Farmer

The selection at Gramophone is not as good as last time

And what happen to the LaserFlair beside Funan? The one inside Funan not as good

RedCock2005

heard bout the new super-duper-megashopping-mall down in singapore... the got plenty of good titles (both R3 & R1) there... or so i've heard...

eedoon

What, Vivo City? Been there done that. I'd prefer go to Suntec and its surrounding. There are several stores within a few blocks and they got better collection imo.

Really? Man thats kinda suck. At every branch?

No idea. Beside Funan where exactly?

RedCock2005

ah, i c...

but overall, they all got bout average same price... & most are R3...

eedoon

The last time I went there (which is last year) the Gramophone in Peninsula had quite a decent R1 selection. They even have a small Criterion section of its own. No idea about now though.

R3 pricing are quite competitive as far as I know. But if you want R1 title, stay away from HMV unless you're sure the price is cheap (once I got R1 of Pleasantville in HMV CitiLink Mall for S$9 but I guess it's just an exception).

Tuan Jim

In Singapore right now - just got back from a new place a little while ago - first purchase (I had to price-check last night in the hotel).

There's a brand new Cathay mall on Bras Basah/Orchard Road between SMU, the YMCA and Plaza Singapura. Very nice place, large Gramophone on the ground floor. The best part about this place (not even on the maps yet) are the theaters on the top floor. Aside from the general ones (excellent quality), they have an arthouse-exclusive type place called "The Picturehouse". Just watched Paprika there last night (subbed) and starting Aug 9 they'll be showing "Piano Tuner of Earthquakes". At the main theater I caught "Black Sheep" tonight. Great stuff.

Anyhoo, I just picked up what I think are the S'pore exclusives (first seen at movieexclusive.com website) - Unseeable (Thai), Vengeance (Thai), as well as Exiled (S'pore release I think) and DOA (why the heck not). I'll try and get some screenshots up tomorrow when I have time - since none of them show up in DVDAF or profiler (like normal).

The one I'm really interested in though is an (apparently) R6 version of "Shawshank Redemption" - looks like a large hard cover book and inside the front cover you can see a sort of metal hammer item. Nothing in English on the cover, but one of the employees was able to verify most of the specs for me. (definitely a 2 disc version) Fairly certain that the specs match up to the R1 SE. One I saw but didn't buy (yet) is a LE (numbered 5000 copy Asia Exclusive) Spider-man 2 -- includes all the goodies from the standard US version plus a Spider-man "PDA" (calculator). Someone may have posted that one on the non-R1 exclusives thread, but I can't dig that thread up at the moment.

Not too many other good sets or fancy boxes there that I could see. I'll try and hit up some other places tomorrow (gonna try and catch "The Girl Who Leapt through Time" and "Harry Potter" at another Cathay cinema on Orchard Rd.) There's a LE of "300" out somewhere with a "helmet" -- sounds familiar but I can't dig up anything on yesasia about a version like that, as well as "V for Vendetta" w/ comic book. I can get Death Note 1 with a keychain as well, but they're asking $40S just for the first movie which is a little high (I'm trying to avoid paying more than I would on yesasia, even though I'll get the GST refund at the airport). Also looking for some more singapore flicks, but Singapore Gaga is the only one I've seen so far that's been recommended (that I don't already have).

If anyone else has some suggestions, feel free to let me know, but I need to start watching my budget soon (freaking Sentosa ended up being a little expensive today - and it rained).

edit - I was also able to find a great Do As Infinity CD collection and a Kick the Can Crew CD/DVD on cheap (although their Japanese/Korean section was fairly small overall) -- are there any other chains where I might have more luck getting some good prices or with larger stock for that sort of thing?

flixtime

Tuan Jim, I'm very eager to hear your thoughts on "Vengeance" as it's one I've been considering for a while now. The Thai DVD is English-friendly but the one review I read says it might be cropped down from 2.35:1 to 1:85, and it also suffers from the now annoying digital blurring Thai censorship. I'd expect the Singapore DVD is free of the digital censorship but I'm not sure about the speculated upon picture cropping. I'm guessing like a lot of Singapore releases that the audio might only be 2.0 as opposed to 5.1 on the Thai disc, but I can live with that if the video aspects are better.

For those wishing to read more about the title, "Vengeance" is listed directly as "Phairii phinaat paa mawrana" (2006) at Imdb. There you can find a link to the official site with trailer, and also click on external reviews for a link to the aforementioned review of the Thai DVD release.

Tuan Jim

I'd been wanting to see this one since I d/l a trailer from Twitch last year. I'll let you know when I can check it out next weekend (my laptop isn't region free by default and I don't want to mess around with it here).

Tuan Jim

Dunno if Sembawang Music has shut down or what - there's not one in Bugis Junction or Cineleisure Orchard.

Speaking of which, I got to see "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and Harry Potter there this afternoon. Excellent just like the other Cathay theaters. For the prices (9-9.50S/ticket), the theater quality and service is excellent -- mostly sold out shows (including the anime), but even with side seats or front seats from the assigned seating, it's a good picture pretty much anywhere.

There was a Disc Station shop in Bugis Junction and starting this weekend they're having a moving sale (wasn't going on when I went by on Friday) -- picked up the 2 disc versions of both Death Note movies for 50% off (S$20 each) and the R3 Universe 2 disc of "Yamato" for S$10. Not too much else in stock there - though I guess I could have waited to get Vengeance there for a discount.

Anyone have a link for the Non-R1 exclusive SE thread with all the pics? I'll try and post the Shawshank Redemption one tomorrow.

Tuan Jim

Ok, at this point, I'd probably pick up the Thai DVD (ethaicd has it for 9.50). Just watched the version I picked up in S'pore. Now, I don't think it was a bootleg because it was the same sealed version (official censor sticker like all locally sold DVDs) I saw available in most of the stores I visited, but the quality wasn't above bootleg quality. Sound wasn't bad, but video was horrible. If it wasn't for the murky CGI here and there, you'd swear that this picture was made 20 years ago and left in a moldy warehouse to rot. Very, very disappointing. I'd say that overall, the image on this DVD is considerably worse than the trailer I downloaded from Twitch last year - the colors are certainly more washed out and blurry.

I'm trying right now to recall if I have any other DVDs published by Scorpio East Entertainment, but I don't think so -edit- my Exiled DVD that I bought last week is also by them. I'll post an update when I've watched it.

Granted, the cover of my DVD varies slightly from the one on movieexclusive's store page, but you may want to email them before ordering. So far all the other S'pore R3's that I've previously purchased have been fine (watched DOA and Death Note already today - not to mention previous purchases from that store - Bimmer, Frost Bite, Adam's Apples). Speaking of which, the R3 S'pore Death Note is pretty good quality as well - although I'm not very experienced with judging image quality since this is my first HDTV and I only got it a few months back. Interestingly enough, the movie is actually split onto 2 discs (different from the Japan/HK versions), but it's definitely a DVD and not VCD, and there's a 3rd disc of extras and some post cards. It also has a nifty magnetic case - I'll try and get some photos later. The version of Death Note 2 that I picked up is also the same layout.

Tuan Jim

Well, the good news is, Scorpio East isn't a total wash as far as DVDs. Their release of Exiled is pretty good -- miles better than Vengeance, although still not quite what I'd expect for such a new movie.

eedoon

I did a little search and in their website there's no more Cineleisure Orchard branch at Sembawang's website. (link: http://www.sembawangmusic.com/outlets/ )

The Cathay Picturehouse thing is awesome. When I was there last year, they have some kind of an event for classic movie screenings - one of the movie I can remember is Hitch's Dial M For Murder. The bar is both unique and very nice. Free internet access too.

Basically I would stay away from Singapore release since I've had bad experiences with it. But I guess that is what you should expect from international movies - inconsistent transfer quality.

Tuan Jim

A little disappointing - there were no dvd stores at all at Cineleisure Orchard this time. The only Sembawang (no longer one at Plaza Singapura either) I actually found was in a Raffles plaza place near the waterfront (connected to a hotel IIRC). I bought a few movies at the Bluemax and Disc Station that were almost next to each other in Suntec City Mall as well. They had more of the mainland China discs.

I was actually surprised to find a few independent stores catering almost exclusively in R1 DVDs. Since I wasn't there to shop for them, I didn't do too much price comparison, but I think on average the price was probably higher than I could have gotten them for on amazon (although perhaps not given shipping locally) -- didn't look for SE or LE versions though.

eedoon

Where's this exclusively R1 DVD store? I might want to check it up the next time I'm going to Singapore (probably later this year).

So Sembawang is closing a lot of their branch. Interesting. But have you checked MJ Multimedia out? They're quite decent too.

Tuan Jim

Sorry for the late reply -- along orchard road, if you're walking towards the Cineleisure Orchard from downtown, it's on your right in one of the "Jade ______" shopping centers. Just on the inside - there should be a sign on the outside of the buildings.

samper

Sorry to dig up this old thread - but I am off to Singapore for a week or so on work. Thought it might be a good opportunity to pick up some Korean R3s and BD's such as "Welcome to Dongkamol", "Lust Caution", "Exiled" etc.

Any places to get them cheaper than getting them shipped via yesasia?

PS - i shall definitely make a date to see Battle for Red Cliff while I am there.

toddly6666

Any unknown Singapore masterpiece films to buy on Singapore DVD by the way?

Tuan Jim

Ummm. I probably wouldn't go there to actually buy Korean R3s. I don't think it'll be worth it compared to Yesasia. In the actual dvd stores there you can find some HK R3s (legit) - but most of them will be Singapore (legit licensed) R3s.

As far as straight Singaporean movies - they've done a few recent reviews at twitchfilm lately (The Visitor and Stefan are the reviewers for most of them IIRC). "Singapore Dreaming" is one recent release that's available - I found it good, but not as funny as I was lead to believe. The "I not stupid" comedies are pretty good and very nostalgia-inducing.

Even if you ask around though, it's kinda hard to find much "different" stuff. I picked up a few R6 Chinese discs (Hero extended - non-Edko edition) and the LE of "Shawshank Redemption". In most cases though, you'll see the Singapore licensed release - which from what I can tell is almost identical to the HK releases (ie. Exiled, Election 1 and 2, Yamato, etc). The one weird exception is that both my Death Note live action films are actually 3 discs (movie split into 2 discs) with one disc of extras while apparently the HK releases put the movie onto just one disc. I know they're long films, but it's a little hard to see the reason for the change.

See also previous posts by me in this thread. The good thing is that it doesn't take too long to get almost anywhere downtown to check between different stores and for the most part unless you come across some excellent sales the prices should be the same. I wouldn't go looking for legit dvds in the night market or Bugis st market though.

dleedlee

Maybe not necessarily masterpieces but, for my taste, if it was my list, I would look for:

Gubra, the middle film of Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad's trilogy which includes Sepet and Mukhsin, the SG version is English subbed though out of stock online. I would also look for her first film Rabun, though I don't know if it exists on DVD or not.

881/Papaya Girls - a fun Roystan Tan musical (available online from Sensasian)
15/Fifteen - another Roystan Tan film
Living With Lydia - 4 seasons of the late Lydia Sum's Singlish TV sit com (also, Sensasian)
12 Storeys - from Eric Khoo whose most recent feature My Magic screened at Cannes this year

samper

Thanks Tuan_Jim. As for films, Erik Kooh's 'Be With Me' comes to mind as a fab movie.

Tuan Jim

To be honest, with one or two exceptions, I found it a lot easier to get Singapore DVDs online rather than in local stores - strangely enough. moviexclusive.com for example can sometimes do special orders of items not on their website. Half the time when I went into a local store there and asked about Singaporean movies on DVD I got a blank stare. The larger ones like Gramophone had some but a fairly limited selection comparatively speaking. There was also one more upscale bookstore (one of a chain) in an orchard rd mall (very fancy one but name escapes me) where I was able to find the "Singapore Ga Ga" documentary dvd (but that was the only place I saw it the entire time I was there).

dleedlee

Agree, 100 pct, but sometimes the hunt is the fun of it, especially when one is travelling and whileling away some time. The lure of the bargain a la dumpster diving in the Walmart bin can be irresistable.

dmkb

The Commercial Press also has a solid selection of Singaporean films on DVD as does Kinokuniya.

You DEFINITELY want to check out TalkingCock which was just rereleased on DVD after a long hiatus!

Other excellent DVDs to look for while there include: Royston's Shorts (Collection of Royston Tan's short films), I Love Malaysia, The Last Communist [the latter two are Malaysian] and several Singaporean short film collections.

And if you or anyone finds a DVD copy of City Sharks, pm me! I'll make it worth your while!

Tuan Jim

Kinokuniya was the book store I was thinking of - didn't see that many DVDs in there though - and I had to ask around (I guess it depends which branch you're in).

Gum

I second that! Be With Me!