Mad Detective

Mad Detective aka Sun Taam is directed by Johnnie To and Wai ka-Fai. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai team up after nearly four years to direct this brilliant Psychological Crime Thriller. The story of this movie is cleverly scripted and it has been stylishly shot and executed.

The movie revolves around a schizophrenic cop Bun(Ching Wan Lau), who was forcibly removed from the force after he presented his severed ear as gift to the Police Chief. Bun claims to have the ability to see the Inner Personalities of the people. Inspector Ho(Andy On) brings him out of retirement to investigate the case of Wong, a fellow cop who has been missing for over 18 months now and his gun has been used in three armed robberies.

Bun's primary suspect is Wong's former partner Chi-Wai(Ka Tung Lam) who has seven different inner personalities. The directors manages to keep the viewers on the edge of their seat with their expertly crafted storyline. It keeps the viewers guessing what will happen next.

One cannot relate himself with the lead character of this film, his behaviors may seem funny but later you can sense the sadness in him. Bun's method of investigating is really unorthodox, he puts himself in the place of the victim and try to connect with their inner personalities to find out what happened. Sometimes it may be difficult for the audience to differentiate the reality from fiction especially when you have eight actors playing a single character.

Nevertheless the movie has been Stylishly shot with a brilliant screenplay, Masterfully edited and the entire cast gives us a brilliant performance. The soundtrack of the movie is an added bonus, it manages to keep the eerie feel throughout the movie. The final scene of the movie is confusing at first but later gives us a clear picture. It has been brilliantly shot.

This movie has a creative script that is original. The directors Johnnie To and Wai ka-Fai give us an astounding psychological thriller in which everything works out. I am sure that in the near future there will an Hollywood director who will remake this movie in English and spoil the spirit of this film. In the end this is one of best thrillers from Asia in the recent past and it is Simply Superb!!

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

Inception

This is the film that I have been dying to watch this year. Saw the movie this afternoon. Inception is directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who gave us an Epic Blockbuster last year in the form of The Dark Knight and the man who questioned our intelligence in the form of Memento, now has given us a perfect blend of these two movies.(This review may contain SPOILERS).

The theme of the movie is about a group of people who navigate their way through the mind of the people and steal their secrets in the dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of the most skillful extractor Don Cobb, a fugitive who is longing to meet his children back home and is often troubled by the memories of his dead wife Mal Cobb(Marion Cotillard) whom he supposedly murdered. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as his long-time right-hand man Arthur.

But this latest mission is different- a Business tycoon Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants him to plant an idea (hence termed inception) within a rival's (Cillian Murphy) mind in order that he will break up his ailing father's business empire after he takes over. Cobb agrees to this dangerous mission as Saito promises that if Cobb succeeds, he will wipe Cobb's slate clean so he is allowed to return to the United States to see his children. So Cobb begins assembling his team- the architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), the forger Earnes (Tom Hardy) and the chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao)- think of it like a heist, only much more complicated.

The First half of the movie explains the audience about the rules of the game that the team plays. And the second half is where the test begins for the viewers.There are some jaw-dropping actions sequences and some heart winning sentimental scenes. The entire cast of the movie has done an excellent job on their part, the best performances came from DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.(Though DiCaprio's role is pretty similar to the one he played in Shutter Island).

This movie engages the audience and takes them to whole new world. I have never seen the audience get engaged so much for an English movie here at Chennai. But to really enjoy this movie the audience has to earn their right. The screenplay was exceptional especially in the second half where we go into a dream into a dream into a dream into a dream. The Music by Hans Zimmer is the Icing On The Cake.

Although there are some visual similarities to the anime Paprika, Inception is one of the best Original stories that I have seen in a long time. A Masterpiece by Nolan. In the end those who watch this movie would definitely go into the Limbo state.

Don: "Dreams feel real while we're in them, it's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange."

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 

North by Northwest (A Classic Thriller)

Yesterday night I saw the film North By Northwest, one of the classic thrillers by Alfred Hitchcock. This is the first time I am seeing this movie. Even though I haven't seen many Hitchcock films, I think I can boldly say that this is one of his best flicks of all time. And now this film is added into my favorite flicks of all time.

Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent George Kaplan by a group of foreign spies and gets kidnapped. When he tries to find out whats going on, he is framed for a murder and he sets out on a cross country run to survive and to find the real George Kaplan. Along the way he meets adventure, danger and beauty in the name of Eve Kendall played by Eva Marie Saint. However when he finds the truth, he is drawn towards a final showdown with the dangerous Phillip Vandamm played by James Mason.

Cary Grant's performance in this flick is simply awesome. One definitely falls in love wtih him or deeply envies him. He carried out his debonair manner throughout the film. Jessie Royce Landis stars as Clara Thornhill, mother of Roger also done a great job.

The Screenplay by Ernest Lehman sets this film to be a classic thriller that it is. The Music by Bernard Herrmann adds an aditional falvour to the scenes. My favorite scenes in this film are The Crop duster chase Scene and The Auction Scene. Another plus for the film was the clever and witty dialouges. Let me quote one of my favorite dialouges in this flick. This happens in the dining car of the train.

Roger: The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.
Eve: What makes you think you have to conceal it?
Roger:  She might find the idea objectionable.
Eve: Then again, she might not.

All in all this film is a must watch flick. It has something for everyone within it: a little comedy, a little romance, great snappy dialogue and more action than any other action movie. I had a great time watching this flick. I am sure that you guys will also have an amazing time if you watch this flick.

My Rating: 4.5/5