Sunday, August 06, 2006

What a busy day today. Watched so many things until my eyes blur:

Battleship Potemkin. Heard about the project last year. Pet Shop Boys orchestrating the music for this huge Russian classic. Thought would never get the chance to watch it. Thank goodness for SFS who brought it into Picturehouse. I believe I was one of the first to sign up for the screening. Was actually 15 minutes late due to the usual Saturday morning traffic jam outside Novena Church ... thank goodness the screening began late too. The film was all I expected. It was not difficult to see why this was such a huge classic, truly magnificant, propaganda, great camera angles, highly emotionally charged, etc. Not hard to see why the Pet Shop Boys took up the challenge. So how was the music? Well, the subtle and melancholic parts worked for me, only when the exciting moments began and the big sounds and synthesizers threaten to roar, then I thought that the duo held back a little, preventing it from sounding too syn-pop. The rest was fine. It was an awe-inspiring experience watching the great flim roar to live.

3rd Singapore Short Cuts. I missed the first two screenings due to my work. I was not going to miss this third installation. Turned out this one was quite like a little greatest hits, nuggets from the last decade, which was a nice change, seeing how the short films were like, around a decade ago.
Absence. I believe I watched this on Arts Central a long time ago. The script was very mature, very well written. Uncle Sasitharan had jet black hair then. Hah hah.
Datura. I still can't quite remember whether I watched this before. This was Nizam's examination piece, with Rabita producing. Very innovative use of various film techniques.
Ragged. Wow, this film looks really dated, like made in the 80s. I thought the karung guni man's home was the underside of the Whitley Flyover in PIE. This place was actually very near my old house, and I used to pass by there regularly. I had fond memories of playing under that flyover actually ...
Sense of Home. This film looked like it was made in the 70s! How did Suat Yen manage to make the mid 90s film look so old. Still, it was nice to look at Singapore only a decade ago, and realise how much the city had changed over the decade.
All in all, was glad to have made the trip to the National Museum Gallery Theatre. It was my first visit there, and certainly not my last ...

I went to HMV and bought the Battleship Potemkin soundtrack. Am listening to it as I am typing this ...

New York New York. Decided to try out this new restaurant in the City Link Mall. I think it replaced Nooch. I was really surprised. I thought Nooch would last. This is a brand new restaurant, not a local or American franchaise. The interior looks funky and certainly promising enough. As it was newly opened, the place was packed. I was lucky to be seated in a booth that seats seven, when there were only five of us. The booth seemed to give a little privacy, but the fact was that we still needed to raise our voices when we speak. Well, the earliest was Kai Lin, and she came like 20 minutes after I sat down. This was followed by Beverly, and finally Wen Fu and Yvonne. It seemed I came out with a bunch of non-eaters ... Kai Lin ordered a cheesy ball thingy, I ordered a Rottissory Chicken, half rack, and Wen Fu ordered some sandwich. From the looks and tastes of our food, I don't think I am in a hurry to go back there anytime soon. Looks like its back to Sakae Sushi or That Express, the next time I decide to eat in the City Link Mall.

Kai Lin and I waited sooo long to buy our Godiva drinks, and they ran out!!! Ended up we went to Gloria Jean, which opened a franchaise in the new extension, at the basement of the Raffles City Shopping Centre. My creme brulee drink was not too fantastic ...

The Silence of the Kittens. Vivianne called in the afternoon to say she has complimentary tickets for this show, which I gladly accepted. While Homesick is being staged at the Drama Centre, this play is being performed in the upstairs Blackbox. Tonight's staging was actually full-house, which was a pleasant surprise. So how did I find the play? Well if you enjoy Ovidia's past efforts, then you will enjoy this too. Her trademark satire and irony, whether social or political issues, are well positioned here. The cast performed with much competence. There were some truly witty moments. My favourite was when the three cast came out representing three different religion (viewpoints). After watching the play, well, I don't feel entirely satisfied. I thought it was all very well directed and staged, and that was it basically. The play did not push any envelopes, did not really hit anything I would like them to hit. It was alright to spend a night out with friends to watch it, but I thought the play stop at the point, and did not venture to raise more issues. Pity.

Looking forward to hanging out with my MGS tech girls later, and watching Homesick. Yeah!

♥ 12:08 am