In Defense Of Film Critics...?

"Filmmakers need an audience, that's for certain. but do filmmakers need film critics? hmmm... i wonder. One thing for sure, filmmakers have absolutely no use for self-proclaimed film experts or film pontificators."

The above quote is a post by filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad (Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin) two days ago at the Malaysian Cinema mailing list, during a discussion (it's ironic that the whole thing was sparked by a short film of a new member I introduced the mailing list to) two days ago. Which started to make me... think.

A NIGHTMARISH Acting Audition... Method Acting is bad?

Alfred Hitchcock hates method acting

I'm currently helping out with a short film.

(There are also other job offers I'm still pondering, my Sin Chew Daily interview seems to have its benefits :D)

The director and I had an audition yesterday trying to find the right actors and actresses for the four primary roles of his film, and we were meant to meet up with two actresses and an actor.

(For the sake of protecting everyone's identities, I'm not going to divulge real names)

It was a nightmare.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End

Just came back from the My.fm-organized preview of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (I'll refer it as POTC3 in this review) with my dad.

Rum of Heartsdales. Hot!

"I ride boys like a motorcycle."
-Rum

There's an interview about her and her sister here.

Blue Gate Crossing 藍色大門, Beautiful Taiwanese Film!

"Maybe someday, a year later, or maybe three, if you start liking boys, you must tell me. Don't laugh, I'm serious."

Maids for hire

Nude Fun

Do note here that I will charge an iniquitous sum of RM800 per hour and if you fail to abide, my mop will be going up a part of your body.

I will dress in ANYTHING except a chicken costume because I am there to look provocative and sexy, not like I recently knocked my head.

You will not get a refund if you find the aforementioned maid lacking in the breast department.

You will keep that dissatisfaction to yourself.

If you want to place an order, contact me at 012-of-course-this-is-a-joke-do-you-take-me-for-an-idiot or e-mail Swifty (he is my pimp! Oops. Did I say that out loud?) for further details.

Note: Hey Swifty, how come when I post photos, it is clickable but when you post it is not? Teach me how to do that!

VIDEO: Celebrating Mother's Day 2007

I'm a week late, but here's a video of my family celebrating Mother's Day last Sunday at this awesome seafood restaurant.

Had two guests with us that day: Auntie Tai, a family friend, who had to celebrate with us cos' her kids were in UK, and my cousin Fung Ming, who had to celebrate with us cos' her parents were in her hometown Ipoh.


Swifty's family, celebrating Mother's Day 2007

So, how did you guys celebrate Mother's Day?

Related links:
My Top 10 Great Mother-Child Movies

VIDEO: Weekend In Ipoh Part 1: Day And Night In Ipoh
(note: the cousin Hing Yip in this video is cousin Fung Ming's younger brother)

VIDEO: Weekend In Ipoh Part 2: Unlocking My Mother's Past

Tags: happy mother's day, mother, youtube, video, diary, vlog

I LOVE Asobi Seksu!

One album I've been listening to a lot in the past week is Asobi Seksu's CITRUS. Asobi Seksu's a shoegazing rock band based in New York, their lead vocalist is Yuki Chikudate, who said in an interview with Pitchfork that one of the creepiest fan experiences for her was when she was surrounded by a bunch of hardcore otaku who called her Asobi and talked to her about anime. The band name, Asobi Seksu meant 'play sex' 'fun sex' 'playful sex' or something like that in Japanese.

What a coincidence that both Justin and I have been getting pretty into female Japanese singers named Yuki these days, just that his Yuki is in Japan while mine's in US.

Nada So So 涙そうそう is really a tearjerker (with a great ending song)

Updated (18/5/2007): Added music video of the 'Nada So So' song's Chinese version by Joi Chua.

NADA SO SO (TEARS FOR YOU) is directed by Nobuhiro Doi, whose previous film is the highly popular IMA AI NI YUKIMASU. Like that film (which, to me, really isn't as good as its vastly superior TV dorama series), NADA SO SO belongs to the 'Pure/ Innocent Love' (Jun-ai) genre, but different in a sense that it focuses more on sibling love than romantic love. Though obviously, it's still as much as a weepy tearjerker as the other films of this genre.

Just look at the poster above. Can something like that NOT be emo?

Melbourne Portable Film Festival + The Most Discouraging Post Office Worker Ever.

I received an email last Wednesday from the Portable Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia, inviting me to submit my short film, GIRL DISCONNECTED to the festival for competition. Needless to say, I was absolutely elated.

After all, this happened just one day after my Sin Chew Daily newspaper interview was published, and that this was also the very time I've ever been invited to submit my works to a foreign film festival. It was stated in the email that a member of their (the Portable Film Fest) research team found GIRL DISCONNECTED (I wonder how, the member's Malaysian? My film wasn't shown anywhere in Australia outside my own uni... very mysterious) and that's why they wanted me to submit it to the fest.

So, immediately I burnt a copy of GD and put it into an envelope, deadline's on the 30th of May, I couldn't afford to miss it. I headed to the post-office to send my stuff to Melbourne.

And had the misfortune to meet the most discouraging and pessimistic post office employee ever.

Mother's Day Special: Top 10 Great Mother - Child Films

In order to celebrate Mother's Day, I'm listing out my personal top 10 films about mother-child relationships that I like.

(Compiling a list of good films about mother and child relationships just seem so much harder than those about father and son...)