The story is about how Pauline and Marion who were cousins spent their holidays at the beach. They met Pierre who was Marion's ex-boyfriend and befriended two other guys Henri and Sylvain.
Liked the interesting dialogues that helped to explain different people's attitudes towards relationships! Thought the director was quite clever to think up a situation that would cause a misunderstanding among the five characters towards the end!
Internet Movie Database Link
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Reconstruction
The story is about how two young men were brought by a prosecutor, a policeman and a teacher to a restaurant to re-enact their drunken brawl there and have it filmed to show the effects of alcoholism.
Liked the catchy song and the cheerful bikini girl! Thought the director was subtly criticizing the communist society through the small details in the film.
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the catchy song and the cheerful bikini girl! Thought the director was subtly criticizing the communist society through the small details in the film.
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Shoah
This is a documentary about the Holocaust told through interviews with the eye witnesses. The film title is the Hebrew word for this historical event.
Liked the scenes of the strange looking stones scattered in the camp as they looked beautiful! The analysis by the historian was insightful and I was particularly struck by Filip Muller's moving account of how helpless he felt when he had to help the Germans to send his fellow countrymen to their death!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the scenes of the strange looking stones scattered in the camp as they looked beautiful! The analysis by the historian was insightful and I was particularly struck by Filip Muller's moving account of how helpless he felt when he had to help the Germans to send his fellow countrymen to their death!
Internet Movie Database Link
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Children of Hiroshima
The story is about how the people in Hiroshima coped with their lives after the atomic bombing on 6 August 1945.
Liked the use of flashbacks to contrast life before and after the atomic bombing! The short sequence that depicted the historic event was very well done too!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the use of flashbacks to contrast life before and after the atomic bombing! The short sequence that depicted the historic event was very well done too!
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Children in the Wind
The story is about how children lived in dysfunctional families. The father of a family was locked up in the police station for suspect fraud, forcing the mother to look for a job and to send her younger son away to a friend's place.
Liked the nice depiction of Japanese life in the thirties! The children seemed to enjoy themselves very much during play and respected their parents at home!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the nice depiction of Japanese life in the thirties! The children seemed to enjoy themselves very much during play and respected their parents at home!
Internet Movie Database Link
Monday, May 31, 2010
Peppermint Candy
The story is about a Korean man's life told in reverse from the late nineties to the late seventies. It explains the impact of the Kwangju massacre in May 1980 on his life.
Liked how the story was broken down into episodes and told in reverse chronological order! This made me want to find out more the reason why the man wanted to go back to the past so badly. Quite sad to see how he became such an unlikable character. The female protagonists that appeared in the film all looked not bad though!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked how the story was broken down into episodes and told in reverse chronological order! This made me want to find out more the reason why the man wanted to go back to the past so badly. Quite sad to see how he became such an unlikable character. The female protagonists that appeared in the film all looked not bad though!
Internet Movie Database Link
Friday, May 28, 2010
A Tale of the Wind
The story is about an old film director trying to film the wind in China.
Thought it was a little bit abstract but I liked the scene on the moon and the finale that showed an old lady summoning the wind in the desert!
Internet Movie Database Link
Thought it was a little bit abstract but I liked the scene on the moon and the finale that showed an old lady summoning the wind in the desert!
Internet Movie Database Link
Bigger Than Life
The story is about a teacher who became more conceited and full of himself when he got addicted to his prescribed drugs to solve a chronic pain. His behavior changed in school and at home with his wife and son.
Liked the nice fifties style costumes worn by the wife and the suspenseful mood! The monologue speeches were interesting and the use of shadows was great!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the nice fifties style costumes worn by the wife and the suspenseful mood! The monologue speeches were interesting and the use of shadows was great!
Internet Movie Database Link
Thursday, May 27, 2010
No Day Off
The story is about how an Indonesian girl started training to be a maid in Batam and worked with three Singapore families for a few years before returning home to her child.
Liked how the story was told through the point of view of the maid! Thought it should be more balanced though as it showed mostly of how mean the employers were except for the last family. Great acting by the lead actress!
Liked how the story was told through the point of view of the maid! Thought it should be more balanced though as it showed mostly of how mean the employers were except for the last family. Great acting by the lead actress!
Io Island
The story is about life on an island that was inhabited by many women divers seen through a series of flashbacks.
Liked the nice scenery on the island, the hypnotic drum beat and the strange customs of the people! The flashbacks were particularly effective in fleshing out the character of the protagonist!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the nice scenery on the island, the hypnotic drum beat and the strange customs of the people! The flashbacks were particularly effective in fleshing out the character of the protagonist!
Internet Movie Database Link
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Distant Thunder
The film describes the 1943 famine in Bengal India through a Brahmin family living in a village.
Liked the interesting storyline and the psychological study into human behavior under extreme circumstances! Great acting by the actresses!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the interesting storyline and the psychological study into human behavior under extreme circumstances! Great acting by the actresses!
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Peter and the Wolf
The story is about a young boy called Peter who lived with his grandfather and had a cat, a bird and a duck as pets. A wolf tried to eat his duck and was caught by him. He released the wolf later when he saw how the local hunters made fun of it.
Liked the nice animation film that was without any dialogue and the live music accompaniment! The cat looked really fat and furry!
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the nice animation film that was without any dialogue and the live music accompaniment! The cat looked really fat and furry!
Internet Movie Database Link
PSTAR Scrabble Games 2010
The PSTAR Scrabble games is an annual event for organisations in the civil service to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held at the Civil Service Club (Bukit Batok) on 22nd May 2010 from 10am to 5pm. A total of 30 teams took part. MINDEF had one team taking part this year.
Here's my match report, with quizzes marked with [number] and the answers given at the end of the report.
Our first pairing was against Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) team 1.
Game 1: MEWR 1
My first game was against a friendly Malay guy called Samsul. Had pretty good tiles and I led comfortably after I bingoed twice with LOADErS(73) and dRAINED(81). Learnt a new word "COMP" from my opponent. He invited me to challenge the word as he said he was not sure of it too.
Won 455-230. Our team won 3-0.
Next game was against Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) team 1.
Game 2: CAAS 1
My second game was against a petite lady called Karen. I scored well with QAT(31) and JEAN(42). I also bingoed with a ERSSTV? rack while she scored with ZA(34), XI(38) and TREKS(30). There are 5 anagrams with the ERSSTV? rack that begins with "S", two of which are common words.[1]
Won 416-314. Our team won 3-0.
Had free lunch catered for us after our second game. The dishes were not too bad!.
Our third game was against Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) 1.
Game 3: MAS 1
I was paired against Ben who had played in national Scrabble tournaments before. He bingoed twice with RETRACT(78) and OUSTERS(87) while I had one bingo with RETAiNs(68). I had too many vowels in this game and I scored very low points trying to play them off. Lost badly and only reduced a bit of spread difference by my opponent's overtiming by 5 minutes.
Lost 328-458. Our team won 2-1.
Our final game is against Ministry of Education (MOE) 1.
Game 4: MOE 1
I played against Elizabeth who contrasted with Karen from CAAS in terms of size. She looked like she could be a Judo teacher! She had an opening bingo with a EEEPRSW rack[2] while I made many mistakes in this game! I spelled LARVAE as LAVAE* and it was challenged off. I had a DENOR?? rack and I played a phoney REbONDs*(69) which was fortunately not challenged off. I also opened up the triple word score lane late in the game thinking that my opponent may not have the "S" even though there were still two left in the bag. She scored promptly with DISRATE(88) and widened the spread!
Lost 287-499. Our team lost narrowly with 1-2.
In the end, MINDEF 1 came in 4th placing. MOE 1, MOE 2 and NP 1 were the top 3 teams. Had fun seeing so many familiar faces! Hope we could do even better next year!
Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)
[1] STaRVES, STeRVES, STiVERS, SToVERS, STRiVES
[2] SWEEPER
Here's my match report, with quizzes marked with [number] and the answers given at the end of the report.
Our first pairing was against Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) team 1.
Game 1: MEWR 1
My first game was against a friendly Malay guy called Samsul. Had pretty good tiles and I led comfortably after I bingoed twice with LOADErS(73) and dRAINED(81). Learnt a new word "COMP" from my opponent. He invited me to challenge the word as he said he was not sure of it too.
Won 455-230. Our team won 3-0.
Next game was against Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) team 1.
Game 2: CAAS 1
My second game was against a petite lady called Karen. I scored well with QAT(31) and JEAN(42). I also bingoed with a ERSSTV? rack while she scored with ZA(34), XI(38) and TREKS(30). There are 5 anagrams with the ERSSTV? rack that begins with "S", two of which are common words.[1]
Won 416-314. Our team won 3-0.
Had free lunch catered for us after our second game. The dishes were not too bad!.
Our third game was against Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) 1.
Game 3: MAS 1
I was paired against Ben who had played in national Scrabble tournaments before. He bingoed twice with RETRACT(78) and OUSTERS(87) while I had one bingo with RETAiNs(68). I had too many vowels in this game and I scored very low points trying to play them off. Lost badly and only reduced a bit of spread difference by my opponent's overtiming by 5 minutes.
Lost 328-458. Our team won 2-1.
Our final game is against Ministry of Education (MOE) 1.
Game 4: MOE 1
I played against Elizabeth who contrasted with Karen from CAAS in terms of size. She looked like she could be a Judo teacher! She had an opening bingo with a EEEPRSW rack[2] while I made many mistakes in this game! I spelled LARVAE as LAVAE* and it was challenged off. I had a DENOR?? rack and I played a phoney REbONDs*(69) which was fortunately not challenged off. I also opened up the triple word score lane late in the game thinking that my opponent may not have the "S" even though there were still two left in the bag. She scored promptly with DISRATE(88) and widened the spread!
Lost 287-499. Our team lost narrowly with 1-2.
In the end, MINDEF 1 came in 4th placing. MOE 1, MOE 2 and NP 1 were the top 3 teams. Had fun seeing so many familiar faces! Hope we could do even better next year!
Quiz answers (highlight to see clearly)
[1] STaRVES, STeRVES, STiVERS, SToVERS, STRiVES
[2] SWEEPER
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Only Yesterday
The story is about a girl reminiscing about the past while going to the countryside for a farming holiday.
Liked the interesting childhood anecdotes and the story shown during the ending credits! The illustrations of the background scenery and the references to Haiku reminded me of his later work, "My Neighbors the Yamadas", which I saw a few years back.
Internet Movie Database Link
Liked the interesting childhood anecdotes and the story shown during the ending credits! The illustrations of the background scenery and the references to Haiku reminded me of his later work, "My Neighbors the Yamadas", which I saw a few years back.
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Very Short International Film Festival
Saw "International Selection 1", "International Selection 2", "International Selection 3" and "Local Selection" at the "Very Short International Film Festival". Most of the short films were pretty interesting despite their short length of less than 3 minutes!
I voted for the following films:
International Selection 1: "Bob" and "Great expectations".
International Selection 2: "Stromsparen".
International Selection 3: "The sick boy and the tree", "Telefono" and "Sutphin blvd".
Local Selection favorites: "Emma".
I voted for the following films:
International Selection 1: "Bob" and "Great expectations".
International Selection 2: "Stromsparen".
International Selection 3: "The sick boy and the tree", "Telefono" and "Sutphin blvd".
Local Selection favorites: "Emma".
Saturday, May 08, 2010
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
Great acting by Giuletta Masina! Liked the surprising twist towards the end as I thought it was particularly touching!
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, May 01, 2010
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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!
Internet Movie Database Link
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