Odds And Ends

Rating : Above Average (3.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hour 15 minutes
Director : Dibakar Banerjee
Cast : Abhay Deol, Neetu Chandra, Paresh Rawal, Archana Puransingh, Manu Rishi, Anurag Arora
Kid rating : PG

OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE : GREAT DETAIL, LITTLE STORY !

After reading Navdeep Singh’s early review of “OLLO” at PFC, I wanted to see this film the moment it was released here. After all, director Dibakar Banerjee directed the impeccable drama/comedy “Khosla ka Ghosla”, and Navdeep Singh directed that gorgeous foray into desi noir “Manorama six feet under”. They both couldn’t be wrong, could they ?  Read more... (797 words, 1 image, estimated 3:11 mins reading time)

Rating : Above Average (3.6/5)
Genre : Romance/Comedy
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hour 25 minutes
Director : Tarun Mansukhani
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachhan, John Abraham, Kirron Kher, Boman Irani, Sushmita Bundela Mukherjee
Kid rating : PG 13

DOSTANA : A GAY FILM !

Recall the “Kantaben” episode in “Kal ho na ho”. Now concoct a whole film around it, and Voila ! You have “Dostana”, a film about two men pretending to be gay. And because it would be mightily inconvenient to situate such a story in good old, traditional India (some “patriotic” group or other “guardians” of our culture might take offence), the story is set in Miami. Also throw in a nicely proportioned, peppy lass and you now have a full-on Masala film !  Read more... (819 words, 1 image, estimated 3:17 mins reading time)

Rating : Below average (2.8/5)
Genre : Drama / Fantasy
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 35 minutes
Director : Goldie Behl
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachhan, Jaya Bachchan, KayKay Menon
Kid rating : PG

DRONA : BORING AND TACKY

You know you watch all these foreign fantasy based films, built upon folklore and mythology, and you begin to wonder why there is no desi fantasy/folklore based film. You have whole generatons of people being bred on Amar Chitra Kathas, and if that isn’t material begging to be ripped off, I don’t know what is. Well, wonder no more people, because here comes Drona, or the Deva vs. Asura war in the modern world.  Read more... (862 words, 4 images, estimated 3:27 mins reading time)

Moving film. Stars the beautiful Anne Hathaway, and an outstanding cast. Reviewed on my other blog, here.

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama /Comedy
Year : 2008
Running time : 1 hours 50 minutes
Director : Jaideep Verma
Cast : Sushant Singh, Rajat Kapoor, Vrajesh Hirjee, Kartikadevi Rane, Mandeep Mazumdaar, Chandrachood Karnik,
Kid rating : PG

HULLA : SIMPLE PLOT AND SUBTLE HUMOR = GOOD FILM

Although Hindi cinema has come a long way from the usual boy-meets-girl routine, there are still few films made on small subjects. Hulla is one such film, quite a pioneer really, and it’s subject ? Noise. The noise at night. To put it precisely, the noise of the night watchman whistling. The entire film revolves around this noise, this “hulla” which keeps our hero awake and un-rested at night, and the effect this has on his life.  Read more... (705 words, 1 image, estimated 2:49 mins reading time)

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Raj Babbar, Mugdha Godse, Kangana Ranaut, Harsh Chhaya, Samir Soni, Kitu Gidwani, Arbaaz Khan, Ashwin Mushran, Chitrashi Rawat, Arjun Bawa
Kid rating : PG-13

FASHION : CLICHED BUT INERESTING

This film is quite a surprise, in that it features Priyanka Chopra, in a meaty, acting-oriented role. So far Priyanka has acted in films which pretty much ask 2 things of her : look pretty, and look dumb (i.e.; leave the thinking to the macho hero). She has THAT act down pat, so I was much surprised to see that she did quite well in this film too.  Read more... (680 words, 1 image, estimated 2:43 mins reading time)

Clint Eastwood.

Everyone knows his name. He’s an American staple – as common a household name as Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson. Generations have grown up with his films, whether they be the many he has starred in or the ones he has directed in the last 30 years. He’s not only a staple of American cinema, but American culture in general. There’s a funny thing about Eastwood, though: he never quite stays the same. He was introduced to many through the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and from there he created the violent persona of Insp. “Dirty” Harry Callahan. No rules for Dirty Harry; just results. Years later, Eastwood would direct a western himself in which he would reinvent himself.  Read more... (754 words, 7 images, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

Ron Howard’s films ache for Oscars. Sometimes they win (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) and sometimes they don’t (Cinderella Man, The Missing), but it’s hard to shake the impression that his recent pictures have each been on their knees, begging for shiny statuettes. Frost/Nixon, detailing David Frost’s infamous ‘77 interviews with the impeached President, is rivaled only by W. in its need to be this season’s Politically Relevant Film (Nixon is like Bush! Get it?), and you can practically see Howard popping into the frame, pointing to his favorite bits, and whispering, “For your consideration!” Such baggage threatens to choke Frost/Nixon to death; the first act does an admirable job of tightening the noose.  Read more... (611 words, 7 images, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in ‘Revolutionary Road’

Hey friends. Welcome to the first “Theater Releases” post of 2009. I would have done one last week, except — well — there were no releases last week. None at all. Go fig.  Read more... (510 words, 14 images, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Huang Lu in Li Yang’s "Blind Mountain".

I know, I know, it’s been awhile. I won’t make excuses (ok, I will, a 3000 mile roadtrip over the course of 2 1/2 weeks with 2 small children, 45 total hours in the car, and 5 separate family groups – I am exhausted). But, I’m back in the saddle. Muchos gracias to Luke for keeping the car running in my absence.

It’s a big week for big releases, but they all – for the most part – suck big wind.

 Read more... (840 words, 25 images, estimated 3:22 mins reading time)