Chicago (2002) - Victor Kwong

Full of really catchy tunes, Chicago is based in... well where else? CHICAGO! During the time where cabarets were big and fame and fortune was a necessity... an aspiring performer named Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) wanted it all... the fame… the fortune.

Roxie's obsessive pursuit for fame and fortune leads her to murders her philandering boyfriend whch lands her in jail. She hires a slick high priced lawyer (Richard Gere) who builds her up as America's sweetheart through public deception.

There are so many great songs throughout this movie which makes it quite enjoyable to watch. There’s never a dull moment.

8/10

The Break Up - Victor Kwong

Don't be fooled by the marketing of this movie! IT IS A COMEDY... BUT A COMEDIC CHICK FLICK! I came into this movie expecting something along the lines of wedding crashers (low on the chick flick, high on the comedy) instead I find myself in a cinema full of 13 year old girls and heart-breaking scenes which sent them into tears!

The Break Up is a movie about a couple who end a relationship on bad terms however they discover breaking up becomes quite complicated when they each own half of the up market apartment they are living in. What follows is a series of war tactics with the objective to drive each other mad in order to claim ownership of the apartment.

This movie primarily sends the message that women are the victims and men have no idea what’s going on in a relationship… WHATEVER!!

Rating: 6.5/10

The Sound of Music - Sasima

Based on a true story, The Sound of Music portrays a life of a young nun and her influence on the family of a naval officer in Germany during the World War II. Featuring the all-time classic songs such as "The Sound of Music" and "Do-re-mi", the movie is a mix and match of adult-themed political issues during the Nazi time, fun musicals for kids and love. One of a kind movie that I can watch over and over again.

10 out of 10.

Moulin Rouge - Sasima

Casting Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in the olden days in France. It's a story about a British poet falling in love with a beautiful Moulin Rouge star. Moulin Rouge features the most lavishing and colourful set I've ever seen. All the flashy cabaret dancing and heart-capturing songs had me buying the soundtrack straight after watching it. A must for those who like musicals.

8 out of 10

Lord of War - Adam N

This is a great film.
Nicholas Cage plays an arms trader who works his way to being one of the most successful in the business, although it comes with significant cost, which the character largely remains emotionally detached from.
Some might say that this makes the character less authentic. I'd say that it makes him more so, as emotional detachment, I expect, would be one of the attributes that makes a successful arms trader.

8 out of 10

Aeon Flux (The Movie) - Adam N

This is a pretty poor film from a plot point-of-view but does contain lots of eye-candy from a special FX and set point-of-view.
Don't go into it expecting it to be like the animated series. It borrows from the characters and settings but that's where it ends.

5 out of 10

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Sean M

The western genre has had a revitalisation lately with films such as The Proposition. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a good addition to this genre, but what makes this film distinctive is that it is set in the modern day, and deals with the U.S.'s tentative relationship with Mexico.

The protagonists of the film are Pete, a Texas cattlemen mourning the murder of his Mexican friend, and Mike the Border Guard who accidently killed him. Once Pete works out that Mike was responsible for his friends death, he abducts him, and they begin a journey through the mountainous border country to fulfill a promise and bury Melquiades Estrada in his home town in Mexico.

This is a film which sits squarely in the domain of the western, playing on the usual themes of isolation, friendship, restrained violence and redemption. As always the harsh and beautiful landscape is a important character, shaping and influencing the characters as they move through it. Tommy Lee Jones, who directs as well as playing the character of Pete, displays his empathy for the cause of the Mexicans and weaves a thread through the film which suggests that their lives are not disimilar to those of people living north of the border.

7 out of 10

Good Night and Good Luck - Adam N

This film, directed by George Clooney, is completely in B&W and set during the Cold War, a period when America was paranoid about the spread of Communism and everyone smoked cigarettes.

It's a political film about the use of fear for political gain and how mass media is used to perpetuate it.

I guess nothing much has changed, which is why they made the film.

All up, an enjoyable and enlightening film... I had no idea that cigarette smoking was so prolific back then.

8/10

Walk the Line - Sean M

Walk the Line is the latest offering in the rather crowded genre of music biopics. This particular one deals with Johnny Cash. It has all the standard hallmarks of its predecessors; the rise out of poverty, the breakthrough, the struggle with success and personal demons, the redemption. Essentially this is a love story, between Johnny and his wife to be June Carter, on the road together, married to other people but desperately wanting to be together.

The performances are excellent. Both lead actors apparently sang all their own songs, and both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are extremely convincing. Cash's dependence on pain killers is handled a little heavily, and at times you wish they would just get on with it, but the film's heart is in the right place and ultimately its an enjoyable experience.

7/10

March of the Penguins - Gemma S.

Sooooooo cute! At the heart of one of the coldest places on earth, this documentary (movie) shows the struggle of the Emperor penguins to find a mate, produce an egg, protect it from the freezing cold and raise a little penguin before returning to the sea. They have to march back and forth to the sea to get food and the males starve for months during the height of winter (typical self-sacrifice really!). This is a really well made documentary with lots of funny bits. Well worth seeing.

Rating: 9/10

Caterpillar Wish - Gemma S.

Australian movie about a young girl in a small town who is obsessed with finding her father. Enjoyable & well made (great acting) but not extremely exciting. Wait for DVD.

Rating: 5/10

Water - Gemma S.

This is the third movie in a series by Deepa Mehta, about the life of Indian women. The movie is set in colonial India in the late 1930's and tells the story of a seven year old "woman" Chuyia whose husband has died. She must live the rest of her life in an ashram for Hindu widows, unable to marry again, and considered an outcast by society. Other central characters are Kalyani, another widow who has become a prostitute to help the ashram survive, and Narayan a follower of Gandhi who believes widows should have more rights. This movie will make you laugh and cry (mainly the latter) and is beautifully done. Very enjoyable but definitely more of a chick flick that one for the guys !!

Rating: 7/10

V for Vendetta - Sean M.

V for Vendetta is unabashedly a political film, it wears its colors on its sleeve. Set in a future which seems scarily close to reality, its about a masked crusader rallying against a government which, seizing on a crisis, has implemented totalitarian rule. Based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore, who also wrote the graphic novels that From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were based on, this is by far the best adaptation of his work. Australian James McTeague, who worked as assistant director to the Wachowski brothers on the Matrix sequels, was asked by the Wachowskis to direct this film for their production company.

Hugo Weaving shines in a difficult role, given that his character wears a mask throughout the entire film which is never removed. Natalie Portman, as Evey, gives us insights into the reality of life in this distopian world. John Hurt is creepy as the Big Brother figure of Chancellor Sutler.

This is a film which warns us against complacency when it comes to monitoring those who govern, and the insidious creep of legislation which curtails our individual freedoms.

Four stars out of five for me.

Rumble Fish (DVD) - Eddy T.

By a happy coincidence, I got to watch Francis Ford Coppola's 'Rumble Fish' immediately after 'Sin City'. This is a 1983 adaptation of the much-studied novel by S E Hinton. There are other superficial similarities between 'Rumble Fish' and 'Sin City': the use of black and white film, with splashes of colour at crucial junctures, Mickey Rourke in a leading role, and a setting of urban decay.
As cinema, 'Rumble Fish' is at every level superior to 'Sin City'. Coppola at the time would still have been basking in the glow of critical acclaim for his '70s movies ('The Godfather' I and II, 'The Conversation' and 'Apocalypse Now'), and assembled for this outing a young cast of strong actors who would go on to bigger fame - Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishburne.
They live in a grimy urban world where the passage of time is marked by mesmerising time-lapse shots of rolling clouds and lengthening shadows thrown by buildings, and where adults are lost souls (Dennis Hopper) or police akin to an Angel of Death. Their story is one of teen alienation, of the primal desires and aimlessness of youth. It focuses on Rusty James (Dillon), a gang member trying to live up to the reputation of his legendary older brother The Motorcycle Boy (Rourke). When the latter returns to town, transformed, he finds he can't escape being haunted by past sins, even as he tries to 'free' Rusty James.
This is very much a film with artistic pretensions. It may be stylised and heavy handed in its symbolism, and perhaps more successful in its observation of youth gangs, than in its commentary; yet it makes for a memorable movie experience that has stood the test of time. There is also a striking music score by Stewart Copeland (of The Police).
Rating: 7.5/10

Sin City (DVD) - Eddy T

A huge disappointment. 'Sin City' comprises three stories set in the eponymous city, where the women are either exotic dancers, streetwalkers or gun-toting prostitutes, and the men are either tough guys, crooked cops or serial killers. It is a literal translation to the screen of Frank Miller's graphic novel. That means black and white visuals and voice-over narration to emphasise the noir pedigree. It also means unrelenting violence depicted with sadistic glee and dubious sexual politics (an 11-year old girl falls in love with an ageing Bruce Willis after he saves her life and on his release from prison, she, now 19, immediately makes a play for him - yuk!)
The filmmakers' stated aim was to make a film as faithful as possible to the graphic novel. If that were the case, they would have done better making an animated film. As it is, 'Sin City' the source material, on the evidence of this movie, is poorly written, with threadbare storylines and little to sustain interest beyond the gunplay and swordplay and Jessica Alba's rotating torso. It has none of the noirish atmosphere of Bogart's 'The Big Sleep', nor the too-cool style of 'Kill Bill', and in Mickey Rourke's Marv, a very pale imitation of 'Hellboy'.
Should appeal to testosterone-charged young males.
Rating: 3/10

Wedding Date - Victor Kwong

Wedding date, is about a girl (Debra Messing from Will and Grace) who hires a male escort to her sister's wedding to show her family that she isn't lonely and is "happy" with life. What she didn't expect was to fall in love with her male escort! The movie is packed with twists here and that have as much impact as being punched by an 80 year old lady.

This movie is low budget (and low on the laughs)... and being an experience campaigner in watching the 'chick flicks' this isn't one I would recommend. Wait till this movie comes on normal TV (and even then I'm not sure you would want to watch it).

Rating: 4/10.
Age group : 25-35 year old
Genre : Chick flick

In Her Shoes - Shelvia

I'm so glad I went to see this movie instead of Must Love Dogs! =D
It was a great movie (cheers me up slightly after my disastrous evening)..

It has the 'chick flick' feel to it, so I would not push it to the guys, but girls, go.. and watch it with your sister(s) - if you have one, and if you don't go and watch it with your best friend(s)...

I also really enjoy the use of poems in this movie... =)
I've never had any interest to poem before but this movie kinda re-introduces poem to me, and it presents poem in a better way...

Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette both play their parts really well.
I read the book a year ago and both of them fit the book's characters which i pictured in my head.. I vaguely remember the storyline from the book, but I do enjoy the movie more than the book... ^.^

So... girls (ie. Sasima, Gemma and Sam), go and watch the movie!!! =)

Rate: 8.2/10

The Cat in the Hat - Julian Boult

Children's Movie - age 3yrs and over

With Mike Myers, Kelly Preston and Alec Baldwin. With lots of fun and colour, and running for close to two hours, your toddler will happily watch it repeatedly up to three times a day. That is equivalent to six hours of baby sitting. At the conservative rate of $20.00 per hour that is a saving of $120.00 per day.
With enough adult humour to keep you entertained (at least for the first session each day)……just buy it!

Graveyard of the Fireflies – Weifan Huang

A must see Japanese animation movie. In fact, a must see movie period. To me it's so far the best animation made by Studio Ghibli (the one that brought you Howl's moving castle - haven't seen this one but I don't think it will beat Graveyard of fireflies anytime). It is so rich in storyline and full of emotions that it's impossible not to feel the same emotion throughout the movie.

The beginning of the movie is actually the end of the story. It flashes to the memories of a young boy named Seita back to the times when he was struggling to survive along with his little sister, Setsuko, during the end of the WW II. As any other war related movies, it's a very sad and depressing theme as the story takes you to see how the 2 kids strive to live during the difficult times in such hard circumstances. It's so touching it will bring you to tears or at least very near to.

As with most if not all Ghibli's movies, the animation is ahead of its time (this one was published in 1988) and the soundtracks simply set the scenes perfectly. I recommend this to anyone regardless whether they watch animation or not. You won't be disappointed.

Rating 10/10

Saw (DVD) - Ryan Moss

Saw actually celebrates life by destroying it: the serial killer shapes elaborate life or death puzzles for his victims, people who he believes are taking life for granted.

It is on that deep, dark, primitive side of human nature that Saw succeeds beautifully. Saw is a nasty, unapologetic, visceral thrill ride of unrelenting ugliness. The film immediately creates and maintains high-stakes tension from its opening scene, where two strangers, Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, awaken to find themselves chained to the wall on either side of a filthy bathroom. A bloody body lies on the floor between them, as does a gun and a tape recorder. They each have a tape in their pocket - let the games begin.

For a horror movie you don’t expect to be guessing until the very end but for all of you out there that like to spoil films for yourselves by trying to guess the end or the next twist, I guarantee you won’t get this one.

The films plot flaws are not apparent while you are watching, its only afterwards while your thinking about it, alone, in the dark, checking the lock on your front door, that the things that don’t add up or were not fully explained become apparent. So you can’t count this against the film as it in no way affects how much you enjoy watching it.

Rating: 7/10