2007: Year in Review

2007 was a satisfying film viewing year both in terms of the quality of films seen and even the quantity.

Total # of films & documentaries seen in 2007: 385

Note: This number only includes films and docs with a duration of over 60 minutes; I am not including any individual shorts or medium length works (such as some 30 minute films or 45 minute documentaries that I saw). And the only shorts collection included is that of David Lynch whose 2002 released shorts DVD contained more than an hour's worth of material.

A big reason for this high total of 385 is the number of films that I saw as part of my spotlight series and at film festivals. I found that focusing on works of a region, country or even director made for an enjoyable experience and allowed me to easily watch multiple movies in succession.

Here are the major spotlights I looked at in 2007:

African cinema: part I, part II

David Lynch: Part I, Part II

French vs German Cinema: Part I, Part II

Iranian Cinema

Brazil -- part I, part II, part III, part IV

Eastern Europe -- part I, part II, part III, part IV, part V

Western Europe

South America via Copa America Film Festival

Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang, part II

Abel Ferrara -- part I, part II & III

Antonioni

Chaplin

Jacques Becker

David Cronenberg

Japan

Turkey

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Francesco Rosi

Greece

Bollywood -- part I, part II

Hong Kong

And ofcourse, there was the matter of the two film festivals:

CIFF

VIFF

---

Full list of films seen in 2007 (roughly in order of viewing):
Comments/reviews of atleast 350 films have been posted on this blog over the course of last year.

Film (Year of Production, Country, Director name): Rating (out of 10)

1. United 93 (2006, USA co-production, Paul Greengrass): 9
2. Calvaire (2004, Belgium co-production, Fabrice Du Welz): 8
3. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006, USA, Adam McKay): 6
4. Todo Todo Torres (2006, Philippines, John Torres): 8
5. After this our exile (2006, Hong Kong, Patrick Tam): 8.5
6. Joni's Promise (2005, Indonesia, Joko Anwar): 6
7. Mukhsin (2006, Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad): 8
8. Rain Dogs (2006, Malaysia/Hong Kong, Yuhang Ho): 6.5
9. Crazy Stone (2006, China/Hong Kong, Hao Ning): 5.5
10. Love Conquers All (2006, Holland/Malaysia, Tan Chui Mui): 7
11. Children of Men (2006, UK/USA co-production, Alfonso Cuarón): 10
12. The Queen (2006, UK co-production, Stephen Frears): 9
13. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico, Guillermo del Toro): 8.5
14. Inside Man (2006, USA, Spike Lee): 7.5
15. Touching the Void (2003, UK, Kevin MacDonald): 8
16. Dolls (2002, Japan, Takeshi Kitano): 7
17. Babel (2006, USA/France/Mexico, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Writer : Guillermo Arriaga): 8
18. Jealousy (1999, Spain, Vicente Aranda): 7.5
19. Lisbon (1999, Spain/Argentina, Antonio Hernández): 6
20. District 13 (2004, France, Pierre Morel): 7
21. The House of Sand (2005, Brazil, Andrucha Waddington): 10
22. Guru (2007, India, Mani Ratnam): 8.5
23. Dhoom 2 (2006, India, Sanjay Gadhvi): 5
24. Woh Lahme (2006, India, Mohit Suri): 8
25. Zatracení The Damned (2002, Czech co-production, Dan Svátek): 4.5
26. Notes on a Scandal (2006, UK, Richard Eyre): 10
27. Invisible Waves (2006, Thailand, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang): 8.5
28. Exiled (2006, Hong Kong, Johnny To): 7.5
29. Khoshla Ka Ghosla (2006, India, Dibakar Banerjee): 10
30. Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul): 9
31. Apocalypto (2006, USA, Mel Gibson): 9
32. The Bow (2005, Korea, Kim Ki-Duk): 7.5
33. Eklavya (2007, India, Vidhu Vinod Chopra): 6.5
34. The Proposition (2005, UK/Australia, John Hillcoat): 8.5
35. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2006, UK, Michael Winterbottom): 8.5
36. When the Stars meet the Sea (1996, Madagascar/France, Raymond Rajaonarivelo): 8.5
37. Touki Bouki (1973, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty): 7.5
38. Quartier Mozart (1992, Cameroon/France, Jean-Pierre Bekolo): 5.5
39. La Vie Est Belle (1987, Zaire/France/Belgium, Benoît Lamy & Mweze Ngangura): 6
40. Black Friday (2005, India, Anurag Kashyap): 10
41. Pickpocket (1959, France, Robert Bresson): 10
42. La Cienaga (2001, Argentina co-production, Lucrecia Martel): 7
43. Novo (2002, Switzerland co-production, Jean-Pierre Limosin): 6
44. Shanghai Triad (1995, China, Zhang Yimou): 7
45. Ashes of Time (1994, Hong Kong/China/Taiwan, Wai Kar Wong): 6
46. Anwar (2007, India, Manish Jha): 5.5
47. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006, USA, Clint Eastwood) : 7.5
48. The Departed (2006, USA, Martin Scorsese): 8.5
49. The Last King of Scotland (2006, UK, Kevin MacDonald): 7
50. Blood Diamond (2006, USA, Edward Zwick): 7.5
51. Hell L’Enfer (2005, France co-production, Danis Tanovic): 9
52. Otomo (1999, Germany, Frieder Schlaich): 8
53. Idiocracy (2006, USA, Mike Judge): 7
54. Night at the Museum (2006, USA, Shawn Levy): 7.5
55. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, West Germany, Werner Herzog): 9
56. The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974, West Germany, Werner Herzog): 8
57. Claire's Knee (1970, France, Eric Rohmer): 8.5
58. Les Bonnes Femmes (1960, France/Italy, Claude Chabrol): 7
59. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972, West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder): 6
60. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006, Ireland/UK co-production, Ken Loach): 8.5
61. Gangster: A Love Story (2006, India, Anurag Basu): 8
62. Takeshis' (2005, Japan, Takeshi Kitano): 6.5
63. Paris je t'aime (2006, France co-production, Multiple directors)
64. Eraserhead (1977, USA, David Lynch): 9
65. The Elephant Man (1980, USA, David Lynch) : 8
66. Lost Highway (1997, USA, David Lynch) : 7.5
67. The Science of Sleep (2006, France/Italy, Michel Gondry): 8
68. Traffic Signal (2007, India, Madhur Bhandarkar): 8
69. Strings (2005, India, Sanjay Jha): 4
70. Risk (2007, India, Vishram Sawant): 5
71. Je vous trouve très beau (2005, France, Isabelle Mergault): 8
72. Ma fille mon ange (2007, Canada, Alexis Durand-Brault): 9
73. Guide de la petite vengeance (2006, Canada, Jean-François Pouliot): 8.5
74. The Grindhouse (2007, USA, Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino): 7.5
75. Chronically Unfeasible (2000, Brazil, Sergio Bianchi): 7.5
76. Black Orpheus (1959, Brazil, Marcel Camus): 8
77. Hot Fuzz (2007, UK, Edgar Wright): 9
78. Cobra Verde (1987, West Germany, Werner Herzog): 10
79. Betty Blue (1986, France, Jean-Jacques Beineix): 8.5
80. My life to Live (1962, France, Jean-Luc Godard): 9
81. The Disenchanted (1990, France, Benoît Jacquot): 7.5
82. Destiny (1921, Germany, Fritz Lang): 7.5
83. Volver (2006, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar): 9
84. Catch a Fire (2006, USA, Phillip Noyce): 7
85. Namastey London (2007, India, Vipul Amrutlal Shah): 6
86. Just Married (2007, India, Meghna Gulzar): 6
87. Salaam-E-Ishq(2007, India, Nikhil Advani): 5.5
88. Nishabd (2007, India, Ram Gopal Varma): 7
89. Gafla (2006, India, Sameer Hanchate): 8
90. Red: The Dark Side (2007, India, Vikram Bhatt): 5.5
91. Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi, Writer -- Abbas Kiarostami): 10
92. Under the Moonlight (2001, Iran, Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi): 7.5
93. Smell of Camphor Fragrance of Jasmine(2000, Iran, Bahman Farmanara): 8
94. The Straight Story (1999, USA, David Lynch): 9
95. The Short Films of David Lynch (2002)
96. Blue Velvet (1986, USA, David Lynch): 9
97. Twin Peaks:Fire Walk with me (1992, USA, David Lynch): 5
98. Wild at Heart (1990, USA, David Lynch): 4
99. Hotel Room (1993, USA, David Lynch, James Signorelli): 7
100. Manderlay (2005, Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier): 7
101. Inland Empire (2006, USA co-production, David Lynch): 8
102. Spider Man 3 (2007, USA, Sam Raimi): 5
103. Training Day (2001, USA, Antoine Fuqua): 7.5
104. Rebels of the Neon God (1992, Taiwan, Tsai ming-Liang): 9.5
105. Colour Me Kubrick (2005, UK/France, Brian Cook): 4.5
106. The Mahabharata (1989, multiple countries, Peter Brook): 9
107. Himalaya (1999, multiple countries, Eric Valli): 8
108. Lower City (2005, Brazil, Sérgio Machado): 7.5
109. Pixote (1981, Brazil, Hector Babenco): 9
110. El Compadre Mendoza (1934, Mexico, Juan Bustillo Oro, Fernando de Fuentes): 8
111. Coronacion (2000, Chile, Silvio Caiozzi): 6
112. Como voy a olvidarte? (2004, Ecuador, Edgardo Viereck): 4.5
113. North by Northwest (1959, USA, Alfred Hitchcock): 9
114. 1971 (2007, India, Amrit Sagar): 5.5
115. Delhii Heights (2007, India, Anand Kumar): 6
116. Whisky (2004, Uruguay, Juan Pablo Rebella, Pablo Stoll): 9.5
117. Dias de Santiago (2004, Peru, Josue Mendez): 8.5
118. Sexual Dependency (2003, Bolivia, Rodrigo Bellott): 7.5
119. Oriana (1985, Fina Torres, Venezuela): 7
120. Life in a Metro (2007, India, Anurag Basu): 7.5
121. Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007, India, Reema Kagti): 6.5
122. Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007, India, Sanjay M. Kanduri): 7
123. Kya Love Story Hai (2007, India, Lovely Singh): 4.5
124. Salaam Namaste (2005, India, Siddharth Anand): 5.5
125. Neal 'N' Nikki (2005, India, Arjun Sablok): 3
126. Shakalaka Boom Boom (2007, India, Suneel Darshan): 3.5
127. Orange Revolution (2006, USA, Steve York): 7.5
128. Do you Remember Dolly Bell? (1981, Serbia, Emir Kusturica): 8.5
129. Camera Buff (1979, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski): 9.5
130. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, Hungary, Béla Tarr / Agnes Hranitzky): 8
131. Army of Shadows (1969, France, Jean-Pierre Melville): 10
132. The Good Shepard (2006, USA, Robert De Niro): 8
133. Time (2006, South Korea, Ki-duk Kim): 8
134. The Fountain (2006, USA, Darren Aronofsky): 7

135. Spare Parts (2003, Slovenia, Damjan Kozole): 9
......titles not included 
148. The Prefab People (1982, Hungary, Béla Tarr): 8.5
149. Christmas Tree Upside Down (2006, Bulgaria, Ivan Tscherkelov,Vasil Zhivkov): 6
150. Ocean's Thirteen (2007, USA, Steven Soderbergh): 7.5
151. Knocked Up (2006, USA, Judd Apatow): 8
152. Jestem (2005, Poland, Dorota Kedzierzawska): 8
153. Dekalog (1989, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski): 10
154. Underground (1995, Serbia, Emir Kusturica): 9
155. The Oak (1992, Romania, Lucian Pintilie): 8
156. The Outsider (1981, Hungary, Béla Tarr)
157. Transformers (2007, USA, Michael Bay): 7.5
158. Where Fig Trees Grow (2004, France, Yasmina Yahiaoui): 7.5
159. Exterminating Angels (2006, France, Jean-Claude Brisseau): 7
160. Summer 04 (2006, Gemany, Stefan Krohmer): 9
161. Romanzo criminale (2005, Italy, Michele Placido): 8
162. Vitus (2006, Switzerland, Fredi M. Murer): 6
163. Fuse (2003, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pjer Zalica): 8
164. Pretty Village Pretty Flames (1996, Former Yugoslavia, Srdjan Dragojevic): 7
165. Mirage (2004, Macedonia, Svetozar Ristovski): 10
.......
169. Ratatouille (2007, USA, Brad Bird): 10
170. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007, India, Shaad Ali): 7
.........
178. El Aura (2006, Argentina, Fabián Bielinsky): 8.5
..........
184. When Father was away on Business (1985, Serbia, Emir Kusturica): 7
........
189. Happy New Life (2007, Hungary, Árpád Bogdán): 9
......
191. Blockade (2006, Russia, Sergey Loznitsa): 9
.....
205. The Man Who Copied (2003, Brazil, Jorge Furtado): 8.5
206. The Official Story (1985, Argentina, Luis Puenzo): 8.5
207. Los Ninos Invisibles (2001, Colombia, Lisandro Duque Naranjo): 7.5
208. Forever Never Anywhere (2007, Austria, Antonin Svoboda): 6
209. Fool N Final (2007, India, Ahmed Khan): 3
210. Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007, India, Apoora Lakhia): 6.5
211. The Train (2007, India, Raksha Mistry/Hasnain Hyderabadwala): 5
212. Swami (2007, India, Ganesh Acharya): 6
213. The Kid (1921, USA, Charlie Chaplin): 8.5
214. Modern Times (1936, USA, Charlie Chaplin): 10
215. City Lights (1931, USA, Charlie Chaplin): 7.5
216. The Gold Rush (1925, USA, Charlie Chaplin): 8
217. L' Avventura (1960, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni): 9
218. L'Eclisse (1962, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni): 10
219. Blowup (1966, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni): 10
220. The Addiction (1995, USA, Abel Ferrara): 9
221. Bad Lieutenant (1992, USA, Abel Ferrara): 9
222. Fear City (1984, USA, Abel Ferrara): 5
223. King of New York (1990, USA, Abel Ferrara): 8
224. The Driller Killer (1979, USA, Abel Ferrara): 4.5
225. Crime Story (1986, USA, Abel Ferrara): 7.5
226. New Rose Hotel (1998, USA, Abel Ferrara): 6
227. The Funeral (1996, USA, Abel Ferrara): 8.5
228. God is Brazilian (2003, Brazil, Carlos Diegues): 7
229. Drained (2006, Brazil, Heitor Dhalia): 10
230. Baixio das Bestas (2007, Brazil, Cláudio Assis): 8
231. The Samba Poet (2006, Brazil, Ricardo Van Steen): 7.5
232. Yi Yi (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang): 10
233. Millennium Mambo (2001, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien): 7.5
234. Vive L'Amour (1994, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang): 8
235. The River (1997, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang): 9
236. Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal (2007, India, Vivek Agnihotri): 4.5
237. Good Bye Dragon Inn (2003, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang): 7.5
238. The Bourne Identity (2002, USA, Doug Liman): 9
239. The Bourne Supremacy (2004, USA, Paul Greengrass): 8.5
240. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, USA, Paul Greengrass): 10
241. Zodiac (2007, USA, David Fincher): 10
242. The Edge of Heaven (2007, Germany/Turkey, Fatih Akin): 9
243. Black Butterfly (2006, Peru, Francisco J. Lombardi): 9
244. The True Legend of Tony Vilar (2006, Italy, Giuseppe Gagliardi): 7.5
245. Hunt Angels (2006, Australia, Alec Morgan): 7.5
246. Jade Warrior (2006, Finland co-production, Antti-Jussi Annila): 6
247. The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (2007, Bulgaria, Director Andrey Paounov): 9
248. Persepolis (2007, France, Directors/writers: Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi): 8
249. Two in One (2007, Ukraine/Russia, Kira Muratova): 6.5
250. Fresh Air (2006, Hungary, Ágnes Kocsis & Andrea Roberti): 8
251. 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 days (2007, Romania, Cristian Mungiu): 9
252. Saviour Square (2006, Poland, Joanna Kos & Krzysztof Krauze): 8
253. Khadak (2006, Belgium/Germany, Peter Brosens & Jessica Hope Woodworth): 8.5
254. Quilombo (1984, Brazil, Carlos Diegues): 7.5
255. Madame Satã (2002, Brazil, Karim Ainouz): 7
256. Citizen Dog(2004, Thailand, Wisit Sasanatieng): 8
257. Offside (2006, Iran, Jafar Panahi): 7.5
258. The Page Turner (2006, France, Denis Dercourt): 9
259. 2 Days in Paris (2007, France/Germany, Julie Delpy): 8.5
260. Cavite (2005, Philippines/USA, Neill Dela Llana Ian Gamazon): 8
261. Les Enfants Terribles (1950, France, Jean-Pierre Melville Novel by Jean Cocteau)
262. Videodrome (1983, Canada, David Cronenberg): 8.5
263. Dead Ringers (1988, Canada, David Cronenberg): 9.5
264. Le Trou (1960, France, Jacques Becker): 10
265. Casque d'or (1952, France, Jacques Becker): 8
266. Touchez pas au grisbi (1954, France, Jacques Becker): 9
267. Midnight Express (1978, USA/UK, Alan Parker): 8.5
268. The Son (2002, Belgium/France, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne): 9.5
269. Fists in the Pocket (1965, Italy, Marco Bellocchio): 8.5
270. Japón (2002, Mexico co-production, Carlos Reygadas): 8
271. Chocolat (1988, France/West Germany/Cameroon, Claire Denis): 8
272. Transylvania (2006, France, Tony Gatlif): 7.5
273. Electra My Love (1970, Hungary, Miklós Jancsó)
274. Fando and Lis (1968, Mexico, Alejandro Jodorowsky): 6.5
275. El Topo (1970, Mexico, Alejandro Jodorowsky): 7.5
276. Distant (2002, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan): 9.5
277. Journey to the Sun (1999, Turkey, Yesim Ustaoglu): 8.5
278. Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005, Germany/Turkey, Fatih Akin): 8.5
279. In July (2000, Germany, Fatih Akin): 8
280. Hamam (1997, Turkey, Ferzan Ozpetek): 7.5
281. Bug (2006, USA, William Friedkin): 9
282. Grand Prix (1966, USA, John Frankenheimer): 9
283. Mysterious Object at Noon (2000, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul): 8
284. The Hole (1998, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang): 8
285. Paprika (2006, Japan, Satoshi Kon): 9
286. Kamikaze Girls (2004, Japan, Tetsuya Nakashima): 6.5
287. The Twilight Samurai (2002, Japan, Yôji Yamada): 8
288. Eastern Promises (2007, Canada/UK/USA, David Cronenberg): 8
289. After the Wedding (2006, Denmark, Susanne Bier): 8
290. Black Book (2006, Holland, Paul Verhoeven): 6
291. Foster Child (2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza): 10
292. Dans la ville de Sylvia (2007, Spain, José Luis Guerin): 10
293. Unas fotos en la ciudad del Sylvia (2007, Spain, José Luis Guerin): 10
294. Slingshot (2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza): 10
295. Euphoria (2006, Russia, Ivan Vyrypaev): 9.5
296. Bliss (2007, Greece/Turkey, Abdullah Oguz): 9.5
297. Secret Sunshine (2007, South Korea, Lee Chang-Dong): 9
298. In Memory of Myself (2007, Italy, Saverio Costanzo): 9
299. The Girl Cut in Two (2007, France, Claude Chabrol): 9
300. Import Export (2007, Austria/France, Ulrich Seidl): 9
301. Times and Winds (2006, Turkey, Reha Erdem): 8.5
302. Help Me Eros (2007, Taiwan, Lee Kang-sheng): 8.5
303. Ploy (2007, Thailand, Pen-ek Ratanaruang): 8.5
304. Bad Habits (2007, Mexico, Simón Bross): 8.5
305. Sounds of Sand (2006, Belgium, Marion Hänsel): 8
306. Useless (2007, China, Jia Zhangke): 8
307. The Man from London (2007, France/Germany/Hungary, Béla Tarr): 8
308. My Winnipeg (2007, Canada, Guy Maddin): 8
309. Drowned in Oblivion (2006, Belgium/France, Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd): 8
310. Great World of Sound (2006, USA, Craig Zobel): 8
311. The Counterfeiters (2007, Austria/Germany, Stefan Ruzowitzky): 8
312. Keepers of Eden (2007, USA, Yoram Porath): 7.5
313. The Duchess of Langeais (2007, France, Jacques Rivette): 7
314. Soo (2007, South Korea, Sai Yoichi): 6.5
315. Since Otar Left (2003, France/Belgium, Julie Bertucelli): 8.5
316. Killer of Sheep (1977, USA, Charles Burnett): 7.5
317. Dog Days (2001, Austria, Ulrich Seidl): 6.5
318. Chak De India (2007, India, Shimit Amin): 8.5
319. Gandhi My Father (2007, India, Feroze Khan): 8
320. Bhool Bhulaiyaa(2007, India, Priyadarshan): 7.5
321. Saawariya (2007, India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali): 7
322. Dhamaal (2007, India, Indra Kumar): 6.5
323. Cheeni Kum (2007, India, R. Balki): 5.5
324. Dhol (2007, India, Priyadarshan): 4.5
325. Partner (2007, India, David Dhawan): 4
326. Cash (2007, India, Anubhav Sinha): 3.5
327. Aag (2007, India, Ram Gopal Varma): 2
328. A Girl in Black (1956, Greece, Mihalis Kakogiannis): 9
329. The Weeping Meadow (2004, Greece, Theodoros Angelopoulos): 8.5
330. Ulysses' Gaze (1995, Greece, Theodoros Angelopoulos): 7.5
331. Attila '74 (1975, Greece, Mihalis Kakogiannis): 6
332. Johnny Gaddaar (2007, India, Sriram Raghavan): 9
333. Manorama Six Feet Under (2007, India, Navdeep Singh): 8.5
334. Om Shanti Om (2007, India, Farah Khan): 8.5
335. No Smoking (2007, India, Anurag Kashyap): 10
336. Le Mani sulla città (1963, Italy, Francesco Rosi): 10
337. Salvatore Giuliano (1962, Italy, Francesco Rosi): 9
338. Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1979, Italy, Francesco Rosi): 8.5
339. Tre fratelli (1981, Italy, Francesco Rosi): 8.5
340. Diario napoletano (1992, Italy, Francesco Rosi): 7.5
341. The Simpsons Movie (2007, USA, David Silverman): 7.5
342. This is England (2006, UK, Shane Meadows): 8
343. Bheja Fry (2007, India, Sagar Ballary): 7.5
344. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003, India, Sudhir Mishra): 9
345. Dil Dosti etc (2007, India, Manish Tiwary): 7
346. Dhokha (2007, India, Pooja Bhatt): 5.5
347. Welcome (2007, India, Anees Bazmee): 5
348. Gone Baby Gone (2007, USA, Ben Affleck): 8.5
349. Rendition (2007, USA, Gavin Hood): 10
350. Michael Clayton (2007, USA, Tony Gilroy): 8
351. American Gangster (2007, USA, Ridley Scott): 8
352. Rescue Dawn (2006, USA, Werner Herzog) Rating 8.5
353. A Mighty Heart (2007, USA/UK, Michael Winterbottom): 9
354. Life on Earth (1998, Mali/Mauritania/France, Abderrahmane Sissako): 9
355. Hyenas (1992, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty): 8
356. Moolaade (2004, Senegal co-production, Ousmane Sembene): 9.5
357. Haramuya (1995, Burkina Faso, Drissa Toure): 6.5
358. Wend Kuuni (1982, Burkina Faso, Gaston Kaboré): 6
359. Yeelen (1987, Senegal, Souleymane Cissé): 8.5
360. Hommage à noir (1996, Germany, Ralf Schmerberg): 8
361. Caméra arabe (1987, Tunisia, Férid Boughedir): 7
362. Halfaouine: Child of the Terraces (1990, Tunisia, Férid Boughedir): 8
363. Alexandria Again and Forever (1990, Egypt, Youssef Chahine): 7.5
364. Redacted (2007, USA, Brian De Palma): 6.5
365. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, USA, Andrew Dominik): 7
366. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007, USA, Sidney Lumet): 7.5
367. No Country for Old Men (2007, USA, Joel & Ethan Coen): 8.5
368. Speed (2007, India, Vikram Bhatt): 0
369. Goodbye Lenin (2003, Germany, Wolfgang Becker)
370. Sorry for Kung Fu (2004, Croatia, Ognjen Svilicic)
371. Daywatch (2006, Russia, Timur Bekmambetov)
372. Zelary (2003, Czech Republic, Ondrej Trojan)
373. Edi (2002, Poland, Piotr Trzaskalski)
374. Jab We Met (2007, India, Imtiaz Ali): 8
375. Aaja Nachle (2007, India, Anil Mehta):8
376. Parzania (2005, India, Rahul Dholakia): 7.5
377. Kairee (2000, India, Amol Palekar): 6
378. Divergence (2005, Hong Kong, Benny Chan): 7
379. Triangle (2007, Hong Kong, Tsui Hark, Ronny Lam, Johnny Tam)
380. Love for Sale (2007, Brazil co-production, Karim Ainouz): 6.5
381. La Vie en Rose (2007, France co-production, Olivier Dahan): 7.5
382. Once (2007, Ireland, John Carney): 7.5
383. Who's Next (2007, Hong Kong, Chung Kai Cheung): 5
384. Taare Zameen Par (2007, India, Aamir Khan): 10
385. Heyy Babyy (2007, India, Sajid Khan): 3

Hong Kong Films

Final spotlight of the year shines on Hong Kong.

Divergence (2005, Benny Chan)
Triangle (2007, Ringo Lam, Johnnie To, Hark Tsui)
Who's Next (2007, Chung Kai-Cheong)

A Cop, A killer and a Girl:



Suen (Aaron Kwok who turned in a great performance in After this our Exile) plays a cop trusted with bringing a key witness safely into custody. But along the way, a sniper kills the witness. The sniper has a chance to take out Suen but he leaves him alive (reason is revealed later). Besides this case, Suen is haunted by images of the girl that left him 10 years ago. He thinks the murder case and his girlfriend's disappearance are connected.

After a decent set-up, the film disintegrates towards the end. Still there are some neat sequences in the movie. One worthy sequence takes place when Suen is chasing the sniper through a food market.


The noise of everyday things like fishes being chopped, carts being moved, ice being crushed are all around him. But he manages to tune everything else out and his ears pick up on just one noise -- heavy panting of the sniper. The fight that follows between the two is just fascinating to watch.

Also, a small cameo for Suet Lam. I have grown to enjoy his presence in so many Johnny To films. But in this movie's case, his screen time is just limited to two scenes.


The Three masters:



The concept of three well known Hong Kong directors making a movie together was just intriguing. Of the trio of Tsui Hark, Johnny To and Ringo Lam, I am most familiar with Johnny To as I have watched atleast 7 of his movies. I have seen some old Tsui Hark movies and only saw portions of his last featureSeven Swords. Ringo Lam is the one I am least familiar with.

So with great expectations I tuned into Triangle. But as it turns out, my film version had no English subtitles. Even though I managed to get a feel for the film, I missed out on some interesting conversations and even some not so obvious sub-plots. So I will only focus my attention on the obvious overall robbery plot.

Each director worked on a 30 minute film segment and all three make up a continuous film. While the first two segments have a similar feel to them, it is easy to pick out Johnny To's final segment.

Segment One: Set-up of the treasure robbery:

Tsui Hark kicks things off with the robbery setup. Three men are given information about a hidden treasure underneath a building. The three quickly manage to get the treasure chest out and attempt to escape, despite being chased by gangsters.


Segment Two: The betrayal starts:

The first segment also shows that one of the three men's wives (the wife of Simon Yam's character) is having an affair with a corrupt cop. Sure enough, the corrupt cop wants a piece of the treasure. While the gangsters also want the treasure as one of the three men was in debt to them. So this segment develops the mind games and betrayal further.

Pace-wise, this segment is along the same speed as the first 30 minutes. Although, one scene of violence sets this segment apart. But Ringo Lam has flushed a lot of the character's personality in this segment with the aid of an extended tense torture sequence. Definitely, something I need to revisit with English subtitles again.

Segment Three: The shoot out:

Suet Lam's appearance signals the final Johnny To segment. As all the three men along with the cop and mafia head to one location, Suet Lam's character appears out of nowhere to complicate things further. And when slowly, one by one, the guns start appearing, we can anticipate a thrilling climax.


But unlike the flashy gun shoot out sequence in To's Exiled, the final gun shoot out is more subdued and along the lines of what would expect from his brilliant Election films. This segment was a treat to watch though and with minimal dialogue, it was easy to just focus on the tension hovering in the air.


Overall, it is interesting to see three different directors make one continuous flowing film.

And finally, the Triads:

Johnny To's Election and Election 2 are masterful works which probe the life of the Triads and the violent games that hover beneath the group's democratic surface. Safe to say, his works are the finest in covering the gangster's lives. But I am sure there are (and will be) plenty of imitation films that will attempt to show the lives of the Triad members. One such substandard effort is Chung Kai-Cheong's Who's Next. The film shows a battle that takes place to head a triad group when the existing leader is killed by a rival gang. And thrown in the chaotic mix is an Anti-triad group. Some laughs and plenty of over the top acting.

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Ratings (out of 10):

Divergence: 7
Who's Next: 5

Taare Zameen Par

Emotional Beauty


Taare Zameen Par (2007, India, Directed by Aamir Khan): Rating 10/10

The human mind is complicated enough -- despite decades of scientific advances, we are still a long way from comprehending all the mysteries embedded in the human psyche. We have difficulty understanding adults despite the benefits of observing their body language, their expressions and even noticing adults behavior. If we can't comprehend adults, what are we to make of little children? Can we ever truly understand what goes on in a child's mind?

We live in a society where things are labeled and packaged instantly. 14 year old kids are pushed towards Olympic excellence, the weight of soccer teams is thrust on fragile 16-17 year old shoulders and 10 year olds are expected to be future geniuses. But in a fast paced world, not everyone can keep pace. Just like each soccer player and team has its own tempo, so do humans and kids in particular. Schools have multiple kids in one classroom and teachers don't have time for everyone. Exams are marked quickly because teachers have too much to do. And sometimes, parents do not have time to properly understand their children. So if a child needs help, he/she is bound to be isolated and left on his own.



Taare Zameen Par shows a 9 year old's (Ishaan) problem with dyslexia. Ishaan has trouble with words but no one notices his difficulty. He is afraid to look at words which jump out of the page and taunt him. Yet he is comfortable with images and the beauty in nature. So it is not a surprize that Ishaan finds peace and comfort just by observing the chaotic everyday images. Those same images are ignored by adults who rush about in a chaotic world, yet an innocent 9 year old can carefully extract the beauty from mundane activities such as painting of house walls, hammering of nails, a crane digging up rocks or even a vendor crushing ice. It is left to an art teacher (Aamir Khan) who once suffered from the same problem as a child to help integrate young Ishaan into the harsh world.

The film is handled with a lot of delicacy and emotional tenderness. As the movie strives to show things from the view point of Ishaan, the audience is treated to a world full of simplicity and charm in everyday mundane activities. That is a quite a feat considering that a city like Mumbai offers very little respite from constant relentless noise and competition (education, corporate or even spousal). In that regards, Taare Zameen Par is able to abstract the beauty out of a dangerous and chaotic world. Even when Ishaan wanders around the dangerous streets of Mumbai by himself, the background music and camera only focus on highlighting the joy of discovery he has in observing objects around him. Yes, the film gets a bit emotional in parts but at no point does it resort to melodrama or over the top acting. Also, credit goes to an exceptional acting performance from 10 year old Darsheel Safary. His expressions are phenomenal as he manages to convey the confusion, frustration and hidden joy that exists in 9 year old Ishaan. Easily, the best Indian film of the year.

Love and Music

Love for Sale (2006, Brazil, Director Karim Ainouz): Rating 6.5/10

The only reason I got Love for Sale (or Suely in the Sky) was because of Karim Ainouz. I had enjoyed Ainouz's previous directorial venture Madame Satã and his writing in Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures & Lower City. But I have to admit that after seeing 15 films in my Brazilian spotlight this year, Love for Sale was one movie too much. The story is reflected in other Brazilian films I saw this year, especially in Deserto Feliz.



In Deserto Feliz, a girl leaves her village for Sao Paulo. But in the big cruel city, she is forced into prostitution to make ends meet and longs for an escape from Sao Paulo. In Love for Sale Hermila returns back from Sao Paulo to Iguatu with her young baby and moves into her mother-in law's house. Gradually it is clear that Hermila's 20 year old husband has no interest in looking after her and the baby as he stays in the city and does not attempt to make contact with her. So Hermila longs for an escape far away from Iguatu. But since she has no money, she comes up with a scheme to raffle off her body.

Like most recent Brazilian films, the production values of Love for Saleare top-notch. I am a big fan of Walter Carvalho and as usual his cinematography perfectly captures the visuals of a hot Brazilian landscape. There are some neat camera techniques here but overall, the story had the air of inevitability that I had found in a handful of other recent Brazilian films dealing with such a topic.

Music as escape from Poverty & Misery:

Once (2006, Ireland, Director John Carney): Rating 7.5/10

This charming Irish films shows two characters who live on the fringes of modern society's economic charts but can easily be found in any European city's core. The guy plays his guitar on street sides hoping to earn some money for his talent while the girl is an immigrant from the Czech Republic who roams the Dublin city core selling red roses.

The smart usage of hand-held cameras give the movie an earthy feel and allows to us to experience these character's bitter sweet life. When things get tough, both the guy and girl find solace in music. The girl provides the inspiration for the guy to finally follow his dream of getting his music recorded.

La Vie en Rose (2007, French co-production, Director Olivier Dahan): Rating 7.5/10

In Once the guy sang on street corners while playing his guitar. In La Vie en Rose, Edith Pilaf (Marion Cotillard in a riveting performance) also stood on street corners to sing but she only relied on her soulful voice -- her powerful voice could stop traffic and lighten any wary heart. The film shows her rise to fame from a background of poverty to her performance at music halls in Paris and New York. The best parts of the film are where we get to listen to her booming voice.

Movie round-up continues...

Euro 2008 Film Festival -- first 5 films:



Even though the Euro 2008 soccer tournament does not start until June 7, I wanted to start watching my film festival screenings this year. In my past soccer film festivals (World Cup 2006, Copa America 2007), I was often watching the films while the soccer tournament was going on. This created a hectic schedule as I was often scrambling to give my attention to both the films and soccer games. Now, I plan to watch all my films before the soccer tournament so that I can enjoy the footie games peacefully.

I will do detailed write-ups of the movies and my selection criteria in upcoming months. Unlike the previous two soccer film festivals, this time I actually have a plan for choosing the movies.

Films in order of viewing:

Daywatch (Russia, 2006, Director Timur Bekmambetov)

Edi (Poland, 2002, Director Piotr Trzaskalski)

Goodbye Lenin (Germany, 2003, Director Wolfgang Becker)

Sorry for Kung Fu (Croatia, 2004, Director Ognjen Svilicic)

Zelary (Czech Republic, 2003, Director Ondrej Trojan)

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Indian stop-over: Independent Cinema vs Bollywood

Parzania (2005, Director Rahul Dholakia): Rating 7.5/10

Gujarat experienced its days of hell in early 2002. It all started with a burning of a train in Godhra. What followed was nothing short of a genocide like extermination but was labeled by the media as riots or Hindu-Muslim clashes. Then further revenge killings took place to counter the initial violent acts. But what was the truth? Who lit the train on fire? I didn't gather much from the news as the investigation was very biased and muddy. Then I luckily came across Rakesh Sharma's eye-opening 4 hour documentary Final Solution in 2004. I had to watch the film in 3 sittings as the documentary was not an easy watch -- the film slowly peeled off the layers of hate to reveal the pure evil that lurked inside the hearts of weak and corrupt men. Yes it is only men who could have thought of such disgusting acts of violence.


Parzania revisits those dark days in Gujarat's and India's history. Just like Deepa Mehta's film Earth, Parzania uses a Parsi family to document the hateful acts (in Earth the 1947 Partition violence was shown through the eyes of a young Parsi girl). In a way using a Parsi family gives a neutral ground to observe the events as Parsi's are neither Hindu or Muslim, so they should remain unharmed. But there are no neutrals during the blind rage that exists and as Parzania shows, even the so called neutrals are caught in the cross-fire. Parzania also throws in another neutral observer in Allan, an American who comes to Gujarat to complete his thesis on Mahatma Gandhi. He brings some objective perspective to the madness and questions how the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi can be filled with so much seething violence. It was in fact such hateful ideas that led to Mahatma's assassination in the first place, so it shouldn't be a surprize that these poisonous ideas would start to hover over the streets of Gujarat.

Kairee (2000, Director Amol Palekar): Rating 6/10

Throughout the 1970's and 80's, Amol Palekar was a darling of both India's art house & commercial cinema and gave some memorable performances in such films as Chhoti Si Baat, Safed Jhoot, Gol Maal and Khamosh. I had no idea that he had turned to direction in the early 1980's itself as I never got to see his early efforts. I knew that he made some waves with his 1995 directed film Daayraa. But the movie only made the trips on the film festival circuit and did not make it out to my part of the world. The first Amol Palekar directorial effort I saw was his 2005 Bollywood film Paheli. Thanks to Palekar, Paheli was a wonderful movie directed with such care and tenderness, much better than the regular Bollywood studio fare.

When I came across Kairee I grabbed it and was eager to see Palekar's effort. But this film was a huge disappointment. The story is told from the view point of a 10 year old girl who is sent to live with her aunt after her mother passes away and her uncle does not want to take care of her. As the innocent girl starts to discover the complicated world around her, she starts to mature and grow up a little. There are some tender moments in the movie, especially with the girl and her teacher (played by Atul Kulkarni) where the teacher encourages the girl to write and adapt with the tough world.

Jab We Met (2007, Director Imtiaz Ali): Rating 8/10

I love it when word of mouth sometimes propels a movie well beyond its expectations. Such is the case with Jab We Met. No one had any hopes from this Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor film. Even though I had loved Imtiaz Ali's first film Socha Na Tha (I watched that movie three times), I decided to stay away from his second effort as the movie looked like a typical love story (Ofcourse, I should have known better as I said that about this first film before I fell in love with it).


But then I only heard good things about this Jab We Met. Friends and family raved about it. Well I decided to listen to them all and in the end, I am glad I did. The story is nothing new -- essentially something along the lines of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge plus elements from other love triangles. But the strength of the film is the fresh screenplay and an amazing performance from Kareena Kapoor. Though I am not a fan of her acting, this was a role perfect for her talents. She acts with so much gusto and as the camera is focused on her face most of the time, she is completely at ease in delivering some fascinating dialogues.

Also, some nice little touches by Imtiaz Ali. The film starts out with the lead character Aditya (Shahid Kapoor) not speaking a single line of dialogue for the first 8 minutes or so. Just by observing him, we can understand his gradual meltdown and suicidal urge. But despite his need to kill himself by jumping off a moving train, we can anticipate that he will eventually shout something because sitting across from him is Geet (Kareena Kapoor), a woman that never shuts up and keeps talking and talking, even in her sleep. Sure enough, once Aditya shouts back, the film moves into high gear of witty dialogues and energetic fun.

Ofcourse, there are plenty of weak points in the movie. Besides the lead pair, the acting of others is average at best. The triangle love interest in the movie Anshuman (Tarun Arora) displays virtually no emotion while delivering his lines. Some of the production is quite sloppy as one can easily make out the fake trains and cars (seriously, is it that hard to get a decent crane shot of a moving car?).


With both Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali has proved that there is so much scope that can still be explored in a framework of an Indian love/marriage story. Ofourse, it takes a talented writer and director to produce works which can be both fun and thought provoking.

She's back!!!!!!



"Madhuri Dixit is back". Only in Bollywood can 4 such words be used to promote a movie. But then again, Madhuri Dixit is no ordinary actress. No other woman has ever held such charm over modern Bollywood as Madhuri has. And in her 5 year absence, no new actress has been able to capture the energy of Madhuri. So she was sorely missed.

Aaja Nachle (2007, Director Anil Mehta): Rating 8/10

"Form is temporary, Class is permanent" (Unknown source, cricket quote?)

Yes Madhuri is all class. Without her Aaja Nachle would fall apart completely despite having a strong cast of Konkana Sen Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Irfan Khan, Kunal Kapoor and Akhshaye Khanna.

The story is written by Aditya Chopra so that means we get a village that can only exist in Bollywood -- despite all the complications, a little song and dance is enough to solve all problems. An ordinary stage is supposed to represent the highest form of art against the big bad soul-less mall that is going to take its place. But I didn't go to see this movie because of its story. I went because of Madhuri. And good to know that despite her age, she can still light up the screen with one smile. There is truly no one like her.


So just like the movie story, is her return temporary? Who knows but maybe someone can write a story to place her opposite Amitabh Bachchan, a pairing that has still not happened.

Recent movie round-up

Springfield standing in for America:

The Simpsons Movie (2007, Director David Silverman): Rating 7.5/10

I am not sure what my expectations from The Simpsons Movie was. After more than 17 years of tv episodes, what really was there to cover in a full length feature? Maybe that is the reason I stayed away from the theater for this one. But I was still curious to see if maybe, just maybe, the movie attempted to take some risks. And as it turns out, there are absolutely no risks in the movie -- having Bart skate nude does not translate into risky material! The overall experience feels just like watching a regular tv episode stretched over 80 minutes. Yes the movie contains some hilarious moments and is enjoyable in parts. But the story is not a stretch from the tv show and even contains a theme covered in one episode -- the pollution of Lake Springfield. There are other familiar elements from the tv show such as the town begging Mr. Burns for turning on the power and spoofs of big Hollywood films.

The movie feels too squeaky clean, as if the film-makers kept in mind that the movie would be shown globally so there shouldn't be any content to offend anyone. The only character who comes under fire in the movie is Homer himself, which is the easy choice. Overall, good for some laughs but a disappointing effort.

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Grimsby standing in for England:

This is England (2006, Director Shane Meadows): Rating 8/10

Adolescence is a difficult enough experience for a teenager with hormonal changes, peer pressures and general angst. So any further complicated issues such as the loss of a father to war, having no friends and not fitting in just makes things worse. Such is the case of 12 year old Shaun who gets bullied at school and has no friends to look out after him. His life takes a turn for the better when he befriends some skinheads and the head of the group (Woody) takes Shaun under his wing. Things seem fine until the group's original leader, Combo, returns from jail. Combo and Woody are complete opposites -- Woody is a bit moderate and although he may indulge in vandalism, he won't engage in racist or neo-fascist violence; Combo on the other hand proudly believes in a 'pure England' and his years in jail have turned him into a hate mongering skin-head. So as these two opposing views clash, Shaun finds himself switching loyalties from Woody to Combo until a horrific incident makes him realize the poison that lies buried within Combo.

The film is set in 1983 yet plenty of elements are true even today. There was a period in the mid 80's when the skinheads dangerous ideas propagated throughout England and even found their way into the soccer terraces around the U.K. However, the mid to late 90's saw a decline in such ideas in England. But in recent years, these hateful ideas are once again finding support not only in England but also in Germany, France and even Italy.

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India via several cities:

Bheja Fry (2007, Director Sagar Ballary): Rating 7.5/10

An interesting Indian adaptation of the hilarious French film The Dinner Game. The story is similar to the French version where a bunch of rich men have a weekly party and bring an 'idiot' as a guest. While they all laugh at the idiots, they also have a contest to see which person brought in the biggest idiot. In Bheja Fry, the idiot is Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak), an honest government employee who has a passion for singing. This movie belongs to Vinay Pathak who is fantastic in every scene. Unfortunately, the remaining cast is not on par with Pathak's excellent performance.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003, Director Sudhir Mishra): Rating 9/10

Sudhir Mishra has crafted an intelligent movie that looks at the youth rebellion that existed in India during the period of Emergency (prior to and after that period in the 70's). We see three youths with different takes on what is required to take the country forward -- communism, capitalism or democracy. A smart movie that deserves a longer write-up in a future post.

Dil Dosti, etc (2007, Director Manish Tiwary): Rating 7/10

Just like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, this film focuses on college youth but the movie is not really interested in politics. The film is more interested in examining the confused ideas that can effect college youth. While Sanjay (Shreyas Talpade) wants to run for college presidency, Apurv is not interested in politics or a career. He is not even interested in love but finds more pleasure in attempting to bed as many women as he can. While reading Sartre, Apurv freely quotes some random philosophy as he drifts through life immorally. Acting wise, Shreyas Talpade is the only one who has put in good performance. That is understandable as the rest of the cast consists of newcomers making their acting debut. Still, this had potential to be a much better movie than it turned out to be.

Dhokha (2007, Director Pooja Bhatt): Rating 5.5/10

The story of Dhokha is interesting enough but the execution could have been better. A police officer (Zaid played by Muzammil Ibrahim) goes to investigate a bomb explosion at a night club caused by a suicide bomber. The tables are turned on Zaid when he is shocked to find that he is the prime suspect in the investigation as the detective claims that it was Zaid's wife who was the suicide bomber. He fights the false charges but despite his best efforts, he is labeled a traitor and eventually suspended from his job. Eventually, he slowly starts learning the truth and it is indeed eye opening for him. The film shows some elements from other Indian films such as Mission Kashmir in how the abuse of power by police towards the Kashmiri Muslims only fuels the anger of the locals and turns them over to the fundamentalists. After Zaid starts finding the truth, the film turns into a predictable mess as other Bollywood movies and heads towards an unrealistic happy ending.

Welcome (2007, Director Anees Bazmee): Rating 5/10

It is always a bad sign when actors and filmmakers promote their movie by saying that the "audience should leave their brain at the door" while watching their film. This is a lazy way of saying that the movie was made without any thought or a screenplay. And when the film director is Anees Bazmee whose previous effort was the awful comedy No Entry, I had very low expectations from Welcome. Still the presence of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor offered some hope. As expected, all four have put in a decent effort with Nana Patekar shining in every scene. But the silly screenplay and poor direction make this a painful experience. If the movie had ended after 90 minutes, it wouldn't have been that bad. Even at 2 hours, the film might have been passable. But a running time of 2 hour 40 minutes is pure torture. It was indeed a welcome relief when this mess of a film eventually ended.

A double bill of kidnapings and abduction

Take One: 4 year old girl goes missing

Gone Baby Gone (2007, Director Ben Affleck): Rating 8.5/10

Some movies are best seen without knowing the story. The only thing I knew about Gone Baby Gone was that the movie was about a missing 4 year old girl. As it turns out, that is enough information to know because over the course of the film's 115 minutes or so, we learn everything else in small doses.



The missing girl story ends after 30 minutes or so. After that, a second story starts up but even that ends after another 30 minutes. Then a third act appears to start, a segment which on first glance appears to be an examination of the events from the first hour. But there is a tiny hint that there aren't three segments in this movie but one story, told in pieces. The reason the story is told in such a piecemeal manner is because the main character only learns the whole plot one step at a time. And so do we. There is one shot just after the hour mark which indicates something more sinister lies underneath the layer of evil. The camera focuses on a character in such a way that it triggered me to look at the character in a different light. We can't see the character's eyes because he is wearing shades. But the way his face is hanging coupled with the background music reminded me of a role this character played in a 2005 film. I made a mental note of this shot and wanted to see if in the end, this was how things turned out. Sure enough, this shot had a purpose. Not only did it reveal something sinister, it showed how the main character of Patrick (Casey Affleck) observes this other shady character.

Sometimes good hides behind an evil mask. And in the end, this is one of the key themes raised by this movie. If someone's intention are good, then if that person uses bad means to achieve a good result, then is it really a sin? The topic of good vs evil is brought up in a subtle manner throughout the film. But each person perceives good in a different manner. And hence the conflict between the 'good' characters.

The film starts off with Patrick's voice over narration describing the importance of a city in people's lives. But this movie is not about a city's influence on people, it is instead about people's mistakes and personality. Some people never change no matter how much responsibility is thrust upon on them. They will continue to make the same mistakes over and over. Such people exist in every city and not just in Boston, where the film is shot.

Gone Baby Gone is based on Dennis Lehane's novel. Lehane also wrote the emotionally powerful novel Mystic River, which was also filmed in Boston and nearby areas just like Gone Baby Gone. I haven't read either book but can only assess both stories via the movies. Mystic River primarily focuses on three men's lives. Via flashbacks, we learn that these three men's lives were forever altered during an kidnaping incident in their childhood. One of the three friends was kidnaped and abused, while the other two were lucky to have escaped. The moral consequences of that incident effected all three friends and set them on a miserable and tragic path. Gone Baby Gone stays in the present moment of the little girl's kidnaping and shows how the other adult characters react. Still, this story appears to take place on an opposite street from Mystic River. Both films highlight a present (Gone Baby Gone) and future view (Mystic River) of the emotional damage that can result from such a kidnaping. Mystic River was dark and unrelenting -- there was no hope but plain despair right through the end. Whereas Gone Baby Gone shows a glimmer of light, a tiny hope that despite all the evil and wrong doings, maybe things will turn out ok.

Note: To Ben Affleck's credit, he does include a shot which carries Gone Baby Gone away from the present and shows what the missing girl's future might be if she grew up in her neighbourhood. Near the film's start and end, he lets the camera linger on a teenager who is living in the same neighbourhood as the missing girl. One can imagine if the missing girl grew up in such a neighbourhood, she would look like this teenager.

Take Two: Family man goes missing

Rendition (2007, Director Gavin Hood): Rating 10/10

Egyptian man living in America. Suspicious. Perceived threat. Must protect the nation. Dubious 'intelligence'. So the only safe option for a nation's safety is to kidnap the man. No need to inform the family.



At the film's start, we see the wife (Isabella played by Reese Witherspoon) and her 6 year old son in Chicago. After a quick shot of the husband (Anwar played by Omar Metwally) in Cape town, the film moves to to North Africa (Morocco) where majority of the story takes place. Washington is shown on certain occasions because that is where the orders for the kidnaping and torture come from. Two stories are shown -- one of the husband's kidnaping/torture and the other being a love story. Both stories are connected and it is credit to the film-makers that the two stories are spliced equally together -- this narrative style balances the weight of the stories, mixing the innocent young characters with the evil men that are just doing their job.

This is easily one of the best movies of the year but why on earth did it disappear without any attention? Can such a story take place? One only has to look at Maher Arar's story and everything shown in Rendition seems life like. But what about the Moroccan love story? Is there is a need for that? Yes. The film tries to show two sides of the equation -- the enemy and the good guys. The film does not attempt to take sides but just shows how in the quest for good, characters will act the way they do. One side's good is perceived as evil by the other side. But it is important to understand the motives of the other side. One has to get to the roots of evil, otherwise there will be no solution. Force leads to counter-force, which leads to more force, which leads to even a bigger counter-action. Loop forever.

Note: I am not sure why Rendition only used the generic term North Africa to describe Morocco. One first glance, I thought the Moroccan city was Rabat. Then the second shot appeared to be Fez but by the third glimpse of the city with the market square and reddish house walls, there was no doubt that it was Marrakesh. And just to emphasize the point, the famous Djemaa el-Fna market square is shown on two occasions.

Abuse of Power:

"With great power, comes great responsibility." Spider-Man.

That quote from Spider-Man applies to both the above movies. In both films, certain characters want to do good but in doing do, they throw out reason and common sense. As a result, their blind actions lead to painful consequences. Blindly attempting to do good can turn into an evil act because such blind actions have no foundation in reason and logic. And when the actions of the law turn out to harm the innocent, well the job of the evil men just becomes easier. The evil men can use photos of the tortured innocent as evidence that all law is wrong and simply abuses power. So the young and feeble minds are lured as bait to commit evil acts in the name of a greater good.

Political Disappearances:

The kidnapping in Rendition is along the same lines of those committed by dictatorship regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Burma, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Cambodia and several other nations. The Indian film-maker Gulzar explored such topics about abuse of power by police back in 1996's Maachis (Matchstick). Maachis was a phenomenal movie which showed how police brutality fed the flames of terrorism. Even though Maachis was set in Punjab, one can imagine similar situations leading to uprisings in Kashmir, Assam and other parts of the world.

Soccer, to lighten the mood:

Once again soccer provides the answer! The clue to the husband's innocence in Rendition lies in soccer. What? I am not making this up! I do remember watching the 1990 Soccer World Cup and the soccer team in question. When some of the names of those players were shown on the screen, I didn't think too much of it until Jake Gyllenhaal's characters stumbles across the answer in the movie.

A Fixer, Gangster and Survivor

Michael Clayton (2007, Director Tony Gilroy): Rating 8/10

Crisp white envelops filled with money -- a reward for a job well done. Even though Michael Clayton (George Clooney) only gives such an envelope once in the movie, one can expect him to have distributed many such gifts in the past. Unofficially, he is the law firm's fixer -- he patches things up or does whatever is required for the good of the firm. He works off the radar and on the company record books, his job is insignificant. Only the firm's senior partners recognize his value and in case the senior partners disappeared one day, Clayton would be the first to be fired.

At the core, the story is about a whistle blower, in the mould of Michael Mann's The Insider. The evil company in this case is U North, a company that appears to follow in the foot steps of Monsanto and other biotech agricultural companies shown in documentaries such as The Corporation, The Fight for True Farming and The Future of Food. The film is polished and features smart witty dialogues that one expects from Hollywood films where the lead actor appears slick and well dressed in all scenes, no matter what the situation. But to Gilroy's credit, he does add some hesitation to Tilda Swinton's character. Tilda plays Karen Crowder who works for U North and her character's actions are true to what is portrayed at the film's start -- she is nervous, insecure and tries too hard to impress. So it is easy to believe that she is capable of making the mistakes that are shown as the movie progresses.

There are two interesting sequences in the movie. One is the scene with the horses. It is early in the morning and Clayton is returning irritated from a 'fixer' meeting. The sun has not risen yet when he sees three horses. He gets off from his car and is reaching out to the horses, almost helplessly. That scene is the only one where you can detect weakness in his character -- he is struggling and wants help himself. In all the other scenes, he is confident and is the person that others come to for help. The other interesting sequence is the final shot in the cab. The camera stays focused on Clooney's face as the closing credits roll. Just a nice sequence at odds with other Hollywood movies which feature too many quick cuts.

Note: A minor point about one sequence which appears to be weak. Clayton sees Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) in the alley-way and pulls the car over. He leaves his son in the car and asks him to lock the doors. Clayton approaches Arthur. When Arthur is talking, the camera only focuses on him and his bag of dozen (or more) baguettes But when the camera shows Clayton, you can see his car in the background. My initial thought was that Gilroy wanted us to see the car because there could be something regarding his son. After gradual cuts, the camera narrows the focus in Clayton's background but we can still his car and even taxi cabs going by. Eventually, the camera does only focuses on Clayton. I am still not sure if there was a purpose to keep the car in the background and let it be a distraction or if that was a lazy sequence where the camera was not directed to only show the relevant characters.

American Gangster (2007, Director Ridley Scott): Rating 8/10

"If we stop bringing drugs into the country, then we will put 100,000 people out of a job."



That is probably one of the most accurate lines about the police's battle with drug trafficking. Ofcourse, it is not surprizing to hear such a line from a detective like Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) because Ritchie is shown to be one of the few honest cops in the film. In a way, Ritchie's comment makes sense as countless officers are hired to keep arresting drug pushers and top mobs. However, there is no attempt to eliminate the problem at roots. So the end result is an endless cycle of the same mistakes.



"This is my home. My country. Frank Lucas don't run from nobody. This is America."

In the end, that is the problem with all top gangsters. They will never run away but stay around until they get taken down. As a result, all such gangster movies follow the same pattern -- small gangster rises to become top boss, police get on his trail and eventually he is either jailed or killed.

One interesting aspect shown in the movie is how Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) strove to keep a low profile. But a few signs of flashy money initiated by his fiancee and brothers lead to him appearing on the police's radar.

"My man." "The Po-lice".

That is Denzel delivering dialogues like he did in Training Day. "The Po-lice".

Overall, American Gangster is a good film but like Michael Clayton, it still feels like a typical studio movie. After countless mob movies, there is not much more that can be explored in a gangster story.

Rescue Dawn (2006, Director Werner Herzog) Rating 8.5/10

Herzog has directed an absorbing film about Dieter Dengler's (played by Christian Bale) escape from a prison camp in Laos/North Vietnam after his American fighter plane was shot down. Herzog has paid careful attention to little details regarding how Dengler escaped the camp and survived in the dense jungles. There is one scene which reminded me of Herzog's 1972 feature Aguirre, Wrath of God. After Dieter and Duane (Steve Zahn) escape the camp, they float down the river on a raft. Even though the raft scene in Rescue Dawn is shot differently from the final raft scene in Aguirre, both scenes contained the same tension that an enemy could attack from any point in the forests.

I have not seen Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly which accounts the same story. In interviews, Herzog mentioned that Dieter's story was so extraordinary that it had to be made into a film. But due to lack of finances he made the documentary first.

The endless labyrinth of conspiracies and lies

I knew of the book long before my eyes saw it. I knew of the author and the book's subject as well. In fact, I could have gotten the book long before that day in Dec 2006 but for whatever reason, I decided not to pursue it earlier. But last year, something compelled me to get the book. It had nothing to do with the book's cover which was plain black and only contained the author's name and the title (in caps):

Bernard-Henry Lévy
Who Killed Daniel Pearl?

There is nothing to incite a person to buy the book. Sure there are were promotion quotes by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Book Review on the cover. But I never go by these blurbs or quotes when buying a book. In the end, I bought the book. Maybe it was the vacation in New Delhi? I don't know. The book was tucked away trapped within other countless books on a bookshelf. Nothing about the book screamed to be picked up. But I saw Lévy's name on the cover. Maybe that was it. Whatever the reason, looking back now, the choice of finding the book in a bookstore in New Delhi was appropriate. Because in the complex labyrinth of the story behind Daniel Pearl's murder, there is an investigative link that leads Lévy to New Delhi as well. But it is only a tiny part of a giant complex puzzle that Lévy attempts to solve. Maybe he has come the closest. Or maybe he is further from the truth? No one will ever know. But one thing is clear -- this is one of the best and most challenging books I have read in a while.

Part of the challenge is how Lévy skillfully manages to combine his thoughts, feelings, abstract words and actual facts in one flowing paragraph after another. This is how he writes normally and this is why I enjoy his words. In this book, that style allows the reader to observe things from Lévy's perspective. And this becomes challenging because Lévy is visiting the darkest places in a complex web -- what he sees is not pleasing, what he learns is troubling. And his style allows the reader to get a front seat to all the events. At times, reading the book became too much for me. I simply could not carry on. But then I returned back, and every time I read the book, I didn't want to put it down. But I had leave it because I was getting sucked into a world I didn't want to get into.

Lévy is searching for the truth about Pearl's murder. In order to get to the truth, he first places himself in Pearl's mind and visits the same places that Daniel did. Then Lévy places himself in the mind of the killer. He studies both people's lives and tries to piece together what led to such a horrific incident. Then Lévy visits terrorist recruiting locations, interviews plenty of important people and gets lost in the names and facts. He follows a trail and writes pages about it, only to realize later that was wrong. He does not hide the failed attempts from the readers. Every now and again Lévy emerges with a new idea and decides to pursue it. In the end, despite all the wrong turns and misinformation, he puts together a reasonable hypothesis. It may be the truth or it maybe another trap door leading to more lies.

The movie:

I didn't want to see Michael Winterbottom's movie A Mighty Heart until I had finished reading Lévy's book. But the movie and book are completely separate. Although, there are some overlapping similarities (hotel names, characters), both are structured differently. Who Killed Daniel Pearl? pieces together events which happened in the past and picks up the trail after all the incidents took place. Whereas A Mighty Heart, which is based on Mariane Pearl's book, shows events in the days of Danny's kidnaping leading up to his killing.

In the movie, the complexity of the kidnaping is shown by a white-board chart that Asra (Archie Panjabi), the journalist whose house the Pearl's stayed in, maintains to track all the characters. Even though the white-board shows how the web of conspirators grows into a messy spiral, the film maintains a linearity that allows the tension and helplessness of the incident to sink in. There are some amazing moments when Winterbottom reverts to using Digital cameras to show the scenes when the police go through a maze of apartments and narrow alley-ways in order to arrest some of the suspects. In those moments, the film appears to be a documentary and not a scripted effort.

Acting wise, both Angelina Jolie and Irfan Khan have done a great job of portraying the complex emotions that is required of their characters. Irfan Khan brings the calm measured performance required of his 'Captain' character, a person that Mariane trusted from day one. Overall, for me Lévy's book & Winterbottom's film compliment each other in helping to give a better picture as to what happened. Still, the final truth does seem elusive. What is apparent is that there exists a lawless section in the world, a complex web where no government can reach. This is where evil and conspiracies are allowed to fester. Hate is manufactured here. Links to recent events can be traced to this part of the world. This is what Daniel Pearl was after and maybe he had found an answer. Or maybe he was asking the questions that he was not supposed to be asking?

The past gives an answer, but often the world ignores it. When an Air India flight was hijacked on the eve of the year 2000, the World saw the event, reported it, but did nothing. India was in a real bind. The hijackers wanted 4 imprisoned terrorists released and in the end, the Indian government had no choice but to give into those wishes. America and the West ignored that incident. And one of the 4 terrorists released that day went onto kill Daniel Pearl and even mastermind the collapse of those two towers. Maybe.

When Sunday Comes...........

Arsenal vs Chelsea; Liverpool vs Manchester United

The sun isn't shining as brightly as it was a few weeks ago. There are some hints of a few dark clouds hovering on the horizon. Although the clouds are not causing complete darkness, they are blocking the sun rays. So the easiest way to bring the sunshine back is to dispense one cloud at a time. Sunday's game against Chelsea offers a chance towards restoring a sunny weather outlook.

Age does weaken one's memory. But I do recall that more than three years ago, 5 dropped points in the first half of the season was not much cause for alarm. Ofcourse, the nature of the league has changed in the last three seasons. Wenger's previous analysis of 75 points being good enough to win the league is no longer true. In fact, the bar has been pushed much higher and it started with Arsenal's unbeaten league season in 2004.

Stats:

The points of the top two teams and their cumulative points total over the last few seasons:

1999/00: Man Utd (91), Arsenal (73), Total: 164

2000/01: Man Utd (80), Arsenal (70), Total: 150

2001/02: Arsenal (87), Liverpool (80) Total: 167

2002/03: Man Utd (83), Arsenal (78), Total: 161

2003/04: Arsenal (90), Chelsea (79) Total: 169

2004/05: Chelsea (95), Arsenal (83), Total: 178

2005/06: Chelsea (91), Man Utd (83), Total: 174

2006/07: Man Utd (89), Chelsea (83), Total: 172

The 2004/05 season stands out not only for Chelsea's point total of 95 but the high number of points the second placed team, Arsenal, grabbed. Since that season, the second placed team has earned 83 points, a total which would have been good enough to win the league in two of Man Utd's triumphs in 2001 & 2003. So if 90 points are the new approximate standard to guarantee finishing the season on top, that leaves an error margin of 24 points (out of the possible 114 points available from 38 games). Dropping 24 points over 38 games does not leave too much room for error. But these point totals only show a narrow view at the top. An accurate picture has to take into account point totals of all the league teams. Last year, the third & fourth place teams (Liverpool and Arsenal) only got 68 points each, much lower than the points earned by previous years third place teams (75 in 2003/04, 77 in 04/05, 82 in 05/06). And also at the bottom end, there have been a few teams that have performed worse than previously. The lowest dip at the bottom was in the 2005/06 season when the bottom two earned only 45 points (compared to the range of 58 - 66 over the last few years) with Sunderland only getting 15 points (West Brom got 30).

But the statistics can only give a picture of the past. If in a particular season, there are 2-3 strong teams setting a blistering pace, then the final tally of points required to win a title will be dictated by how many points the chasing teams earn. For example, the huge number of dropped points by the chasing pack account for the low total of 80 points needed to win the 2000/01 season. So far this season after 16 games only three points separate the top three.

Law of Averages:

Arsenal have not beaten Chelsea in the last 6 league games. In order to look at Arsenal's current poor results against Chelsea, one has to look back at that record breaking unbeaten season. In 2003/04, Arsenal met Chelsea 5 times – two league, one F.A Cup and two Champions League games. Arsenal beat Chelsea three times by a 2-1 margin (including a memorable F.A Cup win with two superb Reyes goals) before the Champions league tie. The first leg at Highbury ended 1-1 and the second leg was tied 1-1 with 4 minutes to go. Then the law of averages turned on its head and Arsenal lost 2-1. It seems that Arsenal had used up their quota of wins against Chelsea because since that season Arsenal have not beaten Chelsea in any competition.
Had Arsenal gotten past Chelsea in that Champions League tie, they had a great chance to advance to the final, where they would have met Porto, managed by a certain Jose. But Arsenal didn't have to wait long to clash with the un-shaven one.

The painful years with Jose Mourinho:

Jose arrived at Highbury for the first time on Dec 10, 2004 with his Chelsea team. I can't forget this game because it also marked my first visit to Highbury. But since I could not get a ticket, I had to make do with seeing Highbury from the outside (although a year later I found out from Rick B. that he had a ticket for me). So I soaked in as much pre-game atmosphere as I could. When the Chelsea bus arrived first, I expected a chorus of boos to ring out. But there was almost complete silence. Not one fan around me shouted anything. It was so quiet that I could even hear the hoofs of the police horses marching around. The silence prompted a solitary Chelsea fan to shout out something along the lines of how nervous everyone was. And still no one said anything. All the Chelsea players got off from the bus and headed up the stairs. Then Jose stepped out and finally a chorus of boos rang out. But Jose simply looked towards the fans, smiled and waved. That only increased the jeering but he appeared to be relishing the hatred.

The arrival of the Arsenal bus was greeted by loud cheers and every player was duly greeted. Henry got of the bus and quickly jogged up the stairs without even looking sideways. He had his headphones on and appeared focused (his quick goal did indeed prove he was in game mode). Only two Arsenal players looked towards the crowd, one of them being Reyes. But Reyes's smile and wave to the crowd appeared more accidental than anything -- his bag was a bit too big for him and he almost stumbled as he got off the bus. So that led to some fans cheering him and he smiled back. Ofcourse, the loudest cheers were reserved for Arsene Wenger who stopped at the top of the steps and waved towards the fans in all directions.
Arsenal should have won that game by a 3-2 or 4-2 margin. But at that final while of a pulsating 2-2 draw, I never imaged that this would have been Arsenal's best chance of beating a Jose lead Chelsea team. The return fixture ended 0-0 and subsequent league games with the Blues ended 0-1, 0-2, 1-1, 1-1 along with 2-1 defeats in the Carling Cup final and Charity Shield.

But Jose is no longer there. So…

When Sunday comes

Will the normal balance of the universe be restored and Arsenal return to winning ways against Chelsea? Ofcourse, sunday is also a big day for that other important clash between Liverpool and Manchester. Rafa Benitez & Liverpool also have a need to restore their own universal order over Man Utd. Rafa may have outsmarted Jose on a few occasions (one league & F.A Cup plus two Champions League wins) but he has yet to lead his Liverpool team to a victory over Man Utd in the league; Liverpool's 1-0 win over Man Utd in a 2005/06 F.A Cup tie is the only time Rafa got the upper head on Ferguson.

Ofcourse, an Arsenal win coupled with a Liverpool victory would help ease the pain of last weekend when both teams suffered their first league defeats. But it won't be easy. Sunday will be full of nerves and tense battles. The only thing I am willing to say with certainty is that Senderos will have a peaceful sleep on Sat night as Drogba is not playing. But Senderos was never going to be in the starting line-up anyhow. Now, that is a soothing thought given his recent form or lack of it.

Ah, when sunday comes, sleep will not matter! A 6:30 am (mountain time) kick-off for the Liverpool-ManU game followed by the 9 am Arsenal vs Chelsea game.