long awaited review

Slumdog Millionaire
Directed By : Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later)
Rating 4.1/5 Stars

One of the most feel good movie I had seen in awhile. Firstly it is amazing that an English director managed to shoot a movie about India and the slums living conditions like he had lived there his whole life.

But I don't like the idea of the two leads Dev Patel and the really cute Indian girl Freida Pinto being shot to superstardom due to the success of the movie. I can say their performances is like the two worst performances in the movie. All the cast are really good, especially the young kids who played the siblings and they had never even acted their whole life. (and who knows, they may not even had watch TV b4)

But the main reason why the movie success is its feel good factor, typically of a Indian Bollywood movie with all its singing and dancing and no doubt the movie deserve all the accolades it got at the Oscars, I think only the Dark Knight even come close as competition to Slumdog, but too bad the pretendious Academy dun like superheroes.




The Wrestler
Directed By: Darrren Afronosky (Requiem of A Dream, The Fountain)
Rating 3.8/5 Stars

For a guy who had watched wrestling his whole life and slammed his brother a million times, this is a really brutally honest, emotional movie. Its really like Mickey Rouke playing himself, before his comeback in this movie, having accepting all kinds of minor roles and being in alot of trashy movies.

The supermarket scenes is one of the funniest scenes I had seen in awhile, and I just noticed jokes usually work when people are making fun at themselves. Mickey Rouke should won an Oscar this year had it not been Sean Penn amazing performance as Harvey Milk.

And I really hope Darren Afronosky makes more movies like this, stay grounded to indies and make some more character movies, maybe "The Fucker" since there are so many fuckers around nowadays or "The Arsehole". And I had alot of names in my mind suitable for the roles.


Doubt
Directed by: John Patrick Stanley
Rating:3/5 Stars


This movie give me a dozen million question marks, and it is one of the most wtf-est kind of ending that you will ever seen. And the movie really deserve it title, it gives me Doubt.

From start to end you saw the A List actors doing their job, and its makes you do alot of thinking throughout, is the priest the rapist, does the nun really knows what the priest did, the movie gives you so many questions but never an answer. If the cinema seat was mobile, I might fall off my seat at the ending.

So yes, I was entertained and I applaud the brilliant acting, but I feel more dissatisfied.

Directed by: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Elephant)
Rating 3.5/5 stars

Everytime there is a very gay movie, there will always come out an even gay-er movie. While you thought Brokeback Mountain was a breakthrough already for the 2 male leads kissing scenes, this movies see guy kissing every now and then. Where is the love man. I couldn't imagine how gays movies about gays will be in 20 yrs time.

This movie personally to me feels more like a art house flick. I personally not really into documentary style storytelling of movies thus even though I know this is a good mivie, i cannot find myself to love it. THe only thing I am amazed is Sean Penn acting. There is one thing between those so call acting and character actors, Sean Penn is not acting anymore, he is basically being the protaganist character himself. The way he can maintain the balance and consistency manner, you can see heart and soul of the real Harvey Milk in it. (even though i dun even know who the fark is Harvey Milk, i might know his brother Davidson)

Lastly I had to admit Gus Van Sant's direction was superb; he used the technique of blending real footage into the movie footage that we've seen before, but he managed to maintain a nice balance bewteen the 2 that dosen't make us feel like we are watching a documentary. He made everything lively and fresh while not getting in the way of the actors doing their jobs and that's pretty solid.

Directed By: David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac)
Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

THis movie is sorta of a flashback of Brad Pitt career history, you get to see his look Ah Beng blonde in Meet Joe Black, short blonde hair in Sevens Yrs in Tibet, his 40s suave look in the Ocean Trilogy. Brad get alot of applaud for his acting but I personally feel it is not he who is acting, its his makeup that is acting. If there is an award for Best Makeup (there really is), this film will sweeps all the makeup awards (this review is proudly sponsored by M.A.C)

Every other performer outperforms him in the movie especially his onscreen adopted mother Queenie who I think steals the show, every scene she appears make me almost tear, andhis partner on screen Cate Blanchett who played every age part of Daisy flawlessly, you could believe her when she still a innocent looking teenage girl (she's actually hitting the big 40 this yr), as the talented graceful dancer in her rebellious 20s, even the 60s when she is taking care of the already baby Benjamin, thats really some solid acting.

I like the way Benjamin Button was born as a old, and grow up living with the old, seeing old people die, having old people as his best friends, this slowly leads the most difficult part of his life, even when he looks like he is in his 20s or 30s, he is still a old man inside his heart, and that shows when he couldn't understand Daisy having so much fun at the party, he had never been to a party.

But the biggest thing that bugs me most about the film is the thing at the core: the relationship between Daisy and Benjamin. It misses something very, very, important: why they fell in love in the first place. It never really explains, you could understand why Brad fall in love with Tilda Swinton Elizabeth, having share their lives and stories waiting for each other every night at the lobby, but why Daisy, she is just another girl in his "childhood".

And i especially hate the montage part b4 Daisy is get knocked by a car, the what if the woman nv buy coffee, and the man nv tie shoelaces Daisy wouldn't have being knocked down. It spoils the whole mood of the movie for me, how the hell will Benjamin know a man in the street was tying a shoelaces.

Nevertheless this movie is good, the whole direction sets up the mood perfectly, the technically aspects really good too, but one thing for this movie, it will never be a great.

Directed By: John Patrick Stanley

Rating 3/5 stars

Review coming soon....