Tokyo Ghoul
Kentaro Hagiwara
The story: Ghouls, indistinguishable from normal folk, roam Tokyo and feed on human flesh. Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) undergoes surgery after an attack and finds himself turning into a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid whose loyalties are torn between the two worlds. Based on the manga of the same name (2011-2014) by Sui Ishida .
Ghouls are monsters who feed on human flesh and must be exterminated at all costs. Or are they?
Like in Giddens Ko’s recent Mon Mon Mon Monsters, the humans here are capable of monstrous behaviour as well. But Kentaro Hagiwara’s dark and violent Tokyo Ghoul is more nuanced and layered in its indictment.
The viewers’ guide to the world of ghouls is the luckless Kaneki, a socially awkward young man who is inadvertently turned into a halfhuman, half-ghoul hybrid.
Kubota (Death Note television series, 2015) gives an intense performance as, at first, Kaneki desperately tries to satiate his hunger, but throws up everything he ingests, and then realises with horror that the whites of his left eye have turned a sinister red.
As he gets initiated into the mysteries of a hitherto unknown world, we tag along for the ride. His struggle to retain his humanity keeps us invested in the story.
One of the cool things about the manga, and the film, is the character design of the ghouls.
In their natural form, their power resides in all manner of fantastical appendages, such as tails and claws, called kagune, which differ from ghoul to ghoul. The face masks, which range from an innocuous rabbit to a ghoulish black leather veneer with a zipper over the mouth, feel like fan service detail.
Diving deeper into this community, Kaneki meets a shy girl ghoul, Hinami (Hiyori Sakurada), that he is protective of. This sets him on a collision course with the humans bent on wiping out the ghouls, Amon (Nobuyuki Suzuki) and Mado (Yo Oizumi).
It is a measure of how balanced the story-telling is that you do not know whom to root for when the humans battle the ghouls.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Pluto
Enno Cheng
The dreamy and spacey Recycling In The Universe is the perfect introduction to Taiwanese singer-songwriter Enno Cheng’s new album Pluto, the follow-up to her previous record Neptune (2011).
It is a slice of electro-pop that is vast and intimate as she croons in her lightly husky voice: “Float, float gently, let go of space, time and language/Close my eyes, I’ve come to you without any defences.”
Somehow, even a blackhole sounds innocuous: “Can’t see inside this black-coloured hole, it will swallow up everything, everything/La la la la la la la la.”
The other songs are easily approachable with their breezily melodic tunes, but the lyrics sometimes carry a sting.
She sings in English on the chorus for Golden Old Days: “Hey bastard, you know this is how we work/No matter how, no matter how, you’ll always be my love.”
Our Pop Song, a collaboration with Hong Kong’s Ellen Loo, appears to be a response to Recyling In The Universe at one point: “I’ve put down my edges and strengths, will you destroy me,” Cheng sings.
At the same time, she is not afraid of being seen as vulnerable. She is earnest and hopeful on Pride (“Trust me, although I’m as frightened as you, we can search for answers together”).
Cheng charts an idiosyncratic and imaginative musical journey, one that honestly embraces the contradictions and fragility of life.
(ST)
Enno Cheng
The dreamy and spacey Recycling In The Universe is the perfect introduction to Taiwanese singer-songwriter Enno Cheng’s new album Pluto, the follow-up to her previous record Neptune (2011).
It is a slice of electro-pop that is vast and intimate as she croons in her lightly husky voice: “Float, float gently, let go of space, time and language/Close my eyes, I’ve come to you without any defences.”
Somehow, even a blackhole sounds innocuous: “Can’t see inside this black-coloured hole, it will swallow up everything, everything/La la la la la la la la.”
The other songs are easily approachable with their breezily melodic tunes, but the lyrics sometimes carry a sting.
She sings in English on the chorus for Golden Old Days: “Hey bastard, you know this is how we work/No matter how, no matter how, you’ll always be my love.”
Our Pop Song, a collaboration with Hong Kong’s Ellen Loo, appears to be a response to Recyling In The Universe at one point: “I’ve put down my edges and strengths, will you destroy me,” Cheng sings.
At the same time, she is not afraid of being seen as vulnerable. She is earnest and hopeful on Pride (“Trust me, although I’m as frightened as you, we can search for answers together”).
Cheng charts an idiosyncratic and imaginative musical journey, one that honestly embraces the contradictions and fragility of life.
(ST)
The Battleship Island
Ryoo Seung Wan
The story: During World War II, the Japanese island of Hashima (also called Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island) was the site of a brutal mining operation that used forced labour, including boys from South Korea. South Korean women on the island faced the fate of being used as sex slaves. Bandmaster Lee Kang Ok (Hwang Jung Min) and his young daughter So Hee (Kim Su An), as well as notorious gangster Choi Chil Sung (So Ji Sub), are among those shipped off to it. Park Moo Young (Song Joong Ki), an American-trained operative, infiltrates the island to rescue a fellow independence fighter, but eventually tries to help about 400 Koreans escape.
There is more than one way to approach wartime movies, as the recent box-office successes of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryoo Seung Wan’s The Battleship Island prove.
In South Korea, the latter has been setting records and had surpassed six million admissions by the 12th day of its run.
Nolan keeps ratcheting up the tension in his portrayal of the Sisyphean task of staying alive, but does not really flesh out those caught in the cross hairs of battle.
In contrast, writer-director Ryoo gives us a vivid cast of characters to root for in a thrilling tale of escape: Song plays the marquee role here like an extension of the super soldier-hero he played in the blockbuster series Descendants Of The Sun (2016); and the other K-drama star, So (Master’s Sun, 2013), swaggers with menacing aplomb as the macho gangster who plays a pivotal part in the escape attempt.
But it is the father-daughter pair, played by award-winning actor Hwang (Ode To My Father, 2014) and child star Kim (Train To Busan, 2016), who anchor Battleship.
Lee will do anything to keep himself and his daughter alive; this survival instinct drives him on, even if it means he has to clown around for the amusement of the Japanese.
The grimness of the war situation is leavened by some sweet little moments shared between the two characters. Both Hwang and Kim turn in vivid portrayals.
Story-wise, Ryoo packs some surprises along the way, which prevents the proceedings from getting too predictable. There is a poignant scene where a woman reveals that she was betrayed by her countryman – a Korean pimp who condemned her to her fate as a “comfort woman”.
The director also deftly handles the complex scenes depicting the hellishness of the underground mining and the intensity of the gripping finale.
While the escape is fictional, the island exists and was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. At the end of the film, a coda notes that Japan has yet to acknowledge the events that took place there, a sombre reminder that the shadows and scars of war linger on today.
(ST)
Ryoo Seung Wan
The story: During World War II, the Japanese island of Hashima (also called Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island) was the site of a brutal mining operation that used forced labour, including boys from South Korea. South Korean women on the island faced the fate of being used as sex slaves. Bandmaster Lee Kang Ok (Hwang Jung Min) and his young daughter So Hee (Kim Su An), as well as notorious gangster Choi Chil Sung (So Ji Sub), are among those shipped off to it. Park Moo Young (Song Joong Ki), an American-trained operative, infiltrates the island to rescue a fellow independence fighter, but eventually tries to help about 400 Koreans escape.
There is more than one way to approach wartime movies, as the recent box-office successes of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryoo Seung Wan’s The Battleship Island prove.
In South Korea, the latter has been setting records and had surpassed six million admissions by the 12th day of its run.
Nolan keeps ratcheting up the tension in his portrayal of the Sisyphean task of staying alive, but does not really flesh out those caught in the cross hairs of battle.
In contrast, writer-director Ryoo gives us a vivid cast of characters to root for in a thrilling tale of escape: Song plays the marquee role here like an extension of the super soldier-hero he played in the blockbuster series Descendants Of The Sun (2016); and the other K-drama star, So (Master’s Sun, 2013), swaggers with menacing aplomb as the macho gangster who plays a pivotal part in the escape attempt.
But it is the father-daughter pair, played by award-winning actor Hwang (Ode To My Father, 2014) and child star Kim (Train To Busan, 2016), who anchor Battleship.
Lee will do anything to keep himself and his daughter alive; this survival instinct drives him on, even if it means he has to clown around for the amusement of the Japanese.
The grimness of the war situation is leavened by some sweet little moments shared between the two characters. Both Hwang and Kim turn in vivid portrayals.
Story-wise, Ryoo packs some surprises along the way, which prevents the proceedings from getting too predictable. There is a poignant scene where a woman reveals that she was betrayed by her countryman – a Korean pimp who condemned her to her fate as a “comfort woman”.
The director also deftly handles the complex scenes depicting the hellishness of the underground mining and the intensity of the gripping finale.
While the escape is fictional, the island exists and was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. At the end of the film, a coda notes that Japan has yet to acknowledge the events that took place there, a sombre reminder that the shadows and scars of war linger on today.
(ST)
Monday, August 14, 2017
G.E.M. “Queen Of Hearts” World Tour 2017 – Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Saturday
When Hong Kong-based singer- songwriter G.E.M. performed in Singapore in early 2015, she sold out three nights at the 5,000-seater Max Pavilion.
Naturally, a larger venue beckoned her for her return here and she proved that she could hold court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Some 8,000 tickets were sold last Saturday, the first of two nights of her “Queen Of Hearts” World Tour.
The girl with the giant lungs filled the arena with her powerful singing as she belted out the high notes and held them with ease. It was what her fans expected and what shot her to fame on the China reality show competition I Am A Singer in 2014, where she emerged runner-up.
But as if showing that she is more than a one-trick pony, she also played the piano, strapped on a guitar for Goodbye and took to the drums in another segment.
Thankfully, the Queen Of Hearts show was not a mere retread of her previous X.X.X. tour as she released Heartbeat in late 2015, an album which spawned several hits, including the upbeat title track and the ballads One Way Road and Long Distance.
One of Saturday night’s highlights was the song Bubble from her third album Xposed (2012), which she actually performed on I Am A Singer. Dressed in a midnight-blue gown, she held onto a long piece of cloth which billowed up dramatically in the air. It was both beautiful and evanescent, echoing the imagery of the song.
Despite having released three studio albums of Cantonese and Mandarin pop tunes when she was on I Am A Singer, she became better known for singing other artists’ songs as that was the format of the contest. So it was no surprise that some of the most enthusiastic response at the Indoor Stadium was for the covers she performed on the TV show.
These included Mayday’s Behind The Mask, Wang Feng’s Survive, Jay Chou’s Tornado, David Huang’s Intoxicated and Beyond’s Loving You. After all, these were well- loved tracks even before she left her stamp on them.
As she will be turning 26 on Wednesday, some of her fans brought out a cake during the encore to celebrate the occasion on stage with their idol. One of them stole the show for a while as she dictated the proceedings by instructing the singer to make a wish.
Perhaps it was the audience who received the best present as G.E.M. performed the track Stranger In The North for the first time in public.
It seemed a bit strange as the song of choice for her final number of the night because it was not written by her and was originally performed by Taiwan-based Wang Leehom and Malaysian rapper Namewee. But as she rapped and sang and tickled the ivories, one could see her really getting into it and just enjoying the moment.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Saturday
When Hong Kong-based singer- songwriter G.E.M. performed in Singapore in early 2015, she sold out three nights at the 5,000-seater Max Pavilion.
Naturally, a larger venue beckoned her for her return here and she proved that she could hold court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Some 8,000 tickets were sold last Saturday, the first of two nights of her “Queen Of Hearts” World Tour.
The girl with the giant lungs filled the arena with her powerful singing as she belted out the high notes and held them with ease. It was what her fans expected and what shot her to fame on the China reality show competition I Am A Singer in 2014, where she emerged runner-up.
But as if showing that she is more than a one-trick pony, she also played the piano, strapped on a guitar for Goodbye and took to the drums in another segment.
Thankfully, the Queen Of Hearts show was not a mere retread of her previous X.X.X. tour as she released Heartbeat in late 2015, an album which spawned several hits, including the upbeat title track and the ballads One Way Road and Long Distance.
One of Saturday night’s highlights was the song Bubble from her third album Xposed (2012), which she actually performed on I Am A Singer. Dressed in a midnight-blue gown, she held onto a long piece of cloth which billowed up dramatically in the air. It was both beautiful and evanescent, echoing the imagery of the song.
Despite having released three studio albums of Cantonese and Mandarin pop tunes when she was on I Am A Singer, she became better known for singing other artists’ songs as that was the format of the contest. So it was no surprise that some of the most enthusiastic response at the Indoor Stadium was for the covers she performed on the TV show.
These included Mayday’s Behind The Mask, Wang Feng’s Survive, Jay Chou’s Tornado, David Huang’s Intoxicated and Beyond’s Loving You. After all, these were well- loved tracks even before she left her stamp on them.
As she will be turning 26 on Wednesday, some of her fans brought out a cake during the encore to celebrate the occasion on stage with their idol. One of them stole the show for a while as she dictated the proceedings by instructing the singer to make a wish.
Perhaps it was the audience who received the best present as G.E.M. performed the track Stranger In The North for the first time in public.
It seemed a bit strange as the song of choice for her final number of the night because it was not written by her and was originally performed by Taiwan-based Wang Leehom and Malaysian rapper Namewee. But as she rapped and sang and tickled the ivories, one could see her really getting into it and just enjoying the moment.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
A Day
Cho Sun Ho
The story: Returning to Seoul after an overseas trip, doctor Kim Joon Young (Kim Myung Min) arranges to meet his headstrong young daughter Eun Jung (Jo Eun Hyung). On the way to the rendezvous, he witnesses a car accident and realises his daughter was killed in it. And then the day starts all over again for him.
The premise of a time loop has been used in films as diverse as romance comedy Groundhog Day (1993) and sci-fi military thriller Edge Of Tomorrow (2014).
South Korean director and co- writer Cho Sun Ho manages to put a fresh spin on it to deliver a tight and taut thriller elevated by philosophical shadings.
The key questions, as always, are: Why is the time loop happening? What needs to be changed in order for time to move on?
Actor Kim (Behind The White Tower, 2007) conveys the wrenching anguish of a father forced to relive his daughter’s death again and again and his increasing desperation as he tries to alter the course of events.
With each repetition, you keep your eyes peeled, wondering which detail will prove to be the key that unlocks the puzzle.
And then Cho drops a bombshell. Emergency services first responder Lee Min Chul (a completely unrecognisable Byun Yo Han from his role as an irritating intern in Misaeng, 2014) approaches the doctor to reveal that he is reliving the same day as well. This is in the trailer so it is not exactly a spoiler for audiences.
Gradually, the characters discover how they are linked to one another.
At one point, someone remarks that this is a version of hell, reliving a day of tragedy over and over again.
So how does one break the cycle of suffering and vengeance?
A Day is a satisfying thriller that turns out to be a rumination on Buddhist concepts of karma, rebirth and deliverance.
(ST)
Cho Sun Ho
The story: Returning to Seoul after an overseas trip, doctor Kim Joon Young (Kim Myung Min) arranges to meet his headstrong young daughter Eun Jung (Jo Eun Hyung). On the way to the rendezvous, he witnesses a car accident and realises his daughter was killed in it. And then the day starts all over again for him.
The premise of a time loop has been used in films as diverse as romance comedy Groundhog Day (1993) and sci-fi military thriller Edge Of Tomorrow (2014).
South Korean director and co- writer Cho Sun Ho manages to put a fresh spin on it to deliver a tight and taut thriller elevated by philosophical shadings.
The key questions, as always, are: Why is the time loop happening? What needs to be changed in order for time to move on?
Actor Kim (Behind The White Tower, 2007) conveys the wrenching anguish of a father forced to relive his daughter’s death again and again and his increasing desperation as he tries to alter the course of events.
With each repetition, you keep your eyes peeled, wondering which detail will prove to be the key that unlocks the puzzle.
And then Cho drops a bombshell. Emergency services first responder Lee Min Chul (a completely unrecognisable Byun Yo Han from his role as an irritating intern in Misaeng, 2014) approaches the doctor to reveal that he is reliving the same day as well. This is in the trailer so it is not exactly a spoiler for audiences.
Gradually, the characters discover how they are linked to one another.
At one point, someone remarks that this is a version of hell, reliving a day of tragedy over and over again.
So how does one break the cycle of suffering and vengeance?
A Day is a satisfying thriller that turns out to be a rumination on Buddhist concepts of karma, rebirth and deliverance.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
Gintama
Yuichi Fukuda
The story: The film is set in an alternate reality in which late Edo-era Japan has been conquered by aliens called Amanto (literally, sky people), who have outlawed the carrying of swords. The devil-may-care samurai Gintoki Sakata (Shun Oguri), nerdy Shinpachi Shimura (Masaki Suda) and teenage alien girl Kagura (Kanna Hashimoto) are drawn into hunting down a serial killer with a powerful sword – one which can possess the person who wields it. Based on the ongoing manga series of the same name by Hideaki Sorachi.
Gintama is a mash-up of both genre and tone, gleefully mixing elements of a period drama with science fiction and stirring in self-referential comedy along with more serious (melo)drama about resisting the enemy, the greed of man and even the tenuous bonds of childhood friendship.
One suspects the resulting concoction is more palatable in manga and anime form than as a live-action movie. Indeed, the manga that started in 2003 is still going strong, with two animated big-screen outings and several anime television series in its franchise.
This film adaptation does not take itself seriously, which is a good thing, but, on the other hand, it can come across as scattershot.
The randomness of a sidekick character inexplicably named Elizabeth, which looks like a simply sketched penguin, is better suited for the page and in animation. (But at least the movie openly acknowledges the fact that Elizabeth has to be a guy in a costume.)
Oguri as the uncouth man-child samurai who is constantly digging his nose and ear is mildly engaging, even if he sometimes comes across as being part of an elaborate cosplay session.
Maybe it is because the film is constantly winking at itself and indulging in meta shenanigans. There are multiple references to other manga/anime programmes, including the pirate-themed One Piece and the sci-fi fantasy Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind.
In the cheesy introductory sequence, the characters actually voice their concern about the need to draw in new viewers. It is a valid concern since this live-action adaptation of Gintama probably works best for those who are already fans.
(ST)
Yuichi Fukuda
The story: The film is set in an alternate reality in which late Edo-era Japan has been conquered by aliens called Amanto (literally, sky people), who have outlawed the carrying of swords. The devil-may-care samurai Gintoki Sakata (Shun Oguri), nerdy Shinpachi Shimura (Masaki Suda) and teenage alien girl Kagura (Kanna Hashimoto) are drawn into hunting down a serial killer with a powerful sword – one which can possess the person who wields it. Based on the ongoing manga series of the same name by Hideaki Sorachi.
Gintama is a mash-up of both genre and tone, gleefully mixing elements of a period drama with science fiction and stirring in self-referential comedy along with more serious (melo)drama about resisting the enemy, the greed of man and even the tenuous bonds of childhood friendship.
One suspects the resulting concoction is more palatable in manga and anime form than as a live-action movie. Indeed, the manga that started in 2003 is still going strong, with two animated big-screen outings and several anime television series in its franchise.
This film adaptation does not take itself seriously, which is a good thing, but, on the other hand, it can come across as scattershot.
The randomness of a sidekick character inexplicably named Elizabeth, which looks like a simply sketched penguin, is better suited for the page and in animation. (But at least the movie openly acknowledges the fact that Elizabeth has to be a guy in a costume.)
Oguri as the uncouth man-child samurai who is constantly digging his nose and ear is mildly engaging, even if he sometimes comes across as being part of an elaborate cosplay session.
Maybe it is because the film is constantly winking at itself and indulging in meta shenanigans. There are multiple references to other manga/anime programmes, including the pirate-themed One Piece and the sci-fi fantasy Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind.
In the cheesy introductory sequence, the characters actually voice their concern about the need to draw in new viewers. It is a valid concern since this live-action adaptation of Gintama probably works best for those who are already fans.
(ST)
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
I Am Me
Joi Chua
Local singer Joi Chua has moved on from her long-time sweet, demure image since 2012’s electronica-tinged Gains from her EP, Perspectives – and she is not looking back.
“I won’t be silent, silent, silent/I don’t want to go along, go along, go along/I don’t care about right or wrong/I just want to be me,” she sings in the mid-tempo title track of her new release, I Am Me, where she had a hand in composing all its eight tracks.
Even as she sports a trendy asymmetric crop on the cover, she still embraces the melodic and lightly melancholic ballads that she made her name with, such as Watching The Sunrise With Me and Waiting For A Sunny Day.
Bystander in the new work is a lovely ballad that plays nicely to her strength. She is smart enough to know that there is no need to chuck out what has been proven to work in the name of a makeover, which includes slightly more uptempo tracks that strike a more unusual note for Chua (the breezy See-saw and the dance-tinged Happiness That’s Late In Coming).
Over an accompaniment of hand claps, she glides into her higher range in the chorus of Happiness: “I believe love is just late a step, it hasn’t lost its way/Don’t be too quick to admit defeat, even if the whole world has started to take note of you.”
She is doggedly keeping the faith even when others have stopped believing.
Joi Chua
Local singer Joi Chua has moved on from her long-time sweet, demure image since 2012’s electronica-tinged Gains from her EP, Perspectives – and she is not looking back.
“I won’t be silent, silent, silent/I don’t want to go along, go along, go along/I don’t care about right or wrong/I just want to be me,” she sings in the mid-tempo title track of her new release, I Am Me, where she had a hand in composing all its eight tracks.
Even as she sports a trendy asymmetric crop on the cover, she still embraces the melodic and lightly melancholic ballads that she made her name with, such as Watching The Sunrise With Me and Waiting For A Sunny Day.
Bystander in the new work is a lovely ballad that plays nicely to her strength. She is smart enough to know that there is no need to chuck out what has been proven to work in the name of a makeover, which includes slightly more uptempo tracks that strike a more unusual note for Chua (the breezy See-saw and the dance-tinged Happiness That’s Late In Coming).
Over an accompaniment of hand claps, she glides into her higher range in the chorus of Happiness: “I believe love is just late a step, it hasn’t lost its way/Don’t be too quick to admit defeat, even if the whole world has started to take note of you.”
She is doggedly keeping the faith even when others have stopped believing.
(ST)
Mon Mon Mon Monsters
Giddens Ko
The story: Lin Shu-wei (Deng Yu-kai) gets bullied by his classmates, including a notorious trio led by Tuan Jen-hao (Kent Tsai). In an unexpected turn of events, he joins the gang. When they capture a cannibalistic human-like monster (Eugenie Liu), Tuan delights in torturing the creature. The question is how far Lin will go along with the rest of them. Meanwhile, another monster wreaks mayhem as she searches for her missing companion.
In the follow-up to his debut directorial feature You Are The Apple Of My Eye (2011), Taiwan’s Giddens Ko returns to the high school setting. That is pretty much the only similarity between the two films. Whereas Apple is light-hearted and endearing, Monsters is unrelentingly dark – which is not all that surprising, since Ko is known for his range as a writer.
He has penned stories in diverse genres ranging from romance and sci-fi to horror and wuxia. It would seem he does not want to be pigeonholed as a director who can do only a certain type of film.
But here it feels as though he was given free rein to indulge his excesses. So much so that the film feels unnecessarily drawn out with too many gee-how-can-we-top-this scenes of torture.
What keeps one watching is the fact that the fate of Lin hangs in the balance. Will he succumb to his worst impulses or will he heed his conscience? Deng conveys some of that conflict but he is not quite a breakout star the way Kai Ko was in You Are The Apple Of My Eye.
Incidentally, Ko shows up here in a fun cameo alongside Vivian Sung, star of the hit high school romance Our Times (2015).
Too bad the central question of who the real monsters are here is definitively answered early on.
(ST)
Giddens Ko
The story: Lin Shu-wei (Deng Yu-kai) gets bullied by his classmates, including a notorious trio led by Tuan Jen-hao (Kent Tsai). In an unexpected turn of events, he joins the gang. When they capture a cannibalistic human-like monster (Eugenie Liu), Tuan delights in torturing the creature. The question is how far Lin will go along with the rest of them. Meanwhile, another monster wreaks mayhem as she searches for her missing companion.
In the follow-up to his debut directorial feature You Are The Apple Of My Eye (2011), Taiwan’s Giddens Ko returns to the high school setting. That is pretty much the only similarity between the two films. Whereas Apple is light-hearted and endearing, Monsters is unrelentingly dark – which is not all that surprising, since Ko is known for his range as a writer.
He has penned stories in diverse genres ranging from romance and sci-fi to horror and wuxia. It would seem he does not want to be pigeonholed as a director who can do only a certain type of film.
But here it feels as though he was given free rein to indulge his excesses. So much so that the film feels unnecessarily drawn out with too many gee-how-can-we-top-this scenes of torture.
What keeps one watching is the fact that the fate of Lin hangs in the balance. Will he succumb to his worst impulses or will he heed his conscience? Deng conveys some of that conflict but he is not quite a breakout star the way Kai Ko was in You Are The Apple Of My Eye.
Incidentally, Ko shows up here in a fun cameo alongside Vivian Sung, star of the hit high school romance Our Times (2015).
Too bad the central question of who the real monsters are here is definitively answered early on.
(ST)
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
It can be tough being a fan of the hit fantasy series Game Of Thrones. The already long wait between seasons has grown only longer as schedules have been pushed back to accommodate winter shooting in European locales such as Northern Ireland and Iceland.
Well, if the show will not come to you soon enough, one option is to go to the show.
It is partly why my friends and I decided to visit Dubrovnik in Croatia. The old city is famed for its spectacular stone walls, which were built between the 7th and 17th centuries. They are 4 to 6m thick and loom impressively up to 25m high. In 1979, the old city was inscribed into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) list of World Heritage Sites.
More importantly, Dubrovnik stands in for King’s Landing, the royal capital of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms in Game Of Thrones. Many scenes from the show have been shot in the area and the best way to take it all in is to have a guide take one around.
Enter Ms Tonka Matana, 35, a PhD student in archaeology whose subject of research is none other than Dubrovnik.
Her more crucial credentials are that she is a huge fan of the show, has encyclopaedic knowledge of it and has even appeared in it as an extra in Season 4. Alas, she was cast as a peasant woman and only the noble folk extras got to take part in the death scene of evil King Joffrey at his wedding.
Also, her Tour The Game Of Thrones is ranked No. 2 on TripAdvisor under Tours in Dubrovnik.
She would set out a scene at length, detailing the season it was featured in, its context, the characters involved and even verbatim dialogue. Then she would flash a laminated screen capture to invite us to confirm that, yes indeed, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) came through this archway and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) shared a moment here on this ledge in Trsteno Arboretum. Caught up in the moment and encouraged by our guide, we posed for photos in merry imitation of the screengrabs. But it turns out that we were amateurs at this game.
A highlight of the tour was the Jesuit Stairs that connect Gundulic Square to the Church of St Ignatius in the old city. These grand stone steps were where Cersei Lannister started her infamous naked walk of shame (a body double stood in for actress Lena Headey).
As we gathered to take a group picture, Ms Matana said: “Oh, you’re getting photobombed. Wait, he’s taking his shirt off.”
And then we heard the lusty cries of “Shame! Shame!” as a topless man re-enacted the ritual of public humiliation.
In the show, Septa Unella does the trumpeting as she rings a bell while escorting Cersei. But instead of rotten fruit and spittle in the show, the man in real life is greeted with knowing smiles and indulgent laughter.
(ST)
Well, if the show will not come to you soon enough, one option is to go to the show.
It is partly why my friends and I decided to visit Dubrovnik in Croatia. The old city is famed for its spectacular stone walls, which were built between the 7th and 17th centuries. They are 4 to 6m thick and loom impressively up to 25m high. In 1979, the old city was inscribed into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) list of World Heritage Sites.
More importantly, Dubrovnik stands in for King’s Landing, the royal capital of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms in Game Of Thrones. Many scenes from the show have been shot in the area and the best way to take it all in is to have a guide take one around.
Enter Ms Tonka Matana, 35, a PhD student in archaeology whose subject of research is none other than Dubrovnik.
Her more crucial credentials are that she is a huge fan of the show, has encyclopaedic knowledge of it and has even appeared in it as an extra in Season 4. Alas, she was cast as a peasant woman and only the noble folk extras got to take part in the death scene of evil King Joffrey at his wedding.
Also, her Tour The Game Of Thrones is ranked No. 2 on TripAdvisor under Tours in Dubrovnik.
She would set out a scene at length, detailing the season it was featured in, its context, the characters involved and even verbatim dialogue. Then she would flash a laminated screen capture to invite us to confirm that, yes indeed, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) came through this archway and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) shared a moment here on this ledge in Trsteno Arboretum. Caught up in the moment and encouraged by our guide, we posed for photos in merry imitation of the screengrabs. But it turns out that we were amateurs at this game.
A highlight of the tour was the Jesuit Stairs that connect Gundulic Square to the Church of St Ignatius in the old city. These grand stone steps were where Cersei Lannister started her infamous naked walk of shame (a body double stood in for actress Lena Headey).
As we gathered to take a group picture, Ms Matana said: “Oh, you’re getting photobombed. Wait, he’s taking his shirt off.”
And then we heard the lusty cries of “Shame! Shame!” as a topless man re-enacted the ritual of public humiliation.
In the show, Septa Unella does the trumpeting as she rings a bell while escorting Cersei. But instead of rotten fruit and spittle in the show, the man in real life is greeted with knowing smiles and indulgent laughter.
(ST)
Wednesday, July 05, 2017
Credit cookies, or extra scenes in movies that are gags or teasers for upcoming films, are often not worth watching
Spider-Man: Homecoming has two extra scenes. Airplane! (1980) has one. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) has five.
Appearing during the end credits, these are called tags, stingers and credit cookies – but not all are worth biting into.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, which opens in cinemas tomorrow, one of them is related to the movie plot and features a key character. The other is more of a throwaway gag and it could either tickle your funny bone or test your patience.
There has been a noticeable proliferation of these scenes in recent years. Superhero flicks such as Spider-Man are the main culprit,
I mean, main reason, for the spike.
With a Marvel Cinematic Universe of inter-related superhero films, the extra scenes are often teasers for movies to come. In Iron Man (2008), Samuel L. Jackson made a surprise cameo as Nick Fury from the agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and he brought up The Avengers initiative.
After the credits for Captain America: Civil War (2016), we saw Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lying in bed as his aunt, May (Marisa Tomei), asked about his injuries, pointing the way to Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Other times, though, things get a little too complicated.
The extra scene in Avengers:
Age Of Ultron (2015) showed supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) vowing to retrieve the all-powerful Infinity Stones himself. It looked towards the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, slated to hit cinemas in the next two years. Unless one was already a fan of the comic books, it was hard to figure out what was going on.
Maybe it is time for a moratorium on these bonus scenes. If they were that integral to the film, they would have made it to the part before the credits.
The extra scenes have spawned
a cottage industry online.
There are websites, such as What’s After The Credits? (aftercredits.com) and MediaStinger (mediastinger.com), that detail credit cookies and what they contain and even explanatory videos on YouTube.
MediaStinger also has a ratings chart to indicate whether the extras are worth staying on for – because, the truth is, few of them are actually that memorable.
How many can you recall? Can you say which was the best one without first heading to the sites mentioned earlier?
What works for me are the playful extras. They are not even necessarily scenes, but a bit of welcome comic relief.
Pixar is particularly good at this. A Bug’s Life (1998), for example, featured bloopers by the cast of insects. But, of course, there is no such thing as a bloopers reel for an animated film and each “outtake” has to be scripted and computer-animated from scratch.
Another animation company, Illumination Entertainment, also did well with Despicable Me (2010), in which a trio of the mischievous minions hammed it up during the credits as they competed to see who could stretch out farthest into the audience – a cute gag that also showcased the 3D effects.
Best of all are the outtakes in action superstar Jackie Chan’s movies. They are nothing less than an institution – where you witness the blood, sweat and tears, sometimes literally, that go into the insane stunts that he attempts for the sake of entertaining audiences.
In Armour Of God (1986), we see the accident that almost took his life when a tree branch he leapt onto broke and he plummeted 5m to the ground. He is carried off on a stretcher, amazingly enough still conscious, while holding up a piece of cloth to the right side of his head to staunch the bleeding.
Now, that definitely stings.
(ST)
Spider-Man: Homecoming has two extra scenes. Airplane! (1980) has one. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) has five.
Appearing during the end credits, these are called tags, stingers and credit cookies – but not all are worth biting into.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, which opens in cinemas tomorrow, one of them is related to the movie plot and features a key character. The other is more of a throwaway gag and it could either tickle your funny bone or test your patience.
There has been a noticeable proliferation of these scenes in recent years. Superhero flicks such as Spider-Man are the main culprit,
I mean, main reason, for the spike.
With a Marvel Cinematic Universe of inter-related superhero films, the extra scenes are often teasers for movies to come. In Iron Man (2008), Samuel L. Jackson made a surprise cameo as Nick Fury from the agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and he brought up The Avengers initiative.
After the credits for Captain America: Civil War (2016), we saw Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lying in bed as his aunt, May (Marisa Tomei), asked about his injuries, pointing the way to Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Other times, though, things get a little too complicated.
The extra scene in Avengers:
Age Of Ultron (2015) showed supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) vowing to retrieve the all-powerful Infinity Stones himself. It looked towards the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, slated to hit cinemas in the next two years. Unless one was already a fan of the comic books, it was hard to figure out what was going on.
Maybe it is time for a moratorium on these bonus scenes. If they were that integral to the film, they would have made it to the part before the credits.
The extra scenes have spawned
a cottage industry online.
There are websites, such as What’s After The Credits? (aftercredits.com) and MediaStinger (mediastinger.com), that detail credit cookies and what they contain and even explanatory videos on YouTube.
MediaStinger also has a ratings chart to indicate whether the extras are worth staying on for – because, the truth is, few of them are actually that memorable.
How many can you recall? Can you say which was the best one without first heading to the sites mentioned earlier?
What works for me are the playful extras. They are not even necessarily scenes, but a bit of welcome comic relief.
Pixar is particularly good at this. A Bug’s Life (1998), for example, featured bloopers by the cast of insects. But, of course, there is no such thing as a bloopers reel for an animated film and each “outtake” has to be scripted and computer-animated from scratch.
Another animation company, Illumination Entertainment, also did well with Despicable Me (2010), in which a trio of the mischievous minions hammed it up during the credits as they competed to see who could stretch out farthest into the audience – a cute gag that also showcased the 3D effects.
Best of all are the outtakes in action superstar Jackie Chan’s movies. They are nothing less than an institution – where you witness the blood, sweat and tears, sometimes literally, that go into the insane stunts that he attempts for the sake of entertaining audiences.
In Armour Of God (1986), we see the accident that almost took his life when a tree branch he leapt onto broke and he plummeted 5m to the ground. He is carried off on a stretcher, amazingly enough still conscious, while holding up a piece of cloth to the right side of his head to staunch the bleeding.
Now, that definitely stings.
(ST)
The Servile
No Party For Cao Dong
The Servile is the sound of Taiwan’s disenfranchised youth venting their frustrations and it has struck a chord in their homeland.
At the recent prestigious Golden Melody Awards, the indie rock band No Party For Cao Dong took home three awards from six nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Musical Group.
Singer-songwriter Kay Huang, head of the Golden Melody judging panel, hailed their work: “They’re the explosion of a smothered generation.”
Their track Da Feng Chui (Simon Says), which won Song of the Year, is a scathing criticism of society’s obsession with material goods and the need for one-upmanship.
Using a simple everyday example, frontman Wu Tu sings without heat: “Cry, shout, ask your mother to buy a toy/Hurry to school and show off, child, make some friends/Aiyaya, look at what you’re holding/We’ve long disdained that, hahaha.”
That equanimity is shattered at the end when he tears into the chorus with a lacerating howl.
A sense of helplessness pervades The Reluctant (Yong Gan De Ren) as the singer rails: “Those cheap tears, don’t hang them by your mouth/Nothing has changed, nothing will change.”
The mood is bleak down to the final track Qing Ge (literally Love Song, but officially titled as Mottos, Bygones in English).
“I’ve sold my home town, lied to my lover/But the setbacks and terrors remain,” sings Wu Tu.
The album, which is seamless, stops short of feeling oppressive as the songs are powered by electric guitars and searing honesty, with disco beats and grunge influences thrown into the mix.
The band took their name from Cao Dong Street in Taipei’s Yangmingshan – a favourite hangout of their members, who include Chu Chu (guitar), Shih Hsuan (bass) and Fan Fan (drums).
They began selling out gigs in 2015 on the strength of their live performances and singles such as Lan Ni (Wimpish) before the release of their debut album in March last year.
Yet on Lan Ni, the band wrestle with self-doubt: “What I want to say, others have said before me/ What I want to do, people with money have already done.”
That sentiment is unwarranted – there is no question that No Party For Cao Dong have a voice that is distinctly their own.
(ST)
No Party For Cao Dong
The Servile is the sound of Taiwan’s disenfranchised youth venting their frustrations and it has struck a chord in their homeland.
At the recent prestigious Golden Melody Awards, the indie rock band No Party For Cao Dong took home three awards from six nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Musical Group.
Singer-songwriter Kay Huang, head of the Golden Melody judging panel, hailed their work: “They’re the explosion of a smothered generation.”
Their track Da Feng Chui (Simon Says), which won Song of the Year, is a scathing criticism of society’s obsession with material goods and the need for one-upmanship.
Using a simple everyday example, frontman Wu Tu sings without heat: “Cry, shout, ask your mother to buy a toy/Hurry to school and show off, child, make some friends/Aiyaya, look at what you’re holding/We’ve long disdained that, hahaha.”
That equanimity is shattered at the end when he tears into the chorus with a lacerating howl.
A sense of helplessness pervades The Reluctant (Yong Gan De Ren) as the singer rails: “Those cheap tears, don’t hang them by your mouth/Nothing has changed, nothing will change.”
The mood is bleak down to the final track Qing Ge (literally Love Song, but officially titled as Mottos, Bygones in English).
“I’ve sold my home town, lied to my lover/But the setbacks and terrors remain,” sings Wu Tu.
The album, which is seamless, stops short of feeling oppressive as the songs are powered by electric guitars and searing honesty, with disco beats and grunge influences thrown into the mix.
The band took their name from Cao Dong Street in Taipei’s Yangmingshan – a favourite hangout of their members, who include Chu Chu (guitar), Shih Hsuan (bass) and Fan Fan (drums).
They began selling out gigs in 2015 on the strength of their live performances and singles such as Lan Ni (Wimpish) before the release of their debut album in March last year.
Yet on Lan Ni, the band wrestle with self-doubt: “What I want to say, others have said before me/ What I want to do, people with money have already done.”
That sentiment is unwarranted – there is no question that No Party For Cao Dong have a voice that is distinctly their own.
(ST)
In This Corner Of The World
Sunao Katabuchi
The story: Suzu (Non) grows up in the seaside town of Eba in Hiroshima and later moves to Kure after marrying Shusaku (Yoshimasa Hosoya). A dreamer who loves to draw, she does her best to keep the household running in the midst of everyday challenges in a Japan at war. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945.
Aside from the blockbuster bodyswopping fantasy Your Name, In This Corner Of The World was another anime that did well in Japan last year.
It has grossed more than 2.5 billion yen (S$30.6 million) and has also been showered with awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
In terms of style, Your Name is highly detailed and vividly coloured, while In This Corner Of The World, based on the award-winning manga of the same name (2007-2009), features charming hand-drawn animation, as though harking back to the earlier era of the film.
But even with simpler drawings, writer-director Sunao Katabuchi – who helmed feminist fairy tale anime Princess Arete (2001) – convincingly conveys what life was like in wartime Japan for ordinary folk.
Suzu has to learn to stretch the limited rations she can get hold of into a meal that can feed a household. And when she accidentally runs out of sugar, she learns of the existence of a black market that caters to every need and want – at exorbitant prices.
Even in adverse times, life goes on. The cicadas continue to cry and good-hearted Suzu – voiced with a provincial homeliness by Japanese actress-model Non – finds little pockets of happiness, such as the affection she shares with her husband.
The war that Japan is waging in the region appears to have little to do with her personally, even though her life and everyone else’s are intimately bound up in it.
She is so distanced from it that when she gets chastised by the secret police for sketching warships, it comes as a bit of a jolt.
But the spectre of combat and destruction keeps inching closer to her life. Her husband is eventually drafted and then the air raids begin. Homes are levelled and lives lost.
In a poignant and masterful stroke, Suzu imagines the explosions in the sky as a colourful abstract painting, the only way she can process what is unfolding.
Looming over everything is the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the horrors that will be unleashed.
Like the wrenching anime Grave Of The Fireflies (1988), In This Corner Of The World is ultimately an anti-war protest.
(ST)
Sunao Katabuchi
The story: Suzu (Non) grows up in the seaside town of Eba in Hiroshima and later moves to Kure after marrying Shusaku (Yoshimasa Hosoya). A dreamer who loves to draw, she does her best to keep the household running in the midst of everyday challenges in a Japan at war. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945.
Aside from the blockbuster bodyswopping fantasy Your Name, In This Corner Of The World was another anime that did well in Japan last year.
It has grossed more than 2.5 billion yen (S$30.6 million) and has also been showered with awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
In terms of style, Your Name is highly detailed and vividly coloured, while In This Corner Of The World, based on the award-winning manga of the same name (2007-2009), features charming hand-drawn animation, as though harking back to the earlier era of the film.
But even with simpler drawings, writer-director Sunao Katabuchi – who helmed feminist fairy tale anime Princess Arete (2001) – convincingly conveys what life was like in wartime Japan for ordinary folk.
Suzu has to learn to stretch the limited rations she can get hold of into a meal that can feed a household. And when she accidentally runs out of sugar, she learns of the existence of a black market that caters to every need and want – at exorbitant prices.
Even in adverse times, life goes on. The cicadas continue to cry and good-hearted Suzu – voiced with a provincial homeliness by Japanese actress-model Non – finds little pockets of happiness, such as the affection she shares with her husband.
The war that Japan is waging in the region appears to have little to do with her personally, even though her life and everyone else’s are intimately bound up in it.
She is so distanced from it that when she gets chastised by the secret police for sketching warships, it comes as a bit of a jolt.
But the spectre of combat and destruction keeps inching closer to her life. Her husband is eventually drafted and then the air raids begin. Homes are levelled and lives lost.
In a poignant and masterful stroke, Suzu imagines the explosions in the sky as a colourful abstract painting, the only way she can process what is unfolding.
Looming over everything is the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the horrors that will be unleashed.
Like the wrenching anime Grave Of The Fireflies (1988), In This Corner Of The World is ultimately an anti-war protest.
(ST)
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Jon Watts
The story: Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a geeky 15-year-old student who is eager to prove his worth as Spider-Man to his superhero mentor Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr).
He sets out to take down Vulture (Michael Keaton), a working-class guy who turns to peddling alien material-enhanced weapons.
On top of that, Peter has to work up the courage to tell his crush Liz (Laura Harrier) how he feels.
When news of the latest Spider-Man reboot broke, many were sceptical, including myself.
Tobey Maguire had played the web-slinger in three films from 2002 to 2007 and Andrew Garfield had donned the suit for two outings in 2012 and 2014. In the space of merely 15 years, a third actor, Holland, was stepping into the role of Spidey.
It is a shrewd move to prevent the studio from being held ransom to any one actor’s salary demands, but it also means there is a danger of fans not feeling committed to the movie franchise.
To Holland’s credit, he makes the role his own. The English actor has already shown that he can act in tsunami drama The Impossible (2012), as a boy overwhelmed by grief and fear at first, and then blossoming as he finds he can help others in the aftermath of the disaster.
His Spider-Man is very much a teenager – impatient, impulsive and jonesing for his next big mission after joining the rest of the Avengers in battle in Captain America: Civil War (2016). We even get a shot-onPeter’s-mobile phone point of view of events that smartly recaps what happened previously while conveying his sense of awe and excitement.
Peter is also innately decent. For instance, he is repulsed by the idea of an “instant kill” mode in his souped-up-by-Stark suit.
Filipino-American actor Jacob Batalon is a great foil for him as his best friend Ned. When he learns of Peter’s secret identity, he lets loose with an endless volley of questions, including: “Do you lay eggs?”
Thankfully, there is no retread of the origin story of how Peter came to be Spider-Man, beyond a snappy exchange between the two friends.
The sense of humour, which is welcome, is also evident in a series of public education videos featuring Captain America. These are clips Peter encounters in the course of school life, highlighting the gulf between his identities as a regular student and a masked vigilante.
By making Spider-Man younger than before, Homecoming smartly sidesteps direct comparisons with previous incarnations of the superhero. The idea of an underaged superhero is not groundbreaking – Chloe Grace Moretz was just 13 when she played Hit-Girl on superhero comedy Kick-Ass (2010) – but director and co-writer Jon Watts (Cop Car, 2015) has a good grasp of Peter’s teenager world.
The villain here is not some madman or egomaniac, but a man who turns to crime as a result of the destruction wreaked by the Avengers in Civil War. The fact that actions have consequences is something most blockbusters blithely ignore. Bonus points for the cheeky casting as Keaton goes from Batman (1989) to baddie.
There are some nice twists as well and they keep Homecoming from turning into a mere retread of past successes.
(ST)
Jon Watts
The story: Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a geeky 15-year-old student who is eager to prove his worth as Spider-Man to his superhero mentor Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr).
He sets out to take down Vulture (Michael Keaton), a working-class guy who turns to peddling alien material-enhanced weapons.
On top of that, Peter has to work up the courage to tell his crush Liz (Laura Harrier) how he feels.
When news of the latest Spider-Man reboot broke, many were sceptical, including myself.
Tobey Maguire had played the web-slinger in three films from 2002 to 2007 and Andrew Garfield had donned the suit for two outings in 2012 and 2014. In the space of merely 15 years, a third actor, Holland, was stepping into the role of Spidey.
It is a shrewd move to prevent the studio from being held ransom to any one actor’s salary demands, but it also means there is a danger of fans not feeling committed to the movie franchise.
To Holland’s credit, he makes the role his own. The English actor has already shown that he can act in tsunami drama The Impossible (2012), as a boy overwhelmed by grief and fear at first, and then blossoming as he finds he can help others in the aftermath of the disaster.
His Spider-Man is very much a teenager – impatient, impulsive and jonesing for his next big mission after joining the rest of the Avengers in battle in Captain America: Civil War (2016). We even get a shot-onPeter’s-mobile phone point of view of events that smartly recaps what happened previously while conveying his sense of awe and excitement.
Peter is also innately decent. For instance, he is repulsed by the idea of an “instant kill” mode in his souped-up-by-Stark suit.
Filipino-American actor Jacob Batalon is a great foil for him as his best friend Ned. When he learns of Peter’s secret identity, he lets loose with an endless volley of questions, including: “Do you lay eggs?”
Thankfully, there is no retread of the origin story of how Peter came to be Spider-Man, beyond a snappy exchange between the two friends.
The sense of humour, which is welcome, is also evident in a series of public education videos featuring Captain America. These are clips Peter encounters in the course of school life, highlighting the gulf between his identities as a regular student and a masked vigilante.
By making Spider-Man younger than before, Homecoming smartly sidesteps direct comparisons with previous incarnations of the superhero. The idea of an underaged superhero is not groundbreaking – Chloe Grace Moretz was just 13 when she played Hit-Girl on superhero comedy Kick-Ass (2010) – but director and co-writer Jon Watts (Cop Car, 2015) has a good grasp of Peter’s teenager world.
The villain here is not some madman or egomaniac, but a man who turns to crime as a result of the destruction wreaked by the Avengers in Civil War. The fact that actions have consequences is something most blockbusters blithely ignore. Bonus points for the cheeky casting as Keaton goes from Batman (1989) to baddie.
There are some nice twists as well and they keep Homecoming from turning into a mere retread of past successes.
(ST)
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Much Feeling Little Thinking
Ivana Wong
On the album opener Starry Sky, Hong Kong singer-actress Ivana Wong croons intimately: “A dream is like plucking a star or plucking starlight, is it a question or an answer/What’s fake becomes real, what’s real panics.”
She teases apart dualities and finds riddles and conundrums. The song itself is always beguiling, with the pairing of Lin Xi’s probing lyrics and her pretty tune.
The surprising number starts as a piano ballad and then veers into electronica territory as her voice is manipulated and distorted. She is so confident of it that the second track is a piano-accompanied version that highlights the tenderness and yearning in her voice. It has been some time since such an enchanting Cantopop ballad came along.
We They is another collaboration with Lin in which dichotomies are dissected to intriguing effect: “How does grey judge black and white/How does the middle critique left and right/Who are we, who are they/Who’s knocking at the door, who’s willing to answer.”
The album feels a little too sprawling at 14 tracks and the narrative of Minor Surgery, for one, feels a little out of place. Included as well are a handful of Mandarin tracks, including the lilting Zhi Hu Zhe Ye (All Greek To Me).
While the title suggests that it is either one or the either, this record proves that Wong can make music that engages both the heart and the head.
(ST)
Ivana Wong
On the album opener Starry Sky, Hong Kong singer-actress Ivana Wong croons intimately: “A dream is like plucking a star or plucking starlight, is it a question or an answer/What’s fake becomes real, what’s real panics.”
She teases apart dualities and finds riddles and conundrums. The song itself is always beguiling, with the pairing of Lin Xi’s probing lyrics and her pretty tune.
The surprising number starts as a piano ballad and then veers into electronica territory as her voice is manipulated and distorted. She is so confident of it that the second track is a piano-accompanied version that highlights the tenderness and yearning in her voice. It has been some time since such an enchanting Cantopop ballad came along.
We They is another collaboration with Lin in which dichotomies are dissected to intriguing effect: “How does grey judge black and white/How does the middle critique left and right/Who are we, who are they/Who’s knocking at the door, who’s willing to answer.”
The album feels a little too sprawling at 14 tracks and the narrative of Minor Surgery, for one, feels a little out of place. Included as well are a handful of Mandarin tracks, including the lilting Zhi Hu Zhe Ye (All Greek To Me).
While the title suggests that it is either one or the either, this record proves that Wong can make music that engages both the heart and the head.
(ST)
Okja
Bong Joon Ho
The story: For 10 years, Mija (Ahn Seo Hyun) has been living an idyllic life in the mountains of South Korea with her grandfather and her giant pig companion Okja. But Okja is actually the property of a multinational company headed by Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) and she wants it shipped back to the United States to be crowned winner of a super pig contest.
Mija is determined to save her friend and gets some unexpected help from animal-rights activists, including Jay (Paul Dano) and K (Steven Yeun).
The bond between man and animal (real or imagined) has been explored recently in the family- friendly fantasy Pete’s Dragon (2016) as well as in Singapore-born film-maker Kirsten Tan’s whimsical drama Pop Aye (2017), in which an architect reunites with his childhood companion elephant.
Okja, which was in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last month, falls on the fantasy side of the spectrum.
The titular creature is a giant pig, one that sometimes resembles a hippopotamus, but with soulful eyes that suggest a strong connection with her human caretaker.
When Okja is threatened, Mija’s anger, fear and desperation are palpable. Ahn (The Housemaid, 2010) is compelling and will have you rooting for her.
The film is most satisfying when it dwells on their bond. The bucolic existence of a girl and her pig in a verdant and bountiful land, beautifully filmed by South Korean writer-director Bong Joon Ho, feels like a fairy tale.
Yet its shifting tone – from drama to comedy to thriller – is jarring.
This is disappointing, coming from Bong, who has produced excellent work, from the gripping thriller Memories Of Murder (2003) to the wrenching drama Mother (2009). And the superior creature feature from the film-maker remains 2006’s The Host.
When Okja is not a creature feature, it is bogged down by the other stuff, from the controversy over genetically modified food to corporate greed and deception.
Worse, Swinton’s performance is mannered and Jake Gyllenhaal’s exaggerated portrayal of an insecure television personality/zoologist comes across as gimmicky.
At least the activists are endearing in their reluctance to hurt any living thing, even their human foes.
(ST)
Bong Joon Ho
The story: For 10 years, Mija (Ahn Seo Hyun) has been living an idyllic life in the mountains of South Korea with her grandfather and her giant pig companion Okja. But Okja is actually the property of a multinational company headed by Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) and she wants it shipped back to the United States to be crowned winner of a super pig contest.
Mija is determined to save her friend and gets some unexpected help from animal-rights activists, including Jay (Paul Dano) and K (Steven Yeun).
The bond between man and animal (real or imagined) has been explored recently in the family- friendly fantasy Pete’s Dragon (2016) as well as in Singapore-born film-maker Kirsten Tan’s whimsical drama Pop Aye (2017), in which an architect reunites with his childhood companion elephant.
Okja, which was in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last month, falls on the fantasy side of the spectrum.
The titular creature is a giant pig, one that sometimes resembles a hippopotamus, but with soulful eyes that suggest a strong connection with her human caretaker.
When Okja is threatened, Mija’s anger, fear and desperation are palpable. Ahn (The Housemaid, 2010) is compelling and will have you rooting for her.
The film is most satisfying when it dwells on their bond. The bucolic existence of a girl and her pig in a verdant and bountiful land, beautifully filmed by South Korean writer-director Bong Joon Ho, feels like a fairy tale.
Yet its shifting tone – from drama to comedy to thriller – is jarring.
This is disappointing, coming from Bong, who has produced excellent work, from the gripping thriller Memories Of Murder (2003) to the wrenching drama Mother (2009). And the superior creature feature from the film-maker remains 2006’s The Host.
When Okja is not a creature feature, it is bogged down by the other stuff, from the controversy over genetically modified food to corporate greed and deception.
Worse, Swinton’s performance is mannered and Jake Gyllenhaal’s exaggerated portrayal of an insecure television personality/zoologist comes across as gimmicky.
At least the activists are endearing in their reluctance to hurt any living thing, even their human foes.
(ST)
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Mad World
Wong Chun
The story: After he is discharged from a mental health institution, Tung (Shawn Yue) moves in with his estranged truck-driver father (Eric Tsang). The former financial analyst tries to get a job and reaches out to his former fiancee, Jenny (Charmaine Fong). But the cloud of his mother’s (Elaine Jin) accidental death and his decision to go off his medication prove to be a potent combination.
There is a fine tradition of socially conscious films from Hong Kong, such as Ann Hui’s Boat People (1982), about Vietnamese refugees, and Cageman (1992), about the horrific living conditions of the territory’s destitute.
That mantle has been passed to a new generation of film-makers, such as Jevons Au and Kiwi Chow (dystopian Hong Kong portrait Ten Years, 2015), as well as Wong Chun, whose compassionate debut feature Mad World takes on the topic of mental illness.
To his credit, this never turns into a preachy “issues” film.
He depicts the malady of intolerance and fear towards mental illness, but does not pretend there are easy remedies. Mad World is an indictment, but it is not a didactic prescription about what should or should not be done.
Instead, the work is grounded by solid performances.
Tsang is a guilt-ridden father trying to make amends and finds himself confronted with difficult questions as the sole caretaker of his son: What is the right thing to do? What is the loving thing to do?
Yue plays a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to make his way in a world in which empathy and kindness are so hard to come by – proving there is more to his range than the laidback Jimmy he has played in the hit romantic comedy series that began with Love In A Puff (2010).
Even when Tung strikes up an unlikely friendship with a precocious little boy who lives in the same tenement unit, that connection eventually becomes fraught.
Jin as Tung’s pain-ridden, embittered and combative mother and Fong as the ex-fiancee struggling with forgiveness are portrayals that also ring true.
The deeply humanist film has been racking up accolades, including Golden Horse Awards for Best New Director and Best Supporting Actress for Jin; and Hong Kong Film Awards for Best New Director, Best Supporting Actress for Jin and Best Supporting Actor for Tsang.
It sold out three sessions at the Singapore Chinese Film Festival earlier this year and has now been picked up for general release.
The difference is that audiences will watch it in dubbed-over Mandarin, instead of the original Cantonese.
Wong Chun
The story: After he is discharged from a mental health institution, Tung (Shawn Yue) moves in with his estranged truck-driver father (Eric Tsang). The former financial analyst tries to get a job and reaches out to his former fiancee, Jenny (Charmaine Fong). But the cloud of his mother’s (Elaine Jin) accidental death and his decision to go off his medication prove to be a potent combination.
There is a fine tradition of socially conscious films from Hong Kong, such as Ann Hui’s Boat People (1982), about Vietnamese refugees, and Cageman (1992), about the horrific living conditions of the territory’s destitute.
That mantle has been passed to a new generation of film-makers, such as Jevons Au and Kiwi Chow (dystopian Hong Kong portrait Ten Years, 2015), as well as Wong Chun, whose compassionate debut feature Mad World takes on the topic of mental illness.
To his credit, this never turns into a preachy “issues” film.
He depicts the malady of intolerance and fear towards mental illness, but does not pretend there are easy remedies. Mad World is an indictment, but it is not a didactic prescription about what should or should not be done.
Instead, the work is grounded by solid performances.
Tsang is a guilt-ridden father trying to make amends and finds himself confronted with difficult questions as the sole caretaker of his son: What is the right thing to do? What is the loving thing to do?
Yue plays a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to make his way in a world in which empathy and kindness are so hard to come by – proving there is more to his range than the laidback Jimmy he has played in the hit romantic comedy series that began with Love In A Puff (2010).
Even when Tung strikes up an unlikely friendship with a precocious little boy who lives in the same tenement unit, that connection eventually becomes fraught.
Jin as Tung’s pain-ridden, embittered and combative mother and Fong as the ex-fiancee struggling with forgiveness are portrayals that also ring true.
The deeply humanist film has been racking up accolades, including Golden Horse Awards for Best New Director and Best Supporting Actress for Jin; and Hong Kong Film Awards for Best New Director, Best Supporting Actress for Jin and Best Supporting Actor for Tsang.
It sold out three sessions at the Singapore Chinese Film Festival earlier this year and has now been picked up for general release.
The difference is that audiences will watch it in dubbed-over Mandarin, instead of the original Cantonese.
(ST)
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Despicable Me 3
Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
The story: Evil-turned-good Gru’s (Steve Carell) nemesis here is a bitter former television child star, Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), who is determined to relive his glory days in dastardly ways. Gru also finds out that he has a twin brother Dru (Carell), who looks exactly like him – but with a full head of blond hair to his bald pate. And Dru wants them to team up to snatch a huge diamond that Bratt has stolen.
Three movies in and this series has settled on a nice mix of breezy tone, funny gags and sweet moments.
The opening sequence alone is enough to raise some smiles as Bratt pulls off a heist to the soundtrack of Michael Jackson’s irrepressible hit, Bad. The period details of the 1980s child star’s get-up are perfect, from the flat top mullet haircut to the over-the-top shoulder pads.
His army of weaponised figurines is jokily christened Bratt Pack, a reference to the Brat Pack – a group of young actors including Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez who frequently appeared in coming-of-age movies in the 1980s.
Parker, creator of the no-holds- barred animated series South Park (1997 to present), has a ball voicing the petulant villain and so does Carell as he plays with the dynamic between the twin brothers: one who has given up a life of crime and one who is dying to dip his toes into shady business.
Director Pierre Coffin, who helmed the previous two instalments, pairs up with a new co-director, Kyle Balda, here. The two had worked together on the spin-off flick Minions (2015), the titular querulous, yellow creatures being the breakout stars of the Despicable Me series.
But while carrying an entire movie might have been a tad much for the little critters, they are still a blast in little, manic doses. The side story of their incarceration is a hoot as they wrest control of the jail away from the tough guys and eventually break out of prison.
The sweet moments involve Gru’s wife and fellow crime-fighter Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) learning to be a mother to his three adopted daughters.
But not to worry, things don’t get too saccharine. In fact, the complicated relationship between Gru and Dru suggests that sibling rivalry could be on the cards for the next movie.
(ST)
Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
The story: Evil-turned-good Gru’s (Steve Carell) nemesis here is a bitter former television child star, Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), who is determined to relive his glory days in dastardly ways. Gru also finds out that he has a twin brother Dru (Carell), who looks exactly like him – but with a full head of blond hair to his bald pate. And Dru wants them to team up to snatch a huge diamond that Bratt has stolen.
Three movies in and this series has settled on a nice mix of breezy tone, funny gags and sweet moments.
The opening sequence alone is enough to raise some smiles as Bratt pulls off a heist to the soundtrack of Michael Jackson’s irrepressible hit, Bad. The period details of the 1980s child star’s get-up are perfect, from the flat top mullet haircut to the over-the-top shoulder pads.
His army of weaponised figurines is jokily christened Bratt Pack, a reference to the Brat Pack – a group of young actors including Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez who frequently appeared in coming-of-age movies in the 1980s.
Parker, creator of the no-holds- barred animated series South Park (1997 to present), has a ball voicing the petulant villain and so does Carell as he plays with the dynamic between the twin brothers: one who has given up a life of crime and one who is dying to dip his toes into shady business.
Director Pierre Coffin, who helmed the previous two instalments, pairs up with a new co-director, Kyle Balda, here. The two had worked together on the spin-off flick Minions (2015), the titular querulous, yellow creatures being the breakout stars of the Despicable Me series.
But while carrying an entire movie might have been a tad much for the little critters, they are still a blast in little, manic doses. The side story of their incarceration is a hoot as they wrest control of the jail away from the tough guys and eventually break out of prison.
The sweet moments involve Gru’s wife and fellow crime-fighter Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) learning to be a mother to his three adopted daughters.
But not to worry, things don’t get too saccharine. In fact, the complicated relationship between Gru and Dru suggests that sibling rivalry could be on the cards for the next movie.
(ST)
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Million Songs Hill
Xu Jun
Apart from Guo Ding, Xu Jun is another Chinese singer-songwriter who has found favour at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards.
His debut album, Million Songs Hill, has been nominated for Album of the Year and Best Mandarin Album. The results will be announced on June 24.
He took part in the second season of the reality television contest Sing My Song in 2015, but missed out on the Best Mandarin Male Vocalist category, in which Guo is up against familiar names such as Jay Chou, Yoga Lin and Khalil Fong.
The opening track, Shot By Love’s Gun, starts with a hymn-like organ introduction before Xu’s raspy voice paints a violent picture: “I was caught off-guard and shot by love’s gun/Collapsed in a pool of blood, but I’ve never thought of resisting.”
It is as though, in the face of a maelstrom of emotions, resistance is futile. But the chorus holds out hope: “I’ve tried hard to cross over these boiling waters and this door of anger.”
There is some variety, from the light-hearted Mess Around to the sole English number, Feathers, which Xu co-wrote with Australian singer-songwriter Hayley Aitken and Swedish writer-producer Ollipop. One can almost imagine him busking on the streets of Stockholm, where the album was recorded, with a guitar as he sings: “And as we go, go along, long this road/Passing people by/Like a leaf in the wind, we will rise and we will fall again.”
On the strength of this record, I would say that this is his time to rise.
(ST)
Xu Jun
Apart from Guo Ding, Xu Jun is another Chinese singer-songwriter who has found favour at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards.
His debut album, Million Songs Hill, has been nominated for Album of the Year and Best Mandarin Album. The results will be announced on June 24.
He took part in the second season of the reality television contest Sing My Song in 2015, but missed out on the Best Mandarin Male Vocalist category, in which Guo is up against familiar names such as Jay Chou, Yoga Lin and Khalil Fong.
The opening track, Shot By Love’s Gun, starts with a hymn-like organ introduction before Xu’s raspy voice paints a violent picture: “I was caught off-guard and shot by love’s gun/Collapsed in a pool of blood, but I’ve never thought of resisting.”
It is as though, in the face of a maelstrom of emotions, resistance is futile. But the chorus holds out hope: “I’ve tried hard to cross over these boiling waters and this door of anger.”
There is some variety, from the light-hearted Mess Around to the sole English number, Feathers, which Xu co-wrote with Australian singer-songwriter Hayley Aitken and Swedish writer-producer Ollipop. One can almost imagine him busking on the streets of Stockholm, where the album was recorded, with a guitar as he sings: “And as we go, go along, long this road/Passing people by/Like a leaf in the wind, we will rise and we will fall again.”
On the strength of this record, I would say that this is his time to rise.
(ST)
Saturday, June 10, 2017
At points, it was the largest KTV room in Singapore, as the crowd of about 7,200 sang along fervently. At others, it was the largest Mandopop disco as the beats throbbed, the lights danced and the audience boogied along.
Taiwanese diva A-mei moved effortlessly from one scenario to the other at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 9, equally at ease belting out ballads or firing up the high-octane dance numbers in her World Tour 2017 concert that was almost three hours long.
It took a while though before her vocals warmed up fully.
On the opening string of fast-paced tracks, her voice seemed quite ragged and the energy level wasn't quite there.
Given that her previous show here was at the National Stadium just last January, there was also a certain familiarity to the proceedings as she blew kisses and exhorted her fans to "give me your hands".
An early standout number was Bloody Love Story. While it was perhaps rather literal to bathe the stage in red, it was also effective in creating a macabre mood.
Things picked up further when the dreadlocked A-mei started singing I Hate I Love You. Her voice took centre stage as she crooned to the accompaniment of a piano, and it was warm and powerful. This was followed by Have You Heard Lately?, Truth and Want Nothing, the fans' chorusing growing louder with each hit.
The gig also marked the singer's 20th anniversary milestone and she had a few surprises up her sleeve. (Strictly speaking, her debut album Sisters came out in 1996, but who's quibbling?)
She sang the moving Listen To Me as a tribute to her "good teacher and friend", Taiwanese singer-songwriter-producer Chang Yu-sheng, who died in 1997 after a car accident. The song was released when he was in a coma fighting for his life and because of the painful associations, she has rarely performed it.
There were other, happier memories.
A-mei turned back the years in a time travel segment in which she performed one song each from every one of her 16 albums, starting with the reggae-influenced Jamaican Betel Nut off Amit2 (2015).
On the track Rainbow (from 2009's Amit), she waved around a rainbow flag and said: "I'm cheering on every kind of love." She dusted off the almost forgotten Journey (2001) and later recalled that she had filmed a music video in Singapore for the ballad Early (from 2000's Regardless).
During Hand In Hand (1998), the crowd clapped along; during Thinking Of You (from 1997's Bad Boy), they waved their hands in the air as one as A-mei urged the audience to set a high bar for the following night's almost sold-out show.
It ended at the beginning with Sisters, the title track of the 1996 album that made her name. She sang the 2016 slowed-down version, as though taking a moment to reflect on far how she has come - and how far her fans have travelled with her.
By the end of the night, my voice was starting to get ragged. A-mei sounded like she could sing for another 20 years.
(ST)
x
Wednesday, June 07, 2017
The Silent Star Stone
Guo Ding
Chinese singer-songwriter Guo Ding is breaking out with his album The Silent Star Stone.
He has six nominations at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards, including for Album of the Year, Best Mandarin Album and Best Mandarin Male Vocalist. The results will be announced on June 24.
This is his third record after his self-titled debut in 2005 and Wei Wei (Slightly) in 2009, but listeners here are unlikely to be familiar with the Hunan-born musician, given his songs have not gotten much airplay here.
Well, better late than never.
His voice is a mesmerising instrument that pulls one in from the get-go.
He has a richly resonant set of pipes with a slight drawl that hints of both intimacy and attitude, one that is magnetic at the lower end of the register and equally persuasive on the higher reaches.
Guo is up for the Best Composer and Best Lyricist gongs with the opening track Qi Mei Di (The Fog Space), which begins with the evocative couplet: “I used to be unsettled river waters/Winding through the forest to enter your heart by mistake.” It builds up to an unabashed declaration of love: “Hey, wait till I find you/Probe your gaze/Embrace with no distractions.”
This is lush and swoonsome pop, propelled by a pulsing beat and urgency of feeling.
Ballad Shui Xing Ji (Mercury Records) is another standout, with its delicacy of melody and mood and a chorus that tugs at the heartstrings: “How much further before I can enter your heart/How long before I can get close to you.”
It is nominated for Best Music Video and the clip puts a sciencefiction spin on the loss of a loved one.
Some influences here are unusual for Mandopop, but Guo makes them all sound natural and cohesive, from the bluesy Luo Di Zhi Qian (Before Hitting The Ground) to the disco-tinged You Shen Me Qi Guai (What’s So Strange).
Three years ago, Chinese singer-songwriter Li Ronghao was named Best New Artist at the Golden Melody Awards and he has proven himself to be a major new force in Mandopop.
It looks like he might be getting some company from a fellow countryman very soon.
(ST)
Guo Ding
Chinese singer-songwriter Guo Ding is breaking out with his album The Silent Star Stone.
He has six nominations at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards, including for Album of the Year, Best Mandarin Album and Best Mandarin Male Vocalist. The results will be announced on June 24.
This is his third record after his self-titled debut in 2005 and Wei Wei (Slightly) in 2009, but listeners here are unlikely to be familiar with the Hunan-born musician, given his songs have not gotten much airplay here.
Well, better late than never.
His voice is a mesmerising instrument that pulls one in from the get-go.
He has a richly resonant set of pipes with a slight drawl that hints of both intimacy and attitude, one that is magnetic at the lower end of the register and equally persuasive on the higher reaches.
Guo is up for the Best Composer and Best Lyricist gongs with the opening track Qi Mei Di (The Fog Space), which begins with the evocative couplet: “I used to be unsettled river waters/Winding through the forest to enter your heart by mistake.” It builds up to an unabashed declaration of love: “Hey, wait till I find you/Probe your gaze/Embrace with no distractions.”
This is lush and swoonsome pop, propelled by a pulsing beat and urgency of feeling.
Ballad Shui Xing Ji (Mercury Records) is another standout, with its delicacy of melody and mood and a chorus that tugs at the heartstrings: “How much further before I can enter your heart/How long before I can get close to you.”
It is nominated for Best Music Video and the clip puts a sciencefiction spin on the loss of a loved one.
Some influences here are unusual for Mandopop, but Guo makes them all sound natural and cohesive, from the bluesy Luo Di Zhi Qian (Before Hitting The Ground) to the disco-tinged You Shen Me Qi Guai (What’s So Strange).
Three years ago, Chinese singer-songwriter Li Ronghao was named Best New Artist at the Golden Melody Awards and he has proven himself to be a major new force in Mandopop.
It looks like he might be getting some company from a fellow countryman very soon.
(ST)
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