Genre: Drama
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Coleman, Mark Gatiss, Joe Alwyn, Nicholas Hoult
RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: R21 (Some Homosexual Content)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thefavourite/
Opening Day: 14 February 2019
Synopsis: Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen’s companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfil her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way.
Movie Review:
Emma Stone has never sat well with me as an actress. I guess you can say she was never my favourite. Her goofiness felt larger than her talent, and her roles thus far have banked on that trait. It’s endearing to some, but mostly cloying to me.
But what do you know - in Yorgos Lanthimos’s new period dramedy, about two cousins vying for the affection of an ailing queen, Stone manages to win me over.
Set in the early 1700s, when England was at war with the French, reigning Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) frets about everything - in particular how everyone sees her. From public opinion, to her make-up at appearances (“you look like a badger,” a blunt Sarah Churchill says in one scene), her royal bundle-of-nerves majesty is an unlikely, if well-intentioned, ruler. Good thing she has Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), to steady her.
The stoic duchess is her polar opposite. Poised and pointed as a fencing rapier, Sarah is the knife that cuts through Anne like butter. Her astute maneuvers and omniscient advisor role, makes Sarah the de facto leader to which the queen and her subjects lean into for comfort.
That is until Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) arrives. A lady caused to fall from grace by a gambler father, she enters the household as a kitchen servant, then a chambermaid. She takes on the job with gumption, the free-spirited lady that she is, but we quickly see that Abigail bears natural wiles of her own, ones that she is keenly in control of. She engineers a pathway to the queen’s side, using her small association with her cousin Sarah, and inevitably becomes a threat to her position of importance with the queen.
The three-way tug-of-war comes out in cat claws and brute pushes, all of which makes for some great watching as the farcical chessplay digs deeper into our skin. The bruised egos run the gamut, from political to personal, and Lanthimos spins his intricate universe like a spider its web. The intentions can be laid out like the triad of political, personal and emotional, but that would be a disservice to the director’s nuance. Instead, it’s a rich court intrigue tale that has surprisingly contemporary flavour.
This theme of manipulation permeates The Favourite, and not just from the characters as well. Director of photography Robbie Ryan’s ultra-wide angles distort the world, and Yorgos Mavropsaridis layers the scenes with his edits, dissolving them like incense or a sensual dream. As the girls nudge their way around, dropping sharp liners written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, a wonderfully absurd soundscape drapes the back. There’s classical Bach, so appropriate and expected, but then in comes a scene of ballroom street dance with club music to dispel stuffiness. These tracks are laid out along with pendulous violin, dragging like a guillotine in provokation.
But what else can you expect from the quiet visionary executions of Lanthimos? His idiosyncratic decisions that play out in his other films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer and the enchanting, The Lobster, is wildly unorthodox, laced with jet-black humour, and his actors play this out in The Favouriteto delicious perfection, despite the ridiculous scenarios.
Rachel Weisz as the duchess is truly enjoyable, but Emma Stone beats her by a turn with her unexpected performance of Abigail. It’s a riotous character that moves in and out of her own shenanigans, and it’s a joy to see her evolve. But most stellar is Colman. Every flicker of her eye and quiver in her lip floors the scene with content, and it makes us flit between mirth and mayhem as her myriad of processes fester.
It’s rare to see such a well-honed period piece still feel fresh, when so much has come before, but director Lanthimos shapes The Favourite as a fine raw diamond, cut to the shape of racing ducks, sweet pineapples, and ghostly rabbits.
Movie Rating:
(An opus in every respect, Lanthimos orchestrates this English tale to a wonderfully complex and touching tale of three powerful women)
Review by Morgan Awyong
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Peter Segal
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Vanessa Hudgens, Leah Remini, Milo Ventimiglia, Treat Williams, Annaleigh Ashford, Charlyne Yi
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language and Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/SecondAct
Opening Day: 3 January 2019
Synopsis: Second Act is a comedy in the vein of Working Girl and Maid In Manhattan. Jennifer Lopez stars as Maya, a 40-year-old woman struggling with frustrations from unfulfilled dreams. Until, that is, she gets the chance to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts, and that it is never too late for a Second Act.
Movie Review:
Jennifer Lopez hasn’t been on the big screen in three years, but ‘Second Act’ proves that her radiant presence hasn’t dimmed one bit. Produced by J. Lo herself, this riff of Mike Nichols’ 1988 seminal classic ‘Working Girl’ is tailor-made for the 49-year-old actress, recalling some of her more successful crowd-pleasing rom-coms like ‘Maid in Manhattan’ and ‘The Wedding Planner’. Oh yes, like those earlier box-office hits, Lopez plays a determined working woman on the low end of the totem pole – in this case, the hardworking but long-suffering ‘girl from the boroughs’ Maya Vargas, who is passed over for a promotion at the Queen’s big box store where she has been assistant manager for years, all because she doesn’t have a college degree.
Maya’s titular second act happens when, seeing her depressed at her birthday party for having hit a dead end in life, her godchild Dilly (Dalton Harrod) creates a fake resume and social-media profile for her that paints her as a graduate of Harvard and Wharton. Those impressive bogus credentials catch the attention of the boss (Treat Williams) of a premier consumer products firm in Manhattan, who calls her in for an interview and decides to hire her as a consultant for their skincare line of products. After some dithering, Maya makes up her mind to take up the offer, transforming herself convincingly into an immaculately dressed corporate bigwig. But looking the part is only half of the challenge, as Maya must quickly apply her street savvy ways in a competition with a younger co-worker Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) to devise the most profitable organic skincare product.
The setup would have you believe that you’re in for a movie which will eventually re-affirm the value of ‘street smarts’ over ‘book smarts’, but you’ll find out at the halfway mark that screenwriters Justin Zackham and Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas have other intentions. Most notably, rather than escalate the professional rivalry between Maya and Zoe, their script changes the relationship between the two women in surprising, even jaw-dropping, ways. It’s a big enough twist for us to choose not to spoil it, but suffice to say it eschews a more incisive commentary on corporate culture in favour for a more intimate character-driven portrayal of a 40-plus year old woman having to come to terms with the past mistakes in her life.
As much as we can appreciate how Maya’s second act was meant to be both personal and professional, that narrative turn causes the film to undercut its more compelling theme, which unfortunately not even the heartfelt chemistry between Lopez and Hudgens can fully compensate for. It is also why the movie feels tonally inconsistent, simply juggling too many under-developed parts – from Maya’s struggles at work, to her bonding with Zoe, to her getting carried away with her fake persona – that it never really manages to weave into a coherent whole. To director Peter Segal’s credit, he tries to make the parts work as well as they can, and some of the scenes do pop – including one where Maya and her motley girl squad from the Queens have a spontaneous dance party to Salt-N-Pepa’s vintage ‘Push It’, one where Maya has to demonstrate her linguistic abilities in Mandarin at a formal business dinner, and those between Maya and her loquacious best friend Joan (Leah Remini).
Segal is a comedy veteran (of multiple Adam Sandler comedies like ‘Anger Management’ and ’50 First Dates’), and probably his significant contribution is assembling an ensemble cast whose singular talents are clearly evident. Remini is a hilarious and lively foil for Lopez, and John James Cronin is a hoot as her character’s owlish young son who takes after his mother’s cussing far too eloquently for his own good. At the workplace, Lopez has notable assists in Charlyne Yi as Maya’s vertigo-plagued assistant, Annaleigh Ashford as her often exasperated corporate executive, and Alan Aisenberg as their geeky chemist. Lopez even has Milo Ventimiglia as her adoring baseball coach boyfriend Trey, although that romantic subplot arguably gets the shortest shrift amongst everything else that Maya has going for her.
But of course, ‘Second Act’ was meant as a showcase for Lopez, who remains as effortlessly magnetic as she has always been. With the help of the costumes by ‘Sex and the City’ alums Patricia Field and Molly Rogers, Lopez also looks every bit the glamorous superstar, filling several wonderful curve-hugging sheath dresses like she was born to wear them. Frankly, we wished the material itself were better, not least that bit of narrative bait-and-switch which we suspect will not go down well with many viewers; having said that, Lopez plays it to her strengths as best as she can, and as a feel-good female empowerment movie, especially for women in their 40s, it’s enjoyably escapist stuff with an uplifting message that is easy to relate and embrace.
Movie Rating:
(It's nowhere near a second coming for J. Lo, but this comedy plays to her strengths and appeal, and those who enjoy her brand of charm will surely find this enjoyably escapist stuff)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Mark Lee
Cast: Mark Lee, Dennis Chew, Marcus Chin, Chen Biyu, Kayly Loh, Zemily Leaw, Zoe Tay, Christopher Lee, Fann Wong, Chew Chor Meng, Jack Neo, Henry Thia, Guo Liang, You Yi, Chapman To
RunTime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 January 2019
Synopsis: After having immense success with The Breakfast Quartet radio talk show on MediaCorp LOVE 97.2FM and “The Love 97.2 Breakfast Quartet” TV series, the popular quartet is now back with their very own movie! MAKE IT BIG BIG is a reality comedy that delves into the secret lives of the leading four radio-presenters, detailing how these celebrities deal with living in the public eye, meeting the daily expectations of their fans and their personal issues.
Movie Review:
It’s just a matter of time before the success of the Breakfast Quartet on 972FM is being turned into a movie since it has already spun into a TV variety show, talk shows and a musical. To the uninitiated or someone who has never tuned to a Chinese radio program, the Breakfast Quartet (more popularly known as 玉建煌崇) comprises of comedian Mark Lee, veteran getai singer and host Marcus Chin, DJ and actor Dennis Chew and DJ Chen Biyu and they are mostly on air cracking jokes about anything under the sun from 6am to 10am on weekdays.
Although Make It Big Big tries to sell itself as a reality comedy, there’s in fact nothing reality or comedic about the entire affair. According to the production notes, the movie scribed by prolific scriptwriter and director Boris Boo (Greedy Ghost, Lucky Boy) attempts to delve into how celebrities deal with living in the public eye and personal issues etc but that doesn’t come out quite legitimate as well.
For a start, Mark Lee is falsely accused of slapping a child actress when a video of it is being maliciously spread online. With his reputation at stake and his production company in financial limbo, Lee has to find a way to resolve this thorny problem before it gets worse. Marcus Chin known for his affair with his much younger assistance years ago has to juggle multiple jobs to pay for his alimony and daughter’s expenses. When Lee offers him a sizeable commission, Chin must try to get the help of his old friend to fund Lee’s latest movie.
Dennis Chew known for his infectious laughter and happy-go-lucky character is suffering from work stress and depression after listeners complained about his less than funny lame jokes. He quickly assumed his popularity is declining and with a receding hairline, he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Chen Biyu on the other hand spends her free time obsessing in a fictional Indian star and Hong Kong Heavenly King Andy Lau until one day, her Manager offers her once-a-lifetime opportunity to interview Lau.
Just one glance and you know who got the meat of the plot. Naturally, it’s none other than Mark Lee, the leading man and director of this movie. With the help of Boo, Lee making his sophomore directorial effort paint himself as a man who struggles to be a good father, husband and a man of many trades just not so smart when it comes to social media and SGSecure app and such. Since his very own King Kong Media produced Make It Big Big, he has no problem getting HK comedian Chapman To in for a FOC cameo. For the most part however, it’s Marcus Chin who entertains with his glib tongue and his portion which is filled with equal sadness and laughter easily steals the limelight from Lee.
Because it’s a 102 minutes movie with lots of other familiar faces being crammed in (Jack Neo and Henry Thia in an unofficial Money No Enough reunion, the blink-and-miss Zoe Tay and celebrity couple Christopher Lee and Fann Wong and Chow Chor Meng subtly plugging his 888 Mookata), Dennis Chew and Chen Biyu are largely being side-lined in the end even though the former is given an interesting dark story arc that somehow mysteriously resolved by itself before the credits roll. Biyu dubbed “the host with the nightingale vocals” has not much else to do in the entire movie except pulling off a Bollywood dance segment in the beginning.
Seriously, go watch and support Make It Big Big if you are a big fan or regular listener of 玉建煌崇. There are enough jokes, gags and a catchy theme song to make your time worthwhile. For those non-fans or those who get irritated by product endorsements on the big screen, please stay away from this local flick this weekend.
Movie Rating:
(Made by the star himself, it’s a movie tailor-made for fans of 玉建煌崇)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Adventure
Director: Fei Xing
Cast: Cai Heng, Yu Heng, Gu Xuan, Chen Yusi, Ma Yuke, Cheng Taishen
RunTime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 January 2019
Synopsis: With the Guidance of the Dragon Bone Book, HU BAYI teams up with Mojin Six to the Tomb of Emperor Xian in Yunnan province. The tomb is on an island full of ancient monsters, fishes with teeth sharp as knifes, dead human bodies with toxic worms living inside, and ancient giant undying worm. The group fight through the tomb and finally find the key element to break the Ghost Eye curse, Phoenix Eye.
Movie Review:
I found it mildly amusing that the director’s name (Fei Xing) can literally be translated to “do not cross here”, because quite frankly, it’s almost like a warning to his production.
The Mojin franchise is based on the bestselling novels of Zhang Muye, about the colourful adventures of three tomb robbers that seek out legendary artifacts. It’s really a mixed-gender Lara Croft set in fantasy-game scenarios - hardly surprising given that one of the shareholders is Tencent, China’s leading gaming company. But this application peters out badly. Mojin: The Worm Valley for all its CGI, barely turns up any traction.
The film follows Hu Bayi (Cai Heng), Shirley Yang (Gu Xuan), Wang Fatzi (Yu Heng) and some other unmemorable characters to Yunnan province in search of a solution to the Ghost Eye curse. A mystical orb holds the key to the antidote, and the troop battles killer beasts to obtain the relic.
The story is as flat as it sounds. You might expect the process to be one of adventure, but it’s pretty much just multiple obstacles rendered in the form of either a single giant monster, or thousands of smaller ones that attack the group. Back and forth this formula goes, from fish to lizard to lobster, the mindless barrage soon numbs us to any of the proceedings that are actually going on.
Add to that, we’ve got a really unlikeable hero here. Cai Heng is a limp lead, who holds no charisma for any of the scenes to be believable. As the team bashes away at the monsters, his Bayi doesn’t seem to contribute as much as you would expect someone of his calibre to do so. A lot of the conflict is usually resolved by someone else in his team. In fact, his most significant stance is pretty much a lot of pregnant pauses before screaming: “Run!”
So yes there’s a lot of jumping and running that makes The Worm Valley feel more like it should belong on an app on my phone. The raiders here don’t inspire any sort of awe, because they feel more like victims of the circumstance. From one scene to another, the ensemble lands in a new situation involuntarily as they get chased by monsters, dropping any cred as they flee from river to forest to temple.
Which is why when Bayi stands up to the group at point, espousing his grand speech on how he wishes to take ownership of his destiny (cue cheesy melodramatic background music), it’s too late to save this from being anything but comedic.
It’s true that there are plenty of gorgeous rendered settings, but just try to keep pace with the incongruent world. In one scene, it’s day when they jump off a cliff but night when they land (how they did that so when it’s hundred of feet, I don’t know). And for all the urgency, when one member passes, they apparently spent hours in the same spot as night turns to day again. In between, the decision that the raiders make is as baffling as their choice of weapons.
This CGI-fest is a textbook case of overcompensating. With a lacklustre cast, non-existent script, mediocre effects and a tired execution, this worm stays a worm.
Movie Rating:
(This just goes to show that content matters. A visual journey means nothing when the plot and cast holds no weight of their own)
Review by Morgan Awyong
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Arturo Castro
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 February 2019
Synopsis: The much-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, global box office phenomenon that started it all, “The LEGO® Movie 2” reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action- packed adventure to save their beloved city. It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. The battle to defeat them and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds, including a strange galaxy where everything is a musical. It will test their courage, creativity and Master Building skills, and reveal just how special they really are.
Movie Review:
The Lego Movie is one of this reviewer’s favourite films. It is perfect in every way – its stunning animation, lovely voice cast, really clever jokes and charming message about creativity made it a winner. Five years on, along comes a sequel. Is this necessary for an animated movie that worked wonderfully as a standalone film?
You see, we all grow up as time passes by and five years after the commercial and critical hit, this timely sequel explores just that. So we have no qualms about the movie studio greenlighting this project, which, in case you aren’t already aware, will also sell lots and lots of merchandise.
The ridiculously happy and colourful Bricksburg has become a barren desert hellhole, no thanks to the Duplo invaders from outer space. The inhabitants of this post apocalyptic wasteland look like they stepped out from the set of a Mad Max movie. Everyone is dressed in angry and dark coloured outfits, and their faces are grim and brooding.
In this place aptly named Apocalypseburg, no one is happy except for our protagonist Emmet (Chris Pratt). And his partner Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) has to keep reminding the idealistic fellow that EVERYTHING IS NO LONGER AWESOME.
“Let us seek the bitter liquid that provides the only semblance of pleasure left in thee dark times,” she laments when offered coffee.
An evil intergalactic being (the hilariously named General Sweet Mayhem is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) shows up and kidnaps Lucy and the rest of the supporting cast. They end up coming face to face with Tiffany Haddish’s Queen Watevra Wa Nabi (“Whatever I Wanna Be”, get it?) who reveals that a wedding ceremony is in the works.
Meanwhile, Emmet embarks on a journey to save his friends and crosses paths with the charmingly tough Rex Dangervest (Pratt providing a gruffer voice). This character is a brilliant parody to the actor’s live action movie roles in The Magnificent Seven, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World franchises. These two dudes (one is clearly an alpha, while the other one a wannabe) join forces to save the world from, ahem, an 'Ar-mom-ageddon’.
If you enjoyed the first movie written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this one will not disappoint either. Helmed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls), the screenplay by Lord and Miller boasts countless laugh a minute gags. Without giving away too much, let’s just say the movie contains jokes poking fun at the DCEU (Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot and Margot Robbie are involved as the voices of Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn) and brilliantly played out time travel concepts. The end credit song, which cleverly works the names of the folks working behind the scenes into the lyrics, is also out of this world. How very meta!
This 107 minute movie will appeal to both kids and adults. The young ones will be mesmerised by the cute characters created by Australian animation and visual effects digital studio Animal Logic, while the older viewers will be sniggering at the witty dialogue.
Another group of target audience would be the brick fanatics with enough disposable income. You can bet they will be sussing out the best deals to collect the different sets featured in the film. Lego would be pleased to can hear the cash registers go ‘ka ching’!
The movie also sees the return of the narcissistic Batman (Will Arnett), the spaceship obsessed Benny (Charlie Day), the cute but war ready Unikitty (Alison Brie) and the bionic robot pirate Metalbeard (Nick Offerman). The Lego universe is as awesome as ever, and this time, there is a heartwarming message to go along with it.
Movie Rating:
(This sequel may be darker and grittier, but there are still plenty of zany moments and is definitely still as AWESOME as ever!)
Review by John Li
Genre: Comics/Action
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Adam Brody, Mark Strong, Djimon Hounsou, Meagan Good, Adam Brody
Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://ShazamMovie.com
Opening Day: 4 April 2019
Synopsis: We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam, courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands (yes!)? Can he skip class? With the help of superhero enthusiast friend Freddy, Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of the child he is inside. But he’ll need to master them quickly to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who’s got his eye on Shazam’s powers and wants them for himself.
Movie Review:
He may not be as well-known as Batman or Superman, but Shazam (formerly known as Captain Marvel) is one of the oldest superheroes still in print. Most recently reimagined by DC Films producer Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in their 2011 ‘Shazam!’ series, the titular superhero is the alter ego of foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a good-hearted orphan who is gifted with the power of transforming into an invulnerable adult by an ancient Wizard (Djimon Hounsou). That premise isn’t so much about the fate of the cosmos than it is about the superhero dream – or more simply, a kid’s wish-fulfilment fantasy about gaining powers beyond his imagination.
It is with that same ideal in mind that director David F. Sandberg has crafted this origin story, which imagines Billy (Asher Angel) as a wayward teenager bouncing around from home to home trying to track down the mother he was separated from as a child. His latest guardians are Rosa and Victor Vasquez (Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews), who themselves having been through the foster system are now raising a family of four other fosters, including the video-game obsessed Eugene (Ian Chen), the talkative and adorable pipsqueak Darla (Faithe Herman), the shy and quiet Pedro (Jovan Armand), and the ambitious college-age big-sister Mary (Grace Fulton).
But it is the disabled superhero aficionado Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) – who wears Aquaman t-shirts, hangs Batman posters on his wall, and owns a bullet that supposedly bounced off Superman himself – that will become instrumental to Billy’s character transformation. Oh yes, while the Wizard may have given him the whole get-up from body to costume to superpowers, it is with and through Freddy that Billy will truly acquire the mettle of a superhero, though not without some brotherly rivalry in the process. The relationship between Billy and Freddy is one of the key backbones of the film, spanning their earlier playful moments exploring the nature of Billy’s powers to their more sober encounters with the film’s supervillain Sivana (Mark Strong).
As Billy explains, every good guy needs a supervillain, and the film has taken its own advice to heart, taking pains to establish Sivana as Billy’s evil complement. It even goes so far as to devote its opening sequence to depicting just how Sivana was denied the powers of Shazam after being tested by the Wizard and found not to be pure enough of heart, therefore setting the stage for his obsessive quest to obtain the mythical strengths which he was denied. Eventually though, Sivana becomes empowered by the Seven Deadly Sins, personified by seven gargoyle-like monsters which set out to get Billy to surrender his powers before he learns how to use them fully.
The antagonistic dynamic between Billy and Sivana is also key to the movie, which establishes both as children who were rendered powerless by their circumstances and who seek to regain control over their fate. Whereas Billy refuses to give up on the search for his biological mother, Sivana grew up as a child looked down upon by his harsh father and his browbeating older brother, and his desperate search of power is really a reflection of his fear of inadequacy and weakness. Yet they are differentiated by both their temperament and the choices they make, which sets them on a collision course that culminates in a mano-a-mano CGI-fuelled climax amidst the skyscrapers of downtown Philadelphia.
But what truly holds the movie together is the rapport between Billy and his ultra-buff alter-ego, the latter of which not only amplifies his childlike wonder after being bequeathed such powers beyond his wildest imagination, but also his insecurities as a teenager still trying to find and define his place in the world. It is no small feat lining up their performances, but Angel and Levi play it so beautifully that you never forget who Billy really is even behind the superhero persona. In fact, along with Freddy, they form a wondrous trifecta in fleshing out what is essentially a coming-of-age story about choosing the sort of person we want to be and the family to which we want to belong.
Ultimately, however well-written the story may be (with full credit to screenwriter Henry Gayden and story contributor Darren Lemke), it is the chemistry between and among the various incredible cast members that bring it home. Most importantly, you’ll embrace how Asher/ Levi and Grazer portray Billy and Freddy growing into brothers, smiling through their adolescent exploits of buying beer, sneaking out of school and even getting into a strip club, and cheering on their litany of hilarious experiments putting Billy’s newfound powers to the test. Besides Grazer, every other member of Billy’s foster family brings real humanity to the story, which pays off in a big moment in the finale that is best discovered by yourself.
So while clearly belonging in the same universe as Batman and Superman (which Sandberg has fun referencing several times), ‘Shazam!’ doesn’t try to emulate its bigger-scale counterparts, and instead revels in being a fun, wondrous and heartfelt adventure of an ordinary teenager suddenly given superhuman abilities. At a time when so many superhero movies seem to dangle the fate of the universe at their disposal, it is refreshing to find one that is a lot more intimate, relatable and realistic. And like we said, what further elevates it is that irrepressible sense of warmth it is suffused with, with a poignant message about who we call family and how family reflects who we are. The kid in you will love it, and so will your kids, so just say the word…
Movie Rating:
(The most fun any superhero movie has been in a while, this earnest and heartfelt story about being gifted with the superhero dream is also a poignant lesson on family)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Yu Miao
Cast: Tong Dawei, Ma Li, Qiao Shan, Huo Siyan
RunTime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 January 2019
Synopsis: Seven friends get together for dinner, and decided to play a game where they must share all messages and calls of their cell phones. Throughout the evening, wechat messages, phone calls and APP notifications are coming out continuously. Hilarity and drama ensue together as everyone's secrets are unveiled and the seven friends find themselves more like strangers to each other.
Movie Review:
Besides the time you went to sleep, when was the last time you were really away from your mobile phone? We are, of course, assuming that you own a smart phone with awesome camera functions, fast Internet connection and many convenient mobile apps installed. While we lament the stress that technology brings along, can we live without our mobile phones?
Italian filmmaker Pablo Genovese directed Perfect Strangers (2016), a movie about seven people at a dinner party who decide to put their phones on the table and reveal every text message or phone call they would receive that evening. This simple yet ingenious concept has spawned remakes in many countries like Spain, France and most recently, South Korea.
You wouldn’t expect China to miss this opportunity, would you? While we aren’t the biggest fans of remakes, this one is an almost perfect piece of work. Too bad the movie poster, which suggests that the film is a slapstick comedy, doesn’t do it justice.
The concept is similar, except that things are localised to incorporate WeChat and its remarkable functions, the ever amazing Chinese vocabulary, as well as familiar sightings such as food delivery services, video game chat rooms and girls offering live cam broadcasts.
Without sounding like a broken record player, you know how this movie is going to explore how social relationships have evolved with the advent of technology. The game will lead to unveiling of secrets between couples and friends, and you can expect lots of laughs and drama to ensue. While the premise sounds predictable, what we did not expect were outstanding performance throughout and a surprisingly relatable (read: not preachy) message that is honestly moving.
The most familiar actor in the ensemble cast is Tong Dawei (Dearest), who plays an aspiring screenwriter with a rich girlfriend (played by first time actress Ming Xi, who is a professional model in China). At the dinner table are two other couples and a successful career woman. Without giving too much away, expect Pandora’s boxes to be opened. While we may not be familiar with actors like QIao Shan (Wu Kong), Huo Siyan (Operation Red Sea), Tian Yu (Legend of the Demon Cat), Dai Lele (Extraordinary Mission) and Ma Li (Goodbye Mr Loser), they each deliver performances which, in our opinion, are more memorable than most of the stuff we have seen in the past year.
Yu Miao’s directorial debut sees how the mobile phone is indispensable, yet increasingly becoming a barrier for communication. The writers have done a good job incorporating different stories into a seamless screenplay. The 96 minute doesn’t just take place at one location – you see supporting characters being weaved into the story. There is a food delivery guy making an honest living, a mother in law who decides to make a video will, and a powerful yet shady corporate executive amongst others.
This highly recommended movie is entertaining enough without being frivolous, and packs a strong social message to remind us what communication between people is really about. Are you ready to put down your phone to make face to face contact with your loved ones?
Movie Rating:
(The entertaining movie features strong performances from its ensemble cast, and is a noteworthy commentary on how social relationships have evolved with the advent of technology)
Review by John Li
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BOOK REVIEW #28: LIGHTS, CAMERA, MAGIC! THE MAKING OF FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALDPosted on 28 Dec 2018 |
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: David Lowery
Cast: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Tom Waits, Sissy Spacek
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 January 2019
Synopsis: THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN is based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Academy Award winner Robert Redford), from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Academy Award winner Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman (Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.
Movie Review:
It is interesting to see this biographical film written and directed by David Lowery alongside Clint Eastwood’s The Mule. The two films are released one week apart here in Singapore. Cinematic legend Eastwood, at a grand old age of 88, plays an elderly outlaw who transports cocaine for a drug cartel in his film. In Lowery’s latest work, the protagonist is a career criminal and prison escape artist. The role is portrayed by Robert Redford, another notable Hollywood marvel who is 82 years old.
These are two of cinema’s manliest figures, so all you young punks may want to stand aside while the granddaddies who us what they’ve got.
Based on David Grann's article of the same name in The New Yorker, this film shows us how Forrest Tucker, a man who manages to pull off a series of bank robberies. Instead of being a menace to the public, he becomes a charming figure instead, and almost enjoys the status of a celebrity. What’s more amusing about the criminal is how he has made one audacious escape after another from different prisons.
Oh wait, did we mention that he is someone old enough to be a great grandfather?
After commanding the screen in an almost solo act in All is Lost (2013), Redfordhas impressed us with his screen presence again. He plays the character effortlessly, pulling off a charm that reminds older viewers of earlier performances in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Out of Africa (1985) and Up Close & Personal (1996). The charisma is undeniable, and you would be rooting for the criminal if he was as suave as the award winning actor, director and producer.
No wonder Tucker has become the source of fascination for a rookie detective (Manchester by the Seas’s Casey Affleck, who sports a moustache and tones down his dramatic flair to let Redford shine) and also an old lady (The Help’s Sissy Spacek, in a role that triumphs many other overrated performances in recent memory). These supporting actors complement Redford perfectly, and are deserving of praise as well. Other familiar faces in the movie include Danny Glover (Monster Trucks) and Tom Waits (Seven Psychopaths).
Lowery, who has worked with Redford in Pete’s Dragon (2016), has delivered a gentle and affecting film. From the lovely soundtrack score by David Hart to the playful title cards that appear throughout the movie, there is always something refreshing to look out for. Impatient viewers may complain about the slow pace, but this compact 93 minute film plays out like a glass of classy wine. Its unhurried pace is befitting to the gentle approach of the production, and the chemistry between the actors suggest that the cast and crew had an enjoyable time putting this together.
The film will also be known to feature Redford's final screen appearance as the actor announced his intent to retire from acting last year. In a day and age where elaborately choreographed action sequences, complex special effects and showy acting seem to be the norm, it is nice to take time to appreciate a deeply humane film like this.
Thank you, Mr Redford, for your contribution to showbiz.
Movie Rating:
(A gentle and humane film that reminds us why Robert Redford is a true movie star)
Review by John Li
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Christopher Landon
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Suraj Sharma, Rachel Matthews, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 February 2019
Synopsis: Jessica Rotheleads the returning cast of Happy Death Day 2U, the follow-up to Blumhouse’s (Split, Get Out, The Purgeseries) surprise 2017 smash hit of riveting, repeating twists and comic turns. This time, our hero Tree (Rothe) discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead.
Movie Review:
‘Happy Death Day 2u’ was never going to be as fresh as its predecessor, but kudos to returning director Christopher Langdon for trying. After all, it would have been too convenient for Langdon – who takes over writing duties here – to simply find another protagonist to experience the time-loop which our original birthday-girl heroine Tree (Jessica Rothe) was forced to relive over and over again; that is, until she figured out who was behind her murder on that same day. So besides reintroducing the time-loop, Langdon also offers up an intriguing science-fiction twist in the form of multi-verses, i.e. alternate realities where the basic circumstances of each day are no longer the same, including in one dimension where Tree’s beloved mom is still alive.
At first, it may have seemed as if the sequel were content to pass the baton to Tree’s boyfriend’s tech-geek roommate Ryan (Phi Vu), given how it is Ryan who is now stuck in a loop of his own and repeatedly dying like Tree in the first film. Yet that quickly proves to be a red herring, and the (thankfully) brief shift in focus merely to explain how the time-loop was the result of Ryan’s student experiment in the quantum mechanics lab. That machine named ‘Sissy’ (for Sisyphus Quantum Cooling Reactor) proves not only capable of fracturing time but also space, and in attempting to stop his own death, Ryan unwittingly opens up a portal to another dimension where Tree undergoes the same time-loop under dramatically different conditions.
Frankly, you’ll need to be familiar with some of the details of the original to fully appreciate the significance of some of these changes. For one, Tree’s boyfriend Carter (Israel Broussard) is dating the sorority mean girl Danielle (Rachel Matthews). For another, Tree’s roommate Lori (Ruby Modine) is the one having the affair with the creepy-sexy Dr. Gregory Butler (Charles Aitken), instead of Tree herself. But perhaps most meaningfully, Tree’s mom (Missy Yager) is very much alive in this dimension, which as you can imagine, forces her at some point to make the emotionally nerve-wracking choice whether to return to the dimension where she came from or stay in the one that she wasn’t originally supposed to belong.
Potentially resonant as that may sound, Langdon’s writing itself however fails to fully deliver the emotional punch which that subplot could have packed. His narrative finds itself distracted along several multiple unfolding threads at the same time, including that where Tree has to uncover the new identity of her babyface masked killer, that where Tree has to stop the unfortunate murder of her roommate Lori, and that where Ryan and his two other lab geeks are desperately trying to get their time machine up and running to send Tree back to her original dimension while dodging the attempts of a disapproving dean (Steve Zissis) to stop them. It is pretty busy all right, and unfortunately when compared to the simplicity (and we dare say, rigour) of the previous film, this sequel simply pales in comparison.
As should be apparent, the plotting hardly matches the conceptual ingenuity of crossing the slasher variation of ‘Groundhog Day’ with some ‘Back to the Future 2’ convolutions (which at least the movie bothers to name-check). Both the tongue-in-cheek and thrilling pleasures that the original offered are buried amidst a whole lot of literally loopy complications, resulting not just in a film that is a whole lot messier but also unable to decide tonally just where it wants to land. Oh yes, it’s one thing to be genre-bending, and quite another to struggle to find the right balance between horror, mystery, thriller, drama, sci-fi and romance, but the latter territory is sadly where Langdon finds himself here.
What holds the film together is unsurprisingly the sheer magnetism of Rothe, who as the film’s centre, is ceaselessly appealing with a sharp mix of dry wit and screwball humour. Nowhere is Rothe’s perfect comic timing more evident than in a breathless montage which sees her creatively killing herself at the end of each day, whether is it drowning herself in industrial detergent or jumping off a skydiving trip in a bikini just to splatter her guts all over Danielle. There is some newfound humour to be had in Ryan’s science nerds, comprising the guilty porn downloader Shamar (Suraj Sharma) and the straight-talking Dre (Sarah Yarkin), but Rothe holds the whole movie together with her energy, verve and charisma.
So yes, it is certainly laudable that the sequel doesn’t simply try to repeat the same formula as its predecessor, but neither does its ambition disguise the fact that it is ultimately a far less enjoyable and entertaining film. In fact, we dare say it loses momentum halfway into the movie, and is almost running on fumes by the time the climax arrives, given how there is almost zero horror or suspense at that point. The laughs are also a whole lot less subversive, almost as if they were deliberately dumbed down in order to admit a PG13 crowd. When the inevitable sequel (as a post-credit sequence informs us) comes along, we hope Langdon simply sticks to the original’s promise of being a horror-comedy first and foremost, and lose all the unnecessary contortions that we’re quite happy to see dead and gone forever.
Movie Rating:
(Not nearly as inventive as its predecessor, this bigger-but-not-better sequel loses the clever horror-comedy pleasures of the original while spinning its own multiverse complexities)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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