A long time ago in a hostel room at NTU

5 years ago to be exact. Spooked.

新年快乐

龍年行大運!

Off-Day

The 4th Year

 

21 days ago at the turn of the New Year. We celebrated the 4th year. Peak of the tallest hotel.

Oh My Buddha!

Videos of Camp Ehi-Passiko 2011. Another job well done. May the Dhamma flourish in the hearts of these young people.

War Films

Randomly looked through the titles on the shelves of Carrefour. The megastore carry lots of Indonesian imports. Picked two obscure war films. May not be groundbreaking but special in their own little ways.

Only The Brave (2006) dir. Lance Nishikawa

I've watched a short film with regards to this subject matter and saw snippets of Go For Broke! (can watch the entire film here on Youtube). Japanese Americans who fought for the US Army in WWII. After Pearl Harbour, Japanese Americans were eyed with suspicions by the US government and moved into internment camps. To prove their loyalty to their motherland, young Japanese Americans signed up for the war and were shipped to the Europe.  

Only The Brave is an indie war film with action sequences that perhaps may not be appreciated by mainstream audience spoilt by big-budget war flicks. I appreciate the exploration of the soldiers' backstory though towards the middle, it got sort of a routine and drew "not again!" responses. Perhaps it's because I watched the film on my MBP sometime around 3am in the hotel room with a bed screaming for my head. Buddhist themes peppered across the entire film. A good material if I were to shoot a low-budget indie war flick.

The film ended with an epilogue that the Japanese American army unit portrayed in the film is the most decorated military outfit in the history of the US Army. Not sure how that is true and it if it so, it's a pity it's such a little-known fact.

 

Merah Putih aka Red and White (2009) dir. Yadi Sugandi

The first Indonesian film I've ever watched. Cheesey lines and plot. But I can still appreciate the film. It definitely took a lot of effort to make it. Plus so much oozing of patriotism, how not to like it? Enjoyed the coming together of soldiers from different faiths. I wonder if Indonesian Chinese took up arms with the Republican army and fought the Dutch?

Solid.

Break the hiatus from politics. Solid speech from MP Vikram Nair. I'm a new fan. Exposed holes in WP's speeches. Bo wei gong. Then again, this will go mostly unnoticed with the anti-establishment fervour at a new high.

Clean wage system. What you see is what you get.

LIONS XII

 

Back in the Malaysia Cup. Mixed feelings but this one is heart over the head. I don't want to see the S-League become second class. But football could well be the gel, the healing force to bring the people together as politics here become divisive.

Caught my first game with the guys. We won 2-1 over Kuala Lumpur. 

Brings back good memories watching the Singapore team on TV. First introduction into football by my eldest sister in 1992. The fire only caught on me in 1993. I had posters, a sticker book and a mixtape of songs sang by the Lions. My dad used to be pissed when the first thing I did every morning was to read the Sports Section to find out the latest news about the Lions than read about current affairs.. My mom once scolded my eldest sister for introducing football to me as I rather watch the games on tele then study for my tests. From where I used to stay, I could see the old Jalan Besar stadium and the Lions trained there every evening. In 1994, my mom promised me that she would bring me to Kallang stadium to finally watch a match live, if I worked hard in my academics. That was also the year we won the Malaysia Cup and the League and subsequently pulled out of the tourney. The next thing to do is to bring my parents to Jalan Besar Stadium and enjoy the game.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

This is my motto for now. Billy Ocean's voice haunting me. CNY is around the corner but I've got no time and energy for the festive mood, YET. Tons of work to do, so much so I have to pack a bag to bring work home for the weekend. It's easy to throw in the towel now but I would like to believe I'm stronger than that. It's a rush against time to meet the deadlines and pressure. Such a shitty situation, can only happen once in a lifetime. I can blame my fate/fortune/luck or whatever lah, but I would like to change the way I handle the situation than let the situation overcome me.

Guan Gong vs Aliens

Now this is a gem, shared by a filmmaking friend on Facebook. Guan Gong fights Alien invaders, a la Ultraman. 1970s Hong Kong film I think. Where has it been all these years!?

The Tiger Nephews

Lanka

Tara

 

There's so much joy and loyalty in a dog. An amazing creature.

How do you make a movie for US$9, 000/- ?

15 Minutes (2001) dir. John Herzfeld

15 Minutes was not made with US$9, 000/-. It was the flick of the night as the plan to catch a midnight show alone at the neighbourhood cinema fails. Did they stop screening Flying Swords of Dragon Gate already? 2001 New York City looks archaic in 15 Minutes though the 2000s is just around the corner of my mind.

The point here is Edward Burns. Despite having a fairly sucessful career as an actor, Burns continue to ply his trade as an indie filmmaker, working with low-budgets and even shooting some of it on miniDV. In 2011, he shot a feature (Newlyweds) on 5DMkII in 12 days costing just US$9, 000/-.





Trailer looks promising. Inspiring huh?

Frontiere Interdite

Linewatch (2008) dir. Kevin Bray

Another one of those crime dramas that never seems to make it to the local theatres but which I always enjoy watching.

The Wave

I'm excited. This is a good team with some good plans. The wave has arrived and if we ride on it correctly, we should bring the Mission to greater heights.

Sony Nex-5

I've always like to work with small cameras since university days. The fluidity and control over your images. Throw out the tripod too. The downside is the man-on-the-street would think that you're only fooling around. How could small cameras match the bigger machines? Fortunately for technology. I'm not letting go of the 5D but the compact size of a Sony Nex5 is quite impressive. Like a point-n-shoot camera.







Not the best but still look better than DV cameras right? It was only 4 years ago when we shoot all our assignments on DV tapes. Freshmen now come in and start to work with prime lens on their projects.

The Grandmaster

The Number 1 film I'm looking forward to in 2012. 8 years of pre-production and 2 years to shoot. What could have been the original Ip Man film before Wilson Yip sneaked it in 2008.



How would the world's most romantic filmmaker interpret the kungfu genre?

2012

Happy New Year.

It's gonna be one fantastic year.