Sell out - What to sell?

link to Synopsis

I suppose most of us wouldn’t know who or where the hell Yeo Joon Han (Director of Sell Out) comes from. The name Joon Han may sounds like he’s a Korean but lucky for us he is our fellow Malaysian. His first feature film Sell out has won numerous awards in competitions abroad and its finally going to be screened in our beloved country on 7th of May. Hoorayyyyy, Malaysia Boleh! (I just hate the fact where indie movies could only be watched on big screens in our shore after they won some awards overseas).

There are many scenes where most of us could relate to, from bosses who love to express their disapproval right to your face, to having co-worker that you would love to hate no matter what. Kee Thuan Chye and Lim Teik Leong excel in their characters as the bosses from hell who wouldn’t appreciate originality and hard work shown by Eric Tan (Peter Davies) who invented soyamaker that could last long.What matters the most to them is money and the only staff that they are kind to is the one who climbs the corporate ladder horizontally.

Jerrica Lai as Rafflesia Pong is superb in her character as a Tv show host with lousy rating. You can’t help but to approve of her bickering with her co-worker, Hannah. I love the satire in this movie especially in the scene where Rafflesia Pong questions one of her subjects “What do you think of our government?” The crowd tonight responded to this scene with round of applause! Hopefully none of us would end up in Kamunting anytime soon.

Not only this movie going to make you laugh all the way, but there is a song for you to sing along too! For all the karaoke lovers out there, you would be glad to know that there is one karaoke version song that is surely makes you want to grab a mic. There are about 5 songs in the movies and one of it is catchy enough for me to remember. I don’t know the title of the song that sound rather popish but it is in the scene when Eric’s imaginary self (Well, he’s not only a handsome Eurasian but he also has pragmatic and creative self. Don’t we all wish that we have that too?) stumbles into Rafflesia at the clinic and he sings his heart out while Rafflesia rejects him (I just couldn’t imagine how Rafflesia could ever rejects a man like Eric though, Eurasian samor! Wasted la haiyoh!)

It is a movie with lots of issues that revolve in our country, from filmmakers to office politics; I believe that there must be more than one issue that you are familiar with. Whether you are struggling to stand for you what you believe in or trying like mad to save your career, well this movie has it all.Apart from the fact that it would help if you understand Chinese a bit so you understand why your fellow Malaysian laugh their heart out when it come to names like Rafflesia (largest flower in the world, which reeks of animal carcass) Pong (stink), I believe you could still catch the drift. Bear in mind to keep the logic aside and you shall enjoy this movie. In the end it all sums up to this : such is life!

It will be interesting to see whether Malaysian’s moviegoers are ready for a Malaysian film fill with satire and capable to read between the lines. Perhaps some would dub this movie as black humour but whatever label you put on it, this movie will surely breathe new life to our mind-numbing movie industry which full of mat rempit and bohsia themed movies as of late.

A hyperbole as I am wouldn’t lightly say something. So I when I say that this is the film (spoof ala Malaysia) to watch in May, well, it means that this is the movie to watch. Kill for the tickets if you must.

Big thanks to Ajami Hashim for the invites!

p/s : the soyamaker in this movie really is interesting..10-in-1 samor..but damn expensive

Kekure goes to Teater Mahsuri

Teater Mahsuri

Aku memang suka Ibu Fauziah Nawi, satu nama yang gah di Malaysia Lakonannya jadi mangsa teraniaya kalau penonton tak menangis satu baldi jangan panggil dia Ibu Fauziah Nawi okes. Tak main la letak eye-mo satu botol, air mata asli katanya. Tak perlu aku senaraikan anugerah, filem, drama dan teater yang dibintanginya kerana aku fikir ramai yang tahu dan peminat setianya mungkin telah menghafal kesemuanya tanpa perlu menggunakan toyol jika masuk kuiz atau kalut nak guna talian hayat andainya di tanya secara spontan. Tahniah kepada beliau kerana akhirnya mendapat peluang untuk mementaskan karyanya di Istana Budaya. Terharu sekejap aku tadi kerana selama ini karya Ibu Fauziah Nawi selalunya hanya di pentas-pentas kecil tetapi hasilnya tidak pernah menghampakan.

Buat pertama kalinya aku merasa terganggu selepas menonton teater. Serius ye, amat serius seperti setiap usaha Wonderpets membantu haiwan di dalam kesusahan. Bukan sahaja terganggu, runsing malahan kecewa dan aku terasa seperti nak mencarut-carut macam Jonathan Davis semasa Sunburst. Aku fikir kekecewaan aku boleh disamakan seperti kecewanya Miss California yang dinafikan mahkota Miss USA kerana dia mengatakan tidak kepada perkahwinan sejenis. Perasaan terganggu aku pula melebihi rasa terganggu yang aku alami selepas melihat Julia Ziegler menjadi hantu berwarna biru di dalam Jangan Tegur yang mana permainan lidahnya lebih kepada lucah daripada mengerikan. (Nota:Aku fikir Julia Ziegler tersalah membuat rujukan. Dia sepatutnya menjadikan Linda Blair di dalam the Exorcist sebagai panduan tetapi terpasang cerita ‘berwarna biru’ dan dia akhirnya mencatat sejarah menjadi hantu kayu paling lawak abad ini.)

Siapa tak kenal Mahsuri dan legenda darah putihnya? Sebut saja Langkawi atau Kedah mesti akan dikaitkan dengan Mahsuri. Aku fikir ia adalah naskhah yang sangat vok untuk di kendalikan oleh Ibu Fauziah Nawi. Sayang sekali hasilnya tak seberapa. Dalam bahasa pasarnya : drama sekolah menengah lagi best!(Ini tidak merujuk kepada High School Musical yang ada Zac Efron tu tapi drama sekolah menengah yang korang sendiri hasilkan semasa minggu bahasa). Ini teater di Istana Budaya, ada satu standard yang tinggi dan kelengkapan yang bagus. Tiada alasan kenapa produksi ini tak berjaya menghasilkan sesuatu yang boleh dibanggakan. Aku tak faham kenapa nak guna konfeti bagi menghasilkan efek semasa babak Mahsuri di bunuh? Hello, ini bukan hari penyampaian hadiah kanak-kanak tabika kemas yang nak guna konfeti-konfeti ni?Apa yang ko nak tunjuk sebenarnya? Nak tunjuk yang salji turun semasa Mahsuri dibunuh? Efek yang HAZAB with capital H kaedahnya.

Sebenarnya salah aku jugak kot kerana menaruh harapan yang tinggi. Kalau dilihat pada barisan pelakonnya ada 2 nama yang aku suka lihat di teater : Vanida Imran dan Azizah Mahzan. Aku pernah melihat Vanida Imran di dalam Lantai T Pinkie dan Wangi Jadi Saksi. Karen banget dan jamban dia pun best! Dalam Mahsuri dia tak menyinar pun dan aku rasa ia satu pembaziran bakat yang teramat kerana dia boleh berlakon. Arja Lee tu walaupun muka hensem nasib baik la boleh jugak berlakon, cuma suaranya kurang jelas pada sesetengah babak. Lainlah kalau pasangan kayu iaitu Julia Ziegler dan Pierre Andre berlakon Jangan Tegur the Musical, memang patutlah lagu lebih banyak daripada berdialog supaya tak ketara yang mereka berdua tu kayu. Kalau dorang tak dapat datang berlakon pun takpe, gantikan saja dengan orang-orangan tiada sapa pun yang perasan. Azizah Mahzan, satu lagi pembaziran di dalam teater ni. Ok, ok dia memang telebey sudah di dalam Spa-Q tetapi dalam teater dia memang bagus. Wataknya sebagai kertu kampung tak menunjukkan kelebihannya yang sebenar. Pelakon yang membawakan watak Wan Mahura yang ala-ala meroyan selepas Wan Darus kawen dengan Mahsuri juga tidak mengecewakan!Mek suka!

Aku senaraikan jek la apa yang aku tak puas hati tentang teater Mahsuri ni.

1. Tiada disebutkan tentang darah putih

Apa yang membuatkan Mahsuri satu legenda hebat selain daripada sumpahannya? Tak lain dan tak bukan darah putih yang mengalir keluar daripada badan beliau. Ternanti-nanti aku tadi bagaimana agaknya babak darah putih ini akan di jalankan. Sekali hamek ko! Darah nan ado, sebut pun tidak. Sekurangnya buat la macam darah tu terpercik ke pokok masa Mahsuri di tikam dan mengalir tak henti dari celah pokok tu. Mesti ada propsman tau camne nak buat simple trick cenggitu, kan kan kan? Dah le tu pas mayat Mahsuri di serahkan kepada bapaknya boleh pulak bapaknya meroyan tak tentu fasal! Babak penting yang patut lebih dramatik dan memberikan penutup yang lebih kemas kepada teater ini.

2. Pakaian

Orang kedah ada baju tradisinya sendiri ye kawan-kawan iaitu baju Kedah. Malas aku nak cerita panjang, tapi kalau aku orang Kedah mahu hangin gak la. Buat je la Mak Mahsuri tu pakai baju Kedah. Dah nama orang Darat, sah-sah le keje pesawah uols. Makan hati satu kampung tau tengok ko catwalk ke sawah pakai kebaya labuh. Tak pasti sama ada takde kajian, tak de baju Kedah dalam wardrobe Istana Budaya ataupun save budget.


3. Props dan efek

Props dia cun gak la especially pokok kelapa tu. Tahniah kepada mereka yang bertanggungjawab menyediakan pokok kelapa tersebut. Babak Mahsuri mimpi sampai terangkat dari katil tu memang best. Selain daripada tu takde apa sangat la yang nak dibanggakan. Efek paling best pun fasal terlampau banyak black out. Itu pun kalau black out tu boleh di kira sebagai efek.duh! Ada banyak babak penting yang boleh diberikan efek yang lebih ganas untuk menimbulkan empati penonton kepada Mahsuri. Daun-daun yang gugur daripada langit lebih sesuai untuk menggantikan konfeti.

4. Sound, lagu dan suara

Maaf, tiada lagu yang catchy dan selepas beberapa jam aku dah tak ingat pun lagu-lagu yang dinyanyikan. Sound agak off sikit tadi, mungkin ada technical glitches. Sebutan kurang jelas jadi aku tak faham biji butir. Pitching off tak payah cerita, ini bukan blog AF. Lagu yang terlampau banyak sampaikan babak tak payah ada lagu pun nak nyanyi juga. Astaga, suami kau dah nak gi berperang pun boleh nyanyi2 lagi. Ini bukan Wonderpets yang asyik menyanyi bila mereka on the way nak gi selamatkan haiwan! Babak ni sepatutnya dipenuhi dengan dialog- dialog yang meruntun jiwa sebab kita tahu di dalam legendanya bahawa itu adalah detik terakhir Wan Darus melihat Mahsuri hidup. Contoh terbaik ialah filem Armageddon, bila pasukan Bruce Willis dah nak naik kapal angkasa babak-babaknya dipenuhi dengan dialog yang bikin orang menangis sampai abih tisu 1 kotak.

5. Pelakon tambahan yang terlampau ramai

Sesak semacam fasal pelakon tambahan terlampau ramai. Pening kepala aku! Kalau tak kerana baju pelakon utama yang lebih meletopz daripada pelakon tambahan ni mahu le kompius mana satu pelakon tempelan dan mana satu pelakon utama. Tu pun masa babak berlatih silat tuh aku da kompius sekejap fasal baju Wan Darus, Damak lebey kureng jeh ngan yang lain.

Terfikir jugak aku yang cerita ni lack of imaginations. Nak marah aku pun marah lah aku tau bukan ada orang baca pun blog aku. Maaf aku tak berapa ingat nama watak fasal ada masalah sistem bunyi dan sebutan yang kurang jelas jadi aku tak dapat tangkap betul-betul namanya.

Terima kasih tak terhingga kepada encik Ajami Hashim yang bertindak sebagai ketua rombongan. Undanglah lagi ye nanti? hehehe

A short one.Amazed?You Betcha!

Have you guys ever woken up one morning and the first thing that crossed your mind is that you are fated to do something right on that very day and the best thing to do is embrace your life? Well, that was what exactly happened to me on the day I sent out my resignation letter. It felt like I have seen the light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel. I heard Brandon Flower’s kept calling up my name and told me to come to the light. Come to the light, kekure! Come to the light! NO!NOT CUM TO THE LIGHT! Walk towards the light you, moron. I got distracted on my way there. It’s hard to concentrate when Brandon Flowers is the one waiting for you at another end.

I know my boss thinks that I don’t belong in his team so it was easy to make the decision.I even told him not to be stressful and live life to the fullest. At times, a skeptic like me could be the most buoyant. Why on earth would I want to be in the same room with a dim-witted manager who refuses to listen to your idea even though he is the one who asked for it? I for one wouldn’t want to have any connections with a manager who not only takes credit for other’s hard work but also tends to forget that subordinate is subordinate no matter how close they are to you. If I were the manager, I would have drawn a line, a very thick one mind you. If my subordinate calls me names right to my face, I shall make him cry until he wets his pants and make him swear that I am the fairest of them all. That will just do it, for the time being. Even worst, having a group of suck ups who laugh heartily at your lame jokes during meeting while the rest of your team roll up their eyes and start to bang their head onto the wall. Well, no use of working with someone who couldn’t even master the basic principle of management: Understanding the business process.Enough said.

I believe this is just another phase in my life. Good thing is on its way, Insya-Allah. Some would say that I’ve been leading a dog’s life but hey like I said before, I don’t have any expectations in life. Sounds complicated but it’s easier that way.

Surah Alam-Nashrah

1. Have We not expanded thee thy breast?-

2. And removed from thee thy burden

3. The which did gall thy back?-

4. And raised high the esteem (in which) thou (art held)?

5. So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief:

6. Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.

7. Therefore, when thou art free (from thine immediate task), still labour hard,

8. And to thy Lord turn (all) thy attention