American Pastoral
Ewan McGregor
The story: Swede Levov (Ewan McGregor) and his wife Dawn (Jennifer Connelly) seem to have the perfect life. But when their daughter Merry (Dakota Fanning) turns to violence for her political beliefs at the age of 16 and then disappears, their world collapses. Based on the 1997 Philip Roth novel of the same name.
American novelist Philip Roth is having a bit of a moment on the big screen.
Recent adaptations of his works have included erotic comedy The Humbling (2014), starring Al Pacino as an ageing actor whose life gets messy; and drama Indignation (2016), which addresses the role of religion in school and the boundaries of personal liberties.
Things continue to fall apart in American Pastoral. At its heart, it poses a question that, unfortunately, continues to resonate today: How is an extremist made?
Merry comes from a loving, well-to-do family and yet she is drawn to the philosophy of violent revolution in a tumultuous period of American history as anger and frustration erupt over the Vietnam War.
Her parents wrestle with guilt even as they are left bewildered and devastated over her actions.
Chameleonic actor McGregor as the grieving father who refuses to give up on his daughter is the emotional centre of the film. As Dawn, Connelly (Requiem For A Dream, 2000) has the tougher arc to pull off, as she goes from grieving mother to brittle socialite.
McGregor, in his directorial debut, does well to juggle both the family drama as well as the bigger events playing out in the background without resorting to preachiness or a need to tie everything up neatly.
But by sticking to the framing device in the book – Roth’s alter ego Nathan Zuckerman attending his high-school reunion and learning about what happened to Swede from his brother Jerry Levov – there is a sense of distance from the events that unfold.
The film recalls a story in The Guardian about mothers in North America and Europe whose children had volunteered to fight for the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – including one who said poignantly that she did not even know what the word “radicalisation” was before finding out that her son was dead.
You can raise children in a loving environment and yet have absolutely no idea how they will turn out.
In other words, American Pastoral is also a horror film for parents.
(ST)
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
I Hear The Sound Of Dawn
Liang Wern Fook
In his first record since 1992’s Go East, xinyao leading light Liang Wern Fook performs in his inimitable style, that modest, homespun charm still intact as he speaks and sings Xin Yao Li Shi Wai Zhuan (Unofficial History Of Xinyao), a reworking of fan favourite Eve Before The History Exam (1987), in which he namechecks the creators, singers and songs of the home-grown Mandarin music movement.
There is also an update of the 1990 classic, Singapore Pie, which takes into account developments such as MRT train breakdowns and the sky-rocketing of certificate of entitlement prices.
These are songs that chart the ups and downs and growing pains of Singapore. No one does it like Liang, who taps into people’s collective memories – be it goggle-box viewing in Watching Television or listening to the radio on New Flame Meeting Old Love.
Ren Sheng Wu Suo Wei (Life – Fear Not) not only marks the first time that Liang sings a TV series theme song and the breezy track for the long-running series of the same name (2015-2016), but it also fits in a reference to Sang Nila Utama.
This new release was not conceived as an album with a cohesive vision; it is a collection of mostly recent material from the past few years, as well as a few tracks that date back to 1999.
Inevitably, it is thematically disparate, with songs as different as Hear Tomorrow Singing (an ode to teachers) is from Carefree Suzhou (an ode to the Chinese city).
Nevertheless, Sound Of Dawn is a collection of works written by Liang that demonstrates his range as a songwriter, who, apart from crafting social observations, can also compose evocative ballads such as Wish To Tell You. It was penned for the xinyao- themed TV series, Crescendo (2015), and ably performed by local singer A-do.
Unusually, there is one song here which was not composed by him. He wrote the lyrics for Jacky Cheung’s 1999 hit, She Came To Listen To My Concert, while Huang Mingzhou penned the music.
It is a poignant track about the relationship between a singer and his audience and how songs accompany one throughout one’s life. It was a special treat when Liang performed it at his long-overdue first solo concert in April last year.
And now, people have it for posterity.
(ST)
Liang Wern Fook
In his first record since 1992’s Go East, xinyao leading light Liang Wern Fook performs in his inimitable style, that modest, homespun charm still intact as he speaks and sings Xin Yao Li Shi Wai Zhuan (Unofficial History Of Xinyao), a reworking of fan favourite Eve Before The History Exam (1987), in which he namechecks the creators, singers and songs of the home-grown Mandarin music movement.
There is also an update of the 1990 classic, Singapore Pie, which takes into account developments such as MRT train breakdowns and the sky-rocketing of certificate of entitlement prices.
These are songs that chart the ups and downs and growing pains of Singapore. No one does it like Liang, who taps into people’s collective memories – be it goggle-box viewing in Watching Television or listening to the radio on New Flame Meeting Old Love.
Ren Sheng Wu Suo Wei (Life – Fear Not) not only marks the first time that Liang sings a TV series theme song and the breezy track for the long-running series of the same name (2015-2016), but it also fits in a reference to Sang Nila Utama.
This new release was not conceived as an album with a cohesive vision; it is a collection of mostly recent material from the past few years, as well as a few tracks that date back to 1999.
Inevitably, it is thematically disparate, with songs as different as Hear Tomorrow Singing (an ode to teachers) is from Carefree Suzhou (an ode to the Chinese city).
Nevertheless, Sound Of Dawn is a collection of works written by Liang that demonstrates his range as a songwriter, who, apart from crafting social observations, can also compose evocative ballads such as Wish To Tell You. It was penned for the xinyao- themed TV series, Crescendo (2015), and ably performed by local singer A-do.
Unusually, there is one song here which was not composed by him. He wrote the lyrics for Jacky Cheung’s 1999 hit, She Came To Listen To My Concert, while Huang Mingzhou penned the music.
It is a poignant track about the relationship between a singer and his audience and how songs accompany one throughout one’s life. It was a special treat when Liang performed it at his long-overdue first solo concert in April last year.
And now, people have it for posterity.
(ST)
Monday, October 17, 2016
Inferno
Ron Howard
The story: Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), professor of symbology at Harvard University, wakes up in a hospital in Florence with a head injury and no memory of how he got there and what happened in the last few days. When an assassin shows up, his doctor, Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), helps him get away. Together, they need to solve a series of clues to reach a deadly pathogen that could wipe out half of Earth’s population. Based on Dan Brown’s 2013 novel of the same name.
One of the pleasures a Dan Brown film adaptation offers is allowing viewers to watch the characters traipse about beloved landmarks and institutions and/or cavalierly handle all manner of cultural treasures – the Louvre’s Mona Lisa in 2006’s The Da Vinci Code (a replica was used) and the Vatican in 2009’s Angels & Demons (although filming did not actually take place there).
In Inferno, viewers get to see Hanks and Jones worming their way through crawlspaces and secret passages in Florence’s monumental town hall, Palazzo Vecchio, and the death mask of Italian poet Dante getting swiped as easily as candy in an unmanned shop.
Dante is the author of the 14th- century epic, Divine Comedy, of which part one is titled Inferno. The movie taps on his idea of hell to present unsettling images of extreme pain and suffering and also, a drawing of it contains the first riddle that Langdon has to solve.
Thanks to veteran director Ron Howard’s sure hand, one gets engrossed in Langdon and Brooks’ race against time in an elaborate game.
Details start to niggle only when one starts to think about them.
Langdon’s head trauma seems at first to be a good idea for the story – it means that the hero is compromised. But as with the recent thriller, The Girl On The Train (2016), the director makes use of a far too convenient plot device: what the protagonist forgets, or remembers – and when.
Also, does one really need a professor of symbology to make sense of the clues? As Brooks deftly demonstrates in one scene, a Google search could be just as helpful.
Then again, that would not make for a popcorn flick that people would want to watch.
(ST)
Ron Howard
The story: Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), professor of symbology at Harvard University, wakes up in a hospital in Florence with a head injury and no memory of how he got there and what happened in the last few days. When an assassin shows up, his doctor, Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), helps him get away. Together, they need to solve a series of clues to reach a deadly pathogen that could wipe out half of Earth’s population. Based on Dan Brown’s 2013 novel of the same name.
One of the pleasures a Dan Brown film adaptation offers is allowing viewers to watch the characters traipse about beloved landmarks and institutions and/or cavalierly handle all manner of cultural treasures – the Louvre’s Mona Lisa in 2006’s The Da Vinci Code (a replica was used) and the Vatican in 2009’s Angels & Demons (although filming did not actually take place there).
In Inferno, viewers get to see Hanks and Jones worming their way through crawlspaces and secret passages in Florence’s monumental town hall, Palazzo Vecchio, and the death mask of Italian poet Dante getting swiped as easily as candy in an unmanned shop.
Dante is the author of the 14th- century epic, Divine Comedy, of which part one is titled Inferno. The movie taps on his idea of hell to present unsettling images of extreme pain and suffering and also, a drawing of it contains the first riddle that Langdon has to solve.
Thanks to veteran director Ron Howard’s sure hand, one gets engrossed in Langdon and Brooks’ race against time in an elaborate game.
Details start to niggle only when one starts to think about them.
Langdon’s head trauma seems at first to be a good idea for the story – it means that the hero is compromised. But as with the recent thriller, The Girl On The Train (2016), the director makes use of a far too convenient plot device: what the protagonist forgets, or remembers – and when.
Also, does one really need a professor of symbology to make sense of the clues? As Brooks deftly demonstrates in one scene, a Google search could be just as helpful.
Then again, that would not make for a popcorn flick that people would want to watch.
(ST)
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Head Over Heels
Angela Chang
If Taiwan’s Angela Chang had a signature song, it would be Invisible Wings. The ballad from her third album Pandora (2006) has a message of hope and encouragement that resonates strongly with fans.
The opening track here, I’m Not Afraid, is in the same vein. It starts with Chang musing on the universality of pain (“Everyone is struggling/Everyone has somewhere they wish to go”) before she soars with the imagery of flight (“I’m flying through the dark night/Searching for that starlight that is mine/Though I know that honesty will get you hurt/I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid”).
The sentiment is familiar, but the track still works, thanks to its memorable melodic riff and her full- blooded delivery. Perhaps such songs strike a chord with Chang personally, who had to overcome a very public and unpleasant splitting of ways from her mother in the late noughties.
Another strong number here is the power ballad, Before Goodbye. She croons: “I’ve made it through those few years of utmost pain/All those familiar people, every face makes me reminisce.”
In contrast, the peppy joy-of-falling-in-love title track feels a little out of place here. But her fans should be happy to see this buoyant side of her.
(ST)
Angela Chang
If Taiwan’s Angela Chang had a signature song, it would be Invisible Wings. The ballad from her third album Pandora (2006) has a message of hope and encouragement that resonates strongly with fans.
The opening track here, I’m Not Afraid, is in the same vein. It starts with Chang musing on the universality of pain (“Everyone is struggling/Everyone has somewhere they wish to go”) before she soars with the imagery of flight (“I’m flying through the dark night/Searching for that starlight that is mine/Though I know that honesty will get you hurt/I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid”).
The sentiment is familiar, but the track still works, thanks to its memorable melodic riff and her full- blooded delivery. Perhaps such songs strike a chord with Chang personally, who had to overcome a very public and unpleasant splitting of ways from her mother in the late noughties.
Another strong number here is the power ballad, Before Goodbye. She croons: “I’ve made it through those few years of utmost pain/All those familiar people, every face makes me reminisce.”
In contrast, the peppy joy-of-falling-in-love title track feels a little out of place here. But her fans should be happy to see this buoyant side of her.
(ST)
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Southside With You
Richard Tanne
The story: Legal associate Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) has been trying to get lawyer Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) to go out with him. Eventually she agrees, although she insists it is not a date. They spend a day together, going from a museum to a meeting at a church to a screening of Spike Lee’s drama, Do The Right Thing (1989).
Could this film – a portrait of the outgoing United States First Couple as they were in 1989 over the course of a summer day in Chicago, Illinois – be anything other than respectful and safely sweet?
After all, the subjects are none other than one of the most powerful men in the world and his wife.
And the fact that they ended up together is a matter of fact, not an issue that is open to speculation.
So the somewhat surprising answer to the question is yes.
First-time writer-director Richard Tanne made the smart decision to follow Obama and Robinson over the course of one day and not be overly ambitious.
The day-long set-up has been employed to great effect in films such as Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995).
Here, viewers get the sense of the couple as two intelligent, idealistic people simply getting to know each other, and they are admirably fleshed out by the actors.
In his first leading role, Sawyers, who bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Obama, impresses with his ability to imbue the character with confidence and conviction.
Sumpter (Ride Along, 2014), who also produced the film, is very much his equal as the more wary and world-weary Robinson.
Instead of robbing the film of dramatic tension, knowing what we know now makes it fun when she describes her suitor as “that jive- talking stereotype from Good Times”, referring to a comedy about an Afro-American family that ran from 1974 to 1979.
Issues of race and mobility are addressed – Robinson sometimes feels like she is “going from Planet Black to Planet White” when she goes to work and the choice of film that they watch is deliberate – but Tanne avoids being heavy-handed about them.
There is also a scene of Obama winning over a group of doubters in a modest local church with his words, foreshadowing his rousing speeches in real life on the presidential campaign trail in 2008.
As Robinson remarks, that is a “pretty good setting to bring a girl”.
In the process, he wins over his date and the movie wins over the audience.
(ST)
Richard Tanne
The story: Legal associate Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) has been trying to get lawyer Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) to go out with him. Eventually she agrees, although she insists it is not a date. They spend a day together, going from a museum to a meeting at a church to a screening of Spike Lee’s drama, Do The Right Thing (1989).
Could this film – a portrait of the outgoing United States First Couple as they were in 1989 over the course of a summer day in Chicago, Illinois – be anything other than respectful and safely sweet?
After all, the subjects are none other than one of the most powerful men in the world and his wife.
And the fact that they ended up together is a matter of fact, not an issue that is open to speculation.
So the somewhat surprising answer to the question is yes.
First-time writer-director Richard Tanne made the smart decision to follow Obama and Robinson over the course of one day and not be overly ambitious.
The day-long set-up has been employed to great effect in films such as Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995).
Here, viewers get the sense of the couple as two intelligent, idealistic people simply getting to know each other, and they are admirably fleshed out by the actors.
In his first leading role, Sawyers, who bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Obama, impresses with his ability to imbue the character with confidence and conviction.
Sumpter (Ride Along, 2014), who also produced the film, is very much his equal as the more wary and world-weary Robinson.
Instead of robbing the film of dramatic tension, knowing what we know now makes it fun when she describes her suitor as “that jive- talking stereotype from Good Times”, referring to a comedy about an Afro-American family that ran from 1974 to 1979.
Issues of race and mobility are addressed – Robinson sometimes feels like she is “going from Planet Black to Planet White” when she goes to work and the choice of film that they watch is deliberate – but Tanne avoids being heavy-handed about them.
There is also a scene of Obama winning over a group of doubters in a modest local church with his words, foreshadowing his rousing speeches in real life on the presidential campaign trail in 2008.
As Robinson remarks, that is a “pretty good setting to bring a girl”.
In the process, he wins over his date and the movie wins over the audience.
(ST)
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Journey
Nicky Wu
The title of this album harks back to one of Nicky Wu’s best-known solo hits, Wish You A Smooth Journey, taken from his 1992 debut solo album, Wind Chaser.
Of course, the Taiwanese was already a star before that as the best-looking member of the boy band trio, Little Tigers, and not their strongest singer.
Maybe this is a reason for the 19-year break between the new album and his last, 1997’s Hero.
Another is that he has been focusing on acting, including in the hit period television drama, Scarlet Heart (2011).
On Journey, the opening synthesizer strains of Lonely By Nature already sound dated and, unfortunately, Wu seems resolutely stuck in the past. Even the title track fails to muster much excitement.
Perhaps the song of greatest interest is Hand In Hand, a duet with Cecilia Liu, his co-star from Scarlet Heart and now his wife. The track itself is nothing too exciting, though it does end on a sweet note with the chiming of wedding bells.
(ST)
Nicky Wu
The title of this album harks back to one of Nicky Wu’s best-known solo hits, Wish You A Smooth Journey, taken from his 1992 debut solo album, Wind Chaser.
Of course, the Taiwanese was already a star before that as the best-looking member of the boy band trio, Little Tigers, and not their strongest singer.
Maybe this is a reason for the 19-year break between the new album and his last, 1997’s Hero.
Another is that he has been focusing on acting, including in the hit period television drama, Scarlet Heart (2011).
On Journey, the opening synthesizer strains of Lonely By Nature already sound dated and, unfortunately, Wu seems resolutely stuck in the past. Even the title track fails to muster much excitement.
Perhaps the song of greatest interest is Hand In Hand, a duet with Cecilia Liu, his co-star from Scarlet Heart and now his wife. The track itself is nothing too exciting, though it does end on a sweet note with the chiming of wedding bells.
(ST)
Each time you think the Hallyu wave is about to peak, a new South Korean television series comes along and crests to another high.
In 2013, romance drama The Heirs, starring Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, took South Korea and beyond by storm. Then sci-fi romance My Love From The Star, with Gianna Jun and Kim Soo Hyun, surged to new heights of popularity in 2014. Earlier this year, military romance Descendants Of The Sun blazed a different path and turned Song Joong Ki into a megawatt star.
What these three shows have in common are beautiful actors and actresses, but that is only half of the reason K-dramas are flourishing.
The fact that they all star different actors points to the depth of talent in the industry. There is a seemingly inexhaustible supply of actors and actresses who not only look gorgeous but can act as well.
This becomes even clearer when you go beyond the blockbusters – a star is seemingly born every few months on the small screen.
Nostalgia drama Reply 1997 (2012) was a cable show that came in under the radar, but grew to make a big splash as word of mouth spread. Singer Seo In Guk had a star turn as the high school hotshot with a sensitive side and Jung Eun Ji from girl group Apink had an auspicious acting debut as a feisty superfan of male idol popsters Sechs Kies.
The drama Incomplete Life (2014) heralded the arrival of Yim Si Wan as a new acting talent as he played the part of workplace greenhorn Jang Geu Rae to perfection. He picked up several accolades, including a Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actor.
Interestingly, individuals who get lost within the confines of a boyband or girl group shine in the spotlight when they make the leap to television. Apart from Apink’s Jung and ZE:A’s Yim, there is also Lee Hyeri from Girl’s Day, who made a great impression in Reply 1988 (2015) as the bubbly high-schooler Sung Deok Sun. The ratings for the show’s final episode are the highest in Korean cable TV history.
The depth of talent in the acting pool extends to the creative pool.
A second reason for the thriving K-drama scene is the industry’s ability to come up with new concepts and to put a fresh spin on familiar ones.
The recently concluded W, written by Song Jae Jung and starring actor-model Lee Jong Suk and actress Han Hyo Joo, played mind games with its characters and viewers as the story unfolded across two parallel worlds – our world and the world of a hit webtoon, a comics title that is published online.
With a fresh and exciting premise, it kept viewers guessing throughout what was going to happen next.
You could say that it was an update of the concept Norwegian pop band A-ha used for their seminal music video for Take On Me in 1984, in which a woman enters the world of a comic strip she is reading.
Similarly, the crime thriller Signal (2016) borrowed a key idea from the American sci-fi thriller flick Frequency (2000) – two characters communicate with each other across time, using walkie-talkies in the former and a radio in the latter. To this it added an elaborate labyrinth of unsolved cases and personal connections. The result was gripping.
The ongoing period romance Love In The Moonlight is more than just a replay of the old chestnut of gender-bending – see Hong Kong rom-com He’s A Woman, She’s A Man (1994) or even the previous hit Korean series Coffee Prince (2007).
It’s a gender-pretzel as Kim Yoo Jung plays not just a girl in man’s clothing, but one who has to pretend to be a eunuch.
Moonlight is based on the Korean Web novel of the same name (in Korean) and it is proving to be popular enough that there are reports asking whether it could reach or even eclipse the ratings for Descendants Of The Sun.
Another reason shows from South Korea are thriving seems to boil down to a general tenet: no sequels.
Signal’s scriptwriter Kim Eun Hee has hinted at the possibility of a follow-up given the tantalisingly open-ended finale. But it would be an exception that proves the rule as none of the other titles mentioned above have yet had sequels.
Season 2 for Descendants Of The Sun is reportedly in the works, but it has also been said that stars Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo will not be returning and neither will director Lee Eung Bok and writer Kim Eun Sook. For fans of the show, that would be like getting a beautifully packaged gift, only to find that it does not contain what they want inside.
While the titling of Reply 1997, Reply 1994 (2013) and Reply 1988 suggests a continuity, they are best thought of as sibling series – recognisably part of the same family, but each with its own traits and quirks.
They share the same attention to period detail as well as a similar set-up – who will the female lead end up with among a large group of potential suitors. Yet each show is about different characters and stands alone on its own.
Keeping things contained to a single season forces a show to be compelling and complete in that timeframe.
And if a show fails to pique viewers’ interest, not to worry, the next one could well be the one to sweep you off your feet.
(ST)
In 2013, romance drama The Heirs, starring Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, took South Korea and beyond by storm. Then sci-fi romance My Love From The Star, with Gianna Jun and Kim Soo Hyun, surged to new heights of popularity in 2014. Earlier this year, military romance Descendants Of The Sun blazed a different path and turned Song Joong Ki into a megawatt star.
What these three shows have in common are beautiful actors and actresses, but that is only half of the reason K-dramas are flourishing.
The fact that they all star different actors points to the depth of talent in the industry. There is a seemingly inexhaustible supply of actors and actresses who not only look gorgeous but can act as well.
This becomes even clearer when you go beyond the blockbusters – a star is seemingly born every few months on the small screen.
Nostalgia drama Reply 1997 (2012) was a cable show that came in under the radar, but grew to make a big splash as word of mouth spread. Singer Seo In Guk had a star turn as the high school hotshot with a sensitive side and Jung Eun Ji from girl group Apink had an auspicious acting debut as a feisty superfan of male idol popsters Sechs Kies.
The drama Incomplete Life (2014) heralded the arrival of Yim Si Wan as a new acting talent as he played the part of workplace greenhorn Jang Geu Rae to perfection. He picked up several accolades, including a Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actor.
Interestingly, individuals who get lost within the confines of a boyband or girl group shine in the spotlight when they make the leap to television. Apart from Apink’s Jung and ZE:A’s Yim, there is also Lee Hyeri from Girl’s Day, who made a great impression in Reply 1988 (2015) as the bubbly high-schooler Sung Deok Sun. The ratings for the show’s final episode are the highest in Korean cable TV history.
The depth of talent in the acting pool extends to the creative pool.
A second reason for the thriving K-drama scene is the industry’s ability to come up with new concepts and to put a fresh spin on familiar ones.
The recently concluded W, written by Song Jae Jung and starring actor-model Lee Jong Suk and actress Han Hyo Joo, played mind games with its characters and viewers as the story unfolded across two parallel worlds – our world and the world of a hit webtoon, a comics title that is published online.
With a fresh and exciting premise, it kept viewers guessing throughout what was going to happen next.
You could say that it was an update of the concept Norwegian pop band A-ha used for their seminal music video for Take On Me in 1984, in which a woman enters the world of a comic strip she is reading.
Similarly, the crime thriller Signal (2016) borrowed a key idea from the American sci-fi thriller flick Frequency (2000) – two characters communicate with each other across time, using walkie-talkies in the former and a radio in the latter. To this it added an elaborate labyrinth of unsolved cases and personal connections. The result was gripping.
The ongoing period romance Love In The Moonlight is more than just a replay of the old chestnut of gender-bending – see Hong Kong rom-com He’s A Woman, She’s A Man (1994) or even the previous hit Korean series Coffee Prince (2007).
It’s a gender-pretzel as Kim Yoo Jung plays not just a girl in man’s clothing, but one who has to pretend to be a eunuch.
Moonlight is based on the Korean Web novel of the same name (in Korean) and it is proving to be popular enough that there are reports asking whether it could reach or even eclipse the ratings for Descendants Of The Sun.
Another reason shows from South Korea are thriving seems to boil down to a general tenet: no sequels.
Signal’s scriptwriter Kim Eun Hee has hinted at the possibility of a follow-up given the tantalisingly open-ended finale. But it would be an exception that proves the rule as none of the other titles mentioned above have yet had sequels.
Season 2 for Descendants Of The Sun is reportedly in the works, but it has also been said that stars Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo will not be returning and neither will director Lee Eung Bok and writer Kim Eun Sook. For fans of the show, that would be like getting a beautifully packaged gift, only to find that it does not contain what they want inside.
While the titling of Reply 1997, Reply 1994 (2013) and Reply 1988 suggests a continuity, they are best thought of as sibling series – recognisably part of the same family, but each with its own traits and quirks.
They share the same attention to period detail as well as a similar set-up – who will the female lead end up with among a large group of potential suitors. Yet each show is about different characters and stands alone on its own.
Keeping things contained to a single season forces a show to be compelling and complete in that timeframe.
And if a show fails to pique viewers’ interest, not to worry, the next one could well be the one to sweep you off your feet.
(ST)
A Chinese Odyssey Part Three
Jeffrey Lau
The story: Time-travelling with the help of Pandora’s Box, fairy Zixia (Tiffany Tang) realises that she will sacrifice herself for her loved one, Joker (Han Geng), the reincarnation of the Monkey King. She tries in vain to get him to fall in love with the demon, Bak Jing-jing (Karen Mok). Her plan B: marry the Bull King (Zhang Chao). On the day of the ceremony, the ersatz Monkey King (also played by Han) is sent to Earth to subdue the demons so that he can accompany Longevity Monk (Wu Jing) on his journey to the West, thus righting a mistake made by the Jade Emperor (Huang Zheng) in the heavenly annals.
A Chinese Odyssey sequel without Stephen Chow? This is a travesty.
The two-part A Chinese Odyssey (1995) was one of the key works cementing Chow’s reputation as a comic superstar and he will forever be associated with the dual roles of Joker and Monkey King.
The luckless stand-in here is singer-actor Han Geng, whose good-looking mug is no substitute for Chow’s priceless deadpan face.
Given the massive popularity of the earlier films in China, this new instalment was greenlit despite the absence of most of the original cast.
Apart from Mok, who reprises her role as a demon in what is essentially a cameo, the line-up of Hong Kong actors, including Athena Chu, Law Kar Ying and Ada Choi, has been replaced by names better known in China. For die-hard fans, this would be akin to returning to one’s childhood home, only to find it peopled with strangers – who are pretending to be one’s family.
At least Jeffrey Lau, who directed the classic two-parter, has returned to helm the sequel and also penned the script, which contains Chow’s signature mo lei tau style of nonsensical humour – Bull King’s sister (Zhang Yao) drools copiously at the sight of Joker and characters break into a Cantonese ballad to express their emotional conundrum.
Even then, these are recycled jokes. Nothing beats Law’s Longevity Monk earnestly massacring the oldie, Only You, as Chow’s Joker is pushed to the limits of his patience in Part Two.
Worse, while the earlier instalments were hailed for their special effects and high production values, this entry’s computer graphics look cheap and make things feel weightless and cut off from reality.
Of course, one can always make another film based on the literary classic, but even when Chow co-wrote, produced and directed his version without starring in it – Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons (2013) – he did not tag it with A Chinese Odyssey.
Despite Lau’s involvement here, in the end, it is hard to shake off the feeling that this was made solely for a quick buck.
(ST)
Jeffrey Lau
The story: Time-travelling with the help of Pandora’s Box, fairy Zixia (Tiffany Tang) realises that she will sacrifice herself for her loved one, Joker (Han Geng), the reincarnation of the Monkey King. She tries in vain to get him to fall in love with the demon, Bak Jing-jing (Karen Mok). Her plan B: marry the Bull King (Zhang Chao). On the day of the ceremony, the ersatz Monkey King (also played by Han) is sent to Earth to subdue the demons so that he can accompany Longevity Monk (Wu Jing) on his journey to the West, thus righting a mistake made by the Jade Emperor (Huang Zheng) in the heavenly annals.
A Chinese Odyssey sequel without Stephen Chow? This is a travesty.
The two-part A Chinese Odyssey (1995) was one of the key works cementing Chow’s reputation as a comic superstar and he will forever be associated with the dual roles of Joker and Monkey King.
The luckless stand-in here is singer-actor Han Geng, whose good-looking mug is no substitute for Chow’s priceless deadpan face.
Given the massive popularity of the earlier films in China, this new instalment was greenlit despite the absence of most of the original cast.
Apart from Mok, who reprises her role as a demon in what is essentially a cameo, the line-up of Hong Kong actors, including Athena Chu, Law Kar Ying and Ada Choi, has been replaced by names better known in China. For die-hard fans, this would be akin to returning to one’s childhood home, only to find it peopled with strangers – who are pretending to be one’s family.
At least Jeffrey Lau, who directed the classic two-parter, has returned to helm the sequel and also penned the script, which contains Chow’s signature mo lei tau style of nonsensical humour – Bull King’s sister (Zhang Yao) drools copiously at the sight of Joker and characters break into a Cantonese ballad to express their emotional conundrum.
Even then, these are recycled jokes. Nothing beats Law’s Longevity Monk earnestly massacring the oldie, Only You, as Chow’s Joker is pushed to the limits of his patience in Part Two.
Worse, while the earlier instalments were hailed for their special effects and high production values, this entry’s computer graphics look cheap and make things feel weightless and cut off from reality.
Of course, one can always make another film based on the literary classic, but even when Chow co-wrote, produced and directed his version without starring in it – Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons (2013) – he did not tag it with A Chinese Odyssey.
Despite Lau’s involvement here, in the end, it is hard to shake off the feeling that this was made solely for a quick buck.
(ST)
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Marauders
Steven C. Miller
The story: A group of men in kevlar masks carry out bank robberies in which they appear to be targeting specific people to kill. The FBI’s (Federal Bureau of Investigation’s) Jonathan Montgomery (Christopher Meloni) is on the case along with hotshot Wells (Adrian Grenier). The signs point to a dead soldier – and a cover-up by banker Jeffrey Hubert (Bruce Willis).
After 12 seasons of playing a cop on the long-running television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Meloni plays another one in Marauders.
The sense of familiarity deepens with the spectacle of masked men pulling off bank robberies, seen in countless other heist movies.
But, at least, there is something of interest here. The perpetrators use a wireless mini speaker to broadcast their instructions, so there is the surreal scene of a soothing Siri-like voice intoning: “Remain on the floor or we will kill you.”
This could well be the most arresting detail of the entire movie.
As in the Hong Kong movie S Storm, which also opens this week, there are clashes over territory between different agencies. In this case, though, there is a lot more macho posturing as Montgomery snarls at officer Mims (Johnathan Schaech) for intruding on FBI jurisdiction.
Mostly, the story is as grim as the setting, a city grey with foreboding and unrelenting rain. There are cops who might or might not be crooked, a soldier who might or might not be dead and a financier who might or might not be guilty of hiding something.
It is hard to care when the entire thing feels like a tired rehash of stock elements. And, no, adding Bruce Willis’ smirk and a perfunctory twist at the end does not help matters.
(ST)
Steven C. Miller
The story: A group of men in kevlar masks carry out bank robberies in which they appear to be targeting specific people to kill. The FBI’s (Federal Bureau of Investigation’s) Jonathan Montgomery (Christopher Meloni) is on the case along with hotshot Wells (Adrian Grenier). The signs point to a dead soldier – and a cover-up by banker Jeffrey Hubert (Bruce Willis).
After 12 seasons of playing a cop on the long-running television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Meloni plays another one in Marauders.
The sense of familiarity deepens with the spectacle of masked men pulling off bank robberies, seen in countless other heist movies.
But, at least, there is something of interest here. The perpetrators use a wireless mini speaker to broadcast their instructions, so there is the surreal scene of a soothing Siri-like voice intoning: “Remain on the floor or we will kill you.”
This could well be the most arresting detail of the entire movie.
As in the Hong Kong movie S Storm, which also opens this week, there are clashes over territory between different agencies. In this case, though, there is a lot more macho posturing as Montgomery snarls at officer Mims (Johnathan Schaech) for intruding on FBI jurisdiction.
Mostly, the story is as grim as the setting, a city grey with foreboding and unrelenting rain. There are cops who might or might not be crooked, a soldier who might or might not be dead and a financier who might or might not be guilty of hiding something.
It is hard to care when the entire thing feels like a tired rehash of stock elements. And, no, adding Bruce Willis’ smirk and a perfunctory twist at the end does not help matters.
(ST)
S Storm
David Lam
The story: There is something fishy about the betting on football matches taking place at the jockey club. To uncover the truth, investigator Luk (Louis Koo) from the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) and detective Lau (Julian Cheung) have to put aside their differences and work together. Thrown into the mix are a skilled assassin (Vic Chou) and Lau’s sister (Dada Chan), who is also the damsel in distress. The sequel to 2014’s Z Storm.
I had forgotten about Z Storm, as the generic crime thriller had not left much of an impression. And sadly, the sequel to that forgettable flick does not fare much better.
The public service element of educating the public remains, except that this time around, it is less about the noble work of the ICAC and more about the dangers of gambling and the fact that anyone can fall into its clutches, including the cop Lau.
Scriptwriter Wong Ho Wa and director David Lam try to add a new dimension by introducing another police department and highlighting the differences between the elite ICAC with high-tech resources at their disposal and the lowly crime unit headed by Lau. There is some fun in watching how fiercely they each guard their territory.
There is also a brewing bromance between Koo and Cheung as their characters bond over how no one understands how tough things are for them.
Too bad there is no time for this or anything else to be explored. In addition to Chou (unconvincing as a killer) and Chan, there is also Ada Choi as another ICAC officer, Bowie Lam as a former ICAC agent-turned-jockey- club-security manager, not to mention the required villains of the piece.
To tie together all the characters, the story is drenched in lazy coincidences and oh-so-convenient plot turns.
Not the kind of storm that makes for exciting viewing.
(ST)
David Lam
The story: There is something fishy about the betting on football matches taking place at the jockey club. To uncover the truth, investigator Luk (Louis Koo) from the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) and detective Lau (Julian Cheung) have to put aside their differences and work together. Thrown into the mix are a skilled assassin (Vic Chou) and Lau’s sister (Dada Chan), who is also the damsel in distress. The sequel to 2014’s Z Storm.
I had forgotten about Z Storm, as the generic crime thriller had not left much of an impression. And sadly, the sequel to that forgettable flick does not fare much better.
The public service element of educating the public remains, except that this time around, it is less about the noble work of the ICAC and more about the dangers of gambling and the fact that anyone can fall into its clutches, including the cop Lau.
Scriptwriter Wong Ho Wa and director David Lam try to add a new dimension by introducing another police department and highlighting the differences between the elite ICAC with high-tech resources at their disposal and the lowly crime unit headed by Lau. There is some fun in watching how fiercely they each guard their territory.
There is also a brewing bromance between Koo and Cheung as their characters bond over how no one understands how tough things are for them.
Too bad there is no time for this or anything else to be explored. In addition to Chou (unconvincing as a killer) and Chan, there is also Ada Choi as another ICAC officer, Bowie Lam as a former ICAC agent-turned-jockey- club-security manager, not to mention the required villains of the piece.
To tie together all the characters, the story is drenched in lazy coincidences and oh-so-convenient plot turns.
Not the kind of storm that makes for exciting viewing.
(ST)
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Kit Chan Spellbound Homecoming Concert 2016
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Saturday
What did the addition of Homecoming to the concert title mean for local singer Kit Chan’s show?
For starters, instead of the more intimate The Star Theatre, where she kicked off her regional Spellbound tour last June, the venue this time was the Indoor Stadium.
Production was ramped up with more lighting and stage effects, but they never swamped the star of the show and her luminous voice. She sounded great throughout the 21/2-hour show – the audience could hear every nuance of tone and emotion in her singing. Even her cover of David Huang’s You Make Me Drunk, a song that is in danger of being overexposed, felt fresh.
It had been 15 years since she last performed at this venue, yet she owned it as if she had never been away.
In between songs, she chatted easily with her fans like they were her old friends. At one point, she thanked celebrity hairstylist David Gan for his bird’s nest soup, quipping that he gave it away like complimentary coffee.
Since the previous Singapore gig, Chan has released her first album of original material, The Edge Of Paradise, in 12 years. Apart from the track Spellbound, she added three songs from it to the show, including the jazzy Don’t Ask Me Why I Love You, originally written for the late Leslie Cheung.
Quite a few things remained unchanged, though.
Her choice of covers to illustrate her ease in English and Cantonese remained largely similar. They included the Prince-penned Nothing Compares 2 U, Lana Del Rey’s Young And Beautiful and Cheung’s Left And Right Hands.
Nevertheless it was still a joy listening to Chan as she made the songs her own.
What could have done with some updating were portions of the scripted banter. The introductions to emo ballad Dazzle and Marilyn Monroe’s My Heart Belongs To Daddy would have been all too familiar to those who went for the previous show.
None of it mattered anyway, because Chan went into full chanteuse mode and turned the Hollywood bombshell’s number into a slinky and cheeky showstopper, earning a round of thunderous applause.
After the entire stadium surprised her with an early happy birthday song, she told the audience of 7,000: “Thank you for having been with me for such a long time. The scenery along the way has been beautiful.”
Ditto the accompanying soundtrack of her songs over the years.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Saturday
What did the addition of Homecoming to the concert title mean for local singer Kit Chan’s show?
For starters, instead of the more intimate The Star Theatre, where she kicked off her regional Spellbound tour last June, the venue this time was the Indoor Stadium.
Production was ramped up with more lighting and stage effects, but they never swamped the star of the show and her luminous voice. She sounded great throughout the 21/2-hour show – the audience could hear every nuance of tone and emotion in her singing. Even her cover of David Huang’s You Make Me Drunk, a song that is in danger of being overexposed, felt fresh.
It had been 15 years since she last performed at this venue, yet she owned it as if she had never been away.
In between songs, she chatted easily with her fans like they were her old friends. At one point, she thanked celebrity hairstylist David Gan for his bird’s nest soup, quipping that he gave it away like complimentary coffee.
Since the previous Singapore gig, Chan has released her first album of original material, The Edge Of Paradise, in 12 years. Apart from the track Spellbound, she added three songs from it to the show, including the jazzy Don’t Ask Me Why I Love You, originally written for the late Leslie Cheung.
Quite a few things remained unchanged, though.
Her choice of covers to illustrate her ease in English and Cantonese remained largely similar. They included the Prince-penned Nothing Compares 2 U, Lana Del Rey’s Young And Beautiful and Cheung’s Left And Right Hands.
Nevertheless it was still a joy listening to Chan as she made the songs her own.
What could have done with some updating were portions of the scripted banter. The introductions to emo ballad Dazzle and Marilyn Monroe’s My Heart Belongs To Daddy would have been all too familiar to those who went for the previous show.
None of it mattered anyway, because Chan went into full chanteuse mode and turned the Hollywood bombshell’s number into a slinky and cheeky showstopper, earning a round of thunderous applause.
After the entire stadium surprised her with an early happy birthday song, she told the audience of 7,000: “Thank you for having been with me for such a long time. The scenery along the way has been beautiful.”
Ditto the accompanying soundtrack of her songs over the years.
(ST)
Wednesday, September 07, 2016
Talk About Eve
Eve Ai
Whenever The Sum Of Us plays on the radio, I feel like I should stop what I am doing to give it my full attention.
The ballad is written by Eve Ai and features a spare guitar arrangement. It does not scream for attention, yet is utterly compelling in its quietness. The lyrics beautifully sustain a metaphor about love and mathematics that is both unusual and poignant.
“No one has ever been able to perfectly expound on this and come to a conclusion/But to me, it’s still beautiful/Don’t dream of discovering the evidence/Of who loves who, published as a proof.”
You can cherish a relationship even when things do not add up.
The third album from the season five winner of Taiwanese television singing competition Super Idol in 2011 is Ai’s most beguiling yet. It lives up to the sobriquet of “Queen of Blues”, conferred by music producer Wang Chi-ping.
There is a soulfulness to her singing that lifts even more conventional material such as Harmless Loneliness, turning it into another highlight on the album.
She is also a versatile artist who can flit easily between balladry and other genres.
Talk, composed by talented newcomer singersongwriter Eric Chou, is a sultry R&B number tailormade for her lightly husky pipes. She promises: “When the crowd stops swaying/When the music starts getting softer/I say, I say, I say/Will be with you till the end?”
She rocks out on Escape Plan, chills on reggae-tinged Take Me To A Sunny Island and swings effortlessly on Dependence.
When she sings the refrain of “Then you come along” in English on the Mandarin track of the same name, packing a range of emotions into that repeated phrase, you can understand why she was once hailed as Taiwan’s Adele.
The comparison to the British star is meant to be flattering but, really, there is no question that Ai is her own woman.
(ST)
Eve Ai
Whenever The Sum Of Us plays on the radio, I feel like I should stop what I am doing to give it my full attention.
The ballad is written by Eve Ai and features a spare guitar arrangement. It does not scream for attention, yet is utterly compelling in its quietness. The lyrics beautifully sustain a metaphor about love and mathematics that is both unusual and poignant.
“No one has ever been able to perfectly expound on this and come to a conclusion/But to me, it’s still beautiful/Don’t dream of discovering the evidence/Of who loves who, published as a proof.”
You can cherish a relationship even when things do not add up.
The third album from the season five winner of Taiwanese television singing competition Super Idol in 2011 is Ai’s most beguiling yet. It lives up to the sobriquet of “Queen of Blues”, conferred by music producer Wang Chi-ping.
There is a soulfulness to her singing that lifts even more conventional material such as Harmless Loneliness, turning it into another highlight on the album.
She is also a versatile artist who can flit easily between balladry and other genres.
Talk, composed by talented newcomer singersongwriter Eric Chou, is a sultry R&B number tailormade for her lightly husky pipes. She promises: “When the crowd stops swaying/When the music starts getting softer/I say, I say, I say/Will be with you till the end?”
She rocks out on Escape Plan, chills on reggae-tinged Take Me To A Sunny Island and swings effortlessly on Dependence.
When she sings the refrain of “Then you come along” in English on the Mandarin track of the same name, packing a range of emotions into that repeated phrase, you can understand why she was once hailed as Taiwan’s Adele.
The comparison to the British star is meant to be flattering but, really, there is no question that Ai is her own woman.
(ST)
Monday, September 05, 2016
“The Invincible” Jay Chou Concert Tour 2016
National Stadium/Last Saturday
Since his last concert in Singapore in December 2014, Mandopop king Jay Chou has gotten married and is now the father of a little girl.
These are major life changes and they have clearly shaped his new album, Jay Chou’s Bedtime Stories (2016). But he made no mention of his wife and daughter and the only hint of domestic bliss was when he asked the sold-out crowd of 40,000: “Have I put on weight?”
Then he added teasingly: “If you listen to my songs, you’ll never get fat, I mean, old.”
Otherwise, the man himself was hard to pin down from his pat banter and it sometimes felt as if he was a little elusive during the gig, even if the production was top-notch.
Visually, this was a spectacular concert.
A suspended man in a spacesuit appeared to float through space as images of the cosmos were projected onto the screens on stage. Next, the concertgoers were plunging deep into a space vehicle and, finally, Chou himself appeared in a lit outfit which made him look like a walking pink skeleton. And this was just for the opening song, Hero.
The gothic segment for Bedtime Stories featured background visuals, which looked like they could have been outtakes from a Tim Burton animated film. The stage was transformed into the stained-glass interior of a cathedral for In The Name Of The Father and into an expansive underwater world for Mermaid.
But, sometimes, you wished that the excellent staging could have been in service of stronger material. The tracks from his recent albums tended to feel familiar where his songs were once fresh and exciting.
The excitement was palpable whenever he launched into his earlier hits, including Can’t Express Myself from 2001’s Fantasy and Peninsula Iron Box from 2002’s The Eight Dimensions. Unfortunately, Year Three, Class Two from 2003’s Ye Hui Mei – named after Chou’s mother – was merely filler for an interlude and not performed in full.
At least, the problem of murky sound that plagued his previous concert at the same venue did not resurface. From where the media were seated – centre and near the front – the sound was a little echoey at times, but not enough to be ruinous.
Chou was not at his best vocally. Had he been too busy taping the China reality television show Sing! China? He was too ready to point his microphone towards the audience members for them to chorus along and he seemed to be relying quite a bit on his back-up singers.
The concert was 21/2 hours long and one segment which could have been trimmed was the interaction with fans. It was great for those who were picked to sing with their idol, but it was largely a draggy affair for everyone else.
After all, it was Chou for whom the crowd came for and the extra time could have yielded a few more classic hits or maybe even a tiny peek into his life as husband and father.
(ST)
National Stadium/Last Saturday
Since his last concert in Singapore in December 2014, Mandopop king Jay Chou has gotten married and is now the father of a little girl.
These are major life changes and they have clearly shaped his new album, Jay Chou’s Bedtime Stories (2016). But he made no mention of his wife and daughter and the only hint of domestic bliss was when he asked the sold-out crowd of 40,000: “Have I put on weight?”
Then he added teasingly: “If you listen to my songs, you’ll never get fat, I mean, old.”
Otherwise, the man himself was hard to pin down from his pat banter and it sometimes felt as if he was a little elusive during the gig, even if the production was top-notch.
Visually, this was a spectacular concert.
A suspended man in a spacesuit appeared to float through space as images of the cosmos were projected onto the screens on stage. Next, the concertgoers were plunging deep into a space vehicle and, finally, Chou himself appeared in a lit outfit which made him look like a walking pink skeleton. And this was just for the opening song, Hero.
The gothic segment for Bedtime Stories featured background visuals, which looked like they could have been outtakes from a Tim Burton animated film. The stage was transformed into the stained-glass interior of a cathedral for In The Name Of The Father and into an expansive underwater world for Mermaid.
But, sometimes, you wished that the excellent staging could have been in service of stronger material. The tracks from his recent albums tended to feel familiar where his songs were once fresh and exciting.
The excitement was palpable whenever he launched into his earlier hits, including Can’t Express Myself from 2001’s Fantasy and Peninsula Iron Box from 2002’s The Eight Dimensions. Unfortunately, Year Three, Class Two from 2003’s Ye Hui Mei – named after Chou’s mother – was merely filler for an interlude and not performed in full.
At least, the problem of murky sound that plagued his previous concert at the same venue did not resurface. From where the media were seated – centre and near the front – the sound was a little echoey at times, but not enough to be ruinous.
Chou was not at his best vocally. Had he been too busy taping the China reality television show Sing! China? He was too ready to point his microphone towards the audience members for them to chorus along and he seemed to be relying quite a bit on his back-up singers.
The concert was 21/2 hours long and one segment which could have been trimmed was the interaction with fans. It was great for those who were picked to sing with their idol, but it was largely a draggy affair for everyone else.
After all, it was Chou for whom the crowd came for and the extra time could have yielded a few more classic hits or maybe even a tiny peek into his life as husband and father.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
History Of Tomorrow
Mayday
The passing of time and growing older are themes that top Taiwanese band Mayday have explored before, on works such as Poetry Of The Day After (2008), and continue exploring on their ninth album, where they ask: “How did they get here? What comes next?”
“If we had never met, where would I be?/If we had never known each other, this song wouldn’t exist,” singer Ashin ruminates on opening track What If... With other songs touching on similar themes (Best Day Of My Life, Beginning Of The End), they cast their gaze to the past and look to the future.
In the five years since their last album, The Second Round (2011), two more members have gotten married, leaving Ashin as the sole bachelor. Perhaps those developments have prompted some of the introspection here.
What remains constant is the band’s ability to come up with compelling hooks that are by turns sunny, sweet and stirring.
One of the most moving numbers here is the poignant Here, After, Us as Ashin’s voice taps directly and deeply into the emotions: “Only hope that the future you will be happy/That’s what the future me wants most of all.”
While some of the tracks feel a little calculated – Party Animal fills the quota for a fast-paced arena anthem – the staunch friendship among the members remains genuine. There is a touching ode to their bond in Brotherhood: “Brothers, how have you been, it’s hard to imagine what things would be like without you.”
Fans of the band would feel the same way.
(ST)
Mayday
The passing of time and growing older are themes that top Taiwanese band Mayday have explored before, on works such as Poetry Of The Day After (2008), and continue exploring on their ninth album, where they ask: “How did they get here? What comes next?”
“If we had never met, where would I be?/If we had never known each other, this song wouldn’t exist,” singer Ashin ruminates on opening track What If... With other songs touching on similar themes (Best Day Of My Life, Beginning Of The End), they cast their gaze to the past and look to the future.
In the five years since their last album, The Second Round (2011), two more members have gotten married, leaving Ashin as the sole bachelor. Perhaps those developments have prompted some of the introspection here.
What remains constant is the band’s ability to come up with compelling hooks that are by turns sunny, sweet and stirring.
One of the most moving numbers here is the poignant Here, After, Us as Ashin’s voice taps directly and deeply into the emotions: “Only hope that the future you will be happy/That’s what the future me wants most of all.”
While some of the tracks feel a little calculated – Party Animal fills the quota for a fast-paced arena anthem – the staunch friendship among the members remains genuine. There is a touching ode to their bond in Brotherhood: “Brothers, how have you been, it’s hard to imagine what things would be like without you.”
Fans of the band would feel the same way.
(ST)
Pete's Dragon
David Lowery
The story: After his parents die in a car crash, Pete (Oakes Fegley as the 11-year-old and Levi Alexander as the five-year-old at the time of the accident) comes face to face with a dragon that he names Elliott. Six years later, the forest they live in is being cleared and lumberjack Gavin (Karl Urban) leads an expedition to track down Elliott. Meanwhile, park ranger Grace Meacham’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) maternal instinct is aroused when she comes across Pete. A remake of the 1977 musical live-action/ animated film of the same name.
The animated dragon in the 1977 film was goofy-looking with a mop of red hair and an impressive belly. For this live-action flick, Elliott has been completely reimagined.
While audiences today might be more familiar with the scaly, reptilian creatures of the fantasy
television blockbuster Game Of Thrones or the movie series adaptation of The Hobbit (2012- 2014), moviegoers get quite a different kind of dragon in this feel-good family film.
Elliott is green and furry and behaves like an overgrown puppy, be it bolting through the forest with abandon or chasing after his tail. Little details, such as the coat of fur being ruffled by the wind and a prominent chipped fang, help to bring him to life.
Thankfully, the film-makers resisted giving a speaking voice to the dragon, who communicates through expressive grunts and growls.
What makes the film tick is Oakes as Pete and the connection that he has with Elliott.
While he seems to have a remarkable command of English despite being essentially raised by an animal, the little boy touchingly mimics the dragon by howling when he is upset.
Bryce Dallas Howard, who recently faced down nastier creatures in Jurassic World (2015), provides maternal warmth, while screen legend Robert Redford plays her father, who once encountered
Elliott, with a twinkle in his eye.
With the trigger-happy Gavin, writer-director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, 2013) seems to be taking aim at how man’s first instinct, when confronted with the unknown, is to pick up a gun and shoot at it.
Still, it is safe for parents to take their little ones to watch Pete’s Dragon. The bigger lessons in this sweet and gentle film are about the family you make, the ties that bind and the fact that you can be a good friend, regardless of your size.
(ST)
David Lowery
The story: After his parents die in a car crash, Pete (Oakes Fegley as the 11-year-old and Levi Alexander as the five-year-old at the time of the accident) comes face to face with a dragon that he names Elliott. Six years later, the forest they live in is being cleared and lumberjack Gavin (Karl Urban) leads an expedition to track down Elliott. Meanwhile, park ranger Grace Meacham’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) maternal instinct is aroused when she comes across Pete. A remake of the 1977 musical live-action/ animated film of the same name.
The animated dragon in the 1977 film was goofy-looking with a mop of red hair and an impressive belly. For this live-action flick, Elliott has been completely reimagined.
While audiences today might be more familiar with the scaly, reptilian creatures of the fantasy
television blockbuster Game Of Thrones or the movie series adaptation of The Hobbit (2012- 2014), moviegoers get quite a different kind of dragon in this feel-good family film.
Elliott is green and furry and behaves like an overgrown puppy, be it bolting through the forest with abandon or chasing after his tail. Little details, such as the coat of fur being ruffled by the wind and a prominent chipped fang, help to bring him to life.
Thankfully, the film-makers resisted giving a speaking voice to the dragon, who communicates through expressive grunts and growls.
What makes the film tick is Oakes as Pete and the connection that he has with Elliott.
While he seems to have a remarkable command of English despite being essentially raised by an animal, the little boy touchingly mimics the dragon by howling when he is upset.
Bryce Dallas Howard, who recently faced down nastier creatures in Jurassic World (2015), provides maternal warmth, while screen legend Robert Redford plays her father, who once encountered
Elliott, with a twinkle in his eye.
With the trigger-happy Gavin, writer-director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, 2013) seems to be taking aim at how man’s first instinct, when confronted with the unknown, is to pick up a gun and shoot at it.
Still, it is safe for parents to take their little ones to watch Pete’s Dragon. The bigger lessons in this sweet and gentle film are about the family you make, the ties that bind and the fact that you can be a good friend, regardless of your size.
(ST)
Monday, August 29, 2016
Power Station Next Station World Tour In Singapore
Resorts World Ballroom, Resorts World Convention Centre/Last Saturday
Right from the get-go, Taiwanese duo Power Station revved up the energy level.
They came on with guitars blazing, tearing into an energetic opening medley. Yu Chiu-hsin and Yen Chih-lin are known for their brand of tuneful, rugged rock as well as their heart-on-sleeve ballads, which reveal a softer side.
Both their voices are instruments of vigour and power, and neither held back as they belted out the high notes with gusto.
You wondered if they could sustain this level of energy and singing for the entire concert. And they did, for an impressive three hours.
They took the full-house crowd of 6,000 on a thorough tour of their catalogue, beginning with their 1997 hit, Cruel Love Letters, through 1998’s Tomorrow’s Tomorrow’s Tomorrow, 2001’s Walking On Chung Hsiao East Road Nine Times, all the way to songs from their latest album, Light (2013).
There were noticeable tweaks to some of the material.
A guitar solo intro was tacked onto Cruel Love Letters and it was a bluesier, grittier version; while Tomorrow was pared down. The result was more intense renditions of the original recordings.
They also covered a few tracks, including an electrifying version of Faye Wong’s hit ballad Sky. Their take came with a propulsive rhythm and a sense of delight at the boundless expanse of the heavens.
What was unnecessary though was a perfunctory stroll through the hits of the four heavenly kings: Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok. It came close to feeling like a karaoke session and merely took time away from Power Station’s own material.
Interestingly enough, they had sung the theme songs for several Singapore television series and these were performed in a far more relevant segment.
The best known is probably the inspirational I Can Take Hardships for the period drama, Stepping Out (1999).
Their connection to Singapore goes even deeper and they invited home-grown songwriter Eric Ng on stage as a guest guitarist. It was Ng who co-composed the title theme track for their current tour, Next Stop.
While Yu did most of the talking during the gig, the most heartwarming moment belonged to Yen, when his two young daughters came on stage and sang along on I’ve Loved You.
He cajoled them by saying that next time, they could all sing Let It Go, the megahit from the animated film Frozen (2013).
Given the rousing vocal prowess of Power Station and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of hits, that was the one thing the audience was reluctant to do.
(ST)
Resorts World Ballroom, Resorts World Convention Centre/Last Saturday
Right from the get-go, Taiwanese duo Power Station revved up the energy level.
They came on with guitars blazing, tearing into an energetic opening medley. Yu Chiu-hsin and Yen Chih-lin are known for their brand of tuneful, rugged rock as well as their heart-on-sleeve ballads, which reveal a softer side.
Both their voices are instruments of vigour and power, and neither held back as they belted out the high notes with gusto.
You wondered if they could sustain this level of energy and singing for the entire concert. And they did, for an impressive three hours.
They took the full-house crowd of 6,000 on a thorough tour of their catalogue, beginning with their 1997 hit, Cruel Love Letters, through 1998’s Tomorrow’s Tomorrow’s Tomorrow, 2001’s Walking On Chung Hsiao East Road Nine Times, all the way to songs from their latest album, Light (2013).
There were noticeable tweaks to some of the material.
A guitar solo intro was tacked onto Cruel Love Letters and it was a bluesier, grittier version; while Tomorrow was pared down. The result was more intense renditions of the original recordings.
They also covered a few tracks, including an electrifying version of Faye Wong’s hit ballad Sky. Their take came with a propulsive rhythm and a sense of delight at the boundless expanse of the heavens.
What was unnecessary though was a perfunctory stroll through the hits of the four heavenly kings: Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok. It came close to feeling like a karaoke session and merely took time away from Power Station’s own material.
Interestingly enough, they had sung the theme songs for several Singapore television series and these were performed in a far more relevant segment.
The best known is probably the inspirational I Can Take Hardships for the period drama, Stepping Out (1999).
Their connection to Singapore goes even deeper and they invited home-grown songwriter Eric Ng on stage as a guest guitarist. It was Ng who co-composed the title theme track for their current tour, Next Stop.
While Yu did most of the talking during the gig, the most heartwarming moment belonged to Yen, when his two young daughters came on stage and sang along on I’ve Loved You.
He cajoled them by saying that next time, they could all sing Let It Go, the megahit from the animated film Frozen (2013).
Given the rousing vocal prowess of Power Station and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of hits, that was the one thing the audience was reluctant to do.
(ST)
Terry Lin ONEtake Concert 2016 World Tour In Singapore
Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre/Last Friday
In many ways, Taiwan’s Terry Lin is an unlikely pop star.
Bespectacled and gangly, he is not quite idol material. Nor does he have the effusiveness of a natural entertainer.
Indeed, some of the staging for the concert was a little awkward as he introduced the erhu accompanist as his lover in a past life and the violin player as his current flame.
He also pretended to be an alien from space at one point.
But none of that mattered the moment he started to sing. When Lin sings, he performs an act of alchemy.
As he took on Jay Chou’s Fireworks Cool Easily, he transformed a melancholic pop tune into a thing of beauty shimmering with loneliness and longing.
There is a purity to his voice that makes every emotion ring bright and true, and his is a set of pipes that glides effortlessly over the high notes, even in falsetto.
It all came together wonderfully on ballads such as Losing You, What Does It Matter If I Win The World and The Departed, which he dedicated to his late mother.
Mandopop fans of a certain age would remember Lin and Lee Chi as the pop duo Ukulele from the early 1990s.
As a solo artist, he went on to chalk up a few hits, including Mona Lisa’s Tear and Bachelor’s Love Song. He performed these two tracks right off the bat, cloaked in a bright red coat and sporting shades and a perky pompadour.
There was a point to putting two of his best-known solo numbers up front.
He said to the audience of 6,000: “I usually put one at the beginning and one at the end, so that’s the whole show. Actually, I wanted to let you know I have a lot more good songs beyond these two.”
Many of the numbers during the two-hour-long gig were those he had sung on the popular China television reality show, I Am A Singer, in 2013. He emerged second, behind Chinese duo Yu Quan that first season and it gave his singing career a second wind.
At the concert, he performed Chyi Chin’s exquisite Night Night Night Night and a Mandarin version of Eason Chan’s dramatic Grandiose.
He even breathed new life into that hackneyed love ballad, Air Supply’s Making Love Out Of Nothing At All. This was despite the fact that the 50-year-old was nursing a slight cough and not quite in tip-top condition.
Lin also showed his range by singing in Cantonese and Minnan. And while a jazzy segment was meant to change up the pace, I would have preferred to hear more of his work from his Ukulele days.
Losing You was lovely, but what about Admit I’m Wrong and Journey Of The Young?
As if acknowledging the omissions, he encouraged fans who were left unsatiated to attend his upcoming concert at Taipei Arena in November.
A tempting proposition indeed.
(ST)
Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre/Last Friday
In many ways, Taiwan’s Terry Lin is an unlikely pop star.
Bespectacled and gangly, he is not quite idol material. Nor does he have the effusiveness of a natural entertainer.
Indeed, some of the staging for the concert was a little awkward as he introduced the erhu accompanist as his lover in a past life and the violin player as his current flame.
He also pretended to be an alien from space at one point.
But none of that mattered the moment he started to sing. When Lin sings, he performs an act of alchemy.
As he took on Jay Chou’s Fireworks Cool Easily, he transformed a melancholic pop tune into a thing of beauty shimmering with loneliness and longing.
There is a purity to his voice that makes every emotion ring bright and true, and his is a set of pipes that glides effortlessly over the high notes, even in falsetto.
It all came together wonderfully on ballads such as Losing You, What Does It Matter If I Win The World and The Departed, which he dedicated to his late mother.
Mandopop fans of a certain age would remember Lin and Lee Chi as the pop duo Ukulele from the early 1990s.
As a solo artist, he went on to chalk up a few hits, including Mona Lisa’s Tear and Bachelor’s Love Song. He performed these two tracks right off the bat, cloaked in a bright red coat and sporting shades and a perky pompadour.
There was a point to putting two of his best-known solo numbers up front.
He said to the audience of 6,000: “I usually put one at the beginning and one at the end, so that’s the whole show. Actually, I wanted to let you know I have a lot more good songs beyond these two.”
Many of the numbers during the two-hour-long gig were those he had sung on the popular China television reality show, I Am A Singer, in 2013. He emerged second, behind Chinese duo Yu Quan that first season and it gave his singing career a second wind.
At the concert, he performed Chyi Chin’s exquisite Night Night Night Night and a Mandarin version of Eason Chan’s dramatic Grandiose.
He even breathed new life into that hackneyed love ballad, Air Supply’s Making Love Out Of Nothing At All. This was despite the fact that the 50-year-old was nursing a slight cough and not quite in tip-top condition.
Lin also showed his range by singing in Cantonese and Minnan. And while a jazzy segment was meant to change up the pace, I would have preferred to hear more of his work from his Ukulele days.
Losing You was lovely, but what about Admit I’m Wrong and Journey Of The Young?
As if acknowledging the omissions, he encouraged fans who were left unsatiated to attend his upcoming concert at Taipei Arena in November.
A tempting proposition indeed.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Rainbow Bot
Stefanie Sun
When was the last time you looked at the world through a child’s eyes?
Inspired by motherhood, Mandopop queen Stefanie Sun has put out an EP that captures the sense of innocence and wonder of childhood.
The title number, Rainbow Bot, is the lone new song here. Over a laidback mid-tempo beat and with a carefree whistled accompaniment, she sings: “Does that cloud look like ice cream/Grasp it between your fingers and it’s a sandwich cookie.”
Other tracks seem to tap into her maternal instinct.
The home-grown star offers a very different version of Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine. In contrast to Axl Rose’s fervent wailing on the rock ballad, she evokes sweetness and even whimsy, through an arrangement which incorporates the ukulele, trumpet and xylophone. When she proclaims “I’d hate to look into those eyes/And see an ounce of pain”, you wonder if she is picturing her son, who is almost four.
Kepler, from her 2014 album of the same name, has been reworked into a sparer version. She launches into the song with no accompaniment save for the natural sounds of night and it feels utterly intimate, as though you were listening in on her singing a lullaby to her child.
The other two songs are Nursery Rhyme 1987, written by xinyao leading light Liang Wern Fook and set to a different tune here, and the achingly poignant This World. It was by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Tsai Lan-chin, who died in 1987 at the age of 22 from illness.
Sweet Child O’ Mine was originally released on the seminal album, Appetite For Destruction in 1987, when Sun was nine.
Rainbow Bot is as much an invoking of her own childhood as a celebration of all children.
(ST)
Stefanie Sun
When was the last time you looked at the world through a child’s eyes?
Inspired by motherhood, Mandopop queen Stefanie Sun has put out an EP that captures the sense of innocence and wonder of childhood.
The title number, Rainbow Bot, is the lone new song here. Over a laidback mid-tempo beat and with a carefree whistled accompaniment, she sings: “Does that cloud look like ice cream/Grasp it between your fingers and it’s a sandwich cookie.”
Other tracks seem to tap into her maternal instinct.
The home-grown star offers a very different version of Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine. In contrast to Axl Rose’s fervent wailing on the rock ballad, she evokes sweetness and even whimsy, through an arrangement which incorporates the ukulele, trumpet and xylophone. When she proclaims “I’d hate to look into those eyes/And see an ounce of pain”, you wonder if she is picturing her son, who is almost four.
Kepler, from her 2014 album of the same name, has been reworked into a sparer version. She launches into the song with no accompaniment save for the natural sounds of night and it feels utterly intimate, as though you were listening in on her singing a lullaby to her child.
The other two songs are Nursery Rhyme 1987, written by xinyao leading light Liang Wern Fook and set to a different tune here, and the achingly poignant This World. It was by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Tsai Lan-chin, who died in 1987 at the age of 22 from illness.
Sweet Child O’ Mine was originally released on the seminal album, Appetite For Destruction in 1987, when Sun was nine.
Rainbow Bot is as much an invoking of her own childhood as a celebration of all children.
(ST)
Friday, August 19, 2016
Ben-Hur
Timur Bekmambetov
The story: In the latest adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ, Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a wealthy Jewish prince with a Roman adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell). Their competing loyalties eventually tear them apart as Messala rises through the ranks to become an officer in the Roman army, which is persecuting the Jews. When Judah is blamed for an assassination attempt on Pontius Pilate, he is sentenced to be a galley slave and his family is taken away on Messala’s orders. Years later, the brothers square off against each other in a chariot race.
A single scene defines the 1959 period action epic Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston – a heart-stopping chariot race in which the stakes are life and death itself as losers face the threat of getting crushed under the thundering hooves of the horses.
The chariot race remains pivotal to this latest adaptation and director Timur Bekmambetov (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2012) does away with the flashy sharpened spikes of the souped-up vehicle seen in the 1959 hit.
He favours a grittier approach and still musters plenty of excitement. To get to this point, brother is pitted against brother and familial bonds against the mighty Roman empire.
While the family drama feels a little stilted, Bekmambetov does a good job contrasting the sumptuousness of life in Jerusalem – the feasting, the frescoed walls and the colourful outfits – with the dank and drab hell that is the confines of a galley slave.
Striking an odd note is Morgan Freeman as an African sheik who saves Judah and later trains him to be a charioteer. Playing a wise old man is par for the course for the veteran actor, but the showstopping braided hair seems to belong in another movie, if not another era altogether.
The ending is somewhat rushed and something of a stretch as it involves several miracles.
But then again, this is one of the rare occasions when a deus ex machina is justified since Jesus Christ (a beatific Rodrigo Santoro) shows up as a supporting character.
(ST)
Timur Bekmambetov
The story: In the latest adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ, Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a wealthy Jewish prince with a Roman adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell). Their competing loyalties eventually tear them apart as Messala rises through the ranks to become an officer in the Roman army, which is persecuting the Jews. When Judah is blamed for an assassination attempt on Pontius Pilate, he is sentenced to be a galley slave and his family is taken away on Messala’s orders. Years later, the brothers square off against each other in a chariot race.
A single scene defines the 1959 period action epic Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston – a heart-stopping chariot race in which the stakes are life and death itself as losers face the threat of getting crushed under the thundering hooves of the horses.
The chariot race remains pivotal to this latest adaptation and director Timur Bekmambetov (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2012) does away with the flashy sharpened spikes of the souped-up vehicle seen in the 1959 hit.
He favours a grittier approach and still musters plenty of excitement. To get to this point, brother is pitted against brother and familial bonds against the mighty Roman empire.
While the family drama feels a little stilted, Bekmambetov does a good job contrasting the sumptuousness of life in Jerusalem – the feasting, the frescoed walls and the colourful outfits – with the dank and drab hell that is the confines of a galley slave.
Striking an odd note is Morgan Freeman as an African sheik who saves Judah and later trains him to be a charioteer. Playing a wise old man is par for the course for the veteran actor, but the showstopping braided hair seems to belong in another movie, if not another era altogether.
The ending is somewhat rushed and something of a stretch as it involves several miracles.
But then again, this is one of the rare occasions when a deus ex machina is justified since Jesus Christ (a beatific Rodrigo Santoro) shows up as a supporting character.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Indignation
James Schamus
The story: Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman), the son of an over-protective Jewish butcher, leaves home in Newark, New Jersey, to attend college in Ohio. There, he meets the beautiful but troubled Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon) and their first date turns his world upside down. He later clashes with the school’s pedantic dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts) over religion and the boundaries of personal liberties. Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by acclaimed American writer Philip Roth.
The story is set in the early 1950s against the background of American soldiers being shipped off to the Korean War. While some elements feel dated, Marcus’ frustration as he rails against older authority figures is easy to identify with.
Indignation hinges on the pivotal scenes between him and Caudwell. Letts, who is also an award-winning playwright and screenwriter of August: Osage County (2007), is the man you love to hate as the intransigent, blunt force of authority.
Lerman, who came to fame playing the teenage Percy Jackson in the adventure fantasy film adaptations The Lightning Thief (2010) and Sea Of Monsters (2013), has grown into an actor of some sensitivity in films such as the comingof-age drama The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012) – and it is this quality that helps to keep this talky movie afloat.
As Marcus, he goes convincingly from bristling at the injustice of his interrogation by the dean for his decision to switch dorm rooms, to lashing out in a moment of exasperation. The price he pays turns out to be a heavy one, with war and death looming menacingly in the background.
The film also addresses Marcus’ sexual awakening, but the sexual mores of the time seem so quaint now.
(ST)
James Schamus
The story: Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman), the son of an over-protective Jewish butcher, leaves home in Newark, New Jersey, to attend college in Ohio. There, he meets the beautiful but troubled Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon) and their first date turns his world upside down. He later clashes with the school’s pedantic dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts) over religion and the boundaries of personal liberties. Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by acclaimed American writer Philip Roth.
The story is set in the early 1950s against the background of American soldiers being shipped off to the Korean War. While some elements feel dated, Marcus’ frustration as he rails against older authority figures is easy to identify with.
Indignation hinges on the pivotal scenes between him and Caudwell. Letts, who is also an award-winning playwright and screenwriter of August: Osage County (2007), is the man you love to hate as the intransigent, blunt force of authority.
Lerman, who came to fame playing the teenage Percy Jackson in the adventure fantasy film adaptations The Lightning Thief (2010) and Sea Of Monsters (2013), has grown into an actor of some sensitivity in films such as the comingof-age drama The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012) – and it is this quality that helps to keep this talky movie afloat.
As Marcus, he goes convincingly from bristling at the injustice of his interrogation by the dean for his decision to switch dorm rooms, to lashing out in a moment of exasperation. The price he pays turns out to be a heavy one, with war and death looming menacingly in the background.
The film also addresses Marcus’ sexual awakening, but the sexual mores of the time seem so quaint now.
(ST)
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