The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 13 Dec 2012 03:17 AM PST Money! money! money! Does money really make the world go round? Or is love for money the root of all evil? The Golden Couple follows the life of a big-earning, big-spending youngster who struggles to get afloat when the tables are turned overnight. In the movie, Spark is a hotshot advertising executive earning big bucks for his company while Jackie is a wealthy entrepreneur running a huge family business. Though Spark falls for Jackie, she is not convinced of his sincerity. The two start off on the wrong foot and become bitter rivals in business. Later on, Spark's flamboyant lifestyle freefalls into a debt-ridden nightmare. Ironically, it is when Spark loses everything that Jackie discovers the true measure of the man she regularly locks horns with. The romantic comedy stars Taiwan's dashing Mike He as Spark and Singapore's vivacious Fiona Xie as Jackie. Co-stars include Malaysian actors like Steve Yap, Chris Tong, Phua Chee Kian, Aenie Wong, Alvin Wong, James Wong, Lai Meng, Josh Lai, Jack Yap and Jess Lee. Filmed across several locations in Malaysia, including the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpurand a five-star resort in Selangor, The Golden Couple is the second movie directed by singer-songwriter turned actor/filmmaker Aniu (real name Tan Kheng Seong) and produced by Adrian Teh (Lelio Popo and The Wedding Diary). The two have previously collaborated in Ice Kacang Puppy Love (2010), The Wedding Diary (2011) and the yet-to-be-released The Wedding Diary II (2013). During the launch of The Golden Couple in Kuala Lumpur late last month, lead actress Xie was accompanied by director Aniu, producer Teh, and singer Lee as they met with fans and conducted a press conference to promote the movie. Cast as the business-minded Jackie in the movie, Xie said the character was very unlike her. "I'm normally more bubbly and energetic, but the director wanted me to be this cool character," she said. Xie, 30, who left Singapore's Mediacorp in 2009 to pursue interests ranging from photography to fashion in Hong Kong and New York, shared that she was initially wary about venturing into acting again, but was moved by director Aniu's sincerity and the story he pitched to her. "I was intrigued to find out that it was his own story and that all he wanted was to share his own experiences. Aniu's so sincere and at the same time so strange. When I first saw him, he didn't say a word and kept filming me. Then, he stopped to ask me a very weird question. He wanted to know what makes me most unhappy," she added, pointing how the director wanted her flesh out sad emotions. To date, Xie has featured in six TV series and three movies – One Leg Kicking (2011), Rule Number One (2008) and Fist Of Dragon (2011). As far as odd moments went in the movie, Xie admitted it was rather awkward when she was scripted to bite (movie love interest) Spark's lip when he tried to kiss her. "It was quite embarrassing for me, because it was my first day on the set and we had just met. We hadn't even had time to say a proper hello yet, and I had to bite him already." Although the Taiwanese main actor couldn't make it to Malaysia for The Golden Couple premiere due to packed filming schedules, He (also known as Xiao Mei) sent a video message saying how much fun he had working on the movie here and looked forward to returning for more. "The movie examines relationships. I also learnt a lot from the director and enjoyed playing Spark as he's really a character with a difference and I hope that viewers will like him as much," said He, who has 17 TV series and five movie under his belt and, had to learn to speak a lot of Malay for the movie. Collaborating with both Xie and He for the first time, director Aniu, 36, felt it was like working with two kids. "When the two of them come together on the set, they will constantly tell jokes. It is easier to get into character that way given the long hours we have to spend on the set," said the boyish-looking auteur who also had a hilarious cameo role in the movie. Meeting director Aniu for the first time, Lee, 24 said she was surprised to be offered a role in his new movie. "I was quite nervous because I only know how to sing and hadn't tried my hand at acting before. But, the director said I didn't have to worry and that I should just be myself," said Lee, who expressed that she is now open to trying other kinds of acting roles. Lee was the first Malaysian vocalist to win Taiwan's One Million Star (also known as Super Star Avenue) TV reality singing competition in 2010 and released her first album titled Thank You My Love under Warner Music Taiwan last year. The Golden Couple romances local cinemas nationwide on Dec 13. |
| Posted: 13 Dec 2012 03:16 AM PST Singapore film Ah Boys To Men muscles up the growing up process with the military edge. AH Boys To Men is a Singaporean film that claims many firsts. The first showing Singapore at war. The first that was shot using real military weapons and explosives. The one with the most visual effects. The first to be released in two parts. The first to be filmed at BMTC Pulau Tekong (BMTC is short for Basic Military Training Centre). And, the man behind it all is none other than Singapore's most prolific and most bankable filmmaker Jack Neo. The army-themed coming-of-age film has become the second-highest grossing domestic film in Singapore after chalking up more than S$5mil (RM12.5mil) at the Singaporean box office (since November), just behind Neo's own top-grossing Money No Enough (1998), which cracked the S$6mil (RM15mil) mark. Even the four-minute Recruits Anthem composed by YouTube personality Tosh Zhang (also known as Tosh Rock) to serve as the movie's theme song went viral with 610,000 hits in a month. Zhang also plays a fierce platoon sergeant in the movie. Over the phone from Singapore, Neo, 56, revealed the greatest challenge of the project was having to film both parts one and two of Ah Boys To Men at the same time. Part one was first released in Singapore on Nov 8, and the second part is due for release in Singapore on Feb 7. He shared that the bulk of the S$3mil (RM7.5mil) production budget went to the use of genuine weapons, pyrotechnics and extras. The special effects-laden battle sequences are a highlight in the movie and took over seven to ten days to shoot."The war scenes in this movie posed the greatest challenge to our art department. We even had to engage a stunts-and-explosives specialist for the project. The extras, who played the dead, had to endure long hours laying under the blistering hot sun with dirt and blood caked on their bodies. "I've wanted to make a movie like this for a long time. I've always known army life stories would be very well-received. This year is the 45th anniversary of Singapore's National Service, with the Singapore Armed Forces stepping in to lend support, the time was ripe." Ah Boys To Men revolves around the boot camp experiences of a bunch of young army recruits. The protagonist is a young man from a rich family with a businessman father (Richard Low) and homemaker mother (Irene Ang). Ken Chow (Joshua Tan) has been spoilt by his doting mother and grandmother since he was young. With sub-par A-level results, he has plans to further his studies overseas with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, his plans are derailed by the Singapore National Service. There he meets a bunch of wacky youngsters – Aloysius Jin aka Wayang King (Maxi Lim), Bang Lee Onn aka Lobang (Wang Weiliang), Man In Ping aka I P Man (Noah Yap) – who help to liven up the gruelling training sessions. When asked about his casting choice of fresh faced of bloggers and getai (stage) singers sourced via social media networks, Neo said, "I enjoy nurturing new talent, because I feel that the Singaporean cinema scene is still growing." In the meantime, Neo is still working on the post-production for part two of the movie, which he hopes to impress audiences with during the Chinese New Year season. Ah Boys To Men: Part 1 marches into local cinemas nationwide on Dec 20. |
| Peter Jackson talks about his blockbuster 'The Hobbit' Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:44 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy to life, filmmaker Peter Jackson is back in the world of Middle Earth with the author's prequel, The Hobbit. The three-film series opens in cinemas in Malaysia today with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Oscar-winning director, 51, told Reuters about the 3D film, including the 48 frames per second (fps) format he used, which was widely debated by fans and critics. You originally intended The Hobbit to only be two parts. Why stretch it out to three? Back in July, we were near the end of our shoot and we started to talk about the things that we had to leave out of the movies. There's material at the end of The Return Of The King (the final part of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy) in the appendices that takes place around the time of The Hobbit. We were thinking, this is our last chance because it's very unlikely we're ever going to come back to Middle Earth as filmmakers. So we talked to the studio and next year we're going to be doing another 10 to 12 weeks of shooting because we're now adapting more of Tolkien's material. At what point did you decide you would direct the film yourself after originally handing it to Guillermo del Toro? At the time (we wrote the script), I was worried about repeating myself and worried that I was competing with myself. I thought it would be interesting to have another director with a fresh eye coming in and telling the story. But after Guillermo left, having worked on script and the production for well over a year at that stage, I was very emotionally attached to it. I just thought, this is an opportunity I'm not going to say no to. You hired Gollum (pic below) actor Andy Serkis to do second unit directing on the film, something he has never done before. What made you hand the task to a novice? I know how strongly Andy has been wanting to direct. One of the problems with second unit is that you tend to have conservative footage given to you by the director. They play it safe. I knew that I wouldn't get that from Andy because he's got such a ferocious energy. He goes for it and doesn't hold back. I knew that if Andy was the director I would be getting some interesting material, that it would have a life and energy to it. What inspired you to make a film in 48 fps? Four years ago I shot a six or seven minute King Kong ride for Universal Studios' tram ride in California. The reason we used the high frame rate was that we didn't want people to think it's a movie. You want that sense of reality, which you get from a high frame rate, of looking in to the real world. At the time, I thought it would be so cool to make a feature film with this process. Not everyone has embraced The Hobbit in 48 fps. For the last year and a half there's been speculation, largely negative, about it and I'm so relieved to have gotten to this point. I've been waiting for this moment when people can actually see it for themselves. Cinephiles and serious film critics who regard 24 fps as sacred are very negative and absolutely hate it. Anybody I've spoken to under the age of 20 thinks it's fantastic. I haven't heard a single negative thing from the young people, and these are the kids that are watching films on their iPads. These are the people I want to get back in the cinema. Why all the hoopla over a frame rate? Somehow as humans, we have a reaction to change that's partly fear driven. But there are so many ways to look at movies now and it's a choice that a filmmaker has. To me as a filmmaker, you've got to take the technology that's available in 2012, not the technology we've lived with since 1927, and say how can we enhance the experience in the cinema? How can we make it more immersive, more spectacular? George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for US$4 billion. Do you think you will sell your New Zealand facility Weta someday? I would if I want to retire at some stage and want to have a nice easy life, which will hopefully happen one day. But in the foreseeable future, the fact that I'm an owner of my own digital effects facility is a fantastic advantage for me. How so? When we asked the studio if we could shoot The Hobbit at 48 fps, we promised the budget would be the same. But it actually does have a cost implication because you've got to render twice as many frames and the rendering takes more time. The fact that we owned Weta and could absorb that in-house was actually part of the reason we were able to do the 48 frames. |
| 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