Cinema: Holland Film Festival 2007

CATCH the following ground-breaking films from The Netherlands. Redeem two in-season passes for the Holland Film Festival 2007 at GSC Mid Valley from April 26 - May 2 by cutting out the coupon or bring the pages from the Sunday People section of the New Sunday Times print edition to the GSC Mid Valley Box Office counter on April 26 from 10am-7pm. Redemption is limited to two passes to each person and for those aged 18 and above only.

Blue Bird
The Berlin International Film Festival 2005 winner of the Glass Bear for Best Feature Film, Montréal International Children’s Film Festival 2005 winner of the Grand Prix de Montréal and Toronto Sprockets International Film Festival for Children winner of the Young People’s Jury Award for Best Film – Jury Age 12 Directed by Mijke de Jong, this 2004 follows Merel, a 12-year-old girl, who is a victim to harassment at school. Not because she is shy, stupid or ugly. Merel sings in a musical, excels in all subjects and is a sports fanatic. But she becomes the butt of a power scheme. At home, she shows no signs of what is going on. Neither towards her parents, nor towards her adopted handicapped brother. But as the harassment intensifies, Merel loses her innocence. Cast: Ingeborg Ansing, Elsie de Brauw, Benja Bruijning, Anne Buurma, Fred Goessens, Edward Haak, Bright O’Richards, Elske Rotteveel, Kees Scholten, Jaap Spijkers

Cinema: THE MESSENGERS

THE MESSENGERS directed by Danny and Oxide Pang

Starring Kristen Stewart, Evan, Theodore Turner, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett and William B. Davies

CALAMITY strikes in threes. When the Solomon family is forced to uproot from bustling Chicago to a deadbeat North Dakota farm because of the economic downturn, little do they realise that their lives are about to get much worse.

Upon arrival at their ramshackle new abode, a creepy, creeper-infested wooden house miles away from the rest of civilisation, they are greeted by a flock of crows circling the farmstead.

Thus they get their first message. In Western literature, crows, ravens and their family are often regarded as ancient messengers of disaster. It probably dates back to Greece when the sun god Apollo was first informed of his mortal mistress’ infidelity by his pet crow and got cursed black as a result.

Apparently, crows used to be snow white. Today, some still believe that they play a role in ferrying the souls of the dead to the next world, possibly giving rise to the poetic expression: a murder of crows.

American Idol: Adios, Sanjaya

SANJAYA, thanks for the memories. High school student Sanjaya Malakar has finally ended his run in the American Idol Season 6. Certainly, he was one of the most controversial contestants as well as one of the most watched.

I guess it was only in the past few weeks that Sanjaya realised that he had generated such a massive following across Asia. It was as if “one of our boys” had suddenly became a serious contender.

When Sanjaya strutted on to centre stage and belted out Let’s Give Them Something To Talk About, it quickly became fairly obvious to all that country music wasn’t his thing.

Nevertheless, it was vintage Sanjaya with a red scarf wrapped around his head as he tried his best to have a good time. Not everybody can slip smoothly into a music genre that is unfamiliar to them.
If Sanjaya was uncomfortable with country music, he didn’t show it. But Randy laid it all out: “Honestly, it wasn’t good at all.” Paula threw in her verdict with “we are watching someone who loves adversity (or was it controversy?).

Simon Cowell put the final nail in the Idol coffin with “utterly horrendous”. I wouldn’t put Sanjaya in the same category as William Hung but I know his future will look pretty bright from now on.

The American Idol has just given Sanjaya the fame that will stay with him for a long time. I like Sanjaya because he was fun to watch and he was hugely entertaining. He doesn’t need good luck because he’s basically talented to have gotten so far.

There were three outstanding contestants on Wednesday evening. Without further ado, they were Phil Stacey, Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle.