The most talked about HK movie currently has got to be “The
Last Dance” ( 破·地獄).As of now, it has breached RM10
million (and still counting)mark in the local box office collection.It is also on the way to become the highest
grossing movie in Hong Kong.To date, it
has surpassed HKD110 million in ticket sales, merely 3 weeks since its release.
It has beaten “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” (released early this year)
and going to topple “A Guilty Conscience” soon. Dayo’s midas touch is still on
a roll, judging from the success of“Table for Six”, “A Guilty Conscience” and now, “The Last Dance”.Prior to watching the movie, two major
elements already piqued my curiosity.Firstly, having two iconic comedians (Dayo and Michael Hui) in a solemn
flick and the fresh theme about funeral business and Taoist funeral customs in
HK.Dayo mentioned in an interview at
Dodo Cheng’s you tube channel that he accepted the role because of two main
reasons – one is the opportunity to reunite on the silver screen with his idol,
Michael Hui and secondly, the bold attempt to take on an unpopular genre, the
funeral industry.Director Anselm Chan
thanked Emperor Motion Pictures Group for willing to take the huge risk of
investing in a movie of this genre. The gamble has certainly paid off.
The plot revolves around Dayo Wong (a former wedding
planner) who is struggling to make ends meet during the Covid pandemic. He has
to make the hard choice of switching career to an unfamiliar territory, the
funeral trade in HK. Dayo’s partner is
uptight and cranky Taoist priest, Michael Hui.
Michelle Wai plays Michael’s daughter, a paramedic who grapples with a
stressful job and desperately craves the affection of her somber dad. Michelle’s acting is nothing short of
brilliant. She draws you into her character.
You feel her pent-up emotions from her facial expressions, especially
her sad soulful eyes. Chu Pak Hong’s
role as Michelle elder brother, who is reluctant to inherit his dad’s craft
also deserves thumbs up. All in all, despite the dark theme and some unsettling
scenes of decaying corpses, the movie conveys a strong message of family
bonding before it’s too late, overcoming grief, be compassionate and have
conscious when doing business and touched on the traditional rituals of
“breaking hell” - 破·地獄.I learnt something new as I have no
inkling of “breaking hell” procedures before watching this movie. FYI –
‘breaking hell” or in Cantonese 破·地獄is a Taoist funeral ritual to open the gate of hell
and free the deceased trapped within. In addition, it is a strictly male only
profession. Michelle and director Anselm have put in a lot of effort and done
much homework during pre-production. Coincidently, Michelle clinched the best
leading actress award at last week’s 61st Asia Pacific Film festival
in KL and Anselm bagged the best director accolade, too. Bravo ! I’m genuinely
happy for Michelle who has dabbled in the acting field for 16 long years but
has not gain much recognition until now. Both were also in-town to meet the
media and audience, as part of the movie promotion and to participate in the
audience appreciation sessions in several cinemas. My personal take is the
movie is a gem, with competent cast and riveting storyline (although a little
slow burn for some) but it is not so suitable for young kids to watch due to
some sensitive/disturbing scenes. Great
sharing from Michelle and Anselm about the movie and their thoughts about
shooting “The Last Dance”. Watch the clips for more details.
In 2022, due to personal obligations, I had to scrap my
plans of watching (G)I-dle inaugural world tour, “Just Me.” Malaysia was snubbed during last year’s “I am
Free-ty” concert leg and it occurred again for their latest tour, “I-dol” !! Well, this time around, I quickly
bought my next flight to Bangkok to catch the talented girls in action ! I bet
many fans have the same concern as I do
- could this spell the last outing for (G)I-Dle since leader Jeon So-yeon’s
contract renewal is still a huge question mark (at the time of writing). It would be devastating news for fans should
So-yeon (being literally the backbone/mastermind of (G)I-Dle) decided to part
ways with Cube Entertainment for greener pasture. It’s no secret that things are not too rosy
right now between So-yeon and Cube. Everyone knows that Cube probably needs
Soyeon more than she does. With her
versatile skills in numerous areas (producing, composing, rapper, styling,
vocal and leadership), it is no secret that many agencies are eyeing this music
prodigy!
With their immense popularity, it is not surprising that the
tickets were sold out in HK, Macau and Taiwan. I am a little taken aback that Bangkok
only had one show (considering Taipei, HK and Macau had at least 3 shows). Afterall, it is Minnie’s home country. I’m so glad the organizer changed the venue
to Impact Arena, which I personally feel is even better than our own indoor
stadium, Axiata. Seating arrangements
are just perfect, with marvelous view. As with all K-pop concerts, it is a norm
to see audience from all over the world.
The organizer even provided (G)I-DLE plastic ticket and poster keepsake
(that’s better than our local/Malaysia organisers). The concert took off at 6 pm when Soyeon’s
powerful vocal echoed in the stadium - “I am the top, Super lady !”, invoking
deafening cheers (some fans came in blue wig , emulating “Wife” mv). The 5
ladies in white garb and head gear stood on the elevated stage, all ready to
enthrall fans with their badass polished
performance. They certainly live up to the hype and I would have kicked
myself had I missed this concert of a lifetime. I simply love their energy and
the camaraderie really added to the stage charisma. I have to commend the
organizer for coming up with the “I” shaped stage too, whereby audience could
get a closer view of them.
During the solo segment, each of them really shine. I still couldn’t get our certified freak,
Yuqi’s “Radio (dum dum)” melody out of my head! The dance break demonstrated her
nifty footwork. Shuhua’s sensual
gyrating must have cause some bad nose bleed ! Truth be truth, despite clearly
lacking in the vocal and creative department compared to other members, she has
quite a large following of fanboys and as expected, Taiwanese supporters. Then again, many fans still find it a little hard
to warm up to her. Minnie dressed in
school uniform performed the “Lovely Runner” drama OST called “Like A Dream”.
Soyeon, in leopard print bodysuit lights up the stage with “Is this bad
b****** number?”. Her stage presence is spell
binding ! It’s no wonder that she’s the soul of (G)I-Dle and truly a gifted all
rounder K pop artiste. Yuqi, Minnie and
Soyeon have pretty unique voices.
Minyeon is also such a stunner and treated the fans with self- composed
track “Sky Walking” (unreleased song). She wrote the lyrics, too. This is what
sets (G)I-Dle apart from their peers, they are very involved in composing and coming-up
with the lyrics.
After
“Wife”, (G)I-Dle wowed attendees with songs from “I Sway” EP. Crowd favourite is the latest hit,
“Klaxon”. The five piece-act delivers 25
songs rundown, including a soothing Thai number พบรัก. Roars of excitement continued
when (G)I-Idle performed a sequence of uptempo tracks such as, “My Bag,” “Queencard” and “Tomboy”. The quintet
were engaged in numerous banters and the girls attempted to converse in halting
Thai. However, attending the concert in
Bangkok means there is no English subs on the screen. That’s the downside of watching concerts in
Bangkok, as opposed to Spore, Taiwan, HK or Macau. I hope the gals will come
together again next year for a fourth world tour. There’s a saying most band would
not survive the 7 years timespan, hopefully (G)I-Dle is an exception.
Kay Tse and Ling Man Lung (along with directors Dickson
Leung and Kwan Man Hing) officiated the grand opening of the “Hong Kong Film
Gala Presentation and Exhibition” at The Starling mall in Malaysia. This event
is in-collaboration with GSC cinema chain.A few new Hong Kong movies will be screened (at very affordable ticket
price – priced at only RM5.00) and the exhibition runs from 20 Sept to 3rd
October.“Out of Shadow” was shown
during the launch and lead actress, Kay Tse, promoted this movie to the
audience and media members.It is also
Ling Man Lung’s maiden visit to Malaysia and he brings his latest flick, “The
Remnant” (which also has Philip Keung in the cast). In recent years, Ling is a
regular in the HK movie scene and also appeared in Viu TV’s hit series, “In
Geek We Trust”.Ling is well-known in
the industry as a versatile character actor and has won rave reviews from
veterans such as Candice Yu and Teresa Mo.Despite his age (38), he still retains his boyish appearance.In total, seven feature films will be shown
over several days during the gala.These
are Out of Shadow, For Alice, Love Lies, Once in a Blue Moon, One Night At
School, The Remnant and YUM investigation.Out of these 7 flicks, my top pick is “Love Lies”, with singer MC
playing Sandra Ng’s love interest in an intricate dating scam.
