She Comes Once A Month

If you haven't noticed, Joan Chen Chung has been sizzling the screen so often lately. She was in Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises , followed by a Golden Horse performance in Ang Lee's "Lust Caution" and then she managed to find time to hang around with local heartthrob Qi Yuwu in "The Home Song Stories". All in the year of 2007.

And today, on the 29th Feb of 2008, she's back yet again in a Mediacorp Raintree production, "The Leap Years". The veteran actress seems unstoppable and she's everywhere.

Horror or Horrible?

Do horror movies really serve up the scares nowadays? Since the beginning of 2008, we counted at least 6 horror thrillers terrorizing our screens. There's the remake of the Jap horror "One Missed Call" , from the Land of Tom Yum "Body #19" , the unnecessary sequel "Boogeyman 2" just to name a few. Opening this week of course is the deliciously beautiful Jessica Alba's "The Eye". (We love Jessica Alba and fortunately "The Eye" isn't that bad)

Sad to say, rest of them never really catches our reviewers' eye meaning most of them has a rather lacklustre rating of 3 stars and below. Is the horror genre coming to a creativity dead end? But given the string of upcoming releases e.g. our very own Kelvin Tong's "Rule #1" and "Shutter". The trend is never going to die off anytime and maybe just maybe we might stumbled upon some gem along the way. Meantime, can the cinema operators crank down those decibel? You know a true horror gem doesn't require jumbo sound volume.

Academy Awards winner "La Vie En Rose" returns to GV Grand for a limited run this weekend!

For those who missed the first run, two-time Academy Awards winner “La Vie En Rose” will be returning to Golden Village Grand, Great World City for a limited theatrical run from this Friday to Sunday (February 29th to March 2nd 2008).

“La Vie En Rose” was one of the major winners in the Academy Awards held on February 24th. After scooping the Best Make-up award, French actress Marion Cotillard pulled off an upset win for the Best Actress award, for her portrayal of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The original code 3 DVD is also available in stores now.

Drillbit 'Owen' Taylor

"Drillbit Taylor" is funnyman Owen Wilson's next movie outing after his attempted suicide. Actually it was completed before he slashed himself. Co-written by Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up", "Superbad"), it's about a low-budget bodyguard being hire to deal with school bullies. Don't sound impressed don't you? Neither are we. Anyway we still have a long way till 15 May to be exact before we lay our judgement.

While the 28th Annual Razzies goes to...

On the fun side, Lindsay Lohan and Eddie Murphy garnered the most 'awards' for their "outstanding" performances in "I Know Who Killed Me" and "Norbit" respectively.

Honouring the worst achievements on the big screen for the year (as opposed to the Oscars), the Golden Raspberry official website can be viewed here

and the 08 Oscar goes to ...

BEST Picture
No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno

Best Documentary, Features
Taxi to the Dark Side

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf

Best Short Film, Live Action
Mozart des picpockets

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Sweeney Todd

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Ratatouille

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Elizabeth: The Golden Age

InnoForm Media Positions Itself for Next Phase of Growth Through Acquisitions of Alliance Entertainment

We first broke the news a week ago now here's the official extract from the press release.

"InnoForm Media announced that it has acquired Alliance Entertainment, Singapore's leading video distributor of Hollywood home entertainment labels such as Warner Home Video, Twentieth Century Fox and New Line Cinema. Alliance Entertainment boasts Singapore's strongest catalogue of Hollywood and independent films. With immediate effect, Alliance Entertainment will be a fully‐owned subsidiary of InnoForm Media Private Limited. A major independent entertainment distribution company with a strong foothold in Asian entertainment, InnoForm believes that the acquisition will provide the most strategic and comprehensive distribution for their content partners’ entertainment offerings through a variety of synergistic methods. With this strategic alliance, InnoForm and Alliance look forward to continue being the dominant player in Asia’s film and video industry."

We shall end this post with a famous quote "The golden age is before us, not behind us."

Hear, Hear... Who Will Be The Winner?

The 80th Annual Academy Awards is going to take place after all – and the results will be announced in less than 48 hours’ time. While the spotlight shines on major categories like Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor/Actress, we haven’t forgotten the music awards.

Best Original Score - Will Dario Marianelli’s perfect score for “Atonement” touch the judges’ hearts? Will Michael Giachinno’s delightfully delicious music for “Ratatouille” take home the prize? Or will it be Alberto Iglesias’s night with his ethnically heartrending composition for “The Kite Runner”? Things may also take a turn if the judges favour James Newton Howard’s minimalist approach for “Michael Clayton”, or Marco Beltrami’s western score "3:10 to Yuma".

Best Original Song – Already robbed of nominations in other categories, the melancholic “Falling Slowly” from “Once” may just take home the golden statuette that night. But the prize may also go to one of the three songs (if the judges do not pull of a “Dreamgirls” stunt again) from “Enchanted”: the cheeky “Happy Working Song”, the wonderfully delightful “That’s How You Know” and the romantic “So Close”. Expect to see a lot of Amy Adams on stage during the ceremony. Meanwhile, the inspiring “Raise It Up” from “August Rush” gets points for its nicely-arranged vocals.

We are holding our breaths, and cannot wait to hear the results.

• Academy Awards for outstanding achievements of 2007 will be presented Sunday, February 24, 2008 (5pm PST), at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

Step Up 2 The Music!

Atlantic Records has released the “STEP UP 2 THE STREETS – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK,” the musical companion to the upcoming Touchstone Pictures dance film. The album features tracks from a number of today’s top artists, highlighted by Flo Rida’s current #1 single, “Low (Feat. T-Pain).” and also a stunning line-up of hip-hop and R&B superstars, including Cassie, T-Pain, Enrique Iglesias, and Cupid. Six-time Grammy Award winner Missy Elliott is featured on two brand-new tracks – “Shake Your Pom Pom” and “Ching-A-Ling”.

Step Up 2 The Streets is the follow-up to the smash hit Step Up, which ignited theaters in August 2006. When rebellious street dancer Andie (Briana Evigan) lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts, she finds herself fighting to fit in while also trying to hold onto her old life. When she joins forces with the school’s hottest dancer Chase (Robert Hoffman) to form a crew of classmate outcasts to compete in Baltimore’s underground dance battle, The Streets, she ultimately finds a way to live her dream while building a bridge between her two separate worlds.

Step Up 2 The Streets opens 13 March. Watch out for our soundtrack review soon!

Edison Chen calls it quits

Edison Chen finally landed in HK and the long-delayed press conference was held at Kowloon World Trade Center. Chen read his apology notes in English (carefully prepped by his lawyers it seem), apologised to all the affected victims and announced he will be away from HK entertainment scene for an indefinite period. He added he will also be doing some charity works too.

Whether he is sincere or deeply sorry, you be the judge. Anyway he still has that "ya-ya papaya" look throughout. Perhaps he can still get bit parts in Hollywood or switch to become a celebrities "photographer". Time will tell. Come on, this is what we commonly known as the entertainment scene.

Bae-ry Good...

Bae Yong Jun returns to daze with his latest Korean mythical drama, "The Legend" after 5 years.

“The Legend” portrays the life of 19^th king of Koguryo – Damdeok. Jumong, the founder of Koguryo, establishes Koguryo with his Four Gods: Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon), Baek-ho (White Tiger), Joo-jak (Phoenix) and Hyeon-mu (Black Serpent).

From young, Damdeok was taught to stay away from limelight as his father fears that his life will be threatened should his real identity be exposed. Meanwhile, affluent and ambitious Yeongaryo tries to arrogate military powers. He conspires with Dejangro, the leader of Hwacheon Clan to oppose Damdeok, stopping him from ascending the throne. Will Damdeok succeed to win the throne with the aid of the Four Gods, and will the course of true love manage to sustain the power war?

We haven't caught Bae yet but the trailer is mesmerising enough to tell it's a sincere, high-budgeted production from Korea. Catch the original InnoForm DVD boxset with Korean, Mandarin dual soundtrack. Available in stores now!

4th Singapore Short Film Festival @ The Substation

Coming up from 13 to 17 March is our biennial Singapore Short Film Festival!

Off-the-wall ideas, surrealist visuals, narrative hybrids – we love it when filmmakers get wild and creative with the short film format. With another fine selection of films from around the world, the 4th Singapore Short Film Festival celebrates the independent mind and the spirit of experimental film. Featuring films from the UK “Heartlines” series by EM Media in association with the UK Film Council, the Singapore premiere of “Kichiro” by Kelvin Sng, and talks before every screening on short filmmaking.

On the Opening Night, besides screening “Kichiro” and four other short films, filmmakers Eva Tang and Kelvin Sng will be speaking about their experiences making short films. After the screening, join us for coffee at the Random Room where we can chat more about film. Please note that the evening’s film screening is rated R21.

Come celebrate the independent mind and the spirit of experimental film with us!

The Substation Moving Images presents
4th Singapore Short Film Festival
13 to 17 March 2008
7.30pm, The Substation Theatre

Tickets at $6 / $4 (concession) from gatecrash.com.sg or call 6222 5595. Group discounts available.
For more info, visit www.substation.org or call 6337 7535

Film Partner: the British Council, EM Media, UK Film Council
Supported by: Singapore Film Commission, Gatecrash


PROGRAMME

DAY 1: Thu 13 Mar, rated R21, 100mins
“Starting Short” - Speakers: Eva Tang and Kelvin Sng / filmmakers / Flat Dreams, More than Words
Londres-London / UK-Singapore / 2007 / 11 min / Eva Tang
Kichiro / Singapore / 2006 / 19 min / Kelvin Sng
Vooreen paar knikkers meer (For a Few Marbles More) / The Netherlands / 2006 /11 min / Jelmar Hufen
Cyanosis / Iran / 2007 / 30 min / Rokhasareh Ghaem Maghami
My Keys / Singapore / 2007 / 8 min / Ting Szu Kiong

DAY 2: Fri 14 Mar, 100mins*
“Seeing Short” - Speaker: Stefan Shih / film reviewer / A Nutshell Review
Flicker/ Singapore / 2007 / 9 min / Aroozoo Wesley Leon
Stick Boy / Singapore / 2007 / 4 min / Putnam Trumbull
The Imaginary Girl / UK / 2007 / 10 min / Richard Porter
Fun Today / Israel / 2005 / 14 min / Hagar Ben-Asher
I Met A Real Streety Once / Australia / 2007 / 21 min / Caroline Ingvarsson
Circle / UK / 2007 / 9 min / Mehul Desal
Tango Trois / Australia / 2006 / 8 min / Gracie Otto
Popped Collar / Singapore / 2007 / 7 min / Robert Skinner

DAY 3: Sat 15 Mar, 100mins*
“Selling Short” - Speaker: Juan Foo / producer / Shooting Gallery Asia
Heroes / New Zealand / 2005 / 9 min / Julia Reynolds
Fruitful / Singapore / 2006 / 15 min / Pigeon+on
Cheerleader / USA / 2005 / 26 min / Kimberlee Bassford
Shadowline / UK / 2007 / 10 min / Dan Seagrave
Foreign Domestic Worker / Singapore / 2007 / 5 min / Eric Flanagan
Lady Margaret / UK / 2007 / 10 min / Deborah Haywood
Flying Saucey / USA / 2006 / 9 min / Marie Losier

DAY 4: Sun 16 Mar, 100mins*
“Sending Short” - Speaker: Yuni Hadi / programmer and manager / Objectifs and SIFF
Masters Of Ceremony / Singapore / 2007 / 13 min / Rich Ho
Ema Shel Shabat (A Shabbos Mother) / Israel / 2005 / 30 min / Inbar Namdar
Majidee / Malaysia / 2006 / 15 min / Azharr Rudin
Mai Fu (Ambush) / Taiwan / 2006 / 14 min / Koi Leong Tian
Over the Hill / UK / 2007 / 8 min / Peter Baynton

DAY 5: Mon 17 Mar, 100mins*
Prize Presentation: Voice Awards
The Island of Good Life / Portugal-India / 2007 / 25 min / Merces Tomaz Gomes
Goh Poh Seng / Canada / 2007 / 15 min / Almerinda Travassos
Anfaengerfehler (Beginner's Mistake) / Austria / 2007 / 3 min / Christian Horlesberger
For Memories / USA / 2006 / 14 min / Wing-Yee Wu
I Don't Know You / Singapore / 2006 / 4 min / Amanda Tan
Man With Camera / Singapore / 2007 / 22 min / Daphne Tan

*Ratings to be advised.

Lydia Sum (1947 - 2008)

Television favourite chubby actress/comedian Lydia Sum passed away this morning in HK of cancer-related disease. The former child-actor who made her film debut in the '60s and quickly established herself as a leading performer in both comedy and drama roles was a familiar face to the Chinese audience. She even starred in our local English sitcom, "Living With Lydia". May her soul rests in peace...

R.I.P: HD-DVD

Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. The decision is now official following rumours that Toshiba is exiting the scene in recent weeks.

We are pretty sure consumers are eagerly awaiting for a reply from Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation who supported the format now that Blu-ray has won the high-definition war.

Reeling Forward: Singapore’s Very Own Film Movement

Storyboard ’08, an inaugural film festival kickstarted by *scape, aims to initiate a rippling movement in the Singapore film industry by engaging film appreciation and creation through various levels of film participation, arousing interest and greater support for local film creation.

Coming together as a concentrated movement that involves several levels of media professionals, Storyboard ’08 is birthed not only to lure interest in local film appreciation, push for improvement in local film creation but also to be a bridge for aspiring film makers to key industry veterans, rewarding both amateurs and professionals alike through professional exchange and mentorship.

One of the key objectives that the team hopes to meet is to rid the festival of the exclusive air about filmmaking and create the movement with the understanding that the whole of Singapore has to be involved at some level, starting with *scape’s Storyboard’08.

Through shed.Ink (script writing competition), Fables (short film competition), Through the Aperture (dialogue session with top local directors), Brief Tales (showcase of local films) and Canon HD Workshops (film making workshop), film making and appreciation is brought closer to the general mass and film enthusiasts, targeting not just at a tertiary/public level but to secondary schools to give early exposure a possible career choice in film directing and creation.

The support coming from media professionals is overwhelming for an integrated film festival rich in content creation and development, giving birth to Storyboard ‘08. Canon’s participation sees their involvement on a community level, providing film education to young upstarts, alongside support from MediAction!, the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) year-round public education initiative to encourage Singaporeans to better appreciate and use media for their work, learning and play.

Kenneth Tan, former Managing Director of Golden Village, is very supportive of the local film scene and fuelled by his passion for cinema, highly endorses such youth-initiated movements. *scape, priding itself as the platform for youth initiatives and springboard to showcase emerging talents, provides rich programming content and is the proud host of Storyboard’08.

Veteran and rising directors such as Jack Neo, Eric Khoo, Boo Junfeng and Seah Wee Thye sit on the panel of Through the Aperture to provide informative insight into the film industry. Collectives such as Sinema, Singaplural and the Singapore Film Society will be taking the opportunity to showcase local film works during Brief Tales.

As a finale, StoryNights integrates general Singaporeans into the local filmmaking scene by attaching local young filmmakers' works together with recognised commercial films, put together as three nights of outdoor movie screenings. Each Singaporean's participation will go towards the exposure of local youth works and general elevation oflocal film appreciation standards as audiences get exposed to more non-mainstream and arthouse-styled films.

The main festivity of Storyboard ‘08 takes place from 16th to 23rd February 2008 at *scape Youth Centre, Youth Park and Skate Park. Check out the schedule here.

A Certain Ugly Creature

You might or might not have seen this ugly creature before. But toymaker Hasbro has produced a super-articulated and highly detailed limited collector’s edition of it. You might want to check it out here. However, it might be spoilerish if you hadn't been to the cinemas in recent times so think twice before you click on it.

Shake Shake & Boom Boom

InnoForm Media has successfully acquired Alliance Entertainment as part of their subsidiary. The company was once Singapore's largest video distributor which hold rights to labels such as Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Golden Village, Shaw etc. With the acquisition, InnoForm Media now has a wider, stronger selection of video products added to their current portfolio of Chinese titles such as "The Warlords" and foreign title "The Willow Tree". Might turn out to be a blessing in disguise to the consumers. Expect more news from this shake-up in the coming weeks.

Playboy Cops

Perhaps Shawn Yue has a kick playing cop who drives cool cars (last seen driving a red convertible in "Invisible Target"). Well, looks like he's driving a black one in the upcoming "Playboy Cops". Mmm... we love to drive one too. By the way, he will be coming to town next month to promote our home-grown director Kelvin Tong's new film. Stay tuned.

From the matrix to the streets

The suave Keanu Reeves will be back in David Ayer's gritty cop thriller "Street Kings" on 10 April 2008. Co-starring Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie and Chris Evans. Catch Neo in cop action soon. More info here

P.S. We Love You

Gotten your other half a gift for Valentine's Day? If the answer is no, fret not. Here's a cheap and effective way. Go get yourself a "P.S. I Love You" soundtrack during lunchtime then hide in a deserted toilet cubicle and memorise a track from the album (we recommend track 2: Same Mistake by James Blunt) and later at night it's time to serenade your love one with your crooning! Best still, treat her to "P.S. I Love You" the movie as it opens today.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

CJ7 Unleashed His True Powers

Stephen Chow's "CJ7" has amassed SGD$2 million in the box-office so far beating Jack Neo's "Ah Long Pte Ltd" and Jay Chou's "Kungfu Dunk". You know what Sony should do next? Release those cute CJ7 plush toys to the masses. I know some of you have been asking us where to get one. Sigh...unfortunately we want one too. On the other hand, if you missed our coverage of the CJ7 Singapore press conference, it's right here with subtitled video clip.

Chou Dunk In His Cash

Asian superstar Jay Chou‘s first CNY blockbuster "KUNGFU DUNK" outdo his previous films based on opening weekend performance by grossing SGD $1.405 million as of 10th February! This result even surpasses the final box office for Jay Chou’s directorial feature "SECRET" that grossed a total of SGD $1.181 million last year. KUNGFU DUNK, takes the No.3 spot on the latest local box office chart after Stephen Chow’s "CJ7" and Jack Neo’s "AH LONG PTE LTD".

$1.47 million leh....

Contrary to all the negative press it has been receiving, "AH LONG PTE LTD", which opened on CNY is Director Jack Neo’s biggest opening weekend title among the 11 films that he made since 1998. As of 10th February, it has grossed a total of SGD $1.47 million with 49 prints screening islandwide in Singapore! "JUST FOLLOW LAW" on the other hand grossed $587,000 last year with 35 prints. Click here for our interview with the Cast and Director Jack Neo

Roy Scheider (1932 - 2008)

Remember Police Chief Martin Brody? The infamous small-town cop who battles the great white "Jaws" in the 1975 Steven Spielberg's hit. He's played by Roy Scheider and the sad news is the veteran actor passed away on Sunday afternoon of cancer. The beaches just gets a bit more dangerous without his presence..

Best Wishes for the Year of the Rat

Dear Readers & Partners,

Here's wishing you a Prosperous and Happy Lunar Rat Year! We have more contests, reviews, articles and vids coming up...so continue to stick around during the holidays.

GONG XI FA CAI! HUAT AH!!!
From The MX team

Sweeney Todd Featurettes

Have you caught "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"? We have put online 2 very special featurettes, the "Style of Sweeney Todd" which touches on how the design and inspiration of the costumes are created and in "Why Sweeney Todd?", Johnny Depp & Tim Burton discuss their history, working together again on a very different kind of film and specifically the singing in Sweeney Todd. Click here and indulge!

Don't Shoot Me!

Amid all the hoo-ha over the sex-photos scandal, the man himself, Edison Chen actually has a new movie coming up in March. Since we are a respected movie website (no nude photos to offer here, you group of "hum-sum-lo"), we give you instead a peek into what's brewing in "The Sniper"

Edison Chen's official blog is right here if you want to know what he's saying over the ongoing incident

CJ7 Singapore Gala Premiere

For those of you who missed Stephen Chow's appearance at the Singapore gala premiere of "CJ7"...

"Love Me Sexy" MTV from SEMI-PRO

Click to watch the "Love Me Sexy" MTV from the upcoming Will Ferrell's comedy "Semi-Pro"...

Of Atonement and Academy Awards

Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave, opened the 64th Venice Film Festival in August last year.

The decision to open the 64th edition with Atonement, the second film directed by Joe Wright (his first being Pride & Prejudice), confirms the pioneering vocation of the Venice Film Festival and its ability to work as a true 'talent scout' festival. Intercepting the most innovative developments in the film world as and when they happen, and revealing the new trends and currents in contemporary cinema, the Festival discovers and presents the protagonists of cinema of the future.

The director of the 64th Venice Film Festival, Marco Muller, declared: "In the year of its 75th anniversary, the Festival must look to the future. For the first time in its history, the opening film is the work of a young director. A film that the selecting committee has unanimously considered - in terms of emotive and visual power - to be even greater than some of the major films of many confirmed directors."

The book Atonement by Ian McEwan, has won numerous literary awards: the Commonwealth Prize in 2002, the Smith Literary prize in 2002, the National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award in 2003, the Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction in 2003 and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel in 2004.

The film has also garnered seven nominations at the upcoming 80th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. Composer Dario Marianelli gets his second Oscar nomination nod for his lush composition on Atonement, with the previous one for his score in Wright’s first film Pride & Prejudice. The sweeping score also features performances by renowned French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. The results for the 80th Academy Awards will be announced on 24 February.

Read the movie review and book review before we bring you the soundtrack review soon on MovieXclusive.com!