Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson is at it again and he has made a come back from his lackluster (my opinion) Life Aquatic. A brilliant script backed by some fine acting by Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. Owen Wilson bumbles along in his usual style. They play three brothers who meet up to make a spiritual journey across North India. The cameos by Irfan Khan, Bill Murray and Natalie Portman were a nice touch too. An orey funny movie in bits and pieces that make a decent whole.

Rating: * * *
PS: Part I of the film was the bit that really hooked me.

Mongolian Ping Pong

A ping pong ball finds it way down a river into a sleepy little village in inner Mongolia. The boy who finds the ball and his friends who have never seen one before, are thrown into flights of fancy. Very reminiscent of "The Gods must be crazy", the film serves as a huge advertisement for Mongolia with its lush landscapes. But what really piqued my interest was the portrayal of everyday life in the remote village with its traveling salesmen and nomadic entertainers.

Rating: * *

Somersault

It is never a good idea to make out with your mom's boyfriend as Heidi (Abbie Cornish) discovered. Unwilling to face her mother she runs away to ski resort where she sleeps with random men. I am not sure what the director was trying to show other than highlighting some obscure form of personality disorder.

Rating: * +

Police Beat

Have you ever waited for your boy/girl friend to call you? Have you ever made up bizzare scenarios in your head for him/her not calling? If the answer is yes then this film is made just for you.

Z (Pape Sidy Niang) is an Senegalese immigrant who works as a bicycle beat cop in suburbia. As he looks on at a crime scene of a dead man's body washed up on a beach, the image that run through his mind is that of his girlfriend telling him that she is off camping with her room mate, Jeff. He bikes around his beat drifting through quirky and funny crime scenes all the while having an inner monologue in Wolof about his girl friend. A superbly scripted and orey funny film that captures a myriad of emotions in a short span.

Rating: * * *

Eklavya

Like many of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's recent movies, Eklavya is a stylishly made movie with a competent cast and a reasonably engaging story line - makes it a fair watch. Though the melodrama does jar a bit - but that goes with mainstream Indian commercial fims, the performance of Big B, Boman Irani and Saif Ali Khan makes it relatively smooth to handle.

Big B who has been the longstanding chief guard at a castle in modern day Rajasthan finds himself in a moral dilemma - as a few evil shennigans invade the relative peace of the princely household. And in the end it boils down to the question of the traditional dharma (duty) vs. doing whats right.

Rating: * * +

Man about town

While his oscar-winning buddy's career has only been going up, Ben Affleck has increasingly been staring at mediocrity. Like this one for instance - plays a once successful agent for hollywood writers struggles to cope with his cheating wife and problems at his company. It doesnt help that the story line is utter crap, but his performance is even horrible & appears completely disinterested with himself. Ben Affleck's number should be retired at the Hollywood Hall of Waste.


Rating: *

Keeping Mum

Rather simple funny movie. A sly maid in the house of a distracted priest and his philandering wife rearranges the family setup. Amusing and keeps one entertained. Good to see Kristin Scott Thomas after a long time.

Rating: * *

Love me if you dare

A love story with a difference. One that increasingly gets perverse - the two lovers agree very early that they pledge themselves to the game of 'Dare' for life. It gets complicated when each party alternatively discovers that the other is their soul mate. Through the complexity of the 'Dare' game, both start drifting apart but periodically meet up to inflict pain & suffering. Therefore the end is inevitable and bloody bizarre.

Rating: * *

36

A John Woo type senseless gangster flick set in Paris. The cops find themselves mired in the sleaze of crime-world as they proceed to dismantle a gang that is holding the whole city to ransom. Couldnt take it after a while - certain there was a twist in the tale awaiting, but sometimes the wait is tiring.

Rating: *

The Ghost and the Darkness

Time has not reduced the potency of the movie which is loosely based on true events with a good dose of imagination. The man eaters of Tsavo terrorized workers of the Uganda Mombassa bridge in 1898. The film chronicles the hunt for the lions by Col John Patterson (Val Kilmer), the engineer in charge of building. He is joined by no nonsense professional hunter, Charles Remington played by Michael Douglas. In spite of being melodramatic and a tad over the top one can sit back and take in this film that oozes coolness and machismo.

Rating: * * +
PS: For the record it should be noted that wenerd secretly went to watch this film with the Monkey Man in Devi Paradise without having the decency of inviting me.

Hitman

Boredom and New Jersey makes one watch films like this. Based on a popular video game of the same name, the action flick forces you to shutdown your brain, sitback and take in the slick action sequences. The film is enjoyable as long no one is talking on the screen.

Rating: * +

Mountain Patrol: Kekexili

A wilderness that tempts you to crawl into your TV screen and forget the world. The film is dominated by Kekexili, the last virgin landscape of Tibet (China, depending on your point of view). Also the home to the endangered Tibetan antelope who's fur is much loved the world over. Poachers hunt them mercilessly causing their population to dwindle. This is the story of the hunters, the hunted and those brave souls know as the Kekxili Mountain Patrol who stalk the hunters.

Rating: * * *

Love

Love is yet another movie about a hitman on his last assignment. But that's the only thing it has in common with other films of its genre. Vanya (Sergej Trifunovic), a Yugoslavian assasin on his final hit runs into his ex-wife Anna (Geno Lechner). Seeing her opens closed doors to his past and reprises his buried feelings for her. Anna who is in an turbulent relationship with NYC cop, Dirk Malloy (Peter Gevisser) finds herself thrown into an abyss.

Shot at an almost meditative pace in a rewind-forward fashion from different point of views, this thriller keeps you engrossed and riveted. And you know how tricky these last assignments can be...

Dnevnoy Dozor

Day Watch picks up where Night Watch left off. Our unlikely heroes plod on in their fight against the Dark Ones. As gritty as its predecessor, the midsection of this trilogy continues to keep you on the edge of your seat but not for long. Sadly after a while you slide down waiting for inevitable end. A huge let down for a film that promised so much.

Rating: * +

Lives of Others

The film is set in during the 1980s in East Germany when the Stasi ruled supreme with its limitless cadre of informants and spies. Big brother was indeed watching every little move of all its citizens. Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is a surveillance expert who is asked to eavesdrop on a high profile director and actress couple. Slowly he is drawn into their lives and the warmth of their love. At the end of the day everyone needs a little human touch and 1 is indeed the loneliest number.

Rating: * * * *

Life in a... Metro

Every character in this film is in different stages of relationships. Shruti (Konkona Sen Sharma) is looking for her first love. Monty (Irfan Khan) is a walking advertisement for shaadi.com. Shikha (Shilpa Shetty) is having dangling conversations with her husband (Kay Kay Menon). Amol (Dharmendra) is trying to rekindle the flames of a lost passion. Irfan, KK and Kokana dish out excellent performances. Shilpa is still HOT and Dharmendra still cannot act. A film that burns bright but fizzles out in the end.

Rating: * +

Free Zone

The first seven minutes of the movie shows a close up of Rebecca (Natalie Portman) crying in a taxi on the streets of Jaffa. The weight of her sadness roots her to the cab. The driver Hanna (Hana Laszlo) is forced to take her into Jordan's Free Zone. Hanna hopes to collect some money for her husband's business. But we all know how hope treats the hopeful...

Rating: * *

Smiley's People

The General, an old "friend" of George's is on the trail to Karla. The trail that had gone cold. This brings old Smiley out from retirement along with some of his people and I couldn't help follow. Like it's predecessor this too turned out to be a brilliant adaptation of the John Le Carre novel.

Rating: * * * +