Right from the very first note in the opening song, something felt wrong. It’s not really Amanda Seyfriend’s fault as her work is commendable at the very least, but it’s just the way the scene was shot. And the one that followed, and the one following that, and after that, etc.

Her take on going in and out of songs from dialogue was excruciatingly unnatural. It’s as if there were two directors, one for the dialogue parts and one for the musical, and both of these directors never coordinate with each other.

On a stage performance, the whole cast always look in character. Not here. All the extras looked as though they have never had much acting experience and they never looked like they belonged.

All the actors, even the accomplished ones like Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep, looked like new actors trying to give a good performance. The way they were (cheaply) choreographed were so technical and unnatural that they have no charisma onscreen, nor excitement or substance. Everything looked forced.

All the singing were far from fantastic and I’m sorry but when Brosnan started belting, I thought I was getting punked.

Lloyd may have been trying to achieve the over-the-top cheesiness to blend with ABBA’s cheesy music but she never reached the level where it’s comfortably to be so, and hence everything just sat uncomfortably in mid air torturing the audience.

Rating: 3 / 10

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August Rush however boasts a fantastic cast. Freddie Highmore this time as an unbelievable musical prodigy was miles better than his fantasy offer in The Spiderwick Chronicles. He’s back to form, I would say. But I said “unbelievable” because I don’t think a child prodigy is capable of what he did with music. He learnt the guitar and the piano just by picking them up. He learnt all the musical notes and signs just by looking at them. It’s all a little over the top and fantastical.

Keri Russell back with another solid performance but how her child could have been given up for adoption that easily is just another lazy writing attempt that somehow got approved.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has a beautiful voice that should be a hit today. The songs he sang here were all beautiful but a little indulgent by what’s supposed to be a rock band.

Robin Williams in another rare performance where he didn’t crack jokes but was all serious, but he didn’t get enough screen time to give anything more to his character. Even having lesser screen time was Terrence Howard, and I do wonder why he signed up to do this.

I won’t argue about the predictability of the story because that’s not what this movie is about. But if you categorise this movie as a “fantasy”, then it’s easier to accept the story. Otherwise, it’s just one loophole after another which could really be a movie killer.

The music here, like Once’s, was the main driving force. And the cast gave great performances that made this a worthwhile experience amidst all the loopholes.

Rating: 6 / 10

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A very simple story and beautiful in its simplicity. Nothing pretentious and as real as the anyone on the streets. Easy to fall into and easy to stay in it. And definitely not your average boy meets girl story.

The only issue I had was money, how easy it was for the guy to have gotten a bank loan and how money suddenly came so easy for such a poor and simple man.

What really drove the movie and kept the audience hooked rested largely on Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s music. If you are into that genre (a la Damien Rice), it’s easy to fall in love with the music in this movie. If the first verse doesn’t get you hooked, the chorus never fails.

Hansard’s vocals are strong, rich and emotional while Marketa’s second voice fits perfectly like they were meant to be.

The budget of the movie was a mere 100k, and everything shot with only two cameras. It’s an education how that was done.

Rating: 7 / 10

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First, to get the bad out of the way. The movie could have been 15 minutes shorter. I know that doesn’t sound much but at certain instances, it just felt too draggy. The songs and lyrics have been scaled down, but certain songs could have been cut shorter still.

And there was one song by Helena Bonham Carter fantasizing about what life could have been with Todd, where everything turned bright and colourful. It just clashed with the whole dark and grey setting of the movie and felt very out of place and unnecessary. But this is coming from someone who has never watched the original musical before.

The singing would have been another issue, had not been the wonderful direction of Burton and the cinematography of the movie. The camera zooms in and out, making you forget the vocal qualities as the lyrics and music told the story instead.

But don’t get me wrong, the singing was never appalling. Far from it. Depp has a certain quality when he hit the higher notes that sounded very contemporary and very impressive. Bonham Carter did sound weak but she has never claimed to be a singer. Still a job well done.

The songs were already great pieces in their own right. But in the movie they were delivered with class as well. Even Sacha Baron Cohen, and I never thought I’d say this, was respectable. But all the credit should go to Burton. After all, he did make Depp and Bonham Carter sing and brought out another best in them.

No one can play dark characters opposite Depp as well as Bonham Carter can. And here she complements him as if she was born to. Her performance was heartbreaking right till the end.

All other actors deserve praises too. They contributed greatly to the success of the movie. But most of all, it is Depp who still can’t seem to do any wrong. He is the most magnetic and versatile contemporary actor, and definitely the most fun to watch.

This movie has set the bar for the rest to follow for the rest of the year.

Rating: 8 / 10

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Characters are randomly introduced in the middle of a song and then without first establishing anything concrete for the audience, they disappear for the next half hour before turning up again, out of the blue with no explanation why.

The actors however gave wonderful performances, especially the three leads who were exceptional and made the whole movie remotely bearable. Their singing were absolutely fantastic. Special appearances by Bono, Salma Hayek and Eddie Izzard were completely random with weird visuals that were only created for the sake of the songs. Joe Cocker came on in a few scenes to lend fantastic vocals to the song “Come Together”.

Most of the songs were produced very well by T-Bone Burnett and crew. I’m not a fan of the Beatles but I am a fan of the movie’s soundtrack, so that says something. The choreography for some of the dance numbers in the songs were also fantastically done.

But all in all, for a movie that’s says “All you need is love”, it sure didn’t feel that way. It was difficult to swallow and difficult to relate to amidst all that phatasmagoria. I guess this is what you get when a discography is made into a movie.

Rating: 4 / 10

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The music was just a little above average, the singing wasn’t something to jump up and down for, the plot wasn’t that great, and the acting, well I thought John Trovolta and Christopher Walken were actually missed-casts.

John Travolta should have just played the father instead and get a proper female actress to play his wife. Instead, we have Christopher Walken, thin and fragile looking, and he’s supposed to convince us he’s in love with a big woman who’s actually a man underneath that prosthetics. That just didn’t work at all.

Nikki Blonsky was commendable, however, as a newcomer taking on such a big role and executing it that well. Her singing wasn’t top notched but it was enough to be a hit. Queen Latifah is also another missed-cast. She is far from a good singer and yet she had to sing quite a few numbers which were far from captivating and lost me halfway through.

Michelle Pfeiffer made a good comeback to the movies. You can almost tell she’s fresh out of a long sabbatical and is full of energy and life. Luckily we can get to see her again soon in Stardust. The other sub-casts were commendable, especially James Marsden and Zach Efron. Not very sure about Amanda Bynes though but her character didn’t have much to go on with.

The story started off really promising, and the opening song was definitely the best song in the whole movie. The first half was excellent but the second half, it dropped a few notches and sub-plots took too long between each scene that it was bordering on slumber.

But this movie may just go on to win some awards, especially make up and costumes. Though I’m the least bit excited about Blonsky wearing the unflattering sleeveless dress.

Rating: 7 / 10

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Nothing wrong with the way the movie was delivered and it had some nice cinematography with beautiful music. The way this story was told is almost the same as how Beyond The Sea was, with the protagonist looking at someone playing himself as if in a play; and never clear to the audience where the line between dream and reality was drawn.

But not even the many special appearances by famous singers could save this movie. And I thought some of the singers like Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow actually spoilt the songs as their vocals just do not fit these standards. Morissette actually looked awkward dancing on stage.

However, Kevin Kline’s impressive singing while filming has brought life into this otherwise dull movie. It’s always different when someone lip-synchs. The outcome is always very apparent as can be seen with the other professional singers appearing in this movie who lip-synch while filming.

It was good to see Ahsley Judd and Kevin Kline in the forefront once again. Without them, this movie is nothing. And the two lead characters have a special bond which, to certain extent, is admirable. And that kept them together throughout everything, even through Cole Porter’s alternate life with homosexuality. So none of those messy rock star breakups here, which was nice.

But as I’ve said, the second half was really boring as nothing ‘big’ ever happened. No hook. Nothing. I was falling asleep.

Rating: 4 / 10

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The movie is a biopic of Bobby Darin. How accurate? I don’t know. But Kevin Spacey was fabulous. Not only did he dance, he sang every song he performed too.

Like all the previous biopic about past singers, they begin with ‘the dream’ of the fame and fortune and took its audience on its journey there. The fun of seeing Darin work his way up and meeting the girl and courting her. I did find the romance part a tad boring but luckily that didn’t last long.

And like all previous biopic, with success comes all the problems with it. I was just waiting for the marriage to fail but again, luckily, this one steered away from becoming a typical relationship of a famous singer.

Perhaps not as colourful a life as, say, Ray Charles or Johnny Cash, but Spacey directed this with a different approach that is new and fresh but audience may or may not appreciate it.

It started with Darin shooting a biopic of himself, then meeting the actor who plays his younger self but mysteriously the boy painted Darin’s past for him to relive it again. There were many times when I was wondering whether if Darin was still reliving the past or was he shooting it in his movie. And all these never became clear in the end, especially that mystery of the boy which was never solved as well. But every scenes captured all the feelings necessary to convey to the audience without missing a beat and that’s what’s important.

Kate Bosworth was great in her portrayal as Sandra Dee, from her younger, innocent days to the wife that never gave up on Darin. There was also a great supporting cast in John Goodman and Bob Hoskins.

And not to mention that great soundtrack. Spacey’s vocals were absolutely flawless. Doing those standards, he looked and sounded as natural as a professional singer. A side of Spacey that has never been seen but thank goodness for this movie. That dance routine at the end was just brilliant.

And Spacey incorporated the line, “People hear what they see.” into the movie. A very true statement in the world we live in today as the youngsters care less about talent and more about looks, which I think is just sad.

Rating: 8 / 10

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