monto Reviews

Flight from Hell (2014)

Awful. Poor attempt at flight "horror" -- "Snakes on a Plane" without the camp or humor

[1/10 · 29 November 2014]

Bilingual (English/Mandarin) Chinese production of a horror/thriller set on an overseas flight, as those on board start mysteriously dying off one by one with gruesome scratch marks, by and large in real-time.

Filled with one-dimensional characters and clichéd tropes like the newly separated romantic pairing who still have to work together, the snobbish first class couple with only disdain for everything and everyone, the cocky jock who ribs his faithful friend the gentle nerd, the blind prescient woman who everyone ignores due to her "craziness" but apparently sees all... The list goes on and on, all with cheeky dialogue borrowed from the worst of TV soap operas. It was wholly unbelievable to see almost all the actors being under age 30 who, although present plenty of eye-candy, nowhere nearly resemble a representative flight audience and the supposedly complex characters they are portraying.

Frankly this would have never gotten funding to be made in the US, certainly not without substantial rewriting. The idea of a movie set almost entirely on a plane is inherently a challenging subject, much less a genre film like this. Even with moderately well schemed plots and seasoned veteran actors, we can only hope for the likes of thrillers like Non-Stop and Air Force One. Or perhaps, with reality largely thrown out the door, we expect the camp and over-the- top fantasy that is Snakes on a Plane.

Last Flight falls very much short of anything and everything. Very disappointing.

Family Outing (2008–2010)

Entertaining and endearing gem of the variety show genre

[10/10 · 3 March 2014]

Family Outing is a comedic game/variety show featuring a cast of Korean celebrities. The cast visit various Korean rural homes, carrying out household/farming tasks, and compete in physical and mental challenges, eliciting laughter and endearment along the way.

At the heart of the show is the wonderfully complementary team ("family") of comedians, musicians, and actors. Their warm interactions easy established relationships familiar to the audience, including old and young, teacher and student, bright and not-so-bright, assertive and submissive, romantic partners, and siblings. Whether it be in the midst of the most physical battles (e.g. monkey bars or wrestling in the mud) or lightest of moments (e.g. dinner preparations), these relationships provided moments of tenderness and laughter that kept me watching week after week, episode after episode.

Certainly, Family Outing shares a commonality with other Korean pop culture -- the void of violence, sex, profanity, and the wholesome cultural values of filial piety and importance of family. But Family Outing extended beyond these elements with its bonding and interactions.

Montage (2013)

Suspenseful crime thriller, solid acting

[7/10 · 6 September 2013]

Debut project from the director/writer, another in the long line of Korean 'new wave' crime dramas.

Film opens with the premise that an unsolved murder case is about to be closed after 15 years without progress -- reaching a 'statue of limitations'. Two police detectives are forced to notify the mother they will be ceasing the investigation of her young daughter. With a few days to investigate, the detectives uncover some potential last- minute leads and rush to track down the killer. Meanwhile, the still- distraught, but resourceful, mother discovers some clues of her own. Do either routes succeed, before time runs out?

This all then leads into the bulk of the film, an investigation into the kidnapping of another child. As the story progresses, themes of guilt and redemption emerge, mixed in with complications that impede the investigation. Slowly and suspensefully, details emerge during present day alongside flash-back revelations.

Solid acting all around, albeit some overwrought melodrama intermittently spliced in.

Most of the movie felt relatively fresh, despite borrowing from familiar Western crime dramas from over the decades.

Recommended

Driverless (2010)

Dramatizing modern-day culture of urban China

[7/10 · 24 July 2010]

A domestic drama surrounding the relationships of modern-day Chinese urbanites, with the various participants intersecting at a vehicle collision. Akin to the works of Iñárritu and Arriagga, e.g. 'Amores Perros', the film portrays a series of relationships via non-sequential narratives that draw together to a climax.

Filmmaker Zhang Yang, known for his realistic and popular dramedies 'Shower' and 'Getting Home', steps away from narrow-focus narratives to explore a series of modern-day relationships and plots, at the expense of humor and in-depth characterization. These relationships/plots include a young street-racer's happenstance meeting with a deaf-mute photographer, a wealthy ex's attempt to woo (buy?) back his ex's heart, a business relationship that prompts the kindling of romance, and a husband's attempt to raise medical treatment funds for his ailing wife.

In effect, the film seeks to portray the foibles (materialism, infidelity, divorce, one-night stands, etc) of modern-day Chinese urban life, with some portrayals more cliché, and perhaps cynical, than others.

As is the case with all non-sequential narratives, especially those with a large collection of characters (with the potential for diluted/glossed over characterizations), the filmmakers endanger losing audience interest and/or empathy, but that's up to the audience to decide. All in all an enjoyable domestic drama.

Family Inc. (2008)

The pain (and pleasures?) of keeping it 'all in the family'

[7/10 · 18 July 2010]

Filmmaker Emily Ting documents her reluctant return to her long- separated and aging father to learn (and potentially take over) the family-owned business. This documentary is presently screening on The Documentary Channel.

Comprised of a series of narrated family histories, talking-head interviews, and third-person observed interactions, the concept may seem mundane and MTV 'True Life'-like at first, but it's elevated by exploration of themes like cultural differences between East versus West (or tradition vs modernity), fate versus choice, etc.

Having spent the majority of her life in the United States apart from her workaholic father, in Hong Kong, where he operates a multi-million toy company, the filmmaker agrees to return to help run the family business in exchange for filming access throughout the process. Seen through the perspective of the daughter over a period of a few years, the documentary is relatively free of the trappings of melodrama (e.g. an epiphany father-daughter bonding moment of sobs and sorry's), although some of the talking-head interviews do sometimes feel more like the complaints of an insolent and privileged teenager.

The extent of the father's dedication to his work is evidenced by his two failed marriages and tenuous relationships with his children (e.g. his two teenage daughters feel like strangers after nary a visit one year). Nonetheless, all characters portrayed evoke empathy, even the seemingly heartless father. The central theme of the work-life role conflict as endured by the filmmaker's father is further explored via similar predicaments involving her fiancé and employees of the family business.

The soundtrack is relatively absent in terms of music, but the few moments that were scored felt more intrusive than supplemental. Well- edited, the narrative to which the audience is drawn, ultimately, is that of the question whether the filmmaker stays in China to continue running the family business.

Waiting Alone (2004)

Charming modern romantic comedy set in Beijing

[9/10 · 30 April 2006]

Set in the urban sprawl of modern day Beijing, it tracks the romantic endeavors of 20-something Chen Wen (Xia Yu of "In the Heat of the Sun"), a lonely accountant-cum-antiques dealer with aspirations of being a horror writer. He meets and immediately falls for Liu Rong (Li Bingbing), a small-time actress. A close knit group of friends since high school, including an aspiring pair of musicians, businessman, director, and illustrator/artist, offer Chen advice in his attempts to woo Liu, often to embarrassing, but hilarious, results.

At first glance, the plot may sound formulaic, but with time, interesting revelations dispel such notions. The film is shot largely with close-ups, taking advantage of the handsome, yet talented, cast, featuring fluid camera movement and cuts more familiar to Western audiences. A few brief alternative/dream sequences to promote the humor seem a bit out of place, as did occasional voice-over narration by Chen. Scenes take place in a variety of locales, including urban shopping centers and night clubs that Western audiences may not be used to seeing in Chinese films. Chinese pop songs littered throughout were effective in aiding the storytelling and development of the main character, Chen.

All in all, a hip and charming comedy ruminating on the modern man's lonely travels through romance and friendship. Even those familiar with the conventional Hollywood romantic comedies featuring the starlets of the month will find something funny and appealing in "Waiting Alone"