Movie Review: The Magic Gourd

The biggest reason why The Magic Gourd will probably be a hit amongst the younger crowd is its ability to extract, refine and hand on a silver platter a piece of their very own imagination. The whole “finding a magic object that’ll grant wishes, solve problems and gives everything desired” is strangely similar to the “finding a magical land in the wardrobe” scenario in The Chronicles of Narnia. Where childhood fantasies can be enhanced by special effects, profit can often be found.

A half live-action, half animated film made by Centro, China Movie Co Ltd and Disney, the animation of course isn’t comparable to that of Pixar’s, though perhaps the cartoonish characters are intentional and without detail for the simplicity and benefit of the young audience.

When a boy finds a magical, genie-like living gourd that can grant him anything and everything he wishes, he becomes lazy and unmotivated to work for whatever he wants. Unwittingly, the well-meaning gourd then teaches him the value of hard work through several misinterpretations that lands his master in embarrassing situations. It’s really reverse psychology if you think about it – by giving the boy literally what he asks – to be in a dinosaur-featuring movie rather than be in the cinema, for example – the boy finally realises the trouble isn’t worth the short cut and decides to get working to be successful.

The plot is rather typical for a Disney production, and also goes hand in hand with the moral values parents so often try to instill in their children. The Magic Gourd is a good adventurous and slightly comical film perfect for the family; the humour in the film isn’t the least dark or sinister; the adorable talking gourd is purely the object of bully for someone greedy and without guilt. Unlike The Chronicles of Narnia, though, the film doesn’t quite appeal to adults who are young at heart but toughened by the knowledge that not all hard work goes appreciated in the real world.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Superbad

Surprising how you can have a totally simple event be and have it made into a film. Superbad is a movie based entirely on the catastrophic outcome of two teenage boys who try desperately to get their underaged hands on alcohol for a party they aren’t exactly invited to in hopes of getting laid by their respective impressed crushes. If you thought that sentence was long, the film at almost two hours for such an outlandish story will seem like a drag, which it surprisingly isn’t.

The film stars Jonah Hill as Seth, an unbelievably lusty high school senior, and his co-dependent nerdy sidekick Evan (Michael Cera). Even geekier is Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who gets involved in the plan to supply party-goers with alcohol, with hopes of raising his social status. Predictably, things go awry and before they know it, Fogell is witness to a robbery and the disclosure of his true identity and age could land him on the bad side of the law for underage drinking. He is caught between the awkward but hilarious dilemma of telling the truth, or sticking with bogus information on his fake ID, which he does by trying to convince two cops of his false age throughout the movie.

The film cuts between Fogell and his adventures with the two corrupt policemen, and Seth and Evan’s alcohol-gathering adventures. As you probably imagined, all three are eventually thrown together in the most absurd of circumstances.

Superbad is not in the least forgiving in its crude humour and language, which is comparable to that in Wedding Crashers, but despite its multiple sexual references, has little to no nudity. Produced by Judd Apatow, the film bears many similarities to Knocked Up. In fact, Superbad may well be a prequel of Knocked Up, what with boys wanting to get laid (Superbad) and then having to survive the consequences (Knocked Up).

This is a hilarious film worth both the ticket price and the duration; a good lighthearted comedy and perhaps even a mockery of all things sexual.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Blood And Chocolate

It’s forbidden love yet again, this time between two species of human beings. Very much like in Underworld, love here blossoms between an unwitting human Aiden (Hugh Dancy) and a werewolf, Vivian (Agnes Bruckner). Trouble comes when tradition forces Vivian to be the mate of the pack leader Gabriel (Oliver Martinez), resulting in several conflicts between man and wolves not new to films of the genre.

There is also a deep-seated dislike between both species as Vivian’s family was previously slaughtered by humans, but there’s nothing in the film too sensual, or violent, to take its audience to a level higher than a glimpse of history explaining their mutual fear and hatred. The rivalry between Aiden the human boy and Gabriel the werewolf transcends personal interests, as Aiden, being about the only person to know of such creatures, is viewed as a threat to the overall existence of werewolves. The film is really based on a teen novel by Annette Curtis Klause, but apparently with so much alteration that it barely contains any of the source material.

Blood and Chocolate is maddeningly bland. This isn’t a film you can really bore yourself watching, yet doesn’t quite has the charm to hold you to your seat. You could easily press pause and continue watching the next day, or never. The acting is mediocre, decent enough for the otherwise uninteresting script, though exaggerations of the werewolves’ behaviour and dexterity (bouncing off walls and leaping down from high places) may seem strangely uncharacteristic and unnecessary, even for wolves. The special effects transforming human to wolf is efficient, without the step-by-step disfiguration of either’s features. Instead there is quick and an unearthly glow during the change, which can be seen as either a refreshing change or a ploy to keep a small budget. It is, however, well-suited to the werewolves’ magical rather than monstrous nature in the film.

Although centered around the romance, hatred and conflict between werewolves and man, the film does not appeal on the emotional level. You probably won’t care for the characters as you would pay attention to the transformation and action sequences, so don’t expect to be impressed by the love story. In other words, this is just another teen gothic film not worth wowing about.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Arctic Tale

It’s supposed to be a documentary, but Arctic Tale, narrated by Queen Latifah and featuring the life cycles of a polar bear and a walrus, bears minimal resemblance to the usual wildlife documentary you can find on television. For one thing, it will take a little getting used to hearing a female voice as opposed to the more common male narrator, though the choice of narration is well suited to the maternal theme of the film.

The movie opens with the birth of polar bear cubs, Nanu and “her brother” (who is unfortunately of so little importance remains unnamed throughout the entire film). The narrative then alternates between the bear cub and another newborn – Sela the walrus. Both embark on a journey to survive in one of the harshest environments also known as the Arctic, and life and film come to a full circle at the conclusion when predator and prey predictably encounter one another. In fact, it is the crazy coincidence that makes the film look suspicious; you can’t help but question if the animals are really the same ones at the beginning and end, because if they really were, then the crew is seriously psychic to have filmed the right animals. Also, as you will find out, the icy continent at the top of the world is a vast place, where miracle meetings are unlikely and uncanny.

The narration of the film is also quite different from the serious, fact-filled ones documentary enthusiasts are familiar with – Queen Latifah uses more hip-hop slang than necessary, and both footage and score appear more to impress the audience with cute and endearing shots of the animals. This cheapened delivery, together with the miraculous “plot”, eats away at the film’s credibility. You probably wouldn’t be far from the truth if you thought the filmmakers shot random animals and stringed them together with overambitious soundtracks.

It’s a smart move by National Geographic to make such a film without all the elements of a hardcore wildlife documentary to appeal to the general audience (hidden beneath also a slap in the face to curb the emission of greenhouse gases), but without the rawness of say, something narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the film falls closer to being a pseudo-documentary than something audiences can learn from. Replacing knowledge with emotional appeal, Arctic Tale is perfect for the more ignorant audience than the documentary or wildlife fanatic.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Evan Almighty

Morgan Freeman returns without Jim Carrey in this sequel of Bruce Almighty. Replacing Carrey is Steve Carell as Evan Baxter – the newly elected congressman, former local TV newsman and rival of Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey). With rising power and increasing riches, both he and his family move to northern Virginia, where abundant space around his residence is later converted into ark-building territory as commanded by God.

The film resorts to wardrobe gags and weird looks thrown at him by various of Carell’s colleagues as he struts around in ancient-looking robes, but the occasional animal trick will spark quite a few giggles from the audience. The most delightful parts are probably when animals start flocking in pairs to Carell regardless of his usually inappropriate location. Surrounded by seemingly tame wild creatures in the middle of the busy city, Carell struggles to explain himself, his appearance, and tries desperately to keep his job as a sane congressman.

The movie isn’t a modernised version of the flood as depicted by the bible – although you probably need to loosen up to enjoy a comedy based on the rather delicate subject. Despite being about a flood, the film is hardly (if ever) gory, or for that matter, dark. Here, God doesn’t command a flood that lasts 40 days and 40 nights. In fact, the flood lasts about as long as an hour, so building an ark is quite an exaggeration, nevermind gathering pairs of all species of animals when it’d be logically easier to get them from zoos around the world.

What you can expect from Evan Almighty is its minimal to nonexistent use of vulgar language, violence and nudity, which makes it a good family film, much like Jumanji and Night At The Museum. There is a fair mix of verbal and physical humour, so if the clumsy gags don’t manage to make you smile, the script may just be successful. It’s a film that’ll ironically also force you into appreciating special effects, as well as the good o’ animal trainer.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Fido

This movie is so awfully silly it’s refreshing. Set in 1950s and in a place somewhere between the real and fictional world, zombies are a normal sight as they go about completing tasks for their masters, all thanks to a piece of technology patented by Zomcom. By securing special collars to the undead, flesh-eating zombies are turned into rule-abiding servants. It makes one wonder about the pros and cons of technology – you’re bound to question the risk of a zombie breaking free as opposed to the amount of work he’s capable of doing while under the effects of the collar. Are vehicles a traveling convenience, or do the number of traffic accidents make it a curse in disguise?

The film’s dark humor is indisputable – with the collars, ‘everyone will still be able to contribute to the society, dead or alive’. As it is, funerals are costly and therefore rare, so town folk are literally forced to lead zombie afterlives. And in a world where death only represents the beginning of mindless servitude, the film becomes a “what if” scenario should people come back from the dead. It’s a film where authority figures are mocked and portrayed as villains, and the outrageous acts committed within the film is similar to watching a real-life Simpsons family going about their havoc lives.

The film focuses on the Robinson family, namely Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss), Bill Robinson (Dylan Baker) and their son, Timmy Robinson (K’Sun Ray). As zombies become a mark of social status, Helen is pressured into getting one for the family, since “everyone has one”, despite Bill’s fear of them. Fido (played by Billy Connolly and pronounced fye-do), affectionately named by Timmy, then becomes the newest addition to the family. Things go wrong when Timmy loses control of Fido, resulting in a heap of casualties, more comedic than terrifying. Emotionally attached to the zombie, he devises a way to rescue Fido after the zombie is taken back by Zomcom for his dangerous behaviour.

The best performance, surprisingly, comes from Billy Connolly as Fido. His growing compassion for Timmy is weirdly warm for a supposedly emotionless undead being, but Connolly does an exceptional job injecting just the right amount of feelings to a vacant face. There’s nothing on his expressionless decaying features to suggest love for Timmy, but in a perfect irony of things, Fido’s eyes are truly windows to his soul(less?) self.

This movie is weird, sadistic yet touching at the same time, perfect for the warped and eccentric persona lurking in all of us.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: The Magic Flute

Because filmed operas aren’t technically for filming purposes but held as stage performances, you can expect a relatively two-dimensional feel to the final reel of an opera. Camera angles, though in a variety of shots and close-ups, don’t take you into the drama through characters’ point of view (unlike in movies), so most of the time it feels as though you’re just part of the live audience, albeit close enough to see the make-up details on the furthest of characters. That’s just about the difference between being at the show live, and watching the entire performance on screen: spectacular binocular vision.

What you also won’t get to see being in the live audience is the ten-minute introduction and behind-the-scenes of The Magic Flute. The film opens with scenes taken backstage as actors and crew prepare for their individual roles, and audiences are treated to footages of make-up artists and costume designers rushing about perfecting the overall presentation of the performers. Next are the set designers, and we get glimpses of various props to be used, most of them huge and magnificently constructed animals made from colourful cloths, from giant bears to a large phoenix-like bird.

The Magic Flute tells the story of Sarastro, priest of Isis and Osiris, and his attempt to release Pamina from the influence of her mother, the Queen of the Night. She then sends Prince Tamino to go in search for her daughter as well as free her from Sarastro, but Tamino quickly learns to admire the wisdom of Sarastro and becomes his disciple while carrying out the Queen’s orders. He also falls in love with princess Pamina, and his journey to find her is aided by Papageno the birdcatcher, as well as a magical flute and a chime of bells – gifts from three attendants of the Queen.

With songs composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the abridged opera is narrated both by lyrics and prose. The costumes are vibrant in colour, and the clever costume designs conceal the actor’s anatomy such that you’ll find yourself wondering if something is purely a mechanical prop, or a puppet manipulated by a person within the costume itself. With the added advantage of multiple close-ups by the camera, audiences will not have a problem watching the expressions on the characters’ faces. If you’re one short on patience, though, the film runs at almost two hours long, so don’t be surprised should you find yourself caught in a seemingly never-ending reel of song.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Dead Silence

You scream, you die – that’s Dead Silence for you in a nutshell. For an average human being acting on reflex, that will seem grossly unfair, what with screaming at ghosts being the natural thing to do. The story centers around the murder of ventriloquist Mary Shaw, who later returns for revenge by possessing several of her puppets. It is almost like watching the notorious doll Chucky going on one of his killing sprees, although the best preventative measure to take here is really just taping your mouth shut, and not being one of the descendents of her murderers.

Dead Silence uses the oldest tricks in the book trying to terrify its audience. Dolls taking sneaky peaks at their victims? Check. Stumbling through cemeteries in the middle of the night? Check. A giant haunted building? Check. Dead people looking their grossest? Check. Apparitions popping out of nowhere? Check. Hell, the cliches are down to even the transparent curtains through which ghostly faces appear and disappear. Terror-wise, the movie is about as frightening as a ride on a merry-go-round.

What the film does best is building up the suspense with its agonizingly slow zoom-ins and musical foreshadowing. You’re more likely to grab the armrests of your seat waiting for something to happen, than when something does actually happen. In fact, disappointment is usually the outcome the moment the camera reveals either a puppet, or a corpse with its tongue ripped out. And because everyone dies with a gasping hole where their mouths should have been, you’ll always know how a corpse will look before the sheet is drawn. For majority of the time, you’ll find yourself clutching your head at the unbelievable stupidity of the characters – why go digging around a cemetery in the middle of the night when you have a whole day ahead?

Unlike a typical horror film though, the slight twist at the end will set the cogs in your brain spinning. There are noticeable loopholes in the plot’s twist that will confuse the analytical mind, but this is a film high on entertainment and low on logic. The movie probably won’t satisfy those looking for a good dose of horror (unless you have a phobia for dolls and clowns alike), but is relatively okay for a suspense thriller.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Love And Honor

If you’re the sort to fast forward an entire disc just to get a feel of what a movie is like, then you’d probably just toss this film aside based on the fact that every sequence is one with dialogue. Here is a movie about sword-wielding samurais, yet the only fight sequence is a slow-paced one that isn’t anything like Tom Cruise’s wild antics in The Last Samurai.

But perhaps that’s the charm of it – instead of bloody battle scenes, the film focuses on the relationship between a low-ranking samurai, Shinnojo (Takuya Kimura) and his dutiful and loyal wife, Kayo (Rei Dan).

When Shinnojo is blinded after being poisoned by a toxin from a sashimi dish while on duty as a poison-taster (you read right – these are people who sample foods for poison before meals are sent to royalty), he becomes hugely dependent on others and starts finding himself a burden. No longer the breadwinner, he slowly loses his status as the man of the house. To make matters worse, he starts growing suspicious of his wife each day, and has his worst fears confirmed after giving orders to his helper to follow her whereabouts.

At two hours long, the drama’s only flaw is its length. Scenes drag at snail pace largely due to the polite greetings between characters in Japanese tradition, as well as long pauses in dialogue used for effect. The film is set in a traditional Japanese village, so the set and costume designs are quite visually impressive, with antique props and music giving the film a final touch. The acting is mediocre though, with the best performance from the lead, Takuya Kimura.

Exactly everything the title suggests, Love and Honor is a film about the undying loyalty between husband and wife amid a crisis, and the strict discipline and honour of samurais, spilled over to kinship. It’s a rather thought-provoking and moving film that won’t disappoint unless you are expecting flashy action sequences; you’ll also learn that samurais aren’t all out for blood, too.

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Confession Of Pain

The only thing that is probably going to hold you to that seat while watching Confession Of Pain is a confirmation that the guy you suspect was the culprit is indeed the culprit. Also, Takeshi Kaneshiro plays an alcoholic cop and Shu Qi, a bartender. So it’s almost an added incentive to watch what really is a one and a half hour long marathon of Takeshi moping around after the suicide of his girlfriend.

The plot is as follows: Bong (Takeshi Kaneshiro) becomes a private investigator after the death of his girlfriend, because there’s nothing as reliable as hiring a drunk. Along the way, he discovers the reason behind the suicide: the car accident rendering his girlfriend’s secret lover comatose in hospital. Despite being cheated on, he takes care of the unconscious guy out of the goodness of his heart, later moving on and falling in love with Feng (Shu Qi), a bartender working in the bar at which his previous girlfriend was waiting for her lover on that fateful night. He is also hired by Susan, the daughter of millionaire Chau to investigate the murder of the latter. There is a vain attempt at a twist typical of detective films where people don’t turn out who they say they are, and culprits are really closer to their victims.

One thing I can’t decide good or bad is Leung’s acting. It’s perfectly obvious from the way behaves that he’s the one behind almost everything, what with all the calculated silences and shifty eye contact. It’s good that Leung gets the subtlety of the character across with great body language, but walking around with the label “murderer” attached to his forehead is hardly handy at keeping the suspense of the story, made worse from the uncensored flashbacks to the murder. Perhaps it isn’t a question of ‘who did it’ as to ‘why he did it’, but the ambiguity of the plot gives the audience an impression that whoever made the film couldn’t decide on what to focus on, and so decides to have a little of everything.

The film feels like a bland mixture of clichés found in cop films – mystery, foot chases, last minute twists – and this leaves a rather bittersweet aftertaste in which the audience is treated to everything expected but nothing more. It’s only worth the rent if you’re a Takeshi fan, perhaps even a fan of cop films, but definitely not a DVD purchase.

(First published at InCinemas)