Something still worth catching on the silver screen

Despite my inclination towards avi and divx files, there are still some films that deserve that precious $21 ($10.50 per weekend ticket) and the giant bottle of Oolong tea. I came to this conclusion after scanning through this morning's papers and I'm glad to say that these films have only recently opened in the box office so there is still mucho time to catch them.



MY MAGIC
Rating: NC16
Consumer Advice: Some Coarse Language & Some Disturbing Scenes
Genre: Drama
Language: Tamil, Hokkien
Subtitles: Chinese and English Subtitles
Director: Eric Khoo
Main Cast: Bosco Francis, Jathishweran
Runtime: 78mins

Francis (Bosco Francis) is a man at the end of is tether. The former magician often takes solace in the bottle and barely ekes out a living as a cleaner in a nightclub. He has a 10-year-old son he loves desperately, but sorrow, guilt and constant inebriation have made him an ineffectual father. The son (Jathishweran) is a stoic old soul who has learned to bury his affection for his old man and to cope with his chaotic life.

A broken spirit and a single parent, Francis hopes to redeem himself and win his sons love and respect. He makes a painful - and bizarre return to magic. An unexpected incident one night sets father and son on the road. In a dilapidated building, these two wounded souls come to terms with their love - a love which is as deep and acute as their grief.



BURN AFTER READING
Rating: TBA
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Main Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt
Runtime: TBC

Osbourne Cox is a CIA operative struggling to stay afloat. His job and marriage are going nowhere, and he's got a drinking problem to boot. Harry Pfarrer (Clooney) is a Treasury Department marshal who can't stop tripping over his own vanity. His hobbies include internet-dating behind his wife's back and building homemade sex toys in this basement, not to mention sleeping with Osbourne's dissatisfied wife. When Ozzie gets fired from the Agency, he decides to write a tell-all memoir, blissfully unaware that he doesn't have much to tell. However, a draft ends up in the hands of Harry's other love, harebrained Hardbodies gym employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), and her dopey colleague Chad Feldheimer (Pitt). Convinced they've tapped into classified information, they see this as the perfect opportunity to make some serious cash, and they bring their discovery straight to the Russians! Instantly, affairs of love and state become absurdly entangled, and nobody knows who to trust or what to believe - least of all, the "brilliant" minds at the CIA, who lead us to ask: just how intelligent is Central Intelligence?

Other than the two gems above, there are some comedies that you know aren't worth $21, but you'll just want to catch them anyway. Meet the House Bunny and Big Stan:



THE HOUSE BUNNY
Rating: PG
Consumer Advice: Sexual References
Genre: Comedy
Language: English with chinese subtitle
Cast: Anna Faris
Running Time: 98 min

In Columbia Pictures’ comedy The House Bunny, Anna Faris charms as Shelley Darlington, a Playboy Bunny who teaches an awkward sorority about the opposite sex – only to learn that what boys really like is what’s on the inside.

Shelley is living a carefree life until a rival gets her tossed out of the Playboy Mansion. With nowhere to go, fate delivers her to the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. Unless they can sign a new pledge class, the seven socially clueless women will lose their house to the scheming girls of Phi Iota Mu. In order to accomplish their goal, they need Shelley to teach them the ways of makeup and men; at the same time, Shelley needs some of what the Zetas have – a sense of individuality. The combination leads all the girls to learn how to stop pretending and start being themselves.



BIG STAN
Rating: M18
Consumer Advice: Some mature content
Language: English with no subtitles
Director: Rob Schneider
Main Cast: Rob Schneider, Brandon Molale, David Carradine, Randy Couture, Barbara Dodd
Runtime: 105mins

Stan, a two-bit con man, is being sent to prison for fraud and the prospect terrifies him. Seeking help from a mysterious martial arts guru known only as The Master, Stan transforms himself into a kung fu expert! Ultimately bringing the warring prison gangs together and establishing peace within its walls.

And of course, because Singapore is just OH SO SLOW in getting new flicks onto the silver screen, there are some upcoming gems that one MUST take note of. Don't play play:



TROPIC THUNDER
Rating: TBC
Genre: Action,Comedy
Language: English
Director: Ben Stiller
Main Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr (Yes. THAT Robert Downey Jr).
Runtime: TBA

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in “Tropic Thunder,” an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the biggest war film ever. After ballooning costs (and the out of control egos of the pampered cast) threaten to shut down the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast deep into the jungles of Southeast Asia for “increased realism,” where they inadvertently encounter real bad guys.

This was a big hit in the States and I don't understand why with the star studded cast that it is getting released in Singapore later than Big Stan. Oh well. The final recommendation is the biggest talk of tinseltown and the biggest Taiwanese film to surpass all expectations (and earnings) so far. Yes. It won the Dark Knight in Taiwan. Very very big feat:



Cape No. 7 is a 2008 Taiwanese romantic comedy film written and directed by Taiwanese director Te-Sheng Wei (魏德聖). The film is mainly in Mandarin Chinese but also contains significant lines in Japanese and Taiwanese. Before its commercial release, the film was selected as one of the opening films in the 2008 Taipei Film Festival.

The two leading actors Van Fan (范逸臣) and Chie Tanaka (田中千絵) only had minor acting experience while most of the other actors were amateurs, picked mainly for their rock band experience as needed by the plot. Although without a strong promotional campaign, this movie attracted unexpected popularity in Taiwan after its official release on August 22, 2008. As of September 18, the movie has grossed over NT$100 million. It is also the top grossing Taiwanese film in the island's cinematic history.

Back in the 1940s during the Taiwan under Japanese rule era, a Japanese teacher (Kousuke Atari) dispatched to Hengchun fell in love with a local girl who was given the Japanese name Kojima Tomoko (Rachel Liang). However, after the Surrender of Japan he was forced to return to his home country. He penned seven love letters on his trip home to express his regret for leaving Kojima Tomoko, who originally planned on living in Japan with Atari.

More than 60 years after Atari left Tomoko, Aga (Van Fan) is introduced as a struggling young Hengchun-native rock band singer who could not secure a job in Taipei. After returning to his hometown, Aga's step father (Ju-Lung Ma), the Town Council Representative, arranged a postman position for him, replacing the senile Uncle Mao (Lin Tsung-ren), on break after a motorcycle accident broke his leg. One day Aga came across an undeliverable piece of mail: the Japanese teacher has been dead and his offspring decided to mail these unsent love letters to Taiwan after discovering them. Aga unlawfully opened this mail to discover that the old Japanese-style address Cape No. 7, Hengchun County, Takao Prefecture, could no longer be found.

Meantime a local resort hotel inside Kenting National Park is organizing a beach concert featuring Japanese pop singer Kousuke Atari, but Aga's step father made use of his official identity to insist that the accompanying band be formed by locals. Tomoko (Chie Tanaka), a Chinese-speaking Japanese fashion model dispatched to Hengchun, took up the difficult task of managing this band, led by Aga along with six other locals of rather particular backgrounds. After a frustrating trial period Aga and Tomoko unexpectedly began a relationship. With some assistance from hotel maid Ming-chu (Shino Lin), Tomoko helped Aga find Kojima Tomoko, the rightful recipient of the seven love letters. Aga then returned to the beach resort and performed a highly successful concert with this local band and Kousuke Atari.

Source: http://cape7.pixnet.net/blog/

So that's where my next paycheck will be going to. Other than food of course. Before I end this post, do watch out for Cape No. 7. There must be a reason why there's been unprecedented positive feedback about this film. So, when it DOES reach Singapore (probably in December), do make a point to catch it. Meanwhile, here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure:



Considering that they spent about 2.3m SGD to film this, I don't understand why we use more money (2m USD) and come up with crap like Zodiac instead. That one even the trailer looked bad. Sheesh.

Mr Wayne's thoughts about JBJ

Not surprising that Wayne was writing a tribute to Mr JBJ on the 30th. I think 1/2 of Singapore was doing that. But he was thinking about the current economic crises to me was surprising as I was thinking the exact same thing for the economic crisis of 2007-2008-2009 which has YET to hit us fully and as I type this, am already drafting an entry regarding it.

Thinking about Mr. JBJ
September 30, 2008 · Wayne Soon
http://antineodem.wordpress.com/

The passing away of JBJ in the midst of one of the worst economic crises since 1997 have left us with the legacy that indeed, there is more to life than financial spreedsheets, data analysis and unbridled risks and rewards. There is something called freedom and democracy, which JBJ stood for consistently in his political career. His one mindneness in bringing about political change have meant that he has lost much monetarily and socially. He has won and lost parliamentary seats, debated countless MPs from the other side for two generations, spoke at hundreds of rallies and meetings calling for a fundemental re-think of the Singapore spirit, and voted to secure the rights and freedom for his countrymen in parliament.

Perhaps the most poignant moment is still his victory at the Anson by-election, which shattered the myth of an invincible and omnipotent PAP, which continues to be the historical faultline in the othewise dominant PAP narrative. The relentless search for cracks and pains within the Singapore polity to remedy, which irritated contented Singaporeans and even yours truly at times, did not meant widespread dislike for Mr. JBJ. Rather, many Singaporeans often attended his rallies, buy his books, donated money, voted for him and listened to him in his fiery encounters with the powers-to-be. Some even made a play out of him to raise political awarness in the polity. What most did not do was to vote for the party he represented, and to extend the same respect for him to other members of the opposition.

Why will happen next is a question for another time, but at present, if Singaporeans stop to think about JBJ and what he stood for a moment as they contemplate their studies, their AIG shares, their electricity bill, the goodness of our government and their loved ones, I think Mr. JBJ and his family will be satisfied.

Exercise

Why do I play tennis even though I suck at it? Because I am trying to lose weight. No sorry. Keep fit. Why do I play badminton even though the other players are oh so much better? Because I am trying to keep fit. Why do I swim even though I am inherently lazy? Because I want to keep fit. No sorry. Get a little tan too look fit. That is obviously because my plan of keeping fit isn't working. So the least I can do is attempt to look fit. That also explains why I bought a basketball and played only twice with the neighborhood kids. And I do means kids. Like primary school. I used to play downstairs all the time but now nobody my age actually plays basketball downstairs anymore. So sad right. That explains why I travel all the way to bukit timah to play badminton, and queenstown to play tennis. I need more friends in the east that can exercise or sport with me. But then most of them are attached to their other halves and aren't really in the east that much as well. Then again, that's the same with me. Haha. The thing about exercising in the sun is that you get a tan. I'm all for swimming and Mr Sun. But not tennis. You'll get an ugly singlet tan which is equivalent to the average manbra tan. Very ugly. Of course, someone had commented that I was too vain to not play tennis in the sun because of this. Yes. Says someone that buys over 100 cosmetic products a year. I am vain. I do know that some girls don't care about their tan, whether it ends at their bikini line or their t-shirt or sports bra line. But I'm pretty sure my gf is quite a vainpot in that area too. Then again she just doesn't like to tan generally. Ha.

What is also sad is that I had a nice paragraph of text but it was lost when I clicked publish post as I was not connected to the internet. I think it was about something I should do. Or was it something I should eat? I know for sure that when it comes to losing weight, pills don't work. I've seen my brother try to lose weight on pills and the only thing he seems to be losing is his waistline. Ha! That said, maybe I should hit the gym daily after I'm back at the firm. I think stress + gym makes a good combination for weight loss. Alternatively, I could try to make HER fat so I won't be so guilty of being fat.

Hmmm. Suggestions?

30th September 2008 [032155]

Although the newspaper was flooded with groundbreaking news like who didn't turn up at the F1 party at Amberlounge, the 700 billion dollar rescue package didn't go through, the duxton was oversubscribed 3x over, Cadbury featuring ads to say its products are safe despite the AVA issuing directives to recall Cadbury products, nothing was more shocking than the news of JBJ's passing which I heard on the radio.

Granted, he is old and doesn't have as many resources as other old men his age that can afford to prolong their lives, but after reading all about him and meeting him in person so many years ago, I did feel affected to the extent that I immediately sms'd a few people that I think would care to know about his passing.

It is true that many shunned him whilst he promoted the hammer and his books in public. I am quite sure that as many were probably intrigued and would not actually mind hearing what he had to say as he was undoubtedly more coherent then some other fellow opposition member(s). There is a distinction between a lawyer and a doctor ya. I recall a day years ago when I was at city hall and I actually went up to him to get two copies of his latest book from him. It's really sad that here is a man trying to do what he thought was best for his country through the "official channels" and yet having them laugh and scoff at him. He loved Singapore, but Singapore mocked him. Sounds familiar?

The media has been generally kinder to him than they have been to other opposition members primarily because he makes more sense than them, as does CST. But even so, the article on straitstimes.com has been changed over the course of the day from a rude editorial in the morning to something a little better by the evening. Now that's a tad unfair isn't it? That suggests changes done (probably over flaming in the ST forums) over the course of the day. Somebody's gonna get it from the online community. I think if one googles hard enough, he/she may still be able to find the morning article. Hmmm.

I find that we take it for granted that there would be coherent opposition members around to act as a check and balance in Parliament. This cannot be more wrong. Although I do not advocate blindly throwing weight behind any opposition group, nor that the government should recognize more opposition groups, I do hope that the people and the government can actually recognize good opposition leaders/members and give them credit where credit is due. This goes for the media as well.

It is hard to write something personal to a man one barely knows personally. But I do want to say that it is a damn shame that he was taken so prematurely (82 is still young compared to some oldies that are like 90s and clinging on to their life for the sake of pissing off their relatives). Perhaps JBJ will become stronger in death, as do some of the world's greatest artists. It is a shame that we do not realize how much he has achieved until we have lost him. I did notice however that upon his passing, more people are realizing how important he actually was to Singapore. Here's to the thought that even though he may never see it, his dreams for Singapore will materialize one day.

Food

Before I get old, senile and forget things, here are some eateries Master and Mistress Cow (doesn't sound very non-naughty-ish) will be gracing soon.

Jerry's Grill @ Club Street
Clarity Cafe @ Beach Road
Tampopo @ Liang Court
Boomerang @ Robertson Quay
1925 @ lunch

Any other suggestions?

Hmmm

Does it really get better?

Stop nodding at me you stupid little bobbleheads.

Still nodding.

Sometimes I wish there's a place we can call home.

Without the stupid little bobbleheads.

But will that really help?

Or...