nokturnal-rapport Reviews

Drug War (2012)

A battle of both brain and brawn.

[9/10 · 13 January 2014]

Gripping, smart, and a joy to watch.

The acting is excellent and the main leads are my favorite. Honglei, a hardened narcotic cop, is collected, methodological, and intelligent. You can tell he has earned his keep and has seen some crazy things behind those eyes. He's like the calm before the storm, readily break loose. He leads a high profiled operation to bust possibly the largest drug ring in the counntry and his lead is Louis, a captured meth supplier. Louis is not to be outshone: calculated, cunning, and above all, selfish. I find his character to be easily one of the greatest villains for he appears harmless but you can't really know what he has in mind. One scene you might think he has repented, another scene he might convince you otherwise. He is a great villain because he's deceptive, cunning, selfish, and he's willing to do anything for survival, including turning against his own kin but the catch is that he doesn't look capable of such evil. That's why he's great. Appearance is deceiving. The two main leads are completely opposite. The cop appears cold, distanced, and seemingly emotionless yet pursues a good cause and cares for his underlings while the crook appears warmer, more expressive, seemingly harmless yet inhuman underneath. Great contrast. The story is tight, the actions are neat - the shootout between the mute brothers and the cops and the grand finale scene are superb. A battle of both brain and brawn.

Hard Boiled (1992)

Maybe a fun film but not a good one

[6/10 · 3 January 2014]

I think the film was good back when it first released but watching it now proves that it does not stand the test of time. The acting is so-so at best with the exception of Tony Leung who does an excellent job of showing the anguish and conflict of an undercover cop. You can see it in his eyes. Yun-fat is just plain angry all the time and does various acrobatic things with his mouth. But his character does not have depth despite some effort to portray otherwise with the implementation of a former cop friend played by John Woo himself, who Yun-fat would sometimes confine "deep" subjects with such as friendship, life and death, etc. However, the conversations are stiff, shallow, and lacked of emotion. This film is widely praised for its action sequences and I could see how it's come about but I'm seemly biased by today's standard. I know I shouldn't do this but I just can't help it. The action sequences are just too over-the-top. I understand the unrealistic element of action movies to entertain but this one really irks me. Unlimited amo, bullets wouldn't go through car door yet throw a person across a room as if he just got hit by a truck, people miss their marks constantly in the most obvious way - yes, I'm talking about you Mad Dog, you were in an arm base with high caliber rifles yet you used a single shot pistol, you were 12 feet away and caught your targets off-guarded, and you still missed - which by the way somehow miraculously helped Tony, who was shocked with high voltage and on the verge of death just moments ago, back on his feet faster than a stallion; Wong, the main villain, tries to explode the building filled by gas (ordered by him by the way) that he was in, with C4s. Even my kid cousin knows better and Wong't do that. I know I'm really nitpicking here but it did strike a nerve. I'm willing to overlook all that but the main problem is hard-boiled down to this: it's too exaggerating, too much, and dragged on way too long which really tiresome to watch after awhile.

Stripped the action and the plot is weak full with holes. There are some really cheesy scenes and dialogs. Most importantly though, I didn't feel any chemistry between characters. I didn't feel an emotional surge when a close friend is killed or when he's in great danger (A Better Tomorrow was great on this). I just didn't care for them; I was a mere spectator not an engaged participant that was drawn into the scenes.

However, I'd not discredit this film for its influence. This and other Woo's films helped popularize the gun fight ballads. The scene where Yun-fat slides down the stair, back rested against the stair rail, tooth-pick in mouth, pumping the dual pistols is spectacular; wicked cool.

TL;DR: average at best with lots of over-the-top actions that gets old really quickly while doesn't have a good enough plot nor acting to sustain it. Probably was great when first released but doesn't hold the water now. A Better Tomorrow and The Killer are both much better films with similar theme.

The Stool Pigeon (2010)

A more realistic, unsettling, gritty packed with emotion police film

[9/10 · 29 December 2012]

I think this film is underrated. I didn't expect much but it was a pleasant surprise. It's gritty, some what unsettling, and raw with emotions. It might start slow but it rewards those who're patient. Considering the premise - the dangerous line of work and the thin boundary an informant has to walk, it's not inappropriate for it to be dark and I wasn't turned off by the ending. I wasn't in for a Disney ending from the start. I think it's more realistic and all the build ups channeled well to the end. It's emotional and you get to see from both sides and their unspoken rationales and they're both right in their own respect and sometimes there's nothing more they can do. I was drawn into the dilemma, the unsettling conscience, the consequences of one's action, the fear, the adrenaline rush, the pressure, the guilt etc. The action sequence is not nice and pretty like that of Jackie Chan's. It's honest, brutal, and it's real, and it's scary because that's how things are settle on the street in the East. There's no hero; you've just got to do what you've gotta do. A good film in my book.

Inception (2010)

A classic in the making.

[10/10 · 11 November 2012]

A fresh breeze of originality and execution. This film has everything: action, drama, science fiction, thriller, suspense, etc. but most importantly it's everything done great. It's not a mumble-jumble spaghetti Disney film done poorly with a little bit of every genres toppled with marketing ploys to maximize audience from all age group. A clever film that assumes its audience is intelligent and refuses spoon- feed them. You need to pay good attention otherwise you'll be lost. This is a film that benefits from multiple viewing. The more I re-watch, the more new things I find and the greater I appreciate it. It's not a stretch to claim that it's one of the best films within the last decade. It's a film that set the bar higher for the future and one that re- defines the whole multiple-genres film making.

The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)

Zen-like movie

[9/10 · 29 October 2012]

If you really love films and you like art, you'll love this movie; if you don't, watch it anyway because it might change your opinion. Visually stunning. A lot of people complain about its tortoise-crawling pace but this film needs to be savored slowly. It's about a mundane life of a servant girl, nothing exciting would really ever happened to her but this allow the cinematography shines and unveils her seemingly boring life under a colorful kaleidoscope. Relax and don't anticipate or think too much, let yourself submerge in the experience entirely. This is indeed a style-over-substance film alright but if style-over-substance is a genre then this is one of its top dogs; no contest.

Samurai Champloo (2004–2005)

Style over substance.

[6/10 · 17 October 2012]

Samurai Champloo is vastly overrated.

The plot is thinner than soup.

Character development is weak. We don't get to know Mugen's past until episode 13. For Jin, I think it started around episode 6, and Fuu, I don't even know - hers is very fragmented; little bit of here and there. Mugen was a potentially interesting character though stereotypical. Even they tried to expand on his past, it still didn't answer what I thought any reasonable viewer would wonder: how did Mugen pick up his unique fighting style? Jin has the best back story of the 3 and I have to say Fuu's past is the most vague or maybe she was too young and there was not much happening, she was only 15. Since there's little character development, I don't feel compel to root for any of them and that's why it makes the show less engaging.

The show is also inconsistent in term of material quality. Some episodes are good, some are just plain silly, and others just had me stare blankly. Here are some bad examples:

Eps.12 - The Disorder Diaries: the whole episode is a recap from eps.2- 10. I could skip this entirely and miss absolutely nothing.

Eps.18 – War of the Words: two thugs compete in graffiti in order to pet Fuu's flying squirrel.

Eps.22 – Cosmic Collisions: Zombies digging for treasure. And their only diet is wasabi. What?

Basically, one episode is very loosely related to the next (except for the multiple part ones). You can literally watch just the first episode and then jump around randomly without missing too much.

I feel like some romance in the end would have made it more satisfying. Mugen should have gotten together with that sexy undercover cop and Jin should get with Shino. Wait then what about Fuu? Never mind, I take that back. No romance is probably better.

So enough about its downsides, here's why I still enjoy Samurai Champloo

The show has a distinctive style and I like the hip-hop fusion. I also appreciate the producers' effort in incorporating real period of time and some historical events in the series. The soundtrack is dope (get it? hip-hop talk). The animation is good and the fighting scenes are quiet well choreographed. It's comical - Mugen sometimes made me genuinely LOL. The last 3 episodes were very good and they totally redeemed the whole show.

Overall, Samurai Champloo is highly stylized and it has entertainment value despite some flaws. Most people will either love it or hate it.

Fish Tank (2009)

Realistic but incredibly boring with no entertaining value

[4/10 · 29 May 2012]

The movie follows an every-day activity of a no manner, bad-temper 15- year old girl who grows up in a terrible neighborhood with a bad and insensitive mother. Her miserable life is stirred when she meets her alcoholic mother's new good-looking boyfriend. The sexual tension is immense and it feels real. I praise the movie for its realistic plot; it's totally could be something happening right now somewhere. I also love the good acting. However, because the movie tries hard to replicate the life and relationship in a realistic way, it comes off drag on, boring, bleak, depressing, and it provides no value from an entertaining viewpoint. The movie ends leaving me shallow like an empty fish tank.

But thanks to this movie, I found Bobby Womack's version of California Dreaming. Love this rendition.

Tangled (2010)

A bad all-you-can-eat animation buffet

[3/10 · 14 January 2012]

Boring, cliché, cheesy, unoriginal are some of the terms that come to mind when I think of this movie. I know it's for kids and not meant to be taken seriously but it's such a bad joke. Despicable Me, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Kung-fu Panda are for kids too but adults can enjoy them because there's an acceptable coherence to the premise of the movie, the role of the characters in the plot, why the characters do what they do, and so on. Of course I always go easy and try not to nitpick on the logical factors in animations but come on it's way too flawed that you can't relate to the characters' motives.

The lost princess is kidnapped and hidden away in an Empire-State-sized tower in a NEARBY forest. And everyone has been searching for her high and low for 18 years? How the hell can one miss such a wonderful architecture? Rapunzel is so healthy, fit, sane and oh so smart despite being solitary confined and brainwashed. Her only interactions are the wicked 'mother' and the chameleon. OK I accept the premise that she's special due to the magical properties of the sun drop flower or whatever. The 'mother' is just weird to the bone. She wants to be forever-young but why and for what? Dude get this, she lives like a recluse and doesn't even have a boyfriend to begin with. OK I accept the premise that she's batsh*t insane and psychotic. She wants to be forever young and forever alone to take walking excursions in the woods like Thoreau during the day then comes back and makes hazelnut soup for the night. Repeat. Flynn, the sly thief can't over-power Rapunzel.I take it he instantaneously infatuates upon seeing Rapunzel. Ah don't even get me started with the singing.

I wonder how are they supposed to search for the lost princess? Age-progression artist? If that's the case, they'd need to execute the artist because no one recognizes her in broad day light. I mean Rapunzel literally looks just like her mother, the Queen. The royal guards stumbled upon her but they were apparently unimpressed with the uncanny resemblance of Rapunzel to their Queen. Rapunzel was surrounded by the town folks dancing and singing on the princess's birthday sky lantern annual ceremony. Yet it crosses no one's mind she's the lost princess. How are they gonna ever find her since they can't even tell when she's right in-front of them? the Queen saw her and knows right away she's her long lost little daughter. Oh I guess mother does know best.

I feel bad for them kids because these kind of movies instill the wrong idea about love. Disney animations will be responsible for the future of the clueless generation of males when it comes to girls.

Some positive points: I did like the animation especially Rapunzel's hair; it's so smooth and fluid. She's very pretty and cute too. It got me laugh out loud in some funny scenes. But it's still a bad animation. It's like Disney dumped some of their previous works together, mix them with the main ingredient of Cinderella from 1950, add some other spices and voila there comes Tangled. I guess kids would love it. But adults don't even bother.

The Chaser (2008)

One of the greatest thriller of modern cinema.

[10/10 · 18 February 2011]

All I can say is WOW, WHAT A MOVIE!

A story of a former detective-turned-pimp whose morality has been blurred by money regains his conscience when he confronts the devils himself but impotent to have him pay for his atrocious crimes. It's an outcry to the flawed justice system, the incompetent law enforcers, and the corrupted politicians. I love the authenticity the film managed to accomplished. There's no fancy, choreographed fighting sequences - just men brawling and running and chasing. There's no superman-saved either. Another thing I like about this movie is how it doesn't have the cliché "good" guy entirely good. Joong-ho's an a**shole, a heartless pimp. He only comes to term with himself when he meets Min-jin's daughter. He realizes the precious emotional attachment between them.

I was so drawn into the movie that I could feel the agonizing frustration, it was almost tangible, that they all know who the killer is. In fact, he's sitting right in the police depot detailing his slaughtering method while one of his victim is left for death (she's pretty too, and it just adds more fuel to the fire) but the cops can't do no sh*t to him due to unprovable evidences in court and time constrain. It is a brutal and intense cat and mouse game that would paralyze you on the seat, catch you out of breath, tense your nerve, race your heart, sweat your palms, and dry your mouth.

It is a 2-hour breath-taking ride thank to the exceptional acting of the lead actors, an amazing script (based on the true story), and an ending that no one would expect and it is hard to accept. I have never seen any movies that drain me, both emotionally and physically, so much like this movie does. Although this movie does posses entertaining value, it's not the kind of flick that would relax and put you at ease after a long day at work. It will stress you out. A relentless movie. A true gem. A must-watch!

Rashomon (1950)

Kurosawa'd not give a damn but he'd be my most favorite director if...

[6/10 · 17 July 2010]

...he had not done this.

Rashomon might be a masterpiece in what it deliberately crafted into by the grandmaster Kurosawa but it, like any other masterpieces claimed by other fellow peers or famed critics, is strictly subjected to my own ultimate judgment. And with that being stated, I cannot endorse and celebrate with the general masses on this piece of art. Because it sucks ball.

The movie grants me with an ending of extreme discomfort that I have to bang my head continuously against the DVD-cover and question what was the 88-mins content I just spent starring critically on the screen is essentially about? I finally come to term with myself and realize that it's just a bunch of baloneys.

What's even better is I get to watch the stupid story told 4 times differently. Very nice! The story's plot is embellished with characters that capable of bringing the art of silly overreacting to a higher realm of mastery, especially Toshiro Mifune. It also has one of the best sword-duel scene in the history of cinema that consists of the constant tripping over twigs, running around trees, dropping swords, ridiculous facial expressions and screaming. This particular scene, with an addition of a cheesy Indian song, would make a perfect blockbuster Bollywood flick.

The movie has no resolution afterward. You just have to take in the 4 different versions of the account without knowing the truth in the end even though I don't see the motivation for the woodcutter to lie but you never know what's the real story. Perhaps, it's better that way because up to that point, if given that the woodcutter lies too, I'm too fed up for the real account even if they decide to reveal it.

Do yourself a favor and watch Yojimbo - Kurosawa's best.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

My review is superfluous...

[10/10 · 17 July 2010]

... but i still want to jostle in with more than half of a thousand other reviews just to type: this is undoubtedly THE best Western movie ever and easily one of the best masterpieces of all time. Even the most noble adjectives preserved particularly for art praising found in Merriam- Webster are too mundane to captivate its greatness.

Please watch this classic before you die.

R.I.P Leone and thank you for blessing your fellow humans such a great gift.

P.S: Eli Wallach + Lee Van Cleef + Clint Eastwood = the most bad-ass narrow- eyes gang in Hollywood.

True Legend (2010)

I could have came up with some thing much better over night

[3/10 · 9 May 2010]

The plot is extremely weak and highly unoriginal. It goes a little like this

1.Father was killed by bad guy 2.Revenge attempt #1 = failure 3.Withdraw to the forest 4.Meet some imaginary kung-fu masters - now this is original - kung-fu masters in your head 5.Train for years. 6.Revenge attempt #2 = success.

The logic of this movie has been brutally murdered. I was so discontented when Yi (Su's wife) died in the most ridiculous way, she was buried alive in a wooden box for like 10 minutes max. When Su and little Feng were digging the box up, she was shown to be alive, though weak. The box wasn't buried that deep at all. When the box was finally dugg up (in less than 3 minutes), she just kinda fell into a coma and instead of performing CPR on his wife, Su sat there and cried which, ultimately, led to his wife's tragic death! !@#$%?

God of Wushu was inspired by Monkey King but his attire is laughable.

The end was really what killed the movie. It was just plain stupid. The cliché goes as follow: foreigners invaded the land, arenas were built, foreign fighters challenged and whooped China men'sasses like some bad jokes. This has been seen way too many time in martial art movies, on the top of my head are Fearless and Ip man (both are very good movies though). Foreign fighters are depicted as typical brainless giants with massive muscles. Beggar-former-master Su was forced to enter the ring because some white dude held little Feng captive and threatened his safety. He managed to beat the crap out of everyone of them...all at once but it was a struggled fight and Su was badly wounded.

OK think of it this way, Su trained rigorously in the esoteric, ancient Chinese wushu and evidently had reached a total new realm of mastery because he defeated his arch nemesis - Yuan. Yuan was the main antagonist. And note this: Yuan is freaking strong and viciously evil with all those mighty wuxia's feature - the deadly five venom fist, bullet proofed/armored skin, maneuver up-down the well with ease, flying/levitating all over the places, crazily strong, etc. And yes Su beat this fool but he barely can handle a bunch of meat bags who practice the conventional wrestling (the WWE kind) and standard martial arts of MMA and. They have zero kung-fu/wuxia's power or anything. They shouldn't even equate Su's warm-up routines but they almost got Su killed. I just don't follow.

The plot was just blah and bleh, the fighting scenes were nothing spectacular either. It contained useless and stupid dialogue (i love you, our family must stay together forever, we must save our son, etc.). This was a watch-once-never-touched-again kind of movie, heck how did i manage to finish the movie. Oh and the CGIs were abused too much. Not even good CGIs. They were so fake, unnecessary, and add absolutely no value to the movie as a whole.

I'm a fan of Yuen Woo-ping. I love Wuxia and Chinese martial art genre but this movie was very badly made. Sorry, Yuen Woo-ping could have done much much better! I'm thoroughly disappointed.