buzz

the buzz has finally led up to this video. and what a great one this is. siobhan is looking stunning as ever and the location of this shoot is beautiful.

watch and comment.

dysfunction

it seems that we are all attracted to dysfunction. i say this because i have just finished reading the book running with scissors, a lead up to the movie release only in feb.

running with scissors is a very personal memoir of author augusten burroughs. the book is brutally honest, interestingly quirky and very straight forward. it is a coming of age memoir something along the lines of prozac nation. while prozac was chaos, running with scissors was controlled chaos. how so? prozac nation had elizabeth wurtzel talking about her battle with depression in great detail and metaphors while augesten burroughs chose to cut to the chase and be excessive on the description. alas both memoirs got made into movies.

augesten burroughs’ life was a mess. having a psychotic mother and a drunkard dad was enough to render a divorce and the upheaval of his perfect environment to one that was chaotic, quirky and downright weird. this in the form of his mom’s psychiatrist mr finch and his family. having no close relationship with his dad, only through the taking out of the trash, its no surprise that augusten goes the crooked path. at a young age, he learns to become sexually promiscuous with a man very much older than himself. albeit his crooked sexuality, he forms a very strong bond with one of the finch’s daugthers, natalie. two very contrasting characters, their friendship was one that was full of food, wandering, brutally honest conversations. but at the end of the memoir what seemed like a perfect friendship would be left with questions and doubts. but as all chaotic messes go, they all ease into a calm eventually.

back to dysfunction. running with scissors is dysfunction at its best. seeing through augusten, his life is really an eye opener as to how dysfunction can either make or break you. what i liked about the book was his relationship with natalie and his grandiose views on how his life is going to turn out. these thoughts included stardom and being a doctor. yet such thoughts still prevailed in his mind through the dysfunction in his life. and this was his dealing mechanism even through the worst sex of his life. and that is what got him through his growing up years. dysfunction and disillusionment.

but yet as the story ended, i thought to myself, such a complicated life could only have happened in the american context. we asians do have stories of complications but not as screwed up as that of augusten burroughs. we asians are made to live within the clutches of our parents through to our growing and adult years. and that is a sad fact. a little dysfunction would be nice.

tv and movies

in her winning speech for her role in devil wears prada, meryl streep says that if we have not seen movies such as volver, sherrybaby and babel, we should ask our theatre manager why. and i am tempted to do so.

the 64th golden globe just ended on tv. and once again i am sure viewers were to clueless to some of the movies that were honoured. out of the the five movies nominated for the best motion picture- drama category, only 2 movies were or are being shown here. them being the departed and the queen (to which was just released). babel would be coming at the end of the month, little children coming months and bobby i do not know when.

so how can we make judgements or comments on the winners of the golden globes if we ourselves have not seen these movies?

in the acting category, stellar performances were duly nominated. penelope cruz for volver, judi dench for notes on a scandal, maggie gyllenhaal for sherrybaby, helen mirren for the queen and kate winslet for little children. out of all these actresses only one actress we have seen in the movies, helen mirren the eventual winner. volver will be coming in march, little children and notes on a scandal in coming months and sherrybaby i’d expect in the middle of this year or almost never.

in the comedy or musical category however, most of the movies nominated were shown here. them being, little miss sunshine, thank you for smoking, devil wears prada and borat. eventual winner dreamgirls, is not even showing signs of a release here.

does this go to show that singapore cinema is only concentrated on the funny and light hearted? why do we then have movie theatre companies branching or delving into concepts cinema theatres like the picturehouse from cathay?

on tv front however, things were not so bad. shows like ugly betty and grey’s anatomy were duly honoured. ugly betty’s america ferrera was honoured for best actress in a tv musical or comedy and they won best tv series musical or comedy. grey’s anatomy though nominated for acting chops in the form of ellen pompeo, patrick dempsey and katherine heig, lost out but won best tv series drama from the likes of heroes, 24, lost and big love.

ugly betty which would see its debut here in feb while grey’s anatomy shows no sign of a third season showing while heroes will be only showing on cable. all of which are great tv shows.

so in the form of asking the theatre managers, i ask the MDA. why are great movies such as babel, bobby and sherrybaby slowly or late but not very surely making their way to singapore? i know there are rights to be dealt with and censoring and segmentataion to its rightful rating. i am just tired of being clueless while watching these award shows.

and,  how can we abide by the “say no to piracy” campaign? get my drift?

oh the sky broke!

the clouds say “we shall break into a revolution!”. they march systematically, an army of clouds, into their formation. facing their “weapons of mass destruction” downwards, they aim properly at small and big islands alike. “strike!!!”, they holler with no reservations. pelt after pelt their shiny bullets of water ricochets against surfaces, human flesh to meet its imminent enemy, the ground. like this they carry on into the day and night without rest.

i must say, i am rather impress. is this a way of telling us something mother nature? but no matter, i am happy that a certain number of things have warmed me up inside. one being that racheal yamagata is coming to town for the mosaic music festival so is yo le tengo, the latter i have only heard of thanks to ping. these little news of enjoyment certainly calls for loads of celebration. last year i missed si*se due to governmental obligations, this year i am hell bent on seeing racheal yamagata. this definitely makes up for the missing of si*se the year before.

okay though the festival is only march, i think i’ll gear up for it pretty soon this meaning getting the tickets done and stuff. i’ve waited so long for either carla werner, charlotte martin or racheal yamagata or the like to come. and finally one of them is coming. i hope she does not let down and cancel at the last minute. then i too have been wondering what if acts like brazilian girls come to town. that would be a show to look forward to. don’t you think sammy?

this racheal yamagata coming has made me so damn happy the rain don’t matter that much. this has made me so happy that i can forgive the MDA for having such slow speeds at releasing great movies resulting us to resort to piracy. but not for long, not for long.

just like buffy the vampire slayer being revived in comic books i shall rise too.

be warned!

dirt that sweet escape

madonna says:

“religion causes fragmentation”.

what better way to start this first review article. the year is 2007 and i have been blogging for almost 2 years. thinking back, it does scare the living shit out of me. just because i never thought this would be a mainstay in my life. the sweeping statements, the cynic views and the doubt has surpassed for this habit that is hard to kick. the purpose is often unclear but with the dawning of the new year i can safely say, i know where this is going.

so in celebration of the new year and new direction, i have prepared two things to type about. true to the saying, “something borrowed, something new”, i am going to feature something of last year and this year.

the first being:

the sweet escape. gwen stefani has returned with the follow up to the amazing L.A.M.B. since then she has had a baby and made the single wind it up. wind it up is a shocking and playful tune. and with an album name, the sweet escape, you would think that gwen stefani would have grown in sound and production. after a few listens to this second album, you kind of feel that gwen has gone all bling and really street-chic. gone are the smart productions, quirky lyrics and ear catchin tunes. she has instead gone for strong beats courtesy of akon and pharrell. stand our tracks would have to be wind it up, club banger, yummy feat. pharrell and don’t get it twisted. but what a way to say goodbye and return to no doubt. this album is a downgrade for gwen stefani for me. some songs on this record does sound a tad bit like tracks of the Danity Kane record.

gracing our TV screens this year or should i say that of the US is FX networks new show, Dirt. produced and starring courtney cox arquette, Dirt is a show about how hollywood tabloid magazine works. the premiere episode aired on 2 jan. and you could say this series could give or go hand in hand with the HBO series entourage. afterall this show deals with faux hollywood stars and their struggles, but of another aspect. FX networks along with showtime has never failed to bring out really gritty and strong tv shows. shows like nip/tuck and weeds were all very controversial in their own rights. and Dirt is no different. courtney cox arquette (Lucy Spiller) has made a very good transition from her friends days to a cut throat editor for Now magazine. using very scrupulous ways to get her story. this by means of schizophrenic photographer (played by Ian Hart) and a b-grade down the drain artist ( played by josh stewart). the other characters do not quite match up to these three. but you do have the show dealing with age old issues of being a heartless editor, that of loneliness. this show also shines the spotlight on how tabloids can truly destroy friendship and lovelife. i must say this series is a grower and really defaces the face of hollywood. all i can say is stay tuned for more.

2007 is really gearing up to be a year of great shows and amazing music. in this review session, i feel is confirmation that it would be interesting for gwen stefani to go back to no doubt and create better music to that of sweet escape. and i also have my interest piqued as to how long FX Networks would hold on to dirt and how much this show can shock me. also i am looking forward to the return of shows such as, six degrees and heroes. also to many great movies to which singapore would not get until the middle of next year safe for mind numbing senseless blockbusters and cartoons.

drab

07 has landed safely.

with this new year i hope much fuckery does not happen.

06 swiftly takes off into oblivion, some highlights of it would be nice.

1) movies that i really enjoyed: Thank You For Smoking, Little Miss Sunshine, Art School Confidential, Quincenera, C.R.A.Z.Y, Russian Dolls, Kinky Boots and more.
2) music that was orgamiscally ear teasing: Brazilian Girls’ Talk to La Bomb, Juliette & The Licks’ Four on the Floor, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, Carla Werner’s Pure Things in Wild Places, Charlotte Martin’s Stromata and more.

3) books that were great to the core: Seven Types of Ambiguity, Extremely Loud, Oh the Glory of it All and currently The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

4) moments that are forever etched: pms adventures, retiring unknowingly from the clubbing scene, fine dining experiences, getting drunk @ city of angels,  getting drunk @ jess’s christmas party, spending christmas with pms.

5) people worth mentioning: yeo min ping and samantha jieting terri see of course, jessica chang and yvette mae (whom really are the greatest friends!), bryan bong (the only friend i have bothered to keep in contact with out of camp) the sister (which i have gotten even more closer to).

6) biggest regret: not spending wisely.

7) hopes for 07: spend wisely, make better purchases. be done with serving the damn nation. feature better articles and reviews for this page. prevent less fuckery.
okay this is off the top of my head. i feel that i have outsold the concept of this blog.