Sex and the City

Rating : 3 Stars

Cast : Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon

Director : Michael Patrick King

Music : Aaron Zigman

Distributor : New Line Cinemas

Warning : Movie Spoiler

Based on the successful television series of the same title, Sex and the City was a good change from this summer’s continuous release of action packed blockbusters. It’s a story of four best friends living in the Big Apple and their plight for a fairytale ending of their lives. A sensuous and paradoxical romance comedy revolving around their complicated relationships, sex lives and friendship.

Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her Emmy winning role of Carrie Bradshaw, who is now at a crossroad in her life realising that she has to finally make a decision about her relationship with Big (Chris Noth). The movie pretty much starts at the point where the couple is looking for a new apartment in which to live in. They find a beautiful penthouse and agree to move in together. This is where things start to go wrong. They agree to get married but she seems to leave him out of the picture as she darts for the wedding of her life. Feeling like he is simply playing a role of the groom, instead of solidifying the relationship, Big bails out almost unwittingly.

Samantha Jones (Cattrall) is also facing a dilemma of her own. She being used to having only to focus on her own needs realises that she may have to focus on her very supportive and understanding lover. Her flamboyant and almost nymphomaniacal nature drives her hormones and her mind up the walls.

Miranda Hobbes’s career finally drives her husband to a one-night stand. His confession shocks her into divorcing him. In her rage, she accidently says the wrong thing to Big on the eve of his wedding with Carrie.

Charlotte York on the other hand is leading the perfect life of the four and it gets better with the news of her pregnancy. She had already adopted Lily years before and had settle with the fact that she cannot have a child of her own. This puts her into a paranoid state afraid that she might lose the baby.

It took the Carrie awhile to realise that she had been so focused on her desires that she had completely neglected to ask Big for his opinion on the wedding affair. She automatically shut him out for a year without hearing his side. Samantha after a year of depression, shopping and gaining weight decides that she cannot dedicate herself to one man. It also took Miranda a year to see that “it takes two to tango” in a marriage and an affair. She learns to forgive her husband and they try to work things out. Charlotte goes on to deliver her baby.

Michael Patrick King returns in the silver screen release as director, producer and writer. King was the Co-Producer for 11 episodes of the television series in 1998 and Executive Producer of 78 episodes from 1999 thru 2004. He also wrote 30 of the 94 episodes that were released through the 6 seasons. Sex and the City seems to be his only saving grace in Hollywood.

For the most part, it seems like the movie was written entirely for the girls as everything seems to revolve around what the women wanted and that it was only right for them to get it their way. The men were all too stupefied to say anything. In fact I would go to say that the all the men in Sex and the City seem like docile, insecure pushovers. The women are always in control even when they themselves are completely lost. Their immediate solution often seems to be “If I want it, then it is right”. Fortunately the ending saved it a little as life showed them the error of their ways. But as I said earlier, the movie was written for the girls, so there was very little and almost irrelevant male perspective. Also, big names in the fashion industry almost stole the lime light. Constant name dropping and clothes line-up almost makes this a very long ad.

All in all, the movie was simply a 148 minutes long finale episode where everyone gets what they want and clearly made for the fans who want an ending. If this were a movie on its own, I would not even think to recommend it. However, as this is part of a rather successful televison series and more of a finishing, so I think it turned out rather well (male ego and all aside) but only for its sentimental values. It is a rather decent Sunday Matinee if you wanted to watch something nice and pleasant with no story depth for a change. Girls you will love this movie. Guys be prepared to feel stupid.

Box Office

The Dark Knight takes the lead in this week's box office at an opening weekend grossing of $155mil placing it just behind Kung-Fu Panda which had grossed $207mil since it opened on the 6th of June. Hancock trails behind the Panda at $192mil since release on July 2nd.
It's obvious that TDK will surpass these 2 movies by the next weekend.

In 1989, Tim Burton's Batman managed a clean $251mil in the States and $413mil worldwide. However, its opening weekend only grossed $40mil with a production budget of only $35mil. TDK's production budget was at an estimated $150mil. Currently, TDK sits at 156 position on the All Time Box Office ranking for the US. It is also obvious that TDK will outrank Batman before the month is out. The question now is how far is it going to go?

Could TDK reach Titanic's $600mil for US box office? and if so, will it also pass Titanic's worldwide grossing of $1.8bil?

It seems a possibility with TDK attracting all sorts of audience from comicbook fans to movie fans and even those who have no interest in either are raving about Nolan's genius work. The fact that this is Heath Ledger's last completed movie might even be a push factor for box office sales. Already, many have viewed the movie more than once in a 4 days period. TDK seems like it's heading to be the biggest movie event in the last decade, maybe even two. Come what may, TDK has made it good and it can only get better.

Till next week.

'Nuff Said.

Dark Knight

Cast : Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Arron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Director : Christopher Nolan

Music : James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer

Released By : Warner Bros.

The opening scene, now known as the “Bank Job” showcases the Joker’s talent in covering up his tracks and escaping the law. 5 men and a bus driver. Only one walks out. It was genius.

The movie was, in one word, awesome. Batman and Jim Gordon takes organized crime in Gotham and soon find themselves prey to a new criminal mastermind who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces the Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. At every turn, the storyline threw me into another wormhole. The plot constantly thickened. Just as you’d think it was about to end, a new plot is revealed. Moral issues were constantly questioned. Every character questioned themself while the Joker executed his plans with thorough accuracy limited only by his mind’s eye. Gotham was careened into chaos as both the good and bad were being blown to pieces. The citizens of Gotham the chess pieces while Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon, Bruce Wayne and Batman became unwitting players in a complex game weaved by the Joker. This is not what you’d expect from a Hollywood movie and more so for one based on a comic book character. Where most other comic book based movies have been simplified for the mass audience, Dark Knight took a gamble at complexity and depth of a storyline. It was a good gamble. Nolan and Goyer out did themselves in this one.

This is by far the best performance from Heath Ledger. It was brilliantly stunning and shocking at the same time. He portrayed the Joker as insane and conniving as he is in the books and in fact, at times so much more. Constantly calm as he mocked and agitated both the law and the underground. The Joker’s magic trick at the underground’s “therapy session” was brilliant. Ledger created what I perceive to be his trademarks of the character. His body language never expressing his thoughts, only intimidation. He slightly bows his head, a little tilted and stares intently past his brows. His darken eyes creates an intense feeling even as an audience, as if he was the devil staring into your soul. He emphasizes his words with expressive pauses and subtle movements. Ledger did retained one of Jack Nicholson’s Joker trademark; the constant lip licking just as he was about to say something profound. All in all, this was a Heath Ledger’s Joker. Calculated, insane, cruel, haunting and terrifying.

As for the Christopher Bale, he lacked no talent. His performance was as outstanding as it was in Batman Begins and Equilibrium. Unfortunately Ledger stole the limelight from him. As for the characters he portrayed, apart from Bruce’s desire to be with Rachel Dawes, Batman seems more of the focus this time around as Bruce Wayne takes a step back. The Joker’s focus on Batman throughout the movie exemplified the term “you complete me”. As it was in the comic books, both characters made and pushed at each other in their own ways. What was nice this time around was that Nolan and Goyer managed to tell a story about the human side of Batman. His desire to lead a normal life, his personal conflicts, the choices he has to make as the caped crusader, his vulnerabilities and his desire to make Gotham a good place to live in while constantly compelled to make choices as Bruce Wayne.

“And now you have not just a young man in pain attempting to find some kind of an answer, you have somebody who actually has power, who is burdened by that power, and is having to recognize the difference between attaining that power and holding on to it.”

Christian Bale on his role as Batman.

Unfortunately though Two Face did not last long in the movie, but his alter ego, Harvey Dent was a crucial component in the Joker’s plans and Aaron Eckhart did an excellent performance transforming from the District Attorney who wanted to clean up Gotham into the malevolent vengeful Two Face. What was more pleasing is that it was not a sudden flip of the coin. His “Two Face” persona was already evident from the beginning. All the Joker had to do was bring it out.

Oldman was in his usual subtle yet impressive element. He was definitely the right choice to play Jim Gordon. A man who has been trying to clean the streets of Gotham for too long on his own, while trusting the only one person he really knows nothing about, Batman. Unlike Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent who only acknowledged the presence of risks, Gordon had a clear understanding of the risks that came with his choices. He was constantly being the sensible one making tough decisions while standing firmly on his principles. Oldman as in all his past performances, always studied the characters he was to play resulting in pure artistry.

My only disappointment in the entire movie was Maggie Gyllenhaal. Her portrayal of Rachel Dawes was less than mediocre.

This city deserves a better class of criminal
and I'm gonna give it to them.

In short I can only say that at long last, Hollywood is beginning to understand Batman as how writers like Frank Miller and Alan Moore have often portrayed him to be; the complexity of being a billionaire playboy and city guardian at the same time. As I have for years been telling friends, comics are a lot more complicated than most have perceived them to be. Finally there is a movie truly worthy to be associated with comic books. Dark Knight will most definitely sit on my mantle next to the great works of Lucas, Roddenbarry, Harryhausen, Verne, Lewis, Homer and the likes.

P.Ramlee The Musical

The Life, The Loves and the Inspiration.

Back in 1975, the people of the United States of America lost an icon and a man who touched the hearts of many in his path, The King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley. Then in 1974, United Kingdom lost their icon, the radical peace loving John Lennon. In 1988, South America lost their hearts to Selina. In 1973, we lost our legend Ramlee bin Puteh or better known to many simply as P.Ramlee.

Yesterday I walked into the Istana Budaya (Cultural Palace) to watch the greatly hyped and apparently very sold out P.Ramlee The Musical. Women dressed in their best evening wears, strutting across the foyer with the panache of jackals on a full moon’s night, constantly sussing out the competition and prey. This is called “Being Seen”. Their companions were dressed in casual suits and Batik so they won’t look like they had been dragged from the dumpster to attend a musical, but not too formal that they could steal the limelight of their better half. This is called “Smart Casual”. The ever obvious and noticeable homosexual community strutted in with their torn, ripped and aged designer denims, an ugly mismatch of t-shirts with glittered images of an Andy Warhol rip-off, and the elegance of Marylyn Monroe gone awry. So, I walked into the building in my black pants, a brown striped shirt and a red tie, certain that I was both gravely underdressed and overdressed at the same time.

So I tucked my left arm under my right elbow, fork in my right hand pointing up with a piece of chicken at the end of it, weight on one leg, hips pushed forward, throwing out my best Australian-Brit-States slang, loosened my tie and wore it like a sash and mingled just in case Malaysian Tattler or The Star newspapers got hold of a picture of me.

At 8:30 sharp I stepped into the amphitheatre and took my seat up in the bleachers where the view was not perfect but not bad and away from most of the showpieces from the foyer. On the screen and in true west-end musical styled design was the title of the play, P.Ramlee The Musical. 2 feet above that a small train-station like electronic notice board reminded you where you were - P.Ramlee The Musical; just in case we forgot what we got our tickets for. The lights went out and the announcer proclaims the presence of the Sultan of Perak in supreme and mundanely elegant palace formality. Half an hour went past.

Finally she says, “Presenting P.Ramlee The Musical”. Hands clapped. Cheers from the crowd. Silence. Half an hour went past.

Then a character jumps from the side of the stage, spotlight on him, as he announces in an extremely expressive manner that we are about to watch a musical entitled “P.Ramlee The Musical” so as to kindly turn off our mobile phones and not distract others with your calls from the Prime Minister. Half an hour went past.

Finally at around 8:45 the curtains roll up for the introduction scene. I shall not delve too much detail as I think one ought to catch this tribute to a legend before our time. I enjoyed listening to songs I grew up with watching P.Ramlee movies on my black and white television set and then some really nice compositions added in by Dick Lee for the performance. The musical opened to P.Ramlee’s childhood in Penang, how he got discovered, moved to Singapore and made a name for himself. It was comical, it was serious and mostly well done. The set was excellent as it captured the ambience of each location the story moved to – Penang streets as it were almost 70 years ago packaged with “cendol” and “rojak” peddlers; The 50’s feel of upper class entertainment in the New World Hotel on Act 2; the film sets and P.Ramlee’s home. The train in scene 4 got the crowd clapping. It felt like a full sized steam engine with smoke machines adding to its effect. The lightings were well played adding crucial effect to each and every scene. The love scenes were as classical and as touching as they were in movies of the time. My favourite was in Scene 7, Act 2 when P.Ramlee and Saloma had their playful courtship. That was such an iconic scene. You never miss that in P.Ramlee’s movies.

I applaud the children actors as their performance in Scene 1 was nothing short of brilliance. They were vibrant and fully immersed in their roles. Another thing I liked was the way the play started and ended with in a setting of 1973 with the older P.Ramlee and Saloma reminiscing. That was a nice touch. Last but not least, I must say that the orchestra did an excellent performance deserving of the standing ovation they received in the end. I was truly delighted with the musical as a whole, leaving the hall with contentment that my night had not gone to waste.

There were however some things I was disappointed with. Firstly, Shawn Ghazi unfortunately did not or could not bring out the lead character. His performance is at best mediocre, lacking the essence of the “Man”. He obviously took very little effort in researching this icon and this is one character you cannot get away with “I wanted to portray him in an artistic manner”, in which case art was no where on Shawn’s continent. A friend of mine described his portrayal of P.Ramlee’s flamboyant and unrestrained sex appeal – “His has the sex-appeal of a tree trunk”. The other disappointing thing about Shawn Ghazi was that he constantly disappeared into the background. I mean literally disappears. He could be standing in front and you still don’t see him. The supporting role of Sukardi played by Chedd Eddie Yusoff was more distinguishable. I swear I was playing a Malaysian version of “Where’s Wally?”.

This leads me to my second qualm, costumes. I was a little upset that the reporters were overdressed for that time period but contented myself with that being an artistic approach. However one cannot forgive a wardrobe underplay for the lead character. The ensemble’s costumes were a far cry better than the lead’s. The “3 Perempuan” and “3 Gadis” girls stood out so much they seem to almost steal the limelight from the lead actors every time they appeared. For crying out loud, he is why you had this play written; make him standout as he did in life. Norizan played by Melissa Saila had such a brilliant and vibrant costume selection that it outshone Liza Hanim’s Saloma.

The script and the storyline was good, but not great. I felt that that musical was too much on P.Ramlee’s success. It would have been more touching to see his painful rise and get a feel of the human side in P.Ramlee and that is exactly why I liked the opening and closing scene so much. It portrayed P.Ramlee the man and not just the iconic star of Malaysia’s film industry. And why did the chaos in Singapore have to take a whole 15 minutes of the musical?

Finally I have to ask, what happened to Saloma’s iconic beehive hairstyle?

All in all the play is not to be missed. It is a good production. I put my hands together for Tiara Jacquelina the Executive Producer for having come up with this enjoyable musical. You are certain to walk out of the amphitheatre thinking “I’m glad I did miss this one”. I heard that tickets were sold out. So for those of you who haven’t a ticket in your hand, I hope for you that they will bring it around a second time. I myself wouldn’t mind a second sitting.

To the production team, would it be possible to have the musical end with Legenda from Sheila Majid? Just a thought.