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North by Northwest (US Version)
Martin Landau (Actor)
| Cary Grant (Actor)
| Leo G. Carroll (Actor)
| Eva Marie Saint (Actor)
When "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, The Birds) teamed-up with suave Cary Grant for the last time for North By North-West in 1959, he created nothing less than a timeless masterpiece. Hitchcock and Grant had earlier already successfully collaborated in To Catch A Thief that also starred Grace Kelly, and Notorious, in which Grant appeared next to Ingrid Bergmann. The espionage thriller that's sprinkled with Hitchcockian humor revolves around the abduction of Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Thornhill is mistaken to be a guy called Kaplan who was created by the FBI, but doesn't exist to lead the opposite... [read more]
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Qing Chun (China Version)
Wang Fan Rui
Wang Fanrui is an unknown name outside of China. Within China, he is still largely unknown, but his impressive debut album, Qing Chun ("Youth"), has found its admirers, me for one. A poetic fusion of folk rock and British-influenced electronica, Qing Chun is one of the best albums to come out of China in the past year. I first came across Wang Fanrui's Qing Chun in a dusty music shop in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. And by came across, I mean it was one of many albums enthusiastically shoved into my hands by the shopkeeper. Despite having to stand through her sales pitches for everything from Jolin Tsai to Il Divo, I do have to thank her for introducing me to Wang Fanrui. Released by TR Records,... [read more]
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Urusei Yatsura - Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (Collector's Edition) (DVD) (US Version)
Oshii Mamoru (Director)
| Akio Wakana
| Katsu Hoshi
Oshii Mamoru and Urusei Yatsura? It is now almost hard to imagine that Ghost in the Shell director Oshii, the master of cyber punk and artful alienation, first made his name with Urusei Yatsura, a hectic off-color anime series about a lecherous high school student and his turquoise-haired, leopard-bikini-clad alien girlfriend. When Oshii embarked on Beautiful Dreamer, it was his second go at a feature-length Urusei Yatsura film, and he did things a bit differently this time around. While the first film was a competent, fairly faithful adaptation of the manga, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer was an entirely different and beautiful beast. Manga writer Takahashi Rumiko and die-hard Urusei... [read more]
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Hins First Cantonese Album (CD+DVD)
Hins Cheung (Singer)
Although Hins Cheung has never released a Cantonese album before, he has indeed published quite a few Cantonese songs, and the Cantonese version of "My Way" even topped various pop charts in Hong Kong in 2002. It was "My Way" that caught my attention to his voice, which, despite his young age, possessed a subtle melancholy which normally belongs to a person who have experienced many vicissitudes of life. In the past he usually composed his own songs, mostly jazz and R&B that best suited his unique style of singing. However, in his first Cantonese album he has written only the title track (Track 4), whose Chinese title is taken from Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. The... [read more]
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12A (Special Edition) (CD+DVD)
Endy Chow (Singer)
| Zarahn (Singer)
In Hong Kong's pop-idol-oriented, karaoke-driven market, rock is not an easy road to take. In the last 20 odd years, other than the legendary Beyond, few bands have even left an impression on the mainstream audience. For any band to get a release on a major label, in this case Warner, is rare. Zarahn's young, energetic, and slightly messy rock numbers aren't exactly earthshattering, but 12A is certainly an earnest, commendable foray into commercial rock. Like most bands, Zarahn consists of a bunch of dopey guys, and in this case, one of them happens to be Endy Chow. Since his debut three years ago, Endy Chow has not exactly hit it big, but he has made a name for himself as a rockish... [read more]
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b420 (Before Twenty.... Before Too Old) (Hong Kong Version)
Sam Lee (Actor)
| Miki Yeung (Actor)
| Hung Ben (Actor)
| Tang Mathew (Director)
A Well-made Coming-of-age Independent FilmMatthew Tang's b420 perhaps deserved more attention than it did when it was released in 2005. I did not expect a Hong Kong independent film to be that restrained from going too avant-garde or too pretentious. And yet, while Matthew Tang had been working in the industry as scriptwriter for commercial films for a long time, he did not turn in another formulaic coming-of-age film as his directorial debut either. Koey (Miki Yeung) and Simon (Ben Hung), unlike the simplistic teenage characters in many Hong Kong youth films, has their own sophisticated theory about life and love, which is far from perfect yet they firmly believe in. The same applies to Willy (Sam Lee), a thirty-year-old guy who... [read more]
November 17, 2006 Picked By Siu Heng See all this editor's picks
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Be With You (Sunflower Cover) (Hong Kong Version)
Takeuchi Yuko (Actor)
| YOU (Actor)
| Nakamura Shido (Actor)
| Takei Akashi (Actor)
I recommend Be With You not because Yuko Takeuchi looks more gorgeous in this movie than in her other films (although I think she really does), nor because I am interested in the news about her marriage with Shidou Nakamura and their subsequent divorce in 2006. The story of Be With You looks like just another romantic melodrama, in which love conquers all things, but the film proves to be more absorbing than many other titles in the genre. Widower Takumi (Shidou Nakamura) lives with his six-year-old son Yuji (Akashi Takei). One day during the rainy season, Takumi and Yuji comes across a woman who looks exactly the deceased mother Mio (Yuko Takeuchi) but has no idea over who she is... The... [read more]
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Crying Nut Vol. 5 - The Cow of OK Pasture
Crying Nut
The original Chosun punkers have long lost their indie edge, but their rocking irreverence is as welcome as ever. After a long hiatus (courtesy of the South Korean army), the band regrouped last year and released their fifth album, The Cow of OK Pasture, earlier this year. There must be something about that military service because three and a half years after their slightly disappointing fourth album, Crying Nut is back in top form for The Cow of OK Pasture. The album is everything you can expect from Crying Nut: loud, infectious rock tunes, rowdy lyrics, and manic energy. Their riotous grassroots folk punk - complete with accordion! - has grown a lot more polished and inventive with this... [read more]
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Roman Holiday
Gregory Peck
| Audrey Hepburn
This movie stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in perhaps one of the most romantic movies ever shot Roman Holiday. It was Audrey's debut Hollywood movie and also the only performance that won her an Oscar. What's also worth noting is that the film was directed by William Wyler whose Ben Hur was the unrivalled movie as far as awarded Oscars are concerned until James Cameron's Titanic set sail. As for Roman Holiday even though it did not become an Oscar giant, it's still a memorable movie with top notch performances by Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert, and of course Audrey Hepburn who hardly ever fails to capture the hearts of any movie connoisseur. In this movie she portrays a princess who is... [read more]
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GOLDEN BLACK (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
Guitar Wolf
There's noise. There's music. And then there's Guitar Wolf. One of the few Japanese bands to have attracted a cult following both locally and overseas, three-man band Guitar Wolf sure can make noise. A lot of noise. Their style of rocking, self-termed "Jett Rock 'n' Roll" after music icon Joan Jett, is an amalgam of garage, punk, rockabilly, Ramones, hard rock, and noise. A lot of noise. Think punishing distorted guitars and feedback, fierce drumming, howling vocals, nonsensical "lock 'n' loll" lyrics (when you can hear them), and raw sounds (of the recorded in a kitchen sink variety) - all delivered with intense angry cheer. Piercing eardrums since 1987, Guitar Wolf consists of Guitarwolf... [read more]
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Terra 2001 (Japan Version)
the brilliant green
"You chose red and I chose blue, did what we had to..." Every time I hear the brilliant green's Maybe We Could Go Back To Then, I feel a slight ache in my heart, a flash of times past, people and places left behind. All the reluctant separations that accompany life expressed in a simple thought. There is something about the brilliant green that lingers. The music is mellow, merry, and easy to listen to, but a familiar melancholy underlines all their songs. The lyrics are adorably simple, yet disarmingly deep with a quirkiness that is uniquely identifiable as buri guri (the brilliant green's nickname). Many of their songs are in English, and buri guri is definitely one of the few Asian bands... [read more]
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Little Universe
Sodagreen (Singer)
Taiwanese band Sodagreen casts a little light of happiness on my daily commute with their second full-length album, Little Universe. Following up last year's equally excellent debut album, Sodagreen continues to make music that is light, airy, and utterly enjoyable. One of Taiwan's more high-profile indie bands, Sodagreen has attracted a degree of attention in the last few years, and this album is another good reason why. Unlike Chthonic, Tizzy Bac, Won Fu, or other more specialized bands that cycle in and out of mainstream favor in Taiwan, Sodagreen's niche is with their music and not with their genre. With six members and at least that many instruments to account for, Sodagreen still... [read more]
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H.O.T vol. 5 - Outside Castle
H.O.T
Has it been five years already? In 2001, H.O.T. broke up at the height of its fame over a contract spat, breaking the hearts of countless teenaged girls in Korea and putting to end an impressive reign in K-pop. Muffled in all the hoopla though was that H.O.T.'s disbanding was a true loss for the Korean music scene. Formed as the most pre-fab of groups in 1996 by idol-making machine SM Entertainment, H.O.T. was so poptacular, it is easy to overlook their musical contributions. However, in the group's five-year span, H.O.T. made music that exceeded the boundaries of mere pop. Seo Tai Ji and Boys will always be the most iconic, but, for better or worse, it is really H.O.T. that set the formula... [read more]
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Cherry Filter Vol. 4 - Peace N' Rock N' Roll
Cherry Filter
Cherry Filter is perhaps the epitome of pop rock done right. They are raw enough to pass as alternative, radio-friendly enough to please the young 'uns. The music is tight, loud, expressive, familiar yet fresh - and it is all belted out by an attractive female vocalist with an interesting voice. Lead singer Youjeen dances between strong balladic vocals and what amounts to even stronger melodic screaming. She seems to sing straight from the throat most of the time, bringing a low roughness to her voice that gives the band's rock numbers an edgy finish. Basically, she sounds like she is slowly destroying her larynx for the sake of music (and really, shouldn't we all?). With The Third Eye... [read more]
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