Happy Birthday to ME

First off thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday in the last post from Swifty. It was truly an amazing night involving handcuffs, baked goods, and far too much liquor. I am now officially an old man of 23.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles Pilot! Me luv Terminators!

Terminator 2 is one of my favourite action films of all-time, until this day, I don't think it had aged. The film IS. A. TIMELESS. CLASSIC!

The first Terminator, due to its low-budget, understandably didn't age very well, but it still has some good parts. But man, Terminator 2! So many awesome action set pieces balanced with great character moments that blockbusters these days are incapable of doing. Hell, I have to say that for me, Terminator 2 is THE ultimate James Cameron movie! (... you weren't expecting me to pick TITANIC, were you?)

I enjoyed Terminator 3 too, it knows that it'll never top Terminator 2, so it became a bit more self-referential and comedic, and seeing Arnold getting his butt whupped by a skinny chick in a toilet was just too funny. However, one thing that made Terminator 3 good was its nice 'twist' ending, where wimpy John Connor will finally assume his destined role as the leader of humanity after failing to stop the nuclear war. Without the redemptive ending, the movie would've sucked a lot!!!

One thing that bothered me was Sarah Connor's death in Terminator 3 (it happened before the events of the film). The idea of having the heroic Sarah Connor lose the fight against leukemia despite being able to survive and invincible cyborg like T-1000 is kinda sad. WHY????? (true story is that Linda Hamilton doesn't want to do T3 cos' she thought the script sucked)

When a Terminator series called The Sarah Connor Chronicles was announced last year, I felt a mixture of excitement and worry. Excitement because I'm a Terminator fan, worry because I fear the TV series would belong to the land of suckness, and it's just another stupid attempt to cash in on a venerable franchise.

My 'LUST, CAUTION' review quoted on Taipei Times!

Didn't know anything about this until Sebastian left me a comment at my 'LUST, CAUTION' review. Wow, my review got quoted by Taipei Times.

Say Happy (Belated) Birthday To Justin!

I shall start this with two videos of our birthday boy Justin.

Mogwai - Hunted by a Freak

In this Mogwai video, CGI-animated animals are thrown off a building and die. That's all. I find it strangely satisfying and beautiful. It would have been rubbish with a different song, one that tried to 'play it up', but the somber music contrasts well with the visual style. Every time I watch a 3D animated film I usually imagine the annoying pseudo-cartoons dying in some way, so this was a huge relief. This is how they should all be killed: dispassionately, dropped from a great height, soundtracked by Mogwai. There's a great moment where it looks like a turtle is going to be saved, only to be immediately run over by a car. And another one where two animals try unsuccessfully to embrace in midair.

'Nana 2' needed Aoi Miyazaki

Watched NANA 2 during my flight home from Perth last week. I liked the first NANA a lot, the 2005 Japanese box-office champ was consistently entertaining and featured a powerhouse performance from Nakashima Mika (til this day, I tell everyone that I prophesized her superstardom when I first heard her 'HELPLESS RAIN' in 2001) as the gothic punk rocker Nana. And there was good chemistry between her and 'the other Nana' (Hachi) played by Miyazaki Aoi, so despite the film seemingly not resolving anything much (it was obviously leaving lots of room for a sequel) and I could never really buy into Nana's romance with Ren (Ren's too bland and boring for Nana), the first Nana film still managed to make me feel satisfied.

Satisfied enough to not ask for a sequel because it had a good enough open-ended ending.

I should have treated Nana 2 as some straight-to-DVD Disney sequels and disregard its existence, because, with the overhaul of cast members (three major characters are played by new cast members... including Hachi), I figured that the cast change thing will feel more like SPEED 2 and not DARK KNIGHT. Miyazaki Aoi had made Hachi her role, infusing the characer with such (sickeningly irresistible?) cuteness that replacing Miyazaki Aoi with Yui Ichikawa is like replacing Keanu Reeves with Jason Patric, it's not going to make the fans cheer like replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal in the upcoming Batman film!

Despite knowing that the film's been both a commercial and critical disappointment, curiosity got the better of me, and I chose to watch the film.

'Lust, Caution 色，戒' (The heavily censored version)

Lust, Caution is Ang Lee's first Chinese-language film since 2000's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Some locations of the film were shot at Penang and Ipoh in Malaysia. The film's gotten quite a bit of attention over here ever since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, where it won the Golden Lion. Of course, the attention wasn't on it winning one of the film industry's most prestigious awards, but on the graphic sex scenes, a fact that Ang Lee himself hadn't been really happy about.

While adamant not to make any cuts for the film's US release (it will be rated NC-17). Longtime Ang Lee collaborator and Focus CEO James Schamus, who co-wrote the screenplay, said he is accepting the rating "without protest". "When we screened the final cut of this film, we knew we weren't going to change a frame," he said. "Every moment up on that screen works and is an integral part of the emotional arc of the characters. The MPAA has screened the film now and made its decision, and we're comfortable with that."

HIDDEN SUMMER IN MY HEART 陌生人

I was very interested in watching the local film HIDDEN SUMMER IN MY HEART when it was at the theaters last month. I was intrigued by its trailer, and I was curious to see what these new filmmakers Felix Tan (the director) and co. could come up with. The film is from Lim Kok Wing University's newly set-up Film and Television Academy.

Conversation on 'The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters' with Justin

MSN conversation between Justin and I about the documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Royston Tan's '881: The Papaya Sisters 881: 木瓜姐妹'

881: The Papaya Sisters, directed by Royston Tan, is the first Singaporean film I've actually paid to see in the theaters! (I watched most of Jack Neo's stuff at home)

Conversation on 'Bourne Ultimatum' With Erna

My guest reviewer for Bourne Ultimatum is Erna Mahyuni, actress, theater practitioner and editor-in-chief of the best-selling PC.com magazine. You can check out her Bourne Ultimatum review too if you want.

Judd Apatow's KNOCKED UP

I loved 40-Year-Old Virgin, so when I found out about director Judd Apatow's follow-up, Knocked Up, all those months ago, I was already stoked.

Then the positive reviews started coming in, and the film became one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year.

Even more anticipation from me.

Chillin' in Perth

I'm currently in Perth. Just had my graduation ceremony three nights ago (on the 17th). It's my second graduation ceremony, so it wasn't as exciting as my first one (held last March), on the other hand, I am rather looking forward to have two photos of me in robes hanging on my bedroom wall, and two have two certificates as well.

Seen quite a number of movies that I haven't had the chance to review because my laptop got fried two weeks ago. So I'll just list them all out as a reminder for films I've seen but haven't had the chance to review:

• Knocked Up


• 881: The Papaya Sisters


• Away From Her


• ... a Hong Kong film starring Alex Fong Lik Sun which title I cannot remember (will find out later)


• Bourne Ultimatum


• Hairspray

Might go and see Superbad or Stardust later tonight.

It's My Little Sister's Birthday. Say Happy Birthday To Her!

My sister, Sandra Yeo, is 18 today.

Everything that needs to be said about her is in this post. (I posted that for my little sister during her birthday last year, even Dawn Yang left a comment)

My li'l sis looked like this when she was a bit more than 2 weeks old.

KL Rhythm (A Love Letter To Kuala Lumpur) - An Abandoned Short Film Project

Photo by Stuck in Customs
Two months ago, I posted about RED BEAN SOUP, an abandoned short film project of mine. And from the ashes of the discarded idea, I pieced together another story called KL RHYTHM.

KL Rhythm, as you can see from its title, was another urban story. I wanted to romanticize the city of Kuala Lumpur like Woody Allen did with New York City, yet infuse it with colourful MTV-style hyper-realism like one would see from the works of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run and the short film, True).

It was definitely a notch above the melodramatic silly weepie RED BEAN SOUP, but still not the follow-up for GIRL DISCONNECTED I had in mind. Since the chances of me actually making this short film will be rather low, I'm posting the treatment of KL Rhythm here instead.

(note: The film is meant to be in Mandarin)

Conversation on 'Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：序' with Justin

A MSN conversation between Justin and I about Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the first of the new tetralogy of Evangelion films called The Rebuild of Evangelion.

Chile (Part 9): Visiting Pablo Neruda's Last House - Isla Negra

Photo by Bracani.....Antonio
Note: It's better for you to read

• Swifty in Chile (Part 1)
• Swifty in Chile (Part 2)
• Swifty in Chile (Part 3)
• Swifty in Chile (Part 4)
• Swifty in Chile (Part 5): Visiting Pablo Neruda's House - La Chascona And Learning Spanish
• Swifty in Chile (Part 6): "Tu belleza me ha cautivado"
• Swifty In Chile (Part 6.5): Rediscovering Santiago And The Meaning of Film Festivals
• Swifty In Chile (Part 7): Seafood Scam and Glamourous Awards Ceremony
  
• Swifty In Chile (Part 8): Visiting Pablo Neruda's Second House - La Sebastiana In Valparaiso

before you start reading this entry:

---

'The heavy rain of the south falls over Isla Negra'

The heavy rain of the south falls over Isla Negra
like a solitary drop transparent and weighty:
the sea opens its cool leaves to receive it:
the earth learns the wet fate of the glass.

My soul, grant me in your kisses the briny
water of these months, the honey of the region,
the fragrance moistened by the sky’s thousand lips,
the sacred patience of the sea in winter.

Something calls us: all the doors open by themselves,
the water tells a great story to the window-panes,
the sky extends down to touch the roots,

and like this the day weaves and unweaves its celestial net
with time, salt, murmurs, growth, pathways,
a woman, a man, and winter on the Earth.
- Pablo Neruda

22nd of August, 2007. Day 9. One more night left in Chile.

After visiting Pablo Neruda's house, La Sebastiana, at the beautiful city of Valparaiso the day before, I found out that there was still one more Neruda house that I haven't visited.

Isla Negra. (read Isla Negra's history)

His favourite house.

The place where he and his wife, Mathilde Urrutia, were buried.

Short film I produced, 'Blue Roof', world premiering at 12th Pusan International Film Festival

This is rather funny.

I was at the TWITCH last night reading about the Pusan International Film Festival's special focus on the New Malaysian Cinema. This special program, called Three Colours Of New Malaysian Cinema, will feature 6 feature films and 3 short films.

Looking through the list of films in the line-up, I paused when I saw the title of one short film, BLUE ROOF. I was surprised by the short film's inclusion in the list and wondered whether it was a mistake. I went to sleep with lots of questions floating in my mind.

I got a phone call from Ming Jin the following afternoon, confirming with me what had happened.

Well, folks, it seems that BLUE ROOF a short film I had a hand in producing and editing with Greenlight Pictues before I went to Chile will be having its world premiere at the 12th Pusan International Film Festival in Korea!

You see, this film was submitted to the Pusan International Film Fest by Ming Jin while I was in Chile, hence my confusion. Amusing that I would find out about all these in another website!

Malaysia Boleh, baby!

Synopsis of the film:

Albert's unique pleasure in his routine as a security guard is to enjoy the view of the world on the blue roof of the apartment. But one day, a burglar slips away and he gets fired.

Nice looking film, no?

Guey Lun Mei elevated Jay Chou's 'Secret 不能说的秘密'

My feelings for Jay Chou had often been rather weird. Back in 2005, in a post which was really meant to diss Taiwanese pop singer Jolin Chai, I lamented the state of Chinese pop and took some swipes at Jay's tendency to mumble through his songs.

Yet I have always been rather kind towards his film endeavours. I conceded that he 'did not suck' at Initial D and was a good enough sport to let others make fun of his image. I even admitted that he was decent in Curse of the Golden Flowers and that I would take his acting over F4's anytime.

So when his directorial debut, SECRET, was announced, he definitely did not earn any contemptuous sneer or eyeball-rolling from me like I normally would do when I hear news of a singer turned actor attempting to direct a film. In fact, I was a little excited, when I heard that the film's female lead is Guey Lun Mei.

Ratatouille is a great Pixar film

Ratatouille is about a rat, Remy, from the French countryside who wants to be a chef. He goes to a French restaurant opened by his cooking hero, Auguste Gusteau, only to realize that the place is in shambles after the chef's death. His successor, Skinner, is more interested in making a quick profit by selling mass-produced microwave food under Gusteau's name.