The Complete Twilight Saga Movie Marathon

21st November 2012 finally dawned (pun intended!) for the Complete Twilight Saga Movie Marathon, for which my Twi-Mum friends and I had been anticipating most eagerly and planning most meticulously (or almost!).
The prospect of watching all five movie adapatations of Stephenie Meyer's phenomenal book series was immensely exciting and something I had been waiting for ever since I watched the first Twilight movie waaay back in December 2008.
The movies are Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn Part One and Part Two.
Even with a different director helming every one, there has been a distinct continuity as the screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg and music producer, Alexander Patsavas have been constants along with Stephenie Meyer herself providing input and overall approval of the adaptations.
Watching the movies back-to-back brought out this continuity very well and of course, lots of credit is due to the well-chosen cast members who have brought their respective characters to life so wonderfully!



Goodie bag, entry pass, poster and postcards!

 Programme for the day:

 

My Edward Cullen pillow and blanket:

Tips to enjoying a movie marathon

*Watch out for announcements and APPLY FOR LEAVE the second the date is confirmed. Then pray very hard that said leave is approved!
*Inform kindred souls and fellow fans to book tickets immediately!
*Plan timing for arrival at venue to get in line to 'chope' (reserve) the best seats.
*Bring stuff to keep warm and hug: cardigan, shawl, blanket, pillow. And yes, fiinally, my Edward Cullen blanket and pillow were put to good use!
*Bring portable phone charger: everyone wants to take photos and update their Facebook, all of which drains your battery.
*Bring emergency meds like antihistamines, eyedrops, Panadol, etc. Thankfully, I did not have to use any of these!
*Wear comfortable clothes: dress, pants, well... whatever will allow you to sit with legs crossed or up and won't nip you in the waist!
*Bring toothbrush and toothpaste: it's a long day and night in the aircon; breath must be kept fresh.
*Bring small waterbottle for sips throughout movie.
*Snacks if you're so inclined.
*Exercise and stretch during breaks
*No matter what little glitches occur...chillax and have fun!

It was my first ever movie marathon and I'm so glad it was for a beloved franchise which culminated on a very satisfying note indeed, as the finale was truly epic.
With the well-timed breaks for meals and other reliefs, it was, overall, quite a fantastic experience and a great time was had by all!
Fifteen hours in the Twilight universe with Twi-Hards was INSANELY FUN!!!

You know what??
I'd do it all over again!!!

NB:

Here is my review of BD2 for the Golden Village website:

"True Twi-Hards who love the books and the previous movies will catch and enjoy all the little nuances, cute quips, music, twist in the tale and the loving tribute at the end. Wonderful closure to a beloved franchise!"

First Lady Of Musical Theatre: Elaine Paige

The headline in the Life section of The Straits Times caught my eye:

"Esplanade presents ELAINE PAIGE and Special Guest, Kris Phillips (费翔)"

The name that struck me, of course was Elaine Paige but who in the world was Kris Phillips?
A closer look at the inset picture and the Chinese name and I immediately recognised Fei Xiang, one of the most handsome Taiwanese-American singers from the 80s, with a voice to match his looks.
This was a must-go concert but strangely enough, none of my usual gang was keen and it was not until I read Susan''s post on Facebook, declaring her affection for Mr Fei, that I found my concert companion. :)

Walking towards the concert hall, we noticed a couple of parliamentary ministers and some local celebs from the theatre community.
Our seats were up in the Circles and my only regret was that I had forgotten to tote along my binoculars. :(

Nonetheless, there was no doubting the quality of the performance; Elaine is not known as the UK's First Lady Of Musicals for nothing and she brought the audience through songs from Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess and Cats, including a number of duets with Fei Xiang. (I'm sorry...I can't bring myself to call him Kris...)
The latter was also in fine form and received loud cheers and applause especially when he sang Andrew Lloyd Webber's Till I Hear You Sing, from the sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, Love Never Dies.
Elaine also got jazzy after the intermission, with some cool numbers featuring a saxophonist and she also paid tribute to Edith Piaf towards the end.


There was a fair bit of banter with the audience from both of them, with Fei Xiang explainng that he would take good care of Elaine and show her around Singapore and perhaps even try durian. ;)
Elaine, on her part, spoke a few lines in Mandarin, saying she was very happy to be in Singapore and even attempted an "Ok lah" at one point. ;))
One notable encore was the song, Grow Young, by Jimmy Webb.
It was the first time I was hearing this and the lyrics struck a chord, so to speak.
I'm reproducing it here to share:

Don't get so busy
Don't get so tired
Climbing the ladder
And counting each rung
Try not to worry
Too much to have fun
Don't get so old
You forget to grow young
Grow young
Grow young
And maybe this way
You'll be a child Again someday
Grow young
Grow young
And maybe this way You'll be a child Again someday
Don't get so caught up
In telephone wires
That you can't remember
The songs that you've sung
And feel sorry for things that
You've already done
Don't get so old
You forget to grow young
Grow young
Grow young
And maybe this way
You'll be a child
Again someday
Grow young
Grow young
And maybe this way
You'll be a child
Again someday someday

It was a wonderful performance from Elaine and Fei Xiang; one which the truly cosmopolitan audience lapped up.
Heh...I'm pretty certain many of them were there more for Fei Xiang so this was a win-win collaboration for both.
Elaine did mention that she had known him for many years from his time spent in musical theatre.

There was even an autograph session after the concert, which came as a pleasant surprise. As the queue appeared to be moving smoothly, I decided to join in later and got a photo and autograph with Elaine!
Pity there wasn't a session with Fei Xiang, though. :P

Tickets!!

Elaine walking to the autograph table; note the queue behind. 

My autographed flyer addressed to both me and my friend, Susan. 

ANIME(A)-NIA! aka Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2012

Heh...that is one anime series I am a little more familiar with, if only with a few of the names...lol!
Yup, those are the cosplayers dressing up as characters from One Piece during the just-concluded Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2012 (AFA) which was held this year at the Singapore Expo.

Technically, this post is not about my fandom as I am not a fan of manga nor anime but my youngest son is and as I think he probably got his fandomania genes from me, it was only natural that I would be interested in the many aspects of a fan culture which, although it originated from Japan, is quite quite alive in Singapore.

That picture above shows just a section of the crowd which had gathered at Singapore Expo waaay before the doors were due to open at 9am on 10 November 2012, a Saturday morning.
F (my dear hubby), Jer (my son) and I had initially and dutifully waited further behind where there was supposed to be a queue.
But as time went on, it became increasingly obvious that the anxious fans were not going to adhere to any sort of queue and frankly, as there were no specific barriers or markers, it pretty much became a free-for-all-no-holds-barred attempt to get to the front so that one could rush in once the doors opened so as to make a beeline for the booths selling merchandise.
I'm somewhat sheepish about the fact that we were amongst the kiasu (read scared of losing out) people in the front and even then, many other even more kiasu individuals had no qualms about elbowing their way even further front than us!

Anyway, once the doors opened, there was a roar, almost a war-cry from the predominantly young male crowd as all and sundry stampeded into the exhibition hall. It was, frankly, a rather scary experience as the crush was quite incredible and I'm just thankful that no one fell or got stepped on.
This is a lesson (amongst many others!) which the organisers will have to take home when planning next year's festival.

F and I had been pressed into service as line-up-pers for Jer at two booths whilst he went for a movie screening. F managed to get to his Cospar booth and became the tenth person in line and got hold of the bag which Jer wanted.
I was headed for the Sword Art Online (SAO) booth but Jer beat me to it and got into the queue which was already snaking around to the back. The SAO staff appeared unprepared for the overwhelming demand and the queue was shuffled here and there as they attempted some form of crowd control. I took over Jer's place but it still took nearly an hour before I reached the cashier. We learnt later that all the merchandise was sold out by afternoon, disappointing many who had queued later or were planning to come on Sunday. (See pic below which shows the interior of the SAO booth)

F and I went around after that, soaking in the atmosphere of profound manga/anime geekdom and I can safely say we were the oldest folks there. Not that we cared. ;)

Here are some cosplayers which we took pics of:

 

And these dolls were really cute!

F and I left after going through the booths and returned later in the afternoon for the Anisong concert, which was scheduled for 7pm at the Max Pavilion.
This would feature five acts which were the performers for the music of the various animes, all featuring interesting names typical of J-pop bands and singers.

However, due to some technical difficulties, the organisers could not make good on the promise to open the doors at 6.30pm and consequently, the start time of 7pm was also impossible.
Yes, they let us in at 6.50pm but after that, we were made to stand outside the auditorium (whilst some rehearsals were still on-going, probably to adjust the sound system or something) for thirty minutes before we could enter to get to our seats. This was quite unexpected and for me, a first amongst all the pop concerts I have ever attended. Another lesson for the organisers to take home.

I'm very familiar with waving glowsticks, jumping and singing during such concerts so it was no surprise to me that the fans were on their feet the entire time the artistes were performing. There was no let-up in their energy and enthusiasm and most interesting to me was that Jer was doing the same. He truly is a fanboy. :)

The artistes last night were: BABYMETAL, m.o.v.e, fripSide, LiSA and FLOW.
Unfortunately, we missed FLOW as it was getting really late and although we did not have to catch the last train, we were feeling very tired and as Jer was not keen on FLOW, we left after LiSA's performance. 
NB: Another reason the concert dragged on somewhat was the long intermissions between acts which lasted fifteen to twenty minutes. Yet another lesson for the organisers.

Of all the acts, I enjoyed m.o.v.e.and LiSA the most, as their songs were a little more up my alley. 

m.o.v.e. got me interested when they mentioned Initial D, which I was familiar with thanks to Jay Chou's 2005 movie which was an adaptation of the anime series. :)
Here's a link about them:

http://strawberryscentedburnout.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/m-o-v-e-my-favorite-j-poprockwhatever-music-group/

LiSA's songs were good too and reminded me of Paramore, an American band which I like. :)

Here's the wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiSA


All in, it was an experience of anime fandom which I had a taste of and it was quite mindboggling, especially the cosplayers' efforts and the level of fanaticism displayed by the fanboys at the concert. 

Would I go again next year?
Keep watching this blog. ;)