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Written by Marissa Chen and Archana Reddy
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Page 1 of 2 Our all-encompassing festive party guides have probably gotten you all hot under the collar, but ringing in the New Year can be just as peachy with a solid stash of DVDs and a mug of camomile tea.
From the token apocalyptic/environment-in-crisis scenario to voluntary abstinences, HOOKED brings you ten countdown movie picks spanning over five decades, testament to the best in Hollywood and Asian cinematic history.
#1: How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days
Journalist Kate Hudson and advertising executive Matthew McConaughey, unbeknownst to each other, make wagers with their respective co-workers that they will be able to wine, dine, and then snag any member of the opposite sex within ten days. While Hudson's task is to ditch the fellow after the task, McConaughey's is to keep his date on his arm until the next company event.
Needless to say, chaos ensues when the two put their secret intentions into play simultaneously, with the inevitable slew of pitfalls and gag-fraught coincidences before the final happy-ending denouement. Yes, the plot is saccharine-laden and befitting of mostly those aged either seventeen or under, or forty and above, but the perennial charm of Matthew McConaughey that can lend even a paper bag all of the conviction it needs - makes us wonder why assignments of such a vein are never bestowed upon HOOKED writers. (Editor's note: Ah, you want one? You get one!)
Fans of low-fi electronica can also look out for a cameo by Justin Peroff of indie collective Broken Social Scene.
#2: Two Weeks Notice
 Starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, this romantic comedy is
a Disney-esque movie. The introduction song effectively juxtaposes the
personalities and lifestyles of the two main characters; poor but
highly intelligent Lucy and the good-looking but dumb owner of the Wade
Enterprises, George.
The lady who lies down in front of bulldozers is
offered a dream job by the playboy. Lucy takes up the job, with
illusions of utilizing her intelligence to evoke positive changes in
the company and in her boss, but her bubble is quick to burst when she
finds herself performing menial tasks for George.
She reaches her
boiling point when she is pulled out of her best friend's wedding to
choose a shirt for George and promptly hands in her two weeks notice.
She tries finding a replacement for herself and succeeds, albeit
inadvertently. A replacement she did find, in Jane, who got herself the
job by claiming a speech that Lucy had written for George as her own.
Jane's subsequent affair with George does nothing to endear herself to
Lucy. Two weeks come and go as Lucy quits. One's absence makes the
heart grow fonder and it is no different here as the two main
characters realize that there was more love than hate in their
love-hate relationship and reunite.
#3: Ikiru
One of renowned Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's best offerings, Ikiru, which translates directly to mean "To Live", is the poignant tale of Kanji Watanabe, a Type-A personality bureaucrat who is diagnosed with stomach cancer and given less than a year to live.
Confronted with the sterility of his lifestyle, he struggles to regain his bearings firstly by befriending a struggling writer so as to recover the sensual pleasures of life, and then, by attempting to channel the spirited youth of Kanji, his cheerful and garrulous co-worker, upon himself. After realising the futility of living through another, Watanabe resolves to embark on his private project - beating City Hall as the saying goes, and making a difference for the public by triumphing over the otherwise stagnant bureaucracy and erecting a playground for the town's children.
Expect the Kleenex to make several rounds at the film's concluding scene, mastered by acclaimed actor and Kurosawa's favourite Takashi Shimura.
#4: The Ring
Like measles in a kindergarten playgroup, Sadako's infamous
cursed videotape rapidly spawned a series of copycat films featuring
increasingly technologically-advanced gadgets (cursed cellphones,
cursed online games, et cetera) within two years of the film's
phenomenal release.
Despite this, The Ring, or Ringu remains the cult
favourite of all its mimicries, and deservingly so - not only has it
succeeded in turning impossibly far-fetched concepts like vengeful
self-impregnating hermaphrodites and ghouls crawling out from
television sets into a frighteningly real fact, most fans have sworn to
the indelibleness of graphic images such as the prerequisite
creepy-chick-with-floor-length-hair, and the yet-unnamed man with a
towel draped over his face (hey, don't ask us), who has incidentally
gave rise to a fan group and his own Wikipedia page.
The less intrepid
of us can turn to the watered-down 2002 American adaptation, which
compensates its paltry scares with a veritable array of eye candies from
the likes of Naomi Watts, Amber Tamblyn, and Martin Henderson.
#5: Armageddon
 18 days to train a bunch of deep-core drillers (few of them who
are afraid of flying), shuttle them to space to destroy an asteroid,
whose nature is unknown even to the rocket scientists in NASA, using
very powerful nukes is not only impossible but improbable in reality.
Of course Hollywood has never been impeded by facts in churning out its
mega block-busters. In the case of Armageddon, one has to be grateful
for that. While Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew agree to go
on this high-risk mission to save the planet, their trivialization of
their mission is pronounced in their behaviors during their training
stint, as well as the compensation that they demand in return for
risking their lives, which ranged from zero-taxes for their
remaining lives, a short stay in the White House to a write-off of all
of their accrued traffic fines.
They take off in "Independence "and
"Freedom" space shuttles despite being disqualified by the medical and
psychiatric teams at NASA. Naturally, space fails to cooperate when the
crew finally lands on the asteroid.
Tension mounts with each tick of
the clock, catastrophic accidents occur and the event calls for
self-sacrifice by an individual. The rest of the world can only sit
back and pray while the Americans emerge as the only ones who act
decisively to save the day. American propaganda and the defiance of 168
physics law notwithstanding, this movie resonates with conventional
wisdom that the key to success is not so much by knowing what you are
getting yourself into, but by having the tenacity to stick it out and deal with
the consequences of your incomplete knowledge.
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