Chappie

Neill Blomkamp

The story: In the year 2016, Johannesburg is deploying robots to keep the streets safe. The humanoid crime-fighters are installed with a Scout programme written by Deon (Dev Patel). Vincent (Hugh Jackman) has created a competing Moose programme and is envious of Scout's success. When Deon creates a new algorithm and uploads it into a robot, Chappie (Sharlto Copley) - who is capable of learning and feeling - is born. Desperate criminal Ninja (Watkin Tudor Jones) wants to make use of Chappie to commit a daring heist.

Writer-director Neill Blomkamp is that rare film-maker who can both execute exciting action scenes and also fill a movie with ideas.

His debut feature District 9 (2009) was an action thriller pitting humans against aliens. At the same time, it dealt with issues of xenophobia and social segregation. His follow-up Elysium (2013) had movie star Matt Damon strapped into a powerful exoskeleton suit while contemplating issues of justice, immigration and health care.

In Chappie, he again delivers a flick that touches and thrills the heart and engages the mind.

It seems like an update of RoboCop (1987) early on, except that humans are not even needed to physically control the machines here. The efficacy of the Scouts are demonstrated in a shoot-out with a gang of criminals as they leap about, scan for movement and take bullet shots in their stride.

Soon, the film ventures into very different territory as the creation of Chappie raises questions about what it means to have consciousness and to be mortal. At one juncture, he asks pointedly of Deon: "You're my maker, why did you make me so I could die?"

In a heart-racing finale which merges Blomkamp's strengths, the question of whether a soul can be isolated from a physical body will determine the life or death of some major characters.

The sci-fi actioner Automata (2014) by Spanish film-maker Gabe Ibanez covered similar thematic ground with its sentient humanoid robots. While it was satisfying in its own right, it took a different approach with a darker, noirish tone.

In Chappie, there are plenty of light moments, thanks to scenes of a robot going through the stages of human development. He progresses from a blank slate of a child to a petulant teenager, from repeating single words to mouthing profanity, in the space of a few days. His helplessness even triggers the maternal instinct of one of the baddies, Yolandi (Yolandi Visser).

Copley, who also starred in District 9 and Elysium, voices the robot as well as creates its movements and gestures, producing an unforgettable character who steals scenes from Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, 2008) and Jackman (The Wolverine, 2013), sporting a redneck mullet haircut.

Think of this as Transformers with heart - and soul.

(ST)

House Of Cards 3
In Season 1, Democratic congressman Frank Underwood plots and schemes his way to becoming vice-president of the United States. The next season, he climbs the final rung on the power ladder and ascends to the office of the presidency.
What now in Season 3? The first episode sets up key story arcs for the season.
For Underwood (Kevin Spacey), the stakes are to win re-election as president so that he is not merely seen as a placeholder after the previous one was impeached. His wife Claire (Robin Wright) reveals that she has political ambitions of her own as she eyes the ambassadorship to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) – Underwood’s go-to hatchet man – emerges from a coma after he was attacked at the end of the previous season by Rachel Posner (Rachel Borsnahan), a prostitute who possesses information that is a threat to Underwood if exposed.
Stamper turns into a wild card over the course of the series, leaving the viewer to guess where his loyalties lie. Is he, for some unfathomable reason, still dedicated to Underwood? Or is he genuinely helping solicitor general Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel) in her bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination?
What made the first two seasons so riveting was the fact that Underwood was taking on more powerful adversaries and had to outflank, out-connive and out-manoeuvre them. There was the influential billionaire businessman Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) and former president Garrett Walker (Michael Gill), who had the weight of the office behind him even if he was not particularly effective.
Once Underwood himself grasps the presidency, the levers of power are now available to him. While he still faces opposition from the Republicans and his own party, who want him to step down after his caretaker term, he bulldozes onwards anyway, ramming his jobs creation programme, America Works, down everyone’s throats.
In other words, the stakes just do not seem to be as absorbing this time around.
The introduction of the tough and wily Russian president Viktor Petrov (Lars Mikkelsen) is an attempt – albeit an unsatisfying one – to give Underwood a formidable opponent.
The drama in its third year also fails to give viewers new things to learn about the protagonist. Even the inclusion of a writer Tom Yates (Paul Sparks) digging around for an officially sanctioned book fails to unearth much.
Given that the viewer already knows the depths Underwood will stoop to, nothing that he does can really surprise anymore: In the intense second season, there were oh-my-god moments such as when he shoved journalist Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) off the train platform and when he and his wife had a threesome with their bodyguard Edward Meechum (Nathan Darrow).
A saving grace for the new season could be the shake-up of Underwood and Claire’s rock-solid relationship, as it is hinted in the trailers. As her own ambitions come to the fore, what happens when their agendas clash? Is their marriage merely one of mutual convenience? Where does love fit in?
In fact, Claire is the more interesting character as she shows signs of change and growth.
If what eventually happens in the Season 3 finale had taken place much earlier, it could have sent the show in a different, and less expected, direction.
Instead, House Of Cards, which remains a beautifully shot, well-acted drama with some resonance in contemporary American politics, feels very much like a show in transition at the moment.
(ST)

La Valse
Peggy Hsu
The album is exquisitely packaged to resemble a music box though its colour scheme of pink, purple and glitter seems tailored for little girls. But thankfully, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Peggy Hsu’s latest concept album has greater appeal than that.
The lyrics for La Valse, which means The Waltz, come bound in a lovingly illustrated booklet and it all unfolds like a fairy tale, one which begins with a pair of magical dancing shoes.
All the songs here are set to the three-beat rhythm which characterises the waltz. And Hsu manages to evoke a child-like sense of wonder, whimsy and innocence on tracks such as If Everything I See Was Mine and Sleep Together. Count To 3 has a humorous riposte: “Go to her, you’re pitifully silly, she can’t even count to three.”
There are darker themes lurking though. On the duet Love Is... with Tizzy Bac singer Chen Hui-ting, there is a line which goes: “What should I give you, a poisoned apple.”
Hsu has come up with stronger concept albums such as the winter-themed Snowman (2009) but you can still enjoy a twirl with La Valse.
(ST)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water
Paul Tibbitt/Mike Mitchell
The story: When sneaky Plankton (Mr Lawrence) goes after the secret formula for the beloved Krabby burger patty, things go terribly wrong for the whole of Bikini Bottom. It is up to SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) to save the day – while teaming up with Plankton.

For those who know nothing about SpongeBob SquarePants – have you been hiding under a rock? – here is a quick introduction.
He is an eternally cheerful sponge who lives in a pineapple in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. He works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant and his best friend is starfish Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke).
Ostensibly a children’s programme, the show has plenty of adult fans as well for its humour, some of which probably sails right over the heads of younger viewers.
The movie made an impressive US$55 million (S$75 million) in its first weekend early last month and has hit US$140 million in total domestic takings thus far.
Compare this with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), which managed to make the same amount for its total worldwide box office.
SpongeBob himself is a big part of the show’s appeal. He is kind of square, both in shape and character, but his sunny optimism and cheerful earnestness in the face of all adversity is irresistible.
The regular television cast reprise their roles from the series and, as in the first movie, the final act presents the characters in computer animated form in a live-action setting.
It is a pity, though, that we do not get best buds SpongeBob and Patrick pairing up here. Instead, SpongeBob joins hands with Plankton and there is a learning moment about teamwork, or tee-am work, as the latter insists on calling it.
Still, there is enough humour to buoy this movie, from literal jokes to cheesily bad puns.
“Hold the mayo,” is one instruction hollered during a food fight with Plankton. Watch what Patrick does.
Plus, we get to peek inside SpongeBob’s brain. Now that is one trippy scene to absorb.
(ST)

Lang Tong
Sam Loh
The story: Zack (William Lawandi) is a womaniser. He charms them, beds them, scams them and then dumps them. Liling (Vivienne Tseng) is his latest target, but he is unable to resist the temptation that is Liling’s younger sister, Li’er (Angeline Yap), who draws him into a murderous scheme.

When Lang Tong was screened at the Singapore International Film Festival last December, tickets were quickly snapped up, thanks to a trailer which promised steamy sex scenes. But selling out one screening is one thing, mounting a profitable run in cinemas is something else altogether.
Indeed, there are quite a few sex scenes with the horny and devious Zack making out with several women (though three minutes of the explicit scenes have been cut from the film festival version).
Not to be outdone, Li’er makes out with men and women and actress Yap is seen topless. If that is enough to make Lang Tong – which means nice soup in Cantonese – your kind of brew, slurp away.
If you prefer a story to go along with the sauciness, though, the broth is lacking. It is easy to see what writer-director Sam Loh is going for as he makes his references clear in the film.
There is an homage to Takashi Miike’s psychological horror flick Audition (1999) and he also seems to have been inspired by certain Hong Kong titles.
But it is hard to top the shock value of those earlier works. Even if you had not watched these films, Lang Tong undermines itself by aggressively signposting its shocker.
The opening shot is of Zack screaming in agony and scenes of Liling making bak kut teh (pork rib soup) and Zack tucking into a bowl of it are loudly and ominously scored.
It also does not help that the Mandarin dialogue sounds unnaturally stilted – as though it was translated from English by Google – and some of the acting is unconvincingly wooden.
Still, Loh is at least trying to do something different with this unabashedly trashy flick and he piles on the twistedness as Lang Tong hurtles towards its sickening end. It is not enough, though, to turn it into a satisfying dish.
(ST)

Song One
Kate Barker-Froyland
The story: Feeling helpless and guilt-stricken after her musician brother is knocked down by a car and lies in a coma, Franny (Anne Hathaway) decides to retrace his steps. She goes to his favourite haunts and listens to his favourite acts. In the course of doing so, she meets singer-songwriter James Forester (Johnny Flynn), who offers her music and emotional comfort.

There has been a run of pretty spot-on movies about music including Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and Begin Again (2013). Add to that list Song One. If there is one thing that these films share, it is that they are serious about music.
Grammy-winning roots rocker T Bone Burnett produced the 1960s folk soundtrack for Inside Llewyn Davis, while Gregg Alexander, best known as the frontman of the alt-rock band New Radicals, was responsible for the music on Begin Again.
The contemporary indie music scene in New York City is the backdrop for Song One and its soundtrack is courtesy of Jenny & Johnny – the indie rock duo comprising Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice.
In other words, the movie comes furnished with impeccable indie pedigree.
It is clear that writer-director Kate Barker-Froyland, who makes her feature debut here, has great affection for the Big Apple scene.
She works in a weird and wonderful tour of what the city has to offer, from a bearded guy singing in Portuguese in a cafe to an electro-music rave.
Much of the music is of the guitardriven, troubadour variety and Flynn is perfectly cast as the sensitive singer-songwriter, given that James draws admirers as much for his shaggy locks and scruffy looks as for his songs. It probably helps that in real life, Flynn fronts a folk rock band, Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit.
While Hathaway had previously sung onscreen in the musical Les Miserables (2012), her turn as Franny is not a singing one.
Her focus is on anchoring the film with the drama of her romance with James,which blossoms under emotionally trying circumstances – how Franny feels about James is tangled up with her worries over her brother.
To Barker-Froyland’s credit, the relationship feels unforced as it unfolds in a believable manner.
She finds the sweet little moments that nudge them together such as how James makes Franny smile when he turns up at the hospital in an ill-fitting tuxedo.
It might well make you smile too.
(ST)