Blue Valentine

 

6 years is a long time for any relationship and much can change. Blue Valentine is a study on precisely this - how shit things can get between 2 individuals who were ore in love in the beginning. Director Derek Cianfrance, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams all put in spectacular effort to get you close to the shit and feel just as suffocated as the characters themselves. 

Rating : * * *

Fracture

Came highly recommended as a slick suspense flick. Turned out to be a cliched twist-in-the-tale movie. Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins cant do much with the script, except make some money out of it.

Rating: * +

Stay

One can notice the impact of 'Fight Club' and 'The Sixth Sense' has had on modern day movie writers & directors by the slew of movies about alter egos and the ones with the dramatic twist in the tale thats been staring at the viewer. But not all of them manage to carry that kind of effect - simply because the comparison to its inspiration proves excessively burdensome.

Here, Ewan Mcgregor is a short-trouser, short- socks wearing psychologist who gets slowly drawn into his patient's (Ryan Gosling) life. Slowly losing his life and distancing himself from Naomi Watts, his fiance. A reasonably well-made thriller that keeps you wondering whats going on - but somehow, as one suspects, does not hit the high notes one expects.

Rating: * *

Half Nelson

An idealistic white school teacher, in a predominantly black neighbour hood, teaches History and coaches the girls' basketball team. But clearly he is not listening to what he tells the kids about Change and Being Responsible for one's choices. The idealism has led into junkiedom. Its as much about his battles as it is with what he believes is wrong with the world.

At the outset, it seemed like a promising movie & a classic - which it was in most respects - performances, directing and music. But somehow, at the End Of The Day and All Said And Done, it was less than the sum of parts.

Rating: * * +