Is There Hope?

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Seamus read the blog and messaged me today to say that his new top film is "The Good Shepherd", directed by Robert De Niro. Definitely one to watch.

What I caught tonight was "Children of Men". Another excellent movie.

Children of Men is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 dystopian thriller film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, loosely adapted from P.D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men. The cast includes Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sir Michael Caine.

The film portrays London in the year 2027, in a world where the human female population has become infertile. The last aging generation has lost hope for the future and human societies have fallen apart. Waves of refugees descend upon Great Britain, which has become a police state, where all foreigners are declared illegal immigrants and subject to deportation or sent to internment camps.

The image painted of the future world is a scary one indeed. One critic described this movie as "28 Days Later" meets "V for Vendetta". Quite apt but I think there's a far more superior story here.

"IN 20 YEARS, WOMEN ARE INFERTILE. NO CHILDREN. NO FUTURE. NO HOPE." Scary thought indeed. "BUT ALL THAT CAN CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT." Watch it!

Veterans of Bangalore

Ran into Seamus Kelly on Friday at Taika and was once again reminded of this picture I took of him one Sunday brunch yonks ago. I can't remember what the subject matter was but he sure was enjoying his conversation with his little green friend.

We got to talking about movies and I really shouldn't be surprised that we both thought "Layer Cake" was one of the best movies we saw last year.

G0LD3N RUL3 -
QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD. NEVER BE TOO GREEDY. KEEP A VERY LOW PROFILE. STAY AWAY FROM THE END USER, THEY'LL GUARANTEE TO BRING YOU TROUBLE. HAVE A GOOD REASON TO BE AFFLUENT. KNOW AND RESPECT YOUR ENEMY. IT IS ONLY VERY VERY STUPID PEOPLE THAT THINK THE LAW IS STUPID. ALWAYS WORK IN A SMALL TEAM. HAVE A PLAN AND STICK TO IT. AVOID LIKE THE F***ING PLAGUE, LOUD ATTENTION-SEEKING WANNABE GANGSTERS.

Another one that we enjoyed tremendously was "Luck Number Slevin". Not sure how many people saw the twist at the end coming, but I loved all the twists in the plot. Forced, maybe?

Critics consensus: "Trying too hard to be clever in a Pulp Fiction kind of way, this film succumbs to a convoluted plot, overly stylized characters and dizzying set design." But hey, I enjoyed it.

Another one in a similar genre which I loved was "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". This one the critics loved but unfortunately it did not do well. Memory a little dim, will have to watch it again.

Trivia:
- The title is a reference to James Bond, who was dubbed "Mr. Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang" by an Italian journalist in 1962. It is also a phrase uttered by Robert Downey Jr. in 2003's The Singing Detective.
- The film was originally titled You'll Never Die in This Town Again
- The working title of the film was LA, P.I.
- Gay Perry's name is a play on the phrase "Gay Paris" (pronounced peh-REE).

300

Awesome trailer!

I See You

Taika & Arjun Rampal celebrated the music of his yet to be released movie "I See You".

Never been to an event like this before so it was great fun to be a true paparazzi this time. A few tracks from the album were then played in the disco. The success of many Bollywood films are tied to their soundtracks, so it'd be interesting to see how this one fares.

Certainly an interesting way to spend a Sunday evening; rubbing shoulders with Bollywood.

满城尽带黄金甲

aka "Curse of the Golden Flower", Zhang Yi Mou's new movie stariing Chow Yuen Fatt (apparently now Chow Yun Fat) and Gong Li. Interesting that Chinese names are now shown in the order that was intended. The surname is no longer placed at the end.

Even Jay Chou is acting in it and singing the theme song. Good song. From the MV and the trailer, the movie looks stunning. Can't wait.

TV Addict

New show on TV which I am enjoying tremendously. It's called "Heroes". With tagline 'Ordinary People Discovering Extraordinary Abilities', it traverses some of the X-men territory. It's been picked up for a full season. Great.

As a total eclipse casts its shadow across the globe, a genetics professor in India is led by father's disappearance to uncover a secret theory -- there are people with super powers living among us. A young dreamer tries to convince his politician brother that he can fly. A high school cheerleader learns that she is totally indestructible. A Las Vegas stripper, struggling to make ends meet to support her young son, discovers that her mirror image has a secret. A fugitive from justice continues to baffle authorities who twice have been unable to contain him. A gifted artist, whose drug addiction is destroying his life and relationship with his girlfriend, can paint the future. A down-on-his-luck Los Angeles beat cop can hear people's thoughts, which puts him on the trail of an elusive serial killer. In Japan, a young man develops a way to stop time through sheer will power. Their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world…

It's amazing how American TV nowadays is always trying to be politically correct when it comes to racial demographics. An Indian and a Japanese and a Latino in the main cast? Children of mixed parentage? But a really good story so far and I love the plot twists. Another show that will keep me busy this fall season.

Winter Sonata

'Gyeoul Yeonga' (Winter Sonata) was first released in Korea in January of 2002 quickly becoming one the most popular shows on television. This hugely popular TV drama was produced by Ho Yunseok, the same man responsible for immensely popular TV drama, 'Gaeul Donghwa'(Autumn in my Heart). This director has begun a seasonal theme of TV dramas. The third in his series is 'Yeoreum Hyanggi'(The Scent of Summer), which aired in the summer of 2003 in Korea.

Namisum Island was where many scenes were shot, so it became a must-see sight for all the tour groups from Singapore. A 10 minute ferry ride takes ones to this tranquil island, when I suppose its not overrun with tourists.

The three tree-lined avenues must be what everyone female fan of the show go to the island for, to imagine themselves in the arms of Bae Yong-Joon, whom I dislike even though I have never seen him in anything. Walking around, you understand why they set the drama there.

They have even erected some statues in the likeness of the lead characters of the serial, milking all they could from the popularity of the show and the stars in the region. Posters of the series were also prominently displayed. It was quite fascinating to watch some Japanese tourists positioning themselves such that it appeared as if it was their faces right next to Bae's, living out their fantasy in plain sight of every passer-by.

Great credit has to be given to the Korean Tourism authorities for making so much out of a small island that was created from the construction of Cheongpyung Dam. Would have been nice to have a few more hours to stroll down these avenues and explore the edges of the lake...

BBC Serial Mania ...cont'd

Some of you will probably think I'm nuts. In some ways, I guess I must be. To devote so much time and energy to these shows. "Wives and Daughters" (1999) was once again adapted by the Andrew Davies from Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel. (The link here is to the ebook available from Project Gutenberg, which offers a host of free e-books. I guess they are able to do this mainly due to the expiry of the copyrights.)

One of the stars of the serial is Francesca Annis. I was a huge fan of hers from way back in the 70s, when she acted as Lillie Lantry in another BBC serial, "Lillie". Of course, she was also quite well known for the fact that she was in a long relation with the much younger Ralph Fiennes.

Michael Gambom won a BAFTA for his role as the squire. He is of course much better known now as the actor who took over from Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore in the last Harry Potter movie.

A couple of young actresses were very impressive as well. Justine Waddell and Keeley Hawes. It's amazing how different they can look. All three pics in this blog has Keeley Hawes in them.

As with these period dramas, there is always a lot of repressed emotions and lots of goings on about honour. But the language and the acting, as I've said time and again, is what draws me to them.

Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend" was the one I spent this Sunday with. This was the last novel he had written.

This adaptation by The BBC produced 1997, adapted by Sandi Welch. It starred Paul McGann and Anna Friel.

In the TV series Lost, character Desmond Hume keeps Our Mutual Friend close by, as he has read everything Charles Dickens wrote except it, and plans to have it be his last thing read before he dies.

The story was convoluted and there was a host of characters but once again the Beeb was able to channel everything into an engrossing 6hours, resulting in a BAFTA for Best Serial.

BBC Serial Mania

Just finshed watching the BBC's adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's Man Booker Prize winner, "The Line of Beauty". I've had the book for a while now but have yet to read it. Loved his other novels The Swimming Pool Library (1988), The Folding Star (1994) and The Spell (1998). Will now put The Line of Beauty on my priority.

Once again, Andrew Davies has done a brilliant job of adaptation. The three hours went by so quickly and you get drawn into the story the same way the Nick Guest character was infatuated with the privileged lifestyle of the Feddens.

BBC: "Framed by the two General Elections which returned Mrs Thatcher to power, The Line Of Beauty is set over four extraordinary years of change and tragedy. This outsider's journey into the heart of the beautiful and seductive world of the social elite bristles with emotion, drama and social commentary. Full of style and wit, it is a richly textured coming-of-age story set in London during a ruthless decade."

It is sad how all these stories always end sadly. Unfortunate reflection of the not so fairy-tale like world in which we live perhaps?

Another such instance was the hit BBC adaptation (again by Andrew Davies) from last year, Charles Dickens' "Bleak House".

Once again, the excellent acting from an incredible cast made this drama even more compelling.

On May 7, 2006, Bleak House won the Best Drama Serial category at the British Academy Television Awards, with Anna Maxwell Martin taking the Best Actress award ahead of fellow nominee Gillian Anderson. In July 2006, the adaptation was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries, Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Charles Dance), Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Gillian Anderson) and Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Denis Lawson). It won two Emmys, for Makeup and Cinematography in a Miniseries.

Gillian Anderson was brilliant as the Lady with a past. The close-ups allowed every nuanced twitch to be captured.

I must commend the music used in both series as well. Martin Phipps composed some really beautiful incidental music for The Line of Beauty and the very evocative theme that opens Bleak House was by John Lunn.

Watch them both. Highly recommended.

North & South

Just finished watching BBC's TV serial from 2004, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel, North & South.

I had ordered the DVD from Amazon UK and I must say that it was well worth it. I love period dramas for several reasons. Foremost of which is the language. And I think the BBC does this best.

Many people have compared this series to Pride and Prejudice I think mainly because of the brooding central male characters. Yes, Thornton and Darcy, are both brooding, but there is fire in Thornton which I don't remember in Darcy. Richard Armitage did a stellar job and the role has capitulated him into a star, as far as I can see from the postings.

Daniela Denby-Ashe also did a superb job as Margaret. Was very surprised to learn that she was an East Enders alum. No histrionics. Her reactions were always subtle, somewhat studied which took a little away from it.

Essentially this was a love story. But the locations and the sets... the most spectacular piece being that of the cotton mill. Was amazed at how they had built a fully working cotton mill until I realised this was shot in a working museum. Two locations were used for the Cotton Mill. The outside was filmed at Dalton Mill in Keighley and the inside at Helmshore Textile Museum, Rossendale.

I feel the music got neglected somewhat. I found it to be most evocative. The opening notes at the start of the DVD menu were really tugging at your heartstrings. Some people may find it too much but I thought it was superb. I think the composer Martin Phipps did an excellent job.

Like all period dramas, the pace is more leisurely than a lot of people would care for. But its exactly the slow boil that brings out its best. And all BBC serials somehow include so many wonderful supporting performances.

Check this out if you get the chance.