I love film.
Close to a quarter of a century on this earth and I realise that film is my greatest love. From the days of watching Star Wars repeatedly on end to catching the latest art flick, I've been mesmerized by the wonderful world of the movies. My mom got to work on the Golden Village cinemas and as a result of that, I got to work as a projectionist for like 6 months...
Hehe cool thing to write down on my resume. The job was great... I could slack off after a couple pushing some buttons and loading the film. I watched everything that was on offer. Even that 3 hour Indian epic that played for like two days. Heck, I even scared myself silly watching some horror as well. It was a largely lonely affair, with usually 2 people working each shift in 2 different rooms and no one near my age. The place was cold and dark, with lots of cigarette smoke when the others were around. I loved to sneak out to take toilet breaks, when I'd actually hit the arcade instead for half an hour before going back. Lunch was the highlight of the day, other than catching all the previews. Having vast amounts of time, I was also able to pore over every single detail of the most inane shows, like Ali G In Da House. (RESTECP)
Anyway, sometime after that, I took 2 classes, by myself, in NUS on film. The first was Introduction To Film Art, I got an A-. Got to learn the basic aspects of film and catch some classics, like Citizen Kane and Rashomon, as well as catch up on my all time favourite, Chungking Express. Not to mention discussing them in tutorials and writing cool essays in the exam about Tony Leung, cigarette smoke and the time, space continuum. The second class was Understanding Modern China Through Film. I only got a C+ for this, probably because I took some risks, making rather touchy points in my exam and also because I was always presenting more of the art element in the film, rather than how the film demonstrated the socio-political mindset of modern China. Haha. But it was great. I teared listening to a song in Yellow Earth, sat through the 3 hour ordeal that was City Of Sadness, and re-discovered Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. My dad used to have moldy tapes of Red Sorghum and Farewell My Concubine in the cupboards next to my Ghostbusters and Police Academy.
Going to China, I kinda felt in my bones what I saw in the films and learned about my own heritage and my differences, being an overseas Chinese. Travelling was fun. Of course, the other perk being the fact that I brought home a truckload of DVDs, mostly Western ones like Trainspotting or Spiderman 2! Hahaha. They didn't have too many pirated Chinese films available except for the current releases like Hero. I did get the Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar Wai boxsets though. One of my favourite activities was to go to the pirated DVD shop, where it was like, a fake cafe/club in the front. The policeman hanging around did make us nervous until we saw him sipping tea, whilst the lady boss ushered us into the side door, which led to a well-lit warehouse of the latest from the other end of the world.
Today, I'm glad I learned so much about film through various experiences as I'm able to enjoy them all the more. Everything just seems to fall into place, like noticing or realising why certain things happen. Sometimes, I'm fascinated and yet other times, bewildered. On the one hand, there's Constantine, which may not be an art film but it was an enjoyable film, made more enjoyable by my understanding of film. On the other, there's Howl's Moving Castle, which I enjoyed as well but some things just felt like a castle in the sky. I put it down to me not being Japanese but I love the sense of intrigue when there's this underlying element in a "simple" cartoon that you can't quite grasp yet. I left the cinema feeling like I had to watch it again... A sentiment shared and a chance to discuss something wonderful at length as well.
So yea, I love film. Typically I used to watch them alone. (I remember watching Cool Runnings alone when I was twelve at Yishun 10 because of some screw up with my friends and The Virgin Suicides, where I quite clearly remembered saying "One ticket for Virgin Suicides please" at Orchard Cineleisure, age 17) Largely because my friends aren't really into the stuff I watch. I watch everything though, from Meet The Fockers to Kinsey in recent times, enjoying each one for what its worth. But I think life just wouldn't be the same if I didn't have my partner in crime to catch a film with, whether its got guns, explosions, car chases and big boobs or long trails of smoke slowly lifting up into the sky. Damn I wish I was Tony.
Hehe cool thing to write down on my resume. The job was great... I could slack off after a couple pushing some buttons and loading the film. I watched everything that was on offer. Even that 3 hour Indian epic that played for like two days. Heck, I even scared myself silly watching some horror as well. It was a largely lonely affair, with usually 2 people working each shift in 2 different rooms and no one near my age. The place was cold and dark, with lots of cigarette smoke when the others were around. I loved to sneak out to take toilet breaks, when I'd actually hit the arcade instead for half an hour before going back. Lunch was the highlight of the day, other than catching all the previews. Having vast amounts of time, I was also able to pore over every single detail of the most inane shows, like Ali G In Da House. (RESTECP)
Anyway, sometime after that, I took 2 classes, by myself, in NUS on film. The first was Introduction To Film Art, I got an A-. Got to learn the basic aspects of film and catch some classics, like Citizen Kane and Rashomon, as well as catch up on my all time favourite, Chungking Express. Not to mention discussing them in tutorials and writing cool essays in the exam about Tony Leung, cigarette smoke and the time, space continuum. The second class was Understanding Modern China Through Film. I only got a C+ for this, probably because I took some risks, making rather touchy points in my exam and also because I was always presenting more of the art element in the film, rather than how the film demonstrated the socio-political mindset of modern China. Haha. But it was great. I teared listening to a song in Yellow Earth, sat through the 3 hour ordeal that was City Of Sadness, and re-discovered Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. My dad used to have moldy tapes of Red Sorghum and Farewell My Concubine in the cupboards next to my Ghostbusters and Police Academy.
Going to China, I kinda felt in my bones what I saw in the films and learned about my own heritage and my differences, being an overseas Chinese. Travelling was fun. Of course, the other perk being the fact that I brought home a truckload of DVDs, mostly Western ones like Trainspotting or Spiderman 2! Hahaha. They didn't have too many pirated Chinese films available except for the current releases like Hero. I did get the Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar Wai boxsets though. One of my favourite activities was to go to the pirated DVD shop, where it was like, a fake cafe/club in the front. The policeman hanging around did make us nervous until we saw him sipping tea, whilst the lady boss ushered us into the side door, which led to a well-lit warehouse of the latest from the other end of the world.
Today, I'm glad I learned so much about film through various experiences as I'm able to enjoy them all the more. Everything just seems to fall into place, like noticing or realising why certain things happen. Sometimes, I'm fascinated and yet other times, bewildered. On the one hand, there's Constantine, which may not be an art film but it was an enjoyable film, made more enjoyable by my understanding of film. On the other, there's Howl's Moving Castle, which I enjoyed as well but some things just felt like a castle in the sky. I put it down to me not being Japanese but I love the sense of intrigue when there's this underlying element in a "simple" cartoon that you can't quite grasp yet. I left the cinema feeling like I had to watch it again... A sentiment shared and a chance to discuss something wonderful at length as well.
So yea, I love film. Typically I used to watch them alone. (I remember watching Cool Runnings alone when I was twelve at Yishun 10 because of some screw up with my friends and The Virgin Suicides, where I quite clearly remembered saying "One ticket for Virgin Suicides please" at Orchard Cineleisure, age 17) Largely because my friends aren't really into the stuff I watch. I watch everything though, from Meet The Fockers to Kinsey in recent times, enjoying each one for what its worth. But I think life just wouldn't be the same if I didn't have my partner in crime to catch a film with, whether its got guns, explosions, car chases and big boobs or long trails of smoke slowly lifting up into the sky. Damn I wish I was Tony.
posted by Unknown @ 11:46 PM
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