Enter The Upside Down At The Stranger Things - The Encounter At Bugis+ Mall (30 June to 1 August 2023)

The supernatural world of Stranger Things, Netflix's popular horror series with an 80's vibe, will manifest on the 7th floor of Bugis+ from 30 June to 1 August 2023. The immersive retail experience called STRANGER THINGS - THE ENCOUNTER is a partnership between Netflix and designer toys and collectibles studio Mighty Jaxx.

Get your 80s' gear ready, and pretend you are Eleven or Mike. Then, gather your gang to take down the dangerous creatures all set to destroy your entire world. You might even want to call upon the Hellfire Club (Red Dot Diva salutes to her fave character, Eddie *sob*) as backup. You will need help, especially when the evil Vecna has plans for world domination.

What you can expect at STRANGER THINGS - THE ENCOUNTER? Check out the list below:

HBO's The Last Of Us: From Game To TV (by Atty)

HBO's game to TV adaptation series The Last Of Us is a rare beast. The 9-episode live action series is an engrossing odyssey of survival during an apocalypse when humankind is rapidly being infested by a type of cordeyceps fungus.

Just like in the game created by Naughty Dog, the show's viewers follow the journey of a weary man named Joel (Pedro Pascal) and snarky teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they travel to a revolutionary militia group called The Fireflies. Ellie is immune from the fungus' effects, and the Fireflies are supposed to be able to create a vaccine with Ellie's help. While making their way through the ruined landscape of the US, Joel and Ellie fight off dangerous people as well as the infested, also known as clickers.

There have been several attempts to adapt popular game franchises to live action shows, but most of these endeavours never quite hit the mark. Live action adaptations like Resident Evil and The Halo lacked compelling storylines, and were not able to create the sense of urgency or horror you get when you are playing the games. One of the better adaptations is Netflix's The Witcher, which has managed to please most fans - at least for the first season. Fan favourite Henry Cavill's screen presence as main character Geralt of Rivia has helped make the show somewhat bingeworthy.

Interview With Actor-Producer Jonathan Cheong About Award-Winning Action Short Film Bullet For Vengeance

At the age of 26, local actor-producer-action director Jonathan Cheong not only owns a film company called Raging Fire Productions, he already has a couple of award-winning action short films under this belt. Jonathan played a conflicted hitman in his 2021 film “Deadlock”, and he was awarded Best Actor at the World Film Carnival Singapore (WFCS) for the role. “Deadlock” also won Outstanding Crime Film and Best Outstanding Director for Samuel Delitans Lee at WFCS, and was selected for seven international film festivals.

Fueled by his passion for action genre films and ardent admiration for veteran martial arts actor Donnie Yen, Jonathan consistently puts in time and effort to hone his craft. His latest Raging Fire Productions offering entitled “Bullet For Vengeance” is an action thriller about the personal feud between between a criminal and a police inspector over a shooting gone wrong. The short film written and directed by Raphael Lim, stars Jonathan Cheong, Gary Gan, Johanna Van, Agnes Goh and Kris Mavericko.

To date, “Bullet For Vengeance” has clinched an impressive total of 8 Awards, 8 Official Sections and 7 Special Mentions at the local and international film festival circuit. This includes Best Cinematography by Benny Tan at the World Film Carnival Singapore (WFCS), Best Supporting Actor awarded to Kris Mavericko and Best Supporting Actress to Agnes Goh at the Golden Reel International Film Festival (Massachusetts, USA).

Ahead of the official release of “Bullet For Vengeance” for the general international audience, Red Dot Diva grabbed hold of Jonathan Cheong to ask him some nosy questions:

Diva's Movie Review: Missing Is A Riveting And Twisty Screenlife Thriller

Sony Pictures' Missing is the next installment of their critically acclaimed 2018 screenlife film, Searching. In this film genre (also know as desktop films), the audience is led through a series of events which unfolds mostly in front of a computer screen or smartphone. Directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, and a screenplay by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian (the creators of Searching), Missing is not a direct sequel to older film, but it does follow the same formula. To its benefit, Missing manages to supercede its predecessor with a tauter and twistier thriller, and a touching mother-daughter relationship.

In Searching, Daniel Kim (John Cho) is a frantic father looking desperately for his missing teenage daughter Margot (Michelle La) via her online activities. The situation is somewhat reversed in Missing, with June (Storm Reid), a Gen Z teenager trying to trace the whereabouts of her mother Grace (Nia Long).

Gamescom Asia 2023's Entertainment Zone To Shift To Physical Format (19 to 22 October 2023)

Gamescom Asia has officially announced their 2023 show dates! The premiere gaming convention in South-East Asia will run for 4 days, from 19 – 22 October 2023.

Last year, gaming fans from the region were extremely disappointed to learn that the Entertainment Zone (B2C) was only held virtually through 2 livestreamed shows. Despite that, Gamecom Asia 2022's Trade Zone hosted 88 exhibitors and sponsors, and received over 3,200 trade visitors from about 70 countries.

For this year's event, Gamescom Asia's organiser Koelnmesse Singapore has proclaimed that the Entertainment Zone segment will open its doors to a physical format. After all, Covid-19 multi-ministry task force has recently announced that Red Dot Island's Dorscon level will be lowered to Green. This signifies that the health risk of the Covid-19 disease is now considered mild on the island. Moreover, mask-wearing while on public transport is no longer mandatory. (YAY!)

Star Wars Celebration Europe (London) 2023 - Hayden Christensen, Mads Mikkelson, Katee Sackhoff Joining As Guests

Well, well! Red Dot Diva just published an article about the first wave of guests for Star Wars Celebration Europe (London) 2023 , and more guests were just announced by Official Pix. Official Pix are the folks in charge of the autograph hall and photo opportunities.

The additional guests announced are Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader), Denis Lawson (Wedge Antilles), Mads Mikkelsen (Galen Erso), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan), and James Arnold Taylor (voice actor in The Clone Wars, Tales Of The Jedi)!!

Star Wars Celebration Europe (London) 2023 Announces First Wave Of Guests - Anthony Daniels, Ashley Eckstein and More

Star Wars Celebration is an official Lucasfilm event that brings together Star Wars fans from all over the world to enjoy everything about the franchise. The bi-annual event is organised by ReedPop, who are also the organisation behind New York Comic Con.

Red Dot Diva had tickets for Star Wars Celebration Anaheim (SWCA), which was supposed to happen during summer of 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled and postponed to May 2022. At that time, Red Dot Island continued to be on lockdown regarding out-going flights till a few months later. That means that Red Dot Diva was not able to make it to Anaheim last year either.

Fortunately, her good friend and Star Wars buddy Ashley managed to help score 4-day tickets for Star Wars Celebration Europe (SWCE) 2023. SWCE is set to light up the galaxy at London's ExCeL Centre from 7 to 10 April 2023! After all that pent-up Star Wars feels, Red Dot Diva is more than ready to party with the fans who will be converging at the event hall that Easter weekend. Finally, she will be travelling overseas for the first time in 3 years since the pandemic lockdown began.