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:

The Strangers (2008)

"What's this movie about again?"

Gemma Ward as Dollface.

At a glance:
Promisin door-knock suspense thriller where Scott Speedman-Liv Tyler chemistry works but story isn't rewardin enough and we discover that home invaders Bagface, Pin-Up Girl and Dollface are somewhat meaninglessly menacin, in the absence of more compellin storytellin. Fear turned pointless, though it does have its moments.
Perennial wonderment:
Liv, get a real job! Why do you like starrin in non-movies?
Reminds me of:
Vacancy (2007) with Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson - but nowhere near the intensity. I think it's not that far off to describe this movie as 'what happens if an Indon horror director did a Hollywood movie'.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
It does have an excellent marketin gimmick on its official website though - you can mail your friends an SOS phone call. ★ 1/2
Bonus material:

This scene wasn't even in the movie! Where I saw it, at least.