The story is about a girl travelling back in time to meet her mum before she was born and her mum was still single.
Liked the warm mother daughter relationship! Think most parents would want their kids to be healthy and happy like what the mum said! Was pretty impressed by the twist at the end!
The story is about Japanese director, Takeshi Kitano's relationship with his teacher who taught him how to be a comedian.
Liked how hardworking and talented Kitano is! Was impressed by how he incorporated comedy in his daily life like what his master preached!
The movie consists of three short segments about the same house but with different characters.
The first segment was the strangest! Can't quite understand what was going on with the house but the baby was really good at climbing up and down! The second segment was the most disgusting with all the bugs! The third segment taught me that sometimes we should learn to let go and start afresh.
The story is about how a boy who loves making haiku poems became friends with a girl who is a social influencer.
Liked the cosy atmosphere at the day care center! The haiku poems were quite nicely crafted!
This is based on a real story where a grandma's family who were living overseas came back to China to visit her as she had terminal illness. The grandma didn't know about it and they used a grandson's wedding as an excuse to gather.
Was really surprised that it was based on a real story as I thought it was quite unbelievable! Great acting by the lead actress!
This is a love story about two people who met when they were smoking in the smoking box.
Liked the interesting interview segments that were interspersed in the film! The lead actress was pretty charming despite saying swear words occasionally.
This movie is based on a Japanese manga Doraemon. Doraemon is a robot cat who has travelled from the future to be friends with Nobita to ensure he has found happiness before it can go back. In this sequel, he is intent on fulfilling his grandmother's wish.
The travelling back and forth in time reminded me a bit of "Back to the Future II"! The grandmother is my favorite character! She is not fazed by anything that she sees and hears and also gave excellent advice to Nobita at the end!
The story is about a young girl flying to the moon to find Chang E after learning that her widowed dad intends to remarry.
Liked the nice friendly sibling relationship between the young girl and her future step brother! The moon setting looked quite futuristic!
The story is about a girl who is an aspiring writer falling in love with a boy who wants to be a violin maker.
This felt a bit like "Only Yesterday" with only the childhood segments. Both films also have English songs sung in Japanese! I liked the Shizuku character as she felt like a nice girl-next-door character who is trying to find her way in life!
The story is about a father training her daughters to be world class wrestlers so that they can win medals for India.
Liked the nice songs and the father daughter relationship in the film! Didn't like the parts with the coach who was depicted as evil for no reason. The director also tried too hard to make the match exciting by making it an almost impossible task for Geeta to come from behind.
The story is about a girl who went to the Army in ancient China to fight against foreign invaders by disguising herself as a man.
Liked the nice songs and the great problem solving skills of Mulan! I also liked the warm father daughter relationship!
The story is about a loyal dog that remembers its purpose to protect its owner's granddaughter even after going through several deaths and rebirths as a different dog.
Liked the nice heartwarming plot! The two main characters were really likable too! The evil side characters were a little bit of a caricature though and the part where the granddaughter walked away normally after a car accident didn't quite make sense.
This is a documentary about three cousins going back to China to find out more about their past. They were abandoned by their parents in China and adopted by Americans.
Liked the strong bond among the cousins and their journey to search for their identity! The potential sister of Chloe really looked like her! Can't really blame the father from doubting the report!
The story is about how a young man who worked in a cinema at a small town befriended a strange couple.
Liked the folk song sang by the protagonist. The film was a bit abstract for me though.
The story is about a group of women working in a Turkish Bath in Tokyo, focusing on a love triangle relationship of one of the women.
The film felt a bit like a mix of "Streets of Shame" and "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs". The love triangle relationship was the strangest one that I have ever seen!
This is a documentary on a Japanese animation director, Satoshi Kon. He is well known for blurring the lines of dream and reality in his films.
It was great to hear that so many directors admired him and were influenced by him! Was pretty surprised to learn that the voice actress for Mimi in "Perfect Blue" was a former idol! Would love to catch "Paranoia Agent" if I have the chance!
This is a story about a young man who loved the sea and two women falling in love with him. One of them is a handicapped woman called Josee.
Liked how Josee modified the mermaid fairy tale to describe her situation in the library! A pretty apt film to watch shortly after the Paralympics games!
This is a documentary about a woman called Misha who recounted a fantastic childhood adventure to her neighbours and friends that later became a bestseller book.
Liked the interesting twists and turns in the documentary! The perspectives from the different experts and friends helped to shed light on the person the protagonist really was!
This movie is based on a Japanese manga Doraemon. Doraemon is a robot cat who has travelled from the future to be friends with Nobita to ensure he has found happiness before it can go back.
Was a little bit disturbed over the use of the giant egg gadget to win over Shizuka but I realized that it was meant to set up for what was to come next; Nobita to prove that he is worthy through his own merit. I was moved by his determination to be less dependent on Doraemon towards the end!
There were 12 winning films at the ciNE65 movie makers award 2021. They explore and express the Singapore Identity by telling us what Singapore means to us through film with "Stronger Together" as this year's theme.
Liked "Knock Knock!" the best as it shows the nasty and nice encounters of a hearing impaired delivery man! "Siti" comes in a close second as a heartwarming film that describes how the helper knew her employer much better than the employer's daughter and was treated as part of the family in the end. I also liked the light hearted "Ala-mask!", "Little Miss Mischief" and "Whirling Gears"!
This is a sequel to "The Diam Diam Era" and it is about how people grew up in Singapore during the 1980s seen through one extended family.
Thought the director didn't paint a very good picture of the opposition parties. Especially didn't like the supposedly English educated chairman. Glad that the cousins made up in the end!
The story is about how people grew up in Singapore during the 1980s seen through one extended family.
Liked the familiar old Singapore sights and sounds! Really brought back old memories! A little bit sad that the Xinyao singer was just a pretty vase with very little spoken lines.
This is a documentary of a Chinese literature scholar, Ms Yeh Chia-ying who taught in universities around the world.
Not really a fan of Chinese poetry but the film gave me a peek on the minds of literature scholars! I think writing poetry probably helps to exercise the brain as the protagonist looked very sharp despite her old age.
The story is about how a family coped with the father's terminal illness of liver cancer.
Liked how the film was told from the perspectives of the mother, the son and the father! Gave me a better understanding of what everybody was thinking about.
This is a documentary about the life of a Vietnamese woman who married a Taiwanese man to help her family escape poverty.
Liked how the film gave a balanced view of what everyone thought of the situation: the mother-in-law, the husband, the wife and the wife's family.
The story revolves around the wife, the daughters and the mistress of a man who died early in the film.
Liked how the film slowly revealed what happened in the past through flashbacks and casual conversations!
The story is about the lives of four middle aged men who were good friends since high school. They are in different jobs: a director, an insurance agent, a paper house maker and a temp worker.
Liked the voice over narration that gave the film a distinctive Taiwanese flavour through its language. Was a little bit surprised by the ending.
The short film showcase consisted of three films from Hong Kong: "The Bridge", "busydoingnothing" and "Eternal Sunshine". "The Bridge" is about a family who lives in different places such as Hong Kong, Hainan Island and Shenzhen but gathered for an ancestral ceremony. "busydoing nothing" is about a young woman working at a thrift shop. "Eternal Sunshine" is about how an old woman looked after his autistic son.
Liked the relaxed lifestyle at the countryside in "The Bridge", the interesting encounters at the shop in "busydoing nothing" and the heartwarming mother and son relationship in "Eternal Sunshine". Gained a glimpse on what are on the minds of Hong Kong people from these short films.
The story is about how a movie company transitioned from silent films to sound films.
Learned about this film from the MIT Open Courseware, The Film Experience Course. Liked the nice songs and exciting dance choreography! The plot was interesting too! Didn't know there were so many technical challenges involved!
MIT OCW The Film Experience Lecture 12: The Musical (continued)
The story is about how three sisters from a small village longed to live in the city by becoming nannies to rich people's children.
Quite slow moving but I liked the nice mountain scenery and the love among the sisters! The husband turned out to be smarter than I had expected!
The story is about a rich girl falling in love with a young man while running away from home.
Learned about this film from the MIT Open Courseware, The Film Experience Course. Liked the intense verbal exchanges between the couple and the adventures that they went through! Thought the director did a good job in creating an ending without the presence of the female lead!
MIT OCW The Film Experience Lecture 8: The Work of Movies; Capra & Hawks
The story is about a family touring Taiwan under unique circumstances. The grandmother is in a tour group while the couple and their child followed her around in a cab.
Liked how the film tried to explain how mainland Chinese, Hongkongers and Taiwanese have different ways of thinking due to their background! Didn't realise it was partly inspired by the director's own story until I checked out the reviews!
The story is about a train called "The General" that was stolen during the American civil war.
Learned about this film from the MIT Open Courseware, The Film Experience Course. Liked the nice storyline and the exciting stunts performed by Keaton! Was really surprised when he stuffed his girlfriend in the sack and got her to remove the carriage pin while in the sack! She was not just a beautiful vase as I had imagined!
This is an anthology of seven short films by seven different directors to celebrate SG50.
Liked the scary monster in "Cinema", the mischevious kids in "That Girl", the tense family relationship in "The Flame", the friendly neighbour in "Bunga Sayang", the quest to find out about one's past in "Pineapple Town", the nice voice over narration in "Parting" and the historical pictures of Singapore in "GPS".
The story is about the hopes and dreams of a group of young people who loved Xinyao.
Liked the nice music that went along with story very well! The plot on the other hand didn't really make sense towards the end but I thought it was still a good effort by the director who brought us back to Singapore in the 90s!
The story is about a family that consists of father, mother, a big brother and a baby sister. The big brother does not really like his little sister as his parents pay more attention to her now.
Liked the fantasy sequences involving different characters from the past and future! The ending was really well done as it joins all the dots to form the overall picture!
Internet Movie Database LinkThe story is about a woman's journey back to her hometown with her best friend.
Liked the theme of family love and rediscovering one's purpose in life!
The story is about the lives of people from different races in Malaysia. Some of them are participants of a Talentime show in school.
Liked the nice songs and how the director showed that it was possible to live harmoniously with each other although some could still be prejudiced against others!
This is a documentary about people with mental illness.
Gained an understanding of the clinic's daily operations and what the patients were going through! Most of them are just normal human beings like the rest of us. I especially liked the poetry by one of the patients towards the end!
The story is about a man who dreams of building a movie theatre together with a girl he met. He stole money from an influential guy and had to hide from him and his gang.
Liked how the film was divided into chapters with a paper drawing of what we might expect! It probably has some reference to the film "Le Samourai" so would want to check it out if I have the chance to see the similarities.
Wanted to watch some short films during the Singapore International Film Festival, so I picked the following 10 films as a bundle.
Liked the great acting by the female lead in "New Born", the dramatic twist in "Here is Not There", the little boy's efforts to bring the family together in "Rocketship" and the nice songs in "Nursery Rhymes".
Both "Sexy Sushi" and "Water Melon Please" were a little abstract and touched on some existential issues.
Learnt about the history of Uzbek films in "Her Five Lives" and appreciated Hou Hsiao Hsien's films better with "Casting a Spell to Alter Reality".
Liked the special effect to make the father figure fuzzy in "Judy Free" and the chit chat in "Sunrise in My Mind".
This is a story about a documentary director who covers scandals and what happens when she is about to be involved in one herself.
Liked the moral dilemmas presented in the film! Is it better to tell the truth and risk getting shamed by society or be burdened with having to tell lies the rest of your life and potentially harming others? Not really sure if the lead actress made the right choice in the end.
This is a story about an athlete who skis and her relationship with her coach and family.
Great acting by the lead actress! Realized it is not so easy to spot a possible offender as it may happen suddenly under specific circumstances.
This is a documentary on the sights and sounds in Singapore during its SG50 celebrations.
Liked the scenes with people from different religions and cultures! Learned more about people from all walks of life from the interviews!
The story is about a family trying to move on in their lives in their own ways.
The pace was a little slow at the start but I appreciated the film more after all the characters were introduced. Liked the nice family atmosphere of them eating together and the grandson showing off his dance! The old song that the grandfather listened to was quite nice too!
The story is about a little girl trying to bring her family together through cooking and planning a family trip. She made friends with two girls who are even younger than her by chance.
Liked the happier moments when the three girls played together! Thought some parts were not very logical such as the mother's reaction towards the milk incident, the little girl refusing to answer her calls and the fear towards a man sleeping in his cart but I still enjoyed the film.
This is a documentary about a son making a puppet theatre show as a tribute to his father.
Liked the interesting concept but also wondered if it was worth spending so much time and money on the project! The puppet handlers were pretty skillful in my opinion!
This is a documentary on an ancient Chinese wind instrument that is made of bamboo.
Liked the nice Shukuhachi music in the film! Was impressed by the woman who imitated the music of different Chinese minorities that were inspired by nature such as the rooster or the sheep!
The story is adapted from a novel and it is about a young girl trying to find out more about her past when she digs deep into the history of Tamaran Hill.
Liked the voice over narration, the animation sequences of the words flying and the mother singing as well as the old historic photographs! I felt that reality and fiction fused together at times.
This is a documentary on the impact of social media on the world.
Liked how the film physically showed what the artificial intelligence might look like in person! Didn't realize how entire nations like Myanmar and Hong Kong were affected by social media! The takeaway for me is to turn off notifications so that I still can enjoy my offline social life.
The story is about four women trying to learn a dance created by a choreographer to commerorate her children who died in an accident.
The pace was a little bit slow but I liked the elegant dance movements and the different perspectives on how different people approach a subject: from a book, bouncing ideas with each other through conversations and personal experience.
This is a documentary about the Paralympics.
Liked the personal stories of the athletes and how different sports and different countries were featured!
This is a documentary about the video game industry, how it evolved from the arcade, to specialised console and then to the personal computer.
Liked the use of the nice cartoonish animation to tell parts of the story! Used to play Street Fighter II quite a bit when I was doing my National Service so it was quite nostalgic to see it on the screen.
This is a documentary about a scandal involving the United States Gymnastics Olympics team doctor, Larry Nassar.
Liked the interviews with the gymnasts and the people who were helping them! The doctor should have been caught long ago, thank goodness he is being punished for his bad deeds now!
The story is about a food critic interviewing hawkers of traditional local food. The film also shows his relationship with his colleagues and with his father.
Liked the heartfelt interviews that focused more on people rather than the food itself! Might be interesting to do a food tour around Singapore to visit those stalls!
The story is about students finding love at a fictional junior college. It is based on the novel "The Teenage Textbook" by Adrian Tan.
Liked the old Singapore landmarks like Borders and the old style bus stops! The characters were a little bit too stereotypical and some scenes were not quite believablebut I enjoyed watching the ups and downs of their relationships.
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!
