blundersgoround

went to watch Au Revoir Taipei. we couldn’t decide what to watch but i suggested Au Revoir Taipei since i read some review about this show and i wasn’t too keen on action packed drama for the night. it was refreshingly languid, very slow paced…so slow i was counting sheep in my head at some point.

but i like the story plot. very simple and very real. it’s about a guy waiting forlornly for his girlfriend who has just left Taipei for Paris. he took up French with the hope of visiting her. he yearned for her, missed her like a puppy and called her every night without fail (shudders). he borrowed money for air ticket and prepped himself to head over for a visit. now the interesting thing happened. while he was dutifully learning French every night in a bookstore, a salesgirl noticed him and began chatting with him. as days passed, they began to develop some sort of “maybe like, maybe not” feeling for each other. it was quite cute to realise this sort of dilemma and i think the girl was pretty good with the nuances. the guy insisted (to himself) that he still liked his Paris girlfriend while the salesgirl didn’t pursue further, knowing his heart belonged to Paris.

one night, by some chance of fate, both the guy and the salesgirl got into trouble with the mafia, and managed to spend time together to overcome the crisis. ‘DANG!!!’ before the night ended, both realised they might be meant for each other. but still they kept quiet about each other and continued to be ’straight-faced’. so as with any Taiwanese finale, the heartbreaking moment came. the guy left for Paris the next day, and the salesgirl went back home, alittle down. life went on till one fine day, the guy turned up all of a sudden at the bookstore and voila! he decided she is the one rather than the Paris girl. happiness beckons (i think there is no sequel so all is good).

okay. i like this movie mainly because of the aesthetics. the film is shot in a very arty farty style and i thought it plays up the mood pretty well. apart from the storyline (which is quite sweet but ask me again next week), i like the funny moments by the various secondary characters. it is typical taiwanese humour in hokkien and it does inject loads of anti-climatic moments. very ffffunnnnnny. haha.

about love? once again, you never know who turns up and completes your circle. like the show emphasises like a broken recorder, ‘to fall in love is a beautiful thing.’ my opinion? it is! to love than be loved. heart may ache but we grow that way. hmmmm 我不知道….keke!

Trailer for spoiler!

more sophisticated review here…

photo.JPG

Originally uploaded by alicereneztay

i never thought i would like Jay Chou enough to go for his concert. i used to think he was just one of those wannabe Taiwanese pop stars. in fact, i didn’t think i was going for this concert because i really like him. it was more of a coincidence, since my chum works for OCBC and she could get tickets and i don’t mind checking him out since i’ve heard good stuff about his concerts. the amount i forked out for this ticket was at one point unbearable. so much so i wanted to cap myself for concerts for the rest of 2010. keke!

my verdict: after a near two and half hours of Jay Chou tonight, i think i am pretty much a convert. it was every dollar well spent. he’s talented and pretty charismatic on stage (irony ain’t it, since he was known to be shy and all he could do was to mumble in his early days). i can see why he could charm the socks off girls easily because he has this deadpan kind of wit. the whole performance was fantastic! it was very well coordinated with no glitches. jay danced pretty fine and everyone was well-rehearsed. i could see the effort in the smooth sequence. the pyrotechnics was quite a show with all the 3D effects. Stage settings and costumes were elaborate and the details were intricate as far as the eyes could see. his costumes were damn bling bling! he must be pretty vain i must say. haha! i have attended a few Chinese pop concerts (though i didn’t have to pay for those!) but Jay’s was by far, the most impressive in terms of stage effects.

there was a moment when he came down to shake hands with his fans and my goodness, the roars were deafening. the most touching point? it was probably when he walked through his ten years of fame, one could see his commitment to music. hit song after another since the beginning of his career, it was hard to imagine how he has outlived his popularity again and again. not only did he thank his ardently loyal fans who have supported him for ten years, he made an effort to thank those who came in at any stage of his singing years. i thought that was a nice gesture (read: sucker keke! but i seldom come across an artiste who does that). of course, the signature white piano was present throughout and how nice to hear piano tunes in the silence of the indoor stadium! a few special guests he brought in, but obviously it was intentional for them to borrow abit of his fame. at one point, the audience was alittle bored with the special guests, and all jay had to do was to appear 5 seconds to welcome them and the crowd got excited with whistles once more.

okay his singing wasn’t perfect (read: he still mumbled abit) but his flair for performances was unmistakable, so much so one can overlook his flaws. his sentimental songs were heartfelt, his rap songs were equally energetic. his band was totally in sync and at times, prompted us to sing along and clap. such love.

his mom and grandma were there. sweet. i am a convert - not as a ‘ra-ra’ fan but at least, i would keep a watch for his new albums and concerts back here in future. find me someone who is as multi-talented as him, can you?

one of his songs for the night, my favourite.

and this!

and this!! covering Stef Sun’s.

i am such a sucker for talented musicians. haha!

Ip Man 2 is better than Ironman 2, in my opinion. ok, it’s not too fair to compare both since they are of different genres and the only point of similarity is their IM 2 initials. Ip Man makes me proud of my Chinese roots, while Ironman 2 left me with an empty feeling other than a ‘what…sequel 3?! exclamation’. Ip Man 2 has none of the marvel superhero traits. he is this humble, reserved man who lives based on his integrity and love for his family. he makes me rethink about what it means to be a Chinese at one point. sometimes the effects of globalisation could make you think less of such topics. Ip Man ended his victory with a ‘no matter what your status is, it doesn’t mean a person of a lower status should have less of the integrity any human being should rightly have. all i ask for is that we should start respecting each other.’ i could have given him a standing ovation if it wasn’t a movie. hahaha! no kidding. i did a quiet ‘yes!’ (hand sign and all) when Ip Man won the Twister boxer in the boxing ring. keke. that was how much indignity i felt when the British boxer scorned Chinese martial arts in the show. friend and the uncle beside me probably laughed at ‘my moment’. the whole plot has much more substance as well, and i could see the disparity in how martial arts now no longer shares the same fervour as in the 60s and 70s. the old timers imbue a strong sense of Chinese culture when they learnt the skills but i do think this sense of values is somehow gradually lost in translation. i thought the cinemagraphy of this movie totally brought out the grace of Chinese martial arts. the slow moments, the smooth transition, the angle and the panning techniques fuse together and demonstrates the agility of the martial arts movements. Donnie Yen, Simon Yam and Samo Hung were excellent as usual, with their mature and polished acting.

not to forgetting to say Donnie and his disciple, Huang Xiaoming are charismatic enough to glue me to the screen. heh. Donnie’s character spoke the words about what it means to be a Chinese, ‘…strive to stop striving’ and ‘modesty’. these, i shall remember.

i shall watch Ip Man 1. the DVD is lying somewhere eversince i bought for Dad. and yes, i bought tickets for my folks to go right after the show. keke.

watched The Runaways. it’s a sort of like a biography about the band and the members. a pretty decent effort i have to say, in depicting the life before and after of the teenage all-female rock and roll band in the 70s. i thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour. it brings out the excesses of rock and roll bands and it shows the destruction fame can lead one to. yet it tells so much about the one thing any musician needs to survive in the industry.. and that is … self belief and courage to pursue what he or she desires. while the lives of the band members pan out differently in the end, i don’t think it matters anymore. because they have had come together once and do what they love and believe in. michael shannon as kim fowley was excellent … those idiosyncrasies.

and the Twilight lead girl? you think she can’t act? she will prove you wrong with her cherie currie role. kristen stewart is quite ‘joan jett’ indeed, as we think she is almost too similar. the joke of the night - just when we thought Stereophonics was unprofessional by walking out recently in a Singapore gig here after being thrown and hit by a slipper from the crowd, these girls were thrown dog shit in the 70s and guess what, they rocked and rolled on. like what michael’s character said, ‘what do you do when you were thrown dog shit? what are you going to do when the crowd throw things at you? you go on.’

yes, rock and roll on. because only then, you feed it with enough angst and you deserve the applause.

animal farm

Originally uploaded by alicereneztay

i went to watch Animal Farm, having heard of the critical acclaims it has garnered since its first run a few years back. it was a worthwhile play indeed. the cast was seasoned and it was amazing how each of the lead actors and actresses was fabulously good in mimicking the animalistic antics. horse, pig, chicken etc, they demonstrated the animals’ behavioural traits with much ease and almost perfection. the storyline hasn’t changed, the Orwellian politics was left to the crowd for much discussion and although the cast tried to interact with the sitting crowd, i wasn’t sure if it was necessary. the parody effects seemed to be alittle diluted with the occasional comedic moments which i believed, only local Singaporeans were able to understand. no doubt it was a serious play to begin with, the atmosphere was quite light most of the times with much fanfare, dancing and songs. it’s a heavy play, and with that, i mean the 1hr 45 minute (without intermission) play tried to bring out perhaps too many elements and juxtapositions. parody, satire, dystopia, allegory, animalism, irony, corruption, absolute power, politics etc etc etc.

and off to ironman 2 after. very good movie with all the effects (as usual) though i am not sure about ‘one man saving the world’ kind of rubbish fantasy (yet again). the Monaco car racing part blew my mind off. i was so glued to it. and i still think Tony Stark’s mansion is absolutely gorgeous, not just the decor and sea views, but the computerised system around! kekeke!

at the end of the day, i suppose for both ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Ironman 2′, they are all about power, the corruption with absolute power, the desire for power, the act of inhumanity (or losing humanity) in the name of power.

such a dirty, yet necessary word.