Blood Brothers by Wong Ching-Po (Hong Kong)

Very stylish, artsy, from a technical standpoint. The editing was superb. However the film suffers from an amateurish scriptwork. The twist doesn't have quite of the intended impact on me, and most of the film seems to drift along with no real direction. Also, the young actors couldn't seem to appear 'tough' enough; they looked too much like pretty boys to me.

I guess this is part of the Hong Kong 'new wave' of cinema where style matters more over substance, made popular by the Infernal Affairs Trilogy. It seems to appeal to the younger, less-focused crowd, and judging from the box office turnout, is turning more profitable lately. Another similar recent movie part of this 'new wave' is Divergence. I've been more doubtful towards anything from HK in general now, other than the 'classic' stuff like Ringo Lam/John Woo/Tsui Hark/Kar-Wai stuff. I think the industry there seems to be increasingly catering too much to mainstream appeal. The 'Twins' movies are an example of this.

3/5 stars
IMDB

The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan by Phil Grabsky (UK)

Beautifully-shot documentary, with lots of poignant imagery, and superbly edited. Phil Grabsky did a great job of maintaning the impartial tone of this film. I'm glad I don't have to live in a cave, ever.

IMDB

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine by Rithy Panh (Cambodia / France)

Slow, haunting documentary. The re-enactments were the best part, as the former S21 guards almost flawlessly acted out what they routinely did 30 years back. Watching a grown-up man cry from from recollections of the atrocities committed during a genocide wasn't easy either.

IMDB

Bungee Jumping of Their Own by Kim Dae-sung (South Korea)

Another movie with Lee Eun-ju. Her character dies too. The melodramatic third act got me though. The intro was pretty normal stuff, but once the 'bungee jumping' of storyline goes, and the homosexual undertones set in, it was all smooth-sailing. Pretty good concept story on true love. Great sappy movie for couples.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Garden of Heaven by Lee Dong-hyeon (South Korea)

Boring, predictable. What is it with Korean cinema and the melodramatic third act? It just didn't work for me this time. Nice soundtrack and cinematography otherwise. Lee Eun-ju's character died in this movie, a depressing reminder of her own suicide in the real world.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Perth: The Geylang Massacre by Djinn Ong (Singapore)

Originality is an uncommon virtue these days, it seems. I couldn't understand the point of this movie, other than to rip-off Kubrick. The similarities were too common. It was like the director suddenly blacked out while writing the script and decided he had to do a remake of 'Taxi Driver' for Singapore, and a much sub-par one at that. The dialog wasn't bad, but Lim Kay Tong was the only credible actor here. The ending violence was almost worth the price of admission though. Oh man, nothing like seeing a theater full off annoying geriatrics silenced by copious amounts of blood.

3/5 stars
IMDB

The Maid by Kelvin Tong (Singapore)

I was suckered into watching this movie by the somewhat large marketing drive behind it. It wasn't bad if the ghosts actually looked like, well, ghosts. Instead we have some cheap CGI makeup. The first scare was good though, which involves a hand that came out of fucking nowhere. After that, it was back to the good old audio cues. The acting was decent at best, but the cinematography was good at some parts. The script sucked. I saw the twist from miles away.

I saw it on opening night so of course it was packed, and of course some assholes had to ruin it. Loud, pointless laughing by ignorant schoolgirls, bastards who had their phones ringing forever, AND actually answered it and made conversation for MINUTES. Hey, guess what fuckers? I didn't pay 10 bucks to listen to you assholes blabbering on the phone. Goddamnit.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Land of the Dead by George A. Romero (USA)

I thought I should wait until I've watched a proper version before blogging this, but fuck it. I was quite pissed off when I watched this at the theater since they cut out or cut short all the good stuff, that is, the gore. Argh, censorship. I only realised about it after paying for the ticket.

Being a Romero movie, the camp was certainly there, and it is appreciated. The mood and cinematography was excellent. I'm not going into the subtext/social commentary since I'm not such a great fan of Romero and don't think I really understand most of that stuff anyway. Anthony Hopkins was awesome, and so was that guy who was in Spun, Leguizamo. Needs more brain-eating action.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Tai-Chi Master by Yuen Woo-ping (Hong Kong)

Awesome fights. Yuen Woo-ping. Jet Li. Shaolin monks. Michelle Yeoh. Awesome fights. Michelle Yeoh.
It's been a while since I watched this, but that's what I remembered.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Forever Fever by Glenn Goei (Singapore)

I have to admit, I never was a fan of disco, but this film almost managed to convince me disco was cool. Wait, who am I kidding? Disco sucks. John Travolta will always be cool though.

Aside from the low budget restraints and the weak love triangle element, it's amazing what a good screenplay, a bunch of old costumes and some transvestites could do to a film. The climax is almost as good as the one in Napoleon Dynamite. Adrian Pang delivers, with style.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB