Directors: Eric Khoo

Year: 1997

IMDB Score: 6.5/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Photo-credit: IMDB

As he did with his previous venture Mee Pok Man (1995), filmmaker Eric Khoo presents a look at the darker side of Singapore life, but this time he injects a sense of humor missing from the former. Comprised of three intercut, but unrelated stories, it is a chronicle of life in a large apartment block. The film begins on an early morning when a man quietly leaps from a 12-story apartment building while a radio cheerfully blares about the greatness of his native island. In one of the stories, a middle-aged fumbler of a husband tries to contend with his new bride, a self-absorbed gold digger looking only for fun. In another, a hyper-responsible, old-fashioned older brother, left in charge by his vacationing parents, tries to cope with his sexually active little sister and his baby brother. The third and briefest story deals with a lonely, overweight and depressive young woman who tries miserably to contend with a domineering, overly critical mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Directors:  Glen Goei

Year: 1998

IMDB Score: 6.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%

Photo-credit: IMDB

Glen Goei made his directorial debut with this Singaporean musical comedy in Singlish and Hokkien dialogue. In 1977, laidback Hock (Adrian Pang), always on the brink of getting fired from his supermarket job, hopes to buy a Triumph motorcycle. He lives with his parents, sister Mui (Pam Oci), and brother (Caleb Goh). After seeing a movie titled Forever Fever with a John Travolta look-alike (Dominic Tace), Hock gets inspired. To raise money for the Triumph, Hock takes dance lessons in order to enter a disco competition with a cash prize. Mei (Medaline Tan), who secretly loves Hock, goes with him to his lessons. Hock falls hard for another dance entrant, Julie (Anna Belle Francis), which does not please her boyfriend, Richard (Pierre Png). Some anachronisms are evident in the use of modern Singapore for period location scenes

Directors:  Aleksander Bach

Year: 2015

IMDB Score: 5.7/10

Photo-credit: IMDB

HITMAN: AGENT 47 centers on an elite assassin who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research - and forty-six earlier Agent clones -- endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence. His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47's past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe. (c) Fox

MOVIE LOCATIONS: What’s crazier than a crowded CBD? The CBD plus an exciting car chase sequence. The shoot-out was filmed at a blue Comfort Cab-filled Robinson Road. There’s also a glimpse of the now-closed MPH bookstore in the background. Rumour has it that lead actor RupertFriend was the first civilian to legally fire a gun in Singapore. Places like Changi Airport, Chinatown and Gardens by the Bay also had their fair share of screentime.

Directors: Jon M. Chu

Year: 2018

IMDB Score: 6.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Photo-credit: IMDB

"Crazy Rich Asians" follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Golding), to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick's family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country's wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick's arm puts a target on Rachel's back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick's own disapproving mother (Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can't buy love, it can definitely complicate things

Directors: Junfeng Boo, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K Rajagopal, Pin Pin Tan, Royston Tan and Kelvin Tong

Year: 2015

IMDB Score: 6.6/10

Photo-credit: IMDB

An emotive anthology by seven of Singapore's most illustrious filmmakers, celebrating SG50 through the lives and stories of Singaporeans. Directed by Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K. Rajagopal, Royston Tan, Tan Pin Pin, Boo Junfeng, Kelvin Tong.

Director: T.L. Tay

Year: 1998

IMDB Score: 6.2/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

Photo-credit: IMDB

TV producer Tay Teck-lock made his feature directorial debut with this popular low-budget Singapore-made comedy about life in government projects. Featuring lead performers from the weekly Comedy Night TV series, this movie made $3 million in its first two months, climbing charts as the island's all-time top-grossing Chinese-language film (and outranking Hollywood blockbusters). Married father Chew Wah-keong (Jack Neo, the movie's writer), angry when he's not promoted, insults his boss and quits. Apartment renovator Ong (Mark Lee) has two weeks to pay off some loan sharks. The key problem facing waiter Hui (Henry Thia) is how to score with women despite his geeky appearance. This trio sets laughs in motion as they concoct wild money-making schemes. About 85% of the film's dialogue is Hokkien, the island's main Chinese dialect, with the remainder in Singlish and Mandarin. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Director: Siew Hua Yeo

Year: 2018

IMDB Score: 6.3/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

Photo-credit: FFM

A migrant worker from China goes missing at a Singapore land reclamation site after suffering from insomnia. The trail leads the police to discover more than just history buried under all that sand. In a city that never sleeps, its inhabitants dream awake. The film follows a sleepless policeman and his partner, who are tasked to uncover the case of a missing Chinese migrant worker.

Director: Junfeng Boo

Year: 2016

IMDB Score: 6.5/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Photo-credit: IMDB

APPRENTICE stars impressive newcomer Fir Rhaman in his first feature film. He plays Aiman, a 28-year-old Malay correctional officer who is recently transferred to the territory's top prison. At his new workplace, Aiman begins to take an interest in a 65-year-old sergeant named Rahim (veteran actor Wan Hanafi Su). Soon, it is revealed that the charismatic Rahim is actually the long-serving chief executioner of the prison. Rahim also takes notice of the principled and diligent Aiman, and when Rahim's assistant suddenly quits, he asks Aiman to become his apprentice. When Aiman, who lives with his older sister Suhaila, tells her about his new position, she becomes distraught, as their father was actually executed by Rahim. Can Aiman overcome his conscience and a haunted past to possibly take over as the next chief executioner?

APPRENTICE boasts the same cinematographer, Benoit Soler, as ILO ILO (winner of the Camera d'Or in Cannes and released by Film Movement in 2014) and is executive produced by filmmaker Eric Khoo. Junfeng Boo's second feature film premiered at Un Certain Regard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Director: Colin Goh (co-director), Yen Yen Woo (co-director)

Year: 2006

IMDB Score: 6.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

Photo-credit: IMDB

Directors Woo Yen Yen and Colin Goh co-helm the ironic drama Singapore Dreaming (AKA Mei Man Ren Sheng). Richard Low stars as lawyer's clerk Loh Poh Huat, who, despite battling dire poverty himself, is forced to repossess goods from consumers who haven't paid off their credit card debts. Fate shifts when Poh Huat wins two million in the local lottery, so his family expects circumstances to ease significantly for them, but then an unforeseen catastrophe pulls the entire clan into a life-or-death struggle. Alice Lim, Dick Su and Yeo Yann Yann co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Director: Anthony Chen

Year: 2013

IMDB Score: 7.3/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Photo-credit: IMDB

Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Ilo Ilo chronicles the day-to-day drama of the Lim family - troublesome grade-schooler Jiale and his overstressed parents, Heck and Leng. Comfortably middleclass and with another baby on the way, they hire Teresa, a Filipino immigrant, as a live-in maid and nanny. An outsider in both the family and Singapore itself, Teresa initially struggles to manage Jiale's antics and find her footing in her new community. The two eventually form a unique bond, but just as Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family, unforeseen circumstances in an uncertain economy will challenge the new normal yet again. (c) Film Movement