The Storm Warriors 風雲II – A pale imitation of 300
The Storm Warriors 風雲II, the Pang Brothers’s sequel to 1998’s The Storm Riders, opened in theatres on 10 December in Hong Kong. The sequel is adapted from the second major story arc of the comic and follows the Lord Godless’s attempt to crown himself emperor of China. Practicing a school of martial arts that makes him invulnerable, Lord Godless defeats the land’s number one swordsman Nameless. The task of saving the land is left to Wind and Cloud, but they need to learn new techniques to have any chance at defeating Lord Godless. Cloud successfully learns a new sword technique under the guidance of Nameless but Wind decides to pursue a more dangerous path – to delve into the dark powers to raise his skills that leads to a tragic end.
As usual with movies adapted from martial arts comics and novels, the plot is way too convoluted to make any normal sense when condensed into a feature length film and The Storm Warrior suffers the same fate. I am not sure a moviegoer who isn’t a reader of the comic would understand the plot.
The acting is pretty much non existent as well …. but anyway with the exception of Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, the rest don’t have that much to do anyway. Kwok and Cheng are ok and arguably look better now in the roles than they did a decade ago. The script is god- awful and everyone spews trite dialogue. Even the usually reliable Lam Suet appears flat in this movie. The final scene / battle between Wind and Cloud felt interminably long.
The 1998 film broke new technical grounds in terms of its use of computer effects a decade ago, and this sequel intends to be equally groundbreaking. The key word here is “intends”. Anyone who has seen Zack Synder’s 300 will immediately recognize the similarities in the opening scenes in terms of production design, color schemes and use of digital effects. The overall impact wasn’t one of awe, but rather disappointment. Technically, the film looks decent enough, but not jaw dropping because we have seen these effects before. My complaint is that the scenes feel “stolen” from 300. An example would be the scene where Lord Godless is heading to the royal tombs. He sits on a throne with wheels and uses slaves to drag it along the path. The scene reminded me of Xerxes entrance in 300.
Overall, not recommended for mainstream viewers. Only fans of the comic will be interested and I think most will be disappointed.
Seminal sci fi cover art by Chris Foss … now can be found online
I started reading science fiction back in the 1980s and the first author that I really loved was Isaac Asimov. I remember going through his Foundation and robot novels with great joy. And I loved the cover art work as well; with both UK and US editions available in Hong Kong, I made a conscious effort to acquire the novels featuring his artwork (which were the UK editions).
Recently when I was browsing the web, I came across some of these fantastic book covers by Chris Foss. And boy, did they bring back fond memories. Even now, I find Chris Foss’s artwork impressive although I suppose space opera style fiction is not in vogue.
Apparently apart from creating covers for science fiction novels, Foss also did some sketches for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s (of El Topo fame) abandoned interpretation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. And to my surprise, the illustrations in The Joy Of Sex were also penciled by Foss.
For more info on Chris Foss at Wikiepedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Foss
Official Chris Foss website containing his artwork : http://www.chrisfossart.com/
Ann Hui’s Night And Fog A Disappointment
Star Trek (2009) – I was really looking forward to the Star Trek reboot given the raving reviews stateside and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. J.J. Abrams imbues this 2009 version with great energy less all the cheesy dialogue that made the previous movies quite cringe-inducing at times. Without any A-list stars in the leading roles works in the film’s favor and in fact the relatively unknown cast delivers solid performance – we can see how they grow into the characters. The movie never really slows down as crisis after crisis hits the crew of the Enterprise and I must say the space fleet battles are the best yet in any of the Star Trek series. My pick for the best blockbuster for the summer so far! Highly recommended.
Terminator Salvation – many film buffs probably squirmed at the idea that McG was going to direct this 4th installment of the Terminator franchise but the casting of Christian Bale in the leading role as John Connor gave some hope. Terminator Salvation isn’t as hopelessly boring as Terminator 3, but fails to generate the excitement of T2 or the original. We’ve seen robots bashing each other around in the Transformers two summers ago, there aren’t any new jaw dropping special effects … and the plot fails to deliver any surprises either. The film remains a passable popcorn movie but won’t be crowned top dog among this summer’s blockbusters.
Duplicity – Hollywood has run out of ideas (and new stars) for successful romantic comedies so they created a new genre – the romantic thriller. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star as ex-CIA and ex MI6 operatives who have fallen in love, and given up their secret service jobs in order to make a quick buck in the world of corporate espionage. Alternating between romance and thriller, Duplicity should provide enough serpentine plot twists and romantic interludes to keep both guys and chicks happy. Recommended.
Night And Fog 天水圍的夜與霧 – I found Night And Fog a disappointment as part 2 of acclaimed Hong Kong director Ann Hui’s probe into life in the working class Tin Shui Wai 天水圍. Her earlier film followed the mundane life of a blue collar mother working to support her son – that movie never succumbed to melodrama and delivered a slice of life about making a living in one of Hong Kong more troubled neighborhoods with honesty and a lot of heart.
Night And Fog, however, although based on a real life tragedy, quickly falls into genre movie territory with Hui adding an overt layer of social commentary on top of the proceedings. The film focuses on an unemployed construction worker played by Simon Yam – his distrust of his significantly younger Szechuan wife ultimately leads to the tragic slaughtering of his wife and two children. Although Yam has really blossomed into a subtle actor in many of Johnnie To’s movies, here he is reverting back to the “madman pervert” role he played so often in exploitation movies back in the 1990s.
Hidden Charms : Willie Dixon’s aptly titled final CD
Willie Dixon’s 1988 Hidden Charms was one of the first non-compilation blues CDs I bought and I have a great fondness for the album. Although a prominent bassist and producer at Chess Records, Dixon is more remembered as the composer of many blues classics like I Can’t Quit You Baby, Little Red Rooster, Hoochie Coochie Man, I Just Want To Make Love To You and many more tunes covered by late 1960s bands from Led Zeppelin to the Rolling Stones (check out Wikipedia’s article on Willie Dixon).
Generally not considered an essential or great blues album by diehard blues fans, the music on Hidden Charms is nonetheless very listenable and won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Recording in 1988. The songs on the album aren’t of the more popular blues rock variety but all the tracks offer a groovy sound. Featuring an all star band of Chess session musicians Dixon had worked with from the 1950s and 1960s mixed with some newer talents like Sugar Blue (on harp), the performances on the songs are understated but very tasteful. In particular, one can hear great rapport between guitarist Cash McCall, pianist Lafeyette Leake and Sugar Blue on I Cry For You (the highlight of the CD for me) and I Do The Job. Jazz bassist Red Callender provides classy bass lines that provides tracks like Don’t Mess With The Messer and I Don’t Trust Myself with an old school swinging big band sound.
It is also worth mentioning that the sound quality on the Hidden Charms CD is excellent. Highly recommended.
Microsoft Tag offers seamless 2D barcode service
I have been fiddling around with 2D barcodes for a little over a year and recently came across Microsoft’s offering known as Microsoft Tag (Beta).
Microsoft Tag is a high capacity color barcode that uses triangles instead of the more common squares used in other 2D barcodes including QR codes. Not unlike other 2D barcode solutions, the tag is essentially a web link; the reader decodes the Microsoft Tag, sends the URL to a resolution server that returns a URL containing the content, which triggers the mobile phone’s browser to load the page. Microsoft Tag seems to be proprietary technology.
Common issues facing 2D barcode solutions provider are :
- size of the code itself
- decode accuracy and speed
- speed of resolution server in returning content URL
- system compatibility of client software on a wide range of mobile handset models
I started by downloading the client reader onto my iPhone and had no problems. I then proceeded to creating a code for testing, which again was problem-free (see issues about this below). I launched the app on my iPhone and the reader automatically detected and decoded the 2D barcode without having to perform the normal i) frame, ii) take snapshot of code, iii) decode, and iv) resolve process. This is not unlike i-Nigma’s client reader on the Symbian S60 platform. The decoding and resolution were both speedy. The reader was not fussy about framing, lighting or size of code within the reader’s window. I was impressed with the overall performance.
Generating the code from Microsoft’s website was simple and quick but the output options are limited and odd I would think. The website offers exporting the code as either pdf, wmf, or xps format with sizes ranging from 0.75 to 120 inches. I would have preferred saving the code as either jpg or png – this is much simpler and more direct for majority of users.
My preliminary experience with Microsoft Tag was promising. Microsoft’s website offers users to the ability to create tags quite easily, and provides graphic reports on how many times the code (i.e. Microsoft Tag) has been clicked on / decoded.
According to Microsoft’s website, the client reader supports a wide range of devices including iPhone, Symbian S60 3rd edition platforms, phones supporting J2ME, Windows Mobile 5 and 6 as well as a few Blackberry handsets. I suspect the user experience on J2ME phones will be different.
Currently, Microsoft Tag’s reader can only decode and process Microsoft Tags. If Microsoft expands its website service and reader to include creating and decoding for other public domain codes like QR and Data Matrix, it could become the de facto service for 2D barcodes.
Zack Synder’s Watchmen lives up to expectations
The eagerly awaited Watchmen finally hit the screens in Hong Kong on 12 March in 2 versions – an edited cut for normal screening and a category III cut for IMAX at MegaBox. I actually did not realize that 2 different cuts were being shown as the publicity material never highlighted this and ended up seeing the shorter version at Pacific Place on Saturday morning.
Watchmen is adapted from a graphic novel largely considered to be seminal and one of the best graphic novels ever written. Created by the highly regarded UK writer Alan Moore, the graphic novel is bleak, plot-driven, and plays down standard action based heroics. Moore became disillusioned with Hollywood adaptations of his works after the disappointments of the atrocious League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V For Vendetta and disowned this project. Zack Synder’s film, however, remains close the spirit of the graphic novel and is the best cinematic version of Moore’s work to date.
Set in 1985, the film starts with imminent nuclear war between the US and USSR. Watchmen features an alternate history where Nixon won the Vietnam War with the help of superheroes and even changed the legislation to allow for his running for the presidency after his second term. After winning the Vietnam War, masked heroes are forced to retire. With the doomsday clock countdown looming in the background, former masked heroes are being assassinated and a plot to change the course of human history takes place.
As can be expected from a blockbuster movie these days, the special effects are excellent and the largely un-famous cast all seem perfectly cast for their respective roles. The use of these lesser known actors works well and we focus on the characters’ development – a crucial aspect of all of Moore’s works. An A-list star might have easily ruined the project. There really aren’t too many action set-pieces but the fist fights are brutal and violent. The soundtrack works less well in my opinion: the use for overly familiar music comes across like clichés. A few of the songs are heavily associated with other iconic films – their use here seem like afterthoughts and diminishes the impact in my eyes. I can understand the use of 80s pop music in the film, but blasting Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along The Watchtower, a classic 60s rocker in the climatic scene, felt out of place.
I mentioned earlier that I saw an edited version of the film – the one I saw had approximately 4 minutes shaved off. It was extremely evident that the major scene that was cut was the steamy sex scene between the Night Owl and the Silk Spectre. The full frontal shots of Dr Manhattan were not cut and while his genitals were clearly visible I would say they weren’t prominently displayed. Still, I was extremely annoyed by the fact that I did not see the full cut for the movie. What’s worse is that the cuts were done haphazardly, and it was impossible to NOT notice the jumps visually and in the soundtrack. Shame of the Hong Kong distributors!
Overall, I would say that Synder’s Watchmen is an excellent addition to the recent crop of comic book adaptations. I personally prefer his previous movie, the rowdy adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300. Many people consider Watchmen un-filmable and the project did go through alot of legal wrangling; the finished product, fortunately, is a respectable film, which while not be as polished and mainstream as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, deserves to be seen.
Recommended!
Watchmen trailer song from Batman and Robin!
For those interested – the song featured on the Watchmen trailer is actually an alternate version of The Smashing Pumpkin’s The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning. The original version of the song features a faster tempo, rocks harder, and was used in Joel Schumacher’s film Batman and Robin. The alternate cut of the song slows down the tempo to create a much moodier and depressive atmosphere.
Both versions of the song can be found on the soundtrack of Batman and Robin, but NOT on the Watchmen soundtrack CD.
Boy Child : excellent introduction to Scott Walker
After years of deliberation, I finally bought Boy Child, the compilation CD of Scott Walker’s late 60s music. Even on the first spin of the disc, I immediately came to love the music – I can even say this is the most interesting AND listenable CD I have bought in a very long time.
Scott Walker has a great reputation as a singer-songwriter musicians’ listen to and cite as influences. Often this means the music is not very accessible. But Scott Walker’s early albums covered in Boy Child is an odd mixture of 60s pop that sounds like pop yet is more. Walker’s baritone vocals remind me on Tom Jones, and so does the orchestration of strings that create the unique atmosphere of much of his music. Yet, the music is not quite as timid or chart friendly as this makes it seem.
As this is my first Scott Walker CD, it seems I will definitely be acquiring more of his catalogue – probably Scott 4, Tilt and The Drift.
Verdict : highly recommended!
TwitterFon best Twitter app on iPhone?
Ever since I started using Twitter, I have wondered what the best Twitter app on iPhone is. Turns out Gizmodo covered this in a great article in late Jan 2009. The article reviews both free and paid apps for iPhone. It seems I am already using the best free Twitter app already as I am using TwitterFon . . .
Click on the link below for the full story.
iPhone Twitter App Battlemodo: Best and Worst Twitter Apps for iPhone.
Lifehacker Gina Trapani’s ideal setup
I’m always immensely curious what hardware and software other people use on a daily basis. Today I happened upon an interview on Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani covering her gear and ideal set-up at Waferbaby.
Interesting! Gina Trapani on waferbaby.
Twitter . . . to tweet or not to tweet
Lately I have begun using Twitter.
Micro-blogging, and Twitter in particular, is already immensely popular in the west, but still in its infant stage in Hong Kong. Personally, I find it requires quite a bit of work to get started – it demands more active participation than say Facebook.
I was also alerted that the basic web interface of Twitter’s own page does not begin to reveal the ways it can be used to share information. As a result, I have installed Twitterfox as an add-on in Firefox, TweetDeck as an app on the desktop, and TwitterFon onto my iPhone.
I have to say I am still experimenting with Twitter and my experience is still rather mixed. As times, the blurbs that I upload seem totally random and meaningless to anyone but me; I don’t see the reason why anyone would want to read my tweets at all!
Gmail even better than before with multiple inboxes
Lately, Gmail has been rolling out quite a few exceptional new features – of these, I find the improved contact management and multiple inbox particularly useful.
Gmail’s contact management used to be pretty basic and of the new enhancements, the merging of contacts should prove to be a welcome addition. Now I can easily clean up my contact list – and then eventually sync them to my iPhone.
Gmail’s multiple inbox is simply a godsend. I used to have to search again and again for archived emails and attachments despite having a decent labeling system. Now, with multiple inboxes, I can see my inbox together with key projects I am currently working on all on one screen! Absolutely brilliant. Multiple inbox can be enabled in the Gmail labs tab, and further customized within the regular settings tab.
Swamp rock perfected on CCR’s Bayou Country
For the longest time, the only Creedence Clearwater Revival album I had was their greatest hits album Chronicle, Vol. 1 – this excellent disc contained their hit singles and the songs are mostly tight and staples of classic rock radio.
I was aware of John Fogerty’s reputation as an outstanding guitarist, but there are only glimpses of his fretwork on Chronicle, Vol. 1. So a few weeks ago, I went out and bought the band’s first 2 albums.
CCR’s self-titled debut album finds the band still performing cover songs – the band already sounds tight but lacks the confidence that emerges on their second album, Bayou Country. CCR finds it definite sound on Bayou Country and the mixture of hit singles with more adventurous extended jams makes it one very enjoyable album. On these 2 albums, Fogerty’s guitar work is looser and more creative than on the later albums, where he focuses on creating more simple but catchy songs at the expense of musical experimentation.
I heartily recommend Bayou Country as an top notch late 60’s classic rock album!
Axl Rose releases Chinese Democracy in Dec 08
Chinese Democracy was never going to live up to the all the media hype – but one can hear Axl Rose trying hard to do something different, branch out and incorporate newer elements into this album. So the irony is that most of the tracks sound very much like the bombastic epics on the Use Your Illusion albums. I’m not convinced the fret-shredding guitar work compliment the songs, and to be honest, on the ballads, Buckethead even sounds like Slash (I’m referring to the guitar tone).
Oddly, while I really would not call this album superior to any of Guns N Roses’ previous releases, I find myself listening to it quite often. I wouldn’t call Chinese Democracy great, but it isn’t bad either. While nowhere near the greatness of Appetite for Destruction, it nevertheless presents itself as a solid rock album.
A solid but not exceptional hard rock album Probably too many ballads. Still, recommended for fans of Axl Rose.
Korean thriller The Chaser lives up to the hype
Korean blockbuster The Chaser hit the screens in Hong Kong recently but seems to have failed to garner interest on the level of Park Chan-wook’s Old Boy. A big winner at the 45th Daejong Awards, The Chaser took home the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor awards earlier this year. It also made a decent impact when screened at Cannes this year, and a Hollywood remake is already in progress.
The Chaser’s premise is quite straight-forward : a call girl is missing and her pimp is out looking for her. The pimp used to be a cop and he finds and catches the psychotic man who has killed a couple of his girls. This happens pretty much in the first third of the film; the remaining time is spent trying to find where the criminal has locked up the call girl as she may still be alive. On one hand, our protagonist pimp is trying to save the call girl, and on the other hand, the policemen struggle to find enough solid evidence to put the serial killer behind bars for good.
The Chaser’s so-called originality is in its focus on finding the victim and not on catching the killer and explaining his psychology (though there are one or two brief scenes about this). The film is director Na Hong-jin’s debut and it lacks the strong visual pizzazz. of his compatriot Park Chan-wook’s works. The only scene that stuck in my mind was the brutal fate of the call girl.
Reception of the film in the west has been mixed so far. Some critics don’t see what the fuss is all about while others praise the film as a refreshing take of a tired genre. Personally, I found the 120+ minute film enjoyable and it is a solid film if stylistically unsophisticated (which I think works in its favour).
Recommended for fans of serial killers and Korean blockbusters.
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