Sugar and Spice

Japan 2006

Picture and details cdjapan

Seen 31 Dec 2006

A coming of age love story. A high school graduate falls for a college girl. Unfortunately the timing is not quite right as she has just broken off with her boyfriend. But they do develop a relationship boosted no doubt by the encouragement of a feisty grandmother. The boy's grandmother plays a central role as she had endured a lost love during her teenage years too. The story manages to go through on an even keel until the explosive end when the boy realises that he has lost his love. The crescendo of violins does emphasise the feelings of a first love not going according to plan. The most impressive moments are when the grandmother espouses her gems of wisdom. She is one gifted actor.

Big Bang Love

Japan 2006

Picture and details london film festival

Seen 28 Dec 2006

Stylish. The drumbeats from one of the early scenes gave me goosebumps and was hooked till the end. Two prisoners, Jun and Shiro, meet and develop a friendship. This is not the usual friendship per se as inuendos abound among the prisoners that they are more than “friends”. This is compounded by the fact that Jun worked in a gay bar and killed a customer, whereas Shiro comes from a life of hard knocks. Someone gets murdered and Jun confesses that he is the murderer. The story unravels the mind of the murderer and the two main characters. How they came to the present state, their ambitions and despairs. Heart warming. The two main actors did a splendid job and the director's sure hand manages to guide the story through its layers of symbolisms without going astray.

Cinta

Malaysia 2006

Picture cintawallpaper
Details cintathemovie

Seen 5th December 2006

A mixed bag of goodies. The main minus point is the poor audio quality which occurs intermittently when the actors speak in English. The big plus factor is the art direction, tight editing and as other reviewers have mentioned, a Kuala Lumpur seen from many new different angles. The couple played by Rahim Razali and Fatimah Abu Bakar gets my vote as the most natural couple helped no doubt by the almost flawless acting. The script for these two characters seem to be the most appropriate among the five couples highlighted in the film. Cliches abound. Nothing wrong with that as the director managed to bring out that extra pathos whenever it is needed. There are no actual highs or lows. Each mini story is treated adequately and they are linked seamlessly with each other. That is the strength of this particular effort. A story that flows with the expected Malay melodrama thrown in for good measure in some parts.
"Love means letting go of the one you love"???

Ciplak

Malaysia 2006

Picture gscmovies
Details ciplakmovie

Seen 3rd December 2006

Entertaining. The film focus is on Jo, a Malaysian student studying in England who dabbles in selling pirated dvds to supplement his income and as a means to finance his studies. We get to see the whole set-up of the pirated film industry in Malaysia, the catalyst behind the phenomenon and how Jo unfortunately gets involved with the seedier side of the industry. The film is made tongue in cheek but with the glaring truth of how prevalent this infamous industry permeates the Malaysian pysche. It is a wonder that the film manages to pass through the Malaysian cencorship board as the story does depict the utterly hopeless situation in the fight against piracy. A bad reflection of the intended results of the campaign against piracy. There are so many flaws in the way the moral guardians of society tries to solve the problem. As it is, piracy would never be eliminated totally as the root problem will always be there. The disproportionately high price of the original intellectual property compared to the average wage earner's take home pay translates to a continuous demand for pirated goods. An issue that might never be addressed till kingdom come.