Once again I must confess that not only is this the first time I’ve written about a Federico Fellini film in this blog, it’s also the first time I’ve ever watched a film by this grandmaster of cinema. At least La Strada makes for a great pick to start things off with. It received a mixed reception when it was released but over time its reputation improved until it is now widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Moreover, Fellini himself came to see this as his most representative work though directing it was an exhausting experience for him.
Utopia came to my notice as one of the most highly regarded documentaries of 2014 but after realizing who its auteur is, I’m sure that it would have gained plenty of attention in any case. It was directed and written by John Pilger, who to many of us in Southeast Asia is probably most well known for Death of a Nation. This is the 1993 documentary about East Timor that is credited with helping to end Indonesian occupation of the territory and allowing it to gain independence.
Inside Out only started showing in Malaysian theaters a couple of days ago while it’s US premiere was back in June. Since blockbusters generally try pretty hard to have near-simultaneous releases worldwide, I think this is a good indication that our local distributors don’t expect this to be a big hit on our shores. Still, this gap means that there’s been plenty of time to build up anticipation since this film is being heralded as Pixar’s return to form after several years of lackluster projects.
My wife wanted to visit Kluang last week to attend a small arts event organized by local Chinese writers and artists. In particular, she wanted to listen in on a couple of talks, the first one featuring a trio of local writers and the second one by Tan Chui Mui. I hadn’t heard of her before this but she is apparently considered one of Malaysian’s greatest rising directorial talents, especially as a woman, by dint of winning a bunch of international film awards.
Paul Thomas Anderson is today considered one of America’s great directors. He was hailed as a wunderkind in the 1990s, his reputation forged by Boogie Nights and this very film. I note that through no active effort on my part, I have now watched almost all of his feature films that are released to date, which is pretty unusual for me. The only films I’m missing are his most recent one Inherent Vice and his debut film Hard Eight.
I’d bought this one as part of a package with The Longest Journey and I always play all of the games that I buy. I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about it as my reaction to the first game was distinctly lukewarm but my completionist instincts insisted that I at least give it a go. It helps a great deal that even though it’s still dated by modern standards, the graphics are much better and gives a proper sense of wonder and awe to all of the places you find yourself in.
Algorithmic Thinking is the final part of what Rice University now calls its Fundamentals of Computing specialization on the Coursera platform. My previous posts about this specialization are here and here. This one is taught by Luay Nakleh, who also appears to be the newest member of Rice’s online team.
