To boldly go where no man has gone before…

Those few words will send a shiver of excitement down any Trekkie’s back, and this time round it’s all the more significant because Star Trek has fallen off the intergalactic radar for a number of years. The good news is that Star Trek is back, and sexier than ever before. Director JJ Abrams has managed to revive the franchise and has made it far more appealing than it has been in years (if not decades). A great mix of sci-fi, action, drama, and with a dash of comedy, this is really the only movie that needs to be seen this week.

However, if you have time for more than one movie, then any of the other four films opening this week would be worthy of a watch. Interestingly, all four films are either Asian or have something to do with Asian culture. Sell Out! is a musical comedy from Malaysia , and even if the quirky humour doesn’t strike your fancy, the rather pleasant-looking male cast should leave most of you feeling sated.

The Ramen Girl is a largely breezy look at how an all-American girl uproots herself to Tokyo in the name of love, only to be dumped unceremoniously almost immediately upon her arrival. She decides to become a ramen chef after a series of serendipitous events, and in the process rediscovers her purpose in life. Ludicrous? Kind of, but there’s enough laughs along the way to make the film slightly more palatable.

On a more morose note is Kabei – Our Mother. A well-acted and technically flawless melodrama tracing the very, very tough life of a mother and her family in Japan through the WWII years, the film never lets up with the misery and it’s hard not to get affected by the downbeat nature of the film. Although this is marketed as a Mother’s Day movie, it’s not something you would want to bring mummy to unless you want her to cry buckets and mess up her makeup on the special day.

inally there’s Claustrophobia, a semi arthouse film that has a narrative structure reminiscent of Memento and Irreversible, but much milder in tone. Anyone who has harboured a crush on a colleague in the workplace would probably identify with the scenarios in the film, but Claustrophobia is almost too detached from its subject matter and this makes engaging the audience quite an uphill task.

Star Trek

Trust director J J Abrams (of TV’s Alias and Lost fame) to bring the Star Trek franchise back to life – initially thought to be dead and buried for good, with Abrams’ “reboot” of the franchise the possibilities seem endless. Imagine this: a Star Trek movie that requires zero knowledge about the Star Trek universe, filled with great action sequences and moments of quiet introspection, and totally satisfying from beginning to end. Unimaginable? That’s probably because the Star Trek universe has never seen a movie quite like this one. This is the first summer film worthy of being called a blockbuster, with an appeal not just for long time Trekkies, but anyone who is looking for an entertaining way to pass an evening.

Born in the midst of a space battle in which his father died whilst saving hundreds of lives, the young J ames T. Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up in Iowa with a rebellious streak in him. However, when he is challenged by a Starfleet commander to try to live up to his father’s legacy, Kirk joins Starfleet and proceeds to excel in the Academy. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to Spock (Zachary Quinto), a half-Vulcan half-human who doesn’t really know what to make of his mixed parentage, but decides to develop his human side by joining Starfleet.

When a Romulan ship from the future threatens the planets Vulcan and Earth, the young and inexperienced crew on the Starship Enterprise, which includes Kirk, Spock, young physician Dr “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban), sexy linguist Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana), helmsman Hikaru Solo ( J ohn Cho) and more, are called on to save the galaxy.

J J Abrams has really managed to refresh an aging, tired franchise, in the process helping to create a movie (and potentially a new franchise) which appeals to the modern moviegoer – great special effects, adrenaline-pumping action sequences, snappier editing and a younger, sexier, hotter cast. Abrams and the writers also manage to attain a fine balance between making the movie familiar to stalwarts of the Star Trek universe and yet still appealing even to people who have never watched a single Star Trek episode or movie.

Although thespian skills are not really a requirement in such a film, it’s a pleasant surprise that the young cast manage to acquit themselves very well. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are perfectly cast in their roles, the impetuous Kirk being balanced by the cool logical nature of Spock (although in this iteration we actually see Spock – surprise surprise – getting hot and heavy with a member of an opposite sex). The rest of the cast are also spot-on in their roles, but honourable mention goes to Simon Pegg’s Scotty, who appears midway through the movie and his tongue-in-cheek portrayal steals almost every scene he’s in. It’s also great to see Leonard Nimoy (the original TV series’ Spock)

The only weak spot in the film is the villain – Eric Bana leads the crew of Romulans from the future, but the reason for their acts of vengeance is too convoluted and the “science” explaining their presence is a bit too junky even for a sci-fi film. Also, for a spaceship from the future, the weapon for choice for the Romulans is a little underwhelming (especially when the actual purpose of the Romulan ship is revealed).

As this is a prequel to the Star Trek franchise, there’s never a doubt how the movie would end, but as the saying goes, it’s the journey and not destination. This is a great Star Trek movie, but more importantly, this is a great sci-fi action movie even if you strip away the Star Trek “brand name”. If future Star Trek movies can be as refreshing and updated as this one, the franchise will be assured to – quoting Spock – live long and prosper.

The musical genre has seen a revival in recent years, with Hollywood entries like Hairspray and Mamma Mia!, and in Singapore Royston Tan has led the trend with the very well-received 881 and its follow-up, 12 Lotus. Now we have a Malaysian director in the fray, and with Sell Out! Yeo Joon Han has managed to create a film that’s just as entertaining as the other films in the same genre.

A satirical look at the entertainment industry and MNCs, Sell Out! tells the story of Rafflesia Pong (Jerrica Lai), an aspiring TV show host whose arts magazine programme is on the brink of being axed due to poor ratings. She discovers that the only way to survive may be to make a switch into reality TV – an opportunity arises when she films her ex-fiancé dying in front of the camera, which becomes the start of a reality TV programme that aims to film the last moments before the death of its interviewees.

As Rafflesia hunts for more “victims” for her programme, she crosses paths with a mild-mannered product designer called Eric (Peter Davis) who is employed by FONY, a multinational conglomerate and also her TV station’s umbrella company. Eric wishes to create the ultimate soya bean processing machine but is constantly foiled by his FONY bosses, and in a twist of magical reality, the creative soul of Eric is divorced from the pragmatic “real-life” Eric, giving rise to an opportunity for Rafflesia to feature Eric’s “death” on her reality TV programme.

It’s quite an absurd plot, made more so by spontaneous bursts into song by the cast, but somehow the film works, with more laugh-out-loud moments than many comedies of late. Whilst the songs are catchy with well-written lyrics, the vocal prowess of the actors varies greatly – Peter Davis, though a pretty face, is particularly unimpressive, his voice straining at many points. On the other end of the scale, Jerrica Lai proves to be a more than capable singer with decent thespian skills to boot.

In Sell Out!, Yeo Joon Han manages to lampoon both corporate capitalism and reality TV shows successfully, and although he does come across as trying too hard at times, the film is enjoyable throughout. And on a purely personal note – Wong Wai Hoong, who plays Rafflesia’s cameraman, is a cutie-pie and certainly an additional highlight of the movie for this reviewer.

A Golden Village exclusive

Directed by Yoji Yamada, Kabei – Our Mother comes with impressive credentials – not only is Yamada famed for his “Tora-san” films, more recently he’s gained further renown with a trio of samurai-related films, including 2002’s Oscar-nominated Twilight Samurai. Kabei is a very different movie, however – it’s World War II seen through the eyes of a largely pacifist family, and focusing on the mother’s indomitable spirit in the face of adversity.

Set in Tokyo in 1940, a kindly woman Kabei (Sayuri Yoshinaga in a very impressive turn) is left to take charge of the family when her husband (Mitsugoro Bando) is arrested for a “thought crime”. She is left to fend for herself and her two daughters, but fortunately is aided by her sister in law (Dan Rei) and her husband’s bumbling student Yamazaki Toru (Tadanobu Asano).

As her husband’s incarceration grows longer and longer, Kabei faces many trials and tribulations, including looking for work to get enough money to support the entire family, delivering items to her husband, trying to get him released, and facing the neighbours and community’s accusations of her husband’s “crimes”. And then just when everything seems to be finally looking up, another monkey wrench is thrown into the works…

Clearly, Kabei is quite a downer in terms of the plot, and even right till the end of the film it does not let up. Plot development is quite predictable for the most part of the film, and only near the end does it manage to surprise. Also, do not expect any catharsis with the end of the movie, and the more emotionally involved audiences would definitely find tearjerker moments aplenty in the movie. However, the film is technically flawless and very well filmed, and almost the entire cast turns in excellent performances. It’s a good movie in its own way, but I simply cannot in good conscience recommend this to anyone who plans to celebrate Mother’s Day by catching a movie with Mum.

A Cathay exclusive

The directorial debut of acclaimed scribe Ivy Ho (who penned the memorable Comrades, Almost a Love Story and July Rhapsody). Claustrophobia is a rather ambitious project – a reverse chronology film about the intricacies of friendships and relationships at work, the film is so subtle that many audiences would probably just miss most of the nuances and wonder why the movie didn’t manage to engage them in any meaningful way.

The story revolves around Pearl (Karena Lam), a young woman who works in marketing at a shipping firm. She and four other colleagues carpool on the way home: Karl (Felix Lok) the office smarty-pants, the talkative Jewel (Chucky Woo), the nerdy and shy John (Derek Tsang) and handsome man Tom (Ekin Cheng). The film opens during one such car pool, which turns out to be Pearl ’s last, and gradually moves back in time, ending a year prior to the opening scene.

Although the narrative structure is interesting, unlike in films like Memento and Irreversible, Claustrophobia doesn’t really do anything with the structure. There’s no big reveal at the end/beginning, and the film feels far too nuanced for many to appreciate save those with a keen arthouse sensibility. Having said that, Karena Lam gives a good central (if a little understated) performance, and those willing to give the movie a chance will probably not feel it was a waste of time.

It seems like a no-brainer that The Ramen Girl is about ramen, but surprisingly ramen is a secondary consideration in this film – Tampopo remake this is not, even if it guest stars Tampopo lead Tsutomu Yamazaki as a ramen “Grand Master”. In fact, the storyline is so far-fetched and the version of Japan in the film is so mysticized and romanticized that it almost seems like a parody, yet it does seem that director Robert Allan Ackerman has a genuine (if slightly misguided) love of Japan and its culture. It does help that the film is generously peppered with laughs, and there are actually a small number of genuinely moving moments amidst the schmaltz.

Brittany Murphy plays Abby, a typical bubbly American “gaijin” who moves to Tokyo in order to be with her boyfriend, but is unceremoniously dumped less than a month upon her arrival in the city. Devastated by the break-up, she chances upon a nearby ramen shop run by the gruff Maezumi (Toshiyuki Nishida), and uncannily like chicken soup for the soul, she actually rediscovers joy in a simple bowl of ramen.

Realizing she has found her new calling in life, Abby tries all ways and means to become the protégé of Maezumi, but like so many other movies in this mould (think Karate Kid), the path towards “enlightenment” is never easy. Maezumi is particularly nasty towards Abby, perhaps because her presence reminds him of his estranged son, but as is expected of such a film, the two forms a kinship as the days wear on, even if they never fully understand what each other is saying.

The biggest problem with The Ramen Girl is not with its actors (most of them are veterans and even Brittany Murphy does a decent job here) or its central plot, but the fact that Ackerman has bitten off way too many subplots than he could chew. There are so many subplots that it was only natural that most make a brief appearance and are then forgotten without resolution, and even the love interest is given such short shrift the romance simply never comes close to feeling authentic. The Ramen Girl is good for a few laughs, but it’s not as introspective or inspirational as it would like us to believe.

Email: info@artseasonsgallery.com

Admission is free

Working predominantly with oil on canvas, young Beijing-born artist, Yang Xu, a protege of renowned painter, Chen Danqing; draws inspiration from motion pictures, photography and still-life.

This solo exhibition features works that form part of an expansive intellectual exercise through which the artist experiments with painted two-dimensional images, exploring their boundaries and limitations in exceeding time and space.

From a vase of wilting flowers to the indiscernible relationship between a beloved comedian and a tyrannical dictator, viewers of Yang Xu's art will realize that the paintings in each series are not meant to be scrutinized as static individual pieces, but rather, to be enjoyed like a reel of film.

Where: ART SEASONS SINGAPORE

7 Kaki Bukit Road 1 Eunos Technolink #02-12 Singapore 415937

When: 09-04-2009 to 10-05-2009

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