Album Exclusive: Michael Isley Band’s “You Have Me”
Passion has a name, and it’s the Michael Isley Band. Be as critical or pop-aversive as you like, but I think it fair to say this New Jersey man’s sophomore album You Have Me channels a genuine sense of feeling that can only bloom from real heartache and history.
“You can never lose your soul,” Isley croons in the album’s first single, and certainly–whether he is relating the romantic imagery of a lost lover’s silhouette in the dark of night or firing off a sensitive piano chord–you get the feeling that he doesn’t care much for the self-conscious presentation you often hear (or see) in musicians today. That it invokes the language of pop rock is bound to polarize listeners. He’s unabashed about his roots and inspirations, acknowledging bluntly that the record channels “power piano-driven-heartrock” and was written for a certain girl. But it simply provides the frame for Michael’s sentimental story and nonetheless maintains a certain independence worlds apart from the lowly bands with packaged lyrics. It’s buoyant, catchy and stands firm despite its musical ancestry.
You either like it or you don’t. But if you know Mike like I do (not like that), you will feel the raw sincerity and energy of You Have Me. Support an artist and cop yourself a copy from iTunes for $9.99, courtesy here.
Music Video: Michael Isley Band’s “Never Lose Your Soul”
My man Mike Isley has just released this banging music video for his first single, “Never Lose Your Soul,” from his upcoming album You Have Me. So much passion here it hurts. The video is brilliantly directed by Sean Chung, another old friend. Look out for the art by yours truly in the CD booklet when it’s out. Who you surround yourself with makes all the difference in life, gentle ladies and gentle men.
Check it out now, and then head on over to the Michael Isley Band’s site. Be sure to cop the album when it hits iTunes.
Like this article? Comment it. Share it.
10,000 Hits Later, Taking My Blog Inwards
Me with a computer, so it looks like I'm blogging. Except I'm not. Also, I need to point out that the make-up bag is not mine. The computer's not even mine. It's not even my place.
I’VE BEEN VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE THE NUMBER OF READERS THAT I’VE HAD. To those that have actually come to me in person and told me they’ve enjoyed the site: thanks especially, it means a lot. My Top (East) Asian Films of the Decade list received a staggering number of views the first day (though it quickly plummeted back to normal nothingness the days following) and that earned me finally a whopping 10,000 site views since I started 21st Century Boy almost nearly a year ago. Nine months if you consider the giant hiatus I took after its first month. Kevjumba doesn’t stand a chance against me.
OK, so 10,000 isn’t a whole lot, but hey, it’s still nice to know that my thoughts are at least covertly implanting themselves in other people’s brains, and that some of these people, you people, come back for more. So thanks for indulging me. I don’t know jackshit, but you let me play pretend and feel like I do.
Don't ask me. I just google-imaged 'introspection'. Not google.cn, I don't *think*. But that would make sense. No it wouldn't.
BUT, that having been said, I’ve decided to take my blog towards a more introspective direction from here on out. Writing mostly about worlds beyond mine just isn’t what I want to do on this particular blog, I realize. No, I want to talk about the one directly around me. I’m just afraid if I keep it up like it is now, I’ll start to feel like I have to entertain. So in the weeks to come, I will be lessening my emphasis on these feature-esque posts. Also expect a redesign here, especially now that I’m considering a move from wordpress.com to squarespace.com. I’m sure you’re riveted by this discussion.
So I still hope I can pique your curiosity with these more homely thoughts, instead of the current blog situation, where I just respond to distant happenings (though to be fair, I think many still hit close to home).
But if it’s not enough to sustain your wet and naughty desire for my shite writing, I would suggest you keep your eye on SymbiInternational.com. I’ll be taking over the defunct online publication, which I wrote for and helped edit in 2007, and rehauling it — complete with a new name, URL, design, and focus. Imagine the sort of articles I’ve written here, there. On a massive scale.
And I’ll be needing your help. More to come on this later.
The Maedameister himself.
A final note, to return to the personal. I just wrapped up my first day at the 2010 Make A Difference Conference, a three-day event for students and young professionals that features distinguished, all-around-badass speakers like Hong Kong filmmaker Pang Ho-Cheung, Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, creativity consultant Sir Ken Robinson, President of the Rhode Island School of Design John Maeda, and Grameen Foundation founder Alex Counts. It’s a not-too-subtle TED-aspirant, but that’s not a bad thing to want to be. If I have time, I’ll be sure to do the full write-up by the end of the weekend.
Suen out.
Top 10 Favorite Asian Films of the 2000s
Vermont is fucking cold. Take today’s weather, for example — a little bird told me it’s currently around 14 degrees F / -10 degrees C. So I stay indoors a lot. It’s not my fault I emerge in the Spring looking like Casper (except, you know, Asian. It’s clear that Casper’s a WASP).
Anyway, point being, I see a lot of movies during these winter hibernations, a lot of them Asian because I miss being home while at school. Likewise growing up in Hong Kong, I’ve seen a lot of movies, a lot of them also Asian because I realize I don’t actually miss the real Asia itself, but in fact the movie version of Asia. So now, instead of palling around with martial artists, anime babes and perverse crazies, I have to spend my time writing this shit.
Now without further ado, my favorite Asian gems released since Y2K:
10. NAKED WEAPON (2003, Hong Kong) [Trailer]
Dir: Tony Ching. Starring: Maggie Q, Anya Wu, Daniel Wu.
This one is straight up guilty-pleasure-rollocking-good-time (like Step Up 2 The Streets). No profundity to be found here (though feel free to prove me wrong).
But seriously, this film sells itself – just listen to this premise. Promising girl athletes are kidnapped and trained by professional mercenaries into ultimate badass killing machines. They deceive their wealthy targets by posing as high-class escorts, brutally assassinating these old useless fools before proceeding to take down a shitload of bodyguards with their expert gunmanship and martial arts.
And one of those women is Maggie Q. That’s all you need to know.
9. YOU SHOOT, I SHOOT (2001, Hong Kong) [Clip]
Dir: Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung. Starring: Eric Kot, Cheung Tat-Ming, Chan Wai-Man.
Dark comedy, with the exception of perhaps Bong Joon-ho, cannot get any better than this. Yes, it’s a satirical jab at Hong Kong in so many ways (the economy, film industry, porn industry, socialites, triads), but it also manages to do an incredible thing, which is make us cheer on murder.
Moral implications aside, this is one of the funniest and most fun films I’ve ever seen. The story, written by Pang himself, is just balls-out creative and wacky. The hitman Bart, during times of financial hardship, finds himself trying to film his hit on a gangster that videotaped himself having sex with a socialite. The shaky-cam result is useless and dissatisfying to the socialite, but she gives Bart one more chance. He teams up with Cheun, an NYU film school grad and Martin Scorsese fan doomed to assisting on porno sets, to create a masterpiece of assassination snuff film. Tarantino would approve.
8. TEKKONKINKREET (2006, Japan) [Trailer]
Dir: Michael Arias. Animated by Studio 4°C.
In Treasure Town, adults aren’t the ones to be feared. As the story goes in Tekkonkinkreet, two orphaned delinquents, aptly named Black and White, run the show. The former is older, harder, and almost nihilistic in his ways, but he nonetheless protects the latter, a child with an unblemished naivete. Together they must deal with the threat of Rat, a yakuza who looks to take over the turf.
This film is the Big Daddy orgasm of visually stunning anime films. Sorry, but 5 Centimeters Per Second and Paprika ain’t got shit on Tekkonkinkreet, based on the excellent manga by Taiyō Matsumoto, and that’s because of how incredible and tenable the setting of Treasure Town is. It lives and breathes like worlds actually do. It’s got a stylish soul like no other.
7. RED CLIFF, Parts 1 & 2 (2008, 2009, China) [Trailer]
Dir: John Woo. Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi.
Really, it’s Lord of the Rings + Romance of the Three Kingdoms + Sun Tzu’s Art of War + Confucius’ Analects. Oh yeah, plus John Woo, who’s only the greatest director of balletic action sequences known to humankind. I don’t know why you aren’t scrambling to see it already.
The Battle of Red Cliff, the event which the story hinges upon, was so badass that Woo needed two films to do it even an iota of justice. The southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei defend their land against the megalomaniac Prime Minister Cao Cao, bent on bringing all of China under his foot.
In addition to witnessing whirlwind fight scenes, we also see famous historical military tactics such as “borrowing the enemy’s arrows” and the “Eight Trigrams Formation” turn the tide of the battle. It’s no simple war. This is the epic film of the decade.
6. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000, Hong Kong) [Trailer]
Dir: Wong Kar-wai. Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Maggie Cheung.
If Red Cliff is a ballet of swords, In the Mood for Love is a ballet of unutterable desires (fuck you, I’m trying to be poetic here). It’s Leung and Cheung’s dance with one another – electric in their mutual attraction yet never consummating it – that keeps us totally riveted.
A journalist named Chow and his next-door neighbor So decide together to shun the infidelity they are sure their respective spouses are engaged in. Yet in doing so, they are inevitably drawn closer together. Everything you hate or love about WKW is in full flourish here. The slow motion, the wonderful soundtrack by Shigeru Umebayashi, the rose-tinted camera that lingers like our memories.
The nostalgia, the faraway fantasy of 1960’s Hong Kong becomes a romantic exploration of sorrow and unfulfillment. And if none of it moves you, well, you’re a robot. You dick.
Also, this is also how I learned the qi pao is the sexiest costume in the Asian wardrobe.
5. INFERNAL AFFAIRS (2002, Hong Kong) [Trailer]
Dir: Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Starring: Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Eric Tsang, Anthony Wong.
Surprise, surprise. It was going to show up sooner or later. Other than the fact that this film alone reinvigorated an entire genre, nay, film industry, it’s also so damned good because this is exactly what Hong Kong crime thrillers should always be like: well-written and well-performed. And even though it’s slick, it’s not cliched. Well done.
Should I even bother to recount the plot? It’s badass, so I’ll do it anyway. A triad gang and the popo go head-to-head when both discover that the other side has an undercover agent masquerading as one of them. Gun-pointing, psychiatrist-romancing and wire-tapping ensue.
Also, this is the film that Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Departed was based on, but you already knew that. If you didn’t, slap yourself. Again. Again. I hope it’s red, raw and stinging by now, so you’ll remember to watch this the first chance you get.
4. YI YI (2000, Taiwan) [Trailer]
Dir: Edward Yang. Starring: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin.
Every film from Taiwan I’ve seen really enjoys being slow as hell. That’s totally fine with me in the case of Yi Yi, Edward Yang’s three-hour magnum opus that follows the trials and tribulations of a Taipei family, because it builds and builds into such an encompassing experience of love, loss, and quiet desperation.
Framed by a wedding at the beginning of the film and a funeral at the end, the story centers on a father dissatisfied by his work at a tech company, his mischievous younger son, and his romantically-conflicted older daughter. Meanwhile, the mother has left the home temporarily to confront her own existential crisis, and the grandmother is in a coma. Its heartbreak is so well done on every level – story, acting, cinematography – so beautifully capturing the stifling limbo of living.
Despite it being my third favorite, this film is likely the best one on my list. Many agree with me. It won Yang Best Director at Cannes and was selected by Sight & Sound in 2002 as one of the best films in the past 25 years.
3. MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003, South Korea) [Trailer]
Dir: Bong Joon-ho. Starring: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha.
Though popular in its home country of South Korea (the 4th most viewed film after the end of its run), Memories of Murder is eclipsed on the world stage by that other Korean film, Grand Prix winner Oldboy, or even Bong’s more recent monster film, The Host.
This one is by far the best. It follows small town detective Park, who is joined by Seoul hotshot investigator Seo in solving a serial murder and rape case, based on real events from 1986-1991.
Complex, genre-bending, and thrilling, this is what Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac should have been. The last shot is one of the most haunting of all time. Now one of my favorite movies, period.
2. ELECTION / TRIAD ELECTION (2005, 2006, Hong Kong) [Trailer Part 1 / Part 2]
Dir: Johnnie To. Starring: Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung.
It’s The Godfather of Triad films. Infinitely nuanced, strikingly filmed, and brilliantly performed, Election’s comparison to Coppola’s masterpiece is not hyperbole in the least. This is To’s own tour-de-force. Tarantino even called Election the best film of 2005.
The two films both revolve around triad members fighting over the coveted leadership position of Chairman, a role which changes every two years. They’re a fascinating look at the city’s history and compelling drama that in fact doesn’t rely on operatic gunfights but conniving backroom dealings and sudden gritty spurts of ugly violence. The movies so much embody the Hong Kong condition – conflict of tradition and modern, of displaced Chinese and immigrant identity – that I even wrote a paper on the two films.
It’s not at all pretty or shiny. Infernal Affairs this is not. But it leaves all the more an impression for it.
And finally, we come to the peak of this decade:
1. SPIRITED AWAY (2001, Japan) [Trailer]
This is the Truth. Spirited Away embodies every quality a film should be: artistry, humanity, and wonder. It’s magical in its entertainment, whisking us to some otherworld. Yet at the same time, Chihiro’s adventure to save her parents in this dreamscape of spirits and monsters itches you in a place you can’t scratch – it’s so familiar but also so unreal. The mastery required to evoke that feeling of overwhelming nostalgia in a setting so fantastical is staggering. But luckily, Miyazaki has it in spades.
Even Tekkonkinkreet can’t touch this film. The visuals are so haunting – I will never forget Chihiro sitting on the train, cabin empty but for a few ghostly figures lost in their own thoughts, as it travels across the deep blue sea.
The movie is on one hand an story of growing up, but on the other hand also a larger allegory about a modern world drifting away from what was once known, torn between its own materialistic greed and mythologized nostalgia. A poignant story, if there ever was one.
I can’t say enough about this film. Go now. Get spirited away.
Honorable Mentions: 2046, AV, Battle Royale, Bodyguards & Assassins, Exiled, The Host, I Not Stupid, Ju-on, Kung Fu Hustle, Lagaan, Mad Detective, Men Suddenly In Black, Millennium Actress, My Sassy Girl, Nanking, PTU, Ping Pong, Shaolin Soccer, Sparrow, the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance), Zatōichi.
NOTE: I realize all the selections are East Asian. I’ve only seen a few other films beyond this region, and that’s my fault and reason for not including any Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean, or other Asian films. I will be sure to educate myself in the coming months. Suggestions to get me started are most welcome.
—
Disagree with some of my choices? Want to suggest some of your own? Comment it. Share it.
Art Update: Putting a Cigarette in the Character’s Mouth Makes Your Art Immediately Better
It’s unreal how much these past days working on Mike Isley’s album art have helped me dust off my art ability. To cash in on this regained momentum, I quickly scanned in a sketch I did back in November and threw it into Photoshop. So far I’ve been surprising myself with how well it’s turned out. I’m happy. The lesson here, kids, is that practice makes perfect. Sure, it can only take you so far–especially in art–but it counts for a damn lot.
P.S. Smoking is very bad for you.
Like the article? Comment it. Share it.
MC Yan – Hong Kong Slam Jam
[via Asian Rap Worldwide]
Emcee and cultural activist MC Yan from the recently reformed Hong Kong rap group LMF (Lazy Mutha Fuckas) speaks his mind about the Hong Kong condition. Fantastic video. Time Out Hong Kong writes about Yan:
Born and raised in the housing estates of Kwai Chung, by the age of 18 he had saved enough money to fly to France, eventually making his way to study art at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts. Returning to the city in the early nineties, Yan made waves with his unusual graffiti, based on the ancient system of Chinese acupuncture. He translated the city into a body and mapped out his plan of where to tag according to the meridian energy lines he imagined for it (www.chinamantaggin.org). He was also famously one of the first high profile graffiti artists to tag the Great Wall of China, and when the rest of Hong Kong caught on to graffiti, Yan went one step further, taking on laser tag technology. In the past year he has written enormous messages in light on to the walls of the Cultural Centre (from across the harbour), and City Hall.
Cop the new single from LMF’s ReUnion. Its English title is ‘Hold Onto the Middle Finger (What You Believe),’ a resonant jibe at expression in Hong Kong right now, since other than just acid there’s also the shitstorm of censorship raining down on us.
揸緊中指 – LMF [download]
Like the article? Comment it. Share it.
Hong Kong’s Feisty Political Activism and Sleazy Police Force
Those in the know, know that Christina Chan (陳巧文) is a star, of sorts.
Educated mostly in the UK and now a philosophy grad student at the University of Hong Kong, Chan is a part-time model (“but she’ll have to keep her normal job”) and an activist known for her stand on freedom in Tibet and, most recently, the democracy march on January 1st, 2010.
The 22-year old Chan was arrested this past January 9th on suspicion of attacking police officers and shortly released afterward. Fellow activists questioned her arrest and wondered whether it was the result of pressure from Beijing, curtailing the civil liberties promised to Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
So she’s a feisty one.
So, the story goes, on the first day of the new decade, Chan actually tried to storm the Central Liason Office with some of the rowdier Hong Kong protesters, a decision which led to “minor scuffles.”
The Hong Kong media have dubbed Chan’s entourage as the Post-80’s Generation (八十後年代), which many have criticized to be nothing more than “hooligans,” even outdoing League of Social Democrats Che-shirt-wearing leader Long Hair, whom Chan argued stole her group’s thunder at the demonstration. At the same time, some say the rational debate has been stalling continually, and that the radicalism of the new generation is a welcome catalyst to Hong Kong’s stagnant politics.
If anything, this new extreme element will offer a symbolic sort of resistance. Having been part of the July march two years ago and the June 4th protest this past summer, I’ve seen the grassroots democratic sentiment firsthand to be widespread, passionate, and mostly nonviolent. Conversely, conservatives’ calls for “stability” eerily echo the justification for events like Tiananmen. This need to be resisted at all costs. Chan herself successfully campaigned to impeach President Ayo Chan of the HKU Student’s Union, following his pro-Beijing comments on the June 4th Massacre.
The scuffles also involved the police — a force that, as of late, has not impressed me with its failures in investigating the serial acid attacks and now this. Observe the ridiculous extent to which they’re manhandling Chan in this picture:
Popo’s actually just completely groping her here. Wow.
Looks like this police manhandling exists both in the real world and in the imagination. According to The Darkside HK, a police discussion forum online recently began a thread called “Sexy kitten Christina Chan arrested!”, in which former senior anti-triad inspector Lee Chifai (李志輝), also one of the forum administrators, commented:
“If I were the interrogator, she would be in trouble: she’d possibly get a ‘BB’…”
Lee’s gone all Infernal Affairs. His expressed longing to impregnate suggests he’s spent too much time in the triad underworld. I’m as much a fan of gangster movies as the next guy, but maybe instead of fantasizing about police/cute-criminal situations (that’s my job), he should be protecting the city from ACID ATTACKS over CROWDED AREAS from RANDOM WINDOWS OVERHEAD, injuring up to THIRTY AT A TIME (INCLUDING CHILDREN AND TOURISTS).
But no, I overreact. I’m sure that overall, the police force is made up of good men and women. And then sprinkled on top you have douchebags like Lee and other ol’ police pervs who can’t get laid in real life.
Our whole Hong Kong society’s frustrated, just about different things. Sure, I can be as sexually frustrated as the next fool, but I say we focus on the big picture. Like, I don’t know, universal suffrage, democracy, and the freedom of expression sound pretty good to me. Chan’s got the right idea. It just turns out that it doesn’t help to be attractive.
And sorry guys (and some girls), she’s taken — currently dating Australian musician Nick Brazel, pictured above in the army cap.
More images of Chan here and here.
Finally, read up on Hong Kong’s politics here. Wikipedia is good for you. For those of you who want extra credit, definitely take a look at writer Frank Ching’s analysis of the Hong Kong-Beijing situation. Highly recommended.
Like the article? Comment it. Share it.
Ways to Help the People of Haiti
EDIT: I’m leaving this post at the top of my blog for a week. Keep up the support.
Unless you’ve been wearing your ass over your head the last day — and I suspect some of you have — you’ll have heard the horrible news about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. According to the Red Cross, as many as three million people may have been affected by the quake, which collapsed government buildings, caused major damage to hospitals, and made electricity, communication, and general access to certain areas very difficult.
1. Make a cash donation at Red Cross (www.redcross.org), Yéle Haiti (www.yele.org), UNICEF (www.unicef.org), or other organizations today. Spirit Airlines is offering free flights to anyone who donates more than $5 to these above three.
2. Text ‘HAITI’ to 90999; $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and donated to the Red Cross relief effort.
3. If you can’t spare the money, at least spare a few clicks on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, by e-mail so that people who can spare some change can be compelled to do so. Join a group; let people know in your status. Also, until tomorrow, if you follow @boblesko on Twitter, he will donate $10 to the relief effort on your behalf.
4. Don’t try to help by donating goods. Global Post reports that it could actually hurt Haiti, as time and effort is wasted on sorting out the items. Despite the kind intentions, aid packages can sometimes be put together poorly, in languages aid workers cannot read, and include goods of uncertain or suspect quality. By giving money instead, the organisations can properly direct their resources with the greatest efficiency.
5. Hold a fundraiser — a community bake sale or pizza sale can earn funds towards helping out. Organise sponsors for a group event (a marathon or a read-a-thon to promote community wellness and education, maybe).
My hopes for Haiti’s recovery and my condolences to the suffering. And I think it a good time to be reminded that this isn’t the only tragedy that happens daily. How can we even begin to help all the suffering in the world?
Like the article? Comment it. Share it.
A personal blog by Michael Suen. An East-meets-West cesspool of art, culture, politics, current affairs, etc. A blurred crossroads between our digital life and our waking one. 
RSS
GOOGLE READER
TWITTER
Switzerland bans construction of mosque towers
Saving face to save the world: the new Sino-US Relation
Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Back in the Honky Tonk
Born in '89!
Online Portfolio
Michael on DEVIANTART
Michael on FACEBOOK
Michael on YOUTUBE
leave a comment