Movie Weekend: Thoughts

I watched several movies over the weekend and I shall recap some small thoughts I had:


Star Trek - this latest installment RAWKS. I'm not a Trekkie, so I don't have any knowledge of how true-to-original this movie was. I just liked the story, the cinematography, the wittiness of the script and also Captain Kirk (or rather, the hawtie who played the young Kirk). Initially I had problems with Spock. I couldn't help thinking, "Oh no, Sylar has fooled them into thinking he's Spock!" (You know, with his abilities and all, he fooled people into thinking he's Nathan and now he's Spock?) But after a while, I got over it and I found him a rather enjoyable Spock. Especially after he gets the girl. So yea, I also liked this version of Spock. :D

Starship Troopers 3 - I just chanced on this and watched it. It's actually quite entertaining, especially the script can be quite spoofy, witty and sarcastic, despite all the blood and gore. This means I've seen all 3 Starship Troopers!

Dark Knight - I don't get it , I just don't get it. The awards that went to this show I mean. Ok, it was entertaining and people are emotional due to the tragedy surrounding this movie, but still.

The Duchess - I don't like Keira Knightley, but I must admit she turned in a fine performance. I totally believed her pain and anguish, plus sympathised with her. The beautiful sets and costumes definitely helped alot too. Sad to say, I'm a sop and cried buckets at her plight, at 1am in the morning and couldn't get to sleep after all the agitation.







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Review: Let The Right One In

I debated watching the movie version of Let The Right One In before reading the book, which I just bought over the weekend.

In the end, curiosity won and I decided to watch the movie first, because I'm in the midst of reading After Dark by Haruki Murakami.

The film was moody and the main actors were well cast, but I suspect it doesn't delve enough into the juicy bits of the book, because I went away from the movie feeling nothing much. I wasn't drawn into the lives of the main characters nor become engaged in their problems. In fact, I just realised, I came away from the show feeling like I just finished watching a documentary!

The story is about 2 young people on the verge of adolescence, both 12 years old, coming from very different but maybe not so different circumstances. The girl is a vampire and the other a young boy who is suffering from vicious bullying in school.

Credit must be given to the cinematography, with beautiful shots and exquisite lighting. However, that is all that I found nice about the show. I think I must read the book before I express more thoughts and opinions about the movie.


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Review: 28 Weeks Later

Saw the vcd (that I bought recently) of 28 Weeks Later last night.

It's a story of events 28 weeks post 28 Days Later, where the zombies have died and people have re-entered Britain (or as hinted, repatriated back) to reconstruct it with the assistance of an almost all-American NATO force. Most of the rest of England is fenced off, while the citizens live in a protected reconstruction zone. The zombie-infection is re-introduced into the city by a stroke of stupidy and carelessness, via contact with an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, who was brought into the reconstruction zone.

28 Days Later was a great atmospheric-shocker zombie movie set in England. It was well-filmed and well-written, so I hoped the sequel, 28 Weeks Later, might be just as good. 28 Weeks Later was made by original production crew, with original director Danny Boyle playing a key role as the Executive Producer.

However, I was quite let down by 28 Weeks Later. Besides a shocking opening scene, the rest of the movie was lacking in thrills, tension and atmosphere. Not surprising that the sequel was certainly a pale comparison to the original. It might have to do with the fact that the director is different and there were so many writers for the sequel, compared to only 1 for the original.

Furthermore, I did not have any emotional connection with the lead characters, unlike in the first film, where I felt for and sympathised with almost everyone. The leads in 28 Weeks Later were played poorly by the actors (with the exception of the very excellent Robert Carlyle, who did what he could with what he was given, then couldn't do much more because he became a zombie *sigh*).

Probably, the script was badly written and badly filmed (I felt almost no build-up of tension and the supposed climactic scene was ... clinical to me). I was immensely annoyed with everyone, and felt nothing at all when they were in danger or when they died!

While it's not a bad film (by many standards, I think it exceeds alot of the Hollywood fare), I think it failed to live up to the standards set by 28 Days Later. I do not regret spending time watching this film, but I was quite disappointed by it.


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Twilight & The Day The Earth Stood Still

We finally got woke up and out of the house yesterday to catch 2 movies.

Twilight

Twilight felt so lame. Sigh. I did so want to like it.

The cinema was almost entirely filled with squeeling girls who gasped and twitched whenever Robert Pattinson/Edward Cullen appeared! But what the ... he's so wooden and stiff! I think he was better as a nice, smiley boy in Harry Potter.

I didn't really like the makeup done for the vampires. I liked Kristen Stewart/Bella's though, especially loved her hair.

Strangely, the movie made me want to read the books. I didn't really like the romance part even though it's really The Main Plot. I think the back stories are actually more interesting hahaha, like the feud between the wolves and the vampires. Rehashed but I like the way Stephenie Meyer added the touch about the Indian-wolf connection. I want to find out how it all ends.

Now feeling sorry that I didn't get the books during Kinokuniya's 20% discount period!!! Sheesh.

OMG, how could I forget this? I love the Cullen cars in the movie though. HOHOHO.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Not an earth-shaking movie but good fun. Good pace, nice special effects.

Beautiful leads.

Keanu Reeves - Gorgeous - Wonderful casting, he's always good in this sort of role that doesn't require much emoting.

Jennifer Connelly - Sooo ethereal - Love her in soft focus - she's gotten so thin - I want to be thin like her - but I don't have the determination - but I want to be like her!


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Bolt and Madagascar 2

I'm on a weeklong leave now and brought my son out yesterday for movies. We saw Bolt and Madagascar Escape 2 Africa.

Both Bolt and Madagascar 2 provided lots of laughs, good family entertainment and lovely animation. However, we agreed that we prefer Bolt, both for the storyline, the good comic sequences and the "cuteness" factor.

There really isn't much more that can be said, beyond what critics and reviewers have already written. The only recommendation is: If you can only watch one, go for Bolt. I personally liked how they captured the essence of animal behaviour in the animation.

In Bolt, it seemed like the animals were the main focus, meaning, they retained animal characteristics and did not become too humanised. I felt this was an improvement over the latest animal animation where the animals were like humans dressed up as animals. In the longer past, for shows like 101 Dalmations or even The Lady and The Tramp, animals retained animal characteristics and seemed less human. However in comparison, shows like Madagascar, made the animals, like the Lion seem too human, eg. walk on 2 legs too often and smile in human ways, that they lose the sense of being an animal.

Oh-oh I didn't expect to talk so much about the difference between an animal that looks like an animal who happens to be able to "talk" and an animal that seems like a human dressed up as an animal ...

I'm just often worried that people don't quite understand what I mean. It's hard to express certain ideas sometimes.

Anyway, if you get a chance to watch Bolt, let me know what you think?

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The Plague

I bought this VCD on Saturday at SG$5 for some cheap entertainment and watched it last night.

In this show, children all over the world were suddenly attacked by fits and fell into a coma for 10 years, then woke up and started killing all the adults. There's no explanation for why the children fell into a coma or why they had to kill all the adults or why at the end of the show, the sacrifice of one man made them all stop the killing.

There were some good shocks but other than that, the movie was a lousy immitation of the usual zombie movies. It tried to do a little more by putting in some extra messages about love and how to bring up children but it was not developed properly. While I do like movies that give clues and let the viewer think for himself, this movie tried but failed to do that.

So, overall, it's such a silly show. Besides the senseless script, the acting is wooden and the special effects so terrible for a show made in 2006.

The movie is supposed to be based on something Clive Barker wrote or something inspired by him, but I can't tell how much influence he really had in this movie because it really was so bad.


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Vexille

We stayed up to watch Vexille on Octo last night.

The way the storyline unfolded in stages, together with enough action sequences, kept me piqued and keen to continue staying up to watch. I liked the art work with surreal and beautiful scenes.

Here's a Wiki link to the plot summary of Vexille, but I'd say not to read it, but watch the anime first so that the story reveals itself slowly to you.

The only misgiving I had about this was the key premise for the entire show, which is also the turning point that reveals the main "secret". I felt it's an unrealistic one, as in why did "It" have to done to everyone?

Other than that, I felt it was an entertaining anime, worth staying up late to watch.

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Dog Bite Dog

I finally watched Dog Bite Dog last night. It is another film I saw to satisfy my current obsession with Edison Chen. I'm having a personal Edison Chen Film Fest right now if you haven't noticed.

Why do I say finally? It is because my husband bought the disc last year but I didn't bother about it until I realised recently that Edison Chen is the lead actor.

There's already a very good review and commentary on Dog Bite Dog on the Love HK website and at Swifty so I won't give a synopsis of the plot here, but here are my personal views of the movie:

1. Edison Chen looked good (such a pretty boy!), even when he was unwashed, dressed in a sack and caked with dirt, mud and blood for the entire duration of the film.
2. On a personal level is completely violent and dissatisfying. But it is well-filmed though over-the-top in some parts so it might appeal to the art or cult film buff. I only enjoyed it because Edison Chen appeared in 80% of the shots.
3. For me, Edison Chen again proved his ability as an actor in this movie. He was very good in it! His body language, facial expressions and eyes conveyed many nuances needed in a role where he spoke no more than 10 sentences. (I didn't really count but I think it might even be no more than 5 sentences.) I heard from a friend that Edison Chen is known to be an actor who is serious about his craft but he was given 花瓶 (decorative) roles because of his previous management company.

Are you tired of hearing about Edison Chen yet? Oh well, I'm still obsessed for the moment so you have to bear with me. I'm going to search for more Edison Chen movies to watch before I get sick of him, so you're going to see some more posts about his movies in the coming days.

Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name

The Death Note movies were released in 2006 but I didn't watch them in the cinemas then because I wanted to watch both Death Note and its sequel Death Note: The Last Name at the same time. The movies are based on the manga series of the same name, and are basically about the battle of wits between Light (Kira) and L. Light is a university student who finds a notebook, the Death Note, that enables him to kill people by writing their names on it, while L is the mysterious detective (we find out later that he is a youth like Light) who tries to bring the murderer, Kira, to justice. The other important characters include CGI death gods who are the previous owners of the Death Notebooks, and the owners of the other Death Notebook.

Last night, I finally got to watch both Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name.

Personally, I was rooting for Light the entire time, even though he was the increasingly evil protagonist. Right to the end, I wanted him to win the battle with L and get away with his crimes. He was charming, cool, intelligent and very magnetic, even though the actor who played Light, Tatsuya Fujiwara, is rather effeminate in appearance. In the storyline, Light was well-loved by many people in his life, his girlfriends, his family and by the public, as the anonymous alter-ego, Kira. This was because Kira took the law into his own hands, killing off criminals who escaped the law. This made some of the public feel the murders were justified because the crime rates fell as a result. Tatsuya Fujiwara has the appropriate manga-ish looks and he has magnetic eyes which express many emotions with just one glance. Though he is not really my type of actor in terms of looks, he is still nonetheless very attractive. I remember him from Battle Royale too.

L in comparison was seriously too weird and aloof. Munching on sweets all the time, enforcing torturous interrogation methods in a cold and calculative manner, with beady, shifty, kohl-lined eyes which never look directly at anyone. In the movie, many people were also not very emotionally attached to him at all. The actor Ken'ichi Matsuyama who portrayed L is also not charismatic. So, I really disliked him. The only time I felt sympathy for him was at the end where he revealed his modus operandi that entailed a sacrifice on his part.

These characterisations of the main protagists were, in my opinion, very suitable for the 2 who personify the opposite poles of the rule of law versus vigilant justice. The law, represented by L, is cold, not always comfortable, sometimes oppressive and often non-humanistic. Vigilant justice on the other hand, as represented by Kira, is emotional and seductive. In this way I think the movies work very well.

Similarly the plot with its twists and turns is exciting and mind-boggling. The movies were engaging, but they might not be for everyone. My husband got bored with trying to follow the story and ended up walking away before the end of the first movie. I have not read the manga nor seen the anime, but the movies have made me very interested to do so. I am considering purchasing the DVD so that I can rewatch the shows in the future.

The Grudge 2

You all know I watched The Grudge 2 for the sake of looking at Edison Chen (eye candy). I wasn't expecting much from the movie (I thought it's another toned down Hollywood remake) nor Edison Chen (he's no highbrow thespian), but I ended up pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained by both.

Like it says on Wikipedia, The Grudge 2 is the 2006 sequel to the 2004 American horror film The Grudge. The Grudge was a Hollywood remake of J-horror film, Ju-on. Though directed by the same Japanese director as for Ju-on, to me, The Grudge paled in comparison to the Japanese original. It was a considerable box office success which led to the sequels, but somehow, I felt less freaked out by it than I was with Ju-on.

But as I found out last night, The Grudge 2 is not a remake of the Japanese Ju-on: The Grudge 2. The Grudge 2 instead explores interesting concepts of spirit containment (or the loss of it) and the contagion of malicious evil (without giving out too many spoilers). It is not apparent from the start but the show is not told in a traditional linear time-line, and ends in a surprising twist of sorts. It turned out to be a rather clever script with a few thoroughly good scares snuck in between.

In terms of creep factor, I still feel the original Ju-on collection of films is more on the nose. Watching the DVD extras, I learnt that Takashi Shimizu (director of the original series) had to do things differently because he needed to make the story and innuendos easier for the western audience to understand. I have not thought this through properly but I guess that perhaps because of this that some things are made more obvious and left less to the imagination. As a result, the cinematography The Grudge 2 becomes pretty much tamed down and less creepy. Nonetheless, I still had some good shocks and small screams, though I didn't have any lingering images to haunt my dreams.

Besides the clever storyline, I was impressed by the improvement in Edison Chen's acting too. He turned in a credible performance, unlike in most of the Hong Kong productions where he mostly looks cool or emotes silently. To me, like some other actors we know, he has the disadvantage of having a pretty face, which detracts from his acting abilities. Maybe that's why he's mostly given the pretty-boy roles in the Hong Kong movies. Furthermore, in most of the Hong Kong productions he acted in, Cantonese is the main language used and I realised from scouring the web, he's not comfortable with the language at all. I suspect that is why he has fewer speaking lines in the Hong Kong movies. It is no surprise that as a Canadian born Chinese, brought up in the west, he is able to speak fluently and comfortably in English in The Grudge 2 and in the DVD extras interview clips. Perhaps because The Grudge 2 is filmed in language which he is comfortable with, he seems better able to understand the nuances and hence act better! I'm looking forward to seeing more films from him.

So, overall, The Grudge 2 was a pleasant evening of scary entertainment! I was very happy to see Sarah Michelle Gellar again, in the first few scenes. Maybe I need to have my own Buffy rerun!

Initial D

I borrowed and watched all 3 installments of Infernal Affairs last week. The first movie was the best, then the series spiraled down into a confused mess by the 3rd installment. I only liked Infernal Affairs 2 because of Edison Chen. He's awfully cute but had very little screen time in Infernal Affairs 2. I wanted to see more of him, so I borrowed Initial D and watched it last night. Again, he had very little screen time on this show but was cute as ever. Since I am also an admirer of Jay Chou I wasn't completely unhappy with the movie. It is a very fun movie with lots of comic relief and exciting racing scenes. I feel like looking up the Initial D OVA.

I couldn't help comparing Initial D with Tokyo Drift. Having watched both Tokyo Drift movies, I prefer Tokyo Drift overall in terms of stunts and cinematography, but I dislike 2 Fast 2 Furious. There are some aspects of Initial D which I feel are nicer than Tokyo Drift though. First of all, I prefer the cast in Initial D, including Edisen Chen (ofcourse) and Jay Chou. I also prefer the way the hero (or main character) is portrayed in Initial D. Takumi (Jay Chou) is the reluctant hero, who has the skills and talent but does not show it off. In comparison, Sean (Lucas Black in Tokyo Drift) was brash and showy. Maybe it is a trite comparison but I think it might be the difference between East and West.

Interestingly, last night I saw Princess Blade, another movie based on anime like Initial D, just before watching Initial D, and Yuki Hime was also the reluctant heroine but with superb skills and talents in Japanese martial arts. I like the reluctant heros.

Polar told me not to write an entire blog entry about Edison Chen. Though I started this entry wanting to do that, I obeyed her. Nevertheless, I will end here by saying I still need more Edison Chen eye candy, so luckily, I have The Grudge 2 on loan from Video Ezy and I intend to watch it tonight. I prefer the original Japanese version, Ju-on, but I watched the first Hollywood remake The Grudge for the sake of Sarah Michelle Gellar (cause I miss Buffy!) so it's not surprising that I will be watching this sequel for Edison Chen. I suspect he will not have much screen time either, he's actually not a very good actor. I wonder why E! placed him as the No.1 next big Asian star (I saw this on TV and I can't remember the title of the show), ranking higher than Rain! I guess it might be because he has this great business acumen, attitude and speaks perfect Canadian accented English. And gosh, he has a blog which ofcourse I'm adding to my google reader. Definitely. Even though it might well be ghost written by some kid on his payroll.

Spiderman 3 Rawks!

Boy I'm tired. After a week of fevers, I managed to get better and went to catch Spiderman 3. Like my son says, "IT RAWKS!" I love black-suited spidey - but Peter Parker will always be such a nerd! Hee ... just look at how he dances even when he's got the dark side on! Wahahaha. But I've always loved Spiderman - he's fallable and adorable. And I like every character in Spiderman - they are always so human - even the villians. Everyone go watch it - even though some complained it's such a soppy love story - I think there's enough of everything to satisfy the whole family - love, action and the dark side.

I finished reading The Changed Man, by Orson Scott Card and Strawberry Marshmallow, Vol. 2. I'm now rereading Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut* for the Dystopian Challenge AND the Banned Books Challenge - I'm having a hard time starting on Arabian Nights - I wonder why. I read Cat's Cradle long ago, when I was a teenager, but I don't think it made sense to me then, because I don't remember it much. It makes me think of watching Donnie Darko.

*Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
The Strongsville, Ohio School Board (1972) voted to withdraw this title from the school library; this action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District, 541 F. 2d 577 (6th Cir. 1976). Challenged at Merrimack, NH High School (1982).
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/reasonsbanned.htm