Sunday, July 19, 2009

And the list continues

15. Jashnn (Hindi) (5.5/10)
Like the title it is a story of nobody who wants to be somebody. Adhyayan is Shahana's brother. She is mistress of a Humayun and thats how they live. Anjana Sukhani is his sister and she falls in love with Adhyayan. HE wants to make big with his music but he always et hurt whenever he wants to do something big. Slowly al his dreams die and he is shattered completely. At this stage, his love helps him come out of his shell, prove that he can be someone and give back a life of respect to his sister. Decent performances and an emotional film. I would have rated it better but I just cant digest Adhyayan and Anjana. Shahana Goswami was superb as expected.

14. Kiss of The Spider Woman (6.5/10)
Hemmed in by the narrow walls of a Latin American prison cell, Molina (William Hurt) is telling his new cellmate, Valentin (Raul Julia), his favorite story. Molina is a gay man imprisoned for seducing a minor; Valentin is a bearded revolutionary still bleeding from his interrogation. There are stories twisting within stories, each drawing a new, surprising level of difference between the two heroes: escapism versus realism, romance versus politics, gay versus straight, hero versus coward. As their unstable friendship grows more real, their stories become more vivid. A well deserved Oscar for the leading man in 80s. Must watch.

13. Vicky Christina Barcelona (7/10)
This is my second time watching this film. Vicky and Cristina are two young Americans spending a summer in Spain. Vicky is engaged to be married and Christina is in search of herself. They meet a charming Casanova and Vicky ends of sleeping with him and thereby confused but she doesn't pursue it further because she is engaged. Christina meanwhile has full fledged affair and even moves in with him. And then comes Penelope Cruz (his ex-wife) and what follows is a complex look at relationships with each of the character and how they directly or indirectly affect each other. Brilliant film and even more brilliant Penelope Cruz.

12. Sankat City (Hindi) (7/10)
A great intelligently made comedy film. This is worth a dekho. KayKay is a car thief who works with Dilip Prabhawalkar (garage owner) in overhauling the car and selling it. Once he find a mercedes and 1 crore rupees with it. What hey dont realize is that the car belongs to Anupam Kher, a don. Then we have RImi who cons people and is trying to do one big final heist and retire. The guys she is targeting at owes money to Anupam Kher. There are a couple of other people involved too with the Don. How do these people interact each other, how money keeps exchanging hands and how things get resolved ultimately make this fun filled roller coaster. The screenplay is the best part. Its not easy to develop the inter relations of the characters.

11. Mamma Mia! (7/10)
One of the first Hollywood musicals that I liked. The story is simple. A girl lives on an island with her mother. Its time for her marriage and she wants to know who her father is. There are 3 possible options but fun is that the mother herself doesn't know. She invites all 3 men for her wedding and the fun, confusion follows. Music of course is great. Title song and dancing queen and their choreography is amazing. I now want to see it on Broadway.

10. Wendy and Lucy (5/10)
Michelle Williams is in economic crisis and is on a road trip on her way to work Alaskan fishing boats with her dog Lucy. Her Honda breaks down, and while shoplifting once she loses Lucy. She befriends a local security guard who genuinely helps her find her dog. As the film speaks to many young people who have been broke and stranded, one will inevitably wonder why Wendy makes the unwise choices she does, for example sleeping in a dangerous area along a train track instead of finding a safer campground, or wandering the streets looking for her lost pooch in lieu of hunkering down for a temporary part-time job. A slow decent movie.

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