Ivan's Childhood

The story is about how the 12 year old Ivan helped the Russian Army in doing reconnaisance work during the Second World War. His family had been killed by the Germans and he often dreamed about the idyllic pre-war days.

Liked the nice dream sequences which contrasted with the grim reality of war! The soldiers also showed great carmaraderie in their last mission!

Internet Movie Database Link

Breath

The story is about how a married woman fell in love with a death-row convict while watching the news on TV one day and how this affected her family life.

Not much of dialogue as the death-row convict hurt his throat during an attempted suicide. His fellow inmates do not talk much too. Liked how the married woman brought colorful wallpaper to simulate the four seasons in the visiting room and the nice songs that she sung! Interesting psychological study on how people might behave under certain conditions!

Internet Movie Database Link

Masculin Feminin

The film is a sociological study of youth in France in the 60s. The alternative title to this film is "The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola".

Got interested in the film after reading Pauline Kael's review. Liked how the director showed how the young French people at that time reacted in different scenarios! Especially liked how the main protagonist tried to ask Madeleine out for a date, how his friend tried to learn more about Madeleine's friend and the interview with "Miss 19"! The teeny bopper songs featured in the film were quite nice too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Woman on the Beach

The story is about the relationship between men and women. A film director, his friend and the girlfriend of his friend went to the beach to get inspiration for a script. During their stay there, the director got to know another girl .

Not much of a storyline as the interesting bits are mostly in the dialogue that explained the thought process of each character. Liked the interview questions posed by the director to the second girl and the scene where the director drew diagrams on his notebook to elaborate lessons in life to the first girl!

Internet Movie Database Link

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

The story is about how a young man travels all around the world with his buddy and girlfriend in search of clues to help clear his family name. New evidence has emerged that suggested his ancestors was involved in president Lincoln's assassination.

Liked the amazing clue deciphering abilities of Nicolas Cage! It was also interesting to visit the many places of interests around the world! A fun movie!

Internet Movie Database Link

Citizen Dog

The story is about how a young man left his village to work in Bangkok and found a girl that he liked.

The movie is a bit more convoluted than what my synopsis suggests as it has many minor characters and includes several fantasy sequences. Liked the songs in the film! Didn't really like the storyline as it rambles along many different topics without any fixed objective.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Heartbreak Kid

The story is about a guy getting married and how he fell in love with another girl during their honeymoon trip to Mexico.

Liked the directors' previous works such as "There is Something About Mary" and "Shallow Hal" better as I thought their storylines were better. Didn't like the guy who tells lies and happily engage in an affair! I was also shocked by the two scenes shown during the credit rolls. They were pretty tasteless in my opinion!

Internet Movie Database Link

Killer of Sheep

The story is about life in the LA black district during the early 70s. There was a major racial riot several years earlier at the same location in the mid 60s and the effects of destruction can still be seen.

Liked the nice songs played throughout the film and how natural the children at play and the adults at work are being captured!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Golden Compass

The story is about the adventures of a little girl who has a special device called the golden compass in her possession. The golden compass uncovers the truth for its owner. She travels towards the north with a group of gypsies and an armoured polar bear to save her friend.

Pretty impressed by how the little girl is able to talk her way out of very tricky situations! The final battle scene is a little bit messy as the opposing sides are not easily differentiated.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Prisoners' Song

The story is about political prisoners imprisoned in Taiwan during the "White Terror" period in the early fifties.

Liked the nice song sung at the very beginning! Pretty informative as we find out more about what these people go through from the interviews!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Leopard

This is an epic about the slow decline of a family with royal background in Sicily during the 1860s. Wars erupted and the nephew of the head of the family married a rich mayor's daughter.

Liked the nice dresses worn by the women and the interesting dances performed at the ball towards the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Nanking

This is a documentary about what happened in Nanking during the Japanese invasion seventy years ago. It consists of interviews with the survivors, news clips and readings from the journals of a group of foreigners helping out in China at that time.

Liked the interviews and the news clips but didn't feel much for the journal readings as they were acted out by people who were not involved in the actual incidents. This film reminds me a little bit of "Feet Unbound" which is a local film about women soldiers involved in the Long March. Liked "Feet Unbound" better as it feels more real without the journal readings and with its reflection on both the present and the past.

Internet Movie Database Link

Bakumatsu Taiyoden

The story is about life within a brothel in the last days of the Shogunate. The protagonist is a poor guy who manages to make ends meet by being street smart.

A little boring in the beginning as the prostitutes are just shown to be rushing from one room to the next. Liked the scenes where they demonstrated how street smart the guy is! He helped a prostitute get out of a difficult situation and tricked a bag of money out of the brothel owner.

Internet Movie Database Link

Madame Bovary

The story is based on a French novel by Gustave Flaubert about a woman who married a doctor and was dissatisfied with her life.

Have read the English translated novel before and was impressed by the detailed description of each character's psychology! The movie is not as detailed but most of the ideas got through with the help of the narrator and the interesting dialogue! Liked the nice costumes worn by the lead actress and the beautiful countryside!

Internet Movie Database Link

Pixar Story

This is a documentary about Pixar that is an animation production house that gave us "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life", "Monsters Inc", "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles" and other blockbuster animation films.

Liked the interviews and the clips that showed us how far the animation media has gone! Learnt the early impact of computers on how animators did their work and the fun working environment in Pixar!

Internet Movie Database Link

5cm per second

This is a collection of three short stories about how people drift further apart as time goes by.

Liked the nice piano soundtrack in the background and the MTV towards the end! The melody of the song in the MTV was a little bit repetitive though. Also liked the storyline and how realistic everything looked!

Internet Movie Database Link

International Shorts Programme 3

This is one of the many international shorts programme featured at the Animation Nation 2007.

Liked the funny "The First day father let his daughter drive", the black humour in "Lapsus", the philosophical "An Artistic Presentation of Metaphysical Butterfly Effect" and the imaginative "Premium Reincarnation"!

Didn't really like these:
-White
-Backyard Shadow
-Complex
-The Chamber
-The White Wolf
-My Life at 40
-Dream Tapir
-White Snake

Animation Nation Link

International Shorts Programme 2

This is one of the many international shorts programme featured at the Animation Nation 2007.

Liked the imaginative "Walking in the rainy Day", the innovative "White Line Syndrome" and the interesting love story in "The Danish Poet"! "Shipwrecked", "Puppet" and "Shut Eye Hotel" were not bad! "Ark", "Eels", "Flutter" and "Madame Tutli-Putli" were pretty abstract and didn't really know what was going on.

Animation Nation Link

Freedom Project

The story is about how people lived underground on the moon after climate changes made Earth inhospitable. One group of racers decided to break the rules and tried to travel back to Earth secretly.

Liked the fast pace action and the exciting storyline! As the movie is sponsored by Nissin, the protagonists are always eating Nissin cup noodles! Had a good laugh whenever I saw those product placements!

Internet Movie Database Link

Khan Kluay

The story is about the adventures of an elephant named Khan Kluay when he travelled across the country in search for his father.

Nice storyline that is based on historical facts! Liked the songs and how the director infused the film with Thai culture!

Internet Movie Database Link