BRIEF MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CASUAL MOVIEGOERS


Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Review: The Forbidden Kingdom

"...For a movie that has Chan, Li, Chou and acclaimed fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping collaborating together, the action was surprisingly lacklustre, and this was not because of a lack of violence due to the PG rating. On the bright side, the amount of bone-crunching action was rather substantial, and the filmmakers weren’t shy in depicting some up-close-and-personal bloodletting. However, the fight maneuvers themselves were just too rote, and even paled in comparison to what these stars delivered in their most recent movies. Kungfu fans will be sorely disappointed by what’s on display here..."

Read my full review here.

Monday, April 28, 2008

This week's highlight: Iron Man!

The summer blockbuster season has officially started! You've probably already booked a seat on May Day, so this Highlight is virtually pointless. But for those who aren't sure what the heck Iron Man is all about, well, it's one of Marvel's comic book characters, albeit a lesser known one as compared to Spider-man or the X-men. Like Batman, Iron Man's just a powerless human, but was rich enough to build himself a fancy metal suit that makes him fly and battle evil. Uh-huh. It's a comic book, what did you expect? Still, everything looks positive for this one, except for one review on Empireonline.com, which gave it a 3/5 stars. That's not a bad rating at all, but I was hoping it would be a slam-dunk. Oh well, there's still Indy 4 around the corner.

Killa rabbit

humorous pictures
A pretty obscure joke if you're not familiar with one particular Monty Python movie. From Icanhascheezburger.com.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Didn't see this coming: Igor

Looks hilarious! Unless you're not familiar with the whole cackling mad scientist concept made popular by Frankenstein. At least you saw the spoof Young Frankenstein, right? Right? Sigh, I'm getting old.

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Hobbit director CONFIRMED! (AGAIN)


Last time, they said yes Guillermo del Toro is directing the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, but then they said he hasn't signed the dotted lines yet, so it's still slightly iffy, especially with another lawsuit thrown at New Line. Now, it's official, he has finally signed the dotted lines. I bet in his version of Middle Earth, the monsters get more screen time. Expect the two-parter to arrive in 2011 and 2012! Read the full article from Variety here.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Spielberg adapts Ghost in the Shell!

God of Directors Steven Spielberg, via Dreamworks, acquired rights to film live-action version of anime classic Ghost in the Shell. No details about its release date or who will be directing. Article from Variety.com.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Justice League movie shelved

After being delayed by the writers' strike, shunned by Christian Bale, and booed by online geeks, the Justice League movie has been canned, according to producer Joel Silver. Justice League (or JLA) is about the teaming up of superheroes from the DC Comics universe to battle evil, which includes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, among others. It was to be directed by acclaimed director George Miller (Happy Feet, the Babe movies, the Mad Max movies) and headlined by unknowns.

News from Rottentomatoes.com.

Monday, April 21, 2008

This week's highlight: Harold and Kumar 2 - Escape from Guantanamo Bay

The awesome thing about Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was not in that it was a good fratboy/stoner comedy, but that it was a good fratboy/stoner comedy from the perspectives of two Asian-American characters, a rarity as far as Hollywood movies go. The original title for the sequel, H&R Go to Amsterdam, sounded like a rehash set in a different environment, until they changed it to the current one, which is far more interesting. Let's just hope the makers of this movie live up to their absolutely hilarious trailers.

See other movies here.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

This week's highlight: The Forbidden Kingdom

There was another movie from last week that I thought would be good, which was Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, but you guys already made it a hit in Singapore. It had Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Maggie Q in the same movie, but that still can't beat Forbidden Kingdom's uber team-up of the two big Js of martial arts movies, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Sneaks this Friday, everywhere. Be prepared, though. It's in English. Who cares? Yuen freakin' Woo Ping did the fight choreography, so it's going to kick ass, no matter.


Sunday, April 13, 2008

Animated Batman prior to The Dark Knight's release

A DVD release containing six brand-new short Batman animated features will be on sale soon to promote the upcoming sequel to Batman Begins. More details on Cinematical.com, but check out the cool stills below from The Kung Fu Rodeo.












Saturday, April 12, 2008

Making sense of The Mad Detective

A dissection of The Mad Detective's filmmaking process.

Great article by David Bordwell here.

My review of the movie here.

Friday, April 11, 2008

"Stop Dr. Uwe Boll" Petition

Who's Uwe, you say? Well, if you have seen any of the movies above (Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, In the Name of the King: Dungeon Siege, and House of the Dead), you have already experienced some of his handywork. Considered to be one of the worst movie directors ever, Boll generated quite a bit of hate from his lacklustre efforts in adapting video game franchises onto the silver screen, particularly from net-savvy game fans and movie critics. In response, he offered them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to slug the director in a boxing match, which some people got more than what they bargained for. Now he's daring people to compile a petition with a million signatures, the only thing that will compel him to leave showbiz for good. Not that I'm defending him, because I've only seen Bloodrayne so far (which was pretty B-grade bad), but it was hardly the worst movie I've ever saw. You want bad? See Dracula 3000. It's probably because of his prolificity in making bad movies about games that riled fans up. Despite his notoriety, he was still able to talk celebs like Ben Kingsley, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Jason Statham, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman and Michael Madsen into appearing in his movies. Must be quite a charmer. Anyway, if you ready do hate him that much, sign the "Stop Dr. Uwe Boll" petition here. Or better yet, start a petition in favour of Boll, well, because he's asking.





Wednesday, April 9, 2008

This week's highlight: Street Kings

Written by James Ellroy, writer of L.A. Confidential, and directed by David Ayer, who wrote Training Day. Stars Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans and Naomie Harris. This could be good. See other movies showing here.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

More Sin City-style fun?

Frank Miller, the comic book auteur who created Sin City, 300 and the ultimate Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns, is adapting Will Eisner's comic series The Spirit, and will also be directing the movie. He said that he'll be using the same bluescreen techniques from Sin City and 300, but judging from the posters it looks like he might be using the same black-and-white aesthetics as well. The movie stars Gabriel Macht as The Spirit, and Samuel L. Jackson as his nemesis, The Octopus. Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes play The Spirit's love interests. Movie's due 16 January 2009. More info here.


Friday, April 4, 2008

The BMF is poor, and the poor avoids city-only movies

If you noticed my expenditures recently, they are on the high side, due to movies that are only screened in limited theatres, often the ones located far from where I am. I've had to pay more just to make sure I'm able to make it to the showing. I have no choice with the five Oscar Best Picture nominees, but I do have a choice with the others. Unless it is absolutely necessary, or the movie's highly anticipated, I will wait for the DVDs instead. This will not affect blockbuster movies as they are usually available at the cinema in front of my apartment. I might still watch those affected movies released later in the year, if their DVD releases won't make it before my annual cut-off time every early March, right after the Oscars.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Hong Kong International Film Festival

Film expert David Bordwell writes about his experience and discoveries at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Very interesting and informative read if you're into Hong Kong movies. Read his blog here.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

This week's highlight: Be Kind Rewind

This coming week's slew of movies seem lacklustre. If you're in the US, I would recommend 21, which is likely to be the number one movie of the week. But since it's not showing in Singapore, Malaysia and some say in Batam, you might want to check out Be Kind Rewind, which already premiered last week. Talks about a bunch of video store clerks who reshot the movies they accidentally erased. Instead of being appalled by ridiculously shoddy re-enactments of famous movies, the customers actually loved them! Reviews are mixed, but tell me you're not a little bit curious? Directed by the guy who directed the awesome Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. See other movies showing here.