It's here. The winners are already announced. Stayed up into the wee hours of dawn only to watch the live coverage of Oscars via Kodak Theater in the City of Angels. The Departed had finally departed from Oscar snub and grabbed the Best Picture statuette. I must admit I can't see why it won, or maybe Boston cop thrillers don't usually win Oscars, or maybe I'm just too selfish and opionated and steeled against cops getting Best Picture. Little Miss Sunshine would have been a nicer choice and more subtle decision, a great stun for indie films since Crash. Never belittle, it says. Sunshine is the year's most successful indie film and most heartfelt family movie in recent years. Or maybe Academy voters had hearts of damned steel also.

The Departed for me was a good film, but it lacks the grandeur that a Best Picture winner is supposed to convey. It has brilliant direction by Martin Scorcese, whom at last finally seized that golden man-trophy after years and years and gazillion of years of Oscar snub and letdowns. His balls must have been shrunk now, like Peter O'Toole's heaven's-sake career with 8 nomination but no Oscar win, but at least, so-called one of America's greatest director has finally bagged a trophy that could be displayed on his mantlepiece, in which visitors in his home could watch and notice "Ah, you've got Oscar trophy! How many?" One. Yeah right.

I was on Babel's side, and actually wanting it to win. After Crash's success, it would have ben possible for the Academy to fall for another interrelating story about global misunderstanding and connectedness. But the Academy knew better of course. Babel was just too grandeur and ambitious for a Best Picture. And only emotionally complex people would only understand it. So much for Oscar voters then. As what I have heard, some of them are shallow like seashores. Right, Roger Ebert? You've been voting for Babel as well.

I haven't seen The Letters From Iwo Jima but as what Flags of Our Fathers had established, people became too lazy seeing other people on screen being bombed. Two sides, one story - Clint Eastwood made that possible. The first one, down. Flags of Our Fathers never made it critically. But Iwo Jima, Japan's side of the story, made it but missed it.

The Queen, hail holy mercy. Brilliant film. Helen Mirren could usurp audience to fall into their knees in front of her by this magnificent performance and no doubt, she won Best Actress. But Best Picture? Bet my bollocks, it won't happen in millions of years. American's could be sometimes too American, see what I mean. Like sidetepping Brokeback Mountain last year and rather chose Crash, deftly demeaning Brokeback's strength of filmmaking. The Queen however is a performance-ridden film. Without the queen's character herself, the film's monarchy will fall into ruins.

My second best bet aside from Babel was Little Miss Sunshine. I would treasure this film forever. It's a film that everyone, from the littlest scrawny kid in the family, to the weirdest, to the attention-seeking teenagers, to the annoying adults, to the impulsive dominant fathers, the sympathetic mothers, the gay-lesbo charades, the motor-mouthing granddads - I mean what more could you ask for a film that gives us a dysfunctional family that has a big warm heart. And Oscar believed they thought better of it and threw the blame on The Departed. My respect to Scorcese because I believe he's a brilliant director. He's a legend. But he has done other GREATER films, why chose The Departed? I might have been undermining The Departed or maybe it's not just my cup of tea. Even Jack Nicholson wasn't nominated for his awesome performance here and rather put Mark Wahlberg on the nomination, in which all he had done in his part was shouting, swearing, dropping F-bomb and expletives. So in that logic, if I was an actor and offered a role that takes an effort to swear a lot, f*ck a lot and shouts a lot, that conclusion would lead me to believe that I would be nominated as well. Hell yeah.

Pan's Labyrinth, my 2006's best film, wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Or maybe it seemed to innocent for the Academy's eyes. Or maybe they're just too blind to see the real beauty beneath the staggering darkness that clothes the film. Then again, maybe America is too afraid to choose a foreign film to become Best Picture. Here's the real terrorism crisis. Borat could be your witness. Pan's Labyrinth didn't even win for Best Foreign Film. That's human carnage. Children of Men didn't even win Best Cinematography. That's more bloody.


Eddie Murphy was sidestepped as well. Alan Arkin won as Best Supporting Actor. I won't mind. Alan Arkin was absolutely unbelievable as the grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. I won't also mind of Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine would win as well. But the trophy goes to Jennifer Hudson. Her payback revenge to American Idol. I won't mind at all. Simon Cowell might have killed her, I won't mind at all. But if she wouldn't win, that's where I should min because her performance is just so powerful.

So much for the bitchery. I couldn't do a thing but just sit down here, criticise things and events. Who the hell am I anyway. Yeah, I'm just a lousy bugger who sits down watch films and write reviews. So much for humanity. So much for Oscars. Wait until The Moviejerk Awards will launch very soon. The real show would begin. (laughs evilly)

Here are the results:

Best Picture
THE DEPARTED
BABEL
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN

Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Peter O'Toole, VENUS
Will Smith, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Leonardo DiCaprio, BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling, HALF NELSON

Actress in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN
Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Kate Winslet, LITTLE CHILDREN
Penelope Cruz, VOLVER
Meryl Street, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
Paul Greengrass, UNITED 93
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, BABEL
Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN
Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Actor in a Supporting Role
Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS
Alan Arkin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Mark Wahlberg, THE DEPARTED
Djimon Hounsou, BLOOD DIAMOND
Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN

Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
Adriana Barraza, BABEL
Rinko Kinkuchi, BABEL
Abigail Breslin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Cate Blanchett, NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Best Original Screenplay
THE QUEEN
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PAN'S LABYRINTH

Best Adapted Screenplay
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
BORAT
CHILDREN OF MEN

Best Original Score
BABEL
THE GOOD GERMAN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

Best Animated Film
HAPPY FEET
CARS
MONSTER HOUSE

Best Foreign Film
PAN'S LABYRINTH
AFTER THE WEDDING
WATER
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGENES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Best Art Direction
PAN'S LABYRINTH
DREAMGIRLS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
THE PRESTIGE

Best Cinematography
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE PRESTIGE
THE ILLUSIONIST
THE BLACK DAHLIA
PAN'S LABYRINTH

Best Costume Design
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE QUEEN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

Best Documentary Feature
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS

Best Film Editing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93
CHILDREN OF MEN
BLOOD DIAMOND

Best Makeup
PAN'S LABYRINTH
APOCALYPTO
CLICK

Best Short Film (Animated)
THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS

Best Short Film (Live-Action)
BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY

Best Sound Editing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Best Sound Mixing
DREAMGIRLS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
BLOOD DIAMOND
APOCALYPTO

Best Visual Effects
POSEIDON
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
SUPERMAN RETURNS

Best Original Song
“Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS, Jennifer Hudson
“Listen” – DREAMGIRLS, Beyonce Knowles
“I Need to Wake Up” - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, Melissa Etheridge
“Patience” – DREAMGIRLS, Eddie Murphy
“Our Town” - CARS, James Taylor

Todd Field's recent suburban drama, based on Tom Perrotta's novel, frolics like the ridiculously horny housewives of the massively successful Desperate Housewives and seduces like the funny but dark American Beauty. Nonetheless, Little Children has the credibility to become one of the year's movies but the plot itself was shamefully incarcerated behind its own bars, minimizing its emotional potency. Kate Winslet shines (again) sharply but just like a knife, she is in a movie that has its own dull edges.

It started with a narration, voice deep and menacing and one just couldn't help but recognise its scene patterns where suburban wives sit on the playground benches, having the daily schmooze and gossips while their children gallops unendingly over the grasses. Desperate Housewives might find this too - unoriginal. Then there's Sarah (Kate Winslet), who refused to be called a suburban wife and boasts a master's degree in literature. She's not the smartest person in the world but she's not stupid either. In fact, as how the title of this film came about, it's about a tale of children in their 30s, 40s or 50s, post-pubescent people who choose not to live mature lives but plays in the dangerous games of sex, adultery, lust and obsession. We might see children playing in the parks, swimming in the pool, but it's the adults that behave annoyingly - just like little children who don't know their limits and the dangers they are into.

The wives are ostensibly infatuated by this local househusband named Brad (Patrick Wilson) who comes into the playgrounds with his son. He's the one in which they consider the Prom King, the Golden Boy... but no one gets his number until Sarah came along. 5 bucks bet. That's what it takes. Silly how old children play games. And without more hassle, they clicked on. Everyone knows Brad is married and everyone knew he had a perfect family - but he had a manipulative wife named Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a documentary filmmaker, who loves the child she was doing a documentary with than her own child beside her.

Secrets dwells within each houses and in one corner in the street, there's Ronald James McGorvey or Ronnie (Jackie Earle Haley) who was indicted as a pedophile, recently released from prison. Children weren't safe from the streets and his mother keeps on plugging the holes his own sons dig, and hiding the mistakes he had done. Larry (Noah Emmerich), an ex-cop, feels like a neighborhood superhero and starts a campaign that covers the whole town with flyers identifying Ronnie as the child molester.Little Children is actually not a bad piece of film. It's just that it's ridiculous. Sarah is a woman, belittled by her own husband's fornicated dreams, and unleashed the playful child in her wanting to desire something sweet. But she considers her own child as an alien and does silly things here and there. She's even much closer to Madam Bovary than her own kid. She and Brad then starts to flirt with each other like children and dream of a future together.

The great thing in this film is that it shows there are indeed little children trapped within body of adults and sometimes, all of us could be foolish and could do silly things without worrying the consequences. The worst thing in this film was that it gives us an anti-climax. It's denouement just leaves us shocked but unmoved. But hell, the beautiful Kate Winslet absolutely stuns us with another graceful and fiery performance. Young as she is, she's the only person in the recent years who has a record of 5 Oscar nominations below the age of 30. Now that's some career.


Rating: B-

Gielgud Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
West End, London
7:30 - 10:30 PM
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe
Richard Griffiths
Will Kemp


"With one particular horse he embraces..." The once dark stage became dimly lit and six horses (played by men wearing horse masks and hooves made out of metal) slowly emerged from the darkness. A boy named Alan Strang also came out, clad in jeans and shirt, walked to the stage, and carefully placed his arms around a particular horse named Nugget in a passionate embrace. The horse seemed to felt this as it also inclined its head towards the boy in what looked like a momentary sympathy, not an animal's instinct. Martin Dysart, in his account, narrated his undertaking about a troubled 17-year old boy, who's obsession about horses had led him to blind these six horses, a psychiatric journey that would question not only the boy's extremity but the normality of our lives as well.


It was my first time that I saw a real stage play, and I mean REAL play, not all those classroom and school rubbish we had once done. This was London West End and that sums it all. Stage plays could never get better than finding it in other places. Seeing all theatres lining up the streets, billboards lighting up the nightsky and people queuing for tickets, I felt that I had finally experienced the world of theatre and since Equus was my first, I hope to say that it will not be my last.

Auteur Steven Spielberg had proved in his early masterpiece that he's not only a science-fiction supremo but also an emissary for humanity. In one of the most brilliant movies he ever made, The Color Purple is a timeless tale about the tests of faith, the sufferings of life, the endless love between two sisters, who were separated almost all of their lives and the victory of a true soul. It may not be Spielberg's story, as it was based on a novel by Alice Walker, but this was made of Spielberg's craft, every minute, every scene.

Here is a girl named Celie (Whoopi Goldberg). She's black, she's silent and she tells her story in a way of letters to God. Because nobody had been trying to listen to her, aside from the most loving person on Earth to her which was her sister Nettie, her letters were her way of staying sane in the world of insanity and cruelty. At the heart of this film, we are showed that Celie lived in a world of cruelty and that all her life was spent in servitude to somebody. In the first few scenes, we see Celie with Nettie running free-spiritedly in the fields of purple flowers, playing, laughing, smiling with blissful joy but then we are cut into her dismal life. She was raped by her own father and was giving birth to a baby, only to be given to and be adopted by other people. She was then being told off that she lost the ability to become pregnant and was forced to marry a Southern man, which he call Mister (Danny Glover). This was where Celie's life turned into hell. Mister is a very cruel man. He smiles, he laughs but he strikes on Celie without hindrances. Maybe he doesn't even know how cruel he was to Celie, especially the scene in which he seizes Nettie of Celie's grasp, away from her own sister. In one of movie history's most poignant scenes, we see these two sisters trying to hold on to each other while Mister breaks them apart. Spielberg here deftly and magnificently moved me to tears in this very splendid almost 10 minute scene. Even in this scene alone, we could say the performances will stagger the whole humanity and let us all fall into tears. Nettie shouts, crying and horrified to Mister "Why? Why?" and Mister throws stones at her. This is the point in the film where we then know that Celie was about to face her life alone.

Then comes the character of Shug Avery (played by Margaret Avery), a jazz singer who became hopeless about her life, about men and career. She was devastated, a portrait of a person who's giving up on life yet not knowing what to do or how to end it. For the first time Shug Avery saw Celie in front of the door, she utters with a snigger "You sure is ugly!". But Shug was wrong; after a few days when Celie was catering to her needs i.e. food, breakfast, meals, booze - she saw something more beautiful inside Celie. Although Mister always mocks her and coax her to believe that she was ugly as sin, this was the time when Celie realises that love can be tender and soft and warm and gentle. Shug also realises that a person like Celie was the thing she needed the most, a kind heart to be with to find the very kindness within her as well. She was reawakened.

There is also the character Sofia (played astoundingly by Oprah Winfrey), who's the life force of the film, The Color Purple. Every time she walks into a scene, she walks with compelling force, and plays a dominant figure in Harpo's life. Harpo was Mister's son by first marriage, and Sofia was a tremendous lady with a tremendous attitude and she tells Harpo to choose between her and his father. But Harpo couldn't decide because he grew up attending to everybody's happiness. Sofia is a kind of person who never gets stopped or never gets trampled but she was indeed stopped when she calls the white mayor to "go to hell" and picked up a fight, only to find herself a little later in jail and a long-life of service to the mayor's wife, who's a terrible driver. One of the best scenes in the film was when Sofia became mellow and teaches the mayor's wife how to drive and when they enter the shop and instructs Sofia to do the shopping, Celie helped Sofia with it. By this, Sofia realised that there's still a person in the world who cares for her, who sympathizes her.

Certainly, this film is made not out of perfection but with a heart and the truth it conveys. The Color Purple gives us the chance to see the beautiful things behind the cruelty and the madness. Celie is a brilliant movie character and Whoopi Goldberg played her to the point that we feel sympathy with her even though she talks less, and sometimes narrates in her own mind. But when we see her smile, we smile. It's a triumphant film and Whoopi Goldberg had indeed gave her best performance of her life. It's just a bit sad that we couldn't see her now doing serious films. Oprah Winfrey was exceeding my expectation and she transformed this character Sofia into a wonderful caricature of a person who bullies people and finally realising all the faults in life.

I could not blame Steven Spielberg putting all postcard landscapes in this film because I think he tries to put beauty outwardly in the story of suffering and cruelty. Nonetheless, this film wasn't just about trials and hardships, but it's about the victory of life and how Celie won it all. The reunion of two sisters at the end with Celie's children was a joyous movie moment. Just like this film, a joyous celebration of life and what it offers to everyone.


Rating: A+

I've seen BAFTAs on BBC One just now and the awards are up. The British Academy Film and Television Awards (which is the most prestigious award giving body in Britain, equivalent to America's Academy Awards) took place at the Royal Opera House in London, hosted by the ultimately respected and funny film critic Jonathan Ross, with the King and Queen ruling the sweeps. The Queen came out Best Film, while The Last King of Scotland won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film. Helen Mirren, without a doubt, grabbed the Best Actress nod, and Forest Whitaker had the Best Actor statuette. Daniel Craig looked absolutely cool, Toni Collette was beautiful, Emily Blunt was gorgeous, Guillermo Del Toro looked real weird, Penelope Cruz looked edible, Eva Green looked like a lost gypsy in the heart of London, and Abigail Seresin looked adorably cute. Well, so much about "how-they-look", as what Little Miss Sunshine taught us that Life is a fucking beauty pageant. Here's the list of winners. Bring on the Oscars! February 25th!

FILM
The Queen

ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for Best British Film
Last King of Scotland

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
Andrea Arnold - Red Road

DIRECTION
Paul Greengrass - United 93

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Little Miss Sunshine

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Last King of Scotland

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Pan's Labyrinth

ANIMATED FEATURE
Happy Feet

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Helen Mirren - The Queen

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music
Babel

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Children of Men

EDITING
United 93

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Children of Men

COSTUME DESIGN
Pan's Labyrinth

SOUND
Casino Royale

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest

MAKE-UP AND HAIR
Pan's Labyrinth

SHORT FILM
Do Not Erase

ANIMATED SHORT
Guy 101

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
Eva Green

THE ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP: Anne V Coates

THE MICHAEL BALCON AWARD: Nick Daubeny

This is the weirdest, most dysfunctional, family road movie ever in recent memory. Also, it's an inspiring, funny, touching film about family values, American dreams and living life knowing the winners and losers and anything in between that we all belong. I never expected that such a small-budgeted, independent, supposed-to-be Sundance-oriented film, would turn out to be a classic gem. Well of course aside from the fact that it has been nominated for Oscar Best Picture this year, I shall say such little efforts could go rolling the big time highway.

From the opening montage, we see a little girl name Olive (Abigail Breslin) with her blue eyes seemingly drifting behind the wide spectacles, watching a recorded beauty pageant on the telly and she's imitating the winner along with the waves and gasps and smiles. Her dream: she wanted to be a beauty pageant queen, and that's where the movie will take us to, the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant where Olive happened to be a contestant.

Then we meet the family in this very long and impressive take in the dining table. We meet Richard (Greg Kinnear), a teacher also a speaker who's motivational speeches about success is utterly a failure and obsessed psychologically and pathologically with winning (obviously because he hasn't won yet in about anything). His wife, Sheryl (Toni Colette) is a mother willing to give anything to share importance about being a family and on the brink of constantly comforting his ill brother, which is Frank (Steve Carell), a Number One Proust Scholar, who attempted suicide because he fell in love with another graduate student who chose to be with the Number Two Proust Scholar. Olive (Abigail Breslin), Sheryl and Richard's daughter, is a delightful little girl who's ultimate dream is to win a beauty contest, in spite of her chubby figure. Dwayne (Paul Dano) is Olive's older brother, is a loner, or chose to be alone most of the time and also chose not to speak since the last nine months, preparing for his entry into a flight school. And he hates everyone, and he means - everyone. Last member of the family is Grandpa (Alan Arkin), who's raunchy behaviour, despite of his old age, appears quite ridiculous, unfitting but funny indeed. They're like any other family, table arguments, heated conversations, unspeakable contempts for each other, but when they embark into a 700-mile journey from their home in Albuquerque to Redondo Beach in California, their road journey turns out to be a lot messier but full of discovery, funny moments, poignant scenes and an ending that would surely give your heart a boost and wrench for somehow realising that "family" is the first and the last thing that would be there for you at all times, at all cost.

The script was brilliantly written and as you listen along with the dialogues, there is a feel of realism around it, especially the most talks were set inside their yellow VW van, which they keep pushing whenever they start driving. Performance-wise, this is a brilliantly acted film. Kudos to everyone, especially Abigail Breslin, whose warm little personality shines bright. Who could forget the most funny one-liner in the film, when she was asked where her grandpa was during the beauty pageant, she smile innocently: "In the trunk of the car." Toni Colette was just amazing, and her work here is so understated as the mother and Steve Carell was just equally hilarious. The more he is silent, the more he becomes a lot funnier. Paul Dano, who plays the angsty Dwayne, gives a multi-faceted dimension in his character, along with his sulky eyes, pale skin with black bangs to match with. The scenes where he just scribbles in his notepad shows so much teenage notoriety and hatred, that when he finally blows up when he discovered he was colourblind, it all swelled bursting, the frustration, the unending commitment to his dream.One of the best lines in the film came from his, spatting in fury that "Life is a fucking beauty pageant."

Little Miss Sunshine deserves a standing ovation, not just because it is a funny film but also for the fact that it could be a wonderful piece for all humanity. It tells us that we are all dysfunctional in our own ways and life would surely teach us that it's not in winning that we learn a lot of stuff, but in failures. It brilliantly sidestepped the dark subjects of death and dysfunction, creating a light comedy of human drama, belonging to the one-of-the-best-films-this-year order. I was just so amazed by the ending, where Olive performs her talent act, in which his crazy grandfather had taught him, and the family just went along dancing with her pouring all the emotions into one scene. It's one of the best scenes in a family movie so far and you just couldn't help to be involved and to relate as well. So far, Little Miss Sunshine is the most successful indie film you'll see in 2006.


Rating: A

There is a scene in Borat that defines the hilarity, the jolt, as well as the film's forthrightness, when the character queues up to have his autograph signed by Pamela Anderson when suddenly he seizes her and tries to shove her into a sack. To other people's eyes, this was violence, a kidnapping attempt, more or less terrorism - but to Borat, it is not. To him it's part of his culture, as what he explains that Kazakhstan wedding involves putting the bride into a massive sack.


Here goes 2006's most controversial, highly-debatable, and mostly offensive film, Borat. It is rude, it is blunt, it is straightforward like a mocking documentary but at the same time, it offers a social, political, and cultural comment to the land that is America and it's never afraid, equallly undaunted, by the future threats that this film will soon face. Borat gathered its fame (or rather became infamous) through the word-of-mouth, and as soon as lips started to flame, media attention was bequeathed to this imperturbable personality. Me myself only heard of this film quite recently when critics and viewers were claiming that this is a film of utter rudeness. So comes my attitude of "judge after watching", and so does Borat has an effect after viewing.


If America would ban this film, it rightfully means it is guilty of Borat's innocent message about clash of cultures, society and gender discriminations, racial issues, political conundrums and etiquette inferiority. It is common knowledge that the more and stronger you ban a film, the more the people would crave to see it.


Borat (played by the British actor Sacha Baron Cohen in an unpretentious comedic performance) is a Kazhakstani journalist pursuing to travel all the way to America to make a documentary. Along his way, portraying an ignorant appeal towards American life, he does the most outrageous things that you couldn't possibly imagine. He talks to people (who scares away from him), he "shits" in the sidewalk (pardon my language), he's terrified of Jews, he's benighted about homophobia, and he kisses men on the cheeks whenever he meets 'em and insults the feminists. It is a kind of film that would surely raise eyebrows and evoke stirring. Borat is not for everybody, especially for those who easily get offended by male nudity, racism, incongruous sexual situations, and making fun of cultures. Even Kazhakstans are booming up to stop this film from coming out to theaters. However, Borat is a film for those open-minded people, who watches film not just for fun but for learning as well, constructively analysing it not in specific details but in a wide, general point of view. Not to mention, this film is as humorous as it is hilarious, filled with laugh-out-loud scenes and sometimes the disgustingly naughty scenes as well.


But asking whether it works as a film, I think this is where Borat slightly falters. Upon watching it, giving it a light documentary effect, you probably won't recognise what is real and what is made up, and you find yourself suddenly believing that it all really happened. The Pamela Anderson scene alone felt so haunting and disturbing that you somehow feel your sympathy to your actress. You just don't know who's acting or not, especially that scene where Borat and his manager enters into a bed and breakfast accomodation run by a Jewish couple. I cracked out loud when Borat did a Blair Witch Project stunt and was so scared when two cockcroaches appeared under their door, claiming that the Jew couple had turned themselves into bugs. Something funny as well when the two guys were angrily wrestling in a hotel bed naked and running around the lobby for goodness sake, the scene was utterly stomach-hitching as well as laughable.


Be warned, don't watch the film if you have a agressive behaviour, such as strong opinions. But for those who want to enjoy some stuff, like raunchy jokes and incredibly unbelievable scenes and stunts, you're in for a treat. There isn't so much of a plot here, and you feel that it's all kind of rubbish stuff - but hey, if you put yourself in Borat's position, being brought up by another culture like the Kazhakstans, would you behave the same? Would you put your poo in a plastic bag in which you have been doing for all your life, or use the toilet in which all the Westerns have been trained of doing? Would you offer your sister to another man to have sex with, in which is part of your culture? Would you seize Pamela Anderson into a sack, which is a part of Kazhakstani wedding ceremony? If you belong of this culture, I think you would do the same. Think of it.


Rating: B+

The first number has rolled - glitzy, glamorous, show-stopping, Dreamgirls has it all. Using the thrills of editing, we are transported into the old-school days of soul in which Detroit is hosting a talent contest. The Dreamettes, composing Deena, Lorell and Effie (Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson respectively), belted their blues and unfortunately lost the contest, only to find themselves winning a manager, Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) thus paving way to the rise of The Dreams. Movie musicals never get better than this - but that was halfway of the film, and after that, we're not so sure anymore. Plunging into the lower decibels, apart from Hudson breaking glasses with her voice, Dreamgirls is a very well made musical and it excels in such a point where James "Thunder" Early (an amazing performance by Eddie Murphy) rocks the stage with his feet, where Effie gives a stunning showstopper "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", where the blacks were banned from the radio airing. Right on, it pushes the limits, gives the clichés and plot-wise, it gives a semi three-dimensional feel of the Hollywood rags-to-riches, rise-and-fall formula.

Based on Michael Bennett's 80's Broadway hit, Bill Condon directs with energy and streaming electrodes after writing Chicago for the screen. Known to be loosely adapted from the rise of the Supremes in the 60's with Diana Ross billboarding the masses, Dreamgirls focuses on the rise and fall of The Dreams, the amorphous racial issues of 'white" radio stations trying to smother records from the 'blacks', Condon satisfies his audience with the story, visual dazzles and musical repertoires. With a kind effort, he created a wonderful cinematic experience especially the performing scenes, sidestepping the ridiculousness of characters suddenly breaking out into a song and rather gave this film a sense of grace.

Whilst this movie musical belongs to a certain level of sophisticated order, the performances are as blistering as it is electrifying. Delivering one of the year's best performances, newcomer and former American Idol evictee, Jennifer Hudson gives out a heartbreaking, soulful turn as the big-boned diva, Effie, which serves as her sweet revenge to the scornful Simon Cowell. Easily, the best performance in this film belongs to this novice and damn, she can act, especially defining the moment in which she sings and belts her heart out to Curtis, "And I'm Not Telling You I'm Not Going" - probably one of recent cinema's great moments. I just couldn't believe what range of emotions this girl Hudson was able to show in just a span of 5 minutes.

Eddie Murphy, who plays James "Thunder" Early, should now assemble his early Oscar speech because his night would surely arrive. This is Murphys's best, hitching into the a la James Brown Motown mode, hilarious, raunchy and just wildly entertaining. It was just sad how Murphy was able to make out unfortunate career choices (like Nutty Professor, Haunted Mansion, who cares about these films anyway?) when he has a real, tangible talent to boast. He is the moving force that drives Dreamgirls and when his side of story was done told, this was where Dreamgirls falls down a notch from being a superior film. So when Effie was forced to surrender her powerful, inimitable vocals (as well as her inimitably big body) to Deena's inferior voice, telegenic face and photographic usurper. As soon as Effie exits, Dreamgirls loses it's spirit.

Which leads us to Beyoncé Knowles as Deena Jones, showcasing her oh-so-pop talents, while being administered by Curtis, perfectly antagonising her as the pretty face. This was Beyoncé's most established performance yet but I must admit, she was a bit bland but sure is, she knows how to act and she wasn't that bad either. She parallels Hudson's ballad with her own second act in "Listen", also one of the best melodies in the film, telling that she has acting chops to go along with her bootylicious Destiny Child curves. But I can't help to admit really that she was overshadowed by Hudson's massive state.

Jamie Foxx was boring as Curtis Taylor, or maybe his character was just underused. Anika Noni Rose was considerable, also with Keith Robinson.

But Dreamgirls is really worth the watch. I enjoyed it a lot. From the first scene alone, the perfect use of brilliant editing was rousing and the music was pitch-perfect, blending old-school crowd-pleaser that was Motown, blues, soul and R&B. Beyoncé was simply gorgeous, Hudson was powerful, offering her role of a lifetime, surely grabbing that Oscar Best Supporting statuette, as well as the raucous Murphy, who sings and dance below the belt and swoops career turns. It's an electrifying film, filled with the razzle and dazzle of the music industry, along with the morality of even giving up souls for the name of success. However drowned by such buzz, it is satisfying, even though we were presented with horrible clichés of happy endings even though the real Effie, which was based on Florence Ballard who died in her early 30's due to poverty, and in Dreamgirls, Effie made a comeback and set peace with everybody. Now, that's the happy ending we're looking for, throw out the fictional movie rulebook out of the window.

Rating: A-

This is the first movie I watched since I arrived in UK and to honestly tell the truth, I expected my first viewing as something special but it was not. In fact, it's humurous. Dogma is one of those films that tries to dissolve your worries for the day and offers you a devilish treat that is weird, unusual and creatively original. It's a B-movie, alright, but it's funny enough to stir the senses, cause some minor laughing fit and carefully sidesteps the "seriousness" of the subject matter, therefore giving us Kevin Smith giggling his head off while the heads of the Vatican cardinals are turning smoking red in rage.

Touching subject matters on racial discriminations, religion, culture, social antipathy - what makes Dogma a more hilarious film is that it doesn't touch deeper into the elements but rather shows the hilarity of the surface. Kevin Smith is in the directorial job and boy, does he really make some sense after all. A story that follows two renegade angels being sentenced to walk the Earth forever, a beautiful muse from the heavens disguising as a prostitute, a black prophet who claims to be the 14th man in Jesus' last supper company, a devil trying to kill the chosen one and a human whose destiny is bound to be tangled between divine blood and divine death. Ben Affleck stars, along with Matt Damon, the very amazing Chris Rock (who probably has the most outrageous humour in the world, as well as the most outrageous voice next to Eddie Murphy), and the sexy Salma Hayek. Mediocre for a bit, it is, talking about angels, devils, muses, chosen one's and destiny, we could surely say "for goodness sake!" It's the tackling of the subject that makes this film absolutely and scandalously funny. Even showing a new statue of Jesus, not on the cross anymore, suffering and in pain, but the Jesus reborn, cool and happy. Stir some chaos, Catholicism gobsmacked by this image... Kevin Smith sits down in his chair watching all of this befalling. When you watch this film, have an open mind. Don't be too bigoted. After all, it's the entertainment that we want to dig anyway.

Rating: B+

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy... my predictions were correct. If J. K. Rowling wouldn't strive to finish her book within the year 2007, she would have been so foolish to do so. This year is the most perfect year ever. And now it's OFFICIAL. The seventh and final installment of the massively, obscenely, marvelously, universally popular Harry Potter series will hit stores on JULY 21, 2007! In my former predictions, I carefully calculated that the 7th would be released in the 7th day of the 7th month (July, seventh month of the year) of the 7th year of 2000, which is absolutely perfect. Well, if would be more absolutely perfect if it would be released on the 7th minute of the 7th hour of that 7th day. LOL. Anyway, Bloomsbury and Scholastic announced that it would be on the 21st of July, which means a week after HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX film would be released. Good strategy. People could watch the film first and the rush to the bookstores next weekend and shout for joy (or for remorse... this is the final book folks... say bye bye to Mr Potter and his cronies now). J. K. Rowling surreptitiously announced this one on her website, while continuously denying in the former months that the books isn't finished yet. Duh, Rowling, c'mon. As if we don't know your magical prowess yet, and numerologies as well.

What if someone blends together heavyweight elements like science fiction and the story of eternal love? Will it work? Elements of completely polar positions in both genre and real life? Audience might find themselves stirring from this question and this film might evoke conversations after viewing but The Fountain doesn't deserve to be asked. It's deserved to be felt.

So comes Darren Aronofsky's highly-ambitious, almost far-reaching third film since his debut Pi and Requiem For A Dream, in which he garnered Best Director Prize from Cannes. Yes, it's pretentious and psychologically befuddling, and unlike his former films, The Fountain was booed in Cannes last year and people called it "rubbish work of absurdity".

But first, let us consider that The Fountain is a kind of film that is very hard to deconstruct. However, we are presented by a ubiquitous element: love. The Fountain is, and will always be, a love story. It's about an epic odyssey of a man who seeks for the Tree of Life (or The Fountain of Youth) to bring eternal life to the one he loves, spanning three different time periods. In 16th century Spain, Tomas (Hugh Jackman), a Conquistador, was sent into the South American jungles to find the hidden pyramid, which also conceals the Tree of Life, by the lost Mayan tribe in order to save the reign of Queen Isabella from the harsh Inquisition. In the recent time story, Tommy, a doctor, becomes obsessed to find a cure for his dying wife, Izzi, who has a severe cancer with tumours and is writing a book in which she calls The Fountain. The last and the final story was set in 26th century where Tom, an astronaut, explores the outer space in a bubble, consisting of the Tree of Life and the memories that he brings with him.These three stories were brilliantly constructed in a way that the scenes could cut both slowly and hastily to provide a sense of continuity. While some may find it confusing, for me, I find it inspiring. The Fountain, as I had said, is a film that deserves to be experienced, not criticised. If people are talking that it's "nonsensical or rubbish", do they mean that Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey was also "nonsensical or rubbish" as well? 2001: A Space Odyssey feels like The Fountain's progenitor, and it is inevitable for people to compare it because these two films contain a bit of similarity but of different themes. While 2001 glides into man's conquest of evolution, The Fountain explores into the real (and thr surreal) depths of eternal, pure, self-sacrificing love.

Darren Aronofsky, without a doubt, crafted one of the year's best offerings. It's thought-provoking, astounding, as well emotionally involving. No doubt also that it belongs to the state of art in high order. Bringing breathtaking visuals using breakthrough microbiological photography by British photographer Peter Parks. They used spectacular images from the lenses of microscopes, showing chemical reactions and biological lifeforms evolving. While most of the film delves into the visceral, grandiose filmmaking, it must be put in mind that most of the scenes too depend so much on the faces of the actors. Kudos to Hugh Jackman for being so undeniably handsome and to Rachel Weisz for being so charismatically beautiful. Aside from their faces that grab cameras to flash, they are not just pretty faces. Although Rachel Weisz had already proven herself that she could act (and grab an Oscar statuette as well, winning Best Supporting Actress for last year's The Constant Gardener), it's Hugh Jackman that gave the notch-up surprises. Boy, this man can act. This is so far his most accomplished work, and when I say heavy drama, tears are on the loose. There so much depth in his character than what we could see in the surface; the greatest thing an actor could give to his character, a sense of realism and depth. In Tomas, he was a man who would fight and conquer battles in order to save his queen and fulfill his promise of saving Spain and become her Adam, and her, Eve to him in return. In Tommy, he's a doctor in the brink of losing his grasp, compulsively searching for a treatment for a disease, and also a husband who's greatest fear is to lose his wife. In Tom, he's an astronaut (or a diseased person, never explained), who's exploring the space (in which believe inner space, not outer) and the state of heaven, the divine truth, saving his own soul. This was where most of the spiritual thing heavily relies on.

It may be a psychological, spiritual, or emotional journey watching The Fountain - but we must try not to look too much closer to it and divide things. Instead, just like looking a big canvas that's painted of different colours and patterns, we must step back to see the bigger picture. It's a monumental story about undying love. As what Izzi said, and probably one of the best lines of the film, "Death is the road to awe", death is never the end of everything. It's a start of a promise. It also makes us realise that life is too fleeting to live that we must cherish and live it to the fullest. One of the best moments of the film was repeated over and over again, showing Izzi in her winter clothes, inviting Tommy to go out into the snow and "Take a walk with me", she said. But he refused and insisted that he's busy. Such a simple line, a request, a favor. It never cost anything, yet it means everything.

The Fountain taught me something about how to watch films. It helped me to understand that some films need a touch of human to understand its message. It also helped me to realise that too much deconstructing and analysing details might be too irrelevant, what we don't know is that what bigger picture we might be missing. Watch this film. Let your brain move, not think, but let it flow first with the film. Glide in your inner space. Let that thing that beats inside of you to feel, and it will help you understand that love, in any cost, with its passion and withstanding courage, will conquer anything, even between the lines of immortality and death.


Rating: A

Martin Scorcese might be too old, but sure he's not too old to direct. In one of the best directed films of the year, The Departed proves that mighty Scorcese is not yet ready to depart from the filmmaking business.

Tough-going, gripping and hard-edged mob-crime-police-whatever-you-call-it drama, The Departed is like a knife. It may look like an ordinary silver blade like any others, but when you mess it with, it cuts and it will shed some blood. Although there are too many films in the genre right now, too many powerful dynamos of films like Scarface, Reservois Dogs, The Godfather trilogy and Pulp Fiction, The Departed is one cut different from any others. One, it's a police drama set in the modern day mixed with fueled mob story. Two, it's based on a successful Hongkong film, Internal Affairs. Three, who the hell messes with Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio? I mean, dude, should anyone in Hollywood try to run down Nicholson? Or Hollywood's Golden Boy DiCaprio?

I don't want to set out spoilers here because it might make you call it a day, but I just want to give out some nifty bits of the film. Nicholson plays as a mob boss, who's in control of the neighborhood in Boston (Was it in Boston? I can't remember. Oops, memory failure.) and also a drug lord. He adopts Matt Damon and sets him into the police squad as a career, and I won't continue now because I'm giving away too much. All I can say here now is that performances in this film are top-notch, including Nicholson, DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Whalberg. I know Whalberg is nominated to Best Supporting Actor for Oscars this year, but sidestepping Nicholson out of the favourites? Watch the film and you'll know how crazy it is to disrespect such performance by Nicholson.

I simply adore Martin Scorcese's direction in this film, and you could actually see how much experience there is in his craft. He moves cameras excellently, and angles them in the right nooks and crannies. He expertly dishes in thrills and suspense. He knows how to bring out stellar performances by his actors and supervise editing as well. One of the best shots in the film was in the climax part, where DiCaprio, Damon and Whalberg were chasing in a building, and the elevator scene was one of the most haunting, shocking scenes in recent cinema history. I just love that part where all of them went - shazam! yowzah! not gonna mention anything more. Cheers.

The Departed is worth the watch. It's a good film for those suspense, police-crime drama lovers. Whilst for other people, you might find yourself bored, which means not for every mature brain.

Rating: A-