So Long! 2008

In a matter of hours, 2009 will be right at our doorstep. We hope the year has been good to you and we can only wish for the best in the coming year. - Don't forget our columnists' top 10 movies of 2008 , The year's top 5 soundtracks and - Our favourite top 10 posters. So Long! 2008. Meet you right here in 2009!

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Here's your chance to see this Werner Herzog film which never got a theatrical release in Singapore, "Rescue Dawn" starring Christian 'Dark Knight' Bale. Academy Award Winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. on the other hand is a Border Patrol Officer in "Linewatch" while the handsome Wu Chun and bubbly Charlene Choi are torn apart by fate in "Butterfly Lovers". So much choices if you intend to stay at home.

LOST: The Complete 4th Season

What's going on? Who is that? What the hell happen? When is this? Where are they REALLY? These question may be ultimately the main goal for such avid viewers but fear not, some are answered in this season but alas as any good JJ Abraham TV series, they throw back at you twice as much new questions. So did Lost Fourth Season got its wow back? Read More>

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The home entertainment releases get into a biting frenzy with "Anaconda 3: Offspring". Which is scarier? David Hasselhoff or the CG reptiles? The Derek Yee produced horror thriller "Forget Me Not" might end up better than expected. As for the younger ones, the direct-to-video animation "Open Season 2" should help to glue them on their seats for an hour or so. Just Relax. Watch Movies.

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It's the festive season and most of us should be taking a break from work before 2009 strikes upon us. Time to check out some new releases from the home entertainment section. If you prefer a comedy, you might like "The Luckiest Man" starring Nat Chan and Bosco Wong. Or something thought-provoking? The Chen Shi-Zheng directed "Dark Matter". Prefer a little gore and thrill? "The Devil's Chair" might do the trick. More coming right up...

Ai Iijima (1972 - 2008)

While everyone is celebrating X'mas, former Japanese AV superstar Ai Iijima (飯島愛) was found dead in her apartment yesterday. Police is still investigating the cause. Ai Iijima was a legend in the AV circle in the 90's, later on she ventured into singing, writing and hosting after her retirement from her reel career. She was 36 years old.

InnoForm Media invests in King of Fighters

InnoForm Media is proud to announce that it will be co-producing King of Fighters with Taiwan's Double Edge Entertainment, Japan's Micott & Basara, US’s Inferno Entertainment and U.K.'s Scion Films,
Axis Entertainment and Convergence Entertainment. InnoForm Media will be handling the distribution rights in Singapore and Malaysia. The film will be a life-action adaption and is budgeted at US$12 million and features Maggie Q (Three Kingdoms, Mission Impossible 3) Sean Faris (Never Back Down, Pearl Harbor) and Ray Park (Star Wars, X- Men). King of Fighters is directed by Hong Kong director, Gordon Chan (The Medallion, Painted Skin). With Hollywood’s hottest action choreographers working on King of Fighters, it presents itself as a unique international hybrid of Hong Kong and Hollywood film making which will attract crowd beyond the gamer audience. The production is scheduled to be completed in mid-January and slated for international delivery in third quarter of 2009.

IP MAN TAKES NO. 1 SPOT THIS WEEK AT THE BOX OFFICE

'Ip Man' smashed into the box office this weekend grossing over $700,000 (up to Sunday 21st December) making it the No. 1 release of the week! The martial arts genre film opened island wide on 18 December along side other holiday releases including 'Twilight' and 'Yes Man'. Find out why Ip Man deserved a 4 star rating from us!

CLIMBER'S HIGH GARNER 10 NOMINATION AT THE JAPANESE ACADEMY AWARDS

Climber’s High has just garnered 10 nominations at the 32nd Japan Academy Award including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. From the Japanese best seller Hideo Yokoyama (Sea Without Exit) comes another compelling story directed by Masato Harada (Inugami, 2001). Based on the actual event that occurred in 1985, Climber’s High tells the story of the world's worst aircraft disaster and the aftermath of the incident reporting by a local newspaper. The winners will be unveiled at the 32nd Japanese Academy Award awarding ceremony on the 20th February, 2009. Climbers High will be in local cinemas in early 2009.

WIll Jaime Get A Golden Globe?

Jamie Cullum has been nominated for at The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in the category "Best Original Song" for his work on the title song from Clint Eastwood's new film Gran Torino. The song, also called 'Gran Torino', was co-composed by Jamie and Clint, together with Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens.

His competitors in the category include a certain robot (Wall.E), a certain American White Shepard (Bolt), a certain musical era from the 1940s to 1960s (Cadillac Records), and a certain comeback wrestler (The Wrestler).

Will Jaime's song for the movie bring home The Globe? Watch out as the results are announced on 11 Januray 2009.

Meanwhile, check out Jaime's website for further updates and information: http://www.jamiecullum.com/latest

Happy Birthday

This Blu-ray review of "Kung Fu Panda" is dedicated to our long-time resident reviewer, Richard whose birthday falls on today. Many happy returns and a secret prophecy awaits - Signed, The Furious Five.

RED CLIFF MOVIE MARATHON

Golden Village will be showing both installments of John Woo's epic film Red Cliff back to back to coincide with the release of the movie sequel, RED CLIFF II. Tickets are available at Golden Village box offices and Golden Village's website: www.gv.com.sg . Details of the three movie marathon screenings are as follows: 9th January 2009, GV Plaza, GV Tampines and GV Jurong Point, $28 each (inclusive of Red Cliff II popcorn combo).

Die Hard 5 or Surrogates

That's Bruce Willis in Jonathan Mostow's "Surrogates". The sci-fi thriller is about people purchasing unflawed robotic versions of themselves. But based on the still released by Disney, it can easily pass of as "Die Hard 5.0". Time will tell.

Missing You Meet and Greet Session

Some pictures from the "Missing You" Meet and Greet Session at Jurong point on 13 Dec.

Australia: An Epic of Heart

Qi Long Zhu aka Dragonball Evolution

"Dragonball" the Hollywood live-action version based on the popular Japanese manga is due to hit screens next march. Here's the official trailer from Fox. Is your childhood dream tarnished or finally realised?

THE WEDDING GAME FEATURING TEAM SINGAPORE!

Four national athletes from Team Singapore will be making their film debut in the upcoming Chinese New Year film, THE WEDDING GAME. The four athletes are: Swimmer Tao Li, Shuttler Kendrick Lee Yen Hui, Bowler Jazreel Tan Shi Hua and Alumni Athlete (Table Tennis) Jing Jun Hong. Tao Li plays a reporter from an entertainment variety programme, who interviews the couple. Paddler Jing Jun Hong will play herself in a scene with lead actor Christopher Lee. And the other two have special cameos in other scenes. Directed and co-written by Director Ekachai Uekrongtham, THE WEDDING GAME will open in Singapore on 22 January 2009.

Wolverine at the Oscars

"Australia" star Hugh Jackman has been chosen to host the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony on Feb 22. This is the first time the reigning Sexiest Man Alive is hosting the event.

Jennifer Aniston Wears A Tie

39 year old Jennifer Aniston goes nude in the January 2009 issue of GQ and looking ravishingly sexy. She can be seen next february with Owen Wilson in "Marley & Me". Wish we had a friend like her...

Missing You

Remember to meet the cast from "Missing You" and get their autographs at Jurong Point, 5pm tomorrow, 13 December. Bring along a copy of the DVD if you have.

Flywheel

We are not really a bunch of religiously inclined lot here. But once a while, we come across a film that represents a realignment to God’s will and His way of life. That film is "Flywheel".

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The school holidays are here again. Here's some ideas to keep the little ones at home occupied while you slogged away in your cubicle. The Little Mermaid Trilogy" is a breathtaking 3-disc set, swimming with exciting bonus features or journey into the secret world of Pixie Hollow and hear Tinker Bell speak for the very first time in "Tinkerbell". For more charming adult fare, check out "The Piano Forest", a touching story of two young boys who are equally passionate about piano.

NY premiere of The Sky Crawlers

For our overseas readers who are interested in "The Sky Crawlers" and happen to be residing in New York. Here's your chance to catch the New York premiere with a special video intro by director Mamoru Oshii. More details here...

The 45th Golden Horse Awards

Not a suprise, the biggest winner of the day - THE WARLORDS and CAPE NO. 7

Best Feature Film - THE WARLORDS
Best Director - Peter Chan (THE WARLORDS)
Best Leading Actor - Zhang Han-yu (ASSEMBLY)
Best Supporting Actor - Ma Ju-Lung (CAPE NO. 7)
Best Screenplay Adaption - Liu Heng (ASSEMBLY)
Best Cinematography - Cheng Siu-Keung (SPARROW)
Best Visual Effects - Ng Yuen-Fai, Chau Chi-Shing, Tracy Kok (THE WARLORDS)
Best Action Choreography - Li Chung-Chi (CONNECTED)
Best Original Film Score - Fred Lu ; Lo Chi-Yi (CAPE NO. 7)
Best Original Film Song - (CAPE NO. 7)
Best Film Editing - Yau Chi-Wai (CONNECTED)
Best Sound Effect - Steve Burgess (MISSING)

You can view the full list of winners right here

SINGAPORE MOVIE SCRIPT WINS AWARD

Jack Neo’s company, Neo Studios Pte Ltd won an award for one of the top three scripts short-listed at the Golden Horse Film and TV Co-production Conference in Taipei, Taiwan yesterday. Blog Stories, a movie to be released in mid 2009 competed against 24 other movie scripts sent in from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Blog Stories is a thriller about bloggers competing for popularity on the internet. With bloggers from all over Asia competing, young people begin to publish ‘ghost stories” online but in doing so, became reckless in their competition for pageviews and cyber popularity. Strange things begin to happen in real life when the bloggers get carried away by unbridled ego and pride. Neo Studios had been putting in a consistent effort to develop the pool of commercially savvy script writers and movie directors. Since the company began its effort to identify talent earlier this year, more than 50 aspiring movie directors and script writers had submitted their works for evaluation.

The Final Battle Is Push Forward

Scorpio East Pictures, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Golden Village Pictures are proud to announce the highly anticipated sequel, RED CLIFF II will be opening in Singapore on 9th January 2009 instead of Chinese New Year. The first film achieved an excellent box office of SGD $2.61 million in Singapore when it opened on 10th July 2008, amidst a crowded Hollywood Summer Blockbuster environment. There will also be plans for special RED CLIFF marathons at selected Golden Village cinemas.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE SWEEPS BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won three awards at the British Independent Film Awards on 30 November, namely Best British Independent Film, Best Director and actor Dev Patel as Most Promising Newcomer of the Year, and was nominated for three other awards including Best Screenplay. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE will be distributed by Golden Village Pictures in Singapore and it’s slated to open on 5 February 2009.

“TERMINATOR SALVATION” INTERNATIONAL TRAILER ON DECEMBER 9TH

Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) announces the international online launch of its trailer for the highly anticipated release of “Terminator Salvation,” the latest installment in the “Terminator” franchise. The trailer is scheduled to go live on December 9th at 7.30 p.m. PST (December 10th, 11.30am Singapore time) with SPRI’s online launch partner MSN internationally. In addition, the trailer will also be available on the international website URL: http://TerminatorSalvation-Movie.net Terminator Salvation opens in Singapore on May 28th, 2009.

Movie Warehouse Sale 2008!

The much-awaited Movie Warehouse Sale by Innoform Media and Alliance Entertainment is here! Thousands of Hollywood/ Asian movies/ Drama and Kids Entertainment to clear! Up to 90% off with DVDs from $5! Date: 6-8 December 2008 (Sat- Mon) Time: 10am – 6pm
Address: 31 Ubi Road 1 Aztech Building, Lobby A
Bus Services: 63, 66, 65, 61, 22, 8
Nearest MRT station: Aljunied/Paya Lebar

Golden Village Plaza Singapura – New Look, New Lease on Life, New Entertainment Experience

Cinema-going at Golden Village Plaza Singapura will never be the same again come 6th December 2008. Ten years after establishing itself as one of the premiere cinemas in the Orchard Road belt, Golden Village Multiplex (GVM) has transformed the 7th floor of the mall into an expanded entertainment experience. Despite the economic downturn, Golden Village Multiplex splashed out S$2 million to give the 7th floor a facelift since 1998. A majority of the renovation cost was dedicated to creating a sophisticated, modern and entertainment-focused ambience. Nine new stores now occupy the refurbished 7th floor, with one more due to open in January 2009. Live out your movie fantasies at GV Plaza’s 7th floor. Come experience it for yourself at the re-launch on 6th December 2008, and look out for the specials available only on the day.

Nominations for The Visitor

The Visitor garners three satellite awards nominations including Best Director at the 13th Annual Satellite Awards including Best Director and Screenplay for Tom McCarthy and Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Richard Jenkins. The Visitor also received yet another push from the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards, garnering three major nominations, including Best Director, Best Male Lead and Best Supporting Male for up and coming actor Haaz Sleiman. The Visitor opens 11th December 2008.

Milk It

The biopic about assassinated San Francisco gay pol Harvey Milk tabulated $1.4 million in three-day boxoffice from just 36 inaugural engagements in the U.S. "Milk" will likely remain one of the awards season's most closely watched releases, with Sean Penn's performance in the title role generating early plaudits. James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna are also featured in supporting roles. "Milk" opens in Singapore 15 January 2009.

Love Matters "No-Handphone" policy trailer

After the well-received handphone-off trailer for MONEY NO ENOUGH 2, Director Jack Neo has produced a brand new trailer for LOVE MATTERS, a humorous and entertaining look at love, happiness and issues concerning matters of the heart in contemporary Asian society. Cinemas audience will be able to catch Love Matters "No-Handphone" policy trailer this thursday, 4 December 2008. It will be screened widely in all cinemas islandwide.

Look For A Star Next February

Looking for a star? Join Andy Lau and Shu Qi in this Andrew Lau's directed romance drama opening next february... More details right here

Missing You...Meet the Fans session

InnoForm Media proudly presents the latest tele-movie Missing You DVD/VCD this festive season. Immerse in a heartwarming story starring MediaCorp Radio Y.E.S 933 DJ Lin Pei Fen, MediaCorp artistes Dasmond Koh and Joshua Ang and veteran actress/host Hsu Chiung Fang. Meet the cast at Jurong Point, Level 1 Stage on 13th December 2008 (Sat), 5.00pm for a fun-filled afternoon with games, prizes and much more!

BRUCE LEE ACTION BONANZA (11 - 14 DECEMBER)

Celebrating Asian Martial Arts, The Picturehouse presents the BRUCE LEE ACTION BONANZA from the 11 - 14 December at The Cathay. The showcase kicks off with the screening of box office successes FIST OF FURY (1971) and THE WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972), which features the legendary fight scene between Lee and American action idol Chuck Norris. The other two movies are ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) as well as the actor's final film of his career GAME OF DEATH (1978). Each movie will have one exclusive screening at The Cathay Cineplex. Advance booking starts today and each ticket is priced at $15 which includes a goodie bag worth over $50 in gifts from Fitness First, Loreal and NewMoon. Ticketing details are available at http://www.thepicturehouse.com.sg/

How Cape No. 7 Changed Their Lives

The cast from "Cape No. 7" opens up to moviexclusive.com on how the best-selling movie changed their lives.
Van Fan Interview
Shino Lin Interview
Chie Tanaka Interview

So Pretty

Meet Tanaka Chie for the uninitiated, nominated in the Golden Horse for her performance in the best-selling Taiwanese film of all time, "Cape No. 7". Watch out for our interview with the cast.. coming real soon.

"TERMINATOR SALVATION" Motion Poster Coming

The first global online launch for the"Terminator Salvation" motion poster is scheduled to go live internationally on Tuesday, November 25th at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. The motion poster will be available to be viewed on the international website URL: http://TerminatorSalvation-Movie.net Terminator Salvation opens in Singapore on May 28th, 2009. Trailer launch follows in the week of Dec 8th, stay tuned.

JOURNEY THE CENTER OF THE EARTH in 3D

Following the success of the inaugural 3DX: 3D Film & Entertainment Technology Festival last week, Warner Bros. Singapore is proud to bring you the 3D version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH from 18 December 2008 at Eng Wah Suntec, Golden Village VivoCity, Shaw Lido and The Cathay. Look out for showtimes and ticket prices via the various cinema websites.

Twilight Sharpen Its Teeth

The vampire romance "Twilight" drained the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, taking in $70.6 million. The production of "New Moon," based on the second book by Stephenie Meyer's has been greenlit. "Twilight" opens here 18 December 2008. Girls, get ready to bare your neck!

We Are Right Here on BATTLE OF WITS UK DVD

movieXclusive is being credited on the DVD cover of the UK release of "Battle of Wits". You can see the artwork here. As Hancock would say: "Good Job!"

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It’s probably a girl thing to talk about issues like failed relationships, bitchy co workers, children problems etc in this spells S-E-X A-N-D T-H-E C-I-T-Y TV series starring Lucy Liu, Frances O' Connor and Miranda Otto, "Cashmere Mafia". Of course, if you are still following the trials and tribulations of the Wisteria Lane ladies, the sizzling "Desperate Housewives Season 4" is out. Check these hot ladies out!

Japanese Pop Culture with Anime Festival Asia 08

Singapore will celebrate the diversity of
Japanese Pop Culture with Anime Festival Asia 08 this weekend (November 22nd and 23rd, 2008) at Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Center, Hall 403 and 404. AFA08 will showcase a wide array of Japanese Pop Culture related content, spanning over 5,000 sqm of space with 7 experience zones: Anime Live, Anime Blockbusters, The Arena, : Akiba Town, Mangaka and Industry where visitors will gain access to exclusive content, merchandise and live acts straight from Japan. AFA08 will also feature numerous competitions during the weekend including Singapore’s first Arcade Showdown, a COSPLAY Mania Competition, Bandai Action Kit Universal Cup Competition, and two Manga art competitions Graphite and Mangaka.Tickets for AFA08 will cost S$5 for a single day pass and S$8 for a 2 day pass at the door on both show days. VIP Pass Tickets for May’n and Mizuki ‘Live’ Concerts are $68 and $78 respectively which includes an opportunity to win an autograph session with for each concert. For more information, please visit: www.afa08.com

MX - Hitwise Award Winner Jul to Sept 2008

Thanks to your support, movieXclusive.com is again a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner for the quarter ending Jul to Sept 2008 based on market share of visits among all Singapore websites in the Entertainment - Movies industry. Once again thanks to readers who links us to your blog, forum, websites etc and also
various partners who make the right choice working constantly hand-in-hand with us. We have more contests, reviews, coverages coming up so stay tuned. Cheers!

The Mouse Goes 3-D

The Walt Disney Studios announced today that work has begun to re-rendering its Oscar®-winning animated favorite, “Beauty and the Beast,” in preparation for its Disney Digital 3-D™ debut on the big screen in 2010. Disney’s “A Christmas Carol,” the spectacular 3D 2009 holiday release from director Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey, will be the first film from The Walt Disney Studios slated for IMAX ® theatres under a new five-picture arrangement the studio reached with IMAX Corporation. In addition, Disney’s 3-D offerings for 2010 include Disney-Pixar’s newly re-rendered 3-D version of “Toy Story 2,” Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” starring Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, the debut of the all-new “Toy Story 3” from Disney-Pixar, Disney’s enchanting new animated fairy tale, “Rapunzel,” and from Touchstone Pictures the dance phenomenon “Step Up 3” (2010).

More Cape No. 7 Activities

1) The stars of Taiwanese blockbuster movie Cape No. 7 Van Fan Yi-chen, Tanaka Chie and Shino Lin Hsiao-pei will be rushing down to the Manic Street Preachers Concert at Fort Canning Park immediately upon their arrival in Singapore on Monday night 24th November. 2) Van Fan will also be performing two of the hit songs from the movie at Bugis Junction Mall on Tuesday night, 25th November at 7.45pm. 3) The stars will be cruising down on the open-top Hippo Bus to enjoy the X'mas light up along Orchard Road this year and you and your loved one are invited to join them! 15 couples will be selected to go on the bus tour with the Stars of Cape No. 7. Simply email a short love letter in less than 100 words to festivefilms@gmail.com to be chosen as one of the lucky couples! The tour takes place at 9.30pm on 25th November, Tuesday.

JACK NEO'S 13th FEATURE FILM

Popular local Director Jack Neo will be releasing his 13th feature film LOVE MATTERS, the Chinese New Year blockbuter for 2009! LOVE MATTERS, revolves around the marriages and relationships of three men. The movie stars local actor Henry Thia (MONEY NO ENOUGH 1 & 2, I NOT STUPID 1&2), Malaysia's actress Yeo Yann Yann (SINGAPORE DREAMING, 881) and celebrated Malaysia radio presenter Jack Lim (AH LONG PTE LTD). Co-directed by local filmmakers, Jack Neo and Gilbert Chan, LOVE MATTERS is opening in Singapore on 22 January 2009.

Stars of Cape No. 7 Coming

The stars of the hit Taiwanese movie "Cape No. 7", Van Fan, Tanaka Chie, Chino Lin is set to arrive in Singapore next week as part of a 3-day trip to promote the upcoming release of the film. Arriving on 24th November via CI 751 from Taipei, the stars will meet-and-greet fans at Bugis Junction at 7:45PM on 25 Nov before gracing the Gala Screening at Cathay Orchard. They will then proceed to tour Orchard Road to enjoy the enchanting Christmas Light-Up aboard the open top HiPPO bus. Remember to check out more details here next week.

Hot Like Tom Yum

Three weeks of its release in Malaysia, "The Coffin" breaks Malaysia record for Thai film grossing over RM1.7 million breaking the all time record of RM1.5 million for Thai movie held by ‘Art of the Devil’ in Malaysia. "The Coffin" has also grossed S$1.25 million in local box office to date, and is hopeful to break Singapore’s top grossing Thai film, Shutter’s five year old record of S$1.31 million.

Weekday Giveaway

Hungry for horror thriller? We are giving away "Hell's Highway: KM31" preview tickets for this thursday. Click here to know how to flood in your entries .. the usual terms and conditions apply.

Winx Club Premiere Photos at The Cathay

Winx Club fairies on red carpet leading to The Cathay














From left to right: Winx Club fairies Flora, Bloom and Layla in The Picturehouse Lounge at The Cathay. The Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom is reviewed here by our mortal reviewer.

Give The Gift of Movies

Wondering for the perfect gift for your love ones this Christmas? Visit www.gv.com.sg for more details.