Follow-up post: Heaven in the Dark production clip & some background info on the original stage play

As a follow up to my previous post, I wanted to share another post about my most anticipated movie of the year, Heaven in the Dark!   Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) released a behind-the-scenes production clip for the making of the movie that features interviews with the cast and director.  OMG, the more I watch / read about the movie, the more I can’t wait for the movie to come out! 

I wanted to also take this opportunity to give a little bit more information on the movie as well as the stage play that it was based on (Candace Chong’s “The French Kiss”).  Before I do so though, I have to say that I have no clue at this point how faithful the movie’s script will be to the original stage play script – my understanding is that director Steve Yuen was the one who actually “wrote” the movie’s script (meaning that he was the one who adapted the stage play script to movie version).  The original stage play script was very reliant on the brilliantly-written dialogue to make it such the success it was, so hopefully Steve Yuen retained this aspect when adapting the script.   In the production clip, both Jacky and Karena stated that each person who read the script had a different perspective in terms of the story and what ‘truly happened’ between Pastor To (Jacky) and Michelle (Karena).  Hopefully this means that much of the powerful dialogue that Candace Chong originally wrote in the stage play version was retained.

Someone asked me what genre I would classify this movie into and my answer at the time (based on everything I had read about the movie and the stage play) was that I lean more toward this being a  “psychological thriller, but minus the action and with a heavy emphasis on the ‘psychological’ part”.  Well, turns out I wasn’t too much off the mark, as the writer of the original screenplay, Candace Chong, was actually a psychology major in college, but after graduating, she felt she wasn’t suitable to pursue the field of psychology as a career, since she found that she is unable to suppress her emotions in order to look at situations objectively.  So she decided to pursue an advanced degree in screenwriting – turned out to be the right decision given her success today as a highly acclaimed, award-winning playwright.  In all of Candace Chong’s works, she addresses serious issues that the public often faces (whether social, political, economic, etc.), but in a way that is brilliantly interwoven and incorporated into the stories via powerful dialogue.  And there is always a psychology-related angle to her works due to her background.

Obviously, because of this movie, I’ve been reading up on Candace Chong and her stage play “The French Kiss” in recent weeks.  In addition to the above background on Candace Chong, I found out that the story in The French Kiss is actually based on real-life events:  a pastor kissed his secretary and subsequently was sued for sexual harassment.  Listening to this pastor recount his experience, someone commented that he can be considered lucky, since he did not have to go to jail and only had to pay a fine as punishment.  To this, the pastor replied:  “But I compensated with my reputation, family, friends, and my soul.”  When Candace Chong heard this, her initial reaction was one of shock and it reinforced her belief that ‘real life is more dramatic than plays’ -- so it inspired her to write this play in order to explore the inner human psyche as well as address issues related to religion, law, and moral values.   A quote from a Chinese University interview with Candace Chong a couple years back does a great job summarizing the purpose of the story and its impact:  “[In The French Kiss], Chong provokes the audience to re-examine the verdict through the tense conversation between the pastor and the secretary and raises the problem of false memories brought about by self-deception and a selective memory.”  This is why, in the original stage play script, there is no real ‘ending’ to the story, as it is impossible to get to the ultimate truth due to the way human nature and the human mind work – throughout the story and even to the end, both the pastor and his secretary are unwavering in their ‘beliefs’ of what happened and their own versions of ‘the truth’.

I will definitely be posting up more stuff about Heaven in the Dark (as well as the stage play) in coming weeks, so those who are interested, please stay tuned.  For those who don’t like knowing too much info about a movie prior to watching it, I apologize if you already read this and it spoiled anything for you – if you haven’t read it though (or didn’t watch the clip),  I encourage you to come back after you watch the movie and see if these posts answer any lingering questions you might have in regards to the movie.

*****

Production clip -- “Scattered Memories”

My MOST ANTICIPATED Hong Kong movie of 2016: Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) ** contains spoilers**

As mentioned in my previous post, one of the movies that I am most looking forward to this year is Heaven in the Dark, which stars my idol Jacky Cheung reuniting with his July Rhapsody co-star Karena Lam.  I was actually drawn to this movie from the beginning, prior to any filming even being done (so basically when the ‘concept’ for the movie as well as the leads were announced) – of course, a big reason was due to Jacky, since it has been 6 years since he’s starred in a ‘main lead’ role (last movie where he was officially lead was Crossing Hennessy in 2010…all the movies he’s been in since then have pretty much been either cameos or one of the leads amongst a large group of similar level A-listers).  But before I get labeled as a ‘crazy fan’ (probably too late for that, since I know some people have already labeled me as such, lol), let me explain the other reasons why I’ve been so ‘obsessed’ with this movie from the beginning (as well as why the movie is at the top of my ‘must-watch’ list this year).

Aside from Jacky, the second main reason is because July Rhapsody also happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies.  Even though this particular movie has nothing to do with July Rhapsody per se (different scriptwriter, director, cast, production team, etc.), the ‘pairing’ of Jacky and Karena, the dark, controversial theme, the ‘look and feel’ of the overall production, etc. are interestingly similar (though it’s obvious that Heaven’s script is much more complex – that is IF the script remained faithful to the original stage play script written by Candace Chong).  I actually quite agree with one of the points stated in the East Touch article I translated below:  that the story feels like a ‘continuation’ of Jacky and Karena’s distant romance in July Rhapsody. 

This leads me into yet another reason why I want to watch this movie:  the chemistry between Jacky and Karena.  Whether in July Rhapsody or in the music videos that they filmed together for Jacky’s songs (the most recent being the ones last year from Jacky’s latest Mandarin album released in December 2014), Jacky and Karena continue to have great chemistry on-screen.  I honestly feel that if it were any other pairing with the same story, I may not feel as excited about the movie as I am currently.

Another reason to watch is, not surprisingly, the supporting cast.  With the exception of perhaps 1 or 2 artists, the supporting cast is comprised of artists I enjoy watching, so that definitely makes it an easier sell for me.  Oh, by the way, I’ve been hearing nothing but praise for Anthony Wong’s performance in this movie, even though he only has a few scenes and can pretty much be considered a cameo appearance only.  The court scene in the movie (reference the article below to understand what I’m talking about) is a ‘must-watch’ – I was told that Anthony’s acting in that scene is beyond stellar (pretty much blows everyone out of the water, including the leads).  Of course, I absolutely believe it, since I have confidence in Anthony’s acting skills, but I am still going to wait and see for myself once the movie comes out.

Yet another reason I want to watch – and this is an important reason – is due to this movie being adapted from a famous stage play.  I’ve always had a liking for theater and stage plays, it’s just that here in the U.S., it’s a lot more difficult to watch stage plays unless you live in a place like New York where the theater business thrives.  I try to catch a few local productions whenever I can, but unfortunately, the ‘big name’ productions are seasonal (plus located in far away cities) and the lesser known productions only pop up once in awhile.  Even though I don’t live in HK, I do try to keep up with the theater scene as much as I can -- which shouldn’t be a surprise given my enjoyment of theater for one, but also the fact that many HK movie and television artists I follow also participate in theater.  If I ever get the chance to watch the original stage version of this production, I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it.  In the meantime though, I will settle for watching the movie version.  [Sidenote:  Candace Chong actually published 5 of her most famous stage play scripts into a book that was released last year -- I already ordered the book and am just waiting for it to get here.  I am definitely planning on reading the original stage play script in conjunction with watching the movie, I just haven’t decided whether I’m going to read first or watch first – I guess it depends on when the book actually gets here].

Since the movie is scheduled to premiere in Hong Kong on 3/24 and in Taiwan on 4/15, there will undoubtedly be more promotional events / material for the movie as the dates get closer.  I will continue to update my blog with more information on the movie as I see necessary.  For now though, I’ve included an article below from East Touch magazine that actually does a pretty good job of describing what the movie is about.  There are spoilers in the article though, so please read at your own risk.

On a related note, I do want to say a few things about the HKFA Best Actor and Best Actress nominations that Jacky and Karena received.  For those wondering how a movie that has not been officially released in HK yet can still garner nominations at HKFA -- well, there was actually a 'sneak preview' limited release of the movie in HK theaters back in December (I think there were only 5 showings of the movie over the span of a few days).  This was done in order to 'qualify' the movie for this year's HKFA -- some feel it's a bit of a rush and perhaps they should've waited until next year to participate in HKFA.  To be honest, I kind of have mixed feelings in regards to this.  On the one hand, I am of course tremendously happy for Jacky and there is no doubt that he would've gotten nominated for his performance in this movie anyway, regardless of whether it's this year or next year. This is Jacky's 6th HKFA Best Actor nomination -- previous nominations were for Bullet in the Head (1991), To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui (1995), July Rhapsody (2002), Golden Chicken 2 (2004), Crossing Hennessy (2011).  While I have full confidence in Jacky's performance, the competition for Best Actor this year is actually VERY strong (the other 4 nominees include Andy Lau, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Nick Cheung, and Aaron Kwok -- all reputable actors who have won the Best Actor award before).  Some people have said that HKFA should give the award to Jacky this year since he's the only one out of the 5 who has never gotten the award, but to be honest, as a fan, I definitely DON'T want that...what I want is for Jacky to be recognized for his acting merit and for him to win the award because he deserves it, NOT because of sympathy (plus I know for a fact that's what Jacky wants as well -- he has said in the past that acting is a secondary profession for him and if he hasn't gotten the Best Actor award yet, it's because he hasn't put enough effort and focus into his performance to deserve the award).  In any case, I will absolutely be rooting for Jacky come April 3rd, even though I know his chance of getting the award is not tremendously strong....

Lastly, a FUN FACT about the movie:  watch for a VERY BRIEF cameo appearance by Dayo Wong in the court scene -- he literally only appears for a few seconds so if you blink, you might miss him. He had visited the set due to being friends with some of the production team (plus he's one of Anthony  Wong's good friends) and decided to do an 'ad hoc' appearance as an 'extra' (basically, one of the no name audience members sitting at the back of the court listening to the proceedings).  If you watch the movie, pay attention to that scene and see if you can spot him (though of course, do it the second time around, since the first time you watch, you should be paying attention to the movie itself, LOL).

****

Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂)

Cast:  Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Anthony Wong, Helena Law, Wong Hei, Edmund So, Catherine Chau, Michelle Wai

Director:  Steve Yuen

Distributed by:  Emperor Motion Pictures

Premiere date:  3/24/2016 in Hong Kong, 4/15/2016 in Taiwan (not sure if this movie will be shown in Mainland or not)

Trailer (note that this is the first ‘official’ trailer for the movie – as premiere date gets closer, there will undoubtedly be more trailers released):

****

Article:

“A pair of lovers who overstep the boundaries of love”

Source: East Touch Magazine

Article originally published February 3, 2016

Translated by: llwy12

14 years ago, in the movie July Rhapsody (男人四十), the illicit love affair between teacher Lam Yiu Kwok (played by Jacky Cheung) and his student Wu Choi Nam (played by Karena Lam) was heart-wrenching to watch.  As a teacher and husband, Lam seemed to find himself slowly going down a path that he himself had once despised, while Choi Nam, as the student, had no burdens at all and freely sought after the excitement of loving the way she wanted to love.  With Lam in a position that did not allow for certain boundaries to be crossed, this teacher-student love relationship was destined to fail.

14 years later, Jacky Cheung (張學友) and Karena Lam (林嘉欣) reunite once again, but this time, one plays a pastor while the other is a believer in the faith he preaches.   Without the burden of a ‘taboo’ relationship like they had in July Rhapsody, Jacky and Karena are in the ideal position to openly and freely develop a love relationship.   Unfortunately, their steps are not aligned and both bear quite differing goals within their hearts.  A passionate kiss that they thought would help them break the ambiguity in their relationship turns into a regret that ultimately ends in a life-changing fall from grace.

“A pair of lovers who overstep the boundaries of love, at the same time it is easiest for them to become enemies.”  These lyrics from July Rhapsody’s theme song seem especially fitting at the moment.  Times have changed, our surroundings have changed, our positions in life have changed – the one thing that hasn’t changed:  after 14 years, Jacky and Karena continue to demonstrate [through their newest collaboration] that Love is Difficult (相愛很難).

Continuation of distant romance

In 2002, both Jacky Cheung and Karena Lam received HK Film Award nominations for their performances in July Rhapsody – in the end, Karena was successful in winning both the Best New Artist as well as Best Supporting Actress awards at HKFA.  After that, Jacky and Karena continued to pursue their separate paths [TN: Jacky continued with his music and movie career while Karena also continued to film movies, but also left the industry for a few years to get married and have children] and did not get the chance to ‘cross paths’ again in movies.  It wasn’t until last year (2015), when Karena’s husband Steve Yuen (袁劍偉) decided to try his hand at directing movies [TN:  prior to this, Steve Yuen was primarily a director of commercials and music videos], that the opportunity came up for the two of them to collaborate again in his directorial debut Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂).  Adapted from renown playwright Candace Chong’s (莊梅岩) award-winning stageplay The French Kiss (法吻), Heaven in the Dark actually has nothing to do with July Rhapsody in terms of story, characters, setting, plot, etc. – however, due to the chemistry between Jacky and Karena, their reunion in this movie gives off the feeling that they are continuing that distant romance from 14 years ago.  Even though the movie has not officially debuted in HK theaters yet [TN: the movie premieres on 3/24], both Jacky and Karena have already earned HK Film Awards Best Actor and Best Actress nominations once again for their performances. [TN: This year’s HKFA will take place on April 3^rd].

‘Re-trial’ of buried memories

In Heaven in the Dark, Jacky takes on the role of To Tin Ming, a pastor who is also the chief director of a major international charitable organization for the HK region.  With his eloquence in speaking as well as dynamic personality, Pastor To is popular with the masses and can even be considered a ‘celebrity’ of sorts.  Karena plays the role of Michelle, a young woman who takes up an assistant position in Pastor To’s charity and also becomes one of his congregants after being attracted to his charm and charisma.  Both eventually develop feelings for each other, though neither one pursues the relationship further.  Later on, Pastor To decides to accept the position of chief director for the entire Asian region, a position based in England.  On the night of the farewell dinner that Pastor To’s colleagues throw for him, he and Michelle go for a drive at the Peak and before they leave, they decide to finally give in to their feelings and share a passionate kiss together.  Unfortunately, this one kiss changes both of their lives forever.  The next morning, Michelle goes to the police station and files a sexual harassment complaint against Pastor To, who is completely shocked at the sudden turn of events.  The two end up arguing the case in court and after an intense, emotionally draining trial, Pastor To loses the case – with his reputation tarnished, he eventually leaves behind everything he has, including his position as a pastor.

5 years later, Pastor To and Michelle bump into each other again – this chance meeting rekindles long-buried memories of that fateful night where one kiss changed their lives.  After a tense verbal exchange, Pastor To and Michelle are eventually able to piece together the scattered memories from that night. Through a psychological ‘re-trial’ of those memories, the two of them discover the shocking truth of what actually happened that night – an ‘answer’ that no court would’ve been able to give them.

Truth revealed 5 years later

In essence, the entire premise of the movie centers around the question of what truly happened the night of that fateful kiss between Pastor To and Michelle.  How is it that the situation went from two potential lovers acting on their mutual feelings for each other to both parties becoming enemies overnight?  Both the original stage play and the movie begin in a similar manner:  the setting for the opening sequence is 5 years after the conclusion of the sexual harassment court case against Pastor To.  Michelle is married to another pastor and has a child, while Pastor To -- whose reputation was severely damaged by the guilty verdict handed down by the courts – is no longer able to serve in the clergy and has become a businessman instead.  The story is structured in a way that requires audiences to tear away one layer after another in order to find out what truly happened that night.  From Michelle’s point of view, she is unwavering in her belief that the kiss was forced upon her and she did not consent.  However, from Pastor To’s perspective, he remembers that there was consent from both sides, but the influence of alcohol that night caused his memory to be hazy and therefore he could not be 100% sure.  For both, the situation continued to be a thorn in their hearts for 5 years, despite the surface appearance of both having moved on with their lives.  A pair with the potential to become lovers, yet due to crossing the boundaries of love, they can only become enemies in the end.

****

Caption box:

Background on renowned playwright Candace Chong’s original stage play script

Heaven in the Dark is a film adaptation of stage play The French Kiss, an award-winning theater production written by one of HK’s most renowned playwrights, Candace Chong.  The stage play first debuted back in 2005, right before the start of the Cultural Arts Festival.  At that time, the play consisted of only 3 actors performing against a simple backdrop that remained the same throughout the production -- majority of the plot was brought forth through the dramatic confrontation scenes between the male and female leads.  Many theater critics have praised the ability of writer Candace Chong’s meticulous and well-written dialogue to give the story a tightly intertwined, layered effect.  In addition, the script’s vivid yet simultaneously tension-filled language successfully draws out the complexity of the sexual harassment case in the story, yet at the same time, does so in a subtle and unassuming manner. The production has won several awards over the years, including 2 of its most prestigious – awards for Best Script and Top Ten Most Popular Stage Plays at the 15^th annual Hong Kong Drama Awards back in 2006.

3 HK movies I plan on watching this year….

It has been awhile since I’ve watched a HK film.  Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I am grateful to have witnessed the ‘heyday’ of HK cinema back in those days (especially given what the HK movie industry has become today).  As an avid follower and huge supporter of the HK entertainment industry back then, I watched my fair share of HK movies and found most of them enjoyable, regardless of whether the story was good or not.  Of course it helped that there were so many big stars back then who possessed both charisma as well as acting skill, plus all the talent behind-the-scenes in terms of scriptwriters/directors/producers, etc., so it made it easier (in my opinion at least) to enjoy even the lowest quality of movies (i.e.: those raunchy slapstick ones where there is no coherent plot whatsoever yet still manage to be funny and enjoyable).

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about HK movies is the distinct ‘HK flavor’ that most HK movies – especially the CNY (Chinese New Year) ones – possessed back then (those of you who’ve been watching HK movies for a long time will probably understand what I mean).   Unfortunately, that distinct ‘HK flavor’ has greatly eroded over the years, to the point that nowadays, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a ‘purely HK flavor’ movie that is meant to cater to the HK market (I’m throwing completely bogus numbers out there right now, but as a means of comparison, if 8 out of 10 HK movies back in those days were ‘HK-centric’, then that number is only 1 out of 10 today – if that….).  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to diss non-HK movies in any way, as I don’t feel it’s in my realm to do so…I’m merely lamenting the erosion and ‘slow death’ of the HK movie industry (actually, the entire HK entertainment industry as a whole if we think about it) due to various factors that cannot be explained in one blog post.

When the industry started going downhill in the mid to late 90s and most of the artists/production people I knew and loved became less active in movies, I also became less and less interested in watching HK movies.  In the past 2 decades or so, I would venture to say that the number of HK movies I’ve watched is less than a third of what I used to watch in the old days – while I do have a few favorites from recent decades that were absolute gems and that I would re-watch all day if I could, it’s not surprising that a huge majority of my favorite HK movies are actually from the 80s/early 90s eras. 

At this point, you’re probably wondering why I’ve been ranting on for 3 paragraphs about the demise of HK movies in a blog post that is supposed to be about movies that I intend on watching this year.  Well, considering how few HK movies I watch nowadays, the fact that there are 3 movies that I plan on (more like WANT TO) watch this year is quite significant (last year, I only watched 1 HK movie – mostly because my idol was in it…in a sense, I’m trying to put things in perspective).  I have specific reasons for wanting to watch these 3 movies, which I will attempt to explain below (in my usual ‘wordy’ way of course, lol) – though in the case of #1 and #3, I admit that I am also trying to ‘shamelessly plug’ both movies in the hopes that more people will go see them (#2 obviously doesn’t need any ‘plugging’ from me, since there is enough ‘hype’ with the movie already and it will do well in the box office based on cast alone). 

So here are the movies:

1)      Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂)

Cast:  Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Anthony Wong, Helena Law, Wong Hei, Edmund So, Catherine Chau, Michelle Wai

Director:  Steve Yuen

Distributed by:  Emperor Motion Pictures

Premiere date:  3/24/2016 in Hong Kong, 4/15/2016 in Taiwan (not sure if this movie will be shown in Mainland or not)

Trailer (note that this is the first ‘official’ trailer for the movie – as premiere date gets closer, there will undoubtedly be more trailers released):

I’m actually working on a blog post dedicated to this movie that will have details on the plot, background on filming and production, etc., so I’m not going to say much here.  Just note that Heaven in the Dark is absolutely the MOST ANTICIPATED movie of the year for me, one that I am very much DYING to see (3/24, please get here quickly!!!) – to find out why, please stay tuned for my follow-up post (which should be posted up by this weekend)…

2)      From Vegas to Macau III (賭城風雲III)

Cast:  Chow Yun Fat, Nick Cheung, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Carina Lau, Li YuChun, Charles Heung, Jacky Heung, Law Kar Ying, Sean Yue, etc.

Director:  Andrew Lau

Executive Producer:  Wong Jing

Distributed by:  Wong Jing’s production company, Shaw Brothers, plus a plethora of other HK and Mainland production companies

Premier date: 2/6/2016 in Hong Kong, 2/8/2016 in Mainland China

Trailer (one of many):

Sub-theme song MV trailer (incomplete version): "Frozen" (停格) by Jacky Cheung

I was actually already working on this post prior to the movie premiering in HK, but had to put it aside due to getting busy with stuff, which of course means I had to re-write some content, so please cut me some slack if my comments sound choppy or don’t flow as coherently as they should.

Ok, so before anyone gives me crap about why I’m ‘supporting’ a Wong Jing-produced movie, I’m going to come right out and say that I am watching this movie for 2 reasons only:  1) my idol Jacky Cheung and 2) the nostalgia factor (more specifically, 80S/90S HK film industry nostalgia).  I will explain more about both reasons in a minute.  First though, for the record, I did not watch the first 2 installments of From Vegas to Macau and I don’t intend to in the near future either (just to make it clear:  no, I’m not ‘boycotting’ either movie, I just have no desire to watch, whether from a cast perspective or story perspective).  I don’t normally watch Wong Jing’s movies (I’m referring mostly to his movies from the past 2 decades or so, not the older ones from the 80s/early 90s) because I find them cheap, vulgar, and raunchy with recycled plots and storylines, crappy scripts, and generally bad acting (mostly from the newbies and his ‘Jing ladies’) – besides, most of Wong Jing’s movies the past several decades have been low quality category III sex movies anyway, so of course I won’t bother to watch.

Before I elaborate on my 2 main reasons for watching, just wanted to give a quick shout-out to the ‘legitimate’ naysayers out there by saying that I totally GET why you guys don’t want to watch this movie. [Side note: I use the word ‘legitimate’ because nowadays, people boycott stuff left and right purely out of political reasons that have nothing to do with the work/program itself.  If people are not watching this movie purely because Wong Jing holds different political views than them – um, sorry, but your opinion doesn’t count in my book!)  With that said, I personally can’t stand Wong Jing, but not because of political reasons (I don’t give a crap what his political stance is to be honest, since politics should be completely separate from entertainment and therefore – in my opinion anyway – it’s dumb to refuse to watch a movie just because the producer’s political views differ from one’s own).  I dislike Wong Jing as a person mostly because of his aggressive attitude toward people as well as his forever childish behavior (the guy is like in his 60s I think, yet he always acts like he’s 10 or something with all the tantrums he throws, especially when people criticize him or disagree with him) – oh and of course, his ‘annoying as hell’ arrogance doesn’t help things either.  From a filmmaker perspective, I’ve actually always felt that Wong Jing is overrated – like I mentioned above, he’s actually one of the few directors/scriptwriters/producers in the industry whose formula has not changed one bit in the 40+ years he has been in the industry…he basically recycles and rehashes his stories/plots/gimmicks over and over again, to the point that there is no need to watch all of his works because they all end up looking similar anyway…if you’ve seen one of his movies/TV series, you’ve pretty much seen them all.  As with most of his movies, the script for Vegas III was penned by Wong Jing himself, so no doubt this will be more of the same (which, as of this writing, has been confirmed by those who’ve actually seen the movie – the basic sentiment is that the script is HORRIBLY written).

So why do I want to watch this movie then?  One reason (actually, the first and foremost reason) is because of Jacky – he rarely ever films movies nowadays so every opportunity I get to see him in a movie, I am absolutely taking advantage of it (call me a crazy fan if you want -- when it comes to Jacky, I have no qualms about being labeled as such!).  While it’s true that Jacky actually doesn’t have a whole lot of screen time in this movie (technically, his role is less than supporting but more than cameo), the time that he does have is well-used and his acting still manages to stand out amongst all the ‘greats’ in this movie.  Amidst all the criticism toward the movie itself (since the movie premiered, the feedback has been all over the place – some people like the movie and feels it lives up to CNY standards, some hate it and hugely criticize it for being nonsense and ridiculous, some are neutral and see it no better or worse than other run-of-the mill CNY movies), there have been 2 ‘elements’ of the movie that have been consistently praised in both positive as well as negative reviews of the movie:  the first is Jacky’s acting/performance and the second is the sub-theme song he sings at the end of the movie (people have commented that listening to the sub-theme song paired with watching the final scene of Jacky’s character’s demise in the  movie truly moved them to tears, which is unusual for a CNY film that is supposed to be comedic rather than tragic).  Those who have watched the movie have noted Jacky’s meticulous acting, with special mention of his on-the-spot facial expressions – despite the horribly written script, Jacky managed to make his crazy, schizophrenic character Yik Tin Hang amazingly convincing.  Of course, I am not surprised at the positive feedback toward Jacky’s performance, as he has always been a solid actor who is hugely underrated (mostly because everyone – including Jacky himself – focus more on his singing career rather than his acting).  The last few days I’ve actually read quite a few reviews as well as media reports on the movie (from various sources, both in HK and Mainland) and interestingly enough, there has been one particular common sentiment amongst all those reports:  ‘Jacky Cheung is the only actor amongst the star-studded main cast who actually took the acting piece seriously and it shows’ (basically meaning that everyone else still delivered the goods, but didn’t put as much emphasis on the acting since this is a CNY movie after all and most audiences won’t care as long as they are ‘entertained’).  In other words, Jacky’s performance is one of the ‘highlights’ in an otherwise forgettable movie.  Again, I am not surprised, as Jacky is a ‘perfectionist’ when it comes to his work and has high standards towards all his performances – whether it involves singing or acting – so of course he is going to take it seriously (one of the articles actually said that it’s obvious from the end result that Jacky put 120% effort into his performance).  As a fan, I am of course happy to see all the praise for Jacky’s performance, though too bad it was for such a lame movie overall.  However, it does make me proud know that my decision to watch the movie mainly because of him was definitely not in vain. 

Lastly, to touch on the second reason why I want to watch this movie – the nostalgia factor.  For someone like me who grew up watching HK movies in the 80s/90s, this movie will actually have a little more significance in that I will be able to recognize a lot of the ‘classic’ scenes / dialogues / songs, etc. incorporated into the movie.  Also, there are a BOATLOAD of veteran artists and other familiar faces (whom long-time HK movie-goers will for sure recognize) that make cameo appearances in the movie.  The nostalgia piece is actually a unique component of this particular installment of Vegas that was absent from the previous 2 installments – though to be honest, I’m pretty sure it’s not lost on anyone that the nostalgia piece is a ‘gimmick’ on Wong Jing’s part to get audiences who have fond memories of ‘the good old days’ to watch the movie. Ah well – it is what it is, I guess….

3)      Ten Years (十年)

Cast:  Liu Kai Chi, Leung Kin Ping, Courtney Wu Zerisawa, Peter Chan, Wong Ching, Lau Ho-Chi, Ng Siu Hin, Tanzela Qoser, etc.

Directors:  Kwok Zune, Wong Fei Pang, Jevons  Au, Chow Kwun Wai, Ng Ka Leung

Distributed by:  Ten Years Studio (low budget independent film)

Premier date:  12/17/2015 in Hong Kong

Trailer:

Since probably not many people have heard of this film, I will attempt to give a brief summary of it (though I also attached an article from SCMP that does a pretty good job of summing it up, plus there’s also Wikipedia for those who want more detail). 

Anyway, this is a low budget independent movie consisting of 5 short films directed by 5 newbie directors (from the younger generation obviously, given the movie’s theme).  Basically, the movie is a political satire that attempts to depict what Hong Kong might be like ten years from now, in 2025 (hence the very fitting title).  Though largely ‘fictional’ in nature, the very realistic portrayal of political and social issues that HK has been facing (with some of what has been depicted in the movie eerily ‘coming true’ already) has made this film a haunting reminder of Mainland China’s increasingly suffocating stronghold on HK. 

Initially, this film did not draw much attention, especially since all the directors are young newbies, plus the cast is largely unknown (except for a few veteran supporting artists such as Liu Kai Chi and Leung Kin Ping, though if you read up on the film, there are other familiar faces who do have cameos, it’s just not highly publicized).  Not long after its release though, ticket sales went through the roof, with sales surpassing the new Star Wars movie at one point in a few theaters.  That’s when mainstream media started reporting on the movie more, giving it much needed publicity.  In the short amount of time the movie has been in theaters, it managed to rake in $5 million HKD in ticket sales, which is virtually unheard of for an independent film helmed by unknowns (plus the film only cost $600,000 HKD to make, so the directors definitely got a return on their investment).  So far, this film has gotten wide critical acclaim (in HK of course) and has been touted as a film that all Hong Kongers must watch.  Those who’ve watched the film praise its daring yet relevant portrayal of HK’s political and social issues – the film is powerful on many fronts, but ‘disturbing’ and scary at the same time due to how closely it hits home with its candid commentary of the HK-Mainland conflict as well as the CCP’s ominous influence.

As a Hong Konger, I am definitely interested in watching this movie.  For the record, I have always taken a ‘neutral’ stance when it comes to politics and nothing will ever change that.  I refuse to involve myself with politics or associate myself with any party / political faction because to me, there is no party out there that will ever jive completely with my views and value system – therefore I prefer to remain ‘neutral’ so that I can both understand and appreciate both sides of the argument, so to speak.  Besides, as I mentioned above, I have always taken the position that politics should be separate from entertainment, so I don’t allow my entertainment choices (whether in television, movies, music, books, etc.) to be ‘influenced’ by any political leanings.  With all that said, I am interested in watching Ten Years mainly due to its artistic merit and critical acclaim – I want to see for myself whether this movie is as poignant and powerful as everyone has said it is.  Regardless of its heavy socio-political theme, if the movie is good, then it’s absolutely worthwhile to watch -- no amount of criticism, whether politically-laced or not, will discourage me from watching a worthy film!

Review of Jacky Cheung’s new Mandarin album 醒著做夢 (Wake Up Dreaming)

After waiting 7 long years, Jacky’s fans received an early Christmas gift back on December 23^rd – his new Mandarin album entitled Wake Up Dreaming. (Jacky’s previous album, By Your Side, came out in 2007). Of course, as a long-time fan, I wouldn’t miss this ‘monumental’ event no matter what, so I made sure to put in my order for his album as soon as it became available for sale.  Luckily, I already knew from past experience that it would take a while for the album to get here via ‘snail mail’, so I also bought the album on iTunes – this way, I could start listening to the album right away (yes, I was one of the fans who helped push his album to the number one spot on iTunes within minutes of its release...LOL).  Ever since then, I’ve listened to the album so many times already that I practically have all 10 songs memorized (no, I’m not kidding – his newest album is THAT good!!).

Now, for the record, I don’t usually loop entire albums over and over again since that’s not my usual style (even with Jacky’s albums I don’t do it often)….but this particular album is so good, it’s absolutely worth listening to more than once!  As I’ve been saying for the past couple months already, Wake Up Dreaming is definitely one of Jacky’s best Mandarin albums to date (in my humble opinion, it absolutely deserves a spot up at the top right alongside Jacky’s other ‘best of the best’ Mandarin albums such as Kiss Goodbye, True Love, I Can’t Forget You, Want to Blow With You in the Wind, No Regrets, etc.).   As usual, Jacky (and his production team) put a lot of effort into making his newest album as ‘perfect’ as possible, which I definitely appreciate as a fan – sure, 7 years is a long time to wait, but with this type of result, the wait was absolutely worth it!

With the year 2014 officially marking Jacky’s 30^th anniversary in show business, I can’t think of a more fitting way to celebrate such an important occasion than coming out with such an awesome album!  Jacky is known for having high standards when it comes to his music and this album is no exception – from the initial selecting of songs to actually recording the final version of each song, the album actually took a total of 10 years to produce.  Jacky also wanted fans to have the best listening experience possible, so there was special emphasis placed on the musical arrangement for each of the songs -- in addition to the fact that 99% of the album was recorded using live instruments, Jacky and his record producer Andrew Tuason (杜自持) specially arranged for some of the sound mixing and recording of the songs to be done at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, England (yes, that’s the famous studio where the Beatles recorded all their albums, including the one that was named after the studio itself).  The meticulous attention placed on the musical composition for each song definitely shows, as the feeling that I get listening to each song is akin to hearing it being played live by a real-life orchestra (add Jacky’s voice in there singing the song and I feel like I’m at one of his concerts hearing him sing the song live on stage)!

I don’t usually do album reviews, but given how much I love this particular album (plus the fact that I like ALL 10 tracks on the album, which is extremely rare, since with most albums, there are usually a few songs that I don’t really care for), I felt it was only appropriate for me to ‘review’ this album.  One disclaimer though – by no means is this a ‘professional’ review, as I am not qualified to give any such review, since I am not a musician nor am I involved in anything related to the field of music.  Instead, the below are merely my thoughts on the album as a music fan (and a fan of Jacky’s of course!).

Without question, I absolutely recommend buying this album and listening to it more than once!  Of course, I don’t expect everyone to ‘fall in love’ with this album like I did, but I do hope that music fans who get the chance to listen to the album in its entirety will enjoy it just as much as I did and also will be able to appreciate the effort that Jacky put into it (he is listed as the producer of the album along with Andrew). 

Note that for the 4 songs that have MVs filmed, I included the Youtube links to the MVs in case those reading this review haven’t seen them.

One last note….I know there has been some talk about Jacky possibly winning some awards this year due to the overwhelming praise for this album….to me though, whether Jacky ends up getting any awards for this album doesn’t matter one bit.  He already stated in his numerous interviews promoting the album that his intention is to give music fans a quality album that they – and himself – can thoroughly enjoy.  He doesn’t care about awards – he just wants to continue making quality music, as that’s his way of repaying the music industry and his fans for all the support he’s gotten over the past 30 years (well-said, Jacky!!).

*****

 Track 1:  用餘生去愛 (The Rest of Time)

Lyrics:  Lin Xi (林夕)

Composer:  Samuel Jean, McAyla Beatley, Catherine Martin, Scott Effman, Lukas ‘Nate’ Nathanson

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

As the first plug from Jacky’s new album, this song was first released back in October.  My initial reaction when I heard this song for the first time was:  wow, this has got to be one of Jacky’s most difficult songs to sing, as the key is really high, plus the musical arrangement is quite complicated.   Despite being hard to sing though, the song is actually very beautifully put together.  For me personally, I was first attracted to the song’s melody – it gave me a feeling of being very grand, yet at the same time, soft enough to have a calming effect.  In terms of the lyrics, I actually didn’t pay a whole lot of attention at first, as I was too caught up in the melody (and of course, Jacky’s voice blended in with the beautiful arrangement…LOL)…it wasn’t until the song’s MV was being filmed and I heard Jacky talk about the inspiration for the song that I went back and really listened to the lyrics closely.  During interviews, Jacky had said that in the middle of producing this song, he saw a story in the news that moved him so much, he decided to incorporate the story into the song.   The news report was on the wedding of a young couple (both only in their early twenties) in Taiwan:  the bride had stage 4 stomach cancer and only had a few months left to live – despite knowing that they didn’t have much time, the groom still proposed to his girlfriend and married her because he wanted to seize every remaining moment left to love her and give her happiness.  Such a sad, yet heartwarming story!!

After hearing the story, the impact of the song is definitely very different, as it stirs up emotions that I didn’t have the first couple times I listened to the song.  Now every time I listen to this song, I think about the meaning of the lyrics and the message that the song is trying to convey:  instead of arguing and fretting over small disagreements in a relationship, we should learn to cherish the limited time we have to love each other and be happy.   Indeed, the title of the song is very appropriate – ‘use the remainder of one’s life to love’…..

Track 2:  時間有淚 (Tears of Time)

Lyrics:  Keith Chan (陳少琪)

Composer:  Su Yi Cheng (蘇亦承)

Musical arrangement:  Johnny Yim

If we take the first track The Rest of Time and remove the real life backstory that I described above, the song also has a different significance – based on the way the music video (MV) was filmed, it actually creates a different story of its own.  In the MV story, The Rest of Time is part 1 (the beginning of the story) where a guy meets his love and they commit to loving each other for the rest of their lives. The MV features a special appearance by Jacky’s old friend Karena Lam (林嘉欣), with whom he has collaborated several times already (she starred in the MV for his hit classic Love Letter and they also starred in the film July Rhapsody together).  

From this perspective, track two – Tears of Time – is part 2 of the story where the couple encounters problems with their relationship and end up going through a painful breakup.  The MV is very beautifully made and captures the essence of the song, with the contrast in the colors and also the way the couple (played by Jacky and Karena) go from being affectionate and loving to not even wanting to look at each other.

Melody and lyrics wise, this song is definitely a lot sadder than the first track (though it’s definitely not the saddest in my opinion).  Out of all the songs on the album, I would have to say that Tears of Time is the most reminiscent of the traditional ‘love ballad’ that we are used to hearing from Jacky.  I recall Jacky saying during one of his recent interviews that this song was one of the first ones that he got back when he initially started gathering songs for this album 10 years ago (which means that the song is technically 10 years old!).  Of course, the musical arrangement and lyrics were revamped and rewritten, but the core concept and essence are the same.  This song proves that music is timeless….it doesn’t matter how long ago a song was made – if it’s a good song and people can relate to it, that’s all that matters.

Track 3:  你說的  (You Said It)

Lyrics:  Siu On (小安)

Composer:  Siu On (小安)

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

As the third plug from the album, this song is also the ‘end of the trilogy’ so to speak:  after their breakup, Karena has moved out and Jacky is alone at the house they used to share.  As he is looking around, everything he sees and does reminds him of her – simple tasks such as folding laundry, reading a book, drinking coffee, playing the piano, even looking at the mirror, etc., he is reminded that the two of them used to do all those things together.  In the MV, everything is almost dreamlike, as though Jacky is actually asleep and imagining Karena is there with him (which ties in nicely with the ending scene of the MV).  Speaking of the MV, it’s actually one of the best ones I’ve seen in a long time – I like how it was simple, yet classy and also conveyed the song’s message so well.

If I had to pick a favorite amongst the 10 songs in this album, You Said It would definitely be my choice!  Perhaps it is the catchy tune or the perfectly timed lyrics, or just the way Jacky sings the song….unlike the other songs, I actually ‘fell in love’ with this song the very first time I heard it!  It’s interesting that out of the 4 ‘plugged’ songs from the album that have had music videos released, this song has been the least promoted and has the least amount of ‘fanfare’ (so far at least).  But that’s ok though, since I understand that it’s hard to give the same amount of attention to very single song, especially when all the songs on the album are so good!

Track 4:  我愛上你 (Fall In Love With You)

Lyrics:  Keith Chan (陳少琪)

Composer:  Frederik Cornelius, Elisa Smekens

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

This is one of the ‘fast’ songs in the album and probably one of the most ‘cheery’ songs in terms of music and lyrics, though the style is very different from the rest of the songs.  The first words that come to mind when I listen to this song are:  “cute” and “fun” (which is why I like to call this the ‘cutesy fun’ song…LOL).  Now I have to admit that I wasn’t too attracted to the song at first because I felt it was a bit too cutesy and didn’t really fit Jacky’s style (or the style of this particular album)…but then after listening to the song a few more times, it really started to grow on me. 

The funny thing is that Jacky also commented on this song in one of his earlier interviews.  He half-jokingly ‘admitted’ during one of the interviews that the style he used to sing this song was ‘incorrect’.  He basically said that he should have used a ‘cutesy’ style that was more appropriate for his current age rather than use a style that sounded too young…LOL.  Well, the style did sound a little different but it’s actually a good thing, since it’s important for an artist to explore different styles and have variety to their music.  

Overall this is a good song with a ‘jazzy’ feel to it that is fun to listen to and gives off a sweet, romantic feeling, though it might take a few tries to warm up to…

Track 5:  我只想唱歌 (I Just Want To Sing)

Lyrics:  Riley Lam (林若寧)

Composer:  Siu On (小安)

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

Out of the ‘fast’ songs on the album, this one is definitely my favorite, mainly because it is the song that is most representative of Jacky -- to the point that sometimes I have a hard time convincing myself that Jacky didn’t write the song himself (listen to the lyrics carefully and you’ll understand why I feel this way).  It’s pretty common knowledge that Jacky loves singing – for other people, singing might be a job, but for Jacky, it’s part of who he is as a person.  If given the chance, he could sing non-stop all day and continue to sing until he can’t sing anymore – THAT’s how much he loves singing!  (I actually love hearing the stories that his friends tell about how Jacky always ‘hogs the mike’ when they all go karaoke because he loves singing so much and seems to know every single song…hahaha!).

Here is where I have to give kudos to the song’s lyricist Riley Lam – the lyrics he wrote are absolutely brilliant!!   Each line of the lyrics describes perfectly Jacky’s attitude toward singing (as I was reading the lyrics, I couldn’t help stopping at each line and saying to myself “yup, that’s Jacky!”)  The other impressive part is that Riley incorporated the names of a few of Jacky’s past hit songs into the lyrics and blended them in so well that I didn’t even realize it until I heard Jacky talk about it in one of his interviews (I don’t always have the lyrics in front of me when I’m listening to songs, especially the first few times).  For those who get a chance to listen to this song, keep your ears open for mention of the following Jacky classics:  初吻 (First Kiss), 吻別 (Kiss Goodbye), 情已逝 (Love Has Died), 不老的傅説 (The Legend That Never Ages), 愛火花 (Love Sparks), 頭髮亂了 (Messed Up Hair).

In my opinion, this song is definitely a ‘must listen’ for all Jacky fans, especially long-time fans who have followed him from his early career to now – it’s a pretty good recap of the different stages of Jacky’s career and also brings back a lot of great memories of past times.  Oh and I love the chorus, which starts with the sentence “I just want to sing” and ends with “If I don’t sing, what else can I do?”

Track 6:  控訴 (The Accused)

Lyrics:  Siu On (小安)

Composer:  Siu On (小安)

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

This is probably the only song on the album that I don’t have much comment about.  Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy listening to the song and I like the melody, but for some reason, I don’t feel as ‘connected’ to this song as I do to the other songs on the album….I don’t seem to feel much for the song after listening to it.  I’m thinking perhaps the reason is because the lyrics are too complex, which kind of takes away from the relatability of the song.  Seeing that Siu On was the one who wrote the lyrics, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that the lyrics are not as easy to understand. I remember Jacky mentioning during one of his interviews that sometimes Siu On’s lyrics are hard to understand – he said that when he received the first draft of a few of the songs where Siu On wrote the lyrics, he had no clue what the songs were trying to say (lol…the way he said it was actually quite funny – the final drafts of the songs came out much better of course!).   Overall, this is a good song, just not really my taste.

Track 7:  我醒著做夢 (Wake Up Dreaming)

Lyrics:  Lin Xi (林夕)

Composer:  Harry Mikael Sommerdahl, Jasmine Baird

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

As the title song of the album, I actually feel that this song deserves to be the first plug (I was actually kind of surprised that it ended up being 4^th plug).  The song starts off soft, but then quickly builds to a climactic chorus and continues to retain that grand, climactic feel throughout the song.  To me, the best way to describe the song is that it is very grandiose and takes a lot of effort to sing – which also means that this is another difficult song that not everyone will be able to sing with the fervor and emotion that Jacky put into it.

I actually can’t wait to hear Jacky sing this song live, as I’m sure it will blow audiences away.  The only bad thing is that because the song requires a bit of ‘shouting’ at the top of your lungs, it is very difficult to sing if you’re not feeling well (it’s hard to reach the high notes and the various climactic points of the song).  This is the reason why Jacky decided not to sing this song during his opening performance at the KK Box Music awards ceremony in Taiwan a few weeks ago – he had been dealing with a bad cold for 2 weeks already and wasn’t at 100%, so he decided last minute to sing Tears of Time instead…actually, at first he was going to cancel his performance, but because he didn’t want to disappoint his fans, he decided to still sing, but chose a song that he knew he would be able to handle (and yes, he sang beautifully – if he hadn’t said that he had a cold, no one would have been able to tell that he was sick!). 

The MV for Wake Up Dreaming is just as grand as the song itself!   The visual effects utilized in the MV are quite stunning, with the contrast between fire and water, the burning bed, all the water machinery, etc. – it’s too bad though that the final version of the MV cut out a lot of the effects that were showed during the filming process.  Regardless, watching the MV while listening to the song definitely enhances the overall experience.

Track 8:  來得及 (It's Not Too Late)

Lyrics:  Abrahim Chan (陳詠謙)

Composer:  Lindy Robbins, Toby Gad, David Archuleta

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

This is definitely another “must listen” song for me!  First, this song is unique in that it is Jacky’s own interpretation of Gospel music, which is a style that he hasn’t tried before (in terms of his albums).  If you listen closely to the song, you’ll hear what sounds like a choir group doing the background vocals – well, that actually WAS a real life gospel choir group!  However an interesting fact that probably not many people know is that Jacky blended his own voice into the background vocals – the reason for this is because the choir group consisted 100% of Westerners who don’t know a single word of Mandarin (I’m assuming they had to rely on some type of English pinyin lyrics to sing their piece), so the pronunciation during a few segments was a bit off…given Jacky’s high standards, he decided to ‘clean up’ the background vocals himself.  I actually could not tell at all just from listening to the song, but I heard Jacky talk about this during one of his radio interviews – after that, I listened really carefully to those segments and indeed, I could make out Jacky’s voice in the background vocals.

Another reason why I highly recommend this song is because, well, it’s another one of my favorites from the album.  I love the upbeat melody of the song as well as the encouraging lyrics – it’s a very uplifting, positive song and it makes me feel good each time after listening to it.  The song itself talks about the negative feelings that result from various unhappy events in life (i.e.: failed relationships, business ventures gone sour, losing unfairly in a competition, etc.) and how we should step back and deal with these issues in a more positive way.  Basically, the message is that life is too precious to waste so much time lamenting over things that upset us – instead of dwelling on the bad, we should focus more on the good.  My favorite part of the song is the chorus, which goes something like this:

How about this, let us change the way we look at things
Don’t let anger create a jail for yourself

There are already a lot of tragedies in life

So why can’t we cherish each other more

Release yourself now, it’s not too late, not too late

I also like the last stanza of the song, as I feel it sends a strong message of hope and optimism:

Perhaps you are in a sea of darkness right now and it feels like you’ll never reach the light

I’ve experienced this, so I would like to tell you right now

Take your most beloved and think about them

What kind of a person do you want to end up being?

It’s not too late [for] all kinds of forgiveness

Track 9:  白自在 (Vain Ease)

Lyrics:  Lyrics:  Riley Lam (林若寧)

Composer:  Amir Masoh

Musical arrangement:  Andrew Tuason (杜自持)

This is another fun, fast song that is upbeat and enjoyable, with a very interesting title (note that the English title is the ‘official’ title in Itunes).  I’m actually not sure why the title was translated in that manner, as it doesn’t seem to relate to the song (except for the ‘ease’ part, since the entire song is about being carefree and at ease).  Though the song may not be as uplifting as track 8 (It’s Not Too Late), there’s still a good message contained in it about being at ease with oneself and not worrying so much about everything.  The song can also be considered a reflection of Jacky’s carefree attitude toward life and career, especially right now (interestingly enough, both songs on the album that reflect Jacky’s attitude toward life and career were written by Riley Lam…).  The song teaches the lesson that basically, we shouldn’t get so caught up in the little things, especially what others may think or say about you…instead take it easy and let the chips fall where they may.  Easier said than done in my opinion, but still a very practical lesson nonetheless! 

Track 10:  不錯 (Not Bad)

Lyrics:  Keith Chan (陳少琪)

Composer:  Lindy Robbins, Marci Marinangeli, Jeffrey B. Franzel

Musical arrangement:  Anthony Chue, Lindy Robbins, Marci Marinangeli, Jeffrey B. Franzel

For me, this is the saddest song in the entire album, both from a melody as well as lyric perspective.  The song tells a story of 2 people who love each other but cannot be together and the resulting pain of having to let go.  It’s a very melancholy song, one that gets me teary-eyed just listening to the sad melody, even moreso hearing the lyrics – and of course, with Jacky’s emotional singing, it’s hard not to be moved by the song as a whole.  This is also one of the first songs that attracted me from the getgo in that I already liked the song the first time I listened to it.  And similar to Tears of Time, this song is also reminiscent of Jacky’s traditional ‘love ballad’ style.

One thing that is worth commenting about with this song is the title, as I feel both the Chinese and English versions of the title don’t match with the song at all.  The title “Not Bad” by itself sounds too positive – in fact, when I first read the title (prior to listening to the song for the first time), I thought this was going to be another one of those upbeat songs, so I was a little surprised when it turned out to be a sad, melancholy song instead.  I haven’t heard Jacky mention much about this song so far in his interviews (and I honestly don’t know if he will, since the focus seems to be on the 4 plugged songs), but I’m definitely curious to know how the title of the song was decided upon.  Hopefully I’ll find out eventually down the road…