No Sex Last Night

What would be the best thing to do on a date-less Friday evening when one does not feel like going home early but too late to call up friends for drinks? Why not catch a film entitled ‘No Sex Last Night‘?

Soon after I sat down in the screening room and glanced around, I realized that date-less-on-a-Friday-evening-guy like me was a minority in the audience. Many came in couple or gang. It felt like … any other movie showing.

When I checked-in with Foursquare together with a picture of the ticket showing the film title, which was shown on my linked Facebook timeline instantaneously, it naturally invited some candid comments from two close friends.

So far, the evening engagement had been real and rational. Comprehensible too.

I obviously had not heard of the co-creators, Sophie Calle and Greg Shepherd before. As the film unfolded, I found myself asking more and more:- was this a scripted journey or not.

The turns of events and the characters along the journey were too impulsive to be scripted. Yet, their comments on each other were too honest for real couple in relationship – not to mention that they were planning to end the journey by getting married.

As Sophie counted the number of evenings they spent sharing a motel bed without physical intimacy (hence the title of the film), the struggles and searching by both on their real needs of the proposed marriage snowballed. The nearer their journey got to Las Vegas, the stronger one sensed that this was not going to be a they-love-each-other-deeply-and-live-happily-ever-after story. Yet, I wonder how many audience find themselves in similar journey before.

They finally reached the point of having to confront each other for the actual decision when they reached Las Vegas. She tried helped them making the decision by proposing that they would stay in a luxury hotel if they got married. Otherwise, another motel. They chose a motel eventually.

When they woke up the next morning, the first thing they said to each other was to get married. There is nothing as flickering and unpredictable as human minds. The recording of the drive-through wedding chapel where they got married was at time comical but deeply moving. As Sophie said in the ending sequence of the film, they did try their best to make the relationship work despite it not survived many years after the journey.

Is this art? Is this the best way to make art? That is probably the question for the audience.

It was a great way to spend a date-less-Friday-evening. As I walked out of the screen room, I thought.

Already Famous. Then What?

 This was a local movie to watch, because of Michelle Chong (The Noose).

As I walked into a fully occupied cinema hall on a weekday afternoon, even though it was not the one with the largest capacity in the cinema multiplex, there was no doubt that I was not alone in the reason to catch this movie.

After the show, I tweeted ‘一泡而红 #AlreadyFamous 是绝对诚意之作，且极富巧思。喜欢结尾的处理。’ (Already Famous is a sincere piece of work with some nice thoughts. Like the ending.).

Hence I was quite amused to be sitting next to a few local film makers some days later and hearing their fierce criticisms on this film. Some of the points I picked up:-

1. Story line was formulaic and not funny

2. Age difference between two leading casts is too obvious

3. Michelle did not give herself a role to showcase her talent enough

4. The directorial language is still more TV like than movie

I found myself not disagreeing with their views. Yet, I still stand by my tweet.

I stepped into the cinema with a frame of mind that I was going to watch a ‘local mass market’ movie by a theatre-turned-TV-turned-movie-artist, not forgetting this was her directorial debut (and possibly screen play debut). Having involved in two local productions in the past, I am guilty of having a lower expectation and benchmark when deciding on watching local movies (whether positioned as mass market or artistic).

But I was also genuinely touched by the movie when watching it, despite all the shortcomings. The writing while formulaic, did not feel forced. Being a Malaysian by birth, I could identify with the scenes set in Malaysia a lot. The actings were delivered mostly true to the characters (except for some caricature portrayals of Singapore entertainment circle). And the ending showed me the auteur in Chong.

In the chat with the local film makers, many bemoaned the disappointment that Chong did not capitalize on her popularity to create a piece of work which would bring her followers to a new level of film appreciation – instead she chose to create one that appeals to the current taste.

I am not sure if I can expect that from any film makers. But that would certainly set Chong ahead of other TV-Celebreties-turned-movie-artists in Singapore, if she is to do that with her next film effort.

If The Noose is a good indication of what Chong is capable of doing, then we can be hopeful that her next film work will not be Already Famous 2.