I'm near the ending stages of my film, Girl Disconnected, which is due on the 14th of November. (I have to finish it in time for the uni film festival) So there won't be much time for me to post here.
Will be spending my time editing, planning the last shoots, and more editing. For the time being, here are some screenshots. Shot the scene at Fremantle Beach. Click thumbnail for bigger versions.
Two days ago, I found out about Japan Probe's Delicious cats! entry via BoingBoing, which has some rather, ah, disturbing photos of a cute Japanese girl pretending to eat her cat.
We have since dubbed her 'the guilty, cat-eating wench' thanks to a comment at Japan Probe's entry.
[1:10:01 AM]Swifty says: by the way, guilty cat-eating wench is an idoru [1:10:08 AM]Justin says: Who? [1:10:18 AM]Swifty says: that guilty, cat-eating wench
Little Miss Sunshine was a film I watched just a few days after The Devil Wears Prada (my Anne Hathaway-centric review here). A charming gem of a film (... charming gem of a film? Man, I sound like those middle-aged critics now!) that was this summer's surprise hit, I was unable to write a review for it because, well, seriously, there's nothing much for me to say. I liked it very much, I enjoyed it greatly, both moving and funny, the film wasn't a life-altering experience, but there's really no flaws I can point out.
I picked up Ian McEwan's Saturday after I finished Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (check out my review) two weeks ago, eager for another quick read. As mentioned in my previous book review, I bought this in a '3 books for the price of 2' deal, along with Never Let Me Go and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love In The Time Of Cholera (*sigh* the mere mention of this book makes me want to swoon like a lovelorn virginal teen girl), so I had no prior expectations of it at all, and neither have I actually read anything by Ian McEwan.
After the sense of hopelessness and resigned helplessness I felt from reading Never Let Me Go, I was desperate for some fastpaced action, some intensity, something to neutralize that lingering feeling. Knowing that the entire novel takes place in the span of a Saturday, I decided to read Saturday, praying for some explosions and humour that can appease the uncultured bloodmonger in me, well, not really, but that, along with Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale were the thinnest unread books I had lying on my shelf, I chose the former over the latter because it seemed like a lighter read.
I've always been secretly in love with Anne Hathaway after watching The Princess Diaries. Those big doe-like eyes, so mesmerizing, so hypnotizing! That smile, so dazzling that the radiance of the afternoon sun would've paled in comparison, that beauty, so indescribably great that watching something like The Princess Diaries was like a life-altering experience, albeit a life-altering experience kept a secret until this very day. I was 17 then, but I would remain bewitched for nearly half a decade.
Sometime during 2002 (or was it 2003?), disillusioned with annoyingly underaged pop groups and still dealing with the heartbreaking disband of his much beloved SPEED, the Great Swifty, who suffered from Erotomania, lost faith in mainstream Japanese pop, and experimented with the non-mainstream, into what is generally referred to as Contemporary Japanese Groove Music (their jazz stuff).
Enough has been said and written about Jorge Luis Borges that you don't need to take it from me. Whatever I can possibly say about Borges's writing will automatically be swept under in the mass of history and commentary attached to him; in the same way that I'd hesitate to directly review Joyce, Faulkner, Nabokov, or Proust, (except perhaps to offer the heresy of a negative critique) so Borges presents something of a problem: writing this review almost feels superfluous; you probably already know and love his writing. Or maybe not; maybe I'm being falsely modest; maybe this review will be the one that convinces you to run out and buy his books as soon as possible.I hope so, since this is the only reason I'm writing it: to whore out Borges so he can give you the same intensely beautiful mindfuck he just gave me.
It had always been embarrassing back then, to admit to people that I've never seen a single Stanley Kubrick film before (Artificial Intelligence: A.I doesn't count). Harbouring such a shameful secret, how can I even call myself a lifelong film buff, let alone a filmmaker?
Can't write much, I'm in the midst of a Stanley Kubrick marathon (just watched A Clockwork Orange, currently watching Barry Lyndon while typing out this post) as the professor of my Advanced Screen Production unit said last week that referencing his films would be useful when directing my own Girl Disconnected. (Yes, surprisingly, I haven't seen a single Kubrick film before, except for three quarters of Eyes Wide Shut few weeks ago on television)
Therefore, I'll be posting photos of Fremantle beach that I took on the 9th of October, when I was doing my location hunting. A nice-looking beach was crucial for my film, and I wrote my script with the Fremantle beach in mind after visiting it for the very first time few months ago (check out the video here, I went there with Justin and a bunch of cute Japanese girls... and guy, from Himeji, Japan).
Why a beach? I didn't grow up living near a beach, and besides some vague memories of my childhood when I last visited Penang (I couldn't be more than six), or seeing it from inside a car on the way to Singapore, I don't think I've ever actually been to a beach all my years until I came to Perth. Beach activies like, ah, playing with water, playing beach volleyball, swimming, sunbathing, etc etc. were things I've watched on television or read in books, but would never really bothered trying in real life. (getting sand in my shoes? Truly an annoyance!)
The appeal of ZONE isn't difficult to explain: girls with guitars. This simple, retardedly awesome premise lies behind much of the popularity of Shonen Knife, the 5 6 7 8's, and uh...in a different genre, Sleater-Kinney and L7. But the one thing uniting those fairly disparate bands is that they're all - to a greater or lesser extent - PUNK.*
I ranted about how people were being too negative against Hollywood remakes last week in my The Lake House review, It's absurd to see how many people have long decided that The Departed would suck despite the fact that it has Martin Scorsese directing, and having big-name cast members like Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin in it. To the asian movie lovers, this is a sign of Hollywood 'running out of ideas', and in desperation, that had to 'remake' Asian films. Like duh, as if Asian films don't 'borrow' from Hollywood films at all.
It's unfair to compare a film with its remake, just like how I usually don't review a film by comparing it to its source material. But alas this how a lot of people will review The Departed, and you'll hear things like:
I'm not a fan of Victorian fiction. I find the obsessive, minute focus on provincial social conventions to be both myopic and irrelevant, the prose ponderous, and the structures pat and formulaic. Some people like this sort of thing; they're often the same sort who think James Ivory was a significant director. I could argue that much modern interest in Victorian fiction is as much a genre-interest as something like Tolkien-derivative fantasy (and indeed, both genres in their prime rely on three-volume works, the Victorian three-decker novel and the modern-fantasy trilogy), but I'll try to stay on topic. So, I have to hand it to John Fowles - in this book, he makes the Victorian era seem interesting and exciting. True, there's the completely idle upper-class toffs, servants and 'upstairs-downstairs' drama, and depressing Anglocentrism that generally produce reader despair, but Fowles looks on all this with a cocked (if often nostalgic) eye. And, his writing is incredibly technically strong - not only in the prose itself, but in his sense of construction, the way he points at the seams of his own novel - but not to excuse any rips in them, rather to keep you paying attention.
Su-ki-da, directed by Hiroshi Ishikawa, is a slow-paced arthouse romance that I watched with Vivienne and Ayumi on the night of Justin's birthday party, we were reduced to groaning in agony as the film became too slow and, as said by Variety's review, selfishly inert.
Despite being a filmmaker myself, and yes, facing numerous snide accusations of being 'artsy fartsy', I still think of myself to be rather uncultured, I didn't 'get' Godard's 'My Life To Live' (I loved Alphaville though), and I wasn't blown (sorry) away by Antonioni's 'Blow-Up' (... despite the nudity) and his latest short film in Eros (despite even more nudity). I also didn't 'get' many Malaysian indie works that are lauded by film fests around the world. Maybe I am... slow. (but not THAT slow, since I can still enjoy Wong Kar Wai films, haha)
So, for me, sitting through Su-Ki-Da was quite tough (especially during a party!!). Especially with a film filled with jump cuts, cryptic silences, shots of various cloud formations and long takes bereft of movement.
Story's about a pair of 17-year-olds, Yosuke (Eita), who is constantly playing a plaintive, unfinished tune on his guitar, while Yu (Miyazaki Aoi) has the hots for him, but does nothing but hangs around with him, and occasionally confides in older sis (Oyamada Sayuri), who is forever stuck in the kitchen... cooking.
So, the entire first half of the film is like this.
- Yosuke sits at the grassy fields, playing that tune.
- Yu sits there and watch.
- Shots of clouds.
- Shots of scenery.
- Yu goes home and speaks to older sis.
- Shots of clouds.
- Shots of scenery.
- The next day... the cycle repeats.
It's entirely introspective, a mood piece, atmospheric, you are supposed to FEEL the poetry of nothingness, its bland listlessness should be interpreted as well-depicted realism. It is like reading a Haruki Murakami book, but without the annoying surrealism.
Anyway, nothing occurred between the two (BOOOOO!). Seventeen years later, the duo met again, Hidetoshi Nishijima plays the older Yosuke and Hiromi Nagasaku plays the older Yu. Unfortunately for us, things remain just as excruciatingly slow, with a random tragedy that struck in the end.
There is a scene in the middle of the film where there's a really long take of Miyazaki Aoi's Yu shortly after she confessed her love for Yosuke. Yosuke remained offscreen, we see a range of emotions displayed by her throughout the scene, from initial shyness, to barely concealed joy and excitement, to heartbreaking disappointment. Marvellous acting.
The scene would be replicated later by her older counter part Hiromi Nagasaku.
As much as I seem to be complaining about this film. There are moments that linger.
A film from Broken Lizard, the comedy group behind films like Super Troopers (saw it once quite a while ago on television, can't remember it much) and Club Dread ( didn't see it), the five members of Broken Lizard are Jay Chandrasekhar (usually the director), Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. They write and star in their films.
"The plot begins with two American brothers, Jan (Paul Soter) and Todd (Erik Stolhanske) Wolfhouse, who are mourning the death of their immigrant grandfather Johann Von Wolfhausen (an uncredited Donald Sutherland), founder of the Schitzengiggle German beer hall in the United States. They learn from their great-grandmother (Cloris Leachman) that they have an opportunity to travel to Germany to deliver their grandfather's ashes. Jan and Todd gladly take this opportunity when they learn that Oktoberfest will be occurring at this very same time in Munich, Bavaria.
While in Germany, Jan and Todd find "Beerfest", an underground drinking game tournament run by Baron Wolfgang Von Wolfhausen (Jürgen Prochnow). As the brothers arrive, they witness the German national team defeating the Irish national team and discover that the German Von Wolfhausen competitors are relatives of the American Wolfhouse family. The Germans explain that Jan and Todd's grandfather Johann had stolen a beer recipe decades ago and demand the recipe back from the unknowing brothers. Jan and Todd engage in a drinking contest with the Germans but are soundly defeated. The brothers travel back home and swear to get revenge on the Germans...
After finishing Michael Moorcock's The Dancers At The End Of Time (which was a rather sprawling read), I sifted for the number of books which I've bought but haven't read. I needed an easier read, something smaller in scope and scale, can be finished in a shorter time as I was in the midst of preparing for my film shoot. And voila, I picked Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which I actually bought in '3 for 2' deal earlier this year, along with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love In The Time of Cholera (OMFG! GREAT BOOK!! MOST ROMANTIC BOOK I'VE EVER READ!) and Ian McEwan's Saturday (currently reading, second chapter, seems promising).
The last Ishiguro book I read was When We Were Orphans, six years ago. Fresh out of high school, I was untrained for something as subtle as that, and even though I remembered being slightly moved by its ending, and raving about it to my indifferent cousin, I cannot remember a single thing about it now. Er, it has to do with a private eye searching for his missing mom, right?
Thankfully, the subsequent shoots for the production were much easier as we were in a more controlled environment. One in the university's TV studio, and one in the Bassendean Railway Museum. The scene with Justin and Grace (the rabbit) was shot during Mooncake Festival two days ago, while the train scene was shot early yesterday.
So here you are, some more production photos from my upcoming short film.
When I was in my late teens, casting around for new music to listen to (this was the golden age of Napster, when you could find anything, and people's tastes were expanding), I started getting into 70's progressive rock. Now, prog has a bad reputation - it's considered uncool and unlistenable by the mainstream media, appreciable only ironically. But my average mix tape contains Norwegian black metal, Japanese girl-pop, Chinese rap, and underground U.S. noise bands, so I could give a fuck less what the mainstream media thinks. The prog bands looked serious, like they cared enough to give their music unconventional themes, arrangements, time signatures, and song titles. They wrote multi-part suites, invented the concept album (as a distinct entity, not a vague muddle like Sgt. Pepper), brought in orchestras (ELO), dabbled in jazz, maxed out the solos. They had outside influences, like film and literature and fantasy and technology. In short, they were trying to keep it new.
Dog Bite Dog (狗咬狗) starring Edison Chen (his first role since last year's Initial D) and Sam Lee (a once-promising actor demoted to appearing in numerous B-grade crap films in recent years) is hardcore. Heck, I can't even think of another word to describe it.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is funny like hell. It pokes fun at NASCAR racing, and your generic 'rise and fall and rise of hero' in sports film, most plot cliches were included here: the hero's disastrous accident that traumatized him mentally and emotionally, the hero's loved ones talking to him while he lies comatose in the hospital, the hero's best friend who turned against him, the hero who turned from cocky to humble throughout the course of the film, the supportive love interest, the smart mentor with all kinds of unorthodox training methods.
Yeap, all these were there, and hilarious. Gotta love those overacting and crazy melodrama. And as funny as Will Ferrell was as Ricky Bobby, he seemed more like a straight guy compared to the supporting cast like John C. Reilly's Cal Naughton Jr, Gary Cole as Ricky Bobby's estranged dad. But the entire film is definitely stolen by Sasha Baron Cohen (whose Ali G film I've never seen, unfortunately) as the evil gay French driver, Jean Girrard, who plays lite jazz on the jukebox, and reads L'Stranger (The Outsider) by Albert Camus WHILE RACING, oh, and speaks with an over-the-top French accent. (I don't think I can ever look at an Albert Camus book again without thinking of this film.)
It's hard for me to describe about him much, you just have to see the film yourself to know how damned good Sasha Baron Cohen was. For more memorable quotes of the film, check them out here. I'm definitely looking forward to Borat.
A film that reunited Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock since 1995's awesome SPEED (a film that made me spend most of my childhood and high school years sporting a crew cut just because I wanted to be like Keanu, and then decided to allow my hair to grow longer after the Matrix came out, so I can STILL look like Keanu), and a remake of an okay Korean flick, Il Mare.
I have no idea how I grew to dislike 3D animated films more and more in the past two years, to the point where I would become entirely indifferent to the majority of the 3D animated releases in the cinemas regardless of their box-office performance or critical reception. Pixar films remain a must-watch event for me, yet I would view anything else with scepticism.
I watched Napoleon Dynamite earlier late last year on DVD and enjoyed it, but it didn't exactly blow me away. I guess I didn't really 'get' the film. (Justin said that being an American would've maximized my enjoyment of the film, I probably agree). That film reminded me of Wes Anderson's films, but... not as good.
So I was catching up on my 1930's Japanese history the other day and something struck me: 'Morning Daughters' sounds suspiciously like one of the wartime Patriotic Women's groups that sent their sons and young husbands off to the front for the glory of the Yamato race.
Last Friday, while I was at Perth city, I saw a sign in Dymocks bookshop telling me that Jasper Fforde's coming for a book signing session on the 22nd of September. Excited, I took a photo of the sign with my mobile phone, as a reminder.
Donald Barthelme is not afraid to be stupid. If you're expecting to open this book, read it from start to finish, and for there to be recognizeable characters and epiphanies and 'human dilemmas' and other sorts of things you've come to expect from 'literary fiction', then you're going in with the wrong mindset. No, serious. It's not just nonlinearity. Sometimes Barthelme's writing is retarded. You can see it trying to be funny and failing, or just plain showing off, dropping names. But then, just as you're about to put the book aside, Barthelme will toss off some random, memorable line or image.
Let me give you an example, from the story "The Party" :
I have long given up hope on video game adaptations. There was a time when I looked forward to every single one of them like any naive video gamer would, begging my long-suffering dad to bring me to the cinemas for such classics like, ah, Super Mario Brothers (we were in Washington then, 1993), Street Fighter (1994, even though I was only 10 then, the film embarrassed the crap out of me, my dad was traumatized) and Double Dragon: The Movie (1994, I got a FREE ACTION FIGURE of Billy Lee from the cinemas! It was the highlight of the entire night, I think it was my dad's too, til this very day, I have it displayed proudly in my room, a badge of honour that I survived the film).
On paper, Orange Range sound like a shit sundae. To demonstrate why this is so, let's gather up the following list of unappetizing musical ingredients
1) Plodding bass-driven alt-metal riffage
2) Rapping
3) Sentimentality
4) A tendency to steal from influences in a way that screams less mashup than 'come on, get some taste.'
and then stir them into a glutinous mixture of Pro Tools-produced sludge. A real unit-shifter, no? Although J-music isn't exactly known for its restraint and ironic detachment, a Japanese Linkin Park is no one's idea of a good time. WTF are you talking about, Justin? you ask. Why not just end the review now?
Get this: My name, yes, MY NAME, is in the credits of Clerks 2. Just sit through the normal credits, wait for the tens and thousands of names listed as 'Mooby's (MYSPACE) Friends' to appear, the names are arranged in alphabetical order (based on the last names), so it does take quite a while until my name (EDMUND YEO, if you're the type who surfs at sites without looking at sidebars) pops up. I didn't really expect that to happen when I saw this with Justin two week ago, in fact, I have already forgotten about this 'Clerks 2 Get In The Credits Contest' on Myspace, so it was a pleasant surprise, just like the movie itself.
[On behalf of my little sister, I would like to thank Mossie (the guy has lotsa good anime and film reviews :D), DMJewelle (she makes the anime cosplaying community seem more entertaining than it really is with her incisively-written entries!), Plastic (one of the very first SPEED fans I got to know over the Internet years ago), Cousin Jun Qi (you're my cousin, which means you're cool!), Eeleen The Angel (the beautiful layout of her site is, well, beautiful!), Alynna (one of the rare bloggers I speak regularly to on the MSN :D), Dawnie-poo (er, she's Dawn Yang, do I need to say more?), Athena (a long-time net friend I got to know during my fanfic-writing days), Wingz (for intense Malaysian humour, go to his site), Jayelle (a really nice girl with a soul beautiful like the majestic snowy mountains), Jee (he has lots of things to ponder about), Craig (heh, lots of stuff about underaged Jpop artistes), Bryan (The Undead Dragon!) and Arashi-chan for their warm birthday wishes on the night of her birthday. You guys made my sister's 17th birthday a very memorable one.]
Well, after Justin had written so much about Japanese artistes in the past few weeks, I think it's definitely my turn to do so. This time, I shall educate you all, my dear Swiftyholics, about the nearly-forgotten greatness of SPEED, arguably the most influential and successful Japanese girl pop group of their generation (1996-2000).
On the 13th of September, 1989, seventeen years ago, when I was 5, I remembered being pick up from the kindergarten early by my dad and being rushed to the hospital so that we can wait for the birth of my little sister. My grandmother was there too.
My memories of that day are hazy, I could only remember the nurses carrying my little sister out after a few hours of waiting, and, well, being a tiny little baby, she looked more like a guy than a girl. (And I am proud to say that over the years, my sister had filled in the void of a little brother too, which is absolutely cool.)
I have to give Malice Mizer* credit: they pulled off something that, while derivative in certain respects, still manages to be a singularity in J-music. Even given the existence of visual-kei like Dir en grey, Pierrot, and the rest, Malice Mizer still feel significant, untouchable. At their best, there's not much like them musically, and their sense of style is unmatched. Given that most J-artists can be at least given Western touchstones if not outright counterparts (ex. Kim Wilde for Nanase Aikawa, Madonna for Ayu, any R&B ever for Amuro), Malice Mizer actually come off better than anything in their genre in the West; better at embodying, ironically enough, traditionally Western Romantic elements.
Now, this might seem like a contentious statement. A bunch of dragged-up doom kids in monk's robes, dresses, and powdered wigs? An androgynous vocalist and mute guitarist? French song titles? 'Classical' instrumentation? Videos shot in churches, filled with crosses, naked women, and comedy blood and gore? On paper, it sounds a few amps short of a Spinal Tap joke. This is, after all, the kind of band who namecheck the Illuminati and dress their bassist in lederhosen.
But a closer look - especially at the music - reveals greater complexity. Sure, they're gothic. But in what manner? Are they like Joy Division? The Cure? Cradle of Filth? Bauhaus? Cabaret Voltaire? X-Japan? (God help us) AFI? The answer is both none and all of the above, because Malice Mizer managed that rare thing: they pulled off a successful synthesis while simultaneously not quite resembling anything that had gone before, in either East or West.
I went to Bassendean (a few train stations away from Perth city) to pay The Rail Transport Museum a visit last Sunday, hoping to gain permission for shooting my short film (working title: Girl Disconnected) there (remember it's a story of a girl who took a train to the moon? I need a train, and since I was almost arrested a year ago for trying to shoot in those Transperth trains, I decided to go for those old, non-operating trains of the Victorian era instead).
Opened only on Sundays, the Rail Transport Museum is operated by the volunteers of The Rail Heritage WA (Western Australia), and according to the flyers I got, it has the largest single collection of items pertaining to WA's rail heritage. From large steam locomotives to carriages and old photos. So yeah, the following photos are from the exhibition building.
(I forgot to bring my own camera that day, so I could only take them with my mobile phone. Click photos for larger versions.)
Balancing both the producer and director work can be pretty exhausting, especially when you have to deal with repeated disappointments of people promising much more than they can actually deliver, and then also the difficulties of trying to find an art director/production designer to replace the ones I've lost previously.
Acquiring this film via shady means which I don't intend to divulge here, I would say that I originally wanted to watch Tetsujin 28 to demean myself. I was feeling rather miserable for reasons I can't remember, and in order to embrace my perpetual emo-boy angst, I had to elevate my angst by watching a Japanese kiddie film.
Justin: I suspect Ai Otsuka suffers from manic depression, if only because I don't have any other way to explain the striking dichotomy of her songs: they are either hyper-upbeat, almost gleefully demented power-pop, or vulnerable, ingenuous ballads whose productions are detailed with patches of lovely instrumental color.
Singles like 'Sakuranbo' initially made me hate her: her 'upbeat' voice is a hyperspeed nasal squeal that quickly grates upon repeated listening. And I'm the sort of person who gets a kick out of Kana (click link to check out previous entry about her) and Ai Kago's voices, so you know this is some serious shit. (I also lived next to a Japanese girl who would play 'Sakuranbo' constantly, so my patience was tested beyond endurance). Other songs like "SMILY" and "Pon Pon" continued the trend. To get an idea of whether you'd actually enjoy listening to this, please inhale helium and scream the following four lines as fast as you can, with a simplistic (okay, moronic) 'da-da-da de duh de da-da-da' melody.
Maybe I'm asking too much of Salon.com, but I hoped for something more in their literary guide to Japan. I shouldn't have been surprised, really, to find the entire article consisting of cliches:
Josh is a friend of mine who appeared in my two last short films, Forced Labour (look out for the guy who played rock, paper and scissors with Justin at the beginning of the film) and Vertical Distance (still unavailable to the public, alas) . He tends to go... overexcited at the movies.
Girl Disconnected is just the working title of my upcoming short film. Of course, originally, I was thinking of sticking with the title, but Yun Chin, my producer/ assistant director, felt that it doesn't seem appealing, or particularly memorable.
Was doing some location hunting for Brian The Cinematographer three days ago for my short film, Girl Disconnected. Went to University of Western Australia (first three photos are taken there), and then somewhere near the city beach (second three photos). Here are some photos for you all to ogle at. Once again, I used my usual blurry, dreamy effect from Photoshop, with varying degrees of success. They're all taken by Brian.
Saw this film with Michelle AKA My Favouritest Person In The World (Justin's too). Thank You For Smoking's a satirical comedy following the chief spokesperson of Big Tobacco, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), as he spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year-old son who idolizes him. No matter how much you're against smoking (and I'm the kind of person who snaps at friends when they're smoking in front of me), you'll end up rooting for the smooth-talking, charismatic Nick Naylor.
I loved Michael Mann's previous film Collateral. I ranked it as one of my top ten favourite films of 2004. In an interview in American Cinematographer, Michael Mann said that as far as he was aware, Collateral was one of the first movies to attempt to make a "look" out of digital video rather than trying to make DV look like film. And to me, the city of Los Angeles at night had never looked more beautiful. Whoa.
That's why I was looking forward to Miami Vice (despite not remembering anything about the old TV show, nor being a fan of Colin Farrell), because I knew that Michael Mann's going to continue experimenting with digital filmmaking here.
Okay, and I also wanted to see it because I was eager to see how Gong Li would fare in a Hollywood film (I chose to skip Memoirs of Geisha).
Old school action. Nanase Aikawa was big in the mid-90's; she had kind of a 'tough' reputation (okay, this is relative 'tough' for what we're talking about here) and considered herself a serious rock singer. Marty Friedman from Megadeth also joined her crew and wrote a bunch of wanky guitar solos for her. (Remember him from the 'Rust in Peace' album? With that Hangar 18 song? No? Uhh...well...)
Check out previous entries of the Girl Disconnected Production Diary. Introducing Girl Disconnected In which I introduce Girl Disconnected by giving a brief summary of its plot.
The First Production Meeting In which I talk briefly about my production team and the ideas that sprang out during the meeting that can hopefully finance the film.
Four Eyed Monsters. Slacking Off From Script Revisions. Conflicts. The Loneliness of Art.In which I feel a wee bit of PRE-creativity depression, and speaks about conflicts that destroyed group dynamics in previous attempts in filmmaking. Also voices out possible influences for upcoming film like Darren Aronofsky (whilst providing trailer of his upcoming film, The Fountain) and then plugging indie film Four-Eyed Monster's vodcasts and marketing via new media.
Anyway, time for me to keep you all updated on the production of my upcoming short film, Girl Disconnected, which I haven't talked about for nearly two weeks, I think.
"KANA is a fairy that lives in the forest, sings about humans, and makes stuffed animals and clothes. The forest is in space, on Saturn. Her hair color changes depending on the season and her mood. "
-here
Well, not really MY alternative ending, it's really my friend's, who told me this when we were in a bus few days ago. But I couldn't help but share it with you all here.
I knew nothing about Kim Tae-Yong's Family Ties, but was spurred to watch it due to Koreanfilm.org's (mostly) positive review. While it is called Family Ties in English, I believe its more literal translation is The Birth Of A Family, a title which seems initially meaningless until I gradually realized what was this ensemble film about, and it's really cleverly constructed, but I'll try to keep things spoiler-free.
Dreamworks' latest foray in 3D animation. Besides Antz and the (good but somewhat overrated) Shrek films, most of Dreamworks' 3D animated films had been rather mediocre. My greatest annoyance about these films had always been the pop cultural references. They are admittedly funny in the Shrek movies, but usually fall flat, or seem awkward in others. Seriously, these pop cultural jokes are so jarring that they really take away my enjoyment of the film, making me feel unnecessarily cynical whilst watching a children's film. What's the point? Oh right, score some easy laughs from older members of the audiences, but it removes the sense of timelessness that we see in most Pixar productions.
Two days ago, right after I discovered this joyous event, I attended the Perth premiere of an Australian film called 2:37 at Leederville's Luna Theaters with Kelly and Agnes. I was eager to attend it because director Murali K. Thalluri (a bloke same age as I) would be there for a Q and A session hosted by my teacher of last semester's Directing Actors class, Annie Murtagh Monks (who innovated this rehearsing tool for actors called the Visual Thought Learning method that I wrote about here).
First, the film summary (via IMDB because I am a lazy bastard, but at least I'm filling in the names of cast members, make sure to correct me if you find any errors):
It all happened yesterday evening as I was walking out of my flat to attend the Perth premiere of Australian film 2:37 (will post about this in great detail on my next entry) when I ran into an acquaintance (our more appropriate relationship would be... he is the boyfriend of a friend's friend) who attended the screening of my short film, Vertical Distance (screenshots here) last semester. The conversation was like this:
My course coordinator/ teacher/ lecturer/ supervisor, Melanie (whom I always known as Melanie Rodriga, but was apparently credited in films she's involved in as Melanie Read!), sent me an email few days ago after reading the latest draft of the Girl Disconnected screenplay. She loved it and was very encouraging, telling me that it has huge potential to be very magical, meditative and emotional. What struck me most was her description that Girl Disconnected was like a futuristic Alice In Wonderland meets Chungking Express. It's funny that throughout the past few months of developing Girl Disconnected, Alice In Wonderland was the LAST thing in my mind, even though I did draw ideas and influences from children stories and childhood imaginations ("I want to fly to the moon and see Chang Er, yippee!"). Guess it's a subconscious thing.
King And The Clown is currently the top-grossing film in Korean history, I would've had a lot to say. But I don't, everything that has to be said has already been covered by tons of websites and articles out there about this cultural phenomenon (but if you are interested, this special feature detailing the history of 90s Korean cinema that leads to the making of this film is worth reading). Directed by Lee Jun Ik (who did the great Hi, Dharma!), this film is regarded to many as Korea's Brokeback Mountain for its homosexual overtones. Yet unlike the stageplay it was based on, the relationship between the two male clowns Jang-sang and Gong-gil (Kam Woo-seong and Lee Jun-gi) is very chaste. So in truth, this film is not Brokeback Mountain gay, it's more Lord of the Rings Frodo and Sam gay. (Bromance)
Ssunday Seoul 썬데이 서울 is an omnibus film consisting three different stories. And well, I got it because it means getting three films for the price of one, and I vaguely remembered it being reviewed by Lovehkfilm.com and Koreanfilm.org. Unfortunately, what I forgot was that both reviews were rather negative.
My Scary Girl is a surprise hit in Korea this year, shot in HD, and made with a budget of $800 000, it ended up grossing more than $2 million dollars in the box-office. (it was pretty much an experiment by two companies in low-budget filmmaking) Curious by its success (and this review here), and intrigued by its title (obviously a reference to my all-time favourite Korean romance, My Sassy Gal) I acquired the film in methods I won't divulge here.
Finally had our very first production meeting in the afternoon to finalize the roles in the production team of Girl Disconnected, my upcoming film. (read my previous production diary entry for info)
Nearly a year ago, on August, I wrote in this epic entry (a MUST-READ if you want to read about how my dreams of becoming an actor were repeatedly dashed throughout my life, it was me in my eloquent best) about going for the audition of a Murdoch University 3rd Year Production by an all-Singaporean production team (it wasn't until the audition that I found out that the director, Jean Choong, coincidentally, was an acquintance).
A Mandarin-language film, the summary given to me and the script excerpt they allowed me to read were pretty vague. Just something about a girl committing suicide, her mom and brother grieving, and then the girl returning as a ghost on the seventh day of her death. I was auditioning for the brother. I never got chosen. I never heard about the short film after that.
I was lucky enough to see Sonic Youth live when they came to Fremantle two years ago, and me, my friend Tim, and about a hundred other people were able to witness the legendary New York band's characteristic mix of songcraft and noise. SY was one of the bands that during my high school years showed me that you could do a lot more with guitars than just produce generic riffs and chord changes, a revelation which inspired me to form my own band. Following their example (and that of Big Black, Xiu Xiu, Mogwai, and numerous others) I soon became obsessed with wringing as many kinds of noise and feedback from anything I could find, be it guitar, bass, turntables, or even found objects and improvised instruments.
Long ago, when Disney's Pocahontas first came out (that was 1995, I was only 11), I remembered doing some researches on the history of the indian princess, finding out that her tale's quite tragic, dying only in her early twenties, and marrying a bloke who wasn't John Smith after moving to England.
The title of my upcoming film project is Girl Disconnected. I came up with the concept and story during last semester's screenwriting class, then wrote the final screenplay few weeks ago when I was in Malaysia for the mid-year break.
Swifty: After chatting online for three weeks, Hayley (Ellen Page), a (supposedly) 14 year old chick, meets up with Jeff (Patrick Wilson), a charming and articulate photographer in his thirties. Suspecting he's a pedophile, she follows him home, attempting to expose him (heh heh heh, expose, heh heh heh). Much psychological torture occurs. A game of cat and mouse begins, with the mouse constantly winning, and winning, and winning... reminding you of those Road Runner cartoons.
After the My Super Ex-Girlfriend horror, I walked dazedly into another hall, hoping that I wouldn't have the bad luck of seeing two bad films in a row. Unconsciously, I was also doing a Wilson brothers double bill (MY SUPER EX-GF had Luke Wilson, this one stars Owen Wilson)
Thankfully, my sense of judgement may have been affected badly by the last film, so I ended up enjoying this instead. But then, I was with a much more lively audience, where people actually laughed and guffawed through the scenes.
This film stars Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson as newlyweds Carl and Molly Peterson, whose lives are turned upside down when the best man, Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson) moves in as a houseguest. Being the type of guy who 'doesn't live to work, but work to live', and despite accidentally setting the house on fire while reenacting a scene from Last Tango In Paris, Dupree slowly gains acceptance from the initially disapproving Molly... but not Carl, who starts getting jealous as he suspects something going on between Dupree and Molly, which also adds to the frustration he has towards his evil father-in-law (Michael Douglas in a non-heroic role!), who wants him to follow his wife's surname, or get a vasectomy.
No, the film doesn't have much of a story, but at least the it's funny, and that's just what I'm looking for in a comedy. (I really don't have such highbrow tastes, really) Owen Wilson can already be funny just by being, well, himself. But the film would've have worked if Kate Hudson and most especially Matt Dillon (who plays the straight serious guy) hadn't been that funny. I mean, man, I can't even remember seeing Matt Dillon in a comedy since There's Something About Mary (now, THAT is a comedy CLASSIC!), and hell, he was the best thing in Crash!
I downloaded a little 2005 Finnish film called 'Star Wreck: The Pirkinning' yesterday and watched it just now after reading Lainie's recommendation (interestingly, her site is starting to become a daily read for me these days).
My Super Ex-Girlfriend has an interesting sounding concept, it's almost like Superman Returns with a twist, imagine Superman actually being PISSED about Lois having a fiance and a son, then decides to make her life a living hell.
That's kinda what I've expected My Super Ex-Girlfriend to be kinda like. A film that pokes fun of the usual conventions you see in the superhero genre, unfortunately, no, it doesn't do it that much. The film is pretty horrible.
It's unsurprising that more and more, readers of this site are forgetting, or are even aware that I'm a writer filmmaker due to the, er, lack of films I've done. Unlike other prolific Malaysian filmmakers like Yasmin Ahmad or Amir Muhammad, two of the short films I did for fun in the past two years, A Boring Story and Forced Labour, were uploaded and viewable only on Youtube, and being short films made only for fun while I was experimenting with various filmmaking techniques (prior to actually taking a filmmaking course like I am doing now), they weren't award-winning material that indie film fans in my own country would fall heads over heels in love with, or land me in the press, or being included in anyone's favourite Malaysian indie filmmaker discussion. I am obscure, underground, still in hiding, still practicising my craft before unleashing it to public.
But anyway, just for the sake of reminding everyone that I'm a filmmaker, I'm posting up screenshots of my last short film, Vertical Distance, which I wrote and directed last semester as a school assignment, and was pretty well-received during its screening in university. Due to the fact that I haven't actually reclaim the rights for the film, I can't really upload it anywhere, or submit it to film festivals, so all you can do is just check out the screenshots (click them for more details... though not that much details were provided).
I walked in the cinema yesterday, initially planning to see My Super Ex-Girlfriend since it's the newest release (premiering in both Australia and US at the same time), and also because it's the kind of film no one else would bother going with me. But I ended up seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (which was the kind of film someone would bother going with me) because I thought, well, since I'm in Australia, and tickets are more expensive, I might as well get something that's worth the price. (more explosions, more special effects etc.)
The responses to the Danny Lim's 18? Meme started couple of days ago were very encouraging, as numerous bloggers have taken the opportunity to voice what they have to think about the documentary short and the possible factors that may have contributed to this (THANK YOU VERY MUCH!). Hope this will continue!
The following is an email exchange between filmmaker Danny Lim and I yesterday, just so some of you will know what the filmmaker of this documentary himself has to say about the meme.
Ultimately, I gathered my music for my soundtrack from three sources, one was CCmixter.org, a place featuring Creative Commons-protected music (which I use for my recent vlog entries), one was from the flutist Arshi Tope (I was fortunate enough to see her putting up a performance in Perth city while I was shooting some scenes by myself), and then, where else but the paradise for sexual predators wonderful place for friends, Myspace?
While searching for Malaysian jazz musicians (needed something like that for the opening and closing of the short film), I stumbled upon Rhapsody, a piano and vocal musical duo whose (from their Myspace profile) 'catchy poppish tunes have jazz overtones, with Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, Jamie Cullum, Alicia Keys and Antonio Carlos Jobim among their musical influences'. Yeah, after sampling their tracks, I nodded with satisfaction, added them as my friend and messaged the duo, Ywenna (the composer and pianist) and Nicole (vocalist and lyricist) for permission to use their songs for Vertical Distance. To my relief, they said yes.
A few of you might have read from the news recently about the veto-ing of Danny Lim's 2004 documentary 18? at the Seoul Film Festival. If you haven't, here's an excerpt from The Sun's article:
Sometime in late April, Walter of Quiet Bubble announced his intention to call for a Hayao Miyazaki blog-a-thon, which I had initially wanted to participate, until I had to suddenly take over the production of my last short film Vertical Distance (originally just the screenwriter, I ended up directing the damned thing). As I had to work on my own film for weeks, I had to miss Quiet Bubble's actual Miyazaki Fest when film blogs around the world were writing articles dedicated to the legendary Japanese director.
I first discovered Hayao Miyazaki back in 1992 when I was eight. Laputa: Castle In The Sky was the first film I've ever watched by him, and until this very day, it occupies a special place in my heart, it's unlikely that anything can supplant its position as my all-time favourite Miyazaki/Ghibli film. Laputa: Castle In The Sky definitely changed my life then, I spent four consecutive nights watching and rewatching it, too blown away by its flawlessness and greatness. Since then, I collected every single other film Miyazaki did after he formed Studio Ghibli (most of his pre-Ghibli works are too obscure for me to find, though I do own a considerable amount of them as well). He is a part of my life, through the years, from a child til today, where I have embarked upon a filmmaking path of my own.
This entry could've been a nostalgic look at the list of Miyazaki films I've seen that helped shape and redefine my beliefs and views in life, of how I grew to love Porco Rosso, of my personal indifference towards My Neighbour Totoro, of my unexplainable affection towards Kiki's Delivery Service, or my mild sense of disappointment with Howl's Moving Castle. It could even be detailed articles or reviews of these movies, where I attempt to articulate my readings and interpretations of them.
There had been numerous accusations against the Pang Brothers for constantly flogging the dead horse because their collaborative efforts after The Eye consist solely of, well, sequels to The Eye that are of varying qualities (The Eye 2 and The Eye 10, both I didn't see). But these two guys are really pretty good at what they do, and that's building tension, adding suspense, creating an ominous atmosphere, and well, wringing an effective performance from Lee Sinje.
Mark my words, this incident will inspire a tidal wave of mashup videos similar to what the 'Bus Uncle' clip (read the Wiki entry about the incident here) did few months ago. Already, there are mashup videos in Youtube like this and this (the latter video's kinda gross) in Youtube. So expect to see many variations of this incident, possibly an 'epic version', a Brokeback Mountain version, an orchestra version, a fake prequel with dubbed voices, etc etc. We are living in an age where everyone can be creative, and anything they create can be distributed around easily over the Internet.
The above quote came from my Salute to Zidane entry two days ago. It's incredible that my prophecy is fulfilled almost instantly, and Zidane's headbutt has totally become an internet phenomenon. Insanely creative animated GIFs, parody videos are already spreading around like wildfire across cyberspace. Yep, this incident has invaded pop culture around the world, much more so than Italy's supposed glory and victory it had attained during the World Cup.
Being placed under house arrest is an excruciating experience for a wandering artist like me. Due to the fact that my house is under renovation, I had to stay at home and help look after the place while parents and little sister aren't around. By being chained, my brilliant bursts of creativity are hindered, thus my output in this blog became sporadic.
Besides going through endless marathons of Hong Kong dramas, I have been surfing the net aimlessly, and sifting through the newspapers. I have wireless connection had home, so I'm usually doing all three at once: listening to HK dramas (during the draggy bits), surfing the net on my laptop and then reading The Star, and the entertainment sections of Chinese papers, China Press and Sinchew Jit Poh.
One piece of news that attracted my attention most recently is the soon-to-be released Trio and a Bed, which, according to The Star today, is Malaysia's very first Chinese interactive and integrated media programme, it's also referred to as an idol drama by the Sin Chew and China Press. Starring Miss Astro Chinese International 2005 winner Annabelle Kong (whom I've unfortunately never heard of until my recent return to Malaysia), Amber Chia and Carmen Soo, each episode is around 5 minutes, can be viewed not only on television, but 3G mobiles and the Internet (I wouldn't have cared until I read the latter).
No, I'm not really a football fan. Hell, I can even go through life without watching a single game of football. The English Premiere League, loved by all football fans in South East Asia, bore the crap out of me. But for social reasons, I tend to follow the results just so I won't be left out during conversations. Things changed after moving to Perth for my studies two years ago since Australians are just as indifferent towards football as I am (their obsession is the Australian Football RocLeague, and no, their football is NOT soccer), I didn't even have to make an effort to know what's going on at all, thus being completely oblivious to whatever's been happening throughout the world of football, hell, I didn't even know that Ronaldino had been crowned FIFA player of the year in the past two years.
(In case you're wondering, I'm a NBA fan since I was 9, when Michael Jordan got his third championship)
Welcome to Dongmakgol was South Korea's 2005 representative for the Oscar's Best Foreign Film at the 2006 Oscars. It also became the fourth top-grossing film of all time in Korea. However, I barely knew anything about it when I first popped it into my DVD player a couple of nights ago, remembering only vaguely a raving review from Lovehkfilm.com. All I've wanted was some quick laughs, and from the quirky-looking film poster (I thought the girl was riding on a mecha), this seemed to be one. I was pleasantly surprised when the film ended up delivering much more than just laughter, it's actually pretty good.
It's unfortunate that I couldn't write my review for this Hong Kong film much earlier because by the time you are reading this, its theatrical run in Malaysia has most likely ended. And this unheralded romantic comedy will most likely languish within the pits of obscurity, not getting the kind of attention it deserved. No choice, two of my aunties were here, along with my tiny cousins. So hadn't had the time to write anything in the past few days.
This romantic comedy, I'll Call You, is part of Andy Lau's Focus: First Cuts project, launched last year aimed at producing six features films shot on high definition. The First Cuts project involves filmmakers from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia (whose representative is Ho Yuhang, whom I met last year, along with fellow filmmakers James Lee and Tan Chui Mui, whose Chinese blog is here, at a seminar organized by local Chinese paper Sin Chew Jit Poh), Singapore and Taiwan. I'll Call You is Hong Kong's representative, and it's written and directed by Lam Tze Chung. If I'm not wrong, this is his directorial debut. If you are not familiar with his name, well, he's the fat guy in Shaolin Soccer (the one who levitates) and Kungfu Hustle (Stephen Chow's sidekick). Long before he was spotted by Stephen Chow, Lam Tze Chung was hired by Hong Kong's TVB to be their screenwriter at the tender age of 18!
The flood of positive reviews that surfaced on the Internet few weeks before the release of Superman Returns (along with its killer trailers) heightened my already lofty expectations for the film. I mean, let's face it, with praises from Ain't It Cool News, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and many other well-known sources, how bad can this film be?
Catholic High School was my high school. It just had a carnival on the 1st of July to celebrate its 50th anniversary. My little sister, who studies there, had volunteered to aid the Counseling Club in tending their food stall. Hence my family and I had to go there to lend us our moral support.
Kyoko is yet another friend of mine from Japan (you should notice by now that I have an endless amount of Japanese chick friends) that I got to know this year, and this is yet another birthday party video I shot. Her birthday party was held on the 3rd of June, and if you've actually bothered watching any of my party videos, you might notice that I tend to make each of them look as different from another as possible.
Well, once again, I am here, as a good citizen, and Malaysia's premiere vlogger, to promote the beauty of my country via videos. I did that with my tribute to the greatest shopping mall of my country, and I will now shed light to Ming Tien, a wondrous food court that's opened for 24 hours a day, where all kinds of food await for your exploration. An ultimate hangout place, a place where huge screens are placed around for people to watch football games, fortune tellers, merchants and many others have their stalls set up to ply their trade.
Long before the days of Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and the Frat Pack, Robin Williams was Hollywood's reigning king of comedy in Hollywood. Alternating between comedic and dramatic roles, he achieved what his successors Carrey and Sandler have yet to achieved, winning an Oscar (although many times, I felt that Carrey was robbed of a nomination for his fantastic turns in Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, but that's another story) for his supporting performance in Good Will Hunting.
Since then, to me, things went downhill, he appeared in one dud (either critical or commercial) after another. Manipulative sentimental schmaltz hoping to reinforce his status as a good dramatic actor, yet the lackluster quality of these films destroyed his credibility. Jakob The Liar? Patch Adams? Death To Smoochy?
But just when I thought he was about to hit rock bottom with his desperate attempts to appear in Oscar-baits, he proved that he could be much more versatile than most have given him credit for as that villain in Insomnia and that psycho in One Hour Photo. After these two critically acclaimed performances, I wanted to see Robin Williams as a bad guy more. (kinda like how I want to see Jim Carrey in serious roles than comedic ones)
Today's video is shot more than a year ago (19th of June, 2005), at Fremantle. Ying Zee is a friend of mine who went to Perth with me for our studies at Murdoch University. Two years my senior, she immediately became a surrogate elder sister to me. After all, I'm the eldest in my family, she's the youngest in the family, so we kinda undertook the roles we never had the chance to take under different circumstances. She was fantastic. Cooking for me, or bringing back the food she had gotten from work (she worked as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant nearby) so that I won't starve to death (I suck at cooking), the person who would listen patiently to me when I was whining and bitching about the injustices of life, we would study together in the library before our final exams, and often, during weekend mornings, we would have breakfast either at Perth city, or Fremantle.
Life in Perth changed drastically after she returned to Malaysia. In my crazy and twisted ways, I sorta missed her.
This video is about her doing her last minute shopping at the Fremantle Markets, she was accompanied by Chin Voon, also a dear friend of ours who graduated during the end of last year. (note: Ying Zee's the taller one)
Cars is about Lightning McQueen, a vain and cocky racecar who got stranded in Radiator Springs while he was on his way to a major race. Hanging out with the eccentric residents of Radiator, he discovers the true meaning of family and friendship. The film is a journey of self-discovery (not just for Lightning, but for other characters too), and also a love letter to the kind of lifestyle long forgotten in the contemporary world.
As Malaysia's premiere vlogger, I'm making it a necessity for me to post as many videos as possible. While I don't really like sharing my personal life with my writings, I don't mind using my videos to do so, after all, these vlog entries are meant for me to prevent my editing (and camera) skills from becoming too rusty. I think it's good for my international readers to see what my life is like through my camera lens, and for the local readers, well, things I've shot are most probably familiar to many of you.
When I returned to Malaysia (from Perth) last November, my friend, Maiko, came along with me as she was to tour around Malaysia and Singapore before returning to Japan.
So yeah, here are some photos she took during her stay here. (note: I've posted these photos before)
So, a week has passed since I've returned to Malaysia. Things have been rather uneventful, I've limited the meetings with friends for the time being due to the fact that I'm still toiling away at my (long overdue) screenplay for my upcoming major project, Girl Disconnected.
I tend to keep the personal stuff out of the way in this website, using this more as a place for me to chronicle my musings on stuff related to filmmaking, films and literature, and also a showcase of my creative works (both film and written ones). After all, I want to keep my web life and my actual real life separated. (I'm one of those people who rarely, if ever, make a mention about this site, despite how relentlessly I promote this online) Maintaining a degree of mystery and panache is my preferred style, not turning my own personal life as a full-blown TV soap opera for the public to watch for their amusement and enjoyment.
But I shall make this entry an exception by shedding some light upon my parents' history.
Just hours ago, I woke up and had my breakfast (bread with kaya, a jam made with coconuts and eggs, that is sorely missed when I was in Perth). And then joined my grandmother at the living room to read some newspapers. Sifting through The Star, Sin Chew and then China Press (note: The latter two are Chinese newspapers, where I usually get my daily dose of Asian celebrity gossip, I don't really read the rest of the papers), one of the photos in page four of China Press's Entertainment Section, caught my attention.
Gargantuan megamalls are one of those things that are conspicuously missing in Perth. While I am barely a shopaholic, shopping malls tend to be a favoured hangout place for me, either to watch a film at the multiplexes, or to meet up with friends for coffee, or perhaps just to pick up the latest PS2 games. All these can be done under one roof. Such experiences are sorely missed when I was in Perth. (especially the part about buying cheap pirated games)
All right, so it's Father's Day, thus I shall list some great movies that are simply perfect to watch with your dad (or if you're a dad, to watch with your kids) and get all warm and fuzzy. Unfortunately, most of the films I'll be listing are Father-Son relationships, for reasons I can't comprehend, there just aren't that many Father-Daughter movies I can think of.
Right, so let me begin. Note: They aren't in any particular order.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this film. Hell, I wasn't even looking forward to see it despite the fact that Vince Vaughn's last few films were been pretty damned funny (especially The Wedding Crashers, one of my favourite comedies of last year, read my review here). With its lackluster trailer and numerous tabloid coverage, I thought this film has 'crap flick' written all over it, and yeah, I was especially wary cos' Jennifer Aniston's in it. I mean, as good as she was in Friends, I just felt that she wasn't good enough to make the transition to the big screen despite her various attempts to transform her own image. The only two films (I'm not counting the awesome Iron Giant, which she did voice work for) I've remotely enjoyed watching that had her in it were Bruce Almighty (and I consider that one of the weaker Jim Carrey films) and Along Came Polly (and that's because I'm secretly a sucker for romantic comedies, and the film's harmlessly forgettable, thus I can't remember whether it actually sucked or not, just that I had some laughs whilst watching it).
I've returned to Malaysia from Perth! Yes, I think this is pretty sudden since I've not made any mention of this in previous posts, but then, I haven't really been updating that much until the last few days. So yeah, I'm currently in Malaysia to rest the energies I've expended to make my short film, Vertical Distance (read this, this and this entry if you interested in a bit of its filmmaking process).
I've long wanted to see this film. In fact, my first attempt to see 'Combien tu m'aimes?' (aka 'How Much Do You Love Me?') occurred way back on the 11th of April, during the French Film Festival held in Perth. I was tremendously excited, I dragged Justin with me to see it just hours before the Sigur Ros concert (the concert rocked, go read Justin and my reports here), but unfortunately, tickets were all sold out.