (e.g. driver and co-driver, driver and mechanics etc.) and bonds formed through it is one heartwarming story.
Movie Rating:
(Speed, thrill, sex? More like sweat, tears and determination. Who knew brotherhood could be strengthened through a motorsport?)
Review by Tho Shu Ling
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Cast: AnnaSophia Robb, Uma Thurman, Taylor Russell, Isabelle Fuhrman
RunTime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 August 2018
Synopsis: Kit (AnnaSophia Robb), a difficult young girl, is sent to the mysterious Blackwood Boarding School when her heated temper becomes too much for her mother to handle. Once she arrives at Blackwood, Kit encounters eccentric headmistress Madame Duret (Uma Thurman) and meets the school’s only other students, four young women also headed down a troubled path. While exploring the labyrinthine corridors of the school, Kit and her classmates discover that Blackwood Manor hides an age-old secret rooted in the paranormal.
Movie Review:
The movie establishes itself quickly.
Angsty female lead. Gothic mansion. The classic “that area is out of bounds” line. 20 minutes in, you’ll find that Down A Dark Hall has a familiar tone to it. The way it introduces the characters, their relationships, some snappy cliches, and a painfully coerced romantic storyline - you have seen it all before - in Twilight.
Although based on Louis Duncan’s young adult novel, and with so many other parties at the helm, the film adaptation has got Stephenie Meyer’s treatment all over it. And not always in a good way. This is not to say the film has no redeeming qualities; it does. Director Rodrigo Cortés draws out some great performances despite the limp script, and has delivered stylish shots with DOP Jarin Blaschke.
Down A Dark Hall sends five unwilling young girls to the forbiddingly beautiful Blackwood Academy. Each of them has a track record of delinquency, ranging from assault to arson, but receives a chance to redeem themselves at the boarding school. Their rehabilitator, and self-proclaimed savior, is a very severe Madame Duret (Uma Thurman).
Our lead is Kit (AnnaSophia Robb). She’s snarky, until she meets Veronica (Victoria Moroles) who’s even snappier. There’s the awkward Ashley (Taylor Russell), raspy Izzy (Isabelle Fuhrman) and spaced-out semi-posh Sierra (Rosie Day) with her pet goldfish. The girls, as expected, don’t get along too well, until they find there’s bigger problems than their territorial cat fight.
They are introduced to their faculty, which of course includes our token dreamy number Jules Duret (Noah Silver), also Madame Duret’s son. The four teachers educate the girls on the ‘4 pillars’ - literature, art, arithmetic and music. It is Madame Duret’s prescription to greatness, and unfortunately for the girls, the same path to darkness.
With the Meyer touch, Down A Dark Hall turns from bitter social commentary and philosophical ponderings, into a milder beast that’s lost significant bite. We can all groan when the obvious romantic entanglement comes between Kit and Jules, but it won’t matter, it’s going to clumsily string the story along.
I can almost see Cortés tugging away at parts of the film, wresting control from the real film matriarch - producer Meyer. Indeed, some scenes are genuinely creepy and Thurman lends enough gravity to make us question her agenda, but the temporal treatment of the girls and commitment to the genre leaves us not particularly invested in them.
Even when the answers are revealed in brimstone and dramatic proclamations, it throws up more questions. For Down A Dark Hall, it’s the motivations that remain ghostly.
Movie Rating:
(A committed performance with effective, atmospheric cinematography falls short in tangible scares and genuine story thrust)
Review by Morgan Awyong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Vithaya Thongyuyong
Cast: Sunny Suwanmethanon, Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, Urassaya Sperbund
RunTime: 2 hrs 4 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 July 2018
Synopsis: BROTHER OF THE YEAR tells the story of Jane and her annoying older brother Chut, who always ruin her romantic relationships. It is no surprise when Jane meets the perfect boyfriend Moji, Chut goes all out to put a stop to anything that makes his little sister happy!
Movie Review:
We must admit that we weren’t too taken with the trailer of ‘Brother of the Year’ – the latest comedy from Thai powerhouse studio GDH after last year’s regional megahit ‘Bad Genius’ – which had suggested an unusual sibling rivalry taken to hysterical proportions. Oh yes, according to the trailer, in order to get back at his overbearing younger sister Jane (TV actress Urassaya Sperbund making her big-screen debut), her older brother Chut (Sunny Suwanmethanont) decides to sabotage her budding romance with Moji (Nichkhun Horvejkul) by revealing just how much of an alpha female she is. But we’re glad that what was sold is really a gross over-representation of the actual love-hate relationship between Chut and Jane, which in fact is a lot more nuanced, a lot more poignant and a lot less over-the-top than we were led to believe.
In fact, what you see in the trailer is but the first act of the movie, which establishes both the conflict between Chut and Jane and the attraction between Jane and Moji. Beginning with Chut’s dismay when Jane returns one evening to Bangkok after completing four years of university studies in Japan, the swiftly-paced narrative alternates between Chut and Jane to express just how they feel about each other – whereas Chut is annoyed and exasperated at having to live under the shadow of his younger sister who grows up to nag at his slovenly habits, Jane is utterly disappointed that her older brother is nothing like the role model and guardian she had expected him to be. To co-writer and director Vithaya Thongyuyong’s credit, he doesn’t intend or come out taking either Chut or Jane’s side, so you’d actually empathise with both their mutual frustrations at each other.
At the same time, Jane’s audition for a job at a Japanese company turns into a meet-cute on the baseball field with her boss Moji. Apparently it is tradition to initiate a newcomer with a game of baseball, but unbeknownst to Moji and the rest of his colleagues, Jane is quite the striker on the field, having been introduced to the sport by none other than Chut himself. Indeed, one of the most hilarious sequences in the film explains how Chut got the nickname ‘Coochie’ when he and Jane were in junior high school, and the latter had innocently used a pad to cover the former’s bloody chin after knocking him out cold with a baseball bat in front of their schoolmates. Alas, things become even more complicated for the both of them when the same company she now works for happens to be one of the key accounts that Chut’s high-flying advertising executive himself services.
A couple of careless words uttered at the urinals following an awkward pitch meeting precipitates a series of complications that entangle the personal and professional lives of Chut, Jane and Moji – and without giving too much away, suffice to say that Chut becomes depressed after being taken off the account at Jane’s instruction, and Jane and Moji are forced to decide just how much they want to be together after Moji is abruptly re-deployed back to Japan. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Jane eventually chooses to take the leap of faith with Moji, and the wedding preparations as well as her impending move to Kitakyushu with him further strains the bond between brother and sister. Again, as is the case with such frictions, both Chut and Jane are to blame for their deteriorating state of affairs, with the onus being on both of them simultaneously to make up or make things even worse.
If it isn’t yet clear, the film switches gears in the second half to become less of a comedy than an honest and heartfelt exploration of the ties that bind Chut and Jane. While Jane will come to acknowledge just how much of an enduring influence Chut has been on her and try to make amends for the wrongs she has done, Chut himself is also forced to put aside his pride and come to see with humility his own shortcomings as well as how much Jane actually cares for him. As cliched as that may sound, the process and journey with which Thongyuyong brings his viewers on is nothing but, and let’s just say that we were really surprised by how moved we were by the time Chut and Jane finally put their differences aside and reconcile with each other – in particular, we liked how the movie doesn’t rush into that inevitable happy ending, but recognises how family is for life.
Certainly, a large part of the movie’s charm derives from the chemistry between Suwanmethanont and Sperbund. Both are utter naturals at playing the laid-back slacker and high-strung overachiever respectively, but even more significantly, effortlessly portray the complexities of their relationship with a careful balancing act between tenderness and animosity. It isn’t quite so easy convincing us that they both love and hate each other at the same time, but besides their candid interior monologues, both actors play off each other perfectly and compellingly. Sperbund and Horvejkul’s courtship is a lot more vanilla in comparison, so even though they do have a couple of bumps along the way, there isn’t much the script or the actors do to make their romance quite so memorable. Ultimately, it is the bond between Chut and Jane that is the very emotional core of the film, and it is a joy watching Suwanmethanont and Sperbund spar with each other.
Unlike ‘Bad Genius’, ‘Brother of the Year’ doesn’t have a high-concept premise, but it is also precisely that which makes the back-and-forth between Chut and Jane real and relatable. Even in the first act where it establishes the comedic proportions of their sibling rivalry, the film never resorts to slapstick gags for the sake of it, and is all the better off for demonstrating restraint and avoiding histrionics. Their emotional and psychological tug-of-war also gains meaning, significance and poignancy over the course of the film, and comes off affecting, heart-warming and uplifting by the time it is over. It is no wonder then that the movie has struck a chord among its home audience, and is already the bestselling local movie in Thailand; there is no language or cultural barrier to its themes, story and sentiment, so get ready to laugh, cry and be moved by one of the most endearing films you’ll see this year.
Movie Rating:
(At first amusing, then sobering, and finally affecting, this ode to the eternal bond between brother and sister is one of the most endearing films you’ll see this year)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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