Lesley in Hong Kong

Shine a Light

As part of the 32rd Hong Kong International Film Festival I went along to see the new Martin (Martie to his mates) Scorsese film documentary featuring Mick and boys - The Rolling Stones.  What an incredible afternoon I had.   I attached myself to the orderly queue which had formed outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST in Hong Kong speak) and filed in around 12.30pm to take my seat.  The movie was fantastic and so much more than a dvd of a concert or a music video featuring the band.  It was incredibly detailed in that all the band were featured for suitably long lengths of time, enough time to really look at each one and notice just how much he had aged, how wrinkled he actually is and amaze at the fact that they all have their own hair and probably teeth.  I have seen The Stones and they were great but I was so far away (right at the back of the Harbour Fest Venue) it was impossible to really see them for who they are.  Shine a Light puts everything straight.  It is possible to notice every minute feature from the injection scars on Keith Richards arms to the slight bald patch on the back of Charlie Watt's head or for the more discerning musos out there, just exactly which tabs Rocking Ronnie uses.  They are all SO thin. It is utterly fascinating from a people watching point of view.   

Essentially it is a one off concert played in a New York theatre to a select bunch of their friends (who include the Clinton family) and a hand picked front row of gorgeous young girls to keep it interesting.  The songs are interspersed by old footage of the boys when they were young and foolish when tiresome reporters continued to ask them "How long do you think you will be playing music?"  Of course this is now hilarious as no one back in the 60s thought they would even by alive in 2008 never mind still performing rock and roll with more energy, coolness and style than most 20 year olds.  Now that they are 60 it seems so much more impressive that they are still massively successful, exciting and - dare I say it - sexy!  Obviously they take glucosamine sulphate and will probably live forever.

I was thrilled and excited as they performed.  I wanted to get up and dance, clap, cheer and generally get hot and sweaty - just like a real gig.  It was especially good to see guest artists come on stage to join them, Jack White, Christina Aguilera and the coolest blues guitarist on the planet Buddy Guy (what a dude).  The majority of the audience, being Chinese, were sedate and apart from a polite round of applause at the end they remained silent.  I can't help wondering, if I had seen it in London or New York would it have been a different experience altogether?

Go and see it and tell me about the audience reaction.

Sweeney Todd

I'll keep this short and to the point.  Sweeney Todd is one of the worst films I've ever seen.  I hated it from the moment Johnny Depp sang in the opening scene.  I had my eyes closed for some of the time partly because I was asleep and partly because I couldn't stand seeing yet another slit throat.  Give me dialogue any day.

Beowulf (PG)

Ms Joline                    Beowulf                           The real Ray Winston

Action fantasy movies are not my favorite genre but to appease my darling husband I went along with him to see Beowulf.  Not only did we see it in 3D but on a massive, size of 5 buses, IMAX screen in the new cinema in MegaBox, Kowloon Bay.  We splashed out a bit, well it was Friday, on our $115 seats but I thought in for a penny in for a pound, lets have the maximum sensory experience possible.

I was not disappointed.  It was the best experience in a cinema I have ever had.  Not only was it a great story based on the Anglo-Saxon epic with our hero Beowulf fighting, and beating, impossibly grotesque monsters and thus becoming King. It incorporates computer generated images which are so realistic and surprising the action made me jump out of my skin spilling my popcorn approximately once every 15 minutes.  The way that cgi cinema in 3D can have this effect on our minds is extraordinary.  The IMAX screen made it necessary to really turn my head and look to see what was happening in each scene which had the effect of allowing my guard to be down so I was suitably shocked by something whizzing up from the bottom of the screen or the top or the side to start yet another gory, blood soaked fight. 

I wholeheartedly recommend this movie.  Go and see it, make sure you get your snazzy 3D glasses and if possible find an IMAX screen for the best impact.  A word of advice - don't take your children to see it.  It is very scary and contains bawdy sexual references not at all suitable for 11 year olds which is what PG means. 

I know that Ray Winston is a man in his middle 50's and looks nothing like the perfectly toned six pack muscular Beowulf depicted in this movie, although I am not too sure if the body of Angelina Jolie's was also digitally (or surgically) enhanced to look stunningly sexy and seductive, she may actually look like that apart from the cloven high heels obviously. But it made me think that we are not far off having no need for real live actors in movies.  In a few years time filmmakers could do just what they want with any body they want with no necessity to pay their lead men or woman the millions of dollars they demand at the moment.  Beowulf was so realistic that in some scenes it was hard to distinguish animation from real life.  I predict that it won't be long before we will see cgi porn in 3D, now that would be scary on an IMAX screen.