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

LONG SHOT

Release Date: Malaysia, 02 May 2019

Genre: Romance / Comedy

Running Length: 2:05

Cast: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Serkis, Alexander Skarsgård

Director: Jonathan Levine

Screenplay: Liza Hannah, Dan Sterling

I hardly watch a romantic comedy but if I do, I hope to walk out of the cinema hall feeling entertained; the fuzzy-feel-good kinda feeling.  It's like reading a fantasy book. You are fully aware the stuff in there will not happen but yet you just want to pause reality for a second and root that our couple will overcome all odds and will eventually walk away into the sunset hand-in-hand.

LONG SHOT tells the tale of Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen), an angry left-wing journalist and Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), the Secretary of State preparing to run for President of the United States. Of course, they crossed path and things become complicated. 

"Give me a LIKE if you think Charlize Theron is a goddess"

Structurally, Long Shot follows the rom-com formula closely. Perhaps that is where I found it predictable. I know I'm contradicting myself.

What I was looking for was the formulaic romantic pairings but with just a good amount of risk thrown in. I was not expecting a grounded drama but just a little update to that formula. But alas, this is not that movie. 

What I do like in this film is the pop culture references. Some of these are clever. Actors, actresses, singers and even politicians are being referenced directly and indirectly resulting to some genuine giggles; Woody Harrelson, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Jeremy Piven, Chris Brown and even the Prime Minister of Canada is not spared. And the choice of retro pop music used sparingly throughout the movie was a nice touch.

"Hey guys, did you know I starred in this 2008 film 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno'?"

If the filmmakers were to stick to such sharp dialogue instead of relying on visual gags which involves bodily fluids and getting high, I would have enjoyed this movie more. Some of the choices that Theron's Secretary of State does just to land some laughs from the audience, are out-of-character.

Thankfully, the chemistry between Rogen + Theron is believable here; just like what the movie poster says, "unlikely but not impossible".  However, it would have worked better for me if the filmmakers were to explore deeper the theme of being authentic (but yet open to change) as part of the resolution instead of trying too hard to be politically correct. 

RATING: 6.5/10

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (Malaysia, 22 Aug 2018)

Genre: Romance / Comedy

Running Length: 2:00

Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Pierre Png, Lisa Lu, 

Director: Jon M. Chu 

Screenplay: Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the book by Kevin Kwan 

What's this movie about?

CRAZY RICH ASIANS tells the tale of New Yorker Rachel Chu (Wu) who follows her boyfriend Nick Young (Golding) to his home country of Singapore to attend his best friend's wedding. She soon learns that Nick comes from a super filthy rich family.

Before Rachel can even wrap her head around the near royalty lifestyle, she meets Nick's icy mother (Yeoh). And the "queen" is not impressed with her.

This movie is your typical poor girl who finds her Prince Charming, but featuring an all-Asian cast.

Highlights!

• The near perfect casting. By placing the right actors in the right role, the director could draw out the best from their limited acting range (this is Malaysian-born Golding big screen acting debut). Speaking of performances, I personally enjoyed watching the legendary actress Michelle Yeoh as Nick's mother - her background is pretty complex and audience would understand why she has this tough personality. A shout out to Gemma Chan too as Nick's poised cousin but is actually going through her own set of domestic problems. 
• The strong women characters. Thanks to Malaysian writer Adele Lim, she understands what it takes for an Asian woman to be both strong and vulnerable. She injected enough of such subtlety to her female characters to make them believable.  
• The romance is believable. Like all romcom, the success of the movie is dependent on the chemistry of the couple and thankfully, they have it.  
• Just enough comedy. We agree that Awkwafina and Ken Jeong's brand of comedy could be too in your face at times, but they are amusing here in small doses.
• Visually beautiful. The cinematography successfully captures the grandeur of Singapore, the glitz of the high society and the close-ups like the food scenes. The wedding scene had the audiences swooning! 
• Soundtrack. A smart choice of using recognizable English language pop songs but sung in Chinese language to appeal to the Western cinema goers. 

Lowlights

• The ending. It somehow seems abrupt and too neat with a ribbon bow and all. 
• A certain minority group played for laughs. It was unnecessary. 
• Feels like a Singapore Tourism Board ad. Especially in the beginning and the end - it was just too heavy handed.

In summary

CRAZY RICH ASIANS is actually a modern-day fairy tale. It's an escapist fantasy that entertains. And more importantly, the hype and publicity is real - this movie is indeed going to go down as a piece of history which has the potential to open doors for more Asian-led commercial motion pictures in Hollywood.

RATING: 8/10

THE SHAPE OF WATER (Malaysia, 22 Mar 2018)

Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Running Length: 2:03
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Doug Jones
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor

I can understand why THE SHAPE OF WATER recently won the Best Picture at the Oscars. But it's not because of a compelling story but it checks most of the boxes of what the Academy voters were looking for at this current time. It was the safest choice. It would have been interesting if Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won because it would have been a controversial pick.

What's the movie about?
Set in the 1960s, a mute and lonely cleaning lady who works at a top secret government facility forms an unconventional relationship with a scaled creature that is being held in captivity. She attempts to free the creature from the sadistic government agent. 

What I like about it?

• The overall grandeur of the production. It's beautiful to look at and the set designs are detailed and rich. 
• The creature. Thank God the filmmakers didn't use CGI but instead opted for the traditional hours and hours of make-up job. But then it's a Guillermo del Toro film :) 
• Eventhough it's a fantasy, it's still a more realistic adult fairy tale story vs Beauty and the Beast. In this movie, the creature do behave dangerously like an animal at times. 
• Unconventional choice for a leading lady. Instead of choosing a pretty young thing, the filmmakers decided to go with a mature lady with a next door neighbour looks. And Sally Hawkin's performance as an "incomplete" lonely lady in love with a non-human being is very believable. She's very likeable here.  
• Homage to classic musical movies. Cinephiles out there will love what delToro did here. 

What I didn't?

• Shallow approach to inclusiveness, racism, homosexuality, women's empowerment, the black community, the Cold War, the Russian spy and technological unemployment. It felt as though the filmmakers threw in a buffet of such Oscar worthy subjects just to get noticed by the Academy. It was very heavy handed.      
• Unbelievable antagonist. Although Michael Shannon's performance here is scary and intense, his frothing at the mouth character is unbelievable and overly stereotyped (All white, heterosexual, Christian, American men are evil).
• Boring. Despite such an interesting concept, I was actually bored throughout most of the film. I wasn't immersed with the characters and some parts were just too predictable. (Three Billboards is much more interesting in its unpredictability and characters' arc).

RATING: 7.5/10

BRIDGET JONES'S BABY (2016)

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Running Length: 2:00

Cast: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Sarah Solemani, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Emma Thompson

Director: Sharon Maguire 

Screenplay: Helen Fielding and Dan Mazar and Emma Thompson, based on characters created by Helen Fielding 

When you watch a Bridget Jones movie, you're 100% sure it will have a happy ending. So, when I walked into BRIDGET JONES'S BABY, all I did was relax and enjoy the ride. And enjoyed it, I did. It was consistently witty, laugh out loud funny at times and even moving in some scenes. It exceeded my expectations. 

There's just something commendable about making a well written romantic comedy for the older audience. It's rare in an era where movie studios prefer to churn out romcoms to appeal to the below 30s viewers in the name of box office moola.  

As for the plot, the movie title and poster kinda says it all. Bridget Jones, 43 years old, is single again and has split from Mr Darcy some years now. Darcy has moved on and married to someone else. All alone on her birthday, Jones decided it's time to take control of her life by attending a Woodstock "make love, not war" type of music festival, got herself wasted and ended up bonking Dempsey's character; a dashing entrepreneur who's an expert in love algorithm. A week later, Jones is briefly reconnected with Mr Darcy (who is now separated) and yes, you guessed it...also ended up under the sheets. 

Predictably, she is preggers. But who's the father? Jeng jeng jeng...And so the chaos ensues with the two potential fathers fighting over both Jones and her baby. In the previous installments, we all secretly want Bridget to end up with Mr Darcy but she will always be distracted by another man. In the first two films, it was Hugh Grant's character, and in this one, it's Dempsey's Jack Qwant.     

Overall the cast is solid with a special shout out to wonderful new additions Emma Thompson and Sarah Solemani who plays a gynaecologist and Bridget's colleague respectively. As for Patrick Dempsey, he is charming indeed but I feel he is trying a little too hard and thus ended up not being a worthy opponent of Firth's Mark Darcy.  

To sum it up, even if you've not watched any of the earlier films (or read the books), you'll still have a good time watching it. 

Rating: 7.5/10

MAN UP (2015)

Genre: Romance/Comedy
Running Length: 1:28
Cast: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Ophelia Lovibond, Olivia Williams, Rory Kinnear, Sharon Horgan, Stephen Campbell Moore
Director: Ben Palmer
Screenplay: Tess Morris 

MAN UP is like a pop version of Before Sunrise. Our two main characters talk about various topics (nice movie references) and do things together as they get deeper and deeper into each others' hang-ups as the night goes by, but the treatment is overly simplistic and too neat. The guilty pleasure of watching a romantic comedy is its predictability. We know where the story will be heading but what defines a true adult rom-com is how the filmmakers take a tried and tested formula and add a layer of realism into it (Personally, Silver Linings Playbook still takes the cake in this genre). Man Up started off quite promisingly but it got really clumsy and corny as it came to the end. And when an unrequited high school crush towards our female lead shows up in the middle of the film to give it a dash of slapstick, you know where all this is heading. Nevertheless, Pegg and Bell make a charming couple. And the gender reversal scenario does give it a little twist, where our male lead plays the hopeless romantic instead while the female is the cynic but both are a mess inside, thus making them a believable couple. Some quieter scenes are really engaging (like the scene where Bell observes that Pegg is an "emotional jigsaw" and he just needs to "find the corners" to piece every thing together) but they are few and far between.

Rating: 6/10

ANJAAN (2014)

Genre: Action / Romance
Running Length: 2:45
Cast: Suriya, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Vidyut Jamwal
Director: Lingusamy

ANJAAN (English translation: Fearless) is a movie straight out of the 80s early 90s gangster film playbook where style over substance is the focus.
A cool charismatic lead with trademark moves? Checked.
Slow-mo action scenes and shootouts? Checked.
Loyalty and brotherhood? Checked.
Female characters who are not given much to do but exist mainly for eye candy? Double checked.

This mildly entertaining popcorn flick is Suriya's movie all the way. When we are first introduced to Suriya's portrayal as the gang leader (he plays two characters; the gangster head and his brother), Suriya literally strides into the scene like a god. He cuts a fine figure wearing a tight V neck T-shirt and sunglasses, a toothpick hanging from his mouth and spots a perfectly trimmed facial hair with Neymar-like hairstyle - walks across the room in slow motion with smoke all around him. It's a moment that cries out "Cool!" Unfortunately, Suriya is unable to save the film as it suffers from a weak script, poor character development and unnecessarily lengthy narrative. To be fair, Suriya gives an earnest performance especially evident in his portrayal of the two characters but in the end, the film doesn't amount to much. Compared to Suriya's last flick, Singam 2, that movie moved along very swiftly because of its tight editing but Anjaan somehow feels bloated. The fight sequences are uninspired and predictable (someone will sure crash through a window or land on glass tables shattering it into thousand pieces - in slow-mo). What I did like however is the sequencing of the story where Suriya's gangster character is being told as a flashback, thus elevating him into legend status. Verdict: Maybe Suriya should stop associating himself with such films in order to do justice to his potential.

Rating: 4.5/10

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (2014)

Genre: Drama/Romance
Running Length: 2:05
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe, Lotte Verbeek
Director: Josh Boone

It's actually not a bad movie but there is nothing unremarkable about the "teenage cancer romance" date-flick THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. In fact towards the end, the film became a little draggy and was trying a little too hard to manipulate some tears out from the audience. However, it's a different story altogether for the two leads; as their portrayal of cancer patients who are falling for each other are beautifully realized. Their performance are honest and heartfelt and when they are together, they are adorable. A special shout out to the male lead, Ansel Elgot, who is insanely charismatic as the can-do survivor for the first 3/4 of the film but really nails his performance towards the end. One interesting thing to point out is that the film manages to capture a sense of immediacy in an unforced manner mainly through its sharp and witty dialogue. The main characters are definitely living in the now (because they have no future) for they do not hide their thoughts and emotions - "That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."

Although many of the movie goers in the cinema couldn't stop crying towards the end, I actually felt that the ending was hopeful. This quote beautifully summarizes it:

"To love someone fiercely, to believe in something with your whole heart, to celebrate a fleeting moment in time, to fully engage in a life that doesn’t come with guarantees – these are risks that involve vulnerability and often pain. But, I’m learning that recognizing and leaning into the discomfort of vulnerability teaches us how to live with joy, gratitude and grace." Brene Brown

Rating: 6/10

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Romance
Running Length: 1:57
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, Brea Bee
Director: David O. Russell

I'm never a fan of Hollywood romantic comedies because it's just so..."templatized". But SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is such a quirky adult romantic comedy it goes beyond the standard of this genre. Although it's a funny movie, the underlying premise is actually quite sad. Its characters and the relationships they are in are all broken and dysfunctional to various degrees. What's interesting is that the film makers use mental illness as a catalyst to romance (thankfully it was treated with respect ie. they didn't "Adam Sandler" it). Our couple, played by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are so well-matched as a screen couple their chemistry is electrifying! Whenever the two appeared on screen, I was completely engaged. And there's Robert DeNiro who reminds us why he is among the greatest actor of his generation (and it's actually possible for him to appear in a comedy without making a fool out of himself). There's this moving scene where DeNiro's tough character opens up to his son (Cooper's character) and breaks down in the middle of it. And the song choices used is a standout as it establishes the setting and enhances the scenes. Good thing is that despite the doom and gloom theme, the film ends (oh, and what a moving ending!) on a hopeful and life affirming note - a silver lining indeed. "This is what I believe to be true. You have to do everything you can. You have to work your hardest. And if you do, if you stay positive, then you have a shot at a silver lining."

Rating: 8.5/10