Sunny's Diary

Not Fade Away (2012) - This coming-of-age drama film tells a story of a young man and his dream to form a rock ‘n’ roll band and become famous during the period of 1960s. Apparently inspiring the storyline and the main character, the film plays numerous clips of music from that era (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc.) as well as the TV shows and movies along with the big news during the time period in the background of the film as references. The audiences who are old enough to “know” and “live through” 1960s might feel nostalgia but they might not find this genre of film appealing. The direction of the film is all over the place and has no focus. There are numerous scenes that don’t seem to serve any purpose. The acting is not stellar. All in all, I don’t find anything I like in the film. It was totally boring for me.

Killing Them Softly (2012) - Based on the 1974 novel “Cogan’s Trade” by George V. Higgins, this crime film tells a story of a hit-man hired by a mafia to clean up the mess of the amateur robbery of the mafia’s poker ring. The film stars Brad Pitt as the hit-man. The film is extremely slow and tedious with unnecessary slow-motions and strange camera angels. The story is simple but the script makes it to be over-complicated. Brad Pitt does not do anything much in term of acting rather than speaking softly and acting cool which does not help making the film less boring. Even though the critics love the film and praise it as a great “dark” comedy, I don’t feel any enjoyment watching the film so I have to agree with the general movie-goers who give the “F” grade to the film based on CinemaScore market research.

Life of Pi (2012) - Based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name, the film is directed by the critically acclaimed director Ang Lee. It tells a miracle story of survival of a 16-year-old boy who suffers a shipwreck in the middle of Pacific Ocean and is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The film looks amazingly wonderful in 3D especially all the ocean scenes. The cinematography is brilliantly beautiful. The story is interesting but it might not reach the philosophical depth providing by the book. All in all, it is an enjoyable to movie with spectacular visual feast.

Anna Karenina (2012) - Based on Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel of the same name, this version of the film tells the tragedy story of Anna Karenina, a Russian high-society married woman who falls in love and commits adultery with another man. The film is directed by Joe Wright and starred Keira Knightley as the main character. This is another collaboration between Wright and Knightley (the first and second collaboration are “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement”, respectively). The film used an innovative style of story-telling by combining a stage-like performance into the set. The cinematography is beautiful but the film as a whole seems to be tedious and boring.  All in all, the film is not for everyone, you can either love it or hate it.

Rise of the Guardians (2012) - Based on The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by William Joyce, this 3D animation adventure film tells a story of “the Guardians” (including Santa Claus, Tooth Faiy and Easter Bunny) who have to come together to fight against the darkness force of the Nightmare King. The 3D production of the film is vibrantly colorful. Even though the storyline is predictable (and unreasonable), it has enough homors and action scenes to make it enjoyable as a family friendly animation film.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2) (2012) - I can’t believe that it has been a year since I watched the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 1). This film is the second part of Breaking Dawn and it is the fifth and final installment in the series The Twilight Saga. All things must come to an end and the end of the series could not get any better. The story was now concluded with the forever happy-ever-after for Bella and Edward Cullen. However, before the franchise concluded, the film delivered one of the most entertaining and action-packed Vampire fighting scenes ever with a lot of heads ripping-off and an array of super special powers. The acting of the cast is still as stiff as it has always been. But with the satisfying action sequences, the film could be the best film of the franchise in my opinion. Good bye, the Twilight Saga!

Red Dawn (2012) - This action war film is a remake of the 1984 film with the same name. It is a story of a group of teenagers adapting themselves to fight against the overnight foreign invasion into the United States. The fictional war story is ridiculous and seems unreasonable (but it could nevertheless happen in the film). The script is disjointed and tedious. The acting is mediocre. The only interesting thing in the film is its fighting sequences that seem real enough but still lack credibility. After all, it is just a Hollywood fantasy war film that is boring, except for the time of bombing…

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) - Directed, written and starred by the famous American hip-hop musical artist RZA, this martial arts action film tells the same old story of good versus evil, setting in the 19th century China. The film might have one of the most Asian cast members in an American movie. If you are familiar with the original Chinese Kung-Fu style series or movies, you will notice that the film takes all the cliche elements possible from the genre. The story is predictable. The acting is stiff and painful to watch. Various action sequences are enjoyable but they are too extremely violent with blood splattering and head/guts flying all over the place. All in all, the movie is not pleasant to watch in any aspect.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012) - This is a sequel to the 2006 horror film Silent Hill which is based on the survival horror video game with the same name. The film picked up years after the event in the first movie. However, you do not have to know the plot of the first movie to see this movie. The storyline and the script of this film is poorly written. All aspects of the film are sub-par and boring. The film is not scary at all as it tries to put cheap tricks and pathetic monsters into the film without any reason. All in all, this is one of the worst horror movies that I have seen in years

Cloud Atlas (2012) - Adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell, this epic adventure drama film tells an interweaving tale of six different stories spanning from past, present to future. The multiple story-lines can be counted as a mixture of genres of movie from suspense drama to comedy. The ensemble of cast, including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, delivers a marvelous performance. The make-up artists make the cast look different in multiple roles throughout the film and it was enjoyable to guess who plays which characters. The cinematography is beautiful along with the memorable musical score. All in all, I enjoy the journey though the film with skillful editing. This is one of my most favorite films of 2012.

Fun Size (2012) - This teen comedy film tells a story of a teenage girl who has to take care of her little brother during the Halloween trick-or-treating but loses him along the way, the adventure and the mayhem follows when she tries to find him with the help of her friends. The plot of the film is all over the places and the screenplay just puts every cliches in and mixes them up - the end result is a messy film with some laughable moments.

Lincoln (2012) - This year, there are at least two films featuring the famous 16th president of the United States of America - Abraham Lincoln. Earlier this year, the film depicted a purely fictional story of the young Lincoln as a vampire hunter which is totally ridiculous and it is a train-wrecked. As for the later film, it is a serious political drama telling a story of the president during the last few months of his life with his effort to pass the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery. The film is masterfully directed by the renowned Steven Spielberg with a great ensemble of cast including Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. The story itself is interesting with details of actual events. The cast delivers a brilliantly impressive performance. All in all, it is an enjoyable political drama film.

The Master (2012) - Directed, written and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, this drama film tells a story of a World War II veteran who found himself struggling to adjust to civilian life, fate brought him to become a member of a philosophical movement known as “The Cause” - partially inspired by Scientology belief. The film stars the powerhouse actor Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Even though most of the critics claim that the film is smart and powerful, I found myself feeling bored watching this film. It is true that the acting is powerful but it seems to be the only good thing about the film. The problem for me is that the film is too long and uninspirational.

The Possession (2012) - Based on a true story of the allegedly haunted dybbuk box which contains the spirit of the demon, the film tells a story of a young girl possessed by this mysterious box and her family’s struggle to help her. The film employs a number of cheap tricks to play with the audience early in the film and let loose all those disgusting scenes toward the end of the film. It is too cliche with the other supernatural horror films. The plot (if you count it as a plot) is slow and uninteresting. All in all, this is another cheap and unmemorable horror film with a handful of scary scenes.

Lawless (2012) - An epic gangster film set in 1930s during the time of alcohol Prohibition in the U.S. telling a story of the Bondurant brothers who run the illegal business of selling “Moonshine”, the film stars a powerful ensemble of cast including Tom Hardy, Shia Labeouf, Gay Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska. The plot is exciting with lot of violence and bloodshed. The acting is great. The only problem of the film for me is the hard-to-catch accent of the characters. All in all, it is an interesting film with satisfying ending.