Midnight in Paris

The story is about a writer travelling back in time to meet famous writers in Paris during midnight on his vacation trip with his rich fiancee.

Liked the interesting idea but I wished that the director could give some brief introduction to the famous writers as I was not familiar with most of them.

Internet Movie Database Link

Life Is Beautiful

The story is about how a Jew fell in love with a pretty Italian woman during World War II and how the whole family was sent to a concentration camp till the end of the war.

Liked how the father was able to look at the bright side of things in difficult situations and the nice soundtrack!

Internet Movie Database Link

Big Hero 6

The story is about a group of nerds and a big huggable robot became superheros by accident when they were trying to solve a mystery.

Liked the nice friendship between Hiro and the big huggable robot! The gadgets were pretty cool too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Revivre

The story is about how a middle aged executive coped with the stresses at work and taking care of his wife at the hospital at the same time.

Liked how the protagonist quietly went about his work but was quite puzzled why he would want to avoid meeting his pretty ex-employee in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Leave it for tomorrow for night has fallen

The film consists of four short stories in Philippines when Marcos was a dictator there.

The stories were pretty abstract and hard to understand but I liked the antique sound effects of firing guns!

Internet Movie Database Link

Leviathan

The story is about the consequence of one man trying to battle against the authorities for his rights to stay in his own home.

Liked the nice cinematography of the small Russian town and the depiction of human psychology!

Internet Movie Database Link

Stage Sisters

The story is about how two stage actresses remained good friends despite some misunderstandings over the years.

Liked the interesting plot and the pretty stage costumes! I thought the political propaganda message was quite well conveyed through this film!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

This is a documentary about how people lived near a forest in Russia that inspired a children's story with a witch called Baba Yaga.

Liked the interesting animated children's story! I was quite surprised to see such gigantic mushrooms in the forest!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Two Escobars

This is a documentary about two famous people named Escobars in Columbia during the 1990s: Pablo Escobar who was a powerful drug dealer and Andre Escobar who was the captain of the Columbian National team.

Learnt quite a bit of Columbian history from this film! Didn't realize how soccer can literally change the fate of a nation!

Internet Movie Database Link

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The story is about a young wizard, Harry Potter's battle against a powerful evil wizard called Voldermort who killed his parents.

Liked the interesting plot about the dark magic used by Voldermort and how Harry Potter tried to fight against it together with his teacher Dumbledore! Think Ginny and Hermione have both grown much prettier since the first Harry Potter movie!

Internet Movie Database Link

A Necklace for My Beloved

The story is about how a young man searched for a present for his prospective bride. She has several suitors and the elders in the village would help to select the groom by checking who had the best present.

Liked the interesting adventures of the young man, especially the one with the goddesses!

Internet Movie Database Link

Dispersed Clouds

The story is about how a young girl from Tokyo fell in love with a doctor in the countryside when she fainted there while travelling with her classmates.

Liked the nice scenery in the countryside! Could not really understand why the young girl was moody at times though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The story is about a young wizard called Harry Potter training his classmates to fight against an evil wizard.

Liked the training sessions conducted by Harry Potter! I could see how his friends gained more confidence after mastering new skills!

Internet Movie Database Link

Magdana's Donkey

The story is about how a donkey temporarily gave hope to a poor young mother called Magdana when her son helped to nurse it back to life.

Liked the cute fat donkey! The children acted very well too!

Internet Movie Database Link

An Inn At Osaka

The story is about the encounters of a business executive after he transferred to Osaka and stayed at an inn.

Liked the interesting lives of the different characters!

Internet Movie Database Link

Trances

This is part of the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project DVD box set which included five other films: The Housemaid, Dry Summer, Redes, Touki Bouki and A River Called Titas. Bought the DVD box set as I saw the first two films online at mubi.com and was impressed by them!

The story is about a famous band in Morocco named Nass El Ghiwane.

Liked the nice songs and music in the film! The lyrics of the songs seemed quite meaningful too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Scrabble Nationals (Day Two)

Game 9: vs Valli
Day two starts off in the same round robin sequence as day one but the person who starts first will now reply. Close game as we each had a bingo each. I had AERIEST(71) while she had STAINED(73).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: AEREIEST(71) Opp Bingos: STAINED(73)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: KIP(32), UNDIES(30), LOX(40) Opp High Moves: JEERS(40), NOISY(32), FAE(30), TOZE(39)
L 372-402, -30. 3W 6L (Accum spread -18).

Game 10: vs Nicholas
I think this was my worst game in the tournament. I had one bingo with DELEGATE(78) but lost as I played several silly phonies such as AHAH* and PSSTS*.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: DELEGATE(78) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: AHAH*, PSSTS* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: OXO(32) Opp High Moves: UH(30), SIZE(51), PSST(37)
L 350-387, -37. 3W 7L (Accum spread -55).

Game 11: vs Shantikumar
Shantikumar was leading initially after he bingoed with LOUVRED(81) but I caught up with TASTIEST(68) and my SEZ(49) back hooking to an existing SO on the board gave me a win despite leaving the X and V unplayed in the end. Could have played ZEX for more points but I forgot if SOX was good, so did not want to risk a loss.

New words learnt: LOUVRED
My Bingos: TASTIEST(68) Opp Bingos: LOUVRED(81)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: BARK(46), SEZ(49) Opp High Moves: QIS(38)
W 376-352, +24. 4W 7L (Accum spread -31).

Game 12: vs Kumraj
I played Kumraj again just before lunch. He bingoed first with DUETING(78) and I replied with DETAINED(64). Had another opportunity to bingo with a ELORSST rack but did not know the correct anagram and phonied with RESLOTS* in the end. Lost badly to him again.

I went to lunch with Valli at the Orchard Cineleisure food court. This time I ordered more dishes than the previous day in the hope of playing better after lunch.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: DETAINED(64) Opp Bingos: DUETING(78)
My Phoneys: RESLOTS* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: GAY(34), KAT(35) Opp High Moves: JOLLY(39), HORSE(34), ZIN(30), QIN(31)
L 340-423, -83. 4W 8L (Accum spread -114).

Game 13: vs Shahrul
I was leading by about 60 points until Shahrul played two bingos consecutively: EMAILER(70) and OUTPUTS(70). Might have won if I had blocked his bingo lines.

New words learnt: ETEN
My Bingos: Opp Bingos: EMAILER(70), OUTPUTS(70)
My Phoneys: Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: YEA(30), LEZ(36) Opp High Moves: FIST(39)
L 368-400, -32. 4W 9L (Accum spread -146).

Game 14: vs Ameen
This is my third time playing against Ameen. Had very good tiles and bingoed twice with ROOTING(62), ENLISTS(73) and SOARING(62) to win despite my opponent having a nine-timer with LITERATE(113).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: ROOTING(62), ENLISTS(73), SOARING(62) Opp Bingos: LITERATE(113)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: DJINI*
My High Moves: XI(36), JOT(36), CREPT(30) Opp High Moves: COZ(34), QI(44), EF(30)
W 505-394, +111. 5W 9L (Accum spread -35).

Game 15: vs Shukra
Shukra was playing against Valli before our game. She complained about a level in Candy Crush that she was unable to pass and asked him to help out. He ended up playing Candy Crush on her phone while playing with me at the same time. Think I would not be able to multi-task if I were in his place. Lost narrowly as I did not block his SEIZE(47) down the triple word score line.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: DARLINGS(71) Opp Bingos:
My Phoneys: NEXIS* Opp Phoneys: OUTLIST*
My High Moves: INSECT(33), VAINER(39) Opp High Moves: WEIGH(33), DAILY(30), RITZ(46), SEIZE(47)
L 348-362, -14. 5W 10L (Accum spread -49).

Game 16: vs Valli
My last game was with Valli again. I had one bingo with MEATIES(70) but she had a lot more high scoring moves to win in the end.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: MEATIES(70) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: QUIRER* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: HUI(34), BIDS(31), NEF(30) Opp High Moves: YIP(31), COZIER(39), QUIRE(47), JEWED(40), GAS(32)
L 385-430, -45. 5W 11L (Accum spread -94).

Finished the tournament with 5 wins and 7th position. A little bit disappointed by my poor performance but thought it was great fun nevertheless. Hope to do better next year!

Scrabble Nationals (Day One)

This year's Nationals is held at SCAPE. I was early and helped to arrange the tables with Shahrul, Leon and Li Wei before the actual registration. There were 16 players in division A and 8 players in division B. I saw a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces in division B.

Game 1: vs Valli
My previous encounter with Valli was at the 2011 Nationals which I lost. This time round, my bingos of HUNTERS(83) and NASTIER(73) against her LUSTIEST(75) plus a couple of high scoring moves helped me to beat her by close to 200 points.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: HUNTERS(83), NASTIER(73) Opp Bingos: LUSTIEST(75)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: WAW(38), AY(39), QUIN(33) Opp High Moves: -
W 493-318, +175. 1W 0L (Accum spread +175).

Game 2: vs Nicholas
My next opponent was a young boy from Maris Stella. We had one bingo each, I had STAINER(75) and he had TENAILS(62). Defeated him by about 100 points with my other high scoring moves.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: STAINER(75) Opp Bingos: TENAILS(62)
My Phoneys: Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JINGO(42), QUEST(45), DOTED(44), ZO(35), FIRE(31) Opp High Moves: KAE(31), COURS(30)
W 427-324, +103. 2W 0L (Accum spread +278).

Game 3: vs Shantikumar
My previous encounter with Shantikumar was at the Dec 2013 WYSC Benefits tournament which I won. Had a shaky start as I phonied twice with PoDIEST* and PaSTIED* but finally got a bingo down with PoSITED(74). I had two other bingos later with LITTERS(69) and AUNTIES(62) against his MANDATES(74) and beat him easily.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: POSITED(74), LITTERS(69), AUNTIES(62) Opp Bingos: MANDATES(74)
My Phoneys: PODIEST*, PASTIED* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JA(52), FELONS(35), BRIG(38), KEY(34) Opp High Moves: SHUNT(48), LUX(36), QAT(37)
W 504-379, +125. 3W 0L (Accum spread +403).

Game 4: vs Kumraj
Kumraj is a young man from Nepal who works in MHA. Was defeated soundly by him as he had three bingos: INDORSE(84), GLANDERS(88) and UNITING(77) against my WRESTING(63).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: WRESTING(63) Opp Bingos: INDORSE(84), GLANDERS(88), UNITING(77)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: CHIEF(34), QIS(37), VIVE(30) Opp High Moves: FEZ(44), AHEAD(31), WE(30)
L 357-475, -118. 3W 1L (Accum spread +285).

I went to lunch with Kumraj and his friend Shukra at the Orchard Cineleisure food court. Saw a few division A players eating there too.

Game 5: vs Shahrul
My previous encounter with Shahrul was at the 2012 Oktobertile fest where we won one game each. This was a close game where we had one bingo each. I had SARDINES(70) and he had BROMATES(74). Lost narrowly despite getting away with a phoney TRINK*.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: SARDINES(70) Opp Bingos: BROMATES(74)
My Phoneys: TRINK* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JARL(34), TRINK*(58) Opp High Moves: REZ(43), OXO(41)
L 362-390, -28. 3W 2L (Accum spread +257).

Game 6: vs Ameen
My next opponent was a humorous Indian guy. Lost as I phonied twice with FINERIE* and TRIT* while he bingoed twice with ADVICES(83) and STUNNED(76).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: Opp Bingos: ADVICES(83), STUNNED(76)
My Phoneys: FINERIE*, TRIT* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JIVED(48), CRAWL(33), LARKS(34), YETI(34) Opp High Moves: EX(36), SOZ(30)
L 353-436, -83. 3W 3L (Accum spread +174).

Game 7: vs Shukra
My last opponent in our first round robin was Kumraj's friend. Lost as I phonied with BERIEST* while he bingoed with SETTING(79).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: SETTING(79)
My Phoneys: BERIEST* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: NOX(44), LOY(30), QUAI(31) Opp High Moves: JOBE(40) GAZE(37)
L 319-410, -91. 3W 4L (Accum spread +83).

Game 8: vs Ameen
I played with Ameen again for our first king of the hill game. I bingoed with APPLIED(73) while he had SHAKIER(76) and SMUTTIER(83). Could have another bingo for a win with a ADEERRS rack that needed the S to be in the 4th to 6th position but just could not think of the anagram. Phonied with REARSED* in the end and lost.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: APPLIED(73) Opp Bingos: SHAKIER(76), SMUTTIER(83)
My Phoneys: REARSED* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: WOE(32), HEW(32), VIA(33), READS(30) Opp High Moves: XI(30)
L 360-431, -71. 3W 5L (Accum spread +12).

Finished day 1 with 3 wins and 5 losses.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

This is a documentary about Miyazaki Hayao, a famous Japanese animation director in the process of making his final film.

This film reminded me of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi". Both films are about old men who are disciplined and very good at their work and who expects high standards from others. Nice way to end the Japanese film festival!

Internet Movie Database Link

A River Called Titas

This is part of the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project DVD box set which included five other films: The Housemaid, Dry Summer, Redes, Touki Bouki and Trances. Bought the DVD box set as I saw the first two films online at mubi.com and was impressed by them!

The story is about the lives of the villagers staying near the Titas river.

Liked the nice music, the beautiful black and white cinematography and the great acting by the actresses!

Internet Movie Database Link

Touki Bouki

This is part of the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project DVD box set which included five other films: The Housemaid, Dry Summer, Redes, A River Called Titas and Trances. Bought the DVD box set as I saw the first two films online at mubi.com and was impressed by them!

The story is about how a young couple from Senegal dreamed of going to Paris.

Liked how the director showed both the traditional way of life and the modern way of life side by side for the viewer to compare!

Internet Movie Database Link

Harry Potter and the Globet of Fire

The story is about a young wizard called Harry Potter taking part in an inter-school wizard competition.

Liked the special effects and the pretty girls from the all girls school!

Internet Movie Database Link

McDull The Pork of Music

The story is about how a group of kids helped their kindergarten raise money by forming a choir and taking part in commercial performances.

Liked the interesting plot and the lovely voices of the kids!

Internet Movie Database Link

Redes

This is part of the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project DVD box set which included five other films: The Housemaid, Dry Summer, Touki Bouki, A River Called Titas and Trances. Bought the DVD box set as I saw the first two films online at mubi.com and was impressed by them!

The story is about a group of fishermen fighting for better wages against their employers.

Liked the teamwork displayed by the fishermen when they were fishing!

Internet Movie Database Link

Punishment Room

The story is about how a university student who played "games" as he is bored with his life got punished in the end.

Liked how the director described the meaningless life that the protagonist led and the pretty lead actress!

Internet Movie Database Link

Aniki Bobo

The story is about the adventures of a group of children in Portugal.

Liked the interesting plot and the nice music!

Internet Movie Database Link

I Feel Sleepy

The story is about how a single middle aged man found romance in a gummies sales woman and got involved in a series of crimes because of her.

Liked the special effects and the funny moments in the film but felt a bit sad for the man.

Internet Movie Database Link

Fireworks Wednesday

The story is about how a part time maid got involved in the family disputes of her employer's household.

Liked how the director provided many puzzle parts for the viewer to piece into a big picture while watching the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Private Life of Mr and Mrs M

The story is about how a couple started to have more conflicts when the wife became busier with work.

Didn't really like the film too much. I thought the director could have explained a bit more why the wife had to conceal her secret towards the end.

Internet Movie Database Link

Kiki's Delivery Service

The story is about how an apprentice witch trained to be a real witch in a new city.

Liked the cute actress who acted as the apprentice witch!

Internet Movie Database Link

Gravity

The story is about how an astronaut coped after losing contact with the rest of her colleagues in space.

Liked the excellent special effects! Sandra Bullock looked pretty fit in this film!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Homesman

The story is about how two people embarked on a journey to escort three mentally ill women from Nebraska to Iowa.

Not really a fan of Westerns but decided to watch this as it was the only English film showing at the Avignon Utopia cinema. Was amazed at the resourcefulness of Tommy Lee Jones!

Internet Movie Database Link

Her

The story is about how a single man developed a relationship with his newly purchased operating system.

Liked how the man systematically taught the operating system about his world and the voice of Scarlett Johansson!

Internet Movie Database Link

Like Father Like Son

The story examines what it means to be a father when two couples discovered that their sons had been switched several years ago and attempt to switch back.

Liked how the director showed that there was no fixed formula for family life as both families have different philosophies in coping with issues!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Wind Rises

This is a biography of a famous Japanese plane designer who helped to advance Japan's air defence industry during the second World War.

An inspiring story about an engineer who was passionate about his work! Wished there could be more of such films!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Lego Movie

The story is about how an ordinary person helped to stop an evil tyrant from destroying their world.

Liked the amazing set that was constructed completely from lego bricks and the nice soundtrack!

Internet Movie Database Link

Scenes from a Marriage

The story is about the marriage life of a Swedish couple who had been married for ten years with two daughters at the start of the film.

Liked the intense psychological study of the characters! Great acting by the both of them!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Soong Sisters

The story is about the life of the Soong family where each of the three daughters married someone famous.

Learnt quite a bit of Chinese history from this film! Maggie Cheung looked pretty young in this film!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Inheritance

This is the last film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". Skipped the third film, "Black River", as I saw it before already. The story is about how a rich dying man tasked his subordinates to find his three illegitimate children in order to split his inheritance.

Sort of knew how things would turn out in the end as the movie was narrated as a flashback but I was still pretty impressed by the ingenuity of the person who managed to outwit and outsmart everyone else in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Marriage Blue

The story is about four pairs of couples in Korea. Some are newly married while others have known each other for a long time but they each encounter a road block in their way that they have to overcome.

Liked the pretty actresses in the film! Nice scenery at Jeju Island too!

Internet Movie Database Link