Torremolinos 73

Alfredo, an encyclopedia salesman, sucks at selling them. His hot wife, Carmen, is desperate to have a baby. His boss tells him that it is the end of the road for door to salesmen but he invites him to be part of "a new product, revolutionary and secret". The product is basically pornographia made with a Super 8 camera couched as educational sex films with the couple playing the leads. Alfredo becomes more obsessed with the camera and Carmen with having a baby. Made for quite an amusing viewing.

Rating: * *

Sword of the Beast

A film by highly underrated director Hideo Gosha, a master of the Jidaigeki genre, shows a young samurai on the run from his clan. Accused of killing the clan counselor, he is chased by a posse led by the counselor's daughter and fiance. A film that touches upon the plight of lowly samurai trying rise up in ranks admist deadly clan politics.

Rating: * *

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Reading this Milan Kundera novel left me slightly depressed and discontent. I was never amused during the read but that is exactly what Phil Kaufman has tried to instill with his twisted humor in the film version. I don't think he pulled it off. The fact that everyone in the film spoke in an clipped European accent started to grate after a while. I cannot understand why they could not take the film in Czech with English subtitles. Anyhow I could not sit through more than a hour of this drivel.

Rating: *

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The fourth installment in the highly overrated Harry Potter series shows JK Rowling bringing in darker elements into this magical world. Potter's fourth year in the school shows him taking part in a Tri-wizard tournament where he is the fourth wizard. I have to say that this film has been best in the series to date but it still did not win me over as a fan.

Rating: * *

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Thrilling movie it is, made with a lot of style. Much like many other stylish french movies - lot of brilliant performances, tightly shot, but somehow the end game disappoints. But thats ok, as ones used to it.

A young Parisian real estate wheeler dealer accidentally stumbles upon his early passion of the piano. But being a distracted realty hooligan, he struggles to keep the faith with the piano as he juggles his dads predicament, disgust at his life and lust for his friend's wife.

Rating: * * +

In America

Based on an episode in Director Jim Sheridian's early life in America. In true tradition of his other masterful movies (like, In the Name of the Father), he gets the best out of his cast to tell a human story. Paddy Considine (this bugger is a talent), Samantha Morton and the Bolger sisters provide some real performances as they come face-to-face with their weaknesses, overcome their fears and ultimately redeem their faith in hope. Emmanuel Eboue look alike Djimon Hounsou also checks in with a strong performance.

Rating : * * *

Winter Solstice

I am sure many of you will remember Anthony LaPaglia from TV series "Without a Trace". Here he plays a single parent of two teenage boys. The elder one wants to uproot himself and move away. The younger one in spite of being smart refuses to apply himself at school. A peek into the life of a slightly different American family in a typical American suburb.

Rating: * *

The Ice Harvest

Wichita, Kansas is the setting for this mobster thriller. Which doesnt exactly make you jump off your seats, but makes a good laugh. And decent entertainment. Randy Quaid in a classically bit role and John Cusack as the innocent crook.

Rating: * * +

Look at me

A music teacher and her struggling writer husband, a famous author and his over weight daughter all find their lives intersecting harshly. The author and daughter are looking for someone to love them and the teacher and her husband are hoping for a shot at fame. The movie gave me an eerie feeling of spying on the lives of the above group of people but with no sense or purpose. The interesting parts were the portrayal of what fame can do to one's life but other than that the film was dull and lackadaisical.

Rating: * *

Shi gan

The latest Kim Ki-duk film is a rant against plastic surgery and its evil ways. Considering that we just met the greatest plastic surgeon this side of the pond, could appreciate what Kim was getting at. Its all evil and makes you evil. Absurd story of an absurd couple.

Rating: Absurdly, * *

Other Kim movies can be found here - 3-iron and Nabbeun Namja

300

The Frank Miller graphic novel inspired by the Greeks holding off the Persians at Thermopylae has been painstakingly brought to life on the big screen. Please note the usage of the word "inspired" as this is a far cry from history. Among other things, the Greeks held off the Persians due to geography and better body armor. The only armor Miller has given his warriors are six packs (not the ones you drink) and undies. And for some reason the Persians seem to have penchant for piercings and tattoos. But still a very watchable movie if you are prepared to come out of the theater drenched in SGI blood.

Rating: * *
PS: There also seems to be a lot of commentary about how this film reflects todays world. But I am a little confused about the identity of Xerxes and King Leonidas :-)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Zzzzzzz... Snore... Zzzzzzz...

Rating: *

Killer's Kiss

Kubrick's second film that put him on the road. About a boxer on the way out of people's memories who tries to resurrect his life by saving a pretty neighbour. He then gets embroiled in a far dirtier fight than any boxing ring will ever provide.

No sign of the classic funniness that one associates with him, but brilliantly shot in New York.

Rating: * * +

Other Kubrick film reviews are over here and here.

Japanese Story

As they say, Jack and Jill went up the hill. To fetch some stones, despite being difficult strangers. Jack, as expected, fell and then broke his crown. Jill came crumbling after. A sad (as in, horrible) film, but with some outstanding Aussie desert footage.

Rating: * +

Dogville

The movie is an experimental piece of film-making I suppose, which would either make you switch-off the DVD player after a few minutes or exhibit patience and watch it over some 3 sittings. Chose the latter option, more so because of the length of the movie - 3 hours.

The film about a remote town in the US was shot in a one large set with minimal, rather, no props - gives you a school theatre like feel. It takes a while getting used to the wall-less town, prop-less stage, blueberry-less blueberry bushes, dog-less dog called 'Moses', type of shit. But as the movie (and the viewer) settles down, the cast (Paul Bettany, Chloe Sevigny and James Cann) come into their own & provide some real performances as they stand up for their moral code when they come across a stranger into the town - Nicole Kidman. After a while the prop-less existence does not bother you that much and instead brings the performances into focus.

The movie by Lans Von Trier was considered an attack on the American way of life in many circles of filmdom - which is a bunch of crapola. But, Nicole Kidman just keeps climbing in the list of good actors.

Rating: * * +

Late August, Early September

A group of friends in their late 30s struggle to come to terms with the problems in their lives - career, lost relationships, money and other existential concerns. But the foremost worry in their minds is the health of their enigmatic author friend. The main character in the film seems completely lost trying to juggle two women from the past and present respectively, understanding what it is that he really feels for his author friend and getting his personal writing career on track.

Fine performances littered through out the movie that make you a part of their lives; but at the end of it all, the movie has little to offer in terms of brilliance - which I think is because of the lack of closure at the end. But should that really matter?

Rating : * * +

Le Samouraï

As the tag line goes this is a part gangster part samurai flick though in my book it more of a ronin flick. Very well shot with smoothly transitioned frames shows Jef Costello, an assassin for hire, precisely planning his killings. The movie tries to portray bushido in a western setting but leaves you feeling empty at the end which is very different from mu-shin. If you feel like watching this, I suggest that you curtail the urge and watch Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai instead.

Rating: * +

Dot the I

A sexy love triangle forms on the eve of Carmen's (Natalia Verbeke) wedding, when Kit (Gael Garcia Bernal) recklessly kisses his way into her life. Her rich and boring husband, Barnaby (James D'Arcy) is left clutching at straws as he watches his fiancee unravel. The in the middle of the unraveling, director Matthew Parkhill looses the plot and decides to dot the I in "I am confused".

Rating: * +

6ixtynin9

When God give you a gift...
...he also gives you a whip.

- Truman Capote

What will you do if you find a box of money on your doorstep? Tum (Lalita Panyopas) decides to keep. The movie traces a day in her life after she finds the money. This is one of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's earlier films. I have to hand it to him for keeping us glued to the movement of this morbid film which he has magically infused with snatches of humor. And he does indeed have fine taste in women.

Rating: * * +

Little Miss Sunshine

Do what you love and fuck the rest

A dysfunctional family... A father who is trying to sell his "9 steps" self help plan, a heroin snorting granddad, a uncle who is suicidal and a Proust scholar, a son who has taken a vow of silence, a daughter who hopes to be crowned in a beauty pageant and an overworked mother who is trying to string this family together. They decide to take a road trip in a beat-up VW mini-bus to the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty contest. A quirky family drama that leaves in you splits at various moment.

Rating: * * +

A Scanner Darkly

This Philip K. Dick novel floats its way onto the screen with its wavy characters trying to weave a story... It is a world seven years from now. A drug called Substance D rules the minds of people. You see its effects and the people trying to fight it. But after a point you wonder who is on drugs? The director, the author, the actors or you...

Rating: * +

The Number 23

8 + 8 + 7 = 23
92 / 4 = 23
Even my date of birth adds up to 23. Oh my God, the number is going get us all.

Rating: *

Invisible Waves

The triumvirate from this movie is back with a dream like 2 hour sequence. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang returns to make a story of Tadanobu Asano as a hired killer who increasingly feels that he has been fucked over in more ways than one.

Like the director says, the story unfolds quite naturally and believably, but the core of the movie lies in the atmosphere. Atmosphere and atmosphere. And more atmosphere. Thats where our friend Chris Doyle makes his presence felt with superb footage of overcast Hong Kong, dilapidated Macau and quaint Phuket. Some critics complain about the visual quality - which I dont get at all. Fucking far from it. But am not entirely convinced about Pen-Ek's ability to develop a storyline thats as robust as his atmosphere-creating capabilities.

Rating: * * +