Capsule Reviews: February 2007

The Prestige (2006)
This film is a perfect example of how a superior personification - that is, acting - and an adept storytelling could really made up for an otherwise sloppy script and a big d'uh ending (which was a final showdown between two main characters who explaining the twist to each other but, in a manner that instead of telling each other about their respective secret, they are telling it to us, audience. It was a big no and a big d'uh in my part). Many respected viewers and critics out there who love this film, and recommended it as 'a must-see', 'one of the best film in 2006', bla-bla-bla. Me? I choose not to be treated as a dumb audience. It was the fact that i was a recent fan of Mr.Christian Bale that i deemed this film as a merely watchable. My Rating: *1/2 / ****

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Khazakstan (2006)
A lot of hype to this film, and for what? nothing. Let me spell it for you. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. I felt like am watching Jackass: The Movie masquerading behind a thin plot and a pretence of a self-important comedian who thought that he could delivers some smart sarcasm to its viewers. A lot of you may hate me for this, but Borat is not even funny. What's so funny about two men wrestling and play catch and chase through a hotel lobby naked
anyway? Hey, at least i could still had a few laughs with Jackass: The Movie. My Rating: 0 / ****

Clerks. (1994)
A film with no obvious purpose. It was just a chunk of life in a single day of the lives of two twenty-something clerks. One was a clerk at a small local convenient store, and the other was a clerk at a small local video rentals store a few feet away. The events of this film could easily happened to one of us (especially, if we're happened to be clerks). Well, not exactly. But given the right character and right time, it might. Anyway, the length of this film filled with daily conversations without any obvious intention of comedy. It just that some of the characters were wicked (or smart) enough to steer the course of 'daily conversations' into something that either laughable because it's simply funny, or because it's so smart it's funny. This is actually the first time i've seen Clerks even after it seems like everybody had enough topics to talk about the film especially during the release of Clerks II sometimes last year (which i would hope to get my hands on it soon), and i was in a good enough mood to do repeats. My Rating: *** / ****

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
There's something i hate about current youth culture involving cineplex. Most of the youth nowadays felt that if they had paid some several ten thousands rupiah, they could treat the public place such as cineplex into their own private living room. During 'Curse', i had to suffer through such annoyances. These youths were munching their chips, popcorns with deliberate noise. I, for one, without any means to boast, only ate my chips during the trailers show. Well, anyway, not just those eating noises, there were also some inconsiderable parents who thought that it was okay to brought your infant (INFANT) to sit in the dark for an hour and an half. Moreover, some lovebirds who thought that it was okay to had a couple-conversations in the theater (there's a reason of why they had invented candle-light dinners! munchbunch!). Further, there were those teenages who can't appreciate the sight of a beautiful breast with inviting cleavage without any delusional illusions. Didn't they read that this film was rated R? which means that any kid whose not mature enough (those who's not mature enough to silently appreciate breasts and cleavages) shouldn't be kicked out of the theater. And need i tell you about teens and their handphones? All in all, i had made a note to myself: Never. NEVER go to the Detos' 21 Cineplex on a bright Saturday evening. The film was okay, by the way, not one i would expect from re-collaboration of Zhang Yimou - Gong Li after ten years apart. Aside from Gong Li's performance and Chow Yun-Fat's badass stellar performance nothing worth to mention from this film. However though, with those annoyances, i might can't appreciate the film from what it really was. My Rating: ** / ****