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 He is accompanied with an emotional and self-withdrawn journalist and travelogue writer 'Marco' who’s recent love 'Lydia’, a fierce...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...