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A movie and book review blog

  • Reading films, watching books,....
  • Mind candy in the dark
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May 23, 2004

Rabbit-Proof Fence

This time, for a change, the movie is from Down Under. It is a look at the often disregarded piece of Australian history, that of the role of aborigines, how their lives changed in the process to change the bush country of Australia into a civilized world.

From 1917 to 1970, half-caste aborigine children(one of their parents will be an aborigine and the other usually white), were systematically removed from their aboriginal homes and placed under government custody. This was supposed to convert them into civilized human beings who'll speak English and will end up as maids and bell-boys for the ruling class(read glorified slaves). The story follows the escape of three little girls, forcefully taken away from their mothers and placed in a government camp.

The girls make their escape from the government camp on a rainy night and the story follows their trail 1500 miles across the bush country to their homes and mothers. Its a true story, written by Doris Pilkington, who is the daughter of one of three girls(Molly Craig) who makes this historic and unbelievable flight to freedom. Directed by Philip Noyce, this movie is a tribute to the struggle of, what is termed as the Stolen Generations of Australia.

(p.s: if you like this movie check out movies in a similar vein, like Skins and Smoke Signals about native Americans made by acclaimed director - Chris Eyre)

May 22, 2004

A.R.Rahman is the best thing that happened to Indian movies in last 20-30 years or so. Oh God, what was it like in those days without the maestro, Rahman, can't believe I lived through them! And Tamil movie industry, is the massive juggernaut that rolls through the ancient relics which dictates the like of the rest of Indian movie industry and clears a path for things new, contemporary and exciting. Hats off to them.

Boys, is the latest offering from Tamil movie industry which takes on contemporary issues like dating, MTV, the youth culture and doesn't try to gloss it over with an overdose of 'Indian cultural values'. Ofcourse, the selling point of Boys is its music, composed by A.R.Rahman. I liked all the songs and they are very contextual, unlike most Hindi movies which takes off on a song and dance routine which usually will have no connection with main story line. Man, I am totally sold out on Boys, go watch and rate it yourself.

Finding Nemo

Disappointed. After Shrek and Monsters Inc. the other famous animated movies I had great expectations for Nemo, add to the fact that our library never seemed to have a copy of Nemo it was always in circulation. The dialogs are very contemporary American, which makes me feel whether those viewers outside US be able to get the gist of the ideas implied. Its seems to be a family movie, intended to make children take the right route to adulthood.

May 20, 2004

Anger Management 

Anger Management, it got on my nerves as much Jack Nicholson was getting on the nerves of Adam Sandler in the film. Sandler came off as a perfectly normal guy who was being sent off to an a 30 day anger management session with a wacho shrink, played by Nicholson. Ok, in the end we find out the whole thing was a set up, but the reason of this set-up was that Adam Sandler was not normal, he was edgy. For me he seemed perfectly normal right from the start who had to undergo this horrible experience to correct himself?!?!!?

May 17, 2004

Spring Forward 

Its two men talking set inside a visual poem. The movie starts in Spring in Connecticut, when Paul(Liev Schrieber)comes to work at the local park system. His partner is Murph(Ned Beatty), a wizened old man. The movie goes forward thru' season along the conversations of these two men as Paul, an ex-convict tries to fall in with the system and Murph. The camera has captured the bounty of seasons in the fullest degree, there are lots of right-on philosophical dialogs. It was a slow moving film, I felt like I should take it like a vitamin pill 5-10 minutes daily, small snippets to drive life the right way.

May 8, 2004

The Navigators 

It was Ken Loach's film Sweet Sixteen which made me look for more Loach movies at the library. Landed on this one, made a year previous, The Navigators centers on the railroad at Yorkshire. The socialist director in Loach had this time taken upon the privatization of Bristish Rail in 1995.

It is satirical, at the same time poignant and touching, peopled with real men trying to hang on to the only job they know how to do. The one thing I regret is the lack of subtitles in the DVD I was watching which meant that there were some gaps in my understading of the film since I couldn't follow their accent properly. Like any Ken Loach movie this one is also a fine portrayal of life as we live it - not very rosy.

The Spanish Prisoner 

I took David Mamet's Spanish Prisoner from the library thinking that I had not seen it before, turns out that I had, but except for a few scenes I couldn't recall anything, not the plot or the story. That was good because Spanish Prisoner turned out to be quite an intriguing entertainer. The plot thickens at every new scene and you are caught up in the mystery. It stars Campbell Scott as the hero and for a change, Steve Martin as the villian. David Mamet's wife Rebecca Pidgeon also has an interesting role in the film. Worth watching if you haven't seen it or have turned amnesiac like me.

May 7, 2004

  • 5/07/2004 04:15:00 PM
Finished reading the book a few minutes before I started to watch the film of the same name written by Laura Esquivel and directed by Alfonso Arau. A treat for the senses, don't blame me you are overcome by a sudden urge to create culinary wonders.

Every chapter in the book starts with a recipe, an ethereal one at that, you wish you could atleast see how they'd look like once they are done. Watching the movie right after reading the book afforded me the simple pleasure of seeing how those wonderful recipes looked like in real life, although second best only to tasting them ourselves. It is a love story of Tita and Pedro, their troubles and turmoils and their final union after 22 years during which had taken place a marriage for Pedro and an engagement for Tita among other things. The book and the movie is an excellent primer for those who want to explore the "mystic realism" of Latin American writers.

May 6, 2004

  • 5/06/2004 10:32:00 PM
Envy was the last movie I saw in theater, the first weekend we came from the trip and struck by an irresistable urge to go to a movie hall we zeroed in on envy. It seemed promising starring two actors we like, Jack Black and Ben Stiller. Can't say much about the movie. Jack Black's role is not what could be termed as comical and Stiller's role is downright serious. A movie for a lazy afternoon, maybe not worth buying tickets, better rent the dvd/video when it comes out.

May 5, 2004

  • 5/05/2004 09:42:00 AM
Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy together in a movie written by Steve Martin himself, it has to be funny. Steve Martin is the owner/producer/director incharge of Bowfinger films who is trying to make a film with the actor Kit Ramsey, played by Eddie Murphy. The problem is Kit Ramsey doesn't know that he's in the film! How Martin and his mismatched bunch of helpers go about shooting this film something of the innovative. And man, Eddie Murphy could really act, this is the first time I am givng him his due credits.

May 4, 2004

  • 5/04/2004 02:08:00 PM
Thank God that Sharukh Khan had to decline the title role as he had to go to London for his back surgery and it came to Sanjay Dutt instead. The role fits Dutt like a custom-made glove and he's at his brilliant best as the Mumbai-don turned medical student Munna Bhai.

If you have lived in Mumbai, you'll certainly appreciate the rawness and the comedy of the film. There is not much forced tickling comedy, rather its the dialogues that make you chuckle over time. Arshad Warsi as Munnabhai's side kick Circuit is at times better than Munnabhai himself. Although there is some melodrama in the film, it is excusable for the rest of the film makes up for it. The success of the movie rides on the fact that all the characters are believable and gels well with the story.One of the funniest movies to come out of Bollywood in the recent times.

May 3, 2004

  • 5/03/2004 01:55:00 AM
From the story by Alan Silitoe, Loneliness... is about the story about a rebellious and angry youngman who is sent to Borstal school after he's caught stealing from a bakery. Tom Courtney, as the rebellious hero, Colin Smith gives a commandable performance. This is a movie against the system or a person's statement against the system and how he wins by losing the race. This cinematic poem by Tony Richardson, picturised in dreary grey Nottingham, asserts itself from the opening shot itself and is touted to be one of the best British films ever.

May 1, 2004

  • 5/01/2004 04:03:00 PM
This French-Canadian film by Denis Villeneuve is said to have won many awards. It starts with a fish, on the cutting table, which is just about to be cut and packed into cans divulging some of the great philosophies of life by telling us the story of a young woman. Water or shades of water is the predominant color theme of the film. It reminds me of the Kiezlowski films, Blue or was it White? There is too much stress on making it artsy and thereby unco-ordinated. Too much co-incidences and plots linked to plots thru' some random and seemingly senseless incidents at the time, but which are shown connected later on. Hmm... Iam getting confused already.
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