MIRACLE AT ST.ANNA (2008)

Director Spike Lee has not glorified war but again raised a pertinent question that How the Officer Generals directed by the leaders gave ugly shade of Political & Racial discrimination in World War II & how ordinary civilians being victimized breaking the Geneva Convention. He focused on the struggle of black American soldiers, Germans & Italians. How the soldiers belong to buffalo infantry for the first time fell in love with white race during the WW II in Italy is really concerning theme. And I love the way 8 year Italian boy’s reciprocal relationship with Train (a black American soldier) is executed (especially that tapping signals conversation). Both of them speak different languages but understand each other better.

The massacring scene where hundreds of innocent people slaughtered at St. Anne is so horrible & Lee has shot it so tactfully that you witness the terror & pathos of the war & human blunder at the same time.
The cinematography is simply the brilliant & direction is classy but the movie is too long- 2 hour 30 minutes duration (good editing is all it required).Its not gripping engrossing Action War films if you are expecting that. It’s richer in theme, its execution of Black American US soldiers & their experience in Italy. Most of the dialogues in the film are Italian & German & so watching it with sub titles is something recommended.

Ratings-7/10

YES MAN (2008)

Carl (Jim Carrey) is a guy whose life is going nowhere. He is working as a loan sanction officer in reputed firm & used to stamp ‘Rejected’ & say ‘No’ to people & makes up excuses around the people & to his own self. He stuck up in a dead end job for years, he don’t have a girl friend & life is just not happening stuff at all until he joins a self-help program based on one simple covenant : say ‘Yes’ to everything & anything. The power of YES transforms Carl’s life in amazing & unexpected ways & he got promoted at work & blessed with a new romance but hey there’s a problem. Because he becomes over enthusiastic & his willingness to say ‘Yes’ to each & every opportunity is just too much to manage or handle. How can one please everyone!!!

Now its perfectly written movie for Jim Carrey & he delivers what is expected from him.
How can you avoid Jim Carrey movie!!! He’s back after a long time & seems a bit aged too but not his charismatic performance which makes you love his character. He’s one of the most talented comedians of current Hollywood & I absolutely agree that he’s finest actor too. Watch his brilliant film- ‘The Truman Show’.
Carrey has a natural flair talent of making superb voice over mimicry & funny faces with all twisting & turning eccentric facial expressions & you can witness few them here too.
So guys if you feel low & if you are passing through not happening period, just give yourself a break. Catch- ‘Yes man’.
It’s a light comedy & enjoyable one having the slice & spark of Jim Carrey.

Ratings- 7.5/10

HOLY SMOKE (1999)

Kate Winslet is my favorite actress & I feel happy to see her getting her long dues rewarded this time by Academy Award for her classic performance in ‘The Reader’.
Here she’s once again well nuanced performance of an Australian young lady smitten by her spiritual encounter during her tourist visit to India. She portrays beautiful, sensitive & intelligent Ruth falls under the influence of charismatic religious Baba during her India visit & decided to stay in India forever her life as Sanyasin. Her desperate parents tried all attempts to get her back to Sydney but she refused. They manipulate her with her father’s dying stage & she came back & soon realized that it’s all emotional fraud. The last plan of the family is to hire P J Waters (Harvey Keitel), a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert highway. It’s his task to make her quit her cult following with his successful 3 stage formula. But instead of getting her back, he discovers that she’s kind of women he desires encompassing every experience of life. A young, sexy, intelligent & too hard to crack; in a nutshell she’s a woman with strong convictions. Its good drama but I don’t understand why director shown some bizarre like 20 minutes in the climax with Ruth wearing a red robe & red lipstick of women & chasing Ruth. It’s really worthless. Its end part of the film where the director has just messed up with winding up plot & that’s what I think the most disturbing part of this uncommonly made film.

If anything simply the bliss in the film its Kate & her myriad expressions of moods-innocence, joy, disillusion, anger, mischievousness etc. She’s just perfect blend of beauty plus talent. Like most of her films Kate has done some stark naked scenes in this film too but again she lets you hook to her expressions & not just mere body. Harvey Keitel gave well nuanced performance.

It’s an average drama & don’t get into it if you are not watching this sort of intense drama. As it’s not popular stuff & critically butchered by almost every critic but I found some original handling of theme in it. Watch it for Kate Winslet.

Ratings-6.5/10

THE SHADOW (1994)

The price of redemption for villainous Cranston was to take up man’s struggle against evil forces. Everything to survive & protect was taught to him leaving visible only one thing he can’t hide- his shadow. He met his nemesis Shiwan Khan, the successor of legendary Mongolian King Changez Khan who wanted to create a powerful bomb to destroy the world.

Alec Baldwin acted as Shadow/Cranston may be just to add his name in the list of superheroes. Penelope Ann Miller looks stunning as blonde beauty. Don’t expect great visual effects like any other fantasy/superhero film here. Expect south Indian kind of action. (i.e. -in one of the scene two bullets collide & break into pieces.) It’s one more ordinary wind up in superhero genre but it’s not as ridiculous as ‘Daredevil’ which I think the worst superhero film ever made in Hollywood.
Strictly avoidable.

Ratings- 4.5/10

JUDGMENT NIGHT (1993)

Four friends went to see a boxing match one night & lost their track. They first met with an accident & next witnessed a murder. Next is as usual hiding & seeking thrill. The performances are average & plot is too thin & silly. Besides there aren’t enough twists but thrill element of the film is well maintained in the chase sequences & that makes it somewhat engaging.
A stereotype low budget action thriller.

Ratings-5.5/10

CURSED (2005)

It’s a typical werewolf movie with infectious cursed theme. The story gives you a feel of knowing all especially the last 20 minutes are just so predictable. The makeup & CGI of the werewolf is average enough to spook the first timer. The transformation scene of the werewolf in the film is a proof of its lower standardized CGI & rather than scare it just looks ridiculous.
Director Wes Craven has built some nice thrill in the opening few scenes of the film but he fails to maintain it throughout. There are chances if he would project some twists & turns in the story without following common plot which runs so flat.
Recommended only for the werewolf / scary film beginners.

Ratings-5/10

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008)

It’s like watching a family home video recording of American wedding. Demme has shown salad bowl American culture representing multicultural wedding party & dinner scenes. The movie may be entertaining & close to heart for American but for me it’s too boring. The movie is so slow, so long & so boring that I just can’t believe my eyes that I’m watching Jonathan Demme movie; the director who gave us edge on the seat classic- ‘The silence of the lambs.’ The first half is really boring one & if you survive yourself in the second half than there’s something for you. It’s in the second half where Anne Hathway impressed me with his inherent guilt ridden psyche & behavior as rehab patient.

Kym (Hathway) is a recovering drug addict on rehabilitation & returns to her family after a long gap to attend her sister Rachel’s wedding. She is suffering from hidden guilt & most of the time just messed up with Rachel during the wedding time.

Don’t waste your 100 minutes just to watch Anne Hathway’s glimpses of performance in second half. Watch ‘The Devil wears Prada’ instead.

Ratings- 5.5/10

OUTLANDER (2008)

Producer of ‘Lord of the Rings’ & Director Howard McCain bring an epic heroic adventure to the screen. It’s visually stunning CGI entertainment for the big screen. The movie is not as powerful or engaging as Tolkien’s LoR trilogy but it’s not dull either. It entertained me with its engaging adventure saga.
Kainan (Jim Caviezal) is a man from the far-off world, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Kainan was stucked with Vikings who lives in the Iron Age & known him as Outlander. He won their hearts with his brave attempt to fight Viking’s sole enemy Gunner & leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen. But they are fighting no ordinary demon & failed in their plan till we meet exciting climax.
Caviezal is impressive in his Greek epic warrior kind of heroic stature. Rest of the casting is Ok. Cinematography, Production design & Visual effects are just stunning to get rolling the entertainment for the audience. Thrill & drama are well maintained with the good pace of the film.
Well I do not expect much from the film as I’ve seen the promos on TV but it’s surprisingly entertaining one if you keep your logical mind aside for a while.

Ratings- 7/10

DELHI 6 (2009)

Sometime finest & honest attempts of director didn’t work out well. The director who gave us cult classic film like ‘Rang De Basanti’ returns with his semi autobiographical journey of Delhi. There are so many reasons behind the success story of RDB but I think two are main- its powerful script-screenplay of Rensil De Silva & execution of film by director. Delhi 6 falls short in both of these categories.

Its wafer thin script of a third generation youth returning to Delhi to fulfill his grandma’s wish to spare her last days of life. Well, it’s alright when you don’t have script but then next comes screenplay & execution of your idea. Now here Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra got confused. He failed to engage the audience & made them bore. He has started with wonderful premise of Old Delhi & messed up it with introduction of so many cardboard characters & abrupt editing & subjective ambivalence. He also tried parallel running story combination which wonderfully worked in RDB. Remember How Bhagat Singh’s freedom struggle & spirit just zoomed into the main protagonists characteristics. Here his attempt to combine Ramleela with central characters just failed to create any impact over the audience. Rather it adds more boring tone to film.
So many talented actors are wasted. He presented all of them well but failed to create the impact. I like Abhishek’s honest attempt & in few scenes he strikes too but that’s all. ‘Masakkalli girl’ Sonam is cute transformation in screen presentation but not in performance. The love story between them is even not happening stuff. It’s only Rishi Kapoor & Divya Dutta who creates some impression with their performances among all other assembled cast. A gem actor like Atul Kulkarni is wasted so terribly with his tomfoolery role.

The film has some plus sides too: Binod Pradhan’s brilliant cinematography (one of India’s best technical cameraman), Rahman’s music score & few funny moments out of the box. There’s also a surprise song combining the effective screen images of Newyork-Delhi.
In short D-6 fails to impress the audience; I see many seats empty around me in the cinema hall after the interval. The reason is the movie is not progressing at all. Mehra wanted to give honest message to the Indian audience by creating “Kala Bandar Metaphor” & weaving a rumour mongering story to make mockery of rumour mongering Indian ness & media’s supportive role to spread it. His main message is showing you the mirror to know thyself is really noble but without script, screenplay, editing & well etched out characters its hard to strike the audience in the RDB manner.

Can’t say avoid it but frankly it’s not worthy enough to say watch at least once.
Decide yourself.

Ratings- 5.5/10

THE WARRIORS (1979)

It’s an interesting beginning of a film- More than hundred rival street gangs & nine leaders from each gang gathered unarmed at single place in the night. Its mission of their self proclaimed leader named Cyrus to unite all the rival gangs & gain complete control over New York city with their strength. Just after the leader’s speech somebody shot him. Chaos runs in the crowd. ‘Warriors’ is one of the strong gang & it’s time of crisis for them as the murderer pointed the finger of suspicious towards one of the Warrior gang member & was captured by Cops. Another powerful & stronger gang “Riffs” is also after them now.
Its story of one night messed up struggle & fight for the survival of eight unarmed Warriors.

The movie aptly captured the picture of 80’s directionless ghetto-street gang’s night culture of America. They want everything now & enjoying their disillusioned rebellion existence. In fact it looks like that Michael Jackson’s super hit album “Bad” had drawn so much inspiration from this film. Especially the lyrics & video of the title track “I’m bad”.
After the interesting beginning the movie runs almost flat & predictable & that’s why the end result is an ordinary film.

Ratings-6/10

MY LEFT FOOT (1989)

“Do you mean platonic love when you said you love me? Ohh…than fuck Plato. Fuck all the love that is not 100 percent commitment!” shouted a weird looking crippled man on the screen.

I was 12 years old when I watched Oscar Awards for the first time on television. I didn’t understand or know anything about the movie then & with passage of time I do forget the name of the actor who won the best actor Oscar that year but I do not forget the name of the film. Its- ‘My Left Foot’.
Well after watching the film today I must say the performance & role of Daniel Day Lewis will stay in my heart as long as I love cinema. It’s not just method acting of cerebral palsy person which won him this award. It’s more than that. It’s the intensity of his acting which makes the everlasting impression of an accomplished actor.
And it’s not only his acting only but great supporting acts from all other actors including nice balanced act by Brenda Fricker as Christy’s mom who also got Best supporting actress for the same film. Overall it’s a class film & brilliantly directed by Jim Sheridan.

The movie is screen adaptation based on autobiographical book of Christy Brown.
Christy was born as 10th child in an impoverish family. Christy is so disabled with cerebral palsy from his birth that not single voluntary muscles found working except one- his left foot. He discovered this & slowly gained control over it. He started writing a word to appeal to the one person who can help him tap his potential: “Mother”. It is the first of many words & works that he accomplished as painter & writer with his left foot.
This is all Christy used to overcome his haunting loneliness, rage & repressed sexuality to stun the world with his unparalleled brilliance of true artist.
What I also love about the film is the fun & hope it spreads throughout the film; otherwise most of the films dealing with such a subject either become heavy in tone or tragic in the end. Instead it ends so beautifully- a rose offering to a woman with whom he shared his rest of the life surprisingly.

The movie is really a triumph of human spirit over the ultimate destined adversity.
An extra ordinary film. Catch it.

Ratings-9/10

A WOMAN OF PARIS (1923)

Chaplin & a serious film!!! It’s strange surprise for me.
It is the first serious silent drama written & directed by Charlie Chaplin. It is also the movie where he remained absent on screen. Chaplin had shut the mouth of his critics with his serious direction & he got praise from them but not from audience. Even I don’t feel that its film I would like to see again. The reason is it seems too melodramatic from beginning to end.
The lady leaves her town & her lover with some misunderstanding & settled herself with a rich man in Paris. After a couple of years she meets his old lover again who still loves her. It’s tough for her to decide- should she stay with her rich comfortable life or chose struggling life with her artist lover? Well she chose the latter one but drama does not end here because destiny has its own plan.
It’s surely a letdown one for Chaplin fans as the champion of humanity ‘the tramp’ is absent here.

Ratings-6/10

CHILDREN OF HEAVEN (1997)

I have watched this Iranian film maker’s two beautiful films- ‘Baran’ & ‘Father’ few months ago & he just bowled me over with his simple style of sensible film making portraying natural human emotions with universal themes. Thanks to Star Movies for showing this gem movie yesterday. It’s an experience I can’t express or justify in words.

Can any director make such a sensitive & sensible film on such a simple theme of stolen shoes? It’s one of the best foreign films I ever seen. The movie was also nominated in Oscar in Best foreign film category; why it didn’t win is a puzzling question.

What a simple & beautiful plot!
Ali takes his little sister’s Zahra’s shoes for repairing work, but loses them on the way home. The siblings decide to keep it a secret from their parents, not because they have fear of punishment but knowing that there is no money to buy a new pair. They make a joint settlement to share Ali’s sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning & return them off to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon school. This arrangement leads to one after another troubles & adventures but yet they remain successful to hide their plan & secret from everybody.
Majid Majidi is not only director but an artist hard to find in today’s world & there’s so much purity & honesty in his natural cinema. With this he will stay in my favorite directors’ list permanently.My god what natural expressions & acting he got from two little children- Amir Hashemian (Ali) & Bahare Seddiqi( Zohra). One more thing noticeable in Majidi’s cinema is beautiful & symbolic Poetic ending. It is a scene to feel when the shoal of fish trying to touch the bruised feet of Ali !!!

A Masterpiece of Majid Majidi & Iranian Cinema.

Ratings- 10/10

JUGAAD (2009)

It’s happening hatrick time for Delhi as we have seen two back 2 back Bollywood release set in Delhi (Dev D & Jugaad) & in coming week we are going to witness keenly awaited film ‘Delhi 6’ directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
Delhi is famous for so many things & one of them is power thugs. I thoroughly enjoyed two quality films made by Dibakar Benerjee, which wonderfully revealed the fraud but funny stories full of witty tone & detailing sense of northern Delhi setting. Khosala Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye are really refreshing films in many terms. Jugaad is yet another attempt to project Delhi Drama directed by Faridabad based Director Anand kumar, roping some talented actors like Manoj Bajpayi & Vijay Raaz but it terribly fails to deliver what is expected.

Sandip(Manoj Vajpayi) is a self made honest man & owner of successful ad agency. His life goes berserk with the new law which made his commercial office illegal in residential locality. He & his partner Murali (Vijay Raaz) have to meddle from pillar to post to set the things rolling. Here comes Bakshi Jugaad on bicycle. He is a typical commission agent who knows the skill of How to cheat…when to cheat…whom to cheat? The rest of the film is just the rolling of the reel with haphazard scenes too hard to tolerate.
There’s so many faults in the film- editing is abrupt & too random, camera work is amateur, direction is too shoddy. I had followed few TV serials- Jaspal Bhatti’s ‘Flop Show’ (DD) & ‘Office Office’ (SAB TV) & must say that there’s more fun, wit & entertainment in watching a single episode of any of these serial than watching Jugaad.

The only hope of the film is the flash in scenes of underdog actor Vijay Raaz & he’s the reason why I complete the whole film. All other actors including Manoj Vajpayi are sheer waste material.

Ratings- 4.5/10

RATATOUILLE (2007)

“Anybody can cook great food …but only the creative & innovative one in experiments can reach the pinnacle…& you can be one, if you have right flavor of imagination” said, great chef of Paris Auguste Gusteau.

Ratatouille is a film about a small rat named Ramy who born with the talent of great sniffing skill & promoted as food poison inspector in it’s community. But it’s not enough for him; he cultivated a great sense of blending different food items with the gifted sense of cooking. He is highly influenced & inspired by the Master chef & famous French food critic Gusteau. Ramy helped Linguini-the good for nothing son of Gusteau in the restaurant. But now his own identity is under threat in the rat world with his forbidden human friendship with Linguini. Can an ordinary Rat dream of being a five star chef? Yep, why not cause Paris is a city of dreamers & for the simple reason that anything is possible in animation world.

Ratatouille is the name of the finest recipe cooked in the climax by talented Ramy to impress the shrewd food critic-Anton Ego & to win his favors to save his inspirational master chef Gusteau’s Restaurant. The last words uttered by the food critic are the learning lessons for all sorts of critics no matter whatever medium of creativity or experiments you are criticizing.
Whenever Walt Disney Pictures combines with Pixar Animation they always come with standard animation fun product weaving nice moral lessons around it & this is one of them. Movie is more about fable than fun & its fun which works as wonderful healer when you watch animation film. The best example is- Kung Fu Panda. So if you love the flavor of fable with the decoration of fun it’s a dish for you.


Ratings-7/10

BILLU BARBER (2009)

Have you heard the famous Krishna- Sudama story celebrating the spirit & bond between poor/rich friends? Well Shahrukh & Priyadarshan try their version on silver screen by making it superstar/barber friendship. I’ve also heard that the movie is based on a super hit Malayalam film.
Priyadarshan knows the nerves of common cinema going audience & he has captured the small village beauty & locality with his own touch of colors. The story of the film is very marginal & so the director has kept the reels moving with 3 item songs of current hot babes- Deepika, Kareena & Priyanka & few common madcap characters of rustic setting; (quite common for Priyadarshan film)- Om Puri, Rajpal, Asrani. They all are flair players. Lara Dutta in her deglamorise look seems more natural.
It’s in the second half that the film becomes too melodramatic & a trial to test audience’s patience for the awaiting climax scene. And it’s the Climax which works wonderfully with King Khan’s star image shedding speech & it will surely wet the eyes of audience.
Irrfan is ‘the jaan’ of the film & his performance is absolute treat to watch the film. He is the sure reason to watch this film. With his well nuanced performance as an ordinary barber of small village trying to run his family on shoestring income. In the last climactic scene when he meets his Superstar friend you just feel his heart out- a gem moment of the film.
SRK again plays what he is- a Superstar with all glamour & glitz of stardom proclaiming ‘I can do anything’ spirit. Even though it’s bit repetition of his ‘Om Shanti Om’ act, he just let you feel the pulse of a common man behind his stardom power in couple of the scenes in end. But now he should stop doing this sort of self-promoting roles to lure the fan followings. Every audience would love him the same way if he would do ‘Chak De’ or ‘Swades’ kind of stuff at least once a year.
It surely works as popular popcorn entertainment.
A fair treat to enjoy Sunday/Valentine’s Day.

Ratings-7/10

TAHAAN (2008)

Tahaan is a story of 8 year old kashmiri boy with the same name, who lives with his mute mother & elder sister. His grandpa died in the very beginning & father is missing. He has only one proud possession- his donkey named ‘Birbal’. Under the crisis, Birbal is being sold by his mother & here starts little Tahaan’s journey to get it back. It’s this journey part which was too abrupt, boring & unprogressive instead of interesting one. Director & ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan has just messed up the simple plot in attempt to show too many things with shifting focus on militancy problem in the valley. Too slow pace & lack of story progression are also strong reasons why film fails to seek audience attention. The film would become a good children film if Sivan has used the later part of the film really interesting one. Its sincere effort of little Purab to play Tahaan. The movie also has some fine talents like- Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose & Victor Benerjee but all of them shared either a guest or a caricature appearance in the film. It’s only Sarika in her mute mother played her part naturally.
Sivan is simply the best in camera but that can’t be said about his direction too.

Ratings-5.5/10

NED KELLY (2003)

They said that Irish are dreamers & lives in the world of imagination & British are realists & lives life with power. Ned Kelly is a dreamer of justice who snatched the power under Victorian tyrant police in mid 19th century.
Kelly is 25 years old Irish rebellion whose life & family threatened by tyrant English Police men. He formed a gang with his childhood friends & fought till his last breath against the tyranny of Victorian police. The movie follows the life story of the rebel with Heath ledger in lead role. Even though the treatment & execution of the film is low & quite unimpressive, Ledger carried his role with full sincerity. He had an aura of an attitude around him whenever he play any character & it’s indeed a great loss for all Ledger fans after his Joker act of the last year.
Orlando Bloom has nothing much to do than remaining the shadow of Ledger. By & by it’s an ordinary vengeance fiction flick set in an old time so don’t expect much. Just watch it if you want to cherish Ledger’s earlier performances.

Ratings-6/10

TROPIC THUNDER (2008)

Director- Actor Ben Stiller assembled huge star cast- Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConoughey & really surprising Tom Cruise in this madcap fake war shootout story & the star cast worked with some smash hit laughter.
But out of all it’s once again Downey Jr. who steals the show as Kirk Lazarus himself.
Stiller has maintained the fun element intact with war action sequences inside the forest setting & that’s turned it box office bonanza. If you are sucker of war films then you will see lots of spoofs of all of them including Platoon & Saving Private Ryan.
The true fun is the pitted plot of Vietnam War film shooting which suddenly turned into a real warfare for all the actors & now it’s time to show their real guts with struggle for survival. With the success of the film there are chances of its second part & everyone who enjoys this one will surely love to watch the next one too.
Watch it for some chill out fun.

Ratings-7/10

THE READER (2008)

The Reader is a haunting story of a teenager boy & his subtle love affair with a lady of twice his age. It’s all started when she helped him once when he was ill. Soon after the recovery the boy went to thank her & two were drawn into a secret passionate affair. The boy came to know that she admire reading so much & so just after or before their regular sex, the boy used to read the books to her. Despite their intense bond, one day she disappeared mysteriously. The case opens after 8 years when the boy is a law student & she’s on some serious trial. The lady’s past revealed in the court & she got lifetime imprisonment. And from here onwards it’s taking an interesting turn & raised an important question- “How far would you go to protect the secret?”

I just want to see the film for Kate Winslet only but I must say it’s one of deep emotional film of the last year & there’s no wonder if she got Oscar for best actress in coming few weeks. I watched Kate’s brilliant performance in ‘Revolutionary Road’ but I feel that this one required lot of guts & it’s more difficult role to carry. Kate always looks so natural when she cries or when she makes love. Besides that I think that she has one of the most expressive face. She displayed lots of nudity here which keeps you hooked in the first half but I think its second half of the film with the twist where her performance comes with flying colors.
David Cross played his teenager part quite naturally maintaining passion of love, guilt & anger. Ralph Fiennes has nothing much to do except being his normal best in such a short role.
Director Stephen Daldry is also nominated in Best Direction category in Oscar & its worthy enough for nomination because apart of passionate love story, the movie also dealt with the confrontation between truth & reconciliation.

Highly Recommended & Essential for all Kate Winslet lovers.

Ratings-8.5/10

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS (2008)

“Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us.”
Have you seen the famous Airtel advertisement where two boys playing across the opposite sides of fencing border & spreading the idea of universal brotherhood. How about watching a movie on the same theme!! Well, this one is a perfectly matching example.

The film is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective that how prejudice, hatred, & violence effect the innocent people, particularly the children during wartime. Through the lens of 8 year old German boy largely shielded from the ugly reality of WW II. It’s witnessing the forbidden friendship between Bruno- the son of Nazi Officer & Schmuel- a Jewish held captive boy in concentration camp. Though the two are separated by barbed wire fence, their lives become emotionally connected. Well its unusual point of view to see War film from this angle but Director Mark Herman made this film with nice sensibilities.
The pace of the film is too slow & at certain point even it’s quite hard to make it moving further but though it’s made you feel the depth of child’s mind. It would have been better if movie had more scenes showing the bond between two boys. The movie has quite memorable performances by both the kids along with Marvelous piano background score by James Horner (‘Titanic’ fame), classic cinematography, superb production design & nice screenplay & direction by Mark Herman.
One of the finest & sensitively directed film of 2008.

Ratings-8/10

AWAKENINGS (1990)

“The reality is…we do not know what went wrong or what went right. What we do know is as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place. That the human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what need to be nourished- with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matters. This is what we had forgotten. The simplest things.”

What a simple & yet brilliant message & what a brilliant movie!!!
Hollywood’s two legendary actors- Robert De Niro & Robin Williams worked together in this lesser viewed but brilliantly made film based on a real story. And without any exaggeration I must admit it’s the performances of these two actors which carried the film to the higher scales.

It’s the wonderful sensitive plot which is the reason to watch this film. Williams is a new entry as a neurologist doctor in Bainbridge Hospital dealing with the almost comma patients. They all are in comma for decades without a sign of hope or cures. When he finds a possible new chemical drug which may cure the patients, he tried one on its patient & it works too. But when the patient awakes, he is now an adult having gone into comma in his early teens. Is it possible to keep him & others in the same condition? Well, I would spoil the film if I say anything further. Two thumbs up for Director Perry Marshall for his execution of this delicate touchy film with such a lesser known wonderful fact based script.
Williams has proved that even though he’s generally telecasted as comedian, he‘s brilliant actor in serious character roles too & this is the paragon of his consummate performance. And what should I say about great De Niro. You have seen his method acts in ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘Raging Bulls’ & ‘Goodfellas’. But hey if you haven’t seen his method act in this then you are seriously missing a gem performance of his method act. Leonard of this film is surely his one of the 5 best performances.
Williams was nominated for best actor along with the Best film & Best screenplay. De Niro won Golden Globe for Best Actor & Both the actors were awarded Best actors trophy by National Board of Review, USA.

Highly Recommended.

Ratings-9/10

WHAT JUST HAPPENED (2008)

Robert De Niro is Hollywood’s powerful producer here & my god with his personality, attitude & method acts at this age he looks like one too. The movie is sharp & stark black comedy about the detailing to witness two weeks of his personal & professional life. How he is juggling with his real life with reel life crisis in a day to day basis is really a dossier to know character detailing & De Niro has done brilliant justice to his role as always.
But, this is the only interesting stuff about this film; otherwise it is too personal film by Director Barry Levinson. The movie also has forgettable cameos by Sean Penn & Bruce Willis. Apart from De Niro in leading role, it’s also the soundtracks of the film which are really refreshing thing- especially all the tunes De Niro played during driving scenes.

Ratings-6.5/10

TAKEN (2008)

If Liam Neeson was not in the movie, I don’t think the movie would become such a big money grossing film all over the world. The plot seems like watching typical Bollywood action film. Infect I see close similarity between our Sanjay Dutt- Minisha Lamba starrer ‘Kidnap’in the first half of the film.
Liam is working for security agency & his family life was disturbed with divorce. The only solace of his life is his 17 years old daughter whom he meets frequently. And she was kidnapped by the syndicate of goons who are trafficking women on the international front. The rest is trail & action. Action sequences are almost ordinary & monotonous & gives you the feeling of seen it umpteen times.
Liam is not expected to do such an ordinary action films but guess what people all over the world like him even in this sorts of roles too. The reason is as I said earlier it’s only he who gave the edge to this ill scripted ordinary action flick.

Nothing to miss if you skip this one.

Ratings- 4.5/10

EAGLE EYE (2008)

After a long time I’ve seen a well conceptualized & nicely executed action thriller.
Strange & mysterious phone calls put the lives of 2 leading characters in a mess of trouble up to the level of killing US president. Everything is set up; they have to follow the orders, and if they don’t dire things will happen. But even though they followed the orders, the consequences are already dire. Its blackmailing surveillance system spread all across internet, cell phones, traffic cameras, social networking sites etc. etc. Apart of thrilling entertainment of 2 hours, this is also the key example of how in coming decade the cyber crime will hold our attention.
The movie starring Shia Labeouf & Michelle Monaghan & both have done good justice to the offering. Rosario Dawson has nothing much to do here, especially after her wonderful role in ‘Seven Pounds’. But it’s Billy Bob Thornton who impressed me strongly as shrewd & sharp FBI Agent. The movie has very few action scenes but it’s really the rolling tension between the 2 central characters which keeps you hooked till the climax.
Recommended to all action thriller lovers.

Ratings- 7.5/10

DEV D (2009)

Why it happened in the case of every unconventional filmmaker that whenever they tried to remake their own version, they came out with the worst product of their creativity. That happens with Ramgopal Verma when he made Sholay’s modern version. This is one more nemesis product from director’s block & this time it’s from a man who gave us brilliant film-‘Black Friday’.
Welcome to the hell world of Anurag Kashyap’s modern version of classic tragedy ‘Devdas’.
It’s simply unbearable crap. The film really shocked me because I was expecting a better film from writer turned Director Anurag Kashyap & talented Abhay Deol. And what they did in the name of making a modern & unconventional version is something no audience would justify. It’s really a shameless blunder. Kashyap has made a film which is full of dark characters full of loud characterization that there’s no grace left in any of the main characters whether it’s Paro, Chandramukhi or even Devdas. It’s pure vulgar caricature of classic DEVDAS. The characters are so loud & dark that I simply can’t sympathize with any of them.
Here’s a proof- Dev is demanding a nude pic from her beloved in online chat & Paro responded the demand with her mobile camera, get it’s hard copy from lewd eye studio wala & scanned it again from market place. (Which Indian modern beloved will do this for his lover???) Dev watched the pic online on his mailbox & next he returned to India from abroad & he’s meeting his dearest beloved Paro after a long gap. What is the 1st thing he wanted to do with Paro is having sex. Is this healthy version??? In Kashyap’s version of Devdas-LOVE = SEX.
The whole movie watching experience is so horrible & disturbing one. It seems that director was also impressed by Aronofsky’s brilliant dark tragedy- ‘Requiem for a dream’ & so you will see lot of hip hop cuts, extreme close ups & all sorts of junk dirt in the name of portraying a dark modern tragedy- Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, Smoking, mobile chat sex, MMS scandal, Porn filming, hit & run everything available in the latest news to make it more & more dark but nothing works to highlight the audience focus.
The film becomes so unbearable in the climax that I would literally like to shout loudly.
Anurag, you can’t sort out all the scum & dirt & ugly reality in the name of making modern unconventional version of classic Indian tragedy…yeah, I’ve also read Kafka from whose inspiration you made nice attempt- ‘No Smoking’. I do love sincere unconventional efforts of directors to uplift the Hindi films but this is just absolute nonsense.

There are two new Hindi films releasing today & I’m sure that the other Govinda starrer ‘Chal Chala Chal’ will be surely far better entertaining one than this so called modern crap.

One of the worst remake version I ever seen.
Strongly avoid this ‘Emotional Atyaachaar.’

Ratings- 2/10
P.S.- 1 point for Abhay Deol’s daring to do such a character & 1 for the Music compositions of new talent Amit Trivedi.

NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST (2008)

This is a completely unexpected cool fun film. Its story of one night where two opposite sex thrust together by chance enjoying their party time & the rest is a sleepless hilarious journey of fun & adventure in a world of mix tapes, late night livings & loud band music.
What I love most is the odd chemistry between not so happening dude & cool looking babe. Though they have nothing in common except Music, their chance encounter leads to an all night quest ends up with emergence of new romance for them.
Along with the romance between lead pair, it’s real fun to watch the gay band friends of Nick & their funny band titles- ‘The Jerk offs’ to ‘Shit Sandwich’ to ‘Dickache’ to ‘The Tight Ends’ & on the other side the bizarre behavior of Norah’s lost freind Caroline.
Both Michael Cera & Kat Dennings look like fresh teens. Michael is just Ok & not so happening dude but Kat is just irresistible beauty not to avoid.

A chill out refreshing flick.

Ratings- 7/10

PASSENGERS (2008)

Some movies just tried to intrigue you & in the end it leaves you with the feeling of cheating. This movie is one of the good example of it. Plot seems interesting initially as it begins with plane crash & Claire (Anne Hathaway) is assigned to counsel the few survivors. What exactly happened to plane seems like a mystery as some says its explosion & some says its just sudden crash. Well, then starts the real crap- the heroine starts romancing with one of the young survivor & in the end its revealed that she was also a passenger of the same plane. It seems like the director crashed the plane on the audience brain.
One of the irritatingly illogical brain drainer flick. Its really unbearable & not even Hathaway’s beauty saves it.
Don’t be the victim.

Ratings-4.5/10

APPALOOSA (2008)

I just love watching Westerns & there’s no doubt that no body can challenge Clint Eastwood- Sergio Leone combo in this genre. Sorry to all John Wayne- John Ford fans…but Eastwood is the God for me ‘coz I grew up watching him from my childhood days. Westerns are rarely made nowadays & so I must thanks Actor- Director Ed Harris for his effort.
‘Appaloosa’ is a story of town by the same name where Bragg (Jeremy Irons) is ruling as threat to the citizens & here comes our two blazing men with guns & guts- Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) & Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) to protect them. Well everything went well for the trial of justice to prosecute the villain until Virgil’s love interest was held with the muzzle of gun. And it’s here onwards picture becomes interesting & engaging one after quite slow first half. This is not certainly good solid western to recommend anyone but it doesn’t mean that the film is bad product. It’s surely a refreshing entertainer for all western lovers. Among all lead players it’s only Viggo who shines throughout the film.

Watch it once if you like Westerns.
Ratings-6.5/10

MAX PAYNE (2008)

The film is a typical & ordinary action kick offering by Hollywood to create yet another action character Detective Max Payne who seeks revenge for his wife’s murder. He’s dealing with a serum drug & its syndicate, more dangerous than expected homicide case. Nothing works smart when you have a flat plot & this is the reason why movie don’t win audience support even after a lot of promotional gimmicks of superb action thrill, cool CGI driven action & making of Mark Wahlberg as a sensational action star. The movie has few cool graphic action scenes, presence of two hot babes- Mila Kunis & a cameo by last bond girl Olga Kurylenco. Even Wahlberg can’t blame when you don’t have solid script to save the film.

Ordinary & Avoidable.

Ratings-5.5/10

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

It’s brilliantly made dark psychological thriller which gave one of the most dangerous character of Hollywood cinema - ‘Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The movie is a screen adaptation of best selling novel by the same name written by Thomas Harris.
Clarice is FBI trainee goes to interview Dr Hannibal the cannibal to solve the puzzling serial killer Buffalo Bill who skins his victims & keeps them in a pit in his basement. The current captive is US senator’s daughter & Dr. Hannibal is the only available clue of the case. Its interplay between Clarice & Dr. Hannibal which made it unsettling thrill ride of 2 hours. As he helps to solve Buffalo Bill case, he digs deep into Clarice’s hidden psyche.
Every technical aspects of the film are just immaculate & gives you thrill feel from the beginning to end.
It’s waste of words if I say much about the performances since the film swept the Oscars, winning Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Picture, & Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally). This is the third film who won Oscars in all 5 major categories; the other two were- ‘It happened one night’ & ‘One flew over cuckoo’s nest’. Hopkins won the Best Actor despite being in the film for about 30 minutes, may be the shortest screen appearance for any best actor winner & that itself proves that Anthony Hopkins has delivered his best in it. I have watched ‘Red Dragon’ & ‘Hannibal’ made in the same legacy of this one but after watching this today I must say this will remain matchless classic.

Ratings-9/10

DOR (2006)

Two parallel stories of couples collide with each others destiny & changed the world of two women. Imagine the next to impossible task for a woman who has to get sign a letter
by a young widow for his convict husband who made her widow. What a sensitive subject & what a touchy direction & performances. Sacchi me Hrishida yaad aa gaye…

Both Aayesha & Gul have given their best performances. What natural make-up less facial expressions distilled with pure innocence…Aayesha really made my eyes wet with her performance. She reminds me the innocence of girl in Majidi’s Classic love story ‘Baran’. Gul Panag is equally impressive & she will surely make her mark if she’ll continue doing such meaningful & sensible roles in cinema. Shreyas Talpade is really discovery of new talent by Kukunoor. Shreyas has again given a memorable role here; in fact it’s his role which gives the lighter mood & moments in this sensitive & serious in subject film.

Who’s making this kind of cinema nowadays!!! I ‘m big fan of Director Nagesh Kukunoor & this is one more gem of his direction. He’s makes me speechless with his every next film & this is no exception to it. Who’s making this kind of cinema nowadays & from such a perspective!!! Watching the film is a feel like being a woman & there’s no iota of exaggeration in it.
I would like to say- ‘Feel this Film…with all your heart.”
Strongly Recommended.

Ratings- 9/10

THE PRESIDENT IS COMING (2009)

Open any newspaper from last month to current day & you will see Obama Story. Same to the electronic media who sells nonsense crap in the name of news. As one of he character of the film said-“We don’t know what’s happening in Arunachal Pradesh or what’s its capital?” But still we love to know who becomes the foreign secretary of US!!! The same irony is represented in this finest film made with a low budget of 3 crore & a bunch of drama actors. Only 2 are known faces- Konkona Sen & Shernaz Patel. It’s out & out hilarious fun film made with wry humor of US obsessed attitude of Indians.
In 2006, US President George Bush visited India. One young Indian was chosen to shake his hand with him. 6 Indians are selected from various Indian cities & out of them only one will get a chance to shake hand with the most powerful man of our planet. Now here lies the real entertainment- “How 6 different guys are pitted in a reality TV manner with one another in the survival of fittest?” And Mind it guys, all 6 characters are just pure Indian fun & brilliant caricature to watch. Its not only their regional backgrounds only , they all depict today’s assorted face of Indian youth- an American in mind call center accent trainer, a divorced Bengali novelist, IIM A alumni turned Marathi social worker, a young entrepreneur, a typical Gujju stock market trader & a conventional but porn loving south Indian. How they mess up vying with each other is thing to enjoy.
Its remarkable directorial debut of 29 year old Kunal Roy Kapoor who brought this finest drama to cinema for mass audience. I have read about the film in ‘The Indian Express’ & after watching it today I will love to recommend it to all my friends to give it sure shot.

DON’T MISS IT…

Ratings- 9/10