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4/5
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Full River Red
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Their first hour of slapstick gives way to suspenseful plot reversals once the political conspiracy comes fuller into view.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
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3/5
|
A Man Called Otto
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The director is Marc Forster of Monster's Ball. For sure, his saccharine movie is not hard to like, if only because he is a pro at manipulating heartstrings and Hanks cannot help but be affable, however ill-suited for his role here.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
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4/5
|
John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
Stahelski’s preferred way of combating repetitiveness is to switch weapons, locations and opponents. And, in the new film, the set piece battles are fabulous.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
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4/5
|
Luther: The Fallen Sun
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
An arc fit for a Luther series has been compressed into a movie, but the story and characters have kept their flavour. Most importantly, Luther once more offers his pain for the salvation of others.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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4/5
|
EO
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The whole of humanity is reflected through soulful animal eyes in this simple yet profound, and profoundly moving, fable.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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4/5
|
Women Talking
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
An ensemble of astonishing actresses invest their compelling dialogue-driven drama with a wealth of empathy and thought.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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2/5
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65
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
If the sci-fi adventure 65 is to be believed, prehistoric Earth is a cheap-looking survival game where Adam Driver has to run from and shoot rubbery marauding dinosaurs.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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3/5
|
To Leslie
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Riseborough needs no awards to confirm her virtuosity in a movie never as good as she.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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|
2/5
|
Scream VI
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
It delivers the same story as the fifth movie, taken to a louder, sillier place. Audacity or laziness? This reviewer thinks it is the latter.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
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3/5
|
Missing
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This 21st-century techno thriller is cleverly constructed, if increasingly far-fetched. It is best at capturing the digital dexterity of the younger generation and June proves a smart and likeable heroine.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
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3/5
|
Corsage
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
All hail Krieps. She rules in an arty but irreverent royal bio-drama.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
|
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4/5
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
A well-crafted male soap opera that features thrilling boxing sequences and, yes, a sweaty, grunty, pre-showdown training montage.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
|
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3/5
|
Call Jane
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Call Jane is an upbeat crowd-pleaser that handles the fraught issue of abortion with a light touch without ever making light of it.
Posted Feb 23, 2023
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2/5
|
Empire of Light
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Whatever Mendes may be trying to say about mental health or the rise of Thatcher-era white nationalism is smothered by the tastefulness.
Posted Feb 23, 2023
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3/5
|
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Shyamalan’s film-making craft is nonpareil, the way he manipulates his off-kilter camera for sinister tension among his seven characters in a confined setting. But despite an arresting hook, the story stalls as the two dads agonise over their conundrum.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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4/5
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Close
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
How serendipitous that Belgian film-maker Lukas Dhont discovered Dambrine on a train journey. Both the first-time actor and De Waele are heartbreaking in their emotional purity, co-starring in Close as best friends Leo and Remi respectively.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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2/5
|
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
The Quantum Realm offers dazzling eye candy, but the novelty does not last. And the lack of freshness continues with a threadbare plot that tries to distract from the fact this film exists mainly to introduce a new Marvel movie phase.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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3/5
|
The Fabelmans
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
While this fictionalised story of a boy and his camera works well as a series of funny, touching anecdotes about a young artist suffering for his art, an attempt at giving it psychological depth falls flat.
Posted Feb 08, 2023
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3/5
|
Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This threequel with its numerous audition montages is a rambling, barely scripted lark no one seems to take seriously, least of all Soderbergh, who is back cheerfully directing with his original writers and choreographers.
Posted Feb 08, 2023
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3/5
|
What's Love Got to Do with It?
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The peppy confection What’s Love Got To Do With It? is a knowing throwback to the Brit romcom hits of the noughties.
Posted Feb 08, 2023
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3/5
|
The Point Men
(2023)
|
John Lui
|
A real hostage crisis has become fodder for an action movie. The consolation is the production has the budget to make it look good.
Posted Feb 01, 2023
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4/5
|
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The two leads are terrific in a witty sex-positive bedroom farce that seduces and satisfies.
Posted Feb 01, 2023
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5/5
|
Argentina, 1985
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
This engrossing legal drama shows the amount of grit it takes to put a former military regime on trial -- justice moves slowly and painfully when the names of those being prosecuted still inspire a primal fear.
Posted Feb 01, 2023
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4/5
|
The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
McDonagh’s sparkling dialogue, with pathos and comedy infused into every line, is delightful as always. Farrell, Gleeson, Keoghan and Condon make the poetry feel like natural speech.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
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2/5
|
Jung_E
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
A mostly earthbound experience.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
|
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5/5
|
Tár
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
A standing ovation, please. This philharmonic backstage drama is a virtuosic examination of power and privilege with a savage punchline for an ending.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
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3/5
|
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
(2023)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
There is no attempt to disguise what the movie is, and it is malarkey, but not without some old-school charm.
Posted Jan 19, 2023
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4/5
|
Babylon
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The tragi-comedy is an epic of decadence and depravity. It is crude, profligate and staggeringly audacious, but there is never any doubting Chazelle’s heady passion for the movies however ugly the business.
Posted Jan 19, 2023
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3/5
|
The Pale Blue Eye
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The storytelling is plodding, nothing Poe-tic about it, but Poe himself is a lively, eccentric presence.
Posted Jan 12, 2023
|
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4/5
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The Night Owl
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This is a movie of rich ironies, with Gyeong-su a deeply sympathetic hero in his courage and decency.
Posted Jan 12, 2023
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4/5
|
Aftersun
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
Aftersun is a sharply drawn memoir that captures moments of happiness shared by a father and daughter, a time that will be replayed in the mind for years to come.
Posted Jan 12, 2023
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4/5
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M3GAN
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
It aims to scare -- and on that score, the film is a well-oiled machine. It is packed with dumb tropes, but there is a breeziness and sense of fun that keeps it going until the final boss battle.
Posted Jan 06, 2023
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3/5
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White Noise
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The movie is garrulous and arch. It can test a viewer’s patience, but it is a constant surprise of the madcap and the cerebral.
Posted Jan 05, 2023
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4/5
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Emily
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This rainswept period romance is fervent and sensuous, as if scripted by Emily Bronte herself.
Posted Jan 05, 2023
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2/5
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Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
You get so emotional baby, ain’t it shocking how bland this (family-authorised) movie is.
Posted Dec 28, 2022
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3/5
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Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
Bookworms, unite. Precocious and literate, Matilda is a role model for all ages.
Posted Dec 28, 2022
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4/5
|
The Whale
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
In this study of a man going through addiction and loss, Fraser’s powerful performance as a compulsive eater gives this work a profound sense of pathos.
Posted Dec 28, 2022
|
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3/5
|
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
|
Alison de Souza
|
Nowhere near as good as the first Knives Out, but a decent watch if you are hankering for a mystery and some mindless, wheel-spinning fun.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
|
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3/5
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Novembre
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The details and characters based on historic events have been fictionalised for security reasons, but November feels anxiously real in the pressure exerted upon the French counter-terrorism unit.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
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4/5
|
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
It is a lively adventure, thanks to the antics of insect narrator Sebastian Cricket (Ewan McGregor). And amid the darkness is great tenderness. Pinocchio learns bittersweet lessons on mortality and morality, while Geppetto comes to love him for who he is.
Posted Dec 15, 2022
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3/5
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Emancipation
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
A brutal if not particularly profound chase thriller.
Posted Dec 15, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
Avatar should keep audiences pinned to their seats throughout its marathon length because Cameron offers spectacle -- overwhelming amounts of it.
Posted Dec 15, 2022
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|
3/5
|
Notre Dame on Fire
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The director’s appreciation for gothic architecture, and his spatial clarity as rescuers wend their way along spiral stairs 50cm narrow, add greatly to the narrative urgency. But his docu-drama remains an uneasy mix.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
|
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4/5
|
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
Puss’ over-the-top nature is nicely balanced by the sincerity of supporting characters.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
Decibel
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
The tense story and Kim’s anguished performance are the bomb.
Posted Dec 02, 2022
|
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4/5
|
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
With apologies to Sir Elton John, this fun sing-along is the definitive Crocodile Rock.
Posted Dec 02, 2022
|
|
2/5
|
Violent Night
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
So they made a Christmas movie for people who do not like Christmas movies, but the storytelling fumbles make this a ho-ho-hot mess.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
|
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4/5
|
Bones and All
(2022)
|
John Lui
|
Cute couple, horrific backstory. This adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’ 2015 horror novel never loses sight of its romantic core, even as it explores the stomach-churning nature of their urges.
Posted Nov 25, 2022
|
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4/5
|
The Wonder
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This unsettling psychological drama sets reason against piety in a bleak, atmospheric landscape of misty moors.
Posted Nov 25, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
She Said
(2022)
|
Whang Yee Ling
|
This worthy biographical drama gives victims of sexual violence a voice – and what the women say is chilling.
Posted Nov 25, 2022
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