Tetro

Tetro is Francis Ford Coppola's first original screenplay since The Conversation some 30 years ago. And Coppola yet again demonstrates his effortless ability to tell a story, that not many can match. Tetro (Vincent Gallo) is the older brother who walks out on his family and settles down in the bohemian district of Buenos Aires dealing with demons of various kinds. Out of the blue Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the younger brother Bennie, comes calling to reconnect with his prodigal brother. Bennie realises that demons don't come for free, especially if it involves their very famous father. However, he decides to stubbornly hang on to discover the truth and potentially destroy the both of them. Shot largely in B&W and along with a haunting music score, the film captures all the darkness that Tetro inspires.

The film has ensured that Buenos Aires & the Patagonia mountains moves into the 'must visit' list. Also finally got to watch Vincent Gallo in real "action" (the infamous action scene from one of his earlier films being the first).

Rating: * * *

Avatar

Avatar is indeed a spectacle, especially if one has 3-D glasses on. It actually reminded me of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games - one has seen it all before, but it gets more extravagant & spectacular as the years go by. The colours, images, the magnificent wild beasts & birds, and the elegant movement of the Na'vi people are all beautifully constructed. 

Well, is it the "path breaking" film that its being heralded as? Certainly not. Well maybe, if you were born recently or never watched any of the legendary sci-fi / fantasy films over the years. Conceptually, it's all familiar ground and therefore making it nothing more than "exciting". 

In my mind, nothing can take away the title of "path breaking" from The Matrix.

Rating: * * +

Chak De India!

Take A League of Their Own, add some Indian patriotic fervor and unrealistic hockey to it and you have Chak De India!

Rating: * *

3 Idiots

Finally a realistic portrayal of engineering college life has been splashed on the screen by Rajkumar Hirani based on a book by Chetan Bhagat. There is a bit of everything in the movie... ragging, comedic teachers, pranks, love and some melodrama. Well make that a whole lot of melodrama with so much ghee and sugar that some of the desi sweets would be put to shame. A film that shaped to be the second coming of Dil Chahta Hai but over the course of its viewing, morphed in to a middling Hindi comedy.

Rating: * *

Kanchivaram

The colors that occupy the screen are muted except for the colors of the Kanchivaram silk saris being woven. The lives of the weavers too reflect this. The only bright spot in their poverty filled existence are the strings of silk that they transform in to a phantasmagoria of art called the pattu pudavai. At the mercy of dastardly overlords, the coming of communism to India gives them a semblance of hope. Set during the brink of Indian independence, weaver Vengadam (Prakash Raj) and his family is the vehicle that Priyadarshan uses to show the plight of this now diminishing tribe of artisans. Cinematography that reminded me of Chris Doyle and the direction of a Priyadarshan of old makes this a rare film in the arena of Tamil cinema.

Rating: * * *

Subramaniapuram

If you ever wanted a look at mafia in small town India, this movie will provide you with that window. Set in Madurai during the early 80s, the film centers around Azaghar (Jai), Paraman (Sasikumar), Kaasi (Ganja Karuppu), Dopa and Dumka. They hang around street corners, drinking, picking random fights and usually landing up in jail. But what was just a bit of fun turns dark as the friends are used for nefarious purposes by local politicians. Enacted by new comers, the film is presented very naturally without the nauseating Tamil melodrama. The end result is savage but with a tendril of humanity running through it.

Rating: * * *

G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

A movie that feels like a video game that you have no control over. It made me wonder why I clamored for G. I. Joe toys when growing up. Sigh... childhood.

Rating: * +

The Country Teacher

Peter (Pavel Liska) quits his prep school post and drifts towards the countryside to teach at a small school there. He soon befriends Maria (Zuzana Bydzovská) and her young son (Ladislav Sedivý). But when Peter's boyfriend shows up from Prague, complications follow. A film that calmly portrays that everybody always needs someone.

Rating: * * +

Silent Light

A film pregnant with guilt. Waiting for the birth that would ease its conscience was something beyond me.

Rating: +

Sin Nombre

Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) and El Casper (Édgar Flores) are fleeing their homeland for different reasons. Casper is running away from death and Sayra is running towards life. Their paths meet and director Cary Fukunaga uses this intersection to show you two of South Americas biggest problems. Illegal immigration and the organised gangs like the the Mara Salvatrucha 13. The director apparently spent time riding the trains, talking to its riders and hanging out with MS-13 gang members and it shows in the film. It has no finesse or polish. Just brutal realism.

Rating: * * * +

Nights and Weekends

Couldn't take more than 20 minutes of this film where a whiny couple constantly bickers about their long distance relationship.

Rating: +

Adventureland

James Brennan's (Jesse Eisenberg) dream of a summer in Europe evaporates when his father's job is downsized. Faced with negative skills and a need for money, he is forced to work at the local amusement park. Soon he is treated to life lessons at the park that mainly focus on falling in love and discovering that women always fall for the wrong men.

Rating: * +

Goodbye Solo

William (Red West) wants to commit suicide and all he wants taxi driver Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) to do is drop him off at the top of a hill. But what Solo wants is to do is become his best friend forever! With respect to the character Solo, director Ramin Bahrani has stolen a page from Abbas Kiarostami. Even if someone wanted to desperately live, hanging out with Solo will surely drive him to suicide.

Rating: * +

Gigantic

Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) has wanted to adopt a Chinese baby ever since he was 8 years old. As he struggles to convince authorities that he is a capable father in spite of working a dead end job as a mattress salesman, Harriet (Zooey Deschanel) and her crazy father (John Goodman) walks in to his life. Soon romance is in the air and it was never this dead pan.

Rating: * * *

Men Who Stare at Goats

Journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) heads to Iraq, seeking adventure just so that he can show off to his ex-wife. He finds more than he can handle when he runs in to Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to have been part of a super psych unit in the US army. Soon you are introduced to Lyn's mentor Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), arch nemesis Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) and other crazies super soldiers. The film has more than a few hilarious bits but I should warn you that for many parts that had me and Mohanlal in splits, the rest of the theater was dead silent and vice versa. On the whole the film does not hang together in spite of the stellar cast and quirky script.

Rating: * *

The Cake Eaters

Guy (Jayce Bartok) returns to his family on the death of mother. His father and  welcome him back with reluctant happiness. His brother, Beagle (Aaron Stanford) meets him with restrained hostility. Soon skeletons in the closets start to rattle as the three men get tangled up in love. Kristen Stewart  plays Beagle's terminally ill love interest with a desperation that is startling. The melancholy of her situation deeply reflected in the endless depth of her eyes. A film that gently wanders around the various inter personal relationships just as an observer  while never passing judgment.

Rating: * * +

Turtles Can Fly

Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) commands a roving band of children who roam around the villages and refugee camps at the Iraqi-Turkish border. They perform invaluable jobs like installing antennas and clearing minefields. In to this world comes the armless prescient boy (Hiresh Feysal Rahman) and his beautiful sister (Avaz Latif) with a baby brother in tow. Satellite is threatened by the boy and attracted to the sister. Until this point you are almost lulled in to believing this is going to turn out be a coming of age tale set among the backdrop of the coming US invasion of Iraq. But slowly the layers are peeled away and the ugly underbelly of war is revealed.

Rating: * * +

The Blue Mansion

After many months of waiting, finally watched Nek's first piece of contribution to the world of big budget films. Set in the beautiful Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, the film unravels as a family comes to terms with the death of the patriarch. Having been a heavy handed enforcer all his life, the death of the Old man understandably brings much relief all around. However, the visit of Inspector Suresh to the Wee household infuses an element of mystery to the death and the plot kicks foward with tension amongst the various family members boiling over. There is much humour/wit at every step of the way, and the presence of the ghost of the Old man proves to be an important cog in the plot.

The production quality of The Blue Mansion stands out considering that my previous experiences of Singapore cinema were such. Adrian Pang as the younger, angry Wee brother puts in a credible performance and pretty much carries the film. However it is Huzir Sulaiman as the inspector that steals the show for me. The rest of the acting does come across as rather theatrical - but from subsequent interviews of the director and the script writer, I understand that it was a conscious ploy. Maybe, but its not something that I could relate to in a film.

Rating: * * +

12

Take  12 Angry Men and distill it with some fine vodka and you have the Russian version of the film. Need I say more...

Rating: * * +

Two Lovers

Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) is nice Jewish boy who is messed up from his broken engagement and little disengaged with life. To engage him, his parents try to hook him up with a business partner's daughter. Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) falls for him and loves him to pieces. But Leonard decides to run behind his psychotic blond neighbor (Gwyneth Paltrow) and pointlessly confuse his life!

Rating: * +