Cinema Cinema

Movie: Apocalypse Now Redux Language: English / French / Vietnamese / Khmer Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama / War Director: Francis Ford Coppola Year: 1979 Watched on: 23 January 2006 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: Master of Cinema Francis Ford Coppola has produced and directed this movie considered as one of the greatest movie ever made on Vietnam War. The movie starts off in Saigon at the height of Vietnam War where the troubled and burnt out US Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is summoned for a mission. The mission is to eliminate the command of a renegade and insane former Colonel in US Army Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has installed himself as god among Cambodian tribal groups and is working against the interests of US Government by staging attacks. Willard with a handful crew sails up the Nung River on a Navy patrol boat and discovers his target is one of the most decorated and smartest officers of United States Army. The journey to reach Kurtz’s world is a though...

Movie: To Live And Die In L.A. Language: English Genre: Crime / Thriller / Drama / Action Director: William Friedkin Year: 1985 Watched on: 22 January 2006 Rating: **1/2 (2.5/5) Review: William Friedkin who made famous Hollywood flicks like "French Connection" and "Exorcist" directs this stylish film with a heavy 80ish feel. This is a story of a LA cop Richard Chance (William L. Petersen) who is on a hot pursuit of counterfeit kingpin Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) who has killed his partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) just few days before his retirement. Chance decides to go all out to bust Masters even if it means risking his and others lives. Movie is a mixture of a very ordinary and clichéd storyline and some twists and turns. Acting is mediocre. Characterization is just about ok. Cinematography and music are a plus so is the lengthy and well choreographed car chasing scene. Somehow it appeared to me as all style and no substance kind of movie.

Movie: The Conversation Language: English Genre: Crime / Thriller / Drama / Mystery Director: Francis Ford Coppola Year: 1974 Watched on: 08 January 2006 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: This highly rated movie by director Francis Ford Coppola was made in between his two greatest works The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II. Coppola has also written script of this movie that tells a story of a surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman). Harry is hired by a boss of a big organization to spy on two of his employees. A man and woman seemingly in love. Harry smartly records their conversation and prepares tapes but the conversation starts slowly consuming his life. Harry haunted by the fact that his activities earlier had resulted in three murders, this time breaks his professional ethics and gets in to thick of the action to prevent an impending murder(s) but with devastating results. This is a slow paced suspense thriller that will surprise one in the end. This is the movie when Coppola ...

Movie: The Vanishing (Spoorloos) Language: French/Dutch Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Drama Director: George Sluizer Year: 1988 Watched on: 07 January 2006 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: Spoorloos by George Sluizer is a psychological thriller based on the novel “The Golden Egg” by writer Tim Krabbé. Rex Hoffmann (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia (Saskia Wagter), a couple in love travel to France for a vacation from Amsterdam. On their way at a gas station, Saskia gets into a café to buy drinks and disappears mysteriously without any trace. Even after three years of her mysterious disappearance, Rex spares no effort to trace her. Raymond Lemorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) a normal looking professor in chemistry is the abductor who while abducting believed that he had to commit an evil deed to balance the act of kindness he demonstrated by saving a life of a drowning child. He approaches the abduction with utmost sincerity even practicing several times before the real act. Raymond amused by the curi...

Movie: Sleuth Language: English Genre: Mystery / Thriller Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Year: 1972 Watched on: 06 January 2006 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: Sleuth is the cinematic adaptation of popular and award winning play from Anthony Shaffer by the same name. This more than two hour movie by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz actually just has two actors. Andrew Wyke (Laurence Oliver) an eccentric but a wealthy writer invites his estranged wife’s paramour Milo Tindel (Michael Caine), a Hair Dresser by professor in her absence for a talk. During the course of the conversation, Andrew lures Milo into a money making scheme that benefits both. Andrew suggests Milo to steal jewels from his house and make money from it and he in turn will claim money insured against the jewelry. The suggestion appears reasonable to Milo but is it? The story takes interesting twists and turns into a battle of wits while thrilling the audience throughout. Screenplay by Anthony Shaffer is mind-blowing and directo...

Movie: The Apartment Language: English Genre: Comedy / Romance Director: Billy Wilder Year: 1960 Watched on: 31 December 2005 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: Apartment is a real "golden oldie". This crisp and delightful romantic comedy directed by Billy Wilder is A1 entertainer. CC Baxter a.k.a Buddy boy (Jack Lemmon) is an upwardly mobile executive of an insurance firm who lends his apartment to his superiors for their romantic trysts to be in their good books. Baxter ends up doing an uncomfortable tightrope walk of pleasing everyone to go up the ladder. Baxter has a soft spot for the lift girl in his office Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). Things get sad for Baxter when he discovers that the mistress of his boss Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) and his flame are one and the same. Things get even worse when Baxter is pushed to tight corner by an attempted suicide by Fran Kubelik at his apartment. Jack Lemmon is absolutely brilliant and so is Fred MacMurray. Performances, screenpl...

Movie: Intimacy Language: English Genre: Drama Director: Patrice Chéreau Year: 2001 Watched on: 30 December 2005 Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5) Review: Intimacy is a strange story of Jay (Mark Rylance), a failed musician, a divorcee, father of two kids and a bartender. Every Wednesday a woman comes to his house and they have passionate sex without any tenderness or friendship. They don't talk much and they do not even try to know each other's names. Jay discovers that the woman gives him the pleasure which he had not sought and she is so selfless that she doesn’t demand to be given the same or some pleasure. Slowly Jay is intrigued by this woman and starts to spy on her. He learns her name is Claire (Kerry Fox), who is a stage artist married to a taxi Andy (Timothy Spall), a taxi driver and mother of a boy. Their strange relationship heads towards a breakup as Claire discovers that Jay knows her identity. Patrice Chéreau weaves a very complex but a subtle story about human behavior, ...

Movie: Midnight Cowboy Language: English Genre: Drama Director: John Schlesinger Year: 1969 Watched on: 29 December 2005 Rating: **** (4/5) Review: Some movies are timeless (E.g. Bicycle Thief) and Midnight Cowboy is one among them. This movie is a more than thirty-five year old but it appears so contemporary that one can easily establish a connection with the story and characters. Don't get fooled by the title, this is not a western where gun totting cowboys on their neighing wild horses shoot at drop of a hat but a realistic as well as a tragic story of great bonding between two losers and is situated mostly in the very urban New York. This film was nominated for seven Academy awards (1970) and won three Academy awards (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay), the first X-rated film to do so. Joe Buck (John Voight), a Texan dish washer bids adieu to his small home town as well as his job to pursue the dream of making big bucks by becoming a hustler in New York. Naïve ...

Movie: I Love Huckabees Language: English Genre: Comedy Director: David O. Russell Year: 2004 Watched on: 24 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) I Heart (Love) Huckabees is an amazing comedy full of witty dialogs, unique visuals, great characterization and brilliant performances. Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an environmental activist and a poet hires a detective couple Bernard and Vivian (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) to help him out understand a coincidence and the very existence. The detectives’ unorthodox way of doing things includes spying on their subject to understand his psyche. As the movie as well as detectives make some progress we get to meet the Brad Stand (Jude Law) a Sales Manager at Huckabees and his model girlfriend Dawn (Naomi Watts). Brad, a smooth operator manipulates to depose Albert from directorship of the environmental group and get some protected land for Huckabees. Albert gets to meet fellow client Tommy, a fireman with a strong concern ...

Movie: Scarlet Diva Language: French/Italian/English Genre: Drama Director: Asia Argento Year: 2000 Watched on: 24 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5) Asia Argento’s semi-autobiographical movie tells a disastrous tale of a budding Italian actress Anna Batista (potrayed by Asia Argento herself) who is mired in loneliness, drugs, predating friends and acquaintances. This film doesn’t have much of a story but is an energetic expression of pain and sadness suffered by the main protagonist. The movie is shot quite well to go with the gloomy mood of the film and the script too helps the cause. Asia Argento’s style of direction is very stark and realistic and some scenes are very disturbing. Overall it is a good movie but it is not for everyone.

Movie: The Hound of the Baskervilles Language: English Genre: Crime/ Mystery / Horror Director: Terence Fisher Year: 1959 Watched on: 22 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: ***1/2 (3.5/5) This one is a vintage Sherlock Holmes stuff. Peter Cushing dons role of the ultimate detective Sherlock Holmes and André Morell plays his sidekick Dr. Watson who go on a mission to unravel mysterious curse thrown upon the Baskerville family. Though the movie has its rough edges, it turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable fare. Good performances and tight direction are the highlights of the movie. Though Cushing has done a good job, I find it difficult to accept anyone other than the great Jermy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

Movie: Appartement, L' Language: French Genre: Drama / Mystery / Romance Director: Gilles Mimouni Year: 1996 Watched on: 17 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: 25th Hour Language: English Genre: Crime / Drama Director: Spike Lee Year: 2002 Watched on: 16 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: Baise-moi Language: French Genre: Drama / Thriller Director: Virginie Despentes and Coralie Year: 2000 Watched on: 15 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: ** (2/5)

Movie: Before Night Falls Language: English / Spanish / Russian / French Genre: Biography / Drama Director: Julian Schnabel Year: 2000 Watched on: 4 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: The Cry of the Owl (Cri du hibou, Le ) Language: French Genre: Drama / Thriller Director: Claude Chabrol Year: 1987 Watched on: 3 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: *** (3/5)

Movie: Annie Hall Language: English Genre: Comedy / Romance /Drama Director: Woody Allen Year: 1977 Watched on: 2 December 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: The Star Maker (Uomo delle stelle, L') Language: Italian Genre: Comedy / Drama Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Year: 1995 Watched on: 27 November 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: A Clockwork Orange Language: English Genre: Crime / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller Director: Stanley Kubrick Year: 1971 Watched on: 26 November 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)

Movie: Raging Bull Language: English Genre: Drama / Biography Director: Martin Scorsese Year: 1980 Watched on: 25 November 2005 Reviews: Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)