Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Julius Avery
Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Jacob Anderson, Dominic Applewhite, Pilou Asbæk, Iain De Caestecker, John Magaro, Mathilde Ollivier, Bokeem Woodbine
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence and Gore)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 8 November 2018
Synopsis: On the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion’s success. But as they approach their target, they begin to realise there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation.
Movie Review:
JJ Abrams is quite the cinematic genius. Most of us know him as a director who has helmed both Star Wars and Star Trek movies, and his long time fans would credit him for the success of TV’s Felicity, Alias and Lost. The 52 year old filmmaker’s latest involvement is – who would have thought – a horror movie set during the turbulent times of World War II.
Produced through the Bad Robot Productions banner, the anticipation for this movie’s awesomeness precedes its release because of the good work done by the production company led by Abrams. Many had thought that this movie was the fourth title in the science fiction horror franchise after Cloverfield (2008), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and The Cloverfied Paradox (2018).
The original screenplay by Billy Ray and Mark L Smith is surprisingly good, considering how Hollywood productions are adapting novels, comics and real life events by the hordes. The story follows a group of American soldiers who find themselves trapped in a German town after their aircraft crashes. The war isn’t just about fighting off Nazi soldiers anymore when they uncover a terrifying secret involving an inhumane Nazi experiment.
The 110 minute movie starts off on an impressive note. The computer generated effects used to depict the air strike are excellently done, and the opening sequence should be a joy to watch on an
Things take a different direction when the story introduces a new element: gory, bloody and violent creatures created in the dark rooms of a German radio tower. This is when you realise you are watching a zombie flick where characters have to run really quickly to survive – except that this isn’t one of those ‘found footage’ or lazily produced horror movies that have become tiresome over the years. You will find yourself at the edge of your seat as the protagonists plan to infiltrate enemy grounds, execute the plan and charge towards the bad guys while hoping to live through this ordeal.
The special effects and makeup are spectacularly well done – it makes you wonder whether the men and women who fought these battles might really have come across failed experiments which are never meant to see daylight.
The ensemble cast is largely unknown. Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Jacob Anderson, Dominic Applewhite and Pilou Asbæk bring the right emotions to their roles and do not outshine or snatch the limelight from their co stars. It also allows viewers to pay more attention to the progress of the plot.
Watching this recommended horror thriller is like playing a video game. You will need to run from the evil human characters and defeat the undead to win. And along the way, you will come across a series of gleefully loud, bombastic and indulgently gross creatures. If you are a fan of this genre, you will emerge feeling victorious.
Movie Rating:
(An excellently-produced zombie flick set in World War II – seeing gory and violent creatures being bashed has never been more gleefully satisfying)
Review by John Li
Genre: Animation
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Moka Kamishiraishi, Haru Kurok, Gen Hoshino, Kumiko Aso, Mitsuo Yoshihara, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Kōji Yakusho, Masaharu Fukuyama
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website: http://mirai-no-mirai.jp
Opening Day: 30 August 2018
Synopsis: Kun is a spoiled little boy. But ever since the arrival of his new baby sister Mirai, Kun misses his parents’ affection and is baffled by things he has never experienced before. Then one day, he encounters a mysterious girl named Mirai, who calls him big brother. A magical journey ensues as Mirai and Kun travel through time where he meets a mysterious man who claims to be a former prince, his mother as a child, and his father as a young man. Through his adventures, Kun learns life lessons and how to cope with living with a baby sibling. How will his journey end? And why did Mirai travel back in time?
Movie Review:
Touted as the next Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Hosoda has established quite a sizeable fanbase since the release of his widely imaginative hit, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2006. With the release of Wolf Children and the fantasy adventure, The Boy and the Beast in 2015 (which sadly skipped the theatrical run here), Hosoda has taken a step forward in contributing to the screenplay and story as well.
His latest self-penned directorial work, Mirai whose full Japanese title actually means Mirai of the Future marks yet another of his whimsical, aesthetically rich trademarks but on the whole remains more grounded compared to his previous masterpieces.
Mostly seen through the perspective of a four-year-old toddler, Kun, Mirai is in short a lesson on overcoming sibling rivalry and jealousy especially familiar to those who have a younger sibling or siblings in real-life. Back to our protagonist Kun. He is a normal toddler whose everyday hobbies include playing with his Tomica trains, snacking and indulging in his picture books. Until one day, his parents brought home a baby, Kun’s baby sister named Mirai.
Kun who is used to having the sole attention of his parents now has to contend with the presence of the cute as button Mirai. And the only way it seems is to throw countless tantrums and wail as loudly as he can to his easily irritable working mother and helpless working-at-home architect father. But no worries, Hosoda is not one filmmaker to rely on boring narratives to convey his parenting tale. So whenever Kun throws his infamous tantrum, something magical happens- like his pet dog Yukko turning into a human prince!
What’s more, Kun even gets to meet the younger version of his mum whose former wild behavior is exactly a replication of her future son and after throwing a hissy fit for failing to ride his bike, Kun met his late great-grandfather, a war veteran who taught him a valuable lesson on riding. And the best lesson of all, the future Mirai turned up in her high school self to teach her elder brother on sibling responsibility.
With Hosoda’s thoughtful, assured skills, Mirai often mesmerized audiences with the realistic portrayal of contemporary family dynamics and struggles. At the same time, not forgetting to sprinkle the anime with imaginative moments and surprisingly, a rather dark, scary finale which involves a demonic looking bullet train.
Despite lacking a boisterous, playful theme, Mirai is still a wonderful, interesting effort from Hosoda and his Studio Chizu. The integration of traditional and CG animation remains a draw, the overall design top-notch especially the creatively designed Kun’s house. It’s a heart-warming story meant for the adults and definitely not for the attention-deficit younger audiences.
Movie Rating:
(Don’t let the somewhat subdued theme stops you, bring your sibling along to experience the magic!)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Noer
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek, Yorick Can Wagenhingen, Roland Møller
RunTime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Nudity & Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/papillon
Opening Day: 30 August 2018
Synopsis: Based on the international best-selling autobiographic books "Papillon" and "Banco", PAPILLON follows the epic story of Henri Papillon Charrire (Charlie Hunnam), a safecracker from the Parisian underworld who is framed for murder and condemned to life in the notorious penal colony on Devils Island. Determined to regain his freedom, Papillon forms an unlikely alliance with quirky convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who in exchange for protection, agrees to finance Papillons escape.
Movie Review:
As natural as it may be to compare ‘Papillon’ with the 1973 hit that starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, such legacy is somewhat irrelevant for the generations since then which have grown up without ever having heard, let alone seen, that movie. So first things first, this review would not be written with that historical baggage in mind or at the back of mind, and with that, we’re glad to say Danish director Michael Noer’s adaptation of the Frenchman Henri Charrière's supposedly true account of his imprisonment in French Guiana and Devil's Island is a captivating watch from start to finish. It is as much about our titular protagonist’s indefatigable determination to be free, as it is about the honor between two thieves that grows into trust, as it is about the cruelty of the penal colony in French Guiana, and therefore alternately riveting, sobering and rousing.
So nicknamed for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, Henri ‘Papillon’ Charrière (Charlie Hunnam) was a safecracker in 1931 Paris who found himself framed for the murder of a pimp. A couple of early scenes establish his underground high life, as well as his dream of leaving the criminal world behind for the good life with his girlfriend Nenette (Eve Hewson), before he is handed a life sentence and banished off the coast of South America. En route, Henri meets the timid currency forger Louis Dega (Rami Malek) and offers him a business proposition: ‘pay for my escape and I’ll protect you’. While reluctant at first, Dega takes up the offer after his bodyguard has his insides slit open on the very first evening out at sea. Notwithstanding, Dega doesn’t take well to the brutal environment, where as the sadistic Warden Barrot (a terrific Yorick Van Wageningen) tells every batch of new inmates, fleeing will result in starving in the forest, being eaten by sharks at sea, or recapture and an even longer and worse sentence.
Drawing from Henri’s bestselling 1969 autobiography, writer Aaron Guzikowski employs the traditional three-act structure to firstly develop the bond between Henri and Dega, secondly demonstrate Henri’s commitment to that bond as well as his willpower, and thirdly celebrate the power of hope and perseverance. Each act is gripping in its own right – the first in how an ordinary person like Dega would react and evolve in the face of such harsh circumstances, culminating in a shocking public beheading intended as deterrence for those planning to escape; the second in how years of solitary confinement enforced in silence and meagre rations can bring a person, even one as strong as Henri, to his physical and mental limits; and the last in the nuts and bolts of how Henri and Dega collaborate with two other prisoners (Roland Moller and Joel Bassman) to scheme an elaborate flight that literally doesn’t prove to be as smooth-sailing as our characters think it would.
Whereas other directors might have chosen a grittier telling in order to portray a palpable sense of dread and hopelessness, Noer chooses to underscore the warmth in the brotherhood forged between Henri and Dega. Oh yes, it is their relationship which takes centre stage, and not one that is transactional, opportunistic or convenient mind you, but one which is manifested in tests of loyalty, integrity and conviction. It is because of this emphasis that the chemistry between Hunnam and Malek emerges as one of the film’s best elements. Both actors are fine in their own right and give their respective characters everything they’ve got, but together, their display of humanity amidst adversity is winning and even uplifting.
Like we said, we don’t believe in getting drawn into comparisons between this film and its predecessor some four decades ago; suffice to say that Noer’s ‘Papillon’ more than stands on its own as a rain-soaked, mud-splattered and bone-crunching prison escape story that is harrowing and heart-breaking to watch. Whether as a pure action-suspense saga or as a celebration of the indomitable human spirit, this film cuts as sharply both ways, and does so by constantly keeping an intimate focus on its two key characters. As much as these penal colonies are a thing of the past, the black-and-white reels at the end of the film further reinforce how their ramifications are no less significant and real, so in its titular context, let’s just say ‘Papillon’ is a true-to-life tale that truly takes flight.
Movie Rating:
(Genuinely and intimately harrowing, riveting and rousing, this true-to-life prison escape story is both a gripping action-suspense saga and an uplifting celebration of the human spirit)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Zheng Fenfen
Cast: Peng Yuchang, Wendy Zhang, Zhao Jinmai
RunTime: 1 hr 56 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Purple Plan
Official Website:
Opening Day: 30 August 2018
Synopsis: What does it feel like to have a brother who makes a fool of his sister every day and has no sense of family? Shi Miao’s only hope, is for her brother Shi Fen to disappear completely, even her precious birthday wishes are "take my brother away quickly". Unexpectedly, wishes come true and her brother becomes her best friend Miao Miao’s elder brother. Shi Miao feels sorry for Miao Miao but secretly thrills at the thought of finally getting rid of the “devil king”! The life without brother becomes a dream that Shi Miao enjoys every minute but she gradually finds out the hidden secret behind the detestable behaviour of her brother.
Movie Review:
Not to be confused with GDH’s ‘Brother of the Year’, ‘Go Brother!’ explores similar themes of siblinghood but with a fantasy twist. The bickering brother and sister couple here is Shimiao (Peng Yuchang) and Shifen ("Wendy" Zhang), the latter apparently the long-suffering victim of the former’s mischievous ways. Besides pranking her by fiddling with her alarm clock (thus causing her to wake up late for school) and stealing her allowance (so he can participate in some ‘game card’ sweepstakes), he also gets her to cover for him when he gets into trouble, such as when he is summoned by his teacher for snipping the names off exam scripts (so he can sell them to the highest bidder). It’s no wonder Shifen is thoroughly frustrated with Shimiao, and to make matters worse, her parents seem oblivious to her brother’s bad behaviour.
So when no one seems to remember her sixteenth birthday, Shifen wishes that her brother were taken away. Unbeknownst to her, she wakes up the next morning to find that she has indeed become an only child; moreover, Shimiao is now the older brother to her celebrity-obsessed best friend Miaomiao (Zhao Jinmai). After an obligatory period of initial confusion, Shifen tries to make up for her guilt for having inflicted her ‘suffering’ on Miaomiao by attempting to protect Miaomiao from her own brother. Yet she is taken aback when Miaomiao doesn’t seem at all distressed by Shimiao’s naughty deeds, which in turn forces her to re-examine her own bias towards Shimiao. Not surprisingly, Shifen begins to have a change of heart about Shimiao, realising that there is not only method to his mischief but also a deeper objective.
In fact, Shimiao has been trying to protect Shifen from the harsh truth of the state of their parents’ marriage: blaming their father’s alcoholism, their mother has already moved out and gotten together with someone else, and is now seeking a divorce to finalise the separation. The script co-written by director Zheng Fenfen expresses this in possibly the most convenient way – that is, by having Miaomiao’s own parents experience similar marriage woes that compel her mother to want to divorce her father too – although in this regard, it isn’t exactly clear if this is also consequent to Shifen’s birthday wish. No matter, the film leaves no question about Shimiao’s thoughtfulness, turning what was previously selfish, foolish and childish into selfless, mature and loving acts of sacrifice and love.
Oh yes, like its Thai spiritual companion, ‘Go Brother!’ reaffirms the bond between brother and sister, celebrating the complex undercurrents of emotion within that run the gamut from affection, annoyance, frustration and even resentment. The photos and sentimental end credits song encapsulate what Zheng hopes that her audience will take away from her film, i.e. to cherish the siblings we have been blessed to grow up with and to continue to be there for each other even through adulthood. It’s a poignant message all right, and Zheng’s earnestness ensures that the last act of her film that shows the depth of Shimiao’s care for Shifen is touching and heart-warming at the same time. It also packs a damning message to parents who have been neglectful of their own children, perfectly captured in a scene where Shimiao tells his mother and her boyfriend just what to look out for in order to make Shifen happy.
Notwithstanding, the film as a whole isn’t quite as compelling as it could have been. Watching Shimiao pull off his tomfooleries around Shifen and then Miaomiao is amusing for a while but quickly wears thin, and never quite builds to a point where we would empathise why Shifen would wish for her brother to go away in the first place. Ditto for her subsequent vexation when she sees Shimiao doing what he would otherwise do to her onto Miaomiao, and that in turn diminishes the emotional turn-around that both we and Shifen are supposed to feel in the later half of the movie. And that’s not forgetting the fact that the whole fantasy set-up isn’t well-defined enough, in order that we know just what had changed and what remains in reality after Shifen’s wish comes true.
Still, relative newcomers Wendy Zhang and Peng Yuchang are endearing in their respective roles – one the ingenuous younger sister who comes to realise how sheltered and shielded her life has been, and the other the irascible sibling who turns out to be an attentive and thoughtful older brother. The supporting cast are unmemorable, but given how the movie revolves around Zhang and Peng’s characters as well as their relationship, you’ll probably not mind much. The same can be said of the movie as a whole, whose parts are too average to leave much of an impression but packs enough of an emotional punch towards the end to manage a minor recommendation. There’s been strong word-of-mouth on this one in China, which in turn has translated to box-office momentum, but between the two, ‘Brother of the Year’ is the brother-sister movie of the year to check out.
Movie Rating:
(An emotional finish redeems an otherwise utterly average comedy about the love-hate relationship between siblings, which doesn't go, go, go far enough in laughs or drama)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Crime/Comedy
Director: Chris Henson
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Elizabeth Banks, Joel McHale
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: M18 (Crude Humour and Coarse Language)
Released By: GVP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 September 2018
Synopsis: No Sesame. All Street. THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show.
Movie Review:
Puppets behaving badly is the one-joke-premise of ‘The Happytime Murders’, a noir and Muppet spoof directed by Chris Henson, current chairman of the Jim Henson Company and son of the late Muppets creator.
Working under the banner of the newly launched Henson Alternative shingle, Henson and his writer Todd Berger imagine an alternate-reality Los Angeles where people and puppets struggle to co-exist, with the latter treated as second-class citizens that are picked on by children, terrorised by pets, denigrated by humans and forced to perform for loose change in the streets.
But equally, this is also a world where our felt companions swear, do drugs and indulge in copious ejaculations of silly string, so you’d be forgiven if you cannot quite summon much empathy for their predicament.
In fact, how much you enjoy this movie depends on how much you’d enjoy watching smutty puppets, because there really isn’t much else that it has going for it. Not the detective plot for sure, which isn’t very clever, intriguing or original to begin with.
Bill Baretta voices the former cop turned private investigator Phil Philips, who is forced to reteam with his former human LAPD partner Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) to find the killer behind a string of murders targeting the washed-up cast members of a Sesame Street-like ‘80s show called ‘The Happytime Gang’.
Narrative convention dictates that Connie and Phil ought to be mismatched cops bickering and hurtling insults at each other, so it turns out that the pair used to be best pals until a hostage situation gone bad that saw Phil fail to shoot the crook holding Connie at gunpoint and accidentally killing an innocent passer-by instead. Not only did Connie testify against Phil, the latter ended up being kicked off the force with the impression that puppets were incapable of policing their own.
To no one’s surprise, both will come to resolve their grievances with each other, while deciphering that the motive of the killings has a personal connection with Phil after all. Certainly, the focus isn’t so much on the story itself than on the juvenile gags that it is meant to string into a somewhat coherent movie.
One of them has Phil visiting a downtown brothel-cum-porn studio where we see a video of a Dalmatian whipping a fireman tied to a bed and a money shot of an octopus stroking the udders of a moaning puppet cow. Another has Phil and a sex-obsessed red-headed puppet (voiced by Dorien Davies) going at it in his office as a trio of cops and his secretary Bubbles (Maya Rudolph) watch through the glass.
Yet another has Connie snorts puppet coke while visiting the crime-ridden Skid Row and then proceeding to teach a misogynistic male puppet a lesson about respecting the opposite sex. And yet another sees the aforementioned redhead aping Sharon Stone’s infamous leg-cross moment in Basic Instinct while being interrogated by the police.
Yes, every single joke is meant to push the envelope of indecency involving these felt creatures from our childhood, but the relentlessness of the profanity and sex jokes wears thin quickly and soon gets irritating. It doesn’t help that Henson displays little grasp of comic timing, choosing instead to throw every lewd joke dialled up to an 11 at the wall and hope that at least some stick (pun intended).
Not even the usually reliable McCarthy can save this humourless dreck from itself, but in this case, seeing as how she and her husband Ben Falcone were producers, the fault lies as much with her. After all, she has only herself to blame for setting her character up to be made fun of by others for looking unfeminine, and as much as her delivery of one-liners and caustic put-downs is sharp as ever, she’s in serious danger of falling back to the same stereotype across her films.
So even though the whole flesh and felt idea might have been intended as racial allegory, ‘The Happytime Murders’ achieves no such commentary in the end, obsessed as it is with gross-out humour and even casual sadism (warning: puppets do get cavalierly dismembered). Like we said at the beginning, unless you really, really enjoy watching puppets behaving badly, there is little entertainment value to be found on this street, and we suspect you’d equally be more than happy to remain on Sesame.
Movie Rating:
(There isn't much happytime to be had with this one-joke premise of a movie that chooses to be vulgar, offensive and sadistic at the same time with little restraint)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Gabrielle Union stars as a woman who will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined on Breaking In.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Gabrielle Union (Sleepless, Bad Boys II) produced and stars in this “home invasion” thriller that is hardly worthy of her talent and your time.
Breaking In adds nothing new to the genre except maybe predictability all the way. Union stars as Shaun, a woman who travels to his recent deceased father’s sprawling estate with her two kids over the weekend only to find herself dealing with four bad guys.
It turned out her estranged late dad has embezzled some money before he is mysteriously killed off in the prologue. And somehow the bad guys has received news that his loot is hidden in a safe. With her two kids being locked up in the house with the baddies, Shaun must utilised her kick-ass maternal instincts to rescue them before the baddies get to her.
Director James McTeigue who has not made a decently worthwhile movie since V For Vendetta helmed this tiresome thriller that is often clichéd and features way less thrills than a 16 year old movie liked Panic Room.
For a house that boasts state-of-the-art security system, there’s little to showcase it’s worth other than having Union and the baddies running in and out of the house like kids playing catching. There isn’t any real suspense or plot twist so McTeigue has to rely on a couple of gruesome kills and tedious bantering from the group of generic baddies liked cool leader Eddie (Billy Burke from the Twilight series), the ruthless Mexican-American Duncan and the cowardly Sam to prolong the duration.
Though Union makes it a point that she is capable of being an action heroine, Breaking In is a poor choice in terms of script. Maybe she can consider taking over the Bad Boys franchise from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes with an assortment of brief features including an Alternative Opening and 14 minutes of Deleted/Extended Scenes. One Bad Mother takes a look at Union and the plot. A Lesson In Kicking Ass is another quick look at the stunts and action. A Hero Evolved takes a look at Union’s performance. A Filmmaker's Eye is basically a feature on director James McTeigue and lastly, Feature Commentary with Director James McTeigue and Scriptwriter Ryan Engle.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Even though almost the entire movie took place at night, the imaging quality is pretty good. Black levels are excellent and texture on the whole is crisp for a DVD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 does a decent job with the occasional intense sound effects and dialogue.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, Bill Duke, Line Pillet, Clément Baronnet
RunTime: 2 hrs 1 min
Rating: R21
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 September 2018
Synopsis: Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller (Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire…
Movie Review:
We could almost hear Nicolas Cage saying: “I’ve gotten my Oscar, so f*ck everything else.”
The Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award recipient wowed the world for his performance as an alcoholic writer in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), and went on to star in extremely crowd pleasing action flicks like The Rock (1996), Face Off (1997( and Con Air (1997). But we feel that the 54 year old actor is waiting to unleash his inner weirdness. And with this odd film directed by Italian Canadian filmmaker Panos Cosmatos, Cage gets to go all out.
The story begins in the Pacific Northwestin 1983, where a man (Cage) and a woman (Andrea Riseborough, looking alluringly strange in the titular role) live happily in a forest cabin. Things go awry when a cult comes into their peaceful lives and the man is forced to embark on a journey of violent revenge.
Sounds straightforward? The screenplay co written by Cosmatos and Aaron Steward Ahn offers nothing more than a strange tale of man falls in love with woman, woman gets sacrificed by the baddies, man kills baddies. The horror thriller is not your mainstream revenge flick – it is a stylishly indulging production that is a cult film in the making.
There is so much style oozing from this movie. From the get go, the scenes are drenched in saturated colours which are initially uncomfortable to watch. Red filters are excessively draped across the screen, and characters don’t seem to do much except lounging around and speaking unfathomable lines. It is a hypnotic sensation, and the unique score composed by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything) enhances that feeling.
When Mandy gets seemingly burnt into ashes, the film changes tone and becomes a slash galore. This is where Cage gets to strut his stuff. One extended scene sees the actor in a toilet, wearing a blood stained shirt and a pair of white briefs, drinking alcohol and screaming in agony. It is a strangely satisfying sequence that makes you forgive the actor for his involvement in disposable movies like Season of the Witch (2010), Drive Angry (2011) and Pay the Ghost (2015).
Things get gleefully violent as Cage gets rid of the bad guys one by one. Without giving away too much, there are large chainsaws, motorcycle riding monsters and more of Cage’s screaming and yelling. Amidst this, the film continues its stylistic approach with the painting like framing and the occasional animation which is odd but artistic.
Riseborough (Nocturnal Animals) demands your attention every time she appears on screen, and you wonder what the real deal is with this female lead. The cult members played by lesser known actors like Linus Roache, Bill Duke, Richard Brake and Ned Dennehy are creepily effective as they go about doing their stuff. In one sequence, Roache gives a monologue, disrobes and shows off hi, ahem, package. It is one of the strangest scenes we’ve seen.
This film is clearly not everyone’s cup of tea. We urge you to keep your minds open, and the results will be bizarrely gratifying.
Movie Rating:
(A hypnotic work of art that is more of an experience than a normal movie, this cult film demands your viewing)
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: Memories in a bowl of steaming noodles, a fading beauty finding her way and a bittersweet first love- all in these stories of city life in China.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Flavours of Youth is an anthology about youth that weaves the past and present. It was released theatrically in both Japan and China, making more than USD $400k (CN ¥2.8 million) box office sales in China within two weeks. Touted as the latest work from award winning film studio CoMix Wave Films (known for its anime feature films with director Makoto Shinkai, in particular Your Name [2016]) , it inevitably puts up the expectations of the movie. Co-produced with Shanghai based production house Haoliners Animation League, this international co-production attempts to bring together the best of both worlds.
The movie consists of three shorts, “The Rice Noodles” (“Hidamari no Choshoku”), “A Little Fashion Show” (“Chiisana Fashion Show”) and “Love in Shanghai” (“Shanghai Koi”). Each of these is set in different cities in China - Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai respectively. They work on a common theme of ‘growing pains’, and follows the character’s reminiscence of the past and its impact on his/her present.
The film opens with food, arguably a ‘universal theme’ that expresses a lot about culture and captures attention. Watching the intricacies in preparing a typical Chinese cuisine is indeed quite an eye treat. However, the narrative falls flat as the character development of the lead character is limited. The narration also seemed excessive. Perhaps the attempt to beautify the scenes took priority. The second short had significantly more substance, but still lacked the charms in recreating the magic.
The last short, “Love in Shanghai”, stood out the most against the rest. Set in the city of Shanghai, it explores not only the modern cityscape, but also the Shikumen (or lane houses), a Shanghainese architectural style which combines Western and Chinese elements. It explores the heritage more (back to cassette times and 90s), adds more texture to the backdrop and had more story and development compared to the other two shorts. However, as you may have guessed, this romance based short explores the theme of serendipity and missed opportunities, which might feel familiar as they’re commonly seen in the works of Makoto Shinkai. While it is not a 100% replica of his style, it’s not entirely original…. you get the gist! But of course this is not an attempt to dismiss it as an independent work - it does holds the story well and makes the best animation out of the three shorts.
Overall, this co-production may not be a classic in terms of animated feature films, but it is definitely an important opening to more of such cross-border collaborations happening. With the China’s market share for anime consumption growing significantly and their pool of great talents to produce them (e.g. The King’s Avatar in 2017), one can only imagine the vast potential of the work that can go out to the world by marrying the best of both worlds!
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Tho Shu Ling
Genre: Crime/Comedy
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding
RunTime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes)
Released By: GVP
Official Website: https://asimplefavor.movie
Opening Day: 13 September 2018
Synopsis: A SIMPLE FAVOR, directed by Paul Feig, centers around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily's (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily's husband Sean (Henry Golding) in this stylish thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.
Movie Review:
If Blake Lively is anything like the character she plays in this mystery thriller, we’d be worried for Ryan Reynolds. The Deadpool star, as slyly charming as he is, will be in trouble if his wife is any similar to the psychopath she plays in Paul Feig’s latest film.
Based on Darcey Bell's novel of the same name, the story sees Emily (Lively) going missing after a few cordial meetings with Stephanie (Anna Kendrick channeling her Pitch Perfect persona again), a single mother who finds time between raising her only son, recording blogger videos and looking out for new friends to make.
Emily is a vulgarity spouting career woman who gives no sh*t about being politically correct, while Stephanie is a goody two shoes who knows how to bake the best cookies and brownies. The picture is not complete without a dashing gentleman, and he comes in the form of Sean, played by a certain Henry Golding (fans of Crazy Rich Asians – scream!).
Without giving too much away, the plot involves gin and martini, a dead body, guns, lots of f bombs and a nude vagina portrait. No doubt the filmmakers are using these elements to perk up a tale of love, murder and revenge, but towards the last third of the 117 minute movie, one cannot help but think that there are a few plot twists too many.
Luckily for us members of the audience, the performances are immensely entertaining to overlook the movie’s main flaw. Kendrick (The Accountant) is as likeable as ever, while Lively (The Shallows) is an absolute joy to watch. The American actress, who shot to fame for starring in TV series Gossip Girl (2007-2012) commands every scene she is in. Her character swears, manipulates people and is a total b*tch. But boy, why wouldn’t she be the object of affection for any hot blooded male viewer?
For the ladies, eye candy comes in the form of Golding. While his performance isn’t what you’d call award worthy, the good looking actor does what he can with the role. Child actors Ian Ho and Joshua Satine are adorable as the two women’s sons, while supporting characters played by Andrew Wannells (Why Him?), Kelly McCormack and Aparna Nancherla are hilarious.
While the story was originally pitched as being similar to story had been pitched as being similar to Gone Girl (2014) and The Girl on the Train (2016), the film is a dark comedy (a wacky scene has three seemingly nerdy parents smoking pot while the cops spring a surprise ambush). Feig, who is known for helming female oriented comedies like Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013) and Ghostbusters (2016), again has his two leading ladies take centre stage in this movie.
While he may not juggle the darker aspects of the story that well (there are a couple of awkward moments when you don’t know whether things are getting darkly sinister or downright funny), the result is still an entertaining one - thanks to the female protagonists’ very compelling performances.
Movie Rating:
(Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are perfectly cast in this entertaining mystery thriller. Henry Golding? He’s there to serve as eye candy for the ladies!)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Paul Weitz
Cast: Julianne Moore, Christopher Lambert, Ken Watanabe, Sebastian Koch, Thorbjørn Harr, Olek Krupa, Elsa Zylberstein, Tenoch Huerta
RunTime: 1 hr 41 min
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 September 2018
Synopsis: Based on Ann Patchett’s best-selling novel, BEL CANTO is a dramatic love story that follows a famous soprano (Academy Award winner Julianne Moore) who travels to a military dictatorship in South America to give a private concert at a party for a wealthy Japanese industrialist (Academy Award nominee Ken Watanabe). Just as the glittering gathering of diplomats and politicians convenes, the mansion is taken over by a guerrilla rebel group demanding the release of their imprisoned comrades. Threats are made, lives are lost, a tense negotiation begins, and a month long standoff ensues. While they are confined to the house, the hostages and their captors, who speak different languages, are forced to find ways to communicate. Music, especially the beautiful arias performed by Moore’s character, a songbird in captivity, sparks a shared sense of comradeship and even love, uniting the disparate housemates as they form unexpected bonds, overcome their differences, and discover their shared humanity.
Movie Review:
[WARNING: MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS]
Who would have thought that terrorists and victims can get along together?
Based on a novel by Ann Patchett of the same title, “Bel Canto” is a story loosely based on the Japanese embassy hostage crisis (also known as the Lima Crisis) in Lima, Peru, with Roxanne Coss (Julianne Moore) performing at a private party for Katsumi Hosokawa (Ken Watanabe), a rich investor who was coaxed into coming despite not having much interest in investing in property in Peru, only to be attacked by a terrorist organisation in search for the President and wanting to overthrow the government.
For some peculiar reason, the terrorists and hostages are forced to work and live together in the private mansion where the terrorists hold the hostages and in time, formed a strange alliance and unlikely friendship among each other, which is interesting and very intriguing to watch as the story slowly unveils, although it may seem slightly unrealistic and too much of a fantasy.
The delivery of the characters by the multi-national, multi-cultural cast is diverse and colourful even for such a dark setting. One of the more outstanding characters is of Gen (Ryo Kase), a translator and possibly the only character in the film who can understand everyone’s languages. Gen gives this sense of being able to stand firm and grounded amidst the madness and staying as neutral as possible. Yet Gen falls in love with Karmen, one of the younger terrorists, losing himself in forbidden love and untouched boundaries.
The romance between Gen and Karmen, along with the romance Roxanne and Mr Hosokawa, feels intriguing and the development of their stories feel natural and well-paced.
Apart from the main characters, the development of the other characters is nicely done and each character is given enough room for exposure, without overbearing each other.
One of the biggest distractions, however, is the lack of proper syncing between Julianne Moore and the singing voice of Renée Fleming. Although the lack of syncing was most prominent at the start and got better into the film, the sad part is that Julianne could have done more to do justice to the beauty of Renée Fleming’s amazing vocals.
The development of the storyline starts off crawling slowly and for a period of time, one is left in confusion when watching the film and it is only halfway through that one would be able to see the actual alliance between both parties, amidst mistrust and judgement. By then, the climax reaches and there is no time for the audience to grasp onto the beauty of the unlikely friendship, abruptly ending what could have been a greater development of the plot.
All in all, “Bel Canto” is endearing and heart-breaking. “Bel Canto” puts you into perspective and makes you rethink life and that the world is not as clear cut as it could be, or as we want it to be.
“Bel Canto” moves along like a drugged opera; putting one through emotions with lyrics lacing around the musical notes and the melody taking one on an unexpected ride, but yet taking its time to develop the story but falls straight down once the drug wanes off, leaving audiences feeling shocked.
Movie Rating:
(A strange touching film and beautiful piece of work, if you can get past the horrid syncing and the strange pacing)
Review by Ron Tan
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