No nonsense snobbish movie reviews. We take no responsibility for the trauma caused by viewing movies based on our recommendations.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Mithya
Rating: * *
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Blind Shaft
The illegal mines that dot China's countryside send thousands to an early death. The only grace is that the family of the deceased receives a minor compensation for it. Song (Qiang Li) and Tang (Shuangbao Wang) are hardened con men who use this unwritten law to their advantage until one of them decides to grow a conscience. A gritty crime thriller from director Yang Li that shows the skewed nature of today's economic condition in China
Rating: * * *
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Offside
The eve of the qualifying football game between Iran and Bahrain for World Cup 2006 sees all of Tehran trying to wedge their way into the stadium. Except the women of course thanks to a law that prohibits from entering the stadium. But a group of football crazy girls decide to buck the law and go where their hearts are. Jafar Panahi's film that is part political statement / satire and part hilarious comedy is a must of for all football fans and people who care for woman rights the world around.
Rating: * * * +
Friday, June 27, 2008
Bamako
The forefront of the film is a mock trial featuring the people of Mali vs western oppressors disguised as well wishers. The witnesses rant and rave albeit in a cogent fashion against the World Bank, IMF and colonization. The backdrop is the sordid life of the locals and in particular a couple struggling to keep their marriage afloat. A well meaning but poor executed film which also featured a western soap opera that locals tuned into featuring Danny Glover as cowboy. At that point I decided to use the stop button and call Wenerd to abuse him for no reason.
Rating: *
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Avenue Montaigne

Rating: * * * +
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Dam Street

As the film drifts into the 90s, Yun finds herself stuck as a singer in a pop troupe catering to the masses. It is at this time that a young boy, Xiao-yong (Xingrao Huang), befriends her and is infatuated by her. The film floats around the realtionship between the two unlikely characters.
Through the life of Yun, directory Yu Li also looks at Chinese society that seems to be stuck in between the Mao era and modernisation. A singing troupe with dancing girls but any hint of promiscuity from the women causes them to be labeled as sluts. The scenery and sorroundings are grim and gritty with some brilliant scenes from every day life. Like that of a couple of men trying to throw half alive fish back into their overturned truck. Yet another fascinating look at changing China.
Rating: * * *
Monday, June 23, 2008
Unknown Pleasures

Rating: * * +
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Groomsmen

Rating: * * +
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Khoya Khoya Chand

Shiney Ahuja has eerily crept into the skin of the character but the same cannot be said of the daughter of Sharmila Tagore. After the initial half hour, she looks out of her depth failing to portray the changing phases in the actress's life. In fact Sonya Jehan who plays a rival actress could have done better in her role. But the actor who steals the limelight is Vinay Pathak who plays Nikhat friend.
The film looks lush and the saturated colors can fool you into believing Chris Doyle was behind the lens. The script too is craftily written with Urdu laced Hindi dialogs. But director Sudhir Mishra does not take advantage of this palette and fails to stitch it all together. Allowing the film to run a tad too long did not help either. A poor follow up to Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.
Rating: * *
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Paruthiveeran

Rating: * * +
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Inland Empire

Rating: *
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

Rating: +
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
10 Items or less

Freeman has taken a page out of Taste of Cherry. His character is curious almost to the point of annoyance. But the no BS presence of Paz Vega cancels things out leaving the viewer in a better frame of mind to appreciate the film.
Rating: * *
PS: Paz Vega is HOT!!!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Dance Party, USA

Rating: *
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Bheema
Small time crook Chinna (Prakash Raj) finds his fortunes rising against his arch rival, Periyavar (Raghuvaran) when Shekar (Vikram) magically joins his gang. Sprinkled with many sightings of the very hot Trisha, who inexplicably falls in love with Chinna , this gangster flick too tries to show that violence only begets more violence.
Rating: * +
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Cimates
Nuri Bilge Ceylan instead of calling this film Climates could have named it Distant II. For this one he acts, writes and directs. To top it off he drags his wife (Ebru Ceylan) in to play his lover.
Isa, a college professor and Bahar, a TV producer are in a relationship where you can easily feel the distance between the two. On a seaside vacation this chasm becomes insurmountable and Bahar returns alone to Istanbul. One really cannot blame Bahar as there is a touch of Abbas Kiarostami like annoyance to Isa. He finds himself wandering this sudden desolate landscape of his life finding himself still reaching for Bahar. A film that highlights the need for connectedness that we crave and will search endlessly for.
Rating: * *
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Linda Linda Linda

Rating: * +
Monday, June 02, 2008
The Wild Blue Yonder

Rating: +