The Monkey King 3
Soi Cheang
The story: Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (William Feng) continues on his pilgrimage to the West to collect scriptures with his disciples/protectors monkey king Sun Wukong (Aaron Kwok), pig demon Zhu Bajie (Xiaoshenyang) and Sandy Sha Wujing (Him Law). They accidentally enter the all-female realm of Western Liang, where they meet an innocent queen (Zhao Liying) and a ruthless adviser (an unrecognisable Gigi Leung).
This is Hong Kong director Soi Cheang’s third Monkey King after the 2014 and 2016 instalments and it sits between the two in terms of quality.
The first one had underwhelming computer-generated imagery (CGI) while the second had the advantage of a resplendent Gong Li as a silky White-Boned Demon.
Movie No. 3 has a promising premise which upends the chauvinism of traditional Chinese society. Western Liang is peopled entirely by women from the ruling class to the warriors, a land where men are deemed to be venomous and have to be killed. Though to the lascivious Bajie, the place seems like paradise at first.
The CGI is decent, especially in the rendering of a giant deer that the queen rides and can stand upright on. And the finale seems designed to be a showcase for water effects as Wukong and gang take on a river god who has turned vengeful because of a thwarted love.
The cast members are comfortable in their roles and popular Chinese actor Xiaoshenyang scores some laughs with his die-hard lechery and piggish behaviour.
A pity then that there are a couple of missteps here.
The story is stretched too thin in order to fill two hours. Worse, a missing scrap of ancient parchment is given a high-pitched cutesy voice and an annoying personality to match as it plays a game of hide-and-seek with its pursuers. Cheang seems to be cashing in on the popularity of the fantasy film Monster Hunt (2015), which incidentally has a sequel out now.
Inexplicably, there is also a contemporary-sounding pop duet by Jane Zhang and Li Ronghao that takes one out of the movie. It should have been kept for the end credits instead of shoved into scenes between Tang and the queen.
The more audacious and enjoyable adaptation of Wu Chengen’s Ming Dynasty literary classic, Journey To The West, is actually the ongoing K-drama A Korean Odyssey with Tang now a woman and pig demon Bajie a popular idol.
But with Tang and his followers supposedly encountering 81 predicaments in the novel, there is no lack of material for Cheang. Already, Fire Mountain looms at the end of part three.
(ST)
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler
The story: Thanks to the wondrous metal vibranium, Wakanda is a technologically advanced African nation. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) ascends the throne and becomes the powerful Black Panther with the help of a magic potion. But he faces a challenger, Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), who wants to export Wakanda’s weapons to the outside world. In T’Challa’s corner are his former lover and special ops member Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), general Okoye (Danai Gurira) and American intelligence officer Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).
Black Panther is a pretty entertaining film and an important one, even though it stops short of being a great one.
For starters, it features a black superhero in the blindingly white pantheon of Marvel characters. And he is not just a lone token symbol. Much of the action takes place in the fictitious Wakanda and the white characters, including Freeman’s obliging Ross, are the secondary characters.
It is almost like peering at a black-and-white photograph with the blacks and whites reversed.
The film also answers the question of what a technologically advanced African society might look like.
The landscape is both recognisably African and sci-fi sleek at the same time. The futuristic-looking flying vehicles sport a mask-like design while colourful murals decorate the gleaming laboratories.
Black Panther also asks the resonant question of what responsibilities, if any, such a society has to the rest of the world: isolationism or engagement?
While Boseman (who played legendary singer James Brown in the biopic Get On Up, 2014), with his lovely lilt and noble mien, is the focus here, he is surrounded by many powerful women.
One definitely does not want to cross the spear-wielding Okoye, played with absolute authority by Gurira (from television’s ongoing zombie hit The Walking Dead). There is also T’Challa’s bubbly younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who is the equivalent of James Bond’s gadget master Q.
The excellent soundtrack curated by American rapper Kendrick Lamar (see review on page D6) adds to the distinctive sense of place – be it Wakanda or Busan in South Korea, where a major scene plays out.
It is a pity that the movie sags in the middle and it takes the appearance of Jordan, who was in acclaimed football drama Friday Night Lights from 2009 to 2011, to liven things up as the villain with a tragic past.
Perhaps director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, 2013) could have taken his cue from the titular creature and prowled at a faster speed where pacing was concerned.
Nevertheless, kudos to Black Panther for successfully showing moviegoers what a black superhero film looks like.
So Hollywood, how about that Asian superhero flick?
(ST)
Ryan Coogler
The story: Thanks to the wondrous metal vibranium, Wakanda is a technologically advanced African nation. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) ascends the throne and becomes the powerful Black Panther with the help of a magic potion. But he faces a challenger, Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), who wants to export Wakanda’s weapons to the outside world. In T’Challa’s corner are his former lover and special ops member Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), general Okoye (Danai Gurira) and American intelligence officer Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).
Black Panther is a pretty entertaining film and an important one, even though it stops short of being a great one.
For starters, it features a black superhero in the blindingly white pantheon of Marvel characters. And he is not just a lone token symbol. Much of the action takes place in the fictitious Wakanda and the white characters, including Freeman’s obliging Ross, are the secondary characters.
It is almost like peering at a black-and-white photograph with the blacks and whites reversed.
The film also answers the question of what a technologically advanced African society might look like.
The landscape is both recognisably African and sci-fi sleek at the same time. The futuristic-looking flying vehicles sport a mask-like design while colourful murals decorate the gleaming laboratories.
Black Panther also asks the resonant question of what responsibilities, if any, such a society has to the rest of the world: isolationism or engagement?
While Boseman (who played legendary singer James Brown in the biopic Get On Up, 2014), with his lovely lilt and noble mien, is the focus here, he is surrounded by many powerful women.
One definitely does not want to cross the spear-wielding Okoye, played with absolute authority by Gurira (from television’s ongoing zombie hit The Walking Dead). There is also T’Challa’s bubbly younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who is the equivalent of James Bond’s gadget master Q.
The excellent soundtrack curated by American rapper Kendrick Lamar (see review on page D6) adds to the distinctive sense of place – be it Wakanda or Busan in South Korea, where a major scene plays out.
It is a pity that the movie sags in the middle and it takes the appearance of Jordan, who was in acclaimed football drama Friday Night Lights from 2009 to 2011, to liven things up as the villain with a tragic past.
Perhaps director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, 2013) could have taken his cue from the titular creature and prowled at a faster speed where pacing was concerned.
Nevertheless, kudos to Black Panther for successfully showing moviegoers what a black superhero film looks like.
So Hollywood, how about that Asian superhero flick?
(ST)
Monday, February 12, 2018
Jacky Cheung A Classic Tour 2018
Singapore Indoor Stadium/Last Friday
For stage inventiveness and production values, veteran Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung’s concert definitely scores top marks.
As a measure of how successful it is, last Friday’s gig was the first of three sold-out nights at the Singapore Indoor Stadium – a year after he sold out three nights at the same venue with the same show last February.
And judging by the show of hands when he asked, a good number had already seen it then. Others, like me, had missed it last year and were glad for the encore gigs; still others were watching him in concert for the very first time.
It unfolded like a musical at times, with the flexible stage, video projections and lighting creating different scenes and settings from song to song.
In the opening, with Cheung in a top hat and coattails, the stage set-up resembled a tiered wedding cake.
During Forget Him, there was a bar in the centre of the four-sided stage in keeping with the Moulin-Rouge-cabaret-inspired costumes of the dancers.
Late in the evening, the show still managed to surprise as he performed in a field of floating points of coloured light. At one point, they seemed to be controlled by him as they drifted up when he lifted his arms. What a beautiful and mesmerising sight.
Some of the stage designs could be fully appreciated only from a bird’s eye view.
When he sang The Departed, he stepped onto a life-size replica of an origami paper boat which languidly circled around the stage. Those seated nearer to him would not have been able to see the stage floor transform into a body of water thanks to the clever use of lighting. Good thing there were large video screens placed above the stage which provided that perspective.
For all the thoughtful staging, there was an odd decision with regard to the rundown of songs.
He saved his most classic Mandarin and Cantonese hits for last and sang them in a medley as, finally, he reeled off I Waited Till The Flowers Withered, Farewell Kiss, Love You More Each Day and more.
It was an embarrassment of riches, but they could have been spread out over the evening – and performed in full.
This was the singer’s 138th show of his A Classic Tour and it showed in his relaxed demeanour and easy command of the 10,000-strong crowd.
Over three hours, the 56-year-old sang and shimmied tirelessly, constantly moving around the stage to make sure that every corner of the venue was covered.
He quipped: “Who likes to see me dance? If you don’t watch now, who knows if I’ll be dancing at 60.”
Vocally though, he seemed to be exerting himself to hit the high notes and his voice broke a few times. Perhaps his punishing tour schedule and jet lag are taking a toll as the Singapore dates are sandwiched between gigs in Connecticut and Nevada in the United States.
He generally sounded fine, but one perhaps has higher expectations of the man hailed as the God of Songs.
He said of the long tour at one point: “Your physical condition each day is different, but what gets us through is you (the audience). There were times when I thought I couldn’t go on, but I didn’t want to disappoint anyone and I just want to do my best on that day.”
It turns out that the God of Songs is human too.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium/Last Friday
For stage inventiveness and production values, veteran Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung’s concert definitely scores top marks.
As a measure of how successful it is, last Friday’s gig was the first of three sold-out nights at the Singapore Indoor Stadium – a year after he sold out three nights at the same venue with the same show last February.
And judging by the show of hands when he asked, a good number had already seen it then. Others, like me, had missed it last year and were glad for the encore gigs; still others were watching him in concert for the very first time.
It unfolded like a musical at times, with the flexible stage, video projections and lighting creating different scenes and settings from song to song.
In the opening, with Cheung in a top hat and coattails, the stage set-up resembled a tiered wedding cake.
During Forget Him, there was a bar in the centre of the four-sided stage in keeping with the Moulin-Rouge-cabaret-inspired costumes of the dancers.
Late in the evening, the show still managed to surprise as he performed in a field of floating points of coloured light. At one point, they seemed to be controlled by him as they drifted up when he lifted his arms. What a beautiful and mesmerising sight.
Some of the stage designs could be fully appreciated only from a bird’s eye view.
When he sang The Departed, he stepped onto a life-size replica of an origami paper boat which languidly circled around the stage. Those seated nearer to him would not have been able to see the stage floor transform into a body of water thanks to the clever use of lighting. Good thing there were large video screens placed above the stage which provided that perspective.
For all the thoughtful staging, there was an odd decision with regard to the rundown of songs.
He saved his most classic Mandarin and Cantonese hits for last and sang them in a medley as, finally, he reeled off I Waited Till The Flowers Withered, Farewell Kiss, Love You More Each Day and more.
It was an embarrassment of riches, but they could have been spread out over the evening – and performed in full.
This was the singer’s 138th show of his A Classic Tour and it showed in his relaxed demeanour and easy command of the 10,000-strong crowd.
Over three hours, the 56-year-old sang and shimmied tirelessly, constantly moving around the stage to make sure that every corner of the venue was covered.
He quipped: “Who likes to see me dance? If you don’t watch now, who knows if I’ll be dancing at 60.”
Vocally though, he seemed to be exerting himself to hit the high notes and his voice broke a few times. Perhaps his punishing tour schedule and jet lag are taking a toll as the Singapore dates are sandwiched between gigs in Connecticut and Nevada in the United States.
He generally sounded fine, but one perhaps has higher expectations of the man hailed as the God of Songs.
He said of the long tour at one point: “Your physical condition each day is different, but what gets us through is you (the audience). There were times when I thought I couldn’t go on, but I didn’t want to disappoint anyone and I just want to do my best on that day.”
It turns out that the God of Songs is human too.
(ST)
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Youth
Feng Xiaogang
The story: Xiaoping (Miao Miao) and Liu Feng (Huang Xuan) are part of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army arts troupe in the 1970s. She is a dancer who gets bullied by the others and Liu, a Jack of all trades, is one of the few who show her kindness. Later on, he gets sent to the front line in the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 as a soldier, while she helps to save lives as a field nurse. Chinese writer Yan Geling wrote the script based on her 2017 novel of the same name.
Chinese film-maker Feng Xiaogang has proven to be quite the chameleon in his movies, going from contemporary romantic comedy If You Are The One (2008) to heart-rending earthquake drama Aftershock (2010).
The nostalgic Youth is a paean to the bloom of youth and is yet another departure for him. Perhaps the story resonated strongly with him as he had joined the Beijing Military Region Art Troupe as a stage designer after high school.
The lead male character, Liu Feng, is such a good-natured and selfless guy that the others call him a “living Lei Feng”, a soldier held up as a model citizen in Chinese propaganda from the 1960s. But even a saint has desires and his one-sided crush on fellow dancer Dingding (Yang Caiyu) has unexpected consequences.
Meanwhile, Xiaoping desperately wants to dance and do well, but she gets off on the wrong foot with the others and gets ostracised.
The arts troupe environment is something of a bubble but, inevitably, the political tumult unfolding in the background – the vicious Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 and the death of leader Mao Zedong in 1976 – encroaches on the lives of the members. Xiaoping, for example, has to hide the fact that her father is a political undesirable.
This is no rose-tinted view of youth and history, though it is not quite as dark as Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998), the big-screen adaptation of Yan’s earlier novel set in 1970s China. Still, the protagonists of Youth find themselves facing tough times years down the road.
The cast includes seasoned young actors such as Huang, who conveys Liu Feng’s initial sunniness and his subsequent stoicism in the face of everything life throws at him, and Miao, who is also convincing as the long-suffering Xiaoping.
But their story as a couple is not quite satisfying in part because the perspective of the movie is not theirs. Rather, we see things and hear the voiceover from the point of view of fellow arts troupe member Huizi (Zhong Chuxi) and the effect is distancing.
(ST)
Feng Xiaogang
The story: Xiaoping (Miao Miao) and Liu Feng (Huang Xuan) are part of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army arts troupe in the 1970s. She is a dancer who gets bullied by the others and Liu, a Jack of all trades, is one of the few who show her kindness. Later on, he gets sent to the front line in the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 as a soldier, while she helps to save lives as a field nurse. Chinese writer Yan Geling wrote the script based on her 2017 novel of the same name.
Chinese film-maker Feng Xiaogang has proven to be quite the chameleon in his movies, going from contemporary romantic comedy If You Are The One (2008) to heart-rending earthquake drama Aftershock (2010).
The nostalgic Youth is a paean to the bloom of youth and is yet another departure for him. Perhaps the story resonated strongly with him as he had joined the Beijing Military Region Art Troupe as a stage designer after high school.
The lead male character, Liu Feng, is such a good-natured and selfless guy that the others call him a “living Lei Feng”, a soldier held up as a model citizen in Chinese propaganda from the 1960s. But even a saint has desires and his one-sided crush on fellow dancer Dingding (Yang Caiyu) has unexpected consequences.
Meanwhile, Xiaoping desperately wants to dance and do well, but she gets off on the wrong foot with the others and gets ostracised.
The arts troupe environment is something of a bubble but, inevitably, the political tumult unfolding in the background – the vicious Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 and the death of leader Mao Zedong in 1976 – encroaches on the lives of the members. Xiaoping, for example, has to hide the fact that her father is a political undesirable.
This is no rose-tinted view of youth and history, though it is not quite as dark as Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998), the big-screen adaptation of Yan’s earlier novel set in 1970s China. Still, the protagonists of Youth find themselves facing tough times years down the road.
The cast includes seasoned young actors such as Huang, who conveys Liu Feng’s initial sunniness and his subsequent stoicism in the face of everything life throws at him, and Miao, who is also convincing as the long-suffering Xiaoping.
But their story as a couple is not quite satisfying in part because the perspective of the movie is not theirs. Rather, we see things and hear the voiceover from the point of view of fellow arts troupe member Huizi (Zhong Chuxi) and the effect is distancing.
(ST)
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Message In A Bottle
JJ Lin
The lead single, Wei Da De Miao Xiao (Little Big Us), sounds like a sequel to JJ Lin’s big hit ballad, Bu Wei Shei Er Zuo De Ge (Twilight), off his previous album, From M.E. To Myself (2015). But not to worry, it is a sequel done right, capturing the moving grandeur of the earlier track without sounding like a retread.
Singapore’s Xiaohan wrote the lyrics and, as usual, she has a way with words, piquing one’s interest with the opening stanza: “A rose is surrounded by thorns, maybe it wishes for an embrace/Dolphins always have a smile on their face, maybe the ocean has washed their tears away, so no one knows”.
It is a song about the universal need for love and finding the courage to pursue it. Lin sings with yearning and a sparkle of hope: “Love is not a coincidence/Let us hold on to each other’s hands/Although we are minuscule/Never run away”.
He composed all of the album’s music and also penned the lyrics in the English version of the track, Until The Day, which is about the circular nature of life (“Lovers straying, seasons changing/Strangers to lovers/What comes around again”). Both work, though I find the Mandarin take more compelling.
The ballads make a greater impression here and Wo Ji Xu (Eagle’s Eye) is another standout number, with lyrics from frequent Mandopop king Jay Chou collaborator Vincent Fang. Lin sings about believing in oneself and rejecting so-called destiny: “I want to be carefree like an eagle, fly far away from fate on the ground”.
The Taipei-based Singaporean singer-songwriter has been on a roll in recent years, with Golden Melody Award wins for Best Male Vocalist for Stories Untold in 2014 and From M.E. To Myself in 2016. He suggests that his greatest challenge right now is himself as he seeks yet another breakthrough.
He asks in Chuan Yue (Stay): “Who breaks through, overcome who/If I don’t, if there’s no me/Who would surpass”.
The message is clear.
(ST)
JJ Lin
The lead single, Wei Da De Miao Xiao (Little Big Us), sounds like a sequel to JJ Lin’s big hit ballad, Bu Wei Shei Er Zuo De Ge (Twilight), off his previous album, From M.E. To Myself (2015). But not to worry, it is a sequel done right, capturing the moving grandeur of the earlier track without sounding like a retread.
Singapore’s Xiaohan wrote the lyrics and, as usual, she has a way with words, piquing one’s interest with the opening stanza: “A rose is surrounded by thorns, maybe it wishes for an embrace/Dolphins always have a smile on their face, maybe the ocean has washed their tears away, so no one knows”.
It is a song about the universal need for love and finding the courage to pursue it. Lin sings with yearning and a sparkle of hope: “Love is not a coincidence/Let us hold on to each other’s hands/Although we are minuscule/Never run away”.
He composed all of the album’s music and also penned the lyrics in the English version of the track, Until The Day, which is about the circular nature of life (“Lovers straying, seasons changing/Strangers to lovers/What comes around again”). Both work, though I find the Mandarin take more compelling.
The ballads make a greater impression here and Wo Ji Xu (Eagle’s Eye) is another standout number, with lyrics from frequent Mandopop king Jay Chou collaborator Vincent Fang. Lin sings about believing in oneself and rejecting so-called destiny: “I want to be carefree like an eagle, fly far away from fate on the ground”.
The Taipei-based Singaporean singer-songwriter has been on a roll in recent years, with Golden Melody Award wins for Best Male Vocalist for Stories Untold in 2014 and From M.E. To Myself in 2016. He suggests that his greatest challenge right now is himself as he seeks yet another breakthrough.
He asks in Chuan Yue (Stay): “Who breaks through, overcome who/If I don’t, if there’s no me/Who would surpass”.
The message is clear.
(ST)
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Story Thief
A-mei
On her last album, Amit 2 (2015), Taiwanese singer A-mei seethed and snarled. For example, she let it rip on Matriarchy: “Men proclaim themselves kings while women have to bear the weight of the world.”
As though in deliberate contrast, Story Thief is quieter and less confrontational. The singer is more concerned with matters of the heart and the pared-down arrangements place the focus on her voice and naked feelings. It is the ballads which shine here as she works with top collaborators such as Jay Chou and JJ Lin.
The opening title track, penned by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Eve Ai, has A-mei ruminating on a failed relationship: “When you left that day, I stopped telling stories/ Stopped weaving transitions, no need to fret about an ending.”
There is no chorus with an obvious hook here, but the melody sneaks up on you and the honesty of the emotions draws one in.
On the ballad A Bad Good Guy, with lyrics by Singapore’s Xiaohan, A-mei acknowledges: “Whose heart hasn’t been damaged, hasn’t been trapped/Grateful to have survived, that’s enough to be real/Not much innocence left in life/I’m willing to wait again for a bad good guy.”
Full Name, composed by Mandopop king Chou, narrates a poignant tale of unrequited love. A loss of intimacy is conveyed by a telling little detail: “When you mention me again, it’s already by my full name.”
This is the sound of someone a little rueful, a little older and wiser, and yet still clinging to hope.
A handful of tracks take a different tack, including the synth number Withdrawal, which presents another aspect of relationships – desperate desire: “Want to breathe you in deeply/Dig my nails into your flesh.”
Story Thief, it turns out, is a pop album for adults.
(ST)
A-mei
On her last album, Amit 2 (2015), Taiwanese singer A-mei seethed and snarled. For example, she let it rip on Matriarchy: “Men proclaim themselves kings while women have to bear the weight of the world.”
As though in deliberate contrast, Story Thief is quieter and less confrontational. The singer is more concerned with matters of the heart and the pared-down arrangements place the focus on her voice and naked feelings. It is the ballads which shine here as she works with top collaborators such as Jay Chou and JJ Lin.
The opening title track, penned by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Eve Ai, has A-mei ruminating on a failed relationship: “When you left that day, I stopped telling stories/ Stopped weaving transitions, no need to fret about an ending.”
There is no chorus with an obvious hook here, but the melody sneaks up on you and the honesty of the emotions draws one in.
On the ballad A Bad Good Guy, with lyrics by Singapore’s Xiaohan, A-mei acknowledges: “Whose heart hasn’t been damaged, hasn’t been trapped/Grateful to have survived, that’s enough to be real/Not much innocence left in life/I’m willing to wait again for a bad good guy.”
Full Name, composed by Mandopop king Chou, narrates a poignant tale of unrequited love. A loss of intimacy is conveyed by a telling little detail: “When you mention me again, it’s already by my full name.”
This is the sound of someone a little rueful, a little older and wiser, and yet still clinging to hope.
A handful of tracks take a different tack, including the synth number Withdrawal, which presents another aspect of relationships – desperate desire: “Want to breathe you in deeply/Dig my nails into your flesh.”
Story Thief, it turns out, is a pop album for adults.
(ST)
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
The story: In the early 1980s, academics who stay for a spell in the family home in northern Italy and help out his professor father are a summer ritual for Elio (Timothee Chalamet). When young Jewish-American scholar Oliver (Armie Hammer) walks through their door, he stirs up strong feelings of desire on the part of the precocious 17-year-old. Based on Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name.
Having read and loved the book, I was a little apprehensive about a big-screen adaptation. The Egyptian-born American writer Aciman crafts lyrical prose and much of it is in the form of interior monologues in Elio’s head. How would this translate to the big screen?
Drawing on a beautiful source text, Italian director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, 2010) has made a film that is its own kind of wonderful.
It is an adaptation that is loving and faithful, but not slavishly so. There is no voiceover, for example, but we still get glimpses into Elio’s head through the clever conversion of some of his thoughts into dialogue as well as scrawlings in a journal.
From the gorgeous setting of an idyllic northern Italian town to the casting to the choice of music, the film-maker gets the details just right in evoking a world that we become completely immersed in.
Chalamet slips under the skin of Elio to give a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from the heady rapture of sexual awakening and first love to being torn apart by doubt and insecurity. He flits so naturally from English to Italian to French that it comes as a jolt to find out that he is American, born and raised in Manhattan.
His star-making turn has landed him Best Actor nominations for the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards and wins from several critics associations. Nominations and wins have also been chalked up for best film, best director and best supporting actor for Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Elio’s father.
Hammer is well cast as the athletic academic with the movie star aura, the object of Elio’s desire. His Oliver has an easy confidence about him and also an innate sense of decency. He says to Elio at one point: “I want to be good, we haven’t done anything yet.”
Elio’s raging hormones are acknowledged – there is a scene involving him and a peach and he also sleeps with a girl from next door – but there is more than unbridled lust between him and Oliver. They talk about books, music and people and share a deeply intimate connection.
There is also a remarkable scene that takes place between Elio and his father, which Stuhlbarg handles with grace and gravitas. The professor talks to his son about love with the wisdom of one who has experienced it and the protective instinct of a parent who wants the best for his child.
Movies often make a big deal about the sex talk, but you rarely see one in which a teenager and his parents have a serious conversation about romantic love.
(ST)
Luca Guadagnino
The story: In the early 1980s, academics who stay for a spell in the family home in northern Italy and help out his professor father are a summer ritual for Elio (Timothee Chalamet). When young Jewish-American scholar Oliver (Armie Hammer) walks through their door, he stirs up strong feelings of desire on the part of the precocious 17-year-old. Based on Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name.
Having read and loved the book, I was a little apprehensive about a big-screen adaptation. The Egyptian-born American writer Aciman crafts lyrical prose and much of it is in the form of interior monologues in Elio’s head. How would this translate to the big screen?
Drawing on a beautiful source text, Italian director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, 2010) has made a film that is its own kind of wonderful.
It is an adaptation that is loving and faithful, but not slavishly so. There is no voiceover, for example, but we still get glimpses into Elio’s head through the clever conversion of some of his thoughts into dialogue as well as scrawlings in a journal.
From the gorgeous setting of an idyllic northern Italian town to the casting to the choice of music, the film-maker gets the details just right in evoking a world that we become completely immersed in.
Chalamet slips under the skin of Elio to give a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from the heady rapture of sexual awakening and first love to being torn apart by doubt and insecurity. He flits so naturally from English to Italian to French that it comes as a jolt to find out that he is American, born and raised in Manhattan.
His star-making turn has landed him Best Actor nominations for the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards and wins from several critics associations. Nominations and wins have also been chalked up for best film, best director and best supporting actor for Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Elio’s father.
Hammer is well cast as the athletic academic with the movie star aura, the object of Elio’s desire. His Oliver has an easy confidence about him and also an innate sense of decency. He says to Elio at one point: “I want to be good, we haven’t done anything yet.”
Elio’s raging hormones are acknowledged – there is a scene involving him and a peach and he also sleeps with a girl from next door – but there is more than unbridled lust between him and Oliver. They talk about books, music and people and share a deeply intimate connection.
There is also a remarkable scene that takes place between Elio and his father, which Stuhlbarg handles with grace and gravitas. The professor talks to his son about love with the wisdom of one who has experienced it and the protective instinct of a parent who wants the best for his child.
Movies often make a big deal about the sex talk, but you rarely see one in which a teenager and his parents have a serious conversation about romantic love.
(ST)
Sunday, December 17, 2017
BEST
Wei Bird 2017 Concert
Resorts World Theatre, Oct 28
Given that shows are now planned down to the last note, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Wei Li-an’s 20-minute encore was a lovely surprise. He emerged with a guitar and proceeded to take requests before ending the night with the delicate beauty of Cloudy Sunflower.
The rest of the show was not too shabby either. Live, he was an affable presence whose pipes shone whether he was rocking out on Wolves or soaring in his falsetto range on early track Translation Exercise. He seemed comfortable enough on stage that one would not guess that he is, in his own words, an introvert.
Eason Chan Says C’mon In~ Tour In Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Dec 3
Usually, when an album is released, only a few numbers from it would be plugged and performed in concerts. Hong Kong singer Eason Chan tried something different with the C’Mon In~ tour, which is also the title of his latest Mandarin record. He performed all 10 tracks, giving each its moment to breathe on stage.
It worked, thanks to his reliably fine vocals and the strength of the material, which ranged from the retro dance of Hai Dan (Sigh) to the poignant balladry of Shei Lai Jian Yue Guang (Miss).
MICappella You And I Live In Concert 2017
Capitol Theatre, Nov 4
The a cappella sextet started out doing covers and have since gone on to put out an entire album of original material with last year’s MICappella Reloaded.
They were at their best here in the high-octane original numbers One Of These Days and Never Be Defeated, in which all the elements – from the vocal percussion to the harmonisation – formed a satisfying whole. In their biggest solo show to date on home ground, they conveyed the joy and excitement of coming together to make music.
WORST
Least enjoyable aspect of concerts: queues
Long snaking queues to get into gig venues are now par for the course. But people are stoic about the fact that this is the new normal, with enhanced security checks a necessity in a time of terror threats.
Maybe we should take heed of what Bono from Irish rock band U2 said in Paris. The band were rehearsing in the city during the deadly attacks in November 2015 at a rock concert by Eagles Of Death Metal that took 89 lives inside Paris’ Bataclan venue. Bono said: “Be vigilant, but be unafraid.”
(ST)
Wei Bird 2017 Concert
Resorts World Theatre, Oct 28
Given that shows are now planned down to the last note, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Wei Li-an’s 20-minute encore was a lovely surprise. He emerged with a guitar and proceeded to take requests before ending the night with the delicate beauty of Cloudy Sunflower.
The rest of the show was not too shabby either. Live, he was an affable presence whose pipes shone whether he was rocking out on Wolves or soaring in his falsetto range on early track Translation Exercise. He seemed comfortable enough on stage that one would not guess that he is, in his own words, an introvert.
Eason Chan Says C’mon In~ Tour In Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Dec 3
Usually, when an album is released, only a few numbers from it would be plugged and performed in concerts. Hong Kong singer Eason Chan tried something different with the C’Mon In~ tour, which is also the title of his latest Mandarin record. He performed all 10 tracks, giving each its moment to breathe on stage.
It worked, thanks to his reliably fine vocals and the strength of the material, which ranged from the retro dance of Hai Dan (Sigh) to the poignant balladry of Shei Lai Jian Yue Guang (Miss).
MICappella You And I Live In Concert 2017
Capitol Theatre, Nov 4
The a cappella sextet started out doing covers and have since gone on to put out an entire album of original material with last year’s MICappella Reloaded.
They were at their best here in the high-octane original numbers One Of These Days and Never Be Defeated, in which all the elements – from the vocal percussion to the harmonisation – formed a satisfying whole. In their biggest solo show to date on home ground, they conveyed the joy and excitement of coming together to make music.
WORST
Least enjoyable aspect of concerts: queues
Long snaking queues to get into gig venues are now par for the course. But people are stoic about the fact that this is the new normal, with enhanced security checks a necessity in a time of terror threats.
Maybe we should take heed of what Bono from Irish rock band U2 said in Paris. The band were rehearsing in the city during the deadly attacks in November 2015 at a rock concert by Eagles Of Death Metal that took 89 lives inside Paris’ Bataclan venue. Bono said: “Be vigilant, but be unafraid.”
(ST)
BEST ASIAN ALBUMS OF 2017
The Silent Star Stone
Guo Ding
The Hunan-born singer-songwriter deservedly broke out with his third album.
He has a mesmerising voice with a slight drawl that hints at both intimacy and attitude, one that is magnetic at the lower end of the register and equally persuasive on the higher reaches.
From Qi Mei Di (The Fog Space) to Shui Xing Ji (Mercury Records), this is lush and imaginative pop, propelled by a pulsing beat and urgency of feeling.
He might have missed out at the Golden Melody Awards despite six nominations, but the greater exposure he has received as a result makes it a win for him.
The Servile
No Party For Cao Dong
Da Feng Chui (Simon Says), which won Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards, is a scathing criticism of society’s obsession with material goods and the need for one-upmanship.
Frontman Wu Tu sings without heat and then tears into the chorus at the end: “Cry, shout, ask your mother to buy a toy/Hurry to school and show off, child, make some friends.”
The Servile is the sound of Taiwan’s disenfranchised youth venting their frustrations and it has struck a chord in their homeland. But its searing honesty and seamless musicality would resonate with anyone.
Artists’ Mood
Leo Wang
The Taiwanese musician’s mission, as laid out on his Facebook page, is “trying to combine jazz, hip-hop, reggae and scat singing with Mandarin Chinese in a groovy way, and making his people dance”.
He achieves that on his fourth so-called mixtape, a fun and irreverent grab bag of genres and influences.
Jam All Night is about the pure pleasure of making music: “I think everything will be all right/As long as we can jam all night/Use your hands to drum, use your feet to drum/Use your mouth to drum, use your body to drum.”
The joy is infectious.
WORST
Appreciation
Alan Tam
Props to Cantopop legend Alan Tam, 67, for continuing to put out new work but, unfortunately, this disc of Mandopop duets is a misfire.
Despite rounding up collaborators such as Kit Chan, Eason Chan and Mayday, the pairings do not work. While it is true that Tam’s diction has improved compared with when he started singing in Mandarin, his Cantonese accent remains discernible.
Simplicity Is Happiness packs a double whammy of accented Mandarin with the addition of Andy Lau, another singer who is better in his native Cantonese.
(ST)
The Silent Star Stone
Guo Ding
The Hunan-born singer-songwriter deservedly broke out with his third album.
He has a mesmerising voice with a slight drawl that hints at both intimacy and attitude, one that is magnetic at the lower end of the register and equally persuasive on the higher reaches.
From Qi Mei Di (The Fog Space) to Shui Xing Ji (Mercury Records), this is lush and imaginative pop, propelled by a pulsing beat and urgency of feeling.
He might have missed out at the Golden Melody Awards despite six nominations, but the greater exposure he has received as a result makes it a win for him.
The Servile
No Party For Cao Dong
Da Feng Chui (Simon Says), which won Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards, is a scathing criticism of society’s obsession with material goods and the need for one-upmanship.
Frontman Wu Tu sings without heat and then tears into the chorus at the end: “Cry, shout, ask your mother to buy a toy/Hurry to school and show off, child, make some friends.”
The Servile is the sound of Taiwan’s disenfranchised youth venting their frustrations and it has struck a chord in their homeland. But its searing honesty and seamless musicality would resonate with anyone.
Artists’ Mood
Leo Wang
The Taiwanese musician’s mission, as laid out on his Facebook page, is “trying to combine jazz, hip-hop, reggae and scat singing with Mandarin Chinese in a groovy way, and making his people dance”.
He achieves that on his fourth so-called mixtape, a fun and irreverent grab bag of genres and influences.
Jam All Night is about the pure pleasure of making music: “I think everything will be all right/As long as we can jam all night/Use your hands to drum, use your feet to drum/Use your mouth to drum, use your body to drum.”
The joy is infectious.
WORST
Appreciation
Alan Tam
Props to Cantopop legend Alan Tam, 67, for continuing to put out new work but, unfortunately, this disc of Mandopop duets is a misfire.
Despite rounding up collaborators such as Kit Chan, Eason Chan and Mayday, the pairings do not work. While it is true that Tam’s diction has improved compared with when he started singing in Mandarin, his Cantonese accent remains discernible.
Simplicity Is Happiness packs a double whammy of accented Mandarin with the addition of Andy Lau, another singer who is better in his native Cantonese.
(ST)
BEST MOVIES OF 2017
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
American writer Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name is a thing of beauty, an account of a love affair between 17-year-old Elio and visiting 24-year-old scholar Oliver in a small town in Italy in the 1980s.
Against an idyllic backdrop of rural Italian gorgeousness, director Luca Guadagnino conveys the headiness of first love and sexual awakening. Timothee Chalamet slips thoroughly under Elio’s skin and gives a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from heady rapture to being lacerated by doubt. Armie Hammer is also well-cast as the athletic American academic who wants to do right by Elio.
Adaptations are tricky things, more so if the original is beloved, but this movie is its own kind of wonderful. After two sold-out screenings and winning the Audience Choice Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, the drama is slated for a run at The Projector from Jan 4.
Midnight Runners
Jason Kim Joo Hwan
A thoroughly entertaining and satisfying South Korean buddy action flick, thanks to the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park Seo Jun and Kang Ha Neul.
They play a pair of police academy trainees who witness the abduction of a young woman and decide to follow up on their own time, even at the risk of getting expelled.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan deftly mixes comedy, action, crime and morality drama. Hopefully, there is a sequel.
Mad World
Wong Chun
Young Hong Kong film-maker Wong Chun’s debut feature is a compassionate look at the often-ignored topic of mental illness. The 28-year-old depicts the maladies of intolerance and fear, but does not pretend there are easy remedies.
The drama is also grounded by fine performances from Shawn Yue, as a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to navigate his way in society, and Eric Tsang, as a father who is faced with difficult questions about how to best care for his mentally ill son.
Kudos to the Singapore Chinese Film Festival for screening it in its original Cantonese.
WORST
Love Contractually
Liu Guonan
Yet another dire and dour movie which purports to be a romantic comedy.
Sammi Cheng’s nitpicking executive-type taskmaster is a cold and cheerless creation that is hard to warm up to and there is no chemistry between the Hong Kong star and Taiwan’s Joseph Chang. He is a paratrooper-turned-courier who ends up as her assistant, only to realise later that he was picked to be her sperm donor.
When a movie shifts its location to scenic Paris for no good reason, that is a sign that the film-makers are clutching at straws.
(ST)
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
American writer Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name is a thing of beauty, an account of a love affair between 17-year-old Elio and visiting 24-year-old scholar Oliver in a small town in Italy in the 1980s.
Against an idyllic backdrop of rural Italian gorgeousness, director Luca Guadagnino conveys the headiness of first love and sexual awakening. Timothee Chalamet slips thoroughly under Elio’s skin and gives a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from heady rapture to being lacerated by doubt. Armie Hammer is also well-cast as the athletic American academic who wants to do right by Elio.
Adaptations are tricky things, more so if the original is beloved, but this movie is its own kind of wonderful. After two sold-out screenings and winning the Audience Choice Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, the drama is slated for a run at The Projector from Jan 4.
Midnight Runners
Jason Kim Joo Hwan
A thoroughly entertaining and satisfying South Korean buddy action flick, thanks to the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park Seo Jun and Kang Ha Neul.
They play a pair of police academy trainees who witness the abduction of a young woman and decide to follow up on their own time, even at the risk of getting expelled.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan deftly mixes comedy, action, crime and morality drama. Hopefully, there is a sequel.
Mad World
Wong Chun
Young Hong Kong film-maker Wong Chun’s debut feature is a compassionate look at the often-ignored topic of mental illness. The 28-year-old depicts the maladies of intolerance and fear, but does not pretend there are easy remedies.
The drama is also grounded by fine performances from Shawn Yue, as a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to navigate his way in society, and Eric Tsang, as a father who is faced with difficult questions about how to best care for his mentally ill son.
Kudos to the Singapore Chinese Film Festival for screening it in its original Cantonese.
WORST
Love Contractually
Liu Guonan
Yet another dire and dour movie which purports to be a romantic comedy.
Sammi Cheng’s nitpicking executive-type taskmaster is a cold and cheerless creation that is hard to warm up to and there is no chemistry between the Hong Kong star and Taiwan’s Joseph Chang. He is a paratrooper-turned-courier who ends up as her assistant, only to realise later that he was picked to be her sperm donor.
When a movie shifts its location to scenic Paris for no good reason, that is a sign that the film-makers are clutching at straws.
(ST)
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