Annabelle and fitting Halloween movie, but not too scary!

As it is Halloween soon, of course I've watched Annabelle. just to get into the mood.
I've never really had any Expectation for the movie. not like Insidious or The Conjuring.
1 while it's pretty real, the weak spot is that there's no surprise factor. It's lost it when it's told in the Conjuring. and the story remains in beginning where it effects the young 2 person family.
so the scope of it is not that wide either.
that's been said. it's far more interesting when u watch the movie full house with skirmish people.
Just like the time when people first watch Jurrassic Park with a full house of Scared kids.
that's much more fun that just watching a not-so-scary movie alone.

2 Different Fall Blockbusters, Dracula Untold and The Judge

I've decided to watch 2 movies at the same time yesterday.
Both New Premieres, Dracula Untold and The Judge.
Both very Different yet both hugely Entertaining.
Dracula is a Summer Blockbuster that's always been schedule for an early Halloween Release. While it's more Effects and Action than Scary. But with most summer Blockbuster closing, there's very little competition for Dracula Untold. because the "Holiday" Season and Awards Lobbying Season are coming.... Dracula Appears to be a pretty welcome to this Fall first Full-on Blockbuster Action Movie. Luke Evans are always a gem to look at in Theater.

The Judge on the other hand is completely non-action-filled. totally Drama.
and what's much better to watch 2 Brilliant Actors Sparring on screen?
I've always been a fan of Robert Duvall. who can beat that?
and Robert Downey Jr. can hold his own. with his usual Charm.
But the most amazing of it all is when I see RDJ Acting as the Prodigal Son, it's hard not to feel the real life turmoil that RDJ have gone through... Drug...Sex.... Jail.... All that. and now successful and return to the Big League acting with a First Grade Actor. It felt really authentic when U feel that Robert Duvall will have known RDJ for years since RDJ youth days and now one Grown to be a Good Man to act in the same movie. it's marvelous.
And looking at the relationship in the movie. I can't stop myself from reflecting on my own life. and my relationship with my dad.
It's a long time coming. all the Demons, the forgiveness, the expectation, the argument, and the unsaid and unspoken. In the end we all have to learn to resolve them and make a closure in our own way.

3 Action, the same but different, Expendables, Tombstone and Equalizer!

I wonder why all of the movies are the same lately....
First there's the Expendable, the Walking among Tombstone and then there's the Equalizer
All Actors into their 50's beating the shit out of poor useless crooks.
I wasn't really into the Expendable because U know all the star power. brings the same thing.
However, A walk Among the Tombstone is a bit interesting.
just a bit more, An Ex Police, helping crooks to get his daughter back.

that's the simple plot.

Then the most interesting part is Equalizer, Seeing Denzel fighting like a pro-killer is quite a gem.
while the plot are pretty simple. Pro-Killer hiding in plain sight, got angry and kill all the crooks that beat his friend. the action keep reminding me of Safe House. only the fight Choreography is better in this one.

Pippin

I am familiar with Pippin.
roughly, I know it's a show that involve a lot of circus act.
but not Quite Cirque du Soliel.
it is after all a Broadway Musical first, so the book more important.

Yet if you think about it. after Spider-man, there isn't many show that really do stunt.
Mind you it is a live show so every single stunt is done over and over again for 8 times a week.

It is a coming of age story of a prince named Pippin. Told in a circus Act.

The set is great, the choreography and the synchronization of all the sets and scene are amazing and tech is difficult.

and I have the privilege to watch the last show of most of the player before they goes on the national tour and of course the first show that Priscilla Lopez as Berthe.

What interesting about such show is that when you watch the show and people react to it.
Pippin is a peculiar and strange show to watch. because the Narration and the Choreography are far away from any conventional Broadway musical. some are surprise, some are expecting it to be some Cirque Du Soleil show. and in the show I watched I got this couple of Chinese who have no idea what they are in for. They dun really understand the world and all the flying and cage simply through them off completely. but they'll survive. just will still be scratching their head for days after that.

If u want something with a little bit of flair and excitement. this is a good surprise for anyone that watches musical.

Kinky Boots

To me, Kinky Boots is always a movie first.
I fell in love with the movie well before I saw it as Musical or on Broadway.
And it is now the first show I watched on Broadway.
 And Chiwetel Ejiofor is my Lola.
But seriously with Cyndi Lauper creating the score. who could be better.
of course it's a Broadway show that goes on to winning both score and best musical and to be fair I am bias when I saw Harvey Fierstein when I was buying my ticket.
well, needless to say, it is a great show.
whatever u want in a musical u got it. Music, Drama, Comedy, great sets and some fiery Drag Queens.

It's a story of a young man inheriting the shoe factory that's dying from his dead father and on the chance meeting a drag queen and decided to change it into a factory that makes boots for Drag Queen, hence Kinky Boots.

Maroon ain't Red. Red means Sexy.

so there u have it the best musical of 2013.

The Good Lie, the little truth about the world and us.

-->

The Good Lie, is a great movie. Made with real Sudanese refugee as the main character. The emotion is real with the story is partially fictionalized.

Talking about a clan of young Sudanese, how they escape the Sudanese conflict and got to refugee camp, the truthful depiction of the reality of such camp, the system and how people will stuck in the system for years before they can get a break. And even when they got a break, the toughest challenges are still ahead when they reach the US. And the story ended with the reality of Who and how to safe a person and the trauma and effects of the whole situation on the refugee and those who’d “survive” the gauntlet which is the camp and transition to a new world.

Whenever I watch movies like The Good Lie, which compares the differences between a third world country and a developed one, I can’t help but reminded of myself coming from a developing country.

In my mind I hear the American and European saying this is 2014 how can this be happening. Then I hear my mind saying, well, Malaysian life is hard enough we could care less about what a third world country is like.

Ignorant can be anywhere, like when people ignore the fact that more than half of the people in the world are earning below 1000 USD a month.

That the over population of country like India and Africa is not a problem when the country itself ignore them.

That the reason Y corporation is dumping money into Developing country like China and South East Asia is that developed country have reach the plateau of growth that simply the growth of such country alone is growing the fortune of their investment. And when most of the money in the world is hold by people with no idea how to control it.

The list will go on and on and on. The age-old 30 years issues of poverty, war, famine, AIDS still exists today. It might have moved to another place or remain a smaller area. But none-the-less the problem is still there. Human Being have not learn a single bit of whatever happen in the past.

If you have forgiven someone before then you know, war creates desperation and anger. And revenge itself will only bring about the vicious cycle of more revenge.

People can be open mind or close minded no matter in which type of country they are from. It’s a choice to be ignorant.

In this world where you can have any information you want at the palm of your hand, it is up to us to judge what is right and wrong for us and to take the knowledge that we can get at our finger tips to build a better world.

The Good Lie, is an equalizer. It bridges the gap a little bit and shows us the truth of our culture and how people really are, rather than stereotype.

 It is great to have seen the movie with one of the star in the audience, Kuoth Wiel, one of the young Sudanese refugee, and a true honor.

ILuminate - the most amazing show in the dark

ILuminate
trust me if you think you've seen it all.
You Ain't Seen nothing yet.
The whole show is done in pure darkness and it's pure genius.

Yup I've seen all the AGT shows.
and trust me, the off Broadway show is still a most impressive show.

Personally I've seen the gang dance without the costume on off days. this is actually my first time seeing them do their thing on stage.

the light effects is just electrifying.
of course there's a whole new choreography.
the storyline have change a bit over the years.
you can't always gives people the same show from 2011 could you?
So here is a show that could light up your day and your night.
and to those who love to dance.... this is a dream comes true.
Seriously you can't be with a better bunch of people.
so if you haven't seen in go watch it. if u have go watch it again.
 

It's Only a Play

It's like having coffee every morning.  Every year, everyone who loves Broadway would go to this one show. Where it'd star one of the best Actor in the business, Nathan Lane. It's a Habit.

So this year, it's a Play called "It's Only a Play"

I can't really tell you what the show is all about but that it is exactly what the title have suggested and you'll get the usually and always loving-it Nathan Lane + Matthew Broderick humor.
the set is in the apartment of a producer, the after party for a play's premiere. Trust me, it's funnier that The Producers and they dun even sing and dance.

It is not a new play, as it has been done several times before, just that this time the Broadway Revival have given it a try with some of the biggest name.

Besides them, this will be Rupert Grint (from Harry Potter) Broadway Debut, along side the ever so funny Megan Mullally, the Brilliant Mess of Stockard Channing and F. Murray Abraham. (I always find myself trying to say "Sir F. Murray Abraham" every time I write his name. He just got that Shakespearean Vibe. Probably from all the Shakespeare he's done.)

Need me say more? this's bout as many awards winning actors/actresses you can cramp in one room.

and the show is introducing one of the brightest Newcomer Micah Stock. Micah is virtually unknown but he held his own in the Play and did fantasticly  (nope this is not a typo, I'm just creating words cos "fantastically" just doesn't make sense to me. yeah, I'm one of those people. Hey it's bout Broadway, I can create what I want. Ever heard Abso-Blomming-lutely in Spring?). Anyway, returning to Micah, you'll find him, both humorous in his comedic timing as well as startle-ly method.

Anyhow, it is Only a Play after all.

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime, is the first Broadway Poster I saw when I reach New York.
I was curious, about a show that's still in tech rehearsal at the time at the then closed-for-rehearsal Ethel Barrymore Theater.
so for 2 months I'd walk pass this giant blue poster of the show every time I go to other shows in the area and wonder what it'd be.
 Of course for most teenager who aren't stuck with Harry Potter for the past decade at some point would have come across this small unassuming book in your bookstore at some point.
And at this point the London Play of the show is pretty well known.
the story is about Christopher, who may or may not have Asperger Syndrome, but he is a genius in Math and at some scale of Autism. One day a Dog die in the neighborhood and he decided to investigate it. and in that he discover a bigger secret and with it brings the drama back to his own home.
the Play is set as such that it's a narration from a story Christopher writes by her teacher and acted out by several player/bystander.
What's amazing about the show is, in order to bring the audience into the mind of Christopher and yet still act out the several complex scene the producer have taken the minimalist Tech Approach to create the scene. you'd see a few of the props all over the stage yet there's no huge set pieces. what you have is 3 gigantic led Screen and projection to the floor that will transform into the world of Christopher Mind. This is how you are pull into this world of how Christopher mind sees the world...
Simple, Focus, often crowded with noise, and ever confuse and changing.
I must say the set design is Brilliant. there's so many moving pieces that it's simple amazing, it's how-many-rabbit-you-can-pull-out-of-the-hat kinda amazing.
This is not your everyday just dialog kinda play, it is like a ballet or dance without all the dancing kinda Play.

So, there is Choreography and you'd be in awe and invigorating to watch the whole act come to live with the moving set.

Here's a link for a snippet of the current Broadway Production, starring Alex Sharp, which in my opinion. one of the most brilliant Actor on Broadway right now.

http://www.broadway.com/videos/155682/video-watch-alex-sharp-solve-the-thrilling-case-of-the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/

You+Me the new and inspiring duo.

In my opinion, P!nk is the Renaissance Artist of our era. from the first R&B Rock Chick album to the latest Country-esque soul healing of You+Me. and even to the high hanging acrobat performances in shows. She is the ultimate example that you can break free of stereotype and reinvent yourself every single time.
This said, here is the new video from the new Duo in town, You+Me featuring P!nk and Dallas Green.

https://www.facebook.com/youplusmeofficial

TSCHAIKOVSKY & BALANCHINE HEAR THE DANCE: RUSSIA Night at David H Koch Theater

Today's mark the real start of the NYC Ballet Company.
Starting with TSCHAIKOVSKY & BALANCHINE
HEAR THE DANCE: RUSSIA

Serenade and Pas De Duex then there's Suite 3

it's the most fun I have ever watched in Ballet.
because when it's executed perfectly, and the male form are strong and graceful, it allows the ballerina to just glide every time there's a life involved.

Tschaikovsky is always majestic, yet brings a little of sadness in the end.
and Ballet is not just a form of dancing. it's an art form in movement that can translate any style of dances into Ballet,
Salsa, Waltz, Samba... u name it. it can be translated into Ballet.

here's a sneak peak of what I've enjoy tonight

NYC Ballet Fall Gala

Let’s start with the present now.

These couple of days is Ballet night.

The NYC Ballet Company just open their fall season yesterday with a fabulous Fall Gala.

The Fall Gala besides opening the season it’s also an Event where the Company work together with some of the great Fashion Designer to design the costume and make the dance an art piece.

There’s Red Carpet in front of the Lincoln Center a couple of hours before the show begin. Then a pre-show cocktail on the 2^nd ring lobby.

Then the show start with a introduction documentary about the costume, Carolina Herrera design the costume for the first piece Morgen.

But with a big piece of Ballet like Morgen, it tends to make people compare with all the principle dancers. Because it’s a couple piece with 3 couples dancing in the same dance.

So there’s a clear significant for the premier principle and non-premier.

But the set and the dance is still magnificent.

After the first piece, the orchestra rest and the gorgeous Carolina Herrera take her bow. The costume is exquisite.

After the intermission, there’s a following of 4 short pieces of Ballet.

 The Bitter World, by Dinah Washington accompanied the piece. With just 2 dancers in gray and skin colored costume. It is beautifully choreograph, because there’s nothing that take away from the dance, not even an orchestra or singer. Therefore, every spin, turn, twist and plié and brisé is view in it’s entirety and in plain sight.

A great start for the 2nd section, then the 2nd dance is Clearing Dawn, a 6 dancers piece with the most elaborate costume effects ever, the dancers are dressed in gray navy suits and skirt. The extremely large coat that covers the shirt at the beginning of the dance is pull up to the ceiling to reveal the costume underneath. Clearing Dawn is a little bit about childishness and bullying and fights and love. The giant Ego shadow of the giant costume we put on the outside and the gray smaller discipline uniform within the conformity to rules.

3^rd piece is Funérailles, it’s about the funeral and the love of our lives would be like. The costume piece is this exquisite embroidered piece for the dying female character and the love dance around her, lamenting her.

And the closing piece would be Balles-Lettres. The most suitable piece to close the event. Of course the costume is all these letters sewn onto Ballet stretching tights.

Since it’s a skintight costume with no frills, the dance simply fly at ease.

The choreography is the largest in Scale with 7 dancers, taking in the whole stage.

Every subtle changes in movement is exaggerated with some beautifully executed Ballet techniques. And pointed out with formation by the dancers.

So after the dances closed, we congratulate everyone and start to stuff our mouth and hungry stomach at the real Gala.

Of course some of the costume that were worn there u’d wonder how are these people going to sit down. So naturally some actually just stand and eat a little and then walk out for cigarettes or just simply chat away and leave half way through like we did to avoid breaking Eric’s Sober Streak.

Enough said. Tonight will be the real start of the season with Tchaikovsky and Balanchine opening night, which we got!!!!

So I’m off now to get ready!