A Nutshell Review: Black Night
When I can sit through a horror genre film and actually poke fun at its stupidity, then you know that there really is nothing to be afraid of. While the attempt is good, the delivery is pretty bad. The acting's mediocre at best, and the ghouls look extremely cheap.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/black-night.html
A Nutshell Review: Hostel
Nudity, sex, drugs, gore and violence. If you're looking for a movie that has all those elements, then look no further than Hostel, which has got them all. Written and directed by Eli Roth, and given the stamp of approval from Quentin Tarantino, this film doesn't shy away from being seen as promoting a decadent lifestyle, and making fun of stereotypical Euros and Yankees, the horny and the stoned, getting their just desserts.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/hostel.html
A Nutshell Review: Singapore GaGa
I did not know the name Melvyn Cedello, until now. He's been performing under the walkway near the Bedok hawker centre for months. Do I stop to listen? Frankly speaking, not really, even though I use that same walkway to get me home almost everyday. It's like he (and his performance) has become intrinsically part of the landscape, one that has blended in the background as I go about with my life. But I do hear the music. Sometimes folk, sometimes rock, an occassional Elvis or Beatles, sometimes even silence as he takes a smoke break or chat with some passers-by.
Read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/singapore-gaga.html
A Nutshell Review: Tristan + Isolde
Set during the time when the Romans withdrew from England, and when Ireland was ravaging the English because of the power vacuum, we see a young Tristan (Thomas Sangster, the same kid from Nanny McPhee) owing a life debt to Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell), who saved Tristan from impending death at a sacrifice of his right hand. Orphaned, Tristan serves Lord Marke dutifully, and becomes more favoured than Marke's nephew Melot (Henry Cavill), with his fighting skills and fierce loyalty.
read more at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/tristan-isolde.html
A Nutshell Review: The Art of Seduction
Truth be told, if I were to come across Son Ye-jin's Han Ji-wan character, with those bambi eyes and pretty face, I would go jelly too. But that'a about it. I guess I pretty much ruled myself out of the dating scene, for the time being at least, to fall for her manipulative charms. Perhaps it's true that a pretty face can turn a monster into a mouse, and boy, does Son Ye-jin turn heads.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/art-of-seduction.html
P.S. Other reviews for movies the next 2 weeks like Take the Lead, 16 Blocks, Hostel, Where the Truth Lies, Black Night, Reincarnation, and The Art of Flirting, are available at the blogsite. This should suffice until I return from In-Camp Training. Cheers!
A Nutshell Review: Singapore Dreaming
I think this local film is just plain brilliant, and the most accessible one to date, one that has potential to appeal to almost every spectrum of local society, and cinema-goers. It's adult storytelling laced with well placed humour, tackling mature themes and providing a snapshot of your atypical heartland family of four, their goals, dreams, desires and challenges.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/singapore-dreaming.html
And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html
A Nutshell Review: Firewall
But it hints well at what Firewall is going to become. Cliche and overused sequences which will probably make you scream "haven't I seen this somewhere before"? Firewall offered nothing very new in terms of plot outline, as it contains modified scenes from even Ford's own works like Air Force One (the family's survival being threatened, and it's up to one man to save the day) and The Fugitive (the frame up and one man's run from the law). Ford has already become comfortable in the role of an all-American one man hero, that this role offered no surprises at all.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/firewall.html
And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html
A Nutshell Review: MirrorMask
It's pretty abstract at times, and I admit there were portions which I completely zoned out. Directed by illustrator Dave McKean, you'd come to expect the stunning visuals which MirrorMask offered, right from the opening credit sequence in 3D. MirrorMask tells the story of protagonist Helena, a young girl belonging to a family of circus performers. She often dreams of life outside performances, that of what she deems as "real life", as opposed to her own fantasy world of make believe inside the Big Top.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/mirrormask.html
And click here for more SIFF reviews: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-camp-training-10th-apr-to-24th-apr.html
A Nutshell Review: Eight Below
I'm a long time admirer of the beautiful huskies, their steely blue eyes, and their ability to survive the harshest of winter while pulling along a heavy sled as a team. They're the equivalent of the camel in the desert and the equal of Lassie. It's tough to keep one in Singapore, not that you can't (I've seen a couple in dog shows), but I suppose our weather here is too brutal.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/eight-below.html
A Nutshell Review: The Sentinel
At first glance, this film looks like the Keifer Sutherland series 24 for the big screen. With the focus on a plot to assassinate the President of the United States, a race against time, and plenty of Secret Service agents, the agency under the spotlight in The Sentinel.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/sentinel.html
A Nutshell Review: Daisy
Flowers!
If it's one thing you'll take away from this movie, it's gonna be the flowers. They feature so prominently and are used as plot devices, you'll become an expert in identifying with daisies and black tulips by the time the movie ends.
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/daisy.html
A Nutshell Review: Love Story
It took about 30 minutes before the opening credits rolled, and debunked everything you have just witnessed on screen. By then you're already aware that this is serious arthouse, and perhaps one of the worst techniques of telling the audience that the line between screen reality and fantasy has been blurred. It's akin to a character waking up from sleep, and declaring that what had transpired, was all a bad dream.
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/siff-love-story-international-premiere.html
A Nutshell Review: You are My Sunshine
Touted as the biggest love story in Korea in 2005, it is no surprise why the hype. Based/Inspired by a true story (there had been a handful of such movies in the recent weeks), You are My Sunshine is your typical melodramatic romance, with leads so cute and pretty, you can't help but be captivated as you embark on their journey of love.
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-are-my-sunshine.html
A Nutshell Review: Election 2
Given local election fever, it's somewhat apt that this movie gets its release during this period. Sort of a tongue-in-cheek tie in with the local political environment. I was filled with a whole lot of skepticism when other local reviewers from the mainstream media started to laud this movie with fantastic ratings.
However, I was still game to see how this movie panned out, and to my surprise, it met my expectation of a good triad movie. You can actually forget that you've watched the politically correct version, and enjoy this movie as it's meant to be. But for those who have not watched the first movie, fret not, you'll be up to speed within 10 minutes, though you might grapple with certain scenes and characters.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/election-2.html
A Nutshell Review: The Alibi
A dream service for those adulterous men and women out there. A service which takes your calls, handles all potentially tense situations of private eyes and that suspecting spouse, essentially taking care of you on the side while you bang. Sounds good? I think so too, at least in a business sense.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/04/alibi.html
A Nutshell Review: The Mission: Impossible Dossier
Just a quick intro for those who are clueless to this billion-dollar (by the time the third movie gets released) movie revenue franchise thus far, Mission: Impossible's basic story is espionage, with jet setting locales combined with nifty agents skilled in deception, latex masks, and technology. They hunt down terrorists with grande plots to take over the world, yadda yadda, and it's up to our good agents at the Impossible Mission Force (IMF, not International Monetary Fund, though I think their operating budget is about the same size) to foil their diabolical plans.
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/mission-impossible-dossier.html
A Nutshell Review: Mission: Impossible III
The burning question in everyone's mind will be, does this third Mission live up to its hype, justify its mass publicity, and above all, surpass the first two movies? In my opinion, M:I:III makes it an explosive start to the summer lineup, lives up to the hype it built, but though it took on a more personal look into the life of Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, I still felt, and no offense to JJ Abrams, that while it balanced action with personal drama effectively, somehow it lacked that X-factor oomph after all the smoke has cleared, to truly make it one heck of a classic action thriller.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/mission-impossible-iii.html
A Nutshell Review: Paradise Now
Paradise Now was the Palestinian film which won the Golden Globes this year for best foreign language film, and it's no wonder to see why it did. Touching on very real, contemporary and the sensitive issue about the relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it takes on the much talked about and feared weapon of terrorists / freedom fighters, that of the suicide bomber.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/paradise-now.html
A Nutshell Review: When a Stranger Calls
When a Stranger Calls belongs to the group of this year's remakes, with movies like Poseidon just over the horizon. Director Simon West (Con Air) helms this updated version, with plenty of relative unknown casts, which signals either the death rate is high (it isn't), or that established stars are steering clear from a potential turkey.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/when-stranger-calls.html
A Nutshell Review: Find Me Guilty
We're all familiar with Vin Diesel being the new action hero, with his buffed muscular body, bald pate, gruff voice and his high octane movies like Fast and the Furious and xXx. He took a different path into comedy with The Pacifier, and now, into drama with Find Me Guilty. How did he fair?
Pretty good, in spite of the focus being on his new look hairdo and belly (ok, so it's prosthetics and makeup assisted). Playing a real life mobster Jack DiNorscio, and the true story of his defense of himself in court without a lawyer, in an extremely long trial spanning 21 months, where it's the US Government versus the Lucchese crime family.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/find-me-guilty.html
A Nutshell Review: Bewitching Attraction
Billed as a romantic sex comedy, Bewitching Attraction is neither full of raunchy sex (ala another movie in town now - Lie With Me), nor is it full of laughs. It's an acquired taste, with sporadic nudity and sex, and rests its wit in black comedy instead.
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/bewitching-attraction.html
A Nutshell Review: The Nun (La Monja)
This week's surprise screening at GV turned out to be the horror movie The Nun (La Monja). Seriously, I think that horror movies should try and come up with more imaginative titles, even though the story's about the character as described in the title. Who knows, soon we'll have spinoffs like The Monk, The Priest, and others belonging to various religious sects.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/nun-la-monja.html
A Nutshell Review: Poseidon
Director Wolfgang Petersen has the credentials to do a remake of the movie, based on a novel by Paul Gallico. Given that he's got his feet wet enough with Das Boot and The Perfect Storm, and enough experience helming big budgeted summer movies like Air Force One and Troy, however, what's the point of a remake?
continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/poseidon.html
A Nutshell Review: The Wild
2006 is the year of the animal animation. Earlier in the year, we had the local stinker Zodiac Race, and over the next few months, there are offerings like Over the Hedge, Barnyard, Happy Feet (no doubt inspired by March of the Penguins) and Open Season. It's an animal world out there in the world of animation.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/wild.html
A Nutshell Review: The Da Vinci Code
This movie is becoming as controversial as the book. Since the day it was announced that it's gonna be made, there were protests against it being done, and it has escalated to calls for boycotting, or banning the movie altogether. I'll not waste time and go into its controversies, nor discuss what's real and what's not. Neither will I explain in detail the plot, as I believe most of you readers would already have some vague idea of what it's about, or have read the book, since it's on the bestsellers list for months.
Continues at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-vinci-code.html