Sep 28, 2005

AIFF 2005: Ellektra

A weird movie with a weirder set of character and their travails. The one thing that stood out though was the cinematography and the slick editing.

Score - 3.6/5

AIFF 2005: Mirage (Ilusija)

A beautiful, well narrated and well shot film by the young Macedonian director, Svetozar Ristovski. The protagonist of the film is a 10-11 year old young boy fighting his own way in to life in the newly liberated former Yugoslavian province of Macedonia.

Like the new country, struggling to find its place, with hopes of a better future maybe in a faroff time, Marko - his hopes, ambitions and tribulations is a representative of his people.Incredible performance by the young boy who played Marko aided by a superb script.

Score - 4.3/5

AIFF 2005: Araguaya

Araguaya - A Conspiracy of Silence, the Brazilian film directed by Ronaldo Duque tells the story of the leftist uprising in the late sixties and seventies in the poor impoverished villages of Amazon Delta from the perspective of a French priest. The rebels are young city bred intellectuals who take up guns and live amongst the villagers while planning an uprising against the ruling military junta at the time.

Score - 4.1/5

AIFF 2005: Trona

Another movie about a dude bored out of his life in present day USA, who finds himself in the middle of a desert one fine day. His interactions with the locals and the views he takes in form the background of the movie.

Score - 3.9/5

AIFF 2005: Eighteen

Pip is a teenager who leaves home after an accident(caused by inadvertently by his own father) causes the death of his gay brother. On his eighteenth birthday he gets an audio cassette from his now-deceased grandfather describing his WW2 memoirs, himself a teenager of eighteen at the time. It is like parallel stories in two different war zones - one is a world war that changed the course of the world and the life of his grandfather and the other is Pip's lone battle, his experiences as a street kid finding a way out in the urban jungle of contemporary life.

Score - 3.5/5

Station agent

An interesting indie from Thomas McCarthy. The protagonist in the movie is a dwarf, played by Peter Dinklage, who is a loner with a passion for trains. He moves to a train station in rural New Jersey left to him by his best friend when he dies.

Moving in, to the train station, some other people come in to his life, who are as lonely as he is, with their own personal troubles and losses. The dialog is natural, free flowing and unintentionally witty. The photography is unassuming, yet speaks stories through the shots and the three characters - that of Peter Dinklage, then the Cuban American hot dog vender, all lively and chatty played by Bobby Cannavale and the lonely divorcee played by Patricia Clarkson are perfect for their parts. Human and touching without being over the top sentimental - it is a movie about ordinary lives shot in ordinary light.

AIFF 2005: Bitter Dream(Iran)

Khab'e Talkh (Bitter Dream)is a contemporary Iranian film directed by Mohsen Amiryoosefi which deals with the black comedy of death through the final days of a grave keeper, Esfandiar, in the historic Iranian town of Sadeh. It's out of the box subject, where a keeper and preserver of the dead bodies become concerned about his own death in his final days is both comic and meaningful in a mortal sense. The film also provides a glimpse in to the Islamic traditions of death and burial in Iran and the social interactions in their society. Starting off like a documentary with a TV camera crew, the film unfolds in a slow but steady pace and is taut throughout.

Score - 4.2/5

Spike Lee's films are a breath fresh air - usually about 'brothers' with a capital B. An African American director turning his camera on his own community and culture is indeed refreshing in the same way Chris Eyre does through his films for Native Americans.

Most of the movie is shot inside the bus, but that does not restrict its scope - analyzing a wide range of issues confronted by the present day African American society, like gangs of SouthCentral LA, homosexuality, Republicans vs Democrats, crime and punishment, so on and so forth. It has a surefire script that can give valuble material for quotes and bumper stickers and some pretty good charecterization.

AIFF 2005: Far Side of the Moon

Far Side of the Moon is a film by the French-Canadian director Robert LePage about the influences on growing up in the age of the space-race, 1950,60s & early 70s and the relationship between two siblings, now in the forties. Their mother's death(obviously a suicide) is the incident that brings the two brothers in to a single frame. The film is peppered by small but observant nuances on ordinary life, like the comment about gays having it all, ("but like most gays I know he's carefree, rich and lucky")the scenes at the gym and the visual language used by the director is intriguing.

Score - 4.1/5

AIFF 2005: Dr.Ravi and Mr.Hyde

A comedy about an Indian(not as in Native American)physician with a good practice in Pittusburg, afflicted with a mid-life crisis which in his case manifests as a wild dream of making a movie. The film pretty much follows how the doctor tries to achieve his dream.

Score - 3.2/5

AIFF 2005: The Coat Room

About a guy bored out of his life who takes a up a job in the coatroom of Philadelphia Mueseum of Art, where his collegue, the daring Miss.Claire with her pluck and sarcascm breathes a new life in to our hero.

Score - 3.3/5

AIFF 2005: Erosion

An interesting movie from Ann Lu, where the protagonist engages in the risque experiments of living other people's lives as his realizes his own life as he knew it is slipping away from him. Erotic, intense and engrossing at the same time, the film is technically tight and has succeeded in bringing out memorable performances from its actors.

Score - 4.1/5

AIFF 2005: Flowers

From director Jeff Woods, a human essay on the great divide between the college dream and the reality after graduation. Jeremy is a recent law graduate who plans to start his own law firm sometime in the future, but for the time being he earns his bread working in a flower shop.

Score - 3.9/5

AIFF 2005: After Roberto

Visually compelling film set in the historic cities of Italy like Genoa, Pisa and Venice, especially when seen through an architect turned director's eye it is indeed a feast, especially when you are an architect yourself and the camera pans to the exact spots in the landscape you want to look. Louis Fusco, the director himself plays the part of the main character who is being pursued in a physical and metaphysical level.

Score - 3.9/5

AIFF 2005: Land of Milk & Honey

A bizarre comedy about mothers trying to murder their own kids after having genetically altered cow's milk. Under the guise of a darl comedy it also takes on contemporary relevant issues like genetic research, motherhood etc.

Score - 2.7/5

AIFF 2005: Lacklustre Syndrome

A lackluster movie.

Score - 2.2/5

AIFF 2005: When Do We Eat

A family reunion on a Jewish Passover which turns awry when the patriarch is slipped a dose of ecstacy by his young son. An interesting look at the dynamics of large families in a cliched setting of a family holiday.

Score - 3.3/5

AIFF 2005: In Memory of My Father

I started watching it thinking it was a documentary, realized it was not after the film ended. It definitely is very real to life with the its hand held camera, the story and the actors. But the film didn't sit well with me because of its I-Me-Myself perspective, my cultural alienation from the story made it harder for me to understand what it was all about - except an hour and a half of dramatic self indulgence.

Score - 2.8/5

AIFF 2005: Navarasa

Directed by acclaimed Indian cinematographer Santosh Sivan, Navarasa(or Nine Emotions) looks in to the back of beyond - to a third gender, not recognized by Indian society. I do not know whether we should call them transvestites in Western way, they themselves have christened themselves Aravanis taking cue from a story in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata.

The movie is more of docudrama than a feature film, with a story woven to its edges maybe in an attempt to humanize it and make it more interesting.

Score - 3.8/5

AIFF 2005: Kaadhal(India)

The film opens with a Tamil folk song providing background to the moving images of everyday life in the South Indian temple city of Madurai.

The theme of the film has been the lifeline of Indian film makers since the dawn of the industry - love. The difference here is, the story is based on a true story and is shot in a true-to-life manner. The camera as well as the script(although if you are dependent on subtitles some of the essence of the script is lost.) is above par. I think the movie is a commercial release but the finesse of the film makes it a class apart.

Score - 4.3/5

True Crime

A film from Clint Eastwood, a Hollywood persona who I've no qualms about placing in my personal pantheon. An innocent on deathrow and an aging casanova news reporter is the only one who has some clues about his innocence. Will he be saved or won't he? It is a tight film, in usual Eastwood style and is guaranteed to keep you at the edge of your seats till the end. Good one.

Sideways

stromboli

Stromboli

Ingrid Bergman is one of my favorite actresses from the yesteryear. Directed by Roberto Rossellini, a great director of neorealist cinema, the then-paramour of Bergman and the father of her illegitimate child(later he married her), this film was overlooked and thrashed by the critics not for its lack of quality but because of the illicit affair between the director and the lead actress. The affair almost ended Bergman's career in Hollywood, before she resurfaced six years later with a major hit.

Back to Stromboli, the title is the name of one of the most active volcanoes on earth, situated on one of the Aeolian Islands of Italy. I think the film was made there as well. It is the story of a young woman(played by Bergman), a foreigner and a war refugee who gets married to an Italian man and sets up home at his village in Stromboli.The clash of cultures is apparent from the start, the villagers don't like the new bride and she, in turn despises the claustrophobic nature of the island community.

A natural film, probably because it was originally made in italian and not exactly tailormade for Hollywood, Stromboli is a cultural and cinematic education for the viewer.

shattered glass

Shattered Glass

Another brilliant underrated film. Directed by Billy Ray, Shattered Glass is the real life story of a reporter, Stephen Glass who worked for The New Republic Magazine in Washington DC in the late nineties. His fall from grace after being the whizkid of the newsteam has been perfectly reproduced in the movie. The script credits go to the director, Billy Ray himself. Together with some classy performances by Hayden Christensen(as Glass) and Peter Sarsgaard as editor Chuck Lane, Shattered Glass is worth a watch for people who like serious cinema.

Mumbai Express

One thing you have to give to Kamal Hassan as a writer-producer is, he chooses novel themes for his movies, right from Apoorva Sahodarngal, Kuruthi Punal, Nala Damayanti to this most recent - Mumbai Express.

Mumbai Express is the story of a guy who rides motorbike in the 'Well of Death', (you know the circus act where a person rides a motorbike along the walls of a deep well like construction)and his nickname in the profession is Mumbai Express and this character is played by who else but Kamal Hassan in the movie, afterall he is the producer.

It is a comedy caper about a heist planned by three guys and one of them is hospitalized a day prior to heist Mumbai Express is called in to take his place. The story goes from there. Vijay Raaz(he is such a natural actor), Om Puri, Manisha Koirala (btw I forgot to say, I saw the Hindi version, Tamil version has different actors.) and other actors in their supporting roles are at their comic best, all credits to Kamal Hassan's story and script, although Saurabh Shukla did the Hindi dialogs the gist of the script came from Kamal, I think.

The only problem (found in all Kamal Hassan movies) is Kamal tries to become the good samaritan and the invincible hero in all his movies, but then when doles our the dough it'll be that way, right. Come to think of it, that's what superstars in commercial Indian movie industry are supposed to do, that's what the junta wants to see.

Imaginary Heroes

Still waters run deep - so does serious cinema, Imaginary Heroes is one such film. The suicide of the star swimmer, the much adored elder son sends a suburban American family crumbling, there are unspoked secrets waiting to burst out and loyalties are under scrutiny.

Directed by Dan Harris, Imaginary Heroes is about ordinary people, the Travis family, in the wake of a tragedy. But I'd say the movie belongs to Emile Hirsch, who plays the younger son of the Travis family, the about-to-graduate-from-high school, Tim Travis. Hirsch lives and breathes as Tim throughout the film, a commendable performance. As disenchanted parents, Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels are good in their roles too. A dark film about the darker shades of family.

Employee of the Month

An unexpected surprise, a twist to the tale which came out from the blue. It is the movie in which the story shows us only what we should see and hides other important bits of information till the end to facilitate a ninety degree turn in the plot.

Matt Dillon plays a bank employee who gets fired from his job and on the same day his fiance, played by Christina Applegate breaks off their engagement. Thats all I am going to tell about the story and the story hasn't even started here! Steve Zahn has the role of Dillon's longtime buddy, as the wacko, Jack who steal stuff from corpses. The movie has a dark sense of humor and is totally unpredictable. From director, Mitch Rouse, this is an underrated, overlooked, real cool flick which came out in 2004, but no one seemed to have noticed it.

Bloom

Wish I had read the Ulysses before I saw this film. Though it does not seem like it is an easy task. Touted to be one of the best works in literature, it is said that only a few people have finished the book.

Bloom is a cinematic adaptation of Ulysses, a labor of love that took more than a decade for fruition, for director Sean Walsh. The story progresses primarily through the voice-overs of its main characters, which is Mr.Bloom, Mrs.Bloom and the young Mr.Dedalus. Stephen Rea and Angeline Ball carries the film on their shoulders with their solid performances. The camera, especially the outdoor shots are a tribute to the emerald isles of Ireland but can't say the same for indoor lighting though.

The story is slow moving, there are some inspiring poetic verses, but it was difficult to connect with the costume drama sequences which came somewhere in the middle of the movie. Or maybe I should reserve my judgements till I read the original Joyce's creation.

Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam

Padam Onnu: Oru Vilapam is the malayalam title of the film directed by T.V.Chandran. A thought provoking movie about the travails of young Muslim girls in rural Kerala, Padam Onnu centers around the life of Shahina, the fifteen year old protagonist played to perfection by Meera Jasmine.

This is one of those movies that will exhort you to take action against the unjustices of society, the under-age marriage of young Muslim girls to men twice or thrice their age who already have a bevy of legal wives at home. This film has won a many national(India) and international awards and for a pretty good reason too.

bonfire_of_vanities

Bonfire of Vanities

Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith in this Brian De Palma caper about greed, lust and vanity in and around Wall Street and Manhattan. Loved the flick, it was entertaining, had a good story, some interesting characters and a neat narrative style.

The only Tom Wolfe book I have read is non-fiction, called From Bauhaus to Our House. With its incediary take on the architectural icons of twentieth century that book provided quite some entertainment for the architect in me. This film makes me want to check out some of Mr.Wolfe's novels.

Snehithan

Parinita

All Or Nothing

A gritty take on real life with achingly real life characters. It is impossible to believe that the characters in the film were played by paid actors, they looked unbelievably real.

Directed by Mike Leigh(Dir:Vera Drake)the film looks at the beaten down lives of a few families in a South London housing complex. In the second half the film focuses its attention on one particular family. It is gray and depressing to watch but towards the end a bit of sun shines through.

Sathyam

Directed by Vinayan, this Malayalam movie stars Prithviraj as the hero turned police officer. Although movie starts off in the same lines as an earlier Malayalam blockbuster Kireedom which starred Mohanlal, in Sathyam, Prithviraj is not the kind of hero who'll be bullied down by circumstances. A 'not bad' masala movie of the recent past.

Hitch

Hitch had a really long run at the local movie hall we frequent. This fooled us in to thinking that it must be a fun movie. I had high hopes because of Will Smith, being an old fan of his from the days of The Fresh Prince.

Unless you are a hardcore romantic(which I am not by eons), don't fall for Hitch. The only redeeming factor this movie has(if it has any) is Kevin James who plays Albert who is one of Hitch(Will Smith)'s clients. I also suggest that if the animation flick The Incredibles ever be remade with real human being actors, then Kevin James be cast as Mr.Incredible. Back to Hitch, I realize maybe I am just not the Andy Tennant(the director of Hitch) type, 'cause I hadn't liked his previous film - Sweet Home Alabama much either, despite its good run at the box office.

Crash

Shijie(The World-China)

Days in the life of amusement park employees in China. An informative portrayal of modern China and its people.

50FirstDates

50 First Dates

An easygoing romance, this film has Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as lovers in Hawaii. Some jokes are hilarious and then there is Rob Schneider, just in case you feel a lack of comedy anywhere. I liked the lines of the old Hawaiin(or china man?)man at the restaurant in some of the opening scenes.

Adam Sandler is cool, I don't usually like his roles in all his movies, but the last one I saw before this - Spanglish, he did a neat job. This one although not different from the usual Sandler roles is okay too. Drew Barrymore suffers short term memory loss and that is the whole premise the movie is built upon. She is a natural, both at ease with romance and comedy. All in all - an easy on the eyes Sandler-chick flick.

It All Starts Today

French movies bore me with their length and their lack of dialog for minutes at a time. As one of my friends put it, I have bought myself in to the Hollywood culture, maybe I have.

This French movie starring Philippe Torreton as a kindergarten teacher is long by Hollywood standards but has ample conversation. It is the story of an ordinary everyday man who sometimes fails, sometimes triumphs trying to fight for the good cause in the midst of a failing economy and wretched cirumstances. It is like a piece of life presented before an audience without any makeup.

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True Crime

Jul 7, 2005

Jun 29, 2005

Stromboli

Jun 27, 2005

Shattered Glass

Jun 24, 2005

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Bonfire of Vanities

Jun 12, 2005

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