Jumaat, 28 Mac 2014

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Sony 2014 movie slate includes comedy, action and 'Spider-Man 2'

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 10:55 PM PDT

Sony Pictures is banking on its eclectic mix of films to thrill audiences and dominate at the box office this year.

Sony Pictures presented a varied slate for 2014 of comedy, drama and action at the CinemaCon convention in the United States on Wednesday, relying on only one tentpole picture, the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise Of Electro, to drive big box office.

The studio's offerings reflected the eclectic approach to moviemaking that has become its hallmark, with comedies dominating the summer including a new 22 Jump Street starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, Sex Tape starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel as a married couple whose homemade porno tape gets uploaded to the cloud and The Interview, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen as TV journalists invited to interview North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

That last movie may stir up some political discussion, as the plot involves the CIA soliciting the journalists to assassinate the not-fictional Korean leader.

Seth Rogen (left) and James Franco star in the upcoming film The Interview.

In addition, there was a Screen Gems horror movie in Deliver Us From Evil; an inspirational football tale in When The Game Stands Tall, based on a true story; and an African-American comedy sequel starring Kevin Hart Think Like A Man 2, set in Las Vegas.

But the slate was bare of anything like a tentpole except for the new reboot of Spider-Man which opens in early May.

Still, that franchise and the low cost-high profit comedies could propel the studio to a better summer than its lackluster 2013.

Sony's worldwide distribution president Rory Bruer called the slate one of the strongest in years, saying, "We're as proud of this slate this year as ever." The studio's hope for a holiday hit lies largely in a reboot of the beloved musical Annie, starring Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild) in the title role, with Jamie Foxx as Daddy Warbucks. Diaz, a studio favourite, plays the evil Miss Hannigan.

And the studio may hope for an awards season run with Fury, an intense World War II drama written and directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch). The movie stars Brad Pitt as a tank commander leading a group of soldiers including Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman in the final days of the war.

For adults there is The Equalizer a revenge thriller that finds Denzel Washington doing unspeakable things to Russian mobsters with a corkscrew and shot glass. Neither is for the faint of heart.

The studio has in the past year undergone severe staff reductions and an overhaul of its marketing and communications division, along with hiring a new production co-president in Mike DeLuca. – Reuters

'Grandmaster' sweeps Asian Film Awards, crew mourn lost stuntman

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:22 PM PDT

Martial arts fantasy The Grandmaster dominated the Asian Film Awards on Thursday March 28 with seven wins including best movie, as its emotional director mourned the film's stuntman who was on lost flight MH370.

The Grandmaster, inspired by the life of Yip Man - the mentor of legendary kung fu star Bruce Lee - scooped awards in most major categories, including best director for Wong Kar-wai and best actress for Zhang Ziyi.

Despite the big wins, a sombre mood hung over the film crew, with Wong using his acceptance speech to ask Malaysia for greater transparency in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board.

"One of our martial arts directors unfortunately is one of the victims of MH370, so here I hope the Malaysian government can try their best to address this issue by taking a more transparent attitude... and to let us know the truth," Wong said.

Malaysia has come under scathing criticism for its handling of the search, with relatives of the mostly Chinese passengers on board accusing the government and airline of a cover-up and a botched response. Ju Kun, 35, was reportedly on his way to Beijing to visit his family.

"Today I am very emotional about (our) crew member and friend. We'll have to say goodbye to him forever," said Zhang.

The Grandmaster, a stylised martial arts epic which was in production for more than six years, spans several decades of Chinese history and features lengthy battles between rival kung fu masters. Wang said making the film was an "adventure".

"It started as a dream, later it became an obsession and finally reality," he said.

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who plays the eponymous "Grandmaster" lost the best actor award to India's Irrfan Khan, who played a lead role in The Lunchbox.

"I am grateful for the moment which give inspiration (to) my director and writer to write this script and to write this story," said Khan.

India's The Lunchbox was the only other film to win multiple prizes at the star-studded event at Macau's City of Dreams casino resort, winning awards for best actor and screenwriter. The Lunchbox serves up a bittersweet romance between two strangers in Mumbai brought together by mistaken lunch deliveries.

The Asian Film Awards, organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival, have been held annually since 2007, aimed at showcasing the region's movie talent. Twenty-six films from 13 countries and regions vied for 14 prizes this year.

Here's a list of some of the other top winners:

Best Newcomer: Jiang Shuying (So Young - China)

Best Supporting Actor: Huang Bo (No Man's Land - China)

Best Supporting Actress: Yeo Yann Yann (Ilo Ilo - Singapore)

Best Screenwriter: Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox - India)

Best Cinematographer: Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster - Hong Kong)

Best Production Designer: William Chang Suk-ping, Alfred Yau Wai-ming (The Grandmaster)

Best Composer: Umebayashi Shigeru, Nathaniel Mechaly (The Grandmaster)

Best Editor: Shin Min-kyung (Cold Eyes - South Korea)

Best Visual Effects: Jang Sung-Jin (Mr Go - Japan)

Best Costume Designer: William Chang Suk-ping (The Grandmaster)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

U.S. NTSB studying streaming of 'black box' flight data
Soaring death toll looms in U.S. mudslide with 90 still missing
Brazilian plane makes emergency landing with no front wheels

U.S. NTSB studying streaming of 'black box' flight data

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 08:00 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday it was studying the possibility of live-streaming flight data recorders from airliners amid calls for such technology following the disappearance of a second airliner in five years.

Joe Kolly, director of research and engineering for the NTSB, declined to comment on the nearly three-week search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished on March 8 less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of the airliner has rekindled discussions about in-flight streaming of black box data that could help locate missing aircraft and let authorities launch accident investigations sooner.

Kolly said discussions about live-streaming black box data from airliners began heating up after it took nearly two years to recover the flight data and voice recorders from an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from Brazil to France in 2009.

He said NTSB officials, along with other national safety investigation bodies, groups like the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), equipment manufacturers and airlines were looking at possible requirements for a system that could stream a limited amount of flight data.

"You're looking for what is the most important information," he said. "If the airline industry goes to that in the future, what would be those requirements?"

Kolly said governments were also increasingly interested in the possibility of streaming flight data to ensure security.

"We have our staff involved in technical meetings and discussions and working groups on just what type of data you would need ... what are the rates at which those data need to be transmitted," Kolly said. "And also ... what is going to trigger the data download."

Kolly said aviation authorities are always looking at new technologies to help improve safety.

Among companies developing such new technology is Canadian FLYHT Aerospace Solutions, which builds a satellite- and Internet-based system used by 40 airlines, business jet operators and others to monitor aircraft systems, map flight paths, and provide voice, data and text services.

FLYHT's Automated Flight Information Reporting System can also stream black box data in emergencies, providing a possible model for the talks under way by aviation officials.

Kolly declined to comment on the FLYHT system. "There are technologies that can fill all sorts of gaps, and they are constantly being assessed," he said.

Richard Hayden, a company director with FLYHT, said there was growing interest in his company's technology, which grew out of a development project initiated by the Canadian government in 1998, largely because it can help airlines run their fleets more efficiently and save money on fuel.

He said the system had not caught on as well as expected given airlines' resistance to anything that increased costs. But he said it cost less than $100,000 to install a new system on an airplane, and a few dollars per flight hour to receive the data.

The system is in use on 350 aircraft today, including many that fly over remote areas such as Alaska, Canada, Africa, Afghanistan and Russia. FLYHT also recently won a deal to provide the system for a Chinese aircraft operator, Hayden said.

"This isn't expensive, and we don't have to build any infrastructure since we use the Iridim satellites," Hayden said, noting that FLYHT was also exploring opportunities to increase its work with military operators.

He said the company's system could not replace existing flight data or cockpit voice recorders since it was not built to survive a crash, but the system's ability to provide data in emergencies offered a big benefit for airlines.

Soaring death toll looms in U.S. mudslide with 90 still missing

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 06:35 PM PDT

ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The death toll from a mudslide that has left 90 people missing in Washington state appeared certain to climb nearly a week after the disaster, as anguished relatives turned to the Internet and word of mouth for scarce scraps of new information.

At least 26 people were killed when a rain-soaked hillside collapsed without warning last Saturday, unleashing a towering wall of mud that flattened dozens of homes in a river valley near the rural town of Oso, about 55 miles (89 km) northeast of Seattle.

While fire officials directing search operations at the disaster site have spoken of making slow but steady progress in recovering remains of victims buried in the slide, the tally of the dead has changed little in recent days, even as the number of those listed as missing has held steady.

The lag appears related to a methodical protocol being followed by Snohomish County emergency management officials and medical examiners.

County authorities say coroners have so far examined and identified the remains of just 17 people, including an infant whose body was retrieved on Thursday, and they are the only ones counted so far in the official death toll.

Remains of nine more individuals were previously reported to have been located in the square-mile (2.6 square-km) heap of mud-caked debris and muck, but as of Friday they had been excluded from the formal tally of lives lost.

County officials have insisted on revising that list only as each set of remains goes through the painstaking process of being examined and identified by coroners, leaving the public mostly in the dark about the retrieval of more bodies.

The process has likely also been slowed by the condition of some of the remains, which according to rescue workers are not always being found intact.

News of additional remains being located and recovered has been trickling out to family members of the missing and dead through word-of-mouth and other channels, however, thanks to community members working side-by-side with rescue teams in the search for more victims.

CHURCHES AND FIRE STATIONS

Area churches and fire stations are also go-to venues for members of the community seeking updates, said Gail Moffett of Oso, who lives 2 miles from the disaster site and works at a hardware store in nearby Arlington.

"I go home and talk to the source, because it's family," she said of the community network, including locally based rescue workers, she has tapped into for information.

"They are all out there on the mudslide every day, going back and going back and going back, day after day after day, to make a difference and to help our people. And they just keep doing it and they come in at night and their butts dragging, covered in mud, and their faces are not the faces I knew last week," she said.

Authorities have also in some cases allowed victims' relatives onto the disaster site as the remains of loved ones are recovered, and a moment of silence is observed, as occurred when the body of the infant was extricated on Thursday.

In one tragic case, a volunteer member of the search team, Dayn Brunner, pulled the body of his own sister 36-year-old Summer Raffo, from the mud pile on Wednesday. She was driving through the area when the slide buried her in her car.

Brunner, 42, took a day off to grieve and rest, then returned to the debris field on Friday to resume the search for more victims.

An estimated 180 people lived in the path of the landslide. Now, nearly a week after the disaster, fears have grown that the final death toll could approach the 90 people still listed as missing or unaccounted for - a figure authorities arrived at on Wednesday after winnowing a much larger list by about half.

Authorities have said that some of those killed might never be found, and on Thursday braced the public for news - still yet to come - that the number of dead would increase substantially in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Authorities have so far publicly identified five dead, while withholding the names of others listed as dead or missing. But about 40 people have been identified on a local blog site as potential landslide victims, including several members of one family.

All of those discovered alive in the mud were rescued by helicopter within the first few hours after the landslide, and rescuers have found no further signs of life, officials said.

DIFFICULT PHASE

Volunteer Bob Michajla, 66, taking a break from work combing through debris and clearing a stretch of road in the disaster zone, said the search was entering a more difficult phase.

"They found the easy bodies in the first few days. The rest of them are probably buried. That's what I was told," said Michajla, his face and fingers caked in mud.

Local fire district chief Travis Hots said rain and wind sweeping the area on Friday was working against the round-the-clock search efforts. A flash flood alert was posted for the county, extending through the next three days.

With hopes for finding any additional survivors continuing to fade while uncertainty over the fate of dozens more lingers on, the mood among the community has grown grimmer.

"This is going to get harder and harder," said Dan Rankin, mayor of nearby Darrington, as he choked back tears at a town hall meeting attended by hundreds of people on Thursday evening. "We need each other more and more."

Bernie Tamez, 39, said he was comfortable that officials were dealing with the community forthrightly, despite the dearth of tangible information.

"They're keeping us informed," said Tamez, a machinist who took the week off to volunteer in Darrington where he lives.

Turned away from helping at the pile, he has instead helped out in the community kitchen that has been feeding a few hundred people each night before the town hall meeting.

Meanwhile, residents like 45-year-old Larry Dwyer who escaped the slide marvelled at their luck.

"We were driving on that exact stretch two weeks ago. We were right there," Dwyer said as he watched his three sons wave signs ushering motorists toward a food drive at an Arlington market on a rainy Thursday evening. "That's why we're out here right now. It's a karma thing. When it's not you, you give."

Authorities were investigating the cause of the mudslide. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources said it would review recent forestry activities in the area to determine whether they might have been a factor.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in Darrington, Washington, and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Tom Brown, Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)

Brazilian plane makes emergency landing with no front wheels

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:35 PM PDT

BRASILIA (Reuters) - An Avianca Airlines passenger jet safely made an emergency landing in Brasilia on Friday after its front landing gear failed to deploy, authorities said.

None of the 49 passengers and crew of five on the Fokker 100 jet were injured when the plane landed on its rear wheels before lowering the nose onto the runway, the Brazilian Air Force said. Airport fire crews foamed the plane to prevent fire.

The pilot calmly declared an emergency and circled the Brazilian capital to shed fuel and lower the weight of the aircraft, according to a recording of his conversation with the control tower played on Globo News television channel.

"The plane suffered a hydraulic problem and the front landing gear did not open, so the pilot did a belly landing," an Air Force spokesman said.

Avianca Brazil, which has grown rapidly in the Brazilian market by opening regional routes, is owned by the Synergy Group controlled by Brazilian airline entrepreneur German Efromovich.

Efromovich also owns Colombian airline Avianca, which has joined Taca of El Salvador to form conglomerate AviancaTaca, one of Latin America's leading carriers.

The emergency landing closed one of Brasilia's two runways, delaying flights into Brazil's fourth largest airport.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

Halim's love affair with PLUS
Mystery exit at Bursa
Khalid caught off guard

Halim's love affair with PLUS

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

TAN Sri Halim Saad's affinity for North South Highway (NSE), which is the mainstay of PLUS Expressways Bhd, is a given.

He oversaw the construction of the 772km highway even though he did not have an inch of experience in building tolled roads, nurture it into a cash cow or know how to cut capital expenditure and most importantly, how to monetise the asset.

Halim, the former executive chairman of Renong Bhd, built an empire around the NSE. He parked the highways into a subsidiary of Renong Bhd, called UEM (M) Bhd that was listed.

Subsequently, UEM was de-listed in 2001 and in the following year it came back into the market in the form of PLUS Expressways Bhd.

In the heyday of the stock market bull-run in 1990s, UEM was the darling of the investors. It was a cash cow and provided businesses for many other companies within the group. There were several listed companies under UEM that depended on the highways as their core business.

Because he knows the group well, Halim is confident that he will be able to cut off the excesses and keep the toll rates on the highway unchanged, says an executive close to him.

"That is the reason why he keeps pressing the Government with proposals to take back the highway. He has so far made two proposals and will continue to look at PLUS," the executive says.

During the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98, UEM was roped in to help parent company Renong that came under some heavy selling pressure.

Funds were selling Renong because it was the ultimate holding company to the group that had an estimated total debt of some RM20bil.

The group of companies under UEM were mobilised to absorb Renong shares that were sold down in the market.

A collapse of Renong was something that could not had happenned because it would have triggered a cross default of all the loans within the group.

But the shares held by the individual companies within the group had to finally find a safe house with plenty of cash. That safe house was UEM.

In October 1997, UEM emerged as the purchaser of a block of 32% in Renong, a transaction that did not go down well with investors.

It caused share prices of the entire group of companies to collapse because UEM was seen as being used to save Renong.

Subsequently, Halim gave an undertaking in 1998 to buy back the 32% by February 2001. It cost him RM3.2bil.

The latest offer for PLUS has got the political masters re-thinking, not to mention adding on the pressure on UEM and EPF.

But Halim claimed that he was never allowed to fulfil his obligation to buy back the 32% block.

He also has contended that in 2001, he was told to hand over his interest in Renong to Khazanah Nasional Bhd to facilitate a takeover by the national sovereign fund.

Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the former Finance Minister 2 was the architect of the takeover and he had the blessing of the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In April last year, Halim came out publicly to state that he was forced to hand over the shares in Renong and was not paid for his equity. He filed a suit against Khazanah, the Government and Nor Mohamed.

The High Court dismissed the suit but he is appealing.

In the documents supporting his suit, Halim had contended that the Renong Group had assets that were worth more than its liabilities.

He felt that if the Government had allowed him to list PLUS or sell a portion, the group would have been able to clear all its debts.

"Halim always knew ways to monetise the PLUS highway. Even at the height of the crisis, he prided that the highways were cash-cows and worth more than the debts of the group," says the executive.

When he had to give up the highways, Halim did not command the confidence of the political leaders and the market then. However his latest offer has got the political masters re-thinking, not to mention adding on the pressure on UEM and EPF.

Mystery exit at Bursa

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

AFTER its AGM on Thursday, Bursa Malaysia is without a chairman for its audit committee. How it came to this is a bit of a puzzle.

The previous audit committee chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias, 71, retired as an independent director after some shareholders had voted against his reappointment.

The Companies Act stipulates that a person aged 70 and above can be a company director only if supported by at least 75% of the votes at an AGM.

For the so-called Resolution 9 to reappoint Abdul Samad, the dissenting votes accounted for nearly 29% of the shares held by those attending the meeting. That's 75.6 million shares, which is equivalent to 14.2% of the company's paid-up capital as at December.

Bursa Malaysia's two largest shareholders are the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF) and Minister of Finance Inc. The former's stake is close to 19% and the latter has 16%.

It's safe to assume that neither of them rejected Resolution 9. If they had, there would've been a lot more nay votes.

Besides, any move to bring somebody new to the Bursa Malaysia board or to retain an existing director, requires the concurrence of the Securities Commission. According to Bursa Malaysia, the regulator had no problems with Abdul Samad returning to the board.

Bear in mind that the CMDF was established under the purview of the SC, and the Finance Minister appoints the CMDF directors.

The latest filing shows that Bursa Malaysia's third largest shareholder, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), had 45.7 million shares (8.6%) as at March 24. Had the EPF voted against Resolution 9?

Not if you go by the EPF's Corporate Governance Principles and Voting Guidelines.

The EPF says it will vote against the re-election of a director in circumstances such as when he has less than 50% attendance of board and audit committee meetings, or has performed his duties poorly. None of this seems to apply in Abdul Samad's case.

Although the EPF is generally lukewarm about the retention of directors above 70, its policy is to abstain from voting. Also, Bursa Malaysia chairman Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, 76, faced a similar vote on his reappointment and yet, he got through with a 90.5% majority.

And so, the investing public remains in the dark about why Bursa Malaysia has lost its audit committee chairman. Can somebody step forward with an explanation?

Khalid caught off guard

Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has always prided himself on being one up on the state's previous administrators because of his background as an investment banker.

He has time and again said that his experience in the corporate world has been useful in dealing with developers wanting a piece of the action in the abundant land held by the state.

However, a deal that the state had entered into with Tropicana Corp Bhd in April last year has caught the mentri besar flat-footed.

Under the transaction, Tropicana acquired 1,172 acres from the state for RM1.3bil to be paid over 20 years as the land is being developed.

Under the terms of payment, Tropicana had to fork out RM50mil as deposit and make two advance payments over a period of six months. The remaining is to be paid with interest over various schedules stretching over 18 years.

However, what Tropicana has done is carve out a portion of the land to Eco World Development Group Bhd for a cash payment of RM470.57mil.

This has got the state all riled up because Tropicana has been able to monetise the deal faster that it had envisaged. Now Khalid is seeking an accelerated payment schedule for the land.

He wants RM844.2mil, which in the state's opinion is the present value of the land.

But whether he gets it or not is something for Tropicana to decide. This is because the agreement does not restrict Tropicana from disposing a portion of the land to reduce the cost of holding it.

Khalid has played his cards well in the consolidation of the water assets in the state so far. He has also got the state better deals in many of the land transactions.

But he appears to be side-footed in this particular transaction.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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MH370 crash: Cockpit voice recorder won't help unravel mystery
Four graves desecrated by robbers
Elderly woman falls into cauldron of hot oil

MH370 crash: Cockpit voice recorder won't help unravel mystery

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370's cockpit voice recorder will not yield any answers about the critical moment the plane deviated from its Beijing-bound route as the voice data have been erased due to the CVR's two-hour recording cycle.

This means that investigators might never fully solve the mystery of MH370 as it would be impossible to know what went on in the cockpit after air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft at the border of Malaysia-Vietnam airspace.

A source familiar with the workings of the "black box", comprising the CVR and Flight Data Recorder, said technical information from the FDR alone would not be enough if investigators found that mechanical error was not the problem.

"Trained specialists would be able to gain a lot of information from the Flight Data Recorder. But if it wasn't mechanical error but deliberate action? I think we will not be able to tell what really happened without the voice data," he said.

According to US firm Honeywell Aerospace which supplied the black box, only the last two hours of recording are maintained as the recorder continuously records over itself throughout the flight.

"The principle is in place because it is normally the last section of a flight that determines the cause of the crash," reported the BBC.

The exhaustive search and rescue operation to locate MH370, deemed to have ended in the southern Indian Ocean, looks set to become even harder if the recorders are not found before the two beacons run out of battery life in about two weeks.

Although the US Navy's Towed Pinger Locator 25 (TPL-25) arrived in Perth yesterday, authorities have yet to identify whether the debris spotted by satellite is even connected to MH370.

UK's The Telegraph quoted aviation specialist David Barry as saying that the "pings" from the beacons could continue for an extra 10 days.

"Given the remoteness of the site and the depth of the water and the weather down there, the black box will be almost impossible to find.

"It will then be a case of digging through the wreckage field, possibly for a couple of years," he said.

Four graves desecrated by robbers

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

ALOR GAJAH: Grave robbers struck in Nyalas town and damaged four graves while looking for jewellery and other valuables.

The damage was discovered when families went to the Chinese cemetery in Kampung Gapis to clean the graves for the Qing Ming festival next month.

Businessman Yau Lay Tong, 60, said his mother's grave had been dug right down to the coffin. Yau and his brother had gone to the cemetery at about 7.30am on March 23 to clean the grave. He lodged a police report later that morning.

A 60-year-old lorry driver, who asked for anonymity, said he found his grandfather's grave dug out as well. He was told about the damage by a friend who had gone there to perform prayers and saw that the grave had been desecrated.

"I cried when I saw what had been done," he said. "It is a heartless act."

He has hired a contractor to repair the damage and will perform prayers at the graveside on Sunday.

A villager, Manaf Abilah, 46, believed that the graves were desecrated a few days before the families came to the cemetery.

"We noticed that some tombstones had been damaged earlier and had asked friends to help alert their next-of-kin," he said.

But Manaf was not aware that the graves had been dug up and the coffins tampered with. "This must be the work of lunatics," he added.

Alor Gajah MP Datuk Koh Nai Kwong condemned the heinous act and hoped that those responsible would be caught.

Elderly woman falls into cauldron of hot oil

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

IPOH: An elderly woman met a horrifying end when she fell into a cauldron of hot oil while frying fish crackers.

The charred remains of Lee Oi Lin, 66, was found in the kitchen of her Ampang New Village home by nephew Lee Yau Pang, 25.

Yau Pang, who lives 500m away, said he rushed to his aunt's house after seeing it on fire at about 5pm on Wednesday.

"With other neighbours, I tried to put out the fire," he said, adding that his aunt had been living alone.

Ipoh Fire and Rescue Department chief P. Samasuvam said the victim suffered 100% burns and was already dead when firemen arrived at the scene about nine minutes after receiving a distress call at 6.34pm.

"Her body was in the wok with her face down. The fire was already put out when we arrived," Samasuvam said adding that the victim suffered from hypertension and was believed to have been unwell prior to the incident.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' reveals human vulnerabilities of a superhero
'Grandmaster' sweeps Asian Film Awards, crew mourn lost stuntman
Bradley Cooper could be the next Indiana Jones

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' reveals human vulnerabilities of a superhero

Posted: 26 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Bringing down the shield: Chris Evens is back in uniform to defend his country in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

In a world where superheroes and supervillains live among regular folks, things can get a little messy sometimes. Power struggles, displaced loyalties and dark secrets uncovered are just some of the problems that turn up in Marvel's latest offering, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is the ninth instalment in the superhero film franchise.

In the movie, the seemingly impenetrable world of SHIELD – or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division – is turned inside out, and all its major players are under threat of public scrutiny... and worse. The new villain is someone whom people claim "does not exist", yet somehow always manages to leave a trail of dead bodies in his invincible wake.

The biggest worry, though, comes in the form of a doubtful Steve Rogers aka Captain America, who begins to question his existence, the work that he does and the people around him. He also still seems a little lost in the modern world, hanging on to memories of his very distant past in any way he could.

You feel a little sorry for the guy.

"Nobody he knows from his previous life is around anymore, so he's in a very isolated place. The first half of the movie deals with the fact that he feels a sense of isolation and disconnect from everyone else," said director Anthony Russo, who worked on The Winter Soldier with his brother, Joe. The duo was in Beijing this week to promote the film with its stars, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson.

The Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff played by Scarlett Johansson.

Natasha Romanoff aka The Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson.

The Russos insist that the movie isn't your typical superhero action flick. It's a character-driven action-packed spy thriller with a bit of drama thrown in for good measure.

"That's what we like to make. A thriller needs to have stakes and you can't have stakes if you don't have a character for the audience to care about. We wanted to make (Captain America) empathetic and relatable, and one way to do it was to show that he's lost and isolated. People can identify with that," Joe explained.

"It's great that you get to see this side of Cap, and for me, it's easy to do because once you've played the character, you sort of know what's going on with him and how he's going to react to certain things," said Evans.

Fortunately, the directors managed to achieve all that they need to with Captain America without making him seem weak, or turning him into a completely different character from the original. The Russos also did a credible job of creating a Marvel movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film.

"Marvel's done so many good movies now that in order for the franchise to move forward, we really needed to work hard to find ways to push things into new territory. Cap doesn't fly across the world like Iron Man, he doesn't turn green like The Hulk, and he doesn't come from another universe like Thor. He's human, only slightly more so.

Sebastian Stan is the deadly Winter Soldier.

"We wanted to come up with a tonal and visual style that played to the fact that Cap is just a guy. This is why we shot some scenes with handheld cameras, to give it that cinema verite feel. We wanted to get into the character intimately not just via his fighting styles but emotionally too," Joe described.

He also revealed that The Winter Soldier is just "part one" of this particular story, and that Captain America 3, which the brothers will also be directing, shall bind several puzzle pieces together as well as tie some loose ends. For now, however, nothing else can be said, which is pretty typical of a Marvel project.

Speaking of fight scenes, the film boasts numerous hand-to-hand combat sequences between Captain America and the villains, most notably with the Winter Soldier (played by Sebastian Stan) and Batroc the Leaper (Georges St Pierre).

Anthony shared that the actors, including Johansson (Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow), did a lot of the hand-to-hand combat sequences themselves.

Johansson, 30, said: "I don't think it's anymore of a challenge for me than any of the other guys just because I'm a girl. Making an action movie is hard, I think for all of us, but I like the physical challenge of it. It helps me extend myself in ways I didn't know I could."

"As far as being the only female superhero in the franchise so far, I just don't think of it much. I surround myself with powerful women in my life, Chris Evans being one of them," she added half-jokingly as Evans, 31, took a bow.

Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury.

The actors were in very good spirits during the interviews and press conference, teasing one another, finishing off each other's sentences and making jokes.

"Are you calling me fat?" said Evans, feigning a hurt and offended look when we asked him whether or not he ever had body image issues, having to star alongside so many other buff actors – Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, being one of them. "We all get body image issues when Chris Hemsworth is around," said Johansson.

The actors' camaraderie that day proved Jackson's description of what the Marvel Avengers universe is like: one big Halloween party.

"It's like the biggest Halloween party ever. We're like these kids in a neighbourhood and we all have our costumes and powers. Then we go on a vacation, or do other movies or something, and we come back to our neighbourhood when it's time.

"Then someone comes around with a new game plan and says, 'Hi kids! Here's the new game, so now go play, OK?' and we go 'Yay!'," said Jackson who, despite playing the ever-so-serious and commanding Nick Fury in the Avengers world, was very easy-going and approachable during our interview.

Jackson, 66, and Johansson have been part of the franchise for quite some time now, appearing in the same films together, while Evans joined the Marvel Avengers universe in 2011 as the "Golden Age" Captain America in the first film. New to the Avengers is Anthony Mackie, 35, who plays Sam Wilson aka The Falcon.

"Anthony's the new kid on the block, and because of that he's got a lot of enthusiasm in him which was really quite infectious. Scarlett, Chris and I have been part of so many of these movies that we're starting to get a bit complacent. Anthony's so enthusiastic that he kind of reminded us what was exciting about being in the Avengers world. We love him!" said Jackson of his co-star.

The other "newbie" in the film is Robert Redford, 78, who plays Fury's boss in SHIELD. The directors claimed that when Redford's name was first mentioned at early casting meetings, they immediately knew that he would be perfect for the role. Anthony shared: "When we went to his place to pitch this movie role to him, he said, 'You know what, this looks great, but I honestly have no idea what these movies are about... But my grandson does'."

In two weeks, Jackson, Johansson and Evans will join the rest of the Avengers gang – namely Robert Downey Jr, Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner – and director Joss Whedon for Avengers: Age of Ultron, set to be released next year. Guess it's back to the ol' neighbourhood, then.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens in cinemas nationwide today.

'Grandmaster' sweeps Asian Film Awards, crew mourn lost stuntman

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:22 PM PDT

"Today I am very emotional about (our) crew member and friend. We'll have to say goodbye to him forever," said Zhang.

"It started as a dream, later it became an obsession and finally reality," he said.

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who plays the eponymous "Grandmaster" lost the best actor award to India's Irrfan Khan, who played a lead role in The Lunchbox.

"I am grateful for the moment which give inspiration (to) my director and writer to write this script and to write this story," said Khan.

Here's a list of some of the other top winners:

Best Newcomer: Jiang Shuying (So Young - China)

Best Supporting Actor: Huang Bo (No Man's Land - China)

Best Supporting Actress: Yeo Yann Yann (Ilo Ilo - Singapore)

Best Screenwriter: Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox - India)

Best Cinematographer: Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster - Hong Kong)

Best Production Designer: William Chang Suk-ping, Alfred Yau Wai-ming (The Grandmaster)

Best Composer: Umebayashi Shigeru, Nathaniel Mechaly (The Grandmaster)

Best Editor: Shin Min-kyung (Cold Eyes - South Korea)

Best Visual Effects: Jang Sung-Jin (Mr Go - Japan)

Best Costume Designer: William Chang Suk-ping (The Grandmaster)

Bradley Cooper could be the next Indiana Jones

Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:45 PM PDT

The actor is high on the list of possible actors to play the iconic fictional adventurer.

Producers have their sights set on American Hustle star Bradley Cooper for a reboot of the famous adventure movie franchise, Latino-review.com reports.

According to the website, Bradley Cooper is on Disney's shortlist of actors who might fill Harrison Ford's shoes by playing the famous archaeologist. The studio acquired the rights to the Indiana Jones franchise, along with those to Star Wars, when it purchased George Lucas's Lucasfilm in 2012.

For the time being, however, there is still a possibility that Harrison Ford will wear the famous brown fedora once again. The 71-year-old actor could star in a direct sequel to the 2008 film Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Disney's casting choice could depend in part on the screenplay, which has not been written. Latino-review.com indicates that Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Walking Dead) may have been approached to pen this fifth episode in the Indiana Jones franchise. — AFP Relaxnews

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'Jersey Boys' musical director on the realness of Frankie Valli's story

Posted: 26 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

The big reason why Jersey Boys is a hit, says musical director Ron Melrose, is because it's real. And the songs are pretty cool, too. Make that two big reasons.

Musical director Ron Melrose started working in theatrical arts over 30 years ago, and a decade of his career has been attached to Jersey Boys, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that tells the story of 1960s pop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Since its debut in 2004, the jukebox musical has toured the world, winning over London's West End, and entertaining audiences who remember Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi from the "Golden Age" of pop – while making new fans along the way. One of them, Clint Eastwood, has turned Jersey Boys into a movie (coming out in June) starring John Llyod Young, who made his debut as Valli in the original Broadway cast and won a Tony, a Grammy and a Drama Desk award for it.

That Jersey Boys should be such a hit comes as no surprise to Melrose, whose credits include Sinatra at Radio City, Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll & Hyde, Perfectly Frank, Marilyn: An American Fable, Cabaret and Annie. It was the human element in the show that piqued his curiosity when he first read the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (a Tony nominee for Peter and the Starcatcher). The streetwise charm of the characters and their inspiring friendship brought a sense of realness to the script, but what attracted him more was that the Four Seasons made music for the man on the street.

Beautiful story: 'There's a lovely

"There's a lovely 'poetic truth' to doing a 'rise and fall' story about a group called the Four Seasons," says Melrose, adding that the show is divided into "four seasons" – a unique touch to this musical.

"We enter the story in the Spring, where everything is new and growing. Summer is the height of fame and fortune, the full flourishing of the group's success. Autumn is the season of loss, as difficulties chip away at the group, and (that) leads to Winter, the season of looking back at what has been lost and trying to make sense of it."

So, after 10 years of running the show, which of the four characters does Melrose identify with?

"I wish I was Tommy, so I could get away with being a charming rascal. I know I'm not Frankie, because I've spent my entire career pushing other people toward centre stage and never wanting to be there myself. I don't think I'm enigmatic and intriguing enough to be Nick. So I guess I'm Bob – capable musician, not much intrigue – what you see is what you get – and I hope you like me, but I'll get over it if you don't."

The Jersey Boys charm is also its vast collection of pop classics from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The soundtrack features 34 songs from the group's extensive catalogue. This may be the Glee generation, Melrose says, but the Jersey Boys story and Valli's songs are still relevant and relatable.

"People are people, and a good story is a good story. The fact that this is a good story about people who were musical legends in another era is half the battle. The other half is that their music has never gone away. Not only do the original recordings still get a healthy amount of radio play, but new generations keep discovering their songs and putting their own spin on them."

Case in point, Melrose points out that the Four Seasons disco-era hit December 1963 (Oh What a Night) from 1975 was "re-imagined and became a rap hit in France in 2000". In fact, Ces Soirées-là, recorded by French-born singer and rapper Yannick, opens the Jersey Boys musical, thus giving it a contemporary edge.

Meanwhile, as the musical director of the show, Melrose adds that keeping the performances fresh for the audience and the production, especially for touring companies, is a task he shares with his associate music director.

"In each company, the person directly responsible for maintaining the quality of the music is the music director, who conducts performances, holds vocal brush-up rehearsals, and teaches the score to new company members," he explains. "He or she is 'backed up' by an associate music director, who is regularly one of the keyboard players but is fully qualified to conduct the show. This enables the music director to watch and listen from an audience seat, which brings clarity and perspective to maintaining the quality of the show."

"Jersey Boys" will run at Istana Budaya, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur from April 15-27. Tickets from RM200 to RM680 are available through all TicketCharge channels. For details, visit ticketcharge.com.my, or go to facebook.com/jerseyboys.malaysia, or call (03) 92228811. The show is organised by Milestone Production Sdn Bhd, The Star is the gold sponsor, and Red FM is the official radio station.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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S. Korea sends back remains of Chinese Korean War dead

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 06:22 PM PDT

SEOUL, March 28, 2014 (AFP) - South Korea flew the remains of 437 Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War back to China on Friday for final burial in their homeland.

The small coffins, draped in the Chinese flag, were carried by Chinese soldiers and loaded on a plane at Incheon airport, to be flown to the northeastern city of Shenyang where China has a state cemetery for its war dead.

"This is a new milestone in bilateral relations and is expected to serve as a good example of promoting peace in Northeast Asia," said defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye had offered to return the bodies as a goodwill gesture during her visit to Beijing in June last year.

China fought alongside North Korea in the 1950-53 conflict - its dramatic and crucial intervention coming after US-led forces had pushed the North Korean army into the far north of the peninsula.

Casualty figures remain disputed but Western estimates commonly cite a figure of 400,000 Chinese deaths, while Chinese sources mention a toll of about 180,000.

The bodies were initially buried in small plots scattered around the country.

In 1996, Seoul designated a special cemetery plot in Paju, just south of the heavily-fortified border with North Korea, where all the remains of Chinese and North Korean soldiers still on South Korean soil could be buried together.

Work on exhuming the Chinese remains at Paju for repatriation began back in December.

While some graves are named, most are identified only by nationality.

More than 700 North Korean soldiers are also interred at the cemetery. But the North has ignored the South's offer to return the bodies despite sporadic talks on the issue.

The bodies of more than two dozen North Korean commandos killed in a daring but unsuccessful 1968 attack on the presidential palace in Seoul are buried there.

Also there is the body of a North Korean agent responsible for the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner that killed 115 people.

Australia first banknote fetches RM1m

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

SYDNEY: The only surviving example of Australia's first official banknote exceeded expectations when it was auctioned for A$334,000 (RM1mil), officials said.

The 10 shilling note – one of 100 issued in 1817 by the Bank of New South Wales (now called Westpac) on the day it opened – attracted bids from around the world, said Jim Noble of Noble Numismatics, which handled the sale.

"It's a record for a colonial banknote," he said yesterday.

"It will stay in Australia (but) I've no idea what the gentleman who bought it plans to do, he's a high up executive in a big organisation.

"It would be exciting to see it on public display, it's a great thing."

The auction price easily exceeded its A$250,000 (RM760,000) estimate, with Noble attributing the interest to its unique historical value.

"It's the only one of its kind, even Westpac does not have one."

Noble said the note was discovered in a private collection in Scotland in 2005, with Scots-born former New South Wales governor Lachlan Macquarie or one of his staff thought to have taken it there.

It was later bought by a private collector who sold it at Wednesday night's auction. — AFP

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S. Korea sends back remains of Chinese Korean War dead
Australia first banknote fetches RM1m
Little India riot inquiry: Alcohol a factor in mayhem