Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Trailer

This the squeal of Alice in the Wonderland (2010). I thought it's another Tim Burton film, but it isn't. He is only the producer.

The premise is about Alice saving Mad Hatter by interfering time. Surprisingly, time is a person, and is played by Sacha Baron Cohen.

Alice steals Time's Chronosphere (By the way, there are two types of time: cairos and chronos. And chronos is earth time.) and escapes by time-travelling. However, messing up with time will lead to the destruction of the universe.

When I hear Time says, "imbecile!" I think of Poirot the detective because it is his mantra.

The movie touches several themes, namely meaning of life, sisterhood, and girl power.

In the end of the movie, Alice said, "I used to believe that time was a thief. I am stealing everything I love. But...now I understand that you give, always before removing. And every day is a gift. Every hour, every minute, every second...He used to say that the only thing worth doing..." Time replied, " It is what you do for others." Alice is sad that her father passed away, but she now experiences catharsis as she understands that it only matters how she lives her life.

The movie talks about sisterhood when Mirana reconciles with Iracebeth. And when Alice and her mother rejects the offer of trading their ship with Hamish, the antagonist, it shows that women can also live well without getting married. These themes are meaningful yet too on-the-nose.

The use of color and costume is brilliant in the movie. For example, when the color of Mad Hatter's hair fades away, it indicates that life is draining out of him.

Recommendation: recommended
Premise: good
Plot: good
Characters: good
Dialogue: average

Doctor Strange (2016)

Doctor Strange Trailer

This is another Marvel hero movie. I find the plot a strong sense of deja vu. Since Doctor Strange first appeared in 1963 and I have never read his comics, I'm not sure if the TV and movies that came after it copied its concept or if it is the other way round.

I really like the visual effects of the movie. The time vortex that Doctor Strange travels resembles that of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Doctor Who's opening. The visual effects of bending streets and buildings look a lot like that of Inception (2010). The time loop concept is similar to a recent movie By Tim Burton, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), and Doctor Who Series 9 Episode 11 Heaven Sent, which Doctor is killed and reborn time after time. The out-of-body experience (OBE) by Doctor Strange is very interesting. He even uses it to pretend to sleep while his spirit study spells in the secret books. If near-death experience (NDE) is a vertical movement (up to heaven), OBE would be a horizontal movement on earth.

Is the story anchored in the 2010's? If so, the production set of Hong Kong is not very authentic. It's not the modern Hong Kong but more like Hong Kong in the 90's or Macau.

On the appearance, Doctor Strange is the missing brother of Iron Man, who shares the same beard; and Superman, who shares the same red cloak. Benedict Cumberbatch admits that Doctor Strange and Sherlock Holmes, the two characters that he plays, are both smart and arrogant.

Kaecillius is a smart student that went down a wrong path, though he believes himself in doing the right thing. Isn't that similar to Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter? A brilliant student from the same academy of the protagonist who becomes the villain.

I think it's always the two sides of a story. Who is the real saviour? Is Kaecillius killing people for the greater good? Is it righteous to do so? Hitler also believed that he did the right thing but he harmed many people on the way.

On the other hand, who empowers Doctor Strange to judge? How would you know if the people killed by Doctor Strange really deserve it? Who can monitor if he would not abuse his powers? (almost the same questions raised by Captain America: Civil War (2016), The Dark Knight (2008), and Watchmen (2009) (Who watches Watchmen?))

This can lead into a further discussion on what is evil. Who is the bad guy? In Suicide Squad (2016), the story is told from the "bad guys" point of view. Audience sympathizes the Suicide Squad but thinks that Amanda Waller, the government official, is actually the evil. In Doctor Strange, Dormammu is the clear source of evil. However, in the real world, not everything is crystal clear as good vs. bad, as in the movies. There are just many selfish human beings who think they are doing the right thing but hurting people on their way.

The dialogue is funny, especially that of Doctor Strange. For example, when Kaecillius asks Doctor Strange what doctor he is, he replies, "It' strange." Kaecillius replies, "Maybe, who am I to judge?" LOL. Doctor Who usually has this kind of dialogue. "Who are you?" "I'm the doctor." "Doctor Who?" "Just the Doctor".

Recommendation: recommended
Premise: average
Plot: average
Characters: average
Dialogue: execellent

Sully (2016)

Sully Trailer

Sully is about the pilot Chesley Sullenberger who crash landed the flight on Hudson River. Luckily, none of the 155 passengers die. Afterwards, the NTSB investigates the accident and determines if there is any human error.

The story reminds me of Flight (2012), starring Denzel Washington, which is also about a plane crash. But in Flight, the pilot is guilty as he drinks.

I think Tom Hanks has successfully capture the spirit of Sullenberger. He shows us that he cares for the safety of the passengers, making sure that everyone has evacuated. His concern is counting the number of passengers to make sure that no one is missing. When the NTSB investigates, he starts to doubt himself if he has made the correct decision. But the more he thinks about what has happened, he is more certain that he has made the right choice. 

The non-linear editing of the movie is brilliant. You don't feel awkward when the movie jumps back and forth from Sully's memory of the accident to the present.

I like the wit of Sully, e.g. "Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time", "You are looking for human error then make it human."

This is an uplifting hero movie.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Trailer

This is a spooky, almost horror movie, as the old photos in the opening credits give me chills. When I sees the children with the masks, I think of 20th Century Boys (2008).

The premise of the story is that Miss Peregrine runs a "school" for peculiar children. The protagonist Jake's grandparent was part of the orphanage. And he told stories about the school to Jake when he was small. Jake would not believe until he finally meets Miss Peregrine and the children. Sounds a lot like Tim Burton's another movie called Big Fish (2003), where the dad tells tall tales and they turn out to be true.

The plot is average as the story is built up slowly but the ending ends too abruptly. I expect to see more of how Jake goes back to 1945.

Some think that the peculiar children are just like students in Xavier's School in X-men. I remember some people said that Elsa in Frozen is about outcast too. Elsa has special abilities that other people are afraid of her. 

Eva Green played Miss Peregrine. Her make-up is awesome. She plays a similar Gothic spooky character called Vanessa Ives in Penny Dreadful.

Jake is a boring character as he does not do much in the movie. He miss the bow all the time. I somehow think this British actor looks and sounds like Ewan McGregor.

Enoch's playing-with-the-dead toys resembles the scary Baby Face toy in Toy Story (1995).

The many birds in the movie reminds me of The Birds (1963), which is a horror movie, by Alfred Hitchcock.

On the other hand, "the hollows" makes me think of the movie title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, which is also a fantasy genre movie.

The gas masks worn by the characters remind me of Doctor Who Series 1 Episode 9 The Empty Child, where the story is also located in the U.K. during World War II. The episode is very scary as well.

Never has a movie that can be linked to so many other movies. Yet I still find the premise, plot and character interesting.

In my opinion, one of the message the movie wants to bring out is: is living forever is good?

By the way, I love the trailer song New World Coming by Dísa very much. It's the trailer song that attracts me to the cinema. Bravo to the trailer! But I'm surprised (not the first time though) that the trailer song is not in the movie!

Recommendation: Recommended

Premise: Excellent

Plot: Average

Characters: Excellent

Dialogue: Good

Zootopia (2016)

Zootopia Trailer
 
I think Zootopia is an animation for adults. It's a mix of Godfather series Lethal Weapon series and Die Hard series, with underground chase and train crashing, but the characters are rabbits, foxes and lions.

The life of Zootopia resembles real life, for the cops are "ZPD", mirroring "NYPD" or "LAPD", etc. The officer in DMV speaks very slowly.

The message I get from the animation is to do good.

I like the plot that the nice person is actually the bad person, and the high rank officer is actually the one who manipulates the dark forces. Just like real life. So I say Zootopia is for adults.

A Brief Comment on Marvel Cinematic Universe vs. DC Comics

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has already launched phase three. Up to this day, Marvel has produced Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Marvel's The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016). It has been eight years since we first watch Iron Man (2008). The audience has grown to know much more about the Marvel characters and the dynamics between the Avengers.

As X-men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool, etc. movie rights are sold to Fox and Spiderman is sold to Sony, these movies are excluded in the MCU. Sometimes people wonder why they re-make Fantastic Four and Spiderman (from Tobey Maguire to Andrew Garfield to Tom Holland) every few years. It's because the studios bought the rights and they need to re-make the movie before the rights expire.

After watching X-men: Days of Future Past (2014), it's jaw-dropping that they wiped out the previous X-men stories' history (which many main characters died) and they will re-write X-men in a clean slate.

It's interesting that there are characters who appear in different universe. The first one is Quicksilver in X-men and MCU. They are played by different actors, but both actors, namely Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Evan Peters, starred in Kick-Ass (2010). The second one is Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds appeared in X-men Origins: Wolverine (2009) as no-mouth Wade Wilson. He returns to Deadpool (2016) as Wade Wilson again.

Visual Guide to Marvel Character Movie Rights
 

DC Comics has produced a lot of Batman and Superman movies, namely, Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), Superman IV (1987), Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), Batman Begins (2005), Superman Returns (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Man of Steel (2013), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016).

The Christopher Nolan's Batman series is no doubt a classic. However, the recent two DC movies (Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad) were a flop. Mostly because they tried to squeeze too much characters and stories into one movie.  There is not enough screen time to develop character arc for characters like the Flash, Aquaman, the Joker, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, Katana, etc. You see, MCU has at least one movie featuring a single character before they group them into Avengers. So the audience know much more about the characters before they see them in a group.

I actually enjoyed Suicide Squad as I think it is playful and the music matches the plot brilliantly. The make-up and costume are perfect. We just want to know more about the characters, where they come from, what are their intensions, etc. However, if they do not have any character arcs, they're just flat and boring.

The Intouchables (2011)

The Intouchables Trailer

This is a French movie about the unlikely friendship developed between a millionaire and an unemployed young man who becomes his caregiver.

It reminds me of Driving Miss Daisy (1989) which is also about the unlikely friendship between an old lady and his driver. Both movies juxtapose the conflict between the protagonists' different social classes.

It is always cathartic to watch movies which the uptight character has a character arc, and becomes more open and liberal to people from a different background; while the lower-social-class character slowly earns the respect from other people.

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

***Spoilers Alert***

This is another time-travelling / altering fate story. Evan Treborn one day realizes that he has the ability to go back in time by reading his teenage journals. He travels back in time to moments which he has memory blackouts. He uses the opportunity to try to save his childhood sweetheart from a tragic life. But each time he changes the past, he finds that the future is changed into something that he doesn't like. For example, he ends up in a prison or he loses his leg. Finally, in the director's cut, Evan chooses to commit suicide inside his mother's womb because he thinks that the best thing for his childhood sweetheart and the world is that he was not born.

This is a radical plot. In Doraemon's time travelling, things usually gets better but not worse. But in this story, the more travelling to the past, the worse is the future. That sucks. Evan's mother reveals that she has several miscarriages. It hints to Evan that his elder brothers and sisters also committed suicide. It is a horrible conclusion that the non-existence of the protagonist is the resolution. This is a really dark story.

McDull: Rise of the Rice Cooker (2016)

This is the seventh installment of the McDull movies.

Last time in McDull: Me and My Mum (2014), McDull grew up and became a detective. In this movie, McDull is still a primary school kid in a parallel universe.

The mood of the movie is nostalgic. The story is about how people in a small town react to a global threat: a green alien monster which destroys the world. It reminds me of 20th Century Boys (2008).

The McDull series used to localize the protagonists in Hong Kong. But in this movie, Hong Kong is never mentioned. Probably because the producers want to market the movie to a broader market. The small town actually looks like a village by the sea in Greek. Most of the screen time happens in U.S.A., e.g. the destruction of a city, the robot marathon, and the final battle with the monster, etc. 

The old familiar characters are gone. No more McMug, Darby, May, June, Goosie, Fai. But there's a new character called April.

An interesting point to note is the subtle LGBT message embedded in the movie. It all came to me when I saw the rainbow-colored parachute. In addition, how the Rice Cooker Robot defeats the monster is very controversial. It makes it "comfortable" and the monster determines to take the Rice Cooker Robot with him to its planet. But the "massage" sequence is very hardcore. I don't think children understands it but this sequence is inappropriate for them. Moreover, there's a sequence in which McDull insists on wearing cosplay dress and a wig (Sailor Moon) to wander in the city. It can only be interpreted as a LGBT message or it is a completely meaningless sequence.

In my opinion, McDull movies usually have deeper meanings for adults. Sometimes the ending is dark. Therefore, it is not recommended to bring children to the cinema as some children became upset in the middle of the movie and their parents were busy consoling them and missed the resolution of the story. A movie isn't complete without a resolution. So never bring children to a cinema who are not mature enough to stay calm until the every end of the movie.

Mr. Nobody (2009)

Mr. Nobody Trailer

The theme of this movie is the infinite choices and possibilities in life. This is a what-if movie concerning "what will happen if you do this and that". There are a number of what-if movies before Mr. Nobody, such as Groundhog Day (1993), Sliding Doors (1998), Run Lola Run (1998), etc.

The premise is the recount of Nemo Nobody's life by himself at 118-year-old. A journalist sneaks into his hospital room and interviews him. It turns out that Nemo has lived three different lives, concurrently. This not only confuses the journalist but also the audience.



***Spoilers Alert***



The movie starts with a psychology experiment. And then the dead Nemo/ narrator asked, "What did I do to deserve this?"

Nemo remembers everything because the Angels of Oblivion forget to wipe his memory out before he comes to earth. When he is nine years-old, his parents separate. He has to choose between his father and mother.

The young Nemo says, "You have to make the right choice. As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible."


In the story line that he chooses his mother: at age 15, Nemo meets Anna.
-> Nemo insults Anna's friends and they never see each other again

-> Nemo admits that he can't swim -> they become close -> they are separated by their parents -> at age 34 Nemo becomes a pool cleaner -> Nemo meets Anna again -> she gives him her number -> rain wipes out the number

-> at age 34 Nemo becomes a television host -> his car plummets into a lake and he drowns


In the story line that he chooses his father: at age 15, Nemo meets Elise
-> Elise accepts him -> Elise asks Nemo to spread her ashes in Mars -> they get married -> Elise has depression -> Nemo burns his car

-> at age 34, right after their wedding ceremony, a oil-tank truck explodes -> Elise dies -> Nemo becomes a television host -> his co-worker's car plummets into a lake and drowns
-> Nemo meets the co-worker's widow Anna --> Anna rejects him
-> Nemo takes minute-per-minute pictures of decaying food and flowers (implies that he is obsessed with life and death)

Nemo writes a sci-fi story on a typewriter
-> Nemo wakes up from a freezing state in a satellite station -> he spreads Elise's ashes in Mars
-> the satellite station explodes -> Nemo dies
-> Nemo meets Anna for the first time in a satellite station -> the satellite station explodes -> they die

-> Elise rejects him -> Nemo gets into a car accident -> Nemo stays in a vegetative state
-> Elise rejects him -> Nemo decides to marry the first girl whom he will dance with -> Nemo marries Jean --> Nemo is unhappy and bored with his life -> he goes to a hotel room -> an assassin kills him during his bath -> his body is dumped



It seems that all of his choices suck.

I think the way how the shocking truth is revealed (i.e. Old Nemo tells the journalist, "We are imagined by 9 year old child, faced with an impossible choice.") is similar to the way the truth is revealed in Fight Club (1999) in the end. It makes you wanting to watch the movie all over again, bearing the truth.

One of the scene which Nemo at age 118 in the television talks to Nemo at at 34 highly resembles the scene in Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 10 Blink. There are many scenes that are deja vu, as described in the film review by KyleKallgrenBHH.

Color is an important cue in the movie. The three wives of Nemo are represented by three different colors: red for Anna, representing passion; blue for Elise, representing depression; yellow for Jean, representing greed (I personally don't find Jean representing greed. I think she represents unrequited love. Nemo randomly picks her as his wife. She loves Nemo but Nemo doesn't love her back. It's pathetic.)

Interestingly, Mr. Nobody touches various philosopher's ideas. For instance, existentialism (That reminds me of a movie called I Heart Huckabees (2004) which also touches the subject.), Dasein, butterfly effect, Jean-Paul Satre. You may also be interested in reading the short story The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges, which is about infinite choices too.

In my opinion, there are quite a number of memorable quotes in the movie. For example, "Everything we see exists, we can see it. I can see mommy's eyes, but I can't see my eyes. The little baby can see his hands, but he cannot see himself. So, does he really exist? Do I really exist?" (This explicitly is a question on existentialism.) "In chess, it's called Zugzwang...when the only viable move...is not to move."

Music plays a critical role in the movie. I like the songs chosen by the director. For example, Mister Sandman by the Chordettes fits the dream-like story perfectly. Buddy Holly's Everyday tells the story of what happens in a perfect day. Hans Zimmer's God Yu Tekken Laef Blong Mi tells the story of babies in heaven.

I think most people find the movie confusing is because of its non-linear editing. The story itself is profound, yet the editing makes it even more complicated. (By the way, a very good non-linear narrative story is Memento (2000).)


Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 10

Ratings:
Premise: Good
Plot: Good
Characters: Average
Dialogue: Good

Recommendation: Recommended

Interests in...version 2.0

"I have to admit that I have so many interest. So many interests that I don't have time to became an expert in each interest. My strengths are learning fast and good at doing research." (version 1.0 is here)

Reviewing my achievements, over the past 5 years, I have taken lessons on Intermediate Electric Guitar, Attractive Presentation Skills, Wedding Planning, Acrylic Painting, Art Therapy, Intellectual Property Management, Real Estate, Air Pistol (one of the Olympic games)...

I have also done a number of voluntary services serving the young, the elderly, and the minority. 

And I am currently independently conducting a Meaning of Life project, which involves intensive researching, and studying of Theology, Latin, Spanish, and hopefully Konic Greek, and Hebrew. The books I have read and information I processed is massive. And I expect that this will be a life-long project.

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool Trailer

This is a fun-to-watch movie just like the Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) by Marvel. My review on the Guardians of the Galaxy is here.

I think the Recruiter resembles Agent Smith in the Matrix (1999). I love the X-men crossover and how Hugh Jackman's "cameos" in Deadpool. LOL.

I think the opening credits is the best. It's funny and stylish.

The director uses a lot of famous oldies which resonates pleasingly in the ears of many audiences. For instance, Wham!'s Careless Whisper.



I quite like Ryan Reynold's accents as Deadpool. Morena Baccarin looks familiar. She is the actress as Erica Flynn in the Mentalist (2008 TV Series).

The Chordettes - Mister Sandman

The Chordettes - Mr Sandman (Live 1958)

I first heard of this song in Doctor Who's Series 9 Episode 9 Sleep No More. The second time I heard of this song is in Mr. Nobody (2009). Both times they are used in a spooky, surrealist way. But I do enjoy the song.

P.S. I later found that it was used in Deadpool (2016). My review on Deadpool is here.

Lyrics:

Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)
Give him two lips like roses and clover
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over

Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Bung, bung, bung, bung

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over

Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Bung, bung, bung, bung

Mr. Sandman bring us a dream
(Yes)
Give him a pair of eyes with a come-hither gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace

Mr Sandman, someone to hold
(Someone to hold)
Would be so peachy before we're too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr Sandman, bring us a dream

Bung, bung, bung, bung