TVB Anniversary Awards 2021’s nomination list is out and my movie review for ‘Anita’.

It’s almost end of November. One more month left before we say goodbye to 2021! It is yet another full year of Covid-19. That’s unfortunate. More on the recap of this past one year will be detailed out soon in one of my posts near end of December as usual. And by the way, my 30th birthday is just around the corner; it will falls on this coming Saturday! Steady…steady…

Okay..let’s get back to the two main topics of this post. TVB had recently released its nomination list for their annual TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. As usual, everyone is nominated as long as you are involved in anything in this whole year. TVB should really cut down the nominees to like top 5 or top 10 rather than nominating everyone. There are also several new categories introduced this year (they are breaking down hosting award to male and female categories, etc). The awards presentation will be held on 2nd January 2022.

My choice for best drama would be ‘AI Romantic’ but I think TVB will give this to ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. My choice for best lead actor would be Shaun Tam from ‘Take Two’ (Vincent Wong did very good in ‘Murder Diary’ but that series is a flop). No particular choice for ‘Most Popular TV Male Character’. Maybe Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ but his chance of winning is very slim. My choice for best lead actress would be Linda Chung from ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ (Kara is excellent in ‘Murder Diary’ but as mentioned earlier, the drama is bad). Ali Lee will most likely take home ‘Most Popular TV Female Character’ instead since she had won best actress before while Linda has not win any. ‘Murder Diary’ is a very complicated but boring drama (not up to majority’s taste and with very low TV rating) but we can’t ignore that the series showcased excellent performances by the two leads, Kara and Vincent. However, they both won before and so their chances are close to zero of winning again this soon.

The late Anita Mui was one of the most beloved Hong Kong artistes who tragically died from cervical cancer at the age of 40 in December 2003. Famously known as ‘daughter of Hong Kong’ and Cantopop diva, she excelled in both her singing and acting careers. Although she is in the era earlier than my generation but I do like some of her iconic songs and movies (especially her comedy films). There is a new biopic film titled ‘Anita’ that tells her story from being a kid performer to her death in 2003. I watched the film yesterday. It is quite a moving film (especially near the end) with excellent performance by Louise Wong who portrayed the late Anita Mui. The film also boasts great cinematography and production design.

The only downside of the film are the draggy plot involving her futile love life and the exaggeration of her loneliness, sadness and perhaps depression from small causes (that may seems to be not the actual case) in this film. Anyway it is still a very beautiful and touching film that brought us back to the golden years of Hong Kong from 70s to 90s. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Anita’ a total of 8.1. I do really admire Anita Mui’s unmatched dedication especially from her decision to hold her farewell concert just 45 days before her passing. She is truly a legend and it is very understandable why she is so beloved even until today, 18 years after her death.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

End of the year is near and it means the hype for this year’s TVB King and Queen is up again!

TVB, Hong Kong’s largest television station had successfully held its 54th anniversary gala on last Friday with the attendance of over 200 artistes from both the acting and singing fields. Popular veteran actor Eric Tsang may have hosted the annual gala show many number of times in the past but this year’s gala is the first under him as the newly appointed general manager of the station in charge of content operations.

Famous actors and actresses in attendance include past TV kings (Vincent Wong, Kenneth Ma, Moses Chan, Ruco Chan), past TV queens (Natalie Tong, Sisley Choi, Ali Lee), Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Benjamin Yuen, Shaun Tam, Elaine Yiu, Owen Cheung, etc. Famous singers present at the gala include Hacken Lee, Gin Lee, Joyce Cheng, Hana Kuk, Jinny Ng, etc. Carol Cheng, Nat Chan, Liza Wang hosted the gala along with many other young artists.

Recently, I have completed watching another two TVB series, ‘Take Two’ and ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. These two are part of the four anniversary series this year. Out of the two, I find that the former is better with more interesting and engaging plot although the twist at the ending is short-sighted.

‘Take Two’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a engineer who is transported back to months before (yes…time travel!) the collapse of a residential building and his death to find out the culprits behind all these. The series starred Shaun Tam, Gloria Tang, Brian Chu, Cheung Wing Hong, Angel Chiang, Moon Lau, Gilbert Lam, etc. This drama has quite an interesting storyline only to be disappointed by the plot twist at the end which I have highlighted earlier. Shaun has improved in his acting and even Gloria did quite well taking on her first ever lead role here. Gilbert Lam nailed the villain role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Take Two’ 7.9. Second highest rated TVB series this year so far.

The same cannot be said for ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. This medical drama which has quite a strong cast (Kenneth Ma, Kevin Cheng, Linda Chung, Him Law, etc) couldn’t excel in my opinion although I have read from reviews that many actually quite like this series. I’m in the opposite. There are quite a lot of sad or touching cases involving sick children in the hospital of this drama but I just couldn’t feel or get immersed into their stories that only scratch at the surface level. They just couldn’t pull me in unlike past similar drama like ‘The Hippocratic Crush’. Full of realistic surgeries’ scenes but lack emotional drama or intensity. The cast performed fairly well but that’s not enough. I’m starting to get tired of seeing Kenneth Ma portraying a doctor again. People are touched by Linda’s crying scene in this drama but I don’t find it exceptional as I have seen the same from her in the past However, that is actually good enough to win best actress in TVB standard nowadays. Same goes to Kevin who did not bring anything new to the screen after not acting for quite some years. Just an average medical themed drama that will be easily forgotten. Out of 10 points, I rate this series 6.6.

So..whose names are brought up so far in contention for best lead actor and actress for this year’s TVB Anniversary Awards? While it is still quite early and the nomination list is not out yet, I am starting to predict that the best actor race will be between Owen Cheung (from the upcoming ‘The Ringmaster’), Shaun Tam (Take Two), Wayne Lai (The Ringmaster), Kenneth Ma (Plan B) and Vincent Wong (Murder Diary). Vincent gave the most impressive performance but he had won it twice already and ‘Murder Diary’ series performed badly in rating (so nope). I am thinking Shaun Tam may take it.

Best actress race will be between Ali Lee (AI Romantic), Kara Hui (Murder Diary), Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters), Priscilla Wong (Battle of the Seven Sisters) and Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter). Kara Hui gave the best performance out of the five but the series is not for everyone and failed in rating as mentioned earlier (so nope). The trophy most likely goes to Linda Chung but my own preference is actually Ali Lee but she had won before. Where is ‘Barrack O’ Karma 2′? I thought this series will be released end of this year (anticipating it for very long already!). If so, it will give a good fight for the awards.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

KAWS Exhibition at The Float @ Marina Bay

Images of a giant inflatable doll on display at The Float @ Marina Bay have been popularly featured across social media and even on various news platforms recently. Well, this is not the creepy giant female doll from Squid Game. It is Kaws’ Companion, a greyscale doll with eyes in the shape of crosses. It is the most distinctive character designed by an American artist and designer, Brian Donnell (known professionally as Kaws).

The ‘Kaws: Holiday’ Exhibition which has toured Japan, Seoul, Doha, Taipei, UK and Hong Kong previously, now made its stop at Singapore. For its exhibition in Singapore, a giant 42 metres long inflatable sculpture arrives at The Float @ Marina Bay, featuring a reclining Kaws’ Companion character cradling a miniature version of itself.

The one-week long exhibition which is opened with free admission will end tomorrow. Not wanted to miss the chance to take some nice shots with the giant doll, I went to visit the display today with my friend. As predicted, there is a massive crowd of people gathered around the area to take pictures with the doll and a long line of people queueing to enter to the floating stage to get closer view and shots.

Fortunately, we don’t need to wait very long for our turn. I honestly took a lot of photos with various angles and poses. Haha…Here are some of the shots I had:

This Kaws exhibition is believed to be the last event to be held at The Float before being demolished to make way for NS Square, a much larger complex of the same function but with more facilities.

‘No Time To Die’ is a fitting conclusion to Daniel Craig’s James Bond.

‘No Time To Die’ is the 25th film in the popular James Bond film series. It stars Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the iconic fictional British MI6 agent, James Bond. His first film in the series was ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006. His journey as the titular character continues with ‘Quantum of Solace’ in 2008, ‘Skyfall’ in 2012, ‘Spectre’ in 2015 and finally ‘No Time To Die’ in 2021. 15 years in the role, Daniel Craig is indeed the James Bond of our generation.

In ‘No Time To Die’, Bond, who has left active service with MI6, is recruited by the CIA to find a kidnapped scientist, which leads to a showdown with a powerful adversary. Besides Daniel, the film starred Rami Malek, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Christopher Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, etc.

Although Daniel Craig looks tired and aged, but he did nailed the role once again with brilliant performance from his actions to emotional scenes. It’s very much satisfying to see him again for the final time as Bond in this film that delivered in almost all aspects. The action sequences are amazing although the final clash with the main villain (Rami Malek) is a bit of a letdown. Besides that, the cinematography is excellent!

The only downside to the film would be its excessively long runtime. The film is over 2 hour and 40 minutes long. It took me more than four days to finish the whole movie mostly during my lunch break for the past week. Nevertheless, ‘No Time To Die’ is a solid film that offers a beautiful and fitting conclusion to Daniel Craig’s James Bond. Out of 10 points, I rate it 8.0.

The movie has been performing fairly well in the worldwide box office too. As of today, it has grossed around $670 million dollars and is the 5th highest grossing film of the year. Top 2 highest grossing films of the year so far goes to China’s films, ‘The Battle of Lake Changjin’ and ‘Hi, Mom’ (have watched this one too) that has grossed $881 million and $848 million respectively. Hollywood no longer dominates the box office figures since last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected operation of cinemas worldwide. China’s blockbuster films are still making big bucks due to its reliance only on its domestic market which is big enough and that the country has reopened their cinemas way earlier than the rest of the world. ‘Fast and Furious 9’ sits at 3rd place and is Hollywood’s biggest film of the year so far with over $721 million dollars grossing.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Happy Deepavali! Watched Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ today.

First of all, I would like to wish Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends and to everyone else who are celebrating this festival too! May the beauty and festivity of Diwali, the ‘Festival of Light’ fill your home with happiness and joy! Didn’t have the chance to pay a visit to Little India today to bask in the festivity but heard from news that the street is super crowded this week.

I ended up at Vivo City shopping mall today instead for a lovely Thai meal (suddenly had a craving for tom yam today), quick window shopping and most importantly, watched the new Marvel film ‘Eternals’ in the cinema. Today almost felt like a Saturday to me. It has been nearly 3 months since we last had a public holiday here in Singapore (last one was the National Day holiday on 9th August). A very much needed holiday although it would be better if it falls on tomorrow instead (because it’s Friday tomorrow!).

‘Eternals’ is the 26th film in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and features the ‘Eternals’, an immortal alien race who emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their evil counterparts known as the Deviants. Directed by award-winning director Chloe Zhao, the film starred Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, etc.

When I first knew that the movie is going to be over 2 hour and 30 minutes long before watching the movie itself, I was a bit worried that the movie is going to be draggy and boring with a lot of dialogues. I couldn’t stand the boredom from watching ‘Nomadland’ which is also directed by Chloe Zhao and had won best picture last year. Fortunately, I didn’t feel that way for this film. There are still some unimportant extended scenes but the beautiful sceneries and visuals, great action scenes and a myriad of good characters save the movie.

The plot has a lot more depth than simply featuring typical superheroes assembled together to fight villains. That’s a good thing but it may be confusing for younger audiences. Although the ‘Eternals’ consists of many members but none of them gets neglected thanks to some solid characters’ development and of course the long runtime. There are also some unexpected hilarious scenes and surprises in the two post-credit scenes to add fun to the film. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Eternals’ a total of 7.0. Not super spectacular and very different to past Marvel film, ‘Eternals’ may not be for everyone’s taste.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)