Le Samourai (1967)
Perfectionism was the antithesis of the French New Wave: tired of standard Hollywood trappings but nonetheless inspired by film noir, directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut took long-established cinematic standards and tore them apart, breaking their carefully constructed conventions down into creative movies that were by and large celebrated. But within this world […]
Chloe Sevigny
Actress, muse, designer and all-round cool girl Chloë Sevigny talks fashion and film with Pavan Shamdasani. Chloë Sevigny is late. I’ve been waiting outside her Lane Crawford suite for more than an hour. She’s doing her make-up, says a PR woman. She won’t be a minute. The door to the suite is slightly ajar. I […]
The Evolution of Street Fighter
The Street Fighter series, first released in 1987, has enthralled gamers with its many spin-offs and updates. Its new chapter is set to be a winner too, writes Pavan Shamdasani. Fighters meet in an exotic location for a battle to the death. They hail from all parts of the globe, from Japanese warriors to American […]
Argentina: Higher Ground
Pachamama presides over Jujuy Province. Here, in northern Argentina, the Andean Mother Earth can be felt in every divine inch of the vast and varied landscape. Rainbow-hued mountains abut rocky ravines; the sun beats down on immense salt flats and wild creatures defy the odds to thrive in harsh environments. EARTHEN RAINBOW It’s said that […]
Black Spring (1936)
When attentive bookstore clerks line their shelves with literature as complements to city guides, the Paris selections are often chosen from favourites of the 1920s and ’30s: Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises andA Moveable Feast, Orwell’s Down & Out in Paris and London, the short stories of Fitzgerald. Rarely if ever does Henry Miller’s Black Spring make the cut. Coming […]
Thomas Heatherwick
British Architect Thomas Heatherwick is slowly changing the face of Hong Kong, writes Pavan Shamdasani Colonialists often wistfully long for the lost Victorian and Edwardian buildings of yesteryear. They have a point: compare classic photos of our early colonial days with the towering skyscrapers that now dominate our city, and one feels a sense of […]
Tetris: 30 Years Old
As fans prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of all-time bestseller Tetris, Pavan Shamdasani explores its enduring appeal. This Friday marks the 30th anniversary of a game that, as you are reading this, thousands of people will still be playing, perhaps cursing in frustration at their decades-long addiction. The game is Tetris and it remains […]
Taste the Past Across Asia
While Hong Kong has been criticised for neglecting its architectural heritage, many Asian cities not only preserve but transform crumbling colonial estates into some of the region’s finest contemporary boutique hotels. Here are some that have already been restored to their former glory, as well as Yangon’s Strand Hotel, built in 1901, which reopens in […]
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
For any true cinematic auteur, the idea of creative paradise is one where free rein and the final cut prevail, and nowhere is that better realised than in the world of independent cinema. Although the movement now yields a slew of cheap, cellphone-shot shoegazing knock-offs that dominate YouTube, there was a time when you couldn’t […]
GTA: Making Crime Pay
Video game developer Rockstar’s latest instalment in the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series has gamers all revved up, writes Pavan Shamdasani. Three letters are synonymous with all that’s right and wrong in the video game world: GTA. Once a simple, low-budget crime game, the Grand Theft Auto series has evolved into a cultural phenomenon that transcends the medium. […]