Marble chill

Marble Chill
Originally uploaded by mfibian.

Taken this morning immediately after I woke up to find marble chilling by my orange dustbin.

Haven't seen him doin' this in ages :)

Lovely!

Inexplicableness

Soul Constructor woke up that day to an inexplicable sense of loneliness that was unsettling. Even though he knows he has the love of a caring family and close-knitted confidants. Still, that feeling overwhelms him, likened to a person stands in solitude on a deserted isle.

An emptiness to hard to mention...

Aural/Visual: Dance! Dance! Daft Punked...

Daft Punk
Musique: Vol. 1 1993-2005 (Special Edition)

To the uninitaited, Daft Punk's around for more than a decade or so though it's really in 1997 when they exploded with Homework that the dance/electronic world sat up and took notice. With their unique brand of French electronic flavor, the duo were able to dazzle their audience.

Mixing hard rock beats with pulsating electronic basslines and vocordered/robotic vocals, Daft Punk brings to us a whole new experience on the dancefloor which includes Alive, Da Funk, All Around The World and Musique. In 2001, following the success of Homework, the duo finetuned their sound and brought some retro-funk on Discovery to their electronic stable. First single, One More Time, with its catchy chorus and retro-disco sounds immediately caught attention and sold wonderfully. Tying up with Japanese anime Interstellar 5555, singles such as Digital Love and Aerodynamic benefitted with stunning visuals accompanied, further consolidating their position in the dance/electronic arean.

Last year's Human After All was much of a disappointment, having being completed in 6 weeks and sounding a lot like a miscast record of leftovers except that Make Love and Emotion still remain two of the best songs they have written which are seriously overlooked.

Musique Vol. 1 serves as a pitstop of Daft Punk's repertoire of music, giving casual fans an opportunity to try the band out. However, as essential with any money-making scheme, Virgin opted to leave the excellent Digital Love and Aerodynamic from Discovery off this collection.

Then what's left for hardcore fans on this special limited edition are the videos. The 12-video collection of which one is a remix also leaves out the above said two singles. Still, it's a visual treat and collection to hold, especially the manga videos from Discovery. Of course, a disc of remixes wouldn't hurt too. Oh, that's been done before too... Damn! (B+)

Visual: The Perfect Insight

The Inside Man
Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

Spike Lee's Inside Man may seem like just another cop and robber story until you see the story unravel on screen. Robber Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) has planned a perfect heist that has put career cop Keith Frazier in a fix. Amidst intense negotiation between thw two, power broker Madeline White (Jodie Foster) enters the picture proving herself to be a better negotiator than Fraizer. But everyone has their motives and the interlocking puzzle gets more complex. As the story unfolds, each turn becomes
more unpredictable.

Clive Owen is excellent witty robber who's outpacing everyone at every opportunity. Displaying a level of cool collectedness, Owen was convincing as the potentially violent criminal with a broader agenda in mind.

Denzel Washington turns in an equally sublime performance playing the detective who's trying to serve justice while battling investigation for corruption. Detecive Fraizer's urgency in taking Russell to task is well portrayed by Washington.

Jodie Foster's Medeline White may just play a supporting role but it's no doubt that the actress can handle any role with aplomb. Her character's brimming with calm confidence trying to secure a deal with the robber while enriching her own pockets.

Spike Lee's Inside Man is an exciting thriller with non-stop action and suspense. It cleverly plays out and eventually leaves the audience dazzled and in awe. (A)

Aural: Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine

Extraordinary Machine

Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple's much-delayed, much-hyped and much-rallied for third album, Extraordinary Machine was many mouthfuls less than her last effort. True to form, the incomplete internet-leaked album now sounds more polished than its original form though purists have begged to differ.

The Jon Brion-produced title track is an exquisite and delighful song that almost brings back the glamorous 60's broadway feel with its clever lyrics. O' Sailor is an Apple piano standard which sounds like a deadringer for Shadowboxer with her smoky yet yearning vocals. The new version has a choral ending absent in the earlier version, resulting in a division of opinions among diehard fans as to which is better. Tymphs re-produced by Mike Elizondo has successfully married Apple's shrewd pop with the ever popular hip hop sound to create the best cartoon tune that Disney never came around to produce. Then there's the sorrowful and dramatic Oh Well where Apple sings with so much unspoken angst.

Sony might find Extraordinary Machine uncommercial enough (Sophie B. Hawkins was an earlier victim, George Michael too) but in this internet age, the fans' ability to rally behind a forgotten artist has demonstrated their collaborative might to the record companies. After all the dust is settled, Extraordinary Machine is best left for fine savouring. (A)

Aural: No need for sorry

Madonna
Sorry

Sorry is the #1 UK followup to the worldwide smash Hung Up. Beginning with Madonna saying Sorry in many different languages, the song then breaks into a rapturous electronic-disco track that also features an irresistably addictive beat throughout.

Included here on this maxi are some of the best remixes of a Madonna song in recent years. In the absence of Rahoufer and Calderone, we see a surpise here being 80's pop icon Pet Shop Boys doing a brilliant mix of Sorry. With Neil Tennant's added vocals and trademark PSB production, it's hard to think that the boys have never worked with Madonna until now (given that they had written Heart in 88 with Madonna in mind but didn't dare risk disappointment so it was never handed to her). The Oakenfold remix of Sorry has to be his best for Madonna yet. Edgy and anthemic, it brings new energy to the song to create a stomper. Green Velvet's remix is set to a fast-tempo electronic beat with enough beeps and blips to keep you dancing. The only bland mix would be Stuart Price's (co-writer of Sorry) Man with Guitar Mix.

The other surprise would be the excellent Paper Faces Mix of Let It Will Be which was heard at one of Madonna's live performance. With added beats and a stylish makeover, the song screams for a release of its own. (A)

The Little Golden Man called Oscar

The 78th Academy Awards felt like it was a crowd pleaser. That was no clear runaway winner but almost every film that had won accolades in the recent months were dutifully rewarded with something. The bone of contention for me was probably the Best Picture and Best Actress in a Leading Role awards.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Crash, which was one of my favorite films for 2005, it certainly should not be the best picture. The film far lacked the emotional depth which Brokeback Mountain carried but I could totally see why. The Academy voters probably thought it was safer to have a best picture which dealt with racism and discrimination, way less controversial than a gay cowboy romance. Such is the stigmatism associated with a film of such a genre. The Academy wants to look credible amid its conservative shell. It hopes by doing so, it is sending out the message that a gay-themed movie, no matter how good, would never be able to ascend the throne of the highest honor in cinematic history, just not yet. This is tragic to note as the Academy is supposed to value and reward film achievements not political correctness.

Resse Whiterspoon as best actress? Hers was a passable performance, more of a fluke than talent. Perhaps it's the only one time the acting bug was biting at her but I will always remember her as the Legally Blonde and ditzy Resse Whiterspoon. Tough luck, Felicity! The Academy favors the American Sweetheart that is June Carter Cash over the transgender Bree (You smell the political-correctness again?). But for me, you are the Best Actress.

And to Health, Jake and Michelle, you are the lights that make Brokeback shine the way Lee Ang intended it to be. You people are winners already. Lee Ang, your impassioned acceptance speech is definitely an inspiration to all Asian directors and film makers.

The Resurrected Pink!

Stupid Girls
Pink

With the title of I'm Not Dead for her impending album, Pink really wants us to forget the embarassment that was Try This in 2003. After a string of two successful albums including braving the much dreaded sophomore jinx with the splendid Mizunderstood, Pink hit a slump with Try This.

Now, forward to 2006 and the gal rolls out her new single Stupid Girls. Pink's always been a mixed bag, deliberately carving herself out as a hip-hop chick with a punk-rock veneer. On Stupid Girls, she tackles the issues of being a perfect girl with the brains and beauty but the song makes for a jarring listen as it tries to marry the ever popular hip hop beat (with a lyrical mention of 50 Cent) with angsty rock/pop (what's new?).

The interesting thing is the video,which by now is, Pink's way of masquerading a so-so song with a better than average video. In it, you'll see spoofs of everyone from 50 Cent (rapping with a bling bling girl) to Jessica Simpson (soap-laden by a car) to Britney Spears (in her tracksuit get up) and Nip-Tuck (Pink undergoing breast augmentation).

Now there's something interesting after all though Linda Perry should still be back to orchestrate Miss Pink's precarious career. Watch Stupid Girls on Pink's homepage.

(C+ for the song; B- for the video)

Visual/Mental: The Cold Harsh Mountain

Brokeback Mountain

Directed by Lee Ang
Screenplay adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
Based on the short story by Annie Proulx

Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway & Michelle Williams

Having read the original short story by Proulx a few years ago, I was surprised by how well a tale of love between two cowboys set against a panaromic Wyoming backdrop was told. When I learned that the 60-page short story would become a film directed by celebrated director Lee Ang, I hoped it would be made soon.

By now, most people would have associated Brokeback Mountain with gay forbidden love. The truth is, Brokeback Mountain is just a very simple tale of arduous love and anyone with an ounce of emotion should watch.

The union of director Lee Ang, scriptwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, and the cast results in one of the most exquisite and endearing films made in the last few years.

Lee Ang possesses the talent for slow, intricate and subtle film direction. He pays attention to almost every aspect from simple small gestures to complex emotional strifes set against the magnificent mountain view.

McMurtry and Ossana also adapted the story faithfully except for the fact that the two male leads were originally much less desirable than Ledger and Gyllenhaal with bucked-tooth and stocky bodies.

The assembled cast is the third link which leads the film to flight. Heath Ledger, the stoic straight-man type is caught unexpectedly in a tangled web of emotions for a fellow cowboy, something that had never crossed his less-than-queer mind. A man of few words, Ledger plays Ennis to perfection when he displays the inner turmoil that Ennis enountered trying to live his life the way it is and learning to love Jack. Every time Ledger breaks down and cries in the film, it's when you'll feel him.

Jake Gyllenhaal is the hopeful companion who prays for the day that the union could yield the type of permanence he so craved for instead of "a couple of high-altitude f**ks once or twice in a year." And he waited for 20 years until the audience shares his anguish and unfulfilled yearnings by the time he lashed out on what they ever have left is Brokeback Mountain.

Michelle Williams plays the silent, long-suffering wife who witnessed the earth-shattering and ultimately heartbreaking kiss shared between Ennis and Jack after 4 years of separation. Williams is exceptionally sorrowful, swallowing her unspoken hurt until she could hold it no more that she wanted to hear the truth out of Ennis' mouth years after her remarriage. Williams' acting powress is certainly validated by the expression she showed at the instance of that unexpected kiss and the heartwrenching exchange with Ledger.

Anne Hathaway plays a rich girl whose expertise is in making money not relationships. Given her short screentime, her change from a brash rodeo queen to a high-society career woman and finally a emotionless and grieving widow expands her acting abilities beyond her impish Princess Diary-self.

Many unions, liaisions and break-ups later, Brokeback Mountain emerges as a tragic yet bittersweet and endearing tale of love between four suffering people afflicted with varying degrees of attachment but all not willing to let go. To me, this suffices as more than a gay cowboy story. To enjoy Brokeback Mountain, an open mind and eyes are definitely pre-requisites. (A+)

Visual/Mental: Transcendental Transamerica

Transamerica
Written and Directed by Duncan Tucker
Starring Felicity Huffman

Transamerica follows a rather tried-and-tested road trip of two most unlikely partners, a transgender man and his long-lost separated son. What makes this small indie film shines to the brim is Felicity Huffman who plays the transgender man ready for a sexual reassignment surgery. Or so he thought.

Initially shocked at receiving a call about a long-lost son, Bree soon finds himself having no choice but to bring Toby on his trip to California for his sex change op after he had exercised all options to leave Toby behind failed. What follows is a bittersweet and heartwarming tale of family and love.

Felicity Huffman, in her Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning role as Bree brings to the character much humor, pathos, insecurity and vulnerability. It's definitely a great turn from Lynette in Desperate Housewives.

An outstanding performance that's deserving of the Golden statue! (A)

Visual/Mental: A Constant Craving - The Constant Gardener

The Constant Garderner
Directed by Fernando Meirelles
Screenplay adapted by Jeffrey Caine based on the novel by John le Carré
Starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz

A tale of political and corporate intrigue, The Constant Gardener has the elements of drama and suspense built right in its heart. Lead actor Ralph Fiennes plays Justin, a diplomat and loving husband-turned-tormented widow who's determined to find the truth of her dead activist wife's murder.

Uncovering the conspiracy of the big bad pharmaceutical company and the government in using poor and disease-striken African people as human trials, Fiennes character brings danger to himself. Fiennes give no less than an exquisite and refined performance but it's really Rachel Weisz's near-40 minute screentime including ocassional flashbacks as Fiennes' activits wife, Tessa that wins her a coveted spot in the running to be the Best Supporting Actress come Oscar night. Showing off both recticence and vulnerability in her character, Weisz was certainly convincing as Tessa.

The suspense is tight and the cinematography is splendid ranging from scenes of abject poverty and disease in Africa to the private exclusivity of London's high society. (A)

Don't Say Sorry... Watch It!

The brilliant follow-up to the already excellent Hung Up.

Oscar nods

The 78th Academy Award nominations are out! Kudos to Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Pride and Prejudice, The Constant Gardener, Transamerica and March of The Penguins for their nominations!

And thank god for Ziyi Zhang being left out in the cold for her frozen acting (no pun intended) and Memoirs of the Geisha deserving of only technical awards. Though Gong Li would have been deserving for a Best Supporting Actress nod...

The results will be out on March 6, Singapore time!

Where's Golden's Geisha?

Memoirs of A Geisha

Directed by Rob Marshall

Adapted Screenplay by Robin Swicord based on the book by Arthur Golden

The much-anticipated screen version of Arthur Golden's bestselling book opens with much hype. Casting three of Chinese cinema's darlings, the film looks set to be a runaway success.

The film opens with a young Chiyo being sent away to be a geisha. For the next half hour, the girl played by the delightfully wide-eyed 12-year-old Suzuka Ohgo suffers at the hands of big time geisha Hatsumomo played by the lustrous Gong Li. Besides the surreal cinematography, the stars of the film has got to be Suzuka Ohgo and Gong Li. By the time Ohgo's half-hour screentime is up, Gong Li has shown us how she embodies the character of Hatsumomo with aplomb- a woman full of vengeance, contrive and jealousy but with a yearning for love. See her finest at attempting to destroy our poor protaganist.

When Zhang Ziyi's Sayuri appears as a grown woman mentored by Michelle Yeoh's Mameha, you can't help but feel that Zhang's thunder has all already been stolen by Gong Li. Zhang can be seen as struggling with her English while trying to portray the vulnerable Sayuri. While language has proven to be a stumbling block, Zhang's acting feels so distant that it leaves an empty feeling and provides no continuation from the warmth that Ohgo brought to the screen as a young Sayuri. It is a clear signal that in her haste to woo Hollywood's audience (including her attempt at anglicizing her name to Ziyi Zhang), she has sacrificed whatever little acting ability that was more evident in Chinese films like 2046. Yeoh's mentor role is played nicely as it is - a steely woman who's determined to help her protege beat arch rival Hatsumomo.

In adapting the book for the big screen, screenwriter Robin Swicord has left out parts of the book that provides glimpses into the geisha world. Intricate details of how the kimono is worn and traits of a geisha are missing probably to shorten the already lengthy film.

The aim and result is definitely style over substance. If anyone deserves an acting accolade, it should be Gong Li and not the overrated Zhang. (B- because Gong Li was in it, else C)

View from the top

I had an incredible evening atop Mount Faber at The Altivo Bar. A very enchanting and panaromic night view, the night was cooling and interpersed with a heavy downpour. No one else around us so the cosy drinking hole was ours for the night. Had a Heineken and a long chat.

Well, it's certainly life's small little pleasures.

Favorites 05: Books

Amy Krouse Rosenthal, The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life















Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Favorites 05: Albums/Songs

Albums:

Goldfrapp, Supernature
Choice cuts: Number 1, Ooh La La










Madonna, Confessions On A Dancefloor
Choice cuts: Hung Up, Get Together, Sorry, Forbidden Love, Push, Jump, Fighting Spirit (Special Edition Bonus Track)







Mysterious Skin [Soundtrack]
Choice cuts: Snowfall, Loitering









Brazilian Girls
Choice cuts: Don't Stop, Pussy, Lazy Lover, Sirenes De La Fete









Fischerspooner, "Odyssey"
Choice cuts: Just Let Go, Get Confused, Never Win, Cloud









Röyksopp, The Understanding
Choice cuts: 49 Percent, Only This Moment, Sombre Detune








Imogen Heap, Speak For Yourself
Choice cuts: Goodnight and Go, Hide and Seek, The Walk, Just For Now









Coldplay, X&Y
Choice cuts: Fix You, Talk, Speed Of Sound, Swallowed In The Sea









Sigur Rós, Takk
Choice cuts: Glosoli, Sæglópur, Takk










Emiliana Torrini, Fisherman's Woman
Choice cuts: Heartstopper, Sunny Day, Nothing Brings Me Down










Songs:

• Natahsa Bedingfield, These Words (I Love You, I Love You)
  
• Billy Corgan, To Love Somebody
  
• Brazilian Girls, Don't Stop (Album Version, Riton Re-Rub), Lazy Lover (Album Version, Free Mix)
  
• Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
  
• Daft Punk - Emotion, Make Love
• Depeche Mode - Precious (Sasha remixes and Calderone & Quayle Damaged Mix), A Pain I Am Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix and Goldfrapp Remix)
  
• Fischerspooner - Just Let Go (Joakim Mix), Never Win (Mirwais Alternate Mix), Get Confused, Cloud
  
• Garbage - Run Baby Run, Why Do You Love Me
• Goldfrapp - Ooh La La (Tieschwartz Mix), Number 1 (Album Version, Alan Braxe and Fred Falke Club Remix)
• Gorillaz, Don't Get Lost In Heaven, Demon Days
  
• David Gray - Life In Slow Motion, Ain't No Love
  
• Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
• Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, Breakdown
  
• Madonna - Hung Up (Album Version, Tracy Young Get Up and Dance Groove Mix, Chus and Cellabos Mix)
• Damien Rice - Eskimo, Cold Water, Blower's Daughter
  
• Moby - Snowball, Blue Paper, Chord Sounds
  
• New Order - Krafty (Album Version, Phones Reality Mix)
  
• Novuelle Vague - Just Can't Get Enough, Making Plans For Nigel
  
• Röyksopp - 49 Percent (Album Version, Ewan Pearson Glass Half Full Mix, Angello & Ingrosso Mix)
• Scissor Sisters - It Don't Come Quickly Enough
  
• Gwen Stefani - Cool (Album Version, Video Version, Richard X Mix)

Videoclips (Director):

• Goldfrapp - Number 1 (Phil Heyes)
  
• Madonna - Hung Up (Johan Renck)
• Gwen Stefani - Cool (Sophie Muller)
  
• Emiliana Torrini - Heartstopper (David Lea)
  

Favorites 05: Film

1. Closer by Mike Nichols









2. Crash by Paul Haggis









3. Mysterious Skin by Gregg Araki









4. Sommersturm (Summer Storm) by Marco Kreuzpaintner








5. La Marche de l'empereur (March of The Penguins) by Luc Jacquet








6. Saving Face by Alice Wu









7. Pride and Prejudice by Joe Wright

AuralAssualt: Goldfrapp's Number 1 EP

Goldfrapp
Number 1 EP

With the stellar first single Ooh La La from Supernature, Goldfrapp returns with #1 and what a deserving title it is.

#1 is a frisky, 80's inspired track with a digitized soundscape that sparkles in all the right places. Moving on with a semi-pulsating beat , the song is draped in Alison Goldfrapp's incredibly sensual vocal. The Alan Brake remix of the track adds a faster beat and extends the #1 goodness to 7 minutes, looping over Goldfrapp singing You're My #1, certainly something to fulfill your craving after listening to the short album version.

Beautiful, a Japanese-only bonus track, is a synth-pop track like it could have been anything from Black Cherry. All Night Operator, a B-side on Ooh La La, is a slow, trippy track that screams beautiful luscious.

And the last audio track is a dub mix of Ooh La La by Tieschwartz which turns the retro-electro track into a monster club anthem.

Finallym the perfect treat to end it all, the very funky video of Number 1 where Goldfrapp gyrates withher brood of doggie pals in an operation theater with ultimate sass and candour, making her look like an irresistable pussy cat. (A)

AuralAssault: Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor

Madonna
Confessions On A Dance Floor
22 years after she first graced the dance floor, Madonna is sending you an invitation to get into the groove again. And if Confessions is anything to go, she shows the world that she still can dance as well as inspire us to do what she wants us to...

Working with her new partners, most notably the savvy Stuart Price, Confessions is a 12-track segued mix of dance ecstasy. Lead single, Hung Up, amazingly mixes Abba's 1979 hit Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) with Madonna's and Price's retro-disco fluffiness into a bonafide dance floor anthem. Follow this with the throbs of the electro-futuristic Get Together where Madonna invites you to check it out with her as she really wanna be with you. Then, the song fades cleverly into Madonna saying sorry in a few languages before she indulges you into some more disco with Sorry. On Forbidden Love, Madonna morphs into Giorgio Moroder and creates a superb 80s-sounding yet stylish song of two star-crossed lovers. On the Indian-inspired, beats-driven Push, Madonna pays tribute to the one (presumably Guy Ritchie)
who has constantly pushed her to her best.

On Confessions, Madonna's lyrics are never overly self-indulgent though short of any major revelations that we don't already know. There is self-discovery (How High), enlightenment (Future Lovers), empowerment (Jump), love (Forbidden Love, Push), and lament (How High).

Confessions is a true return to form for the Queen of Pop, something all fans have been eagerly waiting for. (A)