i like motion pictures

okay what a mindfuck, this Unlucky Plaza. it starts slow and has its flaws when taken against Hollywood, but good films are a journey and this one keeps you glued. thriller, mystery, comedy, caper, noir, Western, farce, whodunit, story within story, social commentary, Tarantino -- what's in a genre? refreshingly layered for a local film, with nuances that put Jack Neo to shame. he won't smash the box office like Neo, but after The Blue Mansion, Kidnapper, Sex.Violence.FamilyValues and now this, Ken Kwek is one to watch.

Off Centre (The Studios: fifty)

for a lack of words: "Off Centre breaks your heart in several places and salts open wounds. Its characters are often frustrating. But you emerge from it with an enduring empathy for all humankind."

so far, 'The Studios: fifty' has been good albeit slightly artificial. but this, one of the best productions i've seen in a while. seamless, a near-perfect script, very well directed, very well acted, down to the smallest part.

Emily of Emerald Hill (The Studios: fifty)

so tragic, this Emily of Emerald Hill. karen tan, good with all the code switch, even better with the simplest, subtlest drop in register to shake the audience with her son's death; but she remains a motormouth at times. the symbolism of the final quilt, a life's work yet used in solitude. and the paradox of control, where the more one has of it, after a certain point one stops being indispensable. likewise, those without power are free. those who say the text is dated and has lost its relevance need only look at the debates of the last fortnight.