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: Russian Dolls

Russian Dolls are those wooden toy dolls, which can be opened to reveal another doll, and opened again to reveal another, until you reach the final, tiny one. That in essence, is the movie's message on love and relationships. How do you know that the person you're with, is that final soulmate, the final tiny russian doll at the end of the chain? Or are you still stuck in the process of searching, and breaking up, and perpetually wondering and keeping a lookout for that someone else perceivably better?

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/russian-dolls-les-poupes-russes.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Invisible Waves

It's basically an extremely weak piece of storytelling, with a non-existent, juvenile story. I equate it to a primary school kid's first composition, and the worst kid in class can come up with something more imaginative and interesting. The story does not engage at all, and the characters, you'd wish that they all die to save you the misery of trying to understand them.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/invisible-waves.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The New World

For the new generation bred on Disney's Pocahontas, The New World is a more adult take on the tale. There is no song and dance, there is no "magicalness" in this new world, and there are no characters perpetually on prozac. Think along this line: the Louis Cha martial arts classic series The Condor Heroes, and Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time. The former being Disney's Pocahontas in ease of understanding, the latter being Mallick's movie. Same characters, similar stories, in a grittier adult environment.

Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-world.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Three Times

Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movie at The Picturehouse is a movie with three stories told very distinctly, one story after another. Take it as three short films rolled into one, with each actor playing different roles, each character having no distinct relation to their counterparts in different eras. Having them set in 1966, 1911 and 2005 provided vastly different material for each short film to stand out from one another.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/three-times.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Ultraviolet

I hate to say this, but Ultraviolet is this year's Elektra. It's a bad hybrid of Aeon Flux, Underworld, Resident Evil and Elektra combined using the production style of Sky Captain, shot against digitally created scenes. Not that it is bad though, I actually sincerely believed, from the trailer, that it had potential to be a really good Milla Jovovich vehicle. Sadly, I was quite disappointed.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/ultraviolet.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Similar to the first Ice Age, the promotional material for the sequel was out in the theatres way in advance, and courtesy of the Scrat character too, up to its usual antics of getting to that elusive acorn. Here, Scrat opens the movie, and emulating the style of the first, he provides most of the laughs, also as an intermission from the actual scenes from the main cast.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/03/ice-age-2-meltdown.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Inside Man

It's a slick heist thriller, which doesn't conform to the notions of how a heist movie should be. It's the feel good factor at the end of the movie that makes this movie satisfying. This is perhaps the most accessible, and commercial of all Spike Lee Joint films. I'd watch it again, for its engaging politicking story, and for that opening credit sequence.

Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/inside-man.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Rent

The musical movie reunites most of the original cast in the Broadway production, making it a pretty accurate film version in terms of having the right persons play the roles they've already become familiar with. Telling the life of a struggling group of Bohemians in the East Village of New York City, having the musical immortalized on celluloid enabled the production to reach out to commercial masses at the price of a movie ticket.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/rent.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Producers

Before I start the review proper, since there might be some who just like a peek at what the movie offered and missed out on my all important tip, so I shall mention it first. Stay until the end of the credits roll. Not only will you be entertained by the song sung by Will Ferrell during the roll, and some ad-lib at the end about buying 'Mein Kampf' from Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon, you'll be treated to one last short song-dance sequence sung by almost all the cast in turn, telling you to get lost, get out because the movie's over.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/producers.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: [FOCUS: First Cuts #2] I'll Call You

I'll Call You is a modern day romance story, taking a look into what a girl wants, what a guy wants, expectations and the games people play. Manny is your average guy who has been luckless in love. Karen is your attractive television anchor, the quintessential party girl who doesn't know what she wants in a partner. They meet by chance at a pub, and Manny falls for her, hard, after a series of dates. However, Karen only thinks of him as a friend (don't they always?) and soon enough, the couple breaks up.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/focus-first-cuts-2-ill-call-you.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Black Night

When I can sit through a horror genre film and actually poke fun at its stupidity, then you know that there really is nothing to be afraid of. While the attempt is good, the delivery is pretty bad. The acting's mediocre at best, and the ghouls look extremely cheap.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/black-night.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Hostel

Nudity, sex, drugs, gore and violence. If you're looking for a movie that has all those elements, then look no further than Hostel, which has got them all. Written and directed by Eli Roth, and given the stamp of approval from Quentin Tarantino, this film doesn't shy away from being seen as promoting a decadent lifestyle, and making fun of stereotypical Euros and Yankees, the horny and the stoned, getting their just desserts.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/hostel.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Singapore GaGa

I did not know the name Melvyn Cedello, until now. He's been performing under the walkway near the Bedok hawker centre for months. Do I stop to listen? Frankly speaking, not really, even though I use that same walkway to get me home almost everyday. It's like he (and his performance) has become intrinsically part of the landscape, one that has blended in the background as I go about with my life. But I do hear the music. Sometimes folk, sometimes rock, an occassional Elvis or Beatles, sometimes even silence as he takes a smoke break or chat with some passers-by.

Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/singapore-gaga.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Tristan + Isolde

Set during the time when the Romans withdrew from England, and when Ireland was ravaging the English because of the power vacuum, we see a young Tristan (Thomas Sangster, the same kid from Nanny McPhee) owing a life debt to Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell), who saved Tristan from impending death at a sacrifice of his right hand. Orphaned, Tristan serves Lord Marke dutifully, and becomes more favoured than Marke's nephew Melot (Henry Cavill), with his fighting skills and fierce loyalty.

read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/tristan-isolde.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Art of Seduction

Truth be told, if I were to come across Son Ye-jin's Han Ji-wan character, with those bambi eyes and pretty face, I would go jelly too. But that'a about it. I guess I pretty much ruled myself out of the dating scene, for the time being at least, to fall for her manipulative charms. Perhaps it's true that a pretty face can turn a monster into a mouse, and boy, does Son Ye-jin turn heads.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/art-of-seduction.html

P.S. Other reviews for movies the next 2 weeks like Take the Lead, 16 Blocks, Hostel, Where the Truth Lies, Black Night, Reincarnation, and The Art of Flirting, are available at the blogsite. This should suffice until I return from In-Camp Training. Cheers!

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Singapore Dreaming

I think this local film is just plain brilliant, and the most accessible one to date, one that has potential to appeal to almost every spectrum of local society, and cinema-goers. It's adult storytelling laced with well placed humour, tackling mature themes and providing a snapshot of your atypical heartland family of four, their goals, dreams, desires and challenges.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/singapore-dreaming.html

And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Firewall

But it hints well at what Firewall is going to become. Cliche and overused sequences which will probably make you scream "haven't I seen this somewhere before"? Firewall offered nothing very new in terms of plot outline, as it contains modified scenes from even Ford's own works like Air Force One (the family's survival being threatened, and it's up to one man to save the day) and The Fugitive (the frame up and one man's run from the law). Ford has already become comfortable in the role of an all-American one man hero, that this role offered no surprises at all.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/firewall.html

And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: MirrorMask

It's pretty abstract at times, and I admit there were portions which I completely zoned out. Directed by illustrator Dave McKean, you'd come to expect the stunning visuals which MirrorMask offered, right from the opening credit sequence in 3D. MirrorMask tells the story of protagonist Helena, a young girl belonging to a family of circus performers. She often dreams of life outside performances, that of what she deems as "real life", as opposed to her own fantasy world of make believe inside the Big Top.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/mirrormask.html

And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: Eight Below

I'm a long time admirer of the beautiful huskies, their steely blue eyes, and their ability to survive the harshest of winter while pulling along a heavy sled as a team. They're the equivalent of the camel in the desert and the equal of Lassie. It's tough to keep one in Singapore, not that you can't (I've seen a couple in dog shows), but I suppose our weather here is too brutal.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/eight-below.html

daface SG

A Nutshell Review: The Sentinel

At first glance, this film looks like the Keifer Sutherland series 24 for the big screen. With the focus on a plot to assassinate the President of the United States, a race against time, and plenty of Secret Service agents, the agency under the spotlight in The Sentinel.

Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/sentinel.html

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