Genre: Drama
Director: Rodrigo García
Cast: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Brendan Gleeson, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Mark Williams, Bronagh Gallagher, Pauline Collins
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Homosexual Content)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://albertnobbs-themovie.com/#
Opening Day: 16 February 2012
Synopsis: 19th century Ireland: a woman with no husband or family and without work would face a bleak life of poverty and loneliness. Albert, a shy butler who keeps himself to himself, has been hiding a deep secret for years - 'he' is a woman who has had to dress and behave as a man all her life in order to escape this fate. When handsome painter Hubert Page arrives at the hotel, Albert is inspired to try and escape the false life she has created for herself. She gathers her nerves to court beautiful, saucy young maid Helen in whom she thinks she's found a soul-mate - but Helen's eye is on a new arrival: handsome, bad-boy Joe, the new handy-man! As Albert dares to hope that she might one day live a normal life, we catch a glimpse of a free-spirited woman who is caught in the wrong time...This humorous but ultimately poignant ensemble story about life 'below-stairs' is nothing less than Gosford Park meets Boys Don't Cry.
Movie Review:
Rare is a film with such elegant grace and tenderness as ‘Albert Nobbs’, the story of a woman who has pretended to be a man most of her life to escape from the gender discrimination of her time. It is 19th century Ireland, and life isn’t kind to unmarried females who have to support themselves. With her disguise, Albert has found work as a butler in a modest hotel in Dublin called Morrison’s, saving up her tips shilling by shilling in the hopes of starting her own tobacco business one day.
That dream soon feels closer when Albert makes the acquaintance of a certain housepainter Hubert Page, whom the proprietress Mrs Baker (Pauline Collins) puts up in Albert’s room for a night. Afflicted with a case of the flea, Albert inadvertently reveals to Hubert that she is in fact a woman- a reality that is not as startling as the fact that Hubert is (gasp!) herself a woman too, and a married one at that! Albert is intrigued- how could she not be- at the possibility of acquiring similar company in her own life, the life of solitude she had resigned herself to suddenly enlivened with possibility.
At the heart of Albert Nobbs’ tale is a keen character study of repressed gender and its concomitant effects on sexuality. Just like Hubert, Albert’s idea of marriage isn’t with a man but rather a woman- in Albert’s case, a flirtatious maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska) who is instead caught up with the roguish Joe (Aaron Johnson) and his promises of bringing her to America someday. Is Albert naturally attracted to those of the same sex, or is her attraction towards Helen a consequence of her gender repression all these years?
To director Rodrigo Garcia’s credit, a filmmaker whose body of works have demonstrated his craft at bringing strong female characters to life on the big screen, the issue of Albert’s sexuality is handled so deftly that it never feels as if he or his screenwriters (Gabriella Prekop, John Banville, and Glenn Close) were attempting to persuade you one way or another. Instead, they concentrate on realising as fully as possible the titular character, allowing their audience to partake in her joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, and in the process empathise with her motivations and inclinations.
In the same way, Garcia shows plenty of empathy for his other female characters. Hubert surprises as a perfect complement to Albert, candid and sharp-tongued compared to the latter’s meekness and manners. Despite their apparent similarities, the film also takes care to illuminate their differences- whereas for Hubert disguising her gender was a matter of self-assertion, it is for Albert a form of anonymity. And in sharper contrast is Helen, representing the most archetypal form of the female gender, whose sensitivity and maturity ironically cannot hold a candle to that of Albert or Hubert.
It isn’t easy to bring such distinctive characters like Albert or Hubert to life, but both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer have done so magnificently that it is difficult to imagine any other actresses in their roles. Close knows the character intimately, having won an Obie for a stage adaptation of the short story back in 1982, and her performance is a masterclass in subtlety and nuance. With the smallest gestures and actions, she conveys Albert’s desire for companionship and acceptance, easily winning over our sympathy in her character’s search for a better life and a chance at love. It is undoubtedly one of the finest performances from Close, and absolutely deserving of her recent Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Given the understated nature of the role, it’s inevitable that one gets distracted by McTeer’s ostensibly showier performance. That’s not to say that McTeer’s is the lesser among the two actresses- indeed, the British actress imbues Hubert with infectiously unbridled warmth and exuberance. She is the counterpoint to Close’s tightly-coiled reserve, and McTeer’s equally marvellous work has again deservedly won her a first Best Supporting Actress Oscar nom. Compared to Close and McTeer, Wasikowska understandably pales in a much more conventional role, but the young actress does her best to inject texture into her supporting act as the object of Albert’s tender affection.
Garcia surrounds her three central characters with an interesting cast of characters at the hotel- besides the acerbic Mrs Baker, the alcoholic house doctor Holloran (Brendan Gleeson) with a thing for one of the other housemaids, the fellow server Sean (Mark Williams) with less observance for etiquette and primness than Mrs Baker would fancy, and a group of often loud and rowdy young aristocrats (led by Johnathan Rhys Meyers). There is Dickensian richness around Albert, the attention that Garcia has paid to these supporting characters commendable.
But Albert is at the heart of it all, thrown into a heady mix of gender identity, sexuality, and class politics while searching for hope, meaning and love in her otherwise mundane and monotonous life. There is a hushed sadness to it all, but Glenn Close’s peerless act as Albert and Janet McTeer’s surprising turn as Hubert make this story of repression a true joy to behold. It brims with depth and poignancy, a richly layered and graceful portrayal of the universal search- no matter man or woman- for acceptance and love.
Movie Rating:
(With matchless performances by Oscar nominees Glenn Close and Janet McTeer, this is an extraordinarily poignant story of acceptance and love told with elegant grace and tenderness)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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SUPER BOWL ADS 2012Posted on 02 Feb 2012 |
SYNOPSIS: Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington star in "The Debt", the powerful story of Rachel Singer, a former Mossad agent who endeavored to capture and bring to trial a notorious Nazi war criminal - the Surgeon of Birkenau - in a secret Israeli mission that ended with his death on the streets of East Berlin. Now 30 years later, a man claiming to be the doctor has surfaced and Rachel must go back to Eastern Europe to uncover the truth.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s rare for a spy movie to miss the theatrical run here and it’s even rarer when the cast includes celebrated actors such as Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds and Sam ‘Avatar’ Worthington. “The Debt” which is directed by a certain John Madden who gave the world “Shakespeare In Love” is a 2010 remake of a little-known Israeli movie about three Mossad agents being tasked to bring an Nazi war criminal back to Israel for trial from Berlin. But things always never go as planned, aren’t they? “The Debt” is an account of what truly happens after almost 30 years later.
Of the trio, agent Rachel Singer (Mirren) is helmed a heroine in her country, for killing the notorious criminal, Dieter Vogel after he tries to escape from the agents’ clutches. The movie opens in 1997 where we see Singer being celebrated by friends and media when her daughter wrote a book on her mother’s daring exploit. From there, the movie jumps to and fro 1997 to 1966, a sensitive period where East and West Berlin still exists.
Either its budgetary concern (it’s costly to de-age and aged actors in postproduction) or a more sensible decision by the filmmakers, two sets of actors played agent Singer, David and Stephan respectively. The younger Rachel is played by newcomer Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life), Sam Worthington is David and Marton Csokas as the ambitious Stephan. Given the circumstances and plot requirement, both Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain stood out from the rest of the other male actors. Mirren is compelling as usual for those who are familiar with her movie career but it’s Chastain who shines as the younger Rachel Singer with a performance that heaves much of a fresh breath as compared to the current crop of actresses working in Hollywood today.
A far departure from other espionage theme movies such as Spielberg’s ensemble flick, “Munich” and Tony Scott’s flashy “Spy Game”, Madden opted an old-fashioned approach to his movie and “The Debt” works more like a character and morale study on the characters involved. Lacking any major action sequences or firepower (with the exception of a tense transporting sequence), much of the tension derived heavily from the captive, Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) who is so psychologically manipulative that a simple conversation with the man might result in dire consequences. Add to it a triangular romance between the two men and one woman, the trio who are cropped up in a rundown apartment for most of the movie developed romantic rivalry that slows down the flick considerably.
Despite some flaws with the script (which movie doesn’t anyway?), whose first draft is written by frequent collaborators Matthew Vaughan and Jane Goldman (“X-Men:First Class), “The Debt” remains a mature, well-made crime drama. It will definitely have you guessing the actual truth right to the end.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
More for die-hard movie fans than a must-listen commentary track, the Feature Commentary with Director John Madden and Producer Kris Thykier is filled with production details but like the movie, it gets a bit slow at times. A Look Inside The Debt is a brief promo reel that has the director and cast members talk about their roles and plotting. Same goes for The Berlin Affair, another 3 minutes segment.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Offering very little excitement except for a few dramatic sequences, dialogue on the whole is clear while visual transfer is free of noticeable grains.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Colm Meaney, Philip Glenister, Holliday Grainger, James Lance
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes & Nudity)
Released By: Encore Films & GV
Official Website:
Opening Day: 29 March 2012
Synopsis: "Bel Ami", based on the short story by Guy de Maupassant, is an erotically charged tale of ambition, power and seduction which chronicles the rise of Georges Duroy from poverty into the 'beau monde' of 1890's Paris. Using his wits and powers of seduction, Duroy moves from a prostitute's embrace to passionate trysts with wealthy beauties who inhabit where sex is power and celebrity an obsession, and where politics and media jostle for influence.
Movie Review:
Bel Ami is the adaptation of the novel of the same title by French author Guy de Maupassant. It chronicles rise of Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) rise to power from a poor ex-soldier to one of the most successful men in Paris, mostly accomplished by using his only available talent, seduction.
The film opens with Duroy trawling in a bar-brothels of Paris and his reunion with gruff but generous Forestier (Philp Glenister) with whom he served as a soldier in North America and who now wields control of a powerful newspaper. At dinner, Duroy is introduced to Forestier’s wife Madeleine (Uma Thurman), chief editor Rousser (Colm Meaney), his wife (Scott Thomas) and their married friend Clotilde (Christina Ricci). The evening results in a job as writer at the newspaper, Madeleine as a mentor and the promise of adulterous fun with Clotilde.
However, Duroy soon learns that it is easier to make a fortune by exploiting the influence and loneliness of these women. His self-serving campaign is mirrored by Forestier and Rousset who seek to get rich(er) by backing the French government’s sneaky plan to invade Morocco. The politics, unfortunately, are quite dull and flat.
Robert Pattinson is adequate as George Duroy, but not impressive. Without his fake fangs (which, unjustly, get most of the blame for his lousy vocal expressions in The Twilight Saga), his articulation still need some more work. The female cast shines and is perhaps the only saving grace of the film. Thurman gives a convincing and engaging performance as Madeleine, Ricci lightens up the mood effortlessly and Scott Thomas is undeniably splendid. Unfortunately, Pattinson’s limited facial expressions where he twitches his lips and arches his eyebrows are deployed to amusing effect and it’s very difficult to see why these women would be captivated by a man of such obvious emptiness and tiresome petulance, not to mention who is also short on conversation skills, social graces and virility.
First-time directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod have directed mostly for the London theatres and it shows in the slow and stateliness of the film’s pace. In the final act, as Duroy failed to sparkle under the sun like Edward Cullen in New Moon, the very last hope of Bel Ami amounting to anything that dazzles also sizzled away as quietly and uneventfully as the rest of the film.
Movie Rating:
(Using Medeleine’s words “I had no conception of the depths of your emptiness” and it is indeed hard to be mesmerised by this dull and boring Bel Ami)
Review by Sing Swee Leong
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Cast: Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis, Sigourney Weaver, Verónica Echegui, Joseph Mawle, Caroline Goodall, Oscar Jaenada, Rafi Gavron
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: PG13 (Coarse Language and Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.thecoldlightofday.com
Opening Day: 23 August 2012
Synopsis: When WILL SHAW (Henry Cavill) arrives in Spain for a weeklong sailing vacation with his family, the stressed young businessman is not in a holiday mood. His startup company is in trouble and his tense relationship with his disciplinarian father MARTIN (Bruce Willis) only makes matters worse. But when the family is kidnapped by what turns out to be intelligence agents hell-bent on recovering a mysterious briefcase, Will suddenly finds himself on the run. His whole world turns upside down when Martin reappears, revealing he is an undercover agent tangled in an intergovernmental web of lies and secrets.
Movie Review:
It’s hard to really pin down what The Cold Light of Day is supposed to achieve. It reads like a concept reel for emerging leading man Henry Cavill who will proceed to star as Superman in next year’s Man of Steel but it makes so many concessions to the sensibilities of a spy movie that it’s never going to be a real jumping point for Cavill. Director Mabrouk El Mechri is almost entirely to blame here, making the most unremarkable decisions that force us to reexamine the intrinsic cleverness of spy fiction. The result is a watery, meandering spy movie that manages even at its best moments to be completely ordinary.
Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) is barely a day into his vacation in Spain when financial problems at home in San Francisco threaten to shorten the trip. After a dispute with his father (Bruce Willis) on the family’s rented boat, Will decides to swim ashore for a break. He returns to find his family gone and a call for help at the local police station ends in more trouble. Discovering that he can recover his kidnapped family by giving up a certain briefcase, Will must beat the clock to unravel the underlying mystery but not before he encounters corrupted CIA agent (Sigourney Weaver) and his lost sister (Verónica Echegui).
On one hand, it’s easy to be enthusiastic about engrossing yourself in the story but on the other, The Cold Light of Day gives very few reasons why you should. Better spy movies have thrived on providing viewers with at least some clue on what motivates each character to retrieve an important object, kill a person or escape from capture so the audience can make sense of what transpires onscreen. The Cold Light of Day, quite questionably, never reveals or alludes to the life-or-death contents of the briefcase, meaning the biggest difficulty is in believing the necessity of all the carnage. It’s perfectly reasonable that Will is willing to fire his first shot and participate in a mad car chase only because he wants to save his family. But it’s hardly convincing to have pockets of mercenaries and agents chasing a briefcase that might as well be empty.
Such is the silliness of The Cold Light of Day that it often struggles to establish what exactly any of its characters intend to accomplish. If Weaver’s character is indeed the CIA agent she claims to be, then she must be the dumbest agent to ever be enlisted. With the briefcase already tucked away in her car seat, she turns a mission-accomplished situation into a senseless civilian killing spree as she trades car paint with Will’s vehicle down the busy streets of Madrid. Spy movies usually ask the audience to forgive some disbelief in order to enjoy them but The Cold Light of Day is by far the most demanding. The slightest bit of investigation into the weak plot will crumble the movie faster than a fragile egg tart.
Fortunately, there remains a vestige of believability in Will. As an innocent civilian unwittingly hooked into a web of dangerous games between mercenaries and agents, Cavill brings a sort of genuine clumsiness to his role, allowing the audience to easily buy his character. For this reason, there won’t be any explosive set-piece or many scenes featuring hand-to-hand combat. There’re a few tricks to prevent the action scenes from becoming too stale and while some of the stunts are decent efforts, others don’t always work. Handcuffed between the tragic decision to set most of the action scenes in the night and the already blurry shots of fast-moving action taken by handheld cameras, you would be hard pressed to find any shot of action that isn’t obscured in any way.
It’s a shame because The Cold Light of Day has a talented cast which can actually do justice to the action. However, none of them bothers to offer a performance that’s required to make other scenes work. Cavill comes across poorly as a man who’s truly shocked that his family’s been kidnapped, responding to a call from the kidnappers with an uncanny calmness while Weaver maintains a surprisingly stoical composure throughout. Willis’s character is quickly written out of the story before he could show his acting chops. In a year filled with other spy movies like Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy and the upcoming Bond film, The Cold Light of Day looks like a distant relative.
Movie Rating:
(Spies are smart and spy movies deserve to be clever – but this is not)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
Genre: Drama
Director: Julia Leigh
Cast: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Peter Carroll, Michael Dorman, Mirrah Foulkes, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Chris Haywood
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: R21 (Nudity and Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.sleepingbeautyfilm.com/
Opening Day: 22 March 2012
Synopsis: "You will go to sleep: you will wake up. It will be as if those hours never existed." Death-haunted, quietly reckless, Lucy is a young university student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. In the Sleeping Beauty Chamber old men seek an erotic experience that requires Lucy’s absolute submission. This unsettling task starts to bleed into Lucy’s daily life and she develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep..
Movie Review:
Not to be confused with the classic Charles Perrault fairy tale or a remake of the 1959 Disney animation, Australian novelist Julia Leigh’s big-screen writing/ directing debut is quite simply about a gorgeous university student who takes up a self-abasing job of allowing older men to enact their erotic fantasies on her naked body while under drug-induced unconsciousness. That synopsis may raise some temperatures, and perhaps even be titillating enough to put some bums on seats- but make no mistake, this supposed parable on feminism is as soporific as its title suggests.
It’s a pity really, for Leigh’s screenplay had an intriguing conceit that was good enough to be blessed with a 2008 Black List selection and the attention of acclaimed auteur Jane Campion, both of which were probably instrumental to getting the film made in the first place. But for all its promise of being a sexually charged exploration of female submission, objectification and depersonalisation, Leigh’s puzzlingly elliptical approach to her own material all but ensures that her well-meaning but poorly executed study remains only skin-deep.
Indeed, Leigh takes the detachment of her titular character, otherwise known as Lucy, upon the film itself, and the similarly detached manner by which she treats Lucy undermines her movie. Lucy remains an enigma before and after the movie, and it is never clear why she is so disaffected in the first place. Along with that ambiguity comes the inevitable scepticism why such a beautiful young woman would accept such a demeaning job in the first place, putting her dignity and her very own life literally in the hands of wealthier old men.
To be sure, the earlier scenes where Lucy is seen scraping her way through university making copies in a dreary office, cleaning tables at a cheap restaurant and offering herself as the test subject in a science lab are supposed to illuminate the existential malaise she is in. Yet the reasons for her current state is only very briefly hinted at- a phone call with a mother with credit problems, a terminally ill friend Birdmann (Ewan Leslie) whom she visits regularly, and insouciant sexual attitudes- with little attempt to relate it back to how they eventually drive Lucy to be the person she is now.
Without that clarity, Lucy is as good as an empty vessel, just another ‘object’ that Leigh invites her audience to project their own sexual desires upon. Prurient as it sounds, it’s clear from how Leigh lets her shots linger over Emily Browning’s flawless pale skin that she is well aware of the effect they will have on persons of the male gender. Instead of being a meaningful examination on exploitation of the opposite gender therefore, it wallows in the same lascivious pleasures and becomes as guilty as the very kind of individuals it wants to chastise in objectifying the female body.
Of course, if that’s your purpose in catching this movie, then you’ll probably come off quite satisfied with the amount of nudity present in the movie- though you ought to know that you won’t catch any action going on. Browning, also an object of fetish in Zack Synder’s ‘Sucker Punch’ has a mesmerizingly ethereal beauty about her, which the former child actress puts to good use in this role. Sadly, there is little beyond her looks to admire about her performance, which turns out affectless, opaque and ultimately uninvolving.
Equally important to note too is that the movie does take its own time to get to its undisputed highlight, stripped as it is of any narrative tension or dramatic momentum. Less patient viewers should therefore steer clear of this, because not only will Leigh’s abstruse treatment frustrate, so will the leaden pace by which events unfold. Except for the sight of Browning nude therefore, this is as sleep-inducing as it gets- and if that came off as superficial, that’s because the movie offers nothing more beyond those simpler pleasures.
Movie Rating:
(Forget the titillating poster- this exploration on female objectification and depersonalisation is devoid of sexual tension and as soporific as its title suggests)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Stephen Daldry
Cast: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn , John Goodman, James Gandolfini, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Max von Sydow, Adrian Martinez
RunTime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Disturbing Images)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://www.extremelyloudmovie.com/
Opening Day: 23 February 2012
Synopsis: Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" tells the story of one young boy's journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragicevents of September 11. Eleven-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist. And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey--an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar's journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love.
Movie Review:
A fair warning before you step into this 9/11 drama based on the acclaimed novel by Johnathan Safran Foer- the protagonist, a nine-year-old boy living in New York City, isn’t someone you’ll embrace easily, even though the fact that he had lost his father in the Twin Towers should win much sympathy. Indeed, while we may accept a certain degree of immaturity from the kid due to his age, it’s appalling to hear him say that his dad- whose body like the thousands who perished was never found- might just be ‘dog faeces’ in Central Park, or that he wished it was his mother who had lost her life instead.
Oskar Schell (played by newcomer Thomas Horn) is rather the abrasive kid who is both precocious and socially awkward- though test results on Asperger’s syndrome turned out inconclusive. One year after that fateful day, Oskar steps inside his father’s closet and finds a key inside an envelope with the name ‘Black’ scrawled on the front. Thinking that it might be one of his father, Thomas’ (Tom Hanks), elaborate puzzles he used to concoct in order to force his son to interact with people, Oskar sets off on a personal quest to track down the source of the key.
Equipped with a backpack of essentials- including an Israeli gas mask, ‘A Brief History of Time’ by Stephen Hawkings, and a tambourine that he uses to calm himself amid the din and bustle of the city- Oskar traverses by foot through the five boroughs of New York knocking on the doors of everyone with the last name ‘Black’ he can locate in the phone book. Some of the people he meets include a married couple (Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright) on the verge of divorce, a religious woman who offers up Oskar’s mission to God, and a transsexual with a lifestyle too wild for Oskar’s comfort- it takes all sorts to make the world, and if each of these attempts turn out futile, it at least fulfils his father’s hope that Oskar will learn to be more sociable.
Each encounter is also an affirmation of the collective tragedy that was 9/11, as Oskar’s story moves those he meets to concern and compassion be they survivors or mourners. The unanimous display of empathy is poignant, reaffirming humanity’s ability to unite behind grief and loss. But screenwriter Eric Roth makes this journey as much about the mutual heroism of New Yorkers trying to make sense and come to terms with the senselessness and devastation as it is about an individual family’s struggle to recover from the very disaster.
Just as affecting therefore is the examination of the effect that Thomas’ death has on the dynamics of the family- the mother Linda (Sandra Bullock) coping with her husband’s passing while trying her best to win the understanding and love of her son; and the grandmother (Zoe Caldwell) thrust into an uneasy position as Oskar’s confidant even as he rebuffs his mother. Oskar also forms a connection with a certain mysterious Renter (Max von Sydow) living in his grandmother’s apartment, whose willingness to accompany Oskar on his trips belies a painful secret and a deeper personal motivation.
No stranger to heavy-handed dramas, director Stephen Daldry (his fourth feature after the critically acclaimed ‘Billy Elliot’, ‘The Hours’ and ‘The Reader’) handles the potentially histrionic proceedings with surprising deftness. Especially heartrending is Linda’s predicament- a scene where she breaks down from hearing Oskar say the words ‘I love you’ just outside the main door after he leaves in a huff is particularly touching; while a plot twist late into the movie that shows the extent of a mother’s love for her son will leave only the hardest of hearts unmoved. Bullock is uncharacteristically low-key but very effective in the role, her heartbreak keenly felt through her grimaces and tears.
Daldry also gets an excellent performance from von Sydow- with wordless shrugs and sighs, he effortlessly conveys his character’s troubled past, one so traumatising that he has chosen to remain silent and relate to others with a simple ‘yes’ on one palm and ‘no’ on the other. And at the heart of it all is Thomas Horn’s mesmerising turn, the ‘Kids Jeopardy’ winner utterly captivating as the bright but socially inept kid trying desperately to cling onto the one thing that he thinks will help him remain connected to his deceased father.
Appropriately then, the film has been nominated for Best Picture honours- though amongst the nine nominees this year, this is probably the lowest rated overall by critics. Many have criticised Daldry’s mawkish sentimentality for undermining the material, but in truth, we thought there was much restraint and nuance in his method. In fact, Daldry deserves praise for preserving both the poignancy and pathos of his source novel, delicately portraying both the effect of 9/11 on a sensitive boy and his family as well as that of the larger community around him. True it takes some time to get to understand Oskar on his level, but the very fact that Daldry has retained the inherent eccentrics of his key character is the surest sign that this is not your typical maudlin 9/11 drama. It is stimulating to say the least, extremely tender and incredibly uplifting.
Movie Rating:
(One of the best 9/11 dramas you’ll see, this poignant and uplifting story is ultimately a reaffirming tale of resilience and reconciliation)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: After a brush with the law, Maria has returned to her gritty Bronx roots to rebuild her life with nothing but a talent for street dance and a burning ambition to prove herself. Maria pours her heart and soul into dance and begins training her crew, the HDs to compete on the television dance competition "Dance or Die". Like Honey before her, Maria rediscovers the thrill of dancing as she finds out who she truly is and where she belongs.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s not often you get a direct-to-video sequel that betters its predecessor, but ‘Honey 2’ does just that to the 2003 original starring Jessica Alba. To Alba fans, we’re sorry to say that she doesn’t return for this sequel- in her place is Katerina Graham, whom from her performance here alone deserves to enjoy a career lift. Graham is all sass and radiant verve here, and from what we’ve seen of teen dance movies so far, may qualify as one of the best actresses/ dancers of the lot.
Here, she plays a dancer who’s just been let out of juvenile detention after having a run-in with the law no thanks to her ex-boyfriend cum dancing crew member Luis (Christopher Martinez). Maria is sent to Honey Daniels’ dance studio to serve out her community service order, where her passion in dance is reignited after watching an amateur dance crew that includes Brandon (Randy Wayne), Tina (Saychelle Gabriel) and Carla (Melissa Molinaro).
Aiming for an easy-to-follow narrative formula, writers Blayne Weaver and Alyson Fouse go for the typical underdog versus incumbent challenge. So to prove that she can very well dance and lead her own crew as well as Luis, she assembles Brandon and his members to form the group High Def and take on Luis’ 718 troupe at the televised dance competition ‘Dance Battle Zone’- think ‘American Idol’ but with dancers instead of singers.
In between the obligatory practice sequences, director Billie Woodruff skilfully weaves in some inter-crew rivalry (Luis tries to win over Tina in a bid to scuttle the HD’s bid for the top prize) and of course some romance (Maria falls in love with Brandon, who turns out to be a rich kid doing a double major). Yes, it all sounds predictable, but you wouldn’t expect anything more from a film that is aimed squarely at the teen market. What’s surprising however is the earnestness with which the cast and crew have approached this movie.
Indeed, both Woodruff and his screenwriters deserve credit for not glossing over the plot developments in the movie, giving each character (lead or supporting) his or her screen due. Sure nobody really goes to such a movie for the story, but there is a surprising amount of effort dedicated to ensuring that ‘Honey 2’ isn’t just some glorified pastiche of music video dance sequences. Ditto for the effort that the cast put into their characters, the standout here being Graham, who has both the physicality and the gravitas to convince.
And what about the dances you say? Well, it certainly isn’t the most outstanding ever showcased on film, but we’d like to commend Rosero McCoy for the nonetheless well-done choreography. Rather than trying to constantly impress his audience, McCoy goes for moves and sequences that are believable in the context of the movie, beautifully integrated with the hip-hop contemporary tunes on the soundtrack. It’s much more than we could expect from a DTV sequel, and we assure you that you’ll be quite impressed as well.
Woodruff also deserves compliments for doing justice to the dancing sequences, alternating deftly between close-ups and wide shots to give his audience a good sense of the harmonisation between the individual crew members. No doubt these betray the director’s music video background, but at least he knows how to film these sequences in perspective, which is much more than we can say for other movies of the genre.
It is in these details- whether attention to plot or cinematography- that ‘Honey 2’ earns extra points for being a cut above the rest. Sure it still is formulaic to a T, but as a movie that promises to showcase some breathtaking dance moves, it does just that and more. And though its predecessor may have Jessica Alba headlining, we’d advise you to pick this sequel if you had to choose one from between the two. It’s better than it has any right to be, and a guaranteed feel-good time for fans of such movies.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Chief among the extras on this disc is ‘Dance Sequences’, which showcases the longer form of the sequences that are included in the movie- and let’s just say that they are worth your time. “Behind the Dance Crews” is your standard making-of featurette that begins by justifying the release of this sequel nine years after the original, and then delves into interviews with the cast and crew.
“The Dream Continues” basically compares this sequel with the original, and doesn’t offer much beyond what you can already get from the earlier making-of. “Dance or Die Trying” however is much more worth your time- a nice inside look at the different dancing styles that McCoy used in the choreography, as well as the three weeks of training he placed the entire cast through.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is excellent for a DTV release, and you can truly feel the atmosphere when the dance sequences get popping. Visuals are just as flawless, delivering clear and sharp images as vividly as you would expect.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Family/Adventure
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Helen McCrory, Emily Mortimer, Michael Stuhlbarg
RunTime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.hugomovie.com/
Opening Day: 23 February 2012
Synopsis: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. This holiday season the legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick's award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." HUGO is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and loving place he can call home.
Movie Review:
If there is one genre that Martin Scorcese has not explored over the course of his expansive four decades in film, it is that of the ‘families’, often considered as lightweight and therefore ill-fitting for the director’s proclivity for mature fare revolving around the themes of guilt and redemption, crime and violence and above all, Italian-American identity. But though cloaked within the look and feel of a family film, ‘Hugo’ ultimately proves to be so much more, and there is no doubt by the end of it why Scorcese was attracted to this adaptation of Brian Selznick’s celebrated novel.
This is the Dickensian story of a 12-year-old orphan named Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) who lives inside the walls of the Gare Montmartre train station in 1930s Paris and turns to the occasional thieving to survive. How Hugo ended up tending to the complicated system of clocks within the station is told quickly through a series of flashbacks- his beloved father (Jude Law) dies in a fire and the young boy is taken under the wing by his churlish Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone)- but is arguably less important than the mystery he has been working hard to crack.
Hugo’s been left with an automaton which his father rescued from the attic of a nearby museum, and over the years, he’s been nicking what he needs to get it repaired- it’s Hugo’s last remaining connection to his father whom he misses dearly. While performing his daily routine of eluding an overzealous station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) one day, Hugo runs afoul of a grumpy toy seller Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley) and loses possession of a precious notebook with the drawings and calculations essential for his pet project. Desperate, he follows the seller home and pleads with his precocious goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) to retrieve it for him.
Thus begins their mutual journey of adventure, as Hugo brings Isabelle, who’s never seen a motion picture, to a showing of ‘Safety Last’ where the silent comedian Harold Lloyd dangles from the hands of a giant clock. Isabelle too introduces Hugo to the world of books, the bright lass an avid reader with a penchant for big words. But Hugo is more interested in the heart-shaped key around Isabelle’s neck he believes will unlock the secret of the automaton- though to convince her to lend him the key, Hugo has to reveal both his hiding place in the station and more importantly the automaton he keeps hidden in there.
True enough- the key fits the hole- and the automaton sketches out a key scene from filmmaker Georges Melies’ landmark 1902 sci-fi fantasy ‘A Trip to the Moon’ where a rocket crashes into face of the man in the moon. Turns out Papa Georges is indeed the lost filmmaker Georges Melies, and screenwriter John Logan uses the second half of the movie to make a heartfelt argument for the preservation of film. It isn’t just about protecting the legacy of the filmmaker- though the rehabilitation of Melies is equally pivotal to the story- but also about safeguarding the collective memories of an audience built upon the extraordinary power of cinema to inspire.
So deftly around a tale of childhood intrigue, Scorcese has conveyed the importance of a cause that’s so close to his heart- the filmmaker had in 1990 founded the Film Foundation dedicated to American film preservation and in 2007 the World Cinema Foundation to do likewise for world cinema. ‘Hugo’ isn’t only his plea for the cause, but his tribute to his peers from the past who have left an indelible contribution to the advancement of cinema- and besides a brief but illuminating tour of the history of early cinema close to the end of the film, Scorcese also does a lovely restaging of the classic Lumiere brothers’ 1897 presentation of the ‘Arrival of a Train at Le Ciotat’.
In ‘Hugo’, Scorcese has also fashioned an opulent epic as lavish and rapturous as the classic films that have captured our imagination since the beginning of the celluloid medium, employing his usual ace team- consisting of production designer Dante Ferretti, cinematographer Robert Richardson and editor Thelma Schoonmaker- to transport his audience straight into the heart of a storybook Paris. Trust us when we say that you’ll be wowed from the get-go- the opening shot a breathtaking one that begins with the camera swooping over the rooftops of Paris towards the Montmartre station and continuing seamlessly above the tracks inside the station before entering the main hall where young Hugo is making his way through the crowd of commuters.
The singular contributions of each one on his technical team deserve special mention. Ferretti’s set design of the Montmartre station is filled with gorgeous details, the interior of the clock tower particularly intricate and exquisite; and the re-creation of the famous train wreck within the novel an absolute sight to behold. Richardson’s cinematography here is also splendid, especially the numerous shots within the station and over the Parisian rooftops- but his most notable achievement is in making a compelling case for the use of the third dimension. Together with Scorcese, Richardson ensures that this 3D-shot film brims with beautifully crafted shots that bring to life the world of fantasy and mystery within the film in a most visually vivid manner.
Besides its technical mastery, ‘Hugo’ also boasts delightful performances from its cast of all ages. Butterfield emerges from a breakout performance from ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ to deliver an equally nuanced portrayal of a boy adrift in the world and longing for the people and things that will connect him to the rest of humanity. While Butterfield infuses Hugo with the wary solitude of a street-smart urchin, Moretz effuses warmth and radiance in every frame. Fresh off Scorcese’s earlier ‘Shutter Island’, Kingsley’s supporting act is a masterful one that conveys keenly the wounded pride of an artist who watches with despair as his works once so beloved by the world are now quickly forgotten.
If there is one gripe about the movie, it is that the vignettes involving some of the station’s regulars- including a tentative romance between Cohen’s station inspector and Emily Mortimer’s florist- end up too lightweight to matter, even if they do emphasise the movie’s main theme of finding connection and continuity. Still, that little triviality in no way diminishes the sheer feeling of wonder and magic that Scorcese brings to his first film meant for all ages, a film that also so persuasively and winningly echoes his lifelong passion of cinema preservation. It’s a film of pure enchantment, even more so when viewed in 3D, and once again reiterates why Scorcese is simply one of the best directors of all time.
Movie Rating:
(A work of pure magic, pure wonder and pure exuberance, this unlikely family film from Martin Scorcese is a winning delight for all ages- and an even more astounding visual spectacle in 3D)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, Jimmi Simpson, Robin McLeavy
RunTime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 July 2012
Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of one of the U.S.’s greatest presidents, and the untold story that shaped that country. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the bloodthirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history's greatest hunter of the undead.
Movie Review:
There are countless of vampire films these days, and the numbers churning out don't seem to be letting up, maximizing releases on the 3D format to rake in extra revenue at the box office. Amongst the noisy blockbusters, in Singapore at least, comes Abraham Lincoln sandwiched between the friendly neighbourhood wall crawler and the dark knight. The verdict? It's a surprisingly entertaining action adventure that blends history and fantasy, putting historical characters in landscapes and events that perhaps could have happened if imagination turned into reality. This is nothing new of course, but this film had the gall to put a prominent country leader on the pedestal, and turning him into something else altogether.
With Tim Burton and Russian visionary director Timur Bekmambetov combining forces, I suppose only these two can provide an added dimension to the 16th President of the United States, putting Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) into a fictional space and in almost superhero fashion with his nocturnal lifestyle comparable to that of Batman's, hunting his adversaries, in this case being Vampires, in the night. It's a time where humanity is threatened with the rising force of Vampires, led by Adam (Rufus Sewell), who have crossed from Europe into the New World to try and expand their dominion at the right opportunity. And Abe Lincoln, who lost his parents under the hands of one such vampire (Marton Csokas), shades of the Dark Knight is unmistakably paid homage to with his vow of vengeance, which gets transformed by mentor Henry (Dominic West) into a quest for the greater good, with rules attached that denies Abe of relationships given the dangerous nature of his lifelong mission. But such rules are to be broken when Abe falls in love with Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and provides for an added element of danger each time he goes out wielding that giant axe.
While the narrative is focused on the life and times of the central titular character, from his childhood days right up until sealing his legacy with historical milestones such as the Battle of Gettysburg, which had taken on a more mythical approach of Man versus Monster, what made the film tick also rests on its supporting characters. There's Dominic West as mentioned playing the quintessential mentor role in training Abe in the ways of the Vampire, coupled with the requisite montage training sequences as well as throwing in a known twist, and Anthony Mackie as William Johnson his childhood friend, there to punctuate a time when racisim was steep in a country still bogged down with slavery in the South. And while Mary Elizabeth Winstead's role as Mary Todd aka Mrs Abraham Lincoln is pretty brief, confined to being the love interest, she too does have scenes as the First Lady with a lot of spunk, as does how Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson) had transformed from Abe's early employer, to trusted confidante.
Benamin Walker may not be a household name now, being the unknown who gets to step into a big, historical role, but with leading roles like these and that uncanny resemblance to Abe when made up, perhaps this could serve as his calling card. I may be alone here, but there's some resemblance with his build to Liam Neeson, and his youthful Abe Lincoln playing something that Neeson would have played, albeit with a little bit less experience. And when he ages with the help of prosthetics, Walker does resemble like the atypical image that comes to mind when we think of that American president. Rufus Sewell on the other hand didn't offer much to be a menace, neither hamming it up nor playing it too serious, and if there's a weak point in the film, it'll have to boil down to a lack of a powerful antagonist for Abe Lincoln to grapple against.
Timur gets to return to form with the strong visual sense so powerfully created for his Night/Daywatch series, with art and production design sparing no effort in re-creating old America, coupled with the judicious use of CG to achieve that as well, in particular the landscapes and action sequences. And when Abe fights with his weapon of choice, the blood, gore and dismemberment on screen earned this film its rating here, although beautiful to gawk at with detailed fighting styles played out in slow motion. And I'm glad to say that this film, even though post-produced into 3D, was well worth its higher ticket price in the format, because of deliberate and purposeful designed sequences that shows incredible depth of field, and knowing how to accentuate horror and thrills by having the right things jump toward you from the screen. It's a defnite roller coster ride down right, with the 3D properly utilized and designed, rather than haphazardly slapped together in sloppy fashion just to earn a few quick bucks. There's a labour of love involved, and it shows.
Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, I guess it's only in America that an historical figure can get to be portrayed in a drastically fictional sense, and to get away with it without any estate suing it for damages. And what more, to have a Russian being at the helm to direct this as well. Try doing that in Singapore and see what you'd probably get, with the film unlikely to have made it off the starting blocks. This film may not have all the ingredients to be an instant epic nor classic, but it knows its limitations and didn't pass itself off as something more than an action adventure, fantasy ride. Recommended!
Movie Rating:
(An American president like you've never seen him before, axe-wielding and all)
Review by Stefan Shih
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