About movies... and Leslie Cheung...

I was at home watching some un-entertaining program on TV the other day where I saw a trailer for some up-coming Jacky Chan show that is going to be aired dunno when, and forget on which channel. I don't know what's the hoo-ha about Jacky Chan. Really. I used to think that his movies WERE good and entertaining last time WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. But sad to say, they are BORING now if anything. Seriously, I think his movies lack substance, (i mean the plot) they don't deviate much; its always about the SAME OLD THING, of cops and thieves lah, or else, some ordinary law-abiding civilian get caught in the mist of some crime syndicate that threatens the political stability, etc, etc, etc. Makes me wonder, if that's ALL he is capable of. I LOVE watching movies, (that is an utter understatement) but I don't just watch ANY movies that come along. When it comes to movies or serials even, I believe the plot is the essence or spirit of the story, cos if the plot is sloppy, even if you had the best actor or actress as the lead, perfect soundtrack, good scenery and camera, there will still be something lacking.

I used to watch movies very often, to the extent that I get overly obsessed with it. (still remember my longest record for watching tv non-stop was 16 hours in a day! Really too much till I felt really uncomfortable after that and puke) I hardly watch movies these days now, or watch televison for that matter, and a large part of the reason is due to the fact that the movies these days all cannot make it. No plot lah, abrupt ending lah, movie makes no sense lah, you name it, you can find it. Not to mention that many movies these days are also getting more and more PREDICTABLE, (especially Jacky Chan's) you just have to read the synopsys and you can roughly visualize what the movie is going to be like.

Totally not worth the money, not to mention the ridiculously high price of a freaking movie ticket! Sometimes they also cannot blame people for opting to download online and burn them to watch at home instead of watching it at the cinema or even buying the orginal VCD/DVD because it its OBVIOUSLY a more sensible option! Ha!

Speaking of movies ALWAYS NEVER FAILS to remind me of my all time favourite idol, Leslie. Yes, Leslie Cheung, probably the most popular asian gay artise around. I can't really remember when I started to "idolize" him, I only know that I liked him since I was quite young,in my early teenage years I guess. I liked him then for the sole reason that he was HANDSOME. I remember I started liking him after this All's well ends well movie, the 1992 version if i I remembered correctly. It was a very light hearted chinese new year movie which he starred alongside with other actors like Sandra Ng, Stephen Chow and Teresa Mo. He played the role of a VERY sissy guy, the second son to an elderly couple (who are both semi-senile already) who later fell in love with Teresa Mo's character, who, he couldn't get along with in the begining (they often pass scarastic remarks to each other and their squabbles are so funny) until both their lovers fell in love with each other. I thought he really played the role well and its so freaking hilarious. After that movie, I practically watched almost every movie he starred in, except those that were banned in singapore coz of its adult content? =(

Well, as I grew older, I watched MANY more different genre of movies. I still watched Leslie's movies, but he kinda stopped producing that many movies as he wanted to keep his standard/quality in check. One of the many few that I personally enjoyed tremendously include: farewell my concubine and temptress moon. Farewell my concubine is a sad sad story about the life of two childhood friends that is spun around love, hate lust the china warlord era and the cultural revolution. I watched that movie three times in all, at different ages. I didn't understand what the heck the movie was talking about, (maybe I was too young to understand it) but subsequently, after watching it a couple more times, and breakking it up in parts to watch, I finally get the whole picture. Its not the typical kinda movie where it just entertains. It's actually half documentary. As for the other movie, temptress moon, starring Gong Li, in which, he played the role of a gigolo... actually, I still dunno what the movie's about, (Need some help, can somebody help me with it?) I've only watched it twice, and my memories of what happened in the film are al scattered, can't seem to grasp the full picture. I think maybe I like it bacause I dunno what the heck it's trying to say wahahahaha!!

Anyways... many of the people I know actually don't like him JUST BECAUSE he's gay. It's like whenever I tell people that I like Leslie, their natural reaction would be like, "BUT he's gay" -_- Yah, that I already knew, its universal language anyway, and what has that got to do with anything? So what if he's gay? I like/admire him coz he's talented, and he's good in acting, he's got the natural flair and the stage just belongs to him. Who gives a damn about who he sleeps beside with every night? -_- Quite honestly, I don't see any problem with him being open about his sex orientation, its not that it affected his performance in any way. (Actually, he is famous for his notorious acting when it comes to bed scenes, sex and kissing (with women of course)). Very professional. Too bad he's no longer around. It's really sad that he left this way *sobs* Looking at the movie industry now, perhaps those critics are right. Probably there won't ever be one who can succeed him in the entertainment world. No one can have as much zeal, fire, passion and love for the stage as Leslie, he's just irreplaceable. No one. EVER.