Cinema Cinema

Movie: Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) Language: Japanese Genre: Drama/ Action/ Thriller Director: Kinji Fukasaku Year: 2000 Watched on: 18 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (2/5) At the dawn of the new millennium, it’s chaos in Japan. Unemployment is at an all-time high, and violence amongst the nation’s youth is growing out of control. School children are boycotting their lessons and physically abusing their teachers. The government decides to set things in order by taking radical actions. Government implements Battle Royale Act overseen by a former teacher, Kitano ('Beat' Takeshi) and requiring that a randomly chosen school class be taken to a deserted island and forced to fight each other to the death, the Act dictates that only one pupil be allowed to survive the punishment there by demonstrating to what extent government can go to tame youngsters. The story concept is disturbing but the film but it fares poorly in many departments. Acting is loud, narration gets melo...

Movie: Trainspotting Language: English Genre: Drama Director: Danny Boyle Year: 1996 Watched on: 18 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Trainspotting a film based on a novel by Irvine Welsh and directed by Danny Boyle is a hard hitting movie. It is at times hilarious, shocking, brutal, tragic, ... It is anything but dull. It is a story of five friends most of them are heavily addicted to heroin. Renton (Ewan McGregor) is a heroin addict trying hard to kick it off. Spud (Ewen Bremner) is his dimwit friend. Another pal Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) isa Sean Connery fan. Ever boasting Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is a violent psycho. Tommy (Kevin McKidd), an athlete appears clean and more sensible. Renton tries to knockoff his addiction, manages to get a job in London but his friends and past catch him. The characters speak heavy Scottish accent which is a bit difficult to follow but is funny at times. The film doesnt condemn or make moral statement on heroin addiction at the same time...

Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Language: English Genre: Drama/ Romance Director: Michel Gondry Year: 2004 Watched on: 17 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a brilliant romantic sci-fi drama directed by Michel Gondry. Dr. Mierzwiak(Tom Wilkinson) runs a clinic where people can come and erase bad memories. Joel (Jim Carrey) is furious that his girl friend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has chosen to erase his memory after a tiff. He too decides erase her off his memory as a retaliatory action. While the folks from the erase the memories, we get to see the images in Joel’s mind. His struggle to keep Clemetine’s memories and urge to get back to her, the incidents that they went through are displayed. After a dramatic session of memory erasure, Joel and Clementine meet next day by accident and the passion rekindles. The narration of the movie is non linear but brilliantly handled by Gondry. Charlie Kaufmann’s brilliant story and scr...

Movie: Gosford Park Language: English Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Mystery Director: Robert Altman Year: 2001 Watched on: 12 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Gosford Park is an interesting murder mystery set in 1930's in Great Britain. The time is November 1932. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and Lady Sylvia McCordle (Kristin Scott Thomas) have invited a houseful of guests for a shooting party. They include Sir William's sister Constance, the Countess of Trentham (Maggie Smith), who depends on an allowance he is constantly threatening to withdraw. Lady Sylvia's sister Louisa (Geraldine Somerville), who like Sylvia had to marry for moneyand her husband Commander Anthony Meredith (Tom Hollander). And their sister Lavinia (Natasha Wightman), married to Raymond, Lord Stockbridge (Charles Dance). Then there are folksfrom Hollywood, Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), the Actor, Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), a gay Hollywood producer who has brought along his "valet...

Movie: Fight Club Language: English Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime/ Action Director: David Fincher Year: 1999 Watched on: 11 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Fight Club is a brilliant, unique and intelligent film by Directed by David Fincher based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk. A Nameless, bored and 30+ deskwork employee of an automobile company (Ed Norton) gets consumed by emptiness of his life despite having a good paycheck, a well furnished condo and a fridge full of condiments. He can not sleep because of emotional void despite a decent life. He finds comfort attending support groups of cancer patients, tuberculosis patients and other patients suffering terminal illness. Things are going smooth for this guy till a chain smoking street-smart faker Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) comes into picture. Her presence brings him back to square one as he feels her lie reflects his own lie. While fulfilling one of his single serving business trips, he meets a charismatic and clever Ty...

Movie: Nostalghia Language: Russian/Italian Genre: Drama Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Year: 1983 Watched on: 10 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) This Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece is visually spellbounding full of hidden meanings and metaphors tells the story of a Russian poet Andrei Gortchakov(Oleg Yankovsky), accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia(Domiziana Giordano), is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer. He meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in a barn to save them from the evils of the world and develops kind of friendship while Eugenia tries to seduce him. He is haunted by home sickness amidst of all this. It is typical Tarkovsky style movie. It is leisurely paced, highly poetic with lot of symbolism. Photography is brilliant, music, editing, costumes are good. The film demands a very high level of patience and involvement from viewers.

Movie: Seven(Se7en) Language: English Genre: Thriller/Crime/Mystery Director: David Fincher Year: 1995 Watched on: 5 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Seven or Se7en is a brilliant, shocking and disturbing suspense thriller bydirector David Fincher. Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is about to retire in a week meets his young and impulsive replacement David Mills (Brad Pitt) during the course of murder investigation. After initial hostilities, they discover that a psychopath is on a killing spree with a theme of seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath. The two cops are desperateto get this serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) as he continues his acts of crime. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt have done a commendable job. Kevin Spacey gives a superb performance despite a short role. The script is crisp and well written. The photography, editing, art direction and lighting all sum up to create brilliant visuals on the screen. The music is...

Movie: Once Upon a Time in the West Language: English Genre: Drama/Western Director: Sergio Leone Year: 1968 Watched on: 5 June 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: *** (3/5) Once Upon a Time in the West is a western drama directed by the Italian director Sergio Leone who directed many famous westerns including The good, the bad and the ugly. A mysterious Harmonica playing cowboy lands in a town seeking a man by name Frank. Frank a lieutenant for a railway boss Morton, kills Brett McBain and his kids in their ranch for mysterious reasons. Jill McBain, the newly wed wife of Brett comes to town to join the family in ranch only to find everyone dead. Jill encounters Cheyenne a fugitive suspected of killing McBains. Everyone has seemingly mysterious past and a motive. This 165 minute drama is paced slow, it has grand sets with good detailing and brilliantly photographed. But the story is not very exciting, script lacks punch, performances are just about ok. This movie is not as entertaining as othe...

Movie: Unknown Pleasures (Ren xiao yao) Language: Mandarin Genre: Drama/Comedy Director: Zhang Ke Jia Year: 2002 Watched on: 29 May 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: *** (3/5) Two 19 year old friends BinBin (Zhao Wei Wei) and Xiao Ji (Wy Qiong) who are heavily influenced by American culture, hang around in a Chinese city with out any job or aim. At a local theatre, Xio Ji gets attracted to an aspiring actress Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao). Qiao Qiao has a boyfriend who is a gangster. Xio Ji pursues her and succeeds to take her out for a date, but geats beaten up by gangsters goons. Bin Bin also has a girlfriend, Yuan Yuan (Zhou Qing Feng) who is studying and aspires to study international trading. Bin Bin considers joining the Army, buta preliminary blood test reveals that he has hepatitis. Desperate for money and something to do, Bin Bin and Xiao Ji concoct a crazy plan of looting a bank. The narrative is slow and not much happens throughout. Director Jia Zhang-Ke uses a kind of repetition techniq...

Movie: Who the Hell Is Juliette? (¿Quién diablos es Juliette?) Language: Spanish/English Genre: Documentary Director: Carlos Marcovich Year: 1997 Watched on: 28 May 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: ***1/2 (3.5/5) This is a very interesting film produced and directed by Carlos Marcovich. The film appears to be documentary but some scenes appear to be orchestrated. It is a movie that blurs the line between a documentary and a work of fiction. The movie tells the real life stories of Juliette(Yuliet) Ortega, a young prostitute from Havana, Cuba and Fabiola Quiroz, a Mexican model/actress. Fabiola comes to Cuba for a music video shoot and there she meets Juliette, who plays her sister's role in the video. The life of both girls has many parallels even though their backgrounds are different. The stories of two girls are unfolded through series of interviews and live footages. The photography, editing, camera work all contribute to the unorthodox documentary feel of the film. The fil...

Movie: Miller's Crossing Language: English Genre: Drama/Thriller Director: Joel Coen Year: 1990 Watched on: 27 May 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: ***1/2 (3.5/5) Directed by Joel Coen, and written by him and his brother, Ethan, Miller's Crossing is a prohibition era gangster saga. Leo (Albert Finney) is an Irish Mafia don who controls an unnamed the city. With Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne) as his adviser, politicians police and bureaucrats in his pocket Leo is doing really well. Leo has a soft spot for a hooker Verna(Marcia Gay Harden). All the troubles start when Vernas brother Bernie (John Turturro), who is a bookie cheats another mafia boss Johnny Casper (Jon Polito). Casper wants Bernies head and Leo is not willing to have him that. Tom tries to keep the peace. Instead he finds himself caught in the middle of a war of ambushes and shifting allegiances where nothing is ever quite what it seems. The plot has very interesting twists and script is crisp. Performances are brilliant espe...

Movie: The Sea Inside (Mar adentro) Language: Spanish Genre: Drama Director: Alejandro Amenábar Year: 2004 Watched on: 23 May 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) This is a touching true life story of a Spanish fisherman Ramón Sampedro who spent nearly 30 years of his life campaigning in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die. Ramón (Javier Bardem) is left quadriplegic after a freak diving accident. Ramón lives with his father, brother, sister-in-law and young nephew. Two women are in love with him, Julia (Belen Rueda) a lawyer who herself is suffering from serious ailment and a single mother Rosa (Lola Duenas) who is also a DJ in local radio station. The film is all about Ramóns life, thoughts, emotions and the people who love him. Director Alejandro Amenabar has done a great job and make film look a like a beautiful poem. The script is crisp, performances are brilliant, music is fantastic and cinematography is spellbinding. More than all the ...

Movie: Amadeus Language: English/Italian Genre: Drama/Music Director: Milos Forman Year: 1984 Watched on: 1 May 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) The Cinema adaptation of Peter Shaffers famous play Amaedus by Milos Forman is rich in content full of vivid and colorful images and brilliant music. The subject of the film is the love, hate and jealous relationship of Antonio Salieri who was the mediocre court composer of Austrian Emperor Joseph III with Wolfgang Amaedus Mozart and his work. Though it is historically inaccurate account of the things, it still makes a good movie because of the feel it creates. Undoubtedly Mozart was a genius but Antonio Salieris work was never considered mediocre. The entire story is unfolded in flashbacks by Salieri in mental asylum. Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) is highly confronted with the gift of music granted by god to the rude, immodest, fancy and footloose Mozart (Tom Hulce). Salieri is in awe of Mozarts music, he can recognize the genius of Moza...

Movie: The Pianist Language: English/German/Russian Genre: Drama/War/Holocaust Director: Roman Polanski Year: 2002 Watched on: 30th April 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Famed Director Roman Polanski presents extraordinary true life story of a Polish Jew Pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. The film is based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman and is set during Second World War when Hitlers Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Szpilman (Adrian Broody) is an employee and gifted Pianist employed by Polish Radio. As German forces tighten their noose on Poland, all the Jews in Warsaw are forced to move in to ghetto leaving their processions. Driven to destitution, the Jews are constantly subjected to humiliation, abuse and death by German Nazis. A friend in Jewish police formed by Nazis saves Szpilman by pulling out of a train bound to concentration camp but his family members arent that lucky. Later Szpilman with luck and help of polish friends survives the entire period of Nazi occupation o...

Movie: Talk to her (Hable con ella) Language: Spanish Genre: Drama Director: Pedro Almodóvar Year: 2002 Watched on: 29th April 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Spanish Writer Director Pedro Almodóvar delivers a brilliant film with a complex story line, complex characters and wide variety of emotions. Simply put, its a story of two men who are in love with ladies who are comatose. One is Benigno (Javier Cámara), a lonely male nurse who has spent most of his adult life happily taking care of his invalid mother and now, since her death, has transferred that affection to a beautiful young BallerinaAlicia (Leonor Watling) left brain-dead by a traffic accident. The other is Marco (Darío Grandinetti), a travel journalist in love with a lady bullfighter (Rosario Flores) who, after being gored in the ring, is also left in a vegetative state and is being cared for in the same Madrid hospital where Benigno works. The two men meet while standing vigil over their co...

Movie: Boogie Nights Language: English Genre: Drama/Thriller Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Year: 1997 Watched on: 23rd April 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) A brilliant one by P T Anderson. He takes audience for a trip down the alley of American porn industry starting from 1977 and ending in 1984. The film is an exotic cocktail made of several interesting characters weaving a story that makes one laugh, get shocked and sympathize at times. Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) accidentally discovers Eddie (Mark Wahlberg) who has something special that can make him porn superstar. The film is all about life of Eddie a.k.a Dirk Diggler, people around him and the profession he is in. The film it seems is loosely based on life of porn superstar John Holmes. Interesting characters of the movie include, A porn star mother Amber(Julian Moore), fighting for her kid, Roller girl (Heather Graham) who never takes her skates off. Little Bill(William H. Macy) who always finds his wife with someone e...

Movie: Blood Simple Language: English Genre: Drama/Thriller Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen Year: 1984 Watched on: 22nd April 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: *** (3/5) This movie is the famed Coen Brothers first movie. This movie is credited as one of the movies that started independent cinema movement in Hollywood. A bar-owner Marty in Texas through a hired private detective Visser comes to know that his wife Abby is cheating on him. Her lover is Ray who happens to be employee of the bar. Marty hires the private detective to kill his wife and her lover. But the private detective has his own plans. Overall a good film if not extraordinary. I think the characters that standout because of performance are those of Marty (Dan Hedaya) and the private detective (M. Emmet Walsh). Others performance is just about ok. The script is tight and the direction is impressive. On the technical front photography is good and music goes well with the movie. The sound too is good, the slow beat of fans ...

Movie: Ôdishon (Audition in English) Language: Japanese Genre: Horror/Thriller Director: Takeshi Miike Year: 1999 Watched Date: 20th April 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) I think it is a very interesting movie. It is one of the best horror flicks I have ever seen. Yep way ahead of loud Hollywood movies in the same genre like "I know what you did last summer", "Scream", "Nightmare on elm street" etc. What works for this movie is the mixture of gore and realism. Luckily there are no wounds oozing green blood , Metal nails , ugly mask and other special effects. The movie starts off with romantic mood where Ayoma is seeking a new wife, later it slowly wears a shade of mystery when lady Asami goes missing before a shocking finale. The shock value I guess is tremendous. The initial pace and mood are deceptive as they camouflage gory violence. Basically it screws up our perception of what's going to happen. Cinematography is excellent. Though t...