The Other Guys (2010)

The comedy team of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell reunite in another genre parody.

This time round, it's the buddy cop film and the Lethal Weapon series.

The string of gags this time round aren't that funny. What brings the house down though is its verbal comedy, transplanting the mouleitau sensibility wholesale from Hong Kong to Hollywood.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 29 September 2010.

Charlie St Cloud (2010)

Zac Efron plays a man who watches his kid brother die before his eyes in a sailing accident, then sees his dead brother everywhere he goes. All the time.

I bet that has to be really depressing. Maybe there is an opening in the depressing date movie market I haven't heard of.

The result on screen is far better than it sounds. We put it to Mr Efron pushing the limits of his acting ability and the direction of Burr Steers, the ever talented nephew of Gore Vidal.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 29 September 2010.

Nowhere Boy (2009)

Before John Lennon was a Beatle, he was a very naughty boy.

The early life of Lennon, growing up as an adopted child, provides the meat for this biopic. The music that he was exposed to provides the potatoes.

It's a great tribute to watch on the 30th anniversary of his passing.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 22 September 2010.

Legend of the fist: Return of Chen Zhen (精武风云: 陈真) (2010)

If you've been paying attention, you'll know the 3 Ip Man biopics starring Donnie Yen were all rip-offs of Fist of Fury.

Now watch Donnie Yen star in an actual sequel to Fist of Fury!

Which at the same time, also manages to rip off Casablanca, in a Shanghai setting!

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 22 September 2010.

Outrage (アウトレイジ) (2010)

After half a lifetime of making yakuza flicks and then half a lifetime of not making yakuza flicks, Takeshi Kitano returns to the genre with a vengeance.

This time round, the gangsters are greedy and grasping conmen without trust and honour, dealing more in betrayal, deceit, and backstabbing.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 22 September 2010.

The Infidel (2010)

The best comedy routine is to make offensive jokes about your own ethnic and religious group.

Real life comic Omid Djalili plays a middle-aged politically active Muslim misogynist who discovers to his horror that he was born Jewish.

Hilarity ensues, naturally.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 15 September 2010.

The girl who played with fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) (2009)

An investigative journalist and bisexual punk hacker end up teaming up again as we uncover, yet again, more shady goings on in the highest rungs of Swedish society.

The girl who played with fire suffers from middle film syndrome - venturing nothing new from the trilogy's first film.

It serves though to flesh out the fascinating character of Lisbeth Salander, as played by Noomi Rapace.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 15 September 2010.

Resident evil: Afterlife (2010)

Yes, Paul WS Anderson has made yet another popcorn flick, a visual treat that makes very little logical sense while performed by actors who look like they know how cookie-cutter the dialogue is.

This is the first Resident Evil film to release in 3D, which may or may not convince you to buy the Blu-ray 3D release.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 10 September 2010.

Girl$ (囡囡) (2010)

Kenneth Bi, the go-to director for Hong Kong's films about LGBT and troubled youths, takes on compensated dating in Hong Kong with Girl$.


Bi's story follows a quartet of friends over the period of a month in a stream of consciousness style.

We recommend you watch this in the original Cantonese for the very earthy Hong Kong slang or not at all.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 9 September 2010.

Bébé(s) (2010)

Childhood is a social construct. But what about infanthood? Shouldn't it be as natural and universal as we think?

Thomas Balmes follows 4 very different infants from around the world in their first year of life to see if we're right to assume this.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 9 September 2010.

Vampires suck (2010)

As far as parody movies go, Vampires suck doesn't suck as much as the Scary Movie franchise.

That said, you'll suspect that the cast of Twilight made far better stabs at their source material in their gag reels than say the writers of Vampires Suck.

But until they release the gag reels of Twilight, you'll have to live with this.


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 2 September 2010.

Villon's wife (ヴィヨンの妻) (2009)

The biopic of the artist, either as mad, bad, and dangerous to know or as a suffering genius is often unenlightening.

What audiences really want to know is how anyone would put up living with an artist.

Villon's Wife is best seen as multi-character study posing as mystery drama that answers this first question while setting up others and answering them in turn.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 1 September 2010.