“MEN IN BLACK 3″ PRESS PREVIEW

They are back in grand style …. just in time for the long haul.

“MEN IN BLACK 3″ this action comedic caper directed by Barry Sonnenfeld is surely a fond case of vintage wine mellowing well.

A decade had lapsed over the last one.

Now we’re heralding the welcome return of part 3 with boisterous fanfare.

This time around, it’s bigger, gripping with more action ….  and funnier, happily basking in the splendor of the IMAX 3D.

For starters, get ready to be dazzled by the awesome visual effects that will blow your mind and ears aesthetically, where aliens and all kinds of idiotic creatures appear larger than life and snarlingly menacing over the Imax Screen to stun you.

It’s fun, fun, fun all the way.

Kudos to the animators and post effect specialists who painstakingly accomplished a great post production finish.

AGENT J (Will Smith) and AGENT K (Tommy Lee Jones) return once again to their respective roles as futuristic Federal Agents who are to maintain law and order and to keep the extra-terrestrial mischief makers at  bay.

At the film opens, the terrifying rogue BORIS the ANIMAL has escaped prison to wreak revenge on AGENT K who took away his freedom 40 years ago.

Using time travel technology, J transports himself back into the past, the year 1969 in a bid to save his partner from doom.

It is here that he teams with a 29 year old AGENT K (Josh Brolin playing the younger AGENT K).

There are thrills, spills, rollicking laughter notwithstanding heart-warming moments in this immensely enjoyable movie.

It’s worth waiting for, after all these years.

Roll on!

“DARK SHADOWS” PRESS PREVIEW

If you relish a dash of Gothic Art embroiled within a wacky retelling of a so-called 1970s tale of the macabre, DARK SHADOWS should fire your imagination.

This is the eighth collaboration of TIM BURTON, visionary director with Gothic offbeat sensibilities and JOHNNY DEPP, an actor known for his non-conforming aesthetic tastes – but it’s by no means their best effort.

But JOHNNY DEPP and TIM BURTON must have a certain kind of divine friendship where trust is concerned to be able to collaborate again …. and again.

This latest offering is a spoof about an arrogant playboy vampire who’s been buried alive for two centuries as a punishment for an unrequited love and his philandering ways.

BEHOLD a stunning parade of sweet damsels here (Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Helena Boham Carter, Bella Heathcote and Eva Green) who ignite the screen, hissing, snarling and fighting for every second of screen time each time any of them appears.

Now about the plot line:

Barnabas (Johnny Depp) is the master of Collinwood Manor. He is handsome, powerful and extremely sexual …until he makes the vital mistake of bedding and breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green).

 Angelique is a witch and dooms him to a fate worse than death by transforming him into a vampire, and then deliciously burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his grave and emerges into the modern world of 1972.

He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate is no longer what it was.

The new members of the Collins family each harbors their own dark secrets.

Is the film any good?

Yes, if you don’t go on digging dirt for whatever it’s worth.

The characters are fabricated after the 1970s American gothic soap opera or what you’d call a camp classic.

It’s absolute gloom as each lead character puts forward his or her melodramatic performance.

The dialogue is spiced with mirth and wit in a bid to incite light hearted laughter to dispel the shadows of despair.

The cinematography is lavish, the visual effects are spectacular and the atmospheric interiors are darkishly desolate.

Enough said.

It’d be best you exercise objectivity if you wish to appreciate this movie.

DIN TAO: Leader of The Parade 陣頭 PRESS PREVIEW.

Sure, this feature bears an oddball name.

Furthermore it was shot on a modest budget of USD 1.3 million.

Yet it unexpectedly became a sleeper hit when it was released in TAIWAN during the Lunar New Year 2012 with a record-breaking box office take of more than USD 10 million, out-performing all local and foreign films during that period.

No mean feat as that status is still maintained.

Assuredly it’s a mighty film that undresses the Taiwanese art of the DIN TAO ritual in grand style.

DIN TAO is a significant street act in Taiwan to those who may not know.

It’s a glorious religious ritual performed to express the people’s belief and gratitude to Gods during religious festivals.

We are treated to an artistic eye-opener, focusing on the splendor of the DIN TAO art with a matching tale that will tug at your heartstrings.

Some soul – yes, with a lot of heart to boot.

DIN TAO the movie packs a beautiful formula that combines traditional practices of the DIN TAO art with modern elements within a heartwarming script.

And kudos to an all-star cast who succeeds in bringing forth the emotional depth that’s required in each of their roles.

It is television director FUNG KAI’s first foray onto the big screen and he deserves a resounding pat on the back for drumming us with this wondrous piece of cinematic gem.

There’s an air of poetic beauty throughout in the element if you care to dig.

Whilst FUNG KAI applauds that it may be acceptable to be young and disdainful, he also clearly demonstrates that respect for the elders and one’s family is an important factor.

Treasure this thing called filial piety, is his didactic reminder.

Let’s have a quick run-through of the plot line:

  Allen Ko (柯有倫) plays A-tai, a hot-tempered young man who aspires about becoming a rocker in the US. He quits school in Taipei and returns to his Taichung village to work-and-save, before following his heart’s desire.

            A-tai is often at loggerheads with his father, Uncle Da (A-hsi, 阿西), who runs a DIN TAO troupe, and they quarrel whenever their paths are crossed.

            But Uncle Da is in financial straits. While his company struggles to make ends meet, his long-standing rival Wu Cheng (Liao Chun, 廖峻) and his troupe meet with success and popularity.

            Irked by Wu’s arrogance, A-tai decides to lead the troupe’s demoralized members on a countrywide walk in search of inspiration to enhance the traditional folk art form.

Inspired by the true story of Taichung’s Chio-Tian Folk Drums & Arts Troupe, this movie glorifies the physical and emotional challenges a group of youth endures while engaging in the diminishing art of folk drums culture.

The troupe’s training regimen includes running six miles daily, hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups, hours of drumming, martial arts, meditation and studies on Taiwanese culture. In recent years, Chio-Tian has performed at national ceremonies and other public events.

This movie takes us on a rollercoaster ride spiced with thrills, spills, joys, sorrows and heartbreaks.

Spirituality and surrealism aside, one must realize that there’s always, a redemption factor in life where forgiveness heals all pains.

In closing, this Reviewer is highlighting a Dalai Lama quote to best describe the moral of this film:

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.

If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they are safe.

If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help another to better understand.

If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of another.”

Nothing can be further from the truth, right?

THE PRESS CONFERENCE

ALAN KUO and CRYSTAL LIN chime together:

“It’s really BEYOND our wildest dreams that this FILM is a super-duper BOX OFFICE HIT.”

A TOAST TO OUR HARD-EARNED SUCCESS!

“EACH and EVERY of the entire CAST has an integral role to play in the SUCCESS of this Film.”

Television director FUNG KAI achieves stupendous SUCCESS in his first time foray onto the big screen with DIN TAO: LEADER of the PARADE.  He’s BEAMING all the way to the moon.

“I may look SWEET and DEMURE, but it is a new challenge to take on a BAD GIRL character as well ….”

“I play A-TAI who’s this ill-tempered and rebellious guy, and I am proud to be given this lead role in DIN TAO.”

THE MOVIE TRAILER

“GHOST BUDDIES”《老友開心鬼》PRESS PREVIEW.

Watch this film with an open mind.

You may either nod with agreement, or shake your head in disbelief.

It’s one of those “goosey goosey gander” times when the tiresome actor MARK LEE drags us into yet another of his mindless dark comedy.

You’ve heard that familiarity breeds contempt, and he’s now weaning himself thin with the extreme overexposure derived from his myriad of screen roles, television appearances and what have  you.

MARK LEE films can’t fail with his generous doses of his trademark grins and smirks, always ready to delve overboard to rib you with his goofy persona.

But you are lucky if you choose to get tickled pink by this one called “GHOST BUDDIES”.

Whatever the case, the overconfident Singapore actor MARK LEE has his coffers brimming  with  lucky cash and gleefully laughing his way to the bank. Let’s say that his mentor JACK NEO’s infamous downfall is MARK’s gain. He is taking over the throne as the King of meaningless slapsticks.

“GHOST BUDDIES” demonstrates what can really happen when your tap of creative ideas just runneth dry.

It extols one crazy yarn. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief to embark on this ride.

We need to thank Hong Kong film director SIMON SEK who directed this ridiculous mayhem. But he’s nowhere to be found during the press conference.

It’s an absurd much-ado-about-nothing tale about a crazy pandemonium of absurd souls.

Blame it on the bland script which tries hard to achieve cohesively, the most bizarre splatterings of Hokkien, Cantonese and Mandarin.

The end results is devoutly unfunny.

You don’t blame the pool of interesting talent played by the industry’s veterans such as LENNY OOI, WEE KHENG MING, LIM CHING MIAO, VIVIAN TOK, CHOW KEE MOO and KELVIN LEONG.

Singapore actor YAO WEN LONG joins in the riot to “fuel” the excitement.

Hong Kong’s TVB actress MAGGIE SHIU is roped in to dress this film with a regional appeal.

But unlike YEO YANN YANN who partnered MARK LEE successfully in a recent film “PETALING STREET WARRIORS”, there’s hardly any amiable chemistry between MAGGIE SHIU and dear MARK this time around.

With such an able cast, the cinematic treatment rendered by Hong Kong director SIMON PEK leaves much to be desired.

Let’s look at the synopsis:

Pearl (MAGGIE SHIU) and Ah Hui (MARK LEE) both work at a depressing funeral palour.

They are an unlikely couple.

She has a roving eye for handsome hunks whilst he is a simple nerd who holds a torch for her.

Then Ah Hui discovers that he has an uncanny ability to communicate with the dead through a couple of strange encounters.

Four ghosts suddenly appear to seek his help to fulfill their last wishes.

Ah Hui ropes in Pearl and together they go through various challenges to help the ghosts.

In doing so, a ghost-and-human friendship begins for the merry team.

Of course “GHOST BUDDIES” will worm  its way into the hearts and minds of  the silly Jacks and Jills who will trade guffaws and squeals at anything remotely funny. Not forgetting the kampungites.

“One man’s meat is another’s poison” is the rule here.

Go watch it if you are an avid fan of MARK LEE.

THE “GHOST BUDDIES” PRESS CONFERENCE

(Pictures kind courtesy of LOO YEW CHUNG)

Here’s LOOKING at YOU, folks.

“WE have a BETTER off-screen CHEMISTRY than ONSCREEN.”

“I am MARK LEE …… I am. So HEAR me ROAR!”

“GHOST BUDDIES” Movie Trailer

 

“THE AVENGERS” PRESS PREVIEW

Bate your breath, folks.

Here’s another of those absurd actioners featuring a stirring potpourri of bankable comic talents, six to be exact.

In terms of feasibility, this Super Heroes mega team-up wields a brilliant box office clout.

 ”THE AVENGERS” is perfectly cast.

On the select list are The Iron Man (ROBERT DOWNEY JR), The Incredible Hulk (MARK RUFFALO), Thor (CHRIS HEMSWORTH), Captain America (CHRIS EVANS), Hawkeye (JEREMY RENNER) and Black Widow (SCARLETTE JOHANSSON).

These are the iconic American super heroes dwelling within the fictitious Marvel Super Space.

And they are assembled here, larger than life, unbelievably stereo-typed, overly muscled to fire up the screen with happy hokum and merry mayhem.

When the arrogant cum elusive villian Loki (TOM HIDDLESTON) swears to usurp the Earth by declaring war on humanity and threatening to bring forth an alien invasion, Nick Fury (SAMUEL L.JACKSON), Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., looses no time to seek a killer team in order to restore the world back from the brink of disaster.

Scouring the globe, a daring recruitment drive begins.

Suspend your disbelief when you behold these Super Heroes nursing their super-charged egos as they quibble sarcasm and hurl insults at one another.  All this while, even when they are rallying together to fight a menacing war to save the Earth from annihilation.

It’s obvious that the producers are indulging in an exemplary marriage between art and commerce.

Shot on a whopping budget of USD 220 million, this epic should not fail.

Film Director JOSH WHEDON definitely delivers his goods as with this immensely entertaining movie.

The visual effects and fight stunts in 3D stereoscopy are phenomenally breathtaking.

So far most critics are giving it “two thumbs up” and the worldwide audiences are eagerly awaiting the movie’s release date.

Are you ready?

Now stay braced and get prepared to be blown away by the stupendous visual effects and the non-stop action.

Let your hair down, move with the flow and let the formidable team of the Super Heroes take you through a spectacle of wit, fun and adventure.

Two-and-half hours of escapism to relieve you of your work stress is definitely worth it.

Do you fritter away your life?

Do you waste it, squander it and not use life to its full potential?

Do you often dash straight for the finishing line without thought of living your life with deliberation?

Time is fleeting, is free,

But it is really priceless.

You can’t own it,

But you can use it.

You can’t keep it,

But you can spend it.

Once you’ve lost it,

You can never get it back.

Nay, TIME does not stay still.

IT’s HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW.

Let’s peruse a paragraph taken from an oldie song that extols, with each passing passage from childhood to adulthood, the remnants of TIME left on our platter will be memories of long gone days:

“The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life.”

MEMORIES ….

(Sigh)

“BATTLESHIP” PRESS PREVIEW

Yet again, we have another techno-thriller recycling elements from similar genre films

and teasing the very notion of giant robots.

Mind you, this sci-fi film is kick-ass all the way, and it will surprise you with a chock-full of technical pizazz.

It is one mesmerizing experience to boot.

It offers no apologies about “new-ness”, but director PETER BERG provides a refreshing treatment, a plethora of adventure, abundant thrills and explosive challenges that will dangle right before you, fast and furious.

Pull no punches as we have here two of Hollywood’s remarkable action heroes TAYLOR KITSCH and LIAM NEESON and they are summoned here to rip the giant screen asunder in this action spectacular.

Only this time, NEESON does only a cameo leaving the death-defying stunts to his much younger compatriot. It’s truly TAYLOR KITSCH’s vehicle.

The plot centers around an impetuous egg head called Alex Hopper (TAYLOR KITSCH) who intends to woo  and wed the daughter of an US Admiral Shane (LIAM NEESON). His elder brother enlists him in the US Navy to tame his wild ways. During a massive naval exercise in Hawaii, everyone on board detects the presence of Aliens who eventually launch an attack on Earth with far superior weapons.

You will be fed with pulsating action scenes, notwithstanding explosions aplenty and mass invasions.

Kudos to the special effects guys who rendered the visual treatment.

The results are stupendously effective and speak for themselves.

The team dresses the robot motions with a sense of  urgency and style that belies the size and scale of the invasion.

No spoilers here to mar your enjoyment, but BATTLESHIP delivers on its promise of stunning visuals and well-crafted action sequences.

Here’s a high-octane thriller reeking of horror and suspense featuring aliens from out of this world embarking for Earth to take over.

For avid action buffs, this popcorn flick cannot disappoint.

So what are you waiting for?

(Oldies are Goodies, so here’s a three-year-old article revisited).

WHAT is LOVE?

Love is poetry in motion.

Love is rhythm and blues.

Love is forever a many splendored thing.

Look hard, love is all around.

It’s in the breeze ….

Smell, inhale, catch!

Sheer bliss, chum.

Here’s my take on

“I WILL  CATCH A RAINBOW FOR YOU, MY LOVE.”

If I could catch a rainbow

I would do it just for you.

And share with you its beauty

On days you’re feeling blue.

If I could build a mountain

We could call it our very own.

A place of devine serenity

A place we can be alone.

If I could absorb your troubles

I would toss them into the deep sea.

But all these things I am trying

are unattainable for me.

No, I cannot build a mountain

Or catch a rainbow afar ….

But let me be, what I know best,

a friend who’ll always be there.

And have faith that

our love will transcend the test of time.

Now listen to pop diva SHIRLEY BASSEY as she croons the hit of all time “LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING”.

Love is nature’s way of giving a reason to be living,
the golden crown that makes a man a king.

“TITANIC in 3D” PRESS PREVIEW

Watching the movie again is like taking a trek down memory lane with an aching tug at your heart.

Sad reminiscences are bound to be stirred at the stark re-living of an old tale, this time around in the splendor of the 3D stereoscopy.

It was in 1997 when I first caught TITANIC at an old style theater in my neighborhood.

That was a time when pirated VCDs were easily available and was a cheaper alternative, and people just didn’t bother to visit the cinema anymore.

Cineplexes were virtually unheard of then.

There was little fanfare, hardly any advertising and at first notion, nobody really understood the significance of the first TITANIC, much less cared what the movie was all about.

It was a week later  that word of mouth traveled far and wide, and suddenly everybody was taking an interest in the film and flocking to the cinemas.

 Many still regard it as the biggest screen romance of all time.

Now TITANIC has been digitally remastered in 3D and it’s back on the big screen a full century after the famous ocean liner went down, and it wears its blockbuster trademark with aplomb.

It ages well, a painstaking recreation of a gigantic ship built around an unforgettable film.

We remain mesmerized by the larger-than-life fictionalized  romance of Jack Dawson (LEONARDO DiCAPRIO) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (KATE WINSLET) aboard the luxury liner that was destined for disaster on it maiden voyage.

The TITANIC hit the iceberg 100 minutes into the film.

And whoever can forget the dying scene at the end?

The ship breaks in half, and the stern side rises 90-degrees into the air.

As it sinks, Jack and Rose ride the stern into the ocean. Jack helps Rose onto a wall panel that is only able to support one person’s weight.

Holding the panel’s edge, he assures her she will die an old woman, warm in her bed.

Rose is saved but not Jack, who dies of hypothermia.

KATE WINSLET was nominated for Best Actress, for her role as a young and restless well-to-do passenger in the 1st class who fell in love with a struggling artist played by LEONARDO DiCAPRIO.

The movie won a total of 11 Oscars and was the smashing hit of all times, until it was overtaken in 2009 by AVATAR, also directed by JAMES CAMERON.

TITANIC 2012 is all set to refresh your memory of all the grandeur in 3D.

The sheer wonder of TITANIC, its size and scope in this absorbing three hour presentation is remarkable.

We are vividly transported again to witness the fury and the tragedy of the 1,514 passengers who had perished in the icy cold depths of the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912.

In closing, let’s pause to observe the significance of lyrics of CELINE DION’s colossal hit from the movie:

“You’re here, there’s nothing I fear,
And I know that my heart will go on
We’ll stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on …”

Apt, isn’t it?

“MIRROR MIRROR” PRESS PREVIEW

“MIRROR MIRROR” the movie is a loadful of family-fun, so it is safe to bring everybody.

It is a hilarious retelling of the GRIMM BROTHERS’ fairy tale, of SNOW WHITE the legendary princess.

LILY COLLINS the young actress who takes on the title role is oh-so-sweet.

She’ s a new beauty to gawk at with her thick luscious eye brows that might stir in you the feeling in you that she could be bushy in parts.

And gorgeous JULIA ROBERTS flares her large nostrils and enormous mouth with smirk, glee and pure wickedness, as she tackles an opportunistical verbal stab now and then – at the present day governmental politics, with a slew of other self-deprecating jokes extolling womankind’s vanity and insecurity.

She clearly shows us that she is indeed having a whale of a time.

ARMIE HAMMER the personable lead actor plays a goofish and sometimes, nerdy Prince Alcott.

Intended to or not, he provides some comic relief.

The fabled seven dwarfs are portrayed as pint-sized gutsy bandits who rob for a living.

Film director TARSEM SINGH is Indian of course, and he’s very much into  his element when he bestows the audience with a cute rollicking Bollywood dancey number as the credits roll at the end, so much so that the audience is grooving and goofing it all up with sheer reluctance to leave the cinema.

TARSEM dresses the movie in fine style, with a dash of raw humor and intelligent quibbling. There’s fluff, there’s buff, aligned with a sound balance.

This is the premise that kicks the movie an octave leap above the clutter and the din.

What works is the imagery-filled execution.

Take note that from the fantastical landscape to the derelict village to the foreboding forest, most scenes are fabricated in a set-bound environment.

There are stunning elements, chiefly among them the dazzling colorful costumes worn by JULIA ROBERTS and LILY COLLINS a la fashion extravaganza.

The sum of it all is, here’s a jolly old tale with a smart,enjoyable retelling.

Go watch it for all it’s worth.