2002, Romance
Director: Dante Lam
Starring: Karena Lam, Nicholas Tse, Candy Lo

Fung (Nic) is a postal delivery boy with loss of hearing.  Jane (Karena) is a dancer whose group has been accepted in a grand dance competition. They encounter each other four times in a day. But unfortunate fate (***censored***!) fell upon them. She was hit by a car and is no longer here on earth. Luckily he can see her for the reason that both of them were thinking about each other when an accident happened. Now she is allowed seven days to walk the earth as a spirit. Together they set out to win the dance competition.

It is a cute romantic film.  At least it feels like one. As much as I enjoyed the film I must say that there are things that sometimes just don’t make any sense at all. It has “logical problems” (the whole afterlife thing revolves and works for whatever makes things either better or worse for Jane and Fung). Also there are things in the film that sound and look so thematic but really have no purpose whatsoever. And it sure does have clichés from this genre. But you know what? I liked it.

Sometimes you just have to let go and enjoy for what it is. If you are man/woman enough to do so it gives you total satisfaction.  After all this is a fantasy film targeted for those seeking the kind of true romance that can only happen in a film like this.

So what separates this film from other just like it? Karena Lam. She is the heart of this film. Her unaffected natural charm is enchanting and her genuine performance is intriguing. And she is super cute. And Nic also plays this sympathetic character so convincingly. He proves he isn’t just a pretty boy. Honestly at the end, their chemistry is so fantastic that one can only wish to spend more time with them.

I am not a big fan of Tiramisu but I liked this one. I enjoyed every bit of taste of this while it lasted.

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.

2003, Comedy
Director: Barbara Wong
Cast: Karena Lam, Candy Lo, Roy Chow

Karena (Karena Lam) is an aspiring writer who has a thing for her editor Jason whom she has never met. Candy (Candy Lo) is a tarot card fortune teller desperate for true love.  Jean (Roy Chow) just wants to make money. These characters along with a few others all live in a flat partying and playing truth or dare. One night at party, the ultimate dare is placed upon them. They must achieve their ultimate goal within a year or eat ***censored*** literally.

It is a very fun film. When American filmmakers try to do something like this (American Pie comes to mind), they absolutely fail. I think it’s due to their concentration of just trying to hit some bullshit punch lines or stupid pay offs.  That’s not a case here. Director Barbara Wong did enough controlling that it doesn’t get too wacky and out of place when it possibly could. Like I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few characters and it is impossible to develop each one completely in a little over 90 mins. Some are more focused than others. Overall it does work. The film is much more concerned about the characters and their situations rather than the overall story. One might not be satisfied because of lack of conclusion or resolution from every characters at the end, but Truth or Dare ends on an uplifting note.

The performances by every cast member are so energetic. You can feel they are having a lot of fun and it shows. In fact, I would not be surprised if they were playing themselves in it. Even at some wacky moments, none of them are annoying. They are very natural and real.

This isn’t anything new. We have seen this before. But it is worth a look. It is something you can throw it in your DVD player as background movie.

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.

Horror, Rated R
Director: Brian Yuzna
Writer: José Manuel Gómez
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Jason Barry

H.P. Lovecraft’s demented Dr. Herbert West makes a third house call for Beyond Re-Animator, a sequel that’s right on par with Bride of Re-Animator, resulting in a garish, gory and good-humored (though definitely not good-natured) good time.

Jeffrey Combs returns to his most famous role as West, now imprisoned in the Arkham State Penitentiary after one of his living dead experiments escapes from Miskatonic Asylum and kills a young woman. Several years later, that girl’s little brother – who witnessed her gruesome demise – is the prison’s new doctor, and he’s brought West a present: a syringe full of that familiar glowing
green goo.

The doc (likeable but goofy Jason Barry) wants to use the serum to find ways to help people; West, however, just seems interested in continuing his freak-a-thon, though he has developed a method for restoring life, thanks to some secret research with rodents. At first, they inject a prisoner here, a
smokin’-hot Spanish reporter there, but the second half of the film is an all-out prison riot, Re-Animator-style, with electrocutions, hangings, exploding stomachs, nipple-biting and a wrestling half-torso!

As a fan of the original Re-Animator and its Bride, I will admit I harbored strong reservations about Beyond, although I had wanted a third film for years. Basically, the fact that it was shot in Spain, set in a prison, scripted by a first-timer and had no principals return except Combs combined to portend an idea whose time had long passed. After all, Bride is now 13 years old! Plus, director Brian Yuzna’s efforts of late – Faust: Love of the Damned, anyone? I thought not – didn’t bode well, either. But to my relief, Beyond is a solid third chapter in a B-movie franchise of Grand Guignol that has a lot of life left in it – reanimated or otherwise.

The disc boasts a bilingual making-of documentary, as well as Yuzna’s commentary and the obligatory trailers (for this, Faust and Cabin Fever). And if you thought the Re-Animator trilogy was lacking a techno-dance theme all along, you’ll thrill to the unintentionally hilarious Dr. Re-Animator music video for “Move Your Dead Bones” (sample lyric: “Reanimate your feet!”). And don’t you dare switch it off before the closing credits, lest you want to miss the fight between the rat and the penis.

Rod Lott writes about pop culture, annoying celebrities and life’s other absurdities every day at Hitch Daily and he also publishes the long-running Hitch:The Journal of Pop Culture Absurdity which is actually made out of paper.

Drama, Rated R.
Director: Wayne Kramer. 
Writers: Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah. 
Cast: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello.

“The Cooler” is the story of Bernie Lootz, an unlucky man whose string of misfortunes hang over his head like a dark cloud, infecting anyone within arm’s reach.  Working at Vegas’ rundown Shangri-La casino, whenever a gambler is on a hot-streak, Bernie jinxes them, simply by standing nearby.  It’s what he does best, tried and true, there’s nobody better at cooling people down than Bernie, that is until the magical day when he falls in love and his own luck changes from bad to good.

William H. Macy (“Fargo,” “Door to Door”) portrays the loveable loser Bernie, a nice enough guy, who has seen the pitfalls of women who didn’t love him, a deadbeat estranged son who doesn’t respect him, and a pet cat that would rather be homeless than live with him.  Bernie’s only friend is his boss, the Shangri-La’s criminally inclined manager, Shelly Kaplow, intensely played by Alec Baldwin (“Ghosts of Mississippi”).  Maria Bello (“Duets”) is a spiritual cocktail waitress named Natalie Belisario, the woman who not only becomes the love of Bernie’s life, but also changes his bad luck streak, much to Shelly’s dismay when the casino starts losing profits because of Bernie’s good fortunes.  The movie becomes a tug of war between Shelly and Natalie struggling to control Bernie’s karma, with him in the middle, delicately weighing the issues of love versus friendship, happiness versus devotion, and the general question of whether there is such a thing as Lady Luck.

Macy, Baldwin, and Bello are all excellent actors and provide a lot of textured characterization to a script that needed some more polishing.  In addition to those three, “The Cooler” is rounded out by a fine supporting cast, including: Ron Livingston, Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren, Joey Fatone, and Paul Sorvino.  And, though, Macy nicely portrays the title character, it’s really Baldwin who stands out, as he sinks his sharp teeth into the role of the heavy, making you cringe at his every violent mannerism.

Wayne Kramer directed and co-wrote “The Cooler,” a movie that constantly walks a fine line between drama and romantic comedy.  For one moment would show Macy and Bello lovingly interlocked, when the next would be a literal bone-breaking scene with Baldwin behind the R-rated carnage.  It’s an uneven balancing act that doesn’t always succeed.  Kramer also doesn’t give his audience enough credit, as he spoon feeds symbolism and provides tired plot points and cliched characters and settings.  Luckily, for Kramer, he obtained a talented cast that was able to parlay his penny ante into a winning jackpot. 

Bottom line.  Should you see “The Cooler”?  Yes or No?  Yes. 

Review by Chad Goldich

Drama/Thriller, Rated R.
Director: Gus Van Sant. 
Writer: Gus Van Sant. 
Cast: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson.

“Elephant” is a fictional retelling of the real life murderous rampage that occurred on April 20, 1999 when two high school boys shot fellow students and faculty alike at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.  That day in April was an event that changed the way Americans looked at their children.  The movie “Elephant” disappointedly attempts to recreate that tragic day by statically following an array of students in their daily routines up to and during the point when the killings take place.

The movie is mostly cast with newcomers, instead of mainstream billboard names, to portray the stereotypical angst-ridden students of the fictitious school.  This lends “Elephant” a semi-real authenticity, along with showing these students trudging along, conversing in mundane dialogue as they mill about in the pre-killing daily activities.  The actors are neither good, nor bad, but rather just there, as the screenplay and direction lazily permit nothing more than the surface to be scratched on any one of them.  The back of one student’s head is endlessly followed by the next, in a series of long, tracking shots throughout the school, which end up being more annoying than artistic, especially when the events are told out of sequence and repeated by different points of view.  This is the style in which the story vignettes are sewn together, not that there’s much of an overall story to begin with.

Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho”) directed “Elephant” from his original screenplay, which apparently allowed the actors to improvise the bulk of their scenes.  Van Sant seems to sit back, bucking conventional terms like plot and story-arc, and intentionally sits on the fence when it comes to providing a perspective or statement about violence.  He doesn’t pick out heroes or villains, he just allows the characters to exist, giving you no one to root for, giving you no one to care for.  It’s an interesting idea, but it doesn’t succeed.  And by filming one long uncut sequence after another, refusing to zoom in or tinker with camera angles, “Elephant” seemed more like an experimental student film than the work of a seasoned talent.  It meandered endlessly and aimlessly, and felt like it was never going to end, which is sad considering the film’s running time was only a slight 81 minutes. 

Bottom line.  Should you see “Elephant”?  Yes or No?  No.

Review by Chad Goldich.