RIFLE RANGE BOY

Abang Adik @ Pudu Youngsters (Malay/Cantonese/Sign Language; 2023) Director: Jin Ong When you wander around the wet markets or back lanes of many major cities, you find a buzzing economy independent of the one considered by economists and the national budget. There is a parallel economy going on there.  You see many moving around, working intensely, and doing things others think are dirty, dangerous and demeaning. You see people washing dirty dishes at the back of the restaurant, slaughtering chickens and carting around loads of vegetables or sundry goods. They are invisible to most people's eyes. And they are paid a pittance in cash. These transactions are not recorded; hence, they escape the revenue departments. They are voiceless and live below the radar because, on paper, they are persona non grata. They may be undocumented foreign workers, economic migrants who overstayed or refugees. Intertwined in this group are Malaysian citizens themselves, who, at birth or due to other re...

Pendatang (Malaysian Cantonese, Malay, Newcomer; 2023) Director: Ken-Kin Ng In the old days, most houses will have a single bathroom. Two, if you are in the upper middle class. Bedrooms were hardly to go by, usually reserved for the female members of the family for modesty. The males would usually rough it out wherever there was space. This was especially so when relatives visited the household. Everywhere they lay their pillow, it was a sleeping place.  Fast forward to 1990 and beyond. Even siblings find it difficult to share living space. They talk about wanting personal space and wanting privacy. The concept of her sharing and accommodation for a fellow roommate or a sibling has suddenly become an alien concept. Hell hath no fury for a person whose personal toiletry or cosmetics are used without consent.  Outside the confines of the home, we were a tolerant lot. We did not tolerate but instead accepted each other with each other's idiosyncratic ways of eating or worshipping...

Mentega Terbang (Butterfly, Malay; 2021) Writer, Director: Khairi Anwar This release was released about two years ago and won international awards for its efforts. Unfortunately, it became famous in Malaysia only after the local artists guild decided to make a police report about it as they deemed that it offended the sensitivities of Malay Muslims in Malaysia. Many of its dialogues appeared like they were ridiculing Islam, it is alleged. The Malaysian certification board had no control over Malaysians viewing it as it was broadcast online on a webpage. Since the recent brouhaha, even the said screening platform decided to stop havi ng it on its accord. We all grew up wondering about death in our formative years. With all the cultural-religious rituals associated with funerals and the stories related to the soul and the afterlife, we naturally assumed that God and religions give a kind of shield to protect us from untimely death. This internal squabble to choose the 'right' rel...

Spilt Gravy, Ke Mana Tumpahnya Kuah(2022) Director: Zahim Albakri There is a Malay saying, 'ke mana tumpah kuah, kalau tidak ke nasi', which implies that the traits of children do not differ much from their parents. Its direct translation would be, 'where does the gravy spill, if not to the rice?' Its English equivalent is 'the apple does not fall far from the tree'. Even though this movie was due for screening in 2013, it never saw living daylight. Thanks to the local censorship board, it was put in cold storage till 2022. Apparently, the board felt that the story could hurt the sentiments of the Malay Muslims in Malaysia. Hence, it had to undergo multiple edits, some dialogues were muted, a significant plot change, a hand gesture blurred, etcetera to qualify for a PG-13 certificate. The version that appeared on Netflix seemed close to the original copy, with the dialogue, gestures and all. After a long time, we see an intelligent Malaysian movie minus the typ...

Blues Gang I was just thinking the other day. Occasionally, in my social media group, one or two members would send snippets of Malay songs of the 80s and 90s. These songs used to be high on the music chart and ruled the airwaves in their heydays. I was pleasantly surprised that these group members were even familiar with such songs. We, the teenagers of the late 70s and 80s, must be a lost generation. The generation that grew up under the umbrella of the Malaysian New Education policy imbibed in Malay culture and songs. We grew up laughing at P Ramlee's antics in his actual Malaysian-themed movies and comedies in our preteen years. We ended up watching them umpteen times, probably able to rattle out certain classic dialogues and recall particular scenes from his films at the drop of a hat. The 80s saw a renaissance of modern guitar and drums bands that were belting out hard and punk rock music. Rock Kapak was another branch of rock of Malay punk. These bands were so popular that e...

  Rempat (Wander, Malay; 2015) This is a fun, no-brainer movie that combines all the idiosyncrasies that make Malaysia Malaysia. There is the popular Mamak shop, an odd Malay-Chinese misfit who seem to have problems communicating with each other, their penchant for football, perennial money issues and loan sharks. The first scene of the film generally summarises the actual situation on the ground. Every small group is happy supporting their own foreign football team while watching live games on giant TV screens in their favourite bistro. Everybody is a maestro on how the game should be played, but for a nation whose citizens are so brilliant on the intricacies of scoring goals, it has a national team that nobody gives two hoots. Nobody wants to watch them play. That is where our two heroes come in, Halim and Chin Chye. Halim is a true patriot who roots for the Malaysian team. Chin Chye, on the other hand, is also concerned about the local team, not because he is a supporter. He hop...

Ular (Snake, Malay; 2013) Director: Jason Chong This is a knock-off of the many Hollywood and Bollywood horror flicks. Even the film poster bears an almost near-replica resemblance to Hollywood's blockbuster 'Anaconda (2008)'. Besides that, it is a worthy effort, nevertheless. The CGI effect looks believable. It creates uneasiness; not laughs. The storyline seems credible enough. How different can a disaster movie be? As per usual, it starts with a potpourri of characters landing at a resort island, gleaming from ear to ear, hoping to have a whale of a weekend. Whale, they did not have, but snakes aplenty. The owners of the resort took great pains to keep the news of killer snakes away for the public. To ensure the safety of the guests, the owner did install an electric fence to keep the snakes at bay. As to how Murphy's laws dictate, anything and everything may go wrong when it is destined to go wrong. Thanks to a few mischievous frolicking holiday-makers, the fences f...