Quite a lot of months have passed by. I've had enough inertia to keep me away from blogging. But not enough to keep me away from watching movies. That seems to be the only thing that I continue to do well as I've watched a lot of movies in this period.
Lay like a dead man, and stare into the idiot box with some rental DVD playing some junk movie on the box. In this vegetative state of mind, there have been a few movies the names of which I can still recall - which means that they were not so bad. Most of them were just so-so, some crap, but some were good. Not all the good movies were good in the same sense, or were equally good. Here are a few movies, and what I liked about them:
1. Heartbreak Kid - A comic and light-hearted movie where a man meets the right girl and marries too quickly. While on his honeymoon and in the process of discovering that his new bride is a nightmare, he meets the girl of his dreams. Ben Stiller is cut out for such roles.
2. Conversations with Other Women - A totally different treatment to depict the 2 sides of a love story. The movie has 2 windows running in parallel - one for each side of a story. Two persons meet up and start talking about certain memories as if they were common to the two of them. The past gets slowly revealed as the viewer connects the dots during the movie. Excellent treatment!
3. Amores Perros - It still makes the cut despite a vague ending. The end is vague probably because I could not understand it, or I could not place it with the remainder of the movie that was extremely charged up and gripping throughout. Non-linear story-telling that connects 3 stories through 1 accident. It reminded me of 'Crash' a bit. This Spanish movie is from the same director who later went on to direct 21 grams and Babel among other movies.
4. Zero Effect - Nice and intelligent movie that connects the entire case of private investigation in beautiful manner. Each and every word was well-weighed before putting it in the script. I had somehow low expectations from this movie, which somehow helped me in rating it highly.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Movies this week
My Best Friend's Girl (MBFG), Casanova, Birthday Girl, We Own the Night, Woh Lamhe (WL) were the movies that I had watched this week, of which only MBFG and WL deserve a mention here (though Casanova was funny too).
MBFG is a funny movie - with lewd comments & scant regard for love, feelings and emotions- worth a light-hearted timepass.
WL is just the opposite of it. It is the love story of Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi told beautifully through a movie. Some very nice performances and decent script & songs make it worth watching. Those who have loved and lost would relate very well with this movie. Others may not be able to empathise with the obsessive feelings (shown in the movie) a lover undergoes. But anyway, it is a commendable effort by the director.
MBFG is a funny movie - with lewd comments & scant regard for love, feelings and emotions- worth a light-hearted timepass.
WL is just the opposite of it. It is the love story of Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi told beautifully through a movie. Some very nice performances and decent script & songs make it worth watching. Those who have loved and lost would relate very well with this movie. Others may not be able to empathise with the obsessive feelings (shown in the movie) a lover undergoes. But anyway, it is a commendable effort by the director.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Fill in the blanks: Country A and Country B!
Country A and Country B share tense relations. Both of them have waged many wars and proxy-wars against each other. Both the countries have nuclear weapons.
Country A experienced a terrorist attack in the recent past that was targeted at foreigners and that got broadcast live in TV. Country A blamed Country B of sending terrorists for that attack. Country A got the sympathy.
Now, in Country B, foreign players are attacked by terrorists that gets broadcast again. Country B is yet to blame Country A for having a role in it, but it seems only to be a matter of time.
Whatever may be the case, this sure seems to go on and on. An eye for an eye is going to make the whole world blind!
Country A experienced a terrorist attack in the recent past that was targeted at foreigners and that got broadcast live in TV. Country A blamed Country B of sending terrorists for that attack. Country A got the sympathy.
Now, in Country B, foreign players are attacked by terrorists that gets broadcast again. Country B is yet to blame Country A for having a role in it, but it seems only to be a matter of time.
Whatever may be the case, this sure seems to go on and on. An eye for an eye is going to make the whole world blind!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Film Mania
What Planet Are you from? (WPAYF), Vantage Point, Starsky & Hutch, Groundhog Day, The Weatherman, Thirakkatha (malayalam) - I've watched all these movies in the last 5 days. Add to it another travel documentary on Mexico, and a half of another movie - Chicken Run that I managed in the same last 5 days.
Either I'm nuts or I do not have any other job left now or both! But yes, I've been watching movie with a vengeance these days. As if there's no tomorrow; As if I want to run away from all the worldly worries and responsibilities; As if I want to become a film critic or a film director!
WPAYF was funny, Vantage point was engrossing, Starsky & Hutch was light & fun, The Weatherman was decently treated, but what stood out from the rest were - Groundhog Day & Thirakkatha.
Groundhog Day in its very own peculiarly funny way brought out a meaning - of not cribbing about the daily chores (stuck in a rut thingee), and being helpful to others. Very innovative way of dealing with this subject! No wonder it figures in the top 200 of all time best movies (imdb).
Moving on to Thirakkatha (script in Malayalam), the script is the clear winner in this movie. I really don't know how the Malayalam film industry manages to get solid stories/scripts. This movie Thirakkatha manages to pull off a wonder with a small budget, great story, good treatment and small-time actors (except Prithviraj - this guy is there in all the good movies!). To borrow another critic's words - It is a charming film that's plainly life-affirming without being overly pretentious or markedly melodramatic. A must watch if you can follow a little bit of malayalam or if you can read the subtitles.
Either I'm nuts or I do not have any other job left now or both! But yes, I've been watching movie with a vengeance these days. As if there's no tomorrow; As if I want to run away from all the worldly worries and responsibilities; As if I want to become a film critic or a film director!
WPAYF was funny, Vantage point was engrossing, Starsky & Hutch was light & fun, The Weatherman was decently treated, but what stood out from the rest were - Groundhog Day & Thirakkatha.
Groundhog Day in its very own peculiarly funny way brought out a meaning - of not cribbing about the daily chores (stuck in a rut thingee), and being helpful to others. Very innovative way of dealing with this subject! No wonder it figures in the top 200 of all time best movies (imdb).
Moving on to Thirakkatha (script in Malayalam), the script is the clear winner in this movie. I really don't know how the Malayalam film industry manages to get solid stories/scripts. This movie Thirakkatha manages to pull off a wonder with a small budget, great story, good treatment and small-time actors (except Prithviraj - this guy is there in all the good movies!). To borrow another critic's words - It is a charming film that's plainly life-affirming without being overly pretentious or markedly melodramatic. A must watch if you can follow a little bit of malayalam or if you can read the subtitles.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Weatherman
A divorced husband who was apparently trying to bring his family (wife and two teenage kids) together gets a word of advice from his father: 'Usually, the easy things to do are not the right things to do. Most of the times, the right things to do are always the hard things to do.' (How true!)
The husband had all the good intentions, but somehow was not trying to get his act together. He wanted to bring his family back...together with him. He thought that moving from Chicago to New York (NY) with a new, bigger and more-than-well-paying job would be key to it. He lands the $1.2 mn job, but finds that his ex-wife is going to marry somebody else.
Then comes the clincher from his father: 'Sometimes you have to chuck some things in your life to move ahead.' (Again, How true!)
Provided with an option to pursue his american dream of a new BIG job, the husband obliges, and moves on. He stays in NY for his new job, gets back his self-esteem, and keeps visiting his children in Chicago. Ex-wife gets married to the other guy.
That's the movie for you. But one point that got easily noticed was that this weatherman had to appear in the show for 2 hours a day, read out the predictions based on the analysts's reports, and still got paid $244k per year plus the appearance allowances (in his current Chicago job). And since it's just based on winds, there is a possibility of giving out a completeley false prediction too. Imagine that for a career!! ;)
The husband had all the good intentions, but somehow was not trying to get his act together. He wanted to bring his family back...together with him. He thought that moving from Chicago to New York (NY) with a new, bigger and more-than-well-paying job would be key to it. He lands the $1.2 mn job, but finds that his ex-wife is going to marry somebody else.
Then comes the clincher from his father: 'Sometimes you have to chuck some things in your life to move ahead.' (Again, How true!)
Provided with an option to pursue his american dream of a new BIG job, the husband obliges, and moves on. He stays in NY for his new job, gets back his self-esteem, and keeps visiting his children in Chicago. Ex-wife gets married to the other guy.
That's the movie for you. But one point that got easily noticed was that this weatherman had to appear in the show for 2 hours a day, read out the predictions based on the analysts's reports, and still got paid $244k per year plus the appearance allowances (in his current Chicago job). And since it's just based on winds, there is a possibility of giving out a completeley false prediction too. Imagine that for a career!! ;)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Complicated Relationships
Mutiple stars, a lot of couples, passionate affairs, complicated relationships, independent persons, confused persons, dependent persons, faithlessness, honesty, casual attitudes, millions of problems, unhappy couples, happy people, etc. - yet good movies!
A lot of movies have used some or most or all of these ingredients. After having watched 'Your Friends & Neighbors', I asked myself - Why are relationships so complicated? Not just between lovers, husbands-wives, girlfriends-boyfriends, but most of the relationships like father-son, father-daughter, etc. There have been a lot of movies that have used such complicated themes and found success.
Among other English movies, it just struck me that even 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' (VCB) is based on complicated relationships, though VCB is much more on the funny side. On looking back, 'Closer' and 'Matchpoint' (Off the top of my mind) also stand out as interesting movies based on similar themes. The way they were dealt with made them non-judgemental and non-preachy, yet they were so beautifully narrated that the viewer will be glued to the screen all through. There are many more movies like that, but for the lack of words (read lack of memory cells in my brain) now, I shall stop at that.
Needless to add, at least three of the above four movies are a recommended watch (by yours truly) - VCB, Closer & Matchpoint. I guess it's time now for me to move on from movies with such complicated stories, and enjoy some other genre for a while.
A lot of movies have used some or most or all of these ingredients. After having watched 'Your Friends & Neighbors', I asked myself - Why are relationships so complicated? Not just between lovers, husbands-wives, girlfriends-boyfriends, but most of the relationships like father-son, father-daughter, etc. There have been a lot of movies that have used such complicated themes and found success.
Among other English movies, it just struck me that even 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' (VCB) is based on complicated relationships, though VCB is much more on the funny side. On looking back, 'Closer' and 'Matchpoint' (Off the top of my mind) also stand out as interesting movies based on similar themes. The way they were dealt with made them non-judgemental and non-preachy, yet they were so beautifully narrated that the viewer will be glued to the screen all through. There are many more movies like that, but for the lack of words (read lack of memory cells in my brain) now, I shall stop at that.
Needless to add, at least three of the above four movies are a recommended watch (by yours truly) - VCB, Closer & Matchpoint. I guess it's time now for me to move on from movies with such complicated stories, and enjoy some other genre for a while.
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