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Posted: 17 Jun 2011 03:40 AM PDT

Bjarne Wong's latest cinematic work promises blood, gore and sex – in 3D.

3D is the buzz word in the movie industry and local director Bjarne Wong is the latest – and the first in Malaysia – to get in on the buzz.

The Sarawakian filmmaker, whose past works include horror (the Amber Chia-headlined Possessed) and romance (Sayang You Can Dance), is set to helm what is touted to be the country's first 3D thriller.

The Hunter 3D, slated to begin production in Sibu, Sarawak, next Monday, will capture the beauty that the Borneo rainforest has to offer.

This is not the first time Wong captures the rainforest through his lens. His early work The Legend Of The Red Curse in 2005 saw a group of final year students exploring it to shoot a documentary. What's the fascination?

"I love nature because it allows you to ponder over a lot of things. I know Borneo rainforest very well and I love it a lot, which is why I always feature it in my films.

"Malaysia and Sarawak have an abundance of natural wonders, for example, the biggest flower in the world (Rafflesia) and orang utan. Much of these have never made it to the big screen before. Why not show it to the world?" said Wong in an interview after a press conference on the movie in Shenzhen, China, in early March.

Gathering a cast that includes regular collaborators Carmen Soo and Sharifah Amani, beauty queens Cindy Chen and Soo Wincci as well as up-and-comers like Chinese actor Lou Qi and Taiwanese model Tavani Hu, the movie revolves around a film production team that journeys to the heart of the Borneo rainforest to shoot a documentary about headhunters. Mysterious things start to occur as they explore an abandoned Iban longhouse.

If you think that Wong, 39, is rehashing the premise of The Legend Of The Red Curse, he assured that's not the case.

"It won't be the same. The Legend Of The Red Curse is like my student project. We didn't have enough budget then and the technology was also not as advanced. This one will be shot in 3D. There'd be a lot of actions and violent scenes as well as special effects. Having it in 3D can help us magnify the movements and illustrate the impact of every act," he explained.

There'll be a lot of blood and gore, not to mention that there'll be sex – we heard that there is a steamy scene amidst the highly intense action.

At the centre of the sizzling act will be Hu and local actor Isaac Ong. Hu is a sexy model who was once romantically linked to Golden Melody-winning singer-songwriter Stanley Huang. She will make her acting debut here as a man magnet.

Hu, 33, expressed her excitement of filming her first bedroom scene.

"I hope it comes off as sexy instead of sleazy. It's going to be one of my sexiest performances," she promised at a recent press conference in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Just how far would she go when it comes to strutting her stuff on the big screen?

"I have no barrier as long as there's no nudity involved. As for how much I would bare for this movie, you would have to find out in the cinema. All I can say is that it would definitely be worth the price of the movie ticket," said the pretty actress with a coy smile.

Hot and steamy scenes aside, by jumping on the 3D bandwagon, Wong is aware of the pressure and the comparison that is bound to follow, what with The Child's Eye – the first 3D Cantonese horror film by horror maestros Danny and Oxide Pang – which generated a lot of buzz when it was released last year.

"I'm not scared of failing, but I'm scared of just staying in the same spot. I try to outdo myself in every movie. I love to keep audiences wondering about what Bjarne Wong would do next," he said.

From what we've gathered, it's not just the director that's seeking a breakthrough. The characters in the film sound like a great departure from the actresses' usual roles, too.

For one, Soo, who is seen in local films like The 3rd Generation, Visits: Hungry Ghost Anthology and more recently, in Philippine productions like A Love Affair, is playing a character unlike the glamorous model we know.

Soo said: "I play a stern and ambitious director who is so focused on her work that she doesn't think about anything else. However, as the plot thickens, she will slowly reveal different sides of herself.

"Thankfully, in my line, I've worked with many directors. I think I'm going to have fun playing the role and slowly losing the Carmen Soo side of me.

"We will be filming in the rainforest. So we are not going to be in dresses, heels and make-up. Bjarne warned us to be prepared for a lot of running, falling down as well as getting dirty. There'll be no time for vanity."

In fact, Soo first checked her vanity at the door when she was required to play a disfigured character in 2004's Visits.

"When I first started in my career, due to my modelling background, I was concerned about looking nice. As I go along I try to put that aside because it gets in the way of (portraying) your character. For the movie to work, it's whether you look right or not," she noted.

Another actress who jumps at the opportunity of breaking out of her usual roles is Sharifah who will play a Sarawakian tour guide.

"I'm very excited to play with blood, jump around, chase people and kill someone (on camera)! I've done a lot of (films which usually involved scenes of) crying and falling in love. So I can't wait to go psychotic once in a while!" she said with a laugh.

The petite beauty, who has several awards – including Best Actress at the 19th Malaysian Film Festival – under her belt, will also have to put on a convincing Sarawakian accent for her role.

"I might take classes or pay my Sarawakian friends to teach me," she said.

As much as she wants to try something new, what is a Sharifah Amani film without romance?

"Even if there isn't any, I would try to make it happen – even if it means my character has to be with a headhunter!" she quipped.

This film sees her working on the same set again with longtime pal, Wong, as well as the crew of Possessed, Sayang You Can Dance and Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.

"I work with Bjarne very well. It's been so many years. When he asked me to star in the movie, it was obviously a yes. Actually he didn't even have to ask. Even if it's a Chinese movie I also mou man tai (no problem in Cantonese)!" she said.

Meanwhile, snagging the role of leading man is Lou, who is best known for a string of starring roles in China-produced drama series like The Vigilantes In Masks and action epic Bodyguards And Assassins.

"I very rarely do thriller and would love to explore the genre. It's my first time acting in a 3D production, not to mention I get to work with so many pretty girls," he said, referring to the good-looking cast consisting of models and beauty queens.

"I find Sharifah to be cute and sexy, not to mention that she's a multiple-award-winning actress. I wish to have scenes with each and every one of them," he said.

When we spoke to him in Shenzhen, the good-natured lad revealed that he had been watching many DVDs of thrillers. He also plans to take up boxing, swimming as well as photography – some of the skills his character is equipped with.

At the recent press conference in Petaling Jaya, he described his character as a man of few words.

"I have minimal lines in this film as my character believes that actions speak louder than words. So I would have to rely largely on my facial expressions to convey the emotions," he said.

The Hunter is scheduled for release in Malaysian cinemas in April next year.

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Coming Soon

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:09 AM PDT

Rasuk – Based on a Malay myth, this movie tells the story of a couple who experience strange happenings after moving into a house that was built during the Japanese Occupation.

Starring Iqram Dinzly, Sidek Hussain, Fauziah Nawi, Khir Mohd Noor and Fouziah Ghous.

Attack The Block – While walking home at night, Sam is chased by a group of young thugs who want to steal her money.

During the attack, an alien falls from the sky, causing everyone to run away. Later, more aliens rain down on London, wreaking havoc everywhere they go.

With the city under siege, Sam realises that to survive, she needs to fight the aliens with the same people who attacked her earlier.

Starring Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker and Luke Treadaway.

The Infidel – Rashid comes from a liberal Muslim family and he wants to marry the girl of his dreams.

Unfortunately, the girl's stepfather is a devout Muslim cleric, who is not happy with Rashid's family, especially his father, Mahmud.

To impress his future in-laws, Mahmud lies about his identity, claiming that he was born Jewish and adopted as a baby by a Muslim family!

To help him with his lie, he enlists the guidance of an alcoholic cab driver named Lenny Goldberg, who gives Mahmud advice on becoming a Jew.

Starring Omid Djalili, Amit Shah, Yigal Naor, Matt Lucas, Archie Panjabi and Richard Schiff.

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Laid-back charm of Kyle Chandler

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:06 AM PDT

Super 8's Kyle Chandler is a man comfortable in his own skin and a strong father figure both on screen and off.

THERE aren't that many adults in Super 8, but the few who are there do make their presence felt. One of them is Kyle Chandler, who plays a father with no clue on how to connect with his pre-teen son, Joe (Joel Courtney) – whose interest lies in filmmaking, building models and applying monster make-up.

Jackson Lamb (Chandler) is especially at a loss as to what to do with the boy after his wife passes away in an accident. When he tries to convince Joe to go to a baseball camp in the summer of 1979, it becomes obvious that it was his wife who had encouraged and understood their child best, and that Jackson has been mostly absent in shouldering the parenting work. Even when he has to step into the role of a single parent, Jackson chooses to spend more time fulfilling his responsibility as the town's Deputy Sheriff rather than as a father. It is only when the town is hurled into danger – with father and son caught right in the middle – that the estranged duo realises what is really important.

What the Lambs are going through is a dilemma that pops up time after time in various films. Yet, thanks to the performance from newcomer Courtney and the ever reliable Chandler, this story gets a new breath of life in Super 8.

Chandler is no stranger when it comes to playing the everyman faced with tough everyday challenges. The role of a father trying to do the best he can is something he has perfected in the TV series Friday Night Lights. Except for his role in King Kong as a pompous actor, the 45-year-old Chandler – who grew up in a farm in the small town of Loganville, Georgia – seems to have a natural instinct when it comes to playing down-to-earth characters. According to director J.J. Abrams, it was this very quality that provided the key to the character as Chandler allows that broken-hearted quality to shine through even with the character's gruff demeanour.

In person, Chandler uses words like "gosh" and "wow", which only further enforces the point that this is an actor who explicitly remembers his roots. You get an inkling of that when he paints this picture of his experience after watching Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. "I remember looking up at the night sky and thinking 'Wow, they are out there'." At another point during the interview, he says being 14 was a frustrating age for him because none of the girls wanted to dance with him.

He recalls: "In 1979, I was 14 years old, which is a tough age. You are changing, you are just slowly turning into that man. I wasn't making motion pictures, I can tell you that. These guys, wow, can you imagine?"

He is currently sitting in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore where he and his two young co-stars from Super 8 are talking about the film. Unlike Riley Griffiths and Ryan Lee, who are both bursting with youthful energy, chatting away without much prompting from the journalists, Chandler seems more inclined to sit comfortably on his chair and merely observe. Maybe it's jetlag. Or maybe keeping quiet is just denial when Lee shares the prank Chandler and Griffiths pulled on the flight to Singapore, in which Lee woke up with shaving cream on his face. Chandler, finally, in a dismissive tone, tells Lee: "I don't know what you're talking about."

One of the boys

Throughout the 30-minute interview, Chandler hardly adds anything to their answers and contributes only when he is ever asked a question. Even then, he somehow leads the answers back to the younger actors.

For example, when asked who his favourite character has been, he answers: "I just got done with this coach guy (Friday Night Lights). He was enjoyable. I liked the process of making that show. It was so creative. Everyone was invested in that. Everyone was expected to bring something to the table, and everyone owned a piece of that show. Just wonderful people to work with. Which wasn't a big similarity to coming to this set. J.J. is like that. It's not a matter of 'I want you do this' but 'This is what I want you to do, but what do you think?' That's really important. So everyone is involved and everyone got a piece of it, especially for these guys."

Unlike his co-stars, Chandler ventured into acting professionally when he drove down to Los Angeles when he was 23 years old. After some odd jobs, he got his first acting gig when he was 25 – that's nearly twice the age of Lee, Griffiths and Courtney, who were all 14 when they made Super 8.

"Every one of these projects is an acting class for me," says Chandler who has two Emmy nominations for his work on Friday Night Lights and Grey's Anatomy. "When you get to work with people like J.J. and Peter Jackson, you learn and get incredible experiences. It's also incredible we're doing what we're doing. I've been working for 20 years and I can't believe that I am able to raise a family and do what I do. I'm still 14 years old in this business. It's great."

On whether he'd want his two daughters to follow his footsteps, he says: "No. That's not what they're into. If that's what they are into, I will support them 100%, but that's not what they are into. My oldest daughter could not be less bored with what I do. She'll love seeing Super 8; she appreciates what I do, but she has no interest in this business. She's a really good writer, she always has a book in her hands. My other daughter, she's nine years old, and she wants to save the sharks. She did a report on how sharks are losing their fins (due to indiscriminate harvesting), that's what she's been into for two years now."

According to him, he has no problem playing the everyman. "I am fine with that. I'll just keep doing it. I like working." Although he has directed an episode of Early Edition and an episode of Friday Night Lights, he still prefers acting. "The other stuff is too much work."

Super 8 is currently showing in cinemas nationwide.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 17 Jun 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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