Film picks: Oscar-nominated Memoir Of A Snail, Reel Rock 19 climbing anthology, horror film Final Destination Bloodlines
Memoir Of A Snail, the stop-motion animated film by Australian film-maker Adam Elliot, makes it Singapore premiere. PHOTO: ARENAMEDIA
Memoir Of A Snail (M18)
94 minutes
Australian film-maker Adam Elliot's first feature, Mary And Max (2009), a bittersweet tale of a young chocolate-loving misfit from Melbourne and her pen-pal friendship with a reclusive, middle-aged New Yorker, was a hit with animation fans and critics. It established Elliot as a brilliant storyteller whose mordant sense of humour is matched by his faith in the human capacity for kindness and kinship.
Memoir Of A Snail (2024) is the much-anticipated follow-up. Its Singapore premiere is co-presented by the Singapore Film Society (SFS) and The Projector, in partnership with the film festival Animation Nation.
Told in a style Elliot calls 'clayography', in which pieces of clay are hand animated, frame by painstaking frame, the story of Grace Pudel (voiced by Emmy-winning actress Australian Sarah Snook) unfolds.
She is a snail collector and a fan of guinea pigs and romance novels. Following a brutal separation from her beloved brother, Grace falls into despair. She meets the eccentric Pinky (double Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver), an older woman with an unconquerable zest for life.
The film earned an Oscar nomination in 2025 for Best Animated Feature, and its other awards include Best Feature at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2024.
Where: Majestic Hall, The Projector at Cineleisure, 8 Grange Road
MRT: Somerset
When: May 17. 5.30pm
Admission: $17.50 standard, with concessions; free for SFS members
Info: For details and to book, go to str.sg/7jiH
Reel Rock 19 (NC16)
137 minutes
A still from the documentary Death Of Villains, part of the Reel Rock documentary presentation.
PHOTO: GARETH LEAH
Every year, this festival travels the world showcasing films dedicated to the sport of climbing. The 19th edition features three documentaries in one anthology.
Death Of Villains follows a climber seeking to redeem himself with a difficult climb, helped by a partner – the villain of the title – with a shady past.
Riders On The Storm sees three Belgians braving icy conditions during a hazardous ascent in South America's Patagonia region, while in The Cobra & The Heart, a climber who betrayed his loved ones and abandoned all he once cherished tries to fix his mistakes.
Reel Rock's premiere day, May 17, will be marked by a pop-up market from 12.30 to 6pm on level 5, with the participation of local brands Full Crimp Milk, Boulder Planet, Mag on crag, ded.within, Isaac Thread and Your Local Newsstand.
Where: Projector at Cineleisure, 8 Grange Road
MRT: Somerset
When: May 17 and 24, June 1 and 7, various times
Admission: $19 (standard), $17 for students and full-time national servicemen
Info: For details and to book, go to str.sg/HvUm
Final Destination Bloodlines (R21)
110 minutes, now showing
★★★★☆
Kaitlyn Santa Juana in Final Destination Bloodlines.
PHOTO: 2025 WBEI
The sixth movie in the slasher franchise follows college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who is failing her classes because of nightmares about a mass death event. She investigates their source, involving her grandmother Iris (Gabrielle Rose) and a catastrophe she averted in 1968, creating generations which might not have existed.
Death will wipe them out, unless Stefani and her brother Charlie (Teo Briones) thwart the process.
This franchise is popular, but has not scaled horror fandom heights, due to its pessimistic tone.
The new movie plays to its strength, death's inevitable but sudden appearance, in a way that is both darkly funny and horrifying. The opening scenes contain a catastrophe that sets Death's machinations in motion. This time, the creators opted for a more elaborate setup - the opening gorefest is pretty, with the 1960s aesthetics adding fresh poignancy.
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