A Nutshell Review: The Legend of Zorro
Finally, after 7 years since the last Hollywood Zorro movie hit the big screen, director Martin Campbell is back with his original cast of Antonio Banderas in the title role, and Catherine Zeta Jones as his wife Elena de la Vega. Set 10 years after the last movie, The Legend of Zorro wastes no time in plunging the audience thick into trademarked action pieces that many associate with the Spanish Fox - the acrobatic lunges, flips, swordfights, whip action and horseback riding.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/10/legend-of-zorro.html
A Nutshell Review: Saving Face
It's a clash of western's open and asian's conservative cultural values in an earnest tale of traditional and modern relationships and love, packaged with an excellent soundtrack selection. This is going into my books as one of the contenders for my movie of this year. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that the female leads are attractive eye candy too? Highly recommended!
Read the rest at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/10/saving-face.html
A Nutshell Review: Doom
It's nothing fancy, but it works. The filmmakers try to up both the intelligence and babe factor by introducing Bond Girl Rosamund Pike (she's a distraction alright) to the plot, but her *ahem* assets fail to maximise the thin plot. With mercenary soldiers, we see the typical sterotyped characters like the rookie, the maverick, the questionable orders, and the hero with a buried past.
Read the rest at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/10/doom.html
A Nutshell Review: Tom-Yum-Goong
While Hollywood struggles to find worthy successors to its 80s and 90s action heroes like Stallone, Van Damme, and Schwarzeneggar, Asia has already found one to takeover the mantle from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li (as the latter two seemed to have drifted and indicated a preference for dramas). He's Thai, and his name is Tony Jaa. You heard it here first, he's gonna be setting the bar for action movies to come. He can only get better, and I'm already a huge fan!
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/tom-yum-goong.html
A Nutshell Review: Sky High
Since this is a Disney movie, I guess you'll know what to expect: humour, safe action, some camp, lotsa colour, and a feel good factor. Sky High is all these and, surprisingly, a whole lotta fun too! Sometimes music makes the movie for me, and when I heard "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", I knew the filmmakers had this done right, for a superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/sky-high.html
A Nutshell Review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose
After watching this movie, I feel compelled to correct what the marketing folks did, promoting it like an outright horror movie with plenty of "BOO" moments, and not an inclination that a major portion of this film takes place in a courtroom. I believe the trailer does not even hint at this having courtroom drama-mama moments, to which many in the audience that I watched this with, went "bor-ring", "dull", and disappointed many horny teenage boyfriends who thought they could eat tofu with each frightening scene.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/exorcism-of-emily-rose.html
A Nutshell Review: Oliver Twist
"Please sir, may I have some more?" Ah, the immortal line from Charles Dickens' classic, from the book Oliver Twist, telling the story of an orphaned boy, with sheer incredible luck and a melancholic, likeable face. The book has been remade into movies countless of times, and this one is Roman Polanski's take.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/oliver-twist.html
A Nutshell Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Just to get it straight, I have not read a single line in a Harry Potter Book. Not that I don't want to, but because I don't have the time. Probably when I finally watched all the movies would I consider and find time to read what JK Rowling had originally intended. So, at least you know that my review is solely based on the cinematic franchise.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/harry-potter-and-goblet-of-fire.html
A Nutshell Review: S.P.L.
I was full of hope for this movie, mainly because of its stellar cast
of Simon Yam, Samo Hung and Donnie Yen, and the hype up confrontation
cum battle between the latter two on screen. With their martial arts
background, action fans will be in for a treat. Also, with the string
of disappointments so far with Mob Sister and Election (the edited
version shown here), I'd thought that this one would've lived up to its
potential (no coincidence that Yam was in the other 2 films mentioned).
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/spl.html
A Nutshell Review: Prime
Perhaps this was touted as a romantic comedy with a psycho-analytical character thrown in, kind of like Analyse This and Analyse That. Put the characters in a crazy premise, and see how their relationship work out. Meryl Streep stars as Lisa, a psychologist to Uma Thurman's Rafi, who, unknowingly to both, is dating her son David.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/prime.html
A Nutshell Review: Saw II
I'm such a fan of the original - I like blood and gore, and Saw had one of the more intriguing and sick stories around, which saw the introduction of an original villain in recent memory, Jigsaw. What worked in the first film was the strange premise of 2 seemingly unrelated characters being put in a life and death situation, forced to compromise or die together. Also, the twist at the end was oh-so-nicely done, that it just begs for a sequel to be made.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/saw-ii.html
A Nutshell Review: Aeon Flux
So except for hardcore Aeon fans, or admirers of Theron, this film could prove to be unappealing given its relatively weak sci-fi story as the backbone. Ooh, I must rave again, Theron looks absolutely gorgeous with her uber-chic hairdo and slinky black lycra.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/11/aeon-flux.html
A Nutshell Review: A History of Violence
I'm usually ok with film adaptations not sticking closely to the material it's based on, basically because they're on different mediums, and it's a bore to have the movie follow the book word for word, scene for scene. Although this review will be working on the premise that it is a stand alone film, I can't help to notice that, unfortunately, the book told the better story, in terms of characterization (ok, so the movie is relatively short, clocking in about 90mins) and the back story on Tom's (Viggo) history.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/history-of-violence.html
A Nutshell Review: Chicken Little
Based on the well known children's tale, an acorn fell on the head of a chicken and it thought the sky was falling, thereby activating its friends to run for safe haven, only to have the fox trick them all into becoming its dinner.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/chicken-little.html
A Nutshell Review: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
In one word: Excellent! I'm a sucker for stop-motion animation, and this movie takes the cake. For the uninitiated, Wallace & Gromit tells the tale of a wacky inventor and his faithful dog, who is a highly intelligent mutt that can walk on his hind legs and operate various contraptions.
Continues in http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/in-flight-wallace-gromit-in-curse-of.html
A Nutshell Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Will this movie make money? Sure, on the fact that it's an event movie. Chronicles of Narnia built its hype, but didn't offer anything new in terms of special effects, and was weighted down by mediocre acting and a plain, bland narrative. Should there be another movie based on the books, let's hope it betters the first one.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/chronicles-of-narnia-lion-witch-and.html
A Nutshell Review: King Kong
Peter Jackson nailed Kong! (Please pardon bad pun) In his version based on the 1933 classic, Jackson delivered as promised, sticking close to the source material, yet adding his touches of epic grandeur. Doubling the original's length, clocking in at 3 hours, provided ample opportunity for character development for the major leads (and even for Kong itself), and doesn't scrimp on elaborate action sequences.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/king-kong.html
A Nutshell Review: Blood and Bones
It's an awfully sad tale, nothing in it that will make you cheer. But there is something to cheer about the movie though, and that it is shown here uncut and unedited. Meaning you get to see it as it was intended, including male genitalia.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/blood-and-bones.html
A Nutshell Review: The Promise
The trailers, the posters, the casting, all looked promising. Sadly, the storyline is one heck of a convulated one, and I hate to use the word, but absurd is what The Promise is.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/promise.html
A Nutshell Review: Perhaps Love
I fell in love with the introductory analogy. Life is like the movies, in which you are the director, producer and the star. In your life, there are other co-stars, and of course, that significant other. But what if you happen not to be sharing the limelight in your other's life? Editing is always a pain, and in the final product, you will then learn if you are sharing the same billing, get relegated to a cameo, or in the worst case, get cut out entirely and lie on the floor of the editing room.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/perhaps-love.html
A Nutshell Review's Top 10 Best and Top 5 Duds of 2005
Top 10 Best
http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/top-10-of-2005.html
Top 5 Duds
http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/top-5-duds-of-2005.html
A Nutshell Review: Broken Flowers
Don changes girlfriends like he changes his underwear. Not that he wants to, but his character makes him a difficult person to be with. We're led to believe that he has made enough from his computer business, and is in semi-retirement mode, doing nothing but watch television at the comfort of his home. His latest squeeze, played by Julie Delpy, has left him (gee what a cameo), and so did countless others before her.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/12/broken-flowers.html
A Nutshell Review: Elizabethtown
Before I begin, I confess that I am a Cameron Crowe fan, having seen most of his movies, which I enjoyed, and having met and spoken to him during his Vanilla Sky premiere in Singapore back in late 2001 (with Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz in attendance as well). So you might think that this review is biased, that I'm gonna praise this movie sky high. Fact is, I will, only because it's an enjoyable film, with many fascinating facets to it, and one which made me ponder through the points presented throughout.
While most critics (pah! what do they know?) panned this movie,
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/01/elizabethtown.html
A Nutshell Review: Green Street Hooligans
You've seen them on television, and you've read about them in the news. Europe is particularly aware of folks who travel for football games amongst neighbouring countries, only to have them create trouble or duke it out with the locals or one another, if the results don't go their way.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/01/green-street-hooligans.html
A Nutshell Review: Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
The premise of this movie is so similar to 2003's Seabiscuit, you'd think you're watching yet another biography of a real horse in some extraordinary, inspiring film that might just make you want to head down to the nearest race course and observe a real race.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/01/dreamer-inspired-by-true-story.html