Every parent is guilty of it: You spend 364 days of the year preaching to your children the importance of eating healthy–and then Halloween rolls around and all bets are off. Not only do we suddenly let our kids indulge in sugary excess, we dip into it ourselves and hand it out to the rest of the neighborhood.
Talk about a mixed message.
Channel News Asia
CHILDREN OF MEN directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejofor and Charlie Hunnam.
Distributed by Berjaya HVN Sdn Bhd
IF this story is true, next year, human beings will be infertile.
As a result, depression will set in as without children, all hope is gone.
When a pregnant refugee in Britain is discovered, everyone is after her baby as they pin their hopes on what is to be the planet’s sole child to ensure the survival of the human species - and to ensure that they get to be the parents.
Enter Theo (Owen), a disillusioned activist assigned to keep her safe.
This is a slow, long and painful story that one might find difficult to sit through but Cuaron’s juxtaposition of hope with despair proves to be a shining light in this dark outing.
Owen, Moore and Caine hold the story together as the people who help deliver the baby - and mankind’s only hope.
The bonus feature shows how the scenes were shot, which I found inadequate in explaining the complex background of the story. - SL
PERFORMANCE:HH
DEJA VU
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer and Paula Patton.
Distributed by Berjaya HVN Sdn Bhd
You might think this another movie about terrorist atrocity, what with opening scenes of a horrific bomb attack on a crowded New Orleans ferry boat.
Federal agent Carlin (Washington) spots a dead woman among the victims, who appears to have died hours earlier than the rest.
Then you realise the film is heading towards science fiction, with a secret agency able to monitor events - as it happened four days ago! This it does with technology it developed to peer into the past.
Can Carlin delve back into the past to determine the criminals behind the blast - and thus prevent the crime itself?
A fascinating plot of time travel and parallel time lines, this time paradox will thrill science fiction fans.
And to make it more interesting, Carlin falls for the woman he discovered dead at the beginning of the film.
This fast-paced thriller will test your brain power.
And should you become totally confused by alternative realities, and the present, past and possible futures, then the commentary in the bonus feature on the DVD will give you some insight. - JH
PERFORMANCE: HHH
A MIGHTY HEART
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Starring Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi and Irrfan Khan.
Distributed by Berjaya HVN Sdn Bhd
When a film is based on a real-life tragedy, it could end up being sentimental, trite, exploitative or just done in bad taste.
Thankfully, A Mighty Heart doesn’t fall into any of these categories.
It chronicles the kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi as seen through the eyes of his wife.
Jolie as Pearl’s wife Mariane puts in a terrific performance - this is as far from Lara Croft as she can get.
The film with its small cast and cramped locations has a claustrophobic intensity.
And though it is the story of a murder and a tragedy, it is also a testament to bravery, humanity and optimism.
The moral strength that Mariane summons to live through and overcome the horror, and the support she receives from a Karachi police officer (Khan) and Pearl’s co-worker (Panjabi) is also heartwarming.
The interviews in the bonus feature section of the DVD are revealing. The level of research and the relationships that the director and cast members had with the actual Mariane, and with Pearl’s parents, friends and colleagues show how seriously the production crew wanted to render an accurate an account as possible.
A film one should see and not forget. - JH
PERFORMANCE: HHHHH
R.L. STINE’S HAUNTING HOUR: DON’T THINK ABOUT IT
Directed by Alex Zamm
Starring Emily Osment, Cody Linley, Brittany Elizabeth Curran and Tobin Bell.
Distributed by Berjaya HVN Sdn Bhd
It’s unfair to compare this made-for-video teenage movie with big-budget films, so bring down your expectation a few notches when watching this.
Stine, the creator of teen horror series Goosebumps produced this predictable horror, but youngsters will no doubt still have fun being mildly scared.
Cassie (Osment) has just moved to a new school and the Goth girl finds it hard to adjust. It’s a typical American school with jocks and pretty airheads among its students.
One day, Cassie buys a book for Halloween which has magical powers to summon a creature from the underworld.
The movie’s scary scenes look more like a paintball match than a fight of good versus evil.
Still, I suspect youths might just enjoy this during a slumber party with their friends. - SL
PERFORMANCE:H
New Straits Times
RIZAL SOLOMON invites you to read up all the comic books that inspired the Batman movies before seeing the caped crusader now facing off with the Joker in cinemas across the nation.
THE Dark Knight has opened. To celebrate the best Batman movie ever made, we feature the graphic novels that inspired the various Batman films.
Batman: Year One
The first movie draws heavily from this slim, magnificent work and this is where you should start your Batman reading experience.
Written by Frank Miller with moody art by David Mazzuccelli and Richmond Lewis, the book chronicles the birth of Batman and the first arduous year of his career.
A young Bruce Wayne spends his adolescence and early adulthood roaming the world so he could hone himself into a perfect fighting machine.
Now he has returned to Gotham City and is ready to begin his mission of returning justice to his city.
Wayne’s first attempt at crime-fighting ends disastrously.
Initially, we see him as an ordinary vigilante decked out in conventional attire. He fails to strike fear in criminals and show that the city is no lame duck.
After seeing a bat fly through his window one night, he summons up within him a primeval force to become the brave bold creature of the night, and Batman was born.
He forges a bond with the young detective James Gordon.
The heroes here are so likable because they are Gotham’s saviours, despite their flaws.
Mafia don Carmine Falcone, a character who played a major supporting role in the Batman Begins movie, makes his first appearance here.
Batman Begins also follows intact the ending in this graphic novel.
Year One is a vital element in the Batman story and required reading for anyone interested in the character.
It has that realistic tone that writer-director Christopher Nolan re-created for his two movies.
Batman: The Killing Joke
With good reason, many still consider this the greatest Joker story ever told.
Written by the legendary Alan Moore with spectacular art by Brian Bolland, this 1988 graphic novel details the tragic origins of the Joker.
It is also a remarkable story of insanity and human perseverance. It shows how any man can be pushed past his breaking point and go mad. Here, the Joker attempts to drive commissioner Gordon insane.
After brutally attacking someone close to Gordon, the Joker kidnaps the commissioner and assaults his mind in the hopes of breaking the man.
This is a stunning and unflinching look at the depravity and tragedy of the Joker. It also has one of the most heartbreaking endings ever in a Batman comic. Highly recommended.
Batman: The Long Halloween
Writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale expand Miller and Mazzucchelli’s classic Year One and, in doing so, create their own unique classic.
It draws inspiration from film noir and The Godfather.
As the Dark Knight struggles to find an elusive, mysterious serial killer who strikes only on holidays, he discovers no lack of suspects in a Gotham City beset by mobsters and freakish costumed criminals, any one of whom could be the murderer.
The rise and fall of district attorney Harvey Dent here provides a lot of the inspiration for The Dark Knight movie. We see him go from crusading attorney to a twisted, tormented mastermind with a warped sense of justice and fate.
Both Loeb and Sale would go on to further fame with their work on the hit TV series Heroes.
You will recognise Sale’s work in the paintings for the character of precognitive artist Isaac Mendez.
Batman: Dark Victory
The sequel to The Long Halloween picks up the story with Harvey Dent now fully transformed into Two-Face, who unleashes an all-out war on what remains of the Falcone crime empire. The Loeb-Sale team delivers a sequel that is equal to its predecessor.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
This makes a perfect climax to your Batman reading experience.
An epic masterpiece in every way, The Dark Knight Returns, along with Watchmen, transformed the sequential art landscape forever when it was first published in 1986.
Written by Frank Miller with art by Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley, The Dark Knight Returns takes place in the near future.
However, the fact that it was published in 1986 means there are a few details here and there in the background that may be a little outdated.
The story opens a decade after an aging Batman has retired and Gotham City sunk deeper into decadence and lawlessness.
It is here, when the city needs him the most, that a much-older Batman once again returns.
Here too, he will have to face his two greatest enemies, the Joker and Two-Face, one last time.
Without a doubt, like The Dark Knight movie that it inspired, this is a great work of art.
New Straits Times