The Pensieve

Rating: ****/5

This is one of the best films I’ve caught this year! And I’m not saying this only because it got 8 Oscars, I watched this before the Oscars came out. It’s both funny yet realistic, grimy yet beautifully shot, and it definitely helped when the actors were rather photogenic as well.

‘Slumdog’ is a local reference to people who grew up in the slums. Our ‘hero’ here, is a little boy, orphaned from young, who grew up with his brother in the slums. Here, this person whom you’d never expect to have undergone formal education, proper parenting or had good role models in life, is seated in the hot seat of the wildly popular ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire’. What is even more shocking is how he wins level after level after level, and ends up being arrested right before the final show for alleged cheating.

In the gruelling one night at the station where they use all methods to force/cajole/persuade a confession out of him, he recounts his life story and explains how he knew the answers for all the questions. It really is a bit of a coincidence. Yet he is so earnest in his anecdotes that the authorities can’t help but believe him.

Call me a cynic (you all know how realistically skeptical I can be right…) call me a non-romantic, but I was really ‘huh’ by the reason why he wanted to do the show… It was so that his beloved could know where he was and come to him… Okay maybe for him, his girl was the only reason he lived and breathed… Anyway thankfully the film had a happy ending, and of course they had to had one of those dancing sessions a la Bollywood!

Very entertaining film indeed! Worth every second of my time!

‘Australia’ - directed by
Rating: ****.5

‘Australia’ is like a film never before… Australia has always been very different from the rest of the world, from it’s geographical origins to the origins of its people. An unseeming blend of convicts carted over from faraway Britain and her colonies thrown to make something out of their lives with the native Aboriginal people. Few films from Hollywood have ever featured the rich and complex culture of down under except this film.

The film features Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) who’s a stiff upper lip British aristocrat who comes to Faraway Downs (this ranch on Australia) only to find her husband murdered and decides to take up his unfinished wish of driving all this 1500 cattle to Darwin to sell to the army there. During this arduous journey of surviving in a very harsh land, and discovering an entire new culture, she meets ‘Drover’, (Hugh Jackman) who helps her fulfill her wish. The entire narrative is done by ‘Nullah’, a child of the ‘mixed cast’. Through the eyes of an innocent child, the beauty of simple things are enhanced, while ugly truths are presented in an almost ‘comical’ manner.

Together, the unseeming pair forms their one ‘great love’ and an interesting nuclear family with Nullah. All their happiness is disrupted with the approach of WWII and the cunning manipulations of the Carney people…

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Sarah Ashley or so fondly also called ‘Lady Boss’, succeeds in driving all her cattle to Darwin, though having lost her accountant along the way due to a stampede; and also braving ‘the Never Never Land’ under the lead of ‘King George’ one of the Aborigines… In doing so, she’s overnight established herself as a sort of ‘heroine’ and on top of that, the undisputed wealthy owner of Faraway Downs. Happily she settles down with Drover and Nullah, but their peace is threatened by the war, and laws which threaten to separate the child from them.

Eventually Nullah is captured and removed to the Christian settlement off Pearl Harbour in an effort to blackmail Sarah into giving up Faraway Downs, but as luck (or the lack of) would have it, the Japanese strike in a horrific air raid. Miraculously and far too fortunately, Drover (who braves enemy lines to rescue the children from the settlement), Sarah (who survives a bombing which smashes her workplace to smithereens) and Nullah (who manages to avoid the shot fired by that evil guy whose name I forgot) ALL survive and live happily ever after.

Seriously, I would have killed the Drover. It’s what SHOULD happen in all such epic love stories!!! You cannot have happily ever after, it should be bittersweetly-ever-after. Haha… Ok, guess it was Christmas, so people shouldn’t be soooo morbid like moi. :P

Ok people, all of you out there who’re in a holiday mood but don’t want to put on weight from guzzlig too much alcohol, might as well spend just 10 bux to watch an almost 3 hour long movie. :D Enjoy!!!

Rating: ****/5
Visit the official site

Women come to New York City for two reasons - labels and love. Having gotten the knack for labels earlier, I concentrated on love. - something that Carrie muses upon at one point of the film. I kinda like this quote a lot :D

Anyway, labels and love. Hehe I think I’m becoming increasingly materialistic these days. But those labels are really lovely :D Or maybe it just reflects this horrible empty chasm of my life (I’m still figuring out what I wanna do). Anyway, I think I can do without, or maybe just one or two. Heh.

Back to the movie…

I loved the part where Carrie poses for a bridal special for Vogue. (ooooh lovely gowns) But I already knew that BIG WAS GOING TO CHICKEN OUT AT THE WEDDING!!! haha… But then all the gals kinda chip in and really are there for her… It’s really what friends are for… to offer you chocolate chip ice cream when you are down :D

I think for friends who have reached a certain level of trust, they grow and blossom in their own niche; they may not meet or even speak with each other for weeks, months or maybe even years at a time but when one or the other needs support, the person actually puts aside everything for the other. And when they meet even having spent ages apart, the years of not seeing each other are like days of being apart.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
In this sequel to the well-loved (BUT BANNED SERIES IN SG), Charlotte finally gets the baby she has dreamed of!!! So happy for her :)

Sam, whom we know has NEVER been able to keep to one partner, actually keeps to that strapping blonde model for FIVE YEARS! And actually gained 15 pounds trying to stay faithful… It’s really awfully sweet… but in the end she still feels that she loves herself more, and asks to end the relationship. I think I need to learn to love myself more…

Miranda… okay, I think I’m probably most like her in terms of character, all so uptight, tense and quite judgmental. She mainly faces problems with managing marriage, work, Brady and the grown up form of Brady (to me, Steve is like this child).

‘Sex and the City’ is a drama that was significant for me, it kind of helped me through some difficult times, and served to remind me how important one’s friends are.

Rating: ***.5/*****

I remembered how the film ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ used to give me the shivers cuz of a particular scene that appealed to my sense of the macabre. (Shall not tell you all my deep dark secrets. heh.) Anyway, the Indiana Jones movies were always synonymous to 2 hours of fun, adventure and non-stop excitement for me; and I ALWAYS watch them more than once!

Anyway this installment was quite different, given that the first few films were all in the 1980’s, some even before I was born!

This one, apart from the usual historical / legendary treasures also combined the terrorist factor plus the ‘alien’ factor. Haha… But it also had a nice touch, bringing back Jones’ loved one in his younger days… and… *spoilers ahead* who has a son by Jones… and eventually the happy family is reunited! Woohoo…

Review of ‘Sex and the City’ next! If I don’t get too tired out at work. Omg it was soooo exhausting these past 2 days…

Rating: ***.5/*****

Genre: romantic comedy

Handsome, commitment-phobic guy (Patrick Dempsey :D :D ) meets the girl-next-door (Michelle Monaghan) during school days and they remain fast friends. It’s only when Hannah (M.M) goes for a long trip at Scotland when he (P.D) realises that of all the numerous girls he’s had flings with, he only really loves Hannah.

It’s all a tad too late because Hannah returns with a strapping perfect Scottish Colin (Kevin McKidd) in tow, planning for a wedding. Thomas is then forced to compete for his lady love in a series of misadventures in the midst of the beautiful scenery… (Is that really Scotland?)

Rating: ***.5/*****

Official site

This is the true essence of retrospective entry, having watched this movie on the unofficial last day of my HO posting. Haha… the whole gang of us except S and T went for our first ever HO-outing followed by a sumptuous dinner at the Brazilian Churrascaria in the evening. Only poor T had to go start work at the west-end hospital. Haha…

Ok, ‘Iron Man’ is one in a league of many action movies derived from comics… Such as Fantastic 4… It was quite entertaining and I really enjoyed seeing all those high end gadgets and that scruffy lonely soul of Tony Stark (I think this surname is especially cool) played by Robert Downey Jr. Also think the name Pepper Potts is really cute and why on earth is Gwyneth Paltrow so skinny?! It’s a bit scary actually.

I wish I had one of those suits. It’s like my childhood dream to fly fly fly freeee… Have always had such dreams of free flight. *dreamy look*

Synopsis
Tony Stark is a child prodigy who’s the leading man in an industry of weapons made to protect America from all threats. While en route to an award ceremony, he’s kidnapped by a group of erm terrorists and then forced to help them create his new range of missiles. Instead he uses all those spare parts and such and makes a robot out of himself.

Later when he returns, Start decides that for all he knows, his weapons were being used to wage war against peace and decided to clamp down on weapons sales. He invests all his effort into perfecting the ‘Iron Man’. His dad’s good friend is actually secretly selling their weapons to those terrorists, and all this culminates into a war between two robots basically…

There’s loads of action, comedy with a bare sprinkling of romance…

Rating: ***.75

Just realised that my review of this film is long overdue! Been feeling a severe sense of blog inertia.

Sweeny Todd isn’t really a film, it’s like a macabre. Perhaps I’m using the wrong word to describe a different term. I mean to say it as a noun, it’s an art piece that makes macabre and gothic into something of a masterpiece. It doesn’t matter that the heinous crimes he committed were out of reason and illogical that he was not caught despite such blatant carelessness in his crimes. The only thing that mattered was the way the film was presented. It’s very Tim Burton, but no longer in his usual comic-book way like ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Johnny Depp is quite adept at portraying such a demonic character who masks his blood lust under the masquerade of ‘revenge’. Helena Bonham Carter however, looks no different in her gothic getup as Bellatrix (in Harry Potter), and her singing is well… not that pleasant either.

The film gets gory with all the digging of that sharp shiny razor into the necks of such unsuspecting clients. And at times, you really can’t predict whether it’s a shave his giving them or a ‘close shave’. It gets better when we see how they grind up all their victims and use them as their secret ingredient in Mrs Lovett’s special pies.

But best of all, I like the slogan - Never Forget, Never Forgive.

It just sounds so wonderfully and wickedly clever! haha…

Rating: ****/5

‘Atonement’, based on a novel by Ian McEwan, is the tragic story of how Briony Tallis, a thirteen-year-old with a runaway imagination ruins the lives of her sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and her lover, Robbie Turner when she accuses him of rape. Cecilia becomes estranged from her family as she insists on awaiting the return of Robbie, while Robbie is given a choice of prison vs the infantry. Meanwhile, Briony realises the horrifying ramifications of what she’d done as she grows up and spends most of her life doing penance as a nurse in the world war.

‘Atonement’ is her final act of kindness for the star-crossed lovers, Robbie dies of septicaemia a day before British troops returned to homeland while Cecilia dies in a railway bombing. She seeks not for forgiveness but to tell the truth and to give the couple a fairy tale ending, something she owed them.

The cinematography is remniscent of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ but it is unable to achieve the same level of beauty. The attempts at artistic flare with music accompanying the sound of type writing was a laudable effort if not for the atrocity of the situation it was used for - the fuelling of a fertile and farfetched imagination of the young Briony - I still cannot get over the mortification on her face over the four-letter coarse word used to describe a certain part of a woman’s anatomy. Heh. ‘The Hours’ by Stephen Daldry was a much more perfect production.

Overall, I would say it was really an awfully sad film, judging by the copious tears shed by fellow movie goer. Sigh. I have to admit I was a bit bored by Briony’s over-reaction and ridiculous over-acting at the start that I fell asleep, but I did cry a bit towards the end… Sob Sob. Overall, a worthwhile watch, and look out for the luscious green gown!!! Woot!

Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: ****/5

Cate Blanchett dazzles us once more as she reprises her role as Queen Elizabeth. In this sequel, her kingdom faces religious and political persecution from King Philip II (Spain) and the Catholics he claims he represents. Here we see how religion is used as a means of obtaining political power (and its accompanying riches of course).

Apart from her role as the virgin queen, Blanchett shows us how the queen is just as human as we are. From her coquettish stance with her ladies-in-waiting while boating, to the role of teacher to the poor Austrian prince who tries too hard, to the ultimate heartbreak as she finds out how he’s had an affair with her favourite lady-in-waiting, Bess (Abbie Cornish); yet again, we see her strength as she strives to protect her kingdom and people from the Spanish Armada. Most impressive is the scene where she is dressed entirely in white, standing at the cliffs facing the tempestuous seas tossing the Spanish Armada around as it goes up in flames (courtesy of Sir Raleigh (Clive Owen) and his brilliant strategy of using fireships). It looked as if she really had divine intervention!

Another really sad scene was the one where Elizabeth herself, constrained by her royal blood, cannot dance freely with Raleigh, and she gets Bess to dance with him, while she imagines herself to be in his arms…

Samantha Morton, starring as Mary Stuart, Elizabeth’s own cousin who secretly organises a rebellion in an atempt to ursurp the throne, but belatedly realises that she’d become a pawn for the Spanish (who wanted the throne for himself), gave us a beautiful scene of a woman’s whose lifetime dreams are shattered but faces the guillotine with such courage.

And if the acting fails to wow you, the set definitely will! Done up in all the majesty and opulence of a prosperous kingdom, combined with the lovely cinematographia, “Elizabeth - the Golden Age” is truly a worthwhile watch!

Visit the official site!

Genre: Comedy
Rating: ***/5

It seems like there’s a trend towards films starring a strong man being bulldozered over by little people. Remember the Pacifier? Daddy Day Care? A whole host of other equally entertaining movies centered over the same theme… Nevertheless, these are good family entertainment and definitely something that qualifies as relaxation during my much needed break.

Madison Pettis plays the precocious sometimes too-smart-talking-for-her-own-good kiddo of 8, who goes in search of her Dad (Dwayne Johnson) and turns his life upside-down. Then there comes all the typical pranks and messes kids create and shows how the new Dad tries to integrate her into his life…

Later on it’s revealed that her Mum had actually passed away 6 months ago, and yea, though I know this is a movie where it’s all just acting, I can’t help wondering at how resilient young children can be when reacting to the death of their parent.

I was reading this book where a four-year-old loses both her parents, but then she apparently is able to gradually adjust to life with her new guardians. Hmm… Perhaps we’ve got to give this little munchkins more credit. Perhaps it’s us these meddlesome adults who think that all these little tiny people are unable to handle news such as the death of a parent. True, they’ve got to adjust, but somehow, I think that kids, with less well-developed emotional- um… (I don’t know how to put it), they might just prove to be more adept at handling such devastating information.

Hmm, something to chew over rite?