A Nutshell Review by daface
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A Nutshell Review: 3 Needles
Released in Singapore to coincide with World Aids Day (1 Dec), it actually took me this long to cast my eyes on the movie, no thanks to weird and limited screenings at one or two theatres. Perhaps it's because of the subject matter, about that disease which, as far as I can recall, doesn't get named at all in the movie, which probably won't sit down well with audiences who are up for the latest feel good movies in town this holiday season.
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A Nutshell Review: Water
Water is the last installment of writer-director Deepa Mehta's Elemental Trilogy, the first two being Fire (1996) and Earth (199
, of which I did not have the opportunity to watch on the big screen. But no matter, I'm glad I did watch this. For those who have this misconception that all Hindi movies are loud, boisterous and full of dance energy, perhaps this movie will change your mind (ok, so it isn't from your regular Bollywood movie-mill). Water is quiet and extremely meditative, which is quite surprising as it takes on controversial themes like religion.
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A Nutshell Review: Quinceanera
In local culture, it's a big deal when you hit 21 years of age. Being legally allowed to watch R21 movies is just but a blip, but what I suppose the usual celebrations will include some hard core partying. It marks a coming of age, of a transition to young adulthood.
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A Nutshell Review: Curse of the Golden Flower
Zhang Yimou is desperate. Desperate for that elusive Oscar. In his third attempt to lift that statuette, he has stuck to the martial arts genre, still deciding to go headlong since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon's (CTHD) win. For his previous attempts, he has utilized CTHD star Ziyi Zhang in both Hero and House of Flying Daggers (HFD), and had resorted to casting big Asian stars like Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, all of whom are known actors to the West, and the likes of Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Here, he dug deeper, and went to snag CTHD star, and another recognizable face Chow Yun-Fat, as well as ditching Ziyi Zhang for his original muse, Gong Li, in roles fit for royalty.
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A Nutshell Review: Night at the Museum
Night of the Museum is this year's Chicken Little. With the trailer played almost every time before a movie is screened, it's arguable that this is probably the most watched movie trailer for the year, with that T-Rex skeleton taking a sip from the water cooler, made the iconic scene for the film, taking over Chicken Little doing its rendition of "the running man". Given its marketing muscle, it'll work two ways - live up to its hype, or gets buried in it when it fails to deliver, given its continuous build up of expectations. Night at the Museum treaded dangerously close to the latter.
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A Nutshell Review: Stranger Than Fiction
Director Marc Forster has a really diverse filmography, with Monster's Ball, the touching Finding Neverland, and the science fiction thriller Stay, all under his belt. The trend continues with Stranger Than Fiction, a film which is quite difficult to categorize, as it's really a mixed bag, bringing memories of Adaptation (2002), along similar lines where fiction crosses into reality.
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A Nutshell Review: Death Note: The Last Name
A warning to all who attempt to watch this without watching the first movie - you'll be lost, totally. It doesn't come with a summary or a montage, and dives right into where the first film left off. You'll probably have plenty of questions, and there is almost zero character introduction. Even the brisk recap of the Death Note capabilities quickly flips by, offering you no time to complete reading what's on screen. So you've been warned. A review of the first movie can be found here.
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A Nutshell Review: Confession of Pain
Confession of Pain is draped in deep melancholy. From story to cinematography, one cannot escape the strong moodiness painted by the creative trio of directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, and together with writer Felix Chong, this movie is widely anticipated as the one which will top their earlier acclaimed creation, Infernal Affairs. And signs were positive too, as they had snagged great leads in Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
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A Nutshell Review: Borat
Borat is unapologetically vulgar. And it is no surprise that various groups, from the Kazakhstans, to the gypsies, gays, charismatic Christians, Jews, feminists, and even Americans themselves would find certain aspects of it distasteful. But I like, vair nice!
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A Nutshell Review: The Queen
This is as much a movie on Queen Elizabeth II as it is on current British PM Tony Blair. With the movie starting from Blair's win at the elections, and being a new PM expected to usher in change, his character here is in opposites with the Queen's, one steeped in stifling tradition of the monarchy.
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A Nutshell Review: Blood Diamond
Blood Diamond marks the first 2007 movie for me, and what a blast it was, surprisingly. Directed by Edward Zwick, you'll probably enjoy the movie if you liked his previous movies - The Siege, Courage Under Fire, and The Last Samurai.
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A Nutshell Review: One Last Dance
The first local production for this year, it's a movie made with an international cast and crew, most notably, Asian film stars in Francis Ng, Ti Lung and Vivian Hsu, with a guest appearance by Harvey Keitel as an Italian mobster. It's no surprise that Raintree Pictures, in a bid to go regional and international, is holding nothing back to attract local and foreign talent to get them involved in locally produced movies. And I guess One Last Dance is such a fine example, helmed by upcoming Brazilian director Max Makowski.
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A Nutshell Review: Pan's Labyrinth
A lot have been said about Pan's Labyrinth, and having critical praise from all many corners and circles, have piqued my interest in the movie. However, I was apprehensive as well, because by virtue of it being a fantasy like fairy tale, I suspect it was not up my alley, given my lack of sustainable interest during the screenings of recent movies of the same genre, made by prolific filmmakers like Terry Gillian's Brothers Grimm, or Mirrormask as scribed by the renowned Neil Gaiman.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/pans-labyrinth-el-laberinto-del-fauno.html -
A Nutshell Review: School for Scoundrels
So you're a pushover, lack guts to go after the one you love, and rely on stacks of self-help books to tide you over your pathetic life. Wake up! Genuine help is on the way! Be a lion! Get what you want! Welcome to the School for Scoundrels!
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A Nutshell Review: Fur - An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
Nicole Kidman isn't new to taking up roles based on real people, having been casted as Virginia Woolf in The Hours. Here, her role as Diane (pronounced Dee-ann) Arbus however, is highly fictionalized, based on the renowned American photographer for her portraits of people on the societal fringes. The keywords here are "highly fictionalized", and even the introduction bears that stark reminder, less someone actually interprets the events on screen as a biography of sorts.
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A Nutshell Review: Gridiron Gang
OK, hands up all those who think they've seen one too many sports movies, or movies with troubled teens having inspirational teachers motivate them out of their dire straits. Movies like Dangerous Minds, Coach Carter, Hard Ball, and even recent dance movies like Take the Lead, and Step Up, all seem to have come from the same mould.
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A Nutshell Review: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Perfume is a queer movie. In fact, I'm tempted to say it almost falls into the same fantasy like genre as Mirrormask or Pan's Labyrinth, except that it's darker, has more black humour, and takes itself at times very seriously. Based on a novel by Patrick Suskind, Perfume at first looks like those biographical type movies where you trace the development of a perfumer, and if you've seen the trailers, it joins the gore movies with its totally warped plot development.
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A Nutshell Review: Hollywoodland
Death under mysterious circumstances make good stories for the paper mills. And celebrity deaths all the more so, as they sell. The Curse of Superman is probably one of the well known controversies (coincidences?) of today, and one of its victims was George Reeves, who played Superman in the 50s, and apparently committed suicide in his home one late night. The mystery and conspiracy theories are plenty, given that it's Tinseltown after all.
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A Nutshell Review: Cicak-Man
I'm a sucker for superhero movies, and Malaysia just unleashed its own superhero on the cinematic screen, complete with snazzy special effects, called Cicak-Man (Lizard-Man). Topping the box office in Malaysia, I won't be surprised if the movie does reasonably well here if the sell out screenings I noticed so far is any indication, or the indication actually coming from fans crowding Causeway Point when the cast came visiting yesterday.
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A Nutshell Review: The King
This movie reminded me of Woody Allen's Match Point. Different stories altogether, but with the general sense and feeling of incredible luck, and evilness amongst man. You can't help but wonder that each one of us have the propensity to do evil, and just what might exactly push our button to commit sin. Lust, revenge, and pride clearly on display in James Marsh's The King.
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A Nutshell Review: The Illusionist
Director Neil Burger is a relative unknown. To date he has only directed one other feature film, Interview With An Assassin, a fictional account of the real shooter of the JFK assassination, which I had the chance of watching it on DVD some time back. Comparing production values, it's a great leap forward for Burger, having now directed a movie starring heavyweight character actors Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti.
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A Nutshell Review: Apocalypto
The passion of the predator braveheart blair witch fugitive gladiator who dances with wolves in the temple of doom.
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A Nutshell Review: Haven
Haven takes place in the Cayman Islands, paradise on Earth, with beautiful beaches, friendly people, and of course, being the ideal place to stash cash, ill gotten or otherwise, free from taxation. In its seedier side, to paraphrase from another movie, weed is the currency, openly passed around in nacho chip bags. This movie ditches the idyllic moments, to peer beneath the veneer, of hell on Earth instead.
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A Nutshell Review: Babel
Babel just triumphed at this year's Golden Globes by walking away with the Best Drama award, which The Departed was touted to win, but I guess having a movie which is a remake win the award, is akin to saying "Infernal Affairs, you guys can trounce our multi-million dollar epics anytime". Babel follows a similar formula to other acclaimed movies such as Crash and Syriana, which take on a multiple angle, multiple story, with multiple intertwined characters all running along in the fragmented narrative, with the story arcs all linked to a common theme. With Crash and Syriana, the themes were clear and simple. With Babel however, it lived up to its issue of communications.
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A Nutshell Review: Feast
Feast is your typical monster movie, and in watching this, you'll appreciate the richness of The Host, which itself also belongs to the genre, but smashes all stereotype of how a monster movie should be. But that doesn't mean Feast is not fun - it is, even though it's the usual formula, because it doesn't try to be anything more sophisticated than that.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2007/01/feast.html