If You Were Me: Anima VIsion 2

This is a collection of six Korean short animation with a common theme on human rights. "The Third Wish" is about a visually challenged girl who was given three wishes. "Peeling" is about a father persuading his son to circumcise like the rest of his friends. "Baby" is about a working pregnant woman trying to make arrangements for her unborn child. "Shine Shine Shining" is about migrants in society. "Merry Golasmas" is about how a group of people got discriminated when they applied for the job of Santa Claus. "Lies" is about the plight of one homosexual who is forced into marriage.

Liked "Shine Shine Shining" the best as the story was very well told with a clear message! The characters were quite cute too! This would be followed by "The Third Wish", "Baby" and "Peeling". Didn't really like "Merry Golasmas" and "Lies".

Philippine Science

The film describes the student life in the Philippine Science High School in Philippines that takes in the top Science students in the country. The director was an alumni since 1986.

Liked the stories on student life which were based on real life experiences! Learnt a bit about Philippines history too! Thought the director gave a very nice tribute to his former school!

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Paper Cannot Wrap Up the Embers

This is a documentary about women who are forced to become prostitutes due to their economic circumstances in Cambodia.

A little bit boring at times as there was not much organisation in the subject matter and the audience was left to be immersed in the prostitute's living environment, somewhat similar to the reality TV format.

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The Princess of Nebraska

The film is adapted from a short story and it is about what happened when a young Chinese woman came to the United States. She was pregnant and stayed at her boyfriend's gay lover's place. She also explored the city and got to know a new friend at a karaoke bar.

Liked the realistic close up shots provided by the handheld camera! Story is interesting and the lead actress Ling Li acted very well! Nice ending too!

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Weekend

The story is about a couple on a journey to visit their parents during the weekend. Many strange encounters happpened along the way.

Thought it would be a relaxing film to watch based on the title but it was far more complex and chaotic than I imagined! I made the same mistake once before when I borrowed "Rite of Spring" from the library to listen to. Interesting to see how the director indirectly criticised the bourgeois way of life through the couple's actions and his innovative style!

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Beyond the Call

The story is about three middle-aged ex-military guys helping out in humanitarian work all over the world.

The three characters were quite interesting especially the guy who was a fan of Napolean and had a train with rail tracks in his back yard! These people had lots of experience driving a hard bargain and did not hesitate to provide help with money out of their own pockets! From the number of countries that they had visited, I realised that the world was a less peaceful place that I had imagined and that humanitarian work was required in many places. Thumbs up to these brave men who deserved our respect!

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Along the Way

This Indian short filme is about a young woman who received help from a stranger when she was looking after her son in the hospital.

Didn't quite understand what was going on in this film but I thought the actress looked more Chinese than Indian. There were some moments of suspense when she tried to identify the stranger from the black leather shoes that he wore.

The Deserter

This short film is about a young American couple who escaped to Toronto, Canada in order to avoid going to the war in Iraq. They joined an organisation based in Canada that welcomeed deserters from United States since the Vietnam War.

Learnt about the effects of war through the interviews with soldiers who have participated in the Iraq War! It was also interesting to follow the couple's journey as they travel across United States to reach the other end of the border!

Becoming Jane

This is an autobiography of Jane Austen who is a famous English writer in the 19th century. She specialises in writing family dramas on marriages of eligible young ladies and many of her works have been adapted to film.

I still remembered catching sight of five pretty young ladies on a particular show many years ago when I was in secondary school. Found out that it was "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen from my sister and I searched for the electronic text years later during my university days. Bought the paperback version eventually as I got tired of reading it on the computer screen and it became one of my favorite novels with her humor and insight into human behavior!

Liked the nice ballroom dancing sequences and the beautiful countryside scenery! It was also interesting to see how Jane Austen lived as a writer and to know what were the real life events that inspired her!

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The Silence

The story is about how a family of three spent two days in a strange country at the hotel on the way home. The family consists of a mother, her son and her sister. This is the last part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy

Liked the eccentric old caretaker and how the director highlighted the sensual side of the mother and the intellectual side of her sister! It was also interesting to see how people could still communicate with each other despite not sharing the same language.

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The Magic Flute

The film is based on the opera of the same title written by Mozart. The story is about how a soldier, Tamino and his friend Papageno ventured into the kingdom of Sarastro to save Pamina who is the Queen of the Night's daughter. They were given a magic flute and a mini-xylophone to help their quest.

Liked the nice songs and the many pretty actresses! A little big draggy at times but the overall plot was interesting! Interested to catch Bergman's adaptation now!

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Secret Sunshine

The story is about what happened after a young widow, Shin Ae, moved from Seoul to Miryang that means "secret sunshine" when written in Chinese.

Great acting by the lead actress, Jeon Do-yeon! The small town life was well described and it was interesting to see how the plot evolved as Shin Ae went through different phases of her life! Also liked the nice quiet moments and the intense psychological study on her character!

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Winter Light

The story is about how a small town pastor came to have doubts on his own faith one day during winter time. This is the second part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy

Liked the beautiful scenery, the lean storyline, the nice close ups on the characters and the interesting dialogue! Especially liked the letter reading scene as well as the conversation between the hunched back employee and the pastor towards the end!

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Rule #1

The story is about how a policeman found himself transferred into a special "ghost busters" department and how he spent his time there.

Pretty scary at times! Quite sad to see so many young lives ruined by the vicious ghost! Liked the well executed twist at the end! Thought it was influenced by both "Sixth Sense" and "Infernal Affairs".

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Through a Glass Darkly

Just started on the first part of Bergman's religious chamber trilogy boxset. The story is about how a family spends their time together on an island. The father is a writer who cares more about his work than his family and the daughter has just been diagnosed with mental illness. They are accompanied by the son and the son-in-law.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography! The theme of the movie was meaningful too! It talked about the void that was often felt in the human heart and how each family member coped with it. Everyone acted very well, especially the daughter! The film won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Female

This movie consists of five shorts with a common theme on examining various aspects of the female sensibility. These include a young female student's love for her teacher, an unlikely female trio's money problems, a fantasy about a male co-worker, a young boy's infatuation with the mother of his classmate and an old man's lover's relationship with his subordinate.

Went to catch the movie after reading about the review on Zaobao. Agreed with the critic that the last short was the most incomprehensible of them all! Thought the third short on the fantasy about a male co-worker was the most fun to watch! The dance sequences interspersed among the shorts were nicely choreographed too!

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Stranger than Paradise

Tbe story is about how Willie, his friend Eddie and his cousin Eva spent their time in three different locations in the United States: New York, Cleveland and Florida.

I knew that the director was a fan of Ozu, so I was not surprised with the numerous static long takes. Liked his unique sense of humour, the eccentric Aunt Lotte with the heavy Hungarian accent and the beautiful Eva! The outdoor scenery looked nice too!

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Persepolis

The story is about the life of a girl who grew up in difficult conditions in Iran. She spent her teenage years in Europe, came back home for a few years and decided to leave home the second time for France.

Nice black and white cinematography! Liked the quick pace and fluid cuts that brought the audience through the modern history of Iran! The family members of the little girl and her encounters were interesting too!

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CJ 7

The story is about what happens after a father brings back a mysterious object from outerspace home for his daughter.

The daughter and her friends are the main stars of the show while director Stephen Chow who plays the father takes a back seat and plays the supporting role. Liked the cockcroach stamping competition between the father and daughter, the fantasy sequences dreamt up by the daughter and the pretty costume worn by Ms Yuen!

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Ten

The film captures ten different conversations between a female driver in Iran and her passengers which include her son, her sister and other strangers.

Pretty innnovative camera angle that enabled the audience to just see one person at a time in the car! The conversations were pretty interesting too but I thought the son was a real brat!

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