2 ALAM (2010)

RATING: 0.5/5

Publicity campaign has never been this grossly overhyped for a locally-made movie in the Malaysian film industry. That local movie is 2 ALAM (or "TRANSVERSE" in English). How grossly overhyped for this movie? Let's see -- First-time producer Datuk Dr Rozmey has made public that 2 ALAM which is about a transvestite who commits suicide, would collect RM40 million at the box-office! He even went overboard by making such preposterous announcements via local newspaper that 30 million Malaysians have sworn to watch 2 ALAM when it opens in theaters, which was shown in all 700 screens in the country! If that's not preposterous enough, he also claimed that cinema operators would postpone the blockbuster release of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 during the November 2010 release to make way for 2 ALAM instead. And for all the extravagant acclaims desperately trying to generate public interest for this movie, I was really curious about 2 ALAM. Was it really worth the self-proclaimed hype? The answer is a big "NO".

Before I get to the comment, here's the plot about the movie: Both parents, Halimah (Rosnah Johari) and Zainal (Sabree Fadzil) are devastated when they first received a shocking phone call that their son Adam who turned into a transvestite popular singer Amy (Suhaillah Salam), ended up dead for committing suicide. Adam's childhood friend, Ustaz Ishak (Aaron Aziz) is appointed to handle the funeral. Numerous flashbacks take place as we learn Amy and her singer boyfriend Juan Agustin who live together for quite some time. One night Juan is badly beaten by a trio of gangsters while Amy suffered heavy consequences. She ended up being taken away to a secluded place where she is gang-raped by the same trio. Amy is left devastated but she even suffered further humiliation after Juan revealed he has lodged police report for the incident that would cost her reputation as a popular singer. Not only that, Juan is subsequently leaving Amy after he finds out about her sex-changing secret. Amy is ended up so depressed that she decides to take her own life.

At the first glance, Datuk Dr. Rozmey, Hisham B. Ahmad Sebly and Imran Bin Haji Ismail's screenplay has potential. 2 ALAM is clearly aimed to provoke your conscience with its controversial issue of sex-changing matter, the consequences of breaking the Islamic law, and the socially-ill problems (alcohols, committing suicide) addressed in today's society. Unfortunately, the execution is so poorly developed that the movie itself is more of an unintentionally laughing stock than a provocative effort it supposed to be.

First of all, the story is haphazardly written with little character developments while the pace is painfully lethargic. Even with all the moral intentions here, they are depicted at such didactic manner it's like reciting from a textbook. Some scenes are plain ridiculous (e.g. the scene where Juan and Amy first getting harassed by a trio of gangsters) and some are simply questionable as if the movie is heavily tampered by senseless editing. Among them are the pointless montage of Amy's marriage with a English guy in London which actually hardly represent anything to the plot. They are just too many of them I almost lost count.

Secondly, first-time directors Zarith Lokman and Hairie Othman doesn't know how to handle their picture properly. Yet their reckless directions are simply amateurish with so many scenes are badly staged (e.g. the gang-rape scene). And I never seen a movie that used extensive flashback with same old montages so repetitively I begin to suspect either they shoot insufficient footage or the original cut is severely butchered in the editing room. That's not all, the whole movie almost feels like watching a 86-minute music video plagued with (almost) endless soundtrack by Amy Search and Ramli Sarip that are looped over and over again to the point of nausea. Are they actually promoting the movie or the soundtrack? Production values are very poor as well, especially with its extravagant usage of sound effects (amplified wind noise) during strange occurrence takes place during the funeral scene it's like watching a horror movie. For this alone, I find this very laughable. What are the filmmakers wanted to achieve anyway? Everything are just ridiculously schizophrenic.

Last but not least are the bad acting by all the cast here. Even the presence of Aaron Aziz is sadly wasted in a thankless role as Ustaz Ishak who tries all his best to fulfill his duty for completing the funeral. But this movie is supposed to be a breakthrough role for Suhaillah Salam who plays the doomed transvestite. Unfortunately her provocative role is heavily undermined as we hardly learn what makes her turned into transvestite at the first place.

In the end, 2 ALAM is a pure embarrassment. A total insult to the Malaysian movie industry. I have seen bad locally-made movie but this one is clearly the worst local movie so far.

READ MORE - 2 ALAM (2010)

BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT (2010)

RATING: 2/5

When comes to action movie made in Thailand, what you'll get is a bone-crunching martial arts that will knocked your senses out. Not surprisingly, this is what you'll get in Panna Rittikrai’s BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT. Panna Rittikrai is of course the action guru and co-director of Tony Jaa's ONG BAK 2 (2008) and is first and foremost a strictly martial art extravaganza. Anything beyond that -- namely plot and characters -- are totally out of the question. Take your pick.

Still with me? As mentioned earlier, the plot is hardly matters here. Written by Panna Rittikrai, Doojit Hongthong and Jonathan Siminoe, the movie is basically a minimalist version of Arnold Schwarzenegger's THE RUNNING MAN-like storytelling structure minus the futuristic setting. During an audition to recruit Thai stuntmen for a Hollywood production, the members of the Fight Club defeat their rival team in the trial. After a night of celebration, they find themselves awaken in an empty industrial warehouse where they are subsequently attacked by a group of masked fighters. Apparently they are the subjects of a gambling game masterminded by the evil Mr. Snead (Speedy Arnold -- no kidding, that is his name) for his rich foreign clients witnessing all the fights through live broadcasts. Now the members of the Fight Club have no choice but to fight their ways out in the name of survival.

Characters are cardboard cutouts, with Speedy Arnold's gleefully portrayed villain is clearly the one you often found in ultra-cheesy B-grade production.

So what's left here are a series of amazing stuntwork and of course, spectacular martial art set-pieces that will keep action fans on the edge of their seat. All the fight scenes are insanely choreographed, cranked up to the eleven with neat and fluid editing. They are simply hyperkinetic enough to be admired at, as you will see how these bunch of death-defying fighters incorporated various martial art styles which includes Muay Thai, Capoeira, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and many more. Some are even imaginative enough, including a fight scene underneath the moving container truck (no kidding -- you'll have to watch it to believe what I say here).

For action fans (especially those who love to watch something out of Thailand), BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT is a must-see. The rest of us can dismissed this as a huge, missed opportunity.

READ MORE - BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT (2010)

BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH (2010)

RATING: 0.5/5

Yawn.... Another BLOODRAYNE movie, another piece of crap. Okay, director Uwe Boll has offered different timelines in his previous two BLOODRAYNE movies. The first one is set in the Middle Ages, and the second one is in the Old West. Both are potentially interesting settings, but Boll made the polar opposite by turning them into complete disappointment. So now here's the third movie, and this time it takes place during WWII. So any luck for improvement? Sorry, folks... Uwe Boll did it again, and it turns out that BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH fares even worse than the previous two entries.

In this third movie, Rayne (Natassia Malthe) is now fighting against the Nazis in Europe during WWII. After turning Commandant Ekart Brand (Michael Pare) into a vampire during a bloody battle with the resistance fighters lead by Nathaniel (Brendan Fletcher), she soon realizes she's making a big mistake. Now the undead Commandant Ekart Brand becomes stronger than ever, and he is determined to inject Adolf Hitler with Rayne's blood in an attempt to transform him into a dhampir and attained immortality. Rayne teams up with the resistance fighters in their mission to stop Ekart and his soldiers at all cost, before they manage to reach Berlin.

Michael Nachoff's screenplay is awfully thin and full of tired cliches. Not to mention all those bad dialogues and boring characterizations (not even the presence of cult favorite, Clint Howard as a mad Nazi doctor can do much good either) scattering all over the place. You can almost tell how lazy the way Natassia Malthe reprises her role here.

Then there's Uwe Boll. His direction is as passionless as ever, and he shows no sense of pacing and creativity. Worst still, the action are now shot in jittery cameraworks to make them as if like a semi-documentary feel (yeah, right) and all of them are painfully unimaginative. Even his attempt to include some guilty-pleasure moments (read: sex scenes and gratuitous nudity) are hardly matters here. What's with that lesbian scene anyway? Since when Rayne is bisexual?

Seriously though, this lame franchise needs to be rebooted.

READ MORE - BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH (2010)

SIREN (2010)

RATING: 0.5/5

UK's Maxim has hailed this as "The Best Supernatural Thriller Since DEAD CALM". Coupled with a salaciously-designed poster that has a woman in a bikini holding a knife, one would immediately expect that Andrew Hull's first feature debut (who previously art-directed 2007's P2) in SIREN is a killer promise of sex, violence and horror. Even the tagline also reads as "an exotic tale of lust and revenge". But thanks to the misleading marketing strategy, SIREN turns out to be a shockingly frustrating experience.

The first 5 minutes, however, does set a luscious tone to keep one hooked to the screen: Somewhere on an open freeway, a sultry-looking woman in mini red dress is seen walking along the road where she later stumbles a man kind enough to give her a ride. As they are on a journey together, the man can't stop peeking at her sexy body. The woman, in turn, is trying to flirt with him. Soon he pulls over at a public restroom since the woman wants to take a break. But she is actually intended to lure him into the restroom. The man hesitates no further, and decides to make his move. She is waiting inside one of the toilet stalls and once he arrives, they started to kiss passionately. They almost end up having sex together, but abruptly cut short when she is shocked to see someone is spying on them. Except the person she claims she have seen in the place isn't there. Then it all turns out to be that these two "strangers" are actually engaging in role-playing sex game. Now that's a good sexual tease to begin with.

Too bad as the story proper begins to take place, everything goes downhill. So the two "strangers" are actually couples named Ken (Eoin Macken) and Rachel (Anna Skelern). They are on the way to a foreign beach paradise, where they will be joined by Rachel's longtime friend Marco (Anthony Jabre) for a weekend vacation on a boat trip. As they set off into the ocean, there are some conflicts going on. Marco has actually confesses to Rachel that he really wish they can be together. Jealously arises as Marco feels uncomfortable when he overheard Rachel and Ken are making love below the deck. Then something else happens -- Marco spots a stranded man signaling with a mirror from an distant island. He figures the man needs help, and decides to change the boat's course. Once they arrive, they discover the stranded man turns to be an unkempt bearded person (Abdelkader Ben Said) is speaking gibberish and acting mad. The man gradually grows insane, waving a blade and starts to bleed from his ears. Within minutes, he collapses and dies all of the sudden. Worrying they might face difficulty with the local authorities since they are in the foreign country, they decide to bury the dead man in the sand. But another problem surfaces, and this time it's a nervous-looking blonde girl named Silka (Tereza Srbova) who has been watching them from nearby. The girl runs away but they manage to catch up on her. Rachel tries to calm her down but the girl is too traumatized and barely spoken a word. So they decide to bring her back to the boat and give her some hospitality. Soon Ken and Marco start to feel distracted by the presence of Silka. It turns out that Silka is capable to seduce and control their mind, making them seeing strange occurrences and such. Just who exactly is Silka anyway?

That's the intriguing question posed in this movie. No doubt the genre combination of DEAD CALM with a supernatural twist immediately sparks an interest. Unfortunately Andrew Hull and Geoffrey Gunn's screenplay is a total cop-out, or should I say, a piece of crap. Had the movie explores more on the seductive angle between Ken, Rachel, Marco and Silka -- it would have been a guilty pleasure entertainment. Instead all those supernatural undertones (where the trio are seeing random things) are so badly executed it's not horrifying at all. The story doesn't really explains the strange existence of Silka who somehow possesses the "siren" capability, in which she is able to bleed her victims' ear to death by singing tunes (no kidding).

If that's not insulting enough, Andrew Hull's direction is awfully pedestrian. Despite its handsome-looking production, he just doesn't know how to sustain a good pace. Everything seems to be running around in circles, with redundant thrills to the point of sheer boredom. Make no mistake, this is the kind of movie you really wanna hit the fast-forward button.

As for the cast, all four actors here are average at best and none of them particularly stands out. SIREN could have been a potential thriller, but the movie is just plain amateurish. It's so obvious that Hull has a long way to go to improve his craft in directing. Except it's a shame that Hull passed away shortly after the completion of the movie. According to the news, he died at the Royal London Hospital on May 8 due to head injury as a result of a fall from his bicycle.

Give this a miss.

READ MORE - SIREN (2010)

RUBBER (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

A horror comedy about a killer tire and blows people's heads off with its telekinetic powers? It's certainly unexpected, not to mention it's very bizarre but Quentin Dupieux's low-budget indie feature, RUBBER, is no doubt one of the most strikingly original motion pictures in recent memory. Made at a measly $500,000 and shot in a high-end Canon EOS 5D Mark II, RUBBER is visually stunning. But the movie's odd concept is downright very bizarre to the point of head-scratching confusion. I kid you not, because RUBBER is the kind of experimental genre that raises the challenge of an outright absurd cinematic experience. How absurd? Let's just say, for example, even fans who adore the bizarre work of David Lynch or David Cronenberg, might find this with a resounding "Huh?"

The movie starts off with a curious but highly-fascinating opening scene where a nerd-looking bespectacled man (Jack Plotnick) is standing in the middle of nowhere, holding a handful of binoculars. From where he stands, there are a series of strategically-placed wooden chairs at the stretch of the road ahead. A car is seen from a distance away, and knocks down the chair one at a time before finally reaches to the destination. Then out comes a man from the trunk. The man happens to be a tall sheriff named Lt. Chad (Stephen Spinella). Standing in front of the screen, he begins to break the fourth wall by giving out an opening monologue about "no reason":

“In the Steven Spielberg’s movie E.T., why is the alien brown? No reason. In LOVE STORY, why that the two character falls madly with each other? No reason. In Oliver Stone’s JFK, why is the president suddenly assassinated by some stranger? No reason. In the excellent CHAINSAW MASSACRE by Tobe Hooper, why don’t we see the character go to the bathroom or wash their hands, just like people do in real life? Absolutely no reason. Worst, in THE PIANIST by Polanski, how come this guy has to hide and lives like a bomb when he can play the piano so well? Once again, the answer is no reason. I could go on for hours with more examples. The list is endless. You probably never give it a thought, but all great films without exception, contain an important element of no reason. And you know why? Because life itself is filled with no reason. Why can’t we see the air all around us? No reason. Why are we always thinking? No reason. Why do some people love sausages and other people hate sausages? No fucking reason. Ladies, gentlemen… the film you are about to see today, is a homage to the no reason. That most powerful element of style".

Once he's done with the opening monologue, he sets off and the nerdy man, known only as the Accountant, goes on to hand out binoculars to a small group of spectators standing there. The binoculars are actually used for viewing purpose of what lies ahead. And that particular purpose is watching the emergence of an old tire (it calls "Robert" as in the credit, but the name is never mentioned in the movie at all -- don't ask) suddenly comes to life and begins rolling by itself through the dust. At first, the tire moves disorderly but gradually it somehow balances its movement as it rolls along. Then at some point, the tire comes across a liquor bottle and begins to vibrate itself. For some reason, it has a telekinetic power and able to blow up the bottle into pieces. The tire moves on, and soon works its way further by blowing up rabbit and eventually (random) people's heads. As the day and night passes by, the tire has finally arrives at the long stretch of highway where it somehow fixates on a sexy French tourist named Sheila (Roxanne Mesquida) who is passing through with her jeep. It follows her all the way to the seedy motel, and subsequently spies on her. Things start to turn bad when a maid (Tara O'Brien) gets her head blown off by the tire, and eventually an investigation is taking place by Lt. Chad. In the meantime, there is someone on the phone instructing the Accountant to poison all the spectators in the desert. So the Accountant brings in a roast turkey for them. All of them are so eager to eat the turkey like hungry animals since they have been starving for weeks (again, don't ask). Except for that one man in a wheelchair (Wings Hauser) who is somehow smart enough not to get caught with the poisonous food and continues to witness the event through the binocular.

Among first few things that naturally pops up upon watching RUBBER are three particular questions of "What?", "Why?" and "How?" But any viewers who are expecting reasonable explanation about the entire bizarre going-on here will be left hugely disappointed. For a movie that is already stressed out it's a homage to no reason, everything happens here is -- guess what -- no reason at all. As extremely absurd as it sounds, the movie still begs an all-important question: What exactly is no reason ideology it tries to deliver here? For some reasons, the movie is supposed to be a satire about movie-within-a-movie but then again, Quentin Dupieux keeps defying all the odds and evens every now and then until it becomes a frustrating experience.

Perhaps Dupieux, or better known as Mr. Oizo, a French electronica musician most popular for his infectious 1999's hit Flat Beat, stretches out his bizarre idea way too long and too broadly abstract into an unnecessary 80-minute length whereas it works more effectively as a 10-minute short. You can blame Dupieux for being overly ambitious as well. If he chooses to maintain the straightforward absurd nature of a tire going on a killing spree, the movie might have been a cheesy guilty pleasure entertainment. Instead he tries too hard to be smart and literal, particularly how the no reason ideology extends further to the point of no return. I'm sure that Dupieux is trying to convey something of a metaphoric explanation but clearly he is no David Lynch or Richard Kelly who made that 2001's cult classic DONNIE DARKO.

While the overall narration doesn't live up to the expectation, the movie remains a visual feast for horror fans. The special effects are exceptionally top-notch, particularly on the exploding heads sequence that instantly recalled David Cronenberg's cult classic SCANNERS (1981). The moving tire effect is convincingly done as well.

RUBBER is a curious beast and one-of-its-kind genre. Despite its many shortcomings, the movie is destined to be a cult classic at some point, one way or another.

READ MORE - RUBBER (2010)

THE FIGHTER (2010)

RATING: 3.5/5

Mention 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 thought that his longtime comeback since that I HEART HUCKABEES flop, turns out to be his radical departure of the usual norm? His fifth feature, THE FIGHTER, is Russell's surprisingly toned-down directorial effort. It's certainly an odd move but it turns out that THE FIGHTER is also his most mature and best movie to date.

Inspired by the striking true story of "Irish" Micky Ward and his relentless brother Dicky Edlund, this boxing drama focuses on the early years of Micky Ward until his eventual rise to fame. On July 18, 1978, Lowell, Massachusetts, Dicky (Christian Bale) is a local legend after being crowned as "The Pride of Lowell" following from his unforgettable knockout against boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. But that was fifteen years ago. Instead of continuing his career successfully, Dicky is eventually wasted himself being a victim of crack abuse. While his glory day as a boxer is way past behind him, he's now becoming a trainer to his younger brother, Micky (Mark Wahlberg), who wants him to become world boxing champion someday. While Micky has a little reputation for being an impressive amateur boxer with a devastating left hook, many peoples -- fans, trainers and other professional boxers -- are frequently looked down at him as a "stepping stone" fighter. On the night before his much-anticipated first fight, Micky make his move at the sexy barmaid, Charlene (Amy Adams) and wants her to become his girlfriend. He also make a huge promise to her and everybody else who support him dearly that he will win the fight. However, everything goes downhill especially after the last-minute lineup change has caused him such a brutal and embarrassing defeat. He ends up feeling miserable, and not even have a gut to call up his girlfriend but Charlene remains supportive enough to back him up and their relationship is gradually picking up steam. On the other hand, he also begins to realize that he needs true professional to reach his full potential, rather than relying on his trainer brother who often goes missing at the crack house. Charlene agrees with his decision, but unfortunately that decision has particularly angered his mother Alice (Melissa Leo), who had always served as his manager. Things get worse when Dicky gets himself into deep trouble attempt to run away from the law. Not only Dicky's criminal act lands him into jail, Micky also gets his hand being brutally bashed by an angry police officer following from an ugly arrest. With Dicky in jail, Micky shifts his focus completely to pull himself together by subsequently recovered his injured hand so he can fight again. With the support of his father, George (Jack McGee), Charlene, and a new business-minded manager, Micky is moving forward to rise his boxing career into soaring height.

Boxing drama about underdog fighter is nothing new at all, but this particular subject matter is often inspirational tale hard to ignore (1976's ROCKY and to lesser extent, 2005's CINDERELLA MAN quickly comes to mind). THE FIGHTER does succeed on that level alone, even though the underdog story offers here is pretty much conventional all around. Still, screenwriters Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson skillfully manage out a thoughtful and riveting character-driven drama that ultimately preventing from being one of those listless genre movies. Much like 2004's MILLION DOLLAR BABY, the boxing element here plays second fiddle whereas it is the intimate human drama that binds the movie altogether. THE FIGHTER is especially remarkable when it focuses on the hardship and obstacles Micky have to face endless dilemma with his family and his girlfriend.

Not to forget also, is Russell's keen observation on making sure each of his talented cast shined with their respective role. As a result, THE FIGHTER contains some of the best acting ensembles of the year. In his brilliantly understated performance, Mark Wahlberg is simply good here. Physical wise, he is certainly convincing as a boxer (a tremendous result he has earned from his five years worth of strict training regime). But ironically, the real spotlight here are the impeccable supporting cast. In his stunning method acting since 2004's THE MACHINIST, Christian Bale drops weight again to achieve the skeletal frame of Dicky Edlund. His physical transformation alone is worth watching. Other than that, Bale is just as spontaneous as he is a lively spark. Playing a hardened tough guy is nothing new to him, but Bale's dramatic turn here shines a new light we hardly seen him before -- that is of course, letting loose. No doubt this is his finest acting role to date. Equally dynamic is Melissa Leo, in her loud-mouthed turn as Alice. Her showy performance is just as vivid as Dicky does, and she's simply engaging enough to watch for. Last but not least is Amy Adams. Instead of what could have been a thankless role playing Micky's love interest, she truly excels here as the level-headed girlfriend who is both radiant and exceptionally tough.

While radical change is seen all around in Russell's direction here, he still never forget his roots. There are underlying sense of quirky humor here, particularly on the broad side of showcasing comic relief involving Dicky and his seven (no kidding) sisters. It's quite awkward at times, although it's still refreshing bit nonetheless. Technical wise, THE FIGHTER displays some worthwhile moments here with Russell's constantly fluid camerawork. The boxing scene, particularly in the hard-hitting finale, is brilliantly shot in television style to give the sense of urgency that keep the viewers feeling involved all the time.

In an effort to get this movie done, THE FIGHTER is originally a notoriously troubled production. Way back in 2005, Mark Wahlberg has been shopping around his particular pet project to get the movie greenlit. At that time, Darren Aronofsky is originally attached to direct the movie but left the production to work on BLACK SWAN (2010) instead, even though he remains as executive producer here. The eventual directing part goes to David O. Russell who is heavily suggested by Christian Bale. However David O. Russell's bad reputation as one of the notoriously difficult director has originally made Wahlberg feeling uncomfortable to work with him especially what he went through before in 1999's THREE KINGS. But Bale insists to collaborate with Russell so much that Wahlberg ends up agreeing anyway. Bad reputation or not, Russell ends up executing one of the best movies of the year. THE FIGHTER may not have been ranked alongside with some of those great boxing masterpieces but one thing for sure -- this is certainly not to be missed.

READ MORE - THE FIGHTER (2010)

FAIR GAME (2010)

RATING: 4/5

After 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 and 2005's MR. AND MRS. SMITH -- but unlike those slickly-packaged and action-oriented movies, his latest espionage take is decidedly more grounded and realistic. That said, anyone who expecting Doug Liman injects the cool factor of a spy movie will be sorely disappointed here. All those obligatory car chases, gunfights and fisticuffs usually expected in that kind of movie are noticeably missing here but Doug Liman has brilliantly traded his usual energetic visual filmmaking style with a John le Carre-type that leans toward on the more intellectual approach. The result is a vividly intense look of dirty politics and riveting human drama of a political marriage on the verge of a breaking point. Simply to put, FAIR GAME is one of the best spy movies ever seen in recent memory -- the kind that evokes the particular genre's finest moments during the 70s (e.g. 1976's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN).

Based on the two books, The Politics of Truth by Joseph Wilson and Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson, this fact-based story centers on the fall of 2001, where CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) brings in her husband, Joe (Sean Penn), who is a former ambassador, to use his contacts gaining valuable information whether the "yellow cake" uranium is actually being smuggled out of Niger or not. Unfortunately he returns home from Niger with no evidence regarding about the "yellow cake" uranium. Despite that, President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address, publicly declares that Saddam Hussein have been stockpiling the "yellow cake" uranium needed to create nuclear weapons (also known as WMD -- weapon of mass destruction). Joe is determined to straighten out the fact by publishing a New York Times article entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa". Unfortunately his act of retaliation against President George W. Bush and the White House has resulted Valerie's identity being blown to the media. Not only she is about to lose her job, her friends and her reputation, she is also on the verge of losing her family altogether. With all fingers pointed out at both Valerie and Joe, they have no choice but to fight back for what's right while working hard to save their marriage.

Adapted by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the screenplay is taut and intense right from the beginning and never let up until the gripping end. At a compact 106 minutes, the movie is certainly feels relentless. The first half, which concentrates on the procedure of gathering intelligence, moves at a brisk pace anchored by Liman's effective handheld camerawork that gives the much-needed urgency of a documentary-like look. But it is the second half, where the movie raises the momentum to a compelling height once Valerie and Joe find themselves becoming the blame target from the U.S. government. From the political intrigue to "this time it's personal" kind of vibe, the subsequent change-of-pace may been a turn-off for viewers expecting a movie concentrating more on the bigger agenda rather than watching a decidedly low-key drama involving Valerie and Joe trying everything to clear their name and save their marriage. But Doug Liman remains in high gear here, thanks to the emotional weight and airtight narrative that constantly keep the movie all the more remarkable experience.

Speaking of the emotional weight, the movie is also best seen for two acting heavyweights that actually bind the movie altogether. Working for the third time since 2003's 21 GRAMS and 2004's THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn (both roles originally intended for Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) continue to excel in their respectively engaging and award-worthy performances collaborating together. Watts, in particular, gives one of her most captivating performances in her career as Valerie Plame. Likewise, Sean Penn's commanding performance playing a bluntly outspoken character with sheer intensity. No doubt both of them display great chemistry together, yet so natural that they should collaborate more in the future.

Apart from Liman's effective camerawork, the rest of the production values are equally first-rate -- notably for Christopher Tellefsen's sharp editing and John Powell's intense music score. One of the best movies of the year.

READ MORE - FAIR GAME (2010)

BLACK SWAN (2010)

RATING: 4/5

Ballet 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 visual style into an unlikely subdued restraint, BLACK SWAN is his polar opposite -- dark and unsettling in both subject and tone. In fact, the movie is leaning towards more into Aronofsky's significantly earlier masterpieces (1998's PI and 2000's REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) -- something that die-hard fans have been long waiting for. On the other side, it's also a vividly realized character study about a young woman's overachieving struggle to succeed in a cutthroat and highly-demanding profession she has chosen, which in this case, the world of ballet dancing. This alone, thanks to a tour de force compelling performance by Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN is simply the kind of movie with enough curiosity values hard to be missed.

Twentysomething New York City ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Portman) has been long practicing very hard to rise to the top of the ranks among her colleagues in hope to nail the coveted role of the Swan Queen in a highly-anticipated production orchestrated by an acclaimed theater director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel). While she is praised for her sharp precision in term of ballet dancing, Thomas remains doubtful about whether she's really up for the Swan Queen role. In fact, it's actually dual role she needs to master -- an angelic White Swan and a darker side of Black Swan -- both performances that require more than just perfect dance choreography. It need a lot of heart and character to pull this off convincingly, and this is what Nina is desperately wanted to achieve. After a few hesitations and setbacks, she is somewhat lucky enough to be given the role anyway especially after a fateful private encounter with Thomas. At the same time, Nina's newly-given role provokes the veteran and over-the-hill prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) who also wants the role desperately as well. But whatever it is, Nina is too thrilled to finally have the star role and so do her domineering mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who have been longed of seeing her at the peak of her career. And so the rehearsal begins, not to mention with all the rigorous energy Nina have to go through. Production is drawing near and she is completely overworked at that time until she becomes increasingly paranoid especially when the arrival of a new fellow dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) is poised to steal her role away.

Psychological decline, paranoia and claustrophobia are the highlights of the movie here. Darren Aronofsky, Mark Herman, Andres Heinz and John McLoughlin's screenplay is fascinating and thought-provoking, the one that bristled with macabre intimacy it feels genuinely disturbing. Speaking of intimacy, cinematographer Matthew Libatique simply outdoes himself with his often handheld camerawork where he never stops following the protagonist (frequently from behind) and we witness everything she goes through -- from her hard work, her accomplishments, and finally her eventual downfall. The picture almost works like a semi-documentary feel, and thanks to Aronofsky's blistering direction, it's simply a grueling visual experience. While Aronofsky's style of direction is arguably too operatic for its own good but then again, that is just minor quibble. As a matter of fact, it's hard to ignore Aronofsky's sheer influence here that leaned towards the early work of David Cronenberg's body horror (split toenails and shoulder rash comes to mind) and Roman Polanski's psychological decay undertones (e.g. 1965's REPULSION and 1968's ROSEMARY BABY). In the meantime, the rest of the production values are equally top-notch with surrealistic art direction by David Stein and creepily innovative music score by Clint Mansell who actually reworked Tchaikovsky's classic Swan Lake playing in a backward and distorted manner. Creative peak is certainly the feverish height Aronofsky and his talented crew have worked so subtly here, especially considering the budget of the movie is only a measly $13 million to make.

But for all the kaleidoscopic fascination offers here, BLACK SWAN is mostly remembered for Natalie Portman's groundbreaking and Oscar-favored performance. She's certainly very dedicated to his physically and emotionally challenging role here. So dedicated that she lost 20 pounds to play her ballerina role convincingly. At one point, she twisted her rib during the filming of a dance sequence which took her six weeks for a full recovery and manage to continue her role with sheer enthusiasm. And this level of enthusiasm is evidently shown in the final product of what we see in her performance. Supporting cast, in the meantime, are as equally compelling, with Vincent Cassel perfectly embodies his unsentimental role as the ruthless ballet director Thomas Leroy. Then there's Mila Kunis, who lands in a surprisingly finest performance to date as the alluring and shady role of Lily. In fact, her Lily character strikes a terrific contrast to Portman's more innocent-looking Nina Sayers. Viewers will probably never forget her soon-to-be-iconic set piece where she involves in a fiery lesbian encounter with Nina. Barbara Hershey is deceptively frightening as the overprotective mother who keeps pushing her daughter Nina to strive for her very best, while Winona Ryder excels in a memorable cameo appearance as the ill-fated Beth who is eventually lead herself to a tragic doom.

While the movie is not for everyone, BLACK SWAN is nevertheless one of the best genre movies ever made in a long while, and not to mention among the year's best.

READ MORE - BLACK SWAN (2010)

THE STOOL PIGEON (2010)

RATING: 4/5

Forget 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 of the year. Never mind the fact that Lam assemble most of his familiar cast (Nick Cheung, Nicholas Tse and Liu Kai-Chi), reshuffled their characters with role reversals, and revisited the same crime thriller with conflicted moral underpinning that almost recalled the similarity of his award-winning THE BEAST STALKER (2008). What is never quite worked in THE BEAST STALKER has definitely improved by leaps and bounds in his latest movie here. To cut long story short, THE STOOL PIGEON is most qualified as Dante Lam's best directorial effort since BEAST COPS (1998).

The title of THE STOOL PIGEON refers as informant, and at the beginning, we learn the fate of an informant Jabber (Liu Kai-Chi) who ends up being exposed his true identity after a botched operation goes awry. Jabber became so paranoid and scared stiff that he spends most of his time looking insane and lives like a beggar. Inspector Don Lee (Nick Cheung), who is responsible for the case, feels guilty of causing Jabber's unlikely consequence. A year later, he is out to recruit a new informant and this is where a jailed driver Ghost Jr. (Nicholas Tse) comes in. At first Ghost Jr. is reluctant to join Don, but he forced to do so especially after he discovered his sister works a prostitute to pay off their dead father's debt. With a handsome reward of money, Ghost Jr. is required to work undercover to infiltrate a gang of jewel thieves lead by Tai Ping (Keung Ho-Man) and Barbarian (Lu Yi). But it's not without a series of complications, when Tai Ping's girlfriend Dee (Kwan Lunmei) ends up falling in love with Ghost Jr.

As far as crime thriller goes, Jack Ng and Dante Lam's screenplay is nothing new and particularly refreshing. In fact everything about this movie is tried-and-true formula. Only this time the story is airtight, thought-provoking and well-told. We learn the inner conflict between Inspector Don Lee and Ghost Jr. and feel their tortured souls deep within. Inspector Don Lee's backstory, in particular, which involved him trying to rekindle his lost love with a crippled dance instructor (Miao Pu) is especially heartbreaking. Then there's top-notch acting powerhouse which anchored most of the movie here. Nick Cheung delivers an emotionally-dynamic performance as the pained Inspector Don Lee who is riddled with guilt vows to seek redemption, only to find himself sinking down into a sea of despair as the movie progresses. Nicholas Tse is similarly excellent here, while the rest of the supporting cast are all equally solid (particularly the female counterparts in the form Kwan Lunmei and Miao Pu). Even Liu Kai-Chi who mostly overacts his insane role here still deserved a credit to pull off his act with juicy result hard to ignore.

Not to forget also is Lam's ever-kinetic direction when comes to delivering action sequences. Likewise, the action is brutal and exciting, particularly in the middle section involving a chase between Ghost Jr. and Dee against a bunch of police officers and the climactic violent school-set showdown.

While the movie could have cut down for its ever-annoying shaky cam presence, THE STOOL PIGEON remains highly recommended. Hong Kong cinema definitely needs more quality movie like this.

READ MORE - THE STOOL PIGEON (2010)

THE HOUSEMAID (2010)

RATING: 3/5

Fifty 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 take pride to make this modern version of THE HOUSEMAID into something worth respecting for. The result is an elegantly-paced, glossy erotic thriller that we rarely see such genre cinema these days.

The premise, in the meantime, is simplistic in nature: Eun-Yi (Jeon Do-Yeon) is handpicked by an elderly housekeeper Byung-Sik (Yun Yeo-Jing) to serve in a wealthy household consisting of three family members -- the master of the house Hoon (Lee Jung-Jae), his highly-pregnant wife Haera (Seo Woo) who is expecting a pair of twins due anytime soon, and their well-mannered daughter Nami (Ahn Seo-Hyeon). At the beginning, Eun-Yi arrives at the house looking shy but she is obedient enough to carry her job very well. Soon it also doesn't take long before she strikes up a friendship with Nami. For Eun-Yi, everything seems too perfect to be believed but it's just a matter of time when Hoon starts to rear his ugly side. When Hoon surprises her by showing up in her room, they end up engaging in a forbidden sexual act that Eun-Yi herself can't help resisting at all. Their sexual encounter doesn't stop there, as they continue to engage such act for the second time. Except this time, Byung-Sik witnessed the incident and soon all hell breaks loose. Eun-Yi begins to find herself pregnant with Hoon's child, but because social indifference between them, it's natural that Hoon doesn't want a bastard child in his family.

A critical hit at the Cannes Film Festival, Im Sang-Soo's THE HOUSEMAID is a distinctive piece of genre cinema made for the grown-ups. The production is top-notch, while the story is sneaky enough for an erotic thriller even though there aren't much sex scenes worth remembering for. At the same time, the movie also works well as a cautionary tale between the bitter consequences of lower-and-higher class of peoples.

But what makes THE HOUSEMAID equally memorable are the flawless cast here. Headlining the small ensemble here, is the incomparable Jeon Jo-Yeon in one of her finest performances to date. Playing a commoner with a taste of lust is definitely nothing new for her (she did it before in 1999's HAPPY END) and she truly steals the show here. We really feel her shame and pain she has to go through all the traumatic experiences after encountering a series of forceful situations she doesn't have a place to bargain with. That is why by the time she begins to lose everything (not to mention, her sanity as well), the movie's ending is no doubt one of the most disturbing set-pieces ever seen in recent memory, the kind that sticks to your memory long after the credits roll. Lee Jung-Jae is suitably despicable as the cold-blooded Hoon, while the rest of the supporting actors engage their respective roles with equal flairs.

READ MORE - THE HOUSEMAID (2010)

GALLANTS (2010)

RATING: 3/5

Consider 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 movie doesn't have a huge selling point in the form of a recognizable action star (e.g. Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan or Wu Jing) except for a cast largely consisting of 60-plus Shaw Brothers veterans (Chen Kuan-Tai, Leung Siu-Lung, Lo Meng) and a disposable young cast starring Wong Yau-Nam and JJ Jia. Such movie is going to be a tough sell for today's demanding market (young generation, in particular) these days. However, GALLANTS proves to be a surprisingly entertaining movie in its own right.

The movie begins with a bespectacled loser named Cheung (Wong Yau-Nam) who's been a constant subject of bully working at a real-estate company. Nobody seems to respect him at all, and renders him as a useless being good for nothing. Which is why his boss decides to send him in a thankless task where he is required to go to a small village and secure a remote rural property for redevelopment. The particular property happens to be a rundown teahouse manned by ex-martial artists Dragon (Chen Kuan-Tai) and Tiger (Leung Siu-Lung), two faithful students to their comatose master, Master Law (Teddy Robin Kwan). Apparently for the last thirty years, Dragon and Tiger haven't been giving up hope to await his master to wake up from his coma following from a legendary duel gone awry. Once upon a time, the teahouse is used to be Master Law's famous martial-art school nicknamed the "Gate of Law". Problem arises once Cheung has unexpectedly causing trouble in the small village, and getting himself involved with a scheming bad guy named Mang (MC Jin). Coincidentally, Mang happens to be a neighboring kid Cheung used to beat him up and naturally Mang sees this as his opportunity to use him at all cost. Then there's a local martial-arts competition, organized by Master Pong (Chan Wai-Man) who is actually looking forward to conquer the Gate of Law. Dragon and Tiger refuse to take up the challenge, while Cheung himself has been desperately wanted to learn a couple of martial-art techniques so he can help them defending the teahouse. All that change when Master Law finally awake from coma, but it's not without a series of complications ensues -- he happens to lose his mind and mistaken Cheung as both Dragon and Tiger.

What makes this little movie entertaining enough to watch for is the quirky way Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng paying homage to the 1970s Shaw Brothers kungfu genre (complete with freeze frames and extreme zooms) and blending them mostly in a good old-fashioned nonsensical comedy of a bygone era the Hong Kong cinema used to be well-known for. The movie is also benefited from a cast of kungfu veterans -- with Chen Kuan-Tai, Leung Siu-Leung and Lo Meng -- deliver surprisingly nuanced and spirited performances deserved a standing ovation. Despite their relatively retirement age, they still pack a few wallops when comes on showcasing their graceful martial-arts move they used to be so great during their Shaw Brothers era. It's definitely hard to expect some 60-something veterans still can fight like today's action superstar, and the action sequences are exceptionally top-notch. Then there's the long-forgotten Teddy Robin Kwan, who made a memorable comeback to the Hong Kong cinema. Not only he's a scene-stealer here, he is simply hilarious as the absent-minded master who knows well about terrific comic timing. As for the younger stars, both Wong Yau-Nam, MC Jin and JJ Jia (who plays as a pretty martial-art girl frequently hang out in the teahouse) manage to shine in their respectively playful roles with equal flairs. Though the plot doesn't quite live up to its sustainable momentum, this is as good as it gets, especially for a movie with such low-budget caliber. The ending is particularly something of a different approach, something that is out of a norm you commonly expect in this kind of kungfu genre movie. Make no mistake, it's not that there isn't any fight involved except that it ends up in a symbolic nature where "winning isn't everything".

Produced under Andy Lau's Focus Films with actor Gordon Lam Ka-Tung serving as the producer, the story behind the making of GALLANTS has certainly reflected the underdog nature of the movie alone. Believe it or not, the movie took about ten years just to get financing alone. But all the hard effort definitely pays off handsomely with a movie that will become the talk-of-the-moment. It's not a perfect classic by any means, but GALLANTS deserved its spot as one of the best movies of the year.

READ MORE - GALLANTS (2010)

MIDNIGHT FM (2010)

RATING: 4/5

Thriller 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 in GIRL SCOUT, is a slickly-made accomplished thriller that benefited from an airtight script, excellent cast and top-notch suspenseful moments. To put long story short, look no further than MIDNIGHT FM, which has made quite a splash at the top of the box-office in South Korea ever since its release on October 14.

The story centers on Ko Sun-Young (Soo-Ae), a former popular TV anchorwoman and late-night radio host, who is about to make preparation for her final radio program before decided to call it a quit since she needs to take her little daughter Ko Eun-Soo (Lee Joon-Ha) for a heart surgery in U.S. But on that particular last day of her work, her sister Ko Ah-Young (Shin Da-Eun) who watched over Eun-Soo and her niece, Ko Hyeon-Ji (Choi Hee-Won) at Sun-Young's apartment gets a surprise visit by a vicious man named Han Dong-Su (Yoo Ji-Tae). Ko Ah-Young ends up being knocked unconscious and held captive by Han, while Sun-Young's daughter is hiding somewhere around the apartment. Han, who is apparently a die-hard fan of the radio show, sends a text message to Sun-Young instructing her to follow his directions and not to tell anyone about the incident. What follows next is a series of cat-and-mouse game between Sun-Young and Han where they try to outwit each other during the course of a single fateful night.

Intense is the best word described for this well-paced thriller. Writer-director Kim Sang-Man definitely knows how to build a sustainable tension that boils up as gripping as it gets. The climactic chase that leads to the discovery of her kidnapped daughter and her niece is especially heart-pounding. As for the story, there's really nothing new here but it's the electrifying depth between Sun-Young and Han Dong-Su that matters the most, particularly the disturbing nature of how far an obsessed fan would go to the limit to invade the life of a celebrity. Soo-Aee delivers a compellingly charismatic performance as the emotionally-intense Sun-Young who is willing to go over the limit to save her precious daughter. In fact her performance is so good that she is deserved a Best Actress award for the coveted 31st Blue Dragon Film Awards held in her native country. On the other side, Yoo Ji-Tae is exceptionally creepy as a psychotic fan. Production-wise, the movie is visually stunning, especially with all the hypnotic nighttime cinematography.

This is one solid South Korean thriller not to be missed.

READ MORE - MIDNIGHT FM (2010)

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (2010)

RATING: 3/5

2004'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 but clever marketing gimmick (promoted as Won Bin's star vehicle in his much-anticipated showcase as a "masculine" action star; and of course director Lee Jeong-Beom's brilliant exploitation of using the ever-popular Hollywood template of the aforementioned) has propelled this movie straight to No.1 South Korean box-office hit of 2010 with a healthy 6.2 million won ever since its theatrical release in August 4. As good as the movie sounds, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE is decidedly a mixed result -- an overlong revenge thriller that bogged down by its heavy-handed executions.

Won Bin stars as Tae-Sik, a former government assassin who is now laying low as a pawnshop owner in a rundown building. He's been relatively leading a quiet and secluded life that his only remaining contact is little but lovely rascal named So-Mi (Kim Sae-Ron), who often seeks shelter at his pawnshop to avoid the sight of her drug-addicted mother Hyo-Jeong (Kim Hyo-Seo). Problem arises when her mother made a big mistake by stealing the mob's pack of heroin in a nightclub she's been working there. Apparently Hyo-Jeong also happens to pawn off a camera to Tae-Sik, which contained that pack of heroin. Because of this, a group of angry mob in which the heroin belongs to two sadistic brothers named Man-Sik (Kim Hee-Woon) and Jong-Suk (Kim Sung-Oh), immediately come looking for her and at the same time wanted to retrieve the pack of heroin as well. Nevertheless Hyo-Jeong ends up dead in a gruesome fashion, while So-Mi is held captive. In the end, Tae-Sik has no choice but to resort his violent old ways to save her. Along the process, Detective Kim Chi-Gon (Kim Tae-Hun) is hot on the trail to bring down the mob as well as trying to figure out the secret identity behind the mysterious Tae-Sik as well.

At nearly two-hour long, the movies tries hard to cover as many territory as possible. It's not that being meaty is a crime except that director Lee Jeong-Beom doesn't know the little word called "restraint". Perhaps the biggest mistake here is the director has added too many subplots for its own good. Side stories that includes the disturbing nature of human trafficking, bleak outlook of the drugs underworld and so on, are more of a distracting filler that drags the momentum. Had the movie focuses on a single goal, which is Tae-Sik goes on saving the kid, it would have been an exhilarating rollercoaster ride all along.

Still the action remain one of the highlights of this movie. Among them are of course involving close-combat battle between Tae-Sik and a vicious bodyguard named Ramrowan (Thailand actor Thanayong Wongtrakul) -- first at the nightclub bathroom, and of course the memorably violent knife duel in the bad guy's lair. Too bad most of the action doesn't sustain long enough for a satisfying period of time, which are quite frustrating considered the amount of the running time given here.

Cast-wise, Won Bin may have looked too young to portray the seen-it-all, ex-government assassin but he make terrific use of his vacant eyes and well-toned muscular look to deliver a convincing presence nonetheless (except in the first third of the movie where he sports that hideous-looking emo haircut). The rest of the supporting actors are equally credible, if nothing much to shout about here.

Not the best revenge thriller by all means, but THE MAN FROM NOWHERE remains a satisfying piece of action cinema.

READ MORE - THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (2010)

CONFESSIONS (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Ijime (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 justice, revenge and perverse society where everything is all about nihilistic and uncomfortably cruel. The result is CONFESSIONS, which in turn, became a phenomenal sensation in Japan. The movie was also a huge box-office and critical hit, and has already been selected as the country's official entry in the Best Foreign Film category of the upcoming 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Not only that the movie has received (almost) universal praises with a great degree of success in the film festivals around the world. So the biggest question is: what makes CONFESSIONS such a praiseworthy effort? Upon watching this with a high hope, I find this with a mixed feeling. It's not really that good as (most) critics expected in the first place. It's certainly a bold piece of work that earns its reputation as among the most disturbing genre movies ever made in the recent memory, except it's not in a very positive manner. In the end, CONFESSIONS ends up as among the most overrated movie of the year.

Still, the first 30 minutes or so is a masterpiece of cinematic experience that holds your attention -- At the beginning of the movie, which set entirely in a classroom filled with junior-high students, as Yuko Moriguchi (Takako Matsu) announces her early retirement following from her three-year-old daughter who is found drowned in the school's swimming pool. During her teaching session in the class, she quickly discloses that she knows the identity of two unnamed killers who was responsible for the cruel murder. Those two killers happened to be the teenage boys from her class. Since she knows that they cannot be held punishment under Japan's juvenile legal code (they are 13-year-old of age), she decides to take matters in her own hands by injecting HIV-infected blood into the two killers' milk carton she have distributed in the class. Everyone start to grow panic, as she proceeds to give a long-winded moral speech in which she speaks calmly amidst the chaos while describing the killing by addressing the two killers with pseudonyms. No doubt the classroom scene alone worth the price of admission as the tone is nevertheless gripping enough to keep the viewers glued to their seat, anticipating the way Yuko has unleashed her psychological warfare through disturbing speech revelations. At this point, Takako Matsu's riveting performance is a sight to behold and if only the movie would have sustain the similar momentum for the rest of the running times.

And this is where the real problem begins to unravel. After the compelling first 30 minutes, the rest of the movie starts to cut loose and the story starts to spin in a RASHOMON-like tricky narrative structure as we learn the insight of these particular three characters: pathetic loner Naoki (Kaoru Fujiwara), Naoki's worrying and overprotective mother (Yoshino Kimura) and a science genius Shuya (Yukito Nishii). As complex and bold as it sounds, the story quickly moves haphazardly with a degree of unfocused attention while Nakashima's overly-artistic direction almost crippled the entire bleak tone that sets the movie perfectly earlier on. Perhaps Nakashima's vision is way too stylized and too odd for its own good, and his excessive usage of depressingly blue-and-grey tones with the accompaniment of rock music soundtrack is more of an annoyingly distracting experience than a novelty approach. The movie doesn't really regain much of its confident footing, leading all the way to a so-called (literally) explosive finale that is neither particularly gory or psychologically disturbing for that matter.

As far as nihilistic revenge cinema goes, look no further than Park Chan-Wook's VENGEANCE trilogy or any good Korean movies of similar genre. CONFESSIONS tries too hard to achieve that kind of cult status and whatever phenomenal sensation that ignite this movie in the first place remains anybody's guess.

READ MORE - CONFESSIONS (2010)

THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)

RATING: 3.5/5

The 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 SPEECH, this Tom Hooper's period drama does just that with a striking chord -- it's this year's among best movie you've ever come across. Not only that, this is also the movie that solidifying Colin Firth as one of the best British actors of his generation since his Oscar-nominated turn in 2009's A SINGLE MAN.

The plot, in the meantime, is deceptively simple: When England's King George V (Michael Gambon) dies in 1936, the throne is ultimately passed down to eldest son King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) -- the very reign that his younger brother, the Duke of York, later King George VI (Firth) wanted to claim the royal crown very much. Unfortunately there's a little problem that prevents him from doing so -- he develops a stammer that unable him to deliver proper speech ever since childhood. Because of speech impediment alone, he doesn't have the necessary voice authority and most of all, courage to lead his country at all. The Duke, in which his nickname is "Bertie", is simply very frustrated. However, his ever-supportive wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) is making sure that he'll succeed to overcome his speech impediment one way or another. Enter Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an aspiring actor and professional speech therapist who is called upon by Elizabeth to help Bertie. At the beginning, Lionel deals with a great amount of pressure trying to reason with such a stubborn person like Bertie. But from time to time, both Lionel and Bertie are slowly becoming unlikely friends as they help each other to overcome the problem. Thanks to Lionel's unorthodox method, tBertie's speech impediment is subsequently progressing into a better flow and it doesn't take long before Bertie finally have the courage to step up as a king especially after King Edward VIII gives up his throne when he chooses to marry his forbidden love which happens to be a divorcee.

At the heart of the movie is an unlikely friendship blooming between a royal and a commoner that David Seidler's screenplay has beautifully portrayed this nuanced gesture with delightful result. But the most unique aspect about this movie is an inspiring true story about how King George VI overcome his stammer with sheer determination that ultimately lead him to a success of delivering his first-ever, smooth-flowing speech at the national radio. Seidler, who suffered from a stammer as a child himself, knows well how to spin such story element and blends them with juicy dialogue, witty verbal exchanges and wonderfully hilarious moments mostly revolving around Bertie and Lionel.

Speaking of Bertie and Lionel, the movie is also best seen for these two actor's heavyweight showcase of great talents. -- Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. When they first met, it's hard not to take your eyes off them because the way they interact each other is simply wonderful to watch for. Not surprisingly, Firth (a role that originally given to Paul Bettany, but declined to spend more time with his family) is certainly magnificent in the lead role as a man with disability and delivers a very convincing physical frustration (eye squints, hand gestures) that makes him such a great method actor. No doubt come award-season time, his remarkably flawless performance is the one to watch for. Lending the strong support is Rush, who is equally dynamic as the speech therapist who isn't afraid of status quo and provides most of the movie's best laugh lines. Helena Bonham Carter, often cast as weirdo in the past (e.g. HARRY POTTER), delivers a refreshing change-of-pace in a well-mannered role as a calm-headed wife.

Tom Hooper's direction is pretty much straightforward, clean and crisp as he favors the good old-fashioned steady shot and doesn't rely on creative camera angles to prove his point. Instead he believes that minimalism is simply more than enough to deliver a good movie especially with great support from excellent cast and equally effective screenplay held altogether. All the technical credits are distinctively top-notch, with production designer Eve Stewart successfully recreates turbulent era of the 1930s England, while Alexandre Desplat composed some of the most beautifully atmospheric scores ever heard in a movie.

Though THE KING'S SPEECH is a well-made movie, there are times it feels manipulative and a bit overrated especially with all the massive hype has generated it all over the place. But this is just minor nitpicking, because THE KING'S SPEECH remains a movie not to be missed.

READ MORE - THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)

I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)

RATING: 4/5

Revenge has never been this grisly and mean-spirited in I SAW THE DEVIL, the highly-anticipated fifth feature by extraordinary filmmaker Kim Ji-Woon (2008's THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD). Although revenge genre is nothing new and has been countlessly flooded in the Korean cinema ever since the enormous popularity of Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance" trilogy, Kim Ji-Woon's I SAW THE DEVIL is a unique beast of its own -- and I've gotta admit that this is among the most uncomfortably violent and genuinely intense experiences I've ever seen in a long while.

The movie begins with a serial killer Kyung-Chul (Choi Min-Sik) abducting a female victim (Oh San-Ha), who is apparently stranded in her car with flat tire on a snowy night. After knocking her head repeatedly with a hammer, he takes her back to his place. He spares her no mercy by dismembering her before he disposes her various body parts all over the place. The particular female victim happens to be So-Hyun's (Lee Byung-Hun) fiance who is an agent working for the National Intelligence Service. Upon discovering her grisly death in which her decapitated head found in the river, So-Hyun is completely devastated and make a promise to his dead fiance as well as his father-in-law, Jang (Jeon Kuk-Hwan) who is a veteran homicide detective, that he'll find and torture the killer at every way imaginable. So he takes two-week leave to set out a vigilante mission in which he begins his search and uses unorthodox method to gain information from some of the suspects until he confirms that the one he's been looking for is Kyung-Chul (especially after he found the engagement ring left where his dead fiance is slaughtered). So-Hyun manages to find Kyung-Chul in a greenhouse, where he is about to rape a school teenager. A brutal fight ensues, but instead of So-Hyun having his chance to kill him, he forces him to swallow a capsule which is actually a tracking device and later decides to set him free. Soon a series of cat-and-mouse chases begin as So-Hyun relies on his GPS to track down Kyung-Chul's whereabouts. And each time Kyung-Chul is up to his rape-and-murder routine, So-Hyun is repeating the same process by torturing him and letting him go again. However, at some point, So-Hyun seems to be underestimated his prey, and things take an unexpected turn when Kyung-Chul manages to outsmart him in a game of reversal.

No doubt that I SAW THE DEVIL is extremely violent movie not suitable for those with weak stomach. Series of violence, blood and gore flow freely in this movie and director Kim Ji-Woon spares no mercy to depict them as graphic as possible to the dizzying height that makes you feel squeamish, even for those die-hard fans. In fact it is so extreme that the movie has originally obtained a rare 19+ (the most restrictive rating in Korean cinema) and forced to re-edit for a total of seven cuts to avoid complete ban for theatrical release. Among the most glaring cut is the depiction of cannibalism in the dinner scene where Kyung-Chul and his serial killer partner, Tae-Joo (Choi Moo-Sung) originally had body parts on their dinner table, but was later modified in the final release to have beef instead. Despite some of the cuts, the movie remains very disturbing to watch for. Such scenes including a suspect gets his genital beaten up brutally by a hammer is certainly make your eyes winced, while one particularly memorable scene where the camera spins 360-degree during when Kyung-Chul brutally stabs his knife against a driver and a passenger in the taxi cab.

The cast are superb, especially with brutally intense performances by Lee Byung-Hyun and Choi Min-Sik. Still at 144-minutes, a movie about revenge like this is certainly overlong and at times it would be favorable if Kim Ji-Woon omit some of the repetitive scenes at least half-an-hour shorter. Another gripe is Park Hoon-Jung's screenplay which is a bit self-indulgent for its graphic portrayal of revenge. Other than watching Lee Byung-Hyun and Choi Min-Sik going after each other in a series of violent cat-and mouse chases, we learn little about their characters until it's become so apparent that Kim Ji-Woon intends to make his movie more of a visually shocking experience than a cohesive whole.

Minor quibbles aside, I SAW THE DEVIL ranks as one of the best Korean movies of the year and certainly up to the standard of Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance" trilogy.

READ MORE - I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)