Larry Crowne [ Movie Review ] ★★1/2

The Pitch 

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, two of the Hollywood heavyweights (and Academy Awards winners) partner up for a romantic comedy about picking oneself up after suffering from one of the worst fallout of the economic downturn. A plot device that resonate with the current economic status in USA and other parts of the world.

Not forgetting that Tom Hanks had a great turn out when he directed That Thing You Do! Larry Crowne might just be able to cement his capability in directing movies.

Sound like a win win situation except that this movie is co written by Nia Vardalos who had seen big flops with her last few screenwriting efforts after My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The Plot

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) was a superb worker in U Mart and was expecting his 10th employee of the month award. Instead, he got fired and had a huge mortgage that he couldn't pay. Listening to his neighbor's advice, he went back to his local college to upgrade himself so that he could improve his chances at finding another job.

At the college, he became a part of a community of outcasts and individuals from all walks of life. In the public speaking class, he developed a crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), who has lost both the passion for teaching and her husband. 

The Perspective 

If you have gone to watch this movie, expecting portrayal of realism in unemployment, you would probably be disappointed. According to Tom Hanks, they did their research on the current economic downturn and unemployment, but it didn't translate well onto the big screen. The whole unemployment issue was dealt in a sloppy manner and it became a side dish to what this movie is actually about.

Larry Crowne is actually about the unlikely romance between Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts characters and the whole movie hinge on whether you buy their romance or not. Personally, the romance didn't work for me. It was hard to see how their characters tried to restrain their feelings for each other when there's hardly any chemistry between them.

But then again, the stars are worth the money that they are paid for this movie. The likeability of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts help eased sitting through this meandering romantic comedy. There's something about their star factor that helps them charms the audience when the material wasn't constructive enough and in this case, it was a big contribution to this movie. If it isn't for Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts, I could hardly find any reason to recommend this.

Definitely a big drop from his directorial debut, That Thing You Do!

ScreenSingapore Tom Hanks @ Larry Crowne Press Conference

 

Photos from ScreenSingapore Facebook Page

Tom Hanks was in town recently for the premiere of his movie Larry Crowne at first ScreenSingapore. During the press conference, he spoke about various aspects of Larry Crowne, his career choices and his "favorite five movies". One of the most entertaining press conference that I have been to. After getting so many awards for acting in serious drama movies, I had long forgotten that Tom Hanks started off as a comedian until this press conference.

 

Photos from ScreenSingapore Facebook Page

Instead of typing the content of the press conference down, I chose to podcast the press conference so that folks could somehow experience the very funny and entertaining Tom Hanks. Click on the audioplayer bar below.

^Might have to wait a while for the audioplayer bar to load! ^

ScreenSingapore Closing Red Carpet Gala Premiere

and just like that, the inaugural ScreenSingapore comes to an end. To celebrate the end of the week long event, ScreenSingapore held the Closing Red Carpet Gala Premiere of Larry Crowne.  Check out the stars that graced this prestigious event.

Tom Hanks (Director & Actor of Larry Crowne) (Photo Credit DayLife.com)

Zhang Ziyi and Lee Byung-Hun gracing the event (Photo Credit DayLife.com)

Vanness Wu gracing the event (Photo Credit DayLife.com)

Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told [ Documentary Review ] ★★1/2

For ScreenSingapore's Bollywood night, Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told is the sole feature that getting the Red Carpet Gala Premiere treatment. Producer Shekhar Kapur (शेखर कपूर) who directed Elizabeth and The Four Feathers was in attendance to present this documentary to the audience. 

He spoke of who he became accidentally involved in this documentary and what this piece of work meant to him. He became intrigued with the aspect that for every negative stereotypes about Bollywood movies, it's being counterbalance by the energy that still moves billions of Indian viewers today. Bollywood movies are still reaching out to Indians who left India years ago and those third generations of Indians who lived aboard are still addicted to it. With that in mind, he set off with Rakeysh Mehra and Jeff Zimbalist to try and define this unique Bollywood love affair.

Personally, Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told is hardly a documentary. It's more of a string of musical video snippets that been extracted out from selected Bollywood movies to form a musical montage that lasted 81 mins.

Even for someone who is totally new to the Bollywood movies, these montages were a clear representation of the charms of Bollywood movies. The cinematography were breath taking with vibrant colors and excellent choices of picturesque scenery. The artists from this generation and decades before have a common trait and that's the charismatic x factors to light up the big screens. The dance choreography and music are well designed to reel in the viewers time after time.

On the flip side, even after experiencing 81 minutes of the best that Bollywood movies have to offer, I don't think I came any closer to understanding the charms of Bollywood movies or understood why the intended audience love them so much.

It's a documentary that is lacking a narrator to explain the videos that were chosen and what they are supposed to represent. It sporadically splice in interviews with Bollywood filmmakers and actors that showcase why they love Bollywood movies and what those movies meant to them. It just felt like it's superficially scraping the various well known elements of Bollywood movies and it never really goes any deeper than that. Or is that all there's to it?

In a way, I could understand what the documentary makers were trying to do when they chose to minimize explicit explanation. It's like a hybrid documentary that provides an experience of what is Bollywood movie all about, without trying to explain too much about it. But it ended up a little too vague and it felt like a video montage that put together without any narrative flow. It could be a tiring experience but with the right frame of mind and patience, this can also be a rewarding experience.

Super 8 [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Pitch

When Super 8 teaser trailer was released, it felt like it's going to be a Cloverfield-ish type of film. In the usual secretive J.J. Abrams way of keeping the fans interested, there was not much information on it. What is Super 8 all about? Are there going to be eight super powered individuals that escape from the train crash or will eight superheroes rising from that incident.

Then when the next trailer came about, it was revealed that it was going to be like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Goonies meets Cloverfield type of film. A bunch of kids making movies with Super 8 mm film camera when they witness a horrifying train accident. It's notable that this is a collaboration between J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Production and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. Yup the same folks that gave us Cloverfield and E.T.. Expectation for this movie had been turned up a few notches.

But personally, what attracted me to Super 8 would be the aspect of kids making homemade movies. Movies like Son of Rambow and Be Kind Rewind that are focus on amateurish movie making have always touch my heart. I am interested to see how this mixture of genre would turn out. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

Super 8 also marks one of the two movies shown in ScreenSingapore Hollywood Nights Red Carpet Gala Premiere.

The Plot

In 1979 the United States Air Force shuts down a portion of Area 51 and ships the material stored at the decommissioned site by rail to an undisclosed but secure location in Ohio. In the fictional town of Lillian, Ohio, a group of teenagers are making a movie with a Super 8 mm film camera when they witness a train crash. They suspect it was not an accident. There are disappearances and unexplained events around town, and the local deputy investigates the cause of the events leading to the discovery of something nobody expects.

(Synopsis taken from Wikipedia)

The Perspective

Super 8 is an enjoyable flick that invokes all the memories of old school children adventures with a dash of modern day CGI monsters. The pace of the movie was good and the turn of events were interesting enough to keep me glued to the screen. The young cast were impressive and specially Elle Fanning that charms the socks out of me.

For the look of this movie, J.J. Abrams used a mixture of lens flare and grainy film stock. The combination didn't really complement each other and it became competing distraction instead. The lens flare that J.J. Abrams utilized to give Star Trek the movie it's special look is starting to wear out it's novelty and welcome in Super 8. However the grainy feel of the movie was a nice nod to the olden days of film making. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

What I didn't like about Super 8 would be how it ended. It felt rather too convenient and simplified after the elaborate setup and multiple subplots. It lacks a certain satisfaction of seeing how the various elements (such as the Super 8mm film project, the alien dilemma and Romeo and Juliet love angle) were being tied together. The fruition of all these elements felt too easy and hastily done. It was a great journey but let's just say the destination was a bit of letdown. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

Coda

Don't rush out of the cinema once the movie is over. There a special treat during the credits that made for those who wondered what happened to their film project. One of the highlights of the movie, specially when they pay homage to the maestro of zombie movies. This review belongs to filmsblitz at blogspot

ScreenSingapore Red Carpet Gala Premiere of May’n The Movie Phonic Nation

May'N (or May Nakabayashi | 中林 芽依) attended the Red Carpet Gala Premiere of her latest 3D concert documentary "May’n The Movie Phonic Nation"

Before heading up for the 3D concert documentary, she performed 2 songs for her fans. Here the video of her performance. Enjoy

ScreenSingapore In Conversation with Jon Landau and Yu Dong

Defining a Business Case for 3-D Film in Asia

Left to Right: Moderator, John Landau and Yu Dong

John Landau and Yu Dong were in town to kick start the In Conversation series for ScreenSingapore. The discussion for this morning would be on the prospect for 3-D Films in Asia. John Landau is renown for his collaboration with James Cameron in making Avatar and Titanic and needless to say, Avatar had already set the bar for the new phase of 3-D movies. Yu Dong on the other hand, is currently producing Tsui Hark's Flying Swords of Dragon Inn which is going to be the first Asian Wuxia film in 3-D.

Here are Some of the Key Points that John Landau and Yu Dong had pointed in this Discussion

• John Landau felt that 3D is the natural progression for movies. Like how sound replaced silent films and how colour replaced black and white movies, 3D will be the new standard in watching movies and would replace all 2D movies in a natural progression.
• John Landau mentioned that the next two Avatar movies will be shot at a higher frame rate. He also pointed out that it's important to "control" where the viewers are focusing while watching 3D movies. While Yu Dong felt that not all movies (such as romance) require to be filmed in 3D, John Landau disagreed by saying that 3D could help with the immersion experience.
• Yu Dong felt that in Asia, beside making 3D action movies, the Asian region is rich with Classic folktales that would benefit from 3D. He also pointed out that there will be a Journey to the West / Monkey King 3D movie coming out next year.
• Yu Dong had pointed out that in recent years, there's been an explosion of multiplex in China and the biggest auditoriums are fitted for 3D movies. Initially, they were considering whether to film Flying Swords of Dragon Inn in 3D or not but eventually, they realized that in order to protect their market share, they had to film the movie in 3D so that they could have it screen in the largest hall.
• Yu Dong also pointed out that in China, they have all the latest equipments but lacks qualified personals to operate them. They would have to continue to work closely with the American counterpart in developing the right 3D movies. John Landau extended an invitation to Yu Dong to visit his studio / workshop in USA so that they could further exchange ideas on 3D movie making.

ScreenSingapore Opening Red Carpet Gala Premiere

It's finally here, the inaugural ScreenSingapore commence it's week long movie business trade fair with the Opening Red Carpet Gala Premiere and World Premiere of The Devil Inside Me. Here's a look at the stars that graced the event.

 Zhang Ziyi the event ambassador for ScreenSingapore 2011 gracing the Opening Red Carpet Gala Premiere (Photo Credit DayLife.com)

 Zhang Qi, Director of The Devil Inside Me (Photo Credit DayLife.com)

 Zhang Qi and Anya, Director and Actress for The Devil Inside Me (Photo Credit : DayLife.com)

Xie Nan, Liu Tan, Yan Ni and Gordon Chan presenting the trailer for The Mural at the ScreenSingapore (Photo Credit: DayLife.com)

Colin Chou here to present The Mural Trailer (Photo Credit: DayLife.com)