Recent Watch: Pirates, 11:14, Tickets & more…
Lagging quite behind on my movies seen over the last few weeks… I’m still having trouble assorting my iTalkies queue which doesn’t have the movies I wanna see and instead I’m filling it up with movies “I think are good” and in turn end up being crap… for one I’m highly disappointed with Shankar’s “Boys” that I had heard a lot about…
Shift focus to my Netflix queue… listing a few of the “many” I have been watching over the 2 week sick time… some interesting, some experimental… left out the ones I didn’t connect to…
Umm… not big on the Pirates series… but have to admit it’s fun. Plus seeing Johnny Depp do something which isn’t dark and brooding is a welcome change. Orlando Bloom is just about ok while Keira Knightley jumps, hops, hits, fights, kicks, leaps, swims and all that.
Great fun with kids on stressed evening or on days when your significant other kicks you out of the bedroom.
French with English Sub titles or on DVD you have the option to hear the “dubbed” English version too. And since it is French, it’s gotta have Jean Reno in it. Now that I think of it, Jean Reno has that ultra cool style that Kartik finds in Irrfan.
The movie does hold your attention for quite sometime. When two different stories run parallel to each other and you are trying to desperately grasp on what could be going on… but director Chris Nahon keeps you guessing until halfway through the movie.
The story begins with a cop’s wife who’s has bouts of amnesia. She remembers everything but at times forgets her husband. At the same time at some other corner in Paris, the cops are on the trail of a serial killer who kills women and dumps them. The cop investigating the case makes use of the now discharged cop – Jean Reno, who was once known for his legendary control over the Turkish part of Paris.
The two stories do merge and then go somewhere you definitely don’t want it to go. From amnesia to serial killing it stumbles, rolls and skids into drugs, secret government programs (haven’t we had enough of it), mafia et all…
Still… “CAN” be watched… specially on a day when you’r feeling like kicking your boss’s ass. Buy the DVD incase you feeling like kicking your boss’s ass almost everyday.
On a serious note, slapping it as a “Timepass” flick.
Italian with English subtitles.
Now I’m a sucker for multiple threads in stories. Different stories running parallel to each other – connected by person, place, environment or a reason.
Tickets falls in this category. The movie is about 3 stories of different characters and their unconnected stories on a train. This is NOT one of those typical screenplay types where there ought to be a clearly defined establishment of good and evil, the conflict and finally the resolution. It’s a simple look at a few people on a train. A sensitive look at what goes through their lives in the brief time they spend on the train.
And the best reason to pick up this movie is because all the three stories are directed by three internationally acclaimed directors Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach and Ermanno Olmi.
Seeing the work of all three in one movie and how seamlessly they roll over each other is worth a dekko for the serious movie fanatic.
Graded A in my books. The art of telling a story can be learnt from watching such hidden, priceless gems.
Again 4 – 5 stories running one after each other… but with an interesting difference. They all are connected. Character who briefly appear in one story, the camera moves over to focus on them in the subsequent piece.
11:14 is 5 stories and criss cross each other at precisely 11:14 pm in a sleepy little town in America. It’s fun and quite an interesting way to unwrap the turn of events. Director Greg Marcks is a man to be bookmarked and watched for his future projects.
The movie starts with interesting way to put the opening credits in and moves on to the first story and…… a dead body… 
)
Plus it has an array of Hollywood “stars” including Patrick Swayze and Hillary Swank (who co produces this project).
Again, the story like “Tickets” does not have any particular start or an end. It’s again breaking the norm where you don’t get to see something called a “climax” and the usual run of the mill storyline architecture.
Good one. Watch how carefully Greg Marcks details the stories and with minute precision sees them overlap each other in bits and pieces…
Another one for the serious movie fan…
The Crimson Rivers
French with English subtitles. DVD has an option to hear the English dubbed version.
French? Enter Jean Reno… this time we also have Vincent Cassell (villain in Ocean’s 12)… they are two cops investigating seperate incidents. Cassell is investigating a grave that was dug up while Reno is on the trail of a series of murders committed in a similar fashion… which means there is a serial killer (not again…)…. somehow Cassell and Reno meet when they find the case follows the same leads… to the same culprit… (as usual)
In the recent movies from France that I’ve seen, I find the French begin their crime thrillers well but somehow, they mess up towards the middle, completely destroying the viewer’s interest towards the end. It’s as if they know how to weave a good crime story but have no fucking clue on how to get out of the web… or how to resolve the crime. If the way Jean Reno is solving crimes in The Crimson Rivers and Empire of the Wolves is true to life, then every 2nd grade school drop out in India should be employed as the Chief Investigating Officer with the French Police.
“CAN” watch, if nothing else is available. Of course keeping the following next to you is highly recommended: alcohol, pop corn, girl friend/wife (who will stick to you like glue in some of the gory scenes) and the darn remote.
Guilty as charged for watching it so late. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a director worth stopping and taking a break to listen to.
I was very depressed after watching his second movie (that I watched first) – 21 Grams. And I just didn’t have the heart to watch Amores Perros. Glad that I did watch it.
Again, its about 3 Parallel stories that interconnect with each other at some point. More importantly it’s about the average human being you and I cross on the street. Hell, it could even be you and me.
As usual bonus points for the type of story – multiple threads. But the movie does lose me over quite a few turn of events including the case of the guy living with the model in the apartment.
But an interesting point to note is that the three different threads do not play one after another. Rather the story keeps jumping equally between them back and forth even though Alejandro Gonzalez labels the stories in three different chapters during the course of the movie. The chapters define the point when the characters and their stories become very clear to the viewer.
B Plus in my books. But a must watch for those learning the medium of cinema. Good one to impress your new date, but I won’t bet on you getting laid after watching this one with her.
Starring Wesley Snipes. Opened the Netflix envelope. Removed the DVD. Read the synopsis on the story. Brain sends message… “Bad Choice”… put the DVD back into the envelope. Seal it and mail it back to Netflix.
This is a documentary by PBS on Napolean Bonaparte. Since I’m a sucker for history movies and books, I couldn’t help to put this one on my Netflix queue. Tight and fast paced, if history is one of your pet subjects, then watch this one if you haven’t already. Great for a Sunday afternoon over tea and samosas.
I know I know… how could I!!! The subject of good teacher, bad class… good teacher transforms bad class into good class has been told a multiple times… but hey I wanted to see what Antonio Banderas could do besides the stupid Zorro series and the well made HBO stint And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself… incidentally if you haven’t seen Pancho Villa… do add it to your queue before you forget…
Back to Take The Lead, the transformation here happens because of the teacher teaching dance to the students. Nothing great. But not bad either.
Portuguese with English subtitles.
Again my bad. Watched it too late. Realized that I’ve been missing something… All of us – OM, t! and me sat there mesmerized with dropped jaws all throughout the movie. Without any doubt City of God is my pick as the best from the current lot of movies mentioned above.
Directed by Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles, City of God is the story of a slum in Brazil called City of God. It tracks the story of Busca-Pe (a photographer for a newspaper) from his childhood to the present day. Based on a true story, City of God is a must watch and should and must be in every movie fanatics’ personal collection whether you connect with or not on a few scenes, many shots, the entire movie or none at all.
Completely shot in digital, a fact pointed by t! as I failed to realize this fact till very late into the movie, it represents the easiness with which many of you can and should make movies that you would love to but are restrained by your “mis-beliefs” that it costs too much. The dual success (critics and commercial) of City of God should a big motivating factor to all you future film makers.
The eye for the live camera style of effect creates such a huge impact and specially in a few scenes that are sure to send some of the weak hearted on a run to bathroom to throw up… watch out for those scenes… like the one where the thieving-kids are lined up by the gang to be shot to death… watch out how the kid who’s the target to be killed starts crying… WHAT THE HELL…!!! Was this a live camera or was it just a scene being shot… the borders between actual reality and cinema blur so fast… it is simply amazing…
Graded A Plus in oz books… it’s a crime to not have seen this one…
Tags: French, Italian, Latin America
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
Oz, if you liked “City of God”, be sure to watch the TV series based on it – “City of Men”. 3 discs avail on Netflix (19 or 20 eps, I’m not sure)make for a highly addictive experience. Queue them up!
Picked tickets from ur netflix queue… loved the documentary as to how the story was conceptualized…
3 directors who speak 3 diff languages all directing together as stories inter vine… awesome!
Crimson Rivers – Agree with you on the rating. Still I found the camera – the scenes, locales and vistas – mesmerizing. And so was Nadia Fares. Also loved the *tapori* fight scene between Vincent Cassel and the skinheads. Pity Kassovitz didn’t spend as much time on the screenplay as he’d spent on getting the cadaver(s) designed. Also the fact that the movie was based on Jean-Christophe Grange’s fiction must have something to do with the overall plot. Perhaps.
Empire of the Wolves – Jean Reno was cool. So were the Turkish parts. Cassel’s blunt charisma, if sought, would have helped the flick that’s based on yet another J-C.Grange book. As expected, the finale was a bit too much.
Over all, I would say that the Pourpres Rivieres were better than the Loups’ Empire. Holy Granges!!
Now I just wanna kick myself, as ‘Tickets’ had been playing here some time back and i missed it.
Then it released on dvd and became one of my ‘to watch’ films (that list seems to get bigger and bigger!).
Oh Oz, have you seen Mani Ratnam’s ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’???
Now thats worth a watch!(*)
Oh and ‘Amores Perros’ is, i feel, slightly overrated.
The second story really dragged.
Did you not find the movie a little lethargic??(:|
= Zahur, will check it out. Thanks.
= Ravptor, Unfortunately I missed seeing the documentary. Darn! Glad you liked it and glad to note you are still hooked to netflix
= WB, Crimson Rivers – yep no two opinions about it. Capturing the beautiful Alps (?) was an amazing job. I thought that “tapori” fight was a push to get something exciting going… in my view that wasn’t needed at all…
It’s the tenth or eleventh crime/mystery from France that I’ve seen in the last few weeks… somehow they all begin quite well and all of them end up at the same spot… in a mess.
= Steve, You should bump Tickets up the queue.
Yes I believe Amores Perros may be a bit overrated, but you have to understand that it came at a time when multiple threading was still rarely used around the period it was released. This added to it’s freshness and thereby it’s large acceptability.
Oh you talking about my iTalkies queue the one I use for my South Indian movie palate. But first things first…
Anyone staying in Bombay and if living close to a certain Mr. Kartik Krishnan… could ya’ll do me a BIG favor by kicking his ass… just ended up watch Kartik’s recommendation the K.Balachander directed Kamalhassan starrer “Punnagai Mannan”… the movie it seems was more than 2 and a half hours long… after about 10 minutes, my index finger refused to let go of the fast forward button. Entire movie watched in 36 minutes… it may have been good when it was released (1986), but today it comes out as a badly made movie.
Now I dread to see what other of the 25 movies on my iTalkies queue will choke my brains… as all of them are there based on Mr. Kartik Krishnan’s recommendation… I am doomed :((
Yes I did watch Kannathil Muthamittal and honestly feel it is “not” one of Mani Ratnam’s better ones. To date of all the Ratnam films that I have seen I’ve enjoyed Roja, Thiruda Thiruda, Mouna Ragam and Ayutha Ezhuthu. (Yep not even Anjali and Geetanjali)
OZ,
Trying hard not to say..”I told u so..” abt Boys….:-)
Kannathil Muthamittal – the characterisation of Madhavan n Maddy’s portrayal was excellent..the linking of Sri Lanka’s problems and the child’s search for mother didnt work well…
And Kartik..Punnagai Mannan..really?
Hi,
add another movie to your list.it’s called “dombivali fast”. it is a marathi film.i was pleasently surprised watching this movie.never expected a marathi film to be so crisply edited,finely scripted & brilliantly acted.
Oz – My 2 cents, apropos of your NetFlix queue.
Thiruda Thiruda – Must watch. Mani’s movie, but the screenplay is by RGV.
Boys – Watch if you don’t have anything else to watch. Gen Y movie. Shankar’s first production. Siddharth’s acting debut.
Sethu – Vikram’s intial foray into art house, thanks to Bala. Poignant story. Realistic portrayal.
Kathala Kathala – Nonstop nonsense. Prabhudeva, MSV, Kamal, Mouli, Cochin Hanifa and Crazy Mohan – in that order. No-brainer fun, if you don’t have high expectations.
Oru Kaithiyan Dairy – Bhagyaraja, the writer, in his prime (gotta revisit his family comedies). A, B, C nee vaasi – another gem from Maestro!!
Tik Tik Tik – Madhavi, Swapna, and Radha in two piece bikinis. One comical villain. Unpardonable comedy by Tengai. Kamal is awesome. But Ilaiyaraja is the hero. Poo Malarindha… awesome number. Bharatiraja disappoints. Sigappu Rojakkal was a better made thiller.
Pammal K. Sambantham – Crazy Mohan. Simran. Kalpana (Sathi Leelavathi!). Chennai Tamil by Kamal is first rate!!
Panchathanthiram – Nagesh’s car ride and Jayaram’s fat kid are hilarious! Another Crazy creation.
Thenali – What about Bob? Indianized by Crazy & Kamal.
Pudhupettai – A Cidade de Deus wannabe. Pass.
Ghajini – Avoid. A butchered Memento.
Pithamagan – Awesome. Yet another Bala-Chiyan hit. Heard that they broke up soon after this movie. Reason? Surya got better coverage!
Anbe Sivam – Trains, Planes and Automobiles. Kamal’s John Candy to Madhavan’s Steve Martin. Maddy is believable while Kamal hams in his usual prosthetic self.
Malgudi Days – Vintage! Shankar Nag amar rahein!
Shock – Seriously avoid! A movie well (aptly) named.
Aparichitudu – Watch it in Tamil (Anniyan.)
Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu – Avoid.
shit maan need to see amores perros and City of God
Oz u fast forwarded punnagai mannan !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :((
Even kannathil ???? Shit maaan … our tastes don’t match at all
Scout – Kannathil … everything gelled well… on a major level its about adoption …a child searching to find her biological mom and LTTE terrorists trying to find their own say in lanka….
Wat the hell is wrong with punnagai mannan ??? :((
Rony – have been told dombivali fast is not out on DVD yet…haven’t been able to see it
It was a year ago when i had a bout of insomnia for a week after i watched City of God and Amores Perros back to back the same day.
Had both of them on my hard disc……my PC went phuss 3 months ago….lost all the data including the above mentioned.
thanks for the other refs….hope to discover them here as well…..
Oz I live near Kartik…and we usually end up meeting at the weekend…but seriously Punagai Mannan…..in 36 minutes….Kartik one peg extra for that stinker from Oz and for all Kamal …KB Sir’s fans. But what Oz mentioned – it must have been good for those times…maybe…..wondering
Pirates 2 was a big let down :( I didn’t enjoy
Hey Vasanbala, i’ll have to check out the Siddharth bus scene now!
I read somewhere that he assisted Mani but wasn’t aware of his tiny role.
You know, I really do rate ‘Kannathil..’ as a fine piece of cinema.
All my non Tamil friends highly enjoyed it too (not that Im Tamilian either!!)
Infact, one friend even suggested that his lecturer at Uni should watch it.
And he did!
And loved it too!!
Yaar, I’ve put this film on a pedastal. I wish Hindi directors would do this kinda stuff.
And although i did like Sanjay Bansali’s ‘Devdas’, I really felt it was this film that should have been pushed forward to the oscars and not ‘Devdas’.
And Oz, you didnt mention ‘Bombay’ in your list of MAni faves?!:o:o
Please say you forgot to mention it and not that you didnt like it?!!
Come on, ‘Punnagai Mannan’ isn’t exactly a good movie. Ok, it featured some fine music, and Kamal Hassan taking a bow to Chaplin (though I always did find it one of his most irritating performances)…but the movie itself is quite whimsical. I do love the famous ‘Punnagai Mannan’ bgm that Kamal dances to, though – magical, vintage Ilayaraja.
= Scout, yeah… “Boys”… watched because had read it was a big hit the year it was release… darn…
Kannathil Muthamittal wasn’t a bad movie… but things that worked for many viewers didn’t work for me… I got quite irritated with the girl and some of the scenes that Mani had designed for her…
= Rony, didn’t find “Dombivili Fast” on iTalkies or Netflix
= KK, After watchin the fast forward version of Punnagai Mannan I slept for 2 hours. My system couldn’t take the stress.
= Vasan, Yep the others are a treat to watch and learn too… specially Tickets and 11:14… they aren’t the average run of the fare mill… I think those from Tamil Nadu or closely aware of the Tamil-Sri Lankan equations may enjoy it more… cause Kannathil perhaps brings that out… story wise a non Tamil speaking viewer may not be hooked.
= Steve, Ooopsie #-o… yes Bombay is the short list of my Mani Ratnam favourites.
= Ranjit, you said it… Kamal’s Chaplin take was highly highly irritating… plus the opening sequences of marriage and suicide… shit man I tell you… at one point it looked like a mad crazy house… Kamal’s first girlfriend’s father… shit man… that whole dance class thingy… it would now be a super hit on YouTube under the comedy category… and that bomb in car in the end to end it all… this is one of the worst and most indigestible movie I’ve seen in recent times.
@Oz: your frustration is so evident it made me lol
. The one thing I found impressive in ‘PM’, apart from the music, was that Kamal, despite being a Bharatanatyam dancer by training, managed the ‘Western’ ballet-kinda steps well. Apparently he underwent loads of rehearsals for the sequences. Also, I think it was the first Dolby movie in India or something..remember hearing something to that effect.
Thinking of giving italkies a try – what is their service like?
they have really good variety and are very professional and prompt in their response to customers. i’ve been with them for 2yrs now and i love it. they’re based outta seattle however, so west coasters might find their films arriving probably the next day or the day after. i’m in washington DC, so it usually arrives on the 3rd day. i have netflix too, so i never find myself without movies.. if you don’t find a movie in their library, you can also suggest the movie and they’ll usually end up getting it.. they’ve acquired two of my previous suggestions to their library..
i think they have a 2-week free trial, so no harm trying it out.. give it a shot, it beats going to the mom and pop stores
forgot to mention, they also have different plans like netflix.. you can get 2, 3, or 4-DVDs at a time.. check out the rates on their site..
= Striker, nah… their service seems worse for west coasters… it takes about a week to 10 days to get the next batch of DVDs upon your return…
thanks 4 the advice guys – doing the free trial, am on west coast too (san diego).
Pirates 2 – I think they used the same jokes and did an overkill. Pirates Part 3 hopefully comes out better with new villain ‘Captain Sao Feng’.
Will check out Tickets & City of God
Well i recommend following movies to every one
1) requiem for dream.
2) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
3) American History.
4) The Majestic.
5) Lord of War.
6) Motor Cycle Diaries
7) Sideways
Guys I have written my first review on “The Pursuit of Happiness” on my blog www.varunscool.blogspot.com
any comments and suggestions are most welcome
thanks
Hey Varun, yeah ‘Kiss Kiss…’ is hilarious!
I actually dont like Robert Downie Jr but this is one film I really enjoyed him in.
‘Motorcycle..’ is a lovely film.
Very well made and thought provoking.
But ‘Requiem…’ oh man….:o you know, I had trouble sleeping after this one, in particular the climax scenes.
It’s one of those brilliant, but once only films… well, although I have a copy at home I’ve never felt the urge to watch again.
Well, I just didnt have the courage to I guess.
Just like the french film ‘Irreversible’.
I’ll never watch that again… but do recommend it to others.
Ditto ‘Bandit Queen’.
I’ll check the others out at some point.
Btw, didnt ‘requiem..’ have a brill soundtrack?!\:d/
Steve
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was definetly one of the best hillarious movie that i have seen past year, I like Robert Downey’s irritating voice in the movie.
Motor cycles is a simple and wellmade movie. I like it a lot.
Requiem is the movie for ages, its different in every sense Photography,narration and colors used in the movie are just awesome. Requiem’s background was good too kinda Techno. one of the best i seen. Unlike u i can watch it 3 or 4 times continously
Btw, Did u read my review of “The Pursuit of Happiness” on my blog.
oz, “told you so” about boys :D that thing should’ve been a short film i swear.. but understand your reasoning for watching it. shit, i have “tooti-peeth pahaad” on my queue.. simply watching it to see what the hype was all about..
pirates 1/2.. slept thru ‘em.. depp was funny in parts but couldn’t hold my attention.. he was way better in finding neverland..
have added tickets to my queue..
11:14 – i could’ve sworn i was the one who told you about this movie.. :-? i loved it.. glad you enjoyed it too
loved the realism about amores.. like you said, it could’ve been you or me in that story.. i cringed everytime the crippled model went near the hole in her floorboard to look for the dog.. maybe i just wanted her to fall in
)
napoloean.. (:| history and i don’t mix.. if you don’t believe me, look at my report cards ;)
have added city of god to the queue as well.. i just watched cars and khosla ka ghosla today.. loved ‘em both!
Varun, yeah i read your review and liked it.
You write well matey!
I am actually looking forward to this film, as it seems Will has acted very well.
Its not out in the U.K yet…unless its out today and i’m unaware??
Im really slacking with films as i had been ill, but will most definitely be going to see ‘Guru’ this week!!
‘Requiem…’ absolutely agree, but can’t go into it too much as im not sure how many others have seen it and dont want to give the plot away….Very well made though.
And it’s not easy to shake off is it?!!
Varun,
‘Requiem for a dream’ – is good.
Has anyone seen ‘Pi’ by the same director?
Storyline – A paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature. Sean Gullette as the math genius(Maximillian Cohen) is gr8.
‘American History X’ – I knw. Ed Nortan at his best. ‘Fight Club’ comes close.
‘The Majectic’ – One of Jim Carrey’s best performance. But I think ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ is even better.
“watch out how the kid who