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 Coffin

Director Ekachai Uekrongtham reunites with actor Ananda Everingham to move from the red light district of Singapore's Geylang back to Thailand to partake in the bizzare Thai ritual of having oneself laid in a coffin to get rid of bad karma. It seems that all the karma in the world are on a zero sum equation, and what you try to get rid of, get translated into unwanted supernatural attention and transferred elsewhere where you least expected.

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

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Saw V

It seems that you can't put a good man down, or in this case, you can't put a stop to a popular franchise, and should milk it for all its worth until the returns cannot justify another box office comeback. Many Halloweens ago, we got floored by something so gory but yet so innovative in its presentation, that it started a slew of torture porn movies capitalizing on the mantra of the bloodier and gorier, the better. There were some hits and misses of course, but for all it's worth, the Saw movies so far have managed to pull off sucker punch after sucker punch in its finale despite the meat of the plot just chugging along with some difficultly in reaching its end point.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/saw-v.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Tropic Thunder

First of all, the goodies begin even before the main movie starts proper, with some hilarious fake ads and trailers just like Tarantino and Rodriguez's Grindhouse features which fabricated some material of its own, so don't be a dweeb and be late for the movie.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/tropic-thunder.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Lakeview Terrace

Watching this movie brought back some memories of the well-publicized spat between neighbours in the neighbourhood of Joo Chiat, with their antics which included the shining of spot lights at each other's house, the trading of barbs and insults, and the use of video recorders to tape down the other's antics. Naturally there are no weapons involved, but otherwise, Ithought Lakeview Terrace rang home some of the issues that these folks probably faced day to day. I'm not sure what the outcome of that spat is now though.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/lakeview-terrace.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Sing to the Dawn

I believe this animated movie could be crowned as arguably the most expensive local movie ever made. After four long years since the idea was mooted to adapt from one of Singapore literature's most widely read books (thanks to secondary school literature lessons), and S$7.5 million to produce, it finally marks its release in the theatres this week. I wonder why the filmmakers and investors were brave enough to plough so much money into this production, given that the largest ever one-time box office gross for a local film was only about S$6 million dollars for Money No Enough, with no film in recent years ever getting close to that kind of amount.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/sing-to-dawn.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

My only exposure to High School Musical was from a chalet gathering last Christmas where a friend who was a fan brought his DVD and shared with us what's there to like from this highly popular franchise. The DVD has countless of versions released to milk its fan base, that I've really lost count just how many variations (Encore? Extended Dance?) there are out there in the market. Even then I didn't really watch High School Musical 2 completely, only zooming into the catchy song and dance numbers, and as for the first movie, I was only familiar with one or two songs that became like anthems for working together?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/high-school-musical-3-senior-year.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: [REC]

REC has been making its rounds in the festival and cinema circuit, while us folks here have to sit around and twiddle our thumbs, wondering if it'll ever make it to our shores. Hollywood reckoned it was worthy of a remake, and they did Quarantine, which was surprisingly made quite fast, and was penned to be released here as well. Guess someone got smart and decided to pre-empt that remake version with the original, and for some, the decision will be whether to double dip, stick to the original, or the remake when it's released at the end of the month.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/rec.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden

If this movie knows where he is, there'll be international headlines made, and the filmmakers will get that US$25 million (or more?) bounty that is placed on his head. Of course it will be silly to presume that this film can find the answers to the multi-million dollar question, or even come close to it, so just what was the intention?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/where-in-world-is-osama-bin-laden.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Fashion

The glamourous world of fashion gets put under the spotlight with Madhur Bhandarakar's Fashion, a story which tells of the rise and fall of a fictional Indian supermodel Meghna Mathur, played by ex Miss World Priyanka Chopra, who holds court with her performance as the phoenix finding her own standing in an industry known for ruthlessness and fickleness that comes with changing its representative face with the seasons.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/fashion.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Roadside Romeo

I guess the number of dogs in Disney's repetoire isn't enough, and this year they're looking to grow the kernel which houses the likes of the 101 Dalmations, Goofy, Pluto, Lady and the Tramp with Bolt, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and of course, Roadside Romeo and his pooch friends hailing from India.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/roadside-romeo.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Quantum of Solace

While many have applauded the new direction that James Bond has taken with Casino Royale, the same would likely be scratching their heads wondering at Quantum of Solace, not only is the title bewildering on the surface, but the film felt like it might have all the ingredients of sealing Daniel Craig's stint as Bond, but yet also felt like a middle film of a trilogy, firmly continuing where we left off, but yet not being able to stand on its own for a lack of a clear and strong finish.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/quantum-of-solace.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith are back in their animated animal roles which 3 years ago saw their zoo animals being transported to Madagascar in a typical fish out of water tale, where they had to rely on their street smarts and friendship to survive in an environment they do not fully understand. While it's the usual pop-culture jokes and witty one liners that plague recent animated films, there were some gems in that movie, the ones which stuck suck as the crowd favourite penguins stealing the whole show, as well as the madcap rave party tune Move It!

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/madagascar-escape-2-africa.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Talk To Me

Don Cheadle's star is probably burning a little bit brighter now since the blockbuster hit of this summer's Iron Man had announced that he will take over Terrence Howard's role as Jim Rhodes given the latter being unable to agree on contractual terms with the studios. While Cheadle might be more familiar to audiences here as one of Ocean's 11 to 13, it was in Hotel Rwanda that made me sit up and take notice, playing a man caught in a genocide, having to protect his family, his friends, and his job all at once.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/talk-to-me.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Carrot Cake Conversations

Perhaps the only way to enjoy this particular variant of the carrot cake dish is to imagine a fantasy Singapore of sorts, one where prostitutes look like an ex-Miss Malaysia, where people are generally unhappy with their present lot (ok this might be true after all), and all seem to have lack of avenues to vent their frustrations and angst, keeping it all pent up inside.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/carrot-cake-conversations.html with Videos from the Blog Aloud Session!

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Body of Lies

If you'd believe the angle the trailers adopted for this movie, I guess you're more than likely to deem it an adversarial duel between DiCaprio and Crowe, with the latter being some armchair smarty-pants willing to risk it all to "save civilization" by betraying the former. Well thankfully, the story is a lot more than that, and being a clash of ideals, personality and tactics, while still working on and for the same side, makes this a much more gripping thriller to sit through.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/body-of-lies.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Good The Bad The Weird

It's not difficult to see why The Good, The Bad, The Weird is number 1 at the Korean box office this year, given that the titular roles are handed over to some of the heartthrobs such as Lee Byung-hun and Jung Woo-sung. But the real scene stealer here is Song Kang-ho as The Weird Yoon Tae-goo, with some of the best lines and given the moral ambiguity of his character, rather than being the Good Park Do-won (Jung) and the Bad Park Chang-i (Lee) which is cast in stone, simply endears himself to the audience, and not to mention the extended screentime devoted to him too.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/good-bad-and-weird-joheunnom-nabbeunnom.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Dostana

Dostana scores a number of firsts. One being set entirely in Miami, with the glorious shots of golden beaches and opportunities for the cast to show off their toned bodies (for the first few minutes, John Abraham seemed too eager to get rid of his singlet every few minutes). And the other first scored was that this is the first Bollywood film to have a focus on a gay relationship, albeit a faked one, between its two leading men. For an industry that's still sans on-screen sex, where kisses still bring upon rage, and nudity a no-no, is it any wonder why this premise, together with its A-list stars, will draw in the crowds without a doubt?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/dostana.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Sky Crawlers

The Sky Crawlers seem to live up to its name, that it really took its time to tell a story, but in doing so, allowed for the narrative to sink in. After all, it's brought to us by Mamoru Oshii, and as far as his filmography goes, this Japanese maestro's works is often deep, and have more than enough room for multiple viewings, each time allowing you to take away something different, or unnoticed from the previous time round.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/sky-crawlers-sukai-kurora.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Cape No. 7

Based on the skimming of the synopsis alone, I thought Cape No. 7 bore some resemblance to an upcoming Japanese film The Shonen Merikensack which was featured in the recent Tokyo International Film Festival. Well, at least the characters have to come together to form a band, and are managed by a lady. And that this film had Japanese elements in it too. But this is a Taiwanese movie, and its success back at home, being its #1 film of all time, has undoubtedly raised the curiosity level as to what actually made this movie tick, so much so as to garner numerous nominations in this year's Golden Horse awards.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/cape-no-7-hai-jiao-qi-hao.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: City of Ember

This film is strictly for kids. Not pimply teenagers though, but children whose parents will take comfort in knowing that this film is thoroughly family friendly fare, with nary a swear word, tame action sequences, no embarrassing physical romance they got to cook up an explanation for, and an inspiring theme that has to do with hope and working hard to achieve one's goals.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/city-of-ember.html

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