If You Were Me: Anima VIsion 2

This is a collection of six Korean short animation with a common theme on human rights. "The Third Wish" is about a visually challenged girl who was given three wishes. "Peeling" is about a father persuading his son to circumcise like the rest of his friends. "Baby" is about a working pregnant woman trying to make arrangements for her unborn child. "Shine Shine Shining" is about migrants in society. "Merry Golasmas" is about how a group of people got discriminated when they applied for the job of Santa Claus. "Lies" is about the plight of one homosexual who is forced into marriage.

Liked "Shine Shine Shining" the best as the story was very well told with a clear message! The characters were quite cute too! This would be followed by "The Third Wish", "Baby" and "Peeling". Didn't really like "Merry Golasmas" and "Lies".

Philippine Science

The film describes the student life in the Philippine Science High School in Philippines that takes in the top Science students in the country. The director was an alumni since 1986.

Liked the stories on student life which were based on real life experiences! Learnt a bit about Philippines history too! Thought the director gave a very nice tribute to his former school!

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Paper Cannot Wrap Up the Embers

This is a documentary about women who are forced to become prostitutes due to their economic circumstances in Cambodia.

A little bit boring at times as there was not much organisation in the subject matter and the audience was left to be immersed in the prostitute's living environment, somewhat similar to the reality TV format.

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The Princess of Nebraska

The film is adapted from a short story and it is about what happened when a young Chinese woman came to the United States. She was pregnant and stayed at her boyfriend's gay lover's place. She also explored the city and got to know a new friend at a karaoke bar.

Liked the realistic close up shots provided by the handheld camera! Story is interesting and the lead actress Ling Li acted very well! Nice ending too!

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Weekend

The story is about a couple on a journey to visit their parents during the weekend. Many strange encounters happpened along the way.

Thought it would be a relaxing film to watch based on the title but it was far more complex and chaotic than I imagined! I made the same mistake once before when I borrowed "Rite of Spring" from the library to listen to. Interesting to see how the director indirectly criticised the bourgeois way of life through the couple's actions and his innovative style!

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Beyond the Call

The story is about three middle-aged ex-military guys helping out in humanitarian work all over the world.

The three characters were quite interesting especially the guy who was a fan of Napolean and had a train with rail tracks in his back yard! These people had lots of experience driving a hard bargain and did not hesitate to provide help with money out of their own pockets! From the number of countries that they had visited, I realised that the world was a less peaceful place that I had imagined and that humanitarian work was required in many places. Thumbs up to these brave men who deserved our respect!

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Along the Way

This Indian short filme is about a young woman who received help from a stranger when she was looking after her son in the hospital.

Didn't quite understand what was going on in this film but I thought the actress looked more Chinese than Indian. There were some moments of suspense when she tried to identify the stranger from the black leather shoes that he wore.

The Deserter

This short film is about a young American couple who escaped to Toronto, Canada in order to avoid going to the war in Iraq. They joined an organisation based in Canada that welcomeed deserters from United States since the Vietnam War.

Learnt about the effects of war through the interviews with soldiers who have participated in the Iraq War! It was also interesting to follow the couple's journey as they travel across United States to reach the other end of the border!

Becoming Jane

This is an autobiography of Jane Austen who is a famous English writer in the 19th century. She specialises in writing family dramas on marriages of eligible young ladies and many of her works have been adapted to film.

I still remembered catching sight of five pretty young ladies on a particular show many years ago when I was in secondary school. Found out that it was "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen from my sister and I searched for the electronic text years later during my university days. Bought the paperback version eventually as I got tired of reading it on the computer screen and it became one of my favorite novels with her humor and insight into human behavior!

Liked the nice ballroom dancing sequences and the beautiful countryside scenery! It was also interesting to see how Jane Austen lived as a writer and to know what were the real life events that inspired her!

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The Silence

The story is about how a family of three spent two days in a strange country at the hotel on the way home. The family consists of a mother, her son and her sister. This is the last part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy

Liked the eccentric old caretaker and how the director highlighted the sensual side of the mother and the intellectual side of her sister! It was also interesting to see how people could still communicate with each other despite not sharing the same language.

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The Magic Flute

The film is based on the opera of the same title written by Mozart. The story is about how a soldier, Tamino and his friend Papageno ventured into the kingdom of Sarastro to save Pamina who is the Queen of the Night's daughter. They were given a magic flute and a mini-xylophone to help their quest.

Liked the nice songs and the many pretty actresses! A little big draggy at times but the overall plot was interesting! Interested to catch Bergman's adaptation now!

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Secret Sunshine

The story is about what happened after a young widow, Shin Ae, moved from Seoul to Miryang that means "secret sunshine" when written in Chinese.

Great acting by the lead actress, Jeon Do-yeon! The small town life was well described and it was interesting to see how the plot evolved as Shin Ae went through different phases of her life! Also liked the nice quiet moments and the intense psychological study on her character!

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Winter Light

The story is about how a small town pastor came to have doubts on his own faith one day during winter time. This is the second part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy

Liked the beautiful scenery, the lean storyline, the nice close ups on the characters and the interesting dialogue! Especially liked the letter reading scene as well as the conversation between the hunched back employee and the pastor towards the end!

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Rule #1

The story is about how a policeman found himself transferred into a special "ghost busters" department and how he spent his time there.

Pretty scary at times! Quite sad to see so many young lives ruined by the vicious ghost! Liked the well executed twist at the end! Thought it was influenced by both "Sixth Sense" and "Infernal Affairs".

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Through a Glass Darkly

Just started on the first part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy boxset. The story is about how a family spends their time together on an island. The father is a writer who cares more about his work than his family and the daughter has just been diagnosed with mental illness. They are accompanied by the son and the son-in-law.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography! The theme of the movie was meaningful too! It talked about the void that was often felt in the human heart and how each family member coped with it. Everyone acted very well, especially the daughter! The film won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Female

This movie consists of five shorts with a common theme on examining various aspects of the female sensibility. These include a young female student's love for her teacher, an unlikely female trio's money problems, a fantasy about a male co-worker, a young boy's infatuation with the mother of his classmate and an old man's lover's relationship with his subordinate.

Went to catch the movie after reading about the review on Zaobao. Agreed with the critic that the last short was the most incomprehensible of them all! Thought the third short on the fantasy about a male co-worker was the most fun to watch! The dance sequences interspersed among the shorts were nicely choreographed too!

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Stranger than Paradise

Tbe story is about how Willie, his friend Eddie and his cousin Eva spent their time in three different locations in the United States: New York, Cleveland and Florida.

I knew that the director was a fan of Ozu, so I was not surprised with the numerous static long takes. Liked his unique sense of humour, the eccentric Aunt Lotte with the heavy Hungarian accent and the beautiful Eva! The outdoor scenery looked nice too!

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Persepolis

The story is about the life of a girl who grew up in difficult conditions in Iran. She spent her teenage years in Europe, came back home for a few years and decided to leave home the second time for France.

Nice black and white cinematography! Liked the quick pace and fluid cuts that brought the audience through the modern history of Iran! The family members of the little girl and her encounters were interesting too!

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CJ 7

The story is about what happens after a father brings back a mysterious object from outerspace home for his daughter.

The daughter and her friends are the main stars of the show while director Stephen Chow who plays the father takes a back seat and plays the supporting role. Liked the cockcroach stamping competition between the father and daughter, the fantasy sequences dreamt up by the daughter and the pretty costume worn by Ms Yuen!

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Ten

The film captures ten different conversations between a female driver in Iran and her passengers which include her son, her sister and other strangers.

Pretty innnovative camera angle that enabled the audience to just see one person at a time in the car! The conversations were pretty interesting too but I thought the son was a real brat!

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Thin Blue Line

This is a documentary about the events that led to the murder of a policeman and how an innocent man was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result.

Interesting how the director interviewed so many people to give different perspectives on what actually happened! Pretty scary to think how eye witnesses could be bought and how people can ignore hard evidence and just choose what they want to believe in!

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Crisis

The story is about what happens when a young girl staying in a small town moved to the city with her mother whom she has not met for 18 years.

Interesting to see the contrast between life in the small town and in the city! The former is peaceful and people are very helpful towards each other while the latter is bustling with activities but people care only about themselves. Especially liked the surprising twist in the end that caused the young girl to move back home to the small town!

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Torment

Just bought the Early Bergman Eclipse series and Bergman's religious chamber trilogy boxset from Criterion. Probably won't try to watch them all at one go as some of the titles sound a little bit depressing. This film belongs to the "Early Bergman" Eclipse series which consists of "Torment", "Crisis", "Port of Call", "Thirst" and "To Joy".

The story is about how a young man coped with his hectic school life with a sadistic Latin teacher and how he became friends with a female shop assistant.

Liked how the film demonstrated how words can be used effectively to torment people psychologically! Could also identify with the frustrations of the young student! Prefer "To Joy" slightly better to this though.

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Radio On

The story is about a young man's road trip from London to Bristol to investigate his brother's death. The radio is sometimes turned on and we hear how different types of music is played in different context.

Liked the nice black and white feel of the film! Thought the music and the landscape reflected how England looked like in the 80s pretty well! Reminds me a little bit of "Singapore Gaga" which is also a musical journey minus the road trip part.

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Tuya's Marriage

The story is about what happened when Tuya discovered she could no longer look after her paralysed husband after she hurt her back. She filed for a divorce and searched for a new husband who would look after the two of them.

Nice scenery in Inner Mongolia and Tuya looked quite smart riding the Camel! Also liked the complex psychological relationship among Tuya, her husband and her suitors!

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To Joy

The story describes the ups and downs of a musician couple who were both violinists in an orchestra. The title refers to Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy" which is used as the lyrics in the choral section of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Liked the many lovely classical pieces in the film and the emotional rollercoaster ride with the couple! The sequences with the conductor commmenting on how the couple get along with each other were nicely done too!

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Ivan's Childhood

The story is about how the 12 year old Ivan helped the Russian Army in doing reconnaisance work during the Second World War. His family had been killed by the Germans and he often dreamed about the idyllic pre-war days.

Liked the nice dream sequences which contrasted with the grim reality of war! The soldiers also showed great carmaraderie in their last mission!

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Breath

The story is about how a married woman fell in love with a death-row convict while watching the news on TV one day and how this affected her family life.

Not much of dialogue as the death-row convict hurt his throat during an attempted suicide. His fellow inmates do not talk much too. Liked how the married woman brought colorful wallpaper to simulate the four seasons in the visiting room and the nice songs that she sung! Interesting psychological study on how people might behave under certain conditions!

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Masculin Feminin

The film is a sociological study of youth in France in the 60s. The alternative title to this film is "The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola".

Got interested in the film after reading Pauline Kael's review. Liked how the director showed how the young French people at that time reacted in different scenarios! Especially liked how the main protagonist tried to ask Madeleine out for a date, how his friend tried to learn more about Madeleine's friend and the interview with "Miss 19"! The teeny bopper songs featured in the film were quite nice too!

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Woman on the Beach

The story is about the relationship between men and women. A film director, his friend and the girlfriend of his friend went to the beach to get inspiration for a script. During their stay there, the director got to know another girl .

Not much of a storyline as the interesting bits are mostly in the dialogue that explained the thought process of each character. Liked the interview questions posed by the director to the second girl and the scene where the director drew diagrams on his notebook to elaborate lessons in life to the first girl!

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National Treasure: Book of Secrets

The story is about how a young man travels all around the world with his buddy and girlfriend in search of clues to help clear his family name. New evidence has emerged that suggested his ancestors was involved in president Lincoln's assassination.

Liked the amazing clue deciphering abilities of Nicolas Cage! It was also interesting to visit the many places of interests around the world! A fun movie!

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Citizen Dog

The story is about how a young man left his village to work in Bangkok and found a girl that he liked.

The movie is a bit more convoluted than what my synopsis suggests as it has many minor characters and includes several fantasy sequences. Liked the songs in the film! Didn't really like the storyline as it rambles along many different topics without any fixed objective.

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The Heartbreak Kid

The story is about a guy getting married and how he fell in love with another girl during their honeymoon trip to Mexico.

Liked the directors' previous works such as "There is Something About Mary" and "Shallow Hal" better as I thought their storylines were better. Didn't like the guy who tells lies and happily engage in an affair! I was also shocked by the two scenes shown during the credit rolls. They were pretty tasteless in my opinion!

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Killer of Sheep

The story is about life in the LA black district during the early 70s. There was a major racial riot several years earlier at the same location in the mid 60s and the effects of destruction can still be seen.

Liked the nice songs played throughout the film and how natural the children at play and the adults at work are being captured!

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The Golden Compass

The story is about the adventures of a little girl who has a special device called the golden compass in her possession. The golden compass uncovers the truth for its owner. She travels towards the north with a group of gypsies and an armoured polar bear to save her friend.

Pretty impressed by how the little girl is able to talk her way out of very tricky situations! The final battle scene is a little bit messy as the opposing sides are not easily differentiated.

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The Prisoners' Song

The story is about political prisoners imprisoned in Taiwan during the "White Terror" period in the early fifties.

Liked the nice song sung at the very beginning! Pretty informative as we find out more about what these people go through from the interviews!

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The Leopard

This is an epic about the slow decline of a family with royal background in Sicily during the 1860s. Wars erupted and the nephew of the head of the family married a rich mayor's daughter.

Liked the nice dresses worn by the women and the interesting dances performed at the ball towards the end!

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Nanking

This is a documentary about what happened in Nanking during the Japanese invasion seventy years ago. It consists of interviews with the survivors, news clips and readings from the journals of a group of foreigners helping out in China at that time.

Liked the interviews and the news clips but didn't feel much for the journal readings as they were acted out by people who were not involved in the actual incidents. This film reminds me a little bit of "Feet Unbound" which is a local film about women soldiers involved in the Long March. Liked "Feet Unbound" better as it feels more real without the journal readings and with its reflection on both the present and the past.

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Bakumatsu Taiyoden

The story is about life within a brothel in the last days of the Shogunate. The protagonist is a poor guy who manages to make ends meet by being street smart.

A little boring in the beginning as the prostitutes are just shown to be rushing from one room to the next. Liked the scenes where they demonstrated how street smart the guy is! He helped a prostitute get out of a difficult situation and tricked a bag of money out of the brothel owner.

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Madame Bovary

The story is based on a French novel by Gustave Flaubert about a woman who married a doctor and was dissatisfied with her life.

Have read the English translated novel before and was impressed by the detailed description of each character's psychology! The movie is not as detailed but most of the ideas got through with the help of the narrator and the interesting dialogue! Liked the nice costumes worn by the lead actress and the beautiful countryside!

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Pixar Story

This is a documentary about Pixar that is an animation production house that gave us "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life", "Monsters Inc", "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles" and other blockbuster animation films.

Liked the interviews and the clips that showed us how far the animation media has gone! Learnt the early impact of computers on how animators did their work and the fun working environment in Pixar!

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5cm per second

This is a collection of three short stories about how people drift further apart as time goes by.

Liked the nice piano soundtrack in the background and the MTV towards the end! The melody of the song in the MTV was a little bit repetitive though. Also liked the storyline and how realistic everything looked!

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International Shorts Programme 3

This is one of the many international shorts programme featured at the Animation Nation 2007.

Liked the funny "The First day father let his daughter drive", the black humour in "Lapsus", the philosophical "An Artistic Presentation of Metaphysical Butterfly Effect" and the imaginative "Premium Reincarnation"!

Didn't really like these:
-White
-Backyard Shadow
-Complex
-The Chamber
-The White Wolf
-My Life at 40
-Dream Tapir
-White Snake

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International Shorts Programme 2

This is one of the many international shorts programme featured at the Animation Nation 2007.

Liked the imaginative "Walking in the rainy Day", the innovative "White Line Syndrome" and the interesting love story in "The Danish Poet"! "Shipwrecked", "Puppet" and "Shut Eye Hotel" were not bad! "Ark", "Eels", "Flutter" and "Madame Tutli-Putli" were pretty abstract and didn't really know what was going on.

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Freedom Project

The story is about how people lived underground on the moon after climate changes made Earth inhospitable. One group of racers decided to break the rules and tried to travel back to Earth secretly.

Liked the fast pace action and the exciting storyline! As the movie is sponsored by Nissin, the protagonists are always eating Nissin cup noodles! Had a good laugh whenever I saw those product placements!

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Khan Kluay

The story is about the adventures of an elephant named Khan Kluay when he travelled across the country in search for his father.

Nice storyline that is based on historical facts! Liked the songs and how the director infused the film with Thai culture!

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Anna and Anna

The story is about what happens when two identical looking women both named Anna but living in different parts of the world finally meet.

First part of the film reminds me a bit of "Double Life Of Veronique". Rest of the film is pretty slow paced and nothing exciting really happens. Won't really recommend unless you like to watch emotionally unstable men breakdown on the big screen.

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Turning Gate

The story describes what happens when a self centered actor meets two women separately on a trip. His behaviour echos that of an ancient story that revolves around a particular turning gate in Korea.

The self centered actor is one of the most unlikable characters that I have seen! Felt exasperated that he simply does not care about the people around him and thinks only about himself! Liked the two female leads who are pretty in their own ways and the quieter scenes that had minimal dialogue but explained a lot about the two relationships!

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Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur

The story is based on a popular Japanese comic that features an earless robotic cat called Doraemon who lives with a boy called Nobita. Nobita and his friends went back in time to bring a small dinosaur home with the help of Doraemon's gadgets and they had a bit of adventure while doing that.

Liked the strong bond between Nobita and the dinosaur as well as the exciting adventure!

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A Touch of Zen

The story is about how a poor scholar's life changed after he discovered that a beautiful woman has become his new neighbor. She is a mysterious figure who is skilled in martial arts and has a complicated relationship with a powerful eunuch and a group of monks.

Enjoyed the movie pretty much! Some parts were really funny and the martial arts sequence superbly choreographed!

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Lust, Caution

The story is about the life of a group of resistance fighters in China during World War II focusing on the relationship between a female resistance fighter, Ms Wang Jiazhi and a traitor, Mr Yi, who is working for the Japanese.

Great acting by the main actress and felt that the title is really appropriate! "Lust" describes the attraction between Ms Wang and Mr Yi while "Caution" comes from how Ms Wang has to keep herself on her toes when she infiltrated into the enemy's camp. The sex scenes were nicely choreographed and pretty effective to show how Mr Yi's attitude towards Ms Wang evolves over time! Learnt a bit of history from the film.

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Madonnas

The story is about how a young woman tries to take over the caring of her children from her mother after a stint in jail.

Interesting family drama that shows how the young woman struggles with her relationship with her mother, her new found father, her boyfriend and her children! Pretty good acting by the main actress!

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Emma's Bliss

The story is about how a guy who is terminally ill, stole company's fund and accidentally crashed into a girl's pig farm. The girl looked after the guy and they fell in love after a while.

Liked the nice little pig farm and the interesting stories told by the girl to the guy! It is funny and sad at the same time!

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Still Life

The story is about two pair of couples looking for each other in China's Sanxia region where plans for building a gigantic dam is underway.

Nice scenery and I liked how the camera panned around to show the expressions of the people sitting in the boat! Thought it is interesting that the director divided the film into chapters titled "Cigarette", "Wine", "Tea" and "Candy" that are basic ingredients in people's lives.

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Pleasure Factory

The story is about life in Geylang focusing more on the red-light district part of it. It consists of three segments: a young man's first sexual encounter, a middle aged working lady initiating her daughter into the trade and a young working lady finding diversion with a tatooed singer.

Thought one of the actor looked like Gurmit Singh and one of the actresses looked quite cute with her bunny teeth! There was not much of a plot though and halfway through the movie, I realised that the audience is supposed to soak in the atmosphere that the film is trying to create. Liked the face-to-face interviews of the actual residents that were conducted and I wished that there were more of those!

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Love is a Crazy Thing

The story is about how a mother of two struggles to make a living with many debts to clear. She becomes a call girl by chance and slowly gets adjusted to her new way of life.

The film reminds me of "Streets of Shame" by Mizoguchi and "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" by Naruse. The former is about the life of prostitutes while the latter focuses on the life of a head bar hostess. These two films are made around fifty years ago but the problems highlighted are still relevant today. Great acting by the lead actress! Liked the use of the entirely black screen to prepare the audience on what to expect next towards the end of the film!

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koreanfilm.org review

The Battle of Algiers

The story is about how Algeria achieved independence through terrorist attacks against the French government in the city of Casbah. The police made life difficult for the inhabitants and destroyed every member of the FLN that was behind the attacks in 1957 but the fall of the FLN has made such an impression on the people of Algeria that they took action a few years later to gain independence in 1962.

Got interested in this film as it is in the top 10 list here. Liked the documentary style and how the Algerians fought for their freedom! Read that the US counter intelligence group studied the film in detail to understand how not to make the same mistake as the French in their fight against terrorists and to lose the overall battle in the end.

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Resident Evil: Extinction

The story is about how the whole world is affected by a strange virus that turned people into man eating zombies and how Alice, who is a powerful zombie hunter hiding from an evil scientist for many years, decide to join a group of volunteers to fight against him in the end.

Nice zombie killing moves by Milla Jovovich! She looked pretty cool with guns strapped around her legs too! Think the director assumed that the audience would have watched the previous two episodes and did not explain the relationship between Alice and the scientist as well as between Alice and the volunteer group very clearly. Guess I'll have to find out more about the background history from the internet.

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The Sun Also Rises

The film is about the life of several characters during the last year of the Cultural Revolution. It is broken up into four segments. Each segment gives the point of view of one character and the audience has to figure out how they are interconnected. The last segment is a flashback to explain how everything began.

Just saw "The Day a Pig Fell into the Well" two days ago, so thought the style was pretty similar! Liked the nice countryside scenery, the interesting crazy antics of a particular person, the second segment's opening sequence with the female cooks lined up neatly and the flashback in the last segment!

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The Day a Pig Fell into the Well

The film is about the complicated love relationship among several characters. It is broken up into four segments. Each segment gives the point of view of one character and the audience has to figure out how they are interconnected.

Nice debut from the Korean director Hong Sang Soo! Liked his jigsaw puzzle type of film editing that tests the audience's ability to spot minute details and connect seemingly unrelated things together! Also liked the subject matter on how lonely individuals are coping in society! Was shocked and surprised at first but was really impressed by how everything gelled together towards the end!

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Dying at a Hospital

The film is about how people spend their last days in the hospital told in a "Crime Watch" style; several short stories were acted out based on real events.

Nice opening scene! Hmm, wonder if Tsai Ming Liang was influenced by it when he made "I Don't Want to Sleep Alone". Liked the unhurried style employed by the director, the voice narration and how the vibrant city life were interspersed with that of the hospital life! The stories of each of the characters were all pretty interesting!

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Nianchan

The story is about the plight of Koreans staying in postwar Japan during the 50s told through a family of four siblings that just lost their father.

The two younger siblings looked really small and skinny! Thought the size of the younger sister especially contrasted with the size of the bath house! Liked the positive attitude of the second brother and that of the teacher!

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Appassionata

The story is about the life of a famous Japanese female painter. She was born in the late 19th century and specialises in drawing pictures of beautiful women.

Pretty interesting biography! Realised how difficult it was for a woman to succeed in the painting circles during that time and was quite amazed that she succeeded against all odds! Liked the nice award winning paintings that flashed on the screen from time to time and the actress's fully concentrated face when she is at work! Nice ending too!

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Ballad of Narayama

The story is about life in a small village with a strange custom that required the son to carry his 70 year old parent on the back and trek to Mount Narayama.

Liked how the director showed how the old grandmother lead a dignified life despite the harsh environment! There were many funny moments and interesting scenes with the animals in the jungle! I also find the journey to Narayama towards the end pretty touching!

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Vengeance is Mine

The story is about how a killer goes about cheating and killing people. At the same time, it shows how the lower class people lead their lives.

Liked how the director examined the killer from many different angles! There are flashbacks to his family background, shots from the killer's point of view as well as police interviews with his father, wife and lovers. Loved how the director was able to explain things very concisely with just a few scenes and the touching episode with the bar owner lady!

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Black Rain

The story is about the long term effect of the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima on the survivors after the second World War. In particular, it focuses on a young girl who has many rejected marriage proposals because of health reasons.

Was shocked by some of the scenes in the post atomic bomb city and liked the twist that followed after the neighbor offered the girl his handmade statues! Felt the rest of the scenes were a bit too repetitive though.

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The Home Song Stories

The story is based on the director's life when he was still a little boy staying with his mother and his sister. They travelled from Hong Kong to Australia and their mother had a hard time searching for a father for them.

Liked the small little details that made each of the family members come to life! I also liked the flashback sequences and the fantasy sequences! They helped me to understand the mother and the son better. The daughter looked quite cute with two pony tails! The grandmother looked very fierce and just right for her role!

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The Willow Tree

The story is about how the life of a blind professor changes after he regains his eyesight.

Liked the depiction of the nice family life that the professor leads and his encounter with a fellow patient! Preferred the director's previous work, "The Children of Heaven" with its innocent child actors as I find it difficult to identify with the erratic professor and the film's heavy religious slant.

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The Simpsons Movie

The characters in this movie is based on the popular animation TV series, "The Simpsons", that describes the life of the Simpsons family in a town called Springfield. The movie is about how the dad of the family, Homer Simpson, caused his fellow neighbors in Springfield to be so unhappy with him that he fled town with his family and how he managed to turn things around at the very end.

Thought the theme on not polluting the environment and staying together as a family at times of crisis were brought across quite effectively! Liked the exciting skateboarding action by Bart Simpson at the start and a particularly sad moment with Homer Simpson alone in their Alaska home.

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Stranger Than Fiction

The story is about how an IRS auditor discovers that he is just a character in a novel and how his life is turned upside down because of this.

Nice voice narration by the author of the novel, played by Emma Thompson, who has a heavy British accent! Also liked how the story unfolds as the protagonist unravels the mystery and manages to live his life as he wants it despite having his fate partially decided by the whims and fancy of someone else! The story within a story idea reminds me a bit of the novel "Sophie's World".

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Late Autumn

The story is about how the daughter of a widow turns down marriage proposals so that she can stay with her to keep her company. Towards the end of the film, she goes on a final trip with her mother and gets married to someone she loves.

This is basically a remake of the director's previous film "Late Spring" made slightly more than ten years ago except that the old film talks about a pair of father and daughter. The daughter became the mother and the father became her brother-in-law in the new remake. Liked the simple story and how the director made the characters come to life through small everyday life details! I really felt for the characters and the film is filled with both touching and funny moments!

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The Pervert's Guide to Cinema

This is a film criticism piece that describes how philosophy and psychoanalysis plays a part in how the audience views cinema and how the two subjects are incorporated in different films.

Quite amazed by how the narrator managed to link more than 40 films together in just 150 minutes! Liked the movie clip excerpts and the insights offered by the narrator! Pretty interested to catch David Lynch films now! Maybe someone could organise a David Lynch film retrospective!

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Flash Point

The story is about how the police tries to catch three filial brothers who are cold blooded crooks.

Very nice gun fights, car chases and martial arts action that includes lots of wrestling moves! The girlfriend of one of the undercover police and the fierce head police woman both look quite pretty! A pity that they only had "flower vase" roles.

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Invisible City

This is a documentary of the less-well-known part of Singapore history that people seldom talk about.

Liked how the director combined film clips of Singaporeans in the past, photos of old colonial buildings, a Japanese reporter interviewing a former resistance fighter, a group of archeologists at work and a recount of the incidents leading to the Chinese students boycotting school during the sixties in a coherent big picture!

Early Spring

The story is about what happens after a young officer worker has an affair with his co-worker. It also depicts a group of office workers at work and at play.

Liked how the film showed the typical life of an office worker! Not much has changed between now and fifty years ago! The train is as packed during rush hour and colleagues still gossip about each other at work! Thought the wife and the mistress were the stars of the show although it mainly centers around the husband! The mistress's nick name, Goldfish, is pretty cute!

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Tokyo Twilight

The story is about how broken families coped in Japan during the late 50s through the eyes of two sisters. This is part of the "Late Ozu" Eclipse series from Criterion that consists of "Early Spring", "Tokyo Twilight", "Equinox Flower", "Late Autumn" and "The End of Summer". Chose to watch this first as I liked the DVD cover! It shows the young sister supporting her chin with her hand and staring in front of her.

Was quite surprised by the sharp social commentary made by Ozu as he is more famous for making family dramas with happy endings! Almost thought I was watching a Naruse or a Mizoguchi film from the way the story developed towards the end! Liked the great acting by the young sister!

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The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

The story is about how a doctor abducts an opera singer and invites a piano tuner to tune his strange machines.

Heard from a friend that many people walked out during the premiere, so I was curious to see it. Liked the dream sequences, the special effects that depicted the strange machines and the nice scenery! The opera singer looked quite pretty too! The dialog was interesting as many segments seemed to be talking about one thing but indirectly hinting at something else at the same time.

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PSTAR Scrabble Games 2007

The PSTAR Scrabble games is an annual event for organisations in the civil service to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held at the Civil Service Club on 4th Aug 2007 from 10am to 5pm. A total of 28 teams from 17 organisations took part. MINDEF had two teams taking part this year.

Here's my match report, with quizzes marked with [number] and the answers given at the end of the report.

I was there a bit earlier to help draw the pairings for my team. Had a history of drawing bad pairings and true enough, my first draw resulted in my team playing against MOE 1 which is one of the strongest teams in the field!

Game 1: MOE 1
I played against Suhaimi, JP played against Elizabeth and CC played against Vincent.

Our scores were neck-in-neck and the board was getting very closed. Had EILNOR? on my rack and decided to try LOINERs* back hooking to OHO on the board. Unfortunately, it was challenged off. Missed another playable bingo that ends with the letter S[1]. My play went downhill after that, using my blank for very few points which did not help to open up the board while my opponent bingoed with nUTTIEST(66).

Lost my first game by 286-360. Our team also lost the match narrowly by 1-2.

Had hoped to play against an all-girls team in the next round but I drew against MHA 1 which consists of a tough-looking all-guys team. :(

Game 2: MHA 1
I played against Mahendra, JP and CC played against two other guys.

Managed to bingo once with RETAINED(72) and scored well with the Z and the Q. This coupled with my opponent's several phoneys HEI*, NI* and WEVE* helped me to win easily.

Won 476-236. Our team won convincingly with 3-0.

Had free lunch catered for us after our second game and it was delicious! Liked the potato cubes, chicken wing and pastries!

Finally had a chance to play against CPF in the third game but it happened to be an all-guys team once again!

Game 3: CPF 1
I played against Chee Keong, JP played against How Fatt and CC played against Boon Khee.

I was lagging behind until I saw a bingo with a DEINTV? rack. The last letter of the bingo had to front hook to an existing AH on the board.[2] A higher scoring play would be an eight-letter bingo through an existing I across the TWS cell but I gave up figuring out what it was after a few minutes.[3] Later, my opponent had a chance to bingo with a AENUVW? rack[4] but I blocked his only spot. In desparation he tried sUNWAVE* but it was challenged off the board!

Won 408-292. Our team won convincingly with 3-0.

After 3 rounds, the top 4 teams were placed in the Cup category, the next 8 or 10 teams in the Plate category and the rest in the Bowl category. We were placed in the Plate category while MOE 1 was placed in the Cup category despite having the same number of wins and less spread than us.

The tournament director explained to us how the format favored the early winners. A loss in the first round would mean that there was no way for the team to become one of the top 4 teams as we were already classified among the loser pile. MOE 1's second round loss was classified as the best loser and they were placed in the top tier together with teams having two wins.

Our final game is against SSC. Thought it would be an easy match as our opponent only had two players but it turned out tougher than we thought.

Game 4: Singapore Sports Council
I played against Azmi, JP played against a malay guy while CC had a walkover.

Was lagging behind until Azmi opened up the TWS lane and I scored well with BOX(43) and then ZEL(37). Pulled slightly further ahead with QUA(34) a few more turns later and maintained my lead throughout the game. Heard from JP later that he is very impressed with how his opponent played and felt that it was his toughest game in the whole tournament!

Won 369-329. Our team won convincingly with 3-0.

In the end, MOE 1 won the tournament. NP 1, HDB 1 and MOH 1 came in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. MOE 2, HDB 2 and CAAS 2 came in top 3 in the Plate category while CPF 1, CPF 2 and IRAS 1 came in top 3 in the Bowl category.

MINDEF 1 didn't do too badly, just losing two individual games in the first round to the eventual winner but our spread in the last round was not enough for us to get top 3 placing in our category.

MINDEF 2 didn't do as well but they had a great time honing their Scrabble skills and socialising with their opponents too!

Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)

[1] NEROLIs
[2] INViTED
[3] DIVINEsT
[4] UNWeAVE

Gone Shopping

The film explores how a young tai-tai, an office guy and a little girl view shopping differently. One shops to vent her emotions, one hangs around shopping centers to laze around and one runs around looking for her parents.

Lots of voiceover by Kym Ng! First time I see her in such a moody role, quite unlike her image on television. Liked her performance and Adrian Pang's guest appearance! The office guy story segment was so so and I was puzzled over the little girl story segment.

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Paprika

The story is about how things went horribly wrong when a machine designed to probe into a person's dream got misused.

Pretty impressed by how the director blended dream and reality so nicely together like what he did in "Perfect Blue"! Also liked the running theme and how Paprika changed into many different costumes similar to that in "Millenium Actress"! The Chinese translation of the title, "Red Chilli", was especially appropriate as it referred to both Paprika's hair color as well as her never-say-die attitude!

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Sada and Kichi

The story is based on a famous murder case that happened in late 1930s Japan. A geisha strangled a rich man and cut off his private parts after making love with each other in a room for a month.

Learnt from the Q&A session that this film belonged to the "Roman Porno" genre created by Nikkatsu in the 60s to save them from bankruptcy. The obsessive love between the couple was portrayed realistically and the flashbacks on the geisha's past made me understand her better. Thought a good companion film could be "World of Geisha" shown in cinemas a few months ago that starred the same leading actress. Looking forward to catch "In the Realm of the Senses" by Nagisa Oshima based on the same true story if it is ever allowed to show here.

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Transformers

The story is about how two types of robots, Autobots and Decepticons, from outerspace fought against each other with the human beings caught in between. Autobots protect humans and transform themselves into automobiles while Decepticons don't like humans and transform themselves into weapons.

Learnt a great deal on how the robots came about from this film! Remembered watching cartoons on transformers when I was young but had no idea why they were fighting each other. The transformation of the robots look very cool! Was also impressed by the two lead actresses in the film! One was a car expert while the other was a computer security expert.

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Scrabble Nationals 2007 (Day Two)

Game 5: vs Ganapathy
Had a bad record against Ganapathy. He won in all our encounters. I was leading by a bit until he bingoed near the end of the game. Lost in the end!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: FEEDERS(78) Opp Bingos: STRIKES(81)
My Phoneys: NAR* Opp Phoneys: RETRIVES*
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: LEZ(33)
L 307-392, -85. 2W 3L (Accum spread -83).

Game 6: vs Valli
Was pleasantly surprised when my PLACATED(97) turned out to be good when challenged! Realised that I could have scored more if I had planned my end game moves better.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: PLACATED(97) Opp Bingos: CLOSING(69)
My Phoneys: KEELY* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: QIS(32), ZA(31)
W 387-381, +6. 3W 3L (Accum spread -77).

Game 7: vs Sharul
Quite happy to meet Sharul again at a competition as he was the first player I played with almost four years ago at the PSTAR games! Had an ADILNU? rack which could only play with either A or U as the first letter and tried UNDIALs*(71) but it was not challenged off as it allowed him to play off some of the consonant tiles.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: UNDIALS*(71) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: UNDIALS*(71) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: NIX(32), BREW(31) Opp High Moves: ZIT(35), WEEPY(42), CARS(38), TOWING(41)
L 351-414,-63. 3W 4L (Accum spread -140).

Game 8: vs Sim Pin Yi
Had very good tiles in this game with JKQZSSSS?? while my opponent only had the X! Had a chance to bingo out in the end but just couldn't see the word in my EEINRR? rack. Wasted a few moves trying a few possible words that turned out to be phoneys before giving up.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TOENAIL(67) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: REINERs* Opp Phoneys: NEM*
My High Moves: QI(30) Opp High Moves: EX(35)
W 428-256, +172. 4W 4L (Accum spread +32).

Game 9: vs Ruby
Was greedy when I put MOTIONER(74) instead of STONIER as I discovered that STONIER just managed to fit in between two DWS cells without touching any of them. Turned out to be a bad move as Ruby managed to hook HAILERS(77) at the back. Was beaten convincingly by her.

New words learnt: MOTIONER(74)
My Bingos: MOTIONER(74) Opp Bingos: UNBARES(72), HAILERS(77), STEROID(76)
My Phoneys: PUHL* Opp Phoneys: UNBANGS*, STORIE*
My High Moves: TOWEL(33), WIVE(31), OX(38) Opp High Moves: ZIT(35)
L 354-448, -94. 4W 5L (Accum spread -62).

Game 10: vs Siew Chin
Turned out that all my King of the Hill opponents were female players. Both of us played several phonies in the beginning before we had one bingo each. Managed to capitalise on my opponent's mistakes to win by a small margin.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: HALFTONE(72) Opp Bingos: MEDIANS(87)
My Phoneys: KOE*, PENSIER* Opp Phoneys: CEG*, TAC*, MONT*
My High Moves: ZEE(35), FINER(49), DIGS(40) Opp High Moves: RAX(40), MOWER(33), EQUIP(32)
W 402-335, +67. 5W 5L (Accum spread +5).

Game 11: vs Linda
Was quite happy to meet Linda as she was Winston's colleague from Ngee Ann Poly and a possible opponent at the upcoming PSTAR games. We had one bingo each and our scores were quite close until I leapt ahead with KIVES* which was not challenged off. Lucky for me!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: FASTENS(81) Opp Bingos: COOLIES(72)
My Phoneys: JANG*, KIVES*(46) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: BEAST(36)
W 405-346, +59. 6W 5L (Accum spread +64).

Game 12: vs Dinna
Met her during the Causeway Cup last year. Didn't manage to catch her with the Q at the end of the game otherwise I could have a chance of winning as it would mean a 30 point difference.

New words learnt: ARGON
My Bingos: CARNAGE(80) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: COER*
My High Moves: FOR(32), OHS(36), FOREX(31), DREW(36) Opp High Moves: JUTES(34), KNEE(36), SHADE(51), ADZ(33)
L 376-400, -24. 6W 6L (Accum spread +40).

Finished the whole tournament with 6 wins, 6 losses and +40 spread in 12th position. Met my basic target with getting at least 6 wins with positive spread but just failed to reach top 10 position. Think that will be the goal for my next tournament!

Scrabble Nationals 2007 (Day One)

Had not played in tournaments for around half a year but decided to take part in the Nationals to prepare for the upcoming PSTAR games in August. This year's tournament is at a new venue at Toa Payoh West CC.

Game 1: vs Dexter Chew
My first opponent was against a young boy who is Alvin Seo's junior from Bukit Panjang High school. He appeared quite nervous and told himself aloud to be calm several times. Guess the very cold aircon didn't help too. Managed to win by scoring two bingos and closing up the board. His last rack was EHIRST? but had no place to play it but he tried to hook to several places to form phoneys and I challenged them off in the process.

New words learnt: TYRAN
My Bingos: PETTIES(76), NUMERATE(71) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: ABAY*, TEV*, ARAGED* TCOB* SCOB*
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: TYRAN(51), ZOA(32)
W 472-209, +263. 1W 0L (Accum spread +263).

Game 2: vs Ashley
My second game was with Ashley whom I have played twice before and lost in both occasions. The score was very close until I tried to do a set up by placing CAN on the board. Two blanks and one S had been played while I had two of the remaining three S. Thought it should be quite certain that the remaining S is in the bag but turned out that he had it on his rack and he scored with WISP(30). The remaining game went downhill after that.

New words learnt: VOLAR
My Bingos: UNTILED(90) Opp Bingos: ROADIES(69), SEDITION(80)
My Phoneys: HEG* Opp Phoneys: VIB*
My High Moves: KEF(31), JOG(37), XI(37), PYA(35) Opp High Moves: WISP(35), ZEL(32)
L 369-464, -95. 1W 1L (Accum spread +168).

Game 3: vs Arul
Was glad to meet Arul for my third game as I knew he had very good board equipment! Had this bad feeling when I once again played a vertical CAN on the board. True enough, Arul scored heavily with a DOZIEST(127) bingo followed by FLATWARE(69). He had a few other high scoring moves and thrashed me by almost 200 points.

New words learnt: DOZIEST, FLATWARE
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: DOZIEST(127), FLATWARE(69)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: EXIT(31), AURAS(30), QAT(30) Opp High Moves: ICING(31), APSO(41), TEARY(30), VIRAL(30)
L 312-498,-186. 1W 2L (Accum spread -18).

Game 4: vs Catherine
Had played Catherine many times and I lost more often than I won. Managed to score well with KEXES(59) although I was unsure of it. Later got away with JAIS*(72) by back hooking JAI with RATIONS(72). Was leading by a comfortable margin but left too many bingo lanes open though and Catherine closed the gap with two bingos near the end of the game.

New words learnt: NUTTERS, SILLERS
My Bingos: RATIONS(72) Opp Bingos: NUTTERS(72), SILLERS(90)
My Phoneys: JAIS*(72) Opp Phoneys: STUNTER*
My High Moves: LIEN(37), KEXES(59) Opp High Moves: -
W 443-423, +20. 2W 2L (Accum spread +2).

Finished day 1 with 2 wins and 2 losses in 10th position.

The New Taira Clan

The story is about the rise of Samurais through the Taira family in ancient Japan when monks are well respected and abused their authority.

Learnt a bit about the social conditions at that time. Young master Taira has really thick eye brows!

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Nancy Drew

The story is about how a young girl who likes to solve mysteries got herself involved in yet another mystery.

Pretty impressed by Nancy Drew who excels in all areas of her schoolwork! She is also polite, likes to help people and has very good dress sense! Liked the way the interesting mystery was unravelled and the delicious pastries presented!

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Repast

The story is about how a wife got tired of her household chores when her husband's niece came to visit them and went back to her parent's place to reflect about her situation.

Liked the voice over narration, the outdoor sequences and how the relationship of the couple developed! The actress looked convincing as the overworked wife!

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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

The story is about how a team of super heroes named the Fantastic Four saved the world and their encounters with an alien named the Silver Surfer.

Liked the little quarrels among the team and how they managed to stick together to solve their problems together in the end! Nice special effects too!

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Miss Oyu

The story is about a man falling in love with a widowed woman named Miss Oyu but marries her sister instead.

Liked how the film explained the relationship among the three people and how their actions are affected by people's attitude at that time! Was also impressed by the nice black and white cinematography and the fluid camera action that followed the characters around!

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The story is about a girl who discovered that she could travel back in time by leaping forward.

A charming film that describes the girl's everyday life at school and at home in great detail! The theme "Time waits for no one" comes across very nicely too!

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Ghost Rider

The story is adapted from a comic book about a rider who serves the devil to eliminate his violent son.

Nice special effects! The skull on fire looks cool!

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Wild Hogs

The story is about four middle aged friends going on a road trip around United States on their motorcycles.

Interesting trip where they meet all sorts of people! Marisa Tomei who acted as the waitress looked quite cute! The action sequences are exciting too!

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Music and Lyrics

The story is about how a once popular boy band member discovers that his gardener had great lyric writing talent and cooperated with her to make a new song.

Interesting to see how the creative process evolved! Nice dance choreography by the singer whom the song is meant for too!

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Zodiac

This is based on a true story about a serial killer who taunts the police by forcing the newspaper to publish articles about himself in the 70s.

There was too much information overload and didn't manage to understand who the potential suspects were. A bit too draggy to my liking.

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Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust

The story is about how a young girl travelled back in time to the early 90s to maintain Japan's economic bubble by stopping the economic minister from releasing a particular news.

Interesting and funny film! Was kept in suspense throughout on how everything would end!

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Bridge to Terabithia

The story is about how two classmates became good friends and how they discovered a secret hideout that they named Terabithia.

Liked the depiction of school life and how the friendship evolved over time! The lead actor's sister looks quite cute! Also liked the nice ending!

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After This Our Exile

The story is about the relationship between a father and a son living in Malaysia. The father has a wife who left him because he was a loser. The son chose to stay with his dad even though his mum is financially better off.

Chose to watch this two days before Father's day because of its theme. Realised that Aaron Kwok can act pretty well! The son did a very good job too! Liked the scenery at the countryside and the emotional build up to the final scene!

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D.O.A: Dead or Alive

The story is adapted from an X-box game "Dead or Alive" and is about how a group of martial arts expert are invited to take part in a martial arts competition on an island where the top prize is US$10 million.

Very impressive martial arts choreography! Also liked how the lead actresses worked well together as a team!

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The Crucified Lovers

The story is about how a young wife of a wealthy miserly scroll-maker leaves home with one of the most hardworking workers and falls in love with him in the process. The custom of the time in 17th century Kyoto was to nail adulterous couples on the cross which is how the title comes about.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography and the detailed description of the social conditions in Japan at that time! Very well written storyline that explains how one event leads to another! The lead actress, Kyoko Kagawa, looks a bit like local actress Evelyn Tan.

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Gion Festival Music

The story is about life as a geisha in Japan through the eyes of two geishas who have both a teacher-apprentice and a sisterly relationship.

The second film in the Mizoguchi DVD box set that I watched. The rest of the films in the 8-disc box set are: "New Tales of the Taira Clan", "The Crucified Lovers", "Miss Oyu", "Sansho the Bailiff", "Ugetsu" and "The Life of Oharu".

Realised that geishas have to undergo rigorous training in playing musical instrument and dance before they can graduate but their actual job hardly require much of those skills. Learnt that it is more to build up their character and make them more feminine. Story is interesting and I liked the great acting by the two lead actresses!

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