Thursday, August 27, 2009

Had An Interview With ABBA's Bjorn

Had a great time interviewing Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA over the phone on August 26, 2009. He's really cool.

To Be A Good Malaysian

To be a good Malaysian, an exemplary Malaysian, let the neighbour be a better Malay, Chinese, Indian or Borneo Native, or whatever ethnic community he is.

For ultimately, all ethnic communities are born good and great, and the best among their members are those who live life to the fullest and do good deeds to the max.


And if you don't know how to be a good whatever, go back to understanding your roots and what your ancestors always believed that they were here for.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Antares' New Blog Address

Magickriver2.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Fauziah Latiff & Rashidi Ishak Play PM's Parents In New Musical

Malaysian Paula Abdul Fauziah Latiff and Malaysian Hugh Grant Rashidi Ishak starred as the parents of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the National Theatre's and National Arts, Culture and Heritage Academy's new musical Tun Razak - The Musical from August 16 to 20, 2009.

Rashidi played Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the revered father of Najib while Fauziah played his wife Tun Rahah Noah.

Razak was Malaysia's second Prime Minister from 1970 until his death from cancer at the age of 54 in 1976.

Razak was responsible for helping Malaysia's indigenous people gradually find their way into the modern economic sectors after a century of British colonial rule which confined them to the village economy.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Happy Merdeka, Indonesia

Happy Merdeka (Independence Day), Indonesia.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Uncle Param - Irreverent Funnyman Of TV And Cinema

Veteran comedian P. Paramasivam or Param who passed away of a heart ailment at the age of 55 yesterday was one of the most celebrated 'little men' of Malaysian TV and cinema.

Param made his name in movies and TV programmes in the 1970s and 1980s along with veteran comedians AR Badul (brother of leading actor, director, lyricist, composer, TV host and reality show judge Adlin Aman Ramlie), Wazata Zain, Yahya Sulong and the late Yusni Jaafar and R. Jaafar.

His famous films included Tuan Besar (Big Boss), Penyamun Tarbus (Turbaned Pirate), Si Luncai, Si Badul and Anak Tunggal (Only Child).

Born in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, Param never married and was the only son in a family of six.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Yasmin Ahmad Wins Big In Malaysia Film Festival 2009

The late Mother of National Unity Yasmin Ahmad won Best Director for her film Talentime at the Malaysian Film Festival 2009 on August 8, 2009.

Talentime also won Special Jury Award, Best Supporting Actor (Syafie Naswip), Most Promising Actress (Jaclyn Victor) and Best Screenplay.

Monday, August 10, 2009

John Hughes - Film-Maker Of 1980s Yuppies

Thanks, Wikipedia.

Iconic 1980s film-maker John Hughes who passed away on August 6 will be best remembered for creating some of the most definitive 1980s films.

His films mostly focused on yuppies, the go-getting young men and women of that decade, warts and all.

Many 1980s stars grew up acting in his films and they include Michael Keaton, Randy Quaid, Christopher Lloyd, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Matthew Broderick, Kelly LeBrock, Robert Downey Jr, Bill Paxton, James Spader, Andrew McCarthy, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Macaulay Culkin and Chevy Chase.

John Hughes Jr. (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American film director, producer and writer.

He made some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s, including National Lampoon's Vacation, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Planes, Trains And Automobiles, Uncle Buck, 101 Dalmatians, Flubber, Beethoven, Home Alone and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

In recent years he came up with Maid In Manhattan starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes and the late Natasha Richardson, and Drillbit Taylor starring Owen Wilson.

Hughes was born in Lansing, Michigan and studied in Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois.

Hughes used Northbrook and the adjacent North Shore area for shooting locations and settings in many of his films.

Hughes began his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago in 1970 after dropping out of the University of Arizona.

During this time, he created what became the famous Edge Credit Card Shaving Test ad campaign.

His first attempt at comedy writing was selling jokes to well-established performers such as Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers.

This led him to pen a story, inspired by his family trips as a child, that was to become his calling card and entry onto the staff of the National Lampoon Magazine.

That story, Vacation '58, became the basis for the film Vacation.

His first credited screenplay, Class Reunion, was written while still on staff at the magazine.

Hughes' next screenplay for the magazine, National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), became a major hit.

His first directorial effort, Sixteen Candles, won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984, due in no small part to its more realistic depiction of middle-class high school life.

It was also the first in a string of efforts set in or around high school, including The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

To avoid being pigeonholed as a maker of teen comedies, Hughes branched out in 1987, directing Planes, Trains And Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

His later output would not be so critically acclaimed, though films like Uncle Buck proved popular.

Hughes' greatest commercial success came with Home Alone, a film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for Christmas, forcing him to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars.

Home Alone would be the top grossing film of 1990, and remains his most successful live-action comedy of all time.

In 1994, Hughes retired from the public eye and moved to Wisconsin, rarely granting or giving interviews or photographs.

Hughes is survived by his wife Nancy Ludwig and two sons, John III and James, born in 1976 and 1979, respectively.