Burn After Reading

Near the end of the film, John Malkovich says to a character something like "You are in the league, the league of morons, the kinds I've been fighting all my life..." and he goes ahead and shoots that character. This to me is the essence of the film and in many ways of all Coen brothers films, specially their original films, the ones that are neither remakes [The Ladykillers] nor adapted [No Country...].

Burn After Reading is thematically similar to other mid-career Coen brothers films specially the likes of Raising Arizona, Intolerable Cruelty and even a bit of Fargo. It is about idiots (or morons, if you prefer) ending up in situations that are beyond their control ultimately leading to violence and destruction.

It is another appropriate film for our times. A film with no redeemable characters. No one that you could identify with, trust, or root for. Everyone being pulled into this quagmire of crass, just plain crass. While this is common in Coen brothers films but they generally have at least one or two characters that you can root for. Their characters are generally likeable even when they are terrible criminals up to no good. This time the brothers seem to have gone out of their way to create characters so absurdly unlikeable. Even the cold-blooed killer Antoine Chigurrh is a man to be feared but not disliked.

John Malkovich as the CIA agent Osbourse Cox is so foul-mouthed, so pathetic, incompetent and lost that is a miracle he is fired (sort of) and not promoted in the agency.  He delivers some of the films best lines including the 'league of morons' bit that I just loved too much.

His uptight, ill-tempered cheating wife, Tilda Swinton, is annoying and repulsive as usual. And then she is supposed to be a pediatrician of all people. I would not believe for a second that it was just a co-incidence. Frances McDermond is utterly foolish middle-aged woman who is so obsessed with finding things outside, even on the internet, that she cannot even see what's around her. She has a perfect (as in exactly like and not as in a superlative sense) teenager brain in her aging, sagging body.

George Clooney is of course the ideal (as in typical, not as in perfect) man of our times. He is a skirt-chaser with a teenage lust, a man so self-consumed, so deceitful that he cannot even imagine others deceiving him. A tiny-hearted boy who never grew up and is afraid to even acknowledge reality. A man who simply 'blows-up' when reality finally hits him somewhat. You see, a complete man of our times. I am surprised he wasn't cast as an investment banker.

Brad Pitt is a new addition to the Coen brothers camp and does a fine job of an uber-hydrated, shallow, stupid, gym-rat. He is another perfect man-child who would've been more interesting if he wasn't so real. I challenge you to go to a gym and not find a copy of this character. While most outwardly funny, Pitt is probably the weakest caricature that has been drawn in the film. It was like shooting ducks to build his character and it works but is unimpressive.

There are some awkward and non-sensical plot elements (even for Coens) that weaken an otherwise excellent film. This is again a film in relentless pursuit of entertainment. This isn't screwball, unless you want to only look at it that way. This is a comedy for our times, dark, whimsical and of men and women so foolish that they'd not just burn down their own homes by their idiocy but the entire world.

Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

As I started reading 'Fooled by Randomness' about a month ago I could swear that I'd read this stuff before. A man of middle-eastern origin trading on Wall St. in options. Black Swans. I could swear I had read about him before. I went to The New Yorker's website and searched for this Taleb's name and sure I hit an article from 2000 written by Malcolm Gladwell, no less. I know I had really enjoyed that article then and I got excited about the book even more and read it pretty quickly (at least for me) right after that.

'Fooled by Randomness' is Mr. Taleb's attempt at analyzing success in its generally accepted form: wealth. Taleb writes in a forward to the book about how the first edition of this book got a ton of email from readers telling him that his book made them feel vindicated. It made them feel accomplished or successful in its own little but significant way. It seems that the readers were essentially on target. Mr. Taleb does seem to be obsessed with the idea that successful people aren't necessarily smart. This idea has become fairly popular in recent months among The New Yorker crowd. The magazine has lately featured many articles discussing success. Is success a result of smart people or is the result of the times or of luck or randomness or intuition or what exactly.


But this is about Taleb and his book about Randomness. Taleb is of course sitting pretty today. He is probably laughing his ass off today in some random bar in Manhattan. More practically he is probably working on a new book -- how about 'The Suburban Swan'?

The type of 'blow-up' Taleb talks about that happens to traders and others on Wall St. when they make foolish bets is much of what consumes Taleb. Today is his day. However, we'd be more cautious if we'd take his own advice of not paying too much attention to detail and waiting for the 'end' to make up your mind about something. Trouble with this approach is that there really is no such thing as an 'end.'

Taleb talks, brilliantly, I must say, about the inexact scale that tells you more about the scale than about what it measures. Taleb, of course, has first-hand experience. His book tells you so much more about Taleb than about randomness.

Taleb is very well-read and isn't afraid to show it to you. Again and again. He has what I call as the 'Gopnik-syndrome.' He is a brilliant man and has brilliant friends. He has Gladwell praising the book on front cover and he praises Gladwell's book inside the book. I guess they formed a 'partnership' in 2000 to promote each other's cause. Very un-Taleb-like if you ask me.  But then you don't really know the real Taleb. Is he the brilliant author who writes beautifully and excoriates the Wall St. for their 'exceses' or he the pompous ass who does not follow his own advice. Ever.

The book is still a lot of fun to read. His wild rants against journalists and financial wiz-kids is certainly very very entertaining. His stories are charming even if beside the point.

The biggest problem with the book is the cop-out in the last section where Taleb accepts that he is the worst offender of everything he criticizes. This attempt at self-apology is so out of character with the Taleb of everything before that it just leaves a horrible taste in your mouth. He is just not believable anymore. We cannot respect the rants of a man, an educated man, when he says he'd direct most severe criticism toward himself. It drains leadership. That would also make Taleb fit well, unfortunately, today. 

However, guys like Taleb will be right on certain days and these days are those. It is fitting that I should've read this book only a few weeks ago. It certainly makes me think about Wall St., if not differently, then in at least a different vocabulary. 


[Ravindra, thanks for gifting this book to me]

Glengarry Glen Ross

It was only fitting that we watched 'Glengarry Glen Ross' the night capitalism was tested on Wall St. The festering 'man-eat-man' world dominated by men who weild ultimate control over the lives of others by virtue of mostly inherited meritocracy. 'Gelngarry Glen Ross' is based on a play written by David Mamet. A man who's themes generally border on the misanthropic. That, however, shouldn't take much away from this amazing theme of working men put under such stress that to crumble is really the only option.

The all-star film is low-key, raw even. It portrays middle-aged and older who suddenly find themselves outrun. In a weird sense -- they are Tommy Lee Jones's character in 'No Country for Old Men.' Their lives are fractured beyond repair and there isn't much hope. Except, of course, the proverbial 'next sale', which just does not seem to happen in difficult economic times.

'Glengarry Glen Ross' is about an economic system that puts premium on 'sale' at any cost. It could be that it was inspired by the fall of 1987 but it probably rings true for any time in human history, probably none more so than now.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Sidney Lumet is over 80 years old. He has been making films for over 50 years and has made some of my favorite films such as 'Network (1976)' '12 Angry Men(1957)', 'Dog Day Afternoon (1975)', and to a lesser extent 'The Verdict(1982).' His last few movies though have generally been very disappointing.  And as a lot of filmmakers have done lately (Woody Allen & Coen Brothers jump to mind immediately), when the chips are down, you go off the deep mind and make something that is out of your recent character but essentially pulls you back to basics.

'Before the devil knows...' is one of those harrowing films that are designed ground-up to be shocking. Right from the beginning, through the middle and all the way to the very end. Everything seems calculated to titillate  you. A fundamentally overboard theme, a misguided, creaky plot and characters so hopelessly flawed that you never ever develop any sympathy for them. Unfortunately, what keeps the film gripping and keeps you focused also helps erode its appeal. The downward spiral that the characters willingly step in, in a moment of poor judgement, seems so tailormade for disaster that it isn't clear why people would be so stupid to go ahead. And yet, in real life we see it all the time.

Humans are driven to thrill-seeking by evolutionary mandates and we all make mistakes that are so stupid in hindsight that we wonder what sane person would ever commit it. And yet we do it all the time.  However, in the story with a fundamentally flawed plot (the money the brothers would've made by robbing their parents' store and selling at 20% was just inconsequential for its intended use) and characters even more flawed, there is something terribly unreal and disconcerting.

Marisa Tomei, incredibly fit at 43 and naked in most of the film might be the most unreal thing of all. After one of Hollywood's finest performance ever as the car wank waif in My Cousin Vinny, she just seemed to disappear. Here she is after 15 years and a bunch of petty roles, finally trying her hardest to get back and alas this is the only way she is offered. That might actually be 'Before the Devil...''s biggest showcasing of misanthropy.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon's small, tight, poignant novel is certainly a good read. It's narrator is 15-year old, mentally challenged kid Christopher Boone. The story revolves around the mysterious murdered dog of a neighbor and how Christopher's attempt to solve the murder mystery leads him to other (unpleasant) discoveries that threaten to ruin his life.

Haddon's strong characterization of the boy and judgemental portrayel of the post-modern adult life and its inherent flaws through the eyes of a mentally challenged (or autistic, it is never quite specified) is vivid and logical. Haddon's Christopher, the boy with special needs, is the only logical character and adults around him seem inefficient at best and completely unresaonable at worst.

Christopher's world is black & white. Crystal clear. Mathematical. He is oblivious to nuance and  does not deal in false currencies. He loves math and loves Sherlock Homes. He  His approach is so precise, so defined that he is a complete misfit. Haddon is clearly proclaiming that perfectly logical behavior can only be attributed to someone who will be perceived as...well, an idiot. 

And this brings me to Prince Myshkin. How Dostoevsky's Idiot lives through the ages and resurfaces in various different ways. The recurrence of 'Crime and Punishment' themes in modern entertainment is overwhelming but 'The Idiot' themed entertainment isn't far behind. The more I read the more amazing Dostoevsky's work becomes to me.

Also, Haddon's novel will have a different appeal for parents, specially new parents. Taking care of your children is clearly a task rendered excruciatingly difficult by the demands of post-modern life. Working parents, distractions, blackberrys and so on. While Haddon doesn't hammer on this and is generally sympathetic to the adults, it is hard for a parent to not cringe with guilt, earned or not.

Through "Curious incident..." Haddon cleverly disguises what is essentially the hardest possible thing for a parent to do (dealing with a child with special needs) into a poignant yet funny, touching and ultimately entertaining tale.

Persepolis

Persepolis (Persian City) is a very entertaining film based on an autobiographical graphic novel written by the co-director of this film, Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian who grew up in the late 70s in Iran. The film traces about 20 years of Marjane's life from the beginning in Iran with the ruling Shahs, their downfall, the Iran-Iraq war, her stay in Vienna and then life back in Iran under the religious mullahs and then finally her departure to Paris.

Shot in slick, dark, powerful animation, the film starts of bright and brilliant with a young Marjane living with her parents under the rule of the Shahs. She is a fiesty young girl, curious and determined. She is a joy to watch and you root for her cause. Her narrative is smooth and appropriate as she leads you through the various different incidences that start to change her wonderful life into something quite different as the revolutionaries take over.

As the heroine grows up and out the film starts to lose some of its grip. With Marjane, the film seems to sink into some depression as well. The politics that rends Marjane's life also blunts the appeal of the film a bit and at times, in Marjane's dislocation, it looks pretty much like your routine immigration experience film. However, the film's politics is very clear in its belief that politics basically sucks.

Marjane is ultimately the classical modern immigrant: one who is as lost in their own culture as they are in the new one they try to flee in to.

Eastern Promises

Here is another one from the David Cronenberg horror factory. No, there are no supernatural flies (The Fly) or telepathic Scanners or even an underground car Crash culture and yet among all the scary films Cornenberg has ever made, Eastern Promises is up there. It is clearly more in line with his more recent film A History of Violence than with his older, supernatural, and generally crass films.

Eastern Promises is also easily his best film. Well researched, well, cast, well acted, and well directed. It is the story of a Russian crime family operating in London. Naomi Watts, a nurse, somehow gets involved in a world filled with bizarre, almost macabre violence. Viggo Mortensen, in easily his best role to date, is a chauffeur at the crime family. What ensues next is violence begetting more violence. The film clearly uses violence as an embellishment, something to keep your attention while the story, suspenseful yet ultimately predictable, unfolds.

Amidst the brutality and violence, Eastern Promises really does attempt to have a heart of gold and generally succeeds .

Juno

Jason Reitman has just verified that he is one of the smartest directors out there. It is hard to believe how good 'Thank You For Smoking' is. It is easily one of the best written (he wrote it) and best directed films of recent times. And he chose Aaron Eckhart to play the smoking lobbyist. I cannot think of anyone else playing that role better. The film is so good it is almost too hard to watch as you are constantly admiring the sheer brashness and gaul of the director. At the age of 31, Reitman hopefully has a long career in front of him.

But this post is about Juno, the 'little miss sunshine' of 2008: A quirky comedy that is mildly offensive, very smart, brilliantly cast and made by the indi arm of a big studio (Fox Searchlight).

Juno subscribes to the recently popular 'pregnancy' sub-genre. It is either too easy (Knocked up) or too hard (Then I found Him) and anyone who has tried it in real life knows that it is neither -- it is just that it only happens when you don't want it to. Pregnancy sub-genre follows well-defined stages of grief ranging from disbelief, denial, anger, melting to eventually, deliverance via delivery. Juno is, if not novel, certainly the smartest of such films. It succeeds because it is one of the few where you don't end up hating the characters (specially the mother) by the end of it. Ellen Page (who doesn't need any more press) clearly acts as if she knows what she is doing which is more than one can say about what Heigl (Knocked-up) and others.

What also uplifts Juno is an amazingly quirky yet effective soundtrack. It is fresh, campy, very high-school in spirit that seems to fit the film wonderfully well. It does get annoying very quickly though, as most things 'teenage' do but it has a warmth that is otherwise hard to find.

However, the single-most winning facet of Juno is that Page's character understands, right from the beginning, that raising a child is not for her. While she goes through the usual emotional upheaval she never really identifies with motherhood and stands by her somewhat unusual decision. What let me down though is that she (Juno) does seem to find love or something like that in the sorry loser played by the sorry loser Michael Cera.

Juno redeems itself by no indulging in the redemption of its heroin.

Juno makes little attempt at understanding why children are somehow out-of-fashion now. It does make an attempt to show why they are out-of-fashion by showing that we are a society of such fierce hedonists that in order to chase are baser biological wants we've somehow managed to lose sight of our real biological needs.

The Naked City

Life is full of baffling surprises and one came this morning when I opened the New York Times (no, not that one) but a small obituary to Malvin Wald, the screenwriter of the gritty 1948 police drama "The Naked City." Well, I just completed the film (in four sittings) last night and this morning I should read about the death of its pioneering writer. Malvin Wald won an Oscar for screen-writing this film and is credited for creating the "police procedural" genre that has led to many successful shows and films including Law and Order and even the super-famous CSI series.

The Naked City is a New York film about a hard-working aging police detective and it was the first of its kind in those days. It lays out an elaborate and painstaking process of police investigation in the murder of a young woman desperately trying to seek a place in the upper crust of New York society even if that meant parting ways with morality and the law.

The film starts with -- "There are 8 million people in The Naked City..." and ends with the famous rejoinder -- "There are 8 million stories in The Naked City..."

When would that statement ring truer than today when we suddenly have realized how naive we are in and around The Real, Really Naked City.

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson's films are like those of Coen brothers but without fangs. He is up there in quirkiness and creating unforgettable characters but while the Coens drive home their point with a thump (or an air gun, if you will), Anderson's films are a gentle nudge. They goad but do say with a feather while the Coens leave you bloody and reeling. Coens seem to obsess over the insertion of crime into everyday life and everyday characters and Anderson seems to be all about the insertion of quirkiness into everyday life and everyday characters.

"The Darjeeling Limited" is the story of 3 brothers from an average broken American family that must seek resolution via an exotic train trip in the old spiritual guard: India. Anderson generally plays by the rules of the sub-genre (yes, going to another country to seek resolve is at least a sub-genre) and shows us little tidbits of India, its people and its quirkiness that all fit his plot well. However, Anderson also breaks the rules a bit by making this mostly a film between the brothers and their inability to communicate or connect. The story mostly works as a device to get their characters out in the open and lets him (Anderson) play with them in their full effect. There are some astonishing gems like Adrien Brody's character says -- 'I couldn't save mine' -- after the brothers try to save, and the two others succeed, the lives of 3 drowning village boys; or the Owen Wilson character's strange presumed leadership of the outfit or Angelica Houston's role as the estranged mother who left her charmed life in mid-west (presumably) to become a nun in a sleepy Indian town.

The film features an extraordinary soundtrack including an unbelievably brilliant collection of title songs from various Satyajit Ray films (Charu's theme from Joi Baba Felunath being my favorite) and old Merchant-Ivory films that play throughout the film as background music. This among other brilliant songs (This Time Tomorrow and Powerman by the Kinks, an amazing French Song and so much more) helps complete a well-rounded package of neatly tied brilliance.

There Will Be Blood

In "...Blood", Upton Sinclair's socialist agenda has been all but obliterated by Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis. While his 'Oil' was more about the plight of oilfield workers and him using that as a vehicle for pushing his views against capitalism much like the horror faced by the workers in meatpacking industry in Chicago was used in his more famous work 'The Jungle' greatly diluting the impact and seriousness of the work.

Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" is more a character sketch than a social commentary of any sort. There really isn't much in terms of a plot or even a theme. It is mostly about Daniel Dey Lewis's Daniel Plainview and a bit about his troubled relationship with his son H.W. Plainview. There is also Paul Dano (the troubled teen from Little Miss Sunshine) who is another powerful and strange character that tries to achieve some counter-balance to Daniel Plainview and often succeeds. There are some brilliant scenes between these two actors and Dano is certainly up to the task. (Do we have another Johnny Depp in the making?)

Plainview is a self-made oil-man who rises from the filth of the land slowly but surely to build a fortune for himself mostly built on hard work and a harder soul.

Daniel Day Lewis's over the top performance just won him his 2nd best actor nod. Many have called his performance 'brutal' and his character scary and weird. I somehow found the character quite realistic. This is is early 20th century American you are talking about. The civil war has just gotten over and more than half the population can still not vote. It is the birth of American capitalism and like any such natural birth it is messy, difficult and there is, for sure, blood.

No Country For Old Men

We've loved Coen brothers' films since the day we saw our first one (Fargo.) Since then we've seen every one of them and extracted and unusual amount of joy from them. It is hard to imagine a filmmaker that has made some of the most endearing, quirky, funny, macabre and above all brilliant, memorable films of recent times. Only Billy Wilder or Howard Hawks come to mind. I think where the Coen brothers outshine any other filmmaker is their creation of character mythologies. They are masters at creating characters that outlive the movies and really just start living in your head almost forever. H.I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona, Leo and Bernie from Miller's Crossing, Charlie Meadows from Barton Fink, Muncy girl Amy Archer (to name one) from Hudsucker Proxy, almost anyone from Fargo, the unforgettable Jesus, The Dude, Maude and Walter from The Big Lebowski and of course the entire cast of O' Brother Where Art Thou. The more you think about these characters the more you see the spectrum of awesome storytelling skills. You see a deep understanding of human ambition, folly and failure. You just don't see how the Coen brothers can top anything they've done in the past specially when they seem to be losing their grip.

And then comes along Anton Chigurh...
*

So, there was a tremendous anticipation for this film for us. Specially with their last two films (the populist Intolerable Cruelty and the dud The Ladykillers) being such disappointments. Also, this was turning out to be one of those movies that you can never get to. We were finding it hard to find the time, a babysitter and even tickets to watch this film. However, it did happen last weekend finally and man what a ride!

Moss (Josh Brolin), when confronted with a grisly crime scene, finds a lot of money and in what turns out to be rather poor moral and practical choice, decides to keep it for himself. Moss isn't dumb. "They will be coming like I would go after someone who took my 2 million dollars" he says to his wife Carla (Kelly Macdonald) although he is naive. He soon realizes that he may have bit more than he could chew when a gang of Mexicans following the money trail come hunting for him with dogs and guns. However, there is another danger. A complex, psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is also looking for the money and he has some very definite ideas about what needs to be done. He basically propels the film into an edge-of-your-seat thriller until about three-fourths of the film. The rest of the film is heavy on moral commentary that sort of works around the title and is clearly a personal statement by the author (Cormic McCarthy whose novel the film is based on) and the Coens stick very close to the basic narrative of the plot eliminating a few chapters for drama and suspense. Cormic's thoughts are voiced by an aging sheriff Ed (an especially crusty Tommy Lee Jones) who feels 'over-matched' by the younger criminals around him and more importantly what seems like a young crime around him.
*

The film really belongs to Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh. He is easily one of the most scary villains in the history of recent cinema. The Coen brothers are clearly committed to his mythology more than anything else in the film. Many characters (Woody Harrelson for one) seem merely to exist as a means to propagate the legend of Chigurh. Even the somewhat open and confusing ending is cleverly constructed to solidify the myth of Chigurh.

*

"No Country..." is an amazing film because it is singularly entertaining. It is a drama taut, wound tight that unwinds with the slow, frightening uncertainty of the Absurdist thought that the Coen brothers have maintain throughout their long, fantastic career.

3:10 to Yuma

Once in a while we still get to see a grown-up film, a man's movie. A tale that is well-crafted and steady. The plot is kept tense by brilliant performances, dialog and soundtrack. "3:10 to Yuma" starring Russel Crowe, Christian Bale and Ben Foster is a remake of a 1957 film of the same name with some changes and is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. This is essentially a battle of wits played behind a gun battle; a battle of responsibility and post-war disillusionment with ethics.

Russel Crowe plays Ben Wade, a criminal, who is being escorted to the the train in the title eventually to the prison by Dan Evans played by Christian Bale. Getting Wade to the train is going to difficult because Wade is almost a mythical draw and his posse, led by an extraordinary performance by Ben Foster, wants to free him at any cost. However, Ben is an unusual criminal and he begins to like Dan which makes things even more difficult.

Seems like Russel Crowe often does his best when partnered with another formidable character/actor (Kevin Spacey & Guy Pearce in L.A. Confidential, Al Pacino in The Insider, Denzel Washington in The American Gangster) and this film is essentially a a vehicle that feeds the hostility, the conversation and eventual trust and understanding that develops between Dan and Ben. It is the kind of tale that Michael Mann would present. Criminals and cops are essentially the same people and on any given day it may be hard to tell them apart.

Both Crowe and Bale and brilliant as one would expect them to be.

It borrows the essential motor of the plot from the great High Noon (the race toward the clock) but is actually very different from that earlier film. High Noon is essentially a social film about social responsibility whereas this film is personal and about personal responsibility.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille is another delicious offering from the animation collaboration of Disney and Pixar (Cars, The Incredibles, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters. Inc, A Bug's Life, et al.) The story of a chef rat is presented with flair, care and an amazing attention to detail. Ratatouille has all the elements that have made the films before it enduring. However, it suffers some, but not all, of its flaws. The self-assured, smug rat chef Remy is very true to his pedigree. He is certainly more sophisticated than his ancestors (Nemo, Mambo, Lightening McQueen (cars), Mike(Monsters inc)) but shares a very carefully constructed behavioral pattern that can be described as clinical at best and utterly affected at best. Unfortunately, Hollywood and specially Pixar, seems to have set on a winning formula for these animated films and keeps repeating it with the next set of improbable characters (incredible, cars, monsters, penguins and now a rat chef.) All the characters in the film from the bumbling hero, capricious love interest to the villainous head-chef are so well formed that they really are nothing more than cardboard cutouts.

Everything they say has been refined over and over again until it is exactly as it should be and that predictability dwarfs these films in front of the more original, if quixotic, Japanese exercises such as 'Spirited Away', 'Howl's moving castle' or even European films such as 'Triplets of Bellville.' The last one is actually a stark contrast, brilliant one at that, to the Hollywood mainstream, as it barely has dialog and thrives on an amazing soundtrack and visual splendor that no amount of CGI can really bring to life. They are stories that a grandma would tell a young one to calm them down and put them to bed whereas the Hollywood films are not unlike a crass joke a teenager would tell his new girlfriend trying to make an amorous move.

But Ratatouille has Anton Ego, probably the first true mythical character that the Hollywood machine as ever created. Anton Ego, the food critic, is larger than life but true to it; he is scary but real and he is what really 'saves' Ratatouille from being lost amongst the many before it and surely the many to come after it.

However, given that the animation film making (as against cartoon film making) is really in its infancy as an art form, these films and particularly Ratatouille are a good first step toward maturity but alas it is only a first step. If Hollywood would try to tell a good story not just a beautiful one and not just a contemporary one we might one day actually love these films as much as we enjoy them.

Snow - Orhan Pamuk

I have always been curious about Turkey. Several articles in the New Yorker about the role played by the military that is surprisingly secular and has been since the 1st world war have ignited my curiosity. The military has, on more than one occasion established a secular rule by overthrowing elected governments that seem to relent to the Islamists. The idea of a military doing the "right" thing, as would seem to an outsider, has always been quite fascinating to me. Turkey, in this strangely, sometimes of often forced, secular way has always stuck out in the otherwise oppressing world of mullahs and shieks. Unlike other Islamic countries, Turkey has insisted on modernism, based on the guidelines laid down by the father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It has applied modernism by any means at the state's disposal. The women in Turkey are forbidden by law to wear head-scarves or burqas in public places and universities. (Incidentally, however, the trend seems to have given way, disappointingly for some, to an openly religious society following the general rightist shift in world socio-politics.)

Orhan Pamuk's (who recently won the Nobel prize for literature) "Snow" is the tale of Ka (the protagonist) who has spent several years in Frankfurt, in the season of Kar (aka Snow) goes to the city of Kars (in north-eastern Turkey bordering Russia) to report on the several suicides committed by the "head-scarf girls" and to meet his old lover Ipek in the hope of reviving the old romantic flame.

Snow is not an easy book to read or like. Contrary to its name, it is heavy, not because it is overly philosophical but because it is too less so. It is fluffy and yet leaden: which might also describe some of what Ka sees in Kars. A society torn between fanatical secularism proposed by the State and Islamic radicalism proposed by cultural roots. This is essentially what Mr. Pamuk has been trying to explore all his life. He is the classic immigrant who can see the provincialism of his original homeland and sneer at it but cannot help but reject the modernism of his new home either. It is the classic dilemma that defines immigration in general and brings about the middle-path that ends up changing societies: more to which people migrate than from where they migrate.

Unfortunately for us, Snow is pretentious and repetitive. It's overuse of 'Snow' as a metaphor for pretty much everything (love, distance, beauty, cover-up, joy, sadness, commonness, difference, you name it) is cloying and makes it impossible to plow ahead. It's overuse of the word 'Snow' not just as a metaphor but for itself every other sentence is also jarring. It starts to hurt.

Snow's style is literary with heavy influence from others before who explored the east or mid-east from Western eyes. Dostoevsky and Conrad come to mind immediately (but they do almost all the time) and one could see hints of Prince Mishkin and even glimpses of Raskonikov in Ka. However, as an outside but not necessarily a wild thought, Ka (following the the inclusive pattern of naming his prime characters: Kars - city, Kar -snow, Ka - the hero) might actually be at heart closer to Kafka's K than anyone else. His utter dislocation, albeit fueled by differing cultural views rather than just a general sense of being lost amidst the oppressing social structure, is basically an emotion personified by Joseph K (The Trial, The Castle). While K does not understand the world around him and generally doesn't make an attempt, Ka seems to make too much effort and then seems to give up to easily. He is essentially a coward once-to-often guised as a skeptic.

Snow is full of characters, alas only some of them interesting. Ka's love Ipek is a rather boring character though the final propulsion to the novel and its fulcrum is essentially provided by her indiscretion. In contrast, Kadife, Ipek's younger sister is feisty and far more elegant. However, the real force of the novel is two contrasting philosophies presented by the all-powerful stage actor Sunay Zaim (a shadow of Atatürk's) and the equally charming but enigmatic Blue, a fundamentalist who really is the only force that keeps the pages together. Pamuk never allows them to be face to face and he uses Ka as a sort of interpreter between the two presenting and digesting their ideas without being really touched by any. While Blue is the motor of the book, it is the young Islamist Najib who provides its soul and Pamuk clearly wanting to make a statement kills him early on (this is not a spoiler -- Pamuk tells you this upfront sort of laying down the foundation of his covert pessimism.)

I struggled through the almost 500 page book. I really did. There were many times, specially about half-way through, I saw no reason to move on because I thought I knew what was going to happen. However, Pamuk has some tricks up his sleeves, he pulls the right kind of gargoyle out at the right time and kept me going.

I wasn't utterly disappointed at the end. Books to me are a mirror into another life that I could never have or know about. The fantasy of Snow is the type where the fact that it is is often more important than the fact that it isn't fantastic.

Once

We generally love small-budget independent films (while not disliking the big-budget Hollywood films) and 'Once' is about as good as it gets. No, it breaks no great ground or brings no new principles to life nor does it present any great new idea that would never appear in a regular film but 'Once' is like one of those light, refreshing drinks (like fresh Coconut water that I recently had) that merely exists as a sliver of time , a shooting star that ends before you've fully begun to enjoy it. Mild and memorable, 'Once' is a modern musical, a look into the lives of two individuals in a made-up small-town Dublin that explores the possibility of romance between two essentially lost souls connected, loosely, via music and gentle sensibilities. The two try to find meaning to their otherwise mundane and gently decaying lives via their natural interest in another human.

Watch 'Once' but you will probably want to watch it twice.

Complications - Atul Gawande

It is something about New Yorker staff writers that I end up liking all the books that they write apart from their articles in the magazine. James Surowicki, Malcom Gladwell, Adam Gopnik and now Atul Gawande.

I've always enjoyed reading Atul Gawande's articles in the New Yorker. He alway seemed insightful, circumspect and curious about a profession that I look at gingerly at best. In 'Complications: A surgeon's notes on an imperfect science', Atul Gawande takes it even further. He seems much more in control here given the much larger canvas of the book to present his thoughts in a cohesive and meaningful manner. He lists interesting anecdotes, presents great insights and tells stories with depth and understanding of both patients and doctors. He talks about what makes it so hard for doctors to be good at what they do, he speaks about the mystery and uncertainty of the profession and ultimately ends up both scaring you and liberating you in some sense.

The Valet (La Doublure)

We generally like French films a lot. They seem to be very intimate and warm. Francis Veber's films (The Closet, Dinner Game, even the American film - Three Fugitives) are specially enjoyable. They are generally over-the-top, comic versions of very selfish people desperately trying to get by.

The Valet, unlike most French films, had a decent opening in the US and was generally well received. It is an amazing little nugget. The film is full of unforgettable characters and is so light-hearted retelling of the age-old 'beauty and the loser' tale but with a genuine affection. Daniel Auteuil (who has lately been in every French film we've seen) is a billionaire two-timing his even richer wife with a supermodel (and what a supermodel) and somewhat a valet must save his marriage, his fortune and his affair.

The highlight of the film is of course this amazing French beauty Alice Taglioni. I've never seen someone who is such a supermodel. She is more supermodel than any real supermodel. She is certainly the heart and the very long legs on which the film stands, and well.

Conversations with Other Women

Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter star in this conversational piece the stuff that film festivals are made of. This poignant film seems basically like an unofficial sequel to the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset films. Maybe an 'After Sunset', the Sunset of youth that is. However, the actors are fantastic playing pathetic characters. The dialog is smart and the gimmick of splitting the screen to show two different viewpoints generally works OK -- though the differences are not very pronounced oftentimes making the argument that maybe the split screen is nothing but a gimmick after all.

Waitress

Waitress is a delicately made chick-flick that is able to rise above the cliches of its genre. It is an amazingly good film that can make your evening after a hectic day. It is light, fluffy and sweet as one of those delectable pies that Keri Russel's character, the Waitress, makes with such love. The story about a small-town girl who marries bad and doesn't really no how to get out of it and then finds herself pregnant without a plan. Then of course there is a charming doctor who restores her faith in humanity and makes her complete again.

The film is actually much more entertaining than it sounds mostly because of an excellent treatment by director Adrienne Shelly who wrote and directed the film with an unusual flare. She also plays a little role in the film.

Unfortunately, she was murdered in her apartment in New York City in a freak robbery- gone-wrong, just before the film was released.

The Trial

I'm on the second track of this massive four track audiobook by Franz Kafka called "The Trial". A famous book, it is the story of a man, Joseph Kay, who is accused of a crime and a trial is initiated against him however the trial is so secretive that the defendant isn't told what he is accused of. Kafka basically plays on the "big brother" theme but adds some interesting human elements to it.

So far the book has been pretty interesting. It did drag a big at the end of the first track (each track is about 2 and a half hours so the book is about 10 hours) but now at the end of the second track it has become interesting again. The introduction of the crazy uncle, Lany and the lawyer were quite hilarious. However, the monologue where Kafka begins to describe the true nature of the judicial system is where the real meat of the book is and the story around it seems more of a means to demonstrate the central theme of judicial ineptness of a secretive court system. The story and characters add narrative element to this theme.

I comment that specially struck me as darkly humorous is that such trial are so secretive that they are kept a secret even from the defendant. The other one is about how the judicial system merely tolerates the defense because it is an annoying aspect of written law and how some even argue if there is merit in such tolerance.

Excerpt from 'Scoop'

I am reading this book called 'Scoop', a brilliant satire by Evelyn Waugh about a newspaper that sends a garden reporter William Boot as a war correspondent to an imaginary war torn country called Ishmaelia. Following is a small excerpt where The Foreign editor tries to explain the situation in Ishmaelia.

'Well, there is one thing. I don't read the papers very much. Can you tell me who is fighting who in Ishmaelai?', asked Boot.

'I think it is the Patriots and the Traitors', said the editor.

'Yes but which is which?', said Boot.

'Oh, I dont know that. That's policy, you see. It has nothing to do with me. You should have asked the management that.', informed the editor. He continued...

'I gather it's between the Reds and the Blacks. Yes, but it is not quite as easy as that. You see, they are all Negroes. And the Fascists wouldnt be called black because of their racia pride, so they are called White after the White Russians. And the Bolshevists want to be called Black because of their racial pride. So when you say Balck, you mean Red and when you mean Red, you say white. And when the party who call themselves blacks say Traitors they mean what we call blacks, but what we mean when we say Traitors, I really couldn't tell you. But from your point of view, it will be quite simple. Management only want Patriot victories and both sides call themselves Patriots and of course both sides will claim all the victories. But ofcourse its really a war between Russia and Germany and Italy and Japan who are all against one another on the Patriotic side. I hope I make myself plain?'

'Up to a point', said Boot, falling easily into the habit.

Moonstruck

Cher is Loretta, an Italian widow in her mid thirties trying to get married again. She finds a man she feels comfortable with but soon she meets his brother...

Normal Jewison, who has produced several great movies like Fiddler on the roof, Other people's money and the old comedy Russians are coming, directs this interference of a glowing November moon in the lives of a New York Italian family, full of stereotypical and predictabke folk. This movie won three Oscars. Cher took best actress which I don't think she deserves. Olympia Dukakis as Cher's mother plays an excellent role that got her a best supporting actress award.

Nicolas Cage is at his shouting best or worst whatever you prefer. John Mahoney ( Frasier's Dad ) plays the only likable character in the movie. An excellent little cameo for him.

This picture, though neither very romantic nor very funny does work because of some nice moments and a great soundtrack.

Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

This movie is about the hijacking of a New York City subway train by a group of armed men demanding a million dollars.

This is a brilliant example of the 70s thriller. Clear, crisp and exciting. The movie takes no time to start and soon catches speed much like a subway train. A lot of dry politically incorrect political humor and fast pace make this movie a treat. This is one of those rare completely unpretentious movies that gives you complete excitement -- but mind you -- nothing else.

The premise in itself is exciting. It is easy enough to hijack a subway train as there is little or no security but the catch is the escape route. There just isn't any.

Walter Matthau plays Lt. Garber, chief of subway security. He is cool and confident but not too cool -- a bit aging. He is indeed very good. Robert Shaw ( Jaws ) plays the chief hijacker brilliantly. He is systematic and cruel and very efficient.

It is interesting to note that the hijackers use name of colors for each other -- Mr. Blue, Mr. Grey, Mr. Brows, etc; a technique used to a brilliant effect by Mr. Tarantino, eighteen years later in 1992 in his classic caper 'Reservoir Dogs'.

Toy Story

This critically acclaimed cartoon movie is about a cowboy toy that is jealous and threatened when a fancy new spaceman toy replaces him as top toy in a boy's room.

This is probably as good a boy fantasy can be filmed. Excellent effects and good storyline keep the viewers glued to the screen.

Buzz Lightyear, the new space toy, is a brilliant creation as amiable as the cowboy toy is irritable.

Toys among cruel and indifferent kids, have a life of their own. A very believable and interesting premise.

John Lasseter who later also did A Bug's life and Toy Story 2 does a very good job indeed.

A must see.

Virgin Suicides

Based on a novel, this movie is about the five teenage Gibson girls that committed suicide sometime 25 years ago in Michigan; and the fascination of teenage boys for the girls.

Don't get fooled by the promising premise as the movie does not quite deliver what it says. It is charming at times -- specially when it comes to the portrayel of the admiration and intrigue that a young male adolescent would have for not one not two but five young girls. It is witty and clever at times. Sad and horribly depressing at others.

However, there are too many shortcomings. Sofia Coppola ( daughter of the great Francis Ford Coppola ), does a decent job but is not quite at it. The movie repeatedly talks about the general curiosity as to why the girls committed suicide. However, no serious attempt is made to investigate that. Actually there is no surprise at all. We all know -- all the time -- why they did it. They really had no choice. The movie wants to explore the sexual coming of age of these girls but kind of stops. Never really trying to be intelligent or overly probling. It leaves you a bit intellectually insatiated at the end.

Kirsten Durnst as the charming Lux Gibson is the movie's showcase. However, I think she underplays her voyeur role in favor of a sweetness that looks good but does not fit well.

Katherine Turner and James Woods as the clueless parents are wasted. We never get to see why they are such complete failures as parents.

Despite all these faults, I think the movie has a ring to it. It is certainly enjoyable if a bit depressing.

The Apartment

This movie is about CC Baxter ( Jack Lemmon ) who loans his conveniently located Manhattan apartment to some of his managers for their extra marital shenanigans in hope of winning their favor and rising in the company. His hopes and his job are endangered when he gets into trouble.
This is a very well crafted movie by the brilliant Billy Wilder ( Sabrina, Some Like it Hot, Front Page, etc. ) It is funny, and though needing some serious editing at times, is quite engaging.

Jack Lemmon ( who recently expired ), is very apposite as C.C. Baxter -- a simple man who wants to do the right thing but can not resist the lure of a corporate rise. On a more generic level -- the movie poses a question as to what a man would be ready to do for his career. We are all making compromises and accommodations for our career all the time but it is never certain when to stop or how much is enough.

Shirley MacLaine is good in an overly simplistic and stereotypical role. However, it must be noted that the role is such on purpose. In fact, all female characters play a role too naive for today's sensibilities. However, I wouldn't be surprised to find parallels in today's culture.

Watching Ms. MacLaine will actually remind you where the likes of Melanie Griffith and more recently Renee Zelleweger come from.

This movie is a must.

Snatch

Guy Ritchie writes and directs this post-Tarantino struggle for an 84 carat diamond doing rounds among London's low lives and some American imports.

This brilliantly entertaining movie is a valid successor for Mr. Ritchie's Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels. A more approachable and easier to follow, Snatch is hilarious at times and shockingly violent at others. A cast that has most of the gems from Lock Stock in addition to an excellent performance by Brad Pitt as a gypsy bare-knuckle boxer.

Some of the jokes are old and all in all the film is not quite as intriguing as Lock Stock and lacks that energy but that is probably not a fair comparison.

Do watch this movie -- it is indeed a treat.

Thirteen Days

This movie is about the handling of the Cuban missile crisis, that brought the then superpowers very close to starting WWIII, by JFK, his brother and their confidants.

This is a very interesting movie that keeps history intriguing. Which is to say a lot. It is partly fictionalized when it comes to emotions but fairly accurate when it comes to the facts. So it is a very good history lesson. One that is really more than a lesson -- an admonition if you may, about the ultimate threat -- the destruction of the human race because of the bigotry or even stupidity or madness of a few men or even a single man.

Of course it makes Kennedys and his assitant look like superheros when they were probably just lucky. It is over glorifying and pedantic at times. Even sappy. But in all honesty let that not take away from a good sincere effort by the director. Mr. Donaldson's last two pictures -- Dante's peak and Species both were ridiculous and this is a good come back for him.

Kevin Costner is I think miscast as Kenny O'Donnel, JFK's special assistant who plays a very important role in avoiding the crisis -- probably more import than JFK. An obvious exaggeration -- however an understandable one.

Rest of the cast is good and some dialogue is excellent. A movie definitely worth watching.

Omen, The

This movie is about the conspiracy of the devils advocates to replace the child of an influential politician by the devil's child --the antichrist so that he can overtake the world.

This movie, heralded by many as the scariest terror picture of all time, is a brilliant work of technical excellence and editing. A slick movie that is very clear about where it is going. It is a very commercial movie in a sense, most horror shots are well presented and follow a fairly clear, occasionally contrived, build-up.

A well deserving heir to Rosemary's Baby(1967) and Exorcist(1972), Omen is a more polished, more commercial, more modern version of the 3 pioneer movies all dealing with the same subject of the birth of devil's son. It has the advantages of the then state of the art effects and camera work.

Richard Donner does one of his first horror/terror movies and does an excellent job. He keeps the movie very stylized and intriguing. Use of quotes from the Bible make it very thorough and interesting.

This movie is a must. For horror fans, for film students and film enthusiasts all alike.

X-Men

From the celebrated director of the amazing 'Usual Suspects', comes this comic book fantasy action special-effects movie. In near future thanks to evolution, some humans start turning into mutants with great and dangerous powers and obviously the human race treats them as outcasts. For the sake of a plot, the mutants are divided into the conventional good and evil and as expected the good save the world for us.

Beneath this comic book storyline ( the movie is based on a popular comic book series ) lies a very entertaining and absorbing movie that is definitely worth watching. Some good acting and very well organized stunts keep the viewer completely occupied. Special effects are first class and editing is slick.

It is a huge departure for Brian Singer from 'Usual Suspects' but he does a fine job. Actors are mostly fillers but they manage to hold together.

Touch of Evil

This movie is about a murder in a small US/Mexican border town and the involvement of an upright Mexican narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) and a corrupt American police captain (Orson Welles).

The story revolves around the corrupt captain Quinlan played with ruthless efficiency by Orson Welles and the protagonist Mike Vargas played with aplomb by Mr. Heston. The murder throws the two against each other and soon Vargas discovers the evil all around him that threatens to engulf his newly wed wife.

A much celebrated picutre that is included as part of syllabus in many film courses, this movie is indeed a work of art. You will see some great cinematography used effectively to magnify Welles's character. Close shots taken from waste up and shoulder down at strange angles make Mr. Welles look unusually large -- larger than life. This fits well with what the movie is trying to tell us.

Many movie students believe that this is one of the best American movies of all time -- technically.

Woman on top

This movie is about a Brazilian girl who has the gift of cooking exotic dishes that have mesmerizing effects. She comes to San Fransisco searching for something new after a problem with her husband. She ends up becoming the ravishing hostess of a food show on TV.

Highlight of the movie is the extraordinary music. Unbelievably good tunes from South America. Ms. Cruz is good but does not look too involved. I think she is overrated as an actress and proves it in this movie.

There is a lot of magic happening in the movie which keeps things interesting. There isn't enough story to go about. And one hopes against odds that one wouldn't see the cliche of her being disillusioned with the big media. But alas the movie is just not upto the task enough.

City Slickers

Billy Crystal and this two middle-aged friends go for a cattle drive in New Mexico to find a meaning in life away from their pathetic New York lives.

So here is another one from the Billy Crystal school of mid-life crisis, snide remarks, witty comments and funny situations. This movie though very funny and enjoyable could have been even better had it not been so simplistic.

The attempt to show the contrast between the wild east (NY) and the wild west is good and gives us some funny moments. The movie tries to prig about basic honesty and other life lessons.

This movie is definitely worth watching.

A.I.

This movie, set in the future, is about an 11 year old robot boy who has been programmed to love. The problem is that humans find it difficult to love him back.

A lot has been written about how this movie was planned in the 80s by Stanley Kubriek and then later passed on the Spielberg. So there has been a lot of anticipation about how Kubriek, with his mostly misanthrop view, and Spielberg, with his mostly warm outlook, are going to collaborate on a movie. Both believed by many to be one of the greatest directors of their time.

So the net result is bold, surprising, difficult to follow and detached work of art ( no doubt ) that does not quite hold up. The premise of the movie is excellent -- a boy in seach of love -- however, as audiences we feel no emotion at all. That is the movie's big failure.

The film has extraordinary cinematography ( Janusz Kaminski ) -- very subtle and yet telling. A lot of attention has been paid to details. There is also a clear attempt to not use special effects to take interest away from the theme.

There are no big actors -- however, the small Joel Haley -- though doing a fine job -- ultimately becomes an overdose and you wouldn't want to see him for another year -- once you see this movie. Other than him -- nobody really has much else to do.

A scene from the movie worth mentioning is -- 'The Flesh Fair' -- a kind of a combination of a rock concert and WWF wrestling match -- where humans get together to brutally kill/destroy robots. It is a horrifying portrayel of humanity -- a true Kubrik scene.

Where the movie completely fails -- as many others with a novel idea do -- is at the end. The last half hour where the director tries our patience and our intelligence is a disaster. Obviously -- either not enough time was spent to think about a logical conclusion or a wrong choice was made and what we end up with is a dull elongated funeral of a movie that could have been great.

As many critics have pointed -- Kubrik, from the grave, has been able to pull down Spielberg. Although, I feel Spielberg let him willingly -- as proven by how his choice of movies has gone from Jaws to Schiendler's List -- more Kubrik like as his career has progressed.

Memento

This mind blowing, thaught provoking picture is about Leonard Shelby -- a man suffering from short term memory loss -- in search of the killer of his wife.

This is one hell of a roller-coaster -- going backwards. Mr. Nolan has created this rocky 'whydoneit' that confuses you, bewilders you, involves you and completely takes over your imagination. This is definitely one of the most important movies to be made in a long long time. An Indy successor to 6th Sense.

Guy Pearce ( LA Confidential ) is Leonard Shelby -- a man trying desperately to deal with his condition as well make sense of life and people around him. Who could he trust, what does he know when he has no recollection of what happened more than a few minutes ago. However, he knows everything about himself upto the incident that kills his wife.

What makes, this most talked about movie, so great is the fact that you have an intense desire to see it again. Because you want to figure out for yourself what really happened. Nobody can really claim to understand what this movie really is at least in first viewing. Mainly because of an important remark made by the protagonist --

'Memory is not truth -- just interpretations.'

Get Carter

This brutal movie is about a ruthless mobster Jack Carter searching for the killers of his brother.

This cold cold movie was one of the first of a series of mobster movie imports from England. Followed by the likes of 'Long good firday' and more recently 'Lock Stock and two smoking barrels'. This kind of movie has also led the Americans to make a series of brutal Dirty Harry movies.

The highlight of the movie is of course the tragic heroic character of Carter portrayed brilliantly by Michael Caine. He is ruthless to the point of no return yet very clear as to what he wants.

Don't forget that this is a 30 year old movie. Drastically different from most American movies in terms of style and characterization. A very dour and unglamorized look with compromised characters with dual morality. Closer to life but not what most people want from their movies.

Mighty Aphrodite

This film is about a man who wants to know the true identity of his brilliant adopted son. What he finds out surprises him and helps him get rid of his prejudices.

This is a delightfully funny and warm movie. A very staple Woody Allen. He also stars as the man who is desperate to find out the mother of his adopted son. Mira Sorvino is excellent and won an Oscar for her performance as a big hearted prostitute.

Rosemary's Baby

This picture is about a young couple that move into a New York Apartment and the sequence of events that happens specially after the woman gets pregnant.

This is one of the best in the horror genre -- more of a terrifying movie than horror really. Very cleverly and meticulously directed by Roman Polanski ( Frantic, Chinatown ). The beauty of the movie lies in the details. Everything has a meaning and very little is by accident. The moral ambiguity of the characters keeps the movie very interesting and gripping. The key to the terror however is the subtle treatment. The hints, the suggestions of the ultimate terror.

Considered by many as the ultimate horror movie, this film is a must see -- for the direction and for the art of storytelling.

Bamboozled

A frustrated black TV producer creates a blackface minstrel show as a satire in protest of racial stereotyping of blacks in American media. It of course makes things difficult for him when the show becomes a big hit and he is cast and becomes so -- as a man who stereotypes blacks.

Spike Lee who is known for rather outlandish plots actually outdoes himself with this one. This movie -- though very rough and caustic is very funny and intelligent. The basic drama of moral corruption is played very well. No body is immune from the treacherous games of fame.

Very reminiscent of the brilliant film: Network.

Blazing Saddles

It takes a special courage to make a film this audacious. Only Mel Brooks could've done it.

I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. This was unreal, unbelievable, great!

A must.

High Noon

Gary Cooper is Will Kane, an aging marshal forced by his sense of duty to fight a barbaric villain.

This is not your everyday good v/s evil drama. You will see a hero -- rare in the western genre or rather rare in any genre for that matter -- who is terribly reluctant and is almost sure of his defeat.

This is an excellent movie. It opens up several arenas of thought. Man's duty toward the society, his duty toward his loved ones and most importantly -- his duty toward himself.

The director plays with the limited resources at hand cleverly and uses a rather anti-western approach in this western in the age of westerns. The use of camera to show the approaching high noon, the train tracks and the ever moving clock and the use of a beautiful song to sort of portray Will Kane's dilemma is quite incredible.

Diary of Bridget Jones

Renee Zellweger shines in this brilliant comedy about 30 plus single woman with a weight problem, a drinking problem and lots of other problems.

Caught between two lovers and her utter lack of social grace, Ms. Zellweger is both smart and stupid. Her British accent fluctuates but she manages to remain interesting enough throughout the movie.

The main attraction of the movie is of course that it is very funny. It will entertain you.

Almost Famous

This autobiographical story of Cameron Crowe as a 15 year old rock journalist touring with an upstart rock band 'Stillwater' in the 70s is a classic. Crowe as a director is brilliant. Kate Hudson as a 'Band Aid' is charming to the point to of disbelief. Frances McDermond as the skeptical mother of the 15 year old is excellent. The soundtrack is wonderful too.

This is a much better film than Mr. Crowe's earlier Jerry Mcguire. Mr. Crowe works with a comparatively unknown cast and deals with the cultural phenomenon of rock and roll critically and amiably.

This is not only a must see, it actually belongs in the private collection of every movie lover.

It's a wonderful life

This 1946, post depression, classic is probably as good as movie making gets. It has all the essential elements to make it one of the great all time films.

James Stewart is a small town bumpkin in search of validation -- to bring some meaning to his seemingly disappointing life.

The movie is basically about how hope survives in the worst of situations and goodness is paid sometimes.

Can't think of anybody who would have played George Bailley other than James Steward. Excellent performance.

Frank Kapra's direction is minimal -- you hardly feel it because you are too busy with the movie.

Nurse Betty

Renee Zellweger is Betty from Kansas, the Dorothy, of this unusually warm and cohesive movie from the hetherto morbid Neil LeBute. Betty lives in her own sweet world which is shaken when a horrible accident (storm) takes her away like in a dream to LA (Oz). Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock, hopelessly miscast, are the gunmen chasing her.

Betty is nice yet discomforting -- pretty much like the movie.

Renee Zellweger would have been much better had she not reminded you so avidly of Melanie Griffith.

High Fidelity

John Cusack vehicles himself into this gem of a little movie that revolves around his record store and loss of love. He is obsessed with making the top n lists of either his favorite records or his worst break-ups. This movie works well beccause of some genuinely funny and some surprisingly romantic moments.

Jack Black, as his eccentric record store partner is unbelievably funny.

This movie is a must see.

Contender

A good film with excellent dialogue and very good acting. About the nomination of the first US woman Vice President and its aftermath. Political mudslinging and groping at whatever one can. Joan Allen as the nominee ( was nominated as best actress ) did an excellent job I thought. Very strong character. Good portrayel.

However, Jeff Bridges as the conniving President steals the show. Often playing a confused or lost man, this time he is anything but that.

Gary Oldman is also very good as the the opponent, a true politician, who will go to any lengths to bring someone down.

Bladerunner

Readly Scott -- the celebrated director of Gladiator and Hannibal, directed this movie way back in 1982. A good but complex and confusing movie -- that leaves much for the viewer to decide.

Sometime in the future 'Replicants' are man made human machines that rebel against slavery. 'Bladerunners' are the policemen that fight the replicants.

Readly Scott films the movie in a grand visual style that he is known for. Very brutal at times.

The movie succeeds in making the audience feel sympathetic toward the replicants.

Astitva

This movie about the uncovering of shocking past and its after effects on a happy family is definitely worth watching. Good story and good acting keeps the movie going, though a bit slowly. Good dialogue at times helps.

It would have been even more interesting had the hero not been so compromised himself. However, Saching Khedekar from the marathon weeper TV show ( I cant see to remember the name ), manages to play the worst character, not a bad guy, in movies in recent times. Tabu is good -- as a tired and utterly bored housewife bidding her time. There are some characters in the movie which nobody can explain the reason for.

Fearless

Jeff Bridges is a plane crash survivor who feels his life changed forever in the aftermath of the crash. He re-evaluates his priorities and helps a fellow survivor overcome her fears.

Viewers are left alienated in this impersonal yet effective movie. It has its moments but does not really hold.

Peter Weir directed the wonderful 'Dead Poets Society'

Chocolat

In this sweet movie, a woman opens a chocolaterie and the minds of small town folks.