CinemaShafiq

  Mehh it's alright.  You can definitely expect that it would not be a smart movie or a well-choreographed practical action movie, but the chemistry between The Rock & Statham was fine. And I like the unexpected secret cameo. Still, this film was really not in league with other films in the Fast & Furious franchise, it was filled with crappy CGI, overly used cheap humour, too much slow mo and illogical action scenes (yes, even for Fast & Furious standard). 6/10

  A mess. And I don't even feel like reviewing it. I watched it with a student discount for the ticket price and I watched The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi with IMAX screening(s). Just tells how much I didn't care anymore. If anything, it clearly shows that Disney totally have no plan whatsoever since the beginning on the "sequel trilogy" and George Lucas was right that he sold Star Wars to "white slavers". 6/10 but most marks are for the impressive visual effects only.

  A masterpiece by Bong Joon-Ho. He brilliantly crafted a thriller/drama film that has some dark comedy bits and most importantly a deep social satire at its core.  The social commentary was a reality check and gut-wrenching; and is very relevant for 2019. Well-casted and visually beautiful with brilliant cinematography that brought its smart screenplay to life. Definitely one of my top 5 films of 2019, and one of top films of the decade. 9/10

A haunting and intense recount of the Chernobyl incident in 1986. Craig Mazin successfully made a grim, haunting, suspenseful recollection of the incident based on the actual facts and persons involved. Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgaard and Emily Watson's acting were excellent in portraying conflicted important personas in the 80s Soviet. There were comments criticising that the one bothering thing about the series was that the fact that all the casts were using English, and not Russian, but to me, that didn't even matter as biopics not using the original language is pretty common and the series actings, story and other technical aspects was too damn good to consider such small issue. The music, composed by the brilliant Hildur Gudnadottir and the costume department, covering makeups and attires of the casts add to the haunting elements of Chernobyl, and Craig Mazin got the environment of the 80s Soviets perfectly, even to the tiniest details such as the color of th

Well.. it's just that, I guess? I give credit to the film and Namewee for being so brave and I would consider this is the first local film that went all out for political satire - jokes about Najib, Rosmah, GE13 jokes, IC to immigrants jokes, Lynas etc. This film also had Namewee-style handprints all over it, and this film also was set in a fictional Malaysia, as Malaysia is being invaded by the Luk Luk army, and Atikah Suhaimie is running around in skimpy nurse outfit , which definitely is not the type that Malaysian nurses wear. But I'm not complaining.  Nurse mode Atikah Suhaime Banglasia was interesting as it was set in a fictional Malaysia and packed with political satire with a Bangladeshi worker as the protagonist, so we see the struggles and what the immigrants went through everyday, so that's interesting. But that was all Banglasia had to offer. It doesn't go any deeper than that, exploring carefully or in detail about the hardships and oppre

I have been waiting for the nominations for a while and they're finally here. Joker sets a record for being the first comic book film to get 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Original Scores. As a fellow comic book film and a film fan myelf, I cannot be any more happier. Joker is a very well-made comic book film that deserves such recognitions. Oscar has always been picky with big-budgeted film or sci-fi/superhero  film and it's about time for they to be more considerable. To be honest, a comic book film being nominated as a Best Picture nominee should've happened a long time ago with The Dark Knight. Then, in 2019, obviously due to current political pressure in America, Oscar nominated Black Panther as a nominee for the Best Picture category. Now, I enjoy Black Panther. Killmonger was a very good villain and it definitely one of the good MCU movies. But to consider it as a Best Picture n

A visceral and beautiful film. Brad Pitt gave his best acting in this space film which features a deep father-son story and the beautiful, electrifying score by Max Ritcher and the amazing cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema really turnt this film up a notch. Its space genre trait made it felt like Interstellar in many instances, but overall the film has a Blade Runner 2049 vibe. The slow pace, emotionally and visually gripping aspect really make this one of my favourite film of 2019.  Brad Pitt's acting and presence felt very fresh and alive, and this is his best work I've seen in a while. 2019 is really his comeback year I suppose, with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Ad Astra. Well, I guess that divorce is really paying off.  The slow pace and lack of strong narrative might be a turn off for some, but I believe that's what this type of film is made of, just like Blade Runner 2049. Slow, intense, and just pulling you in its twirl. 8/1

Joker  is a beautiful portrait of a man disregarded and opressed by society and the system he's in. A perfect blend of a realistic adaptation of a comic book character that did not forget of it's comic book elements; Joker is a genre-changer for comic book movies. Obviously, Joaquin Phoenix is the biggest helm of the film. His performance as Arthur is the best performance from an actor I've seen in recent years, and it is about time for this guy to hold that shiny bold naked Oscar. He laughed, he cried, he ran, he danced, he beat and he killed. Todd Phillips, the director of Joker said that most of the scenes were improvised by Joaquin and I think that is pretty spot on. He totally embodied Arthur Fleck, the man who would then become The Joker, and he succesfully handled the burden of playing one of the hardest character to play ever in film history.  You would enjoy, sympathise and cheer, to see Arthur's descend to madness, and his rise as Gotham's Clow