My short film Vertical Distance is shown to new film students in Murdoch university!

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:

M. Night Shyamalan's LADY IN THE WATER, starring... M. Night Shyamalan, really.

The following factors may help you enjoy Lady In The Water more:

Conversation on THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON

Justin: The problem with this film, from my perspective, is that it failed to convince me that Daniel Johnston was a genius.

Four Eyed Monsters. Slacking Off From Script Revisions. Conflicts. The Loneliness of Art.

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 왕의 남자 is a tearjerker bromance film

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

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 달콤, 살벌한 연인

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.

The First Production Meeting for GIRL DISCONNECTED

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)

I almost appeared in an angsty incest-themed short film

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.

Screaming Fields of Sonic Love

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.

'The New World' by Terrence Malick

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.