May 2011
1 post
Fast Five
The ghetto Ocean’s Eleven.
I’m glad they grew out of the import racing scene and decided to tell a story where the cars aren’t the focal point of the movie but a vehicle to get from Point A to Point B (literally and metaphorically speaking), much like the Bond movies.
The racing in the first three films just became too hokie and unrealistic - even the drifting - which ruined...
April 2011
1 post
Scream 4
The thing with a horror-whodunnit movie is that it’s hard to be unpredictable anymore. People are wiser to expect the obvious to be unlikely, and the producers’ attempt to be unpredictabile is very predictable. (i.e. Never suspect the main suspect, ‘coz he/she is more than likely there to throw you off.)
Scream 4 tried to do this, but failed (in my opinion, anyway). I...
November 2010
1 post
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
Without Hogwarts, the story of Harry Potter loses its sense of the fantastic. There aren’t many things that captivate you in child-like astonishment - no teachers to learn from, no headmaster to ensure us that, despite the dangers that lurk about, a happy ending is just minutes away. The story of Harry, Ron and Hermoine in search of Voldermort’s seven horcrux has quite certainly...
October 2010
5 posts
RED
“Retired, Extremely Dangerous” was only mildly adventurous compared to the action movies of the 80’s when Bruce Willis & Co. were on top of their games. Perhaps it’s because action movies nowadays, of should be “retired” action stars, tend to be rated PG-13 and has gone too over the top - the most recent Rambo being the exception. I actually like that...
The Karate Kid - Round 1
I won’t go into what I hated about the Will Smith remake. Instead, I’ll talk about what I love about the original, and perhaps touch on the things I did like about the 2010 version of the 1984 classic.
Face me. Bow. — Face each other. Bow. — aaaand FIGHT!
The keyword is “Karate,” not Kung Fu. The original movie implemented Goju Ryu Karate, and it was by way...
Teenage Paparrazo
The Paparrazi have always fascinated me, and the fascination has only escalated since Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) where they get their namesake by way of a character in the movie named Paparazzo who photographs celebrities. The etymology finds its root in an Italian dialect that describes the buzzing of mosquitos, and that’s not too far off from how they’re painted...
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Where Oliver Stone shines is in retelling history with his story, and he gives you a convincing argument for at least two hours (which is to his credit). Whether we agree is another topic. WS:MNS is just another case in point. For instance, the market crash and its timeline depicted in this movie is accurate, though he merges Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase into one bank called...
1 tag
The Social Network
If we can erase Alien 3 and perhaps Panic Room from David Fincher’s resume, I think his IMDb page would be 10x more appealing. This movie does do well to push those projects off the grid. Not that this is his best work, but it’s definitely not The Last Airbender.
Aaron Sorkin’s choice in story approach worked well with the cross-cutting of time and place. It made for a good...
February 2010
1 post
