Celluloid Raiders

2008-05-13T18:43:00.013-05:00

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Read Dasavataram, Indiana Jones Review, Sex And The City & more! on CR now. We hope to receive & present more Buff reviews from you.

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THRILLER	ACTION/ADV.	DRAMA	FOREIGN

SCI-FI	COMEDY	HORROR	WAR

WESTERN	FANTASY	ROMANCE	DESI

2008-05-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Review: Dasavataram – The trouble with ‘Execution’ (2008) ^{Raided Now!}

Quality score – 6.5/10
Masala – 7.5/10

The artistic nous of Kamal Hassan needs no introduction to the Indian movie goers. Clearly, he has often produced gems among movies that are far ahead of their time and also ones that have left the audience yearning for more. All indications prior to Dasavatharam was that he has succeeded in surpassing himself with his latest offering, so much so that anything short of a game changer in terms of screenplay, cinematography, and visual effects would have disappointed me. And perhaps because of these lofty yet justifiable expectations, or simply because of how the movie was presented, I definitely left the movie theater underwhelmed and disappointed. Having roped in some of the industry’s so-called revered ones in every department including, K.S.Ravikumar (direction), Thotta Tharani (art direction), Bryan Jennings (Visual Effects) & Himesh Reshamiya (Music direction), each one of these veterans has failed to execute a tight & well researched script.

The start to the movie left the audience’s mouths watering in expectation of the possibilities of the course, the plot could potentially take. And the combination of 14^th century Tamil history, with present day biological warfare scenarios meant that these expectations were quite reasonable. Mind you, all the present day events happen around the five days prior to the calamitous Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. This novel plot screamed out for an impeccable screenplay, and execution was always key, for it achieve the desirable impact for the consumer.

Govind Ramasamy (the leading one of Kamal’s 10 avatars), a native and graduate from Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu, leads a team of scientists in the USA, after his graduate studies there, in a Bio Technology firm. This firms and its investors’ goal is to develop potential biological weapons that may be worth their weight in gold given the state of alertness to terrorism post 9/11 in the US. However, the motives of the company management and investors is less than moral in that they display a willingness to sell it to the highest bidder. Govind is averse to let this happen and tries to smuggle out the only remaining vial of a diabolous virus out of the laboratory.

A sequence of events leads the vial to be shipped out to ... you guessed it… India! Govind and a top Ex-CIA assassin, working for the people from the Bio Tech firm follow the same to India and trigger of a chain of events that unfurl Kamal Hassan’s ‘Dasavathars’. What follows too, is a stop-start screenplay of scenarios that lead up to the climax that then attempts to connect the events dating back to the 14^th century with those of the 21^st.

The unbridled scope of the plot was sadly left unfulfilled in my eyes, with the obviously fake and unnecessary graphics and sub-par art direction from Padmashri Thotta Tharani and co., serving as the prime cause for the same. The cinematography was the most underwhelming feature, not helped by poor execution of decent thought processes. The drag that was the screenplay further undermined the clever story and completely hid the message of the same. Himesh Reshamaiya’s music did anything but complement the disastrous screenplay and failed to capture one’s imagination, let alone conjure up the magic of a ‘Adhiradee Kaaran’ (from Sivaji). I can’t help but think the script, and layout was hand crafted for Ilayaraja. It is sad that Kamal agreed to a few unnecessary commercial elements to be forced into the movie in places of the really necessary ones such as music and cinematography.

Among the vastly disappointing experience ( not to mention the cranky audio system in the theater ), I was definitely attracted to the innovative plot and was able to appreciate the extensive and studious research efforts that have gone through in making this movie a reality. The make up and costume design for the 10 characters of Kamal was exemplary with the actor himself, was the obvious strong point of the movie. Kamal’s portrayal of the social activist continues to amaze me at his limitless acting potential. The fact that I saw 10 different people, but for the similarity in their voices, was testament to Kamal’s caliber. Asin was a natural as an innocent, orthodox Iyengari, who refuses to give up her God even when the whole world is falling around her and she herself is falling into the laps of disaster. The martial arts fight scene that made up the climax was another scene that I enjoyed in the movie. The multitude of cast proved to be both a plus and minus at various times during the movie. Again, Kamal’s strong performance was a saving grace, but the drag caused by the numerous characters and sometimes their ramblings was tiring during those times.

Kamal had said in one of his press statements that he has tried to present this movie in a fashion that asserts his belief that his audiences were savvy enough to understand what they are presented with. However, on the evidence of the poor and often unnecessary graphics and the tiring screenplay, a lot remains to be changed for the better in the Indian and Tamil film industries. Movie goers, it seems, are considered only a little more than your average 10 year olds.

Bottom-line:

A chaotic ride, that strives to be a truly commercial blockbuster with a fresh story for plot and a not so subtle message from an exceptional artiste. Unfortunately, the movie only flatters to deceive and eventually leaves one without a sense of fulfillment as it falls short on many commercial aspects while submerging the message in what appears to be an uncoordinated tsunami of ideas and thought processes.

K.S.Ravikumar’s untimely cameos need to be edited the next time! It was chaos between commercialism and substance where justice was done to neither..

Genre: Action, Adventure, Desi

- Prasanna Ramakrishnan, Chandrachood Ramkumar

2008-05-13T12:59:00.000-05:00

Review: Sex And The City - The Movie^{Raided Now!}
Quality Score - 8/10
The others (Non-fans!) - 5/10

[SPOILER ALERT]

So, I finally got to seeing SATC -the movie. Having been a total fan of the entire series, my expectations were pretty high for the movie version. Having intially assumed that it was going to be a synopsis of the entire 6 seasons, I was pleasantly surprised to see the trailer where it became obvious that the movie took off where the series left, i.e with Carrie n Big still together and a with a wedding plan, nonetheless. Watch the trailer here.

The movie begins with Carrie at her apartment as usual typing away on her Mac. And she gives a very rapid gist of the 6 seasons, basically how each gal ended up with her current beau... so she rapidly summarizes Charlotte's 2 marriages and an adoption, Miranda's 'lawyer' role (seldom shown and hard to believe), her having Brady with Steve and marrying him finally and Samantha's trillion sex positions before settling (almost) with actor Smith Jerrad.
The plot for most part is simple and begins with Big and Carrie looking for an apartment to move into, settling for a gorgeous penthouse (with a teensy closet and a promise from Big to remodel it for her). The scene where he reveals her brand new closet to her almost takes everyone's breath away at the theatre. And Carrie marks her territory by symbolically placing her brand-new Manolo Blahniks on the shoe-rack. And soon they decide to get married. The small-scale wedding planned at first blows out of proportion and scares the groom away breaking Carrie's heart once more. How she recuperates and how they get together forms the main plot of the movie. However it is sidelined by new events surrounding it... Charlotte gets pregnant against all odds, Steve cheats on Miranda (just the once) and loses her trust for a better part of the movie, and Samantha now lives in Hollywood with Smith. Bored out of her wits, eating to satisfy her sexual craving, she packs away some pounds and does the noble thing of not cheating on Smith. The rest of the movie has the SATC typicals - tonnes of brand names strewn around, a photo-shoot, a fashion show, the girls brunches, etc. The scenes of Carrie with her new assistant, Louise are particularly good too.

The movie is long (2 hr and 20 min) but makes up for it by being fast-paced. For the fans, it was a treat just to see the four gals back in action. Indeed most people in the theatre were a band of girlfriends (and I sorely missed my own). For the others, it is still enjoyable, providing laughs, unnecessary nudity and time-pass. Mr Big's role is vastly reduced and though his scenes with Carrie are great, there's a little too few of them. Being a big star has its perks as is seen by the disproportionally large screen time that Kim Catrall (Samantha) gets in favour of the others other than SJP (Carrie).

All in all, a definite must-watch for the fans and not a total waste for the rest.

Genre: Romance, Comedy

- Jaya [jollyjaya.blogspot.com]

2008-05-12T14:05:00.001-05:00

Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (2008) - Just watch it... at least once!^{Raided Now!}

Quality Score: 6.5/10

Back in 1981, when Harrison Ford & Karen Allen unleashed their adventures in ‘Raiders of the lost ark’ through the deserts of Egypt fighting Nazis to uncover the Ark of the Covenant, Lucas created history & a brand named Indian Jones & then he did it again twice – in 1984 & 1989. ‘Temple of Doom’ took Indy to Hong Kong & remote parts of India fighting a cult involved in ancient ritualistic practices, the goal then - to return three magical stones to their rightful owners. In the ‘The Last Crusaders’, Indy is again sucked into a whirlwind adventure, this time looking for Dr. Henry Jones Sr & The Holy grail, he finds himself facing Hitler’s troops in Berlin and stranded in the deserts of Jordan.

After trotting half the globe, fighting Nazis, dodging rolling boulders, escaping hungry alligators, recovering lost relics, searching for the elusive grail, and resting for almost 20 years, Indy is back! George Lucas wrote, Steven Spielberg directed & Harrison Ford starred in this blockbuster and the legend is back, even though Dr.Jones has as many wrinkles as the countries he’s traveled. The question is, does this film satisfy the Indiana Jones junkies? I didn’t think so, but it definitely deserves one watch. I read somewhere that this film was more so an archeological class reunion than an Indiana Jones adventure – well said!

Now to the story – this time Indian Jones is fighting Russian communists in the year 1957 in search of a skull which possesses a ‘psychic power’ that mankind can only make movies on. His adversary is comrade Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), in a menacing role with a sword and a Russian communist attitude. Irina Spalko and her KGB battalion are in the quest for a mystery skull lost through years that possesses supernatural powers with Indiana Jones’ accomplice George McHale’s (Ray Winstone) help. Mutt Williams (Shia LeBouf) a young biker dude with a 50’s hairstyle urges Indy to help him find an old friend, also Indy’s buddy and classmate Professor Oxley (John Hurt) who disappeared in the jungles of Peru in search of this relic. Along the way in South America, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) is also added to the search group. When they find the skull, they will then have to cross 2 cliffs, 3 waterfalls, and scale a labyrinth into which they will plug the skull into a circle of other sitting full aliens to unravel a portal to another dimension. The writers here, try to connect the Roswell space aliens with ancient Peruvian pyramid mysteries and the rest is left to ones imagination.

Watch Trailers

Jeep duels, mild action and puzzle threads in between keep the Indiana Jones spirit alive although Mutt’s Tarzan-like stunt-work and man eating ant sequences (very Mummy-like) are comical tends to lose the audience. What Spielberg sees in Shia LeBouf is beyond me. Even after watching Transformers and Disturbia, I keep wondering what he’s got. The movie has no surprises but a wealth of action for any appetite and a fairy tale ending, and is not as bad as it could have been.

Spielberg has used a sumptuous amount of CGI input in this installment which is probably working against him, with a fan following from the 80’s when the graphic capabilities weren’t as sophisticated.

Director - Steven Spielberg

Writers - George Lucas, David Koepp (Screenplay), Jeff Nathanson

Cast - Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LeBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt

Music - John Williams

Genre: Action, Adventure

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2008-05-12T00:05:00.013-05:00

Review: No Man’s Land (2001) – The byproducts of war^{Raided Now!}

^{Quality S}^{core: 7.5/10}

^War^–^{the very meaning of the word, the moral, political arenas on which it is fought, and what it means for those who fight one; all this has changed over the years. But the fact that it involves lives, fears, aspirations, and deaths of ordinary people, not fighters, is brought home in No Man's Land.}

^{A film by the Bosnian Danis Tanovic opens the lid on the conflicting human emotions of the populace of warring sides, on the UN's attempts to bring aid and peace to these regions and blows the lid off the international media that manipulates, and is sometimes manipulate}^{d in turn - even on a battlefield.}

^{The sto}^{ry revolves around a Bosnian and a Serb who are trapped in a trench, a no man's land, between Serbian and Bosnian outposts. Branko Djuric plays Ciki, the lone survivor of a Bosnian relief squad that is massacred by the Serbs. He is joined in the trench by two Serbs, who come to check on survivors. He manages to kill one, but endures the other, Nino (Rene Bitorajac). They are safe for the time being from enemies, but neither can leave to return to their respective territories. Their conflict and hatred for each other's community, and yet, the strange bonding that they develop probably depicts the overall Bosnian-Serb conflict. Eventually they discover another 'survivor', from Ciki's unit, whose position puts them both, as well as the arriving UN squad, in jeopardy. With the arrival of the UN, we see the difficulties they face in simply performing their job in some conflict-torn areas of the world. Also their inability, given the political red tape, to really make a difference and bring aid to those who need it most is depicted.}

^{The story progresses through vignettes of the trench; the Bosnian and Serb post’s reaction to their trapped men; the UN's procrastination over performing the job that they were created for; the media's hunger for news, and the "action" that the UN is forced to take because of the media's presence.}

^{There is humor. We laugh when Ciki and Nino play out scenes in which, who holds the gun at the time decides which side started the war. There is also pathos, when we see the faded and worn canvas shoes that the "soldiers" wear to battle, surely a battle that they were not meant to be in.}

^{For those who expect war stories to end in either glory or with an optimistic outlook, No Man's Land has nothing to offer. What it does offer is a satirical outlook at the futility of conflict. Those who appreciated The Thin Red Line will see something they like. A must see, in my book.}

^{Cast - Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis, Serge-Henri Valcke, Simon Callow, Katrin Cartlidge
Direction, screenplay and music - Danis Tanovic
Cinematography - Walther Vanden Ende
Awards – Won an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film}

^{Genre: Foreign, War, Drama}

^{-Vijay V. Giri}

2008-05-11T21:59:00.002-05:00

Review: 21 Grams (2003)^{Raided Now!}

Quality Score: 7.5/10

Starring: Sean Penn (Mystic River), Naomi Watts (King Kong), Benicio Del Toro (Sin City, Traffic)

One needs to watch this movie twice. Not only because it's good, but also because one finds it difficult to follow it the first time – unless one has already seen Amores Perros by the same director.

The movie is a series of excerpts from the story of three individuals played by Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Taro, finally brought together by fate through one freaky accident. It's the jig-saw puzzle of broken images that come to form a complete picture of tragedy and redemption. Had it been linear, the story though predictable, would've still been unique and brilliant.

Enthralling performances by Penn, Watts and del Toro make it an actors movie. Sean Penn brilliantly portrays Paul, a math professor with a bad heart. He speaks eloquently with his eyes and his beautifully scripted dialogues. Though his marriage with Mary (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is on the rocks, he still wants to have a baby with her. But he needs a heart transplant to do that. The heart donor comes in the form of Cristina's (Naomi Watts) husband who died in a car accident caused by Jack Jordon (Benicio del Toro), an ex-con who has served his sentence and is on the path of spirituality.

Naomi Watts is convincing as a depressed, drug addict. Benicio del Taro as a severely guilt ridden Jack Jordon, essays perhaps the best role of his life to date. The entire movie demands one to sympathize with the characters and leaves you a bit shaken.

The first half of the movie does get confusing, as the scenes are not in chronological order. One even wonders if there have been a series of editing errors. By arranging the pieces abruptly, the director actually demands attention from the very beginning. The pieces have been brilliantly shot, showing the past, present and the future of the characters lucidly.

The music is peaceful. High contrast visuals evoke somber imagery apt for a dark, non-linear narrative. It's only when the movie is over that you will fit all the pieces together and watch the movie again. And this time, you'll love every scene in it.

Alenjandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams is a masterpiece (Also on CR - Alejandro's Babel).

Genre: Drama

Movies You May Like: Babel, Amores Perros, Ayutha Ezhithu (Yuva), Pulp Fiction

-Vijay V. Giri

2008-05-10T23:37:00.017-05:00

Review: Tie me Up Tie Me Down (1990) - An engrossing watch^{Raided Now!}

Quality Score 8.5/10

This is a touching French film titled – Átame. It is the story of Ricky (Antonio Banderas), a young man recently released from a mental institution. He is obsessed with Marina (Victoria Abril), a former porn star and recovering heroin addict since he shared a night with her in the past. Ricky kidnaps Marina, believing that he can force her to fall in love with him. Eventually Marina does fall in love with him, but still considers herself as his prisoner and tells him to keep her tied up so that she won't try to escape. Subsequently, she reluctantly escapes with the assistance of her sister Lola and what happens thereafter completes the story.

Pedro Almodovar’s skill as a master story teller and his ability to enagage the viewer comes to the fore. Rather than populate the film with many characters, as he did in his other films, here the story focuses on the compelling relationship between the actress and her kidnapper as they literally struggle for power and are desperate for love, too. The film's title line Tie Me Up is unexpectedly uttered by the actress as a genuine request. She does not know if she will try to escape or not, and when she realizes she has feelings for her captor, she prefers not to be given a chance.

Indian star Kamal Hassan’s creation Guna (1992) was inspired from this movie. Volver is yet another offering from Almodovar you will enjoy.

Bottom Line: All in all this is an Almodovar classic!

Genre: Drama, Foreign

Movies You May Like: Guna (Tamil), Volver

- Abhishek Bharathkumar

2008-05-10T22:50:00.009-05:00

Review: Tashan(2008) – Little style and No substance

Quality Score: 4/10
Masala Value: 7/10

All polls and surveys taken over the recent months unanimously said that Yash Raj Film’s Tashan was the most awaited film of 2008. Obviously, I did everything possible to see the movie at the earliest but only to be disgusted and totally disappointed.

Bhaiya-ji (Anil Kapoor) is a dreaded gangster who desires to learn English before he meets with a foreign delegation. His secretary Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) seeks the services of Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan), a call center employee; Casanova and part-time English teacher and entrusts him with the job of teaching her boss English. Subsequently, Jimmy and Pooja join hands to swindle Rs. 25 crores from Bhaiya-ji. A humiliated and defeated Bhaiya-ji then summons his protégé Bachan Pandey (Akshay Kumar) and orders him to capture Jimmy and Pooja and thereby recover all his lost money. The sequence of events that follow when these individuals come together is the base of the story.

Director Vijay Krishna Acharya, has bungled big time with this one. Vijay’s story is based on a wafer thin plot and his script is nowhere close to his previous works - the blockbuster Dhoom series’. He takes the audience for a ride and assumes that they will accept anything if presented in the name of ‘masala.’ Though there are a good number of twists and turns in the story they don’t come as a huge suspense; I’m not sure if it is the screenplay or execution that has failed to deliver this effect on the viewer. Anil Kapoor’s Hindi-English phrases do sound funny but since all of his lines are in Hindi-English it gets monotonous.

I consider Akshay Kumar as one of Bollywood’s true action heroes – a guy who dares and does all of his breathtaking stunts on his own. It was really pathetic for me to see him do these outrageous sequences that seem ridiculous even if you forget your brains. It even makes me wonder why he agreed to be a part of this sad show. The climax and the entire action sequence shot at a dilapidated warehouse look stupid (for lack of a superlative) and meaningless. Saif emerging out a small and narrow canal in a water scooter could be the funniest scene of the year and Kareena’s air-show with effortless flight and immaculate landing could maybe win her a spot in a Quidditch team.

However, without any surprises the only positive thing to come out of the movie is Kareena’s brand new chic avatar. She had specially groomed herself for this movie, her hour-glass figure and stylish looks fueled the promotion of the movie and got her on the cover of every fashion/glamour magazine you could think of. As if to vindicate all of this, she does look stunningly pretty in the dark colored salwars and scorching-hot in a bikini. From her perspective it is a role and movie that will be remembered for various reasons.

The duo of Vishal-Shekar disappoint with their mediocre music score. Just the melodious number, “Falak Thak” strikes a chord and is also shot well.

Watch this movie only if you are a die-hard fan of one of the stars else I’m sure you will have better things to do.

Genre: Desi/Hindi, Action/Adventure

- Varun Prasad

2007-12-30T01:23:00.001-05:00

Review: Taare Zameen Par (2007) – The stars among us

Quality Score: 7.5/10

Amongst the meaningless, trite Bollywood fares that are doled out by the leading stars and movie makers, more often than not (recent OSO, Saawariya come to mind), Taare Zameen Par is a gem of sorts. Be it for the rarity of its kind or the message that it carries or the fact that it even carries one, TZP will hopefully stand out to be a trendsetter. While we have seen movies with social themes in the past, this one is packaged nicely to refocus the spotlight on an issue that is overlooked or ignored many-a-times.

Watch Trailer!

The story is very simplistic. A young 9-year old boy Ishant Nandkishore Avasti (Darsheel Safary), has a very active brain typical of his age and a correspondingly active demeanor as well. He is pre-disposed towards colors, fishes and dogs, while anything related to numbers or alphabets evokes a wondrous world filled with wondrous characters led by a “bindaas” Ishant. However, his failings in securing even a passing grade in most of his tests at school attract scorn from his parents and teachers alike. His brother’s successes at sports as well as education highlight Ishant’s failures greatly.

Ishant’s weaknesses and behavior are loosely attributed by one and all around him, even by his parents, to his attitude, and this leads to his increased aloofness from all that are important for a kid of his age. His parents finally give in to their misplaced instincts and send Ishant off to a boarding school hoping that this will strengthen his discipline and hence his all-round ailing. After enduring even more hardship at his new school, Ishant finally finds a protagonist for his development at school and in life from a depressed young boy to an especially talented kid, in the form of a temporary Art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan).

The movie flows nicely as Ram identifies that young Ishant is a victim of Dyslexia and has been forced into depression and isolation by the society and begins a path for his reformation. While Aamir Khan fills the screen with his usual charisma and involvement, the supporting cast of Vipin Sharma and Tisca Chopra fill in adequately as Ishant's ignorant parents. It has been a big opportunity for young Darsheel and his natural disposition as the character of Ishant is commendable and bodes well for a bright Bollywood career.

Objectively speaking, one has to mention that the directorial debut of Aamir Khan is a mixed bag. Like mentioned earlier in this review, the latter half of the movie flows smoothly. However, the initial parts of the movie did appear to drag for quite a while. The picturisation and overall screenplay has been very well done and I for one would be interested in watching Aamir’s future ventures. In the world of Indian cinema, where dead beat subjects based movies are dime-a-dozen, this movie stands out and calls for recognition for addressing the medical and social concerns posed by Dyslexia, as also the importance of the roles of parents in addressing the same.

Genre: Desi/Hindi

- Prasanna Ramakrishnan

2007-08-02T18:43:00.002-05:00

Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Transcend the limits...face the unknown!

Quality Score: 9/10

Infinite: having no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude

Evolution: a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)

Great artistes are few; those of unparalleled creations are even fewer and do occur only once maybe in a generation. Stanley Kubrick, needless to say, is one such freak of nature, or happenstance of evolution if you may, that happened for the boomers here in the United States.

2001: A Space Odyssey is without a doubt his Magnum Opus, which stimulated critics and average movie goers alike to question or embrace the movie one way or the other. Irrespective of the reaction, the movie forced people to think and question long held beliefs of the “known” and the unknown. It has to be noted though that the content as portrayed in this review is probably only one of the many interpretations that the movie presents us with.

2001 discusses one man’s interpretation of the concept of human evolution, and more importantly, his extrapolation of the same, 35 years in the future. Divided into 4 sections, the movie begins by depicting the pre-human apes that live in groups, fighting and defending resources necessary for survival. As if to introduce a whiff of simplicity to a concept so profound, Kubrick uses a slick, black monolith to represent the catalyst that sets of a sea change in the way man (and his ancestor, the ape) thinks, behaves and ultimately evolves.

The (intentionally buried?!!!) monolith challenges both the apes and men alike to seek their inner courage and to challenge the unknown. This in turn induces both to come up with ingenuous tools that ultimately help in their quest of the unknown; the unknown being relatively different in both cases. The same tools that helped men in daring to reach for the unknown ultimately prove counterproductive in their survival. This happens to the extent that man almost replaces himself with his tool, as the leading purveyor of the expanse of space in earth’s immediate neighborhood.

Kubrick’s signature is seen vibrantly in the presentation of the plot. His clever use of classical music coupled with the unhurried screenplay exudes reality in the scenarios portrayed therein. This movie however is not what most people would consider as the best choice for an easy evening viewing. It is one that stimulates a calm mind and forces a person to reason one way or other with it. The message communicated through this movie, in this writer’s view, is clearly that the unknown is mysterious, so long as it is left unexplored and unreasoned. One may never realize the hand behind how things come to pass (the monolith in this movie), but the inherent tools possessed by men are sufficient to help in any quest to understand the same.

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action/Adventure

- Prasanna Ramakrishnan

2007-07-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Review: Ratatouille (2007) – A treat to all citizens! Pronounced Ra-at-too-ee
Quality Score: 7/10

The pride of Pixar Animation Studios is their innovation & creativity. They guard these traits of theirs so closely that their intensity, passion and commitment is unmatched. Pixar yet again manages to maintain its intrinsic characteristics in their latest rodent venture. A slight deviation in the theatres led us to watch Ratatouille instead of Transformers which I eagerly awaited since last summer which I watched too later in the week!

If your thinking Ratatouille is the protagonist’s name, you are mistaken, a certain person of French origin might relate to it better or perhaps his taste buds might. It is a side dish comprised of the likes of tomatoes, garlic, onions and other ingredients, which actually isn’t a matter concern for this review. Shifting focus to Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat residing in the interiors of France, has the gift to guess about anything from the smell and the ambitions of becoming a chef. He is audacious and has a motto of not eating garbage setting him apart from his hog-anything clan. An eventful attack by a human separates Remy from his family, and by fate finds him in the very place he dreamed of – Gasteau’s, France’s famous restaurant extraordinaire. Remy is enthusiastic but has to find a way to find himself to fulfill his lifelong desire.

Constantly motivated by his psychological angel – the great Gasteau himself, Remy finds the slow stuttering Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano) as his conduit into the kitchen. Remy is able to control Linguini’s movements by pulling his hair and uses this to cook up the delicacies in the kitchen. The flawless food even melts the arrogant critic Ego who eats his own words along with ‘Ratatouille’. Eventually he gives in to the rat’s inexplicable ‘chefness’.

While Ratatouille strains to live up to ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘The Incredibles’, that have set the bar very high, it certainly stacks up as another of Pixar’s exceptional animative exploits. Ratatouille is directed and written by Brad Bird (The Incredibles).

Genre: Animation, Comedy

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2007-06-21T20:39:00.003-05:00

Review: Sivaji – The Boss, totally in sync with Style & Stardom
Quality Score: 7/10
Masala Value: 12/10!

The buzz is finally over! Kollywood has been bustling with anticipation for months and the media has added to this euphoria with all the hype and coverage it can possibly provide. And what was the result of this equation? Sivaji just blows the audience away proving that the Rajini-Shankar-ARR combination is just the most formidable of them all. Trust me; the audience went berserk with every dialogue and every move the super-star made in the film. It’s like a big bang for tamil films, breaking the lull that has been prevailing for sometime now.

Watch Trailer

Sivaji is yet another addition to Shankar’s slew of hits. The theme is not un-guessable considering the director’s history. It’s about the prevalence of black money in our society and the omnipresent corruption that hinders the upliftment of the dark areas in India. Sivaji (Rajinikanth), a highly ambitious software architect returning from United States is instantly displeased with the state of affairs & rising poverty levels in India. So Sivaji along-with his uncle (Vivek), floats a venture ‘Sivaji Foundations,’ a pool of hospitals and universities for the welfare of the poor and needy. Very piqued by Sivaji’s ambitious nature, is Adi (Suman) a powerful kingmaker/businessman whose ultimate goal is to dominate and quell Sivaji’s social desires. So there starts the movie, as Sivaji overcomes each hurdle placed in his way and ultimately completes his Rs. 200-crore project and thereby, realizes his dream. Selvi (Shriya) plays his love interest.

This undoubtedly is one of Shankar’s toughest assignment till date. He has to walk a tightrope between the presentation of his usual message against the evils of society and serve this in superstar-ly fashion laced with all the trademark antics. Add to that the pressure of satisfying fans and living upto the hype – Shankar has come up with the best he can offer in a clutch-performance.

Vivek is paired with Rajini in a major role for the first time and their combination does bring the roof down at times. Being the superstar’s heroine is the biggest role Shriya can dream of in her career. She looks HOT, no seriously! Oozes glamour and lights up every damn frame. This movie is sure to bring her international recognition and fame.

The most note-worthy part of the movie is the colossal sets and the make-up. Rajni has been made to look young and more stylish than ever before - kudos to Manish Malhotra, for pulling this feat. A.R.Rahman’s songs have been utilized very well throughout the movie; Shankar’s picturization in the backdrop of Thotta Tharani’s set is a true revelation. Thotta’s much publicized glasshouse set in the ‘Sahana’ song is a brilliant spectacle. In line with Shankar’s tradition of fast-beat pre-climax numbers’ ‘Athiradee’ simply beholds the viewer.

Although content-wise it may lack depth when compared to other Shankar movies, remember this is a Rajini-starrer, specially designed for him. You goto a Rajni movie not for story-value but for unlimited mass entertainment and there is no dearth of it. I call it no less than a ‘nuclear hit’ for lack of a better phrase.

Above all, it is set to shatter all records and take Tamil films to greater heights. Sivaji has ensured that the Rajni-phenomenon is now a national theme.

Bottom Line: Sixkku approm Seven da; Sivajikku approm yevan da!

Gen

- Chandrachood Ramkumar, Varun Prasad

2007-05-29T21:39:00.000-05:00

Preview: Sex And The City - "Get Carried Away...."

Sex and the City, one of the most popular sitcoms of recent times comes to the silver screen as a full-length feature and will open at a cinema near you, this weekend. The movie starts from the point where the series ended. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) finally decides to marry Mr. Big (Chris Noth). All what the girls do as they plan and get geared-up for the event is the basic story. Once again Carrie’s intelligence, Miranda’s weirdness, Charlotte’s perfection and Samantha’s fantasies come together to enthrall you. We will have to wait and see if the movie will have enough fashion; glitz-glamour and substance to attract the chicks and make them love this flick.

[Stay Tuned for the Full Review on Celluloid Raiders]

2007-03-12T18:16:00.000-05:00

New: Click to see 'Celluloid Raiders Logos', you can add to your site

Raided Now!		Drama	More ..

Spartacus	Salaam-E-Ishq	A Simple Plan	Apocalypto
Desi	More ..	Foreign	More ..

Pokiri	Thiruvilayadal Aarambam	8 1/2	Children of Heaven
Assorted		Raiding Soon!

Spirited Away	Matrix	Rataouille	Oceans 13

2007-03-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

Review: Babel (2006) – Another Amores Perros? I don’t think so!

(5/10)

4 people, totally disconnected, lives intertwine, time-bending screenplay, unfortunate consequences, how it all fits together…Have you seen that before? Memento, Crash, Snatch, Amores Perros, Pulp Fiction, Identity, 21 grams, the list of such genre seems endless! It seems to be the current fad in Hollywood, but its my personal belief that this is fad-ing!

Of the mix, Amores Perros & 21 grams are the making Alejandro Gonzalez who is an innovator in direction, and here is stalemate Babel by him. Through the 142 minute movie the recipe of your mood might oscillate between depression & disappointment. I think I already lost an audience!

On one hemisphere, married couple Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett) decide to vacation in Morocco when Susan is accidentally shot by 2 trigger happy Moroccan kids. The situation soon escalates into a political pandemonium when Richard struggles to hold to Susan’s life. Meanwhile at San Diego, Richard’s kids are taken on a roller-coaster ride to Mexico by their caretaker Amelia who decides to go to her son’s wedding. Fun, frolic & liquor at the wedding turns into a series of unfortunate events at the border.

Watch Trailer

On the other hemisphere, a deaf and dumb Japanese teenager who feels deprived of carnal pleasures and human sentiments is driven to desperation. Her father (Koji Yakusho) turns out to be the owner of the rifle that wounded Susan, which involves them into the equation.

Brad Pitt’s appearance in the film is short and he represents his character well. What perplexed me most, was the part about the life of the Japanese girl which had no rhyme or reason in the relation to the developing circumstances. The scope of the screenplay is limited and it wouldn’t stun any audience. Gustavo Santaolalla of Brokeback Mountain (2005, Academy Award winner) fame brings out the sorrow of the occurrences with his blend of unique instruments. Babel is nothing close to what it was expected to be – ‘a sensation’.

Awards - 7 Oscar Nominations (Film, Director, Background Score, Editing, Supporting Actress (2), Screenplay)

Awards Won - Gustavo Santaolalla , Background Score

Are you thinking: Why Babel? It means: a scene of noise and confusion.

Genre: Action, Drama

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2007-02-20T01:14:00.000-05:00

300: The Review [Coming Soon!]

2007-01-25T19:45:00.002-05:00

Review: Spartacus (1960) – “We cant just be a gang of drunken raiders..We have to be gladiators!”
(7/10)

Trivia (Comment to Answer): Which Roman era did Spartacus belong to?

Thy Romans shall wait, while the mighty Spartacus raises an Army & Commands a rebellion, from a clan of many slaves. Yes, you guessed right! I am talking about the epic, heroic & the tragic tale of Spartacus. Behold while Stanley Kubrick unveils his ingenuous skill of direction in this 1960 epic. Well, the list is endless isn’t it, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, Spartacus! They call it diversification in the Finance world & versatility in Hollywood. Yes, Kubrick is unique & renowned because he is one who stands apart by investing his directing prowess in diverse topics.

Spartacus probably highlights Kubrick’s career peak. Set in the era of the booming Roman Empire & Gladiators, ravaged slave Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is sold to trainer Batiatus. Batiatus holds a troupe of slaves whom he trains for entertainment in the arena. Spartacus is far bigger & beyond the shackles of the mere Batiatus. Soon, Spartacus leads a rebellion against the power hungry Romans in an attempt to free his slave ‘brothers’.

While the story unfolds with Spartacus leading & conjuring an army towards freedom to Southern Italy, he also falls in love with the serene Verinia (Jean Simmons), a beautiful side-track to a rebellion. Meanwhile in Rome, politics prevails in the senate between the dictator Crassus (Lawrence Olivier) & diabolical senator Gracchus (Charles Laughton) who aides Julius Ceasar. Under the Patriotic façade each one claims to save Rome, their ulterior motives and how it intertwines with Spartacus & his battalion is where the inner meaning of the movie lies. Ultimately, in Gladiator parlance it is believed, ‘Its honor that defines the point of culmination’.

Though the film stretches the depth of imagination, at times it does so with your patience too. But, at the end of it all, you will be satisfied. Kirk Douglas’s performance was unmatched. He doesn’t overdo his acting, and brings the feeling of compassion & pity to perfection. Stanley Kubrick proves yet again that genre-defier is wholesome director!

Bottom Line: Hail Spartacus!

Movies to watch: Gladiator (2000), Braveheart (1995), 300 (2007)

CR Team Comments (Comment to Spread your views about Spartacus):

“A 184 minute marathon of heroism & Kubrick's versatile display” - Chandrachood Ramkumar

“It’s Classic Kubrick again” - Arun Nirmal

Genre: Action/War/Drama

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2007-01-24T13:45:00.001-05:00

Salaam-e-Ishq – A never-ending love saga
Quality Score: 4/10
Masala Value: 8/10

Coming from the Karan Johar School of cinema you should expect the movie to be unimaginably long; have nice and grand songs; have a stunning star-cast and preach some message. Well, true to the open secret Salaam-e-Ishq is a loose adaptation of the Hollywood flick Love Actually (2003).

As proclaimed this is the story of six couples all dealing with the common problem of love in its different manifestations – well just five couples for all practical purposes as the Sohail Khan–Isha Koppikar track was an utter waste. It was a crass and cheap comedy track that was totally disjointed and spurious in the film.

John Abraham-Vidya Balan; Akshay Khanna-Ayesha Takia; Anil Kapoor-Juhi Chawla (with the debutant Anjana Sukhani); Govinda-Shannon Esra and Salman Khan-Priyanka Chopra are individuals in various stages of their life facing kinds of dilemmas. Further how the power of love comes together with fate and destiny to cure their maladies forms the basic outline. The screenplay is about how these distinct tracks intersect and finally comes together in one climax sequence. To pick one the John Abraham-Vidya Balan track was the best. It is their tragic story that really goes onto touch your heart and causes a tear to trickle down your cheek.

After four hours, I failed to find any clear message coming from this movie – from the title I figured Nikhil Advani says that true love is the solution for all problems and nothing is impossible when you tread the path of love.

I will confidently refute the merit and quality of the script; maybe it was good in portions here and there. From that perspective, I’m a huge fan of his Kal Ho Na Ho and this one is no where in that league. At the end of the day as an avid fan no lines or sequences stay in your mind. I wonder why these directors’ do not realize that the narration of good stories supported by a perfect screenplay should be as concise, condense and crisp as possible for the viewer to truly relish and cherish the experience – 15 to 16 reels to be specific.

I do seriously salute Nikhil for one thing – he has managed to do what Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farah Khan have not and perhaps cannot do – make a movie without Shah Rukh Khan. For me to see a director make films with different actors shows his versatility and the trust he places in his story/script.

Salman was his usual self, seeing him take-off his shirt and render such ‘pyaar-bhari’ dialogues in the same tone with the same expressions is quite a familiar sight by now.
So far Priyanka Chopra has been paired with every top hero and she just looks good with every one of them, which is a great asset for a lady! Performance-wise, I do still find her artificial at times and will hope she matures with time. In Vidya Balan’s short career, firstly it is rare to bag such heavy and diverse characters in each film and secondly, it is special for she has excelled in these roles with ease. It was fun to watch Govinda’s moves after a while, but I found him a bit loud in a few scenes. Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla gave us polished performances that showed why these veterans were a class apart.

Continuing their consistent run of good albums in the year 2006 Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy impressively score in this one too. As you would expect the songs looks better on screen and to me the title song stands out for sure.

Another multi-starrer made for the NRI and multiplex audiences – watch only for your favorite star or song.

- Varun Prasad

2007-01-22T19:31:00.001-05:00

Review: Pokkiri – Vijay’s Pongal special - Fans Only

Quality Score: 4.5/10
Masala Value: 8.5/10

As a cinema connoisseur/critic, first let me tell you why the movie was so hyped and is big. Vijay wrestled to buy the re-make rights following one of his biggest flops and now returns this Pongal after the longest sabbatical of his career. Prabhu Deva after establishing himself in Telugu cinema wields the megaphone for the first time in Tamil.

Tamil (Vijay) a.k.a Pokkiri is a powerful henchman who will work for anyone who pays him well. Over time, he builds a reputation for himself amongst the city’s different terror groups and they begin to fear him. This entire terror network is run by the international don Ali Bhai (Prakash Raj). How Tamil comes face-to-face with Ali Bhai and manages to clean up the terror mess forms the basic story. In this backdrop, Tamil comes across a happy-go-lucky yoga instructor in Sruthi (Asin). They do eventually fall in love, but refrain from getting together as Sruthi is not sure of Tamil’s credentials in life as a ‘pokkiri.’

The story is definitely not extra-ordinary. You will need star-power and a good screenplay to make such films run – there is abundance of the former and a dearth of the latter. People of all classes loved Vijay’s Gilli solely for its pace, which is completely absent in this movie. It is too slow and moves at a snail pace especially with no content in the first half story-wise. Prabhu Deva, reveled for his racy screenplay has failed to change the initial version and inject some much needed pace in the film and I’m very disappointed with that.

Vijay effuses brilliance and maximum macho-ism in yet another super-hero role. Asin is as attractive as always and had managed to effortlessly captivate and hold 500 people around me speechless in the theater with her sexy looks and magnetic presence. Vadivelu is funny and does make you laugh in some scenes; his mockery of the Ghajini song is too hilarious.

The songs are just average and no tune really stays on your mind. However, the remix of the yesteryear hit number ‘Vasantha Mulai’ is catchy and hummable. The same songs look beautiful on screen courtesy some good picturization and vintage Prabhu Deva choreography. Some of his dance moves are always a treat to the eye!

Caution: If you’re a Vijay fan, dance and whistle while you watch; And if you’re not one, think twice before you watch.

-Varun Prasad

2007-01-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

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Sneak Peek '07 [Page II]

Ocean's 13

Who's No.13? Then Andy Garcia, now payback Al Pacino!

Genre: Action/Thriller

Release Date: June 8

Ratatouille

Disney & Pixar team up after Cars! It's all about a Rat's dream to become a French chef. Truly its 'Pixar creativity'

Genre: Comedy/Animation

Release Date: June 29

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's end

Ahoy Captain Jack Sparrow! His adventures to the world's end must continue..

Genre: Action/Drama/Thriller

Release Date: May 18

Shrek 3

In a kingdom far far away will the reluctant green Ogre hold the throne?

Genre: Comedy/Animation

Release Date: May 18

Captivity

For all you 'mad' Saw fans, fall into Captivity!

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Release Date: May 18

2007-01-14T15:18:00.002-05:00

Spirited Away (2001) - Visual Tapestry painted like no ever !

(8.5 / 10)

The first time I saw Spirited Away I was blown away. Not a big fan of anime, I developed a great interest after seeing this movie. There wasn’t a single moment where my attention wasn’t completed focused.

The story is about Chihiro, a young girl who is very apathetic, whiny and complaining. The family, while moving to a new city, miss the turn off and reach an abandoned theme park. While exploring the park her parents get enticed by the spells of evil spirits.

Watch Trailer

Young and abandoned Chihiro is now trapped in a mythical world where she must find her inner strength to survive. The world she inhabits is just magical, special and unusual place you will ever see. She finds out that her only hope to survive is to find a job at the bath house - a retreat for an incredible range of funny and mythical spirits. The plot of the movie spins around how Chihiro grows tremendously as a person to help her parents come out of the evil spell.

The director Hayao Miyazaki introduces a range of interesting characters - Master Haku with special powers, a strong aid to Chihiro and also the henchmen of Yubaba the witch who runs the bath house; Kamaji - the boiler man; Lin – Chihiro’s co-worker; variety of spirits and funny creatures. Though the work is hard and people strange, she gives her best shot to save her parents.

This film is created with full of sight, sound and story. Spirited Away has lot of realism to it and the impact it has captures the imagination of all audiences - young and old.

I should definitely write about the director “Hayao Miyazaki”. He is one of the greatest film makers living today, truly admired by all animators for his unique vision and exceptional creativity. Hayao Miyazaki has created his master piece. This movie is the highest ever grossing film in Japan. I am grateful to Pixar Animation Studios for bringing “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” as “ Spirited Away” to America.

Bottom Line: Wonderful, Fantastic, Make Believe!

Awards: Oscar (2003) Best Animated Feature - Hayao Miyazaki; Won 34 different awards.

Other Movies of Interest: Castle in the sky (1986), Kiki’s delivery service (1989), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds (1984), Mononoke – Hime (1997)

Genre: Animation / Adventure

- Sandhya Sundar

2007-01-14T11:25:00.001-05:00

Review: Children of Heaven (1997) – Truly Heavenly

(8.0/10)

I watched this movie last summer when my friend Srini recommended me this 1997 Iranian movie by Majid Majidi. I can’t thank him enough for his eclectic recommendations.

Photo Gallery

In this gentle and touching family drama from Iran, two children find a divisive plan to hide the loss of a pair of shoes. Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) and his sister Zhara (Bahare Seddiqi) are from a very poor hard working neighborhood. Their mother is suffering from illness and their father is permanently overworked and stressed. When Ali goes out to pick up his sister's shoes from a repair-shop, a blind street worker accidentally takes them. Afraid of the consequences and the chance of getting a beating from his dad, Ali and his sister concoct a plan by which she will wear his old sneakers to school in the morning and bring it back to him to wear them for school in the afternoon till they find zhara’s shoes.

But the plan has its flaws because Ali is late to school everyday and although being an excellent student he is threatened of expulsion. When Ali and Zhara find out that her shoes aren't just lost but they end up on the feet of another poor schoolgirl; these lovely kids don’t have the heart to ask for them back.

Meanwhile their father's determination to support his family leads him to seek out gardening work on the rich side of town. The gap between the rich and poor is very sad to see, yet Ali and his father take it as a fact of life. In a final act of desperation to find Zhara a new pair of shoes, Ali enters a race. Winning a four kilometer school race is important, not for fame, but because it is necessary. Why? You must find that out for yourself.

This is a film about compassion and family values and it is based on innocence and simplicity, making it a very moving experience, which in the process makes us realize how our growing years have been so perfect and how much we are gifted.

Movie Moral : A hope of a better life is ever-present if you truly love your close ones.

Bottom Line : You’ll learn something from the movie no matter how old you are.

If you enjoy watching “Children of Heaven”, then I suggest you also see “Color of Paradise (1998)” by Majid Majidi and “It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)” by Frank Capra.

Genre: Foreign / Drama

- Arun Nirmal

2007-01-12T05:30:00.001-05:00

Review: Otto e Mezzo - 8 ½ (1963) – Latino a molti : Senso a alcuni

(10/10)

Where do I start? So, you are thinking 8 ½ ! – What an odd title for a film. All Fellini’s previous works I Vitelloni (1953), La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957) and La Dolce Vita (1960) hit critical acclaims and won Oscars. Fresh coming out of the international success of La Dolce Vita, master director Federico Fellini had done 6 films, 2 short films and co-directed one film, a total of 7 ½ films. At this juncture, left with no new ideas, he faced a great tornado of self-doubt, ambition and burnout. So Fellini made 8 ½, a movie about himself, which eventually became one of the greatest masterpieces of movie making. The movie is literally titled to mark his work on his 8 ½th feature film.

Watch Trailer

The film opens with a claustrophobic scene with a man suffocating in a car caught in a traffic jam. He breaks free by cracking open the sunroof of his car and soars high in the air like a kite. Soon, he realizes a rope tied around his ankle that is violently pulling him back to earth. The man is Guido Anselmi. Hauntingly awakened from his fantasy, he finds himself in a spa where Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) struggles to find his creativity to finish the screenplay for his ongoing film. What follows suit is how the troubled Guido deals with his dry creative spell and his private life.

Reality hits Guido in the form of his wife (Anouk Aimee), his mistress, the actress (Claudia Cardinale) and the producer. When his environment becomes exceedingly chaotic, Fellini showcases his audacity in cinematography by switching from reality to memory sequences using a range of characters until it’s impossible to distinguish them apart. Fellini seamlessly portrays the psychological struggle of Guido’s inner fantasy world and the circus-like exterior.

There are a lot of inner intricacies in the film, which can be comprehended only if you have watched the movie and I do not intend to kill that interest. Marcello Mastroianni gives an utterly gorgeous performance as Fellini’s alter ego Guido Anselmi. I was so awe-struck to see how incredibly creative Federico Fellini is and how he could turn his internal struggle into a phenomenally inspirational masterpiece. “8 ½”, is one of the greatest films about film making ever made that extends the boundaries of cinematic greatness. It is at par or may be even better than “Citizen Kane” or “Brazil”. It’s too bad it’s not for everybody, but it should be. I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a deeply thought-provoking time.

Bottom Line:

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography.” – Federico Fellini
“We were on the moon! But when Fellini made 8 1/2, he was on mars” – Martin Scorsese

Movie Quote:

“I really have nothing to say," "but I want to say it all the same.” – Guido Anselmi

Awards:

1964: Academy award for Best Foreign – Language film

Genre : Foreign / Drama.

- Arun Nirmal

2007-01-12T02:37:00.000-05:00

Last Week's Trivia Winner: Varun Rajiv(antickpix), Bangalore, India

Find the Jack's movie Hint : J.J. Gittes

2007-01-07T16:15:00.000-05:00

Trivia [Comment to Answer]
Last Week's Trivia Winner: Vignesh (twistedintellect), Fresno, California.
Answer: i. Dr. Strangelove; ii. You've got mail ; iii. Lawrence of Arabia; iv. Back to the future; v. Apocalypto

Guess the Actor, Movie and the Director

2007-01-04T17:22:00.013-05:00

By Reviewer (Click on the name to read their reviews )

----Arun -------------------Chood --------------Prasanna ---------- Sandhya--------------Varun

Index of Reviews

0-9
2001: A Space Odyssey
21 Grams

A
A Simple Plan
Anatomy of a Murder
Apocalypto

B
Babel

C
Children of Heaven

D
Dhoom 2
Dasavataram

F
Fargo

I
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

L
Lola Rennt

M
Matrix
Motorcycle Diaries

N
No Mans Land

O
Old Boy
Otto E Mezzo - 8 1/2

P
Pi
Pokiri

S
Salaam-e-Ishq
Schindler's List
Sex And The City Raided Now!
Sivaji: The Boss
Sivapathigaram
Spartacus
Spirited Away

T
Taare Zameen Par
Tashan
The School of Rock
The Shawshank Redemption
Thiruvilayadal Aarambam
Tie Me Up Tie Me Down - Atame
Tombstone
Der Tunnel (The Tunnel)

V
Vallavan
Veyil
Vivah

2007-01-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

CR Feature

Trailers of the week

Number 23

300

Tranformers

The Science of Sleep

Angel - A

GrindHouse

2007-01-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

AWARDS

ACADEMY(OSCARS):::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::GOLDEN GLOBE

The CR Afterthought/Review
Coming Soon..

79th Annual Academy Awards (Page to the Oscars)

2007-01-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

BEST PICTURE

Babel	The Departed	Letters from Iwo Jima	Little Miss Sunshine	The Queen
BEST ACTOR			..

Leonardo Dicaprio(Blood Diamond)	Ryan Gosling ( Half Nelson)	Peter O'Toole (Venus)	Will Smith(Pursuit of Happyness)	Forest Whitaker(Last King of Scotland)
BEST ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz ( Volver )	Judi Dench ( Notes on a Scandal)	Helen Mirren ( The Queen )	Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)	Kate Winslet ( Little Children)
SUPPORTING	ACTOR

Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)	James Haley (Little Miss Sunshine)	Djimon Hounsou Blood Diamond	Eddie Murphy Dreamgirls	Mark Wahlberg The Departed
SUPPORTING	ACTRESS

Adriana Barraza Babel	Cate Blanchett Notes on a Scandal	Abegail Breslin Little Miss Sunshine	Rinku Kikuchi Babel	Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls
DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese The Departed	Alejandro Inarritu Babel	Stephen Frears The Queen	Clint Eastwood Letters from Iwo Jima	Paul Greengrass United 93
BEST FOREIGN	LANGUAGE

After the Wedding	The Lives of Others	Pan's labyrinth	Days of Glory	Water
BEST ADAPTED	SCREENPLAY

Borat	Children of Men	The Departed	Little Children	Notes on a Scandal
BEST ORIGINAL	SCREENPLAY

Babel	Pan's Labyrinth	Letters from Iwo Jima	Little Miss Sunshine	The Queen
BEST COSTUME

Curse of the Golden Flower	The Devil Wears Prada	Dreamgirls	Marie Antoinette	The Queen
FILM EDITING

Babel	Blood Diamond	Children of Men	The Departed	United 93
BEST ANIMATED	FEATURE

Cars	Monster House	Happy Feet
ART DIRECTION

Dreamgirls	Pan's Labyrinth	Good Shepherd	The Prestige	POTC (DMC)
BEST CINEMATO	GRAPHY

Pan's Labyrinth	Children of Men	The Illusionist	The Prestige	Black Dahlia
SOUND MIXING

Blood Diamond	Dreamgirls	POTC (DMC)	Apocalypto	Flags of our Fathers
SOUND EDITING

POTC (DMC)	Blood Diamond	Apocalypto	Dreamgirls	Letters from Iwo Jima
ORIGINAL	SCORE

Notes on a Scandal	Babel	Pan's Labyrinth	The Queen	Good German
BEST MAKE-UP

Apocalypto	Pan's Labyrinth	Click
BEST VISUAL	EFFECTS

POTC (DMC)	Superman Returns	Poseidon
DOCUMENTARY	FEATURE

Deliver us from Evil	Iraq in Fragments	Jesus Camp	An inconvinient Truth	My country My Country

2007-01-02T18:19:00.001-05:00

Review: The Matrix (1999) - A sci-fi tribute to real world philosophy

(8.5/10)

One of the early trailers featured on the TV channel STAR Movies of The Matrix, showcased the advanced special effects involved in the movie, later attributed to a 3D imaging software called Maya (Remember the leapfrog kick from Trinity and the oh-so-famous Neo bullet dodging scene?). The immediate reaction from a bunch of geeky, wannabe techies that we were was, Wow!

Watch Trailer

The Matrix is a pull-no-punches-back, high octane action movie, backed by an innovative science-fiction plot, that is adeptly handled to challenge the boundaries of human cognizance of the world that is seen and felt by touch and experience. The Wachowski brothers do this and more, without allowing the audiences' thoughts to wander even for a moment. They deserve all the kudos that they should have received since the movie came out.

A bunch of outlawed rebels, living in the underworld of cyber and real world crime, led by the world’s most sought after terrorist Morpheus(Laurence Fishborne), are onto something big – Neo. They are however on the verge of being rounded up by three straight faced and intrepid agents, who know no fear or fear no death, led by Agent Smith.

Neo, a k a Mr. Thomas Anderson(Keanu Reeves), working during the day as a developer in a reputed software firm, is posed with an option to take a ride through the rabbit hole to establish why the agents are hunting him down and to equally find out if his inner feelings about the real world consciousness have any validity. Neo opts for, and is taken deep into the rabbit hole, as he is quite literally unplugged from his consciousness and taken in for a crash course on what the real world looks like. As Morpheus shows him around his ship, the Nebuchadnezzar and its crew, Trinity(Carrie Anne Moss) being the second in command, reality hits Neo pretty hard, about what he has woken up to, and his role in the same.

His reactions to the first exposures, and performance in the first tests that everyone takes after being unplugged, force skepticism among Morpheus’ men and women about the former’s faith in Neo being the Messiah. Morpheus consults and bases his beliefs from the Oracle, a clairvoyant woman who nurtures children with ‘potential’, to free the confined souls from the Matrix. He is convinced of his beliefs being true.

The events that lead to Neo’s re-birth into the One (in case you haven’t noticed the anagram yet), just as the Oracle suggests earlier, and the exponential gain in his mental and metaphysical abilities, that help him make the agents redundant and hence confront the Matrix, are extremely well presented and best told by the movie itself. The dialogues are well thought out and the scenes are, needless to say, well directed. The cast performance is adequate to meet the needs of the story and screenplay.

The movie popularized for the first time in the western world the concept of illusion, which forms the basis of an eastern religion, Hinduism. It works towards presenting a plausible scientific reason for the creation of the illusion, but as the later sequels showed, it only formed a basis for a deeper philosophy of man’s creation and destruction. The Matrix is a sci-fi/ action classic for the ages.

Awards:

Oscar (2000) - Best Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound

Favorite Dialogues:

“You mean I can dodge bullets?”

“What I mean is, when you are ready Neo, you wouldn’t have to.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Anderson”

“My name, is Neo”

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action

-Prasanna Ramakrishnan

64th Annual Golden Globe Awards: Predictions and Winners !

2007-01-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

(* Predictions indicated by the color red ) (*winners indicated by the color yellow )

Best Motion Picture Drama

Babel (won)

Bobby

The Departed

Litte Children

The Queen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Penelope Cruz : Volver
Judi Dench : Notes on a Scandal
Maggie Gylenhaal : Sherry Baby
Helen Mirren : The Queen ( won )
Kate Winslet : Little Children

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed
Peter O'Toole – Venus
Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland (won)

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
DreamGirls (won)
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You for smoking

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/ Musical

Annette Bening – Running with Sciccors
Toni Collette – Little Miss Sunshine
Beyoncé Knowles – DreamGirls
Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada (won)
Renée Zellweger – Miss Potter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/ Musical

Sacha Cohen – Borat (won)
Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribben : Dead Man's chest
Aaron Eckhart – Thank you for Smoking
Chiwetel Ejiofor – Kinky Boots
Will Ferrell – Stranger than Fiction

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Adriana Barraza – Babel
Cate Blanchett – Notes on a Scandal
Emily Blunt – The Devil Wears Prada
Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls (won)
Rinko Kikuchi – Babel

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Ben Affleck – Hollywoodland
Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls (won)
Jack Nicholson – The Departed
Brad Pitt – Babel
Mark Wahlberg – The Departed

Best Animated Film

Cars (won)
Happy Feet
Monster House

Best Foreign Language Film

Apocalypto ( United States)
Letters From Iwo Jima ( japan ) (won)
The Lives of Others (Germany)
Pan's Labyritnh (Mexico)
Volver (Spain)

Best Director

Clint Eastwood – Flags of Our Fathers

Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima

Stephen Frears – The Queen

Alejandro Iñárritu – Babel

Martin Scorsese – The Departed (won)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Babel - written by Guillermo Arriaga
The Departed - written by William Monahan
Little Children - written by Tood Field & Tom Perrotta
Notes on a Scandal - written by Patrick Marber
The Queen - written by Peter Morgan ( won)

Best Original Score

The Painted Veil - composed by Alexandre Desplat (won)
The Fountain - composed by Clint Mansell
Babel - composed by Gustavo Santaolalla
Nomad - composed by Carlo Siliotto
The Da Vinci Code - composed by Hans Zimmer

*Eddie Murphy for Best Actor in a supporting role and Cars for Best Animation is still a shock to me! ... watch for our oscar predictions for nominees and the winners !

- Arun Nirmal

2007-01-01T17:21:00.000-05:00

Review: A Simple Plan (1998) - As Greed prevails, all else fails! ^{Raided Now!}
(7.5/10)

I must say that at one point I was only watching such movies that were so depressing and had a lot of uncalled-for blood. 'A Simple Plan' is one such film that actually delineates the wrath of snowy weather and the ever consuming greed of the being. Chances are you will like this movie if you enjoyed Fargo, since both these movies commence and progress on similar notes. Only 'A Simple Plan' has got a heavier star-cast than Fargo, with Bill Paxton (Hank Mitchell), Billy Bob Thronton (Jacob Mitchell), Bridget Fonda (Sarah Mitchell) and is directed by the famous Sam Raimi (Spiderman series, coming soon Spiderman III (2007)!).

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It all starts when brothers Hank & Jacob and a friend, Brent Briscoe (Lou Chambers), chance upon a downed plane stashed with 4.4 million dollars. After a lot of quarrel, a consensus is reached to stow the money under the watch of Hank and wait to see if the owner comes to claim it. After the expiry of the wait period they would split the sum equally amongst themselves. It was that simple..at least so they thought.

Hank is portrayed as 'the good person' who is poisoned by his diabolical wife (Sarah) and Lou who is neck deep in financial debts. Jacob on the other hand is slow witted, bovine, suppressed and acts on the orders of Hank and Lou. All these forces combined with greed and need, trigger a chain reaction of lies, betrayal and murder. The partners slowly lose trust on the other and the going gets even shadier when they realize that murder is the only way, the money will be theirs..
All credit should be given to Billy Bob Thronton's performance as the timid Jacob who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best supporting actor. Maybe I wouldn’t have watched the movie if not for this star cast, but the story and screenplay (Scott.B.Smith) are gripping enough to hold you put.

Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars in 1999 - Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thronton) & Best Screenplay (Scott.B.Smith). Thronton did in fact walk away with many critics awards.

Bottom Line: Conquer greed or get conquered!

Movies you might like: Fargo (1996), The Guilty (2000), Dial M for Murder (1954), Double Indemnity (1944)

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller/Crime

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2006-12-30T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sneak a Peek : 2007

2006-12-29T23:27:00.000-05:00

Review: Apocalypto (2006) – Affording a Revelation

(7.5/10)

I have been waiting for a long time now to watch a movie based on the South American civilization. I’ve always thought it would have been the true story of the legendary Incan emperor Atahuallpa, but Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” turned out to be one of the best action packed movies of the year. Mel Gibson is always good for a surprise, and his latest epic-drama is a remarkable film. Set in the last days of the early 16^th century Mayan civilization, the picture provides a journey through the never seen before land of the Mayans, offering exceptional sights of vividness and power.

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The film opens with an animal hunt that flows into a practical joke on one of the hunters which levitates the intensity, and instantly humanizes the characters. But from the very beginning you have this unsettling feeling that their peaceful existence won’t last for long. Our instincts are confirmed when a ravished tribe interrupts the hunters while they feast on their prey. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) gets immediately suspicious, but his father cautions him not to allow his fears to consume him – an advice that helps him during the later part of the movie.

Jaguar Paw’s world is abruptly disrupted very shortly afterwards when his village is attacked next morning by the Mayan Holcane warriors in search of human sacrifices to their gods. As his village is literally plundered, Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife (Dalia Hernadez) and their young son, Turtles Run (Carlos Emilio Baez) in a nearby pit before he is taken captive and forced to a treacherous journey to a distant Mayan city. Will he come back to his wife and save his family?

When I was watching the movie, I began to realize that I could never visualize the intricacies in the film, like the way Mel Gibson did. The movie is enormously gifted with exotic locations in the rain forests of Costa Rica and Mexico’s Vera Cruz, fantastic sets, amazing costumes, authentic Yucatan Mayan dialect and the greatest expressions by the performers.

Specific scenes like the adrenaline pumping chase sequence, the drop from the waterfall, and the human heads bouncing down the long steps of the pyramid, portray Mel Gibson the filmmaker, at his best.

Bottom Line: Once in a while, we all need a violent jungle action movie to keep our evening entertained. Don’t miss the experience.

Genre: Drama/Action

- Arun Nirmal

2006-12-18T22:46:00.000-05:00

Review: Thiruvilayadal Aarambam(2006) – Frivolous Masala, yet again…

Quality Score: 6/10; Masala Score: 7/10

Introduced to Kollywood as a corruptible school boy and later as a wanton psychopath, Dhanush has tried to dig deep into such past successes to try and reverse his present fortunes. It is hard not to see the parallels of his role in Thiruvilayadal Aarambam with his older movie Thiruda Thirudi. The plot of the movie though leaves a lot to be desired. But, what the heck, the movie is of the masala genre where oversights to educating the masses are ignored with grace. So will this movie be too!

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Thirukumaran (Dhanush) , young and unemployed, lives with the typical movie family of a working Dad, home making Mom and a school going younger brother in Ayanavaram. Thiru is your typical loafer, albeit with some vestiges of seriousness about developing a decent career through business. However, he is not supported financially or morally by his dad who questions his ability to make anything of himself in life. Subsequently, Thiru leaves his family.

At this juncture, Thiru, as is his cinematic prerogative, comes across Priya (Shriya), the sizzling young sibling of a business magnate Guru (‘Ungal Chellam’ Prakash Raj). The story fast tracks into how he seizes the moment not only to get acquainted with his dream girl, but also to launch his career in business. The plot loses itself in the details of Thiru’s games to acquire capital, and not on how he utilizes it. The questionable means of acquiring this capital is justified quite unreasonably towards the end.

A fast paced, comical thoroughfare that the movie probably intended to be appears to have been only partially realized. Thanks due again to the unjustifiable plot. Besides, many scenes involving the Thiru vs Guru confrontation are obvious derivatives of scenes from yester year Rajinikanth movies. Such abject imitations could well have been avoided without making the movie any worse.

Thiruvilayadal Aarambam appears to have been designed for the season’s junta looking for a quick laugh and some light weighted entertainment. It more or less appears to have delivered on this front. The casting is well rounded with Prakash Raj filling his usual shoes of the opponent supported by Mouli, Sharanya and Karunaas performing adequately again in familiar roles. Any mention about Shriya coming from me has to be biased, and I must say her looks and appeal blew me away yet again!

D. Imman has bought himself some credibility over the past few years and does his reputation no harm with some decent numbers, notably ‘Vizhigalil’ and the remix of ‘Ennama Kannu’ from Mr.Bharath.

Bottomline: The limited thought process that seems to go into developing most screenplays these days is simply astounding to say the least! Despite all these frailties and more, Thiruvilayadal Aarambam is worth watching when there is nothing better to do.

Cast: Dhanush, Prakash Raj, Shriya
Music: D.Imman
Direction: Bhoopathy Pandian

Genre: Desi/ Tamil

- Prasanna Ramakrishnan

2006-12-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Review: Fargo (1996) - Red drops on white snow

(8/10)

This being my first review for Celluloid Raiders, I decided to write about one of my all time favorite thriller movies, “Fargo”. This crime story, said to be adapted from a true life incident is not, in fact, “Based on a true story”. The movie written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (Miller’s Crossing) is about the kidnapping of Mrs. Lundegaard (Kristin Rudrud) planned by her husband Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy – “The Cooler”).

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The movie starts with Jerry meeting the two henchmen Carl (Steve Buscemi –“Con Air”) and Gaear (Peter Stormare – “Constantine”), hired to kidnap his wife for a ransom by conning his father-in-law. He also hands them a brand new car for their operation, from his father-in-law's auto dealership, where he works as a sales executive.

After the abduction, they take the wife from Minneapolis to Fargo in North Dakota. During the road trip they are stopped by a cop owing to registration plates. Carl tries to bribe the officer, who doesn’t budge, thereby gets shot in the head by his accomplice Gaear. The killing escapade starts with the cop and what follows suit are for the readers to watch.

The case is investigated by a pregnant Minneapolis cop Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand – “North Country”). Her performance is outstanding and her presence levitates the tense situation in the movie. Marge’s dialogues for the interrogation scenes clearly prove the writing skills of the Coen brothers. To name a few, “am just doing my job here Mr. Lundegaard”; “He’s fleeing the interview”; “Why did you do it, just for a little bit of money…?”. Such dialogues enhance Marge’s cool and strong character.

The movie from the start to end is very gripping particularly to see the plot come apart in a chaotic manner. William H. Macy has played the role of a 'loser husband' to perfection. The movie also makes the viewer experience the extreme bitter weather and deserted Interstates of the North. It is a must see film for its brilliant writing, tragic plot and Frances McDormand.

Movie Moral: “There is more to life, than just money”

Bottom Line: The Coen Brothers are by far one of the best writers of our time.

Special Mention: Other critically acclaimed works of Coen Brothers include “Miller’s Crossing”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Big Lebowski”.

Spoiler: 7 murders

Awards: Nominated for 7 Oscars (1997) including best picture, director, actor, film - editing, cinematography. Frances McDormand won Oscar for best actress in a leading role, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for best writing, screenplay.

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller

- Sandhya Sundar

2006-12-17T01:40:00.000-05:00

Trivia [Comment to Answer]

Last Week's Trivia

Winner: Vignesh (twistedintellect), Fresno, California.

Answer: i. Taxi Driver; ii. Jackie Brown; iii. The Good Shepherd; iv. Raging Bull

Anagrams* [Movie Names]

Grave lost nerd (2 wds) - Peter Seller's love for atoms and more !
I'm a guy to love (3 wds) - Tom Hanks romantic hitch
Ace Albian warfare (3 wds) - O' Toole's war
Out There! Fat buck (4 wds) - Back to ?
Aptly a coop (1 wd) - a Mayan epic !

Enjoy the puzzle!

Meaning: *Anagram - A word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.” (Courtesy. dictionary.com)

2006-12-16T14:36:00.000-05:00

Review: Sivapathigaram – Old wine, old bottle

Quality Score – 3/10; Masala Value – 5.5/10

Sivapathigaram, true to the legend with a similar name, is the story of an angry young man who rises against the bureaucracy to fight the system.

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Elango (Raghuvaran) is a retired college professor who comes down to settle in his village with his daughter Charulatha (Mamta Mohandas). He asks his student Sathyamoorthy (Vishal) to join him and help with a research project. As you would expect by now Charulatha falls for Sathya. Subsequently, elections are announced in Tamil Nadu and Sathya with the backing of Elango goes on a serial-killing spree and takes out a few candidates contesting the polls. Following this panic strikes the other candidates and causes them to withdraw their nominations; all this creates a furor in the state and elections are postponed. The motive behind Sathya’s killings is told in a flashback and how the police nab them completes the story.

Firstly, parts of the film remind you of the Vijayakanth-starrer Ramana. The screenplay is flawed in the sense that the story and the scenes are extremely predictable. When Vishal starts killing people, you know a flashback is coming up and also perhaps what it is about. The film drags-on, is too slow for words and eventually makes you lose interest. Vishal in the pretext of “telling a message” gives a sermon in the climax and I was almost asleep by then.

Vishal, the uncrowned king of ‘B & C’ centers after successfully staring in high voltage action-packed mass entertainers all set in perfect village milieus does what he does best again. The essence of his character in all of his films is the same and by now I feel such roles are tailor-made for him as he fits into the shoes of the character perfectly.

Mamta Mohandas is the next big import to Kodambakkam from Kerala and she is here just to provide the glamour quotient. Personally, I was floored by her, but we will have to see if she will survive in Tamil cinema amidst this pool of malayalee maidens. Raghuvaran makes a comeback to acting and looks neat in this character-role he portrays to perfection.

Karu. Palaniappan who gave us an excellent and novel love story in Parthiban Kanavu has tried his hand at a different genre but disappoints by picking a familiar subject and presenting it in a mundane fashion. Like his previous film, he has an eye to make things look natural; all scenes set in rustic settings look so real.

Vishal has been lucky that all his movies have had good music and this one is no exception. Vidyasagar is back and has produced a couple of soft melodies. I have to mention the ‘Chitirayil Ennavarum’ song that stands out and continues to haunt me.

Viewers Choice: Agreed - Vishal has established himself as a semi-urban mass-action-hero and mastered such roles, but it is time he moves onto different subjects to show us what else he is capable of or he’ll become stale.

Genre: Desi/ Tamil

- Varun Prasad

2006-12-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

Review: Veyyil – Really, a ‘hot’ change

Quality Score: 7/10 ; Masala Value: 4/10

In today’s industry, a movie under the banner of director Shankar’s ‘S Pictures’ would mean a complete quality entertainer. Shankar has this knack of backing new directors and boosting their non-conventional subjects out into the market with an unparalled confidence, and he makes no mistake with this one too.

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The story is narrated by the protagonist Murugesan (Pasupathy). It is about his life – his struggles, his triumphs and his emotions. Murugesan and Kathir (Bharath) are the sons of a butcher in a small village near Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu. The first twenty minutes is about their childhood and the fun they have with the other boys. Murugesan is frustrated after being excessively scolded by his father and therefore leaves his home and makes a living by working in a theater. Meanwhile his brother after his education and runs an advertising agency. How their lives progress and the events that characterize the same completes the film.

To me this is an out and out rural subject, though not a completely off-beat one. The script pre-dominantly revolves around and brings out effectively the relationship between Pasupathy and his family and the bond between the two brothers. It is presented well by the new director Vasantha Balan and is backed by a neat and coherent screenplay. Towards the end of the movie there is an overdose of sentiments (read tears) and violence making a few scenes look stereotypical and the film a bit lengthy. Above all it is a very practical movie as in what happens in reality has been captured to perfection.

Though we may have seen Pasupathy do different kinds of roles in the past (in Virumandi, Mumbai express and Majaa to name a few), this one stands out and as the cliché goes, he has transformed himself into the character. With a lot of effort in the role, he turns-in an award-deserving performance. Hats off!

Bharath is a great choice for the role of Kathir. After having seen him in Kaadhal and Em Magan, it seems to me as if this character was tailor-made and written for him. I’m forced to conclude that no one else could have done a better job. Bhavana after an impressive and successful debut in Chithiram Pesuthadi continues from where she left. With her sweet looks and suave skills, she is here to stay. Shriya Reddy looks convincing in her small role.

Music by the much-hyped G.V.Praksah, A.R.Rahman’s nephew is only average. However, the lyrics are powerful and carry weight.

All said and done, I believe this is a welcome and good change from the today’s ubiquitous average run-of-the-mill masala movies.

Genre: Desi/Tamil

- Varun Prasad

2006-12-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

Review: Dhoom 2 (2006) - "Just Eye Candy!"

Quality Score: 5/10; Masala Value: 9/10

So much hype, so much expectation, so many stars, such a revolutionary concept, such an extention to the legacy! Dhoom 2 enthralls audience of all ages like its prequel. Please welcome the advent of successful sequels in bollywood! The star studded front ends are glamorous very well backed by a good storyline. Hrithik Roshan & Bipasha Basu were so hot that they set the screen ablaze! Aishwarya, Abhishek and Uday supported them with their solid acting talents in their respective roles. Ultimately it was a wholesome experience that unwound into an edge-of-the-seat thriller with a style similar to ‘Oceans 11’ and ‘Entrapment’.

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That’s what they all said! On the contrary, Dhoom 2 disappointed me. I was unhappy with the patchy screenplay and some unrealistic plots. But as they all say again, do not expect such things from bollywood! Soon, I fell into a slumber although I made sure I had limited visual access to the screen to write this review.

The movie revolves around Aryan (Hrithik Roshan), an international thief committed to stealing the world’s rarest artifacts, from crowns and gems to art works in the rarest of locations. The film starts with Aryan jumping on a running train performing some gravity defying stunts that stuns a serene audience. On completion of his assignments he sticks the symbol “A” and exits the scene of crime. Enter, new addition Shonali Bose (Bipasha Basu) to the D1 team - Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bacchan) & annoying deputy Ali (Uday Chopra) who are determined to put to an end to Aryan’s exploits. Jai does a decent job, but his character was never well etched. Ali’s humor never fit in the equation: he came, he tried and the movie concluded. You might now be wondering as to why Uday acts only in his family productions! Any takers?

Shonali is the crowd puller with her stunning looks, but soon disappears owing to a broken leg. This is when a no-brainer happens, Monali Bose (Bipasha Basu again) replaces her in a Brazilian location when Jai & Ali are looking for Aryan. She has no role and the movie ends without showing what happens to the cop Basu, a flaw in the direction.

While Aryan, dogs the cop brains, there comes an accomplice in the form of the ravishing Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai). Soon, Sunehri wins Aryan’s heart with her latent talent in larceny. Trying too hard to be different and stylish, Sunehri doesn’t potray her character of a local thief very well. She has got a great accent, but contrives the term “like” in almost every sentence which was particularly annoying.

Unrealistic scenes such as the one when Aryan escapes through a manhole by acid oozing from shoes and levitating between buses with magnetic hoofs are of extreme novelty. But, the creditworthy fact remains that there is no dearth of glamour in bollywood, which explains the high Masala value. The music almost never caught on except for “Krazy Kiya re”, there were some song sequences that didn’t blend with the plot. The remixed Dhoom soundtrack was average.

Bottom Line: If you love Bips, you like Dhoom2 : The converse is always true.

Genre - Desi/Action/Adventure

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2006-12-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

Review: Pi: Faith in chaos (1998) – Quantitative description of chaos

(6.5/10)

Everything about Pi and the story surrounding it enthused me. Coming from an engineering background, physics always puzzled me, not that I even remotely excelled in it. But there is a predicament amongst theorists if everything in the universe can be scientifically explained. Science has its root in mathematics. Mathematics governs the core of all theories, postulates and laws. So the question now remains, can any happening in the universe be mapped by numbers? Is there a mathematical explanation to every object/event in the universe? Is there by some chance a number that can define the vagaries of the stock market and unlock the key to explain god? Pi, is a movie based on this premise.

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Written & Directed by Darren Aronofsky(Requiem for a Dream(2000), The Fountain(2006)), this scientific thriller explores into the brain of an obsessed mathematical genius Maximillian Cohen (Sean Gullette) who is in the quest of a 216 digit number that may well solve the puzzle of life. Max suffers from serious anxiety disorders and is dogged by persisting headaches which no pill can cure. He continues to work on his research on his main frame – Euclid which is often incapacitated by the level of mathematical operations performed.

The movie begins with these 3 premises that Max believes with all his heart..
I: Mathematics is the language of nature
II: Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers
III: If you graph the numbers of any system patterns emerge: therefore there are patterns everywhere in nature.

During the middle of the movie, several characters appear such as the Wall Street executive, Marcy Dawson (Pamela Hart), a jewish cult and a very affectionate Asian neighbour. Whether these characters are a figment of Max’s hallucinations or real, that’s left to your imagination! In some way or the other these people seem to be particularly interested in Max’s findings or his life.

Pictured in Black & White and peppered with mathematical jargons such as golden ratios, golden spirals, chaos theory, Pi gives one a perfect feel of a scientific thriller/drama. But the occasional gory visuals seem quite unnecessary and the viewer loses attention span at some point during the film. Another specialized script under Darren Aronofsky’s sleeve!

Movie Moral: Nature has its own laws!

Bottom Line: Science junkies, watch this movie with not too much of expectations.

Like movies I suggest: Contact(1997), Frequency(2000), A Beautiful Mind(2001), K-Pax(2001)

Genre – Sci-Fi/ Thriller

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2006-12-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

Review: Tombstone (1993) - “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
(7/10)
Hollywood and

America

have always been fair with the life of cowboys, mostly because of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. The lives of the policemen and law officers in the west have been in sidelines for a long time now. This is one of the few films where the cowboy is not the hero, at least not when Wyatt Earp is around and Doc Holiday hangs out with him!

This George Cosmatos (Rambo) movie, set in 1880’s, deals with the tale of the legendary true story of Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell – The Thing), a former U.S. Marshal who retires from Law and moves into Tombstone, AZ with his two brothers, Virgil and Morgan Earp to settle down and make a small fortune for themselves. However, the town they now live in is strong-armed by the local cowboys who threaten even the souls of the local village clan. Tensions escalate when eldest Earp joins the law after not being able to tolerate the loss of human values and civil rights in the gun crazy cowboy town. Things go hay wire when one of the cowboys kills Morgan Earp during the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Wyatt calls it quits and leaves town with his family. It is at this point where we witness Wyatt’s change into his true nature, the fiery eyed U. S .Marshal. What follows is really the wrath of the western law. Wyatt Earp teams up with Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer- True Romance) to do it.

Kevin Jarre’s script is perfect with brilliant lines that match every character’s personality.

The use of the powerful western dialect coupled with Kurt Russell’s fiery eyes and Val Kilmer portrayal of the cool Doc makes Tombstone a dynamite western-drama. Val Kilmer steals the show in every frame he is in, completely overshadowing Russell’s performance. It is easily Kilmer’s best performance.

The only drawback for the pace of the movie is its parallel sappy romance where Wyatt tries not to fall for the free spirited stage actress Josephine Marcus (Dana Delaney).

Movie Moral: “Tell all the other curs the law’s comin’! You tell ‘em curs I’m coming …………………and Hell’s coming with me” - Wyatt Earp (1882)

Bottom Line: “Fight's Commenced! Get to fightin' or get away! – Wyatt Earp (1882)”

So how do u make a great western movie? Cast Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston and Billy Bob Thorton in one. It’s a definite must watch. One of the rare cowboy movies you’ll ever see.

If you liked “Tombstone”, I suggest: Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven released the same year, which bagged the Oscar for the best picture

Genre - Western

- Arun Nirmal

2006-12-04T22:13:00.000-05:00

Review: The School of Rock (2003) – Laughter medicine!
(7.5/10)

The first time I noticed Jack Black was in “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)”. He plays a small role and is hacked to death by the blood thirsty fisherman, but his cameo sure did crack me up. He is stout, cocky and makes you roll. He accomplishes his duty to the fullest as an acting school teacher in “The School of Rock” directed by Richard Linklater. I watched it twice and it’s my conclusion that this man has got some energy! Mike White who stars as Ned Schneebly, is the writer of this movie who is also the writer of another of Jack Black’s movie – Nacho Libre.

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He throws himself to the crowd in merry in a rock concert as the part of a band. What happens next is foreseeable, the crowd moves and he crashes with a thud. That’s Dewey Finn (Jack Black), a wannabe rock-star whose antics result in him being fired from his band. Dewey’s life takes a downward spiral since then with mounting debts and low confidence. Just then Dewey Finn finds a chance to guise himself as Ned Schneebly (Mike White) for the position as school teacher of a private school.

Jack Black teaches history of rock, chemistry of punk and geography of bands, and unleashes the inner musical genius in his students behind the drapes of uptight principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack). The class enjoys Finn’s company who trains them to enter into a music competition – “Battle of the Bands”. Dewey Finn wins the heart of his students by his very amusing training and offbeat practices within the confines of the classroom. Jarring vocals, sweet choruses, nimble pianists and professional guitars form the School of Rock, the high octane school band.

Jack Black and his facial antics make him an excellent situational comic. His acting prowess is evident in this film, especially because he is so free in his gestures causing the audience to laugh out loud!

Bottom Line: A funny movie for all ages!

Jack Black movies you’ll love: Shallow Hal (2001), Nacho Libre (2006), Tenacious D (2006)

Genre - Comedy/Musical

- Chandrachood Ramkumar

2006-12-03T19:13:00.000-05:00

Trivia [Comment to Answer]

Last Week's Answer: I. The Deer Hunter (1978); II. Dhoom:2

Guess the 'Robert De Niro' movies

Winner: Vignesh (twistedintellect), Fresno, California.
Answer: i. Taxi Driver; ii. Jackie Brown; iii. The Good Shepherd; iv. Raging Bull

2006-12-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

Review: Schindler’s List (1993) - The list is Life^{Raided Now!}
(9/10)

After writing reviews for a few international films, I asked myself if it was high time to talk about Hollywood. It has been by far the most progressive film industry with the best potential and great talent to back it. Not all Hollywood flicks are great, but the ones that are good usually turn out to be really awe-inspiring and tremendously motivational. I was thinking about one such movie to elaborate and the first one that came to mind was my No. 1 all-time favorite -Schindler’s List.

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During the mid 1980’s, the movie's script was referred to Spielberg, for him to direct it. Spielberg decided to produce the movie but opted not to direct it as he doubted if he could do justice to the story. After being turned down by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas), Roman Polanski (The Pianist) and Billy Wilder (Stala g 17, Apartment), he however decided to do it himself.

Oskar Schindler is a German businessman, who during early World War II, discovers that the best way to make money is during a war. He starts a utensils factory by attracting investment from Jewish businessman and by hiring Jewish workers for slave wages, thereby making a great deal of money. In the process, he becomes a member of the Nazi part and cultivates deep friendships among the S.S.

At some point, however, his fundamental motivation does change. Perhaps it happens when he watches the Nazis destruction of the Warsaw ghetto or probably when he decides to hire sub-standard workers brought in by his Jewish bookkeeper Itzhak Stern (Sir Ben Kingsley), fearing their plight in the ghetto. The second half of the movie shows Shindler’s change. He and Itzhak Stern compile a list of 1200 Jews who they decide to save from the brutal Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) and the Third Reich. How he does it is for you to watch.

Ultimately Schindler's Jews survive. Today there are around 6000 of their descendants. Many of the rescued Jewish people and their families appear at the end of the film, placing memorial stones on Schindler's grave. It was a fitting and moving conclusion. The movie is a moving and passionate celebration of heroism, document of horror, and a deep study of humanity.

Bottom Line : It is by far the best movie from Steven Spielberg.

Movie Moral : "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire"

Director’s Touch : Girl in the red coat, Warsaw ghetto massacre.

Academy Awards : Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay, Best Cinematography , Best Art-Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Music/Original score. Liam Neeson was nominated for Best Actor but the award was bagged by Tom Hanks for his inspirational role in “Philadelphia”.

Genre: Drama

- Arun Nirmal

2006-11-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

Review: Oldboy (2003) - literally!
( 6 / 10 )

This being the first review that I originally wrote for our new blog, I had to start to with my favorite genre [Thriller film -noir]. I have been tremendously fascinated by movies from Hitchcock's to Tarantino's. Being highly recommended on IMDB and Netflix based on my interests, I thought " cool - let's ". The bad thing was that I watched it before dinner.....

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The movie revolves around the life of the hero “Oh Dae-su”, an average Korean salary man who is mysteriously kidnapped and locked away for fifteen years in an apartment room with a TV, from which he learns what is happening in the outside world – including the murder of his wife, for which he is framed. A solid fifteen-minute stretch shows his ordeal in the room as he stops asking why this has happened to him, and slowly becomes hallucinated with revenge and murder. Without any warning he is released with a wallet full of cash and a cell phone, with instructions to find out who is responsible.

And while he ponders the reasons for his sudden release, Dae-su meets Mido, a young sushi chef who takes pity on him and agrees to shelter him. It appears that the person behind his imprisonment has further plans for him — and that his nightmare is never over.

Old Boy is a dark revenge-thriller from South Korea featuring scenes of people being assaulted and tortured with hammers, live squids being eaten, and teeth and fingers being hacked off. I have to agree, parts of the movie are vividly crude, and its ugliness is strangely fascinating (at least to people with a high tolerance for such things). Still it pushes too many levels and is filled with many false endings that eventually makes it tiresome. The film seems ready to end several times. What's worse, is the ending that filmmaker settles for is the most goofy, shocking and sick endings of the various options he had. I think I am starting to feel a little sick with plots like "A man finds himself in". Is it because its so easy to think of or because you can screw it anyway you want it after you've thought of it!

Movie Moral : Revenge is ultimately hollow and it causes pain for everyone involved

Bottom Line : "Oldboy" is an exercise in brutality just like " Kill Bill" and " Sin City"

My plight : Lost Apetite !

"Oldboy" is rated R for strong scenes of action violence , graphic gore, occasional use of strong sexual profanity , drug content, graphic simulated sex and multiple scenes of torture"

Genre: Foreign / Thriller

Language: Korean

- Arun Nirmal

2006-11-30T21:58:00.001-05:00

Review: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – An epic drama
(9/10)

It has not been 5 minutes since the closing cast came up and I am already sketching my review of this film. Truly magnificent, it will unanimously go down in the annuls of cinema history, as the best of the best that Hollywood has churned out. I will personally recommend this to any audience who sits in front of the television!

Watch trailer

Directed by Frank Darabont (Green Mile), Tim Robbins and the inevitable Morgan Freeman light the screen in this mind blowing drama based Stephen King’s novel. This is a story of the young and very successful banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) who is sentenced to a double life imprisonment in the Shawshank penitentiary after being framed for the murder of his wife and her lover. Quickly, the more reticent Andy makes thick friends with inmate Red (Morgan Freeman), one who is known to “get things from time to time for a price” among associates. Red is a small time smuggler of goods from the outside world into the prison.

Shawshank has obviously the most notorious guards and the very obtuse warden, Bob Gunton who is a strong believer in slavery, bribery & the Bible. Very soon, Andy becomes a lovable part of the prison community when he helps friends with some cold beer in exchange for saving some tax money for the chief guard and setting up a fully equipped library. His expertise in financial planning is squeezed to its max for 20 years at Shawshank when Andy decides that its time, as he reaches his breaking point…

Although Red’s performance is sterling, Andy steals celluloid with his more intellectual movements combined by his presence on screen. The film unfolds a very interesting drama about Andy always having the glimmer of hope, when his inmates would shrug him away. It is when all elements of movie being story, cast, screenplay & drama fall into place that it can be classified as “critically acclaimed”. To the best of my knowledge of cinema, I wouldn’t shy from saying that this movie would head that list!

Awards: Nominated for 7 Oscars (1995)

Bottom Line: Hope is not just a word, its something people base their lives on. Having said that, I hope you have already rented the movie!

Movies you might like: Forrest Gump (1994) by Robert Zemeckis, The Green Mile (1999) by Frank Darabont, Schindler's List (1993) by Steven Spielberg

Genre: Drama

- Chandrachood

2006-11-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

Review: LOLA RENNT - Creative (1998)
(7.5 / 10)

Following my genre pattern , I have to rant about one of my favorite movies of all time. It was 6 years ago, when my college friend mentioned “ Run Lola Run” to me. He had read somewhere that the movie included virtual reality concepts and time loops. I got really excited about it and tried to track the movie. It got tricky as the movie was in German and all I could get was a copy with no subtitles. Still I decided to watch it knowing well that it won’t make any sense. How wrong was I!

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The movie is based on the universal motif “Unpredictability of the world and its twisted nature”. The story revolves around the red-haired Lola ( Franka Potente) , who has just 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutshmarks for her boyfriend Manni ( Moritz Bleibtreu) who needs it by noon or he will be killed by his smuggling boss after a transport mishap which caused him to leave the bag on the train. Now Lola is in a complete fix , has to work something out immediately to save Manni. But her impulse is to drop the phone, run out and find the money before Manni takes matters in his own hands and robs a supermarket. Along Lola’s run, she bumps into a range of characters whose futures change distinctively every time Lola thinks differently. These scenes have been depicted by a series of still frames maintaining the high pace of the movie.

This 1998 Tom Tykwer’s film is highly unconventional and non-linear. The structure of the film is quite stylish and it gives viewers 3 different aspects of the story line, each 20 minute long where Lola pictures differently as she runs which incidentally affect the path she takes. The film provides existential clarity on fate or Karma.

Another important aspect of the film is its pulsating techno soundtrack. The music really lifts the running sequences making a run for life scenario. Franka Potente herself sings on some of the tracks! Practically the whole running time has techno music in the background I think that made it the heartbeat of the film.

Movie Moral : What happened has happened and couldn’t have happened in any other better way. What will happen, will happen.

Bottom Line : This movie is intellectual, exciting and will keep your heart racing. It’s a definite must watch.

My State : Internally Excited !

Genre : Foreign / Thriller

Language: German

- Arun Nirmal

2006-11-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

Review: Vallavan – Masala with a Sour taste! (2006)

Quality Score : 4.5/10; Masala Value : 7/10

Vallavan, riding on a high wave of expectations for being the second-directorial venture of Simbu following his successful ‘Manmadhan,’ battled several controversies and finally saw the light of the day only to thoroughly disappoint me.

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As the movie opens with a comedy scene followed by a fight sequence and a couple of romantic exchanges between the lead pair of Vallan (Simbu) and Sandhya (Nayanthara) and a song in the first few reels, you think that you are set for another college love story – but the turn of events that follow only frustrate you through the interval. The story takes a twist in the second half and goes into flashback mode where Vallan rejects the love of his high-school classmate and a psychotic-girl, Geetha (Reema Sen). How Geetha re-enters the scene with vengeance to spoil the hopes and dreams of Vallan forms the rest of the plot.

The story has no substance in it, lacks emotion and the screenplay fails to support it too. A number of sequences have been poorly portrayed – for one they seem highly unrealistic and too hard to digest it is almost as if you are taken for a ride. The characterization of Reema Sen is the height of exaggeration and pushes one to the limit. To top all this, the film is too long beyond words and goes on to test the patience of the viewer.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music has failed to give the film a much-needed fillip. Following the current trend, two songs are re-mixes of popular yesteryear hits. The “Loosu Penne” song crooned by Simbu himself is the only one that stands out and stays in your mind. However, all the songs have been shot beautifully in a ‘music-video’ style and look crisp – this slick presentation provides a good visual appeal. Even with a battery of seasoned artistes of the likes of S.Ve. Sekar, ‘Lollu Sabha’ Santhanam and Sathyan, the comedy portions seem idiotic and get monotonous after a point.

Simbu as an actor has performed exceptionally. With lengthy dialogs, he gives himself a lot of scope to perform and there is enough of style true to his title of ‘Little Super Star.’ Reema Sen looks natural and real in her role of an obsessive, possessive and psychotic-girl. Nayanthara has cemented her place among the Tamil youth through this film for she turns in a commendable performance and oozes with glamor. ‘Kadhal’ Sandhya is sweet and essays her role to perfection.

I understand Simbu’s intent to create a movie packaged with all commercial ingredients with a dash of innovation, but he has to remember his audiences have brains, too!

Genre: Desi

Language: Tamil

- Varun Prasad

2006-11-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

Review: Diarios De Motocicleta (Motorcycle Diaries) – Road to El Che (2004)
(7.5/10)

I watched Motorcycle Diaries last summer not just because it was a coming of age, true life story of the legendary “El Che”, but also because I was already a big fan of Mexican cinema, Gael Garcia Bernal and Walter Salles.

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This 2004 movie, directed by Walter Salles (Central Station), is based on the travel diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), during their eventful South American cross continental trip in 1952. Ernesto, a third year medical student specializing in leprosy, and Alberto, a research biochemist head out on their battered old 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle that they have nicknamed "La Poderosa" (The Mighty One). The goal is to travel 8,000 miles and make it to Venezuela in time for Granado's 30th birthday.

The Journey takes us through Andes, along the coast of Chile, across the southern desert into Peru and through the Amazon. Guevara narrates through the whole journey from the actual letters and diary entries he wrote, which brings a parallel time frame in the movie. What follows is what these two men observe as they interact with the people around them eventually dropping their superfluous idealism for a more deep humanistic understanding. Its during the farewell speech at a leper colony, we begin to understand Ernesto’s transformation and his need for a personality change from a naïve young student to a more honest and subtle man. Later in life, Ernesto Che Guevara becomes El Che (meaning “The Che”) who brings about the Cuban revolution in 1959 along with fellow revolutionary Fidel Castro.

Rodrigo De La Serna brings good natured humor and warmth to the role of a larger than life travel companion, nicely portraying the strong chemistry in their bond. The Director Walter Salles has created a very authentic feel to the film by keeping locals on location thus adding a more documentary style to the movie.

The movie is gifted with the incredibly smooth and invigorating music of Gustavo Santaolalla, especially for the walk across the Atacama Desert, the hike across Andean mountains to Machu Picchu and the Peruvian drums soundtrack for the boat ride across Chile.

Special Mention: Gael Garcia Bernal has already proved himself in the Latin industry with movies such as “Amores Perros (2000)” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)” and has demonstrated his talents even further in “The Motorcycle Diaries”. It is no doubt that he is the next big thing in Hollywood. Look out for his roles in “The Science of Sleep” and “Babel” both released this year.

Movies I suggest: “Gandhi (1982)” by Richard Attenborough and “Frida (2002)” by Julie Taymor.

Genre: Foreign

Language: Spanish

- Arun Nirmal

2006-11-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Review: Anatomy of a murder - Moviemaking dissected (1959)
(7/10)

As a big fan of mystery/thriller/suspense movies, it would have been a crime for me to miss Anatomy of a Murder. Yet, it has taken me till today to see it and I am happy I finally did! This film definitely goes down in time as a classic mystery on par with the Hitchcock’s. Somehow there was an eerie similarity to the 1957 movie, 12 Angry Men, another classic that I enjoyed.

This high action courtroom drama in Black & White unveils different aspects of classic cinema. The very adept lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) takes up a challenging case of acquitting a murder charge on Fredrick Manion (Ben Gazzara). The plot is definite. Fredrick Manion, an innocent army lieutenant, kills popular bartender Barney Quill as an act to avenge his wife’s (Lee Remick) rape. But the question is, was Manion in a stable mental state during the time of the crime? With the defense of temporary insanity, Paul Biegler steers the court against his celebrated prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C.Scott). At times, the lewd & outgoing Lee Remick seems to go out of the way to ruin any chances of her husband’s acquittal which makes viewers dubious of her claims. In fact the movie created furor to be ahead of its time with a lot of objectionable content and the usage of excessive profanity!

Although the movie starts on a slow pace, it accelerates into a legal drama with momentary clashes and witty remarks. Highly noteworthy are Biegler’s retorts, when the prosecutor brings legal reinforcements for assistance. The strong dialogues do more than pinch the audience at times during the trial. Although the film doesn’t keep the viewer guessing at all times, it does a great job in holding the events together and leaves a good taste in the end. A healthy piece of information that may lure your decision, this movie was nominated for 7 Oscars.

Bottom Line: Its worth your time on a nice Sunday afternoon!

Genre: Drama / Mystery

- Chandrachood

2006-11-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” - Rhett Butler (1939)

We do not care if Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ have a “La Grande” Italian wedding; if Kate Hudson divorces Chris Robinson; if Brad Pitt adopts Maddox; if Ellen DeGeneres is gay; if Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic or even if Abhishek Bachan and Aishwarya Rai are already married.

We are not paparazzi-providers nor are we celebrity-chasers!

We are here to:

provide quality movie reviews from all languages and eras
bring lost cinema back into prominence from oblivion
And, leave all you movie-buffs satisfied

We do care about Frank T.J. McKay of “Magnolia;” Penny Lane the groupie of “Almost Famous;” Dory of “Finding Nemo;” Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto;” Floyd of “True Romance”; Lisa Rowe of “Girl, Interrupted” and Lalita of “Bride and Prejudice.”

Rediscovering forgotten performances is the sweet stuff we want you to look forward to and that is exactly what we plan to provide. We are not saying that we are the best at what we do, but we might just be. Period.

[11.22.2006] Owl Hoots! Reviews Launched!

Celluloid Raiders Team
Arun Nirmal
Chandrachood Ramkumar
Prasanna Ramakrishnan
Sandhya Sundar
Varun Prasad

2006-11-16T10:17:00.000-05:00

Review: Vivah (2006) – Marketing 'arranged marriages'^{Raided Now!}

Quality Score: 4.75/10; Masala Value: 7/10

It is general knowledge to the average movie-goer in India that a Rajshri Productions’ creation is filled with traditions and customs, full of drama, countless songs and abundant emotions. Sooraj Barjatya has yet again tried to use his old formula and cast a spell on his masses. And he does not even manage to come close to re-creating the magic.

As advertised the movie is about the phase in the life of a boy and a girl from their engagement to marriage. Prem (Shahid Kapur) is the son of an industrialist in Delhi. On the lines of your typical arranged he meets a girl Poonam (Amrita Rao) from the town of Madhupur, likes her and instantly gets engaged. How they develop a bond with each other; how their relationship matures and how they grow to love the other deeply in the next six-months before the wedding forms the story.

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Barjatya bases his story on the same framework and gives it a different form each time. Alright, it is a very sweet story, but completely out-of-place in the contemporary society. The world is progressing, people are moving and social habits are changing – in this context the movie seems totally outdated. For someone of this generation, it’d seem like a period film. Wherever you are, marriages of such kind are hard to fathom today.

The Shahid-Amrita scenes at the terrace, in Delhi and at the hospital are subtle and class, if you’re a diehard romantic you’re sure to enjoy these moments. However, the movie moves at a snail-pace and you feel as if the story is at a standstill. During the last thirty minutes, loads of emotion and litres of glycerin are showered on the viewer.

Though I’ve never been a big fan of Shahid he has dished out a crisp performance, especially in the climax sequences. Amrita looks very pretty and she has to do just that in movie – look coy and a say a few words here and there. Joining the bandwagon I too feel that Shahid and Amrita look best together and their jodi is real cute. Have the roles of chacha and that of his samdhi been reserved for Alok Nath and Anupam Kher - the veterans turn-in a class performance again true to their reputation.

Music has always been a big attraction in all of Barjatya’s previous films but not in this one. The songs are lifeless and don’t stay in your mind. Apparently, Sooraj made this movie for his niche ladies/family audiences who want to see Rajshri’s legacy of ‘paarivaarik’ films weaved with traditions and emotions from him. So, if you are a fan of their genre, don’t miss this one as you will have lots to cheer about.

Rajshri productions have used several innovative marketing strategies to sell the movie including the idea of making it the first Indian movie to be ever premiered on the internet; but, it would be great if they showed some innovation in their movies itself.

Genre: Desi/Family/Drama

- Varun Prasad

2006-06-13T13:35:00.000-05:00

Romance Index

S
Sex And The City Raided Now!

2006-05-11T19:48:00.011-05:00

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