Cold Eyes Singapore Movie Gala Premiere and Red Carpet

This summer the movie Cold Eyes is one of the hottest movie in Korea, topping the domestic box office charts in its first week of release on 3 July 2013 and earning more than US$36 million. In conjunction with the Singapore promotional tour, an exclusive preview screening was held for the fans at Marina Bay Sands MasterCard Theatres with a red carpet event to boot too!

Thanks to DramaQueen who had invited me, I had to opportunity to not only have a look (at me first red carpet event!) but also watch the movie before it hits the theatres in Singapore on 5 September 2013.

It was an eventful evening as we made our way to the Marina Bay Sands MasterCard Theatres to collect the tickets before heading over to have a peek at the red carpet event. The crowd for the red carpet was growing as the minutes ticked by. By the time it was time for the Korean casts' arrival, "orderly" fan chaos ensued. Earlier in the day there were promotional rounds and interviews, where... Read more>>

That Girl in Pinafore - 我的朋友，我的同学，我爱过的一切 Movie

[Review>>]

Should you follow your heart or your head? That Girl in Pinafore is a coming-of-age tale set in 1993, Singapore, about dreams, friendships, and first loves. The story follows four teenagers' efforts to bring business back to a struggling folk music pub, and the blossoming love between Jiaming and May, both fans of Singaporean folk music.

1992 - Singapore is on the verge of electing its first President, and chewing gum has been banned. Hope and rejuvenation is in the air, everyone believes in the Singapore Dream. Young musicians strive to give birth to a local music industry, creating local music at a rapid pace. Music cafes spring up everywhere alongside the hot new trend, karaoke. Jiaming is a free spirited teenager who has never taken school seriously. His parents own a music pub called 'Meng Chuan', and Jiaming feels schooling is useless as he wants to help out at the business. True enough, Jiaming flunks his 'O' level exams and drops out of school. Jiaming's buddies Caogen, Haoban and Xiaopang pass their exams and move on to Junior College. But they are caught renting porn magazines by the principal and are suspended for a month. During this month, the boys take part in a local music competition, have a taste of first love, and work hard to bring business back to the struggling 'Meng Chuan'. 

This coming-of-age tale sees Jiaming and gang learn the harsh realities of pursuing dreams in the real world. In growing up, the boys learn that choosing between your heart and societal expectations is akin to losing your innocence to the adult world. The eventual closure of the pub 'Meng Chuan' paralells the real world demise of the 'Xinyao' movement around the mid-90s. It signifies the lost of youthful innocence to the necessities of growing up.

[Review>>]

Confessions of Murder Preview

I recently had the opportunity to attend the movie preview of Confession of Murder (thanks to omy.sg and GV), a Korean movie about a serial killer who evades capture after murdering 10 women, possibly 11, but the last victim, who was also Choi Hyung-gu’s (primary detective) girlfriend, was never confirmed. After some time has passed, the murderer comes out of the closet after the statue of... Read More>>

CJ7 the movie

CJ7 - The latest comedy from Stephen Chow, CJ7 is a fantasy tale featuring state of the art visual effects. A poor laborer father (Chow) and his young son’s lives are turned upside down when a fascinating and strange new pet enters their world. Amid the resulting comic mayhem, they ultimately learn a poignant lesson about the true nature of family and the things money can't buy.

At least that’s what the synopsis says. Today was the first time I watched a late night movie on the eve of Chinese New Year, and to say the least the movie was sorely disappointing; even “Underdog” was better than this. There was very little plot throughout the movie, and the transaction of character growth and change was simply non-existent.

There was no indicator of the bonding between the new pet and the humans, so it was hard to understand why the pet would go through so much trouble to please and save this father and son pair. The son was portrayed as this really good little boy, who was hardworking, considerate and understanding. And when he got the pet, he suddenly became more greedy and selfish overnight. Speaking about the pet, there was no clear explanation or indicator of its origin, how it got found after the boy practically threw it away in a moment of anger, and in the end what was up with a look-a-like pet running towards the boy together with a bunch of similar creatures in an array of colors? What poignant lesson did they learn and what were the things they realized couldn’t be bought with money? It also seems that they couldn't decide whether to make the pet organic or mechanical, or a combination of both.

Although there was comic mayhem throughout the movie, the part about the true nature of family and the things money cannot buy was almost close to nil. Even “Underdog” had a more satisfying plot and ending.