1911

Zhang Li, Jackie Chan

The story: The Xinhai Revolution, which is also the more informative Chinese title, is about the overthrow of the imperial Qing Dynasty and the attempt to establish a republic in China. It is bookended by the Wuchang Uprising on Oct 10, 1911, and the abdication of Emperor Puyi on Feb 12, 1912. The key characters in this political and military drama include revolutionary leaders Sun Yat Sen (Winston Chao) and his right-hand man Huang Xing (Jackie Chan), the hemmed-in Empress Dowager Long Yu (Joan Chen) desperately hanging on to power and general Yuan Shikai (Sun Chun), playing both sides for his own vainglorious ends.

Despite the movie poster and the much-hyped fact that it is his 100th work, this is not a Jackie Chan movie. It is not his typical action- adventure vehicle but an ambitious ensemble drama that attempts to convey a crucial period of tumult and upheaval in China in the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution.

It is one of several upcoming historical movies about the revolution, or one of the many uprisings leading to Xinhai, including The Woman Knight Of Mirror Lake, which opens here next month.

Zhang Li, who shares the directing credit on 1911 with Chan, is no stranger to the genre or material: He had helmed the 60-episode TV series Towards The Republic (2003), which spanned 20 years and covered far more ground.

Also, scribes Wang Xingdong and Chen Baoguang had worked on the similarly epic series The Founding Of The Republic (2010), which covered a later time period.

Together, they make a complicated era of history easy to follow and engaging. The big picture and personal stories are handled well and their juxtaposition is effective.

As Dr Sun Yat Sen makes his case for revolution with stirring rhetoric, we are also shown the stark human cost of revolution. Zhang was the cinematographer for blockbusters such as Red Cliff and he is adept at handling the major battle scenes of carnage and destruction.

At the same time, there are vignettes of some martyrs to make viewers emotionally invested as the history unfolds on screen. Popular China actor-singer Hu Ge, for example, leaves an impression as the idealistic Li Juemin, who is ready to leave behind his wife and baby and sacrifice himself for his beliefs.

Key moments are distilled into memorable scenes. Faced with a barrage of bad news, the empress dowager begins to cry and that sets the child emperor Puyi bawling too, as if they were lamenting in unison the dynasty’s fate.

The actors are consistently good across the board. In his fourth outing as Dr Sun, Chao convinces you of the man’s oratorical skills and revolutionary zeal. Chen is imperious as the doomed dowager and Sun Chun is spot-on as the cunning and ambitious Yuan Shikai.

Chan fares well as the loyal Huang Xing, though there is a jarring Jackie Chan moment when he single-handedly thwarts an assassination attempt on Dr Sun. For a moment, the film threatens to veer into Bodyguards And Assassins (2009) territory, where history is just an excuse for popcorn entertainment.

But 1911 is no documentary. Co-director Zhang has said: “The retelling of the events of 1911 is a way of using art to revisit those revolutionary heroes, their patriotism and willingness to risk their lives.”

What the film does, powerfully, is to make history come alive.

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Slow Soul

Crowd Lu

Life Goes On & On

Manhand

The exuberant youthful optimism of Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu seems to have been tempered somewhat on his third studio album.

Apart from the opening track Don’t Call Me When I’m Asleep, the chirpy jingles about breakfast and friendship are gone.

But if 100 Ways Of Living from his 2008 debut folk-pop album of the same name was about feeling conflicted over the vastness of possibilities, Slow Soul can be seen as one way of approaching life.

Tiger Chung’s lyrics in the title track go: “A gentle breeze is blowing, who is crying/I’m like a kite, blown past boundaries, so far away/Forgive my slow soul/I’m worried I won’t be able to find/Oh, my world.”

Musically, Lu is still exploring. On Harbourside Boy, he sings in Minnan to Cheer Chen’s lyrics: “My granddad rises early as well/Catching fish by the sea, passing the days by watching the sky.”

Lu’s child-like innocence remains, though for the first time, it almost crosses over into twee territory on songs such as Rainbow with its clunky English chorus: “I see the rainbow in the sky/So high so beautiful.../I promise/I will take you fly away from here...”

Mosquito is a highlight here but fans would have already heard it on his Four-Fruit Ice EP (2010) and the earlier acoustic guitar version is superior.

On the whole, Slow Soul feels like a transitional album as Lu figures out where he is headed next. Even if he takes it slow, the journey ahead should still be a worthwhile one.

Despite a marked difference in musical styles, Malaysia’s pop-rock outfit Manhand embrace a similar laidback attitude towards life on Slow And Relaxed, a collaboration with Taiwanese hip-hop jazz artist Soft Lipa.

The message is also found on their third album’s opener Life Goes On: “Let us slowly move forward step by step/Even if time doesn’t turn its head once it’s past/Just want to embrace the moment and stride across the earth.”

The band show off their versatility by giving the listener a little of everything from the balladry of Continue Latido to the hip-hop dance of Lalula. The anger that flashes through Pedestrian, though, feels a little jarring.

Life might go on and on, but Manhand prove that it does not have to be monotonous or dreary.

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Who says we do not get the seasons here in Singapore? We might not get leaves turning shades of red, orange and brown but we still get to experience autumn – in the form of the American fall TV season.

Pay TV operators mio TV and StarHub have been steadily upping their game and Singaporeans have at least 17 new titles heading their way from now till the end of the year, with more to come next year.

Sci-fi has a splashy presence among the offerings with an alien invasion in Falling Skies and terrifying dinosaurs in Terra Nova. Take a look at the executive producer credits for both shows and one name jumps out – Steven Spielberg, one of the most influential and successful American film-makers of all time.

Intriguingly, Spielberg has his hand in yet another series. This is Smash, about a hit Broadway musical for which the curtain goes up next year.

Other name producers with new projects include Lost’s J.J. Abrams with the crime thriller Person Of Interest and 24’s Howard Gordon with the counter-

terrorism drama Homeland.

Also making an impact are fairy tales. They are the inspiration for Once Upon A Time, in which familiar characters are transported to a modern-day setting, and the 2012 offering Grimm, in which the villains turn out to be real and only one homicide detective has the power to stop them.

Given the success of Modern Family, sitcoms about parents and children continue to sprout. This year’s healthier-than-usual crop includes Suburgatory, I Hate My Teenage Daughter and Man Up.

Staples such as the medical drama are being given a new lease of life with a new star as Rachel Bilson headlines Hart Of Dixie.

The one series that really stands out is American Horror Story with its unusual tone and vibe. It could turn out to be this year’s Twin Peaks (1990-1991), an unexpected hit that came from nowhere.

To ease the transition to a new season, Life! gives a rundown on 16 new shows and lets you in on what to expect.

Happy fall season everyone!

Terra Nova

When: From Wednesday (mio), Oct 29 (StarHub)

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 727; Fox Channel, StarHub Channel 505; Fox Channel HD, StarHub Channel 558

What: Dinosaurs. Steven Spielberg. I am sold. Given executive producer Spielberg’s success with the Jurassic Park movie series, everyone is hoping for a monster hit with Terra Nova.

In the year 2149, Earth is severely overpopulated and all life is on the brink of extinction. The Shannon family are among the lucky few who get to be part of a new colony, Terra Nova, which has been established 85 million years in the past. The catch – it is a time when ravenous carnivorous dinosaurs tore across the land.

The best-known actor here is probably Stephen Lang (far right, foreground). He was the tough-guy Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and here, he plays the tough-guy Commander Taylor who heads the colony.

No expense has been spared in bringing this vision to life and Terra Nova is reportedly the most expensive TV series ever. The Independent newspaper estimated that it cost £200,000 (S$398,000) to make one minute of the sci-fi drama.

There is no doubt that the series looks good but given its cost, the big question here is whether it can break new ground in attracting audiences to the small screen.

Man Up

When: From Oct 20

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 732

What: What does it mean to be a man in today’s world? Will Keen (Mather Zickel, centre) is married with children and he wants to be a role model for his teenage son. He also wants gaming time with his buds, the loud and excitable Kenny Hayden (Dan Fogler, right) and the dweeby Craig Griffith (series creator Christopher Moynihan, left).

Good on Fogler for parlaying his Tony Award-winning performance in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee into a viable career, but he has to watch out being typecast.

Think of this as a younger version of Men Of A Certain Age (2009 to 2011).

Homeland

When: From Oct 4

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 731

What: A top-notch cast headlines this topical drama about terrorism in America.

Say “welcome back” to Claire Danes, best known for her work on the critically acclaimed but short-lived teen drama My So-Called Life (1994 to 1995). And “hello again” to TV veteran Mandy Patinkin, last seen on Criminal Minds.

A prisoner-of-war (Damian Lewis, far right, as sergeant Nicholas Brody) believed to be dead is rescued in Iraq and returns home to a hero’s welcome. But CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Danes) has her doubts and tries to convince her mentor Saul Berenson (Patinkin) that he has switched loyalties.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Brody’s wife (Morena Baccarin, right) and children have to adjust to the return of a husband and father.

The series opener sets up several promising narrative threads. A seemingly more realistic version of the counter-terrorism drama 24, though a CIA officer is already breaking federal laws in the first episode.

Hart Of Dixie

When: From Wednesday

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 725

What: Another Everwood-influenced medical drama. Dr Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson, right) packs her bags and moves to Alabama where she will learn that caring for patients is not the same as merely treating them.

The series marks the second collaboration between executive producer Jason Schwartz and star Bilson. He created the teen soap The O.C., which provided her with the breakout role of party-girl Summer. Bilson turned what could have been a one-note sidekick into a spirited character whom audiences could root for.

Her likeable charm is still intact even if her potential love interests – The Good Wife’s Scott Porter and The Young And The Restless’ Wilson Bethel – are already all sketched out in the first episode.

2 Broke Girls

When: Currently available

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 704

What: Poor girl Max (Kat Dennings, right) and down-and-out rich girl Caroline (Beth Behrs, far right) are twenty-something waitresses at a Brooklyn diner. Despite their chalk-and-cheese personalities, they become friends. They dream of making US$250,000 (S$317,000) so that they can open their own cupcake shop.

At the end of the first episode, the amount they have raised thus far is shown. Expect a snakes-

and-ladders situation as they trudge towards their goal.

The series was co-created by Sex And The City’s Michael Patrick King. Dennings’ sassy and sensible Max is likeable.

American Horror Story

When: From Oct 7

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 706

What: Ben (Dylan McDermott, above centre) and Vivien (Connie Britton, left) are trying to salvage their marriage and they decide a fresh start is the answer. They move into an old mansion in Los Angeles with their daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga, right), unaware that there are ghosts lurking and skeletons rattling about.

The new series from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, who are behind high-school musical Glee (2009-present) and plastic surgery soap drama Nip/Tuck (2003-2010), is intriguing, all right. The ensemble cast is a strong one with actress Jessica Lange signing on for her first regular TV role as the next-door neighbour who knows more than she lets on, Frances Conroy (the matriarch in Six Feet Under) as the housekeeper and McDermott playing angsty once more after The Practice.

American Horror Story keeps the viewer off-kilter and though the first episode has almost too much weirdness, its creepy vibe is a welcome addition to the TV landscape.

Falling Skies

When: From Oct 3 at 8.20pm

Where: AXN Beyond, StarHub Channel 525

What: Aliens have invaded Earth and decimated most of the human race. Survivors form a resistance group, Second Massachusetts. They are led by former military officer Weaver (Will Patton) and history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle, third from left), who is searching for his son. For some nefarious reason, the aliens have been rounding up children and attaching a metallic device to each of them.

Fans of Wyle will be glad to see him back on the small screen after his low-key big screen outings. He is best known for his turn as Dr John Carter (1994 to 2005) in the long-running medical drama ER (1994 to 2009) and was named by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in 2001.

Producer Steven Spielberg is attached to the project and given his sci-fi flicks such as Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) and War Of The Worlds (2005), expectations were high. The series has garnered some positive reviews and will be back for a second season of another 10 episodes next year.

Prime Suspect

When: From Nov 3 Where: Diva Universal, StarHub Channel 522

What: The ground-breaking British police procedural of the 1990s and 2000s starred Helen Mirren as a no-nonsense detective.

Maria Bello (left) gamely steps into the role for the American remake after hanging up her scrubs on the medical drama ER (1994-2006). Joining her is actor Aidan Quinn, once a leading man in films such as the thriller Blink (1993).

Crossovers between the Atlantic are not uncommon but success is by no means assured.

For every The Office, there are misguided efforts such as Coupling and Life On Mars.

Person Of Interest

When: From tomorrow

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 719

What: John Reese (Jim Caviezel, above) is a former CIA agent hired by the mysterious Mr Finch (Michael Emerson) to stop crimes before they occur.

What sounds like a crime procedural with a twist comes with an impressive pedigree. The show is created by Jonathan Nolan, author of the short story Memento Mori, which his brother Christopher adapted into the acclaimed film Memento (2000).

Person Of Interest marks Caviezel’s return to the small screen. He had appeared on shows such as Murder, She Wrote early on in his career before taking to film in works such as Terrence Malick’s war drama The Thin Red Line (1998) and Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ (2004).

The Secret Circle

When: Currently available

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 702

What: Given the success of The Vampire Diaries, it is no surprise that another work by author L.J. Smith has been brought to the small screen.

As with Diaries, there is once again a young woman dealing with a world of fantasy and magic, one that holds both promise and danger. Here, Cassie discovers that she comes from a family of witches after losing her mother. She also finds out that she completes a ritual circle of six and, like it or not, she has powers that others have already made plans for.

A new crop of actors with flawless skin and perfect hair such as Thomas Dekker and Brittany Robertson (both above) will hope that their circle of fans can be as large as Diaries’.

Friends With Benefits

When: Currently available

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 549

What: Beyond sharing a title with the Justin Timberlake-Mila Kunis romantic comedy, there does not seem to be anything linking the series to the film.

Unfortunately, the attractiveness quotient of the friends enjoying mutual benefits seems to be decidedly lower here. The cast includes Ryan Hansen (left), Danneel Ackles (far left), Jessica Lucas, Zach Cregger and Andre Holland. Who, you ask? Exactly. The show about friends in Chicago was canned in the US after 12 episodes, so don’t get too attached.

A Gifted Man

When: 2011

Where: AXN Beyond, StarHub Channel 525

What: Touched By An Angel meets Everwood as a self-absorbed and brilliant neurosurgeon Michael Holt (Patrick Wilson) learns to be gentler and kinder through visits from his dead ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle). Jonathan Demme (The Silence Of The Lambs, 1991) directed the pilot and is executive producer.

After belting out songs in Broadway musicals, Wilson left an impression in films as different as sex predator thriller Hard Candy (2005) and the dark drama Little Children (2006). Can he can make his surgeon role more complicated, and interesting?

Also worth noting is Julie Benz. She has made her supporting work count in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dexter, and plays Wilson’s onscreen supernatural-believing sibling.

I Hate My Teenage Daughter

When: From Dec 2

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 736

What: The set-up of two divorced mothers raising their teenage daughters sounds like the makings of a generic sitcom.

But Jaime Pressly, so good at being nasty on My Name Is Earl (2005 to 2009), has comic verve as the mum with the ultra- conservative upbringing, Annie Watson. And she has an easy chemistry with fellow mum/best friend Nikki Miller, who is still haunted by her past as an unpopular girl. Nikki is played by Katie Finneran, who was in the brilliant and all-too-brief Wonderfalls (2004).

So far, the mothers are proving to be far more interesting than the bland and manipulative daughters played by Kristi Lauren and Aisha Dee. Keep the focus on Annie and Nikki and the show will be fine.

New Girl

When: From Oct 1

Where: Star World, StarHub Channel 501; Star World HD, StarHub Channel 555

What: A newly single Jess (Zooey Deschanel, far right) moves into an apartment with three single guys: (from left) Coach the former athlete (Damon Wayans Jr), Nick the bartender (Jake Johnson) and Schmidt the Casanova (Max Greenfield).

Deschanel’s kooky charm has served her well in films such as (500) Days Of Summer (2009) and she is also one-half

of the acclaimed music act She & Him.

She muscles in on her sister’s territory – Emily Deschanel in crime drama Bones. But since Zooey has guest-starred on Bones, bet on Emily to return the favour at some point, if New Girl is around long enough.

Once Upon A Time

When: From Oct 25 (mio), December (StarHub)

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 734; and Star World, StarHub Channel 501; Star World HD, StarHub Channel 555

What: The world of fairy tales has lost its happily-ever-after. Characters such as Snow White (Big Love’s Ginnifer Goodwin, left) are now trapped in a town called Storybrooke where they have different identities and not an inkling of their storied past.

It is up to sceptical Emma Swan (House’s Jennifer Morrison) to break the curse of the evil queen and things are set in motion when a son (Jared Gilmore) she gave up for adoption turns up on her doorstep 10 years after the fact.

The set-up is long and laborious and seems quite dully serious when a lighter touch would have been nice.

Revenge

When: From today

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 715

What: It is billed as an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count Of Monte Cristo. The key word missing here is “loose”.

Emily VanCamp (right) is Emily Thorne, a young woman vowing vengeance on the people who killed her father and destroyed her life. In the playground of the rich and powerful that is the Hamptons, Thorne schemes and plots to bring down Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe, looking great at 53) and those close to her.

In Everwood (2002-2006) and Brothers & Sisters (2007-2010), VanCamp played a sensitive high-school student and a young woman dealing with family secrets. She now morphs into a cold-blooded instrument wreaking havoc and devastation. They sure do grow up quickly.

Suburgatory

When: From Sept 30

Where: mio TV Season Pass, Channel 729

What: Despite the terrible tongue-twisting clunker of a title, Suburgatory turned out to be a most promising series. Not since Wonderfalls (2004) and Dead Like Me (2003-2004) has there been such a mordantly funny young woman on television.

Sixteen-year-old Tessa (Jane Levy) has been forcibly transplanted to suburbia by her father George (Jeremy Sisto, left). Stuck in her own private purgatory, she copes by employing her cynical wit and an acid tongue.

Newcomer Levy is one to watch while Sisto gets to hang loose after his three-year stint on the sombre Law & Order.

I Don't Know How She Does It

Douglas McGrath

The story: Kate (Sarah Jessica Parker) juggles marriage to architect Richard (Greg Kinnear), their two young children and a demanding job as an investment banker. When her pitch for a new product is picked up by higher-up Jack (Pierce Brosnan), the tricky act becomes even more frenetic. Based on the 2002 best-selling novel of the same name by Allison Pearson.

Ignoring the ghastly movies, this could be the alternate-universe sequel to the hit TV series Sex And The City (1998 to 2004).

In the HBO series, Sarah Jessica Parker plays Carrie, a single woman in her 30s living and loving in New York and writing about her experiences for a newspaper.

It is a role that she is immediately associated with, to the point where it can become difficult to separate the actress from the character.

And deliberate or not, some of the mannerisms Parker imbued Carrie with are present in Kate in this movie, most notably a tendency to be klutzy when she is nervous.

As a single in New York, Carrie remarks that one is always looking for a job, a boyfriend or an apartment.

Well, Kate is married to a nice-guy architect (Kinnear), has a job that she loves and is presumably not looking for a new house. Instead, her challenge is to keep it all together.

The idea of women taking on multiple roles has been around for a while. Author Shirley Conran promised to tell women how to be a working wife and mother in Superwoman (1975), while feminist Betty Friedan addressed the multiple demands placed on women in The Second Stage (1981).

I Don’t Know How She Does It does not really add anything meaningful to the conversation.

Basically, Kate gets lots of breaks. She has a mostly supportive husband, a charming work partner (Brosnan) and a not-very-scary boss – after all, he is played by Kelsey Grammer from TV’s Frasier (1993 to 2004). All this makes her work-home balance problem seem like not much of a dilemma when it gets resolved.

Neither does the film rate highly as a light-hearted comedy and only Olivia Munn as Kate’s robotic assistant with a heart of gold grows on you.

Douglas McGrath’s direction is mostly workman-like and the flourishes, such as the documentary-style interviews with the characters, feel gimmicky as they are not particularly interesting.

What is curious about the movie is how it obviously seeks to rehabilitate the rock-bottom reputations of bankers in the wake of the financial tsunami.

Kate’s proposed product is all about helping people to retire because, hey, that is what really matters to investment firms rather than the bottom line.

And at a friendly bowling game, Jack is told that he would be forgiven for being a banker if he wins the competition for the group. No prizes for guessing whether he does.

It does make you wonder whether Wall Street fat cats bankrolled the film.

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Fright Night

Craig Gillespie

The story: Charley (Anton Yelchin) discovers that his next-door neighbour Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a murderous vampire. He turns to Las Vegas showman Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a self-styled vampire expert, for help. Jerry later goes on a rampage to take down Charley, his mother (Toni Collette) and his girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots). Look out for a cameo from Chris Sarandon who played Jerry in the original Fright Night from 1985.

The 1985 original was a funny, sexy and thrilling vampire flick. Is there a need for a remake?

By now, vampires have overrun the pop culture landscape. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) mixed the same elements to great success on the small screen, the Twilight series is a phenomenon in both print and on celluloid while the likes of Alexander Skarsgard are oozing menace and sex from every undead pore on TV’s True Blood.

To the credit of scribe Marti Noxon, who wrote and produced for Buffy, and director Craig Gillespie, who helmed the sensitively quirky Lars And The Real Girl (2007), the remake is justified.

For one thing, the script has been thoughtfully updated. Most notably, the new setting is Las Vegas, where people are always coming and going and disappearing, and the character of Peter Vincent is now a flamboyant magician instead of a two-bit TV host who used to play vampire killers.

Noxon has also fleshed out the role of Charley by delving into the cruel world of high school. He is an ex-nerd dating a hot girl, which means he has to cut off ties with his old mates and hang out with the cool gang now. Poignantly, it is his former buddy Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who discovers the truth about Jerry and pays a price for it.

There are also some sharply written lines scattered throughout the dialogue. When Charley asks Amy why she went out with him, she tells him it is because he is different and also, “your skin cleared up”.

Gillespie handles the material with an assured hand as he ratchets up the tension and then releases it again and again. He displays equal skill switching between the various moods and tones in the movie.

Central to the film’s success is Farrell’s take on the creature of the night. Instead of reprising Chris Sarandon’s more sardonic Jerry, the Irish actor brings out the brutal, animal nature of the beast. And yes, he brings the sexy, too.

Maybe True Blood could do with some new blood for season five next year.

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Weibird Concert Live

Weibird Wei

Releasing a live album after just one full-length record could be either an act of hubris or a blatant attempt to milk the cash cow. The good news is that Taiwanese singer-songwriter Weibird Wei’s offering is neither.

There are three strands here: live renditions from his 2010 self-titled debut which won him Best Newcomer at the Golden Melody Awards, covers of Mandarin and English songs and, best of all, new material.

The 24-year-old proves he can hold his own in a live setting and that the intimate experience of listening to his justly lauded record translates well to the stage.

As Wei shares in speech interludes about how his life has changed since his CD took off and about his ambivalent relationship with fans, you feel like you are at the gig at the Taipei International Convention Centre in September last year.

His covers are no fillers. He is equally at home covering everything from A-mei’s Hostage and Khalil Fong’s Love Love Love to James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful and Damien Rice’s Blower’s Daughter. For those who first saw him in the now-defunct TV talent show Happy Sunday in 2007, his emotive English renditions would come as no surprise.

There are three new songs included here: the humorous Me, A Pig, And His Girlfriend, the English ballad She’ll Be An Angel, and the standout Why Life.

The last track was a response to what he saw in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot’s destruction in August 2009.

Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, its pointed lyrics go: “Why oh why, no answer/Life oh life, can’t live it over... The corrupt don’t have to run, good people help out and die.”

It is one young man’s attempt to make sense of the world and even if he provides no answers, his questions and observations are worth listening to.

Super Kelly

Kelly Poon

Local singer Kelly Poon puts on a brave front on her EP with her new record label. In the opening track, she declares: “Cos I’m an inde-inde-independent girl/And I don’t need don’t need don’t need you to rock my world.”

It sounds like a defiant riposte to critics who say she has been struggling to make a breakthrough in the industry since emerging as the female champion in the Project Superstar singing competition in 2005. chk

Part of the problem is that she never had a distinctive enough image and Independent Girl is at least a step in the right direction with its spunky spirit.

While the girl-power message gets muddied with the conventional ballad My Love and the cutesy photographs, props must go to Poon for continuing to plug away and for having a hand in writing all five songs here.

Here’s hoping she gets more love this time around.

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Not Playing By The Rules

Magic Power

Erotic is not something that Mandopop, dominated by chaste, cutesy young things, does very often. No wonder six-member band Magic Power have taken it upon themselves to, well, bring sexy back.

The title track has them going “You really wanna do do do it all night” over a thumping beat and a bouncy synth line.

And on the duet Hush with Della Ding Dang, they heat things up further: “I wanna see you naked... on my bed/Now sexy lady let me hear you sing”.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out during the upcoming [B’3] concert here tomorrow at The Max Pavilion @ Singapore Expo.

Apart from the dance tracks, the band also cover their bases with tuneful ballads such as Tomorrow Comes The Armageddon and I’ll Always Be With You, both chosen to be the theme songs for the Taiwanese broadcast of the Korean television drama Stormy Lovers.

While their self-titled debut last year seemed to be more joyous and less slick, Magic Power remain an entertaining proposition.

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Longing For

Rainie Yang

With a chic new bob, Taiwanese singer, actress and host Rainie Yang has given up on cutesy behaviour and is ready to act her age – that is, 27 – on her sixth studio album.

The title track is sophisticated pop that bodes well for the album. Over a breezily engaging melody by Malaysian singer-songwriter Vchuan Chen, Yang sings of yearning: “Longing for dreams to give me strength, won’t let love run away, won’t let my heart hide, let me be strong.”

In a smart move, she ropes in singer-songwriter Lala Hsu and lyricist Ko Ta-wei for some indie cred on Fast Forward. Yang deserves credit for trying, but her voice is still on the thin side. One cannot help but think that Hsu would have done greater justice to the track she had written if she had sung it instead.

It is two steps forward and one step back as the first plug Love Fool is too stolidly commercial. It has been doing well on the charts, though, as it has been used on her new idol drama While We Were Drunk. Lovelution, meanwhile, seems to hark back to cutesy Rainie.

The album closes with the fast-paced Happy Ending, and it has certainly been one for Yang.

Vindicating her new direction, the record has topped the album charts in Taiwan for several weeks. Hopefully, this means the more mature Yang is here to stay.

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