Eye In The Sky 跟踪 by Yau Hoi Nam

It has been a bad year for Hong Kong films (or Chinese cinema, for the matter). The last decent HK film I saw was PROTEGE, way back in February. Since then, all we got were clunker forgettable romantic comedies and silly star vehicles for talentless idols. And then, there's also the repulsively pretentious MING MING.

Hopes were high for EYE IN THE SKY, a Milkyway Image film produced but not directed by my hero Johnnie To. This film is the directorial debut of Yau Hoi Nam, longtime Milkyway Image screenwriter and Johnnie To collaborator. He was the one who wrote (or co-wrote) the smash hit romantic comedy NEEDING YOU... (2000), badass crime dramas like HERO NEVER DIES (1998) and THE MISSION (1999), award-winners like RUNNING ON KARMA (2003), PTU (2003) and the two ELECTION films (2005 and 2006).

The two reviews I read about this film, one at LoveHKfilm and one by Yvonne are pretty positive, obviously this will not reach the dizzying heights of Johnnie To's films, but I know it's going to be a solid film.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I actually looked forward to seeing FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (I'll refer to it as FANTASTIC FOUR 2 here), solely because the teaser that featured a (relatively) thrilling chase scene between the Human Torch (Chris Evans) and Silver Surfer (Doug Jones, but voiced by Laurence Fishburne)

Why it's good to attend short films screening events

I've attended three local short film screenings since February that screened my short films: Filmmakers Anonymous 2 (check out my video diary), Malaysian Shorts (check out my video diary) and the most recent Cinejam that was held last Friday.

Much unlike the massive Sony Tropfest in Australia, which is held every end of February at a huge open space with food stalls and people bringing their own food, picnic cloths and resting chairs (click the link and see the photos I've taken), the local ones are relatively small events that are more often attended by others of the film industry than a regular joe, perhaps because films screened there may not appeal completely to the masses like the short films at Sony Tropfest.

Nevertheless, I find these screenings beneficial because of a few things:

Community service message: Fight Sexual Harassment on Public Transport!

Too long! For too long we have lived in fear of sexual harassers when we take public transport! TOO LONG!

(No, Swifty, I am not talking about your member's size, don't look at me like that. Justin, on the other hand ... *whistles*)

Anyway, back to sexual harassment. I just need a little help from you guys. Do you think you can visit this blog and leave a comment? I'm very worried that a potential sexual harasser will chance upon that blog, look at the pathetic amount of support there and think to himself, 'Muahahaha no one supports such campaigns I shall go harass more people.' Though I doubt sexual harassers can talk in such coherent sentences. They are usually sick idiots.

On another note, Swifty! Talk about Heroes! I know you don't usually review TV series, but Heroes is the most awesomest TV series ever (this, coming from an avid fan of Desperate Housewives)! Surely there's an exception for that? Or maybe not. Just ignore my pointless ramblings.

Here's my two cents for the Kuala Lumpur thing (yes, I am superior and so I don't have to post in the comment box =P No lar, I'm just lazy)
1. Traffic (yeah, made me thirty minutes late for my own birthday party once)
2. Weird-looking, weirdly dressed people! (they are found in abundance in KL. At least in Klang, where I am staying, the condition is not that severe because it's a tiny town. In KL! Oh my God! Total eyesore! Really gaudy hair colors and horrible tattoos. The girls wear skimpy and shoddy miniskirts or damn short tubes. No glamor at all.)
3. Cab drivers try to cheat your money!!! (or so I've heard)
4. Oh we're only supposed to give three? But my three reasons are so mediocre! =( Okay nvm.

Surf's Up, animated film done in mockumentary format. Audacious!

The press screening of SURF'S UP last Saturday was a horrible experience.

28 WEEKS LATER

I saw 28 WEEKS LATER nearly 28 days ago. (note: I originally started writing this review back on the 6th, but put it aside and was too lazy to complete it until now)

Cinejam screening of my two short films "Girl Disconnected", "Vertical Distance"

I'm going to CINEJAM tomorrow night (14th of June) at KL JAM ASIA. Not one, but TWO of my short films, GIRL DISCONNECTED (watch previews here and here) and my earlier work, VERTICAL DISTANCE, will be screening there, along with a few others. This marks the FIRST public screening of VERTICAL DISTANCE.

I'll be sticking around for the Q & A session, so see you there.

(In case you can't see the poster above)

CINEJAM
Thursday, June 14, 2007. 9:30pm.

at

KL JAM ASIA
No. 19-1, Jalan 22A/70A
Plaza Crystalville
Desa Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tags: edmund yeo, filmmaker, filmmaking, short film, kl jam asia, cinejam, malaysia, malaysian, plaza crystalville, video, youtube

Amber Chia at 'Fine Dining' TV Shoot

Shot the last episode of 'FINE DINING' today in Bollywood Restaurant at Tengkat Tong Shin (near Sungei Wang and Low Yat Plaza) in Kuala Lumpur.

It's a very interesting-looking Indian restaurant designed by the owner himself, Taj.

NAANA NEEYA Soundtrack Album Launching Ceremony

'Fine Dining' shoot postponed to tomorrow, so I went to the Naana Neeya soundtrack album launching ceremony at Mid Valley with my dad today instead. Naana Neeya is a Malaysian Tamil-language comedy produced and directed by vocalist Dharmavathi.

YE CHINE RESTAURANT: Photos From 'Fine Dining' TV Production Shoot

There was another 'Fine Dining' TV production shoot today, this time at a Chinese restaurant. This Chinese restaurant is called Ye Chine (pronounced like 'Yi Shin') and is situated right next to yesterday's Mezza Notte Italian restaurant (in fact, both restaurants have the same owners). Both restaurants are opposite Sheraton Hotel, KL.

Unlike the two segments yesterday, there aren't any guests for the show, the focus is placed solely on the head chew, Chew Kia Sek.

Great Photo of Mishima

Incredible photo showing his style, along with the current mayor of Tokyo.

Also check this:



His English is unfortunately camp, but look at his smile while he talks and notice the massive contempt and disgust for everything showing through. Beautiful.

Photos From The 'Fine Dining' TV Production Shoot. Babes Galore!

I received a phone call two nights ago from Kannan (director of the TV movie I worked on), asking whether I could fill in for him at the production shoot of the upcoming TV dining show 'Fine Dining'. It was a pretty simple job, so I went.

The director of the show is Woo Ming Jin, whom I know through Kannan (we went to see Mukhsin together). We had to do two segments yesterday (meaning, two different locations), here are some photos I've taken.

Ming Ming 明明

While watching MING MING, which stars Zhou Xun and Daniel Wu, I was initially impressed by first-time director Susan Au's MTV-influenced style. The rapid-fire cuts, freeze frames and disjointed editing are delivered with flair, it reminded me of Wong Kar Wai works like CHUNGKING EXPRESS and FALLEN ANGELS, and also a bit of Japanese anime.

R. I. P. Loga of Alleycats

Loganathan Arumugam, vocalist of the legendary Malaysian band, ALLEYCATS, has passed away this morning at the age of 54. He was diagnosed with lung cancer.

SHREK THE THIRD

There was one brief scene in Shrek The Third (I'll just call it Shrek 3 here, it's easier for me) that moved me a little. It's when a one-eyed villainous minion who is in the midst of tying Shrek up reveals that it's Bring Your Child To Work day, and calls out his shy little young daughter (also one-eyed) for a loving hug.

"How did a monster like me deserve someone like her?" The villainous one-eyed minion asks as his daughter laughs in his arms, bringing shame to the fatherhood-shunning Shrek.

Is this why we can't do film noirs in Malaysia?

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep, a classic film noir

This is something I heard from an industry insider few days ago:

Ever wonder why we haven't seen that many (or any?) Malaysian films featuring private detectives, femme fatales, or anything that's like a film noir*?

[French Film Festival Malaysia 2007] Hors De Prix (Priceless)

Hors De Prix is the second film I saw from the GSC French Film Festival, after the heart-wrenching La Mome (La Vie en Rose). I've always wanted to catch this film since reading Sebastian's rave review on his blog last month, besides, it's already not much of a secret that I'm a sucker for romantic comedies anyway. So, after getting Sebastian's confirmation that it's a good date movie (as long as the female companion does not feel insecure and tiny about the fact that the pretty Audrey Tautou's boobs are always threatening to pop out from the fashionable dresses she's wearing in the film), I invited a lovely lady friend to see the movie with me.

R. I. P. Izumi Sakai (Zard)

Updated (September 2, 2012): Zard is a pop group. And Izumi Sakai was its lead vocalist and leader. I always referred to her as Zard because to me, she WAS Zard. But I decide to revise this blog post so that I can try to separate the Sakai the person, from the group.

I was pretty shocked when I read about singer-songwriter Izumi Sakai's death on today's newspapers.

[French Film Festival Malaysia 2007] La Mome' (or La Vie en Rose)

Just came back from seeing LA MOME (LA VIE EN ROSE is the US title) with my dad at the French Film Festival in GSC 1-Utama.

(I'll refer this film as LA MOME in this entry.)

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.