Horror Stories | 무서운 이야기 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

Horror Stories 무서운 이야기

"If you want to be alive, then tell me... Horror Stories 무서운 이야기"

The Pitch

It's hard to find good horror movies lately. After the disappointing introduction to Paranormal Activity franchise, the crave for a good eerie and sensible scary movie still lingers. The trailer for the Korean omnibus of short horror movie segments (that befittingly titled) Horror Stories seems to be a promising cure for the Paranormal Activity 4 hangover.

The setup for the main frame narrative reminded me of One Thousand and One Nights / Arabian Nights. A female protagonist has to resort to telling stories to stay alive. The fable setup might just work in a horror movie.

Plus I am also a fan of the recent Thailand horror movies that were structured in similar omnibus format. Movies like Four, 4bia and it's sequel Phobia 2 remained etched in the mind long after the credits rolled. They were testaments that some good horror stories are most effective when it's short and sweet. They are not constrained in feature length movie time frame and they branch out in different areas of creativity.

Personally, I can't wait to see what the Koreans have to offer with their omnibus of horror stories and Thanks to InCinemas, I will be watching this movie a day before it even sneaks in Singapore.

The Viral Factor | 逆戰 [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Plot

A failed mission to protect a scientist who has stolen a copy of the smallpox virus left Jon Man (Jay Chou) severely injured and the scientist kidnapped by his traitorous colleague Sean (Andy On). The bullet is lodged in Jon's brain will paralyses him within two week and he decides to spend his final days with his mother (Elaine Jin).

What he didn't expect was that his mother revealed to him that he has a long lost brother Man Yang (Nicolas Tse) whom she left behind with his gambling addict dad Man Tin (Liu Kai Chi). To fulfill his mother last wishes, Jon decides to track Man Yang down in Malaysia.

En route to Kuala Lumpur (Capital of Malaysia), Jon befriends medical specialist Rachel (Lin Peng) and came across criminal organization attempting to kidnap her. During the process to foil this kidnap attempt, he discovers that Man Yang is a wanted felon working as a mercenary for Sean, who needs the help of a medical specialist to mutate the small pox virus and holds the world ransom.

After Man Yang failed to kidnap Rachel but escaped with the virus, the criminal organization attempts to control him by kidnapping his daughter. The righteous Jon has to decide whether to stop Man Yang from breaking more laws or assist his wayward brother in rescuing his niece and stopping Sean's diabolical plans?

Dance Dance Dragon | 龙众舞 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

Last year He Sui Pian (贺岁片 Chinese New Year Movie)  winner in Singapore box office was the local movie "It's a Great Great World". It made $2.43 millions, beating the likes of Raymond Wong's "All's Well, Ends Well 2011 最強囍事 2011", Eric Tsang's "I love Hong Kong" and Jack Neo's Homecomings.

This year Kelvin Tong (director of It's a Great Great World) and an ensemble of Singapore / Malaysia actors are back with another He Sui Pian call "Dance Dance Dragon". Kelvin Tong will be taking on the duties of a producer while handling over the directing duties to his long time collaborator Kat Goh.

Dance Dance Dragon is set up to celebrate the upcoming year of Dragon with the anticipation of the baby boom period in 2012 (Most Chinese believes the Dragon Year is the most auspicious time to have a baby). It's going to incorporate Dragon dance and perhaps other forms of dancing into the movie (hence the title Dance Dance Dragon).

 Dance Dance Dragon features local celebrities like Adrian Pang, Kym Ng and Dennis Chew (who is starring in this movie with his popular Aunty Lucy persona). Malaysian veteran actress Lai Ming is back again in another Singapore movie and personally, she is a delightful actress to watch out for.

But the biggest question remains. Will "Dance Dance Dragon" be able to repeat "It's a Great Great World" financial success at the box office this year? Let's wait to find out.

In Time [ Movie Review ]

The Pitch

Andrew Niccol movies always have an interesting premises. Ranging from gene discrimination (Gattaca) to the gun trading (Lord of War), he had always weaved unforgettable stories from those premises. This time round, he is tackling a future where the aging gene stops at 25 and time is the new currency with Justin Timberlake.

Justin Timberlake, primary known as a pop star, has been making quite a few movies these days. His rendition as Sean Parker was quite outstanding and his latest leading performance in the romcom Friends with Benefit was pleasantly entertaining. I am aware that he has his fair share of detractors but I for one is interested to see where he is heading with his movie career.

Let's see how this collaboration turns out.

The Plot

In the futuristic world, the aging gene had been stopped and people stop aging when they reached 25 years old. In order to control the population, time has became the new currency.

The poor works from day to day to ensure their mortality. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is one of those poor who worked hard to earn minutes and seconds to sustain his life. When trying to prevent a robbery in a bar, he rescued a man with too much time on his hand and was looking for a way to end his life. 

While they were hiding out from their pursers, the "wealthy" man gave the secret behind the rich upper class and why the poor are doomed to be poor. While they were resting, he committed suicide by giving Will Salas the bulk of his lifespan .

Will Salas soon discovered that inheriting a "fortune" might not be that good after all. He was too late to save his mother from running out of time and the time keepers (the police force of this future) are hot on his heels. Will Salas then decided to do the unthinkable and take on the rich to try to right the wrong for the poor.

The Perspective (In Time movie review)

After Gattaca and Lord of War, In Time was a disappointing flick from Andrew Niccol. It has that novel approach of blending currency with time but it didn't come together well to build up an unforgettable story like what Gattaca and Lord of War achieved.

In fact, the characters felt lost and didn't know what to do after Will Salas gained the unexpected long life span. After the protagonist discovered how the poor had been exploited, there wasn't really any solid idea or plan in bringing a balance in the inequity in this futuristic society. Instead it spent the bulk in the protagonists played a cat and mouse game with the rather inefficient time keeper (their equivalent of police force). Things just automatically fall in place for the protagonist and it's hard to feel anxious for them even when their "bio-clock" was going to run out. There's also the additional subplot with a group of gangsters that gave the movie excuses to choreograph some action sequences which didn't really add to much to the story.

The upside of this movie would be that the novel concept of blending currency with time. It brought up a couple of interesting perspective on how we live our lives. The time we spend on and what we choose to do with the resources we have in hand. It also gave an interesting perspective on the lifestyle of the rich and the poor. On the bigger scale, it touched on how currency works in our society and why the gap between the rich and poor could not be closed. But of course, the manner which it tried to solved the inequity between classes was lazy and ludicrous.

Acting wise, I felt that Justin Timberlake did a decent job to carry out the protagonist role. But it felt like the movie didn't have much material for him to expand on his character. Like how the story falter for this movie, his performance went from engaging to boring as the plot plodded on. It's specially disappointing for someone who is hopping for another Ethan Hawke / Andrew Niccol turn out in Gattaca.

Bottom line In Time felt like a good concept that wasn't well executed. It pale in comparison with Gattaca and Lord of War. It was even less enjoyable than Andrew Niccol's second movie S1m0ne. It felt like a big drop in standard for the director. But even still, it's still a passable film with it's formulaic plot and it's still entertaining in it's own way. Perhaps if one didn't approach In Time with such high expectation, it might even be more enjoyable.

Rating: ***

Trailer 

Exclusive Comic Con Footage Trailer from In Time Official Youtube Channel

The Man From Nowhere | 아저씨 [ Movie Review ] ★★★★

The Pitch

The Man from Nowhere was the Top Korean Film of the 2010 Korean Box Office. That information alone should perk some interest and curiosity for this movie. It's also headlined by Won Bin, one of the top artist in Korea with his huge fans base. But it's unlikely that the fans could push a film into the top spot. There must be something good in the movie that garnered so many viewings from non fans or business from repeated viewings.

The Plot

Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin) leads a quiet life a pawnbroker in a neighborhood pawn shop. A little girl So-Mi (Kim Sae-ron) kept pestering him and became his companion (irregardless whether he wants it or not). Troubles started knocking on their doors when thugs wanted to recover some drugs that So-Mi's mom had stolen and she kept it in a camera bag that she had pawned to Tae-sik.

What they didn't realized was that Tae-sik is not your ordinary pawnbroker and he is not a man to trifle with.

After a tense standoff, the thugs managed to leave with the drugs and So-Mi. In order to rescue them, he agreed to run an errand for them and ended up getting double crossed by the thugs. The police arrived at the exchange location and apprehended him. They were surprised to discover So-Mi's mom dead body in the trunk of his car. To make matters worse, the internal organs are missing and that would mean that these thugs are not simply trafficking drugs.

Time is ticking by and Tae-sik is forced to go all out to rescue little So-Mi before she suffers the same fate as her mom. It's not only the bad guys, Tae-sik had to content with the police force who are investigating this case.

The Perspective

The introduction arc of The Man from Nowhere felt like it's a remake of Léon (The Professional). It's awfully similar to how the young girl bonded with the quiet neighbor and the parents who are involved with drugs. I was half expecting the little girl asking for her neighbor to coach her in the ways of assassins. But then again, it's not a remake of Léon. Almost half way through, it became a movie about drug / human organs trafficking and one man's mission to rescue his young friend. He did it in a very brutally effective way and the movie took a turn for Liam Neeson's Taken.

But nevertheless, the movie has a solid run with it's rendition of those familiar elements and could stand on it's own without being label as a knockoff. It's largely based on the performance and how the story was told.

First of all, there are pretty memorable villains in this movie. The two leaders are wildly wicked and bestially cruel. Their right hand man is a cool hitman with a strong sense of ethics. The things they do to the kids are so repulsive that it makes their gory comeuppance a joy to sit through. They might be  stereotypical but they were effective here in defining the hero's struggle.

The story also had a great pace and flow. Keeping various turn of events coming a brisk pace that it will keep one on the edge of the chair. From the revelation of Tae-sik's background to the true nature of the thugs' trafficking, it just hooks you and never let go till the end credits.

Then there's the little girl's performance as So-Mi. Kim Sae-ron exude a sense of adorableness without being too annoying. There a sense of worldliness and innocence to her that makes her her a great supporting act. Given her young age, Kim Sae-ron is definitely someone to watch out for in the future. 

Last but not least, this is a Won Bin movie and he got screen charisma in spades. From the hard hitting unflinching man on a mission to one dealing with lost cause, it's easy to see why he had such a huge fan base.

The Koreans are also know for their hard hitting take on vengeance movies and they are constantly pushing edge of morality. With the right cast, performance and direction, the movie will grip hold of the audience long after the credits are over. The Man from Nowhere is one of those movies that balance violence and emotion well. One of the finest Korean movies in recent years and definitely worthy of it's placing in the 2010 Korean Box Office.


Beyond the Movie

The Korean title for this movie Ajussi means Uncle.