film diary
HINDI:
fanaa is the best hindi movie i've seen in a long-long-long time. everyone should see it. kajol and aamir khan did amazing acting jobs and the music is good and the story was riveting. kashmir is so beautiful! romance/thriller. *****
parineeta had a great soundtrack and the dance cameo w/ rekha, "kaise paheli zindagani," was awesome. look it up on youtube. however, the story could have been handled with much more finesse and subtlety, it didn't have to be a cliche. saif gave a good performance. for some reason, i found the romantic gloss they always give to period movies to be annoying this time. 1960's period piece. ***
kabhi alvida naa kehna was horrible and i was incredibly disappointed, especially since i really liked karan johar's last three films. but rani looked really good in it and shahrukh got a chance to break out of his of his "joker" type-casting. and, thematically speaking, i guess it was interesting since it dealt with adultery and divorce. diaspora themed. **
salaam namaste this movie started out incredibly shitty and ended incredibly shitty. i don't know what kind of person this film was trying to appeal to. although, again, thematically it was interesting since it deals with cohabitation and abortion. what was with all the bad stereotypes of regional indian cultures? apparently punjabis are the norm and biharis, malus, and bengalis are whack? diaspora themed. *
ENGLISH:
the imitation of life (1934): this movie made me cry and cry. "you don't know what it's like to look white and be black! i hate you mami!" *****
the imitation of life, remake (1959): the characters were more sexualized and the white boss lady was made more vapid. it's in technicolor w/ a lush symphonic soundtrack. it was good, but i didn't get as affected by it. ****
all that heaven allows: the technicolor was amazing, almost over-stimulating even. the love story was intriguing--an older society widow and her younger virile gardner. there are a lot of subversive themes explored. it's not for nothing that this, and the imitation of life, are stock movies in the "weepies" genre. *****
TELUGU:
sri ramadasu: a biographical film on the 16th century saint kancerla gopanna. these hagiographical themed movies seem to have become a popular genre over the last ten years. the music was really cheezy and the cgi was absurd, but i still enjoyed it b/c i have a weakness for devotional films. mythological. ***
nuvostanante nenoddantana: this was released two years ago, but it is probably one favorite telugu movies ever. siddharth is SO CUTE. diaspora/romance. ****
here's a crazy ass clip, the actors look so douchy but the giant life-sized paper-mache bulls make it all worthwhile!
fanaa is the best hindi movie i've seen in a long-long-long time. everyone should see it. kajol and aamir khan did amazing acting jobs and the music is good and the story was riveting. kashmir is so beautiful! romance/thriller. *****
parineeta had a great soundtrack and the dance cameo w/ rekha, "kaise paheli zindagani," was awesome. look it up on youtube. however, the story could have been handled with much more finesse and subtlety, it didn't have to be a cliche. saif gave a good performance. for some reason, i found the romantic gloss they always give to period movies to be annoying this time. 1960's period piece. ***
kabhi alvida naa kehna was horrible and i was incredibly disappointed, especially since i really liked karan johar's last three films. but rani looked really good in it and shahrukh got a chance to break out of his of his "joker" type-casting. and, thematically speaking, i guess it was interesting since it dealt with adultery and divorce. diaspora themed. **
salaam namaste this movie started out incredibly shitty and ended incredibly shitty. i don't know what kind of person this film was trying to appeal to. although, again, thematically it was interesting since it deals with cohabitation and abortion. what was with all the bad stereotypes of regional indian cultures? apparently punjabis are the norm and biharis, malus, and bengalis are whack? diaspora themed. *
ENGLISH:
the imitation of life (1934): this movie made me cry and cry. "you don't know what it's like to look white and be black! i hate you mami!" *****
the imitation of life, remake (1959): the characters were more sexualized and the white boss lady was made more vapid. it's in technicolor w/ a lush symphonic soundtrack. it was good, but i didn't get as affected by it. ****
all that heaven allows: the technicolor was amazing, almost over-stimulating even. the love story was intriguing--an older society widow and her younger virile gardner. there are a lot of subversive themes explored. it's not for nothing that this, and the imitation of life, are stock movies in the "weepies" genre. *****
TELUGU:
sri ramadasu: a biographical film on the 16th century saint kancerla gopanna. these hagiographical themed movies seem to have become a popular genre over the last ten years. the music was really cheezy and the cgi was absurd, but i still enjoyed it b/c i have a weakness for devotional films. mythological. ***
nuvostanante nenoddantana: this was released two years ago, but it is probably one favorite telugu movies ever. siddharth is SO CUTE. diaspora/romance. ****
here's a crazy ass clip, the actors look so douchy but the giant life-sized paper-mache bulls make it all worthwhile!
Click to view