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: My Mighty Princess

Korean writer-director Kwak Jae-young seems to have a knack or a preference to craft romantic comedies for the mass market, and so far have been delivering hits like My Sassy Girl, to my recent personal favourite of his with Cyborg, She. Strong female characters up against wimpy men also becomes staple in his stories, together with some touching, bittersweet moments that work their way into the plot.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-mighty-princess.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Black Swindler

I guess not only Hollywood is keeping an eye for potential comic book series or graphic novels to turn into movies, and for Japan, this had already been something ongoing given its rich manga culture with immense material to tap upon, with the latest and most popular here being the Death Note movies which had even spawned its own movie spin off L: Change The World, albeit to varying result. And the rule of thumb of course is to snag a heartthrob in your leading role, and you more or less have it made. In today's screening, Tomohisa Tamashita's popularity in the titular role got measured by the audible shrieks and wistful sighs each time he comes on screen, even in the nerdiest of disguises.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/black-swindler-eiga-kurosagi.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Chaser

The Chaser become a box office hit in South Korea earlier this year, and as the byline on the poster goes, it's highly acclaimed, and it shocked moviegoers. I won't dispute either claim though, because it reaffirmed that there are quality crime thrillers coming out from their film industry after dismal efforts like Typhoon or Fate. The DVD has already been out in the shops overseas and I was tempted to get it just to experience what the fuss is about. Finally being released here this week, The Chaser boasts plenty of nail biting sequences, and scenes that would work the heart despite having most of its violence done off screen.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/chaser-chugyeogja.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Painted Skin

Based upon the classic literature of Liao Zai, Painted Skin is an adaptation of one of the stories that dwell on fox spirits. If you're someone expecting either a supernatural spook fest, or an amalgamation of ghosts and kung fu, you might be disappointed to find out that it's actually a romance through and through, with complicated relationships all around that you can weave a complex web of love and lust amongst the players involved.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/painted-skin-wa-pei.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

All the boys love Mandy Lane, and the way she is portrayed by Amber Heard, who wouldn't? She's blonde, she's demure, she's so hot that the camera in the movie's introduction to the character, lingered on her T&As. She's a fine athlete though we don't really get to know what kind of grades she's getting. Every boy in school wants to talk to her, and every one of them wants to get into her pants, earning bragging rights to be the first amongst everyone else to have conquered probably the last bastion of virginity in school. People would do silly things like dying for her too.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-boys-love-mandy-lane.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Elite Squad

I just love a good ol cops and robbers movie, and Elite Squad shows that it indeed is a generous cut above the rest, and along the way had snagged the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival. If you’re in for some gritty looking no holds barred movie that reflects the dangerous occupation of honest cops making a living in what’s technically a war zone with the criminals, then look no further than this movie.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/elite-squad-tropa-de-elite.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen seems to have a riot of a time making movies outside of New York, and truth be told, I find them pretty enjoyable, though some would argue I should revisit his earlier films to understand what's great. Then again, his "muse" Scarlett Johansson and a more contemporary cast are an interesting mix to gain a fresh following from a new generation of audiences like myself, lapping it up on Allen's wit, narrative creativity and candy eye cast.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/vicky-cristina-barcelona.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Closing the Ring

Never make promises you can't fulfill, otherwise you'll find that nagging feeling coming back to haunt you, and it can be quite uncomfortable, unless of course it doesn't bother you as far as integrity and trustworthiness are concerned. Then again there's the living a lie, of not being true to yourself, which sometimes can be tricky when it deals with affairs of the heart, where ignorance may be bliss.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/closing-ring.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: My Magic

There's plenty of buzz overseas surrounding Eric Khoo's latest movie My Magic, which has recently been selected as Singapore's official entry to the 2009 Oscars in the foreign language film category, hence the rush to have it screened this month to qualify. While his previous effort Be With Me was disqualified on a technicality in the same category (they really timed the amount of English or lack thereof in the film!), this time round Eric has crafted a movie in Tamil as the story tells of the love-hate relationship between an Indian father and son.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-magic.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Connected

When we hear of remakes, we lament Hollywood raiding Asian content, repackaging and most of the time dumbing them down for mass consumption, often to dismal results. Some get A-list cast and crew attached, while others put whoever’s the flavour of the moment to attempt to be the next scream or drama queen. With Benny Chan’s remake of Hollywood’s Cellular, I guess the remake street cuts both ways now, and while I had enjoyed the original with Chris Evans running around like a headless chicken, I embrace this version with Louis Koo in the leading role wholeheartedly as well.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/con…

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Eagle Eye

From one cellphone-centric movie in Connected another with Eagle Eye, this movie dwells on the fears of man about the abuse of technology, given how pervasive a simple device like the mobile phone, could be a haven for anyone tapped into the network to triangulate your whereabouts. Some other fears get presented, such as activating the microphone within without your knowledge, eavesdropping on your conversation whether or not you're on the phone. Big Brother heaven, but ordinary citizen's nightmare.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/eagle-eye.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Smiler

When you think of children's ice hockey movies, The Mighty Ducks franchise probably comes instantly to mind. Likewise when I first saw the trailer for this movie, I can't help but to recall the Ducks, as well as the usual formula attached to team sports movie in general, where a motivational coach takes responsibility to turn a rag-tag team around and achieve glory. From Remembering the Titans to We Are Marshalls to Gridiron Gang, you just can't put a stop to such constant cookie cutter production under different premises.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/smiler-sumairu-seiya-no-kiseki.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Big Stan

The only other movie I remember vividly with the protagonist fearing his upcoming time spent in jail, was in Spike Lee's powerful drama 25th Hour, where we follow Edward Norton's character in his final day of freedom before being sent to the slammer. In Big Stan, Rob Schneider's crooked time-share conman Stan got arrested in the opening minutes for fraud (and you might think it's for racism), and spends much of the first act mulling over the fear of getting raped in jail, for not being part of any gang, and a first timer wussy who's easy target for the lonely tough guys behind bars.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/big-stan.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Burn After Reading

Fresh off their triumphant victories with various awards for No Country For Old Men, the Coen Brothers Joel and Ethan return to open this year's edition of the Venice Film Festival with a colourful satire in Burn After Reading. Writing this screenplay in between that of No Country's, these two movies couldn't be any more different from each other, one sombre in mood, and this one very much lighter, but no doubt having a chock full of undercurrents flowing throughout its relatively breezy pace.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/burn-after-reading.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: RocknRolla

Guy Ritchie is probably right at home with his own brand of English crime capers, which is full of machismo over the top action sequences, tough talking, black comedy, and an all round edgy feel to it, not to mention the frequent casting of Jason Statham, who has since moved on from the Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Revolver days. In fact, it's been a good 8 years since we last saw Ritchie's feature films on screen, since Revolver had a straight to DVD release here, and Ritchie's widely panned effort with Swept Away starring his wife Madonna being avoided with a ten foot pole.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/rocknrolla.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Storm Rider: Clash of Evils (风云决)

It's been more than 10 years since Andrew Lau brought Ma Rong Cheng's long running comic book series to the big screen, helped by commendable and eye popping visual effects in its time not seen in martial arts epics, and of course starring two Hong Kong leading men at the time, Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, in the lead roles of Cloud and Wind respectively, together with Sonny Chiba's memorable take and immense graphic novel likeness as chief villain Conquer. Granted there were some gripes amongst purists who took a dislike for the cinematic interpretation of their beloved characters, given that the story somewhat differed from the richly created world of Tian Xia.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/storm-rider-clash-of-evils.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: 20th Century Boys

Depending on how the story is adapted, some will take liberties to gear the material for non-fans, to introduce it to a new audience. Death Note for instance, does this quite perfectly, drawing those unfamiliar with its mythos, and at the same time entertaining the fanboys. Mushishi on the other hand, assumed that one goes in with a bit of background knowledge, as it doesn't dwell too long, if at all, on the character backstory. 20th Century Boys however managed to take the middle ground, though I felt its presentation was somewhat left wanting.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/20th-century-boys-20-seiki-shnen.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Tokyo!

The closing film for this year's Singapore French Film Festival, it couldn't be more than apt as I prepare for my own trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, and what more than to sit through a collection of three short stories set in the capital city, as told by Frenchmen Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Korean Bong Joon-ho, with their respective titled shorts Interior Design, Merde and Shaking Tokyo.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/french-film-festival-tokyo.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Max Payne

For starters, don't be a dweeb and start heading out the door when the end credits roll. If you deem that the movie didn't have proper closure since there are additional folks who didn't get their due Payne justice, then this scene at the end with Mila Kunis playing the Devil's Advocate, will probably make some amends to what is essentially a relatively generic detective drama.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/max-payne.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Love Exposure

I think I had absolutely no clue as to how high the "chick" factor of this chick flick would be, as it primarily centered upon two women who share different philosophies and attitudes toward love. Think Sex and the city, but instead of a quartet, we have a duo of best friends forever (sheesh) who are buddies because their conflicting attitudes means they are unlikely to fall for the same type of persons, avoiding situations where both would want to go after the same guy.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/love-exposure-eoggaeneomeoeui-yeoni.html

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