This is a documentary on the history of XinYao, folk songs created by young Singaporeans in short.
The second Singapore documentary that I saw during the National Day weekend. Liked the historical footages and the lovely songs! Brought me back to my secondary school days when my friend introduced me to Eric Moo.
This is a documentary about Singaporeans who had to stay abroad because of their political beliefs.
I appreciated how the director made us feel that they love Singapore too despite being treated as outsiders. Perhaps the director should also interview staff from the security department to make the film less one sided. Was quite surprised by how strongly the father of two children felt for the Singapore Armed Forces and the female doctor for the Palestine cause. Can't imagine myself hiding in the jungle for so long without an end in mind.
This is a documentary about two of the greatest speed cubers in the world, Feliks Zemdeks and Max Park.
Liked how Feliks and Max encouraged each other despite being competitors! I learned that competition is not just about winning but also about how to lose gracefully too!
This is a documentary about how Indians in America came to dominate the spelling bee contests.
Liked how hardworking the kids were in preparing for the contest and how the parents supported them! The interviews gave me a better idea of how the Indian community felt about their achievements.
The story is about the lives of the daughters in the March family around the American Civil War period.
Liked the nice sisterly bond among the little women! Was pleasantly surprised that Emma Watson has grown into a pretty young lady since I watched her as Hermione in the first few Harry Potter movies! The switching to and fro from the present to the past worked really well and less confusing as I thought it would be!
The story is about how the husband and wife of the Kramer family drifted apart and fought for the custody of their son.
Great acting by the son who was only about 7 years old at that time! Almost thought that the husband would fall in love with his neighbour downstairs but I guessed wrongly. The couple could have saved much legal fees if they had realised earlier that the best arrangement was to remain status quo!
The story is about how the members of a poor family managed to all work under a rich family through their street smartness and what happened after that.
Liked the ingenious plans crafted by the poor family! Thought I knew what would happen when the son took out the stone from the bag but I was really surprised by the twist towards the end! Great social commentary about the differences between the rich and the poor too!
The story is about the adventures of Leon the bear during winter time. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked how the film tackled serious issues like discrimination based on one's looks! Also liked the budding friendship among the elephant, the bear and the hedgehog!
The story is about the adventures of Poppety during autumn time. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked the part where the whale asked everyone to tell him their secrets! The secret came as a surprise for me as I hadn't watched "Leon in Wintertime" yet which was supposed to be the first in the series.
The story is about the adventures of Bonnifacio during summer time. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked how proactive the bad guy was to figure out a way to climb up the mountain! The princess and her friends saved the day again!
The story is about the adventures of princess Molly during spring time. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked the resourceful Molly and the friendship among the bear, the elephant and the hedgehog! The bad guy was really evil too! Great use of language to refer to the wild bear as bare naked!
The story is about how women in Ukraine dated men from United States. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked the translator scene and the twist towards the end! The translator did a good job in saying what needs to be heard!
The story is about what happened when a young man saw a pretty girl on the bus. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked how the bus was packed with people and how the young man was able to fix his gaze at the pretty girl despite the distractions! Thought the eating orange scene was a little bit too suggestive though.
The story is about a woman re-visiting her childhood home. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
This film caught my eye as it was from an unknown film festival: the guadalajara film festival. Liked the eerie stop motion animation! Reminded me a bit of the movie Coraline. Ending was a little bit too scary for me though.
This is a collection of five short stories about motherhood: In Your Hands, The Package, The Right One, Spit and The Sign. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked the plot in "Spit" and the black and white cinematography in "The Sign"! I was amazed by how the different issues faced by a mother could be described in a such a short time!
The story is about a middle aged woman who moved to Taiwan fifteeen years ago going back to her hometown in Macau to visit her friends. They used to work together in a massage parlour. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked the flashbacks to Macau in the past and the strong sisterly friendship! The film reminded me a little of "Only Yesterday", especially towards the end where the protagonist saw her old self.
The story is about a grandmother's relationship with her grandchildren and her personal digital assistant. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.
Liked how the grandmother treated the robot just like a human being! Bad idea to upgrade as it erases everything it has learned!
This is a series of 15 short stories by local film directors.
My favorite films were "Plague", "The Listener" and "Shanti". I liked the drama within the small flat in "Plague", the nice soothing voice in "The Listener" and the ordinary unassuming hero in "Shanti"! Learned a bit about history in "Still Standing" and "Majid the Legend". Thought "The Brown Dog" and "The T(h)ree Lives" were well shot too!
The story is about how a young black girl grew up hating how she looked but finally accepted who she was. Watched this at the "We Are One" film festival.
A very nice animation with smooth flowing transitions, words flashing across the screen and voice over narration that sounded like a poem!
The story is about the adventures of a group of toys in a childcare center.
Learned not to judge the book by its cover after watching the movie! Another lesson I learned was to pass to others what we don't need instead of throwing them away.
