hollaback_
Sunday, September 25, 2005
i watched 4 movies in 3 days. a bit of an overkill, i think i've had my fill of shows to last me quite a bit. if you don't like reading reviews, you can uh. stop reading. but it's worth it, at least you know what to watch, and what not to watch. do keep in mind that the reviews aren't made in isolation but rather relative to each other, and it also depends on the price. so, in chronological order since the day prelims ended-
The Longest Yard (wednesday afternoon, $7.50) 5.5/10this wasn't bad, because it passed. but it was pretty pointless. like brian said, the premise is quite impossible. if anything, i think prison inmates in America wouldn't be practising for some game against the guards, although then again if you ask me it seems like the exact kind of pointless 'creative' marketing tactic Americans are likely to come up with to get more people to watch a match.
everything was about media-whoring. the mayor-wannabe or whoever he was, head prison man seemed to be all nice at first but that facade quickly crumbled away as it was revealed that he wanted to exploit the prisoners for his own political agenda. Adam Sandler as usual does well at comedy, so no complaints there. the cliches abounded, including the sissy effeminate prisoners, but they played it well. even the HT-like superannuated secretary was good too. so why am i rating this so low? i had a huge problem with the turn-around and comeback at the end. even if we suspend our disbelief and accept that such a situation could even take place to begin with, i cannot accept the instant change in attitude that the chief warden had at the end of the match, it was ridiculous. that immediately lowered the stock of the show. but thumbs up to portrayal of prison politics, eg smuggling of luxury goods (cheeseburgers!).
and really, i think a more accurate representation of a texan security facility would have been a gay porn film lasting one and a half hours, and even though i would usually put any form of erotica as a sub-division under comedy, it definitely doesn't go under the PG rating.
The Myth (wednesday night, free) 3.5/10even though it cost me nothing to watch this, and by right i should get more utility from it, opportunity costs shot through the roof with this. the next best alternative was really anything else that i could have done with that time. HORRIBLE. firstly, i didn't even get to watch the full show thanks to hadri who came at 7.30 when it was supposed to start at 7. so maybe i missed out some super-important bit at the beginning. although i highly doubt it. this being a jackie chan flick, the stunts were good, loved the battle scene where there was one man against an army. he obviously lost, unlike the lead in
A Bittersweet Life. but well. and the fight on the conveyor belt was humorous to say the least, but it was obviously inserted to show off the indian female lead (i forgot her name) who never appeared again later. and you know all hot female leads need to strip at some point in time or another.
which really irks me. the indian subplot had so much promise, but it was chucked out for no good reason. what's the point of including something just for the sake of being exotic and different if it's only a token gesture?! plot tried to cover too many things in too short a time. got too preachy and annoying for me. and i believe that discomfort with a language hampers acting ability and credibility. this is why people like pierre png should stay on channel 5. a clumsy grasp on speaking a language makes one sound like a 5-year-old or a retard. similarly, jackie was laughable in english, indian female lead's frequent "oh my god!" (subtitled too, no less) ejaculations were sacrilegious and Americanized in a religious sect tucked away in some corner of the subcontinent.
the film did have some good ideas and noble ambitions (immortality and the like) when it first started out, but unfortunately the ineptitude of the director and the actors hampered greatly the possible success of this movie. the way the show wrapped up so nicely in a
happily ever after ali baba close the book and look into the sky feel was nauseating. huge deflationary gap, full level of employment far off.
A Bittersweet Life (thursday night, $8) 8.5/10what's not to love about this? this korean-inspired mafioso masterpiece deserved to go to cannes. unfortunately there wasn't much buzz about it in singapore i believe, which is really sad. this is one of those rare times that i'm annoyed with the Hollywood Deluge of Mediocrity (normally i don't care), because it washes away productions that aren't steeped and rooted in moolahs of marketing. the soundtrack that wraps around the narrative is dark and moody, just like the lead (Lee Byung Hyun) whose life takes a total downward spiral after some wrong choices.
i think one of the reasons why this movie works so well is because of the foreign language. (that means you can't watch this, eugene!) because of the subtitling, some important information might be leaked out by accident. but that's alright, because the story still flows along smoothly with ambiguity in motivations, which leads to a myriad of interpretations for the seemingly strange actions of certain individuals. cinematography is peppered with symbols, a bit like
2046 but hardly as draggy or highbrow.
plotwise, it seems to remind me of
Kill Bill (how ironic that i have to refer to a Hollywood film in making analogies) where the protagonist exacts cold-blooded revenge methodically and cold-heartedly against those who were stupid enough to cross paths with them earlier on, not excluding those who used to be close and intimate. style-wise it's very harsh and even though dark humour is peppered throughout the show, there were parts that were very disturbing and i got a
Dawn of the Dead vibe (hence the M18 rating)
the reviews are right in saying that the show adds nothing much to the mafia genre, but it's fine because of the
hot cast way the story was told. there isn't much love or happiness, just plenty of chilling efficiency. but when we delve under the surface, we see that everyone is human and fraught with flaws. and that there isn't always a happy ending. it wouldn't make sense anyway.
Cinderella Man (friday afternoon, $8) 7/10i know awhile back i was eagerly awaiting this. and it did seem like somewhat of a disappointment. i love renee cos she's cute, but sometimes she gets too overly cute which is a problem too. even one of her sluttiest roles, in
Chicago as Roxie Hart was too saccharine for some. and i personally didn't bother much for the fight scenes. you see one, you've seen 'em all. they were all pretty run of the mill, although i never knew until i watched the show that boxers were allowed to touch each other in the ring, to the point of hugging.
what i liked more were the family scenes. those were touching, and really pushed up the points for this show. however the family, apart from its poverty was a bit TOO perfect for my liking. i thought renee was a pretty good mom who had the usual PMS-outbursts at the right time, and hopelessly devoted to her hero husband. russell was flawless, never getting angry, humble at all times, winning the support of all. didn't seem too realistic to me, but i guess a dramatization of history tends to idealise or scandalise things one way or the other too much, by adding the human touch to historical figures and characters.
someone once said, but i forgot who - why bother to read books when you know the ending. like romeo and juliet, you know they're going to die anyway. same thing applies to plays and movies. why should one bother to do that. you know James Braddock (Russell Crowe) is going to win and triumph ultimately, but what's important is the process, and how we're shown it. i love the support his wife gave him, and his determination for the children, who were SO KEWT! i guess watching this show, one knows the ending will be uplifting and inspiring anyway (and not in a corny fashion like
The Longest Yard), so it's good if one needs some kind of assurance in life, whatever that may be.
mike just took up your time at
6:24 pm
th time!