A Serious Man

A snowy night in a European town and an introduction to a dybbuk is how the movie begins.  You are then plunged into the sorry life of Larry Gopnik, who is a physicist struggling for tenure while in the middle of  divorce proceedings. There are quirky scenarios typical of a Coen brothers film like that of Larry dealing with a Chinese student who could be bribing him. Throw in a few more interesting fringe characters like Larry's brother who is writing a "probability map of the universe" and you have a regular Coen brother offering. And there in lies the problem; it is just regular!

Rating: * *

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia

Beasts of No Nation

A film meant to be a powerful telling of the wars in Africa and how it is ravaging the youth there. A time meant for the children to be educated instead is spent learning how to become a killing machine. Throw in Idris Alba to play the lead role of a commandant of a guerrilla, one expects a dark and gripping tale. However the story of young Abu who is throw apart from his family by war into the hands of the guerrillas only leaves you mildly interested in the events that unfold in the movie in spite of the message being important and one that everyone should pay heed to.

Rating: * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia

The Assassin

Hsaio-hsien Hou tackles a wuxia tale in his latest offering that centers around an assassin, who targets corrupt government officials. Interestingly her orders are given by a woman monk. When mercy creeps into her and she wavers from her role she is sent off an assignment closer to her heart. In spite of being based on a wuxia story which is usually simple and action packed, Hou twists it to his will to show a poignant thoughtful drama that is not all wire tricks.

Rating:* * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

The Informant

Mark Whitacre was a high flying executive at Archer Daniels Midland, when he decides to blow the whistle on the company's nefarious price fixing of lysine, an additive used in the livestock industry. He teams up with the FBI and walks around wearing a wire and surreptitiously filming secret meetings. But the pressure of leading a double life starts to show as his character starts to fray at the edges resulting in tragicomic situations. Matt Damon shines in this role and you are left in an enjoyable muddle of trying to figure out reality from Whitacre's imagination.

Rating: * * *
Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Birdman

Riggan Thompson used to rule the film industry as Birdman but since then has done little of note. Now he is trying to rekindle his acting career by adapting a Raymond Carver play to Broadway.  The movie chronicles this process through dress rehearsals and opening night. The acting is top notch with Michael Keaton and Edward Norton grabbing most of the limelight. Alejandro González Iñárritu has used a technique that makes it seem the film is one long shot. The end result is akin to playing a first person shoot out except that the film is a drama. The dialogues flow ceaselessly giving not a moment of stillness in the movie. At the end you are left a little nauseous thanks to the roving camera and cranky due to the noisy screenplay!

Rating: * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia

Ida

Ida, a catholic nun on the verge of taking her vows, discovers her Jewish history and life outside of the convent. Which in post-war Poland, might not seem to be any more aspirational than whats within the four walls of her convent. Between the past and the present, Ida needs to make her choice for the future. Sparse in dialogue, colour and motion, Ida manages to say a great deal - like in 80 minutes or so. Very nice.

Rating: * * + 


"Ida (2013 film)" by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

The World of Kanako

Take darkness and make it darker must have been the intent of director Tetsuya Nakashima with this morbid film. Akihiro Fujishima is a former detective who has issues to put it mildly. When his ex-wife calls him frantically about their teenage daughter, Kanako, who seems to be missing, he dives in with a kind of mad relish that leaves you cringing. The film is a rush of flash backs and the present, each revealing parts of the puzzle, none of which is gentle. Stay away if you are looking for calm night of rest.

Rating: * * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via AsianWiki.

Taxidermia

You follow three generations of Hungarian men during the course of this movie. A penis obsessed military orderly to a speed eating champion and culminating with a carcass stuffer. The story is supposedly a cross between horror and comedy that hides a sociopolitical retelling of Hungarian history. The history bit is very hard to glean and it is more akin to a morbid "turn away from the screen" in disgust rather than horror.

Rating: *

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Unlucky Plaza

Slowly and steadily, Nek Nek (a.k.a Ken Kwek) has obviously been fine tuning his movie writing / making abilities - delivering this super smooth production of a dog day afternoon in Singapore as a Filipino restaurant owner driven to his wits end, contemplates his end game with a bunch of atypical (or not) Singaporean characters. Realisation hits Onassis that they are all trapped, in this fine city, and that something eventually has to give. 

Fine performances from all quarters enhances everything and pushes Unlucky Plaza onto the forefront of Singaporean films. 

Rating: * * * 

Boyhood

A coming of age story of young Mason Jr whose mother flits from one messed up partner to another dragging the young boy and sister along. Take The Wonder Years, convert the Arnold family in to a dysfunctional one with a single mother, shoot it over ten years with the actors aging gradually and you will end up with this movie. However the Tv series had a certain depth and charm to it that is missing here. It feels that the use of time rather than make up and different actors to show aging is the only thing that this film has going for it.

Rating: * *

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Killing Them Softly

When a couple of buffoons hold up a high stakes underworld card game, it is predictable how it would end. The mob puts a highly paid hitman to set right the situation. And when you have cast that includes Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini, you except even this simple storyline to pack a punch. However you are left with an insipid journey that turges towards the inevitable end.

Rating: * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Partners In Crime

The dead body of a school girl from a wealthy family is discovered by three of her school mates on a rainy evening. The boys with widely varying personalities find themselves bonding over the incident as they start hunting around for clues to her demise. Initially the it felt like a coming of age film turning in to detective noir, but you soon realize the director is taking us somewhere more dark and sinister. Schoolyard bullying and the loneliness of children are the actual topics examined here under the guise of a murder mystery.

Rating: * * +

A Touch of Sin

What does a man do when he is teetering on the edge of his breaking point as he fights the injustice around him? Does he stoically fight on or just go berserk? This kind of scenario is what the film opens to and forms just one section of it. It eerily reminds one of Edmond but as the other sections unfold you realize Zhang Ke is as usual a filming a commentary on the social climate in China. Except unlike his prior films that are haunted with melancholy and realism, he gets his point across with explosions of violence here.

Rating: * * *

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Entre Nos

The stereotype of Colombian women falling for men who treat them badly continues in this movie. Mariana and her kids are abandoned by her husband soon after they immigrate to New York city. Stranded in a foreign city and unable to speak English, she struggles to make ends meet. The film shows a dispassionate view of the situation while highlighting Mariana's grit to persevere. There have been better films highlighting women and immigration but if the situation resonates with you then it is worth a watch.

Rating: * *

Poster: Cine Las Americas

The Constant Gardner

The sudden death of his young wife Tess turns, staid diplomat Justin Quayle into a detective. He painstakingly traces the path his wife took and rediscovers the dangers enroute as you are introduced into the murky world of the cut throat pharmaceutical industry. If you have read the book the movie is based, have no fear of having a face put to the characters. John Le Carre continues to have luck when it comes to his writings being made into moving pictures. However, you do lose a few molecules of complexity that inhibit his novel. But in spite of the loss, the movie is time worth spent.

Rating: * * *

Poster licensed under Fair Use via Wikipedia.

The imitation game

 

Alan Turing's story was a fascinating one I remember. A British mathematician who unravelled the German Nazi code and hastened the end of WWII - while his heroics could not be told to the public, he was found legally guilty many years later of being a homosexual - a tragedy in many ways.

The film, despite the Cumberbatch effectiveness, could have done with more of the David Fincher sharpness. Cheesy in most parts, it could have been much more. The support cast doesn't help - Keira Knightly while she means well, does nothing to enhance the story telling. Blame the director. 

The + is for Alan Turing.

Rating: * * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

The Rover

 

As I watched the movie, I thought to myself that this would be the kind of movie that I would write and make. From the characters, to the guns, and the drugs, the apocalyptic social situation, the dialogues (or lack of), the photography, the apparent lack of motive, the beautiful landscape that is Australia and the choice of the lead actor - Guy Pearce. It couldn't have meant much to many others, and therein is a possible lesson for me. But the bright spark comes from an unlikely source - the supporting lead played by Robert Pattinson. Who would have thought he could provide credibility to an indie type indulgence. 

Rating: * * *

Silver Linings Playbook

Bit too much of the silver linings stuff. Though David O. Russell puts together a compelling cute comedy, it falls way short of other films that he has done. Oscar for Jennifer Lawrence for this? Talent certainly, but give her time man.  Bradley Cooper shrugs off his good lucks to strike it out and which he carries through in the American Hustle. I was kind of glad when it ended - but dont get me wrong, it was cute.  

Rating: * *

The Flowers of War

Possibly the first Zhang Yimou movie that I have watched fully. "Possibly" because I think I headed for the exit while watching Hero or House of Flying Daggers. This unfortunately was a similar experience. Only thing that kept me going through this melodramatic, yet dumbed down, tragic story of WWII Nanking was to watch Christian Bale. Which was ore the disappointing - blame the fucking director.

Rating: * +

You, the Living

Another one of those many vignettes films that are thrown together with a hope a central theme emerges. Few of the shorts are connected but as a whole they seem disparate as the director strides towards the overarching message which is the banality of human existence. Some of them are funny but with a hint of tragedy. There is a self centered middle aged woman, a disillusioned psychiatrist, an enamored rock star fan and a saxophone player to name a few of the inhabitants of this movie. Some interesting techniques are used where the actors speak directly to the camera like in a documentary as they relate their fears and dreams. As much as one would technically want to rave about this movie, the fact that it does not engage you fully just leaves you with a feeling of despondency. 

Rating: * +

Poster licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.