Star Wars: Visions - Stunning Visuals and Unique Stories In Anime Form

STAR WARS: VISIONS, an anthology of nine anime shorts, is wonderfully creative and goes right into the emotional core of what the Star Wars is all about. Even though it is not canon, the series offers a thrilling alternate universe, while taking you back to the mega franchise's Japanese roots.

Star Wars has always drew ideas heavily from Japanese culture. In interviews, George Lucas mentioned that he is a huge fan of Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa. When you watch Kurosawa's 1958 black and white movie THE HIDDEN FORTRESS side by side with the original 1977 Star Wars movie, you will see the same story beats about a princess, a general, a pair of comedic peasants and the fight against a feudal lord.

Samurai lore and visual traditional Japanese aesthetic, like the ronin, lightsaber, Darth Vader's helmet and kabuki, are also embedded in Star Wars. Even in the sequels, you will find that the Japanese influences remain strong. In THE LAST JEDI, Rian Johnson paid homage to Kurosawa's RASHOMON by portraying the re-telling of young Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker's fateful incident at the training temple in three different versions. Also, Kylo Ren's repaired helmet in the last movie of the Skywalker saga is influenced by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery.

The anime studios involved with STAR WARS: VISIONS are Kamikaze Douga, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Studio Colorido (Twin Engine), TRIGGER, Kinema Citrus, Science Saru, and Production I.G. When Red Dot Diva was binge-watching the series, it was evident that the production teams adored the Star Wars franchise, and threw their hearts into it by putting their own unique spin to their animated shorts.

ArtScience Museum's Orchestral Manoeuvres Exhibition - An Eclectic Ear-Opening Aural Adventure

For most of us, it is easier to grasp an idea or imagine a subject through pictures. After all, humans beings are highly visual creatures, and we process faster based on what we see. So, to be able to explore sound through different visual and mixed media ways, is what makes ArtScience Museum's current exhibition called ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES: SEE SOUND. FEEL SOUND. BE SOUND particularly intriguing.

Curated by Adrian George, Director of Exhibitions at ArtScience Museum, with Amita Kirpalani, Curator at ArtScience Museum, the exhibition is presented over nine galleries. They consist of noise-making sculptures, paintings, videos, music, and works by over 32 artists and composers from eight countries.

To take you on an aural adventure and give you a few notes of the exhibitions varying soundscapes, Red Dot Diva has included links to a few videos that she has uploaded to her Instagram account.

Doom Patrol Season 3 Is Staying Weird And Fun - Now on HBO Go!

One of DC's strangest superhero groups, the DOOM PATROL, is back on HBO with a brand new season.

The first 3 episodes of Season 3 have been released on 23 September on HBO Go, the media company's streaming platform in Asia. There is a lot to unpack as the metahuman misifts consisting of Elasti-Woman aka Rita Farr (April Bowby), Negative Man aka Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer), Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser), Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) and Cyborg aka Victor Stone (Joivan Wade), deal with their personal trauma as well as unexpected strangers who have crossed their paths.

Rudolf Nureyev On Stage - Exhibition of Stage Costumes and Photos at Alliance Française de Singapour

As part of DANCE: A Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, the Alliance Française de Singapour has an exhibition called NUREYEV ON STAGE. For the first time in Red Dot Island, the exclusive event held at the organisation's gallery showcases 14 original stage costumes worn by the ‘master of dance’ RUDOLF NUREYEV (1938-1993) during some of his memorable performances.

In the realm of pop-culture and film, Red Dot Diva can name only two male ballet dancers off hand. One of them is Mikhail Baryshnikov, and the other, the legendary Rudolf Nureyev. Because of Rudolf Nureyev, Red Dot Diva was introduced to the world of ballet, his long time dance partner Dame Margot Fonteyn. During the height of the Cold War, she remembered being drawn to his dramatic deflection to the West. This unforgettable story is told in the 2019 film “THE WHITE CROW” directed by Ralph Fiennes.

Netflix's Tudum - Catch Your Faves At Virtual Global Fan Event On 26 September 2021

When you follow the ways in how people consume media in the last 3 decades or so, it is also intriguing to see how much Netflix has evolved from a DVD service company, to a streaming platform and later on, as a producer of its own original shows. Its growth and popularity surged when the Covid-19 pandemic struck last year. As in-person conventions and events have mostly halted, most media companies decided to host their fan outreach in the virtual space.

With TUDUM - you know, that iconic Netflix opening intro - Netflix's inaugural virtual fan event on 25 September 2021 (26 September in Asia) will include 145 of the biggest stars and creators of the streamer's over 70 original content. The 3-hour event will feature interactive panels that offer first looks, trailers, exclusives and conversations, specially curated for Netflix's fans from all over the world.

Can't wait for what's in store for the next season of “Stranger Things”? Super curious to see what Zack Snyder's “Army of Thieves”, the prequel to his zombie heist movie “Army Of The Dead”? Or, maybe, you want to catch another glimpse of Henry Cavill in the upcoming season of “The Witcher”. Well, there will be an entire list of celebrities and shows that will feed your hungry eager souls. Check out this page to see if you faves are slated to be at TUDUM.

Star Trek Day 2021 - Updates and Announcements for Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds and Prodigy

STAR TREK celebrated its 55th Anniversary virtually on Star Trek Day last week (Sep 8), with a 2-hour line-up of panels and more, hosted by Paramount+ in the US.

The franchise has been seeing a resurgence and attracting a whole new generation of fans in the decade. Red Dot Diva thinks it is mainly due to the more accessible pop-culture-y 2009 Star Trek movie written and directed by J.J. Abrams. The movie featured a younger cast, like Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, which helped bridge the gap to original Trek. But, you may beg to differ.

In any case, for those who missed the anniversary livestream, here's a summary of the key Trek news that had been announced.

DC Fandome 2021 Returns On 17 October With Sneak Peeks of The Batman and Black Adam

DC Fandome is back again this year! The live global fan extravaganza will happen for one day only on 17 October, Sunday in the Asian region (i.e. 16 October, Sat, USA time). Just like last year, the streaming event is free for all fans to attend.

All you need to do is to suit up and enter into the DC multiverse at DCFanDome.com. The landing page for the event is already up, so you can sign up for a login right now to receive the latest news and updates. DC fans who will be entering DC FanDome for the first time this year can also check out the wonderful video highlights of last year's event on the website.

What will be in store for this year's DC FanDome?