The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Thai horror thriller explores 'Voices From The Grave' Posted: 23 May 2011 05:11 PM PDT Voices From The Grave whispers the horror of the invisible power that brings the dead back to life and stops babies from being born. THE cycle of life begins with birth and ends with death. But what happens when that is interrupted? What can you do when the dead do not die and when new life cannot be born? How do you deal with that? That is the premise of Thai horror thriller Voices From The Grave. Also known in Thai as 6.66 Death Happen, the gore fest tells of all the strange and inexplicable incidents that happen to a crime reporter, Dao, within the span of 24 hours. The victims in each incident suffer tremendously while Dao herself narrowly escapes death time after time. It's as if some kind of power does not want her to live. Her scientist father Ajarn Din, whom she has not seen in 15 years since her mother's death, has been admitted for shooting himself, but is miraculously resurrected in the hospital. Determined to unravel the mystery, she joins forces with her police friend Wut as they battle the unseen powers despite knowing that she may be the next victim. Directed by Thaklaew Ruengrat and produced by Phanich "Ooh" Sodsri, the movie stars Jason Young, Susira "Susie" Angelina Nanna, Titawin Kamjareun and Yodchai Meksuwan. Ooh, the brains of the project, spoke of how he came up with the idea: "We had long thought of making thrillers with the kind of suspense never before found in Thai ghost movies. What we present here is something new and unconventional. We use death to get the story going. The main point is to show that when people who are supposed to die cannot die, new lives cannot be born. We want to tell the audience what will happen when the cycle of life and death is interrupted. We make up our own theory to explain this phenomenon. The audience will find out what the theory is and the consequence it will bring if people attempt to block destined death." Veteran music video and commercial advertisement director Thaklaew Ruengrat also shares his thoughts about making his directorial debut in a feature film that brings the dead back to life. "It's challenging but at the same time worrisome for me. I had to emphasise on the building-up of atmosphere and tension in the characters, especially Dao. "In developing the script, I discussed with Ooh on how to make the audience terrified by something they cannot see, how to create a state of fear without using merely ghostly characters. There were a lot of problems to solve for this movie." The director wanted the audience to feel the suspense and horror that surpassed those they might have experienced in the past. "Dao is a modern and tough girl who grew up independently as she was separated from her father at a young age. But painful memories from her childhood keep haunting her. So she needs to communicate to the audience that she is really terrified of the strange and unexplainable things she runs into. "From a tough and fearless girl, the horror she has repeatedly experienced finally gets to her. Her fear intensifies until she comes to realise how threatening the power of death can be," said Ooh. Glamorous model-turned-actress Susie, who was named sexiest newcomer of the year at the annual FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2010, shared her excitement of making her film debut as the tomboyish crime reporter Dao. The pretty lass of Thai, Chinese and English parentage had to familiarise herself with corpses besides analysing the script in detail to portray her character effectively. "Playing Dao was very challenging for me, especially since it's my first movie. I had to put immense effort to make my character believable. "I would have to make the audience share Dao's feelings all the time as if they were watching a reality show of this girl for 24 hours. In the movie, I hardly smile and have to be tense all the time," said Susie in the production notes. > Voices From The Grave opens in local cinemas on Thursday. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| It’s party time with Jumping JellyBeans Posted: 23 May 2011 05:05 PM PDT Children's theatre company Jumping JellyBeans celebrates its anniversary with an engaging show. THESPIAN Shanthini Venugopal can't believe her "baby" has turned 11. No, we're not talking about her child but her theatre company – Jumping JellyBeans (JBB) – co-founded in 2000 with Italian theatre performer Cinzia Ciaramicoli. The theatre company specialising in children's programmes has been around for over a decade. "It's amazing how 11 years has swept by so quickly. Thankfully, during this period, we have managed to produce a series of educational shows like Terra Arata, The Little Red Riding Hood, Urano And Gea, Cleaning Company, Investigative Company, Whispers Of The Wind and Memories Of The Sun. "When the PJ Live Arts (PJLA) invited us to participate in their on-going Laugh Festival, we decided to put up a show that incorporates our anniversary celebrations," said Venugopal in an interview recently. The upcoming show, titled Jumping JellyBeans' Party, centres around a birthday celebration that involves the audience. "Like in every show that keeps the audience captivated, JJB's one-hour show opens with storytelling, followed by a segment about icing a cake and a dream sequence. It is a very energetic performance featuring different elements of theatre," said Venugopal, who directs and co-stars in the show with Cinzia's younger sister, Ilaria. At PJLA's inaugural Laugh Festival last year, JJB had staged Story Telling Company – an interactive and humorous show featuring storytelling of a popular children's fairy tale – with twists and turns. This time, Venugopal will be angling JJB's Party with some fun themed elements. "Our theatre performances try to keep the audience engaged. This time, we are focusing on aspects that enable the audience to stretch their imagination in a fun and light-hearted way. "Although working on this production has been a challenging task, we have had an exciting time creating the storyline and rehearsing," said Venugopal, a familiar face in the local theatre scene for over 20 years. Venugopal assured the audience will be tickled pink with one of their antics – where they play creative chefs preparing a pot of soup. "JJB's Party invites the audience to participate in the making of a 'soup'. They get to create and put all the ingredients in the soup. At the end, there will be jelly beans in the pot and all get to enjoy them," said the versatile director, who acted in Andy Tennant's 1999 movie Anna And The King, alongside Hollywood A-listers Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-fat. Props-wise, Venugopal said: "We make all the props. In this show, the audience will feast their eyes on many boxes of presents received from fans from all over the world. We also have a 'cake' that will be iced by cake icing expert Pinky Lala (played by Ilaria)." While JJB may have carved a name for their fun-filled children's theatre performances, they are equally renowned for their theatre training programmes for students with learning disabilities. The theatre company is the first of its kind that works with special children in the country. Currently, Venugopal and a team of theatre practitioners and volunteers conduct classes at the Special Needs Learning Centre in Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Association of Guardians for the Intellectually Challenged and Kiwanis Down Syndrome in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The company has also created a programme, Creative Stars, to educate the disabled on different aspects of the performing arts. In 2005, JJB's efforts in introducing theatre to children with special needs was rewarded with the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards' Best Community Arts or Arts Education Project. "A lot of people are concerned that they don't have proper training to teach children with special needs. People need to get down to doing it. These children are regular kids who require different methods of teaching and understanding. Hopefully our lessons help develop their skills and confidence," said Venugopal. > Jumping JellyBeans' Party, supported by Nestle Malaysia and HSBC In The Arts, is being staged from today till May 27 (11am) at PJ Live Arts, Section 13 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Admission is RM35 and RM30 (students). For further details, call 03-7960 0439. Alternatively, browse boxoffice@pjla.com.my or facebook.com/group.php?gid=17433272023&v=wall. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan