Someone show me a way to get outta here ...

Kiat's Film List 2009

2010-01-02T11:19:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

Its been a hectic December, devoting my work, health, and love, on some bold and brave show … and now it is time to recap some fine movies that I had watched over this past year, the last year of this decade, 2009.

For those of you who know me, this requires no introduction. For those who are new and older friends, well, I consider all the films that I had watched on the big screen for the past year in my list. So, on the one hand, films that are watched via vcd / dvd, hence on the television screen, will not be considered; on the other hand, films screened in Alliance Francaise, National Museum Gallery Theatre, Screening Room at the Arts House, are considered too … This also means that period, or b/w, films, may be considered too. I TRY to consider only one film per film festival, or else the commercial releases will all fall by the wayside … I always pride myself for having an eclectic and tasteful list … Since the films were viewed some time back, I have forgotten most of what I remembered, why I liked or loathed them, so I will just type what I remember and think of, now … I am not a film critic, so I just write as I please …

20. Sincerely Yours (SIFF Screening)

The Opening film of this year’s Singapore International Film Festival is a tender love story of two illegal foreign workers in Taiwan, who can only communicate in simple Chinese, but somehow bond in a hostile foreign land, that is always on the lookout to evict them. A harsh but poignant study of the difficulties faced by those who were force to go away to make a living, leaving their loved ones behind. We should be kinder to our domestic helpers …

19. Julie & Julia

There is really only one reason to watch this movie – Meryl Streep. She was the reason why the old cookbooks of Julia Child are selling like hot cakes again. An over-the-top performance, I am sure she had great fun with the film. Amy Adams put in a gallant performance, but is unfortunately overshadowed by her more senior fellow actress. Stanley Tucci put in a great performance as well. Nora Ephron has written and directed a tour de force this time, since Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail.

18. Afghan Star (SFS Screening)

This is more than an idol show. This is about belief, faith (and there is a lot of conflicting faith in here), and bringing a nation together to perhaps put down their arms, their wars and conflicts, and hopefully bring back to a time when life was peaceful. Following the journeys of four contestants, it sometimes felt that they were politician candidates, sometimes political refugees … Seeing the smiling faces, glued to the television sets, smsing to vote, were heart-wrenching moments of the film.

17. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The epic movie, that shows that one has to appreciate life, accept adversity, people are not what they seem, and give love. There are beautiful lessons to be learnt, scattered throughout the film, rather enjoyable ... but perhaps weighted down by much expectations … who knew that the original story was a short one? Brad Pitt puts up a great performance, despite mostly in much make-up, or digital touch-ups. Cate Blanchett is the wonderful partner that helps to weave this beautiful tapestry together.

16. Slumdog Millionaire

If not for Born Into Brothels, I guessed I would have enjoyed the film even more. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great film, the funky music made the film very well paced, the child actors were gems, and while the language got a while to get used to, yet the cinematography was commendable. However, the biggest star, or not, of the film, was the sprawling city, the slums, that overwhelms the people, everybody in the film, that shapes their destinies, their lives.

15. Little Shop of Horror (Under the Banyan Tree by National Museum)

One of the few musical movies that I have always enjoyed, not just because of the songs (Skid Row and Suddenly, Seymour), but also to see that fine generation of comedians when they were younger (Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, John Candy, Bill Murray, etc). To have written a story with comedy, science fiction, horror, in a musical, although very campy, the writers certainly deserve a lot of credit … as well as putting off a whole generation of young people away from vegetables …

14. Star Trek

I approached the film with great skepticm, there had been many Star Trek films before, and so can this be any better? I am not a Trekkie, so I find myself enjoying the film very much. I thought the opening sequence where Captain George Kirk sacrificed himself to save his crew, including his family, showed that the franchise might be in good hands in the future. J J Abrams introduced a whole new “good-looking” cast into the Starship Enterprise, and they certainly don’t look too out of place either. I look forward to the sequel.

13. Alice in the Cities (SFS Screening)

I was very grateful for SFS for bringing this old gem in. I had heard good things about this film, and I was not disappointed. This is easily one of my favorite road movies of all time. The uneasy friendship between the photojournalist and the little girl was a joy to watch and treasure. Alice brought the film to life, otherwise the shots were littered by much urban decay in parts of old Germany. The optimistic ending scene was very satisfying too.

12. Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Spanish Film Festival)

I have a weakness for Julio Medem’s films. I know his films are often associated with our Golden and Yangtze cinemas, but there has always been something … exotic, about his films. I discovered his films before Almodovar … don’t ask me why. Anyway, this film is one of his best, fusing love, destiny, romance, coincidences, and so forth. It is such an art house film, which is gorgeous and enjoyable. This is a love story like none other, with equal parts joy, and heartache, naturally.

11. A Town Called Panic (Animation Nation)

This has to be the wackiest, funniest, and most inventive film of the year, definitely. This is exactly the type of animation I would had made when I was 5 years old … so I wonder where did the animators get their ideas. The animation (clay, stop-motion) style is very crude, but who cares when you have an unbelievable story, and very adult lines … to boot (literally) the storyline along. In a perfect world, I would had recommended this film to all primary school children to watch.

10. Up

There’s got to be a pixar film every year in everybody’s list, isn’t it? Last year’s Wall-E was sooo good. Up started very promisingly with Partly Cloudy, which already deserves to be nominated somewhere … the beginning sequence of Up, wow, nearly leaves tears in my eyes … as for the rest of the film, well, to be frank, I did not enjoy as much, but hey, it was still a great and uplifting (literally) film, and still stands very well with the rest of Pixar’s great body of works.

9. Avatar (3D)

The last film I watched from the last decade, ushers in what might future filmmaking look like. The plot was nothing to hoot about, but the visuals, wow, they made the humans NOT look out of place with the Na’Vi, and I think this is the greatest achievement that James Cameron can proudly claim. This is also the first film that, to me, looks good in 3D, hence worth the extra few dollars paid for those cumbersome glasses …

8. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son from his Father (SFS Screening)

By no means a well-made documentary film, but surely one that will make you want to take to arms, and this is perhaps this documentary’s greatest achievement. Together with the book that was inspired by the real unfortunate change of events in this tragic story, it has changed the lives of many who had followed the story, read the book, or watched this film. This will make you think twice about Justice and Goodness in this world, period.

7. Departures

There isn’t much else to say about this truly moving film that won Japan’s it’s first Foreign Film Oscar. Whether it is really better than previous year’s nominees, is debatable. The director has done a really great job to treat this very very underrated, understated, career, with utmost love and respect. The film is however not weighted down by the brevity of the subject matter, as there are often humorous moments in the film to remind us that, with due respect and love, life goes on.

6. Sell Out!

I bombarded my friends to go check out this film made by our fine neighbors at the North. There are many funny moments to savor in the film, not least because what the filmmakers want to make fun of at their own country and people, can well be applied to us as well, since we are so alike in many ways. Part musical, part art-house film, part parody, and such a great blend of languages (English, Malay and Cantonese), a Truly-Asia film!

5. Ponya on a Cliff by the Sea

As with every other Pixar film that will enter my year-end list, every other Hayao Miyazaki film will also enter my year-end list as well. This one is rather child-like when compared to his recent few works, but there is no mistaking the allegory about loving and protecting (Mother) Nature, and striking a balance between land and sea, man and others … The other noteworthy mention is that (annoying) theme song, that can get stuck in the brain for days …

4. Rainbow Troops (SIFF Screening)

And now for a great film coming from our neighbors at the South. A simple story about reminiscing childhood memories, growing up in a really poor neighborhood, although often living hand to mouth, but yet still able to have lots of fun with friends, and school, and all the other things that make growing up so fun, so bittersweet. This is the kind of childhood that we are missing now, and I think we would all pay to give this kind of childhood to our children now.

3. Moon

A very underrated and slow-paced science fiction film, but definitely worth catching again and again. Duncan Jones (Director) and Sam Rockwell (Actor) are two names that are worth looking out for in the future. For a science fiction that has no battles, no aliens, not much adventure beyond the planet, there is still enough suspense to keep the film pacey and intriguing, while delivering important messages about “scientific ethics, corporate greed, human identity, and compassion”.

2. Let the Right One In

I don’t watch horror and I don’t watch vampire films, cos I scared mah … but I had heard so much good things about this film that I had to go check it out. I was so impressed by the film. It was a rather interesting twist when the vampire is the female role, unlike conventional stereotype when the male is the vampire ... Therefore it got very poignant when she asked him if he still love her after knowing that she is not like him ... I am still stunned by how achingly quiet, beautiful, pure, the film and friendship is ... (The author came for this year’s Writer’s Fest, and I got his autograph! Yeah!)

1. Talentime

As with every other … I have said this before already … it is with great sadness that a true, and still rather young, filmmaker, had moved on before her time. She had brought us so many great gems before, and this film is perhaps, in a fitting way, a perfect swansong for her. With this film, Yasmin tried her hand with a musical format?!?, and the result was quite stunning. It was incredible how she brought out the emotions and tender acting from her young actors … RIP Yasmin Ahmad.

Surprise! I have decided not to include a bottom list, as I have forgotten to list them down in the first place … heh heh heh

But I have not forgotten my special mention list:

1. Danse Macabre, Next Floor (Singapore Short Film Festival)

I love watching short films, and I bet I had watched hundreds of them in a year … these two offerings, from the SSFF, stand out, for sheer storytelling, choreography, and perhaps more importantly, originality. Dance Macabre is a music video about … a “dancing” corpse; Next floor is a short film with, (dirty) food, hungry diners, many floors, and just one line: “Next!” These prove that there is still room for great stories if one try hard enough.

2. This Is It

A one-of-a-kind film from a one-of-a-kind god.

3. Saint Jack (National Museum)

You have to watch this to watch old Singapore in the late 70s, and while the film drags halfway through the film, there is the great acting from Ben Gazzara that made this still rather compelling film to watch. National Museum also arranged a tour to visit the old locations that the film had shot, and it was with great sadness to see that many of the old locations are no more … I also bought Ben Slater’s book, but am still halfway reading through it.

Well, this is it! Here’s hoping that there will be a great bumper of films to watch in 2010!

My Facebook Account has been disabled

2010-01-01T23:36:00.002+08:00

Well,

This means I now have time to do other things, like revisited my long forgotten blog ...

Wow, it certainly is dusty around here. I think my last entry was the beginning of this ... no wait ... last year! Which makes it about one whole year which I had not visited this old friend ...

Interesting ... so, has 2009 been anything special to me in any way?

On a personal level - nope.

On a work level - well, STAGES got busy, with 4 major shows to hoot, or boot, so everyone's been saying that STAGES are onto something big ... we hope, and we will work hard.

What else ... actually, I can't think of anything else leh ...

Anyway, my next entry, should my facebook account not come back, should be my annual film list!

Kiat

Ho Sua, with English Subtitles!

2009-01-20T13:24:00.000+08:00

Chesty Nutty - Ribena Ads

2009-01-12T22:15:00.000+08:00

Ho Sua

2009-01-10T09:18:00.000+08:00

This was from last year's show!

anybody home?

2008-07-08T02:58:00.000+08:00

wow, my blog is still alive ... i thought since i havent been here for so long, it might actually be gone ...

anyway, the reason im back is because i have been doing a little blog ... shopping, to look for bloggers who blog about the b boyz and ballerina show, so that ... then i was able to trace back to my own damn blog ...

lets see when is the next entry then, heh heh

Sungei Buloh Anniversary Walk 2007

2007-12-09T21:06:00.000+08:00

... continuing my exploration of faraway nature corners of our sunny island ... finally i visited Sungei Buloh nature reserve! Thanks to the Toddycats!, I had a guided tour, abeit the family version, of the amazing habitat in the North West corner of the island. Finally a safe and clean environment to observe and study a seldom known, at least for us city dwellers, environment, that is full of fascinating flora and fauna. There are the trees with roots that stand out above the mud, the nud skippers, the monitor lizards, the crabs, the seasonal birds that stop-over to feed and feed, so that they can continue their flight elsewhere. There are a few routes that visitors can choose to explore, and I guess, on a day with better weather, we might had ventured further inland. Well, perhaps I can come back again soon, with binoculars and a handy cap over my head, and visit this unique environment, for who knows, it might not hang around for too long for us to marvel.

The Pixar Story

2007-11-27T10:53:00.000+08:00

This was my first film for this year's Animation Nation, and I was pretty happy with this documentary, except for my friend who did not turn up ... the documentary goes behind the scenes to find out the rise, and the mainteinance, of the quality of animation that we all grew to love, from Toy Story, to Monster Inc, to The Incredibles, to Cars, and to Ratatouille. Two important things that I learnt: never compromise on the quality, no matter the costs or the deadline; and don't rest on your laurels, continue to challenge yourself and break new grounds ... Many insightful interviews, on George Lucas, Steve Jobs, Michael Eisner, John Lasetter, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, etc, showed that, even for a documentary, these guys took much effort to make sure that the documentary looked good as well. Even more precious were the peaks into their expanding office grounds, their working culture, and tonnes of little seem footage, the earlier versions of Toy Story, before it all came together ... a most worthwhile documentary to watch, pity the not so impressive turnout ...

Stardust

2007-11-12T17:45:00.000+08:00

Many friends wanted to watch this, guess I can see why. One of the better adventure, fantasy, romance, films to come up lately, (after LLTR), boosting a fine cast of Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes etc, and small cameos like Sir Ian McKellen, Peter O' Toole, this one delights the children, (as young as upper pri can be brought to to watch it) and adults alike. Finally, a Neil Gaiman production that is not hard to understand, or enjoy ... maybe he can write more stories for films indeed. Robert De Niro hams it up with what little screen time he had, and he had a great looking flying ship. Michelle Pfeiffer was a hoot to watch as she alternated between beauty and ugly make up. Claire Danes looked like she hasn't aged from R&J. Charlie Cox makes for a rather dashing lead. There is much witty dialogue for the audience to savour. The film boosts some breath-taking scenery, and the two villages looked really authentic indeed. Take That sang the theme song, and it is not half bad too. Well worth checking out!

Grave Decision

2007-11-10T11:52:00.000+08:00

Guess this is the only film I will be watching out of this years German FF. Well, it was an excellent choice, I must say, for it was one of the most enjoyable films I had watched in recent memory. The entertaining dark comedy was a great success with the audience, what with two sold out screenings. The combination of a growing child's fantasy and imagination, together with the slight fanaticism and conservatism of German Catholicism, with a lot of wacky situations thrown in, make this a really fun comedy and date evening. The young protagonist, Marcus Krojer, had more charisma and charm than that of the Seeker lead, Alexander Ludwig. We can only hope that a far-sighted distributor would bring it in for a commercial run. Together with "The Lives of Others", "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and "Four Minutes", this has certainly been a bumper crop year for German films.

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

2007-11-08T10:30:00.000+08:00

I need to mention the Harry Potter series here. As the franchiase is so successful, every other fantasy film, with a child lead, is bound to be compared to this. Pan's Labyrinth managed to hold on its own. The Narnia series ... I did enjoy Bridge to Terapithia. The Seeker pales in comparison. Since I did not read the Susan Cooper book, I am spared a lot of discrepancies. However, it doesn't hide the fact that the story is weak, for something that is meant to change the world, in all light and darkness, all the signs should be a little more difficult to search for, and not found within walking distance from their little town ...; The Elders, who had been protectors for hundreds of years, should had been putting up a little more fight; The Rider, should have more impressive fighters with him, and not snakes and crows and old witch ... It is such a pity that heavyweights like Ian McShane and Christopher Eccleston could not salvage the film. Don't think I will be watching the sequels, if the same screenwriters and director is in the helm.

The Game Plan

2007-11-03T11:05:00.000+08:00

There are actually movies that I go to just for entertainment. File under date movies, hint hint. Naturally, one does not expect much from such movies, as the attention is usually on the seat next to you ... Anyway, watched this because Stardust was sold out ... Michelle Pfeiffer! I actually quite enjoy this movie, as I did not expect much in the first place. I thought this was the Rock's best effort so far. He did the right thing by steering away from those mindless action movies, and showed that he can handle comedy pretty well too. It helps that the role is not too difficult for him to handle. There are the cringeworthy moments, that I supposed is a challenge to him, like the ballet, and the singing ... The young girl, Madison Pettis, has potential, but lets see how far she can go. Kyra Sedgwick has aged ... tremendously, sigh ... This is a good, wholesome Disney film, that is safe to bring the children along to watch.

Hunting and Gathering

2007-10-19T10:46:00.000+08:00

After watching this movie, it took a long while to figure what was great about this film. Plot, acting, effects, entertaining, etc ... none score too high actually. It was a rather decent, yet normal film. Which in hindsight, perhaps, was the great little beauty about this film. It is a film that Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet would not be ashamed to put in their CV. It is not too clear what the film wants to say about love, or old age, or overcoming speech deficiency, but the subtle portrayal of delicate relationships in the urban city, where initial strangers help and care for one another, where encouragement and budding friendships help to build character and career, and find love of course, makes for a relaxed, but ultimately, satisfying 1 3/4 hour in the cinema. You won't get much more from this film, besides the eventual joy of seeing the pieces fall into place at the end. It is a pity that this film won't attract bucketful of audiences, because the selling point ... isn't much. This is a, what I would call, Wednesday movie, something to tide over the week by, something pleasant, something inspiring, something to build hope on, for a better week ahead.

Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Donkey Skin, Jacquot de Nantes

2007-10-16T09:33:00.000+08:00

This year's French film fest brought us a retrospective of Jacques Demy's classic works. I have not come across his films before, yet I chose his films to watch, over and above the other contemporary French films. I was pleasantly entertained by the three films, full of fun, song and dance, fantasy, innocence and charm, and generally, great entertainment for the family. Catherine Deneuve looks absolutely gorgeous in her younger days, as she still looks divine now. It is rather rare to find directors today who entertain, rather than bore the audience with the same plot over and over again, or test the audience with over the top special effects ... His films were very approachable, filled with fantasy, drawing experiences from musicals and fairytales. From Jacquot de Nantes, a film based on his early childhood days, we learnt that he learned his film making the hard way, through cardboard animation, on a cheap camera. His film technique grew as he got more and more exposed to watching films and reading magazines. He persevered to become the well loved director in France. Anyway, I was really glad to have come across his works.

The Italian

2007-10-14T10:11:00.000+08:00

This is certainly a powerful and intense movie. Don't let the young age of the protagonist fool you, this 6(?) year old fella can certainly earn some awards in the near future if he continues to improve. I also like that the director takes time to develop the other characters around the boy, so that you are not too quick to pass judgments on them. The environment's coldness, dampness, starkness, the dark reality of the orphanage, felt really really real. The downside though, is that the pace is a little too slow for my liking ... This is based on a true event, which goes to show a little of how times are really hard and harsh in the other end of the world. The eventually search is a little far-fetched at times, but nothing that you cannot really disagree with. Of all the rubbish that is being released during this exam period, this is the one little gem that ought not be missed.

Nanny Diaries

2007-10-11T20:11:00.000+08:00

The teddy bear has been compromised. In this film there is Scarlett Johansson, Alecia Keys, Laura Linney, Chris Evans, Paul Giamatti. Well, none of the acting was particularly impressive, it is a romantic comedy after all. The anthropological set up for the film, was interesting, but was conveniently chucked away when not needed. The story was pretty standard, the ending was pretty straight forward, and if you really follow the lead at the beginning of the ... museum tour, you are not quite sure what the ... premise was all about. The turnaround for Mrs X, after a good scolding from Annie, came about rather soon and convenient, hardly convincing at all. Hmmm. The red umbrella, reference to Mary Poppins, was rather annoying to see after a while. Oh well, I am now going to get a spoon to dig up some Smucker's Gobber Grape jam ...

Expedition Linne

2007-10-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

This is not a film about Carolus Linnaeus , although I would not had minded if it was a documentary about the great man, seeing that his life was filled with much adventure and discovery. The film took the point of view of three young people, as well as the photographer cum director, as they try to grasp the world today, wrought with grave global environmental issues such as global warming, extinction, HIV and other diseases. These people wonder aloud, throughout the film, how they can make contributions to mankind, like what Linnaeus did, 300 years ago. I thought that, even though the film was quite well made, and very beautifully shot, I must point out, the focus of the film was rather spread thin, due to the magnitude and scope of the issues covered. The interviews with esteemed personalities, like Al Gore, and various professors and scientists of various fields, certainly lent weight and credibility to the pretty film. Frankly, at the end of the film, I was not too certain what the trip, nor the film, was trying to achieve, although they certainly filled the film up with many imagery, facts, humour, etc, so it was not boring at all. Oh, this film would be good to show, and inspire students, and I think it would be great if it can enjoy wide circulation in schools.

Sicko

2007-09-27T12:28:00.000+08:00

I remembered what was fun about Bowling about Columbine was that, as you were watching the documentary, you already have doubts about the claims that Michael Moore made about the US gun industry and its laws. Hence, it was a rather fun documentary to watch, not to mention that its raw and edginess was not common to what we watch on Discovery channel or other documentaries. With this effort, it was, like, too good a case, too good a slingshot, to fire at the authorities and the powers that may be. Sure the personal cases were very real and very touching, but that was the least of the homework that any director had to do in the first place; the cases for health care in Canada, UK, and France, were a little too simplistic, too easy to swallow. That said, I did like the final resolution for those 9/11 "heroes." I thought that salvaged the documentary somewhat. Yes, this also got me thinking where and what my government stand on its national health care, although I won't be looking for a civil servant to wash my laundry any time soon.

Azur and Asmar

2007-09-20T00:38:00.001+08:00

This film has been bouncing in and out of the Cathay radar for the past year. I finally chanced to watch it the other day. My god, what a visual spectacle! Every other frame was like lifted off from an art gallery ... The French animation clocked close to 100 minutes, I thought, and indeed some sequences were rather tiring to watch after a while. The conflict between the siblings did not quite materialize as I hoped, although it did make for a rather amusing ending ... The mixture of French and Arabic languages were quite beautiful to listen to actually, since every other French film I watched, the language did not sound as pretty as I thought. Besides that, the message of respect, tolerance and open-mindedness, shone through the film. Certainly a beautiful film to add to any respectable dvd collection!

Faraway Sunset and Inochi

2007-09-17T11:44:00.000+08:00

Faraway Sunset was an inspiring biography of Noguchi Hideyo. He was a famous bacteriologist known for discovering the agent that caused syphilis and for his work on a vaccine for yellow fever. He was different since young, in that his fingers were deformed due to a childhood accident. He resolved to become a doctor when his hand was successfully operated upon. However, as he was unable to life a surgical knife, nor face patients, he turned his attention to research. His success was also a result of his mother's constant encouragement throughout his life. He made a promise to only come home when he had succeeded in his work and life, and that took him away round the world for 15 years. The most touching scenes were obviously when the mother and son finally met towards the end. Yet another inspiring film about fighting against adversary, about not giving up, and using your gift for the benefit of mankind.

Inochi means Life in mandarin. It is the true story of the author's own experience. She was going to have a baby, but the father was a married man who would not commit to her. She turned to her former lover, and found out that he had contacted an incurable cancer. They made a pact to help each other, to a beginning, and an end. Her baby gave him hope and will to continue to fight till his end; his persistence gave her strength to give birth and raise the child. It was a rather strange relationship indeed, that the family and friends around them, find hard to coop as well. There were of course many touching scenes of breakdown and despair, as well as corresponding scenes of hope and living to fight another day. I guess the film is about reaching out to others, giving them strength and hope, and in return, healing yourself and giving yourself faith and solitude too.

Ballad of Narayama

2007-09-17T11:29:00.000+08:00

I have been a faithful follower of the Japanese Film Festival since the early 90s, when they were screening at the RELC. It was a great time to meet old friends, who would gather religiously to watch great Japanese classics. I loved it when the Japanese Association located itself at Adam Road, cos that is so damn close to where I stay ... of course the seats were hardly comfortable ... Now that they have relocated the festival to the Museum, well, there are plenty of advantages too, I guess.

Several films obviously caught my eye when this year's line-up was announced. I will go for Abduction and Dying in the Hospital this weekend. I would had liked to watch Vengeance is Mine, if not for another prior engagement. I would not want to miss the masterclass by Jun Ichikawa. Ballad of Narayama is a special case though.

It was a great great pity that Jonathan was not free to watch the film with me. Many many many years ago, one of the first plays that Jonathan and I worked together was a story not unlike this film, also about a village where it is a custom for the son to carry their mother up to the mountain to die when they have reached a ripe age, and hence this story about how unwilling this son was to follow the custom. Of course, our play concentrated more on the internal struggles of the family, while the film was so so much more than that ...

The film was gorgeous in other ways. The multitudes of animal shots in nature compliments the mood of the film at different points, looking like a National Geographic film at times. The director does not mince away from scenes of passion too, hence the R-rating. The final part of the film, though arduous, was well worth it at the end, I felt. Kudos to the festival for bringing this great film in.

Attempts on Her Life

2007-09-15T10:35:00.000+08:00

I forgot that I was watching a piece of theatre here. I must have missed the small prints at the bottom of the page of the flyer. There were 17 scenes about "her", a non-described character that can be a real woman, called by different names, or not. By the time they reached the second scene, I nodded off ... but thankfully I was back in the third scene. Other than not trying too hard to follow the plot in any sense of the word, it was actually a pretty fun production to watch, as the original script apparently gave the director and cast much leeway to improvise and dictate how they wanted the scenes to be presented. My friend Zachary acquitted himself pretty well here, I was glad to say. Oh, one mustn't forget to mention the multitude of languages on display here. Were there ... ten, in all? One was not sure whether it was funny or frustrating to watch a scene when there are four languages being engaged at the same time, with complete understanding of each other too. I guess this was the artistic license that "school" productions are allowed to enjoy. Always looking forward to the next show.

No Reservations

2007-09-15T10:23:00.000+08:00

I didn't expect much from this film really. I don't think Catherine Zeta-Jones nor Aaron Eckhart did much acting here. The little joy to watch was Abigail Breslin, who turned in an improved, rounded performance from Little Miss Sunshine. The initial scenes between her and Catherine, in the hospital, in the house, in the school, were perhaps the more introspective and tender ones in the whole movie. The love scenes / moments between the two leads were rather awkward. I thought it was tough to screen this around the same period as Ratatouille, as most would prefer the rat over Catherine ... but I guess the film distributor thought that both films would compliment each other. Pass the desserts please.

IgnorLand of its Name

2007-09-08T11:24:00.000+08:00

I think I bought tickets as soon as I could. I thought it would be an interesting performance, travelling about Singapore, well, just two locations, to watch a performance about old, and perhaps forgotten, history of our nation. I regretted not getting more tickets for more people, but I guess in the end it worked out not too badly ... There wasn't too much I did not know about the Dragon Tooth Gate, but it was a chance to see the fake rock at Labrador Park, at night, and also looking across the straits, to see Sentosa, the oil distilleries, and a huge cruise ship too. The first venue was a little tight to squeeze three bus loads of people, but they managed. The second venue was abandoned due to forecast of rain, which did not happen in the end ... and that was a real shame. I did not know much of (the old) Nanyang University history, the extend to which it affected a whole generation of Chinese-educated students, and adults alike. It would not be possible to recreate the kind of environment and culture that they had, many many years ago, but it is important to not forget what they had gone through. This is the same for the Dragon Tooth as well, that people should remember that these are worth remembering as well, that they had contributed to the progress that Singapore is, today. I do look forward to this series that Dramabox had put up again.

Love Conquers All

2007-09-08T11:11:00.000+08:00

Friends seem to think there is a secondary meaning when I left this on my msn and facebook. Well, I leave this to their interpretation. I went to buy this ticket the day it was released, as I suspected that it was going to be limited, and I was very right. Some friends could not get tickets because ... the Picturehouse is a really puny cinema. I think I am a small fan of Da Huang pictures, for I have watched quite a few works, shorts or featured, by Tan Chui Mui, James Lee, Liew Seng Tat, and of course Amir Mohd. Then again, it could also be because Da Huang people are such good friends with Substation people ... Anyway, the film was close to what I expected and suspected from the gang of four. As I was chatting with my buddy Anand the other night, I like the "heartland" films that these guys make, together with Yasmin Ahmad's films, far better than Singaporean film-makers like Jake Neo or Eric Khoo, make. Maybe it is because I am a Kampong Boy, a Lat, at heart ... Naaa, what do I know about the kampong, I only have a very very faint memory of my maternal grandparents' pig farm before they had to move out to live in heartland Bedok ... The film was not as enjoyable as I would like it to be, but I don't mind watching it again. I just don't think that my parents would enjoy watching it, it won't be their kind of afternoon or evening drama they follow on Channel 8 or U ...

Yellow Ribbon Walk

2007-09-08T10:59:00.000+08:00

It has been a long while since I participated in a huge public event. This was certainly one. We were told that there were about 10, 000 participants who turned up. Other than the usual suspects, it was gratifying to see school groups and church groups lending their bodies and voices into the walk. The most interesting part before the walk was this ex-convict who came out to talk, and sing. He had a decent voice, and the song was not bad as well. The most entertaining part before the walk was finding the car owner who accidentally parked at the lot that was reserved for the GOH, and the owner was apparently pretty quick to move his or her car ... The walk was guided by a lot of volunteers I believed, hence ... lets just say that there are a lot of trampled grass, to be grown back; and a lot of empty drinks' cups, straws, and plastics, to be picked up after the event ... Sammy and I stayed at the end to collect our goodie bags, and to tie a yellow ribbon around the old ... ... so that is where the song came from ... We thought it was pretty difficult to get transport back to civilization, thank goodness it was not, and we could continue our day's activity as planned.

Singapore Short Cuts

2007-09-08T10:49:00.000+08:00

I missed out on the first two instalments due to the IJTP show. I missed the third one because I was too late to go down to collect tickets. I contacted Wen Jie to save me a ticket for the last one. It was really good to see that the whole event was really well received, such that many who wanted to come, could not, because the house was full. Perhaps the next time they can consider two screenings per session. Anyway, I was really glad to have been there. Three of my friends, Zi Han, Willie, Jun Feng, had their works screened. They were all fun and interesting. Hope to see more good works from them. The highlight was the first film, Ah Ma by Anthony Chen. What can I say, I pity the feature film that was screened after this short, for it was so melancholic and depressing, simple yet effective. The acting was pretty uneven, some were actually cringe-worthy, but I guess you can't help by feel moved by it all. The short film spoke a universal language, and that helped too. The other films paled in comparison. How to become an Actor was fun, but rather weak in execution, I felt. It was funny to see Rodney as a struggling actor, really. I thought his beard helped a lot in his looks there. I guessed I could had stayed for the Q & A, but my stomach was more important, I guess.

Secret

2007-09-08T10:32:00.000+08:00

I really watched to watch this Jay Chou movie. I am a big fan of Anthony Wong. I am an even bigger fan of Guey Lun Mei. It was a crime not to bring Blue Gate Crossing into Singapore, it was easily one of the better Taiwanese films in some years. I was fortunate to have watched it twice, somewhere. I must find the dvd somehow ... Anyway, I was blown away by her performance. Apparently, so was Jay, hence he invited her to be the female lead of this film. My dear Elsa was right to say that she was better, and prettier, than the "secret" actress in the movie. By the way, as first film standards go, Jay has certainly raised his bar pretty pretty high. It was a very accomplished piece of film-making. Although there was bound to be loopholes in the mystery ... romantic campus film, on the whole the film made enough sense to carry the audience forward. It doesnt do Jay any harm to portray himself as a talented piano student, and there was certainly a lot of piano playing in the film, not just himself, but many cast as well, including Anthony too. Might be a contender in my top 20 films of the year.

Abducting Not Releasing

2007-08-30T20:24:00.000+08:00

Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story. Apparently this is a very case in Japan, whereby many Japanese, mostly teenagers, disappeared in the 50s, I think, for no apparent reason. It was only in the 80s, I think, whereby people start to piece the mysteries together, and fingers point to North Korea for abducting these Japanese, so that they can teach the North Koreans all things Japanese, so that they can infil .... Anyway, as any good documentaries go, this one was pretty comprehensive and thorough, and heart-wrenching too. Many of the abductees have returned home, some had passed away, yet some are still shrouded in mystery, like Megumi. Investigation seems to suggest she is not dead as believed ... well, there is another chance to watch it again at the upcoming Japanese Film Fest, will try to catch it again then.

Operation No Release 2007. I followed Han Zhong and friends on a car to places where people are suspected to be releasing, or feeding, wild animals, such as monkeys. Well, we were not busy all the way. I had a chance to visit Upper Pierce Reservoir, I don't quite remember when I had visited the place before, hence it was a pleasant experience. Well, we did spot a few drivers and passengers flouting the laws, while Han Zhong and his friends took off to speak to the drivers, to explain to them why one shall not feed the wild animals, I took to taking pictures, of their licence plates, of them talking, of the monkeys ... Another idle afternoon spent in nature.

Udon and Bridge to Terepethia

2007-08-20T21:09:00.000+08:00

Hey, I can't believe I had been gone for ... 2 months. How time flies when you are (sometimes) having fun. JUMP, Toronto, IJ Toa Payoh were several blasts. Shall blog about them eventually.

Udon. My favourite Japanese noodles for many years, have been ramen. Truth to be told, it was all the fault of a particular Japanese movie, Tampopo, one of my absolute favourite movies of all time. This movie sometimes felt like an update. Anyway, I like this enough, even though it was pretty long. In fact, I think they could had made two movies with the length of it. The oodles and oodles of udon on display, certainly made us all very hungry, and impatient as well.

Bridge to Terepethia. Many felt this was an inferior sequel to Narnia. I beg to differ. Well firstly, it was not a sequel, just another story from the same series. While the fantasy element was kept at a minimal, I thought that the values and lessons learnt from this film was far superior. The two (and a half) leads were much better actors that the first Narnia film. Well, these two were actually seasoned child actors before this film, and hence they were able to perform better. I enjoyed watching this one.

The Guest of Life

2007-06-12T19:54:00.000+08:00

The Guest of Life. This is the only film I watched from this year's European Union Film Festival. I didn't think much of the other films offered in this year's lineup, but I was quite intrigued by this documentary. This is the journey of the legendary Alexander Csoma, who travelled by foot from Hungary to Tibet, passing by Iran, Afghanistan and India, then up the Himalayas, to discover the cultural and spiritual riches of the vast and exotic lands, as well as Buddhism. The film shuttled between cut out animation, and lots of landscape and people's footage. The overall story was really fascinating, the voice overs were sombre but apt, the location shots were gorgeous and very beautiful, the shadow puppets helped to portray the various tales and adventures of Alexander Csoma very well. The film may need a lot of patience to watch through, but it would be well worth it.

Born Into Brothels

2007-06-06T20:22:00.000+08:00

Born Into Brothels. I was very much charmed by these unassuming children,who have nothing to lose and all to gain by picking up the camera. Some of them took really great pictures, but what do I know anyway? I guess I was glad, just like most other audience, that many of them got the chance to study eventually. The director / photographer / mentor was a woman on a mission, and certainly a most noble one. She deserves all the love and credits for helping these children, travelling everywhere to try to put them into schools, organising exhibitions and awareness for the children's plight, and now this movie. This is a real feel good movie in a sense of the word.

This is New Zealand + Banana in a Nutshell

2007-05-31T11:41:00.000+08:00

This is New Zealand + Banana in a Nutshell. After the euphoria of the Singapore international film festival, it is time to slow down the pace of watching film festivals ... i only watched this one for the new Zealand film festival.. The first is a travel brochure to promote new Zealand. It was filmed n the 70s, I believe, hence everything look so old and dandy. I doubt if things have changed that much since then .... Anyway, I guess our own STB could lift a leaf off from this presentation. Then again, we would be hard pressed to find so many fine scenery's to shoot ... The second film was what attracted me to watch the film, chronicling the anxieties of a second generation, third daughter of a Chinese family in new Zealand, trying to figure out the ideal way for her angmoh boyfriend to approach her patriarchal parents to ask for her hand ... Her elder sisters had so much troubles before her, and she dreaded the same ordeals she had to go through again, and asking aloud why her parents had to make her life so difficult for her, their insistent on the generation clinging on to their Chinese roots ... I cant help but to root for her plight sometimes, as I do have friends around who face similar dilemma. It was a pretty earnest documentary.

Meet the Robinsons

2007-05-14T22:19:00.000+08:00

Now, I know the main giest of the film is about family, yearning for one, accepting one no matter what and who, and loving them through thick and thicker. I just couldn't get over the not so positive vibes about adoption that children will feel when they watch this movie. You have a boy who was rejected by proespective parents, 114 times; and you have another boy who stayed behind after the orphanage was closed down, and becoming the bad guy of the movie ... Or maybe I was thinking too much. Another gripe for me was that we are not seeing enough of the eccentric family, which was advertised as the highlight of the film. That sequence with the family probably took up ... 20 minutes of screentime, which was highly unsatisfactory, in my opinion. I think the best part of the movie was the message, Keep Moving Forward, meaning keep trying, never give up, and get up and get on with life. I am not very sure whether I like or not like this one. Hmmm ...

Mukhsin

2007-05-12T11:53:00.000+08:00

Having watched Rabun, Sepet, and Gubra, I guess I am a little Yasmin Ahmad fan. This film was screened at the usual impossible venues, like Vivo Europa ($10 per ticket), Sun Plaza, and Causeway Point. Therefore I had no choice but to take trusted bus 980 from my place to Sembawang Plaza. I havent travelled up Upper Thomson Road and Sembawang Road for a while, and it was a nice ride, passing by majestic trees and old roads, my BMT camp that was Nee Soon Camp, Sembawang Shopping Centre where I used to go to Sembawang Music Centre to buy those cds that came in long boxes, and finally the new Sembawang Bus Interchange.

It was a 4 or 5pm screening, and I got my good friend Anand to watch the film with me. We were the only two audience in the house. Yep, two. I remember a long long time ago, when there were only two audience in the house, the usher would actually come to us and told that there will not be a screening, and offer us tickets to another screening at another time ... guess they don't worry about overheads too much nowadays. Anyway, since we had the entire cinema to ourselves, Anand and I sat seperate ends of the row, and be basically chatted between us for the whole film. Talk about having your own humongous entertainment system ...

About the film. It was a joy, pure little joy. Having followed her last few films, this was a cumulation , stabilization, of an artiste. Everything that was shaky, or uncertain, in the previous movies, now seemed so assuring, so confident, so steady ... a little master at work already. My only worry is ... where can she go from here? I am not sure it is so good to continue making Orkid movies (although she is a cutie ...) running from KL and town and kampong, about lost love, strong family ties, religious and social sensitivities ... but whatever she do, I will still go and support lah. Yasmin said that she cannot be a full time film maker, as the industry cannot support full timers, hence she only has enough for one film per year, which is just about right for the rest of us ...

Now, if only I can find a copy of the Rabun VCD somewhere ...

Nada Sou Sou

2007-05-07T19:43:00.000+08:00

A must-watch for me, since I am a fan of boyish Satoshi Tsumabuki (Waterboys) and girlish Masami Nagasawae (Crying Out Love in the Centre of the World), as well as director Nobuhiro Doi, who directed the heart-wrenching Be With You. In a nutshell, I love love the movie, except except, when younger sis Kaoru keeps calling elder Kota, Nee Nee ... sends my hair standing everytime she uttered or cry out the name. The end song and credit, with the singing of the song that lend the title, was a real great treat; so was the final final scene, with a very little Kaoru and Yota talking, lends the icing on the cake. To be very objective, many would not deem the film to bring "neverending tears", as the sad scenes do not quite move or lift the audience, and the second half of the film does drag. Nevertheless, watching Satoshi as the tragic protagonist was good enough to carry the film through.

Old Ford Factory

2007-05-06T19:48:00.000+08:00

I think I am a pretty decent museum-goer, although more than half the time, it was for some film screening or theatre production ... Discounting all that and perhaps I have been to a local museum for like ... 10 times a year? This should be above the national average, I hope. I mean, it is an inexpensive yet educational way to spend a few hours in solitude, which is a very healthy thing too, right?

Anyway, I was at Upper Bukit Timah road, and quite near the Old Ford Factory, hence I thought I'd pay the place a visit. The venue was pretty out of the way, since this was the original location of the factory. Fortunately, according to the officer at the counter, I just missed a noisy bunch of school children. I have a problem with noisy children in a musem ... no, I have a problem with noisy people, anytime, anywhere. So, I was the only one in the museum.

Coming from where I came from, studying history for Os, As, and a history major in uni, I have a more than passing knowledge of our local history. (but please don't test me for that ...) I somehow find that, for such an intimate period of our nation's history, the exhibition was surprising ... sparse. The venue was smaller than I thought. I imagine the old factory was much bigger ... Hence the exhibits that was collected and displayed, had to be quite crammed together, which was seldom conducive for viewing ...

Anyway, I spent about 1 1/2 hour in there, and I think, unless I am bringing a friend there, or there is some major change to the exhibits, I won't be in a hurry to go back there again.

Gabon: Eden on the Edge

2007-05-03T19:17:00.000+08:00

This was one of the screenings in the Wildlife Asia Film Festival. Sadly, for such a big-name event, the local turnout, whether at the exhibitions cum conferences at Suntec City, or the actual film screenings in the Arts House, was pathetic. I think there were less than 10 audience in this screening. This is actually a documentary played from a dvd, which sort of explained the lukewarm response ... Nevertheless, I thought it was a great documentary, on a success story of wildlife protection in the African country of Gabon, which frankly I had not heard of before this film. The country had created a series of national parks to help protect the vast wildlife and animals that called it, home. This was certainly heartwarming, and encouraging, and a positive sign to the rest of the world of what can be done to protect the innocent, and better our lives as a result.

She is a Cyborg, But It is OK

2007-05-02T20:28:00.000+08:00

I am a fan of director Park Chan Wook, who's seminal works include Symphony of Lady Vengeance, starring our favourite Korean actress, and Oldboy, starring our favourite Korean actor. This was yet another interesting challenge, making an actor out of Korea's top singer, Rain. It is hard to say whether the director did a good job or not. Rain and cast played mental patients, hence the sky is the limit to what they are, and can be, up to. This is also not a typical romance nor comedy, for I think most audience will leave this film feeling, well, dissatisfied. There is no one dying, so no required love; there is also no beautiful scenery of mountain and sea and forest, just lots of hospital rooms and corridors. There are plenty of wacky characters to smile at, which was probably a good test for some of these actors as well. I guess we should still applause the director's and production's effort, but it sure doesn't leave a deep impression on the audience. Rain looks suitably impressive here, until he is given a more serious and tough role next time lah.

For Our Cause

2007-05-01T20:27:00.000+08:00

This was the second night that I watched Substation's 2nd Singapore Indie Documentary Festival. I was suitably impressed with the previous night's films, hence there was good expectations over this evening's line up. the NU Struggle was an interesting look at Nepalese struggle for their rights and freedom, which made me think how apolitically-conscious myself, and many of my friends, are. Paradise Bus was a successful look at illegal logging in Papau New Guinea, and what was done to restore the forestation, showing a successful enterprise and cooperation between local interests and international NGOs. The highlight of the evening was I Love Malaya, about former Chinese members of the Malayan Communist Party, their livelihood in their current village in Southern Thailand, and a recollection of their hardships and interesting adventures in the jungles. The audience was given an extra treat when two of the prominent members in the film turned up for the screening, and they gave us humorous insights into their past and current lives now. It was a great evening of learning indeed.

The Lives of Others

2007-04-30T19:29:00.000+08:00

A great character study for the main cast, especially for HG Wiesler, who was a perfect STASI agent. The gradual understanding and appeal of the lives of others, Georg Dreyman and Christa-Maria Sieland, made Wiesler realise how mundane his life has been, culminating to him asking himself what his believes had been, which side should he stand for. The film can be sometimes unintentionally funny, as in scenes between Wiesler and his not too bright deputy, who took turns to keep watch on the couple. The ending was certainly very poignant, and I was glad that they did not meet. This film was apparently a very big hit in China, one wonders why. Certainly one of the best films of the year.

Dating My Ex-Wife

2007-04-09T20:29:00.000+08:00

Dating My Ex-Wife. I have to thank Ee-Mien for this ticket. I didn't expet to watch this, but fortune smiled on me the previous night when the woman gave me her ticket graciously. I still need to treat her dinner or something. It was an afternoon show, hence I was pleasantly surprised that the Theatre Studio was half packed, including a class of secondary boys in full white uniform. Fortunately they behaved themselves pretty much. I enjoyed the performance. Their accent was controlled, and I was able to understand almost everthing. I didn't exactly appreciate the staging, what with the static rooms oof the house, having to serve two homes, and a thin strip of downstage supporting every other exterior scene. The script was pretty tight and cohesive, and the two leads, well, make that the four leads, were very professional, very natural, very seasoned indeed. It was indeed an afternoon well spent.

Secret Love in the Peach Blossom Land

2007-04-08T21:02:00.000+08:00

Secret Love in the Peach Blossom Land. This is an essential Taiwanese play. Well, make that, this is an essential "China" play as well. It was claimed that watching this play is akin to strolling along Taiwan's history for the past half a century ... We were all big fans of the movie, and not by all means because it starred Lin Hsing Hsia. It was a lovely piece of play within a play, of two contrasting style of theatre form, slugging it out withing the same space. Watching the play in an actual theatre space, especially when the troupe(s) do their scene changes, one can really sense the wonder and magic of transformation of space. How to explain the ability to sob uncontrollably during scenes of Secret Love, yet howl hysterically at the antics of Peach Blossom Land? I was very grateful for the chance to watch this wonderful performance on stage.

Half Nelson

2007-04-04T22:40:00.000+08:00

Half Nelson was an incredible debut film for many. The two stars, Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps, were phenomenon. I thought perhaps we might not have a film like this on our shore, maybe 10 years ago, with its theme of the teacher taking drugs ... hardly soul inspiring stuff. This is hardly an easy film to stomach and watch, what with watching the protagonist going through his daily routine, trying to make sense of his life and his work, one hand trying to inspire his students with some unorthodox teaching, and the other hand coping with family, friends, ex-lover, neighbours, etc. The film looks raw and edgy, which helped to compound the tiredness and exasperation that these characters feel, living in the neighbourhood that they do. This film is worth the accolades that it received.

Pickle King

2007-03-30T21:11:00.000+08:00

I spent 15 minutes to get to here, to blog. Darn, they are certainly making life more and more difficult. No wonder I am still losing hair.

Pickle King. Anand has been telling me about this wonderful New Zealand actor for the longest time. Now he is here for the third time. No longer alone on stage, it is a 3 men plus one pianist performance. I did not quite take to the performance actually, although I have to agree that the man is one with many many talents on stage. It was a pretty enjoyable evening nevertheless.

In the midst of all the SYF shows, assembly shows, stage shows, films, film fests, I find time to slowly build up my work stockpile. Recently I bought some tool boxes and plastic containers, so that I can catagorise, and store nicely, all my tools, tapes, and other stuff. Now I can proudly say I have my own (portable) tool box, technical box, tapes box, and even first-aid box. Yeah!

2 of Us

2007-03-12T21:05:00.000+08:00

2 of Us. Da ge wanted to watch this, and I realised later he knows one of the actors. This was a series of short items, put up by two really talented Hong Kong actors, with some minor crew / cast. I think there were about 10 items. I enjoyed the clown mime item best, and it was good that there were 3 of them, of which the last one was when the two clowns were old, and they struggle to perform the kind of physical-demanding tricks that they used to be good at. The Siamese twin item, Da ge and I did not enjoy, partly because, since they were already so close together in everything else they do, this item was no longer fresh nor interesting. Likewise for the man and his cat.

I thought that this Kong Kong Fringe Festival, organised locally by the Arts House, suffered a little when it was programmed at the same time as the TNS's M1 Festival. Many a times we were not certain whose programme was whose, and as both boasted at least a dozen programmes and line-ups each, in venues all over town, it made every individual show stand out even less. I guess this show did ok as the local ... cantonese-speaking community came to support the performance.

Clerks II

2007-03-08T22:29:00.000+08:00

Clerks II. I was surprised that the film had a sequel. There wasn't really a reason to. Anyway, a sequel was made, with more or less the same cast, same characters, all older, but none the wiser ... A welcoming addition is Rosario Dawson, whom in my opinion is a great actress, and whom I admire a lot for her range of roles tackled over the years. The characters have moved onto their mid thirties, which is, well, just like me!

This reminds me of another movie, which had a sequel ... yeah Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Likewise, the characters faced problems and situation that ... I face as well. It was a small pity that I watched the film alone, as it was only screening at Vivo, and, well, my peers weren't exactly interested in movies that speak to themselves ...

I remembered wasn't too crazy with the original Clerks. However, I like it enough to buy the comics series. Well, I actually quite like sequel, of which Rosario Dawson was one big reason. Maybe with age, I was less cynical of the director and his style and humour. It was still an insightful venture into suburbia America, with people who have too much time in their hands, and strangely, too much things in their mind. The ending was too positively for my liking too, but hey, its a new year here, so give it a break!

Back

2007-03-08T01:23:00.000+08:00

Sorry, was away for almost a month cos my little darling web mistress was having difficulties botoxing my new look. A little whip and chain wouldn't hurt her, but we finally settled down for dinner treat. What to do, her Os coming up, need to motivate mah ...

Hope you all like the new dark and dangerous look, I am still getting used to it ...

In the absence, the back catalogue of shows pile up. I shudder to think what I will need to catch up for the next few days and nights ...

Multiple Person Disorderly

2007-02-14T21:51:00.000+08:00

Updates, updates. Gotta set up a Google account now in order to do the same things we have been doing all these while. Why???

Multiple Personalities Disorder. A little history. Hossan is the first actor I know personally. Yep, the first time I got into Singapore theatre, it was way way way back in 1994, I was helping out at the Front of House for a The Necessary Stage production. Hossan was the FOH manager then. I already had a good impression on this pint size, but loud and dynamic personality. Over the next few years I watched him handle a series of challenging roles in plays by TNS and other groups. This was before he got into tv.

I have never doubted Hossan's talents over the years. It is just that I wish he had more chances to do more serious theatre, unlike comedy which he does a lot, mainly because of his fame on tv, and his size. Hossan has always been a role model to his peers, his dilligence, versatility, and yet so-humble personality, makes him such an endearing personality, and friend.

And so how is the show? Well, the script was a rather hit-and-miss affair. Well, more miss actually. There is a reason why Mr Miyagi should stick to his blogsphere. Hossan was at his best and most comfortable elements when he was doing his own style of stand up, at the beginning of the programme. Once the personalities start to roll, well, that was when you decide whether you want to roll off the floor, or grate your fingernails against the metal behind the seats ... I thought the show sagged in the middle, and picked up from his Prince impersonation onwards.

I wish Hossan all the best in his future projects.

Things I Never Told You

2007-02-12T21:37:00.000+08:00

Yes, this is the name of a movie. It was a Spanish film screened in the Arts House. Well, think again. We thought it was a Spanish film with English subtitles. Lo and behold, it is an English film with Spanish subtitles ... Yeah, I looked carefully at the mouths of the actors, and they were speaking English ... it feels a little strange, watching a film with foreign subtitles, like I was watching it in a foreign country. Fortunately the English spoken was rather comprehensibly, so that was alright. I don't remember much about the movie, it was a romantic comedy, and fairly entertaining, thats it.

For those of you mere mortals, just a little study of film screenings in Singapore. All Non-English films need to be subtitled in English. This is a fact that doesn't need much debate. The problem arises from the origins of the subtitling. In my many years of film-going, I have observed that films from the West, had seldom had poor translation; it is the films from the far east, such as China, Hong Kong, SEA, etc, that produces English translation, that, well, enhances the enjoyment of watching a film, many many folds. On the one hand, native translators have a better understanding of the local dialogue. Unfortunately, these translators sometimes don't have a decent command of the English language. Hence, we, the audience, are often the ones who lose out. Even really serious scenes can be rendered really funny, in the hands of a poor translator.

Oh, I have another gripe. We have many films from foreign countries that come in their original tongues, hence the need for (good) subtitling. Dubbed films have become rare. However, Cantonese films from Hong Kong are still dubbed in Mandarin when they come here. I wonder why such films cannot be left alone in their own devices, while others can. What is (still) so wrong about listening to Cantonese in these times? If there are native films from other parts of China, will those be dubbed, instead of subtitled, as well? I hope MDA review this outdated policy as well.

Happy Birthday

2007-02-06T22:04:00.000+08:00

The other day, as I was waiting for my friend at Lido, I chanced upon the giant poster of Confessions of Pain. You know, the one with the mug shots of the four leads. Now, I just watched Happy Birthday, and I thought, wouldn't it be funny if these two movies, switched their English titles. Cos, the Rene Liu and Louis Khoo film, was a lot of confession, a lot of pain; as for the film about the other four, well, it felt like someone just sang the Happy Birthday song to you, after watching the movie ...

Someone told me some time ago, when you are overseas, and you saw something bad, something awkward, something idiotic happens, and someone sang the Happy Birthday song, that person is a Singaporean. Think about it, who else can be so enterprising as to twist thou holy song, the song that we, by right, only get sung from friends and well-wishers, once a year? But oh no, here in Temasek land, when you get into trouble, people really wish you well when they sing the Happy Birthday song to you. Really.

So what about the movie? Frankly, I dunno. It is just that, such movies are so rare from Hong Kong, they must be pretty good. Rene Liu is my (film) idol. Louis Kho, strange as it seems, as he was often type-cast, doesn't look half as bad either. The film is strangely, undramatic. There are very few outburst moments; a lot of it was washed away in the poetry of things to come and go.

I think singing the song would had been more exciting.

Katryna

2007-01-30T21:07:00.000+08:00

The concert reminded me of the one Wen Fu had last year, filled with friends and well-wishers. It was a refreshing experience for me listening to such a unique and versatile instrument. You know, at times, I almost thought that it was two person playing at the same time. The other really commendable thing was that katryna was playing many new songs, according to the programme. The working partnerships she commanded was astounding too, whether composers, or performers, which all lend to very interesting textures and layers to the music. Some of the composers had really interesting ideas on what can be done with the harp too. Anyway, I now have even more respect for the instrument after the concert.

Perfume

2007-01-27T10:15:00.000+08:00

Surely a candidate for one of my fav films of the year, coming so early in the year, together with The Queen. I can see why this film was deemed unfilmable, but, I dare say, by the end of the film, one could almost smell ... There was a certain belief that Tom Tykwer just might be the right director to helm this film (since in my opinion, Peter Greenaway would be ideal, but he is nowhere to be found ...) after his phenomenal film, Run Lola Run, still impactful after its release in '98. The film was a visual galore, swinging wildly between the grotesque and the angelic, images. Certainly, having Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in the film lent a lot of weight, although I would prefer Mr Hoffman's role to be a little less comic, but the film surely belongs to the young talent of BenWhishaw, who might still be considered a little too good looking for the part, but definitely has the creepy looks and feel for it. Other than Rachel Hurd Wood, there is also ... Karoline Herfurth, the unforgetable Plum Girl. Plums never look so good in her hands, and under her knife ... This is one of those films that needed to be watched on the big screen, believe me, much will be lost in vcd or dvd.

Hollywood Land

2007-01-21T11:28:00.000+08:00

A movie about an industry taking a long hard look at itself. A parallel of the lives of two seemingly unrelated men, the fallen star, and the jaded investigator. Adrien Brody tries to uncover whether Mr Superman actually committed suicide, or was there any foul play. He left no stones unturned. The conclusion was ... well, you decide. In the meantime, he got to reflect on his personal life, trying to save his marriage, and his son. I thought Ben Affleck did a decent job this time round, being charming and vulnerable at the same time, what with all the dud movies he been landing himself in lately. Adrien Brody was outstanding again, his smug look makes you like him, and want to punch him sometimes too. The production design was pretty decent, the costumes were nice, the conversations took a little while to get used to, and the supporting cast, like Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins, were capable but not stretched. This was a more likeable effort than "Black Dahlia", I thought, but frankly, not a great movie.

About Reservist

2007-01-20T11:18:00.000+08:00

Well, the worst is behind me now. A few more days and we will be out and free.

This change of routine is seriously back breaking and butt-busting, and I am not exaggerating. I have not been outfield for a decade. YES, a decade. Suddenly, I had been tasked to go outfield, first for 3 days and 2 nights, then just this week, 4 days and 3 nights, in the wilderness, meaning no shower nor toilet facilities, nor sleeping facility. The seat I was on was sheer hard plastic, and when the vehicle goes bump, frequently, I can feel my butt groaning in the process. I was only able to afford a little solitaire on the third night when I could lie down on a stretcher to nap through the night. Besides these, my shoulder aches from having to carry a humongous and uncomfortable load everytime I dismount and charge, ok, walk through the jungles, to reach our objectives.

By the way, I was most fortunate to not being attacked by mosquitos during this ordeal. Maybe I need to go see the doctor, has my blood gone so bad that I had been rejected by even mosquitos?

The exercise that I went through was quite an eye-opener. Putting things into perspective, it is the closest simulation we can afford to have, to an actual wartime scenario. I was assigned to follow the medics, and the number of casualties rounded up from the various missions were frankly scary. I have the hand my beret off for the medics, they had a really really rough time this time round, for not only do we have to bash through the jungles, carrying their heavy medical supplies on their backs, but when we all finally stopped, they had to start treating people, whether for real, or just play-acting ...

Was there anything good from the experience? Well, for once, the stars look brighter in that part of the island. Sometimes, when we had a time for a breather, or when the vehicle was on the move, some of the scenery, of the forest, reservoir, hills, etc, can be quite breathtaking. I cannot forget the view from the top of a particular hill, after we had trekked for three hours to reach the summit, the view of the trees below, looking a lot like pine trees in autumn, was a sight to behold, a sight that you would not think would exist in our concrete jungle. I would love to go back again to take the view in again, but well, it is a restricted area.

On another note, water never taste any better or sweeter, when you are in the army, especially when you are shagged out, or when water is being rationed. Every mouthful is precious, and sometimes you just want it to stay in your mouth for the longest time before it trickles down your throat.

I guess I will miss the experience a little when it is all over. I am not sure I want to live it over again, but it was certainly a drastice change from my docile lifestyle. It makes me realise that I should cherish the simple things in my life, really simple things, like drinking water, shower, and, sleep ...

Labyrinth

2007-01-14T09:26:00.000+08:00

Pan's Labyrinth. This is yet another sad case of too much expectation. I love my fantasy films, especially children fantasy films. This is why I am not ashamed to admit I love the Harry Potter series, although each subsequent film in the series is getting less interesting ... Anyway, I was really looking forward to this movie. Unfortunately, the fantasy element in this film is less than half the movie. This is hugely disappointing to me. The spine of the plot, of the German occupiers and the Spanish resistance, is pretty much run of the mill to me. Ofelia's discovery, and her three tests, all the way until the end, might be interpreted as an illusion, an escapade from the horrors of the savages of war. Therefore, what was great about the movie, had almost all been revealed in the trailers ... Disappointment.

The Holiday

2007-01-07T10:17:00.000+08:00

The Holiday. I thought the film was a little too long for a festive fodder. i would had been happy following the journey of Kate Winslett's character, since she is a far better actress than Camer ... The Cameron and Law pairing was boring, nothing to hoot about, they just have to blink and pout their way through their share of the film. Kate and Black were far more interesting. Jack Black was refreshing in that it was interesting to see him as a romantic lead, and trying to be humorous but not silly. The stoid and aging playwright between them balanced that story pretty well. The movie lasted more than two hours, but I would had been happy if we have only 70 minutes of just Kate's share of the film.

Loft

2007-01-03T11:35:00.000+08:00

Loft. Another performance for the museum to showcase its ... interior? This particular area is like the centre cross-junction of the museum, hence in a way it is a rather appropraite location for a performance. However, as this performance needed height, and width, so, all audience locations considered, there aren't many places within that locale that audience can have a nice clear view of all the action. But it was definitely worth the trip to watch this performance, as the performers really used up much of the aerial spaces, walls, ledges, etc, to swing on their ropes. Lighting was pretty difficult as there were really very few locations to position the lights for the performance. Another inconvenience was that the audience blocked the escalator that leads to the theatre downstairs, but they solved it by having that performance start after this one. All in all a decent effort from the organisers, and I believe they got great feedback from the audience.

That movie about the Sun, in 2006

2007-01-02T19:01:00.000+08:00

Midnight Sun. Not sure why the international title is called Midnight Sun, when A Song To The Sun seems much more appropriate. Maybe because the two main tracks in the movie, Happy Line, and Goodbye Days, were not ... songs to the sun ... so change to Midnight Sun lah. Less confusing. Now, why do I love thee so much. Cos YUI is so cut... no lah, to be fair, I think this is a long time, at least for me, when I watch a lead actress (or actor), who is not by profession an actor, but another like, singer, I was'nt aware that, it was a singer acting in a movie. You know, it's like, Madonna or Mariah or Britney, when they act, they are still Madonna, Mariah and Britney. For this one, even though Yui had to sing, you don't really realise that, oh, that is a singer singing in the movie. I found out a lot more about the movie, and Yui, after I watched the movie for the first time, and yes, based on the YouTubes and MTVs, Yui does sing like THAT (so cute ...) in her real life too. Still, I think great credit goes to the screenwriters for sucessfully writing Yui into the role, it really felt like, as a few reviews mentioned, she was born to make this movie. From another angle, if Kaoru did not die, she would had blossomed into a singer like Yui ... Anyway, so sad that the movie had only a two week run. #$%^&* distributors. I look forward to seeing the dvd soon. Oh, I watch the tv drama version, starring Erika Sawajiri, well, that is another blog I guess.

Sketches of Frank and Strange Fiction

2006-12-30T10:33:00.000+08:00

Sketches of Frank Gehry. A pretty straight forward documentary. Sydney Pollack and Frank Gehry are friends, this might explain why most of the comments and interviews tend to lean towards the positive end. Frank's art is very very much an acquired taste, and frankly, to most of the world, veering more towards the ugly side, than pretty side. This is perhaps because we are so used to 99.999% of the buildings around us being in straight, perpendicular, parallel, lines, so we are not used to so much curves and bends. It makes for hell working for designers, contractors, construction workers too, so I don't see these group of people being too enthusiastic to Frank's designs. Not to mention maintenance, and cleaning bills.I must admit that having his oddball designs around does add to the aura, and mystic, to the surrounding buildings they neighboured ... but that is about all. Still, an inspiring film for all of those who dared to be different.

Stranger than Fiction. I don't understand why the story of this ordinary man is, to the professor, going to be such a masterpiece ... Such that he should die for the story. This is my main grouse. I think the cast did a decent job. Will Farell showed he can still be funny when acting straight-faced and all serious. It was a real real threat to watch Dustin Hoffman on the big screen again. Emma Thompson was in her elements, so no great surprise there. If you really think about it, the ending was a letdown, for the sake of ... essentially a love story. Yeah, I think this is my main grouse, for not going the distance, taking chances, denying the film, really, a potential masterpiece ... Literary fans might have a little fun with some clever lines, but that is about it about the film, which is a pity.

Quinceanera and Pick of Destiny

2006-12-25T10:33:00.000+08:00

Quinceanera. The movie reminded me shades of Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi and Raising Victor Vargas, both uplifting, showing the lesser known, but no less inspiring, communities in international cinemas. What was most assuring and inspiring about this film, I guess, as with all other good independent films, is that you don't need big budget, nor big film stars, to make a decent film. What you need is a strong script, characters that audience can identify and sympathise, and viola, a nice film that is worth our 90 to 120 minutes, is born, and we happily leave the cinema with smiling faces. Perhaps the ending was resolved a little too conveniently, as if the director was already satisfied with his work for 80 minutes, and was in a hurry to wrap up the film in the next 10 minutes ... I don't know why, but the word Quinceanera reminded me of food, like tacos or something ... sorry, now I know it is a rite of passage, a most solemn occasion, so I know better now ...

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. While I should be missing a gentler side of Jack Black, as I missed the chance to catch The Holiday and now there is no space as there are other newer films to catch ... This is B-grade material, but I would dare to say A-grade effort. The lyrics to the songs leave much to be desired, of course, but the music is frankly not half as bad, and much of the music, the riffs, was pretty tight as well. Jack's previous headlining effort, Nacho Libre, was really disappointing, but this one makes up for it. The cameos were hilarious as well, such as Tim Robbins, Dave Grohl, and of course, Ben Stiller, which reminds me, I should watch Night of the Museum soon ...

Royale

2006-12-15T09:52:00.000+08:00

Casino Royale. I have always had a soft spot for this franchaise. I remember reading Ian Fleming's books when I was in secondary school. My first few Bond films were of Roger Moore, and I enjoyed them immensely. I did not like Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, partly because there were so much competition for action thrillers, and partly because the stylish cars and gadgets, pretty Bond women, extravagant fight scenes, etc, seem to distract from what was essentially great, and fun, about the franchaise. Now, Daniel Craig received a lot of flak when he was announced as the current Bond, but from the looks of this film, I think he more than stood up with the best Bond ever, Sean Connery. I thought it helped a little that this was the first of the Bond films, when he was first promoted to the 00 ranks, hence he was allowed a little leeway to be ... less perfect, more human. I enjoyed the first chase sequence, the almost Yamakasi-like leaps and jumps; I enjoyed the gambling moments, when in the past it would had deemed too boring; Eva Green made a more interesting Bond girl since Michelle Yeoh; Mads Mikkelson makes a terrific villian, with his blood tears, think he suffered a little making those red drops drop ... and that torture scene by Mads on Daniel, was really hilarious. A Bond film that I can watch again.

Glastonbury and Willow Tree

2006-12-12T09:46:00.000+08:00

Glastonbury. We are never gonna have something so wild and carefree here on our sunny island. It will be like, clearing out a new town, maybe Toa Payoh or Tampines, to encourage a music festival this big. Anyway, wishful thinking lah. As a topic the documentary is pretty fascinating, as it tries to look at the festival through the years of growth and mayhem. Some of the discovery is pretty amazing. Glastonbury is a sacred ground, and full of history, hence the locals do not welcome the hippies and young and restless at all. It was also interesting to hear from the festival founder, how the event grew from humble beginnings to such a mammoth scale. Fencing the venue became a thorny issue when the turnout became rather uncontrollable. The daily removal of piss and shit was ... not pretty to watch. The inclusion of certain music acts like Bjork, Cold Play, Stereo MCs, etc, did lift the movie somewhat, but overall the documentary did not live up to expectations, for such a promising topic. I do hope to visit the festival one day if I have the chance. Our Zoukout is like the tip of the iceberg compare to this monster.

The Willow Tree. This film is from the director of Children of Heaven , and Colour of Paradise. Children of Heaven is a classic. Colour of Paradise was a little disappointing, in my own opinion. The Willow Tree is somewhere in between. Plot wise the director got it better that Colour. The focus of the film was very clear, ask and you shall receive, if you are humble and righteous; defy, and you face the consequences. Visually, as with all good Iranian films, there are many stunning shots of nature, of trees, of ant crawling, of fishes in the pool. The pace of the film was pretty good, a little fast for my liking, but still enjoyable overall. Deserves a commercial run at Picturehouse or Europa.

Happy Seeds

2006-12-08T09:29:00.000+08:00

Happy Feet. We wanted to watch the movie because of the music. Period. I was particularly impressed by the reindition of George Michael's Somebody to Love Me. Well, the movie delivered what the trailer promised, lots of songs to be enjoyed. The other highlighted songs for me were the two "mating" songs, where the female sang, and the other males try to butt in with their different styles of singing ... However, the impending theme and message of the movie disturbed me a little, for, as the movie was deliberated marketed and targetted for the very young, the message, to me, seemed a little too serious, and perhaps dark, for the young to swallow. The session I watched, I was sitting with a whole row of young children and accompanying adults, and I could sense their lost at the final 1/2 hour of the film. To me, sometimes it is better to stick to what already works, and not throw in extra spanners ...

Chris Galistan and the Seven Seeds. Beng got me involved in this primary school production in the UCC. On the school side, I must say that this is one of the better school productions I had been involved. I was particularly impressed with the overall discipline and planning, and even the primary one students conducted themselves pretty well. The story and songs were of reasonable standard too. On the other hand, I was not too pleased with the venue. Security was tight, but at some points, needed a little more discretion. When you pay so much, you expect a little more service on the service side. The tech team were great, they were a nice bunch of chaps to work, and hang out, with, so that was good, it helped the production a lot when they pitched in advise to make the show better. Overall it was still a good experience working in the venue.

Rockapella

2006-12-05T22:46:00.000+08:00

Before meeting them I have reservations of how well they will be received here. Their albums are not available here anywhere. I know that there is a following for a capella in Singapore, but to fork out $50 - $100 per ticket for a relatively unknown act for this region, takes quite a bit of consideration. Anyway, they were only on our island for about ... 30 hours. A flight delay caused them a day here, and we would have brought them to a little sightseeing. Anyway, I learnt a little about true professionalism from them. They needed very little time in the theatre to prepare, and they were ready to pop onto stage and mesmerised the audience, after just 1 1/2 hour of arrival. Listening to the five of them, man, they could, and they might each have, easily have their own solo careers, because each of them sound damn good on their own, but when they are together. Oh, and they have their own original compositions too, so they are quite an impressive act ... They brought maybe about 300 cds to sell, and they were all snapped up, which was good as it means they don't have to carry any to their next destination. Poor Hong Kong ... We brought them to Newton Hawker for supper, and they were so bowed over by the variety of food we have. All too soon they had to leave, and we sincerely hope we can bring them over again for another concert in the near future, perhaps a Christmas Concert, that would be grand too. Currently their live cd is playing in my computer, and their studio recording is in my discman when I travel, heh heh ...

DOA, Horrors, Initiation

2006-12-03T20:55:00.000+08:00

DOA. I watched a chick flick! It was nothing more than skin and game! I survived the ordeal! Actually, on hindsight, I didn't think it was that bad. The difference is that, and I think this is very important, that the film does not take itself too seriously. That said, I was a little annoyed at how the bad guy was defeated ... but then again, I shouldn't be, this is a bad show after all. It won't be so bad until ending up in my worst of list at year end, but it will be hoovering near the bottom ...

Little Shop of Horrors. I wanted to support the show since it stars Hossan and Celine, and it is based on Little Shop of Horrors, which I quite liked the film when it came out. Suffice to say the highlights of the show were the musical moments, my favourites being "Downtown" and the love duet ... Hossan, Celine and Yu Beng were brilliant, the singing was pretty good, the four Audrey II puppets held their own pretty well ... looking forward to the next installation, but wish it was the old dim sum format, more than adapting a hit show ...

Initiation International. This is the second installation of the mini-theatre festival, and the first I am involved and watched. I must say the general quality of the different solo acts were pretty good. What impressed me was Deva Eveland's Welcome Centre, for his manic command centre in a box; Helge Meyer's Burst, for that sheer spontaniety in performance and execution; and Fran Barbe's Fine Bone China, for that interesting portrait of the de-generation of a Victorian lady ... It would had been fun to interact more with the artistes, but alas time was too short ...

Museum and Summer

2006-12-01T05:59:00.000+08:00

Biennale @ NMS. My final "paying" venue for the Biennale. There were also some interesting exhibits there. Makoto Aida - Harakiri School Girls, 2006. It looks like any manga comic, but at closer scrutiny, it is a terrifying drawing of school girls performing Harikiri. A colourful and vibrant illustration of blood and entrails, this is very dark humour indeed. Mariko Mori - Tom Na H-iu, 2006. This condom-like looking sculpture can glow in the dark, and the uneven light reminds of an alien pod. The fact that this exhibit occupies a large and dark room, and the physical distance that seperates the exhibit and audience, certainly adds to this eerie feeling. Carsten Nicolai - syn chron, 2005. It looks like a space-age structure, but is actually a humongous light and audio installation. One can enter the installation, lie down, soak into the laser lights and beeping sounds, and zzz ... Innigo Manglano-Ovalle - Iceberg (r11i01), 2006. A replica of an actual iceberg, made of aircraft aluminium tubes and plastic joints, standing under the magnificant structure, one can imagine the amazing wonder of the world, that is a huge iceberg, and thinking of how a few steel cables can support such a huge structure ... How did the artiste construct, let alone, transport, this exhibit in the first place?

My Summer of Love. This looks like a pretty straight-forward coming of age film. Throw in two leads of opposite characteristics, and watch how tantrums and sparks fly. Throw in a brother who is a reborn Christian, whose incessant preaching drives the sister up the wall. The big drawback is the ending, which was abrupt, and doesn't seem to change anything that started from the beginning ... Guess the greatest charm of the film would be the details, and the slow and patient buildup of the two girls' friendship. Other than that, a big yawn ...

Subtext, Equation, Inconvenient

2006-11-28T22:19:00.000+08:00

Subtext II. A labour of love between a group of dancers, among whom are Susan and Feng Zhen. I went to watch the first installation last year at the Play Den, while this year's effort is at Utterly Art, a small art gallery situated on the second level of a shophouse along South Bridge Road. The noise from the traffic outside at the main road, and the shophouse neon lights from across Chinatown, did not deter the quality of the performance, but instead lend a nice backdrop of sounds and lighting effect. It was indeed tough to squeeze 35 people in the intimate space, anymore people around my size, and the dancers' space would be seriously compromised. Despite all the inconveniences, the dancers did put up a strong performance. I hope they can continue to develop such an interesting and experimental project.

The Professor and His Beloved Equation. This is my first choice for the Jap Film Fest. One reason. Letter from the Mountain, one of my favourite Jap film of all time. This film does not disappoint much. The premise is a little ludiculous, one Math lesson all on the teacher's love for his mentor, and mathematics, interspersed with interesting maths equations, facts and trivia. The main thrust of the film, between the friendship of the teacher, his mentor the professor, and the mentor, was much more interesting and fun. Of course it was very hard to believe, due to the peculiar disease that the professor was suffering, that the teacher and his mother managed to maintain their friendship and love for the professor for so long, but we forgive all these. The film was filled with many wonderful and heartwarming moments of brilliance. I need to get this dvd, as well as the previous mentioned film, asap.

An Inconvenient Truth. We grabbed the chance to watch the film at a discounted rate, some kind hearted soul decided to partial-sponsor this screening. As the documentary the film was average, as a powerpoint presentation it would be considered a very good and convincing one. Then again, Al Gore has done this for a thousand times, so I guess it would have been very slick by the time the documentary was made. The one main point that got us pondering however, was, what would had happened to the US, and the rest of the world, if Al Gore had been president, instead of GB ... would he had dared to tackle the big commercial corporations, with their wasteful ways of using the Earth's resources, thus causing thousands of jobs; or would he still toe the line, and find other means of keeping himself occupied during the term of office? Surely he won't be such a fervour warmonger ... but that is pure speculation lah.

Class, Nights, Easy

2006-11-26T21:14:00.000+08:00

A Class to Remember II - The Learning Circle. Japan has come up with very good and endearing film franchises over the decades, and had proven to be decent value for education and entertainment. This series centre around the educational institution. You know, most of the Japanese films I had watched that focussed on schools, are romantic comedies, or horror films. Hah hah. Well, this one is much much more serious than all those. This one is set in a special school. The two protagonists had left the school to attend a pop concert. The school staff were most concerned, and two senior teachers set out to find the two boys. The film was interspersed with flash backs on the major characters, how they each got into the school, how the teachers grew to love their work, even though it was tougher than normal teachers would handle, and how the students grew better and better under the intensive love and care of the teachers. The ending was sweet and emotional, and many audience teared. It was a wonderful experience.

Talladega Nights. The only reason why I watched this was, Will Ferrell. There are many mysteries in life, and one of them is that I actually enjoy watching this chap act. I also like Ben Stiller, but that is another film. I kind of like Jack Black, also another film. Anyway, his character, in a Forrest Gump kind of way, was extremely likeable, to me at least, which was the most important saving grace for the film. I enjoyed this mediocre but decent film.

Free and Easy - Special Edition. Like the above mentioned Jap film, this one stems from another series. I am not too certain what this series is about, whether about a group of office workers, or whether about leisure fishing .... anyway, there are many hilarious situations throughout the film to savour, and it made for a light-hearted evening film.

Pichet's Silent Agreement

2006-11-14T08:30:00.000+08:00

Silent Agreement. Another profound performance by George at the Guinness Theatre. I seem to remember the show for reasons other that the music, such as the speakers who flashed light at the end of a speaker-shattering piece, and a lighting gel perching at the edge of the gel holder, causing the light to flutter over the performer's head. Oh by the way, he was better lit this time round, compared to previous shows when his only source of light was from his Apple screen ... His presentation skills has improved somewhat too.

Pichet Klunchun and I. Almost the same group of friends who watched George also turned up for this collaboration effort between Jerome Bel and Pichet. I remembered Jerome from his two presentations during the last Flying Circus Project, he left a distinct impression on me with his interesting and daring interpretations on his version of theatre and drama. Anyway, the show unfolds simply as two theatre personnel from vastly different backgrounds, trying to understand each other's ideas and performance style. The show was mostly chat, with lots of humour, so we were not too bothered by the uncomfortable seating ... It was a worthwhile experience, and I look forward to Pichet's performance next month at the National Museum opening.

Vivo and WTC

2006-11-09T22:52:00.000+08:00

Vivocity. What does it mean to have yet a bigger and bigger and bigger mall in town? Personally, not much. So far, the biggest reasons why I go there, other than hang out with different women ... is the Golden Village cinemas lah. Am glad to say that once you get away from the chaos from the train station to the box office, the foyer seem too peaceful ... as for the actual cinemas, well the extensive leg-spaces are heaven-sent, hence not more bumping into strangers' knees as you try to manuevre to your seat in the dark. But Vivocity itself, geee, everytime I vist the place, it's like the whole of Toa Payoh, or Tampines, or Woodlands, had descended there. Where do all these people come from? Why are they there? Will these fanatics still be around come January? I shudder to think. I guess this will eventually become an important commercial magnet, now that the train system will be extended into Sentosa, St James Power Station will have 9 pubs / discos to content with, and the new IR coming up in Sentosa itself, Harbourfront will be a new hangout place for all people young and old. Scary. Why don't they build a theatre or two there as well?

World Trade Centre. I am talking about the movie. Prior to this film, my last Oliver Stone films were all in the 90s - Nixon, Natural Born Killers, Heaven and Earth, JFK, The Doors, Born on the Fourth Of July. This film, compared to the rest of the film, seems ... boring. As someone told me, the film ended when Nicholas Cage screamed," RUN!" I think the real significance , or departure, of this film, is how non-political it was, despite the obvious temptation to drum up some patriotism and moral support to lift the Americans. The sequence between the four men entering the buildings, and before the imminent collapse, was very well shot, and very thrilling. Once it was left to the two of them buried in the rubble, it was just waiting for the rescue ... Not sure what the director's motive was to make such an understated film, but really wished that his next effort will be more ... gungho. Maybe he could have done An Inconvenient Truth. Heh heh ...

Scoop at Cirty Hall

2006-11-06T23:52:00.000+08:00

Scoop. I have watched a number of Woody Allen films over the years, including Deconstructing Harry, Everyone Says I Love You, Mighty Aphrodite, Bullets Over Broadway, Manhatten Murder Mystery, Husbands and Wives, etc. These are all films from the 90s. I have not even mentioned the older ones. I don't think this film is one of his better ones. Despite Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman having top billing, this film clearly still belongs to Woody Allen himself, acting at what he knows best, jabbering none stop to some decent comic effect, and as usual causing more trouble instead of solving things. The plot was overtly weak, and it was rather incredible that the great tarot card killer can try to dispose our heroine in such a whimpy manner, and still fail to kill her ... clearly a disappointment when compared to Match Point, apparently ... hope his next film will be better than this.

Biennale at City Hall. I thought it was close to wickedness that they managed to secure the former building of law and justice for this event. Anyway, several exhibits stood out for their association with the building. I was very impressed with Ho Tzu Nyen's Bohemian Rhapsody Project, which was totally shot within the building, from the main entrance to one of the court rooms. Sure the video was cheesy as hell, but behind it drove a sombre message of the tyranny of power vs the lose of love ones under injustice ... or so I thought. The other piece that I thought hit a powerful statement to the tyranny of judiciary, was Jane Alexander's Verity, Faith and Justice. Red gloves that signified bloodied hands, littered the entire space. Animals that had human-like features, roamed the entire court. There were also flags, little men hanging on a noose, etc. It was one of the more depressing and creepy exhibits I have seen in this Biennale. And speaking of creepy, Jonathan Allen's collection of pictures of Tommy Angel, were also downright sinister. Audience were made to walk in narrow corridors of a labyrinth, and every other corner, hangs a picture of Tommy Angel, looking not quite angelic ... At the beginning of the exhibition was Amanda Heng's Worthy Tour, which was a thinly disguised lesson of our lost heritage, and a timely reminder that if we are not careful, we will lose more of our history and ourselves than we ever thought we were capable of doing. At the end of the exhibition was Tomas Ochoa, Myth of Sisyphus, whereby the artiste interviewed random people of their views of religion, and sucidal bombers. The interviewees were very candid with what they thought, and most if not all condemned the actions of these suicide bombers. And finally, perched at the 4 corners of the City Hall Building, were exhibits called Secret, Interior: Chrysalis, by Donna Ong. The 4 exhibits were unique, outstanding, and quantified different facades of belief. It is hard to imagine that the works of 4 imaginery ... mad people, were actually all by this petite young lady, swinging between an adult's scientific sophistication and a child's innocent naivity. It was a great experience going through the exhibits. Go check them out!

A Scene at Tanglin Camp

2006-10-31T21:16:00.000+08:00

Biennale at Tanglin Camp. The biggest number of exhibits for the Singapore Biennale can be found in Tanglin Camp. It was not readily accessible by public transport, so Anand and I took the chartered bus from SMU to get there. We were there to join a guided tour. There were only five of us in the group, and fortunately we got a very experienced, patient and personable lady to guide us. There were quite a number of exhibits, stretching across several blocks, which took quite a while of walking. Some of the more memorable exhibits: Scott Bowe, Painting as a Zombie - a 10 minute video presentation linking the advent of zombie films and international contemporary art. We actually sat through the video almost twice, but the feeling I got was an unconvincing ... threading of films and paintings. The footage of Zombie classics was a hoot, which include Michael Jackson's Thriller; George and Chee Wai, The Fog is Rising - I knew what I was in for, since I have attended quite a few of the guys' performanances, but to step into a dark room with nothing much but sound / noise ... waves and current, took quite a ... beating. I thought that I would appreciate the piece better if I was there early on, but having survived the rest of the exhibits, to come across such ... pressure, was a little too daunting. It was too much for my handphone too, it went wonky momentarily when I tried to send a sms out; Hiroyuki Matsukage, Star - it was a brilliant idea, make any noise at the microphone and have hundreds of smiling girls screaming at you back, utterly silly yet somehow a great way to destress; Brian Gothong Tan, We Live in a Dangerous World - Brian never ceases to amaze me, but this is a case of a slight overkill, with a roomful of miniature people, videowall of images, sounds, lights, political and social innuendoes; Agus Suwage and Titarubi, Crossroad - my favourite, railway track over broken bodies, a ginomous bomb made up of flowers, pure visual statement, no explanation needed ... think I will make a trip again to discover the works another round.

A Scene at the Sea. This is one of Kitano's early works, and is actually my favourite before Hana-Bi. A mute teenager gives up his mundane trash-collection job to go full-time as a surfer. People laugh at him, but he slowly pick up the skill, to eventually win a prize at the local surfing competition. There are plenty of supporting roles, like the mute and kind-hearted girlfriend, the aloof coach, the bumbling duo who succeeds in nothing, the loser and his girlfriend, the workers at the trash-collection centre, and the other surfers around. There isn't much dialogue throughout the film, and one can't help but feel that the director began to hone his unique directorial style through films like this. Well, not so much his unique brand of violence, but his penchant for brooding, silent protagonists. Still worth watching after all these years.

Lawn and Tree

2006-10-27T21:56:00.000+08:00

Miracle Tree. One of the more interesting exhibits of the Biennale is this tree that rains. The tree stands along the Singapore River, near Indochine, at the Asian Civilization Museum. I understand that the tree does not rain all the time. I was lucky that when I went down there around 7 plus in the evening, it rained twice for my viewing pleasure. Upon my rough calculation, it rains for 10 minutes, then stop for 20 minutes, then rain again for 10 minutes ... the remarkable thing is that you cannot find any evidence of pipes or hoses running up the trunk to the tree's crown, so it is not apparent how the artiste got the tree to spout water ... Anyway, apparently they are so serious about this water, they are selling the water by the test-tubes, and by the containerful, at the Biennale souvenir shop at SMU ... The fun part was to see unsuspecting people walking into the rainfall when around us it was dry ...

Lawn. This performance by the Splinter Group made a pretty quiet appearance at the University Cultural Centre. This was one of the more set-intensive dance performance I had seen in recent memory. The stage was transformed into a living room, where three men went about their routine. A neighbour who turns on their television too loudly was about the only outside interaction they had. The dancers not so much dance, but jerked and bounced off each other throughout the performance. They climbed on walls, wrapped in celophane, throw furniture at each other. There was a definite element of danger and excitment watching this live show. Oh, there were also cockroaches scuttering around the stage at the beginning of the show too. Unfortunately all these were a little too much for me. I fell sick for the next few days. This is certainly a performance worth remembering, abeit not for the right reasons.

Sex & Bee

2006-10-06T23:17:00.000+08:00

Sex & Philosophy. This was Mohsen Makhmalbaf's follow-up film since Kandahar, hence I have reasonable hopes over it. Unfortunately, this film can be filed under - for die-hard fans only. I believed my friend had wanted to follow another three couples, and walk out of the screening. Can't blame them though, the unitiated would most likely call this film, pretentious and full of c**p. On one hand, there are interesting inflections on relationship and love, and the locale, although in rural areas, can be beautiful to observe; on the other hand, the stylised choreography, looks quite cheesy and flat. Every other line is a prose or a metaphor, and after a while it gets really tedious to listen and follow. I think what stand out was the strong philosophies on love, (but no sex, darn), that the protagonist had, with his different ex-girlfriends, that piqued me to want to follow the plot till the end. Well, despite all the unfavourable comments, I think it is still commendable that the director took risks and make such a theatrical film, but which is not for the faint-hearted, who can only stomach mainstream films.

Akeelah and the Bee. This is one of the most inspirational films of the year. The film is very predictable, very safe, yet powerful, and damn was the competition intense. Apparently it was produced by Starbucks Entertainment, so I guess I shall say that this is the first time I like Starbucks ... The film is undoubtedly a feelgood family drama, which gets a little preachy and everybody wins all at the end. Along the way there is the smatterings of racial prejudice and class stereotypes thrown in, just to make the challenge a little harder, the mountain a little higher to climb, so that victory is sweeter when Akeelah climbs to the top at the end. The cast is very credible, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishbourne were wonderful anchors to the film, and the young lead, Keke Palmer, acquaint herself very well with this rather heavy role. This is definitely one film that is worth recommending to the young, to collect either the vcd or dvd, and watch when one needs some hope and inspirations.

Gigolo Friends

2006-09-29T22:37:00.000+08:00

Gigolo Wannabe. It has been a while since we had a good Jap movie, so I had high hopes over this film. After watching it, erm, it didn't sit very well for me. My main grouse was that there was not enough of a plot happening throughout the film. It was rather oddly balanced, somewhere between a feel-good comedy, or one extorting the fine aspirations of being male hosts. The ending also left much to be desired, limping away from the professional focus to other mundane getaways. It doesn't help as well that a lot of the lines were downright corny. Pity pity, this ought to be a castaway B-grade movie somewhere.

Friends with Money. I didn't have too high hopes over this movie, because friends + money + Jennifer. But hey, I found myself liking this film quite a bit. Credit goes to great acting chops shared between the ensemble cast, including the other three friends, their spouses, and the men around Jennifer's character. The characters were very well written, they did not become the steoreotypes that we initially thought they would turn out, which would had been very annoying. I would say that this is Jeniffer's first good film ... which is saying a lot I guess. And oh, this is not quite a women's film as I feared initially, which was a relief.

ANIC and After

2006-09-17T12:22:00.000+08:00

Hi all, I want to apologies for not updating since A Nation in Concert ended last Saturday. Once again it had been a very humbling experience working with,m on the one hand, some of the most talented actors around; and on the other hand, normal folks with disabilities, but no less talented, performers. I am reminded constantly: a. folks with disabilities are not as helpless as you think they are; b. given the right script, right direction, and most importantly, right attitudes, you can still put up a great performance; c. we must always be grateful with what we have, and never take them for granted, because there are those who are not so fortunate. Anyway, the two shows suffered minor glitches, but most of the audience were forgiving, grateful and visibly moved. There might not be another ANIC next year, so we can only hope that the same spirits can be resurrected again in 2008.

I was able to catch two performances under the SPARKS incubation programme. Wilson Goh's performance was indeed really very specialized, which was why the audience turnout was pretty ... selective. Given credit, there was quite a lot of thought put in to make the presentation of the short programme more interesting. However, since layman like me would not be able to understand much of what he sang, what was left was to enjoy the ... mise en scene ... Wan Wen's lighting showcase was a little more ... focused, more accomplished. I guessed what it did for the audience, as well as for me, I guess, was to appreciate the beauty and grace of the actor's interaction with lighting, what kind of mood and feeling it can evoke with the actor, and thus the audience. Granted it was not easy to remain focus on such an intense, and silent performance, but I think we were greatly rewarded in the end. Well, I wish both of them great luck in proceeding to the next round of selection.

Barnyard was a fairly enjoyable but ultimately average animation. I thought Monster House was a better animation, engaging and had a few scares too. Barnyard was evidently targetted to a younger audience, from the "looks" of it, but it really lacked ... "bite", to be a really decent and enjoyable film. Well, looking forward to Flush Away then.

100% Supernatural Monster

2006-09-04T00:37:00.000+08:00

I watched Monster House on Thursday morning. It was a pretty enjoyable teenage animation pixar flick. I honestly think this is one of the better Hollywood animation around, not because it is high-tech, whatever, because it actually has a half-decent story to tell. It was important that I did not allow the "realism of the human features" get in the way of the enjoyment of the animation. I guess it helps that this film is meant to be a little scary and spooky, it being based around Halloween. The metaphor of the monster house itself is an interesting one, on how everybody around it, whether it is the parents, babysitter, the policemen, the other children, the three main children, and finally, the old man who had been trapped in it for so many years ... deal with this house, is quite fun and entertaining. Do catch it!

Thursday evening I attended this talk at the National Museum called Violence, the Supernatural and Exoticism in Singapore Cinema. The speaker, AP Kenneth Paul Tan, used 5 local films to illustrate his points. They are: Tan Pin Pin's Moving House (I wanna catch this), Eric Khoo's 12 Storeys (I don't like him but I admit this and Mee Pok Man are good), Jinn's Return to the Pontianak (hmmm), Victor Khoo's Tiger Whip (if we all need a good laugh ... at ourselves) and Kelvin Tong's The Maid (hmmm ...) From his points of views, I got two points out of it: 1. Local films with a supernatural / exoticism slant are indeed interesting, but whether it is a good reflection of our local Chinese / Malay / Indian cultures / heritage, is debatable, or whether, especially in Tiger Whip's case, it is a sell out of the mystical orientalism that Singapore (supposedly still) has, in the eyes of the West ...; 2. Singapore films are obsessed with / still stuck with the problems / concerns of the heartlanders, the marginal characters of society, while Singapore (English) theatre has moved to issues of the middle class. From another point of view, middle class film makers chose to look at the working class for their inspirations, while middle class theatre practitioners are not afraid to look into themselves for inspirations ... frankly, I think this has a lot to do with economics, because the majority of cinema goers are ... working class, while the majority of theatre goers are ... middle class, so you should do works that reflect, and affect, your audience closely. No?

I watched a Murakami doublebill yesterday morning at the Picturehouse, A Girl, She is 100% and Tony Takitani, organised by Film Society. The first film was a student's production, and I guess if you read the story carefully, it is not difficult to imagine turning this into a screenplay. Evidently, for a student's film, they will always try to throw every technique they studied in the textbook, into the film. Hence the final product is very jarring, very haphazard, and totally comical. I guess since the play is such soap opera material, it really doesn't matter too much. The ending is very anti-climax. Spoiler: So, is the ending for Tony Takitani ... This got me wondering, how come we don't see more local short films / student films being screenplayed from local short stories? Wouldn't that be mutually beneficial?

As for Tony Takitani, well, its the second time I'm watching it, so I believe I had blogged about this before. Nevertheless, I can say that this film is all I like about Murakami, in other words, poignant, slow, sentimental, slow, 100% Japanese. Hah hah ... Of course, Rie Miyazawa is, once again, gorgeous and ageless. The music is by that genius, Ryuichi Sakamoto, slow and contemplative again, I like ...

Comics Front

2006-08-30T21:36:00.000+08:00

Front. I finally caught that new programme on Arts Central that is mainly hosted by Eunice and Debbie Wong, and Kumar too. Thoughts: 1. Debbie's voice is indeed annoying. Cannot take her seriously. 2. Why do you need two babes to host the same segments? Neither can hold on their own, is it? 3. I like Phin's segment actually, really punctuate the film to the end, although, I actually do like Toni Takitani. 4. Kumar and Pam, speaking in short snitches, can't hear and appreciate a lot of their banter. What a shame. 5. The two puppets have got to be the only reason to catch this half hour show. Unfortunately, there were only one ... two ... three good jokes. Will I watch this pretentious programme again? You guess lah.

Comics. I visited the ... Asia - Europe Comics Project 2006 exhibition on level 9 of the central National Library. I was disappointed. 12 artistes. 12 self-portraits. 12 works-in-progress. That's all. 24 sketches in all. Felt a waste of time going up so high up the library to see these works. The quality of the sketches is not in question, its the quantity ... That said, I hope more good works come out of this artiste collaboration

Ant Bully Beckett

2006-08-27T10:44:00.000+08:00

Went to watch Beckett Project by TTRP on Friday night with Michael, Renee, Stacey, and friends. Beckett is a hard nut to crack. You need a lot of patience, energy (not to fall zzz), and great appreciation of all things dark and absurd, to barely scratch the surface to begin to appreciate his brand of ... theatre. I didn't think this was a great showcase of the talents of this batch of TTRP graduates, especially if this is going to be their swansong production. The first and final pieces, looked and felt like,anyone, (and with no disrespect to the actors who donned the roles), can do those standing and sitting roles. PLAY was easily the most satisfactory playlet out of the four, even if the script was equally tediously and baffling to follow, just like the other three. Oh well, Beckett what. I thought, it was a worthy try on the part of the team, but the overall result just fell a little short of expectation.

Saturday early morning was our first combined A Nation In Concert rehearsal. Went early to Clementi Interchange to wait for Valenisha, Wei Xin, Nadiah (on time), Levin (late), Umar (very late) and Siti (missing in action). The NUS High School was a strange design of old and new architectural ideas. While the layout was pretty modern and impressive, yet the walls and paintwork felt very old-school. Hmmm. The hall was ... I have no idea what the hall was trying to be built for, actually. It looked like, as usual, trying to be multi-functional as possible, and as usual, failing to impress on anything in the end. It was good to see everybody again, and welcoming Scott to the group. Anyway, the rehearsal began late, not unexpected. Happy to see Amalina, apparently she is part of the youngest cast in the production. The groups need polishing up, and generally the changes need to be much tighter. After a few pointers from Jon, hopefully the next rehearsal will be more solid.

Went out with Valenisha, Wei Xin and Nadiah to go to Junction 8 for lunch. Decided to catch Ant Bully. Gee I hope Film Society will not screen this at there next regular screening slot. I am not sure how much of the beginning I missed, as I zzz ... The animation was average in my opinion. The plot was nothing to crow about. I see similarities in recent Hollywood animation with this one. The initial flood-out scene, and the final battle with the ex-terminator scene, were pretty alright. The adventure to the house, with the flight of the petal, was sweet and cute. There are the usual lessons to learn, and all in all, very much forgettable to me lah. Beyond this, there is no great film in the near future to catch. I will try to catch Don't Come Knocking, since its been a while since a Wim Wenders film appears. Next week, Akeelah and the Bee seems promising. Will also try to catch Smell of Rain at the Arts House too.

Chalet Crazy Stone

2006-08-24T00:27:00.000+08:00

Rounded up Sat night with chalet near Changi Village. Its the SAF chalet, and the greatest part is that it faces the sea, not that I was anywhere near there. Glad that I made the last 29 bus, since I was the only passenger heading towards the other end, I guess the bus driver probably thought I was out looking for ah-g... oh nevermind. Anyway, the usual mah-jong gang wasn't there, so it was a pretty quiet night. In order not to waste the night away, three of us actually hoped into the car and went ... to the new budget terminal ... to check it out just in case we want to travel on the Tiger Airways in the near future mah. Anyway, the terminal was very ... functional, there was only what you needed to fly away, and come back, and Han's in between. Not satisfied, we hoped on the shuttle bus to T2, whereby we plonked ourselves onto the plush cushions of Pacific Coffee, drank coffee and surfed the free internet. All too soon its time to go back, have breakfast in the Changi Village hawker centre, where nothing much was opened, and what we eventually bought and ate were ... forgotten. Then it is back to the balcony to watch the sun rise, and then to bed to zzz ...

Crazy Stone. Finally caught the China movie that everybody was talking about ... outside the friends that I know, that is. It was only screened in Plaza Sing. I must say that, for a China movie, or more accurately, a Chongqing movie, the cinematic values are pretty high. The storyboarding was incredible, even though the pace was very fast, and there were several perspectives, the film was pretty easily understood, for me. The young and new director was not afraid to try almost every other camera trick from the trade. The casting was excellent, the ensemble did a wonderful job. It was not a big budget production, but nothing looked cheap, even the high tech gadget by the professional thief looked half decent too. The slight problem was that they were speaking in local dialect, hence we had to rely on the subtitles often, and we all know what the quality of subtitling can be exasperating pretty regularly. All in all, a highly satisfactory film, worth recommending to all to watch.

Second Tower Dinosaurs

2006-08-21T00:17:00.000+08:00

Towers. Heard recently that Towers Records in Suntec has closed down, effectively ceasing operations in Singapore. I can't help but feel sad to hear this news. Towers Records is an icon in Singapore's ... music and cultural history and progress in the 90s. The store in Pacific Plaza was a regular hangout for me in my university years, long before the arrival of HMV or Borders. It was not just the huge collection of cds that attracted me, but the collection of literature and magazines and peripheral stuff all over the two levels as well. Many lazy afternoons were spent just browsing from one corner of the store to another. Here was a place where you don't feel that time had been wasted when you were there. There was always something to discover at every visit. The appearances of musicians and artistes also made the place unique. I remember when Kitaro first came to Singapore, the queue went all the way to the ground floor! ... Anyway, I guess the demise of Towers show that cd-buying is on the decline, what with the advent of MP3 and I-pods. Well, I will still continue to buy cds no matter what.

Dinosaurs' Exhibition. At the encouragement of Anand I went to the Science Centre, on my own. I can't remember the last time I went there, and the place has really gotten a tremendous face-lift. I guess if not for the basic shape of the venue, the four hexagons, I would had been hopelessly lost. As it is it took me a while to search for the annex, or halls two and three, where the dinosaur exhibition is staged. I must say that Sue and Stan, the two most complete, assembled bones of a T-Rex, looked mightily impressive. Sue is 90% complete, hence we are able to see and gauge what a monster and terror she would had been, million of years ago. Now the exhibition did not forget to educate about protecting and taking care of the environment, even our own Singapore, whereby many species had already been forced into extinction due to urbanisation and advent of the concrete jungle. I certainly hope I won't live long enough to see our home turning into a desert or something ... Anyway, it had been a fruitful trip, if nothing else, it brought me back to the place that I used to visit frequently when I was in Primary school, wow, so long ago ... Hope there will be another good exhibition coming soon to make me want to visit it again.

Second Link. Its the second time I am watching it. Bought tickets early to watch with Hui Teen, May and Anand, if not I would had watched it with Wen Fu, Patrick, and some of the MGS girls. The show is indeed a celebration of the rich arts and culture that the two neighbouring countries share. The Malaysian cast was 2/5 new, and I didn't think they were as strong as the first batch of actors. As for the Singaporean cast side, we were all disappointed to miss out on Atomic Jaya, and for me, 1984. Nevertheless, it was still a fine outing. Everybody enjoyed themselves, the display of both Malaysian and Singaporean scripts and literature were mightily impressive. I enjoyed Descendents, Talaq, Who's Bad? Keroncong, and Sang Kancil with the Chef's Secrets. If not for my erratic schedule, I would had loved to go up to KL, and watch the show at the Bangsar Actors Studio. I still have fond memories from my last visit there. Well, I wish all ten actors a successful run in KL!

Crab Take Train

2006-08-19T01:00:00.000+08:00

Crab Shack. Had dinner at this little end-corner stall in a coffee shop at the Sin Ming - Upper Thomson area. My friend and I ordered a 2-piece meal, which comes with 2 flower crabs, and fries, and also ordered baked rice. The crabs were smaller than I expected, but what do I know about crabs. They were mildly sweet, I guess whatever spices the owners added was put in sparingly, but I love the taste anyway. The baked crab rice was pretty good, but I thought it might be too cheesy. Beyond that, don't expect ambient setting, don't think of Long Beach Seafood, this is just a humble stall trying to carve out a little business. The coffee shop is old house, so no air-conditioning, no state-of-the-art toilets, and not even high seats for toddlers. It was fun watching the young ones struggling with the crabs, and how their exasperated parents try to cope feeding them and themselves, for we all know how messy eating crabs can be. Well, hope the business survive then.

Train Man. Caught this new Japanese drama series on channel 56 on SCV. Train Man is about this ordinary Japanese man trying to woo this gorgeous lady, with the help of his numerous net "friends." Apparently this was a true story, and it spawned a successful book, comic, movie, drama series, etc. I thought the antics of the first series was a little crude, what with putting down the man to his lowest point, such that he was contemplating suicide on the night of his birthday, as well as on the other hand, elevating the lady to such grace and charm that it would seem impossible that the two would match and find love ... but we all know how the ending would be like. I thought what was interesting about this story was the motley crew of net "friends" that were behind him. They were from all walks of life, and they all have different views of what the man should do to woo his infatuation, and they all have their own problems. I thought what would be interesting, as the series unfolds, would be to see how their own lives change as this love story evolves. Who knows, I might want to pick up the book, or the drama series, myself one day.

The Take. Watched the film with Melissa at Alliance Francaise. I guess with a little more publicity, the film might actually stand a chance of selling out, then our friends, Grant and Anand, won't be able to watch it. The audience was pretty wide-ranging, hence the slogan, under the radar, was pretty appropriate I guess. The documentary was alright, the film was pretty clear of what it was trying to achieve, although it was not clear what the film makers' agenda was. I thought that the film made me appreciate, just a little more, our economic state of things in this island, where there is low unemployment. Goes to show that we should appreciate our jobs, cos there are many people out there who don't have one, and have to worry day and night when their next meal is going to come from ... The IMF was featured quite prominently in the film, this makes us wonder about the upcoming conference, whereby the security is going to be supertight. We know for sure that there is absolutely no chance of a repeat of Seattle ... It would be pretty difficult to manoeuvre around Suntec area come next month, so time to make plans elsewhere ...

Reasons why Vivianne and I love Citizen Dog so much

2006-08-17T15:56:00.000+08:00

Here are some colourful pics from the film:

Now we pray pray very hard this film will come to our shore ...

Citizen Dog

2006-08-14T23:43:00.000+08:00

Saturday night, dinner with Vivianne, Umar, Qaiser, Elsa, Renee, to celebrate Umar and MY birthdays! Well, mine don't matter that much anyway, being a third of a century old. Umar is 19, what a wonderous age. I wonder what I was like when I was 19 ... certainly did not celebrate then. Other than with family, I don't really celebrate mybirthday until I reach university ... but that is another blog I guess. Oh, we went to Siam Express, which look so much like Thai Express, the decor, the atmosphere,the menu ... the food I can't tell much. I didn't eat well cos my tummy was acting up, so I kept away from the spicy stuff.

After that went to CAN cafe at Liang Seah Street. Benjamin joined us later. Good to see these people all in all, although will be seeing some of them regularly for ANIC. Oh, the fireworks festival was into its last day, so from nine plus onwards until we left the place, there was a constant stream of people coming from the direction of the fireworks in Marina area. The Ah Chew dessert place was overwhelmed with customers, we gave up thoughts of buying some dessert over to our tables. Anyway, Qaiser, Elsa and I were not done when we split up, so the three of us ended up at RK Prata House in Bishan, the one with the pink chairs. Got home around 2am, tired but reasonably happy with the night's gathering. Next gathering ... maybe December, when Odelia returns ...

Sunday afternoon watched Citizen Dog with Vivianne. This has to be one of my favourite film of the year. I think I smiled throughout the film. It is by the director of Tears of the Black Tiger, and it is a very stylishly and surreally film about two simple people finding love in the city, the boy who has no dream or goal, and the girl who has one and is always searching for it. If you want to have a little taste of the film, please click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfRAGmySORs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdS1poPa4SM. The title track, Gon, by Modern Dog, is a recurring track throughout the film, and oh so addictive. I dearly wish that someone can bring this in for a commercial run, then I can go and tell all friends to go and watch it. Sure will bring a smile to everybody's faces. Or at least bring in the DVD lah ...

2006-08-11T09:20:00.000+08:00

Monday night, watched Lake House, alone, alone, alone. For a romantic film, this film ain't a tearjerker for me. Now, I like the original Korean film, Il Mare. There were plenty of loose ends with that film, but I really like the mood and atmosphere of that film, and the house of course. After watching this film, I thought that I like this film as well too. This is rather rare as usually one would either like the original or prefer the remake. I prefer the Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock pairing better. I thought that the couple in the film should be middle, or close to middle age, like these two, when they had been through life a little longer, then they can apporach this "relationship" with more apprehension, more care, then more hope. I didn't like this house as much though, preferring the more simple Korean house. Should buy the vcd or dvd when it comes out.

Tuesday evening, IPPT. Dragged this half tired body to Maju Camp for the annual pilgrimage. Dreadding the moment when I could not lift myself up enough, and went home early again. Oh well, another month or two there regularly again. Its ok, used to it already. Nothing much has changed since my last visit, except that now there is bus 52 that goes directly to my place. Next time, in two years time, I will be cat Z, wow ...

Brownies. I love them, warm, slightly bitter, and especially with vanilla ice cream on top, must eat when one is warm and the other not melted ... wait wait wait, alamak, supposed to be blogging about the film ... Anyway, this is an Indonesian film screened at GV Marina Square as part of the ASEAN film festival. There were only ... six audience in the house, and Anand and I are two of them. We couldn't understand why there were no more audience ... the film is highly entertaining; the cast were gorgeous; the art direction was a little too upper middle class for Indonesia, but sure is pleasing to the eye; the script is rather erratic, sometimes going too fast, other times to melodramatic ... surely a film that can do reasonably well if given a commercial release, with a little publicity push and some rah rah ... hope the Sunday afternoon will have a little more crowd lah. This ASEAN film festival deserves a little more effort, for if we don't watch our regional films, who would?

Happy Birthday. So how is my birthday number 33? Watched two nice films, one in the morning, one at night. Am happy with both. Anyway, it's scary to think that I am one third of a century old. Can I reach a century old? Do I want to? My precious grandmother is on her way there, she can still walk strongly, although she has a hard time remembering people, even her own children and grandchildren. I have no wish to be like that ... anyway, lots of well wishes from many corners, from midnight to midnight, so I am reasonably pleased. Am looking forward to meet the Whitley kids on Saturday, still need to find time to meet Drew and Jo, and next Sat meet Anand, Hui Teen and May for Second Link, so yeah, all is pretty well and dandy ...

Me and You and Everyone We Know

2006-08-10T18:51:00.000+08:00

Email to Chang Kang, lead singer of Typewriter, (one of the) best local band in Singapore!

======================================================

Dear brother,

Can forward to Akiko? Thanks. Lost contacts due to computer transition. The usual lah.

Went to watch this film this morning, alone. Doubt if there are any like-minded people wanting to watch this film on a working day morning, so did not bother asking anyone. There were only three audience in the cinema. Yeah, good old days of watching arthouse films.

It helped a lot that we watched Miranda July's shorts last month, in July, hah hah. It kind of prepared me to know what to expect from her feature film. Compare to the shorts, the film was very accomplished, very professionally done, the sound was mostly quite clear too. Guess there was quite a little budget behind this. Sundance money?

The characters, to me, borders along whether you like them all or hate them all. Some may complain about what's wrong with these Americans having such quirky characteristics, facing problems of family, friendship, growing up, sexuality, avant garde art, etc. I think these are what makes them interesting, to me anyway. So they don't have superpowers, or a unique remote control, or fast cars, but I think because of that, we can emphatise them a little better than we can shed tears for a Captain Jack Sparrow. Right?

They are going to show Singapore Dreaming soon. The poster has the family hugging each other, against the backdrop of our HDB flats. At least they show our HDB flats. The Spore Tourism Board sponsored Krrish ... did not show even one block of flat (but I did enjoy the film anyway.) I ask myself what would a foreign audience think of us should this film be screened overseas. Should our national obsession with the 5, or 6, Cs, not be quirky to them as well? This harks back to one thought that came out of watching Jonathan's Homesick under the Singapore Theatre Festival. Watching the play, you begin to see or ask ourselves, why do we sometimes complain about our country and ourselves so much?

Think I talk out of track already. Anyway, Akiko, thanks for the recommendation. Would tell my friends to all go catch it. We all know that it would last in Orchard Cineleisure for no more than two weeks ...

Till the next Typewriter gig, or film screening.

Regards,
Kiat

Hanging Out and Homesick

2006-08-08T20:43:00.000+08:00

Sunday lunch with Cassandra, Amanda, Sharanya and Gillian at Carl's Junior in Marina Square. This is the second time I hang out with any of these girls (yesterday was the first). Well, these girls can eat, all of them finished their burgers. I was impressed. No case of anorexia here. I got a nice present from them. Thank you girls. It is playing music right now ... I thought it was through this production that the two sec ones gelled with the two sec threes. Well you don't really know the age gap till you stand far away enough ... anyway, it was fun and messy, as with every Carl's Junior meal. Oh wait, I found out yesterday that there is a new Carl's Junior outlet at the basement of Plaza Singapura, taking over the space previously owned by Breadtalk. Can it be possibly that this Breadtalk did not do well?

We were joined by Xiang Ying at Ben & Jerry's in Suntec City. My favourite outlet is still the one at Novena Square, mainly because that one really makes out feel young at heart, and a big reason would be because there is a Toy's R Us opposite that outlet. Anyway we needed to wait a while for a seat because this outlet was really packed, being situated opposite Carrefour. As mentioned that because it was really packed, there weren't many flavours to choose from for my triple scope on a waffle tray, but I still got my chunky monkey, but no New York Fudge ... This outlet did not make me feel as comfortable as the ones at Novena Square, or Great World City, or even the Cathay building. Ice cream parlours should not be packed, good and expensive ice cream should not be tasted in a hurry, as with all great food.

The highlight of the day was watching Homesick. The cast was witty and hilarious, Jon's direction was superb, and Alfian's script, once again, hits home, and across the causeway, time and time again. The play did feel long at time, what with most of the cast on stage most of the time, it can get quite tedious to watch so many things happening at times. I guess this was in tune in causing claustophobia amongst the characters, since they need to live with each other throughout the ten days of confinement. Yes, it did bring back memories of the uncertainties during the outbreak. I was remembering the sharing sessions we had with the NEA staff when we did the workshops with them two years ago, and a lot of them had a lot to say about SARS, including trying to keep calm amidst the chaos, trying to tell themselves to stay focus while helping those around them who needed the advice and assurance that everything was going to be alright, that as a nation we can pull through this crisis together. Yeah, the play did say a few things about SARS, but maybe not enough ...

Busy Day Watching

2006-08-06T00:08:00.000+08:00

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!

Curtains Down in MGS

2006-08-01T22:42:00.000+08:00

I haven't blogged for donkeys. Apologies.

It's been all MGS since the World Cup. What a comparison, or shall I say, no comparison ... Then again, I can't wait for the new English Premier League to begin. Hah hah ...

It was quite a weird experience. Me, a non-believer (still), putting in so many hours of blood, sweat and tears, to put up the lights in all these locations around the school. I know the back of the school like the back of my hand now. The security guys told me I should take up a job with them as well, since I was around so often at night ...

But at the end of the day, I am glad and proud to have been involved in this unique show. Thanks to Wen Fu for lassoing us into Blackmore Drive. Thanks to Jonathan for his vision, first and foremost, for without him, nobody else can, and dare to, dream of such a project, in Singapore. I think this is really really close to the show we saw in Perth. More importantly, it moved me as much as it did then. The power of great stories, from the bible.

It is great to see the growth and improvements made by many of the girls, from the embarrassing auditions, up to the confident performances on shownights. From the elder girls like Cielo, Bev, Kail, Sherylene, Stacey, Juls, to the younger girls like Joanne, JenYi, Genevieve, Alyssa, Mei Zhi and Ann. Not forgetting Kelly and Kathleen, one is sweet and sexy, the other is fierce and domineering. Did their parents come watch? What will they think?

The sound and lighting girls had a tough and great time too, from the first contact at the beginning of the June hols, when they were flung all over the four corners of the school, to cover as much technical aspects as possible, to the smooth execution of cues and tasks on shownight. Audience never get to see how the people in black run about in the dark to push the next button, or turn the next dimmer, but I will always know. So thank you, Amanda, Amanda, Cassandra, Andrea, Sharanya, Gillian, Xiang Ying, Esther, Evangeline, Valerie, Tracy, did I miss anyone? Anyway, I hope I had taught them a little about technical stuff in these two months. You never know what they know ...

Oh, and I also need to thank the choir girls for the card. I can't remember what I did much for them, I only know Joelle and Shernise, but anyway, thanks girls.

I also want to one small group of girls who were not mentioned in the programme - Jaime, Petrina, Kristin, Beulah, Isabel, Bethel. You know your contributions. Thank goodness you still found your ways in all parts of the show. You are all amazing.

Flipping through the programme booklet, I can't help but feel amazed that so many girls were involved in this massive show. And there really was a lot of effort from everybody, from the rehearsals from all the performers, to the running ups and downs from my tech girls, to Kim Fong's set-up girls, and the ushers, who cover up the rest of the tasks that pop up at the last moment ...

Thanks MGS and your girls, for the walk.

The Quarterfinals

2006-07-02T13:16:00.000+08:00

Germany vs Argentina - Wrong substitutions, shouldn't have taken out Riquelme, Argentina should not have hoped for a 1 - 0 result, sitting back and letting Germany attack was a mistake. No confidence in taking penalties, it was quite obvious to see. Germany deserves to progress.

Italy vs Ukraine - Did not watch, thought Italy will score and park a bus outside their goal post. Pleasantly surprised that they scored three, so redeemed themselves a little over that undeserving victory over the socceroos.

Portugal vs England - Rooney was a time bomb waiting to be sent off. England was more dangerous when Lennon came on for Beckham, Beckham can retire liao ... Crouch should have started the game with Rooney. Why bring in Carrighar for Lennon? Penalties, same as above match, England lacked confidence.

France vs Brazil - The defending of the free kick was shocking. FOUR Brazilian players stood still when the ball was struck. France deserves to move on with this game. Zidane, Vierra, Henry shows the way, class is permanent. Ronaldhino was a failure in this tournament.

Am hoping for a Germany vs Portugal final.

Back

2006-06-28T22:27:00.000+08:00

Dear friends,

Sorry I have been away for so long. It's been a month, I think. But I'm back! I guess.

So what has happened this month?

MGS - For the first two weeks of the June hols, I thought I was working in the school, putting in more than 10 hours per day. Thankfully the skeleton, and some of the flesh, of the show is out, and it is looking better and better with every run! Hope it will be a fantastic show come end July!

Arts Fest - Only watched Samovar (Chekov through Comics), John Williams, and Play on Earth by Theatreworks. Wanted to catch the last performance of Shorter and Sweeter, but it was sold out ... I guess partly due to MGS, and mainly due to World Cup, this year's Arts Fest did not leave much impression on me.

Films - Since Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (I got the DVD!), I had watched: X-Men 3 (great, deserving ending), Love Story (erm ...), Over the Hedge (cute), C.R.A.Z.Y (wonderful, worth recommending), CARS (cool), Krrish (better than expected actually). On hindsight not a great month for films actually, considering its the June hols.

Misc. - Youth Gone Wild! My boy,Umar, sang and sweated his heart out at the end of ... many hours of heart-stomping, and hardly any bass, rock music, with some original Singapore independent music thrown in. Typewriter and Ronin lent some respectability and strength to the event. Was glad that Whitley Sec had organised it, sign of more to come, I hope.

WORLD CUP - I missed most of the last one in S Korea and Japan. I am mostly glad that I was able to catch most, and some of the best, action, this time round. In fact, this is the first night, after 2 1/2 weeks of daily action and battle, that there is no match. Which means there are only 8 more precious matches to go ... Now I would like to say that, looking at the remaining 8 teams, I would support Portugal (no, not to spite England), Germany, Italy, and Brazil to be in the semis ...

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

2006-05-23T23:30:00.000+08:00

Zhang Yi-Mou returns to form. The last film of his that I liked was The Road Home, aka My Father and Mother. Well, make that the last film of Zhang Zi Yi that I liked as well. Hero and House of Flying Daggers were quite embarrassing to watch. Lesson learnt, don't give the man too much money to make his films ... The casting of Ken Takakura is a master stroke, the veteran Japanese actor uses mostly his facial expressions and minimal body gestures to reflect his thoughts, his pain, and subsequently his conciliations with his past and present. Over at the Chinese camp, it seemed that other than the boy, everybody else played themselves, which is an amazing casting achievement, showing that every other rural Chinese can act for Zhang Yi-Mou, I guess ... the locations in Li Jiang, Yunnan, and subsequently the Stone Village, and the rocky and mountainous landscapes were really awe-inspiring. I half suspect that the film had a lot of Japanese funding behind it, as it was so pro Chinese- Japanese relations, but I guess it is nice to have a film between two countries that are not about bashing each other up, remember Paradise Now ... Hope this film does well.

TDVC

2006-05-22T01:06:00.000+08:00

How to write about THAT controversial film? Having not read the book, (Grace when can I have my book back?) I was able to enjoy the film as it is, without the normal bias that films are often not as good as the original books they adapt from ... The film felt long at parts; I thought they could do with just one inspector, instead of two, got a little draggy and confusing there; as much as I like Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou a lot, I don't think they were good in this film; I thought Sir Ian Mckellen and Paul Bettany did a much better job with their roles; when will Jean Reno stop don't boring inspector roles?; the scenery was indeed one of the better highlights of the film ... if your expectations are not high then this is a fairly decent summer blockbuster. As Tom Hanks' character said, "if given a chance, would you rather destroy faith, or renew it?" This film is great for an after-film discussion, and no more ... lets just keep this at that.

Hidden Flaws

2006-05-21T11:27:00.000+08:00

Hidden Flaws. Movies on unlikely friendships can be either fascinating or zzz ... Here is an odd, touching relationship fuelled by guilt and mutual need. The old lady, Agnes, is trying to come to terms with the death with her beloved brother, whom she had depended on for most of her life. Chrissy and Tommie are running away from their parents because of an accident that happened to their elder brother. I supposed that both parties ... bond with their respective brothers brought their friendship, as they try to understand each other, and come to terms with their own lost. It is not easy to understand why the old, or the young, behave sometimes, let alone with each other, and this film does a good job at that. The film is not easy to watch or sit through, and the ending might not be the most satisfying of films, but the intricate friendship, and the film's leisurely pace, makes for a rather satisfying show.

M:I:3

2006-05-17T23:45:00.000+08:00

I walk out half-way ...

Paradise Now

2006-05-16T23:17:00.000+08:00

Every good film deserves an extra effort mention. Paradise Now is about two childhood friends, Khaled and Said, who embark on a mission as suicide bombers, for the cause of their people and nation. Throughout the film there is much soul searching and affirmation of their faith and responsibilities to their love ones. Suffice to say that there is minimal violence in this film. The ending is pretty peaceful. Hope that is not giving out a lot ... After the initial "makeover", where the two men got a very good haircut, wash, shave, clothes, etc, I can't help but notice that Said really looks like Dave Gahan of the Depeche Mode. Hah hah hah. More importantly, this film shows the plight of a very marginalized population. The decision of the two men to head towards the path of no return, is not that hard to understand after watching the film. especially when they say that it is better to die than to be alive in their land ... shocking to us, but quite common to them, as they have to endure the hardships and humiliation of separation and constant bombardment. We are only aware of the ugly side of suicide bombing, but we seldom get behind the veil to try to understand them. This film perhaps provide a bridge to better understanding. It is amazing that the film maker was able to make this film at all, consider all sensitivities, so the film is all the more precious. Hope more people get to watch this film. Spread the word!

Liquid Kitchen

2006-05-09T22:58:00.000+08:00

I have finally made my first little step into the Liquid Kitchen. Can't be helped, this is so close to my home. Finally, I've always wanted to find a pub-thingy place really near home, that is not too dark, smokey, sleazy etc. I think I finally found a place to have a drink after a hard day's work before heading home. What am I saying ... Anyway, LK quite fits the bill actually, a place that tries to be a restaurant and a pub. The interior is quite comfortable and cosy. The front part, where the bar counter is, has a television screen that shows, what else, so maybe I have an avenue to watch, you know what ... The back part is filled with high table and chairs, and some low seats too. Now all I need to find is the company to hang out with. Yeah! Well besides LK, there are three shops along the same side of shophouses that open around the same period time. There is a Prata Cafe, opened to rival the giant Prata House; a Japanese Pizza place, and an IceBox, that sells desserts and drinks, I think. Am really glad that my little neighbourhood is becoming more and more happening. Now waiting for the MRT to come out!

Mirrormask

2006-05-04T00:40:00.000+08:00

Before I ramble about another film ... yes, mom, I'm sorry I watched another film. It's been only 4 days after SIFF and I had already watched 3 films ... let me talk about my favourite man now. James Gomez? No. Wayne Rooney? No ... He is actually Mr No Reservations, Mr Cook's Tour, Mr Anthony Bourdain. I am currently busy thumbing through his Kitchen Confidential & A Cook's Tour now. I also follow a forum under Discovery Travel and Living, that talks about the 40ish New Yorker's programme. People from all over the world chip in to say what they feel about the man. As for me, well, the reason why I like to watch him is his unassuming, no-nonsense, almost honest approach to presenting his food and travel programmes. He is not afraid to provoke others, and laugh at himself, which makes the programmes pretty endearing. I look forward to his programmes every Wednesday night and some other weird timings, which says a lot about me I guess.

Back to the real me. Mirrormask is good for the whole family, hah hah. I guess children will enjoy the graphics and animation and puppetry, and adults who don't follow Gaiman will smash their heads against the seat in front of them. If I don't try too hard, I would say that the plot is not too hard to follow, but plot, nor acting, is not the main thing about this film. As for whether this is a worthy film for fans, I don't know and I don't care. What I feel is that given the kind of mainstream stuff that we mostly get, this film is a welcoming relief. I guess most non-fans spend most of the film admiring the different techniques of film making, and sometimes trying to make sense of where the film is going, but I must say that the film is a great testimony of the genius that is Neil Gaiman. Oh, as well as Henson puppetry, again. Certainly a welcome alternative to the possibilities of film making.

Housewarming

2006-05-03T00:24:00.000+08:00

It's time to catch up on my irregular dosage of French art-house films at Alliance. Tonight's offering was Housewarming, which was a little misleading, as there was more renovation than warming, but perhaps the director meant the warming of the oddball team of carpenters, plumbers, tilers, etc, and well the building of family relationships between mother and children. This is typical French farce and slapstick humour, which was why the auditorium was suitably packed, unlike most of other local screenings whereby the place was less than half full. The icing of the cake was the cameo of Hugh Grant at the end. A very charming and infectious comedy, certainly a nice way to end a lovely evening.