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Posted: 20 Jun 2011 12:59 AM PDT

A personal trauma has inspired Joe Cornish to direct a film about an alien invasion in London.

FIRST-TIME film director Joe Cornish's emotional wound of being mugged in 2001 in his neighbourhood has served as the source of inspiration for his debut movie, Attack The Block.

"A gang of young kids nicked my wallet and phone through sheer force of numbers. I was struck by how young they were and thought to myself that I'd probably see them at the park on a daily basis," recalled Cornish in the production notes provided by Platinum Pictures.

Cornish combined his traumatic experience with his love for sci-fi movies (M. Night Shyamalan's Signs and Joe Dante's Gremlins) and sealed the deal of his horror sci-fi flick.

"I love the idea of humans under siege by aliens. I wondered how bizarre it would have been if that incident had taken place during a mugging at my neighbourhood in South London," said Cornish, whose credentials include serving as co-writer in Steven Spielberg's upcoming movie Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn.

Attack The Block pits a teen gang that tries to rob young trainee nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) as she is walking home in a scary South London tower block. She escapes when the gang is attacked by a small alien creature that falls from sky.

Soon more aliens crash land and the gang has to defend themselves and their council estate from the alien invaders.

While the movie has its roots in science-fiction, Cornish was adamant to make it even more realistic by adding dialogue and characters torn straight from the streets he had grown up in South London.

"The language was a really attractive aspect," admitted Cornish. "I love Stanley Kubrick's 1971 satiricial sci-fi A Clockwork Orange and argot-written novels such as The Color Purple and Butcher Boy. I felt there was an opportunity to incorporate a similar concept in my movie," said Cornish.

To get fully acquainted with street language, Cornish and associate producer Lucy Pardee embarked on a year-long tour of youth clubs in South London, interviewing the youth in an attempt to understand the lingo of his would-be characters.

"Despite having grown up in South London, I'm not as streetwise as I might be," said Cornish with a laugh. "We did a lot of research. I wrote the story in a quite cartoonish way, the outline of what I wanted to happen, and got a friend to work on alien illustrations," he added.

The youth provided Cornish with phrases in an effort to establish the shorthand between his five heroes, and authenticity of the world he was building.

"It was fun to learn what all the little words mean. We built ourselves a lexicon of about 10 words. I felt it would be best to keep the lexicon to about 10 and use them repeatedly, so eventually by context you know what they mean."

Once the script had been cemented, Cornish turned to Jodie Whittaker (Oliver Parker's St Trinian's and Roger Michell's Venus) to play Sam.

"I was looking for an actress who was natural and unmannered enough for her style to blend with the less experienced actors around her. Jodie was one of the last actresses I met for the part. Meeting her was a very big relief, because I hadn't felt I'd met the right person before and was starting to get worried. Luckily, she was perfect," admitted Cornish, adding that filming took place last year at London Borough of Islington and housing community Heygate Estate in Walworth, Southwark, South London.

Cornish took a big risk of casting five similarly inexperienced actors – John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones and Simon Howard – in lead roles. Despite being aware of the strain that could be placed upon his inexperienced cast, Cornish slowly indoctrinated them into their new world.

"Rehearsals certainly helped the new actors. It was lovely to come on set every day and have a group of actors who were as naive and enthusiastic as I was," said Cornish.

Said Whittaker: "They're such intelligent lads ... this incredibly sparkly group of lads and it's so exciting to think that they are potentially a next generation of actors."

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The busy bee

Posted: 20 Jun 2011 12:56 AM PDT

Diana Danielle is all about work and improving her career. Add a rock ballad single in the equation.

Diana Danielle may have the flair for acting but she still feels inadequate somehow. And so she decided to enrol into an acting school in Los Angeles, California.

Diana who just came back from a month's stint at one of the world's top film and acting schools – New York Film Academy Acting and Film School in Los Angeles – is beaming with pride when she recalls how exciting the whole experience was.

"It's always a good idea to enhance whatever skills you have. Even if you are already a talented actress, some acting techniques could help you refine your acting," said the beautiful actress of mixed parentage who has just completed her matriculation course in bio science at the University of Nottingham, Semenyih in Selangor.

Diana, who left in early April to attend the one-month intensive course in the United States, has decided to embark on a long-term acting course next.

"We are trying to negotiate for flexi hours where I can come back after a few months to attend to some unfinished work. I am still committed to complete some shoots for some products that I have endorsed," said the 20-year-old Houston-born actress.

The lass got her exotic looks from mum Norsiah Ramli, who is of Malay-Chinese parentage, and dad Danny Beeson of American-French descent.

Diana is very excited at the prospect of going to back to school, and this time something up her street, a reputable acting school.

"A majority of great actors have had some sort of training. I want to be like them. It would be very useful for me when I hit upon roles that are more difficult. At least I have some techniques to fall back on and help me navigate the rough waters," said Diana, who made an impact as the leading actress in the successful award-winning Magika, the fantasy musical comedy inspired by The Adventures Of Alice In Wonderland.

What is more interesting, the acting course she enrolled in only has six to eight students in a class. It was full concentration in class for the young actress.

"The Acting School programme provides actors with modern on-camera acting techniques plus a foundation for theatre plays.

"The instructors are all professionals comprising working actors, writers, directors, producers and veterans of Hollywood, independent films and television.

"All students are given personal coaching and rigorous discipline is necessary for launching a career in film and television," she added.

For Diana, the intense learning experience at the New York Film School has provided her a complete spectrum of acting skills.

"I have been exposed to a lot of new things and taught all the different crafts of acting for film, drama and theatre with opportunities to work on actual film scenes and productions.

"Hopefully, I can be a better actress because that's what I have been dreaming of ... to be the best in whatever I do," said Diana who will be seen in U-Wei Saari's long-awaited movie Hanyut. She also has a telemovie role in Telapak Kaki Ibu and spot in a yet-to-be revealed Taiwanese movie production.

Earlier this year, she was featured in the controversial Raja Azmi's ... Dalam Botol directed by Khir Rahman (playing a transexual's love interest).

Asked if she is worried about losing her fan base if she is away too long, the popular film actress, who is wise beyond her age said: "Hopefully, absence will make the fans grow fonder.

"Our movie industry is thriving with a lot of good actresses and actors. I think all of us have loyal supporters in our own way. I am happy with the way things are now," said the model/actress who made her acting debut in the film Idola, at age nine.

Diana is also set to launch her singing career this year. She was the support act at the Kenny G concert in Kuala Lumpur last month.

She is expected to release her first single, the acoustic rock ballad entitled Tak Pernah Ada, in the coming months.

"Singing is another passion which I have neglected because of my busy acting schedule, " said Diana, who wrote her upcoming single and is very hands-on in the music-making process.

Word has it that Diana's management team is already in discussion with pop star Akon and top-notch American songwriter/producer Teddy Riley for the album project. Riley has collaborated with big names like Michael Jackson, Blackstreet and Mary J. Blige.

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Hot spot

Posted: 20 Jun 2011 12:55 AM PDT

Three made-in-Malaysia Chinese movies in the pipeline.

IT'S only mid-year but Malaysia is already off to a good start churning out Chinese movies and becoming a popular location for Chinese filmmakers, with movies like James Lee's Petaling Street Warrior (shot in Ipoh), Adrian Teh's The Wedding Diary (Penang), Bjarne Wong's 3D thriller The Hunter (Sibu) and Dante Lam's Viral Factor (or Against War) that is still shooting in Kuala Lumpur.

Now we have another three made-in-Malaysia Chinese movies that feature an international cast from Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore, apart from local stars. Two are Mandarin movies by Double Vision Pictures titled Paper Moon and Ghost Buddies and another is Cantonese film Start's Good End's Good by Nusantara Edaran Filem. Production is slated to wrap later this year for all three movies.

Paper Moon

Fellow Malaysians should be able to guess that the movie title Paper Moon refers to the Malay traditional kite – the wau bulan.

A feast for the eyes, it aims to showcase the vivid hues of local culture, beginning with colourful scenes of the 29th Kelantan International Kite Festival held at Pantai Geting, Tumpat in Kelantan early this month.

The movie stars Hong Kong's Gordon Lam Ka Tung and Chrissie Chau Sau Na, and locals San Yow, Rynn Lim Yee Chung, Tedd Chan Kwok Fai and Ernest Chong Shun Yuan.

Hong Kong triad-movie stalwart Lam, who plays a kite-maker in the movie, shared that he was glad to be paired with the lovely Chau.

"For the past six years I've either been cast in gangster roles or played buddy partnerships. It's been too long since I've played any scenes with a female.

"I'd like for everyone to see that I too can make a good romeo in a love story. I also found out that I had to get tanned and buffed up because I was to bare my shoulders," mused Lam, who sported a shaggy hairstyle for his first romantic movie.

"I've played with kites as a kid and even tried my hand at making small, simple ones. But I've never come across kites as big as the ones here. And also, I've never witnessed a festival dedicated to kites, so I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard that it takes a few people to fly one kite," offered Lam, who will be learning the ropes from a professional kite-maker known as Pak Ali.

Model-actress Chau admitted to feeling elated yet anxious about sharing scenes with the actor-turned-producer whose retro-action comedy Gallants won the Best Film Award at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards.

"When I watched him accepting the award on stage, I was already feeling worried about our scenes together."

The cast and crew rushed off after the press conference to Kelantan to shoot their scenes at the annual Kelantan International Kite Festival. They will be back in September to continue filming. The movie will also take them to locations in Ipoh and Malacca.

Ghost Buddies

We have another horror-comedy from Singaporean funnyman Mark Lee who now joins forces with Hong Kong's Maggie Shiu Mei Kei to form a deadly, gut-busting comedic team. Ghost Buddies is said to be an atmospheric flick combining ghostly special effects with ghastly humour set in a funeral parlour.

Joining local cast members Vivian Tok, Lim Ching Miau and Wee Kheng Ming at a press conference to launch the movie, Shiu sportingly entertained the local media with her heavily Cantonese-accented Mandarin while Lee liberally cracked jokes at her expense. Together, the two seasoned entertainers had the media members in stitches.

"I have to thank all those Hong Kong directors who came and filmed in our region. I have picked up their Cantonese-accented Mandarin," quipped Lee. "This time, I portray a man who is simple yet not stupid, has a low IQ yet is no idiot, because he still knows how to fall in love with a woman," said Lee, with well-timed pauses to demonstrate his comedic timing.

"One day, while we were filming overnight, there were two families conducting funerals on either side of us. Luckily, they all just went about their business and weren't concerned that we were making a funny movie. They were very understanding and never complained about us disturbing their peace during their moment of bereavement," Lee continued in a serious tone.

Expressing surprise at being cast in a horror-comedy for her first film project in Malaysia, Shiu shared: "I was rather taken aback when I first heard about it. I asked the director why he picked me because I hardly do comedy. Although I was concerned initially, I later found it to be really funny and enjoyable. But I feel that a good comedy that can make the audience laugh is not easy to make."

Cameras are set to start rolling this Saturday.

Starts Good Ends Good

Touted as a lunar new year flick, Starts Good Ends Good boasts a cast of some 70 artistes from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The confirmed actors include Hong Kong's Daniel Chan Hiu Tung and Mark Cheng Ho Nam, mainland China's Viann Zhang Xinyu and Julia Jiang Yufei, and Malaysia's Soo Wincci, Cindy Chen and Lai Meng.

The Cantonese romantic comedy will have scenes shot in Penang, Hong Kong and China, where it will be screeened as well.

The tale revolves around four lovely sisters – May, Lan, Ju and Zhu – in their search for a soulmate. Soon, all find their soulmates except the eldest because she has lost faith in men due to bitter memories of her cheating father. The younger ones then get to work at changing their sister's fixed mindset so they can all live happily ever after.

Veteran local actress Lai Meng, who portrays the girls' mother, said: "I've got four daughters who are all beautiful so suitors are welcome."

In the movie, Soo, who plays the second daughter, is paired with Chan. She is a talented make-up artiste who was originally trained in music, and Chan portrays a wealthy suitor. Dashing singer-actor Chan hoped that the movie would be really funny and added: "When I film comedies, directors would tell me that I'm a natural comedian. I absolutely love filming comedies – I treat it as fun and play on the set."

Chen plays the absent-minded third daughter who loves to cook for her family. Tomboyish Jiang plays the sister who dresses as a boy and has a strained relationship with her foster father, who is played by Cheng.

Cheng, who will be tackling several action scenes, shared: "There'll be some car-chase sequences and action scenes."

Suzhou-born Zhang portrays an only child who boldly goes after the man of her dreams, played by Hong Kong's Jordan Chan. "My character pursues this man from the beginning of the movie till the end, but to no avail."

Starts Good Ends Good is the first comedy to be helmed by award-winning Malaysian director Bjarne Wong.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 20 Jun 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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