No One Cares About What Men Want!

The original Mel Gibson/Helen Hunt's rom-com "What Women Wants" gets a face-lift from the Chinese in this updated version starring Heavenly King Andy Lau and Gong Li. Coming to theaters this Valentine's Day. Watch the trailer here! And lastly to all our readers, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

KINAKO: POLICE DOG DREAM WORKS WITH NOAH’S ARK CARES TO RAISE FUNDS

Heart-warming Japanese film, KINAKO: POLICE DOG DREAM
《狗狗的志愿》is working with Noah’s Ark CARES to hold a charity screening to raise awareness and funds to help maintain 1000 animals in their sanctuary. Some of the funds will also be diverted towards Project Industrial Dogs (PID). The charity screening, which will take place on Tuesday 4 Jan 2011 at 7pm, at GV VivoCity, has started sales on Golden Village website. Interested donors can go to
http://www.gv.com.sg/moviedetails/gv_moviedetails_0479.jsp to find out more and purchase the tickets.

Each ticket is priced at $50, inclusive of a goodie bag - contributed by Pet’s Station, Addiction Foods and PETS Magazine - and a popcorn and bottled drink. Noah's Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary is located in Malaysia, JB. It is an animal sanctuary for those animals that have been abandoned, abused or unable to find a good home in Singapore or Malaysia. We practice a no-kill policy and the animals there are able to live out the rest of their lives in happiness and dignity till they cross the rainbow bridge. We currently have 800 dogs, 400 cats and 5 horses, a hutch of rabbits and guinea pigs and 2 monkeys as our permanent residents. The main reason why we moved there is because it was due to space constraints and the rising costs of land rental in Singapore.

Charity Event - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 15 Jan 2011

The Asian Film Archive is pleased to announce the Singapore Premiere of UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES to be held at 7pm on Saturday 15th January 2011, Cathay Cineplex (Dhoby Ghaut).Following the screening, the visionary Thai filmmaker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will be hosting a discussion on his award winning film.

This year the film won the coveted Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Mr Weerasethakul, a member of the Archive's International Advisory Board, has been a strong supporter of the Asian Film Archive, "I greatly admire its mission to preserve our heritage. Each day our lives have been documented and expressed in moving image forms. We are overwhelmed by them and tend to look at them as throwaways. We often forget that they are our treasure, our gift to our children. The Archive is a significant instrument in guarding this wealth. However, its operation is impossible without our support. Our contribution in any form can move it forward. Let's amaze the future world."

Tickets for this charity premiere event are now available online http://www.asianfilmarchive.org/BeInvolved/Donate.aspx or you can contact the office directly. One ticket will be given for each donation of S$50 received by the Asian Film Archive.

UPCOMING LOCAL FAMILY-COMEDY, “PERFECT RIVALS” MOVED ITS OPENING DATE TO THE MARCH SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!

Upcoming local family-comedy PERFECT RIVALS has moved its opening date from 13 January 2011 to the March school holidays! The movie is hitting the local cinemas on 17 March 2011 with special sneaks on Wednesday, one day before the opening.

Executive Producer and Lead Actress of PERFECT RIVALS Irene Ang explains, “Four Singapore films are scheduled to open within the first five weeks of 2011. This is potentially a record number of openings, and reflects well on the local movie industry. However, thoughts are put into whether the films should be spread out instead, for the good of the industry. This is also FLY’s first movie, where we hope to spread the message of love and the importance of family; so we wish for more people to be able to watch this."

“Hence, after much consideration, the producers decided to postpone the opening date for PERFECT RIVALS to 17 March 2011, which is the week of March school holidays. With this new date, we hope that it will be helpful to all the upcoming local movies,” adds Irene.

Starring Hong Kong veteran actor Ha Yu and local comedian Irene Ang, PERFECT RIVALS tells the story of two Bak-Kwa-making family, trying to outdo each other in order to become the best. PERFECT RIVALS also stars local actresses Mindee Ong, Pamelyn Chee, Taiwanese actor Stanly Hsu and Malaysian actor Josh Lai.

FAMOUS COMEDIANS COME TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN “JUST CALL ME NOBODY”《大笑江湖》!

Talented and well-known comedians from Asia, comes together for the first time in upcoming Chinese comedy JUST CALL ME NOBODY 《大笑江湖》.

Directed by Kevin Chu, the movie stars Eric Tsang from Hong Kong; Jacky Wu and Little Bean from Taiwan; Mark Lee from Singapore; Zhao Ben Shan and his disciple Xiao Shen Yang from China. The movie is opening in Singapore on 30 December.

JUST CALL ME NOBODY is a kung-medy (kungfu comedy) which tells the story of a cobbler who loves to read martial arts comics and does not know any martial arts. One day he picks up a shoe left behind by a female martial arts exponent. He decides to set off to return the shoe to her. On the boat, he encounters two martial arts-skilled bandits who try to rob the passengers. The cobbler tries to help and unwittingly beats them. Unknown to him, a very skilled old man has been helping him in the dark. The old man then increases the cobbler’s internal strength. Subsequently, the cobbler encounters more incidents that improved his martial arts skills.

JUST CALL ME NOBODY, which opened in China three weeks ago on 3 December, collected RMB $60.9 million during its opening weekend. The movie beat Chen Kaige’s historical epic, SACRIFICE to claim the top spot on the box office chart. To-date, JUST CALL ME NOBODY has grossed more than RMB$ 140 million!

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Trailer

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It became the first Asian film to win the award since 1997 and Apichatpong Weerasethakul became the first Thai director to receive the award. The film has been selected as the Thai entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. Opens at The Picturehouse 27 January 2011.

Andy Lau & Director Benny Chan in Singapore to Promote SHAOLIN

Both Andy Lau and Director Benny Chan will be attending the SHAOLIN Singapore Press Conference and the SHAOLIN Singapore Gala Premiere, before they leave for Taiwan to continue the SHAOLIN promotional tour. SHAOLIN, with a production budget of over USD$25 million, tells the story of an arrogant army leader who repent and seek refeuge at Shaolin after the shock betrayal by his sworn brother, who brings his army to besiege Shaolin and the peace-loving monks. Directed by Benny Chan, the movie brings together a stellar cast including Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Fan Bing Bing, Wu Jing and special appearance by Jackie Chan. Singapore is the first country to release SHAOLIN, after China, when the movie opens on 21 January 2011 islandwide. Besides starring as the leading man, Andy Lau is singing SHAOLIN’s movie theme song titled 《悟》.

It's A Great Great World!

It’s A Great Great World is set in Singapore’s legendary amusement park Great World and featuring an ensemble of MediaCorp artistes including Joanne Peh, Yvonne Lim, Chew Chor Meng, Xiang Yun, Huang Wenyong, Zhang Zhen Huan, Zhang Yao Dong, Ng Hui, Paige Chua, Ben Yeo, Kym Ng, Bryan Wong, Chen Shucheng, Gurmit Singh, Zheng Geping, Apple Hong, Guo Liang, Dennis Chew and many others.

Transformers Dark Of The Moon Teaser

Michael Bay promises a better development of the story this time round and instead of post-3D conversion, he opts to shoot everything in 3D. Whatever it is, Transformers Dark Of The Moon is still going to make gazillion of dollars...

Yogi Bear TV Spot

Don't miss your chance in winning a pair of passes to Yogi Bear? Contest ending soon...

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In the hustle and bustle of the city, two families are put in the spotlight as viewers join in their journey of managing a marriage, the parenthood of a teenager, and the caretaking of a senior citizen in this Nicole Holofcener directed feature, Please Give. Back in 2005, a low-budget thriller about five girls who encounter a strange breed of predators while on a caving expedition made waves amongst horror fans and critics alike. The Descent: Part 2 feels very much like its predecessor, picking up right after the events of the first film. This unofficial continuation of the 1994’s Jet Li starrer, Fist of Legend and Donnie Yen starrer, Legend of the Fist: The Legend of Chen Zhen makes it way to DVD. Check out the selection of drama, horror and action titles in the home video section today.

WIN! Preview tickets to "The Fighter"

Based on the true story of boxing champ "Irish" Micky Ward, the welterweight who fought his way to an unlikely world championship, "The Fighter" is a highly acclaimed drama starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams that's already generating Oscar buzz. 

A passion project and labour of love for Mark Wahlberg, the star and producer of the film started preparing for his role as Micky five years ago when he learnt that he would be starring in the movie alongside Matt Damon for director Darren Aronofsky. Wahlberg built a boxing ring in his backyard, hired two trainers on his own dime, and trained hours each day to hone his skills. Wahlberg never stopped training, not when Damon dropped out and Brad Pitt came in, not when Aronofsky dropped out, Pitt left, and the project was nearly knocked out. He helped rework the picture from a $50M studio film into a $20M indie and roped in co-star Christian Bale who lost 30 pounds to play Micky's half-brother crack addict Dicky Eklund. 

MovieXclusive is giving you a chance to be among the first to watch this potential Oscar contender on 30 Dec. To find out how to win, visit www.facebook.com/MovieXclusive and remember to 'like'our page for more contests to come! 

TRON CHARACTERS LIGHT UP THE STREETS OF SINGAPORE

The Walt Disney Studios’ high-tech adventure TRON: LEGACY is a stunner not only for its visual effects but also lifestyle and fashion. The idea of TRON has inspired designers world‐wide, including local fashion designer Jeri Loh, who did a “TRON-Inspired” fashion piece for his graduation show earlier this year. Impressed by his works, The Studio local office has commissioned Mr Loh to design three sets of costumes in the likes of Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), Quorra (Olivia Wilde) and Siren aka Gem (Beau Garett). Costumes aka light suits form an integral part in TRON: LEGACY. In the movie, the light suits were created using electroluminescent lamps made from a flexible polymer film where each actor spent as long as three hours getting into one. In the days leading up to the release, models will be showcasing Jeri’s talent in these specially designed TRON costumes with appearances at Singapore Toy, Games & Comic at Suntec Singapore Hall 401 & 40211 Dec, Saturday and 18 Dec, Saturday Cathay Cineplex Cineleisure Orchard and Golden Village Plaza Singapura. Anyone who captures a picture with the TRON models and upload it on facebook.com/disneystudiosSG or facebook.com/TronSG fan pages will stand to win attractive prizes sponsored by The Walt Disney Studios and Razer™.

MONSTERS storm the British Independent Film Awards

The science fiction thriller MONSTERS has taken home an impressive three awards at the British Independent Film Awards; including BEST DIRECTOR for Gareth Edwards. Gareth Edwards is the writer, director and cameraman for Monsters, a sci-fi thriller set in an alien-infested Mexico. The film was produced on a shoestring budget of around US$500,000. The film has also been awarded Best Achievement in Production and Best Technical Achievement in the same awards. This was a surprise to Director Edwards as the entire special effects production was processed entirely in his bedroom on a Mac computer using store-bought software. MONSTERS opens in Singapore on 20th Jan 2011

MORNING GLORY Latest Trailer

The latest trailer for the all-star fronted comedy, Morning Glory, featuring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton coming our way 24 March 2011.

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Too busy to catch movies on the big screen? Try Breakup Club at the comfort of your home. Director Barbara Wong’s decision to film this movie verite-style, combining handheld cameras and other documentary-style techniques to chart the ups and downs of one young couple, Joe and Flora. Starring Ugly Betty’s America Ferrara, Our Family Wedding involves a dream wedding turning into a battle royale. And lastly, one of the definite shoo-ins for this year’s Razzie Awards- going by the avalanche of bad press around it- is the DC Comics adaptation Jonah Hex, the US$47mil summer movie never made it to our shores. Check out for yourself how bad it is.

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Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Imagination is a powerful thing – at least that’s what we thought before reviewing this documentary which was originally released on the big screen in 2009. Like all other nature documentaries, IMAX Under The Sea brings us to worlds we can only imagine. You’d think that documentaries are theme laden and filled with voiceovers and interviews, but this Thomas Balmes directed documentary does something different. The adventure of a lifetime first pulls you in with, well, Babies. We already know how much damage we are doing to Mother Nature. We have also seen countless documentaries that show us the dire consequences if we do not do anything about it. A myriad of undersea creatures are featured in Oceans. Don't miss these educational documentaries now out on DVD.

Space Battleship Yamato Trailer

Based on the 1974 original SF animation and now in live-action! Check out the trailer for SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO right here starring our favourite Takuya Kimura. The title song is contributed by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. We hope to catch it in cinemas here soon.

I Love Hong Kong 《我爱香港 开心万岁》Commences Filming

Directed by Chung Shu Kai and co-directed and produced by Eric Tsang, the comedy is a follow- up effort on the highly successful 72 Tenants of Prosperity which achieved great box office success when released during lunar new year earlier this year.

The film brings together a exciting ensemble cast of Eric Tsang, Sandra Ng, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Aarif Lee, Bosco Wong, Chan Fala & Wong Cho Lam and will feature cameo performances from many popular artistes.

I Love Hong Kong《我爱香港 开心万岁》is a feel good movie which inculcates that all will be well and prosperity will visit when everyone lives in harmony. NG SHUN returns with his wife SHUN-SOH and 3 children to celebrate NG KIN’s 60th birthday. Unknown to KIN, his son has gotten into trouble and is plotting for him to take the rap. At the same time, LONG, a swindler who conned money from the neighbours 30 years ago is now a property tycoon. He promises to pay each of the 30 neighbours HK$100 million as compensation as long as a representative of each household returns to the estate on Lunar New Year’s Eve. A mad rush ensues as SHUN and his family tries to gather the old neighbours to avoiding missing the bonanza.

I Love Hong Kong《我爱香港 开心万岁》will be distributed by Clover Films and Shaw Organisation in Singapore. The movie is slated for release on 2nd February 2011.

Horror Comedy "Twisted" In Cinemas 2011

Promising young Singaporean director Chai Yee Wei is now preparing his latest movie 撞鬼 (working title), a horror comedy currently shot in Malaysia . This is the second full feature by Chai after his well received Blood Ties, and production for the Mandarin movie will wrap in mid-December.

The movie revolves around a soft-drugs dealer who banged up a young girl, a pair of con men who wants to turn over a new leaf, and 4 cabin crews whose lives were turned upside down over a fateful night of drugs and booze. This is a story of individuals whose fates intertwine and paths clash due to a series of twisted events. A funny and twisted tale of fate and coincidence is shaped based on the cause and effect of their actions. Starring an interesting ensemble cast from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the best comedic and acting talents from the region which includes Mark Lee, Zhu Mi Mi, Cavin Soh, Randall Tan, Linda Liao, Candy Lim, Joey Leong, Josh Lai and Tracy Lee.

When asked to share his thoughts on the production, Yee Wei, director of the film said, “This new movie I am working on is a project that I am very excited about, because it allows me to explore 2 genres that I love deeply - supernatural and comedy. When I started my career doing short films, they were all comedies, so I've always found it somewhat ironic that my debut feature was a serious horror film. However, this time, I am glad to be able to use my own brand of comedy and infuse it in my new film. This is a Singaporean comedy executed in a fashion that is unlike those done by the other Singaporean Directors, and I hope that audience will find it refreshing.“

"Twisted" will be distributed by Clover Films in Singapore and has been scheduled for release in mid- 2011.