Twelve – Joel Schumacher

Consider this is a crossover between Gossip Girl and Skins. It’s Spring Break on the Upper East Side. We don't need too many details to determine how wasted our generation is. The story is based on the controversial novel written by Nick McDonell published when he was 17. Which many people questioned whether his background or his connection got him the deal or the opposite.

The story opens with White Mike (Chase Crawford from Gossip Girl) the drug dealer once wealthy but after his mother’s death he dropped out from school and started dealing with his ex-classmates. White Mike is the key to the story. He intertwines with every one. with the narrator Kiefer Sutherland gives us enough information to understand the characters we don't have to ponder much.

I like idea of having a bunch of spoiled kids trying to have some fun in their Spring Break. The story doesn't really focus on anyone maybe White Mike but it's the full picture makes it more appealing even the so-called good kids are willing to buy drugs for the people they like. Kids with good grades would sacrifice their virginity for drugs. The desire of being in page 6, wanted to get laid and more. In my eyes I don’t see any bad kids, they are just struggling to stay tune with their peers or even standout from them. They don’t have any intention to hurt anybody but mostly they are selfish and self-centered.

I don’t think it matters if we can’t remember who’s who in the movie. This is just not the point. The movie is just making a statement by telling people no matter how beautiful they seem to be, deep down there is an unleashed monster awaiting a chance to ambush their pray in order to get what they want.

This is just a peek in today adolescent’s life. What I see lead to all this is the lack of parental attention, I am not taking about supervision or guidance. They are just not there when their kids needed them. All they need is some love from their parents.

I do have to admit there is way too much of narrating. I believe the audiences are smart enough to understand what is really happening. Would have loved the movie more if there had been less or no VO.

To me this is just sheer reality.

Buried – Rodrigo Cortés

Waking up in a confined wooden coffin, buried somewhere in the middle of Iraq. With a blackberry, a Zippo and a pencil. Do you think you find your ground again?

We stay under ground in the wooden box through out the entire movie, and the only person we could see is Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) a contracted truck driver working in Iraq. Somehow he is buried alive, and luckily he isn't buried deep, as he can still use his cell phone. Later we leant that he is intentionally being held captive.

They are not terrorists, they are just like Paul, the provider of the family, and somehow their jobs are taken away by foreign employ. It is clear what they want is money. Otherwise, they would not go down to this path, holding people hostage asking for ransom. We could only guess they had been mistreated and they wanted to be heard. That’s why they are asking Paul to make videos and making it public.

On the other side, Paul is asked to stay focus not to make any irrational moves like making the video. Trying every possible way to find help. At the end, he received a phone call by his contractor telling him his contract has been terminated due to some reason, through which the contractor will hold no responsibility of Paul’s situation and even if he is dead, the insurance company will not need to pay a dime for his lost. How irresponsible!

Given a cell phone, seems a wonderful idea of getting help. The truth is the endless call waitings, atrocious reception, and insane voice mails make it impossible to get through. Communication nowadays should bring convenience not complication.

We tell lies to comfort people. To avoid the inevitable - let them lose hope. People will sacrifice themselves in order to live. However, not every dream comes true with the sacrifice made. The only thing you could do is keeping your finger crossed.

It is really hard to make a good movie in such quality with this limited budget. Let alone only one actor is hire for the movie. The movie draws your attentions by music, lighting and the actor. You couldn’t rely on anything more but the thrilling plot and the cinematograph.

The intensity comes from idea of being jailed in a limited movement environment together with the darkness. The director Rodrigo Cortés is definitely trying to infect us with claustrophobia. And giving Ryan Reynolds a chance to prove he is worth more than a vase.

Vampire – Iwai Shunji

This is not a typical vampire story or I will say it is not even a vampire story at all.

Inside an abandon factory, on top of a commercial use fridge lies a delicate girl. She spreads her arms and legs getting ready to get drained and leave her life behind. On the other hand a nerdy man setting four empty glass bottles on the four corners of the fridge, getting ready to poke needles in the girl’s limbs and empty her blood.

The story never actually reveals the true identity of the protagonist if you insist this is a vampire flick then you have to accept the fact that vampire in this story doesn't have supernatural power as we have learnt from times. He has to lull his suicidal victims to alter their ways and technically drain their blood by using needles and drink it from the bottle.

Simon (Kevin Zegers Damien from Gossip Girl), the protagonist, looks for his pray in a chartroom called "Side by Side" where people will find companies to commit suicide with. He looks into the vulnerabilities of human to minimize his guilt of sucking others blood. There is no denying that in either way he is murderer. What he did is evil, monstrous and unforgivable.

But yet the mood of the movie is not consistently dark and unbearable. While the evil bloodsucker is talking people in giving their blood, he is being annoyed by a psychopath/desperate woman, Laura (Rachael Leigh Cook). How she always appears in Simon’s home and cooks dinner for him without any invitation. The appearance of Laura lightens the heaviness of the movie and brings a contrast with Simon. One appears to be having psychological issue and the other is killing people to survive. Who’s worse?

I love how Iwai Shunji cleverly and carefully let the audience ponder what is really happening. To my acknowledgements, there are so many little details hinting that the protagonist himself is not really a vampire. And it would be much more meaningful if he isn’t one.

To what extent you are willing to sacrifice yourself to improvise your dreams? Would you kill yourself or kill others to live up your dreams? Not only Simon desperately wants to be a vampire, but also Laura, how she fools her into believing she is dating Simon. Even the Japanese student Mina (Aoi Yu) is seeking for attention by killing herself. The bottom line is do you have a bottom line.

It’s amusing how Iwai Shunji Japanese styled sound tracks work so well with a western movie. That's a plus and not to mention for his breathtaking cinematography.

When I walked out the cinema I thought it was just so so, and it's nothing about vampire. But it lingered for days, even when I was watching other movies, scenes popped up in my mind constantly. Till then I realized the movie is hitting me hard with an impact. Good movies should have the power to last in one’s mind and affect them without them noticing. And Vampire does that to me.

Kaboom – Gregg Araki

I have to say this is one of the best movies I have ever seen! Alright, the ending might have gone a little bit too far, but who cares? Don’t take it too serious, that’s what the whole movie is about! We are so uptight. It’s a wake up call for those who are working 9-5, all so routine-ish, to let loose. Enjoy the ride and have some fun! Like you were young!

At the end the lead Smith (Thomas Dekker) might be just still hallucinating after eating that cracked cookie at the party. Either way, it both works for me, no matter it is really a ridiculous sci-fi or a “teenage dream”, I still enjoyed this whole experience.

“You are the chosen SON.”

One thing for sure, teens are a bit paranoid. I’m not talking about how Smith was all over the missing red hair girl but his best friend Stella (Haley Bennett). I just love how the movie lightly penetrate the idea of people not only adolescents love to exaggerate things in their lives. It sarcastically made her girlfriend Lorelei a witch! That’s intriguing. How obsessive teens are with the whole paranormal genre. I love the scene which Stella breaks up with Lorelei and Lorelei is on her kneels crying, stuff flying around the room and the wind is coming from everywhere. One more thing, people tend not to have the nerve to strike up a conversation but they do dare to scream at you. How amusing!

“If A fucked B, B fucked C, it’s like A fucked C.”

How causal sex is for teens nowadays! Even with your roommate sleeping just right next to your bed? Seriously? Though, I found the “surprise” London (Juno Temple) dropped to Smith pretty inviting! You can pick up somebody at a bar, at a beach, or at lunch?! And there is no mind playing just cut to the trace and ask, “Do you want to fuck anyway?”

“Straight guys are gayer than the gay guys, the fact they are in love but can’t suck each other dicks, makes them queerer than Clay Aiken.”

I don’t know whether all gays like to fancy straight guys are gay, but if I were Smith I would think Thor his roommate is gay too!! There is no way straight guys would wrestle in their underwear, have their flip-flops ordered by colour and want to give themselves a blowjob? We are really living in a super-confusing world! So stop stereotyping!

This is not a ridiculous movie, it has little of everything, comedy, thriller, drama, sci-fi, action (if you know what I mean). Haven’t laughed so hard for so long! And it remains me to just constantly checking whether I’m in the “up-tight mood” or not. Just breathe and relax.