:: Fridae Movie Club Newsletter ::

If you cannot view HTML email, please copy and paste the link below in your browser:
http://www.fridae.com/movieclub/20061031.htm

Singapore Movie Guide	31 Oct 2006
> Join Fridae Movie Club > Forward to a Friend \| Archive > Subscribe \| Unsubscribe > Write to the Editor A new gay flick, a new gay flick! Yes, poofs, rejoice. Two weeks after My Summer of Love opened in cinemas and treated the girls to some serious dyke passion, it's time for the boys to lap up the French film The Man of My Life (L'Homme De Sa Vie). Just like My Summer of Love depicted physical attraction between two girls who may or may not be gay, The Man of My Life is about a straight married man who becomes obsessed with his gay neighbour. So what are we to conclude? That more and more 'straight' people are discovering the gayer side of life? Well, more for us, less for them...

But it's not just The Man of My Life that's a must-see this week. The hilarious cartoon Flushed Away will also guarantee you a crackerjack time. With voices of Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, it tells a delightful tale of a posh English rat (as in, the real animal — and not something you call your cheating ex-boyfriend/girlfriend) who is unwittingly flushed down his toilet bowl into an amazing little world inhabited by hundreds of rats. Trust us, Flushed Away is muuuuch better than it sounds on paper. Meanwhile, lovers of Chinese cinema may wish to catch After This Our Exile, which is the first film by director Patrick Tam in 17 years. A family drama set in the Malaysian Chinese community, it has received seven Golden Horse nominations in key categories including Best Film, Best Actor (Aaron Kwok) and Best Original Screenplay (Patrick Tam). Our final recommendation is The Tiger and The Snow, a humorous love story about an Italian poet who travels to Iraq to look for the woman he loves. It is written by, directed by and stars Roberto Benigni, who found international fame in 1997 for writing, directing and starring in Life is Beautiful, which is also about love in a time of war. But of course, we know which film you'll be making a beeline for — The Man of My Life, of course — and you'd be right to do so. Enjoy!
	A WEEK AT THE FRENCH COUNTRY HOMES This week some Fridae members will get to visit one of the country homes where two outstanding films are set. At the Fridae Private Preview of A Good Year, Russell Crowe plays an Englishman (who for years believed that winning isn't everything — but the only thing in life) made to return to his childhood home in a French wine-making estate. You will find him playing a tender man who discovers the real riches of life in the most unlikely place, in an inspiring story based on Peter Mayle's novel. At another rustic French country home, a gay neighbour turns up at a family gathering one summer in the beautifully shot The Man of My Life (L'homme de sa vie). The mesmerising artist soon develops an unsettling influence over the married couple and their extended family. Look out for Fridae's exclusive interview with director Zabou Breitman this week. Limited free tickets to The Man of My Life will be given to members who update your particulars in the Fridae Arts & Entertainment Mailing List. >> Add/update me!
.

The Man of My Life

L'homme de sa vien
French with English subtitles
Director: Zabou Breitman
Cast: Bernard Campan, Charles Berling
[Free Movie Passes]

Honest, tender and touching, The Man of My Life is perhaps the most accurate drama about gay men to screen in Singapore since Brokeback Mountain. Although the film veers towards the arty side, that should not deter you gay audiences since you've always had better taste in films that straight people anyway. (Now, now, don't be modest...)

Bernard Campan plays a happily married straight man who invites his new neighbour (Charles Berling) to dinner with his wife, kids and friends. It turns out that Charles is a flaming homosexual with challenging theories about love, commitment, art, architecture, fashion — oh well, everything else that gay men understand and straight men don't.

After one night of DMCs (that's 'deep, meaning conversation') together, Bernard finds himself increasingly attracted to Charles. It didn't seem possible, but Charles seems to have awoken things that have lain dormant inside Bernard, from a latent homosexuality to a certain selfishness that gay men display. Bernard's marriage starts to fall apart...

The best thing about The Man of My Life is its frank portrayal of a gay man. Charles is depicted with all the flamboyance, pretentiousness, promiscuity and vanity that are typical of poofs — right down to his high slit jogging shorts that reveal the underside of his butt. Director Zabou Breitman (a happily married woman with kids) seems to understand what makes a gay man and a straight man tick, and deftly play off their differences.

Watch this, if only to see fragments of yourself in the mirror.

READ Fridae People: Exclusive interview with director Zabou Breitman

Flushed Away

Directors: Sam Fell, David Bowers
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Shane Richie, Jean Reno

This is definitely the funniest cartoon we have seen in a while. Not only does it combine droll British humor and slapstick American gags effectively, it also boasts some memorable characters and a surprise-filled storyline. We really think you should see it!

Hugh Jackman provides the voice of an upper-class English rat who lives the high life in a big Kensington mansion. One night, a stranger invades his home and flushes him down his own toilet bowl. Ending up in the sewer, he discovers a bright and bustling community of rats living there. At first, he is desperate to return to his home above. But he finds himself gradually succumbing to the charms of a feisty female rat (Kate Winslet) while trying to save her community from disaster...

Directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, Flushed Away is the result of a collaborative effort between the famous British animation company Aardman Features (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and DreamWorks Animation (of Shrek fame). The marriage, we are happy to say, is a healthy one. The combined expertise of writers and animators from both companies has produced in some truly hilarious moments and characters, such as the karate-ing frogs and singing slugs.

Ok, we will shut up now before you start thinking we work for these two companies...

After This Our Exile

Fu Zi
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Patrick Tam
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Charlie Yeung, Kelly Lin

When the nominees for Taiwan's Golden Horse awards were recently announced, this film surprised many with its bounty of seven nominations in key categories, including Best Film, Best Actor (Aaron Kwok), Best Original Screenplay (Patrick Tam) and Best Cinematography (Mark Lee).

A comeback film for director Patrick Tam (Nomad, The Sword), who has not made a film in 17 years, it is set in the Chinese community of Ipoh, Perak in Malaysia. Aaron Kwok plays a violent-tempered gambler whose fed-up wife (Charlie Young) has just left him and their young son (wonderfully played by Goum Ian Iskandar). To help his father pay off his gambling debts, the boy starts to steal. He is finally arrested and sent to a detention center...

Told through the eyes of the boy, After This Our Exile is a beautifully shot and edited film that shows formalistic rigor and technical flair. Though the film is way too long (149 minutes) for its own good, the strong performances from Goum and Aaron as well as the supporting cast (Charlie Young, Kelly Lin) are still impressive.

Definitely one of the best Chinese films we have seen this year.

The Tiger and the Snow

La Tigre e la Neve
Italian with English subtitles
Director: Roberto Benigni
Cast: Roberto Benigni, Jean Reno, Nicoletta Braschi, Giuseppe Battiston, Steven Beckingham, Alexis Conran
Silver Ribbon for Best Original Story and Special Silver Ribbon for Music, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Best Foreign Romance Trailer, Golden Trailer Awards

In 1997, Italian comedian Roberto Benigni surprised everyone when his modest tragicomic romance set during the Holocaust, Life is Beautiful, went on to gross US$224 million worldwide and win three Oscars. Life was indeed beautiful for Roberto — until his annoyingly unfunny update of Pinocchio in 2002 (with him playing Pinocchio, no less) tanked at the box-office.

Now Roberto is back with another tragicomic romance set during wartime — this time, it is the Iraq War of 2003. He plays an Italian poet who falls in love with a literary scholar (Nicoletta Braschi, his real-life wife) who is researching on an Arab poet. When she is injured in a bombing in Iraq, he joins the Red Cross under the false pretence of being a doctor so that he can look for her. All manner of hilarity ensues, until he finally reaches her bedside...

If you found Life is Beautiful funny and touching, chances are high that you would like this too. However, if you thought that Life Was Too Melodramatic & Manipulative, then stay away from this one.

The surprising thing about The Tiger and the Snow is that it manages to be almost completely non-political despite being set in a political hot zone. Roberto has every right to be more interested in comedy and romance than politics. But for those of us who expect more substance in a film that is set in Iraq, this Tiger just seems a little toothless.

The Grudge 2

Director: Takashi Shimizu
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Edison Chen, Amber Tamblyn, Teresa Palmer

If we had a prize for the cheesiest horror film of 2006, The Grudge 2 would come out tops in an already crowded category. Mind you, that doesn't mean that the movie is horrible. On the contrary, it is actually quite enjoyable... in a so-bad-it's-good way.

Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia) plays the sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was so spooked out by the house she worked in in the first Grudge film that she had to be hospitalized. Amber comes to visit Sarah and get to the root of her sister's ailment. Of course, the curse will now seize Amber, as well as those around her — such as her new friend Edison Chen, who looks so hot we are actually sorry to see him go.

Some parts are quite scary, while other parts have the audience chortling in disbelief. But if you are looking for something totally brain-free, you can't go wrong with Toshio and his hair-sprouting mother. Seriously.

Movie Highlights and Comments Goes Online
Yyou can now read what Fridae Movie Club and our readers say about these movies by clicking on the Movie Highlights/Readers Comment button.

An Inconvenient Truth

Director: Davis Guggenheim
Cast: Al Gore

The Oh in Ohio

Director: Billy Kent
Cast: Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Mischa Barton, Danny DeVito, Liza Minnelli

DOA: Dead or Alive

Director: Corey Yuen
Cast: Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter, Natassia Malthe, Matthew Marsden, Jamie Pressly, Eric Roberts, Holly Valance

The Sinking of Japan

Nihon Chinbotsu
Japanese with English subtitles
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Cast: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi , Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Mitsuhiro Oikawa

My Summer of Love

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast: Nathalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine
Best New British Feature, Edinburgh International Film Festival
Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, BAFTA Awards
Best Director, Directors Guild of Great Britain
Best Screenplay and Most Promising Newcomer, Evening Standard British Film Awards
Best Newcomer of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards
Best European Film, Polish Film Awards
[Charity Premiere in benefit of AWARE and Cat Welfare Society]

READ Fridae Entertainment: Exclusive interview with director Pawel Pawlikowski
READ Fridae Lifestyle Movie Review (Chinese)

The Black Dahlia

Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner, Mike Starr, Fiona Shaw

Death Note

Desu Noto
Japanese with English subtitles
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto

Exiled

Fang Zu
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Johnny To
Cast: Francis Ng, Richie Jen, Nick Cheung

The Prestige

Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis, Piper Perabo, David Bowie

The Guardian

Director: Andrew Davis
Cast: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Neal McDonough, Melissa Sagemiller

The Departed

Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin

Little Red Flowers

Kan Shangqu Henmei
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Zhang Yuan
Cast: Ning Yuanyuan, Zhao Rui, Li Xiaofeng, Dong Bowen
CICAE Award, Berlin International Film Festival
Only at The Picturehouse

World Trade Center

Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jay Hernandez

Silk

Guisi
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Su Chao-Pin
Cast: Zhang Zhen, Yosuke Eguchi, Chen Po-Lin, Karena Lam, Barbie Hsu

Scoop

Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Kevin McNally, Ian McShane
[Fridae Private Preview]

Lower City

Cidade Baixa
Portuguese with English subtitles
Director: Sergio Machado
Cast: Lazaro Ramos, Wagner Moura, Alice Braga, Jose Dumont
Award of the Youth, Cannes Film Festival
[Fridae Private Preview]

Van Gogh

Director: Maurice Pialat
Cast: Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq, Gérard Séty, Corinne Bourdon, Elsa Zylberstein, Jacques Vidal, Chantal Barbarit, Claudine Ducret
Screening Date: 31 Oct
Only at the Alliance Francaise
Best Actor, Cesar Awards
Best Actress, Prix Michel Simon, Acteurs à l'Écran
[Cine Club]