Looking Old Age In The Eyes

I feel blessed that the excellent Chinese movie A Simple Life gets screened in AMC Theatres in Toronto, albeit long overdue. This is, of course, a movie directed and played by baby boomers -renowned Hong Kong director Ann Hui and her lead actors: Deanie Ip and Andy Lau. Ip has retired from the big screen in 2000, but her re-emerged role in this film deservingly won her the Best Actress Award at The Venice Film Festival and the Golden Horse Award in Asia.

So many film critics have already written in praise of the movie. I agree with everything they said - a masterpiece on character development; the rhythms of shared routine and intimacy that bind the lead characters; the simplicity of everyday aging life and loneliness but treated with delightful humour and exquisite little details. There's no explosive emotions or violence, but all boomers can be empathetic with the relationship between the master and the servant and the role reversal when Ah Tao suffered from a stroke - in old age, the servant becomes the served.

I was warned by a friend that I might find the movie depressing, as most of it was shot inside an old-age home. Instead, I just find the film extremely funny and nostalgic. This was the first movie in which Lau and Ip reunited on the big screen in 23 years and the two real-life godmother and godson once again remind me of how Andy Lau rose to his megastar fame - he played Ip's son in a TV cop drama when he was still a rookie actor some 35 years ago.

The movie also reminds me of my birthplace Hong Kong and all the veteran actors and directors whom I grew up with. I think this movie is best appreciated by a Cantonese-speaking audience because most of the idioms and colloquialisms would be lost on Mandarin-speaking or English-speaking audiences. This would be a great movie not only to go with boomer friends, but you should take your sons and daughters who, I hope, would learn a few valuable lessons and morals.

Not Enough Passion To Be a Love Tragedy

Some critics found The Deep Blue Sea exquisite while others considered it boring and slow. If it's the choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, I just don't think the passion is strong enough in the movie to warrant either.

At its best, The Deep Blue Sea is an art piece. But most of the time, it's slow and unnecessarily pedantic. Sir William Collyer, played by Simon Russell Beale, is not brutally boring enough as a husband for Rachel Weisz's Lady Collyer to have an affair. Lady Hester Collyer's love object, former RAF pilot Freddie (played by Tom Hiddleston), is not good looking or young enough to deserve the whole big fuss.

Similar to a lot of other British movies, the whole film was shot in such darkness (a la Tinkle Tailor Soldier Spy) that if you don't pay attention, you'll fall asleep. But unlike other film critics, I do like the excerpts from Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, written in 1939, as the main musical score for the movie. But the music also adds to the whole conclusion for the flick - a lot of style but not enough substance.

The only redeeming grace is, of course, Rachel Weisz, who not only looks magnificent in this 1950s period drama, but plays the role of the naive and melancholic Hester so extremely well!

Reason sounds stronger than love and passion in the content of The Deep Blue Sea. In the words of the mean mother-in-law, Hester should choose 'guarded enthusiasm' instead of 'passion'. Even the landlady of Freddie's London flat advised her that true love is really about taking care of your aging and dying partner rather than indulging in the young flesh of the moment!

The cast of this movie is all blue blood in acting - both Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston are Cambridge University graduates and Simon Russell Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation." But what a waste of talents in this flat movie!

Small Plot With Big Theme

Jeff Who Lives At Home is very funny, that is if you like that sort of self-deprecating humour. The movie appears at the beginning to be one about a family of losers - a single boomer mother who hasn't found love in a long time; the oldest son who has a failing marriage and a boring job; and the younger son who keeps daydreaming and still lives at home with no job.

But the film is really about destiny - Jeff's (played by Jason Segel) theory is that everything and everybody in this universe is somehow interconnected. So if you're guided by your destiny, you'll be doing fine. Somehow this kind of topic is hot nowadays - the movie reminds me of Kiefer Sutherland's new TV drama Touch which is also aboout destiny.

I don't particularly like Jason Segel, but he seems to be omnipresent in movies lately. Plus he's dating Hollywood 'it' girl Michelle Williams. He plays the role well in this flick and is the soul of the entire movie. Ed Helms from The Office plays his older brother who seems to be confined within a pigeon-holed character all the time. Susan Sarandon, who plays the mother, is great in every performance and even though she needs to improvise for the first time in her entire career in this movie, she does a fabulous job. And she's well preserved at 65! Judith Greer is also one of those actors who needs to branch out into a broader role instead of constantly playing an insecure adulteress or wife (The Descendants).

I've never seen a Duplass brothers movie before but I quite like this one. They are big on improvisations and always go with small independent productions. Jeff Who Lives At Home is a small, simple plot with a big macro theme. But for those of you who do not go to cinemas that often, this one can probably wait till it appears on DVD.

Hope, Faith and Love in Yemen

Salmon Fishing in Yemen is really not a movie about fishing. It's a romantic comedy about hope, faith and love in the midst of a contemporary fairy-tale setting. Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) adpated the novel by Paul Torday (I heard the book is pretty good too) into a 'delicious' big-screen comedy.

I don't think anybody could resist the charms of both Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor. The former plays what she does best - the lovely girl next door - and the latter plays an inflexible fisheries geek with a heavy Scottish accent. But the most entertaining role in the entire flick was given to the adorable Kristin Scott Thomas who is the extremely bossy and controlling press secretary to the British Prime Minister.

While I marvel at another of Thomas's masterpiece, I can't help but lament why public relations professionals are once again being ridiculed. From Wag The Dog to Game Change to this movie, public relations practitioners are presented as calculating, manipulative and controlling SOBs. A former colleague of mine challenged me last night over drinks that The Ides of March was an exception. Well, I don't think painting a bad picture of the media necessarily improves the perception of the public relations profession.

Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt have the perfect chemistry in the movie although the two actors have not met before. Tom Mison who plays Blunt's boyfriend in the film may be more handsome, but McGregor's charisma and endearing Scottish accent just enable him to outshine everybody else.

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat) has done a fabulous job in making a complex story so appealing and entertaining - life is all about hope, faith and love when you strip down all the racial prejudices and biases, political manipulations and dramas, and even terrorism. This could be a story in Yemen, or it could be happening anywhere else in this world. Extra brownie points to Hallstrom who has the good taste to marry Lena Olin!

The Love Of One's Life

Romantic comedies are usually meant to be ridiculed for their cheesiness and rarely considered for subjects of discussion. Friends With Kids is unique this way - it's funny, smart, witty, and provokes post-flick conversations. Having seen the movie today, I finally understand why Jennifer Westfeldt, who produces, directs and stars in this movie, holds the heart strings to Mad Men's Jon Hamm (Westfeldt and Hamm have been romantic partners for 15 years and are still going strong). A brainy woman who can write and direct such a witty movie should be given more credit than just being Jon Hamm's girlfriend.

The movie is as "New York"ish as a Woody Allen movie but without the self-deprecating moanings and complaints. The dialogues are bold and, at times, outlandish with lots of references to sex and body parts of both genders. Even though it's got most of the Bridesmaids cast - Jon Hamm, Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Chris O'Dowd - you don't find any toilet humour in this one. I find it funny because it's a combination of situation comedy, farce, satire and romance with a constant quest to challenge traditional values.

Everybody is looking for the love of their lives in this movie, but how do you define the love of your life? The happiest couples while dating turn out to have the worst marriages. Love at first sight with the perfect man and woman of your dreams doesn't last either. And, in reality, kids can be spoilers of marriages and relationships even though they are bundles of joy at times. Being at the right time with the right person is as true as any sage old saying!

The lead actors and actresses are all renowned comedians, so I wasn't surprised that they are so good in their roles. But Jennifer Westfeldt and Adam Scott are sheer pleasures to watch, and even though Jon Hamm can be extremely funny (as demonstrated in his performances on Saturday Night Live), he deliberately takes on a more low-key role in front of the camera in support of his real-life partner, while being the Executive Producer for the movie as well.

Having raved about the movie overall, I have to say that the first half of the film is much better than the second half. If only Westfeldt could have taken her writing and directing talents further and been more bold in her artistic venture! But from a pure entertainment point of view, I have no complaints, particularly with the enhancement of "eye candies" such as Ed Burns (who's unfortunately much heavier in his 40's) and Megan Fox.

And who can resist the movie soundtrack, particularly music from the indie rock band The 88?

Nobody Is In The Wrong

I was never a foreign-language movie fan because I believe that one would usually lose the authenticity and true emotions if one can't understand the language of the story being told. Reading English subtitles is never the same as hearing the actors in our own language. But, more recently, I've been changing my mind and I'm now increasingly convinced that I should give foreign movies a chance. This was particularly true when I saw this year's Best Foreign Language Film from the Academy Awards, A Separation, from Iran.

Foreign-language movies always demonstrate greater artistic subtleties and often reflect their countries' unique cultural nuances. But A Separation is brilliant because the plot and dilemmas faced by the characters in the movie could apply to any culture. This was the first time I saw an Iranian movie and I was struck by the simplicity and stark morality of the film. The plot is simple - a couple's family begins to disintegrate because the husband and wife cannot come to an agreement: the wife wants to move to America and the husband refuses becauses he wants to stay in Iran to take care of his elderly Alzheimer-stricken father. The 11-year-old daughter is caught in between the parents she loves and life is becoming increasingly difficult for her.

This had to be one of the lowest-budget movies I've ever seen - no big stars, no big productions and shots of very simple everyday life in a busy city. But things are never as they seem. As with every separation or divorce anywhere in the world, there were already underlying problems to the couple's relationship before the wife wanted to move to the U.S. And the husband's reluctance is not as simple as just taking care of the ailing father.

What I also like about the movie is that there's really nobody in the wrong here: the husband is trying to be a dutiful son, making an honest living at the bank and helping his teenaged daughter with her homework. When he apparently saw elderly abuse, he lost it. The wife, as a strong woman in the Iranian world, wants to build a better life for the family by emigrating to the U.S. and she only wants the best for her daughter. Feeling guilty about what she's about to do, she has arranged for alternative help at home so that her father-in-law can be looked after. The poor housekeeper risks dishonouring the family (by helping wash an old man suffering from Alzheimer's without getting her husband's prior consent) because she wants to help out her neurotic and debt-laden husband. The teenaged daughter is just a normal, bright student wanting to lead a happy life, but, instead, finds herself caught in the web of conflict, lies, hatred, guilt, deception and justice.

In the end, we understand that Iranian women are the most honest souls beneath their burka-clad attire. In spite of the conflict between the two families, the two children have become friends. And, very often, throughout the movie, we see the world through the eyes of the two kids. The movie, like all other forms of great art, leaves us with an open ending that invites the audience to figure out what could be the conclusion. I've spoken to four friends who have seen the movie and some of us may agree while others have totally different interpretations.

When Iran is in the middle of such controversial confrontation with Israel and the rest of the world, such a win at The Oscars was best summarized by Asghar Farhadi, the director of A Separation, at the awards ceremony, "..at the time when we talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture....I proudly offer this honour to the people of my country, a people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment."

A Flat Oscar Evening

The Oscars, sometimes, is just a necessary evil on a Sunday night every year. You've watched almost all the movies and you've heard all the rumours and bets about who's going to win. Seldom were there any surprises, and so was last night's event.

I'm glad that Billy Crystal was back as the host - although he's not spectacular, I don't think anybody could have done a better job. Why can't there be any younger, classier actors or comedians who can succeed Crystal? Last year's James Franco and Anne Hathaway were disastrous, but the Academy should keep looking and not simply give up on the young, promising talents. There are a lot of gifted and funny comedians in Hollywood, but none of them is as classy as Crystal. David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock have all tried and failed. I'm not sure if Eddie Murphy hadn't backed out, he could have done a better job. Ricky Gervais is funny, but his jokes would have been too irreverent for a formal and traditional ceremony like The Oscars. Why don't they try Jerry Seinfeld next year? Here's a comedian who's classy and quick on his feet, and if I may add, a celebrity whom everybody loves.

I was thrilled that The Artist won three awards - Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor. If Jean Dujardin lost to George Clooney, that would have been the biggest insult in his entire career! So I was in a great mood until we came to The Best Actress Award being handed to Meryl Streep. But I guess I can live with this one 'loss' for me so long as The Artist swept the rest. I was, of course, delighted that Woody Allen won the Best Original Screenplay even though I think Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist should have won that as well. And typical Woody - he just chose to snub The Oscars again by not showing up.

A couple of likes and dislikes: a lot of impressive gowns on the red carpet - Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz, Gweneth Paltrow, Rooney Mara, Angelina Jolie and even J.Lo looked stunning. I don't know why Tom Cruise deserved to give out the Best Picture Award at the grand finale, but even he looked amazing at 50! Esperanza Spalding looked and sounded amazing when she took us through who passed away during the last year.

The sharing of experiences with short anecdotes from stars didn't quite work for me. They were neither charming nor funny. But one of the worst moments for me last night had to be Angelina Jolie shamelessly strutting her stuff on stage - one hand on her waist and one leg out of her gown's slit - what's that all about? Her bad taste was shared by Will Ferrell and his sidekick Zach Galifianakis who behaved like bozos and totally out of place on that stage.

Even though Billy Crystal did an okay job as host, The Oscars remains one of the longest and most boring events that we have to sit through once a year. It's definitely high time for the Academy to come up with innovative ideas to jazz this up next year in order to do justice to all the award recipients!