Scribbles and Ramblings

The news of Basu Chatterjee’s sudden death on June 4 was a shock. When I was growing up, I didn't know what an auteur was but I could id...

The Bad Sleep Well (1960, Japan, Akira Kurosawa) “This was the first film of Kurosawa Productions, my own unit which I run and finance mysel...

As opposed to starting at the beginning, I started at the end. The first Kinji Fukasaku film I saw was Battle Royale (2000), the last on...

“The film is the same….It’s your eyes that have changed.” — Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar) The above words could not have been more tr...

Amid all the tragic news of recent months, Wednesday resulted in two devastating news items: the passing of Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. ...

It wasn't long ago that PARASITE made headlines by winning big at the Academy Awards. History books will show that was on Feb 9, 2020. ...

Previously, I had published a Top 50 of the Decade List (2010-2019). This is now narrowing down a Top 10 from the 50 films. Top 10 fil...

2017 and 2018 represented such high points in world cinema that I was a bit cautious about the state of cinema at the start of 2019. Surely...

This is a first pass towards coming up with a Top 10 of the Best Decade list (2010-2019). Here are my favourite 50 films of the decade. N...

“Of all the collective creative surges that have arisen in the cinema within the last thirty years, perhaps the quietest, least trumpeted, ...

A long time ago, once I discovered the beauty of World Cinema, I feverishly tried to work my way through all the essential films. Part of t...

Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Philippines, Lino Brocka) Insiang (1976, Philippines, Lino Brocka) “The film is the same….It’s you...

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Calgary International Film Festival. Leading up to the 20th anniversary edition of the festiva...

The 20th Calgary International Film Festival ran from Sept 18-29, 2019.  This entry looks at the common themes among a few films in t...