Just only today I text Jin Chong to yumcha while having my weekend car ride.
And he suggested that we watch movie instead.
So instead of further polluting the air with exhaust gas, I headed to his place for further discussion and to have an eye-opener on a new technology.
The Nintendo Wii that Eric Cartman has wanted a lot even before the official release date.
(Watch South Park for more info on that. :D)
So, fast forward, me and Jin Chong (Ok I'll use J.C. from now on) went to watch this "Street Dance/Hip-hop" movie.
I just have to say it's super good.
Maybe it's the fact that I've not been watching any movie this year (the last was since X'mas).
It's a refreshing one to open my 2008 movie "account".
The cast of the movie is what the British might call "absolutely fantastic" or what the Mexicans might say "fantastico".
The music is just so fitting that I've to give it a 1000 marks out of 100.
T-Pain (you just gotta love him), Missy Elliott, Cassie (she's in the movie too), Akon etc. have added the superb sound effect to the movie.
There are a few things you might find pretty impressive.
One of the characters named as Moose or Alexander The Great Third is no ordinary youngster as depicted in the movie.
He's a superb dancer so don't judge his looks for what he should be.
The dancers are beautiful and handsome (well almost all of them).
Another thing is that they have a concept known as "The Prank", where each crew (a group of street dancers) would do a dance video clip with a prank setting.
It's hard to explain the concept but just watch the film and you'll understand.
The dance is jaw dropping.
Even J.C. sounded super impressed as he "wah"-ed for so many times.
Basically this movie has what I usually go for.
Cast? Tick
Sound? Tick
Storyline? Maybe half tick but who cares when the dancing and music are awesome.
Music? Double tick
Dancing? Double tick.
Enjoy the groove and funkiness.
You'll love the movie. :)
Just in case you love the songs so much, try going to this blogsite for downloads of the soundtrack.
Finally I got another breather again in the so-called Raya celebrations...
To be honest, Raya is never a day of celebration for me. Never ever.
Anyway, it's been a few days which are full of deep thinking.
I've not been too happy of late especially after I did my medical check up.
Alright, the results are not out yet but I'm not too optimistic anyway.
Putting that aside, what has been so "impressive" that I've to name this blog entry as "Impressive..."?
See the following poster...
Yes. It's 881.
881 is pronounced in mandarin similarly to papaya.
Basically it's a movie about the Chinese Getai shows in the 7th month of the Lunar calendar.
Usually in Singapore, Getai shows are shows that aim to entertain the so-called ghosts and spirits as in the 7th month of Lunar calendar, the door of hell would open and ghosts and spirits would wander around the human world.
Of course, to entertain them, one of the ways is through singing and acting and doing performances.
881 has totally blown me away. It really has.
I've never seen such an impressive South-east Asian movie in my entire life.
Ok, it's not action packed or super CGI-based or related, but I've personally loved watching movies which are closer to my roots, my chinese roots to be honest.
Singapore movies have been improving from time to time and the scripts and directing style are starting to gain recognition too.
I'm not a Singaporean but I'm so proud to be a Chinese where Chinese movies especially from South-east Asia are making a name for themselves.
I still want to take a dig at Malaysian movies which are always required to add the "Malay" flavour in it.
Oh c'mon, is this Malay-land? or Malaysia?
Sick of that. Sue me if you want, Malaysia film makers but this is a fact.
Anyway, in 881, the way the director (Royston Tan) control the plot was superb.
It's a flashy, fantasy-based, idealistic, touching piece of artwork.
I would say the ingredients of the movie are well-balanced and if you really like Hokkien or dialect based songs, this is the one for you.
I love Hokkien songs as they can relate to almost everything in the world (well luckily not about religion because it's so irrelevant).
From the familiar "Ye Hua (Wild Flowers)" to "Lian Hua (Lotus Flower)", it's also a bit of a musical based movie which is furnished with superb stage performance, flashy presentation and exaggeration of the real life situation.
Yet, I feel that it has already tone down some of its parts in the real Getai Show.
Nevertheless, the main characters in the movie, the Papaya sisters were a perfect pair. Known as Big Papaya and Small Papaya in the movie, they coincidentally met up during a Getai show whereby both of them loved watching their Getai show idol, Chen Jin Lang perform.
That was where the story starts.
I won't elaborate much on the storyline though. Watch it for yourself.
It really worth the 8 or 10 bucks.
And I almost cried during the movie. (The 2nd time since "The Day After Tomorrow")
Most importantly, appreciate the best song from the movie, "Yi Ren Yi Ban (Half Each)", sang by Wu Jia Hui.
A Malaysian Chinese living in the capital of the utmost southern region of Malaysia, Johor Bahru. An Internet freako with a weird taste of surfing (which includes multiple refreshing pages in a second). An insane supporter of rock music and the Arsenal! Mind you, the Kel would kill you if you take those away from him!
Stop there and let me correct it I wanna live a life from a new perspective You come along because I love your face And I'll admire your expensive taste And who cares divine intervention I wanna be praised from a new perspective But leaving now would be a good idea So catch me up on getting out of here
