Dor

Two women at the two corners of the country are brought together by a cruel thread (Dor) of fate. One's husband is accused of killing the other's loved one. The movie is inspired by Perumazhakkalam. Given the current state of Malayalam cinema I find it hard to believe that it could outdo this film.

Nagesh Kukunoor has done a wonderful job of guiding his actors through this amazing film scape. Tight acting all around especially from Shreyas Talpade, who is like a breath of fresh air in world of Indian comedians. People say that Ayesha Takia has outdone herself in this role. I am sure she has but it was Gul Kirat Panag who caught my eye and tugged at my heart. She is beautiful and has a stunning screen presence. She will surely haunt my dreams.

Rating: * * +

Letters from Iwo Jima

I went to watch this film with very high expectations and was not disappointed. Maybe it was because it was in Japanese or maybe it was because of the hue and color the movie was shot in... I really don't know. All I know is that this film touches your soul in places which its companion film, Flags of our Fathers, did not even know existed. This not a knock against Flags. Flags was taken with a Western mindset laced with the kind of melodrama that is always visible in most American war films. Letters bow to the Eastern sentiment. What is startling is that both are directed by the same person. Clint Eastwood does a fine job of realistically portraying the US assault on Iwo Jima from the Japanese standpoint without a hint of partiality.

Thank you, Mr. Eastwood, Mr Haggis...
Arigato, Yamashita san, Watanabe san, Ninomiya san, Ihara san....

Rating: * * * *

Look Both Ways

A cartoonist who sees death everywhere. A photographer who has been diagnosed with cancer. A reporter who has gotten his girl friend pregnant. A man being run over by a train is witnessed by the cartoonist. The incident is covered by the reporter and the photographer. A film that flirts with a morbid fascination with death but with a streak of life infused in it.

I saw this movie with Aromal as usual. By the 50th minute he walked out swearing he would acquaint Wenerd with much pain and suffering if he met him. I agreed to help him dole out punishment to the twisted bastard. But I continued to watch the flick with a sense of foreboding depression. But around the hour mark something happened. Everything just clicked. Maybe it was the soundtrack or the rain or the fact that the "death animations" stopped . I really don't know. All I can say is that I have never seen such a powerful movie before.

Rating: * * * *

Notes on a scandal

Secrets are harmful and can be manipulated - as Sheba Hart finds out. Fantastic performances from the two leading ladies make this movie worth it. Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench outdo themselves in their respective roles of a confused "lonely" married teacher and a vile lonely spinster teacher. An entertaining drama that entirely rides on their performances.

Rating: * * *

Nochnoy Dozor

Known as 'Night Watch' in english and has been on my watch list for sometime. A fantasy film set in modern day Moscow where battlelines are drawn between the nighttime and daytime forces. Spectacularly made movie that keeps you entertained right through.

Rating: * * +

Half Nelson

An idealistic white school teacher, in a predominantly black neighbour hood, teaches History and coaches the girls' basketball team. But clearly he is not listening to what he tells the kids about Change and Being Responsible for one's choices. The idealism has led into junkiedom. Its as much about his battles as it is with what he believes is wrong with the world.

At the outset, it seemed like a promising movie & a classic - which it was in most respects - performances, directing and music. But somehow, at the End Of The Day and All Said And Done, it was less than the sum of parts.

Rating: * * +

Funeral in Berlin

A classic spy film that you wish to see more of. Based on a Len Deighton novel, and directed by Guy Hamilton - the maker of many Bond movies. The story is all right - apropos a paperback spy novel. But the pithy lines delivered by the immaculate Michael Caine along with the stark (some call it lazy directing) nature of the flick, made it an extremely enjoyable watch.

I was checking out Guy Hamilton's filmogrpahy and hes got loads of famous Bond films to his credit directing Sean Connery and Roger Moore at various points in time. But am quite certain, he couldnot have seen a better spyster performance from that of Caine as a reluctant Harry Palmer.

Harry Palmer gets imbroiled in a plot that turns out to be very different from that he was originally recruited for. But with minimal bloodshed, he manages to find his way out of the mess.

Rating: * * *

Stone Cold

Tragic.

Rating: * -

When trumpets fade

Deep in the Hurtgen Forest in late 1944, a private could not be more keen to get out of the scene claiming mental instability and is pretty honest about it - many of the others feel the same, but hold it against him. But he keeps being promoted on the face of growing casualities as the Germans put up a tough resistance. After being challenged to take out a German outpost, Private Manning has to motivate his small force to do the impossible.

Reasonably well made flick, but wouldnot reflect in the top war movies list.

Rating: * *

In her shoes

When ones recuperating, one ends up watching anything. A tale of two sisters that begins with conflict and ends with a wedding in neigbourhood Jamaican restuarant. No surprises.

Rating: * +

Mad Dog and Glory

A Martin Scorsese produced movie staring two of the prime artists of our time and a beauty. The tagline of the movie describes it best:

A cop who'd rather be an artist. A mobster who'd rather be a comic. And a woman who'd rather be anywhere but between them.

Witty clever interplay between 2 characters who are accidentally brought together. The friendship is cut-short on an inevitable face-off over a woman. Quite funny and amusing.

David Caruso appears in a bit role. A pity that we havent seen more of the fellow.

Rating: * * +

Milwaukee, Minnesota

Another of those stories about an odd guy in an American town (like this one). Branded an idiot by the community at large, gets caught in an intricate web of events. Fraudsters lured by his money making ability of winning ice fishing tournaments. Randy Quaid as a sleazeball was deadly.

Rating: * * +

Fat Pizza

One of the most offensive movies have come across. Though theres not a moment that one isnt laughing. Made in the Cheech & Chong tradition, tells us the day in the life of a lebanese pizza delivery boy in sub-urban Australia.

In what can be construed as rascism - he spares no one - the vietnamese, aussies, Indians, lebanese, italians and americans. Its sexist as well; rude and abusive of disabled people. The idea is that no one is left feeling that they are the only ones to be abused. A philosophy that deserves more merit.

Theres a bit performance by the great Merv Hughes: as an axe-wileding serial killer - fucking hilarious!

A classically orey the funny movie.

Rating: * * *

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

An unemployed man is told about a treasure hidden in a house opposite a Red Bridge. The owner of the house turns out to be a beautiful woman who has a strange ailment. She fills up with water and the easiest way for her to vent is to have sex. Our unemployed friend, Koji Yakusho (Babel), has no problem in obliging. Yes, only the Japanese can come up with this kind of a theme. There a few sub-plots surrounding the venting. Most hilarious being that of the African who is training to run in the Olympics. One of the strangest and wackiest movies I have seen in a while.

Rating: * *

Lust for Life

Adaptation of Irving Stone's fantastic novel of the same name. Recreates the madness that inspired Vincent Van Gogh and also shows footage of the original lanscapes & people that moved him to create some of the most famous pieces of art ever known.

Kirk Douglas, quite naturally, fits the bill of the crazed lunatic. But the american accent does jar and seem out of place. Anthony Quinn is impressive, in an Oscar winning performance, as Paul Gauguin. The discussion on their respective motivations to paint is quite interesting. And intense, of course.

Vincente Minnelli created, apparently, one of the most picturesque and original movies of his time. But to me, the performances and dialogues were way too dramatic (just like the movie versions of Fountainhead and To Kill a Mocking Bird). Thats the way movies were made - but my image of Irving Stones story was a lot quieter.

Worth a watch - especially, if you wish to see the landscapes that inspired V V G - and a whole lot of his art which are less famous.

Rating: * * +

The Quiet American

"They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in a few minutes.
"The rest has got to be lived.
"They say whatever it was you were looking for you will find here."

It is the year 1954. The Indochina war is drawing to a bloody close in Vietnam and the seeds of US involvement in Vietnam are being sown. Michael Caine plays Gordon Fowler, a Brit correspondent stationed in Saigon, who has the breathtaking Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) as his mistress. Caine himself has called this role one of his finest. He conveys sadness and loss with poise and reckless abandon. I wish I could ask Tony Leung if he has been influenced by this Brit. Brendan Fraser finally shows he can act as Alden Pyle, an idealistic US aid worker. A love triangle forms between the three which is mirrored by the triangle between the Communists, the Americans and the people of Vietnam. Chris Doyle, ever watchful behind the lens ensures that you don't miss a single color in this wonderful palette.

The movie is based on a novel by Graham Greene. I have to say I enjoyed both tremendously. After my recent South East Asia trip I can identify more with Fowler doing the Saigon Flip. The easy paced life with a goddess by your side and opium to numb ones brain plus the warmth of the common man can bewitch most people.

The movie at its close left me with this feeling... What matters the most at the end of the day is the one you love...

Rating: * * *

D (Hindi)

Even though this movie was directed by Vishram Sawant, it has the stamp of Ram Gopal Varma who produced it. I wonder how much freedom Sawant got in making this film. But at the end of the day it has turned out to be a brilliant flick. It is supposedly based on Dawood Ibrahim's rise to fame. Like Satya and Company this movie too is peppered with violence but with very little melodrama. Randeep Hooda plays the lead and I think he is going to be an actor to look out for.

Rating: * * *

Ronin Gai

Set in the 1830's in Japan during the decline of the Feudal Tokugawa shogunate system sees Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi) playing a Mifune-like role. A bunch of ronin who hang around an inn take on a group of Tokugawa retainers who are terrorizing the local prostitutes. Nothing to write home about.

Rating: * +