Edmond

Will Macy is the man - vatta ore the performance only.

Starring as 'Edmond', a man who finally loses his marbles on the face of 47 years of carrying the burden of tolerance, being a dedicated working professional and a dutiful husband. I empathise with the fellow.

After a rather unpleasant meeting with a tarot card reader, he meets a fellow disgruntled middle-aged man at a bar who tells him: "There's too much pressure on us. A man's got to get out. A man has got to get away from himself". He further elaborates: "Pussy, Pussy. Power, money, adventure. I think that's it. Self-destruction. I think that's it."

The man (Joe Mantegna) at the bar also talks about how the 'niggers' have it easy - "I don't blame them because they behave like animals - I would do the same if I were one".

I think thats when the marbles finally start pouring out of Edmond's head. After telling his wife that he has not been "sexually and spiritually attracted" to her for "many many years", he heads off to discover the truth.

Series of events subsequently pushes Edmond into the vortex of anger & hate. He does break free from the shackles of society and feels increasingly closer to the truth - albeit in a demented, racist sort of a way. He keeps rambling & spouting his views on everything - "Every fear hides a wish" is the central one.

The film definitely draws comparisons with 'Falling Down'; but there Michael Douglas attempts to bring down the entire system, while here Will Macy's interactions are on a personal level. One day this movie would be rated as a classic - in much the same vein as one sees 'Taxi Driver', 'Midnight Cowboy' today.

Rating: * * *

Archangel

Something I thought that goes back to something that I really like: USSR, brute KGB agents, ice-cold landscapes of Russia and clever interplay of spy speak. The protagonist is a professor turned spy/detective, as he attempts to uncover the hidden secret of Joseph Stalin. But considering its Daniel Craig playing the main character, it seems more a case of a spy/detective turned professor - with this clipped sentences and stony looks.

The ending, and the plot in general, turns out to be a damp squib. Dont know if its because its a mini-series turned into a movie.

Rating: * +

Last Life in the Universe

There are certain books out there that suck you in and you end up living its world for as long you are reading it. This movie did the same to me. You gently float along with the tale of Kenji, a quiet, sensitive and shy young Japanese man living in Bangkok. He wants to commit suicide though not for the usual reasons like heartbreak, despair and loneliness. There are hints of Wong Kar-Wai and Haruki Murakami and having Chris Doyle behind the lenses definitely helps.

I really don't want to say more about the film. The feeling that I have cannot be translated into words. But I would only recommend this to Wenerd and Aromal...

Rating: * * * *

Shattered Glass

A true story of a rogue journalist, Stephen Glass, who made up stories for The New Republic magazine and passed them off as factual investigative pieces. Though seemingly interesting, it bordered on the 'zzzzzzzz...' category of films. But my two favourite actors were there in it: Steve Zahn and Chloë Sevigny.

Rating: * +

Babel

The story of a gun, a bullet and the far reaching effects of a single shot. The shot not only wounds its victim but its splinters go far across continents with unnerving accuracy. From the director of Amores Perros, Alejandro González Iñárritu, this flick leaves you stunned yet in a strange kind of bliss in spite of its starkly realistic nature.
There are scenes from the movie where you find it hard to believe the people in it are actors. Superb acting all around.

Rating: * * *

Suzhou River

I have read many books that are written in the first person. But this is the first time I have seen a film that does the same. Suzhou River flows through Shanghai and its polluted hues forms the backdrop for this film. The story is told through some deft camera work and a narrator. The narrator tells us his story of love with an acting mermaid at a club while weaving through the cobwebs of his imagination. His imagination parallels the love in his life. A lovely phantasmagoria indeed...

Rating: * * +

7G Rainbow Colony (Tamil)

Very scary movie. Fact that it is based on a true story makes it even scarier. Be very afraid...

Rating: *

Shanghai Triad

This is another Zhang Yimou and Gong Li team up. The movie starts out with a young teenager coming to Shanghai to become Gong's servant. She plays the role of a singer at club who is kept by a don of the city. Being directed by Yimou I expected more from this film but it turned out to be a very simple gangster flick.

Gong Li as always is stunning on the screen. She plays a bitch for most of the film but there a couple of scene where she lets her guard down. The shift is indeed very startling. But other than for her acting there is nothing much else in the film.

Rating: * +

The Warrior

The movie is a showcase for Rajasthan. It has very little in the way of conversation. The mood is completely conveyed using the background score and and Irfan Kahn. I think he is one of the better up and coming actors in the Hindi film industry. He is an actor in the same vein as Nasirudeen Shah and is getting a few good roles to his credit.

The story is very simple. Irfan plays the role of a hired killer for a landlord. He receives a vision during a village massacre that makes him change his path. A film of this nature has to be handled very delicately. The story has depth but very little width. Coupled with the fact that the conversation is scant it is up to the director to keep the audience involved. Asif Kapadia has done that with subdued panache. I hope to see more films directed by this man.

Rating: * * +

Chinatown

I can see from this film why some people hold Jack Nicholson in high esteem. Faye Dunaway with her very sensuous screen presence is a babe all the way. A very gritty detective film. The opposite of the Big Sleep which in my opinion was indeed a big sleep. One of the most realistic detective movies I have ever seen.

Rating: * * +

Lost Embrace

Lots of pointless conversation... could not take more than 45 minutes of it.

Rating: +

Buena Vista Social Club

I've been waiting for this : a * * * * star film.

My second viewing; brought about by this nasty concoction of gaseous, liquid and solid matters of existence. It was different this time - seemed as though Ibrahim Ferrer walked straight out of the CD cover.

Outstanding footage of a land not seen too much by the outside world. A cast as varied as it could get and as full of character as any fictional script could possibly be.

Humility appears to be the cornerstone of these characters as fate brings them together after having given up hope. As well as in the music := full of hope.

The heart of the movie lies in the music ofcourse. But as I watched the movie for the second time, the music came across as new and fresh as ever. Which boils down to the connection with the camera that these artists achieve.

Ofcourse, none of this would have happened if not for an opportunist : who realised before any one else, that herein lies an opportunity to take this music out of a smoky bar, in a colonial building, in a rundown corner of Havana, to the outside unsuspecting world. This wasnt the first effort in making public an unknown artist to the western world, but this was the most popular one todate; Ry Cooder.
Was a pleasant surprise to discover that Ry Cooder had collabrated with one Wim Wenders to make the movie. Also realised that it was the same combination of musician - director who put together Paris, Texas - a depressingly stellar film.

A true classic this one is though.

Rating: * * * *