DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

A serial killer roams the woods inflicting preemptive strikes on the hippies who've come for the sex, drugs and rock and roll in The Tripper directed by David Arquette. Let The Right One In, a critically acclaimed film based on a 2004 vampire fiction novel written by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist. The vampire in this film is a 200 year old who has been looking like a 12 year old for the longest time. Four college students from New Jersey take a detour into the bowels of rural West Virginia and uncover a grotesque legend named Plasterhead.

DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

This week, we pick another 3 more children friendly titles for your little kiddos. Adam Sandler's first PG rated comedy Bedtime Stories comes alive on DVD while Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, leading a splendid cast in the first-ever American Girl theatrical movie in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Last being Tales of the Riverbank which tells the story of three furry friends -Hammy Hamster, Roderick Rat and GP the Guinea Pig.

Hit the Sure-Win Jackpot at Golden Village

Golden Village will be giving away at least S$10 million worth of prizes to be won in their summer blockbuster campaign from 29th April till end July 2009. Called “HIT THE SURE-WIN JACKPOT”, this campaign will be launched at all nine Golden Village cinemas island wide. Movie-goers who purchase 3 movie tickets at any Golden Village cinema will get a chance of hitting the jackpot using a coupon, which is embossed with a special bar code. All the patron needs to do is to scan the bar code of the coupon at the “jackpot” machine, punch in a key code, press the “SPIN” button, and win a prize. Prizes include cash, cruise holidays, Gold Class tickets, GV movie credits, fashion retail vouchers, savings on movie combos and everything else that would help beat the recession blues.

Now Showing at GV, Shaw, Eng Wah & Filmgarde

Dear MX Readers, please do note that X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be shown at all GV, Shaw, Eng Wah and Filmgarde cinemas. Unfortunately due to undisclosed reason, all Cathay cinemas will NOT be showing the title.

Exploiting Cathay's Library of Classics

Mention the Cathay Film Classics and many will remember a golden age of Asian movie glamour, with famous stars such as Ge Lan, Lin Tsui, Peter Chen Ho, Chang Yang, You Min, Yeh Fur, Wahid Satay, Rose Yatimah, Ummi Kalthoum, Latiffah Omar, and Siput Sarawak starring in popular Chinese and Malay classic films made in an era past.

Between 1953 and 1974, Cathay Organisation's studios in Hong Kong - Motion Pictures & General Investment Co Ltd (MP & GI) - made more than 240 Chinese films, while its studios in Singapore - Cathay-Keris Films - produced over 100 Malay films in Singapore and Malaya. These classic titles such as Mambo Girl, Wild Wild Rose, and the Pontianak, embraced a wide variety of movie genres ranging from romance and comedy to period dramas, horror, and suspense.

As a tribute to the filmmakers and movie stars who have undoubtedly helped to shape the Asian movie industry, Cathay Organisation has since embarked on continual efforts in preserving and extending the legacy of these films, by exploiting its library of classics through various means. Conserving Cathay Film Classics In 2004, Cathay donated to Hong Kong Film Archive a total of 213 Chinese film titles, which include about 2,400 film reels as well as some 12,000 related items such as stills, posters, photographs and handbills. In 2007, 90 Malay titles were donated to the Singapore's Asian Film Archive in 16mm and 35mm formats, in an effort to preserve the longevity of the classic Malay movies. Finally in 2009, Cathay-Keris Films has committed to donating the entire collection of Cathay Classic Films (Chinese & Malay titles) in the form of D1 tapes to the Asian Film Archive. These D1 tapes, which store video data uncompressed, is already an obsolete tape format in Singapore. Archival of the movie titles ensure that these films are stored in favorable conditions, undergo restoration, and are made available for non-commercial purposes such as research and education.

Cathay Film Classics On Stage In January 2009, one of Cathay's most well-known titles: Wild Wild Rose, took to the stage at Victoria Theatre in Singapore. The 2009 stage musical, produced by Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre from Hong Kong, was a remake of the original classic film released in the 1960s, directed by Wang Tian Lin and starring famous actress Ge Lan. Another Cathay classic film of the 1960s took to Hong Kong's stage in April 2009. The Greatest Wedding On Earth, with its original film starring well-known actors Leung Sing Bo, Liu Enjia, and Lei Zhen, was successfully reproduced as a stage play presented by Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre. Cathay Film Classics As A Lifestyle Come May 2009, Cathay's history will not only exist in the form of storage mediums and theatre performances, but as a form of lifestyle as well. In a recent collaboration with Hong Kong's lifestyle retail chain Goods of Desire (GOD), Cathay will launch the Cathay Classic Film Tees: a series of retro-stylish T-Shirt collection that is symbolic of Cathay's rich film heritage. These T-Shirts will be sold exclusively at The Cathay Cineplex as well as Clique, an eclectic lifestyle boutique located at The Cathay. The charm of these film classics will continue to linger on in viewers' memories for many years to come through Cathay's various, constant efforts in preserving the titles and renewing public interest.

22nd SIFF Announces Silver Screen Awards Results

The Silver Screen Awards of the 22nd Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF, 14 to 25 April 2009) was held yesterday evening at Filmgarde Cineplex@ Iluma. The SIFF would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to the following award winners:

Singapore Film Awards
Best Film: Rule#1
Best Director: Royston Tan, 12 Lotus
Best Screenplay: Sherman Ong, Hashi
Best Performance: Mark Lee, Money No Enough 2
Best Cinematography: Roszali Samad, Brian Gothong Tan, Sharon Loh, Jaye Neo, Cain Chui, Andrew Mark Sobrielo, Chris Yeo and Adrian Lo Lucky 7

Asian Feature Film Competition

Best Film: Laila’s Birthday
Best Director: Rasoul Sadr Ameli, Every Night, Loneliness
Best Performance: Yang Ik-june, Breathless
Best Cinematography: Zhang Yi, Jalainur
NETPAC Award - Critic's Prize: Jalainur
Special Mention: Blind Pigs Who Wants to Fly

Singapore Short Film Competition

Best Film: Swimming Lesson
Best Director: Kat Goh, Swimming Lesson
Best Performance: Cheong Soon Foon, Madam Chan
Best Cinematography: Simon Walsh and David Shiyang Liu,
5 Films in an Anthology of A Film A Month
Special Mention: Hush Baby

For its 2009 edition, the SIFF saw over 50 sold out screenings, achieving an overall audience capacity of 70%. Singapore feature & short films continue to enjoy a strong attendance at the Festival, with sold-out screenings for most of the local films. Other sold out films include Promised Land (Israel); Bastardy (Australia); How To Be (UK); Girl Inside (Canada) and Sell Out! (Malaysia). The 22nd SIFF also played hosts to well known international directors and celebrities, including Oliver Stone (Director, USA); Amos Gitai (Director, Israel); Zhang Yuan (Director, China); Peter Fonda (Actor, USA); Russell Wong (Actor, USA) and Nicholas Saputra (Channel [V] host).

SPRING FEVER and COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY

SPRING FEVER competes for Cannes's top Palme d'Or and COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY closes the festival. The Cannes Film Festival announced the line up for this year's festival on Thursday. Among the films competing for Cannes's top Palme d'Or prize is Lou Ye's SPRING FEVER. The festival will close with a fashion frenzy as French Director Jan Kounen presents his Chanel biopic COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY. The film tells a story of how Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky helped push the boundaries of 20th century culture. Both SPRING FEVER and COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY are slated for release here in Singapore in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Third 'Twilight' film lands director

David Slade is the newest master vampire.The "30 Days of Night" director will take a slightly less gory approach to the blood-sucking brood when he helms "Eclipse," the third installment of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling "Twilight" franchise. Summit Entertainment has just signed Slade to the project which it plans to release June 30, 2010. Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the adaptations of "Twilight" and its sequel, "New Moon," will also script "Eclipse." The third book follows heroine Bella Swan as she nears graduation while trying to navigate the dangers of the ongoing vampire-werewolf struggle. Mysterious killings turn up around Seattle, a malicious vampire looks for revenge and Bella's romantic life with Edward becomes complicated. The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in Singapore on 3 December 2009.

Terminator is on Twitter

In anticipation of theworldwide release of the motion picture Terminator Salvation, Twitter users will have the chance to join the human resistance against the machines in Sony Pictures Releasing International's first-ever game created for the social networking platform. Users can follow tweets from the resistance at www.Twitter.com/Resistance2018. In the Terminator Salvation Twitter game, members of the human resistance communicate with each other through Twitter and turn to the community for help in decoding intercepted Skynet transmissions. Players earn points through timely assistance in decoding these messages and with these points, rise in rank within the Resistance Army. A companion blog augments the information within Twitter and hosts a leader board for the game. Terminator Salvation will be released in Singapore on May 28, 2009

Richie Ren talks abt The Sniper

Richie Ren ( 任贤齐) talks about the difficulties faced while working on The Sniper (神枪手). He recounts the most dangerous scene, his injury, and the close bond he shared with the cast & crew. He also revealed the real life issues that he faced during the filming of The Sniper and how it was integrated with his reel life problem.

DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

A pampered Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe finds herself accidentally lost in the mean streets of Mexico in Beverly Hills Chihuahua. In Space Buddies, Disney's irresistible talking puppies are back in an all-new movie that takes them where no Buddy has gone before -- the moon! And it's not just dogs are going to space, Ham III, grandson of the first chimpanzee in space is picked by NASA to join a space program to retrieve a lost space probe in Space Chimps. This week DVD selections are definitely for the little kiddos in your household.

SIFF 09 - Interview with Madison Kelly

In Singapore to promote Maya Gallus’ documentary Girl Inside last weekend, we talk to Madison Kelly who underwent a three year transformative journey which sees her transiting from a man to a woman. The 70 minute documentary chronicles this process and the result is a heartwarming and sometimes funny film which has been receiving critical acclaim. Click here for the full interview

Director Dante Lam talks about The Sniper

Director Dante Lam (林超贤) talks more about The Sniper (神枪手). In this video, he shared with us on the difficulties of being a Sniper, the difficulties in shooting an action film in Hong Kong, the various qualities in his three lead actors and the theme for Sniper.

Cathay Cineplexes revives the love for movies

The current recession has perhaps dampened the mood a little but from April right through to December 2009, Cathay Cineplexes has made a date with movie-goers in every single month with the launch of a series of blockbuster film releases and exciting events. Cathay Cineplexes now offers the screening of 3D movies at The Cathay Cineplex and Cathay Cineplex AMK Hub. Come May 2009, Cathay Cineplexes will see the addition of 3D equipment at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard with the release of the much-anticipated movie Monsters Vs Aliens in 3D on 28 May. This is to be followed by the launch of Disney-Pixar’s movie UP in 3D in June in time for the school holidays, as well as the ever-popular animation film Ice Age 3 in 3D in July. Cathay also completed a revamp exercise on its website to continually engage movie-lovers and offer value-added features for its media-savvy patrons due to be launched at the end of April 2009.

SIFF 09 - Interview with the director & cast of Sincerely Yours

Recently in town to promote “Sincerely Yours”, the opening film at the 22nd Singapore International Film Festival, we manage to catch up with the director Rich Lee and Indonesian director-actress Lola Amaria. Click here for the full interview

DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

What happens when a family man whose MBA stands for "Many Brief Affairs" has to pick up the pieces of a world's that's crashing down around him? Find out in Corporate Affairs. Freddie Prinze, Jr stars as a successful NYC advertising exec with a life as glossy as the ads he spins in Jack & Jill Vs the World, recommended for those who are badly in need of any fix for a romantic movie. Directed and starring the once prolific Helen Hunt, There She Found Me is a touching warmly amusing story which follows a schoolteacher April Epner on her very unlikely path toward personal fulfillment. Three little indie films for your video selection this week.

22nd edition of the Singapore International Film Festival

The 22nd edition of the Singapore International Film Festival will take place today to 25 April 2009, screening close to 200 films from over 30 countries. The films were selected from 1,056 entries received by the Festival. This year, audiences can look forward to a wide selection of fresh, bold and award-winning films, as well as newly introduced open-air screenings and late night weekend screenings. Do check out our capsule reviews of some of the film selections and interviews with the filmmakers at our SIFF 2009 microsite.

One-on-one with Jackie & Daniel

Listen to Jackie and Daniel talks about working with the Japanese co-stars, crew and the triad! Shinjuku Incident is still going strong in cinemas

School Days With A Pig

You might like to give the cutesy, thought provoking, emotionally moving School Days With A Pig a chance at the cinema this weekend. Showing exclusively at Cathay Orchard and Cathay AMK Hub.

Withdrawn!

The 22nd Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) regrets that it will be withdrawing the following films from the Festival, as they have been disallowed or passed with edits by the Board of Film Censors, Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore.

1. Boy (Auraeus Solito, Philippines): Disallowed

2. Shahida (Natalie Assouline, Israel): Disallowed

3. An Extraordinary Study of Human Degradation (Patrik Eriksson, Sweden): R21 with edit to prolonged sexual scenes

4. Female Games (Kan Lume, Singapore): R21 with edit to prolonged and explicit lesbian sex

5. Melancholia (Lav Diaz, Philippines): R21 with edit to explicit sexual and lesbian scenes

6. Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Edwin, Indonesia): M18 with edit to prolonged homosexual sex

The Festival stands by its no-cut screening policy. All the filmmakers of the withdrawn films have been informed. The filmmakers of Boy have decided to withdraw the film from the Asian Feature Film Competition of the Silver Screen Awards. For Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly, the 22nd SIFF will hold a closed-door jury screening for the film, and it will be competing for the Silver Screen Awards.

The Board of Film Censors, MDA has passed the following films for SIFF screening only.

1. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, USA): R21 Clean for SIFF only with consumer advice of "Offensive Language"

2. The Wackness (Jonathan Levine, USA): R21 Clean for SIFF only with consumer advice of "Mature Theme and Offensive Language"

3. Men's Group (Michael Joy, Australia): R21 Clean for SIFF only with consumer advice of "Offensive Language and Some Sexual Scenes"

4. Weltstadt (Christian Klandt, Germany): R21 Clean for SIFF only with consumer advice of "Sexual Scenes"

The Festival will be replacing the screenings of the withdrawn films. Please check the website at http://www.filmfest.org.sg/ for updates. Refunds for films that have been withdrawn can be made through the Festival Secretariat office. Refunds must be made at least 24 hours before the screening date of ticket. Office hours are 10am-7pm, Monday to Friday. Members of the public can also call the Secretariat office at Tel: 6738 7567 or email: ticketing@filmfest.org.sg

Click here to read capsule reviews of selected films and our exclusive interviews with filmmakers

DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

Plan yourself an action-packed long weekend if you intend to stay home to avoid the crowds. Daniel Craig returns as the globe-trotting James Bond in this thrilling, action-packed adventure Quantum of Solace. Against a backdrop of fast cars and beautiful scenery comes Frank Martin in Transporter 3 that takes you from the Riviera to the Baltic Sea, via Stuttgart and Budapest. End your adventure in the jungles of Colombia where a covert team of U.S. Navy SEALs are caught in a bitter war between its government and insurgent guerillas in Behind Enemy Lines Colombia.

SIFF 09 - Interview with Alec Tok

We interview Singapore filmmaker Alec Tok’s feature film "A Big Road", about three women in Shanghai that will either leave you disconnected from the recurring themes of life and death or make you want to seek out what this cyclical voyage that we all go through really means.

Where The Wild Things Are - First Look!

Click on the URL for the latest teaser poster keyart of the movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Classis Children's story, "Where The Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jones (Being John Malkovich).

JACKIE CHAN'S PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCE

SHINJUKU INCIDENT has raked in an impressive SGD $940,000 at the Singapore box office in its opening weekend (2nd to 5th April 2009) beating his 2006 ROB-B-HOOD which grossed $637,000. Not bad for Jackie's first foray into serious drama. Our coverage of the Singapore Press Con

The Sniper Singapore Press Conference

Maybe it's time to set aside everything and focus on his movie. We are not in a position to say whether he is right or wrong but then it's getting pretty stale to bombard the man with repetitive endless questions linking to the scandal. Anyway watch out for our coverage on The Sniper Singapore Press Conference in the coming days...

DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...DVD...

We go international for our DVD selections this week. Based on the trilogy “Le Paradis, L’Enfer, Le Purgatoire”, Hell also known as L'enfer follows the lives of three sisters, Anne, Celine and Sophie. In Kosovo 1999, two young German soldiers, Tom and Charly are on an almost hopeless KFOR mission in Snipers Valley. LA MISMA LUNA also known as Under The Same Moon tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. France, Germany and Mexico.. take your pick!

Scream... it's the Jonas Brothers!

The Jonas Brothers' explosive growth as a touring band was affirmed this weekend when multiple dates on the North American leg of their upcoming world tour quickly sold out. Fans of the Grammy nominated band purchased over 800,000 tickets, resulting in sold-out arena shows in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Second dates were immediately added.

"The Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009" the band's most ambitious production yet and will include a massive 140-foot plus stage centered in the arena that aims to give a larger number of Jonas Brothers' fans a closer, more interactive live concert than they've ever experienced before. This weekend, the Jonas Brothers also revealed a first look at their new stage on their YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/user/JonasBrothersMusic>.

The show will feature cutting edge technology used in a one-of-a-kind circularwater screen, multi-colour laser effects, motion automated video screens, a giant crane levitating over the audience plus other surprises that will bring the tour to the next level of concert entertainment.

For the most recent tour dates and further information, please visit http://www.livenation.com/ or http://www.jonasbrothers.com/.

Feeling upset that the trio hasn't made plans to visit Singapore anytime soon? Don't fret, you can watch their concert in a cinema near you (in 3D!) and get a copy of the movie soundtrack to soothe those nerves.

Try your luck here to win a copy of the soundtrack album

Twilight Two-Disc Special Edition DVD

It's only march but we already chose the Twilight Two-Disc Special Edition DVD as one of the must-buy DVDs for this quarter. Packed with over 150 minutes of extra features, this one is definitely for Twilight fans and die-hard DVD collectors. Check out the full review here