He did it. I didn't want to like him but he did it. He stole the show and he fuckin' stole the role too. It's him now. He IS The Joker. Not Jack Nicholson. But a 1979er tragic hero. to be worshipped alongside Brandon Lee and the many rockstar types who died at 27/28. Speaking of Brandon Lee, it's precisely why i didn't want to like the man named Heath Ledger. The make up is too Crow-like and the death is too untimely. I felt too obligated to make that sickening connection and I didn't want to jump on he bandwagon to sympathize with him amidst the obvious cult-potential. I told a friend at that time, that I felt nothing for Heath when he died. It's not a loss to the film world, I said. I felt then that the Ledger-guy has yet to prove himself.
Watchin' his performance as The Joker today made me want to eat my words. It was a maniacal performance. Uncompromising at many levels...and yes, maniacal. a nihilist. a bombmaker. a master manipulator who likes to play god. a showman. While Batman looks contrived as mr reluctant saint, aka, the justice soldier- gadget yuppie- wannabe-emo-outcast, Joker recklessly triumphs over with his fiercely defiant portrayal of a sick freak with nothing to loose. Reminds me of those wrestling characters who play mind games, only tighter, darker and more thought-out. And ofcoz, the luxury to bathe in the power and glory of cinema, good thing the role wasn't wasted on him.
Well done. i'm sad now knowing that I'll never see another performance from this young actor again. Why Ledger why? Meet Dean. Morrison. Cobain. Tupac. Rhoads. Vicious. Phoenix and Lee. I'm sure you all have lots to talk about. (Tzang M)
feat. Wesley Choo of E.P.I.C Music and lyrics by Armen Rizal Rahman
+ LYRICS +
Like this yall! Yeah. Stop.
Stop. Coz, I'll be coming up and go. Hell of a fury. In this one man show. My inside's playing more possum than the dead. My microphone's untouchable like Elliot Ness. The irony kills me. Now with a gun to my head. Try to pull the trigger but the chamber is dead. I'm regreting my life and all that's past. The future is here, but it's going too fast!
Inches by inches. Inches grow to a mile. A mile down the road and you can rest for a while. But inches by inches are inches off course. Try to rally like an unstoppable force! And I take the backseat while my driver is blind. On a one way street, we cross the middle line.
Crash at the junction with mere inches to go. The fury's building up and then you explode!
Catastrophe! Mistakes! Mistakes! I free myself!
Wait. Wait for the next catastrophe to come. To place to hide. We die so come and get some. Belong to a unit. A place you call home. Belong to another, or walk on alone.
Down the streets in an alley or up the avenue. And regret your inability to start something new. So you thought you could take it. But you kept your head down. Walking alone and find yourself amidst a ghost town.
Curiosity be killed by the light. So quench your thirst, while there is still a night life. Drunk in the back seat while your driver is blind. On a one way street forget the middle line.
Your headlights are fading. You can't see in the dark. Your taillights are faulty. And now you're throwing sparks.
Crash at the junction with mere inches to go. The fury's building up and then you explode!
To kick start it all at Home with the help of the Beat! trio, Ginette, Joe and George.
It's going to be a night of decadence and wicked fun when INRI studio joins forces with Beat! for a themed night party @ Home Club. It's going to be christened the TZAINTES NOT DEAD Party in tribute to the spirit in which e'TZAINTES was made in 1999 - a film about the underdog made in the spirit of the underdog... by teenage amateurs... in true guerilla fashion.
Back then, we're just ordinary 19 year old teenagers who refused to be put down by what we do not know and cannot do. With neither technical experience nor professional knowledge, we wanted to make a film ... and honestly, it's is our reckless-ness, stupidity and ignorance about the whole filmmaking affair that got us this far.
This TZAINTES NOT DEAD party will mark the launch of the [e'TZAINTES] + A WICKED TALE screenings at Sinema Old School. Celebrating the spirit in which the films were made, with a salute to punk, goth, glam, rock!
Be ready for a wicked and decadent Friday night next month on August 15. Set to be curated by the illustrious Beat!
The unadulterated version of Another Brick on the Wall, a Pink Floyd cover by Ubermench (now known as The House of Anonymous) featuring Wesley Choo and Bernie Chia (E.P.I.C.).
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I remembered back in 1997, a lecturer of mine gave a comment to the class about the MTV culture:
"The eyes are the windows to the soul. Music soothes the savage beast. MTV combines these two philosophies as a package for the senses".
It is with this philosophical culture that we created what we created: Tzang serves his pallette of artistry through his stories, told through the visual/verbal canvas that is his films. As the music producer of INRI Studio, I support his art through my own form of expression: music. You can see (or in this case, hear) my contributions in the two films of INRI Studio, in which I was the executive music producer for both films.
Apart from that, I founded and spearheads my own personal musical/artistic front: The House of anonymous, which gave me a chance to express myself through my art, and the opportunity to work with some of the most talented individuals in the local music scene.
But as with any story, there is always the humble beginning.
It was at a time when we were neck deep in the editing for e' Tzaintes. It was also the time that I had only started dabbling into audio editing, prior to shooting the film, so my knowledge and skills with music was amateur at best. It was then that Tzang introduced me the song that sets the direction to the music of e' Tzaintes: Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall.
The ambient-like instrumental soundscape, as well as the lyrical words of rebel energy, and the massive chant of children singing, "We don't need no education" truly captured the essence of what we wanted Tzaintes to be. I was inspired. I started working on something, mucking about through trial and error, using softwares that are freely available over the net. I didn't quite know what to make of it at first (again, I had never actually produced an actual musical track before), but I knew at the back of my mind I had one purpose: to make a cover of this, or perhaps pull of something similar.
Through that trial and error method, I managed to create a synth based loop, and started building up layers from there, adding synth drum tracks to the synth loop and laying a rough vocal recording on top of it. But it still had missing ingredients in it, so Tzang introduced me to Wesley Teo, former bassist for the band Optical Brothers/current E.P.I.C.
Fast forward a weeks later, and Wesley and I were laying down the bass and guitar tracks for our Pink Floyd cover. We also enlisted the help of Optical Brothers/E.P.I.C's lead guitarist, Bernie, for all the driven guitar and lead guitar works. After which I had the separate tracks remixed again, which saw the finished production of our cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).
It was never put into the actual film, of course, because of copyrights, but it did set off a momentum for the next two tracks that will become the first original tracks by INRI studio: Catastrophe and Streaks.
What made this track an important part of the whole scheme of things was that it is produced in the same vibe as e'Tzaintes (as how Catastrophe and Streaks was done): without technical knowledge, without experience, without budget, but with a whole lot of spirit.
And today... INRI Studio is sharing this experience with you.
We have decided to have an online release the three tracks of e'Tzaintes to commemorate the upcoming double-screening on August 16 at Sinema Old School. These tracks will be release one by one, over the period leading up to the screening. We decided not to clean up the mixing for the tracks, because that would only destroy the character that makes these tracks special to us, so we are presenting them to you in their unadulterated form.
For those who have been there since day one, this is our way to thank you for your support.
For those who just knew about us, welcome to the madness and magic that is INRI.
Yours truly, Armen Co-founder, music and audio experimentalist
INRI studio is proud to finally announce that [e’TZAINTES] and A WICKED TALE - are making their re-entry back to home country Sin’gapore. and it's going to be screened as a Double Bill at Sinema Old School. Tickets available from August 16. Some of you might know about these two films. A full house world premiere, a gold remi award in Houston, sell out underground screenings and a closing night slot at the notorious FanTasia Fest.
But accolades doesn’t mean shit (to us as an artists)... if people in our own home country know nothing about our work. This is the homecoming of both these films. And this is 'the run' that we've been waiting for. Forget DVDs. Forget downloads. This run is your chance to catch it on the big screen.
Mark that date! Tell your friends and buy a ticket when the time comes!
These films will change your perception of what Singapore films are all about. Check out http://www.inristudio.com/ for details.
With the running out of original first edition, and it being unable for the longest time, A WICKED TALE is now being re-released on DVD!
Once again, it's the word of mouth that got this opportunity happening. Curious people from all over the world has chanced upon AWT upon its first release... or while it is travelling at the festival circuit, and am I glad that - of this handful who watched it and got surprised, more get to know about it.
That's the perfect advertising in my opinion. The germinating and multiplying of opinions... good or bad. Your willingness to spread the word and poison more minds... because you just bring yourself to suffer alone. Hehe... maybe i'm exagerating. But still... i want to say thanks. Just not too long ago, (even now), I'm exactly like that - with my movie selection habits.
Most of the films I fell in love with were not introduced through advertising, but discovered because 1) I was curious, 2) because it was recommended by friends... who chanced upon it because they were curious.
So thank you for being curious. I'm glad that the title/artwork has intrigued you enough .... to make you put money out to buy it. And thank you to the people who emailed to tell me that they felt rewarded... ie. not disappointed... it's rewarding for me to hear from you too.
Curiosity is sexual. Curiosity rewards... both ways. This wickedness cannot sit alone. It must be shared. To all who like to seek and discover strange little films in weird little corners, I dedicate this international edition is dedicated to you.
Get it before it sells itself out again. (Tzang M.)
It's a song that speaks to me every monday once upon a time. So catchy, so melodic, yet so deliciously dark. I realised many years later that the themes discussed in this song is so hauntingly familiar to the theme of my first film, e'TZAINTES.
It seems the idea of a kid coming to school with a gun to kill his classmates is not new. It's like flying in your sleep, dreaming of losing all your hair, fear of being castrated. It's a thought that exists inside the heads of some people, because it's the most natural fantasy to have, esp. when you're beaten up and troubled with no where to turn to... Nobody wants to feel weak. And sometimes the consequences are crazy. It's just a shame that some people choose to act out their fantasies in real life. Anyway, it's a nice song. Check this out.
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