jeebusenroute Reviews

Fly Me to Polaris (1999)

Excellent, old-fashioned love story

[10/10 · 12 March 2006]

Based on the film, "Heaven Can Wait," it is the story of a blind patient (Richie Ren) who falls in love with his nurse (Cecilia Cheung). Just when their relationship seems to be heading in the right direction, the patient is killed in a traffic accident. Soon after, he is in heaven, and one of the gatekeepers tell him that he is the 6th billion person to die, and that every billion person gets a wish. His wish is, of course, to return to Earth to see his love for one last time.

There are restrictions, if this is to happen. He can't tell her that he is who he is. There are many instances where he tries but physically can't. And he must return within 5-10 days. I forget. His final warning is that every person who has returned to Earth has regretted it.

The fact that Onion is blind either works well or doesn't, because seeing as how beautiful Cheung is, it is really hard to suspend belief that she would have trouble doubting Onion's love.

The story is very simple, and you must suspend belief about heaven, the afterlife, and the goodness of people to believe in this movie. I personally LOVED this film. It personifies love without it being cheesy or gratuitous. However, I cannot say that this film is optimistic.

The soundtrack is amazing. It uses saxophones, windchimes, and gives off a tempetuous and bittersweet mood of love lost. Cecilia Cheung even does the title track on this film. It is a haunting and melancholy song, called "Star Wish," which is the actual translation of the movie's title. The setting is in a sprawling hospital, where the nurses live on residency. The main colour motifs are white and gray, giving a wash of purity, innocence and perhaps a sense of calm after the storm.

They could have cast a better "Onion" (Ren), because his overt happiness and just general sense of lacking acting capabilities leave something to be desired. But the person who shows the most promise and natural talent is Cecilia Chueng (Autumn), considering the fact that she was so young, and it was her second film. She brings a naturalness to the film. She is beautiful yet contemplative. She is sad yet fresh.

There really is no flaw in this movie, and if there is, other factors far outweigh the bad.

Hak bak jin cheung (2005)

Excellent Crime Film

[8/10 · 12 February 2006]

Following the success of "Infernal Affairs," there have been many films imitating but often failing in duplicating the movie in terms of box office success, script, acting ability, etc. This one delivers . . . kinda. The same problems I had with "Infernal Affairs" are still present in this film.

The story is complicated, but aren't they all? Shawn Yu plays "Fat," an orphan raised by his "Uncle Chai." Uncle Chai is a follower of Brother Dragon, who is played convincingly by Eric Tsang. And the movie follows them through a period of a year or so, where everything important seems to happen. Tsang is a very good actor in my opinion. His diminutive frame precedes and almost underestimates him. However, like in this film, and the other films that I've seen with him in it, he often steals the scenes, and is able to switch from "menacing" to "sympathetic" effortlessly and without seeming contrived.

The film in itself is more violent than your average HK crime/drama, although in some areas, it pussyfoots around where an unflinching camera shot would have been very effective. The twist ending is believable and very well-written.

The flaws of this film include Tsang's eyebrows (You'll know what I mean), Yue's inability to enunciate his words made for listening to the dialogue a chore, crappy acting and stereotypical roles by the female leads that almost made them unbelievable, and underestimated their execution. It may seem like there are many flaws. However, the main focus is not in their romantic lives. So other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Twist (2003)

Tainted Love

[10/10 · 23 June 2005]

What an original title for my comment. It was what I thought of in a pinch. Anyway . . . the film is based on Oliver Twist, using basically, only the name of the characters and their abject living conditions to parlay a story about male hustlers and their life in Toronto.

The atmosphere created is pitch-perfect, and the audience really gets the feel of the weather in Toronto during winter. It's dark, damp and freezing cold, much like the the world the boys live in. And in the hollowed eyes of the hustlers, you can feel their hopelessness and exhaustion.

It is told in the view point of Dodge, rather than Oliver, and focuses on his life. Dodge is played by Nick Stahl, who does a great job of evoking the scared, hungry, cold and insecure young boy, who has seen too much. Joshua Close plays Oliver, who seems a little too one-dimensional for my liking, but is really effective in scenes with Stahl (especially the alley scene), perhaps a testament to Mr. Stahl's talents.

The film is definitely disturbing. There is no sugarcoating, and yet, there is no sex in the film, only mild violence. Most is left to the audience's imaginations, even the face of the Bill character, who plays the "pimp" in the film. His anonymity may have been used to increase the scariness of the character and his intentions, but almost became a shtick in my eyes, especially after his deplorable actions after finding out his "woman" had betrayed him. Bill was almost too bad to be a "real bad guy."

The lines are blurred between affection, power, violence and sexual need, perhaps most effectively in the one scene, it is all mixed up into one degrading act for Dodge. Some might have found it grotesque or perverted or used for shock value. However, I found it necessary to understand Dodge's actions and his character. It also helps to underline the pervasive cycle of abuse.

The ending is dark and bleak, and full of symbolic undertones. There are many questions left unanswered. I found the film to be very engaging, bittersweet and a good portrayal of how love is the most complicated emotion of all.

Blood (2004)

Intriguing and sexy, but . . .

[7/10 · 23 June 2005]

So I saw this movie, and was quite captivated by the way it was filmed. No one can say that it wasn't original. The entire film is shot in one room, and consists of only two actors. Even when another character is said to come into the scene, the camera cuts away until the guy exits, leaving the dialogue and the imagination of the audience to figure out what happened. For a while, I even doubted whether there was another man, when the Noelle said that she invited one of her Johns to come up.

A lot of the dialogue seems improvised, but in a good way. The film seem realistic, was never boring and often really funny, especially during the fights. I think this can be attributed to the talents of both of the actors, who are fresh, sarcastic and seem to feed off of each other.

When the two main characters, brother and sister, bicker, it seems realistic in the way that they get mad and insulted over the simplest insults, such as calling another "fat." The movie is filled with interesting revelations and philosophical existentialism about the origin of clichés and drug addictions.

However, I often doubted the sincerity of the characters. I wasn't sure if they were kidding about their lifestyles and convictions - like whether one was really a prostitute, or if they said things to scare or even impress the other.

My only other criticism is that I didn't believe that they were brother and sister, because they seemed to be in a place away from prying eyes, where no sense of boundary existed, and they acted in a way unconvincing of their blood relationship. But other than that, it was pretty hot. The sexual tension was definitely there, but there was no shame, as I thought such kind of taboo relationships might have. I'm not condemning, I'm just saying is all.

My favourite part is the ending, as you can see the building up and somewhat mending of the relationship between the two main characters. And it was sweet. When all is said and done . . .

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

Random, though-provoking, pretentious film

[7/10 · 20 May 2005]

I mean, to call the movie, "pretentious" in the best sense of the world. The director is keenly aware of his motives for the film, and while the vignettes seem non-sensical and random, they seem to have an all encompassing thread stringing the skits together.

I read some of the reviews, which many of them said that they were amazed at how pointless but similar the conversations were that the characters had to real life. And I think that that's the key, which is put in an eloquent fashion and echoed several times in the movie, by several different characters: "Nikola Tesla perceived the earth as a conductor of acoustic resonance" - the theme, I suppose of the entire movie.

There really is no plot to this film. You never really know which story is the last one, but there is a sense of finality in the last skit. It shows "slices-of-life," and perhaps, intends to showcase the idiosyncrasies and insecurities of all people, such that we are not alone in our feelings and demonstrates the human continuum.

Too Tired to Die (1998)

Flawed but strangely touching

[8/10 · 18 January 2005]

The premise for the movie has been done, or at least has been "heard" to have been done in films like "Life or Something Like it. The difference here is what happens, or more specifically what doesn't happen, and in my opinion, this film is far more superior.

Kaneshiro plays Kenji - the tragic hero of the movie, who is informed by Death that he has less than 24 hours to live. I forget the exact number. The subsequent actions follow him around for the next day, and allows the audience to see what he would do with that knowledge.

People may find this movie pretentious or more precisely that "nothing happens." And they're all right. However, if one were to take the time to digest the film after watching it, you will realize the deeper truths that it reveals. Please excuse me if this sounds artsy-fartsy.

If you were told that you had one day to live by Death, I think many of us would react very much like the main character: be consumed by disbelief and inertia and "waste" time by doing nothing. I think it's more hits closer to home than we would like to admit.

Unfortunately, life isn't just filled with earth-shattering revelations and exciting flashy monologues, unlike Scrooge in a Christmas Carol. It's mainly us - filled with our thoughts. We are not the consummate Shakespearian tragic hero with one huge flaw. People have many little ones. And the meaning of life and all our problems can't be solved in one night, no matter how romantic that ideal might be.

Oddly enough, I find this film to be a slice-of-life and quite realistic, despite the premise. Kenji goes into a coffee shop regularly to find a man sitting there alway reading a novel by some great author. Kenji often watches him but is afraid to approach him, to ask him what novel he is always reading. With his newfound knowledge of his impending death, Kenji does things he wouldn't normally do, which is obligatory in such films. However, the revelations that are "revealed" for a lack of a better word, are not big deals, but are instead, little insights to what makes us truly human - pretension, postering, lies and how we pretend to be more than we truly are.

I really liked the casting of Kaneshiro. He has that listless artist look to him, that fits the character very well. However, I really disliked Sorvino, as I thought her whole motive for taking the role was to showcase her knowledge of the Mandarin language.

So ultimately, this is a hard film to review and even describe. It is slow. It can leave viewers with a sad emptiness. For some reason, it reminds of the novel, "Flesh and Blood" by Michael Cunningham and maybe even "The Rules of Attraction" by Bret Easton Ellis. You see the flaws of characters very clearly. You feel as if you hadn't learn anything about them except that they are unmotivated and vain creatures - things which you already are informed in the opening sequence. Therefore, it came as a complete surprise at the end of the movie, the amount of emotion I felt. So I think the film succeeded in drawing emotions that I wasn't even sure were there, perhaps it is the empathy we feel for ourselves and each other.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

Sad, almost fantastical journey but manages to have realistic undertones

[10/10 · 15 January 2005]

For me, the movie was one of the few movies that was Asian-cast or even teen-oriented that spoke to me about the hardships of being an adolescent in high school. Although I am not longer near the age, I felt a connection to the characters in the movie.

I relate very much to the main character, Ben. I think the movie showed the pressures of living up to a stereotype - that is, being Asian, getting into a great university and being smart. Some say this movie promotes stereotypes, perhaps it does, but it is done in a telling and important way. For example, like how many Asian people carry a beeper/cellphone. But the important one being how many Asians feel hard-pressed to be academically brilliant, and it is something that transcends race, to something that is felt by all students. I would have liked it more if it did focus more on such things.

A very interesting character is Daric, who plays one of Ben's friends/partners-in-crime. His demeanor is amazingly calm, cool, collected and chillingly real. It makes you question the morality of certain MTV-generation children and how much one is able to disregard or sacrifice in order to appear respected and smart. This is perhaps a new version of Stepford wives. And it makes you think about the implications of societal expectations on adolescents.

Parents hardly if ever, make an appearance in the movie. I can't seem to recall to say with certainty. Neither are many authority-figures. I did not enjoy that, as I found that somewhat unrealistic, because without the motivators, where is the motivation? *slight spoiler* The problem I had was with their "connections" in their illegal dealings and what-not. It seemed a little improbable, seeing as how would one find time to do such things and keep up straight A's. So that was a bit of magic realism in the story. So if you can suspend your belief, it works out quite well.

There is a bit of controversy surrounding the casting of the Asian characters by people of different Asian races. I think that it was even foretold by the scriptwriters, as the "true" races of the characters were never revealed, but everyone just assumed they were part of the "Chinese Mafia." All in all, a very interesting, albeit sometimes unrealistic film that skims the surface about issues of race, the lengths one would go to achieve good grades, awkwardness of crushes and jealousy. The films presents questions as to why, but never actually attempts to answer them. This is both bad and good. You can be left feeling either satisfied or empty. Perhaps because the answers to the questions are too broad, complex, multi-fold or there are no answers, only questions. Perhaps we all do things with knowing why.