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4/5
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Wonderland
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
Singapore has lacked local films that hit strong emotional notes without descending into sentimentality, and in Wonderland, that magical middle ground has been achieved.
Posted Aug 07, 2024
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4/5
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Dìdi
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This “didi’s” unerring ability to put his foot in it will have viewers bent over, either in laughter or cringing in sympathy.
Posted Jul 31, 2024
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3/5
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Sight
(2023)
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Whang Yee Ling
|
What you see is what you get with this straightforward and uplifting – if somewhat bland – immigrant tale.
Posted Jul 31, 2024
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3/5
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Fly Me to the Moon
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
How is it possible that ScarJo and Tatum, two of the sexiest earthlings, have so little chemistry in the retro romcom Fly Me To The Moon?
Posted Jul 31, 2024
|
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2/5
|
Face Off 7: One Wish
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
A tearjerker soggier than monsoon season.
Posted Jul 24, 2024
|
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4/5
|
Kill
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
In a movie landscape filled with pretenders, two factors make this savage work of martial arts action stand out.
Posted Jul 24, 2024
|
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4/5
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Twisters
(2024)
|
John Lui
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This take on the 1996 original is a faithful do-over of the main story elements, but what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in heart.
Posted Jul 24, 2024
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3/5
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Knox Goes Away
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Keaton is ever watchable, however variable the movie.
Posted Jul 24, 2024
|
|
4/5
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Black Dog
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
Beautifully shot and thoughtful study of a man, his dog and the desert...
Posted Jul 24, 2024
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4/5
|
Deadpool & Wolverine
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
Marvel’s snarkiest hero returns in fine form...
Posted Jul 24, 2024
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3/5
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Project Silence
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
A great concept for a thriller benefits from strong special effects, but suffers from the use of paper-thin stereotypes and a plot that strains credibility, even by the generous standards of disaster movies.
Posted Jul 12, 2024
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5/5
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Longlegs
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The terrifying chiller gets under your skin, deep into your bones.
Posted Jul 12, 2024
|
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3/5
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MaXXXine
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
For all that it promises, this satire on show business as a factory of sex and death is mostly just great period vibexxx.
Posted Jul 12, 2024
|
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3/5
|
Love You as the World Ends Final
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
For all its flaws as a project made to please fans of the Japanese series, this work has its moments as an action thriller that pits a determined band of raiders against an organised army.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
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4/5
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Showing Up
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The movie is candid about the frustrations and resentments within the insular art community – frenemies Lizzy and Jo’s perfectly played rivalry is the central comic relationship – but also art-making as a spiritual vocation.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
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3/5
|
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The series is by now as much soap opera as it is a sitcom, almost a parody. Smith and Lawrence bicker like an old married couple, and their bromance is still a winning formula.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
|
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2/5
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The Bikeriders
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
This take on the history of the outlaw motorcycle club has nostalgia and romance, but falls short on drive and details.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
|
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3/5
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Fancy Dance
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This credible effort marries the personal and the political in highlighting their injustices.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
|
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4/5
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The Dead Don't Hurt
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The glorious Luxembourgian actress Krieps entrances in her portrayal of the heroine's stubborn grit and passionate indomitable spirit.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
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4/5
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Hit Man
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This cleverly knotty crime yarn kills it.
Posted Jun 15, 2024
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4/5
|
Inside Out 2
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This new work does not quite plumb the emotional depths of the first movie, but it is just as smart and entertaining.
Posted Jun 15, 2024
|
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4/5
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
While more sprawling and disconnected than Fury Road, this thrilling prequel has the right ingredients to be a worthy follow-up.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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3/5
|
Jeanne du Barry
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The opulent spectacle filmed on location in the Palace of Versailles, with wardrobe courtesy of Chanel, has entertainment value for sure -- if not depth, complexity nor romantic passion, much less the real Jeanne.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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3/5
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The Garfield Movie
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The funniest Mission: Impossible episode Rhames has ever been in.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
|
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3/5
|
The Beach Boys
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
More whitewash than surf’s up, but as a document of the creative process, this music biopic is illuminating.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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2/5
|
Atlas
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This take on an AI-led rebellion smashes together tropes from romantic comedy and science fiction in such a heavy-handed fashion, it feels written by AI.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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4/5
|
Godzilla Minus One
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
This love letter to ordinary Japanese citizens who pull together to get the country out of hard times succeeds in delivering genuine emotion along with monster action.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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3/5
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Here
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The pleasures in this delicate miniature are simple but profound.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
|
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3/5
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Drive-Away Dolls
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Coen and Cooke seem to be making it up as they barrel along. They are aiming low, and it is impossible at the very least to not admire the cheerful trashiness.
Posted Jun 06, 2024
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2/5
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Anyone But You
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
[Sweeney's] efforts at screwball repartee are strained and this update of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has torturous plot contrivances only the Bard could get away with.
Posted May 15, 2024
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3/5
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Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This triad thriller has craft and sincere nostalgia for the 1980s, but not the complexity of that era’s genre trailblazers.
Posted May 15, 2024
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3/5
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IF
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This take on the Pixar formula of the child outgrowing childish things is sincere and well-presented, but older viewers will miss the strong emotional tugs that only the Disney-linked studio can achieve.
Posted May 15, 2024
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2/5
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This family-friendly take is handsomely shot, but feels like a let-down given the quality of the film series thus far.
Posted May 08, 2024
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3/5
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Immaculate
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Sweeney is thrilling in Cecilia’s arc from wide-eyed purity to hellfire fury. Her final act is berserk.
Posted May 08, 2024
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3/5
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Asphalt City
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This urban thriller is unsparing in replicating the bleakness.
Posted May 08, 2024
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3/5
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The Roundup: Punishment
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The star-driven action genre piece is sheer formula, as comforting in his ever invincible strength as it is tension-free for the same reason. The crunchy fight scenes by director Heo Myeong-haeng, his long-time stunt choreographer, are the highlight.
Posted May 02, 2024
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3/5
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The Idea of You
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Everything is ultimately wrapped up in a glossy fantasy for adults, who will hopefully be inspired to open themselves to new possibilities.
Posted May 02, 2024
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4/5
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Challengers
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
These flaws are easily forgiven. In Guadagnino’s hands, the three leads are just too compulsively watchable.
Posted May 02, 2024
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4/5
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The Fall Guy
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
A high-quality work of breezy action that balances the silly with the serious while serving a crowd-pleasing set of flipped cars, rooftop falls and exploding choppers.
Posted Apr 26, 2024
|
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3/5
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City Hunter
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
It is a hard-boiled detective drama with the stylised kinetic gunfights -- bullet time, zoom shots -- of a pacy page-flipping read.
Posted Apr 26, 2024
|
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4/5
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One Life
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The unfussy film-making lets Hopkins do his thing. This is an actor who can summon crushing sorrow from just stillness and silence.
Posted Apr 26, 2024
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4/5
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Late Night with the Devil
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
As Delroy the doomed television host, he moves through grief, egomania and terror in a vividly memorable way. He is an actor more than ready for a breakthrough.
Posted Apr 19, 2024
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4/5
|
La Chimera
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
[Director Alice Rohrwacher] trusts the audience to catch on and succumb to the spell of enchantment.
Posted Apr 18, 2024
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3/5
|
Abigail
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
An audaciously batty vampire-cum-heist thriller.
Posted Apr 18, 2024
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4/5
|
Civil War
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
It is said that the first casualty of war is the truth. But as this gripping cautionary tale shows, the first casualty is humanity, even when the conflict occurs in a nation that believes itself to be exceptionally moral.
Posted Apr 12, 2024
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4/5
|
Article 20
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This tale of crime and punishment is a shrewd mix of propaganda and screwball entertainment. The performances are irreproachable.
Posted Apr 12, 2024
|
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2/5
|
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
(2024)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
[Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire] is caught between nostalgic fan service and a new-generation family adventure. It tries to be both by having too many characters and too much story, little of it thrilling, parts of it passably entertaining.
Posted Apr 12, 2024
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2/5
|
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
The [in the MonsterVerse franchise] have so far struggled to reconcile two contradictory elements -- the need to put the fighting monsters on screen as much as possible, while keeping the story focused on human affairs.
Posted Apr 05, 2024
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4/5
|
Monkey Man
(2024)
|
John Lui
|
This stripped-down, high-octane blend of superhero origin story, martial arts thriller and social critique hits as hard as the hero’s right fist.
Posted Apr 05, 2024
|
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3/5
|
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
It is playful and tender, and the two loners share sweet chemistry.
Posted Mar 27, 2024
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