after my new station is up & running, its internet connection failed with unknown reasons ... i m using internet on my old station now ... haizzzzz!

10 feature films/feature animations that influenced me/or i liked most *which i can remember*
1) citizen kane
2) 2001: a space oddessy
3) battleship potemkin
4) moulin rouge
5) spirited away
6) gattaca
7) once upon a time in china (can put part 1& 2 together save 1 slot ahah!)
8) crouching tiger, hidden dragon
9) christmas in august
10) amelie

actaully, if got somemore slots, i ll put face off, chinese ghost story (movie, not animation), patlabor 1& 2.

The ten most influential films poll

Recently I was reading up BFI's Sight and Sound magazine special issue on the most influential films in cinematic history. There were a few regular contenders like Welles Citizen Kane, Hitchcock's Vertigo, and Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. That got me thinking quite a bit, and interestingly too : What then, are the ten most influential films for me, as an animation/media student ? By influential I do not just mean favourite movies but in the sense that the movie have had a certain impact in changing the way you look at films, the way you would create a treatment should you be making an animation or film, maybe even the way you look at life. It doesn't even have to be an award winner or anything. And so on. Inspirational stuff. I sorted through my memories archives and came with this ten : ( not in any order of importance )

1) Love Letter ( Iwai )
2) Akira ( Katsuhiro )
3) Ghost in the Shell ( Oshii )
4) Amelie ( Jeunet )
5) Mononoke Hime ( Miyazaki )
6) Gattaca ( Niccol )
7) Il Mare ( Seung )
8) Hackers ( Softley )
9) Contact ( Zemeckis )
x) One Fine Spring Day ( Jinho )

Introspective : Starting out as an animation student, the earliest and biggest influences were obviously animation works, but Akira in itself I percieve more as a sophisticated, stylized work of film art for its unprecented use of avante garde camera works and framing, superb cinematic devices and grand scale of motion. Its also worth noting that other for 3 english shows and 1 french, the rest of the list is dominated by Asian movies/animation for which I feel still exert a very significant influence over the way I look and treat films.

Perhaps evil rei and Gatchaman ( or anyone else that view this blog ) might be interested to cast their own poll for a wider demographic.

With much reluctance, me and my friends were dragged to the cinema this morning to watch the spy action movie XXX by order of our section commander. With the previous night's fatigue still weighing down on me like a heavy stone, I nontheless tried to make my $6.50 worth by diligently paying attention to the movie. Suspending my disbelief completely to the point of non-existence, this must still be the most "tao xiao" action movie for the whole of this year. XXX or Xander Cage, played by Vin Diesel, is like 10 James Bond rolled into a beefy package. If you are going to catch the movie you might want to skip the spoilers below, but they were so amusing I really had to write this. Let me called this list the "stupendously spectacular tao xiao action moves of 2002 "

1) As a test to prove his worth as the ultimate secret agent, XXX had to infiltrate a mexican drug lord's den, bust all the baddies, create superfluous pyrotechnics, save an injured partner whilst maintaining his cool. No sweat. Whilst evading fire from a helicoptor, he rides up a ramp on a scrambler in a bid to scale over an impossibly high confire fence. In a move of miraculous skill, he spins the scrambler at an angle, flying through an opening in the fence, but not before shooting dead two more baddies as he lands. Tao xiao factor : *****

2)Still at the same scene but with considerably more explosions and helicoptors, XXX continues to out manoeuvre everything. A particular huge explosion rockets him and his scrambler to impossible heights, and he grasps the scrambler by the back seat, guns blazing. Uncountable number of baddies dies. ( This is almost, but not as good as Tom cruise's move in MI2 where he looks in the bike's mirrors, points his pistol to his back and takes out 2 baddies, all done while speeding at breakneck speed and with shades on. ) Tao xiao factor : ***

3)The usual inard local police, unable to infiltrate the king pin's liar because of surveillance cameras located all around the place, requires XXX to take down the communications tower located on the top of a glazier mountain. Taking off from a bomber plane, XXX takes a walk or rather fly in the park as he sky dives to the exact location, setting of an avalanche with explosives that while was able to completely obliterate the tower and all its inhabitants trying to escape on snow-jets, was hardly fast enough to even touch Diesel who was cruising on a normal snow ski. Tao xiao factor ****

Having said all this, the movie is not without its moments. No, really. This is also another reason why you should always try to stay for a movie's end credits , because you never know what might come up, esp for movies with sfx. Just before the main credits were about to roll there was this short segment, about 2 minutes worth of dizzying, fast actioned blend of cgi and beautifully compositioned live action sequences ( all specially created just for the ending sequence ) that played on the many motifs featured in the movie, ending and finishing with XXX's wordings. Very beautifully done, especially to the tune of the pounding music. Look out for it if you ever watch the dvd. Its worth more than the show itself.

I've been cracking my head wondering how I'll be able to catch the one many shows that I've missed during the pass film festivals, or any other foreign films for that matter that doesn't make it to the ( general public )cinemas here in Singapore. No doubt mainstream hollywood movies still provide a certain level of entertainment value, complete with flashy pyrotechnics, sleek CGI and high-strung plotlines, but one too many of these in a week and you find yourself getting bored to tears. Monopoly is never a good thing, as far as the receiving end of the party is concerned at least. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that i'm all classy and artistic and only watch art house films. But if you haven't seen a good foreign film that eschews high technology in exchange for earnest acting, a simple storyline and pure cinematic sincerity, you've haven't yet seen half the palette of colours that paint the word film art. Doubt the movies linked below are ever going to make it to any mainstream theatre here. Looks like the film fest is my only salvation.

Shunji Iwai ( Love Letter )
Lily Chou Chou : http://www.lily-chou-chou.com/world/

Tom Tykwer ( Run Lola Run )
Heaven : http://www.heaven-derfilm.de/_index.html

Julio Medem
Sex and Lucia : http://www.sexandluciafilm.com/

Wong Kar Wai / DJ Shadow ( MTV )
Six Days : http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/mcarecords/dj_shadow/private-press_07-02/video/300_six-day_320.asx

Just had a viewing of Night Shymalan's movie "Signs". To avoid divulging any potential spoilers in the plot, all I can say is that the movie is scientifically subversive at best. ( or should I say worst ? ) This is indeed a waste of production talent with major names like Shymalan himself, ( whose Sixth Sense still ranks as one of the best supernatural thrillers i've watched ), DP Tak Fujimoto ( who shot Silence of the Lambs ), and James Newton Howard who wrote the score. In short, they should have chosen a better story.

Still believe that crop circles are created by aliens ? Go here for an enlightening article :

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_signs_020808.html

Just when I thought the movie theatres are finally offering some watchable movies...The Touch lands with 1.5 stars rating in the Straits Times ! Ha...much as I distrust the movie reviews in ST...I have this inkling they're pretty right with the rating this time...so who wants to watch The Touch ? ( Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon spinoff minus Chow yunfat, plot, crappy chinese, but supplanted by crappy english...etc...etc...)

Ennui, ennui, that's what it is. These days rushes of creative impulses are hitting an all time low, and a general interest to work seemed to have been stoppered and canned. Inspiration is way out of the lexicon. With my unit implementing new protocols that require us to stay in camp most of the time ain't helping. Sombre thoughts are also starting to get more frequent in my head these days - in such times of bad economic, will I be able to find a job when I ORD ? Throw in the lacklusture movie scene recently, and there's little to do but sink into disparage and complete apathy.

yo yo! wassupppppppp!

With all the talk and excitement about the movie Spring Subway I have been posting articles on the forum at the China film festival website asking about the availability of the DVD. Today I got a most unexpected reply :

Thank you for such a favourable review of the film. I will relate this to the actress Xu Jinglei tomorrow when I met up with her. In regards to the DVD, will let you know the moment its out.

Just for your information, Spring Subway has not yet being in General Release in China, it has only being screened in a couple of festival. You guys are seeing the film before the general public in China.

Xu Jinglei happened to be the main actress of Spring Subway and was in town in conjunction with the film fest. Really cool.

Talk about serendipity. This evening me and evil rei meet for a China film festival show at GV Grand ( review below ). Upon reaching the ticketing booth, we meet our ex coursemates Dajie and Mak, who coincidentally were there for the same show too. But the fortuity didn't end there. It was upon collecting of the tickets did we all realize that I had been the person who had phone ordered the tickets just before they did ( bearing consecutive order numbers ) and even more surprisely, that their seats were just next to ours. phew.

I must admit; I really had reservations about watching China films - granted all the propaganda shows that dealt with revolutionary ideas and insidious, subverting ideals of social echelon. Besides, other than the noted Zhang Yimou, my lexicon of China movies is incredibly limited, which may also be the cause of my bias. But all these seemed to have been erased overnight with the viewing of the stylistically filmed Spring Subway by Zhang Yibai. Not only was the plotline concerned with the most comtemporary of social issues, which immediately relates itself to the modern population and audience, but the most striking note was that it didn't even feel like a China made movie : indeed; only when the narration of the protaganists starts, that unmistakable Beijing accent seeping in do you realize that hey, China films have a brand new look. Whilst the main storyline is simply enough - the plotline revolves around the strained relationship of a young couple whom first arrived on the shores of Beijing via the Subway ( which is also where many of the scenes will take place ), their isolated lifes are juxtaposed by the foibles of other subway denizens met by Jian Bin, the male lead, culmulating in a sorta haphazard, mosiac-styled visual narrative that is sometimes a little hard to follow, yet quaintly refreshing. What is ultimately more important ( and impressive ) is how this simple story is told by the most beautiful cinematic devices, with tight, unobtrusive editing, judiciously framed shots that accentuated the feel of each scene, plus extremely neat camera work and lighting. The memorable soundtrack wrapped up everything into a neat package that i've never once experienced in a China film. If this calibre of work is the look and feel of China movies, bring them on.





Spring Subway is still screening at the China film festival till the 19th of July. Go to http://www.chinafilmfest.com for screening dates.

A renegade pirated software store have recently sprouted up at Peninsular Plaza ( just beside Cathay Photo ). Quite a number of software titles, I got meself AfterEffects 5.5, Premier 6, and a sound editing compilation disc. Check it out before it gets busted or warps out.

Animate! - the British animation and film fiesta is here again. They'll also be showing some local animation works from the various polys.

http://www.britishcouncil.org.sg/events/2002/events-julsep2002.htm#british-fw

My my !! that was a well written review of MUSA! It just helped me make up my mind of NOT catching it. lol.

The Korean epic period film Musa was reputed to be the single most expensive domestic release ever made. It had just the right elements for a grand epic - the right settings; hauntingly beautiful expanses of pastel deserts and whirling sandstorms, stellar casts; ie Zhang Ziyi and dashing korean actors. However as the film progressed slowly it soon became clear that the massive budget seemed to have been split entirely on the gorgeously designed costumes worn by the cast, ( which the least to say seemed historically accurate and extremely pretty ), and the extraneous amounts of red dye shipped in for the excessive bloodletting that the camera somehow had an extreme predilection for. Sure, ancient battles were waged with metal against metal, and when the honed blades found raw flesh, bloodshedding inevitable occurs, but once past 20 minutes into the show you've seen it all, yet the camera relentlessly centres on severed limbs and gorged torsos that very much got in the way of decent story telling.


Not that there was much of a story to begin with. The plot stood so weak it could well have faded without trace into the sand dunes of the sets. A group of diplomatic envoys escorted by dozen Koryo warriors from Korea was dispatched to China to clear the misunderstanding when a Ming official was killed in korea, where the ramifications could be catastro...blah blah blah. However the envoys were very quickly decimated mistakenly by either marauding Yuan troops bent on reviving their dynasty or by equally unreasonable Mongolian tribes that had a clear disdain for the Han folks. Inconsequential so far ? Rope in a Han princess in distress saved by the remaining Koryo warriors bent on escorting her to safety and it crashes the already absymal plot. Far removed from her butt kicking moves in CTHD, Zhang barely irritates her assailants with rude stares and harsh language, with zero opportunity for any display of her laudable thespian skills. Coupled with the male Korean lead that maintains a deadpan expression throughout the entire movie ( albeit with a fanciful spear stance that fails completely to awe after 2 repetitions ), the only redeemable acting was by a veteran Koryo archer that mediated internal conflicts with tacit, wise words and took out enemies with his all powerful shooting. I hadn't the foggies idea why Straits Times gave it four stars, to me it didn't deserve any more than 2. This is one Korean movie that will be swept into obscurity as quickly as the countless warriors that lay motionless in the transient sands of the desert.

Welcome back Nahs ! :] Its nice to have you back and writing again. No, you have not been forgotten, we just took it that you had more important things to attend to, but you're always welcome back. These days my blog seemed more of a monologue of sorts other than Gatchaman and rei's post. You postings will bring some life back. :)

Talk about movies ! Here's a breakdown of what's to come ( and not to miss, at least, for me. )

Minority Report
Y tu Mama Tambien
Musa
Men in Black 2

I haven't contributed in ages, have I? It's like the habit of popping by one of the blogs kinda got erased from my systems...must have had hard reboot one time too many.
Well, I'm writing now, first time in months (or more...) in the comforts of my office. Life has been kind to me: I found a great job while many peers are still living off wat meagre savings they have amassed. The hours in this job sounds fanatical almost, but hey I'm really, truely happy.

Yeah I concede working life at a design house sometimes nibble away a good chunk of wat I call my social life. Ashamedly I haven't been fulfulling the part of a friend to many. Not to mention being absent from Vong's fantastic little blog here. It's a haven for my verbal-incontinence *lol*. I hope somebody noticed my disappearance...AND missed me....*wink*... hahaa

I have to confess that my hiatus from writing was far longer than was desired...it's really all rusty now...vocabs floating around in cerebral space waiting to be picked up again.
AND THE MOVIES!!! God help me but I haven't enough time for movies!!! Yes! the peishan that watches a movie she likes for wat, 3 times has actually not been into ANY theatre for the last 2 - 3 weeks. It's scary. This feels almost like getting disconnected to some kinda system that keeps us all nurtured and informed; Some kinda computer core that triggers waves of activites in my work laden brain.

la la la la lee.
I'm afraid I might have overstayed my welcome..hehee...first thing I said after all these while spans several paragraphs of self-centred ramblings!

-back to work. :) cheers.

One of these days I should make it a point to get myself the Godfather series and have a look at them. I have only recently watched Christopher Nolan's Insomnia and found Pacino's performance so natural and subtle I could have easily believed such a character existed in real life : a fundamentally good cop, treading treacherously in the grey areas of right and wrong and realizing there's no easy way out once you placed your foot in. The plot was simple and straight forward though not cliche; and it proves even more so that the main character's performances was riveting enough to keep one's attention on screen at all times. On a side note, it was interesting to read from imdb that Veteran homicide detective Will Dormer's last name is a play on the French and Spanish verb dormir, "to sleep".

Lots of in depth write ups and production notes at the official site : insomnia

Just watched the movie the eye . I must say its quite a commendable effort for a Singapore/HK joint effort although i'm not too sure how much local talent was actually involved in the production. The movie kicked off with some pretty interesting Braille symbols that told us of what was to be expected in the movie ahead, but those hands running behind that fabric effect wasn't too original ( remember the Beast within, or Videodrome ) or scary. I personally though it was sorta sensual ! Ha ! But that's just for me. Mostly I felt the editing and sfx was pretty well done, although as the story progressed it got more and more cliche and sorta languished to a slow and predictable end. However the Malaysia actress had a really laudable performance, with really believable acting.

Gatchaman told me about the lift scene and it really did built up to quite a scare but my mind immediately switched off as that old man's missing face was revealed. Once again i'm convinced that in the face scares just don't work for me, as would sadako climbing out of that tv wouldn't. There is one notable point that I would like to point out though - much of the show's better scares and mood was attributed to its somewhat eerie sfx and music that build up slowly and carried the audience's attention as it flowed and ebbed. Unfortunately, the sfx and music wasn't quite original at all - if you are a fan of Kenji Kawai's music - they were mostly lifted from the Ring soundtrack with its screechy distorted sounds and pounding bassbeats. Take one listen to the Ring soundtrack and you will immediately recognize the unmistakable similarity in the music and sfx. One segment near the end of the show was so strikingly similar I wondered if they credited kenji Kawai for the music.

I was quite sick of looking at my old Akirastudio website so i've finally redesigned the main index pages. What a refreshing sight Nothing spectacular really...just needed a change...

Halcyonwerks

Haha...just posted a picture of my workdesk for fun. As you can see my liking for movies and animation is quite pervasive, as well as admiration for a few artists like Waterhouse, Rodin, etc. Gattaca is one of my favourite movies to date. I'm using the computer with the orange flower wallpaper. Recently my computer broke down because the power supply melted down. I suspect its because the heat built up was unable to escape, trapped by the scanner that I placed on top of the cpu. Its since been moved away and replaced with a cooling fan on top. Hope that works.

Just this evening I was tidying up one of my neglected cabinets when to my pleasant surprise I struck treasure. Its always funny how some very old things kept away for a long time can elicit memories drawn from that period of time. I've always had this foible of collecting movie ticket stubs and what I found predated my existing collection for a good three years. Its akin to an archaelogist finding some significant artifact that predates the existing ones. Hard to describe that feeling. Anyway it was this ticket stub of the closing film for the 9th Singapore Film Festival, held in 1996, titled Memories by the famed animator Otomo Katsuhiro that gave us Akira. It was an excellent film, but the memories associated with it was not least because of that but of a very memorable experience I had just before the show started...


Me and my friend had arrived early at the now defunct Capitol theatre and was making our way up the main entrance, and as we were walking up the steps we suddenly realized a huge group of people beside us also moving into the theatre lobby. With a little curiosity I took a casual glance at that group of people and saw that they were actually herded round this slightly plump, bearded man of about 50 years of age. My friend, ever in a mood for witty remarks, said : "That's gotta be Otomo himself." I laughed out loud, saying that it was a ridiculous thought, for he had better things to do than to come down to Singapore for just a screening of his movie. As we settled down in the theatre just before the show started, a commentator appeared on the stage and announced :"Here today we are indeed honoured to have the creator of the animation, Mr Katsuhiro Otomo, to say a few words..."

I've been getting relatively negative reviews about the movie Dark Water whilst I was in camp. No one seems to appreciate the movie for the very cinematic elements ( set design, camera work, editing and music, sfx ) that contribute to its moody and dark atmosphere. All my campmate's attention were pretty much centered on "only the last part was scary" or "i was only scared when those bumbs appeared on the watertank" and in the worse case, "its a lousy show !". Suddenly I found myself a self appointed defender of the movie as I argued for its worth, as I would argue for a thousand other movies my friends all deem to be bad. Yes, i agree its a horror movie, scares are necessary, but those few scenes are what I would label as "in your face" scares and had the least impact on me.

Which brings me to the debatable point here : Are movies in general, esoteric ? That means to say that they are only intelligible to those who have special knowledge, and in this context those who have a slightly better understanding of film aesthetics. Shouldn't a movie be crafted in such a way that the majority of the audience would be able to appreciate its elements without prior acquired knowledge ? It certainly didn't seem to be the case here. Or perhaps movie audiences here are just so awashed by mainstream hollywood movies that their acquired tastes are conformed to certain treatment, and they quickly reject alternate or different styles of work when they see one ?

I can't help but relate this to the art scene in the early 20th century where the Paris Salon, the most established academy that exhibits and showcases art pieces, judges entry works by a certain predetermined standard and those not conformed to those are labelled as bad or unorthodox, unrefined. It was also here that the Impressionist painters, Cezzance, Renoir and the like bear the full brunt of the criticism by been different and it was not until much later when they recieved full acclaim for the pieces.

I took Gatchaman's advice and had a look at the lighting rig HDRdome, setting up was easy and the lighting was amazing fast considering the promising results it gave. Basically you set up a dome around your desired scene of lighting and the dome simulates light been bounced all around, as would normal diffused lighting. The result was quite simply put, pretty good. I felt was cheating though; I ought to be setting up the lighting myself with numerous omni lights but considering the extended amount of time needed for that many lights to render I think i'll see if I can settle for a compromise of HDR and normal lighting.

The Japanese film Dark Water is of the more satisfying horror films i've seen in a long while, far surpassing its Hollywood counterparts with their cliche, cheap scares consisting of little more than its fair share of blood and gore, incessant loud and in your face special effects. Dark water succeeds with its intensely eerie combination of dank, superbly lit sets and subtle, almost unbearable camera movement that beckons your eye to follow in anticipation. I was most impressed and petrified by its well lit, or rather under lit corridors, those long arches shrouded in a dark, perpetual gloom that seem to lead to a void of indescribable horror. No one is making me walk down one of those corridors. Though in my opinion the scare factor is still below that of the Ring , Dark water have like what my friend Gatchaman has mentioned, an added dimension of emotional depth that carries the film as more than just a simple horror show, plus at the same time a more subtle social lesson in order : neglect your children, and the worst nightmares that may come to bear will surface will terrifying results.

Hi folks. Installed the Yaccs comment tag to make blogging easier.