SYNOPSIS: Desperate for some distance from their older sister Ellie, the thrill-seeking possum brothers Crash and Eddie set out to find a place of their own, but quickly find themselves trapped in a massive cave underground. They are rescued by the one-eyed, adventure-loving, dinosaur-hunting weasel, Buck Wild, and together they must face the unruly dinosaurs who inhabit the Lost World.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Because kids can’t tell the difference between a Blue Sky Studios production or an outsourced piece of work.
Because kids don’t mind an animation that looks as plain as vanilla.
Because kids had no qualms about the voices behind the characters so long as they sound alike.
The above reasons perhaps explained why the latest spinoff from the ultra-successful Ice Age franchise is easily the worst and definitely one that is made for streaming rather than the big screen.
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild centers around the two annoying possums, Eddie (Aaron Harris) and Crash (Vincent Tong) who after a squabble with Manny and gang decides to venture outside their comfort zone in search of independence. Their continuing misfits landed them in the Lost World where they encountered the one-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) and his warrior friend, Zee (Justina Machado). With no one to turn to, Eddie and Crash decides to stay on and assist them in fighting against a villainous Protoceratops, Orson (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and his raptors in a valiant attempt to protect the residents of the Lost World.
As if to remind audiences that this is an Ice Age spinoff after all, Manny, Sid, Ellie and Diego appears in the brief prologue before the whole animation is taken over by Eddie, Crash and Buck. Kids will certainly giggle and entertained by Eddie and Crash’s nonsensical, dim-witted antics or Buck’s constant reliance on his best buddy, lefty (his left hand for the uninitiated) but adults for sure will tune out before they even reach Lost Lagoon in search of yet another returning character, Momma the T-rex.
The screenplay credited to three writers tries hard as in very hard to gel zany humour and non-stop action adventure into one feature length animation. In the end, it’s just one meaningless gag after another. Although the evil Orson is a far more interesting creation than the irritable Eddie and Crash, the character is largely disposable as most of the screentime is devoted to the possum brothers and their repeated lines.
Scrat, the lovable acorn-obsessed squirrel is notable missing right here. The sole bright spot in the flagging franchise will no longer appear in the series due to a trademark dispute which is a huge pity. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild directed by John C. Donkin (one of the producers of the series) is shamefully a cheap forgettable production to add on to the Disney+ library. Without none of the original voice actors returning and Scrat, it’s time to leave the Ice Age franchise in the ice age.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Mark Williams
Cast: Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Taylor John Smith, Claire Van Der Boom, Andrew Shaw, Zac Lemons, Gabriella Sengos
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 February 2022
Synopsis: A troubled off-the-books fixer for the FBI Travis Block (Liam Neeson), tasked with pulling undercover agents out of dangerous situations, finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy when an undercover agent starts questioning the very people he’s working for. Block, must not only track down the agent, but also find out the truth. A truth that may strain even his questionable moral code.
Movie Review:
Would you believe that it has been more than 10 years since Liam Neeson demonstrated his particular set of skills in ‘Taken’? Even more admirably, would you believe that the going-on-70 actor is still at it, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, has managed to keep up the pace of one such action thriller every few months or so? His latest, ‘Blacklight’, sees Neeson continue to play a sensitive tough guy who has to protect his loved ones, this time as a damaged Vietnam War veteran-turned-FBI operative who has to ensure the safety of his daughter and grand-daughter after his notice of retirement is rejected by the director of the FBI.
As formulaic as that may sound, the opening does give hope that ‘Blacklight’ might try to be something more. After a charged rally at the Capitol, a young, charismatic, Latina politician not unlike real-life Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is assassinated in a hit-and-run outside her apartment. Cut to our introduction to Neeson’s Travis Block, who drives a sleek dodge muscle car to rescue an exposed undercover FBI agent from a powder-keg situation at a white supremacist trailer park. The political undercurrent is unmistakeable, and we dare say deliberate, but intriguing as it may be, never quite materialises into anything compelling.
Certainly not the occasional lectures by FBI director Gabriel Robinson (Aidan Quinn), who keeps a picture of J. Edgar Hoover by his desk; whilst it is entirely clear what law enforcement ethics he subscribes to, he is no more than a caricature intended to give Block an antagonist that he can go head-to-head with. Or for that matter is there any finesse given to his so-called Operation Unity, which is a laughable two-man programme that Robinson is the mastermind of. Oh yes, there is ripe political commentary to be mined here, but director/ co-writer Mark Williams seems barely interested in turning his movie into something more than generic genre fare.
The by-the-numbers plotting therefore sees Block being assigned to fix rogue agent Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith) and stop him from divulging Operation Unity to fledging reporter Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampman), before developing a conscience and becoming an unfortunate target of Robinson himself. Because it is clear right from the get-go that Robinson is the villain, there are hardly any surprises along the way, even more so for those who have seen the trailer and can probably guess how Block reacts after discovering that he is just a pawn in Robinson’s machinations as well as the repercussions he faces for his disloyalty.
Even if the setup is basic, the execution leaves much to be desired. How credible is it that Crane would only entrust Jones with his secret, more so given that the two of them had never met before this? Why would Block not only befriend Jones but go to the extent of sharing his past with her, right down to how he ended up working as Robinson’s fixer all these years? And just how convincing is it that a secret government programme would only have two agents attached to it? Though lauded as a co-creator of Netflix’s ‘Ozark’, Williams has hardly established himself as a director even in the earlier Neeson flick ‘Honest Thief’, and ‘Blacklight’ further underscores how lacking he is.
It all ultimately comes down to Neeson, who to his credit still tries to inject the material with his trademark blend of sincerity and ruthlessness. Indeed, it is always a pleasure to see Neeson do his thing, even if it ends up being a sad reminder of just how much more the actor is capable of. We should add too that age has caught up with the actor especially in his more recent films, and those expecting Neeson to execute the same kind of moves he did in his earlier forays will probably be disappointed; except for one or two scenes, Neeson mostly shoots or drives during the film, so much so that the highlight of the movie is in fact a vehicular chase involving a garbage truck.
Still, despite Neeson’s presence, ‘Blacklight’ is a let-down. The pace is leaden, the plotting is lazy, and the action is at best serviceable. Had it not been for Neeson, we wonder if the movie would even have been made; but that said, we also wonder why Neeson would sign up for such dreck, especially since there is really no need for him to prove himself in this genre anymore. Unless the role offers an exciting spin on his current persona, we’d advise Neeson to let this particular set of skills fade into the black and start reclaiming his status as a critically acclaimed actor who could play characters as disparate and complex as Oskar Schindler, Rob Roy MacGregor and Alfred Kinsey.
Movie Rating:
(It's high time for Liam Neeson to retire his particular set of skills, and to start reclaiming his status as a critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated actor)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Mystery
Director: Liu Xunzimo
Cast: Andrew Yin, Deng Jia Jia, Yu En Tai, Yang Hao Yu
Runtime: 2 hr 4 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 January 2022
Synopsis: During the Republican era, a group of frustrated filmmakers has gathered together to make a movie out of a huge case that once rattled the city of Shanghai in the hopes that it would turn into a huge sensation and make them famous. However, they never expected that the “murderer” would be in their midsts and that the truth behind the case would be far more bizarre than their fictional movie plot.
Movie Review:
Few would expect when it was first released that the low-budget suspense comedy ‘Be Somebody’ would become a bona fide box-office hit, not least given how fickle and unpredictable the Mainland Chinese moviegoing audience has been over the past couple of years. That alone should pique your interest in Liu Xunzimo’s filmmaking debut, which though not without flaws, is arguably one of the more original stories we’ve seen in recent years.
At first, ‘Be Somebody’ comes off as a Cluedo mystery, as blacklisted scriptwriter Li Jiahui (Yin Zheng) is ushered into a car and brought to a gilded mansion at the invitation of bigshot movie producer Lu Ziye (Chen Minghao). Li finds that he is not the only one who has been invited; joining him are B-movie director-for-hire Zheng Qianli (Yu Entai), scandal-plagued actress Su Mengdie (Deng Jiajia), former silent-era leading man Guan Jingnian (Yang Haoyu) and Hollywood stuntman Chen Xiaoda (Ke Da), all of whom Lu says have been assembled to plot their comeback.
It isn’t long before Lu reveals that they are in the very mansion where the authorities had months back discovered the gruesome murder of three gangland chiefs; and just as well, it follows soon after that Li will observe the chains around purported case expert Qi Leshan’s (Zhang Benyu) ankles, deducing therefore that Lu had in fact broken the suspect out of custody in order to advise on the conceptualisation of their true-crime drama, notwithstanding that Qi remains under the watchful eye of police escort Hai Zhaofeng (Qin Xiaoxian).
Not surprisingly, there is more to the case than meets the eye. Qi turns out to be a former soldier, though we won’t say more here about why he had committed such a heinous crime. Various parts of Qi’s account of what happened don’t seem to add up, including how he had remained inside the scene of the crime while the police spent a good half hour trying to saw the lock to get in or even how he came to be at the mansion in the first place. It is the inquisitive Li who pushes against the ostensible facts of the case to try to reconstruct the events of that fateful evening, and who also turns out to be the brains, heart and conscience of the whole lot.
To Liu’s credit, he and his co-writers (Chen Si, Zhang and Ke) pack the narrative with sufficient twists and turns to keep you engaged all the way through. Like any good mystery, this one pays attention to the details, and it is these details that enable the plotting to overturn our assumptions of the case one by one. But more than just a well-staged game of Cluedo, ‘Be Somebody’ gains additional resonance by sneaking in its own commentary about the state of the moviemaking business in Mainland China today, especially in the quarrels between Li and Zheng about how the latter had sold out his fellow artists by pandering to the market, capital and the government.
That said, the movie isn’t without its flaws, and these are apparent right from the get-go; these include a stodgy beginning that is both needlessly stagy and theatrical, and characters (such as Su and Guan) who seem to be more conveniently than conscientiously present. It also takes some time before the narrative gears get into motion, but thankfully when they do, they turn like clockwork. It is also true that while the cast do a competent job carrying the movie, they hardly add much heft to the roles that they play.
Still, it is rare to see an original work like this from Mainland China these days, which owing to heavy government intervention, has since embraced jingoism for sheer necessity. There is refreshingly no such undertone here, and in fact the undertone is probably a sly but gentle dig on the current state of affairs, so on that count, ‘Be Somebody’ deserves to be seen by more than somebody outside its home country. At its core, this is an intriguing murder mystery which is surprisingly well-paced and well-plotted, so on account of its wit and storytelling, we dare say this is one game of Cluedo you’d thoroughly enjoy..
Movie Rating:
(With wit, originality and a dash of social commentary, this suspense comedy is one of the more original Mainland China films we've seen in recent time)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall, and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and '80s, Tammy Faye and her husband Jim Bakker,rose from humble beginnings to create the world's largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance, and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn't long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Televangelists might not be a thing here in sunny Singapore but it’s definitely a booming business in the States since the 1950’s. Based on the 2000 documentary of the same name, The Eyes of Tammy Faye chronicles the rise and downfall of televangelists power-couple, Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye. Never mind the fact that you have never heard of them but this biographical drama will more or less piqued your curiosity.
Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) and Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain) is a passionate Christian couple who started out driving around America to help and inspire Christian teachings through songs and puppetry. After some slight disagreement with a conservative television network, the couple decides to start their own PTL (Praise the Lord) network which turned out to be a successful money-making venture.
Despite having a hand in helping the poor and struggling communities, the media starts to become more sceptical over PTL finances. At the same time, the relationship between Jim and Tammy starts to crack with Jim’s infidelity and his ambitious attempt to build a Christian theme park being part of the reasons.
Expectations are high given such a flashy topic on hand but director Michael Showalter and writer Abe Sylvia squandered it all on Tammy Faye’s larger-than-life personality than a proper insight into the insights and lurid details on how they became televangelists with over 20 million viewers worldwide. Even Jim’s business plans into expanding his Christian empire also seems wobbly. Not to mention his supposed homosexuality relationship with his assistant.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye covers so much ground but none of it sticks to the mind after more than two hours of watching Jim preaches and Tammy singing her lungs out. Apparently, the biography does no justice to the antics of the Bakkers except a fleeting “best of” display of their misguided affair with God.
Still, Oscar nominated Jessica Chastain puts in an award-winning, powerhouse performance as Tammy Faye. Constantly holding on to a can of Diet Coke and under layers of freakish makeup and likely latex, Chastain effortlessly steals the limelight from her co-star Andrew Garfield though honestly, he is ever the consummate actor. Chastain’s Tammy Faye seems liked a honest to God’s servant, spreading His good words and making sure the LGBT has a fair share in this world. She refuses to be the plain woman hiding behind the husband. She is genuinely a strong woman who hopes to change the world through God.
And perhaps this is the sole factor in the screenplay that stands out. That is making sure that the audiences remember the character of Tammy Faye. Does the disgraced televangelist deserve her eventual downfall? Or is she a mere innocent victim in a bigger scheme of things?
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Adam Nee and Aaron Nee
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nuñez, Patti Harrison, Bowen Yang
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References and Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 April 2022
Synopsis: Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, "Dash." While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city's treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it's lost forever.
Movie Review:
Sandra Bullock is a lucky woman. Remember the rom com The Proposal (2009) which she co starred with Ryan Rynolds? There was a hilarious scene where a naked Bullock slips and falls onto an equally naked Reynolds. She was probably the envy of many women around the world.
Thirteen years later, the 57 year old actress goes on to star in this action adventure comedy co starring Channing Tatum. One scene that will go down history involves Tatum stripping down after he gets covered in leeches, and he gets Bullock's help to remove them. After removing leeches from Tatum's butt, he turns and asks him to make sure there aren’t any leeches on his front side. One can only imagine what the actress saw up close during the filming of this sequence.
In the movie, Bullock plays Loretta Sage, an archaeologist turned romance novelist who doesn’t enjoy what she is doing anymore, having to write books which leave women fantasising about going on a buckswashling adventures with a beefy dude. The hunk that graces her novels is Alan Caprison (a fitting role played by Tatum), a tall and handsome model who wears a long blonde wig and dons a loose and unbuttoned shirt at Sage’s latest book launch.
After a boo boo at the event, Sage gets abducted by a villainous English media tycoon (Daniel Radcliffe in yet another unconventional role so that people can recognise his diversity after the Harry Potter days), and taken to a forgotten island to look for a treasure. Caprison arrives on the island and the two embark on an adventure that imitates the stories penned by Sage.
Directed by the Nee brothers (Aaron and Adam), this 112 minute movie is a breeze to sit through, thanks to the easy and winning chemistry between Bullock and Tatum. With credentials like Miss Congeniality (2000) and Two Weeks Notice (2002), Bullock has proven herself to be one of Hollywood’s favourite romantic comedy actresses. Her latest work shows how she commands the screen with her effortless charm. Although Tatum is 16 years younger, there’s no awkwardness when the two are paired on screen. Furthermore, the charming 41 year old actor has gotten quite a bit of street cred with his varied performances in movies like White House Down (2013), The Hateful Eight (2015) and Logan Lucky (2017). Hence, he pulls off the character of a dishy, dim witted but kind hearted male model really well.
While the movie may not be the most exciting tomb raiding action adventure flick or the sweetest romance comedy you’ve seen, it has enough to make you laugh (just imagine Tatum walking on stage in all seriousness as his novel persona), feel anxious for the protagonists when they are trapped in tight circumstances and go “aww” when they put aside their differences to eventually become an item. The storyline is predictable, but we aren’t expecting this movie to win any awards. Plus, there is a cameo appearance by Brad Pitt, and he is a scene stealer which makes this crowd pleaser a nice popcorn movie to enjoy from beginning till end.
Movie Rating:
(Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum's winning chemistry and charm make this popcorn movie an easy crowd-pleaser)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano
Runtime: 2 hr 3 mins
Rating: R21 (Some Homosexual Content)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 February 2022
Synopsis: Two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn't regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.
Movie Review:
‘Parallel Mothers’ represents both the Almodóvar that we are familiar with and love and the Almodóvar that we have hitherto not seen. On one hand, the story which the title refers to of two women who give birth almost simultaneously in a Madrid hospital is signature Almodóvar; on the other, the subject of the Spanish Civil War which bookends the film sees the filmmaker at his most political, confronting the shadow that the Spanish Civil War continues to cast on his country as well as his people’s psyche. Both are intriguing on their own, and the beauty is how Almodóvar has combined both tales into a poignant meditation on loss, grief and reconciliation.
Straddling both stories is successful magazine photographer Janis, played by seven-time Almodóvar collaborator Penelope Cruz. Janis is introduced at the start of the film shooting the handsome forensic anthropologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde) for an article; at the end of it, she approaches him for help to exhume the mass grave in her ancestors’ village where her grandfather’s body was buried. The couple also hook up soon after, and after a brief scene of quick, breathless sex, Janis is shown in hospital pregnant with his child. It is there she meets Ana (Milena Smit), a teenager whom she shares the maternity ward with.
Over the rest of the first two acts, Almodóvar lets the relationship between Janis and Ana take centre stage, as we follow them through friendship, love, deceit and resolve. To say too much would suck the fun out of navigating Almodóvar’s deceptively light narrative, but let’s just say that there are reversals, revelations, surprises and coincidences, including if the child whom Janis had brought home from hospital is indeed her daughter. It may sound like soap opera romp, but Almodóvar writes and directs the proceedings with his usual style, wit and feeling, creating a thoroughly engrossing drama tinged with comedy and even psycho-sexual elements.
The last act though returns the film back to the subject of the Civil War, bringing Arturo back to the forefront to finally commence the excavation which he had promised Janis. It is as much a bittersweet reunion for the couple, who had split after Arturo decided when Janis had given birth to stay with his wife battling cancer at that time, as much as it is a sobering reminder of the collective history which they are both a part of whether personally, professionally or culturally. Like we said, this is the first time that Almodóvar has directly addressed the trauma of Franco’s regime, and it is to his credit that he never feels the need to overstate the significance of that episode.
Holding it all together with grace, compassion and poise is Cruz, who slips effortlessly through various emotional registers over the twists and turns of the story. Cruz is arresting to watch as Janis, and for grounding the film from start to finish, has been deservedly rewarded with a Best Actress Oscar nomination this year. Just as excellent is relative newcomer Smit, who acquits herself well as Cruz’s complement, transforming from a fragile teenager into a confident mother through the vicissitudes of Almodóvar’s storytelling. Almodóvar fans will also be glad to see some of his other regular actresses in supporting parts, including Rossy de Palma and Julieta Serrano.
For being both vintage and newfound Almodóvar, ‘Parallel Mothers’ is riveting in its own right, and shows yet again how the veteran filmmaker is capable of evolving his craft in satisfying ways. All the touchstones of Almodóvar’s previous works are there, be it his focus (or some say fascination) on mothers, sudden twists of fate, or other stylistic touches such as the use of bright colours and a bristling, thriller-esque score (courtesy of composer Alberto Igelsias), and therefore the pleasures of sitting through a soaring melodrama. Even though the historical context won’t resonate as much as it would for his home audience, there is much to savour, revel and ponder about in his latest work of aching yet sublime beauty.
Movie Rating:
(There is both familiar and new in this riveting portrait of loss, grief and reconcilation from a still-masterful Almodovar)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Xing WenXiong
Cast: Ma Li, Wei Xiang, Chen MingHao, Zhou Dayong, Huang Cailun, Ai Lun
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 February 2022
Synopsis: Wei Cheng Gong (Wei Xiang) was convinced by actress, Mi Lan (Ma Li) to pursuit his acting dream and accidentally got himself into dangerous scam. However, he was lucky to unconsciously apply his convincingly "excellent" acting talent and luck to get himself out of troubles. Eventually, he felt confused when he realised the "acting journey" was just a lie. What should he do?
Movie Review:
Stories about mistaken identities make for great comedy. If done well, the silly setups and the unintentional consequences are bound to make people laugh, and in the process, worry that the lie will fall through. This is very much the essence of this Mainland Chinese comedy which was released in its home country over the Lunar New Year period. Given its fun genre, it was no wonder the film made a healthy profit during the festive season.
A remake of The Magic Hour, a 2008 Japanese movie directed by Kōki Mitani, this Chinese version does a decent job of keeping viewers entertained for 110 minutes. The protagonist is Wei Cheng Gong (Wei Xiang in a role that’s easy to like), a struggling actor who has been playing extras in movies. The literal Chinese translation of the character’s name means “yet to succeed”, which pretty much sums up his showbiz career.
When an established actress Milan (Ma Li channeling effortless charm) and her director brother Miller (Ai Lun) get into trouble with mobsters, the duo come up with an ingenious plan to get Cheng Gong to pretend to be a legendary hitman, convincing him that it is part of a blockbuster that requires him to give the performance of his life.
And you can expect the kinds of sequences that follow – with Cheng Gong committed to his role as a vicious hitman (cue exaggerated expressions that we often see in gangster movies), while Milan and Miller trying hard to not blow their cover by pretending that every real life situation (with real guns!) is a movie set. It is amusing to watch the scenes play out as you wonder when Cheng Gong will realise he is part of a big con job (and you know it will eventually happen).
The actors play their characters well, and thanks to the well paced editing, there are enough funny scenes throughout the movie to keep viewers engaged. There are a number of laugh out loud moments, when Cheng Gong takes his ‘performance’ so seriously, and the rest of the characters have to keep up without the antagonists finding out. Those familiar with how movies are filmed will identify with these sequences, as you chuckle at how Cheng Gong is obsessed with close up shots (so that he can show off his ‘acting’) and wondering why there is no need for second takes. The use of green screens in many movies now is also made fun of.
Amidst the laughs, there Is also a heartwarming sequence involving Cheng Gong’s parents who are ecstatic about their son’s big break acting opposite Milan. As the scene progresses, a nice twist happens and you’ll be reminded of the noble role our parents play in our lives.
The movie also celebrates filmmaking, and not just in the form of inspired scenes of John Woo films, Western spaghetti flicks and the iconic sequence in Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s Singing in the Rain (1952). How Cheng Gong is told to improvise his role without a script, and how he will not see the production crew, is possibly a thing for many actors now as they take on what some may deem as method acting. And it is possibly widely accepted now too, and may even win actors some awards.
Movie Rating:
(An enjoyable and agreeable comedy that is high on laughs)
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) thought they were on the precipice of life’s biggest moments – marriage, kids, and houses in the suburbs – until their respective partners dumped them. Horrified to learn that the loves of their lives have already moved on, Peter and Emma hatch a hilarious plan to win back their exes with unexpected results.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The fresh pairing of Charlie Day and Jenny Slate makes I Want You Back a decent watch this Valentine’s Day. By decent, we mean it functions as a modest harmless rom-com.
Emma (Slate) is left heartbroken after her boyfriend, Noah (Scott Eastwood) finds that she is lacking a direction in her life and left her for a Bakery owner, Ginny (Clark Backo). Peter (Day) on the other hand is left heartbroken after his girlfriend, Anna (Gina Rodriguez) broke up with him after finding love in the form of her artsy colleague, Logan (Manny Jacinto).
Their unexpected breakups however brought Emma and Peter together as platonic friends because somehow they shared the same office building. Calling themselves "The Sadness Sisters", the two heartbroken lovebirds decide to hatch a plan to win back their exes by breaking up their new relationships respectively. Peter registers at the gym where Noah works at and attempts to convince him that Emma is the woman for him while Emma volunteers at the school where Anna and Logan teaches and begins to win over Logan by pretending to be in love with theatre.
In the hands of less capable filmmakers, I Want You Back might easily turned into a rowdy, raunchy comedy. There’s a hilarious hot tub jumping scene and a subsequent awkward threesome that nearly falls into the category. Fortunately, director Jason Orley and his screenwriters are more interested in developing the various characters into breathing, believable human beings than a bunch of clowning goons. Peter is a goody-two shoes who hopes to one day come up with his own affordable, livable retirement homes and Emma is a big-hearted lady who simply needs someone to believe in her.
Of course, I Want You Back has no lack of romance clichés such as watching a movie that is three decades old (that’s a funny dig at a Nicolas Cage movie by the way), heart to heart talk at a diner and confessing their dreams to each other. Typical sweet romantic stuff where the supposedly meant together protagonists has yet developed or realized their feelings for each other. Despite being a tad overlong, there’s a genuine chemistry between Day and Slate that actually makes the whole affair endearing and charming.
Just like any typical Valentine’s Day, you might not exactly remember I Want You Back the day after. But for all it’s worth, the rom-com is perfect for a night of cuddling and champagne at home. Don’t forget the roses as well.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
|
IVAN REITMAN (1946 - 2022)Posted on 14 Feb 2022 |
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, James Hong, Harry Shum Jr.
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Homosexual Content and Sexual References)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 March 2022
Synopsis: Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, Everything Everywhere All At Once is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to finish her taxes.
Movie Review:
Thanks to Marvel, the idea of the multiverse has taken on a life of its own in modern popular culture. Not everyone is understandably enamored by it, even as Marvel is betting some of its most prominent franchises in Phase 4.0 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on it. And yet, as proof that there is plenty of creative license within that idea alone, along comes ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, an expectedly messy but undeniably exuberant and even poignant science-fiction action comedy from a pair of filmmakers whose big-screen debut had Daniel Radcliffe play a flatulent corpse.
That same disregard of the laws of probability, plausibility and just plain coherence is in ample display here in the sophomore film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schinert – otherwise known as ‘Daniels’. Structured in three parts, namely ‘Everything’, ‘Everywhere’ and ‘All at Once’, the dizzying film finds its centre in the middle-aged Chinese immigrant Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), who is not only responsible for the threat ricocheting across all the various universes at the same time, but will also single-handedly save them all from a mysterious villain known as Jobu Tupaki.
Understanding both these circumstances requires a good grasp of Evelyn’s life as it stands. Her marriage to the amiable but dull husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) is on the rocks, the latter having filed for a divorce and is simply waiting for the time to hand her the papers. She’s busy planning a birthday party for her overbearing dad (James Hong), from whom she’s hiding the fact that her teenage daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is a lesbian. And to top it all off, she is under scrutiny by probably the most exacting auditor Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) at the Internal Revenue Service, who is questioning why a karaoke machine is considered a business expense at her laundromat shop.
Things start to get weird when Evelyn is visited just before she meets Deirdre by a Waymond from another universe, who hands her a set of three instructions to perform her first ‘verse-jump’ and when she does, warns her that she is in imminent danger from Jobu. To save herself as well as the fate of the multi-verse, Evelyn must train herself to jump between universes to absorb the special powers of her many, many fellow Evelyns; that includes, among others, Evelyn the Peking Opera singer, Evelyn the Hong Kong movie star, Evelyn the woman with hot dogs for fingers, and last but not least, Evelyn the teppanyaki chef.
True to its title, Daniels throws everything, everywhere, all at once at his audience. How else do we describe why the leaps from universe to universe consist of such crazy acts like inflicting paper cuts on oneself, making photocopies of one’s nether-regions, and using trophies as butt plugs? Or how the universes consist of one where Evelyn the movie star has an evocative scene with a dashing Waymond not unlike Wong Kar-wai’s ‘In the Mood For Love’, another where Evelyn the chef has a fellow colleague with a raccoon on his head, and yet another where Evelyn and Joy are pinatas at a child’s birthday party?
Even as it zips through these alternate universes, much of the action takes place within the corridors and cubicles of the I.R.S. office, where Daniels lets the imagination of Andy and Brian Le run wild in their choreography. Among the highlights are a jaw-dropping early sequence where Waymond wields his fanny pack like nanchucks against four I.R.S. security guards, another where Evelyn takes on a pant-less guard wearing a butt plug, and yet another where Evelyn has to fend off a frequent laundromat customer she nicknames Big Nose (Jenny Slate) who uses her leashed Pomeranian like a savage sidekick. It is outrageous all right, and as inventive as the inter-dimensional portal-hopping may be, there is also no denying that it can get pretty hectic and even exhausting over the course of nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Thankfully, the last act reveals that there is method to the madness, or to be more precise, purpose to the pandemonium. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that the relationship between Evelyn and Joy is both the cause and the cure, and putting aside their misunderstandings in order that mother and daughter rediscover their love for each other is ultimately how the rift both physically and metaphysically can be healed. There is genuine emotional heft here, but besides sentimentality, the revelation allows the whole enterprise to take on a deeper meaning about centering on the things that matter amidst the hyper-activity of our sensory overloaded world.
Holding it all together is Yeoh, who almost missed out on the role until Daniels decided to reconceive the lead originally intended for Jackie Chan for her. Yeoh is absolutely magnificent here, mixing action, comedy and drama with a radiant and powerful charisma to match the dazzling opportunity of a showcase that she has been given. The supporting cast is equally excellent, including Quan as the tender heart of the film, Hsu with the right balance of angst and sadness, and Curtis topping it off with just the right demented comic edge as Evelyn’s nemesis.
Truth be told, we weren’t quite fans of the multiverse before this, and we still aren’t crazy about it. Like we said, there is no doubt this chaotic, funny, frenzied, sometimes exhilarating and often exasperating movie has its unique charms, but likewise it is also wildly over-the-top, excessive and absolutely unapologetic about it. It will quite surely go down as a cult classic, and even though we cannot quite say we loved it, we appreciate how it gave Yeoh a rare leading role to shine like the A-list star she deserves to be. We’d just warn you to get ready for a relentless assault on the senses, for it is ultimately as faithful to its title as it can be.
Movie Rating:
(It comes at you with everything, from everywhere, all at once, but this messy sci-fi action comedy has an irrepressible exuberance and unexpected poignancy, as well as a peerless lead performance by Michelle Yeoh)
Review by Gabriel Chong
| « Prev | 452 | 453 | 454 | 455 | 456 | 457 | 458 | 459 | 460 | 461 | 462 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.