Japanese Film Festival (Jun 26-Jul 12)
We almost thought this one wasn’t gonna happen. Thankfully it is, and the programming is as wonderful (and weird) as ever: a completely free Ichikawa Kon retrospective, a mystery closing film that you have to ballot for, and a good dash of the profane (Survive Style 5+ and Maruyama, The Middle Schooler) casually thrown into the mix. Here‘s the the full lineup.
Films at the Fort (Aug 1-10)
One of our favorite outdoor cinema events is back, and the lineup of films includes some of the most-talked-about films this and last year, including The Great Beauty, A Touch of Sin, Her and Ilo Ilo (but of course—it’s National Day week). As usual, they have great F&B partners to save you the trouble of assembling your own gourmet picnic basket (ain’t nobody got time for that); this time the food is care of My Private Chef and Jones the Grocer, plus there’s going to be a boutique wine bar on site.
Singapore International Film Festival (Dec 4-14)
The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), which last happened in 2011, is finally back this year with plans to screen some 80 films—of which roughly two-thirds will be from Singapore and around Asia. (Here’s hoping the fest will premiere Sex.Violence.FamilyValues. director Ken Kwek’s forthcoming and super-secret Unlucky Plaza.) Budding auteurs, take note: call for submissions is open from now until Sep 15.
If you can’t wait to start binge-watching, you can get some practice this weekend:
Under the Skin (opens in cinemas today)
This one is pretty divisive, but Scarlett Johansson most experimental role to date (as an alien succubus, no less) is worth the price of admission.
A Million Ways to Die in the West (opens in cinemas today)
We don’t care what this is about; surely the combined comedic efforts of Seth MacFarlane, Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Silverman cannot possibly go wrong.
Words and Pictures (opens in cinemas today)
A sweet, solid and probably a little corny drama about two teachers (Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen, awww) falling in love. Tweed! Scarves! Flirty arguments! Thick stacks of books! One to take the bookworm in your life to.
Private (tonight, 7:30pm)
NUS’ Middle East Intitute, which does regular free screenings of Middle Eastern films at the Arts House, screens this one about disrupted domestic peace in a household unfortunately situated in between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement.
Offside (Jun 14, 4pm)
This breezy Iranian film explores gender segregation and oppression through a bunch of soccer-crazy girls who try to watch a World Cup qualifying match (women entering soccer stadiums is, amazingly enough, against the law in Iran). Followed by a short panel session with the Women’s National Football Team.
