SYNOPSIS: Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifi anakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu's wedding. What could go wrong? Director Todd Phillips' explosively funny follow-up to his award-winning smash hit demonstrates that though what happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, what happens in Bangkok can hardly be imagined!
MOVIE REVIEW:
How do you regurgitate the same gags and yet emerged as a winner?
It’s simple really. Just have another hangover.
The wolfpack is back for another round albeit in a different country. Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zack Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to Thailand together to attend Stu’s upcoming wedding to Lauren (Jamie Chung). Before their big day, the group together with Lauren’s younger brother, Teddy (Mason Lee) had a couple of beers and marshmallow at the beach and expectedly something went very wrong the next morning when Phil, Stu and Alan woke up and find themselves in a seedy hotel room in Bangkok. Obviously not knowing what has happened to them the night before and with Mason missing, will they appear on time for the wedding?
Those who are familiar with what kind of mess the guys got themselves into in Las Vegas will not be too shocked by their antics here. In fact, it got worse, raunchier and even far more ridiculous given that Director Todd Philips and his credited team of writers need to up the stakes somehow. Everyone’s favourite Mr Chow (Ken Jeong) returns in a much bigger capacity and yes rehash his shocking appearance for the second time. The baby and tiger in the original is missing and their replacement comes in the form of a chain-smoking monkey. And what are the most common places in Thailand? Buddhist temples of course. The filmmakers aren’t gonna let it go without creating a scene there and this sort of mayhem transcend into tattoo parlour, fancy hotel and strip club with Stu getting really messed up with a transvestite.
With the success of the sequel, all the three main stars have turned into big-time comedians and actor. But it’s always a good thing to see all three of them equipped with their brand of maniac energy and back for more menace. Probably the only role that is worthy of his comedic talents till date, Ken Jeong steals the thunder again as the broken English spouting, self-dubbed international criminal, hyperactive Chow. The son of renowned Director Lee Ang, Mason makes his feature film debut as Teddy and you wouldn’t want to know what happened to the poor guy in the end.
On the whole, this sequel moves faster than the original and Philips and his cinematographer really make good use of Thailand as a location for planting their carnival of nonsense. To further reveal all the gags in this review will definitely spoil your enjoyment so just sit back and get wasted by loading “The Hangover Part II” DVD into your player.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The only special feature on this disc is 5 minutes of Gag Reel.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually, The Hangover Part II looks great with a brimming colour palette and for a comedy, sounds boisterous and full of ambient effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Our greatest discovery will become the world's greatest threat when a scientist on the verge of a medical breakthrough begins testing on a young chimpanzee named Caesar. But when the chimp develops human-like intelligence and emotions, an epic battle ensues to determine the dominant species on the planet!
MOVIE REVIEW:
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is no monkey business though the sole star of the movie is none other than a digital simian realised by means of motion capture by Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong, Tintin etc).
Just when you are expecting another cheesy prequel, remake or reboot whatever Hollywood calls them. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” turns out to be an unexpected piece of popcorn movie that entertains as well as being an excellent cautionary tale. Director Rupert Wyatt and his writers brilliantly crafted the story that links way back to the original 1968 classic, “Planet of the Apes” yet at the same time strangely distance itself from the old franchise establishing characters that will eventually tug at your heartstrings.
The movie opens with a scientist, Will Rodman (James Franco) who is on the verge of developing a new drug for Alzheimer. But when a female chimp went on a rampage and with the chimps being ordered to be put down and the experiment subsequently closed down by Will’s boss, Will secretly brought home a baby chimpanzee, Caesar and raises him on his own. Years passed and Caesar grown up to be exceptionally intelligent as compared to normal chimps and a series of incidents with humans forces Caesar to achieve things way beyond humans can imagined.
Much is emphasized on the character of Caesar since he will eventually lead his species to dominate over human beings. And indeed, Andy Serkins ‘plays’ Caesar with much class and aplomb giving the digital artistes at Weta plenty of material to work on. The relationship between Will and his Alzheimer-suffering father, Charles (John Lithgow) is emotionally wrenching to say the least and both Franco and Lithgow flexes enough muscle to their characters to leave an impression. Every movie needs a villain of sorts and Harry Potter alumni Tom Felton appears as a sicko ape-keeper, Dodge, probably a typecast character that Felton needs no effort to succeed given his decade long acting experience as the evil-scheming Draco Malfoy. Other notable names include Freida Pinto who plays the forgettable love interest and Brain Cox as Dodge’s dad.
As a late summer blockbuster release, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” delivers heart-pounding action sequences in the last act with the apes out in full force on a rampage and the subsequent face-off at the Golden Gate Bridge is smartly executed. Wyatt is also adept in creating tensions and thrills without relying too much on fancy CGI or major action sets, just a simple close up of Caesar’s eyes probably send a chill down your spine.
With clever storytelling, lavish CG effects and Andy Serkis’ thoughtful performance for this “Planet of the Apes” prequel, we are hyped up for the journey of how Caesar becomes an intelligent and talking simian provided Fox is smart enough to continually rest the material on capable hands.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Not all of the Deleted Scenes are included on this DVD except two brief ones.
The writers, director and James Franco talk about the links between the original series and the prequel in Mythology of the Apes.
A behind-the-scenes feature that showcases the motion-capture technology in The Genius of Andy Serkis.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Images are detailed and colour is rich, natural for the visual. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is loud and aggressive. Chimps’ roars are thunderous and the action-packed finale is filled to the brim with explosions and bullets effect while dialogue remains clear throughout.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: A small rural town is slowly fading away as the industries it once relied on have turned to dust, leaving empty, vacant warehouses across the landscape. Young people leave, yearning for the lights and excitement of the nearby big cities. Georgiana Carr once an heir herself but now in the same financial extreme as her neighbors, sadly decides to sell her house that she lived in her whole life. But when a stranger, Gus Leroy comes to town with an offer to rent one of Georgina's warehouses and the promise of a new business venture that will turn things around, the residents are intrigued and excited. As they embrace the newcomer, he becomes involved in their professional and personal lives in a way none of them expected, especially after they discover that Leroy's business could put them all in danger.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The indie drama “Main Street” marks the final cinematic contribution of Oscar-winning screenwriter and notable playwright Horton Foote, whose Southern dramas “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Tender Mercies” have been met with much critical acclaim. Yet it is unlikely Foote would want anyone to remember this as his swan song, for this is as far removed from his usually sharp and incisive works of social commentary as can be. Not only is it boring and lifeless, the suburban drama is also ultimately pointless, wasting an ensemble cast who do not know what to do with their respective roles.
To be fair, Hoote may not have finished his draft before his death in 2008 at the age of 92, so the blame also goes to first-time feature helmer John Doyle. The Tony-Award winning Scottish stage director (who was also at one time responsible for the staging of Sweeney Todd on West End) can’t quite figure out what he wants his movie to be, nor what his characters are supposed to be, and it’s apparent right from the start just how aimless the movie ends up being.
The backdrop of the movie is the town of Durham, North Carolina, whose hustle and bustle is all but gone with the demise of the tobacco industry. The last member of one such wealthy family in the business, Georgiana Carr (Ellen Burstyn), is now almost broke, but refuses to sell her house for nostalgic reasons. Instead, she leases one of her warehouses to Texan Gus Leroy (Colin Firth), whose firm is looking at using the space to store canisters of hazardous waste before their disposal. Georgiana is however uneasy when she finds out what Gus intends to use for, and at the advice of her niece Willa (Patricia Clarkson), makes an attempt to reacquire the warehouse.
Another parallel narrative comes in the form of twenty-something Mary Saunders (Amber Tamblyn) who until she realises her Raleigh boss is in fact married with children dreams of him as a way out of the humdrum of life in the town. And that also means leaving behind her childhood sweetheart Harris Parker (Orlando Bloom), who still loves her but cannot seem to find the words to ask her to stay. What does Mary and Harris have to do with Gus, Willa and Georgiana? Admittedly really little- and besides the fact that they all hail from Durham, the piecing together of their two disparate stories feels disjointed.
Worse still, Doyle doesn’t sketch any of these characters properly. Gus never feels compelling enough, whether as a smarmy corporate type or as a sincere small-town folk wanting to do his best for Durham- so when he emerges as the latter, it seems more like a twist of convenience. The same goes for the purported attraction between Willa and Gus, especially since Willa started out being suspicious of Gus’ intentions. Vague too is the love between Harris and Mary, with little reason to believe why the two would like each other in the first place.
In the absence of these clear character connections, the ensemble cast simply flounder around without knowing how best to define their own as well as the relationships to their fellow characters. Firth may have won an Oscar for his performance in ‘The King’s Speech’, but there is none of that Oscar talent on display here. Same goes for the usually reliable Clarkson and Burstyn, who like Firth, seem to have sleepwalked through their roles.
At the end, there just isn’t any narrative direction to ‘Main Street’, let alone any dramatic tension or character development for that matter. It’s no wonder this drama flew under the radar despite the star cast and the pedigree of its screenwriter- ultimately, this is a complete and utter bore, and deserving of the ignorance it has received thus far.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio does fine for the talky picture. Visuals are often dull, and this release surprisingly lacks the clarity one would expect from a DVD.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Director: Josh Trank
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell, Dane DeHaan, Ashley Hinshaw, Michael Kelly, Anna Wood, Bo Petersen, Rudi Malcolm
Runtime: 1 hr 24 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/Chronicle
Opening Day: 2 February 2012
Synopsis: In the new century, we record, post, and comment on every second of our lives, sharing our every emotion and opinion with the world, no matter how mundane. But for three young men, the chronicle of their ordinary lives is about to take an extraordinary turn.
Movie Review:
Mention the sub-genre of the Found Footage, and you'd probably get a couple of groans from quarters who abhor the nausea inducing shaky cam, with good looking cardboard characters fleshed by actors who can't emote, and a plot that's about a wafer thick, erm, thin. And what probably made it worse is the fixation that this genre can only poke around monster flicks, or touch on horror and the supernatural. Chronicle is set to blow your mind if you'd give it a chance, and it just about demolishes all the fore mentioned reasons through its technical and narrative strengths.
Written by Max Landis and Josh Trank with the latter taking on directorial responsibilities as well, Chronicle is now the poster boy for the Found Footage, or rather the Assembled Footage flick where a story is told not just primarily from a single point of view, but adopts from the real life proliferation of how a story or incident can just about be covered from multiple viewpoints thanks to the multitude of mobile video capturing devices that's prevalent in society these days. The film had taken what the Paranormal Acitivity sequels and [REC]2 film had done to expand upon their respective mythos by adopting multiple points of views, and here slowly expands upon the single viewpoint, to that of another camera, before finally unleashing its statement of how there's no longer such a thing as privacy with everyone armed with a recording device, ready to shoot and capture just about every strange occurrence that happen in their lives.
And a strange finding was the catalyst for this film, where a foreign object found buried deep within a cratered tunnel took three teenagers into what would be the journey of their lives. Cousins Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) and Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), together with their friend Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) would discover that they were inexplicably blessed with powers of telekinesis, and through time harness their powers to be able to progress from moving Lego blocks about, to manipulating matter that would enable them powers of flight. Think Jedi Force powers if you'd like, and imagine the sheer scale of things one can accomplish with just about the power of thought. And given that they're teenagers, naturally the tendency to fool around would be there as they, and we the audience, discover the extent of their new found abilities, and with that comes a set of rules they bound themselves to and operate from, that you know are just there to be broken.
There are many aspects of Chronicle that made it work, and work well. The special effects were never too showy to bring attention to themselves, and stuck to the familiar so that audiences can be hooked on right away in this compact 83 minute film. Technical issues were explained away with sense, such as the reason to begin with a camera shooting or documenting one's life, and then continuously over one's shoulder. Best of all, it had a perfect reason to eliminate the shaky cam as early as it can, to put off nausea so that you can focus on the story, which mattered the most.
Max Landis and Josh Trank had tapped upon well known superhero lore, and ensured that the spirit of these well known, well talked about stories found their way into Chronicle. For instance, "with great power comes great responsibility" may be overused, but adapted here very religiously since the characters, all teenagers as is the protagonist from which that tagline came from, have to grapple with what exactly they want to do with those powers. And the writers' characterization in having three distinctly different personalities serve this purpose, having Steve the extroverted, showy Class President wannabe, Matt the most even-keeled of the lot who doesn't feature too much at first being probably the most matured of the lot, and his cousin Andrew, a bullied introverted kid, the loner with a problematic family life with a mom who's chronically ill, and a dad who's constantly drunk and abusive.
And monkeying around with powers for popularity isn't something far fetched, since our friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler was into showbiz before tragedy woke him up to serve a greater calling. So too do the characters here end up in playing the clowning illusionists until darker themes got explored, with the notion of absolute power corrupting absolutely finding its way as poison into one's youthful impressionable mind. But what I totally enjoyed about Chronicle's story, is its suggestion and tackling of the much explored superhero fantasy of the What If, dealing with how nurture plays a huge role in a powerful being's decision to do good, or evil. Like in Jor-el's case, how a Superman can live up to the ideals of Truth and Justice had he not been nurtured by the Kents in the small town of Smallville, but say being brought up by the Luthors, or landed not in a small farm in Kansas, but elsewhere.
Having three characters each taking on a different path of heroism, or anti-heroism, is what makes the film a triumph even amongst the standard fare of superhero film offerings. This exploration provided Chronicle its narrative punch as it balances strong emotions amongst the characters, well acted within the spectrum of emotions capable of its young actors, with a payload that rewards the audience who are looking for an effects extravaganza, containing what would be very reminiscent and a homage of sorts to Superman II's Metropolis brawl, only done many times better with today's technology. And its shifting narrative viewpoints also provided a story that's a lot more ambitious in spectacle, but got pulled off wonderfully exploiting the genre it finds itself in.
Just when you thought Found Footage was only about horror and wonder if there's anything fresh that can be added into something so done to death, here come Josh Trank and Max Landis whose sheer imagination and creativity offered Chronicle as a watershed of what potential this sub-genre can hold if one were to dig deep for stories that perfectly blend action, drama and special effects. Don't miss this on the big screen!
Movie Rating:
(Found Footage Films have found its proud ambassador!)
Review by Stefan Shih
|
MX'S 10 BEST & WORST MOVIES OF 2011Posted on 30 Dec 2011 |
SYNOPSIS: Fortysomething Cal Weaver thinks his marriage is perfect until his wife Emily asks for a divorce. Now Cal is single and looking for love with the help of expert ladykiller Jacob Palmer who gives Cal's manhood and a remarkable makeover. Amid inappropriate crushes and romantic encounters, Cal and Jacob discover that being a player without the right partner isn't just crazy and stupid, it's impossible!
MOVIE REVIEW:
Raunchy doesn’t make a good comedy and a good comedy doesn’t really need raunchy to work. Coming from the duo who brought us the gay comedy, “I Love You Philip Morris”, this is ironically so. Their latest directorial effort, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” offers more than mere rom-com and surprisingly, one of the must-watch comedies of 2011.
Who knew Canadian-born actor, poster boy of indie features, Ryan Gosling can be such a hoot playing a womanizer, Jacob Palmer. Steve Carell, the hottest comedian in town finally gets a meaty role after grinding through duds liked “Get Smart” and “Dinner for Schmucks”. Emma Stone after her breakthrough performance in “Easy A” proves she is still a sweetheart and right here as Hannah who keeps rejecting the advances of Jacob. The acclaimed Julianne Moore plays Jacob’s wife, Emily who just confessed that she just had an affair with her co-worker David (and that’s Kevin Bacon we are talking about).
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” featured an ensemble cast with a series of vignettes on people who can’t handle love. A far cry from the usual Hollywood rom-com formulas, writer Dan Fogelman whose usual repertoire of works include Cars, Tangled etc deserved a mention for his absolute charm in crafting believable, appealing characters even though their action and motives remain questionable. The downside to the movie is at times, the script tries to squeeze in too many subplots ranging from Jacob’s 13 year old son, Robbie’s obsession with his babysitter who is in senior school and Jacob’s one night stand with Robbie’s teacher, Kate (Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei). It’s a pity the 118 minutes movie can’t possibly squeeze in more time with all these screwballs in the end leaving character liked Kate on the sideline and Kevin Bacon’s David is wasted as well.
Directors Glen Ficarra and John Requa turn the clichés into something magical, not forgetting the huge laughs that actually pay off. Take for example, Jacob dispensing his sage advice to Cal in a changing room – naked. That particular scene is nothing offensive (some might be disappointed because of it) but it works wonder. Gosling and Carell displayed much chemistry together with every moment of them onscreen a godsend consider one is a newbie in the comedy category while the latter is a seasoned player. This movie kind of belongs to Gosling and he makes a cute pair with Emma Stone onscreen, another potential pair up in future perhaps?
A noisy club (where a chunk of this movie takes place) is not really the best location to discuss love and marriage matters but thanks to the smart ticklish dialogue, a whole bunch of likeable cast and bittersweet moments. It’s CRAZY not to recommend this movie and you are entirely not STUPID if you really LOVE it.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
12 minutes of absolutely rib-tickling Deleted Scenes are included on this DVD.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Ultimately, this is a comedy we are talking about. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is not anything exceptional but dialogue and music tracks are serviceable throughout. Skintones are natural while images are pristine, sharp in general for the visual quality.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Thirty-something Annie (Kristen Wiig) has hit a rough patch but finds her life turned completely upside down when she takes on the Maid of Honor role in her best friend Lillian's (Maya Rudolph) wedding. In way over her head but determined to succeed, Annie leads a hilarious hodgepodge of bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to the big event.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Who says raunchy comedies only feature manboys? Girls can also go really wild as proven by this year’s sleeper hit; the Judd Apatow produced “Bridesmaids”.
Co-written and starring SNL regular Kristen Wiig as Annie, a directionless woman who has just shut down her bakery business and finding out her best friend, Lilian (Maya Rudolph from Grown Ups) is getting married. Annie agrees to be Lilian’s maid of honor and chaos ensued when Annie meets her fellow bridesmaids at the engagement party.
While there aren’t any big stars in “Bridesmaids”, every cast member (and I seriously mean it) in this 125 minutes long movie is hilarious and has the perfect comic timing. Take for example, the Bridesmaids line-up. Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class) is excellent as Helen, the Mrs-knows-all and rival to Annie. Wendi McLendon-Covey as Lilian’s cousin Rita who just can’t stop badmouthing her sons and husband is simply a riot and this year’s breakout star, Melissa McCarthy as Lilian’s rotund, raunchy sister-in-law - incredible! Not forgetting an uncredited Jon Hamm hamming it up as a playboy who looks for Annie mainly for casual sex. Oh and Matt Lucas and Jill Clayburgh as Annie’s weird roommates. It’s a long list of cast members that you likely will not have any impression prior to the movie but undoubtedly stays in your mind after the credits rolled.
The first half is an onslaught of laugh-out-loud and atrocious gags with a food-poisoning sequence taking place in a classy bridal-gown studio. This is really Hangover-esque gross and we have the contender for best usage of bodily fluids in a movie. The rivalry between Annie and Helen also qualify for best bitching award and wait there are more menaces onboard a plane. The jokes just keep coming hot and fast. But beneath all the crudeness is the friendship between the women and Annie’s handling of her downward spiral life. The introduction of a down-to-earth police officer, Nathan (Chris O’Dowd) is a winner itself as he opens up Annie’s heart and journey to self-assurance. Wiig is both brilliant as a writer and an actress who makes Annie so believable. Guess without the presence of Wiig, Annie will end up as a mere caricature or worst, a clown to be laugh at. And it turns out Kristen Wiig’s comic talents finally come to fruition after playing bit roles for years.
There are occasional blunder and missteps and “Bridesmaids” in fact work a lot better if a good 10 or 15 minutes is shaved. Like many other Apatow productions, a common flaw lies in some of the plotting which went on and on and obviously in desperate need of a tighter editing session.
Despite that, we recommend that you check out this R-rated chick-flick that stars a bunch of talented female comedians no less. It’s a worthy entry to the long list of raunchy comedies this year.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD is bursting with hilarious extras including 5 Extended & Alternate Scenes, a Gag Reel and Line-O-Rama, which showcases the cast’s wondrous ability to improvise.
There are 3 Deleted Scenes
and the best one goes to Annie having a blind date with a guy played by Paul Rudd. Pity the whole sequence was cut out.
Cholodecki's Commercial
is a silly ad for the jewelry store where Annie works.
Probably the best commentary track for the year 2011, Feature Commentary with Filmmakers and Cast is a reunion of sorts for the director and main cast members as they gather together to talk and joke about working on the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
“Bridesmaids” looks great on DVD with impressive images and natural colour tones. Dialogue is crystal clear and ambient sound and body effects for example fart is boisterous.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Mercenary Curtie Church (Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond) is hired to take out a notorious Thai sex-trafficking gang by a father s whose daughter was kidnapped and murdered by the gang. With the help of a ruthless weapons dealer (Kevin Bacon, Mystic River), Church finds the men he is hired to kill. But what starts as a paying job turns into an outright war between two rival gangs, and Church finds himself caught between the corrupt world that surrounds him and the truth behind the man who hired him.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It was only a matter of time before director Prachya Pinkaew made the leap into Hollywood territory after his collaborations with Tony Jaa- ‘Tom Yum Goong’ and ‘Ong Bak’- became acclaimed as among some of the most memorable action movies in recent history. Yet despite a solid action star turn from Djimon Hounsou, his first English-language feature ‘Elephant White’ is quite the underwhelming experience, never coming close to delivering the sort of guilty-pleasure B-movie thrills we’ve come to expect.
The story by B-action movie specialist Kevin Bernhardt couldn’t be simpler- once a CIA trained assassin, Curtie Church (Hounsou) is now a gun-for-hire, and recruited by a man aggrieved by the loss of his daughter to take revenge on the underworld figures responsible for her death. There’s a whole seedy trade of human trafficking, and once Church gets mixed up in it, he develops a conscience and takes it upon himself to find a way out for these girls still trapped in the trade.
Ammo-wise, Church turns to another former CIA operative Jimmy (Kevin Bacon), who is now working for the same gang that he is targeting. Throw in some succession plans involving a loyal adviser and the kingpin’s son, and you get a barely there plot that’s just about enough to carry the movie throughout its brief 91-min runtime. And as if acknowledging the skimpiness of the story, Pinchew throws in some religious mysticism revolving around a girl called Mae whom Church develops a connection to.
It’s a misguided move ultimately, for Pinchew strains his audience’s goodwill by asking them to accept that Church would so easily allow someone to get so close to him, and even more become his moral compass. If the setup doesn’t ire you, then the incessant moral talk about right, wrong, the absence of both, what is and what is to come will certainly leave you peeved. We don’t doubt it fits into the context, but Pinchew has little finesse as a filmmaker, and dumps the moralising upon his audience like shoving it down their throats.
In return, Pinchew offers little by way of his trademark hard-hitting action. Church is a sniper, and there really isn’t much hand-to-hand combat fighting that we anticipate from a Pinchew film. Hounsou performs what stunts there are in the movie capably enough, but the action choreography is just too mediocre. Most unforgivable is how the film’s best sequence where Church confronts a whole bunch of goons in the forest en route to killing the triad’s head honcho turns out to be all in Church’s head, a cop-out that exhausts any generosity on the part of its audience.
Even the supposed twist at the end of the film is entirely predictable, and never quite disguises the lame excuse for the silly mayhem that Church causes between two rival gangs. Frustrating too is Kevin Bacon’s presence in the movie, the actor clearly worthy of much better material than a supporting role in something as insignificant as this- and we pity the actor for the flak he’s been getting for the English accent he puts on.
Hounsou deserves much better as well, the Oscar-nominated actor now slumming it in direct to video flicks like this. He probably saw potential for this to be the next ‘Blood Diamond’, given the reference it makes to a pertinent social issue- that of human trafficking. Yet Pinchew is clearly not the right director for this material, and for that matter, neither is his screenwriter Bernhardt- so ‘Elephant White’ is quite simply a disappointment. And in case you’re wondering what the title means- a white elephant is apparently a gesture of peace, the animal being a sign of purity and harmony. Just flipping the description around to give the movie its name should already tell you just how unimaginative the filmmakers are.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track gives a solid surround sound experience when the bullets are flying; otherwise, it’s relatively quiet throughout the movie. Visuals are clear, with good contrast between the dark and light tones during the night scenes.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: The Eclipse is the offshore drilling rig stationed at Sector 7, the mining area in the vast open sea located off the southern tip of Jeju Island. Despite the crew's dream of discovering oil that would make Korea an oil-producing nation, the drilling excavations end in failure and headquarters gives the order to withdraw. Master Jeong-man is sent to oversee the crew's withdrawal from the Eclipse. However, Hae-jun, the equipment manager is adamantly opposed to the headquarters' order as she is certain that oil will be discovered in Sector 7. While Hae-jun and the crew are fully engaged in one final drilling exercise, they lose communication with headquarters and the crew is overwhelmed by the disconcerting feeling that something is out there.......
MOVIE REVIEW:
The 2006 Korean monster movie, “The Host” was sort of a game changer for the local movie industry; the movie not only won the hearts of many Koreans but also garnered favourable reviews among international audience.
5 years later, spanning over a period of 3 working years and touted as the first 3D monster hit from Korea, “Sector 7” is a far cry from “The Host” as it functioned liked many other generic monster movies from Hollywood. In the end, it’s more of a celebration of how technological advanced the Koreans are in terms of fimmaking than the movie itself.
Employing thousands of CG shots, the thriller takes place on an oil rig, ‘The Eclipse’ in Sector 7. Years of trying to find oil has been unsuccessful and finally the company decides to call it quits. A veteran ex-captain of the oil rig, Jeong-Man (Ahu Sung-Ki) is sent to evacuate the remaining crew but one of the crew members, Hae-Jun (Ha Ji-Won) is determined to stay put. However, what they discovered later on is way beyond their imagination.
Unlike “The Host”, “Sector 7” lacks social or political subtext and the story here is almost non-existent though there are feeble attempts to breathe a bit more life to the various characters, it only ends up being the usual stereotyping. The heroine, the comedians and the coward basically no one will remember their names and they will end up with the same fate come end of the day. The origin of the monster which derived from a mutated creature from the ocean’s ecosystem lacks much description and depicting it as something that will be a substitution for fuel just doesn’t seem that logical.
A dark confine area will definitely add merits to a monster thriller for example Ridley Scott’s classic “Alien” and here we are talking about an oil rig stuck in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately, director Kim Ji-Hoon only exposed his own inadequacies in giving audience a good scare or the thrills as the creature makes its grandeur appearance chasing and killing everyone for a prolonged 45 minutes till it becomes repetitive.
Giving Sigourney Weaver a run for her money, Ha Ji-Won (last seen on the big screen in “Haeundae”) impresses with her gung-ho portrayal of Hae-Jun and reportedly performed most of her stunts without a double. The CG creature and environments practically raised the bar for Asian cinematic releases even though there are still scenes that looked too greenscreen.
“Sector 7” is an unexciting monster movie with almost zilch real thrills to be truly satisfying. At best, it’s an unpretentious B-grade monster movie from Korea instead of Hollywood.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The extras consist of a brief Making Of, mainly interviews with the cast & crew, behind-the-scenes footages and a Teaser Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
In general, colours look slightly soft especially during the darker scenes and the supposedly sonic sound effects are constraint by the 2.0 soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: When Gotham City is in desperate need of heroes, two men take a stand for justice…but on opposite sides. Bruce Wayne returns home after years abroad to become a crimefighter, just as honest cop Lt. James Gordon moves to Gotham and finds corruption at every level. When Bruce becomes the masked vigilante Batman, the city explodes as his new nemesis Catwoman, the mob and Gordon all close in! Don’t miss this thrilling DC Universe Animated Original Movie based on the groundbreaking story by Frank Miller and featuring Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Katee Sackhoff, Eliza Dushku, Alex Rocco and Jon Polito in its stellar voice cast. Experience a bold and dynamic vision of the Dark Knight’s first year in action and the start of his enduring friendship with Jim Gordon.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Moviegoers will likely remember Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” if you were to strike up a conversation about everyone’s favourite caped crusader, Batman. His origin, motive and the death of his parents are more or less explained in the movie. However, many of us would not have know Nolan and his scribers adapted several elements from the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s acclaimed DC comic, “Batman: Year One” in which this animation is all about.
Accordingly, this latest offering from DCU follows very closely to the original comic book. The audience is taken on a journey following Bruce Wayne’s return from abroad to the crime-infested Gotham City and his decision to don a mask fighting crimes while Lieutenant Jim Gordon on the other hand is relocating to Gotham with his pregnant wife and transferring to the local corruptive police force. The two unlikely heroes crossed paths and a bond is forged.
Strangely, the focus in “Batman: Year One” is not on Bruce Wayne aka Batman but Jim Gordon, the character that Gary Oldman played on the big screen. In fact, we have a very nice backstory and narrative of the future Police Commissioner. Playing the unlikely hero in a highly corruptive environment to having an affair with his beautiful subordinate and his struggle to raising a kid in a bleak city liked Gotham. Sure, Batman has his fair share of exposition though it’s simply isn’t that fascinating as Gordon. Add to the fact that Selina Kyle aka Catwoman is featured as well, this 64 minutes animation does attempt to be slightly ambitious at times and a longer duration wouldn’t hurt.
As with many other DC Universe animations, the hand-drawn animation style is likeable and welcomed in the current CG era. While lacking much impressive action pieces, this is a well-told, matured piece of animation for fans and non-fans alike.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The usual cast, artistes and crew interviews, storyboarding, sneak footages cover the Justice League: Doom Preview and Preview the Recent DC Universe Animated Original Movies All Star Superman and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
DC Showcase Presents: Catwoman is a 15 minutes short that is far more sexier and dangerous than the Halle Berry’s movie version.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
DCU animations normally look and sound great and “Batman: Year One” is no exception. Lines are sharp, colours are cool and there are enough ambient effects to convey the mood and the action onscreen.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
| « Prev | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.