Re-Enter Into Westworld - Season 4 Premieres on HBO Asia and HBO Go, 27 June 2022

HBO's dystopian science-fiction series WESTWORLD is one of the most confounding yet intriguing study on human psyche as well as the concepts of consciousness and freewill. The TV series created by husband and wife team Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, expanded on the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton. Michael Crichton is known for his techno-thriller books like The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Disclosure and Prey.

As a local islander, Red Dot Diva found WESTWORLD'S Season 3 an interesting visual experience because her city-state home was transformed as future Los Angeles. Familiar spots like Lasalle College of the Arts, Oasia Hotel Downtown, Marina One, the Atlas Bar and even Pulau Ubin, were featured prominently in several scenes. Red Dot Diva never realised Red Dot Island could look so sleek and cinematic!

In Season 3, the hosts Dolores, Maeve and Bernard are no longer in the theme park. The setting shifts to the real world, mostly in a near-future Los Angeles, with Dolores aiming to start a revolution. In this timeline, humans like a man called Caleb, had to live with specified outcomes and futures determined by an AI called Rehoboam. The story was a mirror of the Delos theme park where the hosts were kept in repetitive narrative loops. In the Season 3 finale, after finding out about Serac, one of the creators of Rehoboam, as well as battling with Maeve, Dolores sacrificed herself for humanity. But not before she chose Caleb to lead the revolution.

There are several unanswered questions after Season 3's ending, like: Is Dolores really dead? Or, how did the revolution led by Caleb play out after the destruction of Rehoboam? What did Bernard find in the Sublime, and how long was he in there? And, what other nefarious deeds have the Man In Black host been up to in the real world? The answers you are seeking for may be revealed in Season 4 of WESTWORLD, which will debut at the same time as the U.S. on Monday, June 27 at 9 AM SGT only on HBO and HBO GO. There will be a same day encore on at 10 PM SGT on HBO.

Art Is Community - The Comic Embassy Opens At Tekka Place - 11 June 2022

A brand new communal space called The Comic Embassy will be opening at Tekka Place this Saturday (11 June), and you are all invited! The experimental project is conceptualised by SG Cartoon Resource Hub, supported by Tekka 1001 with sponsorship from Millet Group and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

From June to November 2022, The Comic Embassy aims to generate more interest for local comic book artists and creators, by showcasing the talent of established as well as emerging artists. A pair of artist ambassadors will be featured each month. Through an extensive programme that includes book launches, meet and greet sessions, live drawing, workshops and more, The Comic Embassy hopes to provide ways for artists to connect with the public, including comic book fans as well as future collaborators.

The Comic Embassy - An Interview With Multi-faceted Freelance Artist James Leong

An exciting and experimental communal space for comic artists called The Comic Embassy is currently being set up at Tekka Place. The embassy aims to promote local interest in comic creation, and will shine the spotlight on two artist ambassadors each month.

Local freelance artist James Leong is one of the artists who will help kick off the launch of The Comic Embassy. Upon first impression, James’ buff and tough exterior might remind you of an Asian Jason Statham, all ready to dive into action with guns a-blazing. However, instead of drawing real-life weapons, James draws gorgeous art pieces of highly imaginative characters and creatures.

Before he went freelance, James spent decades toughing it out as Art Director in the advertising industry, working with client projects like OCBC and SK-II. Now, he not only creates comics and manages his own wearable art brand #DaCatPeeps, he also flexes his knowledge as a professional educator teaching enthusiasts about art, story-telling and related topics.

As an artist with several years of working experience, James certainly has a lot to share. So, Red Dot Diva pumped up a few nosy questions, just to find out a little more about the man behind the drawing board:

The Comic Embassy - An Interview With Local Sketch Artist Collin Yap

The comic book scene in Red Dot Island may be small, but dig deeper and you will discover a surprisingly long list of local writers and artists. To offer a spotlight to emerging and established local comic book artists as well as student groups, a new local artist communal space called The Comic Embassy is currently being set up at Tekka Place. More details about the site, its founders and the upcoming programme are coming soon.

The Comic Embassy will host two artist ambassadors each month. For June, one of these ambassadors is Collin Yap, who by the way, is a full-time tennis coach by profession! Though not formally trained, Collin has been taking notes from the masters of the industry. He also credits having a good mentor who challenges him to constantly improve himself. That mentor is local freelance creative director / artist/ art educator James Leong, who will be making his appearance together with Collin as the other artist ambassador.

To get to know Collin even better, Red Dot Diva lobbed some nosy questions to him. Check out the Q&A below:

Top Gun: Maverick – A Light, Water & Pyrotechnic Extravaganza At Marina Bay Sands - What A Blast!

After 36 years, the long awaited sequel TOP GUN: MAVERICK starring Tom Cruise, is now showing at theatres all over the world. The follow-up movie is set 30 years after the original action blockbuster film TOP GUN, and sees the return of Tom Cruise' character Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.

In tune with the TOP GUN movies stories about US Navy fighter pilots, TOP GUN: MAVERICK had a world premiere on board the aircraft carrier USS Midway, where Tom Cruise made a heckuva entrance by flying and landing a helicopter on the ship deck. To add on to the spectacle, there were also jet flyovers and the presence of uniformed servicemen accompanying the cast members on the red carpet.

Red Dot Island has seen her share of flashy red carpet premieres in recent years before the pandemic struck. Ever since a series of lockdowns and limited social restrictions in 2019, big scale events such as these have yet to return to our shores. In a way, Red Dot Diva misses these grand affairs, even though the messy and sweaty hours of standing in the public fans' area does suck the energy of from her for a couple of days or so. She has also suffered a few minor bruises and scrapes from being right in the fray of things. Still, the possibility of getting close to your favourite celebrity was real, and if you managed to get that rare selfie with the actor, well... then you are probably set for your entire geek life.

Hopefully, movie premieres will return in a big way in Red Dot Island again soon. Meanwhile, less flashy movie premieres at cinemas are still held by the local distributors. UIP Singapore's premiere event for TOP GUN: MAVERICK held at Shaw Theatres Lido saw some well-known celebrities in attendance, as well as a few US Navy aviators based here.

You Won't Believe It's Trash Art Exhibition - Intricate Models Built By Local Artist Simon Tan

The YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT'S TRASH (YWBIT) Exhibition organised by Lendlease to promote sustainability and zero-waste habits may have already ended, but Red Dot Diva still cannot get over how amazing the art pieces were. So, she decided to publish this belated blog post as a reminder of the time when she stood there admiring the impressive models on display at Parkway Parade. Besides Parkway Parade, the roving exhibition was held at Paya Lebar Quarter, Jem, and 313 Somerset.

All the intricately built models were by one man, a local retiree and self-taught artist named Simon Tan. Mr Tan uses various recycled materials like cardboard, foam, paper, toothpicks and even broom heads to make these art pieces. Most of them were very recognisable pop-culture characters or props like the Alien Queen from the Alien vs Predator universe, the monster from Frankenstein, and the Star Destroyer from Star Wars.

May The 4th SG 2022 at Suntec City - We're One With The Force

This year's May the 4th activities landed for 10 days from 7 to 16 May 2022 at the prime trade planet of Planet SuntecVIII.

After a lengthy blockade on trade and travel between certain sectors of the galaxy, it was really good to be able to meet up with various interplanetary allies again. On the 1st day of the Star Wars Day celebration, Red Dot Diva was happily reunited with her geek bro, Jedd and fellow geekstresses Jas and Gwen.

Together, they explored the sights in the various sections of the planet's city, like the impressive display of Star Wars Black Series action figures and LEGO builds at the West Wing. Over in the East Wing, the bustling marketplace offered creative toy photography prints by Plastic SG & Friends, and vibrant paintings by art collective DPLMT. Most of the items were available for sale, with net proceeds going to charity (KHH Health Fund).