Sunday, April 16, 2023

Joyland

There are so many stills from this movie that are so beautiful. I loved that scene in Joyland when the two sisters in law are on the joyride. On the other side, Haider is helping Biba perform through a power cut with mobile-phone lights in a more 'Western Dance'. And Mumtaz was just such an adorable character in her loose-fitting suits, that pride in having done the bride's make-up in the face of 'class- derision' in the dark with also, mobile phone lights. I also found the scene when the old neighboring lady offering to stay back and the idiotic old man said 'Haider aapko Ghar chhod dega' very heartbreaking. Such a beautiful movie. 
I loved the power of Biba, especially when she confronts her dancing gang of men- it's sheer power. So boldly, beautifully enacted, almost really real. Mumtaz's suicide is so beautifully shot- the shared space in the toilet, the conversation about the cake, the hug and love and yet Haider never noticing she was killing herself. Similarly powerful was the angry outburst by Nucchi after Mumtaz's death defending her. 
Another cute scene- when the little girls keep trying to go to the toilet with Mumtaz inside because they lost their jugnu! 
Haider was a little too subtle?

Saturday, April 15, 2023

The Wonder

Saw it on Netflix, this Saturday. It starts wonderfully about showing you that it's a story being created on a movie set. The story is lovely, the acting super compelling- the nurse, Anna, her family, the doctor, the journalist. The nurse is an interesting character. The story was hard to predict. Beautiful landscapes, and it finally also ends up being a story on a movie set. Narrated by the sister who couldn't read well. 

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Everything Everywhere all at once

We saw it in Le City, Geneva on 26.03.2023 in the afternoon. It's a bold movie. Super complex 'interdimensional stuff' that could look perfectly stupid but it kept me engaged. Most of the story was a bit saccharine and predictable and the humour too American for my liking, but it was engaging. Also the interdimensional stuff was shot and sounded very good. The music is also ambitious- Chinese opera with rock and pop. Michelle Yeoh proves she's been deserving an Oscar forever. Some of the stuff about how we are constantly distracted by the possibilities of what could be was precious. 

Monday, December 26, 2022

Modern Love Mumbai Episode 1

I liked Modern Love Hyderabad, so I thought this should be nice too. And this lovely little story of a Kashmiri couple who live together in Mumbai before the man gets bored and leaves the lovely woman who says the most cute Kashmiri Gaalis- Paye Trath and Shikaslad. It's a bit of a post-modern outlook, but it's quite lovely. I like the analogy of biking up the flyover. And once she crosses that. The juxtaposition with the couple at who's home Kali works at who are also getting separated could have been better. The couple look like a caricature, maybe it was deliberate, but it was a little demeaning to their hurt and pain. I also liked how she finally goes with her bicycle on the Sea-Link Road. It's for everyone!
Overall, it's a sweet little episode. The modern art stuff from where she borrows paint for her bicycle and finally the painting on her roof are a little out of place, but then that is life in Mumbai. 
Apparently the actress' mother is a Kashmiri, it's impossibly hard to get that Kashmiri accent otherwise. 

Monday, October 24, 2022

Wrath of Man

Very simple story- don't kill my son. But beautifully executed. H is a rich bad guy who's son gets killed when H was doing some odd jobs he wouldn't do as the Boss man. What follows is a few months of multiple homicides. It gets more and more violent until H realises he has to step into the shoes of the victim of the crime where his son was murdered to find his killers because they will strike again. So he becomes a security officer who guards cash vehicles. And of course with his taste in violence he easily wows his colleagues. Waits and soon enough the ex-US army sergeants who are just sitting around twiddling their thumbs in odd jobs strike again, harder. Most of them die, and finally when H finds the bad guy, so does he after reading aloud his son's autopsy report. 

Very gory, but very cleanly executed. Brother has definitely developed a thing for Guy Ritchie movies it seems 

The Gentlemen

Seen with Toots at home. Very nice. I would have also not recognised that Fletcher was High Grant unless he would have told me. Matthew McConaughey was gorgeous as Mickey and Colin Farell was just beautiful as the neighborhood Coach for the poor, disadvantaged kids. I think his character was perhaps the most unique. The others- Raymond shines only when he needs to, when he goes to fetch the young girl. The Cantonese Lord George was also an interesting character, very intense as he sat watching his only vice- horse racing in HK. Good movie, not overtly violent but very rough language.

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Tolkien


Saw on TV in Geneve. A biopic about Tolkien- I didn't know a lot about him- that he was an orphan, lived in Africa as a child, studied and taught at Oxford. But the movie overall was just a romantic saga of the lives of four young British men. It points out Tolkien's genius in his reading of Chaucer, but the rest of the story just seemed like another maudlin depiction of the lives of young men in war. 

 

Monday, August 31, 2020

Adaptation

I don't like Nicolas Cage, thankfully in this movie he did a spectacular job. Ditto Mary Streep- I dont like her but she was good here. He plays himself and his identical and very different twin- both of them screenwriters. The context of the guy who keeps moving on to different passions and the book writer who tries to keep pace with him and live the same passions voyeuristically. Its a lovely little complex story- very hard to tell what really happens and what was a 'hollywood story'. I liked the excitement and disappointment of the writer as she is looking for the rare orchid in the swamp with him. What else did I like- how real Nicolas Cage looked as a balding pudgy man who wasn't sure of himself. 

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Wind Rises

This was the second Studio Ghibli we saw in two days. I feel lighter, really. The movie is about the highly inspired Jiro Horikoshi who is told by his dreamed-up mentor Giovanni Caproni that 'Inspiration unlocks the future, technology will catch up'. Its amazing how real the animated characters felt- the little boss, the cheerful bigger boss, the friend who pointed out ironies like you need to marry to work and Jiro's sister who is always lovingly annoyed with him. In the beginning of the movie the portrayal of the earthquake is so beautiful- it looks like the earth was like a rug that was lifted up to dust and flapped in the wind. The sound effects that accompany the fire are fierce and the colors are flagrant. All of the rest of the movie is beautiful, lovingly and painstakingly made landscapes. I read and noticed from a review that while the Mitsubishi company's inventions caused so much bloodshed, the only scene of blood in the movie is when Nahoko coughs up blood so very 'artistically' on her painting. In a previous scene, Jiro had warned her that her painting was getting wet as they battle the rain in a battered umbrella. Nahoko seems to have been in no hurry- it was a beautiful little moment under the umbrella with their legs soaked. There was something about the way Miyazaki drew the German man's eyes as he paints the backdrop of the Magic Mountain after having sung 'Nur Einmal' that was almost haunting. The backdrop of poverty, urban migration was a little under stitched to Miyazaki's perspective in my opinion.  

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Yeh Ballet

Nice movie seen in a few weeks after seeing Gully Boy. I found this to be much more better as it had real ballet dancing talent, the actors are much fresher and it covered many more contemporary issues than Gully Boy. I specifically liked the portrayal of the decline in the fishing industry because of the sea-link very well done. Both the boys families had very good stories- the taxi driver and the reluctant father. The depiction of 'single young men with limited assets not getting a Visa's was also very realistic. Nice movie. Could have had better music. 

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Trumbo

Monday, April 18, 2016

Bridge of Spies


Seen in Geneva. It's a good movie- even better than Tom Hanks is perhaps Mark Rylance as the Soviet spy. A spy-trade happens, and Tom Hanks becomes an unlikely hero. It is a good movie- but not amongst the best definitely. What I somehow remember the most is Abel and Donovan's 'would it help if I were worried' scenes. Abel being roused out of bed in his American prison and then flown to Germany. Strangely: Abel is never tortured or even interrogated in the US while his counterpart swap the American student and the U2 pilot are well, quite harassed by their captors- the East Germans and the Russians. Now, isn't that funny? ;)

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Black Mass


Seen in Geneva. It is refreshing to see Depp with lesser make-up. But hey, what was happening in this movie? Except the fact that it was based on a true story- it was just a lot of action, a lot of Johnny Depp's slick hair and fake blue eyes and too less of Cumberbatch. I also found the guy who played John Connolly quite irritating.There was some actual lack of cohesion in the story telling too.
Watch it for Depp. He genuinely terrifies you- it is a mesmerizing performance. 

Friday, May 1, 2015

The Song of Sparrows


Seen at home in Chandigarh alone before Mum threw away the DVD which I don't remember where we bought. Karim's beautiful story of accidents, hopes and possibilities. The constant in all this is his love for his family- his beautiful wife and his lovely children. There is such beautiful cinematography- some scenes stick to you like when he walks to the well to find the children have completely refurbished it for their fish enterprise, the scene of him carrying the blue door back home, his son Hussein buying him orange juice at the hospital, the children running to deliver the flowerpots and the scene of the ostrich fluffing its feathers in the end. The lovely songs in the midst of the movie make the lovely scenes even more real. Majid Majidi made a beautiful movie.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Fury



Seen back to back with Gone Girl in Hyderabad- IMAX. If it weren't for Brad Pitt playing the biggest war-daddy ever- it would have been a better movie. But wait- that's all that happens in the movie! Nothing else- the historical backdrop is scarce, the dialogues are nothing to write home about, the story doesn't exist, the characters wafer thin. If it was about a soldier's inner traumas, camaraderie between soldiers - well, I am sure much better movies exist.
I mean- what would the world had missed had Fury not been made?

Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Great Beauty


Seen solo- at home. What I will remember about this movie- Jep, his creased face, his hair worn swept back, his cool demeanor as he realises he has no time in life for things he doesnt want to do anymore, as he strips bare artists and indulges, but never writes. That beautiful rooftop and Jep's relationship with his housekeeper. There are crazy images, beautiful, shocking, serene- it is a visual parade. The illusion of the giraffe disappearing and then his friend leaving Rome.
I don't want to answer what was the Great beauty he was seeking and never found. Let me find mine, 

I also want to remember how Jep decided he has no time in life for things he doesn't want to do anymore- like see pictures of a woman he just slept with. There is no more time, Knowing it has taken enough time already.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

A Merry War


Image from wikipedia.

I was out to download the movie version of 1984 and found the movie adaptation of ' Keep the Apisdistra flying' instead. I haven't read the book. And I only just finished reading 'Down and Out in Paris and London'- so I am not reading it for awhile either. 
It has Helena Bonham Carter looking so young and so different. The story is adapted from the book I understand. I can't help but feel that the book was more squalid and sad than the movie, especially the end- I would consider Comstock's return to 'middle class life' as a defeat- it is very cheery in the movie though.
Not the best movie. Nope. Not the best Orwell's writing either.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Life of Pi



What I remember about the movie now-in retrospect- is the lovely Tamil lullaby at the beginning. The mangrove island with the meerkats- the book was illustrative, but seeing it in the movie was a different dimension...
The bad parts- Why Tabu wasn't acting at all? Why the movie makers thought that the bit about Pi turning blind and meeting another boat, such an important part of the bit wasn't 'movie worthy'? Also why wasn't Richard Parker as handsome an animal as say, Aslan? 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

My sweet orange tree


I saw this movie in the Lido cinema in Bangkok- alone. And there weren't more than 15 people in the movie hall. It is a beautiful emotional movie,a bit too saccharine at times though. The visuals are excellent. The actors especially the kids are excellent. Zeze's sister and Zeze are the real stars of course. The portrayal of the child's suffering after Portuga dies is really heart-rendering. I chose this still from the movie as a picture for this post- this was my favorite part for the movie- Zeze taking Portuga to his 'zoo'- also I loved their airplane.
My sweet orange tree made me feel like how I felt after reading Boyhood by Coetzee- that unless I recreate it- I don't think I lived it.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Great Gatsby


So, of course I had loved The Great Gatsby when I read it. Before I went to see the movie I knew one of my best friend (whose taste in general I admire) loved it. And also, it has Decaprio, who can do a good job.
So we go and find some terrible music but quite a good movie. Good screenplay, dialogues chosen out of the book, not too many twists to the original story and as silent in it's message as the book. I think this was the winning stroke for the movie- it did not dictate any opinion, just like the book. Some people might just go and come back with the idea that it was a tragic story of a rich guy.
And they can live with that, while I will continue to admire Gatsby and Decaprio, even more now.

The Lone Ranger


This was the last movie we saw together in Delhi, for awhile at least.I quite liked it- I haven't seen many 'westerns' so I didn't quite have a reference frame. And what a relief that is at times. 
The 'fantastic scenes' are fantastic. Depp is very good and brings a lot of sensitivity to the movie apart from his usual charm for which he earns the big bucks. What would Hollywood do without Depp, sometimes I really wonder.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Chungking Express



I recently saw this movie again on a Sunday afternoon. And what a beautiful afternoon it became. Wong Kar Wai has done a brilliant job here. Meshing two stories about policemen waiting for their women and new things happening. What I like about the first movie- the fact that she always wears a raincoat and sunglasses- and her blonde hair. And the lovely pineapple can tale. The second story- everything- Faye Wong is the most beautiful woman possible and Tony Leung looks so good for the part too. I love cop 663's conversations with his towels, his soap. Faye playing around in his flat. What can you not love about this movie.
And the music- Cranberrry's Cantonese Dreams and California Dreamin' and the opening music.
And the juxtaposing of Chungking Mansion and Midnight Express.
Definitely, amongst my most favorite movies of all times.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Up in the Air


There are two angles to this movie; One, the corporate high-flyer lifestyle: “To know me is to fly with me,” Ryan Bingham, George Clooney's character says in the film, like an airborne Descartes. The excellent routine of packing into a non-routined life. The apparent fringe of gathering points for everything you do- and to label it as 'loyalty'.The empty apartment 'home' and the occasional neighbor fuck. For Ryan, the relationship with Alex is a reality because the flights and the hotels and the hotel lounges is his reality, while for Alex he is a 'parenthesis' , a state between her realities.

The other angle is the social impact of the American financial crisis. The 'pink slip' days. And how some people can always benefit in the other's crisis. The way people faced the reality of their mortgaged lives with no job.

I saw the movie again yesterday, months after the first time and decided that I was right, this is a very good movie. To add to it's excellently framed elements is the timing when it was released. It does its social duty- it speaks for its time.

Skyfall


Why do you watch a Bond movie? I well, watch it because everybody watches them. I am no serious Bond fan.
The movie is entertaining, I loved Adele's soundtrack of course and watching this Bond movie I realised all soundtracks have been sung by women. The movie maynot have any severe novelty to offer to the real Bond fan, but I was entertained. The Scottish landscape is very pretty. Bond himself, looked good. I just didn't get the part in the end with Bond shedding tears for M. Nope.

Friday, December 14, 2012

In the mood for love


This is perhaps the most elegant couple on screen ever. I am going to list all the elegant things about the movie which have been praised by many, but here goes- the little apartment space they share, the scenes where they lock their respective doors, enquire about each other, her walking to buy noodles in the rain, the landlady's counsel, their excellent attire, the way they rehearse the same lines again and again with even more effect each time, the curtains in the hotel, the 'quizas, quizas, quizas' song amongst all the other music.What is there not to like about this movie?

Raise the Red Lantern


A breathtaking take on a part of the female society in 1920s China. Beneath the opulent wealth of their surroundings the four wives vie for the attention of the master like flies swarming around a light. Their lives are mostly concentrated on seeking out the master who is ironically only shown in shadows. This forms an interesting contrast actually. The outside world almost never seeps into their lives. The servant woman who also seeks the position of the master's wife and her tragic demise and all the other incidents that unfold and Songlian's subsequent mental decline from having walked into the household on her own to ruling the red lantern roost to being holed up as the 'crazy wife' make a very sad and heartbreaking tale. Gong Li who plays the youngest wife- Songlian is just about perfect. The music of course, is also perfectly chosen..

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Hotel Transylvania


 I have been so excited about watching this movie ever since I was introduced to it in a trailer! This is easily amongst the best animation movies I saw this year. The characters are wonderful, the Dracula is fatherly, an excellent host, caring, loving and scary as the need arises. Frankenstein, who innocently believes that Jonathan the human, is his far removed cousin is my favorite character apart from Dracula and Mavis of course. Chef Quasimodo and Fly are great too. Jonathan and his ' modern 21st century music' is all said and done, very adorable. And Mavis is just utterly gorgeous! The knights, the housekeeping staff,, the old musicians, it was all packed very well!
I should watch the movie again to soak in every detail in every frame, every unnamed character. 
Great Work Adam Sandler!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Mirror Mirror

There is absolutely no excuse for that ridiculous song in the end of the movie. It just kills whatever flavor of the movie you want take back. Julia Roberts is good, but we have seen her do much better. At times she is almost unconvincing, perhaps because she wasn't convinced herself. There is a scene in which the bare-torso Prince is standing in front of her and she is stuttering because she is distracted- I think it was very badly enacted.I had heard a lot bout the costumes in the movie, they were good, but well again, there can be much better garments.What I really liked in the movie were the dwarfs. Infact one of the dwarf is the same guy from the movie- In Bruges, a movie I recently reviewed here. Their characters were well done. It wasn't the best movie. It wasn't very good either. I sawit because it was a fairy tale rendition and I just have to see these movies.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Secret in their Eyes

Somebody on the internet asked me to see this movie and I did. I have not seen many Argentine movies, so it held that element of novelty to it for me. There is this scene when Irene is introduced as an Ivy League Lawyer and  is told by a cynical and corrupt colleague: "they don't teach the new Argentina at Harvard." I think the plot is great. The ending left me very pleased with the movie. The incarceration of isidoro Gomez and his 'nothingness' as Morales idea of justice is very interesting. And like I read in another review- pathos is selling the movie, really. Morales is a character you can't help but sympathise with.
What I didn't like was the love story between Irene and Esposito. I just didn't buy it I think. I thik there was any reason for him to flee without her, the movie tries to build a political context around it, but I don't think I was too convinced.

In Bruges

This was a very good movie. The sights of Bruges from the hotel room that the assassins share to the streets and the waterways look terrific. I loved the idea that Ken thought it was worthwhile to visit the city as they waited for their bosses orders and so you see the city from the eyes of the tourists- the indulgent- Ken and the distracted- Ray. The storyline really has a spine and coupled with the scenery, it can take your breath away. The ‘filming inside a film’ bit is done terrifically. The dwarf is an excellent little character (no pun intended, his character is very short in the movie). There are hints of existentialism in the characters and Brendan Gleeson does a terrific job as does Colin Farrell of course.



Hey and I now find out that the movie is supposed to be a dark ‘comedy’, hardly! I didn’t find any humour in it, but I did really like the movie.


Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Descendants


Hardly anything to write about in this movie.
Clooney doesn't even look very attractive! He acts well, well what is the surprise, he always acts well!
Miami looks nice. That is that.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street



I'm writing after a long time. I'm glad I'm writing about this movie after the pause. My judgement:
1. It has Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman
2. It is a musical.
3. Despite having a grotesque story, it is not overtly disturbing.
4. Anthony Hope is looks so good for the part,hardly like a sailor, but still somehow so good for the part.
5. It also has Timothy Spall, it is almost like watching a Harry Potter movie!
I loved the movie. I'm reminded of this:
 And in that darkness when I'm blind / With what I can't forget / It's always morning in my mind, / My little lamb, my pet, / Johanna... / You stay, Johanna.


And I remember Turpin using the word-gander, hehe!


Friday, September 30, 2011

The Devil's Double

The devil’s double. The body Double of Saddam’s son Uday and Uday are played by Dominic Cooper who I had never heard about prior to the movie. I liked the movie. Cooper is handsome and he draws attention. His depiction of Uday was in my opinion better than his depiction of Latif but this isn’t entirely his fault. The problem with the movie is the sugar coating of Latif, which might be true in contrast with Uday but it was a little sickening. Latif is really quite boring, there is no real reflection of his inner turmoil, however, there are certain hints of him starting to acquire a taste for the material perks that come with his job, which give his character some little elements of credibility.While on the other hand Uday is well put, his drug snorting, meandering gait, roving eye and daddy fearing character seems much more real!



The movie doesn’t say much politically, it doesn’t say- Iraq is fucked up, so come dear Americans, neither is it anti-American. In fact it doesn’t say anything about Americans. I liked the movie; Dominic Cooper is going to make it big!

Amelie

Like a lot of other people, I loved the colors of Amelie. Her bright outfits, bright walls, her shoes, the lampshades, Nino’s bike bags; even the drab cream in the coffee shop comes alive in the movie.



I agree that Amelie’s prying into other people’s lives, messing with their emotions and beliefs was too intrusive. But what is wrong with that? Nowhere does the film sound like a diktat for good living. These are just some things that Amelie does and we all err. Some things work out the way she wanted them to, some didn’t.


The movie is vastly appreciated for the opening and closing scenes. Amongst my favorites from the opening scenes are her drawing little people in the crevices of her body. As a lonely child with no playmate, she is well portrayed with her dramatized conversations with herself, her relation with her fish. The closing scene I like for personal reasons and mostly because of the music which I heard much before I saw the movie.


The scene I cherished the most was her leading the blind man through the street while sharing her vision of the sights around them before dropping him to a known point.


Another thing I loved was the way Amelie seeks herself in the one character that the Glass Man always finds difficult to paint- the solitary girl in the Renoir painting- Luncheon of the Boating party.


I also love Amelie’s clumsily large shoes and the way she gulps wine.


One thing that I remember disliking was the video that the Glass Man sends to Amelie telling her to chase her man before her heart becomes brittle like his bones. I think this message could have been more poetic, the video more elegant than the plain tones offered.


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Ghost in the Shell

For a better review than-
"Oh my God, I have been missing something this good!", I need to watch the movie again.
So there.

The Adjustment Bureau

This was a really bad movie, worse we spent money to go and see this shitt! One-it is not science fiction- it is a corporate-coated religious love story, if that makes any sense.  Emily Blunt looks irritating and Matt Damon looks even more irritating. By God, why would he do such a stupid movie I don't understand. Just when the next Bourne movie is around the corner!And 'hats'? Really of all the things?
I don't want to talk further.

Rio

Of course I liked it because it is so very bright, it reminds me of a coloring book and sketch pens!
But not much else, I like the fall of Nigel juxtaposed with the football craze and I liked the closing soundtrack,but I can't seem to remember what it was called! The story was poor, the animals too human, perhaps and some of the characters are wasted. I think the best thing about the movie was the kids delirious laughter in the theatre.
Doesn't come even close to Wall-E or even Toy Story!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Chicago


I read that Zeta-Jones has acted in musicals on stage, thats probably the reason why she is so good in the movie. Zellweger comes a close second with her naive looks and her star-struck face with that serious adoration for the stage.I think I liked the "All that Jazz" track the most. The irony surrounding the girls contest for Billy (Gere) and the medias attention brings to light the futility of stardom in a competitive neighbourhood like Chicago.
Richard Gere, for once I liked. The music, choreography, cinematography, are all breathtaking.
I saw this movie at home alone on my laptop. This was something i do rarely.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sanctum


God!
One grotesque movie! Why I paid so much to go and watch so many people killed in a predictable, hero will die, new hero emerges fashion, lover turns psycho, only the good guys win.... trash story
Undoubtedly, the scenery is beautiful, but when the scenery is killing you, well, I'd rather be in Delhi!

Gabbeh


Firstly, I shouldn't wait too long after watching a movie to write its review!
"Life is Color". The story unfolds the tale of an old couple symbolically through carpets. The music and color tones are very apt. Little bits of a nomadic life, like the measure of time in distance and not days are beautiful. The howling of the lover, the trail she leaves for him, her angst and her attempts to run to him while she waits through family matters are very well done. The scenes with the carpets being scrubbed by Gabbeh's feet under clear water with bits of the story floating by are amongst the best shots. The Uncle's search for his bride and their wedding dotted by hundreds of carpets is very picturesque.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Goodbye Lenin

GOOD BYE, LENIN! came back empty-handed from both the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
DONOT miss this movie! (I had it with me for so long before I was finally made to watch it, I can't believe myself at times!)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Wall-E


Wall-E is amongst my favorite movies now. The two robots have been made very life-like and likable.
The commentary on consumerism is well-placed and well-timed without any overdoing. The great success of Buy n Large (their very best friend) made the earth a big junkyard which BnL thought could be cleaned while it send the humans into space in the Axiom where the humans are coaxed into a vegetable lifestyle at the expense of their own technological products. And yet the movie doesn't demonize technology which is indicated by the extremely likable Wall-E and EVE and their struggle to get back to earth in their struggle fr each other. The humans have become "slaves of both technology and their own base appetites, and have lost what makes them human".
I saw it on bros' big TV and later saw it on my laptop screen and decided that watching it on a big screen is a must.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Shatranj ke Khiladi

What a lovely movie!
We had a DVD which landed at our place from Lord knows where.
I loved the juxtapositioning of the chess-obsessed with the annexation of Oudh! I loved the landscapes, the characters, the lack of music, the outfits.
And I must read Premchand!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Skyline


For some reason, we went to see this movie. It would've been tolerable had the actors been more good looking. Rich guys having a party in an apparently "cool" house. Hero not excited about his girl being pregnant.  Followed by a lot of havoc by strange creatures with an attractive blue light.US Air Force couldn't do zilch about the strange creatures. After his brain is acquired by one of these strange creatures Hero protects his child. That was the story.
I am no judge for special effects. They might have been good, but I take them for granted if you're trying to make an alien movie. Oh yes and the most irritating bit of the movie was when one of the actors says, "What are these things" (referring to the strange creautres that wreck havoc) and a smart ass replies "Does it even matter?", this is why this movie doesn't qualify as science fiction.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Shutter Island


I saw Shutter Island before Inception. And I almost hated Inception.I think I like the movie better now,in recollection that when I walked out of the hall and it also has to do with how I just didn't like Inception.

"You act like insanity is catching", and this almost makes the rest of the movie predictable. Leonardo is very good but there is a point beyond which I want to see another expression on his face apart from the "stern-worrying brow" look. What I really liked were his visions of his wife and the surreal drama in those scenes with things floating in the air around him- papers, snow, and ashes. I also thought that the scenes from the camps were very chilling. 

The scenery is great and I was left with a damp feel after the movie.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Inception


I read a very good review of Inception:
A story within a story unfolds that adds to your frustration layer by layer, scene by scene, character by character, that by the time you've figured out what's happening in one story, there's a development in the sub story that makes you question yourself. Now compound this twice, add a sub-plot that is supposed to be the emotional crux of the story, lead the audience along on one idea and segue just as the audience is about to xpect some form of closure, throw in some gravity-defying stunts and fight scenes, get a busy city square to fold itself and then seal the deal with a climax that doesn't offer you any concrete answers.


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Alice in Wonderland



For the 3-D version of this movie we got some really cute big blue glasses. The movie was just about perfect, though Alice looked a little too grown up and ugly. Helena Carter was excellent as always! Bandersnatch was ferocious at first and very lovable by the end. Johnny Depp looked a little too emotional,but all is forgiven in Wonderland!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Maachis





We bought this DVD from the South Extension market in a little basement movie store. I bought it primarily for listening to the music again. I don’t think I had seen this movie when it came out. We saw the movie over three days 'cos the DVD was bad/had to get a VCD/powercuts/hot oppressive weather...
Even though it epitomized love, it talked about how frail relationships can be and how easily ideas can be ignited in the face of atrocities. After watching the movie, what stayed with me was not the music strangely, but the parts of all the actors, however small they had been, were all noteworthy. I was surprised to find out that the music director turned into movie-director post Maachis.  

36 Chowringhee Lane





We bought this DVD (with english subtitles) about 2 weeks ago. For some reason my laptop wasn't reading it,but last night it worked. And we saw it alongside dinner.
What will remain with me is the little house that Violet stayed in with all its artifacts like the kettle, gramophone, crockery, bathtub and the black cat. And the lovely character of Eddie whom I think surpassed Jennifer Kendal and any of the other characters. Eddie’s depiction of an aged-ill man and his concerns is vivacious.