Schedule for Week 4

Here are my picks (schedule for this week!)

Monday - Fallen Angels by Wong Kar-Wai
Tuesday - Dancer by Kishore Vyas
Wednesday - Journey to the Center of the Earth by Henry Levin
Thursday - Malamaal Weekly by Priyadarshan
Friday - Moolaadé by Ousmane Sembene
Saturday - Le Divorce by James Ivory

Yeah, this week should be a fun one, I've decided to bring a little Kate Hudson to the reviews. Then there's also Wong Kar-Wai & an African director whom I never heard of. All I can say is this weeks movies are going to be very deceptive in title and execution!

Sabse Bada Khiladi by Umesh Mehra

Category: Hindi

This is the third in the "Khiladi" series and is definitely one of the finer Khiladi movies in which Akshay Kumar has acted in. If it wasn't for Akshay Kumar's stunts the wafer thin plot would have collapsed under the weight of it's stupidity.

But Akshay Kumar, his presence and timing backed up with dialogues like, "Yeh Kotha hain, Kasai thana nahi", propel this film into the entertaining cateogry. There's a plot somewhere about murder, revenge and familial ties but I'll leave that for you to discover. The film also stars Mamta Kulkarni, Gulshan Grover as Kekda and a few other regulars including Mohinish Behl who in my opinion re-invented the spoilt brat for Indian cinema, in a brilliant way.

Recomendation level: 2/5 for non-Akshay fans & 5/5 for Akshan Kumar (yes, an original) fans. This movie is really available anywhere but you should get it if you want some fights, funny songs and funnier dialogues.

Metropolis by Fritz Lang

Category: Non-English

Fritz Lang's Metropolis is a must for any fans of international cinema, but be warned this movie needs to be prepared for. It's certainly not an "easy" film to watch. It's a silent science fiction film based on the screenplay by Thea von Harbou & Lang.

The movie takes a look at the class conflict, but to interpret it the way it has been is certainly unique. There are plenty of biblical references in the movie, there's also a mad scientist who creates a robot. Then there's always the montage used in this film...

The movie is path breaking for it's theme, execution, price, topics, soci-political class conflicts, multiple narratives and much much more. The original was pegged at 153 minutes but this is cut down to 124minutes and there's a lot of loss of narrative. Note: The movie was made in 1927.

Recomendation level: 5/5. This movie is worth every last grey cell you might posses after a hard days work. It's available in a select places only so go find it now! Work of Art.

Dev.D by Anurag Kashyap

Category: Hindi

Dev.D is Anurag Kashyap's take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas. The movie is adapted to portray a Devdas of 2008 apparently but the movie eventually falls to some poor music and a long drawn out conclusion.

Okay, so am going to be honest here, I've not seen any of the previous movie adaptations of this novel but like most people these days I badly wanted to see this one. The movie follows the life of Devdas who returns from London to his child-hood love Paro. Things fall apart and Paro is married off to someone else while Devdas takes the path to self-destruction to cope with her loss. He finds love in a commercial sex worker named Chandramukhi (Chanda).

The movie is a really good attempt but somewhere it seems like Kashyap's style to just indulge in something a little too much, as if he wants to kill his own plot. The songs were praised a lot but aside from a few numbers I found most of them pretty stupid.

Recommendation level: 3/5. The execution is pretty good, also we get to see some good acting from a new cast. Then there's always Emosonal Atyachar... Pick up the DVD version since it's cheap and available anywhere!

Spaceballs by Mel Brooks

Category: English

Set in the a galaxy very very very far away, Space Balls is a parody on Star Wars. There are of course certain elements changed so it's much of an adaption rather than a "funnier version of Star Wars".

The cast is all good, the jokes are funny and the movie is decent no matter what day you see it on. Everyones seen SpaceBalls, so then why the fuck is it here? Well purely because it's a funny film that probably deserves another viewing. Just for it's introduction to Helmet (Darth Vader's counterpart in Brook' universe) this movie is worth watching. Watch out for Pizza the Hut, Barf & Yoghurt.

Recommendation level: 3/5. Funny, very funny.

Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick

Category: English

If this movie doesn't put the "FUCK YEAH" in your lingo I don't think anything else can. Definitely one of the finest war movies I've seen till date (mind you I started early! FUCK YEAH!). The direction, setting and execution is top notch and even with a headache it didn't have me reaching for the "how many minutes are left?" button.

The movie follows the training and eventual drafting into the army of a platoon of soldiers. As in war movies there are always familiar faces embedded into your mind with repeated shots of their face, here you get to see how they earn their names, well a few of them anyway.

Am not going to go into the exact details because it's not really worth writing that. What you do need to look out for are the performances (Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Matthew Modine & Adam Baldwin). Everyone is a perfect fit even though they all can't take up screen time. This isn't a long as fuck war movie like The Thin Red Line (where the dehumanizing tries to be poetic) or The Deer Hunter (where the dehumanizing happens over a period of time). Over here it happens in your face, direct and not ultra violent too. The movie also tackles several issues related to war which you need to discover for yourself.

Recommendation level: 4/5. Tuesdays will never be the same... FUCK YEAH! Pick it up at the local Crossword/Landmark or whatever.

Godzilla by Ishirō Honda

Category: Non-English

Don't let the cover fool you, this is a much better movie than that tacky image for a banner. Honda's Godzilla was originally made in 1954, it used a lot of nifty effects has left a massive impact on the world of Creature Features. But that's not all it also created the stereotypical characters we have all grown up on.

The movie is about Godzilla (duh!) who has awakened from its slumber due to H-bomb tests carried out in the ocean. The creature seems to hail from the Jurassic period and is irradiated. Characters include the scientist who doesn't want Godzilla killed but studied, there's also the noble scientist who doesn't want his Oxygen Destroyer (?) used for malevolent purposes and in between all of this is a love story thrown in for good measure. Will Godzilla be stopped? How much damage can this beast inflict? These questions and a bit more are answered by the end of the film.

Recommendation level: 3/5. The movie is fun it had me checking the total duration quite a few times. The sub-titles on my copy (from Palador) seemed to suck a little, quite likely making me miss some cool dialogues. Oh yeah there's also a typo in there somewhere. For it's pure vintage value and history-making, culture impacting antagonist it gets a 3. You can pick this baby up at any Crossword/Landmark store.

Schedule for Week 3

Here's the list of the films for this week:

Monday - Godzilla by Ishirō Honda
Tuesday - Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick
Wednesday - Spaceballs by Mel Brooks
Thursday - Dev.D by Anurag Kashyap
Friday - Metropolis by Fritz Lang
Saturday - Sabse Bada Khiladi by Umesh Mehra

This is going to be another roller-coaster week! Looking forward to all these films, yes the order is on purpose.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan by Dennis Dugan

Category: English

After all that intense viewing from the week it was about time I take a breather and watch a really dumb movie. This movie was the apt solution.

The basic premise is Adam Sandler's character, The Zohan is an agent of Mossad until he decides to leave for a career in hair dressing (styling if you please). In a heated duel with his arch nemesis the Phantom (Turturro) he ends up making his escape to America, to pursue his dreams. There's also a few surprise packages but the best had to be Emmanuelle Chriqui who plays Sandler's love interest. There's a bunch of Palestinian/Israeli/Arab jokes thrown in but they didn't really have an effect on me, maybe for the right audience...

The film has it's moments but largely is meant for people who like comedies that don't need much thinking. The usual suspects in a Sandler movie are there.

Recommendation level: 2/5. The crass humour has it's moments but that's about it but after a hard day's work this could be something you can look forward to. Get it at a nearby Crossword.

Away With Words by Christopher Doyle

Category: Non-English

Christopher Doyle is renowned for his work as a cinematographer, his collaborations with Wong Kar Wai are very legendary. His first film is definitely made from the heart and while the visuals are stunning the movie itself seems to have let me down a little.

Doyle still is in his element i.e. capturing emotions and people, the lighting and visuals created are stunning and you can rest assured that this movie leaves an indelible mark on your visual senses. I am not sure what to make of the movie on a theoretical level but I will leave that for now.

The film follows the lives of 3 people in HongKong; a Japanese dreamer, a British bar owner & a Chinese woman, their lives are centered around the bar but in their minds they have traveled the world. The movie has some funny moments as it does have its unique styles in cinematography.

Recommendation level: 3/5 just because it's Doyle. Most photography amateurs should definitely give this movie a watch. This movie is a little hard to categorize as a must see or must not see, so am going to leave it to you guys to decide.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Dave Filoni

Category: English

I went into this movie with a completely disappointing movie in mind, so I wasn't completely let down. The movie wasn't great but wasn't bad for an animation movie, that's the problem though it's got nothing of the Star Wars charm on it.

The voice talents were fine, but the characters themselves seemed so different, Kenobi seemed a little arrogant while fighting (he seemed so against Grievous as well though!). The biggest change is Anakin Skywalker who for the first time before he becomes Darth Vader was very likable. The film has its moments, but a bad storyline, warped music from classic Star Wars Sound tracks won't do anyone good.

Anyway, basic premise is Jabba the Hutt's son is kidnapped by the Separatist forces (Count Dooku) and Anakin is sent along with his new padawan, Ahsoka Tano. The movie takes place between films (Attack of the Clones to Revenge of the Sith) and before the animated series of the same name. For a Star Wars film it was a disappointment but as an animation film on its own I'd suggest a rent if you're bored out of your mind. Sorry George, even you gotta admit you're pushing it now.

Recomendation level: 1/5, read comments above, am giving it a 1 just for its "moments". I am a Star Wars fan too so there you go. You can pick this movie up at your nearby Crossword.

Delhi 6 by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Category: Hindi

I liked this film, I like Sonam Kapoor even more and that's the truth. This is going to be a biased review (mostly!). Delhi - 6 is about a grandmother who is suffering from a terminal disease, she wants to live one last time in her ancestral home in Delhi, India. Her grandson tags along to take care of her and since he's never lived outside the US of A he finds it an experience to remember.

There's a few twists in the plot, the film is a bit choppy in parts but overall managed to retain my attention throughout. For once am going to comment on the songs, the track Dil Gira Dafatan is of particular importance since I thought it was one of the best songs I've seen (sue me for this!) in Bollywood. The director is completely out of control and I don't think much of his previous work either (Rang De Basanti), don't get me wrong his ideas are good his execution is mediocre.

Recomendation level: 2/5 (for Sonam Kapoor fans 5/5!!!). The movie is available on DVD with a bunch of extras for a good price so you guys should head to your nearest Crossword and grab a copy if you liked the film on the big screen.

Today's bonus

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Amores Perros by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Category: Non-English

This was one of the least favorite picks of mine this week but boy am I amazed at this film. The film covers the life of 3 couples who are in love and how they go about achieving that love. I won't be spoiling it for you guys so there's the brother in law in love with his sister in law (Octavio and Susana), a husband and his girlfriend (Daniel and Valeria) & finally an estranged father and his daughter (El Chivo and Maru).

The movie takes a cruel look at the way we treat our fellow human beings and interestingly enough also the animals around us, in this case the movie just deals with dogs. There's a political angle in here somewhere but I won't be going into that here. All the characters end up crossing each others paths in some indirect way through the film. There's also plenty of brutal sequences so be warned. Happy ending or Sad ending? Watch to find out!

Recommendation level: 3/5 The movie is a must see for any fans of international cinema, although I found it very Hollywoodish but it should be great for people looking to brag about old films re-visited. You can find this film in any Crossword/Landmark as I did.

Unknown Pleasures by Jia Zhang-Ke

Category: Non-English

Ah, where do I begin for Jia Zhang-Ke, firstly am very happy to have made the transition into liking Chinese 6th generation film-makers, after Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou & Wong Kar Wai I was a little skeptical about my own ability to love the 6th generation but I passed with flying colors.

This movie probably demands it's own paper or essay but it hits out at so many issues faced by the Chinese. The film is essentially about 3 youngsters in a town close to Beijing, the film follows their life and their almost dreary existence. The film has such a raw feel to it that it comes across very poignantly.

The film touches on issues ranging from one child per family (China's enforced birth control), it hits on the Chinese regime, the day to day existence and isolation faced by millions of children, the seeking of understanding of ones own traditions and the western paraphernalia we are all bombarded with. There's plenty of pop culture references for people to keep alert (y0 Mtv Generation!) this film is also a part of the informal trilogy of Jia Zhang-Ke on the modern China, so I hope that trivia made you feel good.

Recommendation level: 5/5. The pace might get too slow for the Mtv generation, so kindly be careful if you only like Michael Bay's films. It's out on NDTV Lumiere so it shouldn't be too hard to find in any of the regular places (Crossword/Landmark). At least they got their spellings in the sub-titles right but then there's the punctuation...

Schedule for Week 2

Here's the schedule for the coming week:

Monday - Unknown Pleasures by Jia Zhang-Ke
Tuesday - Amores Perros by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Wednesday - Delhi 6 by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Thursday - Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Dave Filoni
Friday - Away With Words by Christopher Doyle
Saturday - You Don't Mess With Zohan by Dennis Dugan

Sorry for the one less Hindi movie this week, I'll make it up big to you guys next week! Am actually looking forward to all the movies.

Barbarella by Roger Vadim

Category: English

Haha, this movie is very entertaining if you're a guy reading this. If you're a girl then you could also be entertained depends on your tastes. The movie is filled with cheesy one liners, a heroine (Jane Fonda) who can't keep her clothes on and loads of brain dead plot twists.

The basic premise in a futuristic society devoid of the vulgar necessities of life.Barbarella is sent to rescue a missing scientist who could possibly hold the key to the peace of the Galaxy! Oh the danger!

Jane Fonda is perfect as the barbie girl heroine and I can't comment much on the remaining cast since they didn't have much screen time. There's also a "pleasure machine" which functions like a piano...(what?).

Recommendation level: 3/5, there's going to be a remake coming out soon, so if you want to brag about having seen the original here's your chance! If you want eye candy in your movies this is it. If neither of the above mentioned options fit your taste then you should probably skip it your life won't be changed after watching it.

Leningrad Cowboys Go America by Aki Kaurismaki

Category: Non-English

This is quite probably one of the best films I've seen all week, the main reason why it's such a must see movie is purely because of its simplicity.

Basic premise of the film is a crazy band of Finns want to make it big but because of their unique style of music they seek fame in America! While the movie is a road trip kinda film it goes beyond it, touching upon a few aspects of America is all about, the film scores in all departments, it has Finns, rock 'n' roll, a hairless stalker & more. There's plenty of music in it for all people, the band also undergoes a few changes from its original avatar. The band strives hard but will they finally manage to make it big?

This was definitely one of the films anyone can watch while keeping the deadpan humour in mind.

Recommendation level: 4/5. It's available on NDTV Lumiere which had some blaring mistakes in the sub titles at the start. Look for it at any Crossword/Landmark once again and you shall find it! If you don't too bad.

Water by Deepa Mehta

Category: Hindi

I've read a lot about this film, hearing how it got rave reviews and it's director being so awesome and bla bla. So I decided to pick this up. The movie was fine.

So the basic premise: It's about widows and their lives, it's set during the Gandhian era so that is an interesting twist to the entire film. There's Lisa Ray who's acting is actually not so bad, John Abraham is good and Seema Biswas is impressive as always. There are many familiar faces for Hindi film goers and interesting characters ranging from Vinay Pathak's Brown Sahib to Raghuvir Yadav's Eunuch. It just got a little too much for me at the end so I had to not bother till the titles come out. But I think the real performance of this film had to be the young girl Chuyia, there's something really extra-ordinary about her.

Recommendation level: 3/5. I got bored towards the latter half of the film, maybe the pace seemed a little too slow. It should be available in any Crossword or Landmark you come across in Mumbai/India.

Eastern Promises by David Cronenberg

Category: English

This was one of the rare movies which I didn't actually read up online about as I normally do and I was very surprised by the impact of the movie. Although I thoroughly disagree with the actors and their accents.

Ok so the premise is Viggo Mortensen playing a "undertaker" for the Russian mafia based in London. He works for Vincent Cassel's character who is the scion of the famous "vory" family. Naomi Watts plays a mid-wife who has frequent run-in's with Viggo's character. There's a death of a 14 year old girl who dies in labour but leaves a baby. David Cronenberg patches everything together in this movie to make it a slick flick.

The acting is quite impressive although I strongly dislike the accents, Cassel seemed like a waste until the last few scenes where he holds his own against Viggo's refined and charming character.

Recommendation level: 3/5, it's a little violent in some parts but I suppose that's the brutality of using knives only (yes, movie on the mafia and no gun shots) It's available in Bombay at any store, there should be a bunch of them anywhere lying around in Crossword or a Landmark.

Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi by Umesh Mehra

Category: Hindi

I was pretty pumped to watch this movie, after seeing a little of it and hearing about it for many years as a toddler I was really excited to catch the movie.

The basic premise is Akshay Kumar's brother played by Inder Kumar is held hostage by Rekha's character in USA. Akshan Kumar (I hereby lay claim to this new nickname for him) heads there and settles things Akki Style.

Loads of action and brain dead scenes and jumping from continents to continents, I have seen almost all his movies from that era and this is by far one of the most entertaining. There's Raveena Tandon & Gulshan Grover also thrown in for good measure.

Recomendation level: 4/5 (Only if you like Akshay Kumar) , otherwise its a 2/5 rating. I guess this movie is available almost anywhere in Mumbai but you will need to really dig deep into the VCD stacks.



----------------------SPOILER WARNING-------------------------



I personally was pumped to see Crush and Undertaker duke it out in a Hindi movie until I found out that the Undertaker we see (barring from a few scenes) is a fake and it's played by someone else, a close friend of UnderTaker in real life. I felt gutted, really gutted, oh well the Crush in the movie is the real deal but who ever cheered for Crush?

Ashes of Time Redux by Wong Kar-Wai

Category: Non-English

Ashes of Time Redux version looks like a recent movie, sounds like one but in the end happens to lose a lot of its flavor which the original did thanks to WKW not having an orchestra at his disposal and for having shot in the desert in poor conditions for only a few hours a day made it a film as the characters also evolved and aged from frame to frame.

Anyway - basic premise: Ouyang Feng (brilliant Leslie Chueng) is a middle man between people who are wronged and seek revenge and the bounty hunters/assassins who need money. Every single character is driven by his/her greed and the resulting conflicts form the crux of the movie. Terrifc performances by the man in the picture, yes there's Maggie Cheung as well. This is the best and probably only post modernist take on wuxia films. Of course having seen the original it's almost like watching two completely different films but for someone just watching this version it will be a treat.

Recommendation level: 5/5. I guess the redux version is out in Mumbai but the original will be impossible to buy unless you look online.

Schedule for Week 1

Here's the list of the films for this week:

Monday - Ashes of Time Redux by Wong Kar Wai
Tuesday - Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi by Umesh Mehra
Wednesday - Eastern Promises by David Cronenberg
Thursday - Water by Deepa Mehta
Friday - Leningrad Cowboys Go America by Aki Kaurismaki
Saturday - Barbarella by Roger Vadim

The Premise

This blog is purely meant as an experiment in making me watch a lot of films (1 a day, Sundays off) on a weekly basis. This is a strict regime I'll be following over a period of time, for now it's just a year's worth of work I am planning. There will be breaks in between and there will be a time when there will be a variety of movies people haven't seen but it's all meant to stimulate myself and hopefully you so that you can get out there and watch a lot of movies too.

I don't mean to be preachy but I would sure as hell like to be able to write a lot however, in this day and age of science and technology everyone wants to see films and not like to read reviews that are a 100 pages long. Maybe one would do that on an established website so basically this site is going to cater to you for exatly 5 minutes in a day. If a movie sparks your imagination you will go find it and hunt it down if it doesn't look forward to the next one.

I have thought about adding a feature where people in my city can borrow these movies off me for no price but at the moment I am not entirely sure how this would pan out in the end so for now am just going to review films 1 day at a time. Hopefully I will have a massive collection too at the end of it with movies catering to all ages and faces.

There will be a few tags used but for now I will broadly categorize them as:

- English
- Hindi
- Non-English

At the beginning of each week (well on Sunday actually) I will put up a list of the movies that I will review in the coming week, so while this is a preset you could accordingly look forward to certain films or not. If you find this method of action boring, kindly let me know.

Any suggestions, feedback and further developments kindly pass some feedback on to me from time to time. All images are courtesy wikipedia or some random google.com website!