Sep
18
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Oliver Stone rolls into town with Savages
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A favored expression for Saigonese when asked how they are is ‘so-so’ and that short and sweet reply is how you could sum up Oliver Stone’s return to his early preference of narratives and crime in Savages.
Stone is one of the greatest directors of all time and he is not scared to sink his teeth into controversial subject matter famously in JFK and his Vietnam trilogy Platoon, Born of Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth.
The legendary director/producer, though, has got a little lost over the years since his late eighties/early nineties heydays.
In case you are interested in why he is so fascinated with Vietnam, well he actually taught English at the Free Pacific Institute in Saigon in 1965 before serving in the U.S. army in 1967-68 during the American War.
Now Savages has been slammed by U.S. critics, but it is hard to criticize a man who still comes up with beautiful cinema, in small parts, amid all the mayhem and so-so performances from the main protagonists Chon (Taylor Kitsch), Ben (Aaron Taylor- Johnson) and Orphelia or ‘O’ (Blake Lively).
It does have the energy that Stone’s recent films Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, W and World Trade Center lacked.
It is a very violent and powerful movie but some question the why. The movie is a bit of a puzzle, in one sense we are not made to feel any warmth to the main characters, who fi nd themselves in a place out of their depth but human instinct is intrigued by this prospect. Just look at how popular Locked Up Abroad is on the National Geographic Channel.
Savages has been compared to Al Pacino’s epic Scarface, which Stone wrote, in that Ben and Chon come from nothing to have more money than they can imagine as narcotic entrepreneurs, and their lives spiral out of control.
Ben is a peaceful and charitable marijuana producer and best friend Chon, a former Navy SEAL, not only run a lucrative, homegrown industry - raising some of the best marijuana ever developed due to chance, but they also share the same girlfriend O.
Life is sweet in sunny California… but wait for it…until it all goes wrong with the arrival of the ruthless Mexican Baja Cartel whose goons decide to move in and demand that the trio become partners with them.The cartel, headed by Elena (Salma Hayek) and her enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro), underestimate the unbreakable bond of the three friends.
Ben and Chon - with the reluctant assistance of a dirty DEA agent Dennis (John Travolta) - wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills after the cartel kidnap O.
Travolta and Hayek steal the show and although the critics have not been impressed, go see for yourselves folks.
Next up is Aussie comedy-drama The Wedding Party, directed by Amanda Jane, which deals with the most farcical wedding party in history apparently.
Steve (John Lawson) is broke and needs cash fast and agrees to marry Russian girl Ana (Isabel Lucas) who will give him tons of cash to do the deed so she can get residency in Australia.
He doesn’t tell a soul, but a nosey family member catches on to Steve’s secret and spills the beans resulting in laughs, mayhem and a fun movie. What is he going to tell the girl he really loves?
It was fi lmed in 2010, but it has fi nally arrived in Saigon. Enjoy folks.
Also out in this week’s triple header is Finding Nemo 3D directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
The animation feature sees a timid clownfish set out on the journey of a lifetime to bring home his son who was captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney.
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Trekking to highlands, sleeping in trees
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20/11/2012 08:37:42
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In the process of developing tourism industry
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20/11/2012 08:33:24
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New appearance of ethnic wellbeing crucial
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20/11/2012 08:29:27
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Gaint Cham temple of Po Nagar
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20/11/2012 08:26:06
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Welcome HCM - Spanish cultural week
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20/11/2012 08:16:30
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Vietnamese devotional objects in Thai Binh province has been restored
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20/11/2012 08:13:00
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VIB funds Vietnam Airlines for new Airbus A321 aircrafts
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20/11/2012 08:10:00
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