Breakthrough
Luantan-Ascent
Stay
James Morris-Cotterill
Raspy-voiced troubadours are having their moment in the sun. Singer-songwriter Luantan-Ascent has a breakthrough with Breakthrough and British-Chinese newcomer James Morris-Cotterill wants you to Stay.
With his long locks, moustache and brooding mien, Taiwan’s Luantan-Ascent looks like a collection of rocker cliches. His music is anything but.
Two years ago, he won Best Male Vocalist at the prestigious Golden Melody Award for Let You Replace Me (2012), a collection of songs and instrumental pieces he wrote for movies and TV over 10 years. Breakthrough is a more than worthy follow-up.
Inspired by the natural world, the record dives into the sea, emerges on land and takes flight on songs such as Out From Water, Streams In The Desert and Iceberg.
He ponders the relationship among them on Out From Water: “The sky is blue, the sea is bluer/The sea is broad, the land is broader/The land is wide, the sky is boundless”.
At other times, he takes on animal forms. He sings on the dance-rock of Lightning Jellyfish: “I live in the depths of the sea where there is no light/ Swimming pretty freely/Can’t tell whether to love or not”.
The final track here is The Pure World. After traversing the breadth and depth of nature, the album ends on a note of tentative hopefulness: “Am I really existing?/ Or just living along with others/Enough of that”. This is revelatory rock, propelled by everything from buzzing guitars to his magnetic voice.
Also in possession of a compelling set of pipes is James Morris-Cotterill. He opts for a more conventional approach on Stay, which offers a mix of covers and two original English numbers written by him.
He broke out on the TV reality show Chinese Idol last year, when he made it to the top six. Some of the songs he sang in the competition are found here, including Faye Wong’s I’m Willing and Eason Chan’s Long Time No See. And the title track is none other than Rihanna’s Stay.
Impressively, he does not just cover the songs, he manages to put his own spin on them. His own compositions, The Poison and Clarity, suggest an indie folk sensibility reminiscent of Damien Rice.
I would certainly stay around for his album of original material.
(ST)
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Brick Mansions
Camille Delamarre
The story: In 2018, a lawless enclave in Detroit, Brick Mansions, is ruled by the likes of drug kingpin Tremaine (RZA). When a powerful bomb is stolen by his gang, undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) has to infiltrate the area placed under martial law. To find the weapon and disarm it, he has to rely on Brick Mansions denizen and ex-convict Lino (David Belle) for help. As the timer on the bomb counts down to zero, Damien begins to question everything he thought he knew. A remake of the French film District 13 (2004).
There is a whiff of the familiar about Brick Mansions, and not just because it is a remake of District 13.
The late Paul Walker plays an undercover cop who has to work with criminal elements to battle a ruthless villain. It could well describe his work at one point or another on the popular The Fast And The Furious movie franchise.
Like his character, the movie too feels rather generic with its mix of swaggering villains, corrupt cops and earnest heroes with mad skills and a curious ability to dodge bullets. There is also not much chemistry in the odd couple pairing of cop and ex-convict.
The most fun parts in the movie are the parkour sequences.
Belle, who had also starred in District 13, is one of the founders of the urban sport.
And it is a joy to watch him jump over obstacles, scale walls and leap across buildings with such confident fluidity. It is as though he were a cat certain of his many lives.
There is less for Walker to do here; he was stretched more acting-wise in Hours (2014), in which he played a father trying to keep his newborn daughter alive in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He showed in that high-concept film that there was more to him than being easy on the eyes as he channelled charm, grief, anger and desperation.
What Brick Mansions does offer are several chase scenes.
And knowing that Walker died in a high-speed crash makes them a tad uncomfortable to watch. At least director Camille Delamarre is not guilty of poor judgment in post-production – the action sequences do not end in fiery blasts.
One wonders if Fast & Furious 7, which is slated for release next year and Walker’s final film, will exercise similar restraint.
(ST)
Camille Delamarre
The story: In 2018, a lawless enclave in Detroit, Brick Mansions, is ruled by the likes of drug kingpin Tremaine (RZA). When a powerful bomb is stolen by his gang, undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) has to infiltrate the area placed under martial law. To find the weapon and disarm it, he has to rely on Brick Mansions denizen and ex-convict Lino (David Belle) for help. As the timer on the bomb counts down to zero, Damien begins to question everything he thought he knew. A remake of the French film District 13 (2004).
There is a whiff of the familiar about Brick Mansions, and not just because it is a remake of District 13.
The late Paul Walker plays an undercover cop who has to work with criminal elements to battle a ruthless villain. It could well describe his work at one point or another on the popular The Fast And The Furious movie franchise.
Like his character, the movie too feels rather generic with its mix of swaggering villains, corrupt cops and earnest heroes with mad skills and a curious ability to dodge bullets. There is also not much chemistry in the odd couple pairing of cop and ex-convict.
The most fun parts in the movie are the parkour sequences.
Belle, who had also starred in District 13, is one of the founders of the urban sport.
And it is a joy to watch him jump over obstacles, scale walls and leap across buildings with such confident fluidity. It is as though he were a cat certain of his many lives.
There is less for Walker to do here; he was stretched more acting-wise in Hours (2014), in which he played a father trying to keep his newborn daughter alive in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He showed in that high-concept film that there was more to him than being easy on the eyes as he channelled charm, grief, anger and desperation.
What Brick Mansions does offer are several chase scenes.
And knowing that Walker died in a high-speed crash makes them a tad uncomfortable to watch. At least director Camille Delamarre is not guilty of poor judgment in post-production – the action sequences do not end in fiery blasts.
One wonders if Fast & Furious 7, which is slated for release next year and Walker’s final film, will exercise similar restraint.
(ST)
Oculus
Mike Flanagan
The story: Eleven years ago, siblings Tim, 10, and Kaylie, 13, were traumatised by the horrific deaths of their parents in a new house. Now, released from a psychiatric hospital, Tim (Brenton Thwaites) wants to move on, but Kaylie (Karen Gillan) is convinced that an antique mirror housing a demonic presence is responsible for what happened. With her brother’s help, she plans to outwit the spirit and destroy the mirror.
Made on a paltry budget, a horror flick goes on to scare up healthy takings at the American box office.
It is a formula that Blumhouse Productions has honed to perfection with the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister franchises.
Its hot streak continues with Oculus, which it made with Intrepid Pictures and WWE Studios. The movie had a budget of US$5 million (S$6.3 million) and has earned more than US$21 million at the American box office after two weekends.
As opposed to more generic fare, there is an attempt to give the audience characters to root for and a little more complexity to the storytelling.
Director and co-writer Mike Flanagan splits the action between the two periods. Sometimes, it is clear which period it is in and, at other times, it seems to be the older characters regressing to their helpless and frightened younger selves in the present – under the influence of a mirror.
Or is it just Kaylie’s overactive imagination? She goes to great lengths in her preparations to take down the mirror, from setting alarms to go off every hour to remind them to eat, to having surveillance cameras record every moment and having her fiance call to check in regularly.
There is some early tension between her and Tim as he resorts to more plausible and rational arguments to counter her unshakeable belief, backed by research, that the mirror is responsible for deaths.
Did either of them have false memories? Is Kaylie just paranoid? Is Tim fully recovered or is denial his coping mechanism?
And why can’t somebody just smash the mirror already?
At least Oculus, which means eye, provides an answer to that basic loophole.
Eventually, things start to get spooky with lights going out, perceptions of reality getting warped and some icky scenes of characters causing bodily harm to themselves. At least they were not scored to an intrusive and overbearing music track.
While intercutting between past and present was a nice touch, the film drags on for too long before ending almost abruptly on a shocking note.
Crucially, the ending does not cheat and the integrity of the film is not shattered with a cop-out answer.
(ST)
Mike Flanagan
The story: Eleven years ago, siblings Tim, 10, and Kaylie, 13, were traumatised by the horrific deaths of their parents in a new house. Now, released from a psychiatric hospital, Tim (Brenton Thwaites) wants to move on, but Kaylie (Karen Gillan) is convinced that an antique mirror housing a demonic presence is responsible for what happened. With her brother’s help, she plans to outwit the spirit and destroy the mirror.
Made on a paltry budget, a horror flick goes on to scare up healthy takings at the American box office.
It is a formula that Blumhouse Productions has honed to perfection with the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister franchises.
Its hot streak continues with Oculus, which it made with Intrepid Pictures and WWE Studios. The movie had a budget of US$5 million (S$6.3 million) and has earned more than US$21 million at the American box office after two weekends.
As opposed to more generic fare, there is an attempt to give the audience characters to root for and a little more complexity to the storytelling.
Director and co-writer Mike Flanagan splits the action between the two periods. Sometimes, it is clear which period it is in and, at other times, it seems to be the older characters regressing to their helpless and frightened younger selves in the present – under the influence of a mirror.
Or is it just Kaylie’s overactive imagination? She goes to great lengths in her preparations to take down the mirror, from setting alarms to go off every hour to remind them to eat, to having surveillance cameras record every moment and having her fiance call to check in regularly.
There is some early tension between her and Tim as he resorts to more plausible and rational arguments to counter her unshakeable belief, backed by research, that the mirror is responsible for deaths.
Did either of them have false memories? Is Kaylie just paranoid? Is Tim fully recovered or is denial his coping mechanism?
And why can’t somebody just smash the mirror already?
At least Oculus, which means eye, provides an answer to that basic loophole.
Eventually, things start to get spooky with lights going out, perceptions of reality getting warped and some icky scenes of characters causing bodily harm to themselves. At least they were not scored to an intrusive and overbearing music track.
While intercutting between past and present was a nice touch, the film drags on for too long before ending almost abruptly on a shocking note.
Crucially, the ending does not cheat and the integrity of the film is not shattered with a cop-out answer.
(ST)
Disney's Muppets: Most Wanted
James Bobin
The story: Picking right up from the happy ending of The Muppets (2011), the gang have to figure out what to do next now that they are reunited. Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on tour with him as their manager. His nefarious reason for doing so is soon revealed – criminal mastermind Constantine escapes from a gulag and switches place with his lookalike, Kermit the Frog. Dominic and Constantine have their eyes on the British crown jewels, as Interpol’s Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) and CIA agent Sam Eagle get on the case. Meanwhile, Kermit finds himself stuck in Siberian prison with a zealous guard Nadya (Tina Fey).
Exotic locales, more stars and a (slightly) bigger budget – it looks at first as though this flick, a crime caper which ricochets from Berlin to Madrid to London to Siberia, has been saddled with the ills of sequelitis.
Instead of Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper, comedians Gervais (from television’s The Office), Fey (of 30 Rock fame) and Burrell (the lovable goofball patriarch from Modern Family) are the key non-Muppet actors. They are joined by the likes of Lady Gaga and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) making cameos.
But the entertaining mix of anarchic energy and endearing good-heartedness remains from the previous film.
There is humour here but generally not of the ironic, too-cool-for-school variety – well, except for a pointed reference in the opening musical number to the fact that sequels are never as good as the films that come before them.
Otherwise, it is old-school humour that makes you moan or smile, sometimes both.
Exhibit one: The villain here is named Badguy. Exhibit two: Burrell’s moustachioed French inspector lives up to every cliche about laidback Europeans and their penchant for long lunches and holidays.
There are also the quick throwaway jokes squeezed into the frame. Slow news week: “Muppets dominate headlines” is a blink-and- you-will-miss-it faux newspaper headline.
What drives the story forward are tried-and- true devices such as mistaken identity and themes every true-blue Muppet fan knows about – such as the combustible love-hate relationship between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.
There are also the pleasures of watching Fey go gaga over Kermit and putting on an Eastern European accent, and the prison inmates delivering an enthusiastic version of the musical A Chorus Line’s opening number.
Now, that is a production with touring potential.
(ST)
James Bobin
The story: Picking right up from the happy ending of The Muppets (2011), the gang have to figure out what to do next now that they are reunited. Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on tour with him as their manager. His nefarious reason for doing so is soon revealed – criminal mastermind Constantine escapes from a gulag and switches place with his lookalike, Kermit the Frog. Dominic and Constantine have their eyes on the British crown jewels, as Interpol’s Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) and CIA agent Sam Eagle get on the case. Meanwhile, Kermit finds himself stuck in Siberian prison with a zealous guard Nadya (Tina Fey).
Exotic locales, more stars and a (slightly) bigger budget – it looks at first as though this flick, a crime caper which ricochets from Berlin to Madrid to London to Siberia, has been saddled with the ills of sequelitis.
Instead of Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper, comedians Gervais (from television’s The Office), Fey (of 30 Rock fame) and Burrell (the lovable goofball patriarch from Modern Family) are the key non-Muppet actors. They are joined by the likes of Lady Gaga and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) making cameos.
But the entertaining mix of anarchic energy and endearing good-heartedness remains from the previous film.
There is humour here but generally not of the ironic, too-cool-for-school variety – well, except for a pointed reference in the opening musical number to the fact that sequels are never as good as the films that come before them.
Otherwise, it is old-school humour that makes you moan or smile, sometimes both.
Exhibit one: The villain here is named Badguy. Exhibit two: Burrell’s moustachioed French inspector lives up to every cliche about laidback Europeans and their penchant for long lunches and holidays.
There are also the quick throwaway jokes squeezed into the frame. Slow news week: “Muppets dominate headlines” is a blink-and- you-will-miss-it faux newspaper headline.
What drives the story forward are tried-and- true devices such as mistaken identity and themes every true-blue Muppet fan knows about – such as the combustible love-hate relationship between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.
There are also the pleasures of watching Fey go gaga over Kermit and putting on an Eastern European accent, and the prison inmates delivering an enthusiastic version of the musical A Chorus Line’s opening number.
Now, that is a production with touring potential.
(ST)
Monday, April 21, 2014
Ah Boys To Men: The Musical
Resorts World Theatre
Last Saturday
With more than $14 million in total box-office takings, Jack Neo’s two- parter Ah Boys To Men was a runaway movie hit that made stars of its fresh-faced ensemble cast.
Wanting to leverage on its success was a no-brainer. The big question was how.
For those who cannot wait until Ah Boys To Frogmen comes along, this musical adaptation should be able to tide you over. But if you are not already a fan, this is unlikely to sway you.
This stage production takes the key plotlines of the national service-themed movies with a script by Goh Boon Teck and adds music numbers by producer- songwriter Don Richmond.
The Ah Boys and Men have largely returned. There is Tosh Zhang as the intimidating but good-hearted Sergeant Ong, Wang Weiliang as the street-smart Hokkien soldier Lobang, Maxi Lim as the eager beaver Aloysius Jin and Noah Yap as the lovelorn IP Man.
Taking over from Joshua Tan in the key role of spoilt brat Ken Chow is actor- singer Benjamin Kheng.
And once again, the recruits will learn to be men as they undergo basic military training.
One major advantage the musical has over the movies is its relative brevity. At 21/2 hours long, it moves at a brisker pace compared with the overlong flicks.
But since it is adapted from the films, some of the problems inherent in the movies remain.
Chow is still an unlikable character who is hard to get behind and his turnabout again hinges on a melodramatic accident. His section-mates are still painted in simplistic strokes and are mostly just cardboard characters. And IP Man’s revenge attack on a straying girlfriend (Patricia Mok trying to act cute) still feels like an overstretch.
This is where the casting is crucial. While Chow’s girlfriend crisis barely registers, Kheng at least casts him in a more sympathetic light whenever he sings with his raspy and resonant voice.
And Wang, who was a breakout star in the movies, proves that his charisma translates from the big screen to the stage. Then again, this should not be surprising given his getai background.
Happily, he gets to do a solo number, Brothers Forever, and his slightly raw rendition of the English and Mandarin number strikes just the right note.
Where the musical deviates most is probably in the inclusion of Filipino maid Leticia – but played by Chua Enlai instead of Michelle Chong, who plays a similar character on the television sketch show The Noose.
Dressed in what looks like an incongruous cosplay waitress costume, Chua milks some laughs with a Filipino accent and some funny lines. This is in keeping with director Beatrice Chia-Richmond’s broad and sometimes exaggerated tone.
As for the songs themselves, Cheong Or Geng was the best of the lot. It manages to incorporate army lingo in a natural way and gives voice to two opposing philosophies: “cheong”, which means to go all out, and “geng”, which means faking it to escape tough activities.
Also hitting the spot was the SOC (Standard Obstacle Course) rap as well as the catchy Recruits’ Anthem, the theme song of the first movie written by Zhang.
The hardest song to sit through was probably the English-and-Mandarin duet Father And Son by Richard Low and Kheng. It is meant to evoke the wide gulf between them but it just comes across as jarring because Low is simply not a natural singer.
As far as military-themed musicals go, the most entertaining is still playwright- songwriter Julian Wong’s Botak Boys. Maybe someone should bring that back for another tour of duty.
(ST)
Resorts World Theatre
Last Saturday
With more than $14 million in total box-office takings, Jack Neo’s two- parter Ah Boys To Men was a runaway movie hit that made stars of its fresh-faced ensemble cast.
Wanting to leverage on its success was a no-brainer. The big question was how.
For those who cannot wait until Ah Boys To Frogmen comes along, this musical adaptation should be able to tide you over. But if you are not already a fan, this is unlikely to sway you.
This stage production takes the key plotlines of the national service-themed movies with a script by Goh Boon Teck and adds music numbers by producer- songwriter Don Richmond.
The Ah Boys and Men have largely returned. There is Tosh Zhang as the intimidating but good-hearted Sergeant Ong, Wang Weiliang as the street-smart Hokkien soldier Lobang, Maxi Lim as the eager beaver Aloysius Jin and Noah Yap as the lovelorn IP Man.
Taking over from Joshua Tan in the key role of spoilt brat Ken Chow is actor- singer Benjamin Kheng.
And once again, the recruits will learn to be men as they undergo basic military training.
One major advantage the musical has over the movies is its relative brevity. At 21/2 hours long, it moves at a brisker pace compared with the overlong flicks.
But since it is adapted from the films, some of the problems inherent in the movies remain.
Chow is still an unlikable character who is hard to get behind and his turnabout again hinges on a melodramatic accident. His section-mates are still painted in simplistic strokes and are mostly just cardboard characters. And IP Man’s revenge attack on a straying girlfriend (Patricia Mok trying to act cute) still feels like an overstretch.
This is where the casting is crucial. While Chow’s girlfriend crisis barely registers, Kheng at least casts him in a more sympathetic light whenever he sings with his raspy and resonant voice.
And Wang, who was a breakout star in the movies, proves that his charisma translates from the big screen to the stage. Then again, this should not be surprising given his getai background.
Happily, he gets to do a solo number, Brothers Forever, and his slightly raw rendition of the English and Mandarin number strikes just the right note.
Where the musical deviates most is probably in the inclusion of Filipino maid Leticia – but played by Chua Enlai instead of Michelle Chong, who plays a similar character on the television sketch show The Noose.
Dressed in what looks like an incongruous cosplay waitress costume, Chua milks some laughs with a Filipino accent and some funny lines. This is in keeping with director Beatrice Chia-Richmond’s broad and sometimes exaggerated tone.
As for the songs themselves, Cheong Or Geng was the best of the lot. It manages to incorporate army lingo in a natural way and gives voice to two opposing philosophies: “cheong”, which means to go all out, and “geng”, which means faking it to escape tough activities.
Also hitting the spot was the SOC (Standard Obstacle Course) rap as well as the catchy Recruits’ Anthem, the theme song of the first movie written by Zhang.
The hardest song to sit through was probably the English-and-Mandarin duet Father And Son by Richard Low and Kheng. It is meant to evoke the wide gulf between them but it just comes across as jarring because Low is simply not a natural singer.
As far as military-themed musicals go, the most entertaining is still playwright- songwriter Julian Wong’s Botak Boys. Maybe someone should bring that back for another tour of duty.
(ST)
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Kimbonomics
Kimberley Chen
Just shy of turning 20, Taiwan-based Kimberley Chen has released the follow-up to her effervescent 2012 debut.
Then, she had managed to pull off the feat of being cute without being cutesy. She sounds more grown-up here but, thankfully, not too much.
After all, she is still a teenager and there is youthful vibrancy on the energetic Good Girl Hurry Up And Love and an endearing sweetness on Over The Moon: “Want to turn into a cat/Follow all your secrets/Hide in your embrace/Not go anywhere.”
Ballads such as Saying I Love You When We Break Up and Loneliness Howls take her in a more mainstream direction but the move never feels false – she still sounds distinctively like herself on them.
And that ability to leave her stamp on whatever she sings bodes well as she steps into her 20s – and on to the next stage of her music journey.
(ST)
Kimberley Chen
Just shy of turning 20, Taiwan-based Kimberley Chen has released the follow-up to her effervescent 2012 debut.
Then, she had managed to pull off the feat of being cute without being cutesy. She sounds more grown-up here but, thankfully, not too much.
After all, she is still a teenager and there is youthful vibrancy on the energetic Good Girl Hurry Up And Love and an endearing sweetness on Over The Moon: “Want to turn into a cat/Follow all your secrets/Hide in your embrace/Not go anywhere.”
Ballads such as Saying I Love You When We Break Up and Loneliness Howls take her in a more mainstream direction but the move never feels false – she still sounds distinctively like herself on them.
And that ability to leave her stamp on whatever she sings bodes well as she steps into her 20s – and on to the next stage of her music journey.
(ST)
Who is the true king or queen of Mandopop? Which are the songs that remain in the minds of fans years after they have been released?
For a radio station’s listeners, Jacky Cheung edges out Jay Chou, A-mei’s power pipes trump Faye Wong’s delicate croon, Stefanie Sun shines among local artists and the smoky vocals of Tiger Huang reign supreme.
An awards show might crown whoever is topping the charts, but it takes a massive exercise like radio station UFM100.3’s U1000 campaign to find the top 1,000 songs to paint a bigger picture.
Starting in February, the station’s listeners, aged 35 to 49, were asked to nominate their top songs in the past 30 years. More than 3,000 songs were suggested and this was winnowed to a final 1,500 based on factors such as chart performances and voting by the station’s DJs.
The public could vote only online for any number of songs and only one vote a song. From March 31 to April 14, the top 1,000 songs they voted were played on the airwaves.
Taiwanese singer Huang’s Not So Simple topped the list of Mandopop songs. This was the title track of her 2009 album, marking a triumphant comeback for the 50-year-old Pub Queen.
Composed by blind singer-songwriter Ricky Hsiao and with lyrics by Daryl Yao, the ballad managed to get under the skin of women of a certain age.
There is a certain weariness to it but Huang remains unbowed in the face of life’s vicissitudes. She comes to terms with who she is as she sings in her weathered, husky voice: “Past the age for dreaming, I would rather have peace and quiet than blazing glory.”
For a song that might have greater appeal for an older crowd, it seems to have tapped into a more universal vein of yearning and learning to let go.
Still, it was something of a surprise to see it top the charts. It is the newest song in the top 10, given that the other tracks are from the mid-noughties and earlier and its pole position cements it as an instant classic.
Facebook user Lynn Teo posted on the radio station’s page: “Thoroughly satisfying. It’s really Not So Simple to guess who would be No. 1. Quite like this song.”
Last year, UFM100.3 held a similar poll for the first time, but limited it to 500 tracks. Not So Simple was No. 41 then, while Faye Wong’s achingly tender Red Bean (1998) emerged tops.
Programme director of UFM100.3 Carine Ang says the station held the poll to find out which songs their listeners really liked and that they think are representative of the music scene. They decided to expand the poll this year after getting feedback that there were too few songs to choose from previously.
And what do the U1000 poll results show?
Chou might be the reigning king but Hong Kong’s Jacky Cheung is known as God of songs not for nothing. Cheung has the most number of songs in U1000 with 27, beating Chou’s count of 26.
More tellingly, Chou has just one song in the top 50 with Blue And White Porcelain (2007) coming in at No. 42. In contrast, Cheung has seven. His highest charting number is the mega-hit Farewell Kiss (1993) in runner-up position.
And Cheung’s successor as God of songs, Eason Chan, managed to chalk up 18 entries.
It really seems that the oldies are goldies based on the poll. Before jumping to the easy lament that the golden age of songs and songwriting is over, the results could have skewed this way for various reasons. The earlier artists emerged at a time with fewer entertainment options and distractions and there was time and space for songs to firmly take root.
The Internet has increased the reach of artists, but it has also fragmented the music market, with every niche taste and genre being catered to.
It could also be the nostalgia factor playing a part – nostalgia not just for the songs themselves, but for the various personal histories they evoke.
Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings no longer have a stranglehold on the entertainment scene but their far- reaching influence remains. Andy Lau charted 18 times, Aaron Kwok seven and Leon Lai had four entries, including Will You Come Tonight (1991) at No. 10.
Among the female singers, Taiwanese diva A-mei powered her way to the top with 26 songs, with No. 8’s Listen To The Sea (1997) being her best performer. She eclipses Faye Wong, Fish Leong and Stefanie Sun, who all have 21 entries each (including duets). And rockers Mayday were the top band with 15 songs.
Younger upstarts were left far behind, including Taiwan’s Yoga Lin, who had just three tracks on the list.
The comparison is not completely fair, given how many more albums the veterans have released. But it suggests that winning a high-profile singing contest and putting out raved-about albums are different things from singing songs that people want to return to over time.
Of course, even a massive exercise such as this cannot be completely representative. The results will vary if it is held over a different period of time with a different survey pool and different voting methods. But even an imperfect poll can yield interesting results.
Local singers had a good showing.
Sun had 21 entries, Kit Chan and JJ Lin had 12 and Tanya Chua had eight. Mavis Hee had six entries, including the highest-charting local song with her hit Moonlight In The City (1996) at No. 4.
In part buoyed by the currently running xinyao musical If There’re Seasons, the Singapore folk movement also made quite an impact on the chart. The title track (from 2002) by Kit Chan was No. 12 while xinyao stalwart Liang Wern Fook’s Friendship Forever (1987) was No. 16. He had a total of six tracks on the poll, including The Sparrow With A Bamboo Twig (1990), previously banned from the airwaves for its dialect content, at No. 253.
And even though the initial call was for songs from the last 30 years, the late songbird Teresa Teng trilled her way to five spots, including The Moon Represents My Heart from the early 1970s at No. 56.
Going by this poll, there is no simple formula to determine what goes into an enduring song. Love ballads dominate, but that is not surprising given that they are the mainstay of mainstream Mandopop. Exactly what kind of love ballad would resonate though is the question that composers, lyricists and singers are all chasing after.
What the poll does show though is that you cannot put a good song down.
The top 20 tracks
1 Not So Simple: Tiger Huang
2 Farewell Kiss: Jacky Cheung
3 Love Tidal Wave: Jeff Chang
4 Moonlight In The City: Mavis Hee
5 Fairytale: Michael Wong
6 Red Bean: Faye Wong
7 Ten Years: Eason Chan
8 Listen To The Sea: A-mei
9 A Game, A Dream: Dave Wang
10 Will You Come Tonight: Leon Lai
11 How Can You Bear To Make Me Sad: Huang Pin-yuan
12 If There’re Seasons: Kit Chan (right)
13 Conquer: Na Ying
14 Dream To Awakening: Sarah Chen
15 Can’t Help Falling In Love With You: Harlem Yu
16 Friendship Forever: Liang Wern Fook
17 Love Letter: Jacky Cheung
18 Little Love Song: sodagreen
19 Home: Kit Chan
20 At Least There Is You: Sandy Lam
The full results are available at www.ufm1003.sg
(ST)
For a radio station’s listeners, Jacky Cheung edges out Jay Chou, A-mei’s power pipes trump Faye Wong’s delicate croon, Stefanie Sun shines among local artists and the smoky vocals of Tiger Huang reign supreme.
An awards show might crown whoever is topping the charts, but it takes a massive exercise like radio station UFM100.3’s U1000 campaign to find the top 1,000 songs to paint a bigger picture.
Starting in February, the station’s listeners, aged 35 to 49, were asked to nominate their top songs in the past 30 years. More than 3,000 songs were suggested and this was winnowed to a final 1,500 based on factors such as chart performances and voting by the station’s DJs.
The public could vote only online for any number of songs and only one vote a song. From March 31 to April 14, the top 1,000 songs they voted were played on the airwaves.
Taiwanese singer Huang’s Not So Simple topped the list of Mandopop songs. This was the title track of her 2009 album, marking a triumphant comeback for the 50-year-old Pub Queen.
Composed by blind singer-songwriter Ricky Hsiao and with lyrics by Daryl Yao, the ballad managed to get under the skin of women of a certain age.
There is a certain weariness to it but Huang remains unbowed in the face of life’s vicissitudes. She comes to terms with who she is as she sings in her weathered, husky voice: “Past the age for dreaming, I would rather have peace and quiet than blazing glory.”
For a song that might have greater appeal for an older crowd, it seems to have tapped into a more universal vein of yearning and learning to let go.
Still, it was something of a surprise to see it top the charts. It is the newest song in the top 10, given that the other tracks are from the mid-noughties and earlier and its pole position cements it as an instant classic.
Facebook user Lynn Teo posted on the radio station’s page: “Thoroughly satisfying. It’s really Not So Simple to guess who would be No. 1. Quite like this song.”
Last year, UFM100.3 held a similar poll for the first time, but limited it to 500 tracks. Not So Simple was No. 41 then, while Faye Wong’s achingly tender Red Bean (1998) emerged tops.
Programme director of UFM100.3 Carine Ang says the station held the poll to find out which songs their listeners really liked and that they think are representative of the music scene. They decided to expand the poll this year after getting feedback that there were too few songs to choose from previously.
And what do the U1000 poll results show?
Chou might be the reigning king but Hong Kong’s Jacky Cheung is known as God of songs not for nothing. Cheung has the most number of songs in U1000 with 27, beating Chou’s count of 26.
More tellingly, Chou has just one song in the top 50 with Blue And White Porcelain (2007) coming in at No. 42. In contrast, Cheung has seven. His highest charting number is the mega-hit Farewell Kiss (1993) in runner-up position.
And Cheung’s successor as God of songs, Eason Chan, managed to chalk up 18 entries.
It really seems that the oldies are goldies based on the poll. Before jumping to the easy lament that the golden age of songs and songwriting is over, the results could have skewed this way for various reasons. The earlier artists emerged at a time with fewer entertainment options and distractions and there was time and space for songs to firmly take root.
The Internet has increased the reach of artists, but it has also fragmented the music market, with every niche taste and genre being catered to.
It could also be the nostalgia factor playing a part – nostalgia not just for the songs themselves, but for the various personal histories they evoke.
Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings no longer have a stranglehold on the entertainment scene but their far- reaching influence remains. Andy Lau charted 18 times, Aaron Kwok seven and Leon Lai had four entries, including Will You Come Tonight (1991) at No. 10.
Among the female singers, Taiwanese diva A-mei powered her way to the top with 26 songs, with No. 8’s Listen To The Sea (1997) being her best performer. She eclipses Faye Wong, Fish Leong and Stefanie Sun, who all have 21 entries each (including duets). And rockers Mayday were the top band with 15 songs.
Younger upstarts were left far behind, including Taiwan’s Yoga Lin, who had just three tracks on the list.
The comparison is not completely fair, given how many more albums the veterans have released. But it suggests that winning a high-profile singing contest and putting out raved-about albums are different things from singing songs that people want to return to over time.
Of course, even a massive exercise such as this cannot be completely representative. The results will vary if it is held over a different period of time with a different survey pool and different voting methods. But even an imperfect poll can yield interesting results.
Local singers had a good showing.
Sun had 21 entries, Kit Chan and JJ Lin had 12 and Tanya Chua had eight. Mavis Hee had six entries, including the highest-charting local song with her hit Moonlight In The City (1996) at No. 4.
In part buoyed by the currently running xinyao musical If There’re Seasons, the Singapore folk movement also made quite an impact on the chart. The title track (from 2002) by Kit Chan was No. 12 while xinyao stalwart Liang Wern Fook’s Friendship Forever (1987) was No. 16. He had a total of six tracks on the poll, including The Sparrow With A Bamboo Twig (1990), previously banned from the airwaves for its dialect content, at No. 253.
And even though the initial call was for songs from the last 30 years, the late songbird Teresa Teng trilled her way to five spots, including The Moon Represents My Heart from the early 1970s at No. 56.
Going by this poll, there is no simple formula to determine what goes into an enduring song. Love ballads dominate, but that is not surprising given that they are the mainstay of mainstream Mandopop. Exactly what kind of love ballad would resonate though is the question that composers, lyricists and singers are all chasing after.
What the poll does show though is that you cannot put a good song down.
The top 20 tracks
1 Not So Simple: Tiger Huang
2 Farewell Kiss: Jacky Cheung
3 Love Tidal Wave: Jeff Chang
4 Moonlight In The City: Mavis Hee
5 Fairytale: Michael Wong
6 Red Bean: Faye Wong
7 Ten Years: Eason Chan
8 Listen To The Sea: A-mei
9 A Game, A Dream: Dave Wang
10 Will You Come Tonight: Leon Lai
11 How Can You Bear To Make Me Sad: Huang Pin-yuan
12 If There’re Seasons: Kit Chan (right)
13 Conquer: Na Ying
14 Dream To Awakening: Sarah Chen
15 Can’t Help Falling In Love With You: Harlem Yu
16 Friendship Forever: Liang Wern Fook
17 Love Letter: Jacky Cheung
18 Little Love Song: sodagreen
19 Home: Kit Chan
20 At Least There Is You: Sandy Lam
The full results are available at www.ufm1003.sg
(ST)
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
That Demon Within
Dante Lam
The story: Hon Kong (Nick Cheung) is a ruthless criminal who dons a demon king mask when committing audacious heists with his gang. Hunted down by the police, he ends up wounded in a hospital, where cop Dave Wong (Daniel Wu) unwittingly saves him. There appears to be a deeper connection between the two men though and the encounter shakes loose Dave’s already tenuous grip on reality.
Hong Kong’s Dante Lam and Nick Cheung have been a winning combination in their past collaborations.
Cheung won Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for action thriller Beast Stalker (2008) and just recently for the mixed martial-arts flick Unbeatable (2013), which was also nominated for Best Film and Best Director.
They are not an infallible duo though, and That Demon Within is a murky thriller that is clumsy in execution.
Partly it is because the reliable Cheung takes a backseat to the less compelling Daniel Wu (Control, 2013) here. Wu is more convincing as the rigid cop who is an absolute stickler for procedure and doing the right thing than as a man who begins to unravel.
And Lam’s heavy-handed and literal approach borders on the cheesy.
When Dave goes into a blind rage, the screen gets tinted with red. I was half expecting him to turn green next and morph into the angry Hulk.
The jerky stop-start pacing was also distracting. And then the film starts focusing on the gang behind the heists as they turn upon one another.
The idea of a funeral parlour serving as a front for vicious robbers is an interesting one. Stolen goods are smuggled in coffins and dead bodies and the setting is unusual and distinctive.
But instead of just exploring this one idea, Lam throws it into this messy movie which also wants to tackle the thin line between good and evil. The movie is further muddied with an excursion into mental instability.
As Dave loses his grip on reality, he plunges into a downward spiral that even a well-meaning superior cannot pull him out of.
The film ends with a flashback that is meant to shed light on his condition. But it will leave you with more questions than answers.
Dante Lam
The story: Hon Kong (Nick Cheung) is a ruthless criminal who dons a demon king mask when committing audacious heists with his gang. Hunted down by the police, he ends up wounded in a hospital, where cop Dave Wong (Daniel Wu) unwittingly saves him. There appears to be a deeper connection between the two men though and the encounter shakes loose Dave’s already tenuous grip on reality.
Hong Kong’s Dante Lam and Nick Cheung have been a winning combination in their past collaborations.
Cheung won Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for action thriller Beast Stalker (2008) and just recently for the mixed martial-arts flick Unbeatable (2013), which was also nominated for Best Film and Best Director.
They are not an infallible duo though, and That Demon Within is a murky thriller that is clumsy in execution.
Partly it is because the reliable Cheung takes a backseat to the less compelling Daniel Wu (Control, 2013) here. Wu is more convincing as the rigid cop who is an absolute stickler for procedure and doing the right thing than as a man who begins to unravel.
And Lam’s heavy-handed and literal approach borders on the cheesy.
When Dave goes into a blind rage, the screen gets tinted with red. I was half expecting him to turn green next and morph into the angry Hulk.
The jerky stop-start pacing was also distracting. And then the film starts focusing on the gang behind the heists as they turn upon one another.
The idea of a funeral parlour serving as a front for vicious robbers is an interesting one. Stolen goods are smuggled in coffins and dead bodies and the setting is unusual and distinctive.
But instead of just exploring this one idea, Lam throws it into this messy movie which also wants to tackle the thin line between good and evil. The movie is further muddied with an excursion into mental instability.
As Dave loses his grip on reality, he plunges into a downward spiral that even a well-meaning superior cannot pull him out of.
The film ends with a flashback that is meant to shed light on his condition. But it will leave you with more questions than answers.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Beast In The Dark
Roger Yang Pei-an
Now this is more like it from Taiwanese singer Roger Yang.
His last album was the ill-conceived disc of English covers, Those Years (2011). He shakes off the torpor from that offering and unleashes his inner rock beast here.
His powerhouse, octave-scaling vocals are put to good use on evocatively bittersweet love songs.
On the title track, he teeters on the edge: “Love is like a beast that is deep in sleep/Because of the fear of getting hurt/I have no expectations of love/Can’t shake off this loneliness.”
The mood is sombre on Lonely Lovers as well: “The lovers are not hurt, they’re just not together/ Trust has not surrendered, there’s just no hope.”
It is not all doom and gloom, though. The vibe is more upbeat and optimistic on The Cocoon Of Life and Dream Racer. But it is tracks such as Beast which will draw you back into the album’s fold.
(ST)
Roger Yang Pei-an
Now this is more like it from Taiwanese singer Roger Yang.
His last album was the ill-conceived disc of English covers, Those Years (2011). He shakes off the torpor from that offering and unleashes his inner rock beast here.
His powerhouse, octave-scaling vocals are put to good use on evocatively bittersweet love songs.
On the title track, he teeters on the edge: “Love is like a beast that is deep in sleep/Because of the fear of getting hurt/I have no expectations of love/Can’t shake off this loneliness.”
The mood is sombre on Lonely Lovers as well: “The lovers are not hurt, they’re just not together/ Trust has not surrendered, there’s just no hope.”
It is not all doom and gloom, though. The vibe is more upbeat and optimistic on The Cocoon Of Life and Dream Racer. But it is tracks such as Beast which will draw you back into the album’s fold.
(ST)
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Sabotage
David Ayer
The story: Breacher (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is the leader of a Drug Enforcement Agency special ops team, which includes Monster (Sam Worthington) and his wife Lizzy (Mireille Enos), Grinder (Joe Manganiello), Sugar (Terrence Howard) and Neck (Josh Holloway). During a raid, they squirrel away US$10 million (S$12.5 million) for themselves but the money goes missing when they return for it. And then the members of the team start getting killed one after another in horrific ways.
This is quite a gathering of one-time stars.
There is Holloway from television’s Lost, Oscar-nominated Howard from indie drama Hustle & Flow (2005) and yesterday’s It Guy, and Worthington (Avatar, 2009). Then there is the granddaddy of them all, beefcake action star- turned-politician-turned-ageing action veteran Schwarzenegger.
They were all probably hoping to revive their sagging fortunes with this film – a la The Expendables franchise for has-been actions stars – but they might have just sabotaged themselves instead.
Writer-director David Ayer (End Of Watch, 2012) sets up the premise of the missing money at the start and then proceeds to abandon that in favour of a mystery-slasher flick as people start dropping like flies.
The tableaux of gruesome scenes feel like rejects from more elaborately stomach-turning murders on TV shows such as Hannibal, Dexter and True Detective.
Meanwhile, the survivors go all macho and aggressive in their posturing, with Enos (World War Z, 2013) possibly being the craziest of the lot.
More semi-famous names pop up as investigators as Olivia Williams (Dollhouse, 2009-2010) and Harold Perrineau (Oz, 1997-2003) look into the deaths. Jarringly, Williams’ character has a fling with Arnie’s Breacher.
By the time the movie reaches its perfunctory chase-scene ending, everyone is behaving like idiotic amateurs instead of the top special ops agents they are supposed to be.
Motivations are revealed and masks stripped away as revelations tumble out to no particularly compelling effect.
The last few minutes wrap up the film in indecent haste as vengeance is finally exacted. It is the final act of self-sabotage.
(ST)
David Ayer
The story: Breacher (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is the leader of a Drug Enforcement Agency special ops team, which includes Monster (Sam Worthington) and his wife Lizzy (Mireille Enos), Grinder (Joe Manganiello), Sugar (Terrence Howard) and Neck (Josh Holloway). During a raid, they squirrel away US$10 million (S$12.5 million) for themselves but the money goes missing when they return for it. And then the members of the team start getting killed one after another in horrific ways.
This is quite a gathering of one-time stars.
There is Holloway from television’s Lost, Oscar-nominated Howard from indie drama Hustle & Flow (2005) and yesterday’s It Guy, and Worthington (Avatar, 2009). Then there is the granddaddy of them all, beefcake action star- turned-politician-turned-ageing action veteran Schwarzenegger.
They were all probably hoping to revive their sagging fortunes with this film – a la The Expendables franchise for has-been actions stars – but they might have just sabotaged themselves instead.
Writer-director David Ayer (End Of Watch, 2012) sets up the premise of the missing money at the start and then proceeds to abandon that in favour of a mystery-slasher flick as people start dropping like flies.
The tableaux of gruesome scenes feel like rejects from more elaborately stomach-turning murders on TV shows such as Hannibal, Dexter and True Detective.
Meanwhile, the survivors go all macho and aggressive in their posturing, with Enos (World War Z, 2013) possibly being the craziest of the lot.
More semi-famous names pop up as investigators as Olivia Williams (Dollhouse, 2009-2010) and Harold Perrineau (Oz, 1997-2003) look into the deaths. Jarringly, Williams’ character has a fling with Arnie’s Breacher.
By the time the movie reaches its perfunctory chase-scene ending, everyone is behaving like idiotic amateurs instead of the top special ops agents they are supposed to be.
Motivations are revealed and masks stripped away as revelations tumble out to no particularly compelling effect.
The last few minutes wrap up the film in indecent haste as vengeance is finally exacted. It is the final act of self-sabotage.
(ST)
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Hello
Wang Dawen
What better way to introduce yourself than with a simple and cheery Hello?
Over a bright and breezy track, Wang Dawen (above) sings on his Mandarin debut album: “Hello, it starts to revolve from this greeting/Hello, let me slowly get close to you/Is that fine?”
The American singer-songwriter tackled hard-hitting topics such as racial stereotypes and prejudice on his English-language album, American Me (2009).
There is no sign of the angry young man here though. Instead, there are mostly light and sunny tracks about love on numbers such as Firecracker and Beautiful.
Even the lone English track here, Shoes, swings along even as it gently touches upon Asian identity. “Baby, won’t you take off your shoes/Cause shoes really go outside/I know it’s not what you’re used to/Maybe it’s an Asian thing.”
On the other songs, his diction is still a little raw at times. But for someone who took intensive language classes in Taiwan to release this record, it is impressive that he had a hand in the lyrics of six of the nine Mandarin tracks.
So hello, Dawen, I think we will be seeing you around.
(ST)
Wang Dawen
What better way to introduce yourself than with a simple and cheery Hello?
Over a bright and breezy track, Wang Dawen (above) sings on his Mandarin debut album: “Hello, it starts to revolve from this greeting/Hello, let me slowly get close to you/Is that fine?”
The American singer-songwriter tackled hard-hitting topics such as racial stereotypes and prejudice on his English-language album, American Me (2009).
There is no sign of the angry young man here though. Instead, there are mostly light and sunny tracks about love on numbers such as Firecracker and Beautiful.
Even the lone English track here, Shoes, swings along even as it gently touches upon Asian identity. “Baby, won’t you take off your shoes/Cause shoes really go outside/I know it’s not what you’re used to/Maybe it’s an Asian thing.”
On the other songs, his diction is still a little raw at times. But for someone who took intensive language classes in Taiwan to release this record, it is impressive that he had a hand in the lyrics of six of the nine Mandarin tracks.
So hello, Dawen, I think we will be seeing you around.
(ST)
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
The Zero Theorem
Terry Gilliam
The story: In a dystopian Orwellian world, Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz) is a cog in a giant company, Mancom. He is assigned to the maddeningly difficult zero theorem and waits for an all-important phone call which would reveal to him the meaning of life. He gets distracted, and helped, by femme fatale Bainsley (Melanie Thierry) and Bob (Lucas Hedges), the teenage son of Management (Matt Damon).
It is nominally science-fiction but film-maker Terry Gilliam has made such distinctive forays into the genre that his works deserve their own label, say, weird-fi.
Brazil (1985) is about a man searching for a woman who appears in his dreams. 12 Monkeys (1995) involves Bruce Willis travelling back in time to find a cure for a deadly virus.
Gilliam has called The Zero Theorem the finale of a dystopian satire trilogy which started with those two movies. It involves yet another quixotic quest, in a society which has gone off-kilter with garish consumerism, in-your-face advertising and constant surveillance.
This is a world in which the gamer geeks of today might rule. Leth (an intense and oddly compelling Waltz like a monk in fevered pursuit of the truth) is among the best of them, staring intently at a screen as he fiddles with a joystick and goes through a series of arcane motions which are supposed to serve some obscure purpose.
The zero theorem he is assigned to work on looks like some complicated mathematics game, one which seems arbitrary and unsolvable. What it is supposed to prove is that, ultimately, life has no purpose.
Little wonder that working on it does nothing for Leth’s existential angst.
But is he a madman or is he actually on the verge of figuring out the meaning of life and what makes it worthwhile?
It is a pivotal question which drives the film along with the satirical potshots. The surveillance camera in Leth’s crumbling church of a home is pointedly mounted on a headless figure of Christ. And Management is elusive, enigmatic and ruthlessly pragmatic.
The movie also features colourful characters such as Tilda Swinton as a programmed shrink and Lucas Hedges as a world-weary teenager sorely in need of a father figure. And Thierry nicely balances sexy and sweet as she skilfully seduces and then comes to care for Leth.
Every Gilliam film offers glimpses into that singular mind of his. It is not a place one would want to get lost in and you probably will not understand what is going on at some point.
It means that watching his films can be challenging and, at points, The Zero Theorem will test your patience and make you wonder what the point of it all is.
But if anyone is closer to getting the cosmic joke which is the universe than Leth, it would be Gilliam.
(ST)
Terry Gilliam
The story: In a dystopian Orwellian world, Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz) is a cog in a giant company, Mancom. He is assigned to the maddeningly difficult zero theorem and waits for an all-important phone call which would reveal to him the meaning of life. He gets distracted, and helped, by femme fatale Bainsley (Melanie Thierry) and Bob (Lucas Hedges), the teenage son of Management (Matt Damon).
It is nominally science-fiction but film-maker Terry Gilliam has made such distinctive forays into the genre that his works deserve their own label, say, weird-fi.
Brazil (1985) is about a man searching for a woman who appears in his dreams. 12 Monkeys (1995) involves Bruce Willis travelling back in time to find a cure for a deadly virus.
Gilliam has called The Zero Theorem the finale of a dystopian satire trilogy which started with those two movies. It involves yet another quixotic quest, in a society which has gone off-kilter with garish consumerism, in-your-face advertising and constant surveillance.
This is a world in which the gamer geeks of today might rule. Leth (an intense and oddly compelling Waltz like a monk in fevered pursuit of the truth) is among the best of them, staring intently at a screen as he fiddles with a joystick and goes through a series of arcane motions which are supposed to serve some obscure purpose.
The zero theorem he is assigned to work on looks like some complicated mathematics game, one which seems arbitrary and unsolvable. What it is supposed to prove is that, ultimately, life has no purpose.
Little wonder that working on it does nothing for Leth’s existential angst.
But is he a madman or is he actually on the verge of figuring out the meaning of life and what makes it worthwhile?
It is a pivotal question which drives the film along with the satirical potshots. The surveillance camera in Leth’s crumbling church of a home is pointedly mounted on a headless figure of Christ. And Management is elusive, enigmatic and ruthlessly pragmatic.
The movie also features colourful characters such as Tilda Swinton as a programmed shrink and Lucas Hedges as a world-weary teenager sorely in need of a father figure. And Thierry nicely balances sexy and sweet as she skilfully seduces and then comes to care for Leth.
Every Gilliam film offers glimpses into that singular mind of his. It is not a place one would want to get lost in and you probably will not understand what is going on at some point.
It means that watching his films can be challenging and, at points, The Zero Theorem will test your patience and make you wonder what the point of it all is.
But if anyone is closer to getting the cosmic joke which is the universe than Leth, it would be Gilliam.
(ST)
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