Sunday, January 22, 2012

2012 PGA Awards


Following after the recently released 2012 PGA Awards nominations, the winners had just been announced and honoured. Both "The ARtist" and "The Adventures of Tintin", emerged winners at the 2012 PGA Awards.

This year, the Producers Guild will also award special honors to Leslie Moonves (Milestone Award), Steven Spielberg (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), Don Mischer (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Stan Lee (Vanguard Award), and IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (The Stanley Kramer Award).

The complete list of film nominations and winners (in red) is as follow:

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

THE ARTIST
Producer: Thomas Langmann

BRIDESMAIDS
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

THE DESCENDANTS
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin

THE HELP
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

HUGO
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

THE IDES OF MARCH
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

MONEYBALL
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt

WAR HORSE
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

The Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

CARS 2
Producer: Denise Ream

KUNG FU PANDA 2
Producer: Melissa Cobb

PUSS IN BOOTS
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou

RANGO
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski


Saturday, January 21, 2012

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate


Opinion: B-

Besides the proven veteran cinematic techniques employed by Tsui Hark, the film doesn't really make an impression less its female characterisation in a genre typically dominated by male testosterone. Attempting to venture into new cinema technology, Tsui had a hand at widening possibilities with visual effects and 3D albeit a little too much for liking. Jet Li impressed relatively well in this film although Chinese actor Chen Kun and the female leads were a notch ahead.


Flying Swords of Dragon Gate picks up three years after the infamous Dragon Inn was burnt down in the desert when its innkeeper JADE vanished. A new gang of marauders had taken over: innkeepers by day, and treasure hunters by night. The inn is the rumored location of a lost city buried under the desert, and its hidden treasure would only be revealed by a gigantic storm every sixty years. The gang used the inn as a front to locate the lost treasure.

The storm is arriving. But the situation becomes more complicated when a pregnant concubine who escaped from the palace came to the inn. The concubine was saved by a mysterious woman WEN, and the two fled to the Dragon Inn in hiding.

Hot on their trail were the Imperial Assassins led by the powerful eunuch YU, followed by the righteous general ZHAO who was determined to take down Yu to restore order in the palace.

As the gigantic storm loomed in the horizon, ready to wipe out everything in sight, the cat-and-mouse game inside Dragon Inn grew fiercer. Everyone was trapped, and there's nowhere to go. Fortune, love and vengeance, could very well be gone with the wind.


While expected from a Tsui Hark film, the level of female characters empowerment pleasantly surprised in an arguably weary genre that typically dabbled in worldly affairs between men.

One such prominence was vividly felt by the charismatic (yes, her masterful mix of feminine and masculine charm was mesmerising!) Zhou Xun, who played a devoted lady searching for the one person whom she held a torch for. There's possibly nobody who could render what Zhou Xun's unique personality charm did naturally, making her one of the distinguished actors in contemporary Asian cinema.

Other female cast who also fared relatively well were Kwai Lunmei and singing personality Li Yuchun as supporting characters who nevertheless instilled impressions adequately.

As for the other gender, Chen Kun did a lot more by playing dual characters in the film to allow him a fabulous opportunity to display his flair in acting range. One was of a dubious casual personnel whose tiny pockets of wits pushed his nerves hard during hairy situations, while the other was of an imperialistic Eunich who practiced a drastic and eerie bipolar effect of both feminine and masculine traits.

Neither of those two personalities had anything in common between them less for their uncanny physical resemblance. That's remarkable acting.

In all honesty, the fimmaking here was fundamentally sound although nothing groundbreaking or memorable from an otherwise revered Tsui Hark. With a mix of Chinese and exotic location sets clearly divided between two halves in the film, there's new material on the plate although it's been achieved by a number of other Asian/Mandarin films previously.

Jet Li played a strong male lead, although it was seen as his average skill set display when you view his entire career filmography. Some of his best performances included "The Warlords" by Peter Chan and Yip Wai Man in recent years, which was a far distance from his performance here in "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate".

There didn't seem to be a clear intention in the film where the credits rolled without any proper lesson or message to take home. Feeling more like a playful reenactment of a random chapter in Chinese history, this would probably be more appropriate as a leisure cinema fare over the weekends.


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Descendants [Review]


Opinion: A

It may feel strangely familiar to some of you, Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" allows intrinsic domestic values to surface in tandem above that unexplainable veil of serene grace guided by directorial and music credits. As we navigated through a group of mundane people interacting with one another within an ordinary story that could be replicated in real life, one of the best films of the year surprisingly emerged at the end of all that.


From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar®-winning SIDEWAYS, THE DESCENDANTS is set in Hawaii and follows the unpredictable journey of an American family at a crossroads. Matt King (George Clooney), a husband and father of two girls, must re-examine his past and navigate his future when his wife is in a boating accident off Waikiki. He awkwardly attempts to repair his relationship with his daughters - 10 year-old precocious Scottie (Amara Miller) and rebellious 17 year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) - while wrestling with a decision to sell his family’s land. Handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries, the Kings own some of the last priceless virgin parcels of tropical beach in the islands.

When Alexandra drops the bombshell that her mother was in the midst of a romantic fling at the time of the accident, Matt has to take a whole new look at his life, not to mention his legacy, during a week of momentous decisions. With his girls in tow, he embarks on a haphazard search for his wife’s lover. Along the way, in encounters alternately funny, troublesome and transcendent, he realizes he’s finally on course toward rebuilding his life and family.


The film began its very first scene of Matt King's wife with her final moments of bliss. There's nothing complicated about that, just pure simple joy with a smile across her face as she sped across the open waters on a motor boat.

It was her last moments looking that good before she was made to look piteously horrible for the rest of the film. In fact, we never get to hear her speak or interact with anybody. But the miracle thing was, it felt like she was everywhere in the film. No matter what each of the characters did alone or to one another, it was all about King's wife.

In a way, it felt like a 110 minutes celebration of her life.

She may be missing physically throughout the rest of the film, but her prior actions gave rise to a lot of consequential drama and dilemmas to follow (in fact, she was possibly the main reason why the film's story took place). All of those high flying emotions ran through the excellent vessels of the likes of George Clooney and the remarkable Shailene Woodley. Most of the intense feelings were delivered through these two's characters, thanks to their wonderful performance. Both equally deserve some recognition of sorts.

You might wondering if you've just found your way into a review of a melodramatic film. Well, it's not. At least not entirely. Payne had a way with heightening emotions in subtlety and humour, just like how life often dished itself on a plate to most of us. Much like how life would always be filled with complexity and simplicity, the film doesn't exactly follow a formulaic set of plot and character guidelines to render them so much more realistic than most other films could achieve.

It's simple. King found himself into more troubles and woes gradually over the span of the film. It's complex. Most of these troubles and woes had 2 sides to it. The demise of his wife brought sorrows to the family, but enhanced the relationship between King and his daughters. His late wife's affair with another man not only added strain upon her relationship with her elder daughter, but also traumatised King and that of him and his Father-in-law. This revelation also concealed a lot about herself to some before the accident, but also revealed more about how little others around her understood her.

Owning a heavy decision of responsibility on whether or not to sell a prime piece of Hawaiian land wasn't just a simple matter of dollars and profit. It also measured the amount of heritage that mattered to King and his family clan members of cousins and other relatives.

Setting the film in Hawaii was almost a perfect decision as it was itself an element of ironic contrast to the film's happenings. Most people thought of Hawaii as a land of bliss and possibly even paradise, but here it's a symbol of heritage and culture. The scenery of the sea, sand, and sun made affairs appeared to be simple and laidback when it was obvious on the contrary. There was so much going on amidst all the elements of serenity, we don't see it but we feel it vividly.

We follow every characters through (including Alexandra's "retarded" boyfriend) and sincerely feel for them.

And that's the beauty of Payne's film, allowing life's circumstances to share its consequential tale of bliss, sorrows, rage, and possibly every other unexplainable form of emotions and allow them seemingly free reign to lead the story under a great directorial helm.

(Screening courtesy of 20th Century Fox Singapore and Omy.sg)


Monday, January 16, 2012

69th Golden Globe Awards


The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has announced their winners for the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Each year, the winners and nominations provide a guideline as to what we may predict for the thereafter Academy Awards. Interesting of note was how "The Artist" was nominated under Best Comedy or Musical together with "50/50" and "Midnight in Paris". This may seem a little out of place initially, but you'd soon realise how the best picture category would be going on in 2 turfs to allow potentially 2 films to be awarded.

"The Artist" and "The Descendants" both emerge as the biggest winners of the night, reinforcing their path towards next month's Academy Awards.

The complete list of nominations and winners (in red) is as follow:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
"THE DESCENDANTS"
"THE HELP"
"HUGO"
"THE IDES OF MARCH"
"MONEYBALL"
"WAR HORSE"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Glenn Close, "ALBERT NOBBS"
Viola Davis, "THE HELP"
Rooney Mara, "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"
Meryl Streep, "THE IRON LADY"
Tilda Swinton, "WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
George Clooney, "THE DESCENDANTS"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. EDGAR"
Michael Fassbender, "SHAME"
Ryan Gosling, "THE IDES OF MARCH"
Brad Pitt, "MONEYBALL"

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
"50/50"
"THE ARTIST"
"BRIDESMAIDS"
"MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
"MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jodie Foster, "CARNAGE"
Charlize Theron, "YOUNG ADULT"
Kristen Wiig, "BRIDESMAIDS"
Michelle Williams, "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"
Kate Winslet, "CARNAGE"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, "THE ARTIST"
Brendan Gleeson, "THE GUARD"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "50/50"
Ryan Gosling, "CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE."
Owen Wilson, "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN"
"ARTHUR CHRISTMAS"
"CARS 2"
"PUSS IN BOOTS"
"RANGO"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE FLOWERS OF WAR (CHINA)(Jing Ling Shi San Chai)
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (USA)
THE KID WITH A BIKE (BELGIUM)(Le Gamin au Velo)
A SEPARATION (IRAN)(Jodaeiye Nader az Simin)
THE SKIN I LIVE IN (SPAIN)(La piel que habito)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Berenice Bejo, "THE ARTIST"
Jessica Chastain, "THE HELP"
Janet Mcteer, "ALBERT NOBBS"
Octavia Spencer, "THE HELP"
Shailene Woodley, "THE DESCENDANTS"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Kenneth Branagh, "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"
Albert Brooks, "DRIVE"
Jonah Hill, "MONEYBALL"
Viggo Mortensen, "A DANGEROUS METHOD"
Christopher Plummer, "BEGINNERS"

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Woody Allen, "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
George Clooney, "THE IDES OF MARCH"
Michel Hazanavicius, "THE ARTIST"
Alexander Payne, "THE DESCENDANTS"
Martin Scorsese, "HUGO"

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
Woody Allen, "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon,  "THE IDES OF MARCH"
Michel Hazanavicius, "THE ARTIST"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, "THE DESCENDANTS"
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, "MONEYBALL"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
Ludovic Bource, "THE ARTIST"
Abel Korzeniowski, "W.E."
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"
Howard Shore, "HUGO"
John Williams, "WAR HORSE"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“HELLO HELLO” — GNOMEO & JULIET
Music by: Elton John | Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin
“THE KEEPER” — MACHINE GUN PREACHER
Music & Lyrics by: Chris Cornell
“LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN” — ALBERT NOBBS
Music by: Brian Byrne | Lyrics by: Glenn Close
“THE LIVING PROOF” — THE HELP
Music by: Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr. | Lyrics by: Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas
“MASTERPIECE” — W.E.
Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry



Saturday, January 14, 2012

17th Critics' Choice Movie Awards


The 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards had announced its winners from its previously announced nominations. Film director Martin Scorsese received the Music + Film Award and actor Sean Penn took the Joel Siegel Award on the night of the Awards.

"The Artist" was the brightest star of the night, bagging home 4 award wins in namely, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Score, and Best Costume Design. George Clooney was recognised as the Best Actor for his performance in "The Descendants" while Viola Davis was likely awarded Best Actress for her role in "The Help".

Its seemed like the Critics Choice Movie Awards had a good sense and taste in its selection of winners.

The nominations and winners (in red) for the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards are as follow:

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Drive"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Director
Stephen Daldry, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Steven Spielberg, "War Horse"

Best Actor
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. Edgar"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender, "Shame"
Ryan Gosling, "Drive"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Actress
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Charlize Theron, "Young Adult"
Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"
Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Patton Oswalt, "Young Adult"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Andy Serkis, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Carey Mulligan, "Shame"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
Eric Roth, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Tate Taylor, "The Help"
John Logan, "Hugo"
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin, "Moneyball"

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Will Reiser, "50/50"
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni, "Win Win"
Diablo Cody, "Young Adult"

Best Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Cinematography
"The Artist"
"Drive"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Costume Design
"The Artist"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"My Week with Marilyn"

Best Editing
"The Artist"
"Drive"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"War Horse"


Best Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"
"J. Edgar"
"My Week with Marilyn"


Best Score
"The Artist"
"Drive"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"War Horse"

Best Song
"Hello Hello" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
"Life's a Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
"The Living Proof" from "The Help"
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
"Pictures in My Head" from "The Muppets"


Best Sound
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Super 8"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Super 8"
"The Tree of Life"

Best Animated Feature
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Best Foreign Language Film
"In Darkness"
"Le Havre"
"A Separation"
"The Skin I Live In"
"Where Do We Go Now"

Best Documentary Feature
"Buck
"Cave of Forgotten Dreams"
"George Harrison: Living in the Material World"
"Page One: Inside the New York Times"
"Project Nim"
"Undefeated"


Best Action Movie
"Drive"
"Fast Five"
"Hanna"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Super 8"


Best Comedy
"Bridesmaids"
"Crazy, Stupid, Love"
"Horrible Bosses"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Muppets"

Best Young Actor/Actress
Asa Butterfield, "Hugo"
Elle Fanning, "Super 8"
Thomas Horn, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Saoirse Ronan, "Hanna"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"


Best Acting Ensemble
"The Artist"
"Bridesmaids"
"The Descendants"
"The Help"
"The Ides of March"

Friday, January 13, 2012

Haywire [Review]


Opinion: B

Almost convinced that the grueling fights taking place in this film were for real, this was definitely a pristine showcase of how action films should be made. Forgoing the story almost entirely and opting for perfecting the action thriller genre with great camerawork and editing, this would be a whole new playing field altogether especially after throwing in a new found starlet in the form of MMA fighter Gina Carano.


This dynamic action-thriller directed by Oscar(R) winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) boasts a talented cast that includes Channing Tatum (GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra), Ewan McGregor (The Ghost Writer), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Antonio Banderas (The Legend of Zoro), Bill Paxton ("Big Love"), Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Michael Angarano (Almost Famous); and introduces mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Gina Carano as Mallory Kane, in a demanding lead role that has her performing her own high-adrenaline stunts.

Mallory Kane is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Suddenly the target of skilled assassins who know her every move, Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive.

Using her black-ops military training, she devises an ingenious--and dangerous--trap. But when things go haywire, Mallory realizes she'll be killed in the blink of an eye unless she finds a way to turn the tables on her ruthless adversary.


One thing for sure, Soderbergh's Haywire wasn't an extravagant piece of thoughtful filmmaking. It was an action thriller genre masterpiece. Without the frills of overly detailed plot and narrative that often bogged down action thrillers to prevent them from entering overdrive, the thrills were much instilled via great technical flair and a confident performance by MMA fighter Gina Carano.

While the story and plot were kept as lean as possible, the narrative style was nevertheless erratic and nonlinear to instill that constant sense of confusion and mystery towards what exactly was happening.

With that in place, the film didn't seem to clear the shrouds for the audience and dove straight into what's best for the genre - action and thrills. The film's level of activity wasn't measured in terms of the number of shots fired and the magnitude of explosions like how most other action blockbusters did, in fact it was measured in the amount of rawness and grit.

Previously unknown as an actress, Carano gave an über vibe saturated in confidence and certainty as if she had been performing all her stunts on a regular routine.

Take the opening scene for instance, we had no idea what exactly was happening. Carano sat across Channing Tatum confronting each other like a sore bickering couple, the next moment before we know it one began splashing hot coffee remorselessly at the other and bashing each other up vigorously as if their bodies knew no limits to pain. It was excruciatingly painful to witness, but it had every single element of realism in it. This was surprisingly further heightened at a later hotel room brawl between Carano and (gasp!) Michael Fassbender.

(First 5 minutes of "Haywire")

This was also thanks to the camerawork and editing performed by Soderbergh's alter egos.

The technical excellence pertaining to the above was especially noticed in a chase scene where Carano scampered around hastily to avoid the apprehension by a swarm of tactical forces unit. Within split seconds, the silver screen was filled with a vast sequence of varying shots in various angles in rapid edits to establish that exhilarating picture of action perspective and what was taking place.

Some of the thrills weren't presented blatantly. In fact, there was one rendered in a flashback sequence manner with muted sound. There were also times when the action played to the Jazz and Blues track by David Holmes, which was a refreshing change from the usual horn blasts and trumpet roar fare.

It instilled a sense of calmness and familiarity as if everything's alright and going to plan. But it's not, that's why the film's titled "Haywire". Not only was the plot presentation in a muddling nonlinear fashion, but the brawls that took place was also extremely ugly and messy (as how actual brawls take place in reality) in no seemingly choreographed fashion as if they're documented off a real fight (kudos to the stunt and fight choreography, yes they were present!).

Yet again, we saw Soderbergh's practice of employing A-list cast as sideline supporting characters and not shy to kill them off in this film.

Soderbergh definitely seemed like he had some fun with this slick and quick paced genre practice that enabled him to unlock certain aspects within himself in between major projects. If you're looking for well-invested story and themes, you might be disappointed because Haywire dared to confront the audience as who it truly was:

A fluid piece of action thriller that contained thrilling action.



Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Contraband [Review]


Opinion: B

Seen more as an adaptation of the Icelandic original, this English speaking take by Baltasar Kormákur harnessed the thrills and tried well to suppress implausibilities within the film. At times raw and real, there were a couple of moments when the script betrayed the plausibility. Much would not have been accomplished if not for some credible cast performance by the likes of antagonist Giovanni Ribisi.

(http://www.contrabandmovie.net)

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.


(http://www.contrabandmovie.net) 

Based upon the Icelandic original "Reykjavik: Rotterdam" which starred Baltasar Kormákur, it was really an interesting delight to see him helming Contraband as a Director. It might reflect something about him, but one thing for certain would be his dedication and attachment to the original film material.

Convinced that the story would be universal, Contraband was set in New Orleans where one gets to see a lot of port and harbour views as well as shipping activities. Felt relatively relevant to the theme of smuggling as activity levels were high in that region of the world. It's probably one of the few action heist-thrillers that shot a lot of scenes onboard vessels from the deck to the engine room. If one's not sure, one might even mistaken the film to be one revolving around a maritime theme.

It was almost like a character by itself in the film.

Lensing onboard vessels would mean one thing: restrictive and tedious camerawork and shot planning. While you might get some great angles onboard the ship, the tight layout space may prove to be a challenge and kudos to Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (who also photographed The Hurt Locker and United 93).

This might explain the raw sense of feeling we get from the visuals, with frequent fleeting camera movements shot handheld. Here, the motion was much refined and restraint and not wildly abused like in the case of The Green Zone, which was also lensed by Ackroyd. Footage was raw but the images remained relatively clean as one would expect grainy visuals from this film.

Also, there was a brief high frame rate explosion sequence that reminded me of The Hurt Locker.

(Exclusive "Behind-the-Scenes" by Mark Wahlberg)

That sequence also happened to be taking place within one of the major action scene: An armoured car heist. Without much extravagence, the entire scene went through with it as any real armoured car heist by lawless syndicates would be like - simple and quick. Often, the best method wasn't to display one's tactical intelligence, but by simply getting in and out as fast as one could.

Fight violence in the film did not saturate the film (wish there could be more of Wahlberg kicking ass though), but it was adequate to display brutality in some of the characters. One fine example would be the brilliant antagonist Tim Briggs (played by Giovanni Ribisi). You might recall him from Avatar (if you can't recall his presence in James Cameron's film, that showed his versatility to display contrasting personalities). Ribisi not only rendered vile physical acting, but also exuded intense chilling and sinister vibes.

One thing for sure, I'd never want to find myself anywhere within a mile's radius of Briggs.

While probably not well-liked by the audience, the character of Sebastian Abney (Ben Foster) reflected a lot of us in society who always seemed to boast a disturbing neutral stance towards everyone and everything. Although he seemed pleasantly likeable in the beginning, it gave me the creeps to think of several others around me who seemed to resemble Sebastian. His lack of a firm legion and position seemed to suggest that nothing would be considered on the basis of right or wrong in his life.

There's a couple of scripted plot holes and implausibilities (such as the timely realisation to intercept a certain demise), which was also often filled with one/two liners instead of great memorable dialogues.

Despite so, Contraband would be a good genre offering for all fans of action heist-thrillers with credits to the technical excellence practiced by the likes of Director Kormákur (who tried to craft the film as realistic as possible) and Director of Photography Ackroyd.

(Preview screening courtesy of UIP Singapore and Omy.sg)


Saturday, January 7, 2012

LIVE Q&A - Angelina Jolie

Aren't you feeling so very lucky? As Angelina Jolie's writing and directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" will be slated for screening soon, a LIVE Q&A session with Director Jolie will be taking place on 12 January 8pm EST / 12am PST (13 January 9am SGT) and we're very pleased to be able to host the session here on SON:sation!


Ms Jolie will be discussing her behind-the-scenes work on her debut project and you may wish to post questions to her under the comments section below. For all you know, she might very well select and answer yours! So feel free to share this with your friends and contacts, especially those who are fans of Angelina Jolie!

But that's not all!

We'll also be randomly selecting one lucky reader who posed a question to Ms Jolie to win a poster of her debut film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" after the live Q&A session!


In the Land of Blood and Honey has been nominated for a Golden Globe® for Best Foreign Language Film. Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, the film tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostić) and Ajla (pronounced Ayla) (Zana Marjanović), two Bosnians from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a Bosnian Serb police officer, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim artist, are together before the war, but their relationship is changed as violence engulfs the country. Months later, Danijel is serving under his father, General Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade Šerbedžija), as an officer in the Bosnian Serb Army. He and Ajla come face to face again when she is taken from the apartment she shares with her sister, Lejla (Vanesa Glodjo), and Lejla’s infant child by troops under Danijel’s command. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship changes, their motives and connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. In the Land of Blood and Honey portrays the incredible emotional, moral and physical toll that the war takes on individuals as well as the consequences that stem from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.



So feel free to post your questions below in the comments section. Don't miss this great opportunity and check back here as we near the end of the countdown!


Friday, January 6, 2012

2012 Writers Guild Awards


Seems like the WGA had made their choice of nominees based upon a limited pool of eligible film screenplays. Films like "War Horse", "The Tree of Life", and "Margin Calls" were some of the notable omissions that we dearly missed. That said, we're also not exactly sure how detrimental and impactful the WGA's verdict would be on the eventual Academy Awards.

The complete list of nominees for the 2012 WGA Awards is as follow:

Screenplay Nominees

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment
Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Pictures
Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics
Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight
Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures
The Help, Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures
Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures
Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Better This World, Written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega; Loteria Films
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Written by Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek; Oscilloscope Pictures
Nostalgia for the Light, Written by Patricio Guzmán; Icarus Films
Pina, Screenplay by Wim Wenders; Sundance Selects
Position Among the Stars, Script by Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich; HBO Documentary Films
Senna, Written by Manish Pandey; Producers Distribution Agency


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Review]


Opinion: B+

Despite being a technically well-crafted piece of filmmaking by acclaimed David Fincher, the English language remake of the Swedish original induced some wonders and nothing further. Strange that Fincher's take was relatively conservative where the sexual violence and dark demeanour were restrained a notch or two from expectation. Rooney Mara had never shone brighter in her career with her willingness to undergo physical transformation and practice method acting, but it doesn't save the empty film from grace.


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy. Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon. The screenplay is by Steven Zaillian.


Before I end up being mistaken for branding this film as a worthless piece of trash, it was not. Amidst all the blatant criticism that might be firmly featured in this opinion article, Fincher's filmmaking techniques and methods were unquestionable.

Technically brilliant, camerawork and art direction were strongly enforcing Fincher's signature over this film. The chilling snowscape set location of Sweden and Norway added the much desired authenticity of the original. But it seemed that the film paid a lot more homage to the original than expected.

Sprouting Swedish-accented English, Rooney Mara seemed to be comfortable in pulling it off but it added that false facade of identity over everything. This immediately triggered reminiscence of Matt Reeves' "Let Me In" in comparison, a recent remake of Swedish horror "Let the Right One In".

To be honest, the first two acts of the film saw the male and female protagonists spending screen presence apart. It was never easy to pace them in sync with each other to retain that string of relativity through that long stretch of reel time. Niels Arden Oplev's original wasn't perfect but it worked. Fincher on contrary perfected each scene individually but when edited together, unexplainable voids were felt and detected. The quick edits, which was a Fincher trait, didn't allow the film space to develop its detailed mystery plot pieces sufficiently.

The entire film, which lasted for about 160 minutes, wasn't cohesive enough until Lisbeth and Blomkvist crossed path when affairs improved.

Kudos to Rooney Mara who had courageously made a bold decision that would prove critically pivotal in her career. Never had she outdone herself with her willingness to accept extreme physical transformation and literally stepped into the skin of Gothic punk computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Method acting champion of the year would surely go to Mara.

While Mara's rendition of Lisbeth was good, it still lacked the depth and aloofness of Noomi Rapace's character portrayal. Rapace was the one who breathed life into Lisbeth's character and the characterisation work done was nearly impeccable. Distinctly recalled Rapace's Lisbeth stepping into Blomkvist room and straddled him briefly to climax before stepping out of the room almost immediately. That odd behaviour nailed Lisbeth's shifty character with an abused history so well, nothing could be better.


On a side note, I had an issue with the sound mix. Viewed it in a theatre that offered the film in Dolby Surround 7.1 but often I found Daniel Craig's dialogues a tad bit too soft and inaudible for liking. Adding on the fake Swedish accent, it made the experience a little discomforting. Not sure if it was an isolated case of my theatre's sound settings though.

The original music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was brilliant and complemented the film's contemporary take well, which was vibrantly felt in the graphical opening sequence playing against their take of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.


One could condemn my inferior opinion of this highly anticipated film of 2011 to the sky high expectation harboured prior the screening (which I personally attribute much to it as well), but nevertheless it might boil down to whether one had viewed Oplev's original before entering a Fincher's take.

I would say that it's still good to start off with the original for those who're new to the series, which was what had gotten everybody in volatile hype over Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy in the beginning. While, there's a good number of audience members watching it for Fincher, there's a lot more catching it because they were awed by Oplev's film.


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