Sunday, October 31, 2004

Movie Gripes

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is being made into a movie! YAHOOOOO!

I heard the first strains of the absolutely brilliant Overture when I was 9 years old going on 10. My mom had bought the Highlights cassette and had just started playing it when I was walking down to throw the rubbish into the big bin. I was so struck by the dramatic melody and orchestration I instantly fell in love with the musical.

Throughout the years I learnt the lyrics by heart, sang along to every part there was and finally, one day I found the complete album with lyrics. I bought a copy, promptly lost it, bought another copy, found the first one and sold it for a measly RM40 (2 discs, you know!).

So a few nights ago when I was at the Apple Trailers [http://www.apple.com/trailers/] website looking for the trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia (another movie which promises big things), I saw the trailer for Phantom of the Opera. Of course I watched it and it looked amazing! The costumes were superb and the trailer used music from the musical and watching the trailer, I think that the movie will be a complete and direct adaptation of the musical.

A tip for you guys out there who haven't watched the musical : Don't watch it in London! The people there have staged the performance so many times that they've just become pretty slack and lazy with their performances. They don't sing well and they don't look inspired anymore. If you do want to watch the show though, watch a touring production. They'll definitely be more spirited and put more effort into their singing and acting. The Christine I watched in August 2004 London acted like a complete soap opera star. She made Christine look like a crybaby (which she's not of course!) and she was so irritating with all her sobs and whining. However, the show I watched in Singapore in 1996 was amazing. So take my advice and spend your money on The Lion King in London which is just incredible. Truly.

*all the above is just my opinion, I don't want to be sued for defamation or anything! Phantom is still my favourite!

Where's the party?!

Looks like no one's going to party tonight... at least no one from GDD6A! This last week and next week is going to be so busy for us. As for me, I just don't want to start on Henry's work. I haven't done any research on the No Smoking poster and I'm so so so so so lazy to do it. SIGH. Looks like there'll be no trick or treating pour moi ce soir.

Dubbed Movies

Are you one of those people who love movies dubbed into English (or your mother tongue) from foreign languages? If you are, then it's YOU I have to blame for dubbed movies!
I simply can't stand movies that are dubbed from their original language because :

1) the voice actors suck
2) the actors' mouths can never be in sync with the words
3) the show completely loses its character eg. Fong Sai Yuk in English totally doesn't give the comedic feeling that the original Siu Fong Fong and Jet Li's voiceover (he rarely speaks in his movies) give it
4) the translated words/sentences never have the exact same meaning and feeling as the original language
5) for people learning a foreign language, they'd wanna watch movies in that language and not dubbed versions. It's usually not easy to find original versions if there are dubbed ones available, AND
6) subtitles are not that difficult to read after all.

If a movie has appeal and is in a foreign language, why not just make an English version of it? Like what they did with Taxi, originally a French movie (and an amazing one too) and now out as an English movie starring Queen Latifah. By the way, I really have to recommend the French Taxi to you guys. It's so funny and Samy Naceri as the taxi driver is SO COOL.

Another gripe about dubbed movies is when they make Cantonese movies into Mandarin. It's so totally off-putting. I know you can switch the languages using DVD functions nowadays, but what about those...um...'unauthorised' DVDs that don't have those functions? HEHE. You know what I'm talking about.

Here's a nice cosy picture for you to relax.

This is a string of lights I bought in Paris near the Centre Georges Pompidou. I have no idea why I bought these lights, and they were so difficult to pack in my luggage. Now that I think back, I should've bought the furry ones...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

ishkabula here again...I jus wanted a favor...was wondering if i could use the lamps on the wall pic? It's so beautiful and unique..sum ppl that saw this pic actually thought it was aliens eyes popping from the wall...n sum obsene stuff...but nvm abt that lah..bubbyeee!