Cinemascope

for my own reference

Saturday, December 10, 2011

film list

Leader. So, dilip kumar prances about at first as a radical nationalist newspaperman; then as an astrologer? and later as a posing prince. its complete nonsense and silly. but mildly entertaining for the songs- apni aazadi and the taj mahal thing.

Black mail. Dharamendra and rakhee in love and shatrughan sinha play best friend turned evil blackmailer. set in some hill town. pointless really. oh yes- except for the fact that dharams research lab has found a solution for the worlds power crisis!

Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke _ can't really remember any plot details in this one. except that that dharam lives in a juhu bungalow and asha parekh does not. he woos her and is about to marry her when he runs over her father. guilt and suspicion trip up the path of true love- only for a little while- but too long to bear.

Cadillac records. about the music- no complaints as long as the songs are on. the story of a white man and muddy waters. beyonce stars as etta james- and belts out vocal pyrotechnics. howlin wolf and little walker come in and out. desperate for respectability the film follows the classic oscar baiting bio clichés. think ray

The great gambler. a riot of a plot- featuring a k2 plan that destroys every metal object within 50 kilometres. evil smugglers want to send this plan out to marconi in italy through the gyrations of a dancing helen- who is promptly killed off and replaced by zeenat aman. amitabh bachchan is double dealing in a nonsense plot. and most times in the search for cosmopolitan cool plot and pacing goes for a toss like the europe/ Egypt tourism and the general hipness. The double dealing is mixed up and half baked.

Ra one - what's to complain about a film that so transparently says what it is about and goes ahead and does it- and if ra-one is about anything at all - it as about shah rukh khan's crotch- our collective obsession with it. so he burns it, puts cold ice on it, pierces it- he even grabs arjun rampals crotch as part of the climax. sometimes he manages to grab kareena kapoors breasts. but that is the side plot. otherwise he mimics badly Tamil accents, puts on a skin tight costume and jumps across Bombay local trains and the gorgeous Battersea power station. fun enough. unlike-

Rockstar - besides the laughable premise of true pain leading to great art and our wimp at the centre of the film finding it in the love of a married woman- who is vapid and expressionless, for a film about music - it was unlistenable. the Delhi hindu stephens nonsense in the beginning was at least mildly amusing, but later when the guy is being beaten up for no damn reason on the streets of europe and he grows his beard in protest and scowls away- all sanity and structure disappears. he poses angry rock- but like the fuzzy free tibet posters in sadda haq. it is merely another fashion statement. dangerous for nobody and nothing.

The mighty wind - a 'this is spinal tap' for folk music. affectionate almost about the air headed free love and hippie politics of a generation.

Johnny mera naam - most of time in katmandu with dev anand playing a double agent for the police trying to infiltrate a gang of smugglers and thieves. the highlight must be padma khannas red shorts in 'husn ke laakhon rang'

Tere mere sapne - more dev anand - this time as a doctor disillusioned by the ungrateful world he finds in the village- forced to come to Mumbai. as he climbs the ladder of success- a hema mailini's film star falls head over heels in love with him- but he loses his devoted wife mumtaz.

Bus 174 - a hold up docudrama when a homeless man hijacks a bus in sao paolo. the incident becomes the focus for a debate on homelessness and what drives young men to crime. talking heads and interspersed footage from the actual hold up.

Round midnight - tedious- i thought- story of an american jazz musician in 1950s paris and the friendship he strikes with a french fan as he dissolves in alcohol.

Herbert - if only the film wasnt so self consciously clever- dropping philosophical concepts and names like bird poo all over this annoyingly pretentious mess of bengali self reflexivity. herbert is a dim wit orphan in the care of his aunt and being beaten by his cousin. somewhere along the way maoists insurgencies are pulled in, as is a silly love story. if the high pitched drama was meant to be ironical- it was so self consciously farcical- it left you with a feeling that the film makers were too clever by half for their own good.

Reds. warren beatty's bio pic about Louise Bryant and john reed- left wing radicals in wartime america with talking heads telling the story through real life encounters and a vast landscape of setting ranging from new york to moscow through the wintry lands of Norway.

Hamlet. - the Lawrence Olivier version. his blonde coldness offset in the labyrinth of the castle. spaces dissolve into over another as there appears to be no way out. the only time we step out briefly is when ophelia dies and when the ghost appears suddenly at the top of the castle.

Only yesterday. urban 27 year old reliving a nostalgia for a better life in the villages remembers the present - sunsets on the farms, and lives in the past, the mystery of eating a pineapple and the first crush- in glorious detailed animation. and then there is love.

All about eve - Bette Davis gets the best lines as she ages watching the two faced social climber manipulate her way to stardom. terrific film.

Silk stockings - freed Astaire and cyd charisse play American and Russian in paris- where love blooms in spite of the repressed red tape that keeps them apart. fashion, pleasure and american band music breaks all boundaries. hmm.

Mary pippins - a little too long. and she is really much to sweet for me. or maybe i am too old. but some of the dance sequences- or at least the one on the top of the roofs of London- is spectacular- and the film knows it- it goes on and on and on and on.

my fair lady - the same year as marry poppins i think. and audrey hepburn is pretty and annoyingly cute-charming. for me the film was all rex harrison- nasty sexist and hepburn, even at the end- doesnt bother with his insults and goes back to him to find his slippers.

dial m for murder - hitchcock and grace kelly. a love triangle and murder with a latch key below the stair carpet- fifth step. the twist was predictable- but still the skill unbelievable.

dark passage - the first half of the film is Bogart faceless- we only see through his eyes- interesting enough. but when he gets the new face- the film meanders through plot details and co-incidences too ridiculous to believe. could be a hindi film. the san Francisco streets have more unpredictable turns.

Labels: anime, bengali films, bollywood, brazil, english, france, hollywood

posted by Anarchytect # 10:33 AM

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Cinemascope

Saturday, December 10, 2011

film list

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