Film-o-meter
The woman next door
Truffaut’s Silsila. Fanny Ardant. Infidelity. His penultimate film. What more reasons to watch it?! A lazy-paced idyllic film, with regular Truffaut indulgences, masterful handling of the sexual tension between the lead couple is one of the many strengths of the film. The twist of the guy-can’t-take-it-anymore elevates the tension so as you would expect something dire pretty soon. Not here but. Truffaut dries it down, and punches you back with a numbing finale.
Two English Girls
Truffaut again. The classic English-French debate given a idyllic twist by the master. Almost like going on a French vacation.
Eastern Promises
Sid was right in called it The Way of the Flesh. a more than meets the eye film. But what meets the eye is a cruel image, piercing just like, oh well, the blades hit the tattoos.
In Bruges
Saw it again the second week. What a film! Dares you to laugh at the morbid humor. Farrell should get all the awards. So many scenes come back to you like the recurring medieval monuments, and the dead(well, almost like a staged piece) town that presents the backdrop of this modern noir. Ralph Fiennes only completes the fun with his perpetually annoyed face and the misfortune of dumbness his character confronts constantly. Oh yes, and there is also the proverbial cycle of destiny.
Flashbacks of a Fool
I don’t remember when the film went from average to good. I guess it was the last few reels. But must say, it was quite a smooth watch, so much so that you don’t even feel shaken to the desired amounts when the twist comes, it is cozy as the beach and the never-ending English shores. One for the music, and one for the shores and the clouds. And just about an extra one for Craig’s The Matador.
Romance & Cigarettes
Had always wanted to watch this. Had caught the last 20 mins few days back on TV, rented it finally and saw it. Mixed thoughts. So many things that just can’t go wrong – Gandolfini, Kate, Sarandon, Buscemi, Mary Louise Parker(!). Shot in the legacy of The Coens by the Eastwood guy, Tom Stern. There are some things that give you gooseflesh, other things you simply don’t care about. Poetic. Rude. Disturbing. Incoherent. Unstructured. Pointless. I liked it.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday
I know. I don’t know why I liked the film so much, so many nicely done ’smart’ cinema things in this otherwise ‘Bean guy’ film, loved the countryside feel and the subtle moments under all that obvious humor.
Rififi
Vintage Dassin. What to say about this one. Essential.
Children of Men
Finally. Great sequences and sound but somehow failed to catch me as a whole film.
The King of Comedy
Third time. Vintage De Niro & Scorsese. Unforgettable title sequence. Bittersweet, ahead of its times.
Notes on a scandal
Lovely film, vintage Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Brit dark elements. And Philip Glass just completes the round of drinks!
Who’s that knocking at my door
I find it hard to believe it was early Scorsese, so many indulgences and masterstrokes.
Silent Light
A powerful Mexican film made on the mundane life of a farm worker, his two wives, and the twist of destiny. It is not easy to make a film of such format these days – still frames(a la Bela Tarr), emotional hollow, unpleasing and unsettling scenes of old people, and an overall decaying/degrading emotion in the whole film. The pay-off? I don’t know, it happened somewhere when the last frame moves from the horizon to the stars up above.
Hustle & Flow
Terence Howard rules. One film that does not give in to the whole temptation of going ape-ass over black music and blow up the characters. A great supporting cast(Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning), the film does deviate many times, but its a winning story and some great direction and acting that makes it special.
Best scene – The making of ‘It’s hard out here for a pimp’ . I laid my hands on the OST soon after the film got over. Keep Hustlin’ rocks.
Clerks – II
Total stoner gang fun; I wonder how and why I didn’t see it before. The dialogs are more in number than may be a Superbad(not comparing them) but it surely kicks ass. Have seen it twice already.
*’Porch monkey for life’*
Also caught half of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and its fanboy stuff enough said.
Then went finally to the other essential Kevin Smith that was pending for long,
Chasing Amy
Have you had a film which you have always ‘queued’ for the simple assumption of ‘knowing’ what it’s all about. Ditto for me and Chasing Amy. I thought it’s another lame-ass chick film with a supercool geek guy chasing a super-hot geek girl, albeit with the stylish handling a la a Linklater. And then I saw the film.
Dogma, I am still not sure, it cannot have a normal reaction, and I am still waiting to catch it another day to totally get it.
The Good Night
A relatively unheard-of film, made by Jake Paltrow, starring Gwyneth Paltrow(in a totally un-Gwyneth look), Martin Freeman(good restrained performance), Danny De Vito(in very few scenes but a stealer as usual), Simon Pegg(Hot Fuzz), AND Penelope Cruz(in her sexiest-unrevealing avatar possible, I lost it in the date scene). A film on dreams, on depression, on flashbacks of a failed musician through the eyes of his bandmates, his perpetual obsession with the perfect girl, his oft-cold and platonic relationship with his wife, who is also an ‘artist’, a painter, and a Lucid Dream mentor.
I felt the film would go places but sadly it didn’t. A nicely written and acted ensemble nonetheless.
Films in the queue(probably next Film-o-meter edition)
2046
For Ever Mozart
Contempt
Chicago 10
Ordinary People
The Great Debaters
Looks & Smiles
Sonatine
The Golden Age
Summer Interlude
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Ordinary People and The Great Debaters – both awesome films….highly recommended.
Have also seen and loved Eastern Promises and In Bruges. Don’t share your enthusiasm for Mr. Bean’s Holiday.
Rififi is probably being remade with al Pacino.
Am yet to see any of Truffauts work. Have you seen his Shoot The Piano Player?…planning to purchase it…need some feedback.
Hi Sougata
Thanks for the reccos. Will catch Ordinary People & Great Debaters soon. Even I lack big time on Truffaut, just started watching them, have so many titles to visit – shoot the piano player, his tribute film to Hitchcock, confidentially yours, jules et jim etc. I would buy his stuff without thinking.
moreoever the new dvd’s come with some nice indie short or the other, so that’s an add-on.
2046 was a wonderful film by wong kar wai… loved it the last time i watched it
This is a good list, i like alot of these films as well, i still have to see in bruges, its probably next on my list. I like kevin smith movies, its definitely shot well, but there is usually more than meets the eye. and rosario in clerks 2…
i’m glad u mentined chasing amy. not many people love that film. the funny part is, i have a friend who’s got the exact same problem as ben affleck’s character in that movie…and he acknowledges that because we saw the movie together. even refers to his girlfriend as ‘fingercuffs’ around me.
@Debarun, I love Kar Wai man, gotta see this too, like all his earlier works.
@Jim, thanks. ya dude, Rosario, totally… :-)
@papaji, will get back to you on Chasing Amy, that film, along with Dogma, intrigues and challenges me. Smith films boggle me head, they are never an easy watch except for the slapstick but I can’t discard them rightaway either. Gotta see the Zch & Mirri thing soon too.