1 1 1 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE: "This movie is a rollicking enjoyable ride and I can see why audiences have taken to it in a big way - there's the exotica factor (from a Western/Hollywood point of view), the all-too-familiar motif of reality TV (this generation's opiate of the masses) and the seductive rags-to-riches (rags-to-Raja, says one character in the movie) story arc, and, above all, a sappy love story through the ages. This is Benjamin Button, by way of Bollywood. As you can tell, I have mixed feelings about Danny Boyle's latest. I like to think that maybe it's the fault of the original material, rather than his craft, which is in top form here. The slums of India are suffused with a kind of squalid glory. As a director, it is his way of showing perhaps that in the depths of misery, there can be hope and beauty. But, to the casual observer, it can come across as an exploitative glamourisation of poverty. This is especially notable when one considers the stark contrast of the "slums' of depicted the "slums" of Glasgow, which he depicted in the gritty Trainspotting. The story itself is a mindless feel-good device, which offends when it tries to throw in some elements of real life Indian politics (the Muslim-Hindu divide, the corruption, the state of child beggars) as a throwaway plot device, to be glossed over by the next question on the game show at the heart of this enterprise - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? At the end of the day, this movie is a crowd-pleaser, but it is at its core, spiritually bankrupt. " – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: "To sum it up succinctly, albeit a bit inelegantly, this movie is a classier Forrest Gump. It has the same elements - big stars, big director, big concept, big budget, big love story, big time-frame, big buzz. What Ben Button has in addition is big special effects - in the form of the ageing makeup sported by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. But despite all the fancy trimmings, the real star here is Blanchett, who gets more luminous with each picture. Here, she convincingly portrays her character Daisy, through time, from a pretty young girl to a woman on her deathbed. She is the soul of the movie and soul is what this movie lacks somewhat. Director Fincher, always a class act, steers away from the cheesy easy melodrama of Forrest Gump, but in doing so, makes this movie in the end a beautiful curio to admire and behold, rather than a gripping love story of the ages, or even a powerful commentary of the vicissitudes of ageing." - THE READER: "A very powerful movie on many different levels. The Reader delves into the complexity of human relationships, love, art, beauty, history, ethics and morality. While Kate Winslet has already been honoured with several awards and nominations for her performance here as a former SS guard, I think the nods should instead have gone to 18-year old German actor David Kross on whom the whole moral core of the story pivots. It is his character who has to grapple with the emotional and moral enormity of his choices, more so than that of Winslet's character, who remains, for the most part, stoic and in denial until, one suspects, the end. I have not read the book on which this movie is based, but the movie in itself is a searing experience, thanks no doubt to the taut screenplay by David Hare. " – DEFIANCE: Okay, first off, I must confess that I'll watch almost anything with Daniel Craig in it. But having said that, Defiance is also a gritty and rewarding movie about the real life story of four Jewish brothers from Poland who escaped the Nazi persecution and fought back to rescue fellow Jews. Under director Edward Zwick, the treatment here is muscly and unemotional, which makes this movie chug along efficiently but without much else - it tells the story, but it doesn't give you anything more in terms of catharsis. In all, a workmanlike effort - not a waste of time, but not much more either. Unless, of course, you happen to be a Daniel Craig fan. Like me." – THE WRESTLER: ed in many memorable films - Champion, The Champ, Raging Bull. But no one has taken wrestling to the sublime until Darren Aronofsky clamped his paws on this magnificent opus. Sure the story is simple and straightforward, some might even say cliched - a down and out has-been wrestler tries to stay true to himself despite the odds and tries to make good on past mistakes, including an attempt at reconciling with his estranged daughter (the ever amazing preternaturally soignee Evan Rachel Wood). But the difference here is the presence of the battered, well-worn Mickey Rourke, who plays the title role of the erstwhile champ, called The Ram. This movie cuts to the bone, with an unflinchingly honest portrayal by Rourke as a man who is tough and invincible in the ring, but decaying and withering away on the inside. The raw emotions are as painful to watch as the brutally visceral fight scenes. More so than Benjamin Button, The Wrestler captures the tragedy of ageing and the swift passage of time. This is encapsulated, not only in the Ram himself, but also in Cassidy, an ageing stripper played by Marisa Tomei. But, unlike Benjamin Button, for The Wrestler, there is no vindication through love or hope. The lesson here is that life is what one makes of it, for better or for worse. And ultimately, all one can do is to go down fighting the good fight. This tremendous movie pulls no punches and will leave you with more than a few bruises. " CHANGELING: "Clint Eastwood remains one of the few filmmakers left today who actually makes hard-hitting movies that force you to dig beneath the surface to see the muddied moral half-truths below. Once again, the protagonist gets no absolution nor peace at the end of the movie, only existential pain in perpetua - in this case, ironically, from hope. This is not one of his best, but it is still a compelling effort. Once cannot help but wonder, however, if he could have achieved more without the burden of Angelina Jolie in the title role. While she is definitely a good actress, her sheer sensuality and physicality cannot be disguised under a loose brown coat. The attire and the seemingly mousy character clash completely with the over-smoky eyeshadow and the over-ripe red ruby lips which would have looked more appropriate on Dita Von Teese. Jolie is a fine actress, but she shines only in larger than life roles that channel her star power, not stifle it." MILK: Sean Penn can do no wrong. But this movie also rocks because of an outstanding ensemble cast, which includes James Franco (who reminded me eerily at times of Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain). The movie is nostalgic, as it is set in the heady early '70s when the gay movement was starting to find its voice - a time when there was vehement opposition, of course, but at the same time, a sense of glorious sexual liberation that had yet to be sobered by the spectre of Aids. It is also triumphant because in hindsight, it shows that Milk's sacrifice was not in vain. Castro St today is practically a gentrified gay community with happy same-sex couples shopping at the neighbourhood Safeway. And the fact that high profile straight actors like Penn and Franco can exchange kisses on screen without moviegoers batting an eyelid surely shows that the movement has come a long way, baby. But, as the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California (and indeed many other incidents in countries other than America) shows, Milk's message is still an incredibly relevant one. " THE VISITOR: An excellent film. Draws its power from telling its story quietly, without resorting to cheap tactics or sensationalism. Instead each character and its relationship with the others is fleshed out convincingly, resulting in an ending that is poignant and devastating, at the same time as it is inevitable and mundane. Such, after all, is the human tragicomedy." THE SPIRIT: Complete and utter crap. Sometimes it fascinates, but it's still fascinating crap at the end of the day. A complete waste of resources all around. And if I don't see Scarlett Johansson anymore this year, it would be too soon." - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED: This generation's Ordinary People, with Anne Hathaway doing Tim Hutton and Debra Winger channelling Mary Tyler Moore. Strong performances throughout but this is obviously Hathaway's star vehicle and she aces the drive. The other star of the movie is the soundtrack -- probably the only time you get to see a wedding where the groom sings a Neil Young tune to his bride. Top marks for any man who does that!" - RED CLIFF 2: Much better than Part 1. This one moves at a faster clip and the characters have had the whole of Part 1 to develop and grow on the audience. The battle scene at the end is pretty damn awesome, certainly the best I have seen in a long while. While it clocks in at almost 3 hours, I didn't really feel the length. The cast is great - Takeshi has really proven himself in the last few years and looks like he's finally shedding his pretty boy image. Tony Leung's gongfu training scenes betray a little stiffness of the joints, but fans won't mind, I'm sure. And Lin Chiling's character, thank goodness, finally shows some backbone. All in, a thoroughly enjoyable romp, especially cos it;s nice to see historical legendary figures fleshed out with such obvious affection. " – DOUBT: I am a tremendous fan of the play on which this movie is based, having watched it twice – once in New York and once in Singapore. It is a modern masterpiece of character study, anchored by solid writing and a simple but effective plot which evolves into its inevitable open-ended conclusion. Yet author John Patrick Shanley’s original script never leaves the audience unsatisfied or cheated at the end, only filled with the gnawing familiar certainty that there is nothing, well, certain in life. As a play, the story is an austere, tightly controlled, almost suffocating tableau played out by its 4 main characters – Sister Aloysius, the principal of a Catholic school, Sister James, a novice nun and Father Flynn, a priest in the school. The other key character is Mrs Miller, the mother of Donald Miller,an African American boy whom Sister Aloysius suspects has been interfered with by Father Flynn. In the movie, however, characters which were only alluded to in the play are fleshed out, and the cinematic shadings of soundtracks, camera angles all become extra unwelcome fripperies. While Shanley himself has certainly done an admirable job of adapting the screenplay and directing the movie, the intimacy of the stage medium is compromised by the larger-than-life acting of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffmann. Rather than adding to the characters and the story’s intrinsic quest for truth, they actually detract from it, with their actorly tics. Doubt is, in its essence, a play which turns on words and nuance. Having it writ large on the big screen kills the very nature of this very special beast. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN: If you like your vampires gorgeously moussed and styled, this Swedish offering is definitely not for you. While at its heart there is a poignant love story between a human child and his vampire counterpart, this is no Twilight. The mood is bleak, the characters are plain and the plot is a slow-paced and meandering. In spirit, the vampire child here is more akin to Nosferatu than Edward Cullen. This is not an easy movie to sit through, but it does reap some rewards for the viewer at the end – not least of which is the refreshing repositioning of the vampire as a sad, lonely, tortured and complex creature and the timely reminder that the vampire story is really one of ugliness, suffering and death, not big hair, glamour and immortality. HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU: Think of this as an extended episode of Sex and the City, but with a bigger marquee cast which includes Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck. The title of the movie, after all, came from a now-famous comment on the popular TV series, and has since become the psychotherapy equivalent of a Get Out Of Jail card for women who agonise over why their men don’t call/commit/tell the truth/cheat/(fill in pet male peeve). Forget the criticisms that this movie is anti-feminist. It really isn’t and, for the most part, it is actually very enjoyable and very real, and quite fairly condemning and exultatory of both sexes. The eclectic and talented cast, which mixes heavyweights like Scarlett Johansson with bright newcomers like Ginnifer Goodwin and Justin Long , also makes for interesting viewing as their characters criss-cross with one another and their lives become intertwined into one big relationship canvas. Imagine Robert Altman directing the Sex and the City movie. Goodwin and Long are especially memorable as a pair of unlikely friends who end up becoming this generation’s Harry and Sally. Indeed, it is these two who bring the sparkle and fizz to this entire enterprise, saving it from the sturm und drang of the tortured relationship arc centred on Bradley Cooper and Connelly, as a married couple; and Johannson as the third party who comes in between them. Is it me or is Johansson becoming more and more annoying with each movie? There is none of the intelligence or translucence that characterized her remarkable early screen appearances in Lost in Translation and Girl With The Pearl Earring. Instead, she is increasingly becoming typecast by priapic Hollywood as the lubricious vixen or unattainable Venus. All in, this movie is not bad - it’s certainly a good date flick. But it would have been much better if it had stuck to a lighthearted tone rather than vacillating between drama and comedy. Heck, it would have been much better if it had just focused on Goodwin and Long. The actor who started out as a Mac endorser is progressively becoming this generation’s Will Ferrell –a funnyman with dweeby sexy appeal. Can’t wait to see what he does next. 2 0 Singapore 2009-03-09T15:52:23Z 0 107 false 239 0 0.0 4.0 1 4 2010-03-09T22:22:03Z false 57 10