The UrbanWire

If you haven’t had enough of your Brendan Fraser fix in the latest Mummy sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, you can always catch him in Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

Fraser plays Trevor Anderson, a professor who specialises in volcanology. With his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson) in tow, he sets out to Iceland in search of Sean’s father and engages Hannah (Anita Briem), an Icelandic mountain guide to accompany them on their journey.

The not so logical plot

A few death-defying 200-metre falls and dangerous roller coaster rides in the underground later, they finally reach the center of the Earth, deep inside a dormant volcano situated in Iceland. As you can expect, after their adventures they’d want to return to the world outside, so the second half of the movie revolves around their repeated attempts to escape from the center of the earth.

The many near-death encounters that they face while trying to find an exit to civilisation, such as the prehistoric creatures that try to eat them up, and the maneuvering around the delicate rock floors, really make you wonder what the 3 characters did in their past lives to survive countless close shaves.

Even though those thrilling elements set your heart-pounding non-stop, the plot which makes reference to the seminal work of Jules Verne, holds far-fetched and illogical ideas. This shouldn’t be too surprising, considering the sci-fi novel was penned in 1864, when people had a far more primitive notion of what is possible.

Eye Candy

The centre of the earth looks like a depiction of paradise from a fantasy painting with its lush greenery and luminous waterfalls. And the prehistoric animal that dwells in the center of the earth looks so believable that you can almost picture it sitting next to you in the movie theatre. Adding another point to the movie’s “eye candy” factor are the shots of the mountains filmed on location in Iceland.

With so many CGI effects such as the throughout the movie such as the flashes of lightning at the underground beach and the gorgeous scenery at the centre of the earth, the actors managed to work cleverly around the green screen, and did a remarkable job of making their interactions with the surroundings appear natural and convincing. The actors also have good chemistry with one another, which only makes the movie more of a joy to watch.

The Verdict

If you can suspend disbelief, Journey to The Center of the Earth is an action-packed, CGI-filled, and science fiction movie for those who enjoy a thrilling movie experience similar to that of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Movie Details

Opens: 7 August 2008
Movie Rating: PG
Running Time: 93 mins
Language: English
Director: Eric Brevig
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem

Treat yourself to a well-deserved holiday, planned entirely by yourself. Joyce See shows the way.

More Singaporean youths are travelling independently and loving it.

Timothy Ong, 19, an Information Technology graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, planned his fi rst trip to Bangkok when he was 17.

Timothy says, “It helps to travel with people who have travelled on their own before.”

Similarly, Singapore Polytechnic graduate Felicia Chow, 21, first made an independent trip with her
friends to Bangkok when she was 16.

Four girls in a foreign land certainly don’t paint a very safe picture. “Tourist-friendly places generally are quite safe. But when my group split up, I always make sure I’ve got at least one other person with me,” says Felicia.

Managing your dollars and cents

For those who are planning your first trip, here are some details on how much you have to set aside.

Timothy opts for online bookings for both hotels and flight tickets. He estimates spending $320 on a two-way plane ticket and accommodation for his week-long Bangkok trip.

Felicia spent $560 on a two-way plane ticket and accommodation for a five-day trip to Hong Kong. She was shocked at what her backpacker’s inn had to offer. “What you pay is what you get,” she says.

More detailed planning is needed.

Low Lai Chow, 26, editor of Youth.SG, recently backpacked across Europe herself. “Research” and “blending in” are the two musts on a trip. “Try to get in touch with locals, of friends or virtual travel communities before you leave home. Check if they can bring you around or advise you,” she suggests.

Lai Chow continues, “As long as you do your research, avoid war zones, have common sense and etiquette for the local customs and culture of wherever you’re going, you should fare pretty well. It might not be as glam as touring Europe but it’s intriguing nonetheless.”

Brian Lim, who visited Beijing in April on a study trip, discovers that China’s capital has been transformed from a backward place to a sprawling metropolis with the advent of the Beijing Olympics 2008.

It was my first time stepping into China and I expected Beijing to be a place of rich cultural and historical significance as it served as China’s capital since the Ming and Qing dynasties. The April chill greeted us, four lecturers and 40 students from the Ngee Ann Polytechnic School of Film & Media Studies, as we embarked on a study trip to produce a coffee-table book, a Chinese Opera website and several documentaries.

But as the plane touched down on the tarmac, I was struck by the new Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport. It is a structure of astounding proportions, a sleek creation of glass, steel and aluminium, with skylights riding along the spine; all details that are vaguely reminiscent of a Chinese dragon.

The grandeur of Terminal 3 mirrors that of the famous Forbidden City, as its design and decoration features many traditional Chinese elements. Even the giant copper vats we saw in the Forbidden City used to store water for fire fighting made an appearance in the terminal.

Sir Norman Foster, a renowned British architect, specially designed it to handle the expected traffic for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games in August. It is China’s gargantuan gateway to the rest of the world, and it marks the start of a new era for China.

That was our entrance into Beijing as we stepped through customs (where we’re now pointed to the “Foreigners” queue, not “Aliens”). On the way to the hotel, we had our first look at Beijing. If we were expecting rickety rickshaws and dull buildings, we were sorely disappointed.

The capital is dotted with signs of a mega plan to give the city a new look. Old buildings are taken apart to make way for newer ones. In Wangfujing, a popular place for shoppers where we spent a few hundred (some even a few thousand) yuan, construction sites are promising signs of even more merchandise.

Their transport systems have also been upgraded. Since 2004, another Ring Road (their sixth so far) was added, together with a batch of major expressways to facilitate traffic movement during the Olympics. Three more subway lines are set to open by August, making it a total number of eight subway lines.

And while the Great Wall of China is a famous attraction (we visited the Badaling section, within the municipality of Beijing) winding 4.8km over rolling mountains, the subways were an equally impressive construction as 142km of tracks snake beneath the city.

Much to my amusement, I found that even people who have lived in Beijing for over two years have to consult maps. Their transport system is simply too big to navigate from memory! Our routes had to be planned before we stepped out of the hotel or we ran the risk of being lost (which is not a funny thing when you’re in Beijing).

There are other changes tourists will surely appreciate – the toilets are generally cleaner, smoking has been banned in most public places and the signs in English are less “humourous” (“No Speaking Handphones on the Great Wall” made many of us chuckle).

Perhaps the most enthralling thing about Beijing is the blend of old and new. Whether you’re looking for the cultural or the contemporary, there’s something to appreciate. Even with the economic burst and rapid expansion Beijing retains much of its old charm, and it’s evident in almost every facet of the city. Hou Hai, primarily a nightlife district, is an attraction for many local youths. There are so many pubs and bars to choose from that we were spoilt for choice. But within the same district, traditional hutong are open for public tours.

And the many cinemas that bring in blockbuster hits are a sharp contrast to the more traditional places of entertainment – Beijing has a number of theatres dedicated to Chinese Opera, and a few of us had a taste of the various opera types (together with acrobats and magic) in Lao She Cha Guan, a famous teahouse where performances are held.

I came home with a new impression of Beijing as a place of intrigue. The Olympics has spurred China to put its best foot forward, and come the grand opening of the Games in August, the world will see its remarkable metamorphosis into a cosmopolitan metropolis.

Marvel Comics’ famous green monster, The Incredible Hulk, returns to the big screen a second time after Oscars Award Winner Ang Lee’s take in 2003.

Typical Superhero Plot

Famous Marvel comics, such as Spiderman and Superman, follow the simple and generic plot of good versus bad with super powers of some sort, with the superheroes ultimately triumphing over evil. The story of The Incredible Hulk revolves around that plot, but with a small twist to the storyline.

In this case, it’s the fight between Hulk (Edward Norton) the villain and Blonsky (William Roth) the righteous soldier in the first part of the movie. The good and evil roles later make a complete switch towards the second half of the movie when Blonsky gradually turns into the Abomination, a beast that Hulk must fight to save New York City from total destruction. (Read more)

Best known for his catch phrase “What’s up, dawg?” during all seasons of American Idol as a panel judge, Randy Jackson has now put himself on the receiving end of brickbats and bouquets, as he releases an album showcasing a star-studded cast of singers from Paul Abdul to Mariah Carey, alongside unheard-of newcomers in the music industry such as Kelli Love and Crunk Squad.

Before American Idol

As familiar as we have become with this hulk of a man thanks to his presence on well-known American Idol, it’s easy to forget that Jackson is really more a behind-the-scenes musician and music producer who’s had more than 20 years of experience in the industry working with big names such as Aretha Franklin, Bon Jovi and Mariah Carey.

He’s played bass for Madonna, Herbie Hancock and even toured with Mariah Carey. He hosts a radio countdown show Randy Jackson’s Hit List on American radio network, Westwood One.

With a remarkable resume to boast, many years of experience, and so much exposure on television, it’s no surprise that Jackson has decided to release an album to showcase just that.

Return of Paula Abdul and the American Idol Alumni

Randy Jackson Music Club Vol. 1 also marks a return of fellow American Idol judge, Paula Abdul, after a 20-year absence in the recording studio. Her song “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow”, the only single released from the album, sounds like it stepped straight out from the 80s with its funky dance beats and Paula’s vocoded voice in the chorus. The catchy and upbeat tune makes you literally want to sing and “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” which was premiered on Feb 21 on season 7 of American Idol.

Paula Abdul isn’t the only person from American Idol who collaborated with Randy Jackson in this album. Katherine McPhee and Elliot Yamin, the first and second runner-ups on season 5 of American Idol, perform a duet on the track “Real Love”, a cover of Lee Ryan’s song from his debut and eponymous solo album. This track highlights the 2 singers’ powerful and soulful voices, and strong vocal range.

Notable tracks on the album

British songstress and powerhouse, Joss Stone, also collaborates with Randy Jackson on the second track “Just Walk On By”. With lots of urban drumbeats and minimum music accompaniment, it takes a big voice like Stone’s with a matching carefree personality to pull off such a music score.

The last track of the album is “I Understand”, an uplifting bluesy gospel song featuring Mariah Carey as background vocals, which is a waste of talent for a singer who has 18 number 1 hits on the Billboard Charts. Don’t expect too much singing from her as her part consists of nothing but her signature squeaky super high whistle notes only dolphins seem capable of producing.

The only other notable track on the album is “Something To Believe In” by trio Van Hunt, Jon McLaughlin and Jason Mraz. The Pop-rock number is a slow and soothing one with a standard ensemble of instruments, including the piano and the guitar. The voices sound harmonious with the soothing melody, without any blatant attempt from any singer to outdo one another.

The Not-so-nice Tracks

The rest of the tracks, as fellow American Idol judge, Simon Cowell would say “are forgettable performances”. The vocal ability of the singers is often there, but they lack a unique characteristic in their voices that would distinguish them from their competitors.

In general, the 12-track Randy Jackson’s Music Club Vol. 1 lacks musical direction and a focused genre. It consists of songs from genres such as Pop, Pop-rock, Rap, R&B, and Gospel. Lovers of certain genres of music might find themselves skipping tracks because they’re not fans of another genre.

That said, Randy Jackson has done a good job in improving covers such as “Wang Dang Doodle” and “Real Love”.

The Verdict

The few tracks that stood out are “Dance Like No Tomorrow”, “Just Walk On By” and duet “Real Love”. Despite their vocal talents, the rest of the singers tend to sound generic with nothing special to offer.

Instead of buying the entire album, downloading the individual songs online might be a better decision to make if you wish to support singers such as Paula Abdul, Joss Stone and Katherine McPhee.

UrbanWire rates Randy Jackson’s Music Club Vol. 1: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Hansel And Gretel isn’t a movie to bring your little siblings to, even if the title seems to imply that it’s a remake of the famous Brothers Grimm fairytale story we knew as kids.

Remake is too strong a word for something that’s only loosely based on the tale of the 2 siblings who find a house made entirely of confectionery in the middle of the forest.

Synopsis

The Korean, not German, horror film kicks off with Eun-Soo (Chun Jeong-myoung) waking up from a coma in a dark forest. He meets a young girl, Young Hee (Shim Eun-kyoung), who brings him to her unreal edible house in the middle of the forest.

In the house, he meets the other 2 siblings of the young girl, Man Bok (Eun Won-jae) and Jung Soon (Jin Ji-hee). Subsequently, creepy events begin to occur following the disappearance of the children’s parents.

One Scary Happening After The Other

Despite having good sound effects to go with the creepy happenings, there is no gore whatsoever and the tried and tested scare tactics such as the drifting shadows in the night, creaking doors and the unknown footsteps are unoriginal and overly used. The story of Hansel And Gretel tends to drag on in the beginning.

Hair-raising events created by the sleepwalking Young Hee and the psychic Man Bok, which employ the use of unoriginal scare tactics, happen frequently throughout the first part of the movie, without any real story development or rationale. Because the creepy events are not that scary to the extent that you’d cover your eyes, Hansel And Gretel can be strenuous to watch especially when you’ve seen scarier movies.

If you can wait for an hour, the second part, however, is when the movie really starts. The reasons for the creepy occurrences are explained through flashbacks and emotional scenes, so the movie becomes much clearer.

Typical of most Korean films and dramas, the film ends with a long series of tearful and emotional scenes, where the actors’ acting abilities are put to test.

Even though the child actors have little experience in acting, having starred in a few never-aired-in-Singapore Korean TV series such as The Legend, Yellow Handkerchief and Fashion 70s, they handled the emotional scenes like pros. Not only is their acting natural and believable, they ably show a good range of sad emotions in their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions, which goes to show that they do more than just cry to express their sadness. Sad emotions aside, the children contrast this somber mood well through their cheerful and playful personalities at the beginning of the movie with their believable laughter and smiles, Hansel And Gretel is a perfect movie to showcase their versatility as actors, specifically their ability to take on vastly different set of personalities, acting out sad, scary and jovial emotions.

Impressive Cinematography

Good acting aside, Hansel And Gretel looks good to watch, boasting great set design, creating fantasy-like visuals that go hand in hand with the impressive cinematography. This is no surprise as Production Designer, Ryu Seong-hee, is responsible for overall visuals for violent action movies, A Bittersweet Life, and thriller, Old Boy, which is based on a Japanese Manga series of the same name.

Even though the 3-storey fairytale-like house is not made from candy like the original tale, it lives up to its description with beautiful antique furniture and ornaments, with hundreds and hundreds of broken toys strewn all over the house, that is also not part of the original Hansel And Gretel story. The old fashioned and broken toys give an impression that the children living in the house have been neglected.

The children’s costumes match the set design perfectly and are reminiscent of the Japanese Lolita subculture. The intricate patterns and Victorian-inspired dresses that the children wear, give a childlike yet surreal feel about their characters.

The contrast of soft light and a dark background in many scenes accurately conveys the fantasy-like but eerie tone in the film. The colours in the shots stand out as soft and luminous – almost like a watercolour painting.

However, the hand-held cam shots tend to be slightly bumpy. Even though they emphasise tension in the scenes, they can be dizzy to watch.

The Verdict

Following in the footsteps of other K-horror (Korean horror films) films such as Cinderella about plastic surgery obsessed girls, and A Tale Of Two Sisters about 2 mentally-ill girls and their possessed mother, Hansel And Gretel is simply another addition to this popular genre in Korean films.

If you are a big fan of K-horror films, you could miss the first hour of the movie because of the cliche and over-the-top horror scenes. Just figure on waking up/returning the restroom for the second part.

The cinematography, set design and costumes are definitely elements to look out for in Hansel And Gretel. And you won’t be covering your eyes during the horror scenes, this UrbanWire reporter assures you.

UrbanWire gives Hansel and Gretel 1 out of 5 stars for horror.

UrbanWire gives Hansel and Gretel 2 out of 5 stars overall.

Movie Details

Opens: Apr 27

Movie Rating: PG

Running Time: 117 mins

Language: Korean with English and Chinese subtitles

Cast: Chun Jeong-myoung, Eun Won-jae, Shim Eun-kyoung, Jin Ji-hee

Director: Yim Phil-sung

If you’re looking forward to this movie simply because of Paris Hilton, you’ll be very disappointed, because even die-hard fans of Hilton have been turning their back on this film. At least that’s what a weekend’s worth of domestic box-office takings of US$27,700, according to Box Office Mojo, should suggest. In the same time, the website cited teen pregnancy comedy Juno for raking in a phenomenal US$4.6 million.

What Plot?

To be sure the plot of The Hottie and Nottie is cliche, borrowing successful elements of sweet loser rediscovers childhood sweetheart and schemes to get her, together with gross jokes, from 1998’s There’s Something About Mary, and fix up undesirable sister (or in this case best friend) of said sweetheart from Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, so she can be free to fall in love.

In this case, it is Nate (Joel Moore), who’s had the biggest crush on Cristabel since elementary school, who desperately sets her best gal pal and pug-ugly June up with dates, to woo Cristabel, who notes that she and her best friend “don’t get much action”.

Unfortunately, it only requires a nanomillimeter of your brain to watch this movie. The plot is so brainless that you can practically be sleepwalking and still predict the outcome of events in the movie.

The underlying premise may be that beauty is more than skin deep, which is why Nate eventually falls out of love with Cristabel and develops feelings for June.

But how true does this idealistic drivel ring when it only happens after June undergoes an extreme makeover, and suddenly also loses all the gross habits such as the flicking of a diseased toenail to a potential date, that made her the nightmare date of the 21st century?

The Two Performers

It doesn’t surprise anyone that Hilton plays Cristabel, the “Hottie”, in the movie. After all she has the figure and the willingness to flaunt it. But for someone who has hundreds of actor friends, you’d think she’d at least pick up a few acting tips along the way, as her acting is extremely ghastly.

For the most part, Paris Hilton deliberately puts on a high-pitched cutesy voice that grates your nerves, you’d want to cut off her helium supply. If that’s not irritating enough, she moves her head around constantly when she’s talking – a sign that she’s nervous in front of the camera even though her character is supposed to be a super confident Hottie. It also makes you think she’s reading off cue cards.

She’d have done a whole lot better if she had displayed the same enthusiasm and fire in her debut film One Night In Paris.

Which makes it all even easier for mostly TV actress Christina Lakin to outshine Hilton in the movie. Lakin plays June, the “Nottie”, a girl so physically repulsive that UrbanWire is certain that Hilton will not want to be friends with her in real life.

Unlike Hilton, Lakin, who had her TV debut in 1991, is a natural in front of the camera, despite the make-up that has transformed her physical beauty into its opposite. She also manages to portray the change in June’s character throughout the process of her makeover very subtly but precisely, bv toning down the obnoxious body language and tone of voice.

Having acted in films such as The Game Plan, which has a total local box office earnings of $1,074,592, and Georgia Rule, the Lindsay Lohan movie that’s only released on DVD in Singapore, Lakin is wasted on this poor excuse of a movie, though she is up for roles in 3 upcoming movies which are yet to be released – Red Canyon, Super Capers and Patsy.

Too much talking

To up the boring factor, The Hottie And The Nottie is crammed with lots of dialogues, most of which are cheesy, corny and provides little development to the story, such as “the hotness of one girl is directly proportional to the ugliness of her best friend”, “a life without orgasms is like a life without flowers” and “She has teeth, they’re just not the conventional shape”.

Cinematography

The slow motion shots, especially on Hilton, are particularly pointless and evocative of the advertisement she shot for fast food joint Carl’s Jr., or any Baywatch episode. We already know how hot her character is, and if that’s the main point of the movie, it needn’t have run for 90 minutes.

Abrupt scene transitions were jarring and only worsen the audience’s experience.

Surprisingly, Tom Putnam, the director of The Hottie And The Nottie is a 9 time award-winning director/writer/producer. His autobiographical independent film Tom Hits His Head alone, won 8 awards in film festivals such as the Ashland Independent Film Festival and the SXSW Film Festival. This commercial release of The Hottie And The Nottie does not do his resume nor his talent justice.

The Verdict

If you try hard enough, you might be able to find, in the movie, important lessons of lifelong friendship and the importance of never judging a book by cover – all of which are trite, but the audience can identify with.

However, it’s too much of an insult to lay on the cheesy lines, wooden acting, or an immature and unoriginal storyline. Hilton’s desperate attempt at proving herself to be a talented individual by playing the hot and desirable girl, a role she is familiar with in real life. This only makes the movie funnier – for all the wrong reasons.

This film definitely scores an “A”-for-effort from Christina Lakin, but a “F”-for-performance from Paris Hilton. Watch at your own risk.

UrbanWire gives The Hottie and The Nottie 1 out of 5 stars

Movie Details

Opens: Apr 17

Movie Rating: PG

Running Time: 90 mins

Language: English

Cast: Paris Hilton, Joel Moore, Christine Lakin

Director: Tom Putnam