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7
A Nutshell Review : What On Earth Have I Done Wrong
What on Earth has Doze Niu done wrong ? Well , if this mockumentary is anything to do by , then there are a series of missteps that were aptly documented , ranging from relationship woes to professional difficulties all stemming from a lack of funding . Doze stars as himself , or at least the satirized version of himse...
514,407
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468,795
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A Nutshell Review : Linda Linda Linda
The closing film of this year's Japanese Film Festival , I was half expecting it to end with a rousing and wild finale , given its similarities to last year's commercial release Swing Girls , which also set its story with characters involved in putting up a musical performance . However , it didn't quite live up to exp...
515,270
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490,076
7
A Nutshell Review : All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
All the boys love Mandy Lane , and the way she is portrayed by Amber Heard , who wouldn't ? She's blonde , she's demure , she's so hot that the camera in the movie's introduction to the character , lingered on her T & As . She's a fine athlete though we don't really get to know what kind of graaes she's getting . Every...
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371,257
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A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Stay ( 2005 )
If you've enjoyed movies like The Machinist , then you'll probably enjoy a movie like Stay . It's one of those well-designed mystery suspense thrillers that leave you guessing for the most parts until its revelation , where things begin to fall nicely into place after bewildering your mind as the movie progressed and s...
515,560
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490,166
7
A Nutshell Review : London to Brighton
There were some in the audience who couldn't believe that a film like Amos Gitai's Promised Land could be made , given its almost documentary like feel to an aged old problem of human trafficking for prostitution . I suppose those who feel that way would probably not take to London to Brighton , which like films such a...
515,572
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940,642
7
A Nutshell Review : 200 Pounds Beauty
I am not trying to sound like a pretentious fool , but seriously , I am curious how do fat people take towards the onslaught of movies taking the mickey out of the weight issue ? From movies like Shallow Hal , to Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor , The Klumps and the recent Norbit , and now , this Korean romantic-comedy 2...
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475,517
7
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Murder Take One ( 2005 )
The movie opens with a very stunning tracking shot with a view of a motionless woman's body , from the feet , before slowly revealing that she's lying in a pool of blood , juxtaposed with the linear motion of time where investigators flood the crime scene in her hotel room , before pulling further backwards to become t...
515,515
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7
A Nutshell Review : The History Boys
The History Boys is a highly successful and multi-award winning play from London's West End , and it's probably a no brainer in adapting it for the silver screen to reach out to even more people out there . But instead of being just another adaptation , what probably is rare is that the original cast of the production ...
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397,101
7
A Nutshell Review : The Skeleton Key
Hell-oh Nurse ! Kate Hudson was the draw for me actually , and it would be interesting to see if she could pull off carrying The Skeleton Key on her shoulders . I would say if you're Kate's fan , then this movie's for you , since she's in almost every scene as the protagonist , in various states of ( un ) dress . She p...
515,051
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47,445
7
A Nutshell Review : Sansho the Bailiff
Sansho The Bailiff , Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi's movie that won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival , opens this season's Japanese Film Festival , and while the titular character happens to be one of the villains in the story , and not even that of a lead character , it's no surprise why this movie...
514,970
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263,101
7
A Nutshell Review : Bangkok Dangerous
I picked up this DVD because I've been to Bangkok couple of times , and wanted to see how the filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang manage to capture the more sleazy side of the city , and combine it with gangster noir to come up with Bangkok Dangerous . I've heard about the movie , and was surprised that our National Librar...
515,456
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393,109
7
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Brick ( 2005 )
Winning the Special Jury Prize in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival , Brick is a detective movie that is in a unique league of its own . It's terribly unconventional , yet comes with a familiar sense of having seen it somewhere before . Set in a high school , the premise is anything but , with a murder mystery done noir ...
514,792
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1,183,252
7
A Nutshell Review : Chocolate
In this part of the world , there's no dearth of male action heroes , you know , those with real martial arts background . Think Jet Li , Jackie Chan , Donnie Yen , Wu Jing , and closer to home , Tony Jaa . How about a female counterpart ? You're likely to struggle hard to name a credible one , Michelle Yeoh notwithsta...
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131,012
7
A Nutshell Review : The Sting of Death
Having sat through a weekend of the Japanese Film Festival so far , The Sting of Death got an unceremoniously high number of walk outs . I'm somewhat curious about how this movie got selected to fit into the theme of this year's festival of true . romance , because it really looked a little out of place , or anti-theme...
515,195
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395,251
7
A Nutshell Review : The Producers
Before I start the review proper , since there might be some who just like a peek at what the movie offered and missed out on my all important tip , so I shall mention it first . Stay until the end of the credits roll . Not only will you be entertained by the song sung by Will Ferrell during the roll , and some ad-lib ...
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420,294
7
A Nutshell Review : The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : The Beginning
It takes a lot to make me wince , given the numerous gore movies that hit our shores like Hostel , Severance and the likes , and surprisingly , The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : The Beginning , surpassed the rest in actually making my hair stand on ends . Perhaps it's because I wasn't immersed into the mythos of the chains...
515,548
317,399
1,068,680
7
A Nutshell Review : Yes Man
It's been a while since Jim Carrey hit the screens , going back to his comedic roots after the rather lacklustre dramatic turn in the thriller The Number 23 . But it's a somewhat muted Carrey we get , as gone out the window are the over the top antics and rubbery face , and in comes a fine balance between getting the l...
514,948
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772,168
7
A Nutshell Review : Grace is Gone
John Cusack is one of the character actors I admire . And in Grace is Gone , it centers upon his ability to bring you into his character's world . He really transformed himself into the role of Stanley Philipps with his thick glasses , walking with an instep , and that little hunch and a paunch , and delivers probably ...
514,488
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783,233
7
A Nutshell Review : Atonement
So now we know why the young must be protected from vulgarities and from sexual scenes , because with vivid imagination , they could probably be quick to jump to conclusions , being unable to grasp and fully understand the situation at hand , nor the gravity of their actions , especially when they're shooting from the ...
514,496
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497,137
7
A Nutshell Review : I'm a Cyborg , But That's OK
I think one of the easiest ways to make a movie , would be to make one about mad people in a mental institution . Anything and everything can happen , you don't have to explain every minute detail , and the bottomline is , you can interpret it in whatever way you want . I'm a Cyborg , But That's OK runs along similar l...
514,460
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458,364
7
A Nutshell Review : The Ex
If I were to look at it , I would say The Ex aka Fast Track forms a loose trilogy of sorts with regards to growing up , and somewhat like a natural progression in the different stages of life that Zach Braff's characters form when stringed together . With Garden State , it's in the 20s where you're having a feel for th...
515,519
317,399
461,526
7
A Nutshell Review : ( SIFF ) It's Only Talk
This is a thoroughly depressing film , and I mean it in a good way , though weird that it might sound . Tackling the serious issue on manic depression , It's Only Talk manages to ring home the theme and resonate it within you . On the other hand , I didn't like the movie for its effect it had on me , as I certainly did...
514,455
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995,739
7
A Nutshell Review : Invisible Target
There's nothing invisible about the target in Benny Chan's latest movie Invisible Target . And in actuality , it seems that the constant target for everyone in the movie here , be they the bad guys or the good cops , are the plenty of glass lying around , getting smashed into smithereens by hurled projectiles , or more...
514,938
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486,480
7
A Nutshell Review : Silk
Two reasons why I watched this . First , I've been recommended this film by a friend . Secondly , it starred Barbie Hsu - with a name like that , why shouldn't I want to watch this ? OK , so I know she starred in the Taiwanese pop-drama television series Meteor Garden , and am just curious to see her in yet another hor...
515,075
317,399
344,766
7
A Nutshell Review : 15
15 gained its film notoriety locally for its content , about the lives and angst of teenage delinquents in Singapore . However , after watching this film , one might think a little deeper about the trials and tribulations that these teenagers face , from the angle that director Royston Tan presents . The opening credit...
514,398
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1,373,120
7
A Nutshell Review : Breathless
Unfortunately some technical issues marred the supposedly powerful introduction where violence get unleashed by all characters on screen both physically and verbally . Clearly played from a DVD screener with the " Showbox " watermark , the audio was left silent for the good part of some verbal barrage , which to the pr...
514,843
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1,142,972
7
A Nutshell Review : Detroit Metal City
And I felt the filmmakers nailed it squarely on the head with the casting of Ken'ichi Matsuyama , more famously known these days as the teen detective L from the Death Note series . In that film he had disappeared behind a stoic and serious demeanour behind a lithe frame , being quite fleet-footed while snacking on swe...
515,530
317,399
430,105
7
A Nutshell Review : Four Brothers
A kind old lady is murdered in cold blood one snowy night in a convenience store . It seemed like the usual stick up by racist hoodlums on the hard streets of Detriot , and that the lady was collateral damage . Four orphaned brothers of the hood are brought back together to mourn the loss of their foster mother . We se...
515,202
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923,923
7
A Nutshell Review : Happy Birthday ( Sun Yat Fai Lok )
It's difficult to sit through this movie , at least for me . Identifying with certain elements brought back some memories that I try to keep at the back of my mind , and going into this movie with slight expectations of the storyline reminded me of what a friends once said , that I'm a sucker for punishment . And yes ,...
514,416
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402,022
7
A Nutshell Review : Aeon Flux
For the uninitiated , Aeon Flux is based on the series of animated shorts from MTV . Set 400 years into the future , it tells of a surviving utopia of humans after a virus eradicated 99 % of the world's human population . The colony now live in a walled environment , under the leadership of the scientist who discovered...
514,379
317,399
492,330
7
A Nutshell Review : Poltergay
I'll have to admit that Poltergay is a lot of fun , for straight folks and gay folks alike . It's probably something that Kelvin Tong's Men in White could have been - smart , witty and with that level of cheekiness , without almost always falling flat on its jokes . If it could have been at least what Poltergay was , t...
515,058
317,399
73,654
7
A Nutshell Review : Sandakan No . 8
Sandakan No . 8 is set in Borneo , East Malaysia in the 1970s , where a writer arrives in the hopes of doing research on the karayuki-san ( juvenile prostitute ) who thrive in the Japanese colonies in Southeast Asia in the early twentieth century . She finds her mark in aged Osaki , and like most documentarians , spend...
515,064
317,399
60,176
7
A Nutshell Review : Blowup
Unfolding itself in about 24 hours , we follow Thomas ( Hemmings ) around in his Rolls Royce convertible , as he flits from frame to frame and scene to scene , playing up a prima-donna like attitude that we would like to generalize the skillfully famous into , jaded , and with attitude to boot . Young nubile girls thro...
515,386
317,399
443,701
7
A Nutshell Review : The X = Files : I Want to Believe
It's not hard to imagine how time flies , when you realize that one of your best loved television series of all time had already ended its run , and you reminisce the times back when one of your weekend nights revolved around sitting in a bunk with your army mates , all glued to what Chris Carter had conjured as advent...
515,039
317,399
1,020,530
7
A Nutshell Review : Eden Lake
When outnumbered , move away . Split . Run . That's the golden rule when confronted by a gang of hooligans , or in the first place , not to kick start any interaction for that matter . Not that one's a coward , but the consequences and the hassle thereafter are never worth it . Swallow that pride and move away , becaus...
515,486
317,399
473,360
7
A Nutshell Review : Goal II : Living the Dream
Living the Dream ? More like Living the Nightmare ! The first Goal movie brought plenty of cheers to football fans , who celebrated the coming of a decent movie about the beloved Beautiful Game . And it didn't disappoint , with a likable hero in Santiago Munez ( Kuno Becker ) in a rags to riches story , nifty footwork ...
514,402
317,399
402,049
7
A Nutshell Review : Yoshino's Barber Shop
In the village of Kaminoe , it's idyllic , quiet , everything looks quite normal . Except when you realize a quirky trait amongst the little boys - all of them are sporting this bowled hairstyle ! And I mean ALL the boys ! At first it looks quite cute , and the movie too , until suddenly , you start to question if this...
514,486
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443,680
7
A Nutshell Review : The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The long title of 10 words strike you initially , and besides having a mouthful of a title , the duration too is at a whopping 160 minutes , of which I can humbly suggest to trim it down to a more manageable 120 minutes . Based on the novel by Ron Hansen , the narrated parts which provided much of the needed background...
514,752
317,399
1,312,156
7
A Nutshell Review : Look for a Star
You know Valentine's Day is just around the corner when the screens begin to fill with movies designed specifically to commemorate the day . You got to salute the filmmakers of Look For A Star for keeping faith with a formula that doesn't seem to tire , and I guess it has legs to travel especially when you have the cha...
514,890
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473,356
7
A Nutshell Review : The Flock
Hong Kong directors crossing over to Hollywood to make movies is nothing new , with the temporary exodus of the likes of Tsui Hark , John Woo , Ringo Lam in the 90s . From their collective output , only a few movies ( or may I say just one ? ) made an impact at the box office . The Andrew Lau and Alan Mak partnership h...
514,650
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1,091,229
7
A Nutshell Review : Chandni Chowk to China
You can't deny the mystic appeal that Kung Fu films have on the masses . Not only has Hollywood managed to finally get the essence so succinctly and successfully infused it into the animated film Kung Fu Panda , and taking on one of China's icon as its own , India too has shown that it's no pushover now in combining it...
514,987
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924,129
7
A Nutshell Review : Crossing Over
Like Crash , Fast Food Nation and Babel before it , Crossing Over consists of multiple story lines bound together by a common theme examined , sometimes with just a few characters straddling across the narrative threads to link them up explicitly . Writer-director Wayne Kramer examines the issues behind the illegal imm...
514,703
317,399
1,185,834
7
A Nutshell Review : Star Wars : The Clone Wars
I guess in all fairness , the reviewer for a Star Wars movie should declare which side of the fence he's on , whether he thinks the Original Trilogy was the best thing since buttered toast and the Prequels were utter trash , or ambivalent to the fact that George Lucas is an expert at massaging the fat udders of cash co...
514,420
317,399
387,514
7
A Nutshell Review : Prime
Perhaps this was touted as a romantic comedy with a psycho-analytical character thrown in , kind of like Analyse This and Analyse That . Put the characters in a crazy premise , and see how their relationship work out . Meryl Streep stars as Lisa , a psychologist to Uma Thurman's Rafi , who , unknowingly to both , is da...
515,206
317,399
426,459
7
A Nutshell Review : Feast
Feast is your typical monster movie , and in watching this , you'll appreciate the richness of The Host , which itself also belongs to the genre , but smashes all stereotype of how a monster movie should be . But that doesn't mean Feast is not fun - it is , even though it's the usual formula , because it doesn't try to...
514,766
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443,649
7
A Nutshell Review : 10 , 000 B . C .
I guess not everyone has the audacity like Mel Gibson in taking risks related to the language used in their movies , for artistic integrity reasons . Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto both did not have their characters spout English , and had subtitles for the audience to rely on instead . And for a movie based in t...
514,973
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349,047
7
A Nutshell Review : Dreamship Surprise
This movie is so insanely gay ! And I mean it in both sense of the word . No wonder this comedy broke the German box office with its madcap , low-brow , at times , crass humour . But it's all in good fun . If you're looking for a plot , be reminded that a spoof-fest only has an outline of what resembles a story . The s...
515,405
317,399
756,648
7
A Nutshell Review : The Fox and the Child
From the filmmakers who brought us The March of the Penguins , I guess that came with plenty of expectations for The Fox and the Child . From the harsh winters of the South Pole to the lush wilderness in France , the narrative now becomes part documentary and part fairy tale , which tells of the friendship between the ...
514,604
317,399
196,229
7
A Nutshell Review : Zoolander
I am five years late . Just as I was so prepared to watch a Ben Stiller caper , with the posters all up at local theaters , the movie disappeared from the radar , and was banned in Singapore . Why ? Because the plot was about a fashion model being brainwashed ala The Manchurian Candidate to assassinate the Malaysian Pr...
514,392
317,399
963,178
7
A Nutshell Review : The International
The trailer had set up The International as some big-bang espionage thriller , made all the more sexier since it's released in the middle of this financial meltdown we're all experiencing , asking where have all the money gone , with banks collapsing left , right and centre , or on the brink of doing so if tons of publ...
515,368
317,399
481,141
7
A Nutshell Review : No Reservations
No Reservations is a remake of Bella Martha ( Mostly Martha ) , a German movie made way back in 2001 . The premise is entirely the same , and I thought the local distributors were sly enough to hold back the release of this movie to coincide during the time of the local premiere of Ratatouille . I suspect it's to rub o...
514,984
317,399
1,305,819
7
A Nutshell Review : A Moment in June
My first film of the 22nd Singapore International Film Festival which started on Tuesday , A Moment in June is deep in themes of longing , missing and that of forbidden love . While once I was a sucker for a film dwelling in deep melancholy , I found this needlessly setting itself up quite mysteriously in the first hal...
514,708
317,399
48,757
7
A Nutshell Review : Floating Clouds
If you're looking for a movie that deals with clingy relationships , then Floating Clouds is without a doubt a movie that fits the bill to a T . Directed by Naruse Mikio and based upon the novel by Fumiko Hayashi , the female character in the movie will bring back memories of those who have had to deal with such stifli...
514,564
317,399
1,065,330
7
A Nutshell Review : The One Man Olympics
I have an affinity for sports bio-pics because they usually celebrate qualities such as hard work , perseverance , and sometimes sheer luck for an athlete to overcome the incredible odds facing them , and to come up on top . Naturally winning is all that matters , because nobody remembers the losers ( unfortunately ) ,...
514,814
317,399
831,386
7
A Nutshell Review : The Drummer
Anything with drums , and I am there . The beats of drums in any music always appeal to me ( no prizes for guessing I'm a drum and bass fan ) , because I suppose it's fairly easy to express your mood to beats , and this expression can be done through anything that gives you that satisfying clang , and more so when you ...
515,494
317,399
465,676
7
A Nutshell Review : The Banquet
It's an oriental kung fu Hamlet . Everyone's been saying it's loosely based on Shakespeare's tragedy , and to some , the movie's indeed a tragedy with its slowness in pace and lack of action , but I'd like to see it as because of its heavy reference to Hamlet ( the poisoned quill , and many other plot points and scenes...
515,140
317,399
959,337
7
A Nutshell Review : Revolutionary Road
It's been some twelve years since James Cameron's Titanic sealed Leonardo DiCaprio's heartthrob status , and everyone's been wondering when DiCaprio and his co-star Kate Winslet would once again grace the screen together with that kind of on screen chemistry and magic that made thousands relive that cross-Atlantic adve...
515,436
317,399
106,457
7
A Nutshell Review : The Strange Take of Oyuki
The Strange Tale of Oyuki is probably the raunchiest movie to date in this edition of the Japanese Film Festival . While the earlier Imamura movies shown do have sexual scenes , this one takes the cake in its eroticism , treading so close to being soft-porn like in the style of Hong Kong Category III movies . But hey ,...
515,225
317,399
950,500
7
A Nutshell Review : The Unseeable
It's no secret that I'm a fan of writer-director Wisit Sasanatieng's movies - Tears of the Black Tiger , and Citizen Dog . What's excellent and probably the hallmarks of the director currently are the stunning visuals , wonderful colors , and story lines which are highly imaginative . With Tears , it was an amalgam of ...
514,444
317,399
1,095,174
7
A Nutshell Review : New In Town
In this economic climate of corporate downsizing , one wonders how the corporate boys in monkey suits on the board run their business with the help of a spreadsheet . It's always easy to see which areas of the business bleed red , and decide then on to send hatchet-men to the ground to execute ( pardon the pun ) and pr...
514,681
317,399
114,086
7
A Nutshell Review : Beyond The Clouds
This the the final feature film that Michelangelo Antonioni directed , with the help of Wim Wenders , and adapts from his short story collection " That Bowling Alley on the Tiber " . Beyond the Clouds contain 4 short stories with familiar themes that we've come to be accustomed to from his earlier works , and sums up t...
515,396
317,399
381,936
7
A Nutshell Review : Bimmer
Bimmer's the Russian term for the BMW , and with such a title , the vehicle has to be a plot device in the movie . The film begins with the stealing of a BMW 7-series by a gang of four petty thieves . Given that it's such a wonderful car , they decide to keep it for themselves instead of selling it off . But before the...
514,737
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465,624
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A Nutshell Review : My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Look ! Up in the Sky ! It's a bird ! No , it's a plane ! No , it's G-Girl ! New York City's newest superhero , with powers and origins adopted from Metropolis ' Man of Steel . She can fly , has super-strength , can hear the frequency of a police radio , able to shoot beams from her eyes , looks like Uma Thurman . . . s...
515,023
317,399
443,536
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A Nutshell Review : Hoodwinked
Anne Hathaway is currently disrobing on our local screens , and I suspect by the time Havoc finished its run , then she'll be heard but not seen , only lending her voice in the animated feature Hoodwinked , by Blue Yonder Films and Kanbar Entertainment . By not being a product churned out from the usual Disney-Pixar-Dr...
514,530
317,399
1,166,100
7
A Nutshell Review : Ghajini
The tattoos on the body , the Polaroid snaps , the notes scattered around the house , and the smoking gun evidence ? Short term memory loss , happening every 15 minutes . If this doesn't seem like Christopher Nolan's masterpiece Memento , then I don't know what does . Written and directed by A . R . Murugadoss , I don'...
514,837
317,399
64,265
7
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
After watching the original One-Armed Swordsman , directed by Chang Cheh and starring Wang Yu in the title role , I knew I had to watch this direct sequel , as the others had David Chiang replacing Wang Yu as Fang Gang . Continuing where the first movie left off , we see Fang Gang leading a life of a farmer , without a...
514,565
317,399
1,024,255
7
A Nutshell Review : Wild Child
I guess Emma Roberts ' more memorable role was taking on the iconic Nancy Drew character , but now she exchanges those sleuthing skills and good manners for spoilt brat antics . Swinging from one end of the spectrum of an ideal kid to a spoilt and bratty one , her Poppy Moore character in Wild Child is a rich kid who h...
514,846
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465,580
7
A Nutshell Review : Push
Push is one of those movies that gives you the deja-vu feeling that it's a quick hack job , because from the trailer alone , images of X-men as well as Star Wars come racing through your mind , what with talk about being born with special powers akin to being a mutant wanted by government agents , as well as in executi...
514,798
317,399
1,067,086
7
A Nutshell Review : Sweet Rain / Accuracy of Death
The first thing that comes screaming to your mind when you come to know of this movie , is MEET JOE BLACK , yes in caps , and a nagging feeling that it's a rip off / copycat coming some 10 years after that Hollywood movie . Although this is based on the Japanese novel by Kotaro Isaka , you can't help but to ponder upon...
515,361
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473,308
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A Nutshell Review : Waitress
The late writer-director Adrienne Shelly's Waitress is a fine quirky film . But I have to admit one of the prime reasons for my catching this movie , is that it stars Keri Russell . Somehow I didn't find her all that attractive during her Felicity days , but my , how have things changed , and her very short role in M :...
515,235
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482,930
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A Nutshell Review : Dragon Tiger Gate
Adapting comic book story lines into feature films is not new in Hong Kong , and adapting styles from how Hollywood does things , isn't new to the industry either . The opening credits of the comic-book flipping sequence seem to announce that this movie is aping the standards set on comic book films in the West , as we...
515,520
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443,632
7
A Nutshell Review : The Sentinel
At first glance , this film looks like the Keifer Sutherland series 24 for the big screen . With the focus on a plot to assassinate the President of the United States , a race against time , and plenty of Secret Service agents , the agency under the spotlight in The Sentinel . But wait , the protagonist turns out to be...
514,635
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484,740
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A Nutshell Review : Love in the Time of Cholera
Now we all know the horror stories that come with long distance relationships , and sometimes absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder . For Florentina's case , efforts by his mother ( Fernanda Montenegro ) to make him forget and move on were to no avail , as he degenerates into a sobbing wreck . It seems that to ove...
515,218
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419,749
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A Nutshell Review : Find Me Guilty
We're all familiar with Vin Diesel being the new action hero , with his buffed muscular body , bald pate , gruff voice and his high octane movies like Fast and the Furious and xXx . He took a different path into comedy with The Pacifier , and now , into drama with Find Me Guilty . How did he fair ? Pretty good , in spi...
515,230
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291,579
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A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) He Loves Me . . . He Loves Me Not
This is a relatively short movie , and to dwell on it too much might just take away the enjoyment of discovering what the story has to say . The tagline's quite apt for this movie - Every love story has two sides . So you might think that you love someone , and how sure are you about that feeling ? And to the other per...
514,873
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890,870
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A Nutshell Review : Saw IV
For fans of the Saw trilogy , you'd thought that the end of the third installment had wrapped up the franchise quite neatly , and there's absolutely no way another movie can be made except to go backwards in time with prequels . Well , surprise surprise , director Darren Lynn Bousman brings forth the fourth movie of th...
515,505
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69,518
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A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) The New One-Armed Swordsman ( 1971 )
I can't remember the details behind the reason why Wang Yu left the franchise , but Chang Cheh replaced him with David Chiang in the titular role , and of course it's a totally new character , having his own motivations and background , as compared to Yu's Fang Gang . Written by Ni Kuang ( author of HK's popular Wesley...
514,658
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216,866
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A Nutshell Review : Labu dan Labi
Labu dan Labi tells the tale of the cook ( Labu ) and the driver ( Labi , played by Ramlee himself ) of a stingy poker Haji Bakhil ( and translated as such too ) . Each harbours affections for Bakhil's daughter Manisah , but the main obstacle is of course Bakhil himself , who'll only approve his daughter marrying a ric...
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A Nutshell Review : Shanghai Knights
OK , I'll mention not of the bland storyline , not of the kung-fu action ( Jackie Chan seems to be a tad slower these days don't you think ? ) , not of the infamous ooh-la-la licking scene where a sultry Fann licks Owen . This review will focus on the gags . Yup , you got me . The gags , without which , the film will n...
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A Nutshell Review : Batman ( 1996 )
BAM POW ZAP Who can forget the letters splashed across the screen each time Batman and Robin sucker-punch villains in the 60s Batman television serial ? Forget Christian Bale's accurate portrayal of the Dark Knight . This is Adam West's camp version of the character in the 1960s , and together with " holy-spewing " Rob...
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A Nutshell Review : One Last Dance
The first local production for this year , it's a movie made with an international cast and crew , most notably , Asian film stars in Francis Ng , Ti Lung and Vivian Hsu , with a guest appearance by Harvey Keitel as an Italian mobster . It's no surprise that Raintree Pictures , in a bid to go regional and international...
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A Nutshell Review : Ghajini DV
So the dust is beginning to settle for A . R . Murugadoss ' Ghajini starring Aamir Khan , given that it had broken , and is still continuing to rake in stellar box office receipt records for a Bollywood movie around the world . For me , it piqued my interest enough to revisit his 2005 Tamil version starring Surya Sivak...
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A Nutshell Review : 12 Rounds
Renny Harlin has been relatively quiet these days , but I won't be shy in stating for a fact that I had enjoyed some of his action movies in the past , with the likes of Die Hard 2 ( despite all the loopholes ) , Cliffhanger with Stallone , Driven ( also starring Sly ) and The Long Kiss Goodnight even . Despite being b...
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A Nutshell Review : Borat
Borat is unapologetically vulgar . And it is no surprise that various groups , from the Kazakhstans , to the gypsies , gays , charismatic Christians , Jews , feminists , and even Americans themselves would find certain aspects of it distasteful . But I like , vair nice ! I liked the shock and awe tactics used on unsusp...
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A Nutshell Review : Could This Be Love
Directed by Pierre Jolivet , Could This Be Love contains all the trappings that would making Hollywood come knocking on its doors for the rights to a remake . You have your romantic leads , a rich industrialist and a talented artist , start off with being loggerheads , before the pursuit begins over conversation and co...
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A Nutshell Review : Igor
With a barrage of ultra cute characters ruling animated worlds these days , one wonders if macabre characters would appeal if not coming from the creatively dark mind of Tim Burton . With wonderful animation flicks like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride being tentpoles for animation touching on darker the...
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A Nutshell Review : The All-Out Nine - Field of Nightmares
After yesterday's relatively boring selection , this sports comedy served up a pleasant surprise . The crowd was larger than I expected for the paid portion of the festival starting from today , and hey , it's not bad that The All-Out Nine was on widescreen at the National Museum Gallery Theatre . Adapted from manga , ...
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A Nutshell Review : The New World
Yet another victim of incorrect marketing , for those unfamiliar with Terrence Malick's style , the trailers would have mislead you to think that The New World is one heck of a suspense filled action packed movie . It is not . What is evident is Mallick's style imprinted throughout , with characters expressing innermos...
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A Nutshell Review : Thirteen Princess Trees
One wonders how this film would turn out should it not be censored to a certain degree , given that films about juvenile delinquency got the general frown from the Chinese censors , to avoid glamourizing non-socially accepted behaviour about disaffected youths and their open sexuality . Based on the novel Blade vs Blad...
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A Nutshell Review : Running with Scissors
Just as romance movies fall under the tried and tested romantic-comedy or romantic-tragedy genres , if a movie is made about a family , you can be sure that it must be dysfunctional . And in Running with Scissors , one such family is insufficient , and you have the protagonist , Augusten Burroughs ( Joseph Cross ) , ju...
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A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Better Off Dead ( 1985 )
This movie is so typical of the 1980s teenage comedy classics , like Ferris Bueller's Day Off , or Fast Times from Ridgemonth High . It has your typical teenage protagonist , who can be either a complete loser geek , or on the flip side , the coolest dude in school . The plot would typically be about him getting his gi...
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A Nutshell Review : Disturbia
Disturbia played it smart in its release locally , by having pushed back its release date until almost every cinema goer had seen Michael Bay's Transformers , and become acquainted with the latest Hollywood " It " kid , Shia LaBeou , otherwise also better known as " the Transformers boy " . Being an uncredited remake o...
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A Nutshell Review : The Bow
An old man living on a boat together with a nubile teenage girl , is bound to set tongues wagging . There's nothing dirty about the relationship . He picked her up when she was 10 , and looked after her onboard ever since . She has never left the boat ; the outside world is unknown to her . Making a living by ferrying ...
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A Nutshell Review : Arctic Tale
In 2005 , March of the Penguins brought us to the Antarctica , and introduced the life cycle of the emperor penguins to the mass audience . And Happy Feet was quick on its erm feet to seize the initiative and make an animated feature on our non-flying friends . Now , we journey to the opposite pole to visit Polar Bears...
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A Nutshell Review : Kamome Diner ( Kamome Shokudo )
This is Naoko Ogigami's third feature film , and the first Japanese film to be shot entirely in Finland , land of the midnight sun . As I mentioned in some other postings , cinema allows you to be transported to fantasy worlds , and of course in a more realistic sense , going to countries we have yet to set foot upon ....
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A Nutshell Review : The Beat That My Heart Skipped
I think Thomas Seyr ( Romain Duris ) could be any of us in the working class . Stuck in two worlds about what he really wants to do , versus what he has to do . In the shady corner of the real estate business relying on underhand tactics , he finds no joy . In the other world which presented itself as an opportunity to...
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A Nutshell Review : Sugar & Spice
Girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice , but of course there are those laced with wasabi that will hit you when you least expect it to . Based on the novel by Eimi Yamada , Sugar & Spice is not your conventional romantic drama , not that it's because it's not the usual boy - meets - girl - they - hook - ...
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A Nutshell Review : Song of the Stork
I wasn't the least surprised to see so few people turn up for this screening . It isn't your regular made-in-Singapore movie , but one which is a first-ever Singapore-Vietnam co-production . It doesn't have recognizable local TV stars in any role , and arguably zero publicity about the movie's background in the regular...
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A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) The Lone Ranger ( 1956 )
The last time I saw a movie with a Caucasian and a Red Indian partner , was the French movie Brotherhood of the Wolf . Perhaps it's had its origins of such a pairing from The Lone Ranger , or so I'd like to believe . After having spent some time with old martial arts classics , I thought I'd set my sights on the wester...
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A Nutshell Review : Pride and Glory
I wonder if a film like this could be made here at all . Not that you can't do it on the cheap , because it's literally sans explosions and action sequences that calls for things to be wrecked or shoot em ups in built up areas , and all you need are charismatic actors to bring the plot to live , but one with the story ...