Power Station 20th
Power Station
Flow
Winnie Hsin
In their earlier days, Taiwanese duo Power Station were known for rock ballads filled with angst and soaring vocals in hits such as Heartless Love Letters, which is found on this new two-disc album. Two decades on, the pair have matured and their most memorable new songs are the more measured mid-tempo tracks.
The opener Mi Tang (Potion) possesses a tenderness in lines such as “She uses warmth to heat up a bowl of potion for me, how fragrant”.
Despite its title, Zha Yao (Dynamite) starts gently and even the chorus is unhurried: “You are the dynamite deep in my heart/Why are these memories so overbearing/Don’t know when they will explode/ And blow everything apart.”
That said, Power Station have not lost their explosiveness and edge. They still have plenty of energy, judging from songs such as the Minnan-Mandarin track Next Station. They remain a relevant music force and that is no mean feat after 20 years.
Taiwanese singer Winnie Hsin has been around even longer and yet the 54-year-old’s crystalline soprano pipes have not diminished since her debut album, Lonely Winter, was released in 1986.
The album’s Mandarin title, Ming Bai (Understand), seems to hark back to her best-known work Ling Wu (Epiphany, 1994), but she has no intention of resting on her laurels.
If her awakening in Epiphany was a bitter one (“Ah painful realisation that you were my everything”), the parting shot in the title track here is a more empowering manifesto: “I can afford to love/I can let it go.”
First single My Dear You, which has been scaling radio charts, mixes lush strings with her deftly modulating voice: “My dear you, missing you/I wish you were here with me/You have to walk part of the way to realise that being safe and sound is the greatest happiness.”
It feels as though one is hearing from a good friend after a long absence.
(ST)
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
It is time for the annual Chinese New Year sweepstakes – the winner could walk away with millions of dollars, whether in the Toto draw or at the box office, where there are four festive titles in battle.
Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is a regular fixture of the season. In action-comedy Kung Fu Yoga, his latest attempt to claim the holiday crown, he and director Stanley Tong pull out all the stops to appeal to just about everyone.
It highlights exotic and glamorous locations around the world, from the ice-and-snow landscape of Iceland to the over-the-top luxury on display in Dubai.
The diverse cast includes Bollywood beauties Disha Patani and Amyra Dastur, yoga goddess Mu Qimiya, dashing Aarif Rahman and singer-dancer Lay Zhang from South Korean boy band Exo.
In order to tie all these disparate elements together, the story is something of a stretch.
Chan plays archaeology professor Jack, who is keen to track down the lost treasure of the Indian kingdom of Magadha.
However, the lengthy exposition of an ancient battle plays out like a none-too-involving computer game and the references to Indo-Sino friendship feel too much like pandering to a potentially large Indian audience.
Missing is the appeal of Chan as the scrappy underdog who triumphs against the odds – nowadays, he tends to be treated respectfully as the undisputed top dog.
But even a top dog will grimace and cower when he finds himself next to the king of beasts – a highlight of Kung Fu Yoga sees him stuck in a car during a high-octane chase scene with an actual, not CGI, lion. Chan is a hoot as he tries to gingerly placate the pi**ed-off cat.
A joyous Bollywood dance extravaganza aptly wraps up the proceedings. It might not be part of Chinese tradition, but it is celebratory.
The most ostensibly festive entry is The Fortune Handbook. Mark Lee plays a fortune god-in-training who meddles in the affairs of lazy Soh Hock (Christopher Lee) and his industrious brother-in-law Hao Xing (Li Nanxing).
Prosperity, the importance of family and bak kwa are key themes of this holiday season and they are all here in this work from director Kelvin Sng (Taxi! Taxi!, 2013), but the end result is far from savoury.
Bak kwa gets quite a bit of play because Christopher Lee is the ambassador for a certain brand – and so does green tea, which Vivian Lai even breaks from her character as Soh Hock’s wife to promote.
While product placements in a film might be a necessary evil, a film-maker knows his work is in trouble when his characters laugh more than the audience – hearing laughter on the screen is not the same thing as watching a funny film.
The most entertaining thing in the movie is Christopher Lee’s performance as the vain, hairspray-toting Soh Hock, which at least feels a little fresh and different.
At first glance, the other local festive film, Take 2, seems to be a rather curious offering, given that ex-cons trying to move on is not exactly the most obvious Chinese New Year topic. But the theme of starting afresh does fit in with the notion of new beginnings.
It is a pity that debutant director Ivan Ho, who was scriptwriter for Ah Boys To Men 3: Frogmen (2015), cannot quite decide if he wants to do a drama or a comedy.
Ryan Lian (Long Long Time Ago, 2016) has potential as a brooding leading man in what could have been a moving story of how a jailbird father redeems himself in his estranged son’s eyes.
But he is surrounded here by discordant notes, from Dennis Chew in a number of cross-dressing roles to Chen Tianwen as a crazily flamboyant nemesis to a bizarre soundtrack of European songs.
There is yet another contender for the Chinese New Year box- office crown and that is Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back, which opens on Saturday.
The final festive offering is from Hong Kong funnyman Stephen Chow, a proven box-office magnet here like Chan is.
The prints will be arriving just in time for its sneak previews on Friday and opening on Saturday, but the movie likely will not need good reviews to boost its takings.
Its predecessor, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons (2013), was a hit even though Chow did not act in it – he co-wrote, produced and directed it.
He has even less involvement this time around – only a producing credit. Yet his name is still prominently featured in the trailer.
Now that is star power.
(ST)
Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is a regular fixture of the season. In action-comedy Kung Fu Yoga, his latest attempt to claim the holiday crown, he and director Stanley Tong pull out all the stops to appeal to just about everyone.
It highlights exotic and glamorous locations around the world, from the ice-and-snow landscape of Iceland to the over-the-top luxury on display in Dubai.
The diverse cast includes Bollywood beauties Disha Patani and Amyra Dastur, yoga goddess Mu Qimiya, dashing Aarif Rahman and singer-dancer Lay Zhang from South Korean boy band Exo.
In order to tie all these disparate elements together, the story is something of a stretch.
Chan plays archaeology professor Jack, who is keen to track down the lost treasure of the Indian kingdom of Magadha.
However, the lengthy exposition of an ancient battle plays out like a none-too-involving computer game and the references to Indo-Sino friendship feel too much like pandering to a potentially large Indian audience.
Missing is the appeal of Chan as the scrappy underdog who triumphs against the odds – nowadays, he tends to be treated respectfully as the undisputed top dog.
But even a top dog will grimace and cower when he finds himself next to the king of beasts – a highlight of Kung Fu Yoga sees him stuck in a car during a high-octane chase scene with an actual, not CGI, lion. Chan is a hoot as he tries to gingerly placate the pi**ed-off cat.
A joyous Bollywood dance extravaganza aptly wraps up the proceedings. It might not be part of Chinese tradition, but it is celebratory.
The most ostensibly festive entry is The Fortune Handbook. Mark Lee plays a fortune god-in-training who meddles in the affairs of lazy Soh Hock (Christopher Lee) and his industrious brother-in-law Hao Xing (Li Nanxing).
Prosperity, the importance of family and bak kwa are key themes of this holiday season and they are all here in this work from director Kelvin Sng (Taxi! Taxi!, 2013), but the end result is far from savoury.
Bak kwa gets quite a bit of play because Christopher Lee is the ambassador for a certain brand – and so does green tea, which Vivian Lai even breaks from her character as Soh Hock’s wife to promote.
While product placements in a film might be a necessary evil, a film-maker knows his work is in trouble when his characters laugh more than the audience – hearing laughter on the screen is not the same thing as watching a funny film.
The most entertaining thing in the movie is Christopher Lee’s performance as the vain, hairspray-toting Soh Hock, which at least feels a little fresh and different.
At first glance, the other local festive film, Take 2, seems to be a rather curious offering, given that ex-cons trying to move on is not exactly the most obvious Chinese New Year topic. But the theme of starting afresh does fit in with the notion of new beginnings.
It is a pity that debutant director Ivan Ho, who was scriptwriter for Ah Boys To Men 3: Frogmen (2015), cannot quite decide if he wants to do a drama or a comedy.
Ryan Lian (Long Long Time Ago, 2016) has potential as a brooding leading man in what could have been a moving story of how a jailbird father redeems himself in his estranged son’s eyes.
But he is surrounded here by discordant notes, from Dennis Chew in a number of cross-dressing roles to Chen Tianwen as a crazily flamboyant nemesis to a bizarre soundtrack of European songs.
There is yet another contender for the Chinese New Year box- office crown and that is Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back, which opens on Saturday.
The final festive offering is from Hong Kong funnyman Stephen Chow, a proven box-office magnet here like Chan is.
The prints will be arriving just in time for its sneak previews on Friday and opening on Saturday, but the movie likely will not need good reviews to boost its takings.
Its predecessor, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons (2013), was a hit even though Chow did not act in it – he co-wrote, produced and directed it.
He has even less involvement this time around – only a producing credit. Yet his name is still prominently featured in the trailer.
Now that is star power.
(ST)
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Dear Paranoia
Andrew Tan
Make-up artist-turned-singer Andrew Tan remains best known for the hit ballad Queen, the title track off his 2010 debut album.
It is a pity – the Malaysian has a rich and sonorous set of pipes, which you might even call a handsome voice.
Dear Paranoia is a concerted effort to improve his fortunes with radio-friendly material about being in and out of love that showcases his vocals.
His falsetto is effortless in Internecine (Ju Shang), which features a brooding piano melody and a soaring chorus. Blue Love Theme (Hao Ai Hao San) plays to his strength as an emotive singer.
Taken as a whole, though, the album relies too much on love ballads.
It could do with more numbers such as the title track, which revs up the tempo in a welcome change of pace.
The dance-tinged Dear Paranoia blossoms into a surprisingly joyous refrain as he declares: “I insist on continuing to sing/Until the end of time.”
Tan might wish to note that perseverance is not enough. The choice of songs is crucial as well.
(ST)
Andrew Tan
Make-up artist-turned-singer Andrew Tan remains best known for the hit ballad Queen, the title track off his 2010 debut album.
It is a pity – the Malaysian has a rich and sonorous set of pipes, which you might even call a handsome voice.
Dear Paranoia is a concerted effort to improve his fortunes with radio-friendly material about being in and out of love that showcases his vocals.
His falsetto is effortless in Internecine (Ju Shang), which features a brooding piano melody and a soaring chorus. Blue Love Theme (Hao Ai Hao San) plays to his strength as an emotive singer.
Taken as a whole, though, the album relies too much on love ballads.
It could do with more numbers such as the title track, which revs up the tempo in a welcome change of pace.
The dance-tinged Dear Paranoia blossoms into a surprisingly joyous refrain as he declares: “I insist on continuing to sing/Until the end of time.”
Tan might wish to note that perseverance is not enough. The choice of songs is crucial as well.
(ST)
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Centrifugal Force
Faith Yang
Taiwan’s Faith Yang can often come across as cold, but the ice queen seems to be melting quite a bit on her sixth studio album.
Reportedly inspired by the astronomical concept of the Roche limit – the minimum distance to which a large satellite can approach its primary body without being torn apart by tidal forces – Centrifugal Force pulls you in inexorably.
Over a gentle piano accompaniment, she issues an invitation on the title track: “Come closer another inch/And I’ll believe you”. The vulnerability is devastating when she sings: “Don’t embrace, you musn’t kiss/I’ll shatter, never be whole again”.
Musically, there are some surprises here.
Zhuan Shen (Turn Around) is an electro track which flirts with the spoken word, while Fen Bi Zuo De Shou (Hands Made Of Chalk) is an unabashed EDM number. And Yan Yu (An Affair) seems to take place in some romantic European location, given the orchestral arrangement.
Fittingly, the album ends with the poignant Tui Kai Shi Jie De Men (Push Open The Doors Of The World). It sounds like an epiphany, suggesting Yang is ready to open up like never before.
(ST)
Faith Yang
Taiwan’s Faith Yang can often come across as cold, but the ice queen seems to be melting quite a bit on her sixth studio album.
Reportedly inspired by the astronomical concept of the Roche limit – the minimum distance to which a large satellite can approach its primary body without being torn apart by tidal forces – Centrifugal Force pulls you in inexorably.
Over a gentle piano accompaniment, she issues an invitation on the title track: “Come closer another inch/And I’ll believe you”. The vulnerability is devastating when she sings: “Don’t embrace, you musn’t kiss/I’ll shatter, never be whole again”.
Musically, there are some surprises here.
Zhuan Shen (Turn Around) is an electro track which flirts with the spoken word, while Fen Bi Zuo De Shou (Hands Made Of Chalk) is an unabashed EDM number. And Yan Yu (An Affair) seems to take place in some romantic European location, given the orchestral arrangement.
Fittingly, the album ends with the poignant Tui Kai Shi Jie De Men (Push Open The Doors Of The World). It sounds like an epiphany, suggesting Yang is ready to open up like never before.
(ST)
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
The Wasted Times
Cheng Er
The story: Lu (Ge You) is an influential and ruthless mobster in 1930s Shanghai on the eve of the Japanese invasion. His Japanese brother-in-law Watabe (Tadanobu Asano) has lived in the city for years and is practically Shanghainese. The wife of Lu’s boss is Xiaoliu (Zhang Ziyi), a woman prone to indiscreet affairs. Their lives intersect time and again as war upends the city.
The one word that best describes this film is Tarantino-esque.
Chinese writer-director Cheng Er (Lethal Hostage, 2012) is clearly a fan of American film-maker Quentin Tarantino’s distinctive bravura style, particularly as seen in the Palme d’Or-winning non-linear black comedy crime flick, Pulp Fiction (1994).
The Wasted Times does not proceed linearly, instead it moves back and forth in time, changing viewers’ understanding of characters and situations each time it does so.
Scenes that seem to make little sense the first time you watch them are repeated in a fuller context and are suddenly flooded with meaning and emotion.
While Tarantino has his characters riffing on pop culture, often in the most unlikely of situations, Cheng has two young men nonchalantly joshing about the younger guy’s virginity in a car – before he unveils what it is exactly they are on their way to.
Perhaps an English-language film in this style would have seemed overly derivative. In a Chinese work, it still feels fresh and intriguing.
Moreover, Cheng is not paying homage blindly. His style is in service to the story, reflecting the topsy-turvy upheaval of life during wartime.
Like Tarantino, who revived the career of actor John Travolta with Pulp Fiction, Cheng also seems to have a way with actors – the ensemble cast here is top-notch, from the quietly menacing Ge You to the vivacious Zhang Ziyi to Tadanobu Asano, whose surface calm belies a dark heart.
Even the smaller roles make their mark, including Yan Ni as the formidable housekeeper Wang Ma and Du Jiang, who brings a mix of naivete and viciousness to his part as a junior henchman.
This movie is no wasted effort.
(ST)
Cheng Er
The story: Lu (Ge You) is an influential and ruthless mobster in 1930s Shanghai on the eve of the Japanese invasion. His Japanese brother-in-law Watabe (Tadanobu Asano) has lived in the city for years and is practically Shanghainese. The wife of Lu’s boss is Xiaoliu (Zhang Ziyi), a woman prone to indiscreet affairs. Their lives intersect time and again as war upends the city.
The one word that best describes this film is Tarantino-esque.
Chinese writer-director Cheng Er (Lethal Hostage, 2012) is clearly a fan of American film-maker Quentin Tarantino’s distinctive bravura style, particularly as seen in the Palme d’Or-winning non-linear black comedy crime flick, Pulp Fiction (1994).
The Wasted Times does not proceed linearly, instead it moves back and forth in time, changing viewers’ understanding of characters and situations each time it does so.
Scenes that seem to make little sense the first time you watch them are repeated in a fuller context and are suddenly flooded with meaning and emotion.
While Tarantino has his characters riffing on pop culture, often in the most unlikely of situations, Cheng has two young men nonchalantly joshing about the younger guy’s virginity in a car – before he unveils what it is exactly they are on their way to.
Perhaps an English-language film in this style would have seemed overly derivative. In a Chinese work, it still feels fresh and intriguing.
Moreover, Cheng is not paying homage blindly. His style is in service to the story, reflecting the topsy-turvy upheaval of life during wartime.
Like Tarantino, who revived the career of actor John Travolta with Pulp Fiction, Cheng also seems to have a way with actors – the ensemble cast here is top-notch, from the quietly menacing Ge You to the vivacious Zhang Ziyi to Tadanobu Asano, whose surface calm belies a dark heart.
Even the smaller roles make their mark, including Yan Ni as the formidable housekeeper Wang Ma and Du Jiang, who brings a mix of naivete and viciousness to his part as a junior henchman.
This movie is no wasted effort.
(ST)
Trace Of Time In Love
Rainie Yang
On her 10th album, Rainie Yang is confident enough to stick to ballads and mid-tempo numbers throughout, without the need to mix things up just for the sake of it.
The best song is Audience, a ballad she interprets sensitively as she contemplates a distant lover: “Some people love like an audience/Don’t understand the simplest emotional scene.”
It was penned for her by China’s Li Ronghao, one of the hottest singer-songwriters of the moment. The 31-year-old has a way with both words and music, effectively exploring emotional states through the use of sustained metaphors.
The song benefits from their romance – they are dating and he is able to tailor a song to her exact strengths as a singer.
At this point, Yang, 32, is firmly into her second phase as a crooner of sophisticated grown-up tracks about love and life, leaving behind her cutesy and grating pop.
On the title track, she ponders the passage of time and the changes it has wrought. The changing of the seasons can be cruel and relentless, but time has been good to her as a singer.
(ST)
Rainie Yang
On her 10th album, Rainie Yang is confident enough to stick to ballads and mid-tempo numbers throughout, without the need to mix things up just for the sake of it.
The best song is Audience, a ballad she interprets sensitively as she contemplates a distant lover: “Some people love like an audience/Don’t understand the simplest emotional scene.”
It was penned for her by China’s Li Ronghao, one of the hottest singer-songwriters of the moment. The 31-year-old has a way with both words and music, effectively exploring emotional states through the use of sustained metaphors.
The song benefits from their romance – they are dating and he is able to tailor a song to her exact strengths as a singer.
At this point, Yang, 32, is firmly into her second phase as a crooner of sophisticated grown-up tracks about love and life, leaving behind her cutesy and grating pop.
On the title track, she ponders the passage of time and the changes it has wrought. The changing of the seasons can be cruel and relentless, but time has been good to her as a singer.
(ST)
Farewell, 2016, year of loss and upheavals.
Who knows what 2017 will bring, but to start things on a bright note, there are several events I look forward to on the music front, from album releases to a living legend’s new musical.
Hong Kong’s Eason Chan is a great singer in top form and he has released at least one album or EP a year since 2005. He is adventurous when it comes to his music outings – from his collaboration with Singapore singer-songwriter JJ Lin for Mandarin album Rice & Shine (2014) to a trio of edgy Cantonese EPs released in 2010 and 2011.
Last year was an exception as he did not drop a new disc. There are rumours that he has been working on new material in the recording studio and that the album will be followed by a world tour. Hopefully, this is not just wishful thinking of fans hankering after a record from him.
Here’s also hoping that his new gig as a mentor on TV show Sing! China will not suck up too much of his time – as entertaining as his comments on the show could be given his shoot-from-the-hip tendencies, they’d be mere distractions to the kind of music he can produce.
It so happens that Taiwanese dancing diva Jolin Tsai sat out last year as well, after releasing Myself in 2010, Muse in 2012 and Play in 2014. (Did she get the same memo as Chan?)
She has been having fun playing around with Mando-dance-pop, stretching the genre and proving it can be more than throwaway fluff. In the process, The Great Artist from Muse was named Best Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards in 2013 and Play won Best Mandarin Album at the same event a year later.
At a concert in China last month, she promised to release a new album this year. The question is whether she will continue in the same musical vein or whether her break-up with model Vivian Dawson after six years will make its way into the music.
If Myself was any indication, Tsai seems unlikely to be baring her soul on disc. Maybe she will just dance away her troubles.
What is bound to be far more personal is 50 Song Memoir from American indie pop group The Magnetic Fields, due out on March 3. The concept here is an autobiographical album with one track for each year of frontman and songwriter Stephin Merritt’s life.
The band had previously struck gold with another concept record 69 Love Songs (1999). In one song, he memorably described his heart as “running ’round like a chicken with its head cut off” and on the album, he explored a diverse array of genres from country to jazz to synth pop.
Other idiosyncratic projects of his have included i (2004) – every song title begins with the letter I – and the contrasting pair of albums, noise pop on Distortion (2008), followed by the acoustic folk of Realism (2010).
In each case, Merritt’s droll lyrics and musical versatility made for a winning combination.
When it comes to penning words set to music, theatre giant Stephen Sondheim is in a class of his own. Producer Cameron Mackintosh once hailed him as “possibly the greatest lyricist ever”. From dissecting relationships in Company (1970) in contemporary New York to limning a murderous barber in Sweeney Todd (1979) in Victorian-era London, Sondheim has vividly brought to life diverse worlds and the spectrum of human experience.
Remarkably, he continues to be active at the age of 86 and there is the wonderful prospect of a new musical from him, eight years after Road Show – about a pair of brothers in the freewheeling, get-rich-quick America of the early 1900s – made its off-Broadway premiere.
The new work, tentatively titled Bunuel, is a collaboration with playwright David Ives (All In The Timing, 1993) and could possibly be staged this year. It is inspired by two films by Spanish director Luis Bunuel – The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962), both involving surreal dinner parties. It sounds deliciously intriguing.
If this list does not excite you, no matter. Do the same exercise yourself and jot down the things that you are looking forward to. Before you know it, the year is already looking up.
(ST)
Who knows what 2017 will bring, but to start things on a bright note, there are several events I look forward to on the music front, from album releases to a living legend’s new musical.
Hong Kong’s Eason Chan is a great singer in top form and he has released at least one album or EP a year since 2005. He is adventurous when it comes to his music outings – from his collaboration with Singapore singer-songwriter JJ Lin for Mandarin album Rice & Shine (2014) to a trio of edgy Cantonese EPs released in 2010 and 2011.
Last year was an exception as he did not drop a new disc. There are rumours that he has been working on new material in the recording studio and that the album will be followed by a world tour. Hopefully, this is not just wishful thinking of fans hankering after a record from him.
Here’s also hoping that his new gig as a mentor on TV show Sing! China will not suck up too much of his time – as entertaining as his comments on the show could be given his shoot-from-the-hip tendencies, they’d be mere distractions to the kind of music he can produce.
It so happens that Taiwanese dancing diva Jolin Tsai sat out last year as well, after releasing Myself in 2010, Muse in 2012 and Play in 2014. (Did she get the same memo as Chan?)
She has been having fun playing around with Mando-dance-pop, stretching the genre and proving it can be more than throwaway fluff. In the process, The Great Artist from Muse was named Best Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards in 2013 and Play won Best Mandarin Album at the same event a year later.
At a concert in China last month, she promised to release a new album this year. The question is whether she will continue in the same musical vein or whether her break-up with model Vivian Dawson after six years will make its way into the music.
If Myself was any indication, Tsai seems unlikely to be baring her soul on disc. Maybe she will just dance away her troubles.
What is bound to be far more personal is 50 Song Memoir from American indie pop group The Magnetic Fields, due out on March 3. The concept here is an autobiographical album with one track for each year of frontman and songwriter Stephin Merritt’s life.
The band had previously struck gold with another concept record 69 Love Songs (1999). In one song, he memorably described his heart as “running ’round like a chicken with its head cut off” and on the album, he explored a diverse array of genres from country to jazz to synth pop.
Other idiosyncratic projects of his have included i (2004) – every song title begins with the letter I – and the contrasting pair of albums, noise pop on Distortion (2008), followed by the acoustic folk of Realism (2010).
In each case, Merritt’s droll lyrics and musical versatility made for a winning combination.
When it comes to penning words set to music, theatre giant Stephen Sondheim is in a class of his own. Producer Cameron Mackintosh once hailed him as “possibly the greatest lyricist ever”. From dissecting relationships in Company (1970) in contemporary New York to limning a murderous barber in Sweeney Todd (1979) in Victorian-era London, Sondheim has vividly brought to life diverse worlds and the spectrum of human experience.
Remarkably, he continues to be active at the age of 86 and there is the wonderful prospect of a new musical from him, eight years after Road Show – about a pair of brothers in the freewheeling, get-rich-quick America of the early 1900s – made its off-Broadway premiere.
The new work, tentatively titled Bunuel, is a collaboration with playwright David Ives (All In The Timing, 1993) and could possibly be staged this year. It is inspired by two films by Spanish director Luis Bunuel – The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962), both involving surreal dinner parties. It sounds deliciously intriguing.
If this list does not excite you, no matter. Do the same exercise yourself and jot down the things that you are looking forward to. Before you know it, the year is already looking up.
(ST)
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