In Love With...
Z-Chen Chang
Most Wanted
ThomasJack
Several Malaysian singers have been experiencing a second wind in their music career. There was Nicholas Teo with the gorgeous ballad Let’s Not Fall In Love Again and a revitalised Penny Tai shone on the album On The Way Home.
Now, Z-Chen Chang makes three.
The album opens with the Percy Phang-penned Invaluable Advice. As with Teo’s showstopper, an encounter with an ex sets off a rush of emotions: “Talk about memories, too shamefaced, mention tomorrow, too risky/Unless there’s a chance for us to pick up the pieces/Want to date again, too casual/Painful words as if in my ear/Goodbye is the best invaluable advice”.
Met Too Soon, also by Phang, is another ballad shimmering with regret and brought to life by Chang’s smooth emotive croon.
Impressively, the singer also grooves along on the more uptempo R&B tracks, such as 2013 and Loneliness Is A Crime. The glaring mis-step here is the electrosynth of, yikes, Toy Boy.
Meanwhile, new duo ThomasJack are hoping to catch their first wind.
The songs by Thomas Guo and Jack Chen have a sunny youthful vibe and even Tears Of Earth’s green message is set to a light-hearted melody.
But they need material that is more distinctive, or pushes the envelope a little more, to stand out from the crowd.
They are already stars in their native Malaysia, but achieving Most Wanted status in the region and beyond will not be a breeze.
(ST)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Grey
Joe Carnahan
The story: A plane ferrying oil workers crashes in a snowy desolate pocket of Alaska. The handful of survivors include Ottway (Liam Neeson), Talget (Dermot Mulroney) and Diaz (Frank Grillo). They have to figure out how to stay alive in the harsh terrain while keeping a pack of fearsome wolves at bay. Based on the short story Ghost Walker by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Joe Carnahan.
Make sure you bring warm clothing along to the screening because The Grey brings the chill of winter right into the cinema hall.
Not the kind of cosy, picturesque winter one might experience on a holiday, but winter as a primaeval force of nature with swirling snow blizzards and life-threatening cold.
The spectacularly staged plane crash here brings to mind the one that opened the fantasy TV series Lost (2004-2010).
What happens next is straightforward: The men have to keep warm, keep moving and keep out of the jaws of the wolves.
Director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, 2010) takes this simple premise and spins a gripping two-hour- long thriller out of it.
The wolf attacks are quick and vicious. Just a shot of multiple pairs of lupine eyes glowing in the dark is enough to create an atmosphere of dread.
Some of the sequences – including Neeson’s Ottway fighting off a wolf by punching it and the men crossing over from a cliff to some trees in order to reach the river – seem preposterous in hindsight and yet one is too caught up when watching the scenes to quibble.
Ottway is a weary, beaten man who was planning to kill himself before he got on that fateful flight. Yet when faced with the stark possibility of death, his survival instinct kicks in.
Drama ensues among the men as Diaz questions Ottway’s assumption of leadership.
That is clearly a silly thing to do as the physically imposing Ottway exudes grizzled authority and was previously shooting down wolves which threatened the oil drilling team. He is the best-informed person on the creatures.
Apart from the tense action, Carnahan injects unexpected moments of spirituality into the film including a poignant scene of one man coming to terms with his death.
In the finale, Ottway gears up for a fight to the finish as he faces down the alpha male of the wolf pack. It is at once shot through with hope and bravery and acceptance and even insanity – the perfect note on which to end the film.
For those who need a more definitive closure, stay on till the end of the credits for a brief epilogue.
(ST)
Joe Carnahan
The story: A plane ferrying oil workers crashes in a snowy desolate pocket of Alaska. The handful of survivors include Ottway (Liam Neeson), Talget (Dermot Mulroney) and Diaz (Frank Grillo). They have to figure out how to stay alive in the harsh terrain while keeping a pack of fearsome wolves at bay. Based on the short story Ghost Walker by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Joe Carnahan.
Make sure you bring warm clothing along to the screening because The Grey brings the chill of winter right into the cinema hall.
Not the kind of cosy, picturesque winter one might experience on a holiday, but winter as a primaeval force of nature with swirling snow blizzards and life-threatening cold.
The spectacularly staged plane crash here brings to mind the one that opened the fantasy TV series Lost (2004-2010).
What happens next is straightforward: The men have to keep warm, keep moving and keep out of the jaws of the wolves.
Director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, 2010) takes this simple premise and spins a gripping two-hour- long thriller out of it.
The wolf attacks are quick and vicious. Just a shot of multiple pairs of lupine eyes glowing in the dark is enough to create an atmosphere of dread.
Some of the sequences – including Neeson’s Ottway fighting off a wolf by punching it and the men crossing over from a cliff to some trees in order to reach the river – seem preposterous in hindsight and yet one is too caught up when watching the scenes to quibble.
Ottway is a weary, beaten man who was planning to kill himself before he got on that fateful flight. Yet when faced with the stark possibility of death, his survival instinct kicks in.
Drama ensues among the men as Diaz questions Ottway’s assumption of leadership.
That is clearly a silly thing to do as the physically imposing Ottway exudes grizzled authority and was previously shooting down wolves which threatened the oil drilling team. He is the best-informed person on the creatures.
Apart from the tense action, Carnahan injects unexpected moments of spirituality into the film including a poignant scene of one man coming to terms with his death.
In the finale, Ottway gears up for a fight to the finish as he faces down the alpha male of the wolf pack. It is at once shot through with hope and bravery and acceptance and even insanity – the perfect note on which to end the film.
For those who need a more definitive closure, stay on till the end of the credits for a brief epilogue.
(ST)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Own Room
Chou Hui
Ten Notes Left For Happiness
Ocean Ou
Both these Taiwanese singers were represented by cartoon characters when they first came on the scene. But while British band Gorillaz, whose members were illustrated by artist Jamie Hewlett, were a fully thought-out musical and visual project, these singers were hidden away under illustrations because they were deemed not photogenic enough.
There was no question, though, that they had distinctive voices.
Chou Hui’s crisp vocals were compared to Mandopop queen Faye Wong’s, and she even sang a Mandarin cover of the latter’s 1997 Cantonese track Promise. Her voice is showcased here on ballads such as I Am Not Your Only One and the evocative A Certain Part Of The Story.
The purity of her pipes illuminates a song and allows the emotional clarity to shine through. The effect is irresistible on Story, when paired with lyrics by frequent Jay Chou-collaborator Vincent Fang: “Hence, after our hearts were broken, we grew older/Hence, scenes from the past flicker in the waning light/Hence we lightly place love in our palms, huddling close to each other for warmth.”
The more upbeat track Ice Cube shows a perkier side of Chou as she croons: “The love you give me is so warm, I’m like a glacier drifting into a sea of love.”
Ocean Ou’s offering is a little less satisfying. It sounds rather dated, harking back to the stylings of his 2004 hit Lonely Northern Hemisphere.
The singer-songwriter’s fuss-free folksy style is at its best in Definitely Definitely: “Definitely, definitely, loving you/As the sun rises and sets, without end/Definitely, definitely, want you to be happy every day.”
The sentiment might be simple, but Ou’s rendition makes it gently affecting.
(ST)
Chou Hui
Ten Notes Left For Happiness
Ocean Ou
Both these Taiwanese singers were represented by cartoon characters when they first came on the scene. But while British band Gorillaz, whose members were illustrated by artist Jamie Hewlett, were a fully thought-out musical and visual project, these singers were hidden away under illustrations because they were deemed not photogenic enough.
There was no question, though, that they had distinctive voices.
Chou Hui’s crisp vocals were compared to Mandopop queen Faye Wong’s, and she even sang a Mandarin cover of the latter’s 1997 Cantonese track Promise. Her voice is showcased here on ballads such as I Am Not Your Only One and the evocative A Certain Part Of The Story.
The purity of her pipes illuminates a song and allows the emotional clarity to shine through. The effect is irresistible on Story, when paired with lyrics by frequent Jay Chou-collaborator Vincent Fang: “Hence, after our hearts were broken, we grew older/Hence, scenes from the past flicker in the waning light/Hence we lightly place love in our palms, huddling close to each other for warmth.”
The more upbeat track Ice Cube shows a perkier side of Chou as she croons: “The love you give me is so warm, I’m like a glacier drifting into a sea of love.”
Ocean Ou’s offering is a little less satisfying. It sounds rather dated, harking back to the stylings of his 2004 hit Lonely Northern Hemisphere.
The singer-songwriter’s fuss-free folksy style is at its best in Definitely Definitely: “Definitely, definitely, loving you/As the sun rises and sets, without end/Definitely, definitely, want you to be happy every day.”
The sentiment might be simple, but Ou’s rendition makes it gently affecting.
(ST)
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Love
Doze Niu
The story: Love – not to mention lust, hate and jealousy – is all around as the paths of eight characters cross. Budding film-maker Kai (Eddie Peng) is caught between best friends Ni (Amber Kuo) and Yijia (Ivy Chen). Ni’s father, rich businessman Lu (Doze Niu), is hooked up with the beautiful and unhappy Zoe (Shu Qi). Zoe has a fling with Mark (Mark Chao), who falls for China real estate agent Xiaoye (Zhao Wei). Eventually, an improbable romance develops between Zoe and Ni’s mechanic brother Kuan (Ethan Juan).
The opening montage is set to Taiwanese singer Hebe Tien’s Love!. The song, about a daisy chain of relationships ending in a failure to connect, sets up the film perfectly: “I love you, you love her, she loves her, she loves him/You love me, I love him, He loves him, He loves her.”
As if illustrating the song’s lyrics, director Doze Niu delivers a beautifully fluid tracking shot. The camera follows one character then another, quickly establishing the major players and their relationships with one another in one succinct take. Someone has been taking notes from American auteur Robert Altman.
With multiple storylines and a cast that is easy on the eyes, Niu has put together a film that has something for everyone. For youthful drama, there is the classic love triangle between two friends and a man, which is complicated by an unexpected pregnancy. Eddie Peng and Ivy Chen, previously paired in the romance Hear Me (2009), play friends who have to deal with the fallout of their one-night stand. Meanwhile, Amber Kuo’s Ni has to deal with her insecurities and pain over the betrayal of her boyfriend and best friend.
What could have been melodrama is handled with a light touch and bolstered by Peng’s winningly earnest Kai and the somewhat unexpected resolution.
Mark Chao and Zhao Wei are unconvincing as Mark and Xiaoye, bickering rivals eventually brought together by her cute little boy who is desperately looking for a father figure. This leaves the adorable five-year-old Lin Muran to steal the scene every time he appears.
The role of jaded socialite Zoe is a tad too familiar for Shu Qi. Thankfully, there is not too much wallowing in the ennui and unhappiness of a woman who has relationships with three different men.
And there is a tenderness to the tentative romance between Zoe and the sweet, stuttering Kuan, played by Ethan Juan in a reunion with his Monga director Niu.
For both Monga alumni, Love is a certainly a departure. Kuan cannot be more different from the macho and tragic Monk Juan played in the hit gangster drama of 2010, and Niu has certainly demonstrated his versatility as a film-maker with two such different films back-to-back.
The only question is whether audiences will embrace this as much as they did Monga.
(ST)
Doze Niu
The story: Love – not to mention lust, hate and jealousy – is all around as the paths of eight characters cross. Budding film-maker Kai (Eddie Peng) is caught between best friends Ni (Amber Kuo) and Yijia (Ivy Chen). Ni’s father, rich businessman Lu (Doze Niu), is hooked up with the beautiful and unhappy Zoe (Shu Qi). Zoe has a fling with Mark (Mark Chao), who falls for China real estate agent Xiaoye (Zhao Wei). Eventually, an improbable romance develops between Zoe and Ni’s mechanic brother Kuan (Ethan Juan).
The opening montage is set to Taiwanese singer Hebe Tien’s Love!. The song, about a daisy chain of relationships ending in a failure to connect, sets up the film perfectly: “I love you, you love her, she loves her, she loves him/You love me, I love him, He loves him, He loves her.”
As if illustrating the song’s lyrics, director Doze Niu delivers a beautifully fluid tracking shot. The camera follows one character then another, quickly establishing the major players and their relationships with one another in one succinct take. Someone has been taking notes from American auteur Robert Altman.
With multiple storylines and a cast that is easy on the eyes, Niu has put together a film that has something for everyone. For youthful drama, there is the classic love triangle between two friends and a man, which is complicated by an unexpected pregnancy. Eddie Peng and Ivy Chen, previously paired in the romance Hear Me (2009), play friends who have to deal with the fallout of their one-night stand. Meanwhile, Amber Kuo’s Ni has to deal with her insecurities and pain over the betrayal of her boyfriend and best friend.
What could have been melodrama is handled with a light touch and bolstered by Peng’s winningly earnest Kai and the somewhat unexpected resolution.
Mark Chao and Zhao Wei are unconvincing as Mark and Xiaoye, bickering rivals eventually brought together by her cute little boy who is desperately looking for a father figure. This leaves the adorable five-year-old Lin Muran to steal the scene every time he appears.
The role of jaded socialite Zoe is a tad too familiar for Shu Qi. Thankfully, there is not too much wallowing in the ennui and unhappiness of a woman who has relationships with three different men.
And there is a tenderness to the tentative romance between Zoe and the sweet, stuttering Kuan, played by Ethan Juan in a reunion with his Monga director Niu.
For both Monga alumni, Love is a certainly a departure. Kuan cannot be more different from the macho and tragic Monk Juan played in the hit gangster drama of 2010, and Niu has certainly demonstrated his versatility as a film-maker with two such different films back-to-back.
The only question is whether audiences will embrace this as much as they did Monga.
(ST)
Moneyball
Bennett Miller
The story: Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, a general manager who is trying to put together a winning baseball team with a far smaller budget compared to illustrious teams such as the New York Yankees. He is helped by Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale economics graduate with radical ideas about how to assess a player’s value.
Can Brad Pitt act?
After his turn as a sexy drifter in the road movie Thelma & Louise (1991) catapulted him to fame, the American actor seemed to fight against his pretty boy looks in order to be taken seriously.
Being anointed Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine in 1995 and 2000 probably did not help his cause, but these surely did: an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the sci-fi flick 12 Monkeys (1995) and another for Best Actor as a man who ages in reverse in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008).
In the role of the mercurial Billy Beane, he has a second Best Actor Oscar nod, a reward for a low-key naturalistic performance when he could have been merrily chewing up scenery as a man who is not averse to flinging a chair in a moment of great frustration.
That is not to say that Pitt gives a subdued reading here. Given that the bestselling book by Michael Lewis is full of extended discussions about baseball and player statistics, it could have been a deadly dull affair, particularly for non-
baseball fans. But the screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin brings the characters alive.
Pitt imbues Beane with a certain physicality to his movements – be it munching snacks or striding down a hallway – that makes sense for a character who was a former ballplayer and also adds a sense of momentum and interest to the proceedings.
While his performance as the strict father in Terrence Malick’s polarising The Tree Of Life (2011) was not recognised at the Oscars, the acting range demonstrated by Pitt was doubtless noted by the Academy.
Also demonstrating range is director Bennett Miller, of acclaimed biopic Capote (2005), who finds a way to make a possibly arcane story about baseball statistics engaging and even compelling.
He deserves further credit for casting Judd Apatow alumnus Jonah Hill in the non-comedic role of a timid statistician, which plays off nicely against Pitt’s more earthy Beane.
Statistics aside, Moneyball is of course the universal tale of underdogs silencing the naysayers.
In this instance, Beane and Brand shake up the notion that baseball management is not a science, and use computer-generated analysis to assess players.
The point that one should have a clear-eyed view of baseball instead of a woolly and romantic one is repeatedly made by Beane. Yet in a poignant little twist at the end, the film shows that the baseball diamond is also a field of dreams for Beane.
(ST)
Bennett Miller
The story: Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, a general manager who is trying to put together a winning baseball team with a far smaller budget compared to illustrious teams such as the New York Yankees. He is helped by Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale economics graduate with radical ideas about how to assess a player’s value.
Can Brad Pitt act?
After his turn as a sexy drifter in the road movie Thelma & Louise (1991) catapulted him to fame, the American actor seemed to fight against his pretty boy looks in order to be taken seriously.
Being anointed Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine in 1995 and 2000 probably did not help his cause, but these surely did: an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the sci-fi flick 12 Monkeys (1995) and another for Best Actor as a man who ages in reverse in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008).
In the role of the mercurial Billy Beane, he has a second Best Actor Oscar nod, a reward for a low-key naturalistic performance when he could have been merrily chewing up scenery as a man who is not averse to flinging a chair in a moment of great frustration.
That is not to say that Pitt gives a subdued reading here. Given that the bestselling book by Michael Lewis is full of extended discussions about baseball and player statistics, it could have been a deadly dull affair, particularly for non-
baseball fans. But the screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin brings the characters alive.
Pitt imbues Beane with a certain physicality to his movements – be it munching snacks or striding down a hallway – that makes sense for a character who was a former ballplayer and also adds a sense of momentum and interest to the proceedings.
While his performance as the strict father in Terrence Malick’s polarising The Tree Of Life (2011) was not recognised at the Oscars, the acting range demonstrated by Pitt was doubtless noted by the Academy.
Also demonstrating range is director Bennett Miller, of acclaimed biopic Capote (2005), who finds a way to make a possibly arcane story about baseball statistics engaging and even compelling.
He deserves further credit for casting Judd Apatow alumnus Jonah Hill in the non-comedic role of a timid statistician, which plays off nicely against Pitt’s more earthy Beane.
Statistics aside, Moneyball is of course the universal tale of underdogs silencing the naysayers.
In this instance, Beane and Brand shake up the notion that baseball management is not a science, and use computer-generated analysis to assess players.
The point that one should have a clear-eyed view of baseball instead of a woolly and romantic one is repeatedly made by Beane. Yet in a poignant little twist at the end, the film shows that the baseball diamond is also a field of dreams for Beane.
(ST)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Young
Jeno Liu
Chinese singer Liu Liyang has a strong and clear voice, but it is a little presumptuous of her to take on indie stalwarts sodagreen’s Summer Summer or feted singer Eason Chan’s The Whole World Has Insomnia.
Somewhat disappointingly, the alumnus of the 2006 season of the Super Girls talent show – now called Jeno in English instead of Jade – has opted to do an album of mostly covers.
What’s more, she offers nothing new with her interpretations.
Let Go is missing that angsty emotional reading that Sam Lee gave it.
Plain White T’s Let Me Take You There and Ladyhawke’s My Delirium are unexpected but not revelatory.
It is the two original tracks here, with lyrics by Liu, that leave an impression.
Opener Journey is an indie rock number that reminds one of Taiwanese singer-songwriter Faith Yang while About Love is an appealing radio-friendly hit.
She sings: “People say that when you fall in love, the one who’s serious first won’t win/The one we fall for always loves himself more.”
For an audience to fall in love with a singer, though, the singer has to be serious first.
Dance
Lollipop F
With South Korean dance-pop fever still raging, little wonder that Taiwanese boyband Lollipop F want a piece of the action as well.
Last August, the quartet were invited to take part in South Korean television station SBS’s hit variety show Star King, where they got the chance to sing and dance off against popular megagroup Super Junior.
They followed that up with their second album Dance.
The standouts here are the title number with its refrain of “Let’s just dance dance dance dance tonite tonite”, Magic and Yo Yo – these are the tracks most likely to get you moving.
This is agreeable, disposable stuff and it had the boys dancing to the top of the G-music album chart in Taiwan.
(ST)
Jeno Liu
Chinese singer Liu Liyang has a strong and clear voice, but it is a little presumptuous of her to take on indie stalwarts sodagreen’s Summer Summer or feted singer Eason Chan’s The Whole World Has Insomnia.
Somewhat disappointingly, the alumnus of the 2006 season of the Super Girls talent show – now called Jeno in English instead of Jade – has opted to do an album of mostly covers.
What’s more, she offers nothing new with her interpretations.
Let Go is missing that angsty emotional reading that Sam Lee gave it.
Plain White T’s Let Me Take You There and Ladyhawke’s My Delirium are unexpected but not revelatory.
It is the two original tracks here, with lyrics by Liu, that leave an impression.
Opener Journey is an indie rock number that reminds one of Taiwanese singer-songwriter Faith Yang while About Love is an appealing radio-friendly hit.
She sings: “People say that when you fall in love, the one who’s serious first won’t win/The one we fall for always loves himself more.”
For an audience to fall in love with a singer, though, the singer has to be serious first.
Dance
Lollipop F
With South Korean dance-pop fever still raging, little wonder that Taiwanese boyband Lollipop F want a piece of the action as well.
Last August, the quartet were invited to take part in South Korean television station SBS’s hit variety show Star King, where they got the chance to sing and dance off against popular megagroup Super Junior.
They followed that up with their second album Dance.
The standouts here are the title number with its refrain of “Let’s just dance dance dance dance tonite tonite”, Magic and Yo Yo – these are the tracks most likely to get you moving.
This is agreeable, disposable stuff and it had the boys dancing to the top of the G-music album chart in Taiwan.
(ST)
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
The Wedding Diary
Adrian Teh
Even if you are not married, you would be familiar with at least one facet of the getting-hitched ritual – the wedding banquet.
The movie tries to draw you in by having Malaysian singer-actor A-niu (as Malaysian engineer Daniel working in Singapore) lament about his way-over-budget wedding.
But so what? Who cares when this is a wedding between two characters we barely know.
The romance between Daniel and Tina (Elanne Kwong) is unconvincing and the poor-boy-rich-girl set-up is merely an excuse to create some irritating drama and tension.
When Daniel tries to scrounge up cash for the dinner he cannot afford, he does the cliched and stupid thing by gambling it away at the casino.
It takes an accident in the last act to bring everyone together – except, suddenly, we seem to be watching a watch advertisement, one complete with sepia-toned flashbacks.
If you want to tell a tale about a watch, make it outrageously interesting the way Quentin Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction (1994). Don’t use it as an opportunity for outrageous product placement. Otherwise, the audience will just end up watching the clock.
(ST)
Adrian Teh
Even if you are not married, you would be familiar with at least one facet of the getting-hitched ritual – the wedding banquet.
The movie tries to draw you in by having Malaysian singer-actor A-niu (as Malaysian engineer Daniel working in Singapore) lament about his way-over-budget wedding.
But so what? Who cares when this is a wedding between two characters we barely know.
The romance between Daniel and Tina (Elanne Kwong) is unconvincing and the poor-boy-rich-girl set-up is merely an excuse to create some irritating drama and tension.
When Daniel tries to scrounge up cash for the dinner he cannot afford, he does the cliched and stupid thing by gambling it away at the casino.
It takes an accident in the last act to bring everyone together – except, suddenly, we seem to be watching a watch advertisement, one complete with sepia-toned flashbacks.
If you want to tell a tale about a watch, make it outrageously interesting the way Quentin Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction (1994). Don’t use it as an opportunity for outrageous product placement. Otherwise, the audience will just end up watching the clock.
(ST)
Romancing In Thin Air
Johnnie To
The story: Movie idol Michael (Louis Koo) gets dumped at the altar. He ends up drunk and depressed at a guesthouse in Yunnan run by Sue (Sammi Cheng). It just so happens that she used to be a big fan of his. But there is nothing like a missing, presumed dead, husband who gets in the way.
The next time you feel light-headed at high altitudes, remember, it could be love – or it could just be oxygen deprivation.
After all, this would be an equally, if not more, compelling explanation for why Michael and Sue get together since the vibe between the two stars is more friendly than lovey-dovey.
Indeed, Cheng shares more chemistry with China’s Li Guangjie, who plays the missing-in-action husband Tian.
The Koo-Cheng pairing serves to illustrate the elusive nature of on-screen chemistry. Just because you put two big-name stars together, it does not mean that sparks will fly.
The film does offer little pleasures though, from the striking scenery of Shangri-La in Yunnan to the comic relief from the supporting cast, which includes 1970s screen idol Tien Niu as a motherly doctor.
In one scene with a stalled truck, she even gets to yell out: “I’m back, I never left!”
It is also a pleasure listening to characters speak in both Mandarin and Cantonese, in whichever language is logical, rather than having one dubbed language for the entire film.
Dante Lam’s The Viral Factor (2012) also featured a polyglot of tongues. If this signals a new trend, it is indeed a welcome one.
Since this is a romance, though, the movie has to focus on Michael and Sue and why they cannot be together.
There is a very long flashback about how Sue and Tian fell for each together and how he ended up missing in the snowy woods.
When Michael makes a movie based on Tian’s disappearance, there is a long scene of Sue watching it in a cinema. The effect is not as moving as Hong Kong film-maker Johnnie To thinks.
Instead, it is rather distancing watching Sue watching a film.
We are supposed to be moved by the impossibility of the romance between Sue and Michael as she cannot forget her husband, but Romancing In Thin Air never achieves the gravitas of tragedy.
While not as dire as his last romance outing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (2011, also starring Koo with Daniel Wu and Terence Yin), this is still far from To’s best work.
(ST)
Johnnie To
The story: Movie idol Michael (Louis Koo) gets dumped at the altar. He ends up drunk and depressed at a guesthouse in Yunnan run by Sue (Sammi Cheng). It just so happens that she used to be a big fan of his. But there is nothing like a missing, presumed dead, husband who gets in the way.
The next time you feel light-headed at high altitudes, remember, it could be love – or it could just be oxygen deprivation.
After all, this would be an equally, if not more, compelling explanation for why Michael and Sue get together since the vibe between the two stars is more friendly than lovey-dovey.
Indeed, Cheng shares more chemistry with China’s Li Guangjie, who plays the missing-in-action husband Tian.
The Koo-Cheng pairing serves to illustrate the elusive nature of on-screen chemistry. Just because you put two big-name stars together, it does not mean that sparks will fly.
The film does offer little pleasures though, from the striking scenery of Shangri-La in Yunnan to the comic relief from the supporting cast, which includes 1970s screen idol Tien Niu as a motherly doctor.
In one scene with a stalled truck, she even gets to yell out: “I’m back, I never left!”
It is also a pleasure listening to characters speak in both Mandarin and Cantonese, in whichever language is logical, rather than having one dubbed language for the entire film.
Dante Lam’s The Viral Factor (2012) also featured a polyglot of tongues. If this signals a new trend, it is indeed a welcome one.
Since this is a romance, though, the movie has to focus on Michael and Sue and why they cannot be together.
There is a very long flashback about how Sue and Tian fell for each together and how he ended up missing in the snowy woods.
When Michael makes a movie based on Tian’s disappearance, there is a long scene of Sue watching it in a cinema. The effect is not as moving as Hong Kong film-maker Johnnie To thinks.
Instead, it is rather distancing watching Sue watching a film.
We are supposed to be moved by the impossibility of the romance between Sue and Michael as she cannot forget her husband, but Romancing In Thin Air never achieves the gravitas of tragedy.
While not as dire as his last romance outing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (2011, also starring Koo with Daniel Wu and Terence Yin), this is still far from To’s best work.
(ST)
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
in::music – Serene Koong
Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday
Just because you can sing and have recorded a promising debut album does not automatically make you an engaging live performer.
Local singer-songwriter Serene Koong’s inexperience in a live setting showed at her Huayi concert. Her nerves were palpable at the start and her energy flagged over the 100-minute set before a near-capacity crowd.
And, really, there was no need for her to say something about her journey as a singer-songwriter after almost every song. It breaks the rhythm of the show, instead of letting the songs speak for themselves.
The good news is that her powerful pipes generally sounded good as she took on a range of material – songs from her 2010 debut 55:38:7 and covers of songs such as Stefanie Sun’s I’m Not Sad, Tanya Chua’s If You See Him and David Tao’s Airport In 10:30.
Thankfully, she had also ditched the Lolita-esque styling on her CD for a more elegant and sophisticated look in a black strapless dress and high heels.
Backed by five musicians on guitar, bass, cello, keyboard and drums, she belted out ballads such as Knowing, theme song for the MediaCorp drama New Beginnings, the R&B-inflected Voodoo Doll as well as the jaunty Charlie.
The effervescent duet Lala – with Malaysian singer-songwriter Wu Jiahui on the album – worked as a perky solo number, and the track To:, her duet with Hong Kong singer-actor Jaycee Chan, was performed as a mash-up with Chang Yu-sheng’s Miss You Everyday, as Koong played the piano.
She also showcased some new material including the opening ballad Freedom and the English number One Last Try.
While the light touch of whimsy on her record was missing here, one hopes that the new album will have room for that side of Koong.
Towards the end, her performance perked up again, thanks to a few uptempo numbers and a warmed-up Koong cutting loose with some moves.
Perhaps with more experience under her belt, her future gigs will groove along from start to finish.
(ST)
Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday
Just because you can sing and have recorded a promising debut album does not automatically make you an engaging live performer.
Local singer-songwriter Serene Koong’s inexperience in a live setting showed at her Huayi concert. Her nerves were palpable at the start and her energy flagged over the 100-minute set before a near-capacity crowd.
And, really, there was no need for her to say something about her journey as a singer-songwriter after almost every song. It breaks the rhythm of the show, instead of letting the songs speak for themselves.
The good news is that her powerful pipes generally sounded good as she took on a range of material – songs from her 2010 debut 55:38:7 and covers of songs such as Stefanie Sun’s I’m Not Sad, Tanya Chua’s If You See Him and David Tao’s Airport In 10:30.
Thankfully, she had also ditched the Lolita-esque styling on her CD for a more elegant and sophisticated look in a black strapless dress and high heels.
Backed by five musicians on guitar, bass, cello, keyboard and drums, she belted out ballads such as Knowing, theme song for the MediaCorp drama New Beginnings, the R&B-inflected Voodoo Doll as well as the jaunty Charlie.
The effervescent duet Lala – with Malaysian singer-songwriter Wu Jiahui on the album – worked as a perky solo number, and the track To:, her duet with Hong Kong singer-actor Jaycee Chan, was performed as a mash-up with Chang Yu-sheng’s Miss You Everyday, as Koong played the piano.
She also showcased some new material including the opening ballad Freedom and the English number One Last Try.
While the light touch of whimsy on her record was missing here, one hopes that the new album will have room for that side of Koong.
Towards the end, her performance perked up again, thanks to a few uptempo numbers and a warmed-up Koong cutting loose with some moves.
Perhaps with more experience under her belt, her future gigs will groove along from start to finish.
(ST)
Friday, February 03, 2012
Second Round
Mayday
Mayday fans have doomsday theorists to thank for the band’s eighth album.
Whether you believe or not in the apocalypse said to be upon us this year, because of the end of the ancient Mayan calendar, it has inspired the Taiwanese rockers on their latest release.
Not quite sure what to make of the prediction, the band have released two versions of the album, with different artwork and track sequences.
The Now Here version ends with OAOA (Now Is Forever) – OAOA being a baby’s cry and pointing to a hopeful future. The darker No Where version ends with a warning in the form of the track Some Things If We Don’t Do Now We’ll Never Do.
This mouthful of a track is a definite standout and works as a contemplation on mortality and legacy.
Composed by band leader Monster, with lyrics by lead singer Ashin, the song urges: “Imagine your grandsons, granddaughters, their eyes shining bright/Waiting for you to open your mouth, waiting for you to speak of your most glorious adventure”.
Noah’s Ark is a more direct response to the world ending as Ashin questions: “If you have to say goodbye, if you have to say goodbye to everything/If you could make just one call, who would you call”.
Starry Starry Night, meanwhile, is a classic Mayday-style ballad with poignant lyrics and a soaring chorus: “That year we gazed at the starry night, there were so many glittery dreams/Thought happiness would last forever, like the unchanging starry night accompanying me”.
Be it eternity or finality, Mayday want to be there for you.
Dr. Q
Quack Wu
Then: One Million Star alumnus. Now: Dr. Q.
Taiwan’s Quack Wu, who was on the popular Taiwanese TV singing contest in 2007, ducks the ignoble fate of anonymity with his striking alter-ego.
With his gravity-defying coiffure and cheery get-ups, Dr. Q looks like a human cartoon.
And the song En Ma, an interjection, is on the right track with its playful retro vibe and colourful Minnan colloquialisms.
The other number that clearly belongs here is the light-hearted duet Wishes Convenience Store between Wu and female singer Shorty Yuan.
The rest of the album, alas, is a more conventional mix of ballads and uptempo material that feels out of sorts for Dr. Q.
This might have worked better as a concept EP than a muddled full-fledged album. As it is now, it is neither fish nor fowl.
(ST)
Mayday
Mayday fans have doomsday theorists to thank for the band’s eighth album.
Whether you believe or not in the apocalypse said to be upon us this year, because of the end of the ancient Mayan calendar, it has inspired the Taiwanese rockers on their latest release.
Not quite sure what to make of the prediction, the band have released two versions of the album, with different artwork and track sequences.
The Now Here version ends with OAOA (Now Is Forever) – OAOA being a baby’s cry and pointing to a hopeful future. The darker No Where version ends with a warning in the form of the track Some Things If We Don’t Do Now We’ll Never Do.
This mouthful of a track is a definite standout and works as a contemplation on mortality and legacy.
Composed by band leader Monster, with lyrics by lead singer Ashin, the song urges: “Imagine your grandsons, granddaughters, their eyes shining bright/Waiting for you to open your mouth, waiting for you to speak of your most glorious adventure”.
Noah’s Ark is a more direct response to the world ending as Ashin questions: “If you have to say goodbye, if you have to say goodbye to everything/If you could make just one call, who would you call”.
Starry Starry Night, meanwhile, is a classic Mayday-style ballad with poignant lyrics and a soaring chorus: “That year we gazed at the starry night, there were so many glittery dreams/Thought happiness would last forever, like the unchanging starry night accompanying me”.
Be it eternity or finality, Mayday want to be there for you.
Dr. Q
Quack Wu
Then: One Million Star alumnus. Now: Dr. Q.
Taiwan’s Quack Wu, who was on the popular Taiwanese TV singing contest in 2007, ducks the ignoble fate of anonymity with his striking alter-ego.
With his gravity-defying coiffure and cheery get-ups, Dr. Q looks like a human cartoon.
And the song En Ma, an interjection, is on the right track with its playful retro vibe and colourful Minnan colloquialisms.
The other number that clearly belongs here is the light-hearted duet Wishes Convenience Store between Wu and female singer Shorty Yuan.
The rest of the album, alas, is a more conventional mix of ballads and uptempo material that feels out of sorts for Dr. Q.
This might have worked better as a concept EP than a muddled full-fledged album. As it is now, it is neither fish nor fowl.
(ST)
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2012
in::music – Summer Lei + BIT Sound
Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday
in::music – Waa Wei
Esplanade Recital Studio/Monday
Summer Lei and Waa Wei are singer- songwriters from Taiwan. But that was about the only thing that their two performances seemed to have in common.
While Lei offered a low-key introspective gig in which she happily stayed out of the spotlight at times, Wei put on a charismatic show where she held one’s attention throughout.
Thematically, Lei’s 90-minute concert was tightly linked to the gentle drama about an unusual cafe, Taipei Exchanges (2010). For her work on the soundtrack, she won the Golden Melody Award for Best Instrumental Album Producer as well as the Golden Horse Award for Best Original Song for the title track.
On the record, she worked with a few musicians who later took on the moniker BIT Sound, named for Brick Image Team (BIT), the production company behind the film.
On Sunday, Lei, bespectacled and dressed simply in a grey top over black leggings, performed songs and instrumental tracks from the film, supported by three musicians on keyboard, guitar and double bass. From time to time, she would play the melodica.
To further draw the audience into the movie, she also had members of the sold-out audience say out loud their individual responses to the question “What’s the thing of greatest value in your heart?”. This was right out of a scene in the film in which writer-director Hsiao Ya-chuan asked the same question of ordinary Taiwanese.
Of course, Lei also performed her own solo work, including The Light Of Darkness, new song The Sounds I Don’t Want To Forget and the nostalgic My 80s, which was poignantly accompanied by images of people holding up photographs of themselves in the 1980s.
While her speaking voice is like mellow honey, she tends to sing in a breathy higher register. It is not the most polished vocal performance but there is an honesty in that raw and unvarnished set of pipes that is both brave and moving.
She is the kind of songwriter who wonders about the things that old houses have seen and then writes a song (Shining Houses) to give them a voice.
If Lei is about introspection, then Wei is about emotion.
Dressed all in black, the former lead vocalist of indie band Natural Q performs with fetching drama, a wonderful variety of expressions scrunching her face as she treats her voice like an instrument.
She can go from a babyish coo to a rock-worthy howl, traversing vulnerable tenderness and comic amusement in between. It can sometimes seem a little excessive on record but that sense of playfulness works well live.
Even better, there is an elusive quality to her voice that cannot be pinned down, lending some mystery and excitement.
Fittingly, her material runs the gamut from the tremulous ballad Naked In The Dark to the comic vaudeville piece My Father’s Pen. Above all, it was her rock side the sold-out crowd saw most often on tracks such as Roarrrr and the rousingly raucous Close Friends, complete with accompaniment from the suona, or Chinese trumpet.
Throughout her 90-minute show, she chatted happily about her upcoming solo concert in Taipei, a handwritten card she received from a fan and that she took so long to emerge for the encore because her fake eyelashes had dropped off.
She also shared that every time she sings and writes, the thought crosses her mind that if she can console others with her music, then she in turn can be consoled as well.
Like Lei, she produces music that is a direct distillation of her thoughts and personality, with hardly any regard for what is commercial or popular.
Given that her latest album, No Crying (2011), features Us, which Lei composed and wrote, it was a missed opportunity that they did not share the stage while they were here for the same festival. With their chalk and cheese performing styles, a live collaboration would have been most intriguing.
(ST)
in::music – Summer Lei + BIT Sound
Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday
in::music – Waa Wei
Esplanade Recital Studio/Monday
Summer Lei and Waa Wei are singer- songwriters from Taiwan. But that was about the only thing that their two performances seemed to have in common.
While Lei offered a low-key introspective gig in which she happily stayed out of the spotlight at times, Wei put on a charismatic show where she held one’s attention throughout.
Thematically, Lei’s 90-minute concert was tightly linked to the gentle drama about an unusual cafe, Taipei Exchanges (2010). For her work on the soundtrack, she won the Golden Melody Award for Best Instrumental Album Producer as well as the Golden Horse Award for Best Original Song for the title track.
On the record, she worked with a few musicians who later took on the moniker BIT Sound, named for Brick Image Team (BIT), the production company behind the film.
On Sunday, Lei, bespectacled and dressed simply in a grey top over black leggings, performed songs and instrumental tracks from the film, supported by three musicians on keyboard, guitar and double bass. From time to time, she would play the melodica.
To further draw the audience into the movie, she also had members of the sold-out audience say out loud their individual responses to the question “What’s the thing of greatest value in your heart?”. This was right out of a scene in the film in which writer-director Hsiao Ya-chuan asked the same question of ordinary Taiwanese.
Of course, Lei also performed her own solo work, including The Light Of Darkness, new song The Sounds I Don’t Want To Forget and the nostalgic My 80s, which was poignantly accompanied by images of people holding up photographs of themselves in the 1980s.
While her speaking voice is like mellow honey, she tends to sing in a breathy higher register. It is not the most polished vocal performance but there is an honesty in that raw and unvarnished set of pipes that is both brave and moving.
She is the kind of songwriter who wonders about the things that old houses have seen and then writes a song (Shining Houses) to give them a voice.
If Lei is about introspection, then Wei is about emotion.
Dressed all in black, the former lead vocalist of indie band Natural Q performs with fetching drama, a wonderful variety of expressions scrunching her face as she treats her voice like an instrument.
She can go from a babyish coo to a rock-worthy howl, traversing vulnerable tenderness and comic amusement in between. It can sometimes seem a little excessive on record but that sense of playfulness works well live.
Even better, there is an elusive quality to her voice that cannot be pinned down, lending some mystery and excitement.
Fittingly, her material runs the gamut from the tremulous ballad Naked In The Dark to the comic vaudeville piece My Father’s Pen. Above all, it was her rock side the sold-out crowd saw most often on tracks such as Roarrrr and the rousingly raucous Close Friends, complete with accompaniment from the suona, or Chinese trumpet.
Throughout her 90-minute show, she chatted happily about her upcoming solo concert in Taipei, a handwritten card she received from a fan and that she took so long to emerge for the encore because her fake eyelashes had dropped off.
She also shared that every time she sings and writes, the thought crosses her mind that if she can console others with her music, then she in turn can be consoled as well.
Like Lei, she produces music that is a direct distillation of her thoughts and personality, with hardly any regard for what is commercial or popular.
Given that her latest album, No Crying (2011), features Us, which Lei composed and wrote, it was a missed opportunity that they did not share the stage while they were here for the same festival. With their chalk and cheese performing styles, a live collaboration would have been most intriguing.
(ST)
Underworld: Awakening
Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein
The story: Vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) emerges from a deep-freeze state to discover that 12 years have passed since her capture by humans. She goes in search of her vampire-Lycan hybrid lover and finds instead a young girl, Subject 2 (India Eisley), with whom she has a strong affinity. Hunted by the Lycan werewolves, Selene is helped by the vampire David (Theo James) and detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy).
This is entry No. 4 in the fantasy series about vampires and werewolves, following Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and the prequel Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009).
It means that there is a complicated back story about the enmity between the vampires and werewolves, the role played by Selene as well as her relationship with the unique vampire-Lycan hybrid Michael Corvin. Scott Speedman, from television’s Felicity (1998-2002), took on the role in the first two Underworld films but did not return for Awakening.
And that is before we mention the sorry state of vampires and the shadowy medical corporation holding Selene captive and conducting tests on Subject 2 in this instalment.
But even if you are a newcomer to the franchise, not to worry. The main elements of the film can be crunched down to two things: English actress Kate Beckinsale in a skintight leather body sheath, and her character Selene coolly taking down anyone and anything who gets in her way with an array of firearms.
For those who really need to know what is going on, there is a helpful summary at the beginning of the film to get you up to speed.
The action bits are entertaining enough but the movie sags a little whenever it goes into talky drama mode.
While the sight of Beckinsale in a tight outfit is enough for some fans, others have complained about her one-note performance as the wooden Selene.
There is a response of sorts to the criticism in the film. Eve, or Subject 2, thinks that Selene is cold and unfeeling and Selene responds that she is not cold-hearted, but rather, broken-hearted over the disappearance of her lover. Still, emotions can be hard to make out when everything is delivered in a colourless monotone by Beckinsale.
The film works better when it has some fun with Selene as a bada** mouthing killer lines. When she dangles a baddie from a building, he begs for his life saying that he was the one who had let her go from the medical facility. She drops him and then quips drily: “Now we’re even.”
The colour palette of the film is fairly one-note as well and Awakening is largely cloaked in stylish blacks and greys. What is unintentionally amusing is the make-up for Subject 2 when she transforms into a vampire – India Eisley ends up looking like a possessed child from some exorcism flick.
But like Selene herself who seems impervious to harm, the series itself has continued to survive in the face of criticisms and brickbats.
So will there be another entry in this franchise? Count on it.
(ST)
Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein
The story: Vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) emerges from a deep-freeze state to discover that 12 years have passed since her capture by humans. She goes in search of her vampire-Lycan hybrid lover and finds instead a young girl, Subject 2 (India Eisley), with whom she has a strong affinity. Hunted by the Lycan werewolves, Selene is helped by the vampire David (Theo James) and detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy).
This is entry No. 4 in the fantasy series about vampires and werewolves, following Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and the prequel Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009).
It means that there is a complicated back story about the enmity between the vampires and werewolves, the role played by Selene as well as her relationship with the unique vampire-Lycan hybrid Michael Corvin. Scott Speedman, from television’s Felicity (1998-2002), took on the role in the first two Underworld films but did not return for Awakening.
And that is before we mention the sorry state of vampires and the shadowy medical corporation holding Selene captive and conducting tests on Subject 2 in this instalment.
But even if you are a newcomer to the franchise, not to worry. The main elements of the film can be crunched down to two things: English actress Kate Beckinsale in a skintight leather body sheath, and her character Selene coolly taking down anyone and anything who gets in her way with an array of firearms.
For those who really need to know what is going on, there is a helpful summary at the beginning of the film to get you up to speed.
The action bits are entertaining enough but the movie sags a little whenever it goes into talky drama mode.
While the sight of Beckinsale in a tight outfit is enough for some fans, others have complained about her one-note performance as the wooden Selene.
There is a response of sorts to the criticism in the film. Eve, or Subject 2, thinks that Selene is cold and unfeeling and Selene responds that she is not cold-hearted, but rather, broken-hearted over the disappearance of her lover. Still, emotions can be hard to make out when everything is delivered in a colourless monotone by Beckinsale.
The film works better when it has some fun with Selene as a bada** mouthing killer lines. When she dangles a baddie from a building, he begs for his life saying that he was the one who had let her go from the medical facility. She drops him and then quips drily: “Now we’re even.”
The colour palette of the film is fairly one-note as well and Awakening is largely cloaked in stylish blacks and greys. What is unintentionally amusing is the make-up for Subject 2 when she transforms into a vampire – India Eisley ends up looking like a possessed child from some exorcism flick.
But like Selene herself who seems impervious to harm, the series itself has continued to survive in the face of criticisms and brickbats.
So will there be another entry in this franchise? Count on it.
(ST)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)