“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” (A Singapore Love Story) Movie Review. 我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切. Watch your hazy dazy Teenage Days roll by in this Sweet, Mushy Film.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” (A Singapore Love Story) Press Review.

“我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切”.

Reach for a hankie please, should you feel the “emo” thing in this Singapore love story tugging at your heartstrings.

Like I have expressed many times before in my previous writings, it’s great to be young.

And what price youth?

You go figure, ‘cos everyone can only be young once.

Take stock of your teen years if you are an adolescent right now. You may not realize that those pre-adult, hassle-free years may be the best part of your life.

Growing up is fun, but should you fail to treasure “the little moments” that tick away your days of youth, “the little moments” may just dance right in front of your eyes and flicker off in a jiff.

The camaraderie you share with your chums, the incessant rubbishy school banter, slogging for the  examinations and ah…  falling in love … they are all laced here carefully, courtesy of the film director.

The young years is a subject close to everyone’s heart and it’s like demonstrating that the film director is taking the  baby boomers (the secondary group), on a nostalgic journey down memory lane.

Yes, (repeat) it is exhilarating to be young.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” is a high-spirited and hilarious film by renowned Singapore director CHAI YEE-WEI.

It is an unfiltered, albeit comedic take on the Singapore Xin Yao period and has a notable balance of romance, puppy loves, controlling parents and growing up healthily and happily.

There is something for everyone here, young and old alike.

It is a song-led drama set in the 1990s revolving around the lives of a group of teens who dare dream.

After a dismal flunk with his ‘O’ Level exams, Jiaming (DAREN TAN) helps out at his parents’ pub by performing in a band with his friends.

He then meets May (JULIE TAN) and drawn together by their common love for xinyao music, they slowly discover they have the hots for each other.  But this romance is short lived as May’s mum objects to the budding relationship, and is adamant about sending her daughter to the US for further studies.

The musical score is excellent.

Whether it’s Xin Yao, Ma Yao or Thai Yao, it’s just a juggling of regional musical terminology depicting a certain period.

The plot is not just boy-meet-girl and falling in love. If you dig hard enough you can unearth a common reminder, that of living in the present, and finding solace and hope in each moment.  Grown-ups stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. Kidding. Where’s the other land? Youth is a time where you can watch the world sail by, without pretensions.

When you are an adolescent, there’s little chance that you’ll be swarmed with problems of the adult, that of injustice, competing and poverty. The young will find a different, innocent way to beat the odds.

At the press conference I ribbed Director YEE-WEI whether it was necessary to inject so much “crap” in the movie.  There appeared a dedication of farts, pee and poop scenes to entice your guffaws.

I needn’t have asked, as this appears to be a favorite Singapore joke, an adherent “toilet” issue proudly featured in Singapore’s Media Corp drama series such as IT TAKES TWO and HOUSEWIVES’ HOLIDAY.

Singapore loves this kind of testy jokes, my colleague roared.

The film director’s painstaking attention to timing details, ably supported by a commendable  young cast  with the newly arranged hit songs add authenticity to the film.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” 我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切  is definitely worth a see.

Watch your hazy dazy Teenage Days roll by in this Sweet, Mushy Film crafted in Singapore.

You will certainly be glad you did.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” PRESS CONFERENCE IN KUALA LUMPUR on

7th NOVEMBER 2013

PRESS PHOTOS COURTESY of TI CHIN HAN

Director CHAI YEE-WEI leads his merry team

《丧车The Last Bus》Movie Project 一段令人不寒而栗的民间传说

当夜幕低垂

明月升起

一段尘封已久的民间传说将悄然重生

《丧车The Last Bus》Movie Project

一段令人不寒而栗的民间传说

预告：

正值农历七月的某个夜晚，一个个胆怯的心灵都躲在家中，不敢出户。在那条残破却静谧的公路上，夹带着呼啸的阵阵阴风，隐约传来了撕心裂肺般的鬼泣。眼前突然闪过一辆老旧的巴士，刹那间，时间仿佛停留在了那位开着巴士的女子身影。车灯划破了漆黑的道路，强烈的光线深深地刻画出巴士诡秘的轮廓。

那个离你远去的残影，只留下了两道红圈，诡异地注视着你。在黑暗中，磁带回放着那首红极一时的老歌:

“他能在黑夜 给我太阳...”

顿时头皮发麻，手掌心冷僵硬，身体不由自主地打了个寒颤。

鬼巴犹如嗜血成性的野兽，在旅途中找寻下一个牺牲的搭客。没人清楚它从何而来，更不知它开往何处，而在从道听途说的口中唯一可以确认的是：

一旦搭上了巴士，必定有去无回。

“THE LAST BUS” 丧车 Movie Project. A No-disembarking Journey to Hell. (Teaser)

YOU SEE A BLAZE OF DAZZLING LIGHT

THE LAST BUS OF THE DAY HAS ARRIVED FOR MIDNIGHT PICK-UPS

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN …

THE MOON WILL RISE

ANOTHER RURAL LEGEND WILL BE REBORNED

“THE LAST BUS” Feature Movie 

A Creepy Rural Folklore. 

TEASER:

Nightfall.  Audible strains of eerie music perpetuate the ghostly silence.

In the far distance, loud rumblings of thunder.

The time is almost midnight along a lonely stretch of country road.

It is an unearthly night during the Chinese Hungry Ghost Month where the villagers choose to stay at home. 

The wind howls, adding gloom to the dismal mood.

Suddenly you espy an old bus with a quick glimpse of a woman driver at the wheel, plying the derelict, jagged road.

The most intriguing part is the bus’s headlights that exude a scary contrast atop the darkness.

The blaring lights brazenly illuminate the silhouette of a run-down bus.

In the background you can hear an old transistor belting the final strains of a popular Chinese classic:

“In the darkness of the night, you are my shining light.” 

Creepy. Chilly. Spooky.

The Ghost Bus is like a ferocious beast “on the prowl” looking for unsuspecting passengers.

No one knows where it is coming from.

No one knows where it is heading.

But one thing for sure …

Once you hop aboard, don’t you ever think you can leave.

Here’s the song called “ETERNAL SMILE” that inspires the Movie.

Take note of the haunting lyrics “In the Darkness of the Night, You are my Guiding Light.”

JUNO MAK 麥浚龍. This multi-talented Singer, Writer and Film Director tells us why he made RIGOR MORTIS.

JUNO MAK 麥浚龍

He is popularly known as JUNO MAK.

At 29, he’s a multi-faceted Singer, Actor, Writer and film maker.

He now makes his mark with RIGOR MORTIS.

It’s been ages since a new wave film director rides gallantly onto the diverse cinematic landscape.

Billed as a new independent voice in the horror genre of the HONG KONG CINEMA, he’s a force to be reckon with, and he intends to stay that way.

His debut product RIGOR MORTIS defies negative speculations, and is a stylish, horror production.

In this film, you’ll find a blend of artful storytelling and gifted acting.

This is his tribute to the Hong Kong Vampire Films of the 80s.

Ever brimming with confidence, this auteur crosses artistic boundaries with loads of stunning visual effects to blow your mind away, on top of lavishing you with goosebumps.

I have checked with JUNO, requesting him to say a short piece on why he chose the subject matter of RIGOR MORTIS as his first film.

 

Here, in his own words, is his answer:

“Hi, this is JUNO MAK from Hong Kong, the script writer and director of RIGOR MORTIS.

It is an honor to be able to revisit this iconic “hopping vampire” genre. This is my first directorial debut.

RIGOR MORTIS is not a remake nor a sequel/prequel to the original series.

I am fortunate to be able to revisit the genre with my vision/story telling after so many years, since the classic “Mr Vampire” series of the 80s.

In truth, RIGOR MORTIS was never intended to be a ‘vampire battling type action film’. It is actually an emotional drama about life and the “fear of being forgotten”.

I am really fortunate to be able to gather together, most of the original cast ensemble (sadly a couple of iconic actors have passed away) back from the original series.

This is my dream cast for this project.
I am a firm follower of the 中國殭屍 (Chinese Vampire) genre during my childhood.

Then it was also a golden age of the Hong Kong cinematic history.

I sincerely hope the audience will enjoy the film, and I am looking forward to meeting my overseas fans and friends very soon.”

“RIGOR MORTIS” 殭屍 Movie Review. A Potpourri of Incarnate Horrors.

ENJOY the Movie Trailer here:

“RIGOR MORTIS” 殭屍 Press Review.

For those who may not know, RIGOR MORTIS is a medical term aptly describing the”stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body a few hours after death”.

Nasty description, but enough to expedite quivers down anybody’s spine.

Step right in, and you will be assailed by a myriad of gory glorifications that may jolt you out of your senses and force you to take a stroll down memory lane.

The mood that prevails through the entire movie is generically gloomy, sprinkled with a loadful of spooks, apparitions, zombies and blood curdling vampires demanding your visual attention.

Multi-talented writer, producer and film director JUNO MAK bravely spins a story about life, and the “neither world” where spirits and ghosts dwell. MAK loves bizarre stories, he grew up with these fables which got him hooked during his formative years.

Now, he is exploring the macabre realm of the undead.

Through RIGOR MORTIS, JUNO MAK pays an unusual homage to the classic Chinese vampire movies of the 80s.

No, you will not find pretty boys and alluring damsels in distress onscreen this time around.

MAK carefully assembles his lead cast, recalling some of the original cast members of the old classic vampire series, this despite a couple of these actors had passed on.

The middle-aged actors who are now taking center stage are KARA HUI (movie queen), PAW HEE CHING (movie queen) followed by a host of recognizable veterans such as CHIN SIU HO, ANTHONY CHAN, RICHARD NG and  LO HOI PANG.

You will naturally detect aesthetic traces of Japanese art in the visual presentations, as TAKASHI SHIMIZU (the brainchild of  horror flicks such as THE GRUDGE and JU-ON) is the resident co-producer here.

You can say JUNO makes his mark in his tribute to the Hong Kong Vampire Films of the 80s.

Ever brimming with confidence, he defies artistic boundaries with loads of stunning visual effects to blow your mind away on top of the scares. So stay braced.

Now,for a nail biting introduction to the dense plot:

Scene opens on a wide shot on the facade of a run down public housing building,

But truth be told, this tenement is infested  by menacing vampires, ghosts and zombies who take delight in creating supernatural chaos.

An unemployed actor,still depressed by the loss of his wife and child checks into one of the haunted rooms.

 Treading in the direction of the old school genre,  the director presents RIGOR MORTIS as a character-driven tale of redemption, as much as it is a horror film to boot.

All the principal characters are shown to be unable to come to terms with their inner demons. Co-Writer and first time Director JUNO MAK is assisted by the stellar performances from his all-star ensemble.

When it comes to craftsmanship, kudos to the Director-of-Photography who rendered a brilliant job. Every shot has been beautifully composed. The visual effects will surely blow you over the top.

The result is a film that will astound many viewers, both in depth and technical competence.

JUNO MAK can be classified as a new independent voice in HONG KONG CINEMA.

And RIGOR MORTIS is a stylish, albeit horror film.

Here you’ll find a blend of artful storytelling and gifted acting.

Go watch it !

“IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND, LOVE”. On LIFE when you arrive at CROSSROADS.

AT SOME POINT IN OUR LIVES

we are bound to reach a major crossroad or an unexpected turning ….

Then we’ve got to take stock of ourselves and choose.

Should it be this treacherous left turn

or the one fronting the right which appears to be meandering nowhere?

Our love. Our job. Our future may all hang upon that one critical choice. So be wise,  choose carefully.

By making that fateful decision, the lives of families and friends, and some people whose paths we will cross later based upon that choice, will hang in that balance.

This is life, that is fate.

As we go on life’s journey, we are forever making friends, enemies and choices, smart ones, bad ones.

And one thing will lead to another.

Just listen to the lyrics of this song:

IF YOU COULD READ MY LIFE, LOVE.

“If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.

If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.
When you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,
And you won’t read that book again
Because the ending’s just too hard to take!”

“MAKE YOUR MOVE” Movie Review. A Re-imagining of WESTSIDE STORY Musical with Awesome Touches of DIRTY DANCING.

“MAKE YOUR MOVE” PRESS PREVIEW

“MAKE YOUR MOVE” might fit the bill if you are thinking of a pretty-good movie to bring your loved one for a romantic romp, but it’s really crafted for a young and trendy crowd.

Nonetheless, you can still clap your hands and stomp your feet …..

MOVE to the rhythm,

DANCE to the beat ……

And ROCK THE BOAT.

This is a musical movie destined to steal your breath away.

It’s oozing with loads of oh-la-la dancey energy here, in ‘MAKE YOUR MOVE”, with the leads DEREK HOUGH  (BALL ROOM CHAMPION from UTAH) and BoA (KOREAN POP SINGER) taking center stage to ignite the sexy slick moves.

 So strap on, stay braced as you watch the two animals grinding and pawing each other in heat.

“MAKE YOUR MOVE” peremptorily breezes you through some spectacular dance numbers in a Romeo and Juliet style musical directed by DUANE ADLER.

The dancing parts by the leads are awesome. You can observe the passion for dancing in their eyes and steps. The moments they dance together you see their bodies grinding with sexual joy and passion.

 The movie comes alive when the screen characters burst into dance.

The star crossed lovers whirl you through a sordid background of New York gangs who run the city’s hottest underground nightclubs.

Our hero is DONNY (DEREK HOUGH) a New Orleans tap dancer who has just been released from prison where he served his term for getting involved in a street scam.

AYA (BoA) is an ethnic Korean born in Japan; her US visa is on the point of expiring,

They both meet under unexpected circumstances, but both suddenly feel they have the hots for each other.

I am nether a fan of ballroom dancing or K-Pop, but this movie certainly brings you closer to some of the best choreographed numbers, as in this case, it’s tap, hip hop, tango and trapeze. Not forgetting performing the drum-as-you-dance sequence.

“MAKE YOUR MOVE’ is in part, a re-imagining of THE WEST SIDE STORY” Musical with awesome touches of DIRTY DANCING. I was expecting some silly garbage, but heavens no, this one is really good.

If music is your cup of tea, then go watch it.