Werckmeister Harmonies

The story is about how the lives of the people in a small village changed when a whale came to visit in a giant truck. The film begins with a group of drunkards in a bar and the protagonist explains how the sun, the earth and the moon behaves by asking each person to act the role. From the movements of the planets, he explains how a solar eclipse occurs and how animals become irrational during the eclipse period but returns to normal behaviour after that.

Very nice opening as it gives a hint of what is to follow! The protagonist walked from one place to another to run errands and in the process, he discovered that people are gathering in the square and acting mysteriously due to the presence of the whale. Liked the black and white cinematography and the long takes that slowly uncovered the truth! I also liked how the film made us accompany the protagonist along his journey! WH reminds me of "Songs from a Second floor" by Roy Andersson which has a similar theme with equally long takes.

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Little Miss Sunshine

The story is about how a family travelled across the country so that the little daughter can participate in the "Little Miss Sunshine" competition. Along the way, there are conflicts among the family members but they work well together too!

The little daughter look quite cute in the over-sized spectacles! Liked how the family members overcame their differences and worked together towards a common goal!

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The Thunder of the Mountain

The story is about a Japanese family that is falling apart. The wife's husband is having an affair and the little sister is leaving her husband. Only the father tries hard to pull everyone together.

Didn't understand how the husband can be so cold and distant when the wife maintains her smile and cares for the family! The home imprisons the wife within instead of becoming a safe haven for her. The whole film is so sad that I felt indifferent about the characters as they are so helpless. Liked the family warmth displayed by the father towards his daughter-in-law though.

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Akeelah and the Bee

The story is about how a young girl, Akeelah Anderson, tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee. She comes from a single parent family but she is very good at spelling and playing Scrabble! The school principal knows about her talents and asks a very strict English Professor to coach her. While preparing for the competition, Akeelah has to manage her relationship with her friends, her mother, her siblings and everyone who knows her.

I am already familiar with the rules of the game as I saw a National Spelling Bee documentary, "Spellbound", a few years ago but it is still exciting to watch the kids trying to spell difficult words! I like the human touch in the film! This can be seen in the unconventional methods used by the coach and how Akeelah treats the people around her. It is also funny at times and educational to see unfamiliar words being spelled or being played at a Scrabble game. I learnt new words like FUCHSIA, SOUCHONG, XANTHOSIS*, LOGORRHEA, PLACEBO and LIMN!

I like the ending too that had an interesting twist to it! It made me understand what true sportsmanship is!

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The Banquet

The story is loosely adapted from Hamlet but the settings has changed to China during the warlord period. The film describes the complex relationship among the members of the royal family and members of one of the minister's family.

Quite a violent film! I had expected more erotic scenes with Zhang Ziyi and less violence! Liked the nice songs and the beautiful costumes! The imperial guards looked just like mini Darth Vaders in their uniform while the court ladies looked very pretty in their dresses! Interesting study into human behaviour and office politics too!

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The Host

The story is about how man's action created a monster in the river that in turn disrupts the lives of the people staying near it. In particular, the film focuses on a family who stays in a trailer selling food stuff.

Was quite surprised to find out that the first scene where an employee was ordered to pour chemicals into the drain was based on a real incident! The monster looked like an ugly fish but it is as agile as a monkey! Liked how the family stayed together throughout the crisis and how it depicted the authorities ignoring the voice of ordinary folks!

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Singapore Dreaming

The story is about the life and dreams of a Singapore family that consists of an old couple, their son, their daughter and their son-in-law. Their son also has a girlfriend who lives with them but they are not married yet.

Liked how the film showed the everyday life of Singaporeans. Great acting by the main actors and actresses! Its funny and sad at the same time!

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Isabella

The story is set in Macau, just before Portugal's handover back to China. It describes the budding relationship between a young teenage girl and her father who is a policeman. Her mother has brought her up singlehandedly without the father's knowledge.

I liked the nice music and the beautiful scenery of Macau! Quite interesting to see how the father and daughter interacted with each other after many year's of absence!

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ISBG Scrabble Games

The ISBG Scrabble games is held every two years, for statutory boards to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held at the LTA Staff Club on 2nd September 2006 from 10am to 4.30pm.

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

Our first game was against CPF which was the team that I most wanted to play with!

Game 1: CPF
My opponent was a jovial girl whose name was June. She claimed to be new to the game but she is pretty quick at calculating the scores! I calculated the score for one word wrongly as I mistook the double letter score to be a triple letter score and she promptly pointed out the mistake.

Had a pretty easy time as I scored well with ZEIN(69), HOMES(42), QI(36), WEN(39) and GOY(35). I also bingoed with PANTeRS(70) and got away with LICY*. My opponent had no bingos and none of her words scored more than 30 points. It was only after the game that she found out that LICY* was a phoney and she shouted "Ni Pian Wo!" at me subsequently. Was quite embarassed as I was worried that people might wonder what serious sins I have committed for her to say that!



Won my first game with 488 to 233. My team also won the match 3-2!

Our second game was against EDB. One of the players was my school mate!

Game 2: EDB
My opponent started strongly with FAH(31) after I put down OYE. Then I started to lead when I bingoed with EVASION(82). I scored well with KIB(30), FOE(35), MAZE(40), JARrED(58) and OX(36). Was challenged for ONY when I front hooked OX to an existing NY. Heard my opp remark the phrase "ONY is only in Collins" several times to himself when the challenge was unsuccessful.

Made a mistake of opening up the board and allowed my opponent to narrow the spread with a bingo of UNGATEd(78) but I still managed to win.



Won my second game with 454 to 300. Our team also won the match 3-2.

Lunch was provided by the organisers. It was not very good! After lunch, my third draw resulted in my team playing against NP. An important match for us as a win would guarantee at least a second place.

Game 3: NP
I was matched against Winston Gwee whom I have played several times before. Our scores were very close when he bingoed with DiVINES(76) and I bingoed with STORIES(77). I widened the gap when he tried twice to form a bingo with an ENRTTU? rack but was unsuccessful. He tried STUNTERs* and OUTRENTs* but both were challenged off. There are two 7-letter bingos if we treat the blank as an S[1] and two 8-letter bingos through a floating S[2] with the blank as something else which he failed to see.

I got the Q, X and Z very late in the game but was lucky to be able to put all of them down thanks to a phoney that my opp put down which I chose not to challenge. He formed WED/NUD* which allowed me to form WIZ and then QAID later. Would definitely have lost if I had to eat both the Q and the Z which would minus 40 points from my score instead of scoring more than 50 points with them.



Won my third game with 414 to 359. Our team lost the match narrowly 2-3.

Our final game was once again against EDB. They had one player short, so it was important that our lineup does not result in our best player playing against the missing player. I made a bad choice of lineup and the exact thing that we wanted to avoid happened!

Game 4: EDB
My score had been decreasing consistently since the first game while my opponent's score had been increasing consistently. Somehow had the feeling that I might lose this game.

My opp bingoed with HALVERS(78) and I almost caught up when I bingoed with ELATiON(68). Was plaqued with consonants after that and I lost inspiration on what to do. Tried to open up but my opp extended his lead when he bingoed with DUCTiLE(83). Played badly and made many low scoring moves to end the game.



Lost the last game 342-439. Our team lost 2-3 and came in 7th. We managed to play with the eventual 1st and 3rd place winners which were NP and EDB respectively. A pity that we lost in the 3rd game, otherwise we might be able to play with the 2nd place winners, NUS as well!


Quiz answers (Highlight to see clearly):

[1] ENTRUsT, NUTTERs
[2] STENToUR, STRUNTEd

Crazy Stone

The story is about a group of people trying to steal a precious jade from the exhibition hall while the security guard tries ways and means to prevent that from happening.

Liked the quick MTV-style pacing and the interesting plot that linked the different characters very neatly together! The security guard made pretty good use of his limited resources while the bad guys had many tricks up their sleeves! They engage in a battle of wits and skill together which is exciting to watch!

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The Lake House

The story is about how two people are able to communicate with each other despite being separated by a two year gap through a magical post box. This is an adaptation from the Korean film "Il Mare" which starred Jeon Ji Hyun who is the main actress in "My Sassy Girl".

Knew how the story would develop as I had seen "Il Mare" before. So, I wasn't surprised by some of the twists and turns in the plot. It was interesting to see Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock collaborate together again since "Speed"! This film is much more quieter than "Speed" but their chemistry remains!

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Mano Po

Saw this Fillipino film at the ASEAN film festival at GV Marina. The story is about the struggles of a Chinese Fillipino family to stay together and to preserve their language and tradition.

The story is interesting especially the parts where they showed the grandmother's encounters in China with her in-laws! Learnt quite a bit about Fillipino history and social situation from this film! Great acting by the actresses!

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The Cloud-capped Star

The story is about how the eldest daughter of an Indian family picked up the burden of supporting the family and many unfortunate things happened.

Nice songs and the main actress looked quite pretty! Quite a sad story though as it talks about the sacrifices that she made for the family. Learnt that the director was particularly influenced by the Partition and an Indian poet Tagore. Think Tagore writes pretty good song lyrics!

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Scrabble Poll

This is adapted from an actual game to make the board more closed so as to limit the number of choices.



Your opponent just missed a turn by putting sHAFTED 11G as AJEES* was challenged off. Your rack is EINNORU. What would you do?

The Blood of a Poet

The story is about the strange adventures of a poet when a statue came alive and asked him to step across the mirror.

Was quite surprised at the beginning when a well built half naked poet is seen drawing a self portrait on the canvas. Guess the director wanted to break the pre-conceived notion that poets are the thin mal-nourished sort. The director had a pretty good imagination and he created many strange happenings! The statue looked quite cool with her short hair!

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Battleship Potemkin

The story is about a mutiny on the Russian battleship "Potemkin" and the resulting crackdown at Odessa. The communist ideal of "all for one and one for all" is brought across quite strongly in this film.

Watched this 1925 silent film at the Picture House and it was accompanied by a new score composed by Pet Shop Boys. Had a rough idea of the plot as I had borrowed the DVD from Esplanade before, so I was more interested to hear how well the score would fit into the story. The parts where the horns blew and someone stepped on the piano fitted very nicely! The "we are brothers" song did not fit the Odessa sequence too well though as it sounded too mild.

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Double Suicide

The story which is adapted from a puppet play is about the complex relationship among a married man, his wife and a courtesan that he loves. The man has no money to buy the courtesan's freedom and enters into a suicde pact with her.

Liked the use of black hooded men who adjusted the set in the background! It simulated the puppeteer controlling the actors' actions pretty well! The plot flowed very nicely too! Great acting by the actors and actresses! The courtesan looked just like a doll with the heavy make-up!

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How much do you love me?

The story is about a guy's relationship with a prostitute. He claimed to have won the lottery and asked her to live with him for the price of 10000 euros per month. Things became complicated when more people came into the picture.

Interesting look at the many difficult scenarios that people enncounter when they fall in love! Nice witty dialogue that gives food for thought!

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Scrabble Nationals 2006 (Day Two)

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

Game 6: vs Ashley Ng
Was more than 150 points behind when I held a DEINRST rack with an open bingo line that required a front hook to OM. Remembered that STINTER was good, so I played STINDER* hoping that it would be good too but it was challenged off. My opponent scored big later with FANNER(50) down the TWS!



New words learnt: FANNER
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: FOOTERS(93), ENDEARS(65)
My Phoneys: STINDER* Opp Phoneys: OST*, ULEI*, AUDI*(21)
My High Moves: YA(40), BEST(44) Opp High Moves: ZANY(32), LOWER(32), BOP(31), TRANQ(47), FANNER(50), HEAL(32)
L 299-511, -212. 5W 1L (Accum spread +207).

Game 7: vs Tok Wei Min
My opening rack had both the C and the H, so I opened with CEL with the E on the star, hoping to capitalise on the H on my next move. Alas, my opponent also had the other H and he put down THROW for 32 points underneath! Held a DEHISU? rack[3] and missed the bingo in it. Put down UnHIDES* instead and it got challenged off! I also made a big mistake in my last move where I allowed Wei Min to capitalise his F on the triple letter score while trying to avoid the double letter score.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: ERUdITE(76) Opp Bingos: PERSIsT(85)
My Phoneys: HEB* Opp Phoneys: PALID*(23)
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: THROW(32), TAJ(30), DZO(31), BEST(34), FED(31)
L 315-430, -115. 5W 2L (Accum spread +92).

Game 8: vs Ng Ming Wei
Have been playing almost all the HCI high school players and Ming Wei is the last one that I met. Managed to win by having a bingo early in the game and playing conservatively to close down the board. It also helped that I got away with a phoney LUPE* and challenged off the phoneys that my opponent put down.



New words learnt: POKIER
My Bingos: LEARNeR(69) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: LUPE*(18) Opp Phoneys: ETCY*, OT*
My High Moves: SEZ(43) Opp High Moves: TAX(35), POKIER(33)
W 394-264, +130. 6W 2L (Accum spread +222).

Game 9: vs Lester
I was behind by 64 points with no more tiles in the bag and I was desparate enough to try a bingo with a HIPRSTU rack. Tried PHITRUS* but got challenged off!



New words learnt: STOT
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: INFARES(70)
My Phoneys: PHITRUS* Opp Phoneys: GHITS*
My High Moves: XI(33), HITS(33) Opp High Moves: DIPT(32)
L 342-371, -29. 6W 3L (Accum spread +193).

Game 10: vs Tan Boon Hock
Start of the KOTH and I was playing Steven again. Was quite lucky to get two blanks on my rack. Got a couple of vowels, an S and two blanks. Thought of the 6-vowel bingo[4] but forgotten how it was spelt. Somehow the "old McDonalds had a farm" song kept ringing in my head. Bingoed with OUTSEts(62) later and my opponent bingoed with TINDLES*(71). Didn't realise that TINDLES* was a phoney until much later! He managed to score very well whenever I tried to open up. Lost even though I had a second bingo with STAINED(72).



New words learnt: ROGER
My Bingos: OUTSEts(62), STAINED(72) Opp Bingos: TINDLES(71)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: TINDLES*(71)
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: ZATI(40), RAX(35), QI(37), HIP(32), BABY(33)
L 373-395, -22. 6W 4L (Accum spread +171).

Game 11: vs Lawrence
Started with COL and my opponent put down DELVING(75). Wanted to challenge as I thought I saw DEVLING, but stopped myself as I had a better look at the board and Lawrence's surprised reaction. He had another bingo with MINUTeS(82). Was almost 150 points behind at one time, but managed to catch up a bit with FEINTER(82) towards the end.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: FEINTER(82) Opp Bingos: DELVING(75), MINUTeS(82)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: VIVOS*, FEINTERS*
My High Moves: ZAG(51), MAY(30) Opp High Moves: FEY(34), JADED(48), SHEW(45)
L 375-426, -51. 6W 5L (Accum spread +120).


Game 12: vs Ruby
My opponent bingoed with FAlTERS(68) while I bingoed with SAUNTER(68). Played badly towards the end. I phonied with EXED*, almost didn't trap Ruby's "Q" and went overtime for more than 2 minutes. Both of us forgot to include the time penalty in the score sheet though which was spotted by Seow Kie.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: SAUNTER(68) Opp Bingos: FAlTERS(68)
My Phoneys: EXED* Opp Phoneys: POY*(28)
My High Moves: ReZ(37) Opp High Moves: DOTE(31), VAULT(31), SHY(35)
L 327-407, -80. 6W 6L (Accum spread +40).

In between games, I had fun peering behind the Tournament Director's shoulders to see the results being churned out. Saw this very cute little girl beside the TD asking him who is "ZZ Bye" towards the end of the game! Hmm, one of the mysteries in competitive Scrabble!

Quite disappointed with the many sub-optimal plays that I made and the phoneys that my opponent got away with! Must learn how to keep my cool under competition pressure and not be tempted to any how try for bingos in the future!

Quiz answers (Highlight to see clearly):

[3] DUcHIES, HIDEoUS, HUrDIES
[4] EUOUAES

Hoodwinked

The story is a retelling of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story which is uncovered by an inspector who asked each witness: red, grannie, the wolf and the axe man to give a personal account of what really happened.

The plot fits together very well! I also liked Red who has big beautiful eyes and a sweet voice! Nice songs too!

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