3688 - 想入飞飞 (2015)

I was hoping that this will turn out to be good but the story was pretty weak. IMHO, Royston has yet to prove to be a strong storyteller when it comes to the feature length format. The cast performances weren't strong enough to make an otherwise weak story (and script) captivating. The musical numbers didn't really help to energise the film enough. Which is a real shame, because the poster, the ideas and the trailer all look pretty good. But the actual product turned out to be a pretty dull affair.

Assassination (2015)

Nice!

The Assassin - 刺客聂隐娘 (2015)

IMHO - this is a pretty brave film. I began struggling to stay awake after the first 10 minutes (and I did succumb a few times along the way). I've never been more aware of cricket sounds or birds chirping, and it's been a while since I watched a film where the actors do a lot of internal emoting. You can't go wrong with Shu Qi. She's hot. Dialogue is sparse and the few fight scenes are brief and bear little resemblance to the types found in more commercially oriented films. I suspect a second viewing will probably be needed for me to appreciate this film better. That said, I won't recommend this to a mainstream audience.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Enjoyed this loads. Made me LOL and cry. Thomas Mann stands out in this, IMHO.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Was entertained. Love the chemistry between the two leads. Love Hugh Grant in this. Doesn't hurt that most of the characters are mostly competent and nicely realised by strong performers.

Inside Out (2015)

Didn't help that I was distracted by a crying baby at the start of the film. I basically wasn't paying attention to Lava, the short that preceded this.

That said, I found this rather plain. Didn't find the characters engaging either (in fact, found the lead character Joy very irritating). There is some cleverness to the whole setup, but not enough to balance out the things I didn't enjoy about this flick.

Amy (2015)

"If I could give it all back just to walk down the street with no hassle, I would."

I'm a little divided on this. A few times, I was bored because expectations weren't met (I've heard great things about this before watching). At times I was touched. Generally, I liked it. A well structured, in-depth presentation of a tragic figure whom I found likable.