Just some musings on Passenger & House MD...
Passenger is a short fiction piece about an old lady (played by Chen Meiguang, a face recognizable to many as the grandma in early TCS/SBC serials) taking a last trip in a taxi around Singapore, before she departs for China to await her death. She requests the taxi driver to bring her to places that hold memories for her, and recounts bits and pieces of her life story during the course of the trip. The dialogue is mostly in Teochew, and what I really like about the short film is how it portrays various parts of Singapore, quite literally, in a different light. All scenes were shot in the dead of the night, and the places that the taxi stopped by were not exactly places of interest -- well, except to the old lady.
I have to admit, I was hoping for something more poignant towards the end of the short film, and the taxi driver seemed too nice to be true, but nonetheless, it was a good local film effort. Commendable, too, that the film used original music throughout - a haunting melody refrain using guitars.
House MD, on the other hand, is a totally different kettle of fish. It's been on the air since 2004 (3rd season starting soon), so to many it's probably not a new series anymore. But over here in Singapore, it's only shown over AXN channel on cable, which I don't subscribe to, so it was only by chance that I stumbled upon the first season's DVD set in... where else... China! Yeah.. it was during the trip to see mucc's Shanghai lives in Apr this year.
Well, House MD is a medical drama focusing on the diagnostics dept, each episode typically starts with an unsuspecting person falling prey to a sudden attack on his health. When the cause of the attack remains unclear, the case gets referred to Greg House's team at the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. That's when the action starts. Or rather, the brain-cracking. Totally absorbing stuff.
Interestingly enough, even though it's the same formulaic structure for almost each episode (House's team eventually diagnoses correctly), it got me reaching for the next DVD everytime I'm done with one. Large part of the reason is Greg House himself (played by Hugh Laurie of Blackadder fame) - a wry, cynical chap with a sarcastic remark for every occasion. Caught myself laughing out loud at his comments at certain parts, heh. And as the first season progresses, we learn more about House the person, and what makes him tick, culminating in a beautifully written season finale that's now got me hungering for the second season DVD set. uuurrgghh...
Passenger is a short fiction piece about an old lady (played by Chen Meiguang, a face recognizable to many as the grandma in early TCS/SBC serials) taking a last trip in a taxi around Singapore, before she departs for China to await her death. She requests the taxi driver to bring her to places that hold memories for her, and recounts bits and pieces of her life story during the course of the trip. The dialogue is mostly in Teochew, and what I really like about the short film is how it portrays various parts of Singapore, quite literally, in a different light. All scenes were shot in the dead of the night, and the places that the taxi stopped by were not exactly places of interest -- well, except to the old lady.
I have to admit, I was hoping for something more poignant towards the end of the short film, and the taxi driver seemed too nice to be true, but nonetheless, it was a good local film effort. Commendable, too, that the film used original music throughout - a haunting melody refrain using guitars.
House MD, on the other hand, is a totally different kettle of fish. It's been on the air since 2004 (3rd season starting soon), so to many it's probably not a new series anymore. But over here in Singapore, it's only shown over AXN channel on cable, which I don't subscribe to, so it was only by chance that I stumbled upon the first season's DVD set in... where else... China! Yeah.. it was during the trip to see mucc's Shanghai lives in Apr this year.
Well, House MD is a medical drama focusing on the diagnostics dept, each episode typically starts with an unsuspecting person falling prey to a sudden attack on his health. When the cause of the attack remains unclear, the case gets referred to Greg House's team at the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. That's when the action starts. Or rather, the brain-cracking. Totally absorbing stuff.
Interestingly enough, even though it's the same formulaic structure for almost each episode (House's team eventually diagnoses correctly), it got me reaching for the next DVD everytime I'm done with one. Large part of the reason is Greg House himself (played by Hugh Laurie of Blackadder fame) - a wry, cynical chap with a sarcastic remark for every occasion. Caught myself laughing out loud at his comments at certain parts, heh. And as the first season progresses, we learn more about House the person, and what makes him tick, culminating in a beautifully written season finale that's now got me hungering for the second season DVD set. uuurrgghh...
posted by scenic at 12:16 AM
