Tag Archives: movies

A Splashin’ Good Time at Singin’ in the Rain!

Singing in the Rain

Singing in the Rain

We caught Singin’ in the Rain last Friday and were absolutely soaked by the energy of the singing and dancing. Set in 1927 in the waning days of silent movies, it tells the story of the first Hollywood musical, when ‘talkies’ became all the rage and left silent movies – and some of its stars – behind.

I have not seen the iconic 1952 MGM movie starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds but I certainly know some of the songs from the movie. And what a treat it is for Singapore audiences to get a chance to watch Singin’ in the Rain after a sell-out West End season in 2012, four Olivier Award nominations, and a major UK tour.

 

Kathy Selden popped out of nowhere

Kathy Selden popped out of nowhere

singing in the rain!

singing in the rain!

Singin’ in the Rain tells the story of popular romantic lead, Don Lockwood. His leading lady, Lina Lamont, is beautiful but has an annoyingly screechy and nasal voice. When talkies start becoming popular and silent movies fall out of favour, Don and his sidekick, Cosmo Brown, have to figure out a way to cash in on the talkies without letting Lina’s grating voice ruin them all. Don falls in love with aspiring actress, Kathy Selden, and she provides the solution to their problems.

she has such a lovely voice

she has such a lovely voice

altogether now!

altogether now!

There’s lots of singing and dancing to keep things lively and plenty of comic relief as well. Each time Lina Lamont opened her mouth to speak, she got the people in the audience in stitches and received lots of applause for her efforts during the curtain call. I loved the songs Good Morning, Moses Supposes and, of course, the classic Singin’ in the Rain. 

Without a doubt, my favourite scenes were the ones where it rained! Using 12,000 litres of water, Don Lockwood literally sings in the rain and the audience in the first four or five rows of the theatre leave a little wetter than when they arrived! Not to worry, they get ponchos to shield themselves and the rest of the audience get a kick out of watching them scramble to put the ponchos on. What an unforgettable experience for everyone!

you can stand under my umbrella

you can stand under my umbrella…

TICKETING AND SHOW INFORMATION

SEASON: 9 to 26 July 2015
VENUE: MasterCard Theatres, Marina Bay Sands
PERFORMANCE TIMES: Tue – Fri 8pm; Sat: 2pm and 8pm Sun: 1pm and 6.30pm
TICKET PRICE: From $65 through to $195
THROUGH INTERNET: www.BASEentertainmentasia.com, www.MarinaBaySands.com/Ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg
BY PHONE:  IN PERSON AT: Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby).

Disclaimer: We received two complimentary tickets to watch this performance. All opinions are my own. All photos used are from Base Entertainment.

DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, MBS

Kungfu Panda is one of my favourite cartoons of all time and it’s so amazing to explore the creative journey of a movie like that from a simple concept to an actual film in DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition.

There’s so much to look at: models, concept drawings, storyboards, masks, maps, photographs, posters, paintings, and other original artwork. There are over 400 unique objects from the studio’s archive of rare and never before displayed material. The static display is accompanied by immersive and interactive digital experiences, and a wealth of additional digital content.

Anya and Adam enjoyed being able to manipulate a character’s expression on the computer and had a good time learning about animation by making flip books and thaumotropes. One of the highlights for them was Dragon Flight: A Dragon’s-Eye View of Berk. This 180-degree projection takes visitors on an exhilarating panoramic dragon ride on the back of Toothless, as the Isle of Berk builds around them.

So if you or your little ones enjoy DreamWorks Animation films such as Kungfu Panda, Shrek, Madagascar, or How to Train Your Dragon, you’ll love this exhibition. There are some special programmes and activities such as guided tours, workshops, and movie screenings on weekends so it will be a great time to visit.

DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition

DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition

hello Toothless!

hello Toothless!

concept drawings and models of the characters from Kungfu Panda

concept drawings and models of the characters from Kungfu Panda

a panda of many expressions

a panda of many expressions

manipulating Po's face

manipulating Po’s face

Madagascar

Madagascar

how the storyboard brings the story to life

how the storyboard brings the story to life

the kids adore Peabody and Sherman

the kids adore Peabody and Sherman

model of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

model of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

making a flip book to understand how animation works

making a flip book to understand how animation works

part of the exhibition area

part of the exhibition area

Dragon Flight

Dragon Flight

another hands-on area

another hands-on area

making a thaumatrope

making a thaumatrope

checking out Shrek's swamp

checking out Shrek’s swamp

music scores for some of the films

music scores for some of the films

drawing room

drawing room

merchandise

merchandise

don't think I can train this dragon

don’t think I can train this dragon

DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition
ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands
Now until 27 Sep 2015
10am to 7pm daily

Revamped Omni-Theatre at Science Centre Singapore

I love the Omni-Theatre at the Science Centre Singapore and the immersive experience it offers. We watched Animalopolis there in December and truly felt like we were frolicking around with the animals. And now, the latest fulldome system will complement the IMAX system on Southeast Asia’s largest seamless dome screen.

Come 30 May 2015, the Omni-Theatre will offer visitors dual technologies of the IMAX system and the latest and brightest 8K digital fulldome system. On top of IMAX movies like Animalopolis, visitors can enjoy a choice of digital fulldome movies and ‘live’ shows with real-time presentations conducted by Science educators from Science Centre Singapore.

We had a little preview the other day and the kids had such an enjoyable time ‘flying’ through space and identifying the planets. I think the scale was a wee bit overwhelming for Adam. I was quite amused when he kept asking me, “Where is Singapore? Are we in Malaysia?”

We also watched Back to the Moon for Good, a fascinating digital fulldome movie about a modern-day space race 40 years after the Apollo landing with teams from all over the world competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The experience of watching a movie like that on a fulldome system was simply out of the world.

fly to Jupiter and back in seconds

fly to Jupiter and back in seconds

our modern-day space race

our modern-day space race

learn about the space race

learn about the Google Lunar XPRIZE

The digital fulldome and IMAX movies are considerably shorter than your usual feature films and will captivate the attention of little ones who may not be able to sit still for more than an hour. The kids are longing to return to the Omni-Theatre so I’m planning to take them to watch Pandas: The Journey Home as well as some of the ‘live’ shows lined up during the June holidays. Check out the Omni-Theatre website for more information on showtimes and ticketing.

Tale As Old As Time – Beauty and the Beast

I fell in love with the story of Beauty and the Beast back in 1991 when the Disney movie came out. I knew the lyrics to every song by heart and watched the movie over and over. So it was a dream come true to watch Beauty and the Beast come to life on stage in Singapore. To be honest, I was even more excited than Anya before the show!

Beauty and the Beast is the story of Belle, a beautiful young woman trapped in a provincial town who finds her escape in the books that she loves to read, and the Beast, a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. Belle promises to stay with the Beast in his castle in exchange for her father’s freedom. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self.

Belle

With a dreamy, far-off look and her nose stuck in a book

The story is complicated by Gaston, the macho man who is all brawn and no brains. He is determined to marry Belle, even if it means resorting to despicable means and emotional blackmail. The scene in the tavern where his admirers tell Gaston how much they adore him is one of my favourites because of the high energy level and the comic relief provided.

Gaston

No one’s slick as Gaston, no one’s quick as Gaston’s

It was wonderful to see how the enchanted humans in the Beast’s castle were thoroughly convincing as the household objects they were representing. As in the movie, Lumiere the candelabra stole the show with his sharp wit and flamboyance. Little Chip the teacup was utterly endearing even though we could see only his head for most of the show. Anya was entranced by ‘Be Our Guest’ and declared that her favourite characters in that song were the plates!

enchanted

I can’t wait to be human again

Be Our Guest!

Be Our Guest!

There was great chemistry between Belle and the Beast, from the initial tension between them to their budding romance, and you cannot help but root for them to fall in love and live happily ever after. I liked that the Beast was more petulant and gruff than the version in the movie because it accurately captures his frustration at being trapped in a hideous body and his awkwardness at not having interacted with another human being for such a long time.

rose

If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell…

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

The entire cast of Beauty and the Beast is superb and completely deserving of the standing ovation they received at the end of the show. Belle’s voice is outstanding and amazing, and it is worth watching the show just to hear her sing. Beauty and the Beast is truly a must-watch for any age and is the best musical I have seen in years. Do not miss it!

TICKETING AND SHOW INFORMATION

SEASON: 21 Mar – 19 April 2015
PERFORMANCE TIMES: Tue – Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 1pm & 6pm
TICKET PRICE: From $65 (Excludes the booking fee of $3 per ticket)
THROUGH INTERNET: Marina Bay Sands Ticketing or SISTIC
BY PHONE: 6688 8826
IN PERSON AT: Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby)

Disclaimer: We received two complimentary tickets to watch this performance. All opinions are my own. All photos used are from Base Entertainment.

March Monster Mash at Gardens by the Bay

I can’t believe an entire term is over and it’s the March school holidays already. Good thing there’s lots to do at March Monster Mash at Gardens by the Bay from now until 22 March. For starters, the locals get free admission to the conservatories for every child with every paying adult!

There’s so much going on this weekend and the next and in between, so the best thing to do is to refer to the Calender of Events to ensure you don’t miss out on anything. There are puppet shows, craft activities, participatory art, workshops, interactive storytelling, face painting, balloon sculpting, and even a monster parade. Registration is required for some of the activities so do check the details.

Earlier this evening, we attended the movie screening of Where the Wild Things Are at Supertree Grove and had a picnic before the show started. It was a ‘drive-in’ movie and the kids got to assemble and decorate their own cardboard bus that they could sit in for the movie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my kids so excited about a piece of cardboard before!

It was lovely having our pizza under the stars with a cool breeze blowing. The kids really didn’t want to leave but we had to get them home for bed. We’ll be back next week to check out the bouncy castle and the game booths!

March Monster Mash

March Monster Mash

decorating their bus

decorating their bus

taking it very seriously

taking it very seriously

three kids doing different things

three kids looking in three different directions

mummy fits inside too!

mummy fits inside too!

doubles up as a cot for Baby D

doubles up as a cot for Baby D

with some of the other mums there

with some of the other mums there

knocking heads before Garden Rhapsody

knocking heads before Garden Rhapsody

show time!

show time!

Hobbiton in Mata Mata, New Zealand

We visited Hobbiton in Mata Mata, New Zealand three years ago. Anya was just 2 years and 9 months old then and Adam was a 4-month-old dumpling. It was amazing and definitely a must-do when in New Zealand. At that time, we were told in no uncertain terms that we were forbidden from posting pictures of Hobbiton online until all The Hobbit movies were done.

Of course, I see tons of Hobbiton pictures on the Internet all the time, even before this third instalment was released, but I am a woman of my word so none of those photos were posted by me. We went on a double date on Thursday night to watch The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies with the same couple that we visited Hobbiton with. Now I feel free to share my pictures of Hobbiton from 3 years ago and a (terribly short) review of the movie.

Gollum welcomes us to Hobbiton

Gollum welcomes us to Hobbiton

family pic before our tour

family pic before our tour

Hobbiton cat

Hobbiton cat

even the 'mould' on the sign is specially created

even the ‘mould’ on the sign is specially created

Adrian carrying a halfling

Adrian carrying a halfling

incredibly cute

incredibly cute

look out that glass in the door

look at that glass in the door

across the water

across the water

little hobbit houses in a row

little hobbit houses in a row

the attention to detail is amazing

the attention to detail is amazing

wheel

wheel

Hobbiton cat again

Hobbiton cat again

water pump

water pump

Adrian and halfling on the move

Adrian and halfling on the move

Hobbiton is a huge area

looking down

walking up to Bilbo Baggins' house

walking up to Bilbo Baggins’ house

just, wow

the most famous hobbit house

family pic outside a little house

family pic outside another little house

fast-moving hobbit

fast-moving hobbit

scarecrow

scarecrow

back on the bus!

back on the bus!

Here’s my review of Battle of Five Armies; no major spoilers if you have read the book. Personally, I think The Hobbit would have done better split into two instalments than three. Nonetheless, I liked Batle of the Five Armies. It was a tad indulgent with way too many scenes of characters looking meaningfully into the distance and a bit draggy here and there, especially when we were waiting for Thorin Oakenshield to break out of his stupor. I know Legolas is not in the book but he is in the movie and I definitely enjoy the scenes of him in action. *insert heart-shaped eyes emoticon*

In short, is Battle of the Five Armies worth watching? Yes. Is Hobbiton worth a visit? Without a doubt!

Frozen Sing-A-Long Screening

Frozen Sing-A-Long

Can’t let it go? From 11–17 December 2014, selected GV locations will be screening the Sing-A-Long version of ‘Frozen’ at $8 per ticket. GV Movie Club members who purchase 2 tickets to Frozen Sing-A-Long will stand to win 1 of 5 Disney’s ‘Frozen’ hampers (worth $190 each).

We were at GV Grand for a media preview today and there were lots of fun activities for the kids. Just to be clear, the screenings from 11-17 December will not have any special activities, but I’m sure the kids (and some adults!) will have a great time singing along to all the songs in the movie anyway. Anya and Adam certainly had a blast singing away in the theatre!

making Olaf from modelling clay

making Olaf from modelling clay

decorating a snowflake bookmark

decorating a snowflake bookmark

frozen treat before Frozen Sing-A-Long

frozen treat before Frozen Sing-A-Long

colouring Elsa

colouring Elsa