your name. | 君の名は。Movie Review

The Pitch

your name. ( 君の名は.) first caught my attention with it's miraculous records on the Japanese Box Office. This anime stayed on the top of Japanese Box Office for 12 non consecutive weekends and was the second largest domestic film in Japan (behind Spirited Away). This movie kept getting mentioned on the Japanese News sites that I frequent and I am curious why did this anime about body switch would fare so well.

Later on, I found out that the director Makoto Shinkai also directed the Garden of Words. Garden of Words was one of my fave anime that I saw in recent years and that made my anticipation for this movie grow even more.

The Plot

Taki, a Tokyo city boy woke up in an unfamiliar room and in a body of a girl. Meanwhile Mitsuha, a teenage girl from a mountain village wished that she living a life of a handsome Tokyo boy instead and got her wish. They soon realized that they are not dreaming and they have been switching bodies intermittently. The problem was that their memories of each other fade away like dreams. They begin to communicate by leaving notes to each other, helping each other tide over the mysterious phenomenon.

As the bright blue comet passes Earth, their body switch comes to a sudden end. Taki tried to call Mitsuha for the first time but wasn't able to reach her. He decides to visit her hometown but he doesn't know his name and his memories are fading away. Will this star crossed lovers ever get to meet each other?

The Perspective

 your name. was an enjoyable anime. It started off as a fun body switch movie that kept me glued to the screen while subtly setting up the foundation for an unexpected twist in the middle of the movie. The twist worked as it accelerated the pace of the anime and the desire to see the two main characters get their happy endings.

But however the final resolution of the movie was a little let down. It came rather suddenly and lacked the grandeur that it seemed to be promising through out the movie. The emotional draw for the two main characters was also slightly weaker than The Garden of Words. It could had been the anime of the year for me but it just lacked something in the end to make it a home run.

***1/2

Love | 愛 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

No, this is not the movie installment for the popular long running Taiwanese television series that just ended it's run in Singapore. This is Doze Niu's Taiwanese rendition of "Love Actually" that's out to wrestle with Sammi Cheng's Romancing in Thin Air and Ah Niu's The Wedding Diary for the Asian Valentine Day box office profit love.

Love 愛 comes with a stellar cast of actor and actress from Taiwan (and China). Shu Qi and Zhao Wei probably needs no introduction in this part of the world.  Ethan Ruan, Mark Chao, Eddie Peng, Ivy Chen and Amber Kuo are the new upcoming good looking Taiwanese young stars who each had participated in at least one movie that was shown in Singapore cinema recently (Monga, Hear Me and Au revoir Taipei).

But personally, the main attraction for Love 愛 would be due to Doze Niu's participation in this movie as the director and actor.  His previous two full length features "What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?" and "Monga" (which he directed and acted) were pretty enjoyable and it made him one of my "Asian directors to watch out for" list.
 
It's not easy to make a "Love Actually" type of movie and quite a few had already failed badly (Valentine Day and Hot Summer Days). It's not easy to manage multiple plots and numerous big stars but I am having good vibes that Doze Niu might be able to deliver this.

(Special Thanks to Festive Films for a chance to preview Love 愛)

The Wedding Diary | 结婚那件事 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch


This year, there's three Asian movies that is out to cash in on celebrate the Valentine Day season. From Hong Kong - China, there's Romancing in Thin Air. From Taiwan - China, there's Love. Last but not least, from Singapore Malaysia, there's The Wedding Diary. 

The Wedding Diary is a comedy about the difficulties in preparing and executing the most important day in a couple's life. It features artists across the straits such as Ah Niu 阿牛 (Anniu), Elanne Kwong 江若琳, Kara Hui 惠英红, Zhu Houren 朱厚任, Marcus Chin 陈建彬, Chris Tong童冰玉 , Shaun Chen 陈泓宇 and Maggie Theng 邓妙华.


Ah Niu's recent debut as a director and leading actor for  Ice Kacang Puppy Love was pretty impressive. The Wedding Diary marks the second time for Ah Niu in the leading role. Not bad for a guy who don't really fit the usual handsome suave stereotype for a male lead in a movie. It would be interesting to see how he fares in this movie.

This review is made possible with special thanks to Clover Films.

The Great Magician | 大魔術師 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

Without looking at the plot premises, The Great Magician 大魔術師 was already alluring with the people involved with this project. It has a stellar cast of Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Lau Ching Wan and Zhou Xun. Three actors had all impress me with their performance in respective movies (Happy Together, Hero, Mad Detective, My Name is Fame, The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate & The Message - just to name a few) in the past.

Beside the cast, The Great Magician is directed by Derek Yee. Like the cast, I enjoyed the director's previous works (C'est la vie, mon chéri, Full Throttle, Viva Erotica and Triple Tap) and I have yet to find a disappointing movie from him.

On a closer look, The Great Magician seemed to share a similar premise with Edward Norton's The Illusionist. A magician taking on a dictator for the affection on a woman. It's a pretty good movie and even if The Great Magician ends up as a rehash of The Illusionist, I am still looking forward to how this collaboration between Derek Yee, Tony Leung, Lau Ching Wan and Zhou Xun would turn out.

You are the Apple of My Eye | 那些年, 我们一起追的女孩 [ Movie Review ] ★★★★1/2

The Pitch

Touted as Biggest Ever Opening Day and Weekend Box Office for a Taiwanese film (remained as Taiwan Box Office champion for three weeks), You are the Apple of My Eye ( 那些年，我们一起追的女孩 literally means The girl that we wooed during those years ) marks a revival of Taiwanese films that getting commercial release here in Singapore. This coming-of-age movie is based on a popular autobiography book by Giddens (九把刀 or Nine Knives) and it's selling like hot cakes in Hong Kong (No.1 at Hong Kong box office and out selling it's nearest competitor Life without Principle by about 2.65 times). 

What makes this school days romance movie so popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong? The trailer gave the impression that it's going to be another routine romantic comedy with good looking actor and actress. The director. Giddens is primarily known for his novels and this movie somewhat marks his first directorial debut. To have such a result for his first main feature is pretty impressive. 

Perhaps there's something special about this box office champ that getting a commercial screening like it's predecessors, Monga and Cape. No 7. Let's find out what the X-factor in this movie.

The Plot

The movie started with the introduction of the protagonist, Ko-Teng (Ko Chen-tung 柯震東) and his close friends. They are distinctively different with their own special quirks However all his friends had something in common and that's having a crush with the class monitress, Shen Jiayi (Michelle Chen 陳妍希). For the longest time, Ko-Teng could not understand why his friends got the hot for her as he felt that she was only slightly prettier than the rest of the female classmates and there's nothing special about her.

After getting into trouble with their homeroom teacher, Ko-Teng was made to sit in front of Shen Jiayi. Being one of the top students in school, Shen Jiayi was tasked to keep close tabs on him and supervise his school works. The two of them resented the arrangement initially and started bickering until an incident in class changed the dynamic between them.

Shen Jiayi started to prepare extra homework for Ko-Teng and forced him to stay back after class for revisions. Romance blossom between the both of them but the usually outspoken Ko-Teng couldn't find the courage to propose to Shen Jiayi. With graduation looming, could their puppy love withstand the long distance test as they head towards different universities?

The Perspective 

You are the Apple of My Eye turned out to be surprisingly good. I didn't have much expectation for this coming-of-age romcom but it came out of nowhere and stole my heart. Without any surprises for this coming two months, You are the Apply of My Eye is likely to emerged as the best movie of 2011 for me. If I would to narrow down why this movie worked for me, it would because this movie got heart and soul. It wonderfully captures the wooing process and school days romance. Folks who had "similar" experience at school, they would find this movie easily relatable and heart wrenching in many ways.

Before lapping it with more praises, this movie isn't without it's faults. Some jokes and gags missed the spot entirely. At times, the movie can get rather crude, long winded and even tedious to follow at times.

But the payout at the end made all the wait worthwhile and the flaws forgettable. Especially the last ten minutes of this movie when all the build ups came into a satisfying wrap up. It was said that the director had decided to make this movie when the idea for the closing moments came to his mind. It was an excellent decision as the ending was one of the most beautiful yet poignant endings to coming-of-age school days rom com.

One of the biggest discovery for this movie would be Giddens, the director cum writer for this story. I have not read any of his Chinese novels and this first encounter with his work had impressed me much. He is pretty talented in telling a story and has an inventive touch in approaching materials that had been done to death. If imagination is intelligence having fun, it's not hard to see that Giddens is having a hell of time with this movie.

He had also made a good casting choice for this movie. You are the Apple of My Eye worked due to the casting for the two leads. Michelle Chen is lovely to watch and possess a certain special on screen flair that makes it easy to believe that so many guys would fall for her. Without her to breathe life into the objection of affection in this movie, You are the Apple of My Eye would not have work this well.

Likewise, the hunky newcomer Ko Chen-tung turned in a pretty good performance. As the protagonist, he had to carry the bulk of this movie and he did it in an effortlessly charismatic fashion. Whether the scenes  requires him to be comedic, suave or downright emotional, he managed to aced most of those scenes. Without a doubt, I will keeping tabs on these two actors future works.

After recommending this movie to a fellow movie lover, I was told that this type of movies come every five or ten years. The movie does have it's flaws but the heart of this move could easily hide those flaws. Highly recommended for those who wants to reminisce about their school days romance or currently going through some form of dilemma in romance.

Rating: ****1/2

Coda

During the credits roll, there are some scenes of the boys heading to play baseball and talk about their future and writing a book that this movie is based on. The real fun would be at the end of the credit roll when the director played a prank on Michelle Chen. Definitely worth staying back for.


Beyond the Movie

Sadly, this popular movie had cause much distress to the real Shen Jiayi. She had to take a year off from work and left for China to escape the Taiwanese press and the "overly resourceful" online fans. It seemed that the director / writer Giddens Ko was equally affected by the success of his movie and the trouble that it's causing for the apple of his eye that he is avoiding any talk about her to the press.

Love In Space | 全球熱戀 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

Love In Space (全球热恋) is the romantic comedy follow up to last year Hot Summer Days (全城热恋). Directed by Wing Shya (夏永康) and Tony Chan (陈国辉) with an ensemble of well known Asian celebrities, these two movies basically presents a variety of love stories like what Love Actually did.  

Hot Summer Days was one of my top ten worst movies of 2010. It was a fumbling attempt to ape Love Actually's success and it drown in it's arsenal of cardboard characters and multiple weak storylines. But Hot Summer Days must have done well at the box office since a follow up had been green lighted. 

The Plot  

Love In Space follows a mother (Xu Fan 徐帆) and her three grown daughters as they juggle their unexpected love encounters in a space station, Sydney and Beijing.

In Space, No one can hear your sweet nothing

In a space station, Rose (René Liu 刘若英) is unexpectedly reunited with her ex boyfriend Michael (Aaron Kwok 郭富城). With only the two of them working in a confined space, romance started to blossom. They tried to suppress their underlying love for each other as the issues that caused them to break up at the first place remained unsolved.

When Garbage Met Disposable Gloves

In Sydney, Lily (Gwei Lun Mei 桂纶镁) had a love at first sight encounter with Johnny (Eason Chan 陈奕迅). Their relationship wasn't a easy one as Lily suffers from anxiety disorder (OCD) with cleanliness and he works as a garbage man. But fate kept pushing them together and it's up to them to overcome their status quo for their love to blossom.

Proof that Clark Kent disguise work

Lastly, Peony (Angelababy 杨颖) is a well known celebrity in China but credential wise, she just got the worst actress award. In order to perform better for her next movie, she went undercover to work as a waitress to study her role. What she didn't expect was that she would fall for a failed writer Wen Feng (Jing Boran 井柏然) there. Relationship bliss would not be easy for her as she is under contact with her agency and it's forbidden for her to date for the next five years.

 The Perspective

Love In Space is a marked improvement from Hot Summer Days. The most obvious improvement would be reduction of love stories between five couples to three. Concentrating on only three couples gave more time to build up the chemistry between characters. But then again, these three love stories are still rather predicable and the only thing that saved it from being a yawn fest would be their rather interesting setups.

The most enjoyable love story among the three would be the one between Lily and Johnny. The quirkiness of their situation and the actors performance made it a pleasure to sit through this section of the movie. 

The most gimmicky portion of Love in Space would be the romance between Rose and Michael. I was interested to see what tricks would a China film use to depict the zero gravity environment. While the mixture of wires and computer generated images were not top notch Hollywood standard, they were not too bad. The romance were passable largely due to charisma of the two actors.

Last but not least, the Beijing love story which features Angelababy in various outrageous costumes. I am not sure why Angelababy and Jing Boran were paired up for the second time. It seemed that the China audience like them as a couple but I felt that the chemistry between them was lacking. Or perhaps I am just not used to the China style of romance which this segment is catering for.

In summary, Love in Space turned out to be more enjoyable than expected. The reduction of stories worked well and the set up here were so much better than Hot Summer Days. It might not go down as a classic love story like Love Actually but it would do to pass time with a love one.

Recommended.

Womb [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

It's quite a morbid concept for a movie. As the tagline asked, "What are the consequences of giving birth to your dead boyfriend", a woman decided to give birth to the clone of her dead lover. What kind of result would she hoped for and would this unnatural cycle of life ends in happy ending. It's a pretty weird idea for a movie but it's the morbidness of this concept that make Womb such an intriguing film to catch.

It's backed by two interesting choice for the two lead roles. Eva Green who played the female lead of Casino Royale is the lady with the unusual plan to bring her lover back. Matt Smith, the latest incarnation of Dr.Who is the lover who been brought back from death in the most unusual fashion.

The Plot

The love story for Tommy and Rebecca started when they were just young kids. They were very closed together until Rebecca had to leave for Japan with her mom. Twelve years later, Rebecca returned to find Tommy and their relationship blossom quickly like they were soul mates.

During a trip to sabotage a corporation inauguration ceremony, Tommy met with an accident and died before Rebecca's eyes. Grief stricken, Rebecca decided to clone Tommy by impregnating herself with Tommy's embryo. Tommy's mother objected to that idea but his father agreed to give Rebecca access to Tommy's cell material. He urged Rebecca to considered carefully before going through with her plan.

Rebecca decided to stick with her plans and eventually gave birth to Tommy through Caesarean section. Both of them had a close relationship but life wasn't going to be rosy for them. They soon found out that clones or "copies" were not welcome in the neighborhood. Besides discrimination, Rebecca also had to face the uncertainty of what Tommy would grow up into and the eventuality of disclosing their true relationship to Tommy.

The Perspective

Womb isn't exactly a sci-fi flick even though it used human cloning as a centerpiece for the movie. It's a moody slow film that's more concerned with a romance that's unnaturally prolonged. The deliberate slowness and the moody cinematography let the viewer contemplate on what the characters were going through.

But of course, slow and moody could also result in putting the audience to sleep. It's an art house that will not appeal to most people. I don't think that the general audience would appreciate Womb much as the restrained manner of the story telling could be rather frustrating.The subject matter in Womb is also not for everyone (as depicted in the movie). The incestuous nature of this movie might be too much for one to handle or even enjoy. 

However if one is willing to be stayed involved with this movie and be broadminded with the subject, it's actually quite a lovely unconventional love story. A love that went to the extreme was heartbreaking rendered that it's hard not to feel anything for all those involved and affected with this morbid unnatural decision. It makes one question Rebecca's decision and the boundary for true love. There's no easy answer for that and that itself will provide plenty of material to debate with your fellow movie goers (those that stayed awake) after the show is done.

Last but not least, I find the minimalist feel of Womb rather beautiful, specially the island of Sylt as backdrop for this movie. There's a certain attraction to the cold and bleakness portrayed with Sylt that actually makes me want to stay there for a while. In a way, it played a part in telling the story. The location felt like the end of the world where conventional rules are no where to be found. Just the right place for the story of Womb to take place.

SuckSeed | ห่วยขั้นเทพ

The Plot

Ped is your average elementary school geek who has zero interest in music. But ever since the day his classmate “Earn” shared her love for music with him, Ped in return wants to share his true feelings for her. Life has other plans for Earn when her parents whisk her away to Bangkok.

Ped has to put his love on hold and life goes on until one day they both unexpectedly run into each other in high school.

Earn is a guitar goddess hottie while Ped is still a geek. The hatch plan to form a rock band with their close school mates in the hopes to realize every teenage boy dream-to get with the hottest chicks! Only problem is musically the three of the suck and suck hard, but sometimes you got to SUCK before you SUCCEED!

(Plot Outline from Suckseed Singapore Facebook Page)

Larry Crowne [ Movie Review ] ★★1/2

The Pitch 

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, two of the Hollywood heavyweights (and Academy Awards winners) partner up for a romantic comedy about picking oneself up after suffering from one of the worst fallout of the economic downturn. A plot device that resonate with the current economic status in USA and other parts of the world.

Not forgetting that Tom Hanks had a great turn out when he directed That Thing You Do! Larry Crowne might just be able to cement his capability in directing movies.

Sound like a win win situation except that this movie is co written by Nia Vardalos who had seen big flops with her last few screenwriting efforts after My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The Plot

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) was a superb worker in U Mart and was expecting his 10th employee of the month award. Instead, he got fired and had a huge mortgage that he couldn't pay. Listening to his neighbor's advice, he went back to his local college to upgrade himself so that he could improve his chances at finding another job.

At the college, he became a part of a community of outcasts and individuals from all walks of life. In the public speaking class, he developed a crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), who has lost both the passion for teaching and her husband. 

The Perspective 

If you have gone to watch this movie, expecting portrayal of realism in unemployment, you would probably be disappointed. According to Tom Hanks, they did their research on the current economic downturn and unemployment, but it didn't translate well onto the big screen. The whole unemployment issue was dealt in a sloppy manner and it became a side dish to what this movie is actually about.

Larry Crowne is actually about the unlikely romance between Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts characters and the whole movie hinge on whether you buy their romance or not. Personally, the romance didn't work for me. It was hard to see how their characters tried to restrain their feelings for each other when there's hardly any chemistry between them.

But then again, the stars are worth the money that they are paid for this movie. The likeability of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts help eased sitting through this meandering romantic comedy. There's something about their star factor that helps them charms the audience when the material wasn't constructive enough and in this case, it was a big contribution to this movie. If it isn't for Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts, I could hardly find any reason to recommend this.

Definitely a big drop from his directorial debut, That Thing You Do!

The Beaver [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Pitch

These days, Mel Gibson has been surrounded by controversy that cause his career and popularity to plummeted into a free fall.  There's the DUI anti-semitism remarks and the ex girlfriend's domestic violence-related restraining order to name a few. He had been dropped by his agency and it would appeared that his career might be over.

Then comes Jodie Foster and this movie project about a depressed man who takes on a new persona through a beaver hand puppet. Perhaps its a way of helping her good friend out of a slum but the subject matter in The Beaver seemed like the right fix for Mel Gibson to exorcise his demons.

Putting Mel Gibson's problems aside, let's not forget that both Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster had made good movies as actors and directors before. Personally that an added incentive to see what their second collaboration* could churn out. (* their first being the enjoyable movie adaption of the western TV series, Mavericks)

The Plot

The Beaver follows the life of depressed toy executive Walter Black (Mel Gibson) who, after being kicked out by his wife, takes on a new persona in which he communicates through a beaver hand puppet. His wife ( Jodie Foster) and son (Anton Yelchin) are skeptical, but try to accept Walter as a favor to their younger son, who loves the beaver.

The Perspective

The Beaver felt like it's holding a mirror to what had transpired in Mel Gibson's downward spiral in recent years. His bout with depression and how he was perceived when he spoke of things without self censorship. At times, it felt like a raw confession done with a comedic touch that seeks the audience's understanding of what Mel Gibson went through.

Performance wise, Mel Gibson is a pretty good puppeteer. The way he switch accent and how he brought the beaver to life was impressive. There are a couple of time that it's hard to focus on both the actor and his puppet when "they" were delivering one heck of a performance.

The Beaver might not be everyone's cup of tea. It's good but it's really a depressing subject. Not exactly a movie that entertain the causal movie goers. It was also a box office flop in the USA and it make one wonder if the general public are still unwilling to forgive Mel Gibson for all the controversy that he had stirred up or they just didn't like the theme of this movie. Personally I suspect that it might be a mixture of both. But if one could look beyond the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson or even use it as a sort of enhancement in viewing The Beaver, it's an entertaining way to approach such a serious condition.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

Do we need another Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirates of the Caribbean adventure? The first was blast and it gave us the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow. The following back to back sequels were not that good and frankly, the novelty was wearing off. But the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise had been racking in the cash and in Hollywood, when there's profits to be made, it will be made.

Adapting Tim Power's book, On Stranger Tide to fit into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, this installment would see Johnny Depp's Captain Jack embark on a quest to seek out the fountain of youth. There will be old and new crew joining force to helm this latest installment. Geoffrey Rush (amazing performance in The King's Speech) and Kevin McNally would be returning as Barbossa and Gibbs respectively while Penélope Cruz will be playing Captain Jack's love interest Angelica and Ian McShane (Kungfu Panda) will be taking on the villainous role of Captain Blackbeard. Rob Marshall (9 and Chicago) will be taking over Gore Verbinski as the director.

Could this installment kick start another trilogy for Disney? or will it reaffirm that this series need to be put to rest? Will the absence of Gore Verbinski,  Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Will (Orlando Bloom) hinders the success of Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides ? Read on to find out This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

The Plot

The Spanish had discovered the map to the Fountain of Youth and they are on their way there. Not wanting to be outdone, King George II wants to send Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who had the map to the Fountain of Youth to guide an expedition to locate the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish. The expedition will be lead by Jack's old enemy Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) who turned into a privateer after losing Jack's ship, the Black Pearl and his leg.

Unwilling to comply, Jack escapes and soon found his father who warned him about the dangers of the Fountain of Youth. He also discovered an impostor who had been recruiting a crew for the search of the Fountain with his name. That impostor turned out to be Angelica (Penélope Cruz) a former lover whom Jack had abandon many years ago. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

Jack was unable to escape from Angelica's clutches and ended up on board of Blackbeard (Ian McShane)'s ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge. He found out that there's a prophecy that Blackbeard would be killed by a one-legged man and to circumvent that prophecy, Blackbeard wants to locate the Fountain of Youth. Jack also discovered that to make the Fountain work, a tear from a mermaid and two chalices from Juan Ponce de Leon would be needed. This set up a race between the Spanish, the British naval lead by Captain Barbossa and the Pirates consisting of Captain Jack, Angelica and Blackbeard to locate the fabled Fountain of Youth. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

The Perspective

On Stranger Tides serves it's function as a entertaining blockbuster for the summer crowd. If you are not expecting much, you would be satisfied with Johnny Depp doing his Jack Sparrow routine and the mystical pirating fun adventures that one would expect from this franchise. But if you are looking for more substance and comparing it to the first movie, this series is getting tiresome and this installment was not well constructed to give the audience the same buzz that the first movie had achieved.

The biggest problem with this movie was that it tried to take on too many characters and subplots. There's three different groups of people heading for the Fountain of Youth, two different couples trying to make their untimely (and unlikely) romance work and there are two archetype of villainy at play here. These characters and their motivation were adequately presented but there were enough time or focus to make us care about them.

The weakest character in the midst of all the new characters woul be Blackbeard. The pirate that all other pirates fears was not that scary at all. There were hardly any buildup to make it believable that he was the pirate that everyone else feared. The script didn't help when this fearsome pirate was on a quest for the Fountain due to a prophecy that he would be killed by a one legged man. How's that for bravery? Ian McShane was fantastic as the villain to reckon with when he voiced Tai Lung in Kungfu Panda and sadly the same result didn't replicate here.

Mermaids, best part of the show

The romance between the two couples here felt mishandled. It's not as clear cut or well established like the romance between Will and Elizabeth. The chemistry between Angelica and Jack Sparrow felt that it needed a little bit more work on it or maybe a little bit more screen time to make it convincing. The love story between the mermaid Syrena and Philip, the religious man who tried to redeem Blackbeard soul felt rather squeezed in to make the Fountain plot device work. It could have been easily written off and it would not have make any major impact to the story. Personally, the love story between Syrena and Philip bogged the pace of the story down. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

If On Stranger Tides was the first movie, I don't think they will be making so much money or churning out sequels like this franchise did. This installment felt bland and is running out of creative juice to drive this franchise. But then again, my friend who went in with low expectation had a jolly good time watching Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Perhaps it would be wiser to be less critical of this movie and just go with the flow on this one.


Coda

There's a scene at the end of the Credits. (Scroll Over to Read)It shows the abandoned Angelica sitting alone on the beach and She discovered Jack Sparrow's voodoo doll being washed up on the shores. Angelica takes the doll and smiles with a wicked intention for revenge (End of Scroll)

Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides Character Poster

Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides Character Poster

Updated: Movie Review

Beastly [ Movie Review ] ★1/2

The Pitch

Beauty and the Beast adapted to cater for the Twilight crowd. Good looking Hollywood youngster like Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen are likely cast to draw in the teenagers. Last but not least, put one or two really talented actors (Neil Patrick Harris and Lisa Gay Hamilton) in to support the main cast, just in case the main cast performance turned out to be disastrous.

Should be able to rake in a decent amount of profit out of the teenage demographic.

The Plot

Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) is a rich, good looking, rude and arrogant high school student. During a green committee president election, he cross path with an eccentric school mate Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) who vandalized his election posters. He also encounter Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), a green committee treasurer nominee whom he had a spark of romance with.

At a post election party for his victory, Kyle attempted to set a public humiliation to insulted Kendra for being ugly. He didn't expect that Kendra is actually a witch in disguise and for the last insult, she cast a spell on Kyle, rendering his face and body horribly disfigured. To remove the spell, he need to find someone that truly love him within a year or stay disfigured forever.

The Perspective

I didn't promise you a rose garden ... but I love you so I built one for you

Beastly achieved the unimaginable. It's actually worse than Twilight. Looking beyond the angsty teenage romance, this movie couldn't even deliver a simple and effective "Beauty and the Beast" love story. The delivery was choppy, unconvincing and filled with weak characterization. The attempt at romance was cringeworthy, juvenile  and rather hard to swallow.

The adaption tried to squeeze as much of Beauty and the Beast into this movie while catering to the Twilight crowds. The result was blatantly bad as the insertion was awkwardly done it only serve to remind us how good the classic was.

The only remarkable performance from this movie would be Neil Patrick Harris as Kyle's blind tutor and Lisa Gay Hamilton as the house maid. Their performance was at least entertaining and a breathe of fresh air after going through Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens's subpar performance. In no way is this a recommendation to watch this movie solely for Neil Patrick Harris and Lisa Gay Hamilton. It's wasn't not that good.

Do yourself a favor. Skip this and grab the Disney Beauty and the Beast Dvd instead.

The Lost Bladesman | 關雲長 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

The Pitch

Donnie Yen as Guan Yu? Can he pull it off? We have idealized Guan Yu as a 7ft tall man with long beard and red face. Donnie Yen is not exactly the tall guy that people would immediately think of when there's any casting rumor for the role of Guan Yu.

But since Donnie Yen is currently the hot property in the Hong Kong / China martial arts film industry, he is obviously the go to guy if you want to sell a martial arts film. Nevertheless he has also shown us that he could carry a dignified aura when he portrayal Ip Man in recent years so the height difference might not matter that much.

It would be interesting to see if his portrayal of Guan Yu could help boost his career in the same way as Ip Man had done previously.

Beside that, he had also roped in directors Alan Mak and Felix Chong (co directors for Lady Cop and Papa Crook & Overheard) and Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly) into this movie about Guan Yu's uneasy friendship with Cao Cao and how he crossed five passes while slaying six Generals. This story arc of Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms that focus on these two iconic characters had not been adapted for the big screen before and it's likely to draw the fans of epic historical battle of China in.

The Plot

During the warring period of Han Dynasty, Cao Cao (Jiang Wen) had attacked his rival warlord Liu Bei (Alex Fong) and managed to capture Liu Bei's family members. Liu Bei managed to flee while his sworn brother Guan Yu (Donnie Yen) remained under Cao Cao's command. Guan Yu was a formidable warrior and Cao Cao tried to enlist his aid by showering him with gifts and honorary title. However Guan Yu was a loyal friend of Cao Cao's enemy Liu Bei and he rejected Cao Cao's offer.

As Cao Cao tried to sway Guan Yu over to his side, he discovered that Guan Yu is secretly in love with his sworn brother's concubine Qilan (Betty Sun). In a last bid to buy Guan Yu's loyalty, Cao Cao sent Liu Bei's family members back and attempted to trick Guan Yu to show his love to Qilan with aphrodisiac wine. However Guan Yu managed to stay rational and stopped himself from taking advantage of Qilan.

A messenger arrived to inform Guan Yu on Liu Bei's whereabouts and after knowing where his sworn brother was located, he left Cao Cao's camp with Qilan. Cao Cao was unable to stop Guan Yu and due to a previous agreement, gave orders to his generals to give Guan Yu a safe passage through his territory. His generals on the other hand felt that it's a mistake to release Guan Yu back to the rival camp, so they plot to kill Guan Yu as he embarks on the journey back to Liu Bei.


The Perspective

Not being well versed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Last Bladesman was rather tedious and bewildering. There were plenty of things that were left unexplained or shown and being a first timer to this story arc of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was difficult to stay afloat with the sequence of things that happened. Let's just say that I had to Wikipedia after the show to get a better idea on what happened.

The significant of Guan Yu "Crossing Fives Passes and Slaying Six Generals" didn't translate well in this adaption. It felt like an excuse to showcase one fight sequence after another. The Wikipedia page on this segment also revealed that The Lost Bladesman had diluted the original tale so that they could fit in the unconvincing love angle between Guan Yu and Qilan. It would have been preferable if they had stick closer to the source material and abandon Qilan as love interest.

Otherwise, it was a relatively entertaining film to introduce newbies to this story arc of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Donnie Yen was adequate as the legendary Guan Yu but it was Jiang Wen who had stole the show with his rendition of Cao Cao. It might be an unfair comparison as Cao Cao definitely had more intriguing materials to play with. Not exactly a must watch but it wouldn't hurt to catch it.

Water For Elephants [ Movie Review ] ★★★★

The Pitch

How to be remembered after the Twilight Franchise ends? Or does Robert Pattinson has a career beyond the realm of Twilight? Let's just say that not many people have caught his last two non-Twilight flicks "How to be" and "Remember Me". These days, it's hard to rely on good looks and fan base to establish a acting career in Hollywood.

Water for Elephants might just be the break for him. Based on Sara Gruen's novel that was on New York Times Best Seller list for 12 weeks, the tale about a man running away with the circus might just be the one that gives him a chance to convince the non-Twilight fans of his appeal and charisma beyond the sullen Cullen persona.

Besides that, Robert Pattinson is getting support from two Oscar winners. Christoph Waltz made his mark with his memorable portrayal of SS Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, will be menacing the adulterous couple as the circus ringmaster. Reese Witherspoon who did a fantastic rendition of June Carter in Walk The Line will be circus star performer and the unwitting love interest in a complicated love triangle.


The Plot

Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) a young veterinary school student suffers a major blow in his life during the final paper. His parents passed away in an automobile accident and the bank was taking back all the property that his parents had mortgaged for his school fees. Lost and devastated with the chain of events, he wandered about on a train track and came across a traveling circus.

Since he is a veterinary student who almost completed his  degree, he was taken in by the charismatic but brutal ring master August (Christoph Waltz). Jacob soon form an uneasy relationship with August and his wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), the a performer of the circus who works with animals.

As Jacob and Marlena works together with Rosie the elephant (a recent acquirement by August) to form a new star attraction for the circus, they started to grow fond of each other. August grew suspicious of their relationship and confronted them with threats and physical abuse. Could these two lovebirds escapes the ringmaster crutches and set off to find a better life elsewhere?

The Perspective

Water for Elephant turned out to be surprisingly good. First and foremost, this movie managed to capture the pure escapism of running away with a circus. It also did well to convey the sense of old school grandeur that only a circus could provide. It provided reminders on why the circus is such a place of wonderment and danger that mesmerized us.

Besides the glam and glitz of the circus act, it also dealt with animal abuse issues that plague the circus group for a long time. How are the animals treated in circus and what do they do to make them perform. The case here would be Rosie, the elephant that could not be trained. What do you do when that happened? Getting Rosie was a considerate sum of investment and the circus workers need to make a living. Water for Elephant gave an interesting perspective to both sides .

The cast were fabulous in their respective roles. Hal Holbrook short performance as the old Jacob who was narrating this story was a strong anchor to start and end the movie. Christoph Waltz shined again as a morally conflicted villain who was effortlessly charming but yet with a menacing edge. This is one performance that makes you forget the lame Green Hornet villain that he did recently.

Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon would be one of the most badly mismatched couple on screen in recent years. They both gave a great performance but when they appeared on screen together as a couple, the chemistry between them are just not there. It's easy to believe Jacob's lovelorn feelings for Marlena and Marlena's conflicted emotions but when they come together, they simply don't look like a couple in love.

There are also some rather apparent loopholes in this movie. The biggest one would be why did Jacob went on a journey after his parents passed away. Even though he became homeless, it's likely that his school fees had been paid in full and he was just one exam away from being a certified vet. Why would he abandon his last chance of making a living, especially during the Great Depression period?

Nevertheless, it's easy to forget those glaring loopholes and get swept away by the chain of events that occurred in Water for Elephants. It brought back some of the old magical charms of circus life and the love triangle between the three main characters were well handled. Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon might be the mismatched screen couple of the year but lucky that bit could be easily overlooked. Water for Elephants come highly recommended.

The Roommate [ Movie Review ] ★★

The Pitch

The premise of unexpected encounters with a psychopath has been done numerous of times before. There's one with young kids (Macaulay Culkin & Elijah Wood) in The Good Son and then there's the demented nanny (Rebecca De Mornay) in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. In recent years, there's the Obsessed co worker stalker with Ali Larter and Beyoncé Knowles. Even the premise for The Roommate felt so much like a repeat of Single While Female that there are people calling this movie the Single While College Female.

Casting wise, the two female leads, Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester are relatively unknown to me. The last time I saw Minka Kelly was her turnout as Autumn in (500) Days of Summer and even in those brief moment, she was hot enough to be register in my mind. I would have probably saw Leighton Meester in Going the Distance and Date Night but it's hard to recall what were her roles in those movies.

Nevertheless, a good psychological horror can still comes from formulaic plots and unknown actors, as long as there's good handing of the materials. Let's see if these two young ladies are able to present a good psychological trauma / scare for hooking up with the wrong roommate.

The Plot

Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly) is starting her college life at ULA and it's off to a good start. Her hostel mate Tracy Morgan (Alyson Michalka) is bringing her to party and she meets up with a  fraternity house  band drummer Stephen Morterelli (Cam Gigandet). Just the type of distraction she needs to forget about her pestering ex boyfriend.

Eventually she met her new roommate Rebecca Evans (Leighton Meester) who seemed to be a quiet rich girl that enjoys the art gallery more than parties. They started to bond well and even took care of a stray kitten together. But as times goes on, Rebecca obsession with Sara started to unravel and she would goes to the extremes to keep Sara close to her. It just matter of time that Sara would find out that something is not right with her Roommate.

The Perspective

The Roommate is one suspense thriller that is not suspenseful or thrilling. It's so predictable that you could easily guess what's going to happen next. Sara thinking of moving out of the hostel due to the no kitten rule, no prize for guessing what's going to happen to the kitten. Sara's professor making a pass at her, who going to help her take revenge without her knowing. The setups for the psycho roommate to exercise her psycho way of caring were too apparent that viewers are able to guess what's coming next.

It doesn't help that Leighton Meester's rendition of a psycho roommate was pretty bland. There's nothing about her that's truly spooky or scary. She looks like a moody college student trying to look dangerous and there's hardly anything sinister about her even when she was out doing terrible things for Sara. If anyone is interested in how a freaking female psycho should be like, look for  Kathy Bates' Annie Wilkes performance in Misery.

The only highlight in this movie would be Minka Kelly. She still look as hot as she was in the few seconds of (500) Days of Summer. It's nice to have her as eye candy when the plot was so formulaic and deary. But then again, this is suppose to be a suspense drama thriller and for that, there's nothing appealing that worth recommending. It would have been better to rent the other old psychopath movies (mentioned above) instead

A Chinese Ghost Story | A Chinese Fairy Tale | 倩女幽魂 [ Movie Review ] ★★

The Pitch

It's hard to keep a good story away but then again, it's also hard to tell a good story. A Chinese Ghost Story had already received a sequel treatment, a second sequel (which is essentially a remake), an animation and probably had a TV series or two. This is one story that most Asians know by heart and it's getting the remake treatment again.

This time round, the remake is helm by Ip Man director Wilson Yip with a new cast featuring the likes of Louis Koo (who been in almost all major recent Hong Kong movies), Liu Yifei (The Forbidden Kingdom), Yu Shaoqun (Kungfu Wing Chun), Kara Hui (At the End of Daybreak) and Louis Fan (Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky).
 
There's a strange and unexpected twist in this rendition of A Chinese Ghost Story. Louis Koo who is obviously the lead actor in this movie had been cast as Yan Chixia (a supporting role in the original film) while China actor Yu Shaoqun would be playing Ning Caichen (the lead role in the original film). Does that means there a shift in love interest for Xiao Qian (the female lead role) or has Ning Caichen been demoted to a supporting role?

It turned out that this remake will be heading towards a love triangle between these three characters. That's something that have not been done for any of A Chinese Ghost Story franchise. Will this modification to the beloved story work? The odds are definitely stacked against Wilson Yip, Yu Shaoqun, Liu Yifei and Louis Koo right at the start. Can they spin something new out from the old tale and perhaps create a movie that could stand on par with the old one?

The Plot

This movie starts with Yan Chixia (Louis Koo), a demon slayer trainee who had been tasked to kill a fox spirit by his teacher. He was about to succeed in killing fox spirit but couldn't bring himself to do it. Later on,  Xiao Qian (Liu Yifei) the same fox spirit that were let off, ambushed Yan Chixia but instead of killing him, she became entranced with the sweets that Yan Chixia was carrying. That's how their unnatural relationship begun and things were rosy until it came to a stage that Yan Chixia was forced to either kill her or mind swipe/wide her so that she couldn't remember their relationship.

The movie then jumped forward to a sudden confrontation with the Tree Demon (Kara Hui). For some strange and unexplained reasons, Yan Chixia couldn't bring himself to destroy the Tree Demon. His hesitation caused the death of his fellow demon slayers and the left arm of his fellow demon slayer Thunder (Louis Fan). Even after losing their fellow disciples, the two demon slayers managed to captured and seal the Tree Demon up in a magical spell.

Years later, Ning Caichen, a technician sent by the courts, arrived in the village that been having droughts. He been tasked to solve their water problem and offered to scout out the nearby mountains for new water source. The villagers knew that the mountain has been cursed with evil spirits send a bunch of condemned prisoners to accompany this clueless technician.

While digging for water, they were hit by a freak storm and decided to take shelter at a nearby building. The building would turn out to be the infamous Orchid Temple where the Tree Demon resides (or being sealed in). They found a big fountain with water in it. While Ning Caichen was trying to figure out the water source for this fountain, the rest of the condemned prisoners were quickly seduced by scantily clothed nubile ladies.

Those ladies soon revealed themselves as the Tree Demon's henchmen and sucked the life out of these condemned prisoners. Meanwhile, Ning Caichen encountered Xiao Qian but resisted her attempts to arouse him. Finding that rare, she became interested in him. To sweeten the deals, Ning Caichen had sweets with him and that make him even more appealing to her.

But of course, when the spirits are trying to freed the Tree Demon with the life force of the condemned prisoners, Yan Chixia won't be too far away. Can love blossom between Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian when Yan Chixia hangs around like a jealous ex boyfriend. The clueless Ning Caichen was also planning to blast the fountain basement with explosive so that the villages could get back their water. What he didn't know would be that the Tree Demon is sealed at the bottom of the fountain.

The Perspective

The original A Chinese Ghost Story was a classic because they have a simple effective story and they have really good actors making their characters memorable. That two elements that this remake is sorely missing.

In order to give the audience something new and perhaps cater to the Twilight fans, they created a love triangle between Xiao Qian, Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia. The love triangle might have worked if there's more time to flesh out their characters and relationships. What we got here would be a super quick introduction arc to establish the unlikely romance between Xiao Qian and Yan Chixia. Then the movie went on to create the sparks between Xiao Qian and Ning Caichen while putting Yan Chixia on a back burner.

The handling was choppy and unbalanced that it was hard to feel the dilemma or conflicts that this love triangle set up was trying to achieve. It felt like a convoluted story that needs a better director / scriptwriter to tell.

Louis Koo, one of the most established actor in this lot, struggled Yan Chixia role. He had to balance between the sentimentalism of a forgotten love and the cynical demon slayer who is trying very hard not to care. There isn't much time or material in this movie for him to achieve both aspects. 

The two young China actors, Yu Shaoqun and Liu Yifei felt like a poor replacement. Their version of Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian felt like a couple of teenagers in love. There's a hollow ring to it and it's pretty uninspiring like the Twilight Belle and Edward. There's so many degree of Leslie Cheung's Ning Caichen and Yu Shaoqun could only portray it with the usual China style of naivety. Joey Wong's Xiao Qian was seductive, playful and a mix of innocence while Liu Yifei just felt like a teenager who can't seduce to save her own life.

The blossoming romance between Yu Shaoqun and Liu Yifei's characters was the bulk of the movie and yet it pale in contrast to the introductory and finale arc that depicts the romance between Louis Koo's Yan Chixia and Liu Yifei's Xiao Qian. That not to say that the romance between Yan Chixia and Xiao Qian were that convincing either but it helps to put into perspective how bad the chemistry was between Yu Shaoqun and Liu Yifei.
 
Strangely, the folks that really shine for this movie would be Kara Hui and Louis Fan. It seemed that they could really cut loose with their supporting character. Kara Hui's rendition Tree Demon was on par or even better than the original Tree Demon. Louis Fan's Thunder felt like the real Yan Chixia in this A Chinese Ghost Story mythology. 

Beside that, this new A Chinese Ghost story contains some really nice effects shots. Yan Chixia being stuck in an ocean of leaves and Thunder's floating tattoos were some of the memorable CGI moments of this movie. But then again, special effects don't really make a movie.

In closing, Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong and Wu Ma had left an indelible mark for their performance as Ning Caichen, Xiao Qian and Yan Chixia respectively. Personally, Yu Shaoqun, Liu Yifei and Louis Koo didn't bring much to this well loved characters. But without being so critical or liking the original movie so much, this remake could be a passable entertainment. It seemed that this movie is targeted to the younger generation who likes the Twilight type of love triangle and I got a feeling that they will like this one too. For me, I am listing this as a bad remake.

Beyond the movie

A Chinese Fairy Tale ???

While surfing around Wikipedia & AsianMediaWiki for more information on this movie, I was surprise to see that the A Chinese Ghost Story remake is actually named A Chinese Fairy Tale.  The Chinese title remained the same. It just that the Ghost was replaced by Fairy in the English title of this movie.

I am not sure which country will be having this movie as A Chinese Fairy Tale. I suspect that the change would be to cater to the China censors who are rather picky about showing supernatural, religious and spiritual stuff.

But then again, this movie is about fox spirit, tree demon and demon slayers. Although the talismans, Taoist priest and Monks are all missing in this remake, the subject matters are already of the supernatural stuff. It just didn't make sense.

The name change could be just some region way of distancing themselves from the classic or an attempt to attract customers to this movie without letting them know that this is a remake.

I got no idea. Is China still so stringent about supernatural elements in their movies? Their film industry are opening up rapidly and raking in all the big bucks. Are they still going to be so picky? Would be great if someone could let me know why is there a name change.

Nearer to Singapore

Apparently this movie is too much for Malaysia. Just came across a news that mention the Malaysia censor cut a sex scene between Liu Yi Fei and Louis Koo for their 18 Rated Theatrical release. It also mention that Singapore release was release with the scene intact. Frankly I don't remember that sex scene at all. Might have been too preoccupied with the thoughts of what went wrong with this movie to take notice.

anyway, the link for the article here
Sexy ghost too sexy for most?

Source Code [ Movie Review ]

The Pitch

Think Groundhog Day meets Quantum Leap and you get the rough idea for Source Code.

One military captain leaping into the memory of a teacher who died earlier in the morning when a bomb went off on his train. The catch here would be that he got only 8 minutes of the dead teacher final moments to figure out where's the bomb and who's the bomber. If he can't achieve that, he would get to do it again and relive that 8 minutes again.

Quite an intriguing premise for Source Code. How is he going to solve this case within those 8 minutes and will he be able to save the folks in the train even though they are already dead (as the trailer suggested)? It would be interesting to how much they are willing to bend their own sci-fi rules for that.

Director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) was one of the key factor for interest in this movie. He had a superb debut with Moon, a movie with budget constrain but yet innovative and engaging at the same time. His debut made him a director to be reckon with and the trailer for Source Code looks like he is going to deliver another intriguing solid follow up.

The Plot

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is bewildered to find himself waking up on a train bound for Chicago when the last thing he remembered was that he was on a mission in Afghanistan. A lady named Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) sitting across to him seemed to know him and was talking to him. Colter tried to get a grip on what's happening and he found out that his reflection had changed to another person. His identification card in his wallet belongs to a man named Sean Fentress.

Before he could try to figure out more, a bomb went off and destroys everything.

He reawaken in a chamber where a lady officer talks to him through a small monitor. Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) informed him that he is inside the Source Code. A program that allows him to take over the last eight minutes of someone's life. There's been a terrorist attack on a train heading to Chicago that morning and he been tasked to find out where's the bomb and who's the bomber before the terrorist attacks Chicago again with a larger more destructive bomb.

Before he could question more about the mission and why couldn't he remember anything between his last mission from Afghanistan to his current mission, he was send back to the train. He managed to find the bomb but before he could do anything to locate the bomber, the bomb went off and send him back to the chamber.

As he went back and forth the chamber and the train "simulation", he learned more about the Source Code from the creator Dr Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright). He been told that no matter how he try to change the past, it would not have effect in this future. The only way he could help the future would be to learn from the past and provide the information to stop the impending second terrorist attack. Unsure and frustrated about not remembering how he got assigned to this project, Captain Colter started to feel that Captain Goodwin and Dr Rutledge are hiding something from him.