| Fridae Movie Club: Singapore | 30 September 2008 / Issue 238 |
| > Join Fridae Movie Club > Forward to a friend | Archive > Subscribe | Unsubscribe > Write to the Editor > Search movie | Read online Need some adrenaline rush now that the F1 season is over?
Look no further than your nearest cinema
where two watchable action flicks open this week. Coincidentally,
both involve innocent strangers who receive a call on their cellphone
that sets them racing against time. Whichever you watch, you'll probably be entertained by their fast-paced, high-octane action sequences which are almost as good as watching the F1 races. For the girls, we recommend The House Bunny — a naughty comedy about a Playboy bunny (Anna Faris) — that's filled with cute girls and funny gags. Just remember to leave your brain at the door first. And for drama buffs, we recommend the Season 3 premiere of Brothers & Sisters on mioTV. The season's curtain-raiser has Kevin planning a vacation for his bf Scotty, when someone from Kevin's past reappears in his life. Enjoy. |
  OUTER SPACE: ON THE SMALL
SCREEN
With Ugly Betty's Marc St James and Brothers & Sisters' Kevin Walker, Scotty Wandell and Saul Holden, US broadcast television will have 16 regular LGBT characters in prime-time series... more>> READ Fridae Movie Club: Our weekly update on the latest seasons of television series on mioTV READ Fridae News: Rachel Maddow, first out lesbian to get her own prime-time news show in the US OUT
ON THE BOX
Rachel Maddow, first out lesbian to get her own prime-time news show in the US in Fridae News
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 | HOT RACE, HEATED PASSION, FLAMING RIVALRY Next week at our Fridae Private Preview, we bring you, from the Coen Brothers, Burn After Reading, the opening film at the Venice International Film Festival this year. Brutally comic and slapping us left and right with playful tricks and twists, watch Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, George Clooney and Frances McDormand battle their wits to keep secrets from one another. If you haven't caught the two outstanding films we saw at our last two Fridae Private Previews, it's time to go get them now: The intense crime thrlller The Chaser has been a runaway hit in Korea since earlier this year and was selected for the Cannes International Film Festival, while Woody Allen's urbanite's thinking drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona takes us to Spain's quintessential city of passion, where anxiety meets temptation, and insanity meets infidelity. Sign up or update your particulars for the Fridae Arts & Entertainment Mailing List today and you stand a chance to win a pair of tickets to the touching French feature The Fox and the Child! Fridae Arts & Entertainment
Mailing List >> View list of movies shown at previous Fridae Private Previews |
| Check
Movie Schedules and Book Online Book online at our favourite cinemas in Singapore. >> Shaw Online >> Golden Village |
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| Connected
Baochi Tonghua Mandarin with English subtitles
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The first high-octane thriller involving cellphones is Connected by Hong Kong action director Benny Chan. Adapted from the 2004 Hollywood flick Cellular starring Chris Evans and Kim Basinger, this tightly-wound edge-of-your-seat actioner stars Louis Koo as an ordinary man struggling with personal problems. Out of the blue, he receives a random phonecall on his cellphone from a woman (Taiwanese vixen Barbie Hsu) who claims she is kidnapped, and that she and her daughter may be killed. Louis contacts a police detective for help but he dismisses it as a prank. It is up to Louis alone to save the woman and her little girl... Director Benny Chan has crafted an efficient actioner that is fairly watchable though not all that inspired. Connected is a straightforward thrill ride that is no better or worse than the Hollywood original. Louis Koo, with his golden tan and Japanese features, carries the film well while Barbie Hsu make for great eye candy. And for the record, folks who say that Connected is the first Chinese remake of a Hollywood film are wrong. There have been a few other films to precede it, like Jet Li's The Bodyguard from Beijing which was adapted from Hollywood's The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. |
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Eagle Eye
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A double coincidence: Here is another film involving cellphones to open this week. And as it turns out, this too is a well-crafted action film that's fairly entertaining though ultimately forgettable. Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan play two regular folks who do not know each other. He is a college dropout working as a copy clerk, while she is a single mother trying to juggle her responsibilities. One day, they receive a phonecall from a strange woman who demand they carry out certain things — or else, other people will die. Before they know it, they are on frenetic race against time to save their lives and those of others... Directed by DJ Caruso (who helmed the box-office hit Disturbia which turned Shia into a star), Eagle Eye is an extremely taut thriller with plenty of spectacular action sequences. Though the story is largely illogical, you may find the film slick and absorbing enough to gobble up a whole bucket of popcorn without realizing it. |
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The House Bunny
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The House Bunny is written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, who also did Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted and She's the Man. So let's just say these girls live and breathe chick flicks... Their latest movie stars Anna Faris (best known for the Scary Movie series) as a Playboy bunny who is thrown out of the Playboy mansion because, at 27, she is too "old". Desperate for a place to stay, she knocks on the doors of college sorority houses hoping for free accommodation. One of them is a loser dorm called Zeta where the young women are a socially-awkward lot who desperately need to attract more members if they don't want to see their house closed. The girls quickly adopt Anna as their house mother so she can give them tips on make-ups, makeovers and men. As you'd expect, the ugly ducklings soon turn into vamps who can attract any boy... Stupid but very fun, there are a lot of boob and butt shots to please the lesbian women and the straight men. |
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Closing the Ring
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Veteran director Richard Attenborough is famous for Ghandi and A Bridge Too Far — yes, he's that old — is back with a new film called Closing the Ring. Unfortunately, it is long, boring and ridiculous. You can't help but dump him in the same bin marked "Guys Who Should Quit", which already contains George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. Martin McCann plays a young Irish man who discovers the wreckage of an American fighter plane. There, he finds a gold ring that is steeped in history. Dogged by a sense that he should return it to its owner, he goes all the way to Minnesota to finds the dead pilot's widow, played by Shirley MacLaine. A very long and boring love story unfolds in flashbacks. Closing the Ring is just plain awful. |
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| Vicky Cristina Barcelona
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| The Chaser
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| My Best Friend's Girl
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| Painted Skin
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| My Magic
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| Ugly Betty Season
3
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| Mamma Mia! The Movie
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| My Mighty Princess
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| Mirrors
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| The Black Swindler (Kurosagi the Movie) |
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| Youth Without Youth
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| Supernatural Season 4
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| The Days
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| Babylon A.D.
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| The Fox and the Child
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| Step Brothers
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| Bangkok Dangerous
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| Gossip Girl Season 2
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| Boy A
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| Boys Over Flowers the Movie
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| Forgetting Sarah Marshall
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| Wall.E
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| 4Bia
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| The Midnight Meat Train
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| 12 Lotus
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READ Fridae People exclusive interview with Royston Tan |
| Money No Enough 2
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| Regulars
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| Screening Room The Wedding Date, Deception, Million Dollar Baby, La Vie en Rose, Waiting, If Only, Le Grand Chef, Volver, ... Date: Sep to Oct Venue: Screening Room at 12 Ang Siang Road Presented by Screening Room more>> |
Cine Club at Alliance Francaise The Lacemaker, Clean Slate, A Judgement in Stone, Comedy of Power, Comedy of Innocence Date: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Sep Venue: Alliance Francaise du Singapour Presented by Alliance Francaise du Singapour more>> |
| iWerks Well-E, Animal Adventure, Monster Truck 4D, ... Date: Sep to Oct Venue: iWerks, Singapore Discover Centre Presented by Singapore Discover Centre more>> |
Omni-Theatre Grand Canyon: River at Risk, Dinosaurs Alive Date: Sep to Oct Venue: Singapore Science Centre Presented by Singapore Science Centre more>> |
| Singapore Films at Sinema
Old School
Gone Shopping, Ceciliation, The Marriage Factor, Eating Air, Teenage Textbook, The Road Less Travelled, Road to Mecca, Veil of Dreams, The Trouble With Waiting, ... Themed Nights: Sinema Showoff!, Comedy Night, Reel World, Friday Fright Night, Drama Saturday, Rojak Sunday, RSC Block Party Date: Sep to Oct Venue: Sinema Old School Presented by Sinema Old School more>> |
Objectifs
Workshops: Digital Filmmaking - Introduction to the Filmmaker's Journey; Intermediate Filmmaking - Horror and Suspense; Date: Sep to Oct Venue: Objectifs Centre for Photography and Filmmaking Presented by Objectifs more>> |
| LGBT-interest
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| The Prism Award
2008: Nomination
open to public nomination and voting for the first time Nomination Closing Date: 21 Sep Voting Period: 24 Sep to 5 Oct Presented by Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival more>> |
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Alternative Voices Collection
DVD
 Katong
Fugue by Boo Junfeng Mother Exodus Three award-winning short films by the best young film talents from Singapore. Now available through Fridae Shop.
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7th Q! Film Festival Indonesia
The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (Iceland/Philippines), Spinnin' (Spain), Sita Sings The Blues (USA), Good Boys (Israel), A Very Natural Thing (USA), With Gilbert and George (UK), 881 (Singapore), Risk, Stretch or Die (Germany), The Birthday (The Netherlands), Love Songs (France), Suddenly Last Winter (Italy) , I Don't Want To Sleep Alone (Taiwan/France) , Chants of Lotus/Chants of Lotus (Indonesia), Lucky7 (Singapore), My Super 8 Season (France), ... Date & Venue: Jakarta (8 to 16 Aug); Bali (21 to 24 Aug); Surabaya (14 to 19 Oct) Bandung (27 Feb to 3 Mar 2009); Jogjakarta (Apr 2009), Indonesia Presented by Q! Film Festival Indonesia more>>
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| Side by Side: 1st Lesbian
and Gay International Film Festival
Date: 2 to 5 Oct Venue: St Petersburg, Russia Presented by Side by Side LGBT International Film Festival more>> |
Kansai Queer Film Festival
2009
Call for Entry Date: Jan 2009 (Main Festival) Venue: Osaka, Japan Presented by Kansai Queer Film Festival Committee more>> |
| 24th Singapore French Film Festival
Le Dernier Des Fous (Demented), Les Chansons d'Amour (Love Songs), La France, Je crois que je l'aime (Could This Be Love), Bienvenue chez les Ch'Tis (Welcome to the Land of Shtis), Tokyo, and Qui m'aime me suive (If You Love Me Follow Me), Hiroshima mon amour, L'Année dernière a Marienbad, Muriel, Stavisky, Mon oncle d'amerique (My American Uncle), On connait la chanson (Same Old Song), Chasseurs de Dragon (Dragon Hunters), Une aventure de Lucky Luke: Tous a l'ouest (Lucky Luke Go West), La reine soleil (Princess of the Sun), U, ... Date: 3 to 12 Oct Venues: Alliance Française Theatre, The Picturehouse and The Cathay Cineplex Presented by Alliance Française de Singapour, the French Embassy and Cathay Organisation more>> (download programme booklet) |
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| Women Make Waves Film
Festival
Queer Spawn (Spain), Freeheld (USA), Butch Jamie (USA), Alice or Life in Black and White (Belgium), Speculum (Korea), She's A Boy I Knew (Canada), Over the Hill (Netherlands), Bi the Way (USA), Vivere (Germany), No Bikini (Canada), Forever the Moment (Korea), 3xFTM (Korea), Before the Summer Passes Away (Korea), Lover Other: The Story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore by Barbera Hammer, Artemisia (Taiwan), ... Date: 17 to 26 Oct Venue: Shin Kong Cineplex, Taipei, Taiwan Presented by Taiwan Women Film Association more>> |
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| Hong Kong Lesbian and
Gay Film Festival 2008
Date: 20 Nov to 3 Dec Venue: to be announced, Hong Kong Presented by HKLGFF Incorporating LGBT Book Sale at Kubrick Bookstore (details) more>> |
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General-interest
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| Portable Film Festival (Singapore) 2008
Date: 3 Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov Venue: Portable Screen Academy Presented by Portable Screen Academy more>> |
Diminishing Memories I & II
by Eng Yee Peng Date: 3 to 4 Oct Venue: Screening Room, The Arts House Presented by The Arts House more>> |
| Wayne Wang Retrospective
The Princess of Nebraska, 1000 Years of Prayers Date: 9 to 15 Oct Venue: GV cinemas Presented by Golden Village more>> |
WWII and its Aftermath
Shonenko, Wings of Defeat, Yasukuni; talks and film screenings Date: 10 to 12 Oct Venue: National History Museum Presented by National Museum of Singapore as part of Weapons of Mass Desire: Design and Consumption in the Aftermath of WWII more>> |
| Digital Crib Short Film Competition
Closing Date: 13 Oct Presented by Filmaka more>> |
Singapore Sun Festival
Eat Drink Man Woman, Tortilla Soup, Big Night, Le Grand Chef, Volver Date: 17 to 26 Oct Venue: Singapore Botanic Gardens and The Screening Room Presented by The Singapore Sun Festival in Singapore more>> |
| Volver
Date: 24 to 25 Oct Venue: Screening Room at 12 Ang Siang Road Presented by Screening Room as part of the European Season in Singapore more>> |
Grindhouse
Planet Terror, Death Proof Date: 6 to 15 Nov Venue: Screening Room at The Arts House Presented by The Arts House more>> |
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