What a sad movie and what a sad ending. I can’t help but feel sad for the lead, Tang Wei, and Tony Leung for the manner they literally ‘bare their all’ in order to play the two lead characters. There is nothing ironical that Tang Wei should fall for Tony, and he for her. It exposes the shallowness of the writer in allowing her heart to rule her head. Have she forgotten that the man giving her all those sadistic S&M pleasures (causing her to bleed each time in order for him to feel alive) is the man responsible for rounding up and killing many of her fellow patriots! At the earliest opportunity, she should have took a dagger from under the bed and plunge it deep into his heart while he is trying to violate her further. Instaed she did no such thing. What was so sad about this movie was that she allowed a little diamond ring to betray her own conscience and ultimately sacrificing the lives of her compatriots when the glittering gold caused her to shout to her supposedly bitter enemy, “run, quick run!” Tang Wei lives up to the truth of this idiom, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend!”

#14 Beowulf

Opening Day: 15 November 2007

#11 Saw IV

Opening Day: 8 November 2007

Well, what can I say? Saw 4 still lives up to its expectations and never fail to send chills to audiences with their gory sequences and unique twists. For those faint-hearted, you might wanna bring your spouse or partners along, cos somes scenes are literally cut-throat if you know what I mean. The thing about Saw 4 that captivates me would be the complex gears and machines that become the feature of the punishment. Who says man and machines cant get along? The only downside about the movie for me would be the flashbacks scenes from Saw I to III where the over-frequent flickers starts to make you giddy. Last but not least, please consume your tidbits before the movie starts, coz it will be your last chance before your mouth begin to throw up.

#10 Transformers

Opening Date: 28 June 2007

The transformation of every character from a vehicle or plane to a robot was very detailed. A superb action-packed movie! The movie displayed how great partnership shared between the good guys transformers and humans. Efford put in to made it into a movie… it is not easy. The animation is great!!! Hope there will be transformer part 2 and part 3 ……..I will be waitin for it.

#9 Dreamgirls

Opening Day: 22 Feb 2007

Life is not easy, we are stiff necked many times. This movie brought it out excellently. It also brought out that, success does not come easy, its especially harder on the celebrity. To most people, celebrities have it all… but they are humans, face hardships and cry too. It took lots of thought when the script writer put this together. The Director(s) defined the writers thought. No critic should point a finger. Great work people. Your hard work MUST be rewarded.

#8 300

Opening Day: 8 March 2007

Simply has the best camera angles and the scenes were very detailed by the production crew. Thumbs up!. Half way thru the movie I tell myself I have to buy a dvd for my own pleasure to watch it again and again. Considering it’s a rendition of the movie from the 60’s spartans. This movie, lives up to the standard of todays technology and the intellect of movie kaers. Hope to see more from the direction of this director and the crew. simply awesome

#7 Blood Diamond

Opening Day: 4 January 2007

Blood Diamond is the perfect movie which pokes in your eyes how many lives it takes to buy that piece of “shiny stone”. Since the diamond market is definitely a huge one, at the end of the movie there is a text which tries to encourage us to buy “clean diamond”. Why buy diamond at all? Even apes don’t try to seduce their females with shiny rocks. Anyway, “Blood Diamond” is not just a movie limited with a good story, it is packed with good acting and good quality action scenes. In my opinion the most memorable scene was where little children get drugged and become killers, giving themselves English nicknames, like “I am, master of disaster”, “I am, see me no more”. I had watched “Lord of War” right before this movie. Those bloody diamonds are what two movies have in common and I think both of them must be seen. There’s definitely a huge amount of work put in the movie, sometimes I was feeling I was the director and getting exhausted just watching the movie. And it definitely has the most important aspect of a masterpiece; when the movie is over, you just wanna restart the DVD and watch it all over again.

#6 Ratatouille

Opening Day: 30 August 2007

Athough it was a simple movie, I like the rat who is very brave and fight for what he thinks is right and what he really think he wants… In reality humans sometimes think they are too small or weak (in heart) to fulfill their dreams… “Anyone can cook!”, the one line that occurs frequently in the movie. A display of how courageous, brave and persevere one can be in order to be able to fulfil one’s wish! The delightful part is that Walt Disney has been able to create this wonderful story into an animated one that attracts the youth and the old.

#5 Hairspray 

Opening Day: 23 August 2007

This movie is one that will quite literally blow your hair away! Packed full of laughters, nifty dance moves, infectious music and crooning voices of the main leads, this film is not only fun, but explosive! Nikki Blonsky gave an incredible showing, even before heavyweights such as John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen latifah. Travoltra was immenesely funny and the other characters fit nicely into their own characters, giving lots of vibrance to the film. There isn’t exactly a storyline running through the film but it is certainly light-hearted and enjoyable.

#4 Warlords

Opening Day: 13 December 2007

Although I try very hard to re-evaluate my good comments about it so that my review won’t look so biased, I have to conclude that to me, there’s no flaws in the movie… except perhaps the lack of vocab to say something as simple as ‘the big brother is right’. Even this little flaw, is justifiable as it aptly shows the audience the character of Takeshi’s role - stubborness. When he believes something is right, he devote to it. All three characters were well portrayed, each with a distinct character. The director had also spent enough time enhancing the depth of each character rather than just superficially introduces them. The war scenes were rather realistic. Although some reviews might find it lacking in one-on-one duels, I feel that’s a western thing and is not that common in Chinese wars. The gruesome scenes of war successfully drew out the cruelty of wars, not just knowing it, but FEELING it as well. Storyline also has a lot of depth and is captivating. It lingers on in the mind even after watching the movie. Of course, the actors pulled the story off very well. I applaud Jet Li’s actings for the emotional moments (being an action kind of actor, Jet Li can do the emotional expression much better than Jackie Chan). Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro both did very well too. Anyway, watch it, you will see what I mean. It’s definitely worth the time and money.

#3 881

Opening Day: 9 August 2007

One of the best and touching shows in Singapore so far. Royston Tan did a job well done. Many scenes were very touching, the direction was even more stunning. Although the visual effects wasn’t that well yet, the story line and the acting was much better then what I have expected. Thank you to Royston for giving us such a wonderfully entertaining movie and reviving our interest in getai… Huat Ah to 881!

#2 200 Pounds Beauty

Opening Day: 19 April 2007

Very enjoyable songs to go with the movie. I find the part when she is ugly is very funny and practical. It shows how reality is and the inner feeling of Hanna. After the major change in her looks, the story becomes similar to a fairy tale. Not as realistic as the begining but is definitely most girls’ dream. Not forgetting that the movie is conveying the message of how different treatment each will recieve corresponds to appearance. This movie is funny, touching and sweet. It worth your time and money to watch! Be sure to prepare tissues/handkerchief too!

#1 Apocalypto

Opening Day: 18 January 2007

After watching this movie, I have to admit again that Mel Gibson is not only an alcoholic but also an extremely talented director. The story goes like… ermm simple… A man becomes a hero to protect his family and terroritory when he is pushed around to the limit by muscular jungle bullies. Sounds like you have ever heard of it before? Yes, it is a simple basic story which created good movies like Braveheart, The Patriot, 300 and many other movies. Well, I guess history is all built up on this simple story of a man protecting his turf. Although it appears that this movie is all about the simple story, memorable acting, excellent direction and exciting storylines makes this movie a great one to watch. Highly Recommended.