FILM@TW0_SENSER: Man Of Tai Chi

Oh my goodness me - where to start with this? To watch Man of Tai Chi is to get a ringside seat into the near comatose mind of debut director, Keanu Reeves...

Hello, hello, is there anybody there? Keanu seems to be stuck in a world where the action scenes from the Matrix keep running and re-running, until the film itself starts to wear thin.

To say you've seen this all before would be an understatement.A typical martial arts film, where an innocent martial arts practitioner is tempted by 'the dark side' (played by a one-dimensional Reeves, dressed in grey or black), and bucket-loads of money - to beat all his opponents and ultimately commit the ultimate Tai Chi sin - to kill.

There is hardly any character development. There is no explanation as to the motivation of Reeves' character, and main protagonist, Tiger Chen (a veteran stunt artist from the Matrix films) struggles to convince - unfortunately looking more like a bow-legged uncle than a powerful young martial artist exponent.

Adding to the cast is a cardboard Karen Mok, playing a detective trying to track down Reeves' illegal underground fighting tournaments. She's got to be possibly the worst detective in history, always turning up late at the scene of a crime, and apparently hiding in plain view, so that the bad guys always know where she is...

What a film, what a film... if you're watching purely for fight scenes, then you won't be disappointed, as our Tai Chi hero is pitted against all other forms of martial arts, to prove to everyone just how powerful Tai Chi can be.

But after half an hour of non-stop grunts and groaning sound effects as they kick the stuffing out of each other, the noise can start testing your patience... 

To give this movie 2 out of 10 would be generous... All that's left to be said is... "Keanu, what were you thinking? Maybe you took one too many blue pills?"

WARNING: The trailer is much better than the actual film!

MUSIC@TWO_SENSER: GET LUCKY - A TALE OF TWO VERSIONS

One of the great things about music is how a single song can be interpreted and re-interpreted; how a track originally written for the dance floor can be taken apart and re-imagined into something completely different.

I love coming across these unexpected gems, and sometimes the covers often turn out to have more of an impact than the originals.

Take for instance, the happy, funky tune that is Get Lucky by Daft Punk. This new collaboration by the French electronic music masters with Pharrell Williams on vocals and the inimitable sound of Nile Rodgers' guitar brilliantly encapsulates where today's dance music began and where it is today in just over four minutes. The production is immaculate and instantly raises the bar for the entire dance pop enterprise.


Now... look what happens when London folk trio Daughter comes along and produces this amazing cover. Rather than stick within constraints one might consider genre-appropriate, Daughter often branch out into the delightfully absurd with their cover work.

In the hands of singer Elena Tosca and her band, the track takes on a brooding, chilly air and soaring, synth-heavy soundscape, giving so much more of an intimate meaning to the lyrics. But that catchy beat and irresistible chorus are kept pretty much intact

A beautiful thing:

MUSIC@TWO_SENSER: Wyclef Jean - Bugatti

After a brief hiatus, and having emerged relatively unscathed but still reeling from his charitable endeavors in earthquake-stricken Haiti, The General, Wyclef Jean is back.

He's been criticized for mismanaging his charity, and becoming overwhelmed with politics in the country of his birth, Haiti. But Wyclef's heart was obviously in the right place - perhaps he was just badly advised.

Now he's back in the studio; still sounding out his pro-Haitian agenda and standing up to his detractors, but the General also seems to have found his voice again - freestyling effortlessly and spitting out tough lyrics on his new release, April Showers.

Here's a cut from the album, entitled Bugatti. He's in good form. Obviously leaving politics and gossip behind, has been a good thing for Wyclef Jean...