Conversation(s) With Other Women
Hans Canosa
A man and a woman meet at a wedding reception in New York City. They seem to be strangers flirting with each other, but as the evening, and their conversation, progresses, you learn that the two of them have a history together.
Director Hans Canosa and and his regular collaborator, writer Gabrielle Zevin, have chosen very unusual treatments for this simple story. Crucial information is withheld from the audience and is only released in tantalising dribs and drabs. However, it doesn't come across as a flashy gimmick but rather, reflects the narrowing distance between the couple over the course of the night.
What took some getting used to was the split-screen technique. It was jarring at first but it achieved an extremely intimate portrayal of these two people. This would not be possible without the utterly natural and fearless performances of Helena Bonham Carter (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory) and Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking).
The gorgeously evocative soundtrack with its generous helping of Carla Bruni, clearly a labour of love, didn't hurt either.
At the end of the film, we are left with an intriguing image - a split-screen scene of the two of them in two separate cabs. Then the two halves join up and they are sitting in the same cab, but the distance between them is greater than ever.
It was the rarest of big screen moments - a special effect shot with emotional resonance.
(ST)
Saturday, March 24, 2007
After This Our Exile (M18)
(Aaron Kwok/Charlie Young/ Gouw Ian Iskandar/117 minutes)
Auteur Patrick Tam’s first film in 17 years beautifully and lovingly evokes small-town Malaysia.
The idyllic backdrop, though, is the setting for a darker tale about the relationship between a ne’er-do-well father (Kwok) and his young son (Iskandar)after his wife (Young) leaves home.
It is hard to care when a father with no redeeming qualities loses everything.But this is a movie about the son as well and Tam ends the movie on a powerful note of redemption and hope, loss and love.
The movie won the Golden Horse award for Best Picture, while Kwok and nine-year-old Iskandar took home the acting awards.Kwok has certainly come a long way from his teeny-bopper music videos, doomed to eternal rotation in karaoke joints.
This bare-bones DVD gets an extra star for the Cantonese audio track.
(ST)
(Aaron Kwok/Charlie Young/ Gouw Ian Iskandar/117 minutes)
Auteur Patrick Tam’s first film in 17 years beautifully and lovingly evokes small-town Malaysia.
The idyllic backdrop, though, is the setting for a darker tale about the relationship between a ne’er-do-well father (Kwok) and his young son (Iskandar)after his wife (Young) leaves home.
It is hard to care when a father with no redeeming qualities loses everything.But this is a movie about the son as well and Tam ends the movie on a powerful note of redemption and hope, loss and love.
The movie won the Golden Horse award for Best Picture, while Kwok and nine-year-old Iskandar took home the acting awards.Kwok has certainly come a long way from his teeny-bopper music videos, doomed to eternal rotation in karaoke joints.
This bare-bones DVD gets an extra star for the Cantonese audio track.
(ST)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Confession of Pain (NC16)
(Tony Leung/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Shu Qi/Xu Jinglei/106 minutes)
The great thing about watching Hong Kong movies on DVD is listening to the original Cantonese audio track instead of the dubbed-over Mandarin in cinemas.
Unfortunately, in this case, the much-awaited follow-up to the excellent Infernal Affairs from directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak falls short of the mark.
The central mystery of a gruesome murder merely serves as a device for Leung and Kaneshiro’s characters to play off against each other. However, the elements of urgency and ambiguity – so crucial to Affairs’ success – are less satisfyingly handled here.
Still, there is some joy to be had in watching the two male leads act their way out of the overwrought story.
Meanwhile, China actress-director Xu is stuck in a thankless part as Leung’s wife. Shu is the much-needed jolt of sunshine in this movie, even though her girlfriend role borders on the extraneous.
The DVD includes a 15-minute self-congratulatory making-of.
(ST)
(Tony Leung/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Shu Qi/Xu Jinglei/106 minutes)
The great thing about watching Hong Kong movies on DVD is listening to the original Cantonese audio track instead of the dubbed-over Mandarin in cinemas.
Unfortunately, in this case, the much-awaited follow-up to the excellent Infernal Affairs from directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak falls short of the mark.
The central mystery of a gruesome murder merely serves as a device for Leung and Kaneshiro’s characters to play off against each other. However, the elements of urgency and ambiguity – so crucial to Affairs’ success – are less satisfyingly handled here.
Still, there is some joy to be had in watching the two male leads act their way out of the overwrought story.
Meanwhile, China actress-director Xu is stuck in a thankless part as Leung’s wife. Shu is the much-needed jolt of sunshine in this movie, even though her girlfriend role borders on the extraneous.
The DVD includes a 15-minute self-congratulatory making-of.
(ST)
Teenage Mutant Ninija Turtles
Kevin Munroe
Really? Another TMNT movie 14 years after the last one? Should you bother after all this while?
Well, the ending points to a sequel so care was taken to make sure this does not suck.
After the defeat of their arch nemesis The Shredder, the Turtles have fallen into disarray.It takes a crisis, of the save-the-world variety, to bring them back together as a team once more.
While the franchise has been updated with computer animation – the slimmer Turtles took a little getting used to – the feel of the movie was decidedly old-school. Still, it’s nice to see that the Turtles’ irreverent sense of humour is intact.
The film zipped along with lively energy and even the message about the importance of family was handled deftly and did not grate. Bonus points for echoing the theme, and subverting it, in the bad guys' camp.
(ST)
Kevin Munroe
Really? Another TMNT movie 14 years after the last one? Should you bother after all this while?
Well, the ending points to a sequel so care was taken to make sure this does not suck.
After the defeat of their arch nemesis The Shredder, the Turtles have fallen into disarray.It takes a crisis, of the save-the-world variety, to bring them back together as a team once more.
While the franchise has been updated with computer animation – the slimmer Turtles took a little getting used to – the feel of the movie was decidedly old-school. Still, it’s nice to see that the Turtles’ irreverent sense of humour is intact.
The film zipped along with lively energy and even the message about the importance of family was handled deftly and did not grate. Bonus points for echoing the theme, and subverting it, in the bad guys' camp.
(ST)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Breaking and Entering
Anthony Minghella
After swoonsome period dramas The English Patient and Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella turns his eye on human relationships in modern-day London.
A central idea in the film is that sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. Mouthed by Will Francis (Jude Law), a landscape architect who has no idea what he wants, it merely sounds like a platitude.
The problem was that Law was convincing when he told his estranged partner Liv(Robin Wright Penn) that the distance between them was very great.
It was less believable when he had a change of heart after a dalliance-turned-sour with a Bosnian immigrant (Juliet Binoche), and decided that Liv was the love of his life after all.
For a movie about breaking and entering of the criminal and emotional varieties, the ending was just too neat and tidy. It seemed that just about everyone got what they wanted. But the idea of a victimless crime simply doesn't wash.
(ST)
Anthony Minghella
After swoonsome period dramas The English Patient and Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella turns his eye on human relationships in modern-day London.
A central idea in the film is that sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. Mouthed by Will Francis (Jude Law), a landscape architect who has no idea what he wants, it merely sounds like a platitude.
The problem was that Law was convincing when he told his estranged partner Liv(Robin Wright Penn) that the distance between them was very great.
It was less believable when he had a change of heart after a dalliance-turned-sour with a Bosnian immigrant (Juliet Binoche), and decided that Liv was the love of his life after all.
For a movie about breaking and entering of the criminal and emotional varieties, the ending was just too neat and tidy. It seemed that just about everyone got what they wanted. But the idea of a victimless crime simply doesn't wash.
(ST)
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Tristan Prettyman
Mosaic Music Festival concert
In keeping with the laid-back casual vibe of her gig, it was entirely appropriate that Tristan Prettyman performed in her bare feet.
You could almost imagine the surfer singer-songwriter strumming the guitar on a quiet darkened beach while the waves crashed rhythmically in the background.
The mellow crowd at the sold-out 220-seater recital studio was content to sit back and lap it all up.
It was after the set opener, Breathe, that Prettyman told the audience that her luggage and guitar got lost in transit. Still, it gave the 24-year-old a compelling reason to shop.“Good thing there’s a mall on every corner,” she said.
She then went on to preface most of her songs with tidbits about her life.Before launching into Guest Check, she revealed that she used to work at a pizza place in her native San Diego. Then she deadpanned that the song had nothing to do with pizzas.
The genial singer, performing here as part of the Esplanade’s Mosaic festival,also took requests.There were calls for Shy That Way, a duet with her ex-boyfriend, American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, but she pointed out that “Jason’s not here”.
She obliged the crowd with Lindsay Goes To Rehab instead, a song about out-of-control Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, written “after a drunken evening”.
Live, Prettyman’s acoustic folk-pop ditties sounded more muscular, thanks to her back-up bassist and drummer.But it wasn’t until Just In Case that the band cut loose. “This is where we go crazy and rock out. Like Metallica,” she added helpfully.
The wildest thing that happened though was when a besotted female fan yelled out, “Tristan, you’re beautiful”. To which the unruffled Prettyman said right back “You’re beautiful too”.
The amiable singer even invited the audience to hang out with her if they were ever in San Diego.
Just as they hung out with her on Saturday night.
(ST)
Mosaic Music Festival concert
In keeping with the laid-back casual vibe of her gig, it was entirely appropriate that Tristan Prettyman performed in her bare feet.
You could almost imagine the surfer singer-songwriter strumming the guitar on a quiet darkened beach while the waves crashed rhythmically in the background.
The mellow crowd at the sold-out 220-seater recital studio was content to sit back and lap it all up.
It was after the set opener, Breathe, that Prettyman told the audience that her luggage and guitar got lost in transit. Still, it gave the 24-year-old a compelling reason to shop.“Good thing there’s a mall on every corner,” she said.
She then went on to preface most of her songs with tidbits about her life.Before launching into Guest Check, she revealed that she used to work at a pizza place in her native San Diego. Then she deadpanned that the song had nothing to do with pizzas.
The genial singer, performing here as part of the Esplanade’s Mosaic festival,also took requests.There were calls for Shy That Way, a duet with her ex-boyfriend, American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, but she pointed out that “Jason’s not here”.
She obliged the crowd with Lindsay Goes To Rehab instead, a song about out-of-control Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, written “after a drunken evening”.
Live, Prettyman’s acoustic folk-pop ditties sounded more muscular, thanks to her back-up bassist and drummer.But it wasn’t until Just In Case that the band cut loose. “This is where we go crazy and rock out. Like Metallica,” she added helpfully.
The wildest thing that happened though was when a besotted female fan yelled out, “Tristan, you’re beautiful”. To which the unruffled Prettyman said right back “You’re beautiful too”.
The amiable singer even invited the audience to hang out with her if they were ever in San Diego.
Just as they hung out with her on Saturday night.
(ST)
Friday, March 16, 2007
Kuh Ledesma & Regine Velasquez
Mosaic Music Festival
Filipinos were out in force on Wednesday night for the Kuh Ledesma and Regine Velasquez concert, but for the non-Filipinos in the audience – and there were quite a few of them – much of the evening’s chatty portions must have passed in a blur.
It’s a good thing then that music is a universal language and that there was more singing than talking.
For the non-Pinoy crowd, Velasquez is probably most famous for the duet she sang with Hong Kong Heavenly King Jacky Cheung in the 1994 English hit In Love With You.
She had the pipes all right, but it was her vocal versatility that impressed the crowd. She could sound sweetly delicate and vulnerable one minute and then belt it out the next. She even invested genuine emotion into familiar middle-of-the-road Whitney Houston ballads such as I Will Always Love You and Run To You.
A few songs in Tagalog were judiciously sprinkled over the night, enough for the non-speaker to enjoy them but not too many to cause his attention to stray.
Ledesma’s singing had a classy sultriness to it and she was all about love and having that someone special in your life. Unexpectedly, that someone for her turned out to be Jesus Christ. It came a little too close to feeling like a church service during the earnest introduction to the duet The Prayer.
Given that this was a double billing, duets were an integral part of the programme. Ledesma, 52, and Velasquez, 36, are entertainment stalwarts in their native Philippines and their experience stood them in good stead. They shared an easy rapport and it came through in the music.
They got the appreciative and receptive crowd on its feet during the medley of1970s hits, including the rousing I Will Survive. Two enthusiastic gentlemen were invited onstage. They danced and sang along happily.
The showbiz veterans’ camaraderie was also apparent in their engagement with the audience. When Ledesma changed into a body-hugging shimmering blue dress,Velasquez had her modelling for the audience. Then Velasquez took her turn on the catwalk, staggering exaggeratedly with one hand supporting her back as she had pinched a nerve.
The deceptively sweet-looking Velasquez vamped it up in a low-cut pale blue sheath and remarked tantalisingly at one point: “Why don’t you believe I’m a virgin?”
Alas, the punchline was in Tagalog.
If only there were subtitles.
(ST)
Mosaic Music Festival
Filipinos were out in force on Wednesday night for the Kuh Ledesma and Regine Velasquez concert, but for the non-Filipinos in the audience – and there were quite a few of them – much of the evening’s chatty portions must have passed in a blur.
It’s a good thing then that music is a universal language and that there was more singing than talking.
For the non-Pinoy crowd, Velasquez is probably most famous for the duet she sang with Hong Kong Heavenly King Jacky Cheung in the 1994 English hit In Love With You.
She had the pipes all right, but it was her vocal versatility that impressed the crowd. She could sound sweetly delicate and vulnerable one minute and then belt it out the next. She even invested genuine emotion into familiar middle-of-the-road Whitney Houston ballads such as I Will Always Love You and Run To You.
A few songs in Tagalog were judiciously sprinkled over the night, enough for the non-speaker to enjoy them but not too many to cause his attention to stray.
Ledesma’s singing had a classy sultriness to it and she was all about love and having that someone special in your life. Unexpectedly, that someone for her turned out to be Jesus Christ. It came a little too close to feeling like a church service during the earnest introduction to the duet The Prayer.
Given that this was a double billing, duets were an integral part of the programme. Ledesma, 52, and Velasquez, 36, are entertainment stalwarts in their native Philippines and their experience stood them in good stead. They shared an easy rapport and it came through in the music.
They got the appreciative and receptive crowd on its feet during the medley of1970s hits, including the rousing I Will Survive. Two enthusiastic gentlemen were invited onstage. They danced and sang along happily.
The showbiz veterans’ camaraderie was also apparent in their engagement with the audience. When Ledesma changed into a body-hugging shimmering blue dress,Velasquez had her modelling for the audience. Then Velasquez took her turn on the catwalk, staggering exaggeratedly with one hand supporting her back as she had pinched a nerve.
The deceptively sweet-looking Velasquez vamped it up in a low-cut pale blue sheath and remarked tantalisingly at one point: “Why don’t you believe I’m a virgin?”
Alas, the punchline was in Tagalog.
If only there were subtitles.
(ST)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Hearty Paws
Oh Dal-gyoon
It begins innocuously enough with 11-year-old Chan stealing a puppy for his sister, So-I, on her sixth birthday, and christening it Maeum (literally heart).
But just as you begin to settle down for a feel-good movie, the death of an adorable character makes you sit up and pay attention.
Director Oh Dal Gyoon has coaxed winning and moving performances from his child stars as well as from the four-year-old Labrador retriever, Dal-i.
The dog is pretty much treated as a human character – the children constantly speak to it, and we are even given a dog’s eye view in a few scenes.
The problem is, how does the filmmaker sustain the story over 100 minutes? Enter the cartoonishly evil villain who lords over the bunch of street kids Chan falls in with, an absent mother and a nemesis for Maeum.
The cumulative effect almost overwhelms the modest charms of this Korean tearjerker. But not quite.
(ST)
Oh Dal-gyoon
It begins innocuously enough with 11-year-old Chan stealing a puppy for his sister, So-I, on her sixth birthday, and christening it Maeum (literally heart).
But just as you begin to settle down for a feel-good movie, the death of an adorable character makes you sit up and pay attention.
Director Oh Dal Gyoon has coaxed winning and moving performances from his child stars as well as from the four-year-old Labrador retriever, Dal-i.
The dog is pretty much treated as a human character – the children constantly speak to it, and we are even given a dog’s eye view in a few scenes.
The problem is, how does the filmmaker sustain the story over 100 minutes? Enter the cartoonishly evil villain who lords over the bunch of street kids Chan falls in with, an absent mother and a nemesis for Maeum.
The cumulative effect almost overwhelms the modest charms of this Korean tearjerker. But not quite.
(ST)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
yo la tengo
mosaic music festival
live, even the most abstract feedback/static-filled soundscape was filled with urgency. they seemed organic to the songs instead of mere indulgence on the part of the band. it didn't hurt that frontman ira kaplan staggered about in a musical trance during these sessions.
after 22 years and 15 albums, the trio played a tight set and moved nimbly from genre to genre, changing moods on the turn of a dime. they rocked, they serenaded, they let it rip, they mixed it up with different instruments.
kaplan took 2 questions from the audience -where are u going for dinner? dunno. good question. who cuts your hair? his wife and bandmate georgia.
as a friend promised, they pretty much rocked our socks off.
i didn't even mind that they didn't play the admittedly few songs that i knew. think there was something off summer sun and a looser, transposed version of you can have it all. oh, and apparently pass the hatchet, i think i'm goodkind, the ten minute plus opener on latest album i am not afraid of you and i will beat your ass. which i absolutely cannot recall at this moment.
mosaic music festival
live, even the most abstract feedback/static-filled soundscape was filled with urgency. they seemed organic to the songs instead of mere indulgence on the part of the band. it didn't hurt that frontman ira kaplan staggered about in a musical trance during these sessions.
after 22 years and 15 albums, the trio played a tight set and moved nimbly from genre to genre, changing moods on the turn of a dime. they rocked, they serenaded, they let it rip, they mixed it up with different instruments.
kaplan took 2 questions from the audience -where are u going for dinner? dunno. good question. who cuts your hair? his wife and bandmate georgia.
as a friend promised, they pretty much rocked our socks off.
i didn't even mind that they didn't play the admittedly few songs that i knew. think there was something off summer sun and a looser, transposed version of you can have it all. oh, and apparently pass the hatchet, i think i'm goodkind, the ten minute plus opener on latest album i am not afraid of you and i will beat your ass. which i absolutely cannot recall at this moment.
Monday, March 12, 2007
josé gonzález
mosaic music festival late night series
it took a couple of songs for the show to warm up, and then gonzález kicked in with slow moves.
at times, it didn't feel like a concert, more like being an onlooker/listener to a private, almost sacred musical communion as he sang with eyes-closed intensity.
the soft-spoken singer didn't engage much in small talk though there was a flash of unexpectedly wry humour on weed and the death penalty in singapore as an intro to send someone away.
finally heard his cover of kylie minogue's hand on your heart and it was revelatory. could something so achingly beautiful have been buried in the synth-pop jauntiness of the original all along?
there was also a cover of massive attack's teardrop. it was good, but the original, with liz fraser's other-worldly vocals, was already a personal favourite. it didn't need a re-interpretation to unveil its gorgeousness.
gonzález's new song down the line (darkness) was a more muscular beast, a welcome change from the stripped-down acoustics on veneer.
he saved crosses and heartbeats for the encore, though there was a slip-up on the latter. and yeah, it was kinda perfunctory, as if he didn't quite like the idea that he had to perform his hit (cover) song.
mosaic music festival late night series
it took a couple of songs for the show to warm up, and then gonzález kicked in with slow moves.
at times, it didn't feel like a concert, more like being an onlooker/listener to a private, almost sacred musical communion as he sang with eyes-closed intensity.
the soft-spoken singer didn't engage much in small talk though there was a flash of unexpectedly wry humour on weed and the death penalty in singapore as an intro to send someone away.
finally heard his cover of kylie minogue's hand on your heart and it was revelatory. could something so achingly beautiful have been buried in the synth-pop jauntiness of the original all along?
there was also a cover of massive attack's teardrop. it was good, but the original, with liz fraser's other-worldly vocals, was already a personal favourite. it didn't need a re-interpretation to unveil its gorgeousness.
gonzález's new song down the line (darkness) was a more muscular beast, a welcome change from the stripped-down acoustics on veneer.
he saved crosses and heartbeats for the encore, though there was a slip-up on the latter. and yeah, it was kinda perfunctory, as if he didn't quite like the idea that he had to perform his hit (cover) song.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Happily N'Ever After
Paul J Bolger, Yvette Kaplan
What keeps one watching a movie when the plot is a no-brainer? The answer is not to be found in this leaden piece of animation, which pretends to subvert the notion of happily ever after in fairy tales. Shrek did it first and did it much better.Ella (short for Cinderella) is supposed to be a spunky update of the original but she still needs a man to save the day. So much for progress. The heroine and hero are bland, the sidekicks forgettable and it is the villains who make the most impact. Ultimately, there is just no magic in this tale.
(ST)
Paul J Bolger, Yvette Kaplan
What keeps one watching a movie when the plot is a no-brainer? The answer is not to be found in this leaden piece of animation, which pretends to subvert the notion of happily ever after in fairy tales. Shrek did it first and did it much better.Ella (short for Cinderella) is supposed to be a spunky update of the original but she still needs a man to save the day. So much for progress. The heroine and hero are bland, the sidekicks forgettable and it is the villains who make the most impact. Ultimately, there is just no magic in this tale.
(ST)
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