movies of week 6 and 7 and 8.
Yeah, I lose. Whatever. Better late than never.
Achanak
The superficial - Jesus H Christ Vinod Khanna is pure man hotness on celluloid. The non-superficial - Gulzar sure directs class films, like this one about the irony of life and death and warfare. And no, it's not the most amazing film I've seen or the most profound message I've found in a film, either, but interestingly short and compact and generally good. Did I mention hot Vinod Khanna yet? Hot, angsty Vinod Khanna, in uniforms and shirtless and sweaty. You know, if I was just a liiiittle more fangirly for this man, I'd have already bought the DVD.
The Namesake
Mira Nair's latest is based on a novel of the same name, and tells a story of an Indian couple raising their son Gogol (the Russian author's namesake) in America and the experiences Gogol goes through his life. This was one of those pretty solid good movies. I just have nothing to critisize about it. Kal Penn was a tiny bit stiff against the terrific acting of Tabu and Irrfan Khan, perhaps, but even he was good in general. If nothing else, Namesake made me a fan of Tabu. She keeps being in films I want to see and she's just pure brilliance in every single thing I've seen her in. Okay, except one film. But I don't hold that against her or anyone. The chemistry between her and Irrfan, which largely made Maqbool, was also excellent in this film. I'm not sure if it's quite re-watching material but good film? Definitely.
Salaam-e-Ishq
The negative - you've got six couples, six story lines. It's bound to get boring, draggy and there are going to be unnecessary scenes, stuff that's just confusing, missing. You could make a 2 hour movie about (nearly) each of these couples, so to shove them all in the same movie? Smells of megalomania. BUT and this is a huge but - the positive - IS EXCELLENT. Such entertaining Bolly-fun. Excellent comedy, some wonderful song picturizations, touching romance, great surprises (Govinda's story!) and rewarding self-referentiality. It's a homage, it's a parody, it's a tribute. Only India can make this sort of cinema where the good quite simply outweights the bad.
Legend of Seven Cutter
Oh Korean commercial cinema. You're so commercial and formulaic, and yet occasionally amazingly innovative and fun. This film is sort of half-and-half. First it's outrageously funny with its inappropriate humor - then it just turns confusing and weird and kind of dull. The romance's neither here or there though it starts very promisingly - the hero catches the heroine practising boxing and thinks she's a dude. The story of the film is about "a legendary Seven Cutter", who the hero gets mistaken for when he enters a new school. People think he's all kinds of badass when he isn't. Comedy ensues. My #1 girlcrush Yoon Eun-hye plays a tomboy who becomes the hero's love interest, and she's good in this, but nothing amazing. Not enough kickass! But she looks her gorgeous self so it's okay.
Take Care of My Cat
Another Korean movie, which qualitywise rates among the best I've seen but somehow doesn't make it in the favourite marginal. The story portrays the lives of college graduates who were friends during school days but when they face the real world, remaining friends stops being easy and effortless. It's peculiar because I'm nearly at an identical situation as these girls. And yet I couldn't connect to any of these characters enough to deeply care what happened to them. Maybe it was my mood, or the overall slight depressing undertone of the movie. It was great dramatically but eh, I don't know. Something didn't quite click with me despite best effort to. Well-made movie, though.
Achanak
The superficial - Jesus H Christ Vinod Khanna is pure man hotness on celluloid. The non-superficial - Gulzar sure directs class films, like this one about the irony of life and death and warfare. And no, it's not the most amazing film I've seen or the most profound message I've found in a film, either, but interestingly short and compact and generally good. Did I mention hot Vinod Khanna yet? Hot, angsty Vinod Khanna, in uniforms and shirtless and sweaty. You know, if I was just a liiiittle more fangirly for this man, I'd have already bought the DVD.
The Namesake
Mira Nair's latest is based on a novel of the same name, and tells a story of an Indian couple raising their son Gogol (the Russian author's namesake) in America and the experiences Gogol goes through his life. This was one of those pretty solid good movies. I just have nothing to critisize about it. Kal Penn was a tiny bit stiff against the terrific acting of Tabu and Irrfan Khan, perhaps, but even he was good in general. If nothing else, Namesake made me a fan of Tabu. She keeps being in films I want to see and she's just pure brilliance in every single thing I've seen her in. Okay, except one film. But I don't hold that against her or anyone. The chemistry between her and Irrfan, which largely made Maqbool, was also excellent in this film. I'm not sure if it's quite re-watching material but good film? Definitely.
Salaam-e-Ishq
The negative - you've got six couples, six story lines. It's bound to get boring, draggy and there are going to be unnecessary scenes, stuff that's just confusing, missing. You could make a 2 hour movie about (nearly) each of these couples, so to shove them all in the same movie? Smells of megalomania. BUT and this is a huge but - the positive - IS EXCELLENT. Such entertaining Bolly-fun. Excellent comedy, some wonderful song picturizations, touching romance, great surprises (Govinda's story!) and rewarding self-referentiality. It's a homage, it's a parody, it's a tribute. Only India can make this sort of cinema where the good quite simply outweights the bad.
Legend of Seven Cutter
Oh Korean commercial cinema. You're so commercial and formulaic, and yet occasionally amazingly innovative and fun. This film is sort of half-and-half. First it's outrageously funny with its inappropriate humor - then it just turns confusing and weird and kind of dull. The romance's neither here or there though it starts very promisingly - the hero catches the heroine practising boxing and thinks she's a dude. The story of the film is about "a legendary Seven Cutter", who the hero gets mistaken for when he enters a new school. People think he's all kinds of badass when he isn't. Comedy ensues. My #1 girlcrush Yoon Eun-hye plays a tomboy who becomes the hero's love interest, and she's good in this, but nothing amazing. Not enough kickass! But she looks her gorgeous self so it's okay.
Take Care of My Cat
Another Korean movie, which qualitywise rates among the best I've seen but somehow doesn't make it in the favourite marginal. The story portrays the lives of college graduates who were friends during school days but when they face the real world, remaining friends stops being easy and effortless. It's peculiar because I'm nearly at an identical situation as these girls. And yet I couldn't connect to any of these characters enough to deeply care what happened to them. Maybe it was my mood, or the overall slight depressing undertone of the movie. It was great dramatically but eh, I don't know. Something didn't quite click with me despite best effort to. Well-made movie, though.