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| Singapore Movie Guide |
14 Nov 2006 |
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Queers, it's time for a heart-to-heart talk!
Now, we all know it's tough trying to hang on to our boyfriends/girlfriends.
After you two have been dating for some time, it's not unusual
to catch your partner checking out that cute stranger walking towards
you from the opposite direction. Nor is it unusual to have him/her
gently flirting with someone he/she just met. The worst part of
it all is that you're guilty of the same sometimes...
So, what is one supposed to do when the romance stops to sizzle
and starts to fizzle? |
 
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| This week, a bold and thought-provoking
Korean film called Time examines that
very question, going deep into the nature of love and attraction.
The answers it offers may surprise you.
Written and directed by Korean hotshot Kim Ki-Duk (3-Iron),
Time also examines our obsessive culture of wanting to
be attractive, and the impact the cosmetic industry has on our self-identities
and relationships. Appearance-obsessed LGBTs will surely find something
to think about after watching this film.
Now speaking of appearance, let's not forget the biggest event
film opening this week: James Friggin' Bond in Casino
Royale, of course!
Daniel Craig is easily the ugliest Bond we've ever had, but
he could well be the best one of them all. So screw appearance!
In this superb action vehicle, Daniel proves why (despite looking
worse than a dishcloth in a roti prata shop) he was chosen
to play the iconic role over much better-looking actors. Daniel
can really really act. And his fully-convincing performance as James
Bond, the cold-hearted killer, makes elegant dandies like Roger
Moore and Pierce Brosnan look like wimps.
We can't begin to tell you how impressed we are with the
new Bond actor, and the new Bond film. For once, the hype is true.
Well, that's all the major movie news we have this week.
Till next time, enjoy!
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TIMELESS BEAUTY, ENDLESS LOVE
Have you ever asked yourself whether you will love your beau
till the end of time, or if you might just end your love before
time and age catches up and leaves its mark on that face?
At the recent Fridae Private Preview featuring
the Korean film Time,
director Kim Ki-Duk tells us what difference to life a face-lift
can make.
Look out for another critically acclaimed movie, featuring a
host of gay characters who get involved in the life of a troubled
teenage girl, at the next preview, when we show Qinceanera.
Fridae chats up French director Zabou Breitman in an exclusive
interview. In her latest film, The
Man of My Life (L'homme de sa vie),
a long chat through one summer night between a gay artist and
his neighbour, a married man, changes the way they look at family
and sexuality forever.
If you want free tickets to The Man of My Life, update your particulars in the Fridae
Arts & Entertainment Mailing List today. Limited tickets are issued on a first-come-first-serve basis. >> Add/update me!
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| Time |
Shi Gan
Korean with English subtitles
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Seong Hyeon-Ah,
Park Ji-Yeon, Kim Seong-Min
[Fridae
Private Preview]
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The most relevant movie for gay folks in relationships right now
is Time. This film looks at the nature of love, attraction
and relationships in ways that are seldom addressed in movies. It
looks at how difficult it is for a couple to stay attached and attracted
to each other, when there are temptations elsewhere.
Park Ji-Yeon plays a woman who is insecure about her looks, especially
when she keeps catching her boyfriend (Ha Jung-Woo) looking at other
women. After two years together, she decides to go away without
telling him, and have cosmetic surgery. Her boyfriend is heartbroken
at first. But six months later, he falls for an attractive waitress
(Seong Hyeon-Ah) whom he later suspects to be his ex-girlfriend...
The film explores a multitude of issues with regards to love, physical
appearance and self-respect: How much would you change yourself
to please your lover? What price do you pay for changing the way
you look with the help of cosmetic surgery? Are physical appearances
all that matter in keeping a relationship exciting? This film gives
you plenty to think about after the lights come up.
Time is written and directed by Korea's prolific enfant
terrible Kim Ki-Duk. This unstoppable man has been churning
one provocative film after another for almost a decade now and shows
no signs of slowing down. His name is also becoming recognizable
among moviegoers worldwide after successful offerings like 3-Iron,
Address Unknown and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...
and Spring.
Tackling the au courant topic of cosmetic surgery and short-term
relationships makes his latest movie a must-see for LGBT viewers.
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| Casino Royale |
Director:
Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench,
Eva Green , Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini,
Caterina Murino
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OK, OK, enough about his scruffy face already... Yes, we agree:
Daniel Craig is the ugliest Bond we have ever seen. But you must
believe us when we tell you that Daniel is also the best James Bond
since Sean Connery!
His rendition of the super-spy is so cold and mean and brutal,
he makes previous men like Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce
Brosnan look like gay dandies. Indeed, this new Bond is a pure killing
machine and a complete bastard — which is what author Ian
Fleming imagined Bond to be when he invented the character anyway.
What's terrific about Casino Royale, the 21st film in
the franchise, is that it examines the basic question: Who is James
Bond? The film take us back to Bond's younger days when he was still
a rogue and learning to be a superspy. We watch Bond struggle hard
as he tries to complete his first major mission to bring down the
terrorist banker Le Chiffre (or The Cipher, played by Mads Mikkelsen).
We watch him get beaten up and tortured bad.
For the first time in Bond history, Bond actually looks extremely
human and ordinary. Whereas previous Bonds were the epitome of cool
elegance and savoir faire, this younger Bond is still rough
and unpolished. So when a bartender ask him if he'd like his vodka
martini "shaken, not stirred", Bond glares at him and replies, "Do
I look like I give a damn?" It is refreshing to see the film take
a piss of some hallowed Bond traditions.
Strong characterization, however, has not replaced kick-ass action.
From the first reel to the last, Casino Royale is filled
with adrenaline-pumping sequences with a hard-edged Bond at the
centre of the action. The film even begins with a superb action
setpiece which the rest of the film does not quite match up to.
And the new Bond girl, Eva Green, is spectacularly hot.
Final word: Go see it, even if you think Daniel's too ugly
to be Bond. By the end of the movie, he would have changed your
mind.
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| Colic |
Dek Hen Pee
Thai with English subtitles
Director: Patchanon Thammajira
Cast: Pympan Chalayanacupt, Vittaya
Wasukraipaisan, Kulthida Sattabongkoch |
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No week usually passes without a new B-grade horror flick. So this
week, there's Colic from Thailand. Colic describes
a condition when babies cry hysterically for the first three to
six months of their lives. There are various medical explanations
for this, though superstitious people sometimes attribute it to
evil spirits.
Colic begins when a young couple are just about to have
their first child together. When their son arrives, he cannot stop
crying. Though he is initially suspected to be suffering from colic,
strange occurrences in the house seem to suggest that there is something
supernatural going on...
To be fair, the film does have an original premise. However, the
filmmakers have not come up with enough scares to go along with
that promising idea. So for the most part of it, Colic
is just dull.
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| Just Friends |
Director:
Roger Kumble
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris,
Amy Smart, Chris Klein, Christopher Marquette, Stephen Root,
Julie Hagerty, Fred Ewanuick
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Ever wanted to be someone's lover, but all he/she wants to be is
"a friend"? If you have been there, done that and bought the T-shirt,
then you might want to consider watching Just Friends.
Just Friends is a sweet, funny and charming teen comedy
about a fat guy (Ryan Reynolds in a fat suit) who has a crush on
Amy Smart. But she just wants to be friends. Heartbroken, he leaves
his small town for the big city, where he loses weight and gets
a job as a record executive. Years later, his plane to Paris happens
to make a stop at his hometown, where he unexpectedly meets Amy
again. This time, he is determined to make her his...
Just Friends is just right for audiences who are below
the mental age of 24. For everyone else, it is just boring. Anna
Faris, however, does have some bright moments as the super-spoilt,
self-absorbed Paris Hilton-ish singer.
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| Accepted |
Director:
Steve Pink
Cast: Justin Long, Jonah Hill,
Blake Lively, Adam Herschman, Maria Thayer, Anthony Heald,
Columbus Short, Lewis Black
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Here's yet another B-grade teen comedy for the mentally 24-and-below.
Justin Long plays a kid who can't get accepted into any college
because his grades are too lousy. To keep his parents from getting
upset, he invents a fake college where he won't be rejected.
After setting up a website for the college on the Web, hundreds
of other academically-challenged kids send letters to enroll in
the fake college. Justin soon finds himself presiding over them
as the dean of the dumbasses.
Accepted follows the long tradition of wacky college comedies
like Animal House, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The trouble is, there is
not much new in Accepted to convince us it is worth watching.
If you haven't seen Animal House, we recommend you get
it on DVD. It is still one of the brightest and funniest films in
that genre.
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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. |
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| A Good Year |
Director:
Ridley Scott
Cast: Russell Crowe, Albert Finney,
Abbie Cornish, Marion Cotillard
[Fridae
Private Preview]
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| Joni's Promise |
Indonesian with
English subtitles
Director: Joko Anwar
Cast: Mariana Renata, Nicholas
Saputra, Rachel Maryam
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| 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]
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 READ
Fridae Entertainment: tops are more egotistical than bottoms...
Exclusive interview with director Zabou Breitman
READ
Fridae Lifestyle Movie Review (Chinese) |
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| Goodbye Boys |
English, Cantonese, Malay with English subtitles
Director: Bernard Chauly
Cast: Razif Hashim, Jay Eng,
Farid Ramlee, Nas-T, David Eng, Tommy Kuan, Daniel Henry,
Peter Khor, Lisa Surihani |
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 READ
Fridae People: Exclusive interview with director
Bernard Chauly
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| Material Girls |
Director:
Martha Collidge
Cast: Hllary Duff, Haylie Duff,
Anjelica Huston
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| Step Up |
Director:
Anne Fletcher
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan,
Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths
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| 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
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| Flushed Away |
Directors:
Sam Fell, David Bowers
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet,
Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Shane Richie, Jean
Reno |
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| After This Our Exile |
Fu Zi
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Patrick Tam
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Charlie Yeung,
Kelly Lin
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| The Grudge 2 |
Director:
Takashi Shimizu
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar,
Edison Chen, Amber Tamblyn, Teresa Palmer
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| An Inconvenient Truth |
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Cast: Al Gore
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| The Oh in Ohio |
Director:
Billy Kent
Cast: Parker Posey, Paul Rudd,
Mischa Barton, Danny DeVito, Liza Minnelli |
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| DOA: Dead or Alive |
Director:
Corey Yuen
Cast: Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter,
Natassia Malthe, Matthew Marsden, Jamie Pressly, Eric Roberts,
Holly Valance |
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| 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]
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 READ
Fridae Entertainment: Exclusive interview with
director Pawel Pawlikowski
READ
Fridae Lifestyle Movie Review (Chinese)
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| The Sinking of Japan |
Nihon Chinbotsu
Japanese with English subtitles
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Cast: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi , Kou
Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Mitsuhiro Oikawa |
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| Death Note |
Desu Noto
Japanese with English subtitles
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi
Matsuyama, Asaka Seto
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| The Prestige |
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian
Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Andy
Serkis, Piper Perabo, David Bowie |
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| The Guardian |
Director:
Andrew Davis
Cast: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher,
Neal McDonough, Melissa Sagemiller
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| The Departed |
Director:
Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt
Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone,
Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin
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| 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] |
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| Cages |
Director:
Graham Streeter
Cast: Tan Kheng Hua, Makoto Iwamatsu,
Asrani, Mako , Zelda Rubinstein, Dickson Tan
Release Date: 16 Nov
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| more>> |
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| School For Scoundrels |
Director:
Todd Phillips
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon
Heder, Michael Clarke Duncan
Release Date: Nov
|
| more>> |
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| A Battle of Wits |
Hei Gong
Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Jacob Cheung
Cast: Andy Lau, Ahn Sung-ki,
Wang Zhiwen
Release Date: 23 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause |
Director:
Michael Lembeck
Cast: Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell,
Judge Reinhold
Release Date: 23 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| Happy Feet |
Director:
George Miller
Voice Cast: Robin Williams, Nicole
Kidman, Elijah Wood
Release Date: 23 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny |
Director:
Liam Lynch
Cast: Jack Black, Kyle Gass,
Ben Stiller
Release Date: 23 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| The Free Will |
Der Freie Wille
German with English subtitles
Director: Matthias Glasner
Cast: Jürgen Vogel, Sabine Timoteo,
André Hennicke, Manfred Zapatka
Release Date: 23 Nov
Silver Bear Award and Prize of the Guild
of German Art House Cinemas, Berlin International Film Festival
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more>> |
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| The Red Cockatoo |
Der Rote Kakadu
German with English subtitles
Director: Dominik Graf
Cast: Max Riemelt, Jessica Schwarz,
Ronald Zehrfeld, Ingeborg Westphal
Release Date: 23 Nov
Best Young Actor, Bavarian Film Awards
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| Quinceanera |
Spanish
and English with English subtitles
Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Cast: Emily Rios, Araceli Guzman-Rico,
J R Cruz, Listette Avila
Release Date: 30 Nov
Grand Jury Prize For Best Picture and
Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival
Audience Award, Newport International Film Festival
Audience Award, Atlanta International Film Festival
Audience Award, Provincetown International Film Festival
[Fridae
Private Preview]
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more>> |
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| Deck the Halls |
Director:
John Whitesell
Cast: Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick,
Kristin Davis
Release Date: 30 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| Flags of Our Fathers |
Director:
Clint Eastwood
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Jamie Bell,
Adam Beach
Release Date: 30 Nov
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| more>> |
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| Open Season |
Director:
Roger Allers
Voice Cast: Martin Lawrence,
Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Warburton
Release Date: 30 Nov
|
| more>> |
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| The Illusionist |
Director:
Neil Burger
Cast: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti,
Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell
Release Date: Nov
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| more>> |
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| The Secret Life of Words |
La Vida Secreta de las Palabras
English, Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Isabel Coixet
Cast: Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins,
Javier Camara, Eddie Marsan, Steven Mackintosh, Julie Christie,
Danny Cunningham, Emmanuel Idowu, Dean Lennox Kelly, Daniel
Mays, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Reg Wilson, Peter Wright
Release Date: TBA
Lina Mangiacapre Award, Venice Film
Festival
Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production
Supervision, Goya Awards
Best Director and Best Actor, ADIRCAE Awards
Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography,
Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
Best Film, Fotogramas de Plata
Best Film, Sant Jordi Awards
Best Spanish Film, Turia Awards
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| Three Needles |
Director:
Thom Fitzgerald
Cast: Shawn Ashmore, Lucy Liu,
Stockard Channing, Sandra Oh
Release Date: 1 Dec
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| more>> |
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| Water |
Director:
Deepa Mehta
Cast: Lisa Ray, John Abraham
Release Date: 7 Dec
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| more>> |
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| Unaccompanied Minors |
Director:
Paul Feig
Cast: Rob Corddry, Lewis Black
Release Date: 7 Dec
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| more>> |
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| Cinderella |
Korean with English subtitles
Director: Bong Man-Dae
Cast: Do Ji-Won, Shin Se-Kyung,
Yoo Da-In
Release Date: 7 Dec
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| more>> |
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| Eragon |
Director:
Stefen Fangmeier
Cast: Edward Speleers, Sienna
Guillory, Garrett Hedlund, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Irons, John
Malkovich, Robert Carlyle
Release Date: 14 Dec
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| more>> |
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| Isolation |
Director:
Billy O'Brien
Cast: Essie Davis, Sean Harris,
Marcel Iures, Crispin Letts, John Lynch, Ruth Negga, Stanley
Townsend
Release Date: 14 Dec
|
| more>> |
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| Fridae Movie Reviews |
| READ
Fridae Lifestyle movie reviews in English
and Chinese |
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| Fridae Readers Comment... |
POST
your comments about the movies after each review! here |
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Film
Festivals and Special Events
>> Please check screening schedules at
the respective links. |
| Cine Singapore Take Two |
Passabe, A Hero's
Journey, Love Story, Avatar, A Teenage Notebook, 12 Storeys,
S11, Eating Air, Song of the Stork, Medium Rare...
Date: 17 Aug to 29 Nov
Venue: National Museum of Singapore
Presented
by National Museum of Singapore and Cine Singapore |
| more>> |
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| ARI Asia Trends Seminar Series 2006 |
Cool-Fun and
Supernatural: The Paradox of Violence in New Thai Cinema (28
Sep)
Date: 20 Nov
Venue: The
Salon, National Museum of Singapore
Presented
by Asia Research Institute and the National Museum of Singapore |
| more>> |
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| Animation Nation 2006 |
Renaissance,
Paprika, Nagasaki 1945: The Angelus Bells, The Moon and the
Son: An Imagined Conversation, ...
Date:
24 Nov
Venue: Cathay Cineplex Orchard & National Library
Presented by Singapore Film Society |
| more>> |
|
| A Season of Australian Cinema |
Picnic at Hanging
Rock, Sunday Too Far Away, The Getting of Wisdom, Newsfront,
My Brilliant Career...
Date:
20 to 25 Nov
Venue: The Substation
Presented
by The Substation Moving Images |
| more>> |
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| A Gala Film Screening of Te Doy Mis Ojos
(Take My Eyes) |
fund-raising
for Funds raised will be equally divided between The Substation
Moving Images and UNIFEM Singapore
Date:
16 to 22 Nov
Venue: GV VivoCity
Presented
by The National Committee for UNIFEM, Singapore, The Substation
Moving Images and the Embassy of Spain |
| more>> |
|
| Asian Festival of First Films |
call for entries
until 15 Sep
Date:
30 Nov to 7 Dec
Venue: Golden Village and The Arts House
Presented
by Asian Media Festival and Teamworks Production |
| more>> |
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| Be Fabulous Film Series |
Some Like It
Hot, Dial M for Murder, Dr No, Viva Las Vegas
Date: 23 Sep to 30 Dec
Venue: The Picturehouse
Presented
by The Picturehouse |
| more>> |
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