The MDA Rap

I’m sure most people would have heard of it or better yet, log online to watch the video by now. If not, here it is:

A few weeks ago before the hype erupted, Eng Tiong received a call from a reporter soliciting comments on the MDA video. We’re like, “Huh? What MDA video?” The reporter promptly sent us the link. 

The first image of senior MDA officers prancing around to a rap song – we fell off our chairs! It’s a strange mix of shock, surprised, confused, hair-standing-on-end, laugh-out-loud, what-the-hell-is-going-on??!! and strange curiousity that made us crawl back up for a closer look.

Most people who’ve seen it hated it. Negative comments such as MDA is trying too hard to be cool; MDA is wasting taxpayers’ $, MDA is this, MDA is that… Well, maybe all are pretty much valid points.

I’m one who’s definitely critical and Eng Tiong truly believes I’m born a pessimist. But surprisingly, I thought rather positively of this video. Let’s put it this way: at the least, now MDA knows how it feels like to put a piece of work up for an audience and be judged for what it is, or is not, by the audience. We filmmakers (and our actors) face that all the time. It’s quite a nerve-wrecking experience. Being the policymakers for our media industry, I think it’s a good “bad” experience for them to be in our shoes for a change.

But the most important thing I hope the management did in making the video is to have fun! One thing that I’ve learnt from the making of TRUTH BE TOLD is to have fun. Afterall, for goodness’ sake, I’m doing something that I love!

Now that we’re preparing our next feature project, we’ve shared this philosophy of fun with our director. He totally agreed and we’ve been having lots of fun developing the script. We’re definitely toying with the idea of putting a music video as part of the rolling end credits, starring all cast and crew. Go ahead, judge us then!

And now, my ratings for the MDA Senior Management Rap: 3/5 (Keep it up! Practice makes perfect!)

And here’s another video worth checking out – a parody called MDArena :

p.s. rumour has it that there’s another video featuring the rest of the MDA staff… 

Sex Sells – Part 2

Just caught LUST, CAUTION this week. Yes, the R21 version with the sex scenes intact.

Imagining that those explicit scenes aren’t there in the “milder” version, I figure that the impact/ emotional intensity for the audience won’t be as powerful as the original version.

The sex acts in this movie aren’t frivolous. They are pretty integral to portray the various underlying elements (power play between the characters) and the emotional turmoil faced by both parties. And I guess to understand that also requires a certain maturity on the audience’s part (not necessarily gauged by one’s age.) If I watch this movie as a 16 or a 21-year old, I may not appreciate this film as much. 

Tang Wei put in a superb performance. I don’t think Zhang Ziyi will be suitable for the role. She’ll be too “hard”. Tang Wei adds a certain vulnerability and grit; sophistication and innocence all at the same time. And then Eng Tiong pointed out an extremely viable point – that the moment he sees Tang Wei in the movie, she reminds him of a younger version of Wu Chien Lien. I love her role in EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN as the chef’s middle daughter. That was another Ang Lee film. Hmm… did Ang Lee, while mulling over the cast, take Wu Chien Lien as the benchmark for the role of Wang Jiazhi? 

Coming back to our theme of Sex Sells, LUST, CAUTION NC-16 version raked in SGD500k at the box office. LUST, CAUTION R21 version is now grossing SGD300K  and is still going strong into its 3rd week!

PLEASURE FACTORY’s first week’s box office is SGD107K. But with all the bad reviews along the way, I doubt the box office sustained at that level for its whole theatrical run.

Moral of the story? The hype over sex may drive hoards to the cinema but to satisfy their hunger, the content must live up to the hype. That’s perhaps the best way for the producers to laugh their way to the bank.