A Wee Film Reveiw-ulet

I thought of peeping into one of the myriad of movies by Almodover, before gearing myself for his latest 'The Skin I Live In'. This involved me watching 'Talk to her' (Hable con ella - 2002), which won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Original Screenplay writing. The ethereal women-centric subjects in his movies are complemented by unusual portrayals which always enable the user to open their outlet to a gamut of emotions. The sense of humour always tends to gimmick serious situations with the limelight situations which the society deems as a women's disgust. The contours of a women’s body with its wanton skinniness or with its luxuriant voluptuousness are always celebrated with elance. This story revolves around the limitless one-sided love of a nurse 'Benigno', who tends to his lady 'Alicia’, deep in comma. He is accompanied with an emotional and self-withdrawn journalist and travelogue writer 'Marco' who’s recent love 'Lydia’, a fierce...

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' - the inundated metal clinks with no logical context or a palatable sci-fi plot made me feel dreary. The last half an hour was appaling. Micheal Bay needs to tone down. The only saviour was John Malkovich but again used like a prop with no character development. So much so for the autobots, decepticons and their entourage.

X-Men:First Class seamlessly integrates a power packed script (events in history,bromance- Chris McAvoy and Michael Fassbender steal the show,longing - Jennifer Lawrence is beyond 'the Winter's bone',self-realisation,revenge ,altruism) , deft direction (the lead characters exude potrayals vividly under the helm of special effects that are not overdone) and intricate art direction (instills the reality of the scenes). What makes it even more realistic is that you start emphatizing with the debate of good versus bad. Soon you forget that the special powers of mutants is a remote possibilty.

'Delhi belly': Scatalogical humor with incessant abuse in everyday context could have been the right ingrediants for a disaster. But an intelligent non-pretencious script (Akshat Verma) which keeps the viewers guessing is translated 'Guy Ritchie style' by director Abhinay Deo. The acting trio have made full justice to their characters especially Kunaal Roy Kapur who is a notch par with his gruntling stomach - the script demanded him to gain the extra chub which he shows off, even his crack.No wonder Aamir Khan laughed his ass of while reading this script and took the risk of shedding the 'family orientated' image of his production company.

Terence Mallick's The Tree of Life is not for the regular cinema goer. Its a montage of artistically shot images: Earth, fire, water and the basic units of life encapsulated in the garb of the unknown 'the universe'. Its abstract. The dailogues are minimal but emoted with elance by the central characters. Palm deOr is for been bold and different - it talks about how god creates, human inherits and does not let go. The God then takes it back and the human is left with remorse. On an average 10 people would leave the theater in the first 15 minutes. Wonder how soon the movie leaves the theatre.

Cell 211 ( Celda 211 ) is a film in spanish with english subtitles. My love for spanish cinema grows two-fold after watching yet another riveting and realistic piece of cinema. It adds to their lineage of evoking emotions at improbable situations. This story is about Juan, a joinee engineer placed in the central prison, caught unguard in a riot. The riot is provoked by Malamadre,a criminal sentenced for life but with the heart of a leader, a rebel.The twist is Juan posing as an inmate and gaining trust amidst chaos,communicating covertly helping negotiations and ultimately emphathising with the sadness inflicted upon inmates in form of solitary confinement, owing to his personal crisis. With lesser known faces but just the right performances, a few loop holes in the plot and taut direction, its a movie worth watching - bravo. A few graphic scenes call for the 18 rating. Hovewer, its palpable by the 15 sorts too.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes(ROTPOTA) helms itself into category of prequels like Star Trek (2009) and x-Men: First Class (2011) and no doubt creates a brilliant placeholder for Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes(2001). Although I have not graced myself with the 1968 original classic, ROTPOTA stands class apart in terms of the detailed concoction of scenes and computer imagery  which beholds emotional awareness. I am not sure of how acting is calibrated when sensors are attached at various points on one's face and body to recreate an animated character, but Andy Serkins has been well acclaimed for his role as ‘Gholum’ in 'The Lord of the Rings:Tr ilogy' and now as ‘Ceaser ‘the Ape in this movie. The gradual development of emotional and intelligence quotient of Ceaser, who acknowledges the evolution of realisation of existence and the power of society, is remarkable. The ability of a writer to write different characters which reflect personalities even if it’s a ...

Arrietty, comes from studio Ghibli which made the Oscar winning Best Animated Feature 'Spirited Away'in form of anime, back in 2002. Based on Mary Morton's 'The Borrowers', it is a simple story of a young spirited 'thumbelina' girl Arriety who lives merrily in hiding under a country house with her family and borrow food and necessities from the humans. An unusal friendship grows between her and an ill young human, Sho, who has come to stay with his aunt. There is a display of detailed intricateness in each of the scenes which bond and progress with the emotional progressive storyline which is farfetched from a happy-go-lucky Disney flick. One notices: the struggle and subsequent achievements to outperform hurdles faced by the little creatures, the natural surroundings which inhibit the cacophony of crickets and crows, the nuances of a self-absorbed cat, the sublime rainwater drops and the silence of the night. As a first time viewer for anime, the big...

Having won the BAFTA for best feature film not in English language "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is a murder mystery convoluted in a maze of generations concocted by political views and religious anarchy which gets unwrapped slowly by inclemency of a descending journalist 'Micheal Nyquist' and acumen of a hacking wizard 'Noomi Rapace' who herself is traumatized by her haunting childhood. Even though the movie is Swedish, the production has an universal appeal. Spanning for over 2 hrs 30 minutes, majority of the scenes revolve around Noomi Rapace and Micheal Nyquist. Its Noomi Rapace who shines in her armor of goth look, heavy work out and a callous disposition seldom placid. I am against Hollywood trying to remake this classic even though a stalwart director like David Fincher is attempting a hand at to repackage for a global reach. I affirm with the director Niels Arden Oplev's conviction to vouch for his leading lady for the role instead of any le...

Only the brave Coen brothers (adapted screenplay and direction) can think of remaking an original Western classic 'True Grit'(1969) and name it the same. Grit is a gravel of sand symbolizing courage in times of danger. With 10 Academy nominations, True Grit boasts of this courage in the field of art direction,cinematography,costume design,directing,sound editing,sound mixing,best picture, supporting actress and best actor. As much I was in awe of Coen brothers for The Big Lebowski, I was also perplexed for the ending in 'No Country for Older Men'. True Grit has the right pace and keeps you immersed. Its a hunt for imposing redemption on a sinner. Hailee Steinfeld plays a stubborn brave farm girl who doesn’t flutter an eyelid and rather endeavors into a journey to avenge her fathers death. Jeff Bridges is a tough U.S.Marshal meandering in his own whimsical solitude is catapulted into this hunt by Hailee's adamant coaxing. Matt Damon is a Texas ranger who forays i...

Hail 'The King's Speech' - Colin Firth is impeccably a Royal stutter and the movie is a reverence to the morose task of 'kinging','queening','duking' and being a quack therapist cum aspiring actor cum a good friend of the Harley Street,London. I liked the geek sheet accompanied with the movie at the Glasgow Film Theater. Made my reviews look timid. And an applause in the end.

Once besotted in love, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams endeavor to move ahead whilst emoting the trepidation caused due to a burden called 'love'. Its amazing to see them flesh out sereneness to a state of utter turmoil. Painful. Makes me reminiscent of Leo and Kate in 'Revolutionary Road' but more cathartic.

This film is about how one odd nuclear family is also one normal 'family' which survives the quest of the children to find their biological father, the momentary infidelity of the parenting partner and the anguish of a juvenile sperm donor who suddenly realizes the need for a 'ready made' family while years flew by in his penchant for promiscuity.

Salutes Christopher Nolan for churning out such a fantastic script and directing it even more crisply. It just shows how an idea in a script can speak volumes irrespective of an ensemble cast,minimal special effects and gyrating action sequences.A heist on the brain by planting a seed into one's dream and eventually control an individual. And icing on the cake would be to control ones dream through a fake dream. The labyrinth can't get more dense. Leonardo DiCaprio says and I quote " When Christopher Nolan calls you up and says 'Look, I want to do a film that delves into the dreamscape, that delves into four different stages of the human subconscious, that is existential at times, it’s cerebral, surreal, and I want to do it on a grand Hollywood scale', you say ‘Okay, where do I sign?'" The soundtrack of 'Inception' by Hans Zimmer keeps you transfixed !!! P.S.:  In retaliation to the review in the New Yorker When Christopher Nolan advocates...

A heart wrenching tale that exposes the hypocrisies of an oppressed society harrowed by archaic traditions and plagued by superstitions in the heart of rural India which traces one woman's inspiring journey to break free from the shackles of discrimination, sexual oppression and deity's servitude to find true happiness.( Would ask for better editing and a narrative but nevertheless its good )

  Sacha Baron Cohan, a historian from Cambridge University, creates characters with elance and roots around scatological humor, accidental humor, nudism, sexual phobia's and anti-Semitism. What an anthropologist .. a bland view of the mankind !!!

Director John Cameron Mitchell unearths subtle performances from Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, who are grieving for the loss of their young son in an accident. It tries to tackle individualistic opinions on understanding loss of a loved one. Although many movies have tread this subject before, Rabbit Hole seems a bit more complacent punched with the depth of sobriety.

From the directorial skills of David Fincher who has 'The Fight Club', 'Zodiac' and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' in his repertoire. This movie doesn't concentrate on how FaceBook originated but delves into relationships of coll aboration, trust and the zest to deserve for one's credibility in a cohort.    The Social Network' - technically succulent screenplay by 'Aaron Sorkin', deft direction by 'David Fincher' and an eloquent character resurrection of FaceBook megamind Mark Zuckerberg by 'Jesse Eisenberg'. The background 'industrial' score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross gels in seamlessly with the plot.  P.S. : I was so immersed in the immaculately shot regatta sequence from the 'The Social Network' that I never noticed the 'POLAROID' advertise on one of the kayak. Nice work Mr. David Fincher !!

Beautifully adapted and innately directed by Debra Granik. A poignant yet hard-hitting tale of an Ozark mountain girl who relentlessly fights to take care of her ill mom and two siblings , trying to find her missing father who has run amok after a drug-bust and forlorn her to settle their house claim: the only ... survival shelter they have. Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Ree Dolly exudes maturity once portrayed by Ellen Page in Juno. Far more tacit and impeccable.