Before the Rain

As war rages in Bosnia, ethnic violence is rampant between the Macedonians and the Albanians. A young priest who has taken a vow silence tries to protect a young Albanian girl who is accused of murdering a Macedonian shepheard. A Pulitzer winning Macedonian photographer in London is wracked with guilt over causing a death. His lover meanwhile seeks permenance in her life that he cannot provide. These meandering storylines are presented in bisecting non-linear time in Milcho Manchevski film that shows the age old vicious circle of violence.

Rating: * * *

Eating Air

Ex-Journo turned writer Nek mentioned that this would rate amongst the better Singaporean movies out there. After watching it, one realises that there is only one way to go for Nek in his future career: Up. Takes a close look at a bunch of young guys riding around all-day in bikes, doing nothing, getting messed up in gang-wars, falling in love, dealing with adolescent stress: and all headed downwards. Very familiar story line - thats all there is to say really.

Rating: * +

The End of Violence

A take on how Hollywood style brashness meets its fate in the modern new age world of technology and paranoia. Deals with the question of greed vs humility; of style vs humanity; of trust vs betrayal. Deals with many things - which are left open, I suppose, intentionally. Wim Wenders and his trusted buddy Ry Cooder bring this story together in traditional style.

Bill Pullman plays this top shot Hollywood director who doesn't for a moment think about anything else but making action movies. His wife leaves him, he chuckles. But then he gets mugged and slips into another world. Gabriel Bryne plays an secret agent working on a top secret government project, who finds himself slipping away too from the reality of the situation. At the end of all of it, I felt no closer to the truth but quite enjoyed it.

Rating: * * +

Mumbai Meri Jaan

July 11th, 2006 saw seven bombs explode in the space of 11 minutes on various suburban trains in Mumbai. July 12th saw the common man in Mumbai look at life in his city through different lenses.  It is this chilling aftermath and the ensuing media mongering that this film focuses on.

When the aam junta are played by folk like Irrfan Khan and Madhavan the effect is telling. Irrfan says little in his role of a Tamilian living in Mumbai but like always he doesn't need to. As angry young man, Kay Kay Menon makes a comeback to acting in this film as he grabs the screen like he did in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. But the man who dominates the film is a very svelte Paresh Rawal in a soon to retire policeman's guise. The only weak link is Soha Ali Khan trying desperately to cut a sorry pensive figure. Nishikant Kamat is the man holding the threads of the film and for a refreshing change none of the threads meet or interesect. A film that truly reflects life...

Rating: * * * *

The Kingdom

Turned out to be a pleasant surprise of an entertainer. The premise is classic Hollywood - well-toned, well-trained, well-cocky FBI investigators head deep into enemy territory in Saudi Arabia to find the truth about some killings. Despite the very basic plot, Peter Berg (the cocky doctor from Chicago Hope!) manages to deliver 2 hours of frenetic action.

Rating: * *

Bright Future

Kogi K's favourite actor Tadanobu Asano stars as an anarchist, 20 something, young-nothing - whose only objective in life, it seems, is to deliver the poisonous red jellyfish into the Tokyo water system. Along with his spaced out friend and the meaningless routine of their daily life, the movie settles early, and elegantly, into an other worldly feel which apparently is the hallmark of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The movie also features another legend of Japanese movies, Tatsuya Fuji as the father of Asano's character - who takes a keen interest in the zombie friend as he struggles to exist. But where does it take us? Down to an issue that Kurosawa seems to grapple with - the eternal conflict between 2 generations. Well..

Rating: * * +

301/302

Song (Eun-jin Bang) in 301 is obsessed about food and loves to cook. Her neighbor, Yun (Sin-Hye Hwang ) in 302 is anorexic and can barely keep any food down. In spite of being polar opposites a tenuous friendship ensues. When Yun mysteriously disappears it is this friendship that is under suspicion. Cheol-su Park twisted thriller delves into human being's association with food. Quirky as that might sound the film fails to engage the viewer.

Rating: * *

Yellow Asphalt

A child is run over by a truck on a deserted highway. A German woman desperately tries to flee her husband and tribe. These are two of the short stories that venture amongst the Bedouin tribe of the Judeab desert. The third is what the film Before the Rains is based on and the main reason for me to pick this film. The stories are almost identical. All you need to do is replace the Kerala tribals with the Bedouin and the Brits with the Jews. But the difference is night and day.

Rating: * * +

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

Mikio Naruse's masterpiece centers around Keiko (Hideko Takamine), a Mama-san in Tokyo's Ginzo district. Naruse gently baits the viewer in to Keiko's life as she faces the twilight of her career and before you know it you are emeshed in her life as she ponders the choices that face her.  Tatsuya Nakadai plays the bar manager and like the work, his role too is of being in the background. Sometimes playing second fiddle when you are weighed down by talent is difficult. But the man pulls it off with a lazy elegance like a David Gower in his prime. He in my opinion is more widely accomplished actor than Toshirô Mifun. To sum it up, a truly devastating piece of film work.

Rating: * * * +

The Blue Umbrella

Little Biniya chances up on a beautiful blue umbrella whistle wandering around the mountains sorrounding her village. The umbreall is soon coveted by many of the village folk. When it suddenly vanishes, Biniya suspects the curmudgeon tea stall owner, Nandakishore (Pankaj Kapur). Based on a Ruskin Bond story, the film is allegorical of human life and existence. A well taken film that somehow lacked soul in spite of some great acting from Kapur.

Rating: * +

Thirakkatha

A screenplay being written within the movie takes its author deep into the lives of its characters. Akbar's (Prithviraj) journey to unearth the truth behind the sudden disappearance of a budding cinema star starts off well. But it makes a drastic turn for the worse and dissolves in to pathetic melodrama.

Rating: * +

(500) days of Summer

Summer doesn't believe in love, the "one" or even in relationships for that matter. So she obviously starts dating Tom who is completely smitted by her. And so the story goes in this slightly off beat chick flick. The sequence of the film is very cool, with the focus moving back and forth with the 500 days acting as markers. The usual questions like destiny and fate are posed along the way. The answers though fall short.

Rating: * *

Public Enemies

Much awaited film about John Dillinger, an outlawed bank robber during The Great Depression : with Michael Mann bringing together, arguably, the two most iconic actors of the current generation - Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. From the reviews I understand that there are loads of technical aspects to the film that there is to appreciate. Maybe, but the film seemed to generally lack focus, a script little shallow to pull of as an exciting crime thriller and therefore an insipid watch : disappointing considering that it came from the maker of these films. Johnny Depp appears best suited to be a pirate for the rest of his career - not a patch on his edgy protrayal as Joseph Pistone in Donnie Brasco. While Christian Bale, still without a smile, was probably who brought the most into his character.

Rating: * *

Into the Wild

Sean Penn in his directorial comfort zone: barren, white landscapes of Alaskan / American hinterland and a boy attempting to disengage his shadow forever. A true story and all that, with much that one can relate to: anger, loner adventurism, search for truth and such shit. Well made film over couple of hours: must mention the promising performance from Emile Hirsch and as can be expected from a Sean Penn film - a solid soundtrack.

Rating: * * * +

The Missing

An immensely forgettable movie despite a brilliant cast - Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer. An estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) finds a perfect situation to make peace with his daughter, as her eldest daughter is kidnapped by some hooligan Indians. Yes, its TLJ in familiar country but with a plot thinner than his shoe lace.

Rating: * +

Blood: The Last Vampire

It's the 60s and there are chiropterans abound in Japan. And then there is Saya Otonashi, a young girl who can stop them. That about sums up the plot of this brilliantly executed atmospheric anime. If only it was longer...

Rating: * * +

Ugetsu

Glints of silver and fame are in the eyes of peasants, Genjuro () and Tobei, while a civil war rages around them. They drag their unwilling wives down this rough path of self destruction and delusion. Considered to be one of the greatest classics ever made in Japan, the film no doubt speaks with a certain understated eloquence. But in spite of that and the beautiful camera work, I failed to find the rhythm in its poetry.

Rating: * *

Alice's House

As the title suggests, the movie revolves around Alice (Carla Ribas), a manicurist, who leads a drudgery of a life surrounded by her three sons, a crabby husband and old mother. A very stark view of the life of lower middle class family in Brazil. But realism always doesn't translate into placing the viewer in a mood of enjoyment or contentment.

Rating: * +

I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar

Questions like do you love me, how much do you love me laces Philippe Garrel's very personal film about his obsession with the Velvet Underground singer, Nico. The film will most likely cause the viewer to never retrospect about relationships past, present or future in fear of recurring trauma.

Rating: +

Crossing Over

Inspired by 'Crash' and other such films which bring disparate stories together on the back of one common theme - Crossing Over is one where various kinds of immigrants in LA deal with their future which is inextricably linked to the choices of the present. A theme that I thought Kogi K and his band of brothers would empathise with - green cards, visas and related paranoia. Despite the style in execution and solid performances all around (Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta to most others), much of the plot seems contrived. And thus making it good for just couple of stars.

Rating: * *

Terminator Salvation

Nothing more than what the trailor shows. And a lot of Christian Bale shouting.
Rating: * +

The Savages

Sometimes everything about life can seem overwhelmingly suffocating. Thats precisely what the brother and sister duo played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney find themselves in when they get a call saying that their father has started scribbling on the walls with his own shit. Dysfunctional personal lives slowly get dragged into a bigger, dysfunctional family situation. Funny in most parts, 'The Savages' is 2 hours well spent. Thanks certainly to the fantastic P S Hoffman and very capable Laura Linney (who usually grates with her acting - or is it just her consistent choice of roles?).

Rating: * * * +

Hana

Soza (Junichi Okada) embeds himself in the poor quarters of Edo, seeking vengeance for the death of his father. But life in the row houses slowly starts to grow on him especially when he starts to tutor the neighborhood kids. Hirokazu Koreeda's film is an anti-thesis to most movies depicting the jidaigeki era. The protagonist is better at wielding a pen rather than a sword and is heavily conflicted about his duty. The other characters in the film are quirky and fit seamlessly in the scenes of comic realism. Koreeda's masterstroke is in juxtaposing the story of the  47 ronin by having a couple of them hiding out in the row houses. Putting Tadanobu Asano in a small but important role just adds to the class of the movie. And to really sweeten the deal there is Rie Miyazawa... enough said!

Rating: * * *

Premonition

Sandra Bullock plays a housewife with a keen sense of premonition. She spends alternate days living her present day life and the future as she sees it - where tragic things happen. Keeps one watching for 30 minutes or so because of the gimmicky plot - and thereon promptly fails to develop into anything of interest.

Rating: * +

Nicotina

Hugo Rodríguez's slow paced crime caper where an exchange of Swiss bank access codes for diamonds goes horrendously wrong. The intent is for the film to be a dark comedy-thriller but the result is lifeless tepidness.

Rating: * *

'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris

Jackie Paris is an artist's singer raved as a legend in Jazz circles but an unknown as far as the general Jazz listening public goes. The only reason why he comes to light in this documentary is director Raymond De Felitta's fascination with him. De Felitta methodically goes through his discography, spliced in with interviews with the man himself and the handful of people who knew him. Part of the film is like a detective story, with the director trying to unearth the reason why a limitless talent like Jackie Paris never saw the light of day. In totality, a very decent documentary who puts you a virtual handshake away from Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus.

Rating: * * +

Live and Become

The Ethiopian Falashas were recognized as Jews by Israel in the early 80s. The Mossad comes with a plan of subversively getting them to Israel through Sudan. The trek from Ethiopia to Sudan and the life in the refugee camps kills thousands. Soon the camp welcomes not just Jews but the thousands trying to escape Ethiopia. But it is only the Falashas that can proceed to Israel under the Law of Return.

As a Christian mother watches dying children around her, she pushes her son into the arms of a Falasha women who has just lost her boy. Soon he becomes Schlomo and finds himself in a bewildering world whose customs are alien to him. The film tries compress the next couple of decades in the boys life as he tries live a lie with his adopted Jewish family. A movie that should have ended five minutes sooner or even better, made into a slower and evenly paced mini-series.

Rating: * * +

The Proposal

Meet Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) aka the Devil's Mistress, a cut throat bitchy editor-in-chief of publishing company in downtown Manhattan. Then there is Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), her over worked assistant who is at her beck and demeaning call. The tables turn when Margaret is forced to blackmail Andrew into marrying her as lapsed immigration paper work would otherwise force her to leave the US (I though this happened only to Desis and Mexicans). Soon you venture down the well trodden path of awkward couple meeting the parents...

Rating: * +

Blindness

A macabre take on how mankind would react to a global epidemic of blindness. Similar in concept to 'Lord of the flies', it shows how destruction is latent in normal people - like you and me. Nicely made - and deals with the 'supernatural' phenomenon in a manner very different to say how Manoj N Shyamalan would. No attempt in explaining, no heroes but just a depressing view of ourselves. From the maker of this series and an adaption of Jose Sarmago's novel of the same name, Blindness can be disturbing to many. But on the flipside, at the end of all of it one can look around with much satisfaction.

Rating: * * *

Cape No. 7

This is probably what you would call a bollywood film set in a little sleepy seaside town in Taiwan. Melodrama galore, budding romance at every corner, some evil comedy and the inevitable, perfect coming together of all angles of this soul sucking drama.

Rating: * +

Cool Hand Luke

The movie that gave us the eternal "What we got here is... failure to communicate" dialog, that many GenXers heard thanks to Guns N' Roses. A story about a man raging against a society that is twisting him to conform and one who refuses to go gently into the good night.

Rating: * * +

Triad Election

Johnnie To's follow up to Election, finds Lok (Louis Koo) nearing the end of his term as chairman. His godson, Jimmy (Simon Yam) wants to go legit and improve his business ties with mainland China. Majority of the Wo Shing triad  heavily favor Jimmy as the next chairman. Interestingly so does the Chinese government in the hope of brokering peace on the streets of Hong Kong. But Lok wants to buck tradition and force a re-election. And so the blood letting begins in this  crime thriller that favors stylistic grittiness over substance.

Rating: * * +