The Green Hornet

Michel Gondry

The story: Britt (Seth Rogen) is the party-hearty son of newspaper magnate James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). After his father dies, he and his father’s improbable mechanic Kato (Jay Chou) decide to battle crime in the city by pretending to be masked villains. The duo sneakily use Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), Britt’s new secretary at the paper, to do the strategising as they try to capture the attention of chief baddie Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).

This is not a superhero movie. It is one about a petulant thrill-seeking schlub and his desperate ploys for attention. Subverting the cliches of the superhero genre is fine, except that it has just been done with greater aplomb in the recent film Kick-Ass (2010).

One had hoped for more from Michel Gondry, who used his trademark visual wizardry to such devastating emotional effect in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004).

But instead of bringing something new to the table, he seems to have succumbed to some genre conventions, giving us a very noisy and destructive romp through a newspaper office in the frantic finale.

Star and co-writer Seth Rogen has to shoulder some of the blame. The funnyman in comedies such as Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008) and Knocked Up (2007) might have worn out his welcome among movie audiences. Here, he veers between being mildly annoying and massively irritating. Only at the end does his familiar likable goofiness come through.

The script is littered with groanworthy lines such as “I will blow this guy in any proportion I like”. For an audaciously funny send-up of the latent homoeroticism of superhero flicks, you are better off checking out the animated shorts of The Ambiguously Gay Duo from the sketch show Saturday Night Live.

Plot inconsistencies do not help Gondry. The picture of James Reid as a man of infallible integrity does not quite square with his palatial home and fleet of flashy sports cars. Also, the need to head to the newspaper office to download a critical file makes no sense at all given the existence of, well, e-mail and the Internet.

And then we have Asian superstar Jay Chou in the role played by Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet TV series from 1966 to 1967.

The pop idol cuts a dashing figure as a cooler, gongfu-fighting version of James Bond’s gadgetman Q. But whenever he speaks, it takes some work to figure out what he is saying: “Your father was a combraksh man.” Come again? Oh, he means complex.

At least the film does something a little interesting with the typically thankless role of sexless Asian sidekick.

Chou gets substantial screen time and Kato and Britt both vie for Lenore’s affections as equals. So what if Kato does not get the girl – neither does Britt. Guess this counts as progress.

(ST)

It's A Great Great World

Kelvin Tong

The story: Ah Meng (Chew Chor Meng) tells a young woman (Olivia Ong) the stories behind four black-and-white pictures her grandmother Ah Hua took a long time ago at Great World Amusement Park: children’s entertainer Ah Boo (Henry Thia) and his mother (Lai Meng); Meijuan (Joanne Peh), who ran a shooting gallery stall, and the medicated oil salesman (Zhang Zhenhuan) she fell in love with; lovelorn nightclub singer Mei Gui (Xiang Yun); and Ah Meng himself and his mute bride (Apple Hong).

In his seventh feature, film-maker Kelvin Tong probes the idea of national identity and grapples with the question of what makes a film Singaporean. And he does this in an entertaining manner.

With a lovingly recreated set of Great World Amusement Park, the film is a nostalgia fest. But Tong also takes care to root it within the larger context of what was happening in the country.

He conveys the pain of separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 by juxtaposing the historic clip of then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew making the announcement in tears with Meijuan sobbing her heart out over the departure of her Malaysian sweetheart.

History is shaped by politics and portentous pronouncements. It is also forged by personal stories of living and loving and this is one juncture where it all comes together.

The film is structured with each vignette unfolding against the backdrop of an iconic Great World attraction such as Sky Theatre, Ghost Train, Flamingo Nite-Club and Wing Choon Yuen Restaurant.

Some segments are stronger than others. The decision not to dub over the actors’ real voices means sitting through some iffy-sounding Teochew from the China-born Zhang Zhenhuan.

It is a pity that we do not get to learn more about the trail-blazing Ah Hua (played by Yvonne Lim) – smoking, wearing trousers and doing a man’s job while juggling her responsibilities to a husband and a child.

Still, it is fun to see the array of local TV stars up on the big screen, from Bryan Wong and Zhang Yaodong yakking in the kitchen as junior cooks to Xiang Yun as a boozy over-the-hill nightclub singer.

Anchoring the entire film is Chew Chor Meng’s poignant portrayal of a former street vendor who now seems, like the amusement park itself, to have been largely forgotten by time and society.

(ST)

Rock 30 Singapore Concert

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Saturday

Iconic music label Rock Records turned 30 last year and it is marking the milestone by celebrating its singers and songs.

The festivities began with two shows at Taipei Arena in November last year and continued in Singapore over a 31/2-hour-long concert in front of a capacity audience of 8,000.

And yes, the Singapore gig was still exhilarating even though I had caught the five-hour version in Taiwan and the roster of artists had been downsized from 60-plus to 17 acts last Saturday night.

The performers included the honey-voiced Michelle Pan, pop-rocker Chang Chen-yue, R&B singer Shunza and Malaysian singer-songwriter Wu Jiahui.

Despite the absence of stars such as queen of ballads Fish Leong, singer-actor Richie Ren and grizzled singer-songwriter Bobby Chen Sheng, no one needed to feel that he was short-changed.

Saturday’s bash clearly illustrated what the label’s chairman, Mr Johnny Duann, told Life! has been a fundamental tenet for the company: “Rock loves music and Rock wants to make good music.”

The evening was chock-a-block with highlights from stars past and present and even those who did not make it for one reason or another had their hits presented and contributions acknowledged.

Take the Sandy Lam-Jonathan Lee duet When Love Has Turned Into A Thing Of The Past, which was beautifully performed by Wakin Chau and Winnie Hsin.

Hsin, who was best known for her bittersweet love songs in the mid-1990s, continued to wow audiences with a goosebump-inducing rendition of Enlightened.

While her star has waned in recent years, when she crooned “Admit it, you still have a lot of feelings for me”, it could very well have been reflecting the the mood of the crowd.

Wa Wa was another singer audiences have not seen for a while. The raspy-voiced singer gave us Crossing The Ocean To See You and the titular track from Heavy Rain (1991), one of the best Mandopop albums of the 1990s.

And was it possible that the one-time fresh-faced ingenue who dished out kiddy pop was now a sexily confident woman belting out Lemon Tree on stage? Time has been good to Tarcy Su indeed.

It was not just a nostalgia fest though as newer acts such as Alien Huang, Yisa Yu Kewei and home-grown artists The Freshman and Kelly Poon had their turn in the spotlight as well.

The diversity of Rock’s sound was also apparent as it ran the gamut from the exuberant hip-hop of MC HotDog to the catchy dance pop of Alex To to the made-for-getai Minnan numbers of Huang Fei.

There was truly something for everyone and everyone, it seemed, was there – from the folks in their 40s and 50s reliving musical memories of yesterday to the younger fans screaming for rock band Mayday and Alien Huang.

They came as couples, as groups of friends and as families. A few rows ahead of me, one mother and her young daughter rocked out enthusiastically to practically every number.

Some of the most thunderous applause of the evening went to evergreen balladeer Chau, Mandopop’s biggest band Mayday and rocker Wu Bai.

The genial Chau announced: “I am part of Rock and my name is Wakin Chau” and mused that “life is limited, but art is limitless”. He then dug deep into his catalogue to come up with Direction Of The Heart and I Truly Gave My Love To You.

Wu closed the evening with a blast of energetic rock with classics such as Wanderer’s Love Song, Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird and Love You For 10,000 Years.

The last number was a mass singalong of Happy Paradise – a finale twice thwarted in Taipei as they ran out of time. This track was first recorded by Rock’s stars back in 1986.

At this point, artists including Wu, Su and Mayday are no longer with the label. Yet, their affection for it is such that they happily turned up to celebrate its birthday.

When Mayday performed Content, taken from their last album at Rock, frontman Ashin proclaimed to the crowd: “I’ve realised I can never leave Rock in my lifetime, just like you.”

See you at the next milestone bash then.

(ST)

Flying To You, Flying To Me

Won Fu Jr

Saint Etienne did it with Up The Wooden Hills (2005) and They Might Be Giants with Here Come The ABCs (2005). Now Taiwan’s Won Fu joins this merry band of musicians in releasing an album for children.

In case song titles such as Ugly Duckling and Woo La La on the record are not clear enough, they also call themselves Won Fu Jr here to spell out who their new target audience is.

But the thing is, Won Fu’s happy, zippy, peppy pop has always had a child-like spirit to it so the new direction is not so much a stretch for them as a perfectly reasonable extension of what they already do.

There is an educational aspect to the album as well: The accompanying DVD has a segment on putting a song together through its various components.

Fans of Won Fu’s earlier work need not fret as they will find much to enjoy here. The catchy Many Geese might be about counting birds but its joyous message is universal and irresistible: “Happiness needs no reasons.” Nor is it just for tiny tots.

Blue Short Pants

Yisa Yu Kewei

Tearless

Meeia Foo

Included in the glittery line-up of Mandopop stars performing at the Rock 30 Singapore Concert tomorrow is newcomer Yisa Yu Kewei.

Impressively, the China singer, who placed fourth in the 2009 edition of the singing competition series Super Girl, showed no sign of nerves when she performed with veteran Bobby Chen Sheng at Rock Records’ celebratory gig in Taipei two months ago.

The label is certainly banking on her to be a breakthrough act – top musicians such as Lee Cheng-fan, Adia and Chang Chen-yue have been roped in for her maiden effort.

The album has a jolt of youthful optimism and charm on tracks such as Dreams Commemorative Day and Blue Short Pants, in which she is referred to as a little cucumber who loves to dream.

Some of the other song choices feel safer and more commercial, though, with Pan Hsieh-ching’s Hope being one of the more noteworthy tracks. In the end, it is hard to get a grasp on who Yu is really.

Malaysian singer Meeia Foo, who came in second on Taiwan’s Super Idol in 2009, faces a similar conundrum. She has an impressive set of pipes but has not quite figured out what to do with them.

The debut album Pink Jukebox (2009) took the easy way out by opting for covers. Tearless opens with Most Afraid Of Cold War and the titular track, both of which seem to box in the 26-year-old as an interpreter of downer ballads.

Then her rocker side gets to shine when she cuts loose on Refuse To Accept and Wah Wah, though a rock version of Sally Yeh’s Walk Cool is misguided.

As these young singers discover, doing well in a competition is only the first step. What comes next is even more challenging.

(ST)

Shaolin

Benny Chan

The story: The victorious warlord Hou Jie (Andy Lau) loses his power, wealth and his young daughter after being betrayed by someone close to him. He seeks refuge at Shaolin and befriends the cook Wu Dao (Jackie Chan). Hou later enters monkhood and has to help defend the temple against his former sworn brother Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) as well as powerful foreign forces the latter is in cahoots with.

The Shaolin Temple (1982) was a blockbuster hit that turned its young lead, a newcomer named Jet Li, into an action superstar. But while the Mandarin title of this film tags on the word “New” in front, Shaolin is not a remake of the 1982 classic which was set against the backdrop of royal intrigue around the time of the Tang dynasty.

What we get here are two interlinked stories.

The first is the tale of one man’s redemption. There is Hou Jie as an arrogant and insecure man who has a run-in with Shaolin when he chases a rival warlord into the temple sanctuary. In a twist of fate, Hou has to rely on the monks for help and protection when he loses everything.

The second is about Shaolin itself and the humanitarian role it plays in a tumultuous time by offering food and shelter to the downtrodden masses. The temple is in a delicate position as it has to be careful not to antagonise the feuding warlords with their trigger-happy armies.

The story of the well-meaning do-gooders is actually more interesting but the focus of the film is tilted towards Hou since he is played by veteran Hong Kong star Andy Lau.

Lau’s eternally youthful looks ensure that he gets a steady stream of roles.

He was last seen in Tsui Hark’s period thriller Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame (2010) and will star alongside Gong Li in the upcoming romantic comedy What Women Want.

But here, his too-smooth, too-tight skin proves to be a distraction and his face threatens to crack when he has to emote.

The effect is to distance one from the arc of his fall, acceptance of his fate and ultimately, redemption in forgiveness.

It is Jackie Chan instead who offers the more welcome dose of star power. He serves up some light comic relief as a monk who just wants to stay in the kitchen and there is an entertaining scene of him fighting off Shaolin’s attackers using his cookery moves, all the while protesting that he cannot fight.

Look out also for Yu Shaoqun, who memorably played the young Mei Lanfang in Forever Enthralled (2008), as one of the idealistic Shaolin disciples Jing Hai.

Director Benny Chan, who last helmed the clunky fantasy adventure flick City Under Siege (2010), manages to string together some stirring action sequences including a chariot chase scene and the final showdown at Shaolin temple.

After the sound and fury of the attack, the ending is unexpectedly quiet and beautiful.

A pity then that the film however never quite comes together as a whole. As this Shaolin illustrates, new does not always mean improved.

(ST)

What Love Songs Didn't Tell You

Fish Leong

From Here To There

Yu Heng

Hu Ai Xia

Hu Xia

To the uninitiated, it seems like Fish Leong is perpetually nursing a cold. But that is actually the secret of the Malaysian balladeer’s success.

She sounds like she has just stopped crying her heart out seconds before stepping up to the mike to pour out her feelings in songs such as Adore, Silk Road and Courage.

The titular track this time around opens with an all-too-familiar couplet: “Some things you don’t have to ask about, some folks you don’t have to wait for.”

Lyricist Frederic Lee takes this from the Jonathan Lee-penned classic Dream To Awakening and also references another hit of his, Scars.

The lesson here is summed up thus: “What love songs didn’t tell us, singing about courage without having it is useless.”

Compared to previous opening salvos from her albums, however, this feels less affecting and a little lacking in epic sweep.

Happily, there is no lack of stronger material here. Just listen to the yearning in To The You I Haven’t Met, the playful whimsy of If The Fridge Could Speak and the laidback charm of Faster To Move Slowly.

Another highlight here is the gently moving ballad Will You Or Won’t You, composed by the Malaysian singer-songwriter Yu Heng, who goes back to basics on her fourth album, From Here To There.

It is a move that has paid off: At one point, she had the rare distinction of simultaneously having three songs on the Radio 1003 music chart – the indie rock-flavoured Life?!, All My Friends Have Gotten Married and chart-topper Summer’s Confession.

Her songs are unvarnished and intimate affairs that feel true to life. You hear her clearing her throat on Summer’s Confession for which the refreshing English chorus goes: “And I do not care about my hair/I do not care about what I should wear... I’ve never known myself better than now/I’m trying hard to be honest to everyone.”

All My Friends Have Gotten Married is a poignant tale of heartbreak: “What am I waiting for, all my friends have gotten married/Spending their lives with the one they love the most/I was still planning to give the best love to you/But it’s already too late, alas/I’m no longer in your heart.”

On his debut album, China singer Hu Xia offers a more positive exploration of love. The winner of the sixth edition of the One Million Star singing competition show, and the first champ from the mainland, was inspired by his parents’ love story.

He sings on Love Summer: “The first summer day I fell in love with you/I wanted to give you the whole world.” It’s all very sweet and his clear, bright voice and squeaky-clean looks work with the earnest material.

Also making an impression are Against The Flow and Playing The Piano, Falling In Love, though Hu’s vocals can seem a bit thin at times. Time to start nursing that cold.

(ST)

Burlesque

Steven Antin

The story: Small-town girl Ali (pop singer Christina Aguilera) dreams of making it in the big city at the Burlesque Lounge. But first, she has to convince the owner Tess (Cher) that she can shimmy in her skivvies.

It feels as though writer-director Steven Antin is handling the subject with kid gloves and the sometimes bawdy, sometimes tawdry business comes across as almost wholesome. But in burlesque, the gloves should come off – and then some.

There are at least three songs about the craft here and Cher sings early on: “Show a little more, show a little less, add a little smoke, welcome to burlesque”. But enough with telling us what it is and start showing us already.

Only one number, But I Am A Good Girl, understands that the art of burlesque is in the tease. Ali first appears wearing nothing but strings of pearls and then proceeds to lose her top and tiny pants with a wink and a nudge. Nothing is actually revealed, though, thanks to strategically wielded feathered fans and a carefully positioned mike stand.

Most of the song and dance numbers are glossy, gussied up and briskly efficient affairs that would feel right at home on a Broadway stage or in a music video.

For a more involving and authentic evoking of the world of burlesque, look to the musicals Gypsy and Cabaret instead.

Indeed, Burlesque references Cabaret’s opening number Wilkommen by turning it into Welcome To Burlesque. They have even cast Alan Cumming, feted for his turn as the amoral and sexually ambiguous emcee in the 1993 revival of Cabaret, in a small supporting role here as a cashier and performer.

But the film does not have the stomach to take on the moral ambiguities that the stage musical embraces. It barely has the stomach for any realistic conflict.

Stripped of the razzmatazz of the music sequences and we are left with story-telling of the laziest kind. For example, Ali’s seedy hotel room is conveniently ransacked so that she has to turn to Jack the hunky bartender for help.

There is also some manufactured crisis over the fate of the club which gives Cher an excuse to go all drama-mama but which never feels urgent and is blithely resolved in an unsatisfactory way.

The plotline of the spunky small-town girl with big-time dreams has become a cliche and Antin does nothing to make it fresh or exciting.

When a jealous fellow dancer spits out that Ali has not paid her dues, she is being mean and catty. She is also right. Where is the fun in watching a beautiful and talented girl become successful without meeting with a few bumps along the way? It is hard to root for someone who has it too good.

In her feature film debut, Aguilera is right at home when it comes to singing and dancing and it seems like she could take to acting as well but one would need to see her in a better vehicle to tell.

Cher gets to be Cher and she has the imperious-but-vulnerable routine down pat while her scarily pert cheeks hog the limelight. And Stanley Tucci, as her best bud, does a retread of the gay assistant he played in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

Burlesque ends up feeling like a patchwork of bits and bobs taken from other works, and unfortunately, it never sheds this cloak of familiarity.

(ST)

Lover's Discourse

Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan

The story: Four interlocking stories about different aspects of love unfold in the feature debut from directors and scriptwriters Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan. Ray (Eason Chan) and Nancy (Karena Lam) appear to be out on a date but things are not what they seem with this couple. Gigi (Kay Tse) has a crush on Sam (Eddie Peng) who patronises her laundry shop and concocts elaborate fantasies about them. Growing up, Sam’s best friend was Paul (played in his teens by William Chan), who nursed a secret infatuation with Sam’s mother Mrs Lai (Kit Chan). Back in the present day, Paul (played as an adult by Jacky Heung) receives an MSN message about his girlfriend’s infidelity from a woman he does not know. He meets up with Kay (Mavis Fan) and they later decide to tail each other’s partners.

Local singer-actress Kit Chan makes her feature film debut here and teams up with Hong Kong veteran Eric Tsang as the world’s least likely couple.

While new to movies, Chan is no stranger to stage musicals, including December Rains, and the small screen in the medical drama Healing Hands II (2000).

She turns in a restrained and nuanced performance as the object of infatuation of her son’s friend and there is also some intrigue and surprise as to how this yarn unspools.

Even better is the first story as the audience has to figure out the exact nature of Ray and Nancy’s relationship.

The thirty-something working adults, played with casual ease by Eason Chan and Karena Lam, seem at first to be navigating a first date with the attendant awkwardness of a first meeting. The fraught vibe eventually turns out to stem from the fact that they used to be a couple and are still attracted to each other.

A pity then that the rest of the film, which tries to dissect and understand the phenomenon of love through conversations between lovers, is less satisfying. Things get off to a rocky start with an unseen narrator intoning an important- sounding passage about the science and biology of love.

Instead of unifying the stories that follow, the pretentious opening feels, instead, like a failed attempt to give the film an art-house respectability.

In the idol drama section, pretty-as- a-picture Kay Tse hankers after cute-as- a-button Eddie Peng (Sam). Her fantasies, which feature Sam as a mannequin, are mildly amusing as they are inspired by diverse movie genres from wuxia to romance. The problem is that it all feels rather empty.

The final story links up the different vignettes but the story of the two spurned lovers who are brought together by their straying partners suffers from unconvincing melodrama and unsympathetic protagonists.

This is an ambitious effort from the scriptwriting-directing team of Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan, who were nominated for Best Director at the Golden Horse awards last year. But it falls just on the wrong side of the fine line between smart and smart-alecky.

(ST)

Owen Pallett - Live!

Esplanade Recital Studio

Last Friday

To watch Owen Pallett perform live is to be held enthralled. You see the Canadian singer- songwriter alone on stage and you can hardly believe the richness of the music that is being created by one man.

Dressed casually and comfortably in a long-sleeved round-neck shirt, dark jeans and socks without shoes, he gave the full-house audience a nod of acknowledgement before opening the set with The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead off the album Has A Good Home (2005).

The classically trained musician plucked a pizzicato phrase on his violin, looped it, played the keyboard as his feet worked the pedals on the floor and sang in his sweetly delicate voice, switching seamlessly among the instruments from one moment to the next.

It was an intricate performance born of supreme musicianship. The violin was not simply a violin in his hands, coaxed to yield bird-like chirps from the higher register, simulate a percussion instrument, masquerade as an entire string section and even imitate the sound of bagpipes.

Little wonder that he is something of a musician’s musician who has worked with feted acts from Arcade Fire to Grizzly Bear to Beirut.

While it was not always easy to hear what he was singing, the musical worlds he conjured up were always compelling and there was the suggestion of whimsy and fantasy about them.

He had previously recorded under the moniker Final Fantasy before releasing the acclaimed Heartland (2010) under his own name. In it, he creates a world in which a young farmer named Lewis is commanded by an all-powerful narrator named Owen.

While he might play god on his latest album, he was eminently approachable in person. Gesturing at the empty space around him, he urged his fans to join him, adding: “I was gonna put pineapple slices to encourage you to come down.”

Occasionally, he would chuckle to himself in the midst of a number, and before launching into The Arctic Circle, he said self-deprecatingly: “I tried this in Tokyo and it was a disaster.”

It was also a reminder of all the hard work he puts into making his performances look effortless. He shared at one point: “My fingers are bleeding now because I didn’t play much over Christmas.”

The set ended with an ace cover of Caribou’s Odessa and the skittering electronica of Lewis Takes Off His Shirt.

Pallett came back for the encore with one more surprise up his sleeve. He ditched the amplifiers and technical wizardry to serve I Want To Be Well and He Poos Clouds on just his violin. And he wowed all the same.

It was a gig that absolutely justified the exclamation point in its title.

(ST)

One Two Free

One Two Free

Sigma

Sigma

Hello

Lara Veronin

A new year brings new hopes, new possibilities and the promise of new and exciting music. Here are three newcomers to usher it in.

Taiwanese rap duo One Two Free, comprising A-da and Born Lee, kick off 2011 with some irreverent fun.

They embrace being overweight on Fatties: “We are fatties, always have been/We are fatties, with boobs and big bellies”, and recall what it was like to be in big trouble as a kid in Screwed: “Oh my God, that vase shattered so thoroughly, this is the worst situation I’ve ever been in”. The joyous blast of brass that follows the line “This time I’m really screwed” has got to make you smile.

But the humour is also laced with anger on Huanying Guanglin (Welcome), that ubiquitous welcome greeting in Taiwan shops.

They rant: “Hate to see race cars, hate a tai-tai’s glance/Hate to hear the rich bitch that they’re unhappy.” It all comes pouring out in the chorus: “So why don’t you go to hell and stop spouting rubbish/As if the whole world cares what you think.”

Still, the effect is more rib-tickling than incendiary, especially when you watch the music video which is chock-a-block with cameos, including from Van Ness Wu, sodagreen’s A-fu, Rachel Liang and even Eason Chan.

In keeping with the playful spirit of the album, the duo have also included paper cut-out dolls of themselves, complete with outfit changes such as a schoolgirl uniform.

Care has also gone into the packaging of dance trio Sigma’s disc, which comes in a sleek round tin.

The members are One Million Star alumni Judy Chou and Jett Lee as well as Taipei National University of the Arts graduate Tommy Lin.

Dance Or Die gets the message straight across: “Dance, let me dance, high till I’m completely crazed, don’t ask me what move it is now”; while on Post-boyfriend and The World Is Such A Mess, they profess that they want to be by your side.

They seem to be reading the Korean boyband manual and even worked with Korean choreographer Choi Ki Seok for the music video for the titular track Sigma.

Dance moves – check. Packaging – check. Ridiculously catchy dance hits – needs more work.

Offering a completely different listening experience is Hello, the debut solo album from Lara, a former member of Taiwanese pop collective Nan Quan Mama member Lara. Instead of slick electronic dance-pop, she gives us easy breezy folk-pop.

Lara, whom you might remember from the Coral Sea duet she did with Jay Chou, did not get me at Hello, though. It is the first word sung here and it sounded so cutesy and twee, it took some effort to continue listening to the song Everything.

Thankfully, the singer-songwriter sounds less cloying elsewhere on the album and tracks such as Pepper And Salt endear with a homespun vibe.

There is also honesty and vulnerability here and she mourns on Little Tree: “We are like that tree/Wilting without warning/Just because we try hard doesn’t mean happiness awaits.”

All in all, it looks like the year is off to a good start.

(ST)

All Good Things

Andrew Jarecki

The story: The film is inspired by the real-life case of Robert Durst, scion of a wealthy New York real estate family, who was suspected of murdering his wife but never tried for it. She disappeared in 1982 and was never found. He is renamed David Marks (Ryan Gosling) here and Kirsten Dunst plays the role of the wife Katie.

All good things must come to an end. After which, they fall apart in spectacular fashion.

The title refers to the name of a grocery store opened by David and Katie in the halcyon days after their marriage when they moved away to Vermont. They first met when David responded to a plumbing emergency at her New York apartment and the whirlwind romance that followed seemed to be a fairy tale one.

But David turns out to be weak-willed and is eventually bullied by his father into returning to Manhattan and taking up the family business. The relationship really begins to sour when Katie learns that he refuses to have children – after she gets pregnant. And slowly, he begins to reveal his darker side.

This could have been an episode for the procedural drama Cold Case or even a ho-hum television movie-of-the-week. What lifts it a notch above the ordinary are the performances.

Kirsten Dunst, now perhaps best known for playing Mary Jane in them Spider-Man blockbusters, is equally believable as a carefree young woman and a deeply unhappy wife who says to her husband: “I’ve never been closer to anyone and I don’t know you at all.”

Ryan Gosling, so good as a drug-addled teacher in Half Nelson (2006), once again disappears into his role as he goes from meek to volatile to psychotic, though in this case, David feels a little under-written.

All Good Things hence works better as a character study and period piece and not so much a thriller given the heavy- handed use of musical cues.

Director Andrew Jarecki had previously made a documentary, the well-received Capturing The Friedmans (2003), about a father and son accused of child sexual abuse.

He is no stranger to sensationalistic material and handled the outlandish turn All Good Things takes in the last 30 minutes in a fairly restrained and low-key manner.

Truth may be murky and justice elusive in real life – Robert Durst was never tried for the alleged murder of his wife – but in Jarecki’s celluloid version of events, there will be little doubt in mind when the audience, or jury, passes judgment.

(ST)

The Ghosts Must Be Crazy

Boris Boo, Mark Lee

This double bill calls itself a “hormedy”, an awful shortening of “horror comedy”. While it delivers a few laughs, it falls short on coming up with the scares.

The Day Off is the stronger offering here and it is a sequel of sorts to the Forest Got Ghost segment in 2009’s Where Got Ghost?.

Getai veterans John Cheng and Wang Lei reprise their roles as reservist soldiers and this time around, they are trying to “keng” (colloquialism for shirk) their way out of a military exercise by pretending to see ghosts.

There is also Chua Enlai as a fierce officer who sees through bulls***, David Bala as the tough and long-winded encik and Dennis Chew as a “sicklish chicken” (according to the subtitles) who also wants to get a day off.

They are familiar types for those who have undergone national service and the actors bring them to exaggerated life, particularly when Cheng and Wang banter and clown about.

One quibble: Even though this is the army, there was no need for everyone to be shouting out their lines the entire time.

Still, this was more enjoyable compared to The Ghost Bride, the directorial debut of Mark Lee. In it, Henry Thia plays the same sadsack loser role he does in every film. His luck turns around when he meets Lee, who advises him to borrow luck from the dead.

There is something mean-spirited about this piece which makes fun of a character who stammers and has Thia act out some ludicrous revenge fantasy on his ex-girlfriend when he wins the lottery.

The plot also hinges on a twist that does not quite make sense even if it does show that Lee will do anything for a laugh as an actor. The film also ends with some kind of preachy moral that is literally spelt out on screen.

If only “hormedy” meant a comedy on steroids.

(ST)

Change?

Derrick Hoh

On his second album, local singer Derrick Hoh gets an image makeover – and ends up looking like a castaway from the reality series Survivor.

Gone is the dapper boy-next-door look of his debut, Unclassified, though there isn’t a radical shift in terms of the music content. It is more of a tweak from dance-pop to pop-rock.

The best tracks here are actually two covers as Hoh has done something interesting with them.

Acceptance takes the chorus of Aaron Kwok’s When I Know That You’re In Love and builds a new song around it by adding catchy new stanzas. It is also a smart choice given that it is not hard to improve on Kwok’s Mandarin diction.

The other remake is of Unworthy, originally performed by the now-defunct local group Dreamz FM. Hoh ditches the dreamy lyricism of the original and goes for a hip urban vibe, complete with a rap written by him.

Change for the sake of changing is often unnecessary, but when it comes to remakes, thoughtful reinvention is absolutely required.

Loaded

Phil Lam

Sony Music Entertainment Hong Kong

It seems that Hong Kong singer-songwriter Phil Lam wants to be the next Jay Chou. He has even roped in the latter’s lyric partner Vincent Fang on the opening R&B track, Rain Falls Onto The Earth.

This maiden EP actually reminds me of another Hong Kong artist, though – soulboy Khalil Fong.

The impression is so strong on Writing Poems that it is a good thing that vocally, Lam does not sound like Fong. Otherwise, it would simply come across as mere emulation.

Still, this is an offering that showcases Lam’s songwriting skills as well as his ability to deliver both Mandarin and Cantonese numbers. A debut loaded with promise.

The First Stop In The Future

Lin Yu-chun

This is You- Tube sensation Lin Yu-chun’s second album in a little more than a month.

If that is not cashing in on his overnight fame, I don’t know what is.

Admittedly, the record is slightly more bearable than the Taiwanese singer’s album of English covers but I Will Always Love You and Amazing Grace appear here again.

The tracks It’s My Time and Under Your Wings are also repeats, though with Mandarin lyrics this time around.

Lin also takes on Lin Fan’s Living Alone and Shunza’s Stars and it just feels like one showboating vocal exercise after another as he scales the octaves.

If this is the future, I would rather be stuck in the past.

(ST)

Shugo Tokumaru

Mosaic Music Festival, Esplanade Recital Studio, March 19

This was hands-down the most joyous gig of the year.

The Japanese musician creates shimmering tapestries of sound that used dozens of instruments for his records and yet he found a way to make that work in a live setting.

His dextrous fingerwork on the guitar was exhilarating to behold on tracks such as the devilishly fast-paced Parachute. From the exuberance of Exit (2007) to the contemplative quiet of Night Piece (2004), the emotional directness of his compositions came through even though he was singing in Japanese.

The shy, soft-spoken and bare-footed Tokumaru conjured up a performance that was simply, charmingly magical.

Amit Live First World Tour

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Jan 29

It was a Mandorock concert that threatened to blow the roof off the stadium. The Amit tour fully embraced the brash drama of rock songs such as Black Eat Black, Straightforward and the brazen Minnan number Come On If You Dare as guitar players flailed away on stage. It culminated in the spectacle of A-mei in a billowing leopard print cape belting out the Turandot aria Nessun Dorma in a stained-glass cathedral setting. Over the top? Sure. Thrilling? Absolutely.

The A-mei everyone knew and loved was not totally absent, though, and she dipped into her bag of hits to deliver power ballads such as Can I Hold You? and While It’s Still Early.

She proved that she could rock your world even when the volume was lowered.

Crowd Lu 2010 Singapore Live

Dragonfly, St James Power Station, Jan 16

The geeky-cool singer-songwriter’s gig felt more like a cosy gathering of several hundred friends as he shared his optimistic tales of school life, friendship and overcoming adversity from his two albums, Seven Days (2009) and 100 Ways Of Living (2008).

Everyone knew the words even without the aid of video projections and sang along with heartfelt gusto.

It was clear that what you see is what you get with Lu. That unvarnished honesty is a beautiful and precious thing, and we had the opportunity to appreciate it up close and personal.

(ST)

Snowman

Peggy Hsu

Now this is a winter wonderland – swirling strings, icy beats, vocals as clean as freshly fallen snow, and that is just on the opening song Punk.

It sets the tone nicely for the fall/winter counterpart to the Taiwanese singer-songwriter’s spring/summer-themed release Fine (2009). She offers a great variety of style and subject while maintaining coherence and cohesion: the tinkling ivories and coolly witty lyrics of Fly, the chill-out electronica of Downfallen Aristocrat and the stripped-down acoustic number You Love Me.

Apart from the embarrassment of riches here, the overachieving Hsu also gave us a winningly wintry gig at the Esplanade Recital Studio in February and then released the whimsical EP Le Cirque I in September. What they all had in common was the ability to warm the heart of any music lover.

Weibird Debut Album

Weibird Wei

Among a clutch of strong releases by male singer- songwriters such as Yen-J and Jaycee Chan, Weibird Wei’s soars just a little higher. There is the immediate appeal of the radio-friendly Keep Waiting, with its distinctive refrain and opener Did You Or Did You Not with its plaintive cry to “turn off the radio”.

And there is much else to savour besides. On the lilting Cloudy Day’s Sunflower, Wei’s falsetto evokes a sense of delicate beauty while A Little More Perfect captures the joys and insecurities of being in love.

He has more on his mind than affairs of the heart, though, and we also get a glimpse of a young man engaging with the world around him. He sings on Stories that “Every story has a name” and “Every name has a story”.

I look forward to the next chapter in this Taiwanese troubadour’s tale.

Aftertaste

Karen Mok

Finally, an album of covers that gets it right. After an uninspiring string of releases which saw male singers take on women’s songs, it was left to the Hong Kong singer-actress to show them how it should be done.

The choice of songs was a smart mix of obscure folk ditties such as Playing The Hand Drum, Singing A Song and more familiar oldies such as Shanghai songbird Zhou Xuan’s Blooming Flowers And The Full Moon.

Rather than simply delivering them in her distinctive vocals, Mok worked with producer Zhang Yadong and lyricist Francis Lee to breathe new life into old favourites. It was a risky venture but it worked, beautifully. One only wishes Mok had taken more of a gamble on her subsequent album of original material, Precious.

Despite the latter’s title, Aftertaste is an album to relish and cherish.

(ST)

The film title A Better To- morrow turned out to be prophetic.

Before the release of the gangster drama in 1986, director John Woo had been struggling in the scene for more than 10 years without a hit, actor Chow Yun Fat had been box office poison whose goggle-box popularity had not translated to the big screen and Ti Lung was best known for his wuxia roles at Shaw Brothers in the 1970s.

What a difference a day – or a movie – makes. A Better Tomorrow set a new record in Hong Kong with a gross of more than HK$34 million, made Chow a star and revitalised Ti Lung’s flagging career.

Not bad for a movie made on a tight budget that was a remake of a 1967 Cantonese flick, The Story Of A Discharged Prisoner. (The Chinese title, though, literally True Colours Of A Hero, remained the same.)

Woo’s version was critically acclaimed and earned the distinction of winning Best Film honours at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards, arguably the two most prestigious accolades in the Chinese movie industry.

The stature of A Better Tomorrow has grown over time: In 2005, it was No. 2 on the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures list selected for the Hong Kong Film Awards, after Spring In A Small Town (1948).

More than two decades after its release, it has inspired a Korean remake of the same name. It opens in cinemas here on Friday.

The success of the film resulted in the creation of a subgenre that was termed “heroic bloodshed” by the editor of Eastern Heroes magazine, Rick Baker, in the late 1980s. He succinctly defined it as “a Hong Kong action film that features a lot of gun play and gangsters rather than kung fu. Lots of blood. Lots of action”.

Woo transplanted the themes of brotherhood, loyalty and righteousness from the wuxia genre into a mobster setting. Then he pumped up the volume on the violence with exuberantly explosive gun battles.

Often, the drama was found in brothers, in arms and in blood, torn between conflicting loyalties as they found themselves on opposite sides of the law.

A typical John Woo-esque entry in the “gun-fu” genre is Johnnie To’s A Hero Never Dies (1998), where Leon Lai and Lau Ching Wan are on opposite sides of a gang war until they are both betrayed by their bosses.

In the streets, A Better Tomorrow inadvertently sold countless pairs of sunglasses of the kind Chow wore in the film.

Woo used the shades from French actor Alain Delon’s eponymous lifestyle brand in homage to the star’s iconic turn as a perfectionist hitman in Jean-Pierre Melville’s stylish thriller Le Samourai (1967).

When the sunglasses promptly flew off the shelves in Hong Kong after the movie came out, Delon sent Chow a personal thank-you note.

Of course, teenage boys who wanted to look cool not only put on shades, they also wore the trenchcoats worn by the swaggering gangsters. They even came to be known colloquially in Cantonese as Mark Gau lau, literally Brother Mark’s coat.

Woo’s leap from sword fights in a little-known wuxia movie such as Last Hurrah For Chivalry (1979) to gun fights was not such an unlikely one given that his mentor was Chang Cheh, the so-called godfather of Hong Kong cinema who was behind martial arts hits such as The One-Armed Swordsman (1967).

The impact of these films went beyond Hong Kong.

Hollywood film-makers such as Quentin Tarantino, who made the violent crime caper Reservoir Dogs (1992), have openly acknowledged the debt they owe to the works of Woo, To and Ringo Lam.

The cultural impact of the film has extended far and wide into the unlikeliest of places, including hip-hop and Japanese anime.

The New York City collective Wu- Tang Clan name-checked the film in their album Wu Tang-Forever (1997) and the hit TV series Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999) referenced it heavily.

There were also, inevitably, the two sequels spawned by Woo’s film, A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987) and A Better Tomorrow 3 (1989), both of which starred Chow.

In fact, no actor came to be more strongly associated with this genre than him, as A Better Tomorrow was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between Woo and Chow.

The two teamed up on action-crime classics such as The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992) in which a rakish Chow honed his gun-toting and toothpick-chewing skills to a fine art.

Woo continued to explore similar thematic ground after he headed to the United States in 1993 in action thrillers such as Face/Off (1997), his biggest American hit with a worldwide gross of US$245 million then.

But his stylistic touches were starting to turn into cliches and the flying doves, the Mexican stand-offs and the use of slow-motion and freeze frames were threatening to descend into self-parody.

One can even argue over how well A Better Tomorrow itself has held up, but what seems clear is that it continues to excite and inspire and this, perhaps, is its most enduring legacy.

(ST)

A Better Tomorrow

Song Hae Sung

The story: Hyuk (Joo Jin Mo) makes good in the South Korean port city of Busan as a mobster after escaping from the North. But he is haunted by the fact that his younger brother Chul (Kim Kang Woo) was left behind. Hyuk eventually tracks him down but their reunion is bittersweet as Chul blames him for the death of their mother.

After a deal goes sour in Thailand, Hyuk is sentenced to three years in prison. When he gets out, he finds that his best friend and fellow gang member Young Chun (Song Seung Heon) has fallen on hard times and Chul is now a police officer.

Real men shed tears and are not afraid of showing their emotions.

At its core, A Better Tomorrow (1986) was a bromantic triangle involving triad member Ho (Ti Lung), his best buddy Mark (Chow Yun Fat) and Ho’s younger brother Kit (Leslie Cheung).

Ho was torn between his brother in arms and his brother in blood; that meant plenty of scope for drama, complete with wailing and anguished emoting.

In this Korean remake, executive produced by the original’s director John Woo, the triangle remains intact. So fully does director Song Hae Sung embrace the bromance, in fact, that he even eschews the token female presence of the Hong Kong version.

But the plot varies between the original and the update. This is unlike Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) which hewed so closely to Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s cop thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) that scenes were recreated shot for shot.

The North-South Korea context grounds the remake in a distinctively charged political context and adds another layer of friction to the relationship between the brothers Hyuk and Chul.

Joo Jin Mo, the suave leading man of films such as the comedy 200 Pounds Beauty (2006), adds stoic nobility to the role of the guilt-stricken and torn Hyuk – and cries beautifully – though Ti Lung gave a more restrained performance in the same role and won the Golden Horse Best Actor award for it.

Kim Kang Woo is more believable as the hurt and angry Chul, improving on the late Leslie Cheung’s eager-beaver cop, which came across exaggerated.

Heart-throb Song Seung Heon is best known for playing the sensitive artist in the weepie TV drama Autumn In My Heart (2000) and he has perhaps the biggest shoes to fill as Young Chun. While he swaggers coolly in shades and a trenchcoat, also the fashion statement of choice in A Better Tomorrow (1986), he does not have quite the same playful insouciance that a toothpick-chewing Chow Yun Fat brought to the role of Mark and won the Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for it.

Some decent performances notwithstanding, the Korean version is let down by slack pacing – it clocks in at two hours compared to the original’s sleeker 95 minutes – and a gaping plot hole in the final showdown.

Woo’s stylistic trademarks – the trenchcoat flapping in slow motion, the all-out gun battles, the macabre dance of death of flailing limbs amid bullet shower – are all here.

In the end, though, this Tomorrow is not better.

(ST)

She Says

JJ Lin

Next

Lizz

Return To Base

Various artists

In the poster for homeboy JJ Lin’s upcoming concert here, he is all rippling, glistening muscle. On his new album, however, the singer-songwriter shows us his softer side by covering the works of female singers.

If there is one trend I want to see come to an end, it is male singers covering women’s songs.

But in this case, there is some justification for the project as Lin had composed all of the music.

So we get Cyndi Wang’s Whenever and A-mei’s Remember sensitively handled by Lin.

It would have been nice, though, to see a greater degree of reinterpretation and rearrangement especially since he had written these numbers.

The selection here is also overwhelmingly tilted towards ballads and the absence of Lin’s catchy, urban tracks is felt.

Perhaps the inspiration for this album was sparked by a medley of women’s songs, including Tanya Chua’s Projectile and Cheer Chen’s Sun, which he did at the Golden Melody Awards in June. Somehow, sadly, the album does not quite capture the electrifying feel of that live performance.

Also included are three new songs, including the title track She Says, which has wistful lyrics by Stefanie Sun about a love that was not meant to be: “Couldn’t wait till night, the petals don’t dare to drop/Green leaves are following, releasing the taste of pain”.

Apart from Lin keeping the flag flying in a low-key year for the local music scene, there are also newer artists putting material out there.

There is Lizz, or Liang Liyi, sporting an Afro hairdo on her new EP Next and indie groups Redpoll, Elyzia and ah5ive banding together on the compilation album Return To Base.

Next has one Mandarin number and three English tracks, of which Insanity Mind and Maybe are original songs penned by her.

Insanity Mind is a pop-rock number about an abusive relationship while Maybe slows things down to contemplate a love that has ended.

The sultry I Want Your Love and the jazzy Like A Virgin – yes, originally by Madonna – are fun but the resulting EP is pulled in too many directions to make a coherent impression.

While Return To Base features three different bands, there is the same lo-fi indie aesthetic that colours the sound throughout.

Redpoll does music reminiscent of playful American lo-fi indie bands such as, say, a less twee All Girl Summer Fun Band, while the number Female Drummer was clearly inspired by Cheer Chen’s Groupies.

Elyzia’s harder-edged rock sound are paired with lyrics with some dramatic flair but the result feels familiar rather than fresh.

The musical identity of ah5ive is probably the murkiest of the lot. It goes from featuring churning guitars on Help Me to the more mainstream pop of Who Can Reach The Final Moment.

The idea of a platform to showcase local indie pop is laudable but in this instance, the raw vocals take a little getting used to and generally need more work. It would also be in the bands’ interest to develop a more distinctive sound.

Maybe they could return to base and regroup before setting off on their next musical venture.

(ST)

Gulliver's Travels

Rob Letterman

The story: Slacker mailroom clerk Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) blunders into an assignment which takes him to the mysterious Bermuda Triangle when he tries to ask travel editor Darcy (Amanda Peet) out on a date. He winds up in the kingdom of Lilliput and ends up being the champion of its tiny people, along the way antagonising General Edward (Chris O’Dowd), dispensing advice to Princess Mary (Emily Blunt) and finding a best friend in Horatio (Jason Segel).

Jonathan Swift’s 18th-century satirical novel about human nature gets the dumbed-down, glossed-over Hollywood treatment and the results are hardly out of this world.

There is an overlong exposition which establishes how Gulliver is so undriven that he nurses a crush for five years without doing anything about it. It is supposed to give us a better sense of the man but director Rob Letterman could have just skipped the preliminaries and shipped us off to Lilliput pronto.

Instead, what the opening firmly establishes is that this is a Jack Black film. The roly-poly actor was unexpectedly sweet and funny in School Of Rock (2003), in which he was the quirkily unorthodox teacher to a class of straight-laced kids.

Since then, he seems to be reprising the same persona – lovable loser who eventually wins the day – in film after film, including the animated feature Kung Fu Panda (2008).

It is threatening to turn into schtick.

Things improve a little once Gulliver actually travels. After all, if there is anything crying out for 3-D treatment, it would be the scenes contrasting him with the teeny-weeny Lilliputians.

There are some mildly amusing moments showing how they go about building a house, making coffee for Gulliver and even playing live foosball.

But beyond the oh-isn’t-this-cute visuals, scriptwriters Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller have little idea what to do with Gulliver. In fact, he comes across as something of an egotistical megalomaniac as he recreates Times Square with his likeness on all the posters and billboards.

You actually start to feel sorry for the intended villain of the piece, General Edward, played with pompous bluster by Chris O’Dowd.

There are also pop culture references galore from Star Wars (1977) to Titanic (1997) as Gulliver concocts tall tales about his life back in Manhattan but there is nothing particularly fresh or funny in the writing.

The whiff of desperation grows stronger as the film proceeds to rip off Transformers (2007) for the showdown and willy-nilly ends with a big song-and- dance number a la Slumdog Millionaire (2008) minus the charm.

It is as if Gulliver is travelling through parodies of other movies rather than having his own adventures.

(ST)

Back To The Stars

Chet Lam

On the Mandarin release My Lonely Planet (2009), Hong Kong singer-songwriter Chet Lam went around the world with tracks such as Last Exit To Brooklyn and Dublin.

And in two months’ time, he will perform at the Esplanade as part of its Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts.

But before that, he is headed for the stars and singing in English on this disc. The concept album is inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s fable of innocence and experience, The Little Prince, and the songs are written from the perspectives of different characters.

But even if you are not familiar with the classic French story, there is much to enjoy – from the gentle, guitar-driven musing on Chasing Sunsets and Thanks For Setting Me Free, to the wry wordplay on Trust: “There’s a hole in my heart, drains me from inside/As I keep wandering from love to lust.”

Just when you think the album is a fully acoustic affair, he throws you a curveball on After The Pain, with its gently throbbing beat and synth sounds. The instrumental track From Turkey, With Love serves up an unexpected duet of drums and flute.

Lam’s clear, pure voice suggests that innocence can remain even after we have acquired knowledge and experience, and have loved and lusted. To steal a line from the lyrics of his track, When He Sings: “... when he sings he can break my heart in two.”

LaMusique (CD/DVD)

George Lam

Cantopop veteran George Lam gives classic tunes such as Who Is The Most Loved easy-listening makeovers on his latest release.

As if to dispel the persistent rumours of marital trouble, he also teams up with his wife, singer-actress Sally Yeh, on duets such as 00:10 and Love Remains After Separation. Come to think of it, however, the latter title is not very auspicious.

Love ballads overwhelm this selection. Nevertheless, tracks such as With Love stands out for its different arrangement, giving Lam a chance to belt it out with gusto.

I have never been a fan of his thin upper register, though. Is it my imagination or does he sound more frail now and the notes more pinched?

On the accompanying DVD of his Made In Love gig in Hong Kong in September, one can see the physical effort it took Yeh, who is 49 to Lam’s 63 years, to squeeze out the high notes.

Strictly for fans.

(ST)

Time Traveller – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Masaaki Taniguchi

The story: Scientist Kazuko Yoshiyama falls into a coma after she meets with an accident. She awakes briefly to tell her daughter Akari (Riisa Naka) to travel back in time to send a message to a boy named Kazuo. Akari goes back to 1974 using a potion her mother invented, only to find that no one seems to know who Kazuo is – not even the teenage Kazuko. Meanwhile, a romance begins to blossom between Akari and Ryota (Akiyoshi Nakao), a young man making a low-budget sci-fi film.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was originally serialised in Japanese magazines in 1965 and 1966. It has since been adapted many times, including into a TV series in 1994 and an award-winning anime film in 2006.

While Kazuko Yoshiyama was the protagonist in the novel, the focus shifted to her niece in the anime film, and to her daughter in this third live-action film adaptation.

For all that pedigree, the latest version is not very satisfying. Riisa Naka, who voiced the heroine in the 2006 anime, and Akiyoshi Nakao, from the 2004 TV series Waterboys 2, are modestly engaging and their burgeoning relationship is rather sweet. But they cannot escape from the clutches of time-travel movie cliches and contradictions.

Anyone who has seen films such as Back To The Future (1985) would know that the No. 1 cardinal rule of time travel is: Thou shalt not change the past. But that rule is constantly being flouted by interactions between time travellers and people of that era because otherwise, there would be no movie.

Also, perhaps because this is director Masaaki Taniguchi’s feature film debut, he cannot quite decide on the tone he wants.

The time-travelling sequence is cheesy fun and even prompts a “What the heck?” from Akari. Then it turns into a mystery flick as she tries to track down the elusive Kazuo. Then it becomes a doomed romance. And in the final half-hour, it goes back to sci-fi territory.

The pacing makes this feel more like The Girl Who Leisurely Strolled Through Time.

Still, given the popularity of time travel and this story, there will certainly be another adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time somewhere down the road. And you don’t need to leap into the future to know that.

(ST)

sodagreen "Stations" Tour

Max Pavilion @ Singapore Expo

Last Saturday

There was no sign of coloured hair and the band members were dressed in black and grey. But if Taiwanese indie band sodagreen’s look was relatively subdued, their performance was anything but that.

The evening opened with three numbers from their Summer/Fever (2009) rock album: The Sound That Remains, Summer Summer and King’s Garden.

Lead vocalist Wu Ching-feng’s high-pitched voice, by turns piercingly clear and nasal, was once startling and now familiarly distinctive. He was in fine form throughout and delivered on both the moving ballads such as Incomparable Beauty as well as the energetic boppers including Fever.

As with most Mandopop concerts, the lyrics of the songs were shown on a screen to make it easy for fans to sing along. But in this case, it also made it easier to appreciate Wu’s often dazzling and thoughtful lyrics.

For example, Stopping At Each Station, from the brilliant Daylight Of Spring (2009) record, was inspired by Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi’s musings on whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was a man.

Despite the absence of regular guitarist He Jing-yang and keyboardist Kung Yu-chi due to national service commitments, the six-member band sounded tight.

They also served up some surprises by rocking out the folksy Daylight and adding little musical flourishes to the retro-sounding The Girl With Red Shoes.

What was rather unusual was the large number of covers that they did, from the late songbird Teresa Teng’s I Only Care About You to local singer Mavis Hee’s Moonlight In The City to the late singer-songwriter Chang Yu-sheng’s My Future Is Not A Dream.

While the band definitely left their stamp on the material, the only quibble would be that it took time away from them performing their own songs.

During the second encore, Wu asked for requests from the enthusiastic fans and then gamely sang snatches of Take Me Away and the Minnan number Chasing Chasing Chasing.

He also held court when it came to the interaction segments, entertaining one and all, including himself, with his teasing and needling of guitarist Liu Jia-kai, bassist Hsieh Hsin-yi and drummer Shi Jun-wei. The two stand-in musicians were not spared either.

The 21/2-hour-long gig ended all too soon with a rousing rendition of one of their earlier hits, Little Universe.

Liu had revealed at one point that he usually drinks beer before going on stage but the fans have no need for alcohol when they have sodagreen to get high on.

(ST)

Lesson One

Anthony Neely

This is turning out to be a pretty good year for Taiwanese male newcomers. On the heels of well-received debuts by Weibird Wei and Yen-J comes Anthony Neely’s anticipated Lesson One.

Taiwanese-American Neely, 24, had his break, like so many others these days, on the singing competition show One Million Star. His version of Damien Rice’s ballad The Blower’s Daughter wowed the judges and got a record- breaking high score. It is included here as a bonus track but, thankfully, Lesson One is not a grab bag of covers.

Neely sounds earthier than his boy-next-door looks suggest, and that dose of grittiness is perfect on rock tracks such as Happy Armageddon and Brawl. It also adds an interesting grain to more conventional love ballads such as The Last Embrace.

He also shows his versatility by contributing lyrics to the English track Sorry That I Loved You, a radio-friendly emo number that would not sound out of place on, say, a One Republic album.

While Neely’s sound comes across as being less distinctive than Wei or Yen-J’s, the overall verdict would be: Lesson One, nicely done.

Back In Control

Gary Chaw

On the nostalgia-laden opener Grandpa, Malaysian singer-songwriter Gary Chaw shows us a kinder, gentler side.

He croons: “You led me through winding alleys/Where the wind blows and leaves fall/You said child, venture forth bravely/See what the world is like.”

It is all rather sweet and heartwarming. Or it could just be damage control.

This is Chaw’s first album after a highly publicised drunken brawl with Hong Kong singer-songwriter Justin Lo last year and he wants to show that he is, well, back in control. Apparently, showing vulnerability doesn’t hurt either.

You wonder, though, if he is singing a reminder to himself on the jazzy Champagne Times: “This is just nice, no need for another glass/Don’t go beyond this slightly buzzed feeling.”

Perhaps, he could consider being the designated driver next time.

Da First Episode

Da Mouth

Taiwanese hip-hop quartet Da Mouth have sweetened their best-of compilation with an additional disc of new material that makes this release a savoury deal.

They cheekily mouth off on Impolite – “Don’t forget to put on cologne when going out/Watch your spittle when talking” – and on Big Composer: “Where can I find inspiration, please, please/I don’t want to steal it from anywhere.”

Less successful is the English track Secret Life. To clear up any confusion, “I’m addicted like an addict” does not qualify as a simile or as a good lyric.

But past hits from their last three albums, including tracks such as Rock It and The Outcome?, make it clear that they can be counted on to provide the good-time, party vibe.

(ST)

The Fourth Portrait

Chung Mong-hong

The story: After his father dies, 10-year-old Hsiao Hsiang (Pi Hsiao-hai) is left to fend for himself. His estranged mother (Hao Lei) turns up and takes him to live with her and her husband (Leon Dai). Hsiang finds his new home oppressive and also has strange dreams of the older brother he has not seen in more than six years. But life is not all grim and forbidding and he finds some joy in his friendship with a somewhat simple-minded deadbeat called “Big Gun”.

Lights, camera, act cute. It is easy to add a tyke to a film and then simply milk that adorableness for laughs. Think Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone (1990), Taiwanese child star Bin Bin in a number of 1980s comedies and the upcoming Little Fockers.

Films which genuinely look at the world from a child’s point of view are few and far between. Ponette (1996), about a little girl dealing with her mother’s death and Nobody Knows (2004), a heartbreaking and chilling story of abandoned children, come to mind.

Add to that select group writer-director Chung Mong-hong’s The Fourth Portrait. Despite his background in advertising, there is nothing slick or glib in how he paints this boy’s life.

In the early scenes when Hsiao Hsiang is left alone after his father’s death, Chung steers away from melodrama and just quietly observes the boy going about the business of living – playing alone, pilfering food and then picking up discarded goods with a surly janitor who keeps an eye out for him. A big reason why it all hangs together is Pi Hsiao-hai, 11, who was named the Best Actor at the Taipei Film Festival in July this year.

Chung draws out an unaffected and

affecting performance from the first- time actor. Hsiao Hsiang is a precocious boy who understands more than he lets on. But at the same time, he is also very much a child for whom a lot of things do not make sense. All that comes through in Pi’s portrayal.

The supporting cast is also top-notch. China actress Hao Lei won the Best Supporting Actress Golden Horse Award for her turn as the mother reconnecting with her child, though the part feels a little underwritten. Better yet, is the brooding menace actor-director Leon Dai brings to his role as the stepfather hiding a terrible secret.

The Fourth Portrait unfolds in unexpected ways and somehow manages to work in disparate elements of domestic

violence, a comic crime spree, family ties and even a ghost story. Chung ties the film together with four portraits drawn by Hsiang illustrating the different relationships in his life.

At the end of the film, Hsiang prepares to sketch his own face. It is an enigmatic moment that holds out promise and yet fraught with uncertainty as he stands on the cusp of knowledge and self-awareness. And the future remains tantalisingly undrawn.

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Started Early, Took My Dog

Kate Atkinson

Crime can pay. It certainly has for Atkinson.

The British writer’s first book, Behind The Scenes At The Museum, which delved into the family history of a middle-class Englishwoman, won her the 1995 Whitbread Book Of The Year. But it seems that she has found her true calling with detective novels, beginning with Case Histories in 2004.

Her speciality is in charmingly flawed characters who are all too real in their foibles and yet retain a deep sense of morality.

There is ex-detective Tracy Waterhouse who indulges in food to fill the emptiness. Over the years, she has attended more funerals than weddings: “Murder victims mostly. Never been to a christening. Said something about your life, didn’t it?”

Then there is Jackson Brodie, cop-turned-private detective: “It used to be that his bark was worse than his bite, now it was the other way round.”

He is snooping around on behalf of a client trying to find her birth parents.

For Tracy and Jackson, their central core of goodness sees them taking on unexpected responsibilities one fateful day.

A third key character is Tilly, an elderly actress beginning to lose her grip on reality.

Add to the mix an old murder case which continues to cast a sinister pall over events unfolding in the present.

Atkinson has framed the novel thus: The paths of all three criss-cross at the beginning of the book and again at the end. Even though they seem set on a collision course after the first momentous meetings, it is safe to say that you would not be able to see the turns the story would need to take in order for that to happen.

In contrast to the late Stieg Larsson’s exhaustively detailed plot-boilers, Atkinson’s novels use plot as a device to get under the skin of superbly drawn characters who are at once tough and vulnerable.

The ending is a teaser which indicates that Atkinson is not quite done with Jackson or Tracy just yet. Which is great news for readers since they will not be either by the time they finish the book.

If you like this, read: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (2005, $15.27, Bookdepository.co.uk). In his first outing, investigator Jackson Brodie joins the dots among three apparently unrelated tragedies.

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The 2nd Home

Kay Tse

Long album gestation periods seem to be in vogue these days.

The 2nd Home, Hong Kong singer Kay Tse’s first full-length Mandarin album, has arrived five years after her last effort, Kay One (2005).

This is positively speedy, compared to fellow singer Denise Ho, who took nine years to release her maiden Mandarin album.

Like Ho’s recent Unnamed.Poem, Tse’s release is a considered affair, with top singer-songwriters such as Khalil Fong and LaLa Hsu contributing compositions.

The tender warmth of her voice comes across well in Mandarin, though Home seems to be a tad less adventurous compared to her last Cantonese record Slowness (2009).

On ballads such as Fong’s Frailty, Tse draws you in emotionally with lyrics such as: “What are we living for, what is love worth/So many fake moves, we are all lonely”.

Farewell, by sodagreen’s Wu Ching- feng, is another stand-out.

Wedged between the rock-flavoured I Think and the closer Ten Years, the track Orchid Fingers, which features Beijing opera artist Li Yugang, sits a little uneasily in the line-up.

But it is an overall noteworthy effort. The album title is heartening: Tse is staying in - not merely straying onto – Mandopop territory.

Wild Rose 2009 LIVE CONCERT (2CDs/DVD)

Penny Tai

To mark her decade-long stint in the music business, Malaysian singer-songwriter Penny Tai held a concert at the Taipei International Convention Centre in November last year.

Naturally, her best-known hits are all here, on this live recording, including Blessing On The Street Corner, How, The Love You Want and Crazy Love, for which she won the Golden Melody Award for Best Composer in 2006.

The accompanying DVD completes the audio-visual experience.

You get to see, for example, Tai using her body as a human drum for the concert’s opening number Blowing Beep.

She has written some lovely ballads over the years, but it seems like she has been overshadowed by the popularity of her songs. Listening to and watching her on stage, one starts to wonder “What now?” of Tai’s career.

Bii Story

Bii

If Bii did not exist, some marketing exec would have dreamed him up.

The singer-songwriter’s father is Taiwanese and his mother is Korean. Such a bicultural background allows him to perfectly straddle Mandopop and K-pop.

Accordingly, there are Mandarin and Korean versions of key tracks, such as After Turning Around and Bye Bye Bye, crooned in Bii’s smooth, clean voice. To ensure maximum exposure for this newcomer, several of the songs have been pegged to a Taiwanese idol drama.

This, together with the collection of postcards featuring Bii, packaged with the CD, suggests a plausible trajectory of TV series roles and theme songs, enroute to popularity and adulation.

But, perhaps, we are getting ahead of ourselves in this story.

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An old friend turned 30 recently and marked the occasion with a bang. The festivities took place over two nights at the Taipei Arena and more than 60 artists, from rock band Mayday to Mandopop balladeer Wakin Chau, turned up to celebrate this milestone.

Happy birthday, Rock Records.

At the second concert on Sunday, the performers’ affection for the iconic Taiwanese record label was palpable over the course of five hours. The celebrations will continue in Singapore on Jan 22 and also travel to Hong Kong, Malaysia and China.

As one familiar hit followed another and one familiar face followed another, it was a reminder of how much good music Rock Records has put out over the years.

One of the biggest pleasures was seeing stars from the past grace the stage once more.

Here were Wa Wa belting out hits in her trademark husky vocals from Heavy Rain (1991) and Alex To dancing up a storm to Saving The Earth and then stripping to a pair of shorts that advertised the word “Rock” for the rousing Take It Off.

There was Tarcy Su, as big a Mandopop star as they come in the 1990s, belting out her monster hit Lemon Tree and then unexpectedly tearing into a Minnan number, Chase Chase Chase.

When Malaysian duo Wuyin Liangpin emerged, a collective gasp went up in the stadium. Michael Wong and Victor Wong (no relation) went their solo ways in 2000 and it has been a long time since they shared a stage as a team. Too bad they performed only a single song, Palm, which was one of their earliest successes.

Then again, given the turnout, the performers had time only for a few numbers each, leaving you wanting more. And if some singer or song was not your cup of tea, you did not have to wait long for someone else to take the spotlight.

What was surprising was how little was actually new or unknown to me. Some were songs that have lain dormant and half-remembered all this time, while others boasted familiar refrains nestled in less familiar songs by less-known singers.

Even the segment which showcased Rock Records’ earliest material in the early 1980s – from the folk pop of Autumn Cicada to pop ballad Forget Who I Am – triggered a few moments of recognition.

While some singers have come and gone, others have remained closely associated with Rock Records for much of their careers.

Michelle Pan, the first singer to sign on to the label, still has a honeyed alto that is a treat to listen to. She declared: “The blood of Rock Records flows in me.”

Other stalwarts such as rocker Wu Bai and singer-songwriter Bobby Chen Sheng also rallied round for the bash. Chen teamed up with host Cao Qitai for some humorous banter as Cao milked his forgotten sole song, Show Must Be Going On, for every last bit of drama.

Still, others were conspicuous by their absence, including singer-songwriters Lo Ta-yu and Jonathan Lee, as well as Sarah Chen and Sandy Lam, who had some of Rock’s biggest albums.

Some could not make it due to conflicting schedules and even the roster of artists who performed on the two nights in Taipei differed slightly. There was some speculation on the reasons for certain no-shows but, really, it did not dampen the highlights-filled festivities one whit.

Mayday singer Ashin, whose band rocked out the Minnan number Fool, unleashed a riposte to those who say that Rock’s voice has grown softer in recent years: “Have you grown deaf?”

When the electricity was cut off at midnight halfway through Wu Bai’s Love You For 10,000 Years, due to the city’s regulations, the fervour of the fans remained undiminished. Everyone sang along with gusto and lingered on when it was over, reluctant to let the evening end.

One final song had been planned – a mass singalong of Happy Paradise, a track first recorded by Rock’s stars in 1986. Even though the stage was now off-limits and the microphones silent, the contingent of performers began singing it and slowly, people began to join in.

It was a lovely end to an unforgettable celebration of music and friendship, and a beautiful beginning for whatever is coming next.

(ST)

Taste the Atmosphere

Eason Chan

On his last EP Time Flies, Cantopop king Eason Chan (above) served up two gems: conventional ballads No Man’s Land and Tourbillon. On his latest offering, he takes a more experimental approach, including collaborations with three female singers.

The sole English track here, Welcome To The Future, features the other-worldly trills of China singer Sa Dingding over throbbing synthesizers. With Sa singing, “We ride the wings of time/To our future we will fly”, it is like the soundtrack to an unborn sci-fi film.

Chan also teams up with retired singer Rowena Cortes, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for He Says She Says, a gender-based take on relationships. Fellow Hong Kong singer Karen Mok pops up incidentally on backing vocals on the track My Cup Of Tea.

Meanwhile, Ip Man In The Wind, complete with irreverent rap, is a song that offers humorous respite from the recent spate of movies about the wing chun martial arts master.

You have to hand it to Chan for going where his muse takes him, even if the end result is a record that feels a little scattered and less cohesive than previous discs.

Above the Sky, Beyond the Sea

Key Elements

Key Elements is a local a cappella group formed in 2001 and this is their first Mandarin EP. The six members – two women and four men – take turns in the vocal spotlight and the collection features a wide range of musical styles.

Highlights include the sultry slinky The Love I Can’t Have, a 1940s Shanghai Jazz number by Yao Li; the easy charm of Panda Xiong’s Above The Sky, Beyond The Sea; and evergreen oldie The Evening Bell Of Nanping, with its varying rhythms.

All of which goes to show you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to seek out good music, because it is being made here.

Four Dimensions

Lollipop F

Taiwan’s Lollipop are right on track. Following the trajectory of other meteoric boybands before them, they have reached the stage where they start to splinter.

Now that Prince and Lil Jay have left, they are renamed Lollipop F, comprising Owodog, Fabien, William and A-wei.

The remaining four cover their bases by offering something for everyone – from the perky Today Is A Holiday to the love ballad Blank to the harder-edged Hip Hop Life.

Mostly, it’s a palatable mix. Bonus points to Lollipop F for having a hand in coming up with the material – which suggests that this confection is not yet past its shelf life.

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Confessions

Tetsuya Nakashima

The story: This Japanese drama starts out in a regular, if overly boisterous, middle school classroom. The students are drinking milk, messing around and generally paying little heed to their form teacher Yoko Moriguchi (Takako Matsu).

The only thing that strikes a slightly off-note is that Moriguchi appears cold and does not seem to care that she has lost control of the class. Then, she begins to calmly recount a chilling tale of how her four-year-old daughter was murdered and how she has plotted revenge on those responsible.

The movie then goes on to present confessions from several other points of view, including the perpetrators’.

Confessions uses the sensationalistic murder of a defenceless young child to explore notions of culpability, justice and vengeance. There is even a direct reference to Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime And Punishment, which takes on similar themes.

Issues which have caused much hand-wringing from time to time in Japan, such as bullying in schools and juvenile delinquency, are presented here in an unflinching manner.

The aim here, though, is not to delve into a study of sociological ills or provide easy solutions but to weave these dark threads into a gripping, provocative and darkly mesmerising thriller.

Based on the best-selling and award- winning debut mystery novel by Kanae Minato, the film was a hit in its native Japan where it reigned atop the box office for four weeks.

The material is a good fit for director and scriptwriter Tetsuya Nakashima, who had previously helmed the quirky musical comedy Memories Of Matsuko (2006) and Kamikaze Girls (2004), which tackled youth and identity.

His visual flair is evident here and the scenes of the students drinking milk are stylishly and lovingly portrayed. It is not just pretty images for their own sake, though, and the emphasis on this innocuous activity is to set us up for the sinister twist that is to come.

As the story spirals into ever darker territory, and loneliness, grief and anger gather into a potent mix, he maintains a slightly overwrought tone that works well for the dramatic material.

Admirably, there is no fake happy ending here but one laced with the blackest humour.

The cast of fresh-faced teenage unknowns bring a realistic immediacy to the key roles of the students but the big surprise here has to be Takako Matsu.

Known for playing the sweet young thing in hit idol dramas such as Love Generation (1997) and Hero (2001), she has grown into an increasingly assured actress. As a grieving, vengeful mother, she effectively plays against type, though diabolical is perhaps a bit too much of a stretch for her.

Regardless, these are Confessions you will want to be privy to.

(ST)

Unnamed.Poem

Denise Ho

Nine years after her Cantonese debut, charismatic singer Denise Ho (right), protege of the late Anita Mui, is finally releasing her first full-length Mandarin album.

Naturally, expectations are high.

She has certainly put in some hard work and there is no cringe-inducing mangling of Mandarin.

She has also roped in an impressive roster of collaborators, including lyricist Wyman Wong, Mayday frontman Ashin and singers Mavis Fan and Waa Wei.

Instead of sappy, generic love ballads, we get intriguing titles such as Poetry And Nonsense and Alice In Wonderland Syndrome.

Mushroom Song, for example, is a quirky number about, well, fungi: “Some mushrooms are edible, others are poisonous/Some grow together, others like to be alone/But the prettier they are, the more likely they’ll make you puke.”

But, tellingly, the strongest track here is the lone Cantonese number, How Metal Is Forged, which sounds like it could be the theme song for the Japanese anime Fullmetal Alchemist.

On the CD cover, Ho is perched on a lamp post and about to be lifted, improbably, by a solitary balloon.

But she stops short of taking flight.

Love Flower

Various artists

Before this album came along, I had no idea who Ang It-hong was. The singer-songwriter came to fame in the 1960s and was hailed as the king of Taiwan crooners.

He died from pancreatic cancer in February this year and was presented with a posthumous Special Contribution Award at the Golden Melody Awards.

The record is the brainchild of his son, arranger and producer Eric Hung, who has gathered top Mandopop stars, including Mayday’s Ashin, Crowd Lu and JJ Lin, to pay tribute.

Rather than present straightforward remakes, Hung and his line-up have breathed new life into Ang’s classic Minnan tracks by incorporating them into new songs.

These Minnan-Mandarin mash-ups, such as Old Record with girl group S.H.E, work better than one would expect and elevate this album beyond novelty status.

Hung explains in the liner notes that his original intention was to simply present new arrangements of his father’s songs. But, inspired by the works’ vitality, he has interpreted them differently, so that more people can get to know those classics anew.

There are also new tracks here, including the moving duet Father sung by Jay Chou and Chris Hung, Eric’s elder brother.

As one song blooms after another, Love Flower turns into an unexpectedly cheering celebration of one man’s life and work.

The Beginning

JYJ

TVXQ – also known as Dong Bang Shin Gi or Tohoshinki, meaning “Rising Gods of the East” – was one of the biggest boy bands around in the mid-2000s. The Korean group were popular across Asia and even scored chart-topping Japanese-language hits in Japan.

To the dismay of J- and K-pop fans everywhere, TVXQ disbanded, after members Jun Su, Yoo Chun and Jae Joong successfully sued SM Entertainment last year over their share of the earnings the group brought in.

From the ashes of TVXQ, a new abbreviation group have emerged: JYJ. They may have gone from a quintet to a trio, but their ambition has only grown larger.

With their English-language debut, JYJ aim to break into the global music market. They have cannily roped in big names, such as top American music producer and songwriter Rodney Jerkins and rap star Kanye West to beef up the cred on tracks such as Ayyy Girl and Be My Girl.

Still, one has to question the point of the album that is The Beginning. Why would one want to listen to generic-sounding R&B in mildly stilted English?

Still, while the album is unlikely to break JYJ into the highly competitive Western market, the group’s hordes of Asian fans can ensure that The Beginning will not be the end.

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Le Cirque I

Peggy Hsu

Four-fruit Ice

Crowd Lu

Famous Detective Lost To Sweetheart

Cosmos People

The EP – short for “extended play” single releases – is often thought the lesser cousin of the full- length album. In the right hands, however, it can be a legitimate form, a musical exploration and every bit as compelling as an album.

Conceptually, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Peggy Hsu’s Le Cirque I could well be a spin-off of her earlier track, In Love With The Circus Ringleader, from the album Fine (2009).

Her five-track EP’s cover illustration of a big top towed by a tiny car wearing a top hat already evokes feelings of whimsy.

The image sets you up nicely for songs such as Chocolate Kiss and If I...: “If the plane falls out of the sky, if the ships sinks to the bottom of the sea/If the car bursts into flames, remember how much I love you.”

Swim Ring keeps the quirky quotient up, and is sweet and sad at the same time: “You are my swim ring, tightly surrounding my world/When my eyes open, I wish to see, the mermaid’s face.”

The richly imagined worlds in the tracks here would put to shame some full-length records with a dearth of ideas.

The vibe of fellow singer-songwriter Crowd Lu’s (below) Four-fruit Ice is more laidback, and is reflected in the cover picture of him chill-axing and tucking into a bowl of the icy dessert.

The gem in this four-track collection is Mosquito, with its witty lyrics about the irritating insect: “Finally, you come close to me/Knew that you would be there in summer/But it’s winter, why are you here/And demanding that I accept this unreasonable love.”

There is also the tenderly nostalgic Nice To Meet You, Lu’s thank you and farewell to his school friends upon graduating from university: “Running circles round the field/Time passes year by year/I want to hold back the tears and say, so pleased to meet you/My dear, dear classmates.”

The mood on Famous Detective Lost To Sweetheart is not so much nostalgic as retro. Taiwanese group Cosmos People have gone from being a quartet to a trio and this is the follow-up to their 2009 self-titled debut.

The jazzy, bluesy arrangements hark back to an earlier time, and are paired with lyrics often wry and sometimes biting. Lost To You opens with: “Oh, Lady, Lady, why are your eyes glinting/Is it because my cash can’t win your heart/Good thing the notes are at home/Wait for me to make a bouquet for you.”

The DVD includes a 20-minute short film, but is pretty much a throwaway effort. The best bits are the individual music videos for Famous Detective, Lost To You and Sweetheart.

These days, for music artists who do not yet have an album’s worth of material to put out, the EP is the way to go.

Freed from the constraints of a formal release, they might feel more adventurous and playful in the studio. And it shows in their compositions.

(ST)

Miss Elva

Elva Hsiao

From the glitter of Diamond Candy (2009) to the punkish nu-wave neon-glow look she sports for this album, Taiwanese singer Elva Hsiao sure likes to dazzle and shine.

Maybe it’s to distract you from the fact that she is once more serving up the same calculated mix of dance tracks, remakes and ballads. Then again, it’s a formula that works – the record has topped the Taiwanese album chart for three weeks – so why mess with it?

While the track Slim is a remake, it at least has some biting lyrics about the obsession with being thin: “The tastier it is, the more sinful/Fats, please go to the one next to me” and “Treat all those shows with good food like horror flicks”.

The gospel-tinged Dream II ~ I Am Not Afraid actually offers something different but it sounds a little out of place on this collection.

Offering fans visual eye candy with each new album is all part of the game, but Hsiao should bear in mind that it’s the music that should be grabbing one’s attention.

Hao Jiu

Nicky Lee

The title is a pun on Lee’s Chinese name and also means “been so long”.

As the liner notes tell us, it has been 765 days since the Taiwan-based Korean’s last Mandarin album Imperfect (2008).

Given the long wait, you would have thought that the singer-songwriter would want to wow us right off the bat instead of serenading us with a cover of Richard Marx’s Right Here Waiting.

The album closes with yet another cover, Air Supply’s classic ballad Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, which was featured in the soundtrack to the Taiwanese gangster flick, Monga (2010).

Actually, Lee doesn’t do a half-bad job with these two overly familiar songs. There is an appealingly tender gruffness to his voice which landed him the Best Male Singer award for his second album, Baby It’s Me, at the 2007 Golden Melody Awards.

Still, one would have hoped for more original material here.

On the ballad Last Day, he brings some lovely phrasing and colour to the conventional lyrics: “The last day, the last day/Whose tears have blurred the scene/The last day, the last day/Can’t remember why we forgot to say goodbye”.

No More Cryin’, meanwhile, is a fruitful attempt at R&B and also makes for a nice change of pace.

Perhaps Lee could consider making an even bigger change the next time round and take on something apart from love songs.

(ST)

Flowers

Norihiro Koizumi

The story: The lives of six women across three generations unfold in Japan from the 1930s to the present. In 1936, Rin (Yu Aoi from Hula Girls, 2006) runs away when she is about to be married off to a man she has never met. The 1960s track the stories of her three grown daughters – Kaoru (Yuko Takeuchi from Be With You, 2004), coping with the grief of losing her husband; Midori (Rena Tanaka from First Love, 2000), who struggles with feminism and femininity; and Sato (Yukie Nakama from Gokusen: The Movie, 2009), who is willing to risk death to have a second child. In the present day, Sato’s daughters Kana (Kyoka Suzuki from Welcome Back, Mr McDonald, 1997) and Kei (Ryoko Hirosue from Departures, 2008) wrestle with expectations and major life decisions.

This will someday make for an interesting cultural studies paper: What kind of a film gets made when a coterie of top-notch actresses is assembled and what does it reveal about attitudes towards women?

There was the tepid remake of the classic about relationships, The Women (2008), from the United States, the deliciously dark and comic murder mystery 8 Women (2002) from France and a documentary-style expose Actresses (2009) from South Korea.

Now comes Flowers from Japan.

There is much to enjoy in this film with its gorgeous cinematography and attention to period detail. It goes from presenting black-and-white scenes of 1930s Japan which evoke the works of the late feted film-maker Yasujiro Ozu to lovingly recreated and colour-corrected depictions of the country in the 1960s.

It is not just the visual details but also changing social mores which are reflected, from strictly defined women’s roles in the 1930s to casual sexual harassment in the 1960s to seeming liberation today.

Director Norihiro Koizumi makes the transitions from one story to another, one era to another, seamless through the use of recurring motifs.

The film is edited in such a way that answers to questions are withheld, thus holding the viewer’s attention. What happens to Rin after she runs away? How did she end up with three daughters?

Then there are the actresses themselves, who are big enough stars in Japan that the film simply opens with beautifully composed shots of each one and her name up on the screen.

There are no dud performances as such though Rena Tanaka’s spunky Midori and Ryoko Hirosue’s ever cheerful Kei are among the more appealing. Hirosue and Kyoka Suzuki also team up for a genuinely moving scene after Kei finds a handwritten note from her mother to the two sisters.

Yet despite all this, the film falls short at the end when it suggests that a woman’s true happiness comes only when she has a child. Surely that is too limiting a message in this time and age.

(ST)