City Of GoD

Cast : Alexandre Rodrigues, Alice Braga, Leandro Firmino

Director : Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund

Based on true events of a Brazilian slum in Rio de Janeiro, 'City of God' tells a harrowing tale of one boys fight to escape poverty and crime. Over the course of roughly two decades, the story is told through the eyes of our young protagonist; 'Rocket', who desperately wants to make something of himself and free himself from the violence, drugs, robberies and corruption of the 'City of God'.

It's established very early on in the film that the name of the slum, 'City of God', is blatant irony being that the place is completely overrun with all forms of crime and immorality. The first 20-30 minutes depict how the young citizens of the slum view crime as a necessity, and the only way in which they can make something of themselves and claim respect amongst the local population. It is clear that over time to some characters their "necessities" have started to become entertaining, and sadly this is passed on to the younger generations who then also aspire to such crimes.

'Rocket' introduces us to many important characters that are well respected in the community. One of which is 'Lil Zé', 18, and the sole king of the 'City of God'. An inhumane and immoral character who only received maximum respect through murder and drugs. 'Lil Zé' is an immensely frightening character; it's very hard to find a soul or a shred of humanity within him. He is a prime example of an underlying tone of a vicious cycle; influenced by older boys when he was younger, he aspired to become something greater than those who looked down upon him as a child and made himself the most feared member of the slum. There is one particularly devastating scene which demonstrates this, it is also likely to stick with you forever.

Everybody fears everybody within the community, 'Lil Zé' has a large gang, and to join his side is a symbol of respect, and this is the ideal that all the young people of the slum have been taught. All except 'Rocket', who hopes to become a photographer one day, to form a legitimate career and to escape the hold the city has over him.

'Rocket' is a sign of courage and hope, he even quotes that the slum is purgatory at one point, and 'Rocket' highlights this by being the only, or one of few, young people to hope to have aspirations of becoming something worth while and legitimate, where others view money as their only form of escape. During the course of the film, however, he becomes influenced by his surroundings and attempts to turn to the world of crime, but he has too much heart to commit any such acts. Each guy 'Rocket' met on his attempted descent was a "cool guy", and he couldn't bring himself to do any harm.



Amongst all the various crime and drug use and dealing, it is made perfectly clear that all the main characters involved are but only teenagers. They like to party, hang out on the beach, and our protagonist has a crush on a pretty young girl called 'Angélica', who he wants to sleep with. These are simple lives made extraordinary, and for the most part, nobody wants that. 'Lil Zé', however, is displayed to be purely business orientated and has very little interest in anything other than his respect and power. If his hormones kick in, he will act upon them illegitimately.


Visually, this is quite a strange film. It has a somewhat light-hearted aura surrounding it which is sometimes strengthened by an excellent soundtrack. This makes for an extra punch because it highlights how natural and normal this life is for all the residents of the city and can be quite a tough thing to think about. Some of the imagery, however, is very powerful and graphic making them often hard to handle. This imagery is made strong by a wonderful young cast who give excellent performances throughout. I'm sure if I were fluent in Portuguese, I'd find some small discrepancies within their line delivery, but as it stands, everybody seems very natural bringing about very strong characters.


The film is brilliantly paced, very fast, with some excellent cinematographic choices. The pace and overall intensity of the film encourages you to keep involved, and despite the tough imagery in certain parts, it's hard to look away. I can't seem to find much wrong with this film, and feel that it deserves all the accolades it has got for its courageous story matter and the confidence to not shy away from any details of, sadly, what many slums still are today. Even if this doesn't accurately portray life in certain slums, as a piece of art, this is brilliant.

City of God will definitely be remembered in the future as the film which just might have changed cinema history.

Rating :

* * * *

Good Will Hunting

Cast : Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck

Director: Gus Van Sant

"Good Will Hunting" ranks high on my list of all-time favorite films. Everything about the movie is top-notch, everything. The acting is brilliant. The actors do a splendid job of eliciting an emotional response from the viewer. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver and Robin Williams all shine in their roles, and are an absolute joy to watch.

Matt Damon plays Will Hunting, who is a brilliant young man who denies his unreal intellect. Will has had a very abusive childhood which hurt him mentally to a point where he can no longer let anyone close to him aside from his best friend who is played by Ben Affleck. That is until a professor at one of the top colleges finds Will's talent and helps him out of trouble with the law. Robin Williams later comes in as a therapist to Will, he is the only one who can really stand up to Will's intellect and manages to break the layer of distrust that Will has developed over years of solitude, and the two develop a bond beyond friendship.

The fact that it was written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon was a shock to me, I did not expect any strong writing and a solid script, but boy was I wrong. The movie lasts for 2 hours, and every minute of it I couldn't even focus on anything beside the incredible world of Will Hunting.

The subplots make for mini-movies of their own, especially the interplay between Robin Williams' character and Stellan Skarsgard's character.

Besides the writing, it is also perfectly acted. Ben Affleck is fantastic as Will Hunting's best friend and deserved an Oscar nomination simply for the scene in which he tells Will that he wishes Will would one day simply not be at his house. While Affleck is great in a relatively small role, however, it is Damon and Robin Williams who steal the show as the titular character and his psychologist, respectively. Damon's Will Hunting is just about the smartest man in the world, a man who can solve the most difficult calculus problem in his head and can read a book in a matter of minutes. Despite his genius, he is deeply emotionally troubled, due to his upbringing on the rough streets of Boston. Williams won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of the only man who was able to get under Will's skin

I don't know whether Matt and Ben have ever been in therapy, but they certainly understand a lot about the human psyche, how it ducks responsibility, and pushes blame onto others, how it dismisses the real gifts it has and concentrates on running itself down. How many of us suffer from the same problems as Will? Only those who deny their own vulnerability will remain unaffected by this film.

You could read a lot of self-help books, but they won't bring across to you as powerfully as this film what it's like to be scared, what it's like to experience loss, how difficult it is to shake off your old ways of thinking, how important honesty to yourself is.

This film burns slowly, inside you

One important think i want to say that Something people will notice is how Will's problems in his life are not so much different than ours and with Gus Van Sant's brilliantly simply direction it is shown with more heart than you can handle. As Will goes through problems with his love life, his past and what his future hold for him, we realize his life his a potential that all our lives should be. Apart from this each character is superbly distinguished as each play a different role in Will's life which is one of the many fine touches of the screenplay. I highly recommend it as it one of the few movies that by the end of it you'll either smile or cry because you will look back at your life in truly different way.

One of the best Ever for me..

Absolute Must for All.

Rating:

* * * *

American Teen

Cast : Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Megan Krizmanich, Jake Tusing ,Mitch Reinholt

Director : Nannette Brastein

I have always been fascinated with American Culture. Not that i like it and want to be there. No such fantasies..the thing which intrigues me is their culture. No doubt America is the most developed country in the world and they are way ahead of us. I want to know things about why they are ahead. What is in their people or their education system that makes us better than us. ( I dnt claim that they are, but just going by facts and figures and observations). I wanted to watch American teen so that i can get lil bit insight in Teen’s mind of America so that i can understand what they think, how they have fun, what are their troubles and challenges in life?

American teen in a way does provide answer to these questions.

American Teen offers a slightly more realistic view of the pressures and personalities in a typical high school.
Filmed over a year in Warsaw, Indiana, it follows a group of seniors as they face life-changing decisions.
The movie talks about four characters and their aspirations and their troubles.

Hannah Bailey is a pretty, smart, unconventional girl. She is not part of the "in crowd" and lives with her grandmother because her mother is manic/depressive and her father works in another state. Hannah doesn't have a positive self-concept even though she is prettier and smarter than most of the high school girls. She wants to escape Indiana and the boring life she sees living there offers. Instead she wants to go to film school in California. She wants to make films that she will will remembered for long after she dies.

Colin Clemens is the son of a former star athlete, and he himself is now the star of the high school basketball team. His dad tells him they can't afford to send him to college without his getting a basketball scholarship. He has dreams of a college career with a "Final Four" appearance, and a pro contract with the Pacers.

Megan Krizmanich is a pretty, smart, and popular girl at school, and in a family with a long history of attending Notre Dame. Part of her drama is to see if she can get in, even though she gets into some trouble at school.

Jake Tusing is your typical geek, slightly shorter than most guys, with somewhat of a monotone delivery and acne. He plays in the band, longs for a girlfriend but has trouble finding a match. But he tries.

You have to see the DVD extras to get a glimpse of how this movie, part drama and part documentary, was made. A number of schools were scouted, and when this Indiana high school was chosen, a number of students were interviewed for the featured roles. Once chosen the students and their families and friends were filmed throughout the school year in typical situations. Footage of basketball games or marching band practice are clearly authentic, but some of the teen "scenes" seemed at least partly contrived, or perhaps "recreated". Nevertheless the sum of the whole makes very interesting viewing.

Rating :

* * *

The Assassination oF Jesse James By Coward Robert Ford

Cast: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck

Directore : Andrew Dominik

A Movie starring Brad Pitt has to be special. He is my most favourite actor all over world. But When I tell you that this movie has been lying in my library for more than 3 months and I dint watch it just because it sounded so slow and boring. What do i say here, that I made a mistake? Brad Pitt never disappoints.

The ways of the world are truly strange. You kill a robber and a murderer and you end up being labelled a coward. That's the fate that dogged Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a young man who joined the gang of famed bandit, Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and ended up killing him, hoping to end a career in crime. But Ford didn't realise that he wasn't the only one who hero worshipped the legend of Missouri. Despite his sundry heists and his infamous crime list which included seventeen murders, Jesse James, the great train robber of the 1880's, was essentially a Robin Hoodwho loomed larger than life for the commonplace and non-heroic citizens of the wild West. The film is essentially a biopic of the bandit with a focus on his relationship with his assassin, Ford, who first met him as a star-struck admirer, trying to enlist the similarities between him and his hero. You have blue eyes, I have blue eyes too, he exults, and joins the James gang in its last great heist: the Blue Cut Train Robbery, spearheaded by Jesse and his elder brother, Frank (Sam Shepard). But, it doesn't take long for the young Ford to realise it takes more than a pair of blue eyes to make a balsy hero who could kill without compunction and yet double up as a devoted husband and father and a disciplined celebrity. In a pointed query, Jesse asks his devotee: You want to be like me or you want to be ME? Ford, bogged down by his inadequacies, gradually finds his adulation changing to envy and in a dimly lit parlour, when Jesse has given up his life of crime, he seeks out his fifteen minutes of fame. It's a long, meandering film which keeps you engrossed with its hard-hitting performances and its intricate eye for detail. While Brad Pitt brings to life the mythical figure, complete, with his majesty and meanness, Casey Affleck is both edgy and unpredictable. But in the final count, it is Roger Deakins breathtaking cinematography which leaves you spellbound with its compelling frames of the expansive planes of the untamed Wes

he ways of the world are truly strange. You kill a robber and a murderer and you end up being labelled a coward. That's the fate that dogged Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a young man who joined the gang of famed bandit, Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and ended up killing him, hoping to end a career in crime. But Ford didn't realise that he wasn't the only one who hero worshipped the legend of Missouri. Despite his sundry heists and his infamous crime list which included seventeen murders, Jesse James, the great train robber of the 1880's, was essentially a Robin Hoodwho loomed larger than life for the commonplace and non-heroic citizens of the wild West. The film is essentially a biopic of the bandit with a focus on his relationship with his assassin, Ford, who first met him as a star-struck admirer, trying to enlist the similarities between him and his hero. You have blue eyes, I have blue eyes too, he exults, and joins the James gang in its last great heist: the Blue Cut Train Robbery, spearheaded by Jesse and his elder brother, Frank (Sam Shepard). But, it doesn't take long for the young Ford to realise it takes more than a pair of blue eyes to make a balsy hero who could kill without compunction and yet double up as a devoted husband and father and a disciplined celebrity. In a pointed query, Jesse asks his devotee: You want to be like me or you want to be ME? Ford, bogged down by his inadequacies, gradually finds his adulation changing to envy and in a dimly lit parlour, when Jesse has given up his life of crime, he seeks out his fifteen minutes of fame. It's a long, meandering film which keeps you engrossed with its hard-hitting performances and its intricate eye for detail. While Brad Pitt brings to life the mythical figure, complete, with his majesty and meanness, Casey Affleck is both edgy and unpredictable. But in the final count, it is Roger Deakins breathtaking cinematography which leaves you spellbound with its compelling frames of the expansive planes of the untamed West. Recommended.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Sankat City

Cast: K K Menon, Rimi Sen, Anupam Kher

Director : Pankaj Advani

After a long time i felt like watching some good hindi movie. I hardly have any hindi movie saved but i definitely had saved Sankat City for times such these. I have heard praise of movie when it got relelased and i knew it wont disappoint me. Its a story mixed with many likeable and identifiable characters. Every plot in the movie is interrelated and it ll be hard and a bit unfair for me to describe the story here but now as its been some time movie i can afford that risk.

(Kay Kay Menon) is a car thief whose partner in crime is a garage owner Ganpat (Dilip Prabhawalkar). Fouzdar (Kher), an underworld don sends his driver to deliver Rs. 1 crore cash to deliver it to filmmaker Gogi (Manoj Pahwa). But Guru ends up stealing this car and is over the moon on finding the cash bag inside. But before Guru could savor the money, he is caught by Fouzdar. When Fouzdar sends his henchman Lovely (Jehangir Khan) along with Guru to get back his money hidden in garage, Lovely unintentionally ends up hurting Ganpat’s head. Since Ganpat before that had hidden the money at a different place it gets crazier since Ganpat now has lost his memory with the assault on his head. Now Guru is given three days by Fouzdar to get back his money or else face death. Guru then chances upon his old partner in crime Mona (Rimi) and both join hands. What helluva crazy ride it all leads as Guru goes on to get Rs. 1 crore forms the rest of the plot.

The film’s biggest assets are the zany humour and also the acting by each and every actor. Pankaj Advani’s narrative style is terrific and keeps you engaged throughout. It is good debut by the filmmaker. While the first half breezes quickly, the second gets a little slow but however the film picks up well during the climax. Amongst the most hilarious scenes are Anupam Kher’s sequences with a nervous wreck builder played by Yashpal Sharma, Kay Kay and Ganpat’s friendly banter, Kay Kay and Rimi’s theft at Yashpal Sharma’s flat and Kay Kay’s taxi ride with a Sardar taxi driver who is hunting for his lost brother. Ranjit Barot’s background music is impressive.

Kay Kay is simply superb while Rimi gives her best performance till date. Her constant Bengali banter is cute. Anupam Kher is top class. Chunky Pandey in a double role is hilariously good. Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma, Sanjay Mishra, Hemant Pandey, Virendra Saxena and Sunita Rajwar lend able support. Rahul Dev in a short role of a hit man impresses.

Sankat City is a must watch for all those complaining to see something different yet full of fun.

Rating :

* * *

Jerry Maguire

Cast: Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger

Director : Cameron Crowe

What do we seek in movie? Well, good actors/actresses, a nice plot and definitely something moral to retrieve when we leave the cinema room. Jerry Maguire has all of these features and many more.

Jerry Maguire is a sports agent and in a certain way a very typical manager. He thinks, lives and acts fast, he's a popular guy who earns buckets full of money and has everything except a conscience. But than on one night he gets an epiphany. Money is no longer the most important thing when doing business... He writes it all down, gives his text to all his colleagues and bosses and gets almost immediately fired for it. He decides to start as an independent and all a sudden no one seems to like him anymore except for two people. A young football player and a female accountant. Together with them, he'll try to prove the rest that he is right and that the others are wrong, that he's still a very good agent, that he still has a nose for talent,...

This movie is a mix of several genres: drama, comedy, feel-good movie and romance, but somehow seems to be able to keep everything well balanced. I'm not familiar with Cameron Crowe's work, but this movie certainly makes me want to see more of it. Of course the director isn't the only one that makes a movie work. The acting is done very well too, but what else can you expect from a cast with Renée Zellwegger, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise in it. OK, having big names in your movie doesn't necessarily mean that it will all work, but this time it did. It all looked very real and believable to me.

I'm not saying this is the best movie I've ever seen (there can be only one the best), but this one certainly gave me a good feeling. Sometimes it was perhaps a bit too corny, but overall I liked what I saw and that's sometimes very rare in Hollywood movies

Rating:

* * *

The Zoya Factor (Book)

Finally a Book which i have been reading for last 3 months got completed recently and i was so happy that it got over. I had started growing sick of it honestly. I have had such bad hangover of this book that i dint even feel like writing its review. But alas, for the last time again i will have to recall “The Zoya Factor”

The cover photo of the book depicts a bat , a ball, an impression of a kiss and some flowery twirls around them. What idea does that give you? Yeah its Cricket. And more of cricket with all Bollywood Mix, Two things which sells best in India. Evidently the book sold well too.

Admittedly, it started off very well , I must say. The first few chapters made me crack up with laughter every now and then. Nothing in this story can be even remotely called subtle. Everything is blown to the full!

Zoya Solanki, the female protagonist is a 27 year old professional working in the service sector of an advertising company. One would expect some amount of maturity due for her age and stature. But Zoya comes across as a ‘just out of the college kiddo’, whose world revolves around her romances and her beaus. More often than not, she is portrayed in ‘he loves me….he loves me not’ scenarios, ranting and raving constantly about her lost loves. Oh please…give us a break! Pity stunts!

Then there is Nikhil Khoda, the male protagonist , as well as the Indian skipper. Undoubtedly, he was characterized solely based on Dhoni, both in looks as well as nature. Right from the brown ‘toffee’ skin, Boost ads, to being a small towner…….it is Dhoni to the T! There are a few other characters that show uncanny resemblances to some cricketers we know.

The whole story is based on a ridiculous superstition of the Indian cricket team that, Zoya Solanki is a lucky charm for them! So much so that, they never lose a single match when they have breakfast with her and the one whom she kisses emerges as the Man of the Match!! Roll your eyes all you want because that’s exactly what I did, albeit a few hundred times, while reading the book. And ofcourse, there is the budding romance between the skipper and Zoya which goes on and off………on and off…..

But apart from this dismal and outrageous storyline, what really makes this a good one time read is that quite often you can actually relate to the language they speak (which is absolute hangover of Chetan Bhatgat Books), the scenarios in a working environment and ofcourse the absolute madness and mayhem that exists during an ongoing World Cup Tournament.

Anuja Chauhan (who bytheway lives in gurgaon) has taken this platform to showcase her God-only -knows-why grudges against a few companies like Pepsi (disguised as Zing), Nike, Sony, etc to name a few. I believe it gives her some amount of wicked satisfaction in doing so ;P or it even might be her way of getting back at them for her own reasons! Nevertheless, they provide nice seasoning to the otherwise predictable storyline.

Being what she is, Anuja delivers some really original and absolutely hilarious one-liners in ‘Hinglish’ which can leave you on the floor laughing. This is best part of the book, according to me. All in all, its an Ok timepass but needed a lot tighter editing cause it gets really long and really boring at the end.

Hope you are listening Anuja.

Rating :

* * & 1/2