How I spent my summer vacation (Get the Gringo) (2012)

Mel Gibson goes back to the basics in a prison break movie.

Our protag is a wiley career criminal who's managed to keep a clean record for decades. He's in a Mexican jail that's literally run by its inmates. Watch him scheme to get out of jail, save an orphan and a widow, and get precious revenge all at once.

Watch for: well-written carnage and mayhem, crude wit, and double crosses that could belong in 1950s noir. I recommend a download on Netflix.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2012.

Snowfall in Taipei (台北飘雪) (2009)

Imagine if Wim Wenders went to Taiwan and made an indie.

A celebrity with career jitters disappears on her talent agency and settles incognito in a town in the middle of nowhere.

The film plays like a Wim Wenders story but told with the typical slightness of Taiwanese popular drama. The concept is an interesting enough reason to watch this.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2012.

The Moth Diaries (2011)

Moody, atmospheric, and menacing, The Moth Diaries goes back to the basics of vampire fiction.

Really far back to the triple threats of lesbian sex, blood, death in Camilla.

So it's fitting that our protagonist and heroine is a student in a boarding school whose place as queen bee is slowly taken over by a sexy, charismatic, maybe lesbian, maybe vampire...

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2013.

A few best men (2011)

Think of this as The Hangover set in Australia: a groom, his wasted mates, a night of debauchery before the wedding, and a pressing crisis when they all awake from their drunken stupor. And there's a sheep in it somewhere.

It's quite obvious but this film ups the stakes of a failed wedding by trapping the groom and his best men on the wedding location itself.

Watch for: a comedy where once the director/writer gets the premise right, all the jokes write themselves.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 13 June 2012.

The Dictator (2012)

An incompetent, two-bit tin-pot dictator loses it all and fights for what is rightfully his... while wooing a loony lefty who runs a vegan commune in the Village.

In both style and content, most of the gags are a retread of the eponymous character from Borat.

Watch for: a huge grab-bag of gags that when they connect, are exceedingly funny.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 13 June 2012.

Guns N Roses (黄金大劫案) (2012)

In WW2 Manchuko, a conman is forced by circumstance and self interest to cooperate with and outwit the resistance, the collaborators, and the occupying Japanese army.

I hope you realise this is 'Allo, 'Allo! with in a Chinese setting.

Watch for: very clever writing. Formerly banned director Ning Hao makes a film that the censors would applaud while subverting everything they'd approve.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 13 June 2012.

First Time (第一次) (2012)

A girl dying from a terminal illness is wooed by an ideal suitor. It all turns out to be planned by her mum.

First Time is probably the very first film in Mandarin to subvert the romcom genre and parody the drama dating couples put each other through.

Then you realise the scriptwriters don't have the talent to write what they really intended. So promising but frustrating.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 13 June 2012.

Madagascar 3: Europe's most wanted (2012)

The cast of escaped zoo animals land themselves into more madcap adventures in Madagascar 3.

The gimmick this time:  Following the example of Kungfu Panda, a lean script that doesn't allow for much flabby ad-libbing from the comedians.

Watch for: the most sophisticated comedy in the series, very accurately spoofing Hong Kong action films and Hollywood romcoms. Also, a brilliant showcase of 3D animation 1 hour in.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 6 June 2012.