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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Play Pretend
Elyzia

Holding Tightly Onto The Sun
Redpoll

Love Has To Be Timely
ah5ive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WAKE UP
Anthony Neely
Taiwanese-American Anthony Neely certainly wakes you up on the title track of his second album. Over a propulsive rhythm, he urges with his rocker rasp: “So come take a ride with your eyes open wide/it’s the time for the time of your life.”
The positive energy courses through This Moment and Letters as well as album ender Awakening: “Want to smile more brilliantly/Want to love more lovingly/ Want to do right by this world’s existence.”
To cover all bases, the radio-friendly ballads are here as well, including A Failed Attempt and Dear Death – the latter, a plea to be spared by Death so that he can love.
As a bonus, the single and music video for the lively and jaunty You Are My Baby are bundled with the album. It is the theme song for his romantic comedy The Soul Of Bread (2012).
Hopefully, Neely will not get too distracted from his musical journey as his career in entertainment opens up.

The Music Room: Concert Live Recording
Kit Chan
After a seven-year hiatus, home-grown singer Kit Chan’s sold-out three-night solo gig at the Marina Bay Sands’ Grand Theater last October was a triumphant return.
She sang, she flirted, she slinked and she owned the stage as if she never left.
Collected on these two discs are the songs she performed then, ranging from her early hits such as Heartache and Liking You to Cantonese musical numbers Waiting and Forget Him. Also included are the snippets of dialogue which segued into the songs.
A number of tracks included here are from her comeback covers album Re-interpreting Kit Chan (2011). While it was a treat to listen to them live, on disc, they are a little too reminiscent of the recently recorded versions.
More satisfying are the inclusion of new covers including Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U and Stephen Sondheim’s Send In The Clowns. The latter – a movingly tender reflection on missed chances – was a definite highlight of the show and it still shines here.
(ST)

The Flowers Of War
Zhang Yimou
The story: It is 1937 and Nanjing has fallen to the Japanese soldiers. A group of Chinese Catholic schoolgirls are stranded in the city and head to the church for safety. They place their hopes of salvation on the unlikely figure of the mortician John Miller (Christian Bale). A group of prostitutes led by the comely Yu Mo (Ni Ni) later break into the venue for shelter as well. Based on Chinese American author Yan Geling’s 2007 novella 13 Flowers Of Nanjing.

When one first sees Christian Bale with his fedora darting through war-torn streets, it seems as though we are being set up for something like Indiana Jones And The Rape Of Nanking.
To director Zhang Yimou’s credit, the film is not as jarring as that but on the other hand, he never quite manages to pull together the film as its tone veers from harrowing drama to a more light-hearted adventure flick.
Bale, best known for his brooding performances in the Batman films, plays Miller quite broadly at first. The rascally character is a fortune-hunter who has a weakness for both wine and women and, initially, he is concerned only with looking for money squirrelled away in the abandoned church.
But there is a pivotal point at which Miller turns into Oskar Schindler and he begins to take it upon himself to save the schoolgirls.
What changes his mind is the horrifying picture of Japanese soldiers breaking into the church and manhandling the terrified schoolgirls.
Later on, there is a scene of one of the prostitutes tied down by a group of Japanese soldiers, gang-raped and then gutted.
These shocking vignettes drive home the atrocities committed during the Rape of Nanking and make clear what fate would befall the schoolgirls if they do not escape from the city.
Yet they feel they belong more in Lu Chuan’s sombre City Of Life And Death (2009) which tackled grim realities unflinchingly.
The doomed attraction between Miller and Yu feels out of place as well, even though newcomer Ni Ni brings sass and nobility to her role as a prostitute with a tale of woe and a heart of gold.
This being a Zhang Yimou film, there are also visually arresting moments including the colourful explosion of a paper factory, though some of the flourishes seem a tad overdone.
Still, you care about the fate of the girls when a Japanese general orders for the lot of them to be taken away to perform at a “celebration”.
The film asks some piercing questions: Who should be saved? Who should be sacrificed? Is one human life worth more than another?
There are no easy answers and the film ends on a haunting and poignant note.
(ST)

He Is Hanjin
Hanjin Tan
This disc of demos by Hong Kong-based Singapore singer-songwriter Hanjin Tan gives listeners a peek into the business of putting out a CD. He observes in the liner notes that demos are meant to be a sales tool to market his melodies to record companies. Once they are sold, their buyers can freely ask for changes to be made.
It is interesting to compare the original tracks with their better-known versions recorded by other singers, such as how Jam Hsiao’s Mandarin ballad You started out life as an English song with the same title.
Even if you do not know the final versions, the album still works as a collection of a songwriter’s diverse output. It also showcases his versatility as a singer as he emotes on the ballad Till The End and sings in falsetto on the R&B track My Life.

Another Lonely December
Tai Ai-ling
Just five albums later, Taiwan’s Tai Ai-ling is rolling out her first best-of compilation.
Her hits here include the karaoke-friendly ballad Lag from Angel Wings (2008) as well as the more poppish title track off 2009’s Love Sign.
The slow-burn torch songs from her last album, Tone (2010), remain a highlight, including the title track, Close Eyes and Plus, Minus, Multiply, Divide. The collection also features six new tracks and the title number is another moving ballad about being luckless in love: “The lonely season is not just in December/The romantic snow doesn’t bring romance to my heart.”
Extreme Explosion offers something different but this hard rock/rap stomper feels out of place here.
(ST)

Break Heart, Black Heart
Alien Huang

Taiwan’s singer-actor- host Alien Huang has deftly avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. While his debut record Love Hero (2009) had a hip, youthful spirit that was irresistible, his ambitious follow-up admirably avoids replicating what had previously worked.
Huang tries his hand at coming up with the lyrics this time. He contributed to the dense wordplay of Black Heart and also paints love as a turbulent affair in the opening synth-rock number Whirlpool: “The enemy doesn’t move, I move; you don’t charge, I charge/Unless you love me, otherwise I won’t leave.”
The disc also features a wide variety of genres, from the winning ballad Who Knows You Better Than Me to the perky pop of Infatuated Man to the unexpected reggae pop of Front Back Left Right. Thank You For Letting Me Be Equal To You is most reminiscent of Love Hero’s vibe. And no wonder, since it was written by the band Fun4, a major collaborator on that record.
On the whole, a heartening follow-up.
(ST)

Endlessly
Lin Yu-chun
Taiwanese reality singing show star Lin Yu-chun is back with his third album, made up mostly of English tracks, and it opens on a promising note.
Opening track Saving Grace is surprisingly low-key and restrained, and is all the better for it. Lin croons gently: “Lonely corner/In deep water/You are always my saving grace.”
It is a pity that his English pronunciation makes it sound like “in dip water”, marring the effect.
Several numbers – Stay For Awhile, Good Isn’t Good Enough – fall into an adult-oriented middle- of-the-road groove that seems too old and dated for the 25-year-old.
It is back to business on the title track Endlessly though. It is a song tailor-made for fans who adore his take on dramatic ballads, in which he scales those high notes.
Also included are covers of the Carpenters’ Close To You and Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love Of All. After all, he first caught the attention of the public with his rendition of I Will Always Love You. Unfortunately, the covers themselves are reverent and unexciting affairs.
It is something of a relief to have him singing in his native Mandarin tongue on the last few tracks. They are not quite the saving grace of the album, but at least he has no problems with diction on them.
(ST)

Death Cab for Cutie – Live in Singapore
Fort Canning Park/Wednesday
If names are destinies, then alternative rock band Death Cab For Cutie can be said to have fulfilled theirs, for it is striking how many of their songs deal with dying.
Morbid case in point: A highlight of their recent two-hour gig here was undoubtedly frontman Ben Gibbard alone with his acoustic guitar singing I Will Follow You Into The Dark. Backed up by the audience as chorus, he promised in his clear and plaintive voice: “If there’s no one beside you/When your soul embarks/Then I’ll follow you into the dark.”
And on What Sarah Said, he crooned: “But I’m thinking of what Sarah said/That love is watching someone die”.
On other occasions, the four-member band used death as a metaphor. Marching Bands Of Manhattan ominously intoned that “your love is gonna drown”.
But if death was a constant theme, it was present in a vibrant show that was attended by 5,500, say the organisers.
Looking like a college student in his red checked shirt and skinny jeans, Gibbard proved he had the boundless energy of one as well.
Long Division, off their Billboard No. 1 album Narrow Stairs (2008), was revved up a notch from the disc and he could barely contain himself as he furiously unwound the guitar and microphone wires holding him back.
Apart from a minor snag or two, having already performed in Australia, New Zealand and Taipei, the band were a well-oiled machine and they put on a tight and energetic show, their second in Singapore, that was free of frills.
Melancholia seldom sounded this good, whether paired with sunny melodies or delivered in downbeat doses.
The band performed material spanning their career, including Photobooth from The Forbidden Love EP (2000), A Movie Script Ending off The Photo Album (2001), A Lack Of Color from the critically lauded Transatlanticism (2003) as well as Meet Me On The Equinox, which was on the soundtrack for The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009).
New album Codes And Keys (2011) was represented by Doors Unlocked And Open, You Are A Tourist and St. Peter’s Cathedral. While the record marked a departure of sorts from the more characteristically guitar-driven sound of the band, the change was not as marked on stage except for the synth-backed title track.
Gibbard was not one given to much small talk, though he remarked charmingly at one point: “Looks like our friend Sticky Heat showed up. He’s my worst enemy, I hate him.”
When bassist Nick Harmer had to deal with a technical glitch, Gibbard mused: “I could take this opportunity to do some shameless promotion on our behalf, but I won’t. Maybe I can talk about how bad airline food is.”
The final song of the gig was the epic ballad Transatlanticism with its insistent repetition of “I need you so much closer”. It was a touchingly direct and earnest plea for human connection, one which Death Cab had already made with their fans that night.
(ST)

Timeless Love
Dasmond Koh, Lim Koong Hwee

A lazy script, leaden acting and lacklustre direction make for a disappointing feature-film debut by television host Dasmond Koh. The movie was co-directed by MediaCorp veteran Lim Koong Hwee.
The story is largely set on a fantasy resort island from which adults seem to have been banished. Eden (Joshua Ang from We Not Naughty) and his younger sister Xiaowei (Kimberly Chia) run the place.
They cater to rich kid Morgan (We Not Naughty’s Shawn Lee lookalike Aloysius Pang), his good friend Sky (the cheery and cheeky Xu Bin, who is about the only actor who emerges unscathed) and Morgan’s on-off girlfriend Pepper (Josephine Chan). There is also a lone photographer Uri (Eugene Lim) thrown into the mix.
Morgan is searching for his late grandmother’s connection to the island and, disconcertingly, she appears to him as a young woman (Cynthia Ruby Wang) rather than as an old woman.
After the set-up, the film-makers have no idea what to do, so they pile on preposterous plot turns while the characters speak in cliches or, worse, in stilted voiceovers.
A scheming adult character turns up at the end threatening to take over the resort, and has his flunkey pick open a safe with a piece of wire in broad daylight. It is enough to make one laugh out loud.
The movie is desperately trying to masquerade as a fluffy Taiwanese idol drama but it simply falls flat.
(ST)

Love Original Soundtrack
Various artists

A Gift Of Love
Victor Wong

Love is in the air but only one of these albums is a welcome gift. As with Doze Niu’s previous film Monga (2010), the soundtrack to Love is no mere afterthought but a smartly curated selection of songs. The Taiwanese director even sings on one track here – the pared-down and earnest Maxim Of Love.
The new number Fool from feted singer Yoga Lin is an undoubted highlight. He makes a convincing case to be a fool for love in the emo ballad: “I don’t need, nor is it important, how great is it to be a fool/I don’t understand, nor do I need to, just let me be this way till I’m old.”
Hebe Tien’s Love! and My Love are more obvious, though still apt, selections. In particular, Love!’s daisy chain of failed connections sets up the film beautifully.
Better yet is the inclusion of Waa Wei’s Stary Birds and Us, both off her new album, No Crying (2011). She coos fearlessly on Birds: “I rush about blindly, how did I end up full of wounds.”
The DVD includes the music video for Fool as well as glimpses of the star-studded cast of Love mucking about on set. It would have been nice, though, to have had more original material as was the case for the Monga soundtrack, which had contributions from actors Ethan Juan and Mark Chao.
While Malaysian balladeer Victor Wong’s latest album comprises original material, it is hard to get excited about much of it. Even the key track A Gift To Unwrap, with lyrics by Lin Xi, feels blah rather than achingly romantic: “You’re the gift I’ve waited to unwrap all my life/This love is too precious, held in my palm, there are no more ifs.”
I Am Sure is one of the more memorable songs here with an easy breezy melody, while Again leaves an impression with its computer game-inspired lyrics and synth effects-laden music.
Problem is, his voice falls on the wrong side of sweet for me and is too often just blandly pleasant.
(ST)

The Lady
Luc Besson
The story: Before getting embroiled in politics, Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) is happily married to academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis) and makes a home with him and their two sons in Oxford, England. A trip back to Rangoon to visit her dying mother proves pivotal and eventually leads to her non-violent campaign for human rights and democracy in her native Burma. She is subsequently placed under extended house arrest by the military government. (The movie refers to the country as Burma throughout. The military regime changed the country’s name to Myanmar in 1989.)

In the other current biopic of a famous female politician, Meryl Streep physically transforms into former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. It is a bravura performance that has just won her a Best Actress Oscar.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh’s turn may not be as dramatic but she emanates a dignified grace and a steely resolve that capture the essence of Aung San Suu Kyi as she goes from Oxford housewife to political leader.
Even with no make-up wizardry, there is a passing resemblance between the two. And impressively, she delivers key public speeches in Burmese, though admittedly, I have no idea how authentic they sound.
Suu Kyi’s destiny is mapped out for her by history. Her father Aung San had led Burma to independence and was assassinated in 1947 when she was just three.
But he has not been forgotten and on her return home from England, she finds his portrait being held aloft by those protesting against the military junta.
Interestingly, she espouses non-violent revolution despite being the daughter of a general. This is not something the movie dwells on beyond a scene of her reading a book on Indian leader Gandhi, suggesting she was influenced by his ideas.
It is something of a surprise to find French director Luc Besson – best known for his snazzy action thrillers such as Nikita (1990) and The Fifth Element (1997) – at the helm of this rather restrained drama, which is as much about politics as about love.
The bond between Suu Kyi and Michael (an excellent David Thewlis, left) is powerful and moving.
He is her pillar of strength through all the ups and downs. At one point, she says tenderly: “You really must be the most indulgent husband who ever lived.”
The film also illustrates the high price the Nobel Peace Prize laureate pays for her cause as her loved ones are deliberately kept apart from her.
They are denied entry visas to visit her in Burma, and she knows that if she leaves, she would never be allowed back.
When she is forced to choose between her country and her dying husband by the generals in power, her anguished, bitter response is: “What kind of freedom is that?”
The constant one-step-forward-two-steps- back momentum and the cycles of reunion and separation grow a little too familiar as the film progresses. And one can begin to imagine the immense frustrations that Suu Kyi herself must have felt.
She rebuffs the idea of a cult of personality in the film but The Lady is nevertheless a timely tribute to the courage of one extraordinary woman.
While the film is overtly political – it ends with her release from house arrest in 2010 and a plea from her: “Please use your liberty to promote ours” – it appears to have been overtaken by current developments.
Reforms in Burma have been progressing at a brisk pace since the general elections which took place in 2010.
(ST)

In Love With...
Z-Chen Chang

Most Wanted
ThomasJack

Several Malaysian singers have been experiencing a second wind in their music career. There was Nicholas Teo with the gorgeous ballad Let’s Not Fall In Love Again and a revitalised Penny Tai shone on the album On The Way Home.
Now, Z-Chen Chang makes three.
The album opens with the Percy Phang-penned Invaluable Advice. As with Teo’s showstopper, an encounter with an ex sets off a rush of emotions: “Talk about memories, too shamefaced, mention tomorrow, too risky/Unless there’s a chance for us to pick up the pieces/Want to date again, too casual/Painful words as if in my ear/Goodbye is the best invaluable advice”.
Met Too Soon, also by Phang, is another ballad shimmering with regret and brought to life by Chang’s smooth emotive croon.
Impressively, the singer also grooves along on the more uptempo R&B tracks, such as 2013 and Loneliness Is A Crime. The glaring mis-step here is the electrosynth of, yikes, Toy Boy.
Meanwhile, new duo ThomasJack are hoping to catch their first wind.
The songs by Thomas Guo and Jack Chen have a sunny youthful vibe and even Tears Of Earth’s green message is set to a light-hearted melody.
But they need material that is more distinctive, or pushes the envelope a little more, to stand out from the crowd.
They are already stars in their native Malaysia, but achieving Most Wanted status in the region and beyond will not be a breeze.
(ST)