#1
The first time I visited The Projector was in October 2023 was with Veron (hi Veron!!! I miss you so much.) and we went to watch Past Lives. We had no idea how to get into the cinema at Golden Mile but eventually found the lift outside the mall (is it a mall? I will never know) and we made it to the screening. The room was really small, cozy and completely filled; I suspect that this was not a first watch for many of the filmgoers.
I’d say I thought that The Projector was really special. With its old cinema seats and indie film showcases, it was a part of Singapore that felt so different, so isolated, so set in time.
#2
The second time I visited The Projector was a few days after the first time. It was a Wednesday. 11 October 2023. I remember this because I was with my brother and we had dinner at the small hawker centre across the road (you know which one), and as we were crossing the overhead bridge my brother asked me if it was our parents’ anniversary. I thought it was on the 12th but he turned out to be right — we texted our parents and went to watch Raging Bull.
What I didn’t like about Raging Bull was that there were no subtitles to comprehend the strong Italian accent. But also I didn’t appreciate the story that much.
Since then I’ve watched (checks notes) seventeen more movies at The Projector. Maybe more but I’m basing things off my Letterboxd. Actually maybe I can just talk about all the movies I’ve watched. These are memories that I’ll never get the chance to relive.
#3
After that the next time I visited The Projector was in January 2024, with Danielle (hi Danielle!!!! I know you read my Substack, hello!!!!!), to watch The Holdovers. The Holdovers is a perfect Christmas movie, which is weird because we watched it in January. I remember after the screening I couldn’t stop smiling — the movie is truly magical.
#4
In February Perfect Days by Wim Wenders was showing in The Projector and because of that they did a Wim Wenders movie showcase at The Projector, which is how I wound up watching Wings of Desire with my brother and my dad. It is a beautiful movie and it was one of the first slice-of-life movies that I’d watched (maybe the second one, after Boyhood). I remember writing my review in the backseat of the car as we were heading home. I really loved Wings of Desire.
#5
The next week I went to watch Perfect Days with Danielle. Again, very slice-of-life. I don’t think it’s exactly her jam (sorry Danielle) but I absolutely enjoyed it. I can’t recommend it enough (I don’t think Danielle would say this.).
#6
I didn’t get to go to The Projector again until late April (I’m guessing because of Robocup and Game Theory finals), where I watched Rebel Without A Cause with Danielle. Honestly I didn’t know much about this movie except that it inspired the “Chicken Game” that is analysed in game theory. That is only one small part of the movie. I remember finding the movie extremely scary and after I told Danielle that she laughed at me…
#7
In May: the next film I watched was Fallen Leaves, a Finnish working-class love story. I watched this with Yu Rou (hi Yu Rou!!!! I know you will read this eventually I miss you lots. I’ll call you again sometime!!!!!!! And Protobowl!!!!!!!!!) which was really odd and quite honestly doesn’t make sense. I remember we watched this at Cineleisure so we grabbed food from Don Don Donki and sat at the Orchard Central roof to eat. I can’t believe I may never do that ever again. Fallen Leaves is an amazing movie. I’m not sure if Yu Rou loves it as much as I do though. The funniest part was that since this was part of the European film showcase, there was an advertisement about how Finland was an amazing place to live, which was immediately followed with the film which showed the struggles of being poor in Finland. I think the Finland ambassador to Singapore was at this screening too (that was a first!!) and he gave a little speech.
#8
That June I went to watch Challengers with Celina (I don’t know if she reads my Substack, but if you do, hi!!!!!). It was a weekday afternoon so there were maybe five other people in the cinema in total. We talked a lot during the screening, but goddamn, it’s Challengers, we thought it was really funny. After the screening we ran (read: took a bus and calmly walked) to the film camera shop because Celina’s film camera didn’t work and I had to develop my roll of film. They didn’t fix her camera (she did fix it from watching a Youtube video afterwards) but I’ve patronised that shop ever since (their film development is $12.50 per roll!! The cheapest in the biz).
#9
In August I went to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey with my dad, my mom, and my brother. The movie was so long that there was an intermission; I still don’t understand why one was needed, to be honest. The fact that this movie was done in 1968 makes it very impressive in its own right but a huge portion of the film is very, very dry, especially the second half. I guess I just do not understand it; I managed to convince my family to go with me because we knew it was a critically acclaimed movie and I suppose we were all slightly underwhelmed. I think that was the general sense of the theatre. During the intermission I heard
#10
A-levels and the following travels meant that I didn’t go back to The Projector until February 2025, where I watched a lot of movies at The Projector (Oscar season was coming up and there was a lot to do). First of these was Flow, which I watched on a whim because I was bored and had nothing better to do. I watched this by myself (first time at the theatre on my own!) on a weekday afternoon; the movie itself is okay but I was so stoked when it won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. I suppose I didn’t expect it. It is a cool film though.
#11
CONCLAVE. Watched with Danielle. We were so excited by it and we talked so loudly on the bus we got told to keep quiet by a man on the bus home at 11pm. We didn’t understand the ending (actually — I still don’t understand the ending) but it was such an amazing movie. Again I had no idea what this was going to be about (this seems to be a common thread amongst a lot of movies I’ve watched) and I was so invested in the story. Of course looking back at it the movie isn’t perfect but watching it for the first time was an amazing experience.
#12
A Complete Unknown — this is the Bob Dylan biopic. Well, it’s a biopic, so there’s a limit to how good it gets. I like Bob Dylan’s songs but the movie is just okay. I arrived fifteen minutes into the screening and I don’t think I missed a thing.
#13
A Real Pain. We (Danielle and I) watched this on the same day as A Complete Unknown, why did we do this to ourselves, I have no idea. In between the two films we went to the Don Don Donki (wow, a second mention, not the last!) and we went to Kinokuniya afterwards to browse books. I am only now realising that I will never experience that again.
I watched A Real Pain mostly because it was nominated for the Oscars but I had no idea what it was about. I only knew that Kieran Culkin was in it and he was in the running for best supporting actor (though he’s practically the main character? Academy, fix this). Anyway, I cried. It’s an amazing movie and Danielle can attest to this.
#14
Blue Velvet. My first David Lynch movie. I think The Projector was doing a David Lynch showcase because he recently passed, and I had no idea what his movies were like (I know he did Mulholland Drive which Danielle described as weird, but I didn’t know what that meant). Blue Velvet blew me away. It scared me (everything scares me) but it was a great film.
#15
I’m Still Here — Oscar winner for Best International Feature Film (thank goodness, not Emilia Perez). An amazing Walter Salles film (he also directed Central Station and City of God, two other amazing movies; City of God may just be my favourite film of all time), it is so unapologetically Brazilian and tells a heartbreaking story. The Brazil ambassador to Singapore was at the screening too. Again you could hear people crying…
#16
The European Film Festival came around again in May and this year I dragged Yu Rou to watch Close, a Belgian film (yes the Belgian ambassador to Singapore was present). We had no idea what we were getting into and we were both crying for half the runtime of the movie, and the beautiful part of watching it in the theater is that you can hear everyone else crying with you. It is such a raw and beautiful movie but it is just so sad. Would 100% recommend to anyone processing grief.
After the movie we somehow found the energy and strength to sit outside the stadium to listen to the Lady Gaga concert though. So there’s that.
#17
The Grand Budapest Hotel. The Projector had the brilliant idea to do a Wes Anderson film showcase after the release of his newest film, The Phoenician Scheme. It was such a genius idea that I spent $195 on sixteen tickets to all the movies that they showed (though I only showed up to three out of five). I was going to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel with Yu Rou who ended up not actually being available as it was her father’s birthday (sorry for exposing you) so I went with my dad instead. The joy of watching movies with my dad lies in the fact that he laughs during movies and it’s really the sweetest thing ever.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a perfect film. There could never be anything wrong with it.
#18
The Darjeeling Limited; somehow convinced Dinky (hi guys!!!! Not sure if any one of you guys are reading this but hi!!!!!! I will talk to you guys soon.) to watch this with me and I don’t even know if any of them have heard of Wes Anderson before watching it. It is funnier and less heartbreaking than I remember.
#19
The Royal Tenenbaums — I didn’t know this would be the last film I ever watched at The Projector. Before the film Danielle and I sat outside in the lounge area and she commented about how the music programming here is perfect. It really is.
We bought dinner at Don Don Donki (third appearance, yay) and sat at the lift lobby to eat. I may soon be too old to do that.
The only thing I’ll say about The Royal Tenenbaums is that the Needle In The Hay scene lasts longer than I remember. I think only Danielle knows what I am talking about; I did tell her this right after the screening. It devastates me.
Stats, in summary:
Okay I guess that’s about all that I have to say about my time at The Projector. It really is a beautiful place and I have found much solace in my friends and the strangers in the theater who enjoy watching such films as much as I do. I think talking about the legacy of The Projector and what it means for Singapore should be a different post; this is just for my memories sake. I hope that my friends that read this are able to relive the times we’ve been together at The Projector and this is what we can carry further down the road. Thank you for making memories with me.
Honoured to have accompanied you on so many trips to the projector. I’ll miss it