Dark Skies (2013)

"Hey son, did you copy this drawing from Insidious, Sinister or Mama?"

"Psst... should I draw aliens or demons tonight? Over."

At a glance:

Top-of-the-flops director Scott Charles Stewart (remember Priest and Legion?) returns to try again in a PG-13 sci-fi thriller called Dark Skies (no obvious link to the 80s TV series of the same name), starrin Keri Russell (Waitress) and Josh Hamilton as the Barretts - nervous parents on the forefront of an alien invasion into their suburban home. There's J.K. Simmons too, playin Agent Mulder with a fedora. Gee thanks, you overly-informative long trailer, you.

Bad news on the doorstep:

I believe the lesson in this movie and contemporaries like Insidious, Sinister and Mama are all painfully the same - if shit goes down in your house and you don't know what it is, just check the kids' drawings. Oh look, it's a ghost/demon/alien. Mystery solved. Saves us 45 minutes of diagnostics. The movie? It had a few promisin set pieces but is undone by an unconvincin, rather straightforward resolution. There's an unexpected theme of social anxiety from world economic collapse in the script but this does little for the story. By and large, derivative and unrewardin. As the end credits rolled, the woman next to me at the Toronto premiere went: "Huh? That's it!?!?"

Keri Russell looks ready and able but this movie ain't gonna do much for her.

Perennial wonderment:

Recognise the older kid with Bieber hair? That's Dakota Goyo, the kid in Real Steel with Hugh Jackman.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Undeservin of its wide release. Another underwhelmin also-ran. Rent it if you're bored.★★

Bonus material:

"Mummy, if the aliens come, would you please wear a bra?

First Snow (2006)

"I saw... no more roads. No more tomorrows. Not much time left. "

At a glance:

Might as well smoke your heart out.

From the trio who wrote the script and screenplay of Children Of Men (2006), we get this very adequate thriller about just how far a man would go to change his fate. Suave salesman Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is stranded in a small New Mexico town, waitin on the car repairman, so he humours himself with the services of bystandin soothsayer Vacaro (J.K. Simmons). Sure enough, the fortune teller's ominous readings start to come true before long and our disbelievin wheeler-dealer starts to panic. Movie title alludes to the time up until which Mr Starks has before he must die.

Bad news on the doorstep:

The reliable lead actor's character arc wins our attention and sympathy but the out-of-place antagonist Vincent (Shea Whigham) is either underwritten or overwritten because we don't really need him for this story. Piper Perabo is pretty pedestrian and she further shortchanges the pervos by not even takin off her bra in a mornin quickie as the girlfriend. Jeez girl, these guys have been waitin since Coyote Ugly (2000).

Perennial wonderment:

Guy Pearce

After decades of providin the star appeal that drives smaller but memorable films, Guy Pearce seems to have renewed his interest in mainstream Hollywood lately by takin on supportin roles in blockbusters e.g. Prometheus (2012) and the in-production Iron Man 3 (2013) . I saw the instantly forgettable Lockout (2012) last month and thought oh no, he's gone back to The Time Machine (2002) again. Perhaps his charmin rascal looks exclude him from classical leadin man opportunities, so he'll forever be remembered for his anti-hero or villainous turns in Memento (2000) and The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002). Someone should try castin him in an out-and-out good guy role and see what happens. By this I mean have him play alongside Brendan Fraser as a sensitive gay comedian.

"Nah, it's probably one of those Autodialers.
Lowest form of organic life, a Telemarketer."

Most memorable line:

“This road you’re on… you put yourself on this road… on this exact night. Who chose this? A man makes his destiny, right? Nothing makes the gods laugh harder."

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

I liked it. ★★★

Contraband (2012)

At a glance:

Okay, here's the first movie I've seen in 2012 and if you didn't know it, January is the month for the big studios to dump their rubbish. Baltasar Kormákur's direction isn't exactly Oceans Fourteen and if you've seen the trailer, you know there's no slick and suave in this here heist movie, despite two very sexy saleable mainstream leads in Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. Contraband (2012) is apparently a Hollywood remake of an Icelandic film starrin the director himself, called Reykjavík-Rotterdam (2009). I'll confirm for you the extent to which this is true once I'm done watchin that.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Doubt UIP managed to flog this out too much across Malaysia - the two-minute trailer they cut feels like 20 and the title of the movie is regrettably inaccessible to most here, save maybe kretek smokers and the fat bastards down at Customs. There are no cool one-liners, no bazooka explosions, no caped superhero with own theme song. Marky Mark ain't dodgin bullets like in Max Payne (2008) and Beckinsale doesn't appear in a tight latex corset (though she will next week when Underworld: Awakening opens). The appeal is limited to heist movie fans - and by this I mean boys who might actually be takin notes on the A-Zs of smugglin funny money.

Giovanni Ribisi

Perennial wonderment:

If the jobless man I watched this with will end up bein slightly too enamoured with this film and start developin grand illusions of the criminal kind. He enjoyed it very much and wanted to alert another mate about the film - a bloke who works in logistics. O my days, this sounds like another heist script already.

Reminds me of:

Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000) and The Town (2010).

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Three and a half for bein much better than you would expect from somethin as low-key as this. Solid supportin cast and a neat finish. You'll like the music too.
Trailer for the curious: