Berta's Motives

The story is about a young girl's coming of age when she became friends with a neighbour who claimed to be a widow.

This reminded me of Edward Yang’s “Expectation” episode in “In Our Time” made one year prior to this film. Wonder if the director was influenced by it?

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Rango

This is an animation about how a chameleon became a hero for a small town in the desert by accident.

Liked the action sequences and how the protagonist searched for his purpose in life! A little disappointed that they didn't really put the water into good use in the end though.

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A Brighter Summer Day

The story is loosely based on the first juvenile murder case in Taiwan that happened in 1961. Students joined gangs to have a sense of belonging and the secret police were arresting people who were suspected to be communists.

Liked the nice songs, the detailed depiction of the life in Taiwan back in the early sixties and the theme of finding one's identity and purpose in life! The three sisters of Zhang Zhen all looked quite pretty!

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Taipei Story

The story is about how a couple who knew each other from young slowly drifted apart.

Liked the scenes that showcased the cityscape of Taiwan and how Ah Lung treated his old friends and his father-in-law! The Japanese advertisements and the historical footage of Taiwan playing baseball in America were also interesting!

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The Winter of 1905

The story is about a Chinese student, Li Shutong, who studied art, music and drama in Japan in 1905. His friend was a revolutionary who wanted to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

The Japanese girlfriend of the Chinese student looked very pretty but his acting was a bit wooden.

In Our Time

The film consists of four short stories: "Little Dragon Head" about a young boy with a toy dragon, "Expectation" about a young girl's yearning for love, "The Jumping Frog" about college life and "Say Your Name" about one day in the life of a couple.

Liked the dream sequences and the song in "Little Dragon Head"! The teenage girl in "Expectation" acted very well, the competition was exciting in "The Jumping Frog" and "Say Your Name" was funny!

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Black Swan

The story is about how a ballet dancer's strive for perfection caused her to lose herself as she prepared for two contrasting roles in a new adaptation of "Swan Lake".

Liked how the film depicted the psychological transformation of Natalie Portman! Great special effects that merged dream and reality! Also liked the pretty costumes and the nice music!

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Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly

The story follows several characters on how they lead their lives in Indonesia. There are two students, a national badminton player, an old billiards player and a blind dentist among others.

Liked the scene with the pig! Thought the film showed the identity crisis faced by Indonesian Chinese quite nicely! Nice song too!

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The Private Life of Henry VIII

The story is about the relationship between King Henry VIII and his six wives.

Liked the King's optimistic attitude despite his many past failed relationships! Learnt a bit about the history of England through this film!

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It's A Great Great World

The film consists of four short stories about the Great World Amusement Park in Singapore that was established in 1929 and closed down in 1978.

Liked how the director covered several parts of the amusement park across different eras! Henry Thia's photo shoot in the first segment was innovative, the ghost ride in the second segment was scary, the songs were nice in the third segment and the dialect jokes in the final segment were funny!

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Made In U.S.A.

The story is about a female reporter investigating about her boyfriend's death.

Didn't really like this as it was very hard to follow without having any background knowledge on the obscure political and literary references that the director was making. The songs sang by the Japanese girl and the French girl were very nice though!

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When Hainan Meets Teochew

The story is about how two neighbors, Hainan and Teochew, met and fell in love with each other. Hainan is a manly woman who used to share her flat with her ex-girlfriend. Teochew is a man who wished that he was a woman and whose dead brother would appear from nowhere to give him advice.

The relationship among the characters was too complex for me to comprehend but I liked the scene where Hainan was teaching her siblings how to pronounce the Hainan dialect properly! Her younger sister looked quite cute!

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Invasion

The story is about how a small group of resistance fighters plotted against a totalitarian state.

Liked the interesting sound effects that incorporated tango music and the grand invasion sequence with many lorries, planes and ships!

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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

The story is about the past lives of a middle aged man with a kidney problem. His son transformed to a giant ape and his dead wife came back as a ghost to take care of him. His sister-in-law and two other friends were also featured in the film.

Liked the interesting catfish episode and the nice leisurely walks through the countryside!

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A Brand New Life

The story is about a little girl who was left by her father in an orphanage during the mid seventies as he hoped that she would have a better life.

Liked the scene where the father cycled with the little girl at his back! Great acting by the little girl but I enjoyed "Treeless Mountain" slightly more than this.

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The Zero Years

The story is about the friendship among four women under very harsh conditions.

Liked the black and white sequence of the four children climbing out of the drain as well as the depiction of the banal day to day events in the house! Great acting by the actresses!

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Rembrandt

This is a biography of Rembrandt who was a famous Dutch painter in the 17th century.

Liked the interesting anecdotes shared by the painter! Would have liked the film to showcase more of his paintings though.

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The Shop on Main Street

The story is about what happened after a Czech peasant took over an old Jewish woman's shop during the second World War.

Liked the nice little story! Great acting by the lead actor and actress!

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The Magician

The story is about the battle of wits between a magician and a skeptical medical adviser who believed that science could explain everything.

Quite surprised to learn that Bergman made comedies too! Liked the humor, the flirting maids and the suspense towards the end!

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The Suspended Vocation

The story is about a priest who had doubts about the purpose of his job seen from two perspectives.

Didn't really like this film as it was too abstract. The special effects of splicing two films together was pretty well executed in my opinion though.

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If You Are The One

The story is about how a middle aged man found a soul mate after sending out a advertisement to search for a potential wife.

Liked the witty dialogue and the beautiful scenery!

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Lancelot of the Lake

The story is about the knights in King Arthur's round table of which Lancelot was the most capable. The queen was fond of him, some knights were loyal to him but others were jealous of him.

Liked the scenes with Lancelot and the queen together as well as the exciting jousting competition sequence! Would love to catch "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" next that was inspired by this film!

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The Devil's Trap

The story is about how a miller who was well versed in science had a conflict with a priest in a small Czech town.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography and the beautiful scenery!

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Travelling with Yoshimaru Naru

This is a documentary about a Japanese artist called Yoshimaru Naru. The film followed him to his exhibitions in many countries.

Liked the enthusiasm of the little Korean girl fan at the meet-the-artist session! It was also interesting to hear and see how the artist worked!

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A Story Written With Water

The story is about how a son's relationship with his mother affected him even after his marriage. The mother brought his son up single handedly after the father died but had an affair with a rich man whose daughter ended up marrying the son.

Liked the use of flashbacks and the depiction of the complex mother-son relationship in the film! Thought one of the dream sequences that featured the women in the son's life dressed as nurses was quite interesting!

Internet Movie Database Link

Black Narcissus

The story is about the difficulties faced by a group of nuns when they tried to set up a school and dispensary high up in the Indian mountains. The place was given to them by a general. The film title refers to a scent on the general's son's handkerchief.

Liked the beautiful cinematography and the nice costumes of the nuns! Thought it was interesting to see how the environment affected people's behavior! Great acting by all the cast!

Internet Movie Database Link

Causeway Cup 2010 (Day 5)

Round 40 vs Arvinran Rajendran(Malaysia)
Lost as I had RAINERS*(64) while he had TORNADO(71) and BEZANTS(98). He said he purposely let off my RAINERS* phoney as he could score well with PRIEF(61) down the TWS lane.

Round 41 vs Philip Iboro(Nigeria)
I had VINTAGES(76) while he had ARCSINE(72) and bARITES(78). Could have won if I bingoed instead of phoneying with REFiLER*. I also made a terrible mistake by choosing not to bingo with INQUIRE as I saw that the Q was just next to the TWS cell but played QUA instead for 32 points. Thought I would most likely have another bingo later but it didn't turn out that way.

Round 42 vs Arul Inthirarajah(Singapore)
I had ANEROID(70) while he had TORMINA(72), GOITRES(91) and OUTREAD(69). Could have pulled even with ZESTS with over 70 points but played ZESTI instead as I mixed it up with XYSTI. Lost in the end.

Round 43 vs Anocha Saengsiri(Thailand)
Was pleasantly surprised to have the chance to play with Anocha! I had SEERING*(67) while she had STAMPED(93). The board was pretty closed but she won in the end.

Round 44 vs Catherine Tong(Singapore)
Won as I had one bingo GAMIEST(82) while she had none. Made a mistake as I phoneyed with RETINGE* instead of playing the bingo.

Round 45 vs Anocha Saengsiri(Thailand)
Won as I had two bingos ANNEXES(87) and RETILES(82) while she had DIAGNOSE(62). Thought it was a very good find as it was her last rack and she played it through the I on the board.

Final day results: won 2 games out of 6 and had 7 bingos while my opponents had 9 bingos in total. Missed bingos were from AEINRRS, ?EEFLRR, EEGINRS and EEGINRT racks where phoneys were played instead.

Won 23 out of 45 games in the end and was placed 41st position out of 84 players. Not too bad as I thought I would be struggling at the bottom. Would most likely be back the following year!

Causeway Cup 2010 (Day 4)

Round 30 vs Mahani Mohd(Malaysia)
My opponent had LEASING(67) but I could have won if not for a terrible end game play. Could have finished with GIRO but missed the spot and my opponent outed first instead.

Round 31 vs Kay Anderson(Australia)
I had DANNIES(87) and she had TURNINGS(68). Won as I scored with JIVED(32) and KAMI(28) towards the end while she phoneyed successively with EBO* and WIE*.

Round 32 vs Brian Jones(Australia)
I had NEGATES(66) and OUTRATE(64) while he had HONKERS(73). Got away with VINCE* as my opponent said he could score well with EVINCE. Won by a little bit in the end.

Round 33 vs Saraswathi Ramm(India)
I had UNTAPED(80) and HEARTIES(85) while she had TAILORS(71). Won as I got away with DEVI* by forming HIND(44) back hooking the I to DEV while she phoneyed with MOLTIES*. She could also have formed an eight letter bingo with an existing T on the board with her rack but didn't see it.

Round 34 vs Wimal Fernando(Philippines)
I had SOUNDED(76) while he had RETRAIN(69). I also scored well with ZEBRA(83) but phoneyed next with OSH* later. Won as he made a big mistake when he played DAF* instead of FAD when I opened up with WANDS towards the end.

Round 35 vs Olga Visser(Australia)
Lost badly as I had no reply to my opponent's ECHOING(78), BONIEST(72) and LATENTS(83). Tried to play PARTIER by back hooking to BAC and DAME simultaneously to form BACA* and DAMER* but it was challenged off. I also tried later to play TORRIDS* unsuccessfully.

Round 36 vs Kashi Ross(Australia)
Won easily as I had three bingos BEARING(77), RETAILS(79) and ABALONE(69) while my opponent had none.

Round 37 vs Lee Pao Hsien(Malaysia)
I had PLUCKIER(85) while he had HANDERS(79). Won as I had all the big tiles, SAZ(37), JOIN(54), EX(38) and QI(31).

Round 38 vs Irwin Goh(Malaysia)
I had DEALERS(91) while he had LAIRISE(67). Won as I had all the big tiles, HEX(31), ZACK(72), JANN(67) and QUAD(47).

Round 39 vs Betty Eriksen(New Zealand)
I had ENTRIES(76) while she had AUNTIES(69). Won as I scored well with POTTED(57) and WEEDS(44) but phoneyed with INCISER*.

Fourth day results: won 8 games out of 10 and had 12 bingos while my opponents had 11 bingos in total. Missed bingo were from EILMOST, EILMOSTT, DIORRST and CEIINRS racks where phoneys were played instead.

Causeway Cup 2010 (Day 3)

Round 20 vs Catherine Tong(Singapore)
Won easily with two bingos SINGLES(69) and AERATES(79) to none from my opponent.

Round 21 vs Irwin Goh Hong Jin(Malaysia)
Both of us had two bingos each. I had INQUIRE(95) and GRAINED(82) while he had ISATINE(71) and TAILORS(67). Scored more consistently to win in the end.

Round 22 vs Ruby Sim(Singapore)
I had GENDERS(67) while she had THORNING(85). She also scored very well with EQUALS(61) and TAXIS(44) to win.

Round 23 vs Adrian Tay(Malaysia)
I had pUTTIES(76) and he had SPENDER(85). He tried unsuccessfully with FREERIDE* while I scored well with MINKS(62). He was a bit upset when I blocked his bingo rack with a low scoring LOUT(4) play and challenged it even though he was almost certain it was good. Won in the end.

Round 24 vs Kashi Ross(Australia)
I had UNRINSED(77) while she had UNGRADED(75) and SENORITA(63). I also tried unsuccessfully with REMISER* and MOATY*. Didn't realise that REMISIER* was no good too. Lost in the end.

Round 25 vs Philip Iboro(Nigeria)
I had INGOTED(85) and DEVIATE(78) while he had GOADERS(69). Had a narrow win as he also scored well with QUARK(56).

Round 26 vs Yeoh Eiu Jyn(Malaysia)
Both of us had two bingos each. I had DADDIES(68) and LONELIER(70) while he had SHOEING(85) and SOOTIEST(66). Lost as he also scored very well with ZEE(50).

Round 27 vs Philip Iboro(Nigeria)
Lost as I had no reply to his SNORTERS(64) and SEZ(45).

Round 28 vs Yeoh Eiu Jyn(Malaysia)
I had two bingos TENTERS(78) and GOALIES(70) but he had RANTINGS(60) and scored well with EXIST(57) and JIN(35). Lost as I tried unsuccessfully with FARTIER* and TARRIF*.

Round 29 vs Ruby Sim(Singapore)
I had GOATIER(67) while she had nETTIES(86). Lost even though she phoneyed with MAAL*.

Third day results: won 4 games out of 10 and had 14 bingos while my opponents had 12 bingos in total. Missed bingo was from EEIMRRS racks where a phoney was played instead.

Causeway Cup 2010 (Day 2)

Round 11 vs Yeoh Eiu Jyn(Malaysia)
Phoneyed with DELITES* and both of us had one bingo each. He had UNHIrED(66) while I had BORINGS(106). Think I could have played better in my end game as he managed to clear both his Cs and a K with quite a high score to win by a small margin.

Round 12 vs Olga Visser(Australia)
Won easily with two bingos: FEASTED(71) and COINED(61) to none from my opponent. Made a mistake with a CLAWY* phoney though.

Round 13 vs Vijayaraj Mahendra(Malaysia)
Won easily with two bingos REISSUE(77) and BASTION(81) to one bingo UNDERLAY(69) from my opponent.

Round 14 vs Arul Inthirarajah(Singapore)
I had INSIDER(62) while he had RAFFISH(98). I also tried unsuccessfully with CEASIER*. Lost but was looking forward to playing a cute girl, Anocha, from Thailand in our group!

Round 15 vs Valliammah Thambiayah(Singapore)
My previous opponent, Arul, said I could not get any unluckier. A regroup into groups of four has been made. Instead of playing with Anocha, I had a rematch with Valli instead and she won this time round! I had VENTURED(63) and VEX(51) while she had SAILORS(64) and DOZERS(51).

Round 16 vs Catherine Tong(Singapore)
Won with two bingos UNHIRED(77) and FELINES(71) to my opponent's SMOKING(67).

Round 17 vs Roy Malonzo(Philippines)
Won with WEEDIER(86) and ZEIN(66) to my opponent's MOTHERS(72).

Round 18 vs Maureen See(Australia)
Lost with ELATION(70) to my opponent's CAULKED(86) and FORESAIL(77).

Round 19 vs Nutt Treepoonsuk(Thailand)
This game was filled with phoneys. He phoneyed twice with COVERNS* and STRONGS* while I phoneyed with DERBING*. Wanted to try INBREEDS next as he changed but thought it looked too strange to be good. I even put down the tiles but took it back and played HERB instead to touch the TWS cell. He won easily with SHORTEN(79) and ANEROIDS(80) and told me after the game that he knew that INBREEDS was good. Should have gone with my instincts!

Second day results: won 4 games out of 10 and had 11 bingos while my opponents had 10 bingos in total. Missed bingos were from DEEILST AND BDEGINR racks where phoneys were played instead.

Causeway Cup 2010 (Day 1)

Played in the Causeway Cup four years ago which featured 20 games over three days. This time round 45 games were played over a period of five days. The Open section had 84 players and we were divided into groups of six where we played round robin against each other. A regroup into a next group of six was then done based on our results.

Round 1 vs Aganaba Mathew(Nigeria)
Had an easy game as I bingoed with RESAILS(77) and my opponent missed a bingo with an ACEINRS rack and phoneyed with CRAINES* instead. He bingoed with ATONIES(71) later but it was too late for him to catch up.

Round 2 vs Chim Wai Main(Malaysia)
I bingoed with DRAINER(69) while my opponent had SHEARING(62) and SAUTOIRE(71). Then I spotted a nine-timer play with REISSUES(113) to catch up. Managed to win by a bit in the end.

Round 3 vs Akomobong Okoridem(Nigeria)
I had LASERED(75) while he had DETAINEE(77) and PLACENTA(81). I was pretty impressed by his PLACENTA find which he played through an existing P to touch the TWS cell. Lost in the end.

Round 4 vs Sharon Sorensen(Australia)
I had LEADIEST(64) and she had MOSSING(80) and MAGGOTY(69). Lost badly as I tried to bingo with TREADIER* unsuccessfully later.

Round 5 vs Hardy Yohanes(Indonesia)
Was trailing when he bingoed with SORTIES(74) but when he played LIEU to have the L on the TWS lane, I bingoed with the second nine-timer of the day with RETAILED(140) and overtook him. Won comfortably in the end. Won 3 games and lost 2 in my first round robin group.

Round 6 vs Betty Erickson(New Zealand)
I had AUNTIES(61) and SPEARING(69) while she had RAIDERS(85) and SOLSTICE(75). She tried unsuccessfully to bingo with COILIEST* before her SOLTICE(75) bingo. Won by a bit in the end.

Round 7 vs Lim Sha Lyn(Malaysia)
Was surprised to see the current world champion Pakorn come personally to see how my opponent was doing before the game. Realised only later that she was his girlfriend. Lost badly as she bingoed with ENDORSE(69) and PARADES(72) while I phoneyed with REWIEST*.

Round 8 vs Valliammah Thambiayah(Singapore)
Won easily with 3 bingos, FADINGS(89), ENTRIES(79) and DISSENT(66) while my opponent had none. Made a mistake with a phoney FUNGAE* though.

Round 9 vs Yeoh Eiu Jyn(Malaysia)
My opponent's two sisters and mother were playing in the Open section as well! Hope to play with her sisters in the next few days! Lost badly as he had two bingos with NARTJIES(87) and GRANITE(70) while I only had RAINIER(74).

Round 10 vs Kashi Ross(Australia)
Lost easily as I had no answer to her two bingos: SLANTED(80) and BOILERS(67). Won 2 games and lost 3 in my second round robin group.

First day result: won 5 games out of 9 and had 12 bingos while my opponents had 16 bingos in total. Missed bingos were from ACEINRS and EEIRSTW racks where phoneys were played instead.

White Ribbon

The story is about life in a German village just before the first World War narrated by a school teacher who fell in love with the baron's maid. Besides the baron, the village also has a doctor, a midwife, a steward, a priest and a group of school children.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography and how the director depicted the human psychology within the village! Great acting by the priest's children! The priest reminded me of the step father in Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander".

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Push

The story is about how a group of people with special powers fought back against the authorities who made use of them. Movers, Pushers and Bleeders act like the strike force to attack the enemy physically and psychologically. Watchers and Sniffs provide both long term and short term intelligence. Wipers, Shifters, Shadows and Stitchers help to protect critical information and to heal oneself.

Liked the catchy names given to categorize the special powers! The special effects were good! Also thought that the rivalry between the two Watcher girls was interesting!

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When We Leave

The story is about how a woman left her abusive husband in Turkey and brought her son to stay with her parents in Germany. They welcomed her initially but eventually felt ashamed by her.

Only realized that this film was based on true events after watching the film. Great acting by the actress! Liked the detailed depiction of her relationship with her husband, her family and her friends!

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The Heiress

This is a film adaptation of Henry James's novel "Washington Square". The story is about how a naive doctor's daughter is wooed by an unemployed handsome young man who is after her money.

Great acting by the lead actress! She looked believable as both the shy young lady and the confident heiress that she later became! The maid also looked quite pretty and had a cute voice!

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The Outlaw and His Wife

The story is about how an outlaw escaped from jail to work for a rich widow who fell in love with him and followed him to live in the mountains when the authorities came to their door.

Liked the nice Scandinavian scenery and the use of flashbacks towards the end! The inter-titles had a lot of words for a silent film though.

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Blind Beast

The story is about how a blind sculptor abducted a pretty young woman to be his model and how they fell in love with each other.

Liked the voice over narration and the psychological game played by the model with the sculptor and his mother in her attempt to escape! The visual effects and sound effects were very good too!

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Soul Kitchen

This is a comedy about the transformation of a restaurant called "Soul Kitchen" from an ordinary eating place to a gourmet paradise filled with a hip crowd and nice music.

Liked the good sense of humor by the director and the great teamwork displayed by the family and friends of the restaurant owner!

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The Housemaid

This is a remake of Kim Ki-Young's 1960 film with the same title. The original film can be watched for free here. The story is about what happened after a housemaid got pregnant by the master of the house. The wife had a young daughter and was pregnant with twins at the same time.

Liked the nice soundtrack and beautiful choreography of the sex sequences of this film but the original film was more exciting in terms of the suspense and thriller portion! Half expected the old maid's son would play a part in the maid's revenge but was disappointed.

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Mouchette

The story is about how the life of a young girl named Mouchette with a dying mother and an alcoholic father changed after she got involved in the conflict between a poacher and a rural policeman.

Liked the opening scene that summarized the whole film! Great acting and excellent mud slinging skills by Mouchette! The ending sequence made a lot more sense to me now as I have seen the clip in another film prior to this.

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Melo

The story is adapted from a play about how a wife had an affair with her husband's friend and its consequences.

Great acting by Sabine Azema who played the wife! The dialogue was very well written and helped to flesh out the psychology of each character!

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Son of Babylon

The story is about how a boy went on a journey with his grandmother to search for his father who went missing during the Iraq war.

Liked the interesting journey and the beautiful scenery but the boy was really annoying for crying out to his grandmother for every small little thing.

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Every Man For Himself

The story is about how a man, his wife, his lover and a prostitute are inter-related. Each of them are reflecting upon their present situation and are looking for a change in their lives.

Liked the innovative slow motion technique and the nice soundtrack! Didn't really like the explicit political messages though.

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Possession

The story is about a woman who is possessed by a monster and this affected her relationship with her husband, her son and her lover.

Liked the great acting by Isabelle Adjani and the eerie atmosphere! Had a feeling that the director was influenced by "The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife" that is a woodcut created by the Japanese artist Hokusai around 1820.

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The Social Network

The story is about how the social networking site "facebook" started and got popular.

Liked the witty dialogue and how the director depicted Zuckerberg's relationship with his friends and competitors!

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The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

The story is about what happened after a man who had been locked up alone in a dungeon for many years found himself back into civilization. He had to learn to read and write as well as social norms from scratch.

Liked the shots of nature and the nice background music! Great acting by the lead actor! The rhyme recited by the little girl sounded quite nice too!

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The Phantom Carriage

The story is about how an alcoholic mistreated his wife but repented after a ghostly encounter with the phantom carriage. This carriage was driven by the last person to die during the previous year and his job was to collect souls for one whole year.

Liked the nice plot and the great special effects!

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Three

This consists of three short stories set during the Second World War and about the psychology of a person when he witnesses the death of others.

Liked the interesting bear performance in the first story and the exciting exchange of fire in the second story! The third story is a little boring in my opinion.

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The Big City

The story is about what happened when the housewife of an Indian family started to work to earn more money for the household. She became more confident of her abilities while her husband slowly became unhappy about the situation.

Liked the nice simple plot and the insight into the psychology of the different characters!

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Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker

This is a documentary on a famous Indian director, Satyajit Ray.

Liked the clips from Satyajit Ray's films but it was a pity that they were not subtitled. Learnt a little bit more about the director through the interviews and the look of his workplace!

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Heroic Purgatory

The story is about how a group of counter-revolutionaries fell apart. It is described from different perspectives and settings in a non-chronological order.

Liked the weird camera angles used and the nice soundtrack! The re-enactment of similar scenes with different actors was interesting too! The wig looked ridiculous though.

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The Music Room

The story is about a rich man who spends a lot of time and money in his music room. He slowly became poor and was taunted by his rich neighbor but he got his revenge towards the end.

Liked the nice dance music towards the end! Thought the dancer's movement was elegant and was amazed by how fast her feet moved!

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The Lonely Wife

The story is about how a wife of a rich Indian family became lonely and fell in love with her brother-in-law. The husband was busy running a political newspaper and had asked his brother who just graduated to coach his wife on her budding writing skills.

Liked the nice songs and the interesting conversations between the wife and the brother-in-law about literature! The scene with the wife on the swing and spying on her brother-in-law was beautifully shot!

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Promise of the Flesh

The story is about how a middle aged woman who was charged for murder found hope again from a stranger on the way back to prison.

Liked the use of flashbacks, voice over narration and the great acting by the main actress who showed how emotionally distraught she was very convincingly !

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My Ain Folk

This is the second part of a trilogy that forms the autobiography of the director who spent his childhood in Scotland during post World War II. The first part of the trilogy is "My Childhood" and the last part is "My Way Home".

Liked the nice outdoor scenery and the scary depiction of the possessive grandmother!

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Sweet Movie

This is a critique on communism and capitalism through a beauty pageant winner's journey in the capitalist world and a female ship captain's encounters in the communist world. Sweet stuff like sugar, candies, milk and chocolate are featured.

Liked the nice soundtrack and the realistic documentary footages! Learnt a bit on Russian, Polish and German history through this film!

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Pepe Le Moko

The story is about a notorious French gangster who stayed in the Casbah of Algeria to escape the police but began to miss home after befriending a beautiful French lady.

Liked the unique urban landscape of the Casbah and the battle of wits between Pepe Le Moko and Inspector Slimane!

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Picture Me

This is a documentary about the fashion industry seen through the eyes of the models, fashion designers and the agencies.

Felt a bit dizzy at the start as it looked like a home video filmed using a hand held camera but got used to it after a while. Liked the scrap book animation and the in-depth interviews with the models! It would be interesting if they included interviews with middle aged photographers to show the other side of the story!

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Claire's Knee

The story is about a middle aged man's obsession over a young girl's knee after he met his old lover at a mountain resort who was staying at a single mother's family with two teenage daughters.

Liked the nice scenery and the interesting conversations between the middle aged man and the women at the resort!

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Death of a Cyclist

The story is about what happened after a professor and his lover killed a cyclist in an automobile accident.

Liked the psychological study of the protagonists and how the director made use of the sly art critic and the idealistic female student to shed more light on their characters! Learnt a bit on Spanish history in the process too!

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The Girlfriends

The story is about how a fashion designer from Rome became friends with a group of rich women in Turin during her business trip.

Liked how the director illustrated the different approaches that these women took to balance both love and career! Great acting by all the actresses!

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The Last Letter

The story is about a Jewish mother who lived in Russia during World War II writing the last letter to her son before her execution by the Germans.

Great acting by the actress who played the Jewish mother! The shadow and lighting effect was interesting too!

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Trees WIthout Leaves

The story is about how a family fell apart seen through the eyes of a little boy. He became a writer when he grew up and came back to his hometown to reminisce about the past.

Liked the close relationship between the boy and his mother! The director also described the little incidents in his childhood really well!

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Sandcastle

The story is about a young man enquiring about his father's past after his grandfather died and just when he was about to enter National Service. His father was involved in the Chinese Student protest in 1956 and was exiled to Johor Bahru before he died of cancer.

Liked the nice National songs but still preferred Kit Chan's version of "Home"! Thought the film would provide some kind of documentary insight into the Chinese Student protest, so I was a little bit disappointed when it did not.

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Eros Plus Massacre

The story is about a famous anarchist who was murdered by the military police along with his second lover and nephew shortly after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. The film focused on his relationship with his wife and two lovers and provides a contrast with modern life in 1969 through a reporter and her two lovers.

Liked the interesting study into human psychology and how the characters from the past made their journey into the present! Noe Ito looked quite cute in her pretty kimono and gigantic ribbon on her head!

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Mime-mime

The story is about a young girl finding her purpose in life with the help of a childhood friend.

Liked the small little things that the young girl and her childhood friend did together! She looked quite cute with rosy cheeks and interesting hair clips!

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Good Bye, George Adamski

This is one of the five films in New Directions in Japanese Cinema (NDJC) 2007 that consisted of "The Bus to Heaven", "Good Bye, George Admaski". "Seismic Girl", "Babin" and "Restaurant UFO".

The story is about how a guy bumped into his best friend who had been obsessed with aliens and UFOs since young and how they went on a journey to unravel the mystery behind them.

Liked the flashback sequences about the two guy's childhood!

The Bus to Heaven

This is one of the five films in New Directions in Japanese Cinema (NDJC) 2007 that consisted of "The Bus to Heaven", "Good Bye, George Admaski". "Seismic Girl", "Babin" and "Restaurant UFO".

The story is about how a guy went on a bus trip that was arranged by his friend to celebrate his birthday and how he made up with his girlfriend in the process.

Liked the interesting discussion about the definition of good acting using Kinji Fukasaku's "The Fall Guy" and Michael Bay's "Armageddon" as examples! Made me want to check out "The Fall Guy" given the chance!

Lala Pipo: A Lot of People

This is a sex comedy about a few people staying in Tokyo who are somehow related to each other. These include a nerdy freelance writer, a charming pimp, a karaoke bar assistant who imagines that he is a superhero and three porn actresses: a beautiful young lady, a middle aged woman and a chubby lady.

Thought the theme was very similar to that in "Air Doll" with a more in-depth study of the characters! The comedy is a little bit crude but the fantasy sequences were very well done!

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Red Angel

The story is about the encounters of a nurse during World War II when Japan fought in China. She took care of the soldiers and fell in love with the doctor.

Liked the voice over narration and the contrast between the nurse's loving care towards her patients and the graphic depiction of the horrors of war!

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Diary of a Shinjuku Thief

The story is about how a couple met at the Kinokuniya book shop in Shinjuku and fell in love. Birdtop was stealing books but he was caught by Umeko who posed as an employee of the book shop.

Liked the part where Umeko piled all the different books on the Kinokuniya shop floor with simultaneous voice over commentary describing the contents! The director's use of text and color on the screen as well as the political focus reminded me of Godard.

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Air Doll

The story is based on a manga series about how an inflatable doll came to life one day and explored the world around her.

Special effects was great and the performance by Bae Doo-Na was excellent but his "Maborosi" and "Still Walking" had a bigger emotional impact on me! I have also seen his "After Life" and "Nobody Knows" and I thought this was one of his weakest works so far. "Still Walking" is available to watch for free at the Japan Creative Center.

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Bloody Thirsty

The story is about a man who shot to fame after a failed suicide attempt to save his colleagues from being laid off. He became an insurance company's spokesman through a brilliant public relations campaign.

Liked the incisive look into the media and public relations industry! Quite amazed to see how an ordinary person could shoot to fame over night and how he reacts to such a situation!

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Sing a Song of Sex

The story is about the adventures of a group of students after their exams during the sixties in Japan. The teacher taught them that the poor had been oppressed by the people in power and they had created songs about sex to express their discontent and escape into fantasy.

Liked the catchy folk songs, the imaginative dream sequences and the informative lecture on Korea and Japan history! The apathy among Japanese youth and how the voice of the minority could be drowned by the majority were also well illustrated!

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Black River

The story revolves around a poor neighborhood slum. The local gangster made a deal with the landlady to evict them and used under-handed means to get a young waitress who was interested in a student living in the slum to be his girl.

Liked the realistic depiction of the life in the slums and the ending climax!

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Bullfighter and the Lady

The story is about an American who trained to be a bullfighter so that he can impress a Mexican lady.

Liked the informative introduction to the art of bullfighting that showed off its elegance! Thought their training method was really interesting!

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The Million

The story is about a poor artist who won the lottery grand prize but misplaced his ticket. He left it in his old jacket which was given to a stranger by his girlfriend and subsequently sold to an opera singer!

Liked the interesting plot and the nice songs in this musical comedy! Thought the simulated rugby game scene was pretty innovative!

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The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting

The story is about a collector making a hypothesis that a painting could be missing and stolen from an art collection.

It was interesting to see actors posing to recreate the different paintings and to understand their background! I was especially intrigued by the story of the Marquise and her family! Ending was nicely done too with all the characters reappearing in the room!

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Kisses

The story is about how two young people whose fathers are locked up in jail met and fell in love with each other.

Liked the fast paced action and the actress looked very pretty in her dress! Thought it was funny at times and heart breaking at other times. Was really worried for the guy who was trying to figure out where the girl lived towards the end!

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The Seedling

The story is about how a newly married rich man's son took charge of a farm after graduation. He was selfish, ignored traditions and was stone hearted towards the poor. He fell in love with his maid after her husband suddenly disappeared. Things changed after his wife came to live with him.

Great acting by the maid and the plot was interesting! Liked the ending too that summarized the whole film!

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Liebelei

The story is about how a soldier who was the Baroness's lover fell in love with another girl. He broke up with the Baroness but the Baron found out about their past relationship and requested to have a duel with him.

Liked the storyline and the happy moments of the couple! The girl looked pretty and had a nice voice! I agreed with the soldier's friend who thought that the tradition of having a duel was cruel and illogical!

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Wife, Be Like A Rose!

The story is about a young lady, Kimiko, trying to get her estranged parents together again. She is getting married and had to get her father who had been living with a mistress for many years to come back home for a few days to help with the wedding negotiations.

Liked the warm reunion scene between Kimiko and her father as well as the numerous conversations between the young lady and her father's mistress! I was also impressed by the depiction of how a preconceived idea could change with more thorough investigation! The ending was very well done too!

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My Childhood

This is the first part of a trilogy that is based on the director's childhood during the mid forties in a little Scottish town. A little boy lived with his half brother and grandmother. He also made friends with a German worker who treated him like a son.

Liked the nice scenery of the Scottish town! The fight between the two siblings reminded me of "Kes" by Ken Loach. Would like to catch the second and third part of the trilogy if I have the chance!

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The story is about how a sorcerer found an apprentice with the potential to defeat an evil witch after searching around the world for many years. The film title came from a poem by Goethe and Walt Disney first adapted it into an animated film called Fantasia in 1940.

Not as exciting as "National Treasure" or enchanting as "Fantasia" but the special effects were pretty good. Wished that the apprentice had learnt more tricks rather than using his ring like a remote control though. I thought that the evil witch should have implemented redundancy into her system rather than assuming everything works properly.

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Scrabble Nationals 2010 (Day Two)

Game 5: vs Peter Yu
Thought I would have an easy time for my first game on the second day as Peter was a retiree but I was mistaken! Both of us had one bingo each, I had SERMONS(66) while he had STARKED(76) but he maintained a healthy lead throughout the game. I tried twice to bingo with a DEEMNT? rack by back hooking the E to an existing UP on the board, first with EMaNTED* and next with SEDiMENT but they were challenged off as Peter also challenged UPE* at the same time!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: SERMONS(66) Opp Bingos: STARKED(76)
My Phoneys: UPE*, EMaNTED* Opp Phoneys: BAHS*
My High Moves: VINER(34) Opp High Moves: HOO(33), JAR(35)
L 341-421, -80. 2W 3L (Accum spread -213).

Game 6: vs Lai How Fatt
I faced another retiree in my next game. Had wanted to show off the last word played in the scrabble competition in "Akeelah and the Bee" but I remembered the word wrongly and phoneyed instead! He had two bingos with TOUrIST(66) and DIVERSE(68) but also played many phoneys. Thought he could have won if he just aggressively played out all his tiles during the end game instead of still being too conservative about opening up the board.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: TOUrIST(66), DIVERSE(68)
My Phoneys: LINM*, PAG* Opp Phoneys: TIF*, HAI*
My High Moves: ZO(62), ATTAIN(37), DOL(39), QI(33) Opp High Moves: -
W 407-390, +17. 3W 3L (Accum spread -196).

Game 7: vs Jeeva Kumar
Jeeva was a big Indian guy from the Home Team. I used HENRY to hook to an existing MAR on the board to form HENRY and MARY simultaneously early in the game. Wonder if anybody had done a HARRY met SALLY in a competition before? Later, both of us had a lot of bingos in this game. I had WIGLESS(87), TEMPTING(76) and GAUDIER(81) while he had TINKLER(65) and OUTLEAP(66). I managed to outscore him in the end.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: WIGLESS(87), TMEPTING(76), GAUDIER(81) Opp Bingos: TINKLER(65), OUTLEAP(66)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: EMAS*
My High Moves: HENRY(31), DAISY(45), JOT(33), AIN(30) Opp High Moves: ZINE(37), FINS(35), EF(30), QADI(31)
W 496-403, +93. 4W 3L (Accum spread -103).

Game 8: vs Catherine Tong
Catherine was my second lady opponent of the game and she proved that girls were really better at multi-tasking than guys as she was able to read her Chinese storybook during the game itself! Thought there was no front hook for LITE and ignored that particular spot until Catherine plonked down RETIMED(96) down the TWS lane, front hooking LITE with an E. I had a AEPRSST rack late in the game. I tried STAPERS* and RAPTESS* unsuccessfully in quick succession and even went overtime by 3 minutes in the process. My worst game of the day! Hope my luck will change after lunch!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: RETIMED(96)
My Phoneys: KOT*, STAPERS*, RAPTESS* RAJAR* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: HEX(37) Opp High Moves: VERY(38), QAT(32)
L 296-384, -88. 4W 4L (Accum spread -191).

The restaurant within the community centre itself was really crowded and I went to the nearby hawker center together with Bee Tiang, How Fatt, Catherine and Siew Chin for lunch.

Game 9: vs Low Bee Tiang
My opponent after lunch was my lunch buddy and whom I have played many times before! We had one bingo each, I had fLATTED(77) while he had PROVING(74). I also had most of the big tiles and scored heavily on them while he made a few phoneys that were challenged off. The result was a winning spread of almost 200 points, my biggest win of the day!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: fLATTED(77) Opp Bingos: PROVING(74)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: CUG*, ECIG*
My High Moves: JEON(44), ZELS(69), SQUIZ(51) Opp High Moves: -
W 515-327, +188. 5W 4L (Accum spread -3).

Game 10: vs Catherine Tong
Had a chance to revenge myself against Catherine as the last three games were king-of-the-hill with repeats. This time round, I was very lucky with my tiles and scored two bingos, PIETIES(84) and UNWIRES(87) to win easily.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: PIETIES(84), UNWIRES(87) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: MIN* Opp Phoneys: UNJOLTED*
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: STROVE(31)
W 415-316, +99. 6W 4L (Accum spread +96).

Game 11: vs Kao Zi Chong
I had two bingos COTTONS(74) and BEARINGS(70) while he had SUNNIEST(59) but our scores were very close until he played JIRL* across the TWS lane. It was challenged off and I played JARL(33) on my turn! Didn't play the end game well as I was frustrated with vowels on a closed board and I just any how opened up for my opponent to score. Luckily he did not have a bingo and he ended up with a single V that could not be played while I slowly played off all my vowels to win!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: COTTONS(74), BEARINGS(70) Opp Bingos: SUNNIEST(59)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: JIRL*
My High Moves: FAX(34), JARL(33) Opp High Moves: HOTTY(32), QUITE(48), JETE(38), ZA(33), SPRAIN(40)
W 436-372, +64. 7W 4L (Accum spread +160).

Game 12: vs Ismail
Had quite an easy time as I had three bingos with TERRANE(67), TRIGGERS(65) and WAITING(79) while my opponent had none. I also got away with a TERP*(34) phoney. Wonder if it was because the ink on the tile was a little bit faded and he saw TERF instead. On my last move, I was deciding between MOWS(36) down the TWS lane or OMS(36) across the TWS lane with WAITING on top of it. Both scored the same points with exactly the same leave, so I wasn't sure which one to pick. Randomly picked OMS(36) in the end and was very surprised that my opponent challenged it! The 5 points from this challenge also enabled me to jump from 5th to 4th position!

New words learnt: KINDA
My Bingos: TERRANE(67), TRIGGERS(65), WAITING(79) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: TERP*(38) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: ZIN(32), OH(30), AXED(37), TERP*(38), JINN(36), OMS(41) Opp High Moves: KINDA(35), MERE(32), LEAD(33), YAH(33), WASh(47)
W 495-367, +128. 8W 4L (Accum spread +288).

Finished the tournament with 8 wins and 4th position. Hope to do better next year!

Scrabble Nationals 2010 (Day One)

This year's Nationals is once again held at Toa Payoh West CC. I had wanted to meet up with old friends without playing as I thought it would be tiring playing twelve full games but decided to take part when Valli told me that division B needed one more person to make it even number of participants.

Game 1: vs Aloysious
Aloysious had such a big lead after scoring a bingo with CAMPERS(76) that he could even afford to ignore my phoney with VINCE*. I was thinking of putting either EVINCE or VINCE* but decided on VINCE* in the end as I thought it looked more valid.

New words learnt: EVINCE
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: CAMPERS(76)
My Phoneys: VINCE*(36) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: COVES(35), WEB(34), SILK(30), VINCE*(36) Opp High Moves: AX(36), JOB(33), ZIP(45)
L 296-433, -137. 0W 1L (Accum spread -137).

Game 2: vs Yong Jian Rong
I bingoed first with RETINAE(66) but Jian Rong bingoed with ANNOTATES(85) a few turns later through an existing NO and back hooking the E with a SUP on the board! Pretty impressive for a primary school kid! I was stuck with the J and the Q late in the game with a very narrow lead but managed to clear them off for a win!

New words learnt: SUPE
My Bingos: RETINAE(66) Opp Bingos: ANNOTATES(85)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: ROP*, WAH*, TEAF*(21)
My High Moves: KIT(34), ZO(64), BAD(32), QIS(30) Opp High Moves: ORS(40), WHAM(36), CUIF(41)
W 428-412, +16. 1W 1L (Accum spread -121).

Game 3: vs Ganapathy
Had a comfortable lead when I bingoed twice with BlUNTED(76) and YEARNERS(74) while he had one bingo with sHARING(83). Think Ganapathy was not too familiar with the new Collins words as he tried to challenge off my REO and KOIS.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: BlUNTED(76), YEARNERS(74) Opp Bingos: sHARING(83)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: BEWIG(36), CUZ(40), JOT(30) Opp High Moves: -
W 431-377, +54. 2W 1L (Accum spread -67).

Game 4: vs Tan Mun Ri
I missed my opponent's REY*(29) phoney early in the game as I thought I played it often in online games before. Maybe I forgot that it was often challenged off too! Think my vocabulary definitely needs to be improved as I could not see bingos with both EIORSTW and AEMPRST racks!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TEdIEST(73) Opp Bingos: ROARING(72)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: REY*(29), ESNY*
My High Moves: FIVER(39) Opp High Moves: JOE(35), QUOD(37)
L 330-396, -66. 2W 2L (Accum spread -133).

Finished day 1 with 2 wins and 2 losses.

Heat Haze Theatre

The story is about the strange things that happened after a playwright encountered a rich man's wife at a hospital.

Very confusing but I liked the play by the children towards the end! The special effects in the tub was pretty well done too!

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Farewell to the Ark

The story is adapted from a novel called "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is about a small village in the jungle with enchanting creatures like the forest fairy and where the passage of time speeds up or slows down according to people's mood.

Didn't think it was possible to do a movie adaptation of the novel due to the complex plot and the number of characters but the director did a reasonable job to capture the magical atmosphere in the forest!

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Not Reconciled

The story is about how the German people had to come to terms with themselves after the war told through the eyes of one German family. The grandfather built a church that was destroyed by the father during the war and it was rebuilt by the grandson after the war. A few of their friends were politically persecuted and the mother became insane.

The film was very difficult to understand as there was no clear indication of whether a scene happened in the past or the present. I think that was part of the director's intention as it meant that the German people were still not reconciled with their past.

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A Confucian Confusion

The story is about how the lives of a group of friends were inter-connected and how hard it was to live your own life without being influenced by others. The Chinese title "Duli Shidai" literally means an era of independence.

This film reminds me of “Pauline at the Beach” by Rohmer except that there were more characters and the setting is in a regular working environment rather than the beach. Liked Qiqi’s cute hairstyle and how things worked out well for Birdy’s long suffering female assistant!

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Harlan County, USA

This is a documentary about how a group of coal miners in Harlan County organised a strike during the early seventies.

Liked the nice songs and how the camera captured the intimate details of people's lives! Reminded me of a Chinese film "Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks" by Wang Bing that also showed the lives of blue collar workers.

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Repulsion

The story is about how a young woman slowly became crazy at her apartment in London when her sister went on a holiday.

The special effects were pretty good! The weird sounds and strange camera angles helped to make the film more scary!

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Remember Chek Jawa

This is a documentary about how a group of people came together to do a nature survey of Chek Jawa in Pulau Ubin during 2001 so as to appeal against the government's plan to reclaim the area.

Liked the interviews with the people involved and the wonderful animals and plants found in Chek Jawa! The teamwork to do something that one believed in was very commendable!

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Silent Light

The story is about how a religious man suffered over his feelings towards both his wife and another woman.

Pace of the film was really slow but I liked the beautiful Mexican scenery and the nice relationship that the father had with his children! Was quite puzzled by the ending though!

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Marketa Lazarova

The story is set during the dark ages when there was a shift from Paganism to Christianity. The fate of the two rivals, the Kozlik and the Lazar families became intertwined when Mikolas Kozlik abducted Marketa Lazar to be his wife just when she was about to join the convent.

Liked the nice vocal music and the beautiful scenery! The lead nun looked cool, Alexandra the witch looked wild and Marketa looked sweet!

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Pauline at the Beach

The story is about how Pauline and Marion who were cousins spent their holidays at the beach. They met Pierre who was Marion's ex-boyfriend and befriended two other guys Henri and Sylvain.

Liked the interesting dialogues that helped to explain different people's attitudes towards relationships! Thought the director was quite clever to think up a situation that would cause a misunderstanding among the five characters towards the end!

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Reconstruction

The story is about how two young men were brought by a prosecutor, a policeman and a teacher to a restaurant to re-enact their drunken brawl there and have it filmed to show the effects of alcoholism.

Liked the catchy song and the cheerful bikini girl! Thought the director was subtly criticizing the communist society through the small details in the film.

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Shoah

This is a documentary about the Holocaust told through interviews with the eye witnesses. The film title is the Hebrew word for this historical event.

Liked the scenes of the strange looking stones scattered in the camp as they looked beautiful! The analysis by the historian was insightful and I was particularly struck by Filip Muller's moving account of how helpless he felt when he had to help the Germans to send his fellow countrymen to their death!

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Children of Hiroshima

The story is about how the people in Hiroshima coped with their lives after the atomic bombing on 6 August 1945.

Liked the use of flashbacks to contrast life before and after the atomic bombing! The short sequence that depicted the historic event was very well done too!

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Children in the Wind

The story is about how children lived in dysfunctional families. The father of a family was locked up in the police station for suspect fraud, forcing the mother to look for a job and to send her younger son away to a friend's place.

Liked the nice depiction of Japanese life in the thirties! The children seemed to enjoy themselves very much during play and respected their parents at home!

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