Ready for your extreme close-up ExpatChoicers? Addicted Art Gallery is celebrating its love of movies with "Cinefyl", a new limited edition series by Booda Brand's Billy Ma.
Cinefyl also marks the launch of the newly renovated Golden Village cinema in Katong, Singapore where the images are currently on display. The good news? You don't have to be in the Lion City to get your movie-loving mitts on these prints because we ship internationally. Dance-off, bro. Me and you! (10 points to Gryffindor if you can guess which movie this came from).
A bit about Billy Ma...
The Taiwanese-born, Canadian-raised, Italian-influenced (Billy grew up in a predominantly Italian immigrant community which has led to him to “still talk with my hands too much”), Saigon-based illustrator, painter, sculptor, designer and art director, has been producing iconic artworks under his label, Booda Brand, since 2009, and collectors can’t get enough of them.
It’s hard to go past his striking illustrations with their bold use of colour and typography. “I always start with hand drawings of my ideas. Then they’re scanned into the computer where a rigorous process of experimenting with different colours, textures and compositions begins,” says Billy. The results are quite stunning.
So make like a gofer and get yours now! Run, Forrest! Run!
Truth
Movie: The Matrix, 1999
Arty-Fact: Entertainment Weekly called The Matrix "the most influential action movie of the generation."
Truth is an homage to the now classic scene where Morpheus says to Neo, “This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.”
Truth: The group of green characters that appear on the screen in the opening sequence of the film is meant to look like computer code. In a 2017 interview with CNET, Simon Whiteley, the visual-effects supervisor for the movie, said that the mysterious code is actually a combination of reversed characters and numbers that he scanned from his wife’s Japanese cookbooks (Source: insider.com).
Rocketman
Movie: Rocketman, 2019
Arty-Fact: Rocketman is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John (Source: Paramount.com).
Fun fact, Taron Egerton who plays the role of Elton John, wears over 50 different pairs of glasses throughout the film.
I Feel The Need
Movie: Top Gun, 1986
Arty-Fact: What happens if you quote the film at the real TOPGUN?
According to former naval aviator and TOPGUN instructor Cmdr. Guy “Bus” Snodgrass, students at TOPGUN are slapped with a hefty fine of $5 if they quote the 1986 blockbuster. That’s because “you don’t turn TOPGUN into a joke by referencing the movie.” (Source:Navytimes.com).
Sounds like it’s a highway to the danger zone.
Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner
Movie: Dirty Dancing, 1987
Arty-Fact: Well we’re having the time of our life! While this iconic scene has been reimagined in a limited-edition print, we’re recalling the moment Frances “Baby” leaps off the stage into Johnny’s arms and the movie draws to a close as everyone dances the night away.
Fun Fact: Patrick Swayze was chosen for the role of Johnny Castle because of his eyes: "I wanted hooded eyes," Bergstein said in Movies That Made Us. "So we went through picture after picture and I said, 'Ah! Those are the eyes I want'."
Dirty Dancing grossed USD 214.6 million at the box office – and that’s why “nobody puts Baby in a corner” – cha cha cha!
Shaken Not Stirred
Movies: James Bond
Arty-Fact: The catchphrase first appears in the novel Diamonds Are Forever (1956), though Bond himself does not actually say it until Dr. No (1958), where his exact words are "shaken and not stirred."
In the film adaptations of Fleming's novels, the phrase is first uttered by the villain, Dr. Julius No, when he offers the drink in Dr. No (1962), and it is not uttered by Bond himself (played by Sean Connery) until Goldfinger (1964).
It is used in numerous Bond films thereafter with the notable exceptions of You Only Live Twice (1967), in which the drink is wrongly offered as "stirred, not shaken", to Bond's response "Perfect", and Casino Royale (2006) in which Bond, after losing millions of dollars in a game of poker, is asked if he wants his martini shaken or stirred and snaps, "Do I look like I give a damn?" (Source: Wikipedia.org)
The sky fell when 007 rebelled and drank a Heineken in Skyfall.
Maniac
Movie: Flashdance, 1983
Arty-Fact: Maniac is inspired by the surprise box-office success, Flashdance. The film, which opened to negative reviews by professional critics became the third-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the US. Worldwide, it grossed over USD 200 million.
The soundtrack, compiled by Giorgio Moroder, spawned several hit songs, including Maniac and the Academy Award-winning Flashdance...What A Feeling.
This wonderful limited edition print by Booda Brand captures the classic wet dance scene.
What a feeling!
Life
Movie: Forrest Gump, 1994
Arty-Fact: Released in July 1994, Forrest Gump, which was produced on a budget of $55 million, grossed $683.1 million.
Tom Hanks said, “The studio was one day away from pulling the plug on this one movie I was going to make, and the director came to my house and said, ‘Look, this is going to fall apart because they won’t give us the budget for shooting this one sequence, and we’ve got to have this sequence.”
Director Robert Zemeckis and Hanks decided to split the cost of shooting the running montage and saved the film 48 hours before it was about to be shut down (Source: collider.com).
Like Forrest’s mama always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.”
Ditto
Movie: Ghost, 1990
Arty-Fact: Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze): “I love you, Molly. I've always loved you.”
Molly Jensen (Demi Moore): “Ditto.”
…and the movie-going audience swooned. Ghost out-grossed every movie released in 1990 and turned Demi Moore into the highest-paid actress at the time (Source: mentalfloss.com).
The famous pottery scene has been parodied countless times. All jokes aside, Swayze and Moore’s scene is frequently cited as one of the sexiest, most romantic film moments of all time. Ditto!
If you've caught feelings of nostalgia, you can talk to me Goose at blair@addictedgallery.com or elena@addictedgallery.com for further information.
Until the next one ExpatChoicers, you're gonna need a bigger boat...
We hope you enjoy what our Gallery has to offer and encourage everyone to get Addicted too. Blair & El xox
A little about Addicted...
Our aim at Addicted Art Gallery is to connect you to art in a friendly, posh-less, non-highbrow way.
Over the years we have developed a love for all different types of art and that is what we want Addicted Art Gallery to reflect. As a result, we have divided our art into three broad categories.
Our diverse portfolio includes; Contemporary Art, with a predominantly South East Asian focus; Urban and Pop Art, featuring well known and highly respected artists whose works will make you think, laugh and question; and lastly, there are our beautiful Vintage Posters and Art Deco inspired works which will transport you to a different time.
