The Taking of Pelham 123 by Tony Scott

Category: English

This film sucked, Travolta is old, Denzel looks tired and the directors pace is caught somewhere in between. The plot isn't the best but it's workable in parts, Travolta is an old school Wall Street guy going beserk after serving some time and he takes over a rail car which stars off from Pelham Bay at 12:23. Denzel Washington is under investigation after allegedly taking a bribe to endorse a Japanese brand of rail car manufacturers.

In the end the film is as tired and hackeneyed as any film can be, something about Tony Scott that makes him one of the most boring directors of recent times despite using Denzel Washington in several films! Just skip it if you can, I feel gutted for watching it in the cinema hall but don't make the same mistake. Watch it at home if you really have nothing else to watch.

Recommendation level: 0/5 - Bye, good night.

2046 by Wong Kar-wai

Category: Non-English

This is really a little too ambitious from Wong Kar-Wai. The film essentially follows the aftermath of the character we all so yearned and cried for at the end of In The Mood for Love. If anything, our heart goes out to him even more, but there's something about Tony Leung playing a protagnoist who is primarily driven by lust this time around. His quest for the next Su Li-Zhen takes him across many people - some old, some new and some with undertones to people whom he has come across already.

Definitely a film to watch but only recommended if you have seen Days of Being Wild & In the Mood for Love. Finally there is also the lovely ladies who deserve a special mention - Carina Lau, Faye Wong, Zhang ZiYi & of course Maggie Cheung. One can't help but feel that Leslie Cheung, had he still been alive would have been probably the perfect ace to be cast into the role. Don't get me wrong, he would not be good for the second film in this trilogy but he would be apt for this role. The evolution of the character literally flows from Leslie Cheung to Tony Leung (Days of Being Wild end) and would have been perfect to return back to Leslie Cheung at the end of In the Mood for Love.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

Recomendation level: 3/5 - Noble and yes I liked the effort! I just think his depiction of the future and the kind of disconnection he makes his characters experience has gone a little far in this effort. The melancholy and suffering is still sharp and stagnant but he's basically treading too far away from reality and then back to it. Impressive Time and Space adjusting though, less shots of clocks and lesser still of the sky...

Veer Zaara by Yash Chopra

Category: Hindi

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Melodrama to the hilt.

Veer loves Zaara, he can't have her. 22 years later he gets it all fixed and he's with her.

3 hours to tell a simple story (literally). Well actually to be fair it could have been longer and more painful, the first half is really hard, root canal is probably nicer.

SRK is at his finest, making people sob their guts out, there's also Raani Mukherjee whos ok as the lawyer and Priety Zinta as the old Zaara and young.

There's also Manoj Bajpai, Amitabh Bachan and a bunch of others thrown in for good measure, cinematically this achieves nothing, really stop making such pre-historic movies by directors who should just be rolling over. Similarly don't let 90 year olds sing when they should also be rolling over (hi Lata Mangeshkar)

But, if you like sappy films - yeah watch this and cry your guts out. Damn emo.

Recommendation level: 1/5 - Yeah.

Summer with Monika by Ingmar Bergman

Category: Non-English

Bergman's take on young love and the relationship that blossoms after it has 2 uncompromising and amazing close ups. Perhaps the best in films seen till date, the first being when Monika is about to embark on an affair with a man she despised at some point and the second is when Harry fondly remembers his love by looking at a mirror. Really brilliant scenes.

The film deals with the young love between Monika and Harry and how in one summer their loves change forever, she gets pregnant and eventually wants to seek something completely new. She wants to be free and doesn't want to take up a role as a home-maker, Harry on the other hand gets consumed by his desire to provide for the child and her that he ends up neglecting the very same reason why he fell in love with her - her free spiritdness.

I have already mentioned the close ups to look for, but beyond all of this there's more! Bergman completely enchanted by Stockholm really locks his horns on the city and the people about it, in a very spectacular manner he manages to portray his love for the city and at the same time manage to be like the outsider in his own city. A truly marvellous perspective. Also watch out for Harriet Andersson, her portrayl of Monika is really amazing, but credit to Bergman to really make a film which has bold scenes and has such a strong protagnoist who keeps getting torn between her responsibilites and her wish to be free. Lars Ekborg is very resilient and there's a sense of disinterest but responsibility within him, his childhood probably leaves a much larger impact on him than Monika's also troubled childhood.

Everything else is top notch, so nothing left to be added. Oh yeah it was also very bold for it's times and bla bla, just wiki that shit you will know more.

Recommendation level: 4/5 - Picked it up from Palador's collection so that's pretty alright. Go watch it if you can!

Summer Interlude by Ingmar Bergman

Category: Non-English

I simply had to make sure I get more of Bergman's films and the rewards are really there. Summer Interlude made in 1951 is probably one of the earliest attempts at reminiscing about the past and more importantly about living old memories through the present and potentially the future.

Bergman isn't attacking God and his Father in this film as much as he would want to, he does towards the end but he's completely absorbed in putting the young love across to the viewers, he's so consumed by the lustful glances of the Erland, he's so embittered by the sudden loss of a life and most importantly he carries forth the emotion he creates perfectly right till the end.

To the plot - Marie falls in love with a young man whom she remembers fondly in her memories, through the film we come to know about their romance and the subsequent departure of his from her life. Erland is the uncle who "prepares" Marie to build walls and not let people come close. Eventually after becoming very successful as a ballerina she finally comes across her first love's memories and tries to cope with his loss almost a decade after he departs.

The acting is really good, so is the camera work (close ups) but the vision that Bergman holds as usual comes through completely.

Recommendation level: 4/5 - This film is really good and well unless you really appreciate Bergman I think a lot of people will get phased out. Very simple on the surface but very complex to comprehend at last.

Saawariya by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Category: Hindi

Dated by a few years I am sure, but this film had to come here some day, why? Because there's Sonam Kapoor in this one, and also because I had to eventually destroy Sanjay Leela Bhansali, somehow, somewhere!

Basically Bhansali is like Michael Jackson barring the fact that he's still alive. Why? Because he's living in such a delusional and child like world that he should be stopped from making such films, films like these are the reason why people are fine with anything they throw at us today. Someone said the biggest strength of Bhansali is his strength and I have to say it's quite probably the biggest reason why he's a crappy director, he moves away from reality right at the onset, fair enough he adapts a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky but he doesn't even do justice to anyone's understanding of cinema.

There's tons of melodrama and there's a lot of rubbish thrown in for good measure, characters which could be good actually end up becoming repulsive and annoying. Then comes the music which isn't at all engrossing, the set design is rich but what the fuck, French films in the 1920's had better set production than this. So basically his strong points are also his weakest...

Oh yeah the film is about Raj falling in love with Sakina and her being in love with Imam and going with him in the end but there's also Gulabji there somewhere. Ranbir Kapoor is ok, Raani Mukherji and Salman Khan are really out of place here. Sonam Kapoor is the saving grace of this film. But heck...

Recommendation level: 1/5 - Just the 1 for Sonam Kapoor, if not 0/5.

Shoot 'Em Up by Michael Davis

Category: English

A wonderful way to finish off the week, watch Shoot 'Em Up starring Clive Owen as the mysterious Smith. There's also Monica Bellucci for the sex and Paul Giamatti's Mr. Hertz for the bad guys role. The film is completely meant for guys and I don't think any pink loving girl is going to find the humour or the purpose of this film. The great part is - there isn't any purpose to this film!

There's only action, a wafer thin plot line which is as outrageous as the style in which Mr Hertz is killed towards the end of the film. Meh - the VCD is such horrid quality though - miss whatever funny one liners they have to throw at each other from time to time. So as a warning make sure you watch this film on some really good speakers/headsets.

There's nothing much really left to say, just watch out for the few quirky situations the film throws at you and the in your face action that should have been probably more censored than the scenes for which Ms Bellucci was selected for. Oh from the actors - Paul Giamatti & Clive Owen have such a unique chemistry, despite their roles they leave a lasting impression on you.

Recommendation level: 1/5 - LOL It's great but am not retarded, cinematically nothing bla bla. Action fans - 5/5.

Kill! by Kihachi Okamoto

Category: Non-English

This film definitely has some value for the Samurai genre, there's also apparently plenty of references to previous Samurai works preceeding this. The film was made in 1968, it's a little drawn out at an almost 120 mins run time but that's because it relies a lot on the melodrama and dialogues which appear to have no real significance at that time.

Okamoto's movie talks about a Samurai completely disillusioned by being a Samurai and he happens to befriend a farmer who aspires to be a Samurai. There are plenty of expected scenes in the film, but there's one character who is vastly underestimated and that is the leader of the Ronin who are in search of getting their reward. There's also an entire plot line that is basically done to accomodate characters one would normally have difficulty putting in otherwise.

The Samurai code comes under tremendous digs in the film, there's extreme scrutiny of the way a Samurai behaves and how he does under times of strife and conflict. There are the expected scenes but in terms of what this film stands for - helping create a concrete genre of the Samurai it's very remarkable.

I must warn you though unless you really like Samurais and are enchanted by Miyamoto Musashi and the kind of rich lore that brings along with itself it's highly likely you might pass out during this films screening, so be prepared to research a little on what I just said before getting into this one!

Recommendation level: 3/5 - Yeah, it's a bit long but all's well that ends well! Here's to Cinema I suppose!

The Host by Bong Joon-ho

Category: Non-English

If it wasn't for the extras on the DVD I would have probably rated this film really low but now that I did see the extras, I have to say some of the better shots and news clips have been removed from the film.

The premise is simple - there's a monster in the Han river who goes about mutating through the years and finally reaches a point where it can move around killing tons of people and eventually collecting a set of midnight snacks. In all of this a particular girl named Hyun-Seo is kidnapped by the monster but manages to hide while her erstwhile father, uncle, aunt and grand father try to track her down in the hopes of rescuing her.

There's a healthy dose of commentary political commentary from the director especially pertaining to America's interference on several issues of the Korean government. There's also some funny jokes thrown in there as well but the sad part is such films can never really convey it completely, I mean there's a discrepancy in it's format with these social commentaries. Watching the film in Korean but with English sub titles is probably your best bet at getting a clearer understanding of the emotions used in the film.

Recommendation level: 1.5/5 - I don't really think it's a great film, just about passable but entertaining in parts.

Kaminey by Vishal Bharadwaj

Category: Hindi

This is quite likely the best Hindi film I have seen in sometime and I have to say this is one film which is definitely a must see for any aspiring directors. Not because it's revolutionary - don't get me wrong it's still a 2/5 for me but there's something unique about this effort.

Firstly - Vishal Bharadwaj controls the film very well up until the crappy climax, keeps emotions in scenes going on perfectly fine until the end. Sigh - he should have ended it on an ambiguous note but he doesn't and gives in to the industry. Well fair enough but he needs to do some more works like these.

The film is purely based in Mumbai and there's some smart banter that comes up because of it. His characters are very lively and in a way long lasting in the mind. Lobo & Lele in particular are unstoppable and command such a massive presence, everyone else is well placed in the cast too. Shahid Kapur is surprisingly brilliant and Priyanka is just about OK.

Points to note - The duality of the brothers is present but there's way too much melodrama to unfold their story. He has such an interesting character in Guddu/Charlie but doesn't completely exploit it. The cold ruthlessness of the characters is displayed well but there are moments where you also wonder where the Bengalir brothers disappear for a good deal of time in the film. Also the end feels like a Priyadarshini film with every surviving character basically rallying up to meet his maker.

Recommendation level: 2/5 - Man of my word. Do watch it though, it's pretty much going to set the ball for hopefully better films in the coming future!

Sunshine by Danny Boyle

Category: English

Ah, I am really sure everyone is aware of the premise of this film, if not I'll sum it up in about a line. The Sun is essentially dying and Earth sends Icarus 2 to accomplish the task of setting up a new star to take the place of the Sun, on the way they bump into Icarus 1 and have to deal with a nasty figure hell bent on performing his version of God's will.

Alright with that out of the way let's actually list a few points which I thought was stand out (yes I like this film). Firstly, this film covers the state of mind of the astronauts very well in fact it's probably on par with the best space sci-fi films churned out from Hollywood and Tarkovsky's Solaris. The concept of the Sun as a revitalizer is taken a step further by Searle (the doctor on board the ship) and Pinbacker but there's so much more that could have been done with that concept. There's not much a questioning of the Human Condition in space but there's just some kind of superficial understanding there itself. So, is God the Sun or is Sun the God we all talk about?

There's a lot of flak the film recieved for not being coherent in its science but I don't care about that. The soundtrack is haunting at parts and is definitely a good addition to the film's impressive cast list. Finally the kind of atmosphere it creates with it's characters is ultimately what holds the film and makes it watchable. The film ends on a remarkably bright note (Hah - Couldn't resist that one).

Recomendation level: 2/5 - Yeah I like it, it's a decent watch on a week day :)

A Good Year by Ridley Scott

Category: English

I was supposed to do a review of "Bad Education" to bring the Pedro Almodovar week to a close but the disk was completely toasted so I am sorry. I did however watch another film today - one I had got from my brother sometime back.

A Good Year, isn't one of the best films you will see, it's not even endearing. The film follows Max who is a trader and is particularly ruthless in his field. After his uncle dies he leaves him a vineyard in France which Max at first wants to quickly get rid off.

Later of course like all convoluted plots he must discover the real meaning behind his existence and the real values he must face.

Bla bla, this was really bad. It's fine to watch if you have nothing else but it's a film you can afford to skip. No noteworthy performances in here and not surprising that it got panned when it released in 2006. Ridley Scott & Russell Crowe should stick to making Gladiator or sequels, not attempt this.

Recommendation level: 1/5 - Yeah, you can skip this!

Talk to Her by Pedro Almodóvar

Category: Non-English

The 4th film from the same director this week and I must say the films keep getting better! This time the film follows the life of 4 individuals - Benigno (a male nurse at a hospital for people who are in coma and will most likely not wake up) who is in love with one of the patients, Alicia (who is a ballerina before an accident renders her inert). There's also Marco (a writer nursing a broken heart) who is in love with the bull fighter Lydia (who gets gored by a bull and also becomes a part of the same hospital).

Well, not too much into the plot. I have seen a trend now in Almodóvar's films there's always reference to the Holy Trinity, there's always some kind of questioning of the faith and more importantly of the human mind. The camera work is nothing extra ordinary in this film but the biggest stand out as to be the performance by Darío Grandinetti's Marco who is absolutely polished and stagnant at the same time his performance very much reminds me of Tony Leung's performance in some Wong Kar-Wai films. The other actor Javier Cámara can also hold his own in scenes with Dario, there's definitely a delightful camraderie which grows through the film between the characters that stands out in particular.

Recomendation level: 3/5 - Yeah it's worth watching, definitely.

All About my Mother by Pedro Almodóvar

Category: Non-English

Definitely the most outstanding film of Pedro Almodóvar that I've seen in the last 3 days, this one is a bit more grounded in reality without having characters tear each others' clothes off with no real reason.

The film essentially deals with Manuela who coping from the loss of her 18 year old son decides to finally look into what happened to the father of the child. Love in the film stems from a play called "A Street Car Named... Desire". Manuela eventually makes it o Barcelona and meets Sister Rosa who has been diagnosed as HIV Poistive whilst being pregnant. The culprit is the transvestite (or same man rather) who impregnated Manuela back in the day! There's also the angle about the actress Huma and her younger lesbian lover Nina. Then there's also a transvestite by the name of Agrado who is probably one of the most interesting characters in the film.

I know it sounds tedious and annoying but the film's characters are actually greatly enhanced by the visuals we see, the development of relationships is beautifully interlaced with certain political comments at times or certain questions of our own being, albeit not in the most direct and poetic savagery as a Bergman for example.

The film is much lighter in comparison to other film makers but there are certain moments that stand out in my mind - for example with the changing of letters and time at the end of the film or when he's capturing the moments of a picture the camera knows exactly what to focus on. My personal observation here is the characters in the film or maybe even in real life, can only digest the loss of a person ONCE they know the real reason behind it.

Recommendation level: 3.5/5 - Yeah it totally deserves this and I am going to make the first films review - Tie me Up! Tie me Down into a 2.5 in comparison to this! Watch it if you can, it's won a ton of awards too!

Additionally I don't normally do this but recently a blog named: Only Good Movies featured one of my reviews (on Tie me Up! Tie me Down!) in their 101 best movie posters article. Have a look at their website sometime, it's pretty neat!

Live Flesh by Pedro Almodóvar

Category: Non-English

Haha, Bas Ek Pal (the Bollywood film) is totally ripped off from this film, I had to notice this - fucking ridiculous.

Moving to the review - If it wasn't for the exquisite sexual scenes present in this film, I'd have no problem in rating this higher but the situations sometimes contorted to produce these scenes is completely senseless and that's really annoying. He can't justify it, maybe his producers wanted to make full use of Francesa Meri's awesome body!

The movie follows Victor who was born in a time when Spain was far from free in terms of its political will. He meets and falls in love with Elena. Two cops Sancho and David enter in the film and a somewhat awkward situation results in David getting paralyzed from down under, Victor is sent to jail and Elena marries David out of guilt. There's also another character named Clara who keeps trying to find love with David (in the past) and Victor (in the present!) but fails. The final fiasco is hilarious and stupid.

To the other parts now - the cinematography is brilliant, there's a slight move away from the camera angles I saw in his last film, there's more reliance on editing but done very nicely. The movie is clearly about Madrid but gets waaaaaaaay too mixed up with it's confused characters and as a result falls somewhere between artsy and mainstream. I didn't like this part the most, I mean Pedro could have been clearer with his vision and the film thoroughly disapppoiints after the initial 20 minutes.

Recommendation level: 2.5/5 - Sigh, this was bad in a way but still there's some lighter moments and some sick dark comedy in here.

Tie me up! Tie me Down! by Pedro Almodóvar

Category: Non-English

Not probably one of the best films that I've watched recently, the film finds Antonio Banderas' character who has just been released from a mental asylum following a life of juvenil deliquency. Victoria Abril's character is the porn star he slept with a year back and now he wants her to marry him. She doesn't so instead he kidnaps her and makes him fall in love with her!

There's plenty of eroticisim, the kind which is very easy to come by and there's nothing really aesthetic in his scenes despite the fact that Almodóvar is supposed to be one of the best film makers around from Spain.

The camera work on the other hand is handled extremely well, there's plenty of movement on the camera without a 100 cuts per second, he's used a lot of over head shots when needed to break the monotony and perhaps in a way they are the best shots I remember from the film. There's some political comments in the film but nothing really great, he skims the surface really and is stuck between a mainstream and an art house audience. I wasn't too impressed with the dialogues but the cinematography helps it a fair bit. That with the colors definitely make it a visual treat.

Recommendation level: 2.5/5 - Nothing superiror but not that bad either! I haven't seen any of this guys work yet so maybe my opinion on him but change in the coming days!

Pedro Almodóvar Week - Week 7

After a few indescisive weeks here's a list of films up for review from the Spanish director - Pedro Almodóvar

Monday - Tie me up! Tie me Down!

Tuesday - Live Flesh

Wednesday - All About my Mother

Thursday - Talk to Her

Friday - Bad Education

Feel free to check in on the blog on these days!

Tony Takitani by Jun Ichikawa

Category: Non-English

Japanese director Jun Ichikawa picks up a short story by Haruki Murakami and beautifully executes it. In fact I have to say I am very surprised at the talent and more importantly the simplicity of the director. The film follows the story of Tony Takitani who gets his name thanks to a very eccentric father.

The alienation of an individual here begins right at the name, hitting out at the fact that we're well defined in some cultures it is a start, a progression if you may like to a complete breakdown of an individual. After he grows up he gets married to a lady younger than him by 15 years and eventually she passes away. He does however try to replace her void with almost no success.

The movie doesn't go anywhere but tells a story of a lifetime, it's got less dialogue and a very unique way of moving onto the next scene - using a side scroll pattern as if the story is unfolding for the first time on camera as well. The performances are top notch to say the least, there's a gentle creation and execution of the film. Watch out for the commentary which isn't actually any individuals voice in the film, rather it's everyones voice and no ones in particular.

Recommendation level: 4/5 - Yeah, it's really that good, I should have seen this a while back!

Love Aaj Kal by Imtiaz Ali

Category: Hindi

I don't get the opportunity anymore to cover any contemporary Hindi films so when I got a chance to just watch this I figured I'd do a few lines on this film.

Hah! For a while in my head Imtiaz Ali & Anurag Kashyap seemed to be the messiah's of a dried up cinema. I clubbed them together because their friends as well... Then they made Jab We Met & No Smoking around the same time - completely different styles. Now they have Dev.D (and Gulaal) & Love Aaj Kal. It seems like they reversed roles somehow, because DevD is actually watchable and Love Aaj Kal isn't.

The film has a track about love in the past and love now, both in the same film, both with Saif Ali Khan and the film is really fail. Imtiaz seems so confused in this film, he either doesn't know how to end it or Saif (also the producer and lead) demanded he goes on. There are some scenes which are strongly executed, it's edited really crappily though. We always compliment our heroes and heroines but I think if the director made a better effort at controlling the script and where it was headed this movie could have been pretty okay.

I suppose you can go watch this film if you're really bored or on a first date! But if you are one of just lost the 'love of your life' you might just get really toasted. It's terribly sentimental and stacked with melodrama especially towards the climax. Oh there's also Rahul Khanna in a fail role & a Brazilian girl as a Punjabi Kudi.

Recommendation level: 1/5 - It's hard to rate hindi films, I might like them but others don't! Also the film isn't all that bad for a Bollywood film!

Dolls by Takeshi Kitano

Category: Non-English

Such a huge departure from watching Bergman last week, this is all so colorful! Exploring emotions has always been a forte of sorts of Asian cinema. Japanese director - Takeshi Kitano in one of his rare instances explores humanity and the feelings involved in it. Known for his Yakuza style films Kitano's effort is greatly helped by Katsumi Yanagishima, who might not be the best cinematographer around but he manages to lift this film considerably.

Dolls sets the mood for the film with a performance puppet theatre or Bunraku as it's also known as. With that in mind we explore the lives of 3 couples - The first are torn apart by the boys parents and somehow are the common thread throughout the film. The second couple features a Yakuza boss who is shown to be quite ruthless until he realizes his time is at end and he wants to make peace with the girl he left years back. The final one follows the love of an avid fan for a Japanese Pop singer, who after getting disfigured retreats from the spotlight. The fan in response refuses to see the world...

The movie doesn't really end and as usual as it is with films today the movie ends on a very obscure note with no definite ending. The costumes are something which have been the talk of the film. The couple who are "bound" to each other do a lot of costume changing and that symbolism is really too obvious. He could have made such a massive impact had he really analysed his own close ups, really that's depressing - Kitano has a real winner if he had worked on his camera angles irony being that in some situations the cinematography stands out.

Recommendation level: 3/5 - It's a good effort but once again nothing spectacular! If you want to claim Asian Cinema brownie points to impress people this is one for the fakers of World Cinema. Still, it has some moments and some of its concepts click.

Bin Jip by Kim Ki-duk

Category: Non-English

I had this film for quite sometime before I finally got myself to have a look at it! The movie follows a mysterious visitor who puts take away menus on peoples doors, when he finds out they aren't removed he moves in for a while. Never stealing but actually just staying there.

One day he does the same thing to a lady who has a very abusive relationship with her husband, she tags along with him after a brief incident with the husband. They set out doing the same thing and eventually forming a bond - without the utterance of a single word.

Things do however go haywire and their perfect life is ruined after their caught and the lady is sent back to her husband. The last 15 minutes of the film are completely bizarre and while they try to make a last minute stake at 'defining reality' the film doesn't really match up to the tall claims its sets out.

I thought the film would be similar to Visitor Q by Takashi Miike, but the film has a completely different tone and we get to see a really mellow Kim Ki-duk here. Obviously riding the mental high from Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall ... and Spring. It's unique.

Recommendation level: 3/5 - It's good but nothing brilliant.