Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Steamboy

I was looking forward to this anime from the maker of Akira with much anticipation. But Katsuhiro Otomo disappoints. The flick highlights the ever ensuing fight against using science for destruction. It is very rich in detail and portrays some wonderful animation but does not have the deep philosophical and mystical storyline that Akira had.

Rating: * *

Eragon

Based on the book by Christopher Paolini, the movie like the book mashes LOTR, EarthSea and few other fantasy classics into a barely palatable dish. But hey I can't resist a movie or book with dragons in it...

Rating: * +

Monday, December 18, 2006

50 Lost Movie Classics

Interesting piece at the Guardian which highlights 50 movies that lost their way, rather unfortunately. Some good suggestions for Christmas viewing.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Kinamand

A movie very much inspired by "In the Mood for Love". Bjarne Henriksen is a Danish Bill Murray. After his wife of 25 years abruptly leaves him, he starts to frequent his neighborhood Chinese grill. He befriends the grill owner who offers him a sizable sum of money to marry his sister so that she can remain in the country. And so the story goes...

Rating: * * +

Friday, December 15, 2006

Schizo

Mustafa a.k.a Schizo is kicked out of school because he his strange and slow. The rest of film shows that schizophrenia has not affected him much. After leaving school he signs on to scout for fighters for an underground fighting ring. One of the fighters he brings dies in the ring. Schizo takes it on himself to help the dead fighters family and soon gets intricately involved in their daily life.In spite of the simple and linear storyline, the film made out for some fine viewing.

Rating: * * +

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Khosla ka Ghosla

This should have been the movie going to the Oscars; instead of the other UTV over-rated-piece-of-dog-piss production, Rang De Basanti. Glad to see more such real & funny mainstream movies making its way into the theatres. There slowly appears to be a core group of actors regaling in the freedom of making non-larger-than-life-fucking-bullshit cinema: a throwback to the early 80s indie film movement. Boman Irani as an evil land grabber is certainly one of them.

Rating: * * * +

The King

Return of the prodigal son. And the resultant impending doom. A dark movie thats set in a religious Texan town and how the top church family is infiltrated by a virus - of sin. Good performances that make it fairly a distant, bleak movie.

Rating: * * +

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Paradise Now

"How can one take the role of oppressor and victim?"
Two friends living in Nablas on the West Bank are chosen for a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. Both are eager and willing but on the day of the mission things go wrong. The events that follow opens a window into life on the Palestinian side and the role of violence and terrorism in their struggle. The terrorist are shown in the light of normal people living without much hope. Their only hope is that their role of martyrs in the struggle will give rise to a better tomorrow. A stunning film indeed...

Rating: * * *

The Indian Runner

Sean Penn's directorial debut film - and its got every bit of the 'tragedy' element that Penn, the actor, thrives in.

The movie is apparently inspired by Bruce Springsteen's 'Highway Patrolman'; about 2 brothers, one who is upright and the other who is not. The lyrics of the song is pretty much drives the movie.

Excellent, expansive photography of rural Nebraska and some good strong peformances all around. But, if you take a 6 minute song and make into a 2 hr movie, one shouldnt really expect a gripping plot.

Rating: * * +

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

New Guy

Gregg starts work in a new company only to find his cubicle covered with Post-It notes left by his predecessor. And there ends all the novelty in the film. Another one of those "Why did I put this on my queue?" movies.

Rating: *

Water

The final installation in Deepa Mehta's trilogy, Water portrays the plight of windows in India during the 1930s. The film has a excellent story line and screenplay but having Lisa Ray and John Abraham in the lead roles made the movie fall flat.

Rating: * *

Flags of our Fathers

These days when I see the words - 'A CLINT EASTWOOD FILM' - I shut the laptop and head to the nearest queue for cinema tickets. And when its based on a WWII incident, I am found missing from office for the rest of the day.

Its about the Battle of Iwo Jima; one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific; and specifically, the legendary flag raising photo and the heroes that it creates accidentally. However, the real truth behind the picture has emerged only slowly and thats what the movie centres on. It also shows how one of the largest and most highly promoted capital market bond roadshow was conducted - very interesting. It was instrumental on how WWII eventually turned out.

The timing of the film couldnt have been more appropriate - it shows nothing has really changed. Nothing that we see today about Bush/Iraq/Weapons of Mass Manipulation is new. Its been happening for a long long while and will continue to happen for a long long time to come.

The movie is a long one, and captures a lot through substantial 'to&fro' switching between the past & the future. Theres no real continuous motion of events and therefore quite different from other war movies. From purely a 'war' prespective, it would rank lower than 'The Thin Red Line' - arguably the best war movie out there.

Despite the inappropriateness of the underlying theme at this present moment & no real quality performances to talk about, it should be a front runner for the the Academy Awards.

Rating: * * *

Apparently, Clint Eastwood is also directing a complementary film on the battle from the Japanese viewpoint. Its titled Letters from Iwo Jima, and will star Ken Watanabe.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Revisting some classics

Over the past few days, I came across couple of movies that drew me to cinema a long time back. And fortunately, even after many years, the inherent strength of the movies remain intact. Or, probably even further enhanced. Which is not true of many other movies that I had thought was brilliant at one point in time. 


Would be a pity if they dont get a mention here, and therefore.. I see a worrying trend here - there are going to be many a blast from the past. Anyways..

In The Name of the Father



Powerful is the word that comes to mind when one watches the movie - starting with the opening Belfast street riot scene and right until the end. And an excellent soundtrack to boot.
Rating: * * * *


Stand By Me

A road trip of sorts, which becomes a character building experience of a lifetime for all involved. 'Dead Poets Society'esque. Took me back to Madras.

Rating: * * *

The Buffalo Boy

Vietnam is beautiful even when covered with water. You get to literally soak up the countryside in this movie. Set in the 1940's before the split, it shows the tale of Kim. There is a bit of everything in this film... booze, weed, fights, young lust, death and life... A young boy's coming of age tale.

Rating: * * +

The Double Bill

Infernal Affairs
Tony Leung is a police mole in the mafia. Andy Lau is a mafia mole in the police. Let the cat and mouse games begin. One of the tightest gangster flicks I have ever seen. Completely stripped of unnecessary melodrama. Even the love interests of the two characters are subtly portrayed. Just a few conversations here and there to get the message across. And Tony Leung rules!!! Every time I see him on screen he just blows. The man's acting is effortless.

Rating: * * *

The Departed
Why would someone like Martin Scorsese have to dig into the Asian pocket and adapt a film, I know not. Andy Lau's role is played by Matt Damon and Tony Leung's is taken over by (snicker snicker) Leanordo Di Caprio. In an attempt to give more background and depth to the characters, Scorsese has made the film more noisier without adding anything to it except of course the unnecessary love triangle. But I have to say that Jack Nicholson does get under your skin as the Mafioso don.

Rating: * *

Kikujiro

Kitano reprises his role as Beat Takeshi in this film. One of the funniest films I have ever seen. Beat Takeshi is a loud mouthed ex-Yakuza who is handed the role of a companion to a young shy and awkward boy who is looking for his mother. This unlikely pair go on a road trip that will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter.

Rating: * * *

Friday, December 01, 2006

Casino Royale

The Joseph Stalin professor makes his appearance in a role thats more his scene. A return to the beginning of 007 - an indication that they believe the fellow is going to be here for a while. A good watch - especially, the hand combat scenes and less of gadgets.

Rating: * * +