Let's Fight

The only words that Ryan Gosling spoke in Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives' trailer was 'Wanna fight?'. I say, let's do it. Only God Forgives landed on VOD and iTunes this week and I got the chance to watch it! It's the second Refn/Gosling collaboration after the instant classic-although some might say overrated-Drive in the year 2011 or some might call 2011 AG (Anno Goslingi, the year of Gosling). Adding to collaboration is Kristin Scott Thomas who plays Gosling's character's mother. The film is set in Bangkok and by the looks from the trailers, prepare to be blinded by neon lights.

The story is about this (once-again) verbally inactive character called Julian who resided in Bangkok and ran a front for drug business. His brother was killed brutally and their mother wanted revenge. However, things are not that simple as it involved some Bangkok powerful cop, Lt. Chang who loved using swords to instate justice.

That's basically the plot, add that with Refn's usual brilliance for visuals, Ryan Gosling staring at blank space, over-the-top violence, crazy great cinematography, and the super dreamy, electric score by Cliff Martinez. And you will get Only God Forgives. Yes, that's my first impression after watching this. Shouting loudly in my mind, 'what the fuck just happened?' But then again you review the whole film, read trivia on imdb and you can understand more about the film while not wholly understand the film's stupendous brilliance right away. That would need two or three more viewings. First things first, don't think this film as a reality-based film. Think of it as a fairy tale about a man who seeks redemption from the higher power for something he did in the past. Ryan Gosling is as usual cool in his role. Kristin Scott Thomas is AMAZING, so speechless. And the guy who played the God cop, Vithaya P (sorry I cannot write your last name), is equally disturbing and menacing while keeping a straight face all the time. Some sequences just won over me like the torture scene (which serves like the hammer scene for Drive) and the climactic fight scene. That fight scene was incredible because it's so nicely shot and the music is eargasmic. The world definitely needs Nicolas Winding Refn to top that scene. My only complaint about this film is that it plays too slow with people just staring at blank spaces. However, I need to watch it again to make my final judgment on whether I loved this film, or I liked this film or just hate it. As a whole, I liked Drive more than Only God Forgives but this film has that something special that Drive didn't have. For now, Only God Forgives: rated 3/4. 

Next week's The Lone Ranger review might include something else! clue: McConaughey.

From Nerdvana

Comic-con just wrapped up, and I just started my exam week. Just a quick post on the geek fest and what did we get from it and how do I feel about it. A super quick post because right now I'm studying for my psychology finals. Please do keep in mind, I'm not a full-on hardcore geek nerd that reads comics and can name the villains of Justice League of America. I'm a guy who loves watching films and that will be my perspective.

1. Jennifer Lawrence in Comic-con
Verdict: YEAH
Appearing in two panels, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Catching Fire, Jennifer totally took over The Hunger Games panel while almost took over the massive panel of X-Men that includes Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry. Even Peter Dinklage didn't get to speak while Jennifer talked more. I'm a fan of Dinklage but YEAH, JENNIFER. On the other news we got the show-stopping new trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

2. On Superman/Batman movie
Verdict: EMM
It should be a super-great, groundbreaking premise..... ten years ago, when Troy director Wolfgang Petersen proposed the idea. Now, post-The Dark Knight trilogy the idea seems strange. What the world need the least is the reboot version of Batman. The Comic-Con audience may realize that it will be Batman reboot, but come on even some of my friends are still wondering whether The Amazing Spider-Man is a sequel or prequel to Spider-Man trilogy. Suggestion for DC, let's not try to match The Avengers.

3. Marvel Cinematic Universe
Verdict: EMM
It is a quiet panel for me, if it's not for the bombastic entrance made by Tom Hiddleston in character as Loki. The reveal for the new villain for Avengers is not that exciting. I find it crazy that Marvel started out really grounded in reality with Iron Man and then continued on to have stories like Guardians of the Galaxy that has a talking raccoon in it and also Ant-Man which is totally okay to laugh at the premise if it's not Edgar Wright who's bringing the character to screen. The anticipation is still there, but not pre-Avengers great.

4. Days of Future Past
Verdict: YEAH
The most interesting and exciting panel this year, bringing First Class actors alongside the original trilogy actors. Definitely bound to be one of the biggest films next year.


Honorable Mentions:
Godzilla's teaser poster might be the coolest in Comic-Con alongside with X-Men's. Plus we got a glimpse of Tom Cruise's latest Edge of Tomorrow. On the small screen panels, we got exciting video tributes from Game of Thrones titled In Memoriam and also from Supernatural. Don't forget Bryan Cranston cos-playing as none other than Walter White in a Bryan Cranston mask to promote and talk about the final episodes of Breaking Bad.


Next week: The Lone Ranger review!

Quarter Mile on a Fast Lane

Finally Fast and Furious 6 hits Japan! Or as Justin Lin called it, Furious 6; or as the Japanese called it, Wild Speed: Euro Mission. Thanks to the brilliant Fast Five, now we have this sixth entry to the ever-growing franchise. The film adds Haywire's Gina Carano, Luke Evans and brings back Michelle Rodriguez while totally removes the two Mexican siblings character. After the cliffhanger ending to Fast Five, we know what would happen: bringing back Letty to the family.

The story starts as Agent Luke Hobbs (The Rock) tries to capture the global terrorist Owen Shaw (Evans) by putting Torretto's team back together, fight wolves with wolves he said. O'Conner and Mia already have a kid, Han and Gisele are trying to settle together, while Roman is just Roman with more money. Toretto wants to help Hobbs because they found Letty to be one of Shaw's crew.

The film is crazy entertaining. It's packed with action right from the start until the end. The action might be super over-the-top but hey, anything to make our tickets and time worthwhile. Particularly the Toretto's super-jump to save Letty, that's like the coolest and sweetest thing at the same time. Although, as a whole, Fast Five wins by default. FF6 is better in the villains and the stunts. I like Gina Carano's addition to the franchise although not liking the way her character turned out. Gina Carano vs Michelle Rodriguez might be the coolest girl-on-girl fight ever filmed. Everytime Gina Carano flips and locks, my jaw dropped, which happens throughout Haywire. But her acting might be a little off from the others. And then there's Joe Taslim from Indonesia (woohooo!). His screentime apparently is quite plenty which I did not expect. So proud of him being in one of the biggest Hollywood film of the year. For the other cast, everyone seems to be better than before, most notably Paul Walker. Vin Diesel is cooler, Tyrese is super funny, and whoever doesn't love Sung Kang and Gal Gadot together can start looking for their lost soul. And there's a cameo from Rita Ora too!

Letty's return might be too cliche but still passable. And the writer's decision to include Braga from FF4 is quite smart (not to mention the Tokyo Drift connection, which is incredible). Plus, the always-included 'family comes first' motto is a high point in the script. But my least liked decision about the film is still the fact that Mia is pregnant which avoided her from doing much action. And also the exclusion of Elsa Pataky's character in the story which is a big loss. In all its great action sequences, Fast and Furious 6 still manages to be the Game of Thrones of Hollywood films by killing the beloved characters and doesn't give them a proper closure. Come on, if Han really loved Gisele, would he just wait for her to emerge from the fires? He would find her body and bury her himself! That waiting from the fire scene is just plain silly. Also Elena's total willingness to be traded with Letty is cringe-worthy. But that's nice of Dom to still invite her to the family. However, I can live with that now that JASON STATHAM IS ON BOARD FOR FF7! SPOILER ALERT B*TCHESSSSSSS. Fast & Furious 6: rated 3.7/4 (minus points for the silly parts, plus points for the cool parts)



BONUS three-sentence reviews:
1. Trance
Danny Boyle's latest is a fun, trippy film like its title drawing inspiration from Inception. James McAvoy is amazing but the film's level of mindfuck is just slightly below standards for these kind of films. 3/4 

2. Spring Breakers
One of my most anticipated film of the year. Think of it as your average teen film meets Terrence Malick meets Nicolas Winding Refn and add that with cool Cliff Martinez/Skrillex soundtrack and one of James Franco's best performance. It has flaws but can you really hate a film with two Britney Spears song? 3/4

3. 42
A good old-fashioned true-story drama. Great direction, great acting, great film. It has Harrison Ford, Alan Tudyk and also Lucas Black of Tokyo Drift. However it's just so formulaic to default. 3.5/4

4. Evil Dead (2013)
The remake to one of the most effective horror film ever. It substitutes black humor with gore, with so much gore. The final scene is just the best sequence ever in a horror film but this being the most terrifying film experience? Definitely not. 3.5/4


Maybe no new film reviews until The Lone Ranger finally opens on August 2. See you soon!

Triple Short Scoops

Yo yo yo, embracing the lateness in Japan, I am now going to review the three late summer movies that are actually really up to date in Japan: Baz Luhrmann's latest The Great Gatsby, Smith family project After Earth and the third entry to The Hangover franchise. It's all really new here in Japan, I kid you not. Here comes the reviews!

The Great Gatsby
Baz Luhrmann is actually one of my favorite directors (thanks to the eternally brilliant Moulin Rouge!) and he's one of the few directors that all of his films I have watched. He made his return after Australia, and bringing F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless epic to the screen. Joining the circus are Leo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. The film was trying so hard to be epic. It has a magnificent set design (and CGI). The music was superb, especially Lana Del Rey's ballad that kept blaring everytime Daisy and Gatsby are on the screen. The colors were vibrant too. It has the right castings except maybe for Carey Mulligan or maybe her part was too underwritten. I experienced all the amazement that Carraway had for Gatsby but not Gatsby's feeling for Daisy. There are also an important scene that was becoming unintentionally funny, which is a bummer. Moreover, the computerized background and CG crane shots maybe too much too handle. Luhrmann's dependence on those computers backfired much for a film like this. Plus, the 3D looks pointless. The Great Gatsby: rated 3/4.

After Earth
The second film in the 2013 Earth-in-ruins genre. After the superb eyegasm-eargasm that was Oblivion, this looks really pale in comparison. However, it is not M. Night Shyamalan's fault. It was Will Smith's fault. He tried so hard to make his son a star in a just-passable sci-fi tale. It has ideas, yes but not explored enough which was a big shame. The whole concept could still be elaborated, with the ghosting stuff and the 'fear is a choice' stuff. While the visuals on screen are not bad there are some occasional bad CGI and set design. The future tech looks cheap while it was quite awesome when you think about it. The story is downright predictable, and right when the credits rolled I thought, "it's over? just like that?" The whole film feels like a sub-plot to a bigger story. Overall, it's not fair that critics blamed Shyamalan for this, he's not even remotely responsible. For me, AE is less enjoyable than The Last Airbender. It was still a watchable film, but not the one you'd spend your money on or watch twice. After Earth: rated 2/4.

The Hangover Part III
A Hangover film without any hangovers is like Bourne without Jason Bourne (read: The Bourne Legacy). And that what's happened to Part III. A non-comedy classified as a comedy, just like Bourne Legacy: a non-action classified as action. First of all, Ken Jeong is not funny, he's annoying. I found so few laughs in this film, and the craziness that made Part 1 and Part II super-enjoyable was totally absent. Instead we get more action than Bourne Legacy or peril more than After Earth. The after-credits scene was ultimately funnier than the whole film. The Wolfpack was good but not given enough laughs to carry the film as a comedy. After watching this, you realized that Part II was not lazily written because it's still funny and crazy and inappropriate, Part III was because it's not funny, not crazy and totally appropriate for the kids to watch. The Hangover Part III: rated 1.5/4.


Come back in two weeks were I will finally review Fast and Furious 6, or in Japan called Wild Speed: Euro Mission!!

On Greater Tides

This may be very random, but I suddenly missed my favorite film of all time. I might be a film lover, while other film lovers will say that their favorite film are the likes of Citizen Kane or some other Best Picture contenders, mine is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Some of you might laugh. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those Best Picture contenders too. But in Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, I repeatedly found myself transported to a world better than our current world. That's what movies do, isn't it? You find two hours to kill, and you transport yourself to another world. A darker world, a magical world, a happier world, all other sorts of world. A couple of days back, I stumbled again on POTC: AWE clips on YouTube. I watched the 'Up is Down' set piece and Will and Elizabeth's marriage scene. And suddenly a thought came to mind: Hollywood don't make these kind of movies anymore. Nowadays they tend to play it safe, yes, I'm looking at you On Stranger Tides. Let me tell you why At World's End may be the last big summer blockbuster.

1. It has memorable characters that we can care for and adore
Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Hector Barbossa, Davy Jones, Cutler Beckett and even former Commodore Norrington were very much memorable in the trilogy. The last great Pirates film (yet) also added Sao Feng and a whole new world of Pirates. The characters are crazy good and the scope of the film utilizes the characters well. Both protagonists and antagonists were superbly written.

2. It has great ideas and originality
What lacked in recent movies like Gangster Squad, Oblivion or John Carter were originality. But in AWE, we were offered crazy stunts like 'Up is Down' or the supernatural elements of the film, or even the might-be-Hollywood-cliche-type but super memorable, greatly-executed Will and Elizabeth's marriage scene. The supernatural elements particularly, cleverly spun popular culture references like Davy Jones' locker into reality on screen. And who could forget the last whirlpool-set battle?

3. Large scale, nothing-to-lose-attitude production
When you have money, you can spend it all you want. When you have lots of money, and a giant franchise to carry, you make sure those money worth the stuff put on screen. And that's what Jerry Bruckheimer did. $300 million was spent and I'd say that's money well spent. Add all that with super talented crew on screen and off screen. They don't make this anymore. Just look at On Stranger Tides which suffered budget cuts or the latest Verbinski-Depp collaboration The Lone Ranger which was almost cancelled due to budgetary issues.

4. The story isn't conventional
Some critics may argue that the story was too convoluted for normal audience to follow. But that's what makes this film special. It's not the usual hero-gets-a-problem-and-solves-it type of story. The writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot made sure that the audiences' favorite characters got enough screen time and role. The dizzying twists in the film is the reason for multiple viewings.

Now, moving on to how to make the fifth entry equally incredible in the same scale with the first trilogy. First of all, the fourth movie is despicably based on a book. Don't do that again, ever. The fourth film, to me, was lazily made. The distinguishing character of Jack Sparrow is slowly fading, especially when you compare this to the first film. The music was recycled. Hans Zimmer's great score for the second and third film was notably absent. We did got introduced to new kind of sound by Rodrigo y Gabriela but that's not enough for a film like this. Let's hear a fan opinion on how to make the fifth one in the same league as the first trilogy.

1. Push the timeline
Do a Tokyo Drift on On Stranger Tides. Let's forget for a while that it exists. The franchise will ultimately get back to that film just like Han said in Fast Five: we'll get there, eventually.

2. Bring back characters
Now, do a Fast & Furious 4 on the fifth film. Bring back Torettos and Letty which means bring back Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. If Disney could get $1b for bringing that silly missionary character to life, I'd like to bet you'll get $2b for Will and Elizabeth Turner (note: rumor has it Orlando Bloom is slated to return). And also plus point if you bring Gore Verbinski back (which might not happen because Kon-Tiki directors are already hired)

3. Take note of the four points I mentioned above
Fuck the studio. Do what you need, Bruckheimer. Don't play by their rules.

4. Disown the fourth film
Let's get back to why do you need a fourth film? At World's End closed the trilogy nicely and with that the franchise too. In a super high note. Now do a Superman Returns and pretend Gus Gorman and Nuclear Man never existed.

5. Exclusively for Zimmer
Compose some new music man. I know you can. It frustrates me when you can compose great music for Rango but no new music for On Stranger Tides.

6. Attention to details and continuity
If you're the one who asked why do they have to go to Singapore, because it's mentioned throughout the trilogy and that's a nod to those references. More importantly, pirates roam the seas not land. Let's bring them back to the seas, shall we? Also, the three Pirates films have different logos that distinguishes the film, but the fourth film didn't. Let's not do that again and spin your heads people.

7. Last point
If you can't do these six points, don't think about making the fifth.

It is very strange that news about the new Pirates film do not excite me a bit. Thanks to the unnecessary, budget-conscious fourth film. Please restore my awe on Pirates films please. Don't let me down.