Online Review

RubberBand should be my favorite Hong Kong band. Not only the lovely voice of the vocal No.6 but their songs are meaningful with contain culture meaning. Connected is their third album with released in 2010. I like this album of them most. The reason of loving this album is not just the melody is good but they are all alive. The theme of the cover and the MV is Lennoon which is a special element of this album who is an ancient animal. The Chinese name of it called “連儂獸” which means connected in Shanghaiese. All the song in it is connecting to people that about different people’s daily life and feeling.

As the opening of the Connected, this first song《天連地》is about the connection between two fellow soldiers. The lyric「去連結你跟我」means connecting you and me. They song described the experiences of the soldier and showing the deep relationship. Except this, there are songs talking about the relationship between different groups of people – how they are connected. 《金獅同學會》is talking about the dream between the old schoolmates. They dreamed to filming together but all of them have given up but rushing for their life long time ago. Not just about the connection between them but also the sadness of life.《田鼠論壇》is about the people who meet each other on the forum. They support each other even they don’t know each other in the real life. 《雙城記》is talking about the missing of an old friend who moved to another country long time ago. 《海‧地》 reminded people to care about the world by using the case of tsunami in Haiti. Still, it should have love songs SimpleLoveSong and Hello in this album – love between different sex is also kind of connection.

Besides, quite a lot of the songs in Connected are talking about the life and inner world of people in differentindustry.《細街盃》is about the worker from Africa. World Cup made they miss their home when they are working in far away.《3字頭》is about the sales who need to call cold call everyday. From the lyric, we can feel how boring andbothersome their job is. They life of people who need to always work overtime until midnight is showing in《一轉身卻天亮了》.《囍宴樂隊》is about the live band who work in the wedding. All these songs are about those “little potato” in Hong Kong. The may be ignored by the majority group. No one would care or try to understand their life. But these songs gave us a chance to do it and also remind us to aware every little thing in the society.

This album is not only for listening but also reading. It just gave me double enjoyment of buying it!

Done by Agnes Tang Yim Kwan (10382574)

Media reflection by Haze

Love in a Puff (traditional Chinese: 志明與春嬌)

The movie Love in a Puff was a romantic comedy directed by Pang Ho-Cheung in 2010 and starring Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung. The story is about how 2 smokers met and got into a romantic relationship due to the banning of smoking in all indoor smoking area. The film is classified as a category 3 film in Hong Kong because of dialogues with excessive foul language.

The story started by sharing ghost stories and dirty jokes within smokers who were having a cigarette break gathering, smokers did not know each other unless their usually meet at the smoking area with garbage can that with ash tray provided, known as”打邊爐”(hot pot gathering) in Cantonese.

This is nothing new in our daily life since the ban of smoking policy has been introduced, the director chosen this common experience of Hong Kong people and especially to smokers, strongly boosted the interests of Hong Kong’s audience watching the film.

Beside from the “hot pot” gathering, others elements like Canton foul language, jokes, chatting through SMS, using Facebook, etc, were also parts of our daily activities. These elements were full of local popular culture that shaped our mindsets and acts. The usage of these components making audiences to be more easily getting into the story, understanding characters’ feelings and actions.

Although the film was categorized as a romantic comedy, love story or romantic plot was not really that much. The romantic parts were also nothing special to local audience unlike others romantic love story which were unpredictable. Yet, it fits the production of the film and playing the whole film smoothly as the film seems to be only a sharing of common sense of local people.

The banning of smoking in all indoor smoking area has received lots of opposing noises although the government claimed that they had conducted the best survey from the public and were just to fulfill people’s wants. Personally, being a smoker, also feeling uncomfortable to the policy and the following cigarette taxes. Like what have been mentioned in the film, the advantage to smokers and office workers is that the policy forces people to have cigarette break in the form of”打邊爐”, increasing the probability of socializing with other smokers and making new friends. Besides, another shot like Cherie (starring by Miriam Yeung) and Jimmy (starring by Shawn Yue) were driving around to search for cheap cigarettes before the addition on cigarette tax. This kind of shot is nothing new in every new addition of cigarette tax policy comes and just showing how helpless are smokers in Hong Kong, they have no any bargaining power to fight against government policy. For me, I will not consider the film to be romantic movie but a beautiful story that sharing collective memory and local culture.

Movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmHopCYywDg

By Chan Man Hong, Haze (10463287)

Online Review: Monster.

'Monsters' Trailer HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njeofv4dr9Q

Monster mainpage

http://www.monstersthemovi.com/

“Monsters” is a Hollywood movie. This story happened in 2009, the NASA found another life form in space. And send a spaceshipto studyabout it. However the spaceship broke, while it was returning to earth. That unknown life form stayed the Middle American, and instead of other original life forms in Mexico. Half of the Mexico was occupied by this unknown life form. Also, Mexico became a locked and separated infected area. This infectedarea was guarded by the US and Mexican army, to prevent these monsters go to America. An American photographer, begrudgingly agrees to take photoin infected area and find his boss' daughter, a shaken American tourist escort her through the infected zone to the safety of the America.

A famous movie website, Ain’t It Cool News, comment “Monters” is the best catastrophe movie in these few years. And in 2010 SXSW movie exhibition, also labelled “Monster” is good as another catastrophe movie, “District 9”. Moreover, the “Monster” won Best British Independent Film Best Technical Achievement and so on. The movie poster was same as normal monsters’ movie. Like this first one, the main actor and actress stand inthe middle. The background is a boring city and forest. Just like another monster movie, “I am Legend”. The actor is also standing in the middle of poster. Or another poster of warning, warn people do not entrythe infected area. It is similar with the “District 9”, also a warning of aliens. As a result, Monster was label as a a monster movie similar with “I am Legend” and “District 9”, just like its name, it seems it is related to monsters. Many people though this is a movie related to monsters.

Movie posters

Others monsters’ posters (I am Legend and District 9)

However, it is not. Many of film critics criticized it is the worst movie they have seen. Many of them regretted they have watched this movie. First of all, the movie producers named a wrong name on “Monsters”. In Hong Kong, “Monsters” named “異獸圍城”, that mean monsters envelop the city. As a result, people decided it is a kind of catastrophe movie. Moreover, there is another monster and war film, name “Battle: Los Angeles”. In Chinese, it is “異形侵略戰”. In this way, people though this two movies is in the same genre. But actually, the “Monsters” is different with “Battle: Los Angeles”. In the movie, there are only many beautiful frames in Mexico, but no monsters, no action scenes.

Comments on Yahoo

In fact, “Monsters” is a love film, but not monster film. “Monsters” is a low cost love story. The story of “Monsters” uses monsters as a reason, to make an escape for the actor and actress. Inside the escape, the actor and actress fall in love. Because of the name “Monsters”, people though it is a genre of monster. The name of “Monsters” was recalling the similar history of other monsters movies. As a result, it attracted wrong audiences to watch this film. But it cannot satisfy the audiences’ expectations competency. As a result, “Monsters” had many and many bad comments, because it did not in the right genre.

Kenji, Leung Kinnam 10461362

Gallants (打擂台）

Gallants is a 2010 Hong Kong Kung Fu comedy film directed by Derek Kwok and

Clement Cheng, which got "The best Movie Award" of the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011. Although the movie received high appraisal in film festivals, the box office was quite unsatisfactory. I would try to briefly analyze why this film receive such high appraisal.


The film shows strong nostalgia of old fashion Hong Kong Kung Fu film. The film is set in modern Hong Kong, but the genre of it is quite similar to the 1970s Kung Fu film. Note the setting. The film sets in a village in New Territories, two middle age Kung Fu masters, Dragon (Chan Kuan-Tai) and Tiger (Leung Siu-Lung) run a old teahouse, no skyscraper and all elements of a modern city, as if getting back to the pre-modern age. The master Law San (Teddy Robin) of Dragon and Tiger has been in coma for 30 years, but one day he waks up.


The wake up of Law San seems to show a connection between modern and 1970s Hong Kong, since Law determines to restart his martial art school, which is a important symbol of old fashion Kung Fu film. The iconography in the martial art school is notable. The big tablet hung on above the gate, traditional chinese calligraphy are hung everywhere inside the school, also the "Lion Heads" of lion dace and Chinese traditional weapons are seen there. Law always wear traditional clothes and his language is also very "old fashion", show strong nostalgia to the "old day".


As the Chinese name shows, the theme of the movie is about martial art contest. Almost all the characters in teh film know Kung Fu, lots of fighting scenes have been seen. But it is similar to old fashion Kung Fu film, the focusing point is not only on the exciting fighting scene, it wants to show "the spirit of Kung Fu" and some traditional morality through the film. For example, the narrative of this film focuses on the two disciples of master Law San who keep running the martial art school for 30 years when Law was in coma, although finally it becomes a teahouse, but they still keep taking care of the old master difficultly. This shows strong feeling of tradinotal morality of "respect to mster", which is common in the old Kung Fu films.


When law decides to attend the martial art contest hold by Chung Sang-mang (Mc Jin) and his master Pong Ching (Chan Wai-man), and finally being disqualified, Law says "arena is just a name, for contest, everywhere is arena.", "You won't lose when you don't fight; You must win whenevery you decide to fight." This is trying to show the spirit of "never give up" of martial art, the term "win" here not just refers to "win the battle", but means fighting until the last second, although finally you lost, you "win". This spirit is show in the final battle between the disciple of Pong Ching and Tiger, thought finally Tiger is lost, but he has done his best to fight, he actually "Wins".


Gallants shows strong nostalgia of old fashion Hong Kong Kung Fu movie of 1970s, as we know the two protagonists Chan Kuan-tai and Leung Siu-lung were famous action stars in 1970s. Also it tries to search for the "Lost Spirit" of Hong Kong Kung FU film and the tradional morality of it, this's a very "Hong Kong" Kung Fu film in modren Hong Kong.








Chan Chung Ming (Danny) (10380052)