This weekend's review: Dhanwaan.

Even though I still wind up baffled more often than not by Bollywood movies, I’d seen enough of them by the time I got to Dhanwaan that I thought I mostly had a handle on how they worked. At the very least, I could use my general knowledge of movie tropes to have a pretty good idea of what to expect. But the movie ( Read more... )

Today's review: Jigar.

The summary I read of Jigar (Courage in English) read as follows: “An engaging action-sport film, where a man avenges his sister's humiliation by participating in a deadly kung-fu tournament.” With a summary like that, I think it’s only natural to assume that the main focus will be on the tournament, with the motivation for ( Read more... )

Today's review: Aty-Baty, Shli Soldaty...

While the summary of this particular movie seemed interesting enough, the real reason I was curious to watch it was the lyrical sounding title: Aty-baty, Shli Soldaty…*. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, though the fact that it’s a) a Russian movie made in the Soviet era, and b) centers around a ( Read more... )

Today's review is technically a two-in-one: Fritz Lang's Nibelungen movies.

We return to Fritz Lang again, with a very different set of films. Unlike Dr. Mabuse, the movie is set in the past, telling a story out of Nordic mythology that was dedicated to the German people. While Lang was unable to bring the slanted shadows of German Expressionism ( Read more... )

This weekend's review: Sukiyaki Western Django.

I had no idea what the movie Sukiyaki Western Django was going to be about when I sat down to watch it; even the title felt like word salad. However, the minimal plot summary on IMDB looked interesting and suggested it was a Western, so I was willing to give it a go. And I’m glad I did, even if I’m ( Read more... )

This weekend's review: Contempt.

I suspected going into Contempt (Le Mépris in French) that I wasn’t going to like it much. It was directed by Jean-Luc Godard, who has a reputation for art films, and I generally don’t enjoy that particular genre. However, there was one element to the movie that got my attention, so I took a chance on it. Sadly, ( Read more... )

Today's review: Humshakals.

While my experiences with Bollywood movies have been hit and miss, and I definitely think most of them go on too long, I still don’t mind checking them out as long as they have a promising sounding plot. Humshakals looked like it might be an amusing comedy, so it went on my “to watch” list. Well, I can definitely say it ( Read more... )

The second part of this weekend's double feature; A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three.

A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three (no bonus subtitle this time, oddly enough) was directed by the same man, Jeffrey Lau, who directed Parts One and Two in the 90’s. I’m not sure why it took him so long to make the third part, and on the surface, you wonder why a third ( Read more... )

This weekend's review is actually a double feature, with reviews to be posted today and tomorrow. In fact, it's actually a triple review, but two of the movies were clearly filmed concurrently and thus I'll be posting them in one review. Thus, today's review is for A Chinese Odyssey: Part 1--Pandora's Box and A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2-- Cinderella ( Read more... )

Today's review: Kaagaz Ke Phool.

I’m starting to get the impression that I’ve been completely wrong about the nature of Bollywood films. Kaagaz Ke Phool is yet another Indian movie that didn’t fit in with my mental image of elaborate musical numbers and a more lighthearted tone. That’s not to say this is a bad thing; it just continually surprises ( Read more... )