Time for 6 and this is just a selection from a lot more I have seen since I last posted.
On the eve of Chinese New Year, I screened a horror double-bill at home without consulting Choo. Half an hour into Saw X (2023), Choo uttered: “Why are we watching horror tonight.” I replied her with a giggle of maniacal laughs. I have heard much nice stuff about this 10th installment but frankly after the abysmal Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), I wouldn’t believe anything I read. It turned out to be a solid return to form for the franchise, easily the second best movie in the franchise after the original. The plot of this installment cleverly situates itself between the events of the SAW I and II. A desperate John Kramer (Tobin Bell) travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through a series of ingenious and terrifying traps. Unlike all the other SAW installments, whose selling point has always been the mind blowing traps and torture porn, this one not only recognises the sick “fun” of watching the movies but also gives us an emotional resonance missing in all these movies except the first. John Kramer is a force to be reckoned with and to listen to him utter: “I want to play a game” is to feel goosebumps rising. The story never over-reaches and keeps it simple, driving towards a finale where the scumbags get their bloody just deserts. The franchise has legs now and should be able to squeeze one or two more movies before the eventual chronology of SAW II. After that it would be impossible to write around Jigsaw’s death which has been set in stone, but weirder things have happened in Hollywood. (3.5/5)
Talk To Me (2023) is a helluva horror movie and it has been a while I get a chill and they are multiplying. Things get nasty when a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand. They become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living. This one held my attention throughout and even Choo wasn’t crushing candies. There are many jump scares but they don’t feel derivative. The characters are not here to be cannon fodder and the stakes feel like the real deal. The scares are memorable, the dread feels palpable and the make-up is gnarly to the max. The whole thing builds towards an ending that hits my elusive g-spot. This is good horror and you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of good horror movies you will see in a year. If you are a fan of the genre, don’t miss this. (4/5)
The Holdovers (2023) is about a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school who is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a grieving cook and a troubled student who has no place to go. This is a variation on the odd couple genre and I must say this: Hollywood doesn’t make movies like this anymore. This is a superb film, from the cinematography to the music to the acting to the writing, this is a stupendous film. I laughed my head off so many times and also held a lump in my throat at many heartwarming moments. This feels like the perfect amalgamation of little human stories of entitlement, grief, resentment and getting stuck in a rut. The writing is up the wall and I love listening to Paul Giamatti utter his bombastic vocabulary dipped in an avalanche of sarcasm. I know the momentum is with Cillian Murphy winning the coveted Best Actor Oscar. If there’s an upset it must be Giamatti who delivered a pitch-perfect performance. (5/5)
Table for Six 2 (饭戏攻心2) (2024), we saw in Johore Bahru during a short CNY getaway. I love the first one very much which happens to be the third highest grossing domestic film in Hong Kong. It had such a simple formula – everything shot in one locale, showcasing the sibling rivalry between 3 half-brothers living under one roof. The whip-smart dialogue has a life of its own. There is no way I can watch this in a translated-to-mandarin version screening in my cinema (anyway it wasn’t even screened here). So I was very excited to see this in JB and in its native language of Cantonese. I must first say the cinema-going crowd in Malaysia is still rather strong unlike mine whose cinemas are only packed for the latest big-budget action movie. I saw the excellent Taiwanese 周處除三害 with only one other patron and Past Lives with seven or maybe less in the cinema. I think Singapore is going to be Ground Zero for the death of the indie cinema. Anyway, I wished I can say I adore Table for Six 2 but I honestly can’t. It misses its biggest star in Dayo Wong terribly. Even though the characters keep mentioning him incessantly, the hole of absence is a deep void. Because of this, writer-director Sunny Chan kept making the other characters do stuff. This sequel finds two brothers hold their wedding on the same day and at the same venue, which allows Sunny Chan to write in a myriad of eccentric guests. At over 2 hours, this is the very example of a filmmaker trying too hard. The humour feels forced and the jokes fall flat, even the ever sweet Meow Meow could not assuage my feelings. The last act didn’t feel like it would ever end and kept throwing euphemisms of life. The way it ended leaves a door open for another sequel I will only be back if Dayo Wong is back. (2.5/5)
Marry My Husband (2024) is the Kdrama of the moment and it has just ended. The story is about Ji-won who after being killed by her husband who had an affair with her best friend, goes back 10 years in the past and has a chance to change her fate. It is based on a great what-if: what if you get a second chance to right all the wrongs done to you and at the same time wreak revenge on the scumbags? The main story spine is diluted by the usual Korean love entanglements and it really felt rather frivolous for me. But Choo loves this to bits and I succeeded in enduring all the way to the end by watching it through her eyes. I was bothered by a question of ethics: it’s all good to punish the scumbags but by journeying back to this different timeline these characters have not turn bad yet, so isn’t there a chance things could be different? And by punishing them, Ji-won essentially becomes cold-blooded to be able to accomplish her plan of revenge. My mind was constantly being bombarded all these ethical questions, but Choo explained that these scumbags will never change and to exact revenge there’s nothing wrong by becoming bad. She was right, of course. I like the mechanics of the time paradox in that some events will always happen but who they happened to can be different, so Ji-won has to do some problem solving in moving these traumatic events to the right people. There are holes the size of moon craters if you want to ponder over them. The show works best if you don’t put on your thinking cap. I like the ensemble acting, especially the scums. Song Ha-Yoon has the role of a lifetime and she was superb in her thankless role. It’s a calling card role for her. Likewise with Lee Yi-kyeong who plays Ji-won’s useless boyfriend. They are so bad, I feel like strangling them. I first saw Park Min-young in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Here, she displays a lot more range. In my book, Na In-woo didn’t endear me because he carried one expression throughout the show. It’s a good show to relax to after a long day at work but give me cerebral stuff anytime. (3.5/5)
1923 (2023) is the next installment of the Yellowstone origin story introduces a new generation of the Dutton family and explores the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition, and the Great Depression all plague the Mountain West, and the Duttons who call it home. I am a big fan of Yellowstone and 1883, each uses the same locale but the pacing and storytelling are uniquely different. I like how it shows you the unique challenges the Duttons have to face during different times in history. With 1923, it was a major coup to have two heavyweights in the two main roles and they put in a real shift here. I also appreciate the side-story of Teonna Rainwater and her arc is so brutal and violent. I also enjoy the side-story of Spencer Dutton who carries demons from the Western front of WWI. Like Yellowstone, 1923 is melodramatic and violent soap opera without the art. It’s all very entertaining and can easily suck you in, but it never approaches high art like Godfather or Game of Thrones. To be fair, writer Taylor Sheridan never has that lofty intention. The guy can really write strong characters who are caught between a rock and a hard place. We watch this in just a couple of sittings. (3.5/5)
Reel Thoughts 