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Reviews
Scoop (1996)
A prime example of a Malaysian movie at its worst
Sorry En Aziz, I dont mean to be disrespectful, but the only thing worth seeing in this Movie is Ms Irene Santiago, being one of the most beautiful Malaysian "actresses". Apart from that, all the qualities that are horrifying to movie buffs like me are there - especially the irritating overacting. C'mon, Malaysians in the moviemaking scene - you can do MUCH better than this pile of utter rubbish!
Senario the Movie (1999)
Not too bad for the first few minutes, then it's all downhill
The guys from Senario are one of the funnier bunches when performing live and on TV, and definitely better comedians than AR Badul, R Jaafar, Mr OS and those little men - Ibrahim Pendek etc. Talking about funny elements, Malaysian films used to employ "little men" (dwarfs) but now they seem to favour testosterone-challenged men instead (eg, Spinning Gasing). Anyway, how good is this movie? This movie was all downhill after a promising start, and ending is so ridiculous, so stupid, so corny, so...well...u get the idea, that I almost threw up. In short, watch the first half hour, then leave before the end.
Sembilu (1994)
So bad it's a comedy!
The film that started the big money rolling in for Yusof Haslam. Awie, one of Malaysia's biggest rock stars, as usual takes the role of the cool guy who explodes in the end. The end is as low budget as you can get, wrestling in the mud no less....The only character that caught my fancy is the bad guy - Wati's elder brother or something like that. His obscenities hurled at Awie I think just passed the censors :-)
Hapuslah Air Matamu (1976)
Terrible movie - classic soundtrack
This movie suffered from the same syndrome as Prince's Purple Rain - excellent, if not classic soundtrack, but terrible movie. The movie's storyline and acting is so bad its hilarious! But two scenes take the cake - one where Normadiah turns up at the niteclub where Sharifah works carrying with her, of all things, her daughter's favourite "goreng pisang"! Imagine, everybody was dancing to disco music, and suddenly this old woman comes in looking for her daughter to feed her with "goreng pisang".....i watched that scene in utter disbelief. But the 2nd scene was even worse. That was near the end of the film where Sharifah has broken up with Broery Marantika. She's heartbroken and comes home to mummy. And what does a good daughter do? Stuff "goreng pisang" into her mouth while her mother looks on happily. And I really mean stuff - her mouth was so full she looked well, ugly...
But nothing could take away the quality of the soundtrack written by Ahmad Nawab, which was remastered and rereleased in the late 90's, some 20+ years later. It's simply one of the best pop soundtrack ever to have come out of Malaysia, certainly the best since P Ramlee's time.
Bukit Kepong (1981)
Not bad
I saw this movie when it was first released, and found it gripping. Thinking back, I think it would've had the same effect now. One of the better Malaysian films, and perhaps the best Malaysian war films ever made. Yes, this is Jins Shamsuddin's masterpiece. No sappy ending, no testosterone-challenged man, no overacting. The only grouse is as pointed out by one of the other commenters - how can trained military/police personnel be outgunned and outammoed by a bunch of commie guerillas?
Azura (1984)
The only memorable thing about this movie is the song
I saw this movie when it first came out in the 80s. My interest was recently rekindled when Jamal Abdillah resung one of the songs in the soundtrack with Siti Sarah Raisuddin. The song - "sandarkan pada kenangan" was quite popular locally then. As for the movie, sorry Jamal and Ogy, but it's down in the pits.....to make u feel better, Purple Rain was also a terrible movie, but the soundtrack was good :-)
Spinning Gasing (2000)
My hope dashed yet again
I was hoping that my faith in the quality of malaysian films would be restored by this film after so many years, but sadly this film is not it. The same problems plaguing malaysian films are STILL there - unrealistic, overacting etc. why the big deal about the girl suddenly being entranced and then dancing on the beach? nobody does that...only crazy people do, or only during tourism promos. how about the thing about "mee maggi cepat dimasak sedap dimakan" thingy? TOTALLY unnecessary! I was plainly disgusted, not delighted by that time-wasting little scene.
Once more, to Malaysian directors and actors/actresses - u dont need a huge budget or need to show lots of skin in order to make a good film! what u need is a great story, a great script and great acting, that's it.
Si Buta Lawan Jaka Sembung (1983)
Gore level up in the stratosphere
Ah ha ha...Barry Prima, Advent Bangun, Nyi Roro Kidul - this movie has all the best (or the worst) of Indonesian martial arts actors/actresses in the late 70s and early 80s. It seems that these 3 are in all action/martial arts movies at that time - whether alone in their own movies (being the hero/heroine/villain) or in this case - all 3 in the same movie - WOW.
Mostly gore-infested, who could forget that scene where 3 heads fly off in unison? Or that strange woman who suddenly feels horny at the most unbelieveable moment? Or that severed head that's still alive? Has to be seen to be believed.
Ibu mertuaku (1962)
Classic mother-in-law stereotype
A mom-in-law from hell and Ramlee's classic tale of someone who just doesn't have any luck in life - and that's pretty bad for someone so kind hearted.
A masterpiece from the greatest Malay moviemaker of all time.
Perempuan, Isteri, dan Jalang (1993)
The greatest Malaysian film ever!
Dare I say it: without a doubt, this is it. The best bar none, P Ramlee's classics included.
Good enough for a nomination for the Academy Awards for best foreign film.
None of the usual overacting (eg Haliza Misbun in Scoop), melodrama overload (eg, Chef Wan's attempt at crying in that forgettable nightmare of a film), stupid sidekicks (eg, Mr Os), totally unfunny "funneymen" (eg, AR Badul in "Panglima Badul") even worse script and plain miscasting.
The last time I saw a Malay film in a cinema is in 1990 (forgot the title - after which I promised myself never to put myself through that misery again. Then I saw this on TV and my faith in Malay films somewhat restored, even though I was still in disbelief - Malaysians can make quality films at last!
I had exactly the same feeling when I watched "Fire", the best Indian film of all time. Forget Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, that's for romantics, "Fire" and "Perempuan, Isteri &..." are for real movie buffs.
No slouching here, everything is tense, tight and I thought danger was imminent everywhere.
Congratulations to everyone involved.