RIP Patrick Swayze

He was 57.

The Jazz Man Scene

SPOILER ALERT! "COLLATERAL"/"THE KILLER"

I have referenced this film over and over, especially of the way it is shot and have used the methods for my own films.

This is the scene that I use.


Now, I stumbled upon the Bollywood version:

Our state of Media

Zo Gang (Go Work)

We Are ODST

Wow-ism.



I'm not so much a Halo fan, but this ad blew me away. This is especially so when the shot cuts to a "new" young soldier.

Christian Poveda

Respect.

This guy died "in the line of duty".

On A Madonna Row

I'm on loop on her music recently. Her music helps me write the film noir, so you can imagine what kind of direction is the film noir might be heading to.

Here's an MTV that I am on the fence on:



What do you think? Good? I'm not referring to the song but the MTV.

What say you guys?

Trucker

I love films about women under pressure.



I have my fingers crossed that it would come to Singapore

Shing Fui-On

RIP.

He was 54.

In Each Hand a Cutlass

I spoke with the lead yesterday, Dan from In Each Hand a Cutlass. During one of their sound check sessions, I was blown away by the music they make.

I really wish I can work with them in the future.



They would be performing at Baybeats 2009 tomorrow at 7pm.

Vote Amelia Chen as Fun Taiwan Host!

Returns on Avatar

Hmm, I would think that it might be tough for James Cameron to break even on Avatar. I have no doubt that the sales for the film will be high, but video sales?

Releasing the film on Blu-Ray and DVD with 3D technology now may be a problem: Our televisions are not equipped with 3D yet.

It would be interesting to observe the sales of the film.

Thai Prank Call

Hahaha! (I shouldn't laugh at my own people.)



This is the lesser known Jerky Boyz prank call.

Avatar Day

Yes, I attended the 15 minute first look at Avatar last night.

It.
Was.
(Freaking.)
Awesome!

(Spartan exclamation!)



I also went to read up about the reactions towards the teaser. So here's my retort.

It's understandable why people would slam it, on the "video game" feel, the bad rendering, lazy alien designs. But these are the people who haven't seen beyond the teaser.

150 people went for the screening, and all came out with a bruised jaw. Reason, their jaw hit the floor to hard while watching it.

I'm not a fan of 3D. Every single time I pay to watch such a movie, by the 20th minute, I would forget that it's 3D. The objects stop coming into my face, causing my mind to think that it's flat. And if the objects keep coming into my face, I would think that it's just a bad gimmick.

Avatar changed my mind. It is definitely a movie ticket worth fighting for.

While Avatar raves...

The world is congesting the websites for the trailer of Avatar, causing huge traffic, here's a trailer for another film that is worth checking out. After all, it's Andrew Kevin Walker's work, the guy who wrote Panic Room, Se7en and 8mm.

Here is, THE WOLFMAN:



I'm heading to the 15 minute preview of Avatar (in 3-fucking-D!) tomorrow. I will update on what I will see.

Sam Lake on Alan Wake

Video Games | Alan Wake | GC 09: Sam Lake Commentary Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

If I ever write for video games (something I do look out for), I would find a role model in Sam Lake, who wrote for Max Payne too.

Blizzard's story telling

Video Games | StarCraft II | BlizzCon 09: Old Rivals Cinematic Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Blizzard's way of telling a story may have become formulatic (that is not a real word). What they do is, have a good guy that you can control. Train him up, make sure that he is all powerful. The designers make sure that you love him.

Then...

He falls into the enemies' hands and then, he converts.

In a way, Starcraft's and Warcraft's narrative may be the same. Also, remember the ending of Diablo? I won't spoil it.

I hope that if they have a third franchise, it would be something fresh.

The Tournament

I can tell that the story and concept are old and will not be that awesome.

But so far, I am truly interested in this one...



...even though this looks like it's off of something from Paul W.S. Anderson.

The Fourth Kind

I am such a trailer junkie. And the marketing for this film, is truly awesome.



Also, this trailer has the Chapman University logo! I shall ask my lecturer about this.

"I'm just getting warmed up..."

Whoa!



This one, I like!

Nothing But The Truth Revisited

Remember the post I blogged about Nothing But The Truth?



It. Is. Awesome.

I would want to go out there to make films like this.




SPOILER ALERT

This line was mentioned and IT BLEW ME AWAY.

"In 1972 in Branzburg v Hayes, this court ruled against the right of reporters to withhold the names of their sources before a grand jury, and it gave the power to the government to imprison those reporters who did.

It was a 5-4 decision.

Close.

In his dissent in Branzburg, Justice Stewart said, 'As the years pass, the power of the government becomes more and more pervasive.

Those in power,' he said, 'whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it, and the people are the victims.'

Well, the years have passed, and that power is pervasive.

Ms Armstrong could have buckled to the demands of the government.

She could have abandoned her promise of confidentiality.

She could have simply gone home to her family.

But to do so would mean that no source would ever speak to her again, and no source would ever speak to her newspaper again, and then tomorrow when we lock up journalists from other newspapers, we'll make those publications irrelevant as well, and this will make the First Amendment irrelevant.

And then how will we know if a president has covered up crimes?

Or if an army officer has condoned torture?

We, as a nation, will no longer be able to hold those in power accountable to those whom they have power over.

And what then is the nature of government when it has no fear of accountability?"




There are lots of other monologues in there which are awesome. I highly recommend it. It's going to be in my DVD-to-get list.

Poker Face like you never heard

To think that I almost dismissed her as a Britney Spears clone. Lady Gaga got TALENT!

Channel 5's woe

Some producer from Mediacorp told me this and I laughed till my face is on the verge of bursting.

"The last chairman for channel 5, the one responsible for the deal between Singapore and Montreal co-production of Just for Laughs, screws up the channel's programming so bad. If channel 8 shows color bar for twenty-four hours, the ratings for that channel will still be higher than channel 5's!"

That's when I started laughing. People around me wanted me to share but I was too helpless in laughter.

John Hughes

RIP

1950-2009

Dance Number

Oooh, I wish I made it.

The Blind Side

Just when I think Sandra Bullock cannot do anything else but comedy (except that one good role in Crash), this came along. Maybe she can be a good actress, or a bankable one, on other genres after all.

Singapore Iron Man

I met up with Neville Tan today.

After a chat with him, I realized that my Singapore's version of Heat may not happen. Meaning, no-two-men-of-equal-presence-who-can-be-friends-but-are-at-different-sides-of-the-law-and-thus-cannot-be-friends kind of story. He thought that his change into who he is today is more important.

All is not lost, I am interested about his story of change inside prison before 1971. It seems to be a good prison story that could be Singapore's Shawshank.

I'll be meeting him again at his second Iron Man book launch on Aug 16th 10am.

Cynthia Harrell

I already love the theme. Now a lounge version which I read that will only be available if one completes Metal Gear Solid 3 in extreme difficulty. I'm good, but this difficulty is too hard for me.

so, embedded is the track, which now I am so addicted to.



It's James Bond like, and more lounge. So chill out.

David Hayter interview!

The man behind the voice

Yasmin Ahmad

Rest in Peace.

I Wanna Punch Sumbody after Watching

Who the hell did the choreography?



This is insane! Giving the guys from Ip Man a run for their money.

While the Whole World spoofs the Kids...

This to me, is more awesome!

Alarm Clock

I want this!

Fake DVD Spec: Swine Trip

It's so crazy I don't know where to begin.

"Guys going on a trip away from home just to realize how much they miss it."

Goal: shoot footages of pigs.

DVD Chapter Scenes Include:
Opening - Character Intros:
1 - Norainah choosing CDs.
2 - Chris going to sleep as Lung Chieh edits.
3 - I'm watching the police (which he called) break up a gang fight while eating carrots.
4 - Don't know what was Cain doing - smoking or cleaning his camera?

MacDonald's breakfast.
Meet the Sister/Mother.
Rejected at JB pig farm.
Warm trip to the north.
Racist, Sexist (pig calling) and Egoist points.
Me vs the Coconut.
Selected windscreen wipe (foreshadowing).
Trick roads.
Hunt for hotels.
Bad Aircon verus Iceland.
A&W breakfast and lunch within ten minute's span.
Smashed windscreen courtesy of KL robbers.
Bad Malaysian Tourist police.
Dumb KL police at High Commission.
Jaded trip to the pig farm.
Sad pig farmer with a sparkling hope of change of the countries' systems.
The drive into the darkness.
Struggling cash flow home.
Emo trip home after entering the Immigration.
End credits scored by DJ Shadow.


Mid credits roll:
And then, somebody ended the emo-ness drive by saying the last one-liner:
"Cos A&W veri niceeee..."
Totally spoiled the moment.

Changed characters, each going through their own revelations.
1 - Norainah misses Singapore.
2 - Chris realizes that KL police are more troublesome than the thieves.
3 - I realized that there may be more to why Singapore do not order pigs from Malaysia.
4 - Coda scene: Cain is still stuck there.

In actual roadtrip movies, things do get progressively worse! In the end, the characters return home changed.

Running Time: 2 days

In the Midst of Danger

I'm going across the causeway to shoot....

Pray for my safe return.

One of the few films...

One of the few films which changed the way I wanna make movies:



It was the biggest twist that took thirty years to unveil.

Mad Dog

If I'm looking back at memories, I must be really aging.

Trailers that Spoils Too Much

We are talking about Daybreakers and its possible spoilers. So be warned.



I would say that the trailer is cool. And the directors had come a long way since Undead. I would watch this just to support the spirit of "starting small".

Ok, here's the issue that bothered me: the marketing. It's not about Ethan Hawke, not about that Placebo song, not the effects, but the choice of scenes cut for the trailer.

I am not sure if it's intended, but 90% of the story is in there, leaving the question on how it ends.

Dot #1
We have scenes of Sam Neill with his character's son who says that he is good at being a vampire.

Dot #2
Ethan Hawke asks, what if there is no single drop of blood left. Sam Neill says that there will be people willing to pay for the real stuff. It has been set up that the vampires are making fake blood.

Dot #3
The humans say that they have the cure to turn vampires back into humans.

Dot #4
Sam Neill asks, "What's the cure?"

Draw the lines
What do you think Sam Neill will do once he gets his hands on the cure? Turn back into human? Remember that his son says that he is good at being a vampire? From there you can tell what's the theme and the story is about.

Think about it.

I would still watch it though.

Blog Attention to Ellery

Click here!

The People spoke: Public Enemies

I'm so excited, I'm losing sleep.

Hainan Ji Fan

I was recalling the pains of this shoot:



But I'll always remember working with Mélanie Laurent.

Indian Version of...

This Is Madness!

From the peeps of Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police:



Visit site here.

9th July

The ratings and the critics over this film are shot through the roof!



This could be the Heat of this decade!

I hope Michael Mann doesn't follow the celebrity deaths soon.

My Ears In Love

Just discovered them through Lush 99.5:

Jericho - Weekend Players

The Exile: Fat French

Asset to The Nurse in hunting down Lok.



See what he's holding? You know the budget will rocket in props, special effects and digital effects.

*EDITED: He is supposed to be black. Maybe another Fat French design in the future.

The Exile: Before the Lift Fire Fight Completed

Spent another hour on it.

Here's the set up. Lok has been in hiding, and he has been discovered. The Nurse enters the lift and they engage in a stare down. A firefight boils, ready to explode.



Wouldn't it be cool on an Over-the-shoulder Shot on Wide Screen? And imagine it handheld and shot on digital!

The Exile: Before the Lift Fire Fight

Another practice.

In the Midst of Fire

Lok in The Exile. Was experimenting with soft brushes and explosion brushes.

THE STRANGERS of Malaysia

I dunno what it's about, but I like the vibe.

The Exile: Family

Testing out different brushes. Was trying out two characters in one panel. Constancy thrown out the window that one.

If it's too faint to read, it's Huimin and Jessica.

Experiment.

Another practice with the tablet.


Maybe she's too bright compared to the background.

Fallen Revisited

I forced my editor to watch this, a long time ago.



I told him, Fallen should look like that.

French Scarface

Too cool! I always love French crimes! This will give Michael Mann's Public Enemies a run for his money.





Visit the site here.

And Déborah François... God, I was an arm's length away from her.

And Melanie Laurent! I worked with her! Now she's a big timer!

It's official: I love the French!

Taking a Break

Enough of the horror project for today. I shall revisit my love story with an old heartbreak.



I like to know who shot this. I like to make it a reference.

Old Republic

I don't play the game but wow, look at the cinematic.



Too bad I still refuse to forgive the prequels.

More Exile

One more for tonight.



I can see a bit of improvement now.

The Exile - a little preivew

I did this for a span of three nights, ten minutes before I sleep.

Here's a little look at character designs of The Exile.





Mostly done as practice with the tablet.

More characters to come.




*Character design and Script registered.*

Ruse

I love this ad.

Guess why.

The Occupant

The title of the Untitled Horror Project.

I feel excited about this, but writing it has bad effects to my mind.

Draft Trailer

Was taking a break and decided to make a few clicks on FCP. It spawned into half an hour of edit and into this:



Thought I share.

RIP - 4th June 2009

David Carradine.

He was 72.

Crime Doc!

I wanna watch this!

He's Back!

Holy shit!

Progress Check

An update from previous post.

Untitled Adventure Project - Was my own idea, but was instructed not to be involved
Untitled Action Project - Halfway there
Untitled Horror Project - Not done yet
The Exile - Point form
Hush City (rewrite) - Haven't rewrite
Goodbye WKW - Still in pre-first-draft

I'm in so much trouble...

29

Was watching Repo! The Genetic Opera. I looked up on Anthony Head and I realized that he is exactly 29 years older than me.

Horror of Pigeon Holes

Got removed from any involvement of my own road trip idea.










sucks.

I'm going to stay up to finish this action bit, then onward to a new comedy.




COMEDY!!! MUTHERUCKERS!

New ads from home

So funny, I laughed till my head hurts:

Ads from Home

I was recalling how funny these are:

HAWP LOLness!

Video Games | HAWP | Lips

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Team Thirteen Stands Down

Script stored in the fridge.

Method Writing

Is dangerous.

Why didn't I think of that?

MTV

Make The Girl Dance "Baby Baby Baby" ( official video )
by placeblancherec

Freed Up?

Alright. Here's to the beginning of the Summer break.
So, here's the list of to dos for work:

Untitled Adventure Project
Untitled Action Project
Untitled Horror Project
The Exile
Hush City (rewrite)
Goodbye WKW

Three months is actually too short.

Bruises

Just discovered them and I like this track.

If I have time, I may even write a new love story with this song playing.



Time for an uplifting and happy film...

If I got time to write in the first place.

The Lesser of Two Evils

I made a difficult choice today. I stayed home to study for the upcoming exam rather than to head out and watch the Dollars Trilogy.

I am feeling pain over the choice I made.

FML!

I am totally addicted to it.

A Full Circle

After years of plotting Vengeance in my screenplays, it's time to explore Forgiveness.

The Shootout Score

It's him!

The Guy behind the Score while People Shoot Each Other.

Haunted by Bullets

These few days, I have urges to shoot somebody or want to get shot at in slow motion.

I am close to tears having thoughts of it.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Jeszlene Zhou

Support!

Venge-moi: Repost

I just creamed at first:



Then I creamed again:

Woman Rights on Film

I really want to see this, even though the edit is chessy.

Majid Majidi back to back

Willow Tree and Color of Paradise.

I always enjoy screenings in school.

Black & White Kings

Surprising well received by people outside of class.

But I wonder what my classmates think about it. They were rather quiet after showing my rough cut.

Ali

I hope this comes to Singapore.



Come on Batch:ten, let's do a documentary soon.

Vengeance is Here again!

Trailer 2!

Sniper

After a long period of busy schedule, I managed to squeeze time to watch Sniper at the cinema.

I feel a little bit better about myself now.

Also, I saw the trailer of Public Enemies on the big screen. I almost cried.

Moon

I will watch this:

Next Trailer for Mann!

Yay!!~!!~!!~

My Fan Boy Moment

Attended this:



To listen to the experienced:



And to shake the hands of the writers of Infernal Affairs.


(Left: Felix Chong. Right: Alan Mak.)

I gave them my card and told that I will PA for them for free.

Watch out for Overheard, their next film.

Too Awesome to Wait

So AWESOME, I decided to post another trailer:


Visit the website
here!

Back from HK

I met many people, I shook many hands, I pitched to many ears and I am really excited about the movies that are coming out of Hong Kong.

Fragrant Port City

Off to Hong Kong for a week.

See ya.

Natasha Richardson

R.I.P.

She was 45.

Jolt

I do think that interactive websites are cool, but I do not like one that causes me to punch my laptop. Now I have to go bring my mac to a check up.

Check it out here.

Careful of jumps.

Trailers are different because...

It targets different audiences. There are for the action nuts, comedic bluffs and heart string tear jerks.





I personally prefer the latter. I like to pull heart strings in my trailers. This version, is EPIC sounding.

Message to them

In accordance to my status to FB too. I'm rather pleased with this coded message.

It reads:

"JD is not here but gone in a Big Yellow Taxi."



I feel sorry for you, but I cannot always stick around to be made used of.

Mann's Next

Here's a school girl excited...

The End is Near

I am one of the rare few who prefers Terminators over Transformers. I prefer drama.






Nine Inch Nails rocks!

Tip for those going through a Painful Ordeal

Use your broken heart.

If you have none, well, good luck.