A Nutshell Review by daface

• daface

  18 Jan 08, 23:58

  A Nutshell Review: The Flock
  
  Hong Kong directors crossing over to Hollywood to make movies is nothing new, with the temporary exodus of the likes of Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ringo Lam in the 90s. From their collective output, only a few movies (or may I say just one?) made an impact at the box office. The Andrew Lau and Alan Mak partnership has been a tour de force in recent HK cinematic history, especially with their now famous Infernal Affairs trilogy which was remade into Martin Scorsese's The Departed, so it's no surprise when Hollywood comes knocking on the door.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/flock.html
  
• daface

  19 Jan 08, 17:07

  A Nutshell Review: 27 Dresses
  
  Katherine Heigl probably captured the imagination of the many geeky boys out there when she gave Seth Logan's Ben Stone a one night stand in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up. It's a ridiculous premise some might add, but it propelled her to mass consciousness as the beautiful girl who would, and provided her an elevation of status she would recently decide to loathe. Anyway, all is forgiven, and she's back to grace our screens in a role that demonstrates you can attempt to dress her up in a sack, and even that would still make her look oh-so-sexy.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/27-dresses.html
• daface

  20 Jan 08, 11:06

  A Nutshell Review: Trade
  
  The plight of innocent victims of human trafficking for sex has moved filmmakers enough to make movies addressing the issue. The last two in recent memory that I've watch are Your Name is Justine, and Lilya-4ever, both which put the spotlight specifically on the characters created, highlighting the abuse they receive and exposing some of the tricks that the conmen exploit in order to target and thereafter control their prey. Given that the viewpoint of the entire unfortunate ordeal from the perspective of the victims have been portrayed, and is easy and turning the same wheel if done again, Trade takes on a more macroscopic look, while still maintaining a finger in a more personalized tale, in order to ramp up the human drama and emotions.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/trade.html
• daface

  21 Jan 08, 22:41

  A Nutshell Review: Mr. Average
  
  Mr Average is quite unlike The Truman Show. In the latter, Jim Carrey's titular character is bred and born for the role as the reality television star who lives a lie, and that product placement is but part and parcel to insert advertisements for the long running show. In Mr Average, it has quite a lot to say about polls and opinions, and boiled down into becoming a predictable romantic tale.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/mr-average-comme-tout-le-monde.html
  
• daface

  23 Jan 08, 22:57

  A Nutshell Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
  
  I can't imagine myself being stuck and trapped in my own body, where it becomes a prison cell. Unable to move about freely having lost all my psycho-motor skills, with muscles refusing to obey my mental will, and being robbed of all ability to communicate, save for the movement of an eye and an eyelid. You want to scream and tell everyone of the pain you're suffering from, and you yearn to respond normally to questions and interact plainly with people. You try, but you just can't.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/diving-bell-and-butterfly-le-scaphandre.html
  
• daface

  26 Jan 08, 07:39

  A Nutshell Review: Rambo
  
  This is yet another Sylvester Stallone comeback movie, which in fact was conceived before the return of Rocky Balboa. On one hand, I find it kind of sorry that Sly had to dust off old cobwebs and revive his iconic heroes from the past, reliving his glory days. On the other, it made for an interesting situation to see if the characters of his can withstand the test of time. With Rocky Balboa, he went back to basics and was in part quite reminiscent of the original Rocky. And Rambo 4 no doubt had been drastically updated for today's audience.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/rambo-rambo-4-singapore-title.html
  
• daface

  26 Jan 08, 07:51

  A Nutshell Review: Atonement
  
  So now we know why the young must be protected from vulgarities and from sexual scenes, because with vivid imagination, they could probably be quick to jump to conclusions, being unable to grasp and fully understand the situation at hand, nor the gravity of their actions, especially when they're shooting from the hip.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/atonement.html
  
• daface

  26 Jan 08, 23:07

  A Nutshell Review: Gone Baby Gone
  
  While Ben Affleck has gotten a number of flak for his acting ability or lack thereof, there is no denying that his directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone deserves the accolades bestowed upon this work, as he directs younger brother Casey in a tale about the seedier side of private investigation, but stripped of noir elements and immersed totally in the wheeling and dealings with plenty of grey.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/gone-baby-gone.html
  
• daface

  27 Jan 08, 12:31

  A Nutshell Review: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
  
  The long title of 10 words strike you initially, and besides having a mouthful of a title, the duration too is at a whopping 160 minutes, of which I can humbly suggest to trim it down to a more manageable 120 minutes.
  
  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/assassination-of-jesse-james-by-coward.html
  
• daface

  31 Jan 08, 23:29

  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was slated to have been released end of next month. Then came the relatively strong opening in the West late last year, followed by nominations and wins in the Golden Globes, that it has now been bumped up for release this week, prior to the 3-way fight that the Asian movies will put up in the upcoming Lunar New Year week. I thought it was a no-brainer having to release this early as Johnny Depp is already a household name here thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and here he dons eye shadow and retains the bad teeth to play the titular character. Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/01/sweeney-todd-demon-barber-of-fleet.html

• daface

  5 Feb 08, 00:47

  A Nutshell Review: Ah Long Pte Ltd

   

  I think Jack Neo's latest movie is hogging the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, the talk about it being promoting Ah Longs (illegal loan sharks). Seriously if that's the case, then a whole slew of Hong Kong triad movies won't be able to make it to our shores too, but they do. So what's this double standard that we're trying to apply to Singapore films? If anyone were to have watched the movie, I think they probably had switched off during some of the rather heavy-handed moments of the story where it rants about the demerits of their behaviour, and of course, the inevitable.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/ah-long-pte-ltd.html (with Q&A as well which containing spoilers)

• daface

  7 Feb 08, 00:56

  A Nutshell Review: Kung Fu Dunk

  This project was originally conceived as the movie version of popular Japanese manga SlamDunk! and that's not something new to Jay Chou, who made his movie debut playing a character from another wildly popular manga Initial D. Along the way, it was decided to incorporate some kung fu into the movie, so hence the title, even if the idea wasn't very original, with Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer coming to mind with martial arts and ball games combined.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/kung-fu-dunk.html

• daface

  7 Feb 08, 00:59

  A Nutshell Review: CJ7

  It's been a long and almost 3 year wait for the coming of Stephen Chow's new movie CJ7, on the heels of his international success with Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, both of which were adapted/parodied/copied in the other two competitive movies this holiday season in Kung Fu Dunk and Ah Long Pte Ltd. If imitation is the best form of flattery, that goes to show who's the boss and who calls the shots in the innovation and creativity departments, that there's only one force to be reckoned with in drafting comedy that appeals to the world.

  
  

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/cj7-7-cheung-gong-7-hou.html

• daface

  9 Feb 08, 19:40

  A Nutshell Review: Away From Her

  I have a morbid fascination with the Alzheimer's disease, with the Japanese movie Oriume shown during last year's Japanese Film Festival being one of the earliest movies I've seen tackling the subject head on. I've always wondered how life would turn topsy turvy for the caregivers to anyone suffering from the disease, which inflicts the brain and cause total chaos with one's memory, leading to very peculiar mood swings or just complete and genuine loss when presented with a friendly face, and the hurt cuts more deeply when it belongs to a loved one.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/away-from-her.html

• daface

  9 Feb 08, 19:52

  A Nutshell Review: P.S. I Love You

  P.S. I Love You is a no-brainer for it to be released this Valentine's Day here, though the challenge of course will be putting couples into seats. Nonetheless everyone's in need for some form of love story, and this will likely fit the bill, although the story's as cliche as love stories can be, and it's not exactly new material for the screen, given that there's a Thai movie called "The Letter" (Jod Mai Rak) which likely had took a leaf from the source material, the novel P.S. I Love You written by Cecelia Ahern.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/ps-i-love-you.html

• daface

  14 Feb 08, 01:27

  A Nutshell Review: Jumper

  
  

  When Samuel L. Jackson took on the role of Mace Windu in the Star Wars Prequels, I think many fan boys were relishing the fact that there'll probably be some major ass-whupping dished out by his character in typical mo-fo style, especially with the prospect of crossing swords with Anakin Skywalker (though for obvious reasons we would know who the victor will be). Well, guess even George Lucas would have chickened out on such a possibility, opting instead for something more accidental than a heartwrenching defeat. And so goes the notion of watching Jackson kick Hayden Christensen's rear.

  
  

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/jumper.html

• daface

  14 Feb 08, 23:56

  A Nutshell Review: Persepolis

  
  

  It is not difficult to understand the growing number of accolades that are being bestowed upon Persepolis, directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, which is based upon the graphic novel of the same title by Marjane, as it recounts in autobiographical terms, the growing pains of the author in a world that had undergone tremendous change in the last few decades.

  
  

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/persepolis.html

• daface

  16 Feb 08, 01:36

  A Nutshell Review: Jodhaa Akbar

  Today marks the premiere of Jodhaa Akbar here and the reasons for wanting to watch this film are simple - the pairing of Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, director Ashutosh Gowariker, and musician A.R. Rahman. It's simply an irresistible combination, one that everyone in the cinema hall would attest to, given the full house, and the full house in the next screening.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/jodhaa-akbar.html

• daface

  16 Feb 08, 23:14

  A Nutshell Review: There Will Be Blood

  Money is the root of all evil. It's needed to fuel the economy, and it's needed to further various gains, be it personal, political, and even religious to a certain extent. Too much money and people will see green, wanting to know the secret formula to creating and hoarding wealth, because of the various forms of satisfying utility that comes with the spending of money. And precious commodity like oil which is in high demand, automatically equates to wads of cold hard cash.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/there-will-be-blood.html

• daface

  16 Feb 08, 23:58

  A Nutshell Review: No Country for Old Men

  The second movie watched today is also released by Paramount Vintage and Miramax, and shares with There Will Be Blood, eight Academy Award nominations, in a fight for most of the major honours. The brothers Coen's new film have been gathering wave after wave of honours, but somehow it didn't really quite work for me, despite the premise being something I would go for, and most likely to have enjoyed. Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/no-country-for-old-men.html

• daface

  17 Feb 08, 14:15

  A Nutshell Review: Feast of Love

   

  But to those who decide to do so, Feast of Love lives up to its namesake. Based on the novel by Charles Baxter, almost every conceivable notion of the modern relationship gets worked into the entire story. And it helps too with an ensemble cast filled with beautiful leads, from young upstarts to wisely veterans. As with most movies with a huge cast, everyone's connected to one another through the inevitable six degrees of separation, naturally for convenience, but in this aspect, it played to the early monologue and we take on the role of the Greek Gods, who introduced the notion of love and see how each of our human creations scuttle around trying to make sense of it, and through their individual journeys, succeed or fail, laugh or cry, get spurned on to heights unimaginable, or get thrown into the depths of heartbroken despair.

   

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/feast-of-love.html

• daface

  17 Feb 08, 19:23

  A Nutshell Review: Things We Lost in the Fire

   

  You can almost be assured of quality acting here in having both Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro play off each other as an unlikely couple who find strength in each other to overcome a major loss in their lives. To Audrey (Berry), David Duchovny's Brian Burke is the all-encompassing loving husband, who has a knack in raising up their kids, as well as the one who cuddles her to bed each night. But she shares her husband's time, to much of her dislike, with his best friend Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), a recovering drug junkie who's known him since young, being the only person who cares for Jerry when everyone else shuns him.

   

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/things-we-lost-in-fire.html

• daface

  21 Feb 08, 23:15

  A Nutshell Review: The Deaths of Ian Stone

   

  The premise made this look like a distant cousin of movies like Groundhog Day, only that it's more bizarre, and containing an element of gore. Imagine if you wake up but find yourself living a different life from before you slept, not just repeating the last 24 hours. And each iteration actually ends in death, where you feel pain, and knowingly being hunted down. Then you rinse and repeat, with little recollection and little opportunity to figure things out before you get hit again.

   

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/deaths-of-ian-stone.html

• daface

  24 Feb 08, 20:11

  A Nutshell Review: The Eye

  So I haven't watched the original Eye movie by the Pang Brothers, but I guess with remakes these days, it doesn't really matter, since most of the time, the Hollywood remade version pales in comparison with the original, despite having a bigger budget, bigger stars and of course, better visual effects. And what almost always seem woeful, is the attempt to try and recreate the atmospherics for a spook fest that Asian horror had perfected, and I'm inclined to suggest that they should adapt the storyline (since there's a creative dearth of ideas), but leave the mimicking of mood at the door.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/eye.html

• daface

  24 Feb 08, 20:33

  A Nutshell Review: Fool's Gold

  Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson paired up in a chick flick some 5 years back in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, with the latter making the former fall in love with her, and then having to shrug him off as part of a social experiment, only to find herself really loving him instead. In Fool's Gold, our couple reunites, with Kate Hudson's Tess going down deja-vu avenue in wanting to divorce husband Finn, played by McConaughey because she just had enough of his lack of keeping to promises, which even a fantastic sex life couldn't help.

  Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2008/02/fools-gold.html