Weapon of Choice – KILL

Omnibus films appears to be one of the latest in things in world cinema. By omnibus, I mean a collection of films, however short or long, patched together into one package and released all together at once as one product. It can make for an interesting bit of collaboration, as can be witnessed by the popular incarnations of the Love omnibus series, like ‘Paris, je t’aime’ and the upcoming ‘New York, I Love You’. Coming a little closer to home, we’ve seen the likes of ‘15 Malaysia’ doing its bit, while Japan has the triumvirate of Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry and taking over the reins for the Tokyo omnibus project called…err, ‘Tokyo!’. Not to be outdone, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and his buddies got together, and decided to say hello to ‘Sawasdee, Bangkok’.

Not that it’s the only trend around, of course. Much like Philippino films being in demand pretty much in film festivals across the world (not unlike the Romanians a few years back), I think it won’t be too long before it passes over sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, it does present an exciting alternative.

Manilla in it’s Moment – Pinoy Indies

Manila newspaper headlines over-enthusiastically screamed that a Filipino director had won the Cannes film festival this year, beating Quentin Tarantino in the process. Actually the Palme d’Or went elsewhere, but Cannes jury president Isabelle Huppert is understood to have fought a massive, though ultimately unsuccessful, campaign to give the top prize to ‘Kinatay’ (‘Butchered’). Instead, its filmmaker, Brillante “Dante” Mendoza, took home the prize for best director and, in the process, stirred up a publicity frenzy for Filipino cinema that refuses to die down.

The thriller, which was shot in near real time on hand-held cameras, was too much to stomach for many commentators. But other critics who ignored his previous Cannes competition film ‘Serbis’ heralded the film a piece of stylish, gritty cinema verite and hailed Mendoza as a major new talent in world cinema. Mendoza, a youthful 48, was quickly feted as a juror at Locarno and had his next movie ‘Lola’ pulled out of the hat as a surprise film at Venice. Fast, furious and in your face seems to be the way for Mendoza, but his is far from being a lone voice. The Philippines is currently a hotbed of talent.

Fazil’s Top 100 – 90 to 81

Here’s the next installment of Fazil’s Top 100 Must Watch Movies of the Decade, following on from the previous ten from 100 to 91.

90) G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA

Why is it on the list?
Haha! You can’t expect me to leave this one out, can you? This made it on the list because it’s the best mindless action-packed popcorn flick of the decade. It doesn’t get any better than this. It’s a nice little blend of cheesiness and fun, with a little sprinkle of hotness, courtesy of Rachel Nichols and Sienna Miller. What you get is the perfect recipe for a perfect summer flick. As i have stated in my review, its a cheesy film based on a cheesy 80s cartoon, so you cant complain much. This is one of those movies that will make you feel like you’re 7 years old again. So if you’re a fan of the cartoon or was a kid before, this film can be nostalgic as you will be blasted back to the past.

For Sale – I Sell The Dead

For the ‘Midnight Screening’ session, the director himself, Glenn McQuaid, made a somewhat surprising appearance. Director’s appearances are not uncommon at festivals, but this being the nocturnal gathering of film lovers rather than a premiere slot for film screening, it was somewhat unexpected. What was certainly unexpected was the director’s reaction and enthusiasm for the crowd. He appeared on stage, a handheld camera tacked to his right hand, and he waved back to the crowd as he was being introduced by the Korean translator (invariably ladies, as it turns out. Makes you think, doesn’t it? No? Moving on…). “I’m recording this for all the people back home,” he said, addressing the crowd through his camera. “So on the count of three, everyone wave to this camera, OK? Right! One, two…THREE!” Everyone, already enjoying being at the center of attention for the camera, wave enthusiastically.

Why did I write so lovingly of the above exchange? Simple. It’s very nice to see a director being enthusiastic about his own work. Not to promote, to sell, but to simply let it be and enjoy the moment. A nice lesson worth reminding.

New Wave? – Malaysians in Pusan 2009

Timing, as ever, is almost everything. I say almost, because of course there are many other factors that should be considered. Nevertheless, sometimes it is just something that the powers that be have determined. Thus, this year, I will have to give the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) a rather big miss, because it conflicted with the schedule that has been given to me for my graduation film shoot.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that I won’t be there in spirit, even if my spirit should actually be on location with me in Toechon rather than Pusan. Nevertheless, here’s a quick look at the films that I definitely would have been watching had I the chance and opportunity to do so.

Timely – Some Day In The Future

It is an interesting title, I thought. ‘Some Day In The Future’, to me, suggests a wistful sort of existence, one that hints at the hope for a better future. As in, “We’re in a tough situation now, but some day in the future, things will be OK.” You can, of course, flip it the other way around (“We’re OK now, but some day in the future, things will be tough”), but this feels somewhat unnatural, somewhat lacking in a poetic sense. After watching the film, I can surmise that somehow, the director, Dharmasena Pathiraja, is a person who hopes for things to be better in the future.

A part of this is to do with the stylings of the film. The film itself has a certain graininess, a certain scratch here and there that made me think it was a film made in the 80s, early 90s if you really want to push it. You know how a film looks when you watch it years after it was made? An old film shown on TV or in the cinema betrays its age, and you get a sense of watching something that was kept exclusively in a vault for long years before being brought out again for a screening.

Fazil’s Top 100 – 100 to 91

Welcome to Fazil’s 100 Must Watch Movies of the Decade. You see, I came across a lot of this sort of listing all over the Internet from time to time. Thing is, I never liked them because it always has really old movies that I have not seen; new movies, particularly from the action genre, are always omitted. So I say screw them and let me come up with my own list.

I have chosen movies of the last decade, i.e. released from the year 2000 till now, because prior to 2000, I wasn’t a movie buff and I have not seen that many films (though I am slowly catching up on them now!). Thus, I wouldn’t be the best person to provide you guys with such a listing if that be the case. Also, you will notice omissions of truly great movies released this decade as well, such as ‘Moulin Rouge!’, ‘Catch Me If You Can’, ‘Traffic’, ‘Blow’, ‘Million Dollar Baby’, ‘Chicago’ and ‘Mystic River’ just to name a few. Believe it or not, I have not actually seen these movies!

Oink! – School Days With A Pig

One of these days, I may well have a mind to go down the Japanese embassy and charge its filmmakers for pedophilia; following ‘Yoshino’s Barber Shop’ after watching ‘School Days with a Pig’, I am convinced that the Japanese have an innate tendency to rely on cute kids in order to make the audience go, “Aww…” That is, of course, in place of having an actual story, a compelling issue, an intelligent script, and competent editing and directing to go along with the kids so cute you wouldn’t want to stop pinching their cheeks even after they start screaming for their mothers. The Japanese have latched on to something here, and I have decided to latch on to what it is that they have latched on.

Of course, that isn’t quite the case here in ‘School Days’. The things I said earlier about the story, script, and what not? Well, they are all present here in spades of pig poo.

RAW is WAR! – Ramly At War Begins

It was a innocuous, innocent and not-so-interesting night some time ago on Facebook. I find myself getting into it a lot more, enjoying the reactions and interactions, as it were, with my family (even my dad is on Facebook…which is nice ). Anyways, it seems as if other people’s moms and dads were also on, given the uninteresting nature of the night. I would define it as interesting if it were updated frequently, and if the statuses themselves were rather interesting to read. Funny, this: not a long time ago I hated Facebook. I hated how it seems to transplant all other modes of communications. Now, however, having tried it extensively, I realise I could make it work for me without going the way of others.

Another reason why I should thank Facebook, though, is ‘RAW’. “What on Earth is ‘RAW’?” I thought to myself as it constantly and almost-annoyingly popped up on Juliane Block’s status update. She had added me on Facebook after we had interviewed her and did a review for her film, ‘Emperor’, but communication has been at a minimum. I suppose we all have friends like that. For that past few days, though, almost everything was about ‘RAW’, and if her idea was to get my (and other people’s) attention…well, it worked.

15 Minutes of… – 15Malaysia

“Pete, what are you going to do next year?”

People asking Pete Teo what project he would do after the Malaysian Artists For Unity project.

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As the country makes its celebrations for Independence Day on Monday, I decided that there’s no better time to write about this nice little project than then. Well, there is: I could have written it on the date of its launch, which happened to be some time in the middle of August. For some reason, a combination of brain fade, constipation, and a lack of time, as well as the fact that…

…well, no, I just didn’t get round to doing it before now.