The World's End

Ratings: 6.1/10

Film class: B+

Genre: Sci-Fi comedy action 

Gary King (Simon Pegg) reunites his group of 4 friends to conquer the most epic drinking marathon 20 years after their failed teenage attempt. It requires them to go from pub to pub (12 pubs in total) in their childhood town, to drink a glass of alcohol at each pub before reaching their final destination, the last pub on their list, The World's End. 

Unknowing to them, the town has been taken over by aliens, forcing them to become unlikely heroes, humanity's last defense. 

While the premise of the plot sounds interesting, the movie failed to deliver. There were funny bits here and there, but the story fell flat with its silly ending. My brain cells went on strike and were willing victims of the alien invasion. 

Strong cast, semi-decent scripts, but on the other extreme side of the spectrum, horrible story development with a disastrous ending. Quite the "complete" movie if you ask me. It was unfortunate, really, with such a strong cast, just like the characters themselves, this movie was struggling hard not to be wasted... And it sure didn't sober up at the world's end. 

The Master

Ratings: 6.2/10

Film class: B

Genre: Drama

A disturbed and aggressive navy veteran returns home and is allured into joining a cult by his charismatic leader. 

Hmm... what more is there? I guess that's about it, the story is as simple as it sounds, depth added by the characters' varied personalities. 

An artsy disturbing movie about the human psyche, especially that of the disturbed war veteran "Joaquin Phoenix", this film is more character study than movie movie per Se. By artsy I mean full of dialogue, full of chopped up random scenes which disrupts your viewing pleasure. It sometimes seems almost draggy, aggravated by the grainy cinematography, and it makes no difference even if you watch this in high def. However, thanks to mr violent, that's where all the "action" comes from. 

There's no take home message here, which kinda makes me feel like I wasted time on it. It's a lengthy one, this one ( like most other off mainstream artsy films), and is sure to screw your mind up a little. If you're not ready for that, then you had better not confront the master... 

Gravity

Ratings: 8.0/10

Film Class: A 

Genre: Action Drama

Is this the first movie made to portray realistically a survival situation in outer space? I don't know the answer myself, but I believe it is. 

I mean there's lotsa sci-fi movies out there, like Star Wars and Star Trek, there's even Moon, but this is possibly the most realistic space movie made. No aliens, no clones, just plain familiar "present-ries", like satellites orbiting Earth, and astronauts maintaining them. 

What seemed like an "everyday" routine turns out to be a disaster for medical engineer Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) when a Russian satellite was blown up. 

It created a chain reaction, causing a bunch of debris to orbit Earth every 90 minutes. The butterfly effect at its bleakest. If you're wondering how exciting can this movie be (like I did) since there's pretty much nothing much out there in space, there's your ans. Top it up with limited oxygen, abandoned space stations, stellar acting from the only two cast in the movie and state-of-the-art CG, Gravity is one insanely intense gem in modern cinema. 

*Spoilers ahead* It didn't occur to me how scary it was until the very first first-person-view shot. I came to understand how disorientating a stranded somersaulting astronaut in space would feel like, and I felt pretty giddy during the first 30 mins of the film, thanks to the skilful film making which added such realism there was no way any audience wouldn't empathize with Ryan. 

The director wasted no time in introducing us to Matt's personality during the opening scene, subtlety through his conversations with Houston, the land comms station. I personally thought this was well-thought because it not only injected humour to a possibly monotonous setting, it also contributed to alleviating despair with a light-hearted sense of hope which would otherwise be missing if it was simply a solemn movie. 

Some of the parts were quite ingenious, on how Ryan tried to save herself, and there was always a "dead-end" somewhere, to create that added sense of tension. Will she be saved? Or will she die in space? After all, surviving in space is all about 10% oxygen, 20% determination and 70% luck. 

Gravity is nothing like I've ever seen. Despite only 2 cast, it truly deserves an "A" for film class due to the CG and the acting. I really felt as though I was in outer space (though I will never know how it really feels like) even though I only watched it in 2D. Even the scripting and storyline delivered. It was a full package - A space experience you don't want to miss. 

Switch

Ratings: 1.0/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action

One of the worst movies I've watched. No, correction, make it the worst. Switch makes the flop Chinese movie The Treasure Hunter look good, that's how disastrous this is.

I shan't even spend more than a sentence explaining the plot, because when I started watching it, the plot became irrelevant, nothing made sense. Even if you had read the synopsis at the back of the DVD cover (like I did), you'll feel cheated because the synopsis is as good as it could ever be. In this case, words speak more than a thousand pictures. The dead text was more interesting than the sum of pictures put together. 

But if you must know, Switch is about a stolen treasure, one half of a painting, that somehow everyone wants to get their hands on. 

It must have been so embarrassing for Andy Lau to star in this... He either didn't know what he was getting into, or he was seriously desperate for cash. It's no surprise to see Taiwanese beauty Lin Chiling star in yet another flop movie, let's face it, she's got the looks, but she can't act. Still, she's makes the movie a little bit less torturous. 

I haven't felt so negative about a movie in a long while, but it didn't take Switch to make me feel that way 15 mins into the movie. I thought it was a flukish feeling, I mean, there's Andy Lau and Lin Chiling in this for christ's sake, but I so wanted to give up 49mins into the film. I somehow managed to force myself to sit through the entire movie because I wanted to be fair in my critique, despite already knowing what the outcome would be. 

At least the senseless fighting scenes were decent, and the cinematography was scenic. It was like watching bits and pieces of different adverts from time to time; there's Andy Lau in a watch commercial, in a car commercial, in a beach resort commercial etc. Mostly showing off a picturesque Dubai. 

There was zilch character development, due to the annoying jump cut scenes which never lasted more than 5 minutes each. There wasn't any continuity in the scenes and the progression was all too convenient. During one scene you see Andy Lau on the verge of death, the next, the villains traveling to a secluded forested region, the next, a group of doctors trying to save Andy Lau, the next, 5 yrs later, he's all good to go. Yup, this is just one example of how slipshod the director's works is. 

I 2nd the opinion of a reviewer on imdb, that the director should be banned from directing any movies in future. It's just a disgrace to the industry. It's an insult to movie goers, and to the fans of those poor stars. I can't believe I paid $19.90 for this, and a thought flashed past my mind during the movie, I actually thought of stopping the movie, ejecting my DVD, and snapping it in half. Yes, I felt terribly insulted. I had actually contributed to the director in "recuperating his losses". 

Switch was a low class copycat of Mission Impossible, with the wire hangings, and the face disguises. There was an "ultimate" twist in the movie! The villain had a face disguise to cover up his own face! Cos his "real" face was disfigured in a fire! "Wow!!" Disguising your face with a better looking version of your own face! Who would have thought of that?! 

Too many stunt doubles were used, and the battle between Andy Lau and the villain in fencing suits out of the blue was just lame. It didn't even make sense, the only explanation I could come up with was that the director thought he had come up with an "ingenious" idea of using stun doubles without being too obvious.... FAIL! Stab me please!! 

Note that I haven't added any warnings about spoilers, because trust me, you wouldn't want to torture yourself with this brainless piece of crap. 

Amour

Ratings: 6.5/10
Film Class: C
Genre: Drama

Amour speaks nothing of love... it's dreary, tragic and possibly one of the most undeserving winner of the Oscars - Winner of Best Foreign Language Film of The Year 2013. It got me thinking, is this year's nominees that bad? I haven't been disappointed so far, Life is Beautiful; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Lives of Others and Departures were a few of the many winners which left me wanting more. 

When this film ended, I kinda felt that I wasted my time watching it. I was so excited to finally buy it from my local dvd store but now it almost feels like a waste of money. It wasn't ttthhhhaaatttt bad, but it fell flat on my expectations. Even Intouchables could easily beat this (Golden Globe Nominee, a different award)... 

An elderly's couple love is put to the test when the wife comes down with a stroke which paralyses one side of her body. As time goes by, her physical and mental health deteriorates, leaving her dispaired husband having to carry the burden of a promise he made to her all by himself... that he would not send her to a nursing home no matter what happens.

That's what happens when promises are made too readily, kept too blindly... leading to an inevitable tragedy... The twist in the ending happened too abruptly, and I felt the build up of empathy lacking. Before I could even bask in their love for each other, I was repeatedly thrown with scenes of melancholy. 

When it comes to an elderly's couple love, none can beat the one portrayed in Away From Her. It was a movie that till this day resonates in my heart, and mind. Amour, on the other hand is not only a "weaker" version, but also one which is highly forgettable. It almost feels like a documentary, illustrating the harsh reality of life. 

If I had wanted to watch something as tragic as this, I might as well suffocate myself with a pillow. At least I wouldn't have to sit through 2hrs of "torture". There is no silver lining, because the only clouds are overcast ones... The posters however, might just be the rainbow that this movie needs (I love how 2 versions of the posters portrays 2 different angles of the same shot). 

Prisoners

Ratings: 8.2/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Thriller

When the police releases the prime suspect behind the kidnapping of Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter, he takes matters into his own hands and captures the suspect, effecting his own methods to force the truth out of him. But is the suspect really responsible behind the kidnappings (the town has a history of child kidnaps)? Or is he merely an innocent man who just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time? 

That's the big question mark presented in the trailers. We already know what's coming... the kidnapping, the capturing of the suspect... but we don't know if the suspect is guilty or not. The first 45mins or so was the expected buildup, and though it took that long to progress into the storyline proper, it didn't fail to keep its audiences at the edge of their seats. 

I love the filming style, and the dull colors filling this dreary looking town played a huge part in creating the mood for this film. The cinematography during the first 45mins was rather artsy; out of focus split-screen-like shots, slow zooming-in shots of what looked like still-life images of trees and houses etc. All made to mimic the first-person view shots. 

The next hour or so was Saw-like, when Hugh Jackman started torturing this poor bugger... and the director skilfully played around with the audience's repulsion and sympathy for the suspect by presenting ambigous clues. I almost ran the risk of emotional schizo. *major spoilers ahead* I especially liked how the suspect whispered something to Hugh Jackman when he was being assaulted at a parking lot, and the chinese subtitles flashed so fast, words so incoherent it got me thinking, s*** what did I miss? Well, aparently it was intended... and to make matters worst, somehow the chinese subtitles in this movie were very tiny. Yes, tiny, like ants moving on a log tiny. 

Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman gave stellar performances, but there's a haunting question about Jake Gyllenhaal on my mind - is he on drugs? His strong blinking reflex was very prominent in this film, I'm not sure if it was intended, but I don't recall picking this up when I caught his other movies such as Donnie Darko, Source Code, Prince of Persia, Jarhead, Love & Other Drugs, Zodiac, The Day After Tomorrow and the recent End of Watch (yup, I've watched that many of his films... I think I'm a fan).

But he's still likeable nonetheless, despite his irritating blinking reflex. Hugh Jackman dominated the screen most of the time. Do not expect a fast-paced action thriller... There's lotsa dialogue in this, the music almost hypnotising and might not make such a great movie after a long day's work, but everything, the setting, the color scheme, the dialogue, were all crucial in creating the empathetic feel towards the devastated dad. Hell, if it was me, I'll prolly do the same. 

Did I mention that the plot rocks? It was solid. The entire story development was well thought of, and it became clearer piece by piece. Unlike most thrillers, when the twist hits, everything falls into place. Not for this, there were twists here and there, but like pieceing a jigsaw puzzle, even when left with the last few pieces, it wasn't that easy to figure out where the pieces fit in. 

The ending... *warning: major major spoilers alert* was one of the best cliffhangers out there. Normally cliffhanger endings would leave its audiences unsatisfied, but unlike most others, even the ending was so well thought of it blew me away *pun intended*. Towards the end, I wondered, how was the movie going to end with one huge portion of it uncovered? And when the ending scene came on, it wasn't the director's convenient way of saying, ok let's not elaborate this, you should know how it ends. Instead, I knew immediately (though I was stunned for 2 secs just like the rest of people in the cinema) what the director intended... made obvious by the clues he left us throughout the movie. Hugh Jackman is a hunter, he always prepare for the worst, and Jack Gyllenhaal has a perfect record for solving cases... 

The title, though seemingly literal, to indicate that the 2 kidnapped girls were the prisoners, taking into account how well thought the plot and development was, I would think it also refers to the suspect being a prisoner. This is pretty straight forward. But delving deeper, it's not just the 3 individuals, even Hugh Jackman was a "prisoner" himself. The way he keeps asking for God's forgiveness and yet did the things he did, it just goes to show how conflicted, and trapped he really feels. 

I could be overthinking it, but I'm almost as positively sure as Hugh Jackman that it's the case, even though I may not be spot on, I'm sure I'm close to the truth...

Oblivion

Rating: 7.7/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Sci-Fi

A battered Planet Earth remains, where most of its human habitants were wiped out by an invading alien species. The remaining survivors now reside in a space station. Jack and his partner were tasked to protect the power stations which extract Earth's remaining resources that powers up the space station, and also to maintain the drones which protect the power stations. However, when their drones keep disappearing and one of their power stations destroyed, it's up to Jack to hunt down the remaining alien survivors still on Earth and uncover their real motive.

I had thought Oblivion was just another modern day post-apocalytic tale, but it turned out to be a true-blue (or white since the color theme for this movie is obviously white) sci-fi action flick. It had great graphics, realistic setting, story packed a pow wow, and the only thing it fell flat on was the scripting. Not a major issue though, I easily overlooked the bad (extremely bad) scripting cos of the plot.

There wasn't many main cast, and a whole lot of Tom Cruise in this. It was refreshing to see "Jamie Lanister", from Game of Thrones (ok his actual name is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and he did good whatever little screentime he had. Even for Morgan Freeman, his few main appearances I believe was intended to add extra "coolness" to the film. 

Both female leads were gorgeous, literally, especially Olga Kurylenko (who gained popularity after being cast as the Bond girl). There was something about her this one, she made the film "complete", despite being given her bad lines. A particularly memorable scene was when she was in this shuttle plane with Tom Cruise and they had to battle some drones (3 to be exact). There was something very corny and unconvincing about both their acting, even a top-rated actor like Tom Cruise lost some points there, but I can only imagine how silly they must have felt facing a green screen, digging deep and trying hard to express whatever facial emotions they could churn out - which needless to say, failed terribly. 

The first 20 mins or so felt like a horror movie, and there was a hugh twist in the storyline. It wasn't original though, the first thing that came to my mind when the twist hit was that it ressembled another sci-fi movie, the title I wouldn't disclose here. However, it wasn't the originality but the impact of the twist which made it for me. For you curious folks out there, a hint would be that the title of the other movie has something to do with what is "broken" (ok, to be less subtle, destroyed - not the power stations) is in this film. 

Coincidentally, Tom Cruise's name is Jack Harper is in this film, and in his most recent film Jack Reacher, he starred as, Jack Reacher (duh). Perhaps there's something Jack about Tom, because he does fit the name, somehow... and both movies were pretty awesome. 

It turned out way better than I had expected, because the story nailed it. A must watch for sci-fi movie fans! Easily one of the better sci-fi films out there!