Diva's Movie Review: China Box Office Hit "Monster Hunt" Needs More Bite (Minor Spoilers)

"Monster Hunt" (捉妖记) is probably one of those movies you may not have heard of, but it is the biggest hit movie in China right now.

On opening day alone, the movie raked in 162 million Yuan (SGD 35.8 mil) of box office takings. In addition, it also earned over 669 million Yuan (SGD 147.8 mil) during the first weekend. It is currently the highest-grossing film in China, having earned 1.32 billion Yuan (SGD 286.7 mil) since its first day at the box office.

These record-breaking feats got Red Dot Diva curious enough to see whether "Monster Hunt" was worth all the hype, even though generally, her taste in films do not coincide with those of most viewers in mainland China.

Directed by Dreamworks animator Raman Hui, who was also co-director on "Shrek the Third", "Monster Hunt" is a blend of live-action and VFX footage in a Sinicized-fantasy world where monsters and mankind are at odds with each other, and the monsters are driven by the humans to flee deep into the mountains.

Dreamworks Animation - The Exhibition: Diva Took A Peek Into What Happens Behind the Scenes

As a fan of many of Dreamworks' animated movies, like "Shrek", "Puss in Boots", "Kung Fu Panda" and "How To Train Your Dragon", Red Dot Diva was eager to step inside the special exhibition that is held at the ArtSci Museum.

So once her calendar was available on Hari Raya Puasa, she made her way to the museum together with her Evil Twin. Not surprisingly, there was a long line for tickets because it was a public holiday, but the queue moved quickly enough and they did not have to wait too long to buy their passes.

The exhibition, which is curated by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, showed the flow of the film-making process in a logical sequence through three different galleries called Character, Story and World.

STGCC 2015: Adi Granov Returns Together with Jim Cheung and Stella Chuu!

The second wave of STGCC 2015 guest announcements has been released!

Returning to the Red Dot Island is artist and concept designer Adi Granov. Adi was at STGCC two years ago, as a guest under the umbrella of Play Imaginative. If one can recall, it was the year when Iron Man fever hit the convention floor. As the man behind the concept designs of the Iron Man suits featured in the movies, Adi was a hot fan favourite then, and he is *still* a hot fan favourite now.

Recently, Adi provided the variant cover art for "Star Wars #1", "Darth Vader" and "Princess Leia" comics and cover artwork for "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return for the Jedi".

Adi will be making announcements on commission sign-ups and other items that will be made available at STGCC. Stayed tuned for the info on his Facebook page. If you missed the chance to say hello to Adi back in 2013, don't miss meeting him and his lovely wife Tamsin this coming September!

Diva's Movie Review: "Ant-man" Is Packed With Oodles of Charm (Spoilerish!)

After the noisy, over-the-top "Avengers: Age of Ultron" that resembled and felt more like a video game than a satisfying movie, Red Dot Diva toned down her expectations on the next Marvel superhero movie.

Sure, she adores Paul Rudd and his work, but Ant-man has never been totally mainstream as a superhero, even when, in the comics, he is actually one of the founding members of The Avengers. Most people could never quite envision Paul Rudd (who mostly did comedies) to be a superhero either.

Moreover, after nearly 9 years in the making at the hands of British director Edgar Wright, "Ant-man" saw his suddn departure in May 2014 due to "creative differences". He was later replaced by Peyton Reed as director, who also re-crafted the script together with Paul Rudd and Adam McKay.

Will this be another storytelling mess filled with too many characters? The promotional trailers for "Ant-man" were very low-key, so would that mean it was going to be a bland movie? She knew she was not alone in her skepticism.

But those niggly feelings fell apart within minutes of the opening scene that set the tone of the entire movie - thanks to the engaging script and innate charm of Paul Rudd as burglar-genius Scott Lang.

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!

ICDS 2015: Meet Guest-of-Honour Cosplayer Jin (behindinfinity) at *Scape 22 & 23 August 2015!

Red Dot Diva tips her hat off to cosplayers in general. These hardworking folks invest a lot of their time and soul into their craft. With many cosplay and anime events happening all year round in Red Dot Island, active cosplayers are almost always hard at work imagining, planning, designing and working on their costumes.

What's different about International Cosplay Day compared to other similar events is that it is an annual worldwide celebration that occurs on the last Saturday of August. So, even if one does not have a convention to go to, it would be a good excuse to get into a costume and gather with some friends to celebrate the joy and camaraderie of cosplay.

In Red Dot Island though, International Cosplay Day Singapore (ICDS) has taken on a local flavour. Fellow geeks from The Neo Tokyo Project have been organizing a fan-driven weekend gathering for the last 6 years!

This year's edition of ICDS, which will remain at *Scape, is held on 22 & 23 August, 11 AM to 7 PM. The website was updated a few weeks ago, and holds some interesting information, including the name of a special guest.

Slamcon at SDCC 2015 - Still Cool, Still Happening!!

After a long day of walking, standing, or just merely even waiting for panels or autographs at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), it is nice to finally have a party to go to at the end of the day to chill out, or to catch up with the friends you have not managed to meet yet!

And for all these purposes, Slamcon is one of the best parties at SDCC to hang out in! For those who are uninitiated to what Slamcon is, it is a free, all-inclusive party open to everyone, and the brainchild of a bunch of actors and comic creators - Todd Stashwick, Brea Grant, Dennis Calero and Deric A. Hughes.

#slamcon is on Hilton Bayfront pool club. Now!

A photo posted by Todd Stashwick (@tstashwick) on Jul 11, 2015 at 8:12pm PDT

Slamcon started in 2011 at the Hyatt Mezzanine with some of Red Dot Diva's good friends attending the party. (For a more detailed story, refer to the blog post here!) It was the year Red Dot Diva was not able to head to SDCC because she had just lost her day job.

She managed to attend SDCC and Slamcon for the next 3 years together with her convention buddies. During those times they attended the party, they have met all the Slamcon founders, actress/ writer Amber Benson, and last year, both Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins hung out at the shingdig too!

Zombies Galore! South-East Asian Premiere Dates for "The Walking Dead" and "Fear The Walking Dead"!

Been dreamin' about zombies invading your own safe haven ever since the last episode of Season 5 of "The Walking Dead"? Or wonder how the reunion would be for bromance-buddies Rick Grimes and Morgan Jones?

Well, it is about 3 months away from now, but Fox International Channels has already set the Season 6 international premiere date!

The same day and date release of the extended 90-minute season opener will be available in this region on Fox cable channel (Singtel TV Ch. 330; StarHub TV Ch. 505, Monday, October 12th.

Break Out Your Tridents, Jason Momoa Announced as Guest for AsiaPop Comic Con Manila 2015!

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for more exciting news for AsiaPop Comicon Manila 2015!

Red Dot Diva has just received news that the very bicepstuous Jason Momoa of "Game of Thrones" and who will be a very sexy Aquaman in the upcoming movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", will be heading to AsiaPop Comicon Manila (APCC Manila) 2015! Let's just say Red Dot Diva is very eager to check out the size of his biceps - up close and personal!

What is this convention you ask? If you have missed the first official press release of what this new comic convention is about, click here for Red Dot Diva's previous blog article.

Jeremy Shada, the teen talent behind the voice of Flint on Cartoon Network's "Adventure Time" is also set to make his way to Manila for APCC Manila! His band mates from Makeout Monday - brother Zack Shada (vocals), Logan Charles (vocals and rhythm guitar), John Spicer (lead guitar), and Seth Renken (drums) - will be coming along too.

And Red Dot Diva is pretty sure there are more celeb guest announcements on the way!

There will be photo op and autograph sessions. As in other similar conventions, Red Dot Diva anticipates that this might be chargeable and priced at different rates for different celebrities. Sometime to save up and look out, for sure.

Geeks in Manila! Get Set For AsiaPop Comicon (17-20 Sep 2015)!

Some months back, Red Dot Diva broke the news about a brand new pop-culture convention that is set to wow Manila pop-culture fans in a big way. (Read the article in this link.)

Well, AsiaPop Comicon Manila (APCC Manila) has now set their dates! The pop extravaganza is set to happen from 17 to 20 September 2015 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

The announced dates may not be feasible for Red Dot Island folks who will already have invested money and time at STGCC on 11 to 12 September, but this news should make Pinoy fans very very happy indeed!

APCC Manila aims to be more than just a comic convention. It will also have shades of what some other more TV/ movie-centric convention organizers are doing, by combining entertainment with comics, gaming, toys, cosplay and more.

Other than the usual convention fare like panels, product launches, portfolio reviews and cosplay, appearances by TV/ movie celebrities as well as exclusive screenings have been hinted. Who these famous people are have not been announced yet. Red Dot Diva thinks the organizers, Universal Events and Entertainment, must be holding some big secrets in that area. She can't wait for the convention guest reveal!