“THE CALL” Movie Review. Be Warned that it’s One Hell of a Horrific Ride.

“THE CALL”  PRESS PREVIEW

Nail biting suspense, anyone?

Here’s another tour de force this week, specially crafted for true blue fans of pulse-pounding thrillers.

 This one should not disappoint.

 Film director BRAD ANDERSON blazes the trail with “THE CALL”, his latest pulsating suspense offering.

 It’s everything a scary feature should be, utterly gripping and brutally shocking, a la Alfred Hitchcock stylized whodunit.

 This diabolical tale of twisted suspense and macabre payback will have you taken for a precarious drive, gasping and guessing all the way, as to whether the victim is going to survive or die.

 HALLE BERRY and ABIGAIL BRESLIN dominate in this gritty tale that begins with a screamish 911 plea for help from a frightened teenage girl who’s been trapped in the trunk of a moving car.

 HALLE BERRY stars as Jordan, a 911 call operator who’s in a deadly race against the time, to trace the victim: a girl who has been kidnapped by a serial killer.

 Jordan soon realizes that the kidnapper is the same man who had killed another young woman whose emergency call she had answered six months before, a girl whose ultimate death Jordan still feels responsible for.

 Excellent performances from an all star cast.

HALLE BERRY as Jordan and ABIGAIL BRESLIN  (Casey) pitch in pushing-to-the- edge acting admirably. Even MICHAEL EKLUND who plays Michael, the psychotic predator with a glazed look makes it seems so real.

There’s nothing new in bits here and cliches there, as you’d have seen these highlighted in other features.

But all things being equal, it is the film director’s execution that’s two thumbs up.

“THE CALL” is a high voltage thriller, clever, gripping and intense with shocking gravity.

But you have to gear up your suspension-of-disbelief mode when you witness Jordan, unarmed and so alone, entering a creepy cabin and later a derelict basement to check out the rogue.

Wanna take this ride?

It may be a ride of pure terror, but go for it, as you are guaranteed a jolly horrific time.

“CLOUD ATLAS” Movie Review. LONG-WINDED AND CONFUSINGLY CONNECTED AT TIMES.

“CLOUD ATLAS” PRESS PREVIEW

There’s a lot to go for in this sci-fic film, given the formidable presence of TOM HANKS, HALLE BERRY, JIM BROADBENT, SUSAN SARANDON, HUGH GRANT and some others.

The advertising headline may have glamorized that “EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED”, but here’s a grim reminder: be warned that not everything is in place, much less, connected.

Granted, this feature ensures you a float of a 5 century-old realm of surrealism.

You have got three renowned directors (TOM TYKWER, ANDY and LANA WACHOWSKI) for the price of one movie ticket, six plots that run for 3 hours, enabling a seemingly long-winded epic.

THE STORY

Starting from the 19th Century, a lawyer (Sturgess) falls gravely ill on a slave ship crossing the Pacific Ocean.

In the 1930s, a young composer (Whishaw) reluctantly works with an ageing musician (Broadbent).

In 1973, an American journalist (Berry) stumbles across a deadly secret involving a nuclear power plant.

In 2012, a British publisher (Broadbent) is held in a nursing home against his will.

In the near future, a genetically-engineered clone (Bae) is interviewed before her execution.

And in the distant future, a primitive tribesman (Hanks) befriends a woman (Berry) from an advanced culture.

“CLOUD ATLAS” unravels that decisions made in this life can affect our next life as this film  propels us through the time vacuum of the past, present and future to prove the case.

Action, mystery and romance are weaved dramatically into the story as one soul is shaped from a killer, then into a hero and one single act of kindness can ripple across the decades to inspire a revolution in the distant future.

Every actor is handed the task to perform diverse roles as the stories move through time.

Not easy, but the principal players from the ensemble cast pitch in admirable performances, whilst the cinematography in turn, captures detail and depth.

“CLOUD ATLAS” may cram in a lot, but it is a twisty thriller that will ensure you with a wild ride.

Asian audiences are getting a little ambivalent.

This feature film has a stamp of artistic indulgence in incongruous juxtapositions, taking us into a fascinating world of dreams where the rules of reality do not apply.

It is long-winded and confusingly connected at times, but assuredly there are extraordinary moments of poignancy that will jolt your senses.

Watch it with an open mind and see where your dream might lead you to.

Right.