Beauty and the Beast

With all the hoo-haa surrounding the very controversial Beauty and the Beast, I decided not to take my chances with the Malaysia censorship board. Since I was scheduled to be in Singapore the weekend of the release, I took it as a divine sign that I was meant to watch it away from home! Even if it meant paying nearly triple per ticket!

Yes, in Singapore there is no such thing as a child ticket. All movie tickets are the same price and of course with the currency exchange you are bound to be paying triple for everything. Not to forget the popcorn and drinks, plus bus tickets for everyone! In a nutshell it was quite a costly affair for the four of us.

Add in a full spread of lunch at the hotel and a shopping spree at Smiggle on Orchard Road... *so broke*

I decided to watch it at Shaw Theatres - Lido, which is just across the street from our hotel. Slightly more expensive than the typical cinemas (the likes of TGV and GSC in Singapore) but I rationalized the decision - at least it meant that I didn't have to pay for MRT tickets or taxi to get everyone across town.

Booking was seamless and I paid for it online using my credit card. Upon arrival, I switched my online tickets for physical tickets (one must have paper proof of watching Beauty and the Beast!) *chuckles* However, the line for popcorn was horrendous. But they had nachos! With a generous portion of cheese sauce or salsa. I miss those days when we used to have nachos at TGV *sob sob*

Sharing my childhood memory with my young man.

Shaw Theaters - Lido.

Anyway, the movie was really really good. It kept true to the animated original, and I found myself singing to the songs from my childhood. Evergreen tunes! Certainly brought back memories from the classic Disney. I also found a new sense of appreciation for the lyrics in the musical. Dulu pakai main bantai nyanyi jer. At 10 years old, singing about how I wanted more than this provincial life??? Now that I am older, I realized the narrative impact and how the words complemented the movie beautifully. My maid on the other hand couldn't understand anything (they only had Chinese subtitles), but even she enjoyed herself. We were all so swept up with the movie, we didn't realize that the movie was over two hours long.

As for the controversial 'gay' scenes, honestly they weren't glaringly noticeable. It lasted a fraction of a second, hardly nothing to justify banning the movie completely in Malaysia. Aiden didn't even ask about it... Heck even my maid didn't notice it!

The good news is that it is finally coming to Malaysia at the end of the month. Trust me - go and watch it. You won't regret it one bit.