Superman Returns by Bryan Singer (2006, USA)

To be honest, this movie was quite a waste of time. Brandon Routh was non-engaging as the sensitive Superman, and Kate Bosworth was terrible as Lois Lane. I didn't find her character to be attractive at all. Some of the visuals were pretty nice but this film suffered from a badly written story that dragged on with a plot that gets convoluted and flawed as the story nears the end.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Find Me Guilty by Sidney Lumet (2006, USA)

There were a few good scenes in this movie and Vin Diesel was believable and even lovable as Jackie DiNorscio so all praise to Sidney Lumet, though that crying scene seems a tad ridiculous. I wanna see Vin Diesel cry for real, goddamnit!

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Dave Chappelle's Block Party by Michel Gondry (2005, USA)

Watching this movie just deepens my love for hip-hop among other things. Mos Def and Dead Prez along with Erykah Badu put on a hell of fine show and all despite the rain, but the real stars who stole the show were of course, The Fugees. Shot brilliantly by Michel Gondry with great narration by Dave Chappelle.

4/5 stars
IMDB

Grandma's Boy by Nicholaus Goossen (2006, USA)

Not bad for a B-movie I guess, even had a bit of social commentary on video games going on.

3/5 stars
IMDB

C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée (2005, Canada)

holy shit, this movie was everything it was hyped up to be, from the great music to the feel and look of the film itself, to the strong character development. But mostly, it was the music that did it for me. Pink Floyd's music has always been great for film, and this movie, among quite a number, serves as a testament to that. The cast was excellent too. It has one of the most intense emotional scenes ever - the dad listening to Patsy Cline in the foreground, and the mother collapsing in the background. Wish I could find my screencap of it.


4.5/5 stars
IMDB

16 Blocks by Richard Donner (2006, USA)

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would after first reading the brief synopsis. It had a nice story with some action and a lot of heart. The on-screen interaction between Mos Def and Willis was excellent and was probably why I enjoyed this movie. David Morse was great too, playing the bad cop.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang by Shane Black (2005, USA)

I imagine this is what a film would actually look like if a film buff/nerd screenplay writer tries to direct a movie. It becomes a little too over-the-top in the end and ultimately becomes nothing more than a boring jerkoff of a movie with way too many clever and witty lines and "snazzy" editing. Alright, maybe I'm being a little too harsh here, but this movie was painful to watch at times.


2/5 stars
IMDB

Hostel by Eli Roth (2005, USA)

The last 20 minutes or so of this film was the only thing that was probably worth watching. People have criticised ELi Roth for making flat, dull characters that nobody can sympathise with, and I agree with them. This was really nothing more than a poorly-executed exploitation movie, with some good visuals. Reminds me of Eurotrip, with more blood and makeup.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Invisible Waves by Pen-ek Ratanaruang (2005, Thailand / HK)

A serene, mysterious romance thriller from Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Together with Kang Hye-jeong from Oldboy and Asano Tadanobu, I was really looking forward to watching this in the theater. It had a lot of slow, brooding scenes that seemed to lead to nowhere, weaved with subtle comic relief here and there. Watching this was sort of a dream, you don't really question the story here because it really doesn't seem that important to me in the end, but I should rather applaud the mood, tension and subtle tones that the film tries to bring forward in such a way to connect with the audience and resonate within their hearts and minds. What the hell am i talking about??? I'm not really sure but I quite liked this little film.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Tiger Cage 2 by Yuen Woo-ping (HK, 1990)

Great budget martial art flick by Yuen Woo-ping and Donnie Yen. The fights were excellent, with a great cast all around. The plot was paced well and there was plenty of comic relief. Rosamund Kwan and Donnie Yen were great as a pair. I love the katana fight.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Departed by Martin Scorcese (2006, USA)

I just came back from watching it and thought it was pretty good. Initially it was a little boring but the story picked up during the 2nd half. DiCaprio and Nicholson's characters were about the only interesting ones on screen and they were the ones who moved the movie along. The others were relatively boring and Damon's character wasn't fleshed out well enough for me to give a fuck about him.

Actually I think this is a pretty nice way to remake a movie; keep the plot intact but change everything else about the movie. You can look at Infernal Affairs and The Departed back to back and say they are two entirely different movies even though they share the exact same plot. The mood, tone, camerawork, composition and lighting, even the acting weren't similar. I liked the ending too. Kudos to Scorcese.

Also the girl was ugly and isn't comparable in the slightest to Kelly Chen :(

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Procrastination (One of these days is none of these days)

I've been very very very lazy lately and couldn't be bothered to type even a simple review to the movies I've been watching. There are probably around 30+ movies that I need to blog here, and I've been meaning to do them. So this is like a short reminder to myself to get on with the updates already.