4 films from SIFF

Hmmm the latest film I just watched at the SIFF kinda sticks in your head... or maybe it's just me and my japanese craze. It's a film called 'sex is no laughing matter' and of course, actor is matsuyama kenichi, once again. I watched this film not really remembering why we chose it and was kinda surprised to see kenichi acting. I like him... of course... "L"... and that kinda makes up for the slow-mo movie. But it wasn't that bad. Col and I were deciding what to rate it and among the 4 we've watched, we gave it 2nd place, tied with the other show. But i'll decide this has to be 2nd place. Simply because I think it 'did' have meaning. Other bonuses would be the landscape, the artistic style of the film - I liked it.

Like this review about the film: "Don't laugh at my romance"

Ok the other 3 films (according to my new ratings):

First place - it's gotta be the Dim Sum Funeral. Very refreshing take on chinese roots, family relationships and the whole notion of forgiveness, treasuring life, and people close to us. It was really touching to see an estranged family, get back together and celebrate life. Of course, there's the side notion of lesbianism where youngest daughter and her girlfriend attempts to 'make a baby',... it sounds so 'casual', like one could just disregard the whole structure of the family as God created - between man, and woman. For that matter, as a pretty religious person, I will have to beg to differ. But other than that, I found the movie really nice... light, serious, comedy, yet realistic, all in one. Not my kind of genre though, i prefer more fictional stuff. But this ranks first place among the other 3! And of course, you have all the famous names such as Bai Ling, Steph Song, Russell Wong.. etc! Wonderful! Funny, I liked Bai Ling's character!
http://www.viddler.com/explore/realtvfilms/videos/822/

Third Place - Dada's Dance -- This was a very no-point kinda film at first thought... didn't like the flirty nature of Dada... and the whole aimless feeling of the movie. It's not something you can give in a summary. The movie is not really about Dada trying to find her biological mother, but a journey to find a sense of belonging.. when her mother's boyfriend starts living with them, she feels increasingly distant from her mother, compiled with the idea that she is an adopted child, leading her to jump into a search for her natural mother. along the way, she brings zhao ye, her neighbour along, who follows, smitten with her. I found this really hard to swallow too. But going deeper than that, you can see that she needed that companionship. I actually liked it in the middle around this part. But then things go erratic. Dada's mood changes 180 degrees and she leaves and just leaves him there. It's like you wonder... what did he do wrong, where's her responsility. It's so weird. I took a nap somewhere here, so I don't quite know what really happened. The ending was meaningful though... in a way, she does realise that she likes the neighbour's companionship and that at the end of the day, the failed search of her natural mother just shows her underlying yearning to be close to her biological mother. Why go one big round. Sigh. Pointless. The cast sux.... but the lead actress is the only fun thing to look at. Suppose she will land more acting roles in future! ;) Read a rather 'nice' review: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/dadas_dance.html

Last place -- How to Be - a british film about a boy who's always been 'awkward' and who does not have very nice parents (always busy, cold, business-like)... and he goes about trying to turn his life right up again by inviting self-help guru to his house to help him get his life right. Ok this sounds like a pretty good plot. Music was fantastic (of course, coz this boy is also an aspiring musician). BUT besides that,.. not much artistry with the shots... and the boy's pretty daft... his friends are weird and sometimes the dialogue just sux. I forgot the ending already. Unfortunately, Robert Patterson is the lead actor here and he was "Edward" in Twilight. BUT That was nice. but this was not. Most of all, his parents are 'unbelievable'. It was rather unbearable. I was having a KFC burger there and i think i enjoyed that more!

OK okok ok... maybe to be more fair, i liked the potential of this movie... just that it was not polished enough (in my opinion). I liked how the boy (forgot his name) - was trying to get his life back on track. I liked one part when his parents berated him and he went out to the roads kicking everything in sight... you get a real sense of his frustration. But besides that sop story of being a kid lacking parental love, it's just a bit tough to believe that a grown man like him asks such stupid questions and behaves just like a little kid in dealing with his emotions. Maybe I'm too sheltered to understand? Maybe?

Watch the trailer and I think that's enough: http://www.flixster.com/movie/how-to-be