Super Fans
Eric Kot
The title already tells you who the target audience is. So if you’re not a super fan of Hong Kong stars Charlene Choi, Leo Ku and Kevin Cheng, don’t bother. And if you are, approach with caution.
The plot revolves around devoted fan Susie (Choi) and the lengths she would go to for her idol Sam Lee. She ropes in her childhood friend Kim (Ku) in her efforts until a close encounter reveals Lee’s ugly side.
Susie then switches allegiance and begins to support Lee’s rival David Cheng (Cheng). Meanwhile, Kim pines for her in the background.
Given that Susie is such an unlikeable character – selfish, manipulative and immature – you never see the point of the attraction. The romance sub-plot is contrived, cliched and utterly without a clue.
The topic of obsessive fan culture is a potentially rich one, but the lack of laughs, a point of view or actual characters, makes it hard to tell what the point of this entire exercise is.
(ST)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Smokin' Aces
Joe Carnahan
The very long and clunky exposition essentially sets up the fact that everyone, from cops to paid assassins, is after Buddy “Aces” Israel (Jeremy Piven), a Las Vegas showman turned crime boss turned snitch.
Stylistically, the movie fancies itself as an Ocean’s Eleven, with the paths of those after Israel criss-crossing at his hotel hangout. But Aces lacks the lightness of touch and spirit of the former.
Joe Carnahan, who co-produced, wrote and directed the film, rounded up an eclectic and diverse ensemble cast – including Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Matthew Fox, Alicia Keys – but to no avail. The lucky ones are those killed off first.
Carnahan throws everything onto the screen, hoping that something, anything, sticks. For a brief moment or two, the toxic slime stays up there – and then slithers right off.
(ST)
Joe Carnahan
The very long and clunky exposition essentially sets up the fact that everyone, from cops to paid assassins, is after Buddy “Aces” Israel (Jeremy Piven), a Las Vegas showman turned crime boss turned snitch.
Stylistically, the movie fancies itself as an Ocean’s Eleven, with the paths of those after Israel criss-crossing at his hotel hangout. But Aces lacks the lightness of touch and spirit of the former.
Joe Carnahan, who co-produced, wrote and directed the film, rounded up an eclectic and diverse ensemble cast – including Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Matthew Fox, Alicia Keys – but to no avail. The lucky ones are those killed off first.
Carnahan throws everything onto the screen, hoping that something, anything, sticks. For a brief moment or two, the toxic slime stays up there – and then slithers right off.
(ST)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
To Sir With Love
Lim Dae-wung
After 16 years, a reunion takes place between the now wheelchair-bound Mrs Park and her students. It seems, though, that everyone has an axe to grind with their former teacher.
The set-up holds some promise but it becomes a little repetitive going through the back-stories of all the students.
The murder scenes are gruesome affairs, and in keeping with the school theme, feature a pocket pen-knife, a stapler and other stationery of torture. It is the scatological fetish, however, that tips the movie into overkill.
The lesson here? Do right by your students and fellow classmates – you never know who’s going to turn out to be a psycho.
(ST)
Lim Dae-wung
After 16 years, a reunion takes place between the now wheelchair-bound Mrs Park and her students. It seems, though, that everyone has an axe to grind with their former teacher.
The set-up holds some promise but it becomes a little repetitive going through the back-stories of all the students.
The murder scenes are gruesome affairs, and in keeping with the school theme, feature a pocket pen-knife, a stapler and other stationery of torture. It is the scatological fetish, however, that tips the movie into overkill.
The lesson here? Do right by your students and fellow classmates – you never know who’s going to turn out to be a psycho.
(ST)
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Jolin: Dancing Diva Singapore Concert 2007
Singapore Indoor Stadium
The lights dimmed and the fans went wild as light sticks danced and screams rang out.
It didn’t take much to get the crowd going. And that was a good thing for Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai.
The concert began dramatically as she was lifted up and then let back down gently, all the while striking nimble poses astride two rings.Dressed in a sparkling blue costume with a matching headpiece perched jauntily askew, she teased the crowd with slow, sensuous movements.
Then she launched into Pulchritude, the opening track of her latest album Dancing Diva, followed by Signature Pose and Mr Q. The three fast-paced songs gave her a chance to show off some slick moves and the enthusiastic crowd lapped them up.
In keeping with her sexy dancing queen image, her costumes were figure-hugging affairs which flaunted her curves. Twice, she removed an outer robe to reveal a skimpier ensemble underneath.
Tsai, 26, has also built an impressive body of hits over the past four years,and the two-hour concert was packed with memorable songs from her last four albums.
It quickly became clear, however, that she was not quite up to the mark in the vocals department. She was drowned out at points when it came to the lower registers and strained at others which called for high notes.
She did herself no favours by covering pop diva Faye Wong’s Reminiscence, her sometimes shaky rendition paling in comparison to the latter’s pristine crooning.
Even the dance moves failed to impress after a while. Mostly, they saw her twirling her hands about and shaking her hips. Often, she seemed too busy going through the motions to really cut loose.
You wonder what The Dance Floor judges would have made of her performance.
She admitted to the capacity crowd of about 9,000 that she was a little nervous as her previous stop on her current world tour was some time ago. But the four-month break since her concert in Malaysia was no excuse for the amateurish cartwheels that she attempted or the graceless fumbling with a rubber ball during the encore number, Dancing Diva.
None of this mattered to her fans, however, who responded to her every gesture with shrieks of approval. Lyrics were flashed on the two screens flanking the stage and the audience was happy to sing along, karaoke-style.
The crowd also took to her coy banter.“I was here 21/2 years ago. Have I changed? Have I become prettier?” she asked,and was rewarded with a resounding “yes”.
As the show drew to an end, Tsai told her adoring fans that their “performance here has left a deep impression on me”. The feeling was clearly mutual.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium
The lights dimmed and the fans went wild as light sticks danced and screams rang out.
It didn’t take much to get the crowd going. And that was a good thing for Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai.
The concert began dramatically as she was lifted up and then let back down gently, all the while striking nimble poses astride two rings.Dressed in a sparkling blue costume with a matching headpiece perched jauntily askew, she teased the crowd with slow, sensuous movements.
Then she launched into Pulchritude, the opening track of her latest album Dancing Diva, followed by Signature Pose and Mr Q. The three fast-paced songs gave her a chance to show off some slick moves and the enthusiastic crowd lapped them up.
In keeping with her sexy dancing queen image, her costumes were figure-hugging affairs which flaunted her curves. Twice, she removed an outer robe to reveal a skimpier ensemble underneath.
Tsai, 26, has also built an impressive body of hits over the past four years,and the two-hour concert was packed with memorable songs from her last four albums.
It quickly became clear, however, that she was not quite up to the mark in the vocals department. She was drowned out at points when it came to the lower registers and strained at others which called for high notes.
She did herself no favours by covering pop diva Faye Wong’s Reminiscence, her sometimes shaky rendition paling in comparison to the latter’s pristine crooning.
Even the dance moves failed to impress after a while. Mostly, they saw her twirling her hands about and shaking her hips. Often, she seemed too busy going through the motions to really cut loose.
You wonder what The Dance Floor judges would have made of her performance.
She admitted to the capacity crowd of about 9,000 that she was a little nervous as her previous stop on her current world tour was some time ago. But the four-month break since her concert in Malaysia was no excuse for the amateurish cartwheels that she attempted or the graceless fumbling with a rubber ball during the encore number, Dancing Diva.
None of this mattered to her fans, however, who responded to her every gesture with shrieks of approval. Lyrics were flashed on the two screens flanking the stage and the audience was happy to sing along, karaoke-style.
The crowd also took to her coy banter.“I was here 21/2 years ago. Have I changed? Have I become prettier?” she asked,and was rewarded with a resounding “yes”.
As the show drew to an end, Tsai told her adoring fans that their “performance here has left a deep impression on me”. The feeling was clearly mutual.
(ST)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
I Don't Want To Sleep Alone
Tsai Ming-liang
So this is what a love story by director Tsai Ming-liang is like.In his eighth full-length feature film, the vagrant Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) is nursed by Bangladeshi worker Rawang (Norman Atun) after getting beaten up on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.As he slowly recovers, he finds himself caught between the attentions of Rawang and the attraction he feels for Chyi (Chen Shiang-chyi), a coffee shop worker.Meanwhile, Chyi’s boss (Pearlly Chua) is also drawn to Hsiao Kang as he looks like her comatose son.
The movie is filled with inarticulate desire and impulses, and is set in a polyglot city filled with snatches of German opera, Malay folk song, Bollywood music, Cantonese opera and Chinese pop. The repressive silences of the characters are rendered all the more poignant by the contrast.
And who says that films are only for the eyes and ears? Tsai has conjured up a strong sense of smell in this film – emanating from a soiled and sullied mattress, the pool of dead water in the middle of an abandoned construction site, and the haze that hangs over the city. All these smells ground the movie in an earthy reality, even as the story takes stranger and darker turns.
While he still doesn’t like to move the camera much, preferring to let events simply unfold, the pacing here is less challenging than in films such as Vive L’Amour, which inched along slowly.
It helps that there’s plenty of his particular brand of absurdist humour in this film, including the surreal spectacle of a bulky mattress being lugged around KL.
And when the ominous haze envelops the city, there’s a priceless scene of Hsiao Kang and Chyi determinedly pressing on with their love-making in an orgy of coughing and desperate desire. You have to admire Lee and Chen, regulars in Tsai’s movies, for pulling it off with aplomb. First-time actor Norman delivers a truthful and touching performance, while stage veteran Chua plunges into the role fearlessly.
Tsai’s movies might not contain much dialogue, but there is always visual poetry to be found. The final scene is a sublimely tender and moving image that will stay with you for a long while.
(ST)
Tsai Ming-liang
So this is what a love story by director Tsai Ming-liang is like.In his eighth full-length feature film, the vagrant Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) is nursed by Bangladeshi worker Rawang (Norman Atun) after getting beaten up on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.As he slowly recovers, he finds himself caught between the attentions of Rawang and the attraction he feels for Chyi (Chen Shiang-chyi), a coffee shop worker.Meanwhile, Chyi’s boss (Pearlly Chua) is also drawn to Hsiao Kang as he looks like her comatose son.
The movie is filled with inarticulate desire and impulses, and is set in a polyglot city filled with snatches of German opera, Malay folk song, Bollywood music, Cantonese opera and Chinese pop. The repressive silences of the characters are rendered all the more poignant by the contrast.
And who says that films are only for the eyes and ears? Tsai has conjured up a strong sense of smell in this film – emanating from a soiled and sullied mattress, the pool of dead water in the middle of an abandoned construction site, and the haze that hangs over the city. All these smells ground the movie in an earthy reality, even as the story takes stranger and darker turns.
While he still doesn’t like to move the camera much, preferring to let events simply unfold, the pacing here is less challenging than in films such as Vive L’Amour, which inched along slowly.
It helps that there’s plenty of his particular brand of absurdist humour in this film, including the surreal spectacle of a bulky mattress being lugged around KL.
And when the ominous haze envelops the city, there’s a priceless scene of Hsiao Kang and Chyi determinedly pressing on with their love-making in an orgy of coughing and desperate desire. You have to admire Lee and Chen, regulars in Tsai’s movies, for pulling it off with aplomb. First-time actor Norman delivers a truthful and touching performance, while stage veteran Chua plunges into the role fearlessly.
Tsai’s movies might not contain much dialogue, but there is always visual poetry to be found. The final scene is a sublimely tender and moving image that will stay with you for a long while.
(ST)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Exit A
Anthony Swofford
This book is a decidedly mixed proposition, and that’s assuming you make it past the halfway mark.
The first half of this debut fiction novel is concerned with 17-year-olds Severin Boxx and Virginia Sachiko Kindwall. They live in Yokota, an American air base on the outskirts of Tokyo, circa 1989. He’s a star football player and son of a colonel. She’s the half-American and half-Japanese daughter of the base’s general. Sparks of attraction inevitably flare up between the two.
But the course of young love never runs smooth. Virginia, who is going through a rebellious phase, acts out in a desperate and reckless fashion that changes everyone’s lives.
Unfortunately, Swofford’s pedestrian style of writing never really draws the reader in. He fails to fully convey the passion and excitement of youth gone astray. Instead, his oddly flat prose and stilted dialogue detract from the story.
After getting past the very long exposition, the latter half of the book jumps forward in time and deals with consequences and redemption. This is where it starts to get interesting as Severin goes into a downward spiral while Virginia picks up the pieces of her life.
Still, the same irritants remain, though mitigated by the twists and turns of the plot. And the ending, shot through with optimism and naivete, is just too neat and tidy.
Exit A? Felt more like No Way Out at some points.
(ST)
Anthony Swofford
This book is a decidedly mixed proposition, and that’s assuming you make it past the halfway mark.
The first half of this debut fiction novel is concerned with 17-year-olds Severin Boxx and Virginia Sachiko Kindwall. They live in Yokota, an American air base on the outskirts of Tokyo, circa 1989. He’s a star football player and son of a colonel. She’s the half-American and half-Japanese daughter of the base’s general. Sparks of attraction inevitably flare up between the two.
But the course of young love never runs smooth. Virginia, who is going through a rebellious phase, acts out in a desperate and reckless fashion that changes everyone’s lives.
Unfortunately, Swofford’s pedestrian style of writing never really draws the reader in. He fails to fully convey the passion and excitement of youth gone astray. Instead, his oddly flat prose and stilted dialogue detract from the story.
After getting past the very long exposition, the latter half of the book jumps forward in time and deals with consequences and redemption. This is where it starts to get interesting as Severin goes into a downward spiral while Virginia picks up the pieces of her life.
Still, the same irritants remain, though mitigated by the twists and turns of the plot. And the ending, shot through with optimism and naivete, is just too neat and tidy.
Exit A? Felt more like No Way Out at some points.
(ST)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Conversation(s) With Other Women
Hans Canosa
A man and a woman meet at a wedding reception in New York City. They seem to be strangers flirting with each other, but as the evening, and their conversation, progresses, you learn that the two of them have a history together.
Director Hans Canosa and and his regular collaborator, writer Gabrielle Zevin, have chosen very unusual treatments for this simple story. Crucial information is withheld from the audience and is only released in tantalising dribs and drabs. However, it doesn't come across as a flashy gimmick but rather, reflects the narrowing distance between the couple over the course of the night.
What took some getting used to was the split-screen technique. It was jarring at first but it achieved an extremely intimate portrayal of these two people. This would not be possible without the utterly natural and fearless performances of Helena Bonham Carter (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory) and Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking).
The gorgeously evocative soundtrack with its generous helping of Carla Bruni, clearly a labour of love, didn't hurt either.
At the end of the film, we are left with an intriguing image - a split-screen scene of the two of them in two separate cabs. Then the two halves join up and they are sitting in the same cab, but the distance between them is greater than ever.
It was the rarest of big screen moments - a special effect shot with emotional resonance.
(ST)
Hans Canosa
A man and a woman meet at a wedding reception in New York City. They seem to be strangers flirting with each other, but as the evening, and their conversation, progresses, you learn that the two of them have a history together.
Director Hans Canosa and and his regular collaborator, writer Gabrielle Zevin, have chosen very unusual treatments for this simple story. Crucial information is withheld from the audience and is only released in tantalising dribs and drabs. However, it doesn't come across as a flashy gimmick but rather, reflects the narrowing distance between the couple over the course of the night.
What took some getting used to was the split-screen technique. It was jarring at first but it achieved an extremely intimate portrayal of these two people. This would not be possible without the utterly natural and fearless performances of Helena Bonham Carter (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory) and Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking).
The gorgeously evocative soundtrack with its generous helping of Carla Bruni, clearly a labour of love, didn't hurt either.
At the end of the film, we are left with an intriguing image - a split-screen scene of the two of them in two separate cabs. Then the two halves join up and they are sitting in the same cab, but the distance between them is greater than ever.
It was the rarest of big screen moments - a special effect shot with emotional resonance.
(ST)
Saturday, March 24, 2007
After This Our Exile (M18)
(Aaron Kwok/Charlie Young/ Gouw Ian Iskandar/117 minutes)
Auteur Patrick Tam’s first film in 17 years beautifully and lovingly evokes small-town Malaysia.
The idyllic backdrop, though, is the setting for a darker tale about the relationship between a ne’er-do-well father (Kwok) and his young son (Iskandar)after his wife (Young) leaves home.
It is hard to care when a father with no redeeming qualities loses everything.But this is a movie about the son as well and Tam ends the movie on a powerful note of redemption and hope, loss and love.
The movie won the Golden Horse award for Best Picture, while Kwok and nine-year-old Iskandar took home the acting awards.Kwok has certainly come a long way from his teeny-bopper music videos, doomed to eternal rotation in karaoke joints.
This bare-bones DVD gets an extra star for the Cantonese audio track.
(ST)
(Aaron Kwok/Charlie Young/ Gouw Ian Iskandar/117 minutes)
Auteur Patrick Tam’s first film in 17 years beautifully and lovingly evokes small-town Malaysia.
The idyllic backdrop, though, is the setting for a darker tale about the relationship between a ne’er-do-well father (Kwok) and his young son (Iskandar)after his wife (Young) leaves home.
It is hard to care when a father with no redeeming qualities loses everything.But this is a movie about the son as well and Tam ends the movie on a powerful note of redemption and hope, loss and love.
The movie won the Golden Horse award for Best Picture, while Kwok and nine-year-old Iskandar took home the acting awards.Kwok has certainly come a long way from his teeny-bopper music videos, doomed to eternal rotation in karaoke joints.
This bare-bones DVD gets an extra star for the Cantonese audio track.
(ST)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Confession of Pain (NC16)
(Tony Leung/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Shu Qi/Xu Jinglei/106 minutes)
The great thing about watching Hong Kong movies on DVD is listening to the original Cantonese audio track instead of the dubbed-over Mandarin in cinemas.
Unfortunately, in this case, the much-awaited follow-up to the excellent Infernal Affairs from directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak falls short of the mark.
The central mystery of a gruesome murder merely serves as a device for Leung and Kaneshiro’s characters to play off against each other. However, the elements of urgency and ambiguity – so crucial to Affairs’ success – are less satisfyingly handled here.
Still, there is some joy to be had in watching the two male leads act their way out of the overwrought story.
Meanwhile, China actress-director Xu is stuck in a thankless part as Leung’s wife. Shu is the much-needed jolt of sunshine in this movie, even though her girlfriend role borders on the extraneous.
The DVD includes a 15-minute self-congratulatory making-of.
(ST)
(Tony Leung/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Shu Qi/Xu Jinglei/106 minutes)
The great thing about watching Hong Kong movies on DVD is listening to the original Cantonese audio track instead of the dubbed-over Mandarin in cinemas.
Unfortunately, in this case, the much-awaited follow-up to the excellent Infernal Affairs from directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak falls short of the mark.
The central mystery of a gruesome murder merely serves as a device for Leung and Kaneshiro’s characters to play off against each other. However, the elements of urgency and ambiguity – so crucial to Affairs’ success – are less satisfyingly handled here.
Still, there is some joy to be had in watching the two male leads act their way out of the overwrought story.
Meanwhile, China actress-director Xu is stuck in a thankless part as Leung’s wife. Shu is the much-needed jolt of sunshine in this movie, even though her girlfriend role borders on the extraneous.
The DVD includes a 15-minute self-congratulatory making-of.
(ST)
Teenage Mutant Ninija Turtles
Kevin Munroe
Really? Another TMNT movie 14 years after the last one? Should you bother after all this while?
Well, the ending points to a sequel so care was taken to make sure this does not suck.
After the defeat of their arch nemesis The Shredder, the Turtles have fallen into disarray.It takes a crisis, of the save-the-world variety, to bring them back together as a team once more.
While the franchise has been updated with computer animation – the slimmer Turtles took a little getting used to – the feel of the movie was decidedly old-school. Still, it’s nice to see that the Turtles’ irreverent sense of humour is intact.
The film zipped along with lively energy and even the message about the importance of family was handled deftly and did not grate. Bonus points for echoing the theme, and subverting it, in the bad guys' camp.
(ST)
Kevin Munroe
Really? Another TMNT movie 14 years after the last one? Should you bother after all this while?
Well, the ending points to a sequel so care was taken to make sure this does not suck.
After the defeat of their arch nemesis The Shredder, the Turtles have fallen into disarray.It takes a crisis, of the save-the-world variety, to bring them back together as a team once more.
While the franchise has been updated with computer animation – the slimmer Turtles took a little getting used to – the feel of the movie was decidedly old-school. Still, it’s nice to see that the Turtles’ irreverent sense of humour is intact.
The film zipped along with lively energy and even the message about the importance of family was handled deftly and did not grate. Bonus points for echoing the theme, and subverting it, in the bad guys' camp.
(ST)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Breaking and Entering
Anthony Minghella
After swoonsome period dramas The English Patient and Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella turns his eye on human relationships in modern-day London.
A central idea in the film is that sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. Mouthed by Will Francis (Jude Law), a landscape architect who has no idea what he wants, it merely sounds like a platitude.
The problem was that Law was convincing when he told his estranged partner Liv(Robin Wright Penn) that the distance between them was very great.
It was less believable when he had a change of heart after a dalliance-turned-sour with a Bosnian immigrant (Juliet Binoche), and decided that Liv was the love of his life after all.
For a movie about breaking and entering of the criminal and emotional varieties, the ending was just too neat and tidy. It seemed that just about everyone got what they wanted. But the idea of a victimless crime simply doesn't wash.
(ST)
Anthony Minghella
After swoonsome period dramas The English Patient and Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella turns his eye on human relationships in modern-day London.
A central idea in the film is that sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. Mouthed by Will Francis (Jude Law), a landscape architect who has no idea what he wants, it merely sounds like a platitude.
The problem was that Law was convincing when he told his estranged partner Liv(Robin Wright Penn) that the distance between them was very great.
It was less believable when he had a change of heart after a dalliance-turned-sour with a Bosnian immigrant (Juliet Binoche), and decided that Liv was the love of his life after all.
For a movie about breaking and entering of the criminal and emotional varieties, the ending was just too neat and tidy. It seemed that just about everyone got what they wanted. But the idea of a victimless crime simply doesn't wash.
(ST)
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Tristan Prettyman
Mosaic Music Festival concert
In keeping with the laid-back casual vibe of her gig, it was entirely appropriate that Tristan Prettyman performed in her bare feet.
You could almost imagine the surfer singer-songwriter strumming the guitar on a quiet darkened beach while the waves crashed rhythmically in the background.
The mellow crowd at the sold-out 220-seater recital studio was content to sit back and lap it all up.
It was after the set opener, Breathe, that Prettyman told the audience that her luggage and guitar got lost in transit. Still, it gave the 24-year-old a compelling reason to shop.“Good thing there’s a mall on every corner,” she said.
She then went on to preface most of her songs with tidbits about her life.Before launching into Guest Check, she revealed that she used to work at a pizza place in her native San Diego. Then she deadpanned that the song had nothing to do with pizzas.
The genial singer, performing here as part of the Esplanade’s Mosaic festival,also took requests.There were calls for Shy That Way, a duet with her ex-boyfriend, American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, but she pointed out that “Jason’s not here”.
She obliged the crowd with Lindsay Goes To Rehab instead, a song about out-of-control Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, written “after a drunken evening”.
Live, Prettyman’s acoustic folk-pop ditties sounded more muscular, thanks to her back-up bassist and drummer.But it wasn’t until Just In Case that the band cut loose. “This is where we go crazy and rock out. Like Metallica,” she added helpfully.
The wildest thing that happened though was when a besotted female fan yelled out, “Tristan, you’re beautiful”. To which the unruffled Prettyman said right back “You’re beautiful too”.
The amiable singer even invited the audience to hang out with her if they were ever in San Diego.
Just as they hung out with her on Saturday night.
(ST)
Mosaic Music Festival concert
In keeping with the laid-back casual vibe of her gig, it was entirely appropriate that Tristan Prettyman performed in her bare feet.
You could almost imagine the surfer singer-songwriter strumming the guitar on a quiet darkened beach while the waves crashed rhythmically in the background.
The mellow crowd at the sold-out 220-seater recital studio was content to sit back and lap it all up.
It was after the set opener, Breathe, that Prettyman told the audience that her luggage and guitar got lost in transit. Still, it gave the 24-year-old a compelling reason to shop.“Good thing there’s a mall on every corner,” she said.
She then went on to preface most of her songs with tidbits about her life.Before launching into Guest Check, she revealed that she used to work at a pizza place in her native San Diego. Then she deadpanned that the song had nothing to do with pizzas.
The genial singer, performing here as part of the Esplanade’s Mosaic festival,also took requests.There were calls for Shy That Way, a duet with her ex-boyfriend, American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, but she pointed out that “Jason’s not here”.
She obliged the crowd with Lindsay Goes To Rehab instead, a song about out-of-control Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, written “after a drunken evening”.
Live, Prettyman’s acoustic folk-pop ditties sounded more muscular, thanks to her back-up bassist and drummer.But it wasn’t until Just In Case that the band cut loose. “This is where we go crazy and rock out. Like Metallica,” she added helpfully.
The wildest thing that happened though was when a besotted female fan yelled out, “Tristan, you’re beautiful”. To which the unruffled Prettyman said right back “You’re beautiful too”.
The amiable singer even invited the audience to hang out with her if they were ever in San Diego.
Just as they hung out with her on Saturday night.
(ST)
Friday, March 16, 2007
Kuh Ledesma & Regine Velasquez
Mosaic Music Festival
Filipinos were out in force on Wednesday night for the Kuh Ledesma and Regine Velasquez concert, but for the non-Filipinos in the audience – and there were quite a few of them – much of the evening’s chatty portions must have passed in a blur.
It’s a good thing then that music is a universal language and that there was more singing than talking.
For the non-Pinoy crowd, Velasquez is probably most famous for the duet she sang with Hong Kong Heavenly King Jacky Cheung in the 1994 English hit In Love With You.
She had the pipes all right, but it was her vocal versatility that impressed the crowd. She could sound sweetly delicate and vulnerable one minute and then belt it out the next. She even invested genuine emotion into familiar middle-of-the-road Whitney Houston ballads such as I Will Always Love You and Run To You.
A few songs in Tagalog were judiciously sprinkled over the night, enough for the non-speaker to enjoy them but not too many to cause his attention to stray.
Ledesma’s singing had a classy sultriness to it and she was all about love and having that someone special in your life. Unexpectedly, that someone for her turned out to be Jesus Christ. It came a little too close to feeling like a church service during the earnest introduction to the duet The Prayer.
Given that this was a double billing, duets were an integral part of the programme. Ledesma, 52, and Velasquez, 36, are entertainment stalwarts in their native Philippines and their experience stood them in good stead. They shared an easy rapport and it came through in the music.
They got the appreciative and receptive crowd on its feet during the medley of1970s hits, including the rousing I Will Survive. Two enthusiastic gentlemen were invited onstage. They danced and sang along happily.
The showbiz veterans’ camaraderie was also apparent in their engagement with the audience. When Ledesma changed into a body-hugging shimmering blue dress,Velasquez had her modelling for the audience. Then Velasquez took her turn on the catwalk, staggering exaggeratedly with one hand supporting her back as she had pinched a nerve.
The deceptively sweet-looking Velasquez vamped it up in a low-cut pale blue sheath and remarked tantalisingly at one point: “Why don’t you believe I’m a virgin?”
Alas, the punchline was in Tagalog.
If only there were subtitles.
(ST)
Mosaic Music Festival
Filipinos were out in force on Wednesday night for the Kuh Ledesma and Regine Velasquez concert, but for the non-Filipinos in the audience – and there were quite a few of them – much of the evening’s chatty portions must have passed in a blur.
It’s a good thing then that music is a universal language and that there was more singing than talking.
For the non-Pinoy crowd, Velasquez is probably most famous for the duet she sang with Hong Kong Heavenly King Jacky Cheung in the 1994 English hit In Love With You.
She had the pipes all right, but it was her vocal versatility that impressed the crowd. She could sound sweetly delicate and vulnerable one minute and then belt it out the next. She even invested genuine emotion into familiar middle-of-the-road Whitney Houston ballads such as I Will Always Love You and Run To You.
A few songs in Tagalog were judiciously sprinkled over the night, enough for the non-speaker to enjoy them but not too many to cause his attention to stray.
Ledesma’s singing had a classy sultriness to it and she was all about love and having that someone special in your life. Unexpectedly, that someone for her turned out to be Jesus Christ. It came a little too close to feeling like a church service during the earnest introduction to the duet The Prayer.
Given that this was a double billing, duets were an integral part of the programme. Ledesma, 52, and Velasquez, 36, are entertainment stalwarts in their native Philippines and their experience stood them in good stead. They shared an easy rapport and it came through in the music.
They got the appreciative and receptive crowd on its feet during the medley of1970s hits, including the rousing I Will Survive. Two enthusiastic gentlemen were invited onstage. They danced and sang along happily.
The showbiz veterans’ camaraderie was also apparent in their engagement with the audience. When Ledesma changed into a body-hugging shimmering blue dress,Velasquez had her modelling for the audience. Then Velasquez took her turn on the catwalk, staggering exaggeratedly with one hand supporting her back as she had pinched a nerve.
The deceptively sweet-looking Velasquez vamped it up in a low-cut pale blue sheath and remarked tantalisingly at one point: “Why don’t you believe I’m a virgin?”
Alas, the punchline was in Tagalog.
If only there were subtitles.
(ST)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Hearty Paws
Oh Dal-gyoon
It begins innocuously enough with 11-year-old Chan stealing a puppy for his sister, So-I, on her sixth birthday, and christening it Maeum (literally heart).
But just as you begin to settle down for a feel-good movie, the death of an adorable character makes you sit up and pay attention.
Director Oh Dal Gyoon has coaxed winning and moving performances from his child stars as well as from the four-year-old Labrador retriever, Dal-i.
The dog is pretty much treated as a human character – the children constantly speak to it, and we are even given a dog’s eye view in a few scenes.
The problem is, how does the filmmaker sustain the story over 100 minutes? Enter the cartoonishly evil villain who lords over the bunch of street kids Chan falls in with, an absent mother and a nemesis for Maeum.
The cumulative effect almost overwhelms the modest charms of this Korean tearjerker. But not quite.
(ST)
Oh Dal-gyoon
It begins innocuously enough with 11-year-old Chan stealing a puppy for his sister, So-I, on her sixth birthday, and christening it Maeum (literally heart).
But just as you begin to settle down for a feel-good movie, the death of an adorable character makes you sit up and pay attention.
Director Oh Dal Gyoon has coaxed winning and moving performances from his child stars as well as from the four-year-old Labrador retriever, Dal-i.
The dog is pretty much treated as a human character – the children constantly speak to it, and we are even given a dog’s eye view in a few scenes.
The problem is, how does the filmmaker sustain the story over 100 minutes? Enter the cartoonishly evil villain who lords over the bunch of street kids Chan falls in with, an absent mother and a nemesis for Maeum.
The cumulative effect almost overwhelms the modest charms of this Korean tearjerker. But not quite.
(ST)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
yo la tengo
mosaic music festival
live, even the most abstract feedback/static-filled soundscape was filled with urgency. they seemed organic to the songs instead of mere indulgence on the part of the band. it didn't hurt that frontman ira kaplan staggered about in a musical trance during these sessions.
after 22 years and 15 albums, the trio played a tight set and moved nimbly from genre to genre, changing moods on the turn of a dime. they rocked, they serenaded, they let it rip, they mixed it up with different instruments.
kaplan took 2 questions from the audience -where are u going for dinner? dunno. good question. who cuts your hair? his wife and bandmate georgia.
as a friend promised, they pretty much rocked our socks off.
i didn't even mind that they didn't play the admittedly few songs that i knew. think there was something off summer sun and a looser, transposed version of you can have it all. oh, and apparently pass the hatchet, i think i'm goodkind, the ten minute plus opener on latest album i am not afraid of you and i will beat your ass. which i absolutely cannot recall at this moment.
mosaic music festival
live, even the most abstract feedback/static-filled soundscape was filled with urgency. they seemed organic to the songs instead of mere indulgence on the part of the band. it didn't hurt that frontman ira kaplan staggered about in a musical trance during these sessions.
after 22 years and 15 albums, the trio played a tight set and moved nimbly from genre to genre, changing moods on the turn of a dime. they rocked, they serenaded, they let it rip, they mixed it up with different instruments.
kaplan took 2 questions from the audience -where are u going for dinner? dunno. good question. who cuts your hair? his wife and bandmate georgia.
as a friend promised, they pretty much rocked our socks off.
i didn't even mind that they didn't play the admittedly few songs that i knew. think there was something off summer sun and a looser, transposed version of you can have it all. oh, and apparently pass the hatchet, i think i'm goodkind, the ten minute plus opener on latest album i am not afraid of you and i will beat your ass. which i absolutely cannot recall at this moment.
Monday, March 12, 2007
josé gonzález
mosaic music festival late night series
it took a couple of songs for the show to warm up, and then gonzález kicked in with slow moves.
at times, it didn't feel like a concert, more like being an onlooker/listener to a private, almost sacred musical communion as he sang with eyes-closed intensity.
the soft-spoken singer didn't engage much in small talk though there was a flash of unexpectedly wry humour on weed and the death penalty in singapore as an intro to send someone away.
finally heard his cover of kylie minogue's hand on your heart and it was revelatory. could something so achingly beautiful have been buried in the synth-pop jauntiness of the original all along?
there was also a cover of massive attack's teardrop. it was good, but the original, with liz fraser's other-worldly vocals, was already a personal favourite. it didn't need a re-interpretation to unveil its gorgeousness.
gonzález's new song down the line (darkness) was a more muscular beast, a welcome change from the stripped-down acoustics on veneer.
he saved crosses and heartbeats for the encore, though there was a slip-up on the latter. and yeah, it was kinda perfunctory, as if he didn't quite like the idea that he had to perform his hit (cover) song.
mosaic music festival late night series
it took a couple of songs for the show to warm up, and then gonzález kicked in with slow moves.
at times, it didn't feel like a concert, more like being an onlooker/listener to a private, almost sacred musical communion as he sang with eyes-closed intensity.
the soft-spoken singer didn't engage much in small talk though there was a flash of unexpectedly wry humour on weed and the death penalty in singapore as an intro to send someone away.
finally heard his cover of kylie minogue's hand on your heart and it was revelatory. could something so achingly beautiful have been buried in the synth-pop jauntiness of the original all along?
there was also a cover of massive attack's teardrop. it was good, but the original, with liz fraser's other-worldly vocals, was already a personal favourite. it didn't need a re-interpretation to unveil its gorgeousness.
gonzález's new song down the line (darkness) was a more muscular beast, a welcome change from the stripped-down acoustics on veneer.
he saved crosses and heartbeats for the encore, though there was a slip-up on the latter. and yeah, it was kinda perfunctory, as if he didn't quite like the idea that he had to perform his hit (cover) song.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Happily N'Ever After
Paul J Bolger, Yvette Kaplan
What keeps one watching a movie when the plot is a no-brainer? The answer is not to be found in this leaden piece of animation, which pretends to subvert the notion of happily ever after in fairy tales. Shrek did it first and did it much better.Ella (short for Cinderella) is supposed to be a spunky update of the original but she still needs a man to save the day. So much for progress. The heroine and hero are bland, the sidekicks forgettable and it is the villains who make the most impact. Ultimately, there is just no magic in this tale.
(ST)
Paul J Bolger, Yvette Kaplan
What keeps one watching a movie when the plot is a no-brainer? The answer is not to be found in this leaden piece of animation, which pretends to subvert the notion of happily ever after in fairy tales. Shrek did it first and did it much better.Ella (short for Cinderella) is supposed to be a spunky update of the original but she still needs a man to save the day. So much for progress. The heroine and hero are bland, the sidekicks forgettable and it is the villains who make the most impact. Ultimately, there is just no magic in this tale.
(ST)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Hannibal Rising
Peter Webber
If this movie were a dish, Hannibal would send it right back to the kitchen. And then have the chef for dinner instead.
It’s a confused fusion creation which ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Movie No. 4 in the lucrative Hannibal franchise (not counting 1986’s Manhunter) sees rising French actor Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement) playing the young Hannibal Lecter and promises to tell us what makes the carnivorous one tick. But by the time the big denouement comes around, it is a case of too little too late.
We are first transported to the harrowing last days of World War II in Lithuania, where a recently orphaned Hannibal is left to fend for himself and his little sister Mischa.Unfortunately for him, they run into some Very Bad Men, a group of militiamen led by Grutas (Rhys Ifan exuding dull-eyed evil).
Cut to eight years later and Hannibal is now haunted by nightmares. He flees from an oppressive orphanage, ends up in the home of his dead uncle’s Japanese wife, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li), and eventually proceeds to wreak vengeance upon those men.
Hannibal also has to deal with an Inspector Popil (Dominic West) on his trail.
There are simply too many ingredients simmering in the pot. The result is a protracted and plodding film punctuated by bursts of increasingly gruesome mutilations and death.
It does not help that some of the elements are just plain jarring in the first place. The most egregious offender being the character of Lady Murasaki, which is shamelessly exploited for an over-the-top Exotic Orient effect. Even Gong Li cannot emote her way out as her character worships ancestors, arranges flowers, teaches kendo, and then morphs into biker chick.
Ulliel has an even more unenviable task of tackling a role Anthony Hopkins made his own. He cannot erase the memory of Hopkins’ bravura performance and director Peter Webber does him no favours by echoing the iconic image of Hopkins in a bite restraint mask. But the actor does leave an impression with his coolly reptilian stare and a menacing scythe-shaped scar on his left cheek, the result of Ulliel being clawed by a dog when he was six.
(ST)
Peter Webber
If this movie were a dish, Hannibal would send it right back to the kitchen. And then have the chef for dinner instead.
It’s a confused fusion creation which ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Movie No. 4 in the lucrative Hannibal franchise (not counting 1986’s Manhunter) sees rising French actor Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement) playing the young Hannibal Lecter and promises to tell us what makes the carnivorous one tick. But by the time the big denouement comes around, it is a case of too little too late.
We are first transported to the harrowing last days of World War II in Lithuania, where a recently orphaned Hannibal is left to fend for himself and his little sister Mischa.Unfortunately for him, they run into some Very Bad Men, a group of militiamen led by Grutas (Rhys Ifan exuding dull-eyed evil).
Cut to eight years later and Hannibal is now haunted by nightmares. He flees from an oppressive orphanage, ends up in the home of his dead uncle’s Japanese wife, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li), and eventually proceeds to wreak vengeance upon those men.
Hannibal also has to deal with an Inspector Popil (Dominic West) on his trail.
There are simply too many ingredients simmering in the pot. The result is a protracted and plodding film punctuated by bursts of increasingly gruesome mutilations and death.
It does not help that some of the elements are just plain jarring in the first place. The most egregious offender being the character of Lady Murasaki, which is shamelessly exploited for an over-the-top Exotic Orient effect. Even Gong Li cannot emote her way out as her character worships ancestors, arranges flowers, teaches kendo, and then morphs into biker chick.
Ulliel has an even more unenviable task of tackling a role Anthony Hopkins made his own. He cannot erase the memory of Hopkins’ bravura performance and director Peter Webber does him no favours by echoing the iconic image of Hopkins in a bite restraint mask. But the actor does leave an impression with his coolly reptilian stare and a menacing scythe-shaped scar on his left cheek, the result of Ulliel being clawed by a dog when he was six.
(ST)
Monday, February 05, 2007
midnight’s children
salman rushdie
the mother of all novels about India’s birth pangs and growing pains? this book is an explosion of wondrous sights and pungent smells, tapping into and deconstructing the myths and history of the country.
yet for all its breadth, it also feels like an intimate portrayal because of the device rushdie has concocted – a group of magical midnight’s children, born in the hour of india’s independence, to mirror the nation’s development.
the focus of the sprawling story is further sharpened by another device – the re-telling of history by one saleem sinai, born on the stroke of midnight itself, to his devoted audience of one (and the reader.) with the benefit of hindsight,the smallest event has the portentousness of history and the heavy shadow of fate lurks everywhere. this is simultaneously undercut by the triviality of these happenings.
there is much to savour in the playfulness and inventiveness of his writing and the dazzling array of fascinating characters and plot developments. despite the sheer number of elements, rushdie does a dextrous job of juggling them with a fluidity that belies the complexity of the task.
salman rushdie
the mother of all novels about India’s birth pangs and growing pains? this book is an explosion of wondrous sights and pungent smells, tapping into and deconstructing the myths and history of the country.
yet for all its breadth, it also feels like an intimate portrayal because of the device rushdie has concocted – a group of magical midnight’s children, born in the hour of india’s independence, to mirror the nation’s development.
the focus of the sprawling story is further sharpened by another device – the re-telling of history by one saleem sinai, born on the stroke of midnight itself, to his devoted audience of one (and the reader.) with the benefit of hindsight,the smallest event has the portentousness of history and the heavy shadow of fate lurks everywhere. this is simultaneously undercut by the triviality of these happenings.
there is much to savour in the playfulness and inventiveness of his writing and the dazzling array of fascinating characters and plot developments. despite the sheer number of elements, rushdie does a dextrous job of juggling them with a fluidity that belies the complexity of the task.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
the painted veil
john curran
enjoyed the painted veil and it grows on me the more i think abt it. it's a simple story of a couple who meet, marry, weather a crisis, then fall in love. the focus of the movie is largely on them yet the 2 hours don't feel overly long because ed norton (walter fane) and naomi watts (kitty fane) simply bring their characters to life. kitty agrees to marry walter because it means freedom from her mother, not because she loves him. but as she later points out to him, she never pretended to be something she wasn't. he knew this but married her all the same, hoping that he would win her over. it turns out to be a recipe for disaster and she embarks on an affair. walter finds out and in a fit of anger, decides to punish her by dragging her along to a cholera outbreak area in the interior of china. isolated from the rest of the world, they are forced to confront with what has happened.
there are elements of melodrama - an affair, a pregnancy, a death - but they are dealt with in emotionally truthful scenes. at one point, kitty laughs and asks if a woman has ever loved a man for his virtue, but this is precisely what happens to kitty, and the ending shows us that this love has transformed her into a woman of virtue as well. it's ultimately about the redemptive power of love, but it's never preachy.
the exotic locales were fully utilised and the cinematography was lush and gorgeous.
liked the fact that nothing was black-and-white in the movie, that even the orphanage run by the nuns was not seen as an unadulterated good.
there was also the curiosity factor of seeing anthony wong, brows perpetually furrowed, in an english-speaking role. and that the prc government had final cut approval.
in 6 words: love in the time of cholera
john curran
enjoyed the painted veil and it grows on me the more i think abt it. it's a simple story of a couple who meet, marry, weather a crisis, then fall in love. the focus of the movie is largely on them yet the 2 hours don't feel overly long because ed norton (walter fane) and naomi watts (kitty fane) simply bring their characters to life. kitty agrees to marry walter because it means freedom from her mother, not because she loves him. but as she later points out to him, she never pretended to be something she wasn't. he knew this but married her all the same, hoping that he would win her over. it turns out to be a recipe for disaster and she embarks on an affair. walter finds out and in a fit of anger, decides to punish her by dragging her along to a cholera outbreak area in the interior of china. isolated from the rest of the world, they are forced to confront with what has happened.
there are elements of melodrama - an affair, a pregnancy, a death - but they are dealt with in emotionally truthful scenes. at one point, kitty laughs and asks if a woman has ever loved a man for his virtue, but this is precisely what happens to kitty, and the ending shows us that this love has transformed her into a woman of virtue as well. it's ultimately about the redemptive power of love, but it's never preachy.
the exotic locales were fully utilised and the cinematography was lush and gorgeous.
liked the fact that nothing was black-and-white in the movie, that even the orphanage run by the nuns was not seen as an unadulterated good.
there was also the curiosity factor of seeing anthony wong, brows perpetually furrowed, in an english-speaking role. and that the prc government had final cut approval.
in 6 words: love in the time of cholera
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