Baz Luhrmann’s Singapore connection |
- Baz Luhrmann’s Singapore connection
- ‘Amazing Race Asia’ host is not ready to be eliminated just yet
- Kesha drops California sex assault case against Dr Luke, report claims
- Research, test centre for self-driving vehicles soon in Singapore
| Baz Luhrmann’s Singapore connection Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:37 PM PDT
SINGAPORE, Aug 2 — Here's a little-known fact about Australian director Baz Luhrmann: In the early 1980s, he spent some time in Singapore — working on his first job in film, no less. On the line with TODAY from Los Angeles last week (July 29), Luhrmann recalled: "The first time I ever left Australia and the first thing I ever did in film was in Singapore, and I stayed at the Raffles Hotel. "(The film) was called The Highest Honour. I didn't direct it. I (acted) in it." The movie, based on the true story of Operation Jaywick, a daring raid on Japanese-occupied ships in the Singapore harbour by Australian and British troops during World War II, was released in 1982. Since his early days in the industry, the 53-year-old's career has exploded, with award-winning movies like Moulin Rouge (2001) and The Great Gatsby (2013) among the many accomplishments on his resume. Now, Sydney-born Luhrmann has set his sights on television in a big way. He is behind The Get Down, a musical drama series that is Netflix's most expensive production to date — reportedly costing a whopping US$120 million (RM482.4 million) for the 12-episode season. The show, which follows a group of Bronx teenagers growing up in a financially-fraught New York City in the 1970s, and which explores the birth of hip-hop, will make its global premiere on Netflix on Aug 12. It stars up-and-comers including Shameik Moore, Justice Smith and Jaden Smith. "Normally when you open a movie, a week later it's out there and it's done," said Luhrmann, who first rose to international fame with his unique 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. "With this, I've got to go back (to film the rest of the episodes) after the whole world has already seen the first bits... there's excitement and a bit of trepidation." While he didn't quite have reservations about making the foray into television, the 53-year-old, who is based mostly in New York with his wife, their two children and his creative partner Catherine Martin — one of The Get Down's executive producers, has admittedly found the medium challenging. "Films have a beginning, a middle and an end," he mused. "The thing about television is that it has a life that can be ongoing, so what I was concerned about was sustainability. How do you sustain something that is cinematic like this?" Another thing Luhrmann found "shocking" was the amount of labour involved in putting the series together. He explained with a laugh: "It's the most labour-intensive show I've ever worked on, and (my projects) have all been labour-intensive, you know?" For all the hard work involved, there was also lots to enjoy about his first experience in television. "Getting lost in the research" of the subject matter in order to maintain authenticity of the show's portrayal of the era, for instance, proved great fun for Luhrmann. "We are actually research junkies, and one of the great things about working with Nelson (George, one of the show's executive producers and a respected African-American journalist) is that he's the go-to authority on this music and the history of it,"he explained. "If I could only just do the research and not make the movie, I'd be the happiest man in the world," he added. As for how he chooses the projects he embarks on, the auteur insisted there is no magic formula. "It's all about enriching my own life experience," Luhrmann said, chuckling. "I'll think 'Oh, I wonder how hip-hop got born', and then here I am years later (for example) ... it's nothing to do with (attaining) commercial success, that's for sure." — TODAY  |
| ‘Amazing Race Asia’ host is not ready to be eliminated just yet Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:29 PM PDT
Just 48 hours before he was seated with TODAY for this interview, he had just wrapped up a month-long, 10-country shoot for The Amazing Race — China Celebrity Edition. He then travelled 17 hours from the final destination of Rio de Janeiro to Los Angeles to pick up his daughter from her grandparents' (Wu's parents are based in LA) before flying another 17 hours back to Singapore. Then, in less than half a day, he was back on the plane again, this time to attend the press launch of The Amazing Race Asia Season Five in Jakarta. He has also been up since 2.30am that day, no thanks to a severe case of jetlag. Except for some shadow under his eyes, he still manages to look amazing, spout hilarious quips, and sport an absolutely Greek god-like bod. Did we also mention that he is 44 this year? "Contrary to popular belief, I do get tired, and I am definitely tired right now," exclaimed Wu. "While Allan Wu feels and acts young, his knees are definitely not." There is no rest for the weary, though. In less than a week, he will be back on the road — travelling to a new set of 10 cities — to host the fifth edition of the AXN reality series The Amazing Race Asia (TARA). The new season is slated to air in October and pre-production and filming will begin this week. It has been six years since the last season and Wu knows that he faces a new set of audience, and with that, a new set of challenges to stay relevant to the current generation. "TARA started in 2006, before Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Weibo came along. Things are monumentally different now compared to six years ago. You have this whole new frontier with social media," he mused. "Previously, anything we do for this show would have been completely top secret. "Now, it's going to be an immersive experience. Instead of the polished one-hour, well-edited episode every week, there'll be elements on social media where the audience can interact with me and the contestants." That means one thing: More work and more stress. "The feedback will be immediate. You'll be able to see from the comments what people like or don't like, or what they want to see more of." Wu is also honest with us about his fear of being out-of-touch with this new social media-surfing, content-saturated age. "If I weren't in this industry, I probably wouldn't care to have social media accounts. But it comes with the territory and I just have to adapt," said Wu, who has some 20,000 followers on his Instagram account, @wulander. "If TARA is just starting now in 2016, I would instantly get tons of 'follows'! Obviously I wish it'd happened during the height of my career when things were really busy. I would have been able to ride on it. "But I see this show as a symbolic renaissance for myself too in becoming relevant to the audience again — like a phoenix rising from the ashes," he said, before bursting into laughter. Beyond work, the past six years have spelt plenty of changes for the host on a personal level as well. "In six years, I've moved to Shanghai and moved back without a wife. I've gone from a husband and a father to just being a father with a singular goal of making sure my kids are provided for." When asked if he was attached, Wu was evasive, saying "That's a whole other story there" before changing the topic altogether. Wu was married to former actress Wong Li-lin for nine years before they announced their separation in 2013. They have two children, Sage, 12, and Jonas, 10. "As long as my kids are well cared for, nothing really matters. Of course, I wish I could be around for them and not have to travel so much, but on the other hand, I'm happy that they understand why I have to be away for them. " Now that his children are fast approaching teenagehood, Allan tells us he's feeling the jitters. "I'm bracing myself for it. How bad is it?" he asked with a laugh. "But I'm just going to embrace their changes and be open-minded about it. It's inevitable. You can't hold on too tightly to them. "Until they start dating and meeting other people, I'll just enjoy the fact that I'm still the coolest guy they know now." — TODAY * The Amazing Race Asia Season Five is slated to premiere on AXN (Channel 511 for StarHub TV and Channel 304 for Singtel TV) in October. |
| Kesha drops California sex assault case against Dr Luke, report claims Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:28 PM PDT
Rolling Stone reported that the Tik Tok singer dropped her California lawsuit, which accused Dr Luke of rape and sexual abuse, in a bid to restart her music career. She will, however, continue to pursue appeals in New York, where a judge dismissed her sexual abuse claims against Dr Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, in April. Kesha, who is bound to Dr Luke and his Kemosabe label under Sony Music, has not released any new music for four years. It is understood that the action was on hold since June of last year pending the outcome of Dr Luke's lawsuit in New York accusing Kesha of defamation. In the past month, Kesha's legal team said in a statement to Rolling Stone that she has submitted 28 new songs, recorded at her own expense, in order to fulfil her contractual obligations. Daniel Petrocelli, Kesha's legal counsel, wrote in the statement: "Kesha has dismissed her California action without prejudice while she pursues her appeal and other legal claims in the New York courts. Kesha is focused on getting back to work and has delivered 28 new songs to the record label. We have conveyed to Sony and the label Kesha's strong desire to release her next album and single as soon as possible." Sony Music declined to comment. But in a statement, Dr Luke's lawyer, Christine Lepera, told Rolling Stone that Kesha voluntarily dropped her claims "because she has no chance of winning them." "If Kesha is voluntarily dismissing her claims in the California case, it is because she has no chance of winning them. Earlier this year, she lost her meritless counterclaims against Dr Luke in the New York Action. Recently, the California Court invited Dr Luke and the other defendants to move to dismiss Kesha's claims in that action. Kesha never should have brought her false and meritless claims against Dr Luke in any court. Dr Luke's defamation and other claims against Kesha are still proceeding." Earlier this year, a New York judge denied Kesha's request to be released from her current contract, ruling that doing so would cause irreparable harm to the record labels. Although Sony promised to allow the singer to work with other producers and without involvement from Dr Luke, Kesha's camp said they weren't convinced that she would be allowed to do so. Kesha, however, was allowed to release a collaboration with producer Zedd, True Colours, earlier this year. It was her first official release since Pitbull's Dr Luke-produced 2013 song Timber. According to Pitchfork, she is about to tour under the name "Kesha and the Creepies," where she is expected to perform some of the new music that she's recorded for a new album. Kesha signed an exclusive recording contract in 2005 when she was 18, agreeing to deliver five albums for Dr Luke before their arrangement is terminated. She has only released two to date. Her last album, Warrior, was released November 30, 2012. |
| Research, test centre for self-driving vehicles soon in Singapore Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:24 PM PDT
The Centre of Excellence for Test and Research of AVs — NTU, or Cetran, is a joint project with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and government industrial developer JTC Corporation. The 500sqm centre, set to open in the next three months, will be located at CleanTech Park near the university. It will craft standards and test methodologies for self-driving vehicles to ensure their safe operations on the roads. The 1.8ha test circuit, which houses a 3.2km track, will be ready next year. Senior Minister of State (Transport) Josephine Teo, who attended the launch yesterday, said: "Although many countries and cities are testing self-driving vehicles, we have yet to see international standards and regulations suitable for large-scale deployment." The centre and test circuit would put Singapore "at the global forefront" of developing these standards, integrating self-driving vehicles safely into the transport network, Mrs Teo said. Professor Lam Khin Yong of NTU pointed out that traditional testing methods would not suffice for these vehicles. Non-autonomous vehicles are assessed on their safety from a physical perspective, with design, construction and driver's control being taken into account. For an autonomous vehicle, the "driver" is simply a network of sensors and electronic controls. "It is no longer the person who is in control, but an artificial intelligence network capable of deep machine learning. "It will be in constant communication with other vehicles, with infrastructure such as traffic lights and with dispatch and routing systems, thus making it vulnerable to cyber-security challenges." NTU's Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar said that the centre, with its working team of up to 30 people, would study certification and test software and sensors. Much of the work will be done via simulations, and at a later stage involve tests on the circuit and selected roads. "Once these multiple phases are completed, the AV would be certified for operation in a mega city like Singapore," he said. At least 10 to 15 vehicles can run on the circuit simultaneously, he added. "Some will be AVs, some will be conventional vehicles. We really need to see a mix of different vehicles and pedestrians to simulate as real a situation as possible." — TODAY |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malay Mail Online | All. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
