Closer

Is love a creation? Are humans always in pursuit of that which they don't have and especially of that which they can't have...? May be things like alcohol in prohibition or restricted drugs?

The law of the land enforces monogamy and somewhere, humans have started believing that monogamy makes sense; for most cultures, multiple partners had been the norm for a long time and then things began to change as humans started living in societies and the concept of materialism reared its ugly head.

Another issue that this movie raised for me was about sex.
Could sex really be that desirable? Could sex really be that much of an issue such that it could hurt a man's ego? May be this movie says a lot about the India that is becoming.

Jude Law, Natalie Portman (didn't think she would have had such a brilliant body) and Clive Owen were phenomenal. One can see Clive's potential on the real stage. I have never liked Julia Roberts. Alas.

The movie is not for the masses because it demands patience and thought. Parts need to be glued together to make sense and one is left wondering how it will end and often, how it is still progressing. Something very operatic about the movie, like a tragedy. It ends with the godess that is Natalie.

Can't take my eyes off of you.

Paradox

I had always wanted to see Zakir Hussain perform, and yesterday I had my chance.
Two weeks ago when the tickets opened up the general public, I pounced and bought 2, now knowing who my accomplice would be - it turned out to be this nutty fun friend from Spanish class.
We made our way to Shanmukhananda Hall in Sion East, Mumbai - I had heard a lot about the auditorium and yes, it lived up to the grandeur I expected.

Here is what I went for: (Courtesy: Bookmyshow.com)

When geniuses come together, magic is the only outcome!

Hello classical fans, You won’t believe what we have in store for you. A unique combination-a first time ever - Pandit Birju Maharaj (Kathak) in session with the magical Tabla beats of the great table master Ustad Zakir Hussain. If that was not enough, the vocal renditions of the legendary maestro Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty will merge their brilliance into a crescendo. Dr. Trichy Sankaran, the world famous master on the Mridangam with his co-artists will also join in, in celebrating Pandit Birju Maharaj’s 75 glorious years. Date : Dec 13, 2012 Time: 6.30 PM Venue : Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai I am a music lover. I love most kinds of music and no, house and club don't qualify as music (yet). I can listen to Indian classical music for hours; the thing about Indian classical music is that if one gives it its due attention it can be quite strenuous on the brain, in a pleasant way. Dr. Trichy occupied the stage for a good hour and it was phenomenal. Zakir came on after the 15 minute interval and Brijmohan Mishra (Birju Maharaj) made a grand entrance - and this was after a wonderful introductory speech by one of the organising dudes. Birju will celebrate his 76th birthday in February! And he was a sight for weary minds. Was amazing to see someone dance this way - I think dance ought to be this, rather than the shaky swivelly nonsense from the West. More blues. Zakir impressed me - I think it's because I could see why he is a maestro. I don't understand Indian classical music but I appreciate its nuances and the ingenuity that seldom tags along. It's in his eyes. I didn't like Pandit Ajoy even though I did like his voice. There is a difference you see... It is what one had once said: There is good casting, there are no bad actors. He didn't belong on the stage last night according to me. But I am a lowly commoner and know not what all that music 'meant'. The evening was cut short because it was past 10pm and Ajoy's singing is not what me and my friend signed up for. May be we were weary. The thing about Art is that it is all around us and with this note I will move on to the next phase of this post: I found it hilarious that people were bumbling in like drunk minstrels at 730 pm when the performance had started at 640 pm. And by hilarious I mean that I wanted to punch them in their punani region. I also found it hilarious that one of the ushers had his cell phone ringing to a bhojpuri/ bollywood type song. I made my way to a bar where my friend was drinking for me and I saw a conglomeration (yes, a conglomeration) of people pretending to have a merry time by jiving to techno/ house. They looked like pigs and the smell of smoke hid their foul stench. And the following is the reason why I may be writing this post... I dropped my friend home and made my way through a lane I have been driving through for the last 2 years. A couple of families had made their quaint shanty home there, away from the populace and usually playing with their dogs. Last night, I found their homes torn down and shrouded in rubble. Imagine that, you are living your life and one fine evening a vindictive tsunami decides to rid you of your iota of belonging. Yes, that is capitalism where the strong survive and the weak are washed away into the gutters; it is what a lot of city dwellers secretly desire and socially ridicule. I stood there looking at the canvas. And someone opened the trapdoor beneath my feet. I knew not how to swim. But did I ever exist? To the music inside us all.

Dosar

I love human relations. The movie kept things vague and kept one engrossed with the questions or comments: "What is she going to do/ say? How is he going to respond? Why is this woman suffering an abusive husband? Who was Mita? Yeah sure, now he wants her back... Who are these two? Yeah, the prostitute makes sense... I think."
Wonderful symbolism and art meshed with a good story. Don't know why he did a B/W film, but read somewhere that he did it just for kicks...
"Here's the pack of condoms; my wife won't need it. Your husband might." Ghosh seems to do a wonderful job with personalities and close-ups. Aaaah... Bengali movies...

Bridges of Madison County

Has to be one of the best romantic movies of all time. Sadly, it's a questionable topic and one of my favourites... Infidelity.
Meryl Streep has done an outstanding job and that almost goes without saying :)
The slow movie does a great job of picturing the romance that apparently develops over a very long period of time but is in fact only a day. Before the intimacy begins, all along, the viewer is forced to believe that physical intimacy will lead to passion and so forth - but this story was about a very mature romance born out of the desire for something new and a form of security.
Meryl's character is quite evidently lonely and bored and when she finds a person who has traveled the world, is a gentleman and very secure about his own identity she experiences a lust which later develops to belonging and hope.
Loved the part when she is about to run out of the car her husband is driving and go for Robert's (Clint) car.
Regret - Francesca lived with it for her life and the movie shows her son and daughter living with similar circumstances where they adjust to 'normalcy'. It is something that many people accept and adjust to even though the possibilities of changing course could lead to greater paths. We often choose security over adventure and potential fulfillment.


Just a note about Clint Eastwood's brilliance.
Francesca asks Robert, "Tell me the most exciting place you've been to in the whole world, unless, of course, if you are too tired..." Clint almost takes a sip of his beer, glances at Francesca in a weird way, goes back to the bottle, takes a sip, looks back at Francesca and comments about how much guys like talking about themselves. The nuances to that scene and many others... :)

Inception

A fantastic creation with an intellectual / fantasy feel to it. Ellen Page will be acclaimed as a great actor soon enough, Leonardo was his normal good and Joseph Gordon-Levitt was rather striking. Some of the scenes were mind-blowing and cinematically it might be one of the best creations to have come out till date. The meticulous detail with which the 'dreams' were chalked out deserves appreciation. The plot was marvelous and dreams have always fascinated humans :)

The movie is currently ranked 3rd on Imdb's Top 250 and everybody who has seen it has been raving about it.
I am a bitch.

The entire emotional angle between Leo and his wife seemed hollow. The pace with which the movie ended and the abruptness of the end did not do justice to the other characters or the story. The end was rather predictable and the sequence of escapes from each dream was pretty boring.
When I got done with this movie I was quite impressed but also quite bored because towards the last half hour I was already waiting for the movie to end.

My sense is that at times people are so blinded and perplexed by confusing, intelligent stories that they mistake a good idea for a good all-round movie. If you keep people guessing and if you manage to dazzle them with good effects combined with good direction and good acting - does it make a good movie? Superficially - Yes! But dig down deeper and you realize that Shutter Island & Fight Club - they were complete movies.
I felt something was missing by the time the movie was beginning to end and I was rather dis-satisfied with an otherwise stupendous creation.

Before Sunset

A simple movie, a simple plot, complex emotions and a messy history filled with regret. A guy (Ethan Hawke) and a girl (Julie Delpy) met nine years ago, spent an evening and a night together, promised to meet each other six months thence; the guy arrived, the girl did not. They did not see each other for the next 9 years. The guy wrote a book about his life and that night. He comes to Paris (Julie's hometown), and they meet each other at the bookstore where he's signing books.

The movie begins, they walk, they talk. They laugh and they break down (internally, at least). You see the love in their mannerisms and in their eyes; you see that they don't know if they want it, you see that both of them are overjoyed and overwhelmed. One can continually smile through the movie and hope that they end up together. The movie ends rather abruptly but on a positive and joyous note.
There isn't much to describe but it is, by far, one of my all-time favourites.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

Emotions when hidden, stories when unsaid, and love when unconsummated can create pieces of art that stay engraved.
I cried twice during this movie and was filled with rage once.
The name of the movie means: "A thousand desires such as this..." The literal translation may not be possible as the name implies something and is open to interpretation.
A story that seems to be about ideologies but is in fact about emotions, behaviours, choices, helplessness and unbridled suffering; great work by Shiney Ahuja, Chitrangada Singh (possibly one of the most beautiful women I have seen) and Kay Kay Menon.

Period movies rarely rear their heads from the Indian stable; there are a lot of untold stories from India's past, possibly because Indian film-makers do not have the courage to make them - which is quite understandable.

Technically unsound, weird editing, but the silence spoke and the story was told. A movie that should be seen for there are a lot of things that this movie can make one think of, because art, at times, has rough edges, because pain is difficult to feel - and this movie gets one close to it. I may sound a bit too poetic about this, but such is the movie.

East of Eden

Shakespearean - that's what I would like to call this movie. A story about lust, jealousy, greed, naivety and ambition. I had often heard about James Dean and always wondered why he was so critically applauded; now I know why. He was a child in this movie (metaphor) and he played that character to perfection. The movie revolved around relationships within the family, flaws of human society and customs and James's search for himself.
What makes it special? The character is not loud or in your face; rather, one can see the confusion on the child's face and every drop of emotion comes out so strongly. There is an elan coupled with confusion and aggression. There were moments when I simply gaped in awe at James's face; partly because he seemed flawless, and partly because he was a gorgeous guy.
Physical struggles are difficult to perform convincingly, but emotional struggles are near impossible to portray well; I do not know how James managed to do so, but he did it very well.
I saw in this movie what I see everyday - flaws in human society and the idiosyncrasies of each individual, and I saw in this movie an actor that could have been cherished.

This Boy's Life

One of those that gets lost in the plethora of movies that rush by year on year... A great story that every child can relate to, even though it may be in the smallest of ways. I wonder if people knew that Leonardo DiCaprio would one day be as big an actor as he is today... I have seen a lot of his movies and his performance in this one stands out; he was a natural.
The new father (De Niro) seems paternal at times and turns to his wicked side all of a sudden; a fabulous actor in his own right but is overshadowed by DiCaprio in this flick.
I believe that most great movies are made great through the cast, its ability to convince an audience and the director's ability to mould everything together - all of which have been achieved. One can't help but believe that this is Tobias Wolff (DiCaprio) himself, as this movie is based on his childhood.
One notices the mother's helplessness, the new father's own dark background and resentment, Tobias's friends, Tobias's different sides and the raw emotion in almost each scene. There was nothing over the top, given that De Niro's performances are, at times, too 'in your face'. Every part of the movie blended perfectly with the other and a reason for this could be the fact that this was Tobias's real story - writers are often overlooked, but it is they who plant the seed for what can be a great on-screen story.