Pan's Labyrinth

This is perhaps the first time that I've had problems with Blogger, as magically my previous review of Pan's Labyrinth has disappeared. Here is a shorter review that hopefully captures most of the content of the original.

Pan's Labyrinth is one of those films that comes close to being a classic but fails due to a few glaring flaws. The story involves Ofelia, a girl caught up in a civil war in 1940s Spain during the height of fascism. Ofelia's stepfather is a ruthless captain sent to crush a resistance hiding in a countryside area. Caught up in the middle, Ofelia fails to understand what goes on around her, and instead delves in some magical pursuits, where she is the main character.

The coloring in the movie tends to be very dark, resembling much of the plot. The only colors I can recall are gray and the crimson red of blood, used rather liberally in the movie. As the story progresses, the characters start to gain stature, as the individual motivations become apparent. Most commendable is the dialogue, which is given with great suggestive tones that set the mood quite well. For those understanding Spanish, this movie will be a treat. For everyone else (including me), the subtitles will have to do.

Like a short story, Pan's is short on focus and depth. The characters undergo little development (besides Ofelia's dive into the fantastical) and the plot is fairly generic in nature. The segment covered is very short, and the anti-climatic ending truly destroys whatever suspense and excitement has built up in the hour before.

A constant question Pan's poses is whether magic exists. There is evidence that suggests both sides. I had decided in the first five minutes that magic did not exist in the world. However, I kept noticing the little signs that suggest otherwise, and I almost hate the movie for making me question this belief as the film progressed. But, that is the beauty of Pan's. It shakes things up.

Pros: Hopefully the first of many Spanish imports; gets one thinking
Cons: Doesn't live up to potential or hype; fairly cliche approach
Conclusion: This is one that is going to be whispered for a while, so you may as well watch it now.
Score: 3/5

Sword Stained with Royal Blood/ 碧血劍

What a show! Sword Stained with Royal Blood is another adaptation of a Jin Yong martial arts novel. Having read the actual novel, I had very high expectations of this series going in, and, for the most part, these hopes were met.

Set at the end of the Ming dynasty, the whole of China is in conflict. Ming's top general, sent to guard the country's northern borders against Ching invaders, is wrongly accused of collaboration and killed by Ming's ruler. His son barely escapes the slaughter of the family. After a good number of years have passed, Yuan Chenzhi seeks to avenge his father's death. On his journey, he faces many challenges he must overcome before he can achieve his aim.

The story is very complex, with a large cast of interesting characters. Being a martial arts story, the drama rife with combat sequences. In fact, there is not a single episode where there is no fighting. Although lacking a suspenseful build-up, the many sequences are satisfying on the whole. There are many special effects, with wiring and explosions aplenty. The only complaint I have in this regard is the lack of specilization and explanation to the fights. There are very few signature moves special to each characters. Other than the different weapons used, each person fights more or less in the same way. I would have enjoyed a bigger focus, as that was a highlight from the novel. There are many scenes in the novel where Chengzhi points out the flaws in his opponents techniques that I sorely missed in this adaptation. Another gripe I have is the lack of character development in Chengzhi. Events around him shift and change, but it is not obvious how he has changed. Without the improvement in his martial arts that was specified in the novel, it is puzzling how he beats an opponent that he could not earlier in the story.

Yuan Chengzhi is played by Bobby Dou, who does a decent job throughout the series, although the range of emotions he conveyed varied little from one scene to the next. Eva Huang, who played the notorious girl from Kung Fu Hustle without a single line of dialogue, plays Qingqing, the main actress. At times, I do find her to be a very irritating character, indicating that she must be playing her character right. When Chengzhi and Qingqing stand together, they do look like a very good couple, which is the most important factor for this casting.

A large part of the novel is about understanding the Ming-to-Qing turnover from different perspectives, and this adaptation does a good job of conveying the various factors that led to this historic event in Chinese history. The weaving of history and martial arts storytelling makes this a story that deserves to be told.

Given the emotional attachment to the characters, Sword Stained with Royal Blood is a series that I recommend to anyone who would like an entertaining dive into Chinese history, an entertaining story with nicely choreographed fight scenes, or story about a boy who must juggle the heavy burden on him with his relationships. As for me, I enjoy all of those things.

Pros: Great source material, excellent visuals, satisfying
Cons: De-emphasis on martial arts, weak romantic overtones, sometimes weak acting
Conclusion: A must watch for any lover of martial arts!
Score: 4/5

The Magicians of Love/ 愛情魔髮師

The Magicians of Love is the latest Taiwanese drama following in the footsteps of the successful Meteor Garden series many years ago. So here you have the one girl that starts out rather annoying along with several prominent guys that suddenly appear in her life. This all follows the well-treaded formula. However, from within this framework, Magicians of Love does a wonderful job of weaving the fantastically impossibles of the TV world with the realistic setting of Taiwan.

MoV stars the four members of the singing group 183 Club, three of whom play the role of world-renown hairstylists who just opened a salon in town, across the street from the local salon run by Xiao Bei (played by Joanne Zeng)'s father. The fourth member of 183 Club plays a neighbor who also work at Xiao Bei's family salon. The proximity of these two salons starts off a feud between them, until Xiao Bei decides to join the other team to make her dream of becoming a pro-hairstylist come true.

MoV starts off with the grand opening of the new salon, where huge crowds of girls cheer as the famous hairstylist arrive at the scene. Naturally, this is way over-the-top (come on, how many celebrity hairstylist do you know?). But this is also where MoV shines. Although there are some exaggerated scenes, the setting and scenarios are always on the verge of reality. It requires only a slight bit of belief in this world to accept the story. When the famous hairstylist are out and about, they are not treated as gods - they are recognized only by those who would care to visit their salon. They do not have overwhelming power to influence anything outside of the fashion world. This is a very good direction for Taiwanese pop drama.

One of the most important aspects of such a series is going to be the strength of the characters and their interaction with each other. MoV excels for the most part in this area, although most characters have fairly routine personalities, such as the obsessive parent, the sad girl with a tragic past, the mean guy with a good heart, etc. I must commend the director for casting a girl that actually looks cute straight up - that thing with casting a seemingly ugly girl that the audience will grow used to is simply intolerable at this point. This alone takes off much of the heat from the main actress. For the main actor, however, some more work needs to be done. His character's feelings appear genuine from time to time, but it is definitely not consistent. Aside from this minor quibble, the two main characters match very well together on screen. They complement each other well, and the chemistry between appears very real. When the two are happy together, the audience cannot help from smiling.

Thie leads to the next thing - the romance. The couple faces their ups and downs, as is expected. The problem I have is that we know they are meant to be together. This is reinforced in both the title and ending song. There is no ambiguity. While watching the series, the audience knows which choices the characters will pick to fulfill this destiny. No only does this detract from the suspense, this also leads the characters to make some choices that appear illogical.

Several miscellaneous items require mention. The settings rotate around several familiar locales, and the cast is big enough so that they do not appear repetitive. The light tone of the entire series does take away some of the audience involvement, as there is no great evil that challenges the characters. As usual, I paid particular attention to the ending. Although it does wrap up most of the loose ends, it was too abrupt to my liking. Finally, the theme of the series is rooted in fashion. Thus, characters are often very fashionably dressed, adding eye candy to an otherwise bland set. This gives a lot of flavor to the scenes.

TV series such as MoV is a very good move for the Taiwanese industry, as it is a good way to attract new viewers while spending a healthy budget. This is definitely a good response to popular Korean or Japanese romance series that tend to distort reality so much that every scene involves someone crying. Lots of sappy dialogue is not required for a touching story.

Pros: Involving story, adds to established drama framework, somewhat plausible, all on YouTube
Cons: Sometimes amateur acting, ridiculous comic relief, always happy
Conclusion: Excellent effort! Recommended for anyone seeking a solid pop drama.
Score: 3.5/5

Mr 3 Minutes/ 3 分鐘先生

Mr 3 Minutes is a small fun film. With Ronald Cheng as the leading actor, Mr 3 Minutes is a fun affair, as Cheng shows off his comedic skills once more by playing a slightly off-balance Scott Chung, who runs a bridal parlor. With a personal principle to work hard and play hard, Scott vows to only spend 3 minutes at any single thing. Scenes of these 3 minute meetings convinces the audience of how he operates and the audience is also led to believe that Scott spends every night with a different woman he picks up at some club or bar. When a child suddenly appears claiming to be his son, Scott attempts to operate as he has always done by spending 3 minutes a day with the kid. When his son starts gaining the affections of everyone around Scott, he is forced to question what he is doing wrong. This story is therefore about the relationship of a father and son.

While the recent After This Our Exile attempted to explore a more serious side of the father-son relationship, Mr 3 Minutes takes a lighter approach. With a fairly standard plot, Mr 3 Minutes does nothing to extinguish itself from other comedies. Although having seen this film about a week or so ago, I can already remember little of significance. It is hard to pinpoint the exact details of how the movie failed, but the general execution is certainly lacking. Most of the challenges presented to the characters are very basic and their resolution equally unrealistic. It must be questioned whether this movie truly reveals anything about a father-son relationship that is not already obvious. Ronald Cheng does a good job but is bound too much by his weak character to truly shine. Overall, this film offers no contribution to the comedy genre and should be viewed by those with nothing better on their list who wish to spend some time watching a light-hearted film. Just don't expect to remember it later.

Pros: Some comedic value. Light, if that's your thing.
Cons: Nothing new. Not a memorable film.
Conclusion: A fun little affair that will pass the time.
Score: 2.5/5

Re-cycle/ 鬼域

Re-cycle is one of those movies that are just waiting to be discovered. Starring Angelica Lee, an actress who has grown a loyal following since her excellent performance in The Eye, Re-cycle is a film that, although imperfect, proves to be an enjoyable affair. The Pang brothers have always directed films with flair and Re-cycle is no different. The camera work is sweeping and the tight control of each screen allows good story-telling to be done (whether the story is worth telling is often the real question with these guys).

The plot of Re-cycle involves Lee's character, who is a famous fiction author. While writing her new book about supernatural events surrounding a girl, she inexplicably starts to experience the phenomenon she writes about. Slowly, these events increase in intensity until one day she is sucked into a completely different world, the source of these supernatural events. What she finds on in this other world is unlike anything she's ever encountered. As she strives to leave this strange new place, she begins to learn more about the real world and herself.

Being a thriller at heart, Re-cycle does have some pretty good scares. These all fit inside the context of the plot and so are well-delivered. However, these scenes are not original and the overall cohesion of the film suffers from this use of seemingly regurgitated elements. In addition, the CG effects in the film are hit or miss, with some truly spectacular scenes alongside amateurish attempts. Some parts of the story do not add up, such as the resolution at the end of the film, which I'll leave unrevealed here.

Good horror/thriller films are always good to come by, since they are usual one-time affairs that provide no more than cheap thrills. Re-cycle avoids this characterization for the most part by infusing a deeper storyline. Despite its flaws, Re-cycle is a promising addition to any Asian scary movie collection. This might be just that movie you're looking for.

Pros: Good camera work. Blend of fantasy and reality. Some scary moments.
Cons: Very limited cast. Not original plot.
Conclusion: A solid film that will satisfy even if it does not impress.
Score: 3/5

My Name is Fame/ 我要成名

My Name is Fame is definitely a sleeper hit. Starring veteran Lau Ching Wan and new actress Huo Si Yan, My Name is Fame is starts off with jaded actor Poon Ka Fai, who reached the pinnacle of his career while in his 20s. Although lauded as a wonderful actor who strives for perfection and realism in his work, his attitude with directors and staff are often too direct for his own good. Thus, he is now an actor with little work. But, by chance, he comes upon Nig Hiu Fei, a new actress willing to work hard. Fai becomes attached to the new actress and teaches her his acting techniques. As she becomes more successful, Fai is forced to reflect upon his own career to rediscover why he started on his acting career.

In many ways, My Name is Fame is a powerful critique of the current film industry. The character Fai gives very honest opinions of the problems of the industry, and when Fai's story in the film reflects actor Lau Ching Wan's own career, the film delivers a powerful message. Lau, who has been part of many acclaimed films, has never won a HK Film Award. At times, during the movie, it is hard to separate whether the character or the actor is speaking, as the actor can very well be playing himself. This genuine impression carries a forceful impact, bringing the characters into reality.

Another device that must be applauded is Fai's critiques in the movie of the new actress's acting. As he corrects and demonstrates how good acting should be done, it becomes only more apparent the wonderful acting from the actors themselves in the creation of the film. This gives off a similar feeling to a magician explaining his trick. Learning how the trick is done merely conveys the ingenuity with which the act is performed - in no way does it detract from the trick. When Fai explains various aspects of acting, we appreciate Lau's acting even more.

Pros: Introspective look of film industry, great acting and characters, downplays unnecessary romance
Cons: Only a hint at the ugly side of the industry, some may find the movie overly positive
Conclusion: You will wonder why you have not heard more about this film after you've watched it. It is that good.
Score: 4/5

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Humor is hard to control. What one person find funny might be offensive to another. Thus, it is very difficult to produce a comedy that is critically acclaimed. Just think about when the last time was that a comedy movie won an award. Can't remember? Me neither. This is because most films in the comedy genre turn out to be riddled with either cliche jokes or potty humor more suitable for grade-school kids. A good comedy should point out things that defy common sense that persist and make a point to use humor to bring out some other element of life. That is what the trailer for Borat suggested. I solemnly expected to be entertained while Borat went about pointing out all the bigotry, racism, and other wrongful aspects of American society that exist. I expected an intellecutual direction behind all the jokes. I expected rewatch value.

But that is not what I received. What I received was a brutal destruction of decency. There is nothing funny about being a complete snob. Playing jokes on the random suspecting people could have been funny if there was a point. Instead, it was largely pointless. The context was used as an excuse to perform outrageous, public acts rather than vice versa. Many of the acts bordered on obscene - simply disgusting affairs. It is not that I disagree with the supposed concept behind the movie. I love the TV show "House", wherein the main character acts like a complete ass and breaks all the rules. But if it was just a random doctor it would not be worth watching. The seller is that House is always right. That is the social doctrine he follows. He is a good doctor. Borat can make no such claim. He breaks the rules for no reason, toward no end, to serve no purpose. He is not right. He just likes being obscene, as if that was enough in of itself. It is not. It is great that such things as Borat is allowed to exist under free speech. It certainly pushes some boundaries. However, in this society, people should have better sense than to produce something like Borat. Just because something is allowed doesn't mean it should be done. Especially in this case.

Pros: It makes the time go away if there's absolutely nothing else to watch.
Cons: Low budget look. Obscene. No rewatch value. Things that are just wrong.
Conclusion: Gives a few good laughs, but is that really enough?
Score: 1/5