Biutiful (2010)

Javier Bardem finds himself in a film noir as a low life gangster in a crapsack city who can't make a profit out of crime. Woe is he.

Javier Bardem also finds in his gangster the ability to see dead people. Woe is he.

if you derive pleasure from from watching a tragedy where a hero just goes from one depth to another without any hope or chance of bettering his lot – this is for you.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 May 2011.

Red Dragonflies (2011)

An artist returns to Singapore to hold an exhibition; memories of teenage years and a vastly different Singapore landscape are evoked.

Red Dragonflies is more video installation than a film to be consumed.

It's also one of those films that examines the nature of nostalgia and sentimentality without resorting to either.

Read my full review on Fridae, first published on 4 May 2011.

The Lost Bladesman (关云长) (2011)

Donnie Yen is Asia's Steven Seagal, starring in B-films where he overpowers the opposition so handily, his dispensation of whoop-ass comes off as hardly heroic.

This historical revisionist take on the Three Kingdoms period employs sublime stunt casting, with Donnie Yen starring as general Guan Yu.

The historical revisionist gimmick: Guan Yu is a killing machine with a sense of integrity that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 May 2011.

Umizaru 3: The last message (－ザ・ラストメッセージー 海猿) (2010)

The Umizaru series are cut from the same old school disaster movie cloth like The Perfect Storm.

Science and engineering geeks will appreciate how the shipping disaster depicted here will stand up to the scrutiny of real-world science...

Even if the body count remains at absolutely zero.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 May 2011.

Five Fast (2011)

The Fast and Furious franchise finally goes somewhere once Justin Lin put his mind to it.

Fast Five is fashioned as a heist movie instead of an 90 minute excuse for car racing footage and hip hop music.

We like the result. Just like Ang Lee is an Asian who does quintessentially American films, Justin Lee's becoming an Asian who does great American action films.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 May 2011.