YESTERDAY

Release Date: Malaysia, 17 June 2019

Genre: Romance / Fantasy

Running Length: 1:56

Cast: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Joel Fry, Ed Sheeran, Kate McKinnon, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Alexander Arnold

Director: Danny Boyle

Screenplay: Richard Curtis 

When I first saw the trailer to YESTERDAY, I was immediately intrigued by its concept. And oh, the songs! It was a must see for me. 

Obviously, the expectations was high walking into the screening of this movie. Unfortunately, I walked out feeling disappointed that such a good idea went to waste. 

What's this movie about? Well, it's about Jack Malik (Patel) a struggling musician who gets hit by a bus one day and when he wakes up, he finds that The Beatles and their songs are erased from existence. Imagine a world without the music of The Beatles! Nobody on Earth has ever heard of their music except Jack. Yup...he decides to seize the opportunity and claims ownership of The Beatles' songs. This is not a spoiler as it's all in the trailer (see below). 

I can't really put a finger to why this movie was a disappointment for me. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't fully explore the effects of a world without The Beatles? Perhaps the moral dilemma of stealing the songs was poorly interpreted? Perhaps the people behind this movie are really talented people (Danny Boyle, Richard Curtis) but what they came out with was just...meh? 

Instead, Yesterday ended up being a cliched rom-com. And it's not even very good. The chemistry between the two lovebirds were only half believable. All in all, it's one of those movies that aspires to achieve a lot of things but end up achieving nothing.     

However, not all is lost. Lead actor Himesh Patel can sing (In fact, I'm listening to him singing now from the soundtrack). His performance is serviceable with one standout scene, where he was challenged by Ed Sheeran (playing himself) to a song writing + performance showdown. 

If anything, I've a newfound appreciation for the music of The Beatles and their songs are playing on loop now on my Spotify. 

RATING: 6/10

127 HOURS (2010)

Genre: Thriller
Running Length: 1:34
Cast: James Franco
Director: Danny Boyle

Finally dared myself to watch 127 HOURS and it wasn't all that gruesome. Maybe it's because there was an anticipation of THE scene so it didn't come as a shock. Needless to say, that scene is difficult to watch as the camera doesn't shy away from our protagonist as he "gave away" his right arm for a chance at survival. It's a bloody and unpleasant experience. For the uninitiated, 127 Hours is a true story of 27 years old Aaron Ralston (James Franco) adventure into Utah's Blue John Canyon. A terrible mishap happened during one of his venture that resulted him being trapped between a rock and a hard place literally (his right arm was crushed between a boulder and a tunnel wall. The ordeal lasted over 5 days). The highlight of the film was not the "his will to live" story because it didn't generate any level of tension and intensity which I was expecting. Instead, I was more fascinated with the form the film makers employed to tell the story. For example, to introduce our main character as a live for the moment person, the director employed multiple angle shots of the same scene presented across three panels, turned up the colour and brightness of the landscape shots and layered it with a throbbing score. As a result, there was so much manic energy I couldn't peel my eyes away from the screen. I'm impressed that the same crew behind Slumdog Millionaire is responsible for 127 Hours as it bears little resemblance to one another. It's a testimony to the talents of these creative folks. James Franco to my opinion was effective but not outstanding. He didn't make me care for him as he transformed from a cocky and selfish person to a grateful and appreciative individual.

Rating: 6.5/10