Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Norah picks the first guy she finds attractive at a concert and asks him to act as her boyfriend just to spite the class bitch, Tris. Nick turns out to be Tris's ex and so starts the topsy-turvy night. The twosome along with Nick's gay band, traipse around New York and all things strange. A chick flick with just the right amount of saccharine.

Rating: * * +

The Princess of Nebraska

Sasha (Li Ling) is four months pregnant as she wanders around San Fransisco. The meandering reflects her thought process as she grapples with her decision about her unborn child. Wayne Wang attempts to bring another Yiyun Li short story to the screen but the result is still born.

Rating: * +

Vanaja

Young Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) goes to work as a maid servant at the local zamindar's house in the hope that the lady of the house will teach her Kuchipudi. Learn Kuchipudi she does but the landlady's son forces her to "dance" with him too. Soon the caste barriers prop up and the balance of justice in rural India is shown. A film that shows village life with grace and poignancy. If only the plot lines dwelt a tad more on the thought process of Vanaja...

Rating: * * +

Unnaipol Oruvan

A film is almost a scene by scene remake of A Wednesday, except for Kamal Hassan playing Naseeruddin Shah's role with loads of over acting. But Mohan Lal reprising Anupam Kher's part makes the film emminetly watchable. Lal ettan has shown that he still has it in him!

Rating: * * +

Beauty Remains

China is at the cusp of communism and that's when Fei's (Xun Zhou) life takes ninety degree turn. The illegitimate child of a rich businessman, she finds herself being welcomed back in to his home by her step sister, Ling (Vivian Wu), on his death. Lonely Fei is strongly attracted to Ling in the hope of finding a family. Ling pines for Huang (Zhiwen Wang) to give in and marry her. With a fast approaching communist China in the backdrop, the trio wander hoping to fill the emptiness inside...

Rating: * * +

Take Out

Ming (Charles Jang), an illegal immigrant in NYC, owes money to a loan shark who has threatened to double the principle if he doesn't deliver the installments for the last few months. Begging and borrowing still leaves him short by a few hundred dollars. So what does he do... he goes on a Chinese take out delivery binge to make up the difference. All the film does is to make you think twice about ordering take out again!

Rating: *

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

What would you do if you accidentally defeated a race of genetically advanced humans who are bent upon subjugating mankind to their whims and fancies? Logically one should obliterate them. But James T. Kirk (William Shatner) nobly leaves them stranded in a deserted planet. Now their leader Khan is back seeking vengeance with disastrous consequences for the Starship Enterprise. And to think this was one of the better Star Trek films...

Rating: * *

The Journey

Kiran (Suhasini V. Nair) and Delilah (Shrruiti Menon) grow up together in a small rural town in Kerala. As the shroud of their childhood, is unveiled their friendship blossoms in to love. A love that is unfamiliar in the conservative surroundings. A film that portrays a complex situation but is dealt with profound simplicity by Ligy J. Pullappally.

Rating: * * *

Silent Night

A feel good story set in Germany during World War II, when a group of German and American soldiers call a truce to the fighting on Christmas eve under the roof of Elisabeth Vincken (Linda Hamilton). The forced German accents gets to you after a point. Throw in the cloying nature of the events one might come away feeling saccharine. But then again the film was based on true events...

Rating: * *

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

Mr. Shi (Henry O), a retired Chinese rocket scientist arrives in the US to visit his recently divorced daughter, Yilan (Feihong Yu). The atmosphere is heavy with secrecy as the father and daughter tip toe around each other. Shi wanting to help her set herself right and Yilan find his help to be an intrusion. But the real interesting interaction is between Shi and Madam (Vida Ghahremani), a lady he meets at the local park. She speaks to him in Persian and he replies in Mandarin but they communicate better than most people who have a common language. The short story by Yiyun Li comes to life in this Wayne Wang film in visceral fashion.

Rating: * * *

Azumi

A pointless film about a bunch of assasins running around eliminating warlords who are trying to disturb the peace brought about by Tokugawa Iyesu.

Rating: * +

Momma's Man

Man goes to visit his parents in NYC and decides to check out of his life. He abandons his wife and kid, ignores his job and instead mopes around at his parents trying to weave himself back in to the cocoon of his childhood. A pathetic attempt at showing existential angst.

Rating: *

Kandasamy

Kandasamy (Vikram) is a CBI officer who moonlights as a "superhero" who dresses up like a cock. The film seems to be result of the influence of The Dark Knight on Susi Ganesan who has no business making movies.

Rating: +

A Secret

François Grimbert's life at a first glance seems similar to that of unfortunate teenagers who are disapproved by their own fathers due to their delicate and sensitive nature. But the discovery of a faded stuffed toy in the attic shatters that similarity and inadvertently leads to the discovery of the multi layered past of his parents during the Holocaust. A well crafted film that seamlessly moves between decades to tell you a tale based on true events sans any histrionics or melodrama.

Rating: * * +

Towelhead

Puberty finds Jasira (Summer Bishil) being shipped off to her strict and uptight Lebanese father living in a Houston suburb. Tendrils of sexuality awakens in Jasira and she is further confused by the discovery of the orgasm. Things get more complicated for the naive teenager, when she is befriended by a lecherous neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) and starts to date a fellow African-American student. This Alan Ball film is like a harsher, cruder and soft porn version of American Beauty without the quirkiness and panache.

Rating: * +

After Life

A way station where the dead sift through their memories to choose an ever lasting one. The counselors who are dead themselves help in earnest. A film that will cause introspection but there is something missing in its execution that makes it a hard film to stash away in long term memory.

Rating: * +

Wonderful Town

The film is set in a sleepy coastal town in south Thailand that is recovering from the tsunami. Ton (Anchalee Saisoontorn) arrives from Bangkok to oversee the construction of a resort. He randomly decides to stay in a dull but clean hotel run by Na (Supphasit Kansen). And inevitably but gently they fall in love... There is a fine line between exquisite stillness and boredom. Few directors know how to draw that line. Aditya Assarat is one such director.

Rating: * * *