Tuesday, December 31, 2013

only god forgives (2013). directed by nicolas winding refn.


first of all, viewers must know that refn doesn't do regular hollywood stuff. this film lasted for 1 hour 25 minutes, and i feel like i was dreaming the entire time. it's surreal, shot in colours not found in harsh real life but that doesn't mean the dream is any less violent. i recalled david lynch in particular. the movie follows ryan gosling, as the drug dealer in the seedy muay thai hole in bangkok. he seems emotionless, lacking the will to do anything - to confront his mother's insult, to avenge his brother's death, to fight against the police who his hunting him down. perhaps it is his reaction to an environment of extremes - it's better not to feel anything in order to remain unaffected. 

Monday, December 30, 2013

safe (2012). directed by boaz yakin.


a little like leon: the professional (1994) but there are only so much similarities that can be compared. while it is a pleasure to watch jason statham beat people to a pulp, but he is not as expressive as jean reno, so the movie feels kind of - robot like. 

insidious: chapter 2 (2013). directed by james wan.


it was genuinely scary at the beginning, and then it turned violent and cartoon-ish in the middle and towards the end. may be that's the point. 

12 years a slave (2013). directed by steve mcqueen.


because slavery is a theme relevant at all times. a must watch. 

at times i am reminded of beautiful shots often found in terrence malick films, in a good way. 

the hobbit: the desolation of smaug (2013). directed by peter jackson.


i feel the film is all about form with little substance. it's fine film making, but it's a bit light. 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

revolutionary road (2008). directed by sam mendes.


this movie is very good. 

it is true we have to make many compromises in order to get by - with people around us, our job, our personal lives, the environment. some of us turned off, not caring, because ignorance is bliss. but some of us - we are too aware and we want more than what being ordinary entails. we want more than just a job, a husband, a wife, a house, children. i don't think april is unreasonable for wanting a change in the form of moving to paris, at the same time i understand the responsibilities and fear that frank thinks he can't run away from. for some reason i doubt moving to paris will solve their problems - there is something fundamental that is wrong beyond the suburban boredom. 

may be they are bored with each other. may be they have grown into different people with different needs and wants. it's only too bad when the only way out is permanent. 

the iceman (2012). directed by ariel vromen


i am a big fan of micheal shannon. i think he carries this movie very well when at times it seems to falter, but this movie has a great supporting cast so it looks pretty well done. the duality of family man vs contract killer as a day job illustrates hannah arendt's concept on the banality of evil - that evil serves only as a stepping stone to a petty ambition - which in this case is basic - like putting food on the table and sending your kids to private catholic schools.

Friday, October 11, 2013

shelter (2010). directed by måns mårlind & björn stein


not bad. has an interesting plot and quite well directed. scary at some points. 

evil dead (2013). directed by fede alvarez.


i do not enjoy this at all. i do not like too much blood in my movies - so it was my brother's fault for recommending this movie. he has a thing for b grade stuff. enough said. 

to the wonder (2012). directed by terrence malick.


when watching malick, one has to have a frame of mind reserved only for watching terrence malick. 

because he doesn't care about making making movies the way we are all accustomed to. i think it is largely a matter of taste. i like moving pictures often employed in his films - my brother called it "the slideshow". it is effective to show loneliness and isolation, as often experienced by characters in malick's movies. 

relationships depicted in this movie seemed forced and full of burden. i don't know why it is like that. sure i understand both partners have to work on it - but to start something on a basis that is so fragile, and trying to sustain that love (?) is just as simple as not feeling anything anymore. at times i feel ben affleck character is so lazy. stop breaking people's heart with your face, man. 

mud (2012). directed by jeff nichols.


nichols and his insights of the people in the deep south. kampung people of the big USA. the adults are defeated, the children are full of romance and idealistic. this coming of age story is almost perfect. 

Sunday, October 6, 2013

a royal affair (2012). directed by nikolaj arcel.


when it comes to using religion to establish the powers that be, that just sounds too eerily familiar. i mean this film is set in the 18th century, which makes me think that history is just a repeat of bad things that happened elsewhere right here at home.  

killing them softly (2012). directed by andrew dominik.


in a way it reminds me of the coen brothers' crime capers, in some ways not. it is a drama of how the crime economy works - the small guys, the junkies, those who hook them up, the middle men, the bosses. typical of bosses who wants things done without knowing exactly done, it is the middle men who are the kings of the road. 

be patient when watching this one. 

prisoners (2013). directed by denis villeneuve.


it is not everyday that you can see a helpless, so tough alpha male in the form of hugh jackman. this story is an american small town nightmare of missing children, and the realism it brings in portraying everybody involved has got to be one of its strongest points. the bereaved parents and their unending sadness, their need to do something even though it doesn't really bring anything good, the disintegrating family unit breaking under pressure, the small town cops trying to close the case despite their lack of resources. the lurking evil underneath the banal landscape of suburbia. everybody is stressed out and no one can keep it on their own. the story has a really good cast - hugh jackman and jake gyllenhaal in top form - gyllenhaal slightly over weight with a little tummy - a dilligent cop who doesn't get all the help that he should be but trying to solve the puzzle. 

in a way everybody is in some sort of prison - physically, mentally, emotionally - due to revenge, ambitions, disappointments. the human condition - can be a gloomy one. 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

stoker (2013). directed by chan-wook park.


by regular chan-wook park standard, this film is mild. by regular hollywood standards though, this is pretty violent of the sadistic kind. 

i like his attention to details and the photography direction. it made us aware of how sensitive india stoker is to her surroundings, something that gives a clue to her predatory instincts. acting and direction are great - all three central characters are weird enough to exist in chan's universe of gothic family - my only complain is - the script is in wanting of greater, deeper motivations - something that chan's films often use as bait to keep the audience begging for each coming scenes. 

Friday, September 6, 2013

amour (2012). directed by micheal haneke.


this is not an easy watch. i think after watching micheal haneke, i appreciate more the movies of another director - yasmin ahmad, surprisingly. i used to hate the fact that she has this thing about placing a static camera and observing her actors from afar. 

micheal haneke did the same exact thing - observing the daily life of an old couple. they have been married for a long time, they had adult children who have their own lives. i don't know what he does, but she was a piano teacher. their apartment mirrored their life and passion. he is so gentle with her, she is a tad caustic, but i can sense their adoration is mutual and runs deep. 

but love, is not love, unless it is thoroughly tested. 

it makes me think why the film depicted an old couple, instead of a young couple like a lot of movies out there.  i think - in haneke's universe at least - love is something to be earned. it doesn't just exist out of thin air. it is earned with years of commitment, tested with all sorts of situations and challenges imaginable. 

the film doesn't sugarcoat the nature of old age and the challenge of illness that comes with it. it is very difficult caring for a sick loved one, especially when they descend to the level of children. sometimes it is not love anymore - it is a mix of despair, self pity and disgust. 

i don't know how i will handle it when the time comes.   

the hunt (2012). directed by thomas vinterberg.


watching this movie makes me think what a horrid tv show hannibal really is for reducing mads mikkelsen to a one dimensional psychotherapist-food enthusiast. 

i am happy with each proven pervert caught like the next person, but i am not happy when the said caught person is not a proven pervert. the subject of this film is deliberate social isolation - that rocked a small danish village, where everybody is friends with everybody - when a male teacher is accused of indecently exposing himself to a little girl.

it was heartbreaking to see used to be friends turned their backs on him, losing his job in an instant without any proper investigation done, his girlfriend doubting his innocence, even the grocery store he frequented refused to serve him - a paedophile. 

if only he were - all of this could be justified - only that he is not. i like the thomas vinterberg's taut direction - because what is at stake is a man's life. 

the white ribbon (2009). directed by micheal haneke.


there is no supernatural horror in this film and yet i was scared as if a ghost is going to jump on me, ju-on style. 

that is the genius of micheal haneke, amongst others. 

while the children seems to be mysterious and aloof, often subjected to unreal expectations of adults around them, i find the adults in the film are the ones who are the hypocritical enforcer of morality. while they all try to control the seemingly ordered life that is spinning out of control very fast - the only certainty is this - bad things happened and they don't need any reason at all. perhaps it was a sign that a bigger chaos is coming - in the form of the first world war.

god save us all. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

gangster squad (2013). directed by ruben fleischer.


reminds me of brian de palma's the untouchables (1987) and curtis hanson's LA confidential (1997). fun, but not quite there yet. may be a light take on both movies? perhaps. but i like josh brolin in it. very old school. 

sister my sister (1994). directed by nancy meckler.


unfortunately this movie was branded as a lesbian movie even though it was about isolation due to different classes in society. i feel sorry for both lead characters who have to endure the horrible mistress of the house and her equally dull daughter. while they are not treated badly, they are not acknowledged as people or even as workers, it is the failure of human society that such division must occur purely due to disparity in material wealth. 

Friday, July 12, 2013

the call (2013). directed by brad anderson.


i don't really enjoy this movie. probably because i've seen anderson made better movies (session 9 (2001), the machinist (2004)) and like his style of horror that does not depend on cheap props, lazy plots and screaming scantily clad women. perhaps this is an intentional departure from his usual style - the fact that halle berry is in it definitely gives the film a more commercial feel to it.   

the place beyond the pines (2012). directed by derek cianfrance.


i like cianfrance's 2010 movie blue valentine, and this one has that dark undercurrents going right from the start. i like his careful mood setting - you know something life changing is going to take place and it doesn't happened in a cheesy manner. 

it takes time to move from one story to another - starting from gosling's story of trying to provide for his baby son via robbing banks to cooper's shooting him and suffering immense guilt for killing a father - as cooper is also a father of a baby boy. he feels disconnected from his son, that guilt also drives him to bring down the corrupt police force at his precinct. 

however, the real losers of the event are the sons. one grew up not knowing his dead father, the other grew up without his father's love and attention.  

one has to employ patience when watching this movie. the story telling is not conventional but i appreciate the effort cianfrance puts in to explore the nuances of each characters' experiences. 

bradley cooper can actually act, no?

call me crazy: a five film (2013). directed by laura dern, bryce dallas howard, bonnie hunt, ashley judd and sharon maguire.


this made for tv movie is pretty good, even though it doesn't break new grounds in exploring the theme of mental illness. it is good in terms of bringing this issue to the public - skimming the surface of what it is like to suffer from mental illness, and the loved ones who stand by them. 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

pee mak (2013). directed by banjong pisanthanakun.


quite enjoyable stupid fun. 

star trek into the darkness (2013). directed by j. j. abrams.


i enjoyed this movie because i have zero expectation of it being any good. so it was quite enjoyable. it is amusing to see benedict cumberbatch out-acting everybody which reminds me of the same deal with micheal fassbender in x men: first class (2011). 

Sunday, May 26, 2013

the great gatsby (2013). directed by baz luhrmann.


i am glad i didn't read all the bad reviews that said luhrmann tanked the movie. i adored fitzgerald, read all his  books. i think lurhmann handled the material well, i got no complaints with all sorts of sounds he chose for the soundtrack. in fact i think it captures the insanity of the era where things are just as superficial as now - it's all fluff that caters for the short attention span. 

how contemporary. 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

side effects (2013). directed by steven soderbergh.


soderbergh my man!

i managed to catch this movie last wednesday and immensely enjoyed it even though i think the ending is a bit too easy. lipstick lesbians? ok i guess now that's the rage. soderbergh direction is smooth and the story engaging - please tell me you are not retiring anytime soon. 

iron man 3 (2013). directed by shane black.


very poor. even shane black can't salvage this one. i enjoyed watching robert downey jr. (as always) but i think the story is mindless. i find myself counting down the minutes to its eventual, forgettable ending. 

i forgot how it ends. yawn. 

anna karenina (2012). directed by joe wright.


i thought the direction is gorgeous. reminds me of russian ark (2002). i think the plot is pretty tight as most of the major events in the book was closely followed, but my brother said there are critics who contended this movie is a high school version of tolstoy's tale of freedom and christian morality.  

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

the flowers of war (2011). directed by yimou zhang.


bale is on auto-pilot, but that's ok. watching this movies reminds me of a book that i read called the rape of nanking and i just couldn't finished it after going through the pictures. it's too horrific, stripping the humanity of anybody who so much as have a look at the those pictures. 

and it is the women who always lose in the war of men. 

Friday, March 15, 2013

arbitrage (2012). directed by nicholas jarecki.


richard gere can actually hold the story on his own - of a billionaire on the brink of collapse trying to patch every single problems of his own doing on his own. at times when everything is going against him - i see not a man in distress, but a man analyzing his moves and weighing the odds of the best possible course of actions. this is business to him, a game that needs to be won - that he doesn't seemed too disturbed about causing the death of his mistress, he is willing to get friends to cover up his crime, not really feeling the guilt about cheating on his wife and family for that matter. in fact everyone around him is not as central as his dedication to play the game to save himself - they are just a bystander, a decoration aside the game. 

who knows what his real motivations are? nothing is that taboo if it gets you to the destination that you want to be. 

end of watch (2012). directed by david ayer.


this i must say:

watch all david ayer's movies. 

i am impressed by this movie. the fact that it doesn't feel like a movie. it feels like a camera follows two young cops around downtown LA carry out their duty calls. both micheal pena and jake gyllenhaal are so genuine you would think they are partners in real life. i love the camera work by roman vasyanov. one thing that stands out about this movie is that - there is no cheesy moments in trying to define heroism (or any values for that matter) - it is what it is - two people doing their jobs, they are regular people with regular people dreams, and sometimes they die violently by mobsters who knows no mercy. 

it is a cruel world out there, i rather directors and screen writers not to sugar coat it. it is still bitter and will stay that way. 

the master (2012). directed by paul thomas anderson.


cults are so weird  the fact there has to be a messiah who thinks he is on the path to save others, and those who badly need to be saved themselves. it's a symbiotic relationship, but a bad one. freddie quell is a veteran of war with a roomful of personal demons - he is erratic, constantly drinking to forget the past, behaving like he is a dollar short of a quarter. he drifted aimlessly until he met the (not-so)-mesmerizing lancaster dodd and his cult family on a boat, thinking he met someone who can save him from his inner troubles. freddie is not awfully smart, seemed to be easily impressed and in need of approval that he is capable of so much more. at times he gave his loyalty to lancaster - which is exactly what the group needs. 

i cheered the fact that freddie can not be contained by  the group methods and they gave up on him. to have a mind on your own, no matter how unsteady, is better than being a blind follower behind an equally clueless master. 

both joaquin phoenix and philip seymour hoffman are intense in their approach trying to contain each other, not to mention amy adams as the master's powerful-behind-the-scene wife. darn, who is jennifer lawrence again?  

Monday, March 11, 2013

lemony snicket's a series of unfortunate events (2004). directed by brad silberling.


i don't usually like kids movie but i like this one. may be because it is over the top, jim carrey being jim carrey, contrasted with the serious baudelaire children. 

brokeback mountain (2005). directed by ang lee.


this is a time when the uttering the word gay is ultimately the fault of the gay person. this is a time when being gay is imposing the gay lifestyle to the discomfort of the majority straights. ennis is afraid to live and love openly, much the chagrin of jack, his lover whom he met while sheep herding at brokeback mountain. his fear could very well be true, but the scene at jack's family home - when ennis found his missing shirt from all those years at brokeback mountain - made him realized the chance he had passed to have a happier life. 

everyone is so so good in this movie. i even like anne hathaway in it. 

silver linings playbook (2012). directed by david o. russell.


cute family feel good drama, but why did jennifer lawrence won that oscar?

that i don't get. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

flight (2012). directed by robert zemeckis.


i am actually surprised that this is a robert zemeckis movie of the famed back to the future (1985-1990) trilogy. and not bad i must say - while denzel washington is a veteran at playing men with a broken psyche - it is still a sombre movie without getting too dark - the scene in which he is fighting his will to drink that small bottle of vodka (i think?) in the next hotel room conveys how hopelessly wrong when an alcoholic tries to convince himself that he is not an alcoholic. 

the guy is in a constant battle of will - to drink or not to drink. stories like this makes me sad - i don't enjoy seeing people spiralling down to their doom. 

the godfather: part 2 (1974). directed by francis ford coppola.


can a movie be as good as this one? i think both part 1 and part 2 are complimentary to each other. it's such a joy to see this kind of story telling because it just doesn't happen anymore these days. the most obvious would be micheal's transformation from a kid wide-eyed of the world to his ascent as the head of the family to his downfall. it changed him inside - he is more inward, contemplative, suspicious to the point of paranoia - pushing everyone away - even killing a family member - something his father will never consider of doing. 

to what point - business is for the family, or is family for business? 

the dynamics of each characters, the seamless story telling, the colours and moods of the era - something in the past that the present at times, despite of technologies, fail to emulate. 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

the godfather (1972). directed by francis ford coppola.


i think i have watched this movie more than 10 times. and each new viewing just makes me want to find out more. it is such a gem to savour. especially after my brain is tired after watching stupidity shot with big bucks. it is a story of a king with three sons - each of them inherited something from the patriarch - the first his aggression  the second his child like wonder, the third his unscrupulous intelligence. the old man built the an empire for his children, the same intentions discontinued in the hands of his children. 

hysteria (2011). directed by tanya wexler.


so so. we watched this right after a dangerous method (2011) so it was a bit of a let down. predictable laughs without breaking new ground. or may be i've seen the characters or the story somewhere, before. 

a good day to die hard (2013). directed john moore.


not very clever isn't it? that it gets me wondering about watching live free or die hard (2007) and how good timothy olyphant looked with his washboard stomach. the action is just over the top, there is no room to breathe let alone character development (yeah what the heck is that?!) to hide the fact that the story was totally forgettable. 

which i did. and, what, it takes them 6 years to come up with this crap!

celeste & jesse forever (2012). directed by lee toland krieger.


this wasn't so bad. i slightly enjoyed it as opposed to the regular rom-coms that usually are just not funny. 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

moonrise kingdom (2012). directed by wes anderson.


wes anderson and his delightfully sad movie about..imperfect people. or just people. the colours is 60's, was it 70's? two children fell in love and decided to run away from their lives - one of them is an orphan who yearn for parents, the other has parents and just could not get along. the children seems to know what they want and what to do - unlike the adults, lost in their dreary lives, not knowing why they exist. they exist for responsibilities that no longer gives meaning let alone joy. the children ran away into the unknown - free from everything - albeit knowing they can only pull this off for a short while. 

it's depressing being children knowing that some day you will lose that sense of endless possibility, and it is equally depressing being adults knowing some day there is no possibility at all. 

brave (2012). directed by mark andrews, brenda chapman & steve purcell.


i am not big on animated films and haven't watch many of them. this one has its charms despite roger ebert's comment that it didn't break new grounds. i like the plot of the story that involves changing the queen to a real bear, and eventually acts like a real bear. the overall story is cute, however i feel it is sort of heavy for children. 

i must be lagging way behind in the animation world. 

Monday, January 28, 2013

sympathy for lady vengeance (2005) (chinjeolhan geumjassi (original title)). directed by chan-wook park.


chan-wook park's third installment of his vengeance trilogy is just as explosive as oldboy (2003). personally  i find this film more satisfying than the oldboy, simply because it ends with in a positive note. i love its beautiful shots and the layered story telling of this movie. you will not look at korean women the same way after watching this. so, just beware.