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10,000 BC
2008 / Roland Emmerich > Talk about making Apocalypto look like a bloody masterpiece. 10,000 BC is a ridiculous waste of a $105mn budget even if the CGI looks fantastic. The pacing is atrocious, the editing is sloppy and the story is silly. Throw in the beautiful Camille Belle, all you have here is eye candy and nothing else. Probably a great thing to put on the television while you vacuum. Eagle vs Shark
2007 / Taika Waititi > Quirky can work, but it has to work with the film and its characters, not against them. In Eagle vs Shark, the joke is mostly on the male lead (Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords) and much of the cast surrounding him. It's supposed to be a romantic comedy, but the film progresses more as a portrayal of family dysfunctionality. That would have been fine if it weren't for the fact that only the female lead (who, played by Loren Horsley, is a quiet joy to watch) shows any emotional development. In the end, what seems to annoy/anger me the most is the sheer human patheticness that's accepted. Films like Oasis approach those who aren't capable of intertwining with society on their own behalf with intelligence and tact, but here, it's just utilizing them as fodder for cheap, nervous laughs. Be With Me
2005 / Eric Khoo > Be With Me is structurally flawed. On a pure fundamental basis, the trio of stories that create the network within the film should each have a similar level of importance and screentime to keep the balance, right? Khoo decides otherwise and starts to increase the focus on a specific one as the film progresses, weaving in a documentary style because, as we find out, one of the characters is actually a real person—Theresa Chan, the Singapore equivalent of "Helen Keller." This mismatch of fact and fiction is jarring to us because we don't know whether to take this as entertainment or a life lesson. The film's style, with a total of 2.5 minutes of dialogue in its ninety-three minute span, is sparse but elegant. Each shot is gorgeous in its own right, and the transitions are apt and don't reek of style over substance. The unfolding of each story is judiciously spliced and paced to keep enticing us. The real meat, once it gets rolling into its third and final act, is its open-ended theory on love and loneliness. It's a thesis of sorts in understanding the have and have-nots, and its true beauty is in the manner in which it translates this fiction into a real-life perspective. It's heartwarming but strong, quaint and unforgettable. 4:30
2006 / Royston Tan > Similar to short film director Tan's first feature film 15, I found myself hoping that 4:30 was at least half the timespan of its final cut. The meat here is spread quite thin, with a few poignant moments that may linger long after. The story of a boy's loneliness in the absence of a father (or in the presence of a stranger) is a worthy one, and this is one hell of a try at it. Unfortunately, attention spans are tested, and it almost seems like Tan wants us to do a considerable amount of the legwork to make it happen. And while I'm not always against doing that legwork, it would be nicer if its length was fitting. Invisible Waves
2006 / Pen-Ek Ratanaruang > It's hard to gauge if those who liked Last Life in the Universe will also like Invisible Waves. But those who have the patience for Pen-Ek's multinational opus—with Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai stars represented and much of the dialogue in English—will be rewarded by the film's ability to slowly but surely question the value of loyalty, self-worth and happiness. Not surprisingly, the film is also absolutely gorgeous thanks to the hands and eyes of cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Its pacing is a little skewed, with each third of the film speeding up at twice the pace of the previous. And while this causes the film to start slowly, it successfully mimics the protagonist's mindset so that we feel the similar type of rush in the latter third as he does. The dialogue in Invisible Waves is seemingly simple, but always struck certain chords, however small. Similar to its predecessor, it's somewhat hard to explain exactly why I enjoyed it so much. But I did, and for that I can do little but to recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who's willing and able. Citizen Dog
2004 / Wisit Sasanatieng > Take Amelie, increase the color saturation, replace Paris with Bangkok and add some crack. That about sums up Citizen Dog: a quirky, oddball romantic comedy that has its own fair share of imagination to keep itself from simply being dubbed a copycat. Its most unfortunate act may be that it starts off so strong (in terms of original content, witty storyline and sheer pacing) that halfway through it fails to keep up. Once that steam runs out, the style no longer works or fits, and the viewer is left stalled, even bored. Moreover, the peculiar subplots work fine when in small doses, but the whole "plastic" storyline was dead at arrival. However, this remains a wonderful watch if only because one gets to witness the further maturation of Thai cinema as well as some very memorable characters in their habitat. |
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