Backseat

Two buddies head out on a road trip to Montreal to meet Donald Sutherland. Ben (Robert Bogue) is pulling his hair out dealing with his nympho girl friend while Colton (Josh Alexander) is trying to kick start his acting career. The trip turns out to be an internal soul search for the two friends as they unwittingly end up facing their idiosyncrasies, fears and the loneliness that you sometimes encounter in your 30s. A movie that is a comedy at heart but has a streak of honesty and reality running through it.

Rating: * * 

Tokyo Sonata

A family that is slowly splintering is the epicenter of the film. With his job being outsourced to China, Ryuhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) goes from being Director of Administration to a man stands in line at the free food stall. Furtively hiding his layoff from his wife, he wanders the streets in a Murakami-esqe daze. Megumi (Kyôko Koizumi) is gracefully stoic as she puts up with her distant husband. Her teenage children meander while she clutches at the seams that hold her family together. The film is almost like reading a Murakami novel until a point. There Kiyoshi Kurosawa loses his grip on the viewer and you wait placidly for the end.

Rating: * * +

Loins of Punjab Presents

A spoof on American Idol and other singing competitions, featuring five Indian immigrants and one "I have a desi girl friend" firang, all vying for the prize of being the Desi Idol and supposed fame in a seedy Edison, NJ venue. The loaded cast and slightly nifty script almost delivers but flounders at the finish line and in some places on the way. However it is good for a few snickers here and there.

Rating: * *

The Karate Kid

A remake of the 84' classic film of the same name that sees Jackie Chan reappraising the role played by Pat Morita. Being set in China, the land of kung-fu, only makes the film more plausible. Young Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is forced in to unfamiliar China when his mother moves there along with her job. He promptly eyes the local teenage bombshell much to the chagrin of the local kung-fu prodigy. Much Dre Parker ass kicking follows which brings Mr. Chan in to the scene, who plays an uncommonly serious role with no histrionics. The age old king-fu master-disciple story is retold in a modern Chinese setting and strangely enough the film is enjoyable in spite of the expected melodrama.

Rating: * +

La France

Camille (Sylvie Testud) snaps out of her idyllic existence in the north east of France during World War I, when she receives a letter from her husband saying that he is leaving her. Do not look for me he states very clearly. Nevertheless she sets out to look for him. She masquerades as a young boy and and falls in with a band of French soldiers. They walk, meander and talk with some mysterious purpose. The ending could not have come sooner, expect I don't remember much of it nor do I want to.

Rating: *

Devils on the Doorstep

Jiang Wen writes, directs and stars in this satirical tragic comedy set during World War II at the time of the Japanese occupation of China. A couple's lustful romp is rudely interrupt by the arrival of two prisoners in gunny sacks led by a gun toting mystery man. The command under gunpoint is to safeguard and interrogate them before he returns. One is a macho Japanese soldier bent on dying and the other a Chinese working as a translator for the Japanese. Set in a small country village in China, the film centers around the plight of the villagers and their attempt to deal with this bizarre situation. Grave as the scenario is, Wen figures out a way to bring the pun out in the situations. However when there are Japanese involved during tricky times one always must brace for the dark side.

Rating: * * *

Next Day Air

Donald Faison from the Scrubs makes a rare movie appearance as a pot smoking delivery man. He sets off a string of events by delivering some angel dust to the wrong address. At this point director Benny Boom throws in some out of luck hustlers, Latino drug lords, a bootlicious babe, sprinkles a whole lot of corny jokes and prays he has the second coming of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,!  All he really did was piss some brothers off!

Rating: *

The Window

An old man (Antonio Larreta) recovering from a heart attack, stares lustily out of his windows earning for the outdoors. The only thing he has to look forward to is a visit from his estranged son of twenty years. Not wanting to let his son see him bedridden, he steals out in to the open. As you find yourself mesmerized by the Patagonian countryside, you begin to wonder what the old man was hoping for; rejuvenation or one last stroll.

Rating: * * +

Adoration

Lying that his dead father is a terrorist is the thought exercise Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian) gives her student, Simon (Devon Bostick) as part of a drama course. A fabrication that is presented to the class slowly spins out of control as it seeps in to the internet. The situation seems absurd and completely unrealistic which seemed out of sync with Atom Egoyan's usual style. But as the film proceeds in its non linear fashion a more complete view of the situation is blasted at you.

Rating: * * +

Three Monkeys

A man hides as he observes from a distance the body of the woman he just ran over. Chillingly he pays his driver to take the rap and and go to prison. A move that splits him from his wife and son. A path unfold for them from which there is no turning back. Was the money worth it is the question that presses on your mind through the movie. A story that traverses social boundaries and one that could be set in any culture, this might be the most complete Nuri Bilge Ceylan film yet.

Rating: * * +

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

Pitbull of "I know you want me" fame is coming to town and strangely enough Gautham Menon's latest film seemed like a preview to the show. It starts with a tamil boy falling in love with his neighbour who happens to be a christian mallu girl - he knows he wants her and makes it clear that he knows she wants him. She knows she wants him, but cannot have him. The boy cannot understand such complications. Phew, used "4x" fwd button judiciously and got rid of Pitbull.

Rating: *

                              

Iron Man 2

Take Iron Man down a few notches... well lets make that a dozen notches... and you have its follow on. The gist of the film is Whiplash (a wasted Mickey Rourke) coming for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) when the reactor in his chest is acting up. The plot is thin and the jokes are forced. To make up for that couple of star characters from the Marvel universe, Nick Fury and the Black Widow have been thrown in. Except that Scarlett Johansson looks out of place as the Widow even with her 6 inch heels. Technically Samuel L. Jackson is a perfect fit for the Ultimate version of Nick Fury but it feels like Jules from Pulp Fiction was transported here. Plus if you have read the Marvel Civil War saga, Iron Man can never be in your virtual good books.

Rating: *

Away we go

"Sometimes I wonder if we are fuckups"

Sparked by the impending birth of their child and sudden emigration of Burt's parents to Belgium, the mid-30s something couple decide that they need to get out of their student hut type existence in the wilderness and move to a larger city. And organise their adult lives. 

Burt and Veron embark on a road-trip visiting friends / relatives in different cities hoping to find the ideal model of adulthood to adopt. But they come across alternate philosophies & every day problems of everyday relationships that seem to intimidate them - which enables the couple to meander towards their eventual destination. 

The plot does appear unrealistic, a bit smug, a bit too sweet - but its what I would call a humorous fantasy movie. That said, it was funny, youthfully entertaining and with a lot that one could related to, fuckups that we are.

Rating: * * *

The Runaways

Movies made around rock music generally fall into 3 categories i.e. where : i) there is a real story to tell like the one on Johnny Cash (Walk the line) ii) its all about the music and everything else is swung around it (Almost Famous) and iii) its more like a tribute by a fan to a band and most films of this genre end up in this category. The Runaways definitely belongs to the final group but with the difference that its produced by Joan Jett herself. A few of the band's hits are prominently featured and the story follows the classic rock-band cycle of sex, drugs and rock n roll. And says very little of any note, unless you are a fan of Joan Jett / The Runaways.

Kristen Stewart plays Joan Jett with just one expression and lots of leather pants. It does seem that she is on her way to becoming one of those Hollywood icons; the kind that will always be wanted by producers/directors even though its all about just one expression. However, Dakota Fanning as Cherrie Currie (the lead singer) was a revelation and demonstrating enough substance to become the real deal.

Rating: * *

                          

Manorama Six Feet Under

When a sultry older woman (Sarika) approaches a man to spy on her husband, he can seldom say no. In spite of the husband being the Irrigation minister, Satyaveer Randhawa (Abhay Deol) being suspended from his dead end municipal job,  finds the decision to be a no brainer much to the chagrin of his a nagging wife Nimmi (Gul Panag). Overnight Satyaveer finds himself sucked in to the dirty world of politics filled with hot women and cut throat goondas. 

A modern day Indian film noir that grabs you and never lets go. Much of it is thanks to Mr. Deol who should change his last name ASAP.  I guess it also helped that Satyaveer felt like a character straight out of Murakami novel and direction was akin to his writing. Sarika is back though age is telling on her. Vinay Pathak is brilliant as always as the local cop and Satyaveer's brother-in-law. And of course little needs to be said about Ms. Panag who looks sexy even when being paraded as a boring house wife. Inspired by Chinatown, the film in my opinion holds it own and in many ways more satisfying that its inspiration.

Rating: * * * +

Rudo y Cursi

Toto (Gael García Bernal) dreams of making it big as a singer while picking bananas. His brother Beto (Diego Luna) struts around being the dead end supervisor of the banana ranch. The only thing they are half way good at is kicking a football around. Enter Batuta (Guillermo Francella) the scout master of football talent in Mexican countryside and the two soon find themselves under bright spotlights in Mexico City. Sex, lies and angel dust follows as you are treated to a taunt take on the microcosm of the poor becoming rich overnight.

Rating: * * *

Merry Gentleman

There is nothing merry about the gentleman (Michael Keaton), that Kate (Kelly Macdonald) runs in to on the door step of her apartment. Frank is a glum boring professional killer and she is on the run from an abusive husband. Then there is the overweight detective on the heels of Frank and who has a giant crush on Kate. Predictably the unlikeliest of people bond and unpredictably Keaton's directorial debut keeps you involved even though in the end you wonder if it all was the worth the effort.

Rating: * *

Revanche

Tamara (Irina Potapenko) wanders the screen scantily clothed for most of her part. Her nakedness is comforting for the viewer and her lover, Alex (Johannes Krisch) both of whom are connected to a seedy brothel in Vienna. So when she abruptly disappears from the script, it is a jolt to both. The movie slowly drifts to a beautiful Austrian countryside where Alex's dad lives in run down cabin. Life might be simpler there but Alex's existence gets complicated after interactions with a local cop and his wife. The tangential interactions between the characters is what fuels the movie forward in this stunning study of human nature.

Rating: * * * +

Frontier of Dawn

A film about love and passion between a photographer and two different women. Francios (Louis Garrel) is smitten by Carole (Laura Smet) during a photo shoot and they become fast lovers. As she fades away from his life Eve (Clémentine Poidatz) takes her place. As things progress between the two, the ghost of Carole's love returns to haunt Francios. A very watchable film but at the end of it you are left wondering if it was worth effort of staying in your couch to take it in.

Rating: * *

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Tony Jaa stars and directs in this martial flick that takes you to 15th century  Thailand and the beginning of only God know what. The story is built around Tien (Tony Jaa), a prince who is brought up by outlaws under dubious circumstances who then proceeds to kick a lot of ass after years of outlaw martial art tutelage. But unlike Ong Bak, Jaa goes out of the way to create a plot to fit his mind boggling stunts. The results is  a storyline that is shoe horned in that slides off like mud on a sweaty fighter. Jaa should focus on the ass kicking and leave the rest to someone else.

Rating: *