Category: My Opinion

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews

The Forbidden Kingdom – “Gate Of No Gate” Cracks Me Up Big Time

The Forbidden Kingdom

Just a couple of days ago, a friend of mine at work sent me an Outlook invite titled “Girlie Lunch” and she has extended the invite to a few other guys.  In the end, I was the only guy who turned up.  Last evening might as well be qualified as a “Girlie Dinner” as my guy friend couldn’t make it for dinner and joined us for movie later instead.  I must say not often I am privileged for such outings and it is rather interesting to observe the topics that girls like to talk about and things they do on a dining table.  The “Girlie Bonding” is somewhat as strong as the binding of the neutrons and protons in the semi-absence of men.  The phrase the table has turned has a whole new meaning to me.

The story of the Monkey King or better known as Sun Wukong (孫悟空) in Chinese is based on an epic literature Journey to the West (西遊記) that I have read a couple of times when I was young (100 chapters!).  Ever since it was published in the 1950s, the story has been told and retold, packaged and repackaged in a hundred million ways on TV and on big screens.  And now, we get to see the Monkey King once again in “The Forbidden Kingdom”.

From a purist viewpoint, “The Forbidden Kingdom” watched almost like a blasphemy to the legendary characters so well known to those who have a deep Chinese background.  At times I find it hard to watch how some characters are teamed up against one another.  Also, having a bunch of well respected Chinese actors grouped together speaking in not-too-fluent English with an acting delivery less than conviction, to me, is hard to watch too.  The action sequence though is pleasant to our senses certainly not as artistic and original as some of the other Chinese films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “House of Flying Daggers”, or “Hero”.

These aside, I can also understand why some (strangely all the girls in our group) found the movie entertaining – especially so with Jackie Chan’s hilarious performance.  The scripts can be humorous to both with Chinese background and the ones without.  Just like the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique in “Kill Bill” – a direct word-by-word translation so hilariously strange to the foreigner and yet so funnily ridiculous to the Chinese – “The Forbidden Kingdom” has tons of references that when directly translated, are pure madness.  My favorite is certainly the translated phrase of “Gate of No Gate” and some of those odd English dialogues like “you bitch!” meets with a “you orphan bitch!” reply.  A fellowship of a Westerner, a monk, a drunken scholar, and an orphan girl on a mission to return the magical staff to the Monkey King surely invokes some kind of resemblance to the “Lord of the Ring”.  Some may like the familiarity (and what’s up with the must-have cat fight scenes like “Charlie’s Angels” or “James Bond”?).

I was actually quite intrigued by the actress Liu Yifei who has quite an achievement prior to this film.  I was once tempted by her Japanese album back in 2006 (she has a Chinese album too) but I gave it a miss.  Also, in the same year, I resisted borrowing her highly recommended TV drama “The Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕俠侶)” from my buddy.  Perhaps I shall reconsider the offer.

Fortunately, the storyline is not too unbelievable (which ironically the traditional Cantonese movies usually are when it comes down to this genre).  You may probably have to read the subtitles to make out the strange English accents.  And if you are not too much of a purist, some of those absurd dialogues may stick onto your mind for days to come.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Richard Laermer – 2011 Trendspotting For The Next Decade – A Futuristic Concoction That Aims To Inspire

Richard Laermen's 2011 Trendspotting for the Next Decade

Be it as you want to make sense of what is happening in your life or be inspired as you look ahead into the next decade, futurist Richard Laermer’s new concoction made of personal observations and opinions that are witty, humorous, and enlightening sprinkled with a healthy dose of sarcasm and brutal honesty will certainly make you stop and ponder: now, why didn’t I see it coming?

“2011 Trendspotting for the Next Decade” is not a list of inevitable events that are going to happen.  That – as quoted from the author- is the job of a fortune teller.  Instead, Richard Laermer has created a map that explains and forecasts a range of possible futures in the areas of media, technology, sociology, entertainment, and more.

I want to believe in the author that on January 1, 2011, we will finally wake up rising above the era of mediocrity – an era of us weighed down by the international inertia as we are perpetually waiting for something to happen in this decade.  But such a claim is likely to invoke a certain level of skepticism even for the most susceptible readers.  It is not until I have finished reading all the seventy over topics, attempted to connect all the dots together, then I said to myself: these may well be true.  All these trends may possibly point towards an era that something good is going to happen and I may possibly wake up to a bright new day!

How about a future whereby we say goodbye to short attention span and get more sleep by sleeping less?  A future whereby e-mail is death, office workplace is going to be way better than working from home, and more people will give genuine complements?  Think of what you can do with a paper thin battery.

But not everything is going to change in the year 2011.  TV is here to stay.  Mobile phone will always be our first love regardless of what other new toys we may have.  Our ‘generation broke’ will still be narcissistic (surprise?) and the ‘old people’ will continue to have a role to play in the workplace.

On a lighter side, “2011 Trendspotting for the Next Decade” is packed with entertaining topics ranging from Richard Laermer’s lively remarks on celebrities such as Donald Trump, Ashlee Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, and Britney Spears to his less than pleasant personal encounters with or opinions on the big corporates such as Starbucks, Apple, Frito-Lay, Victoria’s Secret, and Google.  You may even pick up tips on how to be famous and be cool.  At the other end of the spectrum, the book does layout concrete advice on topics such as how to spot trends, what is branding and marketing, and more.

Depending on your social and geographic background, you may connect to the book differently from other fellow readers.  First, the people, organizations, and events mentioned are largely from America.  If you are from the US or very much in tune with the US culture, you should quite readily be able to relate to the contents.  Second, to fully appreciate the book does require the readers to have a keen sense of current affairs including what goes on with the celebrities (you can easily fill up the gaps with the help of the Internet these days).  And third, some of the topics may urge you to self-reflect on something that you may not want to face.

Also, as a business book, the humorously casual writing style that tends to be random at times may not be something you are used to.  However, for the net savvy ones who frequent the blogsphere, you may feel at home.  Don’t expect a structured information download from this book and be prepared to be an active reader – constantly reading, constantly thinking.

Beyond the text, the author often leaves specific website addresses of his own for further reading.  Unfortunately, at the time of this review, none of these links were ready and there was this one-liner standard response at the site that did not say much.  I wrote to Richard Laermer via e-mail.  Within half an hour, he responded with a friendly reply, took my humble suggestion, and edited his web page to be more informative on the situation.  That’s right.  Richard Laermer is reachable, just like what he wrote in his book.

You may become more net savvy after reading this book (like I do); you may be loaded with interesting topics for your next (offline) social gathering; and you may even start to spot the trends based on your daily observation.  As an afterthought, even if only half of what Richard Laermer has mentioned turns into reality in the next decade, the world will still be a better place than today.  And if you become inspired and want to do something with the trends, I think that is what the author is trying to achieve.

“2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade” by Richard Laermer is published by McGraw-Hill and can be found in all good bookstores.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Street Kings – Originality Aside, It’s One Entertaining Flick

Street Kings

I have to admit: the casting can’t get better than this.  Perhaps, it’s a bit too good.  Imagine these strong associations in my head while watching the movie.  At the beginning scene, the supposedly alcoholic Keanu Reeves puked at the toilet bowl and I kept thinking of “Constantine” (it’s the cigarette and lung cancer instead of the booze but a similar bathroom scene).  Besides, who better to take on a role whose wife has died before the show begins?  How about Forest Whitaker who acted as our crazy “king” in the world of corrupted cops stepping in and out of different characters?  That is so “The Last King of Scotland”.  When Huge Laurie’s first appearance is in the hospital (remember “House”, the TV medical drama series?), I nearly flipped.  Fortunately, Huge plays a cop instead.

I can understand why “Street Kings” receives a mixed review.  The storyline is not original.  It is the same old all-cops-are-corrupted story with some cops want to right the wrong and once for all, clean up the mess.  Within our Movie Review Squad, TK gives a thumbs up.  Cynthia being a keen supporter of Keanu (I am tempted to use the word “fanatic”) of course adds in her toes as well besides her thumbs.  I personally like the show for a different reason – Forest’s acting is such a joy to watch.  From the audience’s reaction in the theater, he has definitely got the crowd engaged whenever he steps into the spotlight.

A fast pace engaging storyline that you should have little to complain if you are not looking too deep into the story.  A well crafted plot I must say.

Categories
Dance Music Reviews

Moby – Last Night – Not Quite Close To Play But Way Better Than 18 Hotel

I really love “Play”.  Oh yes, I do.  Perhaps it’s because of the disco clubs by the beach of Grand Bay, Mauritius, that my project team often frequented (oh sweet days of Banana Café), and at that time, Moby’s “Play” was hot.  It was the sunset, the sea breeze, the sand, the resort, and the laid-back-good-old-days-post-modernization of an island nation off the coast of the African continent that gave me the illusion that I was dancing in the year of not 1999, but one or two decades prior to that.

Moby’s ambient electronic music blends well in such a dreamy land of nowhere, a tourist paradise.  How I miss Mauritius.

My sentimental bias aside, I think Moby fans would agree with me that “Natural Blues” from the “Play” (1999) album is probably one of tracks that made Moby known to the International mainstream music scene.  The chorus of “Oooh, Lordy, troubles so hard and Don’t nobody know my troubles but God” just sticks to our heads.

The subsequent album releases “18” (which I owned) and “Hotel” (which I got wiser and decided not to own) were major disappointments to me.  In “Last Night”, Moby took a slightly different approach.  Most of the vocal tracks are sung by talented unknown artists, in which Moby mentioned that they are much easier to work with without the complication of legal issues and big record companies’ involvement.  It works.  Though it is not quite close to “Play”, “Last Night” is a pleasant album to listen to.  Less experimental in nature, Moby returns to his disco dance music root and enriches each track with his distinctive electronic ambience touch.

I personally don’t think Moby is particularly strong in his lyrics department.  But who cares about lyrics when you are half drunk on the dance floor or about to collapse onto the couch?  So I have no qualm that the CD does not come with a set of lyrics; and they should as some of the lines even the Internet community cannot make out.  Inside the killer track “Alice”, the word “Jodice” keeps repeating and Cynthia and I one time looked at each other in the car and said, “Who is Jodice?”  Or “What is joh this?”  OK.  From what I researched in the net, the phrase in question could be “do this”.  Then again, you will never know.

Why does the song titled “Alice” anyway when it doesn’t even get mentioned in the song?  Perhaps it is a reference to “Alice in Wonderland”?  Perhaps it has something to do with the lyrics “Can you become girl here in the fun world?”

Anyway, who cares?

If you have nothing against rap singing style, the first single “Alice” will please you much.  The majority tracks of “Last Night” are loaded with up tempo music while the last few tracks substantially darken the mood and the album is concluded with the title song “Last Night”, a ballad.  That last song does remind me of the closing hour of the dance floor when the DJ usually plays a slow song to wrap up the evening or early morning.  How appropriate.

Featured below is the video clip of “Alice”.  Don’t expect the image to reflect the current decade.  It is Moby baby.  Let’s head back to the disco days with us having bad hairstyles doing crazy things; things that you don’t even want to recall.  Admit it!

Categories
Movie Reviews Romance

Definitely Maybe – There Is A Girl Whom I Really Like!

Definitely Maybe

I often marvel at how Western film titles are being translated in Chinese for the Hong Kong market (which can be different from the China market).  Take “Definitely Maybe” as an example.  It is translated into “愛情三選一” that loosely means “Choose One from Three in the Name of Love”.  OK, the Chinese title is a lot more poetic and cuter than it sounds in English.  And it definitely relates to the plot of the film better.  My favorite movie title translation is still “愛．誘．罪” for “Atonement”.  The three characters literally mean love, temptation, and crime, which sum up what the story is about.  And because of the phonetic similarity of the second Chinese character, the title has a dual meaning of “Love is Crime” when spoken, which also coincidentally reveals a slice of the story.

Back to “Definitely Maybe” – a title inspired by a line from possibly the most memorable scene – the plot is as simple as what the Chinese translated title suggests: choose one girl from three.  There are a college sweetheart (Elizabeth Banks), a reporter (Rachel Weisz), and a copy girl (Isla Fisher).  On the day Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) receives a divorce paper, his 10 years old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) suddenly gets curious about what her daddy’s love life is like after a lesson on … sex education.  To make the storytelling interesting, Hayes uses fictional names so as to keep the story engaging for Maya, and the audience I suppose.  The film extends beyond the flashbacks into the present time of Maya and Hayes.  By and large predictable but has its charm with a rather engaging, unusual, and entertaining storyline.  There are quite a few memorable scenes as well.

I missed the little girl Abigail Breslin’s Oscar nominated film “Little Miss Sunshine” and she may be too young for me to remember her performance in “Raising Helen” and “The Princess Diaries 2”.  I did enjoy her role as Zoe in “No Reservations” and am still a big fan of hers.  Her role as Maya in “Definitely Maybe”, I guess, is rather limited.  That’s one of my complaints (and I don’t really like the guy too!).

When Cynthia, TK, and I walked out of the movie theatre, we thought very hard on who Isla Fisher is.  Out of all the (grown-up) girls, Isla Fisher is my favorite.  When Cynthia mentioned “Wedding Crashers”, I still have no recollection.  At home I did some research and ah-ha!  She was one of the sisters in “Wedding Crashers” – the sex mania.  OK, now I remember that I did like her in that film too.  She has also acted in the famous Australia soap opera “Home and Away”.  Looking at the period of time she was involved in that opera, very likely I may have watched some of the episodes back in UK when the series was (still is?) pretty big over there.  Maybe memory does play funny tricks to us sometimes.

I was apprehensive when I first heard that the filmmakers are making a film out of my favorite chick-lit series “Shopaholic”.  When I read that Isla Fisher is taking on the role of Rebecca Bloomwood, all my worries have melted away.  Now, let’s hope that the scriptwriters are not going to screw up the plot.  “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is only the first installment from Sophie Kinsella’s 5-book series (so far).  The chance to see Isla Fisher more on screen is a definitely maybe.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Mara And Dann By Doris Lessing – An Adventure Of A Sister And A Brother During The Next Ice Age

Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing

Having read a few of the books by the Nobel Price winner in literature, Doris Lessing, I am curious about her another genre that is not popularly accepted by the critics – science fiction.  So I picked up “Mara and Dann” (year 1999, 407 pages) from our National Library.  I have not read all of her thirty over books yet but if the book publisher describes the heroine of this book as “one of Doris Lessing’s most appealing heroines”, I would gladly take their words for it is a nice departure from the rather dark and depressing titles of “The Fifth Child” and its sequel “Ben in the World” whereby the main character is more or less a monster living in our own world.

Perhaps human condition regardless of time is depressing.  Life is hard.  And the saving grace throughout the time continuum is love.  In “Mara and Dann”, the story is set somewhere in the distant future when our Earth is covered in ice – except Ifrik (equivalent to our modern day Africa).  Dotted in this continent Ifrik are civilizations of different progression (stone age, medieval, military, religion, and science), people of different shapes and colors, richness and the poor, and in the diverse race of the Mahondi,  the Rock People, the Hadrons, the Hennes, the Agre, and the Albs, nothing escape the sharp eyes of Mara who is always hunger for knowledge.

Abducted since young, Mara – a Mahondi by birth – began an epic journey traversing Ifrik together with her little brother Dann.  The main plot evolves around Mara with Dann coming in and out of Mara’s journey.  In “Mara and Dann”, you will get to experience Ifrik first hand with Mara.  You may even feel the thirst and hunger of Mara like I do, and the joy and desperation.  You will certainly see how the characters grow as they aged, how their bonding gets stronger as days go by.

What some may see lacking maybe a main quest within the story.  What propel me to continue reading the book, however, was simply: what will Mara see next?  In such, “Mara and Dann” is a different type of page turner perhaps more appealing to those who are drawn to the world of scare resources, slavery, conflicts, racism, and sexism.  My main take home messages are two: (1) we always expect things to remain the way they always do (which they don’t) and (2) we can’t truly understand something unless we experience them.

A timely read as we ourselves are faced with the challenge of climate change, today.

Related Entries:-

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

HAARP – Muse Live Tour – Full Of Light And Sound

HAARP by Muse

We have watched the Muse concert at Fort Canning Singapore back in January last year and that, has blown our minds.  Can HAARP – a CD and DVD collection recorded at Wembley UK on June 16 and 17 respectively – blow our minds too?  The answer is a definite yes.

I won’t go through much of the details here because my previous journal has (surprisingly to me!) captured more or less the essence of what you would expect in terms of sound and visual (ahem … a pat on my back).  What I will cover here is how I perceive the post-production work involved in creating HAARP.

Let’s start with the CD.  Muse is a 3-piece band with one to two additional musicians to help out on selected songs when on tour.  The live recording of the music tracks are surprisingly clear given how hard it is when sound tends to flood over from one track to another.  And the sound from the audience is crisp and nicely mixed into the recording too.  You can actually hear some girls screaming “I love you” in the background.

To me, the CD is great.  But the DVD that contains a few piano tracks amongst others that are not found in the CD is the real gem of the package.  Cameras whirling around the light filled stage, special visual effects with subjects of interest blurring in and out of focus, seamless cut scenes in tandem with the beats of the music – all of which aim to bring the electrifying live experience right into your living room (depending on how loud your audio system is of course).  Their interpretation of the song “Feeling Good” is a pleasant surprise to me.  Below is a clip of the song “Hysteria”.  Enjoy, and don’t forget to turn down the volume a bit!  If you are already a fan, there is little reason why you should give this collection a miss.

Related Entry: Muse’s 2007 Tour at Fort Canning Singapore

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews Romance

The Other Boleyn Girl – How Accurate I Wonder

The Other Boleyn Girl

Knowing that I was about to recover from my flu, Cynthia tapped onto the Sunday morning paper and said, “I want to watch number 1, 2, and 3.”  “What’s number 1?” I asked.  She said something and I replied, “Huh?  What boleh girl?” (”˜Boleh’ in Malay means ”˜can’, which ironically is not too far from the plot).  It was not as hilarious as my friend TK whom we met later at the cinema.  He joked: The Other Boon Lay Girl.  (”˜Boon Lay’ is a small housing estate in Singapore.)

“The Other Boleyn Girl” has both the talented Natalie Portman (TK and I are big fans of her) and the beautiful Scarlett Johansson as the main actresses.  To top it up, Eric Bana (my favorite Hector of Troy!) played King Henry VIII.  I had no idea what to expect from the movie and I came out of the theatre feeling a bit more aware of some of the important events in England such as the breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and the birth of Queen Elizabeth I.  I certainly had no idea the importance of the role played by Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn – the sisters acted by Natalie and Scarlett.

The life of King Henry VIII is rich and complex.  Married six times and having a few mistresses of his own, “The Other Boleyn Girl” portrays only a facet of his life – his affair to Mary Boleyn and his marriage to Anne Boleyn.  If the film sticks to the original intend and tell a story from the other Boleyn girl’s perspective – that is Mary played by Scarlett – it may have been more focused and intense.  But we all know how captivating Natalie’s acting can be and she does have a lot of air time in the movie.  In that sense, I am not sure if I was watching The Boleyn Girl instead.  Validity of the historical accuracy aside, I too find the casting of two Americans and an Australian with little or no British accent to play these main English characters odd.

There is little doubt that the acting is great.  And Natalie Portman is such a versatile actress.  If you try not to think too hard on what one man would do just to get a baby boy of his own or how all of these was a bloody mess due to one man’s lust, it is actually quite an entertaining romance drama to watch.  “The Other Boleyn Girl” does seem to me like a prequel to the more epic movies “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”.  In such, the reminiscence of Natalie Portman’s role as Queen Amidala as sequel to the epic movies of Star Wars episodes is quite startling – to me at least.

Somehow there is a yearning within me to learn what exactly happened to Anne and Mary’s lives during their time.  The plot of the movie may not have done the history justice.  And I wonder, will the filmmakers hundred years down the road be fascinated by the stories of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and make a movie out of their lives?  One thing I am sure is: royal scandals sell – especially ones that come with sex and blood.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Remember Me By Sophie Kinsella – A Calculated Risk That May Or May Not Work For Some

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

Fanboi talk aside – as I do have read all eight of her novels – “Remember Me” is an interestingly subtle departure from her time proven success with the Shopaholic formula.  First, let’s recap.  Be it as Becky Bloodwood of the Shopaholic series (5 books), Samantha of “The Undomestic Goddess”, Emma of “Can You Keep A Secret”, or Lexi of “Remember Me”, the author’s heroines have always been an embodiment of someone who is flawed, optimistic, and passionate towards family and friends.  The formula extends beyond the main character herself.  There will be lovers involved, parents, best friends, best friends who are no longer best friends, bosses, and a sister in some cases, and to top it up, Sophie Kinsella’s books are always a fun read that make you laugh-out-loud drawing suspicious glances from people around you.

The bottom line is: does the world need another book from Sophie Kinsella?  For those who worship the Shopaholic series, “Remember Me” may come across as less entertaining.  It has lesser laugh-out-loud moments per page flipped.  For those who find the Shopaholic series too shallow but enjoy reading her standalone novels instead, “Remember Me” may come quite close to “The Undomestic Goddess”, which I still think it is the author’s best work today.

There is a novelty in the idea itself: imagine what would happen if one day you wake up and three years worth of memory has just vanished?  And you wake up with a new job title, a new look, new set of friends, and you realize that you are married to someone who is a stranger to you.  Through the character Lexi, Sophie Kinsella explores the condition of amnesia, and more so than any of her previous works, I think there are a fair bit of planning in order to make the storyline works – set aside the need to have every small details made sense to the readers.  To that, I think Sophie Kinsella has done a great job in delivering a relatively more complex storyline with relatively more character development for those who surround the main character.

“Remember Me” is still a page turner and prompted me in thinking: perhaps all these efforts of upkeeping my own blog site are not too bad an idea just in case one day, touch wood, I bump my head onto something and lose a chunk of memory.

PS. I tried to place a reservation at our National library but I gave up after seeing the queue.  I was close to number 250 with just over twenty books available for lending.  And knowing how long it may take for the paperback to hit the bookstore, I go for the hardcover instead.

Related Entries: Can You Keep A Secret?, On Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic & Baby, and Undomestic Goddess – A Good Read

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

BoA – The Face – And The Conquest Continues

BoA - The Face

To tell you the truth, I am more thrilled by BoA’s phenomenal success in the music industry at the age of 21 than her music itself.  Straddled between the Korean and Japanese markets, her 11th studio album is a Japanese release that attained the number 1 position in the Oricon chart the 6th consecutive time (only Ayumi Hamasaki has done it before with now a record of 8 consecutive number 1’s and stops there).  To enjoy such a strong fan base in Japan as a Korean is remarkable.  To enjoy such a commercial success as a 21 years old, I say it’s phenomenal.
 
I often admire BoA’s ambition and energy.  There are not many artists in the world who relentlessly release albums that target at two different local markets, in two different languages, simultaneously.  Her appetite, I believe, is not only in these two countries.  Rumor has it that she is currently putting the Korea market on hold and planning to venture into the US market.  I am concerned over her English pronunciation but we shall see.  And she has released a few songs in Chinese as well.
 
“The Face”, like her previous albums, is packed with the typical electronic sounded pop music that you can happily bop to.  I personally think that these bright and youthful songs are great to be seen live as BoA is a great entertainer on stage.  Just by listening to the album alone, something does seem missing.  Perhaps the music is not as memorable as I would like them to be.  Perhaps those complicated dance beat arrangements are meant to shine during live performances.  Hence, like her previous album “Made in Twenty (20)”, I actually appreciate the DVD better than the CD.
 
“The Face” comes with 2 DVD’s.  One with music videos from the single releases as well as an interview session that I don’t understand.  Another one is packed with live clips from two different concerts filmed in year 2007.  Those live clips are beautiful.  It has the classic BoA-and-the-piano-and-the-orchestra kind of performance.  It also has the BoA-and-her-hot-dance-moves kind of performance too.  One year ago, as written in the previous review, I was trying to get used to her voice.  Today, I still try.  At times her vibrato sounds a bit mechanical.  Perhaps, I will get myself BoA-ized one day.  Below is one of her singles “Lose Your Mind” with the making-of clip.  If you enjoy slow songs, try search for her another single “Love Letter”.

PS. Is it just me who feel that BoA looks more haggard judging from the live videos these days?  She has definitely lost some weight.

Related Entry: Made In Twenty (20) – Another Japanese Album By Korean Singer BoA