Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Secret (2007 Film)

Thursday, March 22, 2012 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek

After hyped recommendations urging me to see Secret, I expected it to fall flat on its face. But it didn’t…


“A subtle thriller infused with romance and psychological drama.”

The Rundown
Behind the name: Full Chinese translation—The Secret That Cannot Be Told
Country: Taiwan, 2007
 Genre: Romance
Distributed by: EDKO Film
Director: Jay Chou
Cast: Jay Chou (as Ye Xianglun), Kwai Lun-mei (as Lu Xiaoyu ), Anthony Wong, (as Xianglun's father), Alice Tzeng (Qing Yi)
Compare to: Twilight?
Hate it or Love it? Love it

Synopsis in a Sentence: A musically talented high school student meets the girl of his dreams on the first day of school, but he cannot seem to get a hold of her, and neither can anyone else.
           

On Writing: The Plot
Simple, intriguing, and striking are three words that come to mind after seeing Secret, and the plot mirrors the feeling. It is indeed a simple story, laden with intrigue and the subtle elements of thriller. It heavily implies the employments of Shakespearian antics, coupled with the teenage angst of Twilight, yet Secret merges both plots in original fashion, but these are simply interesting comparisons that fail to underscore the plot of Secret.
The plot itself has more of a story than that portrayed in Twilight (the film) and less family feuds than that of Romeo and Juliet. It has a plot of its own—one worth seeing for yourself.
 (4/5)

On Acting: The Cast
It’s all subtle, implied, and clever, and so is its cast.
 Jay Chou (the Chinese from Green Hornet), played the lead role, and also directed and wrote the film. He should be praised for his superstar powers in producing it. 
His co-star,Kwai Lun-mei relays a performance to par. Supporting actors did well. All together good.
 (4/5)

On Production: The Creativity
As with the plot and the performance, it was clear that care was taken to relay the feeling we experience through out the film. Again, hats off to Jay Chou on this directorial debut. It is one that may be envied by experienced directors and actors alike.
 (4/5)                                             

On Resolution: The Conclusion
Wow. It ends with a bang! ...Well, a blast more like. You may have to watch the end twice to grasp its substance.
 (4/5)

The Verdict: Subtle sparks and then a full blown fire — a light thriller infused with romance and drama. Well done.

Overall Score = 16/20 


 






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Review: Big Bang - Special Edition Album (2011)

Saturday, May 7, 2011 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek



“Two years since their last Korean release and less than two months after their comeback, the boys of Big Bang are back with a compilation album!” 



The Rundown

Country: South Korea
Record Label: YG Entertainment
Genres: K-Pop, R&B, Electronica
Languages: Korean, with bits of English
Tracklist: (10) 1. Love Song, SeungRi Solo 2. Stupid Liar, 3. Tonight, 4. High High, 5. Oh Yeah (Feat. 박봄), 6. Café, 7. I Need A Girl (Feat. G-Dragon), 8. Somebody To Love,  9. 어쩌라고 (SeungRi Solo), 10. Baby Don’t Cry (Ds Solo).
 Love it or Hate it?  Luv it

The 411
On the Artists: Big Bang is a boy band of 5 from South Korea; GD (Leader, rapper), TaeYang (Main Vocal) TOP (Main Rapper), Seungri (Vocal), Daesung (Vocal)

Production & Vocals: It’s a compilation album, and because it includes some solo work, the styles are varied, which makes for a diverse listen. We’ve got the soft, vocal tracks (Baby Don’t Cry, Café), the more up-beat, mid-range tracks (Love Song, I Need A Girl), and the all out club-bangers (Tonight, High High). A good mix. Production is great, all YG talent: E. Knock, Teddy Park, TOP, and GD. As for the vocals, it’s hard to mess up vocals on a recorded track, especially in modern times. Can’t quite pick which one thumps the other. We’ll make it a tie.

The Good:  It’s a compilation of all the goodies from Big Bang’s solo activities, plus two bonus tracks (otherwise known as new material). The best part of this special edition album is that we get to have all their different tracks in one, and we also get to discover Daesung’s solo release! Fave Track: Café- We see a new Big Bang with this track, Café is Big Bang evolving musically, exploring and discovering their style  in music- I like that.

The Bad: Quite honestly, it seemed more like a rush-release or consolation release, a gathering, not a compilation. Love Song and Stupid Liar don’t quite deserve the honour of being labelled 'title tracks.’ They were good, but not memorable or particularly inspiring (the video for Love Song was great though; Effortlessly classic!). After being exposed to what Big Bang can produce, they frankly didn’t measure up on this one. Only two tracks and Daesung’s solo were new. The title tracks weren’t ground breaking, but likable. In any case, it’s nothing new. Least Fave Track: Baby Don’t Cry- It’s not a bad track: It’s not just a favourite.

The Verdict: 3.5 Nice to have a compilation album from Big Bang, but wish they could have put more soul into it... 

 

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Review: Aziatix - Go (Single, 2011)

Monday, April 11, 2011 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek










"
A masterful collaboration: Eddie’s  vocals melt over the beat like chocolate in your mouth, Flowsik’s  rhymes add some solid rhythm to the blues, and Nicky Lee brings in that refined, R&B vibe. To top it all up, Jae Chong (producer) is on fire on this track! Altogether, this single is an authentic rendition of the artists’ skill."



















The Rundown
Countries:  USA/South Korea
Label:  Independent
Genres:  R&B, Hip-Hop
Language:  English
Sounds Like:  N*Sync meets Boys II Men, with better 16s… or the male TLC…
Love it or Hate it?  Love it!

The 411
On the Artists: Aziatix is a group of 3 guys—Nicky Lee (Vocalist), Eddie Shin (Vocalist) and Flowsik (Rapper) [See picture, L-R]. The track came out late March and pulled us in through April.  An independent group from either coasts of the US, Aziatx, was just what we needed in these days of instant, fast-food-music.

On Production & Vocals: Their vocals are diverse, potent, and relevant. Their message is clear, and the production is solid. Nice and solid. Like the proper R&B we know. It’s a masterful collaboration: Eddie’s vocals melt over the beat like chocolate in your mouth, Flowsik’s rhymes add some solid rhythm to the blues, and Nicky Lee brings in that refined, R&B vibe. To top it all up, Jae Chong is ON FIRE on this track. Altogether, this single is an authentic rendition of the artists’ skill.
The music industry has been capitalizing on electro beats these past few years (funny how, about five years ago, Dance/Electro lovers were known as ‘Techno Freaks’ but now all your favourite musicians are going Electro to create club bangers). Well, this track takes us all the way back to the hay days of Rhythm and Blues. It’s all good R&B.

The Good:  No Artificial preservatives—Yup! If this were food, it would be the all-natural, un-artificial, home-grown good stuff. The track is like organic, zero calorie music (which these days, means no auto-tune!). It’s effortless, raw talent and musical skill wrapped up in one. These guys write and compose their stuff, (they even do their own publicity), and publish their music out of an independent studio. It’s much fun watching the group interact directly with their fans, listen, and work, like everyday people- only that they produce mad tracks at the end of the day. I L.O.V.E that stuff like this is produced by a band with no backing from a major company. I love the raw talent and I love the raw skill. I love it. Period.

The Bad:  There’s hardly anything wrong with the track—but for one minute (or so) detail in the arrangement. The track starts with a refrain (or hook) and It would have been be all right, but for the fact that 2:28 mins into it, you hear the ref all over again, which usually indicates that the track is transcending into its ending, but then there’s still over a minute of song left: there's a 16-bar add-on, then the chorus, and then the outro. By the time the outro is up, you would be slightly ‘tired’ of the song (because your mind had calculated that since the track started with a ref, a repetition of the same ref would indicate a near ending). So you might say that the song suffers slightly from bits and pieces in too many parts (although they do blend well together). But then again, perhaps it’s not a bad thing—perhaps it’s a bid to add variety to the track’s musical arrangement. For the most part, it works.

The Verdict: 4.5 Stars Proper R&B—Top Stuff—Can’t wait to see what else Aziatix has in store!  

Get Go on Itunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-single/id425322658 $0.99 


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