Gauntlet - About: Hoang-Mai Hong

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Beautiful Wild Things breathtaking
2009-10-22 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Gauntlet Entertainment

Movies - Ever since Where the Wild Things Are's heartrending, perfect trailer was unveiled, expectations have been very high. Not that this full-length feature, which pulls its story straight from a beloved children's book that was a perfect and very brief 300 words, wasn't already highly anticipated.

Being directed by Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich and a handful of really awesome Beastie Boys music videos) and produced by Tom Hanks and the book's author Maurice Sendak, surely reassured some. But the movie will dispel any remaining uneasy feelings -- it's a truly exceptional film that fills the book's sparseness with brilliant visual storytelling.
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Up an uplifting time at the movies
2009-06-04 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Gauntlet Entertainment

It's pretty hard to imagine how Up, the latest addition to Pixar's uninterrupted line of certifiable classics, was, according to its creators, at one point "a mess." There's no doubt now that the apparently infallible studio has crafted yet another fine and distinct piece of film.

Up is fantastically imagined and realized, making it a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Like its predecessors, it also offers a megaton of heart, grounding itself in grief, loss and rediscovery in seemingly small, yet truly grand, ways.
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Spun: Pet Shop Boys
2009-05-28 - Hoang-Mai Hong

Spun - The Pet Shop Boys have been making clever pop albums that balance searing wit with fey, Euro-trash dance music sensibilities for nearly 25 years without a misstep. Thankfully, they continue that trend with their latest LP, Yes, which holds to the tried and true Pet Shop Boys tropes -- fashion, style, wealth and love.

"Love Etc.," the extremely catchy lead single, captures nearly all of those themes in a piece of heartily decked out pop confection. It simultaneously takes a stab at the excesses of the seemingly rich Â-- all the more mordant in these times -- while offering some sticky sweet house beats that those same Richie Riches can ironically bob their heads to, while waiting for their convertibles to be repossessed.
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"Back to the Future" meets "Big" in "17 Again"
2009-04-16 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Gauntlet Entertainment

It's not surprising that 17 Again is an absolutely formulaic and predictable movie, but despite that and its other numerous flaws, it comes off as disarmingly sweet with some genuinely likeable moments and performances, especially from Zac Efron and the always terrific Leslie Mann. The former, undoubtedly trying to break away from his pre-teen Disney-mold, actually manages to come off slightly cooler to those who don't have curfews in this well-chosen transitional role as a depressed, almost divorced father who suddenly finds himself back in his 17-year-old body.

The movie starts in a place probably most comfortable for pre-teen fans of Efron and painful for nearly everyone else: it's the '80s and teenaged Mike O'Donnell (Efron), Stamos-esque locks a-flowing, is warming up for the big basketball game by busting out a few overly-choreographed moves with the cheerleading squad. But the movie quickly veers away from this pre-teen trap of an introduction when it is wordlessly revealed that O'Donnell's girlfriend, Scarlet, is pregnant. He "throws" the game and a chance at a college scholarship away to be with the girl he loves. For what it is, it's a genuinely sweet moment and reveals O'Donnell not only as the popular jock, but as a kind kid with a good heart and good intentions.
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April films make for a mixed bag
2009-03-26 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Film Festivities

Column - Maybe it's because of the advent of spring, but movies feel somewhat fresher and wider ranging at this time of year, even if they aren't. The slate feels as if it's been wiped clean and expectations are wide open. Or maybe we're just more tolerant with the prospect of fair weather? Upon closer investigation, overall there's not too much to be excited about save the potential to be diverted by mostly fluffy and just fairly decent movies.

Case in point, this week will see the release of a Sundance indie darling (Sunshine Cleaning, in wide release this week), a not terrible looking old-fashioned exorcism movie (A Haunting in Connecticut), a brainless but appealingly simple action flick (12 Rounds, starring the WWE's Jon Cena), a typical but comforting Colin Firth rom-com (The Accidental Husband) and a star-studded animated film (Monsters vs. Aliens). Of note is Adventureland, about a teen (Jesse Eisenberg) whose sense of entitlement is shattered when he has to spend his summer in the drudgery of the local amusement park. Of course, said park is rife with comedic possibilities, care of Ryan Reynolds, SNL's Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, as well as a love interest (Twilight's Kristen Stewart). Several of Hader and Wiig's fellow comedians such as Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert lend their vocal talents to the other movie of note this week, Dreamwork's next Shrek-esque money-machine, Monsters vs. Aliens.
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Segel and Rudd are funny guys
2009-03-19 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Gauntlet Entertainment

movies - The buddy movie has been a popular brand of entertainment for decades, but it seems that only recently has it delved into the softer complexities of male friendship and mined homoeroticism for comedy.

I Love You, Man, the latest buddy-comedy to hit theatres attempts to do precisely that. Terms like "bromance" have been tacked onto this new way of looking at male friendships. I Love You, Man sets out simultaneously to endear audiences to this gushier side of male friendships while poking fun at all the awkwardness that can result from trying to understand them.
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Post-Oscar films to enjoy in March
Watchmen is going to be awesome and there may be some other awesome stuff too
2009-02-26 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Film Festivities

Column - Emerging from all the hullabaloo and buzz of the Academy Awards, one realizes that other than a few upcoming "majorly anticipated" movies, what else is there? Not that anything else is less than worthy of our collective attention, but there hasn't been much circulating around other than Watchmen trailers. Well, the Oscars have been awarded now, and according to the adverts at the end of the show on the U.S. feed, we need to push forward on the movie front.

Unfortunately, things start out rather slowly so the film world can recover from its award season hangover. Pre-teens will be delighted to flock to Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience this week, which also features Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. The other new release option this week is the more fantastically horrifying Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li starring Smallville's and Canada's own Kristin Kreuk. Why Street Fighter and why now? Be one of probably 12 people in the world who ever find out before it is more than likely to be released straight to DVD and obscurity the following week.
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Online Only: Oscar predictions you can bank on!
2009-02-12 - Ryan Pike, Gauntlet Film Nerd and , Hoang-Mai Hong, Gauntlet Film Nerd

movies - The ballots have been cast and the lights have been dimmed, so it must be time for the Gauntlet's annual Academy Awards preview. This year, resident movie nerds Hoang-Mai Hong and Ryan Pike tackle Hollywood's tribute to itself. Who will win? Who will lose? More importantly, who will predict more winners-- Hoang-Mai or Ryan? [Editor's note: probably Hoang-Mai]

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Upcoming movies a sea of dull
2009-01-22 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Film Festivites

Column - Alas, it's January, so gird yourselves for the new semester, as well as a month that will offer little in the way of good escapism, new movie-wise. It sounds rather bleak, but take comfort in the fact that there are still plenty of award-nominated and critically-acclaimed films still in theatres. If you still haven't taken in Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon, Revolutionary Road, Changeling, Gran Torino, Doubt, The Reader, Happy-Go-Lucky, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Rachel Getting Married, go and do it before classes really start picking up.

As for the more mediocre new releases this month, the list is also long, but hopelessly dull, with a few exceptions. Mickey Rourke's highly-touted performance in The Wrestler saw a wider release last week. The movie tells the story of a washed up former pro-wrestler and all-around good guy trying to make amends with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) as well as mount a comeback. Rourke is genuine and endearing in this role that has completely revived his career, and it's also good to see director Darren Aronofsky bounce back from his last impenetrably pretentious film, The Fountain. Of note as well in last week's releases is Last Chance Harvey, an uplifting tale of two lonely middle-aged people who find each other, which earned both Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman several award nods. Another small film with an award-worthy performance is I've Loved You So Long, a French film starring Kristin Scott Thomas, which will be released this week. Thomas plays a woman just released from prison who begins to open up again with help from her sister's love.
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Holiday season on the silver screen
2008-11-27 - Hoang-Mai Hong, Film Festivities

Column - Like a very welcome and comforting cup of Lady Grey on a cold day, holiday movie season has arrived. Higher quality films are starting to settle in, hoping to pique Academy voter interests as well as rake in the dough from people getting their yearly reprieve from work. Fear not lovers of irony, and those who just don't know any better, as some crap is also headed straight for your gullets.

Before taking in some of the new stuff, forgo the Cineplex-in-mega-mall-X experience in favour of parking yourself with the Dude in beautiful Kensington when the Plaza Theatre brings back The Big Lebowski until Nov. 27. Better still, for both your wallet and the community, there is a free with a food bank donation showing Nov. 27. The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers will be presenting Surrealism on Film as well at the Plaza Theatre and the CSIF Sofa Cinema on Nov. 27-29. It features both national and international films, as well as a special presentation of Salvador Dali's Un Chien Andalou.
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