It turned out to be a gathering of old friends.
Yew Hong Chow, the harmonica player, was there and played a few tunes for us. For some reason, the harmonica’s mellifluous tones make me go all nostalgic in a way the recorder never could. And I wondered again how much cooler it would have been to learn to play the harmonica in school.
Victor Khoo was there though not Charlee since it was past his bedtime. It’s humbling to think how many generations of kids have grown up with Victor and Charlee and how much laughter and merriment they’ve brought to us.
The Teochew newsreader was there, soldiering on in Teochew, a guardian of the last bastion of dialect on radio.
Pin Pin’s uncle was there and he sportingly sang a stanza of an old Chinese song.
And of course, Tan Pin Pin herself. She had made the introductions in Singapore GaGa and now all of us, family, friends, well-wishers, were gathered for the official launch of the DVD.

Pin Pin tried gamely to deliver her comments in both English and Mandarin, but the latter proved just a tad too daunting. Still, what was clear in the movie again came shining through - Pin Pin’s genuine affection for the people in it and her gratitude to them for trusting her with their stories. And they in turn, thanked Pin Pin for giving them the chance to tell their stories. Tonight, this was Singapore, full of warm, fuzzy, gaga feelings.

The nostalgia–laden door gift was a stringed tin-can with a treasure trove of tidbits and toys from yesteryear.

(For sinema.sg)

The Prestige
Chris Nolan
A story of the poisonous rivalry between two magicians, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), after a trick that involves them both goes wrong and ends up killing Angier’s wife. It’s wrapped in an elaborate set-up, shifting from one’s point-of-view to the other as each one appears to have the upper hand. At the heart of the movie is the secret behind Borden’s act The Transported man.
The problem with the puzzle-movie however, is that having figured out the this mystery halfway through, thanks to the repetition of hints and some unusual camera choices, I was smugly satisfied and wondered why the movie was dragging on so. But Chris (director and co-writer) and Jonathan Nolan (co-writer) had more tricks up their sleeves. There was now Angier’s trick to figure out. But the fact that they tried to have their cake and eat it too rankled. If you bought their explanation, well and good, but if you didn’t, they had an admonishment ready, you, the viewer, are simply not ready or willing to accept the ‘truth.’ But the unsatisfying deus ex machina only left me feeling cheated.
Still, this was a handsomely-filmed movie, and Bale was as intensely charismatic as ever. Despite its flaws, this is a genre-busting movie that managed to linger on in my head.

Veronica Mars
Rob Thomas
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its run, a gaping hole loomed on the tv landscape. Sure, Angel was still around, but he was no petite blonde kicking ass. Enter Veronica Mars, a high school girl trying to solve the mystery of her best friend’s death, and not missing a single comeback in the process. Salon.com anointed the show with The Buffy, for “the season’s most unjustly ignored TV show.” Veronica Mars’ status as the Chosen One was sealed with the cameo appearance of Joss Whedon in the second season (which also featured Buffy/Angel alumnus Charisma Carpenter).
While still enjoyable, the second season had a few mis-steps, including the too-Ghost Whisperer-y-for-comfort encounters with the victims of the school bus crash. There was even an episode or two in which the dialogue just felt off. You always take consistency of tone for granted, until it isn’t. I also didn’t appreciate the storylines which went nowhere, in particular, the relationship between Veronica’s dad and her best friend Wallace’s mom.
But all was forgiven with the third season’s Rob Thomas-penned premiere. Veronica is off to college and still doing what she does best. It’ll be interesting to see if there’ll be a central case overarching the entire season even as ripples of events past continue to be felt.

Freaks and Geeks
Paul Feig
Maps out the bittersweet terrain of adolescence with honesty, humour and warmth, marking out small moments of triumphs alongside bigger moments of sheer awkwardness and embarrassment. The setting is McKinley High in Michigan circa 1980. Lindsay Weir, ‘Mathlete,’ moves from the geek camp to the freak camp as she strikes up friendships with Daniel Desario (with his “bedroom eyes and ratty hair”), his girlfriend Kim Kelly, sarcastic Ken Miller and Nick Andopolis, who never quite gets over her after a short-lived relationship. She’s in the process of figuring out who she is and who she wants to be. Her younger brother Sam, together with his best friends Neil Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck are firmly in the geek camp, and have to deal with being picked upon by jocks and ignored by girls. But when Sam gets the girl of his dreams, it turns out to be nothing like what he expected.
Watching the episode ‘Kim Kelly Is My Friend’ was a rather odd experience. It featured the same characters but was meaner in toner and darker in spirit compared to the rest of the series. Could understand why it wasn’t shown when F&G aired.

Undeclared
Judd Apatow
Just about as short-lived as Freaks & Geeks, on which Apatow was the executive producer. It was essentially F&G go to college with many familiar faces popping up including Seth Rogen (who played Ken Miller; Rogen also pulled writing duties on Undeclared), Jason Segel (Nick Andopolis) and Samm Levine (Neil Schweiber).
Sweetly geeky Steve Karp is all set to experience college life with his suitemates, including ladies’ men Lloyd Hathe (British import Charlie Hunnam), Lizzie Exley (alas with an obsessive older boyfriend), Rachel Lindquist, sarcastic Ron Garner and oddball Marshall Nesbitt. Popping up more often than Steve would like is his recently divorced father (Loudon Wainwright III). The tone was decidedly more comic, with mayhem usually ensuing as the gang tangled with cheating on term papers, pledging, getting jobs and falling in and out of love.