Culturally Preconditioned

I have no idea what the judges are looking for from a rock show. I thought it was a mistake to have this theme in the first place. I mean, I love rock but I don’t think it’s appropriate for an Idol show. I think Simon Cowell has said something during the World Idol, he mentioned something about why there’s a reason why it’s called Pop Idol in the first place. Rock, as much as I love it, doesn’t fit into the format of this show. As for the judges.. there are no words. Well, there’s actually plenty, as you will soon see.

Andrew - Higher (Creed)
Loved this song. It’s one of the first songs by (the now defunct band) Creed that made themselves known here locally - it’s a shame many Malaysians missed out on their gem, “My Own Prison”. Andrew tried too hard. Vocally he was horrible. Performance wise, it was horrible. Come on, his head-banging during the song was so inappropriate. It was a bad bad start to the competition. A 3 but kudos to him for making the effort. By the way, Roslan mentioned that that was not him. He should be simple and elegant. IN A FUCKING ROCK SHOW?? Someone wake me up once he gets his head out of his ass.

Dina - Bring Me To Life (Evanescence)
Initially, I thought Dina was going to sing a song from Ella, but I wasn’t disappointed with her choice of song. However, she started off really weak. She picked it up during the chorus. It was alright, but it lacked confidence, in my opinion. A 6. Roslan’s vocabulary is too damn limited, it’s just fucking embarassing. Can he stop talking about RAP signing contracts? You know what? Just take Dina and go the fuck away to bloody RAPland already. What? RAP doesn’t want to sign losers? Well, I guess one big loser there is enough.

Zamil - The Reason (Hoobastank)
Dude, I can’t keep voting for you if you keep singing like this. Rock was clearly not Zamil’s genre. I knew he would sound kinda nasal in a rock song. He didn’t sound too awful, but like I said.. Rock doesn’t belong in an Idol show. I loved the white streak though. A 4.

Nikki - I’m With You (Avril Lavigne)
Inconsistent Nikki. I have grown to like you, but your performances are too inconsistent. That was bad bad bad. I don’t know. Maybe she tried to showcase her vocal prowesses but it came out wrong. I have to admit that I was disappointed of her performance tonight. It reminds me so much of her rendition of “The Voice Within”. By the way, I thought the braids were damn cool. A 4. HOWEVER, my friend who was at the show swore that Nikki sounded brilliant. I don’t know, Nikki is really weird. I was in the live audience last week and Nikki sounded really really good. But after watching the playback, she sounded bad on TV. SUCH a mystery.

Saiful - Berlompat Lebih Tinggi (Sheila On 7)
I think it’s safe to assume that Saiful just CAN NOT sing English songs, and I am so ready to write him off. Don’t get me wrong. I like his personality and he does have a unique voice but he still has pitching problems, and the fact that he hasn’t sang an English song in an Idol competition just bothers me. However, I thought his performance tonight was not bad at all. Not at all. It was a pretty good softcore rock-ish performance. A 5 even though he forgot some of the lyrics. Roslan, I was ready to give you the benefit of the doubt when you teased Paul about liking ‘pretty boys’. But it is now, rather obvious, that it is you who have a problem with ‘pretty boys’. Your comments were degrading and condescending and most of all, insulting. I was wrong when I called you a racist. You are, in fact, a fucking bigot. I hope you get trampled by a group of tranvestites on your way back home.

Vick - Numb (Linkin Park)
Wow. I never thought I’d say this but I was impressed with Vick’s performance! (That still doesn’t make me a fan, though). I don’t need to say much here. His performance was so enjoyable, I was ready to give him the performance of the night. For a rock show, I thought it was brilliant. I don’t know what the hell Paul was smoking but I sure like some of it. An 8 and a half.

Jac - Sweet Child O Mine (Guns N Roses)
Jac is back. After her slightly above average performance last week, she came in full blast. EASILY the BEST performance of the night. However, halfway through her performance I thought to myself, “How is she different from the clubs singers around town? They are equally good, if not better”. But her performance rocked. It was a good way to end the night. A 9.

Or so I thought. Jien and Aleya introduced Kris Dayanti on stage for a performance (which is dubbed, mind you). It wasn’t much of a surprise cause when they introduced Anang Hermansyah, I kinda figured his wife would be here as well. My friend must be creaming her pants cause she is such a huge fan of Kris.

Anyway, the show started out bad but it ended up quite alright. I know that I’m starting (starting?) to have a personal vendetta against Roslan every time I watch this show, but I can’t help it. He seriously need to …. God, I don’t know. At this rate, I’m even willing to trade him for that bastard Colin from Amazing Race.

I.am.SO.FUCKING.GLAD.that.Survivor.Vanuatu.is.gonna.start.next.week.

Izad - Out

Asmaradana (650 Kb in Real Media format) - You know you gotta listen to this while reading the Puteri Gunung Ledang review for cinematic effects.
Trailer (13 Mb in MPEG format)

I was originally supposed to attend the press screening on Monday but I wasn’t able to squeeze out of my current assignment, so I had to join in the mad rush for the normal tickets last night. I have never seen a packed cinema on a second day for a locally made film. I mean, I can literally see people from all walks of life in the theatre last night. From a seven-month pregnant woman (I asked) to a seven year old boy (I assumed) to people you just know have never been to the cinema before (you can just tell and no, I’m not being sarcastic). Such was the hype of the latest movie coming out from Malaysia - Puteri Gunung Ledang. And for a Malay movie, I was proud to see Chinese, Indians and other folks beside just the Malays watching the movie. It is, after all, a Malaysian movie. And the last time I checked, all phone bookings are fully booked, so good luck for you guys out there trying to get a ticket.

The epic opens with Princess Gusti Putri (Tiara Jacquelina) of Majapahit setting sail from Java to 15th century Malacca, where she heads up Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir) to be united with the love of her life, the famed Malaccan Admiral, Laksamana Hang Tuah (M. Nasir). Meanwhile, war is brewing between her homeland of Majapahit and the rival state of Demak. Hoping that by offering her sister Gusti Putri’s hand in marrage to Pangeran Demak will ease the rivalry between the two states, Gusti Adipati (Alex Komang) is furious when he founds out of his sister’s treason. Gusti Adipati comes to Malacca and threatens Hang Tuah that their love affair will bring nothing but chaos to everyone in the Nusantara region. After a secret meeting with the Sultan of Malacca (Adlin Ramli), it was announced that the best thing to do is to offer Gusti Putri to become the wife of the Sultan of Malacca instead.

With a heavy heart, loyal Hang Tuah leads a party up to Gunung Ledang to ask the Princess hand in marriage on behalf of the Sultan. Hurt and angry, Princess Gusti agrees to the marriage, on condition that the Sultan grants her seven wishes. Written on huge leaves in Sanskrit, the demands were written in riddles : 7 urns of virgin’s tears, 7 urns of betelnut juice, 7 trays of germ’s hearts, 7 trays of mosquitoe’s hearts, a gold and a silver bridge from Malacca to Guning Ledang, and a vial of the Crown Prince’s blood. Just when the Sultan was about to grant the Princess her final wish, Gusti Putri appears before him and stops him. She questions to what lengths will he go to to get what he wants. The Sultan, hurt, angry and humiliated, cast a curse on the Princess to live in Gunung Ledang, never to be seen by another human being again.

So that’s pretty much how the legend that most Malaysians are fond of, told on the big screen. Most of us already know the story by heart, so going into the movie, one can be most critical of even the smallest flaws. Or perhaps, they were just trying to justify how the movie ended up with a mammoth RM15 million budget. If you’re one of the latter, I beg you, please stop right there, and try to enjoy the movie because what do most of us really know about production costs, eh?

Let’s start with the acting, shall we? We already have mixed reviews on the performances of the actors and actresses. Many have said that Tiara did not exactly shine in her role, but personally I feel that she is acting how an ancient, strong-willed princess should (or would) act. Her quiet lingering looks as well as graceful movements complimented the determined nature of her character. She gradually broke out of her ice queen exterior towards the movie’s end - which proved to the viewers that despite all her mystical powers, she is just another woman torn in love. M Nasir plays the perfect Hang Tuah. Playing the man who’s torn between loyalty to his Sultan and his lover, the quiet unspoken angst can visibly be seen from his facial features. Though not the absolute best performance of his career, I don’t think anyone can play a better Hang Tuah than him. Special mention must be given to Alex Komang for his portrayal of the Majapahit Prince who’s constantly in rage, fighting for his men and country. The only one with a paltry performance was the slightly campy Sultan who’s in dire need of braces and makes me cringe everytime there was a close-up. I’m sorry but the character came across as a big wuss to me in the movie (unlike the ‘good’ bad guy that we’re supposed to see). To tell you the truth, he kinda reminds me of Prince George, the Crown Prince of Wales, from the BlackAdder III series.

Next, the dialogue. The dialogue is just simply filled with metaphors. It’s like being in a typical Malay literature class. Some people may not like it, but not me. It’s as if watching the old hikayat books come alive on stage. I love the metaphoric dialogues, and the riddles. Don’t expect straight answers from the subtitles, though, cause they are written in riddles and metaphors too. However, the movie also has parts spoken in Javanese, and as much as I would like to admit that I’m a Javanese myself, I didn’t get all that was said (probably because it’s too berbunga?), so the English subtitles came in handy. The only thing that marred the 15th century feel, in my opinion, were the lines by Sang Setia (Sabri Yunus) who was the token comic relief. His lines sounded a bit too modern and honestly, I don’t think it belonged anywhere in the movie.

They have also been major complaints that the pace of the epic is way too slow. I do agree to a certain extent on this. Certain parts were unnnecessary and could be skipped altogether. But I was also thinking that… hang on a sec, granted that it’s a historical political movie (with a little action thrown in), ultimately it’s an epic love story. I guess director wanted us to embrace and feel the movie whole-heartedly. And I also thought it was a great way for viewers to digest the dialogues as well as enjoy the brilliant cinematography. Which brings me to the next subject. The casts, the dialogues, the storylines may have it’s flaws. But not the cinematography. You can clearly see how the money is spent on creating the many visually stunning shots. It makes me think for a while, how lucky we are to get such diverse and beautiful landscapes in Malaysia. From the high mountains of Berinchang, to the great waterfalls of Lata Kijang, to the wetlands and plains of Pulau Indah, to the pristine waters of Lake Kenyir and Pulau Perhentian. It’s nothing short of magnificent and it makes you wonder why certain other productions are hellbent on shooting overseas when we have this pool of lovely sceneries within our own boundaries. Nothing tops the cinematography of Thailand’s Nang Nak, but Puteri Gunung Ledang comes really close.

The silat fighting scenes were just average. I do, however, loved the theatrics of the battle between Hang Tuah and Gusti Adipati. It’s a little over the top, but not so much that it becomes laughable. It was done just right. There was also a scene of Gusti Adipati breaking out into a silat frenzy after being in a trance. That may seem funny to most people, but hell, that spooked the fuck out of me. Because I have seen those happen in real life. Those silat moves were the real thing. I mean, REAL Javanese silat. I think it has influences from the Cimande (Monkey) discipline, but don’t quote me on that. But it looked freakishly real. Another part that spooked me out was the part where they showed Gusti Putri magically turning into an old hag (Sorry, but no visual effects guys). Immediately, at that precise moment, I had a sudden realisation that long before the Grimm Brothers introduced Snow White’s evil Stepmother turning into an old disfigured witch, we already have that in our culture! And the old Nenek Kebayan looked real scary too (I don’t even think Mak Mah had a whole lot of make up on except for some blackish powder on her face).

The movie’s ending was surreal. What happened to Hang Tuah and Puteri Gunung Ledang? Nobody knows for sure, but legend has it, she still lives in the mountains among other unearthly beings. Whether it’s true or not, Gunung Ledang remains a place of the supernatural. It’s also been deemed as “salah satu tempat yang paling keras di Nusantara”. My friends and I had to cancel our plans to hike there at the last minute, when one of our elder relatives dreamt of seeing us covered in white sheets in our tents. On another occassion, some friends of mine went camping there and brought a casette recorder to their happy campfire sing-a-long session at night. Upon playback when they returned home, they could hear an angry and sad voice chanting wistfully in the background “Kenapa kau buat bising kat sini? Jangan kacau aku”. Urban legend? I don’t think so.

Anyway, enough of the folklore. As I’ve said earlier, most of us Malaysians can be so bloody critical and scutinizing when finding flaws. Granted I’m not an exception to that in most cases but I’m going to let my guard down and be generous with my evaluation of this movie, because frankly speaking, I don’t see why some people can trash a movie like this and praise those horrid rubbish Yusry-Erra Hari Raya combo specials. I would give this movie a four out of five. Did it live up to my expectation? Yes, and you will probably feel the same way if you really try to get into the spirit of the movie. Could the movie have been better? Of course, but I honestly have to say, this is clearly the best movie to come out of our shores. Can I sincerely say that I’m proud of it? Hell, yeah. Congratulations to all those involved in the making of the Puteri Gunung Ledang movie. And that includes the guy who played the Sultan too.

I always feel some sort of cheated every time I watch a non-elimination race. But that’s just me.

This was a pretty tame episode compared to the last. The teams got out of the desert into Wild Wadi in the city of Dubai. The twins should be thanking their lucky stars, cause I can’t imagine them selling ’sexual favours’ for money to the men in the desert. Kimi and Karli’s hunt for cash was pretty funny. I wished they had shown us more behind-the-scenes for that. The teams were even again as the Wild Wadi water park (which was so awesome) will only open in the morning. I love Chip’s comments on wanting Colin to self destruct (this wasn’t the first time he said it, by the way). So do we, my man. So do we. As they get their clues in the water park, they were told that their next destination would be Calcutta! Oh man, you can never go wrong in India. (My poor beloved Tian and Jarre were eliminated there *sniff*)

The Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai

Before we get there, two teams made major blunders on the way to the airport. Chip and Kim got into a taxi instead of driving there as instructed. Which part of “driving” didn’t he understand? And the moms accidentally left one of their baggages and had to return and get it, wasting precious time. Oooh and they got into trouble with some a taxi driver as well, though not as dramatic as Colin. Oooh and why isn’t anyone using YIELD yet? They don’t want other teams to harbour bad feelings? Please. This is a race, a race, a RACE! But I have a sinking feeling that they won’t be using YIELD at all this season.

They reached in Calcutta and we hear Colin sarcastically implying “Look how ugly it is”. He’s got to be kidding right? Has he seen a mirror lately? Or at least, evaluated his own personality? I wish I was there so I can smash a mirror in his arrogant face. The mud brick roadblock was interesting, but I wish there were more dialogues from Colin (yeah, just so I can smash a mud brick in his arrogant face). After the mud challenge, there’s a detour, and everybody chose to drive the engineless taxi. I wish I was one of the villagers there, just so that I can shove Colin straight into the nearest cowpile. I thought the other detour was more interesting - finding a garland and dipping it into the Ganges river. It’s pretty symbolic, but unfortunately no one chose that path. So, the teams arrived in the following order Colin and Christie (BOO!! HISSS!!!), Chip and Kim, The Bowling Moms, The Twins. Brandon and Nicole was saved from elimination in this leg of the race. But they might have a super hard time trying to earn some cash next week, seeing how they’re stuck in one of the poorest countries in the world.

My obligatory Colin rant : Colin’s outburst was pretty much nothing compared to last week’s fiasco. How dare you disappoint me, Colin, you abuser! Oooh which brings me to mind a radio ad I heard some days ago. I was listening to Yahoo! Launch radio and a radio ad came on about some guy hurling foul languages, saying hurtful and condescending things to his girlfriend’s answering machine (”I know you’re there. Pick up the phone. What are you? Stupid?” bla bla). Then he says to his friend “I can’t believe she’s treating me like this” Then his friend went,”The way she’s treating you? Dude, what about the way you’re treating her?”. Then the announcer says “Just because it’s not physical, doesn’t mean it not abuse”. It was an ad for http://www.seeitandstopit.com/. It’s sad to see people like Nicole think it’s okay to be shouted at and humiliated in front of other people, and act like everything is their own fault. Really sad. No amount of editing can hide the fact that the scumbag you’re with is an abuser. Get out of it before it’s too late.

The Fast Forward was so original. It was a really good twist to have them BOTH shave their heads off. I find Nicole’s comments of “Oh no, we’re models, we can’t do that” a tad distasteful. Vain much? I’m not saying that she SHOULD shave off her head, but she could’ve been less.. arrogant. The head shaving would’ve been a humbling experience for them both. I don’t know, with Brandon and Nicole, I keep getting these conflicting storylines. On one hand, they’re seen as these two religious freaks, and on the other hand, they don’t really paint a picture of saints, now do they? The part where Brandon just watched Nicole ’suffering’ in the crowded train, and his comments of “Lord Help Her” and not doing anything? That was just so unfuckingsurreal.

On another note, I think the Fast Forward was kinda unfair. I mean, I would have no problems shaving my head off. It’s a race for a million dollars. You need to make some sacrifices if you want it that bad. But putting myself in Nicole’s shoe (or any other woman for that matter), I can understand that they would have a big problem with it. Not everyone’s got a Sinead O Connor state of mind, you know. But let’s say, they do it. They completely shave their heads off, only to know the race ended as a non-elimination leg. They shaved their heads bald for THAT? They shaved their heads bald for entertainment purposes for the folks at home watching? Kinda unfair, don’t you think? But hey, they knew what they’re in for when they signed up for these game - to be the objects of ridicule by millions of viewers. LOL. Anyway, it was one of the most interesting (and comical) Fast Forward that we’ve had in a long while. I hope we don’t get another non-elimination episode next week. Please please please get to New Zealand as soon as possible.

By the way, did any of you guys read The Star newspaper today? They featured an article called Haven of Man and Beast - the place where they tigers are taken care of Buddhist monks in northern Thailand. Didn’t they have a Roadblock here last year in Amazing Race 4?