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: Four Christmases

I can't help but to chuckle at how Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) got busted on national television no less, for having everyone whom they have lied to, see exactly where they are - at the airport trying to get to their vacation destination rather than accepting the invitation from their families to spend the season's greetings with. After all, as far as Brad's mantra goes, you can't have families without "lies". Anyway it is a situation that I'm fairly familiar with, and his reaction when the television camera gets poked in his face, brought back the memory of my own busted moment many years back.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/four-christmases.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Muallaf

Yasmin Ahmad's Muallaf finally hits the screens, and it scores a number of firsts from her filmography thus far. For starters, it's a departure from the Orked storyline which the last three (or four if you count Rabun) had centered around, and quite amazingly, it's predominantly in the English language. Save for the return of Sharifah Amani in one of the lead roles, and supporting roles with Tan Mei Ling and even Ho Yuhang, we see new faces here, with leads Brian Yap and Sharifah Amani's real sister Sharifah Aleysha also in this film as her onscreen one.

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

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Secret Life of Bees

It's been two years since we last saw Dakota Fanning on the big screen here, in a film which was a adaptation of the literary classic Charlotte's Web. And what a career it had been for this child actress, now an adolescent, to have grown from scream queen (no thanks to her stint under Spielberg's War of the Worlds) to one controversial role in Hounddogs, which I doubt would make it to our shores here.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/secret-life-of-bees.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

If I may sound like a prude, it's been a while since I laughed so hard and so loud at and with a comedy, given that most have been relatively lacklustre flicks of late. And it took a Kevin Smith one to do just that, with its unadulterated, no holds barred treatment of material where anything and everything goes, where there's no such thing as taboos to be avoided, and somehow, the more vulgar the merrier, as this is definitely one unapologetic movie. You have been warned.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/11/zack-and-miri-make-porno.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Quarantine

Call it a case of deliberately engineered deja-vu, that I consciously decided to sit through this American remake of the recently screened Spanish horror film [REC]. Well of course the purpose is to discover if what's essentially the same story and technique employed, could get screwed up in a remake, given that Hollywood more often than not, lets down the original brilliance which they think they can replicate easily to translate to box office dollars.

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

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Bolt 3D

To echo the biggest fan in the film, Bolt is fully Awesome! Or at least the 3D version of this film, especially the first 10 minutes where we see the superdog in action, showcasing super powers such as his eyes shooting laser beams, speedy acceleration, super strength, and his signature super bark. These are the avenues where 3D gets put to good use, but don't expect every aspect of the film to come flying toward you from the screen.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/bolt-3d.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: All About Women

It must have been crazy to brand this as Asia's answer to the wildly popular Sex and the City, because for all the star power in its female cast, whom besides Zhou Xun, I thought the rest had hung to the coattails of their more popular co-stars such as Stephen Chow and Jay Chou in order to give their cinematic career some needed boost. And what must Tsui Hark be thinking if he reckoned that he could get in touch with his inner feminine self to bring to an audience something about the modern women's psyche on relationships?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/all-about-women-neui-yan-fau-pui.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Sex Drive

Despite what I would deem as a glut as far as teenage sex comedies are concerned, it's easy to have seen one to have seen them all, but Sex Drive still managed to arrest some attention from start to end because the screenplay by John Morris and director Sean Anders, based on the book “All The Way” by Andy Behrens, has plenty of genuinely funny moments, delivered by an excellent fresh faced cast supported by unlikely veterans hamming it up.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/sex-drive.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Day The Earth Stood Still

Tis the season to be jolly, and because of the success of Will Smith's I Am Legend remake last year, I suspect tis the season for Hollywood to look at some of its past science fiction classics and set its gunsights on potential storylines to be redone, or "reimagined" on time for the holiday season, though the structure for this seemed to mirror quite closely to that of the original, save for the message to be preached.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/day-earth-stood-still.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Igor

With a barrage of ultra cute characters ruling animated worlds these days, one wonders if macabre characters would appeal if not coming from the creatively dark mind of Tim Burton. With wonderful animation flicks like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride being tentpoles for animation touching on darker themes and realms (as with festival darlings such as Fear(s) of the Dark), Igor would find itself in good company, and it lives up in certain terms to belong.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/igor.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Twilight

Some friends balked at my preference of watching this movie first in place of other releases this week. I have to admit my interest was piqued at how it performed at the box office amongst the recent slew of less than stellar results by novel to film adaptations. Moreover, there was plenty of talk about how difficult a process it was to find the right cast for the lead roles, and the immense popularity of Stephenie Meyer's novels which had a re-imagining of the vampire/werewolf genre, especially amongst the girls?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/twilight.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Cicakman 2 - Planet Hitam

I had some mindless fun watching the first Cicakman years ago, which was billed as Malaysia's first superhero movie, that I thought I'd give the sequel a go too. And if Sharifah Amani's in this one, it can't be all that bad, can it? Almost all the main cast return for this sequel, albeit some in cameo roles such as Yusry Kru as Danny and the Ginger Boys duo AC Mizal and Adlim Aman Ramlie in reduced roles as flying fireballs, and as with all sequels, new villains are created but the story's nothing to shout about, being rooted to the usual formula that belongs to kids cartoons.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/cicakman-2-planet-hitam.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Wild Child

I guess Emma Roberts' more memorable role was taking on the iconic Nancy Drew character, but now she exchanges those sleuthing skills and good manners for spoilt brat antics. Swinging from one end of the spectrum of an ideal kid to a spoilt and bratty one, her Poppy Moore character in Wild Child is a rich kid who has issues with discipline because she thinks she could get her way with her devil may care attitude and wads of cash. With her relationship with her father going to the doldrums, she gets shipped off to an English boarding school in an effort to be schooled in the prim and proper, and thus sets up plenty of room for your typical fish out of water story.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/wild-child.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

I guess Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is the female equivalent of the teenage male sex comedies, without the sex or gratuitous nudity that is, because this is firmly in chick lit territory and based upon two books written by Louise Rennison - Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God. If you may, this aligns itself more toward Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series, where we get a glimpse of the titular character's daily life and anxieties through episodes of growing pains.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/angus-thongs-and-perfect-snogging.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Yes Man

It's been a while since Jim Carrey hit the screens, going back to his comedic roots after the rather lacklustre dramatic turn in the thriller The Number 23. But it's a somewhat muted Carrey we get, as gone out the window are the over the top antics and rubbery face, and in comes a fine balance between getting the laughs, as well as having some dramatic flair in crafting a believable working class character who is jaded with work and life in general, opting instead to coast through life almost like a recluse.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/yes-man.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Ip Man

If you look at the last 5 movies in Donnie Yen's filmography, I feel that his better works had resulted from his collaboration with director Wilson Yip. In Painted Skin and An Empress and The Warriors, he was relegated to supporting roles, with the former being ineffectively cast against type, and the latter playing second fiddle to the leads Kelly Chen and Leon Lai. With Yip, he's the able star of the show, and in each of the movies, was put to do what he does best – numbing arse kicking action, with SPL sparring with Sammo Hung and Wu Jing, Dragon Tiger Gate having to lead Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue battling bad hair days, and introducing some wildly kinetic Mixed Martial Arts action in Flashpoint. So how does his latest collaboration with Wilson Yip fare? Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/ip-man.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

I guess it's a no brainer to know I'll head to the box office to watch any movie with Shah Rukh Khan on the marquee, and what more when he plays a middle aged, average working class salaryman who's about to embark on quite the romantic adventure of his life.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/rab-ne-bana-di-jodi.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Pride and Glory

I wonder if a film like this could be made here at all. Not that you can't do it on the cheap, because it's literally sans explosions and action sequences that calls for things to be wrecked or shoot em ups in built up areas, and all you need are charismatic actors to bring the plot to live, but one with the story of having corrupt cops within the force? And it's not just a make-believe force, but one that says NYPD on its sleeves.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/pride-and-glory.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Nothing Like The Holidays

Christmas has become so commercialized, no thanks to Santa Claus and the spirit of consumerism having to buy, buy, and buy some more to meet those pesky wish-lists of friends and family. I guess there's this feel good feeling to this holiday because it's just at the edge of the new year, and it's the spirit of sharing good tidings, and to look forward to better things ahead in the new year. But I share similar sentiments with the head of the Puerto Rican Rodriguez household, that it should be none other than a festival to have everyone get together.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/nothing-like-holidays.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Visitor

The law is black and white and without compassion, and as they say, Justice is blind. So I guess either way one could get basically screwed if you end up on the wrong side of the equation. For illegal immigrants, the strict policy we have here is a jail term, plus caning, and deportation. We could argue the merits and demerits of punishment, but that's for a totally different post altogether. How this ties in with the movie, is because it set me thinking a bit about the treatment one could provide should you find yourself in a similar situation as the protagonist Walter (Richard Jenkins).

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/visitor.html

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