Drama Marathon

Eternal Summer 盛夏光年

One of the few critically-acclaimed films that I feel is not 浪得虚名 (Maisie didn't like it though).

I like the whole mood of the film and how the emotional elements of youth were being portrayed. Even though it's gay-themed, it's not so much about gays as it is about friendship and the ambiguity between friend-love and romantic love.

The acting of the 2 male leads were great, especially Bryant Chang, who acted as Jonathan, the studious guy. I remember there was one scene in which he was gazing at Shane (Joseph Chang, with athletic good looks) with such intense emotions that I commented to Xiaoming "受不了!", not because I find it disgusting, but because I felt it was really so emotionally-charged, one of the best that I've seen on the big screen.

Pure emotions. How Jonathan loved the closeness to Shane when he pillioned on his bike. In another similar scene but their positions swopped, when Shane rested his head on Jonathan's back, it may not be love but just pure friendly comfort. But we don't really know. There is no definitive conclusion.

There's a scene which was very similar to the infamous Brokeback scene. I preferred this 点到为止 approach to the more animalistic scene in Brokeback Mountain. (Maisie saw it as bad editing though.)

This film tells of the crazy things that youths do and the emotional confusions that youths experience, and how a simple friendship can turn into a complicated relationship. There is no conclusion at the end. But there was no need for one. This is one story-telling that only requires you to enjoy the wave of emotions. And I did. =)

Maisie asked me which guy I preferred. Well, Joseph Chang's definitely the more handsome one with the better physique, but Bryant Chang has that look on his face that makes me wanna hug him and stroke his hair. Ha!

MEMORY - Human Remains

A theatre production by COLLECTIVE mayhem, starring Lim Kay Siu, Li Xie and Andy Lim. It is a piece questioning how much you can trust your memories. There is no straightforward story-telling. Instead, it shows fragments of what the characters remember about the past, and re-enactments of the scene, each one with different details and outcomes. It also explores how a person is trapped in memories of the past and cannot move on with life.

Throughout the show, we don't have a clear idea who the characters are, how they are related, if they are related, or if the narrator is telling a story about his past. We go through the show wondering about all that and relating our own experiences to certain aspects of the performance. It is an interesting way of presenting the concept of how we are affected by our memories, and an interesting experience.

The show ended with a series of word montage, which has a mention of shopping at Yaohan, which made the audience laugh, as it had indeed evoked memories of our younger days.

The final words: "I remember being in my mother's womb".

Now, do you believe that?

Spiderman 3

Spiderman 1 was great. Spiderman 2 was still good, though not as great. But Spiderman 3 was just so-so only. The CG was great though, especially for Sandman. Less emotionally-charged and thought-provoking than the two shows mentioned above, but blockbusters are the sort that you don't have to feel so much and think so much; you just go in and enjoy the ride.