Chermin....
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

SPIRITS. Exorcism. Mirrors. Most seven-year-olds (like me) are too spooked to watch Freddie Krueger terrorise kids on Elm Street, but not Zarina Abdullah. She remembers watching it at that age and she hasn't forgotten its utter scariness.

Zarina, now 27, is causing mayhem and bloodshed and striking fear in the hearts of cinema-goers with her debut feature film called Chermin.

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Yes, she was fed on horror films, says this young director, adding that she has watched classics like The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street series to Sixth Sense and Asian films like The Eye and Shutter.

If you google her name, you'll eventually find her blog where she referenced all the horror and thriller films that have inspired her.

Zarina's enthusiasm and passion clearly shows in the film as she not only directed but wrote the script as well.

But what sets Chermin apart from the countless horror films hitting our big screen this year may be the RM2.2 million budget which sees the film employing special effects done by Oriental Post, a Bangkok-based company responsible for the Kung Fu Hustle graphics.

She was so enamoured with the special effects that she was almost gushing as she explains how effects has improved a bulk of the scenes even though it won't be apparent to most viewers. For Zarina, the process "is like making a new film - a totally exhilarating experience".

Zarina hopes her film goes beyond the typical jump-out-of-the-seat moments.

She hopes the storyline is engaging as well. Well, the beautiful people she has used for her film will certainly help do that.

Chermin is about Nasrin (played by Natasha Hudson) who recently became engaged with Yusof (Farid Kamil) and is contented with everything in life. But she gets involved in a car accident which leaves her face disfigured and herself emotionally scarred.

Her family and Yusof try to help the now reclusive Nasrin and she finds herself drawn to an antique family mirror.

But that item houses Mastura (Deanna Yusoff) who is bent on taking revenge on the family. Soon Nasrin is dragged into a nightmare as Mastura begins to take control of her and her family.

The idea for Chermin came to Zarina in a dream no less, in 2003 - the image of a girl looking at her own distorted reflections.

At that time, she was also reading a Chuck Palahniuk book about a model who was scarred from an accident.

This became the basis of the script that she worked on for nine months - while holding down a day job as a civil engineer.

"I have a degree in Civil Engineering and a master's in Information Technology. But I was watching more films than ever," she said.

Her love for film soon led her to take up a filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy in London. After that, she returned to Malaysia where her sister Ummi Khaltoum and her set up Starry Eye Productions.

During the script-writing stage, Zarina already had Deanna in mind to play the ghost.

"To me, Deanna is perfect, because she is beautiful and able to portray the complexities of Mastura's character. She brought such haunting qualities to the character."

Chermin marks model Natasha Hudson's foray into the acting world and local heart throb Farid Kamil plays the only male lead character of Yusof.

Zarina was impressed with Farid during the audition that it only took three days before he got the part down pat.

"Farid has this alpha male quality that really suited the character."

The film also sees local heavyweights Khatijah Tan as Nasrin's mother, M. Rajoli as the healer and legend Fauziah Nawi.

How was it directing such local luminaries?

"It was nerve wrecking at times, but I am honoured to direct these local screen legends whom I practically grew up with," said Zarina who believes that finding the right cast is 80 per cent of directing.

She added that the witch doctor in Chermin is played by a real life bomoh, Ghazali Abu Noh. "He's quite a character."

Chermin was also mostly shot on location in Janda Baik, which is infamous for its hauntings.

According to Zarina, legend has it that a famous witch doctor captured all the spirits in Kuala Lumpur and sent them to the lush jungles of Janda Baik in Pahang. Thus, the place is said to have spirits and orang bunyian (fairies).

So, the question comes to mind: were there any strange occurrences during the course of shooting in Janda Baik? Enough to change her mind on things, according to Zarina who was initially a skeptic on all things supernatural.

"Once, when we wrapped up at a location in the middle of the jungle at 2am, two of our crew members were left to pack and lock up. The location was opposite a graveyard with an empty hut nearby in the middle of the rubber plantation.

"They were getting ready to drive off when the lights mysteriously came on in the hut. One of them went back to check but he found no one around. He switched off the lights but as they were driving off, the lights came back on. They continued driving."

There were instances as well during the production, where the crew and cast could smell the sundal malam flowers normally associated with ghosts.

Thankfully, nothing untoward happened and Zarina attributes it to daily prayers that were said to protect the crew and cast members.

If anything, it has been an quite the "roller coaster experience" for Zarina.

* Chermin is now showing in cinemas nationwide.

10:22 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Tujuh Perhentian (Mly)
Current mood: creative
Category: News and Politics

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..> ..> Classification: U Genre: Mystery Thriller General Release: 14 November 2004 Running Time: - Distributed by: Metrowealth Productions Starring: Erra Fazira Farid Kamil Vanida Imran Maya Karin Waheeda Rashidi Ishak Serina Redzuawan Hattan Director: Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen Synopsis: Amir is a CEO in a courier company facing a problem when a courier package costing RM150,000 goes missing. The lost package causes Amir to suffer a loss and the company that he opened with his wife falls into the hands of his business partner. Far worse, his wife Mira humiliates Amir and constantly argues with him. One day, Amir decides to leave his home in search for peace. Amir drives alone from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru through seven stops; Nilai, Seremban, Air Keroh, Mahcap, Pulai, Yong Peng and Skudai. At his first stop, he meets a beautiful woman named Sue. In a short time, Amir falls for Sue because he sees qualities in her that his wife never had. However, as they reach their seventh stop, the unexpected crops up – Amir discovers that Sue died two days ago! What will happen at the seventh stop? Give us your rating: [ click here ] Review by Nigel Yap 2.5 stars Click here for pictures When one looks at "7 Perhentian", one might think, "Finally…An Erra Fazira movie without Yusry in it!" This particular genre of a ghostly love story is one that has previously been unexplored by Malaysian filmmakers, making "7 Perhentian" an interesting movie to catch. Unfortunately, as great as the concept is, it falls short in several areas. In "7 Perhentian", Amir (Farid Kamil) is a businessman who runs a delivery service in Kuala Lumpur. His business runs into some problems and he has to sell some major shares to his friend Dhani, making Dhani his boss. Add to that a nagging wife, Mira, (Waheeda), and Amir has a ton of problems that keeps getting him stressed out. One day he loses an important and expensive courier package, causing his dismissal from the company. When he informs his wife, both of them get into a big fight and Amir leaves home in anger, his destination – Johor. At the highway rest stop at Nilai, he meets a beautiful woman named Suraya (Erra Fazira) and he befriends her. He continues to bump into her at another six stops and throughout the journey he gradually fall in love with her. "7 Perhentian" could have been a really good movie. The concept of love between a man and a 'ghost', though not original (Tsui Hark's "Chinese Ghost Story" comes to mind), has a lot of elements that could have been played around with. Admittedly, "7 Perhentian" does play around with some of these concepts, a forbidden love and a man unaware of the truth of the girl he loves. However, as good as ideas are, it is essentially the execution that matters. This story focuses on the interaction between Suraya and Amir. Initially the depiction between both of them was actually fine. Erra and Kamil seemed to gel well together as actors and there was some chemistry (though honestly quite little) between them. However, it is later on in the movie that things start getting a bit weird. It becomes quite apparent that Suraya is not who she appears to be as we see in later scenes when Amir seems to be talking to himself. These scenes of Amir talking to himself were the sore points of the movie. Yes, he is interacting with someone who isn't there, but that doesn't mean there was a need to blatantly depict him actually talking to himself. Telltale signs like weird looks people around were giving him would have been a better indicator rather then totally removing Erra's character from the scene. In a way, if the director took the "Sixth Sense" approach, those scenes would have been way better. It was pretty hilarious seeing Farid Kamil talking to thin air and closing car doors for an imaginary girl but somehow I don't think humour was supposed to be the intended effect. As far as acting goes, both Erra and Kamil did a pretty good job. The only problem was their tendency to over act some parts, exaggerating their expressions. The dialogue itself was not exactly inspiring or moving either and didn't really contribute much to the movie. So far, most local movies still suffer from the same problem, the inability to have good dialogues, making their actors look as if they're either tripping over their lines or just plain making things up as they go. One thing to note, however, was the feeling of spookiness that the director managed to capture. As many flaws as this movie had, the element of spookiness wasn't one of them. Mohaideen managed to at least give the impression that something wasn't quite right with Suraya in the scenes she was in with Amir. The score itself wasn't that bad and it managed to add to the overall feel of spookiness in the movie. However, that is as much praise that can be heaped on the movie. Besides Erra's looks, Kamil's acting and the atmosphere, the rest of the movie was rather disappointing. It was a good try, but ultimately flawed. Fans of Erra should watch it though as it gives them a chance to see how beautiful she is. But as far as the story goes, this movie is one major let down.

8:28 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Farid bagi komen sat...
Current mood: crazy
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

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Remp-Itis a fast-paced, action-packed film about the thrills and spills of illegal motorcycle racing.

For Ahmad, directing Remp-It was an exciting and eye-opening experience. "Before this I'd only directed romantic comedies (including Mr Cinderella, Tipah Tertipu) so I learnt a lot from Remp-It." 

Farid Kamil, who plays the lead character, Madi, and wrote the script, was actually an ex-mat rempit himself and Ahmad feels that the actor's knowledge and skills made it easier for all concerned. 

(Farid could not be reached for comment for this article.)  huhuhu....

8:27 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Farid bagi komen sat...
Current mood: crazy
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

..> ..>

Remp-Itis a fast-paced, action-packed film about the thrills and spills of illegal motorcycle racing.

For Ahmad, directing Remp-It was an exciting and eye-opening experience. "Before this I'd only directed romantic comedies (including Mr Cinderella, Tipah Tertipu) so I learnt a lot from Remp-It." 

Farid Kamil, who plays the lead character, Madi, and wrote the script, was actually an ex-mat rempit himself and Ahmad feels that the actor's knowledge and skills made it easier for all concerned. 

(Farid could not be reached for comment for this article.)  huhuhu....

8:27 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

video lakonan saya kini di pasaran....
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

MOVIES
For those who love to watch movies at the cinema, be the first to watch your favourite new releases this festive season.

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ANAK MAMI THE RETURN

..> ..> Director: Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen Cast: Saiful Apek, Fasha Sandha, Farid Kamil, Waheeda, Azean Irdawaty, Piee Release Date: 03 November 2005

The film rotates the colourful life of the Piee family that consist of his daughter, Mak Bee (Azean Irdawaty) and two adorable but mischievous grandchildren, Saiful (Saiful Apek) and Ida (Waheeda). Mak Bee is a single mother that is very dominant and has a strong personality. She is very firm and conservative in the up-bringing of her two children. She is also the kind that is very partiular about the family's status quo. Saiful is an oversea university graduate. He is the hip and rugged type but likes to brag about things. He is often the victim of her mother's babbling because she is unkeen of the way Saiful portray himself. Saiful has a lover, Fasha (Fasha Sandha) the daughter of Ismail (Ismail Din) and Saleha (Sheila Mambo). Saiful did not tell her mother about his relationship with Fasha because of Mak Bee dominance in controlling the family. Ida, his younger sister also faces the same problem when she become involve with Farid (Farid Kamil) the only child of Zulkifli (Zulkifli Zain) and Normala (Normala Omar). Things seems to be turning worse when Mak Bee got to know of Ida's relationship with Farid. What will happen to Ida? Are lady luck shying away from her? Are Saiful safe from her mother wrath? Will Mak Bee for go her status quo for the sake of her son and daughter? Wait for upcoming Notorious and Hilarious movies "Anak Mami Kembali". MAIN-MAIN CINTA

..> ..> Director: Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen Cast: Saiful Apek, Azean Irdawati, Farid Kamil, Vanida Imran, Siti Elizad, Irma Hasmie, M. Rajoli Release Date: November 2005

Farah (Misha Omar) and Adam (Adam AF2) is Metrowealth College's most ideal couple. Both are popular, intelligent and become the idol of most students in the college. However, these two are also well known for being mischievous, playing tricks to lecturers and other students. But Adam and Farah's relationship is not well received by Maya (Dynas), a beautiful student who targets to become more popular than Farah. She also targets at stealing Adam from Farah. The presence of a new student, Farid (Pierre Andre) creates havoc in college especially since Farid is very good looking. The girls start to fall deeply in love with him, including Farah! Thus, Adam feels threaten by Farid. Problems started when Maya traps Adam one night. Maya manages to get Adam to kiss her and pictures of their intimate encounter were spread via the internet. Farah who sees the photos, is devastated. Thinking that Adam is unfaithful, she decides to fight fire with fire. Farah then tries hard to make Farid falls in love with her in order to make Adam feels jealous. Her plan backfires when Adam, out of jealousy, becomes closer to Maya while Farah herself falls for Farid. In the finale, during a prom night, Farid utters the three magic words to Farah! But Farah realizes that her true love is Adam and in a memorable ending, Adam and Farah are united! Book a ticket now! But before that spend some time to read the synopsis of other new releases at http://special.time.net.my/time4u/movies/main.cfm

8:14 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment