London River

Seen on OCT 8, 2013
   - about an English woman living in the country side going to London in search of her missing daughter, believed to have been killed in a terrorist attack.  This film is largely about how people who hate each other are united when they are in common loss and  grief.  But this theme is done well.  

Poetry

Seen on OCT 7, 2013
 - I think we liked this Korean movie about a grandmother who in her late sixties, working as a care-giver to an old man stricken with paralysis, registering to learn poetry!! To write poetr she was asked to see most familiar things as if she is seeing them for the first time. She sincerely tries but cannot.  Only at end when she is in utter despondency over her failure to save the grandson in her care (even after she compromises with the old paralytic patient), and is she driven to suicide, does she write a poem!!
    

Films seen from Sep 20 to Oc 4

1.  Melinda, Melinda, dir. Woody Allen
2.  Anything Else, dir. Woody Allen
3. Departures-- Japanese film abt a cellist working as undertaker's asst
4. Journey of Hope--Swiss film about the tragic journey of a Turkish laborer thro snowy Alpa
5. Cherry Blossoms--a German film with a love for Japanese Dance form Betou and the Budhist mystique.  Haunting, but unconvincing.  In a sense tragic.

Postcards from the Edge (1990)

Seen on 19-9-2013
   It is about a mother-daughter relationship, one an alcoholic and another a drug addict fresh out of a detox centre.  Their relationship is complicated by the mother mothering her grown up daughter while unconsciously showing herself off as someone who was a better performer than her daughter,while  trying to help her in her acting career.  Meryl Streep plays the addled addict trying to make sense of ego masquerading as love on the one hand men take advantage of her even as she is bungling her way through her Hollywood career.  Shirley McLean playing the mother, both had put in memorable performances.  Both in a sense are cracking while desperately trying or save themselves from the crackup.   The comedy is good and the knife-edged throw away lines coupled with some lyrics leave a deep impression.

Spring 1941 (2008)

Seen on 19-9-2013
     A memorable movie about a Jewish doctor and his family seeking refuge from Nazis in a German grocer's attick (like in Inglorious Bastards with Christoph Waltz) getting caught in complications with the infatuation of their hostess ending in exposure and eventual death.  The lone survivor, the wife of the doctor, a renowned cellist, living on the tragic memories of the war.

Coco Before Chanel (2009)

Seen on 18-9-13
This biopic is about an orphan girl, nicknamed Coco, struggling to survive and live independently and with dignity, going on to become the most influential fashion icon in France--CHANEL!

Films seen from Sep 5-17, 2013

10/09   -  The Soloist (abt a street singer, played by Jamie Foxx, being helped by an LA reporter).
12/09  -   The Night of the Shooting Star (Italian. Abt people fleeing Nizism and hoping American forces to save them)
13/09. -   Age of Innocence (dir. Scorsese. *Daniel Day Williams, Winona Rider, Michelle Pfeffer)
                   Based on Edith Wharton's novel
15/09  -  Declaration of War (French.  Abt young starry eyed lovers desperately fighting to save their son from deadly cancer, spending their first years of marriage hopelessly pursuing doctors and hospitals). MUCH LIKE US IN THE EARLY DAYS OF MARRIAGE TRYING TO SAVE OUR FIRST BORN DAUGHTER.
16/09  -  A Bronx Tale (1993 De Niro crime drama, very different from the type, where the father is trying to protect his young impressionable son from the influence of a neighborhood gangster)

Notes on Scandal (2006)

Seen on 4-9-13
       Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench played the lead roles (the reason for our choice) and it is abt a an art teacher getting involved with one of her pupils, a 15 yr old much younger to her.  To keep this secret affair under wraps she has to befriend another teacher whose intention to blackmail her into a homosexual relationship become evident later.  When things go out of control eventually, all hell breaks loose plunging both women into trouble with the school, family and society.
        Good but not all that worth spending precious night hours on it.

The Hedgehog (2009) - French

Seen On 3-9-1013
      - This is said to be based on the best-selling novel by the French philosopher, Muriel Barbery.  This seems to pit the absurdist philosophy of meaninglessness against the earthy love of life.  A precocious young girl decides to end her life on reaching her 12 th birthday, about 300 days to go, because of  the essential absurdist view that life is like a fish in a bowl--a trap to escape from.  She is not afraid of death, but on the other hand, despises people around, given as they are to their silly fads.  She, however, enjoys filming life all the time, as a kind of aesthetic object. While she awaits the D-day she set for herself, she gets involved with the conceirge, a widow in her early 50s  (the janitor of their of apartment building), who lives a secluded life and nurtures a private passion for literary books; Tolstoy is her favorite.  The young girl befriends her and eventual grows fond of her.  eventually she comes to know that love suddenly enlivened her arid life when a Japanese man started seeing her.   At this point of time the concirge is accidentally killed by a speeding vehicle and the girl is deeply disturbed.   She realizes that death could mean you are denied the privilege of seeing your loved ones when you die.  This simple revelation changes her decision to die!
        As the reviewer of Philadelphia Enqirer calls it is an enchanting fairy tale about the redemptive power of love--a Sartre's Being and Nothingness-meets-Dr. Seuss (the philosopher and cartoonist who wrote children's books)!!!

Romantics Anonymous (2010) - French

Seen on 3-9-13
       A comedy that is the result of two clumsy awkward people, drawn to each other by an emotionally charged love, but hesitation and fear inhibits their initiative.  One is the owner of a chocolate factory and the other is his employee.  They are overpowered by this fear and hesitation and they struggle hard to overcome them before they are fulful their love.  This struggle is comic but surprisingly resonates  with us.

Zodiac

Seen on 2-9-13
   Left the viewing midway bec it was getting to be too tedious and complicated to follow. To begin with, we decided on this movie bec it is David Fincher's (known fo Love In The Time of Cholera based on Garcia Marquez's novel of the same title which we had read when we nothing better to read).

Well-Digger's Daughter

Seen on 2-9-13
     Although trite, the movie with its earthy screenplay.  This requires great imagination, I suppose.  We liked it.  Typically unlike a Hollywood movie, this French movie works and is memorable.

Beyond Silence (1996)

Seen on 1-9-2013
    --A French movie about the daughter of a deaf and dumb parents trying to become a clarinet musician  against many odds.  A touching movie

Sequins (French)

Seen on 31-8-13
       --There is a delicate and sensitive touch in the treatment of this subject.  A French movie abt a pregnant unwed girl trying to fend for herself with dignity and grace.  We loved this movie for its color, quiet photography and music although nothing really happens except a relationship that develops between the girl and her employer, a seamstress who recently lost her son in an accident.

Concert (2009)

Seen on 31-8-2013
     A touching movie about a deposed Bolshoi conductor trying to stage a comeback thirty years after he was being fired.  He was fired thirty years ago for defending the Jewish members of his orchestra in defiance of Brezhnev's orders to send away his Jewish compatriots.  However he kept his passion for music alive and offers to play Tchaikovsky in Paris, an opportunity he steals and goes on to a successful and moving  performance.

Enchanted April

Seen on 30-8-2013
      directed by Mike Newell (known for Love in the Time Cholera), this movie is abt 4 women who try to seek happiness in the isolation of an old Italian manor only to discover they need the company of their men to be happy..

Films seen fr July 27-Aug 30, 2013

--16/7  The Final Cut - Futuristic story abt implants put at birth for recording the whole life.  Those who don't have implants (like Robin Williams) become cutters (editors)are supposed to edit the recorded lives of the deceased  into a 2-hr film so living relatives can watch.  This leads to dramatic complications
--17/7   Les Miserables - A disappointing musical
-20/7   Social Network - A biopic of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook
--22/7  The Words - *Bradley Cooper,  Denis Quaid, Jeremy Irons.  Abd writer publishing a novel written by someone else.
--25/7  Argo -  Ben Afflick  -  Abt rescue of American Embassy staff stranded in hostile Iran soon after deposition of the tyrannical king.
--30/7  The Tree of Life   -  Most forgettable movie
--31/7   ANOTHER YEAR - Focuses on a handful of friends around an elderly amiable couple, their troubles and frustrations during a year.
--1/8     HOWL   Documentary style biopic of Allen Ginsberg.
--4/8    UNFAITHFUL  *Diane Lane & Richard Gere.  Abt a happily married housewife falling for the attractions of  adultery and the resulting complications where the husband discovers and confronts  the man and accidentally kills him.
--8/8   THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (2010) - Slow moving Argentinian murder mystery
--10/8  Husbands and Wives -  Woody Allen film whose fantastic script  is  marked by  relentless  honesty in telling about human feelings.
--13/8  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.   A remarkable biopic of the editor of French fashion magazine, Elle who dictates a whole memoir by batting his left eye--the only moving part of his body, the batting of eye, because his whole body is paralyzed.
--14/8  The Help (2011) - Abt the black house-maids' bold confessions of their ill-treatment in White homes in the racist South.
--21/8  The Hurt Locker   Abt a bomb squad man  whose courage in defusing the dangerous bombs in
the highly explosive Iraq makes his otherwise happy civil life tasteless and mundane.  His suicidal  return to a life of continual play with death in Iraq makes this movie unique.
--24/8  AMOUR   Abt a lone old couple bravely fending for themselves and in the process ending their lives.
--24/8  SERAPH  Abt a naive  middle aged cleaning woman with a natural passion for painting being discovered by a highly respected art critic.
--25/8  AMERCAN GIGOLO  *Richard Gere.  Dir. Paul Schreider's 1980 film.
--29/8  "BUTLER"  Abt a a black butler (Forest Whitaker) in the White House who served 8 Presidents from 1952-2008.  Takes in major historic events in Civil Rights Movement in the US--all geared to show the tragedy and triumph of black man in history.
--30/8   Four Days in September  -  A Brazilian film about idealist revolutionaries kidnapping the American ambassador to force the dictatorial regime release their friends.
--30/8  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie -- A film by the highly respected French auteur, Luis Bunuel, made 1972.  We saw the whole movie in FF mode and called up courage to say it is boring.

Monsieur Lazhar (2011), seen on 26-7-13

A French language film set in Montreal, Canada.

A very muted movie, but gripping all the same, is about an Algerian immigrant seeking asylum in Canada working in a primary school where children were traumatized by a recent suicide of their popular teacher in her school class room.  He connects with them and ESP with a girl who thinks that another classmate is responsible for the teacher's suicide, while the boy himself is wracked by feelings of guilt for the same event.  But the drama comes through quietly without the least drama and this is what is remarkable about this film.  The teacher is dismissed from school on complaints from parents for discussing the subject of suicide in class where, in fact, he was only helping them overcome their problems of conflict (where the professional psychologist engaged for the purpose fails).

My Left Foot (1989), seen on 26-7-13

A touching movie about the travails of Irish Christy Brown, who with only the functional left foot (the rest of the limbs having been paralyzed by cerebral palsy at birth) grows up to become a sensitive writer and painter,  although he was born in poverty and had few advantages of the rich.  Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis puts in an unforgettable performance.  Director, Jim Sheridan must be complimented.

Elena

Seen on 31-5-2013--- Abt a dutiful housewife killing her husband when he dicides to  give her nothing in her will deed except a living pension.  And she does this to help her financially strapped son by another man.  Well made.

Films seen fr July 15-24, 2013

1. 17/7. Les Miserables (2012) - disappointing.   Remember what they made of the book in 1972 "Man of La Mancha"--could never imagine one could make such a beautiful musical of Quixote's bk.

2.20/7  Social Network--in line with the trend of making real life stories, this one abt Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of FN, the Time mag's man of the year,is good but too fast. Good that we saw it after acquainting ourselves abt complications in the process of founds FB.

3.22/7. THE WORDS.  Abt a wannabe writer's false success by publishing a novel he stole.  What it means to achieve such a false success.  **g. Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons

4. 23/7. Viramaditya Motwani's  Udaan.  Liked the conception of the character of an aspiring writer standing up to his tyrannical father and even take on responsibilities not his own in his destitute state.  The attitude displayed by the boy is layered and nuanced and is admirable.

5. 25/7. Ben Afflick's Argo (2012)--3 Oscars: best film, best screenplay, best editing.  Abt American rescue of theeir embassy staff being held in Khumaini's Iran.  Good but we have had many films like this which haven't won accolades like this.

Films seen during July 10-15, 2013

1. The Iron Lady
2.  The Unforgiven
3.  Maine Gandhiji ko Nahin Mara
4.  The Final Cut
5.  In and Out
6.  Despicable Me 2

Billy Elliot (2000)****

Seen on 31-05-2013 in Acton

-Made by an independent English director, Stephen Daldry, this film won Oscar nomination for best director for 2001.  It also won Oscar nomination for best original screenplay (Lee Hall)
--this about a boy getting admission into Royal Academy for Ballet against many odds.
--it's good 

Outside The Law***

--this is about Algerian independence struggle, focusing on one family uprooted from their ancestral land.  The film covers the period from early twenties to middle sixties, until declaration of freedom by the French colonial power for Algeria (during the time og Gen. De Gaulle??)
--well made, although a bit dragging at times.

Hugo***

Seen on 23-05-13 in Tony's home
--searched for 2012 films which received Oscar nominations and zeroed in on this because This  is readily available on Netflix.
     It is about a boy unexpectedly finding the lost key of a robot his father left behind and this discovery in turn leading to the  man who made this robot.  The man turns out to be a pioneer maker of films (Georges Milies** who preceded ? the Lumiere brothers), now living in obscurity trying to forget his glorious past in which he wove dreams through a large number of films he made.
      But the film narrative is made interesting by unfolding events of early cinema through the life of boy who lost his father.  Martin Scorsese's imaginative treatment of the theme is what made this film unique.

**Martin  Scorsese refer to him in        http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/aug/15/persisting-vision-reading-language-cinema/

Seen During March 2013 but did not find specific mention here

1. Once Upon a Time In Mumbai (Ajay Devgan, Imran Hashmi, Kangana Ranaud, Prachi Desai)
2. Chance Pe Dance (Shahid Kapur, Genelia)
3. Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani (Ranbir, Katrina)
4. Paa (Amitab, Vidyabalan)
5. Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara (Hritik, Farhan Akhtar,Abhay Deol, Katrina, Kalki Koechlin)

English Movies

1. Horribl Bosses
2. He's is just not into you
3. We bought a zoo.
4. Just Go With It

Django Unchained (2012)

Seen on 28-03-2013 @ GVK
       Went all the 16+ miles plodding through the afternoon traffic and trying to figure out my way to the destination and worrying being late bec I once entered the wrong way and had to go a long  long way to retrace back to the right way.  But all this could have been worthwhile, but it ended up being an expensive misadventure for me.
        Vinay and I had agreed that this was a potboiler set in  antebellum  South, with a very gifted cast: Christoph Waltz (who went on to get an Oscar for supporting role), Jamie Foxx and DiCaprio.  I felt that while Waltz (whom I remember fr Inglorious Basterds) deserved his Oscar, I doubted if the same could have been said of Quentin Tarantino who won it for original script (it could be my fault that I failed to appreciate the merits of the script: the good points of the script were probably missed bec most of the time the accent made it strenuous and difficult to follow the conversation)

Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Seen on 25-3-13
Cast: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt
Director: George Nolfi
       The dramatic element in this innovative film comes from a conflict between man's free will as against agents of per-destination who try to force him into compliance while he pursues his love interest in defiance of their diktat.  According to these agents of destiny (remember this film is cast in the mould of a sci-fi thriller) a young Congressman named David Norris is not supposed to meet (even if by chance) and fall in love with a charming ballet dancer. So they warn him that if he exercises his free will in defiance of the fated plan of his life (which totally excludes the chance occurrence of his love), his personality will be reset by erasing all his memory.  But he persists in his desperate love by trying to find a ways to circumvent the plan of his life and its enforcers.  He wins.  This is an old concept finding a very original enthralling means of dramatization.

Just Go With It (2011)

Seen on 22-3-13
Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Anston
A comedy that revolves round young plastic surgeon trying to woo a girl and in the process ending up falling in love with his own secretary!

The Next Three Days (2010)

Seen on 21-3-13
Cast:  Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks
          When his wife is incarcerated on murder charges and all hopes of acquittal in courts disappear, the husband desperately decides on an elaborate plan to get her escape from prison.  His attempts and his eventual success is the stuff of a riveting afternoon.

Knight and Day (2010) & Ek tha Tiger (2012)

Seen on 16-3-13 & 17-3-13 respectively
      These two are bracketed together because of similarity of theme.  In both there is a rogue spy pursued by their organizations on the one hand and thug on the other.  And in the end both the spies are taken in bec of their basically good intentions.  Both sport top of the draw actors of Hollywood and Bollywood: in one Tom Cruise & Catherine Zete Jones, and in another Salmon Khan & Katrina Kaif.  Since both were seen on two successive days, we were able to compare them and the over all impression was the  Bollywood movie was the more probable, convincing and plausible!!

Week Fr 10 to 15

1. Zero Dark Thirty (2012):  Saw it in Padmavati theater.   The sound system being good, did not miss anything of this fast paced movie.  It is all about the long drawn out investigation to track down Osama Bin Laden and it probably deserved the host of Oscar Nominations.  But equally justifiable was the only one Oscar win for sound editing it ended up with!  We certainly expected more from Kathryn Bigelow who earlier won 2 Oscars for Direction and Best film (Hurt Locker).
I was certainly disappointed that the whole climactic scene of invasion of  Osama's hideout was shown in invisible darkness; I mean, it could have been shot in visible darkness using appropriate photographic techniques.  What was the point of it if we couldnt see the most important action of the film?
2. The Interpreter (2010):  Cast: Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman.  About a UN interpreter of South African origin seeking protection from threat to her life surprising us finally by turning to be an assassin herself--one with whom we relate and resonate because she was trying to kill a visiting African dictator who wiped all her family back home.   It was a good sleek thriller.
3. State of Play (2009):  Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren.  Riveting.  About an investigative reporter (Russell Crowe) discovering his friend-Congressman's complicity in the murder of his mistress.  It is also about how big Corporations use Congressmenex to help them earn illegal billions in corrupt deals.  Very exciting.
4. Polar  Express:

Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum (2012)

Watched on 10-3-13 on Maa TV
           Although we had seen both Gamyam and Vedam (and liked them for their  out-of-box approach),  we didn't know at that time they were by the same director, Krish, who also made Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum.  If we had known it, we wouldn't have missed it when it was shown in the theaters. When we discovered this on the incomparable reality show, Padutha Thiyaga, we waited all week for the Sunday when it was sceduled to be shown on Ma TV.
            Although it turned out to be bit of a disappointment with its populist item numbers, violence and its loud histrionics, we could yet discern the elements that nearly made them up with its fine directorial touches like casting the protagonist in the now dying tribe of Surabhi  artist or making the movie resonate with its contemporary theme of mining mafia, etc.  Here one begins to see why good filmmakers are forced to bow to the box office concerns; after all is said and done, no one expects producers pour in millions in good cinema for nothing.  Kitsch is the tragic condition of backward places.
           But compare this we must with Krish's two earlier films we saw and the result  is not heartening.

Fair Game (2011)****

Seen on 07-03-13 on Pix
--Stumbled upon one heck of a movie.
--the movie suggests the  possibility that the invasion of Iraq might have been a costly and terrible mistake.  What if it was  such a mistake?  Well, all the thousands killed in it and the injustice of it all would force the people responsible for the decision into dock. The film version, based on books by Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson, is beautifully summed up thus by the film critic, Roger Ebert:
        "Doug Liman's "Fair Game," based on books by Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson and starring Sean Pennand Naomi Watts, is unusually bold for a fictionalization based on real events. Using real names and a good many facts, it argues: (1) Saddam Hussein had no WMD; (2) the CIA knew it; (3) the White House knew it; (4) the agenda of Cheney and his White House neocons required an invasion of Iraq no matter what, and (5) therefore, the evidence was ignored and we went to war because of phony claims."
         If the  film version of the ghastly Iraqi war was true, Bush administration fought hard to defend itself.  What comes through the film is the tension and hard battle the couple had to put up in order to defend their honor.  It was an unequal fight.  Although the Bush administration disgraced them for exposing his grave mistake, the couple had the moral victory.
         We were deeply affected by this film.

Spy Game (2001)

Seen on 06-03-13 on Pix
--until way past middle, we didn't realize we had seen this already  and liked it too. But we enjoyed seeing it again without quitting after the realist ion.
--In the CIA culture of international espionage, local help is picked up, personal relationships cultivated and treated as "assets" and, when it becomes necessary, ruthlessly sacrificed without qualms.  Brad Pitt who has  Boy Scout background is picked up in Vietnam war (for his sharp shooter skills and intelligence) to train as  a CIA operative.  He successfully performs several missions in several countries, but in the process he falls in love with a woman while in Bierut.   He also decides to quit CIA bec he doesn't like the brutal code of sacrificing the "assets" when it suits the Agency.  At this point when his girl friend is taken a prisoner in China (CIA doing?  Yes?), he goes on a personal mission of rescuing her but gets caught himself.
     It is from this point of present that the film narrative focuses on.  Robert Redford, Brad Pitt's superior who is retiring that day is under no obligation to do any thing to rescue him (bec that was a personal mission Brad Pitt went on), although he is scheduled to be executed within 24 hrs, but he does care.  And on his last  day with CIA, Redford pulls all stops, all underhand means even which could get him  court-marshaled (one of which includes forging of CIA director's signature, coupled with using all his life's savings to have his protege and his girl friend rescued from Chinese execution.
     The film is all about vindication of allegiance, loyalty and commitment in relationships in the utmost extremities of life's crises.  AND IT IS MADE VERY EXCITING.

The Descendants (2011)

Seen on 26-2-2013 on HBO
A land baron, a scion of an old Hawaiin royalty, has to deal with a dying wife who, he discovers, has been having an affair a little before being hospitalized after a fatal boat accident.  And he has to cope with two daughters.  He loves his wife, but is pained by his discovery of her adultery.  The movie intricately weaves the web of strong mixed emotions of the man caught in these conflicting emotions and show us the most graceful thing to do under the circumstances. THE DETAILS OF THIS COMPLICATED MIXED BAG OF FEELINGS ARE BEAUTIFULLY DRAMATIZED.  Basically, the protagonist here ends up displaying what Hemingway called "grace under pressure"  in all the decisions he makes in his crisis in spite of his conflicting emotions, and this is admirable.
    This movie won one 2011 Oscar for Best adapted screenplay and 4 Oscar Nominations for Best film, actor, direction, editing.  GEORGE Clooney's action stands out.

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

Seen on 26-2-2013 on HBO
The protagonist (played by Paul Rudd) is a typical Dostoevskian "Idiot" who embodies goodness, innocence and ingenuousness, completely untouched by worldliness and tact.  With all his good intentions and unbeknownst to himself he disturbs the lives of his three sisters and land in trouble himself.  Although people take advantage of his innocence and goodness, he bears no grudge or bitterness.  His sisters understand him but can't abide by him; no one can. But he is finally accepted by his family for what he is and all ends well.  WE ENJOYED THIS MOVIE.

Rumor of Angels (2000)***

Seen on 4-10-2009 - A Zee Studio movie
Cast: Vanessa Redgrave (Maddy, the old woman), Trevor Morgan--writing today (25-2-13) I vaguely recollect that it was about a solitary old woman and neighbourhoos young boy drawn together and bonding!

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Seen on 24-2-2013 at GVK INOX
This  movie attracted our attention esp  bec it is loudly advertised as having won 8 Oscar nominations and is reported to be in line for several wins at the Oscar Awards ceremony the following day.  Incidentally, for us it was a kind of an adventure to go alone to see this in Inox GVK Mall bec we were going to this maze of a mall for the first time.
Whatever, as it turned out this movie did win  one Oscar at least--if not several--for Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence WHO WAS KNOWN TO US FROM HER "WINTER'S BONE"), although this movie did not excite us much.  It is basically about a man fresh out of a mental institution (Bipolar Disorder) falling in love and overcoming his sickness when he begins to bond and love a neighborhood girl. True, Bradley Cooper was good, but the theme itself, much less its treatment by the director David O. Russell, did not appeal to us.

The Comforts of Strangers (1990)

Seen on 23-2-2013 --  STRANGE INTRIGUING MOVIE (WILL someone help us understand this)

Based on Ian McEwan's novel of the same title this is about pathological strangers in Venice (Christopher Walker and Helen Mirren) who befriend a visiting couple (Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson) from England and bring the man to an end at the end!!  The screenplay is by Harold Pinter who  has actually beguiled us with his intellectual reputation into watching this movie but we have yet to understand the pathology of this grisly ending.  Also we have yet to understand the strange relationship of this English couple who have been seeing each other for seven years without committing to marriage and have come to Venice to sort out their confusion in relationship.  THIS IS A MOVIE THAT NEEDS TO BE UNDERSTOOD WITH HELP FROM REAL SOURCES.  ROGER EBERT'S REVIEW IS EQUALLY EVASIVE AND IS TOTALLY UNHELPFUL.
We were mystified by the strange theme of the movie and the mystification is not least to the lack of subtitles for one and we started watching it after 40 minutes of the run.
The movie is directed by Paul Schrader.

Films Seen in Jan 2013 - 4 films

--Jack Reacher (SEEN WITH ASHU)
--Midnight's Children
--Lincoln (slated for several Oscars) -- a Spielberg film starring Day Lewis
--Viswarupam,  a Kamal Hassan movie
--The Artist, the Oscar winning movie abt silent film era artist struggling to find his moorings after the arrival of talkies.
--The Inglorious Basterds(2009), a Holocaust movie that is chiefly concerned with the last days of the Third Reich.  Here it is about a plot to kill all the important Nazi Generals in one place.  The unique thing abt this movie is that Christophe Waltz who plays the Nazi General responsible to search and kill Jews in occupied France has received Oscar (for supporting role) in this 2009 film; ALSO, HE RECEIVED A SECOND 2013 OSCAR FOR SUPPORTING  ROLE (in the film Django Unchained).

Two Weeks Notice (2002)

Seen on 21-2-13
Starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, this movie is engaging, in spite of being just another love story, because of superb script and fine acting.  A highly gifted lawyer working for a billionaire construction tycoon puts her boss on two weeks notice because she thinks she is being used more as a nanny than a secretary.  This results in a lot of sparring on her part while she seriously prepares to leave him.  Eventually she realizes that neither of them can leave the other because they are in love.  

The Kids are Alright (2010)

Seen on 19-2-13 - offbeat relationships
This an unusual story about a lesbian couple with two teenager children born to them from an anonymous sperm donor from a sperm bank.  When the children locate the biological father, bonding takes place at first bec he is quite a like-able person.  The liberal lesbian parents allow this, but when one of the mothers (Julianne Moore) impulsively begins to sleep with him, complications arise: like in a normal household this new relationship starts a triangular conflict with children disliking it and with the other partner (the one who played "man of the house" role by Annette Bening) regarding him as an "interloper."  Normalcy is restored when the "interloper" is removed from this small closely knit family.  Like in in any normal household!!!
The strange situation is interesting.

Outrageous Fortune (1987)

Seen on 19-2-13 - a hilarious comedy and a spoof to boot
Hilarious movie with Bette Midler and Shelley Long in the lead roles.  To jog my memory of other films I had seen of especially Bette Midler, I searched her filmography but didn't succeed in locating even one.  But I am sure the face is familiar and we both felt the same way.  However, it is a non-stop comedy and regales with its imaginative story and script.  Yet another important aspect of the film is that it could be regarded as a spoof because all through it mocks the high octane action movies with CIA and KGB spies chasing the same target and caught in the crossfire are the villains and good guys (here it is two helpless women comically trying and getting lucky to find a single lover-villain they quarrel over but agree on nailing!!)