Murderer (殺人犯)
A Hong Kong cop (Aaron Kwok, 郭富城) finds himself injured and suffering amnesia at the scene of a brutal crime involving a drill and an involuntary high dive. The more he investigates the murderer’s rampage, the more the clues snap at his heels and possibly finger him as an unwitting serial killer. Is this a Cantonese Angel Heart? It’s certainly got the production values: Key members of Ang Lee’s (李安) crew for Lust, Caution feature prominently. Problem is, reviews from Hong Kong and first notices from the US wail about the twist near the end of this violent thriller. It’s so ludicrous, they say, that audiences may never forget it or forgive those responsible. But that’s got to be better than a bad film you struggle to remember only a week after seeing it (take a bow, 02’20’’).
Carriers
Variety wondered if this shelved US virus contamination pic finally found a small release stateside this month because of the presence of Chris Pine (Star Trek) in the cast. Maybe swine flu also had a role to play? Either way, this modest end-of-the-world drama set in rural America should intrigue fans of the genre, though it doesn’t break new ground the way 28 Days Later and its sequel did. More cerebral than horrific, and as with 28 Weeks Later, there’s a Spanish connection: Co-director brothers Alex and David Pastor hail from there.
The Rebound
Like Carriers, this Catherine Zeta-Jones romcom, made last year, has been struggling to secure theater bookings in English-language markets — it doesn’t open in the UK and Australia until next year, for example. Zeta-Jones is a lonely single mother in the Big Apple who gets it on with a rather young man (Justin Bartha, from The Hangover). C’mon ... like age difference is a credible plot hook if Catherine Zeta-Jones is the prize? Speaking of casting oddities, Art Garfunkel makes his first big screen appearance in more than a decade.
Ladies Film Festival
Not to be confused with this year’s Women Make Waves Film Festival, which starts next month, this mini-fest at selected Taipei theaters offers three features with “ladies” as the theme. Agathe Clery is a droll French sort-of musical starring Valerie Lemercier as a bigoted cosmetics executive who turns black and has her comfy white world turned upside down. Romantic comedy I Hate Valentine’s Day has Nia Vardalos, star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, find that her bizarre philosophy of dating eventually doesn’t pass muster. In the more sober The Headless Woman, a female dentist in Argentina flees from a car accident that will come back to haunt her.
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