A Lazy Sundae Sunday

Dear readers,

Ever wondered what it's like when a music show is powered by ice-cream? Specifically, Kreme Kart (http://www.kremekart.com/)?

Well, I found the answer to that on the 27th of February, in the form of a chilled-out acoustic show in Sentul's very own KLPAC Garden Area (http://www.klpac.org/).

I have no idea what the lady on the bottom rite is doing. It wasn't me!!

The show, according to its Facebook event page was supposed to start at 1pm, but before we get to the main event, it was to my delight that the KLPAC String Ensemble was rehearsing in the foyer. I like acoustically-tinged music like the one Kreme Kart is sponsoring, but classical music is right up my alley as well, having in recent years picked up the violin. Yes, learning the violin in your 20s is weird.

There's kids from their 10s to their 20s. My self-confidence is astoundingly exuberant.

It is encouraging to see young people getting into the classics and playing better than me, yeah...

The placard that explains what they are doing. Enlarge for further details.

When I was there, they were rehearsing the very Celtic 'Scenes from the Emerald Isle' & the annoyingly happy 'Pizzicato Polka'.

The conductor Mr. Ota showing how to properly shred like a rock star.

All the above happened before 1pm and Sundae Sunday was supposed to start by then, but by 2pm instead of chilling out and listening to some cool live-tunes, I did the following things:

1. Help the String Ensemble move chairs and stuff away when they moved up to the Pentas 1 area.

2. Played with Dou-Dou the Chihuahua or in Mandarin, Chee-Wa-Wa!!

3. Played with Dou-Dou again! Because I can naysayers!! PUPPIES!!

4. Photographed Diandra Arjunaidi & friends

5. Photographed Melinda Wong & her lead guitarist Eric rehearsing

6. Photographed the ice-cream truck in action. Vanilla+2 toppings+strawberry syrup=RM8.50

7. Captured Malaysian time in real time

So after ONE HOUR of waiting for sound-checking to be completed, the musicians did their things (my question was answered by the way). As this is supposed to be a relaxing event that's casual where you can run around and play like kids, I'm not going to review the event and its performers, but enjoy the pics, and maybe you'll see a link to a musician that you might be interested in.

Remy J (http://www.facebook.com/remyjmusic)




Told you it's chilled. The heat on the other hand, is another reason there's more people by the trees and ice-cream truck!

Rashdan Harith (http://www.myspace.com/rashdanh)




Diandra Arjunaidi & friends (http://www.facebook.com/diandraarjunaidi)

Kids & adults alike playing some ball.

I just find this picture so strange...

Rendra Zawawi (http://www.myspace.com/rendrazawawi)

Rendra with his brother Harmi (I apologize if I didn't catch the name correctly)

Rendra with Remy

Melinda Wong with Eric (http://www.youtube.com/melindawong88)

Narmi performing with Remy (http://www.myspace.com/narmiadventures)

Little kid saying 'peace out' to you readers everywhere. If I hear of any cool events, I might just be there, or worse, be there to review it. Keep up the good work everybody!!

Sincerely,
Lee Zhi-Li

The Green Hornet is a Greenhorn

Dear readers,

In Malaysia, Jay Chou's name would be the goodest, the baddest, and the most Mandarin-iest.

It's funny how Hollywood is looking back and adapting stuff for the new audience. Sure everyone know them in a way, but the challenges that come with it could backfire larger than that unpronounceable Icelandic volcano that erupted awhile back (Eyjafjalljökull...).



If it's superhero stuff, it's usually the drama-centric hero's origin and journey. But for The Green Hornet, it also falls under the action-comedy superhero type. Not that other superhero shows are as hilarious as rubber stoppers, but this one definitely tries to be funny. Does this reinterpretation works?



But first, the story, and there is one! It's about a slacker loser named Seth- I mean, Britt Reid (played by Seth Rogen, like duh), who's the son of the hard-ass newspaper mogul James Reid (played by Tom Wilkinson), of the L.A newspaper, The Daily Sentinel.



His dad seems to have died from a bee sting, and Britt inherits the paper, and also fires almost all of his staff from his mansion. He finds his coffee to be lousy, and discovers it was made by Bru- I mean, Kato (played by Jay Chou/周杰伦), his dad's mechanic, who can make super-cars, can do super kung fu moves and play the piano. Britt's floored by this, and fresh from the both of them being irked by their boss-dad, comes up with the idea to have them become superheroes, but pose as villains to mess up the villain's minds, apparently.



Their crime fighting eventually catches the attention of the head mobster of L.A with a mid-age crisis and a double-barrelled handgun, Chudnofsky (played by Christoph Waltz), and even the corrupt District Attorney Frank Scanlon (played by David Harbour) as they both want the Green Hornet (and his 'nameless' 'sidekick') out of the picture. Funny enough, it's also a personal story of how Britt & Kato come to terms with their dad/ex-employer.


The biggest draw of the show is of course, NOT the Green Hornet factor. Let's face it, he's not as well known as Batman (new sequel coming soon!) or Spider-man (new reboot coming soon!). It was a good decision, marketing-wise, to use the co-writer of the show, Seth Rogen and Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou as the original dynamic duo. They are unfortunately one of the main problems of it.


See, Seth as Britt Reid made a lot of sense on the surface, as he's playing a slacker loser-sort with a comedic bend on things. Funny enough, as the co-writer of the show (the other being Evan Goldberg), one would've thought he would spruce up his own lines more, as he comes off as one-dimensional, consistently a dumb jerk with no human variety.



As the story goes, he does get some character development, particularly when he finds out how his dad really died, but the kind of character we get from Britt is either 1. a self-centred, pompous jerk 2. a self-centred, whiny jerk. Nevertheless, the origin scene of Britt being belittled as a kid made a lot of sense as to why he's no. 1 & no. 2, but he remained too same-ol'-same-ol'; even as the Green Hornet he was uninteresting.

It's well-known fact that Seth tried to buff up for the film, did it matter?

Kato, is of course the 2nd most central character of show. He's the flip-opposite of Britt, not rich but rich in talent, not a visionary (which Britt sort of is in the show) but a tech whiz. So there was lots of potential for the character, but unfortunately, Jay Chou is no actor. I didn't see his other shows such as Initial D, but there were scenes in the show that calls for some acting skill, such as when Kato threatens Britt to never boss him around anymore, but Jay was unable to flex them enough and comes off as wooden.



The slightly good news is that when they are together onscreen being buddies , it is pretty convincing, & it's some of the better non-action moments of The Green Hornet.


Every superhero needs a supervillain, right? Enter this guy:

Chudnofsky. The man with the Double-Barrelled handgun & a really weird name.

Chudnofsky, oddly enough, works a suitable villain against the Green Hornet. Even though he's the head mobster of L.freakin.A, he's in a rut both in personality and style, the mobster with a middle-age crisis.

It's unfortunate that Christoph was underused as he's actually pretty good as the foil for the Hornet. You can see his enthusiasm in wanting to be a 'cooler' villain as opposed to being an actual style-less mobster, actually telling one of his henchmen of his new plan to wear a cape, dress in red and calling himself Bloodnofsky.

Even more underutilized was Cameron Diaz, who plays Lenore Case, Britt's new secretary and researcher in the Green Hornet and predicting his latest move (actually just giving the clueless Britt ideas on what to to next). It's not that she was bad in her performance , it's just that she doesn't seem to have to be there. She serves as a convenient dues-ex machina to be used to find out what to do with the Hornet & to be in a rather awkward love triangle for Kato & Britt. Basically, being a trope.


Still, if you're looking to this movie to find some meaning in life or to work your brain, you should've watched The Dark Knight, even Iron Man will flex the brain a bit. This show is all about the comedy and the action, the two things that are the saving graces for the show.


There are plenty of action scenes to behold, from the first time we see Kato kick criminal butt to when Chudnofsky tries to crush Britt & Kato with cement trucks to the climatic car chase where Chud-Bloodnofsky's gang chases after the Black Beauty (The Hornet's really awesome set of wheels). The action scenes throw realism to the wind and goes for over-the-top mayhem thanks to Kato, and it works well with the style of the movie. Britt/The Green Hornet does get some action done, particularly at the climatic action scene, but on foot (or in-car, or almost all the time) it's all about Kato.

That cement truck only wants their autographs! Why are they running!?

Now remember, this is directed by the Michel Gondry, who directed some of the most visually whacked out films and music videos of our generation, including The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep & of course, lot of music videos for Björk (lesbian robots making out anyone? All is Full of Love). Keeping those flicks in perspective, in many ways this is Gondry's most visually uncreative work.


The most visually arresting moments, besides the action and the fast-forwarded montages, is when Kato gets all pumped in action and the camera zooms and highlights things in red in the environment that lead him to do awesome kung fu stuff (Kato Vision). Even the Green Hornet get this in the end, but the highlights are green of course. Gondry pushes the creativity, but his talents are not being put to full use sadly.


The action certainly bring fun to the forefront, but so does much of the comedy, in fact most of the scenes will try to milk the comedy out. As aforementioned, when Britt & Kato are together, it's some of the funnier comedic moments with the two going back and forth either with quips or with physically arguing with each other. A fun one would be when Kato gives Britt a Hornet gas gun, but Britt accidentally shoots himself, knocking him out for eleven days. Britt got his revenge and shot Kato back with a 1 hour knock-out round. Not the most mature of comedies, but it's still funny and it comes in spades.


Ultimately though, because of the milking, it's pretty clear that the comedy is given focus as opposed to the story. The plot itself, is rather messy. This is because there were just too many convenient things happening to move the story along. How to figure out what to do to fight crime? Enter a secretary who knows journalism. How does Britt win in an immature spat with Kato? Have Kato unable to swim. There is one scene where this works, which is when Britt gets shot and there's a hilarious follow-up where Britt is too scared to have the bullet taken out by Lenore and he makes a public speech just to pretend he was shot at to get medical treatment. But there are too many other bad instances and they all end up making the story and even the comedy not as driven or as gripping as it should be.


Conclusively, it's enjoyable in the comedy and action, but those two things need to be help up by strong characters and a tight plot, two things that The Green Hornet lacks. 3/5


Pros: Good variety of action; lots of comedy; decent villain

Cons: mostly wooden acting; shaky story; generally forgettable

This isn't a screenshot from the film, but equating Keira Knightley with Seth Rogen=interesting?

Sincerely,

Lee Zhi-Li

P.S Please go ahead and comment on this post, I'd love to read all of your feedbacks so that I may improve on my writing! Don't be scared to be tough, I'm a feedback whore!

EGYPT AND THE INTERNET

Dear readers,

This isn't an official posting or a report per se, but more of an awareness spreading.


Some of you may already know what has happened to Egypt, and the incredible thing the Mubarak government has done there. If it were done here in Malaysia, for starters, you wouldn't be reading this post.


If you want to find out more about the impact CUTTING OFF 90% OF EGYPT'S INTERNET, cultural, economical, social, that can be easily sought in your local news website or newspaper.


But if you wanna' know HOW DID EGYPT DO IT, you can check it with this website:



http://gizmodo.com/5746121/how-egypt-turned-off-the-internet?skyline=true&s=i

And here's an interesting follow-up, COULD EARTH'S ONLY SUPERPOWER GOVERNMENT DO THAT AS WELL:

http://io9.com/5746338/could-a-us-government-crackdown-take-america-off-the-internet

I'll be honest, me posting this and giving you guys a fresh perspective of things isn't going to really change the sour relationship between Egypt's government and Egypt's people, or even strengthen your bonds with your ideals or peers.


But it's crucial that when this kind of shit happens, one must be aware, and to some extent, be prepared:



Mentally (do you cry when you break your Iphone?)


Pragmatically (a close-by DVD shop when the film you're downloading freezes?)


Idealistically (Julian Assange???)



Either way, the truth hurts, but you must allow the truth to set you free. May the Egyptian government see the same.

Sincerely,

Lee Zhi-Li

Jit & Jo in Leonardo's

Dear readers,

Have you ever been curious at how creativity works? How stand up comedians can say things in the most matter-of-fact shit but still you end up shitting from all your laughing?

Certainly creativity in Malaysia is a struggle sometimes, both in using it as a career & as a way to not get bored and commit suicide.

A lawyer named Edward Soo decided to change that with Leonardo's Dining Room & Wine Loft (http://leonardos.my/index.asp), a restaurant in Jalan Bangkung. They were in the news recently for 'going beyond good food', and having a few arts-related events, to promote a more knowledgeable, more vibrant arts-loving community.

I was called up by the Instant Cafe Theatre Company (http://www.instantcafetheatre.com/) to help out with front-of-house for the latest event in Leonardo's, 'CHAI's the Art Instinct Series 2011: Ep 1 Jit Murad and Jo Kukathas'. It happened on 25th Jan 2011 and it's a series about the arts & intellectuals talking about the art instinct & what it means to be creative.

You can read some books there, and yes, that adorable stuffed dog is smarter than you.

I brought along my good friend Joel Peh, who funny enough, approached me about this event before I did. BTW, he's a business student but he's always looking out for the next big arts event, so kudos to him.

This is Joel. Wait, shouldn't I be over there working?

If you're a longtime ICT fan, you'd probably know that they have regular events like this one in CHAI (Instant Cafe House of Arts & Ideas), their HQ & Jo's evil lair. I'd day it was a good idea that this collaboration happened as it allows CHAI to bring what it does to other places.

But have I mentioned the food? Now for a cover charge of RM10, every viewer that came in got a glass of punch & canapes, but what glorious surprises they were.

Here's a little list of the little delectable canapes: veggie pizza (delicious mushrooms), Hawaiian Chicken & Pineapple Kebab (the barbecue sauce brought everything together), etc.

I apologize for the poor image quality, but from left to right: the kebabs; Faberge Eggs; dumplings; glasses of punch

& my personal favorite, the Fabarge eggs. Get this: grapes coated with fruit cheese and toasted pistachios. It sounds bonkers, but it was my culinary surprise of the year, & yes, it's only January, but everything about it was melt-in-your-mouth.

So after me & Joel stuffed our faces (& worked the FOH) a bit, ICT's program coordinator, Rahel Joseph (sorry Rahel, forgot to snap a pic of you!), first introduced us to veteran playwright, actor & comedian, Jit Murad. I don't know him personally but he's written many Malaysian plays such as Visits & Goldrain & Hailstones. And he talked about the creative impulse, & how his life relates to it.

"Despite my humility, which is awesome, I'm intrigued by myself,"

& Mr. Jit does have an interesting life macam giler, the man studies Sociology & ended up a playwright, my goodness! He narrates a surprisingly large amount of his life and how it made him the man he is today. He told the audience how when he was a young boy, he made a lot of little children's books, and one of which was a tornado that he drew & a star he drew next in the tornado, as the tornado felt lonely. It's the little things that counts you know?

One of the quotes he said that I jotted down but didn't fully grasp at first was, "I like to know what I like to think about things," If my inferior brain can comprehend, he's stating that it's important to get your thoughts down, & understand how they are to you and your world, like actually writing that script instead of keeping it in locked doors.

Next up is the Jo Kukathas, artistic director of ICT, actress for many iconic roles such as the YB, Ribena Berry, which appeared in shows like 1Sex. 1Money 1Scandal. The Virus Returns & many other works of satire with equally long titles.

Sharon Nelson was Jo's ex-Eng. Literature student, and she intro-ed her up.

Like Jit, Jo had some stories of her own, & she opened with one about a baby and an electric socket. She states that you could tell a baby a thousand times, 'no, don't put your fingers into the socket holes even though it looks as if you can!', but they will still want to try, it's only when they try it then they can hold the power of decision-making in their little soft hands.

She elaborated further about how scientists and artist are like this curious baby, trying to make sense of things and making up stories, even saying that scientific reports are simply stories written in a scientific fashion.

"You may be a banker, but you may have a soul of a poet,"

Jo also expressed worry that creativity may be exploited in the wrong way, particularly in being too results-oriented. She had an analogy that students in these modern times are like cars; how much to the gallon for its mileage, some may ask?

She insists that being too results-orientated when it comes to the application of creativity stifles creativity. I myself see that it runs the risk of the employee kissing the ass of the employer just to please the hand that feeds. If that's creativity, that employee needs to rethink his life for awhile.

& probably the strangest story told tonight was about her father, the writer K. Das telling her about the story of Mehitabel the cat and Archy the cockroach, especially since Jo is scared of cockroaches. K. Das explains to a younger Jo that Archy's previous life was a poet, but him being reincarnated as a roach gave him so much more NEED to write.

Me and Joel passed to everyone a poem 'the life of mehitabel the cat' that Archy wrote, about how Mehitabel was once Cleopatra, and even though she's now a cat, she still has that spirit of a queen in her, 'toujours gai my kiddo toujours gai'. That spirit inspired Archy the NEED to write.

As a final hurrah, everyone got a copy of John Tusa's two quotes on creativity, as a way to close the talk.

This blog is dedicated to Jit, Jo and Edward Soo.

But wait! There was a Q&A session! And that's when I noticed in the crowd of roughly 30 people was that me and Joel were surely the youngest kids in the lot. Everyone else seemed to already have a job & far off the recently graduated path. I did feel a little sad that people my age were not in on this, have I mentioned the food?


They also, in the Q&A, mentioned a tip about creativity that also appeared on the Facebook event page. If you find yourself stuck with ideas, open a book, randomly select a word, and formulate ideas incorporating this word.

Edward Soo everybody!

Epilogue: before the event started, me and Mr. Edward had a little chat. I told him I was a graduate from the Diploma in Performing Art from Sunway Uni (no-more-college-oh), and he enthusiastically told me that if there were any artistic ideas that I have, Leonardo's can be involved in it. Let's put this in perspective, there are so many other artistes with portfolios the size of Texas, and he asked ME about coming up with events? Young people, old and new, where are you?

Sincerely,

Lee Zhi-Li

A Giant of a Film

Dear all,

Ooh, first review, pop the champagne, I feel all fizzy inside. What causing the fizziness? The Iron Giant, an animated film.

Now, I love animated films, and technically, you can do anything that reality doesn't allow or limit. And I try not to go for just the Disney-Pixar stuff as they're not the only ones making the bang-for-your-bucks.

People, even Malaysians frightfully, will look past the stuff that ain't the in-thing (like Justin Bieber & thrashing Justin Bieber), and for animation's concern, perhaps the best Western example is The Iron Giant, making its first appearance in 1999, by Warner Brothers Animation.

Directed by the now Pixar giant, Brad Bird (who also made The Incredibles), it's set in 1957, when the U.S & Soviet Union were at loggerheads. 11-year old Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) is a lonely boy looking for a friend, and naturally discovers a 50-foot tall robot that crashes onto Earth, with a paranoid government agent bent on destroying the metal-eating behemoth.

During its time, it stood out at the very least in it covering of some very mature themes: paranoia, weapons, heroism, etc. In retrospect, the storyline does seem cheesy, but the script tells the tale with surprising contextualized subtlety and sophistication. It really was light-years what Disney did at the time.

It's thanks to the characters that everyone can relate to. The most special one of all would be the Iron Giant himself (voiced by Vin Diesel, I'm serious, Vin Diesel). The human-ness of his movement and his synthesized, yet gently booming voice really comes through and quite the highlight for the film, with expression that will make you laugh, cry, etc.

No, they did not motion capture Vin Diesel's man boobs (moobs).

F.Y.I, this was made in 1999, so it can't attempt to be ultra-realistic like today's gravy fest, and this film was known to have had a tight budget. That shouldn't deter you from its excellent animation and beautiful score. The opening scene with the roaring waves is incredibly atmospheric, and it actually does a good job of combining CGI with hand-drawn animation, especially in the climatic fight sequence, where the Iron Giant really shows what he really is, and what he becomes.

The biggest gripe I would have is the ending where things got tied up a bit too well and the main antagonist, who you can view either as overdone to the point of irritation or a representation of the ugly American. Either way, I highly recommend this film and it is available on DVD. It stands as one of the best American animated films of all time. 8/10

"I am not a gun,"

Sincerely,

Lee Zhi-Li

WELCOME TO THE BOOM TOME

Dear all,

Thank you for entering the Boom Tome and its very first post. Me and my screaming pink blog are very pleased that you are here.

Before I get to the introductions, a little reminder that I will post up some new ones very soon. The new posts may not be the most recent of topics, but the near-real-time material will come shortly after, just like my diminutive height.

This blog is a portal for me to express whatever is in my grasp, and usually it'll be done via reviews. This could mean movies, theatre, events, instruments, bla bla bla, I could go on.

Besides that, I might even post up some original material, nothing planned yet, but it could be free scripts, videos, events that I personally participate in, etc.

Very engaging, aren't I? Since you've stuck this long, I'll let you know the post that will come soon after this one.

The Review of the animated film The Iron Giant.

I am engaging you right now in real time. You're just scared to admit it.

Sincerely,

Lee Zhi-Li