Finally gotcha!

I had been seriously lamenting the fact that HBO, Cinemax, and Star Movies seem to have gone on a little stale procedure during the week in which I was back at my hometown- and there was no denying, watching these three channels are among the main things I look forward to everytime I return. It was more of a case of I asked a table, and I was given a chair. Repeated showings of Stuart Little as if it was a film released just last year, Norbit (gross comedy), and also Failure to Launch certainly didn't serve my purpose of going back. Add to that Cinemax's sudden obsession with showing Steven Seagal flicks repeatedly around primetime, and also a prolonged showing of M. Night Shyamalan's second worst work to date- Lady in the Water.

I waited and waited and almost gave up everytime I see the info for primetime- it has always managed to dissapoint me- up until Saturday, when I got what I bargained for, even though not completely.

First up, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

This 1988 comedy stars two of the most enigmatic screen actors I have become fond of seeing in Hollywood- Steve Martin and Michael Caine. The very fact that those two were featuring was a good enough reason for me to finally sit through an entire movie (something which I did not do the previous week), and I have to say I enjoyed it to the tilt. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is simply your regular popcorn movie with enough twists and turns to make it and engrossing watch, and two power packed performances by Caine and Martin carries the film to the highest echeleon of entertainment. This film could have so easily have become another one if the many slapstick comedies in offering, but the duo both give a restricted yet utlimately and intelligently funny performance as two con men who try to outdo each other in conning a 'soap queen'. The film's setting in a small French town also helps the film a great deal, and even though at one point the film seemed to drift into a humanity prospect with Caine's pity for the woman he is cheating- the track soon reveals itself to reach a perfect crsecendo to a good entertainer.

And then, came In Bruges.

If a small French town and two con men was the anthem of DRS, the small, historic Belgian town of Bruges and two hit men is the anthem of 'In Bruges', a 2008 dark crime comedy which marks the film debut of Irish playwrighter Martin McDonagh. Colin Farrell has done well to put his notorious image behind him finally, with a performance that really revels the actor in him in this silent, slow film about a hit men's desperate questions about redemption, life, sins and goodness after killing a child accidentally in London while completing his first assignment. I've been waiting to see it for quite some time now given the fact that the film is in the IMDb's top 250 list, and thus to be seeing it on the eve of my departure back to KL is like a goodbye blessing. And I wasn't dissapointed a bit. At times I thought the film is the kind of film I have seen before, but the film's distinctive setting and mood always offer something different, and needless to say, it is really funny at most parts, and tragic (almost heartbreaking) at the others.

And within the one and half hour span, the film excellently explores three characters that of Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, and also Colin Farrell and also portrays the relationship they have with each other magnificently.

In Bruges certainly comes close to one of my all-time favorites- Punch Drunk Love- in terms of unique presentation that sees the film create a mood of its own not stuck into any particular genre.

And then the mini movie fest. Another tick in my list of having watched a top-ranked Hollywood flick. End of.