The UrbanWire      

^{(Images courtesy of Yahoo Movies)}

No need for any plot introduction. You’ve watched most of this movie already. This tough-guy-nanny-handles-kids and kids-triumph-over-baddies storyline is so overused it’s surprising no screenwriters have been sued yet. Think The Pacifier and replace some elements with the Home Alone series, complete with a hint of Spy Kids. Then again, if muscle-bound governator Arnie and the Rock have suffered indignity at the hands of pre-teens, why not Jackie Chan?

The Spy Next Door is Chan (The Forbidden Kingdom, Shinjuku Incident) now a geek named Bob Ho. He also happens to be boyfriend of a divorcee (Amber Valetta), who has 3 cute brats (Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, Alina Foley).

To cut a long story short, the brats don’t like Bob, yet Bob gets to babysit them, evil Russian baddies come after Bob because he turns out to be a really cool spy. Brats see Bob kick some ass and suddenly want him as their father, wedding bells chime, and wait – Bob’s real name isn’t Bob! Surprise, surprise.

The film opens with a series of clips showing Jackie Chan’s stunt performances in various previous movies like The Tuxedo. Sadly, that’s the most exciting fighting scene you’ll see here. Age must finally be catching up with the 55-year-old kungfu superstar, and this movie appears to be his desperate attempt to pave a way into the field of family entertainment to stay on in this industry.

But if you’re not looking for kick-ass action scenes, have an annoying kid you need to please, or simply have too much money, then this film is for you.

Only a young audience will accept the ridiculous clichés thrown at them in the movie. The Russian spies are bumbling, menacing-looking boneheads who will stand still and wait to get shot by the genius kids who can perfectly operate high-tech spy equipment as soon as they lay their grubby hands on them. An intelligent boy who can operate a tracking device definitely knows his way outside his neighbourhood enough to cycle to the dilapidated shack (that may be just somewhere down the street) where Jackie Chan is preparing an ambush for the baddies.

Maybe there’s something emotionally liberating for a child to watch another fellow child hate a grown-up, be spoilt and rotten, and get away with it.

So if you’re 9, you’ll like this movie. Maybe.

UrbanWire rates The Spy Next Door an almost waste of time. 2.5/5.

Photos courtesy of movies.yahoo.com

Release Details:

Opens: Jan 15
Duration: 94 min
Language: English
Rating: PG
Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Brian Levant
Cast: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, George Lopez

^{(All images courtesy of sina.com.cn)}

This movie has taught me to appreciate the finer tastes of ordinary-looking popcorn, after constantly chomping on the snack for almost 2 hours, and its function – to keep you busy in case you end up entering a theatre showing a huge mistake of a movie like The Treasure Hunter, which proves that it might not be worth the effort afterall.

The film plot tracks the race of a treasure hunt between treasure hunter Jay Chou (Initial D, Secret, Kungfu Dunk) and some weird masked or mummified enemies.

That is, if you count nightly flirtatious banter and ogling at a woman a “race”. As every hero’s unnecessary must-have beauty accessory, Lin Chi-ling (Red Cliff I & II) dutifully clings onto Jay’s back as they whiz through the desert on a big, bad, black motorcycle, tries desperately to figure out the non-existent chemistry between them, and not-so-surreptitiously seduces the hunter while wiping the day’s grime from her neck. Well, at least she actually does look pretty.

Honestly, there aren’t any competitors – the loser baddies who arrived in a storm vanished, literally, without rhyme or reason from the whole storyline after coming out to punch, kick, and roll in the sand for a while. Jay’s road to the buried treasure couldn’t be any smoother with a babe at his side and foes mysteriously absent.

The popular singer continues his cool, arrogant hero act here – same few expressions without much improvement – but provides endless scenes for groupies to squeal at. If you’re an action scene lover, there’re a few fight sequences with a mummified human, a Darth Vader sound-a-like, and 4 old bearded spirits.

Eric Tsang (Bodyguards and Assassins, Perhaps Love) acts as the comic relief character, though it’s probably redundant as this movie seems to be a joke in itself. The veteran reveals the hidden Singaporean in him, spewing his lines in Mandarin, English and Cantonese. Chen Daoming (Infernal Affairs III) is the “emo” guy with a screw loose, who mutters incomprehensibly to himself, and has a potentially powerful background story that was gone to waste.

Now, doesn’t all that just sound promising?

The Treasure Hunter is clearly a movie without any artistic aspirations, only hoping to bank on Jay Chou’s popularity to sell the tickets. Director Kevin Chu (Kungfu Dunk) needs to learn that a few stars carelessly thrown into the movie poster are no longer enough to lure the audience into spending their hard-earned money.

Even if you’re a fan of Jay, take heed to destroy any expectations of the movie you might have, and make sure your arms are full of popcorn, nachos, chips, and every snack you can grab before you walk into the cinema hall.

UrbanWire rates The Treasure Hunter 2/5.

Release Details:
Opens: Dec 31
Duration: 106 min
Language: Mandarin
Rating: PG
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Kevin Chu
Cast: Jay Chou, Lin Chi-ling, Eric Tsang, Chen Daoming

1905: a year of dangerous undercurrents and secret plans, the year of pseudo calm before the revolutionary storm.

A group of underdogs and rebels gather in an attempt to protect Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a well-known assassination target for his revolutionary ideals, who’s stopping by Hong Kong for a meeting with 13 other resistance group leaders under the pretext of visiting his mother.

Sounds like a movie for you action film junkies?

Here’s a piece of advice: don’t go into the cinema expecting Bodyguards and Assassins to be similar to the adrenaline-packed Yip Man film.

But still, there’s more than enough reason for you to part with $7.50 (Singapore dollars) for a weekday/night ticket. The movie boasts of a total of US$23 million (S$32 million) in production costs and a full scale location set (S$8.8 million) of 1905 Hong Kong (as calculated by their official website). Producer Peter Chan Ho-Sun (The Warlords) and director Teddy Chan (The Accidental Spy) even managed to assemble a 12-star lineup.

^{(All images courtesy of www.bodyguardsandassassins.com and www.sina.com)}

With so many stars in the film, an apparent danger is the lack of engagement between the audience and the characters. Bodyguards and Assassins did fairly well in this aspect of connecting the audience to most of the characters.

Donnie Yen (Yip Man) plays Shen Chongyang, a money-grubbing, good-for-nothing gambler, whose only merits are – make a guess – superior fighting skills, and a (almost-withered) conscience. With more emotional depth to explore in this character than his previous roles like Pang Yong in Painted Skin (2008), Yen unexpectedly left a deep impression. The ambivalent feelings towards his old flame were compelling, and crying scenes were surprisingly well handled.

Veteran actor Wang Xueqi (Warriors of Heaven and Earth) gave a stellar performance as Li Yutang – from the somewhat apathetic businessman, to the hesitant leader of the protection plan, to the strict father – every emotion and expression was flawlessly executed. Though the first half of the movie was virtually his solo performance, no complains here.

Tony Leung Ka-Fai (The Myth) must’ve been a rebel scholar in his past life – he brought out the skin and flesh of his role with ease. Nicholas Tse (Storm Warriors) was a convincing honest and simple rickshaw puller; his acting’s no longer over the top. Hu Jun (Mulan, Red Cliff I & II) was able to show that there was more to the antagonist than just a mindless killing machine.

Another noteworthy actor is former NBA player Mengke Bateer, who’s Mongolian. His rendition of a smelly tofu hawker is surprisingly natural, and the parody on his basketball player identity during the character’s fighting scenes provided harmless, lighthearted humour to the plot.

It didn’t bode well for the movie, though, when the audience started to chuckle at a supposedly serious character doing a supposedly serious act – which was what happened to Leon Lai’s (Seven Swords) beggar character.

The audience giggled and snickered through his time on the screen. At his ‘big moment of sacrifice’, he stands ramrod straight on the stone steps, a slight breeze hardly messing up his stiff hair, weapon in hand, with the pose of a kung-fu master ready to face death… and all we could do was laugh.

Lai’s fans can console themselves though, albeit slightly; it probably had less to do with his acting ability than his ridiculous getup and nonsensical back-story. What, pray tell, does a self-pitying, lovesick and suicidal beggar who fell in love with his father’s lover got to do with the theme of the movie?

But that’s as bad as the character backgrounders get. The innocent love between Nicholas Tse and Zhou Yun, who plays a handicapped female, was sweet, and given just enough screen time to create an emotional resonance within the audience. Father-son interaction between Wang Xueqi and Wang Bo-Chieh was wonderfully heartwarming too.

Action scenes, which were intended as the main attraction in the movie, were left wanting. The parkour sequence by Donnie Yen, and the brawl between him and professional kickboxing champion Cung Le was no doubt first-rate, but seemed a little drawn out, and some fighting scenes were dizzying with too much going on.

However, through a daring decision to cut between the intense action scenes to pay homage to those sacrificed, this brought out the ’sacrificed anonymous’ topic of the film well without compromising its pace.

Other minor faults like characters’ makeup, such as Yen the poor gambler showing off perfectly bleached teeth, and costumes, with Eric Tsang (Infernal Affairs I, II & III) looking like he’s cosplaying Mr. Pringles the potato chip mascot, can be ignored if you’re less particular.

This is a story about the grey areas of a resistance, about the darker side of a normally perceived “good” side, about the deceit and blood that stain a shadowed fragment of revolution.

The secret of Bodyguards and Assassin’s success lies in the meticulous craft which goes into explaining each character’s motive and background and engaging the audience emotionally with not only the main characters, but also many of the supporting roles.

However, a flaw in this picture of sacrifice is the lack of a reason for sacrifice. Many characters in the film don’t even have the slightest clue who Sun Yat-sen is, as they’re set as non-educated, but they all too willingly sacrificed their lives. Too much emphasis on martyrisation led to unwarranted deaths; characters that were painstakingly developed suddenly became blind and thoughtless – cheap offerings to the cause of revolution.

Complaints and regrets aside, this is a must-watch for the amazing acting and grand action sequences (and some laughable characters).

UrbanWire rates Bodyguards and Assassins 3.5/5.

Release Details:

Opens: Dec 18
Duration: 138 min
Language: Mandarin
Rating: PG/Some Violence
Genre: Action/Drama
Director: Teddy Chen
Cast: Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Hu Jun, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Fan Bingbing, Simon Yam, Wang Bo-Chieh, Li Yu Chun, and Zhou Yun.

Wagyu beef. Kurobuta [which means “Black pork” in Japanese]. Hokkaido scallop.

These expensive delicacies are definitely not what you’d expect to find in your average sandwich bar. And with cuisine from the Land of the Rising Sun gaining popularity, Kimochi, located in VivoCity, offers a Japanese twist to your typical sandwich.

Within the jungle of sushi and kushiyaki restaurants in VivoCity, this quiet deli appears to stand out as a different sort of eatery for Japanese cuisine junkies – which is exactly what Matthew Loh, owner of Kimochi, wishes to achieve. Although he has another Japanese restaurant, Kushi Dining Bar, Kimochi was born from a want to differentiate themselves from the other Japanese restaurants.

The café has a contemporary design, with a spanking clean white interior. As you walk in, you’ll be greeted with a glass display of fresh vegetables and bread. Place your order at the counter, settle yourself comfortably at your seat, and your food will be served by the friendly waitress around 5 minutes later.

Every sandwich comes sitting on a flat plate held together by a long toothpick with sauce dish-sized sides of Japanese seasoned baby octopus, salad, plus a bowl of soup.

^{(Photo from Kimochi)}

A new addition as a side is coloured sushi, a new product of Kimochi. 7 colours are available, with each made from different vegetables like tomatoes and mushrooms, consisting of a different health benefit, for example, lowering cholesterol and aiding weight loss.

From a list of around 20 salads and sandwiches to choose from, you can be sure you’ll be able to find something of your liking here. Choose from any of 3 kinds of bread: focaccia, ciabatta, and white bread.

With a ferocious appetite, UrbanWire attacked the menu and filled our demanding stomachs with salads, soups, sandwiches, and desserts. Here’s our verdict:

Soups & Salads

Mushroom Soup ($5.80):

Expectations of this all-time favourite climb higher and higher, but Kimochi’s mushroom soup would definitely satisfy picky taste buds. Served with light, crisp croutons and (surprise!) grated cheese on top, the mushroom soup has the right thickness and colour – not too creamy to make you feel like you’ve just drank a bowl of milk, and not too watery to make you feel like you’ve been cheated with a diluted version.

Stir in the mozarella on top and voila! A spoonful of sliced mushroom, flavourful soup, complete with tempting cheese-strands that you’d have thought you could only find on pizzas.

California Salad ($8.80):

The equation of any food:

Fresh = win.

∴, Fresh iceberg lettuce + fresh red tomatoes + fresh Japanese cucumbers + fresh avocadoes + fresh prawn roe + (okay, maybe not fresh, but still) oh-so-delicious crabsticks + savoury dressing with a dash of tanginess = winner.

The serving of this salad is big enough for women with smaller appetites to wave the white flag before they’re done with the bowl, so share it with a friend or two if you still want to try the sandwiches.

Sandwiches

Chicken Katsu Sandwich ($7.80):

The chicken katsu is the Japanese version of the chicken cutlet, and is breaded in Panko breadcrumbs (made from bread without crusts, making it lighter than Western versions). This Chicken Katsu sandwich hits the spot with a light, crisp coating around the juicy chicken, covered with mayonnaise and prawn roe. Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers complete the delectable combination.

Unagi Sandwich ($9.80):

If you’re one of us in the WLUC (We-Love-Unagi Club), you’ll definitely love this.

Unagi (Japanese eel) lovers know that no matter how nicely marinated and grilled an unagi is, if it isn’t carefully prepared, instead of a smooth, sweet eel, you’ll find your throat chocked up with irritating cartilages.

No worries with this Unagi Sandwich, though. Its fine bones allow for easy swallowing – your gullet is safe. Add a dollop of homemade mayo + prawn roe and you have a scrumptious meal.

100% Wagyu Beef Sandwich ($19.80):

If there wasn’t a “100% Wagyu Beef” label, we’d think it was meat from any old cow.

The beef patty had a nice pink tinge in the centre, and the beef patty scored an average in juicy standards, but oomph-wise, it was lacking. 2 slices of cheese and a few strips of bacon were thrown into the mix, but all they did was make the dish saltier.

Still, anyone looking for a simple sandwich with an unadorned beef taste would be more than happy to tuck into this item.

Dessert

Green Tea Cheese Cake ($8.80):

Japanese versions of Western dishes are usually lighter, so if you were expecting a New York cheesecake taste-alike, think again.

Thankfully, however, this dessert is not Mars-bars-sweet, and leaves a gentle green tea aroma in your mouth. It tastes more like Matcha mousse with a tiny hint of cheese, but one can never have too much of the green-tea-and-red-bean pairing in desserts.

A direct translation of ‘kimochi’ in the Japanese language would mean ‘feeling(s)’. And the feeling that Kimochi wants to convey is the sincerity of their food that’s “made from the heart”. Make your way down to this peaceful café and have some sandwiches made with sincerity.

Address: 1 Harbour Front Walk, #01-163 VivoCity

Tel: +65 6376 8380

Opening hours: Daily, 10am – 10pm

Kimochi is GST-free, but all prices listed on the menu don’t include service charge.

Question: If the owner of a popular ice cream shop decides to open another store, what would it be?

Answer: Why, a burger joint, of course.

Wait, what?

Yes, situated at the first level of King’s Arcade, 2-month-old Burger Shack is ice cream café Island Creamery’s newly acquired savoury sibling.

UrbanWire visited on a weekday around 4 pm, and was shortly followed by a large group of students. As the store is located near a number of institutions such as National Junior College and Nanyang Girls’ High, diners looking for a quiet experience should probably visit on weekends to avoid after-school hours.

Still, Burger Shack was clearly designed as a hangout for school-goers. Handwritten scribbles and little doodles decorate the restaurant, and together with the clean, white interior, present a fun, casual atmosphere. There’s even a photo printer where you can print your “cam-whoring” photos and leave happy memories on their wall.

Half-expecting to be greeted with a menu of buns sandwiching ice cream slabs, UrbanWire was pleasantly surprised to see an assembly of 8 burgers ranging from good ol’ ones with New Zealand beef patties to fusion kinds drizzled with Japanese okonomiyaki sauce [sweet and tangy dressing on Japanese pancakes].

Despite the variety, the BBQ Pulled Pork burger ($6.20) easily sailed its way to the top of the don’t-miss list, with mum’s-famous-recipe sauce lavishly lathered on a generous mound of flavourful pork strips. The pulled pork was moist but not nauseatingly greasy as some “moist” (but really just fatty) pork is.

Coupled with soft homemade buns and crisp lettuce, this delightful masterpiece of a burger scores an effortless ‘A’ with UrbanWire’s taste buds.

The Original burger ($5.70), however, didn’t quite make the cut.

One thing about Burger Shack’s buns is that they’re slightly bigger than the ones you’re used to at McDonald’s or Burger King. It would only be natural to expect an increase in the proportions of the meat patty, right? Except that there wasn’t any.

The beef patty was, in terms of size alone, the identical twin of McDonald’s beef patties, not to mention that it was rather dry. Savoury and slightly tangy, liberal amounts of sauce and mayonnaise was its only saving grace.

Thank goodness, a bite into the Grilled Chicken Caesar burger ($6.20) erased most of the previous disappointment.

Creamy Caesar dressing with enough sourness to accentuate the sweetness of succulent flame-grilled chicken, fresh greens, and fluffy buns will compel you to finish every last bite.

To the health-conscious who’d still like to have a presumably fat-loaded burger, the menu offers Vic’s Portobello Mushroom burger ($6.20). However, unless you’re a true health nut, you may be unable to get used to the relatively bland taste.

For desserts to complete your meal, there’re warm brownies ($2.40 each; $4.80 with ice cream) or you can take a 5-minute walk to Island Creamery instead as there are very limited flavours served in Burger Shack.

All burgers on the menu are ala-carte, but there’s an offer of adding $3.20 ($2.50 for students) for a set meal consisting of shoestring fries and a canned drink. There’re also add-ons such as cheese and bacon available at an additional $1.50 each.

For rice-lovers, Burger Shack offers to trade burger buns for garlic butter rice. It comes with a cute little square of butter atop the rice, and the garlic fragrance whets your appetite – only to disappoint it on your first spoon. Simply put, it’s white rice with the aroma of garlic, and the butter contributes only to the aesthetics.

Food is served in the sort of metal trays you’d find in mini toaster ovens. At Burger Shack, it’s self-service so you’d have to make your way to the counter when they announce your order number.

With a relaxed ambience and reasonable prices, Burger Shack will be a definite hit with students as Island Creamery is. Be sure to give their BBQ Pulled Pork burger a try when you drop by!

Address: 559 Bukit Timah Road, #01-01King’s Arcade

Contact: +65 6466 3477

Opening Hours: Tues to Sun, 12pm – 10pm (last order 9pm)