Bouncing in between two spotlights

Mid Year-Bollywood Spotlight

It has become an annual ritual of sorts that I spend a good two months every summer catching up on the previous 6 months of Bollywood releases. I am currently in the middle of such a run but so far it appears to be a dismal year, even by Bollywood's already average quality standards. The best Bollywood film (even Indian) this year appears to be Mithya, loosely inspired by Kurosawa's Kagemusha but uniquely Indian with a pinch of underworld and a whole dosage of dark roasted goodness.

The ratings (out of 10) so far with the unrated films in line for viewing in upcoming days:

Bhootnath (2008, India, Vivek Sharma): 5

Krazzy 4 (2008, India, Jaideep Sen): 4

Mr. Black Mr. White (2008, India, Deepak S. Shivdasani): 0

Anamika (2008, India, Anant Mahadevan): 4.5

Sirf (2008, India, Rajatesh Nayyar): 6

Race (2008, India, Abbas-Mastan): 3

Jannat (2008, India, Kunal Deshmukh): 6.5

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008, India, Abbas Tyrewala): 7.5

Aamir (2008, India, Raj Kumar Gupta):

Kismat Konnection (2008, India, Aziz Mirza):

De Taali (2008, India, E.Nivas):

Jodhaa Akbar (2008, India, Ashutosh Gowariker):

Contract (2008, India, Ram Gopal Varma):

Sarkar Raj (2008, India, Ram Gopal Varma):

Mission Istaanbul (2008, India, Apoorva Lakhia):

Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008, India, Priyadarshan):

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South American Spotlight

Last year, I enjoyed my look at South American cinema via the Copa America film festival and Spotlight on Brazil. As part of the Copa America film fest, I only picked one film from each South American country and the Brazilian spotlight netted 15 titles from the land of Pele, Garrincha, Vava, Socrates, Zico & Ronaldinho. This time I decided to throw the net out a bit wider in the hopes of getting more films from South America as a whole, not trying to go by country alone. No preplanned themes so I am hoping some interesting threads pop up through a diverse range of films.

Unfortunately, I never got a title from Paraguay last year, something that I have not managed to rectify this year either. Still, I hope that Paraguayan Hammock will be released soon on DVD.

The ratings so far and other films to be viewed in upcoming days/weeks:

The Method (2005, Argentina co-production, Marcelo Piñeyro): 8.5

Bolivia (2001, Argentina, Adrián Caetano):

Los Muertos (2004, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso):

Pizza, birra, faso (1998, Argentina, Adrián Caetano/Bruno Stagnaro):

City of Men (2007, Brazil, Paulo Morelli):

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006, Brazil, Cao Hamburger):

Machuca (2004, Chile, Andrés Wood): 9

Oedipus Mayor (1996, Colombia, Jorge Alí Triana):

Un titán en el rincón (2002, Ecuador, Viviana Cordero):

El destino no tiene favoritos (2003, Peru, Alvaro Velarde):

Don't Tell Anyone (1998, Peru, Francisco J. Lombardi): 7

El Nominado (2003, Peru, Nacho Argiro/Gabriel Lopez):

25 Watts (2001, Uruguay, Juan Pablo Rebella/Pablo Stoll):

Adios Momo (2006, Uruguay, Leonardo Ricagni):

La Espera (2002, Uruguay, Aldo Garay):

1888 el extraordinario viaje de Jules Verne (2005, Venezuela, Alfredo Anzola):