Think Big Big 大大哒 : Back to Simple Storytelling

After success with The Journey and Ola Bola, director Chiu Keng Guan is back to basic with Think Big Big 大大哒. Compare with the former 2 movies (not the earlier works), the current CNY movie lack the impact of the Ola Bola or the vast exposure of the Journey. But to be fair, Think Big Big is the most polished and neat film among his works.


The CNY story follows the main character Moon who despite her obesity, is a happy person surrounded by supportive parents and also good friends who are closer than a sister. In addition to that there is a loyal male friend who secretly admire her. Through fate, she is forced to enter a weight losing competition. After winning, she is signed on to be the spoke person for a advertising program which encourage public to give their opinion to form an idol of their dream. Opinion on how to dress, where to go, what food to eat, making the final product idol of their dream. Its actually a workable idea in real life, but unsure how long would it last. While growing in popularity, Moon began to lose herself, her identity, and finally her family and friends.


Full of moral lesson, Moon teaches us to stay true to ourselves, not to conform to public views especially in this world full of social media. A useful mirror, it reflects on the current generation where a person is define by how he or she is viewed via facebook, instagram or tweeters. How happy we are depends on how many likes we get on the photos we posted. How upset we are depends on how some complete strangers posted sarcastic remarks on our post.

As I said earlier, this movie is the most polished of the lot. It felt like a modern Chinese movie, with each department did their job well. The casting was daring, but effective. Chiu chose to use 3 different actress to play the title character in their different weight, instead of using prosthetic addition like other similar shows. The script was written smartly though too few jokes for a CNY movie. The cinematography is as beautiful as ever (though still prefer Ola Bola). It lack the impact of Journey or Ola Bola. I do not feel like yelling in support while watching Ola Bola or crying with pride of my heritage while watching Journey but Think Big Big tug at your heart. The story is simple but there lies the simplicity of it, simple storytelling. Telling of a down to earth story, a story about everyday things, something we can relate to but taken for granted. And Chiu is a great story teller.


ratings: 3 half poink~!
comments: though Journey and Ola Bola have their own technical flaws, but are superior movies.

House of Happiness 一家亲亲过好年: Poor Start with a Heart Warming Ending

988 radio station had been accompanying me for years. Despite their lack of experience in movie making, I listed their CNY effort, House of Happiness  (一家亲亲过好年) as one of my CNY movie binge. Richard Ng and Chu Mimi both spearhead the cast with their vast acting experience from Hong Kong and it shows greatly. They basically hold the movie together with each screen they were on.


The story is expected from any local CNY effort. Uncle Shui suffers from dementia, and had forgotten his family. He treats his wife as a maid and his son as the maid's son. The first half follows the story of how a vixen took advantage to tried to break their marriage while running away from a fail pyramid scheme. The second half follow as Shui tried to win back his wife, and later struggle with his loss due to dementia.

I would not even touch on casting as the 2 main lead is just perfect. Their veteran experience really shines among the amateur. The main problem is probably the script and the editing. The first half of the movie felt unsatisfying. If it is because of the main lead, it felt like an extended youtube video. The editing is poor, sometimes, the whole transition between scenes felt disjointed. The whole first half serve nearly nothing to the flow of the story and I felt they could just do it in less than half of the time. You can feel that many characters were so purposely written so that each DJ can have their moments on the silver screen. And talk about product placement..... it could be done more subtlety. The jokes felt flat many times as it felt forced.

However, if you manage to stay awake until the second half, this is where the movie shines. This is when the movie pick up, free from its own burden of showcasing the DJ and pushing products. Richard Ng manages to tug the heart with his struggle with his own memory loss. I can personally feel how Chan Fong's character son agony as he watch his father struggle with his dignity and his love for his family.

The movie could be done so many ways better, but the last scene on the father and son, .....that is just perfect, although cliche. Although there are many CNY offerings from HK and China, but I believe this is one of the more memorable ones this year.

ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: Sometimes, it could be a cut from the authority that disjointed the story telling. This is my guess how the story of the son running away from home was not told properly.