MOVIE REVIEW: GODZILLA (2014)

 “GODZILLA” (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

Not all reboots are fantastic, this one, however is “la manifique”.

It’s a total bim, bam and boom for the gigantic reptilian clashes. Two thumbs up!

This Reviewer is not a follower of the GODZILLA series, from days of yore to current present.

Taken objectively, this solid piece of entertainment deserves kudos for its post-production wonderment.

There will be two school of thoughts:

those who are hooked and the die-hards who ain’t.

GODZILLA is definitely bigger and better (but of course, with the millions of dollars spent) than the 1998 remake of the post-atomic monster which first emerged in 1954.

 Director Gareth Edwards delivers the film with finesse, pow-wow action and palpitating suspense all the way, starting from a gradual build-up. then ascending to a full shrill, ably supported by a credible ensemble cast.

 Bryan Cranston plays n American scientist who’s relentless on uncovering the truth behind a nuclear accident that occurred fifteen years ago in Japan, where he was performing his duty. He is haunted by the memory of his wife who was killed there.

Fifteen years later, his grown-up son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is working as a bomb-disposal expert in the U.S. military.

Ford has just returned home to his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olson) and their son Sam (Carson Bolde) when he is told that his father has been arrested.

Long estranged from his father, he nevertheless flew to Japan to bail him out of jail and agrees to join him on a nostalgic trip to their old home in the quarantined zone.

By sheer coincidence or not, the father and son coincidentally end up in the very plant where Joe used to work.

There, scientists Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) are in the process of uncovering a strange, massive cocoon-shaped structure that appears to feed only on radiation.

The situation turns bizarre when a terrifying winged creature is unleashed.

It turns out that the MUTO (massive unidentified terrestrial organism) has awoken a monster leviathan that has lain dormant for centuries.

Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins play the arduous researchers.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is Cranston’s strapping son, who’s trying to forget the disaster that rocked his childhood world when he was just a kiddo.

 Elizabeth Olsen plays the loving wife who waits.

 David Strathairn completes the lead cast as the military commander who is above all the operations.

“GODZILLA” is a thoroughly enjoyable movie which will strap you on edge from start to finish.

Watch it in the realm of the 3D IMAX and you can revel in the glorification of the beast’s textured scales and gills.

Hear the thunderous digital roars, certainly not for the faint hearts.

Notwithstanding the cavernous sets and awesome CGI effects that created the alien monsters. There’s GODZILLA, there’s also a pair of praying mantis-like horrors (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) with hook hands tearing bridge cables apart.

It’s a definite winner!

RATING: 4 out of 5

Local Distributor: WARNER BROS PICTURES

MOVIE REVIEW: “ABERDEEN” Hong Kong Movie (香港仔) .

“ABERDEEN” MOVIE (2014)PRESS REVIEW

 (Chinese: 香港仔)

(PART ONE, The MOVIE )

MIRIAM YEUNG:

“It’s FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD, yet I am so DEPRESSED.”

The FATHER-and-DAUGHTER union:

“Why is DADDY always picking on me, labeling me as an UGLY CHILD?”

UNCLE does the Ultra-Sound test:

“BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT”

Isn’t that what LIFE is about … you move in, then you shape out.”

GIGI LEUNG:

“It’s horrible to move into your mid-age and realize that you ain’t a spring chicken any more.”

“ABERDEEN” MOVIE (2014)PRESS REVIEW.  (Chinese: 香港仔)

(PART ONE, The MOVIE )

“ABERDEEN” is essentially a family dramedy.

Yet it probes a fair bit more.

Basked within the genre is a weepie of a tale where the female characters collide in life’s encounters and cry buckets.

This awesome project is helmed by the versatile EDMOND PANG  HO-CHEUNG 彭浩翔 who has a string of past successes dabbling as a novelist, playwright, actor and filmmaker. You just have to check which hat he is wearing.

His special strength is in weaving women’s yarns and hearts.

Specially in tales of love, woe and dysfunctional families. I have only managed to see one movie of his called “Love in a Puff”.

“ABERDEEN”  is a stirring potpourri of love and the price-you-pay for broken romances within one extended middle-class Hong Kong family.

The mood and tone is as grim as you would imagine.

Director PANG boasts a top-notch cast of Hong Kong veterans whose task is to tackle the bull by its horns with orders to “make it a real-istic film”.

 Why call it “ABERDEEN”?

A clue guides you to the fact that the film director was born and bred in a quiet fishing village of Aberdeen.

That said, let us move on with the plot:

Wai Ching (MIRIAM YEUNG) the family’s older sister is trying to retain her momentum and sanity. We call that mental depression. She works unhappily as a museum tour guide.

She wallows in self-pity and is unable to come to terms with the passing of her mother. Her worst nightmares tell her that her mother loathed her when she was alive.

To make things worse, her husband Yau Kin-Cheung (ERIC TSANG) is tired of her whining and is secretly philandering with his pretty nurse (JACKY CHOI) working in his clinic.

Who’d blame him when he is tied down with a tiresome wife?

Wai Ching has a good-looking brother called Tao (LOUIS KOO) who has a decent job in the tutoring line. He is obviously a pain-in-the-ass because he is self-opinionated.

Tao’s wife is Ceci (GIGI LEUNG) and she is seemingly an expired model-cum-actress.  As an artiste she is  alarmed that age has mercilessly caught up with her.

It’s every woman’s latent fear that she will no longer be categorized as a spring chicken.

Their young daughter with the less-than-average looks is Chloe (LEE MAN-KWAI).

She adores her father to the extent that, despite her disdain of the “smelly” of durian, she eats the pungent fruit anyway.

Why? The durian is her father’s firm favorite. What’s good for daddy is good for daughter. Yes.

Finally, the patriach is  Dong (NG MAN-TAT) who’s despised by the family for his wayward ways.

He indulges in a sensuous affair with a  bar hostess called Ta (CARRIE NG). It’s not just sex, it’s love too.

In real life, CARRIE NG is this middle-aged award winning actress who can floor any man. She’still a stunner who can give any young actress a run for her money.

The sum of it all? “ABERDEEN” warns us that life is not all glam and glitz.

The film is honest, heartbreaking and a convincing work of Art.

You bet!

RATING 4 out of 5

Local Distributor: GSC MOVIES

“ABERDEEN” PRESS CONFERENCE cum WORKSHOP (PART 2) 

(Chinese: 香港仔)

Organizer: GSC MOVIES

Photographer: EDDIE SIEW

Date: 13th May, 2014. Malaysia.

Actress JACKY CHOI beams while director PANG HO-CHEUNG listens attentively.

JACKY CHOI:

“I set out to be a trainee Director and is 
fortunate that Director PANG gives me this opportunity to act.”

Director PANG:

“I like to promote new talents. It’s a healthy pursuit, otherwise the whole industry will be overcrowded with veterans.”

Director PANG  HO-CHEUNG:

“To achieve as a film director you have to be patient, trust in your beliefs, meet the right connections and invest some money for a start. Even with those, you might still face various types of disappointments. But never say die!”

 THIS ONE FOR THE MEMORY

The ardent students of NEW ERA COLLEGE and ONE WORLD HAN XING COLLEGE strike a pose for keepsake.

MOVIE REVIEW: "BAD NEIGHBOURS" (2014)

“BAD NEIGHBOURS” PRESS REVIEW

Do you take stock of your neighbours?

I certainly do, for want of peace and quiet.

Selfish neighbours who indulge in deafening merrymaking can drive anybody nuts.

Rogen and Byrne play this young married couple called Mac and Kelly Radner.

They are basking in the warmth of family bliss, playing proud parents to a cute baby.

Everything seems picture perfect, until a fraternity of weirdo guys move in next door bringing along the parties.

Everybody knows it’s great to be young and yes, the president Teddy (Zac Efron) swears-to-God he will reduce the din of their late night parties.

Yet he is unable to keep up with his promise of bringing the noise down as the night wears on.

Instead the situation gotten worse.

Mac has no alternative but to enlist the cops – and whosh, that’s where everything turns topsy-turvy.

The blossoming neighbourly friendship is now damaged, with both sides savagely declaring war on each other.

 This is the crux of the story, the battles of two disgruntled neighbours.

“Bad Neighbours” could have been another raunchy comedy offering sex, drugs, profanity and swear words in the style of The Hangover and Bridesmaids.

However, director Nicholas Stoller delves one step deeper.

Laugh all you can, but there is a lesson about growing up to be learned here.

For  fans of the shirtless almost-naked Zac Efron, it can be just another pure slapstick.

For the older viewers, there is a rite of passage taking-you-down-memory lane, reliving college days and learning now what’s like to be a responsible father or mother.

It is as silly-as-you-can-get, yet entertaining and uproarious in some scenes.

Check it out!

RATING: 3 out of 5

LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR:  UIP MALAYSIA (United International Pictures)

MOVIE REVIEW: STILL 2 (THAI HORROR FILM 2014)

Actor CHAIWAT THONGSAENG DOES A NAMELESS CAMEO HERE.

He played the lead in POJ ANON’s 2007 controversial film called BANGKOK LOVE STORY .

CHAIWAT THONGSAENG in RECENT YEARS SPORTS A HIGHER NOSE BRIDGE which indicates that he has gone under the knife.

Sadly his movie luck has yet to see any vast improvement.

 “STILL 2″ 2014 THAI FILM

PRESS REVIEW

I can’t help it. I almost fell off my seat midway through the film. Not out of fright. Just disbelief.

The scares come aplenty, more than what you’d have expected, to make your skin crawl.

This Reviewer has not seen the creepy old version bearing the same title.

There isn’t a reel need, as this new one has different stories and ample ground to shock you out of your ballers.

Blood, gore, violence and sadism are spewed everywhere, to curdle your innards for those who are drearily bloodthirsty.

 FOUR TRUE CRIME STORIES. FOUR DIFFERENT THAI DIRECTORS.

Each director has his own stylized visual treatment.

Each has his share of  nubile damsels and gorgeous hunks to tantalize the audience.

Then they are butchered or plundered, one after another, for your viewing pleasure. Torture most foul, right.

This film has a fine select of brutality and murders all stemming from this element called love, such as:

A public minivan with screaming  passengers on board being hurtled to their deaths from an elevated expressway to the ground below. What brought about this?

Another episode has unsuspecting women being killed and discarded within the sewers of a derelict brothel.

Then we are whisked to another yarn, that of  a female body being stuffed into a run-down hotel air-conditioning. Wait … there could be more than one victim. And the reasons for the killings?

Last, but not least is a young lovestruck man who leaves the sanctuary of the temple with a vengeance after hacking his girl friend to pieces, to atone for her infidelity.

NO SPOILERS, please, so as not to mar your enjoyment.

The film is a heart-pounding adrenaline rush with shocking gravity.

Visit the cinema, catch this movie and you will not be disappointed.

Among a myriad of THAI Spooks and demon movies, this film ranks as one of the better ones.

RATE: 3.5 out of 5

Local distributor: GSC MOVIES

Still 2 (Tai Hong Tai Hian)

Year : 2014

Type : Horror

Directors : Tanadol nuansuth (James), Tammanoon SomboonTanhom (ping), Poj Apiruj, Achira Noktaes (Mike)

Actors : Pichaya Nitipaisalkul (Golf), Manutsanun Punlertwongsakul (Donut), Chotwut Bunyasith (Nut), Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul (Bifern), Nutpassara Adulayametasiri (Golf), Charm Osathanond, Paranyou Rojanawutitum (Tag), Chalee Trirat (Nag), Oranuch Ounsawasd (Plaifar), Jazz Chuanchuen, Bank Pongsakorn, Tunwarin Sukapisit (Golf)

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MIDNIGHT AFTER (HONG KONG) 那夜凌晨, 我坐上了旺角開往大埔的紅VAN (2014)

“THE MIDNIGHT AFTER” MOVIE REVIEW

那夜凌晨，我坐上了旺角開往大埔的紅 VAN”.

Film director FRUIT CHAN.

He is known for his artsy movies, though there are not that many to crow about. You can always google for a list.

His films never fail to portray a doleful surrealistic difference, boldly treading on brazen subjects, yet everything will eventually come together to hit the right notes.

For a decade this director-cum- producer is always on the prowl waiting to pounce on the right cinematic content. The next one can be the eventual winner, right?

And he accomplished his latest creative mojo with this new offering called “THE MIDNIGHT AFTER”.

It is his first notable Chinese-language feature dwelling on the horrific subject of  both of horror and the macabre.

Along with a sardonic streak of dark comedy as some scenes can make your skin crawl.

FRUIT CHAN has created a creepy claustophobic thriller with “MIDNIGHT”.

His last notable piece was the deliciously haunting “Dumplings” in 2004 which garnered impressive reviews.

The theme of “THE MIDNIGHT AFTER” is equally disturbing.

You witness Hong Kong being stripped of the notorious traffic jams and thronging crowds.

This is a post-apocalyptic satire that questions your sanity.

FRUIT CHAN’s taken his movie idea from a popular web series turned best seller by a Hong Kong novelist called PIZZA.

It is called “My Boarding the Red Mini Bus from Mongkok to Taipo” (translated) and it reads a mouthful.

Here are the principal characters:

The fat sweaty minibus driver who a compulsive gambler and is called Suet (Lam Suet).

There’s a long haired air-head called You Chi Chi (Wong You-Nam) forever looking woeful because his girl friend cancels a date.

Simon Yam plays a nasty looking debt collector Wong Man-Fat.

He is actually a coward by nature so don’t be fooled. Appearances can be deceptive.

Yuki with the squeamish girl look is played by Janice Man.

Then there is big Sister Ying ( Kara Hui) who is someone you would want to slap for her occasional bouts of sarcasm.

She is an opportunistic insurance saleswoman by profession.

We have additionally, a doomed married couple Bobby and Pat (Lee Sheung-Ching and Vincci Cheuk).

Also a bespectacled IT specialist Shun (Chui Tien-You).

There are other principal players making a total of 17 passengers on the minibus.

As soon as the mini bus passes through Lion Rock Tunnel, all the passengers realize that things are not as normal as they seem.

The streets are devoid of pedestrians, phone don’t work and radio stations are seemingly closed. Suddenly an ominous masked figure lurks in the shadows.

They all go their separate ways but when everyone simultaneously receive a spooky call in the middle of the night, the group decides to congregate at a local restaurant in the morning whereupon more inexplicable happenings start erupting.

“THE MIDNIGHT AFTER” is harrowing, bloody, sometimes funny but it will make you shudder.

You can almost feel the characters telling themselves it is just a game.

Whatever the case, just hang on because you are in for a screamy, bumpy ride.

Rating: 4 out of 5

LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR: GSC MOVIES

MOVIE REVIEW: A CASE OF YOU

 “A CASE OF YOU” MOVIE REVIEW

Name is weird, you say.

Perhaps so.

Upon unwrapping you’ll find a mumbo-jumbo romantic comedy directed by Kat Coiro.

It stars actor Justin Long wearing both hats of writer cum producer.

Here goes:

A young writer  Sam (Justin Long) is bored of singlehood and tries wooing a charming barista (Evan Rachel Wood) by stalking her Facebook profile.

When she falls for his alter ego, he feels “trapped” but he has to contimue the act.

 Sam has a deadpan job writing novelizations for movies like “Teen Vampire.”

He feels second-rated because the original source does not come from him and is therefore non-creative.

He finds solace in Birdie (Evan Rachel Wood), the friendly barista at his neighborhood coffee shop where artsy people hang out to pour out their day’s grievances over a cuppa.

But instead of risking that she won’t like the real person he is, he shapes himself into her “dream guy”, based on what he uncovers in her Facebook page, learns judo, French cooking and how to strum the guitar singing folk songs.

No obstacle is too great in the name of love if you dare dream. Right

The film is a glaring factor on how the internet has affected honesty and in relationships.

No spoilers here to mar your enjoyment, but do check out the movie for the answers, chum.

RATING: 3 out of 5

Directed by Kat Coiro

Local Distributor:  GSC MOVIES.