La Strada

The story is about how a young girl, Gelsomina, trained to be the assistant to a performer, Zampano, and they traveled to many different places in his motorcycle van.

Great acting by Giuletta Masina! Liked the surprising twist towards the end as I thought it was particularly touching!

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Intervista

The story is about the daily life at the Italian cinema studio that Fellini worked in. The film title means "Interview" in English and the whole film is conducted in an interview format. Japanese reporters interviewed Fellini and his crew, the actor who acted as a young Fellini interviewed a beautiful actress.

Liked the beautiful sets and the pretty costumes worn by the actresses! The screening of "La Dolce Vita" in Anita Ekberg's home was interesting as the actors and actresses reminisced about their past!

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The Steel Helmet

The story is about a group of American soldiers fighting in the Korean war.

Liked the innovative opening scene and the friendship between the little Korean boy and the veteran Sergeant! It was also interesting to watch how the various personalities among the soldiers interacted!

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Dear Doctor

The story is about how a doctor made an impact on the lives of the villagers in a small town.

Liked how the doctor could treat all his patients as his friend as he had worked there for many years unlike in big hospitals! Everybody had a good impression of him! The plot is interesting with an unexpected twist in the end!

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La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

This is a documentary about the Paris Opera Ballet. It shows the dancers practicing and at rehearsals, the administrative work and the various support staff working to make the performances a success.

I realized that there is a lot of hard work done by many people behind each successful performance! Liked both the classical ballet pieces as well as the more abstract contemporary ones! The ballet dancers' costumes looked prettier in the classical ballet pieces but the concept and dance movement is more innovative in the contemporary pieces!

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Singapore Short Film Competition: Finalists

The finalists consists of 7 films: "Que Sera Sera", "Contained", "Sunrise", "Life with Ummu", "Promises in December", "The 25th of Laura" and "Mu Dan".

Liked the autobiographical "Que Sera Sera", the social commentary in "Promises in December" and the philosophical "The 25th of Laura" the best! The stop-motion animation in "Contained", the documentary in "Life with Ummu" and the country-side scenery in "Sunrise" are interesting! Didn't quite understand the story in "Mu Dan" but the visual effects look good!

Mammoth

The story is about how the consumerism culture in America contrasted with the living conditions in Third World countries. This is seen through the relationship of the Filipino maid with a rich American family that she works for, the impact to her family in Philippines and the encounters of the husband in Thailand.

Great acting by Michelle Williams! Liked the nice soundtrack and the beautiful outdoor scenery! I thought both the wife and the husband learnt a lot more about themselves during the period when they were apart.

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Don't Look into the Mirror

The story is about how an artist reacted when he discovered that he could only see other people's images inside the mirror instead of his own.

Had wanted to catch "German Shorts" but I mistakenly remembered that it was screened at Arts House instead of Sinema. This is one of the strangest films that I have watched and it reminded me of another Armenian film, "Colors of Pomegranates", as both films had heavy religious overtones and great visual effects!

Last Train Home

This is a documentary about migrant workers in China focusing on one family.

Was amazed at the huge number of people present at the train station! Liked how the director captured the fragile relationships within the family!

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His and Hers

This is a documentary consisting of interviews with 70 female characters arranged chronologically at their homes.

Thought the concept was pretty interesting as it gives the audience a broad overview of a typical Irish girl/woman and her relationship with her father/husband/children! Got a little bit lost on the thick Irish accent at some instances but I liked the nice soundtrack and the beautiful outdoor and indoor scenery!

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Tears

The story is about a retiring policeman with a dark secret solving a murder mystery of a drug addict.

The costumes worn by Xiao Wen looked very nice and she looked pretty too! Realized the significance of the film title after seeing several characters crying. Each of them was trying to suppress their emotions until it is no longer possible to do so and tears flowed out of their eyes.

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Sex Volunteer

This is shot in part documentary style that described the sexual needs of disabled people and how they can be fulfilled by volunteers.

Liked the provocative discussion of the social issues and the realistic portrayal of the daily life of the disabled people!

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The Baron of Arizona

The story is about a legendary swindler, James Reavis, who spent many years plotting a scheme to take control of the whole of Arizona. He took in a little girl who was an orphan and painstakingly invented a baron ancestry for her by forging documents in various parts of the world.

I was amazed by the effort put in by James to achieve his objectives! I also liked the strong loving relationship between him and his wife!

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The White Sheik

The story is about one day of a couple's honeymoon when everything went wrong. The wife secretly sneaked out to see her idol, an actor who acted as "The White Sheik", but was sent to the acting set very far away by mistake. The husband had to investigate what happened to her and pretend that everything is alright to his relatives.

Thought the script was excellently written by Antonioni! Liked the nice little comedy that was witty and did not rely too much on slap stick!

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My Flesh My Blood

This is a love story between a boxer who is about to die and a Vietnamese illegal immigrant.

Great acting by the boxer! The Vietnamese song sounded quite nice too! Didn't quite agree with the last bit of the boxer's arrangements before his death though.

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I Shot Jesse James

The film is a psychological study of a man called Bob Ford who killed his wanted friend Jesse James in the hope of settling down with his sweet-heart.

Liked the nice song that summarized the whole story and the quick pacing!

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Love Conquers All

The story is about what happened when a girl fell in love with a bad boy while staying with her relatives in the city.

The bespectacled little girl looked quite cute! Thought her story was more interesting than the main storyline! Understood the Malaysian way of life slightly better after watching the film!

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A Single Man

The story is about a day in the life of an English professor when he plans to commit suicide after work as his lover died eight months ago.

Liked the soundtrack and the flashbacks that gradually revealed the professor's past! The slow motion sequences were pretty interesting too! The film also made me want to check out Huxley's "After Many a Summer Dies the Swan", Kafka's "Metamorphosis" and Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" one day.

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The Sun's Burial

The story is about life in the slums of postwar Osaka. People have to rely on their street smart skills to survive as they do not have proper jobs.

Liked the nice song by Takeshi but was quite confused about the complex schemes thought up by Hanoko and the rest of the gang members to make money! Among the few films about postwar Japan that I have seen, I think I enjoyed "Pigs and Battleships" by Imamura and "Gate of Flesh" by Seijun Suzuki better.

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Treeless Mountain

The story is about two sisters who had to cope with their mother's absence when she left home in search of their father. They were first sent to their aunt's place then to their grandparent's place.

Great acting by the two young actresses! Liked the simple story and how the director fleshed out the film with little details! I wonder how tasty the fried grasshoppers were!

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