Archive for June, 2008

  • 24
    Scenes that don’t belong…
    This ever happened to you? You are watching this amazing movie (maybe your third or fourth time) and suddenly you feel that the scene on the screen/TV/monitor shouldn’t be there at all. That the movie would have been even better without it? I am not talking about the usual suspects, the songs in our movies which pop up suddenly from nowhere but scenes with action and...
    by Anand Bharadwaj at June 30th, 2008 at 09:06 am
  • 21
    Three Fabulous Zombie Movies (I Don’t Watch Horror Films)
    I don’t watch horror films ’cause I live alone. At least, that used to be my excuse for the last three years. I had a nice little 3-room first-floor pad all to myself for just 3500 bucks a month in Guwahati. Visitors always asked why I needed such a large place. Well, I couldn’t find a 2-room place in time, that’s all. Unfortunately, even in...
    by Kenny at June 30th, 2008 at 07:06 am
  • 12
    The Importance of Being Batman
    I have been meaning to write this for eons now but as the Dark Knight is just round the corner, it felt as the right time to write this. God how clichéd am I…. Well what can be written about Batman? For those comic virgins, I have a small primer in the next 2 Para(s). For all those twats like me, who did nothing much other than read comics, live in a warped world of...
    by Thermoman formerly known as Deepak at June 30th, 2008 at 05:06 am
  • 20
    Their Crime and Our Punishment
    iView Author: Manash Bhattacharjee (New Delhi, India) EMAIL: withheld Their Crime and Our Punishment ————————————————– Despite a frightful and laughable take-off on Sholay, I was surprised to see an excited crowd queuing up on the very first day to watch Ram Gopal’s...
    by PROJEKT iVIEW at June 30th, 2008 at 03:06 am
  • 21
    Life, Approximately
    One of the things that is odd about the way people in our part of the world look at films is the attention they pay to hygiene factors – production values, general level of slickness, etc. It is odd because it is often at the cost of the content – the story, the characters and the general standard of story-telling. For example, not much else can explain the rather...
    by Jaideep Varma at June 30th, 2008 at 01:06 am
  • 3
    Khalid Mohamed starts blogging
    Khalid Mohamed starts his blogging journey on PFC, with his diary – Cinema Ray. Please extend a warm welcome to Khalid, who opens his diary with the first post titled Ray to Go!
    by oz at June 29th, 2008 at 06:06 am
  • 82
    Ray to go!
    Okay, so an indulgently kind and persuasive cell phone voice, belonging to Kartik (surname not quoted), invited me over to blogland. Not quite techno-whizzy, I procrastinated. There were thel hmmms, i don’t know, I’m the good old ink and paper type, Remington typewriter was so sturdy..but yes, I can handle PCs with not a little help from my friends and colleagues....
    by Khalid Mohamed at June 29th, 2008 at 06:06 am
  • 10
    Where is the story?
    I am a very happy man, and the reason is the just announced 54th National Awards. My favourite movies for the year 2006 makes it to the list and importantly in the right category it deservers.   Lage Raho Munna Bhai Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Best Supporting Actor: Dilip Prabhavalkar Best Screenplay: Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu...
    by Harsha Chandrashekar at June 29th, 2008 at 04:06 am
  • 23
    Gulaal Reprise
    I had just quit whatever I was doing till then and had taken a solemn oath of eternal poverty and struggle. Cinema…..Was writing for someone those days…..donno what happened to that script. We were having a narration…..half way thru we had a sutta brake. The person whom we were narrating was a reputed editor…..he mentioned “Gulaal ruk gayee…..this was Anurag’s...
    by Vasan Bala at June 28th, 2008 at 09:06 am
  • 1
    Mundhra’s next Sight
    Here’s the trailer of Shoot At Sight, directed the keeps-coming-back again and again, Jag Mundhra, stars Naseer, Om Puri and Brian Cox. (tip: Uddhav Ranjan Ghosh)
    by oz at June 28th, 2008 at 09:06 am
  • 14
    The 3 Missing C’s in Commercial Cinema…
    As an avid, loyal fan of hindi films, as well as being a lifelong student of cinema, I’ve wondered for several years why the most basic elements of narrative and storytelling are missing from so many prolific commercial hindi movies. Barardwaj Ranjan had alluded to this topic in one of his recent, insightfully entertaining “between reviews” blogs. Here...
    by Tony Mera Naam at June 28th, 2008 at 12:06 am
  • 15
    Peecha Karo: And I Get Serious Now
    I don’t do reviews. So what, you ask? Did we ever ask you to do it? You’ve got a point there. But I wrote that line because it felt cool to do so. People always say that to me when I ask them to review a film. In fact, lots of people I know start their post stating this isn’t a review; it’s merely a collection of their impressions after watching a movie. The world,...
    by Subrat at June 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
  • 6
    Happy Birthday to the BOSS – R.D. Burman
    On this day we bring you the most fitting tribute to Pancham-da. An interview with Brahmanand Singh – the director of Pancham Unmixed, an amazing documentary on RD Boss, that is looking for distribution. Will someone wake up and pick this meant to be a superhit documentary? Below is the promo of Pancham Unmixed.
    by oz at June 27th, 2008 at 09:06 am
  • 35
    Pancham Unmixed : A Salute to the Boss – R.D. Burman
    Better late than never. Capturing R.D. Burman’s life in a documentary. And when it finally came out, what a way to do it! Brahmanand Singh does complete justice to the boss. We saw Pancham Unmixed at IFFLA 2007 and were blown away. Its the simplicity with which Brahmanand unfolds the flow of the documentary. Following are two videos. The first is a 4 minute trailer...
    by oz at June 27th, 2008 at 08:06 am
  • 23
    Sergio Leone : Master of technique,treatment and style
    iView Author: Shashank Walia (Delhi, India) EMAIL: shashankwalia [at] live [dot]com Sergio Leone – Master of technique,treatment and style ————————————————– Well I still remember the day I saw The good,the bad and the ugly – fourth film of the great Sergio Leone....
    by PROJEKT iVIEW at June 27th, 2008 at 04:06 am
  • 3
    Close Encounters with Close-Ups
    Recently I have revelled in the close encounters with the forgotten art of close-ups in couple of movies. Before I talk of these movies up close let me just share some masala and trivia with you on these close-ups.. The old cameramen who have gone to seed or become inactive don’t leave an opportunity to narrate how they used to relish lighting up for a close-up especially...
    by krysh at June 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
  • 0
    Rock N Rolla
    After two biggies (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) and a few downers (Bah… and more bah)… Guy Ritchie is back with RocknRolla
    by oz at June 26th, 2008 at 07:06 am
  • 18
    Ardha Satya : Mike Lobo, Actor is The Naseeruddin Shah
    3.5 scenes in the film and he still deserves to be called as The Naseeruddin Shah! Simply because of his brilliant portrayal of Inspector Mike Lobo. “Short role can still be great” is proved by Naseeruddin Shah in Ardha Satya. Mike Lobo is often discussed among policemen before he actually appears on screen. In the present time, he is a broken man, a drunkard...
    by Rk at June 26th, 2008 at 05:06 am
  • 8
    The Ruling Class: Love Freedom Schizophrenia Fear Loathing
    It was one of those schools that managed to tick about just enough boxes that’ll get them a license/grant/sanction to keep the institution running, teachers and staff employed and kids educated enough to sign their names, recite ‘Babes in the Wood’, do the origami, know their Gandhis, Nehrus and noble gases and pass out of the standard 10 with (as the school...
    by Siddharth Pillai at June 26th, 2008 at 01:06 am
  • 8
    We sold out and They Live
    Big Corporations have sold out humanity for Guru Kant Desai’s pet word ‘Munafa’, profit. Working class toils day and night, live honestly but dont get anywhere. Steel plant workers push hard, while the bosses pushed them out. You believe in American Dream, well it is exported now. Life is so hard, things are so costly that you dont have any hope left,...
    by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 25th, 2008 at 09:06 pm
  • 3
    Independent Film Festival 2008…Boston
    Independent Film Festival, Boston started in 2003 is an annually conducted film festival normally around the end of April.It showcases some of the best independent cinema (mainly the US independent film scene) and also some upcoming mainstream movies from US and other countries. This year the festival had 96 independent films and in addition to 150 screenings, the festival...
    by Bharat Vineeth at June 25th, 2008 at 08:06 pm
  • 6
    Interviewing Liz Mermin
    At IFFLA this year, PFC finally got the chance to meet the director of two films that were highly appreciated by the critics and the audience alike. The films being OFFICE TIGERS & SHOT in BOMBAY and the director Liz Mermin. OFFICE TIGERS was featured in 2007 and it was shown to a packed house. A docu-feature about a call-center in Chennai, the challenges, the management...
    by ravptor at June 25th, 2008 at 08:06 pm
  • 7
    EVERYTHING is ILLUMINATED or How I discovered GOGOL BORDELLO!
    Do you believe in destiny? Do you believe “We will meet someone when we are supposed to meet”? Let me apply that theory to movies. I sometimes feel some movies come into our lives exactly when we are supposed to. Not before, not after. After all if some of us had not seen the right film at the right time we would not have left everything to chase our dreams...
    by Mainak at June 25th, 2008 at 01:06 pm
  • 24
    Idealism in Movies
    i•de•al•ism ( -d -l z m) n. 1. The act or practice of envisioning things in an ideal form. 2. Pursuit of one’s ideals. This post is ‘inspired’ from a discussion which ensued from RK’s post on Ardh Satya. As mentioned in the comments there, I have a major problem with the idealistic Anant Velankar’s character in the movie. My question is not ‘Why...
    by Anand Bharadwaj at June 25th, 2008 at 10:06 am
  • 16
    Best thriller was released on 25th of June in 1983
    The wonder that was that Victory. Victory and defeat, both are the parts of the life of any human being. One goes to surmount the whole world and he may be defeated by a small and simple thing produced before him by the nature. It is said that most difficult task in the world is to win the hearts of the people. It can only be done by the love and love is a phenomenon which...
    by Rk at June 25th, 2008 at 06:06 am
  • 64
    The Conspiracy against Screenwriters
    You are a part of it. As are film journalists, directors, actors, critics, reviewers, right down to the spot boy. The most egregious offender is of course the self-effacing screenwriter, who puts up with the debasement and will often partake in it. So, you have people running around spouting sewage like, “A film is merely a ploy to wokka wokka wokka,” or “A...
    by dabba at June 24th, 2008 at 05:06 pm
  • 33
    PFC New York City MeetUp – The report
    I arrived at the location a full 37 minutes after the witching hour, figuring I’ll still be the first. IST and all. But no, Badmash and Evelyn were standing outside the bar. From their unbridled disappointment at seeing me, I figured they were PFC. We air kissed our hellos (Not), got a round of drinks and headed to the patio, It was Evelyn’s wedding anniversary,...
    by dabba at June 24th, 2008 at 02:06 pm
  • 0
    Oscar Updates – Foreign Category
    Hi Folks, Every year during Oscar nomination times, the controversies, etc abound in India. Hence want to elucidate all the filmmakers on PFC so they can further talk about it to their friend and enemy circle. These came straight from the Academy Office. And you can mention you first heard about it on PfC (and while I may be a foodie, I don’t mean PF Chang’s,...
    by Vivek Kumar at June 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
  • 33
    Ardha Satya: Rama Shetty = Hand pump, spreading poison all around
    In continuation with the post Ardha Satya : Silver Jubilee remembrance–Part 1. ——————————————————————————————- Two things can easily be said about Ardha Satya or by taking clues from Ardha...
    by Rk at June 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
  • 16
    They KISSed and How ???!!!
    First a confession. The use of word KISS in the title is to get some more extra views. In one of those boring management classes i was told that KISS is Keep It Simple Stupid! The guru-mantra of advertising and marketing world. That day i decided i cant take this anymore. Life without the most purest emotion..lust! How non-lusty can you be! Thank God, Feroze Khan never...
    by Phoenixnu at June 24th, 2008 at 08:06 am
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