A Ghost Story - Not what you think it is.

Damn it really regret not watching this on the big screen last time around. If you think this is an update of the cheeseball "Ghost" then you are dead wrong. Instead a profound experimental cinema at its core. There are no straight traditional narrative sense and it just went full on Terrence Malick unexpectedly with flying colours. Not for the closed minded viewers but definitely refreshing for me to say the least. This movie a testament of Cassey Affleck as an actor as he is reduced to nothing to convey the nuances of his performance.

Lady Bird - Now I know what is all the fuss about.

This is a rare coming of age tale that full of heart and does not felt in anywhere manufactured. A breeze to watch and not bogging you down with the melodrama trappings you come to expect with this type of movie. You are instantly transported back in time when you are in your late teens. Your puppy love, your first fall out with your best friend, being an ass and even touch on your rebellious inclination with immediate family members.

Just bring back tons of fond memories. Saiorse Ronan just killed the role and how she might be in contention for another nomination. It's funny in a heartwarming way and not the usual teen comedy route. Every reality bites moment got balanced with a lighthearted life lesson you can relate to.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Awesome and brilliant.

Under lesser film director and actors, this will be your cliche borefest. Filthy, vulgar, super funny, sad, unpredictable, lyrically snarky scripting, heart breaking, beautiful and more importantly fearless. It just challenge the status quo of doing the right thing at all cost. Its the next best thing to a very good Coen brothers film not made by them. Tonally its more serious than In Bruges but never lose sight of the dark comedy nature that you come to know of Martin McDonagh.

Frances McDormand gave a sublime performance and Sam Rockwell the beloved redneck racist cop proves he still has it. Really love this movie with the twisty plot development.

This post has been edited by 6so: Dec 28 2017, 12:19 PM

The Disaster Artist - The blind leading the blind.


Think the prospect of the awards worthy hype a little overblown. Initially thought it's in the vein of dramedy that had some nuances or thought provoking message trying to say. Instead it's a rather straight forward comedy of how whacky it can gets. A rather easy watch and it doesn't milk the scenes too much before it gets tedious. Decent watch and certainly you will get more milleage especially when you have seen The Room. An OK watch for me.

The Shape of Water - Exquisite fairy tale of a romance.

Not sure will this premier locally cause even when it does don't bother as it will be buchered by LPF. This is not a disney movie to bring the kids along unless you are ready to be a biology teacher of flowers and bees. Afterall it earned the category 3 rating in Hong Kong.

Initially I thought they will borrow heavily from the fantastic Jean Pierre Jeunet playbook of whimsical and quirky treatment like the classic Delicatessen. It did a bit of that and a whole lot of GDT own signature. It's an homage to the classical love story with the current sensibilities. Racism, xenophobia and homophobia are little subplots surrounding the main story.

The star of the whole movie definitely Sally Hawkins with her strong performance as the adorable lead falling in love with the creature. Then you have the camaraderie side characters to Elisa to complete her story. Michael Shannon as usual plays a very effective villain that drives the movie forward. For sure this will cement Del Toro reputation as a bona fide auteur but his best work to date still belongs to Pan's Labyrinth.

Certainly the creature prosthetic, vfx and music score warrant to watch it on big screen. But the risque scenes and cursing dialogues will not survive censorboard scrutiny. You'll be surprised with the nudity shots and its integral to character building.

If you are a purist just wait for bluray otherwise watch it twice. Luckily for me I'm watching it later at HK for work related engagements.

Darkest Hour - Best actor frontrunner.

It goes without saying this will be an overdue win for Gary Oldman should he prevail in the coming Oscar. Just like Scorsese who waited for decades to finally nab the statue.

It's a showy performance and Oldman almost unrecognizable under the prosthetic. It's a tad beneath of Daniel Day Lewis when comes to dissapearing into character. Movie wise it's your standard historical figure genre that building up to the pivotal point from the actual event. Also a good companion piece to Dunkirk as it narrate the politicking behind the scene and how that event cement Winston Churchill in the history book.

Ben Mendesohn plays a small side character but he does have an awesome scene where he goes mano a mano with Gary Oldman. As usual Lily James always a welcome sight to see on screen. Watch this for the performance while the movie itself a little run of the mill especially Netflix The Crown did a magnificent spin on the post war Churchill arc.

Den of Thieves - Decent cast wasted on a try hard plotline.
Man this one sucks donkey balls. It felt like the film director knew what he wants out of a serviceable action heist sequence but fails miserably how to connect the dots. Cliche character development with uninspiring story set-ups. Most of the cast member did ok but the storyline just try so hard to be clever. When the big twist happens...it just embarrassing to watch.

This post has been edited by 6so: Jan 22 2018, 01:33 PM

Wind River is a better follow up to Sicario as the same writer making his first directorial debut. Sit through the slow burning set-ups and when the shootout scene drops its loud and deafening to your senses.
DoT just another throwaway action bait movies that nobody care by next week.

Logan Lucky - Low key Ocean Eleven-ish.
It's a little slow in the first hour or so, once the groundwork in place it's a lot of fun with how the job being pulled off. The thick southern accent takes a little bit to get use to. Overall pretty enjoyable and surprizingly good in certain aspect of the casting. The soundtrack pretty good as well.

Guess his failed attempt to retire from directing does not stop talent flocking to his film projects. Sorderberg still got it in him. Now how much of influence does he have over Ocean's 8 as he have seen it 9 times in his annual books and movies article.

The Cloverfield:Paradox - It was an ok ride.
Did not watch 10 Cloverfield Lane so have no perspective how it expand the lore of the creature from the first movie. What you get from this is how Clover came to earth. Some disparity in continuity as the backdrop this time around revolving earth energy crisis which was not present in the first movie. So you get the drill of camouflaging a space station thriller that somehow link to the creature. The connection hanging by a very small thread so it lacks the jolting epic feeling of the first movie. The whole movie came across as a very well made Twilight Zone episode rather than a strong movie on its own. Another nitpick is the sound design telegraphing what you about to watch...very 90's bad.

Was surprised Paramount not even releasing this on theaters. If rumor is to believe, Cloverfield Overlord might drop later this year with a WW2 setting. They open camera for it since last May. Most likely they will dump this on Netflix again if the streaming service picking up the production tab again. Guess Paramount really in bad shape after they lost the multi billion capital deal from China and all their big releases from last year tanked.

Phantom Thread - It's not a grand exit for DDL.
It's inconceivable to place high hope at this movie being billed as the grand final of Daniel Day Lewis career. Unfortunately it does not hit the high note of There Will Be Blood. Don't get me wrong this is not an interior movie at all cost, just the fanboy in me wanted more out of this. By the glance of the trailer it's the familiar alpha personality who is a genius at what he does but alienate the whole world. The character of DDL plays out almost like Pablo Picasso who overcompensate his talent by becoming a notorious womaniser. His latest conquest of a muse led to all the dramas. From being smitten by his new love and slowly evolves to a toxic relationship like his past women.

At the bare minimum the cinematography and performances are top notch. Leslie Manville even able to upstage Daniel Day Lewis couple of times. A well deserved Oscar nominations for her.

Double Lover - Easily the most WTF I've watched recently.

Initially thought this it some sexy erotic thriller but it went full on Cronenberg's Dead Ringer. The whole premise had you thinking whether it's split personality or a really sick game of the twin brothers. Depending on how receptive of you are to the ending twist...it's either illuminating or just downright cheap. Not only the story is WTF....the visual equally WTF. The opening shot itself enough to collect your jaw from the floor. Glad I watched this and may even look into the older films of the director.

This post has been edited by 6so: Feb 19 2018, 06:48 PM

Thelma - Another fine "dark" movies from Europe.

Initially the poster put me off from watching this cause it has those shallow Hollywood vibe about it. But after reading couple of illuminating reviews, worth all the praises and good word of mouth. It's European cinema so it's your arthouse-esque pace. Close to an hour nothing happens except a repressed girl falling in love with an over bearing parents behind her back. Once the layered mysteries started to peel away, everything clicked. If you are looking into something bombastic well this is not for you. Just a sophisticated spin at Carrie without the cheese but more thoughtful writing and up to date taste.

Mute - A big bag of nothing

After the harsh flop of WOW, this release was perceived as a comeback vehicle for Duncan Jones. Alas this is not that movie. Although it's a genre that Jones familiar with but the whole movie just missed the mark completely. The story itself does not warrant a futuristic set-up and came off as bladerunner wannabe. A typical film noir with not enough mileage and depth to be engaging.
Sad to see a promising film director falter this hard and hope there will be another movie from him to course correct otherwise film director jail it is.

Heart Blackened - The polar opposite of Mother (not the Jlaw one.)

If you have 2 plus hour to burn...it's ok to watch this but your typical Korean drama tropes are all out there in your face. Over reaching, fluffy and terrible unreliable narrator mechanics. If you are nitpicky of plot details and naturalism, this is not for you. It still stuck in the 90s legal thriller mould.

Paddington 2 - A revelation.
This is my first time watching this cuddly bear. The first thing that struck me the most is the craft behind this movie. Granted it's a children movie, the editing and story structuring very tactile. Scenes trotting along nicely without unnecessary set-ups. Every Chekhov's gun came through to drive the story forward. The 3d character realization is one the best I've seen. Hugh Grant gave a wonderful campy villain performance no less. Actually this movie made me realized how crappy has modern cinema lost their attention to details. Scenarios not overcooking and more importantly plenty of heart in it. Now need to hunt down the following first one!

The Outsider - The Last Samurai rehash with yakuza skin.
If you grow up with HK triad/Yakuza movies basically you can anticipate beat by beat what gonna happens next. Instead of finding new angles to tell a cliche story it was lensed with a western eyes that unable to bring nuances to the yakuza culture. Jared Leto terribly miscast as he is too much of a pretty boy here. Tadanobu Asano did his best to inject life into this dull picture. Originally this supposed to be a Tom Hardy and Takashi Miike collab but all studios bailed on it. Your time will be better spent on rewatching Black Rain or Beat Takashi's Brother.

The irony is there a true story of a gaijin became a Yakuza. A wash-up boxer who performed in Japanese porn and rose up the yakuza ranks. That story is 100 times more interesting than this. Netflix need to hire someone who can put together a library of films as good as their shows. Hope this will not be a standard thing for them.

This post has been edited by 6so: Mar 10 2018, 03:37 PM

The Ritual - Blair Witchy with a dash of Wicker Man.

This is a rather nice surprise. The movie is above the Blumhouse variety. It does have a story on its own without riffing the usual stereotypical plotline you come to expect. After looking beyond the death roulette mechanic there is a half decent reason for the freaky things that happened. The creature pretty cool as well. It's worth watching.

You know there is a running joke that HK cinema cannot do sci-fi. It's their Achilles heel. So here we are again, another half plus six effort destined to be mock. As usual a serious case of identity crisis. Do I want to be a game or do I want to copy Edge of Tomorrow. The chinese title is brain-dead.