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BOOK REVIEW #34: BEST. MOVIE. YEAR. EVER. HOW 1999 BLEW UP THE BIG SCREENPosted on 11 Aug 2020 |
Genre: Thriller
Director: Yuen Kim Wai
Cast: Anthony Wong, Karena Lam, Carlos Chan, Kathy Yuen, Alice Fung, Liu Kai Chi, Stephen Au
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 August 2020
Synopsis: When an insurance agent is called to visit a couple’s home to follow up on a life insurance policy, he discovers their son’s corpse hanging in the bathroom. Principled and kind-hearted, he suspects that the child may have been murdered. As he digs for the truth, the tables are turned and he’s forced into a psychological battle of wills.
Movie Review:
The premise of this Hong Kong production is disturbing enough to make viewers curious. How unscrupulous or unethical can one become to exploit insurance plans? When you’re in need for money, how about chopping off some fingers and claiming some payouts under an ‘accident’? Not enough to get by? How about killing a family member and watch a huge amount of money get deposited in your bank account?
There are probably some well known real life cases out there, but this movie based on the Japanese horror novel “The Black House” takes things to the extreme. How much you want to relate it to how scary people can become is up to your imagination.
The setup is outlandish enough to capture your attention. First, there is a creepy Anthony Wong who sends chills down your spines with his killer stares throughout the 109-minute film. The veteran actor doesn’t need to speak – his screen presence will make you want to escape his line of sight. Then there is Karena Lam tries her best to look disheveled. She has unkempt hair, bad fashion sense, an eye which doesn’t see very well, and to top it off, a bad limp to complete the look. She manages to make you think that she probably hasn’t showered for days. They stay in a dilapidated house that is difficult to navigate around. It is the kind of environment that will have you thinking that there are decomposed food and animals lying around.
The two actors play husband and wife, and they seem to be down in the dumps with no money to live a decent life. Enter Carlos Chan’s insurance agent who chance upon the eerie couple’s dead stepson during a house visit. Being the righteous (and good looking, like the good guys always do in the movies) person he is, he digs deep into the case and is determined to uncover the truth. Of course, that brings about dirty secrets (which aren’t that unexpected if you are familiar with story setups) which eventually culminate in a finale that will please fans of slasher flicks.
The film directed by Yuen Kim Wai (Lam’s husband, who also made her a leading lady in his first feature Heaven in the Dark) does a decent job as a horror thriller. It works best when Wong and Lam are on screen, effortlessly showcasing their acting chops. Chan’s earnestness also leaves an impression. However, things get clunky when the story tries to inject other elements which take the focus of the main plot away.
For example, there is the bit about Chan’s guilt over his elder brother’s suicide when they were young. Then there is an awkward comparison to carnivore bugs, which Chan happens to keep as pets. And there’s also a psychiatrist girlfriend in the picture, who offers insights on criminal behaviour. Because these subplots are not explored in depth, viewers may be left unsure of what purpose they serve.
The movie has its share of chills, blood and scares. Unfortunately, quite a bit more can be done to make it a memorable scare flick.
Movie Rating:
(Anthony Wong and Karena Lam deliver spooky performances in this otherwise average scare flick)
Review by John Li
Genre: Romance/Fantasy
Director: Yoyo Yao
Cast: Lee Hong-Chi, Li Yitong, Fan Wei, Juck Zhang
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 September 2020
Synopsis: The protagonist found himself in a time loop where he struggles to achieve a permanent relationship with his true love from school days before the effects of memory dysfunction from time-travelling would stop him from remembering.
Movie Review:
China’s movie-making efforts have largely fallen either towards epic fantasy and dramatic action flicks, or the overt comedy that basically doubles as a ham and cheese sandwich. It’s only the odd while you’ll get a romantic piece.
Love You Forever is one of these rare attempts, and true to form, features a sprinkling of fantasy to spice up the plot. Maybe because it is grounded by the novel of the same name written by Zheng Zhi, the effects here - although unrealistic - are not as showy or or superfluous.
More literally translated as ‘I’ll wait for you at the edge/end of time’ (which I personally prefer), the film follows the many episodes where our two leads Lin Ge (Lee Hong Chi) and Qiu Qian (Li Yitong) meet at different periods. This is not caused by any physical reason - rather, the couples are divided by a more supernatural force, after Lin Ge tries to change fate with the help of a mysterious device.
Director Yoyo Yao is relatively new to features, having only done one (Yesterday Once More) before this. But her box-office success and previous shorts which went viral must have given producers confidence in her skill, and it wasn’t entirely unfounded.
Yao manages the material well enough and keeps it from veering into too sappy a space - even if it does happen in some scenes. And although there are quite a tendency to rely on shots of lingering gazes and forlorn introspections, the actors’ performances manage to relieve it with some depth.
Lee is the better of the two. His transformations and development is more evident and believable, and Lin Ge, as a result, evokes more sympathy from the audience. Part of this can be due to his richer back story, with scenes of his family and friends to flesh out his background and keep the movie afloat with their cameo contributions. There’s even a scene with his father that is particularly moving, given the restrictions he faced with the hidden truth, and it’s these vignettes that prevent Love You Forever from being over-saturated with heart-wringing couple speeches.
But that’s not to say Li didn’t hold her own. Her performance was commendable, even if inconsistent. Having rose to fame as the heroine Huang Rong in the televised Legend of the Condor Heroes, it’s easy to see the decision in casting her for her popularity. Her elfin mien has echoes of Zhou Xun’s complexity, and when this appears, it’s a joy to watch. But perhaps due to the material, this wasn’t more fully realised, making her delicate identity feel a little flat.
For those who love their sacrificial ballads and wide-eyed ideals, Love You Forever will satisfy you in spades. The manner in which Lin Ge gives himself to his love Qiu Qian is given an additional twist with the time-warping element, and will no doubt have some reaching for their tissues. It’s reminiscent of titles like A Time to Remember, where love cannot be expressed through the supernatural limitations, but comes with glossier packaging for the younger audience.
For the rest of us, the film is still enjoyable on its own, if a little repetitive. But the performances, diverse sets, and that uncommon ending should go well with popcorn and that significant other.
Movie Rating:
(Fluffy fantasy romantic title gets some edge from lead performances. A decent effort from Yao)
Review by Morgan Awyong
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HARUMA MIURA (三浦春马) (1990 - 2020)Posted on 18 Jul 2020 |
SYNOPSIS: What would you risk for five minutes of pure power? On the streets of New Orleans, word begins to spread about a mysterious new pill that unlocks superpowers unique to each user. The catch: You don’t know what will happen until you take it. While some develop bulletproof skin, invisibility, and super strength, others exhibit a deadlier reaction. But when the pill escalates crime within the city to dangerous levels, a local cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) teams with a teenage dealer (Dominique Fishback) and a former soldier fueled by a secret vendetta (Jamie Foxx) to fight power with power and risk taking the pill in order to track down and stop the group responsible for creating it.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Project Power is basically X-Men Lite if you want a concise one-sentence review. The only catch is you need to first swallow a pill and the superpower only lasts for 5 minutes.
In the opening sequence, a group of street dealers in New Orleans are given a batch of power pills by a mysterious distributor. Their job is to distribute the pills to those seeking superpowers. Robin (Dominique Fishback), a teenage dealer is drawn to the fiasco who needs the money for her diabetes-stricken mom. Then there is her friend, a good-hearted cop, Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is out to nab those who abused the pills to commit crimes in the city. In comes Art (Jamie Foxx), the supposedly creator of the pills who came to New Orleans in search of his missing daughter, Tracy.
Remember movies liked Limitless, Chronicle and Jumper? The concept in Project Power is nothing new. The script by Mattson Tomlin (the co-writer of next year’s Batman reboot) offers lots of interesting ideas and possibilities. A pill that offers you 5 minutes of superpower? Great. Some random pills might cause you to self-explode instead. That sucks. Project Power merely scratches the surface of this very interesting premise. Rather than a piece of thought-provoking social commentary, it quickly turned into a fast-paced, high energy actioner.
To be fair, it’s a cool mix of old school gritty cop thriller and modern-day superhero clichés. Newcomer Dominique Fishback often steals the limelight from her veteran co-stars Foxx and Gordon-Levitt. She also stands out given her excellent rapping skills. As the central character, Foxx delivers an impressive performance together with the underrated Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Both showing a lot of sweating, running and fighting, trying damn hard to save New Orleans from undercooked villains.
There’s probably a reason why Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman are hired for the directing gig. If you watched Nerve, you know why. Project Power has the same aesthetic and energy as the latter. The action sequences are violent and flashy. The visual effects are mostly decent since most audiences would have seen it before on the big screen a dozen times. Though I must add there is one standout cinematography sequence that featured exhilarating effects and fights that took place in a darkly lit pub.
In the grand tradition of Netflix’s recent releases such as Extraction, The Old Guard and 6 Underground, Project Power is yet another mindless, action-packed title added to the streamer giant. While the story deserves more polishing, it’s still highly entertaining given the lavish production values. Those cheap VOD titles better watch out and up their game. Netflix means serious business and it’s not going to last for a mere 5 minutes.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Yuval Adler
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Chris Messina, Amy Seimetz
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: NC16 (Sexual Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 September 2020
Synopsis: In post-WWII America, a woman (Noomi Rapace), rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband (Chris Messina), kidnaps her neighbor (Joel Kinnaman) and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
Movie Review:
It has been 75 years since WWII ended. The invasion of the Japanese in Singapore remains a crucial part of our history while on the other side of the globe, the Europeans will always be haunted by the thought of the Holocaust.
The Secrets We Keep is an engaging drama inspired by events that happened post-world war. Set in a small U.S. town, Maja (Noomi Rapace), a Romani survivor of the world war is married to the local doctor, Lewis (Chris Messina) and has a young son. Life seems peaceful and ordinary until one day Maja spotted a man (Joel Kinnaman) that resembled the German soldier that brutalized her and her younger sister 15 years ago.
Convinced that the man is the culprit that torment her dignity and mind, Maja sets up to kidnap him and have him locked up in the basement of their house. Unable to bring herself to shoot him, Maja decides to interrogate him into confessing. The man named Thomas continues to deny about his involvement in the war declaring he is a Swiss clerk who worked in the transport department. Did Maja made a huge mistake or Thomas is actually a monster in disguise?
Directed and co-written by Israeli Yuval Adler (The Operative), The Secrets We Keep raises one riveting moral question throughout. Given the scenario, do you opt for forgiveness or go down the path of revenge? Does killing the murderer appease the demons in your heart? Is it a justifiable act then? Maja constantly struggles with the thought that she sought out the wife of Thomas hopefully to seek out some truth out of it.
Lewis not entirely convinced that Maja is telling the truth preferring to rely on scientific evidence and facts from the horse mouth before advising Maja to take any further action. Maja who withheld her past heritage and trauma from Lewis of course caused additional dent on their already fragile relationship. Part of Thomas’ capture also revealed Maja’s psychological sufferings which Lewis believed is the core reason for her action.
Noomi Rapace who also produced the flick delivered a complex performance as the PTSD suffering Maja. The movie focused heavily on Rapace’s character all the more interesting given that everything onscreen is seen through her perspective. The constant black-and-white flashbacks which recount the night where the attack took place and her subsequent disclosure of her fragmented thoughts which may have repercussions on her statement.
Joel Kinnaman’s involvement as the seemingly ordinary immigrant from Switzerland fails to measure up to Rapace. Honestly, there’s only so much an actor could do since he’s being tied up and torture throughout the 97 minutes movie. The acting of respected character actor Chris Messina (Birds of Prey) opposite his onscreen wife is strong and well-liked.
The Secrets We Keep is thus a deeply unsettling movie about confronting the past and meting out justice. The reason it works so well is it’s female star, Noomi Rapace. Obviously, it’s not the kind of blockbuster that features well-staged ambitious action sequences nor is it based on a true historical based event. There’s a bit of tension in the middle and dramatic telling towards the end but generally, Adler is more keen to talk about the subject of humanity and morals rather than delivering a straight-out bloody revenge tale.
Movie Rating:
(Noomi Rapace is great in this admirable dialogue-driven tale)
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS:
MOVIE REVIEW:
Very loosely adapted from the 2009 YA book, "Monster" by Alex Awards winner A. Lee Martinez, Monster Run is an adventure about Meng (Shawn Yue), a down-and-out monster hunter and a teenage girl, Ji Mo (Jessie Li) who can “see” monsters.
Instead of ghostly spirits, ghosts or vampires, Meng and Ji Mo lives in a world which is inhibited by both humans and all sorts of creepy looking monsters from scary critters to a furry Yeti. But not everyone has the ability to see them and Ji Mo is torment by the fact that she can sees monsters lurking around since young that her mom assumed she is crazy and she is subsequently sent to an asylum for treatment.
Years later while working in a supermarket one night, Ji Mo encountered a monster hunter by the name of Meng who appear to capture a Yeti on the loose. The two soon developed a friendship and Ji Mo soon finds out she is actually destined to be the future guardian of the gate to another dimension. However, the current evil guardian, Lotus (Kara Wai) is determine to continue her dominance thus sending a hitman to capture Ji Mo and kills Meng.
Shot way back in 2018 but relegated to streaming sites in China probably due to the pandemic, Monster Run rides on mainland’s current trend of employing massive CGI over storytelling despite a team of four credited writers. The first half of the movie focus on Ji Mo and Meng as they survive monster attacks and meeting a Lion creature disguised as a harmless neighbourhood shopkeeper, Uncle Ping (Tu Men). Ping warned them of the looming war and advised them to keep a low profile inside Meng’s house. So far so good.
We even get to learn more of Meng’s anguish, struggle and his love for his deceased elder brother, a once powerful monster hunter. Then comes Lotus, a sneering underutilised Kara Wai and her one-note henchman, Spade. From this point on, the rest of the movie seems to be shot in front of the greenscreen filled with endless scenes of crappy CGI backgrounds, effects and pointless dialogue. Not forgetting lots of CGI enhanced action sequences.
Visual effects supervisor and director Henri Wong who collaborate with producer Derek Kwok (Wu Kong, Full Strike) a number of times in the past delivers yet another forgettable flick that relied too much on technology to keep the narration going. Monster Run works better in smaller intimate scenes that even the CGI is far more acceptable in this context. Then as usual with many other flicks, the action and CGI go way beyond the story could handle that no one bothers about the fate of Meng, Ji Mo or Lotus in the end.
On the contrary, the Monster Hunt franchise seems to fare better than Monster Run. At least Raman Hui is a much-accomplished storyteller than Henri Wong. While both filmmakers utilized CGI as a tool, Hui uses it at the right time, complimenting them with crowd-pleasing comedy and plotting. Wong on the other hand kind of misses the point especially the finale which is kind of piece together by the visual effects team to warrant a satisfying conclusion. Monster Run is potentially a franchise starter. However given the way it’s handled, it’s not likely we’ll be seeing Meng and Ji Mo in action again anytime soon.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Thriller
Director: Amy Seimetz
Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Chris Messina, Katie Aselton, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Josh Lucas, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michelle Rodriguez
Runtime: 1hr 27 mins
Rating: NC16
Released By: KinoLounge by Shaw Theatres
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 September 2020
Synopsis: After waking up convinced that she is going to die tomorrow, Amy’s carefully mended life begins to unravel. As her delusions of certain death become contagious to those around her, Amy and her friends’ lives spiral out of control in a tantalizing descent into madness.
Movie Review:
The premise of this independent production is thought provoking, especially during these troubled times. A woman wakes up and finds herself realising that she is going to die tomorrow (the movie title can’t get be anymore straightforward than that). She shares her thoughts with her friend, and this disturbing idea spreads like a contagion. Soon, everyone in the movie has thoughts of dying tomorrow, and emotions spiral out of control as people start reacting differently as they hang on to their last bits of life.
As absurd as the story sounds, there is some similarity to how things are like in the world today. Take a look at what’s going on across social media – how politics and the coronavirus pandemic have collectively become a jumbled mess and how simple human behaviours can either bring out the best or the worst in people.
The 84 minute film wastes no time in letting you know Amy the protagonist is experiencing something dreadful. It starts with an extreme close up of her eyes, and it is not a comfortable sight. It is clear that she is not in her prettiest state, and she is looking straight into something frightening. This is just one of the many uneasy instances you’ll be feeling throughout the movie. For a film that is less than one and a half hours long, it is unsettlingly engaging.
Next, we see Amy wandering about her own house aimlessly. She obviously needs help in getting herself back together, but there is an overbearing sense of helplessness – something that we may have felt in times of loneliness and desperation. We also see strange lights beaming from a room in her house. Like the film itself, there are no clear answers what these lights are.
Other characters in Amy’s life appear. Her friend Jane seems to have had enough with dealing with the relapses, until she experiences the same dread. Other supporting characters appear at a party and engage in seemingly mundane conversations (the bit on dolphin sex is particularly interesting), but soon enough, they are also staring into space and muttering: “I am going to die tomorrow.” Coupled with the glaring strobes of light, these scenes remind you what Amy went through at the beginning of the film.
Viewers looking for a logical explanation why the characters are going through this mysterious phenomenon will be frustrated at the film directed and written by Amy Seimetz. There is no resolution. Instead, there are many questions that you may ask – not just about the screenplay, but also your own perspective on life’s many transient moments. Will you be calm or hysterical if you have one day to live? What will you see in front of you when death slowly approaches? What are you supposed to feel if something like this happens around you, and how will you actually react to people?
Seimetz, who is also an actress, reportedly financed the movie with her salary from Pet Sematary (2019). It must have been a personal work of passion, as reports also stated that she came up with the concept after noticing how people reacted to her after she shared her stories of anxiety attacks. The ensemble of relatively unknown actors including Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton and Chris Messina makes this movie even more effective in relaying the characters’ raw emotions as viewers won’t be distracted by recognisable faces. You may just find the fear and desperation relatable in the midst of your everyday hustles and bustles.
Movie Rating:
(The independent film's raw emotions of fear and desperation may not be everyone's cup of tea, but its messages are urgently relevant in today's troubled times)
Review by John Li
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DC FANDOME- THE BATMAN, THE SUICIDE SQUAD AND WONDER WOMAN TRAILERS!Posted on 23 Aug 2020 |
Genre: Animation
Director: Cho Kyung-hun
Cast: Moon Nam-sook, Jang Min-hyuk, Park Seong-gwang
Runtime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Nudity & Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 September 2020
Synopsis: Beauty Water means that you can freely change your face as you would with makeup without having to undergo plastic surgery. Due to her appearance, Yeji has suffered terribly. One day, she faces an incredible temptation and she changes her face and body, literally from head to toe, to become popular. She just wants to keep her new appearance and life, no matter what it takes or what sacrifice must be made. This film is a feature animation based on Beauty Water an episode of Oh Seongdae's webtoon Tales of the Unusual. While keeping the original's eccentric imagination and atmosphere, the film adds a new story with high-quality drawings and movements. Voice actors were also added, doubling the bizarreness and entertainment. This work satirizes the absurdity of modern society's obsession with appearance through the protagonist, who is swept by the beauty standards of the world that ends up driving her to catastrophe.
Movie Review:
The beauty industry, at last count, was a 532 billion dollar industry. And with Korean skincare and cosmetics trends leading the way for growth in the male sector, one can only imagine how important looking groomed is turning out to be.
Let’s admit it - we are swayed by attractive people. There’s even a psychological term for it - the ‘halo effect’. So it’s not that we’re shallow, it’s science! But we also understand that beauty needs to go beyond being skin deep, and that is the theme Beauty Water explores.
Based on a popular webtoon anthology in Korea, the film brings to fore the extremes in which people are willing to go to attain beauty, and by its proxy, acceptance and success. It’s a tale as old as time, but the results in the film are far from a song. Rendered in stylistic animation, Cho Kong-hun fleshes out the terrifying concepts of the original Tales of the Unusual, and piles on the body horror.
References to Junji Ito’s work is inevitable, even if Beauty Water lacks the Japanese creator’s tender nuances and sexual overtones. But in terms of graphic reveals, the film is just as grotesque and shocking - a credit to the morbid imaginations of toon writer Oh Seong-dae.
Yaeji is an obese make-up artist with a huge chip on her shoulder. She displays a meek countenance when she is bullied by her peers, but hides a rage that is unleashed online as a troll. Rumours spread of a miraculous beauty product and turns out, she receives one in the mail. Even as the truth during the application shocks her, she dives in, eager to shed her old image. The results send her on a spiral, hurtling through obsession, hate and vengeance. It’s not a pretty sight, even if she is.
Lee Han-bin has adapted the screenplay, making significant changes with the lead, some story arcs and the availability of the product. Some of these additions work, like the incredible dual-coloured eyes of Yaeji as a plot trope, or her contrasting behaviour at home. But others, like the leery security guard and minimart cashier, suffer from extreme caricature, and makes the film more insipid than inspired.
Aptly produced in Korea, the world-famous mecca of plastic surgery, the film has its roots in the ‘lookism’ or oe-mo-ji-sang-ju-ui where a strong prejudice is associated with physical appearances. Well-worth exploring, Beauty Water would have been a great platform for delving into the consequences and even impact it has on the people around the afflicted as they pursue beauty. This happens with a backstory towards the end sounding off on the negative pressure and damage to self-esteem for not giving merit to hard work and skill over appearances, but multiple characters and their cliches dampen believability and can all benefit from better development.
We should feel sympathetic to Yaeji, but her sharp tongue and violent outbursts only reinforce the bias. If Beauty Water could have spent more time working on the encounters at home, or throw in a friend or two that can provide tension to the relationships, then maybe we would find the ending more horrific than… a little comical.
But still, this ode to the horrors of obsessive vanity and plastic surgery remains quite an achievement with stellar artwork and a wicked delivery. It’ll be exciting to see future works as the filmmakers and studios mature over time.
Movie Rating:
(A gory fable on the negatives of being obsese with beauty, this animated feature shines in its medium but is a little empty in characterisation)
Review by Morgan Awyong
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