What superhero does Singapore need? The Sandbox's Nathan Hartono, Benjamin Kheng and Oon Shu An have ideas新加坡需要什么样的超级英雄？The Sandbox 的 Nathan Hartono、Benjamin Kheng 和 Oon Shu An 有一些想法。
The mockumentary-style comedy follows a struggling stunt training school that gets an unexpected boost from rumours of a Marvel casting call. It opens in cinemas on Oct 8.
The mockumentary-style comedy follows a struggling stunt training school that gets an unexpected boost from rumours of a Marvel casting call. It opens in cinemas on Oct 8.
The Sandbox stars an ensemble cast including Peps Goh, Jon Cancio, Oon Shu An, Estelle Fly, Benjamin Kheng, Nathan Hartono, Fauzi Azzhar, Xuan Ong and Aaron Mossadeg. (Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
The Sandbox isn’t a superhero movie, but it is about a superhero movie. Kind of.
In cinemas from Oct 8, The Sandbox is a quirky, mockumentary-style film about a stunt training school on the verge of shutting down, until a rumour that Marvel is casting for their next superhero movie in Singapore brings paying clients through the door.
These, of course, turn out to be a ragtag bunch of misfits who bring the requisite slapstick comedy.
The film, which premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, stars real-life stunt performer Peps Goh as the owner of the school, alongside actors Oon Shu An, Benjamin Kheng, Nathan Hartono and Jon Cancio.
(Photo: The Sandbox)
Kheng shared that what made the project special was that writer and director James Thoo gave the cast a long leash to develop their individual characters.
“The script was amazing to start with, but we had a lot of slack to really own our characters and play them. Mine was a supporting role, but the amount of dialogue we had about the character, his motivations and his quirks was enormous, and you never get that really from a project,” he said.
In a weird twist of life imitating art, The Sandbox was an actual stunt training studio run by Goh, and it closed down last week.
“It was a very special place for people to dream that you could create a stunt community in Singapore, and they're good at what they do,” Oon lamented, pointing out the movie’s overarching theme of how small businesses and creative enterprises struggle to thrive.
“There are a lot of things we're willing to sacrifice in the name of pragmatism, but, how much joy and creativity are we losing? I wish we had more fertile ground for that to blossom, because the world is richer for it.”
That said, “the movie actually gives me so much hope," she added. "I was like, 'Can I please have a copy so I can watch it when I get sad?'”
That’s an argument in favour of the power of art to effect change. What else in the world needs saving? Oon, Kheng and Hartono describe the superheroes they think Singapore needs.
(Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
“This is Fan Man, aka Tan Jisu. And he is capable of expelling ungodly amounts of wind to cool the masses. But, also, to thwart the villains and blow them away. 'Fan Man, coming to theatres soon!'
"If I could pick a superpower for myself, it would be something in between Mr Fantastic and Spider-Man. Since I was young, whenever I was walking home from school, or just taking long walks wherever, I would always imagine myself swinging from the lamp posts just to get somewhere faster. I think most kids have that vision when they're younger. And, I'll also take Mr Fantastic's powers, because I could just stretch my arms and grab things.
"For my superhero name, I would go with The Fabulous Hart. It's part of my last name. Yeah, I'm bad at naming things.”
“My superhero has diamonds or some sparkly things because we like those. Hearts, diamonds, stars, the sun.
“What she does is, she creates space. If there's any conflict, or maybe something that we need to make a decision on, she'll just go, 'Whoosh', and then she creates, like, a space ball around it that's luminous, soft and warm.
“I think in Singapore, we're always rushing. We rush a lot. We're rushing to build. We're rushing to tear down. We're rushing to develop. What she will do is create a space where we can just hang out for a moment and then connect with each other as people. Because, I think we do want to do that, but, life is tough, man. Life can be tough, you know."
“This is Mr Dandy, short for dandelion. He has the insatiable power of growing through concrete. I think we need resilient art makers, resilient happy people, to push through what might be difficult circumstances, in order to really be themselves.
"If I were a superhero, I'd be Existential Crisis Man. He brings the unrelenting power of self-doubt and anxiety, to ownself-check-ownself, I suppose. His costume would be the absolute mean of what everyone was wearing. It would be a functional aesthetic. Because you can't self-soothe when you are in skintight skinny jeans. I’m a millennial, I struggle to keep with the times.
“I think that's my own kryptonite and my superpower, maybe – anytime you need paralysing self-doubt, I'm there! Yes, maybe the base of it is an existential crisis. I’m obviously prone to overthinking and and questioning my purpose. But, I like the fact that I get to take my time with things nowadays.
“If I could choose a superpower to have, it would be the power to always be happy and to make people happy. That's the the value I want to put out there right now.”
The Sandbox will be in Shaw cinemas from Oct 8.
A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.
这部伪纪录片风格的喜剧讲述了一所苦苦挣扎的特技训练学校，因漫威选角传闻而意外走红的故事。影片将于10月8日上映。
《沙盒》的演员阵容包括 Peps Goh、Jon Cancio、Oon Shu An、Estelle Fly、Benjamin Kheng、Nathan Hartono、Fauzi Azzhar、Xuan Ong 和 Aaron Mossadeg。 （照片：CNA/Dillon Tan）
这段音频由人工智能工具生成。
《沙盒》不是一部超级英雄电影，但它讲述的却是一部超级英雄电影。某种程度上来说是这样。
《沙盒》将于 10 月 8 日在影院上映，这是一部风格奇特的伪纪录片，讲述了一所特技训练学校濒临倒闭，直到有传言称漫威正在新加坡为下一部超级英雄电影选角，才吸引了付费客户前来。
当然，这些人都是一群乌合之众，他们带来了必不可少的滑稽喜剧效果。
这部电影去年在新加坡国际电影节首映，由现实生活中的特技演员吴佩普饰演学校的老板，其他主演包括温舒安、本杰明·肯、内森·哈托诺和乔恩·坎西奥。
（图片来源：The Sandbox）
Kheng表示，该项目的特别之处在于，编剧兼导演James Thoo给了演员们很大的创作自由，让他们能够塑造各自的角色。
“剧本一开始就很棒，但我们有很多空间去真正理解和诠释角色。我演的是个配角，但我们有很多关于角色、他的动机和怪癖的对话，这在其他任何项目中都很少见，”他说。
现实生活模仿艺术，这真是一个奇妙的巧合。“沙盒”实际上是吴先生经营的一家特技训练工作室，上周已经关闭了。
“对于梦想在新加坡创建一个特技社区的人来说，这是一个非常特别的地方，而且他们在这方面做得很好，” Oon感叹道，并指出这部电影的主题是小企业和创意企业如何艰难地发展壮大。
“为了务实，我们愿意牺牲很多东西，但是，我们又因此失去了多少快乐和创造力呢？我希望我们能有更多沃土让它们绽放，因为世界会因此而更加丰富多彩。”
话虽如此，她补充道：“这部电影真的给了我很多希望。我当时就想，‘我能要一份拷贝吗？这样我难过的时候就可以看了。’”
这证明了艺术拥有改变世界的力量。世界上还有什么需要拯救呢？Oon、Kheng 和 Hartono 描述了他们认为新加坡需要的“超级英雄”。
（图片：CNA/Dillon Tan）
“这位是风侠，又名谭志秀。他能吹出惊人的风力，为大众带来清凉。不仅如此，他还能挫败恶势力，将他们吹飞。《风侠》即将上映！”
“如果我能选择一种超能力，我会选择介于神奇先生和蜘蛛侠之间的能力。从小到大，放学回家或者散步的时候，我总是会幻想自己像蜘蛛侠一样在路灯柱间荡来荡去，这样就能更快到达目的地。我想大多数孩子小时候都有过这种幻想。而且，我也会选择神奇先生的能力，因为我可以伸长手臂去抓东西。”
“至于我的超级英雄名字，我会选‘神奇哈特’。这是我姓氏的一部分。嗯，我不太擅长起名字。”
“我的超级英雄身上有钻石或者一些闪闪发光的东西，因为我们喜欢这些东西。心形、钻石、星星、太阳。”
“她所做的就是创造空间。如果出现任何冲突，或者我们需要做出决定，她就会‘嗖’的一声，然后在冲突周围创造出一个发光、柔软、温暖的空间球。”
“我觉得在新加坡，我们总是很匆忙。我们总是很匆忙。我们急着建设，急着拆除，急着发展。她要做的是创造一个空间，让我们能够放松片刻，彼此交流。因为，我觉得我们确实想要这样做，但是，生活很艰难，真的。生活有时很艰难，你知道的。”
“这位是蒲公英先生，是蒲公英的简称。他拥有穿透混凝土顽强生长的强大力量。我认为我们需要坚韧不拔的艺术家，坚韧快乐的人，去克服可能遇到的困难，从而真正地做自己。”
“如果我是个超级英雄，我会是‘存在危机侠’。他代表着永无止境的自我怀疑和焦虑，大概是为了自我反省吧。他的服装会是当时所有人穿搭中最不合时宜的那种，一种功能性的美学。因为穿着紧身牛仔裤根本没法自我安慰。我是个千禧一代，我很难跟上时代的步伐。”
“我觉得这既是我的克星，也是我的超能力——无论何时你需要那种令人瘫痪的自我怀疑，我都在！没错，也许它的根源在于一种存在主义危机。我显然很容易想太多，也容易质疑自己的人生意义。但是，我喜欢现在这种可以慢慢来的感觉。”
“如果我可以选择拥有超能力，我希望拥有永远快乐并让别人快乐的能力。这就是我现在想要传递的价值观。”
《沙盒》将于10月8日起在邵氏影院上映。
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