A Nutshell Review by daface

last SG · 2005-05-29T10:42:43+00:00

A Nutshell Review: I Hate Valentine’s DayI haven’t seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding from start to end, but from what I gathered from scenes, Nia Vardalos is qui...

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Illusionist

Director Neil Burger is a relative unknown. To date he has only directed one other feature film, Interview With An Assassin, a fictional account of the real shooter of the JFK assassination, which I had the chance of watching it on DVD some time back. Comparing production values, it's a great leap forward for Burger, having now directed a movie starring heavyweight character actors Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/illusionist.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Apocalypto

The passion of the predator braveheart blair witch fugitive gladiator who dances with wolves in the temple of doom.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/apocalypto.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Haven

Haven takes place in the Cayman Islands, paradise on Earth, with beautiful beaches, friendly people, and of course, being the ideal place to stash cash, ill gotten or otherwise, free from taxation. In its seedier side, to paraphrase from another movie, weed is the currency, openly passed around in nacho chip bags. This movie ditches the idyllic moments, to peer beneath the veneer, of hell on Earth instead.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/haven.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Babel

Babel just triumphed at this year's Golden Globes by walking away with the Best Drama award, which The Departed was touted to win, but I guess having a movie which is a remake win the award, is akin to saying "Infernal Affairs, you guys can trounce our multi-million dollar epics anytime". Babel follows a similar formula to other acclaimed movies such as Crash and Syriana, which take on a multiple angle, multiple story, with multiple intertwined characters all running along in the fragmented narrative, with the story arcs all linked to a common theme. With Crash and Syriana, the themes were clear and simple. With Babel however, it lived up to its issue of communications.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/babel.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Feast

Feast is your typical monster movie, and in watching this, you'll appreciate the richness of The Host, which itself also belongs to the genre, but smashes all stereotype of how a monster movie should be. But that doesn't mean Feast is not fun - it is, even though it's the usual formula, because it doesn't try to be anything more sophisticated than that.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/feast.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Sione's Wedding

It's early into 2007, and I've already got one contender for film of the year. Sione's Wedding from New Zealand has this impeccable charm to it, and it's been a delightful surprise watching this at only the one hall it is currently screening at.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/siones-wedding.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Jackass Number Two

I haven't seen the Jackass television series from MTV, or the original movie when it was released in 2002. This sequel was originally planned for release here sometime last year in October, but has been shelved until now. Nonetheless I shall unabashedly say that I had a good time watching this, but I guess it will only appeal to those who have a thing for low browed humour.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/jackass-number-two.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Bobby

But alas, when Bobby was in the run-up for the US Presidency, he was unceremoniously gunned down in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968. Bobby the movie is set on that fateful day, so it must be cautioned that this is not a bio-pic, as it takes a broader look at the events of the day, and peeks into the dramatized lives of others around him who suffered collateral damage, in an era marred by steady violence and intolerance in society.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/bobby.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Happy Birthday

It's difficult to sit through this movie, at least for me. Identifying with certain elements brought back some memories that I try to keep at the back of my mind, and going into this movie with slight expectations of the storyline reminded me of what a friends once said, that I'm a sucker for punishment. And yes, this movie dragged a bit, and moves along in cruise control, until the final act where it sledgehammers emotions all the way to an expected cliche ending.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-birthday-sun-yat-fai-lok.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Loft

If Kairo (Pulse) got my interest piqued towards Kiyoshi Kurosawa's works of horror, a genuine atmospheric piece which truly spooked me, then Loft is that perennial two steps backwards, falling into the curse I find permeating into many Asian horror movies of late, of standard cliches and eliciting guffaws from moments which translate into unwanted comedy.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/loft-rofuto.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Last King of Scotland

The first Forest Whitaker movie I watched was Blown Away, which starred Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones, one of two "bomb-maker" movies in 1994 (the other being the more successful Speed). And since then, he's been one of my favourite character actors, chalking up a diverse filmography, although some in largely supporting roles in the movies that made its way here (Panic Room, Phone Booth, etc). This year, he is widely touted to win that Oscar for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/last-king-of-scotland.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Miss Potter

Possibly the JK Rowling of her time, Beatrix Potter is the author of the beloved children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit, amongst other best selling classics which you might have read as a child. Not only does she dream up and write the stories, she does the illustrations as well, which are actually quite beautiful in its simplicity. Most of them, after all, are based on animals, and her painted illustrations augment her narrative text really well.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/miss-potter.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Altered

I'd have to admit that the draw of this movie is director Eduardo Sanchez, who helmed the wildly popular and successful Blair Witch Project. Besides, this is an alien movie of sorts, and sounded something like Stephen King's Dreamcatchers, one of those movies that the critics hated, but I enjoyed.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/altered.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Unseeable

But when this project was announced, I admit I was a bit apprehensive. I have not fancied many Asian horror movies of late, because of the usual formulaic stories and the employment of cheap shock tactics which bore. At times, scenes become unintentionally comedic, coupled with bad makeup and cheesy special effects, which mar whatever potential the movies could have achieved. The horror genre is no doubt a money spinner, and many times, quality is compromised when everyone jumps on the same bandwagon, knowing audiences will still lap them up despite the inferior product.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/unseeable-pen-choo-kab-pee.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Half Nelson

To his students, Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is the teacher full of unorthodox ideas, challenging authority and doing things his way. His subject expertise is history, and instead of going the rote way in regurgitating curriculum, he opts for the understanding of rationale behind events, making his classes interactive and interesting. Being a teacher, whether you like it or not, you're a role model, and therefore, a moral compass to your impressionable charges. I have a friend whose other friends are teachers, and he sometimes account their behaviour outside of class, which we are of the opinion that if any parent were to know of their shenanigans, they would immediate withdraw their children from classes.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/half-nelson.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Adrift

The original Open Water had a couple stranded in the high seas when they went deep sea diving, and somehow missed the boat, literally, thereby being stranded in the middle of nowhere. The formula is now repeated in Open Water 2: Adrift (just called Adrift here probably to disassociate itself from being a "sequel of sorts" movie), with the number of couples increased threefold.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/open-water-2-adrift.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Once in a Summer

Lee plays a rich man's son Suk-young, in times of great turmoil when university students, unhappy with the state of affairs in the country, are planning to go on a protest. He joins his friends on their travels to a remote village, in order to escape from his strict father, and needless to say, that summer he'll begin his romance with one of the village girls Jung-in, the village librarian.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/once-in-summer-geuhae-yeoreum.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Running with Scissors

Just as romance movies fall under the tried and tested romantic-comedy or romantic-tragedy genres, if a movie is made about a family, you can be sure that it must be dysfunctional. And in Running with Scissors, one such family is insufficient, and you have the protagonist, Augusten Burroughs (Joseph Cross), jump off the frying pan and into the fire, where he encounters even more weirdness in his surrogate family.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/running-with-scissors.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Little Children

Welcome to suburbia!

It took director Todd Field 5 years to come up with another movie after In the Bedroom, which I watched back in 2001. It's kinda strange that while at first glance I'd think his movies are a tad boring, in both occasions - for In the Bedroom and now Little Children, I ended up glued to the screen, and find myself sucked deeply into the proceedings. Somehow he managed to draw me into the story, feel for the characters, build up excellent tension all the way to the end, before releasing me from its grasp in the well thought finale.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/little-children.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Matrimony

The Matrimony, like the name implies, focuses a lot more on relationships and love, with the supernatural angle adding that extra dimension to complicate matters. It is not a horror movie per se, but a tragic love story that has its characters perpetually stuck with their various issues.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/matrimony.html

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