Auckland International Film Festival 2008

This year, I saw 8 films.

1. In Bruges - Very witty!! Brilliant script and acting. I laughed my head off. This city (in Belgium) is also my favourite city to spend an afternoon in, in 2003 :) I met an interesting guy during the movie, which was his 6 films on that Friday. He saw the opening film in the night before and "In Burge" was his 5th film on that day!
2. The band's Visit - A lost Egyptian band spends a night in a small Israeli town. It has its moment :)
3. Flight of the Red Balloon - It is set in Paris and is directed by 侯孝賢 (Hou Hsiao-hsien). It didn't lie! There is this red balloon flying through the entire film. However, that's about it. I walked out the Civic Theater and puzzled about 'What does the Red Balloon mean????"
   
4. Empties - Czech film so I had to see it! It portraits this hyperactive "never say die" old chap really well. He is humorous, charming, stubborn and earnest.
5. Mongol - The only film that I went with an company (sitting at each end of the row though). It's a epic/legend of Genghis Khan. I didn't know much of Genghis Khan's life and the culture of Mongolia, but I was fascinated by his tough upbring and amazed by 9 years old kids socialising like an adult- sedate and thoughtful. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times. However, I think his wife was fighting a different battle; it's not a life-and-death struggle, but equally if not more difficult battles. It's really a different era and different environment.
   
6. The Banishment - A Russian film. Okay okay, it's the film to be remember as the film that I couldn't recall when I tried to prove that I can list all my eight films. It was a very late movie so I only remembered the nice sleep I had afterward, but not so much about the movie itself :p
7. Caramel - A Lebanon film which filled with insight into women's lives in contemporary Lebanon through a local salon place. Caramel is used as a waxing tool.
8. Vogelfrie - A Latvian film which looked into 4 stages of a man's life. I think I saw that guy again, but I was too shy to approach him and asked his phone number :x
   

And as I haven't been to cinema for ages (!), I went to watch the latest Batman movie tonight - The Dark Knight. Man! It's so awesome!!