Finestra di fronte, La aka Facing Windows (2003) (4/10)

The character development is rather jumpy. As a result you do not start connecting much, and many events seem rather mundane. Even if the premise seems good - about how we can learn of our own life from others and our interactions with them - it is rather trivialised by finding all the right components close by.

Finestra di fronte, La aka Facing Windows (2003) (4/10)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) (5/10)

This was a movie with great potential, good plot, twists and acting wasted by being a bit too verbose. Many of the dialogues and tongue in cheek remarks are excellent, but at times it seems as if it is just strung together from such remarks. Too many characters are inserted and their character built rather rapidly for specific short roles, and some people are too receptive.

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) (5/10)

Shakespeare in Love (1998) (6/10)

Was only half-watching this movie and it seemed good. Full of good acting. Reasonably good plot. A little over-doing of the Victorian era which was inherent to that time and which I have never been able to really understand.

Shakespeare in Love (1998) (6/10)

Christmas in July (1940) (7/10)

This is a delightful 67 minute package. Very positive throughout in all its aspects. A drama that unravels following a big prize announced for a slogan contest and a false telegram notification about the actual prize. What is most wonderful is that even people who have lost or are losing something or the other are shown to take it very gracefully. So gracefully that even today you do feel that it is possible to do so.

Christmas in July (1940) (7/10)

Auberge espagnole, L' aka The Spanish Apartment (2002) (5/10)

A movie about a French student moving to Madrid and spending an year there living with other students from other countries and also with two people he has met at the time of his arrival. His journey through the year and ups and downs are depicted.

Auberge espagnole, L' aka The Spanish Apartment (2002) (5/10)

Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran aka Monsieur Ibrahim (2003) (6/10)

A fairly straightforward plot (if you can call it that) and a triumph of nurture over nature with a bit of sex thrown in for taste. A French boy is groomed by a moslem and told that he gets all his answers from the Koran. What the answers are is never revealed, of course. It is really about love and people power than any religion. Or, in fact, it is the common denominator of all that is good in religions. Without the biased, selfish, oneupmanshipish part.

Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran aka Monsieur Ibrahim (2003) (6/10)

The Namesake (2006) (6/10)

Well made, well acted, fast paced. Shows cultural diversities and borderlines of intermixing and problems thereof quiet well. Where it fails is that too much is crammed in to it, The character of the namesake is not developed at all. It can be anyone's story. The reason for that particular name does not really come out. Most Kolkata images are a backdrop and not clear why those particular ones were there. In general not enough time is spent on different parts of the movie and is abrupt much of the time. May be this is typical of books adapted to movies.

The Namesake (2006) (6/10)

The killing (1956) (5/10)

Must have been a very good movie when it was made. It is good. The planning and all. But ends up seeming slow compared to any movie these days. Perhaps because of the details. Some art movies get tolerated even if they are slow because they are not supposed to convey anything. But this movie is a bit slow because it is precise. But it is not a Hitchcock. A perfect plan to rob a race-course. But then the cookie crumbles.

The killing (1956) (5/10)

The future of food (2004) (7/10)

This is a documentary and worth a watch. I was not sure of the exact dangers posed by genetically modified foods. It is now amply clear that much of the threat if from greedy people rather than the inherent biological aspect of it. It is big corporations which lobby, patent and drive farmers out of a livelihood. The second generation sterility is artificially imposed. Strongly recommended.

The future of food (2004) (7/10)

Chess fever (1930) (7/10)

Directed by Aleksandr Dovzhenko, this 30 minute gem is about the passion of Russia for chess, and especially of the hero whose marriage is in jeopardy because of it. It is interesting to see who all plays chess, where and how. And what happens to our young otherwise romantic couple.

Chess fever (1930) (7/10)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (7/10)

This weird and interesting Mississippi movie about a jailbird who convinces two others to flee with him in search of a 1.2M treasure is replete with some very hearable songs. The flow is rather jerky along the prophesy of a railline prophet they meet. Much like the Earth gets destroyed in a different way in each episode of HHGTTG, the trio keeps getting in to trouble until ...
One gets to see a lot of the devil and god and the in-between. Ever applied Nova to your hair? It used to be so nice ...

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (7/10)

K-PAX (2001) (7/10)

A very crafty movie. Gentle too. And effective. No ultimate suspense, yet keeps you guessing. An alien from K-PAX? Well, that is not what the doctors think, medical or otherwise. But ask the patients! They know. They who you think are just furballs. In the end however, the mystery is not unfolded completely for everyone. You have to put pieces together to make it make sense. And it does.

Some scientific liberties taken, but then some science is explained well e.g. soap- and celestial-spheres. And the humane touch never fails to raise the masses. The cynical me asks though if that is really how it is.

K-PAX (2001) (7/10)

Pi (1998) (6/10)

An interesting premise rather wasted by trying to combine too many abstract concepts making it into an abstraction. Is incompleteness applicable to humans is a question many have pondered (without there being a well understood connection). The absurd fascination for a 216 digit number and the bad health of the hero makes it worse. But by bringing in the Go connection and the Tora, some interest is retained. At times it is just like the 9 billion names of God, and at times its very Lem (in concept anyway), not to mention Indiana Jones. Pi is clearly a misnomer, and phi won't be correct either. Omega perhaps?

Pi (1998) (6/10)

The Lathe of Heaven (1980) (7/10)

Based on Ursula Le Guin's novel, this movie is about reality-changing dreams. And what can happen when dreams are forced. Since not all dreams are shown, the storyline seems a bit jumpy, but manages to sustain attention. George Orr's question about the possibility of there being others who could have such dreams is interesting. Unfortunately he couldn't control his dreams. In a way he was like Wowbagger - since he was not born with the ability, he could not cope with it.


The Lathe of Heaven (1980) (7/10)

One, Two, Three (1961) (7/10)

Billy Wilder's non-stop chattering and lashing out at socialism in a satirical manner. East Berlin, umlaut and coca-cola. Leave out some excessive talkativeness in the middle its a movie with some good twists.

One, Two, Three (1961) (7/10)

Life and Debt (2001) (7/10)

This Jamaican documentary explores the effect of globalisation on Jamaica. IMF restrictions, US bullying form the axis of evil for them. US companies use cheap labour through free zones, do not pay taxes, proper wages, and try to stop Europe from buying their bananas by complaining to WTO. Related issues are explored very well in the documentary and teach a lot about complex world affairs in a very straightforward manner. It does not provide any possible solutions though. May be it is left to the viewers to see how they can help. What long-term effects will globalisation have on a country like India?

Life and Debt (2001) (7/10)

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) (6/10)

Good performances, good flow, no (very) unnecessary elements - at least in order to show a rather (too?) mixed family all pulling in different directions. There were kinks rather than turns or twists through which the family pulled through together, often at breakneck speed. But there did not seem to be anything worth going back to. Perhaps barring the innocence of sunshine.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) (6/10)

Blazing Saddles (1974) (6/10)

Mel Brooks has created this spoofy Western in his rather unimitable colorful style. Being a spoof the exaggerations have to be excused, but some of those are pretty good. Nothing stands out in the end though, which itself is bizarre as is to be expected.

Blazing Saddles (1974) (6/10)

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004) (8/10)

A documentary which rightly got a "truer than fiction" award, it is about how children who would otherwise be potentially stuck in a vicious cycle are enabled by learning to use a camera to make way for their talents, creativity and explore aspects of life that would not otherwise have been possible. Siding the nurture aspect of upbringing, it also is a triumph of a well planned project taken to a logical conclusion. At least up to the limits external help can take one. Then of course it is up to the horse. What other parallel things can individuals do?

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004) (8/10)

Mononoke-hime aka Princess Mononoke (1997) (6/10)

This animation has some good action. But without the technology, or the magic, it does not live up to a Stars-wars reputation. On the otherhand, it is no animal farm either. Well, there is some magic, and the usual thing that cartoons do - not exactly forgetting about gravity, but forgetting basic principles about impact velocities etc. Since what you do not know can not hurt you, they don't get hurt in this epic battle of animals to rid the earth of humans and vice versa. Why bother the Elk if the prince travels faster? The blind nightwalker was interesting, but not convincing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119698/ (1997) (6/10)