Friday, June 02, 2006

# Movies!

I know I know I should be studying...

I don't know why but my mind just wandered from calculus, martingales and risk theory from movies. Was recalling some of the interesting movies that I have enjoyed, some made me think, some made me cried, some made me touched, some made me laughed, some were a hit, some were forgotten...

I decided to jot down a few to recommend to friends. A good practice would be to write down the movie reviews and my feelings and thoughts about them, but I think I shall add on to this only at later time, after my last exam. :-)

- Ladies in Lavender
- The Colour Purple
- Whale Rider
- Choristes, Les (The Chorus)
- John Q
- The Laramie Project
- Rabbit-proof Fence
- Schindler's List
- Hotel Rwanda
- Dances with Wolves
- Ray Charles
- Joy Luck Club
- Soong Dynasty
- Under the Tuscan Sun
- The Manchurian Candidate
- Mona Lisa's Smile
- Shipping News
... ... ... ...

and the list goes on...

Can't really recalled all, so I think I shall stop here for the time being. I shall be very delighted if anyone could recommend other good movies.

20 comments:

The Moody Minstrel said...

Hmm...I've seen approximately two of those...

Deprived! I feel DEPRIVED!!!!!

NA said...

Did you play the music piece "Canon in D" yourself?

*******

I have not watched a single movie from your list. Perhaps, you may introduce them to us using your own words, letting us know why these movies so captivated you. =)

NA said...

I love learning, especially in the areas of my interest. I am schooled in the social scientific discipline of Sociology.

Whilst I derive unimaginably great pleasure from listening to well-delivered lectures with substance (i.e. content that is not thrashy), I cannot say the same for exams.

I have this tendency to play (pc games or playstation games), laze around, play with my cats, go shopping (I hate shopping) or do anything that is NOT studying.

It is extremely hard for me to focus on studying (or rather memorizing) when it comes to exams.

Anyway, please don't be like me. I am the living demonstration of a negative case study. I know you are a conscientious, serious and sensible minded young lady, right? =)

YD said...

moody
oh please don't feel deprived... I mainly listed out the movies which are not so well publicized like other blockbusters, but worth watching.

I am still waiting for the Spinal Trap dvd (rental) in the waiting list. hehe...

kurakat79
Nope I can't play as well as this pianist does. :-) Among all the canon in D piano pieces, I love this the most cuz somehow I can feel the emotion exhibited by this pianist.

Movie reviews will have to come later, haha.. I knew I should have posted this later. :-P

hey, my roommate is in Sociology too, but majoring in Voluntary Organization. We always have a great time discussing, or debating about variuos issue she brought home from school, haha.

Erm.. conscientious, serious, sensible? I should go face the wall now... I am half a gamer too, focusing in pc but not ps games... Mainly play strategy game, or 1st/3rd person game, and a little RPG is nice too. but surprisingly I am not hooked to cs or warcraft (luckily hahaha...)

Ok, now I shall behave like a conscientious (ahem) and sensible (AAHHEEM) student and go study now. :-P

Pandabonium said...

I've seen six of those films and liked them all. I also saw the original Manchurian Canditate (1962), an excellent movie that was pulled from circulation for 25 years after JFK was murdered.

Here are a few movies you may want to see if you haven’t already (some are old, but should be available to rent). The first is a “must see” IMHO.

To Kill A Mocking Bird (1963)
Baraka
Himalaya
Razor’s Edge (1984)
Il Postino
Chocolat
Gattaca
Mon Oncle (1958)

The descriptions on IMDb are pretty lame, so please trust me on these, they are all quality movies. Of course that doesn’t mean you will like them, just that they are worth a try. Baraka was recommended to a friend of mine by George Harrison. Mon Oncle is perhaps the funniest movie I have ever seen, though modern audiences may find it “slow”.

Now get back to your studies. ;^)

Momo the Wonder Dog said...

One of my favorites is the classic Old Yeller (1957)

It made me cry and laugh.

Face licks and wags, YD.

Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed (from your list) :
The Color Purple ***
Schindler's List ****
Dances With Wolves *****
Ray (Not Ray Charles though) ****
Joy Luck Club ***
The Manchurian Candidate ***

I love the music you put on too.. very soothing. Merci.

Chen said...

mmmmm.. I haven't watch a single movie from your list...

mmmm... I'm not a movie person :D

YD said...

panda
Wow thanks!!! Thanks for sharing the movies, soon to be added on the dvd waiting list. :-) I've wanted to watch To Kill a Mocking Bird for a long time (my friend actually has it), but haven't done so for many reasons. ;-P

momo
Face licks and wags from momo! I'm honoured! Will check on your Old Yeller. gosh i haven't even been born that time!

l b
Tatanka! and did i actually put Ray Charles? haha, guess when we start typing Ray, the Charles comes easily innit?

chen
don't worry if you haven't watched any... cuz some of these movies are less known, but worth a watch. Meaningful and touching. A refreshing change from the normal Hollywood movies.

Kampungkai said...

hey SP girl...
how are u gonna find all those movies? from pasar malam? support piracy! wuuhhoooo! :P

YD said...

haha kampungkai, not pirated la.. UK very strict about this one. we rent dvd's from lovefilm.com. also, those pasar malam cd's might not have these cuz some are not well known..

having some break from training during weekend huh?

Kampungkai said...

oooo.. sounds so 'high-tech' to rent films from a website. Me still stuck in a ketinggalan zaman country hehehe!

just finished my 2 years of basic training(theory+lil of practical) 2 days ago. Am waiting for 10th july to start my REAL PRACTICAL on live aircrafts in subang airport where maintainance, repair, and overhaul is done. As it sounds, it's really gonna be interesting.

what year were u born?
Oh another thing bout SP... the midnight nasi lemak which is so so so small packet and cost 50cents, beside the taxi stand! hahahahha! erm... that dimsum shop which is quite big, forgotten the name. Oh and that bbq park on the way to tesco! Anyway, u know the pawn shop sum lee (or something like that) near the express bus stop? i use to be with the daughter of boss :) nice meeting u SP girl!

YD said...

kampungkai, i am one year your senior, muahaha... you know what? your ex-gf is my junior in Sin Min leh... I wonder if we knew each other. :-) Let's see whether any of these key words ring a bell? (St.John/prefect/librarian/netball)

that midnite nasi lemak is famous mah, so boh pian small packet and expensive loh.. haha.. the dimsum shop is "Da You Bin", and the BBQ park is "Caveman" hehe, you know your way in sp. Ya i recognize the pawn shop but I don't know the pawn shop owner personally.

Enjoy your training, and happy learning!

Kampungkai said...

sigh.. what a small world! dun u think so? i'm from south, u r from north, and we are talking bout sin min!

If not mistaken, she was a girl guide. erm what else... always late for school even though she's in taman melati? (teruk)

http://kampungkai.blogspot.com/2005/04/jds-bacardi-limon-tequila-pop-part-i.html

copy paste this link in your browser, her pic is there. browse down the page to the pic with the caption ME AND ANOTHER BEST FRIEND. long hair, white shirt, beige belt, jeans with right hand on the hips. That's her.

Peceli and Wendy's Blog said...

I'm in a hurry as I've found a whole lot of files (paper) when cleaning up the garage! Have to type up some Fiji stories.
Whalerider is a lovely film from New Zealand = a story about a young Maori girl who is rejected because her grandfather wanted a male to take over the cultural leadership.
Another New Zealand film - a bit strange though - is The Piano.
Wendy

YD said...

Whalerider is one of my top favourites. I just can't help shedding tear everytime I watched it. The character build up is good and the story is so touching... Her strength, her love for her family, I am just so awed.

The piano? Somehow it sounds familiar, will check that out. Thanks for sharing! :-)

HappySurfer said...

YD. I've only seen four from your list and one from Pandabonium's (Gattaca) and a bit of Chocolat.

"The Piano" is on my "to watch" list, Wendy.

I enjoyed "Schindler's List". It's such a moving story. It's banned in Malaysia.

NA said...

Hi YD and Happysurfer: Why is "Schindler's List" banned in M'sia?

YD said...

The reason it was banned in Malaysia is quite naive, just becuz it's about the H word - Holocaust.

Sometimes (or rather most of the time?) our country banned movies not based on the values/lesson learned from the movie, but instead based on some trivial reasons of difference of cultures. I am sad about this.

The recent movie "Chin Peng" was also banned just because its title contains the word "Communist". This is how third-world some people's thinking can be.

I would say, Schindler's list is one of the Spielberg's movies that I really like.

Dear happy, a sudden thought popped into my mind, which other films of these were banned in our country?

HappySurfer said...

YD, besides "Schindler's List", none other from your list as they are not controversial topics.

Kurakat, even though movies are banned in cinemas, they are being watched from other sources.