Craving for some hot-piping HOT-DOGS?

Dear movie-goers, here's something to soften yesterday's blow (aka price hike again!)...

That’s How You Know… You’re “Enchanted”!

Walt Disney Records has released the soundtrack for the part animated, part live-action, movie musical, Enchanted. The recording features songs by Academy Award Winners Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz with original score by Menken. Amy Adams and James Marsden (Princess Giselle and Prince Edward in the film) perform four tracks on the CD. Recording artists Carrie Underwood and Jon McLaughlin each perform a song.

A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess (Amy Adams) from the past who is thrust into present-day by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon). Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer (Patrick Dempsey). Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

Enchanted is in many ways an homage to classic Disney films, beginning as an animated tale then turns into a live-action musical. Director Kevin Lima turned to the team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) to create the musical journey for Princess Giselle.

Together they would draw on their film and musical theater expertise for Enchanted. "The biggest problem with doing live-action musicals is justifying why the characters are suddenly bursting into song in the middle of very real sets and very real situations," says Schwartz. The concept of Enchanted does so in a way that is true to the characters.

"We're really trying to take you back to the Snow White or Cinderella era, pre-Belle, pre-Pinocchio, back to the earliest days of animation," Menken describes. This influence is evident in "Happy Working Song", which shows Giselle utilizing her animal-charming abilities to help straighten out a messy apartment or "True Love's Kiss", a duet between Amy Adams and James Marsden that opens with a classic Disney-style fanfare. Singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin performs the song "So Close," offering an outer voice that mirrors Giselle's inner emotional journey.

Multi-platinum recording artist Carrie Underwood performs the final song "Ever Ever After," produced by Mark Bright. Says Underwood, "It's actually one of the more difficult songs I've sung, but it's really cute and it's really fun, and it fits so well with the movie."

Though Underwood has been responsible for many memorable songs since winning American Idol, she acknowledges that there is something about recording a song for a Disney film that truly makes you timeless. She describes, "It's really amazing to think that someday kids will know all the words to this song - just like I know the words to a lot of other Disney songs that have become classics."

Three songs from the soundtrack "Happy Working Song", “That’s How You Know” and “So Close” received Best Original Song nominations at the 80th Academy Awards. The results will be announced on 24 February.

Watch out for the soundtrack review on MovieXclusive.com, and read the movie review here!

Curse of the 'Clown' Look

Two days ago, Heath Ledger died alleged of a drug overdose. His last screen outing: as The Joker in Christopher Nolan's anticipated "The Dark Knight" which will be out this summer. Before he died, Ledger was quoted as saying he lost plenty of sleep because of the role. On March 31 1993, Brandon Lee was killed by a prop gun while shooting on the set of "The Crow". Both actors were incidentally portraying characters which required their face to be heavily make-up with a creepy clown look. And both actors incidentally passed away at the young age of 28. Spine-chilling when you think about it.

Have You Watched A Movie On Us?

Have you recently watched a movie on us? If the answer is yes, some of your selected feedback has been posted here

Feel free to check them out. As for the rest of the readers, see for yourself how these movies fare in the eyes of our audience. If you haven't got a chance to watch a movie on us, fret not. Visit us often to enter the ongoing movie contests.

HEATH LEDGER (1979 - 2008)

According to CNN, Oscar nominated actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his Lower Manhattan apartment. The "Brokeback Mountain" star was found by a housekeeper who had gone to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse in the Soho apartment, according to New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. "Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," Browne said, "This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet." The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said. He was declared dead at about 3:30 p.m.

A terrible piece of news to start the day and we were looking forward to Ledger's performance in this summer blockbuster "The Dark Knight". Fate is getting more unpredictable these days. All thoughts are with Ledger's family.

Owe Money Pay Money!

Shoppers at AMK Hub had an advanced Chinese New Year surprise last weekend when Jack Neo, Fann Wong, Mark Lee and Richard Low turned up at the shopping mall to promote their local Chinese New Year blockbuster Ah Long Pte Ltd. The movie pokes fun at the illegal money-lending business and the rivalry between triad gangs.

Autographed movie posters, red packets and car decals were given away to fans. There was also a pleasant surprise for the two January babies Jack and Fann. The crowd celebrated their birthdays in advance with specially-made birthday cakes. During the road show, two large movie standees were “vandalized” by the director and cast. You can now catch them on display at GV VivoCity and GV Plaza Singapura.

To immerse yourself in more festive mood, watch out for the director and his cast, who will be making appearances at the following shopping malls during the upcoming weekends:

26 January 2008, 3:00PM (Chua Chu Kang, Lot One)

26 January 2008, 5:00PM (Bukit Panjang Plaza)

27 January 2008, 3:00PM (Bishan Junction 8)

03 February 2008, 12:00PM (Hougang Mall)

03 February 2008, 03:00PM (Jurong Point)


Ah Long Pte Ltd opens 7 February 2008 Watch out for our exclusive interviews with the motley crew on Moviexclusive.com

Alexandre Desplat: The 3- in-a-row Composer

Who is Alexandre Desplat you may ask? For a start, he's French and he's an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning film composer. If you have been watching a lot of movies lately, he scored "The Golden Compass", "Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium",
and also the award-winning Ang Lee's "Lust Caution". For the record, he did "The Painted Veil" and "The Queen" too. Maybe it's time to impress your date with some Desplate's music, best to go with your les escargots. Bon appétit!

Wong Jing Presents: Beauty & The 7 Beasts

Remember the prolific Wong Jing who brought us Stephen Chow's comedies such as "Tricky Brains", "God of Gamblers II" and other slew of movie genres. Much of the HK movie outputs from the 80's and 90's hailed from Wong Jing be it action, erotic or romance. Many criticised him for dragging the industry down given his notorious way of film-making. Well, seem like the man is back after a period of down time.

With "Beauty & the 7 Beasts", he's returning to his roots. "The Romancing Star" series if you recall with the great Chow Yun-Fat and Andy Lau. The question is will he strike gold this time round ?

KUNGFU DUNK SINGAPORE GALA PREMIERE

The biggest, most exciting movie event of the year is bringing basketball fever to Singapore this Chinese New Year! Upcoming Mandarin blockbuster KUNGFU DUNK 《功夫灌篮》, starring Asian superstar Jay Chou, will hold its Singapore Gala Premiere at the 3000-seater Suntec Convention Hall 602.

Crocodile is proud to host the SINGAPORE STAR TOUR as well as A SLAMMING SINGAPORE GALA PREMIERE 《功夫灌篮》灌绝天下新加坡首映礼. Customers can simply spend a minimum of $100 worth of Crocodile products to get one complimentary ticket. In addition, 10 lucky customers will get a chance to meet Jay Chou in-person at an exclusive gathering! For more information, they can log onto www.crocodilehouse.com.

The highlight of the event is a special appearance by KUNGFU DUNK lead actor Jay Chou 周杰伦, along with Director Kevin Chu 朱延平导演, and co-stars Chen Bo-lin 陈柏霖 and Baron Chen 陈楚河. Running an extremely tight schedule, they will be staying in town for less than 14 hours, before flying to Beijing to continue their tour. KUNGFU DUNK is one of the largest movie productions in the history of Taiwan with a production cost of USD$10 million. The production team hails from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China, with a stellar cast of internationally renowned actors and will hit local cinemas islandwide on Chinese New Year, 7th February 2008.

CLOVERFIELD Revealed!

No, we don't mean the pix of the much anticipated monster but we did managed to catch the preview and is it that good?

Click here to find out

Heng or Huat! Press Conference & Gala Premiere

Scorpio East Pictures Pte Ltd, Illuxions Private Limited and Vividthree Productions Private Limited are pleased to announce that the Press Conference & Gala Premiere for Heng or Huat! was successfully held on Tue 15th Jan 2008.

Heng or Huat!, previously tentatively titled as Fortune Shines, features an exciting cast that includes MediaCorp Campus Superstar 2 winner Shawn Toh, renowned veteran singer/actress Maggie Teng, popular young MediaCorp actor Nathaniel Ho, MediaCorp actress Belinda Lee and 883JIA FM DJ Youyi. This tele-movie is slated for released in mid-January 2008.

Hey! I'm Right Here!

Since everyone is jumping on the CLOVERFIELD hype, we might as well join in. In this picture, Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) tries to avoid being shot by the military, which is battling a ferocious monster that has attacked Manhattan. Perhaps sharp-eye readers can manage a glimpse of the "monster" in this pix or maybe not....

Village Roadshow and Golden Harvest Group announce joint plans for Golden Village

Village Roadshow and Golden Harvest Group are glad to announce that they have put their recent dispute behind them and have jointly recommitted to making their Golden Village business in Singapore a success.

Mr. Wu Kebo, Chairman of Golden Harvest Group, said “I am glad that Golden Harvest and Village Roadshow are able to reach consensus within a short period of time, so that we are able to renew our previous successful relationship as partners in a joint effort to actively develop the Singapore cinema market in future. We believe that Singapore offers many opportunities for the two groups. At the same time, Golden Harvest is also continuing its efforts in actively developing cinemas and films distribution network businesses in other regions of Asia such as China and Taiwan, so as to provide quality film and cinema services. We hope to bring better and a wider range of entertainment to our audiences."

Village Roadshow Chairman and founding Chairman of Golden Village, Mr Robert Kirby, thanked Kenneth Tan for his vital contribution to Golden Village since 2003 and expressed his confidence about the future of Golden Village: “With the successful resolution of the recent differences between Village Roadshow and Golden Harvest, I now look forward to Golden Village delivering new levels of excellence for its millions of patrons in Singapore each year.”

Kenneth Tan, Golden Village Village’s Managing Director, has been instrumental in growing the business in his 4 years at the helm. Kenneth has decided that now would be an opportune moment for him to move on to new challenges and has tendered his resignation which will be effective on 31 January 2008.

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY WINS BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT THE 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

Earlier today during its 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards press conference, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association crowned “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly” with two major Golden Globe awards: Best Director for Julian Schnabel and Best Foreign Language Film. Additionally, French Actress Marion Cotillard received Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for her mesmerizing incarnation of French legendary singer Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose”. “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly” opens in Singapore on January 24th.

More about THE GOLDEN GLOBES

Screen Shots at ACM - It Must Be Love: Stories From Yasmin, the Storyteller

Fans of Yasmin Ahmad, come Feb 22-23 next month, Asian Civilizations Museum will be screening a retrospect of her movies Mukhsin, Sepet and Gubra in that order, which is chronologically correct in the loose Orked trilogy without Rabun unfortunately.

Our beloved director will be present for a dialogue session after Gubra, so those in Singapore have no excuses not turning up! For non-fans (or fans to be), this will be an excellent opportunity for you to catch her movies on the big screen!

You got to hurry though as the hall accommodates 150 persons, and the last I checked last Friday, there are only 2 seats left each for Mukhsin and Sepet!

The details as follow:

SCREEN SHOTS presents...
It Must Be Love: Stories from Yasmin, the Storyteller
22 Feb 2008 - 23 Feb 2008
Friday & Saturday | @ Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place, Singapore
Registration and Ticketing Details here:
http://www.acm.org.sg/exhibitions/eventdetail.asp?eventID=333
http://www.acm.org.sg/exhibitions/eventdetail.asp?eventID=334
http://www.acm.org.sg/exhibitions/eventdetail.asp?eventID=335
http://www.acm.org.sg/exhibitions/eventdetail.asp?eventID=336

Sex is Zero 2

The sequel to one of Korea’s funniest and raunchiest comedies in recent years, Sex is Zero 2 opened in Korea on 13/12 and has grossed more than US$13.6 millions with over 2 million admissions, making it one of the biggest successes of early 2008. Sex is Zero 2 continues three years from the first instalment, as we revisit the campus lives of the notorious couple, “veteran” student Eun-sik and prom queen Kyung-ah. Sex is Zero 2 opens here on March 27th.

Film Speak @ The Substation

The Substation's Moving Images programme for this year kicks off with Film Speak, which happens to be part of the Speak Good English campaign. Not to fret cinephiles, despite the tie-up with the campaign, it's still pretty good local movie stuff.

As the website puts it, "For some of us who are familiar with local films, we know that they are a colourful mix of stories in various languages. What is it like making films in Singapore and bringing them to festivals around the world? How would filmmakers discuss their films with an international audience? How about at home in Singapore? Join Associate Filmmakers from The Substation, like Lionel Chok, Kelvin Sng, Kan Lume and Jeremy Sing as they attempt to answer these questions by sharing their films and experiences with us in this special series. "

Film screenings, filmmakers in attendance, Q&As, what more do you want? Mark your calendars every Wednesday to be at The Substation's Theatre from 7-8pm. Next week's session will be by Kan Lume, who will screen his "The Assassin". I tell you, I'll be there!

Click here for the entire schedule!

L Change The World

The highly anticipated DEATH NOTE spin-off, "L CHANGE THE WORLD" is arriving on screen comes 21 February 2008.

After solving the Kira case, another serious case confronts L and he has only 23 days left to solve it. A person who obtained the most horrible weapon, "Death God" says the same thing as Kira ... "I am going to change the world". A boy and a girl hold the keys to solving the case and L faces a crisis of global magnitude to protect the kids. He is without his most trusted partner, Watari, and cannot rely on just his superb intellect to solve the case.

What will happen to L?

The Pye-Dog Same Day Premiere

Just imagine this … being able to catch the latest theatre movie at the comfort of your very own home. There will be no worries on chatty movie goers, seats kicker or even those hand phone users who does not realize that the lights from their hand phone could be a glaring distraction in the dark cinema.

Sound impossible?

Not anymore, Popular Hong Kong Singer Actor Eason Chan will be having his movie “The Pye-Dog” premiering on Singtel mio TV 10 JAN 2008 10pm, the very same day as the movie makes it’s debut in our local cinema.

And the kicker is …. Singtel mio TV customers will get the option to watch it in either Cantonese or Mandarin language with English and Chinese subtitles. For folks who understand or appreciate the Cantonese language will know that there this special oomph in catching a Hong Kong movie in it’s original soundtrack compared to the dubbed Mandarin.


This is all made possible thanks to the collaboration between Singtel mio TV and Mei Ah Movie Channel. Speaking at the press conference, Patrick Tong, Managing Director of Mei Ah mention that The Pye-Dog Same Day premiere will be the first step and they are looking into the possibility of having more of such premieres in the future. When asked if having such Same Day premiere on TV would cannibalize the box office taking, Mr Low Ka Hoe, SingTel's Director of mio TV and Content was happy to report that based on findings, such premiere could actually increase revenue for both platforms. Citing examples such as people who enjoyed the movie in the big screen could easily watch it again at home with their TV.



Eason Chan and fellow actress Gia Lin both made their way down to Singtel Comcentre to chat about their film.

Although the director wasn’t able to turn up for this historical event, Eason Chan shared with us that the lead character persona he played in “The Pye-Dog” was actually based on the director Derek Kwok. It wasn’t a easy decision for Derek Kwok to start his directing life with such a personal film as there were seniors in the industry who advised him to start with a more commercial viable piece of work instead. However as Eason Chan pointed out, there could only be one debut work and advised him to choose what’s close to his heart instead. As a result, Derek Kwok is proud to have “The Pye-Dog” as the first inclusion in his resume and Eason Chan was proud to have contributed in this production.


Recounting the work he did in The Pye Dog two years ago, Eason Chan pointed out that his favourite scene was near the finale when the little boy, Wen Jun Hui had to pushed him onto the floor and that emotional scene was repeated many times until it was late and Wen Jun Hui was too tired to perform anymore. Gai Lin also praised for Wen Jun Hui and was equally impressed with the young actor’s performance.

Fret not if you have missed the premier of “The Pye-Dog” on the 10th Jan 2008. From 7 Feb 2008 onwards, Mei Ah Movies Channel will commence the airing of “The Pye-Dog” on mio TV.

Latest Updates of a certain BOND and TODD

BOND 22 is scheduled to release this November 6 on Singapore shores. Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007 in the film which is directed by Marc Forster and follows the success of CASINO ROYALE, the latest and highest grossing film in the series. Starring alongside Craig is an impressive international cast led by the critically acclaimed French actor Mathieu Amalric as the sinister villain, and the Ukranian actress Olga Kurylenko who plays 007’s leading lady.

Mr Sweeney Todd, the demon barber on fleet street on the other hand will be roaming the streets come 31 January 2008 instead of the original february release date. This is especially a piece of good news for fans of this musical and Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp sings!

Nonesuch has released the soundtrack to DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Tim Burton-directed Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The film is an adaptation by John Logan of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1979 Tony Award-winning musical. It stars Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), and Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin). Sweeney Todd will be in cinemas from 7 February 2008.

Longtime Sondheim collaborators orches­trator Jonathan Tunick and music supervisor Paul Gemignani also worked on the soundtrack, which was produced by Mike Higham and recorded in London. Rounding out the cast - all of whom sing their own parts - are Timothy Spall (Beadle Bamford), Sacha Baron Cohen (Adolfo Pirelli), Jayne Wisener (Johanna), Jamie Campbell Bower (Anthony), Laura Michelle Kelly (Beggar Woman), and Edward Sanders (Tobias Ragg).

Sweeney Todd is based on the nineteenth century legend - from an adaptation by Christopher Bond - of a London barber who is driven to crime when a malevolent judge takes his wife and child from him. His plan for revenge includes a cut-throat partnership with Mrs. Lovett, an enterprising businesswoman, who is soon producing the tastiest meat pies in London.

Watch out for the soundtrack review on MovieXclusive.com soon!

Sweeny Todd opens 7 February.

Come Valentine's Day, say "P.S. I Love You"

Atlantic Records has released the original motion picture soundtrack to the Warner Bros. Pictures/Alcon Entertainment romantic comedy/drama of “P.S. I LOVE YOU – MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE,” The album features tracks from a diverse range of top artists, including James Blunt, Paolo Nutini, and the one-and-only Pogues. P.S. I Love You, the film, is slated to open in theatres nationwide on 14 February.

“P.S. I LOVE YOU – MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE” is highlighted by “Same Mistake”, the second single from James Blunt’s acclaimed new Atlantic album, “ALL THE LOST SOULS.” “P.S. I LOVE YOU – MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE” also includes tracks from such acclaimed singer/songwriters as Nellie McKay, Chuck Prophet, and Lava/Atlantic’s own Toby Lightman, as well as from modern rock outfits like The Academy Is… and Atlantic recording group Needtobreathe.

In addition, “P.S. I LOVE YOU – MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE” features “Fortress” from Hope, the Los Angeles-based tunesmith whose upcoming Atlantic Records debut is certain to be among 2008’s most exciting releases. The soundtrack also includes an excerpt from the film’s score, composed by John Powell (The Bourne Ultimatum, Happy Feet).

Based on the best-selling novel by Cecelia Ahern, “P.S. I Love You” stars two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) and Gerard Butler (300).

P.S. I Love You opens 14 February and the soundtrack album is reviewed here.

If we die... it will be for GLORY, not gold!

First working day of 2008 and we have loaded plenty of soundtrack reviews. Music, the easiest element to soothe your tired soul. Close your eyes and absorb yourself in the music notes..we start with the review of Alan Silvestri's BEOWULF

And there's more to come in the future...can't wait? Just click here