Interview with Winston Chao aka Dr Sun Yat-sen

Remember the charismatic Taiwanese actor, Winston Chao Wen-Hsuan who acted in movies such as "The Soong Sisters" and "Eat Drink Man Woman"? Once again, he takes on the role of Kuomintang co-founder Dr Sun Yat-sen in Derek Chiu’s Road to Dawn, which closes the 21st Singapore International Film Festival.

Click here for our interview with the man himself, Winston Chao

For more coverages on the coming 21st SIFF which will start on 4th April, click here

Every Rose Has It's Thorns

Call it a cautionary tale for men. "Teeth" is about a teen named Dawn who discovers she has a toothed vagina. She becomes the object of violence as she struggles to comprehend her anatomical uniqueness. "Teeth" sneaks exclusively this weekend at GV Vivo and Plaza and is reviewed here.

On a last note, the prison authorities should consider screening "Teeth" for rapists, molesters and paedophiles for educational purposes.

Love. Lust. Sex. Betrayal

We know some of you will go for the lust and ahem..sex. And some of you purely for the babes, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. But is this tale of two sisters divided over a King that good? See what our reviewer got to say over "The Other Boleyn Girl".

Nevertheless, Eric Bana will be the envy of many men country wide. “Love is of no value without power and position” How true.

Does Rogue Bite?

It was released in it's native country as "Rogue" but right here there's a slight difference, the word "Crocodile" is added. New title but same old story about a saltwater croc. Greg Mclean who directed the 2006 thriller "Wolf Creek" helmed this terrortory. Our resident reviewer took a good look at "Rogue Crocodile" and gave his verdict.

Some Warm-up Before Dark

Somewhat similar to the 2003 "The Animatrix", "Batman: Gotham Knight" was headed by an impressive list of directors who have brought their distinctly different anime styles to the classic Batman character. A warm-up to "The Dark Knight" of course. The U.S. Code One DVD and 2-Disc Special will be released on July 8. Blu-ray edition too.

Special Features include:

"Batman and Me a Devotion of Destiny: The Bob Kane Story" - The comprehensive chronology of the remarkable life of the creator of Batman.

"A Mirror for the Bat: The Evil Denizens of Gotham City" - A stimulating documentary covering Gotham City´s most nefarious of characters, combined with a look into the symbiotic relationship Batman shares with his enemies.

"Batman: The Animated Series" Bonus Episodes - Bruce Timm selects his favorite episodes from Batman: The Animated Series.

"Sneak Peek: Wonder Woman" - DC Universe animated original movie.

Audio Commentary - Featuring the filmmakers of Gotham Knight.

Here We Go Again...

Golden Village Multiplex announced today that it will revise its ticket prices at all nine multiplexes. The new rates will take effect tomorrow, on 27 March 2008. The ticket prices adjustment will be introduced through a 50 cents increase in the basic tier of ticket prices. Gold Class and Cinema Europa ticket prices as well as all ongoing movie promotional packages and preferential rates with banks, students and other promotional partners will remain unchanged.

According to David Glass, Managing Director of Golden Village Multiplex, it's due to an rising in business costs, goods, services, labour, film rentals. However, Golden Village has also introduced a slew of offers to enable their patrons to stretch their dollar at the cinemas.

To make a long story short, here's the revised prices:

Mon to Wed - $7.50
Thur - $7.50 (before 5pm) / $8.50 (after 5pm)
Fri - $8.50 (before 5pm) / $10.00 (after 5pm)
Sat/Sun - $10
Eve of public holiday -
$8.50 Mon to Fri / $10.00 Sat to Sun (before 5pm) $10.00 (after 5pm)

Are You A Fan of CLICK FIVE?

The Click Five are no strangers to Singapore and this 2008 sees their return, as they rock concert venues across Asia. The band officially announced their headlining tour on their website at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 1st June. TICKETS $98 (STANDING), $68 (SEATED). Priority sale of tickets for SingTel customers from 4th – 11th April, SingTel customers will also enjoy a 10% discount off tickets at all Sistic outlets upon production of a SingTel customer bill. Check out www.singtel.com/youth for more details on ongoing promotions! Tickets will then go on sale to the general public from April 12th via http://www.sistic.com/ & all Sistic outlets. Tel: 65 6348 5555. Visit the band's official webby: http://www.theclickfive.com/

Step Up 2 A Million Dollar!

Step Up 2 The Streets, the sequel of the biggest dance movie in Singapore, Step Up, has danced its way to the one million dollar mark over the weekend, 23 March 2007 since its release on 13 March 2007.

Shaw Organisation Film Marketing VP, Mr. Rudy Marianto says “We have been getting great feedback on the dance moves from audience of all ages. The box office started to take off right after the weekend sneaks which show that the word of mouth of STEP UP 2 THE STREETS has been very encouraging.”

The movie is still now showing in theatres, with a total print count of 24 and box office of $1.2Million as of Sunday, 23rd March 2008. The first Step Up was released on 9 Nov 2006 with 21 prints and final box office of $920K.

Tell your Ah Ma & Ah Gong

Golden Village Multiplex today announced it will be launching a loyalty programme for Senior Citizens. Valid for a period of 3 months starting 1 April 2008 till 30 June 2008. Senior movie-goers will receive a stamp on their Senior Citizen Movie Card each time they watch a movie at a GV cinema. Valid for those aged 55 and above, Senior Citizens tickets are priced at $4 each and are available from Mondays to Fridays, for all shows before 5pm, at all nine GV cinemas island wide.

The Senior Citizen Movie Card will be issued along with ticket purchase at any of the GV cinema box offices. When Senior Citizens accumulate 9 stamps on their card, they can redeem a 1kg pack of New Moon Premium Fragrant Rice. On their subsequent 9th stamp (or their 18th stamp), Senior Citizens will get to redeem a bottle of New Moon Essence of Chicken with Cordyceps (all items are while stocks last).

For more information, please visit www.gv.com.sg or call 6334 3766 followed by No. 2 for customer service.

"Untraceable" Untraceable

Supposedly due to hit local screens on 27 March, "Untraceable" is now re-scheduled to open on 3 April 2008 instead due to a print delay. Those waiting to see sexy auntie Diane Lane in action will have to wait a while.

Meantime, you can read up our review of "Untraceable" right here. "Untraceable" is rated NC-16 for some violence (not a lot but some).

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Opens in Singapore 28th Aug 2008

A new era of Star Wars entertainment begins in 2008 when STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, from creator George Lucas, premieres as an all-new feature film in August, followed by the television series debut in the fall, in a partnership between Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin’s padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains – led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous – are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the Star Wars universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations that fill STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS.

The first in a planned series of special web-only documentaries that chronicle the development of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS debuts online today, and can be found at http://www.starwars.com

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS opens 28th August in Singapore. Trailer can be view here

4 Stars Galore at MX

This week marks the second week in a row that 4 movies have been rated with 4 stars or more at MX. This is the First time that it's happening. Are we too generous or do we have more worthy movies being screened now? Check it out yourself!

20th March 2008
4 Stars The Orphanage
5 Stars Be Kind Rewind
4 Stars Crows Zero
4 Stars Semi-Pro

13th March 2008
4 Stars The Spiderwick Chronicles
5 Stars Secret Sunshine
4 Stars Rule #1
4 Stars Evangelion 1.0

- edited by Stefan Shih although he finds this post to be extremely "bo liao" and special thanks to Monica

Come for Kelvin Tong's Horror Double Bill

Brave yourself for a night of horror with Kelvin Tongs THE MAID & RULE #1. Free flow of popcorn & drinks! Come and support the works of our local talent. More details can be found at GV website. Screening is on 21 (Fri) & 22 (Sat) March, 9pm, GV Plaza.

Rule #1 is rated 4 MX stars by our reviewer, definitely worth more than a peek.

Director Anthony Minghella (1954 - 2008)

Award-winning director Anthony Minghella passed away this morning at the age of 54. He is best known for directing "The Talented Mr Ripley", "The English Patient", "Cold Mountain" and the recent "Breaking & Entering". We also learnt that sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke whose work inspired the classic Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, died early Wednesday at his home in Sri Lanka; he was 90. A sad goodbye to two talented men....

‘SECRET SUNSHINE’ TAKES TOP HONORS

In a star-studded celebration ceremony, the 2nd Asian Film Awards (AFA) presented their awards on the 17th March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the AFA’s red-carpet gala and award ceremony paid tribute to 33 nominated Asian films in 12 categories and bestowed two world renowned filmmakers with special accolades. The awards were presented by top regional celebrities and filmmakers. Here's the complete winner listing:

Best Film: SECRET SUNSHINE

Best Director: Lee Chang-dong (SECRET SUNSHINE)

Best Actress: Jeon Do-yeon (SECRET SUNSHINE)

Best Actor: Tony Leung Chiu-wai (LUST, CAUTION)

Best Supporting Actor: Sun Honglei (MONGOL)

Best Supporting Actress: Joan Chen (THE SUN ALSO RISES)

Best Screenwriter: Au Kin-yee and Wai Ka-fai (MAD DETECTIVE)

Best Cinematographer: Liao Pen-jung (HELP ME EROS)

Best Visual Effects: Ng Yuen-fai (THE WARLORDS)

Best Production Designer: Cao Jiu-ping and Zhang Jian-qun (THE SUN ALSO RISES)

Best Editor: David Richardson (EYE IN THE SKY)

Best Composer: Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani (OM SHANTI OM)

Special tributes were an integral part of the ceremony with visionary Japanese filmmaker Yuya Ishii receiving The Edward Yang New Talent Award from director Ann Hui and actor Chang Han, while renowned director Hou Hsiao-hsien honored Yamada Yuji with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fairy Tales Mouse Version

Let Mickey Mouse and gang entertained your little ones in "Mickey's Storybook Surprises". Parents can safely leave the pre-schoolers in front of the television set without worrying about what unhealthy and unintended messages the programmes may instill in the kids with this DVD. So feel free to pick up this disc at your nearest retail store. At least while you are busy preparing your powerpoint presentation, your kids can be educated by Mickey. Not the ideal thing to do I know but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Madagascar 2

The animals from New York..who..erm..are in Madagascar are escaping to..i mean back to New York and landed themselves in Africa. Woohoo...

The Strangers

The extended trailer of The Strangers has surfaced on the net. Judging from the trailer, it sure is one uber creepy classy slasher flick.

It's Friday!

Festive Films just sent us the hilarious trailer for the Korean sex-comedy, "Sex Is Zero 2" (Click on the link to watch it). And also we are giving away free "sex" passes soon so do hit back often. Movie opens on 3 April. Relax.. it's friday.

Something Incredible This Way Comes

EDWARD NORTON stars as Dr. Bruce Banner in an all-new, explosive and action-packed epic of one of the most popular Super Heroes of all time--"THE INCREDIBLE HULK". A monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination faces off with The Hulk with an entirely new cast including Liv Tyler as Dr Betty Ross and William Hurt is General Thunderbolt Ross. Can't wait for 12 June 2008 to arrive! The trailer can be viewed here

Don't Be Late For Horton

Catch "Horton Hears A Who" in theaters now and sit back for the first teaser for next summer, "Ice Age 3". Scrat is back for sure and be prepared for a very big new addition. Just try to pop in before the credits rolled for Horton.

SLAM the local helmed sports movie!

Written and directed by Singapore based Jonathan Lim, SLAM is the adrenalin pumping basketball movie that portrays themes of self-discovery, self-empowerment, and lessons of perseverance and determination. The cast includes a strong team of professional basketball players, as well as Machi Didi (Andrew Chou) from Taiwan’s well known pop group – MACHI. In support of SLAM, Golden Village is offering a promotion exclusively for schools and students. $6 per ticket for students who flash their student pass at GV cinemas screening SLAM and free 5 tickets for a minimum group booking of 50 tickets. To activate your school group bookings, please fax or email the form appended in the next page to fax number 6337 3215 or email: chuangps@goldenvillage.com.sg

SLAM opens 20 March and official website can be viewed here

All Prince but no Princess

If you didn't manage to catch the main cast members from the popular Taiwanese drama serial
"Romantic Princess" yesterday at Bugis, here's a coverage of the press conference. Leading lady Angela Chang is down with an illness thus unable to travel with the rest of the male cast here. We wish her well.

Hail the Dragon!

The first of many war-theme movies to come this year, "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon" starred Andy Lau, Maggie Q, Sammo Hung and Vanness "F4" Wu. A tale about Zhao, a common man who heeds the call of duty and from the humblest of roots rises through the ranks on wings of courage and craft to command an army with liberating the land from an evil warlord. Opening on April the 3rd, Shaw is kind enough to send us a first look at the local keyart and stills.

Blooming Toyota

While he is not busy being a Elf or battling pirates, he is endorsing one of mankind's favourite transportation of all time, the Toyota Corolla Altis. Orlando Bloom is the new spokesman for the Japanese carmaker but his appearance seem to be limited only to the Asia region. Drool over it girls! See the spot at Toyota Taiwan Website if you haven't.

Perspectives Film Festival

Friends, it's going to be a busy March-Apr, with no less than 3 festivals lined up during the period, all featuring local feature films and shorts. Besides the Singapore Shorts Film Festival at the Substation, and the Singapore International Film Festival, there's also the Perspectives Film Festival, which is an an inaugural film festival jointly presented by NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and the National Museum of Singapore.

This 5-day long event will feature some of the first, classic films produced in Singapore, highlighting the glorious past of our local film history, bringing back fond memories and inspiring the next wave of Singapore’s media stars. The highlight of the festival will be the screening of Lion City, which is arguably the first Chinese-language film to be made in Singapore. The last time this movie was screened was back in 2005 during the Screen Singapore festival, and unfortunately I had missed the screening then. Opportunity presents itself again this time round!

Other films in the lineup include Seniman Bujang Lapok, a film made by P. Ramlee, Hussein Haniff's Hang Jebat, Salleh Ghani’s Tun Fatimah and B. N. Rao’s Sumpah Pontianak which I have already watched back in 2005.

Another first for the classics mentioned, all films will come with Chinese subtitles, as the organizers - all full time students btw, in a course where students conceptualize, manage, fundraise, promote and run an actual ticketed film festival - try to reach out to the older Chinese population in Singapore who cannot read English subtitles. On the last night, the screening of Seniman Bujang Lapok will be Free and held outdoors too, to promote greater communal bonding and involvement, especially across generations.

What's the cost you say?
It's only S$7 per paid screening, and concession rates are available. All indoor screenings will be held at the National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre (one of my choice screening locations in Singapore).

For more details of the programme, and ticketing information, head on down to the Official Festival Website!

It's KR with LV

One of the world’s most famous musician, Keith Richards is the latest man to front French luxury goods-maker, Louis Vuitton. Holding a guitar with a LV suitcase placed by the side, it’s a simple yet effective message. Looks like Richards’ old craggy face is as worthy as leather. How we wish we could afford to place one of those monogram collection beside our laptop…you know we could shoot the ad for free.

Smell Like McConeee...

You can't look like Matthew McConaughey but at least now you can smell like him. The manly actor has shot a commercial for D&G's newly launched sensual perfume The One for men. Of course no ad or film is complete without the hunk displaying his much-envy flat abs. You can view the spot at the official Dolce & Gabbana website

Or to admire his flat-ab on a large screen, catch his appearance in "Fool's Gold"

We sure know how to quit you

Thai cinema sure is getting interesting in recent years, churning out a wide variety of genres including horror (Shutter), action (Tom Yum Goong), comedy (Chai-Lai Angels) and now a gay romance touted as the Thai version of Brokeback Mountain called "Bangkok Love Story". However, this effort by Poj Arnon is a laughable fest instead of a touching one which our reviewer found out. Aside from the beautiful cinematography it's filled with enough cheese to stuff a large pizza. Click here to read what else he encountered...

You Made Us What We Are

Thanks to your support, movieXclusive.com is once again a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner for the quarter ending ending October - December 2007 in the Hitwise Entertainment - Movies industry (We were also a winner for the quarter ending Jan - March 2007). For being such a small outfit in a robust competitive category, we are proud to emerge as one of the winners. We look forward to your continual patronage and we promise more movie stuff are on the way...

Legend of the Eastern Scorpio and the Emperor

SCORPIO East Pictures is looking to steal a march on its competitors by capturing a six-picture package from Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures for Singapore.

The deal will see Scorpio East Pictures handling theatrical, home video and free-to-air television rights in Jackie Chan’s much-anticipated Shinjuku Incident, directed by Derek Yee and co-starring Daniel Wu and Naoto Takenaka, as well as Chinese auteur Chen Kaige’s biographical Mei Lanfang, featuring Zhang Ziyi and Leon Lai in the title role.

Other titles in the package include Sylvia Chang’s Run Papa Run, starring Rene Liu and Louis Koo, Jeff Lau’s madcap aquatic comedy The Fantastic Waterbabes with Alex Fong, Gillian Chung, Stephen Fung and China Olympian Tian Liang, Home Run starring Chapman To and Fan Bingbing, and Yes, I Can See Dead People starring Steven Cheung.

“We are delighted to have secured this very strong package from EMP for Singapore,” said Scorpio East Pictures General Manager, Lim Teck. “EMP is great to work with and, given their exceptional marketing support, we are confident in delivering good results for these films in Singapore.”

“With recent hits such as 881, Ah Long Pte. Ltd. and Kung Fu Dunk, Scorpio East Pictures has put down the marker as one of the leading distributors in Singapore,” said Emperor Motion Pictures CEO, Albert Lee. “We are really happy to be working with them on these titles.”

The first title from the package to hit Singapore screens will be Sylvia Chang’s bittersweet comedy Run Papa Run, whichScorpio East Pictures targets to theatrically release day-and-date with other Asian territories.

Try These 10,000 BC Flash Games

Got time to kill? How about playing two "10, 000 BC" flash games? 'Charge of the Hero' is a simple but highly addictive game. Players can control the Hero as he fights to free his people entrapped by the evil Pyramid guards. And the second one is called 'Hunter Game'. This is a more elaborate game that includes a widget that users can post to their personal web page/profile. They can also challenge their friends to beat their best times. Both games are accessible on our "10, 000 BC" movie page under games. Please don't try these during office hours though.

The Dark Curse

With months to the opening, the sequel to "Batman Begins", "The Dark Knight" is plagued by unexplainable problems since filming start. First, in September 2007, while planning a stunt with the Batmobile in a special effects facility, a technician was killed when his car crashed. And on 23 January 2008, Heath Ledger who played the Joker in the upcoming sequel was found dead from overdosage on prescribed medicine. In Feb 2008, the biggest sex scandal in HK history erupted, the male lead is none other than Edison Chen who had a cameo villian role in "Dark". You can brushed these off as perfect marketing tools for the movie but one can't helped but think of these incidents to be associated with the Dark Knight or The Dark Curse. You might also be interested to read about our earlier post.

(With special thanks to Richard for highlighting some of the points)