Godzilla

The iconic Japanese monster is back at its rampaging best in this American avatar of the king of monsters. It starts from the point of view of the actor who actually drew me to the film. Bryan "I am the danger" Cranston plays Dr. Joe Brody who is caught up in the terrifying destruction of the power plant that he oversees. Soon it flows to his son and family while the back story about the creature and its predators are filled in. Storyline is simple. Monsters converge on to San Francisco and destruction ensues as we watch in awe. The original allegory of Godzilla to nuclear weapons / US and rest of the world, give way to a correlation between arrogant humans and disregarded nature. That alone could have sustained this film, but the director had to pander to the masses and introduce a human angle. Blank that out and you are left with one of the better reincarnations of this franchise.

Rating: * * + 

Flight of the Red Balloon

A solitary red balloon hovers over a street and a young boy talks to  it, cajoling it to come with him. This is the initial scene in Hsiao-hsien Hou first non-Taiwanese film. We are soon introduced to Simon's mother, Suzzane (Juliette Binoche), a puppeteer vocalist who has her hands full with work, being a single mom and pesky neighbors. Then there is Song (Fang Song), Simon's babysitter who has a calming effect on the scenario. We spend most of the next couple of idyllic hours with these characters and their daily lives while the solitary balloon floats. A movie that left me neither enthralled nor discontented.

Rating: * *

Breaking and Entering

A must watch for any aspiring script writer on how not to write shit. Complete fucking waste of time.

Rating: *

Paris Je t'aime

An ode to Paris and the love that it creates, I suppose. Some 20 different directors come together with a variety of international stars, to shoot 18 chapters of romance in Paris. Some of them are amusing/interesting - some others are bizzare especially Christopher Doyle's piece in Chinatown. I realise I am not a big fan of these joined up movies - it appears to be nothing more than some pointless kind of a creative need to "do something together". Worth a watch though.

Rating: * * +

Caché

A still camera welcomes you with the names of the cast and crew arranging itself across the screen. Michael Haneke's slick psychological drama grips you from that very calm beginning. Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne (Juliette Binoche) lead an innocuous life with their teenage son. Boring tapes of someone watching them start to show up on their doorstep and the idyllic layers of their lives start to peel.

Rating: * * * *