In parts of Asia, it is believed that the gates of Hell will open during the seventh lunar month every year, and all the spirits within will then be set free. These spirits or "hungry ghosts" will roam the mortal world to satisfy their unfulfilled needs, wants and desires. And in order to appease these wandering spirits, people who believe in their existence will burn offerings and put up island-wide religious rituals and folk performances, such as street operas and getai (song-and-dance extravaganzas).

This movie is made with the intent of capturing the essence of the hungry ghost festival. The outing showcases myriad aspects of this special festive month, through the eyes of devotees, religious leaders et al.

For the uninitiated, this film. - with its eclectic sequences featuring soundly edited footages, colourful practices, cemetery visits, "scientific" approaches and interesting anecdotes (there's a chatty housewife whose devotion to her deceased next-of-kin is emotionally stirring) - serves as a good summary of the customs and traditions that are observed by some Chinese here.

However, my only quibble with it is that it seems to be too well put together, somewhat like a functional scrapbook lacking soul (pardon the pun). Although it's a "straight-ahead" documentary, I feel more could be done to bring out the motivations and pathos behind each character. Each episode could also be more strongly gelled to give viewers a deeper perspective of the subject.

Anyhow, if you do not know much about this particular topic and are keen to learn more, this offering is worth sussing out.

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This play, directed by Goh Boon Teck, is based in the Shanghai of the 1930s, when China was at war with Japan.

Here’s the gist of the plot: During the Second World War, a patriotic young man called Wen Cong (starring Hong Kong singer William So), who’s intent on joining the army, saves a nubile woman from being killed by the bombs raining from the skies by stowing her under a bridge.

Amidst the chaos of the air raid, and under the dark enclaves of this architectural structure, the two fall in love. Though they are not able to see each other clearly, they vow to meet again under the same bridge when the war is over.

Years later, Wen Cong returns to Shanghai as a musician. Still haunted by thoughts of the mysterious lady whom he fell for, the lad returns to the bridge with the hope of reconciling with her. The lass has also visited the spot to look for her wartime soulmate. But certain trying circumstances prevent the couple from reuniting with each other.

Unknown to Wen Cong, the woman he longs for is none other than Tu Yun (played by local starlet Mindee Ong of movie 881 fame), who lives on the lower floor of his residence! Besides being his neighbour, she also turns out to be his feisty showgirl-colleague at a local nightclub in which they both perform.

Meanwhile, Tu Yun befriends Dan Lei (played by acclaimed stage actress Emma Yong), a perky but destitute character, who has come to Shanghai to seek her fortune. She lodges at Tu Yun’s flat, and as fate would have it, a series of coincidences and mistaken identities lead to an inevitable love triangle.

How will the story end? Find out by catching this show next month!

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Like Silence of the Lambs and Seven, this suspenseful thriller is about members of society who live on the fringe.

Directed by Andrew Lau of Internal Affairs fame, this offering sees Errol Babbage (played by Richard Gere), a burnt-out peace officer who has been forced out of his job and assigned to monitor sex offenders on parole.

Babbage is anything but a by-the-book agent. In fact, his unorthodox style of operation rubs his superiors the wrong way in the final weeks on the job, and lands him in an awkward training stint with a female rookie-replacement (played by Hollywood babe Claire Danes).

Things start to get worse when a teenage girl goes missing. Babbage is convinced that one of the convicted sexual predators that he is monitoring is responsible for this, but no one believes him.

Babbage must train his protégé to go beyond the boundaries of standard procedures to crack this case. Together, they delve into a sordid realm of heinous crimes. But it comes to a point when the trainee starts to wonder if Babbage is the only person truly committed to saving the missing person, or a man who has simply gone too deep into the abyss he's been burrowing himself into for years.

If you want to know how the story ends, be sure to catch the flick soon!

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Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is a movie that begins with an end.

The protagonist, Mr Magorium (Dustin Hoffman), is 243 years old and will be leaving the world soon. So he decides to leave his magical toy shop in the care of Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), an aspiring pianist who has no faith in herself. A new accountant Henry (Jason Bateman) has also just been hired; he does not believe that the toy shop is magical, but sees something good in Mahoney.

When Mahoney takes over the toy shop, all the toys’ colours begin to fade away, leaving the place dull and gloomy, as if has been long forgotten.

Convinced that she is simply not meant to be the one who should take over Mr Magorium’s toy shop, Mahoney decides to sell it. But Henry stops her from doing so.

During her conversation with Henry, Mahoney remembers a wooden block that Mr Magorium has left behind. This object is supposed to give her the guidance she needs.

When the seemingly lifeless block starts dancing around before Mahoney and Henry’s eyes, Mahoney realises that all it takes to make things work is for her to believe in the block’s magical power. She soon discovers that the magic has been inside her all along, and starts to have faith in herself. Before we know it, she restores the magical touch to the toy shop and brings it back to life again.

The flick’s breathtaking visual effects – when toys come alive in ways beyond your wildest imagination – will appeal to those who fancy fairytales. After watching this movie, you’ll be spurred to discover the magical spark within yourself too!

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You know I’ve never believed in you. Not as a child, and certainly not now, as an adult.

Need you even ask why? Bah, humbug! Surely you’d know better. If you’ve looked at my Christmas wish list, you’d have known that I’ve been asking for a ring (and I don’t mean a phone call!) for the longest time. But you’re so elusive, I’ve yet to catch sight of your shadow even! The closest I’ve gotten to seeing you is during your visits to those dingy neighbourhood malls, where you’ll be hiding from drooling tots who can’t differentiate between their candy floss and your cottony beard. 

I’ve searched in vain for you via Google Earth. And it didn’t help that you aren’t on Facebook either. I’ve come to the woeful conclusion that you’ve never visited me because there’s no chimney in my home through which you can come sliding down. Anyway, this is Singapore, and the only chute I can think of that’s “befitting” of your “home visits” is the one at Senoko; but I don’t think you’d fancy getting your bottom fried.

I was prepared to die sad and jaded, but it all changed when I caught Scrooge – The Musical! Now, you may think this show is a play for children, but its meaningful share-your-love-and-spread-the-joy concept is no child’s play!

The production spins a tale about Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who breaks into howls of “Bah, Humbug!” faster than you can bellow “Ho, ho ho!”. Scrooge is a mean tightwad; he holds no love for anyone and is obsessed with accumulating wealth. But his life changes forever one Christmas eve, when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Christmas Future pay him a visit and take him on three time- and space-transcending, and soul-searching journeys.

Beneath the façade of fancy costumes, M&M-esque sets and whimsical ditties are talented actors who work the scenes with finesse. Fanny Kee holds court as the irritable and jittery Scrooge with a wicked consistency that can only be expected of high-calibre actors/actresses.

Subtly but surely stealing the show is Josephine Tan, who is the voice of Tiny Tim (the sickly son of Scrooge’s poor and underpaid accountant) and the youthful Scrooge. Besides showcasing her versatility as a thespian with good comic timing and measured flair, Josephine also impresses with her laudable crooning. Not to be outdone is Celin Rosa Tan, who, despite playing a minor role as the boy’s mother, shines with her enchanting singing voice.

All these have rekindled the fire in my belly, so I’ve decided to write you once again. I’m making a public appeal for you to give me a ring – only this time round, call me on my mobile phone (it’s faster this way), and I’ll give you full details on where to get that jewel this Christmas.

Yours penitently,
(Written by) Linda Lee

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If you think a broken record is bad, you haven’t met Chris Tucker.

Those who have caught the first and second instalments of Rush Hour would have been all too familiar with its mob-caper-meets-bu

mbling-cops premise… and the incessant ramblings of an African American, whose pitchy voice makes screechy nails on chalkboard sound like soothing music to the ears. In this latest fracas, the loquacious one pairs up once again with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, an unwilling and straight-laced partner; and together, they bungle through a series of nonsensical brouhaha and contrived sequences to rescue a Chinese Ambassador and his lovely daughter (played by Zhang Jingchu) in distress.

Though he’s no spring chicken, Jackie showcases all his still-sleek gongfu chops and delivers the goods with run-of-the-mill grace. But Chris, I tell you, is as funny as ever and tickles you pink in his reprise of the gabbling idiot.

Whether he’s making a fool of himself (which would be most of the time) fighting a giant at a gongfu school, impressing women (something he tries to do and mostly fails) with his awkwardly egoistic charms, or playing hero (with bungling effects, no less) to save the day, Chris gets his campy acts down pat. Try picking a verbal war with the witty motormouth and he will have you mercilessly hung, drawn and quartered with his stiletto-sharp retorts.

Of course, there were other protagonists who shine with their presence, when they make the occasional (but memorable) appearances. Yvan Attal, an actor who plays a French cabbie with a love-hate relationship with the USA, endears with his whimsical (or some say, typically French) antics, while the beautiful minx that is Jingchu lights up the screen (in spite of her insignificant parts and lame lines) with a megawatt-shiny presence that could well cause Zhang Ziyi to hit the panic button in time to come.

All in all, this show will appeal to those who could do with some slapstick humour or tire those who could do without the repetitive drudgery of yet another purposeless fracas, depending on which camp you belong to.

Oh, and a final note about that broken record and Chris – if I have to choose between the two, I would probably opt for the latter. I’d gladly turn off the broken record, and have Chris turn me on with his screechy-nails-on-chalkboard repartee. Anytime.

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Hairspray is a flick that promises to tantalise movie buffs and keep them at the edge of their seats.

An adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical (2002) and John Waters' comedy film (1988), this new offering is set in Baltimore, 1962.

Tracy Turnbald (Nikki Blonsky), a "pleasantly plump" teenager, harbours fond dreams of being on The Corny Collins Show. (Corny Collins is played by an effervescent James Marsden - better known as Cyclops of X-Men fame - who ditches his sunglasses in this flick for a slick 60s 'do and a tux.)

The story goes: Tracy decides to audition for the show but is opposed by her mother, Edna Turnbald (played by John Travolta - yes, this role has always been taken by men), who's afraid that her daughter will bear the brunt of harsh comments about her weight. Mummy should know, as she too is "equally blessed".

Although Travolta has lots of experience acting and dancing in movies with a retro setting (think pop culture icon/movie Grease), it seems a tad difficult for him to dance in a fat suit in this one. The notion of seeing Travolta in drag is simply outrageous, though.

Hairspray tackles heavyweight issues like weight obsession and racial segregation with a dose of fun, dance and song, and the sheer glitz of the 60s. It also boasts a killer soundtrack featuring vocal talents like Queen Latifah and Zac Efron. The latter breaks out of his conventional Disney typecasting (eg High School Musical; but I must add that he now sings better than he used to!) to play Link Larkin, a charming, debonair singer who sweeps girls off their feet, complete with lock of dark hair draping charismatically from his forehead, no less.

The big, bouffant-hairdo look of the 60s can be achieved with the help of backcombing and tons of hairspray. But if you're too lazy for that, simply catch Hairspray in the cinemas for some retro fun!

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At first glance, the movie poster makes you think that this flick is just another clichéd fantasy film that screams “for kids only”. Its trailer also gives an impression of all things mythical and fluffy (possibly even a carbon copy of Narnia).

But I must say that both the pin-up and clip are unarguably misleading as they offer an inaccurate hint of the essence of this wonderful story.

Based on a novel by Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia is about a young boy named Jesse Aarons (Josh Hutcherson), who has a great passion for running and is also the fastest runner in his grade. As he comes from a big and poor family (his parents, five sisters and himself), he constantly finds himself being deprived of the things money can buy. He also often comes home from school to a home devoid of love and care. What makes it worse is that his sisters are a bunch of noisy, nosy brats, with the exception of May Belle (Bailee Madison), his second-youngest sibling.

During the new school term, a new girl, Leslie Burkes (AnnaSophia Robb), beats Jesse at a race and claims the title of “fastest runner in the grade” from him. Jesse is disappointed and crestfallen, but an uneasy friendship develops between the two.

When they each have nasty encounters with Janice Avery, the school bully, they begin to empathise with and warm up to each other. Together, Jesse and Leslie create a magical land of their own and name it Terabithia (a nook that lies beyond a creek near their houses) where they reign as King and Queen in their own make-believe Kingdom; it is also a place where they allow their imaginations to run wild and free.

From numinous creatures and the monsters prowling the grounds and swaying of branches to how Janice sees dragonflies as warriors of the forest and not just insects, the movie takes off into a surreal, magical realm, and it is a joy seeing the two best friends fight off their “enemies” in Terabithia. Their friendship soon deepens into a close, special, respectful and intricate one.

One day, something unexpected happens. All the wonders and imagination associated with Terabithia have been stolen from Jesse and vanished into thin air. Jesse’s pain is evident in the way his emotions get the better of him at school. He subsequently becomes a quiet and depressed boy.

I am really moved towards the end of the tale when I see Jesse muster up the courage to face reality. Although his heart aches terribly, he manages to gather strength to rebuild Terabithia by constructing a bridge that will link the outside world to it, literally. But there is a twist….

I feel that the actors are well cast. Even though they are all rather young, their performances are commendable.

The tagline of the movie reads: “Discover a place that will never leave you, and a friendship that will change you forever.” This film has such a powerful and touching storyline, it will definitely leave a great impact on its audience. And although some parts of it may appeal to kids, the special flick has a distinctive charm and an uplifting edge of maturity as it depicts messages of faith, life, hope, love, friendship and family (with the sky as the limit) through a child’s eyes.

Indeed, Bridge to Terabithia is a beautiful story that will never leave you, but will change you forever.

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