Reviews

Regional cinema in India (that excludes Bollywood and the big mainstream Tamil and Telugu movies) occasionally yields little gems like this flick. I heard of it on a news program towards the end of 2014 - the anchor was listing her favorites from the year gone by and she mentioned this as a must-watch inter-caste school love story. That is not quite accurate - the love is deep but one-sided, unrequited, and as one realizes early on, rather hopeless. A low- caste school boy is smitten by the pretty high caste girl that he sees in school every day but centuries of caste stigma are not easily shaken off by sharing the same classroom. The low caste family is routinely humiliated and called upon to trap the wild pigs that roam the village - the rest of the villagers consider the pigs unclean and any contact with the pigs impure. The boy rages against the caste trap and his own father for forcing him to take part in trapping pigs. The movie unfolds slowly for most of its running time, and the high caste characters are almost caricatures in their cruel callousness. Yet, the movie comes alive with a brutal brilliance in the last 10 minutes as shame and fury collide within the tormented boy in an explosive climax. The very last scene is like a punch in the stomach as the raging boy seems to hurl a stone at the audience itself for being mute spectators to injustice.

I am a big fan of film noir from the 50s, and so I picked this for a Sunday evening watch. However, Detective Story does not really fall in that genre. This movie is much more than stylish - it has oodles of substance. The story unfolds largely within the confines of a police station and much of the action occurs within one large room. The pacing is brisk, and most of the characters are introduced fairly early. Kirk Douglas turns in an intense performance as Jim McLeod - a ruthless crime fighting cop who has a stark view of the world as made up of good guys and bad. He and prosecutes all crime, no matter how minor, with a brutal zeal. He does not believe in extenuating circumstances. The first half of the movie leads you to think that you are watching an entertaining crime drama where McLeod is the upright cop who, whilst chafing at the bounds of permissible legal conduct, seeks to bring an influential, wealthy, and well-lawyered crook to justice. In his mind, McLeod has convicted and damned the crook with a ferocious loathing. It is the sudden mid-story twist that brings this film into its own. McLeod's relentless persecution precipitates a personal crisis that will alter his own life forever. In the second half, the movie grapples with surprising emotional intensity with eternal questions - who are we to judge, in damning others do we damn ourselves, and how do we bring ourselves to forgive? I was so engrossed that I postponed my loo break until the very end. This is a fantastic movie - loved it.

It is exactly what I titled. The movie is a funny and clever little romp. There are many movies centered on museum heists but this is easily among the better ones - the ingenious plot holds your undivided attention. The pace is brisk, and the acting top notch. Of course, it also helps to have the mesmerizing screen presence of two iconic actors. Audrey Hepurb is ethereally beautiful as always, oozing waif-like charm as only she could. And the dashing Peter O Toole puts on rather a droll show. The two share share a crackling chemistry here. This movie is perfect for an entertaining evening watch with friends and family. I guarantee that everyone will laugh a lot, and have a broad smile on their faces at the end. I definitely did.

A simple, heart-warming little gem of a movie. It pulled me in right from get go. Maybe it is because I am from India and I could relate to the granny - she reminded me of my own who lived in a village, and worked tirelessly from dusk to dawn in rustic conditions - no running water, no mechanical devices, no domestic help. And yet she always had a big smile and a warm hug for her grandchildren. And I cringed at the memory of my own behavior. While nowhere as rotten as the kid in the movie, I recall whining about the lack of amenities at her place, and laughing at her simple mindedness. She passed away long ago but I can now appreciate her self-sufficiency, her patience, and her big heart. The granny in the movie is an incredible find - her wrinkled weather-beaten face shines with patience and kindliness.

I am a big fan of The Thin Man series, and connected instantly with Valentin's pencil thin mustache, cocky little smirk (in the first half of the movie), and the dog! Of course, the story line is very different. It is a simple story really. Boy at the pinnacle of his career meets struggling girl and gives her a helping hand. Then boy meets girl once again, this time as he is going downhill and she is climbing up. This midpoint is captured rather literally although still prettily on the screen with a set of staircases with Valentin coming down after a disappointing business meet and an upbeat Peppy bouncing up the steps. I won't go on with the rest of the story so as not to play a spoiler. It is an old fashioned love story - you will come out with a broad smile.

A note on B&W silent cinema - no sound, little animation or special FX - with so little to work with, the best directors of the time wove magic on the screen. And this retro gem of a movie does the same. Comedy, drama, and romance all come together in a clever mix. The acting was top notch - the two main actors were superb. The movie swept me up and took me back in time into the 1920s and 1930s Hollywood as old superstars of the silent era gave way to the new talking stars.

Catch it in the movie halls if you can.

I caught this flick several months after its release on a flight back from India. I knew that it had been a big box office success in India, and that was precisely why I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It exudes an upper class (for India) sensibility and a cosmopolitan world view which is usually missing from the mainstream Bollywood blockbusters.

Zoya Akhtar has handled the themes of male bonding and self-discovery very deftly. She is ably helped by an intelligent screenplay, a competent cast, and of course, Spain's beautiful landscapes, cities, and festivals. The movie flows smoothly - neither hurried nor dragging. The screenplay does not insult the audience's intelligence; it eschews the loud lack of subtlety that characterizes the massy Bollywood blockbusters. The movie was aimed squarely at the metro multiplex audience and it hit the bulls-eye. Although the themes are universal, the world it depicts would be alien to much of the single screen audience. Provincial India does not even exist here except in one scene where the guys, a tad gratuitously, poke fun at the thick accent of their school teacher.

The three main characters are well sketched out - again it shows the thought and care that went into the screenplay. Katrina can actually act. Hrithik and Farhan do well. Abhay Deol is hands down the best actor in the main cast but here I found him a bit ill at ease with his role. Spain looks gorgeous - I have made a mental note to go there once again.

One could analyze a movie for hours but I have one simple litmus test. If the movie holds my undivided attention, then it works for me. I was engrossed in this movie from the get go, and saw it one uninterrupted sitting. 8/10 from me.

I was not too keen on watching this. Cancer is frightening and I was apprehensive of either a morbid flick or a flippant one. The movie was neither. It did not minimize the physical or emotional damage wrought by the malady and its brutal treatment on the victim. But it also did not wallow in grim despair. Seth Rogen, as the best buddy, supplied the humor that lightened the mood (albeit tad predictable in his obsession with weed and getting laid.) The budding romance with the earnest, well intentioned but somewhat awkward therapist was deftly handled - it fit well with the flow of the movie and never overpowered the main theme - how a young man deals with cancer, its treatment, and the fallout on family and friends.

The acting was good, and the script was tight. I was engrossed and moved. Very nice movie.

This movie pulls you in - I think it is the kids especially the young actor who plays Stanley. He really got into his role. He definitely holds great promise for the future. The teachers are almost caricatures - the beautiful young ma'm who oozes grace and loves art and on whom the boys clearly have a crush, the villainous Khadoos who is uncouth and way over the top, and the strictly dull science teacher without an iota of imagination. The camera work is amazing - the school comes alive as it captures the moods of the kids, the classroom dynamics, the equation between teachers and students. The plot is almost ridiculously simple and yet it very engrossing fare. You wait to see why Stanley cannot bring his own tiffin to school. When the secret is finally revealed you are not surprised and yet you find yourself surprisingly affected. Absolutely worth a watch.

I have watched the unforgettable and justifiably renowned Bicycle Thief, and the impressive Umberto D. I had long been wanting to watch Shoeshine and finally saw it last evening, enjoying it as movies are meant to be enjoyed - on a big home screen with my new projector. The movie starts on a perky note - two boys, close friends, exuberant at having bought a horse they both love. One is almost lulled into thinking that this will be a buoyant movie about friendship and a horse. It turns out to be several shades darker. It is De Sica's genius that he can pull you in so quickly and make you feel such strong empathy for the two boys as they are brutalized by life within a short span of a few days; their friendship souring and spiraling down towards an ominous end. Be warned, this is a depressing movie. But it is a gem nonetheless, and I know that several scenes will remained etched in my mind forever. In particular, De Sica captures in a starkly beautiful manner the quicksilver bonding and the territorial rivalries of the boys trapped in a bleak Dickens' style detention center. A must watch for any fan of that strain of Italian cinema from the 1940s and 50s.

I was lured into watching this movie by the presence of some of my favorite stars - Girish Karnad and Om Puri. I started regretting my decision within the first 20 minutes. The plot had potential - a grieving family struggles to cope with the sudden death of the mother who was the glue that held the family together. But the script was painfully puerile. It threw in every cliché in the book and then some. There was a Hindu-Muslim angle, a rebellious lesbian daughter, immigrant angst, a cross-cultural marriage on the rocks, and an utterly predictable revelation of infidelity that was thrown in to humanize the otherwise goddess-like persona of the deceased mother and wife. And each cliché was executed in deadly earnest without an iota of subtlety or irony. There were repeated and ponderous musings on life and death. The dead woman kept appearing bathed in radiant hues as she sang and played the sitar, or strolled through flower filled meadows. Until the very end when her transgression was revealed and just to make sure the audience was hammered over the head with the idea - a picture frame with her photo was smashed to pieces. Although I had written off the movie by the half hour mark, I still cringed physically when there was a romantic duet in a meadow to showcase the youthful Hindu-Muslim romance threatened by rigid tradition. No, it was not done in a campy over- the-top Bollywood style, instead it was despairingly wooden and earnest. Bloody awful.

My friends went to see The Queen last night - I was too tired and decided to go back home. I put in the DVD and got into bed figuring I would watch an half hour or so and fall asleep. At the end of nearly 2 hours, I was sitting up straight, wide awake, awestruck at the genius in the direction and acting. This is cinema at its finest. I have seen La Strada before and I now rank Fellini's earlier work as among my all time favorites (along with Ozu.) Masina's tearful smile at the camera at the end is pure magic - so much dignity and hope captured in a single second. Her performance throughout the movie was a revelation - she got innocent hope and graceful charm to shine through her foul-mouthed vulgar acting character. I simultaneously cared and despaired for her - this movie pulled me in like no recent Hollywood movie has for a long long time.

This is definitely worth watching. The direction is restrained, SRK has acted really well after a long time, and there is a naive yet charming idealism underpinning the movie. It could have been a tad shorter, crisper editing would have helped. BO-wise it is a risky movie - unapologetic in its depiction of poverty and almost childlike in its appeal to NRIs and India's middle class to acknowledge poverty and try to do something about it. Gowarikar's heart is in the right place - the shots with the family unable to pay land rents, and the waterboy were graceful and poignant. My hunch is that regardless of BO fate, this is an important movie and will be referred to for year to come.

Sriram Raghavan surprises in his debut movie. I watched this movie without taking a break - and I can almost never do that with a Bollywood movie. It is a slick and engrossing thriller that draws you in. Urmila, a middle class working girl in Mumbai is entrapped by a smooth gangster (Saif Ali Khan) and you get a frightening look of her ordeal in a harsh and unforgiving penal system. So you find yourself rooting for her as she seeks revenge; not in the usual loud hysterical Bollywood style but executed with a quiet steely determination with explosive passion just beneath the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Weir almost perfectly captures life on a frigate in the early 19th century; he has an astonishing eye for accurate details. The story has echoes of Moby Dick; and the game of cat and mouse with the French ship draws you in. Leavened with just the right amount of humor and with far less pandering to mushy sentiments that one would expect from a major Hollywood product - this one kept me engrossed from the start.

Boring!!!

I liked the Matrix; the sequel is a big disappointment. There are perhaps 3-4 scenes that were worth watching. The yard scene of Neo's fight with the clones is fantastic. Some martial arts sequences stand out as well. IMHO, the freeway scene is way too long and overrated.

The rest of the movie is awful. There is stilted love making scene that is painful to watch. Also, a long rave scene that looks as if it is out of a c-grade MTV video. And interminable amounts of psyhco babble - no one talks straight and no one talks lucid. If I want philosophy, I will pick up Kant and Spinoza. No dumbed down pop nonsense for me, thank you.