Friday 31 July 2015

Attitude Dance Studio at Zero 11

                                                          ADS at Zero 11, Kuala Lumpur
                                                             

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation ... Too much cruising

I FOUND Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation interesting for two reasons, despite its lethargy.
    Firstly, Malaysia is mentioned in the first few minutes of the film and viewers get a bird's eye view of its capital, Kuala Lumpur. Somehow, an IMF agent can tap into Russian security systems at the top of the KL Tower. Why? Pourquoi?

Thursday 23 July 2015

The Vatican Tapes ... To hell with the devil

IT'S rare for me to feel that I've been cheated after watching a film, but that's how I felt after sitting through director Mark Neveldine's The Vatican Tapes.
   I'm pretty sure viewers will scratch their heads and look at each other at the conclusion of this 90-minute film, thinking that there has to be more to this, other than a possessed blue-eyed pretty blonde throwing people around and killing them.

Thursday 16 July 2015

American Heist ... Viewers were robbed

THE name of the film suggests a grand heist will happen at the end, but viewers will have to first sit through 90% of drivel about the tenuous relationship between two ex-con brothers before the action starts. Disappointingly, but not totally unexpected, even the heist is a big letdown.
   In between, viewers will also get a lecture about life, death and banks. Yes, dear readers, banks are the problem plaguing decaying urban America (particularly New Orleans), which makes them the perfect target for a bunch of losers to prey on. The heist leader blames banks for foreclosures in the US, but this doesn't mean that this bunch should rob banks.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Ant-Man ... Small bite

SUPERHERO films are about good versus evil, but never has there been one about a cat burglar who becomes a superhero because his toddler daughter puts him on a pedestal.
   Director Peyton Reed's Ant-Man sees the activist protagonist go on a journey to achieve redemption, battling his ex-wife and her husband's condescending and threatening attitudes towards him. In fact, I'm not sure who's the biggest threat to Ant-Man: the antagonist, or Ant-Man's ex-wife and her cop husband.

Harbinger Down ... Icy Cold War

HORROR film Harbinger Down attempts to recreate the fear and distrust that permeated The Thing. In reality, however, it's a cheap American attack on Russians, blaming them for a science experiment that goes wrong and for bringing back to Earth a bug that transforms into an ugly and gargantuan alien.
    In short, don't trust Russians.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Exeter ... Gory laughter

EXETER is a horror film for the MTV generation. I thought it'd be another film about creepy antics in an abandoned asylum, which it is, but it turned out to be a rather enjoyable one, filled with gore and humour.
    For example, the attractive white teens who invade the asylum perform a do-it-yourself exorcism on one of their friends when he is possessed by an evil spirit. They look it up on the Internet and make do with straps and holy water.

Monday 6 July 2015

20,000 Years In Sing Sing ... Tracy and Davis keep desire at bay

THERE'S something about prison films that make the hardest man cry. They come in all arrogant and tough but come out all soft and weepy.
    Director Michael Curtiz's 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) focuses on the trust that develops between the warden (Arthur Byron) and gangster Tommy Connors (Spencer Tracy, giving a spellbinding performance).

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Terminator Genisys ... You shouldn't be back

THERE is one too many protagonist in director Alan Taylor's Terminator Genisys. We know Arnold Schwarzenegger is around for this fifth instalment in this series that started with James Cameron in 1984.
    We know Arnie's Terminator acts as a protector of Sarah Connor (now played by Games of Thrones' Emilia Clarke). In fact, their father-daughter relationship forms the emotional heart of this loud film.