Soul Mate

Della Ding Dang

China-born Ding Dang is nothing if not consistent.

This is her fifth album in five years and it does not veer too far from the formula of her recent releases: Ballads tacked to drama series for mass appeal, with some uptempo numbers to shake things up.

The lass with the powerhouse vocals fares better on the emo material and Cold-blooded Animal is a standout in that department: “I keep turning over the map you gave me/But I can’t find the place I belong to”.

As for the faster numbers, More Love, Less Strangeness is competent. But in the English version Back-up, the chorus sounds oddly stilted: “So I don’t need a back-up baby you were more than enough/I know you’ve got your back-up and you’re putting her in front”.

The disc is pleasant enough for casual spinning, but she will have to dig deeper if she wants to be your musical soul mate.

Alone Doesn't Mean Lonely

Ricky Hsiao Huang-chi

A Beautiful Morning is the most joyful song about breakfast since Crowd Lu’s Good Morning, Beautiful Dawn!.

Composed by local songwriter Peter Lee, with lyrics by Huang Jun-lang, it will get you fired up at the break of day: “Oh the half-cooked yolk is oozing the taste of sunshine/The air is as crisp as the Chinese lettuce on the table...”

It is a definite highlight on Taiwanese singer-songwriter Ricky Hsiao’s fourth Mandarin album.

Things start off well for the blind singer with the poignant Seeing With Your Heart, on which he sings: “I believe that dreams make life special/Eyes that look at me differently/My loneliness, my courage, I undertake”.

But somehow, things are just not the same when the multiple Golden Melody award-winner sings in Mandarin. When he croons in Minnan elsewhere, the twang approximates that of a vernacular country and western sound. It sounds exaggerated the first time you hear it, but, soon enough, you wouldn’t want it any other way.

It’s also a pity that too many tracks here fall into a middle-of-the-road groove. The moving Last Train, however, shows you what Hsiao is capable of. It’s an emotional ride you don’t want to miss.

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I Am Number Four

D.J. Caruso

Attention Team Edward and Team Jacob, there is a new player in town and his name is Alex Pettyfer.

The 20-year-old British model-turned-actor is the titular Number Four, an alien from the planet Lorien. Another race of aliens, the Mogadorians, is hunting him down and eight others of his race, all of whom have been gifted with special powers.

For some reason yet to be revealed, the Loriens have to be killed in sequence and the first three are eliminated. Number Four takes on the alias of John Smith and tries to keep a low profile at high school.

He does this by promptly falling for Sarah (Glee’s Dianna Agron, above, right), who just happens to be the ex-girlfriend of the bullying school jock. So much for low profile.

The fate of the world might hang in the balance but there is always time for a teenage romance.

Vampire ones cast a spell because when someone who has been around for hundreds of years picks you – a teenage girl imagining herself as Bella in Twilight or Elena in The Vampire Diaries – gee, you sure must be darn special. Here, Pettyfer gets to profess that when Loriens fall in love, they do so forever. Teenage girls: Ready, get set, swoon.

The film has less to offer for the rest of us. The average episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer was better-paced than this as it feels mostly like a build-up until the burst of action at the end, where Teresa Palmer makes a cool and dramatic entrance as Number Six.

But then you realise the entire exercise has been a set-up for what comes next.

The film is based on the teen sci-fi novel I Am Number Four, the first of a proposed six-book series, with The Power Of Six set to be released in August.

Will this turn into a hit franchise? Will a Team John emerge and splinter the loyalties of Twilight fans? Stay tuned.

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Closer

Pangdemonium! Productions

DBS Arts Centre/Last Saturday

It was probably not a coincidence that Closer opened after Valentine’s Day.

It is the antithesis of chocolate- covered kisses and mawkish sentimentality and when you do get a rose, it is a virtual one sent over a sex-chat website.

The play is about four characters in a daisy-chain of hook-ups and break-ups in modern-day London.

Writer Dan (Keagan Kang) and stripper Alice (Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie) are brought together when she gets knocked down in a traffic accident.

He later meets photographer Anna (Tan Kheng Hua) and there is an immediate attraction between the two.

Unwittingly, he helps to set her up with dermatologist Larry (Adrian Pang) whom he randomly encounters, and plays a trick on, on the website London F***s.

There is an affair, there are lies, break-ups and recriminations and that takes one up only to intermission.

Patrick Marber’s script demands a lot from actors because of the emotional roller-coaster ride they have to go through and also because the plot developments are barely plausible.

Larry is perhaps the easiest one to get a handle on and Pang plays him with a smooth mix of light charm and dark vengefulness.

Like a pendulum that swings back and forth, Dan is swayed this way and that between the two women and you never feel that you come to grips with the character. In part, it is also because Kang and Tan do not fully convince as a couple desperately in love and lust.

Perhaps the least realistic character is Alice the stripper, whose occupation seems to have been chosen mainly so that the audience can watch a pole-dance routine, which, by the way, MacQuarrie pulls off with sensual flair.

While some of Marber’s dialogue can be compelling and funny, it can sometimes feel too self-consciously clever and glib.

One suspects that Closer has been hailed as raw and edgy because there is the thrill of watching actors on stage spew invective and vulgarities at one another.

In the 2004 film adaptation, one even gets to see movie stars Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen get down and dirty.

The shock value starts to wear thin in the second half, and even the stylish direction and versatile set do not mask the fact that the audience is not exactly getting dazzling insights as the characters needle one another about love, betrayal and honesty.

When Alice mocks Dan with an outburst of “Do you have a single original thought in your head?”, it feels, for a fleeting moment, like a statement that is uncomfortably close to the truth.

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Holding Back The Tears

Freya Lim

Freya Lim’s debut album in 2000 yielded the hit Living Alone and got her nominated, along with Stefanie Sun and Jay Chou, for Best Newcomer at the Golden Melody Awards.

Her early promise did not bear much fruit. After a follow-up disc in 2001, her next release was an album of English covers in 2007.

This is the Taiwan-based singer’s third Mandarin record.

She has always been known more for a set of clear evocative pipes rather than her looks. The vocals are in as good shape as ever and the 31-year-old exudes a greater allure now, judging from the lyric booklet pictures.

The album opens with the elegantly elegiac Wounded, a piano-backed number which Lim sings with an understated dignity that is quietly moving. The English version, Say What You Will, instead of being a filler, works on its own terms as well. Scared is another highlight, though it is sung a little too prettily for its roiling emotions.

Lim’s strength is clearly in ballads but she can handle more uptempo material, too. Despite the title, Holding Back The Tears is a bouncy disco-tinged number while 5 Days, from the TV drama The Fierce Wife, is a breezy guitar-driven piece with some memorable imagery: “You say you want quiet, I’ll be as quiet as the universe/If this is so-called love, it feels like a dream after waking.”

Silence... OK?

Hsiao Hung-jen

Taiwanese singer-songwriter Hsiao Hung-jen was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Golden Melody Awards and he is back with a third album after the explosively titled His Name Is F*** (2009).

This is an eclectic collection that encompasses the commercial ballad Too Free, the big-band jazz of opener Detective Galileo and the electro-rock of Shutter Island.

As with Wasabi Cola, the title of a song here, Hsiao might be an acquired taste but he is certainly intriguing.

808

Will Pan

From the R&B of U U U to the dance beats of Future Love, Taiwanese entertainer Will Pan’s eighth album mostly sounds derivative of derivative Korean pop.

Like the picture of him sheathed in black and sporting a sculpted salt-and-pepper hairdo on the cover, the record is all about posturing.

When he takes a stab at ballads such as We Are All Afraid Of Pain and Shoulder, he is shown up by his thin voice.

There is also a remake of girl group Banarama’s Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye. More bluster here: “Welcome to the next generation/This is so futurish”.

No, it’s not.

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What Women Want

Chen Daming

The story: Smug adman Sun (Andy Lau) is passed over for a promotion and the post goes to outsider Ly (Gong Li) instead. When he finds himself capable of listening in on women’s thoughts after a freak accident, Sun uses his newfound ability to steal Ly’s ideas. As they start working together more however, they begin to find themselves drawn to each other.

After getting married, singer-actor Andy Lau kept his wife squirreled away and hidden from the public eye. One would hazard a guess that he might not be the most persuasive authority on what women want.

Or maybe it is a piece of shrewd casting since Sun is initially clueless about the thoughts and desires of half the population and only gets clued in through some never-explained, crudely computer-animated process.

That might be giving this remake of the 2000 Hollywood movie, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, too much credit though.

Forget about gaining insights into gender differences. Chen Daming, who directed the film and adapted the script, barely has a grasp of what makes a good romcom.

The story arc progression from loggerheads to lovebirds is as old as they come, and for sparks to fly when they clash and then mesh, casting is of paramount importance.

Gong Li might be a good actress but here, sheathed in one body-hugging outfit after another, her cool disdain of Sun is more convincing than her lukewarm capitulation. It really boils down to chemistry, and instead of electricity, we get damp squibs.

Chen seems to be more enamoured of Lau than she is by inserting all these gratuitous scenes of him dancing about at home and crooning a ballad at a bar.

Admittedly, watching Lau slip into women’s clothes as he tries to get in touch with his feminine side has its novelty value, though the bigger shocker might be seeing him in an age-appropriate role complete with ex-wife and teenage daughter. What women, and men, want would be Lau’s secret for looking eternally youthful.

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No Strings Attached

Ivan Reitman

The story: Emma (Natalie Portman), a doctor, and Adam (Ashton Kutcher), who works on a television show, are long-time acquaintances. When they find themselves living in the same city, they tumble into a no-strings-attached sexual relationship. Things are hunky-dory for a while until Adam decides that he wants something more.

Can relationships that start off being only about sex turn into something deeper?

There is certainly a spate of movies eager to explore that question. First was Love And Other Drugs (2011) with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, No Strings Attached stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and the upcoming Friends With Benefits has Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.

Apart from featuring hot actors and actresses and tantalising poster artwork, they also have one other thing in common – they are all romantic comedies. And the moment they are tagged as that, there is never any doubt about where the film is headed.

These romcoms want it both ways, to burnish their credibility by taking on an aren’t-we-cool “edgy” topic and yet they don’t want to alienate their intended audience by getting their hands dirty with the portrayal of purely casual sex.

Which is another way of saying that despite the saucy set-ups, a romcom is a romcom is a romcom.

Portman and Kutcher are both likable actors and they are quite sweet as a couple. This was presumably a breeze to shoot for her after the intense Black Swan and it certainly speaks for her acting range.

Kutcher, though, sometimes seems to be still riffing on that goofball persona from the TV sitcom, That ’70s Show.

The twist here is that it is his character, rather than the woman, who wants something beyond sex, a situation which prompts an outraged outburst from his male friend.

Unfortunately, that is as smart as the script gets. Emma is dismissively described as having an “emotional peanut allergy”, which is not a satisfactory explanation for why she is so resistant to commitment.

It can be rather frustrating to watch the film at times as one keeps wishing that Portman and Kutcher had stronger material to work with rather than the lacklustre screenplay by Elizabeth Meriwether.

It made me want to emulate Homer Simpson when he pounded on a television set and yelled: Be funnier.

(ST)

in::music – Relax-ONE

Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday

Relax by name, relaxed by nature.

The indie Taiwanese band released their debut album, I Want To Relax And Play, in 2005 and their follow-up, One More, came out last Friday.

There was, aptly enough, a laidback vibe to their 80-minute gig. Female vocalist Summer chatted easily between songs, describing where certain songs were written, the message of certain tracks and their initial hesitation at coming here because they were not sure they would have an audience.

While the venue was half-full, there were some true-blue fans including one who said he had a copy of their first EP. Summer’s joking response: “We’re old friends then. Come backstage for a drink.”

The atmosphere was chill but there was nothing lazy or slipshod about the music. The four-member group were bolstered by an additional drummer, which meant a more muscular than usual rhythm section and some unusual percussion instrumentation.

The band also proved to be versatile.

Their repertoire included emo ballads such as Kan Qing (See Clearly) and Ni (You), the humorously contemplative Fang Yi Ge Pi (Let One Rip), as well as the flamenco-flavoured Chun Xia Qiu Dong (Spring Summer Fall Winter).

Summer’s lightly husky voice worked well with the material and she showed that she could belt it out with the best of them.

On Xin Qing Dian Bo (Hot Radio), which had a calypso feel to it, she enthusiastically engaged the audience in a call-and-response.

They saved Feng Guang Ming Mei (Beautiful Scenery) for the set-closer and, to the audience’s delight, Summer worked in references to Singapore and Hainanese chicken rice.

This breezy number was used in the hit Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7 (2008) and is probably one of their best-known tracks.

As Summer told it, she almost had a role in the ensemble drama but things did not quite work out.

Still, there were no hard feelings and the song was dedicated to the film’s director Wei Te-sheng.

Relax-ONE came back for a rousing encore that had some fans up on their feet and dancing. And Summer promptly invited them backstage for drinks.

(ST)

Kit sings her way home

Kit Chan – My Musical Journey

Esplanade Concert Hall/Last Saturday

Local singer Kit Chan’s comeback is complete. After announcing a hiatus from the Mandopop scene in 2004, fans started seeing more of her last year with a lead role in the musical, December Rains. Last month, she released her new album Re-interpreting Kit Chan.

But what fans wanted most of all was to see her perform live once more as a singer, and so tickets to her two gigs at the Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts were quickly snapped up.

They were not disappointed. She was in fine form and her rich, warm tones, particularly in the lower register, kept the audience captivated on her familiar hits such as Heartache and Tug Of War.

As a not-quite-musical and not-quite-concert however, My Musical Journey was not quite satisfying.

There was a chronological narrative arc, delivered by former deejay Danny Yeo onstage, to give some structure to the programme. But it merely felt like an overlong gushy testimonial from a friend and fan.

The time would have been better spent having Chan do her thing, considering that the show was a relatively short 90 minutes.

Nor did the segments provide much of an insight into her musical journey. And even if there had been any interesting anecdotes or poignant reminiscences, one would rather have heard it from Chan herself.

The decision to have her perform with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Meridian Junior College Choir worked better. It was certainly a novelty hearing pop songs presented in this unusual fashion and the plaintive erhu solo of Worry was a lovely interlude.

For the most part though, the orchestra and choir played a supporting role as the unmistakable star of the evening was Chan.

She was delicate and vulnerable on the Cantonese ballad Waiting, beguiling on the late Leslie Cheung’s Chase and she shone on the show-stopping Dazzling. She even took the hoary old chestnut that was The Moon Represents My Heart and made the hackneyed sentiments sound heartfelt.

The inclusion of several covers was not surprising given that her new album consists wholly of them, but it does point to a certain conundrum.

Despite releasing more than 10 albums, she has relatively few big, well-known hits. It would be interesting to see how she handles the line-up when she gets round to doing her solo pop concert.

For the encore, she gave fans a mash-up of Michael Buble’s Home and her signature song, Home. While she was relaxed and comfortable on stage throughout, it would have been nice to see more of this playful side of her.

The gig proper ended with the Mandarin version of the Dick Lee-penned Home. As she held court with this National Day song in her white blouse and full red skirt, the message was clear: A national icon was back where she belonged – on stage and in the spotlight. She was home.

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Playboyz

Various Artists

Led by Taiwanese singer Alien Huang, the 12-member Playboyz comprise several male acts – including 2moro and Wei Kuo-yuan – and they have all come together to sing a festive track Happy New Year.

Calling this a compilation album feels like something of a disservice to the band, FUN4, which are part of the group: The band wrote three of the seven tracks here, composed the music for another three, and also sing on one titled Let Me Go Wild.

The feel here is hence fairly cohesive and reminiscent of Huang’s hip and youthful Love Hero (2009). No surprise, really, considering that FUN4 also contributed songs to that record.

Huang sings another FUN4 composition here, Replicant, a disc highlight with its contemplative lyrics: “Lonely people replicate even lonelier people/No one can claim to be a hero and withstand love’s vanity.”

Tracks such as Love Has To Be Quick by SK8 and Enough Or Not by The Gentlemen are more straightforward, chirpy pop-rock confections.

With this effort and two EPs under their belts, it is time for FUN4 to quit playing around as boys and release their full-fledged debut.

Once upon a time, when Victor came across Jimmy...

Victor Wong

The works of Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy Liao are colourful and filled with whimsy.

Disappointing, then, that the musical palette inspired by his illustrations is, overwhelmingly, one of greys.

Malaysian singer Victor Wong had starred in the stage musical based on Liao’s graphic novel, A Chance Of Sunshine, and this was the commemorative album sold during the tour.

The titles of the songs already give the game away: Down And Lonely, Thoroughly Hurt By The Rain and Anyway, We’ve All Loved And Nobody Owes Anything. Wong’s bland voice does not help the ballad-heavy proceedings and it is a relief when Waa Wei joins in on Love In Bohemia and Valen Hsu on Occasional Love.

Unfortunately, when Victor met Jimmy, nothing much happened.

Phantasm

Zhang Zuo En

I Don’t Wanna Be A CEO

Snow Ng

Indie label Playground Music gives us two noteworthy singles from two Singapore-based female singer-songwriters.

Phantasm is moodily atmospheric with its piano and accordion accompaniment, as Zhang Zuo En fantasises about a beautiful encounter in Paris. The truth is crueller though: “I have no expectations of you/I don’t wish to wake from the excitement of Paris’ gorgeousness.”

Snow Ng’s I Don’t Wanna Be A CEO is a totally different proposition. In it, she tackles with a humorous touch, society’s obsession with getting ahead: “I have my own brilliance, you say I’m the rarest of fools.” Bonus points for coming up with a set of Cantonese lyrics for I Don’t Wanna Be The Emperor.

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Just Go With It

Dennis Dugan

Despite the hokey premise, this turned out to be rather enjoyable. Adam Sandler is Danny, a single plastic surgeon who scores with women by putting on a wedding band. It is a cheap trick that works till he falls for the young and busty Palmer (Brooklyn Decker).

To win her over, he ropes in his assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to be his fake wife and then pretends to divorce her. Lies pile up and her children are roped in for the con job, and everyone jets off to Hawaii. No prizes for guessing where this is headed but the journey is a pleasant one. Sandler is mostly sweet rather than annoying, Aniston is grounded and likable and, surprise, the usually oh-so-serious Nicole Kidman has fun as Katherine’s ultra-competitive frenemy.

Throw in some laughs, an ovine emergency and easy rapport between Sandler and Aniston, and after a while, you won’t even mind the set-up too much.

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Under The Hawthorn Tree

Zhang Yimou

The story: During the Cultural Revolution in China, high school senior Jing (Zhou Dongyu) is sent from the city to learn from peasants in a remote village. The place is famous for a hawthorn tree whose flowers are said to bloom red instead of white as the blood of martyrs have drenched the soil. A chaste romance between her and a soldier, Sun (Shawn Dou) blooms while she is there.

China auteur Zhang Yimou is known for uncovering fresh-faced ingenues in his films.

First was Gong Li in Red Sorghum (1987) and then there was Zhang Ziyi in The Road Home (1999). Both have gone on to achieve widespread acclaim and international recognition in movies such as To Live (1994) and House Of Flying Daggers (2004).

Which means, if all goes well, there is much for newcomer Zhou Dongyu, still just 18, to look forward to.

She slips easily into the role of Jing, who blossoms from a timid innocent to someone who fights for her happiness. Time will tell if this is just shrewd casting or if Zhou really has the acting chops to go far.

More unusual for Zhang is the presence of a potential breakout male star in the film. Shawn Dou’s role as Sun brings to mind Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack in Titanic (1997), an earnest and irresistibly good guy with no darkness in him whatsoever.

With the film resting on their slender shoulders, he and Zhou bring a touching believability to this tale of young love, which is adapted from the 2007 novel by Ai Mi, Hawthorn Tree Forever.

The Cultural Revolution drives a wedge between the two young lovers given their different political backgrounds. But the repressed nature of society then makes this pure love story possible.

It is hard to imagine such a wholesome tale, with the chastest bed scene, taking place in this time and clime.

Of course no one is hankering after any good old days of the Cultural Revolution.

The final image of the hawthorn flowers in full, white bloom is a poignant and defiant rebuke to the lies and myths of that turbulent time.

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in::music – Chet Lam Travelling LYFE

Esplanade Recital Studio/Last Saturday

Hong Kong singer-songwriter Chet Lam has clear, clean-cut vocals to go with his boy- next-door looks but he has no interest in being a cookie-cutter pop product.

The “LYFE” in the title of the gig in fact refers to the record label he set up from the get-go in order to maintain creative control over the music he puts out.

The 34-year-old sang in Cantonese, Mandarin and English at his two sold-out Huayi sessions, which were divided into sections titled Love, Lust, Heart, Home and Road Again. Affairs of the heart, home and travel were predominant themes in his songs.

Despite the onset of a bout of flu, he gamely put on a one-man show with his guitars and looper pedal for close to two hours, kicking things off with a spirited rendition of Suddenly Single from his first album Pillow Songs (2003), which is in Cantonese.

Unlike much of Chinese pop which is scrubbed clean of lust and desire, the English chorus here goes: “Can have a one night stand, if you got a chance/Back to the wonderland, see some good old friends.”

And on numbers such as Victoria – “Victoria, you are whose home, who is your home” – he probed the idea of belonging and identity.

He even took on politics in Two Brothers, which alludes to Hong Kong and Taiwan and their relationship to mainland China, and joked that Singapore was a cousin.

Just as he does not mince his words in interviews, he is pretty outspoken at his concerts as well.

He shared that he loved movies and vampires and used to be a fan of the Twilight flicks until the vampire Edward took off his shirt – and did not burn in the sunlight. He then added a reference to a more adult-oriented vampire TV series: “F*** Twilight, give me True Blood. Give me some violence and sex.”

He also flirted with a male audience member, improvising the line “You’re really cute” into a number.

At points, his banter was stinging. Asking whether there was anyone who did not understand when he spoke in Mandarin, he answered himself saying that since this was Singapore, no one would say anything contrary even if he did not get it.

For the most part, though, the audience seemed to enjoy his candour and were happy to snap their fingers to the breezy Me & Instant Noodles and clap along at his request.

The set closed with one of his best-known songs, the yearning The Best Is Yet To Come, first sung by his younger sister Eman as part of the female duo at17.

The encore ended on a familiar note when he performed By My Side, the English version of the hit he wrote for Stefanie Sun, Yu Jian (To Meet).

Lam has proven that he can pen hits but, more importantly, he has shown that he has something to say, whether withering or wistful. And I, for one, am glad to see him breaking the mould.

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The Chinese New Year would not be the same without pineapple tarts, bak kwa, red packets and, of course, he sui pian, or Chinese New Year films.

Life! takes a look at the offerings out there from the comedy I Love Hong Kong to local flick Homecoming and tells you which ones are worth catching.

The idea of the he sui pian as a genre can probably be traced back to Hong Kong in the 1980s. It usually involves a star-studded ensemble cast coming together to make a comedy to start the new year on a light and cheery note.

A prime example would be Eighth Happiness (1988), which starred Chow Yun Fat, Carol Cheng, Jacky Cheung and Cherie Chung. You could tell who the big stars of the day were just by looking at the names above the title.

The plot is often of secondary consideration as what is more important are the elements of comforting familiarity and a family-friendly, feel-good vibe.

Since Chinese New Year is a time to honour traditions, several of the films this year stick with the tried-and-true in whipping up festive cheer: well-known stars and sequels rule.

Hong Kong comedienne Sandra Ng and the territory’s favourite tanned leading man Louis Koo are each in two films.

They team up as a retired superhero couple in Mr And Mrs Incredible. Ng further tickles the funny bone in I Love Hong Kong, while Koo hams it up as a make-up artist in All’s Well End’s Well 2011.

All’s Well End’s Well is the fifth instalment of a popular franchise that began in 1992. Apart from sharing the same English title, the films are not linked plot-wise.

Also, China’s Ge You and Taiwan’s Shu Qi team up for the sequel to their hit romantic comedy If You Are The One (2008).

Closer to home, there is Singaporean director Kelvin Tong’s nostalgic It’s A Great Great World with its huge cast of local television stars and Lee Thean-jeen’s Homecoming, which features a roster of home-grown and Malaysian artists including Jack Neo, Mark Lee and A-niu.

For those who want to escape from all things Chinese New Year, there is also counter-programming in the form of the cougar rom-com starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Rebound, and the nautical suspense thriller Triangle.

The variety of the movies on offer should prove to be a big enough carrot in drawing audiences to the cineplex as they usher in the year of the rabbit.

I Love Hong Kong

Eric Tsang, Chung Shu Kai

Cast: Tony Leung Ka Fai, Sandra Ng, Eric Tsang, Anita Yuen, Aarif Lee

What you need to know: Shun (Leung) returns to the cramped living quarters of the housing estate he grew up in after he goes bankrupt.

His wife (Ng) and three children, including Aarif Lee as a cop chasing after illegal hawkers, have to cope with downgrading while Shun has to deal with an ex-girlfriend (Yuen) and an old buddy (Tsang) who disappeared with a sum of money 30 years ago.

I Love Hong Kong is an affectionate celebration of the ties that bind a community, families, relationships and friendships.

And instead of being preachy about it, the wholesome messages are delivered with jolts of madcap comedy. While some of the Cantonese humour will inevitably be lost in translation, the best scene here, in which Ng gets exaggeratedly beaten up as a stunt body double, will have you guffawing in any language.

The mass dance routine and new year greeting at the end only add to the feel- good vibe.

All's Well End's Well 2011

Chan Hing Ka, Janet Chun

Cast: Donnie Yen, Carina Lau, Louis Koo, Cecilia Cheung, Raymond Wong

What you need to know: Koo plays make-up artist Sammy, who gets roped in to run a cosmetics company that Ken (Wong) buys for his girlfriend.

In turn, Sammy gets his buddy Ron (Yen) to help out. Ron still has feelings for his flaky first girlfriend Mona (Lau), while Sammy finds himself falling for his earnest assistant Claire (Cheung) even as he helps the billionaire Syd (Chapman To) to pursue her.

The novelty of seeing Yen in a non- gongfu role and Cheung making a comeback after a sex photo scandal is not enough to compensate for the tiresome cliches and zilch chemistry between the assorted couples.

You would have been soured by the latest instalment in this popular franchise by the time the cast’s obligatory new year greeting rolls around.

If You Are The One II

Feng Xiaogang

Cast: Ge You, Shu Qi, Sun Honglei, Yao Chen

What you need to know: The beautiful Xiaoxiao (Shu) and the wise-cracking, bald-headed Qin Fen (Ge) dated in the first movie and things get more serious in the sequel.

He proposes to her and they have a trial marriage by pretending to be an old couple for whom the sizzle has long since fizzled out.

In the meantime, their friends Mango (Yao) and Xiangshan (Sun) split up and then the latter finds out that he has cancer.

The unlikely but utterly believable pairing of Shu and Ge turned the first film into a blockbuster hit.

Kudos to director Feng Xiaogang (China’s master of he sui pian) for not totally playing it safe in his first-ever sequel and he throws in intriguing ideas about a divorce ceremony and a living funeral for one to mull over.

Just one teeny problem – separation and death are not exactly the most festive of topics.

Homecoming

Lee Thean-jeen

Cast: Mark Lee, Jack Neo, A-niu, Jacelyn Tay, Huang Wenhong, Rebecca Lim

What you need to know: It is Chinese New Year’s eve and there is a crisis in Chef Daniel’s (Lee) kitchen. His manager (Tay) has to scramble for last-minute help after he fires everyone.

Meanwhile, Karen (Neo) and her son (A-niu) are travelling back to Kuala Lumpur for their reunion dinner.

On their bus journey north, they run into the chef’s runaway teenage daughter (Koe Yeet) and cross paths with a cab driver (Afdlin Shauki). Among the family members waiting for Karen and son are newlyweds (Huang and Lim) who have secretly made plans to scoot off for a vacation after the family gathering.

It is hard to quibble with the well-meaning sentiments here – the importance of family and spending time with them – but writer-director Lee Thean-jeen’s debut feature feels a tad heavy-handed.

Mark Lee takes on a more dramatic role for a change, but what should be a heart-tugging tale of a father and daughter coming together is not particularly moving and the newlyweds’ dilemma barely registers.

In his first big screen role since the scandal over his extramarital affair, Neo cross-dresses once again and his rapport with A-niu makes the “mother”-son pairing the most memorable one here.

Mr And Mrs Incredible

Vincent Kok

Cast: Sandra Ng, Louis Koo

What you need to know: Superheroes Aroma Woman (Ng) and Gazer Warrior (Koo) have retired from fighting crime and settled down to an ordinary life in the idyllic Rainbow Village.

When a national martial arts tournament comes to town, intrigue and conspiracy follow and the two assume their masked identities once more.

Koo seems to be sleepwalking through his laid-back role and the soporific dub-over does not help.

While there is some spark between Ng and Koo as a long-time couple, the chemistry between Ng and Tony Leung in I Love Hong Kong is more convincing.

The cast do not break out of character to wish audiences a happy new year as they do in other he sui pian but instead, there is a visual pun on the greeting nian nian you yu (abundance every year) as Koo reels in a big fish (yu) in a tagged-on scene during the closing credits.

It's A Great Great World

Kelvin Tong

Cast: Chew Chor Meng, Yvonne Lim, Henry Thia, Joanne Peh, Zhang Zhenhuan, Xiang Yun, Huang Wenyong, Kym Ng

What you need to know: The loves and lives of the denizens of Great World Amusement Park are told in four stories recounted by Ah Meng (Chew), who used to be a street vendor there. The colourful cast of characters includes children’s entertainer Ah Boo (Thia), shooting gallery stall-owner Meijuan (Peh) and faded diva Mei Gui (Xiang Yun).

Film-maker Kelvin Tong’s valentine to Singapore’s hot spot in the 1950s and 1960s is entertainment for the entire family.

Older folks can reminisce about their own experiences at attractions such as Ghost Train and Sky Theatre, while younger audiences get a glimpse into a time and place they never experienced.

It might not be overtly festive but its subtle themes of history and national identity are ones worth chewing over along with the new year snacks.

(ST)