The Big Short is quite refreshing with how the movie being presented. It's not dry and gloom depiction of the 2007 global economy crisis. You can go full misery with the subject but instead it lay out the complex con by the banks in a rather entertaining way. Like having Margo Robbie sipping champagne in a bubble bathtub to explain it as sexy as possible. Then Anthony Bourdain did a chef guide to financial 101 via his cooking. Selena Gomez demonstrates how the banks putting out inferior bonds over a blackjack game. Those are pretty funny segments that make the movie easier to follow with the complex subject at hand. We follow a group of financial outcasts who makes illicit amount of money from the calamity. Upfront these are questionable people with narcissistic behavior who caught early sign of what is about to go down. To a degree it's a little hard to swallow when you knew many people suffer from the collapse by going through some of the comedic story beats. Felt the ending was not earned when some of the key players justify their actions with morale relapse. In all fairness Steve Carrel puts up a compelling performance. It's wolf of wall streets lite but still worth watching for the unusual narrative structure especially Adam McKay a comedy director demonstrating he's not a one trick pony.

Spotlight - The one film blocking The Revenant's domination at Oscar.

Spotlight easily the top contender for best film at Oscar this year. It scales back from using sophisticated use of camera techniques or fancy cgi when the script itself suffice to carry the whole film on its own. All the strong character actors doing great work where they disappear in the roles they are playing. It's not acting for acting sake, and each character is part of the puzzle to complete the bigger picture. There's no emphasis on which actor is getting bigger scene to chew on or who upstage who. Mark Ruffalo overacts a little in the more confrontation scene, but not in any way disrupting the tightly knitted story. Imagine watching the best season of The Wire being compressed into 2 hours. More importantly, it does not do the over dramatic Hollywood type of treatment to tell this despicable scandal. Its an important movie to watch not just for the crime being committed, but getting journalistic investigation depicted right on screen. It's as good as Michael Mann's The Insider or a resurgence to 70s political thriller like All the President's Man.

Sadly Tremblay was snubbed from any award consideration. Do hope Larson wins at Oscar and does not go to the ever favorite to win Cate Blanchett. Then again Charlotte Rampling is equally great, if not better than Brie Larson.

Personally felt Cate Blanchett in Carol is not the representative or high point of what she capable of delivering. As much as the film with her character's name in the title, the story also about Rooney Mara. Either way, do agree the actress category is very stacked except why Jennifer Lawrence is even there. Already left the David O'Russell hype train when he is trying too hard to be Scorsese.
Room really hit me hard (the good way), especially when you are a parent.

Manage to sneak out in between appointments during my short trip to HK to watch:

The Revenant is a visceral cinematic experience. Leonardo conveys most of his acting through the many suffering being bestowed on him and they put themselves in the harshest environment to film those moments. You literally see him going through hell on the screen. Tom Hardy is great as the antagonist and to a degree stole the movie.
The film is full of head scratching moments that you will ask how in the world they manage those shots. The bear attack is quite a thing to watch and goes without saying being done in the ever popular one shot sequence. The problem is some of the stuff are repetitive and a fair bit of self wanking dream sequences that pretty to look at but does not really progress the story that much. It's not the knockout I was hoping but still not a terrible movie either. The best cinematography for sure. After Birdman I thought Innaritu will explore fresher materials or doing something out of his comfort zone. The Revenant is the expected type film from his "suffering/depressing" list of films that he has done before. It's not my favorite due to the flat undertone and it does not hit hard enough for the last act.

I really want to like Steve Jobs, can't help like watching a good but not great episode of Sorkin's Newsroom. Sorkinism is fully on display here with the rapid fire lines and a unique narrative structure. Personally felt his script overshadow the film direction because all the scenes are constructed around the denser dialogues to a degree it felt more like a film by Aaron Sorkin and not Danny Boyle. Don't go in expecting full biopic story...depending on how you interpret the true message of the film. It felt anti climatic especially knowing how it will go down and the payoff of the ending does not necessary warrant the hoo-hoo-hah-hah that the characters need to go through. The true reason to watch the film is to look at Fassbender's amazing performance. I dare say he can upset DiCaprio shot at the Oscar.

CTHD:Sword of Destiny - It's alright provided it does not market as a sequel.
Two big issues with the movie. A rojak casting and it does not deliver what came before. While the camera adores Natasha Liu but her Eurasian look is a sore thumb in a suppose Chinese period piece. The sequel sorely lacking the poetic and graceful story telling elements in favor of by the numbers action set-pieces. If you are there solely for the fight scenes, it's okay and then again the immersion is taken out by the largely unknown actors. Go rewatch Reign of Assassins for a better martial art film in recent memory or you wanted to burn 2 hours with something inconsequential.

The Boy and The Beast - Not a karate kid knock-off.

Pretext,I will watch anything by Mamoru Hosada...On the surface there are way too many subplots and references being used in the movie. You can find story beats of Alice in the wonderland, subtle deconstruction of Moby Dick's hidden philosophy and many coming of age themes. A little surprised with some in your face plot development. As convoluted as it may sound, the best aspect of the anime when Mamoru Hosada skillfully elicit Studio Ghibli's type of strong emotional scenes without feeling an inferior copy of it. So expect some funny scene with equal touching moments. You are just suck in with the opposite attracts pairing of the boy and the brash beast. It's more of a tale of them leaning on each other backs to be more than what they can become. It's a seven-ish movie and sits below Summer Wars. At least can't fault them for trying out something new and somehow not fully accomplishing it.

Triple Nine - Gritty action set-piece marred by incoherent storyline.
The movie itself echoes a lot of what Michael Mann would do in his heyday. The grounded action scenes are beautifully realized and there is a degree of stuff you haven't seen before. They are plain brutal and graphic. Sadly the story wasn't properly fleshed out and you don't care much about the characters wasted on the prominent legit actors. It didn't hit the high note of a film by John Hillcoat, nevertheless I still believe he did way better than those Michael Bay wannabes dishing out shaky cam bore fest.
For some strange reason, really fixated by the little piggy song during the end credit.

Hardcore Henry - A fine video game movie not based on a video game property.

Up front this is an experimental action movie with a killer idea where everything captured on a first person mode. If you dug those whack out action flicks like Shoot'em up, Crank, Takashi Miike or Sono Sion type of film direction...you will be up for a crazy wild ride. Don't expect a deep story with it but when the action drops the pace just ramp up to the eleven. Sharlto Copley is funny and a reason why he is appearing as multiple characters. It is also not a movie for everyone because of the motion sickness from the fps film making and it's not exactly hollywood hollywood production quality. If you are open minded about it, who knows you might even enjoy it. There are few truly innovative sequences that will get your adrenaline pumping. If you are an avid FPS gamer you also will come to know why and how certain scenes play out like an actual game. A cult movie in the making here.

Pride and prejudice and zombies...utterly bad movie. Couldn't finish the movie with the fake "english" acting and some made for TV type of scenes. Everything looks so staged...it couldn't capture the tone and swagger that I remember from the book.

Trivisa - A good crime-esque movie.

A simple premise of grouping three real life criminal from the 90's in HK, they are forced to live under a new reality when PROC took back HK. When a petty rumor circling these separate entities is colloborating for the first time...the narration steadily building toward that partnership moment. The best part of the movie is exposing the humanity aspect on each of the criminal. On the surface the hook might be on the explosive criminal portion of the movie...it smartly pivot to social commentary of the harsh reality of those who to a degree experienced all the crazy shenanigans one has to endure when working in China. It's an accurate depiction of the senseless social aspect in China. The ending might be anti-climatic but like any end of an era story archetype...it's inevitable to lose yourself to the new sea of changes.

Green Room - It's better than you think it would.

Stunt casting of Patrick Stewart as a white supremacist may pique your interest to watch this movie...but the real reason to watch this movie is Jeremy Saulnier. He directed the pitch perfect 2013 "Blue Ruin", Green Room is one of those indie thriller that make no pretense they do not have a lot of money to play with. So it's the skillful handling of script, cinematography, and performance to keep you glue to the story development. It's way ahead of the typical Blumhouse productions that usually associated to making these type of movies. The twist and turn of plot development felt earned and happen in a rather organic fashion. You literally see how they deftly make use of good storytelling components to drive the movie forward and realistic violence that being depicted. It's not the usual hyper stylized hollywood violence.
If you somehow like the movie...do not miss out Blue Ruin as it is a far more superior movie but not to say Green Room is bad or anything. As a matter of fact it's already a bloody good one to begin with.

The Wailing - The single best 2016 movie by far.

In short this film willing to be more horrific than Robert Egger's "The Witch". The witch felt like broader kind of narrative movie that just telling the surface side of things, which kinda incomplete IMO. "The Wailing" gives you the full course meal with each passing minute of you getting that sense of plot moving forward as the dread perpetually escalating it. It perfectly captures the metaphor of boiling a frog alive in the way the story being told. The trailer only gives you a small taste of the weird evil stuffs that are head and shoulders to "The Exorcist" and "Seven". It's not just the thrill of watching a potent horror flick but a very well directed one.

This post has been edited by 6so: Jul 12 2016, 10:36 AM

The Invitation - An ending you don't see coming

It's a slow burn of a thriller that very smartly constructed to keep you guessing that something is terribly wrong with the gathering but you can't really point the finger to who or what. At one point you are sure it's the new husband then it pivot to the ex-wife and it went into lenghty moments of the lead actor who is emotionally deficit over an incident. So the story cleverly showing you one plot point that masquerade the second and even the third one to keep you guessing what is actually going on. Then the ending happens and you will be flabbergasted by not picking up all the subtle hints to what's about to go down before. A recommended watch if you can tolerate slow burning story structure with a strong finishing.

Son of Saul - A holocaust drama you've not seen before.

Story of a jewish prisoner/worker in a concentration camp that easily surpass anything you've seen before. The way the atrocity being masked by shallow depth of field photography...does not mean the impact was dampened. Nonchalantly you watched the lead working like a busy bee to usher unsuspected prisoners to a gas chamber execution. From there he recognized one of the young boy and we follow the course of one night in the concentration camp where he need to find a Rabbi to conduct burial ceremony for the boy. It's not one of those preachy story where faith is your temple of salvation or romantic anti-war movie. Just hanging to what humanity left in you in the face of unfathomable sufferings. A well deserved Cannes Grand Prix and Oscar winner.

Sing Street - Charming trip to 80's nostalgia

You may have seen the familiar coming of age story, Sing Street is so much more than that. Started as a kid trying to impress a girl, it's not just a straight comedy but more of dramedy variety. You meet the nerdiest group of boys who wanted to act grown up. It's full of charming fun and good story telling component. You will laugh, root and even cry with it as the "growing pain" plot progression that prevalent in these types of movie. Do not be misled by the trailer that the music is unpolished, they are very good indeed. A must buy ost and one of the best feel good movie this year. If you do enjoy the movie, you need to track down John Carney amazing debut "Once" as the perfect companion and a spiritual sequel to Sing Street or even Sing Street as the prequel.

The Handmaiden - Park Chan Wook is back in top form.

If you are expecting an exploitative BDSM movie, then you will be disappointed... what you get is a multi layered misdirection plot device that you come to know what type of PCW films are all about. Just not straight up what you woud think of the trailer may lead you to believe. No denying there are some buzzing sex scenes, but all are done in the service of story and characterization. You will be surprised by lots of the dark humor scenes throughout the movie. The 2 and half hour run time just whizz by without a dull moment and you will always be engaged with the story progression. The art direction is enough to warrant multiple viewings. I dare say Hitchcock die hard fans will approve!!!Blu-ray must buy.

This post has been edited by 6so: Aug 28 2016, 12:31 PM

Magnificent Seven - Adequate and succinct of a remake.
Don't go in expecting a great western like Tombstone or Unforgiven. It's more along the line of action packed 3:10 Yuma. You know the story, you know the premise, you know there gonna be an epic showdown so just hop on to enjoy the ride. So get on with some cheesy,fun,charming exchanges in between the characters. There are enough action with likable badasses to root for when coming down to killing the bad dudes. Not every movie needs to strive for originality or surpass what came before. At the end is how well it was put together and M7 is one of the better made one against the last few underwhelming movies from Antoine Fuqua.

Can't help but notice Hollywood is going after Jessica Chastain/Dallas Bryce Howard look-a-like, Haley Bennet suddenly appears in three reasonable high profile movies in a year (Hardcore Henry,M7,The girl on the train).

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Charming adventures of the unlikely duo.

It's that type of Wes Anderson movies you would expect to come about. It's a lot more grounded without that smug feeling. The chemistry between the boy and Sam Neil is adorable. The cheeky banter fuels the whole runtime with one oddball situation after another. Watch this after a tough day to lift up your spirit. You will just be charmed by the quirky experience. I'm very curious with what Taika Watiti will have up his sleeves in next year's Thor Ragnarok. It's not exactly his comfort zone. Will see.

Captain Fantastic[B] - Interesting premise but fizzle out at the end.

Two third of the movie is interesting but a little heavy handed at the end that takes no risk in carving a more memorable path. I dug the more realistic portrayal of the outlandish premise that was intriguing to watch. All the cast have enough personality to latch on, once the reality sets in to shatter the unorthodox parenting method of the family. It went into melodrama "make for TV" territory. Wish there's a more challenging and complex narrative path they may have taken. Viggo Mortensen still an interesting "actor" actor to watch.