Wednesday, August 16, 2017

two different approaches

I've viewed amole gupta's movie Stanley's Da Kabba or tiffin box and The lunch box by Ritesh Batra.Both revolved around a lunch box and while one focuses on a lonely aging bachelor and a wrongly delivered lunch box in Mumbai's famous delivery system ,the other focuses on a young student,a naughty one who is gifted not in academic but poetry and dance and unappreciated except by classmates and the English teacher who spots his creative imagination.Both movies are set in a very Indian context but has universal appeal in its characterisation.
        

Thursday, July 20, 2017

the young Japanese fusion band Wagakki Rocks freaking awesome visuals and sound

I always had a misconception that J pop was just like those pretty boy and kawaii girl bands but I have to say when I saw this jaw dropping performance,it just worsened my insomnia cause I was hooked and couldn't stop viewing this fusion rock cum traditional music Japanese rock/pop band.They even sing to classical poem recitation using a mix of shamisen ,koto(I never knew Males play the zither cause the Chinese gu zheng is traditionally an instrument played by females but this chap is unbelievably good, and talented),the taiko drummer knows how to hike up audience interaction to a peak,the drums,bass and omg the shabuhashi which is a flute with a plaintive sound.
  Wow I'm gonna turn into a zombie with my insomnia listening to this Wagakki band-their clothing makes it trendy to be comfortable in their own cultural wear-makes me want to grab a yukata to wear.
      Now they will soon be amassing a global fanbase soon with their  unique sounds ,dance and song.
   The young people are so connected to music .I viewed Despacito played by Indian classical musicians on the tabla and flute .Awesome,freaking badass awesome,the youths are so talented to fuse and do covers of originals based on their own interpretation.Hope music continues to unites us across the race,religion or national boundaries.The Beatles at one time was into Indian classical music,the sitar.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Crossing the river by Qu Yuan



I set out from the bay at early dawn,
And reach the town at eve
Since I'm upright and my conscience clear,
Why should I grieve to leave?

I linger by the tributary stream
And know not where to go,
The forest stretches deep and dark around,
Where apes swing to and fro.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Victor Hugo

" To love is to act"

                          Victor Hugo

Monday, July 10, 2017

How the experienced actors mentor theyounger generation

Creativity doesn't thrive in a vacumn .So ideas bounce off each other and cross fertilise into new forms so Youtube and independent movies become a breeding ground for new creations.An inward looking society only glorifies the past and is not able to move forward to compete for innovation.
            In Hong Kong the more experienced seniors like Andy Lau with his Focus Films or Eric Tsang working pro bono for young filmmakers with limited budget grooms the next generation of young directors and more realistic movie like 77 heartbreaks is made.Kudos.
           I'm beginning to see more socially conscious movies coming out in Asia like Peepli Live by Amir Khan.The other movie I've been recommended by a friend to watch is a movie by Kabir Khan called Bajrangi Bhaijaan and the realism is touching.Kabir Khan studied in the same film school as Shah Rukh Khan his senior and used to study his notes.
   But the one director I'm going to explore is Korean director  Bong Joon Ha .His movie Okja  should be released in Malaysia hopefully(problems arise with conflict with sttreaming service Netflix)
His other show Host and Snowpiercer shows a very environmentally conscious theme close to my heart.His show Mother sounds emotionally complex.
          Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and Meryl Streep in the French Lieutenant's woman are two of the most sensitively portrayed movies that left a deep impact on me.James Cameron Avatar was also impactful in terms of portrayal of the inhuman nature of humans compared to aliens.
       Good looks can only carry a movie so far but to sustain the long term growth of the industry,the young upcoming talents should be nurtured in terms of directing,music production or cinematography.
        Sometimes the celluloid life is so perfect that the young audience may face trouble adapting back to the REAL world which sucks and has no neat ending.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Fusion in music

Re exploring the new age electronic compositions of Kitaro(first heard his Silk Road music and visions of camel trains through vast deserts) and Yo Yo Ma's silk Road Ensemble.( excellent instrumentalists) .Very much perfectionists in their musical arrays.


Tuesday, July 4, 2017

For fans of X Japan and speedy recovery of Yoshiki so that we can hear his new compositions.

These are original lyrics-lifeless without the melody.



The Purple rose 
Purple petals 
So soft yet so powerful
Your beauty -captures hearts
with smell of sunshine and dew
Dancing in the wind
It drives one wild
Love but from afar
The purple rose
Your beauty is your doom
Your beauty is your doom
To own you is my dream
To keep your beauty
For my eyes only
Your fragrance 
I breathe in deeply
But to own you
I battle the thorns of pain
The silent scream
The purple petals
So soft 
Will not last forever
You belong to the bush
A child of light and rain
You belong to fleeting butterflies
Your sweetness for the bees
You belong to the sky of blue
And the earthy soil
You will be born anew
In the bosom of the Earth
Let the purple rose go
Let go of her beauty
Let go of her pain
Let her free from the
Silent scream
Let her return to
Where she belongs
Love but from afar
Is to love forever
( A tribute to the rose of pain and  forever love- Yoshiki's X Japan)
In the garden of my past,I used to plant this bush of purplish lilac roses with a heavenly fragrance of honeysuckle.
I could not cut  bear to cut the blooms to put in my vases for their fragility meant they never lasted two days indoors and lose their fragrance immediately
So I'll stand in my garden,bow down and bury my nose in the blossoms to get a whiff of its scent.
Now its beauty blossoms forever only in my heart.