shaoann

... so Josh Brolin plays Tommy Lee Jones very well ... MIB 3 is definitely a better-made film than MIB 2 ... although it was just a little slow in the exposition ... I missed not seeing more aliens ... its focus was solidly on the human characters ... Emma Thompson was pretty funny as O who replaces Z ... but like I said, I missed the lovable aliens.

... my first second (oops I just realized I watched The Lady) movie after almost two months in my new job as a OL ... pretty disappointing ... then again, none of the superheros were particular favorites of mine anyway ... Mark Ruffalo was sublime as Hulk ... he brought a vulnerability to the character that Eric Bana and Edward Norton could not ... otherwise the rest of the movie was noisy, un-funny and quite tedious ... I was regretting 10min into it not investing my $7.50 in Zac Efron.

On another note, I am adjusting nicely into my new position ... it still feels a little unreal ... but I do derive satisfaction ... its a different kinda satisfaction from designing a show ... less amp-ed up ... more like a slow-burn sort ... anyway, ask me again next month, after i've been in office 100 days ...

... how nice to be able to wear flowers in your hair every day ... Michelle Yeoh is a tour de force as Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady ... David Thewlis is illuminating as the long-suffering husband "Michael Aris" ... glad I finally caught this film ... I almost wanna book a trip Burma Myanmar now.

... so I've been a lighting designer for 10 years (well there was a one year break ... but that's ummm ... oh well let's not go there) ... and a member of California Fitness for almost 9 ... so its kinda timely, purely coincidental methinks, that my membership with the gym is up for renewal this month ... and in the spirit of bravely charging forward into new territory, I've firmly resisted the pushy manager at Cali Bugis, and shall cast my lot with the other fitness chains ... for once I finally feel free ... haha ... I am so talking cock lor ... will probably go to FF since their outlet at Millenia Walk is the closest to my new office ... but keeping my options open ...

... so this is a rather strange movie ... genre-blending in the way "Cowboys & Aliens" was ... it doesn't know whether its a western or a sci-fi or both ... and by the mid-point of the movie, the audience stops caring ... I am not sure who is this film's intended audience since the original John Carter comics are rather obscure and few children would have access to them in this day and age ... that its made by Disney ensures its treatment of sexuality is almost clinical ... very odd for a movie where its leads are mostly topless and/or in loin cloths ... but I did already state that its a strange movie to begin with, didn't I ...

... so I didn't see the original staging last year as I was working on the Festival's gay play "Family Outing" ... now that the excitement and mania surrounding the GE has died down somewhat, the message of "Cooling Off Day" seems less urgent ... its not a play, more a series of vignettes/monologues culled from interviews from people from all walks of life about their thoughts/feelings/reactions to GE 2011 ... playwright Alfian Sa'at takes us on an emotive and emotional journey that charts the highs and lows of the experience ... but like another of his previous plays "Homesick" (2006) which was written about a family afflicted by the SARS epidemic, the subject matter feels kinda dated one year later ... it was cool to check out the Drama Theatre @ SOTA ... its a nice and intimate venue.

... so it looks like this production for SRT's The Little Company is gonna be my swan song ... written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, directed by Anthony Drewe, scenic & costume design by Jason Denvir, lighting design by me ... performances 1 Mar-15 Apr 2012 at the DBS Arts Centre ... tickets available from SISTC

... so I don't know what the critics and reviewers have been raving about ... personally, I felt a little cold watching Spring Awakening (its still running at the Drama Centre) ... maybe my spring was awakened so long away ... and has since dried up ... that I couldn't help but feel terribly old and jaded watching the young (and enthusiastic) cast go through the paces ... visually, the staging is stunning and very polished but it didn't quite capture the raw-ness of teen angst and horniness that accompanies it ... I felt that more could have been done to deconstruct and destroy the initial image of the pretty catheral that we see when we enter the theatre.

... ok so the premise is just a tad contrived ... three curious teens happen to chance upon a deep hole in the middle of the woods ... just so happen to crawl inside ... only in America lor ... and inside the hole they come into contact with some alien object that gives them telekinetic powers ... "Chronicle" is a B movie that aspires to be an art film ... nothing wrong with aspirations except that the film ends rather unsatisfactorily, with precious few questions resolved ... what could have been an exploration of a young teen's abuse of power turns into a laughable debacle of destruction across the Seattle citiscape.

This might be one of my last posts ... next month I'll be closing down this blog ... as the institution I'm joining has some conditions about its employees maintaining personal blogs ... much easier to shut this down than to practise self-censorship ... right?!

... so this is most likely gonna be my second-last show of the year (yeah you heard it right) ... presented by Dream Academy, this is a re-run (with some updates) of last year's successful stand-up comedy; written by Benjamin "Mr Miyagi" Lee, directed by Selena Tan, scenic design by Priscil Poh and lighting design by me ... performances 16-19 Feb 2012 at the Esplanade Theatre ... tcikets available from SISTIC.