Ella To Be Ella Chen As part of Taiwan’s popular girl group S.H.E, Ella Chen (right) has always been cast as the tomboyish one, partly because of her low, alto voice. In her new EP, she ditches that image for edgier looks. In the picture on the cover, she wears a fierce-looking deconstructed leather jacket studded with spikes. But unlike fellow group member Hebe Tien’s To Hebe (2010) and My Love (2011), Chen’s solo sojourn is decidedly less of a revelation music-wise. The material here includes the retro synth-pop of Bad Girl, the theme song for her romantic comedy of the same name, as well as Know Me Then Love Me, a romantic ballad by her and Tank. It is pretty much standard-issue stuff and nothing that would be out of place on a S.H.E record. The stronger ballad here is definitely You Have Been Written Into My Song with sodagreen frontman Wu Ching- feng, though this was already included in that band’s What Is Troubling You (2011) album. More interesting are the jazzy I Am Who I Am and the breezily adorable Thick-skinned. Chen composed the music and wrote the lyrics for both and one can imagine her serenading her husband-to-be, Malaysian marketing executive Alvin Lai, with the latter: “Thick-skinned, you always make me happy, thank you for loving me more than yourself.” The bonus disc comprises three Chen-composed tracks which includes 330, a birthday song for Tien, and Princess Selina, a sweet number written for Selina Jen, the third member of the trio who was hurt in an explosion accident in Oct 2010. They might all be releasing solo material but they all still get along swimmingly, which means that fans of the group need not worry about S.H.E splintering. While this is not an offering that will radically change one’s view of Chen, the EP does provide a promising glimpse of the Ella to be. (ST)

The Raven James McTeigue The story: A serial killer is recreating the gruesome murders from the fevered imagination of 19th-century writer Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack). The stakes are raised even higher when Poe’s beloved Emily (Alice Eve) gets abducted. Racing against time, he works with Detective Fields (Luke Evans) to hunt down the mastermind. The title is a reference to Poe’s narrative poem of the same name in which a man, in despair over the loss of his lover, slowly descends into madness. Actor John Cusack has clearly been watching Sherlock Holmes. Not the BBC’s small-screen adaptation with Benedict Cumberbatch as the arrogant and coolly cerebral detective but the splashier big-screen adaptations from Guy Ritchie in which Robert Downey Jr plays the crime-solver with a kind of manic energy that flirts with parody. So we get Cusack channelling the showier performance when one might expect a more morose and brooding Poe, say, one along the lines of Michael Fassbender’s Edward Fairfax Rochester in Jane Eyre (2011). This is Poe then, as the film imagines, in his last days – out of ideas and numbing himself with drink. And also improbably in love. The bigger problem is that one finds it hard to buy Cusack as someone from the Victorian era the moment he opens his mouth. Cusack as a hitman in the dark comedy Grosse Point Blank (1997)? Sure. Cusack as a lovelorn record store owner in High Fidelity (2000)? Absolutely. There is something so undeniably contemporary about his speech that it would take a great leap of faith to accept him as Poe. In contrast, the square-jawed and muttonchopped Luke Evans (Immortals, 2011) is perfectly at home in the movie’s setting, while the lovely Alice Eve gamely makes the most of her role as the spirited and spunky Emily. Miscasting aside, there is some thrill in following the macabre mystery as it unfolds. It is like a twisted treasure hunt in which one clue leads to the next except that here, the clues are found on the murder victims and point the way to the next body. Frustratingly, the slippery perpetrator is always just one step ahead and manages to elude the grasp of the police each time. The big reveal, like Cusack’s performance, falls a little short. Stretching oneself is all well and good but should the 45-year-old actor attempt another period piece when modernity clings to him with every word he speaks? As Poe himself had written so succinctly: “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’.” (ST)

Skip Beat! Original Soundtrack Various artists The idol drama Skip Beat! stars Taiwan’s Ivy Chen as well as Choi Si Won and Lee Dong Hae from the popular K-pop boyband Super Junior. No surprises then that Super Junior M – the Mandarin-singing offshoot of Super Junior which includes Choi and Lee – contribute to the soundtrack as well. Opening theme S.O.L.O. and ending theme That’s Love are bouncy poppy numbers that are easy on the ears. Just don’t listen too closely – the Mandarin enunciation is rather stilted and awkward at times. For a more impressive show of pipes, head for the ballad Wait by A-lin, rock ballad Hands by Shin and electro-rocker Future by Mify from the girl group Roomie. Flame Of Love Hu Xia The hit Taiwanese film You Are The Apple Of My Eye (2011) not only turned actors Kai Ko and Michelle Chen into stars, but it also launched China singer Hu Xia (below) into the big time. The theme song Those Bygone Years was a poignant ballad about missed opportunities that was perfect for Hu’s pristine and youthful vocals. And it did more for him than any song on his debut album Hu Ai Xia (2010). Tacked on as a bonus track, it is still the most memorable thing here. As with his previous record, there is a preponderance of love ballads and that makes it hard to get through Flame in one sitting. Let Me Love You seems like an attempt to recapture some of that Apple magic, since “Let me continue to love you” was a key piece of dialogue from the film. But Hu might want to think about moving on. Lonely Fairytales starts off promisingly with its unusually structured stanzas. It is too bad, then, that the track lapses into conventional emo ballad territory when it hits the chorus. The good news is that he sounds a little more impassioned than usual on the title track. But it is not quite enough to set my world aflame. (ST)

Gone
Heitor Dhalia
The story: Jill (Amanda Seyfried) has never been the same ever since she escaped from a serial killer who left her at the bottom of a hole in the woods. She now lives with her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) and is slowly trying to put her life together again. When Molly disappears, Jill is convinced that the killer is back. But since the police doubt Jill was ever abducted in the first place, she has to track her sister down before it is too late.
Going, going, gone. Is that the trajectory of Amanda Seyfried’s once-hot now-cooling acting career?
The actress had successfully made the jump from the small screen after notable roles in the young adult sleuthing drama Veronica Mars (2004-2007) and the polygamy drama Big Love (2006-2011).
Her winning turn as the spirited bride-to-be in the hit musical Mamma Mia! (2008) promised to be the start of bigger and better things to come.
But that promise seems to have fizzled out with her recent roles in underwhelming films such as the romance Dear John (2010), the fairy-tale reboot Red Riding Hood (2011) and the science-fiction thriller In Time (2011). At least she cannot be accused of being a slacker.
In Gone, Seyfried’s big eyes are used to good effect to convey fear and frustration. And it is interesting the way Jill just casually cooks up stories whenever she is trying to pump someone for information. Too bad the plot never really goes anywhere.
While the cops think that she is a nutjob, the film does not do enough to make you wonder whether Jill was abducted in the first place.
Instead, the bulk of the film focuses on her improbably smooth trek towards the perpetrator. To ratchet up the tension, the action here is compressed into a day or two. But this means there is precious little time for dead ends or red herrings. A clue will lead her down some path where some other clue will conveniently present itself. This is a most careless killer at work here.
After all that chasing about, the film ends rather abruptly on an anti-climactic note that is not very satisfying at all.
If you are a fan of missing-person genre films, hunt down The Vanishing instead – not the cop-out 1993 American remake but the riveting and chilling 1988 Dutch original.
As for Seyfried, there is still hope for her yet. She plays porn actress Linda Lovelace in the upcoming biopic, Lovelace, and also the role of the tragic Cosette in the musical film Les Miserables. Just for displaying that fearless range, the actress deserves to stick around a little longer.
(ST)

The Cabin In The Woods
Drew Goddard
The story: Five college students (Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams) head to a remote cabin for a getaway. It seems like the cliched set-up for a slasher flick but it becomes apparent that there are lab technicians (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) pulling the strings. Is anyone going to survive and what is the point of the manipulation?

If you have always thought that the deck was stacked against the hapless nubile victims of countless slasher flicks, this movie confirms your suspicions. And then it takes the genre further, much further.
Right off the bat, there is the suggestion that this is not your normal slasher flick.
Two men in lab coats (Jenkins and Whitford) seem like they could be technicians at any run-of-the-mill industry.
They look like jovial geeky types but some of their dialogue does not make sense and one is intrigued as to whom or what they are working for.
The plot thickens when a betting pool is launched in the lab, though again, it is not clear exactly what people are betting on.
Meanwhile, the college students discover a basement in the cabin and eventually head there.
Writer-producer Joss Whedon and writer-director Drew Goddard have previously worked together on the fantasy adventure television Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004) and it is clear that their partnership works.
Fans of their work will relish the snappy dialogue here as well as the appearance of Kranz, from Whedon’s short-lived sci-fi drama series Dollhouse (2009-2010), and Amy Acker, from both Dollhouse and Angel, in a supporting role.
The film is a chance for the writers’ imagination to run wild and, indeed, they do not hold back. They have fun with conventions such as the creepy guy whose words of warning are always ignored as well as ominous Latin incantations.
Word of advice: If a phrase includes the word “animus”, best not to read it aloud.
They even find a way to pay homage to horror tropes of other cultures, most memorably that of Japan’s.
There are shades of The Hunger Games (2012) here in the way that events are being rigged and controlled but the ends are even more sinister.
Crucially, after leading the audience down a certain path, Whedon and Goddard do not cheat with the ending.
The smart, knowing and thoroughly enjoyable Scream (1996) breathed new life into the moribund slasher flick.
Cabin changes the game altogether.
(ST)

m.e.s.s.u.u.p
lgf

Play Pretend
Elyzia

Holding Tightly Onto The Sun
Redpoll

Love Has To Be Timely
ah5ive

Going by these singles from newly set-up local label Live For The Moment, female-fronted bands certainly seem to be having their moment in the sun.
Electro-pop act lgf, rock band Elyzia and folk rock outfit Redpoll all feature women vocalists with alternative popsters ah5ive being the sole male-fronted group.
Of the lot, it is lgf, also known as Little Green Frog, who leave the strongest impression.
The single m.e.s.s.u.u.p has attitude to spare and also boasts the most impressive vocals.
Singer Regine Han is sassy and menacing when she threatens to “mess you up” over a thumping synth line.
Elyzia serve up angsty rock on Poison and Creep. Poison benefits from an unexpected Cantonese rap while Creep (not a Radiohead cover) is a melodious melancholic number that could do with a set of stronger pipes.
Unsatisfactory vocals dog Redpoll as well. A Song That Has Ended Before Even Starting is the more promising of their two tracks with its contrast of a jaunty tune with less sunny lyrics.
As for ah5ive, the phrasing on Love Comes Too Late is a little too in-your- face, preventing one from immersing in the emo ballad.
It is a pity given that some care and thought has gone into the design of the singles and ah5ive’s paper envelope packaging is one of the most striking.
On the whole, the launch of the label excites with its promise to contribute to the local music scene.
(ST)

Perfect Two
Kevin Chu
Watch this film and you will do a double take. Child star Xiao Xiao Bin is the spitting image of his father Xiao Bin Bin when he was young – that is the most interesting thing about this throwaway flick.
Taiwanese pretty boy Vic Chou plays Xiao Xiao Bin’s father Bee. He was once a successful motorcycle racer but has been a deadbeat drunk since his wife left him. While there is some chemistry between Chou and his pint-sized co-star, too much of this Kevin Chu movie feels lazily plotted and incredibly manipulative.
Furthermore, Chou is not an actor who can convincingly tap into darkness. Ella Chen, from popular girl group S.H.E, does not have much to do as a tomboyish cafe owner pining after Bee.
If titles were honest, this film would be called Far From Perfect.
(ST)

Sandy Lam MMXII Concert – Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Friday
It could easily have been a Mandopop greatest hits concert but Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam had something else in mind.
To her Mandarin-speaking fans, she is best known for her effortless balladry. There is light and sweetness in that voice of hers whether she is pining after a wayward lover on Ai Shang Yi Ge Bu Hui Jia De Ren (In Love With Someone Who Doesn’t Come Home) or being unabashedly romantic on Zhi Shao Hai You Ni (At Least There Was You).
But those who grew up with her Cantonese releases would be familiar with the dance diva side of her as well.
It was a sexy Sandy who greeted the sold-out crowd of 7,500 as she returned to her dance roots in an early medley. The 45-year-old sizzled on stage in a short sequined dress and a head of loosely tousled tresses. Digging deep into her repertoire, she belted out early Cantonese hits such as Grey (1987) and Burn, off City Project Part II – Fuir La Cite (1989).
Late in the set, the energetic performer put together yet another dance medley which ended with the awesome Feng Le (Crazy) off Drifting (1991). It was not for nothing that a set musician rapped during the track: “Lady Gaga’s got nada on you.”
It was a treat indeed for her long-time supporters though it probably left the non-Cantonese-speaking fans a little cold.
It was clear from the enthusiastic reaction to the familiar opening strains of ballads such as Ai Shang, from her debut Mandarin album in 1990, the monster hit Shang Hen (Scar) and Dang Ai Yi Cheng Wang Shi (Love Forgone) off the Farewell My Concubine (1993) soundtrack, what many in the audience had come for.
And Lam delivered the goods with a voice that remains in great shape.
She bantered happily in Mandarin, English and Cantonese as she told the crowd that “Singapore is like my second home”.
The seasoned performer also sang a few English covers including All-4-One’s I Swear. She then gamely played the guitar for the first time on stage in Singapore when she crooned The Everly Brothers’ Crying In The Rain, the song that first got her into the business.
For those looking for clues to her upcoming new album – her first since the Mandarin disc Breathe Me (2006) – the concert offered some tantalising hints.
The segue to Shi Zi (Persimmon) was a little jarring with the visuals of cataclysmic destruction but the new Mandarin song was definitely a showcase number. Lam was dressed in a striking red gown while a flight of stairs stretched above her. Her voice swooped and swirled during the Gothic ballad’s chorus, which comprised the word wu ya (raven) repeated and drawn out.
This is as experimental as Lam has ever been.
The slice of moody electronica that was the opening Cantonese number Impermanence also gave off an alt-rock vibe. On the other hand, Liang Xin Hua (Two Heart Flower) from the Hong Kong film Hi, Fidelity (2011), was a gorgeously tender Cantonese ballad that would not be out of place on her previous records.
One can only eagerly await the new album to see where Lam takes us next. Meanwhile, it is time to dig out her old hits and party like it’s 1989.
(ST)

More About Love
Tiger Huang
The Queen of Pub has been enjoying a second wind in her career since making an acclaimed comeback in 2009 with Simple/Not Simple.
On her latest album, Taiwan’s Tiger Huang seems to be a little more upbeat about love, despite having seen the ups and downs of life.
Her husky vocals sound hopeful and poignant as she sings on Expectation For Love: “I still have expectations of love/There’s still an after when a relationship ends”. And the Paul Lee-composed Shatter is a quiet paean to the power of love: “Tenderness shatters obstinacy, trust shatters all fear/From resistance to understanding/Deep feelings, true feelings, let myself be transformed”.
Musically, the disc, like One More Time, One More Chance (2011), offers up a range of genres. She takes on the electronica of Delusion, the retro- rock of Hello Happiness, as well as the gospelflavoured The More You Love, The Wiser You Get.
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright – proof that the longer she sings, the better she gets.

Jay Park Vol. 1 – New Breed
Jay Park
With his tattoos and macabre skull-like make-up for the CD inset pictures, Jay Park (below) makes it clear that he is edgier than your average K-popster.
The Korean-American was actually part of boyband 2PM’s original line-up, but was dropped in 2009 after he was found to have made disparaging comments about Korea on his MySpace account.
He certainly has the swagger on the opening title track: “I’m hip-hop just for the record and I got respect for people that put that real s**t in there music”. There is plenty here, though, that would not be out of place on any self-respecting pop idol’s CD. Park is smooth and slinky on the R&B track Star, and sexy and seductive on Come On Over.
The last four tracks venture back into hip-hop territory and he boasts: “You can’t do what I does, so just clap for me.”
New Breed might have something of an identity problem, but one thing it’s not lacking in is self- confidence.
(ST)

Nightfall
Roy Chow
The story: After serving a 20-year prison sentence, Eugene (Nick Cheung) is released and chances upon Zoe (Janice Man), who looks like the woman he was convicted of raping and murdering. When Zoe’s creep of a father is found murdered, all clues point towards Eugene as the culprit. But police inspector Lam (Simon Yam) discovers that the two crimes are related.

One can hardly believe that the writer-director behind the assured Nightfall, Roy Chow, is the same man responsible for the preposterous Murderer.
That 2009 thriller starring Aaron Kwok was filled with twist after twist, leading up to a jaw-dropping stunner which made you want to laugh and swear at the same time.
In Nightfall, Chow never loses the plot.
It certainly helps that he has the compelling Nick Cheung here, one of the most consistently watchable actors in Hong Kong cinema at the moment.
As the mute Eugene, he keeps you guessing what his true intentions are regarding Zoe. He can only make strangled noises – the result of stabbing his own throat with a pencil in a suicide attempt all those years ago – and everything is communicated through his eyes and body language.
Even a simple scene of him eating an ice cream after his release is shot through with ambiguity and a vague sense of unease.
Is he a psychopathic creep whose brain has been fried after the long years of incarceration? Or is there genuine tenderness in his feelings for her? And why is he drawing attention to himself over the murder of Zoe’s father?
Cheung also demonstrates his commitment to the role by buffing up considerably. The results can be prominently seen on the poster and publicity stills for the film. His breakthrough turn as a desperate kidnapper in Beast Stalker (2008) had won him multiple Best Actor accolades and he could well be in the running again with this role, come awards season.
Meanwhile, Simon Yam is reliably good as the dogged cop with excellent instincts. He carries with him the baggage of a wife who committed suicide and a tenuous relationship with an unhappy daughter.
As Nightfall gets closer to unmasking the truth, Chow doles out details skilfully enough to keep one riveted as flashbacks with a younger and innocent Eugene (Shawn Dou) flesh out the tale.
With its themes of vengeance, justice and familial bonds, one can see shades of Korean auteur Park Chan Wook’s Old Boy (2003) here. Chow, though, takes Nightfall in a less intense direction.
Eventually, you realise that the film is a tragic melodrama in the guise of a murder thriller. The final revelations cast previous scenes in a different light, including the enigmatic portrait of Eugene watching Zoe play the piano.
To Chow’s credit, the thriller is satisfying and the melodrama devastating.
(ST)