CARA BERITAWA

Sunday, February 27, 2011

THE FIGHTER (2010)

RATING: 3.5/5Mention the name David O. Russell, he's the unique kind of director who made a career out of quirky comedies (1994's SPANKING THE MONKEY, 1996's FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, 1999's THREE KINGS, and 2004's I HEART HUCKABEES). But who could have...

FAIR GAME (2010)

RATING: 4/5After a colossal misfire of the sci-fi actioner JUMPER (2008), director Doug Liman makes a stunning comeback with FAIR GAME. It's good to see him return to the espionage thriller territory that he's famous for -- 2002's THE BOURNE IDENTITY...

Saturday, February 26, 2011

BLACK SWAN (2010)

RATING: 4/5Ballet has never looked this wickedly eerie in Darren Aronofsky's highly-anticipated BLACK SWAN, a worthy companion genre piece to his award-winning 2008's wrestling drama THE WRESTLER. Whereas THE WRESTLER marked the director's usual flamboyant...

UNKNOWN (2011)

RATING: 1.5/5Widely advertised as a follow-up of sorts to the 2009's surprise hit TAKEN, UNKNOWN is looking set to be another surefire winner for Liam Neeson. But anyone, especially action fans, are expecting another high-octane action thriller in the...

Sunday, February 20, 2011

THE STOOL PIGEON (2010)

RATING: 4/5Forget about FIRE OF CONSCIENCE, which proved to be an underwhelming effort for acclaimed director Dante Lam. But he quickly rebound with this excellent crime thriller, THE STOOL PIGEON, which in turn, earns its spot as one of the best movies...

THE HOUSEMAID (2010)

RATING: 3/5Fifty years ago, THE HOUSEMAID (1960) was widely regarded as one of the finest Korean movies ever made. That is why when a remake is announced, the buzz is quickly generated like a spreading wildfire. Writer-director Im Sang-Soo has definitely...

GALLANTS (2010)

RATING: 3/5Consider this scenario: Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng's GALLANTS is a low-budget Hong Kong genre mishmash that mixes with kungfu comedy, character-driven drama, old-school martial arts tale, and uplifting story about underdogs. But wait, the...

PEDICAB DRIVER (1989)

RATING: 3/5Considered by many fans as Sammo Hung's finest masterpiece of all-time, PEDICAB DRIVER is an entertaining action comedy that is surprisingly hard to find on the video or DVD release (except for the one available in the UK). Other than that,...

MIDNIGHT FM (2010)

RATING: 4/5Thriller about an obsessed stalker/fan is nothing new in the genre cinema, with 1996's Hollywood's THE FAN, which starred Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes, quickly came to mind. But Kim Sang-Man's much-anticipated follow-up to his 2008 debut...

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (2010)

RATING: 3/52004's MAN ON FIRE and 2008's TAKEN is given a South Korean makeover with the country's one of the most anticipated movie events of the year, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE. On the surface, this kind of brutal revenge thriller is nothing new at all...

CONFESSIONS (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5Ijime (bullying) is a common sight in Japanese schools, and acclaimed writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima's controversial adaptation of Kanae Minato's bestselling mystery novel takes the viewers into a whirlwind rollercoaster ride of poetic...

THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)

RATING: 3.5/5The little British movie that can. Who could have thought that a movie about speech impediment and a character (in this case, King George VI) who has a stammer, managed to be both crowd-pleasing and inspiring at the same time? In THE KING'S...

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED (1998)

RATING: 2.5/5With an intriguing title like EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, you would be expecting something different than your average cop thriller normally found in Hong Kong cinema. And for that alone, Patrick Yau's follow-up to his earlier Milkyway's nihilistic...

Saturday, February 19, 2011

NO STRINGS ATTACHED (2011)

RATING: 1/5Once upon a time, Ivan Reitman is used to be making some of the '80s most beloved comedies (MEATBALLS, STRIPES, GHOSTBUSTERS and TWINS). Then came a series of high-profile misfires during the '90s (JUNIOR and SIX DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS) and '00s...

SHAOLIN (2011)

RATING: 3/5With this year's Lunar New Year focuses more on releasing comedies (I LOVE HONG KONG, MR. AND MRS. INCREDIBLE, ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2011, WHAT WOMEN WANT), it's rather refreshing to see an action adventure in the form of a big-budget, star-studded...

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET (2011)

RATING: 1/5Remember how M. Night Shyamalan's post-apocalyptic thriller called THE HAPPENING (2008) used to be one of the most intriguing summer movies of the year but turned out to be a complete cop-out after all? History repeats itself in this latest...