Category Archives: Entertainment

Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Rounds – Đàm Vĩnh Hưng Edition)

As I have done in the past for the Thu Minh and Trần Lập Editions… this time around the vocalists for the teams of Đàm Vĩnh Hưng and Hồ Ngọc Hà.

First on the list: Đàm Vĩnh Hưng.

Now just like with the previous two teams, The Voice of Việt Nam have posted on their website the results of the public voting.

So just like the previous two teams, the top two contestants of the public vote get an automatic pass to the next round and they are:
Vũ Thanh Hằng who sang Thu Cuối (The End), she received 26.93% of the total vote for the team.

The second highest public vote went to Phan Ngọc Luân who sang You’ll Be Sorry with 17.92% of the total votes of the team:

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Entertainment: The Last Five Years as a Film

This isn’t entirely old news… but with a film version of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years floating around there is speculation as to who could star in the adaptation of the stage version that originally starred Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott.

Other than being one less word in her professional name (kidding!) Anna Kendrick has apparently been tapped to play Cathy.

Now she has had some experience in musical theatre in her youth and has proven to be a rising star in Hollywood as well, but I think the one thing that she is known for is her time on David Letterman when she showed off her singing and hand-eye coordination skills that were featured in Pitch Perfect.

And here is the original video, by Lulu and the Lampshades, that Anna came across while bored at home one day:

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Entertainment: George Orwell’s Animal Farm Film Adaptation in the Works?

Almost a year ago, I had the pleasure of watching a unique stage production of George Orwell’s Animal Farm being done at the Madison Street Theatre at Oak Park.

Well, via my RSS feed, Andy Serkis (the man of a million digital faces) is on board to direct an adaptation of this very production in the future. According to the Hollywood Reporter this will be

his first film from his London-based performance-capture studio The Imaginarium.

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Fleeting: Gangnam Style by Psy… the Dance Craze!

So I was recently introduced to the Gangnam Style only last week during the Results Show of Dancing with the Stars when Shawn Johnson and Gilles Marini were asked to select songs for the Team Freestyle at random.

Gilles Marini picked the song: Gangnam Style and almost immediately I was thinking of the strange dance moves that a guy cosplaying as Venom did at the New York Comic Con a couple of weekends ago:

Yes, sad to say that I knew nothing of the Gangnam Style until AFTER the fact. So naturally I had to find out more about this and finally found the official video for Gangnam Style by Psy:

Finally… as with all things fleeting… I found myself researching more about the song / dance craze and finding more and more parodies being done all over the place.
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Fleeting: Other Movies that I Partially Watched While Flying Overseas

This was one of several movies I watched on my flights between Chicago and Vietnam that I either
1: did not watch entirely on my own (meaning someone else had it on and I just happened to be watching over his shoulder and consequently I felt that I needed to watch it in its entirety later on
2: was watching on my own, however fell asleep at some point during the movie that I missed crucial moments and as thus didn’t have a chance to watch in its entirety
3: was watching but fast forwarded parts because I got bored quickly but wanted to see what happened towards the end.

So which movies had this dubious pleasure? Based on the above criterion:
1: Battleship
2: The Lorax, Puss in Boots
3: Footloose

I am sure there are others and eventually I will watch the above movies in their entirety in the comfort of my home and review about them.

Granted there were probably a lot of other movies I glanced at, but at the moment they escape me… however should I remember of any others than the above I am sure I will post the movies here and link back as well.

However in the meantime…

The first in the above series? Battleship and The Lorax.

Convention: Fables at the New York Comic Convention (NYCC)

Over the past weekend I was privileged to be able to watch the Vertigo – Fables 10th Anniversary panel at the New York Comic Con. From the New York Comic Con website:

Speakers:
Andrew Pepoy, Bill Willingham, John Cunningham, Matt Sturges, Phil Jimenez, Sean E. Williams, Shelly Bond

Description:
Come join in the party as Fables celebrates its 10th anniversary at New York Comic Con! Join Bill Willingham, creator of the multi-Eisner Award winning series Fables and Fairest, Group Editor Shelly Bond, Phil Jimenez (Fairest), Matt Sturges (Fairest) and others as they look back on 10 years of the amazing journey that is Fables, plus an in depth look into what the future holds! Don’t miss this panel that is truly legendary.

Needless to say… there was a lot of information coming our way… and true to the Bill Willingham style, there were a lot of teases, diversions, and possible red herrings being thrown for the audience to see.

So where to start?

LATEST FABLES AND FAIREST ISSUES ON STANDS NOW
Well first off the issues of Fairest and Fables that are out for the month of October. Fairest opens up to a Rapunzel story arc while Fables wraps up the Cubs in Toyland storyline. Click here for a review of Issue 121 of Fables (warning… spoilers!)

UPCOMING ISSUE OF FABLES
Coming up later in October we have a one-shot story called “The Destiny Game”. Since I didn’t take any notes about this particular issue other than Bill asking the audience if they felt that the Fables series did not do a good enough job when it comes to magic and destiny… below is the summary of the issue from the Vertigo Comics website:

How does fate work in the Fables fictional universe? Find out in this tale full of deadly chases, betrayals, sword fights and skulduggery, as superstar guest-artist Gene Ha guides us through “The Destiny Game.” Also: Bufkin and his “girlfriend” sidekick continue their Ozian adventures in the backup feature painted by Shawn McManus.

An interesting quote that was spoke to the audience later in the panel… straight from the upcoming issue of Fables:

Your sons and daughters will become gods and monsters that lay waste on the world…

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Entertainment: Games / Toys turning into Movies

So, as this old news, what surprise is there in that Hasbro is looking into turning some of their other properties into potential movies? After Transformers, G.I.Joe, and Battleship what else could possibly be turned into a movie?

Plenty as it would appear…

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Hasbro, has signed a deal with independent production and finance company Emmett/Furla Films to make movies based on the board games Hungry Hungry Hippos and Monopoly and the toy Action Man.

Rhode Island-headquartered Hasbro, which has a film production office at the Universal Pictures lot, announced the three-picture deal Thursday and confirmed that the first movie will be “Monopoly,” which the two companies hope to start production on in 2013.

Hmm… oook. I have a morbid curiosity as to how this is going to work out… as I read through the article I noticed that there were other properties in the pipeline for movie-dom:

Along with sequels to “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” at Paramount, Hasbro has other properties set up around Hollywood, including Candyland at Sony Pictures and Stretch Armstrong at Relativity Media.

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Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Rounds – Trần Lập Edition)

As I did with the Thu Minh Edition… I will look into what happened with Trần Lập’s team and how they got whittled down from seven to five. If you do not remember how the breakdown happened go to the post of the Live Round Edition – Whittling Seven Down to Five.

Looking at Thu Minh’s team there is a massive run away winner in the public vote. In the case of Trần Lập’s team there were three member that got the lion’s share of the public vote with everyone one else trailing a bit behind them. The top two of the three got an automatic in via the public vote:

Nguyễn Thùy Linh (31.7%) who sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”

Trần Thi Kim Loan (31.63%) who sang “Và ta đã thấy mặt trời” (Finally I Saw the Sun)

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Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Rounds – Thu Minh Edition)

With the second round of two teams of seven participating in the second Live Show from teams Hồ Ngọc Hà and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng, let’s look and see how the first two teams fared in the first set of Live Shows. In case you do not know how the teams are whittled from teams of seven to a team of five head to my post: Live Round – Whittling Seven Down to Five.

Taking a look at the online list of how the public vote was separated, Thu Minh’s team had a clear winner in the popular vote running away with more than half of the votes that were called in and everyone else just trailing behind.

The Public Vote winners of Thu Minh’s team were:
“Phạm Thị Hương Tràm” who sang “Anh” (You). According to statistics she apparently earned the lion’s share (57.23%) of the public vote from her team.

… in case you did not know, she sang a Whitney Houston classic during her blind audition.

As for her team mate Dương Trần Nghĩa he sang Bay which translates to Fly (mind you Bay is the Vietnamese word, not the English word). He got about 11.09% of the vote.

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Reflection: Zenobia the Original Musical Production Coming 2013

This was released for public viewing not that long ago:

According to YouTube:

A promotional video for the original musical, “Zenobia,” being premiered in Bolingbrook, IL in 2013 by Theatre-on-the-Hill, a not-for-profit community theatre. Book and lyrics by Lorrisa Julianus, music by Angela Salvaggione. Comments have been deactivated to discourage abuse, but if you are interested in participating in any capacity or attending, please contact us at www.tothbolingbrook.com.

Overview: Zenobia – who was sold into slavery upon birth – is a slave in the household of Danathus, King of Palmyra. While there she falls in love with the young prince: Alexander, who chooses the rebellion against the Roman oppressors which pushes her into the arms of his uncle, Danathus. Together, Danathus and Zenobia expand the empire until his untimely death where she continues the expansion at the chagrin of the Roman Emperor: Aurelian.

How to describe this musical? Epic… that is the best way to describe it.
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Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Round – Whittling Seven Down to Five)

So I was catching up with The Voice of Việt Nam, Việt Nam’s version of the United States hit The Voice.

A lot of the premise is still the same, but there are some things that I found to be rather interesting.

First let’s go back to what I mentioned about reality television in Việt Nam in general

I didn’t realize this show existed until I was chatting with family in Việt Nam and noticed a news article on Yahoo.co.vn site about a contestant on Việt Nam’s version of The Voice… also known as “The Voice of Việt Nam”. Complete with a Facebook Page, “The Voice of Việt Nam” is similar to that of the first two seasons of America’s version of The Voice. The blind auditions, the battle rounds, then the live rounds.

Each judge/coach has to comprise teams of fourteen vocalists from the blind auditions, then during the battle rounds those fourteen are whittled down to seven. As of this past Monday (September 24) the Live Rounds have begun.

The judging / coaching panel includes:
– Thu Minh: Dance, Pop Ballad
– Trần Lập: Rock, hardrock
– Hồ Ngọc Hà: Pop, R&B, Ballad, Dance
– Đàm Vĩnh Hưng: Việt Nam Pop

Unlike the United States version of The Voice, the judging / coaching panel tend to stay more in the similar realms and don’t really stretch out that much.

So it has been two weeks and already there are changes between the Việt Nam version and what we know in the United States:
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Entertainment: Into the Woods film reading

It would appear that Into the Woods is getting into the Hollywood game as there was a reading done recently involving a “who’s who” list from Broadway. According to Broadway.com here was who was in attendance:

CHARACTER ACTOR PREVIOUS / CURRENT CREDITS
Baker’s Wife Nina Arianda Broadway: Venus in Fur (Tony win), Born Yesterday (Tony nom)
Stepmother Christine Baranski Broadway: The Real Thing and Rumors (Tony win); TV: The Good Wife
Florinda Tammy Blanchard Broadway: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Gypsy (Tony noms)
Cinderella’s Mother/Granny/Giant Victoria Clark Broadway: The Light in the Piazza (Tony win) and Sister Act
Baker James Corden Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors (Tony win) and The History Boys
Wolf Ivan Hernandez Off-Broadway: Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in the 2012 Central Park staging of Into the Woods
Lucinda Megan Hilty Broadway: 9 to 5; TV: Smash
Rapunzel’s Prince Cheyenne Jackson Broadway: Xanadu, Finian’s Rainbow and currently The Performers
Jack’s Mother Allison Janney Broadway: A View from the Bridge (Tony nom) and 9 to 5
Cinderella Anna Kendrick Broadway: High Society (Tony nom); Film: Up in the Air (Oscar nom)
Steward/Baker’s Father Michael McGrath Broadway: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony win) and Spamalot (Tony nom)
Witch Donna Murphy Broadway: Sondheim’s Passion and The King and I (both Tony wins); The People in the Picture, Lovemusik and Wonderful Town (all Tony noms)
Rapunzel Laura Osnes Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde (Tony nom) and currently in Cinderella
Jack Taylor Trensch Off-Broadway: upcoming Bare
Little Red Riding Hood Casey Whyland Broadway: Billy Elliot
Cinderella’s Prince Patrick Wilson Broadway: Oklahoma! and The Full Monty (both Tony noms)
Screenplay Narrator David Garrison Broadway: A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine (both Tony nom), also of Wicked and Silence!

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Entertainment News: The Miss Saigon film adaptation Wish List

With the buzz surrounding Les Miserables and the anticipated release on Christmas Day… Musical and Film insiders have their sets on another Cameron Mackintosh production that has potential for the big screen: Miss Saigon.

When reading my RSS feed earlier, Playbill goes into detail of the various parties that have been rumored to be involved with the potential production.

Even Cameron Mackintosh tossed this little nugget to the feeders:

If Les Mis is a success then Miss Saigon will be made into a film. It isn’t confirmed at this point but there are many people sniffing around and offers coming in.

There were reports going on for the past few years that working on Miss Saigon was on “Precious” director Lee Daniels’ wish list. There were also rumors circulating that film producer Paula Wagner was working on a deal with Mackintosh for a spell.

According to Broadway.com recent American Idol contestant Jessica Sanchez has been floating around as a possible star.

Schönberg and Boublil collaborated with Richard Maltby, Jr. on the 1989 musical Miss Saigon, which took inspiration from the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly. Set during the fall of Vietnam, the musical centers on an American G.I. and a young Vietnamese prostitute who fall in love against the backdrop of the war. When Saigon falls and the Americans pull out, the young woman is left behind.

But… for someone like myself who is Vietnamese-American, I will be watching and scrutinizing every piece of news of this potential production with bated breath (ok… maybe not that extreme).

Why? Simple, because I want this to be done right, and not just via the eyes of the Americans (or other foreigners) but I would love to see this done right via the eyes of the Vietnamese that have actually lived through the war. This is afterall as much as Kim’s journey as it is Chris’ journey.

So as a Vietnamese-American I have a very specific wishlist of what I would love to see happen in any potential film production of Miss Saigon… ideas and wishes that I believe would not only enhance the film as a whole, but would bring the struggles of the Vietnamese to light. Afterall who better to describe what caused unease for the Vietnamese-Americans and the Vietnamese refugees when the production of Miss Saigon came to light?

THE ULTIMATE MISS SAIGON WISH LIST FOR THE FILM ADAPTATION
1: Potential Actors / Actresses
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Review: NBCs the Voice (Updates)

Before I begin here is one vocalist rendition of a Whitney Houston classic from “The Voice of Vietnam”

So NBCs the Voice has been on the airwaves for the past several weeks starting with the Blind Auditions on September 10th and 11th. The blind auditions have continued on for the next three weeks with the last set being October 1 / 2. Afterwards are the Battle Rounds. What is interesting is that tickets to watch the Battle Rounds live were issued for early August… so by this point in time those that are awaiting to be seen in the Live Rounds have been working on their bits for almost two months.

Blind Auditions:
– September 10 / 11 / 12
– September 17 / 18
– September 24 / 25
– October 1 / 2

I will provide commentary, information, thoughts sporadically once the Battle Rounds start over at the Pure TV Network blog. I have also been watching The Voice of Vietnam and will be posting a little bit about that (if it relates to the United States in anyway) over at that blog as well. Anything that is dealing strictly about The Voice of Vietnam you can find here on my personal blog.
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Comparison: Mirror Mirror vs Snow White and the Huntsman

This has happened in Hollywood before… One movie is announced to be in development and soon after there is another movie of a similar vein that is also announced. This happened with The First Daughter and Chasing Liberty and it happened again between Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.

What is interesting though is that even though Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman are deviations from the same fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” they do take two very distinct paths in the retelling / interpretation to their stories…

MIRROR MIRROR
Mirror Mirror very clearly takes a light hearted, comical approach to their storytelling, considering that they have Julia Roberts as the “Evil Queen” I can’t say that I am all that surprised. After all Julia does comedy well… Sometimes almost too well. She does balance it out with the sinister part of the Evil Queen and there are times when I believed in her “evilness” but more often than not I found myself smiling and smirking in the comedy.

But then again there are aspects that I kind of wished I could have seen in this version as well… Like a little bit of fighting between the Evil Queen and Snow White, but you can’t have everything that you want in life.

Oddly enough as I think about Mirror Mirror I realize that it reminds me a little of Ella Enchanted as a bit of a modern day fairy tale where the female is just as strong and independent as their male counterpart. Then again both female heroines had to grow into their independence… Not only that but they happened to fight with their male heroes as well… And nothing says love more than being able to hold your own against a guy!

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
On the other side of the spectrum you have an action drama semi-adventure like Snow White and the Huntsman with its fairly predictable plot line and the requisite attempt of a love triangle. Yes there is a bit more mythology involved particularly with that of the Evil Queen and her ascension over time… Or even of that of the Huntsman and his life and the aftermath.

There is a lot that was purposely left open ended with possibilities of sequels down the road and if that is indeed the case, then it is easy to see how and why this first movie was fairly predictable in plot and deviations. Then again between the two, Snow White and the Huntsman tends to stick closer to the original plot while as Mirror Mirror appears to rearrange and takes quite a few liberties with the stories.

Would I have liked to have seen the connection develop more between the duke’s son and Snow White as opposed to taking their relationship at face value? Absolutely, but what can one do? I the end this movie / story is about

Both have something to offer but both also fall short in one capacity or another.