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.)