She is, after all, still feeling feverish from its effects even though Screen Singapore has already ended for more than two weeks.
The infection had begun on the fateful Friday just when the press conference for indie movie “Where The Road Meets The Sun” kicked off.
Set in Los Angeles, “Where The Road Meets The Sun” (WTRMTS) is an anthology about four angsty men from very different backgrounds who meet at a low-rent hotel. There is Blake (Eric Mabius) the depressed hotel manager with a mid-life crisis, Takashi (Will Yun Lee) the mysterious ex-yakuza with a past, Julio (Fernando Noriega) the illegal immigrant from Mexico and Guy (Luke Brandon-Field) the young charming backpacker from London who was estranged from his rich dad. Inevitably, they become enmeshed with each others’ lives and formed some tenuous bonds of friendship.
WTRMTS is Singaporean-born Yong Mun Chee’s directorial debut based on her short story. The movie has a notably Asian slant especially in its dreamy emo pace, the oblique reference to a mystical zen-like potion and the use of the late Canto-pop singer Leslie Cheung’s song “The Wind Blows On”.
The movie has already won several awards at Worldfest Houston 2011 and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festvial 2011. For Screen Singapore, Yong was specially invited back to the Red Dot Island to offer some insights on how the movie was made.
In Red Dot Diva’s opinion, what was more unforgettable were the two ridiculously good-looking men who accompanied Yong for the movie’s homecoming.
One of them was true-blue Mexican, model-actor Fernando Noriega. In person, Fernando resembles very little to his blue-collar character Julio. Classily poised and GQ-handsome, Fernando was friendly and very easy to talk to. Whenever he smiled, his warm eyes would crinkle and one could easily forget there was anyone else in the same room.
Fernando’s WTRMTS partner-in-crime was the tall and edgy-cool Luke Brandon-Field, whose British accent practically slayed Red Dot Diva on the spot. With a fedora perkily perched on his head, Luke was the cheekier, more animated one. He had a penchant for telling stories, sometimes taking on different accents and voices to the press room’s amusement.
He especially regaled in telling the tale about how the two men bonded on the first day of work, because Yong had unexpectedly dropped them off at Little Mexico for “Mission: Fake Green Card”. (Red Dot Diva says one can certainly find the story on Google or YouTube.)
Originally, the WTRMTS dedicated interview time for online bloggers was 20 minutes. This was unceremoniously cut to only 8 minutes at the last minute due to some poor scheduling. Despite feeling very annoyed about this, Red Dot Diva managed to ask Fernando and Luke a few questions while basking in their terribly distracting manwich-ness. It was no mean feat.
Red Dot Diva: You have acted in many Mexican shows. Have there been any major differences between working back home and in LA for WTRMTS?
Fernando: Not in the technical way. But it was tough and frightening for me because it was the first time I was doing something in English, which is not my first language. So, it was a real challenge for me. I was excited when I got the part. And I was even more excited when I met all these incredible people who were very open with me, which made it easier to work together for the movie.
Luke gave a bemused smile: Thank you.
Red Dot Diva, rather mischievously: Are you a ladies’ man as well?
With his gorgeous hazel eyes twinkling, Luke gave a sly smile and said rather tellingly: No comment.
A fellow blogger then mentioned that Luke and Fernando shared an very obvious and easy rapport on screen. They both unanimously agreed.
Luke said: We became very good friends. As we started shooting the film, we obviously became very close because we did a lot of scenes together. And then, we’d go out around Hollywood because we have never explored the place before. That was pretty cool.
Red Dot Diva: What are your next projects?
Luke: I have just been signed on to do a new vampire movie called The Highgate Vampire, which is based on a book which was published in March by the same people who published Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. And I start shooting in September.
Fernando: I am waiting for the premiere of my second American movie (“Nothing Against Life”) which I did last year. And also waiting for the premiere of a Mexican TV show (“Morir en Martes”) that I’m doing right now.
That same night, the WTRMTS cast and crew were in high spirits as they walked down the red carpet premiere held at GV Vivocity. When Fernando and Luke were on stage together with their equally nommy-looking UPM Sean Newhouse, it became evident that Team WTRMTS was one of the handsomest celeb groups that week.
And as a tribute to the humid Red Dot Island weather, Luke with retro-styled, slicked-back hair, was fashionably attired in a cream suit …..and tada! No socks!
Proof in the video here:
Now, if that huddle of manly charm is not enough of an eye-feast, Red Dot Diva was told that Fernando and Luke had modelled for a photo shoot with local movie magazine F*** that weekend. So, one can get to exercise their eyeballs even more in the magazine’s next issue.
For folks in the USA, they have better stuff coming up! WTRMTS will be showing in several cities for the Maya Indie Series 2011! Check these dates out:
July 29 – NY /LA /Chicago
Aug 5 – San Antonio, San Diego
Aug 12 – Dallas
Sept 9 – Miami
Sept 15 - San Francisco
As for the local dates, Red Dot Diva is not sure when WTRMTS will actually be screening. Word is, it may be in July 2011 at Golden Village theatres.
Who knows? Maybe the guys will return to heat up the island with their presence one more time.
That may very well be the cure to the stubborn fever!
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| Delish WTRMTS-Manwich |
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For a less estrogen-ated account by Red Dot Diva about the WTRMTS team at Screen Singapore, click here to go to the End of Show website!
To keep up with the news about the indie movie, follow WTRMTS on Facebook and on Twitter!
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