King Kong

Triple Academy Award winner PETER JACKSON, whose The Lord of the Rings trilogy made motion picture history, now brings his sweeping cinematic vision to one of the screen’s most enduring classics and one of the greatest filmic adventures of all time: King Kong.

Assuming directing, producing and co-screenwriting duties, Jackson turns his attention to the iconic tale immortalized in 1933 by adventurers-turned-filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and co-director Ernest B. Schoedsack, who first conjured the indelible image of the gigantic ape atop the Empire State Building, protecting his human companion from an onslaught of attacking biplanes. Jackson refashions the tragic beauty-and-the-beast love story -- infusing the spectacle of the tale with propulsive action and a poignant humanity -- and gives us a Kong never before thought possible through the combined efforts and visual effects wizardry of the multiple-Oscar-winning Weta Digital Ltd. and Weta Workshop Ltd.

King Kong is the culmination of the filmmaker’s near-lifelong dream -- taking the best elements of the original story and adrenalizing them with up-to-the-minute effects magic and the alchemic talents of a superlative group of filmmakers, cast and crew.

Jackson retains key members of the team behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is joined once again by longtime collaborators FRAN WALSH and PHILIPPA BOYENS, co-writing the motion picture with three-time Oscar-winning partner Walsh and their The Lord of the Rings co-writer, Academy Award winner Boyens. JAN BLENKIN, CAROLYNNE CUNNINGHAM, Walsh and Jackson produce the film under their WingNut Films banner.

It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar nominee for 21 Grams, NAOMI WATTS) has found herself -- like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression -- without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan. When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor’s stall, she is rescued -- literally -- by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (JACK BLACK of The School of Rock).

It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives’ noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner…and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island.

Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady (the costumes have all been made) has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar winner for The Pianist, ADRIEN BRODY) is penning the screenplay -- the fees his friend Carl pays for potboiling adventure are a welcome supplement to Driscoll’s nominal income from his stage plays.

With his newly discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham’s “moving picture ship” heads out of New York Harbor ... and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee.

Joining Watts, Black and Brody is an accomplished ensemble cast from around the globe. German star THOMAS KRETSCHMANN (U-571) portrays Captain Englehorn, commander of the Venture, who allows Denham and his ever-increasing bribes to persuade him to endanger the lives of his crew by searching for Skull Island. COLIN HANKS (Orange County) is Preston, Denham’s put-upon assistant and unwitting moral compass, who attempts to keep his boss in check and the production from spiraling out of control. Young actor JAMIE BELL (Billy Elliot) plays Jimmy, the youngest crew member, whose experiences onboard the Venture prove more fantastical than any old salt’s seafaring yarn. EVAN PARKE lends his talents to the role of first mate Hayes, keeping a watchful eye on young Jimmy and serving as Englehorn’s conscience. KYLE CHANDLER takes on the character of Bruce Baxter, a “B”-movie-level leading man cast opposite Ann Darrow in Denham’s adventure movie. ANDY SERKIS (who performed the role of the CGI character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) provides both on-set performance reference and motion-capture performance for the “Eighth Wonder of the World”…the title character of King Kong; he also appears onscreen as the eccentric sailor in charge of the Venture’s galley, Lumpy the Cook.

Location: Plaza Singapura Golden Village
Date: 23 December 2005
Time: -
With: Enci, Eve, Chewwen, Geok Ni

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Location: Orchard Cathay Cineleisure
Date: 16 November 2005 Wednesday
Time: 06.40pm
With: Kossy & Sheri

Corpse Bride

Location: Causeway Point Cathay
Date: 30 September 2005 Friday
Time: 11.05pm
With: Kossy

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (JOHNNY DEPP) and Charlie Bucket (FREDDIE HIGHMORE), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory.

Most nights in the Bucket home, dinner is a watered-down bowl of cabbage soup, which young Charlie gladly shares with his mother (HELENA BONHAM CARTER) and father (NOAH TAYLOR) and both pairs of grandparents. Theirs is a tiny, tumbledown, drafty old house but it is filled with love. Every night, the last thing Charlie sees from his window is the great factory, and he drifts off to sleep dreaming about what might be inside.

For nearly fifteen years, no one has seen a single worker going in or coming out of the factory, or caught a glimpse of Willy Wonka himself, yet, mysteriously, great quantities of chocolate are still being made and shipped to shops all over the world.

One day Willy Wonka makes a momentous announcement. He will open his famous factory and reveal "all of its secrets and magic" to five lucky children who find golden tickets hidden inside five randomly selected Wonka chocolate bars.

Nothing would make Charlie's family happier than to see him win but the odds are very much against him as they can only afford to buy one chocolate bar a year, for his birthday.

Indeed, one by one, news breaks around the world about the children finding golden tickets and Charlie's hope grows dimmer. First there is gluttonous Augustus Gloop, who thinks of nothing but stuffing sweets into his mouth all day, followed by spoiled Veruca Salt, who throws fits if her father doesn't buy her everything she wants. Next comes Violet Beauregarde, a champion gum chewer who cares only for the trophies in her display case, and finally surly Mike Teavee, who's always showing off how much smarter he is than everyone else.

But then, something wonderful happens. Charlie finds some money on the snowy street and takes it to the nearest store for a Wonka Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, thinking only of how hungry he is and how good it will taste. There, under the wrapper is a flash of gold. It's the last ticket. Charlie is going to the factory! His Grandpa Joe (DAVID KELLY) is so excited by the news that he springs out of bed as if suddenly years younger, remembering a happier time when he used to work in the factory, before Willy Wonka closed its gates to the town forever. The family decides that Grandpa Joe should be the one to accompany Charlie on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Once inside, Charlie is dazzled by one amazing sight after another. Wondrous gleaming contraptions of Wonka's own invention churn, pop and whistle, producing ever new and different edible delights. Crews of merry Oompa-Loompas mine mountains of fudge beside a frothy chocolate waterfall or ride a translucent, spun-sugar, dragon-headed boat down a chocolate river past crops of twisted candy cane trees and edible mint-sugar grass. Marshmallow cherry creams grow on shrubs, ripe and sweet. Elsewhere, a hundred trained squirrels on a hundred tiny stools shell nuts for chocolate bars faster than any machine and Wonka himself pilots an impossible glass elevator that rockets sideways, slantways and every which way you can think of through the vast and fantastic factory.

Almost as intriguing as his fanciful inventions is Willy Wonka himself, a gracious but most unconventional host. He thinks about almost nothing but candy – except, every once in a while, when he suddenly seems to be thinking about something that happened long ago, that he can't quite talk about. It's been said that Wonka hasn't stepped outside the factory for years. Who he truly is and why he has devoted his life to making sweets Charlie can only guess.

Meanwhile, the other children prove to be a rotten bunch, so consumed with themselves that they scarcely appreciate the wonder of Wonka's creations. One by one, their greedy, spoiled, mean-spirited or know-it-all personalities lead them into all kinds of trouble that force them off the tour before it's even finished.

When only little Charlie Bucket is left, Willy Wonka reveals the final secret, the absolute grandest prize of all: the keys to the factory itself. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka feels it is time to find an heir to his candy empire, someone he can trust to carry on with his life's work and so he devised this elaborate contest to select that one special child.

What he never expects is that his act of immeasurable generosity might bring him an even more valuable gift in return.

Location: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Date: 16 August 2005 (Tuesday)
Time: 12.20pm
With: Sheri

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

The Saga is Complete

Sometime during Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker will make a fateful decision. Faced with a choice between losing the one he loves or giving up his soul to gain the power to save her, Anakin will fall prey to the seductive temptations of the dark side of the Force.

Just what Anakin's decision is, why he makes it and how it leads him to don a frightening suit of black armor have been the stuff of Star Wars legend. After nearly 30 years of waiting and speculating, moviegoers will learn the truth when Revenge of the Sith opens in theaters around the world.

They will discover for themselves exactly how and why heroic Anakin Skywalker – prophesied to be the Chosen One, the single individual who would bring balance to the Force and ensure peace throughout the galaxy – becomes the dreaded Darth Vader, right hand to the Emperor.

They will learn how Anakin's mentors, the swashbuckling Obi-Wan Kenobi and the diminutive Jedi Master Yoda, managed to survive the fabled destruction of the Jedi Order only to live the rest of their days hiding on distant, hostile planets.

They will learn what turned seemingly benevolent and thoughtful Chancellor Palpatine into the dictatorial leader of the feared Galactic Empire.

They will learn how Anakin's children, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, came to be born, then separated ... destined to lead the legendary Rebellion against the Empire.

"The pieces will fall together, the connections will be made," promises writer-director George Lucas, who completes the saga he began in 1977 with Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. "Finally, the last chapter will be told."

As Revenge of the Sith opens, the final catastrophic battles of the Clone Wars are taking place galaxy wide – including one in the skies above the city-planet Coruscant, seat of the crumbling Republic and also home to the Jedi Knights. Chancellor Palpatine has been taken hostage by the nefarious General Grievous, leader of the droid army – the mechanized battle troops of the Separatist Alliance.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) take on a desperate rescue effort, facing long odds to free Palpatine and destroy Grievous. It's a daring mission, but only the start of the fiercely pitched battles and Jedi action that fill Episode III, the most action-filled of all of the Star Wars movies.

The opening battle sets in motion a series of events that lead up to the moment of truth for Anakin – whose secret always threatens to catch up with him: He is leading a dual life as a Jedi Knight while covertly married to the beautiful Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman). Preying on Anakin's fears of losing Padme, Palpatine reveals to Anakin another side of the Force, one that is forbidden to him, but one that promises to teach him powers he never imagined possible.

Obi-Wan recognizes Anakin's inner conflict, and ultimately must face off against his once-promising Padawan learner in a lightsaber battle on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. "This is, by far, the fastest-paced, most thrilling and most intense of all Star Wars movies," says Sith producer Rick McCallum. "Because Star Wars fans have long known many of the key plot points that drive the movie, George wanted to create an experience that would surprise them and really deliver the goods."

The final lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan is just one of many showstopping action sequences in Revenge of the Sith. "It's amazing how much action there is in this movie," says McGregor. "It's no-holds-barred."

One of the highlights is the opening space battle, which recalls the thrilling dogfights of Episode IV A New Hope even though, technically, it doesn't take place in space, but in the outer atmosphere of Coruscant. "That allows us to show really spectacular things like massive explosions, fire and smoke pouring off of the spaceships," McCallum says.

There's also intense hand-to-hand combat between Obi-Wan and Grievous, who is a chilling combination of droid and human, foretelling the ultimate fate of Anakin Skywalker himself.

"During Revenge of the Sith, the Clone Wars are still taking place throughout the galaxy, so everyone is in full battle mode, prepared for anything to happen at any moment," Lucas says.

The action in Revenge of the Sith is also a crucial link to A New Hope, which, as few can forget, opens as Darth Vader and his stormtroopers invade a Rebel spaceship. It is the final episode in a saga that Lucas outlined in the early 1970s. "It was a long back-story outline, mostly about how the characters came to be where they are in Episode IV A New Hope," Lucas says. "Even though I didn't start writing the prequels for another 20 years, the structure of that story has never changed very much; it has always been one epic story of a father who is redeemed by his children."

In many ways, Lucas says, the events of Episode III will change audiences' perspectives on the story told in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. "Watching the films starting with Episode I and ending with Episode VI will be a different experience," he says. "What drove me to direct Episodes I, II and III was the larger story about Anakin, who starts out as a good person but who becomes evil – and, ultimately, is redeemed by his children. It's exciting to see it all come together."

Location: Plaza Singapura Golden Village
Date: 18 May 2005
Time: 10:20pm
With: Sheri & Kossy

Swing Girls

Location: Orchard Cathay Cineleisure
Date: 01 April 2005 Friday
Time: 03.20pm
With: Kossy

Howl's Moving Castle

Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") takes moviegoers on an amazing new animated adventure that celebrates the power of love to transform and the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Brimming with a blend of imagination, humor, action, and romance, "Howl's Moving Castle" recently played to great acclaim at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, and has become one of the biggest blockbusters of all time in Japan – earning more than $193 million at the box office and still counting.

A distinguished cast of actors, under the direction of Pixar's Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc."), lend their vocal talents to this English-language version of the film. Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl (voiced by Christian Bale), and is subsequently turned into a 90-year old woman (voiced by screen legend and two-time Oscar® nominee Jean Simmons) by the vain and conniving Wicked Witch of the Waste (voiced by screen legend and Oscar® nominee Lauren Bacall). Embarking on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl's apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal). Sophie's love and support comes to have a major impact on Howl, who flies in the face of orders from the palace to become a pawn of war and instead risks his life to help bring peace to the kingdom. Extraordinary characters, inventive imagery, and stunning artistry make this latest masterpiece from the visionary Miyazaki an unforgettable filmgoing experience.

Location: Causeway Point Cathay
Date: 24 February 2005 (Thursday)
Time: 12:30pm

Location: Causeway Point Cathay
Date: 15 March 2005 (Thursday)
Time: 05:25pm