Jateen Gandhi
Movies to me are a way of my life. I watch them and learn new things. But every once in a while there comes a movie that shakes me to my bones. Sharing my thoughts about all those movies is the reason that brought me here. My movie reviews: http://irisstrings.blogspot.com/

 

Jateen's Blog

  • Paranormal Activity (2007, 2009): Lets redefine FEAR, in a SIMPLE way!!!
    Written and Directed by Oren Pali Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat Shiny silver sheets cover a sleeping couple seen on their personal camera sitting on the tripod in the other end of the room. Fast forward as time comes nearer. Play mode again and a shadow barely makes an appearance on the open door, continued by a THUD. Swallow that fear because it is just beginning....
    by Jateen at October 24th, 2009 at 06:10 pm
  • Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) – Review
    Crime Scene: Do Not Cross Written and Directed by: Michael Moore Starring: (unintentionally) Ronald Reagan, George W Bush, Goldman Sachs Executives, Families from foreclosed homes, Workers from a bankrupt factory and Moore (intentionally). “Is the future generation going to remember us like this?” Cut to ‘America’s Funniest’ videos of cats...
    by Jateen at October 1st, 2009 at 07:10 am
  • Autism and the horse
    I received this letter as a member of the Landmark Theatres Film Club. It is a letter from the director of the movie, The Horse Boy (2009). A film about how parents cope with their autistic child with the help of a horse. Dear Film Club Member, I want to take you into a different world. A world where the borders between perception, reality and the spirit world blur....
    by Jateen at September 12th, 2009 at 10:09 am
  • Inglourious Basterds (2009)
    Jus’ Shootin’ ‘em Nazis Down!!! Written for the screen and Diretcted by : Quentin Tarantino Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz Did I spell the movie title right? I mean wrong. I mean the way the screenwriter, of ‘Anyone-of-you-f’in-pricks-move-and-I-will-execute-every-m’f'in-last-one-of-you’ right before the background surfing...
    by Jateen at August 24th, 2009 at 09:08 am
  • Orphan (2009)
    Hold Your Breath!! Written by: David Johnson and Alex Mace Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra Starring: Isabell Fuhrman, Peter Sarsgaard, Vera Farmiga A mother (Vera Farmiga) in a dying labor pain looks up when doctors say her child has died. Doctors and the mother look at the blood-soaked baby in shock when it starts crying. Above all that, the husband shows up with a camcorder....
    by Jateen at August 17th, 2009 at 06:08 pm
  • Dev D (2009).
    Requiem for DEV/DEV-spotting Written and Direced by: Anurag Kashyap Starring: bhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahie Gill. Music and background score by: Amit Trivedi “Sattu, don’t send me to London”,”Don’t call your father by his name”, “Well Grandma calls you Sattu too”, ” Because she is my mom”. Rare occasion might...
    by Jateen at March 7th, 2009 at 04:03 pm
  • The Wrestler (2008)
    It is a SIN! Directed by: Darren Aronofsky. Written by: Robert D. Siegel. Starring: Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. “Don’t go. You are gonna get hurt”, says Cassidy. Randy replies, ” The only place I get hurt is out there. The world don’t give a sh!t about me”, and begins heart-stopping guitar riffs of Sweet Child’o Mine in the...
    by Jateen at March 2nd, 2009 at 03:03 pm
  • Immortal Andaz Apna Apna
    I was watching Oye Its Friday, Aamir Khan on guest chair and Farhan mentioned Andaz Apna Apna as becoming the cult classic of Bollywood. There is no doubt. I remember the first time I watched it I missed out on more than half of the film because either I was laughing or was trying to breathe. Never felt this ecstatically horrified by any other movie, EVER. Not even a Hollywood...
    by Jateen at January 29th, 2009 at 03:01 pm
  • Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
    D. It is WRITTEN Directed by: Danny Boyle Written by: Simon Beaufoy, Swarup Kumar Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto. A young boy wearing a green t-shirt runs and delivers ball to a batsman. The batsman hits it high while the bowler screams,”Jamaal, catch it”. Dumbfounded Jamaal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) looks up in the sky and starts running at the end of flying...
    by Jateen at December 27th, 2008 at 12:12 am
  • Taare Zameen Par – India’s official entry for Oscars.
    Wow, Just read this news Taare Zameen Par has been officially selected as India’s enetry in the foreign language category for 2009 Oscars. Congratulations to Amol Gupte, Aamir Khan and most importantly Darsheel Safary. There has been every kind of praise bestowed on this film. Hopefully it will make it to the final 5. I have been seeing Oscar winners in the foreign...
    by Jateen at September 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 am
  • Manorama Six Feet Under (2007)
    Raymond Chandler’s ‘Lakhot’ Written and Directed by: Navdeep Singh. Starring: Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Raima Sen and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Manorama (Sarika) in her 40’s (or 30’s?) walks in to Satyaveer Randhwa’s (Abhay Deol) house in Lakhot, Rajasthan. Styaveer has recently debuted his first mystery novel, titled Manorama, which Manorama...
    by Jateen at August 29th, 2008 at 12:08 am
  • AIDS Jago: Short Films (2007).
    Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, for one of their project on helping humanity, have united with 4 directors Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santosh Sivan and Vishal Bharadwaj to co-produce 4 short films on issues regarding AIDS education and awareness. These short films are taking the AIDS awareness on more personal level with some beautiful and some incredible journeys involving...
    by Jateen at August 14th, 2008 at 02:08 pm
  • The Dark Knight (2008).
    He is a Dark Knight! Written by: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan. Directed by: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Aron Eckhart. As Gordon (Gary Oldman) says, “He is not a superhero. He is a guard. A dark knight” and credits roll it shouldn’t be hard to realise that this is the best explanation there is to this great saga...
    by Jateen at July 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
  • Sex and the city (2008)
    My rating: 6/10. CLOSURE! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1000774/
    by Jateen at June 1st, 2008 at 09:06 am
  • I’m not there (2007).
    “It’s like yesterday, today and tomorrow all in one movie”. Directed by: Todd Haynes. Written by : Todd Haynes (story/screenplay) Oren Moverman (screenplay). Starring: Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin. The title of this review is all I can understand about the story of the iconic singer, song-writer and Pulitzer prize...
    by Jateen at May 23rd, 2008 at 05:05 pm
  • The Prestige (2006)
    Christopher Nolan’s brilliant MAGIC act. Starring: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine. Written and Directed by: Christopher Nolan. “Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called “The Pledge”; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The...
    by Jateen at May 2nd, 2008 at 06:05 pm
  • Dil Dosti Etc (2007)
    An “Indian Pie” with a social message. Not always a title will blend in everything to a discussion/monologue. The title above may not be suitable to other viewers. But I think Dil Dost Etc does have a social message which is targeted on an individual basis. This film portrays college days of Apurv (Imaan Shah) and Sanjay (Shreyas Talpade). Sanjay is a student...
    by Jateen at March 13th, 2008 at 10:03 am
  • Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
    Two hearts amidst an epic setup. Written and Directed by: Ashutosh Gowariker. Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai. Music: AR Rahman. A young boy named Jalaluddin stands on a war front In 1555AD India to be crowned as the new Moghul Emperor after the death of his Father Humayun. The ministry wages the war and defeats the rival King. They bring him in front of the new...
    by Jateen at February 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
  • In the valley of Elah (2007).
    Welcome back Mr. Haggis! Written and Directed by: Paul Haggis. Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon. ‘Everyday Goliath came down in the valley and challenged for anyone who wants to fight. One day a boy named David accepted it. Killed Goliath with a slingshot’, as Sgt Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) tells this story to Detective Sander’s...
    by Jateen at February 20th, 2008 at 01:02 am
  • Taare Zameen Par (2007)
    A tale of an Artist. Starring: Darsheel Safary, Amir Khan. Screenplay by: Amol Gupte. Directed by: Amir Khan. A drop of a red paint falls on a canvas. Then a finger comes and adds some yellow color to that drop. The drop shows some light turbulent mixing of smaller pigments of yellow and red, then that same finger starts mixing those colors. Then appears a creation of...
    by Jateen at December 29th, 2007 at 02:12 am
  • No Country for Old Men (2007).
    Well, Its about time. Written and Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen. Based on the book by: Cormac McArthy. Starring: Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones. Well its about time right here to get blown away. Please welcome Ethan and Joel Coen. They are carrying a metal cylinder filled to the top with a gas, under high pressure. They are going to aim the pressure hose...
    by Jateen at November 10th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
  • Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
    A plastically real and hilariously warm love story. Written by: Nancy Oliver. Directed by: Craig Gillespie. Starring: Ryan Gosling. As opening credits fade, Lars (Ryan Gosling) is seen watching from a window. His neighbour, Karin (Emily Mortimer), comes in and invites him for lunch. He promises and never shows up. Gus (Paul Schneider), Karin’s husband, wins 5$...
    by Jateen at October 28th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
  • Chak De-India (2007)
    A highly spirited thrilling ride. “The next 70 minutes are yours. Not even God can take it away from you. Go get them”. As Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) gives the speech to its hockey team, you feel the moment with him. As if you are standing in that locker room and you are going to play that hockey match with the rest of the crew. This feeling will follow you...
    by Jateen at October 25th, 2007 at 03:10 pm
  • The Number 23 (2007)
    2+3=5::Chaos. Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen. Directed by: Joel Schumacher. Written by: Fernley Phillips. The explanation of the events in this movie is pretty much summarized in the title of this review. CHAOS. I got that synonym for No. 5 from the DVD extras of this movie. It does actually suit to the events, but do not confuse with the feeling that so chaotic...
    by Jateen at October 2nd, 2007 at 12:10 am
  • Life in a Metro (2007)
    Same old same old from a new writer. The title of this movies gives an idea of the setup of the movie. City of Mumbai with local trains, clubs, shopping malls, cell phones, rain and good looking people on the street are the basic assumptions behind the title. What the story brings is an interwoven but not complicated lifestyle of about a dozen characters. Shikha (Shilpa...
    by Jateen at June 18th, 2007 at 08:06 am
  • Birth of Anti-Heroes.
    German expessionism that gave rise to Film Noir, Horror and Detective genre. About a month ago I checked out a movie from my university’s library collection. This was a German movie that was released in 1931. It’s protagonist was a male serial killer and a “hinted” pedophile. Hinted for obvious reasons of the taboo of discussing Pedophilia that...
    by Jateen at June 10th, 2007 at 01:06 pm
  • Children of Men (2006)
    An extraordinary visual ride. Theo (Clive Owen) walks into a coffee shop flooded by people watching a breaking news of accidental death of a youngest human alive, 18 yr old ‘Baby Diego’. The year is 2027. Theo walks out of the coffee shop and waits outside a little far from the entrance to light his cigarette when suddenly there is a loud bang and we see the...
    by Jateen at May 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 pm
  • Inland Empire (2006)
    Attempt of Experience Through a Mastermind. Written and Directed by: David Lynch. Starring: Laura Dern and Justin Theroux. 4 Years ago I watched a movie. In that movie when Naomi Watts wakes up and her neighbor calls her name as Diane, which previously was Betty and Diane is living in a filthy barren house wearing a dirty stinky bathrobe instead of a fancy silkish red...
    by Jateen at April 12th, 2007 at 08:04 am
  • Grindhouse (2007)
    Greatest homage to dead exploitation genre. From Wikipedia: Grindhouses were the cinema halls known for non-stop programs of B movies, usually consisting of a double feature where two films were shown back to back. About 10 years ago I remember going to a B-grade movie theatre in India with my cousin and my brother in law to watch a sexploitation flick. I remember looking...
    by Jateen at April 7th, 2007 at 06:04 pm
  • Gulzar vs Javed Akhtar: Styles of poetry.
    While I was watching Saawariya from Swades I realised something. The que of Javed Akhtar vs Gulzar can be seen in the following point of view. Javed Akhtar always wrote songs about one feeling by writing things either connected to that feeling or other ways to define that particular feeling. Gulzar always creates a whole new concept about any feeling, as in his creativeness...
    by Jateen at March 22nd, 2007 at 04:03 pm