Singapore Animation Showcase @ Animation Nation 2006
I grew up on a steady diet of animation that included anime dubbed in English and Mandarin, as well as cartoons from the West, primarily from the US. But it wasn’t until much later that the world of animation opened up for me. Primarily, this was due to a re-acquaintance with anime, which, I realised, could be funny, tragic, mysterious, sexy, simple, profound — with a bewildering array of styles to match. There wasn’t anything that anime couldn’t do.
So I was glad to see animation taking on a higher profile here in recent years. This is the Singapore Film Society’s third Animation Nation, while the Singapore Animation Showcase goes back to 2001, held under the auspices of the then-Singapore Broadcasting Authority.
There also appear to be more avenues for aspiring animators to break into the business, both in terms of the number of educational courses offered and production houses sprouting up here, most notably Lucasfilm Animation. So I was curious to see, as the publicity material promised for the Singapore Animation Showcase (organised as part of Animation Nation 2006 on November 19, 2006), what “local Singaporean animators have been up to.”
Most of the offerings at the Showcase were from schools, which was fine, but I would like to have seen more from the professionals in the industry. For instance I saw some interesting animated shorts last week at RESFEST 10's Screener Series: Singapore, whose inclusion would have given a better sense of the scope of work being done here. Or other works by the same filmmakers could have been included in this programme, to avoid duplication with RESFEST and other showcases.
Coming back to the Singapore Animation Showcase screening on Sunday, my friend remarked afterwards that the shorts appeared to be divided into two categories: those strong in story or those strong in the technical aspect of animation. Call it a left-brain/right-brain dichotomy, which meant that rare was the filmmaker who was adept at both and so the more collaborative works tended to fare better.
So here are another slew of awards I’d like to give out to the films at the Singapore Animated Showcase:
Most Befuddling
The Story of Black
Chung Cheng High
While somewhat derivative, I was quite impressed by the standard of the animation. Too bad the story didn’t make much sense.
Most Patriotic
Total Defence animations
CHIJ St Joseph
Some simple but effective animation in the service of the Total Defence campaign. Still, the faint whiff of propaganda lingered and I was soon longing for a shot of, say, Brian Gothong Tan’s We Live in a Dangerous World from the recently-concluded Singapore Biennale.
Strangest-looking Cupid Ever
Stupid Cupid
Dias Leong
Cupid looked like a thug in a sumo-wrestler get-up. Seriously.
Best Sound
Take to the Skies
Lim Beng Loon
A canny cashing-in on the fad for all things penguin, aided by a classic cartoon soundtrack.
Best in Show
The Pinnacle
Demonstrating that it’s possible to build suspense, hold audience interest and end things with a twist in a few short minutes. Nicely done.
Most Dangerously Titled
The Boaring Chase
The idea of a badly-designed (biologically speaking) alien held hostage by a boar tickled, but the chase around the world was clichéd.
Most Likely Inspired By The Phrase “If Pigs Could Fly”
Legend of the Pig
This riff on why pigs can’t fly stood out for its Chinese ink painting-like animation style. Charming in a low-key way.
Most Reminiscent of Teletubbies
Songs of Innocence and Experience
A cautionary tale about the power of words to hurt, let down by the déjà vu animation.
(For sinema.sg)
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Little Shop of Horrors
Before their string of Disney hits came along, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were best known for a raucous and rollicking musical called Little Shop of Horrors, the tale of a Faustian bargain with a horticultural twist. Meek and geeky Seymour Krelborn's fortunes take a dramatic turn for the better after he buys a mysterious plant that appears out of nowhere after an eclipse. Business booms at the flower shop he's working in and Seymour finds fame as a botanical genius. All he wants, though, is the girl, his co-worker Audrey. He even names the plant Audrey II after her. But in return for having his deepest desires fulfilled, Seymour will have to pay a price... Given the show's longevity, it's not uncommon for people to have watched more than one version of it, or even to have taken part in a school production. For me, Frank Oz's 1986 movie adaptation remains a favourite for its pitch-perfect casting. Rick Moranis' Seymour was nebbishy and yet had one rooting for him; Ellen Greene reprised the role of Audrey from the original off-Broadway production and was equally adept at milking laughs and eliciting sympathy; and Steve Martin was a revelation in his huge performance as Orin, Audrey's unhinged dentist boyfriend. In other words, comparisons are going to be inevitable.
So how do you stage a familiar and beloved musical and keep it fresh and exciting? Dream Academy's solution was to turn the trio of doo-wop back-up singers into a showcase for the Dim Sum Dollies. Mostly, it worked. Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong zipped in and out of costumes and personalities and accents with such sass and pizzazz, they lit up the stage every time they appeared. They were SIA girls pulling trolley bags, Ah Lians spouting Singlish, car park makciks chattering in Malay, ladies who lunch oozing accented English, and nuns in habits for the heck of it. Unfortunately, the high-voltage energy of the Dim Sum Dollies segments altered the pacing and flow of the musical as the rest of the show failed to measure up to their standard. We were just waiting for the next appearance, and persona change, of the Dollies.
In retrospect, using the painted backdrop with the show's title and logo for several of the scenes was perfectly appropriate given that the entire musical was a backdrop for the Dim Sum Dollies. At the time though, it was a constant, annoying and unnecessary reminder that one was, in fact, watching Little Shop of Horrors. If different backdrops were out of the question, perhaps a generic Skid Row background would have worked as well.
It didn't help that director Glen Goei's staging felt rather static at points with the action concentrated on one or two spots downstage, including for Audrey's showstopper number Somewhere That's Green. He was more successful with the inspired and very funny finale which featured the entire cast in Audrey II costumes. If only there had been more of such moments...
The Dim Sum Dollies aside, the attempt to inject some Singaporean flavour into the musical had decidedly mixed results. The weak efforts to localise the American context (by substituting Lorong Skid Row for Skid Row, kaya toast for sliced bread etc.) soon wore out their welcome and even the laughter-on-cue from a vocal section of the audience dried up towards the end. The subtler lyrical tweakings, in Somewhere That's Green for example, worked better. "I cook like Betty Crocker and I look like Donna Reed" became "I cook like Violet Oon and I look like Zhang Ziyi." On second thoughts, it was Denise Tan's delivery that made it work. On his part, Tan Ju Meng managed to pull off a set that was a mix of Skid Row USA (walk-up stoops) and Joo Chiat (low-rise buildings, accented with under-construction green netting).
Denise Tan, as Audrey, was the clear standout among the cast. She struck the fine balance between camp and genuine emotion and brought it all home during her rendition of Somewhere That's Green. She made the part hers and more than held her own against the Dim Sum Dollies. Compared to Ellen Greene's brilliantly mannered vocal performance and more fragile Audrey, Tan gave an earthier interpretation while retaining the character's sense of vulnerability.
Dave "Electrico" Tan, aided by the puppeteers, brought Audrey II to life with a swaggering vocal performance spanning the gamut from pleading, cajoling plant to triumphant evil monster. Of course, credit has to go to Mascots and Puppets Specialists as well for constructing Audrey II, a mutant orchid with a disturbingly humongous chin that was either bulbous, or um, ballsy, depending on your point of view. A minor quibble: Audrey II's mouth movements were not always in sync with the vocals.
The rest of the cast didn't fare as well. Hossan Leong played, or rather underplayed, to type and his Seymour was not very engaging. This was a problem faced by Lim Yu Beng as well, whose turn as dentist Orin lacked the manic and maniacal over-the-top energy the part demanded. Sean Worrall, as Mushnik, the flower shop owner, seemed, for some reason, to be shouting most of his lines.
Ultimately, this Little Shop left me hungry, like Audrey II, for more... of the movie.
(For The Flying Inkpot)
Before their string of Disney hits came along, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were best known for a raucous and rollicking musical called Little Shop of Horrors, the tale of a Faustian bargain with a horticultural twist. Meek and geeky Seymour Krelborn's fortunes take a dramatic turn for the better after he buys a mysterious plant that appears out of nowhere after an eclipse. Business booms at the flower shop he's working in and Seymour finds fame as a botanical genius. All he wants, though, is the girl, his co-worker Audrey. He even names the plant Audrey II after her. But in return for having his deepest desires fulfilled, Seymour will have to pay a price... Given the show's longevity, it's not uncommon for people to have watched more than one version of it, or even to have taken part in a school production. For me, Frank Oz's 1986 movie adaptation remains a favourite for its pitch-perfect casting. Rick Moranis' Seymour was nebbishy and yet had one rooting for him; Ellen Greene reprised the role of Audrey from the original off-Broadway production and was equally adept at milking laughs and eliciting sympathy; and Steve Martin was a revelation in his huge performance as Orin, Audrey's unhinged dentist boyfriend. In other words, comparisons are going to be inevitable.
So how do you stage a familiar and beloved musical and keep it fresh and exciting? Dream Academy's solution was to turn the trio of doo-wop back-up singers into a showcase for the Dim Sum Dollies. Mostly, it worked. Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong zipped in and out of costumes and personalities and accents with such sass and pizzazz, they lit up the stage every time they appeared. They were SIA girls pulling trolley bags, Ah Lians spouting Singlish, car park makciks chattering in Malay, ladies who lunch oozing accented English, and nuns in habits for the heck of it. Unfortunately, the high-voltage energy of the Dim Sum Dollies segments altered the pacing and flow of the musical as the rest of the show failed to measure up to their standard. We were just waiting for the next appearance, and persona change, of the Dollies.
In retrospect, using the painted backdrop with the show's title and logo for several of the scenes was perfectly appropriate given that the entire musical was a backdrop for the Dim Sum Dollies. At the time though, it was a constant, annoying and unnecessary reminder that one was, in fact, watching Little Shop of Horrors. If different backdrops were out of the question, perhaps a generic Skid Row background would have worked as well.
It didn't help that director Glen Goei's staging felt rather static at points with the action concentrated on one or two spots downstage, including for Audrey's showstopper number Somewhere That's Green. He was more successful with the inspired and very funny finale which featured the entire cast in Audrey II costumes. If only there had been more of such moments...
The Dim Sum Dollies aside, the attempt to inject some Singaporean flavour into the musical had decidedly mixed results. The weak efforts to localise the American context (by substituting Lorong Skid Row for Skid Row, kaya toast for sliced bread etc.) soon wore out their welcome and even the laughter-on-cue from a vocal section of the audience dried up towards the end. The subtler lyrical tweakings, in Somewhere That's Green for example, worked better. "I cook like Betty Crocker and I look like Donna Reed" became "I cook like Violet Oon and I look like Zhang Ziyi." On second thoughts, it was Denise Tan's delivery that made it work. On his part, Tan Ju Meng managed to pull off a set that was a mix of Skid Row USA (walk-up stoops) and Joo Chiat (low-rise buildings, accented with under-construction green netting).
Denise Tan, as Audrey, was the clear standout among the cast. She struck the fine balance between camp and genuine emotion and brought it all home during her rendition of Somewhere That's Green. She made the part hers and more than held her own against the Dim Sum Dollies. Compared to Ellen Greene's brilliantly mannered vocal performance and more fragile Audrey, Tan gave an earthier interpretation while retaining the character's sense of vulnerability.
Dave "Electrico" Tan, aided by the puppeteers, brought Audrey II to life with a swaggering vocal performance spanning the gamut from pleading, cajoling plant to triumphant evil monster. Of course, credit has to go to Mascots and Puppets Specialists as well for constructing Audrey II, a mutant orchid with a disturbingly humongous chin that was either bulbous, or um, ballsy, depending on your point of view. A minor quibble: Audrey II's mouth movements were not always in sync with the vocals.
The rest of the cast didn't fare as well. Hossan Leong played, or rather underplayed, to type and his Seymour was not very engaging. This was a problem faced by Lim Yu Beng as well, whose turn as dentist Orin lacked the manic and maniacal over-the-top energy the part demanded. Sean Worrall, as Mushnik, the flower shop owner, seemed, for some reason, to be shouting most of his lines.
Ultimately, this Little Shop left me hungry, like Audrey II, for more... of the movie.
(For The Flying Inkpot)
Monday, November 13, 2006
RESFEST 10: Afterword
I arrived too early at Velvet Underground last night to find the near-equivalent of watching paint dry on the TV screens as contestants in the Icon Chef Design Competition tapped and clicked away on their laptops. Good thing there were drinks, courtesy of Smirnoff and Tiger, to lubricate the evening.
And so the winner of the first RESFEST Adobe Audience Choice Awards is … Momorobo for their video of Futon’s Strap It On. Maybe it’s just me, but I keep thinking of a Peach Robot every time I hear that name. But it’s not inappropriate given the strong Japanese influence in the video, even as Momorobo drew upon mythologies across different cultures to portray the various gods and deities.
The organisers also announced the winners of the Nokia Handheld Cinema competition, in which filmmakers had to use a video-equipped mobile phone to tell a story about “the unexplained, the inexplicable and the downright unbelievable.” SILNT’s Question Mark was a worthy winner. Questions, ranging from the mundane (Where’s my pencil?) to the metaphysical (What are we waiting for?) to the self-referential (Why are you here watching this?), flashed across the screen, framed by black and white images and a haunting soundtrack. It ended by questioning the idea that all questions had to have answers.
Second place went to Uncalled, an atmospheric piece about the suicide of a Filipino maid.
These pieces demonstrate that the technological barriers to filmmaking are lower than before. As long as you have an idea or a story, it is now much easier to bring it into fruition. What it does mean though is that good ideas will be more important than ever.
(For sinema.sg)
I arrived too early at Velvet Underground last night to find the near-equivalent of watching paint dry on the TV screens as contestants in the Icon Chef Design Competition tapped and clicked away on their laptops. Good thing there were drinks, courtesy of Smirnoff and Tiger, to lubricate the evening.
And so the winner of the first RESFEST Adobe Audience Choice Awards is … Momorobo for their video of Futon’s Strap It On. Maybe it’s just me, but I keep thinking of a Peach Robot every time I hear that name. But it’s not inappropriate given the strong Japanese influence in the video, even as Momorobo drew upon mythologies across different cultures to portray the various gods and deities.
The organisers also announced the winners of the Nokia Handheld Cinema competition, in which filmmakers had to use a video-equipped mobile phone to tell a story about “the unexplained, the inexplicable and the downright unbelievable.” SILNT’s Question Mark was a worthy winner. Questions, ranging from the mundane (Where’s my pencil?) to the metaphysical (What are we waiting for?) to the self-referential (Why are you here watching this?), flashed across the screen, framed by black and white images and a haunting soundtrack. It ended by questioning the idea that all questions had to have answers.
Second place went to Uncalled, an atmospheric piece about the suicide of a Filipino maid.
These pieces demonstrate that the technological barriers to filmmaking are lower than before. As long as you have an idea or a story, it is now much easier to bring it into fruition. What it does mean though is that good ideas will be more important than ever.
(For sinema.sg)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
RESFEST 10
Screener Series: Singapore
It may sound strange to say this but I don’t have the attention span for shorts. Due to the constraints of the form, namely brevity, an impact has to be made quickly in order to draw the audience in. If it doesn’t do so right off the bat, my mind starts wandering.Also, works that are too short barely have time to register before they end — and then my brain blames me for the wasted burst of concentration and further shortens my attention span in revenge.
And there’s the fact that you seldom watch one short in isolation, so you’re constantly switching gears, trying to process what’s on screen and deciding whether you like it or not: yes, no, argh it’s over.
So 16 works in 66 minutes — including music videos, an instructional video, a video brochure, short films, short short films and “motion design” — was a rather daunting prospect. What did it take to leave a lasting impression and to distinguish oneself from the pack? A work with a distinctive voice or point of view that was assured and sustained.
Before the official Adobe Audience Choice Awards are announced tomorrow, I’d like to give out my own slew of awards.
Most Ambitious But Flawed
Take Me Home a.k.a. I Saw Jesus
Gözde and Russel Zehnder
A short film with some lovely images and a sustained elegiac tone. I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, though the fact that it was puzzling was not necessarily a bad thing. What I found annoying was the aggressive soft focus, which didn’t let up for a single moment.
Most Open To Interesting Speculation
Strap It On — Futon
Momorobo
A manga-inspired battle between Futon and a band of otherworldly beings. Couldn’t quite make out what they were supposed to be strapping on.
Most Reminiscent Of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies
Lacklustre Lucy
Damian Lee, Rex Lee
Most Likely To Be Mistaken For A Calvin Klein Ad
Beasty Beuys
Ivanho Harlim
Most Fun With Words, Literally
Olives — The Observatory
Ffurious
Best Dissection Of A Fairy Tale
How To Be An Effective Little Red Riding Hood
Pullat Anand Narayan
Best Visual Pun
Lost My Head — The Oddfellows
Eric Khoo
Ah, back to a more innocent time when avian flu wasn’t the threat it is today and chickens were free to roam and be slaughtered.
Most At Home In A Dance Club
Solskinn
Jogn
HDB flats look pretty when viewed through a kaleidoscope.
Best Hair
Passage
Thomas Barker
Least Likely To Induce A Headache/Most Creepy
Killing Time — The Observatory
Royston Tan
A simple single image of a person with headphones on is effectively turned into an unsettling, disturbing one when the eyeballs are whited out.
Most Bling
Blow — Parking Lot Pimp
Felix Ng
Best Cheesy Graphics, Best Deadpan Delivery, Best Lyrics
Beat Police
Beth Hunter
What’s not to like from the cheesy video game-like graphics to the concept of beat police hunting down those who massacre songs at karaoke lounges? If only they existed!
(For sinema.sg)
Screener Series: Singapore
It may sound strange to say this but I don’t have the attention span for shorts. Due to the constraints of the form, namely brevity, an impact has to be made quickly in order to draw the audience in. If it doesn’t do so right off the bat, my mind starts wandering.Also, works that are too short barely have time to register before they end — and then my brain blames me for the wasted burst of concentration and further shortens my attention span in revenge.
And there’s the fact that you seldom watch one short in isolation, so you’re constantly switching gears, trying to process what’s on screen and deciding whether you like it or not: yes, no, argh it’s over.
So 16 works in 66 minutes — including music videos, an instructional video, a video brochure, short films, short short films and “motion design” — was a rather daunting prospect. What did it take to leave a lasting impression and to distinguish oneself from the pack? A work with a distinctive voice or point of view that was assured and sustained.
Before the official Adobe Audience Choice Awards are announced tomorrow, I’d like to give out my own slew of awards.
Most Ambitious But Flawed
Take Me Home a.k.a. I Saw Jesus
Gözde and Russel Zehnder
A short film with some lovely images and a sustained elegiac tone. I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, though the fact that it was puzzling was not necessarily a bad thing. What I found annoying was the aggressive soft focus, which didn’t let up for a single moment.
Most Open To Interesting Speculation
Strap It On — Futon
Momorobo
A manga-inspired battle between Futon and a band of otherworldly beings. Couldn’t quite make out what they were supposed to be strapping on.
Most Reminiscent Of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies
Lacklustre Lucy
Damian Lee, Rex Lee
Most Likely To Be Mistaken For A Calvin Klein Ad
Beasty Beuys
Ivanho Harlim
Most Fun With Words, Literally
Olives — The Observatory
Ffurious
Best Dissection Of A Fairy Tale
How To Be An Effective Little Red Riding Hood
Pullat Anand Narayan
Best Visual Pun
Lost My Head — The Oddfellows
Eric Khoo
Ah, back to a more innocent time when avian flu wasn’t the threat it is today and chickens were free to roam and be slaughtered.
Most At Home In A Dance Club
Solskinn
Jogn
HDB flats look pretty when viewed through a kaleidoscope.
Best Hair
Passage
Thomas Barker
Least Likely To Induce A Headache/Most Creepy
Killing Time — The Observatory
Royston Tan
A simple single image of a person with headphones on is effectively turned into an unsettling, disturbing one when the eyeballs are whited out.
Most Bling
Blow — Parking Lot Pimp
Felix Ng
Best Cheesy Graphics, Best Deadpan Delivery, Best Lyrics
Beat Police
Beth Hunter
What’s not to like from the cheesy video game-like graphics to the concept of beat police hunting down those who massacre songs at karaoke lounges? If only they existed!
(For sinema.sg)
Friday, November 10, 2006
Eating Air
Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng
Year: 1999. Place: A darkened cinema hall, the smallest one in the cineplex.
Royston Tan is slouched down low in his seat. The movie begins and it’s a blast of electric guitars and drums. And Hokkien. Ah Boy is weaving through the CBD area, and in and out of the screen, on his motorcycle. The scene is a combination of close-ups, long shots and still frames. Tan is transfixed by the story of this group of young people, whose strongest bonds are of friendship and loyalty. The naturalistic dialogue, a rich rojak of Hokkien, Chinese, English, Malay, and the visual and aural inventiveness are a breath of fresh air. Yes, he thinks, why not a movie about gang members, a more realistic and gritty one that would plumb the depths of their loneliness. The girl though would have to go.
It’s not inconceivable.
Year: 1995. Place: Another darkened cinema hall, but still the smallest one in the cineplex.
Kelvin Tong is reviewing Eric Khoo’s Mee Pok Man. He is struck from the get-go by the frenetic opening sequence, the dark subject matter, and joy of joys, Chinese, Hokkien, English as it’s spoken in Singapore. Yes, this is what a Singapore film could be, one that reflected the loneliness of urban isolation and plunged fearlessly into the macabre and the morbid, and it was exhilarating to watch it unfold on the big screen. Yes, he thinks, why not a movie about another ignored and even despised segment of society - teenage delinquents. But perhaps a lighter tone, possibly with flights of fantasy, and a thumping soundtrack that reflected their world.
It’s not inconceivable.
Year: 2006. Place: National Museum of Singapore
You’re in the audience for cine.sg’s showcase of Singapore films, specifically, Eating Air. The movie came out several years ago but had disappeared all too quickly from local screens and you never got round to watching it. The story is about Ah Boy and his buddies, Ah Gu, Cao He Lang and Aw Tau. They hang out, at the arcade, at the void deck, riding their motorbikes, in a kind of timeless existence marked only by the summons of each other’s pages. Ah Boy then meets Ah Girl, though their tentative love story is upstaged by Ah Gu’s reckless behaviour and the dictates of loyalty.
There’s an exuberance to the film-making and you like the visual and aural inventiveness. Still, some of it seems to be showiness for its own sake. There’s also a problem with pacing and an uneven tone which makes the ending rather jarring.
The actors are good though. Benjamin Heng and Joseph Cheong are natural and charismatic, and Alvina Toh turns in a convincing performance as Ah Girl, despite the role being somewhat underwritten. Mark Lee and Michelle Chong score some laughs with their portrayals of Lau Beng and a Malaysian shop proprietress respectively, while Kit Chan pops up for a head-scratching cameo.
Yes, you think, this was a worthy effort. And maybe, the story that I have in my head is worth telling too.
It’s not inconceivable.
(For sinema.sg)
Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng
Year: 1999. Place: A darkened cinema hall, the smallest one in the cineplex.
Royston Tan is slouched down low in his seat. The movie begins and it’s a blast of electric guitars and drums. And Hokkien. Ah Boy is weaving through the CBD area, and in and out of the screen, on his motorcycle. The scene is a combination of close-ups, long shots and still frames. Tan is transfixed by the story of this group of young people, whose strongest bonds are of friendship and loyalty. The naturalistic dialogue, a rich rojak of Hokkien, Chinese, English, Malay, and the visual and aural inventiveness are a breath of fresh air. Yes, he thinks, why not a movie about gang members, a more realistic and gritty one that would plumb the depths of their loneliness. The girl though would have to go.
It’s not inconceivable.
Year: 1995. Place: Another darkened cinema hall, but still the smallest one in the cineplex.
Kelvin Tong is reviewing Eric Khoo’s Mee Pok Man. He is struck from the get-go by the frenetic opening sequence, the dark subject matter, and joy of joys, Chinese, Hokkien, English as it’s spoken in Singapore. Yes, this is what a Singapore film could be, one that reflected the loneliness of urban isolation and plunged fearlessly into the macabre and the morbid, and it was exhilarating to watch it unfold on the big screen. Yes, he thinks, why not a movie about another ignored and even despised segment of society - teenage delinquents. But perhaps a lighter tone, possibly with flights of fantasy, and a thumping soundtrack that reflected their world.
It’s not inconceivable.
Year: 2006. Place: National Museum of Singapore
You’re in the audience for cine.sg’s showcase of Singapore films, specifically, Eating Air. The movie came out several years ago but had disappeared all too quickly from local screens and you never got round to watching it. The story is about Ah Boy and his buddies, Ah Gu, Cao He Lang and Aw Tau. They hang out, at the arcade, at the void deck, riding their motorbikes, in a kind of timeless existence marked only by the summons of each other’s pages. Ah Boy then meets Ah Girl, though their tentative love story is upstaged by Ah Gu’s reckless behaviour and the dictates of loyalty.
There’s an exuberance to the film-making and you like the visual and aural inventiveness. Still, some of it seems to be showiness for its own sake. There’s also a problem with pacing and an uneven tone which makes the ending rather jarring.
The actors are good though. Benjamin Heng and Joseph Cheong are natural and charismatic, and Alvina Toh turns in a convincing performance as Ah Girl, despite the role being somewhat underwritten. Mark Lee and Michelle Chong score some laughs with their portrayals of Lau Beng and a Malaysian shop proprietress respectively, while Kit Chan pops up for a head-scratching cameo.
Yes, you think, this was a worthy effort. And maybe, the story that I have in my head is worth telling too.
It’s not inconceivable.
(For sinema.sg)
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Breathe Me 呼吸
Sandy Lam 林忆莲
At last, her long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s excellent 原来…林忆莲. In a sense, this album can be seen as a companion piece to last year’s Cantonese release 本色, in which she returned to her dance roots.
The lead single was a cover of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle, which actually worked as a slice of Mando dance pop. It was easier to accept than expected perhaps because frente! already did a more radical reworking of the track. The cover of The Cardigans’ Communication however, sent me scurrying for Nina Persson’s haunting take on the ignored Long Gone Before Daylight album. And oh yeah, I’m not too thrilled that 4 of the tracks are covers.
The highlight of the album is undoubtedly the Peggy Hsu-penned 放开手, with its shifting rhythms and soaring chorus deftly handled by Sandy. Unfortunately, the return to her dance roots means we don’t get a stirring mid-tempo ballad that Sandy is so good at. The most obvious contender 相信 is let down by its dated production and also by the fact that it’s meant to be an obvious contender.
I’ll take a new release by Sandy any day but this one seems to have fallen short of her own high standards. Then again, her albums have always been growers, so maybe I’ll just reserve final judgement on this album for a while yet.
Sandy Lam 林忆莲
At last, her long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s excellent 原来…林忆莲. In a sense, this album can be seen as a companion piece to last year’s Cantonese release 本色, in which she returned to her dance roots.
The lead single was a cover of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle, which actually worked as a slice of Mando dance pop. It was easier to accept than expected perhaps because frente! already did a more radical reworking of the track. The cover of The Cardigans’ Communication however, sent me scurrying for Nina Persson’s haunting take on the ignored Long Gone Before Daylight album. And oh yeah, I’m not too thrilled that 4 of the tracks are covers.
The highlight of the album is undoubtedly the Peggy Hsu-penned 放开手, with its shifting rhythms and soaring chorus deftly handled by Sandy. Unfortunately, the return to her dance roots means we don’t get a stirring mid-tempo ballad that Sandy is so good at. The most obvious contender 相信 is let down by its dated production and also by the fact that it’s meant to be an obvious contender.
I’ll take a new release by Sandy any day but this one seems to have fallen short of her own high standards. Then again, her albums have always been growers, so maybe I’ll just reserve final judgement on this album for a while yet.
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