The King of Comedy
Starring: Stephen Chow, Ng Man Tat, Karen Mok and a new Chio-bu (Pretty chick)

Movie info:
A movie extra whose 'profound' knowledge for acting often ends up getting sacked by studios for ruining their films.  He also part-times as a acting coach sharing his knowledge with people from all walks of life, meaning ruffians and bargirls who uses his advices to collect protection money and to please customers respectively.  His luck finally changes when a famous actress falls for him.  And as for the reason behind the movie title, your guess is as good as mine.

My 2 cents worth:
Watching a Stephen Chow movie these days is like gambling in a casino.  You always regret after you done the deed, but you hope that the next time will be better.  His previous movie sucked so badly, I recall someone in front of my seat was snoring halfway through. A couple of movies before that, the movie was barely 60 minutes of total screen time including the credit roll.

This year, after a year long of prepartion, (he only does one movie a year) a script written by himself, a reunion with Ng Man Tat what will the outcome be???????
Well, its still crap as far as I can say.  Okay, so I reckon that none of his best films are exactly Oscar material, but at least they are funny like hell. What is wrong with his films nowadays is that Stephen tries (though it doesn't really show) to inject a storyline into his "mo lei tou" (cantonese for nonsensical) movies he made so famous.  His "God of Cookery" was a mild success (for storyline) but unfortunately he starts to shy away from all the exagerrated actions we like so much.

There are moments in this movie which makes you laugh like the old days but unfortunately too few and far in between.  At times, it is so frustrating as it is like watching three different movies at the same time, poor Stephen is completely losing his touch.  I dare say this is the best film from him for from the last three years or so...but it isn't something that he should be proud of, especially since he has about a year to tweak the storyline.  Like I said earlier, lets just hope the next one is better.

Rating:
$3.00 outta $7.00 (a very flattering rating already)


The Corruptor
Starring: Chow Yun Fat, Mark Wahlberg and the Singapore Board of Censorship

Movie Info:
White Rookie cop gets assigned into new police department supervising Chinatown, however he must first fend off discrimination from his colleagues and then his always-in-trouble ex-cop father, then the corrupted partner cum mentor, the faggoty traid boss who is trying to corrupt him and THEN the bad guys who looks like the guy from Smashing Pumpkins who kills somebody everytime they appear.

My 2 cents worth:
One of HongKong's most famous movie icon's second Hollywood movie outing is back with a new movie with so much more mindless blood and gore, it makes "Natural Born Killers" look like the teletubbies.  His last movie "The Replacement Killers" sucked, so...how will this fare?

Well, this is a pretty interesting as Chow Yun Fat's character Nick Chen strikes more resemblance to his HongKong screen alter egos in the sense that he carries this swagger in almost everything he does (think "A Better Tomorrow") The plot of the story is slightly better than The Replacement Killers and also a slightly better co-star in the form of Mark Wahlberg.

However, like TRK, Corruptor is helmed by some unknown director who is unable to bring out the true Chow Yun Fat we've all grown to love, ie THERE IS NO JOHN WOO HERE! Instead, Mr Director here presents to us nothing but mindless violence and moving the story so slowly you'd think that the show probably won't end till tomorrow. Another Hollywood boo-boo is the fact that they like to insert some rap tunes into the show which is firstly irritating and secondly it sounds like crap.

The addtion of Mark Wahlberg as the new kid on the block is a pretty good choice but still the movie does not shine as we don't feel anything for the characters.  This is perhaps the one reason why John Woo is far superior to the rest of these wannabes. So this is a plea from a loyal Chow fan... PLEASE LET THE DYNAMIC DUO REUNITE! NOBODY CAN FIRE TWO PISTOLS THE WAY CHOW DOES AND NO ONE CAN CAPTURE THAT MOTION THE WAY JOHN WOO DOES! NO MORE IMPOSTERS!!!!!!

Rating:
$4.00 outta $7.00

Fav Quote:
"You don't change Chinatown, Chinatown changes you."


U-turn
Starring: Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte and many many others

Movie info:
A tennis coach on the run (played by Sean Penn) whose car unfortunately chose to break down in the middle of no where.  The nearest town with car repairs unfortunately turns out to be the weirdest place I've seen since "Twin Peaks".  Things goes to a turn for the worse when Sean Penn befriends a sultry woman in the form of Jennifer Lopez, this is when the story starts to take a U-turn for Sean into a road of diasters.

My 2 cents worth:
Ahem..Let me first apologise as I do not remember much of this movie because when I saw it, Anwar was still very much in Parliment...in fact, the Ringgit is still exchangable at any price!

So all I can remember is that, this movie is filmed very much like "Natural Born Killers" (also directed by Oliver Stone) in the sense that there are lots of cutscenes with or without colours flashing by like an Mtv.  However, NBK this movie is not.

While NBK oozes in coolness all over, U-turn is more like a (dark)comedy of errors.  It starts to get a bit unreal and ridiculous at times but you would feel sorry for the poor chap yet can't help but laugh at his situation.  The crazy car mechanic, the jealous boy friend and the irritating girl friend, the insanity doesn't even stop here ! Somebody get him outta this town!!! and I'm not surprise some audiences feel the same.

This is not Oliver Stones best work, so I'll say only the die-hard fans of his will appreciate it.

Ratings
$4.50 outta $7.00

Fav Quote:
"Is everybody fucking everybody in this crazy God damn town?!"


Elizabeth
Starring: Catherine Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes and a certain ex-Man Utd Scum.

Movie info:
The story of Queen Elizabeth I, as a Protestant (Christian) who will be leading a kingdom filled with a majority of Catholics, Queen Elizabeth must quickly learn to adapt to her new role as Queen while fending off her "councilers" whom are secretly plotting to either marry her off or end her reign (before its even begun)  The war of politics here makes the "Monica-gate" event look like childs play.

My 2 cents worth:
I've waited oh so long to catch this film, the only regret is that I waited so long to catch it! Period films are few and far in between because they were never much of box-office success. However, I strongly encourage you to see this movie as it is that good!

Catherine Blanchett's Golden Globe performance as Queen Elizabeth has Oscar written all over.  You as the audience get to see how a simple young woman who perhaps only wanted to spend her life with her true love Robert Dudley (played by Joseph Fiennes) into this authoritative queen determined to rule the country by herself without a King.   Joseph (brother of Ralph) Fiennes, acting too is equally superb.  Its hard to tell whether if he loves Elizabeth or is simply waiting for the oppurtunity to become the next king.

Geoffrey Rush (Oscar winner for Shine) rounds up the excellent acting as the Queen's advisor.  He looks so evil, yet has always serve the Queen so well with....so is he good ? evil? works for some other master?  is he the master?  This guy is the one factor that kept me into the film.

The complexity in the world of politics...the complexity of love...can a woman rule the kingdom without a king? For all who don't know the history of England, this movie is a must-see...I guarantee at least one Oscar for the movie.

The film's running time of over 2 hours (I think) may turn off some viewers, but I say hang in there...this movie is definitely worth the time.  Hell, if people can see a sinking ship that lasts 3 hours, this is nothing!

Ratings:
$6.50 outta $7.00

2nd Fav Quote: (actually, my favourite line from the show will not be published as it is a spoiler to the ending)
"I may be a woman, but if I choose I can have the heart of a man" 1