Your All Time Favourite Movies?

[westendboy]

 

I hardly moved in my seat for 2h 41min. Silence is the harrowing story of two Jesuit priests spreading the gospel in Japan during the 17th century. Martin Scorsese hits the peak here with some brilliant cinematography and astute directing. It is not easy to watch but very compelling. How else can I stay put for over 2.5 hours? I have been saving this film for today and it has been worth it. It got me reflecting on the present state of the church and those in Japan in the 17th century. Those days faith is really tested in gruesome ways and yet the people are so hungry for the gospel. Now, churches feel like business houses and giant concerts. The juxtaposition is so startling. There is power in this film and yearns to be experienced. (4 / 5)

[westendboy]

 

Charly (1968) stars Cliff Robertson as Charly Gordon, who won Best Actor at the Oscars, an intellectually disabled adult who is selected by two doctors to undergo a surgical procedure that triples his IQ as it did for Algernon, a laboratory mouse who also underwent the same procedure. I couldn't figure out what it wants to be and it is one big uneven mess. I find the casting for Miss Kinnian very poor and the chemistry between the leads unconvincing. The book is way better. (2 / 5)

 

 

I have seen the Japanese, Indian, Tamil and Chinese adaptations of Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X. I might as well watch the Korean one. Perfect Number has a few things going for it - the earthy tones and atmosphere, and it changed up some elements with some interesting scenes not in the original. I like that cat note and the lie detector scenes. However, this adaptation pales in comparison to the Japanese, Chinese and even Tamil remake. The pacing is poor, the battle of wits non-existent and like most Korean films it panders to their local audience with its near choking melodrama. Well, at least we have seen all the adaptations. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

I specially selected this film to watch on Easter Sunday. Risen is not bad at all. It avoids the usual traps these biblical movies tend to fall into by making us identify with a Roman officer. When his self-belief wavers, so will yours. The first half is fashioned after a detective procedural which is quite refreshing. Not a bad way to spend Easter Sunday at all. (3 / 5)

 

 

The 9th Life of Louis Drax is one of those movies that I think the book would be better. The movie just didn't quite find its groove, but it almost did. Less than 45 min into it, the dear missus already got the twist figured out and she was 90% correct. That's not a good thing for a movie. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

In Kenji Mizoguchi's The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums(1939), Kikunosuke, son of the famous actor Kikugoro, is openly praised for his performance on the stage. His success is actually due to his name; only Otoku, the wet-nurse of his brother, is sincere enough to tell him the truth about his acting, and also her faith in his ultimate talent. Kikunosuke falls in love with Otoku, but the possible mesalliance provokes the wrath of Kikugoro, whereupon Kikunosuke leaves his family to try to become an accomplished actor by himself, without the protection afforded by his father's reputation. This is a sublime and devastating film, filled with artful languid long takes. The shots don't pull in close, but stay a distance away for you to observe the romance and social behaviour of that period. It is a quiet, but powerful film and it epitomises a "less is more" approach. It also portrays a woman who dares to say the "most difficult to listen to" words so that the listener would become better and how she does it is very moving. The tragedy at the end is gradually arresting and heartbreaking. (4.5 / 5)

 

 

Parasyte is a popular manga adaptation in two parts and it gives new meaning to body horror. I thought it was quite entertaining and managed to find the sweet spot of being darkly funny and relevant to our current times. Part 1 is little slow in getting the story underway but it does a good job of building a cool scenario. The payoff is in part 2 and it is well-paced towards a satisfying climax. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter... errrrr don't believe the "final chapter" tag. It is a conclusion of sorts but it leaves the door slightly ajar for a future installment. In the film, Alice and her friends are betrayed by Albert Wesker, who gathers the entire forces of Umbrella into one final strike against the apocalypse survivors. The action is quite decent though reminiscent of the franchise and this one has a lot of nods to the original film. I do like that throwback to that laser tunnel scene. Definitely for fans only. (3 / 5)

 

 

Underworld: Blood Wars, basically part 5. By this installment it no longer cares to bring newcomers in. This is only for people who had their blood sucked by the initial films and their cherry popped by Kate Beckinsale in skin-tight leather. This is just stylised violence dialled to the max without any stake in the characters. Yes, get ready for part 6! Somebody please drive a fugging stake into the heart already. I would have said pour sunlight on the franchise already, but you already know Selene can stroll under the sun. (2 / 5)

 

 

Assassin's Creed is one of those movies that as I watch I was thinking, hey! Not that bad what! Then it hits the ending that left put such a stink in my mouth that I wanted to vomit 1h 35min out. I have seen Justin Kurzel's Macbeth, which incidentally also starred Fassbender and Cotillard, so I know he favours mood and stylistics over story and plot. The CGI, action scenes and set-pieces are all quite decent, although the action does get repetitive after a while. But the plot is dumb and the ending dumber. It is just a movie to milk money out of sentimental gamers who will probably be the only ones who could derive some joy out of this cheerless exercise. (1.5 / 5)

 

Tonight's movie is going to be this... I can't wait!

 

[westendboy]

Headshot's fight scenes aren't as awesome as The Raid films, but they are still the best out there recently. The story is a variation of the "amnesia man woke up with a particular set of deadly skill" idea. Think Bourne, but dial the visceral fights up to level max. Freaking brutal! It may not have a fresh story but the superb action choreography more than makes up for it. The camera is very fluid when the action roars in but can be a little shaky. The cam is nicely pulled back for you to ogle at the kickass action. When it ended I can feel my whole body covered in blue-blacks. What a blast! (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Pop Aye is a Singaporean-Thai drama film directed by Kirsten Tan. A debut feature by Tan, the road film tells the story of a man as he tries to take his long-lost elephant back to their rural hometown. The first Singaporean film selected to screen at the Sundance, it competed and won a Special Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

 

This one is definitely only for discerning viewers. It is off-beat, surreal and feels like a paean to loneliness, alienation and loss. Being a road movie, it isn't particularly eventful and neither does it have high arcs. But everything comes together in a moment of clarity. I can't say everybody would be able to derive the same unique pleasure as me, but it is good to see a different kind of adventurous genre film from a local director that isn't veiled propaganda or silly slapstick. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

The Eyes of My Mother is a B&W lo-fi Gothic horror film, but to me it feels more like drama than a horror film. It has a deliberate pace and it is a rather simple film with a simple message, but how the story is quietly told is excellent. I find it strangely hypnotic and nightmarish. This one needs an open mind and I doubt the typical horror movie fan would appreciate. The nightmare is beautiful. I just wished it had been more visceral. (3 / 5)

 

 

A Street Cat Named Bob hits all the usual emotional beats but without any finesse that would make it truly memorable and inspirational. The redemptive arc is nicely handled, but it isn't something I have seen before in many other better films. Everything is just so feel good and predictable. But I have to say the star is definitely Bob. Some of the cat's eye point of view shots are reminiscent of Planet Earth 2. A pity about all the fake-ish sentimentalism. (3 / 5)

 

 

I gave Hana's Miso Soup half an hour and decided I didn't want to waste another 90min of my life. The acting is hammily cringe-y and the story is the usual "cancer of the week family drama". Then my mom saw it and she said it is the best movie out of the pile I lent her (the pile had movies like I, Daniel Blake, Silence and Westworld S1). Dammit... so I gave the rest of the 90min a chance.

 

Chie (Ryoko Hirosue) enjoys happy days with her boyfriend Shingo (Kenichi Takito), but she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Chie is shaken with anxiety, but her boyfriend asks her to marry him. Chie gives up hope of having a baby due to the drugs she takes for cancer treatment. Nevertheless, she gets pregnant. Even though she is risking her life giving birth, Chie gives birth to a healthy baby. Their baby is named Hana. Chie, Shingo and Hana live happily as a family, but the cancer returned. Chie says she refused to be a victim of fate and, before her death, wanted to make sure that her 4-year-old daughter Hana would turn out strong, healthy and happy. To this end Chie trained Hana in the kitchen and, within a year, the little girl knew how to cook three things perfectly from scratch: brown rice, nattō (fermented soybeans) and miso soup.

Chie tells Hana (Emina Akamatsu) that eating real miso soup is the first step to having a good life.

 

It is still cringeworthy but somewhere at the 90min mark dammit... the dams opened. The movie may not be accomplished but the message of "to live well is to eat well" and how the mother imparted one of the most important skills in life is very moving. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Sing is a little too simplistic for me at first but the moment the movie hit 1h 20min mark...WOW! The sonics is so good and the singing is just goosebumps-inducing. Love the message - for me it is what do you do what you do for? Is it for money, prestige or fame? These don't last. Sometimes it is more important to just do it for yourself. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

 

 

[westendboy]

 

Kim Jee Woon's The Quiet Family (1998) is nothing but quiet. This is about a family who decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation. 

 

Love the morbid tone and the hilarious black comedy. The body count is quite impressive and with each dead body we laughed like nut cases. Brilliant debut! (4 / 5)

 

 

The only thing I like about 20th Century Women is Annette Bening's performance. The rest of the movie is very meh and hardly rises above the doldrums of lulling bore. (3 / 5)

 

 

Darkman is a superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s. The film stars Liam Neeson as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is attacked and left for dead by a ruthless mobster, Robert Durant (Larry Drake), after his girlfriend, an attorney (Frances McDormand), runs afoul of a corrupt developer (Colin Friels). Unable to secure the rights to either The Shadow or Batman, Raimi decided to create his own superhero and struck a deal with Universal Studios to make his first Hollywood studio film.

 

This feels a modern twist on a Frankenstein and Raimi unfolds the story like it came from the pages of a 24-page comic. It is campy but never dissolved into farce and it has a crackling energy. I am sure unbeknownst to Raimi at that time, the Sony studios was already eyeing him for Spiderman after seeing this. (3 / 5)

 

 

Peter Bognodavich's The Last Picture Show (1971) is set in a small town in north Texas from November 1951 to October 1952, it is about the coming of age of Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and his friend Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges). The cast also includes Cybill Shepherd (in her film debut), Ben Johnson, Eileen Brennan, Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman, Clu Gulager, Randy Quaid and John Hillerman. For aesthetic reasons it was shot in black and white, which was unusual for the time. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Ben Johnson and Jeff Bridges for Best Supporting Actor and Ellen Burstynand Cloris Leachman for Best Supporting Actress, with Johnson and Leachman winning. In 1998 the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

 

My love for this film gradually grew as it progressed. It is slow but never meanders with no meaning. It is moody but it isn't arty farty. It depicts a town filled with sad existences of people who are shells. The only way they can feel somewhat alive is to fcuk around. Watching this feels like going through a doorway to a sad time in the annals of history of a Godforsaken town. (4 / 5)

 

 

I actually saw Coma (1978) in the cinema and some striking images are still entrenched in my consciousness. This medical thriller still holds up and the final act is a one great suspenseful knockout. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Loving (2016) is a historical drama film which tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for Edgerton and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Ruth Negga.

 

What I like about it is the restrained acting. Nothing here screams "look at me!" and that is a refreshing turn. So in that way, the characters live and breathe in front of the screen. But that said, this is not something I would see again. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

"Fasten your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy night". I have always wondered where this line came from and I just discovered the answer. 

 

All About Eve (1950) is about an aspiring actress Eve Harrington who maneuvers her way into the lives of Broadway star Margo Channing, playwright Lloyd Richards, and director Bill Simpson. This classic story of ambition and betrayal has become part of American folklore. The entire cast performance is out of this world and the direction flawless. The dialogue sparkles with brilliance and drips of wit and irony. "You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent!" 

 

This movie received 14 Oscar nominations (and 6 wins), matched only by Titanic and La La Land. It may be 1950 but the themes of betrayal and ambition still hit the mark. Bette Davis is phenomenal. Anne Baxter is one delectable conniving *itch. The moment the voice narration came on we were transfixed. Go see it and suddenly you will realise Hollywood screenplays are so lazy nowadays compared to the Golden Era. Movies nowadays are dictated by situations and premises, excessively punctuated by quick editing and CGI. Nobody puts in effort to write a whole movie of memorable lines anymore. These classics still stand the test of time. I am sure years down the road, All About Eve will still be revered. Masterpiece! (5 / 5)

 

 

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) lacks narrative flight and propulsion. The story takes too long to get set up. But when the mayhem scenes swoop down, they come great. The beady eyes and furious beaks are real terrors. IMHO I wouldn't call this his masterpiece but it is definitely a technical achievement. These days CGI can probably make the bird attacks more realistic, but nothing beats the visual effects in the old days. I can clearly see the rotoscoping and real birds are definitely used. My fave scene is definitely the one where the lady sits on a bench and crows are slowly gathering behind her. Spine-chilling. Some scenes dripped with irony - the actress gets trapped in a phone booth and people trapped in houses - the roles of birds and humans are subtly reversed and it is a frightening notion. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Some of my DVDs are having a serious case of disc rot so I thought I should start watching them soon. So I put on The Crossing Guard (1995).

 

This one has a nice story behind it. Years ago, when I was a young man, I was browsing in Laser Flair in Funan Centre and this older dude (late 30s) started talking to me about movies. I have pleasant memories of that evening. We just stood around, picking up our fave films and just talked and talked. We were on the same wavelength, we were each other's equals and I can tell you that is a rare occurrence. Anyway, he became very animated with The Crossing Guard and his enthusiasm was infectious. I had to pick up the movie but it took me more than 20 years to watch it!

 

Written and directed by American actor Sean Penn, the film tells the story of Freddy Gale, a man whose been tormented for more than five years following his daughter's death in a car accident. Since, he became an alcoholic despite being a husband, and when he finds out that the man who was responsible for the death of his daughter is released from prison, he decides to set out for personal vendetta against him. I really want to like it but this is just one long meandering uneven movie. Nicholson consumed every frame he is in but his persona overwhelms the narrative. There are too many side-plots that dilute the flow and we were bored out of our wits. Characters feel like enigmas. However the ending surprised me (not my wife) and I thought it lift the movie up a few notches. (3 / 5)

 

On the TV series front, we are quite quiet. We are currently watching a HK TVB series called Dead Wrong, which is alright and on my own I am finishing this...

 

 

Billions is created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. The series is loosely based on the activities of crusading federal prosecutor of financial crimes Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his legal battles with hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors.

 

This show doesn't have likeable characters but it is sharply written and the characterisations are layered to perfection. It is so nice to see Maggie Siff in such a great role after Sons of Anarchy. This is compulsively entertaining and smart. IMHO this is one of the best TV series out there.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kopi]

 

Moonlight is a winner at the Golden Globes and is nominated for a whole slew of awards at the coming Oscars, but I just don't get what the hullabaloo is about. Yes, the performances are honest, the struggle of one man depicted in three stages of his life is well told, but there's nothing else going for it. The subject matter is nothing new and the way it is told isn't refreshing. This feels so over-rated like those obtuse darlings critics love because they can be taken seriously. I, for one, is still scratching my head over why this is so celebrated. (3 / 5)

 

I recently watched this and it gave me 2 different feelings. Yes, the pacing is flat. At times it seems to float along without settling into some form or purpose. There is hardly any extreme highs or lows. Most dramas or life stories will hype on that to tell a story. The other feeling that keeps me rooted for the character is the realism. How in many instances a person inner self is molded by the environment and those around you.

 

The character Chiron is not new or unique. There are many kids who live in sub-poverty with an drug abused mother, being bullied as a kid and develop a "different" tendency particularly emotional attachment over time. What attracts me is the story telling technique and how to present a character whose inner self is in complete conflict with his outer appearance (this particularly shone in the last act "Black" when the boy grew up).

The acting is superb too. The mannerism, voice tone, walk, gestures, sadness are so identical even though they are played by 3 different actors who looks almost completely different.

 

The use of camera works, angles and sounds mixing to set the mood of the film (even in a drama) is exemplary. There are a few scenes when the 360degree camera spins work wonder to create that feeling of awe and fear. The lighting on the boy on the dark beach using only moonlight and the "blue on black" colour edit is immaculate.

 

Do re-watch the movie to see the "plant and reward" scenes aplenty in this movie which is why it is gripping and realism is top notched. 

 

 

[westendboy]

Very good observations and insights, bro Kopi. I have the blu-ray and will watch it again one day. As of now, I still think it's just a fanciful way of telling a 3-act coming out story and I think the Academy went overboard with the previous year's "no blacks are represented" fiasco. Even if La La Land didn't win the Big One, I thought Manchester by the Sea would have stood the next good chance. Still didn't expect Moonlight to win it. I need to see it again one day. Sometimes, revisiting a movie after some time, especially with one I didn't think much of, can be a godsend.

 

 

No Way Out (1987) is a political thriller drama film. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. I have fond memories of this oldie - the playful sex scenes and the solid twist at the end. It still works. I thought it uses the location very well, especially in the second half. It certainly felt like they really shot the movie in the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon. (4 / 5)

 

 

Bottle Rocket (1996) is a caper-comedy directed by Wes Anderson. It was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson. In addition to being Wes Anderson's directorial debut, Bottle Rocket was the debut feature for brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, who co-starred with James Caan. The film was a commercial failure but launched Anderson's career by drawing attention from critics. Director Martin Scorsese later named it one of his top-ten favorite movies of the 1990s.

 

IMHO this is definitely worth a watch. I love its goofy off-beatness and its spontaneity. The characters are lovable and a joy to watch. However, the movie is rough around the edges and Anderson's genius is definitely there. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

At the End of the Tunnel (2016) is an Argentine movie about a paraplegic computer engineer who moves in a wheelchair and starts hearing noises and voices of bank-robbers in his basement. Now, this is one solidly tense film. I love every second of this. It's intelligent, not crazily far-fetched and it builds up to a crescendo that just rips. This is the type of movies that Hollywood studios love to buy up so they can make their own lousy versions. Watch this! (4 / 5)

 

 

The Skeleton Key (2005) centers on a young hospice nurse (Kate Hudson) who acquires a job at a Terrebonne Parish plantation home, and becomes entangled in a supernatural mystery involving the house, its former inhabitants and the hoodoo rituals and spells that took place there.

 

This one came onto my radar because a friend who saw the excellent Get Out said it is a copy of The Skeleton Key which is the much better movie. What a load of nonsense. I have no heart to reply him directly so I will just post my thoughts here in the vast wilderness of the internet and hope he will not chance upon it. I can see a couple of parallels but it doesn't best Get Out at any time. It does have some great layered ambience but it gets derailed by characters you won't really care about. The pace is too slow and the revelations are not handled aptly along the way that draw you in. Felt kind of lazy to me. Granted the final twist is not bad, but it doesn't save the movie or make it any more memorable. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

The Great Wall is a monster film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, who plays a European mercenary in China during the Song dynasty. He encounters the Great Wall of China and meets Chinese soldiers who defend against monsters. The Chinese–US co-production also stars Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoeand Andy Lau.

 

I thought I will hate it but surprise surprise, it turned out to be quite fun, don't-need-brains kind of fun. There are some cool ideas that looked great on the big screen, like woman warriors going bungee jumping to spear monsters. Where the heck did they come out with that idea. However, the movie is let down by hollow characters with one defining trait. Thank goodness the "only the Angmo can save all the yellow-skinned people" idea wasn't over-played and thank even more goodness that the "Angmo dua dua ki" idea didn't feature too heavily. Zhang really toyed with us here. All in all, this is a fun movie for a lazy afternoon and I have to say the Atmos soundtrack is awesome. (3 / 5)

 

 

[westendboy]

 

We took a break from House of Cards to watch another political thriller, Miss Sloane. This one demands absolute concentration and Jessica Chastain's central performance is fabulous. The screenplay is electrifying, words and euphemisms flying everywhere like bullets.

 

Chastain was nominated for a Golden Globe but it is a role that isn't sympathetic. Maybe that's why she didn't get an Oscar nomination. It is fascinating to watch a person who has the last word in any argument, burns all the bridges and doesn't know where to draw the line. Great writing. So many great lines. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

We also took another break from the abysmal House of Cards and watched this - The Skin I Live In.

 

In honor of his late wife who died in a flaming car accident, scientist, Dr. Robert Ledgard, is trying to synthesize the perfect skin which can withstand burns, cuts or any other kind of damage. As he gets closer to perfecting this skin on his flawless patient, the scientific community starts growing skeptical and his past is revealed that shows how his patient is closely linked to tragic events he would like to forget.

 

Perverse, bizarre and disquieting, this is Almodovar at his devious best. The whole movie feels like a giant jigsaw puzzle and we are given a piece at a time. I thought I knew what the movie is about but each reveal threw me in a loop. This might be one of the most original and sickest revenge movies I have ever seen, even more twisted than Oldboy. If I tell you the plot you will probably LOL, but on screen and seeing how it unfolds your mouth will hang open. (4 / 5)

 

 

There is fun to be had with XXX: Return of Xander Cage, but ultimately it is a forgettable experience. No amount of adrenaline injected can revive the franchise, not that it was a great one to begin with. I do love the first episode's riffing off 1b]James Bond[/b] movies, but this gimmick can only be used once and you have to bring something new to the table. Oh oh... this one has Neymar Jr! (3 / 5)

 

 

The Maltese Falcon (1941) is a film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, and based on Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel of the same name. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. The film premiered on October 3, 1941, in New York City, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. The Maltese Falcon was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registryin 1989. The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette.

 

The dialogue is a crackerjack and Bogart is born to play Sam Spade, the hard boiled private investigator. This is the birth of film noir and it might be the Mother of all MacGuffin movies. The dialogue is instantly memorable.

 

Sam Spade: When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it.

 

Kasper Gutman: I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, it's possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon.

 

We laughed like nuts. An instant classic. (4 / 5)

 

 

Shin Godzilla is a kaiju film featuring Godzilla, produced by Toho and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho. It is the 31st installment in the Godzilla franchise, the 29th Godzilla film produced by Toho, and Toho's third reboot of the franchise. The film reimagines Godzilla's origins where he emerges in modern Japan for the first time. Inspiration for the film was drawn from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The film was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film of 2016 and the highest-grossing Japanese-produced Godzilla film in the franchise. At the 40th Japan Academy Prize, the film won seven awards out of its 11 nominations, including Picture of the Year and Director of the Year.

 

This is quite a decent movie with allusions to how the Japanese government tackled the recent disasters - bureaucratic ways used to protect the old guards' position, needlessly sacrificing the citizens' lives in the process. Dialogue fly Iike rockets as the talking heads converse in cabinet meetings. The movie eventually hits pay dirt when the war with Godzilla starts. Some cool ideas on how to take it down with the renowned efficiency of the Japanese ensues. Worth a watch. IMHO this is better than the Hollywood version. It has a good balance of the human and monster elements. (3.5  / 5)

 

 

Both of us read the book, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and now we have seen the 3-episode TV series (2015).

 

Ten strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious host, and start to get killed one by one. Could one of them be the killer?

 

Even though we know who the murderer is, it is still a thrill watching this murder mystery. The cinematography is sublime and the cast is impeccable. They were so good they look like the versions in our heads. Superb stuff.

 

[westendboy]

 

The Founder is a biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. The film stars Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, and portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast food chain. Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch co-star as McDonald's founders Richard and Maurice McDonald.

 

This isn't an inspiring film. Instead it looks at the greed of Ray Kroc, marvellously portrayed by Keaton. What I most enjoyed about the movie are the business ideas which were eye-openers for me. But like a McDonald's meal, it just doesn't fill me up oand neither was it a satisfactory meal. (3 / 5)

 

 

One on One is a mess. Kim Ki-duk's films are always an acquired taste, but I usually find them guilty pleasures, but this one is not. This is a 2-hour repetitive exercise and I didn't even care for the anti-government subtext. Even the violence feels amateurish. (2 / 5)

 

Looks like I am not done with Japanese classics... I decided to have myself a Kenji Mizoguchi film festival...

 

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Mizoguchi's Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) [Tales of the Rain and Moon, aka Ugetsu] is a highly acclaimed masterwork of Japanese cinema. Based on a pair of 18th century ghost stories by Ueda Akinari, the film's release continued Mizoguchi's introduction to the West, where it was nominated for an Oscar and won the the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion award (for Best Direction).

 

In 16th century Japan, amidst the pandemonium of civil war, potter Genj r (Mori Masayuki) and samurai-aspirant Tobei (Ozawa Sakae) set out with their wives in search of wealth and military glory respectively. Two parallel tales ensue when the men are lured from their wives: Genj r by the ghostly charm of Lady Wakasa (Kyo Machiko); Tobei by the dream of military glory.

 

If this isn't a perfect film, I don't know what is. Sublimely lyrical and a subtle blend of realism and the supernatural. I know I was watching a fable slowly unfolding to its devastating ending, but in my mind the story feels so relevant and hard-hitting. The characters may hail from a begotten time in Japan, but the themes of the ethics of war, the neglect of family duties, the consequences of lust and greed, are still as relevant now as then. Nothing changes much for mankind, we are still consumed by these notions. One just needs to open a newspaper and see a bombardment of people playing these deadly games. The beauty with Mizoguchi's revered film is that he doesn't shout any slogans and yet it hits you like a punch to the guts. I felt like I was in an ethics classroom and the auteur Mizoguchi is my teacher. What a privilege it is to have seen this. (5 / 5)

 

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Oyu-Sama (aka Miss Oyu) (1951) feels like a window to another time in Japan. Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective marriage partner, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu convinces Shinnosuke and Shizu to marry so that she can remain close to Shinnosuke.

 

I love the composition of moving shots and compelling characters. Mizoguchi hardly used any close-ups, his camera always follows the action, letting us observe everything and feel its tragedy slowly unfolding. Nowadays movies depict men like "they see what they like they must take", instant gratification. The collision of genitals is inevitable. Here, they are refined - when they love someone, they love with their total being. There is a scene where Oyu is unconscious from heatstroke and Shinnosuke eyes her longingly. The way the camera stays on him as he battles himself is amazing. The film also shows the oppression of females in Japan's society then and how unfairly treated they were. (4 / 5)

 

 

Mizoguchi considered Osaka Elegy (1936) his first serious effort as a director, and it was also his first commercial and critical success in Japan. Osaka Elegy is often considered a companion piece to Mizoguchi's next film, Sisters of the Gion, which was released the same year and featured much the same cast and crew.

 

The story is about young Ayako who has to bear the burden of her father's debt and his brother's education. She becomes a mistress to her sleazy employer in order to make ends meet, while hiding the truth from her family and fiancé.

 

The film moves in a straight arrow but the joy here is in the compelling characters and situations. It is a startling critique of the inequalities between the sexes. At just 68 minutes, the film doesn't waste any scenes and I felt like I had known Ayako all her life. (3.5 / 5)

 

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Sisters of the Gion (1936) is about about two sisters who work as geishas in the Gion District and it is often considered one of Mizoguchi's finest pre-war films. The tradition-bound and submissive Umekichi resolves to stand by her lover after he goes bankrupt and leaves his wife. By contrast, the rebellious Omocha views her patrons purely as a means to attain financial security. Determined to improve their fortunes, Omocha embarks on a reckless course of action that has devastating consequences for both sisters.

 

This is once again a potent and searing indictment of Japanese's society's treatment of women. Mizoguchi's humanist approach to female subjects is never anchored on histrionics, but close observations and honest performances. Almost the whole movie is from the female's perspective. Remarkable and un-showy film. (3.5 / 5)

 

[jdc115]

 

One on One is a mess. Kim Ki-duk's films are always an acquired taste, but I usually find them guilty pleasures, but this one. This is a 2-hour repetitive exercise and I didn't even care for the anti-government subtext. Even the violence feels amateurish. (2 / 5)

 

 

Kim Ki-duk shouldn't be a guilty pleasure, should be essential film watching. His experiments do occasionally fail though got to give him credit for taking such risks at times.  Not had a chance to watch this one though

[westendboy]

Watched two more Japanese classics by Kenji Mizoguchi, a great storyteller, way up there with the likes of Ozu and Kurosawa.

 

 

The Life of Oharu (1952) follows a woman’s fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of the society. It is about a fifty-year-old prostitute, no longer able to attract men, who looks back on her sad life. Once a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court at Kyoto, Oharu fell in love with, and became the lover of, a man below her station. They were discovered, and Oharu and her family were exiled. For Oharu there followed a life filled with one sorrow and humiliation after another.

 

This is a stirring masterpiece. In lesser hands, the film would have become a cloying sob-fest, but in Mizoguchi’s masterful hands it becomes so much more. His storytelling is delicate and never once descends down to cheap maudlin. He does this by pulling his camera back and never going for tight close-ups. I feel like an observer, albeit a helpless one. So many times I wanted to go inside the screen to whack up all the scumbags.

 

Kinuyo Tanaka is amazing as Oharu. She plays 30 years of the same character and in no time do I get pulled out of the passage of time.

 

This is essential cinema. Words elude me. I implore you to see this – an astonishing story of a woman’s fall from grace into utter destitution. It may be bleak, but it has great emotional heft. At one point I even punched my fist in the air when Oharu gets one over an evil woman with the unlightly help of a girl thinghy cat. (5 / 5)

 

 

Utamaro and His Five Women (1946) is about Utamaro, a great artist, who lives to create portraits of beautiful women, and the brothels of Tokyo provide his models. A world of passion swirls around him, as the women in his life vie for lovers. And, occasionally, his art gets him into trouble.

 

I can’t say I enjoyed this as much as his other films. The film lacks depth. I guess Mizoguchi’s intention is not to do a probing the main character, but to showcase the time and milieu of its time. The film has an episodic feel and doesn’t endear me. That said, there are scenes that are instantly memorable like a bevy of scantily clad beautiful women frolicking in the sea and a rich “dirty” man ogles on. I particularly love that opening confrontational scene of Utamaro and a rival artist-swordsman dueling over whose house of art is the best by using brushes. (3.5 / 5)

[YANG]

 

Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969) is the bloody works......IMHO this is one of the best Westerns ever made. (5 / 5)

John WOO did mentioned in one of the interviews... which movie i cannot remember liaoz...

WILD BUNCH had always been his favorite and inspiration to his "ballade of violence" films.

[westendboy]

 

Falling Down (1993) stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a divorced and unemployed former defense engineer. He treks on foot across the city of Los Angeles, trying to reach the house of his estranged ex-wife in time for his daughter's birthday party. Along the way, a series of encounters, both trivial and provocative, cause him to react with increasing violence and make sardonic observations on life, poverty, the economy, and commercialism. Robert Duvall co-stars as Martin Prendergast, an aging LAPD Sergeant on the day of his retirement, who faces his own frustrations, even as he tracks down Foster.

 

The movie still works and it will work years from now. Who wouldn't be able to associate with Foster at some point in your life? I like how Douglas plays him - there is a lot of holding in and even when he slips over the edge, he doesn't go crazy. He is a one man crusader for the common folk who has been screwed so many times they can't stand up from their bent over position. (4 / 5)

 

 

Death Note: Light Up the New World is a crock of the worst crap ever. This is 2 hours I can't get back. Get ready for another sequel. Puke! (1 / 5)

 

 

Oliver Assayas' Personal Shopper is very meh. It practically ends on a whimper. Although Kristen Stewart is quite mesmerising to look at. This one is about a personal shopper in Paris who refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message. Sounds all mysterious and shite, but a little tedious to see it played out. (2 / 5)

 

 

A Cure For Wellness stars Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, and Mia Goth, and follows a young American executive who is sent to a mysterious rehabilitation center in the Swiss Alps.

 

This movie has great production value, but the payoff doesn't come with impact. The buildup is lacklustre and the reveals along the way have no oomph. Kinda reminds me of Shuttle Island which is a much better movie. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

A Dog's Purpose is very ordinary. Feels very patronising and looks like a tele-movie. (2 / 5)

 

 

Flatliners (1990) is about five medical students who attempt to find out what lies beyond death by conducting clandestine experiments that produce near-death experiences.

 

There is a sequel coming out this year, so I thought I screen the original for the missus. It still works so well - original and fun. It doesn't matter that nobody in the cast looks like a doctor. Wonder if the sequel will be as good. It does have Ellen Page in it and Mr Original 24 is back playing the same role. (4 / 5)

 

 

Sky on Fire is crap. We couldn't even follow the convoluted plot. After 30min we cried "fcuk this shite!" and just watched the climax. Ruined by lousy CGI, implausible physicality and physics, trite characters and uneven plot, this is one of the worst movies we didn't finish seeing this year. (1 / 5)

 

 

Asura: The City of Madness is just too much of a good thing. I can always count on Korean cinema to go uber-violent, but this one is dialled all the way to the max. Not one single likeable character to root for and it's more like waiting for WWIII to happen, and happened it did. Crazy! (3 / 5)

 

 

My wifey finished her first Sidney Sheldon a few nights ago. She loved it. Thought I let her see the 1977 movie adaptation of The Other Side of Midnight.

 

I had no idea the runtime is 2h 45min. It does show its age but the story is still great. Love the casting for the two female leads, but the male one CMI. Wife was going "wah lau eh" and I agree, and I had no idea that there was such daring nudity in 1977.

 

I love Sidney Sheldon. The man could write strong female characters like he knew them inside out. His books were practically soft-porn, but they were so damn good, and still so good according to my wifey. Back in the 80s his books led to my sexual awakening (I am a cheapskate  :))

[westendboy]

Some movies that I caught in the cinema. Don't think I will start a new thread for them because they are all pretty low key affairs.

 

 

My Cousin Rachel written and directed by Roger Michell, based upon the 1951 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It stars Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Iain Glen and Holliday Grainger. It is about a young man in Cornwall who meets the wife of his older cousin, suspecting her of having been responsible for his death.

 

The movie begins with a cryptic voice-over: Did she? Didn't she? Who was to blame?

 

Absorbing and engaging period drama... my mind kept harping on that cryptic opening line and paying attention to all the nuances in Rachel Weisz's character. Is she the toast of the family or a killer-b1tch? Her performance is finely calibrated and I found my feelings for her swinging between two ends of the spectrum. Didn't quite enjoy Sam Claflin's turn because he plays a character that thinks with his smaller head and I hate these characters, not that I am any better.

 

Did she? Didn't she? Who was to blame?

 

I was still pondering over that when I walked out of the cinema.

 

4 / 5

 

Saw this at JB. This will open in Aug here. Go figure...

 

 

47 Metres Down follows two sisters who go vacationing in Mexico and are invited to go cage diving and see sharks up close. But when the cable holding the cage breaks and it plummets to the ocean floor with the two girls trapped inside, they must find a way to escape, with their air supplies running low and being stalked by great white sharks.

 

At 47 metres down, sharks are not the only thing the girls have to be wary about. Not a bad way to spend 90min. It's lean and mean once things start to get moving and it is a great Science and Physics lesson - I now know what to do when I am in the same predicament. Don't expect great character development - the opening scenes are so trite and textbook that made me cringe. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for danger to strike and what unfolds offer a few jolts and armrest gripping.

 

3 / 5

 

 

In This Corner of the World is set in the 1930s-1940s in Hiroshima and Kure in Japan, roughly 10 years before and after the atomic bomb, but mainly in 1944-45. In the film, nature and traditional culture in Japan are clearly described and contrasted with the cruel and irredeemable scenes brought by the war. Though it is a fictional account, the episodes and background of the story are based on facts and real incidents researched by the production staff. In the film, the lost townscape of pre-war Hiroshima, damaged by the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, is accurately revived in the scenes, following old photos, documents, and the memories of living people.

 

Set in Hiroshima during World War II, an eighteen-year-old girl gets married and now has to prepare food for her family despite the rationing and lack of supplies. As she struggles with the daily loss of life's amenities she still has to maintain the will to live.

 

I didn't realise we actually saw 2 war movies in a roll (it will be a hat-trick with Dunkirk). This movie uses a very unique way of telling a story. It feels like a celebration of idyllic and familial life. It's a bunch of sketches of everyday life with the looming threat of war. It's beautiful and heartbreaking to watch because we know (the characters don't) what will eventually happen - the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

 

4 / 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[westendboy]

height=600 width=400http://a67.tinypic.com/2j14iom.jpg[/img]

 

My wifey made delectable char siew and what better movie to go with it than Okja, by the Joon-Ho Bong, who made our fave Korean film, Memories of Murder.

 

Meet Mija, a young girl who risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating animal named Okja.

 

The movie swings from broad satire to melodrama without giving two hoots. There are crazy scenes that made us LOL, but ultimately it is uneven and can't quite hit the right tone. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

In Fabricated City, a gamer named Kwon yoo (Ji Chang wook) is unemployed, but in the virtual world he is a leader. Kwon yoo is then framed for murder. With the help of his gaming buddies they try to uncover the truth about this murder case.

 

It needed 30min to setup and then it's a blast. Next time your Mom and Dad say you spend too much time playing games, let them know the friends you meet in the virtual world can save you one day. Totally implausible, like a game, but that's the fun of it. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Aftermath has Arnie in a solid dramatic turn as a dad stricken with grief with the death of his wife and daughter. He blames the air traffic controller for the deaths. I would like to say this is one taut thriller, but it isn't. It just carries that brilliant opening masterful music note all the way to the end without a single waver. Not a memorable experience, and this felt like 5-hour sad movie. (2 / 5)

 

 

Life is another monster in outer space film. When you have seen Alien, you have seen them all. It is a great cast, but nobody particularly stands out. It is watchable because it is functional, serviceable and an ending it didn't earn. It will remind you of the great ones in the genre. But I must say I fcuking love the Deadpool death scene. (3 / 5)

 

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I love movies about long distance running. 10000 Miles is as uneven as the terrain, but it does have some great moments. Darren Wang, the star from Our Times has only a supporting role and Sean Huang is a terrible casting choice. (2.5 / 5)

 

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This stop-motion animated movie My Life as a Zucchini was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar last year.

 

Courgette (Zucchini) is an intriguing nickname for a 9-year-old boy. Although his unique story is surprisingly universal. After his mother's disappearance, Courgette is befriended by a police officer Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first he struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond's help and his new-found friends, Courgette eventually learns to trust and might find true love.

 

So simple yet remarkably poignant and deeply affecting. I wouldn't say it's a kid's movie because of its theme of violence. We are not ashamed to say we cried. (4 / 5)

 

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No back story needed, uber cool characters, exotic locations, double and triple crosses and white-knuckled car chases.

 

There is not much of a plot or a theme in Ronin, just a showcase for John Frankenheimer to wield some impressive set-pieces with finesse.

 

Can someone tell me what's in the case? (4 / 5)

 

 

 

 

[westendboy]

 

Though both Comtratiempo and this movie essentially begin with an accident, they couldn't be more different in execution. IMHO Who Killed Cock Robin's direction lacks clarity and depends too much on implausible coincidences. Characters' motivations are also not drawn clearly and none of them is sympathetic for me to empathesise with. The discussion after the movie was more fun though. I admire the ambition in storytelling, but the moving parts don't gel in a satisfying manner for me. Like why would Ah Ji want to apologise to the girl? Perhaps it isn't true or maybe it is. Or maybe it was a red herring since we cannot trust Mr Qiu. And who killed Ah Ji? Wouldn't it make more sense to kill the journalist? Laying on the big reveal that the gal is the culprit didn't carry much weight when she doesn't feature prominently throughout the movie. Comtratiempo is definitely the much elegant film using the same accident premise. (3 / 5)

 

 

A Kind of Murder lacks guile and couldn't get the balance right between holding back and divulging information. In the hands of a better storyteller it could be a solid movie. (2 / 5)

 

 

Kiss the Girls is probably better as a book. The movie feels like a page taken from Silence of the Lambs, practically just a page. It is contrived and offers up plot twists that feels nonsensical. But it was fun seeing Morgan Freeman going all serious. (3 / 5)

 

 

We had more fun with the sequel Along Came a Spider, but still it is quite a throwaway thriller. IMHO It does offer more guile. But I have a nagging feeling the book is much better. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

I can't get into Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them the same way I can't get into the Harry Potter books and movies. It just too saccharine sweet for my taste and I find the acting cringe-y. It's just me... the pseudo-fantasy genre just doesn't work for me. The missus didn't even want to see it. (3 / 5)

 

 

Chips hits below the belt and never even tilts its head up to become something smart. I have totally forgotten what's it is about. (2 / 5)

 

 

Arlington Road (1999) tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors are involved in terrorism and becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. The film was heavily inspired by the paranoid culture of the 1990's concerning the right-wing militia movement, Ruby Ridge, the Waco siege and Oklahoma City Bombing.

 

The thriller is a bit of a slog hitting its intended groove, but it is still intelligently written. This is one of those "bad guys win" movies and you know there aren't many out there. (3 / 5)

 

 

Mine does not refer to the possessive pronoun, but the one you step on and goes kikaboom. I like the premise and the problem solving element, but the moment it hits languorous flashback mode it might as well have exploded into oblivion. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

WTF did I just see. Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain is definitely in the "so bad it's good" category. The plot makes no sense and the green screen CGI is so bad. But it is just so crazily zany that it feels like Tsui Hark is making the movie on the fly. I thought I have seen everything in movies but there are so many crazy stuff in here I have never seen before - flying elephants, eye brows kungfu and laser beams. The movie is fcuking nuts. (3.5 / 5)

 

Then we watched Yoji Yamada's Samurai trilogy... these are beautiful films.

 

 

Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, The Twilight Samurai (2002) follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samuraiemployed as a bureaucrat. Poor, but not destitute, he still manages to lead a content and happy life with his daughters and his mother who has dementia. Through an unfortunate turn of events, the turbulent times conspire against him.

 

Evocative and transformative, elegant and elegiac, this is one sumptuous dish. Yamada knows how to bide his time, focusing on building characters to tell a story of the death of the samurai spirit. Forget about fight scenes, there is only one. One don't wander into a Yamada film for that. When the movie ends, you will feel you have lived a lifetime with the characters. (5 / 5)

 

 

This is as brilliant as The Twilight Samurai. The story builds slowly but purposefully. You will understand the protagonist's every motivation and what drives him. This one tells two stories - an impossible love story and the last days of the Samurai. The last act is devastating and a killer, only then you will understand why it's called The Hidden Blade. (4 / 5)

 

 

Yoji Yamada's third film Love and Honor in his Samurai trilogy is brilliant. I thought he won't be able to score a third time and would have run out of ideas, but the storytelling here is just so Zen. Forget about sword fighting. There is only one scene but by the time it rolls in you would have understand the stake involved. For me, this is one of the best films about the husband and wife relationship. Part of the mark of a great storyteller is the uncanny ability to make something you have seen a hundred times feel instantly fresh, and Yamada delivers in spades. The movie even used an idea from the second film but it wields a different kind of power with that idea. From first to the third film, I think this is one of the best trilogy of films on a single subject I have ever seen. (4.5 / 5)

 

 

We just finished this 18-episode Korean TV series called Defendant. The premise is quite intriguing.

 

Park Jung-woo is a prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. One day, he wakes up and finds himself a convict on death row. Suffering from temporary amnesia, Jung-woo has no idea what transpired to land him in prison. He struggles to recover his memory and clear his name.

 

This series has more twists and turns than a winding river - some I saw coming, some I didn't. We enjoyed the cat and mouse games. At times we thought one party has the upper hand. Then in a sleight of hand, the power shifts to the other party. Is it melodramatic and sappy? Yes, by the truckloads. Is it clever? Most of the time. There are some plot twists that are just implausible, but the characters are so compelling that we could forgive a lot. They are larger than life and the villain is one I feel like killing myself. That is usually the mark that the characters have succeeded. I find it amazing that these Korean actors can cry like their eyes are taps. Some of the situations are contrived, but many of them are earned. Oh... and there is a little girl who is so sweet. When she cries our hearts break.

 

[Kopi]

 

The director of Call of heroes must have been inspired by the Dark Knight (Batman) that he decided to model this HK action movie closely to it. The setup and the cinematography is great and the Samo Hung touches on the kungfu scenes are more than respectable. I particularly like Loius Koo portrayal of "Joker" in this movie. His is unpredictable, evil and ruthless to the core. It actually helped to colour the story even more. Veteran Sean Lau is Batman. He has clarity of good and evil. Uphold righteousness and justice only to realise that it does not work all the time. In the end, he needs to abandon his post at the brink of defeat. Wu Jing is needed to give a balance to the fight scenes. He is flawless in that aspect. The only character I do not quite agree with is Eddie Peng. He played the role of a wandering bum with good kungfu skills. Either his acting skills or the direction let him down here. Overall, a decent HK movie (better than the tons of China made movies made recently) worth a watch. 3/5

[westendboy]

 

What Happened to Monday (known as Seven Sisters in France) is a dystopian science fiction thriller film starring Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, and Willem Dafoe. Only the first 30min is good. The world introduction is intriguing, but after that it becomes derivative stuff with characters doing things that have poor logic and for the sole purpose of pushing the plot forward. But it was still fun to see Rapace playing with and against Rapace. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

Death Note is the Netflix remake of Death Note. I enjoyed the Japanese films (only the first 2) so it is always fun to see what Hollywood can do with the source material. I can only say it's enjoyable and entertaining, and I look forward to the sequel. An interesting take on the source material but ultimately my money is still on the original. Lost is the cat and mouse game between Light and L, and terrible is the insertion of a love interest which left me cold. But I always find it interesting to watch remakes to see what new stuff can be brought to the table. This isn't faithful to the original or to the manga, and it does attempt to take some risks. Worth a watch. (3 / 5)

 

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The Incident (2014) is one mindfcuk of a movie, proving that you don't need big bucks to tell a good story. I can't post a plot because that would ruin the surprise, but the idea here is repetition and what if in another timeline there is another you suffering in God knows what so that you can be happy in yours? Intriguing yet? (4 / 5)

 

 

A friend shared with me that she laughed from start to finish, so I gave Rough Night a shot. But it turned out that my wifey and I couldn't laugh one bit from start to the end. Contrived and derivative. This is no Bridesmaids. (1.5 / 5)

 

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The Sleep Curse is about a guy who can't sleep! The third collaboration between Herman Yau and Anthony Wong promises exploitation galore and a gore fest. The pacing is hampered by a drawn out flashback sequence back to Japanese occupied HK, which doesn't quite link to the present coherently. But when the copious blood sprouts like faucets and the exploitation element hits a feverish high, I didn't bother anymore. This is one crazy movie with a castration scene. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Paterson is about a bus driver cum wannabe poet named Paterson living in Paterson, New Jersey. There is nothing great about him, perhaps the coolest thing about him is that he wakes up at exactly the same time every morning without the help of an alarm clock. Oh man.... I love this. I can't say many people will, but I found it hypnotic. On the surface it looks like nothing, but under the everyday pragmatic light it examines how simple stuff have a way of anchoring bigger moments. Adam Driver gives an humanistic and understated performance. It is a delight to watch his everyday life and to see through his eyes how there is a deep melancholy in everything. The final cryptic scene is inspirational and so heartfelt. I read it as no matter how sad in a space you are, you can still come back from one moment of inspiration. (4.5 / 5)

 

 

Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty enjoyable in a modern sort of way. Charlie Hunnam looks like he never left his iconic role in Sons of Anarchy. It feels like he took a time machine back to medieval times and he still sprouts the same modern street lingo laden speech. All the usual Ritchie's bag of visual and narrative tricks are here, which makes the time period feels incongruous with the modern cues. But you couldn't say it wasn't fun. Sometimes it is good to watch something that doesn't require much thinking. I heard there is a plan to make this a 6-movie franchise. The studios must be on drugs. Better quit while they are ahead. (3 / 5)

 

 

I had no interest in watching The Light Between Oceans until I heard Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander became an item after this film. The director made the two of them live on an island for two months to build chemistry. Looked like they build more than that. I love the story and the languid way of telling it which mirrors their secluded life on the island. Every frame brims with sentimentality and great acting. The story is devastating, a slow breaking of the hearts. (3.5 / 5)

 

[westendboy]

 

Au Revoir Les Enfants is an autobiographical 1987 film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Beautifully realised and devastatingly affecting. A portrait of crushed innocence and budding adolescent. I can understand why Malle wanted to make this film - he probably has a lot of ghosts to exorcise. (4 / 5)

 

 

Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For a Dream belongs in my personal category of "great films that can only be watched once". Once seen, the feelings and yearnings of monumental loss can never be forgotten, but after the divisive Mother! I asked the missus whether she would like to see his earlier masterpiece. Of course I didn't take no for an answer. Still devastating to watch. It's a story about happiness found and happiness trampled till it becomes oblivion. Now I can file it under "great movies that can only be watched twice". (4.5 / 5)

 

 

The Tag-Along is Taiwan's top grossing horror flick. A bit of a slow burn and the scares are not too original. For a first time director, Cheng Wei Hao knows how to build the dread to a bone-chilling level. What I am most impressed is how he draws all the characters and their relationships with one another. So much so that when the climax rolls in, it has excellent emotional heft. In terms of scares, it didn't scare me at all because of the lacklustre CGI. The climax in particular relies too heavily on it. But you need to talk to my wifey about whether it is really scary. The poor girl's arms are aching from covering her ears for long durations throughout the movie. (3 / 5)

 

 

My first P. Ramlee movie... Madu Tiga (1964). In October 2014, The Straits Times ranked Madu Tiga as one of the top five Malay films made in Singapore, calling it a "classic". The dvd I borrowed from the library at Tampines Hub didn't come with English subtitles. So I just wiki the plot and watch, and you know what? When the shenanigans and crafting is so good, you don't need to understand the words. Although knowing what they are saying would make it even better. This is about a Romeo with three wives - every man's fave problem right? Wrong, P. Ramlee shows you it is quite the nightmare in a humorous way. He is quite hilarious to look at. He doesn't cheapen the laughs and his face is just funny to ogle at. This movie is full of close shaves and has a cool car chase, and it ultimately ends with all of them reconciling with each other. It even has a nice message too. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Band Aid is pretty refreshing and a charmer. It's about a married couple who can't stop fighting. Then they had a brilliant idea to turn their fights into songs. It isn't fueled on cliches and their chemistry is so palpable. It's brutally honest yet warmly sincere, and it changes gears effortlessly. It did get preachy at one point, but still this is a refreshing rom-com.

 

PS - the main actress, Zoe Lister-Jones, wrote and directed this movie. Impressive. (3.5 / 5)

[westendboy]

 

The Mummy is a piece of sterile turd. Unnecessarily convoluted and Tom Cruise at 54 can't pull off a 20+ young Turk anymore. It lacks intelligence and treats you like a dumbass by shoehorning some convenient monster plot-points. The tone is messy and incoherent. The chemistry between the two leads is non-existent. If this is the curtain-raiser for a new franchise, they can forget about it. (2 / 5)

 

 

Transformers: The Last Knight is a piece of noisy turd. Female sexified and objectified check, hero manified check, so-called witty liners check, the usual schizophrenic editing with plot movements going from point A to K to Z check and 360-degree camera movement with characters moving in counterpoint check... etc check check check. The vistas are quite something, but with this fifth outing it just feels tiresome. It made me numb. (1.5 / 5)

 

 

The Lady in the Van is based on a book written by Alan Bennett, and it tells the true story of his interactions with Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van on his driveway in London for 15 years. He had previously published the story as a 1989 essay, 1990 book, 1999 stage play, and 2009 radio play on BBC Radio 4. Maggie Smith had previously portrayed Shepherd twice: in the 1999 stage play, which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 2000 Olivier Awards and in the 2009 radio adaptation.

 

The movie lacks propulsion in terms of narrative, but it has so much heart. This is a celebration of bizarre behaviour and human decency. Maggie Smith is phenomenal, it is a role only she could play. (4 / 5)

 

height=600 width=400https://s26.postimg.org/eh4ac4pk9/IMG_0865.jpg[/img]

 

During the 16th century, Japanese pirates proliferate along the Chinese coastline. In 1557, the pirates take over Cengang in Zhejiang. After months of futile advances, Commander Yu (Sammo Hung) finally defeats them under the leadership of newly promoted General Qi (Vincent Zhao). The pirates, however, manage to escape.

 

This is not a Sammo Hung, more of a Vincent Zhao movie. It's somewhat uneven at some spots and succumbs to some cliches. But dammit! I love the strategising and battle of wits. The are some humorous scenes between the husband and wife. The battles are superbly shot and that last fight scene is brutal and damn finger-licking good. God of War is worth watching and the DTS-X soundtrack is pretty cool. (4 / 5)

 

 

The Sense of an Ending (2017) is a mystery drama directed by Ritesh Batra and written by Nick Payne, based on the novel of the same name by Julian Barnes. The film stars Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Dockery.

 

After Batra's sublime The Lunchbox, I told myself I would watch anything directed by him, more so since I have read and love Julian Barnes' Booker Prize winner. The book doesn't quite lend itself favourably for a film adaptation and so I was curious how it could be done. This film is searching for a particular type of audience who is patient. There are rewards to be gained and I wouldn't say the payback is great. IMHO it is a coming of age story and the protagonist is an old, but not wiser, man. Imagine learning that something you had done when you were in the twenties having huge consequences, but you had no idea about it until you are in the sixties. The allure of the past is well-handled, but the story lacks mystery and intrigue. It felt like Batra doesn't want to pander to the audience. (3 / 5)

 

 

In Shot Caller (2017), a family man is sent to prison after a fatal traffic accident. While inside, he is faced with criminals convicted for far worse crimes than his, so he has no choice but to join a prison gang to survive. He has to give up his beliefs, and hope that his family will not be dragged down with him.

 

All the usual cliches and prison tropes are in full evidence, but writer-director Ric Roman Waugh's hard as nails direction give this genre movie a brand new coat of paint. Told in alternating flashbacks, I was intrigued by how the hell he ends up as a big time gangster from being an corporate executive in the outside world. The transformation is well-drawn and I completely understand why he has to become an animal to survive and to protect the ones that mattered in his life. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, whom is better known as Jaime Lannister, is phenomenal in the role and his insular animalistic performance draws all the peripheral around him. The violence is bone-crunchingly brutal. This is one of the best prison genre movies in my book. (4 / 5)

 

 

[westendboy]

 

Confidential Assignment (2017) is the first of a spew of action thrillers involving N and S Korea. Im Cheol-ryung (Hyun Bin), a specially trained North Korean investigator, cooperates with a South Korean detective Kang Jin-tae (Yoo Hae-jin) to hunt down Cha Ki-seong (Kim Joo-hyuk), the leader of an illegal North Korean organization who is hiding in the South.

 

This is functional and derivative entertainment. There are a few good action scenes, but overall it feels too overly familiar, including the humour. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

Bluebeard (2017) is a psychological thriller, but I have to confess I didn’t get much of a brain workout. Dr. Seung-hoon sedates his landlord before medical check-up, when the old man begins telling him a convincing murder confession. Sometime later, a young woman's severed head is discovered at a butcher shop run by his landlord's son, and Seung-hoon begins to suspect that the landlord and his son are the serial killers. It took too long to get started and the half hour of reveals after the climax is tedious. The heart is in the right place, but the execution is not. (2 / 5)

 

 

The first thing that bombarded my mind was what is Duckweed. Is there even such a word? I Wikipedia it and duckweed or water lens, are flowering aquatic plants which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Made so much sense now. It simply means things are never what they seemed on the surface.

 

The film tells the story about the reconciliation between a father and his son. Ah Lang, a youth from a small town, thinks that his father Ah Zheng never understood his occupation and life. In a fateful occurrence, he is able to experience his father's legendary and interesting life in the past.

 

The tone is light and there are some very witty and genuine hilarious scenes. It doesn’t quite have an emphatic denouement, but nonetheless it is quite entertaining. (3 / 5)

 

Then I watched quite a number of old school wuxia flicks...

 

 

Brothers Five (1970) is directed by Lo Wei (Fist of Fury) and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. Cheng Pei-pei plays the role of Yen Lai, a woman who must reunite the Kao brothers to rid the Teng Lung Manor of killers whilst avenging the murder of their father.

 

Revenge is the perennial name of the game. The fights don’t pass muster by today’s standards, so to enjoy this you have to put on kid’s eyes. The fights are lengthy and don’t suffer split second cuts. The dialogue is loaded with maniacal evil laughter and ridiculous machismo. I could look past all that, but the final climatic fight where the five brothers got to pile up on top of each other to defeat the villain is just OMG kill-me-please ridiculous. They basically became a Transformer. That stupid scene ruined it for me. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

The Sentimental Swordsman (1977) is written and directed by Chor Yuen and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. It stars Ti Lung, Derek Yee, Ching Li, Yueh Hua, Fan Mei-sheng and Ku Feng. The film is based on Duoqing Jianke Wuqing Jian of Gu Long's Xiaoli Feidao Series of novels. It was one of Shaw Brothers' highest grossing films in the studio's history, and it was followed by a sequel, Return of the Sentimental Swordsman, in 1981.

 

Finally, something that is not fuelled by revenge, but a mystery. Everybody wants Ti Lung’s head, and he wants to avoid fights. Quite witty and Lung cuts a fine figure as the titular hero. Love the King of Poison scenes and how Lung is always one step ahead. There are some great snow drenched outdoor scenes, which isn’t common in wuxia flicks and that climatic fight has a good twist. I enjoyed this one. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Come Drink With Me (1966) is a wuxia film directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng Pei-pei and Yueh Hua as warriors with Chan Hung-lit as the villain, and features action choreography by Han Ying-chieh. It is widely considered one of the best Hong Kong films ever made.

 

This is one of the watershed wuxia films and King Hu changes the landscape of wuxia films with his unique tone. A ruthless band of thugs kidnaps a young official to exchange for their leader who has been captured. Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei Pei) is sent to take on the thugs and free the prisoner (who is also her brother). Though she is able to handle the overwhelming odds, she is hit by a poison dart and gets help from a beggar who is really a kung-fu master in disguise. With his help, she forms a plan to get her brother back.

 

The plot is layered and the staging of the fights are more elaborate. Cheng Pei Pei is a ballet dancer so the moves do display a certain tempo. Characters are also colourful. (4 / 5)

 

But it is nothing compared to the next one...

 

 

Although filming began in 1968, A Touch of Zen was not completed until 1971. The original Taiwanese release was in two parts in 1970 and 1971 (filming was still ongoing when the first part was released) with the bamboo forest sequence that concludes Part 1 reprised at the beginning of Part 2; this version has a combined run time of 200 minutes. In November 1971 both parts of the film were combined into one for the Hong Kong market with a run time of 187 minutes. Its running time of over three hours makes it an unusually epic entry in the wuxia genre.

 

This is it... a sheer masterclass wuxia entry and it wiped the slate clean and presented a new art form. This one shows you a different level of storytelling and wuxia films are not chopsocky flicks. The bamboo forest fight is instantly memorable and the characters are allegories of the human condition. The tone is amazing and the camera work splendid. Masterpiece. (5 / 5)

 

 

 

[westendboy]

height=600 width=450https://s1.postimg.org/2nmq46qbvj/F9_DCC603-3_DE8-4_AFD-9835-4_E75_F1216_A37.jpg[/img]

 

Will You Be There? is a Korean time travel romantic flick. It’s about a surgeon (Kim Yun-Seok) who doesn't have much time left due to a serious illness. His wish is to see his girlfriend who died in an accident 30 years ago. The surgeon gets 10 pills from a mysterious old man. The 10 pills allows him to travel in time to the past. He decides to go to the past to save his girlfriend. There, he meets his younger self (Byun Yo-Han).

 

Saw this on a plane and I enjoyed it tremendously. There is ingenuity and sincerity in the compelling storytelling. Humorous too. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Land of Mine (2015) was selected and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards. The film is inspired by real events and tells the story of German prisoners of war sent to clear land mines in postwar Denmark after World War II. It is estimated that over 2,000 German soldiers, including numerous teenagers, were forced to remove mines, with nearly half of them either getting killed or losing their limbs to explosions.

 

I have seen a few movies utilising land mines and this is the best. Many a time I had my fingers pushed into my ears, not wanting to hear the explosion. The story is very compelling and the characters feel real. I was totally vested in their outcome, and prayed for their survival. It is a very humanistic story too. Watch this. (4 / 5)

 

 

In Cars 3 (2017), Lightning McQueen sets out to prove to a new generation of high tech race cars that he is still the best race car in the world.

 

I find this tedious to watch because it just doesn’t have wheels. Didn’t like the new character too and it is no fun anymore. No Cars 4 please. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

3 minutes into Max Max: Fury Road (Black & Chrome) and there is something so incredibly cool about watching a movie in B&W. The first thing I immediately can glean is the amazing Atmos sonics - in B&W your mind start focusing on info that is not embedded by the colours, and in B&W the abstract starts to come into the foreground. Amazing! Time to ride into Valhalla. Witness us! One of the best things I brought back from Melbourne. (4.5 / 5)

 

 

In an outback town, Jay Swan, an Indigenous cowboy detective, returns home to solve the murder of a teenage Indigenous girl whose body is found under the highway trucking route out of town. Jay is alienated from both the white-dominated police force and the Indigenous community, including his teenage daughter, whom he discovers is connected to the murdered girl. Starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Jack Thompson, Ryan Kwanten, and Tasma Walton, Mystery Road (2013) is a gripping murder mystery with a cultural perspective.

 

I was on holiday in Melbourne and it is a good time to check out an Australian movie. This one is mesmerising to watch and captures a sense of place and time vividly. It is a slow burn of a mystery story and it rewards the patient viewer. It culminates in a grand shootout. A fantastic discovery and a fascinating character. (4 / 5)

 

 

Goldstone (2016) is the sequel of the above-mentioned movie. Three years after exposing the corruption in his hometown of Winton, Indigenous Detective Jay Swan is sent to the small mining town of Goldstone to find a missing Asian tourist.

 

The sequel tears new layers from the Swan character and this time it is about him finding his aboriginal roots. There are some stunning images of the Australian outback and the subject of human trafficking makes it timely. It again culminates in an awesome shootout, but this time Swan is not alone. The ending is not quite satisfying though. (3.5 / 5)

 

I read somewhere that a TV Series is in the pipeline based on the Swan character and Aaron Pedersen will reprise the role that he made it his.

 

 

Shock Wave (2017) is helmed by Herman Yau. I think he is Hong Kong’s busiest director because this is his third movie this year! This tick-tock suspense thriller benefits from Andy Lau’s screen presence and for a tick-tock thriller this one is pushing it. I get numb and my senses go on alert when I see a countdown clock but yet the proceedings is way longer than that. This could have been a HK Die Hard flick, but the second half loses all propulsion. For some time it even moves backwards with a stupid girlfriend in trouble side plot that does zilch for the main story. Not well executed at all. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

The Sword of Doom (1966) is a jidaigeki film directed by Kihachi Okamoto and stars Tatsuya Nakadai. It was based on the serial novel of the same title by Kaizan Nakazato. The story follows the life of Ryunosuke Tsukue, an amoral samurai and a master swordsman with an unorthodox style.

 

For a 1966 movie, the sword fighting sequences are superbly shot. Aesthetically, this is one amazing film of a cold-blooded killer, but Okamoto’s uneven storytelling makes it an unusual watching experience. It seems to follow two separate threads that don’t quite dovetail together, but I really didn’t care because the character is so fascinating. Tsukue is a sociopath and psychopath with a lethal sword. If that’s not enough, Toshirô Mifune also adds to the star wattage as another sword fighter. The movie builds it to a point that many different groups of people want Tsukue dead and there is just no way he can come out of this alive. It is simply about how many can he take to hell with him, but Okamoto makes an unusual decision to not show the inevitable and it left me unsatisfied. (4 / 5)

 

[westendboy]

 

Pickpocket (1959) is directed by Robert Bresson, generally believed to have been inspired by the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It stars the young Uruguayan Martin LaSalle, who was a nonprofessional actor at the time, in the title role, with Marika Green as the ingénue. It was the first film for which Bresson wrote an original screenplay rather than adapting it from an existing text, and it is generally considered to be one of Bresson's greatest films.

 

Standing at only 75min, the film doesn’t feel bloated at all. Bresson always demands that his actors not emote at all and only wants the story to convey the tension. The close-up scenes of the pickpocket at work is marvellous to behold, it feels like a ballet of thievery. Bresson’s films don’t obey the usual film rules, which makes them fascinating to watch and think about long after the film is over. (4.5 / 5)

 

 

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) is a film noir and heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, and John McIntire, and also features Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles.

 

I enjoyed this tremendously for its directness and superb ensemble performances. It is a foregone conclusion what will happen in the end, but you will root for them because of their professionalism. Each one is done in by their own weakness. Houston’s films can be grim, but they always possess raw power and intensity. (5 / 5)

 

 

“Define love.

Love is, um, it's when you care more for someone else than you do yourself.”

 

What a line! Starman (1984) is a great movie! It could have been preposterously silly, but the two characters are so well drawn that you are immediately sympathetic to their quest. Part sci-fi, part road movie and all romance with so much to say about humanity. (4 / 5)

 

“Tonight I gave you a baby”. What another great line! And I know the perfect occasion to say it :)

 

And this is an even better one:

 

“You are a strange species. Not like any other. And you'd be surprised how many there are. Intelligent but savage. Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? (Pause)

You are at your very best when things are worst.”

 

 

The Villainess - I know bro Desray raved about this like it’s a new kind of action movie. He mentioned it in the same breath as John Wick. He even said the plot is out of this world. But we had no joy with this at all.

 

We gave it 55min and couldn’t be bothered to find out how it ends. The violence is gimmicky - the first-person-point-of-view mayhem. First 3 min is quite cool but after that it becomes lame. Transposed computer games stylistics on the big screen has a shelf-life of one movie and IMHO this one overstayed it’s welcome pretty fast. The plot is unclear and clunky. The characters are as subtle as a loaded gun. And the first one-third is practically Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita. This is not how you give a homage.

 

My wife asked me not to torture her anymore and I watched the rest of the movie on my own to find out how many bodies lie in her wake. I lost count at 108. Nothing changed for me. (3 / 5)

 

Stories are very subjective. Nothing wrong with one another’s view. No disrespect to Desray. Any which way I know now some of you will want to find out for yourself and that is always the intention of us movie lovers.

 

 

Memoirs of a Murderer is an excellent movie. It’s about a serial killer suffering from dementia trying to protect his daughter from a serial killer. It sounds preposterous when I typed the synopsis, but the execution is refreshing. Love how the story unfolds and the acting by the main lead is good. Love the cat and mouse games between both of them and half the time you are not sure whether you are seeing something real or a figment of his imagination.  I love stuff that can engage me from start to the end. One of the better Korean releases I have seen this year. Twisted and demented, my type of genre. (4 / 5)

 

 

Streets of Fire (1984) is always a guilty pleasure for me. I love the dialogue and the music. Halfway through one of the songs I ran into my CD room and scanned my soundtracks. I uttered a phew when I saw the CD. It wasn’t a box-office hit, but who cares... (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Unlocked is as frigid as they come. The cast may look appetising but the execution and story is so been-there-done-that. A shame... I like watching Noomi Rapace, she has a stronghold on strong female roles with a psychological scar. But she can’t lift a humdrum spy yarn with lame storytelling like this. This is barely serviceable. (2 / 5)

 

0n the TV series front, we have seen these...

 

 

Netflix’s Mindhunter is set in 1977 – in the early days of criminal psychology and criminal profiling at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), along with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), who interview imprisoned serial killers in order to understand how they think with the hope of applying this knowledge to solving ongoing cases.

 

Have you ever wondered where the term “serial killer” come from? Wonder no more. This is a bit of a slowburn talkie but what a script. It is also an outstanding character study. The actors who acted as the serial killers are amazing, especially that Ed Kemper... gave me the chills. And you can’t have a conversation with people like this and not have something snapped. The ending doesn’t tie up a lot of loose ends but I am sure they will address it S2. Oh and David Fincher directed 4 episodes and you can literally see his Zodiac sensibility here. His name is enough to see this.

 

 

Stranger Things 2 - IMHO this is an improvement from S1. Moving away from a main villain to feature an old school monster movie is a shrewd move. And I frickin love monster movies! The camaraderie between the kids still gets me and that last extended coda is so sweet. 1984 is such a great year!

 

 

Bizarre is an understatement.

 

We sat through two episodes of Twin Peaks and understood nothing, zero, zilch. The wifey begged me not to torture her anymore. I will give it a few more episodes on my own.

 

 

Twin Peaks made me sleepy and the missus a little nuts. So we put on a Korean series called Secret Forest (also goes by Stranger or Forest of Secrets). Looks like we are going to enjoy this.

 

It’s about a prosecutor without empathy and a bold female police taking a murder case involving political corruption.

 

We finished the second episode and it’s spellbinding. You literally can’t put your eyes somewhere else because every thing that happens on screen is a clue to the puzzle.

[westendboy]

 

A Ghost Story (2017) is a lot more than a ghost story. Watching this is unlike any film I have seen in recent years.

 

It is a singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost (Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife (Rooney Mara).

 

This film is going to divide audience. Some will think it is an exquisite piece of visual poetry, and others will scream “pretentious bullshit”. I am in the former camp and my wife is in the latter one . I love the ideas floated which can fill a tome. When someone experiences a death in the family, we always say “take care” and hope the person can move on. A Ghost Story, on the surface tells that story from the perspective of the ghost, but really, this is a lot more than that.

 

The sense of time is beautifully handled and the film has a sense of rhythm that beats with the gentle cadence of time. Casey Affleck acted most of the movie under a bedsheet with eye holes like a silly makeshift Halloween costume, but you will “see” his facial expressions just like how you can “see” Agent Smith under the Guy Fawkes mask in V for Vendetta. The grief and melancholy is palpable.

 

This is the type of movie that searches for a patient viewer. Even if you aren’t, I am sure it will slow down everything to a painterly crawl for you.

 

I love this! (4 / 5)

 

 

Wind River (2017) is a neo-Western murder mystery thriller film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water). The film stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, respectively, who try to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. According to Sheridan, the opening "inspired by true events" card[5] was a reference to the "thousands of actual stories just like it" involving sexual assault of women on reservations, his primary motivation for writing the film.

 

This is like the third part of Sheridan’s outstanding crime trilogy. I so want to say he ends it with a resounding bang, but I can’t. I am not saying it’s bad, far from it. Wind River is an excellent piece of crime drama. The beauty of it is how Sheridan spins the usual green-cop-in-a-foreign-land tropes to become a social commentary of the plight of the Native Americans. The cast is excellent and the performances good. The climax is oh la la and takes that Mexican standoff to a new place. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

The sky was overcast and darkness descended in the mid-afternoon, so I thought it was a fitting time for a horror movie. Ambience like this must be grasped. But Annabelle is so prosaic with its approach and I barely got a tingle. The scares are so cheap and lame. This is not a worthy spinoff from The Conjuring. (1.5 / 5)

 

Note to self - If I see my neighbours kick up a huge ruckus and vaguely see blood, I will pretend they are playing a game and not be a kaypoh and check on them.

 

 

Annabelle: Creation is a prequel to 2014's Annabelle and the fourth installment in The Conjuring series. The film depicts the possessed Annabelle doll's origin. This is much better but the logic is flawed - if you know the demonic presence wants a soul, why would a couple as penance used their home as an orphanage? But still there are some good and creepy scares to be had. What more could I ask for. (3 / 5)

 

Note to self - When somebody says the room must stay locked and nobody should go in, it is for a good reason. Busybody deserve to get fricking possessed.

 

 

Wolf Warrior 2 is an action film directed by Wu Jing, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Celina Jade, Frank Grillo, Hans Zhang, and Wu Gang. The film is a sequel to 2015's Wolf Warrior. The film tells a story of a loose cannon Chinese soldier named Leng Feng who takes on special missions around the world. In this sequel, he finds himself in an African country protecting medical aid workers from local rebels and vicious arms dealers.

 

It was a massive commercial success and has become the highest-grossing Chinese film ever released. The film broke numerous box office records, including the biggest single-day gross for a Chinese film as well as the fastest film to cross RMB 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion and 5 billion box office marks. It also became the fastest film to surpass US$500 million and the first film to gross more than US$600 million at the Chinese box office. Sounds like it is a must see right?

 

OMG! I don’t know where to begin... this is one action spectacle one after another like plates of sushi on an never ending conveyer belt. The “sushi” are serviceable and they happened so fast that you have no time to ponder over the preposterousness of the crazy plot. But that’s not the worst... the chest thumping patriotism and jingoistic messages are practically jackhammering into your brain. I screamed KNN when Amazing Grace rang out as Hu Jing lie injured but not for long. This is not a China number one movie, this is a China World Number One movie. Hu Jing practically saves a country on his own. Skull-numbing but the action spectacles are cool. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a science fiction adventure film[9] written and directed by Luc Besson, and co-produced by Besson and his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. The film is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières. It stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. Besson independently crowd-sourced and personally funded Valerian. With a production budget of around $180 million, it is both the most expensive non-American and independent film ever made and it doesn’t work.

 

The two leads have zero chemistry and the plot feels loonily childish and self-indulgent. The characters feel like numbers populating a spectacular landscape of outlandish places dreamt up in the wildest dreams. The only savaging point is the great visuals. (2.5 / 5)

 

We just finished the Korean suspense procedural-thriller Secret Forest last night and had time to start another series. It was either Manhunt or a 12-episode anime which a pal just saw with his son in one night. I warned my wifey it has time travel in it and she said “bring it on!” So Erased it is...

 

 

Struggling manga author Satoru Fujinuma is beset by his fear to express himself. However, he has a supernatural ability of being able to prevent deaths and casualties by being sent back in time before an incident occurrs, repeating time until it is prevented. One day, he gets involved in a catastrophic affair that turns him into a criminal. Desperate to prevent the incident, he gets sent back in time only to find himself as a grade-schooler. Satoru brings himself to a new journey; using his abilty to prevent the past from changing into a deplorable future.

 

An intriguing first episode and we are all in. I will say more when I am done.

[westendboy]

We are done! We were supposed to go for a housewarming yesterday but delayed till we could finish the 12-episode anime. Brilliant! Love how it plays with the tropes and how it shifts gears so effortlessly. When it ended with the villain’s comeuppance I thought it should have an epilogue with someone important and it did, which made us so glad. This series is so much more than time travel. It hits so many hot button issues like child abuse and it doesn’t provide pet answers. Did u know this is in the IMDb top 250 series list?

 

This one has a bit of sci-fi, fantasy, romance and mystery, all rolled into one intriguing premise - Struggling manga author Satoru Fujinuma is beset by his fear to express himself. However, he has a supernatural ability of being able to prevent deaths and casualties by being sent back in time before an incident occurrs, repeating time until it is prevented. One day, he gets involved in a catastrophic affair that turns him into a criminal. Desperate to prevent the incident, he gets sent back in time only to find himself as a grade-schooler. Satoru brings himself to a new journey; using his abilty to prevent the past from changing into a deplorable future.

 

All through the car journey to the housewarming we were still deconstructing the plot and story. We only do this for the best stuff.

 

 

We are 4 episodes into Manhunt: Unabomber. The series depicts a fictionalized account of the true story of the FBI's hunt for the man known as the Unabomber and it uses linguistics to bring the mass terrorist to justice.

 

It is entertaining to watch but IMHO falls into the usual traps like Sam Worthington’s Jim Fitzgerald is the only FBI agent who has the smarts. Everyone else is either unbelievers or dumb. This can’t be a realistic way of portraying a manhunt. But who cares when it is so entertaining.

 

[westendboy]

 

Hounds of Love (2016) is an Australian psychological horror drama film written and directed by Ben Young, as his feature film debut. The plot focuses on a couple who kidnap and terrorise a young woman in the suburbs of Perth in the late 1980s.

 

This is one helluva debut. Harrowing and riveting, human depravity at its most compelling. The performances are strong and there are surprises along the way that can really garrote into your senses. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Lee Rock I & II (1991) are crime films directed by Lawrence Ah Mon, and starring Andy Lau as the title character. The film chronicles the rise and fall of a corrupt police force that Lee Rock becomes a part of. The film was followed by a sequel Lee Rock IIreleased later in the same year.

 

The excellent Chasing Dragon brought us to Lee Rock I & II. These movies don’t date well at all and it is pretty obvious the filmmaker took huge creative license to concoct all sorts of drama and explosive situations. That said, Andy Lau is always compellingly watchable, more so now when he is older. Likewise with Aaron Kwok whom I can’t stand here. (2.5 / 5)

 

 

One Way Trip is a story of four best friends who go to a trip before one of them go to the military, they face a life changing incident beyond their control. This is the very anti-thesis of life... it teaches you that (1) you should never help a woman in trouble because you are going to get screwed, (2) if you have money and power you can change the course of justice, and (3) Korean police are fcuking crap. (2 / 5)

 

 

Stalker (1979) is a Soviet science fiction art film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky with a screenplay written by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, loosely based on their novel Roadside Picnic (1972). The film combines elements of science fiction with dramatic philosophical and psychological themes.

 

The film depicts an expedition led by a figure known as the "Stalker" (Aleksandr Kaidanovsky) to take his two clients—a melancholic writer (Anatoli Solonitsyn) seeking inspiration, and a professor (Nikolai Grinko) seeking scientific discovery—to a mysterious restricted site known simply as the "Zone," where there is a room which supposedly has the ability to fulfill a person's innermost desires. The trio travel through unnerving areas filled with the debris of modern society while engaging in many arguments. The "Zone" itself appears sentient, while their path through it can be sensed but not seen. In the film, a "stalker" is a professional guide to the Zone, someone having the ability and desire to cross the border into the dangerous and forbidden place with a specific goal.

 

I have heard of this much lauded film for the longest time and most recently it was featured subliminally in a movie poster in Atomic Blonde and Criterion finally remastered it. You need a clear head to endure this 2h 40min movie in which the three principals drone on about deep stuff. I have seen Tarkovsky’s Solaris, so I was well-prepared mentally and spiritually. It’s hard to put into eloquent words what it is about, but it is an experience like no other. One of those few films you can only see once and once seen the feeling will never leave you till you die. (4 / 5)

 

The next two are still showing at the cinemas. Don’t feel a need to expound upon them so a short musing will do...

 

 

Battle of the Sexes is a biographical sports film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and written by Simon Beaufoy. The plot is loosely based on the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

 

Pretty enjoyable movie, but not compelling enough. Emma Stone put in a much worthier performance here than La La Land, but Steve Carrell got the short end of the stick in terms of character development. The movie can’t quite hit the right tone to make it an important film with an even more important message about gender equality. (3.5 / 5)

 

 

Murder on the Orient Express is a mystery drama film directed by Kenneth Branagh with a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The film stars Branagh as Hercule Poirot, with Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley in supporting roles. The film is the fourth adaptation of Christie's novel, following a 1974 film, a 2001 TV film, and a 2010 episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot.[6] The plot follows Poirot, a world-renowned detective, who seeks to solve a murder on the famous European train in the 1930s.

 

It’s really hard to grease the wheels of this popular mystery, but Branagh does try. The cinematography is splendid especially in the confined spaces of a train. The final denouement is well-handled with a dash of ingenuity and pathos. In the end, I feel the movie suffers from a state of being too familiar. If you have seen any of the earlier adaptation you won’t see a lot of new stuff here. (3 / 5)

 

On my own I am riveted to Bosch S3 and Mr Robot S3, but once the missus is back we are watching this...

 

 

Tunnel is a 16-episode Korean drama series inspired by the Hwaseong serial murders. We are 2 episodes in and so far it is intelligent and doesn’t spoon-feed you. With the right amount of off-beat humour, gruesome murders and a clever dash of time travel, we revisit the nightmarish world first established magnificently by Memories of Murder and Signal once again.