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Snakes On A Plane

If you ask me I think the success of this film is in the title! It is a silly title I know but it got people talking and that is the best kind of publicity any film can have. I am sure this will be a huge hit.

I am drawn to the title and was talking to my good mate DA the other day about it and we both agreed that this will be a fun film to watch and we were not disappointed.

Snakes On A Plane directed by David R. Ellis starring Samuel L. Jackson the only A lister on this film (the rest are either C or even D list actors) I am a little surprised he actually would consider and star in this film. This is the kind of film that will go either way, without the completely silly title I think this film will go straight into video release.

You will be also surprise to know that there is actually a plot in this film something I was not expecting. To cut the long story short a bunch of people were on board a red eye flight from Hawaii to LA. Little do they know that on board were also thousands of venomous snakes all thirsty for blood. You can more or less figure out the rest of the film.

A bad but highly entertaining film best seen with your crazy over the top best buddy. Remember to stay for the closing credit where you will be treated to the tacky and corny MTV by a made up band Cobra Starship.

3 stars out of 5

Hard Candy

Hard Candy is a slang on the internet for an underage girls.

Knowing that you can roughly figure out what this film is all about . I have to be careful here and not revealed too much about the plot and twist in this film.

This amazing film is directed by David Slade and stars Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. The film explores the danger of internet dating and pedophilia. By looking at the movie poster you might be mistaken it for a modern day spoof of The Little Red Riding Hood

My advise to you if you are thinking about watching this film - Do not read any reviews ( If you are reading this, you might be reading too much already) you will enjoy it more if you know nothing about the film and let it speaks for itself.

I love this film, it may not be everybody's cup of tea (2 walked out of the cinema) as it is not a "easy" film to watch.

Terrific performance by the 2 leads and a special mentioned to Patrick Wilson he is truly one talented actor we don't see enough of.

This is a relatively low budget production and I read that it was shot in 18 days! I love the colour use in the film. The colours changes in every shot, I thought that was really clever. I also like the opening credits, this is a very well thought of film production wise.

Sandra Oh of the Grey Anatomy's fame made a brief appearance.

I noticed a goof! It was not real ice in the ice pack as there were no condensation, if real ice were used the whole area would have been wet and dripping with water.

Go see the film I think you will enjoy it as much as I did. You just need to be patient and a strong stomach especially if you are a guy.

4 stars out of 5

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

It is almost impossible to not like this film. It has everything, Johnny Depp in drag, Orlando Bloom picture perfect in every shot and Keira Knightley trying her very best to hold her own with her 2 very well established male leads. If you enjoyed part 1 you will most likely enjoy Dead Man's Chest.

This time around I thought the plot was a little more complicated. As the title suggest it is all about the Dead Man's Chest, in it instead of gold/treasure contains the heart of Davy Jones. Captain Sparrow played by Johnny Depp wants it really badly and so does the villain of the film. Correct me if I am wrong but aren't pirates supposed to be ruthless villains that are only interested in gold and other valuable treasure? I never really got it why he needed the heart? Is it because he was infected and need to destroy it before he becomes one of those half human and sea creatures? And what up with the dice game? Anyone know?

Complicated plot aside this is a highly enjoyable film. I was watching with my sister and cousin and the latter did not see part 1 and she came out of the cinema proclaiming she now want to watch part 1. Johnny Depp also had a lot to do with the success of the film, he have a very strange effect on woman the more eccentric he gets the ladies seem to like him even more my 2 lovely movie date included. I think they both will sell off their off spring to have a date with him. Ha Ha

The film ended with a cliff hanger! Captain Sparrow been eaten by a giant Sotong and it is up to the rest of the crew to rescue him with the help of a character from the first installment. Pirates of the Caribbean part 3 will be out in 2007.

Once again Singapore got mentioned, In the scene where Will played by Orlando Bloom is on Tortuga asking for Jack Sparrow, someone replies to Will, "I think he went to Singapore." Singapore wasn't established until 1819. I wonder if we will be mentioned again in part 3.

Good film but please pay attention to the plot and if you got it please let me know. 3 stars out of 5.

Lady In The Water

I first saw this poster in JB some months ago and it got me rather excited and could not wait to see it.

This will be a very bias review of the film because I am a fan of Night Shyamalan . I loved The Sixth Sense and The Village and I am killing myself for missing Signs and Unbreakable.

The film is base on a fairy tale he wrote for his children. I am not too sure how old his children were when he wrote it, I sure hope they were not young toddlers or they might be traumatized for the rest of their life.

As mentioned this is base on a fairy tale and he meant it literally. The whole tale was acted out in great details. The story teller of the film came in the form of an old Korean woman (she no speak English) translated by her crazy and wild daughter played by Cindy Cheung (some says she stole the show)

A strange lady by the name of Story played by Bryce Dallas Howard came from the water world or the blue world to rescue the "future" of mankind by inspiring a young writer played unconvincingly by the director himself Night Shyamalan to write a book that will in turn inspire a young boy from the future generation. This boy will be propelled from his writings to do good in this world and stop all violent and ugliness.

No fairy tale is complete without monsters and ugly beasts and to keep the lady in the water safe, ordinary people who possessed unknown special powers came to the rescue.

I like the film, because it is written for children there was a certain innocence about it. If you are expecting a twist in the end you will be disappointed.

I say Yes go see Lady In The Water, it will rekindle the child in you and be ready to take a roller coaster ride in the mythical and magical world

4 stars out of 5

The Da Vinci Code

Before I get into how bad this film is, let me tell me you why (in monterary term) I think this film made it from a best selling novel to film.

1) The Da Vinci Code a book by Dan Brown sold over 60 million copies so far (am sure a few millions will fly off the shelf after the release of this film)
2) Let's just assumed that only 10% book reader forked out S$9.50 to watch this film
3) 10% of 60 million is 6 million
4) 6000000 X S$9.50 = S$57 million in box office takings
5) With all the publicity and hype, I am sure 60-80% of Dan Brown's and Tom Hank's fans will watch this film.
6) So 60% of 60 million is 36 million
7) 36000000 X S$9.50 = S$342 million in box office takings
8) We are not not even going to talk about the franchise and the DVD release!

So what if they had to pay Tom Hank $20 million for the film? This is a sure fire hit! I am sure the producers are counting all their dollar bills as we speak!

I am one of the 60 million people who bought and loved the book. I was sad when I reached the end of the book. I liked it so much I went out and bought all his other titles Demons and Angels, Digital Forest and Deception Point. I am very sure they will be adapted to films for the same reason why the Da Vinci Code was made.

This film opened the Cannes film festival and it is reported that Wong Kar Wai one of the jury walked out of the film half way heading straight to the bar. I did not walked out of the theatre but I sure wished I had a gin and tonic with me, I might enjoyed it more if intoxicated.

Directed by Ron Howard starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatu (both totally miscasted) and with an A list supporting cast who were equally boring, good actors but all failed to shine in this film.

I thought the film was way too mechanical, it was like sitting through an university lecture on Piroy of Sion and the holy Grail and add in the bad acting from the A list casts you have yourself a film that is a strong contender for this year *Razzie award for the worst film of the year.

Ron Howard managed to sieve out all the interesting bits of the book out of the film. Takes talent if you ask me.

My recommendation is to take your S$9.50 and head straight to Far East Plaza and rent/buy the book from one of the the 2nd book stores there. The book is far more entertaining and unlike the film will not leave you with a sour after taste. After getting the book you can head straight to 4th floor and have the yummy chicken rice.

* "The Razzie Awards," saluting the worst that Hollywood has to offer each year.

1.5 stars out of 5

Poseidon

This is a remake of the old classic The Poseidon Adventure (1972) I seen the original and I thought it was fabulous and was expecting to see an updated and polished version of it. Poseidon directed by Wolfgang Petersen who gave us the other water disaster movie The Perfect Storm in 2000. I have this thing about films set in water thus I am all ready to sit back and enjoy this film.

This is a big US summer huge blockbuster release and I was expecting to see out of this world and state of the art visuals and special effects but instead I was treated to effects that will not look out of place in any B rate film. The opening scene which shows the exterior of the ship looked completely fake! I am not an expert but I am quite sure it is either super imposed on to a blue screen or a bad computer generated image. The interior of the ship was not any better. It was very clear that it was shot in a studio that was made to look like a cruise liner. When the storm hit and the boat capsized it did not affect me in anyway because I know it is all fake. Even the drowning scene looked totally unrealistic! I even spotted a few dummy "humans" being swept away by the water (yes was that bad) and the end scene it looked like they filmed in a huge giant bath tub, very laughable.

The actors casted were rather B rated too, well there is Richard Dreyfuss who used to be an A lister but lately also lost his spark. Kurt Russell a guy who is more known as Goldie Hawn's not married husband than anything else lead the cast. This is not the type of film one can show off their acting skills but having said that they all did an ok job. Wolfgang Petersen keep the pace rather high and there were a few "feet up your seat" moments but in general this film been let down by the bad production. It is still worth the movie ticket but don't expect to be "blown" away by it. 2 stars out of 5.