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Reviews
Thank You for Smoking (2005)
I can't thank enough
Nick is guy who sincerely believed smoking is a personal, informed choice and that everyone deserves to be given their fair share of slate to voice out their opinion. The underlying message of this movie is serious, that smoking kills, so is laughing at it distasteful? It will be, only if you have no sense of humor.
That aside, a lot of the arguments (a lot of it in this movie) are very much valid, either you like it or not. That balanced out the humor and serious side of the topic - smoking.
I knew it was kind of a comedy but I didn't expect it to be this entertaining. A movie that tickles you hard simply by dialogues and facial expression is priceless. There isn't a single character that I can find fault with. Aaron, as a guy with no sense of guilt for believing in his principal is simply perfect for the role of Nick. The rest of the big guns worked their role well too. The pace was alright, where you would not think that there is a good time to go ease yourself. Seriously, I can't thank enough that someone made this movie.
If you like Snatch, this is a must to watch
Silent Hill (2006)
It's was pretty much silent
I've never played the game so my comments would be solely based on the movie. It is a movie afterall, so no offense to the gamers.
For the first hour, I was tumbling down this rabbit hole that seems like no end. When a movie makes me look at my watch more than once for the first hour, something is definitely wrong. However, it was not that bad because if it was, I would have just walked out of the theater
Problem with the movie is that it was not scary, at all. Nothing was. And the pace, oh my. I know the director was trying to slowly reveal the mystery so it was expected but it was done either too slow or simply not arranged well. That is why I was disappointed. When a movie has the potential to be good but ruined by something else, it just frustrates you. Leaving the movie left me with a lot of what ifs because the plot was OK fundamentally, just that the execution didn't give the full effect it should.
Acting was not effective because I don't feel of the charactersexcept maybe the last part with Sean Bean's character. When you don't care about the characters, either they die or they suffered or anything, how can you get into the moment of fear or sadness of the movie. I don't even remember the character's name except maybe Sharon because it was repeated endlessly through out the movie.
The only good thing about the movie were the special effects and probably the biblical reference it made. Other than that, it was pretty much silent.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Best picture/director/editing? Please....
I watched all three just to see what the fuss LOTR is all about. Also it is only fair then to give a review. After watching ROTK, I have to ask again, what is all the fuss about?
I have to admit, I did not read the book but it does not make me any less credible to give an opinion as I am movie lover and this is a review of a movie, not a book. Storyline aside, which I actually have no problem with, even though I don't find that interesting either, the trilogy is a series of badly made films. Acting by the main characters was terrible. Name me one part of acting that burns permanently in your mind as mind blowing. Worse of all, continuity was practically not a priority, which it should. Obviously, editing was done haphazardly. That is why the acting quality suffered badly. From one scene where the characters were sad, in just a few seconds they were back to happy.
I have no arguments that it may be a hard film to make, considering the backdrop of the storyline or maybe how closely it tried followed the book but Jackson received far too much credit to be awarded by director. The makeup and costumes, the cinematography etc were awesome. That I will give all due credits but to be considered a best film is too generous. It is simply entertaining at best. The CGI was not that good and I have seen much better fight scenes in other films within the same capacity.
I'm sorry, I tried to like these films (I watched all three even though I already did not like Fellowship) but I simply can't. Bad continuity, editing and acting puts me off.
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Like Burton and Carrey? Then this is a must.
I love this movie. It is so Gothic that I would have no problem believing that it was Tim Burton's work, which I love. This movie is not for kids, for sure, so please don't bring your kids to watch it. The humor, the story etc is more suitable for us adults to enjoy. I did not read the book and I was glad. I hate to do comparison because it would not help. A movie should be judge by itself. A book can never be represented in any way because they are meant to allow our imagination run wild. How can someone else think of what we imagine how it would be? It's not possible and that is why they will always be disappointment. Lord Of The Rings was hailed as a great movie because it stick to the book but as a movie by itself, I don't find anything great about it at all.
Back to the movie, one of the reason why I love it is the cinematography, the colors etc. It is so beautiful. Some of the scenes would fit into a frame that I would hang on my walls. The acting was superb which suits the characters nicely. Carrey, after Eternal Sunshine was back to his silly ways. Nothing to complain about that as I love it when he gets silly. What so effective about the acting is that they make you feel for them. You may hate Olaf but you can of accept that he is like that. Same goes with the other characters. When that happens, the actors did their job in my book. Storyline is so simple, which I prefer, as it does not attempt to insult your intelligence which stupid plot revelation etc.
If you like Burton's work in Scissorshand or Batman, go watch this. If you also like Carrey, then this is a must.
Bedazzled (2000)
It's really funny.
If you like comedy, you would love this.
Elliot (Fraser) is a loser who has a crush on Elison (O'Connor). When he says to himself that he would do anything to have her in his life, came Satan (Hurley) offering to make his wishes came thru. He accepts and then begins his journey. But every wish turns out not what he expected.
This comedy banks on the different characters each and everyone of the actors plays and each one of them is hilarious. Brandon is really suitable for a comedic role and he cracks me up really good. It is kind of a stupid comedy so if you have no humor, then please don't watch this and then vote with a bad ratings. If you like dumb and dumber, you would love this.
Birth (2004)
Cheated, not by the storyline but by how thin it was that a made-for-TV movie tried to pass off as a show to see.
Anna lost her husband Sean and was about to put all her past behind by getting engage to Joseph. Then on their engagement party, this kid shows up and claims that he is Sean, a reincarnation of Anna's late husband. So is he? or is he lying? What will be the reaction of all the people involved?
The only reason I believe why most people would want to watch this movie, other than Kidman (I would watch her in any movie, any day) is the need to know the truth. So is he? or is he lying? There isn't any other choices to choose from. If he's really Sean, how will Anna who is clearly not over her dead husband yet, react? If he's lying, then how did he know all the details about Anna and the people around her, with great accuracy? While all that sounds really intriguing, that was also the weak point for this movie.
The downfall of this movie is that you'll get your answer sooner than you expected. So what are going to do for the rest of the movie? With such a thin plot, you can't help but expect other elements to ensure that it remains engaging. Great acting? Sure, you'll find heaps of those and I was glad about that but sadly, it was just simply not enough to save this movie. Instead of exploring into other areas, like elaborating on the strain relationship between Anna and Joseph or how the boy's parents cope with their child's insisting he is Sean, the movie prefers to cheat by trying to be arty, stretching some scenes unnecessarily that makes it look pretty stupid. Look out for that scene in the theater. If that is not lame, I do not know what is. And, oh, it didn't happen only then. Glazer thinks that is was such a great idea, that Glazer decides to use it on another scene!
And the bathtub scene with Anna and Sean in it gave this movie the exposure it did not deserve. While I find it not offensive at all (especially after finding out how the shot that scene), although it was suggestive, I really think that it was absolutely not necessary. Another example of how Glazer decides to cheats the audience.
I love movies that makes you think long after the show is over and that is the saving grace of this movie. It makes us question ourselves, what if that happens to us? What is our reaction? If this was made-for-TV, it would be great. But it's not, so I don't rate is as great either.
5/10
Rahsia (1987)
One of the best Malaysian Malay films
I have never paid much attention to Malaysian Malay films because most of them are badly acted with lame plots. This one though is totally different.
First of all, this is not those lame romantic comedy/drama or comedy that banks on tasteless sexual galore of talentless actresses skin to rake in ticket sales. This is a horror/thriller movie which is not common back then. With Noor Kumalasari, a great actress, it just makes it better. No skin, no gimmick.
It was long ago but if I remembered correctly, the story was about a couple who moved to a new place and experience strange events. It was later found out that they were haunted by a kid murdered in the house who look to them for help in exposing the murder. Very common plot, I know, but it is not the plot that makes the movie good. It was the screenplay, the acting, the cinematography, everything that a good movie is all about.
It was a breakthrough in my opinion at that time. It still is. With the emergence of more quality malay films such Puteri Gunung Ledang, I really hope that film makers now look back at what they did 17 years ago and learn from there. We don't need special effects, we've got Hollywood to cover that. We need quality film making.
Payback (1999)
It's 70K worth of fun
First of all, this is a simple mindless action/revenge/violent movie so don't expect and Academy award winning storyline.
Porter was screwed by his friend who had his wife to kill him for his 70K share of a heist by showing a photo of him with a hooker. A jealous wife can do anything. Of course, he didn't die but he was badly injured alright and at least he looks so and not like some superman. He then set to get his share of the money and along the way, he met all sorts of thugs and bad cops.
So what is worth watching then? Acting was good, really. There's humor as well as touch-guy acts. And there was some twist at the end. And the camera angle as well as the cinematography was just perfect for a mafia-like movie like this. In terms of fim-making perspective, there is nothing bad about this movie at all, bar the plot. Although trying to get yourself seriously hurt and obvious death for 70K may sound a little too stupid, that what makes it fun to watch, with Porter repeating countlessly that he IS asking for only hist 70K and nothing more.
So while this is not a movie to stimulate the mind, I would mind popping it up on my DVD player and watching it again and just enjoy it.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
When can I watch another film like this?
First of all, if you like to go to the movies to unwind aka no-brain- activities-possible, then don't watch this movie. You'll get confused and you'll miss what is so wonderful about this movie. But it does not take a genius to appreciate this movie cos I'm not!
This movies hits home real hard especially to those who had experienced relationship that had turn sour. That is the time when you wish you knew Dr Howard to help you erase the memory of it all. This movie tries makes bring you to the other side and let you see the effect of actually having that done and put the choice back in your hands. Of course if you've met a monster, then go ahead and get that procedure but sometimes relationship turns sour because of many ridiculous things that when accumulated gives the impression that it was 'horrible'.
This movie if compared to '21 Grams' is nothing in terms of the timeline sequence. It is pretty much a) the present day and b) the past which keeps going backwards. It does brings you back and forth (that was the whole point of the movie) but that was not the main reason that makes it wonderfully intelligent. It's how it was nicely packaged. Carrey was great. He is a good actor. There's classic Carrey for a while in this movie (which cracks me up real good) and he actually remains the same throughout but the difference is that we do not feel like laughing at him. He has shown that you need not have a Deniro face to show that you're seriously acting and it worked. Winslet as usual, a good actor she is does perfectly well as a devil-may-care Clementine.
There are only 5 main characters in this movie and it was more than enough. Each and everyone of them are important that even though Woods character has the least amount of lines, this movie cannot do without him.
My review may not help in helping you make a choice to watch this movie or not because I don't want to give anything away. You have to watch it yourself. A must watch, trust me.