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.

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.

"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.

Solid Altaire Snake

April Fool's joke for gamers only.

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.

BMF Comics #8

See the entire comic strip here.

The Chaser's War on Everything - Terrorist Security Response

Saw this on the Flick Filosopher's blog.

BMF Comics #7

See the entire comic strip here.

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.

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.

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.

iRing

From The Outlaw Vern.

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.

Price go up fiddy-cent!

Singapore's largest cinema chain, Golden Village has raised ticket prices by fifty cents since last Thursday. Standard prices on weekdays are between $7.50-$8.50 instead of $7-$8. Premium shows and selected promotional items will not be affected. Price increase is due to rising costs and inflation. Two months back, Cathay made the first move, plus slapping an additional 50 cents on "blockbuster" movies. Question: how would you know whether a movie would bust blocks before you start pricing and selling its tickets? If my calculations are correct, that means I'm spending 7% more this year, or have to watch 7% less? (I'm on a budget.) Oh well, I guess I'll be spending more time at the DVD rental shop this year then. Good luck on the price hikes, guys.

Wachowski brothers' next movie: "Ninja Assassin"

Empireonline.com reports The Matrix directors' upcoming movie project, to be directed by V for Vendetta director James McTeigue and stars Korean heartthrob Jung Ji-Hoon a.k.a. "My Name is Rain." Also, he likes black. Black looks good. Article here.

BMF Comics #6

See the entire comic strip here.

Cardboard Tron!

Tron
by freres-hueon

Saw this on Aintitcool.com.

Movie Reviews!

10,000 B.C.

3:10 to Yuma

Apocalypto

Atonement

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Jumper

Kidnap (Bong ga)

Mad Detective (Sun taam)

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

Rambo 4

Shoot 'Em Up (Will2k's review)

Superbad

There Will Be Blood

See all reviews here.

Review: 3:10 to Yuma

Don't miss this ride
The Westerns are truly back. I know, because I saw neither spaceships nor pirates (a la Serenity, Star Wars) in 3:10 to Yuma, the latest cowboy flick since maybe Unforgiven? (Brokeback Mountain does not count.) For the young folks, a "Western" is a movie set in America circa mid nineteenth century, when cowboys rode horses around deserts shooting each other for money or revenge. They called it the "Wild West" for a reason. The movie's about ex-soldier Dan Evans (Christian Bale) who joined a group of people escorting notorious outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the town of Contention, where they're sending him off on the three-ten evening train to Yuma prison. Evans needs the money from this gig to save his ranch and feed his family. Complicating matters are Wade's second-in-command, Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), who is leading Wade's gang in pursuit, and Evans' son William (Logan Lerman), tailing his dad against his wishes.

3:10 to Yuma is a remake of a fifty-year-old classic, so, not to worry insecure hetero males, it's not jumping on the Brokeback Mountain bandwagon. It's more of a combination of the Hollywood Western and Sergio Leone's Italian Westerns, with the romanticism of the former and the gritty realism of the latter. The resulting concoction is a straightforward but enthralling men-on-a-mission movie, with the requisite action sequences tucked in between scenes. But it's the story and characters that drive the movie. You can't help but feel for Evans, who is like the nerd to Wade's jock, getting the hard times while Wade gets the money and chicks. Not only is Evans not getting any respect from his wife or son, but they actually got a little smitten over the ever-charming Wade. Kind of like real life, where nice guys finish last, while chicks still dig bad men. Just ask Mel Gibson, Jackie Chan, or Russell Crowe too, who are still in everybody's good books despite their prejudices, infidelity and violent tendencies respectively. As consolation, the good guy still gets his day at the end, and even the villain was more than a little moved by Evan's righteous grit. The code-of-honour theme is so John Woo, a Western fan himself, I'm surprised he wasn't offered to direct this movie.

Not surprisingly, the acting is stellar in 3:10, with resonating performances by Crowe and Bale. But the man who stole the show was Ben Foster. (Yes, Angel from X-men 3!) All your attention centres on his Charlie Prince whenever he appears. People have been calling him effeminate in the reviews and forums, but apart from his high-pitched voice, this guy swaggers like a badass throughout the movie. When Charlie rides into town with six of the meanest-looking hombres, you can still tell that he's the boss of the outfit just from the way he carries himself. If that isn't badass, I don't know what is.

I truly regretted not seeing this one before making my Best of 2007 list, because 3:10 to Yuma is definitely the best 2007 movie I've seen and would have taken the top award instead of Atonement, although that one's really good too. Thus, it gets a special consolation prize as an apology for my gross oversight. - BMF








Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, Identity) and screenplay by Halsted Welles (The Hell with Heroes, A Time for Killing), Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (Catch That Kid, 2 Fast 2 Furious). Stars Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster, Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk, Gretchen Mol and Kevin Durand. Based on the short story by Elmore Leonard.

An Empress and The Warriors: a flop?

So reports Hong Kong movie blogger The Golden Rock on Empress' Hong Kong box office result. Reason? It wasn't shown in Cantonese. That's it - I'm watching this one right away.

Unintentionally funny Korean brand

It's not mine. I got it from former America's Next Top Model Season 1 contestant, Elyse Sewell's Live Journal. She regularly posts pictures and anecdotes about her adventures in modelling, and they're pretty funny stuff.

Brotherhood of the Freaks

Freaks forever.

The price of living far from the city

That's what I felt like doing to the car of the person who schedules the Oscar movies in Singapore. But I wouldn't know who that person is, or even know where to begin to find his car. Furthermore, I don't plan on going to jail for it, so I'll have to be contented with Walter doing the deed on my behalf.

If you're not following, then you must have missed my earlier posts about the near-impossible task of watching the Oscar-nominated movies especially if you're car-less and live and work at least 25 minutes away from the city. The movies are rarely ever shown outside the city, and often scheduled during working hours or very near to closing time, leaving not much time for travelling. Late shows are out of the question because the buses and MRT stop services right before a late show ends.

I had no choice but to attend surcharged weekend shows. This was how the cinemas f***ed this stranger in the ass:

Minimum weekday ticket cost = $6 ($30 for 5 movies)
Minimum weekend ticket cost = $8.50 ($42.50 for 5 movies)

The price of living far from the city = $12.50 or 42% above weekday prices, suckers!

Also, last Monday's Evangelion 1.0 : You Are (Not) Alone ticket fare = $8.50! Why?
One, the cinema that's showing it increased their fares recently.
Two, the movie is exclusive to this cinema.
Three, therefore every single Evangelion fan in Singapore will be bottlenecked to the only two cinemas showing it, thus guaranteeing that seats will be unavailable. Price for booking a seat in advance = add. $1.

To see the complete BMF Budget, click here.

Review: 10,000 B.C.

A really stupid caveman movie

(Spoilers ahead!)

I'm fine with movies that have silly premises. Movies like Blade, Underworld and Resident Evil offer a hodgepodge of scientific and supernatural themes that border on unintentional parody. But the stories are often excuses for stringing a few fun action or special effects sequences together, and for the aforementioned movies, the action is almost always the best thing about them. The preposterous story of a vengeful black half-vampire goes down much easier if you're having too much fun watching Blade eliminate vampires with his silver samurai sword. Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. is just as ludicrous, probably more so, but unfortunately it failed to impress in every aspect that mattered.

Thus, It goes without saying that 10,000 B.C.'s weakest attribute is its storyline. It's a shameless rip-off of Apocalypto's first half and Stargate's second, also an Emmerich movie. Circa 10,000 B.C., a group of horsemen pillaged a tribe of mammoth hunters, and captured some of its people, including blue-eyed prophecy child Evolet (Camilla Belle). Her boyfriend with the rapper-sounding name D'Leh (Steven Strait) immediately embarks on a rescue mission, together with mentor Tic'Tic (Cliff Curtis, who's in everything these days), rival hunter Ka'Ren (Mo Zinal) and recently-orphaned Baku (Nathanael Baring). They travel beyond the mountains of their icy plains to discover Africa, and then, within walking distances, Egypt. There, he finds his people being forced to work on building pyramids for a mysterious, god-like figure. D'Leh may lack modern weaponry and Kurt Russell, but luckily the Egyptian slave masters don't shoot plasma bolts from their staffs. He manages to round up an army of African natives to help him, because, conveniently, he also happens to be the Chosen One. He proves this by making friends with a sabretooth in one of the most intellectually insulting sequences ever. But it can't beat the one where a witch doctor revived a dead person by exhaling a misty puff of breath from hundreds of miles away. Meanwhile, D'Leh's hot girlfriend gets thrown into the company of thousands of deprived and depraved primeval men without causing much incident, a la Rambo 4 and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Faring badly too are the action sequences, which managed to take the best from Jurassic Park, Stargate, and 300, and actually made them worse. For example, it cribbed 300's spear-throwing finale, but lacking 300's editing sensibilities, 10,000 B.C.'s scene just plainly unfolds without ever bothering to build any semblance of suspense. Next thing you know, the villain's dead, and... that's it? The one action scene that we don't often see elsewhere is the mammoth hunt, which should have been the movie's highlight. But the ferocity of these ancient creatures barely even registers, which made the hunt no more exciting than if they were hunting regular-sized elephants. Although I like action, I'm not a gore lover, but this is one instance where a movie might have benefitted from some blood-letting.

Not helping Warner Bros' cause for a hundred million dollars is its hundred-dollar computer effects and production values. It has been three years since Chronicles of Narnia's fake-looking lion, but it seems like the development of computer generated felines never progressed. The mammoths were better animated, but looked like they lacked definition and seemed blurry at times. The man-eating birds are the only ones that get a passing grade, but it's probably because they whisked across the screen too fast for closer scrutiny. The set (or was it all blue-screen?), character and costume designs are a notch higher than Xena: Warrior Princess', but they are still as unauthentic, unless you believe dental care and sailboats had already been invented before the mammoths were extinct.

Probably the only way to stomach 10,000 B.C. is to think of it as one of those cheesy Eighties Conan The Barbarian-type of movies. But Apocalypto is clearly the better ancient-civilisation-action-movie. 10,000 B.C. is as pointless as the rave scene from The Matrix Reloaded. - BMF


VERDICT:

For the record:

Emmerich movies: Stargate > Independence Day > The Day After Tomorrow > The Patriot > Universal Soldier > Godzilla > 10,000 B.C.

Directed by Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, The Patriot) and screenplay by Emmerich and Harold Kloser (debut). Stars Steven Strait, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Affif Ben Brada, Mo Zinal, Nathanael Baring, Mona Hammond, Marco Khan and Omar Sharif as The Narrator.

A post with posters

BMF on Flick Filosopher's site!

Revered internet movie critic MaryAnn Johanson, a.k.a. The Flick Filosopher has posted a link to one of my cartoons on her site! See the post here!

Why Lucas may be right about making Star Wars for kids

Saw this on a Flickfilosopher.com blog post.

My boring Oscar review

The annual Academy Awards, probably the most revered event in Hollywood even if some people like to pretend it isn't important, was held for the 80th year last Sunday (Monday in Singapore time.) While ratings for the broadcast were at it lowest, there were as much defenders for the show as well as naysayers. But just try answering this question: have you or would you ever whole-heartedly recommend this three-to-five-hour show to any of your friends or relatives?

Host Jon Stewart has some good lines in there, but it wasn't quite the laughfest like during Billy Crystal's time, and not a big enough reason alone to watch the Oscars. You want to feel more touched by the acceptance speeches, if only you've seen some of the movies, which you can't because they're always relegated to schoolchildren-friendly weekday daytime slots, working-people-unfriendly slightly-after-five or way-after-eight weekday evening slots, or unfriendly-to-all expensive weekend slots.

The big winners of the night were the guys behind No Country for Old Men and, surprisingly, The Bourne Ultimatum who won mostly technical awards. Coincidentally, No Country was the only Best Picture nominee I managed to see, and it won the biggest prize of the night. Frankly, I would prefer Eastern Promises or Zodiac if I have to pick a thriller.

Anyway, the point of the Oscars' is to acknowledge and reward talents in the industry, not design a show with pointless song and dance routines to keep viewers from dozing off. Maybe they should start doing it behind closed doors for industry people only, and announce the winners via press conference after the event. Frankly, it's irrelevant to the general public.

For those who want to know, here are the rest of the Oscar results.

BMF Comics #5

There will be delay

The 2008 Academy Awards ceremony will start soon, and I still haven't seen all of the Best Picture nominees! I would love to blame that solely on the cinemas, who for example showed Michael Clayton at 12.20pm on Saturday (I was at work) and 8.50pm on Sunday (too late and too far away), but at the end of the day it's really me. I wasn't completely deprived of opportunities to see them, but I guess I'm just not all that enthusiastic about these movies. I have a gut feeling that these'll be those types of acclaimed movies that'll all be well forgotten in the coming years, while movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Matrix will still be the highlights during conversations or blogs about our "best movie experiences ever."

I'll try to catch There Will Be Blood this weekend, because it's showing only at 5.45pm and 9.00pm on weekday evenings in the city, which are impossible timings for me. Inevitably, there will be a delay in crowning the best freakin' movie ever for the year, originally due this Friday. I want to know for sure if Blood is like the awesome Once upon a Time in the West-cum-Citizen Kane hybrid I've been imagining in my head all this time, which may still dethrone Eastern Promises as my currently reigning best movie of 2007.

Post-CNY blabber

Gong xi fa cai, happy lunar new year, and welcome back! It has been more than half a month since the last post. That's because The Big Movie Freak was back at his parents' in his native country for a week-long celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Over here, we call this annual endeavour balik kampung, meaning "to return to our village," although you will be disappointed to hear that my "village" is far from being some idyllic getaway with wooden houses, rustling coconut trees and sandy beaches.

The holidays have provided me with plenty of time to catch up on some movies and for absolutely no cost at all... meaning I've been rummaging through Will2k's DVD stash. There were more oldsies than newsies, but at least I finally got to see Superbad and 3:10 to Yuma without having to take a leave of absence from work and watch its 10am only weekday shows. (It's now off the cinema circuit, by the way.) Managed to do some revisiting on Johnnie To's PTU, Sam Raimi's Darkman, Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. Also finally saw Tron in its entirety, and got to see Michael Hui's Hong Kong comedy Chicken and Duck Talk. Already halfway there with their reviews. Hopefully I'll be able to catch most of the Oscar pics before they announce the awards next week. No Country For Old Men, Michael Clayton, Juno and Atonement are already playing, while There Will Be Blood premieres this week.

News-wise, X-men's Gambit is finally making his big-screen appearance on the upcoming X-men spin-off, Wolverine, in 2009. New Line gets sued again, this time by the Tolkien Trust, which threatens the production on the upcoming The Hobbit movies. On the same topic, apparently director Guillermo Del Toro still hasn't sign the dotted lines, despite having said yes to directing The Hobbit. And Hong Kong star Lydia Shum has passed away yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer. Although not internationally famous, the rotund Shum has been a prolific, prominent and iconic figure in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, having made her mark in a string of successful local comedies and hosting numerous television events.

The Hobbit director CONFIRMED!

Guillermo Del Toro, director of Cronos, Mimic, The Devil's Backbone, Blade 2, Hellboy 1 & 2 and Pan's Labyrinth will helm the two-parter prequels to Lord of the Rings! TheOneRing.Net was the first to break the news (link here).

Apart from the physical resemblance to LOTR director Peter Jackson pre-diet phase, Del Toro is more arthouse than a Spielberg like Jackson. His knack for putting interesting visuals and themes onscreen (and his love for creatures and assorted monstrosities sure helps) usually more than covers for his shortcomings in pacing and editing (exception: Blade 2). I still think Jackson is the better choice for keeping the Middle Earth universe consistent with the trilogy, which is what people loved in the first place. But since it's going to be Del Toro, I hope he's given free reign to do his own interpretation, and not try to ape Jackson, who was already kind of aping Spielberg. Bryan Singer, the very talented director who made two really good X-men movies, tried to ape Richard Donner, and came up with the disappointing Superman Returns (which could have used a little more of his X-men sensibilities in it). I really hope The Hobbit isn't going to be Del Toro's Superman Returns.

Movie Reviews!

A Battle of Wits (Muk gong)

Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem

American Gangster

Cloverfield

Eastern Promises

Eye in the Sky

Zodiac

See all reviews here.

Review: A Battle of Wits (Muk gong)

State Wars
Set in China’s Warring States period, A Battle of Wits focuses on the small, city-state of Liang. Getting news of a massive Zhao army en route to Liang, the politicos of Liang, including the Liang King (Wang Zhiwen), his prince Liang Shi (Choi Si Won), adviser Si Tu (Wu Ma) and General Niu (Chin Siu-Hou) must decide to either defend their keep, or surrender to the enemy. Before General Niu manages to officiate their surrender with Zhao general Xiang Yanzhong (Ahn Sung-Kee), a special Zhao regiment has already reached the gates of Liang. Moments before, aid from Liang ally, the Mozi tribe, came in the form of Mozi brethren Ge Li (Andy Lau). Before you mock his name, I should warn you that the Mozi are known for their deft in strategic warfare, and Ge Li proves this by successfully repelling the Zhao regiment. His accomplishment earned widespread adulation, including those from the Liang prince and female soldier Yi Yue (Fan Bingbing), much to the chagrin of the jealous king. He suspects that Ge Li may try to usurp his throne, and plots to do away with the Mozi after the Zhao army has given up on invading Liang. Taiwanese star Nicky Wu plays the Chinese Legolas, Zi Tuan.

A Battle of Wits is another one of those “against all odds” movies like Lord of the Rings, Troy and 300, with a city of 4,000 up against an army of 100,000. Most of the fun in Battle is from observing how Ge Li overcomes wave after wave of attacks from the Zhao. Actually, Ge’s defensive maneuvers are more about brutality than strategy - employing many cheap, gruesome tactics like spike traps and fire pits to kill as many enemies as you can within the shortest amount of time. Although the Zhao army lost only a fraction of their men, the psychological impact is severe, demoralising Xiang’s troops who were supposed to be on their way to a bigger, more important battle up north. But Xiang himself is no idiot, and devised some sly maneuvers of his own. It’s interesting to note the Mozi’s inner conflict between the two key components of his religion - “universal love” and cold pragmatism. It’s his love for humanity and peace that brought him to Liang’s aid, but cruel logic dictates that in order for Liang to survive, Zhao soldiers must die.

Lovehkfilm.com’s Kozo described Ge Li as resembling a Jedi Knight. Apart from trudging about a sandy landscape in a brown, hooded robe, the Mozi is also very monk-like, keeps a short crop of hair, and abstains from material possessions and even a disrobing Fan Bingbing. You can say that his ability to outguess his opponent’s movements is a kind of Force power. The only thing missing is elegant sword skills and a lightsabre, though Ge is pretty wicked with a bow and a specially modified arrow.

My only gripe with the movie - the romantic subplot, which involves an improbable female soldier character in 5 B.C. China, who is porcelain-fair and pretty to boot. (Why couldn’t they just make her a Liang princess?) Admittedly, Fan Bingbing provides some much needed eye candy in a sea of grimy, ragged people that are the civilians of Liang. Either ways, it’s still leagues smarter and more entertaining than 300, and loses out to Troy only from a lack of star power (unless you see Fan, Wu and Super Junior member Choi as “stars”). It’s also better than the messily edited theatrical cut of Seven Swords. (I’m still waiting for the five-hour epic version, Mr. Tsui Hark.) Of course, in the biased eyes of this Rings fan, nothing beats Lord of the Rings. - BMF

VERDICT:





Written and directed by Jacob Cheung Chi Leung (Never Say Goodbye, Midnight Fly). Stars Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Wang Zhiwen, Fan Bingbing, Chin Siu-Hou, Choi Si Won, Ahn Sung-Kee, Wu Ma and Nicky Wu. Based on the novel Bokko by Sakemi Ken'ichi.

Missing out on the "Oscar" movies, part 2!

Original posting here.

The Oscar nominations were announced on 21 January (22 January here), and their selections for the Best Picture categories are Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Total number of Best Pic nominess - five. Total number of Best Pic nominees that I've seen - zero.

Michael Clayton has been reduced to one show a day, at 9.30pm, so too bad, I can't possibly watch that anymore unless I'm willing to pay $2.50 extra and let it eat up my weekend. Not so looking forward to Atonement, and it isn't looking forward to me either, since it has placed itself in the weekday evening 6.30pm slot (impossible for me to make it). Both No Country For Old Men and Juno debut on Valentine's Day, while there are no news about There Will Be Blood's release date.

For the other Oscar nominees: I managed to catch Eastern Promises and American Gangster, and they didn't disappoint. The Assassination of Jesse James is showing only in the city and at odd times on weekday evenings; 5.35pm and 8.55pm, so I guess I'll have to pass. There's still a window of opportunity for 3:10 to Yuma, which has 6.50pm shows in the following week, provided my wife allows me to watch this and Rambo 4 on the same week. Elizabeth: The Golden Age has stopped screening (at GV, at least).

Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone was a critical favourite, and debuts on 31 January. I hope it lasts till after the Lunar New Year celebrations, during which The Big Movie Freak site and blog will be on a one-and-a-half-week hiatus. (I'll catch it as soon as I'm back.) I'll probably try to watch CJ7 in Malaysia during that time, and hope that it's not a censored version. The E.T. vibe of Stephen Chow's latest looks censor-friendly enough.

Maybe I should start taking my moniker more literally and watch only the blockbuster movies. Following up on these critically acclaimed movies has proven to be quite a chore! I mean, aren't movies supposed to be leisurely entertainment?

RIP Heath Ledger

Just only a week after Brad Renfro died from presumably an overdose, we have another actor fallen victim to drugs. It was pretty shocking news, because I was so looking forward to his take on the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Admittedly, I was also skeptical about his casting at the beginning.

I first noticed Ledger on the teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You, which was a teen version of The Taming of the Shrew, with Ledger playing the role of the tamer and Julia Stiles the shrew. He seemed quite fitted for these types of teen hunk role. But subsequent career choices (Monster's Ball, Ned Kelly, Candy) indicated that Ledger was trying to avoid typecasting. His greatest success finally came when he took the role of Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee's highly acclaimed gay romance Brokeback Mountain.

Recently, Ledger was in another critically lauded movie, playing one of several interpretations of Bob Dylan (along with Cate Blanchette, Richard Gere, and Batman co-star Christian Bale) in Todd Hayne's I'm Not There.

He was easily one of the few rising young actors whose works were worth taking note of, but sadly we'll no longer be able to see what other exciting contributions to cinema this man was going to make.

Gerstmann-gate!

This is not a post about movies, but about the recent commotion regarding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, revered former editor of Gamespot.com because he gave video game Kane and Lynch a thumbs down. Kane and Lynch producer, Eidos, was previously advertising the game on premium spots on the front page of Gamespot. You can sort of guess what went down.

I've been waiting for a while for somebody to put together an article about this, that compiles all the events that have transpired since Gerstmann's departure and maybe bring further clarity to the whole thing. Sam Kennedy from 1UP.com may have just done that with this posting on his 1UP blog. It's pretty substantive, up-to-date (it includes Alex Navarro's recent resignation) and also revealed what Gerstmann and former Gamespot founder Vince Broady are up to next.

Anyway, check it out if you care.

I Am Legend - Book and movie comparisons (Spoilers!)

(Warning! Spoilers ahead!)

Just finished reading I Am Legend. Looking at the thickness of the book, I thought it was a novel, but in fact it's a short story. The rest of the book is a compilation of other short stories by the author, Richard Matheson. I didn't know this until I finished reading the I Am Legend portion. Imagine my surprise when less than a quarter through the book, the story suddenly ended!

The big difference between the book and movie is not just that the original hero wasn't a black dude, but the book is really actually about vampires! Fear of garlic, crosses, sunlight, the works. The great thing is that the author uses scientific reasoning to explain how vampirism works, and why they feared the abovementioned objects, which at first glance seems a little illogical. The movie used very, very little of these stuff, but concentrated more on the "last man on Earth" concept. Also, I think it's probably the best and ultimate vampire story I've ever heard or read about. It makes Anne Rice look really stupid.

As for the ending, well, it's like those Twilight Zone kind of ending. It's not something stupid like I woke from a dream or he goes into the next dimension or something. Though a little shocking (and an ironic joke), it still makes perfect sense that it ended that way. But it's also very sad and depressing. Everybody seemed to like the book's original ending, but it might be too much for regular folks at the cinemas, because they'll be so disappointed at the outcome after all the hard work and sacrifice Robert Neville made.

Terminator - The TV Show!

I did enjoy Terminator 3 as an above-average sci-fi action flick, but I can't deny it still felt watered down, like, you know, Terminator for kids. Not only was it PG-fied, they also made Arnold do a "talk to the hand" joke. Past Terminators had jokes, but they're often cool ones (e.g. "He'll live."), not silly shits like this. But what could be worse than a Terminator Part 3 is not Terminator Part 4 (which they're actually making right now, with Christian Bale as great military leader John Connor), but an even more watered down television series.

But reactions have apparently been positive for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. There are still criticisms about the show's disregard for certain Terminator lores established in the movies, while completely ignoring everything that happened in Terminator 3 (e.g. Sarah Connor is still very much alive). No idea whether anything from the show would eventually tie up with the upcoming movie sequel (this is not a Terminator fansite... Google up one, you lazy bum). I'm not really hot about the series' re-use of the femme bot, which has a boring design compared to the classic 800 Series Model 101's endoskeleton, ass-kicking skills aside. But then again, one of the few things I'm a big sucker for are action chicks (e.g. Resident Evil, Underworld, Alien, Aliens, etc.), which is why Underworld 1 and 2 will never get Sucks from the BMF. Ahem. The series' poster (see above) looks enticing enough... I'm game to find out how much asskickery they managed to sneak into the PG world of mainstream TV.

Stars Lena Headey (the Spartan queen from 300) as Sarah, Summer Glau (River from Firefly/Serenity) as the femme bot, the dude from Judging Amy, some One Tree Hill-typish kid (sigh) and a couple of beefy men.

Spoovans' edited review of I Am Legend

I've finally found some time to edit Spoovans' I Am Legend review. It's one of his better written reviews of late. It needs more humour though, or at least more Car Freak-related quips on the Mustang or whatever else that Will Smith drove in the movie, which is really Spoovans' area of expertise. I'd hope he writes something about cars and their relationship with cinema someday, but he has been real busy building a career (and making lots of dough) with a marine company of late, so that someday could take a while to come.

Here's the unedited review if you missed it.

Movie reviews from BigMovieFreak.com

In case you missed them, here are some inconsequential ramblings about the movies I've seen recently:

I Am Legend
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Hot Fuzz
Hitman
The Wolfman (1941)
Shoot 'Em Up

And one from the inimitable Will2k:
Big Bullet

BMF Comics #2 - #4

Freakin' Star Wars in freakin' Soul Calibur 4!

Yup, it's not April yet, and the video above is the evidence. What, you're surprised that a person like George Lucas would hawk his wares like this? Play as Yoda on the Xbox360 and Darth Vader on the PS3. More details at this link.

Missing out on the "Oscar" movies

With all honesty, I wasn't really very motivated to watch all of the so-called "Oscar-baiting" movies of 2006, thus giving the Oscars 2007 a miss after many years of not missing the live telecast of the Academy Awards. But being a self-proclaimed Big Movie Freak, I guess I'm a little obligated to at least check them out, see what the fuss is about (what could be more entertaining than Shoot 'Em Up?) and perhaps recommend or warn you about what to expect (e.g. will they bore the hell out of you, etc.?).

Unfortunately, at this point I've missed at least half a dozen of 2007's movies vying for 2008's Oscars, but it's not entirely my fault. The problem with these "artistic" movies is that most people (likely you) are not always interested in watching them, thus the shows are relegated to just a handful of cinemas, and they're often always the ones around central Singapore. That's not a problem if you're working in the city, but guess what? The Big Movie Freak doesn't work in the city! Making matters worse, they always, always slot these movies into the 6.30pm schedules on weekdays, giving me less than an hour to get there after work (5.30pm) from my workplace at the other end of the island. It takes 15 minutes to get to the MRT, and then another 45 minutes to the nearest cinema showing these movies; you do the math. Would it hurt so much to just schedule it just 15 or 30 minutes later?

Sure, there are weekend movies, though that gives me three problems: 1) price - weekday shows cost me $6 per ticket (I get discounts on my HSBC credit card), weekends cost me $8.50 (remember, the Big Movie Freak is on a budget), 2) Saturday is my quality time with the wife and sometimes with my pals; I do my creative shit on Sundays, and 3) I still need to haul my ass down 45 minutes worth of train ride to watch something that's potentially boring for all I know, even though there's a freakin' cinema right in front of my freakin' apartment already!

So, to the people responsible for Michael Clayton, Eastern Promises, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Lust, Caution (R, not NC16), my apologies for not catching your movies; blame the loss of my $6 ticket on your distributors. American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma, hold on, I may still be able to catch you guys. The Darjeeling Limited; well, Wes, I've seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, but man, wtf? I don't feel so stoked about you, The Savages and Atonement. No Country For Old Men, not even Singapore? And will there be blood here?

On second thought, there's a strike going on in Hollywood, which has affected the awards shows, to the point that the Golden Globes had to be reduced from a three-hour glitzy event to a one-hour press conference. The Oscars might end up in a similar predicament, who knows? Then perhaps I won't feel so guilty not watching them now, hehe.

From the director of Ong Bak - Chocolate!

God, let this not be another Tom Yum Goong.

Spoovans' edited FF2 review!

Recently, the Car Freak a.k.a. Spoovans posted a rather bizarre review of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Bad writing or insane genius? You be the judge! I've uploaded an edited version of his review here. It might give you an understanding of how this movie freak thinks, or it might only give you a headache! Best of all, he managed to squeeze one short automobile-related comment near the end! Click on this link, if you dare!

New Transformers cartoon

Back to haunt every parent's wallet - the new Transformers Animated! Haven't seen a single episode yet, but based on the artwork on its site, the style is just not right in conveying the metallic giant robots' mass and weight. Looks more rubbery and plasticky, just like the toys, but maybe that's the intention. Anyway, I was quite skeptical about the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series' use of Powerpuff Girls' art-style, but the cartoon made me eat my own words by having Jedi battle scenes that are far, far more awesome than any of the live-action movies'. Maybe this Transformers will be another Clone Wars-type of awesome. Who knows?

An (unedited) review on I am Legend-comparison between old and new

HI Guys,

Before I proceed to the review, I do admit that living in solitude with all the cool stuffs in the world is rather cool.
This movie is based on based on the 1954 novel "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson. The first silver screen adaption of this book was the 1971's 'OMEGA MAN', with Charles Heston (a.k.a the NRA Taiko in USA) as Richard Neville. In this version, Richard Neville,the doctor,due to an experimental vaccine, is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. In this version, Richard Neville is trying to get out of the city and find a human colony. In terms of execution, the movie is somewhat similar to sic-fi movies of its time, esp. Planet of the Apes etc.

Fast forward to 2007, in latest adaption of the novel, the producers decided to name the movie as the novel title, I AM LEGEND, and I do have to admit, it is definitely an improvement in comparison to its predessor. In this version, The movie begins with a newspaper interview with Dr. Kripper (Emma Thompson) who is speaking about the her scientific breakthrough. She has taken the Measles virus and altered it at a genetic level so that it attacks only cancerous cells. The treatment has proven 100% effective in over 10,109 clinical trials. The film then cuts to three years later and we see that New York is deserted. Grass is breaking through the concrete, cars are rusting in the streets, and entire buildings are covered in titanic sheets of plastic with Biohazard signs plastered all over them. Our Hero, Richard Neville (Will Smith), comes blazing in his Mustang GT500, hunting deers in downtown, run down NY (In Omega man, Charles Heston breaks into a deserted dealership and drives out the Mustang from the store window).
As in the earlier version, Neville is the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- 'The Infected' -- lurk in the shadows

In a nutshell, the special effects of this movie is ok, not that it is bad or anything, but after watching Beuwolf, playing countless gory video games such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill etc; 'The Infected' looks nothing more that 100% CG characters, fresh from the PC. I really wished the Director paid more attention on this. As for the storyline and cinematography, the pace was good and there were times I was on the edge of my seat, especially when Neville was entering an Infected hideout trying to get his dog back. The other character are Alicia Braga (Anna) andCharlie Tahan (Ethan), though their contribution didn't matter to the to the movie plot, they were in the movie till the end.

The movie centered on Neville's coping with his solitude life, that is constantly in battling to stay away from 'The Infected'. And by potraying the effects in embarking in risky genetic biotechnology projects with inadequate safety protocols, I believe the movie highlights the state of our modern hightech biotechnology industry, where company rush to produce cures for major ailments from the most unlikely sources, in order to claim novel discoveries and patents, in order to attain instant fame, glory and monetary rewards that comes with it.

In short, I would say that this is one cool movie, and I am definitely getting a DVD copy of this movie.


spoovans