DSTA Inter-PC Scrabble

This is the first time DSTA is organising an inter-PC Scrabble competition and six people from various PCs took part: Chew Chuah, myself, Hung Peng, Seow Kie, Yew Hang and Peng Kee. We played a total of 3 games in straight King-of-the-Hill format.

Game 1 vs Seow Kie
I had ALIENED(76) and scored well with MAKE(40), ZAG(38), TRAYS(32) and JILT(36) while her UNCITE* was taken off the board. My TRAYS(32) was formed by front hooking the S to an existing CAP but she did not challenge SCAP* and I win easily by 434 to 225.

Game 2 vs Chew Chuah
I have not played Chew Chuah for a long time already and I knew he was a formidable opponent! He had WRONGED(81) and IONISED(67) while I had SHERIAT(96). I phonied with RAKIEST* and ETICS* which were taken off the board and I lost by 363 to 447. Missed the two anagrams for AEIKRST!

Game 3 vs Yew Hang
I had LATTICE(79) and he had TOURING(74). I also scored well with KAM(30), YIP(30), LOW(36), TUX(30) and DEATH(63) to win by 434 to 309. We had one phoney each and they were both challenged off. I had UNAILED* while he had ZOE*. Missed the two anagrams for ADEILNU!

In the end, Chew Chuah won first position with 3 wins. I won second position by having a slightly better spread than Hung Peng who won third position. It was fun but a little bit distracting to be the organiser at the same time. Would probably consider hiring an external tournament director the next time round.

A Separation

The story is about how an Iranian couple's decision to separate affected their lives. The father had to employ a maid and an incident led to a legal dispute between the two families.

Liked the interesting plot and how the director slowly revealed what actually happened from different perspectives!

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The Naked Island

The story is about how a poor Japanese family lived on a small island despite the difficult environmental conditions.

Liked the director's deliberate attempt to take away the dialogue and let the family's action speak for itself!

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Mother Joan of the Angels

The story is about how a priest helped to exorcise a possessed nun in a convent.

Great acting by the actress who acted as Mother Joan! I also liked the nice choral music! Felt that the nun's uniform in "Black Narcissus" looked prettier though.

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The Thin Red Line

The story is about how a group of American soldiers felt when they went to fight in a small Pacific Island with the Japanese during Second Word War.

Liked the nice philosophical voice over narration and the interesting flashbacks!

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Hugo

The story is about how a young boy whose father died came to live in the train station and came to know an eccentric old man who is a toy shop owner.

Liked the nice black and white old movie clips shown and the nice cinematography!

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The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

This animation is based on a short story of the same title by Dostoevsky. A man's attempted suicide was interrupted by a young girl in the street and he had a dream about utopia when he went home to sleep.

Liked the beautiful painting style and the interesting plot that painted a vision for the future of mankind!

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Happy Thank You More Please

The story is about how six young adults living in New York juggle love, friendship and the responsibilities of adulthood.

Liked the nice folk music soundtrack!

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Happy End

The story is about how a man was given the death sentence for killing his wife and lover told in reverse chronological order.

Liked the interesting concept but the special effects of eating, talking and walking in reverse got tiresome after a while.

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Ways of the Sea

The story is about people who illegally travelled from the Phillipines to Sabah by boat to look for work.

Liked the docu-drama approach and the nice song in the film! Great acting by the little girl!

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In Two Minds

The story is based on a folk tale about how a new bride spent a few years with a ghost that took the form of her husband while he was away on business and what happened after he returned.

Liked the colorful cinematography, the innovative use of static shots and the beautiful music! The plot was interesting too!

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Sunflower

The story is about the relationship between a father and his son over a period of thirty years from the late sixties to the late nineties in China.

Nice paintings at the art exhibition and liked how the father and son reconciled towards the end! Thought the director could have condensed the plot a little bit more though.

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City Lights

The story is about a tramp's relationships with a blind girl and a rich man.

Liked the interesting plot and the nice ending!

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Sita Sings the Blues

The story is based on an Indian epic, the Ramayana, that described the ups and downs in the relationship between prince Rama and his wife Sita after they were banished to the forest.

Liked how the director weaved her own story into the film and used different ways to tell the same story! It was refreshing to learn the plot through the discussion among the three narrators! The songs were appropriate and nice too!

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My Magic

The story is about the relationship between an alcoholic father who used to be a magician and his son who was cared for mainly by his grandmother.

Liked the quiet scenes such as the one where the train passed by in the background. Didn't really like the magic shows which were too extreme in my opinion.

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Thirst for Love

The story is about how a young widow became her father-in-law's lover but secretly had a desire for the apathetic gardener.

Liked the interesting psychological study into the different characters! Great acting by the lead actress!

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Margin Call

The story is about how a group of traders discovered the real risk of mortgage based securities in 2008 and the boss of the company decided to sell everything off the next day.

Great acting by Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons! Hoped they could explain a little bit more on some of the financial terms though.

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Black Sun

The story is about how a jazz loving Japanese encountered an injured black American soldier who was wanted for murder and carried a machine gun.

Liked how the friendship grew between the Japanese and the American despite their difficulty to communicate with each other!

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I Hate But Love

The story is about the love-hate relationship between a well known DJ and his manager cum lover.

Liked the nice little journey across Japan on the old jeep! Both the DJ's girlfriend and the jeep owner looked quite pretty!

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The Warped Ones

The story is about how a jazz loving delinquent took revenge on a young reporter who had tipped him off to get him in jail by raping his girlfriend. She became pregnant and had to take drastic steps to make things "normal" again.

Liked the fast pace action and the interesting twists to the plot!

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