Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Cast: Katie Featherston, Brady Allen, Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Tommy Miranda, Alisha Boe
RunTime: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Disturbing Scenes & Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.paranormalmovie.com/
Opening Day: 25 October 2012
Synopsis: Fourth installment of the horror smash hit Paranormal Activity.
Movie Review:
We’ll just say this from the get-go – this fourth addition to the surprisingly durable horror franchise is frightfully dull, and we’d advise even fans of the earlier movies to steer clear.
All franchises run out of new ideas after some time, but it seemed after ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ that directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman had somehow found a way to breathe new life into the series by exploring the genesis of the hauntings. Nonetheless, both directors seem clueless how to build on from the momentum established from their earlier film, so much so that the devil worship mythology set up previously becomes almost an afternote.
To be sure, the series had to find new ground after beginning with Katie, then moving on to her sister Kristi, and finally moving backwards in time to explore the childhood of both Katie and Kristi in the most recent instalment. So after a brief recap of the conclusion of ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ in which Katie kills her sister Kristi and abducts her nephew Hunter, writer Christopher Langdon jumps ahead to 2011 with a new family made up of Doug (Stephen Dunham) and Holly (Alexondra Lee) and their two children – Alex (Kathryn Newton) and Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp).
Otherwise perfectly normal, the family’s only misfortune is to be living across the street from single mother Katie and her young son Robbie (Brady Allen). After a domestic accident, Holly kindly opens their home to Robbie, and Alex begins to notice strange things happening around the house with his arrival. Those familiar with the previous films will recognise the similarities – moving furniture, loud footsteps, ghostly images, and self-levitating objects – and it seems that Joost and Schulman are content to merely rehash the elements that made the previous films so successful.
Aside from a nifty visual trick derived from using the Infra-Red (IR) function on the Xbox Kinect gaming accessory, the shots are awfully pedestrian and lack the novelty that some of the most terrifying scenes in ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ possess. In fact, Langdon offers little more than a half-hearted explanation where the found-footage is derived, so we are supposed to believe that there are several laptops around the house, all of which are able to set up recording video chat functions throughout the day.
Yet painfully little actually happens before the inevitable climax, and after a promising setup that introduces the various characters as well as Alex’s wisecracking (and surprisingly entertaining) boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively), there is close to an hour of monotonous waiting as the family gets spooked one by one. As if acknowledging that there are few genuine scares, Joost and Schulman rely the most on jump-scares here compared to previous instalments – and too many of such jolts consist of the family cat running in front of some recording device.
The movie only recovers from its lethargic pace at the end, when one of the family members we’re not saying who to avoid any spoilers) is inducted into the coven behind the devil worship responsible for the hauntings. But just when it gets exciting, the action stops, presumably to whet your appetite for the already announced ‘Paranormal Activity 5’ coming out next Halloween – and while there is nothing wrong with a franchise feeder of an ending, the filmmakers must have forgotten that it only works if you manage to convince your audience that the wait is worth their while.
In the case of ‘Paranormal Activity 4’, all they have done is to warn fans that the series may indeed have already reached its creative zenith with the last instalment. There is nothing here that you haven’t yet seen from any of the previous three movies, nor is it done any better than what its predecessors have – and if ‘all the activity has led to this’ as the tagline claims, then the only conclusion we can draw is that it has been much ado about nothing.
Movie Rating:
(Utterly disappointing entry in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise that is content to simply rehash old tricks and jump-scares to pass off as horror)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Documentary
Director: Kevin Macdonald
RunTime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Rating: NC16 (Drug References)
Released By: GV and Festive Films
Official Website: http://www.magpictures.com/marley/
Opening Day: 16 August 2012
Synopsis: Shangri-La Entertainment and Tuff Gong Pictures have produced, in association with Cowboy Films, this definitive film about one of the true and most loved international icons of the 20th Century: Bob Marley. His music and message of love and redemption are known throughout the world and his story has finally been brought to life in this definitive work by the acclaimed talent of Kevin Macdonald. Bob Marley’s universal appeal, impact on music history and his role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. His music and message transcend culture, language and creed and resonate around the world today as powerfully as when he was alive. Only a handful of musicians have ever achieved such an impact and Bob Marley, though his life was far too short, stands among them. As one of the most accomplished documentary and feature filmmakers of a new generation, Kevin Macdonald delivers the definitive work on Bob Marley, his life and a truly global influence. Filming took place as far afield as Ghana, Japan and the UK, in addition to Bob’s beloved Jamaica and the States, and marks the first time ever that his family has authorized the use of their own private archives.
Movie Review:
We don’t claim to be the biggest fans of Jamaican singer songwriter Bob Marley. What we know, however, is that he remains as one of the most widely known and respected performer of reggae music. Hands up - those who do not feel Zen whenever Marley croons “Everything’s Gonna Alright” over the airwaves? The chorus to the tune “Three Little Birds” is just one of the many infectious melodies the musician has brought to the world.
To chronicle the life of Marley is probably a challenge not many filmmakers dare take up, considering how despite helping to spread both Jamaican music and Rastafarian movement internationally, the influential artist has had his own fair share of controversies. Scottish director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, The Last King of Scotland) rose up to the challenge, making this 145 minute documentary biographical film which paints an impartial portrait of Marley, giving both fans and viewers who are unfamiliar with the musician an opportunity to understand his short lived but spectacular life.
The film features interviews with the people who matter in Marley’s life, and tells the story of how he evolved from his early days of dabbling in music to his eventual international stardom. Born Robert Nesta Marley in 1945, the revered star’s life came to an end in 1981 due to a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes. Having lived only all of 36 years, Marley has touched many around him. In this documentary, viewers get to hear from his family, the women whom he had relationships with, his managers, as well as his band mates, making this production one of the most exhaustive biographies we’ve ever seen.
Despite clocking a runtime of almost two and a half hours, viewers never get bogged down by dreary content. Get to hear how Marley’s relationship was like with the different people around him, what people thought of him when he bedded more than one partner, and most importantly, how his music was heavily influenced by the social and political issues of his homeland. This led his music giving voice to Jamaican culture. Macdonald does not make the documentary self important with heavy handed facts. Instead, what you get is an intimate experience which sheds light on how Marley’s style of music continues to be relevant in today’s society.
Besides hearing the interviewees talk about the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers, another highlight of this highly recommended documentary are the rare concert footage which will appeal to, again, both fans and viewers who are not familiar with the musician’s works. The stirringly exhilarating performances will have you wishing that you were listening to the music “live”. The performances’ charismatic allure is the very reason why music exists to make our lives better.
Thanks to Macdonald’s experience in making the Oscar winning One Day in September (1999), he has crafted yet another classic that will go down both film and music history as one of the most important works ever made about a sorely missed music legend.
Movie Rating:
(A must watch for anyone who cherishes the importance of music)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama/History
Director: Zhao Lin Shan
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Liu Yi Fei, Tamaki Hiroshi, Su You Peng, Yi Neng Jing, Qiu Xin Zhi, Yao Lu, Ni Dahong
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Sexual Scenes and Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 September 2012
Synopsis: During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao stands as the last pillar of power preventing the collapse of the Han throne. Emperor Xian, who sits on that throne, cares more about music and poems than his own power. But behind the Emperor’s disinterest, rumours that Cao Cao wants the throne for himself have driven Emperor Xian to plot Cao Cao’s assassination, a plan that’s been years in the making. An ancient prophecy states that when the four elemental starts align, a new dynasty will arise, and in 221 A.D., they do. With the weakened government and impending omen, Cao Cao has enemies everywhere, and they all want him dead. Someone has been abducting the children of Cao Cao’s dead enemies and training them to be assassins. In 221, they are grown, and sent to infiltrate Bronze Sparrow Tower. When the four stars align over Bronze Sparrow Tower, the struggle for Cao Cao’s life begins…
Movie Review:
Not content to be left out of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ after falling out from what became the phenomenal success of ‘Red Cliff’, Chow Yun-Fat returns to the era to play Cao Cao. Often cast too simplistically in most adaptations as the power-hungry villain whom noble strategists Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang as well as nobler warriors Lu Bei and Guan Yu plot to overthrow, co-screenwriter/ director Zhao Lin Shan’s ‘The Assassins’ thankfully does not resort to the same narrative conventions.
Instead, Zhao paints a much more intricate portrait of the astute warlord in telling a very specific story of his planned assassination by various factions on a night when the four elemental stars align. That phenomenon signals, according to an ancient prophecy, the dawn of a new dynasty, and Cao Cao’s enemies have seized upon that sign to coordinate an attack on him within the imposing structure of his known as the ‘Bronze Sparrow Tower’. The titular tower of the movie’s Chinese name, that lofty structure is despised by his enemies as a symbol of his ego as well as his thirst for power.
And to the reigning Emperor Xian (Alec Su), it is also a frustrating reminder of how his minister Cao Cao’s authority has grown, relegating his monarchy even more ineffectual as the latter grows increasingly popular amongst the people. Xian will be one of those who take advantage of that purported opportune time to hatch a plot to kill Cao Cao, even though Cao Cao snatches the element of surprise from him by inviting him to a hunting game on that very day.
A popular Chinese saying goes something like this – ‘a wary heart is critical’, and Cao Cao’s wariness is all the more heightened following an earlier assassination plot by the empress (Annie Yi) and her father, a powerful Han official named Fu Wan (Ni Dahong) – of which his very son, Cao Pi (Terry Chiu) was even complicit to. Yet perhaps the most eminent danger to Cao Cao’s life is Lingju (Liu Yifei), whom Cao Cao takes in as his lover. Not only were her parents slain by Cao Cao when she was young, the fair beauty was also subsequently trained under imprisonment with but one mission to kill Cao Cao.
Besides bringing out the softer aspects of Cao Cao during their private interactions together, Lingju also serves as the narrator of the movie, adding the element of a tragic love story in the midst of the palace intrigue. Her only wish is to run away with Mu Shun (Tamaki Hiroshi), a fellow assassin like her who has infiltrated Cao Cao’s army – though you can pretty much guess how their fates will end up. Instead of distracting from the main plot, their romance lends a surprisingly human touch, illustrating with poignancy the price of vengeance on something as pure and beautiful as love itself.
Zhao exhibits the same flair throughout the film, and even though a plethora of supporting characters are at play, their motivations for plotting against Cao Cao never left ambiguous. Particularly well played out is the very first elaborate assassination depicted in the film – of which Fu Wan is mastermind – both in how Cao Cao confronts the perpetrators in front of Emperor Xian as well as how he subsequently deals with the betrayal by his very own flesh and blood, Cao Pi. Bear with the slow pacing at the start as Zhao develops the intertwining plot threads, and you’ll appreciate the genius in Zhao’s plotting later on. For a first-time filmmaker too, Zhao is a master at tension and suspense, keeping his audience at the edge of their seats as Cao Cao’s life hangs in the balance.
The same can be said of Chow Yun Fat’s peerless performance. This is without a doubt his best in recent memory, surpassing that in which he played Confucius if we might add, with the veteran clearly relishing one of his meatiest roles of late. Yes, Chow clearly understands the demands and complexities of his character, conveying conviction, intellect and even empathy at different points. This is Cao Cao in his twilight years, who remains firmly a believer in his mission of unification but who has come to recognise the bloodshed and strife it has brought, and is therefore no longer the tyrant he may have been in his younger days. Chow is sheer magnetism in the role, and it is, we dare say, one of the best performances we have seen this year.
Next to Chow, the other actors unfortunately pale in comparison. Worthy of mention however is Liu Yifei, who in the span of a few years, has come to hold her own nicely as an actress worth her weight. The role calls for her to be the symbol of humanity, and she registers a tender and heartfelt performance as her character grows to understand and even respect Cao Cao more over the course of the film. Evocative too are Yee Chung Man’s costume and production design, as well as Shigeru Umebayashi’s score, combining to accentuate the film’s alternately tense and tragic mood.
Indeed, at a time when every new period war epic tries to outdo the last with grander spectacle, Zhao should be applauded for adopting essentially a character-driven approach to the material. There is depth and deftness to the storytelling, especially how he slowly reverses his audience’s preconceptions of Cao Cao and casts the oft-misunderstood character in an entirely different light. But of course, the movie wouldn’t be what it is were it not for Chow Yun-Fat’s commanding performance, which even without grand battle sequences turns this period thriller into an epic in its own right.
Movie Rating:
(The rare period epic that’s more character than spectacle, this densely plotted thriller is gripping and unexpectedly poignant and a must-see if only for Chow Yun-Fat’s portrait of pure magnificence as Cao Cao)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Lorenz
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Matthew Lillard, Scott Eastwood, Joe Massingill, Ed Lauter, Chelcie Ross, Ray Anthony Thomas, George Wyner, James Patrick Freetly, Bob Gunton, Jack Gilpin
RunTime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://troublewiththecurve.warnerbros.com/
Opening Day: 25 October 2012
Synopsis: Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) has been one of the best scouts in baseball for decades, but, despite his efforts to hide it, age is starting to catch up with him. Nevertheless, Gus—who can tell a pitch just by the crack of the bat—refuses to be benched for what could be the final innings of his career. He may not have a choice. The front office of the Atlanta Braves is starting to question his judgment, especially with the country’s hottest batting phenom on deck for the draft. The one person who might be able to help is also the one person Gus would never ask: his daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), an associate at a high-powered Atlanta law firm whose drive and ambition has put her on the fast track to becoming partner. Mickey has never been close to her father, who was ill-equipped to be a single parent after the death of his wife. Even now, in the rare moments they share, he is too easily distracted by what Mickey assumes is his first love: the game. Against her better judgment, and over Gus’s objections, Mickey joins him on his latest scouting trip to North Carolina, jeopardizing her own career to save his. Forced to spend time together for the first time in years, each makes new discoveries—revealing long-held truths about their past and present that could change their future.
Movie Review:
For decades, Gus Lobel has been sifting Major League gold from the riff raff.
But with old age creeping up, the tables have turned and the baseball scout now risks being overlooked as a stubborn decrepit, unable to keep up with the latest technology and burdened with failing eyesight that compromises his traditional methods of scouting (i.e. being on the scene and watching players bat).
Barring his years of experience with the game, Gus is about to lose it all. Enter Phillip Sanderson (Matthew Lillard) as a young upstart eyeing Gus’ job. Armed with a fat ring and chauvinist airs, Lillard is great as the classic money-faced douchebag and is eager to sideline the old veteran à lathe controversial sabermetric wizadry explored in Moneyball (2011).
As Johnny Flanagan, a baseball player once scouted by Gus’s but who has now lost his shine,Justin Timberlake again proves some acting chops, so he really cannot be faulted where a focused but safe and banal script only allows him to fill the romantic sidekick and comic interest mould. Before he falls into the stereotypical league of pretty boy roles, which he however, wickedly milks to his advantage in films such as The Social Network (2010) and Friends with Benefits (2011), the singer-turned-actor should start searching furiously for that breakthrough role.
Amy Adams already had hers, and she continues to ride on the waves of her rising popularity in this film. Refreshingly earnest and incredibly feminine, Amy has a very potent girl-next-door charm, and she weaves this into her role as Mickey—Gus’s ambitious, feisty and strong-headed daughter, who eyes a partnership at the law firm she works at. Amy Adams has come a long way from her days as the darling princess of modern-day fairy tale Enchanted (2007). With strong performances in the critically-acclaimed The Fighter (2010) and the latest festival hit The Master (2012), Amy is blazing a trail to the A-list crop. It will be exciting to see her working under the insanely creative director Spike Jonze in Her (2013)and as Superman’s love interest Lois Lane in Man of Steel (2013).
In Trouble with the Curve,Adams and Eastwood put up good performances, and there are plenty of father-daughter dynamics in the fray, but it does get predictable at times. Perhaps as one of the old guard, Eastwood, who embraces these irritable-old-man roles, still pulls off clichés with earnest simplicity, and delivers a heartwarming portrayal of a lonesome and broken old man whose tough, aloof front belies his fondness for his daughter.
Watching this film, I admit feeling a little unease missing out on the multiple baseball references, jargon and statistics, yet the acting and subject matter is compelling enough to strike a chord even with those not thoroughly familiar with the game. Trouble with the Curve is thrilling enough to convey a keen sense of the lives and enthusiasm of people whose lives and culture revolve around and are so defined by the sport.
Movie Rating:
(More a three-base hit than a home-run, the film’s got all the fireworks of a decent Hollywood outing. Just don’t expect much more than that)
Review by Tay Huizhen
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Bryan Cranston, Scoot McNairy, Tate Donovan, Nelson Franklin, Taylor Schilling, Kerry Bishe
RunTime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG13 (Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://www.argothemovie.com/
Opening Day: 13 November 2012
Synopsis: Based on true events, Warner Bros. Pictures’ and GK Films’ dramatic thriller “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis—the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. Academy Award® winner Ben Affleck (“The Town,” “Good Will Hunting”) directs and stars in the film, which is being produced by Academy Award® winner George Clooney (“Syriana”), Oscar® nominee Grant Heslov (“Good Night, and Good Luck.”) and Affleck. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.
Movie Review:
I can think of no movie in recent memory that has delivered as much tension as Argo, though how much of this tension you actually feel is going to be dependent on whether you believe the portrayed events. Then again, what’s being asked of the audience is harder than it looks. Argo is something of a strange feature, stamped by real events so preposterous that you’d think they only happen in movies and decorated by dramatised events so believable that you’d find them cutting through your emotions. Yet this is only the result of a confidence that has been growing steadily inside Ben Affleck, the talented actor-turned-auteur who coaxes believability out of absurdity and parlays mundane heroics into heart-stopping intensity.
Affleck, sporting stubborn strands of grey in his gloriously overgrown hair, is a pair of adamantium claws away from becoming Wolverine, but he stars as CIA veteran Tony Mendez here. Charged with getting six American officials out of Iran safely in the midst of the country’s 1979 hostage crisis, Mendez devises a plan so unorthodox and risky that no one can be sure of his survival. He will travel to Iran, give the six false identities, pretend to be part of a Canadian film crew scouting exotic locations for a Star Wars rip-off and sneak them onto a passenger plane in broad daylight. With the six likely to be discovered missing and hunted to death in a matter of time, Mendez must hurry.
The first half of the movie, then, concerns Mendez’s campaign to get his plan approved and his search for the who’s who of Hollywood to helphim sell a credible lie to the Iranian authorities. There’s a great deal of restrain to be had here as Argo dices and splices together an unsettling mix of stock footage and staged scenes to mark the solemnity of the situation, but wisely refrains from dropping the audience into the deep and largely unentertaining end of political grandstanding and social commentary. Instead, Argo turns on the witty dialogue and lively characters, and suddenly we have a movie that’s teetering on self-parody.
To be sure, comedy feels misplaced in a movie that purports to be a re-enactment of a tense rescue attempt. But in offering something watchable, Argo needs to straddle the fine line between exposing the crude humour in seeing what I can only assume were a bunch of uninteresting, poker-faced officials planning the impossible and portraying a less distasteful, but no less serious version of the story. Most of the movies based on true events have struggled with this, recreating scenes that are either too dreary or campy and tearing you out of the experience. It’s a trend that has made Affleck’s nominally bizarre decision to include comedy a remarkable one, careening over the unattractive side of reality while retaining some bit of believability.
The second half, as you may have guessed by now, involves the actual mission of getting the trapped American officials out of Iran. This portion of the movie is a stacked deck of close encounters and mounting tensions, and the fact that the lives of these people were actually in constant question at one point in history means you’ll want to root for at least one of the characters. Dramatisation is worked shrewdly into some of the scenes here, culminating in the most incredible and nail-biting final scene I have ever seen in all movies. Without giving anything away, suffice to say that the final sequence alone is worth the price of admission.
Now, explaining why I think Argo is really good is easy, but explaining why I think Argo needs a perfect score is harder, so bear with me. To be perfectly clear, the tonal shift between the outstanding humour of the first half and the boiling intensity of the second half is rather awkward. But to get two very solid separate halves rescues the movie from irony. The comedy is well-scripted and the tension is immense, and until a complete movie can match Argo in either half, Affleck’s third film as director deserves full credit.
MOVIE RATING:
(Outstanding comedy in the first half and heart-stopping intensity in the second half)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
SYNOPSIS: Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best - running contraband. Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men.
MOVIE REVIEW:
“Contraband” is a Hollywood movie that ironically doesn’t look like one. It’s a remake of a 2008 Icelandic film, Reykjavik-Rotterdam and it’s helmed by the original director Baltasar Kormakur.
Shot on location in New Orleans and Panama, Kormakur takes us behind-the-scenes of illegal smuggling through the onscreen protagonists, a subject not widely tackled by studios. Thrown in a highway heist that went all wrong and a complicated brotherhood and you have a decent, gritty crime flick headed by Mark Wahlberg.
Wahlberg plays Chris Farraday, an ex-smuggler who is forced to return to his old illegal trade to save his brother-in-law, Andy from being killed by his ruthless boss, Tim (Giovanni Ribisi). Andy has earlier lost the drugs he supposed to smuggle in and Chris offers to pay Tim back the money on account of his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale). The problem is Chris refuses to touch anything to do with drugs and the solution he can think of is bringing in fake US dollars from Panama onboard a freight ship with the help from his old gang.
Kormakur and his stunt coordinator mentioned several times during the making-of features that they wanted to keep the action organic. By organic, I guessed they meant shaky cams and plenty of hard-hitting punches and kick-ass moves. The action sequences are tense, erratic and look the least choreographed.
Wahlberg has been making a few interesting career moves lately, dabbling in comedies and award-winning dramas and so long as he avoid crappy stuff liked “Max Payne”, Wahlberg certainly is impressive with his charismatic screen presence. Giovanni Ribisi might be over the top with his slicked hair and facial stubble however you can’t deny that he is an underrated actor. Ben Foster (The Mechanic) appears as the buddy of Chris and his character I must emphasis not his performance is letdown by the script midway through. Kate Beckinsale for the first time appears as Kate Beckinsale not the tough cookie she usually portrays though you might need some time to adjust seeing her getting knocked cold.
There’s nothing spectacular and everything becomes predictable when our working class hero, Chris Farraday effortlessly overcome one obstacle after another. Yet it manages to keep things afloat by smuggling in a few thrills and clever execution. “Contraband” ultimately is a joy ride from start to finish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
12 very brief Deleted Scenes are included here.
The director and stunt coordinator talks about making the stunts look organic in this 7 minutes segment, Reality Factor: The Stunts and Action of Contraband
We get to see how Kate Beckinsale got wrapped with plastic plus interviews with the main cast and filmmakers in Under The Radar: The Making of Contraband
Feature Commentary with Director/Producer Baltasar Kormakur & Producer Evan Hayes is a quite a dry account of how they make the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Shot in ways similar to a documentary, the visual is intended to be dark and gritty though overall details remained sharp. The audio falls short largely because of the sole Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that constraints the liveliness of the bombastic sound effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/History
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Cast: Gianna Jun, Simon Yam, Kim Soo-hyun, Angelica Lee, Lee Jeong-jae, Kim Yoon-seok, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Hae-sook, Oh Dal-soo
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Sexual References)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 September 2012
Synopsis: In order to let things cool down from their latest heist, Popeye and his group of thieves go to Macao on a job. But the mastermind behind this job is none other than Popeye’s old partner Macao Park, who escaped with 68kg of gold several years ago on their last job together. Macao Park brought Chinese thieves as well but little did they know what Macao Park planned for each one of them. But his plan takes an unexpected turn when Popeye brings Pepsi, an old flame of Macao Park, to settle the old score. The thieves’ target is a $20 million diamond known as ‘Tear of the Sun’, kept safely away in a casino, brought there to be sold by a notorious Chinese fence. While working together to steal this fabled diamond, they all have their own agenda to keep the diamond for themselves. But who will succeed and live to see another day?
Movie Review:
The purported selling point here is so lazy and easy it’s slutty: the most anticipated star-studded action blockbuster 2012! Unless The Thieves intends to pay homage to The Avengers, this year’s only rightful owner to that headline, we can’t verify the credibility of that audacious claim. Granted, the movie’s A-list ensemble of the most bankable stars from around the region places it in a perfect position to sell itself to the usual fandom, but I’m usually sceptical of such an approach to filmmaking. The good news? The Thieves is everything it pledges to be in marketing and message – epic, smart, funny and well-shot. The bad news? It’s not quite everything it needs to be.
Hardened robber Macao Park wants to steal a $20 million diamond from a casino in Macau. In order to pull off the perfect heist, he enlists the services of Korean and Chinese thieves. What looks to be a smooth heist suddenly shatters into a botched job as each thief begins to reveal their true motives and lots of betrayals and grudges surface before any thief can get to the diamond. The real winner here is Macao Park, who has deliberately assembled this double-crossing team of thieves so that he can escape with the diamond. Unfortunately, trouble catches up to him before he can safely pocket the prize. Each thief must now fight to survive and find the diamond before time runs out.
Let’s face it: this is the sort of heist movie that can only look good with a greedy scale, even if it’s with one that’s only initially superficial. Director Choi Dong-hoon doesn’t scrimp here, getting stars from Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia and wrangling with a multilingual dialogue that speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese and English. It makes for an amusing preamble that sees our group of thieves engage in almost endless banter, effectively using the barriers of language to allow one party to criticize the other without the other actually realising it. The thieves eventually manage to pull their thinking caps together, navigating through the complex security at the casino with an equally cartoonish verve. So far, so good, right?
That question is important because the movie totally loses control once it hits the second half. I’ll admit upfront that the movie is very smart – or at least its multitude of subplots is. But the fundamental problem with The Thieves is that it has well over a dozen major characters competing for screen time. I can’t stress enough how a burgeoning character count is to the detriment of a movie’s quality. With so many personal agendas / betrayals / grudges on offer, The Thieves struggles to tie all its subplots into a concise, clear and easily comprehensible script, instead allowing them to dart uncontrollably in all directions. It’s incredibly labourious to keep track of who’s doing what or even which diamond is real. Above all else, The Thieves would have worked better as a tv serial; condensed into movie length, it wears out any form of sanity too quickly.
That’s not to say The Thieves isn’t without any more charms. The movie is a stacked deck of balletically choreographed action scenes that become increasingly daring, and we dare say reckless, as it progresses. Characters are allowed to fight in places that don’t traditionally grace the screen for action scenes, including an elevator shaft and the surface of a building. There’s an action scene which, in the perfect storm of horrible coincidence, is virtually the same as Tom Cruise’s vertiginous adventure on the surface of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower in last year’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The only thing that’s better than this action segment is the relentless pace at which the movie pumps out gunfire.
Watching The Thieves is like flirting with James Bond. You get a curious mix of charisma and danger, and you don’t know whether you should stay or leave: the charisma is appealing, but the danger is off-putting. The Thieves is far from perfection, but if you’re willing to overlook the messy second half and indulge in the amusement and exhilaration of the package, then this so-called most anticipated star-studded action blockbuster 2012 is worth a visit to the cinema.
Movie Rating:
(A curious mix of charisma and danger, date The Thieves only if you can forgive its fundamental flaws and flirt with amusement and exhilaration)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Patricia Riggen
Cast: Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette, Matthew Modine, Eugenio Derbez
RunTime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 August 2012
Synopsis: Grace is a single mum. She is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Harford, to give her daughter, Ansiedad, the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad's English teacher, Ms. Armstrong, introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mum. While Grace becomes preoccupied with the increasing affections of her co-worker, Ansiedad enlists the help of her loyal friend, Tavita, to plot her shortcut to "adulthood". But as her misguided plan unravels, Ansiedad and Grace must learn that sometimes growing-up means acting your age.
Movie Review:
There is an interesting twist to this coming-of-age tale of a Hispanic kid with a supposedly unpronounceable name Ansiedad – in both word and deed, she’s already pretty much an adult. That precociousness however turns out to be a stumbling block when she is confronted with adolescence – she doesn’t yet realise she’s attained the maturity of an adult without having to go through the requisite growing pains. Ironically therefore, Ansiedad manufactures her own stages of growing up just so she can reaffirm her psychological maturity.
It doesn’t take much for your heart to go out to her – instead of being the one cared for, she is literally the caretaker of her mother, Grace (Eva Mendes), who is slumming her life away by having a love affair with a married doctor (Matthew Modine) and leaving all the other responsibilities of life to Ansiedad. So there are really two coming-of-tales here – one, Ansiedad herself; and two, her mother Grace – and you’ve probably seen enough of such Hollywood fables to know that both mother and daughter will learn the folly of their ways and change for the better.
Sure despite the nifty twist mentioned above, screenwriter Hiram Martinez largely sticks to well-worn clichés as the story unfolds – though having Ansiedad chart out these obligatory stages of her planned teenage rebellion seems to be a signal to the audience that the movie is smarter than the conventions it follows. Geared as it is towards a family-friendly audience, the portrayal of Ansiedad’s defiant behaviour (such as pretending to dump her overweight best friend, befriending the popular but mean girls at school and losing her virginity) stays safely within PG territory, so parents need not worry about their own teenagers emulating her ways.
Playing it safe of course means that you never quite get the sense that Ansiedad would get into the sort of trouble she won’t eventually be able to wiggle out of, but clearly this Pantelion film isn’t meant to be something like Anne Hathaway’s ‘Havoc’. Instead, director Patricia Riggen operates within the constraints of what presumably came from the brief of Pantelion – a joint venture between US-based studio Lionsgate and Mexican entertainment giant Televisa – and delivers an breezy and enjoyable enough affair that the whole family can partake in.
Riggen is particularly enabled by the stellar performances of her Latino stars, Eva Mendes and Cierra Ramirez. Typecast as the sexpot, Mendes gets to show off her acting chops in a more complex role than those she usually gets in big-budget Hollywood franchises, and she handles her character’s emotional beats admirably. Ramirez however is truly a revelation, embodying both the awkwardness as well as the confidence of her character at different points in the movie, and delivering a spunky energetic performance.
As a teen drama, ‘Girl in Progress’ doesn’t quite break new ground for the genre, but it is still smart and sensitive enough to please those who can’t quite get enough of the mother-and-daughter bonding tale. It also moves along at a zippy pace, so even if it doesn’t pack much originality, at no point does the story in progress end up stalling. Most importantly perhaps, it is a sincere story of hope, redemption and the comfort of family – and that’s the message that will leave a smile on your face when it’s over.
Movie Rating:
(Familiar but well-told tale that trots out all the clichés of a coming-of-age story, yet proves to be entertaining and reaffirming for those who like such fables)
Review by Gabriel Chong
|
BOOK REVIEW #3: "VIC ARMSTRONG'S THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST STUNTMAN"Posted on 20 Aug 2012 |
|
TONY SCOTT (1944 - 2012)Posted on 19 Aug 2012 |
| « Prev | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.