City Lights

The story is about a tramp's relationships with a blind girl and a rich man.

Liked the interesting plot and the nice ending!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sita Sings the Blues

The story is based on an Indian epic, the Ramayana, that described the ups and downs in the relationship between prince Rama and his wife Sita after they were banished to the forest.

Liked how the director weaved her own story into the film and used different ways to tell the same story! It was refreshing to learn the plot through the discussion among the three narrators! The songs were appropriate and nice too!

Internet Movie Database Link

My Magic

The story is about the relationship between an alcoholic father who used to be a magician and his son who was cared for mainly by his grandmother.

Liked the quiet scenes such as the one where the train passed by in the background. Didn't really like the magic shows which were too extreme in my opinion.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thirst for Love

The story is about how a young widow became her father-in-law's lover but secretly had a desire for the apathetic gardener.

Liked the interesting psychological study into the different characters! Great acting by the lead actress!

Internet Movie Database Link

Margin Call

The story is about how a group of traders discovered the real risk of mortgage based securities in 2008 and the boss of the company decided to sell everything off the next day.

Great acting by Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons! Hoped they could explain a little bit more on some of the financial terms though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Black Sun

The story is about how a jazz loving Japanese encountered an injured black American soldier who was wanted for murder and carried a machine gun.

Liked how the friendship grew between the Japanese and the American despite their difficulty to communicate with each other!

Internet Movie Database Link

I Hate But Love

The story is about the love-hate relationship between a well known DJ and his manager cum lover.

Liked the nice little journey across Japan on the old jeep! Both the DJ's girlfriend and the jeep owner looked quite pretty!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Warped Ones

The story is about how a jazz loving delinquent took revenge on a young reporter who had tipped him off to get him in jail by raping his girlfriend. She became pregnant and had to take drastic steps to make things "normal" again.

Liked the fast pace action and the interesting twists to the plot!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Artist

The story is about how a popular silent film actor coped when silent films gradually became obsolete with the invention of talkies.

Liked the performance of the dog very much! Didn't quite understand Valentin's reluctance to move into talkies though and felt the later part of the film dragged a little.

Internet Movie Database Link

Beam

The story is about a small boy who made friends with an unknown neighbour by shining a beam of light at each other for several nights.

Liked the intimate portrayal of the family! Great acting by the little boy!

Internet Movie Database Link

Mee Pok Man

The story is about a mee pok stall owner's obsession with a prostitute who frequented his stall.

Liked how different people used different language to communicate in the film and the voice over narration from the diary! A little bit too creepy for my taste towards the end though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Intimidation

The story is about how a man's senior position in a bank was threatened when someone who knew about his illegal loans confronted him.

Liked the interesting human psychology games played in the film and the detailed examination on how the bank worked internally!

Internet Movie Database Link

Passing Fancy

The story is about how a blue-collared worker helped a young retrenched woman to find a job and how his infatuation with her affected his relationship with his colleague and his son.

Great acting by the father and the son!

Internet Movie Database Link

Carmen

The story is about how the director of a Spanish dance company searched for a lead dancer for his new dance production "Carmen" and how his life slowly began to resemble its plot.

Liked the beautiful dance sequences! The actress who played Carmen looked quite pretty too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Gorsch The Cellist

The story is about how a cellist in the orchestra improved his skills with the help of several animals living in his neighborhood.

Liked the nice music and the interesting plot! The cat, the cuckoo bird, the badger and the mouse all looked very cute!

Internet Movie Database Link

A Christmas Tale

The story is about a Christmas family reunion. The mother is having cancer and needs a bone marrow donor from her descendants, the eldest daughter is not on good terms with the middle son and the cousin is still in love with the youngest son's wife.

Found it hard to follow the plot initially as it rambled on in different directions but everything tied together very nicely in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Lunch On The Grass

The story is about how a young woman fell in love with a scientist who just discovered the power of artificial insemination and was advocating it in the late fifties.

Liked the intellectual debate on the use of artificial insemination and the comedic elements of the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

A Day In The Country

The story is about what how a French family from the city spent one day in the country for their holiday.

Liked the nice scenery in the countryside and the actress looked quite pretty! The ending was a little bit sad as the protagonists thought back about the happier moments in their lives.

Internet Movie Database Link

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 5)

Round 40 vs Moses(Nigeria)
My third time playing Moses. Won with my INERTIA(69) against his EGOTISE(74) and SENTRIES(58). He almost had a third bingo GUANINE if one of the A on his rack was an I.

Round 41 vs Hanne Marks(Australia)
A rematch with Hanne. Missed an opening bingo with LOGOUTS when I decided to play OUTLOGS* instead as I remembered INBOXES* was no good in a previous game. Lost as she scored with MALTING(77) against my PLEASED(77) and RETAINS(62).

Round 42 vs Nidhi Singhvi(India)
A rematch with Nidhi. Won as I had FRAGILE(72) against her RESHINE(86). My STAN* and her DURATES* and FOXT* were challenged off.

Round 43 vs Steven Surya(Indonesia)
A rematch with Steven. Won as I had CREASED(76), RODENTS(87) and RUMbLED(89) against his ACCURATE(74), VENDERS(74) and TELAMON(77). He made two mistakes that gave me the win. First, he did not challenge off my DIPH* when I played HOI back hooking the H for 28 points. Then, he opened up the board with TIT, emptied the bag and allowed me to bingo out with RUMbLED(89).

Round 44 vs Martin Waterworth(Australia)
My third time playing Martin. Lost as he had WIRIEST(71) and OVERHAND(45) while I had TORNADE(73) and TRADING(73). Should have blocked the TWS lane with BAPU instead of leaving it open for him to score with WAXES for 45 points back hooking the S to BAP.

Round 45 vs Steven Surya(Indonesia)
My third time playing Steven. Both of us were out of top ten contention so it was more like a friendly match now. Lost as he had LUNGERS(79) and was able to score well in the end game while I and AUNTIES(72).

Won 25 out of 45 games in the end and was placed 24th position out of 84 players. Thought it was not too bad considering some of the mistakes that I made. Will miss participating in the Causeway Challenge as this is the last one being held.

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 4)

Round 30 vs Adele Tan(Malaysia)
Had a rematch with Adele and lost as she bingoed with NONAGES(71) while I had no bingos.

Round 31 vs Marcus Loke(Malaysia)
Had a rematch with Marcus and lost as he bingoed with GRUNTER(74) and CENTRIES(85) while I had no bingos.

Round 32 vs Sunny Wright(Australia)
Won easily against this elderly lady from Australia as I had TOADIES(67) and FINERIES(62) against her SPOILER(62).

Round 33 vs Caroline Scowcroft(Australia)
Won easily against this lady from Australia as I had OUTSIDE(72) and FITNESS(77) while she had no bingos.

Round 34 vs Moses Oguwa(Nigeria)
Had a rematch with Moses and won with my SIERRAN(71) and RELINED(77). Would not have been able to play RELINED if he did not open up with RECT* for me to front hook with an E.

Round 35 vs Nicky Huitson(UK)
Lost to this lady from UK as she scored with DOATING(80) and MARINAS(66) against my STEERER(70) and RAVINES(84). Thought I could out with AULE* but it was challenged off.

Round 36 vs Carolyn Watt(Australia)
Won this lady from Australia as I scored with MILEAGE(72) against her ROSETTE(73). I think she gave the game away as she tried to bingo three times with phoneys, PANICED*, CONEISH* and COCHINE* and they were challenged off.

Round 37 vs Steven Surya(Indonesia)
Lost to this young man from Indonesia as he scored with BETTING(75) and MUTINGS*(76) against my RETINAE(69). Should have challenged both MUTINGS* and DES* when he played the bingo back hooking the S to an existing DE. I challenged off his FUADS* and KOURAN* though.

Round 38 vs Rex D'Souza(India)
Lost to this middle aged man from India as he had OARIEST(63) and ENTRIES(68) against my SNORTIER(67) and LEGATORS(60). Missed a turn when my TREASION* was challenged off as I thought that it was good.

Round 39 vs Martin Waterworth(Australia)
Had a rematch with Martin and won as I scored with DIALERS(66) against his POUNCES(67).

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 3)

Round 20 vs Nidhi Singhvi(India)
Won this young lady from India with my SHAFTED(91), NAILERS(79) and SOAPIER(69) against her ERASIONS(64) and ENTERED(62).

Round 21 vs Betty Eriksen(New Zealand)
Won this lady from New Zealand with my DETOURS(69) and BANDITS(68). Saw the bingo with a AEGILOS rack towards the end but I thought it was unplayable as I kept thinking there was only the A front-hook to an existing REW on the board.

Round 22 vs Colleen Walker(Australia)
Won this lady from Australia with my ETAERIOS(74) and ERINITE(73) against her SCOUTER(87) and SLANTED(72).

Round 23 vs Pasit Teeka(Thailand)
Lost to this small boy from Thailand as he scored well with DILATES(72) and QUITE(78) while I had nothing.

Round 24 vs Marcus Loke(Malaysia)
This must be my worst game ever in this competition. Lost to this intensely competitive teenager from Malaysia as he scored with CORNEAL(75), COMPRISE(92) and METTLED(76). I had a EENOSTV rack towards the end and tried LOVENEST* with a floating L on the board but unfortunately it was challenged off.

Round 25 vs Maureen See(Australia)
Lost to this lady from Australia as she scored with SPIRULA(77), ANODISE(73) and CARTAGE(91) against my STAINED(73). I could have opened with a bingo if I have played REFLUENT instead of FLUENTER* which was challenged off.

Round 26 vs Zeenath Ariff(Malaysia)
Won this lady from Malaysia as I scored with TEDIEST(93) and REGARDED(72) against her SINUATE(68). I also scored well with DIFF(40) and challenged off her BINED*.

Round 27 vs Jean Noonan(Australia)
Had a bye for this game to win 175 to 100.

Round 28 vs Adele Tan(Malaysia)
Lost to the president of the Malaysian Scrabble Association as she scored with LINAGES(66) against my PROBERS(78). My REGATED* was also challenged off.

Round 29 vs Jessie Lim(Singapore)
I was trailing behind this Singaporean Masters player until I finally found a bingo with SINUATES(66) and scored well with XI(52) using her UNCI on the board to win.

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 2)

Round 10 vs Asad Raza Merchant(Pakistan)
Managed to win this young boy from Pakistan by scoring consistently against his two bingos ATEBrIN(72) and STRIVEN(73).

Round 11 vs Hanne Marks(Australia)
Lost to this elderly lady from Australia who played TREAGUES(73) against my VECTORED(83). Each of us phonied once. I played TEP* while she played ARGUTES*.

Round 12 vs Hema Abeyasinghe(Malaysia)
My luckiest game in this tournament was against this young lady from Malaysia. I had five bingos INEARTH(77), REALISE(79), ATONERS(78), LEOTArD(90) and WHEELED(81) while she had GLOSSIER(82). I missed her PAG* phoney while she challenged off my AlLOTED*.

Round 13 vs Anocha Sirithongchai(Thailand)
Played against this pretty Thai girl last year and I remembered we had a really close match. It was a really close match this time round too. I had RAINIEST(77) while she had DoUBTER(94) and TENSION(67). Eked out a win because I managed to out first and because she phonied twice with ReDEBUT* and TONNIES*.

Round 14 vs Sunny Wright(Australia)
Won this elderly lady from Australia with my PAsTRIES(80). I also got away with PRUNY*(20).

Round 15 vs Jenny Coetzee(Australia)
Won this elderly lady from Australia with my ANISOLE(76) and RELATES(68) against her DISHIER(84).

Round 16 vs Hamza Sheik(Pakistan)
Won this young boy from Pakistan with my INBOXES*(106) and JUTE(43) against his RAILERS(72). His URA* phoney was also challenged off.

Round 17 vs Lim Sha Lyn(Malaysia)
Lost to this young lady from Malaysia as she bingoed twice with EARLOBE(72) and SEATING(75). Her RUDY* was challenged off though.

Round 18 vs Moses Oguwa(Nigeria)
Played with Moses the second time and lost as he scored consistently while I bingoed twice with CAJOLED(73) and REMAINED(62). My UVE* phoney was also challenged off.

Round 19 vs Syed Taha ul Huda(Pakistan)
Won this young boy from Pakistan with my DUELERS(70), ENTASIA(68) and TRIBALS(101) against his INQUeRE(93). He should probably have played ENQUIRy instead of INQUeRE as INQUeRE was just next to the TWS lane which enabled me to score well with TRIBALS back hooking the S.

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 1)

This is the tenth and last Causeway Cup. The Open section had the same number of players like last year but the format has changed to king of the hill with no repeats.

Round 1 vs Aubrey Millet(India)
My first opponent was a middle aged man who was a professor from India. Missed a chance to move ahead when my SENATERS* played with a AEENRTS rack and a floating S in the bottom center to hit the TWS cell was challenged off. Later, he scored well with MAVINS for 50 points and we had one bingo each. He had REAPING(78) and I had ORIENTS(73). Lost by more than 100 points in the end.

Round 2 vs Tashwindran(Malaysia)
Tashwindran was a small boy who was a beginner. Won easily as I challenged off two of my opponent's phoneys and played two bingos, NEGATION(71) and ATRESIA(68).

Round 3 vs Moses Owugah(Nigeria)
My third opponent was an young man from Nigeria. Lost by slightly more than 50 points as I had REGAINED(59) while he had STONING(67) and SLENDER(70).

Round 4 vs Martin Waterworth(Australia)
Martin was a bespectacled man with a beard whom I played a few months ago at a Scrabble event in Singapore. I had ETESIAN(71) and LATRINES(59) while he had UPFOLDS(85) and AdVIsED(74). Got away with UNCAN* and scored well with ZEA(32) but he also scored with EXIT(33) and JEAT(38) to lose by about 100 points.

Round 5 vs Gary Pollard(Australia)
Gary was a casually dressed Australian and had a beard similar to the one from Nigel. Lost by over 100 points as my opponent had KEEPERS(72), OVERAGE(92) and MEANIES(65) while I only had VANTAGE(82).

Round 6 vs Mary Morgan(Ireland)
My first female opponent was an elderly lady from Ireland. I had RULIEST(72) and scored well with QUINS(66) to take the game.

Round 7 vs Umair Khalidi(Pakistan)
Umair was a young boy from Pakistan. Won easily with my ENDEARS(71) and ENGRAVED(67) against his RELISTS(66).

Round 8 vs Tsholofelo Modise(South Africa)
My second female opponent was a girl from South Africa. Had SEERING(81) and ATELIeR(74) to win pretty easily. Should probably have played IRATELy instead of ATELIeR as she was able to score well with SHE(30) subsequently with the H on the triple letter cell.

Round 9 vs Maureen See(Australia)
My third female opponent was a woman from Australia whom I played before at last year's Causeway Challenge. Lost as I did not have any bingos while she had DANCIER(76).

You are the Apple of My Eye

The story is based on a autobiographical novel written by Taiwanese author, Giddens Ko, about his youthful days spent with a group of friends and a pretty girl in class.

Liked the interesting plot and the actress who played Shen Jiayi! Not sure if the male nudity scenes were really necessary and felt the film dragged a little bit towards the end though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Best of Stuggart Animation Festival - International

Liked "The Cow Who Wanted To Be a Hamburger", "Changeling" and "Monstre Sacre" the best for their interesting storyline!

"Tatamp" was a nice musical animation experiment. "The Lost Thing", "Nullarbor", "The Boy Who Wanted To Be a Lion", "The Box" and "Preferably Blue" were also not bad. Didn't really like "The External World" as it was too pessimistic.

Best of Stuttgart Animation Festival - Baden Watenburgh

Liked the "Princess' Painting", "Tom & Die Ameisen" and "The Visit" the best as they were pretty straightforward and easy to understand.

"On the Way Back Home" was imaginative and "Loom" was beautifully drawn! The rest of the films "Sunday 2", "Ravenboy", "Es Geht Um Alles", "Halbschatten", "Orpheus' Pony", "Kopfsache" and "Meinungsmeer" were too abstract in my opinion.

Among the trailers, I liked the last one with the tatoo characters the best!

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

The story is about how Professor Layton solved a mystery that stemmed from an ancient legend together with his assistants.

Liked the interesting puzzles that the team had to solve! Great action sequences too!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Straits of Love and Hate

The story is an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel, "Resurrection". A girl's life is ruined by a rich guy but he only realised his mistake years later and wanted to make amends.

Liked how the director managed to distil the essence of the long novel by discarding the legal, political and religious aspects! The scene where the guy first begged for forgiveness in his room was particularly well crafted in my opinion!

Internet Movie Database Link

Amour Legende

The story is about a couple from Taiwan travelling around a foreign island with Spanish speaking inhabitants. The guy has forgotten about the past and relies on his partner to guide him along.

Liked the interesting flashbacks but was confused about many other parts of the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

Bedevilled

The story is about the reunion of two childhood friends when one of them took a long break from work and returned back from Seoul to her home town on an island.

Watched "Io Island" by Kim Ki Young prior to this, so I was prepared for the strange behaviour of the people living on the island! Liked how the director let the audience slowly piece together what happened in the past themselves.

Internet Movie Database Link

Hahaha

The story is about two friends chatting about their encounters in the city.

Liked the interesting plot and how everything came together so nicely! The various girlfriends looked quite pretty too!

Internet Movie Database Link

My Perestroika

This is a documentary about a handful of middle-aged Russians explaining the impact of Perestroika on their lives.

Liked the old black and white footages of the children! Thought the girls looked quite cute with the gigantic ribbons on their head! The songs were nice too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Images of Singapore from French Television 1964-1973

This consisted of several French short documentaries on Singapore shortly after becoming part of Malaysia.

Liked the footages of old Chinatown and depiction of what people liked to do during that era such as watching Chinese Opera in the streets! Didn't know even small children were interested in it back then!

Fear and Trembling

The story is about the working life of a Belgian woman in a Japanese company.

Liked how humor was used to introduce us to Japan's working culture that is highly hierarchical! The reference to "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" was interesting too!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Red Lantern

The story is about how a Eurasian girl who was born out of wedlock in China decided to take part in the Boxer Revolution to fight against the foreigners.

Liked the interesting plot and the dramatic acting!

Internet Movie Database Link

Impressions of Asia from Early French Cinema 1897-1933

This consisted of several short films about Asia.

Liked the first segment of films with special effects especially the one with the Japanese Acrobats! The street scenes of Singapore in the early 20s was interesting to watch too!

Tatsumi

This is a story based on the life and works of Yoshihiro Tatsumi who is a famous Japanese comic writer.

Liked the interesting study into human psychology in the short stories! Also liked how the film showed the comic writer in person at work towards the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Silence Before Bach

This is a tribute to the music of Bach where we learn about Bach's life and how modern people play and appreciate his music.

Liked the nice music and the interesting anecdotes! I thought the cello, piano and vocal ensembles were grand and impressive!

Internet Movie Database Link

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

This is an omnibus of three stories, each happening during a meal in the day as described in the title.

Liked "Lunch" the best as it had a cute Thai school girl who was funny and smart at the same time! "Breakfast" was not bad too for its simple plot. "Dinner" had many threads going on at the same time which made it hard to understand.

Internet Movie Database Link

Strangers No More

This is a documentary about an international school in Israel who admitted mostly refugee children.

Liked the big family concept of the school! The teachers really went out of their way to even help the parents of their students!

Internet Movie Database Link

Donor Unknown

This is a documentary about the sperm donor industry shown through the "family" of Donor 150 from the California Cryobank.

Liked the great story telling and the interesting characters!

Internet Movie Database Link

Green Days

The story is about a young girl's life during the seventies in Korea. She has an artistic girlfriend who is good at singing and writing poems as well as a techie boyfriend who wants to be an astronaut.

Liked the nice coming-of-age story and the nostalgic feel of the seventies!

Fairy Tales

The story is about how three teenagers who were neglected by their parents were led astray by bad guys.

Liked the pretty Siona Wu who played Amanda and the funny Indian couple! Thought it was a little outdated to be selling VCDs in this internet age. It puzzled me how the model agency boss managed to locate the taxi driver father so quickly though.

Gangs

The story is about gangs in Singapore during the seventies.

Great acting by Xiao Lang! The torture scene was quite innovative too! The dying person had too much dialogue and should have run out of breath before she could finish them in my opinion.

Muppet History 101

This is a documentary about Jim Henson's early muppet making career when the idea of "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show" started to take shape.

Liked Jim Henson's great sense of humour in his shows as well as the promotional video of "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show"!

Nosferatu

The story is adapted from Bram Stoker's Dracula. It is about how a vampire killed innocent people and how it was finally defeated in the end.

Liked how scary the vampire looked and the exciting music from the xylophone! The ending was a little bit anti-climax though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Autumn Gold

This is a documentary about old people from different countries taking part in the 2009 Oslo World Masters Athletics Championships.

Liked the interviews with the old people who didn't seem old at all! They are an inspiration for people who are too lazy to keep fit.

Internet Movie Database Link

Yellow Sea

The story is about a cab driver in China who smuggled into Korea to be a hitman and to gather news about his wife whom he has lost touch with.

Liked the tough survival instinct of the cab driver and the exciting fight sequences! One of the bad guy looked a bit like Sammo Hung.

Internet Movie Database Link

Animal Town

The story is about life in Korea after the financial crisis seen through two Korean guys: a former child molester out on parole and a family guy whose life was ruined because of him.

The pacing was slow but thought it helped to demonstrate the monotony of the lives of the two men. The little girl and her sister looked quite cute! The unexpected twist at the end was also interesting.

Internet Movie Database Link

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

This is a documentary about a cave in France that had ancient drawings dated back to 30000 years ago.

Thought it stretched a bit too long as I got tired watching the same old animals on the caves after a while. There were some humorous moments and the choral music was nice though.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Revenge of The Electric Car

This is a documentary about how the electric car is gaining prominence despite the industry players plotting to kill it off a few years ago.

Liked the clear explanation on the current situation of the electric car and the interesting personalities like Carlos Ghosn from Nissan, Bob Lutz from General Motors and Elon Musk from Tesla Motors!

Internet Movie Database Link

International Shorts 1

Shanghai Love Market: A parent tried to find a girlfriend for their son through the match-making ads placed in a park in Shanghai. Liked the unexpected ending!

The Familiar: A young man explains what it takes to be an assistant to a vampire. Felt quite sad for the cute sales girl at the video shop.

Youche Harbor: A grandson tried to find the location of Youche Harbor in Taiwan where his grandfather was last seen many years ago by his grandmother. Nice scenery!

The Wonder Hospital: A person goes for a face make over at the hospital. Pretty abstract!

The Father: A father tried to make up for his family after being released from jail. Another abstract film that didn't explain a lot of things between the father and the son.

Derelict: A guard and a prisoner who broke out of jail tried to solve their personal grievances. Exciting chase in the beginning but the dialogue sequences towards the end were too long and hard to understand as it tried to convey a lot of background information.

The Mouse That Soared: A bird taught her adopted mouse how to fly but the mouse ended up in a circus accidentally. Liked this short the best as it is funny and sad at the same time!

Killer

The story is about how a young man is forced by circumstances to become a killer.

Liked the nice simple plot that explained the downward spiral of the young man! Was puzzled by the amount of time spent showing the professor trying to get out of the maze-like broadcasting station initially but realised that it served as a metaphor for the whole film in the end.

Internet Movie Database Link

Loves of a Blonde

The story is about how a Czech blonde girl tried to find love during the Communist rule in the sixties.

Great acting by the female lead! Liked the funny and sad moments of the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

High and Low

The story is about how a rich man became bankrupt after he tried to save his chauffeur's son who was kidnapped mistakenly.

Liked how the moral dilemma of the rich man was presented and how the police systematically found out the kidnapper's identity through various sources! They analysed the photos to identify witnesses, went on the ground to verify the line of sight from the phone booths to the rich man's house and even found out the type of trolley running past from the recorded sound!

Internet Movie Database Link

Iron Man 2

The story is about how Iron Man saved the world from the bad guys yet again.

Liked Scarlett Johansson's nice costume and sleek martial arts moves! I was quite impressed by how Tony Stark was able to interact with his computers using voice and gestures easily!

Internet Movie Database Link

Despicable Me

The story is about two villains, Gru and Vector, trying to outdo each other in terms of the bad things that they do. Gru adopted three young girls in the process as he wanted to infiltrate his enemy's place.

Liked the cute Gru's minion army, the flashback to Gru's childhood and the nice bedtime stories!

Internet Movie Database Link

Dragnet Girl

The story is about how the girlfriend of a gangster decided to get her boyfriend to change his ways after she befriended his subordinate's sister.

My impression of Tanaka Kinuyo, the actress who played the gangster's girlfriend, was usually that of a middle aged woman but she looked so young in this 1933 silent film! Liked the nice plot, the interesting characters and the exciting chase sequence towards the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Scrabble Nationals 2011 (Day Two)

Game 6: vs Yong Jian Rong
Jian Rong is one of the young rising stars of Scrabble. I managed to beat him at last year's Nationals but he has improved tremendously since then. I had one bingo but he scored consistently to be ahead. The turning point came when I decided to try UNDATE down the triple word score lane and it turned out to be good when challenged!

New words learnt: UNDATE
My Bingos: LINTERS(70) Opp Bingos:
My Phoneys: LOM* Opp Phoneys: TABO*, TWINNERS*
My High Moves: UNDATE(32) Opp High Moves: FIZ(41), KETAS(43), WRIST(33), CAW(30)
W 383-364, +19. 5W 1L (Accum spread +342)

Game 7: vs Winston Gwee
Winston is one of the top few division B players. We had one bingo each but he scored much more consistently than me and was ahead by almost 100 points. He held for one or two minutes when I played QIS across the triple word score lane, back hooking the S to OVA before deciding to let it go. I found out later that OVAS* was no good!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: LENDERS(65) Opp Bingos: SPICIER(66)
My Phoneys: BIVARIED*, OVAS*(43) Opp Phoneys: FAGO*(24), VIBER*
My High Moves: QIS(43) Opp High Moves: FA(30), JET(33), SAX(34), HOI(32), ZO(44)
L 355-437, -82. 5W 2L (Accum spread +260)

Game 8: vs Lam Guat Jane
Jane is a new player to the competitive Scrabble scene who just graduated from NTU. This game reminds me of last year's Causeway match with a pretty Thai girl. Think I got distracted when she smiled at me and my brain seemed to work less well. I also felt stressed when her boyfriend started to hover around her during the end game as it was lunch time and we were the last few to finish. Lost as I spent way too much time to find the bingo out of a EEHIRS? rack and didn't think through my end game stategy. I saw RESHINE but there was no place to put it, then I was deciding among REHIdES*, REHIrES and REHIvES*. I was tempted to put REHIvES* as I remembered UNHIVES was good but I was lucky that I guessed correctly in the end. There is an anagram for REHIvES* though.[4]

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: REHIrES(86) Opp Bingos: TERRAIN(82)
My Phoneys: DAT* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JAB(32), QUOTA(54) Opp High Moves: SINCE(40)
L 377-390, -13. 5W 3L (Accum spread +247)

Game 9: vs Valli
Valli is the organiser and a well seasoned division B player from MOE. My worst game so far in this competition as I kept challenging her good words while she bingoed and scored consistently.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: RECODING(73), WANIEST(72)
My Phoneys: HAIRIED* Opp Phoneys: BRATING*
My High Moves: EQUIPE(51), FIN(33), ZO(37) Opp High Moves: VARY(37), QUINS(66)
L 331-490, -159. 5W 4L (Accum spread +88)

Game 10: vs Peter Yu
Peter Yu is another well seasoned division B player. One of my easiest games as I bingoed and scored consistently. I even bingoed out before him even though he also had a bingo rack at the end. I wrote the result slip wrongly as I copied the score without considering his 18 points worth of unplayed tiles. Not sure if it had any impact on the subsequent pairings but luckily it did not affect the final rankings.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: DANGLER(74), RATTANS(78) Opp Bingos:
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: SEIZE(58) Opp High Moves: SOX(30)
W 431-264, +167. 6W 4L (Accum spread +255)

Game 11: vs Seow Kai Yuan
Kai Yuan is a new player to the competitive Scrabble scene who is the boyfriend of Jane. He scored very consistently and won despite being outbingoed two to one.

New words learnt: DUAN
My Bingos: NEGATERS(64), DILATORS(58) Opp Bingos: FORESTS(82)
My Phoneys: JUGG* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: QAT(30) Opp High Moves: HO(41), DEPOT(30), RIZA(39)
L 359-414, -55. 6W 5L (Accum spread +200)

Game 12: vs Shanthikumar
Shanthikumar is a seasoned division B player who just picked up the game again after stopping for three years since 2008. I was very lucky in this game as I had all the S. I outbingoed him two to one and managed to close the board every time he wanted to open up. I probably should have played a bingo that started with S instead rather than TENDeRS as there was a possibility that he could bingo with a nine-timer.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: SNOOTED(82), TENDeRS(73) Opp Bingos: INTENDS(65)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: INTERING*
My High Moves: XI(40), COMBS(31) Opp High Moves: HUH(32), JO(30)
W 455-328, +127. 7W 5L (Accum spread +327)

Finished the tournament with 7 wins and 5th position. Felt pretty good as 75% of my games were against players in the top half of the group unlike previous years where I struggled at the bottom half. Hope to do better next year!

Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)

[4] SHRIEVE

Scrabble Nationals 2011 (Day One)

This year's Nationals is once again held at Toa Payoh West CC.

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

Game 1: vs Chua Wei Yang
Wei Yang is a student from St Joseph's Institution. I won pretty easily despite his two bingos as he was fishing and exchanging tiles frequently. He looked quite disappointed after the game. Hope he would still continue to play in future tournaments!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: STEADIED(59), SEARING(62)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: TOX*
My High Moves: YEP(37), PIQUED(84), JUT(38) Opp High Moves: -
W 477-297, +180. 1W 0L (Accum spread +180)

Game 2: vs Tan Mun Ri
Mun Ri is the top rated player in this division. Her word knowledge was very good and she played many words that I did not know like BIALI and ETAPE. I played TAPE just below the triple word score lane as I thought there were no front hooks and she scored with REGO(30) front hooking her E to it!

New words learnt: BIALI, ETAPE
My Bingos: DEASOILS(73) Opp Bingos: SAILORS(67)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: QUIOT*
My High Moves: GOX(32), ZO(31) Opp High Moves: BIALI(32), UNLIKE(30), HM(30), REGO(30)
L 365-377, -12. 1W 1L (Accum spread +168)

Game 3: vs Gavin Ng Teck Boon
Gavin is a student from Victoria Junior College. He claimed to be out of practice with his heavy school workload. I had two bingos early on with TROOPERS(76) and LOANINGS(70) but he kept scoring consistently to be not far behind. Saw the third bingo out of a EIINSTU[1] rack but chickened out of it and played UNIT instead.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TROOPERS(76), LOANINGS(70) Opp Bingos:
My Phoneys: BROM*, BROMS* Opp Phoneys: YEE*, TENCE*
My High Moves: HOY(30), VIED(41) Opp High Moves: NEW(30), AFLAJ(30), CITY(32), RAIDS(32), HUIA(30), OX(56), WIZ(35)
W 436-344, +92. 2W 1L (Accum spread +260)

Game 4: vs Arul
Arul is a masters player whose rating recently dropped for him to play in division B. I had two bingos, one more than him, but he scored consistently to be always just a few points ahead. I think the turning point came when I got rid of the Q and scored with my Z with BEZ(33). Was very happy with my BEZ find as I had a terrible rack in the end: BEUVZ and two other one pointer tiles.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: ROTATES(68), RESITES(72) Opp Bingos: RECANTER(74)
My Phoneys: UNSWIRL* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: BEZ(33) Opp High Moves: GRAM(30), HAJ(32), NIX(44)
W 382-370, +12. 3W 1L (Accum spread +272)

Game 5: vs Serene
Serene is a masters player who was famous for her defensive style. I was leading at the start with an early bingo, so her usual tactic did not work too well. Towards the end of the game, I chickened out of two potential bingos as I was unsure of them: one with a GGINRSU rack that had to end with the S[2] and another with a AEGINOS rack that had to make use of a floating B on the board[3].

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: BAITERS(76) Opp Bingos:
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: BEENO*
My High Moves: AWA(33), ZIP(58), EASING(32) Opp High Moves: JOR(40), SOH(36)
W 375-324, +51. 4W 1L (Accum spread +323)

Finished day 1 with 4 wins and 1 loss.

Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)

[1] UNITIES, UNITISE
[2] URGINGS
[3] BEGONIAS

Monsoon Wedding

The story is about an Indian wedding in Delhi.

Liked the nice Indian songs and the street scenes with the people working and playing in the rain as it was monsoon season!

Internet Movie Database Link

City of Pirates

The story is about the nightmarish dreams of a young woman who lived near the sea.

Liked the beautiful scenery and the special lighting effects! Didn't quite understand the plot though.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Days After

The story is about how a couple, whose first son died when he was one years old, came to believe that he was reincarnated as a boy who mysteriously appeared at their home.

Liked the nice traditional Japanese home and the young mother looked quite pretty! It would be interesting to see the other episodes of this TV series!

Internet Movie Database Link

Strawberry Shortcakes

The story is adapted from a comic about four women searching for their purpose in life.

Liked some of the funny moments but the overall mood was a bit too pessimistic. It was interesting how the writer split different aspects of an ordinary woman: the innocent girl, the career woman, the faithful girlfriend and the passionate lover into four characters!

Internet Movie Database Link

Where Chimneys are Seen

The story is about life in a rural neighborhood near Tokyo. A couple suddenly found themselves with an abandoned baby and one of their tenants decided to help them to trace his parents.

Liked the nice voice of Takamine Hideko as an announcer and the interesting phenomenon of the vanishing chimneys!

Internet Movie Database Link

Immortal Love

The story is about how landowners exploited their tenant farmers seen through the eyes of a tenant farmer's daughter who was forced to marry the young master after being raped by him.

Liked the epic plot that spanned many years and how everything tied together very nicely in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Munakata Sisters

The story is about how traditional values clashed with the modern way of doing things seen through the eyes of two sisters.

Liked Takamine Hideko's comical facial expression and her cheeky behaviour towards her elder sister's ex-lover! Was quite upset by the elder sister's husband who was a good-for-nothing!

Internet Movie Database Link

Yearning

The story is about a young widow who spent much of her life looking after her mother-in-law's provision shop and her relationship with her younger brother-in-law.

Great acting by the actress! Liked the parts that showed the widow and brother-in-law working hard together for the shop!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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!

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link

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.

Internet Movie Database Link