Imagine a world with a trillion Rembrandts

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Rating 4.75/5.0
where 5.0 is my favorite Wes Anderson film

I could have been a great filmmaker. You would say - Yeah! We could all have been great filmmakers. And my response to that is - SHUT UP, WILL YA, THIS IS MY FUCKING REVIEW!

I scoff at films made today -- I think they are crap and I believe I could do better if I had the chance. I know the truth but I like to live in a make believe world -- that keeps me sane. Till now I have been quite successful at living with the delusion that I'm a filmmaker in exile...and to make it more authentic I have made it a point not to use my video camera even once in the last 3 years. 

There are very few filmmakers who can humble this vain Antonioni in me. Wes Anderson is one of them. When it comes to his films, I find it very hard to say - "Hey, I could have done that with a 1 year diploma from a good film school" I want to suffer from a remotely possible delusion and thinking that I can make a film like Wes is not even remotely possible. Why? Because Wes Anderson films are not films, they are a trillion paintings flipping, floating, flying about with beautiful music playing in the background. Every scene is a perfect balance of color, emotion and movement -- it's fragile, it's ethereal and it's impossible to predict -- every moment in the film stands proudly as a testament of what movies can do if you could think, hear and imagine like Wes Anderson. 

Watch Moonrise Kingdom. After you're done, spend a couple of hours staring at the ceiling thinking about the film -- it might lead you to a world that's better than the one we live in. 


Imdb link here

He came at me with his knee! His sociopathic knee!

Adam's Apples (2005)

Rating 4.5/5.0
Where 5.0 is where it all started

This film makes me want to go back to the days when I would sit on my bed with a remote in hand, in front of a TV I had bought on 12 EMIs, watching 5 films a day on weekends, 2 films a day on weekdays -- the time when I gaped endlessly at films made by Bresson, Tarantino, Fellini, Almodavar, Seijun Suzuki and many others of their ilk; and every film they made stunned me, made me stop, made me think, made me wonder -- how could they create something so flawless, so timeless. Those were the days man. And these are the days too. Those days I was receiving the best...now I'm creating something as best as I can. And receiving right is like the foundation of building something good. What else is there to life: either you receive what others have made or you create something -- and if you need to do these then why not do your best -- why not watch, read, listen to and meet whatever you think is the best and try to create whatever you can, as best as you can. Life is too short for the mediocre, the ordinary.

Wonderful film this. I think very soon I need to go back to a cycle of receiving in order to create something new, maybe even something flawless.

IMDB link here

Trees and people used to be good friends

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Rating 4.75/5.0

where 5.0 is another animation film that hits all the right spots


This film is a poem.

It's the definition of psychedelic without being psychedelic. It's the definition of a kiddie film without being just a film for kids. This is what kids and adults should be watching together -- to grow; to learn; and to unlearn. Going by how I have changed since I was a kid -- I need to grow all over again; and I need to learn and unlearn a lot before I can become the happy child that I once knew. My Neighbor Totoro is like a magic potion that aids your return to innocence.

Watch it even if you don't want to grow or learn. Watch it for the animation -- it takes you to the world where you would rather be -- a world which you don't know why you abandoned for the insane mass of concrete you now call home.

IMDB link here

Have YOU actually ever met anyone named McLovin?

Superbad (2007)
Rating 5.0/5.0
Where 5 is another beautiful ode to friendship

I thought this would be a good way to kill time...it turned out to be a much more. I like films like these -- you expect an inane American comedy like American Pie and you end up watching something which is actually....who cares what it is actually...what it is actually is actually %$$#$##$%...Why am I trying to form a coherent sentence when I already know what I need to write???? Here it is -

This is Deep Shit man! Yeah!

Superbad is an ode to friendship. It's subtle -- it sort of creeps up on you while you're laughing and before you know it, you're eyes are wet and you're back in high school. Brilliant!

Imdb link here

don't Bogart that sandwich my friend....

Win Win (2011)

Rating 4.75/5.00
Where 5.00 is a cowboy poem called the Searchers

Its not about how brilliant this film is...its about Thomas McCarthy's ability to make three amazing films in a row -  HOW DOES HE DO IT? WHY DOES HE NEVER DISAPPOINT? Here's his current directorial repertoire -

1. The Station Agent (2003) - IMDb Plot summary: When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
2. The Visitor (2007) - IMDb Plot Summary: A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
3. Win Win (2011) - IMDb Plot summary - A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he's double-crossed comes into his life.

All three films have unique story lines, well developed, endearing characters and emotional depth that never ceases to amaze. Do watch Win Win - it will leave you with a lot to think about while you laugh at it.

That's not what  I can recommend for Rockstar (2011). When I walk into the cinema hall expecting a good film because its made by Imtiaz Ali, I should get exactly that! Should I have gone with lower expectations? Many would think I should but I just can't - I'm not throwing my time and money at a film because I have nothing better to do - I'm watching it because I want to and I expect it to be good.  Unfortunately, Ali is just going down the drain - Jab We Met (Sheer poetry), Love Aaj Kal (good in parts) and now Rockstar (a big piece of shit after the first 30 minutes!!!) - a classic case of reverse evolution. Rediff and TOI critics have given it 4 stars out of 5 and to that there can be only two interpretations

1. They got paid to rate the film
2. Their intellectual wavelength matches with Imtiaz Ali's and they could understand the depth of his vision where I was dumb enough not to

I would choose 2 because I can't possibly question their integrity, can I?

Imdb Link here

Please dial 1 for Evolution, 2 for Frustration, 3 for Enlightenment

the poster could have been so much more

A Colt is my Passport (1967)
Rating 4.0/5.0


Where 5.0 is the film that defines the genre

I watched a fair bit of Japanese film noir in the last few months. Never got the time to write on it though. I always struggle with the thought of writing something that doesn't satisfy me and in the process I end up writing nothing at all. That's a bad habit and here I am trying to change it.

I'm a huge Film Noir fan - I have watched nearly all the well known American films in this genre and lately I have begun exploring the underbelly (or the lesser known but maybe more genuine examples) of American film noir. The Japs found noir films an excellent medium to express their own post war disillusionment. They had their own unique take on the genre - the characters are even more twisted than American noir (imagine a perversion fit for the 60s and there's a fair chance you'll find it here) and they retain their own sense of identity and culture even when they blatantly copy the themes. A Colt is my Passport is a classic example of such a movie and although the entire movie is one fast, entertaining ride, the film could just have been a minor classic if not for the climax - it is so compelling and so smart that it just doesn't let you erase the film from your memory.

Download this film and other titles from the Nikkatsu Studios from this link

if you ever want to understand the debt crisis, ask the "Dude"

There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.
                                                                                                                       ~ Mark Twain

I don't know if I'm "rightly constructed" but I do have a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. This desire has led me to watch (patiently straining my eyes over the subtitles) cinema from far flung corners of the world and more often than not led to the discovery of an absolute gem of a film (Failan, 101 Reykjavik, Black Cat, White Cat, The Match Factory Girl come to mind) but I have also come to realize that there's one more way to "dig for hidden treasure" - and that is to revisit the same old movies that we know so well and discovering that maybe we don't actually know them as much as we would like to. This post is about two of my favorite films that I have re-seen in the past week or so.

The Big Lebowski (1998) was the first one - I watched this over a 2 week period (10-15 min instalments) and I think this interrupted viewing really helped me in appreciating how significant this film really is. The first time I had watched it, I just came out feeling entertained and remembering the wonderful dialogues, but this viewing has made me see what I didn't earlier - this is an epic (as epic as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Ben Hur)...I was so bloody keen on knowing what happens next even when I knew what happens next! - can people make more movies like that, please.









 

Buffalo 66 (1998) Vincent Gallo is an eccentric genius and and Christina Ricci is Christina Ricci is Christina Ricci...Christina Ricci is a the second most desirable woman in the world! So then, what does Vincent do? - he makes an intensely funny love story. Intensely funny is like a contradiction of sorts - humor is supposed to dissipate intensity - in this film, black humor provokes in the audience an intense feeling of empathy for the lead characters and Gallo never lets go of this "string of black, black jokes" keeping the story together approach. The camerawork is amazing - infact most of the film consists of one beautiful still after another..this is millions of posters strung together and one of the last ones - of Gallo walking across the street in bright red leather shoes is cinema heaven.

Trivia - Both these films were released in 1998 and for some obscene/obscure/arbitrary reason, the lead characters in both are passionate about BOWLING.

I like jail

Henry's Crime (2010)

Rating 3.5/5.0
Where 5.0 is another beautiful love story

Julie: Aren't you guys worried about getting caught?
Max: It's kind of a win-win situation for me.
Julie: Why?
Max: I like jail.

Let me make this simple for everyone:

What is Henry's Crime?
HC is that he commits a crime for which he has already served time

That sounds complicated.
It isn't. Henry went to jail for a crime he didn't commit (in this case robbing a bank) and when he came out he decided that his dream in life is to rob the very same bank. So he does it. The best part is that going to jail was an option for Henry (he could've chosen not to but he chose to go! ye ye :) )

What's the point?
Not much. I would still recommend it because of
a) James Caan (who's just amazing as Max Saltzman - the old jail loving conman who helps Henry with the heist) and
b) for the complete lack of strong (compelling for the viewer) motives that any of the characters have to do what they do - that's amazing - I sort of dislike movies where everything is black and white - like you killed my pig so I will butcher your goat! What crap is that. I won't. I will eat the pig..I like bacon.

IMdb link here

A little story with a big heart

Stanley Ka Dabba (2011)

Rating 3.6/5.0
Where 5.0 is a film which just has to be watched if you think classrooms are boring

Amol Gupte's Stanley Ka Dabba has some fantastic things going for it - the background score sans vocals is awesome (a Jazz inspired medley and a Pink Floydish piano score in a merry go-round - now this is what I want!); Gupte is very good with kids and that is apparent in their acting; unlike Taare Zameen Par, this film does not try every trick in the book to get tears out of you - it tells the story as it is and if you're not entertained or shed tears, too bad! On the flip side, the story is a 3 pager and Gupte has made a 90 min movie out of it and it gets apparent at times - you just wish some of the sub-plots like why doesn't the khadus teacher bring his own lunch could have been explored - that would have made it as interesting as The Blue Umbrella where Pankaj Kapur's character is explored with a sensitivity and detail that takes the film to an altogether different level; also the lyrics try to do what the movie doesn't - they try to guide you to feel in a certain way - and I don't like that....but that as I said is made up by the background score. Despite its flaws, Stanley ka Dabba is a must watch for anyone in the look out for a genuine, straight from the heart film which doesn't try to be Indie or different for fuck's sake - like Ye Saali Zindagi for example.

That brings me to YSZ, I finally watched it this weekend after all my friends had watched and recommended it. This movie sucks although Irrfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla have tried so hard to save it. YSZ is a "me too" film...and Mishra ji is hot on the heels of Guy Ritchie and closer home, Vishal Bahradwaj; hell bent on making another one of those thriller-comedy of errors (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Kaminey). The plot seems contrived most of the time, some of the events are so improbable (including Irrfan Khan transferring funds to from one bank account to another at free will!) that it seems Mishra thinks the audience are a bunch of morons who'll believe anything. Whatever good is there in the cast is under utilized....and from good I definitely don't mean Arunoday Singh who cannot be from purani Dilli even if his life depended on it or Chitragandha Singh who is like low grade, smelly plastic. Overall an attempt horribly gone wrong. Mishra should stick to what he knows best instead of trying to imitiate what has been done to perfection by others.

Whew! I hated that film so much (maybe because I expected too much from it) - its sort of cathartic to get that out! Thank God for this blog.

Because you're on television, dummy.

Network (1976)

Rating 4.75/5.00
where 5.00 is a film which refuses to become old

This film is pure class - dialogues that draw you in like a nail to a super magnet; a script that leaves you awestruck at its originality and its relevance even now - 34 years after it was made; sub-plots that are so potent they are mini-movies in themselves; and a cast which makes it impossible for you to question the outrageousness of the script.

It is 8.1 on IMDB :-)




I also watched -

Rio (2011) - which really sucks - its a poorly done hotch potch of Ice Age and Madagascar. If you're making a movie with speaking animals - you better make it a tear jerker OR you make it very funny OR a mix of both. Rio fails on all counts and I'm happy I didn't spend any money on it :) If only I could get my hands on those birds - I'll wring their necks with my bare hands!





The Fighter (2010) - Christian Bale is God. The Fighter is the film that proves it. Every movement, every twitch, every breath, every hint of a smile - Bale epitomises what many actors just don't get - he lives the character and makes it look as effortless as Al Pacino did in Dog Day Afternoon. This is the film you watch just for one performance and its a bonus that the film is good too :-)

It's a crazy fucking world.

Animal Kingdom (2010)

Rating 4.75/5.00
Where 5 is Danny Boyle's masterpiece

This film stands out from the 2010 flock I've seen till now. Its a great example of how one can develop characters and make the viewer a part of the story by setting the right pace and giving due attention to small but powerfully evocative details. Every scene has a reason and every dialogue makes a differenece. What's more, the understated violence (and the ominous musical score) is so foreboding it makes a violent blood and gore film look really sissy.

To make a film like this is easy....all you have to do is to take an ordinary story (nothing monumental with the story here) and make the screenplay so so good that you win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. That's it. 

Highly recommended but not for the weak hearted or people who recently fell in love :-)

Other films I watched in the last 2 weeks or so -

Kick-Ass (2010) which is flawed (I think the editing could've been better) but interesting and I look forward to the sequel which I'm sure will be out soon.

James Mason's Odd Man Out (1947) which is a Carol Reed film and as expected it does leave you wondering if film making has really evolved in any way or are we just decaying since the time the likes of Lang, Reed, Wajda and Bergman made movies.

Happy Gilmore (1996) which is a very funny film. Everytime I watch a Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell film I come out happy :-) If you havent't watched  Anchorman - the Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) then I suggest you get it now - that film is pure comic genius!

Imdb Link for Animal Kingdom

I know less and less about who I am, or who anybody else is

The American Friend (1977)

Rating 4.8/5.0 
Where 5.0 is the best first film ever by any director

Wim Wenders made the poignant Paris, Texas. Its a 137 minute poem - it is slow, its moody and it is definitely one of the most thought provoking films I have seen. Since then, I have always been wary of watching a Wenders film - they are not entertainers in the conventional sense, they force you to think, to contemplate and they provoke sadness - his films stay with you as symbols, as a burden of what you can't fully comprehend.

The American Friend is a crime/psychological thriller adapted from Particia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game. The real suspense in the film is not what will happen but whether the viewer will ever be able to unravel the true reasons for the way the characters in the film behave and react to situations - it makes the viewer think about what drives the films character to do what they do - What are they thinking? Why are they changing? Is it compulsive behavior or does it have a deeper meaning? Wenders leaves hints through the film and its up to us to intepret it.

I watched three films in between jobs - The Next Three Days (2010),  Army of Shadows (1969) and this one. The Next Three Days is a well made thriller anchored by Russell Crowe's controlled performance, Army of Shaodows is a WW II French Resistance film - it takes you back to the world where freedom was the only reason to live and to die for. Both of these are recommended viewing.

Imdb link here

Look not what a man has done, but what he hopes to do.

The Infidel (2010)

Rating 4.25/5.0

Where 5 is a life changing Czechoslovakian film which also won an Oscar (they do get it right sometimes)! 

The first thing that strikes you about this film is that it released in the same year as Four Lions and although the story is very different, the similarities are quite encouraging. Films have the potential to stimulate thought amongst those who are too brainwashed with jargon to think on their own. We're all brainwashed, aren't we? We can hardly claim to have independent, impartial thought - influenced as we are by our surroundings and our teachers and the messages they have chosen to give us. 

The best way to provoke free thought amongst such an audience is to truly entertain and then stealthily inject the thought grenade - a good comedy with a dash of pathos does this really well. It sounds like a conspiracy but it really is all for a good cause.

I hope people come out after watching this film not only with a smile and spring in their step but also with a ticking thought bomb - something that may erupt some day to answer questions that no film, prophet or book can.

If that sounds too heavy then why not watch this just to laugh like a mad man. Maybe your subconscious will do the rest :-)

Imdb Link here

The deeper you go the weirder life gets

 

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Rating 5.00/5.00
where 5 is a an amazing Orson Welles film which I'm going to watch again, soon.


My first post of the year. January has been a cruel month - my grandpa is no more, I'm traveling more often than I would like to and I'm watching more hotel room TV than I ever did.

I was very close to my grandpa and he taught me all about cows and trees and snakes and water and elephants and how dry leaves go crunch. When I was a kid, he used to wake me up at 5 AM in the morning and take me along for his daily round up - tending to the cows, watering the plants - and all the time he would sing songs which he made, songs about the tree laden with fruits and the stray cat waiting for her chance to raid the kitchen. My grandpa was different things for different people but for me he was the one who taught me to look beyond and explore, to embrace curiosity and to love without prejudice. When I would fall from the guava tree - a bloodied knee and crying eyes, grandpa would put dettoled cotton on my wounds but he would never tell me not to climb that tree again; when I didn't do well in school and spent my time telling stories to a patient cow and writing poems in my little diary - he was actually proud of me - prouder than he was when I did start doing well from a report card perspective. I should have taken the hint then but its not too late even now. Thank you Nana - its cliched but you do live in all the lives you touched.

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a film which encourages one to climb that guava tree no matter how bloodied and scratched your knees are; no matter how many ants slid into your pants. Its the film which says a lot of things and says it with the humor and strangeness that appeals to people who are sick of films that try to drive a message through your bored balls. An absolute delight to watch!

Imdb link here. And did you notice the poster - that is Bill Murray in his undies smoking a joint. Priceless!

On a separate note, Dabangg is a fantastic film because it has a story and it has style! The best part of the film was the characterisation - for Salman Khan's lead character what suprised me was that they don't try to show the goodness hidden beneath a tough exterior - a stupid concept most hindi movies would fall for - he is what he is and he is unapologetic about it - fantastic!

Royal O'Reilly Tenenbaum 1932-2001 Died Tragically Rescuing His Family From The Wreckage Of A Destroyed Sinking Battleship

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Rating 5.00/5.00
where 5 is a Bill Murray film I should've reviewed here...


People who read this blog (last count around 5) would've noticed that I seem to have a liking for nearly everything I watch or listen to - nearly every movie or album I review here has a 4+ rating and some kind words and golden wungu wungus. This is far from the truth. I watch a lot of movies/TV series and listen to a lot of music but I tend to write about only those which really make me pick up the pen so to say. My blog is not FIFO (first in first out) review site - it doesn't have reviews of everything that comes my way - it is a review site for music and films that excite me - and that's what it was meant to be from the very beginning.

The para above is to justify the fact that I have within a fortnight found two movies which deserve a 5/5 in my terribly tough, achingly objective and statistically enricofermish rating scale. The first was Four Lions (reviewed just before this) and the second one is this beautiful film. If you have a film with Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson writing the script together then you can assume the film is going to be perfect - here are three fantastic example of perfect moviemaking -

1. Bottle Rocket - in my top 10 of the best movies of all time. Frienship can't be captured better than this.

2. Rushmore - Jason Schwartzman started somewhere here I guess and look where he is now. Bill Murray is there too - Murray seems to be a Wes favorite - he's there in all his movies I think.

3. The Royal Tenenbaums

How can they write these films - what do they smoke - what did they sniff? This is magic!

And yes, Gene Hackman is a new man in my eyes today. What an actor!

IMDB link here

You just killed the special needs donkey!

Four Lions (2010)

Rating 5.00/5.00
where 5 is a film I thought of while watching this

I watched two movies this weekend.

The first one was Noah Baumbach's Margot at the wedding (2007) which was insightful, funny in parts and as expected from Baumbach - described a dysfunctional family's love and hate yo-yo. Good but not really something I want to write about - Baumbach made the Squid and the Whale and worked with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox so I expect a lot more from him and it was a bit of a let down.

The second film - Four Lions - stunned me - infact I kept staring at the screen long after it went blank! The film was outrageously funny - a brilliant mix of British dryness and Indian/Pakistani slapstick. 5 people, 1 crow and 1 sheep get blown to bits (also some other folks get shot and blown to bits too but that's just the story) - do the makers of the film expect you to shed a tear or "feel" for the misguided jihadis? No. They want to you to laugh and maybe think a bit. Isn't that wonderful?

Now to the thinking part - the film makes your jaded mind take a fresh look at the news! It has a real story to tell with a message to boot - but it never gets preachy or pedantic - it enlightens because it draws a very plausible scenario which you always knew could happen but chose to ignore. Nowadays, it is difficult to come across a film (dealing with a sensitive topic) which doesn't sound like somebody's propoganda - this film does that well.

A must watch brother!! :-)

Imdb link here

You think fish have dreams?

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

Rating 4.75/5.00
where 5 is a criminally ignored classic film noir

Getting drunk on Saturday evenings and beating my leg against something hard and stoic (a commode this time) is becoming a favorite hobby of mine. The pain which comes after that - swollen legs, pain spray heat and my aching old bones makes for a heady combination. I think my mind secretly enjoys this stuff - we all have a psychopathic subconscious but mine is becoming bolder by the day!

So when I watched this film on Sunday - I was in pain and coincidences don't come easy because this film is about people in pain. Now, don't let that deter you from watching this because that's just my "in pain" mind looking at it - there is a lot of other stuff to discover here.

This is fantastic film noir and I'm a fan of the genre - the crooked cop, the psycho villain, the noble prostitute, the drunk father, the iguanas, the crocs and the fishes :-)

And just an unnecessary note - I don't think this is Herzog's tribute to the film noir tradition. No one can give a tribute to Film Noir - the genre is so inspiring and rich that I'm sure every talented director harbours an ambition to make a Noir someday.
A special mention of the background score - its ominous, it is very unlike what you would expect to hear and it plays a very important part in making the film what it is.

Imdb link here

senti mat kar yaar

Sad Movie (2005)

Rating 4.0/5.0
where 5 is a movie which makes you hit the bottle with vengeance

I watched this 3 years back and I was dumbfounded. I was in a way a RomCom virgin - hadn't seen Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually or Bridget Jones Diary - I guess I was saving myself for Sad Movie :-) It made me cry! ME!!!

I watched it again today and it doesn't do that to me anymore. I attribute it to a happy marriage and a steady dosage of romantic comedies.

The only difference from the regular Hugh Grant/Colin Firth crap here is that this is SAD. Capital SAD. The director is a sadist. He creates lovable characters, ensures the script is replete with the tiniest of details to connect the right dots and then makes it tragic to the point that you feel like shooting him. The film is anyway so brilliant in terms of the script and the acting that he could've got an 8.5 on imdb by ending it happily - it is a 7.4 and hardly anyone knows about it while My Sassy Girl is being watched by the jersey cows of a DLF sellout farmer in haryana hinterland.

The cows are called Wellington and Princeton!!

Imdb link here

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody’s help in any way.

Udaan (2010)
Rating 4.5/5.0
where 5 is an underrated, beautiful film


Two apt words to describe teenage years - cruel, unnecessary. When I look back, I can see utter confusion and bookish enlightenment circling in an endless maze, loneliness inter mingled with times of true companionship , longing and sadness - love and happiness doing their rounds like the school warden. Was it worth it? People say these are formative years - to me that's rationalising in hindsight. Its definitely not worth it. Its just that we're not aware of better alternatives.

Udaan is a film about growing up and its about one of the biggest mysteries in the world - adults forgetting how it was like to grow up! The director has a story to tell and he is very sure of how it needs to be told. The treatment reminds you of films like Half Nelson and Station Agent - long, silent shots where a lot is said with just movements and expression instead of stuffy dialogues. The acting is simply flawless - that's an amazing thing about this film - though nearly the entire cast is either new or lesser known - they have all done a fantastic job. And to add to that, the message is not lost in a sea of cliche. They have achieved the impossible as far as Indian cinema is concerned. A must watch!

Imdb link here

I'm Bill Murray, you're everybody else.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Rating 4.00/5.00
where 5 is a brilliant Vincent Gallo film

Michel Gondry made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - an "art movie" starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. It was a wonderful film - a unique idea, good script and the chemistry that Carrey and Winslet shared on screen made it even more worthwhile (Gondry cast Jim Carrey in the role - I think that was a huge risk and he pulled it off). The best thing about the film though was this shot where Kate Winslet is sitting in a bus (or a train) - she's just sitting there looking ahead and I'm sitting in my tiny room in a poor third world country (that we're all so proud of) wearing boxer shorts and an old, torn vest.....looking at her. Stunned, mesmerised...reaching out for a pack of chips but statued midway. Goddess, that's what she is.

So with Be Kind Rewind, the first mistake that Gondry made was to not have Kate in the film. Forgive and forget, I said, and moved on past the casting. The film is unique (as expected) in its concept, its well acted, its funny and intelligent and dumb at the right places and the best thing about it is that it doesn't try to squeeze a tear out of your eye through the usual American route. Here's the story in a bad rhyme format -

Mos Def is an assistant at a VHS lending store
Jack Black is his friend and has theories which are a big bore
So one day Jack comes into the store all magnetised, I guess
and destroys (magnetises) all the movie tapes, putting Mos in a big turdy mess
So Mos and Jack, to avoid detection, start shooting movies people want to see
They do all the acting and make versions not more than 20 minutes long, c'est la vie
As expected, the "sweded" movies become a rage in the small town where they belong
Then the usual blah blah happens and overall all ends well, strike the gong! Strike the gong!

Good stuff I say. Watch it!

imdb link here
buy it here