For those of you, who like me, have never heard of the Singapore post-rock band I Am David Sparkle despite them being around for a decade already, this is your chance to make amends other than to hang our heads in embarrassment and shame. This is one of those moments where I kick myself for not getting to hear their sounds early enough, but it’s better late than never, thanks to this documentary film showcased at the Singapore Panorama section of this year’s Singapore Interntional Film Festival, a film that was two years in the making since it charted the rock band’s challenges when it got invited to play at South by Southwest in 2009.

Ignore All Detour Signs, directed by Helmi Ali and Razin Ramzi and what would be Singapore’s first feature length music documentary, is probably one of the most apt titles one can think of when the film is about sticking to one’s course and cause even, not to be distracted by short cuts, cry over spilt milk or rue and regret missed opportunities. It’s about seizing the moment that you’re given, and making the very best with whatever’s at your disposal, rather than playing the blame game, or just rollling over and play dead instead of coming out fighting for an opportunity. This film is all that, and more, especially appealing to anyone involved in any way with any independents arts scene, with the constant, identifiable issues revolving around funding.

Getting invited to South By Southwest is the least of the band’s problems, but getting there is since they’re not rock stars (just yet), but four long time friends who have gotten together to make music magic. The documentary chronicles the 40 odd days in the run up to their departure and stint at SXSW, which were faced with the usual challenge of fund raising, seeking grants, and being blind sided unfortunately with what could turn out to be a cruel spanner thrown at their plans, something that could threaten the very existence of the team since it hits the raw nerves and attacks the soul of camaraderie at point blank range.

Clocking in at slightly under an hour, Ignore All Detour Signs moves an incredibly breezy pace with a sepia tinged look since it’s a blast from the past, and it doesn’t bore or go the conventional documentary look with the usual talking heads from band members or supporters, instead since it’s a documentary about the band with a mission to undertake, the filmmakers put you into the film watching like a fly on the wall, and best of all allowed ample time for the band’s music to take over. Granted we have the obligatory introduction to the band members and their managers, but it’s the strong personalities of the members themselves that made this an engaging watch, especially when the quartet of Amran Khamis, Djohan Johari, Farizwan Fajari and Zahir Sanosi come alive through their gigs.

I liked what I saw and I love the music even more, so much so that I’m a fan convert immediately after the end credits rolled. And thankfully Helmi Ali and Razin Ramzi finally allowed for one uninterrupted celebration of their music. It’s a film about one of the hottest bands in the local music scene, but more so a film that had evolved to become the soapbox for countless of other up and coming musicians in highlighting the lack of funding and more importantly, support, as they go about pursuing their passion and dreams, something which we have direct influence over if we are to turn up in droves to lend our attendance and support, to the good acts of course, which will in turn translate to better exposure and the raising of their profile. After all, if folks from overseas are willing to give our local talent a chance, why shouldn’t we in the first place?

Forget Pearl Jam Twenty if you’re on this part of the world, and give it up for Ignore All Detour Signs with I Am David Sparkle. For those who cannot make it to the full house screening tonight, fans and non-fans alike who are keen to check out this documentary, the band and their music, you’ll be glad to know that an encore screening has already been scheduled for 14 Oct 2011 2030hrs at Sinema. I’d say support local films, support local music, and do both when you turn up for this screening. Don’t be surprised if I make another trek up Mount Sophia for this again. Highly recommended, and dare I say it shortlists itself into my top films of this year.

Finally one of Korea’s cinematic gems over the last year has made it to our shores, and it’s better late than never to experience it on the big screen no less.

For fans of gritty cop thrillers in the same vein as Se7en and Memories of Murder, I Saw The Devil serves up an engaging, disturbing narrative in similar veins, but surpasses with its intensity, characterization, and shocking imagery that even made me squirm in my seat (and I pride myself at not squirming easily).

Some may dismiss it as shock jock tactics, but director Kim Jo-woon’s film is anything but, paring down emotions to its rawest when dealing with a tale of vengeance.

Heartthrob Lee Byung-hun (who was here in June recently for ScreenSingapore) plays Soo-hyun, an elite secret agent whose wife suffered the misfortune of being under the crosshair of serial killer Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik of Oldboy fame), who brutally assaults and hacks her up.

Promising that her killer will suffer an equally unsurmountable amount of pain, he embarks on a one man vigilante mission, with the help of his father-in-law, an ex police chief, to narrow down the list of suspects upon whom he delivers punishment without remorse, even for those who were not the culprits, but nasty people nonetheless.

Read the full story here >>

Via A Nutshell Review

Probably Steven Soderbergh’s final film for now as he embarks onto a new artistic career, but as with all things, never say never to a medium he’s so masterful in, balancing art and commercial sensibilities in most of his films.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a bona fide disaster like movie that dealt with a pandemic (although there’s a recent Japanese film that didn’t make it here), and most virus-like attacks on cinematic Earth coming more from out and out science fiction films.

The last film I remember was Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak way back in 1995, but that was more action-adventure with its principal cast involved in almost every step of the way from outbreak to containment to cure.

Here, Soderbergh orchestrates his ensemble of stars in a very well-oiled fashion, compartmentalizing as would be in real life, each of the characters to their respective areas of responsibility, so that the film felt its scale and magnitude, and hammers home how so well connected we are these days that transmission methods whether airborne or through close proximity, will still spread like wildfire before we know it, geographical boundaries and constraints notwithstanding.

Read the full story here >>

Via A Nutshell Review

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is this season’s equivalent of He’s Just Not That Into You, Valentine’s Day and other recent romantic dramas and comedies that sprawl in their dealing with that titular emotion that can drive you wild when things are going your way, or mad when things aren’t, and especially the latter which is what this film had its multiple narratives dwelling on.

The ensemble cast makes it a bonus to sit through with its star power on display, with a good mix of veterans and the Hollywood youths stamping their mark to make this a lot more memorable than your typical, formulaic romance.

With multiple threads running, we have Steve Carell and Julianne Moore as husband and wife Cal and Emily, who begin the film with an announcement that their marriage is doomed, setting off a catalyst of events and series of stories involving their son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) being infatuated with the family babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton).

The latter’s own infatuation for Cal, Emily and her romantic dalliance with office colleague David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) being the root cause, and Cal being helped by the suave womanizing player Jacob (Ryan Gosling) who falls hard for Hannah (Emma Stone) a lawyer who had spurned his advances, which has so far snagged him all his targets, and is now imparting his technique and knowledge to Cal to help him move on. Think of it as Hitch who doesn’t provide a bill, but there to overhaul wardrobe and attitude.

Read the full story here >>

Via A Nutshell Review

Item girls are back with a vengeance given the much talked about Sheila Ki Jawani with the midriff baring Katrina Kaif in Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan, that fast forward till today the buzz baton was ringing very loudly for Deepika Padukone in her item for Dum Maaro Dum.

But personally I still preferred Sheila for the music, the narrative flow in which it was picturized on, and of course the dance performance. In Mit Jaaye Gum (Dum Maaro Dum), Padukone got decked with a shorter dress number sporting a mean looking cobra tattoo, but I don’t have a thing for the drugged out look, given this was solely a song and dance number performed at a rave party before Abhishek Bachchan’s ACP Vishnu Kamath came gatecrashing with the cops in tow.

Dum Maaro Dum provided what I would deem as a lift from the rather lacklustre lineup of Bollywood films released so far in this year, with the story keeping it fairly simple, yet intriguing with a mystery, with a great ensemble of actors fleshing out their carefully crafted characters. It’s a basic cops and robbers tale on the war on drugs in Goa where the stakes are high on either side of the law with matters and issues hovering around the grey, never outright black or white. Cops are on the take, gangsters can turn informers, and you’re never too sure just who you can trust, and who will switch allegiance.

Which makes the film thoroughly engaging to follow, paced fairly quickly and clocking just over two hours. The first half of the film before the interval allowed director Rohan Sippy to dabble with a non linear narrative structure to introduce the lead characters, starting with Lorry (Prateik Babbar, last seen in Mumbai Diaries and has another film lined up later this year as well), a student at the crossroads of his educational path, being stopped short at clinching a scholarship, and therefore unable to follow his girlfriend to the USA for further studies. Money woes meant subjecting himself to influences from a friend who had persuaded him fast cash from being a drug mule. Then there’s the story of ACP Kamath, a once corrupt cop on the take who had now turned his life around (shades of Dabaang anyone?) given the death of his family, and going all out to take the war on drugs by the horns. The romantic story arc of DJ Joki (Rana Daggubati) and Zoe (Bipasha Basu) has the lovebirds being impacted through the drug trade, with the former being a easy-going, laid back bystander to his girfriend’s woes, with the latter being really hard up to be an air-stewardess, and got sucked into a road of no turning back when short term gains were traded for longer term loyalties.

In some ways this is like Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, where Elliot Ness gathers a few good, uncorrupted man to form a core team to challenge the biggest gangster in town, and here, ACP Kamath does just that when he goes up against Lorsa Biscuta (Aditya Pancholi), a well connected and well oiled businessman who dabbles in the drug trade and is one of the biggest in Goa, carved out into various territories as controlled by various foreign enclaves operating the drug business. With ACP Kamath turning the heat on their operations, Biscuita becomes the guarantor of every drug baron’s illegitimate business with the involvement of an enigmatic Michael Babbossa, who becomes the primary mystery man that ACP Kamath and team are trying to unravel.

So begins a cat and mouse game after the interval, where all story arcs merge into a single thread but between the two halves, the first was more of Sippy’s playground with tremendous use of seamless and slick editing techniques and transitions. And something that I’ve always enjoyed watching is the extended single take of an action scene, which Dum Maaro Dum now has bragging rights to, involving a very fluid camera following ACP Kamath and team as they go on a drug bust in a building, continuously weaving into and out of corridors and doors, windows and down a drain pipe even in one long extended take. I’m always in awe given the sheer amount of planning that goes behind the scene to have this achieved, and it is nothing short of fascinating always.

The violence is strong as well with ACP Kamath and the villains all dishing out punishment in no holds barred style, whether using a weapon or through their bare fists. And again there will be the usual police tricks and unorthodox techniques used by the no nonsense ACP that may raise some questions, even though he’s given the mandate by the chief minister to eradicate the drug problem. It’s been some time since Abhishek Bachchan had headlined a box office success, and I’m backing this film to be that shot in the arm for him as he reunites with director Rohan Sippy (since Bluffmaster). Rana Daggubati also shone especially in the second half of the film where his role got expanded and turned meatier, but unfortunately for Prateik he had opened the film, but because of the narrative had to disappear for the most parts in the second half.

Still, this is one of the more satisfying Hindi films that I’ve seen in recent weeks, with a strong story by Shridhar Raghavan (dialogues by Purva Naresh) coupled with strong performances from the ensemble cast that makes you feel for the characters and their predicaments. Music by Pritam stand out excellently, and if you’re in need of a good old fashioned cops and robbers thriller with a mix of interesting cinematography techniques employed, then Dum Maaro Dum will be your film of choice this week. Highly recommended as it goes into my shortlist as some of the best of this year!

~ A Nutshell Review~