Rango

This weekend, I spent a nice Saturday having a yummy breakfast with some friends and an afternoon movie treat for myself. Friends who know me well are definitely aware of my eternal war with the Lizzies. But I welcome Rango with an open arm. Ok, I admit not in the literal sense. He is still ugly looking.

Rango is a pet chameleon that had fallen out of his owner's car. Lost in the middle of the desert, he meets an armadillo who directs him to the nearest town, Dirt. In this little adventure, he lies about his true identity to impress the outlaws in the little deserted western town and accidentally becoming the new sheriff and hero to the townsfolk.

While the story is quite predictable, it is still entertaining to see how the eccentric and egoistic lizard learn humility and honesty. While the creatures are meant to look ugly and menacing, their sweetness shine through very strongly. I particularly love the minor details of how their pupils dilate and contract to express their emotions.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Go watch it for fun. I love the mariachi band and the Spirit of the West. Cute, real cute cartoon!

The Last Days of Emma Blank

What would you do if you know that you were dying soon? And how would you spend your last days?

Emma Blank is dying. Everyone in her family knows it. This particularly dying woman is one nasty mistress who is hard to please, demanding and maniac! She forces of husband to be the butler, daughter as maid, sister as cook, nephew as gardener and elder brother as a dog.

As the plot thickens, the comedy reveals an extremely dark and dysfunctional family. The servants eventually turn against Emma after discovering that there is no inheritance for them. They ignore her outrageous demands and plot to hasten her death.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Dark as it may be, the movie is definitely hilarious and mind-boggling. You can't help feeling sad for Emma Blank and yet rejoice at the triumph against such tyrant. A mind twister which is not suitable for the faint-hearted who cannot appreciate harsh humour.

Ip Man and Ip Man 2

I have finally (yes, finally) done an Ip Man marathon. Wee...! I watched Ip Man and Ip Man 2.

Ip Man tells the story of the martial master himself, Ip Man, during his days in Foshan. The young and wealthy Ip Man is highly regarded by local martial masters but he remains humble and low profile. During the Japanese Occupation, a Japanese General challenges Ip Man to a public duel, which results in his subsequent escape to Hong Kong.

Ip Man 2 continues with the life story of Ip Man. He starts a school to teach Wing Chun and unintentionally incurs the wrath of the local masters in Hong Kong. His unassuming manner and perseverance eventually won him support from local master and the Chinese community.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The martial art is quite the captivating highlight of both movies. The movies certainly will invigorate and inspire you to learn the art. But the Bruce Lee ending in Ip Man 2 is rather cheesy for me.

The Tourist

After a week of working hard, I decided to pamper myself with a movie this afternoon. I have picked The Tourist for this weekend.

Alexander Pearce is a wanted man in 14 countries and also the lover of Elise Ward. For 2 years, Elise leads a routine lifestyle until one day, she receives a letter from Alexander to board the train to Venice, Italy.

On the train, she meets an American tourist, Frank Tupelo. As part of the plan to mislead the Interpol and Scotland yard officers who are hot on her trail, she deliberately includes Frank on her journey, only to discover at the end that Frank is Alexander.

The thriller did not offer me much thrill, nor could I sense any spark between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. While she still looks stunning, I can't help noticing that she seems to have aged quite a lot.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Visually speaking, the movie has a beautiful backdrop of Venice. Beyond that, storyline gets more predictable as you proceed into the movie. It's a real pity the on screen chemistry between the two leads aren't there.

Gulliver's Travels

Many of us remember fondly of Gulliver's Travels to Lilliput, the island of the tiny people. But what if you just work in the mail room and you are scared to move outside this comfort zone?

Lemuel Gulliver is such a man. He has been working in the mail room for 10 years, focusing his spare time idolizing all the games and movies as he doesn't have a real life. He was challenged to date Darcy, a colleague whom he has a crush for 5 years.

Instead of bucking up his courage to declare his feelings, he ends up with assignment to the Bermuda to write a travelogue. Through the waves, storm and whirlpool in the Bermuda triangle, he shipwrecked onto Lilliput.

This version of Gulliver's Travels is filled with modern twists and cynicism and lacks a certain mystere and magic from the old book. The movie remains entertaining for as a little to-do item for the afternoon when you have nothing else planned.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. While I enjoyed the humour, I walked away from the movie feeling something is quite missing from it. I guess it is the Hollywood thing which all things end well that irks me this season.

The Social Network

The mere mention of "social network", you can't help but to think of Facebook. The powerful online portal has quietly invaded the first rung of the ladderin this genre. Quietly and slowly, we extended ourselves into the cyber world through the Facebook.

The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder and creator of Facebook. In the course of creating this phenomenon site, the accidental billionaire meets with some major lawsuits. I must say it is a big learning curve for him, but essential in teaching him some valuable lessons in protecting his assets. Still, he is a rather talented (though geeky) young man.

Honestly, I am absolutely turned off by the trailer. I would have definitely skipped this movie if it is not due to friend's recommendation to check it out. The Facebook images and like/dislike are too much in your face. It is just bad, very bad marketing and very bad taste. Too cliche and unoriginal for such an interesting movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The conversation is exciting. The plot is intriguing. The people are... kind of funny. The pace of development is good. Overall, it is quite a decent and entertaining movie to watch. Let's try to get beyond that stupid movie trailer.

Flowers

Hana... Flowers. I watched this movie with a friend over the public holiday.

Flowers tells a story of six different women, over three generation. It starts with Rin who opposes to the arranged marriage her father arranged for her. She has three daughters, Kaoru, Midori and Sato. Kaoru is a widow who loses her husband to an accident. Midori is a career-minded young lady who wants to change the world with her forward feminist thinking. Sato just wants to give her daughters the best even if it means forgoing her life.

Sato gives birth to Kana and Kei. Kana is a modern day woman with a mediocre career and deals with being a single mother. Her sister Kei is a simple young housewife who takes whatever life offers to her.

Each of the woman tries to be forward and test of boundary of societal role of woman in Japan. It is unfortunate that they are purely tested on the only known programming - to be a baby-making machine. I believe I expected too much. On the other hand, I like the efforts which has been put into creating the different period. The production crew paid a lot of attention to details in creating the costume, the props and background.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie could be improved. It gets a little draggy in parts of the story telling and for those not paying attention to the year, it can get quite confusing to follow through each story.