Kuala Lampur, Nov. 14 -- As someone who keeps a close eye on the slate of new releases hitting Malaysian cinemas every single week, I can't help but notice how strange little patterns or shared themes sometimes emerge out of nowhere.

Some weeks it's an unexpected wave of low budget horror flicks, other weeks it's a sudden glut of tear-jerking family dramas.

Last week, however, brought about a coincidence so oddly specific it practically demands to be pointed out.

Not one, not two, but three Malay-language movies found themselves competing against each other in local cineplexes: Baga, Sayang Sayang, and the box-office juggernaut that is Kudrat 1968: High Council.

And the pattern doesn't stop there. For whatever cosmic reason, Amir Ahna...