The story is about a girl travelling back in time to meet her mum before she was born and her mum was still single.
Liked the warm mother daughter relationship! Think most parents would want their kids to be healthy and happy like what the mum said! Was pretty impressed by the twist at the end!
The story is about Japanese director, Takeshi Kitano's relationship with his teacher who taught him how to be a comedian.
Liked how hardworking and talented Kitano is! Was impressed by how he incorporated comedy in his daily life like what his master preached!
The movie consists of three short segments about the same house but with different characters.
The first segment was the strangest! Can't quite understand what was going on with the house but the baby was really good at climbing up and down! The second segment was the most disgusting with all the bugs! The third segment taught me that sometimes we should learn to let go and start afresh.
The story is about how a boy who loves making haiku poems became friends with a girl who is a social influencer.
Liked the cosy atmosphere at the day care center! The haiku poems were quite nicely crafted!
This is based on a real story where a grandma's family who were living overseas came back to China to visit her as she had terminal illness. The grandma didn't know about it and they used a grandson's wedding as an excuse to gather.
Was really surprised that it was based on a real story as I thought it was quite unbelievable! Great acting by the lead actress!
This is a love story about two people who met when they were smoking in the smoking box.
Liked the interesting interview segments that were interspersed in the film! The lead actress was pretty charming despite saying swear words occasionally.
This movie is based on a Japanese manga Doraemon. Doraemon is a robot cat who has travelled from the future to be friends with Nobita to ensure he has found happiness before it can go back. In this sequel, he is intent on fulfilling his grandmother's wish.
The travelling back and forth in time reminded me a bit of "Back to the Future II"! The grandmother is my favorite character! She is not fazed by anything that she sees and hears and also gave excellent advice to Nobita at the end!
The story is about a young girl flying to the moon to find Chang E after learning that her widowed dad intends to remarry.
Liked the nice friendly sibling relationship between the young girl and her future step brother! The moon setting looked quite futuristic!
The story is about a girl who is an aspiring writer falling in love with a boy who wants to be a violin maker.
This felt a bit like "Only Yesterday" with only the childhood segments. Both films also have English songs sung in Japanese! I liked the Shizuku character as she felt like a nice girl-next-door character who is trying to find her way in life!
The story is about a father training her daughters to be world class wrestlers so that they can win medals for India.
Liked the nice songs and the father daughter relationship in the film! Didn't like the parts with the coach who was depicted as evil for no reason. The director also tried too hard to make the match exciting by making it an almost impossible task for Geeta to come from behind.
The story is about a girl who went to the Army in ancient China to fight against foreign invaders by disguising herself as a man.
Liked the nice songs and the great problem solving skills of Mulan! I also liked the warm father daughter relationship!
The story is about a loyal dog that remembers its purpose to protect its owner's granddaughter even after going through several deaths and rebirths as a different dog.
Liked the nice heartwarming plot! The two main characters were really likable too! The evil side characters were a little bit of a caricature though and the part where the granddaughter walked away normally after a car accident didn't quite make sense.
This is a documentary about three cousins going back to China to find out more about their past. They were abandoned by their parents in China and adopted by Americans.
Liked the strong bond among the cousins and their journey to search for their identity! The potential sister of Chloe really looked like her! Can't really blame the father from doubting the report!
The story is about how a young man who worked in a cinema at a small town befriended a strange couple.
Liked the folk song sang by the protagonist. The film was a bit abstract for me though.
The story is about a group of women working in a Turkish Bath in Tokyo, focusing on a love triangle relationship of one of the women.
The film felt a bit like a mix of "Streets of Shame" and "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs". The love triangle relationship was the strangest one that I have ever seen!
This is a documentary on a Japanese animation director, Satoshi Kon. He is well known for blurring the lines of dream and reality in his films.
It was great to hear that so many directors admired him and were influenced by him! Was pretty surprised to learn that the voice actress for Mimi in "Perfect Blue" was a former idol! Would love to catch "Paranoia Agent" if I have the chance!
This is a story about a young man who loved the sea and two women falling in love with him. One of them is a handicapped woman called Josee.
Liked how Josee modified the mermaid fairy tale to describe her situation in the library! A pretty apt film to watch shortly after the Paralympics games!
This is a documentary about a woman called Misha who recounted a fantastic childhood adventure to her neighbours and friends that later became a bestseller book.
Liked the interesting twists and turns in the documentary! The perspectives from the different experts and friends helped to shed light on the person the protagonist really was!
This movie is based on a Japanese manga Doraemon. Doraemon is a robot cat who has travelled from the future to be friends with Nobita to ensure he has found happiness before it can go back.
Was a little bit disturbed over the use of the giant egg gadget to win over Shizuka but I realized that it was meant to set up for what was to come next; Nobita to prove that he is worthy through his own merit. I was moved by his determination to be less dependent on Doraemon towards the end!
There were 12 winning films at the ciNE65 movie makers award 2021. They explore and express the Singapore Identity by telling us what Singapore means to us through film with "Stronger Together" as this year's theme.
Liked "Knock Knock!" the best as it shows the nasty and nice encounters of a hearing impaired delivery man! "Siti" comes in a close second as a heartwarming film that describes how the helper knew her employer much better than the employer's daughter and was treated as part of the family in the end. I also liked the light hearted "Ala-mask!", "Little Miss Mischief" and "Whirling Gears"!
