Genre: Horror
Director: Brandon Christensen
Cast: Keegan Connor Tracy, Jett Klyne, Sean Rogerson
RunTime: 1 hr 24 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 December 2020
Synopsis: Z is about the divide in childhood and adulthood. When you’re young, anything is possible. Magic is real because you believe it’s real. Imaginary friends are real because you believe it’s real. When you grow older, you become a cynic, a skeptic, and the trappings of being an ‘adult’ carves that youthful innocence from you. The world becomes less about the magic and more about the real.
In Z, Beth is a cynic. She feels trapped by her status as mom, taking care of others before taking care of herself. So when her son brings an Imaginary Friend into the house, she doesn’t think anything of it. Even when things start to feel off, that this new friend isn’t quite right, she ignores it. But as Josh becomes corrupted by his new plaything, Beth is forced to take action. Ignoring the advice of her husband Kevin, she drugs Josh, and it helps her problem.
Josh no longer sees Z - Beth does. And Z wants to be her friend.
Movie Review:
‘Z’ rehashes a familiar premise in horror movies of a child’s imaginary friend being a lot more than real than expected, but does so in its own clever and imaginative way.
It starts off by acquainting us with Joshua (Jett Klyne), an eight-year-old boy who keeps an imaginary friend he calls Z. Though Joshua seems a perfectly normal kid, it soon comes to light that he has been exhibiting disturbing behaviour in school, so much so that the school has decided to suspend him and his classmates no longer want to play with him.
Joshua however does not seem bothered by the rejection; instead, he delves deeper into his friendship with Z, insisting that food be set out at the table each meal for Z, waking up in the middle of the night to prepare sandwiches for Z, and even advising his parents not to do certain things that would make Z upset. As parents do, Kevin (Sean Rogerson) and Elizabeth (Keegan Connor Tracy) indulge his fantasies, until a tragic accident during a playdate at one of Joshua’s classmates’ houses leaves them to think that there might be something seriously wrong with Z.
While it would have been easy to turn this into yet another creepy kid tale, writer/ director Brandon Christensen takes the storytelling into a surprising new direction in the next two acts. To say more would be to spoil it for those keen to uncover the movie for themselves, but suffice to say that Z has been with the household for much longer than they had been aware. Than keep things ambiguous, Christensen makes it clear later on that Z’s malevolence is real and to be reckoned with.
At just about one-and-a-half hours, ‘Z’ moves quickly and packs a number of witty twists and turns along the way. Whereas other horrors tend to lose steam after some time, Christensen keeps up the momentum by being not afraid to take the story in new directions, even switching protagonists midway into the movie to reveal some disturbing secrets from the past. There is also a genuine sense of unease throughout, coupled with a number of well-crafted jolts, that will keep you on your toes.
Christensen’s achievement is also in how he makes the best of what is clearly a limited budget to deliver a solid chiller. Than relying too much on cheap CGI, Christensen instead shows just enough to get our minds spinning, without ever feeling the compulsion of revealing Z in its full glory. Tracy also deserves credit for her fully committed performance, which helps to carry the movie through especially in the last third, where the extent of Z’s hold over the family becomes eminently clear.
Even though you may be seen more than a number of creepy kids’ tales with their imaginary friends, ‘Z’ proves with just the right amount of ingenuity that there is still room in the subgenre for an engaging, even terrifying, thriller. It is spooky all right – and like we said, is even more impressive given the budgetary limitations it was made on – so under-estimate this intelligent little horror film at your own expense.
Movie Rating:
(Genuinely unnerving and packed with a number of well-crafted jolts, 'Z' is an intelligent little horror film that defies its limited budget to deliver big chills)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: JC Chandor
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci
RunTime: 1 hr 49 mins
Released By: Lighthouse Pictures & Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language)
Official Website: http://www.margincallmovie.com/
Opening Day: 29 December 2011
Synopsis: Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.
Movie Review:
How many of us not working in the financial industry actually knew what precipitated the economic meltdown in 2008-09 that the world economy is still struggling to recover from today? The most we probably know is that some bad financial products that had something to do with subprime mortgages led to what President Obama proclaimed ‘the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s’. We also know this- at the heart of it all was greed, greed of the common man on the street and of course greed of the people on Wall Street.
The boardroom thriller ‘Margin Call’ imagines what could have happened in a Wall Street investment firm on the eve of the economic collapse, and though at no point is the firm named, the references to the now-defunct Lehman Brothers are all too obvious. After all, the company’s CEO is the magisterial John Tuld (played with chilling ease by Jeremy Irons), whose name rhymes with former Lehman head Richard Fuld. Tuld swoops in at 4 a.m. into the company’s towering New York building, in a sign of the severity of the crisis that the firm suddenly finds itself knee-deep in.
Unfolding over the course of a 36-hour period, the tense and tightly wound thriller begins as about 80% of the workforce on the risk management team is laid off when monthly profits from their mortgage-backed securities fall below the mark. One of those shown the door is senior analyst Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), a longtime employee who’s recently been working on a project that he says is of utmost importance. But the human resource employee sent to convey the bad news would have none of it, so Eric passes his work on a USB thumb drive to one of his young protégés, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), just before he leaves.
“Be careful,” Eric adds, his ominous words leaving Peter intrigued. After staying late to crunch some numbers, Peter stumbles onto some distressing reality- the company is loaded with toxic assets and based on historical volatility is likely to go under very quickly. Peter calls his colleague Seth (Penn Badgley) to summon his boss Will Emerson (Paul Bettany), the panic slowly spreading up the chain of command- first to Will’s acerbic superior Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), then to Sam’s smarmy boss Jared Cohen (Simon Baker), and finally to the company CEO Tuld.
All the while, first-time writer/director J.C. Chandor keeps a taut watch on the unfurling proceedings, letting the gravity of Peter’s discovery emanate slowly up the echelons and in the process holding his audience riveted. They get even more compelling in the second half, as Tuld gives the executive order to save the very institution by selling off the firm’s entire portfolio of toxic securities to unwitting customers in the course of the very next day. “Be first. Be smart. Or cheat,” is Tuld’s motto- but as Sam ponders, at what expense?
It’s no secret what becomes of Tuld’s decision to cheat- the consequence of which we are still grappling with- and what is even more shocking is how Sam not only eventually rationalises it for the good of the company, but manages to persuade all of the white-collar traders on his floor (or whoever is left) to do likewise. The question it prompts you to think is this- how many of the Lehman employees were equally complicit in their CEO’s decision to cheat the markets, even after they knew the health of the products they were selling?
It all feels so real, and therein lies Chandor’s greatest achievement- his debut feature after more than a decade of commercials is well-steeped in Wall Street milieu, in no small measure thanks to the exposure to that world from growing up with a father who was a Merrill Lynch trader. Chandor has also assembled a top-notch cast- among them, Spacey delivers his best work in years playing the weary middle-aged top executive whose conscience has grown increasingly diminished over the years. Just as noteworthy is Irons, who shines in the role as the villain with charismatic ruthlessness. The supporting cast are equally excellent- including Demi Moore’s chief risk officer who is arrowed to take the blame for the firm’s downfall by none other than Tuld himself.
Rare is the film that gives such a lucid insight into the workings of Wall Street, and the culture of corporate greed and self-interest that ultimately devastated the lives of millions around the world. It’s also a first-class thriller, full of brooding tension and compelling ethical and moral predicaments that are ever prescient today as they were three years ago. Even if you know what went down at Wall Street back in 2008, this film and its ensemble of well-crafted characters will open your eyes to the men (and women) inside the shadowy offices of Manhattan’s spires who once held the world’s fate in their hands- and let it slip.
Movie Rating:
(Tense and well-plotted thriller set against a spot-on Wall Street milieu that boasts top-notch performances from an ensemble cast)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol - Burj Khalifa SizzlePosted on 03 Nov 2011 |
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TITANIC sets sail once again..this time in 3DPosted on 04 Nov 2011 |
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BOND 23 - SKYFALL Starts Production 7 NovemberPosted on 04 Nov 2011 |
SYNOPSIS: One day, a young herbalist Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) came to the mountains and accidentally fell into a lake. White Snake (Eva Huang), in the incarnation of a beautiful lady came to his rescue. Her passion for this young man could not be contained, and with the help of Green Snake (Charlene Choi), she ventured into the human world and got married to Xu Xian.
Fa Hai (Jet Li), a sorcerer from Jinshan Temple, whose mission was to subdue demons and slay monsters, arrived in town and detected a touch of evil from the medicine provided by Xu Xian. Xu Xian made White Snake drink some sulphur-flower wine on Dragon Boat Festival and the lady immediately turned into a big white snake. Under confusion, Xu Xian used a sacred sword and wounded the large white python.
Xu Xian was grief-stricken and tried to make remedy by risking his life to obtain a spirit grasss for his wife. Xu Xian got the grass but during the course was possessed by demons. In order to save him, Fa hai kept him in Jinshan Temple.
After taking the spirit grass, White Snake regained her strength and power and rushed to Jinshan Temple for her husband. She was overcome with rage after the failure to enter the Temple. In extreme frenzy, she summoned up a flood over the Temple causing death and damages.....
MOVIE REVIEW:
Without Jet Li, this project probably wouldn’t be greenlit. And without Jet Li, this movie probably won’t even reach our shore and in turn, this review would not have possible.
And all thanks to Jet Li, we have the nth variation of the popular mythical folklore, “Madam White Snake”. Li plays Fa Hai, a powerful abbot whose mission is to rid the evil spirits and demons off the planet. Along the way, a white snake spirit (Eva Huang from Kung Fu Hustle) happens to fall in love with a mortal physician, Xu Xian (played by Raymond Lam from countless TVB serials) and married him. Obviously, Fa Hai isn’t going to rest on his laurels and by breaking up the lovebirds, hell is unleashed and a massacre awaits.
Director Tony Ching who makes his name as an outstanding action choreographer in movies such as “House of Flying Daggers” and “Swordsman” absurdly adopt a George Lucas’ stance and CG becomes a mainstay in this fantasy flick. But unlike the dazzling graphics in Lucas’ epic visual fest, the Star Wars prequels, “The Sorcerer and the White Snake” overindulged the audience with subpar CG graphics courtesy of Korean effects house, NEXT. Ching totally forgot about his action star leading man and like my fellow reviewer says; Li gets to fight against thin air for most of the duration wasting his talents in martial arts. Watching the CG in its full glory on a LCD is enough to brush it off as pure amateurish given the already advancing graphics in leading computer games. The gigantic snake looks like it has escaped from the Anacondas’ direct-to-video sequels if you get what I mean.
Still, I give credit to Ching who at least give us a fast-paced 103 minutes movie skipping mostly the incredibly cheesy sisterly relationship between white snake and green snake (Charlene Choi) unlike Tsui Hark’s 1993 version which devote much screentime to the two characters. But then again it’s a different era when you have Maggie Cheung and Joey Wong. There are a handful of well-done sequences which employed old school wire-works and physical effects liked the bat demons attack and fox spirits though once the CG kicks in, everything turns into a complete unbearable mess.
If you think only Disney has the magic to come up with talking animals, rest assured they are not the only one, we have a cute talking mouse right here together with a bunny and a tortoise. Familiar faces such as Chapman To, Lam Suet and Miriam Yeung make a rib-tickling cameo which I shall not reveal further.
The main cast members who made up of young actors liked Eva Huang, Raymond Lam, Charlene Choi and Wen Zhang fails to upstage veterans such as Cheung and Wong in the last major theatrical “White Snake”. Huang plays fragile more convincing than a vengeful spirit while Choi once again takes on a cutesy, bubbly role. Mainland actor Wen Zhang last seen with Jet Li’s in the touching drama, “Ocean Heaven” pairs up a second time with him as Fa Hai’s disciple who provides some needed comic relief. Lam who usually honed his acting skills with TVB did a respectable job as Xu Xian, a role to be frank that doesn’t require an ounce of his acting muscles. Jet Li on the other hand is Jet Li. The no-nonsense actor basically acts himself regardless he is Wong Fei Hong, a monk, a mercenary or a bodyguard, end of the day he is that kick-ass Jet Li.
Yet again, I must say the production team of “The Sorcerer and the White Snake” should go all out to thank Li for his gracious appearance. In case you labelled me as a mean reviewer, I shall take a leaf out of Fa Hai and turns benevolent and recommend you watch this movie purely on yes, you are right on account of Jet Li.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 delivers a rousing listening experience during the action-packed sequences. The pristine visual betrays the lacklustre CG effects while overall picture quality is natural and flawless.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN go head to head!Posted on 11 Dec 2011 |
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, David Dencik
Running Time: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.tinker-tailor-soldier-spy.com/
Opening Day: 9 February 2012
Synopsis: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the long-awaited feature film version of John le Carré’s classic bestselling novel. The thriller is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In). The screenplay adaptation is by the writing team of Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan. The time is 1973. The Cold War of the mid-20th Century continues to damage international relations. Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a.k.a. MI6 and code-named the Circus, is striving to keep pace with other countries’ espionage efforts and to keep the U.K. secure. The head of the Circus, known as Control (John Hurt), personally sends dedicated operative Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) into Hungary. But Jim’s mission goes bloodily awry, and Control is forced out of the Circus – as is his top lieutenant, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a career spy with razor-sharp senses. Estranged from his absent wife Ann, Smiley is soon called in to see undersecretary Oliver Lacon (Simon McBurney); he is to be rehired in secret at the government’s behest, as there is a gnawing fear that the Circus has long been compromised by a double agent, or mole, working for the Soviets and jeopardizing England. Supported by younger agent Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley parses Circus activities past and present. In trying to track and identify the mole, Smiley is haunted by his decades-earlier interaction with the shadowy Russian spy master Karla. The mole’s trail remains cold until maverick field agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) unexpectedly contacts Lacon. While undercover in Turkey, Ricki has fallen for a betrayed married woman, Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who claims to possess crucial intelligence. Separately, Smiley learns that Control narrowed down the list of mole suspects to five men. They are the ambitious Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), whom he had code-named Tinker; suavely confident Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), dubbed Tailor; stalwart Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), called Soldier; officious Toby Esterhase (David Dencik), dubbed Poor Man; and – Smiley himself. Even before the startling truth is revealed, the emotional and physical tolls on the players enmeshed in the deadly international spy game will escalate…
Movie Review:
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is a film of control and subtlety – a filmmaking triumph of precision and power. Directed by Tomas Alfredson who also helmed the sublime “Let the Right One In,” this condensed and largely efficient adaptation of John le Carré’s most iconic and seminal of spy thrillers becomes a moody study of paranoia and isolation in a world that not just demands it but idealises it. In this film, Alfredson shows a masterly sense of time and place even as the substantial scale of the canvas proves too unwieldy to navigate in a single visit as its densely plotted intrigues – personal and political – serves up heady scenarios of grim and thoroughly obfuscated mysteries.
Tone, rhythm, and structure – boiled down, these elements form the basic tenets of a great yarn. In its first and most pervasive aspect, there’s no denying that “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” evokes a brilliant atmosphere that is inscrutably beautiful and unsettlingly morose with a suitably European sensibility that values patience and process above all else. It leads to creating a methodical pacing that may find it on the outs with the traditional perceptions of a “spy thriller” but in le Carré’s rich vein of studying character and circumstance, we stumble upon a film that becomes unrelenting in its observations of rituals, obsessions, and regrets of powerful men caught up in their claustrophobic worlds of dark, musky rooms and stately government offices. Of course, despite these glowing and absolutely terrific filmic elements in place, there still exists a divide of storytelling that while maintaining an air of sophistication still unwinds through an austerely enacted kaleidoscopic lens of perspectives and snatches of hushed conversation behind closed doors through its ravishing cinematography and score.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War in Europe where the continent swings on the tense divide between its East and West, the film introduces itself through a single event. Prideaux (Mark Strong) is sent by Control (John Hurt) -- the head of the MI6, also known as “the Circus” – to Budapest to intercept the identity of a high-level mole in the agency. The extraction goes none too well and leads to Control leaving, taking along his right-hand man and the story’s protagonist, Smiley (a fantastically restrained Gary Oldman) with him. Years pass and the issue of the mole crops up once again, this time falling on the years of a high-ranking snivelling civil servant who dispatches the now retired Smiley to investigate his former colleagues in the higher echelons of the Circus played with marvellous gusto by the likes of Colin First, Toby Jones and Ciaran Hinds amongst the film’s very British and very top-drawer cast.
There is a whole lot more plot to this in its two hour runtime, compressed very succinctly into temporal loops and spatial presumptions as key character attributes are hinted at briefly, the active scenes focused on Smiley and his quietly driven pursuit of the men who drove his friend and boss out of the agency through their penchant for double-dealing, and the sinister undertones of betrayal at every corner – feeding into the overwhelming loneliness that pervades his line of work. Following the threads and understanding the nuances behind “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is never easy in how much attention it demands through its rigorous screenplay that values the mise en scene as much as it does its hauntingly intimate moments of a Oldman – effectively framed as a old man, alone and deathly aware of the turmoil surrounding him.
Movie Rating:
(A slow-burning study of characters and tone but effectively leaves a lasting mark)
Review by Justin Deimen
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Hector Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher
RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language And Sexual References )
Official Website: http://newyearsevemovie.warnerbros.com/index.html
Opening Day: 8 December 2011
Synopsis: "New Year's Eve" celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.
Movie Review:
An all-star ensemble unite for ‘Pretty Woman’ director Garry Marshall’s ode to the most celebrated occasion of the entire year, but if the labyrinth of intersecting stories sounds familiar, that’s because Marshall and his writer Katherine Fugate were also responsible for the similarly-themed ‘Valentine’s Day’ back in 2010. Yet again, Marshall and Fugate juggle about a dozen storylines and twice as many characters over the course of a single day, with the events set at and around Times Square in New York City.
Adopting the same narrative formula however means that ‘New Year’s Eve’ will inevitably share some of the same flaws as their earlier film, and true enough there are the stock characters, the stilted dialogue and most of all the unabashed sentimentalising that made ‘Valentine’s Day’ a somewhat cringe-worthy affair. Nevertheless, Marshall has picked up more than a few lessons from ‘Valentine’s Day’- and besides being more polished, this latest holiday-themed confection also manages to hit the right schmaltzy notes, so much so that those looking for a movie that embraces the spirit of the season will undoubtedly find something to like about it.
We’ll not attempt to summarise all of the multiple plot threads criss-crossing throughout the movie- suffice to say that the more notable ones include Hilary Swank as the frazzled, newly promoted VP of the Times Square alliance whose task is to ensure the New Year’s countdown goes on smoothly; Katherine Heigl and Jon Bon Jovi as a pair of ex-lovers who almost got married a year ago before Bon Jovi’s rocker got the cold feet; Michelle Pfeiffer as a disgruntled office assistant who hires Zac Efron’s office courier to accomplish a list of resolutions; and- get this- two rival couples (Seth Meyers and Jessica Biel as one, Til Schweiger and Sarah Paulson as the other) competing to have the year’s first baby for the congratulatory prize money.
Each of these individual plots don’t go beyond their single-description dilemmas above, but there is barely enough time to flesh them out as they are in between Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Abigail Breslin, Josh Duhamel, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro. Still, despite their lack of depth, Marshall knows exactly the purpose of each thread. With his trademark efficiency, he draws out the themes of second chances, forgiveness, reconciliation, hope and above all, love in all its myriad forms. Marshall doesn’t nuance his New Year’s messages, but arguably he doesn’t really need to considering how most of his audience are probably already in a generous enough mood for the year-end festive season.
No small feat it is however assembling such a powerhouse cast, especially since everyone gets no more than half an hour of screen time in total. Still, the actors seem to understand the constraints that such a profusion of characters will impose on their individual ones, and take it in their stride determined to have a good time. They know they are in a holiday movie, and nowhere is this more evident than in the outtakes, which reveal the jolly time they had on set (which you also shouldn’t miss for a hilarious quip by De Niro). If we had to pick a favourite among all the actors, we’d go with De Niro, his soliloquies as a dying cancer patient looking back at his past arrogant ways with regret surprisingly poignant.
There are also delightful cameos from ‘American Idol’ host Ryan Seacrest, who makes a sharp dig at Dick Clark, Marshall regular Hector Elizondo as a veteran lighting technician called in to save the countdown, Matthew Broderick as Swank’s boss, and even Mayor Michael Bloomberg drops in for the fun. It’s the very definition of a star-studded affair, but besides the star cameos, Marshall also gets some generous help from cinematographer Charles Minsky, who effectively recreates the atmosphere at Times Square using footage shot during last year’s countdown. It’s as close as one can get short of being on the scene, and the euphoria is simply infectious.
Indeed, there’s little point belabouring about the lack of plot or character in ‘New Year’s Eve’- you should already know what to expect from ‘Valentine’s Day’. Like its thematic predecessor however, it accomplishes what it sets out to do- that is, to spread the holiday cheer amidst these uncertain times of doom and gloom. There’s always room for hope, for faith, and for love- and even if you don’t remember which Hollywood star played what in the movie, these messages of the holiday season will still lift your spirits and put you in a jolly mood.
Movie Rating:
(Nothing more- and less- than a feel-good holiday movie for the season)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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Harry Potter Magic @ HMV, Marina Square - 12th NovemberPosted on 10 Nov 2011 |
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