Category: My Opinion

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Drama Movie Reviews Travel Blog

Atonement – A Sad Story Beautifully Filmed

atonement.jpg

You, must have thought that I am kidding right? Writing a movie review while holidaying in Hong Kong? Cynthia and I just cannot resist not watching a film for a week. On top of that, it is a film with Keira Knightley, a film nominated for the Golden Globe Awards, and a film perhaps yet to be shown in Singapore (or is it over already?).

Where did I watch “Atonement”? None other than the most prestigious IFC mall that is right next to, I believe, the tallest building in Hong Kong – International Finance Centre (IFC). Prestige comes with a whopping price tag of S$15 per seat. Not just any seat, but a full leather seat. I was mildly disappointed with the screen though. It doesn’t seem like a wide-screen format to me. I tried to book online and that was another disappointment. They only accept local credit cards for a transaction lower than HKD 200. D’uh!

“Atonement” is anything but disappointment. It prompts me to think which one is more important: the reality or the story being immortalized by ink and paper. If you do watch “Atonement”, pay attention to the composition of each scene. The scenes are so perfectly composed that it is hard not to look at the film from the artistic angle. There is one particular scene at the beach with soldiers waiting to return home that is not to be missed. It is one long shot (quite possibly a continuous shot but we all know what computers can do these days) with subjects of focus changing swiftly from one to another.  Also, the way that some of the scenes appear ahead of time is, I think, a clever trick that doesn’t seem to get old even when it is done a couple of times throughout the movie.

I have yet to watch “Pride & Prejudice” by Keira Knightley and the same director Joe Wright but I would say “Atonement” is perhaps Keira Knightley’s best performance to date. The original score is innovative by mixing different sounds, such as the typewriter, into the background music (you will see the significance of the typewriter later). In short, if you enjoy watching drama, albeit a sad one, you may like this one.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Why Do Grown-ups Watch Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium?

Today (21st) was TK’s birthday so I gratefully let him choose what he wished to watch. “Can you choose for me? I have a Christmas party to attend,” said TK over MSN. I looked at the list of movies available and we have almost covered all of them. “Erm …,” I replied, “We can have National Treasure, a Thai comedy, or that Natalie Portman movie.” Turned out that TK has watched National Treasure the day before (and according to him, that wasn’t good). “Good, we have two choices then. Hang on, I am sending the trailer of the Thai movie over. Personally I think the Thai movie may be a better choice,” I said. The beauty of Internet technology, the beauty of YouTube.

“Let’s support Natalie,” said the birthday boy. “Let’s support Natelie then,” I concurred. TK and I are both big time Natalie Portman fan. I have literally followed Natalie’s career from her debut as Mathilda in Léon (aka The Professional) to Evey of V for Vendetta. My personal favorite is Closer. What is yours?

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is a straightforward fantasy movie with Portman as the toy store manager and Dustin Hoffman as the … 243 years old boss. Okay, there is suppose to be a lot of magic inside the store and the computer graphics is top notch. The kids may enjoy the movie. Not for the grown-ups, I suppose. There are other better fantasy movies out there such as Enchanted and The Golden Compass.  Unless you are like us who have covered most of what are out there …

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Movie Reviews

Hero, Enchanted, and Warlords

I thought “Hero” and “Enchanted” are both not showing in cinemas now but I am wrong. So, what the heck. I will do a three-in-one review then.

Takuya Kimura was great in the samurai movie Love and Honor. In “Hero”, he plays a rather usual prosecutor who doesn’t dress up like a typical lawyer and defies the higher power. He enjoys slow trials because he believes that only then, the accused can fully appreciate the weight of their sins. Together with him was a team of prosecutors who take on this bizarre case of murder that ultimately involves someone politically influential. The Korean actor Lee Byung Hun (so good looking!) is in the poster of this movie but his appearance is too brief. I think the part of the Japanese prosecutors’ visit to Korea is probably the highlight of the movie. Quite a number of scenes are a bit too far fetched. The entertainment value is there. However, some may find the pace of the movie a bit too slow.

“Enchanted” is a surprise to me. I watched “Enchanted” because it is nominated for the Golden Globe award. A rather forgettable storyline aside, the transition between the animation and the real life acting is pretty interesting. I especially like the acting of Amy Adams. Where does she come from?! She acts as though she was a cartoon character. Awesome! I personally didn’t like the cockroaches and rats but besides that, “Enchanted” is a very entertaining movie. I was laughing all the way till the end. A decent comedy-fantasy-musical film I must say.

It’s been a long time since TK watched a Chinese movie (not for Cynthia and I as Lust, Caution still lives vividly in my mind to say the least). “Warlords” is a well made Chinese movie. Perhaps one of the better ones in recent days. There is nothing groundbreaking in terms of storyline. The same kind of treachery, betrayal, bonding, honor, and sacrifice. Andy Lau plays the honored one who believes in righteousness and he is all for his people. Jet Li plays the General who believes that so long as the means justify the ends, people will understand the truth in the end – even if they have to die for it. Takeshi Kaneshiro plays as the loyal and obedience one who takes promises seriously. Together, they sworn in as blood brothers and have decided to wage war to the Chinese cities that have fallen to the hands of the warlords on behalf of the Empress. The acting is top notch. So is the filming of the war scenes. Nothing groundbreaking like I said. Nevertheless a good Chinese movie to watch in recent days.

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Documentary Movie Reviews

Nanking – A Powerful Documentary Inspired by the Late Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking

When I first saw the bombs landed on Iraq’s capital Baghdad on CNN, I felt the tears at the back of my eyes. I had the same feeling when I watched the Japanese in “Nanking” dropping the bombs onto the city of China, Nanking – even a more intense feeling. I was gasping for air. It is hard to watch because wartime documentary films are not Hollywood films. Those were the real houses built by real people lived by real people and the corpses scattered on the ground were real. The crying of the survived ones was as real as those who were dead. Since young, I spent lots of time reading the history of China during WWII – especially on the Japanese invasion. The atrocity of the war and the suffering of the people. I have read pages and pages of historical articles and I have probably seen more gruesome pictures of the execution of the Chinese by the Japanese than I should have at that young age. One picture that still vividly lives in my mind till today is a sea of dead semi-naked Chinese women lying flat on the ground with long sticks inserted into their private parts. I read that the Japanese wouldn’t want to waste bullets on Chinese women, sticks would do the job.

War is horrible and of course, I don’t despise the Japanese (though I am angry with them for not admiting what they have done in the past till today). I despise the war. The documentary film “Nanking” was played out by a group of contemprary actors taking the role of the missionaries, university professors, doctors, and businessmen. These foreigners witnessed the cruelty of war and they stayed behind to establish a safety zone for the Chinese refugees in Nanking. The interviews of the war survivors were conducted with the real people who did survive the war. Hearing them recounting what they had been through made me want to tear. The emotion is so real and overwhelming. These are people of over 80 years of age and you could visualize the scenes with their words.

“Nanking” also displays some of the video clips taken during the war and some, I would suppose, are unofficial interviews with the Japanese soldiers. What “Nanking” has brought out is aligned with my expectation on how the history should be told. At the end of the film, my friend and I turned to each other and hope that we won’t see a war at our doorsteps in our generation, and the next, and the next after, and the …

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Golden Compass – A Promising Beginning Of A Potential Trilogy

When Nicole Kidman first made an appearance in the movie, the dinning hall scene struck a certain sense of familiarity. I whispered to Cynthia, “That dinning hall reminds me of my University days.” Turns out that some scenes were filmed in Oxford, UK (not sure if that particular scene was). As far as I can remember, the dinning halls of the colleges in Oxford look somewhat the same (note: I admit I have not been to all 39 colleges) as I did receive invites from friends of different collages for dinner once in a blue moon. Two long rows of tables along the longer side of the rectangular hall with the “high table” at the short end furthest away from the entrance. Usually the guests of honour and the college fellows take up the high table while the rest of the students dine at the long tables.

But familiarity is certainly not enough for me to like the movie. I admit that I chose “The Golden Compass” because I am impressed by the trailer and I am a big fan of Nicole Kidman. Her airtime in “The Golden Compass” is much less than Michelle Pfeiffer in “Stardust”. Naturally, I would be disappointed. Even Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond) and the Bond girl Eva Green don’t get too much airtime either. The main star of the movie turns out to be a teenage actress from UK – Dakota Blue Richards. She has beaten 10,000 others for the role.

Dakota Blue Richards can easily be one of my favorite child actresses (my favorite being Dakota Fanning). It is hard not to feel her emotions as she journeys from the collage she resides in, and into the land of the ice bears, flying witches with arrows and bows, and different factions of humans that wield guns.

“The Golden Compass” is based on the children novel “Northern Lights” (1995) written by Philip Pullman. That book has won the Carnegie Medal for children’s fiction and yet, has generated a share of controversy with claims that the book attempts to sell atheism to kids. The world of the religious skeptic Philip Pullman is dark and individualistic and religion is evil. Fans of the book are disappointed with “The Golden Compass” as the religion aspect is being washed down in order to perhaps gain a wider audience. For example, the evil organization that dominates the world is renamed to “Magisterium” while in the book, it is referred to as “the church”.

To me, it doesn’t matter. “The Golden Compass” may as well be the extreme opposite end of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and I would say, it is perhaps closer to a scaled down version of the “Lord of the Ring”. I am certainly looking forward to what the next two installments will bring, that is if the filmmaker has decided to carry on producing them.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Duran Duran’s Red Carpet Massacre – An 80’s Band With A Modern Sound

These days, I always get a bit apprehensive when dinosaur band out of nowhere comes out with a new album. Countless disappointment and I was about to give Duran Duran’s “Red Carpet Massacre” a miss. But still, I sampled the album and right from the first track, I was gripped by the new modern sound. Yes, I recognise the remarkably sexy voice of Simon Le Bon. Yes, I also recognise the unique melody. But the overall sound of the new album? That is from a different world of Duran Duran.

I can see why some Duran Duran hardcore fans raise their fists in anger. To make it clear to you all, I am not a true fan of Duran Duran. The only one album I love – and not many true fans do – is their second self-titled album a.k.a. “The Wedding Album” (1993). Remember “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone”? Back then, they made a breakthrough from their 80’s image and have that contemporary kind of sound. Today, Duran Duran does just that with the help of Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Hardcore fans are displeased with that association. But to be fair, this duo only has a hand in 3 out of 12 songs. The influence is there. But to say that “Red Carpet Massacre” betrays the Duran Duran’s original sound by the Timbaland and Timberlake duo is grossly misleading.

Right from the strong opening track of “The Valley” (where is the chorus by the way?! … yet it is so cool!) to the 5th track of the rather slow and memorable ballad of “Box Full O’ Honey”, and my favorite instrument track “Tricked Out” to the ending tracks of “She’s Too Much” and “Last Man Standing”, Duran Duran’s new album never fails to charm with such a diversity, memorable tunes, and depth. I found myself keep repeating certain tracks, keep repeating the entire album. I have a hard time to decide if I like “The Wedding Album” better or this one.

Granted that it is disappointing to the true fans that the guitarist Andy Taylor has once again left the band. Coincidentally, he was not in “The Wedding Album” either so that doesn’t matter to me much. “Red Carpet Massacre” is filled with electric and synthetic sound. I personally don’t miss the guitar sound at all simply because of the setting of the modern pop music background. To me, the sparsely layered guitar sound is just nice.

You may find their new video “Falling Down” in YouTube. I have no idea why the video is so long. Must be the trend of MTV nowadays to make music video like a mini film. Fast forward 2 minutes and 40 seconds if you wish.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Hitman – You May Actually Like It

This is how the Movie Review Squad works: one of us fill in an application form 118(A) to propose a movie title and if none of us veto or veto the veto, we will go ahead with the booking – with exceptions of course. Somehow my fetish for horror flicks is always vetoed by TK and Cynthia, and so is my fetish for Asian movies. But that is another story.

On Saturday morning, I passed TK’s 118(A) form to Cynthia and she OK’d it. So I asked TK to go ahead with the booking. I knew “Hitman” is a video game adaptation so as a gaming geek, I certainly have no issue with it. TK picked it and God knows why he picked it. Cynthia thought the leading actor was someone else. So what was the outcome?

One dude behind us was saying stuffs like, “Man, should have watched Enchanted instead”. Another dude replied, “That is a one-star movie, that’s why!” We certainly had no idea that it is a one-star movie. Otherwise I would have vetoed it. Surprisingly, all three of us seemed entertained by “Hitman”. It is a brainless show, I am warning you. Read on if you have an open mind.

The casting is pretty international: Americans, Scottish, Danish, and Ukrainian. I thought the Ukrainian actress, Olga Kurylenko, is pretty hot for her role but Cynthia did not think so. Vin Diesel, who is the executive producer, was supposed to play the role of the lead actor Agent 47. I wonder why he stepped down and here comes the Hawaiian origin Timothy Olyphant to take on the role. I also enjoy the Scottish actor Dougray Scott’s performance whom some of you may have recognised him from the TV series Desperate Housewives. The acting is acceptably decent – judging from the computer gaming perspective. The storyline is simple, nothing fancy. It started off like the TV series Dark Angel whereby orphans are being taken in and trained as assassins.

The question is: both Agent 47 (Mike Whittier) and Mike Whittier from the Interpol (Dougray Scott) have killed people in the course of their work, what makes the good guy has the right to take life? That was the beginning of the movie and then the storyline rewound all the way to couple of months ago. The story is not that deep, trust me. But it is enjoyable. “Hitman”, I think, has faithfully followed the gaming culture. For example, at one point, all the hitmen dropped their guns and have decided to fight with their swords. Cynthia was screaming like, “How can?!” But in a computer gaming environment, it is very common to switch weapons. I told her that she is fortunate not to see a chainsaw … ha ha ha (yep, it is a legitimate weapon commonly used). And there is one particular scene I love. Agent 47 was lying on the bed and the sexy Nika Boronina (Olga Kurylenko) was on top of him with a red dress falling off her shoulders and no panties. There was no sex (close enough). It was classic. In a gaming culture, there may be lots of blood violence with pieces of corpse flying everywhere, it is never meant to be pornographic (except for a few). I love it. Not to forget to mention the music effect. It is so computer gaming, if you know what I mean. The music always intensifies when something is going to happen.

If you are in for some brainless entertainment or if you are a gaming enthusiast, “Hitman” may be for you. I personally don’t think “Hitman” deserves such a poor rating. I know there are quite a few netizens who agree with me.

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Drama Movie Reviews

2 Days In Paris – The Magic Of Julie Delpy Continues

A well reviewed film written, acted, directed, edited, co-produced, and scored by Julie Delpy – I had no idea when I booked the seats for the Movie Review Squad. Being such a huge fan of Julie Delpy, I really don’t need any other reason to watch “2 Days In Paris”. It was a nice surprise that this film is very much like “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”. The characteristic lively dialogues are still there. The only difference is that the individual scenes are relatively shorter in “2 Days In Paris” rather than a series of long takes.

In “2 Days In Paris”, French photographer Marion (Julie Delpy) traveled with her American boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg) to Paris and took the opportunity to introduce him to her family. During this brief stay, Jack was overwhelmed with the country of a different language, different culture, and perhaps meeting too many of Marion’s ex-boyfriends may not be such a good idea after all.

One thing you should agree with me after watching the movie would be: the chemistry between the actors and actresses is amazing. Then I realized that Marion’s parents in the movie are Julie Delpy’s real life parents. The cat in the movie also belongs to her. And most amazing of all, her boyfriend in the movie is her ex-boyfriend in real life.

There are lots of quality scripting in “2 Days In Paris”. Julie Delpy is such a talent and unfortunately she prefers to release her work as independent films. The critics love her works but somehow that doesn’t translate to box office results. You really can’t miss this one if you enjoy watching “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” or you enjoy watching the genre of romantic drama. The following trailer may not do the film justice but you’ll get an idea what the film is about.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

PJ Harvey’s White Chalk – Courageously Ethereal Effort That Triumphed

At times we see artists who dare to deviate from their forte but fail to deliver. Most of the time, we see countless of artists producing the same stuff again and again and because some of them are so good at it, we fans keep buying into that. The queen of indie’s new production “White Chalk” moves away from the electric guitar sound and the signature guitar riffs into an album of piano ballads. In her words, “great thing about learning a new instrument from scratch is that it…liberates your imagination”. Not only that, she has also done away with the intense and at times screaming singing that sometimes coupled with the characteristic vocal effect. In “White Chalk”, She sings with a higher register. No wonder “White Chalk” sounds light and ethereal. The mood and sound of the piano and the singing gel well together. Many times when artists make such a switch, I have this haunting feeling of the good old sound when listening to the new album. To the extend that I could almost hear the missing guitar riffs that should have been there, the kind of screaming that should have been there. I have none for “Walk Chalk”. It sounds great on its own. This is not just my view. “White Chalk” has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the reputed sources.

From the theme perspective, it is still dark and abstract. First, let me take you back to the year 1995. The song “To Bring You My Love” from the album with the same title is perhaps my favorite track out of all her songs. The lyrics is simple, but dark.

Climbed over mountains – Travelled the sea – Cast down off heaven – Cast down on my knees – I’ve laid with the devil – Cursed god above – Forsaken heaven – To bring you my love

Compare that to the excerpt of “The Devil”, the opening track of “White Chalk”.

As soon as I’m left alone – The devil wanders into my soul – – And I pretend to myself – And I pretend to myself – I go out – To the old milestone – Insanely expecting – You to come there – Knowing that I wait for you there – That I wait for you there

And the album closes off with with “The Mountain” that musically resembles the opening track “The Devil”. It is just genius.

By the mountain – I feel nothing – For in my own heart – Every tree is broken – The first tree will not blossom – The second will not grow – The third is almost fallen – Since you betrayed me so

Below is a video of three of her songs from the new album – “When Under Ether”, “The Piano”, and “The Mountain” – together with a short interview thereafter. Don’t miss it.

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Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Sugar And Spice – My Heart Bled A Hundred Times

Life is fragile. One moment you are up in the sky, hopping from cloud to cloud. Everything looks bright. You love the caress of the wind on your face. Another moment, everything you stand onto crumble into pieces. What you believe in, what you live for … and you ask yourself: Who am I? What am I? Are we the projection of what the people see and think about us? Are we the shadow of our past and who we are not? Or we are what we identify with? The curse of empathy. We humankind promotes love but yet we have conflicts everywhere, every single moment. At this very moment, millions are displaced in the war-torn eastern African nation of Somalia, the Saudi rape victim is sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison (what does human right means as a female in an Arab country?!), whales are being brutally killed as the source of protein … but no, how I feel now is nothing to do with civilizations that I have yet to encounter or yet another species we are driving to extinction. How I feel, what I feel is the very conflicts or hostility I experience somewhere not thousands of miles away. Then I ponder, is the ability of being able to empathize a curse? What if no one cares about how I feel, who I am, or what I am? Why do I care so much to people around me? I remember those FHM girls lined up in front of a car so that photographers could take a good picture with them, and the car. Someone shouted: which number, which number, how much? That was disrespectful, totally disgusting. We don’t spend time dressing up to work just to be emotionally abused. I don’t spend time dressing up to …

So, our identity can falter. Our will power can falter. And our body follows, feeling weak and all.

I am coughing today. My nose has been running mildly. It’s been one of those days when I don’t feel as though I am hopping from cloud to cloud. And through this process of crumble, through the serendipity of you are not alone, my good buddy – the name cannot be exposed for reason you will find later – met me up for lunch, and then dinner, and then a movie that I was dying to watch but no one seems interested.

I have no idea why The Straits Times rated the movie “Sugar and Spice” so bad. Then again, I have been consistently disagreeing with them. The acting is solid, especially hands down to Yuya Yagira, the award winner of Cannes in 2004. The scenery shots are beautiful. The presentation with the actors narrate throughout the movie is poetic. “Sugar and Spice” is about the passion of first love, and the passion of love. Being the king of “dumpee”, I can so totally relate to every single moment of the intensity of falling in love and to face the eventuality of … love is a journey, an experience, and feeling the pain at times make us feel alive. “Sugar and Spice” bears it all and it reminded me of what I have been through. Then I thought, perhaps the reviewers at The Straits Times just not having the opportunity to experience love at all. I asked my good buddy who has yet to experience love if the show is enjoyable. The answer is yes. I was surprised. And my good buddy was surprised at The Straits Times’s review too. Too bad, today is the last day “Sugar and Spice” being shown in Singapore.

I wish this blog entry is just another movie review but it is not. All this world needs or what we need is empathy, the ability to love someone or something (such as whales), and the ability to love oneself. And for God’s sake, stop hurting each other with the words we say, the things we do, the words we didn’t say, and the things we didn’t do.