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

If pop rock and Brit pop are the most popular music genres in Shanghai, The Lanterns manage to have it their own way. The band of five’s debut album/demo To The Light House proves that dazzling guitar riffs, mesmerizing vocals and sonic melodies aren’t only the prerogative of US alternative-rock bands. “Turn Into cloud” (“Zhuan Duo Yun”) and “Nearly Got rescued” (“Ji Hu Bei Zheng Jiu”) could top charts – if any producers deign to lay an eye, or an ear on them and bet the money. Although The Lanterns don’t break new grounds in the rock music world, they deliver ten deeply enjoyable and beautifully written tunes. A very promising start. A new album is currently on its way - still between the mixing table and the CD press. Who said Shanghai bands are not up to the task?
The Lanterns Music

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

This second album from the indie-rock band Super VC (in Chinese “Fruit Taste Vitamin C”) is a tasty surprise. They’ve pushed their sound a bit further after their debut Dual Life released in 2001, but there is no denying their dream noise-rock sound is intact. With Dublin noise-band My Bloody Valentine among their main influences, this Irish-British quartet was typed “shoe-gazers” by the British press, after the tendency of this subculture to stare at their feet while on stage. Probably not short of vitamin C, Super VC doesn’t need to bend the head, but their array of shoe-gazer elements -- a wall of sound with thick, multi-layered guitars and subdued vocals, never overwhelms their strong sense of melody. All said, Super VC are no clones; hey, they even include one song, “Amy & Betty” in French.
Modern Sky

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

This ninth album from L’ Arc-en-Ciel (French for ‘rainbow’) has just been released on Chinese territory by Sony music. The sound from the J-rock band with an old-fashioned rock-n-roll attitude can be described as “Rock FM” a la Guns N’ Roses. The type of uplifting music you’d listen on the radio while driving at full speed on the Ring Road. But their music carries a typical Japanese flair, indeed, most songs could be movie scores for Japanese animation feature films. In fact, “Lost Heaven” is the theme song for Fullmetal Alchemist, a popular animé in the archipelago. With half Japanese/half English lyrics, sharp guitars, aggressive drums and reverberated, tenor vocals, “Awake” is a sample of the best of what the current Japanese music industry has to offer. By the way, last September L’ Arc-en-Ciel performed a unique Chinese gig at the Shanghai Grand Theater with tickets prices at RMB 5,000.
Sony Music

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

At first sight, you might laugh at the flying, cosmic spud on the CD cover, but what’s inside is serious stuff. Make no mistake, lead singer/guitar player Ma Yulong’s sorrowful, shy vocals are not to be taken lightly. The quintet delivers strong bass lines, storming drums, distorted guitar solos, and hushed vocals a la Radiohead or Coldplay, which may not sound original, but is beyond a doubt effective. Sound Fragment (Shengyin Suipian), a Chinese band founded by a poet, a doctor and an art teacher, delivers mesmerizing tunes and catchy, melodic outbursts in their second album. They really get it right towards the second half of the record conveying terrific intensity and power. Pop, funky, jazzy, atmospheric, ghostly at times, even lyrical, but hypnotic all the way, Under Life Is… is one finely and tastefully produced release.
Modern Sky/Badhead Music

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Break beats, samples, solid bass, and funky bits, you’ll get it all from Gorillaz’s long-awaited second studio album – which is even better than the 2001’s debut Gorillaz. England’s most celebrated virtual hip-hop/break-beat/dark pop act was founded by Blur’s Damon Albarn and comic writer Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl) in the late 90s. At the time, however, there was much speculation about the identity of the members of this band, but that was all part of the fun. Turned out the band was virtual! In fact, the animated character/performer Noodle is a ten-year-old Japanese guitar virtuoso and martial-arts master! Bits and bobs, sounds and noises are mixed and sampled together with catchy melodies that surface, with a little patience, from each of the 15 tracks. Gorillaz also goes to town with vocals: “Dirty Harry” features the San Fernandez Youth Chorus and “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” the London Community Gospel Choir. Nothing virtual about Demon Days; this is the real thing.
EMI

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

http://wwww.uglydress.com

Internet technology provides many types of services, from cultural to informative to commercial. The web is the perfect way to see the high and low, as well as great and dull of this world. Or, one can spend endless hours on utterly demented websites like “Ugly dress”. Here, the simple and unpretentious concept is to show the very worst of bridal wear, the special outfits that brides made their friends wear on their special day. Yes, this site displays some truly horrendous sartorial mistakes and lives up to its name. This database is a temple of abominable taste. Webmaster Keesha Myas has managed to survive numerous assassination attempts after compiling all the dreadful pictures she received (and categorized) from all over the globe: Ass Widener; Bad Color, Pattern and Shape; Hello Kitty Wedding Dress; Big Ass, Short Skirt; Bad Tuxedo; Condom Dress and so on. Check out the Pregnant Prom Dress, if you dare.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

http://www.shanghaiist.com

Writer Dan Washburn, famous for his city blog, Shanghai Diaries, launched an even more ambitious blog last July; Shanghaiist. This website follows the ‘Gothamist’ concept: a series of highly-successful city blogs founded by Jake Dobkin in New York in 2002. Gothamist.com is one of New York City’s most popular independent websites, with 1.5 million pages viewed per month. It features daily posts about news, events, entertainment and food. London, Los Angeles, Toronto and Paris are among the eleven cities with “-ist” web-magazines. On the look out for whatever happens in Shanghai, a city Washburn clearly loves, it didn’t take him long to make the first “-ist” in Asia a very successful website. Six staff and twenty contributors are necessary to review Shanghai’s gossip, local and national papers, and up-to-date listings. Both Gothamist and Shanghaiist were named a ‘Forbes Favorite’ in Forbes magazine’s ongoing ’Best of the Web’ series.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

A “cliché” may be defined as a trite phrase, one that has become commonplace or over-used. English is full of them and a better understanding of their meaning and proper usage can help make your conversation more accurate – and flamboyant.
In one of Cresswell’s colorful expressions she defines cliché as “a grand truth that doesn’t help anyone”. Fortunately, the author puts together the pieces of the jigsaw in this 1500-cliché dictionary and helps the reader to comprehend their origins, evolutions and usage. This collection of tired expressions collects examples from the eighth century to the twentieth century. That may sound tedious; it’s not. This book provides a fascinating history that’s, well, more fun than a barrel of monkeys. The several hundred hackneyed examples are illustrated with quotations from the famous and infamous. All in all, The Penguin Dictionary of Clichés is an invaluable reference book for anyone interested in the English language.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
Book courtesy Penguin Reference Canada
October 2005 issue

Qipao are amongst the most distinguished and elegant dresses ever made for women. They expose their sleek silhouette and embody the oriental exoticism that has fascinated Westerners for decades. In this book, private collector Beverley Jackson reviews the origin and evolution of this Chinese dress.
Equally a treat for mind and eye, the book is organized in three parts: Shanghai as an East-West meeting point; the history of the qipao; and the evolution of fashion correlated to women’s liberation. Shanghai Girl is both accessible and interesting, as Jackson manages to elaborate on the intricate relationships between Chinese dress, history, Western fashion influence, and custom and moral evolutions in Chinese Confucian society. True, the various parts are somewhat loosely connected; the author’s point isn’t always clear and digressions are frequent. That said, the book does offer some fascinating insights into culture and fashion and looks very nice indeed on the coffee table.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
Book courtesy Ten Speed Press
October 2005 issue

Although a film about antelope poaching in Tibet may not be everyone's cup of yak tea, in his highly acclaimed Mountain Patrol (Kekexili), Xinjiang-born director Lu Chuan tells the valiant story of a group of Tibetans and their battle against such poachers. "To make a film requires a lot of courage," says Lu. Indeed it does. Tackling thorny social issues isn't easy in China and like the mountain patrol, Lu has sometimes had to sacrifice principle for commercial reality.
Lu's sacrifices have not always been restricted to the financial end of things. His first film, The Missing Gun, was a "nightmare" for the young Beijing Film Academy graduate. Two years later, he went back for more, shooting Mountain Patrol on the 5000-meter high Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Warmth and oxygen were luxuries; Lu became severely ill and one member of the production team fell victim to Tibet's notoriously risky roads.
For his hardship he was awarded the chance to represent China in the Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards in March 2006. But the world of film financing being what it is, his newfound fame did little to attract investors, and he had to abandon his plans for Nanking! Nanking! -- a film about the Nanjing Massacre. Yet Lu is not the type to surrender so easily. Like the yaks that graze the Tibetan plateau, he thrives in harsh environments.
His latest project, Border Area (Bian Jiang), is currently in production in the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region. The plot has broad appeal and casting Hong Kong singer/actor Leon Lai should help increase the film's earning potential, so hopes are high. Produced by Huayi Brothers & Taihe Films, Border Area is adapted from the Wang Gang novel "Yinggelishi" with a screenplay written by Lu's father, Lu Tianming. The film follows a Xinjiangnese student who tries to learn English for the love of his classmate; a decision that brings unexpected turns to his life. Something Lu himself should be familiar with.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Wang Xiaoshuai, director of Beijing Bicycle, and more recently Shanghai Dreams, which brought home the Jury Prize at Cannes, met with us at Duolun Museum of Modern Art to discuss the trials and tribulations of filmmaking and deliver a lecture on his craft to an eager audience. The museum was a fitting backdrop for the lecture – as chief curator Gu Zhengqing sees it as “a site to rethink societal problems” a favorite topic for Wang’s company, Sixth-Generation films.

Wang’s lecture, Carving My Time — from The Days to Shanghai Dreams, explored the parallels between life and cinema, and between the lines, the reality of China’s current production methods and distribution.

While Wang Xiaoshuai might be considered successful – he has produced several well-respected works – realizing his dreams in the film industry has proved to be an arduous journey, along a road strewn with compromise.

Shanghai Dreams – the fruit of Wang’s real life experiences growing up in grizzly Guizhou – also serves as a metaphor for the current, rather desperate, situation of the Chinese film industry. As it turns out, the film was no dream to produce. Between having to beg film-star Wang Luodan to participate in the film, and scrounging for money to complete the project, Wang and co-producer Pi Li certainly had a rough go of it.

Their situation is typical of most non-commercial film producers who rely on private investors. With a single phone call, Wang might dial up RMB 500,000 or conversely, struggle for months to scrape together enough coin to cover the basics. Without box office revenues, enticing investors in China is reliably difficult. Most revenue comes from sponsorships – advertisements which air before the film starts. Sponsors therefore see the film as a mere pretext for audiences to watch their commercials. And even with sponsorship and decent box office revenues, many films end up in the red.

Shanghai Dreams came dangerously close. Riding a wave of euphoria following his victory at Cannes, Wang was encouraged by the film’s distribution company to release Shanghai Dreams two months ahead of schedule. Suddenly short of time, Wang cut a few deals and lost 50 per cent of the expected sponsorship revenue. He calculated the risk by banking on an early release and a higher box-office gross improving his chances of securing financing for his next film. The math is straightforward. Shanghai Dreams cost RMB 10 million, and the box-office brought in a “rather satisfying” RMB 3 million. This amount is shared between cinemas, distribution companies, PR agencies and film reproduction labs. International sales, which begin at around RMB 8 million (USD 1 million), 80 per cent of the initial investment – will help recoup costs. In China directors don’t make money with movies. Says Pi: “Our own profit will come from DVDs and CCTV – and it’s a very small profit.”

Despite their sobering financial circumstances, Pi and Wang are optimistic. Together they founded the “Debo” or “Huge Morals” production Company. Both men believe in the old Chinese saying: “With high morals you can solve any problem.” Wang and Pi realize how important it is to offer more opportunities to young filmmakers. “With Debo, we plan to do more commercial projects to support independent films,” explains Pi. A necessary evil perhaps, but one they hope will subsidize a broader array of local artistic films.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
Photo courtesy Hugo Hu www.huphoto.cdd.cn
October 2005 issue

This is not old news; Shanghai Dreams has just been released with English subtitles on DVD, finally giving local audiences the chance to view this Grand Prize winner at the 2005 Cannes film festival. Set in the 1980s, Shanghai Dreams is a return to form for the director whose career has been languishing since his groundbreaking Sixth Generation debut The Days. An exploration of the limits (and betrayals) of authority, the film explores the predicament of a generation whose city-born parents resettled in China’s impoverished interior during the “cultural revolution” to help jump-start the country’s industrial march of progress, but who now yearn to go home as China begins to take its first steps toward economic liberalization.
Wanting a better life for his children, a father repeatedly exhorts his teenage daughter to concentrate on her studies and forces the girl to break off her relationship with her factory-worker sweetheart; events soon take a tragic course. Bleak, yet fascinating.
Zoke Movies

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Within the current state of Hollywood cinema, material to satisfy one’s appetite for well-written drama and well-acted comedy is hard to find. Of course, there’s always TV. And make no mistake, the multi-award winning TV-series Desperate Housewives fills both desires quite nicely, thank-you very much. The story of four bourgeois housewives in an American suburb is a fresh departure from any other TV-series, especially those involving neighbors or family issues. Indeed, the witty, silly, sexy, elegant characters make the 23 episodes attractive to all audiences, young, old, male, female or otherwise.
Skillfully blending drama, romance, thrills and suspense, the series is, at times, a tad surrealistic: the story is told from the viewpoint of the four best friends’ recently dead friend – a suicide no less! Credit should be given to actresses Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Nicollette Sheridan, if not for their fine efforts this US primetime soap wouldn’t rank on the top of the entertainment ladder.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

For a decade, Hollywood director Michael Bay has created a series of commercial successes (Bad Boys II and Pearl Harbor), but somehow his films are often associated with supermarket or popcorn cinema. Sure he delivers entertainment, but his films are quickly seen, and just as quickly forgotten. You can look in vain for any substance – Bay serves up baked-bean movies – they fill the entertainment hole but leave you with nothing more than a little gas. The Island is not much different, though at least it has a plot. A fairly good plot.
The performances from leads Ewan McGregor or Scarlett Johansson are acceptable, but the conspiracy-theory story of this futuristic thriller should keep you guessing until the end. If it doesn’t, well you can imagine you’re watching a 120-minute long commercial; this film features a host of brand name product placements. By the way, Bay’s next project is a live adaptation of the robot TV-series Transformers.
Dream Works SKC & Warner Bros

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Within the current context of the South-Korean film industry, wavering between commercial flicks and copycat productions of Hong Kong and Hollywood films, Kim Ki-duk stands out as an exception. Although very different in subject matter, all his films bear a similar depiction of Korean society’s blending absurdity with sex and violence. A skilled technician and director, Kim has improved with each movie reaching the peak of his art with the gut-wrenching and mesmerizing Samaritan Girl (2004).
Innovative and minimalist (there’s barely any dialogue), The Bow portrays the bond between an old man and a young girl. The bow is also a musical instrument, a means of warding off men as well as a fortune-telling tool. Probably the best Korean director of his generation, Kim proves once more he can explore human nature with simple, poetic, graceful yet cruel stories.
Kim Ki-Duk Film/Happinet Pictures

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue