Chiam See Tong as Ip ManChiam See Tong as "Captain Singapore"Mah Bow Tan as Carl in UPChee Soon Juan as the FlashChen Show Mao as ThorNicole Seah as GI JoeThe entire SDP team as Star Trek crewLow Thia Khiang as Bruce Lee
Coincidentally, the Singapore gala premiere for the Hollywood movie, THOR was earlier today, same day as the Singapore 2011 General ElectionsNomination Day.
Thor is a hammer wielding thunder god in Nordic mythology. Depending on how you choose to see it, he can be construed as a PAP symbol (the thunder) or WP symbol (the hammer). 🙂
I came across this young Singaporean, Miranda’s Youtube channel, ZEYnHEXinRL, a few days ago. This is how Miranda describes her videos:
ZEYnHEXinRL is run by Miranda but is created with Hexxer. We basically enjoy making people laugh, so we decided to create this channel.
Brief Description of Me : I’m a simple teenager which no extraordinary talent. I’m a Youtuber by day and a part time hobo by night.
Our goal is to reach 1,000 subscribers and become a YouTube partner! Do help me achieve our dream!
Miranda (picture via her Facebook Fan Page)
Here’s someone who is not afraid of clowning around and looking silly in front of the camera. I did find a few of her videos quite amusing, especially this one where she transformed herself into a Xiaxue clone (I think Miranda should know that she looks much prettier the way she is):
Most of my peers will remember the original Tsui Hark’s A Chinese Ghost Story《倩女幽魂》trilogy in the 1980s. The movies made stars out of Joey Wong and the late Leslie Cheung. It also turned the two main characters, lovely female vixen ghost, Nip Siu-sin (聶小倩) and testosterone-driven scholar, Ning Choi-san (寧采臣) into household names.
The 2011 version of A Chinese Ghost Story, alternatively known as A Chinese Fairy Tale, is directed by Wilson Yip and stars Liu Yifei as Nie Xiaoqian (聶小倩), Yu Shaoqun as Ning Caichen (寧采臣) and Louis Koo as Yan Chixia (燕赤霞).
Instead of a straight-forward love story between two star-crossed lovers, the 2011 version pairs Xiaoqian with Caichen as her new lover and Chixia as an old lover, complicating the relationship interplay between the characters.
Liu Yifei (刘亦菲) as Nie Xiaoqian (聶小倩)
In an interview, director Wilson Yip stressed that his movie is not a remake: “A Chinese Ghost Story is not a remake movie. I have just selected one of the famous ‘Ghost Story’ to play out in a feature film that is filled with oriental fantasy. I make a romantic love story not a ghost story.”
I find this a smart approach.
When the original trilogy is so successful and iconic, no matter how good the 2011 version might be, no one will admit it is better than the original even if it is really so. Hence it is best to avoid comparison from the start.
Rachel and I caught the movie at the gala premiere last week, thanks to the folks from Encore Films.
We had both watched the original and were initially a little sceptical about the 2011 version. Nonetheless, both of us enjoyed the movie very much. Rachel was even moved to tears at the ending scene.
Other than the same character names and similar looking, but updated sets, the storyline is quite different from the original, focusing more on the love stories between the characters.
Liu Yifei looks stunningly beautiful as Xiaoqian and brings a youthful vibrancy to the character. Yu Shaoqun played a perfect wimp, sharply contrasting Louis Koo’s strong alpha-male character. Who would audience prefer to win Xiaoqian’s heart? Rachel and I rooted for the latter.
The movie is now showing in Singapore cinemas. For those who have seen the original, do catch it to revisit the classic. For those too young to have seen the original, the storyline is good enough to watch on its own too. 🙂
Trailer:
Synopsis:
The story takes place in an ancient mountain village. There were spirits and tree monsters living on Black Mountain and these demons were always engaged in slaughter and bloodshed. The villagers all fear to enter the mountain and the Lan Ruo temple within the mountain.
When Yan Chi Xia was still young, he chose Black Mountain to practice and realize his dreams of becoming a good Demon Hunter. He experienced many dangerous battles with demons in Black Mountain. His sword became more fearful, and he gets more powerful and confident as he overcomes all the spirits and monsters until the day he met her and their sad story begins.
Many years later, when the river at the base of Black Mountain dried up, the villagers made the decision to search for a water source on the mountain. Humans, ancient spirits and tree monsters enter into conflict. From there, another romantic legend emerges …
The original tale, written by 17th century Chinese author Pu Song Ling, is a love story between Ning Cai Chen and a beautiful spirit named Nie Xiao Qian. The story has been adapted to the silver screen many times before, from 1960’s “The Enchanting Shadow” directed by Li Han Hsiang. The most well-known version to date being the Tsui Hark’s production in 1987, 1990 and 1991, known as “A Chinese Ghost Story I, II,and III”.
But China’s hottest director today, Wilson Yip (Ip Man 1 & 2) is taking a whole new approach from films of the past. Starring Louis Koo and Liu Yifei, and at a budget of US$20 million, this picture is one of the most exciting martial arts fantasy films ready for release at end April 2011.
本電影根據清代蒲松齡原著《聊齋誌異》之《聶小倩》重新改編，故事中聶小倩及寧采臣一段人鬼殊途之戀動人心魄，實屬是經典之作。《倩女幽魂》亦多次搬上大銀幕，先有1960年由李翰祥導演執導的<<倩女幽魂>>，後再有由著名導演徐克製作的<<倩女幽魂I, II, III>>。
Filled with mind-boggling twists and heart-pounding suspense, SOURCE CODE is a smart action-thriller directed by Duncan Jones (Moon), starring Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Due Date), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Departed), and Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace, Syriana).
Thanks to the folks from Shaw Theatres, I caught the media preview for SOURCE CODE two weeks ago with my buddy, Tianyang.
The movie is now showing in Singapore cinemas. Do catch it! It is definitely making it into my list this year as one of the must-watch movies for 2011.
No big name Hollywood stars were featured in this movie which thrived on a strong storyline with one plot twist after another. My advice is not to read up too much on the storyline prior to watching the movie, so as not to spoil the surprises. Hence I will not be giving too much details.
In summary, the movie involves a bit of time travel, with the lead character reliving a bomb explosion on board a train, again and again, each time trying to save the world.
TRAILER
SYNOPSIS
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack.
A L V I N O L O G Y 