Category: My Opinion

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Foreign Movie Reviews

Love And Honor – The 3rd Installment of Yoji Yamada’s Samurai Trilogy

I shed half a tear at the ending scene, which is rare as I have an enormous resistance to tear jerking moments in movies – and “Love And Honor” is not even a sappy love story. See for yourself if this is some sort of coincidence. Cynthia is not in town so what should my good friend Tong Kiat and I do? Eat durian and watch a Japanese movie! Without even planning for this (I had no idea that the only Japanese movie showing in Singapore at the moment is this one) or even before, every time a Yoji Yamada’s samurai movie is released, I have always ended up watching it with Tong Kiat while Cynthia has an overseas business trip in all three counts. Tsk, tsk, tsk … little things in life that tickles.

When I first told Tong Kiat that Cynthia would be out-of-town, both of us arrived at the same single word … Durian! And when thinking of durians, the word “Geylang” suddenly lights up in my head. Now, seasoned readers of this site certainly remember the last trip to Geylang (erm … the red light district of Singapore) with my friend Tong Kiat (see previous blog and you’ve been warned!). This time, Tong Kiat suggested taking me to another place for durians … one of the last few Opposition Strongholds in Singapore. Over dinner, it was hard for me not to crack some silly jokes on Singapore politics that I am used to. What is a joke to me may not be that funny as we were surrounded by majorities (and minorities in a national scale of course) who do not vote for the government. Overall, the food was good, parking was horrible (and I nearly joked that had the people in this region love the ruling party more, a multi-storey car park should be on its way), durian was so-so. Hey Tong Kiat, let’s go back to Geylang next time for durians!

Since “Love And Honor” is showing exclusively at Golden Village, we have no choice but to watch it at VivoCity. I personally enjoy watching movies at Cathay cinemas. Who in the right mind would want to pay more for a movie and to be forced to watch 15 minutes of advertisements before the show? Movies at Cathay cinemas always start on time with no or very little advertisements. The booking fee at Cathay is half of GV some more.

Parking at VivoCity was horrible. To avoid jamming up the entire street outside VivoCity – the biggest mall in Singapore – that certainly inconveniences the traffic going into Sentosa, the island resort, the car park attendants kept letting cars in even though the car park was full. Nearly all the slots that can be illegally parked were taken out. Being the law abiding citizen, I spent 45 mins inside the car park looking for a space. My friend Tong Kiat has decided to go the illegal way. In this case, being law abiding did not pay off.

Now, why am I talking so much on food and shopping mall without going directly into business – a movie review? I hesitated in revealing the plot of “Love And Honor”. When Tong Kiat asked me over dinner on what the plot was about, I simply said: bring some tissue papers. Simply put, it is a movie about samurai and it is a movie about love and honor. The duel scene got me intensely excited (I was more like … oh no, oh no, don’t let that happen!), the honor scenes made my blood boiling, and the love scenes made me shed half a tear. I am not sure if you have heard of the other two installments: Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004). “Twilight Samurai” is a classic. Both Tong Kiat and I had no difficulties in remembering what it was about. We did have difficulties in remembering what the 2nd installment was about. Tong Kiat remember the title while I remember the fighting of the clans. I have to say, “Love And Honor” is my personal favorite amongst the trilogy. It is movies like these that let us the foreigners to have a quick look at what the culture and tradition was like during the old days of Japan. These little details can be fascinating to the curious minds.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0

Okay, let’s recall what we have so far. We have Sam and Max solved the case of hypnosis in episode 1. We have Sam and Max on reality TV (episode 2) and then acted as undercover mobs in episode 3. We have Max running as the president of the United State of America in episode 4 and in the fifth installment of season 1, Sam and Max have to battle the Internet.

This episode, I have to admit, is pretty hard. At times I really wanted to give up and search the Internet for clues to proceed. Proud to say, I have survived the 1st season so far without relying on the Internet and have solved all the puzzles on my own. This episode resembled so much like some of the massively multiplayer online role playing games that it put a smile on my face. A +2 sword? Potions for +1 meat tastiness? Loots? Lightning bolts? What has the world of Sam and Max become?

I certainly find Reality 2.0 entertaining. The entire familiar street that Sam and Max have walked for the previous four episode has given a totally new face lift with a click of a button. Wear that virtual reality goggles and you suddenly find Sam and Max in a totally new dimension. To solve the puzzles you will need to traverse across the different realities. There is a big surprise when Reality 1.5 booted up and I am not going to spoil your fun. In Reality 2.0, they have advertisements for two websites – Nauseatinglycute.com and bancolavadero.com. Go click on the links and I bet you would love that nauseatingly cute little creature.

I can’t wait for the last episode – The Bright Side of the Moon – to arrive.

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Brand Leadership – Solid Theories And Approach, But Not An Easy Read

My friend KF the Branding Consultant (not KF the Muscleman) passed me a book titled “Brand Leadership” to read. I have always enjoyed expanding my horizon whenever I can. Two reasons for that: (1) I’ll never know what I read or do may come in handy in my future (in another word, get prepared for the unknown unknown) and (2) I strongly believe in the “innovation intersection” where the best place to innovate is to put various different types of disciplines together (it helps me to get out the box).

Books on consulting ideas, theories, approach, and frameworks are not known as easy reads. I have yet to read a consulting book that is engaging. As a confession, I have not survived reading many of the consulting books that I have bought over the years. If not for this blog, I probably would not be finish “Brand Leadership” either. The previous non-fiction book I read was “Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation“. It is a total page turner full of exciting case studies, a great material for trainers and motivational speakers but not necessarily for the consultants. “Brand Leadership” has some great frameworks and I can imagine how a branding consultant is able to readily take them into the battlefield. I enjoyed reading the first 5 chapters, which is consistent with some of the other readers’ reviews I have seen. The author tends to get a bit long winded and the case studies become stale after numerous repetitions. And I love the leading questions that are listed in the last chapter as well when it comes to global brand planning (in the areas of brand strategy, brand-building programs, strategic analysis, and goals and measurement). Those are valuable to the branding consultants who may be new to this aspect of the business.

Essentially, the authors try to advocate the idea that branding strategy is not a one-off project. The organisation (i.e. leadership) has to embrace this constant change and be able to champion this brand planning effort. To constantly evaluate the customers, competitors, and own brand image, to constantly look into the brand strategy versus the brand portfolio, to constantly employ effective action plans to carry out the strategy, and to constantly evaluate the branding effectiveness. This requires a change in mindset especially when the brand has a global presence.

I can draw similarity between branding and the last piece of work I have done – balanced scorecard. The end result of balanced scorecard is a strategy map, a set of indicators, and the processes to sustain this system. Creating a balanced scorecard requires ground level contribution as well as ground level buy-in. Ultimately, it is a set of vision and mission and strategy that an organization can identify with. And if an organisation has a hierarchy of units, each unit may have its own scorecard that has to be harmonized and aligned to the parent unit. To me, it is like internal branding. Branding requires a good look at identity in the areas of brand as product, as organization, as person, and as symbol. There should be a value proposition (very much like vision and mission) and if there is a portfolio of brands (like the units within the organization), we need to look into the relationship and to create synergy. What follows would be action plans to realize the brand strategy, measurements, as well as a system in place to sustain. In fact, pretty much like many of the other management consulting tools out there.

If you want to learn more about branding, the first few chapters should get you started. If you are a branding consultant, there are couple of pages you will need to photocopy and have them pinned to the wall. One of the authors, David Aaker, is highly regarded in the domain of branding. I can certainly see why judging from some of the frameworks he proposed.

Branding is powerful. Large organizations are willing to pay big money to branding because it has a direct effect on the top line. Look around you, branding is everywhere.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

Conversations With Other Women – Original in Cinematography, Not Original in Storyline

There are two sides to every love story ...

It is my first time watching a movie in split screen from beginning to the end. In fact, split screen filming is not common. I can think of the TV series “24” that has employed this technique and probably there are some other productions out there but that is it. The idea is that instead of the traditional cut scenes, you get to watch the actor and actress’ immediate facial and body response while reacting to the lines of his or hers counterpart. This can be powerful. As an added feature, the film maker allows the audience to do their own editing, to focus on whichever part that interests them most. “Conversations With Other Women” managed to pull off because Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter do have great chemistry in the movie. The sacrifice though is the lacking in tastefulness of the backdrop. I compare this movie with “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” that are similar in nature with “Conversations With Other Women” but with much better scenery and backdrop. “Before Sunrise/Sunset” is an art. “Conversations With Other Women” seems like an experiment.

When watching “Conversations With Other Women”, I could not help but reminiscing my favorite movies “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”. The story of “Conversations With Other Women” started with a man flirting with a woman in a wedding reception and guess what? They have a past history of passion decades ago and the woman has a flight to catch in a couple of hours’ time and to return to her own family. Sounds like the storyline of “Before Sunset”? I screamed rip off in my head while watching the movie.

From the scripting perspective, “Conversations With Other Women” does have its clever moments. It directs the audience to pay attention to the details in both screens and more clues are dropped as the story unfold. I have got to say, there are some romantic moments that though I wish it was Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who acted out the parts instead, I think these moments are brilliant.

It is certainly a novelty in watching a split screen movie. Most of the time both screens are synchronized in terms of timing. Other times especially when the couple is recalling the past, one screen shows the present while another screen shows the past. It is interesting to note that the split screen effect also serves as a visual metaphor of two people who are apart trying to get together.

On a side note, Helena Bonham Carter looks familiar but I could not pinpoint which are the movies she has acted in. In fact, she has a long list of movies and TV series under her belt including some of those that I know such as Hamlet, Frankenstein, Fight Club, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the voice behind Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and my favourite Corpse Bride! She was gorgeous when she played Ophelia in the movie “Hamlet”. That was back in 1990 when she was 24! How time flies.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Hilary Duff’s 4th Album “Dignity” – Her DVD Saved The Day

Before viewing the DVD that comes with the Deluxe Edition of Hilary Duff’s new album “Dignity”, the title of this blog would have been “Too Little Great Songs Too Late”. I like listening to (and writing about) artists who has a story to tell themselves. I can be both easy and difficult to satisfy. You don’t have to have a big voice like Celine Dion nor Mariah Carey (and so long as you don’t sing as repulsive as Lindsay Lohan). As long as I can hear an element of “you” inside your album, I am a happy audience.

I always enjoy listening to Hillary Duff’s music, especially her 2nd self-titled album. I like her Rock/Pop background. Though lacking of Avril Lavigne’s edge in terms of attitude and consistence song delivery within an album and even across albums, Hilary Duff does have something appealing underneath her good girl image. Something genuine. Something honest. Something that I could not pinpoint.

Then I sampled her DVD that by the way made the entire purchase worth it. The DVD came with 9 music videos that span across her career plus on top of that, an interview that lasted more than 30 minutes. It was that interview that changed my mind. Hilary is hands on with her singing career from songwriting to touring. In her mind, it is hard to relate to a song that is written by others. That, I agree totally. And in her interview, she talked about how she struggled in LA to become an artist and how she found her own manager without knowing the business at all. In a way, she has a great business mind. Leverage on her television success, she branched out into singing. Then subsequently having her own perfume and clothing line. With an earning of $15 million at the age of 18? What more do I need to say?

In her DVD, she stated that her new album is a deliberate move away from her Rock/Pop background and venture into the Pop/Dance genre. It took me a while to get used to. That is why songs like “Happy” (track 10) casts an immediate hook onto me because it is like her classic Rock/Pop genre. The last track “Play With Fire” is yet another outstanding title that I keep listening to. (Now you understand why the working title of this blog was as such).

Overall there are some good dance songs like the opening track “Stranger” (very Indian feel), “With Love” (featured below), and “Gypsy Woman”. Hilary Duff is only 20 this September and I have much faith in her.

Her 2nd single “With Love” that sums up what most of the tracks are like in “Dignity”.

Her 1st single “Play With Fire” was written before she has conceptualize “Dignity”. My 2nd favourite track from the album (my first being “Happy” that there is no video for that song). There is a remix edition on YouTube too but I prefer the original. The remix version may be appealing to some of you.

Categories
Movie Reviews Romance

Music And Lyrics – You Won’t Be Inspired To Be A Songwriter, But …

My take is that you probably won’t get much out of it from a songwriting perspective. I certainly don’t compose songs like they do (though the recording bits are pretty authentic). However you will be in for a good laugh as the center character is played by Hugh Grant. I love the script especially – witty and humorous. Drew Barrymore’s acting is adorable too. If Grant’s acting reminds me of “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, Drew Barrymore’s acting does remind me of her “50 First Dates”.

Coincidentally, after watching “Music and Lyrics”, I watched “Walk the Line” on cable. And “Coyote Ugly” afterwards. The common theme? All about songwriting. Pretty coincidental don’t you think? As though God was talking directly to me.

Another interesting thing is that in the story of “Music and Lyrics”, there is a teenage pop megastar “Cora” who is supposed to be bigger than Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera combined. Cora’s music direction is more towards Buddhism or Indian-ish trance. I bought the new Hilary Duff CD and when I played it on my Hi-fi (on the same night), I got shocked by the first track. Exactly the same influence as some of the songs in “Music and Lyrics”. Buddhism or Indian-ish trance/pop music must be the new frontier these days.

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

Yuna Ito’s Heart

Afterwords: I wrote this blog 2 to 3 weeks ago (have to space out blogs of similar category or to give way to blogs with higher priority). Had it not for Ayumi Hamasaki’s double “Black” and “White” best albums that took up the 1st and 2nd position in the Singapore HMV chart, Yuna Ito’s album would have topped the chart as predicted.

Okay, let’s see how well you know my blogs. If I say “Nana” … you say …

Japanese movie would be correct. Mika Nakashima would also be correct. Previously, Mika Nakashima released an album inspired by the Japanese movies “Nana” and “Nana 2”. Inside the Nana soundtrack, there is another singer who has contributed to one track. She has acted in the movie as well. And her name is …

Yuna Ito is correct. I knew you are smart. Still very young in the music scene, Yuna Ito is a half-Japanese and half-Korean American citizen. That explains why in her debut album “Heart”, the English pronunciation is unlike any of her Japanese peers. In fact that is one of the reasons that got me interested in her music. Singing-wise, her voice tends to be thin (I remember Cynthia screamed from the bedroom one day saying: Oh My God, her voice is so thin … how she “loves” J-Pop). Song-wise, all commercial stuffs that can easily keep you delighted with repeated listens. With the limited Japanese music exposure here in Singapore, I am almost certain that Yuna Ito’s Heart will stay in our local HMV chart for a while. Do note that this album does not come with a Chinese translated lyrics like many do.

Related blog entry: Wish By Yuna Ito – Of Moon Rabbit, Urban Mermaid, And A Titanic Theme Song

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Supreme Commander – Boys’ Childhood Dreams Come True

There was a time when girls wanted to be Barbie and boys fantasied to take control of one of those robots as inspired by the Japanese anime series, fly high and kick some enemy butts (somehow I have this bizarre image of tomatoes and eggs flying towards my ways from the girls). “Supreme Commander” gives us exactly that.

The concept of “Supreme Commander” is unique, pretty like a game of chess. You are one of the Commanders (don’t you love a title like that?!) who take control of this monstrously huge robot of what looks like a 24 storeys high monument, walk into a warping gate, swish your way through space, and with a big bang, the ground cracks, you are landed right into the planet at war. Now, here is what I like about “Supreme Commander” – its sci-fi realism. How can one machine rage war towards another? Wouldn’t it be lame and boring?

Upon landed onto the war zone, you can start utilising the limited mass (something like materials) and energy you carry to build … ta-dah … mass extractors and power generators. How intuitive it is right? As you start gathering mass and energy and building your base, more and more schemata are downloaded onto your computer and before you know it, you have your team of engineers churning out one of the most formidable armed forces in the planet, top it up with a combined force of army, navy, and air force. This is not only boys’ childhood dreams come true but also grown up men like me and you!

Missions are varied (only cleared the first one) and when you manage to bring down the opposing Commander, he does just die but explode in the most spectacular nuclear-mushroom-look-alike’s fashion very much like the picture I have included in this blog. Like chess, once you checkmate your opponent, that is the end of the game.

I have a feeling that I won’t be able to get far into this game, like many from this genre that I have played. The games these days tend to get too hard too soon. Although it is likely to be another white elephant in my storeroom, it always excites me much experiencing yet another captivating game like “Supreme Commander”. For the geeks, this game is first of its kind to be able to utilise Windows Vista’s DirectX 10.0, multicore processing capability, and can be played with 2 wide-screen LCD monitors – one to see your war plan and another one is the actual execution of your commands. Your pocket must be pretty deep to play “Supreme Commander” in its full glory (as of 2 months ago, the machine without the LCD monitors would cost USD 7,000). For the rest of us, dream on!

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!

Stay frosty, America!

“People of Earth! Your day of reckoning is at hand!” – believe it or not, this is one of the many speeches our beloved rabbit Max made when he was running for American presidency side-by-side with his freelance police partner – Sam, the dog. This 4th monthly installment of a favourably rated point-and-click Adventure game has many surprises. First, it was pre-released to loyal customers like myself one week before the actual launch. I think that is very nice of Telltale Games. Second, this episode is longer and more challenging than the previous episodes. There is even a mini-musical within the plot of the game. To anticipate that gamers indeed get smarter as they learn the game mechanism through the episodes, the puzzles are relatively more subtle and there are a few parallel plots to the game that the linkages are not at all obvious. Third, Telltale Games has made several subtle changes to how they used to layout the plots. It disorients and confuses seasoned players like me and I found myself exploring the plot rather than following the plot. That, I love.

In “Abe Lincoln Must Die!”, Sam and Max is entering into politics. It is hilarious, they are adorable. I can hardly find anything to complain about except perhaps … it will be a month long wait till the final episode is out.

Telltales Games has even made a dummy website www.MaxForPresident.org for episode 4. I spotted it at the end credits (yes, I love their episodes so much that I read all the credits).

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia

Categories
Hip Hop R&B Music Reviews

Akon’s Konvicted – Hip-Hop With Good Varieties

I seldom purchase Hip-Hop albums. Love the genre when I am in a club. Just somehow, Hip-Hop music get dated fast. Couple of months ago I first heard of Akon’s single “Smack That feat. Eminem” and I was like … wow, that was different. And who would have forgotten the lyrics of the chorus “Smack that all on the floor. Smack that give me some more. Smack that ’till you get sore. Smack that oh-oooh!”?

I have this perception of Akon’s music is somewhere between suggestive (like “Smack That”) to pornographic (like “I Wanna Love You feat. Snoop Dogg”). “I Wanna Love You” is a great chill out Hip-Hop song that the melody is memorable, the singing is soothing, and Snoop Dogg’s rapping blends well with the song. If you examine the lyrics (as broadcast in radios), “I see you windin’ and grindin’ up on the floor. I know you see me lookin’ at you and you already know. I wanna love you, you already know. I wanna love you, you already know”, it is pretty harmless. However, if you listen to the original version, the word “love” is replaced by “f**k” and “on the floor” with “at the pole”. Suddenly, ah-ha!, the lyrics makes sense.

For the record, I did not buy this album, Cynthia did (which I am glad). Though “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You” are both the famous tracks from Konvicted, I find the rest of the songs – different from these two – more pleasant to listen to. Especially from the content point of view (less suggestive and not pornographic at all). Take his third single “Don’t Matter” for instance, it is a great song about a love relationship between two people that is not approved by the rest of the world. “Konvicted” is packed with songs that keeps me interested throughout. A good Hip Hop album.

This is the video for “Don’t Matter” – one of my favourite track in the album.

The following video is “I Wanna Love You feat. Snoop Dogg”. Please take note that it comes with a “Parental Advisory – Explicit Content” sticker and the video maybe deem offensive to you. If in doubt, please don’t view.