If you’ve not known Satoshi yet, he’s an acclaimed anime director of highly surreal and detailed works of fantasy such as Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Millenium Actress and Paprika. I was deeply drawn into his mesmerising animes and thus, his name struck a note when I read the news of his passing. Very sad. However, [...]

05 August 2010 Fort Canning Park, Singapore We caught the show mid way with 30 Seconds to Mars coming on stage. They were pretty good, these LA space bastards, although I’ve never heard of them prior. Refreshing stuff for today’s crippled rock scene. Stage presence was good. Even though the lead, Jared, is very vertically [...]

If you don’t know Mani yet, here he is, at the height of his fame…

Verdict: (4.5/5) This masterpiece bagged a Grand Prix in Cannes 2009! I must say, I was mainly struck by how open director Jacques Audiard was in weaving strong elements of Islam throughout the entire film without the slightest hint of restraint. This French film revolves around an opportunist Arab/Muslim who starts off struggling for his [...]

VERDICT: (4/5) Watching this movie sacrificed 90% of my brain cells. The other 10% died after the movie, while I was trying to connect the remaining dots. However, when every single scene was understood, I felt like the smartest person on earth (or Dhoby Ghaut). Midway through the film was frustrating when it literally went [...]