My 12 favourite local movie posters of the past decade

Restricted to movies that were commercially released here. 

I also picked only the posters used for the Malaysian release; for example, I much prefer the international festival poster of Sell Out? to what was used in Malaysia and Singapore. 

I have also modestly not included the posters of movies in which I served as director or producer -- although anyone can tell you that the ones for Susuk and Punggok Rindukan Bulan are bloody brilliant.

Also my nominee for Best Tagline:
"Love. Despair. Love. Despair."

Tagline goes on 2 words too long!

Pity about that horrible GSC logo.

Pity I don't have a clearer image of this;
  it captures the Gila-Gila aesthetic so well.

Those are the 12. A special mention goes to:

Why only Special Mention? Because I initially quite liked it, and then I saw this!

Nominees for Best Poster, the most important category of Festival Filem Malaysia

Which is your favourite? Mine would be Belukar.

Coming in November from Matahari Books

More details will be posted later. In the meantime, a free book goes to the first Malaysian resident who can identify the photographer responsible for the front cover!

Buku ORANG MACAM KITA

Bukunya dah siap, uols!

Orang Macam Kita ialah sebuah antologi cerpen dan esei mengenai seksualiti alternatif di Malaysia. Seksualiti alternatif boleh diertikan sebagai homoseksual, biseksual, transgender dan dwikelamin. Ini termasuklah gay, lesbian, tomboy, mak nyah dan khunsa. Label-label sebegini mungkin tampak sensasi atau klinikal. Namun cerita-cerita dan kajian-kajian di dalam buku ini mungkin mendedahkan sisi lain, yakni sisi alternatif, daripada tanggapan yang sedia ada.

Orang Macam Kita memuatkan 25 karya dengan gaya dan pendekatan yang berbeza-beza: kisah cinta dan penerimaan yang mencuit, cerita pendedahan yang dramatik, kajian mengenai media, sastera dan filem; dan ada yang melayang jauh ke alam surreal. Kepelbagaian ini turut diraikan; tepuk dada tanya selera!


Kandungan:

Pengenalan - Azwan Ismail & Diana Dirani

Tiga Perbualan dan Satu Siri Pesanan Ringkas - Nur Fadhlin Binti Mohd Yusof
Anak Ikan - Ajami Hashim & Fadli al-Akiti
Sembang Ratu - Nizam Zakaria
Jika Itu Takdirnya - Khalid Idris
Pangkon - Dalih Sembiring
Hanya Jauhari Menyelindung Manikam: Memburu Ikon Gay dalam Filem Malaysia - Fadli al-Akiti
Avatar Tekne Seksual - Clarissa Lee
Rabak - Mohd Zaain Bin Md Zin
Sulalatus Anilingus - Ridhwan Saidi
Lurus Atau Bengkok - Dina Zaman
Pencuri Hati - Nizam Zakaria
Gay.a Ke Aku? - Zulkifli Bin Mohamad
Duyung Karuna - Chuah Guat Eng
Indra Dan Fadil - Paul Agusta
Sejarah Ringkas Media Cetak Tentang Orang Macam Kita - Hafidz Baharom
Tiada Sesalan - Azwan Ismail
Wanita Dua Wajah - Bissme S.
Honey - Bernice Chauly
Sepetang Di Kafe Oedipus - Mohd Ikhwan
Syi - Mohd Syahar Azizan
Vagabundando, Vagabundando - Fernando Rosa Ribeiro
Yang Sebenarnya - Adibah Yahya
Sembang Ratu II - Nizam Zakaria
Sekilas Ikan Di Air, Siapa Tahu Jantan Betina: Siapa Sebenarnya Panji Semirang Asmarantaka? - Farish A. Noor
Asmara Dua Vampir - Diana Dirani

Jumlah mukasurat: 226

Harga: RM20 sahajork

Ni kulit penuh; judulnya ialah sticker yang boleh perpindah-randah mengikut selera si pembeli:

Buku ini TIDAK akan dijual di kedai-kedai buku utama (hanya di Silverfish). Ia hanya boleh dibeli di event-event (bermula dengan Pekan Frinjan pada malam 2 Oktober) dan juga melalui pesanan pos (sila emel saya di info@mataharibooks.com - pengeposan percuma di seluruh 1Malaysia ).

Yang ovesi boleh pesan melalui Amazon.

ROJAK returns to #1 in MPH!

This is two and a half months after debuting there!

MPH Local Authors Bestseller List

For the week ending 19 September

1. Rojak: Bite-Sized Stories
Author : Amir Muhammad

2. Found in Malaysia
Author : The Nut Graph

3. Indahnya Amalan Doa
Author : Dato Ismail Kamus

4. Nasib Melayu di Bumi Melayu
Author : Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah

5. Jadi 'Cool + Positif: Psikologi Suka-Suka (Kompilasi Ruangan Psikologi Majalah Remaja)

6. Pemilik Cintaku Setelah Allah dan Rasul
Author : Fatimah Syarha Mohd Noordin

7. Mencari Pasangan Hidup

8. Mama, Saya Lapar: Berkongsi Pengalaman Mengenai Pemakanan Berkhasiat untuk Anak-Anak
Author : Wardina Saffiyah

9. Senjata Mukmin
Author : Haji Muhidir Haji Tamjis

10. Iskandar Malaysia: A Story of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
Author : Ho Chin Soon

NEW MALAYSIAN ESSAYS 3 is a free e-book!

You won't be able to buy New Malaysian Essays 3 anywhere.

Not because it's banned or anything, but because the book will not be a physical entity.

It will exist solely as a PDF that you can download from tomorrow onwards. You can then read it on your computer, print it out, or embed the PDF on your blog.

Check this link tomorrow, ya?

Happy Malaysia Day!

And if you need to, erm, complete the experience, you can still order *ahem* New Malaysian Essays 1 and New Malaysian Essays 2 directly from me ;-)

NEW MALAYSIAN ESSAYS 3 will be released on Thursday (Malaysia Day) in an unusual way!

It will feature:


1. How to Demonstrate Creatively by Wong Chin Huat
We have political scientist Wong Chin Huat's upbeat guide to civil disobedience, a small handbook of ideas on getting your voice heard while pressing for political reform in Malaysia ... Wong’s essay draws on concepts developed in Gandhian non-violent direct action and its descendants in the U.S. civil rights movement. Here, he applies them with a twist to the Malaysian context.


2. An Empty Canvas on Which Many Shadows Have Already Fallen by Simon Soon
Soon takes us through these big issues via the careers of a dynamic duo of the Malaysian art world, perhaps ‘terrible twins’ is a more apt moniker; Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa. These two artist-intellectuals debated, challenged and provoked each other and those around them to find a fruitful way to produce beauty in a manner that was both critical and socially relevant. Both were early enthusiasts of the NCP, but found themselves having to chart out a more flexible and ecumenical direction in order to make themselves both Malaysian and globally significant. Along the way, they have to contend with the urinary critique of an even more formidable enfant terrible, poet Salleh Ben Joned.


3. Queer Ways: An Un-straight Survey of the Direction of Malaysian Popular Culture and Fashion by Clarissa Lee
Clarissa Lee’s essay takes us into another side of the cultural world that is seldom subjected to analysis; the world of fashion and popular culture since Merdeka. This is not an exhaustive survey, but rather one that explores multiple strands including advertising, branding, film, beauty pageants, burlesque, stripping, dress, cross-dressing, nasyid, drag shows, and men and women’s magazines. Lee also challenges her readers to question any assumption that Malaysian history is simply a history of heterosexuals...


4. Uwang Asli Moden by Mor Ajani
(this is a bilingual essay, in Temuan and Malay)
Taking us into the zone between village and city is Mor Ajani’s essay on modern life amongst the Orang Asli, Peninsular Malaysia’s indigenous peoples. Mor is a young comic book artist, cultural documenter, and cultural activist on Orang Asli matters. He paints a picture of how Orang Asli have engaged in modern urban life, an encounter that has frequently placed their lands and traditions in jeopardy.


5. Among the Exiles: Reflections of a Refugee Lawyer by Sumitra Visvanathan
Sumitra Visvanathan is a veteran refugee lawyer who has worked in Malaysia and the region for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). She has personally processed thousands of asylum applications in her 14-year career. Working this closely with refugees has given her a sharp insight into their plight and their humanity.

The editor is Yin Shao Loong (and the paragraphs in italics above are all from his Introduction).

The cover is designed by Teck Hee and features an artwork by ... go on, guess!

*

Check back here on Thursday, ya?