Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) is the directorial debut of actor Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao. The film has done quite well in the festival circuits and has developed quite a hype among the Indian cine goers. The film got released yesterday here and it runs with No Interval.

The film follows the life of four interesting characters and showcases the connection they share. Prateik Babbar plays the role Munna, a dhobi and a wannabe actor. Aamir Khan stars as Arun, a painter who is in solitary and searches for inspiration for his next project. Monica Dogra plays the role Shai, an NRI investment banker on a sabbatical and is looking to explore the poor in Mumbai. And finally we have Kriti Malhotra playing the character Yasmin, a newlywed small town  girl who comes to the big city and is awestruck at how the city works.

Arun meets Shai at one of his art show and they end up having a one night stand after which he pushes her away with his attitude. Shai meets Munna and makes him her guide-friend and while the two spend more time together he develops a crush on her. But Shai still has some unfinished business with Arun. Meanwhile Arun finds his inspiration through a video diary of Yasmin, the ex-resident of his newly rented house. He finds it endearing to see the awe with which Yasmin sees the big city and the way she sees humor in the daily life of this city.

The director has done a great job in realistically showing the awkwardness that a dhobi faces with getting close with an uptown girl and the awe and discomfort that a small town girl would face in a big city. Kiran Rao as a writer has done a excellent job whereas Kiran Rao as a director has still some areas that needs to be worked on.

The ensemble cast of the film is fantastic.The lead Prateik Babbar gives a strong performance and the two lead ladies where pleasing to watch while Aamir is simply Aamir. The reason that I got glued to the screen was the beautiful cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray and the elegant background score by Gustavo Santaolalla.

This genre of film is something new to the Indian cine goers. So if you guys decide to watch this movie, go to the theater with some patience and an open mind and you are sure to enjoy this film.

 My Rating: 4/5

Half Nelson

Half Nelson is an indie that is directed by Ryan Fleck. This movie is about a Teacher's struggle with his addiction, a girl's realization that drugs cripple and the friendship that develops between them.

Ryan Gosling stars as Daniel Dunn, the History teacher who struggles with an addiction problem. Shareeka Epps starts as Drey, one of the students of Dunn who is living with her overworking EMT mother. Her brother is doing time in prison and his friend Frank(Anthony Mackie), a drug dealer tries to look after her but only in the way he knows how within the realms of selling drugs.

One day after the basketball game, Drey finds Dunn abusing drugs. Gradually they develop a non-traditional friendship. Their relationship is of two opposing forces as dialectics as can be.

A quote that might describe the heart of "Half Nelson":

"Contradictions are the source of all movement and of all life. All things are in themselves contradictory and it is this principle, more than any other, which expresses the essence of things."

The story by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden is brilliantly written. The individual problems that Drey and Dunn face are portrayed beatifully. They dont try to over explain any thing in this beautiful and moving story.The movie is beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and just like life in which ideals can float on top of emotional turmoil and children teach teachers.

Ryan Gosling gives an emotionally charged performance and Epps is a perfect foil to Gosling. The chemistry between the two was authentic. In the end Half Nelson is an absolutely beautiful film with phenomenal performances from the cast that makes this a Masterpiece.

 My Rating: 4.5/5

Exam

The movie Exam is a low budget british psychological thriller directed by Stuart Hazeldine. It was a thrill,a psychological mystery that i personally love as i am a big fan of movies that make you think! There's a famous saying in Greek, it goes,"If you want someone to hate you,make them think!". So some people might not like this movie as it does make people think.

The mystery-shrouded story of a job application process, Exam introduces us to eight candidates herded into a room to sit before a blank sheet each and provide the one answer necessary to get the position. The ensuing eighty minutes consist of the candidates desperately trying to discover the question they are required to answer and struggling to work together despite the uncertainty of who they can trust. With a very gradual and slow start, Exam gives us time to meet our characters, examine the story they play a part in, and formulate an early impression of what is going on. By the time things get going, we are fully versed in the world immediately before us, though the deeper mysteries lie as yet unawakened.

Exam is a gem of a film. This low budget psychological thriller is very clever, incredibly entertaining and the production values are all far better then you would expect from such an unknown film. It's tense, mysterious and has a great atmosphere, and more importantly it stimulates your brain. It's impossible to not get caught up in the story and try to figure out just what the hell is actually going on. It couldn't be more engaging. 

The aren't any known actors in the cast but their performances are not to be taken lightly. But what really made the film work was undeniably, the impeccable direction. In the end, Exam is a great low-budget thriller that puts many Hollywood blockbusters to shame. Definitely worth seeing and I'll be sure to check Stuart Hazeldine's next project after such a promising debut.

My Rating: 3.5/5

It's a Wonderful Life

Yesterday I finally decided to watch the movie It's a Wonderful Life(1946) directed by Frank Capra. It has been sitting in my hard disk for along time now.This is one of those feel good movies that has a great moral to it. That every person who fails deserves a second chance.

I was struck by how comprehensive the character study of George Bailey played by James Stewart was. He was a good man, but his ambitions were frustrated at every turn. He wanted an Education, that was just outside his grasp. He wanted to travel, life conspired against him. At every step of the way, one person saw George 'rolling with the blows', that was Mary Hatch played by Donna Reed. This woman loved George and wanted to stand at his side, so they can face the slings and arrows of misfortune together. This is love of the purest kind.

 This is a beautiful, touching yet dark film. You see so many emotions, attitudes and values in this such as envy, love, corruption, joy, hope, faith and despair, all beautifully portrayed by the actors. It runs along at a fast pace and has a beginning, middle and an end. It also has a moral, which is lacking in so many movies today.

And one more thing. You know that feeling you get—that really, really good feeling in your soul—whenever you see a really, really good movie? If you want to revisit that sensation, see "It's a Wonderful Life" as soon as you can, because you are going to enjoy every single second of it from start to finish, you really will, every bit of it you will enjoy!

My Rating: 5/5 

A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa, Hongryeon)

Yesterday at midnight I started to watch the Korean Horror Flick, A Tale of Two Sisters. The movie was going good but then after some time I got spooked and I turned off the monitor and went to bed. Then I watched the rest of the flick this afternoon.

The structure of this film is easily the most tightly constructed in the history of cinema. I can think of no other film where something vitally important occurs every other minute. Quite literally, Director Ji-woon Kim seems to have made a movie that practically taunts the viewer to dissect it on the most detailed of levels. A seemingly insignificant object may be shown – a rack of dresses, two diaries, a drop of blood emanating from a floor crack, a bottle of pills, etc. – but upon meticulous inspection turns out to be so much more – a clue that helps to make sense of that particular scene (or perhaps the movie in total), which almost always contributes a stirring reflection upon the psychological concepts that lurk in the background until the viewer's intelligence prompts them to spring to the forefront. Such an event might occur a handful of times during any other movie, but in A Tale of Two Sisters such events occur in such a rapid-fire, relentless fashion that the viewer must watch the film in a perpetual state of alertness, lest they miss something important. In other words, the content level of this film is enough to easily fill a dozen other films.

The direction is incredibly good, and the acting is stunning, with the step-mother in particular incredibly good swinging from one mood style to another in the film. The large house adds eeriness, and there are enough points in the film where you will jump out of your seat. This film to me clearly shows why Korean cinema is possibly the best most original in the world at the moment. You simply don't get anything like this in the Western World, sadly,and really i can see it being influential on film makers around the world in the next decade. This definitely is a must watch horror flick.

My Rating: 3.5/5 

Public Enemies

Today I saw the flick Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann. This movie is a biography of John Dillinger, a falmboyant criminal who robbed banks in the early 1930's and he had a huge fan base. This movie shows us the overview about the final years of John Dillinger.

Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, the famous bank robber.Christian Bale stars as Melvin Purvis, the Federal agent who is assigned to go after Dillinger. Director Michael Mann didn't concentrate enough on the Character Development of Dillinger. The movie didn't really portray 'Who Dillinger Was'. But rather focused on 'What Dillinger did in his final years'. There were many changes done to the real event. i.e for instance  Dillinger wasn't the last one to die in his group, I belive that it was 'Baby Face' Nelson.

The acting from the stars in the main cast were really good, especially the performance of Stephen Graham starring as 'Baby Face' Nelson was superb!!

In the end this is a mediocre film but the thing that is most fascinating about this film is the costumes and sets. The men and women behind these really outdid themselves and created a very authentic view of 1930s Chicago. This aspect of the film alone makes it worth seeing! Every costume and set seems to have been made with the utmost attention to detail, and the final result is very pleasing to the eye.

My Rating: 3/5 

The Hurricane

I saw the movie The Hurricane directed by Norman Jewison two days before. This movie is supposed to the biography of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter. I did not write about this flick earlier because I didn't know anything about what happened in the real life of Rubin. So I did some research for a while and according to me there were some fiction in this true story.

Well lets get into the movie, Denzel Washington stars as Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a Champion Middleweight boxer who was sentenced to life in prison on a bogus murder rap. Lesra Martin played by Vicellous Reon Shannon is an young struggling negro who gets rescued by a group of three Canadians, Lisa Peters played by Deborah kara Unger, Sam Chaiton played by Liev Schreiber and Terry Switon played by John Hannah. Together these do-good Canadians and Lesra fight for the Justice for Rubin.

Denzel Washington's performance in this flick is simply amazing. His transformation from hard-souled fighting machine to soft-spoken, eloquent defender of justice is portrayed effectively. However for me Rod Steiger starring as Judge Sarokin stole the show with his performance in the end.

This is a flick which is about racism, corruption, hope, and above all, one man's torment. In the end this is one of the emotional films I have ever seen.

My Rating: 3.5/5 

Crossing Over

Just a few hours ago, I sat down and watched the movie Crossing Over directed by Wayne Kramer. When I started watching the flick, I didn't understand what was happening in the movie for the first half an hour. But then I realized that the movie consists of multiple story line that is bound together by a common theme, dealing with immigrant issues.

Each of the story lines were engaging enough, some employing deep emotions to argue with their cases.But what seemed to be a common theme here is how power can be either used to do what is probably morally right or abusing it for personal gain. The movie's cast is led by Harrison Ford who stars as Max Brogan, an ICE agent. This is the most unusual character that Ford must have done in his lifetime. However he did give an excellent performance.

There's an illegal Mexican woman, Mireya Sanchez, played by Alice Braga who begs Max to look after her young son in the care of unfriendly relatives. A Jewish musician, Gavin Kossef, played by Jim Sturgess who's waiting to qualify for residency, his Australian girlfriend Claire Shepard played by Alice Eve, an Hollywood actress wannabe who had granted 2 months worth of on-demand sexual favours to an Immigration official Cole Frankel played by Ray Liotta in exchange for a green card. Cole's wife Deniese played by Ashley Judd wants to adopt a child placed in a detention centre, who meets Taslima Jahangir played by Summer Bishil whose essay failed to condemn the terrorists of 9/11 and gotten her and her family into hot soup. Then there's a Korean family who is waiting to be naturalized whose eldest son got involved with thugs. And finally Hamid Baraheri played by Cliff Curtis, Max's partner whose family cannot stand his estranged sister whom they feel is a disgrace of their values, tradition and custom by adopting the lifestyle of Americans, yet strangely ironic as they too pursue to be American citizens.

With all these story lines involved the director somehow manges to put in a little murder mystery in the movie as well. In the end this certainly is one of the powerful immigrant stories that I have seen.

My Rating: 3/5 

Orphan

I saw this flick the night before yesterday and I was really surprised by this flick. The flick Orphan directed by Jaume Collet-Serra is very disturbing at times and is pretty gruesome. The movie in a whole is an excellent flick and this is one of the scariest flicks of all time according to me.

The flicks is about the story of Esther played by Isabelle Fuhrman, a 9-year old who is adopted by Kate and John Coleman played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard. The decision that they made because of the stillborn birth of their third child.

Esther quickly bonds with Max played by Aryana Engineer, the deaf daughter of the couple but is resented by their son Daniel played by Jimmy Bennett. She charms the Colemans with her artistic flair and her personality. But Kate realises that there is more going on with Esther than meets the eye. Whenever an accident occurs Esther seems to be around. So the rest of the plot remains in Kate finding Esther's secret.

Isabelle Fuhrman gave an excellent performance in this flick. Since the plot of the flick revolves around Esther, her performance will be the key for the movie's success. But damn did she come out with flying colors with her performance in this flick. I would definitely be surprised if she didn't grow up into one of the Hollywood's premiere stars.

In the end this flick will be a great one for those who enjoy horror/thriller flicks.

My Rating: 4/5

Worlds Greatest Dad

This is the movie that I saw this afternoon after finishing my final exam of this semester. Well I saw this film hoping that it will be some fun movie for the kids to have a good time (and by kids I mean me, even though I am a 20 year old fatty). But when I saw this flick, it didn't turnout to be the film I hoped rather this was a very dark and disturbing adult drama which had me laughing and crying at the same time.

Robin Williams stars as Lance Clayton the father of an young Kyle Clayton(Daryl Sabara), a pervy sex-obsessed insolent teenager. Lance dreams to get his written work published when he is not teaching poetry at his son's school. He doesn't get any respect from his colleagues and the students aren't interested in enrolling for his poetry class and to top this his young girlfriend also treats him unfairly.

One day an unexpected(rather embarassing) tragedy occurs at Lance's house, he tries to cover certain embarassing facts and by doing so he accedently gains respect among his colleagues and his students. His dream of getting his written work published also comes true. This flick makes you wonder what people will do for fame even if they need to be a muse.

Robin Williams and Daryl Sabara have done exceptionally well. Their performance was one of the factors for this movie's success. Another person that has done his part brilliantly was the young Evan Martin who plays Andrew, the one and only friend of Kyle. And not to forget the brilliant work of the Director Bobcat Goldthwait.

In the end this is one of the best films of 2009 and a must watch flick for those who enjoy dark comedy.

My Rating: 3.5/5