"THE BEST OFFER" (2014) FILM REVIEW.

 ” THE BEST OFFER ” (2014) Film Review 

“THE BEST OFFER” is billed as an Italian suspense thriller. It is also an arty-farty one to boot.

You are able to detect a tonality of exotic mystique dressed within the film, treading precariously between the fine line of poetic loneliness and its impending gloom.

The protagonist is VIRGIL OLDMAN (GEOFFRY RUSH).

He is a supercilious middle aged auctioneer who could not care less about hurting others’ feelings.

He is very much the “lord of his own ring.”

Little does he realize that his arrogance would soon be put to test when he falls in love unbeknowst,for a mysterious woman (SYLVIA HOEKS) who will only communicate with him by phone, through closed doors.

It is a lesson for us to learn that attractive women may not what they seem. They can be deadly creatures with fangs.

This film uncovers a relentless world of shams and pretensions.

And for fans of the classical whodunit, there’s a smart plot with a twisted revelation in the end to challenge your mindset.

Either you win or lose.

Now, take your stake.

THE FILM

This is a touching tale of a middle aged art expert and auctioneer. He is an overly cultured man with few friends.

His only friend is Robert (JIM STURGESS) a young, skillful restorer of mechanical devices from any given era.

The day he turns sixty-three, Virgil receives a phone call from a young woman who asks him to handle the disposal of some family works of art.

But when Virgil comes for his first site visit, the girl fails to appear.

This happens more than once, and Virgil is tempted to bow out of what appears to be a thankless mess. But on each occasion, the elusive young woman, locked in her demented world, begs him to continue.

Now the old antique dealer’s life begins to take an unexpected turn.

It is Robert (JIM STURGESS) who shows him how to win the heart of the young woman (SYLVIA HOEKS) who is afraid of the real world.

Virgil soon finds himself traumatized by a passion that will change his grey existence forever.

FOOTNOTES

“THE BEST OFFER” is beautifully directed by GIUSEPPE TORNATORE, with a raw touch of Alfred Hitchcock.

 GEOFFREY RUSH as Virgil brings a striking depth of character to an Old World mystery set against the complex backdrop of Europe’s art auctions.

He’s an art collector, but all is not what it seems.

He also has a secret room stacked with masterpieces of a certain kind, portraits of women that he’s secretly acquired with the help of an accomplice named Billy (DONALD SUTHERLAND).

GIUSEPPE TORNATORE (Cinema Paradiso) wrote and directed this romantic mystery.

The movie is beautiful shot with a lilting score by ENNIO MORRICONE.

It exposes the wasted wealth of the rich, ripping apart the facade to expose the rot and lies beneath the elegant picture. All that glitters is not gold.

In summary “THE BEST OFFER” is a brilliant tour de force storming you through a world of deception masked by the rich and pompous.

So don’t miss it!

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR:  GSC MOVIES

FLIRTING IN THE AIR (2014) FILM REVIEW – 唐伯虎衝上雲 ”

FLIRTING IN THE AIR (2014) FILM REVIEW – 唐伯虎衝上雲 ”

THIS POSTER is clearly poking fun at the 2013 TVB series TRIUMPH in the SKIES. This PICTURE shows CAPTAIN COOL and his gang of lookalikes.

ARE these AIR HEADED GALS for REAL?

 OH NO, please don’t poke my hole too deep …. argh !!!

 What’s it like to get laid by a fearsome, older woman?

It is WOMAN on top when ugly big sister is saddling  CHAPMAN TO.

THE ANCIENT ART OF BATHING … GENTLY … SOFTLY …. SEDUCTIVELY!

(This naughty scene has been “snipped” in some countries for its naughtiness).

“NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN ME FULLY NAKED, I COMMAND YOU TO MARRY ME!”

HAPPILY WACKILY AFTER, WHAT ELSE? 

” FLIRTING IN THE AIR (2014)– 唐伯虎衝上雲 ” 

FILM PREVIEW

Silly Jills and screw-loose Jacks will love this movie. It’s absolutely hilarious!

This movie is a parody of a popular TVB series called TRIUMPH IN THE SKIES 2.

No, you can’t leave a good thing lying around in this entertainment industry for long. Not when director/producer WONG JING is shopping around for creative ideas he can use for his next movie.

Hong Kong film kingdom has “spies” snooping around for original ideas. You just have to mix and match to arrive at your own.

And soon a whole load of copycat vampires will be waiting to jump onto the money bandwagon to take a ride with you. Isn’t this swell?

Such is the case FLIRTING IN THE AIR, a carbon copy by name and possibly everything.

Even the lead character CAPTAIN COOL the suave playboy is lifted off from the popular TVB series.

Trust Hong Kong director WONG JING who can take a slice off a cake, chew it and conjure a brand new concept.

Hence this crazy-as-a-hatter movie is born.

It is unofficially classified as a low-brow comedy.

CHAPMAN TO plays a womanizing pilot who is transported back to Ming Dynasty China, where he and his co-pilots can indulge in some sinful womanizing.

This is sex ala time travel, at its best.

The film might be best re-named as SQUIRTING IN THE AIR.

LOGLINE:

COOL (CHAPMAN TO) and sleazy comrades SAM (LAM TZE CHUNG) and GUY (DOMINIC HO) are arrogant playboys who think they are godsend.

They fantasize that they can lay any female who wears a skirt.

But as fate would have it, one fine day during a routine flight, they sail into a terrible storm and the plane heads for neither-land when it hits a wormhole.

When the storm subsides and the plane finally lands, the wacky trio finds themselves in a film studio which is shooting a period drama.

They have actually traveled back in time to the Ming Dynasty in China.

Next they have a friendly encounter with the legendary TANG BOHU (BEN CHEUNG) and his followers.

TANG proclaims himself to be a maestro in the literary and martial arts. Is he, really?

NO SPOILERS AS FROM HERE.

 Just go watch this funny movie if you relish spring chickens, autumn ducks and wacky farts.

RATING: 3 out of 5

LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR: GSC MOVIES

"THE ROOMS" (2014) THAI FILM REVIEW

 STORY 1 : THE INVALID WIFE

THE  VIOLINIST PLAYS A MELANCHOLY PIECE TO DROWN HIS SORROW.

As the Night passes on, he feels a physical yearning to connect, body and soul.

THE INVALID WIFE STARES BLANKLY INTO SPACE.

Rooted inside her is a surging urge to slaughter whoever is having sex with her husband.

 STORY 2: THE UNCLE AND HIS PRODIGAL DISCIPLE PLAYED BY EX-D2B BAND BOY CALLED BEAM.  Singer/Actor BEAM can really act crazy.

BEWARE WHEN THE DEAD COMES A-HAUNTING.

 ” I KILLED. I have a QUENCH for BLOOD now”.

STORY 3 : TWO SNOOPY FRIENDS.

“DO YOU FEEL THAT SOMETHING’S AMISS IN THE DARK?”

Here are three supernatural tales, each harnessing a pallid story of terror.

The poster headlines are screaming out loud, “3 HORROR STORIES. 3 HAUNTED ROOMS. NO ESCAPE”.

All events take place in rooms within an abode, each tale is foreboding and morbid.

The lead actors are unrealistically handsome, the actresses are pretty. Everyone is horny for sex and each has a physical need to connect, body and soul.

There are obvious oodles of sexual wantonness in this gripping thriller.

The joint directors are Punjapong Kongkanoi and Jaded Ueachimpee who’d love to shock our balls off.

STORY 1 is about a lonely violinist whose wife, after an accident, is bedridden. He has promised her undying devotion during courtship, and must now keep his promise.

But he has sexual demands as a man and needs to burn off his sexual energy. He finds a willing victim in a virgin who’s is having her first working day as a prostitute.

The moment he deflowers her in lust, his vengeful wife comes a-haunting.

You decide on the ending for this one called GREEN SONATA.

 STORY 2: THE UNCLE AND HIS PRODIGAL DISCIPLE PLAYED BY EX-D2B BAND BOY CALLED BEAM. Singer/Actor BEAM can surprisingly act. This segment is titled 17.00

Kind of a mafia and follower story.

They had to stay in the last room in the Hotel as it is fully booked. So the follower knows what he is expected to find in the room.

He has gone through this regime time and time again.

STORY 3 : THE HONEYMOON SUITE

PLE arrives from CHIANGMAI to Bangkok to nurse a broken heart.

Her booked room is not available, so she is upgraded to the HONEYMOON SUITE.

She meets a gorgeous hunk who has the hoots for her.

During his night visit, he discovers that her paramour is in fact dead, and the person waiting for her in the hall is a rotting corpse.

Scream!

RATING : 3 out of 5

LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR: GSC MOVIES

"KILL THE MESSENGER" (2014) FILM REVIEW

“KILL THE MESSENGER” (2014) FILM REVIEW

An ambiguous title, this suspense laden film exposes the treacherous exploits of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb (JEREMY RENNER) who leaves no table unturned and will snoop at all costs, just to get wind of a scoop.

Gary (RENNER) works for the San Jose Mercury News as staff writer during the mid-1990s.

Work is often not bliss as he and his boss never seems to get along.

So when an attractive woman named Coral (PAZ VEGA) calls to meet up somewhere to hand him a grand jury transcript file depicting the CIA’s shady drug deals with Nicaraguan Contras, Webb smells a golden opportunity for an unusual scoop.

He digs further and after doing some investigations which eventually leads him to Central America for a crucial interview with imprisoned drug lord Norwin Meneses (ANDY GARCIA).

After the unabridged interview, he finds he has enough content to write a three-part expose called “Dark Alliance”.

While his effort wins him a journalist of the year award and is besieged with media attention, he finds himself trapped in the aftermath of setbacks that threatened his freedom, his career as well as his family.

Two-time Academy Award nominee JEREMY RENNER handles his role with aplomb. He leads an all-star cast in this dramatic thriller based on the true life story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb.

Webb uncovers a story which leads him to the shady origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the nation’s streets…He further discovers that the CIA was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., and using the profits to fund the rebels fighting in Nicaragua.

Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications.

His journey takes him from the prisons of California to the villages of Nicaragua to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C. – and draws the kind of attention that threatens not just his career, but his family and his life.

The film director sucessfully spins a mesmerizing combination of exciting story-telling and historical narrative that’s bound to keep you on edge.

Will Gary Webb die in the end?

Just visit the cinema for the answer.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Local Distributor: GSC MOVIES

'DRACULA UNTOLD" (2014) FILM REVIEW

“DRACULA UNTOLD” (2014) FILM REVIEW

From the onset, it is clear that “DRACULA UNTOLD” would be the kind of movie where the western critics would love to rail at, whilst the Asian audience may retain an  appreciative approach.

What sauce for the goose ain’t sauce for the gander.

The film is actually not bad at all, in terms of entertainment value.

And isn’t this the prime factor that have us scurrying to the cinema?

Director GARY SHORE chooses beefcake LUKE EVANS to be his leading man, to play Count Dracula.

It may be argued that this actor is way too handsome for a grisly role.

For eons, Dracula has been revered as the cinema’s most notorious bloodsucker.

However he gets the superhero treatment in this version.

He is written into, with an original story seeing him as a 15th-century Transylvanian warrior Prince Vlad III (LUKE EVANS) – known in history as Vlad the Impaler.

He makes a pact with the dark forces to protect his loved ones, friends and followers from the invading Turks.

In short, he sells his soul to the devil.

In return, he is bequeathed with  the strength of 100 men, the speed of a falling star and the ability to transform himself into a speedy cloud of bats.

Now, with his destructive supernatural powers, he is hell-bent on trampling everything that crosses his path.

He strikes with a merciless vengeance, come what may.

For tonality, “Dracula Untold” captures the somber mood well.

It has a super-duper shine all over it.

The overcast over Northern Ireland doubles nicely as a fine substitute of the overcast of the dark ages in Eastern Europe.

The cinematography and visual effects are stunning with a story-telling that becomes more intriguing as we plow along with the action.

To my Asian friends, don’t miss out on this one!

 RATING: 4 out of 5

Local Distributor: UIP MALAYSIA

(UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES).