Genre: CG Animation
Director: Angus MacLane
Cast: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, Uzo Aduba, Mary McDonald- Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Efren Ramirez, Keira Hairston
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Mature Content)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/PixarsLightyear
Opening Day: 16 June 2022
Synopsis: A sci-fi action adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the hero who inspired the toy, “Lightyear” follows the legendary Space Ranger after he’s marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth alongside his commander and their crew. As Buzz tries to find a way back home through space and time, he’s joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat, Sox. Complicating matters and threatening the mission is the arrival of Zurg, an imposing presence with an army of ruthless robots and a mysterious agenda.
Movie Review:
No one faults a Pixar movie. Ever. But the first thing that came to this reviewer’s mind after watching the 26th feature film from the studio was – why didn’t the much more superior productions before this (Pete Doctor’s Soul, Enrico Casarosa’s Luca and Domee Shi’s Turning Red) get a theatrical release? The three titles were screened in cinemas in countries without Disney+, but were released direct to the streaming platform in countries where the service was available.
Then this writer remembered, this spin off of the beloved Toy Story film series, which also serves as an origin story for Buzz Lightyear, features the voice of Chris Evans. And we know getting such a big name on board isn’t going to be cheap. Plus, this is the Toy Story franchise we’re talking about, and you can be sure marketing folks will be going all out to get people to watch the movie on the big screen. In fact, this is the first Pixar film to be filmed in
We aren’t saying that this isn’t a good movie (it’s from Pixar, remember?), because it is a solid animated film that does what it’s supposed to do. The filmmakers set things straight at the beginning of the 105 minute movie. The opening title card reads: “In 1995, a boy named Andy got a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday. It was from his favorite movie. This is that movie.”
And then we plunge into a space where we see Buzz Lightyear (Evans) and his partner Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) on a special mission for space rangers. No thanks to Buzz’s stubborn personality, an incident happens and everyone is stuck on a hostile planet. Buzz then makes it his responsibility to uncover a mysterious energy source (but of course) that will get the crew off the planet. Things get interesting when we realise every failed attempt to achieve hyperspace (which supposedly takes four minutes) means four years would have passed back on the planet. Are we talking about multiverses in space here?
When Buzz finally succeeds, Alisha has passed on and this is a bittersweet moment we loved. The next segment of the movie sees the space ranger teaming up with a team of rookies. They include Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer), a naïve recruit Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi channeling effortless humour) and a paroled convict Darby Steel (Dale Soules). There is also a robotic cat Sox (Peter Sohn) which serves as Buzz’s companion, who is easily the star of the movie – you’d want to own any Sox merchandise, and wonder why Andy didn’t pester his mother to get him one.
The planet is now controlled by a bad guy named Zurg, and we get to find out who he really is towards the end of the movie. While the story tries to inject a twist that sounds conceptually cool, there seems to be something missing, something that has made us love Pixar titles like WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015).
Angus MacLane, who co-directed Finding Dory (2016), directed and co-wrote this technically competent movie, and it features a wonderful score by Michael Giacchino. There are also fun references to the Toy Story movies. But because we have been spoilt by the emotionally relatable films that Pixar has made, we wished this sci fi adventure could have contained more heart and magic.
Movie Rating:
(Plunge into a space adventure that is entertaining and fun, but could have gone to infinity and beyond if there was a bit more heart and magic)
Review by John Li
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Ben Foster, Vicky Krieps, Billy Magnussen, Peter Sarsgaardm Dar Zuzovsky, John Leguizamo, Danny DeVito
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Some Nudity)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 April 2022
Synopsis: Based on the book “Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano” by Alan Scott Haft. THE SURVIVOR is based on the true story of Harry Haft (Ben Foster), who is driven by his love of a woman to survive the unimaginable horrors of the German concentration camps. An SS Officer (Billy Magnussen) forces Harry to fight to the death against fellow prisoners in gruesome gladiatorial boxing matches. Harry finally escapes and makes it to New York. Haunted by his memories and guilt over his survival, he fights boxing legends, like Rocky Marciano (Anthony Molinari), in the hopes that his name will get noticed and he will find his first love again.
Movie Review:
It is easy to celebrate the tenacity of a Jewish survivor from the concentration camps, perhaps even more so one from the most infamous of them all, Auschwitz. Though so named to refer to its lead character’s escape, veteran director Barry Levinson’s drama doesn’t so much laud his triumph than to question at what cost that came at for Polish Jew Harry Haft.
Best known for being a lightweight boxer in post-World War II New York who had introduced himself as ‘the pride of Poland, the survivor of Auschwitz’, Haft’s biggest accomplishment was withstanding three rounds against future champ Rocky Marciano. That this climax of Haft’s boxing career comes right smack in the middle of the film demonstrates how it really isn’t the focus of ‘The Survivor’; rather, as we learn, boxing was ultimately a means of coming to terms with his past.
Over the course of two hours, Levinson and screenwriter Justine Juel Gilmer outline the depth of Harry’s guilt. On one level, Harry feels obliged to find out just what happened to Leah (Dar Zuzovsky), a girl he loved as a young adult whom he was powerless to stop from being taken by the Nazis. On another level, Harry is haunted by how he had fought other Jews in bouts held for the entertainment of Nazi officers in Auschwitz, after being handpicked by a young S.S. officer Schneider (Billy Magnussen) who had watched him come to the rescue of a friend Jean (Laurent Papot) in the camps against a German guard.
Through interlocked flashbacks from a family vacation in Tybee Island, Georgia, whose significance will only be apparent late into the film, Levinson reveals the layers behind Harry’s grief and remorse. Both on Harry’s shell-shocked countenance and on the faces of the fellow prisoners watching the gladiatorial fights in horror, Levinson portrays the gravity of Harry’s decision to brutalise his comrades in order to survive the camps, as well as the visceral and mental toll it inevitably exerts on him.
As Harry, Foster is phenomenal, committing not just physically but emotionally to bring to life one of the most challenging roles of his career. Foster’s physical transformation is humbling, first losing about 40 pounds to play the nearly-emancipated Auschwitz incarnation of his character, and then bulking up to play Harry as a professional boxer after the war. And proving himself once again as one of this generation’s finest character actors, Foster brings across Harry’s guilt, anger, loss and hope with absolute candour and poignance. Foster has great assist from the likes of Danny DeVito, John Leguizamo and Peter Sarsgaard, but this is Foster’s show and he carries the show from start to finish.
It is also equally true that ‘The Survivor’ is probably Levinson’s finest work in a while. Granted that the director of ‘Rain Man’ and ‘Wag the Dog’ hasn’t been as prolific in recent years, but this Holocaust drama offers the sort of complex and nuanced character study which he does beautifully and affectingly. That he refuses to follow convention as either a sports drama or a romantic saga is ultimately to the film’s benefit; in choosing neither to idolise or demonise its lead character, Levinson stays true to his intent to tell the story of Harry Haft as a survivor, for better and for worse.
Movie Rating:
(Appriopriately intimate and sobering, this Holocaust drama of one Auschwitz survivor examines the cost of staying alive amidst terror and atrocity)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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SKYWALKER SOUNDPosted on 06 May 2022 |
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Bjork, Ethan Hawke
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins
Rating: NC16 (Sexual Scenes and Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 June 2022
Synopsis: Young Prince Amleth is on the cusp of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy’s mother. Fleeing his island kingdom by boat, the child vows revenge. Two decades later, Amleth is a Viking berserker raiding Slavic villages, where a seeress reminds him of his vow: avenge his father, save his mother, kill his uncle. Traveling on a slave ship to Iceland, Amleth infiltrates his uncle’s farm with the help of Olga, an enslaved Slavic woman — and sets out to honor his vow.
Movie Review:
If you are a fan of the 38-year-old American director Robert Eggers, you’d likely be eagerly anticipating this bloody Viking revenge saga that Eggers had conceived with its lead star Alexander Skarsgård. Indeed, it is not hard to see how Eggers’ fascination with ritual, runic mysticism and physical mortification would be ripe for a story based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which centuries later trickled down into the tale of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
And true enough, ‘The Northman’ is exactly what you would expect from Eggers’ exactitude with the material. The mise-en-scene is stunning, in particular the attention to historical detail of the costumes and sets. The score is performed with historically accurate instruments like the bone flute and the tagelharpa, a lyre with strings made of horsehair. The dialogue brims with rich, flavourful idioms, and the pronunciation is thoughtfully deliberate. Even the intertitles that establish the scene changes are in runics, reinforcing the extent of research that has gone into the making of the movie.
Like his earlier ‘The Witch’ and ‘The Lighthouse’, ‘The Northman’ boasts similar hypnotic visuals through the use of firelight, shadows and gray-black imagery. Thanks to the bravura camera work by Jarin Blaschke, Eggers’ feverishly inventive imagination is brought to vivid life. From an early sequence of a hallucinatory pagan ritual that allows Amleth to glimpse at the Tree of Kings, to an encounter with Bjork’s “seeress”, to the climactic sword fight at the lip of an active volcano, and to the final scene of Amleth entering the gates of Valhalla atop an airborne Valkyrie, the images are unquestionably elaborate and arresting, demonstrating yet again Eggers’ confident grasp of aesthetics and atmosphere.
Eggers’ conviction to the material is matched by that of his cast. Skarsgård, who had been developing this project before Eggers and had brought it to him, not only bulks up hugely for the role but has trained himself in everything from horseback riding to sword- and axe-fighting to Japanese Butoh dance. Applying his trademark intensity to magnetic effect, Skarsgård shares tender chemistry with Anna Taylor-Joy as the slave Olga whose fate will become entwined with Amleth’s, oozes menace with Kidman’s slyly subversive turn as Amleth’s duplicitous mother Gudrun, and goes full-blown mano-a-mano with Claes Bang as Amleth’s treacherous uncle Fjölnir.
For all its strengths though, it should be said that the story is both simple and familiar. In one sentence, it is about a young prince who seeks to avenge his father, the king, whose killer has usurped the throne and married the prince’s mother. Said prince in this case is Amleth, who after witnessing the death of his father King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) at the hands of his uncle Fjölnir, returns years later to Fjölnir’s Icelandic homestead for vengeance. Amleth finds an unexpected ally in Olga, who will not only conspire to achieve his end, but also fall in love with each other. Even though we’ve learnt from Eggers’ earlier films that story is secondary, the dramatic sameness ultimately diminishes the movie’s impact.
Still, there is no denying Eggers’ ambition, or for that matter his achievement in making a visually stunning Norse epic. As he has proven, Eggers is a visual auteur with the vision and talent to transport his audience into a bygone period of folklore, and here he immerses his audience into a foreboding time and place of equal parts mystical Valkyrie-and-Valhalla dreams and gritty real-world nightmares. We’d wish he had invested more time in the storytelling, but ‘The Northman’ remains a feast for the senses, a visceral treat both grand and gruesome not least in its uncompromising violence. If anything, it cements Eggers’ credibility as a filmmaker of raw immediacy, with ‘The Northman’ an unquestioned addition to the track record of his ferocious folk-horror cinema.
Movie Rating:
(Narratively simple but visually hypnotic, 'The Northman' is Robert Eggers at his folk-horror best)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror
Director: Hanna Bergholm
Cast: Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä, Jani Volanen, Reino Nordin, Saija Lentonen
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 May 2022
Synopsis: 12-year-old gymnast, Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ presents their family’s idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. One day, after finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.
Movie Review:
Amidst a season of sequels and superheroes, it is truly rare to find a film as original as ‘Hatching’. That alone is reason to catch this Finnish body horror in cinemas, in addition to the critical acclaim it has garnered since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Like most memorable horrors, this one contains meanings that reverberate beyond its story, but director Hanna Bergholm never lets its message come at the expense of a good old story.
As this one goes, ‘Hatching’ begins with a brilliant sequence that starts off with what appears to be a perfect family of four and ends off leaving no doubt that it is all but a façade. In particular, the disquiet lies with the unforgiving mother (Sophia Heikkilä), who when handed the crow that unwittingly disrupts her filming of their Instagram-ready existence for her ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ blog, snaps its head without so much as batting an eyelid.
Said mother has ideas of her 12-year-old daughter Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) as a world-class gymnast, but Tinja falls slightly short; to make matters worse, she faces stiff competition from her neighbour Reetta (Ida Määttänen), and let’s just say it won’t end prettily for Reetta or the latter’s French bulldog. Besides her mother’s domineering ways, Tinja is also disturbed by the affair her mother is having with the family handyman Tero (Reino Nordin), which she realises later that her father (Jani Volanen) is aware of but has chosen to accept tacitly.
Tinja’s fragile existence is upended when she finds an egg in the nearby woods, brings it home to nest it inside her giant teddy bear, and then watches it hatch to reveal a winged, screeching, skin-and-bones creature with pleading eyes, spindly legs and a ferociously-toothed beak. Instead of getting rid of it, Tinja consciously nurtures it, feeding it in secret and coaxing it as it grows into a physical manifestation of Tinja herself that she nicknames Alli (after a creepy Finnish cradle song).
It isn’t hard to guess that Alli becomes Tinja’s expression of her darkest impulses, fears and even grudges, but screenwriter Ilja Rautsi layers complication after complication for Tjina and Alli to navigate. The extent of their psychic connection is revealed in a grisly encounter that shows how vicious a person’s id can get if left unchecked. A subsequent episode demonstrates the tension between a person’s id and superego, not least when the former acts out of sheer jealousy. And then there is the climax itself, which unfolds as an inevitable showdown between a person and her doppelganger for which only one will ultimately survive.
At a lean 90 minutes, the pace is taut and tight, with perfectly executed moments of terror anchored by a strong emotional core, thanks to a well-defined dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Those who love allegories will find in here themes of motherhood, perfectionism, puberty and suppression, each of which will resonate at different points of the movie; and perhaps most compellingly, it is the potentially destructive impact of unrealistic parental expectation which will stay with you long after the credits roll, which the brilliant final shot reinforces is at the heart of Alli’s evolution.
There is much to savour in this often surprisingly and delightfully original creature horror, which like we said, comes as a breath of fresh air amidst a busy summer season of comfort blockbusters. In addition to their inspiration, Bergholm and Rautsi also deserve credit for spotting newcomer Solalinna from a nationwide audition of over 1,200 girls, who proves absolutely sensational in the dual roles of Tinja and Alli. Together with the subtly terrifying Heikkilä, the mother-daughter relationship is absolutely captivating to watch, and amidst the grotesqueness, ensures this fable is equal parts fascinating and sobering.
Movie Rating:
(Gripping from start to finish, this unique Finnish horror is both a richly satisfying thriller and thought-provoking fable)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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BOOK REVIEW #45 ON AIR: UNTOLD STORIES FROM CALDECOTT HILL Book ReviewPosted on 10 May 2022 |
Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Lee Sang-yong
Cast: Don Lee, Son Sukku, Choi Guy-hwa, Heo Dong- won, Ha Joon, Park Ji-hwan
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 26 May 2022
Synopsis: 4 years after the events of Garibong district round up operation, Geumcheon Police’s Major Crimes Unit is given a mission to repatriate a fugitive who fled to Vietnam. Beast cop Ma Seok-do (Don LEE) and Capt. Jeon Il-man (CHOI Guy-hwa) intuitively realize that there’s something wrong with the suspect’s willingness to turn himself in and uncover crimes committed by a terrifying killer named Kang Hae-sang (SON Sukku). Ma and his unit begin their investigation across two countries and follow the bloody breadcrumbs left behind by Kang… No borders in catching the bad!
Movie Review:
After joining the Eternals for a brief saving-the-world mission, Don Lee aka Ma Dong-seok is back with his familiar ass-whopping policing methods in a long-awaited sequel to The Outlaws (2017). Despite being touted as a sequel, you do not need to catch the first in order to fully enjoy The Roundup which more or less retained the action-heavy formula and the genuinely likeable onscreen presence of Don Lee.
Set in the year 2008 where flip phones were the in-thing and four years after the gang turf war operation, accompanied by Captain Jeon (Choi Guy-hwa), Major crimes detective Ma Seok-do (Don Lee) is assigned to Vietnam to repatriate a fugitive. After a round of hilarious interrogation, it turned out the suspect is in fact hiding from a dangerous criminal, Kang (Son Sukku) when a kidnapping went south with most of his accomplices ended up being slaughtered. Kang, a psychotic ruthless criminal who preys on rich innocent tourists has just murdered the scion of a rich Korean banker and now the latter has hired mercenaries to go after him.
With his ransom being taken away by the mercenaries, Kang decides to smuggle back to Korea to go after the old rich man. Ma equipped with his great sense of detective has to lay a trap to capture Kang and his two equally crazy henchmen with the help of the wife of the millionaire and an unlikely ally, Jang Isu (Park Ji-hwan), an ex-crook who now runs an employment business.
As expected, there’s little about the storytelling that suggests it’s going to be a smart suspenseful action thriller. Kudos at least need to go to the screenwriters for setting part of the story in Vietnam which shed light on the increased number of crimes committed by Korean thugs there. Again, the filmmakers have no intention to make this into a serious, award-winning crime drama thus most of the time, it’s just Don and his hands doing all the “talking” while Captain Jeon has to helplessly look on as they ran from location to another in search of Kang.
First and foremost, there is legitimately a number of solid, well-choreographed fight scenes throughout. Assistant director Lee Sang-yong making his directorial debut knows how to keep the pacing tight and taut without first sacrificing the narrative and comedy. Do note that it’s mostly Captain Jeon providing most of the comic relief as Ma is too busy knocking people out. Even with a vicious villain in the picture (Son Sukku is damn scary and nasty as the villain), there’s no doubt the attention is focused fully on Don Lee who never disappoints once he strides into the room. He punches hard and throw his opponents around liked rag dolls. At the same time, the man is a lovable, gentle giant who never seems to work up a temper in front of his superiors and colleagues.
There’s a heart-pounding scene midway which sees Ma going mano-a-mano at Kang. The fight is overall visceral and bloody brutal all thanks to the lush wide-shots and sleek editing. Just when you thought Ma has run out of punches, the finale sees him and Kang pulling off yet another thrilling fight in a bus. And on the topic about bus, this is definitely on par with the sequence seen in Nobody but far better than the one in Shang-Chi.
The crime story might be a bit generic for those looking for something more. As an action thriller, Lee and also producer Don Lee does a great job in entertaining you with lots of bone-crunching fight scenes. Lee already has eight sequels in mind and we gladly sign up for them if they are as good if not better than this outing.
Movie Rating:
(We need more old school actioners liked The Roundup!)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: War/Drama
Director: John Madden
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly MacDonald, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Jason Isaacs
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Rating: M18 (Homosexual References)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 May 2022
Synopsis: It’s 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, and plan an all-out assault on Sicily; but they face an impossible challenge - how to protect a massive invasion force from potential massacre. It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) to dream the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war - centred on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to alter the course of the war - defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.
Movie Review:
We must admit that we have a soft spot for well-made British World War II thrillers, and when one as fine as ‘Operation Mincemeat’ comes along, we cannot help but embrace it wholeheartedly.
If its title comes off odd, that’s because it was the codename for a seemingly ridiculous plan by British intelligence to fool Hitler’s forces into believing that Allied forces were about to invade Greece when in fact they were about to descend upon Sicily and seize it from the Axis powers. The plan in this regard was to find a recent corpse, disguise it as a Royal Marine officer, plant false ‘Top Secret’ papers in the briefcase chained to his wrist, have his body wash up in Spain, and then guide the information on these papers into the hands of Nazi intelligence.
That the plan eventually succeeded is history, but director John Madden and screenwriter Michelle Ashford recreate the events outlined in the non-fiction book by Ben Macintyre with style, panache and suspense. Their retelling focuses not just on how the key architects of the operation, British Naval Intelligence officer Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and MI5 agent Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen), manage to pull it off, but also the dynamics between them and the other supporting players involved as they put the plan into motion.
So even as the storytelling earns its thrills through detailing the complications of giving a Welsh drifter named Glyndwr Michael who killed himself with rat poison the posthumous identity of one Captain William ‘Bill’ Martin, it also boasts surprisingly strong character beats by expanding on the relationship among Ewen, Charles and a bright, resourceful MI5 clerk named Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald). In exchange for offering up a photograph of herself to pass off as the loving fiancé of Major Martin, Jean insists on joining Ewen and Charles, sparking off a series of complications between and among them.
Without giving too much away, let’s just say it has something to do with Ewen’s no-gooder brother Ivor (Mark Gatiss) as well as the personal agenda of the Director of Naval Intelligence John Godfrey (Jason Isaacs); in particular, the latter’s disdain of Ewen is apparent right from the very start, which in turn extends to the seemingly preposterous scheme first nicknamed Operation Trojan House that Ewen suggests to the MI5’s Twenty Committee.
In Madden’s skillful hands, ‘Operation Mincemeat’ unfolds simultaneously as a caper with Ewen, Charles, Jean and the director of the Admiralty’s secretariat unit Hester Leggett (Penelope Wilton) meticulously planning out every eventuality as it does as a drama about the inner machinations of these very brilliant people. Firth and Macfadyen make a great pair testing each other’s loyalties, while Macdonald is luminous as their equal not only in wisdom but also in solitude, leading to both involving and affecting consequences that give the movie a compelling emotional core.
Befitting of a movie about the greatest act of wartime deception, the movie is constructed on the distinction between truth and deception. It isn’t just the ploy itself that walks this tightrope, but also the very nature of the principals involved in the ploy as well as their connections with one another. Like we said, this is a very fine British World War II thriller, and even though it doesn’t have the budget for spectacle, its gripping true-life story and intriguing roster of characters will have you in its throes from start to finish.
Movie Rating:
(Both an engrossing caper and a compelling drama about truth and deception, this British World War II fact-based thriller is as fine a genre addition as any)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Set in the iconic Fire Island Pines, FIRE ISLAND is an unapologetic, modern day rom-com inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The story centers around two best friends who set out to have a legendary week-long summer vacation with the help of cheap rosé and a cadre of eclectic friends.
MOVIE REVIEW:
What’s a Jane Austen’s novel got to do with a rowdy gay comedy about love and friendship? Apparently regardless of your sexual orientation, all humans simply need to overcome their own biases in order to end up together.
In a clever twist by star and writer Joel Kim Booster, the latter stars as Noah who joins his fellow “sisters” for an annual week-long vacation on Fire Island aka as Noah puts it, the “Gay Disney World”. The all-male squad includes Howie (Bowen Yang) who is still searching for his true love, the comedic sidekicks, Luke (Matt Rogers), Keegan (Tomas Matos) and the obligatory African-American Max (Torian Miller). And their host happened to be their longtime lesbian friend, Erin (Margaret Cho). A good mix of colour and ethic group we must say.
Of course since this is a rom-com about gay men, you sure won’t find an high-profile actress playing Elizabeth Bennet. To no one surprise, Kim Booster IS “Elizabeth Bennet”. Though Noah is portrayed as one that prefers casual sex and hook-ups rather than a steady relationship, his character kind of changes his tune when he met “Mr Darcy”, the no-nonsense sophisticated lawyer from L.A., Will (Conrad Ricamora). At the same time, Noah is busy hooking Howie up with a cute doctor, Charlie (James Scully) as he sees him as a potential love interest for his best friend to end his loneliness and non-existent sex life.
Among many other things, the majority of Fire Island is about the friendship between Noah and Howie and the other half about Noah and his conflicting love views. Still, Kim Booster’s writings are sharp and humorous which helps to transform the predictable rom-com format into something exuberant and fresh. Also, the chemistry between the “sisters” are sizzling and the rapid-fire dialogue is simply hilarious.
Knowing Kim Booster from his stand-up comedian acts and his trademark delivery of R-rated, gay-related jokes, his feature length movie comes as a huge surprise because the man is so talented in screenwriting as well. His partner-in-crime, Bowen Yang sheds his usual SNL boisterous persona to play a convincing lonely gay man.
Fire Island is the first of two major mainstream gay comedies to be release this year. There’s nothing that offensive right here mostly just naked men in Speedos instead of women in bikinis. It’s after all, comedy, drama and the sun. Watch this with an open mind and see how the under-represented gay community works their way to a queer vacation fills with laughs, tears and love.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout (Adam Sandler) takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.When young loner Anna is hired as the gestational surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s who wants a child, the two strangers come to realize this unexpected relationship will quickly challenge their perceptions of connection, boundaries and the particulars of love.
MOVIE REVIEW:
When Adam Sandler acts in a serious drama without all his goofy friends, you know you need to watch it. Remember Uncut Gems and The Meyerowitz Stories? A true basketball fan himself, he teams up with basketball legend LeBron James to produce Hustle, a not-to-missed sports movie on Netflix.
Ex-player Stanley Sugarman (Sandler) works as a basketball scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. He is on the road most of the time leaving his wife Teresa (Queen Latifah) and teenage daughter (Jordan Hull) alone. Sugarman longs for a coaching job which 76ers’ owner, Rex (Robert Duvall in a cameo) actually promises him. Unfortunately, Rex passes away shortly and his douchebag son, Vince (Ben Foster) forces Stanley to be back on the road to look for the next big player for his team before he can get back his coaching job.
Out of sheer luck, Stanley spotted Bo Cruz (real-life basketball player Juancho Hernangomez) in a street match in Spain. He sees the potential in Bo and decides to bring him to Vince only to have him reject outright for his chequered past. Despite the setback, Stanley is determined to use his own money to groom Bo and get him into the big league.
One of the biggest flaws of Hustle is that it’s filled with plenty of predictable story tropes which of course include training montages, an underdog story, a deeply affecting kinship. Yet it’s also these familiar themes that keeps the fire in Hustle burning. There isn’t a single dull moment and Stanley occasionally slips in some wry humour liked Bo spending $9 on Pringles or just eating a single bite of his room service order.
Sports fans will also love all the basketball action movie captured in the flick be it on the streets or an actual basketball court. In other words, Hustle operates sweetly on both sides. The basketball action is cool and those going for the drama will be pleased with the heartwarming interaction between Stanley and Bo once the action slows.
Adam Sandler turns in another brilliant dramatic performance as a man with a tragic past and still craving to redeem himself. His character is immensely likeable and with Queen Latifah playing his supportive wife, their onscreen magic is kind of a fresh breathe. Hernangomez while not being a professional actor puts in a more than decent job as Bo Cruz, a man desperate to provide for his young daughter and mother. The movie also features plenty of NBA stars though it’s not really an issue if you aren’t familiar with any of them. Sandler remains the only star in our opinion.
While personally not a sports fan, Hustle is a fascinating watch due to Sandler’s engaging presence. There are definitely lots to admire here despite the usual sports clichés. For us, this might be easily be Netflix’s best original title of the month.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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