Category: Films

Elisha Cuthbert’s new horror movie Captivity has received a string of complaints due to a set of disturbing posters advertising the film.

The adverts show a panel of photographs of actress Elisha Cuthbert being abducted, confined, tortured, and killed. People felt the images of this young woman were too graphic and insisted they be ripped down.

The film producers insist the billboards went up by mistake, and have agreed to pay for the removal of the ads in Los Angeles and New York City.

How did this happen? Production house After Dark Films CEO Courtney Solomon explains that the wrong files were sent to the printer, who then passed them on to the billboard company without approval from any executives…

Despite this PR disaster, I don’t think this film will be any good. A real shame as Elisha is a talented actress and deserves so much better.

Yet another movie adapted from Marvel Comics. Ghost Rider tells a story of a superstar motorcycle stunt rider named Johnny Blaze (played by Nicolas Cage). Who strikes a deal with the devil to save his dying father (who is suffering from cancer) with his immortal soul.

When his father was killed in a stunt, the young Johnny was filled with emotional pain that he decided to run away, leaving his childhood sweetheart Roxanne Simpson (the sexy Eva Mendes) behind.

Years later, Johnny’s path crosses again with Roxanne, now a TV news reporter along with the devil – the fearsome Mephistopheles (Easy Rider’s Peter Fonda) – who offers to release Johnny’s soul if he becomes the fiery and ruthless Ghost Rider, a supernatural agent of vengeance and justice, who happens to have a skull on fire!

His only hopes of getting his soul back is to kill Mephistopheles’ own son, Blackheart, who plans to displace his father and create a new hell even more terrifying than the old one.

Ghost Rider is an enjoyable movie and director Mark Steven Johnson has done a creditable job in adapting a character from the comics onto the big screen. As for Cage, some believe he was too old to play the role, but the actor has managed to pull it off with some style and substance.

The main highlight was the chase scene in downtime Melbourne, when the Ghost Rider leads the police force over bridges, under water, down dark and narrow alleyways and even up the side of a skyscraper!

The visual effects are also impressive, creating a stunning look to the fiery Ghost Rider.

A fun and amusing movie that will appeal to fans of the series and the average moviegoers. And yes, it won’t generate the same box office success compared to Marvel’s other big movie – Spider-Man – but as an action film in its own right, it’s certainly entertaining.

How do you follow up to the critical acclaim Shaun Of The Dead? That was the scenario for Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright after setting a true high standard in film making with a romantic comedy featuring zombies.

And yet the former Spaced team has done the impossible and managed to create a film that feels fresh with new jokes and clever references to other action movies.

Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, one of the finest police officer in London. He is so good at his job, that he makes everyone in the police force look bad. So his superiors decided to send him off to a place where his talents won’t be quite so embarrassing – the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford, where there hasn’t been a recorded murder for twenty years.

Once there, Angel meets an enthusiastic police officer named Danny Butterman (played by Nick Frost). Danny is a huge fan of action movies and after a few drinks with his new partner; he invites Angel back to watch a couple of his favourite cop films.

Danny believes that Angel has seen all kind of action in the big city including gunfights and car chases. But he stressed the point that this wasn’t the case.

All this changed when a series of grisly “accidents” rocked the village. Angel becomes suspicious that all these were linked somehow but no one believed him – apart from Danny.

Angel sets out to investigate and was shocked to discover that a secret organisation named NWA (not the rap group, but Neighbourhood Watch Alliance) was behind all these accidents.

The NWA members were murdering anyone who lessens the character of the village, claiming that it is for the “greater good”. But this obsession of claiming the title of Village of the Year was madness for Angel.

So Danny and Angel set out to dispatching the members of the NWA in a series of frantic and over-the-top gunfights. That’s one way of settling the matter!

Hot Fuzz is packed full of references, which will take multiple viewings to catch. Director Edgar Wright’s continuous use of quick cuts moves the action at a rapid pace but for the viewer, it’s an entertaining ride in this 120-minute movie.

Both Pegg and Frost certainly make this film worthwhile due to their chemistry together. They are good mates in real life and it shows on-screen.

But it was ex-Bond star Timothy Dalton who stole the limelight. To see the former spy playing the sinister Mr Skinner with a moustache twirling relish!

Hot Fuzz is definitely the film of the year so far and it goes to show that the British can do Hollywood-style action movies.

Richard Kelly’s psychological thriller tells a fascinating story on a bright but troubled young man, who suffers from a mental illness. After narrowly escaping death by a falling jet engine, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) experiences repeated visions of a six-foot tall rabbit named Frank.

The grotesque giant rabbit warns Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. He then encourages Donnie to commit seemingly random acts of vandalism, including flooding his school and burning down Jim Cunningham’s (Patrick Swayze) house.

Donnie is an emotionally troubled teenager, who is trapped in a world where teachers, parents and other adults want to simplify everything into two extremes – fear and love, right and wrong, Republicans and Democrats.

Kelly has skilfully directed this movie by allowing the viewer to experience the insane and hallucinate visions from Donnie’s point of view. The director also makes great use with the 1980s soundtrack, in particular the scene when he pans the camera to each of the characters – Magnolia-style – to Tears For Fear’s Mad World. This indeed is a strange and troubled world we live in.

Donnie Darko has been described as a high school movie directed by David Lynch (made famous by Twin Peaks) with themes on time travel, love, sacrifice and existentialism. The movie presents paradoxes never fully explained and a cryptic storyline open to multiple interpretations. A modern cult classic, with exceptional performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and a breathtaking cinematography, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that sets the mood of the film.

This is South Korean’s modern answer to an Elizabethan revenge tragedy. Full of insanely grand passions, bloodthirsty violence and dark comedy, it’s a sadistic masterpiece from the director of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

The film won the Grand Jury prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival with high praise from none other than Quentin Tarantino (the Pulp Fiction director was heading the jury). Oldboy can be described as a psychological thriller, utilizing many elements of film noir to examine the nature of sin and morality.

Korea actor Choi Min-sik stars as Dae-su, a skirt-chasing businessman with a wife and daughter. During a night out drinking, the police arrests Dae-su for being drunk and disorderly. His close friend, Joo-Hwan, bails him out. While Joo-Hwan is in a phone booth talking to Dae-su’s daughter (who is celebrating her birthday), an anonymous person kidnaps Dae-sa.

For the next 15 years, Dae-su is locked up in shabby little hotel room. He is kept in this ‘private prison’ without any contact from the outside world with only a TV set to keep him company. Over time, Dae-su manages to fill in several notebooks as a way of keeping himself sane but is puzzled by the reason why a person would imprison him like this. Dae-su also forced himself to train by shadow boxing, punching at the walls of his prison until thick calluses form on his knuckles.

During this period, he learns via the television set that he is accused of his wife’s murder and that his young daughter has been sent away to a foster family. Just as abruptly as he was captured, Dae-su is set free and vows to get his revenge.

Embarking on his quest to discover the person responsible for his imprisonment, Dae-su teams up with female sushi chef Mi-Do (Kang Hye-jung) – by impressing her in his ability to eat a live, wiggling octopus in one single go!

Later on, a man named Woo-jin (Yu Ji-tae) contacts Dae-su and claims to be the one who imprisoned him. He offers to play a game with Dae-su: Find out why all this has happened to him in the next five days or else Mi-Do dies. If Dae-su wins, then Woo-jin will kill himself.

Eventually Dae-su meets Woo-jin face-to-face, but this ends with a shocking and a bizarre twist of fate for the lead character.

Oldboy is a stylish but violent film from the creative genius of Chan-Wook Park. His vision in this revenge movie features many iconic scenes of blood and gore, in particular the perfectly-choreographed corridor fight sequence where Dae-su single-handedly takes on 20-odd guys that visually looks like a side-scrolling beat ‘em up video game.

Oldboy may not appeal to everyone’s taste, but it can be regarded as the best Korean film to date, with a fascinating story and beautiful cinematography. An Asian movie not to be missed!

“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.