Genre:Action/Thriller
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Cast: Mel Gibson, Peter Stormare, Dean Norris, Kevin Hernandez, Bob Gunton, Stephanie Lemelin, Scott Cohen, Aaron Cohen
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films & Musictronic
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 June 2012
Synopsis: The story of Driver, a career criminal who is picked up by the Mexican police as he desperately tries to cross the border in a car stuffed full of stolen cash. The police take the cash and dump him in the infamous El Pueblito prison - a hell on earth where the prison gangs run the show. Driver has no ID or fingerprints but he still gets a visit from a corrupt American Embassy official who has heard about the money. If Driver doesn't find a way of paying him off while he's inside, then he's going to let the authorities know where Driver is. And it won't be long before the guys he stole the money from find him too. Driver knows it is sink or swim. He hooks up with a young boy who shows him how to survive in the prison, but the kid has a terrible secret. He shares a rare blood type with Javi - the criminal who ruthlessly controls the prison and everyone in it. The kid is Javi’s life insurance policy and he has doctors on standby to transplant his liver whenever the time comes. But Driver has other ideas and pretty soon he devises an audacious plan to escape with the kid, the kid’s mother and the money.
Movie Review:
After the disappointing ‘Edge of Darkness’ and the mostly-ignored ‘The Beaver’, Mel Gibson returns to what he does best playing the defiant, somewhat impulsive, but always sharp-thinking anti-hero in ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’. Indeed, his latest persona will be instantly familiar to those who remember him from his ‘Lethal Weapon’ days, way before his disastrous personal life overshadowed his talent as a filmmaker behind the camera and his charisma as an actor in front of it.
Gibson’s fingerprints are all over this grungy action-comedy set in a loose Mexican prison- it was Gibson who took a first crack at the script after reading about the real-life Tijuana penitentiary nicknamed ‘El Pueblito’. Here where the families of inmates are allowed to live inside the prison walls with them lives a bustling and thriving community, with residence traded like real estate and drugs and firearms openly sold as commodities. Into this unique setting is thrust Gibson’s Driver, after landing on Mexican soil while trying to evade the U.S. Border Patrol.
That opening sequence will certainly get your attention- devoid of the sheen of modern-day Hollywood action movies, there is a certain grunginess to the way it is shot, with Gibson’s wry commentary providing an extra dash of verve. That same grittiness pervades the entire picture, as the setting quickly shifts to the walls of ‘El Pueblito’ where most of the rest of the movie is set. It is there that Driver is sent to serve time and forced to adapt quickly to its unspoken rules and criminal hierarchy.
His strategy- lie low and make business with those who count. Part of the joy of the first half of the movie is in observing Driver’s resourcefulness- and though the 56-year-old Gibson has aged much compared to his earlier action icon days, that twinkle in his eye and mischievous grin on his face is still very much alive. Driver finds his purpose when he meets a tough and precocious 10-year-old kid (Kevin Hernandez) and his mother (Dolores Heredia), the former and the prison’s criminal kingpin Javi (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) joined by a most unusual life-or-death bond.
Throw in some additional complications from a State-side mobster Frank (Peter Stormare) whom Driver stole the money from, and you have a spirited mix of uneasy alliances, double-crosses, and some good-ol’ payback. The script by Gibson, his fellow producer Stacy Perskie and first-time director Adrian Grunberg melds the disparate plot threads with surprising efficiency, building to a satisfying conclusion with a healthy dash of tongue-in-cheek humour for good measure.
In the director’s seat, Grunberg (who was assistant director on Gibson's ‘Apocalypto’ and second unit director on ‘Edge of Darkness’) maximises production designer Bernardo Trujillo’s excellent recreation of ‘El Pueblito’ in a disused penitentiary in Veracruz, each one of the prison scenes popping with life and colour. He also displays an adroitness juggling both the action and the comedy in the film, while never losing sight of the bond between Driver and the kid that forms the movie’s emotional core. But most of all, Grunberg knows what Gibson does best, and wisely allows the star to take centrestage in his element.
And certainly, Gibson does not disappoint. It’s a role he has written to play to his strengths no doubt, but arguably few Hollywood stars are able to bring the same charm and energy to roguish anti-hero types that Gibson has defined over the years as an actor. It’s also nice to see Gibson in his sardonic self, and you’ll enjoy his sly sarcastic narration as much as he does. If it isn’t apparent by now, Gibson’s character doesn’t have a name in the movie- which makes his surprise impersonation of Clint Eastwood late into the film even more appropriately amusing.
Indeed, Gibson is in top form in his latest movie, far more enjoyable and entertaining than ‘Edge of Darkness’ and definitely more accessible than the darker-themed ‘The Beaver’. It doesn’t boast the bombast of the usual summer blockbuster, but this offbeat action-comedy has dark humour, nicely shot action sequences and Mel Gibson at his best element- that to us, is as good a way to spend your summer vacation as any.
Movie Rating:
(Featuring everything we’ve come to love about Mel Gibson from his ‘Lethal Weapon’ days, this ‘Summer Vacation’ is one lively Mex-set trip of dark humour and wham-bang action)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Academy Awardr Winner Cuba Gooding Jr.* and Academy Awardr Nominee Terrence Howard** lead a powerful ensemble cast in this high-flying epic inspired by the real-life adventures of the first African-American combat unit to serve in World War II. Italy, 1944. As the war takes its toll on Allied forces in Europe, a squadron of black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen are finally given the chance to prove themselves in the sky...even as they battle discrimination on the ground. Featuring jaw-dropping aerial action and thrilling special effects, Red Tails is a breathtaking tribute to the unsung heroes who rose above extraordinary challenges and ultimately soared into history.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Before he hand over his entire empire to Disney, George Lucas finally realized his pet project of over 20 years marking it the official last release from his Lucasfilm outfit after Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2008.
Directed by TV director Anthony Hemingway (The Wire) and produced by Lucas, Red Tails recounts the little known heroic tale of the Tuskegee Airmen. In short, it’s the first combat unit, which consists of solely African-American, recruited to fight in World War II as pilots.
It’s a difficult time whereby bigotry against black is common practice. Red Tails attempts to bring this subject to the masses, setting out to honor those great heroes. In a way, Lucas and gang have succeeded. The war drama is adequate and as Lucas himself puts it, an old-fashioned corny story. We have a down-to-earth leader of the squad, “Easy” (Nate Parker), a rebellious “Lightning” (David Oyelowo) who falls in love with a local Italian girl, the youngest of the lot, “Junior” (Tristan Wilds), a newbie named Maurice (Michael B Jordan) and singer “Smokey” (Ne-Yo).
The generic, nameless Nazis baddies aside, this whole bunch of characters while lacking in definition and dimension rises to the occasion because of the stellar performances by the relatively unknown cast. The two biggest names here belongs to Terrence Howard and Academy Award winner turned straight-to-video star Cuba Gooding Jr who plays Colonel Bullard and Major Stance respectively while Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston turned in a two days work as a racist Colonel William Mortamus.
The script by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder is strictly by the numbers. The narrative hardly thrills despite its best intention to showcase this important event. Fortunately, the numerous aerial battles and dogfights make up for the flawed storytelling especially when you have ILM supervising all the digital effects and stunts. If you are still crazy about all the planes swopping and swerving in Pearl Harbor and Flyboys then the ferocious battles in Red Tails is going to be far more impressive than you think.
Red Tails is a mediocre war movie after all considering its Lucas who is behind the project. While he might have lost his filmmaking mojo after the lackluster Star Wars prequels, at the minimum, you should thank the bearded one for putting in his own money into the production though to put it bluntly those decades of Star Wars royalties have already covered it in the first place.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
is an hour long documentary on the real Tuskegee Airmen who fought in WWII.
The bearded one talks about how this project has been ongoing for the past 20 years in George Lucas: Executive Producer
Another short conversant piece on how The Wired director landed the job in Anthony Hemingway: Director
The composer shares his feelings about the score in Terence Blanchard: Composer
A 25 minutes feature that consist of brief interview with every main cast members such as Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr, David Oyelowo and Nate Parker in The Cast of Red Tails.
Watch how the power of visual effects bring to life the aerial fights and set extension in Movie Magic.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
It’s a Lucasfilm production so just sit back and let the outstanding audio and visual impressed you. The imaging details are amazing and the DTS-HD soundtrack simply rock and boom.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Joe Logan inspires the Native American boys and teaches them the true meaning of tribal pride. Ignited by their heritage and believing in their new-found potential, coach and team climb an uphill battle to the state championship finals against their privileged prep scholl rivals... will they win?
MOVIE REVIEW:
We don’t even know how Lacrosse is played let alone it actually originated from Native Americans, this is a quick fact you will learn after watching the sports drama Crooked Arrows.
Superman Returns’ star Brandon Routh played ex-lacrosse player Joe Logan whom under the request of his father has to coach a losing high school lacrosse team to the league tournament. Logan on the other hand being a half-Native Indian is persuaded by his casino’s boss to expand their operations to a bigger one by utilising his community’s vast reservation. To convince his father and the community members to back his business proposal, Logan accepts his father’s challenge to coach the team so as to prove to him that he is able to rediscover his roots and native spirit.
Crooked Arrows is an often clichéd, predictable sports movie. You probably have seen it countless times on television and in movies liked Mighty Ducks or Bad News Bears where a group of underdogs strive to overcome a huge obstacle and emerged winner. The only thing making it more authentic and fitting than the rest is the filmmakers attempt to inject the historical origins of lacrosse into the plotting. You got to give points for that as it clearly works in the context of this made for TV movie.
That being said, the minimal budget prevents the various lacrosse matches to be fully captured in heart-pounding mode despite the hiring of professional lacrosse players and trainers to supervise the filming. The lacrosse games look liked what you seen on ESPN except this is a movie we are talking about. The entire flick lacks an emotional punch to make you root for the underdogs and I love to see more attention paid to the kicking of opponents’ asses than Logan’s struggle with his casino’s plan. The screenplay also spent a considerable time forging Logan’s relationship with his younger sister and father but by using this approach, the screentime for the numerous lacrosse players are compromised.
Our ex-Man of Steel, Routh is serviceable enough to be John Logan. He stills look dashing and his figure as good as his superhero days. And before you criticised he don’t look the part, the 1.9m actor did have some native ancestral blood from his dad’s side. Director Steven Rash has made a long list of direct-to-DVD sequels to Bring It On and American Pie but no matter how flawed Crooked Arrows is, it clearly stands out as one of his better movies on his resume.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
If you can’t enough of the movie, you might be keen to listen to the Commentary with director Steve Rash and co-producers Mark Ellis and Neal Powless who share enthusiastically the production nuggets and details of making the movie.
The Story of Crooked Arrows consists of the usual brief interviews with the cast and filmmakers.
Keepin' It Real – Crooked Arrows Lacrosse delves into training the cast and executing the lacrosse matches in front of the camera.
Native American Lacrosse – A Crooked Arrows Tribute talks about the history of the sports that is originated by the Native Americans.
The Game of Life: Heart and Spirit of the Onondaga is another 15 minutes documentary that focused on the history of the sports.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Colours are radiant, skintones natural and it does help that majority of the movie took place under a blue sky. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is a tad weak as much of the activity derives from the front speakers even during the lacrosse matches therefore hard to convince the audience that they are in the middle of a sporting movie.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN recounts one of the greatest romances of the last century – the passionate love affair and tumultuous marriage of literary master Ernest Hemingway and the beautiful, trailblazing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn - as it follows the adventurous writers through the Spanish Civil War and beyond. As witnesses to history, they covered all the great conflicts of their time; but the war they couldn’t survive was the war between themselves.
MOVIE REVIEW:
“The first draft of anything is shit” – Ernest Hemingway
Just when you though literary writers are a bunch of boring folks who spent their days hammering at their old, clunky typewriters, Hemingway & Gellhorn proves otherwise.
This HBO Films production traces the tumultuous relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his third wife, Martha Gellhorn. Hemingway of course was one of America’s greatest literary writers and behind the acclaimed The Old Men And The Sea while Gellhorn herself was a great war correspondent.
Told from the perspective of an aged Gellhorn, the movie (a serious, plodding one I must remind you) follows the couple from how they first met in a bar called Sloopy’s Joe to their whirlwind courtship during the Spanish Civil War, a supposedly honeymoon in China and lastly the breaking down of their marriage which is pathetically done in a hurried fashion.
To say that the Hemingways led an extraordinary life is an understatement. Come on, the celebrity couple met some of the most important people in history namely, Mr and Mrs Chiang Kai Shek, Chou En-lai just to name a few and personally been through World War I and II, the Spanish Civil War and other historical events. Director Philip Kaufman (who did the erotic The Incredible Lightness of Being) makes sure these events are covered in this 154 minutes biopic and that includes bizarre sexual acts taking place during an aerial bombardment and backstages. Whether it’s true or not in this case, the scenes only serve to show that Hemingway’s raging hormones were just as impressive as his Nobel Prize. These writers live such exciting life isn’t it?
The most interesting part in this globetrotting romance seems to be the tension rising from this two as Hemingway is shown getting increasingly egoistic, jealous, abusive and feuding with his wife over her job. Reason being he prefers to cosy up with his partner and roughing it up with his gang of unruly friends in his free time, the latter on the other hand prefers to embark on her career being a war correspondent. And well, Hemingway also likes to bash up his critic in public way before the paparazzi era. Yet there aren’t any significant insights into our lead characters. Sad to say, the mere facts we learnt after the whole marriage end was that Gellhorn indeed was a woman with balls and Hemingway was one horny, angry writer.
The obvious lack of a decent budget means a generally display of sparse production sets. To make things worse, plenty of lacklustre greenscreen effects such as characters being shoved digitally into archival footages and unnecessarily transiting from sepia to colour tones were embarrassingly employed. You can’t really fault the performance of the cast members however. Both Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman are exceptional in their portrayal of Hemingway and Gellhorn respectively. Other award-winning actors include Tony Shalhoub (The Monk), David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck), Rodrigo Santoro (Che), Joan Chen (Serangoon Road) plus an uncredited Robert Duvall (Jack Reacher).
It’s definitely a chore to sit through a love story that failed to look deeper into the lives of these two talented folks as you probably expect a little more from Kaufman especially in the storytelling department. Otherwise, the often serious tone and subject might appeal to those searching for intellectual films.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD preserves the intended classic look of old movies and the Dolby Digital 5.1 offers nothing more than some noteworthy impactful subwoofer effects and a clear dialogue track.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Based on the award-winning bestselling novel by Stephen King, Bag of Bones is an unforgettable psychological thriller.Two-time Golden Globe Award nominee Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day) stars as Mike Noonan, a novelist who suffers from writer's block after the death of his wife, Jo (Annabeth Gish, Pretty Little Liars). A dream inspires him to return to the couple's lakeside retreat hoping to find answers about his wife's sudden death- but he is plagued by ever-escalating nightmares and mysterious ghostly visitations from Sara Tidwell (Anika Noni Rose, Dreamgirls), a blues singer whose spirit lingers in the house. As the inhabitants of Dark Score Lake haunt him, Mike comes to realize that his late wife still has something to tell him.
MOVIE REVIEW:
There was a time when filmmakers looked religiously at Stephen King for their next horror movie project, which the author certainly did not disappoint with his prolificity. Nonetheless, those days are over; today, horror is pretty much defined by the low-budget high-concept thrillers that Jason Blum churns out from his Blumhouse Productions – think ‘Saw’, ‘Insidious’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’. Instead, Stephen King’s tomes are relegated to the goggle box, being the source material for event miniseries such as this one.
Truth be told, it’s not every filmmaker that is able to translate King’s books effectively for the screen, whether big or small. Frank Darabont was regarded as one of the best of them, his ‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘The Green Mile’ and even the under-appreciated ‘The Mist’ among the best print-to-screen King adaptations. Because King writes a lot about the thoughts that go on inside the head of his characters, it takes a filmmaker with a certain vision to be able to translate that atmosphere without the use of voiceover.
We say that, because Mike Garris – though a King veteran of ‘Sleepwalkers’ and the TV version of ‘The Shining’ – is not such a filmmaker. Working from a screenplay by Matt Venne, he goes through the necessary motion of condensing plotlines and diminishing some characters to fit the 500-plus novel into a roughly three-hour running time, but the result is oddly disengaging and hardly compelling, missing out what depth and soul that the original novel had going for it.
Bearing in mind the fact that the miniseries had aired over two nights and was interspersed with as many commercial breaks as would have been possible, the story proceeds in stops and starts with well too many fade-outs for the TV ads. We’re not nitpicking here, but the cadence at which the story unfolds just makes you tune out even before it hooks you in. And given the fact that relationships among the various characters are underdeveloped, there is really little left to hold your attention.
Indeed, the first half feels too ambitious by juggling more pieces than it can handle – the unfortunate passing of bestselling author Mike Noonan’s (Pierce Brosnan) wife Jo (annabeth Jish); his subsequent writer’s block; his move to their vacation house on Dark Score Lake; a troubled local woman Mattie Devore (Melissa George) he assists in a custody battle with father-in-law Max (William Schallert) and not forgetting of course the ghostly stuff that happens in the house. Flitting from point to point doesn’t help the disjointed plot, nor enable us to identify with Mike’s predicament dealing with his emotional loss.
It doesn’t help too that the second half becomes no more than a routine murder mystery with ghosts. While there is more focus than in the first, it nonetheless implies that the narrative could have been more fluently trimmed. On the other hand, the horror scenes could do with much more verve; going against what we have seen of late, they seem mild at best (and we’re not talking about the use of gore) and boring at worst.
The only saving grace remains Brosnan’s performance, which packs dignity and gravitas to his portrayal of a grieving man who finally finds purpose in his life again by helping the widowed Mattie. The other actors redeem themselves adequately in their respective supporting roles, but it is Brosnan who owns the screen from start to finish and the only reason that the show remains watchable.
Loyal King fans may also wish to note that the original ambiguous ending has been altered to allow things to end on a more conclusive note. Nonetheless, that’s a small aggravation compared to how Garris botches this adaptation. Coming off as no more than a condensed version of the novel, it is but a bag of bones left from the skin and flesh of one of King’s better regarded novels.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Some Deleted Scenes make up the only extras on this disc.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visual transfer is good, though colours look more muted in line with the low-key small-town setting of the movie. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track puts the back speakers to good use during the horror scenes.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Musical
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise
RunTime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual References)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: www.rockofages-movie.co.uk
Opening Day: 16 August 2012
Synopsis: Under the direction of Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”), New Line Cinema’s feature film adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical “Rock of Ages” comes to the big screen. “Rock of Ages” tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more.
Movie Review:
Sex, drugs, and rock music. Directed by Adam Shankman, who did the film version of the musical Hairspray, Rock of Ages is exactly just that, under the good hands of the director with an ensemble cast going through the necessary vocal lessons in order to convince you that they can sing, strum and bring the house down. An adaptation of the 2006 Broadway musical of the same name, reaction to the musical film has been quite mixed, considering that rock fans may be offended with the new treatment of classic anthems, although the film doesn't take itself too seriously. The novelty factor is also present, considering the multitude of stars who turned up to give their vocal chords an exercise, and hamming it up as rock star wannabes.
The story itself isn't quite the highlight, given some close narrative parallels such as having an expression of the arts being celebrated by some, and frowned upon by conservative others, bringing about an expected head on clash. With Julianne Hough as one of the main leads, this may seem like a spiritual companion piece to her other starring role in Footloose, where dance got frowned upon, but still much alive amongst those who dare defy convention. Here, Rock the music genre is under attack by the mayor's wife Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has a personal vendetta to settle, as well as a political one as a platform on which her adulterous husband Mike (Bryan Cranston) the mayor can campaign on.
And the main draw here, without a doubt, is Tom Cruise. For some time he has been taking on smaller roles in comedies, hiding behind thick disguise in order to have fun, but yet not damage the persona that is, well, Tom Cruise. His turn as Austin Powers, and Les Grossman especially, stood out as satirical, and comical, and so does his Stacee Jaxx here, a rock god worshipped by many, but a jaded one with an alcoholic addiction, and is sex personified. Tom Cruise had boldly gone where he hasn't gone before in film (karaoke sessions in Top Gun does not count) with singing in this musical, with the help of vocal lessons to varying degrees of success, and is in a role that had him grope every single female character that Stacey Jaxx comes into contact with. Julianne Hough, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Malin Akerman. All felt up. Damn. And to think Stacee Jaxx has a mojo problem, creatively in his music that is.
Tom as Stacee single-handedly steals all thunder each time he appears on screen, which is just fine, considering how arresting Stacee Jaxx's presence is whenever he steps into a room, whether he's sober, or making sense, if at all. The film god has become the rock god in the film, and despite being limited in screen time, was a lot more charismatic and easily overshadowed the main storyline of a love story between small town girl Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) and big city boy Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), who works at the legendary Bourbon Room, owned by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) together with his assistant Lonny (Russell Brand), a place where stars make their big break, including Jaxx.
The love story is at best a bland one, with the usual montage of falling in, and then out of love, before each character depart from Bourbon Room, one into the world of exotic dancing under the mentorship of Justice Charlier (Mary J. Blige), with the other betraying his rock roots for instant success, and what would be a swipe at the wishy-washy bubblegum Pop genre, under the advice of Stacee's shady manager Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti), directly contrasting how rock, with tunes and lyrics from the heart, would at anytime trounce the manufactured ways of pop. The other narrative track deals with Dennis and Lonny trying to keep the Bourbon room afloat given the antics of Stacee Jaxx, his scheming manager Paul, attacks from political fronts and knocks on the door from the IRS. It would not be as interesting if not for a neat little surprise that would, if this was made in the past, would not have survived the local censors.
Let's not forget about the songs themselves. Those who have grown up through the 80s and 90s will likely be having a blast at identifying all the songs that made it to the film, despite at times having some of the actors mangle them through their less than stellar delivery. From the likes of Journey to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, what stood out and became a treat, was how the filmmakers and musicians involved in the soundtrack for the film, managed to mash them up together into medleys and duets that not only sounded right, but provided for the moving of the narrative forward. It's not just a careless splash of songs here and there, but had much thought going into the process to ensure they all blend, and work well for the portions of the film they appear in.
Movie Rating:
(Rock Comes Alive!)
Review by Stefan Shih
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THE HUNGER GAMES Double Feature ticketing now openPosted on 01 Oct 2013 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jonah Hill, Nicholas Braun, Doug Jones, Billy Crudup, Richard Ayoade, Will Forte, Erin Moriarty, Johnny Pemberton
RunTime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Sexual Scenes)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/neighborhoodwatch/
Opening Day: 23 August 2012
Synopsis: Four everyday suburban guys come together to form a neighborhood watch group, but only as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood -- and the world -- from total extermination.
Movie Review:
At some point during the brainstorming process of The Watch, someone realised that seeing a bunch of helpless, terrified people shuddering at the thought of an impending alien invasion just won’t cut it anymore and threw down the idea of making a hilarious end of the world movie. There’s rarely a better epitome of this concept than The Watch. The unlikely blend of an inevitable extraterrestrial conquest and humour doesn’t always work, but when it works, it does so in the most wonderful ways. The Watch is loud, boisterous fun and that’s all that really matters.
Ben Stiller plays Evan, the quintessential nice guy who organises various community activities for his neighborhood. When the night security guard at the local hyperstore is murdered, he forms what he calls the Neighborhood Watch, a resident-run surveillance committee that looks out for suspicious activity in the estate. He is joined by the obliviously talkative Bob (Vince Vaughn), the low self-esteemed Franklin (Jonah Hill) and the recently divorced Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade). While investigating the death of the security guard, the group inadvertently uncovers an alien artifact and a plan for an alien invasion. With everyone yet to believe them, the fate of the world rests in their hands.
This is easily one of those movies where the humour works because careful effort was put into crafting the characters. The cold seriousness of self-confessed group leader Evan, the vim and vigour of the unworried Bob, the awkwardness of the fumbling Franklin and the eerily consistent mannerisms of the prim and proper Jamarcus are so comically mismatched that you know the movie can – and will burst into a boom of hilarity at any moment. These personalities come together in about the same way a paper and rock are forced together with flimsy duct tape: there’s the initial friction but after buried differences, countless jokes and hastily exchanged vows of bromance, they just sort of hold together for a common noble purpose. It’s a kind of resulting chemistry that is genuinely fun to watch, easy to appreciate and hard not to respect.
Not surprisingly, The Watch is more fun and easier to appreciate if you are willing to tolerate its near obsessive focus on sexual and scatological humour. Director Akiva Schaffer shoots the timeless brand of comedy off in marginally new directions, resulting in some of the funniest scenes in the later parts of the movie but his reckless use of the humour also means that a few earlier portions of the film can be problematic. An early vignette of Bob throwing masturbation jokes at Evan for his erectile dysfunction while drinking beer and discussing family issues never really ties into the alien invasion story and appears to exist solely as a cheap, disposable gag that breaks the momentum of the movie more than it adds humour.
Even without this humour, The Watch is a perfectly competent piece of action flick that puts more than a few alien movies before it to shame. Any impression that a comedy might throw in a half-hearted alien element for half-baked laughs is immediately extinguished midway through the movie. The aliens here don’t have oversized heads or big useless eyes, only an appetite for human skin, heart and intestines. And our ragtag alien fighting force goes in guns blazing, complete with slow-mo effects and a dead serious attitude towards exterminating aliens. The Watch is about as close as you can get to an Alien movie in a comedy – and to me, that’s a really good bonus.
Movie Rating:
(The unlikely blend of alien invasion and humour works like a charm)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Olivier Megaton
Cast: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Rade Serbedzija, Luke Grimes, Leland Orser, Aclan Bates
RunTime: 1 hr 34 mins
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Official Website: http://www.takenmovie.com/
Opening Day: 4 October 2012
Synopsis: When his wife is kidnapped during a vacation in Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills works to get his family to safety, rescue his wife, and take out the kidnappers one by one.
Movie Review:
Liam Neeson boasts an impressive filmography, but I guess nothing cemented his bad ass screen persona more so in recent years than Pierre Morel's Taken, where he plays an ex black ops operative hell bent in seeking his daughter who's kidnapped in a foreign land, and pulverizing anyone who dared stand in his way. It's a simple father-daughter story with the dad on a warpath against those who dare violate his sanctuary of family, and admit it, you're probably one of millions of fans worldwide who lapped every moment watching the one man army cut through dozens of thugs in a prostitution ring.
Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen continue their story of Neeson's Bryan Mills, spending a good twenty minutes watching him go through the paces of rekindling ties with both his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), with Bryan being obsessively cautious about the state of Kim's welfare given their ordeal in the earlier film. They spend time as a family in Istanbul, Turkey, but the families of those he massacred, have set their gunsights on the trio, hell bent on executing their version of revenge. It's deja vu all over again from what you can gather from the trailer.
At one point in the film, Bryan admits he's tired. And in some way, this film was a walk through a similar situation, only for a change in city, and having the stakes increased with all three of Bryan, Lenore and Kim being targets. It's not until the half hour mark that an action sequence ignites for the first time, and even then, director Olivier Megaton, who had the reins of this movie passed from Morel to his EuropaCorp colleague, seemed to be fish out of water in directing fist fights, with the editing not helping, and extreme close ups never doing justice to Bryan's Nagasu Do style of martial arts. Thank goodness that when it switched to Bryan doing what he does best, it involved very lethal and direct gun play, that the lack of fanciful moves was a realistic welcome.
But you probably feel short changed with Besson and Kamen's story, which would have worked better if this was a drama instead, with some token father-daughter, or family bonding scenes proving more interesting than the excuse concocted to stage another kidnapping. Maggie Grace, like Neeson, has grown into her role, and the chance to do something more in a movie that didn't have her do much in the original, adds to the narrative that daddy's little girl has grown up, and is not afraid to take on a little responsibility.
You'd really have to believe the movie logic utilized by the duo in the film, otherwise you'd be frustrated with some glaring logical loopholes. For instance, the villains were more cartoony now, given that they never pick up on lessons learnt by so many James Bond villains, that you should never stage elaborate traps and deaths in having Bryan bleed on the graves of those he dispatched, because this only provides opportunity for escape. This also helps to save costs in not needing to ship three humans across geographies too. And in the guarding of a high profile target who can wipe out an army, you'd better get someone keep a constant eye on the person. And the stress is on Constant. While costs are saved from using the same apartment or room because it's already paid for, it makes it all the more easier to find one's location. And so on.
Still, fans of the original will likely lap this up since it's a logical extension to the story and allowing one to engage in a guilt trip without having to break out the Taken DVD or Blu Ray for a rewatch. There are a few nifty moments in the film to show off how highly trained an operative Bryan is, but other than that, the first film provided a narrative and situations that were much more expansive, than this follow up which seemed like a smaller film altogether. Liam Neeson still shows he got what it takes to kick butt after 4 years from Taken, and that he continues to have something left in the tank to kick some more rear.
Movie Rating:
(Don't take anything that belongs to Liam Neeson. You have been warned.)
Review by Stefan Shih
SYNOPSIS: Xiaoqing and Xiaohong are twins with distinctive, different personalities. Xiaoqing believes intrue love but Xiaohong is a monetarist woman. Xiaoqing hasa boyfriend Jiang Cheng forten years, where she broke up with anger because Jiang Cheng is cheated all money and their property. Xiaohong is a mistress of her boss more than 10 years and everything come to her is cheating and she feels disheartened. Xiaohong determineto use the credit card limits to access a man, she finds a man, named Zhang Quan, has no limited credit card. Xiaoqing is stimulated, and applies lots of credit cards to disguise as a socialite. She wants to marry ayoung, successful entrepreneur Shen Tao prior to her credit card due. Both ladies are approaching a monetary life, but God likes having fun with them…
MOVIE REVIEW:
There is but one reason to catch this Mainland comedy- Taiwanese model-turned-actress Lin Chi-ling. Playing not one but two roles in this story about a pair of twin sisters with vastly different romantic trajectories in their adult life, it sees Chi-ling take on quite possibly her most challenging role to date- and for those who have sniggered at her non-acting in ‘Red Cliff’ and ‘The Treasure Hunter’, ‘Love on Credit’ may just be that movie to convince you she may have what it takes to be a competent actress after all.
Aided in no small measure by some deft editing from Li Wenders, Chi-ling plays both the materialistic Xiaohong and the more down-to-earth Xiaoqing, their differing personalities despite being twins also a result of their parents’ divorce at a young age and their subsequent years with mom and dad respectively. While Xiaohong dreams of marrying a rich husband, Xiaoqing is content of living a simple married life with her longtime boyfriend Jiang Cheng (Liao Fan).
Alas fate isn’t kind to either- when we first meet Xiaohong, she has just broken off her futile relationship with a married man; and Xiaoqing has just discovered that her boyfriend had recently mortgaged their future away to his best friend. A chance meeting between the separated pair gives Xiaoqing the taste of wealth when Xiaohong invites her to a party where she meets the socially awkward executive Shen Tao (Tony Yang). Meanwhile, Xiaohong meets her dream husband in the form of Zhang Quan (Chen Kun), the latter’s family just about one of the wealthiest in China.
It’s not hard to guess where the moral behind the story, especially when director Leste Chen (who co-wrote the script with Dean Wang and Zuo Er) prefaces the movie with Chi-ling’s voiceover about the importance of wealth and riches in marriage. The topic is a prescient one- with the recent economic boom in China, there are significantly more wealthy people around, as well as significantly more materialistic women looking to snag a rich husband. But even as Chen manages to tap into the zeitgeist, he doesn’t say a lot about it.
In fact, the surprising thing about this rom-com is that not a lot actually happens. Both Xiaohong and Xiaoqing go on their respective dates, talk about it with each other, date again, and then finally arrive at the conclusion that wealth isn’t really that important. It should not come as any surprise what the eventual ending is, given that any Mainland movie must be sanitised enough to promote some wholesome societal message before it passes through the equivalent of their censors to be approved for release.
That is despite the fact that Chen is also the director for the controversial Taiwanese movie ‘Eternal Summer’ as well as the horror flick ‘The Heirloom’- here, he is at his tamest and most commercial, delivering a slick product devoid of the edge in his earlier works. Nonetheless, that is scant excuse for the slack pacing, coasting from scene to scene with little narrative momentum to keep its audience engaged.
It seems Chen is simply content to rest on the laurels of his lead actress Chi-ling, and certainly it is thanks to her that the movie remains watchable. It’s no small feat for any actor to juggle two diametrically different roles in the same movie, but Chi-ling seems to do that effortlessly playing both Xiaohong and Xiaoqing. With hair cropped short in one and left long for the other, she makes you forget that you are watching the same person play both characters, and she invests as much emotion and life in either character.
And true to its title, this movie runs primarily on the credit of its star Lin Chi-ling, against which neither Tony Yang nor Chen Kun (who also takes producer credit) manages to outshine. For what Chi-ling’s performance was worth, she certainly deserved a movie with a better script and tighter direction- but fans of the actress should still check this out for testament that she is much more than a flower vase on screen.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is serviceable, while the visuals are presented in 720p so expect a thick black border around your screen if you’re watching this on a TV with a higher resolution.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
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