More movie magic

In the last couple of weeks, I got all hyped up about the batch of good movies out on screen, and told myself that I gotta catch'em all! (pokemon joke, haha) Unfortunately, my weekdays are consumed with work and my weekends tend towards the lazy side with me on the bed most of the time.

I Not Stupid Too was not on my list of must-watch movies.

So naturally that was the movie we had to watch on Sunday, when I dragged my sorry carcass off the bed to meet up with friends. I'm not exactly sure why I agreed - perhaps it was the alarming fact that I had started to talk to myself due to lack of companionship, or that the food I usually store under my bed (so I don't have to walk to the kitchen) had run out, forcing me to get up anyway.

It pains me to say this, but Jack Neo is the Singaporean director. Forget the other arty-farty-politicommentary directors - no one in a Singaporean frame of mind cares about them. We're Singaporeans! We're politically-apathetic, culturally bankrupt and so shallow all the kelongs dried up. Our artists mass-migrate to other countries and people don't understand the concept of "freedom of expression". It's a wonder Eric Khoo got any kind of sponsorship at all.

Gripes aside, I Not Stupid Too is a standard Jack Neo film, although it must be agreed even among his detractors that he has improved tremendously. Directing and editting is good, and humour is a lot les heavy-handed compared to his earlier attempts. Unfortunately, the story drags on and on, and the cliches could sink a ship. I got the feeling as I watched the movie that Mr Neo had started out with the express intention of making people cry and that he was going to start those taps if it was the last thing he did! It worked somewhat, I guess - people were sniffing and bringing out the tissues as yet another cliched tragedy marched out to clout the audience with its moral-laden mallet.

Perhaps I'd have been a bit more moved if I hadn't been somewhat disgusted with Mr Neo's paedophilic offerings of his young stars. The boys have Teen Idol Plans pasted over their foreheads like gigantic neon signs.

In some ways, the movie was deep and self-examining. For example, despite a large par tof the show being about the intrusion of the mobile phone into our usual modes of communication, audience members' handphone ringtones went off periodically throughout the movie. And you have to take your hat off to the mother who can shout at her child to sit still, stop making so much noise and then slap his wrists a little whilst watching a movie where the lead characters are just short of plotting to kill their parents for being so mean to them.

Final review? Go watch it if you've ever felt like your parents didn't do a very good job. If you're a cynic, bring a vomit bag. A big one, because there's one touching scene every five minutes.

But do watch it, if only so you can see what being Singaporean is about.