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!