THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

Following his highly successful adaptation of Lord of the Rings, director Peter Jackson tackled another classic, Cooper and Schoedsack’s King Kong (1933). Of course, he had a far bigger budget, and it shows in this latest version. Jackson’s Kong is an epic, though the story remains about the same: An ambitious, ruthless moviemaker persuades his cast to travel to the mysterious Skull Island, where they discover a giant gorilla. Indeed, this is the most expensive film made since Titanic – USD 207 million (equal to the total Chinese box-office revenue for 2005) – and much of the cash was spent to grand affect. Emotions, action and special effects are state of the art, which is to say they are overblown. True, Jackson has worked hard on character development, and roughly the first third of this three-hour long movie serves to introduce the players. The 7.6m ape appears some 70 minutes into the film, and he does look real, courtesy of the motion-capture technique (the same used for Gollum in the Rings trilogy). That said, this high-tech, megabuck version has nothing on the original.
Universal Pictures/UIP

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

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Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
March 2006 issue

In 2005, the Hong Kong international Film Festival paid tribute to actor/producer/singer Andy Lau Tak-wah (A World without Thieves) for his quantitative and qualitative participation in the film industry. This book, published in English and traditional Chinese covers Lau’s thirty years in the business. For those of you not familiar with Lau, he’s known as the Chinese James Dean – although he claims Marlon Brando as an early inspiration. Of course, Lau is alive and Dean and Brando are not, so Lau aged 44, has quite a few more film credits, 120, to be exact. This book includes an excellent in-depth interview with Lau, as well as film reviews and interesting, quirky essays on topics ranging from Lau’s ‘eagle eye’ acting style, to his hair-style and his position (he’s an idol) in the industry. Strangely, there’s not one word on the man’s long and successful musical career, or the film companies he formed to produce his own movies and promote the independent filmmaking scene, or his influence on cinema, or even his personal life. In short, the editor has narrowed his focus strictly to Lau’s acting.
HKIFF Society/available at http://www.hkiff.org.hk

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

You’ll likely read Bangkok 8 from cover to cover in one night. Set in an imaginary Bangkok, and written as a thriller, the novel concerns the twin pillars of Thai society: Buddhism and its material counterpart, the four G’s, guns, girls, gambling and ganja. Thai cops Sonchai and his soul brother Pichai are devout Buddhists following the path to enlightenment. They’re not on the take, which is to say they are a rare breed. Sonchai is investigating the murder of a US marine sergeant; in the process he encounters drug and gem dealers, killer snakes high on yaa baa, a charming FBI agent and katooeys galore. As the case proceeds, Pichai is killed and Sonchai sets out to avenge his death using modern policing techniques and his own profound understanding of the spirit world. At this stage, the novel delves deep into the world of Buddhist beliefs and karmic principles. In short, the book combines entertainment with thought-provoking perspectives on prostitution, corruption, religion and the value of life. A compelling read.
Corgi/available at http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

http://www.zefrank.com

This entertaining site is ranked among the 2005 Top 50 coolest entertainment websites by Time.com. Why? Because online performer, humorist and freelance designer Frank found that with a digital camera – his birthday gift – and Internet access, the possibilities are infinite. Possibilities to play around and goof off. If you’ve time on your hands at the office, during a dull holiday, or at home while your bitter half cleans the floor; well, Frank’s site offers 101 ways to kill time. Divided into eight sections, zefrank.com has some hilarious educational videos (try the cult favorite: “Dance Properly”), idiotic interactive toys (draw your mother a face), photo contests on any given subject (“Participate”) and games (check out the Buddhist one). All this on a wonderfully designed, interactive, multimedia (video, music, flash, etc.) wacky website. Oh, Frank posts his peculiar art and poetry, too. Totally useless, and thus indispensable.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

http://www.answers.com

Internet search engines are cool tools but hardly specific: type in a query and you get a seemingly endless list of hyperlinks in an all but unfiltered and unstructured form. Answers.com, however, provides a far tidier reply. This site delivers multi-faceted definitions and explanations from credible, attributable reference sources (Houghton Mifflin, Columbia University Press and Merriam Webster, to name but a few) on over one million topics – all in a snapshot. Answers’ database collects information form more than 100 encyclopedias, dictionaries, glossaries and atlases; indeed, the site operates much like an online encyclopedia, offering standard definitions, biographies, alternative meanings, essential links and translations. Users can download a variety of free and safe tools (no viruses, no spywares) such as a search engine field to add to your tool bar. Another optional download, ’1-Click Answers’ allows users to search any word in any program on your screen for instant, accurate definitions and facts. Getting answers has never been so easy.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

Recently, Chinese action movies have been breaking into overseas markets, opening doors with a powerful kick one might say. But far from being looked down upon as “niche films” or direct-to-video products, these Kung Fu flicks (Hero, Kung-Fu Hustle, Fearless) are vying for the top prize at all the prestigious film festivals, and winning lucrative international distribution deals.

True, way back in the early 1970s Bruce Lee had popularized sword scraping action and swift kicks to the groin, but in those days the films were not taken seriously; indeed, it has taken decades for this kind of cinematic language to enter the mainstream. But the chop-socky action picture has come of age with big budgets, Hollywood-style special effects and savvy marketing.
Take, for example, Dragon Tiger Gate (DTG), a co-production of three great Chinese studios – Hong-Kong Mandarin Films, Beijing Polybona Film and Shanghai Film Group. The film is an adaptation of the 1970s Hong Kong comic book of the same name written by Tony Wong Yuk-long. It features three upright brothers – played by Donnie Yen (S.P.L), Nicholas Tse (The Promise) and Shawn Yue (Initial D) – who fight organized crime and bring justice to Asia.
“This comic book talks a lot about righteousness … the main theme we’d like to bring to the audience,” says Hong Kong filmmaker Wilson Yip Wai-sun (S.P.L., 2005). The elements are hardly original – violence meets morality in a simplistic plot – but movie moguls have seldom gone broke by underestimating the audience’s intelligence.
Producer Raymond Wong, bills DTG as ”a big cinematic event in 2006”, and hopes the film will outperform an earlier, and rather similar, work, Seven Swords (which Wong produced in 2005). To be released this summer, DTG, like Seven Swords, has a big budget (RMB 80 million) and is chock-a-block with fighting scenes and special effects.

Indeed, the film might very well be just the sort of project Bruce Lee would trade his black belt for were he alive. It certainly carries on his tradition, including his weapon of choice, nunchakus, which is a handy instrument with which to beat righteousness into one’s opponent. Yes, this film is ultra-violent, but Yip claims the violence is not gratuitous. “As long as the motive behind [it] is to uphold righteousness, the action scenes in the film won’t be considered as violence,” he claims.
Perhaps. But when the nunchakus are flying who really cares?

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2006 issue

In the modern world, it’s not easy to be a virgin, especially if you happen to be forty years old. Andy Stitzer is one of these rare specimens, and his sex-obsessed co-workers decide to help him find a mate, which is easier said than done. The plot, such as it is, sounds conventional and it is – but the film never falls into the standard teen movie boob-ytraps. Director Judd Apatow, producer of The Ben Stiller Show and director of the TV-series Undeclared, skillfully portrays a cast of horrendous, sex-crazed characters with wit. The adult-orientated humor may be a bit heavy-handed at times, yet Apatow makes it all seem engaging.
That said, the message here seems to be that sexual abstinence before marriage is a good thing. The lead character is happy with his non-existent sex life, while his sexually active co-workers are either weirdoes, losers or victims of unhappy relationships. The female characters are wracked with guilt – either unmarried pregnant teens or single mothers. The only people who enjoy post-marital sex are those who are without sin. Perhaps the film’s investors are members of the religious right. Spooky.
Universal Pictures DreamWorks SKG

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

A young, attractive and dedicated hotel manager takes a much delayed red eye from Dallas to Miami on her way back to work at a 5-star hotel. To reveal any more of the plot would spoil the fun. This highly suspenseful film, full of surprising twists, is directed by Wes Craven, the so-called “King of Horror” (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream). Yet, here he’s opted for a subtle Hitchockian approach, one that takes a simple story (two main characters, banal situations) and transforms it into something extraordinary. In practical terms that means there’s no room here for that cliché of the teen horror flick; yet there’s still a maniac waving a butcher’s knife around. Rather, Red Eye is a mature adult thriller that still has its share of shock value, albeit of a subtler variety. The story is indeed easy to relate to; the script, based on the common experience of sitting next to a total stranger in an airplane swiftly involves the audience.
Adding to that credible performances from the leads and a classical, yet efficient mise-en-scene, and Red Eye provides one tight, solid and breathtaking romp through the upper stratosphere.
DreamWorks SKG

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

The usual animated movies offered during the holiday season are slow-paced and mawkish, barely good enough to keep kids quiet. Not so this film directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?); who once again displays his knack for successful family entertainment. With the help of longtime friend Tom Hanks (playing five characters here), he adapts the classic book written and illustrated by a respected name in children’s literature, Chris Van Allsburg. The story relates a journey onboard The Polar Express train to the North Pole during Christmas Eve. To bring Van Allsburg’s tale to life, the Oscar-winning filmmaker uses the amazing motion-capture technique, which captures an actor’s live performance and uses it as a blueprint for creating virtual characters. This renders the slightest facial expression extremely real. In other words The Polar Express is to animation what genuine turkey is to the processed sort. Kids and adults will be entranced. Indeed, the producers believe in the product: to re-watch this box-office hit all year round, CAV Warner China will offer three DVD versions: a single disc; a two-disc edition with extras; and a gift set with two DVDs plus a collectible snow globe.
CAV Warner

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

O.C. stands for Orange County, California, more specifically, Newport Beach, a community for the rich and famous. The teenaged sons and daughters of the rich and famous, are, of course, spoiled rotten, though surprisingly well behaved: they seem to divide their time between charity work and partying. Homework is not an option. Young Ryan Atwood is something of an exception: he’s saddled with a delinquent brother, an alcoholic mother and an absent father; he’s a good student, but prone to trouble. Enter attorney Sandy Cohen – the sweetest proxy dad you could ever dream of – who adopts Atwood. He does his best to be a good son, but he soon realizes that life in Orange County is not as ideal as it appears; on the contrary it is a world of lies, back-stabbing and vengeance. But somehow, it all turns out just fine. This series is not about tragedy; each episode delivers 45 minutes of feel-good TV, full of lighthearted comedy, mild drama and the occasional twist. The dialogue is sometimes corny and situations cheesy, yet the multi-layered generational issues and the overall optimistic feeling somehow works, making this a must-see series that will appeal to more than just privileged Californians.
Warner Bros/Fox

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Songwriters, composers, performers and vocalists Fu Zi and Wang Juan have come up with something altogether original: a winning blend of electronic music and ballads. The result is a thirty-minute album of trip hop and downtempo music. Devoid of fancy accompaniment, Gemini Trip offers a musical texture compatible with vocals, a combination that leaves room for the listener’s interpretation. Released on the Beijing-based electronic sub-label Guava, this CD is something of a work in progress; each builds on the previous, and the sound constantly evolves in new directions. The first track, “Gemini Trip” guides listeners through a world of sequencer beats and soothing atmospheric pulses. Hypnotic trip-hop, mellow vocals from Wang and syncopated reggae rhythms follow (“Drip” and “Affection”). From this point, the sound becomes more organic and beats are boosted with synthesizer loops, animal screeches, bird cries, cave ambiance sound and water drop echoes (“Solo Trip” and “Pico Bird”). Non-virtual instruments take control from track six onward: A melodeon suggests carousel music (“Tango ends”) while Fu displays his musical drift in a one-minute cello piece. The last track, a string version of “Tango Ends” offers a purely melodic finale. Fresh and intense, this is one CD that grows better with time.
Modern Sky/Guava

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Another release from iconoclast Liu Xing, whose series of albums bear more connection to world music and new age works than to Brit pop or rap music, though he is known for blending traditional music with Western sounds. Born in Heilongjiang, Liu began studying the yue qin (or moon mandolin) at 12, was admitted by the Shanghai Music Conservatory at 16 and graduated at 20. Proficient with many types of instruments – shu di (clarinet), percussion, bass, zhong ruan (alto long-necked lute) and other string instruments – he’s composed many works. They include classical orchestral pieces (Chinese Orchestral Symphony No.2, Violin Concerto or Erhu Concerto) as well as a number of new-age and world-music albums (The Lake, The Tree or the Fading Village). His eighth album Oceania (2004), inspired by documentaries about the South Pacific islands, incorporates electronic vibes and nature noises (water drops, bird noises, animal grunts) into traditional Chinese music. The distinctive sound has a rich and atmospheric texture, and evokes a walk along the cliffs in one of these dream archipelagos. With Oceania, Liu, acknowledged as China’s contemporary world music pioneer, challenges local copycats of foreign acts to try harder.
Bandu Music/available at http://www.bandumusic.com

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Meng Qi (Mengite) is a young self-taught Chinese electronic-music artist, an expert in beats that directly affect the part of the brain which controls headshakes and hip-swinging. Call it drum ‘n bass, drill ‘n bass, break-beat, chiptune (music synthesized in real-time by sound chips) or psychedelic trance; categorization is futile here. Though Meng has no professional training, he clearly loves music; indeed, he began to play electronic music at age 14. So far, he’s completed more than a thousand musical works, influenced by British electronic-music artists such as Squarepusher, Roni Size and Aphex Twin. With that many recordings, he dramatically increased the odds that he would be noticed. Such was the case in 2004, when one of his demo albums, Vernal Rain, attracted the attention of music moguls. That same year, Meng and French electronic musician Naibu produced the single Cong Lin, which was played over European electronic-music radio stations. In 2005, he signed with the Muzicolor record company and started his own sub-label Mengite, producing and promoting electronic works – and he’s not even 20 yet! The highly-gifted Meng spent the following six months polishing this, his official debut album, Landscape in Love, a smooth drum-and-bass release with melodic hooks and mesmerizing loops.
Mengite/Muzicolor/available at http://www.muzicolor.com

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

The original Franz Ferdinand wasn’t a Glasgow rocker with an attitude. Rather he was an Austrian archduke, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination in 1914 triggered the outbreak of World War I and changed the world. Franz Ferdinand, the indie-rock band, however, aims for world impact of another sort: since their 2001 debut, they’ve made music “that girls can dance to”. Indeed, their brand of post-punk, garage rock and stomping new wave is an open invitation to shake your booty (“This Boy” and “Outsiders”). Influenced by the 1960s Kinks and Beatles, David Bowie circa Boys Keep Swinging, 1980s rock and new-wave acts like XTC (despite their denial), the band features scratchy guitars, percussive sounds and jerking techno beats. Their lyrics are intentionally cryptic, many of which have a double meaning (“The Fallen”). So cryptic, that the lyrics have to be explained to the band members before they play the music. This release, even tastier than the debut Franz Ferdinand, might not change the rock world but it’s a chart-topping good-humored album with better things to come: Franz promise to record an even greater third album after their massive 2006 world tour. Domino

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
February 2006 issue

In March 2005, Shanghai-based music producer Liu Xing embarked on a ten-day journey to the Miao ethnic communities of southeastern Guizhou province. There, life is as basic as it gets. Nevertheless, Liu, the devout musicologist, recorded various Miao songs using what equipment he could find. And in the process, he discovered just how important music is to Miao culture. Their high-pitched melodies have a higher purpose than mere rhythm. Indeed, the 5,000 years of Miao history is transmitted from generation to generation by song. The Miao culture is an oral one. As such, music is everything: a means to convey history and wisdom, and also an act of celebration, recitation or commemoration of national accomplishment. This release includes a 26-page bilingual booklet (Chinese/English) with a brief introduction to the Miao’s culture, their history and, of course, their music. It also includes a diary that provides insight into the recording session, the reclusive Miao lifestyle and the warmth of the people. Above all, the music speaks for itself: with the delicate sounds of the lusheng, a reed-type wind instrument, entering into the rich cultural heritage of the Miao people is a luxury we all can afford.
Bandu Music,1/F, Bldg.11, 50 Moganshan Rd (6276 8267)

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
February 2006 issue