Inglouriosu Basterds

Cast : Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daneil Bruhl,

Director : Quentin Tarintino

I badly badly wanted watch this movie and saw it today and I've needed the past few hours to organize my thoughts well enough to coherently describe the obscenely beautiful cinematic achievement that is Inglorious Basterds.

Have you ever seen a movie and been struck nearly speechless when you're walking out of the theatre? This movie blows those out of the proverbial water. I would have said speechless, but I was able to say the word wow, which I said an ungodly number of times. It wasn't until around now that I find myself able to at least write a slightly more aesthetically pleasing grouping of words. As usual Tarantino has given me deeper insight into the art form that is cinema, but even when compared to his previous, outstanding work, this film stands out. I would go into the depths of his work, analyzing the intricate beauty of each individual shot, but there isn't nearly enough room in this forum to do that. I will tell you that throughout this film you will be amazed

Rarely when I watch a movie with such high-expectations do I have those expectations met or exceeded; this film did that and more. Even more rarely do I clap at the end of a movie, this I and everyone else in the theater did.

I can't imagine a director whose thirst for blood and violence is greater than Quentin Tarantino's. (At least in his films) Inglourious Basterds is no different. We all know Tarantino, the guy who exploded on the scene in the early 90s with cult classics, such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

Inglorious Basterds makes no apologies, asks for no forgiveness, it's a no holds barred assault on the senses. Tarantino doesn't care if he offends, if he steps all over stereotypes and clichés, this is film making at it purest.

War has never been been so fun. The Basterds, are haunting, but at the same time, very funny, at times even hilarious. The dark comedy aspect play a big aspect in this as in many other Tarantino films. The entertainment and hilarity is led by Brad Pitt. I found him extremely funny and entertaining. I couldn't wait to see him on screen again. Even with his crazy accent, he works in this type of film. Also making great impressions were Mélanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz, who were tremendous. The film was filled with noteworthy performances.

It is a brilliant setting for an interrogation by Waltz, as the "Jew Hunter" of the SS, who dangles his host French farmer over the precipice of revealing what he cannot reveal numerous times, then pulls him back with obsequious lines of friendship and understanding.

The writing was spot on, a beautiful transition between using not one but four different languages in this movie. Not to mention this movie was set up in the classic Tarantino mould, great scenes of rich meaningful dialog and sudden shocking action.

And above all, there are three iconic characters, drawn broadly and with love: the Hero, the Nazi and the Girl. These three, played by Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz and Melanie Laurent, are seen with that Tarantino knack of taking a character and making it a Character, definitive, larger than life, approaching satire in its intensity but not — quite — going that far. Let's say they feel bigger than most of the people we meet in movies.

The story begins in Nazi-occupied France, early in the war, when the cruel, droll Nazi Col. Hans Landa (Waltz) arrives at an isolated dairy farm where he believes the farmer (Denis Menochet) is hiding Jews. He's right, and a young woman named Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) flees into the woods. It is for this scene, and his performance throughout the movie, that Christoph Waltz deserves an Oscar nomination to go with his best actor award from Cannes. He creates a character unlike any Nazi — indeed, anyone at all — I've seen in a movie: evil, sardonic, ironic, mannered, absurd.


The Hero is Brad Pitt, as Lt. Aldo Raine, leader of the Basterds. Tarantino probably wants us to hear "Aldo Ray," star of countless war films and B pictures. Raine is played by Pitt as a broad caricature of a hard-talking Southern boy who wants each of his men to bring him 100 Nazi scalps. For years, his band improbably survives in France and massacres Nazis, and can turn out in formal evening wear at a moment's notice. Pitt's version of Italian is worthy of a Marx brother.

For a film named after a group of Nazi killing soldiers, there isn't a huge amount of violence. There is a fair amount, but for the most part there is a lot of dialogue and setting up being done. When there is violence, however, oh boy is there violence.

Rating :

* * * * & 1/2

Layer Cake

Cast : Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller

Director : Matthew Vaughn

"Layer Cake" the stylish neo noir film by Matthew Vaughn, making his directorial debut, shows a man with enormous potential to do much better in future projects. The film, based on J.J. Connelly's novel, is a study about the drug business by some ruthless people that are making a lot of money with their illegal commerce.

Point in case, the nameless hero of the story who figures he has played the game right and now is about to make an exit from the business. Little does he know that his friend Jimmy Price has other ideas for him to execute, no doubt driven by a desire to get him in trouble, as proves to be the case.

Daniel Craig is the best thing going in the movie. In fact, he kept reminding us of a young Steve McQueen because of his cool demeanor and how he seems to move effortlessly throughout the film. Kenneth Cranham, as Jimmy Price, is also another actor whose contribution is an asset in the film. Michael Gambon, leaner and tanner, is a cool drug lord who rules a vast empire. Colm Meaney also is excellent, as well as the extensive cast.

Sometimes it seems as if the plot is too complex and there are two dangers, one of leaving the audience behind and two leaving gaping holes in the plot. Still the humour and action set pieces are enough to pull it through. It is not as good as Snatch or Lock, Stock etc but is original enough to stand on its own right. Worth a look.

Rating :

* * *

The Diving Bell and Butterfly

Cast : Matthieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josse Croze

Director : Julian Schnabel

Waking up from a stroke is terrible, but waking up as someone else is even more shocking.

Jean-Dominique knew himself but didn't recognize the person he became after his stroke, which had left him with locked-in syndrome. He wanted to piece together what had happened to him and what he was left with, which allowed him to appreciate the fact that he was indeed still alive and surrounded by people who genuinely loved him. Locked-in syndrome might seem like the end all be all but Jean-Dominique had such a humbling and good sense of humor about it.

We become Jean-Dominique from the beginning, played wonderfully by Mathieu Amalric, in this point-of-view subtitled masterpiece, living our last days in a French hospital with only gorgeous rolling hillsides, countryside, beaches, and glaciers to look at. As the editor of Elle we can only expect a lifestyle of luxury and also not be surprised by the amorous affairs of such a charismatic figure.

He eventually started working on a book with one of his caretakers, Claude- by which the method of writing was that he dictated sentences with his one remaining eye to her. I believe that she grew to love him, and he may have perhaps loved her in a way as well (as we can see by some of what he dictates to her and the point-of-view shots of him frequently checking her out). The relationships that he formed with his caretakers as well as with the mother of his children, Celine, who still loved him despite what they had been through, were beautiful yet agonizing to watch.

Every time an airy tune started to play, we were whisked off into a sort of Jean-Do oyster-eating sexual fantasy or uplifting flash back, but then the music was abruptly cut off and we went back to being trapped again. (By last time this happened I was starting to anticipate it.)

I am impressed by Julian Schnabel's ability to allow us to become fully absorbed in Jean Dominique's life and not holding anything back, no matter how hard it may have been to watch. He did justice to Basquiat as well. I honestly don't think most Americans can appreciate this honest sort of cinema, but I hope that this will gain a wide release, or be distributed however Julian Schnabel would like it to.

I plan on reading Jean-Dominique's book now, as it seems to be a beautiful timepass.

Inspiring, Recommended.

Rating :

* * *

The International

Cast : Clive Owen, Naomi Watts

Director : Tom Tywker

I honestly can't say i hated it. I liked it. But i certainly did not love it. The theme is that of an international bank that is involved in funding conflict all around the world in order to control the debt of the conflicted regions. This storyline has amazing potential, but i think the people involved did not make full use of the potential. I would consider such a storyline to be successful if i can relate to it...if i can see, like i did in 'Blood Diamond', the trail of a blood diamond from the hands of the slave miner to the underground vault of a reputed diamond house! This one did not give me that feeling. All that i got out of it was Calvini offering the above explanation for a very brief moment in the film. And the ending did not help either. Carrsen just gets shot in Istanbul by Calvini's assassin and Salinger, the protagonist, just looking dazed and stupid! That's it!!?

Naah, the banking storyline was a very unique one that had much more potential that wasn't exploited enough. The way the movie is done, we could have replaced the IBBC with any other institution, like a diamond house or a stock broker or even an IT company like Microsoft or Intel, and a one liner by Calvini's character would have given us an incomplete why!

Same for the character of Naomi Watts. If you bring such a talented actress on-board, either give her a short but key supporting role, else make her character more integral to the storyline. I was left with the feeling that neither was done here.

Same for the character of the assassin. It looked like all of is involvement in the movie was to lead to the shootout scene and then he dies!!

One good thing though, is that the movie leaves some ends untied. For the sake of the storyline only, i hope that a sequel gets made that exploits the unique storyline in more depth and detail.
Watch if You Wish

Rating :

* * *

Wake Up Sid.. !!

Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen

Director : Ayan Mukharjee

This is the season for boys to grow into men on Hindi film screens. We just saw Saif Ali Khan doing it across continents in Love Aaj Kal. Now Ranbir Kapoor's Siddharth Mehra is doing in debutant Ayan Mukerji's Wake Up Sid in the lovely rain-soaked city of Mumbai (shot at its prettiest best by Anil Mehta). It's a process worth watching. The boy is rich, lazy and utterly spoilt. When his new friend, Aisha Banerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma) asks him what he does, he says he spends his father's money. When she asks him what he will do after college, he says he will continue to spend his father's money. His father is Anupam Kher, is restrained Punjabi dad mode, the owner of a company that makes flower showers, which are installed in homes belonging to the Birlas and the bhajiwalas. His mother is Supriya Pathak, unschooled but totally devoted to her ipod-addicted and PSP-fixated son. He loves them, but not as much as he loves their credit card, the Porsche they've promised him, and the Chotu they've provided him to draw his curtains and bring his breakfast. Aisha, like all girls in Bollywood these days, is smart, self sufficient and focused. She wants to be a writer and has picked Mumbai Beat, a Time Out-ish magazine to start work at. She's fresh from Kolkata and soon sets up her own little home where Sid crashes out when he leaves home in a huff after flunking his college final exam.

She's also older, at 27, almost seven years senior to young Sid. Given that it's a Karan Johar movie, it's surprising that the marriage word is not mentioned even once-it even figured quite prominently in Dostana. And ah, yes, there's not a single dhol or chorus in sight. Instead there are lots of background songs which serve to establish Sid's state of mind. It's all about Sid. About his learning to make a fried egg, about him learning to clean his room, about him learning to wash not only his clothes but those of his roommate Aisha. Konkona of course can play this role in her sleep. She's been a working journalist in Page 3 and a newbie in Mumbai in Luck by Chance, and has played various aspects of the independent working woman in several other films. Ranbir Kapoor has played a self-absorbed jerk before in his short career, Bachna Ae Haseeno, but here he's allowed to tamp down on his obvious charms (which includes flashing his impressive chest-only briefly girls, sorry) and really underplay his confused boy about town. He does it well, bringing a freshness to the role. There are the obligatory friends too, including the best friend who's been with him since nursery and the overweight girl who shows him the light. In fact, the girls in the movie exist only so that they can show Sid the true path, including Kashmira Shah who plays the sultry neighbour Sonia, who teaches him how to make the aforementioned perfect fried egg.

So the boy who refused to grow up and tried to pay at a roadside kabab joint with his credit card learns to give his first salary cheque to his dad. The boy who would reject his mother's homecooked food to a Domino's pizza ordered in learns to cook pasta and the boy who couldn't last a week in his father's company learns to become a photographer. It's a film that Mummyjis and Daddyjis struggling with spoilt brat boys will identify with and hope their children will learn from. And the aforementioned boys and their dates will laugh at.

Only problem is, why does Rahul Khanna have to keep acting as the spare wheel in every relationship? When will someone please give him a movie all to himself. He deserves it, I think, from all the sighs in the hall when he came onto the screen as the jazz-loving, dreamy-eyed, perfectly handsome editor in chief whom Konkona has a crush on.

So wake up, and go watch Sid and Aisha's sweet little prem kahani. It's not as perfect as the decor in Sid and Aisha's home but it's pretty. Ad yes, the boy gets the girl, a career and his parents too (with their credit card) in the perfect little summation of our consumerist-driven lives.

PS : The T-shirts of Ranbir in "Wake Up Sid" are to die for.. such kool collection.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Wimbledon

Cast : Paul Bettany, Christin Dunst, Sam Neill

Director : Richard Loncraine

Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) was once ranked 11th in the tennis world back in the 90's. Now with the prime of his life behind him, ranked number 119, Peter decides to throw in the towel and play his last ever Wimbledon tournament before gracefully bowing out of the gentleman's sport for good and going to work at a tennis club tending to clucky old ladies. All he wants is to go out in style, keep his dignity and try not to cock up too badly. That is, until he meets American tennis sweet-heart Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst). Lizzie is the tennis world's new golden girl, and looks to have Wimbledon in the bag... that is until Peter proves a costly distraction. They instantly take a liking to one another, and their relationship moves pretty quickly into the bedroom. Her side-tracked mind becomes apparent to her ambitious father (Sam Neill) who can feel his daughter's priorities taking a turn. Meanwhile, Lizzie is improving Peter's game by acting as his 'lucky charm'. Now Peter has to ask himself.... can the long-shot win the tournament?


Paul Bettany is a gorgeous leading man, pulling out all the charms and making himself impossible not to like. Be sure to keep an eye out for Bettany, who is more used to taking the back-seat supporting role in films (A knights tale, a beautiful mind etc...) but after Wimbledon, he has proven himself a more than capable and lovable leading-man.

Kirsten delivers a some-what aggressive performance as Lizzie. Sure she's a head-strong American, but couldn't Dunst have made her a likable head-strong American? It's not a bad performance, just a little 'off' at times, not quite hitting the mark she should have aimed for in this romantic comedy.


Wimbledon is filled with quick wit, dry English humor, fantastic (although computer-generated) tennis matches and a stand-out leading man. What's not to like? It's a great film for a good laugh and is a definite pleaser. Game-set-match!

Rating :

* * *

Young People Fucking

Cast : Aaron Abrams, Diora Baird, Sonja Benett, Callum Blue, Kristin Booth, Josh Cooke, Josh Dean, Enis Esmer, Natalie Lisinska, Peter Oldring, Carly Pope

Director : Martin Gero

Young People Fucking is quite clearly a title that's out to grab one's attention. Neither documentary nor hardcore, it's an ingeniously constructed pastiche of sexual encounters presented affectionately and with humour. the film should really be titled 'Young People Talking About Sex'. There's too much talk and not enough action in the balance and eventually it grows tiresome.

Still there's considerable mileage to be exploited from the title, some very funny scenes and an impressive young cast.
The film looks at five different relationships, its focus shifting between four different couples and one threesome. The relationships are identified as The First Date, The Friends, The Exes, The Couple and The Roommates and the chapters go from prelude to afterglow with intervening stops along the arc that include sex and orgasm. Each story evolves in a linear fashion but is randomly told in sections interspersed with the other four vignettes. The stories do not cross, and the characters do not interact, but are thematically linked.

The set ups are generally predictable, but the banter and interplay initially keeps the film lively and engaging. However, as each story proceeds, one can feel them laboring under the strain of trying to inject a novel twist.

The underlying sweetness in the movie's content is a mixed blessing. On the plus side, the cast is able to get across often profane dialogue as if it were lingua franca. But there's no real sense of tension or danger in the situations and something patently false about a film of this nature that displays no below the belt nudity for either gender.

Rating :

* * & 1/2