Soundtrack Preview of THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA

Heya all, I've finally written my first post on THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA blog. Just as I've mentioned, my role for the upcoming film is associate producer, I joined in only during post-production (months after the film made its world premiere in Rotterdam Film Festival 2007) to help refine the film for Malaysian release. Shortening some scenes, and adding some music.

The video below is a preview of the film soundtrack.



So, what do you guys think about my first attempt in composing a film score?

(THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA is showing at Cathay Cineleisure Mall on the 21st of August 2008, it had been shown in more than 20 film festivals)

Tags: the elephant and the sea, woo ming jin, edmund yeo, trailer, soundtrack, music, youtube, video

Kwak Jae-Yong's Cyborg She / My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg 僕の彼女はサイボーグ starring Haruka Ayase

I'm not sure what is the actual title of this film. Some articles call it MY GIRLFRIEND IS A CYBORG (a literal translation of its Japanese title), while Wikipedia called it 'CYBORG SHE', prefer the former, it's catchier.

This film is directed by Kwak Jae-Yong, the Korean director of MY SASSY GIRL. It was said that this will be the last film of his 'Sassy Girl trilogy', after MY SASSY GIRL, WINDSTRUCK.

MY SASSY GAL is widely considered a classic Korean romantic comedy, and (deservingly) made a huge international star out of Jun Ji-hyun, although I personally thought that Cha Tae-hyun's performance was a little underappreciated. It's one of my personal favourite Korean films, I've also seen Kwak Jae-Yong's subsequent films, THE CLASSIC and WINDSTRUCK. THE CLASSIC was a decent pure tragic tearjerker, while WINDSTRUCK was a mild disappointment, because it felt too obvious that he was trying to recapture the magic in MY SASSY GAL. By doing that, I felt that he was recycling his old tricks, instead bringing in something new. After all, Park Chan-Wook's films from his REVENGE TRILOGY are pretty different from one another, why can't Kwak Jae-Yong do the same?

THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA Showing at Cathay Cineleisure on 21/8/2008!

Heya all, after winning a couple of cool awards at important film festivals last year, THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA, directed by Woo Ming Jin, will be screening EXCLUSIVELY at CATHAY CINELEISURE MALL on the 21st of August, 2008 (You can read about Ming Jin the Mentor's blog post about his adventures at the 25th Torino Film Festival where the film became the first Malaysia film in history to win itself a Special Jury Award at the festival! Or you can read about what I did at the Elephant and the Sea screening at the Santiago Film Festival in Chile last August)

I hopped aboard as the co-producer of the film after joining GREENLIGHT PICTURES last year, and was involved mainly in the postproduction of the project, and securing its Malaysian theatrical release (countless visits at the Censorship Board in Putrajaya)

Faithful Dog Hachiko does exist!

This post will reflect my sheer ignorance.

Quick thoughts on the Spring 2008 Japanese doramas I'm watching now

Since scoring myself a free television last month, I've been watching the Japanese doramas every night even though there aren't subtitles and I struggle at most times to understand the language. But hey, thanks to the fact that the performances in most doramas are really... 'expressive', I can just read their faces and body language and deduce what's going on.

So, here are some brief thoughts on the doramas that have been airing the past few weeks. (I'll borrow the synopses from Tokyograph's Spring J-dorama preview)

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon 三國之見龍卸甲 starring Andy Lau and Maggie Q

I remember THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON solely for one reason. It was the one film that was going to screen in Malaysia on the week I left for Japan. Thanks to my departure, I was deprived from my much-wanted Maggie Q dose. I also remember watching the trailer just before the laughably bad (but still laughable) AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS, and realized later that the trailer itself was better than AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS.

Preparing for New Japanese-language Production.

I mentioned last Sunday that reading through Kawabata Yasunari's Palm of the Hand Stories had given me inspiration for a new short film, and I was going to meet up with fellow film student Maiko to brainstorm some ideas.

Everything went on smoothly then and I managed to write the first draft of the script. It's shorter than anything else I've written, but only because of its lack of dialogue. The film's most likely going to be around ten minutes long. And it still doesn't have a title.

I've just returned from another production meeting with Maiko, earlier in the afternoon and things are starting to fall into place. The film can be done with the financial backing and assistance of the university, but Maiko has to submit the proposal and script (translated into Japanese) by end of the month.

Film adaptation of LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA

I actually watched this nearly a month ago (during the same span of days when I watched Strawberry Shortcakes and Funuke, Show Some Love Your Losers!, quality stuff) I was so appalled by the film then that I decided I really have nothing to say about it.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second Narnia film

Finally went to Shibuya to see THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. It's the second film I went to the cinema for in Japan, and the first Hollywood film I saw here.

I dreamt that Manchester United lost and thought it was real.

I follow football news casually (the NBA is still my thing), so yesterday morning, I woke up to check the livescore of the European Cup finals. Game had reached overtime, but still a draw between Man U and Chelsea. As I stared at the live updates, I somehow fell asleep again without noticing and saw vividly that the score had become 2-1 after Michael Ballack scored one more and was named as Man of the Match (huh?).

I was on The New Straits Times! And...

The New Straits Times had an article about the BMW Shorties yesterday (21st of May). They credited Lesly (and my absence) correctly.



Great article. Check it out here.

Some really good quotes too.

[VIDEO] All-you-can-eat 'shabu-shabu' with Ai and Iyo at Shibuya

All-you-can-eat 'shabu-shabu' with Ai and Iyo at Shibuya


This video was shot on the 8th of May, during the last day of Golden Week. I was at Shibuya to have an awesome all-you-can-eat 'shabu-shabu' with two old friends of mine, Ai and Iyo (whom I knew back from my Murdoch days in Perth). I've met Ai the week I came to Tokyo, but I haven't seen Iyo for more than two years, so seeing her again was a joy.

Unlike most of my previous videos, this one isn't tampered with much, no hardcore editing, nor background music. Just diegetic sound, gives you guys a better 'you are there' feeling of Shibuya.

Tags: shabu-shabu, japanese food, tokyo, shibuya, video, youtube

I'm on Utusan Malaysia!! But...

Yes! Utusan Malaysia has an article about last Thursday's BMW Shorties.

But, they thought Lesly The Cinematographer was me after he went to the gala premiere to collect the award on my behalf!!!!



Nope, I definitely did NOT fly back from Tokyo last Thursday to attend the gala premiere or underwent plastic surgery in Japan.

RELATED POST:
CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY Receives Two Awards at BMW SHORTIES!

Tags: bmw shorties, chicken rice mystery, lesly leon lee, edmund yeo

Addicted to UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME Theme Music

I've heard this music a couple of times, I've even had A MAN AND A WOMAN in one of my Lisa Ono French CDs, but I found myself in the past few days getting rather addicted to the really well-known theme music from Claude Lelouche's UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME (A MAN AND A WOMAN, it won the Grand Prix at 1966's Cannes Film Fest and Oscar for Best Foreign Film, you can read about it in this entry at the 100 Films blog), composed by Francis Lai.

Especially after watching this beautifully shot scene.

Kawabata Gave New Ideas For Next Short Film Project

2 hours from now, I'll be heading off to a brainstorming session with a fellow film student, Maiko. I seek Maiko's help because she has really refined tastes in film and literature and had also done Japanese literature for her degree.

CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY Receives Two Awards at BMW SHORTIES!

Just got the news from my dad after he came back from the BMW Shorties Gala Premiere. CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY had received two awards! A Best Acting award for Kimmy as The Mom Who Sucks At Cooking, and an Honourable Mention from the jury as well!

Happy for you, Kimmy!

Ted Mahsun Writes About CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY

Noted book reviewer and Swiftybuddy Ted Mahsun had posted about CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY.

Combining elements of noir and several bits of comedy, which to me is very reminiscent of Chow Sing Chi's work in the Nineties, Chicken Rice Mystery is about a boy whose mother used to make really good chicken rice, a dish that everyone in the family remembers with great fondness.

Hitoshi Yazaki's sublime 'Strawberry Shortcakes ストロベリーショートケイクス'

Watching Strawberry Shortcakes two weeks ago, I was reminded of some independent films from the current Malaysian New Wave, albeit not shot on MiniDV, has (slightly) higher production values, and with actual sex scenes. The visited themes (loneliness, emotional paralysis, ennui etc), the stylistic choices (sparingly-used music, use of meticulously-composed wide shots, languid pacing, multiple plots and central characters), the gritty realism and atmosphere.

Tokyo was portrayed in a manner I've seldom seen in J-doramas and studio films, still beautiful, but lonelier and harsher. After going through a series of Japanese films where its characters are portrayed in a much more exaggerated manner, behaving like live-action version of anime characters (I watched this right after I finished last year's megahit HERO, starring Takuya Kimura), Strawberry Shortcakes felt like a breath of a fresh air.

EVERYiBODi LAFU ROJAKS has a post on CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY (... and of course, Suanie's awards-worthy performance)

The great Wingz at EVERYiBODi LAFU ROJAKS has posted a blog entry about CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY.

The Welcome Party For New Film Students

Two days ago (well, three, since it's already past midnight) I screened CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY to fellow film students of Waseda University. It was an all-day private screening for all film students doing their Masters to display their works.

China President Hu Jintao Visited My University. Big-Scale "Free Tibet!" Rally.

I was finding a place to have lunch in the afternoon when I saw that the main entrance of the university was packed with people with banners, and members of the media, and the police. Apparently, China's president, was coming over to Waseda University. I was mildly surprised because, while I heard of his arrival to Tokyo on TV last night and heard of his possible Waseda visit, I didn't know he was coming to Waseda today.

Suanie Talks About Chicken Rice Mystery. Seb's Lil' Bro Reviews BMW Shorties' 10 Finalists

Now that it’s over, I can say this with a straight face: FROM EXPERIENCE (ahem ;) ) acting isn’t easy. There’s the nerves and it gets in the way of trying to remember your lines along with the facial expressions and body gestures that go along with them. I guess it shouldn’t be a problem for professional actors. But you know the cliché of women being able to juggle a few things at one time? Well, I don’t fit into that.
- SUANIE

Suanie, would had turned in an awards-worthy cameo in my film, CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY, recounts her experience during the shoot. Fun stuff.


Suanie undergoing make-up for CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY


(The very loving and supportive Chris Tock had also plugged Suanie and Chicken Rice Mystery two weeks ago.)

Now, less on Chicken Rice Mystery and more on the 9 other BMW SHORTIES finalists. Caleb, little brother of my friend Sebastian had taken his time to watch all ten shortlisted films on BMW SHORTIES and posted his thoughts on each and every one of them. Check them out.

Chicken Rice Mystery by Edmund Yeo
Very Malaysian with the hodgepodge of chinese dialects in it. Reminds me of home. Plot-wise, well, the ending is in one ways or another expected, as in you can ALMOST guess what is going to happen but not sure how. A child's take on his mom's one of mystery chicken rice dish.
The plot keeps you guessing continuously but can't exactly place your finger on it til the end where all is revealed and you go 'cheh, should have seen that coming'. A child's take on his mom's mystery one-off delicious chicken rice dish.

- CALEB

Once again, CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY can be viewed at the BMW Shorties website.

Tags: chicken rice mystery, short film, bmw shorties

TOKYO TOWER AND CHIBA: Two Videos I Shot In Tokyo

Photos of that particular visit can be found at my Visiting Tokyo Tower post.





Not the best of videos, most of the stuff I shot there weren't exactly that stunning to begin with. I blame it on my old broken-down camcorder, haha. On the other hand, said old broken-down camcorder still amazes me sometimes, like the 800x zoom, I have no idea it could zoom in so far!

Anyway, if you missed out the video I uploaded before the Tokyo Tower one, here's the Malaysian Gathering At Chiba video:

THE STAR's special mention of Chicken Rice Mystery and Me

It seems that today's THE STAR had another write-up on BMW SHORTIES, and I got a special mention...





... as the only guy who wasn't in the photo with the other 9 finalists. *sigh*

Check out Da Huang PIctures' Online Shop

The folks at DA HUANG PICTURES have set up an online shop, so you can now buy their much-talked-about festival hits and watch it at the comfort of your own living room.

Shaolin Girl 少林少女

After 3 weeks of Japanese language classes, I decided to put my newly-acquired language skills to test by going to the cinema for the first time since arriving at Tokyo. My original plan was to see IRON MAN, but since it isn't going to come out in Japan until September, I can only pick a Japanese film to watch (all other Hollywood fare were stuff that came out during the end of 2007, the newer stuff showing now are SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES and 10 000 B.C...)

I picked a film which I knew wouldn't really be too much of a challenge to understand despite my lack of Japanese language skills:

SHAOLIN GIRL.

Visiting Tokyo Tower

Yesterday was Showa Memorial Day, so I went to visit Tokyo Tower with some friends.

My camcorder and my digital camera can never co-exist, if I bring only my camera, I am more likely to take some good photos, but when I'm busy shooting with my camcorder, the quality of the photos from my camera tend to suffer.

I was very surprised that only 20% of the photos I took yesterday were presentable. My camera is useless in taking night photos (it's an old Canon PC1226). Almost everything I took were blurry. Should have brought my mini-tripod.

Anyway, here are the photos:

Japanese Films vs The Rest Of The World

I'm totally drained after going through a two-film marathon, both Japanese films (you can see I am trying hard to improve my Japanese language skills ;)), both two-hour long, the first was HERO, the second was STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES (the 2006 movie, not the old 2001 dorama, STRAWBERRY ON SHORTCAKE), one's a commercial courtdoom drama, another an arthouse film on loneliness and adult relationships, former's entertaining, latter's haunting. I'm now drained, yet not drained enough to not rant.

(I'll be peppering this post with photos of the awesome NAKAMA YUKIE, whom I've liked a lot since I first watched the TRICK series, and also in honour of Gokusen 3 being the top-rated dorama in Tokyo now)

Last night (or two nights ago, since it's past midnight), I read an article on Japan Times called FILM FESTIVALS: HOW JAPAN IS VIEWED FROM AFAR by Alexander Jacoby, and I find myself agreeing with the opening paragraphs:

Buying A New Jacket In Shibuya

My old black leather jacket can't be worn anymore. For some weird reason, whitish-looking powdery stuff have been coming out of it. For the past few weeks, I've been wearing the same black jersey the whole time (the one you see on the black and white photo I used for the Twitter window at the right sidebar) because my other jackets are way too thick to wear during the Spring.

Besides, I needed to take a walk, and I haven't been to Shibuya all these while either.

Shibuya is a colourful place, and I see lots of costumed musicians performing, and promoting something. The ones in the photo below were standing outside a pachinko shop.

Daihachi Yoshida's wonderful Funuke, Show Some Love You Losers! 腑抜けども、悲しみの愛を見せろ

Been getting rather difficult for me to write any film reviews lately, but here you go:

Funuke, Show Some Love You Losers! is a film I knew nothing about when I started watching it, and I finished it feeling rather rewarded.

It's a film about a dysfunctional family, it's driven completely by the four primary characters and the relationship and interaction between them. The opening scene sets the tone for things to come, we see a gruesome traffic accident caused by a cat that's sickeningly funny.

The Star's BMW Shorties Article and Eyeris' 'non-review' of Chicken Rice Mystery

Lim Ming Wei in CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY

My dad just told me that today's The Star had an article about the BMW Shorties' 10 finalists. So I went to check out The Star Online.

KLue writes about BMW Shorties Finalists. Yeo Yee Haeng is Edmund Yeo

The Father and The Boy in CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY


Seems that KLUE had a short write-up on the BMW Shorties finalists.

RACE: Four Original Short Plays

I had the pleasure of meeting actress (and self-described theater practitioner) Soefira Jaafar in the middle of last year, and I was asked to help her produce a stage production that her company, RPT (RATHER PECULIAR THEATER) was preparing. Although I was around for some preliminary meetings with her and the writers, I, unfortunately, had to leave RACE due to other commitments (the telemovies CINTA TIGA SEGI and KURUS), and also because I was well aware back then that I was possibly coming to Tokyo to continue my studies, thus making it impossible to stay around for the actual performance in the end.

CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY is up on BMWShorties.com.my

The film is really a comedy...

As I've mentioned last week, my latest short film, CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY, had been shortlisted for the annual BMW SHORTIES as one of the top 10 finalists . After watching the other nine finalists, I have to say that I'm in the company of many really good films. Therefore, to be nominated is already a victory for me.

You can watch CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY at the official BMW SHORTIES website (mine's the tenth film). After that, you can vote if you enjoyed my film, if not, then you can vote for other, more worthy candidates.

On the other hand, Suanie really has an awards-worthy cameo on CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY.



P.S. Thanks to Esther and Shadowfox (Suanie screenshot is from him too) for, ah, plugging my film.

Review of KURUS (aka DAYS OF THE TURQUOISE SKY) by Yvonne Teh

I was pleasantly surprised that I found this review of KURUS (aka DAYS OF THE TURQUOISE SKY) from Yvonne Teh's ('YTSL') blog yesterday:

Cute Akihabara Nurse

Went to Akihabara in the evening. Got myself a laptop computer cooling pad, a USB-operated mini vacuum and table fan from the awesome Yodobashi Camera shopping mall. (didn't know about the place until today)

Before that, right when I stepped out of the train station, I saw many people taking photos with a girl in a nurse outfit, so I did the same:

Tags: akihabara, nurse, cosplay, cosplayer, costume, japan, tokyo, cute

Simple Japanese Essays I Wrote (... Like A 3-Year-Old Child) About The Twin Towers and Beautiful Women

After more than a week of Japanese Language classes, I find myself enjoying the essay-writing most. Naturally, since I've always liked writing, but a bittersweet affair, since my Japanese language skills is of a toddler's, I was incapable of expressing myself as eloquently and fluently as I do in English or Chinese.

Seeing how I could only write in simple sentences, I can only comfort myself by saying that I write like a Dadaist, foregoing the contemporary academic and cultured values of art by writing entirely without aesthetics and style.

So, here's to share two essays with you all that I wrote in the past few days during classes.

Review of KURUS (aka DAYS OF THE TURQUOISE SKY) by Yeo Kien Kiong

I recently received a nice film review of the telemovie KURUS (known overseas as DAYS OF THE TURQUOISE SKY) from animator Yeo Kien Kiong (no relation), who saw the film at the recent Hong Kong Film Festival:

My Thoughts On The 27th Hong Kong Film Awards

Though I didn't get to catch the live telecast of the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards, I was eagerly following the results on Yahoo! Hong Kong. So here are some brief thoughts on the results. (list from Lovehkfilm.com)

CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY Chosen For BMW Shorties' Top 10

On the 21st of March last month, right after I returned from the Hong Kong Film Festival, I immediately submitted a rough cut version of CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY, my latest short film, to BMW Shorties. I needed to beat the deadline, so I didn't have the time to really fix the short film as much as I would've liked.

The Japanese Language vs My Legendary Ego

Sorry about the lack of updates. Parents were here for a visit in Tokyo.

Anyway, my Japanese classes started on Wednesday, and students were assigned to each class based on their results during the Japanese Placement Test on Monday.

Orlando Bloom's Japanese Uno (Hair Gel!) Commercial

I was at a shop yesterday accompanying a new friend from Hong Kong, Jason, to hunt for televisions. As he was doing that, something that was playing in all the snazzy flatscreen televisions in the shop caught my attention.

The Miyazaki Aoi poster in the Subway

Everyday, when I walk through the Edogawabashi Station to catch a train, I see this Miyazaki Aoi poster:



And always, I pause a little, struggling to resist this urge to tear the poster off the wall and run away with it.

I seriously need help. Anyone know where I can get these subway posters? Help anyone? People of Japan Probe?

Tags: miyazaki aoi

Tokyo. A city of contrasts. Traditional cherry blossoms vs scifi-like architecture

As I was walking back from Waseda University this afternoon, I noticed that the river was filled up with more cherry blossom petals than yesterday.

Tokyo Day 2: Clubs Recruitment Day in Waseda University

This morning, I decided to visit Waseda University for the very first time. When I crossed the bridge to the university, I saw this:

My Last Day in Malaysia. My First Day in Japan.

I tried to compare the day I left for Perth in 2004 with the day I left for Japan and both days couldn't be any more different.

过去。 现在。 未来。

她:
曾经...
他:
曾经什么?
她:
怀念曾经
他:
嘿! 不在乎天长地久，只在乎曾经拥有
她:
应该吧
她:
人总是喜欢怀念以往
他:
记忆是痛苦的根源
她:
无可否认
她:
可是只有回忆才让你感受到人生的甜美
他:
我喜欢向前看. 不喜欢过去的我.也不喜欢被当成是以前的我
她:
无论什么时候，都是自己
她:
以前还是以后
她:
都应该珍惜
他:
当然.可是我只期待自己的成长.记忆不可靠,很容易把一切美化了,戏剧化了.
她:
个人想法
他:
如果只执着过去,把以前的都当成最好,那么对现在及未来太不公平了.
他:
本人毫无内涵的想法
她:
哈。。
她:
太不一样的观念
他:
我并非否定记忆的重要性, 只不过觉得最好的不一定在过去. 就忽略了现在. 而且, 如果我不相信明天会更好,那么就太没意思了.

An Empress And The Warriors 江山美人

After viewing the trailer (I was already giggling at the 'romantic' scenes between Leon Lai and Kelly Chen), and reading its early reviews in Hong Kong, I was already expecting the worst from AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS. Directed by Tony Ching Siu Tung (he often works as an action choreographer and is Zhang Yimou's frequent collaborator, working on the action scenes in HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, he was also behind the badass martial arts scene in the godly Bollywood superhero flick KRRISH), starring Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen and Leon Lai, AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS is the kind of film you need to avoid if you were seriously looking for a good film to watch.

I'm Going To Japan (For 2 Years)

Guess it's time to make the announcement now.

My PC.com Magazine Cover Story Recounts My Nokia N95 Filmmaking Misadventures

Swiftly we prepared to do the scenes with Darren and Magessan together. I burst into the room in dramatic fashion while Erna was practising with the two guys. Darren was in the midst of doing a fake but shrill-sounding laugh.

"All right, as you may know already, this scene is simple, our poor James Bond will find himself being tickle tortured by the sadistic Dr Bhol Le." I explained. "And James Bond will laugh within the inch of his life."

I paused and held up the two feathers Erna bought for me.

"But you don't have to worry about that. You're really going to get tickled."

"He's not ticklish." Magessan said. Darren nodded.

"WHAT? How could this be?" I exclaimed, the two feathers in my hand went limp immediately.

"But I can fake it!" Darren said.

After spending most of the 23 years of my life being so ticklish, I was thrown off by the idea of someone not being ticklish...