DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

At a foster care facility for troubled teens, Grace (Brie Larson) works as a line staff, maintaining order and making sure the youths under her watch do not escape the premises, or worse, slit their wrists with sharp objects, say scissors or a shard of glass. The job is anything but ordinary. You will find yourself sprinting after a runaway every once in a while, or get spat in the face, or worse, get too awfully attached to these kids.  Such is the bittersweet tale that forms the core of writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton's SHORT TERM 12, which is based on his earlier short film with the same title. The film begins as the facility's staff engage in a breaktime banter where Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.) recounts to newbie Nate (Rami Malek) a story of how he once chased a mean runaway kid and ended up in an embarrassing ordeal. Soon after, a young boy named Sammy (Alex Calloway) tries to flee the facility, which prompts Grace and Mason in pursuit. We see the ro...

We love Jackie Chan. He has been an indelible part of our childhood that we are willing to forgive him for mishaps such as "THE SPY NEXT DOOR" and "CHINESE ZODIAC". Imagine my excitement upon learning of a new POLICE STORY movie, which is also darker than the previous one (which co-starred Daniel Wu).  In POLICE STORY 2013, Chan is Mainland Police Detective Zhong Wen, who is set to meet her estranged daughter Miao (Jing Tian) at Wu Bar, owned by Wu Jiang (Liu Ye). A hostage taking situation ensues, and both Zhong and Miao are caught in the crossfire. But not everything is as it seems. An elaborate plan of revenge is revealed to be the objective of the hostage taking. But for what? The film uses flashbacks and hints, yet the muddled storytelling gets in the way of an entertaining presentation. There is not much action as we'd like there to be, and Chan's age is undeniable especially during close up shots. He seems to be functioning at 20% his reg...