Four Quickies

Sky High
Nice little high school movie with a superhero twist. Nothing amazing, but nothing off-putting either. Just... nice.

Mirrormask
Enter Dave McKean's bizarro world! It's very much his movie, for all the designs for the "dreamworld" were done by him, and is all in the vein of his comic book and collage-style art. It's a simple story, but the telling is anything but. A real trip through a fantastic world, and probably required viewing for anyone interested in animation, art, or dreams and dream allegory. Oh, and of course, Neil Gaiman fans. I'm glad someone gave me these premiere tickets; being a Singapore Film Society member is too bloody expensive.

Rabun (My Failing Eyesight)
I'll have to say this, while this may be a more personal movie, it seems that Yasmin Ahmad's Sepet is the more accomplished work in terms of filmmaking skill. Some of the storytelling doesn't really work well (although they're understandable in terms of keeping the budget low), and personally I felt the ending was a bit of a cop-out. Still, it's interesting to be able to chart a filmmaker's progress step by step, and I'm definitely excited about her next movie Gubra.

如果‧愛 (Perhaps Love)
As a musical, it doesn't really work, seeing as how few songs there are. For a romance, the leads always seem too cold and distant, not only from each other, but more unforgiveably, from the audience. Lots of preening and posing and fully-clothed walks in swimming pools. There's great production design, and Jacky Cheung's vocals are, as always, impeccable. But there's precious little else to offer. The one portion that seemed more genuine were the flashback scenes in Beijing, shot by Christopher Doyle, where there was genuine warmth and humanity. In the present-day scenes, the leads have all become so self-absorbed that we simply do not give a shit anymore. All in all, rather disappointing, and the "reel life reflecting real life" shtick is simply too heavy-handed to be of any poignancy.