World Movies

ever in my life i thought i would be indebted to some media house but then plans of men and mice!!In come UTV with its assortment of movies needing subtitles and i seldom need the assistance of remote off late...hail the reading channel-UTV world movies...some of the amazing movies on air ,i recommend are
Heaven (Eng/French)-Directed by the legendary Kiewslowski,starting Cate Blanchett and that kid bro from 'gone in 60 seconds',this is one movie that brings together the visual sense and story together,beautifully

NOBODYs Perfect-Spanish-Comedy-A story of 3 handicap friends over on nite of fun


Monday-Japanese,2000-Black comedy-Rating 4.5/5....thats how good it is


A short film about Love:An interesting take on love


Three colors:BLUE,WHITE,RED:One of my favorite trilogy is on air,it always advisable to watch them in that order-you won't regret it


PS-All of them can be googled or on imdb..have fun

I miss DD

I am all in for globalization, I do get to see stuff like PB,Lost,Bones,Chuck but I seriously wish DD was back to its old form.I liked it!
I remember a fine saturday afternoon where I was trying desperately to get out of an extra class,again.This one was however memorable because the reason I gave was-Dad,I want to watch that Bengali Subtitle film.And parents actually considered it.Unfortunately I can't recollect the name but it was a Suchitra Sen flick.
Thanks to DD's National Awards winning films slot ,i ended watching awesome-I mean awesome-Movies from Bengali,Malayam,Marathi and even Assamese (Raag Biraag)
But then again,DD wasn't just into reginal flicks.There was this one night I was detained in my room because my parents were watching a PG movie-The Silence of the Lambs*.Yes ,it was on DD.
Talking of international,my first brush with Bryan Adams was also courtesy of DD's hour long special.

Its highly unfortunate that DD has to be scrapped to pave way for these unbelievably dumb tv series that airs nowadays.Here are few stuff that DD churned out

• Bharat Ek Khoj-It was shot so beautifully too!
• Tamas- Heart Wrenching!!!!! (Tamas and Gram Hawa are the best of the lot about partition)
• Mirza Ghalib - Such a fine potrayal
• Surabhi - Common,we all knew how good they were
• I forgot the name of the weekly science show
• Adaptations of various acclaimed novels like-Veyi padagalu (Hazaar Pan),Chekov's short stories
• Byomkesh Bakshi -The charming Rajat
• Dekh Bhai Dekh was rofl stuff
• I am pretty sure I am forgotting good stuff starring likes of Pankaj Kapoor,Raghuvir Yadav,Zohra Sehgal,Mita Vashisth

Now I look at all the 50 odd channels available to me and don't see a single show measuring up to these! Its highly unfortunate .

Whats New this Fall??

If you have followed enough American Televison , you would have probably guessed the year starts not in January but in September. Though the traditional importance placed to September for the season premieres have been diminishing, there is enough to review for any ardent follower. In brief, Fall 2009 is all about comedy. Even though we have debut series in other genres, seems like comedy will take the cake and also the fact that market research conducted showed audience crave comedy. The Fall goes ahead in full swing from 21st but one has to wait till mid-fall for few majors like Lost, 24, Chuck and the likes. In a three part article, I will be introducing the fall offerings, in terms of new shows and season premieres. Till date most of the Fall has just set on CW with a few on Fox. Let the fun begin SERIES PREMIERES

Melrose Place

For those of you not familiar with its namesake, Melrose Place was a (soap) drama in the 90's that was known for its morally ambivalent and extremely crazy characters and plots. For we Indians its all too familiar with the garden variety K-series. So CW has continued its strategy to trying to woo by recreating old shows successfully (?) 90210 season 2 has also premiered (And for those wanting that reviewed, look in another zip code please) and now Melrose Place is revamped with a few characters from the original series. The new show has your regular kind of addicts, couples, rich boys and bitches....but....BUT its not that fun!! I know, considering the genre we are talking, what is fun? What Melrose Place needs is to imbibe the outrageous shock value of its original, only that can save this! Making characters bad only works when they are real bad!! Somehow Melrose is trying to be all mysterious and racy while keeping its under PG-13....that never works people!! After two episodes and granted the second one being improved over the pilot, I have hope for this if CW stops being so conservative!!!

Vampire Diaries
*Giggles* So you have that girl from Degrassi's and that guy who dies in LOST ('what do you mean which of the zillion ones?the first one okay') and some other hair gel dude trying to be all 'Twilight' with excessive fog and you get CW's second new offering of the season. The ratings have been good, the reviews have been bad BUT may be because my expectations were so low, Vampire Diaries was not the dread of the season. I for one had an intense urge to forward through parts which were utterly predictable to anyone who have seen a little bit of high school romances or any vampire lore. But it wasn't as cheesy bore as I initially expected. Considering the demographic it targets, they should be very happy - the teen girls who will giggle and be dazzled :) And yes, it is more TWILIGHT and definitely not TRUE BLOOD! I personally won't be eagerly waiting for this every week, all the high schoolers might feel differently

Modern Family

'Phil: I'm cool dad, that's my thing. I'm hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face'
You know how, you pray to God that all these crappy troubles might actually make you come across something good? My soul has been saved from mediocre entertainment by this new comedy! The story is about 3 families each having an unique problem and dealing with their own code ;) You have your regular couple,Phil and Claire,with teenager and kids on their hands! You have your another regular couple,Jay and Gloria, with the old guy and hot mom! And finally you have the common gay parents ,Mitchel and Cameron, who recently adopted a kid from Vietnam. All very modern, all very regular! I personally loved the comic timing and delivery of the jokes, they had a tone and consistency and that made me crack up after a while. I am not sure if they can keep this going but it was real fun for me! Claire: If Haley never wakes up on a beach in Florida half-naked, I've done my job

Season Returns

BONES
Season 5 of the forensic anthropologist and the smart alecy FBI agent team returned to solve more crimes. Except it felt more about Booth-Bones shippers than an actual crime procedural. The show lost its charm in season 4 when it dwelt more on the romance arc and tried too hard to be plain goofy instead of situational comedy. Add to it the intense dislike by channel execs to the idea of longer arcs, we had a show that was just not working for me. Unless they bring back a killer arc like the extremely engaging Gormorgon or the Grave Digger or earlier seasons and get the characters act together, I cannot follow more episodes of this this wasted ridicule. Season 1 starts off with socially awkward but brilliant Brennan taking down airport security and asking the guy who is pinned down 'Excuse me Sir, Why were you following me?". Season 5 had Brennan getting all pinned down by some doctor attacking with a scalpel and waiting for Booth to show up....Hmm back to high school romances are we??? For those of you new to the show all together, I suggest to have a go at it for two seasons happily! Those were good days!!

FRINGE

Season 2 premiered with "A New Day in the Old Town" and it was good!!! Fringe was one of those shows that had a problem with consistency it terms of story quality. Its longer arc episodes were its strength and the stand alone with monster of the week were on a trickery slope. The season 2 gives ample space for them to innovate considering season 1 set the groundwork for having a major enemy and further trouble of apocalypse proportions. Fringe, is created by JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias, MI3) and can be said as 21st centuries X files. The problem with JJ is, he creates this great premise but the story mythology can get real outrageous, pointless and sort of ends up killing the series. We have witnessed this with ALIAS which started off as a good spy series until the whole ridicule called 'Rambaldi' came in. LOST probably is rescued because of its time frame for the end and also because of Cuse Lindelof and co. On the whole, for those of you whose appetite for these sci-fi's hasn't been satiated off late can cuddle to fringe (albeit i suggest mid season of 1). Lets wait and watch if s2 has a bigger plan out of its cliffhangers or they just make the story as they go along! Do check out its innovative teaser for the premiere by clicking on this line.

MERLIN

I know it is not as popular as the rest and is British, but i got used to this during the breakout of re-runs. The adventure of young warlock Merlin & Prince Arthur makes a good break. Season 2 returned this week with major implications for each character. Merlin ends up going back to seek advice from the last Dragon(the only other creature of magic he knows in Camelot, even thought the Dragon is imprisoned and seems to have plans of its own) and making a promise that will have larger implications (and a feeling that things have been set into motion). Arthur clearly is growing out of the shadow of his father and even being defiant. The King has also set larger path by willing to start the era of witch hunts again. Gwen seems to finally show off her brave side and as a counterpart to Arthur. Morgana seems more and more disturbed by her prophetic visions (making me wonder if this would lead her to the dark path, being a seer under a king who executes magic practitioners) All in all i looking to more adventures and magic by our group. And the humor indeed!

Woody :)

Juan Antonio: I am Juan Antonio, and you are?
Cristina: Cristina and this is my friend Vicky.
Juan Antonio: I would like to invite you both to spend the weekend. We'll eat well, we'll drink wine, we'll make love.
Vicky: Who.. who exactly is going to "make love?"
Juan Antonio: Hopefully the three of us.
Vicky: Uh.. this guy, he doesn't beat around the bush. Look señor, maybe in a different life.

I had absolutely no expectations nor clue about the story prior to watching the movie,I let it play out.Pretty much the same way Allen seems to have put few wonderful characters together and let them play out .
For a Woody Allen comedy, that is a very,very good thing to do.

Personally I always liked movies like this which are more about people having conversations than a horde of life shattering moments.This movie involves quite a good bit of dialogue amongst its various awkward characters, not always free flowing , with intermittent reluctance.
The movie on the whole is a sad comedy, one cannot help but be humorous when the characters are screwing up,ironically. You feel the tragedy of expecting 'magical solution' and failing miserably but the characters approach the issues makes us inevitably adore the silliness of them all!

Rebecca Hall is a refreshing surprise. She pulls of a great Vicky, and as some might feel -she even pulls of the female Woody. Even though he didn't act in this movie, his elements (the stammer, the confusion, the reluctance) are played out well by Ms Hall. The first half of the movie definitely belongs to the delightful Rebecca Hall

The second half belongs to the angry, whimsical and talented Penelope Cruz. I just refuse to reveal more about her for I wouldn't want to rob you the delight of her performance. I am not sure how difficult it was to act the character but Ms Cruz definitely glides into the role with amazing ease!

Javier Bordem is gorgeously believable as the Spanish boehmian artist, and the exotic cuisine for the travelers.

Scarlett Johannasson reverts back to playing a little lost, doubtful character (more on lines of lost in translation). She is adequate for the role.

And finally the main aspect,Barcelona. It is plain breath taking, making you believe that almost everyone can find an exotic summer experience in such a city!

Rating: 3.5/5 and that's good ah!! A special mention to the tragic humor and extremely appropriate tone of the narrator.

Benegal's Trilogy

By the time I was enjoying my 90's, names like Benegal, Govind Nihlani were becoming the artists of the past, gone 80's. Thankfully they continued to produce great films till date! Imagine the delight when Shyam Benegal did a revival with a trilogy in 90's. Three pieces of work, about three women, each having a life's worth of tale to tell!

Revolutionary Road

I have to admit beforehand that this particular movie put me in quite a dilemma. While attempting the review, I realized I am not sure what to talk about. Should I start with the obvious and applaud the incredible acting talent of Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet. Should I say how glad I was to see Sam Mendes come back to suburban life and offer such a wonderful movie, yet again (The first being American Beauty). May be I should dwell upon the impressive supporting cast and the fact that all of those characters acquire a depth through the movie.

It was quite a debate. Making it simple, let’s start by talking about the movie.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is an incredible movie that successfully depresses you and You don’t even complain. First there were the people. Frank and April. Then there is the world they will have to live in. Revolutionary road tells the doomed love story of these individuals. Frank and April start of as people madly in love with each other and their dreams. Eventually, we notice that Frank turns out to be the guy would rather be un heroic and conform than try, even if it means failing. April turns out to be desperately wanting to have a dream fulfilled, his dream. The story moves on hurtfully as each of them long for the other to become a person they can love and respect. That is the irony; both of them lack the courage to be strong for the other. It is very distressing to see their love disintegrate into lies, shame, disgust and hate.

This movie would have been ordinary if not for the excellent screenplay to begin with. It so carefully exposes the trails of the leads roles to make things right and their inevitable failures at each turn. It show cases how grueling it can be to want more with your life, when you cannot be happy for what you have. The signature moment of the movie comes mid way, when each of them express opposite views of courage – is it courage to conform and give up a dream OR is it courage to trade the secure life for a try at the dream?

I personally believe Kate Winslet gives an amazing performance as April, who tries to be that woman but can never be. Leonardo is captivating as the conformist, coward at times, pitiful at others. That is a theme of the movie, we seem to love and hate them equally. This movie has so many splendid shots that it actually pains me to realize how movies off late have lacked it!! Many a lengthy sequences compose of straight forward dialogues between the leads, that’s truly captivating in its inherent lack of pretense. Then there are those additional perks for us in form of the “insane” John, who seems to say the truth that shreds their comfortable lies; in form of the little group of male friends that reflect the comfortable society Frank chose; in form of the gossip talked about the Wheelers.

Needless to say, It is a must watch but this is not a movie for everyone. Its tells an tragic story and unlike the book, you can’t take a break in between.

Trivia:

Kate Winslet is married to the director Sam Mendes.

Kate won a golden globe for the film this year.

Sam Mendes is also the director of another film that showcases the ugly side of the great American dream – Kevin Spacey starrer American Beauty

OST

The whole album is available online on www.deezer.com. Its under Revolutionary road and the quality is great. Will update download links soon

About the Scenes: (And inevitably a ghastly -SPOILER ALERT)

• The final window shot of Kate from behind is truly haunting, leaves an imprint
  

• I read a review that raised an excellent perspective, the whole movie we never see much of the Road just to show how claustrophobic and self contained the setting is
• The sequence in the middle of the movie, where they finally reveal everything and Franks' true smooth talking nature rises is truly brilliant. The shot where Frank suggests for "help" and Kate's expression are truly amazing. It seem to encapsulate the theme of both characters precisely. That moment signifies the futility of their lives and the audience bleak hope for a happy ending
• The first confrontation scene on Route -12 is the first peek into the chaos of the Miller's lives. The ending confrontation brings it full circle. The way April tries to escape is moved a step forward towards the ending to show how far things have proceeded for her. From initially refusing to discuss to finally imploring Frank to let her have the her space ,even if its in the woods -show how far things have proceeded for April since the beginning of the movie.
• Frank has the habit of trying to rationalize his lack of initiative, all through the movie we see him convince himself that it was never his fault and out of his hands. Its also easy to notice how Frank would rather take the easy route than confront truth. This is portrayed brilliantly with the conversations about April's pregnancy, the beach scene where he lets the job offer be known. Just as April's disintegration is brought about, Frank's is shown with the final shot in the hospital where he tries to say its April's fault.Brilliant development
• Though i liked the shot of Frank running through the Revolutionary Road , I did wish the movie didn't end there. That would be a easy way to end, but since the movie never absolves the characters even for a bit, such an consoling end would not be with the theme of cruel reality that the film carried.Thanks to Mended for adding the final shots to show how ordinary Wheelers have become, no revolution their my friend

I would have to conclude noting how even the name is a cruel joke,like the rest - "Revolutionary" road

Damages - FX goodness

Show:Damages
Genre:legal Drama/dark psychological thriller
Channel: AXN in India, FX in USA
Cast:Glenn Close(Patty Hewes), Rose Byrne(Ellen Parson),Ted Danson(Arthur Frobisher)
Tag Line:Trust no one

Trivia:-Its a mini series,13 episodes-high adrenalin rush.
Golden Globes - Best Actress Drama Series - Glenn Close
Australian Film Institute - International Award for Best Actress - Rose Byrne
Writers Guild of America - Best New Series

USP:The show is set in the legal world of mass action suits-litigations,hence the "Damages" the show proceeds we realize exactly not to trust anyone because each is pushing his own agenda forward.Usually that shouldn't be interesting,but since the stakes include billions and bloated ego of powerful men(and women),its really damaging!

Story:The whole series runs in two timelines.One where a bloody Ellen is running through the early morning streets of Manhattan,bloody and half-naked;only to be arrested from her apartment where her fiance(David) is found murdered-violently
The other time line is where fresh out of school Ellen rejects a good paycheck to take an interview with Hewes and Associates-for which her mentor of sorts takes her autograph and writes above it (consider myself warned)
The show proceeds to see how the mind games are played to Win,which ultimately leads to Ellen being charged with the murder of the moon she was madly in love with in the beginning!

Review:The first episode was 55 minute nail biting episode with no advertisement breaks! The pace continues.The characters fall into the grey area,Patty's character has a Machiavellian feel to it-a immense need to control nd manipulate thats frankly,siniPublish PoststerThe fun part is when we try to figure out who is speaking truth and who is backstabbing whom..its awesome,the kind of mind games and manipulations the story brings up amazes you.A definite lie as easily detectable as a truth,but when lies and truths are mixed and told-thats where the real puzzle is!
Glenn Close totally excels as the ruthless Patty Hewes. Rose Byrne (Anger in Placid lake,Troy,Just Buried)slowly grows on you,transforming from decent person to someone forced to fight tooth and nail to survive.

Word of advice-Be agile enough to catch up with multiple twists,otherwise you might feel its a lot confusing and pointless