Misteri Jalan Lama

Watched Misteri Jalan Lama at Sunway Pyramid yesterday. What i can say about the movie experience is that the popcorn in TGV is awesome! Heheh.

So I went with very careful expectations. (Note : Careful, not low). Because it is an Afdlin Shauki movie. Correct me if i am wrong, but this is his first horror/mystery movie. Hence, the nervous energy. 

What i thought didn't work in the acting was the awkward BM. This might be the director's choice, because i have seen Que and Hans Isaac act before with natural conversational BM. 

The slow pacing didn't work either. It was established that Que's character has some sort of special power and we could guess right from the first 10 minutes of the movie who he was (trying not to spoil the ending for you guys).  Also, after establishing that the brothers are not close, the plot just didn't move much from there onwards until later on. 

Some quirky jokes worked, but most didn't. For me at least.

Some issues were unresolved. What happened to Hans at the end? Did he solve the money issue he has with the Bookie? (Namron) How did he get back to KL? Did he get back his car?. I thought that these issue could've been resolved by including the bad guys more in the chase in the forest with all the monsters. At least that would provide an oppoturnity to resolve the plot.

The choice of costume did not work for me either. Some of the audience laughed when they saw the King wearing medieval King Richardesque armour. It just does not fit with the Nian (short for Bunian) image that the audience had in mind, i think. It feels very alien and out of place. Also, Vanida Imran is already pretty. She did not have to put the make up on.

CGI was tacky. To me, good CGI is like acting. You don't get caught doing it.

Having said that, there were very positive things about the movie. I liked the fact that Namron played a straight bad guy. That character could've easily been played like a retard by some other actor. That is plain good acting. Non-obvious choices.

Also, the choice of locations were great and i can see so much effort being put in the set. The props were very detailed. If you haven't seen it yet, notice the scrap book that Hans was flipping through and how the newspaper cutting was properly organized for good news, and as he flip through, he finds unhappy news which were not as organized. Attention to details.

Although i mentioned earlier that there were unresolved plot issues, i still think that at least, Afdlin and Christina had the intention to have a plot and move it. Unlike some other movie who did not even bother to have a decent plot line.

I walked out not feeling angry. but rather i felt that it was a rather good effort, production wise.

Nice try, Adflin. 

Playground Weekend

It has been a very full weekend, for Playground especially.

Chi Ho performed on at Tapis Rouge to plug our Comedy Tuesday Show. It is to give a taste of what "The Playground!" will be like on on Dec 6th and 20th at Tapis Rouge. Chi Ho previewed our show on Friday and Saturday during the Kit Kat Club Show. I went on Saturday and he was marvellous. Megat went on Friday to check his performance out. Heard good reviews from the organisers as well. so.. yes, safe to say that there is a heightened expectation of what "The Playground!" Comedy Tuesday show would be. Which is great! :)

Busy weekend for Projek Disko Baldi as well. We had our photoshoot for our upcoming PDB - Love show in February. Tuan Nini, my sister, helped us out on the artistic side. The outcome is psychedelic!.

Today, we just completed a shoot for 4 of our scripts. This is for our PDB youtube channel. Which will be updated soon. It was great fun. Everyone was laughing most of the time. Syed Azahedi did a great job at capturing moments on the scripts. Can't wait for the videos to be ready so that we can share our fun. :)

All this, while preparing for a workshop by David Lim, which starts on Tuesday. Am getting more people to join. Which is great. All are very enthusiastic and can't wait to start. 

On the same day, we have a private script reading to process a script by Alfian Saat. That is going to be cool as well. 

On Thursday, we have a corporate event in KL. This is our second official corporate event and Playground will be working with Dewangga Sakti for the performance. 

It's a busy month for Playground. But an exciting kind of busy. You don't really feel it when you are around awesome people.

The Playground! @ Tapis Rouge

Check out our event page.

It's Playtime! Come and chill out after a hard day's work at Tapis Rouge.

Mental Note #5

There is always a time and place for everything.

Adlin on Maharaja Lawak Mega

Adlin, showing his worth. :)

Tapis Rouge Comedy Night : THE PLAYGROUND!

Live@ Tapis Rouge : Comedy Tuesday featuring The Playground!

Go to Facebook Event Page

Welcome to the “The Playground!” Where people gather after a hard day’s work and get a full 1 hour of laughter and fun! Stand up comedy, Sketches & Songs, & Improvisation, All in One!

Catch local standup comedians in “If you think you are funny Please Stand up”. Featuring Kuah Jenhan & Malik Taufik (6 Dec) and also Phoon Chi Ho & Shamaine Othman (20^th Dec).

 Kuah Jenhan

 Malik Taufiq

 Phoon Chi Ho

Shamaine Othman

Projek Disko Baldi will blow your brains out with randomness and zaniness in “What’s Funny this week”. Featuring Talents like Redza Minhat, Megat Sharizal, Shamaine Othman, Iedil Putra &Tuan Faisal!

 Projek Disko Baldi

AI:IA

Share your deepest darkest secrets (anonymously of course!) and see Artifically Intelligent : Improvholics Anonymous (AI:IA) improvise them on stage in ‘Funny Confessions.. Shhhh”. Featuring Malik Taufik, Amelia Chen, Jit Yang, Farah Rani & Ashraf Zain!

It's Playtime!

....................................................................

Date & Time: Tuesday, 6th Dec 2011 @9.00pm
Venue: Tapis Rouge, Red Carpet Avenue, Encorp Strand, Kota Damansara
Age limit: 18 & above
Ticket Price: Promotional price of RM 30 (at the door)

Reservations 03-6142 2686
.....................................................................

Bak kata Shamaine, nak comedy? hambik kau!

Mental Note #4

We've all done bad things. Doesn't mean we are bad people. Like it or not, we have enough people around us to judge, so save the judging for them. Be free.

Plastik

Plastik ialah sampah yang paling banyak di dunia - Mat Lutfi



Word!

Rokok & Kopiah

Check it out.

Rokok dan Kopiah by Mat Luthfi. Masuk 48 Hour project confirm boleh dapat hadiah. :)

I like it because it touches quite a heavy and borderline sensitive subject, without being all preachy.

Also, check out the money shot at 12:24. The one with 2 birds on the electric wire.

Project Disko Baldi for RunFool

Promotional Videos by Projek Disko Baldi for a community marathon run in January 2012 by RunFool

Video 1: Scuba Man

What the FOOL?! from runfool on Vimeo.


Video 2: Kembara



Video 3: Stitch


Video 4: Finale


Go register your tribe at http://runfest.my

Enjoy! :)

Mental Note #3

Arwah atuk pesan, kalau kita ingat kat tuhan, tuhan ingat kat kita balik.

Playground Productions

Playground Productions is an entertainment content provider and a talent management company. Incorporated in October 2009, the company was founded by three theatre practitioners, Shahredza Minhat (Pisau Cukur), Megat Sharizal and Tuan Faisal Azmy. They have been working together in the entertainment (film/TV/stage) scene for more than ten years and have had notable achievements even before the incorporation of the company.

The core focus of the company is to provide corporations and individuals with customized entertainment that is catered for dedicated events. Other focuses include TV/film productions, script writing for TV/film/ stage, talent development and also viral videos as a marketing tool. Playground also has interest in working with schools to promote drama as a tool to teach English as a second language.

Playground’s vision is to be the preferred entertainment solution company in the region. The mission is to champion creativity by producing excellent works through continuous improvement across all media. Also, Playground aims to unite the community through performing arts activities. Propelled by both its vision and mission, we create more opportunities for people in the arts and ultimately improve the entertainment industry, regardless of its platform (stage/TV/film). Therefore, by engaging Playground Productions, companies will also be playing their Corporate Social Responsibility role in supporting the arts.

The Playground family consists of Playground Workshop, which concentrates on organizing workshops as an avenue for artists to improve their craft, and Playground Contents, which focuses on providing scripts for television series, films, and theatre productions.

Playground has grown since its inception with the introduction of Projek Disko Baldi, a comedy group that aims to entertain through random and zany sketches and original songs. Projek Disko Baldi entertained audiences during the PJ Laughfest, at the launching of a Pfizer product and also done video marketing for the RunFool Community Marathon. PDB is Shamaine Othman, Iedil Putra, Farah Rani & Ashraf Zain.

The latest addition to the company is a group of talented young improvisers called Artificially Intelligent: Improvholics Anonymous (AI:IA). The troupe was originally formed in late 2007 to create diversity and to share with Malaysian audiences the sheer joy of making things up on stage.  Among other performances, AI:IA entertained audiences at their feature show in July 2011 and at the International Collision Arts Festival 2011. AI:IA is Amelia Chen, Abdul Qahar, Maliq Taufik, Jit Yang, Shamaine Othman, Iedil Putra, Farah Rani & Ashraf Zain.

SKSJ Alumni Dinner 2011

Facebook event page

Looking forward to our first ever alumni dinner, which will be held this Friday, in the Multi Purpose Hall,that i remember vaguely from 1991, help find funding. We were given cards and were asked to ask for donations from relatives and families. It would be great to see how our hard earned effort turned out.

Those were the days.

Also hope to see long lost friends. Having attended boarding school, i have lost contact with most of my friends in primary school. I remember vaguely copying homework from this guy who sat next to me in standard 5. 5 Cempaka. I used to wake up really early, and after Subuh, right away cycled to school. Umi thought i was hard working. Little did she know that i was rushing so that i can finish copying homework from my deskmate. tsk tsk.

I remember going to Pawagam P. Ramlee, where Asia Cafe opposite INTI college is now. Tickets were RM 3 per movie. That was where we went on dates. Well,  saying WE, is an overstatement. Mostly the jocks. Soccer stars like Azlan & Wong Yat Hong would definitely get girls to go out for a movie. I was always the senyap type. Well, in a way, still am. Deep thinker la konon. 

Azlin Nor 'Ain messaged me on FB today asking if i am going to the alumni dinner. She remarked that she was surprised to know that i am an actor now, since i was so pendiam in school. I told her that I still am pendiam. I can only talk on stage, or on screen.

Senyap senyap pon, i still remember finding my first surat cinta under my desk during kelas agama. That was cute.

I still remember being publicly canned. That was less cute.

But still, I hope to get to remember a lot this friday.

Ilmu Suluh Hidup.

Short Film - Lightbulb

Lightbulb - A Short Film for 48 hour project. Only we finished rendering the video in 50 Hours. So we were disqualified!. Bak kata Rewan, Sangat Sedih. The one uploaded on youtube is re-edited secukup rasa, and has a breathing quality to it compared to the one submitted for the competition.

It was a great experience working with Flux Visual Lab. The guys - Nik Amir, Rewan Ishak, Rodek, Aidil Couple,  Jaja really did a great job. Look forward for Playground Productions, or even indivually, to making more stuff with them in the future.

Enjoy.

QThai

Click here to go to QThai Blog

Had dinner at Qthai, Taman Dagang Ampang after visiting Elin's apartment (Tiara Duta). 

Her place is still in progress of painting, repairs etc, so not livable just yet. The location is very strategic, you can access straight to MRR2 and go towards Kesas to go to Subang. Without jam, 20 minutes. 

Anyways, Qthai is awesome! didn't want to eat too much, but ended up tambah nasi. Hehe. there goes the workout!. but well worth it. sebab sedap. I am no masterchef, so cannot give objective remarks like ,"makanan ni sangat sampai la rasanya". But i tahu one of the best that i tasted around. The only turn off was that the waiters were a challenge to communicate with. But that was minor. Service was alright. We had Kailan Ikan Masin, Ayam masak Cili, Tom Yam Seafood, Ikan Masak Stim, And Udang sweet sour (with butter?). 

 Next time, i want to try either steam boat, or butter chicken. Nom Nom Nom!

Cute Cat Anime

My sister wants me to write lyrics by taking inspiration from this video. Waunggg waungggg!

Insanity

Insanity is doing the same things, and expecting different result - Albert Einstein doing this 60 day workout!
Click Here

Respect.

Mental Note #2

You know something is important to you when you plan your day around it and you catch yourself waiting for when the time comes.

Mental note

Mental Note. Check if your first reaction to anything is simply to please or is it for making the best out of the situation. Simple. but awareness is key. Just ask yourself : why?

Same Mistake - James Blunt

Give me reason, don't give me choice.

Cause i'll make the same mistake again.

Ted Talk :Aparna Rao: High-tech art (with a sense of humor)

I want one of those! er, maybe not the grandpa phone. hehe,

My Harp

First attempt to jam with the Harmonica. Haha.

Credit to http://www.youtube.com/user/sisterofheaven

Stuff Hijabsters Like

Check it out here. So true. :)

Thanks Aainaa for the FB share.

Was just talking about how a friend was called a hipster. And his answer was,"what is a hipster?"

After being told, his answer was :,"What? no lah, i'm not a hipster lah"

Now that is hip.

POst Sawang

This has been in My Draft since 21 July 2007

.....................................................................................................................

Buying Harry Potter final edition on the first night it came out has several steps.

Step 1: Stumbled upon a guy holding a "Harry Potter out now!" Sign after night out at Hard Rock. So decided to drag Papa, Elin & Nini to go check it out.

Step 2: Start Queuing

Step 3 : Getting pissed because of the long line

Step 4: By book at counter


Step 5: Take obligatory "Yeay, i got the book!" photo

The Drive @ Actor's Studio Lot 10

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=216471918420099

Fans of Redza Minhat, check it out. Directed by Ashraf Zain (You might recognize him from Projek Disko Baldi)

Check the event page out for more details. (and also the awesome poster)

Synopsis

This happened to a friend of a friend. Once these three friends went up to visit this old asylum. And you see these three weren't the careless inexperience type..No, they spent ever waking hour dedicated to their blog and the pursuit of added viewer ship. And the old asylum was the perfect spot for their horror-fanatic fans. Too perfect.

For Mo, Stevie and Jerry, a good ghost story on a night's drive would be expected. But on this drive, the stories come to life. And death.

The Drive is directed by Ashraf Zain & written by Jude James.

Featuring Ariff Faisal Abdullah, Branavan Aruljothi, Omar Ali, Sharon Lam, Ng Boon Ping and Redza Minhat.

Show details:
Date & Time: 16th Nov (preview) @ 8:30pm, 17th-19th Nov @ 8:30pm, 20th Nov 2011 @ 3pm
Venue: The Actors Studio @ Lot 10
Age limit: 16 & above - scary content
Ticket Price: RM30 and RM15 (side, students, disabled, TAS card members)
Box office:
Call or Walk-in to: klpac @ Sentul Park (+603-40479000)
Call or Walk-in to: The Actors Studio @ Lot 10 (+603-21422009 / 21432009)
Walk-in to: ILasso Tickets @ A606, Block A, Phileo Damansara II, Petaling Jaya (+603-79576088 – enquiry line only)

Chevening, Anyone?

Go to this link

http://ukinmalaysia.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-malaysia/chevening-scholarship-scheme/notes-applicants

If you are interested to further your studies in the UK, and looking for sponsorship. They have specified fields, but check it out.

Gatal ni nak pergi sana balik. Belajar Islamic Finance best ni.

Carpe Diem

Mari kita seize the day.

Kalau seize the day sangat puas.

Mari kita seize the night.

Kalau tidur pun mesti sangat puas.

Laskar Pelangi & Sang Pemimpi

2 Awesome Indonesian movies. Script, check!. Acting, Check!, Technique, Check!.

Both movies are adapations of Andrea Hirata's first 2 Novels of the series of 4. The formula works because the viewers are able to empathize with the characters. The direction of the story focuses on hope, instead of most movies which tend to 'milk' the sadness, or Derita Sengsara.

As humans, we empathize more to people who are being strong against hardships, or at least try to be strong. Because we look up to this people and we tend to look at ourselves and realize how relatively easy things are for us.

We need more movies like this.

Unfortunately, can't find DVD copies around in KL. Had to ask a friend to ask his friend in Indonesia to buy and post. If any of you find it. Do let me know.

Out.

Pattern

Been a while.

Tried doing 1 thing per day for 30 days. so far none achieve 30 day yet. hehe. Sort of lost track after a while. since ada yang alternate days.

But it is a good thing. At least you get that feeling of self fulfillment. And you know you are doing something new other than your mundane life.

Yes, how ever exciting your life might be, after a while, it will get to a point that you notice there is a cycle, a pattern, if you will.

And sometimes, you just want to break that cycle. Just because you can.

Not Over You

Dreams, that's where I have to go
to see your beautiful face anymore
I stare at a picture of you and listen to the radio
Hope, hope there's a conversation
where we both admit we had it good but
until then it's alienation, I know, that much is understood
And I realize

CHORUS:
If you ask me how I'm doin I would say I'm doin just fine
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two
and finally I'm forced to face the truth
No matter what they say, I'm not over you
Not over you

Damn, damn girl you do it well
And I thought you were innocent
You took this heart and put it through hell
But still you're magnificent
I I'm a boomerang doesn't matter how you throw me
Turn around and I'm back in the game
Even better than the old me
But I'm not even close without you

CHORUS:
If you ask me how I'm doin I would say I'm doin just fine
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two
and finally I'm forced to face the truth
No matter what I say, I'm not over you

BRIDGE:
http://www.elyricsworld.com/not_over_you_lyrics_gavin_degraw.html
And if I had the chance to renew
You know there isn't a thing I wouldn't do
I could get back on the right track
But only if you'd be convinced
So until then

CHORUS:
If you ask me how I'm doin I would say I'm doin just fine
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two
and finally I'm forced to face the truth
No matter what I say, I'm not over you
Not over you
Not over you
Not over you

...........

Farul is right. They always come back.