Thursday, April 26, 2007
Weekend Happenings
Whee...the past weekend was filled with much activities and I have not had the time to blog about them till now, before the next wave of work engulfs me.
Okies, watched Japanese movie 涙そうそう (Nada Sou Sou):
http://www.nada-so.jp/
http://www.moviexclusive.com/review/nadasousou/nadasousou.htm
Enjoyed it a lot. The leads, Tsumabuki Satomashi and Nagasawa Masami, were two gorgeous peoples with the hearts to match. The storyline is simply touching, although I do think that the "glistening tears" part, as the title suggested, was not very well explored. The undercurrent of strong, deep love between the two somehow falls rather flat also and was only saved by the bittersweet touch at the end of the movie, when Nagasawa received something that showed her why her step-brother had been working so hard for. I prefer Nobuhiro Doi's previous movie, "Be With You". But overall, a good movie for the Japanese movie lover who cannot resist that touch of Korean tear-jerker.
I also watched the Phantom of the Opera with Sarah and her sister. This musical certainly needs no introduction, being world-famous. However the musical was a bit of a disappointment for us, because the leads did not perform up to standard. I thought that "Christine" did not possess the vocal range nor vocalize the songs well. She hits the high notes with too much of an "opera-ey" flourish. "Raoul" neither acted his part well nor sang well.
I enjoyed the supporting cast's performances better. The performance of "Carlotta" deserved applause, giving it just the right touch of primadonna petulance and comic relief, added with the right dash of grounding that made her such a delight to watch compared to the one acted by Minnie Driver in the movie version. I laughed more than felt the Gothic horror as the cast made the funny parts so enjoyable, giggling at the managers' duet about letters and the performance on the French lord that was being made a cuckold of.
The set and props as well as special effects were awesome! Although I knew the lines by heart, I found the beginning where the dilapidated opera house was being transformed into its past glory so astounding, with lightning etc. And the boat scene to the Phantom's lair with its glorious candles set....wow!
Alex and Chingling's wedding on Sat was an enjoyable affair, with many of the people from the Honours class turning up. Some of the friends I know from St. Nicks were also there, so it was some kind of double reunion of sorts for me. Loved the spirit of fun that is so characteristic of the couple running throughout the dinner, with that cheesy Chinese oldie playing to their costume change. And YH's cool performance that got the attention of everyone in the audience, which even my cousin praised!
I found out that some people like Weiling actually read my blog! I was actually slightly shocked to hear him say that I am quite Japanese-influenced, because that is what my colleagues are insisting about me! Haha...well, although I do not write blog for audience purposes, it is still nice to hear that some people still consider me a part of their lives enough to want to find out how I am doing. The melancholic part of me was thinking how much I have grown since my days as a swinging undergrad in NUS, of all those days of laughter with this bunch of people in the Honours Room, canteens and other meorable places in NUS. Yet I will not trade anything for the maturity that leaving school has taught me thus far. Still hmm...we must all work on the keeping in contact bit! (Wink wink, Weijin, Shizhi etc ...hohoho).
Came back to work on Sun...not something new for Singaporeans I suppose. But boy, it did leave me really zonked for this whole week.
I have decided to do something. Well, I don't know what is God's plan for me about it, and it used to be something I railed against. But well, I came to this decision after Godly consultation and prayer and it does seem like God is trying to teach me something again. A bit apprehensive, but hmm... we'll see.
Just a wave for those who happen to be reading this *wave!!!* I love you guys! (so inspired was I by the conversation during the wedding dinner)
Okies, watched Japanese movie 涙そうそう (Nada Sou Sou):
http://www.nada-so.jp/
http://www.moviexclusive.com/review/nadasousou/nadasousou.htm
Enjoyed it a lot. The leads, Tsumabuki Satomashi and Nagasawa Masami, were two gorgeous peoples with the hearts to match. The storyline is simply touching, although I do think that the "glistening tears" part, as the title suggested, was not very well explored. The undercurrent of strong, deep love between the two somehow falls rather flat also and was only saved by the bittersweet touch at the end of the movie, when Nagasawa received something that showed her why her step-brother had been working so hard for. I prefer Nobuhiro Doi's previous movie, "Be With You". But overall, a good movie for the Japanese movie lover who cannot resist that touch of Korean tear-jerker.
I also watched the Phantom of the Opera with Sarah and her sister. This musical certainly needs no introduction, being world-famous. However the musical was a bit of a disappointment for us, because the leads did not perform up to standard. I thought that "Christine" did not possess the vocal range nor vocalize the songs well. She hits the high notes with too much of an "opera-ey" flourish. "Raoul" neither acted his part well nor sang well.
I enjoyed the supporting cast's performances better. The performance of "Carlotta" deserved applause, giving it just the right touch of primadonna petulance and comic relief, added with the right dash of grounding that made her such a delight to watch compared to the one acted by Minnie Driver in the movie version. I laughed more than felt the Gothic horror as the cast made the funny parts so enjoyable, giggling at the managers' duet about letters and the performance on the French lord that was being made a cuckold of.
The set and props as well as special effects were awesome! Although I knew the lines by heart, I found the beginning where the dilapidated opera house was being transformed into its past glory so astounding, with lightning etc. And the boat scene to the Phantom's lair with its glorious candles set....wow!
Alex and Chingling's wedding on Sat was an enjoyable affair, with many of the people from the Honours class turning up. Some of the friends I know from St. Nicks were also there, so it was some kind of double reunion of sorts for me. Loved the spirit of fun that is so characteristic of the couple running throughout the dinner, with that cheesy Chinese oldie playing to their costume change. And YH's cool performance that got the attention of everyone in the audience, which even my cousin praised!
I found out that some people like Weiling actually read my blog! I was actually slightly shocked to hear him say that I am quite Japanese-influenced, because that is what my colleagues are insisting about me! Haha...well, although I do not write blog for audience purposes, it is still nice to hear that some people still consider me a part of their lives enough to want to find out how I am doing. The melancholic part of me was thinking how much I have grown since my days as a swinging undergrad in NUS, of all those days of laughter with this bunch of people in the Honours Room, canteens and other meorable places in NUS. Yet I will not trade anything for the maturity that leaving school has taught me thus far. Still hmm...we must all work on the keeping in contact bit! (Wink wink, Weijin, Shizhi etc ...hohoho).
Came back to work on Sun...not something new for Singaporeans I suppose. But boy, it did leave me really zonked for this whole week.
I have decided to do something. Well, I don't know what is God's plan for me about it, and it used to be something I railed against. But well, I came to this decision after Godly consultation and prayer and it does seem like God is trying to teach me something again. A bit apprehensive, but hmm... we'll see.
Just a wave for those who happen to be reading this *wave!!!* I love you guys! (so inspired was I by the conversation during the wedding dinner)
Labels: Review, Saya Affairs
// posted by Jenn @ 12:22 PM 
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