what maisie knew (2012). directed by scott mcgehee and david siegel.

some people don't have what it takes to be parents and yet that's exactly what they end up with - a child that they are not capable to take care of. in the case of maisie, her self centred parents are too busy doing the stuff they want instead of coming to some sort of amicable solution as to how a raise a kid even though they can't live with each other. she's pretty much neglected, if not for the nanny and her mother's boyfriend who are forced to be surrogate parents to the girl because deep down they know this is straight up child abuse, without bruises. 

by the end of the movie, i am just glad her mother walked out on her for good. 

sorry, haters (2005). directed by jeff stanzler.

9/11 has been used as an excuse to vilify muslims. it is actually ok to think that muslims are violent people without pausing if that assumption is true, or not. here abdellatif kechiche (of blue is the warmest colour (2013) fame) who is a taxi driver trying to make a living in a country that scapegoats him for his religious identity, and robin wright penn playing the seemingly harmless, if not slightly unstable woman pining for some male attention, or is she looking for something more? something like revenge, perhaps? but why? she's a nobody - perhaps that's all that she want - riding on hatred for a little 5 minutes of attention. 

as far as indie movies go, the same rule applies. be patient. 

blue jasmine (2013). directed by woody allen.

apparently this movie is supposed to be a comedy, i guess it is in a sad way, or if one finds selfish, hopeless and in denial characters amusing to watch. no doubt cate blanchett played this very well, and the film is all around woody allen, though i find it predictable that i should watch yet another film of his fascinations with people falling out of the bourgeoisie lifestyle.  

it is a hard fall, especially when one is not used to do any sort of work in their lifetime. 

the grandmaster (2013). directed by wong kar wai.

i am a fan of wong kar wai. so it is perfectly ok with me that a kung fu movie has very little fighting scenes, in fact what he did was trying to show that martial arts is about self restraint and not about using the fighting ability for self interest. i haven't seen wong's work for a while, i think the last was re-watching ashes of time (1994) with my brother a few years ago. so it is nice to be taken into wong's universe again - the place where people say very little but their facial muscles and manners convey the opposite, haunting music follows through the characters' raging emotions with period colors during the war years. 

that floats my boat.  

lust, caution (2007). directed by ang lee.

i love it when spy movies do what it suppose to do - when it treads on secrecy and subtleties, not explosives and all those silly things that is the antithesis of being a spy. though in this case, despite wong chia chi's ability to seduce stiff, emotionless high ranking official mr. yee, nicely played by tony leung chiu wai, she miserably falls in love with him as much as she struggled against her own unhappiness of being abandoned by her father. 

the film is beautifully shot, of how war is an irritant for the rich but the ugly realities for the poor. you will hate the game of power that countries play, a burden that women like wong chia chi had to bear. for all the men that plan and plot, it is the woman who carry the covert mission, gambling her sanity and dignity. 

you will ask, all for what exactly?

like father, like son (2013). directed by hirokazu koreeda.

what i like about this movie is how subtle it is, the fact that it tries so hard not to do something out of what ordinary people would do when they are caught up in a weird situation, such as when your child was intentionally changed at birth by an unhappy nurse.  i also like how the difference in culture plays a huge role in storytelling, that i (a viewer from malaysia, who is used to watching hollywood crap and some good ones) instantly know that certain reaction emoted in the film is purely due to japanese people being japanese - because i know such a thing would not happen in a film made in hollywood. 

and, even if you are not a parent, you will shed a little tear. i teared up, damned it!

saving mr. banks (2013). directed by john lee hancock.

i don't usually watch pg-13 movies, or disney movies for that matter. they are boring for being too sugary sweet. however, i gave this one a shot. doesn't really stray from the happy ending disney formula, but i enjoyed the performance of emma thompson and tom hanks, and also that of colin farrell, i think i haven't seen him a while (i haven't been watching a lot of movies). 

killer joe (2011). directed by william friedkin.

if you like dark comedies, you will enjoy this one. otherwise it would just disturb the hell out of you. a policeman dabbling as a killer for hire resembles more like the angel of death, he frightens people who are ten cent short of a dollar and angry dogs. which is something he underestimates, despite sensitivity and intelligence, that hell is more like being trapped with a bunch of stupid people. 

great performance by the actors, i would say, a must see.