TVB - Dicey Business

(all pictures courtesy of TVB)


I'm currently watching this 35ep TVB series called Dicey Business. Yeah, I know, it does have a pretty goofy title but it's kind of normal for a TVB series to have an English title that's not terribly elegant. Casino Wars was the working title for this series but although that does sound better, it's not that accurate though but enough of that.

I won't really go into the synopsis of this series as they are pretty easy to find on the internet and if you follow the link I provided above by clicking on the title of this series, you'll find the synopsis in English.

Here are my impressions of this series for my TVB watching friends. Currently I'm at ep18, I think. Well, I'm definitely on Disc 6 if you're watching the dvds.

This series isn't a bad rental if you like the main stars. The stars are Bobby Ouyang, Miu Kiu Wai, Jessica Hsuen, Bosco Wong, Tavia Yeung Yee, Hui Siu Hung (Benz Hui) and a number of some of TVB's better veterans. While not a bad rental, this series doesn't look like it'll be a classic by any means. While the story might make use of the gambling industry as a backdrop, most of the story is pretty much standard TVB relationship fare. The main three characters played by Bobby Ouyang, Miu Kiu Wai and Jessica Hsuen aren't exactly that interesting and their relationship isn't that interesting too. Miu Kiu Wai probably has the most intriguing of the three but the script doesn't really go too much into it.

Luckily enough, the script does more or less keep moving along and doesn't go around in circles so it doesn't feel draggy. Also, the performances are in general good to acceptable and so the series is rather easy to follow because there isn't anything that will really annoy one. The one exception is Jessica Hsuen whom I felt didn't have a good grasp of her character. And yes, I know her fans, whom I'm actually quite scared of as I have seen them rip into folks who don't think her performance is fantastic, will kill me. But I've never been one to shy away from saying what I think when it comes to TVB.


The problem with Jessica Hsuen's performance is that it simply isn't good enough. She's not bad and she's competent but she has so much screen time and so she really needs to be very good. Unfortunately, because she's unable to express the inner feelings of her character, she often comes across either a little over or a little flat but never perfect. It's really not one of her better performances and her best performance for me were still in Secret of the Heart and And I Hate You So. The look that she gave Aaron Kwok's character in And I Hate You So in the last scene that we see her character is the look I think she doesn't seem able to conjure up consistently enough.


Bobby Ouyang is good in this series. And even though his character isn't as intriguing as Miu Kiu Wai's, his acting more than makes up for it. He's really known more for his comic acting but really what many viewers always overlook is how strong he is in the dramatic department. Just watch Bobby Ouyang's eyes when he looks at Jessica Hsuen's character when she is sad, his eyes aren't just sad, his eyes are tender.


Miu Kiu Wai isn't as good as Bobby Ouyang in the acting department but he does cut a very dashing figure in his suit. And this character is very suitable for him, it is really a character he's played many times and so Miu Kiu Wai comes across very watchable and even quite sympathetic.

Hui Siu Hung is really funny as the sidekick in this series. His character is a little effeminate and fussy. If you've seen him in Running Out of Time, you'll know just how well he's playing this character. While he may not be laugh-out-loud funny here, he's used very effectively.


My actors I like the best in this series are, surprisingly, Bosco Wong and Tavia Yeung Yee. They seem to genuinely understand the characters they are playing and they act with they eyes and their body. Although, Bosco Wong's character does the kind of quick recovery from a man with severe psychological problems to a successful man that can only happen in a TVB series, he is able to pull it off partly because of the script does allow him enough time to do it and partly because his body language is rather good in this series.


But my absolute favourite in this series is Tavia Yeung Yee and her bimbo character. She's hilarious and very convincing as the ditsy, materialistic, silly and often deluded gal. If played poorly, her character could have been rather annoying but Yeung Yee makes her very likable. She's very natural and her body language is very good. What is even more impressive about this performance is that it is as convincing as her performance in Land of Wealth, Twin of Brothers and Eternal Happiness and she plays very, very different characters in all these series. A pity her screen time isn't too high and if you're a Yeung Yee fan, you'll be quite disappointed with that.

If you're looking for a TVB series to pass the time with, Dicey Business really isn't a bad rental. While it isn't a classic, it is definitely above average because the pacing is good and the acting is in general also good. Anyway, there really isn't any recently fully released series out right now that is more worthy of a rental than this series. Glittering Days does come close but it has moments that really don't work for me.

Right, that's it from me. I think I'll try and continue with Guizhou after this entry. Good night. =)

AMEND:-
I've just finished this series and I feel compelled to amend this post to add in a brief comment on how I felt about the series as a whole. Unfortunately, Dicey Business takes a turn for the worse after the halfway mark and sacrifices proper plot progression, pacing and character developement to force the events in the series to take some sensational turns. So I feel compelled to return to this entry and temper my intial mostly positive assessement of this series to average.

At the end of the series, I must say the only character I still find endearing is Tavia Yeung Yee's Chu Mei. And Jessica Hsuen still remains unimpressive except for the scene when she sits on the stairs and cries late in the series, she played that scene quite well and that's in my opinion her best scene in this series. And before I forget, I need to give Eileen Yeow a thumbs up in this series. She played her gambling addicted character quite gleefully well but yet was able to give her a vulnerability underneath that made her quite sympathetic by the time you get to the end of the series.

The ending for this series is typical TVB crap. While not as moronic as Square Pegs and, I'm not opposed to open ended endings, this one simply wasn't suspenseful enough or poetic enough to work. Not sure if I'll recommend this series now. It's still okay to pass the time I guess and if you're fans of any of the stars than watch the series and if you like Yeung Yee, then it really might be worth braving this series to see her even though she doesn't get a lot of screentime.

One Last Dance （茶舞） - Review

(images courtesy of movieXclusive)

I finally did watch One Last Dance today and I must say that I was pleasantly surprise that the film was more than just decent. You might wonder why I would say something like that but if you know the history of films make by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures you'll know why. This is without a doubt the best film, or at least the best that I can remember, that has been produced by Raintree.

The film is slickly made and has artistic pretensions which mostly work. Although, on occasion, sadly, these pretensions have a tendency to feel a little too deliberate. Stylistically, I think the film looks pretty darn good. It follows film noir tradition and a huge portion of the film takes place at night or in-doors in low light. The film is also deliberately treated and has a gritty, grainy look and sometimes a rather interesting choice in hues. I wonder who did the post work on this film because doesn't look bad to me at all.

Like the film's poster suggests, the plot is like a jigsaw puzzle. And it begins with a series of scenes that seem inter-connected yet don't quite made sense and you quickly figure out that it isn't linear. And so you'll spend the rest of the film trying to make sense of it.

And it works because the director Max Makowski fills the middle with a whole section where things are told linearly and so this whole non-linear way of storytelling doesn't get obnoxious. He also uses the envelope motif quite well and it keeps the audience guessing. It also works because there are several rather amusing exchanges between some of the characters, most notably the exchange between T (Francis Ng) and a young girl named Gu (played by Salina Chung, I think).

But the most important reason why the middle section keeps the viewer interested is a fantastic performance from Francis Ng. He practically carried this entire film on this slim shoulders. His smoldering and intense glare is mesmerizing and yet when needed, he is able to smoothly and subtly introduce the variety of emotions that only a great actor is capable of.

The ending, when all is revealed is also smoothly done. It is both well paced and, clearly and stylistically told and is quite satisfying indeed. If you've not seen the movie, please do not make the mistake I did. Stay till the end of the credit roll because there is apparently a gem of a scene a the end and at this point in time, I have no idea what it is about. I might just have to see this film again and if I don't have the time or opportunity, then I'll just have to wait for the DVD release.

Unfortunately, there are several flaws that prevent this film from becoming a great film. Earlier I mentioned the sometimes borderline pretentious and deliberate artistic flourishes in this film. But that didn't trouble me quite as much, what did trouble me was that it sometimes just feels too much like a hybrid of a Quentin Tarantino - Johnnie To film. The quirky, amusing dialogue which have nothing to do with the plot at all and the multitude of strange, quirky characters who only appear for a brief moment bear all the trademarks of a Tarantino film. The overall look of the film, the pacing, the storytelling, the wardrobe and even the score remind me of either a Johnnie To film or a Milkyway Image production and Hong Kong films in general. And perhaps my familiarity with these genres and styles made it difficult for me to feel that they meshed well together at all.

It was also a pity that the main female character Mae was played by Vivian Hsu whom I've never liked as an actress. Yes, she is hampered by a limited character but I don't think she did enough to give this character any kind of depth even when she had the opportunity to. And I do think it is possible to make the audience really connect with this character. After all, if Carina Lau and Ada Choi can do it in films like Infernal Affairs 2 and Once Upon a Time in Triad Society 2, I certainly don't see it as a valid excuse. Hsu was simply the wrong actress to use. In fact, I even dare to suggest the use of one of our local Mediacorp actresses. Yes, I do believe that there is some quality in the local MCS actresses unlike what one review of One Last Dance implied, I don't believe that MCS actresses are necessarily mediocre. I feel that someone like Cynthia Koh, for example, would probably made this character come to life. And why do I go on and on about it? It is simply because, this character, though small and limited, is important because she means a great deal to T and the audience has to feel that she is worth his attention and Hsu just didn't bring any of that across.

I also wasn't 100% in love with Joseph Quek's (Ko) performance. He is actually good if one considers how inexperience he is but unfortunately, he's no Sam Lee or Chapman To. Picky old me just wishes a little bit that he was.

On the whole though, I think this is a pretty good film. It has high production values that are maintained throughout and it does hold one's attention. It has a relatively smart script and it is mostly well directed. While it has its hiccups, they do not detract from the overall quality of the film. Local audiences might find some additional amusement from picking out local celebrities like Chen Tianwen, Zzen, Zhou Chongqing and Hossan Leung or even Paerin Choa who might be familiar to those who have seen the short clip "Dao Gay" Not Enough. Local audiences might also find how Singapore was shot in the film interesting as they kept it so nondescript most of the time, you wouldn't know it was Singapore at all except for a few recognisable landmarks like the bridge who's name I can't recall and road signs that say Tiong Poh Road.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! Agents Are Go!

(courtesy wikipedia)

This week has been really busy at work and on occasion it was pretty horrendous too but one thing I had going for me are the agents from Beat Elite Agents!!!!! They made me grin from ear to ear even when I was being a totally grouchy about have to work the many hours that I had to. When Commander Kahn yells "Agents Are Go!!!!" I know that the Beat Elite Agents are here to save me. =D

Last week I discovered that I'm not the only Nintendo DS owner at the office, SY owns one too. I had been interested in this game Beat Elite Agents but wasn't sure if I would like a rhythm game. So when I found out that SY owned the game, I was like... lend me... lend me.... lend me please.... please... please. =D Well, I didn't really have to bug her lah, she lent it to me anyway and I lent her my still-in-progress Final Fantasy III in return.

This is one goofy game and it's probably not a very cool game to be seen in playing in public but boy is it FUN FUN FUN. There is probably no point going into the details of the game as there are many other webpages that do it better. Click here to read all about the game.

The game is really very simple. You just have to tap to the rhythm and try and tap the number hit makers as the circle closes in on it.

(courtesy wikipedia)

The graphics are pretty much comic booky but they are rather well done, bright, colourful and very cheery. There are several songs you can play to and each one is rated at a different level of difficulty. And while there isn't much of an overall story arc, there is one common theme. It always begins with a rather silly story that's told in an overly dramatic and in a humorous fashion. And at the end of the story, there is always someone who needs help and that's when Commander Kahn will go "Agents are Go!" and our agents will appear and help save the day.

(courtesy www.gamehope.com, www.perfect-gamers.com)

My favourite part of each song is when the 3 agents and the person or persons they are trying to save raise their arms and sway to the music. It works especially well with the YMCA song. It always makes me laugh. I think it's also because when SY first showed me how to play the game, she played the game with YMCA. Since then sometimes during the day we'll raise our arms and sing YMCA and sway to the beat in the corridor or even in the office.

I couldn't find any nice pictures of my swaying agents so here are some taken by me. They're horrible I know but you get the picture. =)


Okay, that's it from me today. Late and am sleepy. At first I thought I would talk a bit about Dicey Business, this new TVB series I'm currently watching but I think I'll leave that for tomorrow or a later date depending. Also, I hope to get back to my Guizhou photos sometime next week.

For now, it's good night. =)

Everton - Reading 1-1

(courtesy premierleague.com)
Everton's Gary Naysmith tackles Reading forward Shane Long.

Sylvester Stallone's walk-on appearance on the pitch before kick-off at Goodison Park was perhaps the only thing home fans had to cheer about in the first 45 minutes after a rather poor first-half performance from Everton. The Toffees were given a morale booster with the return of forward Tim Cahill after a two month injury absence and while the home side began brightly, they never really looked menacing.

After some rather boring football from both teams, things took a turn for the worse for the Blues when Reading was awarded a freekick near the half-hour mark after James McFadden's foul on Kevin Doyle. Everton chose unwisely to pack the six-yard box with tons of players, giving Reading the opportunity to place their own players in the aread too. Once the ball came flying in, it seemed almost inevitable that it would somehow make it into the back of the net. Reading's Stephen Hunt rose to meet Nicky Shorey's ball which was saved by Tim Howard only for it to hit teammate Joleon Lescott's feet and deflect in to make it 1-nil for Reading.

It was pretty much Reading all the way for the rest of the half as Everton seemed only capable of defending. Even after Reading's top scorer Doyle was stretched off for what seemed to be a hamstring injury, Everton just seemed unable to capitalize.

Everton manager David Moyes made a positive move by trading McFadden for Victor Anichebe and his youthful eagerness coupled with what was certainly a stern dressing down by Moyes in the dressing room saw Everton play more decisively and with more urgency in the second half. Still, even though they dominated possession, they created precious few opportunities and as the match entered the last twenty minutes they were still unable to find the equalizer. In a surprise move and in a show of his determination not to let Everton continue its losing streak, Moyes chose to take a gamble by taking Andy van der Meyde off in the 72nd minute and replacing the midfielder with a fourth forward, James Beattie. This move must have at least surprised some fans who have been critical of Moyes saying that he is often too conservative or too pragmatic.

Everton kept pressing forward and they finally managed to get their equalizer in the 82nd minute. Joseph Yobo's long pass was flicked on by Cahill for Andy Johnson who headed it into the net and Everton manage to salvage a point.

Although I jumped around and cheered when the equalizer went in, I really wanted a win. And although I know the team tried hard, they were really unable to create many chances at all and in the end, it seems to be the same story again and again. Everton always seem to work hard but they just seem to be lacking especially in the middle of the field. And with Mikel Arteta out on suspension, the flaws in the mid-field just seemed to be more obvious than usual. =(


(courtesy premierleague.com)
Everton's Lee Carsley and Reading's Leroy Lita battle all night at Goodison.


(courtesy Everton FC.com)
Andy Johnson's expression sums up Everton's first half.


(courtesy Everton FC.com)
Everton's Tim Cahill's return from injury after two months helped the Toffees earn a draw after a string of losses.


(courtesy BBC.com)
Even Sylvester Stallone's presence was unable to help Everton deliver the knockout punch at Goodison Park.


(courtesy BBC.com)
Everton's unfortunate Joleon Lescott was unable to get out of the ball's path and inadvertently puts his side 1 goal behind in the first half.

Guizhou - entry 13

So, as promised :) , we're back at Guizhou and we're near the end of our second day in China. After our physically tiring hike at the Malinghe Gorge, the guides arranged for us to go to a fruit market in the city of Anshun. I think they knew that there are only two real obsessions in a Singaporean's life, eating and shopping and it's been almost two days in Guizhou and WHAT!!! no shopping???? Sacrilegious. =D

Well, although I did dramatize it somewhat, it's really not that far from the truth. So far at every location that we've been, the guides have asked us to try and not stop and shop as they had a schedule to meet. Also, in their minds what was on offer outside the entrances of these scenic areas were mostly not worth buying and in their opinion they were nothing more than tourist traps. In a way, they were correct and the fruits and vegetables were priced higher than those at the market. But we did regret not picking up some of the cheap handicrafts on display as we did not see them later in the trip and they would have made good gifts, like key-chains from Disneyland, that kind of thing.

Anyway, by the end of the second day, both Xiao Ou and Xiao Yu knew that many in the group were dying for a spot of shopping and even those who didn't care much for shopping wanted to buy fruits to munch on during the trip. So although this wasn't part of the itinerary, they took us to this small fruit market in Anshun. We bought some small oranges which were amazingly sweet and we also picked up a few persimmons, some green looking fruit, roasted chest-nuts, cup noodles and chewing gum. Well, the gum and the cup noodles didn't come from the fruit market, they came from the mini-mart across the street. =)

I really regret not taking pictures of the street and the market but by this time I was really not feeling that great but I won't bore you with all the details. Instead, check out LC's photos.

Fruit stall
Food stalls
A stall selling mutton noodles, one of Anshun's most popular and well known dishes apparently according to Xiao Ou.

After our little excursion to the market, we had dinner before heading to the hotel for a good night's rest. I think the name of the hotel we stayed in is the Yan An Hotel but I'm not sure. Except for the really noisy karaoke a couple of floors down, we did get a rather nice and spacious room. And get this, we even had a automatic mahjong table in the room which made some of the other folks in the group "jealous". :) We did try to get it to work but we only managed to get the dices to spin but had no clue how to get any of the tiles onto the table. But it was probably all for the best since mahjong would have kept us up all night. :)

Anyway, here's a pix of the mahjong table.


And that's it from me for tonight.

Maybe if I get up early enough and manage to squeeze in sometime tomorrow morn before I head off to work, I'll write up an entry on the 1-1 draw between Everton and Reading at Goodison Park. For now, it is over and out. =)

Nintendo Wii - update

(pix courtesy of http://wii-wii.us/)

Oh... this is for those who care. I saw Wii games displayed at a game shop at Jurong Point today. I didn't ask if they were really game boxes or just mockups but I did ask the guy at the shop when they expected the Wii to be in and he said that he was told by the supplier that they would be in by the end of this month. So hopefully, this means that we might see the Wii in Singapore finally.

Cool.. now I just have to get my hands on one and maybe Zelda: Twilight Princess or perhaps Excite Truck. :)

Okay, so this post isn't about Guizhou but the next entry will most likely be. :)

cheers

My Gundam - nicer pictures

After I got back from the karaoke session very early Saturday morn, I was still too awake to sleep so I pulled out my DSLR and took some pictures of the Gundam I made with some help from my sifu and Bernard from the M Workshop.

So I'm finally done preping the pictures and here are nicer pictures as promised.

Front views




Detail shots of the feet.



Detail shots of the gun.



Back shots


Top shots



The separate pieces of this model were painstakingly and carefully cut out, filed and sandpapered before they were put together, putty put in the cracks and then further filed down. The pieces were than primed before a black undercoat was airbrushed on before the two shades of blue were added. The metallic looking bits were dry-brushed with metallic ink.

You can see that I made several mistakes on the model.

1) I was told by my sifu to make sure I airbrushed the black paint on the inside of he model, not just the outside. As you can see, I failed to listen to his advice so instead of getting the illusion of shadow on the inside of the model, I get ugly red which is the actual colour of the body of this model was suppose to have.

2) I didn't airbrush the base colour well enough as some of the red of the plastic under the paint still manages to show up.

3) I didn't sandpaper parts of this model well enough and if you look closer at the pictures legs, you can see fine scratches on the plastic where it should be completely smooth.

4) I didn't putty and sand some of the cracks well enough. The most glaringly obvious one is once again on the legs. If you look at the pictures of the back of the legs and compare the legs, you can tell that there is an obvious crack on the left leg (model left, picture right). I didn't use enough putty.

The rest of the model is more or less okay. I'm quite pleased with this model even though I know it has a few mistakes. I learnt more about art and painting than I've ever learnt and I enjoyed that. I also really enjoyed working with my hands. It was not easy making this model at all and I spent weeks and weeks on it and my shoulder and back would hurt from too much bending over and filing at times but it was all worth it as in the end, this model is definitely the most beautiful one I've ever made to date.

Right, that's it for me. I'll probably make an entry on Guizhou next, hopefully sometime tomorrow.

cheers =)