Redbelt

Mike (Chiwetel Ejiofor) runs his jujitsu dojo in the spirit of a time forgotten, shunning competitions or anything else that dilutes the purity of the art. This doesn't help with the monetary side of things which increasingly frustrates his Brazilian wife (Alice Braga). Fate then deals him a strange hand when he ends up saving a famous actor (Tim Allen) and a disturbed lawyer discharges a weapon in his dojo. As everything careens out of control, Mike is faced with the tough choice of having to participate in a competition or lose everything. A film that promises so much but like some David Mamet films, it fails to deliver that final punch.

Rating: * *

Dharm

The film is set in the holy city of Varanasi and centers around Pundit Chaturvedi (Pankaj Kapur), a Hindu priest who stringently follows the Manusmrti. The folk in his neighborhood practically worship the ground he walks on and his word is final in most matters. But things start to shift for the pundit when his wife and daughter adopt an abandoned baby whom he comes to love. Soon he finds himself questioning the very meaning of Dharm, of which he thought he was a master of.

The film has real life couple, Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak, playing the lead roles with a certain effulgence that is rare in Indian cinema. Kapur's acting is understated but his glances shimmer with fire. Eyes that twinkled with mischief whistle playing Karamchand in the 80s, now glow with certain stoicism.

The priest's blind following of the word of Manu is juxtaposed with the simmering communal violence in the city. The film focuses on this difference to show a present day India struggling to abolish the demons of its past that continue to linger strongly. Demons that might never disappear and which continues to posses the citizens causing irreparable harm.

Rating: * * *

Never Forever

The film begins with a funeral and its pall continues to weigh down on the proceedings. Sophie (Vera Farmiga) is a trophy wife who dotes on her husband, Andrew (David Lee McInnis). But her inability to get pregnant seems to have sucked the desire for living from him. So when the pregnancy clinic also fails her, Sophie in her desperation seeks out Jihah (Jung-woo Ha), a illegal South Korean immigrant, to "help" her. Sophie is dull and Jihah is bland. But as they touch something within them awakens...

Rating: * * *

Star Trek

James Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and company are young green horns setting foot for the first time on an Enterprise Starship. Faced with the threat of Captain Nero (Eric Bana) and his futuristic ship, the crew have to dig deep into their future to pull themselves out of this one.

Expectation did not come into the picture for someone who does not bear the weighty past of the Star Trek. Yet the film felt more Star Wars than Star Trek.

Rating: * *

Smart People

Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a widowed curmudgeon of a professor universally hated by most people in his life. His life nose dives when he finds himself unable to drive a car thanks to a medical technicality. Magically his unemployed adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) appears, whom he dislikes, and offers to be his chauffeur. At the same time his love buds start to tingle with the appearance of Dr. Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker). Coupled with interactions between his children and his brother the film turns into a bewildering laugh riot. The combination of Church's sardonic wit and Ellen Page's (who play Lawrence's daughter) overachieving smugness just adds froth to the bubbling frolic. The only weak link is Parker who still forgets that she is not on Sex in the City.

Rating: * * *

Street Kings

Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is a hardened LAPD veteran. The enforcer in his unit or as his boss says, the tip of the spear. When he finds himself being hurled towards unfamiliar territory, he decides to choose his own trajectory and bleed red for a change instead of blue. 

The film reminded me of Constantine in some ways and it was not just the presence of Reeves. If Constantine was a detective and had less of a clue, he would be Ludlow.

Rating: * * * +

Dev.D

Welcome to the new age version of the classic Sarat Chandra story, Devdas. Abhay Deol, much against my expectation, works out an edgy version of the tragic Devdas. Dev, a UK returned young yuppie, fucks himself up in more ways than 1 - first, spurns what turns out to be his true love and then disappears into a vortex of drugs, alcohol and depression. And of course there is the character of Chanda, brilliantly portrayed by Kalki Koechlin - a product of Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry in real life. On hindsight, the plot appears tiringly familiar but what makes the movie a must watch is the panache and style that Anurag Kashyap brings to the story telling - a level of edginess that one rarely comes across in a Bollywood film.

Rating: * * *

The New World

Hoping to see another masterpiece from the maker of this brilliant film, I 'Amazon'ed 'The New World' DVD. Turned out a complete disappointment. The ingredients for a classic were all there: new settlers dealing with the natives, a love story with a twist where the young native girl eventually marries an Englishman. i.e. the story of the 'little wanton' Pocahontas. Terrence Malick attempts hard to create the surreal feel that made 'The Thin Red Line' what it was. Somehow I didn't get it and the whole film (especially the performances) seemed contrived. The sole redeeming feature was the intensity that Christian Bale brought in his little role.

Rating: * *

Nana

Two girls with the same name Nana meet on train and find their lives to be inexplicably intertwined from there on. There are anime like Ghost in the Shell and then there is stuff like Nana. This is the film based on the latter. Corny in most parts but that streak of melancholy that rips through it will keep you engaged.

Rating: * * +

Son of Rambow

Couple of school mates, from diametrically opposite backgrounds, engage all their creativity to shoot a remake of their favourite film "Rambo". An amusing run around with all the classic doses of sentimentality, humour and drama.

Rating: * *

Sins

Sometimes when you watch a DVD, you quickly realise that you have no business watching it and should instead be hurried to the dustbin. This was clearly one of those.

Rating: *

Jellyfish

Snippets from the lives of three women float by and everything else stood still. sometimes when you watch a film everything is in sync. The movie absorbs you and its inner wavelength is in sync with yours. This was one of those films for me.

Rating: * * * *

Tuya's Marriage

Set in the harsh grasslands of inner Mongolia, the film like many of its contemporaries shows you a contrasting China. Tuya (Nan Yu), a shepherd struggles to support her disabled husband, Bater (Bater) and children. It is her own sister-in-law who suggests that she divorce Bater and re-marry so that her family could survive. Tuya agrees with the condition that her new husbands supports Bater too. Like the constrasting country it portrays, the film is stark but has its lighter moments too.

Rating: * * *

Kariyila Kattu Pole

A famous director, Harikrishnan (Mammootty) is found murdered at his home. Inspector Achuthankutty (Mohanlal) finds a few clues at scene of the crime that takes him down the lives of the people that filled Harikrishnan's life. A simple whodunit by maestro Padmarajan with two of Malayalam cinema's finest actors at the helm. A lean storyline augmented by a clean script. A formula that majority of Mallu directors today have forsaken. 

Rating: * * *

Boarding Gate

Hints of prostitution, definite drug dealing and shady business deals swirl around Asia Argento and Michael Madsen as they strain in vain to project lost love and sexual tension. After a while their strain of trying got to me!

Rating: *

Blind Mountain

Bai Xumei (Lu Huang) is excited about finally landing a job even though it takes her to a remote village in Northern China. But she finds that she has been tricked in to slavery and is now the wife of a farmer. In her desperation she pleads her case to anyone within earshot only to receive callousness as the answer. The movie is a little too real for comfort as you are constantly doubting if the people in it are really actors. The acting is almost guttural and you get the feeling that only few of the shots had to be retaken.

Apparently women continue to be sold into spousal slavery all over rural China with the support of the local authorities. Like in his debut feature, Blind Shaft, Yang Li focuses on a problem existing in modern day China that has its vestiges in the past. A striking look at China which has similar problems like India in that only small pockets of the country are seeing economic growth while large parts are ignored by the government. It is a wonder that the film was even released by the Chinese government!

Rating: * * *

Funny Games

The movie opens up with a family driving to their country side vacation home. They are playing a guessing game of which piece of western classical music is being played on the radio. As the first credit appears on the screen, the soundtrack jarringly shifts to heavy metal rock. This sets the tone for the film which basically involves two sadistic teenagers terrorizing a family at their home for no rhyme nor reason. Prepare to cringe and come away disturbed!

The film serves as Michael Haneke's sadistic and satirical salute to the film industry for its love of wanton and pointless violence. Interestingly this was a remake of his own German version which was released in 1998. Looks like he felt strongly enough to send the same message out twice.

Rating: * * *

Married Life

Harry (Chris Cooper) is unhappy with his marriage to Pat (Patricia Clarkson). Helping his despondence along is his young bombshell of a girlfriend, Kay (Rachel McAdams). Smitten, Harry decides to leave his wife except he does not how to do so without hurting her. His friend and confidant in this matter is Richard (Pierce Brosnan), a smooth playboy without any scruples. As the final solution presents itself to Harry, human nature takes over. The default state of human beings is to be discontent. But sometimes this discontentment takes one to a better place. At least for a little while...

Rating: * *

The Bank Job

Terry (Jason Statham) is a down and out car dealer who is known to dabble a bit with the other side of the law. So when Martine (Saffron Burrows),  an old flame feeds him a juicy lead on a Lloyd's bank alarm system or lack there of, he jumps at the chance. But as the heist unravels he finds himself in way over his head. It turns out everyone from the cops, spooks and the royal family has a finger in the deal. Based on the Baker Street robbery in, the film is a fun ride from the word go.

Rating: * * *

Varavelppu

A walk down the Mallu film lane of the 80s with a classic from Sathyan Anthikad and Sreenivasan. Like many films from that era it is a comedy drama infused with a streak of realism. Murali (Mohanlal) returns to his hometown after seven years in the gulf. His relatives clamor for his attention and money to invest in their nefarious schemes. But he takes matters in his own hands and buys a rural bus route along with a vehicle. What follows highlights the plight of most small business owners in the communist state of Kerala. Issues with government officials, workers and union leaders bring Murali to his knees in frustration. A situation that has not changed even today!

Rating: * * *

Paranoid Park

A security guard is found murdered. A teenager floats around on his skate board. His behavior a tad different towards those around him. After a while, it is predictable where the film is headed. Go and watch it if you like slow motion shots of sullen teenagers skating boarding.

Rating: *

The Counterfeiters

The film is a fictionalized version of Operation Bernhard, a secret Nazi plan to implode the English and US economies by flooding the market with counterfeit notes.

At the center of the tale is Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) who was known as the king of counterfeiters in pre-WWII Germany. When the Nazi machinery starts rolling he finds himself in a concentration camp thanks to his Jewish heritage. But his talents are not forgotten by the Nazis and he finds himself in the 'forgery' section of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Jews who have any kind of talent that will help with counterfeiting are his inmates. Together they became part of largest counterfeiting operation in history. One of the better WWII movies in recent times.

Rating: * * *

Elite Squad

The Pope is visiting Rio and everything needs to be quiet in the favelas. Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) of the BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is given the unenviable job of ensuring that this happens. Juggling his stressful job with his imminent fatherhood, Nascimento realizes that it's time he quits. To do so he needs to find his replacement. That's when Neto (Caio Junqueira) and André (André Ramiro), two young upstanding cops, barrel their way into his life. What follows is an almost documentary-like look at what it takes to be a member of BOPE officers. Based on Elite da Tropa by sociologist Luiz Eduardo Soares and two former BOPE captains, André Batista and Rodrigo Pimentel, the film is just superb all the way through.

Rating: * * *

Chocolate

Prachya Pinkaew latest Tony Jaa like protege is JeeJa Yanin. She plays Zen, an autistic girl who has amazing motor memory. All she needs is to see an action and she can replicate it with ease. Growing up in close proximity to a  Muay Thai gym and access to Pinkaew's Ong-Bak DVD causes her to turn into an amazing martial artist. So when her mother (Ammara Siripong) is in dire need for money to treat her cancer, Zen starts calling on her mother's debtors unleashes her fury.

If you go in expecting a repeat of Ong-Bak, you will be sorely disappointed. The stunts and actions sequences in the film are above par but JeeJa Yanin is no Tony Jaa!

Rating: * +