2012

Rating: * (out of 4)
Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton
Director: Roland Emmerich


Dear Mr. Roland Emmerich,

Sorry, I have nothing against you, but I think your '2012' sucks. This is regrettable as I actually like some of your earlier works. I enjoyed your 'Independence Day', and I also quite like your 'The Day After Tomorrow'. I hated your '3000 BC', I wished it was just one of your off-day, but your '2012' is just as bad.

What's going on with you? You are certainly capable of making decently entertaining commercial blockbusters, but you seemed to have got carried away showing off your expertise in destrucive show piece. You see, earth-shattering special effects alone don't make a disaster movie works. It needs to be accompanied by the right mood and tone (tension, intrigue, suspense), but '2012' evokes none of it. Hey, your 'Independence Day' did alright on that account, with the giant alien spaceship hovering on the sky, it was tensed as hell.

Instead, in '2012', you gave us a goofy premise, and plenty of cheesy moments. The core of the earth is heating up? Come on, if you can't come out with a more believable premise, just leave it unexplained. Our own imagination would take care of that, and dare I say it, to better effect.

Your set-up scene in '2012' just fails to connect. There was no tension, no intrigue, no suspense. It shouldn't be because strange events were happening, cracks were appearing on Earth's surface. When your President (Danny Glover) announced that the Earth is coming to an end, it didn't resonate. Woo...the end of the world huh, so what?

Why is that? I have said it and will say it again: you got so carried away with your destructive show piece till you neglect the basic elements of film making.

When the destruction started, the whole 2 hour of it, it doesn't save the film. It's so over-the-top that it looks, dare I say it, fake. You are matching Michael Bay's expertise in sensory overkill, and that's not a good role model to follow.

Dear Mr. Roland Emmerich,

When I was watching your '2012' in my local cinema, I was surrounded by kids (school holidays, you see), and they are restless throughout the screening, clearly bored. When the show ended, they cheered. 'Yeah...mummy, it's the end!'

'Of course, the are just kids', you may want to say.

But I'll remind you that something's not right. You are making a mainstream blockbusters that should appeal to the mass, including the kids. You are not making a deep films that kids cannot understand. I still remember the screenings I attended for 'Jurassic Park', and even your 'Independence Day'. Boy, the kids were glued to their seats. See, don't underestimate the kids.

And...when the show ended and the credits rolled, I saw adults yawning besides me.

This is it

Rating: ** (out of 4)
Director: Kenny Ortega

The media had not been kind to Michael Jackson (MJ).

MJ's later stage of his career had seen the media focusing on his troubled personal life, his looks, his lawsuits, to an extend that a non-fan like me thought that that was more or less what MJ was all about. There had been so much images on the media showing his pale skin, his plastic face and nose, someone once said that MJ was one of the creepiest being on earth.

Or was it?

Here in 'This is it', we see a immensely talented artist in full command of his shows, a master in dance movement with boundless energy. There is not a trace of a man rumored to be too weak to tour. He was on top of everything. Conceiving, directing, producing, singing, dancing; he was the ultimate captain behind the creative aspects of the London concert that never took place. He was the boss.

MJ was surprisingly soft-spoken, always well-mannered to his working crew. There was no sign of any spoilt celebrity tantrum when something went wrong during the rehearsal. 'That's what rehearsals are for', he will say politely to the crew who made the mistake, never raising his voice. Here's a man working tirelessly for the love of his art, while maintaining his humility.

What did he do to deserve such harsh media bashing, I will never quite comprehend. Although 'This is it' could have been 'polished' to certain degree, viewing it I do not think that what we see is a fabricated deception. These are, after all, real documentary video footage.

The greatest joy of the film, is to see how MJ interacted with his working crew. This as close a source we have to gain some insights into his mysterious personality. I wish Kenny Ortega, the director, could have given us more of those, and trim down on the lengthy rehearsal music sequence.

I mean, of course the music is a big part of any musical documentary, and fans will no doubt value it. But for a non-fan, we really wish to know MJ better as a person, we wish to have more insights.

After all, MJ was half-singing for the bulk of the rehearsal, in order to conserve his voice for the actual show.

If there's one thing that struck me, it is how I realized that a negative celebrity image could be result of a one-sided portrayal by the media (to sell more papers I presumed). There are 2 sides to everything, and 'This is it' gave us the professional side of MJ that has been unjustifiably side-stepped by the media for so long.

Walk The Line

Rating: ***1/2 (out of 4)
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
Director: James Mangold
Year of Release: 2005







Studio Exec: What's with the black? Looks as if you are going for a funereal'
Cash: 'May be I am'

That sums up the character of the legendary 'Man in black' Johnny Cash. His is one of defiance, determination and boldness.

Musical biopics more or less follow the same story arc. The dream, the initial struggle, the breakthrough, the rise to stardom, the setback, the drugs and booze, and finally picking themselves up again. 'Walk The Line' is very much in that formula, hence this is no inventive film making. But then again most story about musical stars does follow such patterns, so it would be unfair to criticize it just because it is formulaic. What does matter is the execution, how effectively the movie engage us emotionally in its story. In that regard, 'Walk The Line' scores.

'Walk The Line' succeed due to its acting and music. Reese Witherspoon's Oscar winning performance as June Carter is not exactly the kind of eye-catching performance often expected of an award-winning performance. This is a performance that looks ordinary on the surface, but it grows on you. It grows on you because of the emotional subtleties it carries to good effect. June's feeling on Cash, her hesitation to marry him, her sympathy towards him, and her own personal problem with her negative public image (back then, societies are not too kind with women like her who divorced), this is a substantial acting performance by Witherspoon.

Phoenix's Oscar nominated performance as Johnny Cash brings the otherwise ordinary story to a personal level, lending crucial emotional connection to the viewers. We admire his courage, we sympathized with his traumatized life background, his emotional upheaval and his subsequent problems with drug addiction. More so, Phoenix's Cash painted a haunting portrait of a soul threatened by the dark side of fame.

Oh, and the music. It is now a well-known fact that Phoenix and Witherspoon did their own singing in the film. Energetic and lovely, that's what make 'Walk The Line' such a crowd pleasing offering.


* 'Walk The Line' was nominated 5 Oscars in the 2005 Academy Awards, for best actor, best actress, best costume design, best editing and best sound mixing. It won the best actress award for Reese Witherspoon's performance as June Carter.

Inglourious Basterds

Rating: ***1/2 (out of 4)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Micheal Fassbender, Diane Kruger
Director: Quentin Tarantino



Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' is a dazzling piece of film making, a further testament to Tarantino's reputation as one of the most inventive filmmaker in business. He has a knack of tackling violent, risky subject matter. He understands, and crafts it into a substantial piece of art. This is in striking contrast to a lot of his lesser peers who merely exploit the violence in making mediocre films.

His works also always comes with a strong sense of auteur; that sharp, delicious dialogue, abundance of film references, delightful musical score accompaniment, all that are trademark Tarantino.

'Inglourious Basterds' is full of all that. The film opens with the first chapter 'Once Upon a Time in Nazi-occupied France', with its title, music and scenery all evoke a reference to Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns. In come Christoph Waltz, terrific throughout the film as the cunning yet charming 'the Jew Hunter' Col. Hans Landa. He confronted a farmer suspected of hiding Jews. The whole sequence is a tensed cat-and-mouse game, not by action but by Tarantino sharp dialogue. He leisurely takes his time to let his brilliant dialogue build up its momentum, starting from the Col.'s friendly request for farm milk to an eventual reference to rats. That is vintage Tarantino. One of the hiding Jews, Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) narrowly escaped from the massacre, only to feature later in the film.

The second chapter introduces 'The Basterds', a group of Jewish American on a mission to 'kill the Nazi'. They are headed by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). Here, Tarantino's trademark stylized violence make its first appearance in the film.

Subsequent chapters shapes up the revenge plot, which is itself a ultimate revenge fantasy only a true film buff like Tarantino is able to come out with. Film reference galore, the basterds was involved in a assassination plot with a German movie star, Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) as a British spy. They also teamed up with a British soldier who is a film critic(!), sent by the British military authority because the mission requires his German film knowledge.

Meanwhile, Shosanna was plotting her own vengeance at a movie theater she operates, using the highly flammable nitrate film prints as a secret weapon. In the run up to the climax, there are more tensed cat-and-mouse espionage sequence, again driven by sharp Tarantino's dialogue. One of which involved Shosanna's nervous encounter with her old nemesis, Col. Hans Landa in a French restaurant, another involved Beidget and the basterds trying to outwit the Nazi in a pub, which eventually ended with a bloody shoot-up.

As for the climax, the two revenge plot converged at Shasanna's movie theater, at an exclusive premier of a new German propaganda film, 'The Nation Pride', attended by all the Nazi top official, and by Hitler himself. Of course, none of this is historically accurate. This is all wild fantasy that is strangely satisfying to watch, especially to the true film buffs.

I was having a hard time deciding whether to give 'Inglourius Basterds' a four star or a three-and-a-half. I finally decided on a three-and-a-half. I usually reserve my four star rating to films which I think, are flawless. 'Inglourius Basterds' is undeniably a very good Tarantino film, I only had some minor problem, particularly with the sequence involving Bridget the movie star, the basterds, and a bunch of Nazi at a pub, which I think is a little overlong and loses some momentum as a result. But there's so much in the film that I suspect I will like the film even more on a second viewing.


* In the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, 'Inglourius Basterds' was an official selection (in competition). It also won the Best Actor award for Christoph Waltz's performance as Col. Hans Landa

Papadom

Rating: **1/2 (out of 4)
Cast: Afdlin Shauki, Liyana Jasmay, Noorkhiriah, Vanidah Imran, Farid Kamil
Director: Afdlin Shauki
Language: In Malay with English subtitle




A best film winner at the 22nd Malaysian Film Festival, Afdlin Shauki's 'Papadom' is a family oriented comedy-drama that tells the story of Saadom (Afdlin Shauki), a successful 'nasi kandar' business man in Penang who lost his wife (played by Noorkhiriah) in a traffic accident. Regretting that he had not spent enough time with his wife and daughter when his wife was still alive, Saadom vowed to take care of his daughter, Miasara (Liyana Jasmay) to the best of his ability. So protective is he that when Miasara is moving into a university for her undergraduate study, he is willing to leave his successful 'nasi kandar' business behind and goes undercover as a gardener in the university campus, so that he can watch over Miasara.

It is a problematic premise. Problematic, because it is just not that believable, and it felt cheesy. Well, may be such obsessively protective parents do exist, but it is still problematic if majority of the viewers find it to be bizarre. 'Do you see any other parents who follow his kids to a high school party?' Miasara asked Saadom.

Nevertheless, despite the problematic premise, the film is sustained largely due to Afdlin Shauki's comedic talent. There's no denying of his ability to induce laughter with his witty one-liner and hilarious situation. Yes, 'Papadom' is genuinely funny in its moments but felt somewhat incoherent as a whole, probably because at times it tends to drag on too long on its slapstick comedic moments, thus diluting its core story arc.

But Afdlin deserves his best actor award, he is able switch seamlessly from a comedian to a thoughtful father when the story requires it. Vanidah Imran has a supporting role as Professor Balqis, and hers is a delight to watch, we wish to see her longer in the film. Noorkhiriah, too is effective as Saadom's wife, sensitive and funny at the right moment. However, I am not too impressed with the teenage cast whose tendency to burst into theatrical over-acting borders on the edge of being annoying.

I suspect that the panel jury at the 22nd Malaysian Film Festival might have been won over by the film's climatic moment, which took place in a screening session of the student's film works. It is brilliant in a way, emotionally wrenching and suddenly we realize about the significance of the film's title, 'Papadom'. So, despite its problematic premise and uneven journey, there's no denying the redemptive power of a well-conceived climatic ending.


* 'Papadom' was a best film winner at the 22nd Malaysian Film Festival. It also won 4 other awards in the same festival for best actor, best actress, best original story and best musical score.

Sideways

Rating: **** (out of 4)
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Director: Alexander Payne
Year of release: 2004

Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) is a middle-aged man who is stuck in a stagnant job teaching English in high school. His true ambition, which is to become a writer, is going nowhere with his novel struggling to get published. His marriage too, failed 2 years ago. Everyday, after work, he comes back to a empty, lonely home. He has a habit of dining alone in quiet corners of restaurants.

Romantic life? Miles has more or less gave up on that prospect. With a balding hair, bulging tummy and fading youth, Miles runs low on confidence on how he looks and his own perceived career failure, and he thinks that no women will find him attractive for that. So dejected is he that when an attractive waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen) whom he had secretly taken a liking on asked him what is he doing for the night, he dully said to her 'You know, I am kind of tired by the day's traveling so I guess I will just go back to the Motel room to sleep'.

No, he's not a homo. But he sometimes gets so sicked of his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church)'s persistence on setting him up for dates that he will say 'Alright, alright, I am a homo. Give me a gay confession letter and I'll sign it. Just don't push me any further!'

Thank God, he has a way to light up his depressed life with his whole-hearted passion on wine. A passion like this may seems like a trivial hobby to others, but writer-director Alexander Payne knows that to someone like Miles, it is by no way just a hobby. It is in fact, a critical element that keeps him going with his life.

That shows incredibly sharp observation on human nature by the writer-director. That quality is also what makes 'Sideways' such a heartfelt, moving and wonderful film. It is road movie at its most inspiring. Payne understands that people like Miles is quite common among us. Hell, it can even be you or me. Majority of us, like it or not, lives an ordinary life. Many of us goes on with our monotonous life routine with ideals and dreams unfulfilled, and there comes a time when we start questioning the whole meaning of our lives and grow insecure over it. A classic case of mid life crisis and Payne (and his co-writer Jim Taylor) made a hero out of it, unconventional in every sense and devoid of any screen stereotype. Brilliant.

Mile's best friend Jack is getting married in a week's time. To celebrate Jack's last week of bachelor-hood, Miles treats him to a wine tasting road trip across California wine countryside. But Jack, a wine dummy, is not having it. He has his own plan of playboy adventure and dragged the reluctant Miles along in his adventure. So, the wine-tasting road trip turned sideways into something else, a delightful journey of life and tentatitve tender romance.

The romance between Miles and Maya (Virginia Madsen) is masterfully executed. Haunted by past marriage failures, they have both turned into passive mode in their respective romantic life. It was Jack who set them up and in their first gathering, there is this unavoidable awkwardness to start a topic. It helps that they both share a passion in wine and conveniently they launched into conversation sharing their passion on wines. The conversation gradually turned into something more personal and there comes the indecisiveness in Miles' part to 'make the move', and When he finally made it, they both turned unsure about what they are doing and calls it a day. All these are masterful sequence that we want to see it again and again to savor it, because it felt so personal. Alexander Payne understands how two lonely souls like Miles and Maya will progress on their relationship, and he filmed it in near perfection, not a false note, just all the right tone.

Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen all gave performances that when we view it, we can't think of any other actors who can substitute them to better effect.


'Sideways' could just turn up to be one of my all time favourite. It's the kind of film you want to see it again, even though you would have known its story and plot after the first viewing. You want to see it to savor the human experience, not to comprehend what happens in the plot. I have seen 2 films by Alexander Payne prior to this, 'Election' and 'About Schmidt'. They are both intelligent, great films. 'Sideways' topped them all, it is a wonderful, wonderful film.

Watch out for Alexander Payne for more great films.


* 'Sideways' was nominated for 5 Oscars in the 2005 Academy Awards, for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actor and best supporting actress. It won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor's excellent screenplay.

Vengeance (復仇)

Rating: ***1/2 (out of 4)
Cast: Johnny Hallyday, Anthony Wong, Simon Yam
Director: Johnnie To
Language: In English and Cantonese with English Subtitle



A Cannes 2009's official selection, Johnnie To's Vengeance is a stylish revenge thriller. Stylish, because it is filmed in noir-ish style, with atmospheric, moody locations in Macau and Hong Kong. The visual, especially the night images in Macau, is breathtakingly beautiful. This is a quality rarely seen in mediocre HK productions. For that matter, 'Vengeance' is a French-HK co-production, a refreshingly crafted genre piece.

The film opens with a brutal massacre; a french woman with her Chinese husband and children were gunned down in their Macau home.

Johnny Hallyday, a french rock legend, played the woman's father, Costello. He came hurriedly to Macau, in time to listen to his dying daughter's last words. She begged to her father for revenge.

Johnny Hallyday's Costello is one of the more memorable leading man's performance I have seen this year. Charismatic and assuring, he brings to the screen the kind of seen-it-all, done-it-all world-weariness. Costello was in fact, a weathered professional hitman who last used a gun 20 years ago. In the presence of dangerous men, Costello showed cool calmness.

But, he is after all, a stranger in a foreign land. So, he hired a trio of professional hitmen, played by Anthony Wong, Lam Suet and Lam Ka-tung. The trio were initally vowed by the attractive compensation offered by Costello, but eventually developed a sympathy and bonding with Costello, and sets out on a dangerous adventure to help him in his vengeance.

What I like about this film, apart from its stylish visuals and memorable acting performances, is the poignancy amidst the blood-splattering violence. The hitmen in this film, despite their profession, are professionals who operate with a code of honour. They will get the job done, doing their best to spare innocent lives. When the trio (Anthony Wong, Lam Suet and Lam Ka-tung) were finishing of a unfaithful mistress of their employer, they unexpectedly bumped into a stranger (Costello) at the Hotel aisle. They hesitated on what to do, although they all knew that they should kill Costello, because Costello had seen their face.

Or consider the other trio of hitmen, when they were executing their job to finish off Costello's daughter and family. There were children hiding in the cupboard, and one of the hitman is about to open it. 'Don't open!' his leader said to him. If the cupboard's door is not opened, the children would not have seen the hitman's face and thus their innocent lives would have been spared.

Consider also when Costello with his 3 buddies came confronting the 3 hitmen who have killed his family. A BBQ party was taking place with wives and children present. Costello and gang sat patiently waiting for the party to end and the wives and children to leave the scene. 'They don't have to see this', one of them said.

* Johnnie To's 'Vengeance' is an official selection (in competition) for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival