What's Showing?

Watching movies is a hobby of mine, and I can say that I'm quite proud of it. This month is the one year anniversary of my movie blog, Familiar Fantasy, and I have written quite a lot of stuff there. Something to behold, although I feel that my writing can still improve. But really, it's the movie watching that I am happy to be a part of, more than writing about it. The experience of sitting through two hours of action, drama and thrills and what have you unfold on screen, be it big or small, is a real treat.


But if you lived in Malaysia, you'd realise how tough it is to be a movie fan. How hard it is to find good stuff to watch. How frustrating it is to see what's showing at the cinemas. How I'd wish some of the films I've heard about would make its way here.


Malaysian cinema suffers from a severe lack of quality movies to turn to. There are two main reasons for this: censorship and lack of commitment from local film distributors.

Let's start with censorship. Here we have a board, called the Censorship Board, that sees fit to decide what we can watch, and what we can't. They'll watch the movie, cut out some stuff they deem inappropriate, then let us see it. Or not. Sometimes too much is taken out, so they have to ban it altogether. What would they deem inappropriate, you ask? Sex. Violence. Religion. Sensitive political issues. The board sees fit to remove any content of such nature from the films they view. It's not a bad idea, though it promotes the notion that we Malaysians can't think for ourselves on what's appropriate or not. But the fact is, the board can be inconsistent at times. Some films are banned for violence, and yet other more violent films pass the test. Movies like 300 and The Hills Have Eyes 2 are screened here, but Kill Bill is banned. And then there are cases like banning Daredevil because of its title. Yeah, real silly, isn't it?


Then there are local film distributors who seem to lack in the ability to decide what's worth importing here and what isn't. That, and the fact that they take too long to bring the film over. I say there's a lack of ability to import the right films because of what we get to see here. If you know what films have been released by the Hollywood movie making machine lately, and also know what we Malaysians get to watch right now, you'd probably laugh. OK. Do you know what we get to watch in the cinemas for the past few months? Black Sheep (black horror comedy about mutant sheep). White Noise: The Light (horror sequel about the supernatural). Skinwalkers (werewolf film that got bad reviews). Whisper (B-grade thriller).

Now, granted that some of these films may actually be watchable. But why are we denied other films that hold so much more potential? Like 1408 (Stephen King horror film)? Or Daywatch (Russian fantasy film)? What about Zodiac, the film by David Fincher about the real serial killer called Zodiac? The Grindhouse films Death Proof and Planet Terror by Tarantino and Rodriguez? (OK, maybe the censors won't allow it anyway) Then there's Shoot 'Em Up, the action flick starring Clive Owen. Death Sentence, a revenge film with Kevin Bacon in the lead role. And the list goes on.

Local film distributors seem to think that these films aren't marketable here, so they don't import them, and hand the rights to the video companies, and the films get released on video later. So yeah, we get to watch some of them, but for a higher price, and on a smaller screen. That takes away so much of the movie watching experience. If you're into films, you'd know that the cinema is the best place to go, despite all the less than stellar experiences you get on occasion, like unruly patrons, screaming kids, technical difficulties and such. But all that has never stopped me from going.

And because of all this, it is the pirates that end up winning. The DVD pirates, who can basically get any film you want, will win at the end of the day. Dissatisfied Malaysians will turn to them to satiate their hunger for good films. I had done so in the past, but to be honest, I don't want to support something illegal, so I have bought legal copies of films as far as possible. But that will burn a hole in my wallet eventually, hence the importance of the improvement of local cinema.

I gotta tell you, I really wish I could go to Singapore. I read a monthly movie magazine published there, and I'm so impressed to discover the variety of films screened on that island. I think most film fans would be spoilt for choice there. Sigh. Malaysia and Singapore are practically neighbours, but we are so different in many ways. This is just one.

To all the people, the powers that be, who have a say in the control of films in this country, if you're reading this, please do something about this. You can beat piracy, you really can. All you have to do is pay attention to what's going on, and be more open minded. That's it.

Scattered around this entry are some of the promising films to arrive next year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though I don't know for how long.