Friday, April 03, 2020

The Platform

The story is about a prison where food is delivered to the inmates on a platform moving downwards. People on the higher levels have a lot of food to eat while those on the lower levels often starved.

Liked the interesting idea and how the director tried to pair up the protagonist with different personalities as room mates! The ending was not very well done in my opinion though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

The story is loosely based on a real life event in Hollywood on 8 to 9 Aug 1969. The characters consist of real people like American actress Sharon Tate, actor Bruce Lee and a hippie cult as well as fictional characters such as a famous cowboy actor and his stunt double.

Liked the cowboy acting scenes and the lovely interaction between DiCaprio and the young child actress! Was quite worried about what might happen towards the end but was relieved when the good guys survived!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

The story revolves around the people visiting a dining place in Tokyo that only opens at midnight.

For season one, I liked "Tonteki" about a girl who knit sweaters for people she fancied and "Omelette Rice" about the love between a Korean girl and a Japanese scientist. For season two, I liked "Salmon and Mushroom" about a barber couple and "Kitsune Udon" about two voice actresses who struggled to keep their friendship. All the other episodes are interesting in their own ways!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, March 08, 2020

Cheer

This is a documentary about an award winning cheerleading team in Texas.

Liked the interesting stories of the members of the team! Had a better idea of what it means to be fair, strict and empathetic from the coach, something that I should learn as a parent.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, March 05, 2020

Arietty

The story is about how a family of small people stayed in a house of normal people but had to move as they were discovered.

Liked the friendship between the daughter Arietty and the young boy! The action sequences of climbing around the big house looked exciting too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, March 01, 2020

Mad World

The story is about the effect of bipolar disorder on a family.

Liked the flashbacks that gradually explained what happened in the past! The friendship between the little boy and the protagonist was quite cute too. Guess sometimes we have a pre-conceived notion what someone might be like but it may not be true once we get to know the person better.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Certain Women

The story is about how four women in a small town deal with loneliness in their own ways.

Liked the last story of the rancher the best! Great acting by all the female leads! I learned that talking a lot doesn't necessarily lead to good communication.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, February 13, 2020

American Factory

This is a documentary about the people working in an American Factory owned by a Chinese billionaire.

Liked how the film presented both the Chinese and the American points of view! There was no real bad guy here but I thought it was a bit ridiculous for the chairman to have a self portrait of himself hanging in his office.

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, February 08, 2020

37 Seconds

This is a coming of age story of Yuma, a manga artist who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Liked how independent Yuma was despite her disability! The animation effects were great for both the father holding a baby girl high in the sky drawing as well as Yuma's portfolio sketches for the new company!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, February 02, 2020

Ocean Waves

The story is about how two countryside boys fell in love with a girl who came from the city.

Liked the depiction of school life but didn't really like the city girl who didn't show much teamwork at all!

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, January 30, 2020

A Sun

The story is about how a family mended their broken ties across a few years.

Thought the father looked like Ma Yun from Alibaba! Liked the parts where they showed different pairs of people walking around together. Was surprised by the twist at the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, January 27, 2020

I Lost My Body

The story is about the life of a young man who became disabled and how his hand travelled around the city to search for him.

Liked the interesting point of view from a hand! Bad idea to try to catch a fly while operating on the workbench!

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, January 09, 2020

Boogie Nights

The story is about the life of a group of pornography actors and actresses from the late 70s to the and early 80s.

Liked how the film portrayed the community as ordinary people with dreams! Quite sad that some of them were looked down by others because of their occupation! Good to see Roller Girl back to school!

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Toy Story 3

The story is about the adventures of a group of toys in a childcare center.

Learned not to judge the book by its cover after watching the movie! Another lesson I learned was to pass to others what we don't need instead of throwing them away.

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, December 07, 2019

Marriage Story

The story is about a married couple with an eight year old son getting divorced.

Liked the opening scene that introduced the wife and the husband in sequence! The small details make the characters come alive! Also liked the giant zoom ins and descriptive monologues! Reminded me a bit of Bergman's movies.

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, November 04, 2019

Children of Men

The story is about a dystopian world in the future where all women were infertile and most places in the world were unsafe except for Britain.

Liked the nice serene soundtrack! Realized that a world without children would be horrible!

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Imitation Game

The story is about the life of an English mathematician Alan Turing who was involved in breaking code during world war two.

Liked the flashbacks across the present time, during the war and Turing's childhood days. Could identify with his frustrations when the program didn't work as he expected the first time round.

Internet Movie Database Link

Bento Harassment

The story is about how a mother made innovative bento lunches for her daughter for 3 years until her graduation day.

Liked the depiction of the ups and downs of the mother daughter relationship! Was amazed by the creativity of the mother!

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Toy Story 4

The story is about the adventures of a group of toys during a road trip on a rented caravan.

Liked how Woody and Gabby Gabby found their purpose in life in the end! The action sequences were exciting too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Modest Heroes

This is an anthology of three stories with a common theme on life. "Kanini & Kanino" is about a crab family uniting against external threats and celebrating when new members arrive. "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" is about a boy with a serious egg allergy. "Invisible" is about a man being invisible to others in life.

Liked the exciting encounter with the giant fish in "Kanini & Kanino", the realistic plot in "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" and the imaginative mood in "Invisible!

Internet Movie Database Link