Rushing Thru August

Movies seen in August, in 3 sentences or less.

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros
(The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros)
Coming-of-age tale of an effeminate kid and his crush on a hunky policeman that's one part heartfelt, one part grunge and two parts trite. The resulting mixture is, unfortunately, rather blah, despite a more than decent performance by the kid in the title role.





La Môme (The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf a.k.a. La Vie en Rose)
Confusing timeline-jumping that serves not too much purpose aside, there's a fine, fierce performance by Marian Cotillard that kind of makes up for everything else. Oh yes, the music's pretty good too.





導火線 (Flashpoint)
Donnie Yen porn, but the money shots are only in the final half hour. The initial 60 minutes are a real fucking drag. If you're watching it on DVD, just skip till the climactic battle; you're not missing anything.






不能說的‧秘密 (Secret)
Teenybopper idol Jay Chou puts in a surprisingly decent directorial debut - but that only just barely makes this watchable. Cringe-inducing lovey-dovey scenes aside, there are some slightly clever plot twists, but it's let down by gaping logic loopholes and poor CGI in the finale.





Knocked Up
Hilarious, yet tender. A wonderful ensemble cast and a smart script provide the backbone for this lovely comedy. Judd Apatow is a freakin' genius.








881
A funny, chaotic, and ultimately surprisingly moving film is let down by poor extras and several sequences that show its lack of budget and time. The climactic showdown is particularly shoddily shot, considering what has gone on before, and a beautiful, emotional moment is spoilt by not having enough money for decent CGI.



The Bourne Ultimatum
The shaky, nausea-inducing handheld camerawork is fucking brilliant, as is the unbelievably tight and smart scripting. Paul Greengrass has done it again, making the Bourne series one of the few action series that gets better and better.






بيد مجنون (The Willow Tree, a.k.a. The Weeping Willow)
A decent parable that tends to hit us over the head a little too often with its Themes, which drops it down to slightly above mediocre for me. Also, a bit too religious for my liking, but that's just the atheist in me talking. Wonderfully moving moments are in there though, especially when the protagonist regains his eyesight and sees his family for the first time in his life.


The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
Lovely visuals, but completely empty in the script department. A very pretty and macabre-looking snoozefest.









Hairspray
Lots of fun, catchy tunes and an Important Message to boot - what's not to like about this screen-to-stage-and-back-to-screen adaptation? A great time at the movies, period - and check out the cool Japanese poster.






Fido
Wonderful production design aside, it had the opportunity to be really wickedly funny. Unfortunately it chose the bland way out and ended up being more bark than bite. Horror-comedies really aren't what they used to be.






天堂口 (Blood Brothers)
A bloodless remake of the John Woo classic Bullet in the Head, reset in 1930s Shanghai. The many ludicrous scenes (a man who hasn't fired a gun in his life before shoots 6 people in quick succession, never missing) and atrocious dialogue (after a bloody firefight in which he kills like 50 people, the same man screams at another "Don't kill anymore people!") made this a comedy for me, albeit a comedy that's filled with tedious chunks of dialogue and exposition.