Hideko, the Bus Conductress

The story is about a bus conductress thinking of ways to save her bus company from going out of business together with the driver.

I had wanted to see this film after watching Takamine Hideko as a bus conductress in Lightning at the 2002 Japanese Film Festival, so I was very happy that this film was part of the 2011 Japanese Film Festival line up! Liked the interesting adventures on the bus and the nice voice of the bus conductress!

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Poetry

The story is about an old woman, who is slowly losing her memory, learning how to write a poem while having to deal with her delinquent grandson.

Liked the interesting screenplay and the great acting by the actress! The poems recited by the different people sounded very nice!

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Ajantrik

The story is about the close relationship between a quirky taxi driver and his car.

Liked the great sound effects and the interesting taxi trips across the country! Quite sad for the old car in the end though.

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Carmen Comes Home

The story is about a strip dancer returning home to the countryside from Tokyo for a few days of holiday with her colleague.

Liked the beautiful countryside scenery and the reaction of the villagers towards the two girls from the city!

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Mr Popper's Penguins

The story is about how the life of a businessman called Mr Popper changed after he inherited a few penguins from his father.

Liked Ms Pippi who spoke in rhymes and looked quite pretty! Didn't find the penguins cute though and pitied Jim Carrey for having to put up with them.

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Tokyo Chorus

The story is about the struggles of an insurance agent who was fired for arguing with his boss.

Don't think I would recognize Takamine Hideko if nobody told me that she was in this film! She looked quite cute as a child with a few missing teeth! Great drama about teacher-student, boss-employee and parent-child relationship!

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The Valiant Ones

The story is about how a group of people with very good martial arts skill tried to eliminate the Japanese pirates during the Ming dynasty. Their job was made more difficult as some officials were being bribed by the pirates.

Liked the exciting martial arts choreography and how cool Hsu Feng looked as the wife of Wu Jiyuan! The use of the weiqi board as well as the black and white stones to display the situation picture was ingenious!

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Pulgasari

The story is about how a monster called Pulgasari helped the farmers overthrow the evil king. It was created by an old blacksmith before he died.

Liked the interesting special effects and how cute the monster looked!

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Adieu Philippine

The story is about how a man who worked in the media industry as a camera man spent his time with two pretty girls before he was enlisted for the war in Algeria during the sixties.

Liked the quirky television commercials that were produced then and the two pretty actresses!

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White Light Black Rain

This is a documentary about the impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Liked how the news clips complemented the interviews by the survivors and how it showed both the American and Japanese side of the story!

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Assassination

The story is about how a mysterious expert swordsmen manoeuvred his way between the Emperor and the Shogunate supporters during the 1860s in Japan.

Liked the great sword fighting sequences and I learnt a bit about Japanese history!

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Kung Fu Panda 2

This is about a Panda who is pretty good at martial arts and fights against bad guys with his friends: Tigress, Crane, Monkey, Mantis and Viper.

Liked the beautiful scenery and the amazing martial arts choreography! The front part that explained how Shen became a bad guy was a bit confusing for me but it could be because I missed the first movie.

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So Wrong, They're Right

This is a documentary about fans of the 8-track format which is the predecessor of the cassette tape.

Liked the interesting interviews and the whole user experience of using the format, from listening to the sound made when the 8-track was put into the machine to visualising how the 8-track operates through its transparent cover!

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Kairat

The story is about the dreams and aspirations of a young man from Kazhakstan called Kairat who was waiting to retake his University exams while working as a tram driver.

Liked the interesting dream sequences that showed the inner thoughts of Kairat!

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Street Without End

The story is about how two waitresses who were good friends achieved work and family life balance.

Liked how the director illustrated the pros and cons of both the housewife and the actress path! Thought the sister-in-law would look fiercer without her dimples.

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Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

This is about the life of Karen Carpenter who was the lead singer of the Carpenters pop group during the seventies.

Liked the innovative use of barbie dolls and documentary clips as well as the nice songs! The film is pretty eerie at times though.

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Dancing Dreams

This is a documentary about a group of teenagers rehearsing for a dance piece called "Kontakthof" choreographed by Pina Bausch.

Liked how the guys and the girls interacted during the dance and how hard they practiced! Realized that facial expression was just as important in dancing as the physical movement of the body!

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Taipei 24H

This is an anthology of eight short films about the city of Taipei depicting different times of a day: "Share The Morning", "Just A Little Run", "Summer Heat", "Save The Lover", "Smoke", "Dream Walker", "Owl Service" and "Remembrance".

Didn't feel too much for ""Share The Morning" and "Just A Little Run". Liked "Summer Heat" and "Save The Lover" the best for their humor and interesting plot! "Smoke" and "Owl Service" celebrated the father-daughter relationship pretty well. "Dream Walker" was the most abstract and the dance sequence in "Remembrance" was beautiful!

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A Throw Of Dice

The story is about the evils of gambling illustrated by how a king lost his kingdom and bride-to-be on the day of his marriage.

Liked the beautiful Indian scenery and the live soundtrack specially created for this silent film! The vocals sounded beautiful! Not sure how the dice worked though as they were not shaped like the usual cube.

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Pale Flower

The story is about how a gangster became friends with a beautiful female gambling addict after he came out of prison for killing a man.

Liked the interesting study into the yakuza and gambling culture! The actress looked quite pretty!

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PSTAR Scrabble Games 2011

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 (Bukit Batok) on 14th May 2011 from 10am to 5pm. A total of 34 teams took part. MINDEF had three 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.

Game 1: MOE 2
My first game was against Valli who was an experienced intermediate player and was probably the strongest in this all female team. Fell far behind at the start when she bingoed twice in a row with CASHIER(77) and ATTENDER(70). She phonied twice with PIASING* and PALSING* but both were challenged off. She missed the three valid anagrams of PALSING*.[1] She had another bingo later with LEAPING(75) while I had DIARIES(66). I knew both DIARIES and DAIRIES were good but have forgotten about the other two anagrams that could have scored more.[2]

Lost 322-470. Our team lost 1-2.

Game 2: MHA 5
My second opponent was Cho Chi Huen whom I played before at the 2009 PSTAR Scrabble games. He had REAPING(71) while I had RELATES(65). His phonies of TWENT* and PEFTERS* as well as a
five minutes overtime gave me the win.

Won 393-293. Our team won 3-0.

Game 3: MHA 6
Had a walkover in my third game against MHA 6. Played with a small boy called Chong Yong who was one of the helpers instead. Had many chances to bingo out with the first letter front hooking to a T but just could not find the word. I had AEERRT? and later AELRST? but I tried EARThER* and ELASTeR* unsuccessfully. There were four words that I could fit in the first case[3] and two anagrams for ELASTER* could have fit too.[4]

Won 150-100. Our team won 3-0.

Game 4: CPF 2
My last opponent was Zul. I had BASINET(72) and scored well with JIFF(44) and SUQ(33) while he scored well with SEZ(41), WINY(40), GAVE(33) and QI(33) but phonied once with DET*. Scored a comfortable win.

Won 375-304. Our team won 2-1.

MOE, LTA, HDB and Ngee Ann Poly were the top 4 teams. CPF and Spring received consolation prizes for coming in first in the second and third tier respectively. The MINDEF teams did not win any prizes but we had a really fun time! Hope we could do better next year!

Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)

[1] LAPSING, PALINGS, SAPLING
[2] AIRSIDE, DIARISE
[3] ALERTER, ALTERER, AVERTER, SERRATE
[4] ELATERS, STEALER

Apart From You

The story is about how the son of an ageing geisha came to terms with his mother's work with the help of her young colleague.

Thought this film was like a precursor to "A Woman Ascends the Stairs". Liked how the director contrasted the family life with the decadent life at the geisha house! The mother's young colleague looked quite pretty!

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Small Change

The story is about the lives of children in France during the mid seventies.

Liked how natural the children were in front of the camera! The episode with the police inspector's daughter was pretty funny! The long speech by Mr Richet towards the end gave me an insight into the thoughts of the director.

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No Blood Relation

The story is about how a rich and famous Hollywood actress came back to Japan to claim custody for her daughter who grew up with her step mother since young for seven years.

Liked how the genuine affection of the step mother towards her step daughter slowly overcame the stubborn actress who thought that money and material comfort could compensate for everything! Great film to watch during Mother's Day!

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Flunky, Work Hard

The story is about how a struggling insurance agent tries to provide for his wife and his mischievous son.

Liked the comedic moments and the interesting visual montage of flashbacks!

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Biutiful

The story is about a man coming to terms with his life as he is about to die. He is separated from his wife and profits from illegal immigrants but he loves his kids and helps the family of the deceased through his ability to communicate with the dead.

Great performance by the actor and I liked the jigsaw puzzle way of story telling! The pace is a bit too slow moving though.

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The Golden Thread

The story is about how the people from India were affected by the 1947 partition of Bengal seen through the eyes from an ordinary family.

Liked the nice songs and the excellent story telling! Felt quite sad for the family though. The film reminds me of "Sopyonje" by Im Kwon Taek that also has great vocal performances and a brother-sister reunion scene.

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Sanjuro

This is a sequel to Yojimbo and it is about how a wandering samurai helped a young man to save his uncle.

Liked the action packed sequences and there were more funny moments than the original movie! Felt quite sad that more innocent people were killed due to the silly actions by the friends of the young man though.

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Yojimbo

The story is about how a wandering samurai brought about change in a new town that he visited.

Liked the exciting action packed sequences and the wit shown by the protagonist!

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Scandal

The story is about how an artist and a singer got themselves into a scandal when they were photographed together by the paparazzi and how they sued the magazine owner with the help of a lawyer.

The daughter of the lawyer was very sweet and cute! Liked how the ordinary person in the street was able to stand up to the threats of a big corporate group!

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The Quiet Duel

The story is about how a surgeon contracted syphilis when he was doing operation on an infected patient in the battlefield. When he came back, he resisted marrying his fiancee without telling her the reason and concentrated on helping others.

Liked how the surgeon was so noble and was able to resist temptation! A good companion piece to this could be "Red Angel" by Masumura Yasuzo.

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Safe

The story is about a woman who suddenly became ultra sensitive to the environment and had to move to a special home for therapy.

Liked the eerie sound effects and the great acting by Julianne Moore! The igloo looked quite cool although I was a bit disappointed with the ending.

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The Most Beautiful

The story is about how a group of women working in an optics lens factory encouraged each other to meet the work target during the second world war in Japan.

Liked the team spirit shown but felt a bit sad for them as they had almost zero work life balance.

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Survivors Only Scrabblathon 2011

The idea of having this event came from the top female Scrabble player in Singapore. The format is twelve King of the Hill games in one day where we play Scrabble from morning till night and the venue is at the Yew Tee Community Club. Many top players from Singapore and Malaysia took part despite the meagre prize money because of this unique experience.

Here's my match report, with quizzes marked with [number] and the answers given at the end of the report. The detailed match results can be found here.

Round 1 vs Paul Richards
I had TRADINGS(63) and AYU(35) but he scored consistently with ZAG(50), CRUXES(71), TOPE(32) and SKIP(34).

Round 2 vs Tony Sim
I had QIS(41) and ZETA(39) but he had UNRULES(74), WAISTED(86), SNORTED(83), JAB(38), GRENZ(55) and OX(40).

Round 3 vs Ricky Purnomo
I had UNSALTED(62), JAM(34), ROK(40) and QUIP(30) but he had ATONIES(71), BOTANIC(81), NEWS(40), RITZ(33) and OILY(38). Tried to front hook an A to the NEWS and form a word down to the triple word score cell but ANEWS* was challenged off.

Round 4 vs zzBye
On retrospect I probably should have gone for lunch earlier with the extra break. I had imagined that all the players would go to some nice hawker centre for lunch together after this game but we ended up ordering Pizza Hut to eat in because of the rain. Saw Jian Rong got away with AMENITA* in his game with Adrian as Adrian thought he saw the correct anagram.[1]

Round 5 vs Poh Ying Ming
I had REDTAIL(74), NIED(30), ZITE(35), ISLAND(35) and FAKE(33) while he had no bingos but scored well with DILUTE(35), BRAINS(46) and BYGoNE(33). Won partly due to his WERNERS*, NER* and BYEING* phonies.

Round 6 vs Alvin Leung Hoi Kit
I had ENTRIES(76), BERRIES(66) and ZEL(30) while he had OX(38) and exchanged tiles three times. I chickened out of TRENISE which would give me a four-timer as I have forgotten whether it is TRENISE or TRENIES*. He was thinking aloud if GENTRIES was good when I challenged off another phony word of his that he formed while front hooking the G to ENTRIES and concluded that it should be GANTRIES instead. Both words are valid and there are two other front hooks for ENTRIES.[2]

Round 7 vs Tony Sim
I had CZAR(38), AAH(33), PAST(39) and DELI(31) but he had REBATOES(105), FIGURER(91), TOONIES(74), JEON(42), XI(38), QUIRE(36), HUGY(36) and VEST(30). I had ?AINOT in the end and Andy helped me do a post game analysis. We found out that the best move should be either DELIbATION or DELIgATION by back hooking an existing DELI to reach the triple word score to finish.

Round 8 vs Poh Ying Ming
I had UNAIRED(63), AXE(30), HOE(30), BAGS(33) and ZA(35) while he had MILLERS(63) and PEND(32). Tried BARINGS* and it was challenged off as I didn't know the correct anagram of it.[3]

Round 9 vs Eden Choo
I had UNIVERSE(70), LIDLESS(81), MEL(30) and YIRR(31) while he had DEAFEN(42), DEAFENED(39), SEDUCE(35) and MIEN(30).

Round 10 vs Marlon Prudencio
I had ENTASIA(70), OUR(33) and WONK(33) but he had NONSUIT(86), VELATURA(91), WOAD(39), DEBATES(40), AXON(49), WIGGY(45) and ZAP(42). Was quite impressed that he knew such a weird word and was able to spot it to bingo out across the triple word score lane!

Round 11 vs Goutham
I had STILTED(79), NAY(33), KYE(31), FEUD(44) and VOX(65) but he had INGRATE(70), HOLDERS(78), DOJO(36) and PEG(30). Wouldn't be able to play STILTED(79) if he didn't phoney with GOATIEs* to hook the S to an existing WIPE. There are two anagrams that could have fit there.[4] Made a mistake in challenging his last move as it turned out to be valid and I lost by one point. I thought I would have lost if I didn't challenge due to a miscalculation of the score on my part as we didn't confirm the total score towards the end.

Round 12 vs Yong Jian Rong
I had RULINGS(75), JAIS*(33) and SPEW(43) but he had URICASE(76) and HOAX(89). It was a bad move playing JAIS* just above the triple word score lane as I thought my opponent wouldn't be able to score well with PI on top. Was really surprised when he whipped out HOAX(89) just underneath! I really played very poorly for this last game as I basically opened up for my opponent to score while fishing for bingos on a closed board. Was lucky to have RULINGS(75) towards the end to narrow the gap as he opened up a bingo lane for me.

Overall, I thought it was a good experience for intermediate players to have an idea of what it was like to play with the top players in Singapore although it didn't feel too good to have a bye as it meant you were last!

Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)

[1] AMENTIA
[2] SENTRIES, CENTRIES
[3] SABRING
[4] GOdETIA, GOATIEr

Warsaw Bridge

The story is about the lives of a writer, a conductor and a professor in Europe. They were friends and had a small gathering after the writer won an award with his novel about the Warsaw Bridge.

Liked the nature scenes and the choral music by a group of women! Didn't quite understand what the film was about but read that it was about the situation in Europe since it was made in 1989 just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The final sequence was interesting and visually stunning!

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Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

This is a gothic fairy tale about a young girl similar to "Alice in Wonderland" but with more adult themes that touched on sexuality and religion.

Valerie looked very pretty and many scenes were beautifully shot! I enjoyed this much more than the recent Tim Burton film on "Alice in Wonderland"!

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True Heart Susie

The story is about how a young couple's love was tested against circumstances beyond their control.

Great acting by the lead actress Lilian Gish! Liked the soundtrack and the inter-titles that foretold what was to come!

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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!

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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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