Category: Media

“The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule…”

Sorry to interrupt you Tyler, but I do want to talk about Fight Club. David Fincher’s post-modernist film tackles the everyday life with a new twist and outlook.

Even though the film was a box office disappointment when it was first released back in 1999, a cult following soon emerged due to the DVD’s popularity upon release.

Critics and film audiences had a change of heart and Fight Club became one of the most profitable films on the digital format.

But what’s so special about Fight Club? Some think that it’s all about the extreme violence. But it actual fact, the movie has a deep methodical meaning – in the way we live and consume in this bleak society. Fight Club questions reality itself and the movie provides the viewer with a series of thought provoking situations.

Edward Norton plays the Narrator who provides his own experience by living through a dull and repetitive life. He suffers from insomnia and attends group counselling for illnesses and conditions he doesn’t have.

His life gets turned around when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) during a business trip. The two start an underground “fight club,” which became a secret society that continually grows, even though its members are not supposed to talk about it… Fight Club allows members to feel alive by triggering primal emotions not usually tested in modern life. The powerless feel powerful once again.

Rock star Meat Loaf has an interesting role as Bob, a big man with testicular cancer and hormonal problems. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is superb as Marla Singer, a screwed-up hanger-on who also attends group counselling simply for the human connection.

Director David Fincher’s vision based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk is featured very strongly here. The use of CGI and dark humour creates a visually stylish look to the movie. The performances from all the leading actors are excellent, especially Edward Norton playing a white collared worker dissatisfied with his life.

Fight Club may still offend some people with its graphical violence, but as a movie it tells a fascinating story on the issue of commercialism and the lifestyle we choose to be.

Here are the latest on-set photographs of Elisha Cuthbert filming in cold New York City for an upcoming romantic comedy film My Sassy Girl – an American remake of a classic Korean movie.

These particular images remind me of that famous scene in The Girl Next Door, one of Elisha’s successful films so far.

I wonder if Kim Bauer will make an appearance in the new sixth series of 24 playing Jack’s troublesome daughter?

After the success of rebooting the Batman franchise last year with Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan has teamed up with his two finest actors from that comic book adaptation – Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine – alongside the talented Hugh Jackman and the beautiful Scarlett Johansson, with a fascinating story regarding two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy.

Similar to Nolan’s previous work with Memento, the narrative of The Prestige jumps across various points in the story, much like a magic act in itself.

The plot revolves around two central characters, Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, respectively), who start a friendship that eventually turn into rivalry after Rupert’s wife is killed in a magic trick that went wrong. After that, the two start trying to discover each other’s secrets. It all changes when Alfred discovers the ultimate trick: the Transported Man, a magic act that will make Rupert lose his mind in order to decipher it.

With this thought-provoking story that requires actors with a great deal of emotive range, Nolan has assembled what could be described as a dream team. Both Bale and Jackman suit their respective roles perfectly, and pitting these two performers against each other was a stroke of casting genius. As usual, Sir Michael Caine provided a memorising screen presence as Cutter, the inventor who designed the tricks.

But probably the most surprising performance comes from David Bowie (yes really!) whose unforgettable turn as the Russian physicist Nikola Tesla absolutely shines.

The genre of The Prestige is quite tricky to categorise… It walks between a fine line with elements of mystery, drama, suspense and fantasy. In that, the story becomes a never-ending stream of wonder for the mind: one can never tell exactly where the story is going to lead next, becoming more and more as time goes on. This gives Christopher Nolan ample opportunity to play with the movie-going audience. And play he does. With narration by several characters, each adding their own viewpoint to the events, and with a direction that moves between time to mystify and distract, the end result is a climax that itself is a series of puzzles that each unravel beautifully.

In the end, The Prestige is a fantastic display of what can be accomplished when you bring together superior talent. Not only is this the best magic show you will see, but perhaps the best film of the year.

This new take on the existing franchise of the famous British spy series created by Ian Fleming has made James Bond, the secret service agent, as a more human and emotional driven character. Casino Royale is based on Fleming’s first novel in which we see Bond earning his ‘double-0’ status and the license to kill.

The film opens with an atmospheric black and white sequence in which Bond brutally kills his first victim in a blood-strewn public toilet. This action scene alone reveals the character we are all familiar with has become a more tougher, no-nonsense kind of guy who doesn’t give a damn what everyone thinks.

The film immediately proceeds to a dramatic and exciting chase scene across Madagascar between Bond (Daniel Craig) and a bomb-maker, which ends up in a disaster. Reprimanded by M (Judi Dench) for his recklessness, Bond takes matters into his own hands and heads to Bahamas where he sees a possible lead in terrorism.

Eventually this leads him to Casino Royale in Montenegro where he plays a high-stakes poker game against Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), with the hopes of making the terrorism investments go bad while being paired with the sultry Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) as a secret agent for the British treasury.

When Daniel Craig was first announced to be the new actor portraying James Bond last year, many critics were complaining that he wasn’t the right choice. Some were saying he was “too blonde” and “bland.” And yet, in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig has proved these doubters wrong with an exceptional performance in the lead role.

His on-screen presence is truly spectacular. From the moment he steps out of the sea in a similar way to Ursula Andress in Dr. No, the new physic of Bond, with the pumping thighs, bulging pecs and inflated ego shows a new side to the character. I believe Daniel Craig’s portrayal is as good or better than Sean Connery – who is considered to be the best Bond over the years.

Director Martin Campbell – who worked on his first Bond film with Pierce Bronsan back in 1995 with GoldenEye – has created a beautiful look to the film with exotic locations and dramatic action pieces. Working with Paul Haggis excellent script (who also wrote the 2006 Oscar-winning Crash), it’s interesting how Campbell has forced this new Bond movie as ‘back to basics’ without any aid of gadgets.

Speaking of action sequences, these were all done for real, ignoring all CGI and green screen technology to create more ‘realism’. To be honest, it works spectacular well especially the Miami airport scenes.

As for Bond’s love interests, he has two on offer, the lovely Solange (played by Caterina Munro) and Vesper Lynd (featuring the gorgeous Eva Green). Of the two Bond girls, it is Eva who gets more screen time in which she brings a highly intellectual charm coupled with just the right amount of fragility. Her chemistry with Craig, though, is a bit too enhanced by the script’s romantic angle that veers dangerously close to getting the better of the movie’s overall dynamism. This was the only criticism I had; these scenes when Bond professed his love to Vesper after recovering from his (naked) torture seemed to drag on a bit too much…

Despite that and with a running time a little over two hours, the climactic showdown in the canals of Venice feels less exciting than it could have been. But in the end, Craig and Campbell give enough reason for one to overlook such faults. Through their recreation of the legendary role, the gamble on showing Bond’s first mission, as a secret agent making his break, seems to pay off and I’ll look forward to his next, new mission in 2008.