The Descendants

Alexander Payne, the acclaimed director of many films, such as Sideways, About Schmidt etc, has written the screen-play and directed the George Clooney starrer, The Descendants. Like most of his other films, this one's something between a comedy and a drama.

It tells the story of a man, Matt King (George Clooney) who is going through a troubled time when his wife, Elizabeth falls into coma, after a speed boat accident.  Matt is a lawyer in Honolulu and the sole trustee of a family trust that owns some thousand acres of land on the island of Kauai. With seven years in hand, before the trust expires, the King family must decide to sell it off to a worthy buyer. Matt is faced with this situation and his wife's coma, along with the responsibility of his two daughters, Alex and Scottie.

It is the story of a man, going through a a state of affliction while discovering the harsh realities of life that had been in hiding before his wife's accident. Of course, an actor like George Clooney never disappoints while portraying such a discomposed character. You cant help but empathize with the man, as he uncovers some truths that might make the situation worse. He is angry, he is confused, he is hurt and yet, he can't scream out and yell at the world for putting him in such a position.

The father-daughter relationship in the film has been handled very carefully. Whether it is his alcoholic elder daughter, Alex or the naive younger daughter, Scottie, Matt somehow seems to find the balance to guide them and lead them along. In fact, his relationship with Alex improves and the two team up together to face the ugly truth that Elizabeth left them to deal with. There are some parts in the movie that are funny, of course not like a total comedy where you'd be laughing till your stomach hurts but those scenes, which leave a smile on your face. At the same time, there are parts that wrench your heart and bring out tears in your eyes.

In simple words, the film is a perfect balance of drama and light hearted comedy. As usual, Clooney flawless and as usual, Alexander Payne gives you something to think about. 

50/50

Happy New Year All~ Okay first things, first! I know I've been super lazy but this year, things are going to be different! I figured out of the 6 billion people in this world, I do have a teeny-weeny bit of followers who love movies like me and who actually read my blog! So I've decided that now on, every month I am going to have at least FOUR movies reviewed! Yeah, that's right! One movie per week! So this I am starting this year with 50/50. Here we go:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Adam Lerner, a twenty-seven year old boy next door! He's the perfect man that most girls dream of! He obeys traffic rules, has a job and is in a relationship with a beautiful girl. His best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) is a a funny, opportunist yet charming-in-his-own-way kinda ordinary guy! Things are static but not boring for Adam and he goes on with his everyday chores, without complaints. However, one fine day, he discovers he has a rare kind of cancer.

That's when the real drama begins in the movie. It is the story of how Adam deals with this disease. Suddenly, there is that realization that he could be dead after a while. Dead and Gone! He begins to undergo chemo and  at the same time, seeks treatment from a therapist.

The film is based loosely on the life of the screen writer, Will Reiser and is directed by Jonathan Levine. Of course, what draws you to the film is not only good direction but just the right amount of reality portrayed by the lead character, Adam. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, does a fantastic job of depicting a poignant and helpless twenty something year old, without exaggerating or making his predicament seem unreal. Seth Rogen, as Kyle is so good in illustrating his character that he makes the audience believe that he could be that exact 'Kyle' in real life too! It's almost like he's not acting, he's just himself in the film. That's how smooth he is.

The story highlights Adam's relationship with the people around him and how they change or don't change after the diagnosis. It is that frightening experience an individual feels when he is thrown that one thing he least expects to be thrown with! The film has humor, of course and the funny lines are artistically balanced with drama so that the film doesn't appear to be a joke! It might have been a difficult task, taking something as serious as cancer and playing it half with drama and half with comedy!

This is not a film to be missed and It's something that can appeal to anyone, any age! A little warning, your tear glands are going to have a difficult time towards the second half of the film! 

Mausam

I know I've been so damn lazy and not regular with my blog posts. I doubt anyone is reading it anymore. LOL. Anyway I am back with my post and this one is special cos It's a Hindi movie that I am reviewing and also It stars my hottie and favourite Shahid Kapoor and the film released on my birthday this year! So here we go:

Mausam starts on a very fresh and happy note as Harinder Singh aka Harry (Shahid Kapoor) and his group of friends are having fun and doing all the things that young boys in Punjab in 1992 did! After a few fun filled and humorous scenes with Harry and the gang, in walks Aayat(Sonam Kapoor) a vulnerably shy and pretty Muslim girl who has fled Kashmir and has come to Mallukot, Punjab, to live with her aunt. The first half an hour or almost forty-five minutes of the film has a very crisp feel to it and you find yourself smiling and feeling the lead characters of the film.

However the movie shifts time and place and then Harry and Aayat are in Scotland after some seven years. They meet, they have their moments and the unsaid words are said and love is finally declared. However before Harry can make it official with Aayat's family, he is called back to India to report for duty. War breaks on the border and Harry doesn't have the time to explain anything so he rushes back. Aayat is left, feeling rejected and time doesn't wait for the lovers.

The movie begins to drag from here and the problem with the film is that, the year is supposed to be 1999 but the entire look feels like post 2000! One major flaw of the film. Anyway, other than that, Harry looks delicious and to-die-for as Squadron Leader and that might keep the women going. The separation is not enough for the lovers. In-between, they try to meet each other or at least pass messages to each other but they seem to be out of luck. Nothing works out for them so they wait, as life passes them by.

It's not like Mausam is a bad film. It just feels like Pankaj Kapur had such brilliant ideas and he tried to incorporate the real life events into a romance story and that would have worked, if he hadn't tried to make it so complex. Shahid Kapoor as Harwinder Singh is so believable and awesome but you do find him taking his character very seriously. Sonam Kapoor is as pretty as a doll and her expressions have actually improved from Aisha but other than adding beauty to the look of the film, she does nothing to make the film some sort of art. It is Shahid Kapoor who does everything in his power to push the film to an aesthetic level and like i said before, at some point, he over does it.

The film runs for three hours and If you are not an avid Shahid Kapoor fan, you may even want to walk out of the theater. The movie has a typical Bollywood ending but not before the lovers find themselves in a compound situation and they still have to unravel and tackle some obstacles before they can be together.

I was disappointed by the movie and by that, I mean the script of the movie but I enjoyed watched Shahid Kapoor in half-sweaters, smiling, stalking, change to a serious man in uniform and aviators. He was the sole reason for me to watch this film. If you like him as much as I do then you have to watch it. else, you can wait until the cable airs it on some channel and save your penny!

Zatoichi

Zatoichi is one of the longest running series of films and television series in Japan. It is based on the character of a blind 'anma' or a masseur, who wanders around, gambles in the town and at the same time is a skilled swordsman. There are have been many movies made about this fictional character. However, the 2003 version of Zatoichi, written, directed, co-edited and starring Takeshi Kitano is the most popular in and outside Japan.

Set in the Edo period, a small town in Japan is caught in the conflict of Yakuza gangs, fighting among each other for supremacy. In between are people who have to nothing to do with violence or the need for authority. The rich, the middle-class, the poor, all, are attacked by the gangs and forced to pay protection money or worse, murdered in cold blood. In that same town, arrives a ronin,with his beautiful lady; Two geishas, who bewitch the men with their beauty and charm and steal their money.

The blind swordsman, the outcast samurai, the pretty women...all cross paths; But to tell you even anything about how and where and when, would be letting out the secret of the mystery. That, is how interestingly the story of the film has been woven.

The gore and the blood splashed all across the screen is one of the most beautiful aspect of it, not because a grisly, hematic action sequence helps sell movies; but because the whole blood-spilling has been converted into a creative piece of art.

All the characters in the movie seem authentic. There is not a single character that has been forced into the story awkwardly. Every figure has its importance, be it the protagonist or the neighbour's son, who is a little loose in the head and runs all around the farmer's house, dressed only in his undergarments, carrying a war flag and pretending to be a samurai. Obviously, the tone of the movie is serious but then, many instances in the film have a comic relief. For eg: The scene where the farmer's nephew, Shinkichi is teaching three boys in the village how to fight like a samurai and the boys end up beating the teacher in the process. The film also has very touching scenes, where O-Sei and O-Kinu, the sibling geishas narrate their childhood tale.

Takeshi Kitano has crafted the entire film in such a way that after watching it, anyone and everyone will have only praises for it. He uses 'Rain'  as an important element throughout the film, along with 'Dance.' In the final sequence of the film, the well known Japanese tap dance troupe, The Stripes have performed, thus ending the film on an interesting, musical note.

The film has won many international awards and was the winner of the prestigious Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival 2003. 

Sikkim

The legendary Satyajit Ray made a documentary about the nation of Sikkim in 1971. Sikkim, then was under the rule of the Chogyal (The King) and was a separate kingdom. In 1975, Sikkim was merged with India and It became the 22nd state of the country. Some people call this film "Ray's Lost Film." Ray was trying to show the sovereignty of Sikkim through his work and around the early to mid 70's, Sikkim was experiencing a political turmoil with threats from China and India. The movie was made but then, as fate would have it, the political unrest got stronger and was banned by the government of India. The government feared that If the public viewed the film, sentiments would be stirred and the newly merged state would be torn apart.

The Ministry of External Affairs lifted the ban from the film in 2010 and with the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim having the copyrights of the film, some of us got extremely lucky on the 6th of April 2010 when the film was screened for the first time in the world at Gangtok, Sikkim.

The film starts slowly... Images of people, the flora and fauna of the land cover the screen for more than five long minutes and no, I am not complaining. It's beautiful. It's like as if the images are telling you stories and Ray has managed to capture that poetic ambience whether It's a shot of the ropeway or the flowers or the Sikkimese people just staring right into the camera, expressionless.

Ray shows the simple life of the Sikkimese people in the 70's. The market scene, the schools, the agricultural life etc. One would find it hard to imagine that around the time when the film was being made, Sikkim was facing political differences and threats from other nations because the people in the film, the real people seem so calm and without a hint of despair!

The Pang Lhabsol (a festival celebrated by the Sikkimese to commemorate the conservation of Mount Kanchendzonga, which is unique to her people and who is also her guardian deity)  celebration at the Palace Ground has been captured with patience. Right from the preparation to the events of the day, starting with singing the nation's anthem and hoisting the Sikkimese flag, to the parade and cultural activities have been captured elaborately. The common people busy in their activities and celebration while the ***Achar (masked dancers who move and jump around comically) are so real that at times when you are watching the film, you are likely to feel that time hasn't moved.

One striking fact that Ray has managed to capture about Sikkim is the reality of the land. No CGIs or edited images...exact images of the beautiful waterfalls, the lush vegetation, the simple people, the tolerant people, who watch a Christian preacher giving sermons on a Sunday in a market place with much amusement and respect at the same time! Ray has somehow captured it all in that 60 minute clip. Truly, he is the Master of such poetic cinema!

This documentary may seem boring and irrelevant to many people but for every Sikkimese like me, this film is something that traces our origin, gives us an identity and something that we all should be grateful to Satyajit Ray for creating it because It is about our land; It is of our people; It is for our people! This power of Cinema that crosses borders and brings people together to tell a story is the amazing power that can change the world.

In the closing scenes, Ray captures the smiling faces of happy children, amused at the camera, giggling, laughing and smoking. When the film finishes and the end credit rolls, every Sikkimese watching it will feel a sense of pride, sweeping over like a strong gust of wind, making you a completely new person, making you a blessed child of the land.

NOTE:***Achar: The term actually originated from the word, Acharays who tried to preach and spread Hindusim in Sikkim and Tibet. However, Hinduism did not gain the same popularity as Buddhism. This form of dance was introduced to actually poke fun at the Acharayas.  [from "The Sacred Summit" by Pema Wangchuk and Mita Zulca]

Departures (Okuribito~ おくりびと )

For me, The Japanese are the best story-tellers. Whether it is anime or live-action films, the art of story-telling comes naturally and beautifully to the Japanese.

Okuribito or Departures is the 2009 Academy Award winner of the Best Foreign Language Film. Directed by Yojiro Takita, the film stars Masahiro Motoki in the lead.

Motoki plays Daigo Kobayashi who is a cellist in Tokyo. The orchestra he plays in runs out of business and he if forced to quit his job. He returns to the village he grew up in, to start anew with his wife, who seems supporting and loving. When he arrives at the village, he begins to look for a new job. He finds one in the papers that says, "helps people in their journey" and applies for it, even though he isn't really sure what kind of job it is. He assumes It is something similar to a tourist guide.

He goes for the interview and his boss hires him without even taking a look at his resume. He then finds out the job is that of a mortician/encoffiner; somebody who prepares and cleanses a corpse for the final ritual. He is reluctant at first and hides the nature of his job from his wife. However he begins by assisting his boss and as he watches him clean, beautify and prepare the body for the last journey and something in him feels that there is a reason that he landed the job.  Kobayashi decides to become an encoffiner.

Director Yojiro Takita depicts the funeral rites in the most simple yet beautifully elegant manner that a dark  phenomenon like Death, appears anything but morbid. The many funeral instances in the movie are touching, not because it is filled with sadness and emotions but because we get to watch the dead being prepared in a manner like we have never seen before. The stories, the pain, the departure has been so sophisticatedly captured that a macabre element called death becomes engaging! You don't want to take your eyes off the screen even for single moment!

Kobayashi has to deal with his own conflicts. Abandoned by his father when he was six, he feels he can never forgive the man for being irresponsible and heartless, however fate has something else prepared for him. So does the fact that he lands up as an encoffiner have a purpose in his life? You will have to watch the film to find that out.

Departures is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Another plausible characteristic of the film is It's background score and music. In fact, it has a scene where Kobayashi is playing the cello in the open fields and yes, I have only one word to describe it, Beautiful! It is evident that It is director, Yojiro Takita's brilliant vision and simple yet aesthetic depiction of the departing process that makes this film, one of the greatest movies ever made.

Like all good movies, this one stays on with you. Watch this and you will know why other foreign movies nominated at the 81st Academy Awards lost to this particular one! Departures is alluringly delightful and enchantingly simple. 

2 Faces of my Girlfriend

Gu-Chang (Bong Tae-Gyu) is a senior college student, who has never kissed a girl! He has never had a girlfriend! He hangs out with a bunch of guys, similar to him...uncool, un-popular and clumsy. He lives with his mother and a divorcee, single-mother sister. Unemployed and having failed his senior year, Gu-Chang is usually broke and by himself, until one day he finds a wallet in the college cafeteria and starving, uses some money in it to buy food. Enter Anni, the owner of the wallet. Gu-Chang's life changes as he spends some time with Anni. She seems to be a sweet girl, who has, for some reason been dumped by her boyfriend and is still hung up on him. The two become friends and begin to hang out. What Gu-Chang doesn't know is that Anni suffers from a mild Multiple Personality Disorder and has an alternate self called Hanni, who is the exact opposite of Anni.

This Korean rom-com is a sweet story about how a guy meets a girl and as be the law of nature, falls in love with her. However the two personalities of the girl creates a lot of trouble and confusion for the boy. He ends up getting beaten and bullied by her alternate side. Even when he tries to leave her, she comes to him, unable to recall what happened last between the two of them. Gu-Chang being the vulnerable and a hopelessly deprived romantic, tends to take Anni/Hanni back.

Obviously this isn't a ground-breaking film; And frankly, there are better romantic comedies/drama that Korea has offered. What is special about the film is it's lead actor, Bong Tae-Gyu. He isn't the most good-looking of the bunch. In fact, he sort of looks dorky and funny. What melts your heart is the character he portrays. A loser who sacrifices so much for a girl who is some times sweet to him but often a tough browbeater. Like most Korean rom-coms, this one has a lot of comical scenes. Your heart goes out to Tae-Gyu, as he acts silly and cute at the same time and gets his butt kicked around by Hanni. It isn't one of those corny movies where the characters try too hard to make you laugh or where they attempt to deliver deliberate cute scenes, making a botch out of the situation. 2 Faces of my Girlfriend is anything but dryly calculated. The chemistry between the two leads is natural and adorable.

Watch this one when you have the time to relax and want to enjoy a romantic flick. Like I said, It isn't one of the greatest movies ever made but It'll touch your heart at the depiction of a common love story with a not-so-common situation (MPD).

Personally, I fell in love with Bong Tae-Gyu after watching this and since then, have tried to get my hands at most of his other movies. He is sweet, dorky and according to me, I believe he is what he portrays in most of his movies. A loser with a heart of gold! That may not be the best compliment to give an actor but you will understand what I mean, only when you watch his movies. For me, Tae-Gyu is the kind of man I'd like to be with. So step aside all you drop-dead-gorgeous looking men! It's time for the Nerds to step out.Dorky Guys rock!!!! ;)

Taxi Driver

A disturbed war veteran, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) suffers from incurable insomnia and is depressed and disturbed with the dirt and sleaze of the ghettos of Manhattan. This is his world. He drives a taxi, not only to earn a livelihood but so as to keep himself busy and engaged. Travis is a loner. He doesn't have many friends, except his colleagues that he meets during his breaks at the cafe. He seems to be bustling and restless. He hates the cheap ways of the world around him. Pimps and Prostitutes, liars and cheaters...An uneasy and chronic feeling eats him up inside as he watches the world work in a paltry, poor process.

Travis Bickle, a twenty-six year old man, decides to change, to do something about this immoral and disgusting ways of the world. He just hasn't figured out what exactly but he knows he is going to do something about it.

Martin Scorsese, gives an insight into a lonely and depressed man's life; Somebody who lies to his parents, yet does not have a strained relationship with them. He writes to them regularly. Travis Bickle isn't insane...It would be wrong to call him psychologically disturbed. Yet, as you watch him buy weapons illegally and talk to himself in the mirror....
"You talking to me???"
You know there is something not quite right about him. His attraction and persuasion towards Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a campaigner for presidential candidate Charles Palantine (Leonard Harris) seems normal until he takes her to watch a pornographic movie on their first date; Betsy gets offended and leaves. She avoids Travis thereafter. You know Travis isn't your ordinary boy next door even with that cute smile across his face. It's evident, Travis is so much more than what meets the eye. However, Travis' concern and care towards a young prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster) is juxtaposed with his other strange self and that is when you begin to question: Who is Travis Bickle? Is he the good guy or the bad guy???

Watching a movie in 2010, that was made in 1976, does two things to you:
a) It makes you watch the movie attentively, looking for details that reviews/critiques spoke of
b) It makes you want to travel back in time and watch it, only to know and feel what It must have been like when a brilliant movie like this hit the screens.

The saxophone playing constantly in the background with the piano at various intervals; and the street drummer add an almost macabre music to the film. It seems to be the right element to the equation because It works well and as an audience, you hear Travis' restlessness and affliction in the beats.  

Many call this Scorsese's masterpiece but when he's given you films like Mean Streets, Goodfellas,  Raging Bull,  Kundun, The Deaparted, It's fair to say that this man, actually has a collection of such masterpiece! Bow down to Martin Scorsese for being able to create not just one character but characters film after film, characters that you love, you despise, you envy and characters that you will never want to forget. Travis Bickle is one such character!

Yes, If I only had a time-machine, I would go back to 76' and walk down the sleazy ghettos of Manhattan and hail every cab that comes by, hoping that a twenty-six year old cabbie with a marine jacket stops by and smiles and asks, "Where to?"
I'd cornily answer, "Right into your heart Travis Bickle!" 

Go ahead, watch this one and fall in love with Robert De Niro. (Oh...and If you're a guy, learn something from Travis Bickle! Just cos It's 2010, It doesn't mean we don't dig, lean, mysterious men who carry that wry smile!!!)