Pantene Chrysalis

San introduced me to this short movie:



It's really a short movie (4:03), and it's a million times better than most thai flicks i've seen, despite it's length. It's the blending of music and moving stills that creates such an emotive force within me that I get goose bumps every time I saw this. And I've watched it at least five times. There is really only one sound track in this short film, it's none other than Pachelbel's Canon in D. The movie blends in the touching parts of the film with the touching parts of the song, creating an emotive resonance that can only be amplified by the melancholic nature of the violin and piano. There is only around 4 lines of spoken dialogue, but like the classical piece without lyrics, the movie without dialogue makes one focus on the emotional aspects of the film. Climatic scenes are punctuated with short and sharp jabs of the violin. Violent scenes are accompanied by the jarbled and forceful piano song (i don't know which piece is that, can anyone trained in such music kindly enlighten?).

I really like the scene when the camera pans slowly to the broken violin, made to work one last time using scotch tape. The song slowly sinks into your emotions, which is then followed by the quick stabbing of the violin and ends abruptly. Amazing!

Do notice the butterfly towards the end. I think that's what san is showing me :)

The butterfly breaks out of the chrysalis, which is the cocoon like thing that a caterpillar wraps itself during the first stage of the metamorphosis. When it breaks out of this cocoon, the caterpillar changes structurally, to the extent that one cannot see any similarities between the former and present self. I suppose that that is why the short film puts a butterfly towards the end. It shows both the metamorphism undergone by the girl as she reaches new height in her music (she finally understand what it means by music being 'visible'), as well as the main purpose of the short film - to sell more bottles of pantene chrysalis.

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Money No Enough 2 Part deux

Part deux: Money No Enough 2

Though I dislike the movie by Jack Neo, I seriously like the very down to earth songs in the movie, sung mostly in Hokkien - the language of the melancholy (and crude). Why do I say that? Listen to those Hokkien songs, it's almost invariably about tragedies - personal or otherwise! Hokkien songs evoke the melancholic liquor of out everyone that other songs find it hard to do. If you don't believe, listen to Chen Lei's songs :P

The subject of the review, part deux, is more on the songs in the movie.

Here's the song that I like. This song sends goosebumps up my spine - a sign of a touchy mushy song :) It's about wife and the husband relationship, how the wife and husband will still be together, regardless of what happens.



The next song is closer to heart, it's also the main theme song of the movie. What if I have 1 million? What will I do? :) I really really like the chorus part of the song. The solo part is also quite nice. Not shredding, no wah nor any funny effects..but I just it fits the song pretty aptly :)

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Batman: Gotham knight review

I just watched the greatest batman movie ever!

It's not really a movie, but rather it's a 6 part anime-movie, titled Gotham Knight. I dare say it's even better than the recent movie depicting the Joker, because this one is closer thematically and philosophically to the batman that I know and want to see. Each part consists of a series of thematically related but not necessary chronologically ordered short story. But before you dismiss it, do note that each series has a lot more depth than the movie can ever do. The following themes are explored in the 6 parter:

1. The impressions of Gotham citizens on batman
2. Batman's inner pain
3. Batman's refusal to use firearms

The series ends with the final 6 part and leaves me craving for more. Besides the great voicing and good music, the sounds are also top notched. Each part depicts batman in different art forms, so for true batman fans, you can ogle and drool at the various ways that batman is drawn. Each style is so unique! (I like the first episode's way of drawing batman - because it draws the impression of batman, seen through the eyes of witnesses, rather than the usual way. Hard to describe, have to see it to experience it)

Do pay close attention to the dialogue, because it is really full of wit. Which of these parters do I like best? It's number 5, titled 'working through pain'. The execution is simply superb! The next best is part 4, titled "In darkness dwells". I mentioned in my batman review that the movie should show the other intellectual side of batman, not just the brawns but the brains as well. Part 4 shows how good Batman's 'superpowers' is - his cold logic and good detective skills.

So where to see it? You can see it here. But you need to change it to part 01, as the link is for part 2. You can change which part you want to watch on the top of the link.

A trailer of this anime-movie can be found here:

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Money No Enough 2

I watched Jack Neo's Money No Enough 2 today.



To summarise, I do not like it at all. The summation of the cheap feel of the CGI, predictable plot lines and the usual ranting of pet topics makes it not worth the premium ticket price to watch this movie on a weekend. Fortunately, I watched it at a discount movie theater, which showed the movie at only $7, so it's not too bad to whilst one's time away for 2 hours.

It's rather ironic to see the cinema pretty crowded. The cinema, because of the rather uncomfortable seats, acoustically challenged sound system and the occasional hiccups (damn, I encountered the hiccups today when I watched the show; for a cool 5 mins, there are not sound at all) means that there are usually not many people in the theatre. To see so many people watching a movie titled 'Money No Enough 2' shows that people do have money to watch such cheap thrills.

The movie did not disappoint. Characteristic of Jack Neo's movie, it is a sequence of little skits not dissimilar to his past Comedy nights, aired on Monday Channel 8, shown every Monday. Despite the crowd's laughter, I do not find the show funny at all. In fact, it's quite a sad movie for me.

The movie showed all the familiar situations where Singaporeans are trying to earn money. I was a little taken aback when I watched that spending a night in ICU at private hospitals will set one back by 8k a night. I wonder how I can afford such expensive 'hotels' with or without insurance (specifically, H&S). Ouch...spending 3 nights will erode one's net worth by $24,000...scary thought.

I think I've said enough for this film. If you can, try not to watch it. Another irritating thing about the movie - when is Jack Neo's movie not a happy ending?

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Dark Knight Review

I must say that Heath Ledger’s passing left a void in the art of villainy that will not be filled for a long time. His masterful portrayal of Joker, the arch-nemesis of Batman, surpasses the good work done by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s Batman, I dare say. While Jack Nicholson’s Joker is more campy (which is untypical of Tim Burton’s movie), Heath Ledger’s Joker is the pure, psychotic and maniacal force that can stand by its own in the movie.



I think the director’s understanding of the Joker is immense and accurate. The Joker works not for money but understands the usefulness of it. His purpose and reason for crime is to ‘play’ with Batman, to challenge him. As a parody of Jerry Maquire’s famous (perhaps infamous) line, “You complete me”, the Joker acts as the star-crossed lover of Batman. Joker’s ‘love’ of Batman is the hatred of him, yet Joker will not kill Batman because without the challenge that Batman poses to him, he will have nothing to live for. At the same time, no matter how much hatred Batman had for Joker, he will not kill Joker because otherwise all that Batman fought for will be for nought. A love-hate relationship thus plays out nicely in the movie. Another thing worth mentioning is the social experiments that Joker tries out in the movie. A true student of game theory by John Nash, he plays out big scale human experiment, pushing the frontier of experimentation beyond ethical limits. The Joker had such a masterful understanding of the human psyche that he manipulates and twists to create another villain in the same movie.

A pity that Heath Ledger will not return to play the Joker again – perhaps it’s for the best, for he left at the peak of his performance and all shall remember him for this last superb portrayal of Batman’s greatest enemy. I really love the body language he poured into the characterization of Joker, especially the scene after he bombed the hospitals and was walking out in a nurse’s uniform. His awkward, slightly stooped, almost resigned manner speaks much more than words can do.

The movie also plays on this major theme of Batman – his fear that what he does every night will turn him into the very people that he fought for in the first place. For the first time since watching Batman movies, I saw consequences in Batman’s nightly adventure in the streets of Gotham city. Self serving vigilantes appear, bearing the mask of Batman but without his philosophy. My girlfriend asked me how do I know which is the real Batman and I replied – Batman do not use firearms. His parents are killed by firearms and he will not use it to fight crime, hence his preference for fist fights and ninja-like weapons. The movie also plays out the Batman as the dark lonely fighter, who can never be the same again after donning the suit. What kind of person can lead dual lives – acting as a rich businessman in the day and a dark vigilante in the night? Perhaps only a psychopath can. Batman is driven by revenge for his parents but at what cost? This a good theme to explore in future Batman movies.

Someone mentioned that this Batman movie lacks weaponry. I do agree. Batman’s greatest weapon– his superb detective mind – is not portrayed in the movie. What I see here is his internal conflict of breaking the law to catch criminals who broke the law. There can be much more time allocated to showcase Batman’s Shylock Holmes-like mind in solving crime, rather than fighting crime. I really love Batman because he is about the only superhero whose superpowers are not superhuman. His superpowers is his very human but excellent mind (ahem, though his status as a billionaire and thus the moo lah acts as the icing to the cake).

My girlfriend commented that the show is a little boring in the first half and gets better towards the end. I disagree. How would the siege of Helm’s deep by Saruman’s Uruk-hai be without the events and circumstances that lead to it? In my opinion, the control of the pacing and tension are done nicely by the director.

Watch this movie. If not for Batman, at least for Joker.

Ps: As a side note, I half expected Peter Parker to leap out to punch Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent for stealing his ‘Mary Jane’ :)

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Cloverfield

Just watched a movie alone at Princess cinema.

Some circumstances caused me to be stranded alone on a fine saturday, with no work and no date. I'm already spent working the whole week and I seriously needed some entertainment. Books would knock me off and anyway, I'm in no mood to read. I did the next best thing - watch a movie.

I chose Cloverfield because I do not know what it is. The poster entices me to find out more about it, though the wording "Some thing has found us" gave a huge clue as to the genre of the movie. But rest assured, this is no usual hollywood summer flick.

There is something about this movie that I like very much. The filming is not done in a God's eye view point, but rather, it is done through the eyes of a person holding a video cam, creating a rapid and frantic pace dubbed the 'Blair Witch' effect (named after a movie of the same title). I believe not everyone likes this kind of filming. I can vouch for it because one seriously f-up auntie yawned audibly and shouted to her companion during the show. Yes, shouted because I can hear clearly what she said. Another female told her male companion, to the effect of saying it's a waste of money.

I beg to differ.

This is one of the most original movie I've watched this year. It captures the very essence of citizen journalism. That was one scene in the movie, when the head of the above lady in the poster rolled out on the streets, possibly killing some citizens along the way. Instead of running, people are taking out their handphones and snapping pictures. I can picture myself singaporeans taking out their handphone and snapping pictures when there is something interesting happening. STOMP is such a hit here, which testify the power of citizen journalism.

Unlike in usual films, nobody has a clue what is happening to them. And you can empathise with the characters in the movie, who are somehow caught by up the action that unfolded unwillingly unto them. This crisis made the usual disturbances in their life so minute and small that it made me wonder...perhaps crisis are very important experiences. It humbles and re-prioritizes life. In the end, relationship is more important, perhaps more important than life itself. Do you have something that you always wanted to do but never put yourself to doing it while you are busy living life?

That's something to think about.

For all of you who thought of catching the movie. Pay attention to the movie's last scene, when the main character and his gf are talking to the video cam. Pay attention to the water in the backdrop.

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