Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (The Malay Chronicle: Bloodline)

I am not sure why I was so excited to watch this movie? Could it be because of Stephen Rahman Hughes (....of courseeeeee), or to satisfy my curiosity on why a Pan-Asian actor got the starring role. OR just to see whether KRU production manage to pull it off , you know, after my BIG disappointment with Puteri Gunung Ledang, despite the fact that they had nailed it with Cicakman and Cicakman 2.

Well, admittedly it is not really easy to bring an epic adventure story, usually based on oral history or folklore to the screen without making it either confusing or illogical. Plus delivering the story to the screen without adding some "sugar,salt and pepper" and a little imagination would make it rather tasteless. Ok ... I would not look at Hong Kong or Indian epic movies for comparison because of big cultural differences and historical relations. So my benchmark for this movie was Queen of Langkasuka by Nonzee Nimibutr (who also gave us Nang Nak and Suriyothai).

To be fair, I also watched Queen of Langkasuka because of Ananda Everingham (a Thai-English actor) and like Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (HMM) ... I also don't know much about the legend of the Queens of ancient Pattani kingdom. Interestingly, some historical writings indicate that the Queens of the Pattani kingdom were descendants of Merong Mahawangsa from the fourth child (a daughter) of Merong Mahawangsa's son, Merong Mahapudisat. Okay, please refer HERE for the storyline.

To make the experience more special, I decided to watch the movie at the brand new TGV Cinema at Penang's newest shopping mall, 1st Avenue. I watched the 2pm show and sadly the cinema hall was 25% occupied. Okay ... another problem with regional epic movies ... not many followers. Another possible reason ... many Chinese don't watch Malay movies except Jaime Yeoh and other bananas. BTW, this new cinema will definitely be my new chill out place.

So ... my overall comment about the movie. A heavy mixture of LOVE and HATE. We are almost there but  still not there. Okay we know that KRU production spent RM 8 million for this movie. And to be honest, if they have another RM 14-15 million we (as in Malaysian movie) will be able to compete internationally and position ourselves in the international film industry.

First, I would like to congratulate KRU production and the movie writer Amir Hafizi on the storyline. Notably  in highlighting Geruda as the pirate tribe instead of the mythical bird. Well, to be honest, Langkasuka was said to be located somewhere between Mount Jerai and Muda River. In the real Merong Mahawangsa text, it is said you can see Jambul Island and Lada Island from kingdom city. Now when I went to Bangkok last year, I saw a display of an old map which belongs to an English/French traveller that marked Penang Island as Pulo Lada. Those days, Penang provided a sheltered harbour for Chinese, Indian, Arabian and European ships during the monsoon months; this, in turn, inevitably made it fertile hunting ground for pirates. In present day Penang, Mount Jerai is about 50km from Butterworth and is visible from town centre.

Taken at Museum Siam, Bangkok (my own photo)

However, I was a bit disappointed that HMM did not (or could not) incorporate some Hindu customs and traditions of the people during those time to make it more realistic. Though Amir Hafizi did explained why in his blog (another constraint of a local movie),  however tourismwise ... I saw this as a pulling factor for history lovers and historians all over the world. My point is ... long before the great kingdoms of Srivijaya, Ayuthya, Sukhothai or Pattani, there was this great kingdom of Langkasuka in the Malay Peninsula. 

Thai epic movies love to showcase how great their ancient kingdoms of Siam, but historians and linguists agreed that the Thais moved from their ancestral home in southern China into mainland southeast Asia around the 10th century AD. Prior to this, Indianized kingdowm such as the Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms ruled the region. Langkasuka probably the kingdom that gave birth to other great empires in Malay archipelago ... hehehe. From just tribal villages into a kingdom.

For this, I love Shuhaimi Baba's works such of Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam for incorporating traditional and cultural elements like the arts of kuda kepang, black magic, royal court dance etc...Though the storyline is almost there ... however HMM still need to brush up on the "kesinambungan" from one scene to another . I am still confuse what the director wanted to highlight ... the greatness of Merong Mahawangsa martial arts or his leadership in the battlewar or the startup of Langkasuka.

Hmmm ... there are few tiny details that I was not really happy with in this movie. Like the costumes of the Chinese princess and her hand maiden. Their Mandarin and dialogues especially Nell Ng's acting. Hmm ... despite being a royal princess hand maiden, Nell's acting is more like an Ah So! I know she might be the comedy element of this movie. But sorry ... the  Chinese royal imperial courts requires poise and gracefulness. Plus their Mandarin were heavily accented with Cantonese phonetics. I do agree that, most of the scenes were about the princess and her handmaiden travelling but looking at Queen of Langkasuka, the scenes where the princesses were in their travelling costumes and traditional costume of the imperial court made me awe in wonder. Plus, they made tengkolok, sampin and baju Melayu in songket looked so grand!

Another interesting detail which was just mentioned in passing, that the meeting point  of Rome prince and Chinese princess was to be made at the Golden Chersonese because of fengshui ... it is not wrong to explained that in the Chinese Admiral line on why that place was chosen fengshuiwise (another point to promote Langkasuka site and Penang will benefit from it too hehehe). Good thing they mentioned Golden Chersonese, but what so Golden Chersonese about it should actually be highlighted in the Goan scenes ...  or in the Chinese Admiral line ... you know despite being "a wild ground, with wild people". Just like how Merong advised Prince Marcus about the Chinese ("the Chinese had fought battles long before the Romans" ) haaa for that matter, we could take some idea from Pirates of the Carribean.

Stephen Rahman Hughes is a great actor, but because he doesn't speak or understand Malay, some of the punchlines and expressions were a bit off. Most of the Malay dialogues were beautifully written as "pantuns" and very poetic so it need some soul to express it in words (verbally). Perhaps with the soothing sound of traditional wind instruments in the background. However, I was sooooooo not comfortable with some secenes of Merong with Prince Marcus of Rome. Funny, I feel like Merong has more chemistry with Marcus than with Embok hahahaha (OMG).

Initially I was questioning on the choice of Ummi Nazirah for the part of Embok. Then there were certain "supposedly intimate scenes between Merong and Embok, I realised yes .... we should highlight on the  authentic Malay beauty ... the skin, the lips, the hair (bibir merah merekah, pipi bagai pauh dilayang, rambut mayang mengurai). If this is not a Malaysian movie ... definitely there will soft sex scenes. But then again ... I thought of The Adjustment Bureau ... Emily Blunt and Matt Damon played with their facial expression, body language (you know the restlessness), their eyes keep looking at each others lips - that was enough to make me feel uneasy on my seat. HOT!!!

But I still don't get it why Embok suddenly acting angry with Merong. Though it was explained later (she was raped by Kamawas) but still "kaku".I think Embok's part will be better if Embok initially gave cold shoulder to Merong but slowly she was attracted to him but being a "hero warrior" Merong was also admired by young ladies of the tribe which sparked some jealousy on the part of Embok, thus the "angry intimate" scene between Merong and Embok.

" jika pintu empangan sudah dibuka, manakan boleh ditahan airnya"- Kamawas

Khir Rahman was great as Kamawas. What can I say (I am speechless)! His acting was so natural (and blown me away) that I would say he deserved an award for his supporting role. Mantapppppp .... though his line (refer to the photo caption) where he was being "seduced" by Princess Meng Li-Hua is a bit XXX for Malaysian viewers but I think in Malaysian words ... "memang ngammmm"  with scene. That guy was so horny that time what...

I love Dato' Rahim Razali in this movie. His voice, his facial expression and the soul that he brought into the character of Kesum. Well, many of his lines were a bit poetic and looking at the way he expressed  it, sent shivers to my spine. Yes, like other "unpaid critics" ... I don't like the hair hehehe

I don't want to comment much on the cinematography - I am seeing a bit of 300, Gladiator and Troy. The CGI was superb but need some polishing as in some of the scenes, the ships looked so obvious like toy ships.

Hahahaha ... panjang pulak komen. But anyway, it is because we are almost there but still not there. However, I applaud the efforts and money spent on the making of this movie and most importantly ... I did not fell asleep (tu yang banyak komen hehehe).

Men Are From Mars ...

No wonder we couldn't find them here ... hahaha! Anyway, I was supposed to finish my entry on West Side Story up to Colours of Malaysia. However, in between takes ... between Penang-KL-Penang I got myself into the movie marathon ... starting with Robin Hood, then Shrek : The Final Chapter and yesterday Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time. The marathon was like positive comparative superlative ... good, better and best! I am still going GaGa over Jake Gyllenhaal.

Alice In "Very Weird" WonderLand

I notice few of my blogger friends have reviewed about this movie and most made comparison to AVATAR. But mind u though both are special effect movies, Tim Burton and James Cameron style of directing is different plus AVATAR is more to science fiction + heavy drama whereas Alice In Wonderland is a fairy tale/fantasy remaking. So the movies appeal to different crowd.

Anyway, as i had mentioned in Norzah's blog, I was looking forward to watch the movie as I am a BIG fan of Johnny Depp and Johnny is a frequent collaborator in Tim Burton's movies like Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Bettlejuice. But of course, if it's a Tim Burton movie ... mesti ada Helena Bonham Carter. Though I am not a BIG fan of hers, I think she played the part of Queen of Hearts well ... "Off With The Head"!!!!!!

Actually I was curious about Tim Burton's directing a fable like Alice. Not that I am a movie expert, it's just that many of Tim Burton's movies nie a bit gothic, dark, "Halloween" and soul less. So does this Lewis Carroll story fit his style of directing? When I think hard about it .. I have to say yes. I read the book when I was 9 or 10 and I find the Wonderland a bit weird rather than fantastic. Hey I am not alone ... this was a comment I got from one review article on the movie.

Ever since I was a kid , the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations have struck me as ...not pretty, ...not lyrical like the Disney pictures, but wierd.
That's what Carroll seems to have had in mind a ...wierd, unsettling wonderland all its own. Pretty was available in the 1800's but he chose hyper-realism. Burton is the first artist to understand this. The original (kids) book illustrations are very close to ugly and threatening. The photos from the movie seem to have finally delivered what the authors' vision really was....a scary unreality where we are never really quite comfortable.
This movie forces one to deal with a beautiful, but unsettling universe. This is bigger than 3-D. Cudoes!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1252091/Alices-weird-wonderland-Why-scenes-row-Tim-Burtons-fantastical-film-disappear-cinemas-fast-Cheshire-Cat.html#ixzz0ig7Zogd2

However, Tim's version of Alice In Wonderland has made it Alice in "Very Weird "Wonderland. Just like Norzah, I was anticipating an "adventure" in 3D and again another disappointment. I find it so cold and weird . Huhuhuhu ... I have been watching disappointing sequels and remakes lah throughout 2009 and as of March 2010. Hmm I think they should have stick to the original Alice in Wonderland storyline ... then baru lah Johnny Depp's character akan menyerlah. Honestly if you asked me, Johnny is the best person to play the character of the Mad Hatter.

I was on my way to the cinema when suddenly this Mad Hatter came out of nowhere and walked so fast that I had to run after him. I managed to catch a pic ... sayang a bit blur hehehe

Avatar - Best Movie in 2009?

Initially, I had no intention to blog about this movie at all .First, because I never anticipated to watch this movie. Secondly, sci-fiction was never my cup of tea after 1993 (the year I suffered a long, hot fever - which totally transformed my liking from everything scientific to everything artistic... ke I baru blossom into a woman huhuhu ) and finally, lately other than Jerry Bruckheimer ... I rarely associate the quality of films based on who's who in Hollywood, not even Mr Spielberg. I prefer to watch the movie first and form my own opinion ... of course, marketing-wise ... James Cameron will still draw audience to the cinema, but will they watch it again?

Well, Guy Next Door got 4 free tickets for the pre-screening of this movie yesterday at GSC Pavillion... u know after spending more than RM 600.00 on dad's platinum CIMB credit card beli barang hantaran. So I told him yesterday ... "make it a habit" hahaha ... We went together with Sam and Mr Energy Saving. Realising that the official release of this movie is tomorrow (17 Dec) in Malaysia I don't want to miss the chance to be one of the first people to blog about it ...

Sam's comment : "I think this movie will easily be the best movie for 2009"
Mr Energy Saving's comment: "I find this movie interesting. Maybe because I seldom watch movie kot." Hehehe

As for me, suffice to say I didn't came out from the cinema "starry-eyed " or neither was I moved by it. I was definitely very impressed with the 3D effects and photorealistic CGI. It was as if viewers were part of the movie... seriously ... there was a scene when the Na'vis (a sentient humanoid race on a lush jungle covered satelite of Polyphemus called Pandora) were riding on an ikran (a pteranodon-like mountain banshee adapted for flight) doing the sky-diving .... I was really, really "gayat" ... That's the wonder of modern technology in movie making, using streoscopic cameras to stimulate human sight!

Like Lord of The Rings, Avatar also introduced new fictional language - the Na'vi language, devised by linguist Prof. Paul Frommer of the University of Southern California. It has a vocabulary of about 1000 words, its phonomes include ejective consonsants (such as the "kx" in "skxawng"- try to pronounce that!) that are found in the Amharic language of Ethiopia and some of the Maori's in New Zealand.

Both Sam and myself agreed that the Elvish language of the Lord of The Ring sounds softer and romantic huhuhu!

And I was wowed by Neytiri facial expression - especially the pained expression when she explained to Jake Sully that in Omatikaya's tradition - when a male Na'vi is a declared a man, he could get himself a woman and start introducing the Na'vi females to him. Cover line lah ...

There was also a part when she was crying hysterically after her Hometree was burned down by human, the part she felt so hurt after finding out who Jake Sully really was and of course, the part when she cried when her father died. I never felt so move by an animated character before hehehe. Should see how Sam mimicked the Na'vi hissing ... if his skin colour is blue (with his cute "fangs"), he'll pass as the Avatar.

What really put me off was the message and dragging storyline. At first, I thought the director might hit home run when he introduced the character Jake Sully, a former US Marine who was wounded and paralysed from the waist down which through a genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrid body known as Avatar, enable him to walk again . I was hoping that the director would expand the Jake Sully's Avatar character "who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world".

Somehow, the plot twisted into a love story - the same formula in the movie Titanic which later turned very environmental.

I think the message of Avatar should be that - we shouldn't be afraid to show who we really are, in the real world. U know ... the concept of Avatar itself - a representation of ourself like in the Yahoo Messenger and Sorority Life on Facebook, which actually never exist in the real world. Sometimes I wish I was really Misz Donna - my Avatar in Sorority Life. Sexy, have $3,000,000.00 in bank, have 4 boyfriends (which I bought), got 11 rides including a private jet and a hummer and my wardrobe full with designers brands..

Boy was I really put off by "save the jungle" message! So the anti-climax ... anyway, for the adrenaline junkie ... the movie might save your RM 10,000.00 to buy a SOL parachute for a paraglide hehehe ... gerenti gayat!

Pisau Cukur

After "Setem", this was another Malay movie that I think worth my every "ringgit". Although some bloggers condemn the "kegedikan" two actresses - Maya Karin and Fazura in this movie as Bella and Intan (the Gold Diggers) but to me ... I likee ... Personally I terlalu ingin watch this movie because of Maya Karin ... because to me, dia pandai betul buat facial expression ikut scene or mood. Plus, my kind of humor, bukan lawak slapstick like Senario but witty punch lines, drama queens and segala yang "double meaning".

We (me and Guy Next Door) dragged along Mr Energy Saving, a pure Chinese by birth, who watched nothing but Chinese, Japanese and Korean dramas, just to see his reactions. Kalau dia tak ketawa means movie nie fail lah by One Malaysia standard.

After the show, tiba2 Mr Energy Saving pun dah pandai mimicked ... "Oh My Dior", "OH My Prada" or "Oh My Gucci" ... kira Bernard Chauly dah boleh penetrate lah Chinese market.

Anyway, I won't comment about the storyline .... to me sesuailah dengan tema movie. But I nak comment lah on cinematography and set dia. Bernard, tau lah tak naik kapal untuk filming movie nie tapi set kena gahlah sikit. Macam adegan ballroom dancing ... cover lah parquet floors tu dengan floor coverings yang grand sikit. Or stage tu buatlah grand-grand!

Satu lagi, I wonder whether you pakai high definition camera tak for this movie. Aaron Aziz (who's usually HOT) macam tak hensem pulak dalam movie nie. And baju2 actresses yang gempak (masa The Making Of) itew macam tak menyerlah ... mcm baju sewa pulak ...

Another one, kalau atas kapal, and kapal bergerak dek tu kena patutnya berangin and brighter, contohnya ... tgklah movie Titanic yer!

Overall ... I enjoy the movie ... and Bernard, I have an idea for the Part 2. Kalau nak ask Rafidah to call me. Bayaran consultation can be negotiable hehehe

Rainbow and Suna Walking Down The Memory Lane

Oppss... gambar tak sempat diPhotoShop hehehe

Why I feature Suna in this entry? It is because her name always pop-up everytime I meet up with my UMS buddies. One thing I love about Suna and why we become so close is that sometimes she can be so passionate about things that matters to her the most. Like food, books, family, sleep (she can fake being awake coz u can't distinguish anyway whether she is sleeping or not - mata sepet maa) and "Montgomery men" (for those who read Jude Deveraux bestselling novels).

Take for example food - tak kiralah Japanese, Korean, Italian, Malay, Chinese, Greek, South Indian, North Indian, Western, Continental ... semua pun sudah masuk perut! Our food exploration came to a halt for a while coz she was too busy experimenting with different types of cheese at Carrefour Putrajaya and I was busy finding my way to and in Putrajaya hehehe ...

Talking about books ... the only book that we couldn't digest till now is our programming textbooks though we can be proud that we understand Bahasa JAVA . During our UMS days ... habis sudah bah buku di KK library tu kami2 saja yang pinjam.

And she must have been a very good girl these days coz Allah got her posted to KK Library ... which entitle her to borrow up to 10 books, return anytime ... I am so jealous! Bak kata pepatah si Samsir (or is it Fifie) ... "janganlah ko kacau si Suna kalau dia suda membaca, sudah masuk dalam buku bah tu" (too engross in her readings). But I do pray someday somehow ... a Montgomery man (the Chinese version of course) will walk into that isolated KK Library and sweep you off your feet ...

Hehehe ... one principle that I won't forget to this day is "ndak kisahlah Jaime kalau di luaran nie orang nampak aku pakai hand downs from my aunties ... tapi yang dalam2 nie you can play with your wildest imagination". Which is quite true ... you will seldom find matching female undergarments at the ampaian kan - be it your mum's, sister's, cousin's or ex-housemates (opppsss!)? Mesti mismatch!

So the last few days were like reviving our UMS days ... starting the ritual with filling our belly with good food. Only now our food selection has changed due to cholesterol, weight and hypertension issues (hahahaha). Yesterday I brought her to Ah Cheng Laksa at Cineleisure, next to the Curve. Staying true to our concept of fine dining - makan hawker food pun kena ada style.



I ordered my favourite Curry Laksa with cockles ... oh ya Ida, this is consider 2nd lah to that auntie who use to sell at our office area.


Suna ordered Assam Laksa with Sotong Rendam. Add a little otak udang and yummmmmmmmmm ...


But of course, tak sah kalau takde order tambahan bila makan dengan Suna. As seen here is Pan Mee. Wooo ... tasty!

To wash down all the tasty food, I ordered air mata kuching ... (dried longan drink) ... marvelous ...

We wanted to spent the rest of our evening shopping and looking for books at the Borders. However fearing that Suna might "lost" herself among the books, we agreed to watch the film adaptation of Dan Brown's -Angels and Demons instead. I have been looking forward to watch this movie for months. Though most of my Christians (in particular Catholic) friends find the movie offensive (including the DaVinci Code), my passion on everything historical supercede my religious belief.


Anyway, I am exploring the artistic side of me wat!!! Since I haven't read the book, I was very impressed with the casts who successfully make me wonder who was the "Mole" in this thriller - Ewan McGregor (Carmelengo Patrick McKenna) , Stellan Skarsgard (Komander Richter), Ayelet Zurer (Dr. Vittoria Vetra) and Armin Mueller-Stahl (Cardinal Strauss). Still prefer DaVinci Code storyline though. Anyway, after reading review on Washiton Post about this movie ... I might as well get myself a copy of the book ...

And macam biasalah myself and Suna will have in depth discussion on this movie, the religion, and the historical value .... quite the opposite seseorang yang tertidur time tgk Puteri Gunung Ledang -The Movie hehehe