Monday, December 28, 2020

7 Letters

This is an anthology of seven short films by seven different directors to celebrate SG50.

Liked the scary monster in "Cinema", the mischevious kids in "That Girl", the tense family relationship in "The Flame", the friendly neighbour in "Bunga Sayang", the quest to find out about one's past in "Pineapple Town", the nice voice over narration in "Parting" and the historical pictures of Singapore in "GPS".

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, December 20, 2020

That Girl in Pinafore

The story is about the hopes and dreams of a group of young people who loved Xinyao.

Liked the nice music that went along with story very well! The plot on the other hand didn't really make sense towards the end but I thought it was still a good effort by the director who brought us back to Singapore in the 90s!

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Mirai

The story is about a family that consists of father, mother, a big brother and a baby sister. The big brother does not really like his little sister as his parents pay more attention to her now.

Liked the fantasy sequences involving different characters from the past and future! The ending was really well done as it joins all the dots to form the overall picture!

Internet Movie Database Link

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Blue Hour

The story is about a woman's journey back to her hometown with her best friend.

Liked the theme of family love and rediscovering one's purpose in life!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Talentime

The story is about the lives of people from different races in Malaysia. Some of them are participants of a Talentime show in school.

Liked the nice songs and how the director showed that it was possible to live harmoniously with each other although some could still be prejudiced against others!

Internet Movie Database Link

Tuesday, December 08, 2020

Mental

This is a documentary about people with mental illness.

Gained an understanding of the clinic's daily operations and what the patients were going through! Most of them are just normal human beings like the rest of us. I especially liked the poetry by one of the patients towards the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, December 06, 2020

Yellow Cat

The story is about a man who dreams of building a movie theatre together with a girl he met. He stole money from an influential guy and had to hide from him and his gang.

Liked how the film was divided into chapters with a paper drawing of what we might expect! It probably has some reference to the film "Le Samourai" so would want to check it out if I have the chance to see the similarities.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, December 03, 2020

SGIFF Shorts

Wanted to watch some short films during the Singapore International Film Festival, so I picked the following 10 films as a bundle.

  • Singapore Films: "New Born", "Here is Not There", "Rocketship", "Nursery Rhymes"
  • Animation: "Sexy Sushi", "Water Melon Please"
  • Video Essays: "Her Five Lives", "Casting a Spell to Alter Reality"
  • Asian Films: "Judy Free", "Sunrise in My Mind"

Liked the great acting by the female lead in "New Born", the dramatic twist in "Here is Not There", the little boy's efforts to bring the family together in "Rocketship" and the nice songs in "Nursery Rhymes".

Both "Sexy Sushi" and "Water Melon Please" were a little abstract and touched on some existential issues.

Learnt about the history of Uzbek films in "Her Five Lives" and appreciated Hou Hsiao Hsien's films better with "Casting a Spell to Alter Reality".

Liked the special effect to make the father figure fuzzy in "Judy Free" and the chit chat in "Sunrise in My Mind".

Wednesday, December 02, 2020

A Balance

This is a story about a documentary director who covers scandals and what happens when she is about to be involved in one herself.

Liked the moral dilemmas presented in the film! Is it better to tell the truth and risk getting shamed by society or be burdened with having to tell lies the rest of your life and potentially harming others? Not really sure if the lead actress made the right choice in the end.

Internet Movie Database Link

Slalom

This is a story about an athlete who skis and her relationship with her coach and family.

Great acting by the lead actress! Realized it is not so easy to spot a possible offender as it may happen suddenly under specific circumstances.

Internet Movie Daatabase Link

Monday, November 30, 2020

Sementara

This is a documentary on the sights and sounds in Singapore during its SG50 celebrations.

Liked the scenes with people from different religions and cultures! Learned more about people from all walks of life from the interviews!

Internet Movie Database Link

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Moving On

The story is about a family trying to move on in their lives in their own ways.

The pace was a little slow at the start but I appreciated the film more after all the characters were introduced. Liked the nice family atmosphere of them eating together and the grandson showing off his dance! The old song that the grandfather listened to was quite nice too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, November 16, 2020

The House Of Us

The story is about a little girl trying to bring her family together through cooking and planning a family trip. She made friends with two girls who are even younger than her by chance.

Liked the happier moments when the three girls played together! Thought some parts were not very logical such as the mother's reaction towards the milk incident, the little girl refusing to answer her calls and the fear towards a man sleeping in his cart but I still enjoyed the film.

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, November 02, 2020

From Victoria Street to Ang Mo Kio

This is a film about the history of the CHIJ St Nicholas school. It has a dramatized story, interviews with former students and principals as well as documentary footages. I liked the depiction of the old school compound with the creaky staircase and the naturally well ventilated classroom space! I also liked to hear the fond memories of the interviewees and to learn about the history of our education system through the documentary clips!

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Our Time Machine

This is a documentary about a son making a puppet theatre show as a tribute to his father.

Liked the interesting concept but also wondered if it was worth spending so much time and money on the project! The puppet handlers were pretty skillful in my opinion!

Internet Movie Database Link

Tuesday, October 06, 2020

Shukuhachi: One Sound One Life

This is a documentary on an ancient Chinese wind instrument that is made of bamboo.

Liked the nice Shukuhachi music in the film! Was impressed by the woman who imitated the music of different Chinese minorities that were inspired by nature such as the rooster or the sheep!

Internet Movie Database Link

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Tamaran Hill

The story is adapted from a novel and it is about a young girl trying to find out more about her past when she digs deep into the history of Tamaran Hill.

Liked the voice over narration, the animation sequences of the words flying and the mother singing as well as the old historic photographs! I felt that reality and fiction fused together at times.

Monday, September 28, 2020

Social Dilemma

This is a documentary on the impact of social media on the world.

Liked how the film physically showed what the artificial intelligence might look like in person! Didn't realize how entire nations like Myanmar and Hong Kong were affected by social media! The takeaway for me is to turn off notifications so that I still can enjoy my offline social life.

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, September 21, 2020

Isadora's Children

The story is about four women trying to learn a dance created by a choreographer to commerorate her children who died in an accident.

The pace was a little bit slow but I liked the elegant dance movements and the different perspectives on how different people approach a subject: from a book, bouncing ideas with each other through conversations and personal experience.

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Rising Phoenix

This is a documentary about the Paralympics.

Liked the personal stories of the athletes and how different sports and different countries were featured!

Internet Movie Database Link