Category: My Opinion

Categories
Animation Movie Reviews

The Simpsons Movie – It Is Crazy And It Is Fun

After choosing three consecutive Asian movies for the Movie Review Squad, it’s time to go Western. I have not watched a single episode of “The Simpsons” on TV but somehow I knew that Cynthia and Tong Kiat would both love “The Simpsons Movie”. I was not too far from the truth.

I didn’t have much expectation for “The Simpsons Movie” though I must say, I love the trailers a lot. What a contrast between the movie I watched the night before and this movie that I watched over the weekend. From the audience atmosphere perspective, it was like a continuous stream of screaming in horror versus a continuous stream of laughter. “The Simpsons Movie” is so hilarious. Come to think of it, “The Simpsons” has been around for 18 years with more than 400 episodes aired worldwide. What took them so long to make a movie out of it? Turns out that writing a full featured film of 90 minutes is a lot more difficult than writing an episode.

I enjoyed the end result a lot. There was not a single dull moment and the audience was entertained throughout the show. Poor Cynthia. While I laugh in a relatively higher pitch, the dude siting beside her laughed in a much lower pitch. And we both laughed non-stop. Extra surround sound effect for her … ha ha ha.

Some of the jokes are pretty original to me (perhaps because I have not watched the TV episodes before). I especially like the way different characters are portrayed. The film is made in 2D. But with a movie as crazy as “The Simpsons Movie”, who needs 3D anyway?

Oh … before I sign off, I bet some of you are curious as in how does the Movie Review Squad looks like. I have taken a picture right after the movie and … there you go!

Categories
Horror Movie Reviews

Watching Alone, Alone … Popcorn Flew Onto My Face

Believe it or not, the last time I watched a horror movie was 3 years ago. So hard for me to find movie partners for this sort of movies. Strangely, female colleagues of mine have much higher tolerance to horror movies than guys. Most of the guys either close their eyes most of the time or as though closing their eyes are not good enough, they cover their eyes with their hands. Com’on guys …

I love to watch horror movies. In especially, the Asian ones. I think this is one genre that the Asians can do much, much better than the Western ones. The hair-raising sound effect, flashes of gruesome imagines, the anticipation, and the storyline that induces fear beyond the screen. Think of “The Ring” … and think of “Shutter”.

Yes, I love “Shutter”. And that was the movie I watched 3 years ago. Now, the same pair of directors have collaborated for yet another great horror movie “Alone”. I have been looking for an opportunity to watch “Alone”. Since Cynthia has a farewell party to attend, I messaged Tong Kiat early this morning to see if he could join me. Oh well, I knew jolly well that he is not into horror and he said he would wait for me outside … ha ha ha. I asked my new colleagues if they wished to join me. I have an initial green signal then one of them asked, “English horror”? I replied, “Thai horror”. Oh well …

So I watched “Alone” alone. Although this time round, it is not as spooky as the last time I watched “Shutter” (I love the search function in my own website … ha ha ha … just key in “shutter”), I did coincidentally sit on seat number 7 this time round – same as last time. After a rather long warm-up, “Alone” delivered its first horror moment. Some of the audience screamed. I didn’t. But I was shocked by the “rain of popcorn”. The dude in front (a Westerner I believe) got shocked so much so that he threw his arms backward swinging his box of popcorn to the back row. Dude … lucky I didn’t get the “rain of Coke”.

Now, let’s get back to the review of the movie. I think I like “Shutter” better. “Alone” is part horror part thriller. The concept of “Shutter” is original. Arguably, the storyline of “Alone” – a pair of Siamese twins “Pim” and “Ploy” with one of them dead and another one alive – can be original. But from the fear factor point of view, knowing what the ghost is (duh … the dead Siamese twin of course … and this is not a spoiler as you will get this piece of info right upfront) sort of diminished the surprise factor. And what’s up with Thai actresses?! If Marsha Wattanapanich was to put on more make-up (see picture), “Alone” would have been such a treat. She can indeed be pretty as I saw her on TV doing promotion for this film. Marsha Wattanapanich can marginally act. But for the rest of the cast … I am not too sure.

The above are just some tiny criticisms. Overall, “Alone” is a good horror/thriller movie and it is entertaining as well. I think I did screamed twice and had a few hair-raising moments (literally). Definitely money well spent. At the end of the movie and I looked around, I reckon 60%-70% of the audience were girls (the largest cinema in Cathay Orchard). Com’on guys …

Categories
Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

Within Temptation’s The Heart Of Everything – Yet Another Powerful Delivery From The Netherlands Band

Not many of you may have heard of a symphonic rock band Within Temptation from the Netherlands as they are relatively quiet outside the European and Australian charts. Nevertheless, if you enjoy listening to Evanescence, Within Temptation may offer you a much better alternative in terms of consistent song delivery, richness of rock and metal sound supported by a good symphonic ambiance, and the voice of Sharon den Adel is much better than Amy Lee from Evanescence. Within Temptation may also be more accessible to general audience as compares to one of their “competitors” from the same country, After Forever. The new album from After Forever is inspiring though the sound is more leaning towards metal while the fourth album from Within Temptation sounds pretty much like their previous one “The Silent Force”. In fact, both Cynthia and I think that the tunes are more catchy in “The Silent Force”, which brings out the question: is their new album “The Heart Of Everything” worth checking out?

I have to admit that over these 10 years of music creation, Within Temptation – though only have four albums – has become more sophisticated in terms of sound and melody. And with such a progress, I was slightly taken aback when I first heard of this album’s first single “What Have You Done feat. Keith Caputo” that has such as strong resemblance to Evanescence’s debut single “Bring Me To Life” (two vocalists – male and female). Perhaps it is Within Temptation‘s strategy to break into the global market. Nevertheless, “What Have You Done feat. Keith Caputo” is a great song and I have included its music video below. If you like that song, don’t miss another of their single “Frozen”.

If you buy the original CD, it comes with an “Opendisc” technology that enables you to view and listen to the exclusive contents streamed to your computer via the Internet. It has a couple of live recordings (four in total) as well as 11 video clips from their previous albums. I value bands with vocalists who can sing live well and the lead vocalist of Within Temptation, Sharon den Adel, truly shines when she is out at stage.

I personally do enjoy listening to this new album “The Heart Of Everything”. Content-wise, the band draws some of the concepts from the Christian Theology. There are songs of constant conflict and sorrow, sin and forgiveness. suffering and hope. My favorite track of the album is “Hand Of Sorrow” that contains a stunningly memorable chorus with the following lyrics:

So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed.
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?
So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise?
Will all our sins be justified.

Talking about powerful tune of the chorus using the symphonic sound, the band even throws in a few Latin words inside “Our Solemn Hour”.

Sanctus Espiritus, redeem us from our solemn hour.
Sanctus Espiritus, insanity is all around us.
Sanctus Espiritus, is this what we deserve.
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony?

Within Temptation does not belong to the genre that appeals to the general public. But if you are, you will probably add this group into your music collection by now. And don’t forget to check out their previous album “The Silence Force”. It contains great songs such as “Memories”, “Stand My Ground”, and “Angels”. The video of “Angels” is just beautiful, with a strong reference to good and evil.

Okay, I better put a stop in this blog. Or else I will keep on writing. Such a strong urge to do a write-up on their previous album.

Two weeks later after first drafting this blog: Okay, I cannot resist the temptation of sharing one of my favorite songs from their previous album. The song “Memories” is just beautiful. The video is beautifully filmed and the singer is beautiful in the video. If you find the song above too noisy for your liking, you may like this one better.

Categories
Animation Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Paprika and Who Slept With Her – A Mixed Review From Us

After a rather disappointing outing to watch the Korean sex comedy “Who Slept With Her” last week, I tried to make amend and choose a better movie this time for the Movie Review Squad – the Japanese anime “Paprika”. Turns out that three of us have different opinions on these two movies. TK actually enjoyed the B-list movie “Who Slept With Her” with the expectation of a mindless laugher. I was mildly entertained by it while Cynthia found the jokes crude. In short, “Who Slept With Her” is definitely the male’s version of a chick movie (a dude movie?!). As for “Paprika”, I thoroughly enjoyed watching that and it has exceeded TK’s expectation (I suspect it was not that high to start with) while Cynthia found the story confusing.

I like “Paprika” a lot because the story is interestingly original and the artwork is beautiful. In some scenes, I was actually paying attention to all the background objects marveled at the amount of details on the screen rather than the main attractions. Color contrast plays a part to make some of the scenes dramatically beautiful. Although the characters are in 2-dimension, the way the postures are presented as well as the small movements look real enough. And these 2D characters are often set in backgrounds that are rendered with realistic 3D shading. Because the storyline of “Paprika” intertwines the reality with the dream world, the contortion of the surfaces, the morphing of characters and objects, and the flashbacks of scenarios – making it perhaps one of the most artistic Japanese anime I have seen.

What is the story of “Paprika” about? Without giving too much spoilers (you know I won’t!), a device that enables therapists to enter patients’ dreams has been fallen into the wrong hands. Now, people are losing their minds doing things against their will. It is up to the young and beautiful doctor Atsuko Chiba and her team together with her alt-ego that exists in the dream world “Paprika” to save the world. The story has its tense moments, moments of violence, and brief moments of (artistic) nudity. I guess that is why “Paprika” is rated NC-16 in Singapore.

I can understand why Cynthia finds the story confusing. Quite a number of times, the dialogues happen faster than the rate we can digest the subtitles. Perhaps the animation itself is too captivating. I at time find it hard to fully follow the plot. Some of the translation can be hard to gasp at first read. Maybe the concepts are foreign to non-Japanese or maybe the plot can be so unexpected at times. Either way, there is lots of speed reading to do while watching “Paprika”, at least to me.

I can also understand why Cynthia find “Who Slept with her” too crude to her liking. I did not know that it is a B-list movie (TK?! Why didn’t you …) and the last Korea sex comedy I watched with TK (as gently reminded by the man himself) was “The Art of Seduction”. Now, that was a good one. Funny and tastefully done. “Who Slept with her” starts with a Vice Principal suspects that a trainee teacher is having sex with someone inside the school library at night and the story then rewinds to the point when that trainee teacher just joined the school. The three usual suspects are a handsome student, a wrinkled face student (acted by an old man obviously) who has an enormous “tool”, and a student with nothing but sex in mind. The trainee teacher (played by “Kim Sa-rang) is really hot though – Miss Korea back in year 2000. Still I wish that she plays a much larger role other than merely some men’s object of desire. However, if you are in for a mindless laughter, “Who Slept with her” may be your cup of tea.

I don’t think it is a matter of watching either one of the show or both. There are quite a number of good movies are now showing. If you enjoy watching Japanese anime, you really should check out “Paprika”.

Categories
Country Folk & Jazz Music Reviews

Martina McBride’s Waking Up Laughing – Each Song Tells A Story Well

15 years of music career, 9 studio albums and a greatest hits compilation, country singer Martina McBride’s new album “Waking Up Laughing” is packed with songs that have beautiful lyrics showcasing her superb soprano voice. Some label her as the Celine Dion of country music and I like how she makes an effort in telling a story for every songs that she makes believe. If you pay attention on how she tackles each song vocally with a beginning, a middle, and an end, you may realize that her change in vocal register is smooth and well controlled – be it as just a whisper or at climax. Beautiful execution.

Part of the reason why I love country music is the subjects covered. In the song “Anyway”, she sings that even though whatever you build from scratch may crumble, dreams may never come true, hope may be lost, people whom you love dearly may walk away from you, prayers that may not be answered – just do it anyway. To me it is very motivating. As for “Love Land” – a poetic piece of work – the story begins with a girl having to marry a man because she was carrying his baby. It was not the fairy tale that she dreamt of but she really loves the guy. Then the baby did not make it to see the world and she kept blaming herself for all the mistakes she made in life …

For the longest time I blamed myself. Thought I was paying for my mistakes. But we tried again. Now we’re watchin’ him blow three candles out. He’s daddy’s little man. And only God could have planned. The steps I’ve taken. That led me to where I am. Love Land.

Another song “House Of A Thousand Dreams” spins the story from the wife’s perspective seeing her husband lost his job and the condition of their house has deteriorated since then. In her mind, she says …

My husband’s a good man. Gives all that he can. I know he thinks he’s let me down. I just want him and the children to be happy. It’s not always easy, but it’s all I dream about.

And from the little boy’s perspective …

My daddy’s a strong man. My momma, she loves him. And they love my brother and sister and me. Sometimes at night we lay out in the backyard. And take turns wishing on the first star we see.

Besides these three outstanding songs of my favorite, there are others that though painted with a grim situation (child sexual abuse), hope follows (“But when it rains, the past gets washed away, and then she smiles ’cause she knows in the end the world gets beautiful, beautiful again”). And of course, there are some that are so love overdosed (“Woke up in the middle of the night and saw you sleepin’. I was hoping that you were dreamin’ about me. Kissed your cheek and said I love you. You reached for me and then you mumbled, I love you too, is everything ok?”). Some have ideas that are just so obvious but yet with such an impact – if you are trying to find a reason to stay in a relationship, maybe it’s time to walk away.

Below is her live performance of the song “Anyway” at American Idol result show. Check out how her soprano voice rode the wave towards the end. I thought that sort of effort is only for live (especially that American Idol style of ending) but when I hear the recording, it is the exact same thing. Worth checking out if you don’t mind country music.

Categories
Hip Hop R&B Music Reviews

Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad – Probably The Most Notable Pop R&B Album Of Lately

From the pop R&B artist who brought us the Nike endorsed upbeat single “S.O.S” and that heart wrenching yet beautifully written “Unfaithfull” comes a new album “Good Girl Gone Bad”. If you have not heard of the song “Unfaithful”, do click onto the link and check it out. It is hard to imagine that a 18 years old girl has the level of maturity to pull that one off. And Rihanna did that beautifully.

I have no idea where Barbados is (okay, I read that it is the most easterly island in the Caribbean and have obtained independence from UK in 1966) but Barbadian singer Rihanna has certainly made her home country proud with her charm and music.

What I love most about “Good Girl Gone Bad” is its strong opening. It is hard not to fall in love with the first five songs of the album at first listen. They are stylishly crafted and make you want to dance. If “Unfaithful” is my favorite track from her previous album “A Girl Like Me”, “Umbrella feat. JAY-Z” has to be the one in this album. In fact, I have never heard the word “umbrella” being sung with such a style. One time, I was out there at the Singapore Botanical Garden and there were two young girls singing happily with the hook from “Umbrella”. And that level of happiness is contagious. Soon I was having the song in my head. If you take a look at the lyrics from Rihanna’s official website, “Umbrella” is a song about two lovers who take an oath together and are determined to stick with one and other through thick and thin. Quite a meaningful song it is.

Out of the first five strong openings, Cynthia likes the fourth track “Breakin’ Dishes” a lot. I can certainly understand why. The beat is unique, the bass-line is powerful, and the melody is funky. As for me, the fifth track “Shut Up And Drive” (her second single after “Umbrella”) has a special place in my heart. “Shut Up And Drive” begins with a sampling from the 80’s rock band New Order’s “Blue Monday” and it sounds interesting to mix 80’s rock sound into today’s pop.

The problem of having such a strong opening in an album is how then to follow it through. The album could become tiring and old if the same style continues. Doing anything different may make it hard to follow the energy through. And perhaps that is why both Cynthia and I feel that the next two songs that are more mellow and with a pure R&B sound fall short of expectation. It is especially disappointing to me when “Hate That I Love You feat. Ne-Yo” (written by the same songwriter who wrote my favorite song “Unfaithful”) does not manage to rekindle the magic of “Unfaithful”.

Then comes the urban and reggae influenced “Sell Me Candy”, “Lemme Get That” (co-written by JAY-Z), and “Rehab” that are produced by Timbaland – the producer who created hit singles for Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, and Nelly Furtado – just to name a few. Out of these three songs that are produced by Timbaland, I enjoy “Rehab” the most. This mellow “Rehab” is co-written by Justin Timberlake and he sings the backing vocals for the song. Just beautiful.

What happens when you put JAY-Z and Ne-Yo together with Stargate as the production team? A powerful slow song with meaningful lyrics on humanity – “Question Existing”. And if Ne-Yo has somewhat disappointed me with that one song in the middle of the album, his work on the last slow track “Good Girl Gone Bad” has certainly fully redeemed himself (okay, that song in question is not that bad … the beat is pretty funky). What a way to close this 45 minutes album.

Perhaps for some, it is not a question of whether or not to get this album but should or should you not spend the extra money and get the Collector’s Limited Edition. This special edition comes with an entry pass for 2 to Powerhouse with a catch – for ladies only. But the good thing is that this pass works on weekends and weekends only (Fri/Sat before 11pm). This is way better than the entry pass to The Boiler Room from the Bon Jovi Lost Highway album that only works on weekdays. Entry pass aside, this special edition comes with an additional CD that contains over 78 minutes of 12 remixes including S.O.S. as well as two previously unreleased songs “Cry” and “Haunted” – both remixed by Steve Mac. Steve Mac’s work is probably my favorite amongst the rest of the remix teams. Though it is strange to hear the song “Umbrella” being spanned at a much faster speed, I can imagine those who enjoy disco and trance music may like this CD.

Below is the video clip of her first single “Umbrella”. If you like it, you may try out her second single my favorite “Shut Up And Dance” and Cynthia’s favorite “Breakin’ Dishes”.

Related Website: Rihanna’s Official Site.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Die Hard 4.0 – Living Up To The Expectation Of The Franchise

I almost gave into “Transformer” after hearing some surprisingly interesting comments from people around me. Lora, for instance, loves the exciting plot, special effects, and the romance subplot. Another guy friend of mine loves the hot chick inside the movie. Fortunately, Tong Kiat has watched that, did not like it (for example, he cannot tell the good machines from the bad ones during the battle and he blames the … special effects), and when I suggested “Die Hard 4.0”, everybody leaped in joy.

“Die Hard” and I have gone a long way. Though I can’t quite remember where I watched “Die Hard” (1998), I remember vividly where and when I watched “Die Hard 2” (1990). I was just 24 hours away from boarding the plane to fly from London to Hong Kong and I wanted to try something different. I wanted to stay awake the whole night so that I would be able to sleep throughout the flight and wake up fresh in Hong Kong (that did not work). My friends whom let me stay at their apartment back then gamed for this crazy idea of mine and they have rented – on top of many other things – “Die Hard 2”.

I am not sure how many of you remember the plot of “Die Hard 2”. It was about terrorists taking over the entire airport and threatened to crash all the planes until their demands were met. Not exactly the kind of movie to watch just hours before boarding a plane (perhaps that was why I couldn’t sleep on the plane?). In the first “Die Hard” installment, John McClain’s (“Bruce Willis”) wife was stuck in a high-rise that terrorists took over, in “Die Hard 2”, his wife was amongst one of the planes circling above the airport under siege.

Since when action films make logical sense? Just when you thought John’s wife would be loving him for life after these two life changing events, in “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” (1995), their marriage was at the bleak of divorce. John McClain has become an alcoholic under suspension from service. The plot began with a bomb explosion with the man called “Simon” involving John McClain for all his bomb detonation games (and of course that racist sign John has to wear in Harlem when he met Zeus played by “Samuel L. Jackson”).

Almost 20 years have passed since “Die Hard” was released that shot Bruce Willis to stardom. I have to say, Bruce doesn’t seem to age a bit. At 52, he still looks amazingly agile and I think it all comes down to the “cool factor” he has. If the success measurements of an action film are the variety of parties in pursuit, the explosion, the tight plot, and a sense of humor, “Die Hard 4.0” has scored high in my book. Many people enjoy and amuse at how indestructible John McClain is (hence the franchise title, “Die Hard”). To me, it is how straightforward John McClain is (he doesn’t plan, he has an idea and execute it) and how he gets the kick of the entire execution and is actually enjoying doing it. A man with no perceived fear. That spirit of directness and self-enjoyment is what I enjoy watching installments after installments.

I have watched quite a few movies that try to tackle the theme cyberspace. It either over simplifies what lies within – like hacking into an account with a guessed password at first attempt or by typing something as silly as “hack this account” – or portraits geeks as someone who type really fast in front of multiple screens. “Die Hard 4.0” tackles the topic of cyber-criminology (hence the version number “4.0”) and while there are still rooms for improvement, it does strike a good balance between what may satisfy those who are computer savvy and a good sense of entertainment. So it comes with no surprise that in this installment, John McClain’s partner is a geek named Matt Farrell (played by “Justin Long”) who has decent acting skills. Since John is now officially divorced, his long time wife Holly is out of the picture and into the picture is John’s daughter Lucy McClane (played by “Mary Elizabeth Winstead”). After the movie, I asked Cynthia if she remembered which movies have “Mary Elizabeth Winstead” acted in as I did seem to have some vague ideas. Turns out that Winstead has also acted in “Death Proof”, which we have watched recently.

All three of us from Movie Review Squad love “Die Hard 4.0”. If you are into the genre of action or you have already seen some of the previous installments, you really should not miss this one. Try not to think too hard (though I must say there are parts of the plot that don’t quite make sense to me) and you will certainly get entertained.

An after thought: How could I possibly forget to mention the “Mission Impossible: III” girl Maggie Q? Okay, I think she has played her role well and I can understand why some guys are crazy over her. For “Die Hard 4.0”, Bruce Willis is my hero. Make no mistake.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Kelly Clarkson’s My December – Has She Found Her Own Style Finally?

When someone as popular as Kelly Clarkson releases an album, I really should come out with a review fast. Real fast, like on the same day. However, lately my life has turned busy so sorry guys for the delay. Nevertheless, Kelly Clarkson’s “My December” has jumped the queue of the coming soon list.

Big question to myself after listened to “My December” for a good number of times is: why didn’t Clarkson stick with her previous formula and release a popular but forgettable album? We all agree that her “Thankful” and “Breakaway” are both great album. Easy to the ears, great melody, but unfortunately easy to be forgotten too.

Another big shocking revelation to myself is that I thought I have heard all that pop rock has offered. Majority of my collection are from that genre. Then I realised one little detail from Clarkson’s 3rd album that makes me want to go back to my collection and to pay that extra attention again.

So what is that big shocking revelation? “My December” is predominantly a rock album with lots of electric guitar sound and drum and it sounds strange to me that except the first 10 seconds of so, Kelly Clarkson’s vocals fill the entire song literally from beginning till end. Hardly are there any gap for the instruments at all – be it as slow or fast songs. Not sure if it is just me, I found it strange. I am used to rock music having space for the guitar solos and so on. That usually makes the music more memorable, to me at least.

But that is not necessarily bad news. Because Kelly Clarkson has a great and versatile voice. And I can certainly see the footprint of her ex-boyfriend all over the entire album. In her 3rd album, Clarkson has decided to participate in the songwriting for all her songs. That makes this album more honest, more personal. This also makes “My December” one dimensional in terms of topic and some songs are outstanding while some are not really on par. The standard is varied.

I particularly like some of the more unusual songs from “My December”. Hands down to the last track “Irvine”, the real gem of the entire album. It is just her and the acoustic guitar with this slow song split into two parts having a 1 minute silence in between. This close to 9 minutes song captures Clarkson’s emotions well. Part one of “Irvine” is a song of desperation. Part two is a song of recovery with a hint of angst and musically it is mixed with the old record sound. This hidden track is called “Chivas”.

Other slow songs I love are “Sober” and “Maybe”. Both are beautifully composed and executed. I love the ambiance created by “Sober” and I love how “Maybe” starts with just acoustic guitar, and then drum, and finally the song explodes into a full rock ballad. Some may like the single “Never Again” – a fast rock song. My pick would be the more unusual “Haunted” and “Yeah”. The music of “Haunted” somehow reminds me of Evanescence.

So in total I did a count. I love 6 songs out of 13. Rumor says that the record company nearly can this album. Some may think that Clarkson has committed a career suicide. She defied the record company, fired her manager, and cancelled her tour due to disappointing sales. The real test is how many American Idol fans are going to stick by Clarkson after this change in music direction. Kelly Clarkson would have my full support had the quality of her songwriting was more consistent and to stay with one style – probably more of the acoustic type and let her vocal shines. As for her next album, if any, I think I will make some serious sampling before purchasing it. Not that I don’t love her voice. I just not sure if she will change her music direction again.

“My December” is not as forgettable compares to her other albums. It is short of a great album though it has some great songs sung by a great voice.

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

My Wife Is A Gangster 3 – I Nearly Cried & I Laughed Till My Stomach Cramped

Once in a while, a man has to go solo putting behind the power of 3 (of our Movie Review Squad). Here is my story.

After 7 years of living with Cynthia, I surrender. I just am not a good shopping partner when it comes to office-wear. Most of the time, I am not excited. And when I am, we both gasp at the price tag. I love fashion but fashion comes with a price. One evening I looked at a sea of shoes for ladies, I had an idea. I suggested to Cynthia to go out shopping with her lady colleagues (in order to liberate me of that role) and she did just that. Cynthia and MW (a very pleasant young lady from Malaysia) went shopping together today (Sunday) and she has spent a rather astonishing amount of money. On the same night, Cynthia lined up a parade of trophies that were enough to cover the entire bed and beyond. What a way to celebrate commemorate the 1st day of the 2% GST hike.

Knowing that I would probably have nothing much to do from the moment I dropped Cynthia off at Orchard to meeting Cynthia and her friend MW for dinner, I thought catching a movie would be a great idea. As I have not met my buddy KF since his return from Mount K, what better way to catch up with him and then four of us have dinner together?

Unfortunately I could not contact KF in time (he did join us for the dinner in the end), I have to pick a movie to watch alone. I chose the sneak preview of “My Wife Is A Gangster 3” that was shown in the odd timing of 3pm. I have no issue watching movies alone as I often do that whenever I cannot find a movie partner at the spur of a moment.

I walked into the theater with no expectation especially after watching “Death Proof” recently (a great movie by the way and what else can possibly thrill me after that?). I think I may have watched the 1st episode of “My Wife Is A Gangster” and from what I read, this 3rd episode does not quite gel with the previous two episode. In “My Wife Is A Gangster 3”, the beautiful Shu Qi is the main actress of this Korean movie franchise that has nothing to do with the previous installments. Those who love the franchise may not like this discontinuity.

To give you a quick overview of this Chinese-Korean movie and to illustrate how diverse this movie is, from the language perspective:

70% Korean, 20% Mandarin, 10% Cantonese

And from the movie genre perspective:

50% Comedy, 20% Drama, 20% Action, 10% Romance

As the story goes, A-ryong (played by “Shu Qi”), the daughter of one of the gangster bosses in Hong Kong, caught in the middle of a gang conflict and upon the request of her father, she left Hong Kong and into a country of her choice – Korea. There, she was under the protection of a Korean gang that is in a different kind of conflict with other gangs. Gi-chul (played by “Lee Beom-soo”) together with his 2 subordinates were put in charge as a guide to protect A-ryong. And the story pretty much zigzags between Hong Kong and Korea from then on.

There are many things I love about this movie. When filmed in Hong Kong, it has the typical intense gang drama and action and the moment the location is switched to Korea, I just could not stop laughing at the comedy. The contrast of the gangsters from these two locations (fearful and deadly feel versus comical acting) makes this movie one notch above the Asia movies I have watched.

I often get put off by actors and actresses trying to speak a foreign language throughout the movies that require them so (with some exceptions). I was prepared to see Shu Qi speaks in Korean or the Koreans speak in Chinese. But no, each speaks in his or her native language. To bridge the language barrier, the film-maker has thrown in a translator. And because the translator at times does more than translating the original message, that makes the movie such a joy to watch. With my limited exposure to Asian films, I have not seen films that exploit this translator’s role into great comedy materials.

Talking about originality, besides having a translator that takes on his or her personality, there are quite a few scenes that are original. I am not going to post the spoilers here and you will have to watch it to find out yourself. I love the car chasing scene and I bet you one popcorn set (if you buy me the ticket) that you have never seen anything like that before.

Yes, there are moments when I was so touched by the drama that I nearly shed a tear. There are moments when I laughed till my stomach cramped. And the action scene are beautifully filmed. Almost remind me of Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill” when I saw Shu Qi in action. I have always been a big fan of Shu Qi. In this movie, you will see her coldness, her coolness, her sweetness, a bit of her sexiness as well as her vulnerability. She can be so adorable when she smiles. As icing on the cake, the soundtrack does the job well to blend in with some of the action scenes.

I love “My Wife Is A Gangster 3” and I will certainly get the DVD when it is out. Do I recommend this movie to everybody? Only for those who enjoy Chinese action-drama and Korean comedy-romance and are open to the idea of the combination of these two unique cultures.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Missy Higgins’s “On A Clear Night” – Brilliance Voice Over Mediocre Music

It pains me much to write such a title because I have great respect to those who write the lyrics and music of all the songs in the album. Missy Higgins’s debut album “The Sound Of White” is brilliant and should not be missed. If you have not heard of her music, I strongly recommend “The Sound Of White” instead.

Australian singer songwriter Missy Higgins’s key selling point is her honey like mellow voice with a good texture and she has the right technique to control her voice. She may not have a big voice but she certainly has an unique one. That pretty much matches all the mellow songs of hers perfectly. If you are not familiar with Missy Higgins’s music, I urge you to check out the video clip of The Special Two. I have also found two live clips from her previous album as well – Scar and The Sound Of White.

“The Sound Of White” is very piano-driven while “On A Clear Night” is more band-driven. I often think that if the artist’s voice is unique enough, he or she can almost get away with mediocre music. It may be true in this case because while “On A Clear Night” may not have the same level of sparks as her debut, “On A Clear Night” is now certified nine times platinum and is one of the highest selling Australian albums of all time. It is quite an admirable achievement consider that Missy Higgins is originally an Indie singer from Melbourne (how many indie singers from non-US and non-UK countries are well known worldwide?).

There are some tracks from this album that I do enjoy such as “Sugarcane” and “Where I Stood”. Below is the video of “Where I Stood” and if you want more, try out “Steer” – her first single from “On A Clear Night”. On the record, I am still glad that Missy Higgins has released another good album that has added to my music collection. I just wish that it was as brilliant as her previous one.