Genre: Comedy
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Cast: Ed Skrein, Jennifer Saunders, Beattie Edmondson, Tom Bennett, Emily Atack
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 August 2018
Synopsis: Sarah Francis (Beattie Edmondson) is a young woman whose life is a bit of a mess. The last thing she needs is someone else to look after, let alone someone who dribbles, snores and eats from the kitchen bin! Yet, like it or not, her Grandmother has bequeathed her a very spoilt pug, Patrick. As this four-legged interloper proceeds to cause chaos in all aspects of Sarah's life, something remarkable happens - Patrick, with all of his stubby, stumpy attitude, begins to turn her life around…
Movie Review:
“Patrick” unfolds with a contrasting reality of Sarah Francis (Beattie Edmondson) struggling to be a responsible grownup on any given day, while Patrick the pug lives a very structured life where he knows that life is good as always. One fine day, out of the blue, things take a turn for the better or maybe the worse when destiny decides to bring Sarah (Edmondson) and Patrick together.
The plot centres around the spoilt pug that lives a rather luxurious life than most average adults. On a regular day, his fur mom, Francis’s rich nana releases him off the leash, allegorically saying goodbye to the pug. And Francis (Edmondson) who just survived a breakup, never expects to be bequeathed a pug amidst all other exquisite belongings. Everyone tiptoes away and ditches Francis (Edmondson) and her situation with Patrick who now has nowhere else to call a home.
The despondent pug has to adapt to his new way of life which is definitely worlds apart from his deluxe life that he led before nana’s demise. While Francis (Edmondson) struggles with juggling Patrick and her new career, love blossoms on the parallel for the forlorn singleton. She then begins to realise that Patrick is indeed quite a bloke magnet.
2018 seems to be the year of the dog, for the dogs, with a cool line-up of summer flicks revolving around the four-legged charmers. Directed and co-written by Mandie Fletcher, together with Vanessa Davies and Paul de Vos, this family dramedy is a full-on, rib-tickling flick with witty dialogues that are quite on the contrary of a loud, slapstick American entertainer.
The British comedy takes canine tales to a whole new level without relying wholly on animations to make animals talk or plot sinister events to take down the human breed. Although there are some stereotypical characters in the movie, such as the hoity-toity sister, the Mr. Self-love vet and cats as the evil counterparts, Patrick is dubbed to be a convincing 94-minute furry diversion where we accept pets for who or what they are, rather than expecting them to be faultless fur-kid.
Movie Rating:
(A must-watch for every pet parent. Kids and adults would love this wacky comedy alike. A perfect choice on a weeknight out with friends and family)
Review by Asha Gizelle M.
Genre: Action
Director: Chin Kar Lok
Cast: Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Michael Tse, Jerry Lamb, Chin Kar Lok, Eric Tsang, Yamei, Yasuaki Kurata, Phil Chang, Charmaine Sheh, Alan Ng, Billy Chow
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures, Clover Films, mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 September 2018
Synopsis: Five mercenaries regroup for the heist-of-all-heists, stealing medicine to save refugees’ lives. Car chases, secret betrayals, citywide hacking and a fortress siege ensues.
Movie Review:
Ever since the ‘Young and Dangerous’ series concluded with the sixth and final film in 2000, there have been several attempts to reunite the original cast of Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Michael Tse and Jerry Lamb. None have managed to lure the whole quartet, let alone the late addition of Chin Kar-lok who had only boarded the last two films, but the latter has pulled off that hat trick two decades later with the globe-trotting heist thriller ‘Golden Job’.
Directed by and co-starring Chin, it borrows some of the signature elements from the classic triad franchise for a wholly original story about a band of mercenaries whose friendship is tested when one amongst them betrays the rest for riches in gold. It’s perhaps not surprising that the movie will be built around similar themes of brotherhood, but even so, ‘Golden Job’ convincingly and compellingly emerges from the shadow of the ‘Young and Dangerous’ films to be an enjoyable, exciting and emotional thrill-ride in its own right.
Like their Hung Hing personas, the group led by Lion (Cheng) and comprising explosives expert Crater (Chan), intelligence officer Bill (Tse), computer hacker Mouse (Lamb) and getaway driver Calm (Chin) were teenage buddies who had grown up together under the tutelage of a fatherly underworld figure. This mentor, whom they appropriately call Papa (Eric Tsang), had adopted them after being impressed by their display of justice and loyalty to each other at an altercation in a bar, and had subsequently urged them to join the military (so that they would experience death, and learn to recognise what was truly important in their lives) where they picked up their particular brand of skills.
Alas, a daring midday rescue mission within a packed concert hall goes awry and ends with their target being killed, resulting in their operative ordering that the one among them responsible for the slip-up be fired. In a show of solidarity for Bill, the whole team decides to quit en masse, thus triggering their early retirement and their subsequent individual pursuits. Whereas Bill chooses the high life of luxury and indulgence, Lion spends his life volunteering at an African refugee camp, and there finds a love interest in one of the camp’s doctors (Charmaine Sheh in a glorified cameo) with whom he wants to settle down with.
When he discovers that the very agency he used to work for is using the kids in the camp as test subjects for a pharmaceutical company's new highly-anticipated multi-virus vaccine, Lion calls his former teammates for one last job in Budapest – that is, stealing the vaccine from under the agency’s nose. Given the not-so-subtle hints about Bill’s financial issues, it isn’t any surprise the rest will find out after the smoothly executed heist that Bill had betrayed them; as it turns out, the van that they had stolen was not containing medicine, but rather an entire vault of gold bars (hence the title, get it?). The fallout from that will include Papa being accidentally shot by Crater while trying to take down Bill, and Lion being sent to prison for a year (not for the theft mind you, but for deliberately crashing the car he was driving into a police station in order to evade his pursuers).
Lion’s release brings the quartet minus Bill back together in Mouse’s secluded onsen inn in the mountains of Kumamoto, where they find Papa permanently wheelchair-bound and them being forced to confront the decision of whether to confront Bill. Spoiler alert – they do, but that choice also leads to tragic consequences, especially as Bill and his associates retaliate in kind. More significantly, both individually and collectively, they will have to reflect just how far they are willing to continue embracing a brother who has time and again turned against them and uses them as excuses to avoid admitting to his own mistakes.
It is this conundrum that truly gives the film resonance, as an inspired script penned by Kim Dong-kyu, Kwok Kin-lok, Erica Li and Heiward Mak demonstrates how it is not afraid to push certain buttons to give the characters’ moral dilemmas even greater emotional heft – for one, it isn’t afraid to kill off one, even two, key characters to push the dilemmas further; and for another, it refuses to paint its characters in black or white, forcing us instead to view them through the good or bad choices that they make and the inevitable consequences of these choices. Oh yes, it is credit to the writers that Bill emerges as the most interesting character in the movie, driven somewhat inexorably by his impulses as by the outcome of these actions.
If there was any doubt, the cast is uniformly excellent in their respective roles, as is to be expected of these seasoned veterans with two decades of acting experience to show for. But “Golden Job’ was always intended as an ensemble, and in this regard, the sheer chemistry among the real-life buddies is luminous – in fact, their banter during the opening heist sequence is proof enough of that. It is also genuinely commendable that these actors hitting the age of 50 have committed to executing their own stunts in the movie, and having one of their own (we’re referring to Chin) direct the action choreography ensures that their physical moves are tailored to their own strengths.
For this reason too, those expecting more bombastic action will probably be disappointed; with due consideration of what his fellow actors can reasonably perform, Chin has kept the action practical. There are just but two major shootouts – one within an abandoned train yard and another at the centre of a flashy car expo – which lead into two vehicular chases along the streets of Budapest and Fukuoka respectively, and while certainly not dull, isn’t anything to shout about too. The finale is as elaborate as it gets, with Lion, Crater, Mouse and Calm coordinating simultaneous land and sea invasions into Bill’s heavily fortified lair on a private island in Montenegro; that said, it is hardly as intense as what Chin has choreographed in his collaborations with Dante Lam, so you’ll do well to keep your adrenaline-fuelled expectations in check.
Yet that in no way diminishes the thrill of seeing our beloved ‘Young and Dangerous’ actors together onscreen after so long, or for that matter their infectious display of camaraderie. It would have too much of a stretch – and perhaps even a yawn – to have them play triad figures again, so ‘Golden Job’ wisely veers away from what would have been a cliché to instead devise a different yet comfortingly familiar story of brotherhood. Certainly, nostalgia is likely to be a significant reason why ‘Golden Job’ is as endearing as it is, but at the same time, it capitalises on those sentiments to deliver a poignant message about the meaning and value of loyalty. It is worth its weight in gold all right, and we suspect it’ll leave you hoping that this band of brothers won’t wait another two decades to get back together again.
Movie Rating:
(A delightful dose of nostalgia from the ‘Young and Dangerous’ days, this enjoyable, exciting and emotionally compelling heist thriller wraps a poignant drama on the value and meaning of brotherhood and loyalty)
Review by Gabriel Chong
|
BOOK REVIEW #21: I'll HAVE WHAT SHE'S HAVING: HOW NORA EPHRON'S THREE ICONIC FILMS SAVED THE ROMANTIC COMEDYPosted on 26 Jul 2018 |
Genre: Sports/Drama
Director: Sunny Chan
Cast: Francis Ng, Poon Chan Leung, Kenny Wong, Wu Tsz Tung Tony, Nancy Wu, Jennifer Yu, Jacquelin Chong
RunTime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG (Some coarse language)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 August 2018
Synopsis: Lung, Tai, Suk-yi and William are happy-go-lucky employees of a broadband network company who muddle their way through each day at work. When massive layoffs are expected, they pledge their loyalty to the company by signing up for the newly formed dragon boat team. When they embark on the training, they are inevitably forced to face their respective mid-life crises. As they rekindle their long-lost fighting spirit, they begin to welcome these challenges in life.
Movie Review:
Men On The Dragon is a rarity. With the lucrative Mainland market just across the border, it’s a miracle these days to find a Made-in-Hong Kong movie that is blessed with an entire cast made up of Hong Kong actors and actresses.
Veteran HK actor Francis Ng stars as Lung, a happy-go-lucky cable installation technician who along with his fellow colleagues, Suk-yi (Poon Chan Leung), William (Wu Tze Tung) and their boss, Tai (Kenny Wong) are tasked by their ailing telecom company to form a dragon boat team to represent their company in an upcoming dragon boat race.
But when another round of massive layoff is expected to be around the corner plus their individual personal problems start to surface, our group of middle-age men realized that the only solution to overcome their problems is to listen to their very own heartbeat.
Co-written and directed by screenwriter turned director Sunny Chan, Men On The Dragon could easily been a comedy flick about a group of underdog sportsmen who triumphed in the sports arena and their personal lives before the credits roll. But Chan prefers to emphasize on the realism of everyday life and the ups-and-downs of society instead of a plain wacky comedy.
Francis Ng’s Lung is secretly in love with his neighbor, a single mom named Carol (TVB regular Nancy Wu) whose partner is always not around. Lung willingly cooks for Carol, acts as a surrogate father to her teenage daughter and even went around soliciting money to buy a house with a sea view for Carol hoping his feelings be reciprocated.
Suk-yi on the hand is caught in a daily war with his wife who hailed from China and his own mother that he longed to get out of the situation. When the coach from their dragon boat team is a young attractive lady, Dorothy (Jennifer Yu), Suk-yi starts to take a liking to her.
When it comes to their cocky boss, Tai is slowly developing a meltdown when he found out that his wife is planning to leave him for a fellow colleague. The youngest of them all, William has to forsake his love for competitive table tennis in order to please his girlfriend who prefers he has a regular stable job.
Of course, it is to Chan and Feel 100% Joe Ma’s credit that Men On The Dragon has a much more meaningful message in portraying the authenticity of suffering middle-age men in Hong Kong than anything else. It’s with this aspect, the zero to hero tale mostly reduced the dragon boat stuff to more of an afterthought as the movie struggles to balance social messages with sports. Even then, the narrative lacks the vibrancy to sustain as the screenplay is overly ambitious to juggle four individual stories that every story angle is hastily wrapped up in the end.
Though he is the most familiar cast member, Francis Ng ever the consummate performer is outshone by stage actor Poon Chan Leung whose Wong Suk-yi’s character is always in some memorable awkward situations liked securing Andy Lau’s concert tickets (a recurring gag) and getting hanky panky with Dorothy.
If you are expecting Men On The Dragon to be a movie on compelling dragon boat racing, I’m afraid it’s not. If you are expecting Men On The Dragon to be a tale of men with messy mid-life crisis, then I say you are in the right place.
Movie Rating:
(The dragon boat racing is a weak throwaway plot mechanism, although the movie is packed with interesting characters with sad problems)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Jingle Ma
Cast: Tony Leung, Kris Wu, Tiffany Tang, Du Juan, George Lam
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 30 August 2018
Synopsis: Lin Zaifeng and Wang Chaoying are the best bounty hunters in the business. Finding the immensely destructive ‘Hand of God’ will prove who is better than the other, but they are not the only ones after it. Will Lin Zaifeng and Wang Chaoying put their differences aside and work together in the search for the ‘Hand of God’?
Movie Review:
Viewers familiar with Asian cinema probably don’t have much to say about Tokyo Raiders (2000) and Seoul Raiders (2005). The fact that there is a third instalment to director Jingle Ma’s somewhat silly jet setting series is beyond us, but hey, the leading man is Tony Leung.
And anything with Tony Leung can’t be that bad, right?
The ridiculously suave Hong Kongcelebrity reprises his role as a private detective who is tasked with the impossible mission of saving the world from a computer programme simply known as the “Hand of God”. Yes, you are probably sniggering at the absurd name. Along the way, not only does he have to deal with a pair of sister and brother hackers, trouble also comes in the form of a former girlfriend who shows up.
If you ask us, there is no reason for this movie to exist except for fans of its stars to gawk at their idols on the big screen. Leung, who was a gem in See You Tomorrow (2016) but not so great in Monster Hunter 2 (2018), knows what it takes to strut his stuff. Complete with perfect hair, teeth and a nicely tailored jacket, the 56 year old actor makes it look effortless to be charming.
And as any sensible businessman would advise, if you are making a product, make sure you can bring it to the Mainland Chinese market. Enter Kris Wu (Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back), Du Juan (American Dreams in China) and Tiffany Tang (Bounty Hunters), who are gorgeous to look at but don’t bring anything further to their roles. Oh, you may also recognise Hong Kong actor singer George Lam in a brief appearance during the movie’s prologue.
As the title of the popcorn flick suggests, there are many gorgeous European backdrops for the stars to pose against. There are some nifty action sequences, eye pleasing cinematography and the occasional humour. But that doesn’t hide the fact that there is much room for improvement in the storyline.
There are scenes where characters speak in Klingon, which sci fi fans will know as an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek franchise. This is a supposed strategy for the protagonists to speak in code so the bad guys can’t eavesdrop on them. We don’t need to go any further to show the nonsensicality of this movie.
Oh, then there is the finale which involves a tall tower, boiling chemicals and some intense fights between the good guys and the villains. The green screen effect is an eyesore and we don’t think any amount of good acting can save the sequence. And after the stakes are raised so high, there is a plot twist which makes everything else inconsequential and juvenile.
Running at 100 minutes, the editor could have easily tightened the end product by shaving off a good 20 minutes to keep viewers engaged. But in this day and age, the trick of getting good looking stars to flaunt their stuff for an extended duration on screen may just work.
Movie Rating:
(This is not a great movie but hey, there’s Tony Leung!)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama/Family
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Mark Gatiss, Jim Cummings, Chris O’Dowd, Brad Garrett, Toby Jones, Nick Mohammed , Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo
RunTime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Walt Disney Studios
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 August 2018
Synopsis: In the heartwarming live-action adventure "Disney's Christopher Robin," the young boy who loved embarking on adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood with a band of spirited and lovable stuff animals, has grown up and lost his way. Now it is up to his childhood friends to venture into our world and help Christopher Robin remember the loving and playful boy who is still inside.
Movie Review:
When Disney released the first teaser trailer for the live action movie Christopher Robin, the Internet went wild. Seeing a
Many of us would know how as a child, Christopher Robin spent the happiest time with his toy animals. Like everyone else, he grows up and must leave for boarding school. Adulthood eventually sets in as he goes to war, gets a job and sets up a family. Exasperation and frustration set in when there are assignments to complete, deadlines to catch and expectations to meet. What does it take to take a little time off to relive those times with your childhood friends Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo?
Disney has enjoyed success bringing their animated properties to the big screen with a live action twist. There are exceptional ones like Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella (2015), Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book (2016) and Bill Condon's Beauty and the Beast (2017). The studio’s latest project doesn’t disappoint either, but viewers may be left a little dejected by the harsh realities of life when the credits roll.
The movie spends a good half of its 104 minute runtime establishing the fact that life hasn’t been kind to Christopher Robin. You see the adorable kid grow up to a frizzled adult played by Ewan McGregor (the Internet’s Obi Wan references by Star Wars fans are hilarious) - a boy who is constantly teased by his schoolmates becomes a struggling salary man who gets by day after day, forgetting that he was someone who had all the imagination in the world. Is this what being a mature adult is all about?
Enter Pooh, who brings Christopher Robin back to the enchanted Hundred Acre Wood. He reunites with the gang and spend some carefree time. But reality sets in and Christopher Robin has to rush back to the real world to deliver his presentation. Will he make it in time and give his boss what he wants? Don’t worry, because you can trust Pooh and his friends step into the real world to save the day, not without going through a series of misadventures, of course.
Marc Forster, who directed Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004), treads familiar ground. In that Oscar nominated film about playwright J. M. Barrie and his relationship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan, he tackled a tale about a adult getting in touch with his inner child. Here, things are weightier (has the world changed that much in the last 14 years?) and viewers get a dreading sense that once this fantasy ends, people have to go back to their routine lives.
While Simon Curtis’ Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017), a drama about the lives of Winnie the Pooh’s creator AA Milne and his family, was a melancholic outing, this Disney movie gives you the magic and has you knowing that it won’t last forever. Sigh.
We love the visuals of this live action movie though. As seen from the movie trailers, the furry toys are so lovingly created, it makes you want your own toys at home to start talking to you. The landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful, which makes you want to hunt down your own Hundred Acre Wood. There are also familiar lines from the animated series which will appeal to the nostalgic fans. One of our favourite bits is when Tigger sings his signature tune “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers”!
Voice actor Jim Cummings returns to bring life to Pooh and Tigger, which is a nice nod to the beloved series. Joining him are Brad Garrett as Eeyore, Nick Mohammed as Piglet, Peter Capaldi as Rabbit, Toby Jones as Owl, Sophie Okonedo as Kanga and Sara Sheen as Roo. Hayley Atwell and Bronte Carmichael play Christopher Robin’s wife and daughter respectively, and they provide the anchor to remind you why family is what you should be rooting for at the end of the day.
Movie Rating:
(There comes a time when we need to return to the Hundred Acre Wood to relive the fond memories we shared with Winnie the Pooh and friends)
Review by John Li
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Corin Hardy
Cast: Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Charlotte Hope, Ingrid Bisu, Bonnie Aarons
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: NC-16
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 6 September 2018
Synopsis: When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in “The Conjuring 2,” as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.
Movie Review:
Seeing as how one of the most, if not the most, terrifying things about ‘The Conjuring 2’ was a demonic nun with sheet-white face, sunken but glowering eyes and ghostly habit, it is to be expected that the makers of the hit supernatural horror series would follow up their spinoff of ‘Annabelle’ with yet another origin story of this very character. So ‘The Nun’ reaches back to early 1950s Romania to explore how that evil came to be born, and in the hands of director Corin Hardy, is styled as a ‘70s throwback to gothic horror with characters skulking around ancient catacombs amid religiously profaned iconography. Along that vein therefore, it is lush, operatic, atmospherically chilly and complemented by plenty of jump-scares, but those looking for the sort of classy set-pieces that James Wan choreographed in both ‘Conjuring’ movies will be well-advised to look elsewhere.
Whether that was the intention or the consequence of a bare script by Gary Dauberman (who also penned ‘It’ and the ‘Annabelle’ films) is unclear, but it is patently obvious that there isn’t much by way of plotting here. Indeed, the bare-bones set-up sees Father Burke (Demian Bichir), a haunted priest with a tragic exorcism in his past, and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a young progressive-minded novitiate who had experienced visions as a child, sent by the Vatican to investigate the circumstances behind the apparent suicide of a young nun at a secluded abbey. The duo team up with the French-Canadian villager Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), who had first discovered the crow-eaten body of the nun when he was delivering supplies from the village to the convent. Unlike our heroes, we are under no illusion that the abbey has come under the grip of a powerful demon known as Valak, so the mystery isn’t about whether the place remains holy but how it became unholy in the first place.
Like we said, there is little by way of narrative development here, so Hardy structures his film as a series of eerie set pieces. One of them sees Frenchie being attacked by the demonic nun while walking through the woods, and eventually warding it off by plucking a wooden cross off a grave in the ground; another has Father Burke getting buried alive in an empty wooden coffin outside the sanctuary, and Sister Irene racing against time to locate his grave in order to free him; and yet another finds Sister Irene and the rest of the nuns at the abbey praying fervently in the chapel while an unseen evil force hovers around them and finally carves a pentagram onto her back. Each is skilfully executed all right, making use of light and shadow for the obvious but nonetheless effective jump scare, and complemented by French horror cinematographer Maxime Alexandre’s efficient mix of slow pans and dolly zooms.
But those wondering just what Valak is up to will probably be disappointed. Even up to the over-the-top finale when Father Burke, Sister Irene and Frenchie bring the fight to Valak, it isn’t exactly clear what is motivating the demon or what it is after. Worse still, the movie itself is inconsistent from scene to scene just when the demon advances and when it retreats: at times it seems like the invocation is God is necessary and at others it seems like just a good old-fashioned shotgun will do the trick. Just as murky are the human characters themselves, for which the movie never quite establishes why they were picked to investigate the case, beyond Father Burke’s vague statement that the Vatican does things “for its own reasons”. Dauberman’s script also likes to split Father Burke and Sister Irene up to go on their own little demon-hunting venture, but ignores to explain away why they would go against common sense to simply stick together to fight the evil.
So as much as we were looking forward to a standalone feature on that demonic nun from ‘The Conjuring 2’, we can’t quite say that we were satisfied with ‘The Nun’. On its own, it is an appropriately atmospherically drenched blend of religious mystery and old-school adventure, but there’s nothing within that is nearly as suspenseful or terrifying as ‘The Conjuring’ or even its sequel. Fans will no doubt appreciate the connection back to the first ‘Conjuring’, but that alone is not likely to be enough to compensate for the mild disappointment from the relative merits of this movie vis-à-vis its series predecessors. If there was any worry these spinoffs would overshadow the main ‘Conjuring’ movies, ‘The Nun’ at least makes sure after three such movies (including the two ‘Annabelles’) that such fears were unfounded; whether that’s a good or bad thing for the Conjuring Cinematic Universe as it is known is suspect.
Movie Rating:
(A series of well-mounted eerie set pieces cannot quite make up for the lack of plot or character complexity in this throwback to '70s gothic horror, which is also decidedly inferior next to the two 'Conjuring' movies)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Musical/Drama
Director: Bradley Cooper
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga), Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Anthony Ramos, Bonnie Somerville
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene & Nudity)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 October 2018
Synopsis: In this new take on the tragic love story, he plays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers—and falls in love with—struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer… until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally’s career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.
Movie Review:
It is convenient to dismiss this remake of the 1937 film of the same name as a chick flick.
From the trailers and clips we’ve seen before the movie’s theatrical release, this seems like the perfect show for you to weep your hearts out. Audiences who have seen the original film starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, the 1954 musical featuring Judy Garland and James Mason, or the 1976 rock musical with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson will know how this tragic love story ends.
A hard drinking but charming musician whose health is deteriorating by the day? Check. An amateur singer who belts out tunes at a bar before getting talent spotted? Check. Two people falling in love before being torn apart by fame, jealousy, drugs and alcohol? Check.
Bradley Cooper (in a very impressive directorial debut) and Lady Gaga (sans her signature outrageous outfits) play the protagonists of the film. The co stars have been in the limelight since the film’s premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, with critics singing the duo’s praises.
Believe us – the hype is real.
We have seen how musical films have been remade to less than illustrious results (2004’s The Phantom of the Opera, 2009’s Nine and 2014’s Annie come to mind), but this production is perfect. While this is the fourth rendition of the story, it feels timely and poignant. The screenplay co written by Cooper, Eric Roth and Will Fetters tackles the ever relevant themes of human emotions and on a more important note, mental conditions. At one point, you feel that this is Gaga’s story about her rise to fame. When you see how Cooper’s character struggles with fading fame, your heart goes out to the countless celebrities out there are experiencing what feels like a slow but painful death.
It helps that the film is filled with songs that tell aptly tell the story. From Gaga’s stirring rendition of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en rose” to her show stopping duet with Cooper (the original composition “Shallow” is bound to take home a few prizes during the awards season), there is never a dull moment. Even Cooper, who trained physically and musically for six months to play a musician, is a wonder to watch. Yup, you will be hearing Rocket Raccoon sing.
This film couldn’t have been this great without the heartfelt performances by Cooper and Gaga.
Having to also take on the director role behind the camera, the 43 year old actor is perfect in portraying a man who is going through a downward spiral in life. Already winning acclaim for his performances in American Hustle (2013) and American Sniper (2014), this may be his best work yet. Watch out for a scene where Cooper sits shirtless in front of pills and alcohol – the hopelessness will break your heart.
Meanwhile, Gaga’s restrained and grounded performance makes you feel like she is like any other girl you know who is vulnerable to feelings and real fears. The story sees her character evolving into a pop star, complete with fancier clothes and hairdos. We can see why the 32 year old singer songwriter is going to get more attention with countless acting nominations.
Supporting characters played by Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliotround up the perfect casting. Coupled with gorgeous cinematography by Matthew Libatique (Mother!) and exemplary post production (kudos to the sound editors who worked on the music sequences), expect this highly recommended film to shine like a star during the awards season.
Movie Rating:
(You will be deeply moved by the affecting love story, thanks to Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga who have put their heart and soul into this bittersweet and relevant film)
Review by John Li
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Karey Kirkpatrick
Cast: Channing Tatum, Zendaya, James Corden, Gina Rodriguez, LeBron James, Common, Danny DeVito
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Warner Bros Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 September 2018
Synopsis: News of this “smallfoot” throws the simple yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village, in an all new story about friendship, courage and the joy of discovery.
Movie Review:
Cleverly inverting the point-of-view from which a tale of human and Yetis would probably be told, ‘Smallfoot’ tells of a clan of bigfoots living high up in the Himalayan mountains whose peaceful and orderly lives are disrupted when one of their own stumbles upon a smallfoot. It isn’t just that these smallfoots have thus far been the stuff of myth; in fact, their very existence goes against the community’s long-held beliefs, which are literally set in stone and worn around the neck of the high and mighty Stonekeeper (Common). So as you can probably expect, that very individual is told to either rescind his account or face banishment from the community, but by bravely choosing the latter, opens up a whole new path of knowledge, understanding and enlightenment for his fellow 18-foot hairy denizens.
Adapting from the book ‘Yeti Tracks’ by animator Sergio Pablos is Dreamworks Animation veteran Karey Kirkpatrick and his co-director Jason Reisig, and the duo fashion a lively, fast-paced and colourful action adventure that sees our hero Migo (Channing Tatum) venture below the clouds concealing their mountaintop habitat to find the smallfoot and prove that he isn’t lying or delusional. But had the movie simply been about Migo confronting the ostensibly deceitful Stonekeeper, it would probably be no more than the stuff of Saturday-morning cartoons; instead, Kirkpatrick and co-writer Clare Sera find unexpected depth digging deeper into why the bigfoots had sequestered themselves in the first place, weaving in a poignant lesson on the dangers of fear and close-mindedness as well as the transformative power of communication.
Lest you think that the movie ends up being heavy-handed, we can reassure you that it never does, or for that matter turn preachy. On the contrary, there are plenty of amusing details along the way – like how the exuberant Migo is at first perfectly content to follow in his father’s (Danny DeVito) footsteps to have himself catapulted headfirst towards a giant gong every morning in order to wake the sun up; or the band of rebel Yetis called the clandestine Smallfoot Evidentiary Society (or S.E.S. in short), led by the Stonekeeper’s own daughter Meechee (Zendaya), who assist Migo on his quest; or how Migo first runs into Percy (James Corden), an animal TV show host whom he will become unlikely buddies with, when the latter in his desperation for clicks tries to convince a fellow reporter to dress up in a Yeti costume so he can pretend to have captured one on camera.
Just as worthy of mention are the couple of Looney Tunes-esque sequences that are clearly meant to hark back to its parent studio’s golden era of animation. Migo’s initial descent becomes an extended set-piece that includes a tangle with a rope-bridge and its two precipitous cliffs, as well as with the broken body of the propeller plane which Migo had seen the original smallfoot crash-land out of. Later on, a refuge from a blizzard inside a deep cave becomes the scene of a series of comic misunderstandings, including a warming up on top of a pile of burning firewood, an encounter with an irate mother bear who had just put her baby cubs to sleep, and a classic display of language barriers. There is inventiveness in each of these gags, and calibration in both pace and rhythm, so even though they are zippy and zany, they never get too hectic for their own good.
Kids will also love the couple of musical numbers, penned by Karey and his fellow Kirkpatrick brother Wayne, including the narration-and-song opening ‘Perfection’ by Channing Tatum, the inspirational ‘Wonderful Life’ by Zendaya, and the edgy rap ‘Let It Lie’ by Common. To be sure, none of these reach the heights of Disney’s ‘Frozen’ or even ‘Moana’, but they are definitely catchy enough to sustain their own energetically animated diversions. They also give the off-the-beaten voice cast ample opportunity to demonstrate their lesser-seen (or heard?) talents, and we dare say that Tatum, Zendaya and Common pull off the singing parts beautifully. Those familiar with Corden’s ‘Carpool Karaoke’ series will be glad to know he has a quirky number here too, that is based on Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’.
So even though ‘Smallfoot’ never hits the Pixar gold standard of feature animations, or perhaps even the subversive ingenuity of Warner Animation Group’s own ‘The Lego Movie’, there is plenty of fun and laughs to be had in this fable on lies and ‘myth-understandings’, as well as on mis-communication and the lack thereof. Like we said, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that its makers haven’t opted for just another superficially glossy piece of kids’ entertainment, and have instead decided to evolve the narrative in more complex and satisfying ways. It isn’t small or unambitious by any measure, and is in fact big on both entertainment and emotion, so you’ll find that there’s something for every member of the family – big or small – in this delightfully joyous celebration of wonder, discovery and truth.
Movie Rating:
(Big on fun, laughs and meaning, 'Smallfoot' cleverly inverts the typical human-yeti story for a delightful yet thoughtful fable on discovery, truth and understanding)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, Raul Torres
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 29 November 2018
Synopsis: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM) and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Creed II stars Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, reprising their roles of Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa, respectively. Creed II is the continuation of the Rocky saga and sequel to the 2015 critically acclaimed and crowd-pleasing 2015 hit Creed, which took in more than $170 million at the worldwide box office. Ryan Coogler (Black Panther), who directed the first film, returns to the franchise as an executive producer on Creed II. The new film is directed by Steven Caple Jr., who helmed the critically hailed 2016 drama The Land. Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed. Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight, he is up against the challenge of his life. Facing an opponent with ties to his family’s past only intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky Balboa is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what’s worth fighting for, and discover that nothing’s more important than family. Creed II is about going back to basics to rediscover what made you a champion in the first place, and remembering that, no matter where you go, you can’t escape your history.
Movie Review:
The first Creed which is sort of a spin-off and continuation of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise marks the best among the many reboots, remakes and spinoffs from Hollywood. It has a heartfelt story, characters you truly care for and of course, exhilarating boxing action.
Newcomer Steven Caple Jr replaces original director Ryan Coogler as the latter moves on to bigger things liked helming Marvel’s Black Pantherfor example but returning in the capacity of an executive producer while the rest of the cast including Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad returns for the sequel.
In this sequel scripted by Stallone and Juel Taylor, Dolph Lundgren reprises his role as Ivan Drago, the powerful 261 pound Russian boxer who killed Adonis’ dad and lost out to Rocky in Rocky IV. After losing the match, he is dejected, shamed in his homeland and his wife (Brigitte Nielsen in a cameo) walked out on him. His only chance of reclaiming all the glory depends on his son, Viktor (newcomer Florian Munteanu) who is being brought to the States by a boxing promoter to challenge Adonis Creed, currently the World Heavyweight champion.
Only this time, Rocky opted out of training Adonis for the match seeing that this could be a repeat of history and knowing that Viktor is too strong an opponent for Adonis. It doesn’t take a fortune teller to know that Adonis is going to lose spectacularly in the match and Rocky to be back for Adonis in the rematch set in Russia.
Honestly, in terms of storytelling, Creed II sprang no surprises but all predictability. Despite all that, everything works perfectly.There are enough character developments as we see Adonis evolved from a confident fighter to someone who lost his mojo. At the same time, he has become a dad to a newborn who might be suffering from hereditary hearing loss. Adonis is fighting a battle both on the ring and outside and Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of the character is nuanced, complex and emotionally touching.
As the franchise progresses, you seem to see less of Stallone’s Rocky Balbao. It’s no doubt an organic decision but you can’t deny Rocky will always be part of this cinematic franchise. In Creed II, Balbao continues to grief for his loss wife and he yearns to see his estranged son (Milo Ventimiglia) and grandson. He might be old, weak and constantly complaining about a broken lamppost but you can always count on Rocky Balbao if you want to make a comeback on the ring.
What could be a lacklustre sequel ends up being yet another gripping instalment as Steven Caple Jr balances things out with enough emotion and action though the father-and-son relationship between Ivan and Viktor lacks substantial screentime to flesh things out. Lundgren who is known for his grunting not acting actually puts in quite a knockout presence as the suffering elder Drago. Too bad there’s also too little of Rocky and Ivan except for a brief restaurant meetup in the beginning.
Creed II could have easily be a disaster if not for the excellent directing and performances. Clichéd it might be, the boxing sequences still deliver all the impactful PG13 punches. The sequel rightfully continues its traditional themes of manhood and fatherhood. It’s a genuinely entertaining and sentimental sequel for fans who grown up on the original franchise and the rest who loved the first Creed.
Movie Rating:
(A rousing and worthy follow-up to Creed)
Review by Linus Tee
| « Prev | 357 | 358 | 359 | 360 | 361 | 362 | 363 | 364 | 365 | 366 | 367 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.