A global mess requires an international film..

One would think that the arrival of film where the villain is a bank would make for great timing. Surely the film would benefit from the public’s resentment? Right? Apparently not. The International made about $10 million in the opening weekend despite opening in more than 2,000 screens. On the other hand, the 100th edition of Jason’s slasher adventures (dice, cut, scream, blood) made 4 times as much (yes it did open in 1000 more screens). The metacritic rating for The International is only 52/100, so clearly the critics were not impressed. So their bad reviews must surely have made a difference as it turns out that on the particular time I chose to see the film I was the only person inside a giant multiplex theater. Imagine that, a giant screen, stadium seating and I was the only person there. Surely that indicated that the film was awful, right? NO.

Tom Tykwer’s The International is an entertaining film that has a gripping action sequence (the bullet ridden shoot-out) and moves at a nice pace ensuring that the audience gets a good look at each locale (no fast cuts or frantic camera moments). Plus it has a very believable story regarding the evils of a big bank. Sure there are some flaws but the same problems plague most Hollywood films. Interestingly, most critics ignored such flaws when it game to The Dark Knight. Anyway, here are some interesting points the film brings up:

Cut out the middle man

When governments engage in stirring a revolution in another country they need massive funding for weapons and training. In democratic countries this means getting funding approved via some cryptic hidden causes because the general public can’t know that their tax money is being used to kill innocent citizens in another country. And when the funding is approved, the banks get to work moving the money around. All this process does take some time. So what if the banks decided to ignore the governments and start moving their own funds to stir up civil violence in nations? And when the civil war is over and the bank’s chosen government comes into power, guess which bank they will turn to get mega loans for rebuilding their nation?

There is a great line in the film which indicates that the goal of banks is to control the debt. So if a bank can know where to cause a war and where to stop one, then it would control that nation's debt. Hmmm...

Follow the weapons..

While following the money is important, in this day and age it is also important to follow the flow of weapons. There are only a handful of nations that manufacture weapons yet their weapons are freely available in most African and Asian nations. How? Why? If ones understands who moves the weapons and how then one understands the true villains of a conflict. But why is there no attention placed on the weapon flow? Because that would implicate the good nations who don’t want to get their hands dirty.

Don’t trust the man with the clean suit

Clive Owen’s Louis Salinger character constantly wears crushed suits. That is because he has no time to get his suit cleaned up as he is constantly in pursuit of his enemies. Most of the time he is unshaven and wears his anger on his face. On the other hand, the bankers and lawyers he meets are perfectly dressed -- clean shaven and wearing perfectly cut suits. These bankers and their lawyers do have a lot of money, blood money as it turns out, to ensure their looks and respectable appearance helps them trap more clients. There is an Italian politician in the film who is honest yet well dressed so obviously he can’t last long because the film ensures that the only well dressed men are the evil ones.

Look, look a bit longer and now action..

The film travels through multiple cities such as Berlin, Lyon, Milan, New York and Istanbul. And in each city the film ensures we get a good nice look at each specific location. There is a moment when the camera descends from the sky to give us a perfect view of Istanbul’s beauty. But unlike most movies the camera does not quickly cut away and it hovers a few extra seconds to ensure we can make out the people walking on the bridge and the cars driving about. A simple point but this aspect allows us to soak up the atmosphere and know the surroundings where the next moments of action will take place.

Note: The opening sky shot of Istanbul reminded me of Heaven and that is not surprizing as both both Tykwer and DOP Frank Griebe worked on that film as well.

Point A to B, Action, Point C to Point D, Action...

As soon as the film’s angry hero Salinger arrives at a location, the action takes place. On one hand it appears that each location is existing in a state of suspended animation and only when Salinger arrives do things move along. But there is a reason for this. There is a strict deadline that the bank works on in trying to eliminate all the people who can implicate them. At the film’s start when a innocent person is on the trail towards the bank’s evils, he is eliminated. The bank then eliminates the other person who could expose them within 9 hours. When Salinger goes on the move, he hits the road on the trail of an assassin. Since the assassin travels multiple cities via commercial flights (no private jets as the bank is probably cutting back) there are only a few fixed time slots on which he would appear in a city. So all Salinger has to do is follow him and as a result, he tags along all the film’s action sequences. Is that script cheating? I have seen this complaint in a few reviews so clearly people who don’t like the film use this. But no such excuse was used for The Dark Knight when the film moved from one action sequence to another.

Comments:

Overall, I enjoyed The International. But I might be just one of the few who not only bothered to see the film but actually relished spending time in an empty multiplex for this.

Rating: a subjective 9/10

Eduardo is back and the crowd goes wild......

pic: Getty Images, www.soccernet.com

What happens when one year of soccer related misery vanishes in a instant?

Joy..Immense Joy..Absolute, maddening joy

Question:
Despite being injured for almost a year, how did Eduardo manage to score two goals in his return game?

A) He is just that good. Pure Class.
B) He got lucky.
C) The opponents were not that good.
D) It is Written.

Flashback

On Feb 23, 2008 Arsenal's Eduardo was hacked down by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor. Taylor broke Eduardo's leg and even smirked after the incident. The British Media rushed to Taylor's defense turning the villain into a victim saying such tackles are part of the game and that Taylor was "a nice guy." Uh-huh. I am willing to bet that if the tackle was made by a non-Englishman on an English player the media would not have been so understanding and would have asked for blood. But since Eduardo was a Croatian and Arsenal were not Manchester United, things were left as is. Arsenal never recovered from that incident and threw away the title that was theirs, allowing the average Man Utd and Chelsea teams to overtake them. To make matters worse lucky Liverpool edged past Arsenal in the Champions League. Arsenal lost key players in the summer of 2008 and have been awful for most of the 2008/09 season so far.

Present Day: Feb 16, 2009

Almost a year later, Eduardo makes his first team return for Arsenal, scoring two goals in a 4-0 win over Cardiff City in the F.A Cup. Will this game undo events and uplift Arsenal? Who Knows but for now all that matters is Eduardo is back!!!!

The Answer

The logical answer is A) but my heart says it is....

D)

:)

The Beautiful game....

Cinema Verite, football style! And...errr..not coming to a cinema hall near you..


Underground football played on a Ship. A feature film version would surely feature Mickey Rourke, Jean Claude Van Damme, Stallone and Eric Cantona can play the same role as in the commerical, a la KingPin but only thinner.

Bollywood Hype x 3

Billu Barber (2009, Priyadarshan)

So much for the controversy regarding the title. Even though the title has the word "barber" in it, the film actually utilizes barely ten minutes of the character’s profession. Sure there are scenes in a barber shop but it could easily have been set in a chai stall or a corner store. There is a warm hearted story hidden in this film but like most bollywood films the final product is ruined because of needless songs and producer intervention. In this case since the producer is Shah Rukh Khan, the film ends up being an ode to a best of SRK’s filmi moments. In Billu Barber SRK plays Sahir Khan, a mega Bollywood star. Even though SRK takes on a different first name, he still manages to insert clips and posters from most of his films in Billu Barber and uses his “King Khan”. When he is not busy promoting himself, SRK also uses the film to clarify his positions regarding the rivalries with Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar. It is hard to know if a different director would have had the strength to prevent SRK from hijacking the film and making it into a self-promotion tool. The only recent exception seems to be Shimit Amin whose Chak De India managed to prevent SRK from hogging the camera and gave the young actresses a chance to shine but there are plenty of other directors in Bollywood like Farah Khan, Aditya Chopra or Karan Johar who pander to SRK’s every need. It is unfortunate to see Priyadarshan’s name added to that list now.

Another disappointing aspect of the film is that Priyadarshan took the easy way out and borrowed elements from his Malamal Weekly film, another comedy set in a village and tried to implement a similar style of comedy with identical themed jokes. The only saving grace of the film is Irrfan Khan and a charming Lara Dutta. Even though all the songs are quite bad, Deepika Padukone looks stunning in the opening video. Ok, stunning does not do justice. She sizzles...while the rest of the film is stuck in averageness.

Rating: 5.5/10

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Luck, by Chance (2009, Zoya Akhtar)

Over the last decade or so there have been quite a few films made about the cut throat and ruthless nature of the Bollywood film industry such as Rangeela, Main Bhi Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Houn, Om Shanti Om, Khoya Khoya Chand, Superstar, Bollywood Calling and King of Bollywood. These films were either in the form of a parody or even tried to show the serious side of things. Plus there were also two very good documentaries such as Bollywood Bound and Sunset Bollywood. Was there place for one more film to be added to this list? Zoya Akhtar thought so and decided to try her luck by setting her debut film about Bollywood’s film studio system. Unfortunately, her film has nothing new to add to the existing view of tinseltown. In fact, her film verifies all the cliches and images people have about Bollywood. There are some moments of genuine delight in the film but in the end Zoya takes the easy way out and reduces her film to a tabloid gossip tale of stardom and affairs. Sure there are some inside jokes and some real life Bollywood actors play a parody of themselves such as Sanjay Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. But overall, the film is a run of the mill effort and not something one would expect from someone whose family has been involved with some memorable efforts in Indian cinema.

Rating: 7/10

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Chandini Chowk to China (2009, Nikhil Advani)

Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng was one of the most hyped Bollywood films of 2008 and it also turned out to be one of the worst films of 2008. And Akshay Kumar’s Chandini Chowk.. kicked off Bollywood’s 2009 calendar year with as much hype but thankfully the film is not as inept as Singh is Kinng was. Even though Chandini Chowk.. is B-grade film that brings back memories of the worst of Bollywood from the 1970’s and 80’s, the film does contain a few hilarious scenes where Akshay Kumar is able to show why he is the current comedic master in Bollywood.

Rating: 4/10

barber: must censor awful word...

I was looking forward to the Irrfan Khan starrer Billu Barber out this Friday. But it seems that the word "barber" won't be present in the title as producer Shah Rukh Khan was forced to yank the word out because of protests. This is what Uday Takke, president of a Maharashtran hair association, had to say: "We want Billu Barber to be called Billu Hairdresser as barber is a derogatory and insulting term. We choose hairdressing as a profession because it is an art. Also there are many women hairstylists if Billu Barber becomes a hit, women hairdressers will be called barbers too!"

Huh? Who cares about Mr.Uday Takke's profession? I don't. I am happy that Mr. Takke chose to be a hairdresser. But this movie is not about him nor is it about his friends or employees. It is about a character called Billu. And it is up to the writer, director and producers what they think the title of their film should be.

Although I think there is more to this story. As part of the film's promotions, posters were sent to about 500 barber shops. So this is just a stunt for some people to flex their muscles. Moreover, in India the term barber is not used anyway as it is in North America.

For the record, this is the definition of "barber"

a person whose occupation it is to cut and dress the hair of customers, esp. men, and to shave or trim the beard.

Aye...hip hopper...

I couldn't recall the first hearing but I did remember the beat.
On a second hearing, I was interested.
By the time I heard it a third time, I was hooked.

Snapshots of War

Stage One: Man to Man Combat

In ancient times war was an accepted part of life. Be it over a matter of land or a girl, a man gathered his group to avenge and fight for his cause. While the weapons were not as lethal as those in modern warfare, the savagery was not any less. Chopping and hacking was aplenty ensuring maximum blood. The one thing that made the ancient form of warfare stand out was that everyone fighting on both sides knew the reason for their war and in most cases knew their opponents.

Sergei Bodrov’s Mongol shows an example of the persistent state of war in ancient times. While the film is about the rise of Genghis Khan and his conquests in ancient Mongolia, many of the elements of war could apply to other nations in ancient times like the Nordic or Moghul India. In Mongol love and war keep equal pace at times and when the blood letting starts, the family and loved ones have to be left behind until the next battle, which is always around the corner.

Stage Two: Trench warfare

As the weapons used to kill other men got more sophisticated and advanced, the distance between the fighting soldiers also increased. The hand to hand combats were replaced by the trench warfare, where opposing armies lay in hiding before firing bullets over to the other side. In such cases, a solider never really knew if he managed to kill someone or not and even if he did kill someone, didn’t find out the identity of his enemy. In Kon Ichikawa’s masterpiece Fires on the Plain one of the Japanese soldiers utters this very relevant truth when he hears the American soldiers in the distance. He peeks to get a look at a passing group of American soldiers in trucks and comments that was his first look at the enemy despite being in combat for months. It is hard to imagine that men fought other men with neither side speaking the same language. In fact, they didn’t need to communicate as they let the bullets do all their talking. Fires on the Plain takes place in Philippines between the American and Japanese soldiers and also highlights another changing aspect of warfare in that two nations would fight in a third nation’s turf, a much more common aspect of war starting from WWII onwards.

War is a savage thing no matter how much one tries to defend its reasons. Kon Ichikawa captures this animal nature of war perfectly in his film while also accomplishing the rare feat of objectively showing the war from the perspective of the soldiers, the everyday men forced into combat. There is no jingoism in the film with none of the soldiers ever talking about the “good of the nation” as each person is only trying to survive and do what they believe is right, even if that means eating another man’s flesh.

Stage Three: Remote warfare, espionage and propaganda

World War II combined both past and even futuristic aspects of war. On one hand, trench warfare was still common but so was the use of aerial bombing, with the two atomic bombs signaling the future nature of combat. But World War II also ushered in a new stage of espionage and its spy game routines led directly to the cold war. Information became just as important as weapons and the cat-mouse game certainly ensured that the war was a complicated affair.

In ancient times, there was no need to sell war to ones citizens. But in the modern civilized world, war had to be sold to its citizens as men and women had to be given a reason why war was necessary. So propaganda became a very common currency during WWII, on both sides of the fighting.

Valkyrie combines the espionage and propaganda elements that took place during WWII. The film shows a true story about an assassination attempt of Hitler. Even though one knows that the characters attempt will end in failure, the film is still a gripping watch.

Stage Four: The inner war and path to recovery

Ok, the war is over. Now what? Can the horror be erased from the soldiers minds? Can the warring leaders actually enjoy the peace and listen to soothing music? Unfortunately, history has shown that peace can never be achieved with war. It never was and it never will. But this does not stop nations from trying to achieve peace with wars. After the war is over, the soldiers are left to fend on their own. In some cases, the men are fine and integrate into society. In other cases, the men can’t shut off the inner demons and look for a new war. Gran Torino can add its name to the list of movies where the men are never really free from their war. Even though the main character Walt (Clint Eastwood) appears to be at peace with his killings in the Korean war, when things get ugly he does reveal that he is still haunted by his demons and heads towards a very un-Hollywood like resolution in hopes of achieving peace for himself and his neighborhood.

Stage Five: Filming the war

Ever since Apocalypse Now, there have been directors who have aimed to film the most realistic war movie by ensuring their audience gets the grim details of war and feels the blood for themselves. Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder tries to parody such a director who aims to make the most realistic war film ever! In his quest for perfection, the director (Steve Coogan) take his cast to a jungle far away from the comforts of a studio set. But things don’t go as per plan and the cast hilariously find themselves in a real war. While the film does a very good job of assembling some excellent characters such as the sleazy film executive (Tom Cruise), the shallow agent (Matthew McConaughey), the fake war writer (Nick Nolte) and the actors aching to dive into their characters (Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr.), it comes across as a missed opportunity for something greater.

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Ratings out of 10 for films seen in this series:

Fires on the Plain (1959, Japan, Kon Ichikawa): 10
Mongol (2007, Russia/Mongolia/co-prod, Sergie Bodrov): 8.5
Gran Torino (2008, USA, Clint Eastwood): 8
Valkyrie (2008, USA, Bryan Singer): 7.5
Tropic Thunder (2008, USA, Ben Stiller): 5

of rights and wrongs

Well I was wrong as The Dark Knight didn't get a best film nod and Slumdog.. did. But the hype over Slumdog.. is quite puzzling. I first heard of the film last summer before TIFF gave it a slot. Back then it was very difficult to find the book Q&A in North America but I managed to get it via some good sources in Delhi. Now I hear the book is selling very well in Delhi bookstores and closer to home even Costco is carrying the novel albeit with the title of the movie. Back in December only one theater in the city was showing the movie but now the movie has opened wider with almost all the big multiplexes playing the title. All of this makes for some interesting conversations with friends and family about the movie. Some have loved the movie but others have questioned the film's choices about portraying India in a negative light. Most negative comments I have heard so far have to do with the film's choices of including elements that the original story didn't contain like the boy covered in shit or the Hindu-Muslim riots that killed Jamal's mother. In the novel, the main character was an orphan who was named Ram Mohammed Thomas by the priest who found him in order to ensure that whatever religion the boy was born in would be covered. The name ofcourse was inspired by the 1977 Bollywood film Amar Akbar Anthony with a title that ensured that the main characters were listed in order of the religious hierarchy in India. But Slumdog.. made the main character a Muslim and instead brought the religious divide into focus. I have a feeling that if the movie was going to be shot in 2009 then surely an element of terrorism would have crept into the screenplay. While I do think that the screenplay does a very good job of balancing the past and present, unfortunately the major changes in the story appear contrived to ensure that only certain elements of India are shown.

There was an interesting observation I came across from a film fan who said that all the previous Indian films to have been nominated for an Oscar dealt with either poverty or villages -- Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) & Lagaan (2001). While Slumdog.. is not an Indian film, it certainly carries on the tradition of poverty in riding to its fame. All these four films are completely different yet the common thread of poverty does stick out.

Overall, I still think Slumdog.. is an entertaining film with all of its problems attributed to either the screenplay or the weak acting. Accomplished actors like Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan are given bit parts and not allowed to shine, while Dev Patel is quite weak in the main role. The real gems in the film are all the technical aspects such as cinematography, editing and the music. A.R Rahman's music is very good but then again he has scored amazing tracks for more than a decade in India.

Popular awards...

The 9 films short-listed for the Best Foreign film Oscar are:

The Baader-Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel)

The Class (France, Laurent Cantet)

Departures (Japan, Yojiro Takita)

Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Jan Troell)

The Necessities of Life (Canada, Benoit Pilon)

Revanche (Austria, Gotz Spielmann)

Tear This Heart Out (Mexico, Roberto Sneider)

Three Monkeys (Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman)

The most alarming miss from the list is Gomorra. I refuse to believe that all of the above 9 films are better than Gomorra. Ofcourse, I can only speculate about the validity of these movies as it will probably take me another 2 years to see the above films as none of the above 9 films have opened in my city yet although Three Monkeys had a solitary show at CIFF last year.

Anyway, here are some predictions for the sake of it:

Waltz With Bashir will win the foreign film award and maybe that will be enough to ensure that the movie opens in my city.

The Dark Knight will not only get a nomination for best film but will win the award. Why? Because if an average yet highly popular movie like Titanic can win best film then The Dark Knight has a great chance.

Slumdog Millionaire will not get a nomination for best film but Danny Boyle will be nominated for best director. In fact, Slumdog.. will not win any awards and that includes A.R Rahman.

Unlike the Golden Globes, I think the Oscars will ensure that all the awards will only go to big Hollywood studio films and well known American actors. That is a feeling I got after seeing the expression of a majority of the people when some of the winners were announced at the Globes. Example: there seemed to be some puzzled looks when Shah Rukh Khan came on stage and joked with the Slumdog.. team. Only a few Hollywood actors, including Christina Applegate, appeared to be applauding for Slumdog..while the rest sat puzzled. Maybe most of the Hollywood actors had no idea who Shah Rukh Khan was or why Anil Kapoor seemed so happy? Or maybe they were still grappling with how to pronounce A.R Rahman's name, something the announcer mangled horribly?

Honestly, I am not that concerned about who wins but the unfortunate reality is these awards dictate what movies open in smaller cities across Canada and America. So if a lesser known film wins then that will give hope that it might open in a city outside of L.A, New York and Toronto. Otherwise, one has to wait another year for a DVD release of the film while the multiplexes continue to be packed with movies about green ogres and flavor of the month super-heroes.

2009: Film Log

Total # of films seen in 2009: 339

The total number includes films (fiction & docs) over a length of 60 minutes.

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Film (Year, Country, Director): [optional rating out of 10], [optional comments]

Jan 2009

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, UK/USA, Danny Boyle/Loveleen Tandan): 8.5, repeat viewing
Ghajini (2008, India, A.R Murugadoss): 4.5
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008, India, Aditya Chopra): 6
Hostel Part II (2007, USA, Eli Roth): 5
Dil Kabaddi (2008, India, Anil Senior): 6.5
Comrades in Dreams (2004, Germany, Uli Gaulke): 7.5
Brand Upon the Brain (2006, Canada, Guy Maddin): 7
Valkyrie (2008, USA, Bryan Singer): 7.5
Meerabai Not Out (2008, India, Chandrakant Kulkarni): 2
Fires on the Plain (1959, Japan, Kon Ichikawa): 10
The Ballad of Narayama (1983, Japan, Shohei Imamura): 8
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008, USA, Guillermo del Toro): 6
Ghost Town (2008, USA, David Koepp): 7
Mongol (2007, Russia/Mongolia/co-prod, Sergei Bodrov): 8.5
Gran Torino (2008, USA, Clint Eastwood): 8
The Wrestler (2008, USA, Darren Aronofsky)
Diary of the Dead (2007, USA, George A. Romero):
Employee of the Month (2004, USA, Mitch Rouse): 7
Anger Management (2003, USA, Peter Segal): 6.5
Eagle Eye (2008, USA, D.J Caruso): 5
Bangkok Dangerous (2008, USA, Pang Brothers): 5.5
Sangre de mi Sangre (2007, Argentina/USA, Christopher Zalla): 6

Feb 2009

Rambo II (1985, USA, George P. Cosmatos): 4
Rambo III (1988, USA, Peter MacDonald): 5.5
Luck, by Chance (2008, India, Zoya Akhtar): 7
Chandini Chowk to China (2008, India, Nikhil Advani): 4
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006, India, Karan Johar): 2
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965, UK, Martin Ritt): 10
Victory (2009, India, Ajit Pal Mangat): 0
Billu Barber (2009, India, Priyadarshan): 5.5
Body of Lies (2008, USA, Ridley Scott): 8.5
MI-5, Season One (2002, UK, various): 7.5
The Namesake (2006, USA/India, Nair): 8.5
The International (2009, multiple, Tom Tykwer): 9
Pineapple Express (2008, USA, David Gordon Green): 3
Sicko (2007, USA, Michael Moore): 7.5
Ganja Queen (2007, Australia, Janine Hosking): 7.5
Chronicles of an Escape (2006, Argentina, Adrián Caetano): 9
Zidane (2006, France, Douglas Gordon/Philippe Parreno): 9.5
W. (2008, USA, Oliver Stone): 5

Mar 2009

Dev D (2009, India, Anurag Kashyup): 8.5
Delhi-6 (2009, India, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra): 3
Oh my God (2008, India, Sourabh Shrivastava): 7.5
Cargo 200 (2007, Russia, Aleksey Balabanov): 8
Che, part One (2008, USA, Steven Soderbergh): 8
I’m a Cyborg but that’s ok (2006, Korea, Chan-wook Park):
Refugees of the Blue Planet (2006, France/Canada, Hélène Choquette/Jean-Philippe Duval): 7
Delta (2008, Hungary, Kornél Mundruczó): 9
Guimba (1995, Mali/Burkina Faso/Germany, Cheick Oumar Sissoko): 5
Zack and Miri make a Porno (2008, USA, Kevin Smith): 7.5
Lakeview Terrace (2008, USA, Neil LaBute): 6
Erin Brokovich (2000, USA, Steven Soderbergh): 7.5
Young People F***ing (2008, Canada, Martin Gero): 6.5
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, USA, Nicholas Stoller): 10, repeat viewing
Japanese Girls on the Harbor (1955, Japan, Hiroshi Shimizu): 8
Boarding Gate (2007, France, Olivier Assayas): 6.5
Che, part two (2008, USA, Steven Soderbergh): 9
Ashes of Time Redux (2008, Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wai): 6
Gulaal (2009, India, Anurag Kashyup): 8.5
Jugaad (2009, India, Anand Kumar): 3
It’s a Free World (2007, UK, Ken Loach): 7.5
Bombón: El Perro (2004, Argentina, Carlos Sorin): 8
Wendy and Lucy (2008, USA, Kelly Reichardt): 10
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, France, Carl Theodor Dreyer): 9
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, USA, Woody Allen): 9
Pontypool (2008, Canada, Bruce McDonald): 8.5

Apr 2009

RocknRolla (2008, UK, Guy Ritchie): 5.5
Rope (1948, USA, Alfred Hitchcock): 8
King of Bollywood (2004, India, Piyush Jha): 6.5
Sunshine Cleaning (2008, USA, Christine Jeffs): 7
Foreign Correspondent (1940, USA, Alfred Hitchcock): 7
Intolerence (1916, USA, D.W. Griffith): 6
Strangers on a Train (1951, USA, Alfred Hitchcock): 7.5
Saboteur (1942, USA, Alfred Hitchcock): 9
I’ve Loved you so Long (2008, France, Philippe Claudel): 8
Tokyo! (2008, co-production, Michel Gondry/Leos Carax/Bong Joon-ho): 8
Phantom India (1969, France, Louis Malle): 6.5
Calcutta (1969, France, Louis Malle): 7
Dans Paris (2006, France, Christophe Honoré): 7.5

May 2009

Aa Dekhen Zara (2009, India, Jehangir Surti): 3.5
Frozen River (2008, USA, Courtney Hunt): 7
Enough! (2006, Algeria, Djamila Sahraoui): 7
Aloo Chaat (2009, India, Robby Grewal): 6.5
Dry Summer (1964, Turkey, Metin Erksan): 7.5
Chop Shop (2008, USA, Ramin Bahrani): 8
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950, USA, John Ford): 8
Up the River (1930, USA, John Ford): 5.5
Hangman’s House (1928, USA, John Ford): 5
Three Bad Men (1926, USA, John Ford): 6
The Housemaid (1960, South Korea, Kim Ki-young): 9
Iron Horse (1924, USA, John Ford): 6

June 2009

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007, USA, Alex Gibney): 8
99 (2009, India, Krishna D.K/Raj Nidimoru):
Born in Brothels (2006, USA, Zana Briski/Ross Kauffman): 5
Synedoche, New York (2008, USA, Charlie Kaufman): 9
Three Monkeys (2008, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan): 7
Achilles and the Tortoise (2007, Japan, Takashi Kitano)
April Showers (2009, Portugal, Iva Ferriera)
Be Calm and Count to Seven (2009, Iran, Ramtin Lavafipour)
Sorry, Thanks (2009, USA, Dia Sokol)
Three Wise Men (2007, Finland, Mika Kaurismäki)
What a Wonderful World (2007, France/Morocco, Faouzi Bensaïdi)
Stay the Same Never Change (2009, USA, Laurel Nakadate)
Because we were born (2008, France/Brazil, Jean-Pierre Duret/Andrea Santana)
Border (2009, Armenia/Holland, Harutyun Khachatryan)
Everyone Else (2009, Germany, Maren Ade)
Katia’s Sister (2008, Holland, Mijke de Jong)
Native Dancer (2008, Kazakhstan, Gulshat Omarova)
Vacation (2008, Japan, Hajime Kadoi)
Calimucho (2008, Holland, Eugenie Jansen)
Independencia (2009, Philippines, Raya Martin)
Our Beloved Month of August (2008, Portugal, Miguel Gomes)
Two Lines (2009, Turkey, Selim Evci)
Adela (2008, Philippines, Adolfo Jr.)
All Around Us (2008, Japan, Ryosuke Hashiguchi)
Bullet in the Head (2008, Spain, Jaime Rosales)
Mid-August Lunch (2008, Italy, Gianni Di Gregorio)
Milk (2008, Turkey, Semih Kaplanoglu)
Nucingen House (2008, France, Raoul Ruiz)
Pandora’s Box (2008, Turkey, Yesim Ustaoglu)
Peaceful Times (2008, Germany, Neele Leana Vollmar)
Still Walking (2008, Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda)

July/August 2009

The Headless Woman (2008, Argentina, Lucrecia Martel)
Rough Cut (2008, Korea, Hun Jang)
The Reader (2008, USA, Stephen Daldry): 6
Frost/Nixon (2008, USA, Ron Howard): 8
Waltz with Bashir (2008, Israel, Ari Folman): 8.5
Two Lovers (2008, USA, James Gray): 8
Khela (2008, India, Rituparno Ghosh): 6.5
Ryna (2005, Romania, Ruxandra Zenide):
X Files: I Want to Believe (2008, USA, Chris Carter): 4
Doubt (2008, USA, John Patrick Shanley): 8
Nishijapon (2005, India, Sandip Ray): 8
Revolutionary Road (2008, USA, Sam Mendes): 8.5
The Hurt Locker (2008, USA, Kathryn Bigelow): 9.5
Love Aaj Kal (2009, India, Imtiaz Ali): 5
Short Kut (2009, India, Neeraj Vora): 3
Public Enemies (2009, USA, Michael Mann): 8.5
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, USA, David Fincher): 6
Push (2009, USA co-production, Paul McGuigan): 3
Coraline (2009, USA, Henry Selick): 8
Bright Future (2003, Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa):
District 9 (2009, South Africa/New Zealand, Neill Blomkamp): 10
Kambakkht Ishq (2009, India, Sabir Khan): 0
Inglourious Basterds (2009, USA, Quentin Tarantino): 7.5
(500) Days of Summer (2009, USA, Marc Webb): 8
Detective Naani (2009, India, Romilla Mukherjee): 3
Religulous (2008, USA, Larry Charles): 8
Kabluey (2007, USA, Scott Prendergast): 7

September 2009

12 (2008, Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov): 8.5
Last Year at Marienbad (1961, France, Alain Resnais):
The Night of Truth (2004, Burkina Faso, Fanta Régina Nacro):
Insolação (2009, Brazil, Felipe Hirsch/Daniela Thomas): 4
White Material (2009, France, Claire Denis): 7
The Proposal (2009, USA, Anne Fletcher): 4
Star Trek (2009, USA, J.J. Abrams): 7
The Spirit (2008, USA, Frank Miller): 3
Knowing (2009, USA/UK, Alex Proyas): 7.5
I Served the King of England (2006, Czech Republic, Jirí Menzel): 8
Siberiade (1979, Russia, Andrei Konchalovsky)

Birdsong (2008, Spain, Albert Serra)

Can go Through Skin (2009, Holland, Esther Rots)

My Only Sunshine (2009, Turkey co-production, Reha Erdem)

The Way I Spent the End of the World (2006, Romania/France, Catalin Mitulescu)
Katalin Varga (2009, Romania co-production, Peter Strickland): 9
White Night Wedding (2009, Iceland, Baltasar Kormákur): 7.5
Tetro (2009, USA, Francis Ford Coppola): 8

Fish Eyes (2009, Korea/China, Zheng Wei)

Houston, We have a problem (2008, USA, Nicole Torre): 7.5
The White Ribbon (2009, co-production, Michael Haneke): 8.5
Crackie (2009, Canada, Sherry White): 8

Call if you need me (2009, Malaysia, James Lee)

Daytime Drinking (2008, Korea, Young-Seok Noh)

Revache (2008, Austria, Goetz Spielmann): 9
Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu): 10
The Happiest Girl in the World (2009, Romania co-production, Radu Jude): 9.5
The Last Lullaby (2008, USA, Jeffrey Goodman): 8.5

Amreeka (2009, USA/Canada, Cherien Dabis)

Karaoke (2009, Malaysia, Chris Chong Chan Fui)

St. Nick (2009, USA, David Lowery): 8
Juntos (2009, Canada/Mexico, Nicolás Pereda): 7

October 2009

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009, USA, Damien Chazelle): 7.5
Wrong Rosary (2009, Turkey, Mahmut Fazil Coskun): 9
Cyborg, She (2008, Japan, Jae-young Kwak): 6
I Killed My Mother (2009, Canada, Xavier Dolan): 10
Gigantic (2008, USA, Matt Aselton): 7
Cooking History (2008, co-production, Peter Kerekes): 8.5
Breathless (2009, South Korea, Yang Ik-June): 10
Seven Minutes in Heaven (2008, Israel, Omri Givon): 5/10
Daybreakers (2009, Australia, the Spierig brothers): 7
The Prophet (2009, France, Jacques Audiard): 10
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009, USA, P.J. Hogan): 5
Sin Nombre (2009, Mexico/USA, Cary Fukunaga): 8
O Sangue (1989, Portugal, Pedro Costa): 10
Goodbye Solo (2009, USA, Ramin Bahrani): 8
State of Play (2009, USA co-production, Kevin Macdonald): 5
Encounters at the End of the World (2007, USA, Werner Herzog): 9
Days and Clouds (2007, Italy co-production, Silvio Soldini): 9
Kaos (1984, Italy, Paolo Taviani/Vittorio Taviani):
Chacun con Cinema (2007, France, various directors)
Wake up Sid (2009, India, Ayan Mukherjee): 5
Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? (2001, Portugal/France, Pedro Costa): 9
Rachida (2002, Algeria/France, Yamina Bachir): 7
Law Abiding Citizen (2009, USA, John Maybury): 4
Sugar (2008, USA, Anna Boden/Ryan Fleck): 8
Bye Bye Money (1974, Italy/France, Marco Ferreri)
Adventureland (2009, USA, Greg Mottola): 7.5
The Edge of Love (2009, UK, John Maybury)
Watchmen (2009, USA, Zack Snyder): 6
Falafel (2004, Lebanon/France, Michel Kammoun): 8
Close-up (1990, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami): 7.5
It’s Winter (2006, Iran, Rafi Pitts): 10
Salt of This Sea (2007, Palestine co-production, Annemarie Jacir): 8.5
Love Khichdi (2009, India, Srinivas Bhashyam): 3
Rudo y Cursi (2009, Mexico/USA, Carlos Cuarón): 7
Dil Bola Hadippa! (2009, India, Anurag Singh): 2
Shadow Kill (2002, India, Adoor Gopalakrishnan): 8, repeat viewing
The Orphange (2007, Mexico/Spain, Juan Antonio Bayona): 6
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (2007, France co-production, Eric Rohmer): 7
The Mirror (1972, Soviet Union, Andrei Tarkovsky)

Nov 2009

Kaminey (2009, India, Vishal Bhardwaj): 6
Ali Zaoua (2000, Morocco co-production, Nabil Ayouch): 8
Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977, India, Satyajit Ray): 8.5
Be Good (2009, France, Juliette Garcias)
Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (2008, France, Dany Boon): 8.5
Gabbeh (1996, Iran, Mohsen Makhmalbaf): 8
The Mirror (1997, Iran, Jafar Panahi): 9
The Kite (2003, Lebanon co-production, Randa Chahal Sabag): 7
Delbaran (2001, Iran co-production, Abolfazl Jalili): 8.5
The Fish Fall in Love (2005, Iran, Ali Raffi): 8
Aagey se Right (2009, India, Indrajit Nattooji): 0
The Class (2008, France, Laurent Cantet): 10
Duplicity (2008, USA, Tony Gilroy): 6.5
Beaufort (2007, Israel, Joseph Cedar): 8
Aladin (2009, India, Sujoy Ghosh): 1
My Suicide (2009, USA, David Lee Miller)
Khamosh Pani (2003, Pakistan co-production, Sabiha Sumar): 9
Do Knot Disturb (2009, India, David Dhawan): 0
Unmade Beds (2009, UK, Alexis Dos Santos)
Bombay 405 Miles (1980, India, Brij)
Trouble the Water (2008, USA, Carl Deal/Tia Lessin): 8
Love Exposure (2008, Japan, Shion Sono)
In the Loop (2009, UK, Armando Iannucci): 10
Dead Snow (2009, Norway, Tommy Wirkola): 3
Man on Wire (2008, UK/USA, James Marsh): 9
The Pear Tree (1998, Iran, Dariush Mehrjui): 6.5
Chéri (2009, UK/France/Germany, Stephen Frears): 7.5
Polytechnique (2009, Canada, Denis Villeneuve): 8
Boy A (2007, UK, John Crowley): 8
Firaaq (2008, India, Nandita Das): 9
Le Circle Rouge (1972, France, Jean-Pierre Melville): 10
The Cyclist (1987, Iran, Mohsen Makhmalbaf): 8
The Damned United (2009, UK/USA, Tom Hooper): 9
Away We Go (2009, USA/UK, Sam Mendes): 7.5
The Cow (1969, Iran, Dariush Mehrjui): 8
The Suitors (1989, Iran, Ghasem Ebrahimian): 6
Absurdistan (2007, Germany, Veit Helmer): 7
The Taking of Phelam 123 (2009, USA, Tony Scott): 6.5

Dec 2009

Of Time and the City (2008, UK, Terence Davies)
The Brothers Bloom (2008, USA, Rian Johnson): 5
A Serious Man (2009, USA, Coen Brothers): 8
In the Pit (2006, Mexico, Juan Carlos Rulfo)
Atanarjuat (2001, Canada, Zacharias Kunuk): 7
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006, Canada/Denmark, Norman Cohn/Zacharias Kunuk): 5
Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque (2004, France, Jacques Richard): 8
Whatever Works (2009, USA, Woody Allen)
Jeanne Dielman....(1975, France/Belgium, Chantal Akerman): 8
Up (2009, USA, Pete Docter/Bob Peterson): 5
The Gleaners and I (2000, France, Agnes Varda)
Spirited Away (2001, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)
Roadside Romeo (2008, India, Jugal Hansraj)
Tulpan (2008, Kazakhstan co-production,Sergei Dvortsevoy): 8.5
35 Shots of Rum (2008, France, Claire Denis): 9
Il Divo (2009, Italy/France, Paolo Sorrentino)
Paper Heart (2009, USA, Nicholas Jasenovec)
What’s Your Raashee? (2009, India, Ashutosh Gowariker): 3
Saraband (2003, Sweden co-production, Ingmar Bergman): 7.5
Wings of Desire (1987, West Germany/France, Wim Wenders): 7
Jerichow (2008, Germany, Christian Petzold): 6
Antichrist (2009, Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier): 7
Flash of Genius (2009, USA/Canada, Marc Abraham): 7.5
The Box (2009, USA, Richard Kelly): 8
Funny People (2009, USA, Judd Apatow): 7.5
Ballast (2008, USA, Lance Hammer)
Lifeboat (1944, USA, Alfred Hitchcock)
Rocket Singh (2009, India, Shimit Amin): 7.5
Paraguayan Hammock (2006, Paraguay co-production, Paz Encina)
Scarface (1932, USA, Howard Hawks)
Up in the Air (2009, USA, Jason Reitman): 8
The Human Condition, Part I (1959, Japan, Masaki Kobayashi)
Avatar (2009, USA/UK, James Cameron): 8
The Limits of Control (2009, USA, Jim Jarmusch): 9.5
The Girlfriend Experience (2008, USA, Steven Soderbergh): 6
3 Idiots (2009, India, Rajkumar Hirani): 7.5
The New World (2005, USA/UK, Terrence Malick): 9

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11 months vs 1 month...

David Carr perfectly captures the madness of Hollywood's december release schedules:

But we should begin with the glut of movies that open in December. Where is it written that nearly every serious, good film should come crashing into one another in the last few days of the year? And really, how can that be good for business?
.........
It is shocking to those who spend the rest of the year scanning the newspaper in search of something, anything, to reach December and find all sorts of laurel-bedecked ads shouting at us about the must-see film of the year. Where were you back in August, pal?

I would extend this problem even further and say where is it written that North Americans must only see serious movies after they premier at TIFF? Cannes officially ushers in a wave of new interesting cinema but most of those films are withheld from Canadian and American theaters until they make their way to TIFF. So what films open in North American screens in between Cannes and TIFF? The art house cinemas play the previous years Cannes winners while multiplexes have the 10th sequel of another loud explosion packed movie.

It may be 2009 now but North American film distribution still seems a few decades behind. Although, when it comes to marketing then the film companies leave no technology untouched in convincing people to see "the greatest film of the year". When will the North American film market make changes and move away from the current release schedule of having only blockbuster films in summer, serious films in December and Cannes/TIFF films opening late fall and beyond?

Best films of 2008

10 Best new films, in order of preference

Rachel Getting Married (USA, Jonathan Demme)

A fascinating look at characters in their moments of stress, tension and limited joy.

Happy-Go-Lucky (UK, Mike Leigh)

Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is probably the happiest and most optimist character to be filmed in the last few years. And her character meets her match in the constantly irritable Scott (Eddie Marsan). The interactions between the two give a glimpse into the problems that exist in the world -- the happy people are not trusted while the unhappy ones continue to ruin the world for everyone else. It is too easy to lose one's temper and continue to be unhappy while it is significantly more difficult to stay positive and continue to smile no matter what the situation. While this movie won't change the world, atleast it is great to know that a director is willing to explore such characters.

Wonderful Town (Thailand, Aditya Assarat)

Peaceful and calming. Even when a murder takes place, it feels like a dream and not a nightmare. Just as the river flows, so does life. The tidal waves can come and go but the sun will still rise and a new day will start.

The Fall (India/UK/USA, Tarsem)

Visually stunning and highly imaginative. The abstract story structure is a perfect canvas to paint such a stunning view of the world. And when the story gets darker, so does the outcome.

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (India, Dibakar Banerjee)

A thief addicted to stealing while longing for love and fatherly acceptance.

Gomorra (Italy, Matteo Garrone)

Darkness everywhere. Garbage piling up and the chemicals seeping into the ground; boys on the lookout for the police and rival gangs; illegal goods being imported. Guns give a false sense of power with a young kid feeling invincible while an older, fat guy in shorts and sandals can feel good about himself.

Silent Light (Mexico, Carlos Reygadas)

A love affair is transcended into a universal tale thanks to Reygadas visual understanding. A slow focus on a sun rise is a cue to start the story and when the sun sets, then the story is over. Until the next day...

Tell No One (France, Guillaume Canet)

There is a precious love story trapped within the confines of a thriller here. Fascinating to watch, especially if one does not read the story in advance. No cheating as the camera ensures we get plenty of clues along the way.

Rock On (India, Abhishek Kapoor)

Friendships and dreams fading away. Love? Does love still have meaning? Life isn't that complicated but it sure feels like it.

WALL·E (USA, Andrew Stanton)

WALL·E..Eve...WALL·E...so cute. No human dialogue until the 40th minute and the first sign of robotic chatter takes place around the 20th minute mark. Yet one does not even notice the lack of words. Pixar has certainly taken animation to a new level, starting with last year's Ratatouille and now with WALL·E. Refreshing to see an animated movie not packed with animals constantly blabbering away with pop culture references.

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13 more films that could easily be in the top 10

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France/USA, Julian Schnabel)

Blink. Blink. Beautiful.

Syndromes and a Century (Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Calm meditation. Although Syndromes.. does not achieve the beauty of Tropical Malady but still makes me clamour for more films from Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

There Will be Blood (USA, Paul Thomas Anderson)

The first hour is pure cinematic excellence. The finale is pretty good as well. A simple dialogue about "drinking your milkshake" underlines the problem with greed. Someone is always carrying a bigger straw.

Alexandra (Russia/France, Aleksandr Sokurov)

What does war achieve? Broken down buildings and more feelings of anger.

Idiots and Angels (USA, Bill Plympton)

Dark animated film about how even the most angry person can change and find a tiny measure of goodness within themselves.

Children , Parents (Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)

Two separate films but joined together in their brilliant improvisational style. And made on a shoe string budget as well.

One Week (Canada, Michael McGowan)

A journey across this wonderful country called Canada. There are tiny charms about small town Canada that one only discovers by hitting the road.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (USA, Nicholas Stoller)

Cute, damn cute. Although if it were not Mila Kunis, I wouldn't have loved this film that much.

The Visitor (USA, Thomas McCarthy)

It is essential to understand people and treat them individually as opposed to treating them with force and authority.

Milk (USA, Gus Van Sant)

In a way, this film is a cousin of Happy-Go-Lucky and shows that happy, positive people are hard to come by.

Used Parts (Mexico, Aarón Fernández)

Ah the promise of crossing the border for a better life. Nicely filmed.

Slumdog Millionaire (UK/USA, Danny Boyle/Loveleen Tandan)

Danny Boyle and his screenwriter Simon Beaufoy take the structure of the game show from Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A, borrow some tips from Fernando Meirelles (boys with guns from City of God & the energy of the Kenyan landscape from The Constant Gardner), add a pinch of a Bollywood love story before garnishing the mix with a checklist of the common Indian symbols of crime, poverty, slums, prostitution, Taj Mahal, Amitabh and call centers. The end result is entertaining all right but still feels like a key ingredient is missing.

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Older wonderful films arranged in order of viewing

No End in Sight (2006, USA, Charles Ferguson)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005, USA, Tommy Lee Jones)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, USA, Shane Black)
12:08 East of Bucharest (2006, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)
We Own the Night (2007, USA, James Gray)
In the Valley of Elah (2007, USA, Paul Haggis)
Kaala Patthar (1979, India, Yash Chopra)
Torremolinos 73 (2003, Spain, Pablo Berger)
The Russian Dolls (2005, France/UK, Cédric Klapisch)
Valley of Flowers (2006, India co-production, Pan Nalin)
Rififi (1955, France, Jules Dassin)
A Peck on the Cheek (2002, India, Mani Ratnam)
Le Salaire De La Peur (1953, France, Henri - Georges Clouzot)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958, France, Louis Malle)
Late Autumn (1960, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
The End of Summer (1961, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
Tokyo Story (1953, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
Tokyo Twilight (1957, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
Equinox Flower (1958, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
Climates (2006, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
The Syrian Bride (2006, co-production, Eran Riklis)
Three Crowns of a Sailor (1983, France, Raoul Ruiz)
Play Time (1967, France, Jacques Tati)
Les ordres (1974, Canada, Michel Brault)
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006, France, Michel Hazanavicius)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976, USA, John Cassavetes)
Opening Night (1977, USA, John Cassavetes)
Battle in Heaven (2005, Mexico, Carlos Reygadas)
Machuca (2004, Chile, Andrés Wood)
Los Muertos (2004, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
Bolivia (2001, Argentina, Adrián Caetano)
The Burmese Harp (1956, Japan, Kon Ichikawa)
Away from Her (2006, Canada, Sarah Polley)
The Inheritance (2003, Denmark, Per Fly)
High and Low (1963, Japan, Akira Kurosawa)
Manufacturing Landscapes (2006, Canada, Jennifer Baichwal)
Shut up & Sing (2007, USA, Barbara Kopple/Cecilia Peck)
A Married Couple (1969, Canada, Allan King)
Montreal Main (1977, Canada, Frank Vitale)
Dirty Carnival (2006, South Korea, Ha Yu)
Sátántangó (1994, Hungary, Béla Tarr)

2008: Overview and best film candidates

Back in Jan 2008, I anticipated the following regarding my 2008 film watching:

1) I would be watching significantly less films than the 386 I saw back in 2007.
2) I would struggle to watch 'new' films released in 2008 and would not even have enough to draft a top 10 list.
3) I would be unable to find time to screen films for CIFF and might find it hard to watch even 10 films during the 10 day film festival.
4) I would not be able to attend VIFF.

Well it turns out that I was wrong on 3 counts. I was unable to make it to VIFF but my other expectations were quite wrong. And it is one of those cases that I am thankful that I was wrong.

So this is what happened with my #1-3 expectations.

1) I ended up watching 445 films in 2008, easily the highest number of films I have seen in a year in my life.
2) I also watched about 143 new films. These are either 2008 films or 2007/2006 films which were only released in my city this year.
3) I screened about 50 films over two months in the summer for CIFF and managed to take in 18 films during the festival.

The following are the candidates films from which my best of 2008 films will come from. It turns out that I have some difficult but fun choices to make to draft a year end best list.

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Outsourced (2006, USA, John Jeffcoat)

The Detective (2007, Hong Kong, Oxide Pang Chun)

Cloverfield (2008, USA, Matt Reeves)

Halla Bol (2008, India, Rajkumar Santoshi)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, France/USA, Julian Schnabel)

There Will be Blood (2007, USA, Paul Thomas Anderson)

I Don't want to Sleep Alone (2007, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)

My Name is Anthony Gonsalves (2008, India, E. Niwas)

Sunday (2008, India, Rohit Shetty)

Mithya (2008, India, Rajat Kapoor)

Super Star (2008, India, Rohit Jugraj)

Bombay to Bangkok (2008, India, Nagesh Kukunoor)

Tashan (2008, India, Vijay Krishna Acharya)

Black & White (2008, India, Subhash Ghai)

Syndromes and a Century (2006, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

27 Dresses (2008, USA, Anne Fletcher)

Be Kind Rewind (2008, USA, Michel Gondry)

Rambo (2008, USA, Sylvester Stallone)

Touching Home (2008, USA, Miller Brothers)

45 R.P.M (2008, Canada, Dave Schultz)

Tkaronto (2008, Canada, Shane Anthony Belcourt)

Of Golf and God (2008, Canada, Ryan Mains)

Silent Light (2007, Mexico, Carlos Reygadas)

The Dead Girl's Feast (2008, Brazil, Matheus Nachtergaele)

Drama/Mex (2006, Mexico, Gerardo Naranjo)

On War (2008, France, Bertrand Bonello)

Nonsense Revolution (2008, Canada, Ann Verrall)

Mommy is at the hairdresser (2008, Canada, Lea Pool)

Meet the Spartans (2008, USA, Jason Friedberg/Aaron Seltzer)

Sirf (2008, India, Rajatesh Nayyar)

Race (2008, India, Abbas-Mastan)

Jannat (2008, India, Kunal Deshmukh)

Caramel (2007, Lebanon co-production, Nadine Labaki)

Anamika (2008, India, Anant Mahadevan)

Bhootnath (2008, India, Vivek Sharma)

Krazzy 4 (2008, India, Jaideep Sen)

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

Khuda Ke Liye (2007, Pakistan, Shoaib Mansoor)

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008, USA, Jon Hurwitz/Hayden Schlossberg)

Idiots and Angels (2008, USA, Bill Plympton)

Mechanical Love (2008, Denmark, Phie Ambo)

Junior (2008, Canada, Isabelle Lavigne/Stéphane Thibault)

Full Battle Rattle (2008, USA, Tony Gerber/Jesse Moss)

De Muze (2006, Holland, Ben van Lieshout)

My Life Inside (2008, Mexico, Lucía Gajá)

Continental: A film without guns (2008, Canada, Stéphane Lafleur)

Tricks (2007, Poland, Andrzej Jakimowski)

Modern Life (2008, France, Raymond Depardon)

Meadowlark (2008, USA, Taylor Greeson)

Seaview (2007, Ireland, Nicky Gogan/Paul Rowley)

Futro (2007, Poland, Tomaz Drozdowicz)

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

Aamir (2008, India, Raj Kumar Gupta)

Kismat Konnection (2008, India, Aziz Mirza)

Sarkar Raj (2008, India, Ram Gopal Varma)

Mission Istaanbul (2008, India, Apoorva Lakhia)

Contract (2008, India, Ram Gopal Varma)

Vantage Point (2008, USA, Pete Travis)

Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008, India, Priyadarshan)

Singh is Kinng (2008, India, Anees Bazmee)

De Taali (2008, India, E.Nivas)

Brick Lane (2007, UK, Sarah Gavron)

City of Men (2007, Brazil, Paulo Morelli)

Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008, India, Siddarth Anand)

Rock On (2008, India, Abhishek Kapoor)

Step Up 2: The Streets (2008, USA, Jon Chu)

My Blueberry Nights (2007, co-production, Wong Kar-wai)

Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008, India, Nishikant Kamat)

The Fall (2006, India/UK/USA, Tarsem)

Smart People (2008, USA, Noam Murro)

Speed Racer (2008, USA, Andy & Larry Wachowski)

Street Kings (2008, USA, David Ayer)

Alexandra (2007, Russia/France, Aleksandr Sokurov)

Children (2006, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)

Parents (2007, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)

Bobby (2008, USA, Emilio Estevez)

Used Parts (2007, Mexico, Aarón Fernández)

Let the Right One In (2008, Sweden, Tomas Alfredson)

I am from Titov Veles (2007, Macedonia, Teona Strugar Mitevska)

Wonderful Town (2007, Thailand, Aditya Assarat)

Paraiso Travel (2007, Colombia/USA, Simon Brand)

Gomorra (2008, Italy, Matteo Garrone)

Alice’s House (2007, Brazil, Chico Teixeira)

Time to Die (2007, Poland, Dorota Kedzierzawska)

One Week (2008, Canada, Michael McGowan)

The Grocer's Son (2007, France, Eric Guirado)

Driving to Zigzigland (2007, USA, Nicole Ballivian)

REC (2007, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)

The Band's Visit (2007, Israel, Eran Kolirin)

Corridor #8 (2008, Bulgaria, Boris Despodov)

Jar City (2006, Iceland, Baltasar Kormákur)

The Pope's Toilet (2007, Uruguay, César Charlone/Enrique Fernández)

Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008, India, Shyam Benegal)

Saas Bahu aur Sensex (2008, India, Shona Urvashi)

Sex and the City (2008, USA, Michael Patrick King)

Hijack (2008, India, Kunal Shivdasani)

The Love Guru (2008, USA, Marco Schnabel)

Margot at the Wedding (2007, USA, Noah Baumbach)

A Wednesday (2008, India, Neeraj Pandey)

Drona (2008, India, Goldie Behl)

Kidnap (2008, India, Sanjay Gadhvi)

Hello (2008, India, Atul Agnitori)

Chamku (2008, India, Kabeer Kaushik)

C Kkompany (2008, India, Sachin Yarda)

The Happening (2008, USA, M. Night Shyamalan)

Mukhbiir (2008, India, Mani Shankar)

The Savages (2007, USA, Tamara Jenkins)

Before the Rains (2008, India, Santosh Sivan)

Honeydripper (2007, USA, John Sayles)

Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam (2008, India, Sanjay Chel)

Iron Man (2008, USA, Jon Favreau)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, USA, Nicholas Stoller)

You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008, USA, Dennis Dugan)

Tell No One (2008, France, Guillaume Canet)

JCVD (2008, France, Mabrouk El Mechri)

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008, India, Dibakar Banerjee)

Dostana (2008, India, Tarun Mansukhani)

Get Smart (2008, USA, Peter Segal)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, USA, Steven Spielberg)

The Dark Knight (2008, USA, Christopher Nolan)

Wanted (2008, USA, Timur Bekmambetov)

Flight of the Red Balloon (2007, France, Hou Hsiao-hsien)

Quantum of Solace (2008, UK/USA, Marc Forster)

Fashion (2008, India, Madhur Bhandarkar)

In Bruges (2008, UK/USA, Martin McDonagh)

The Last Lear (2007, India, Rituparno Ghosh)

Golmaal Returns (2008, India, Rohit Shetty)

Jumper (2008, USA, Doug Liman)

The Visitor (2007, USA, Thomas McCarthy )

Yuvraaj (2008, India, Subhash Ghai)

Paranoid Park (2007, USA, Gus Van Sant)

Milk (2008, USA, Gus Van Sant)

Rachel Getting Married (2008, USA, Jonathan Demme)

EMI (2008, India, Saurav Kabra)

Mad Detective (2007, Hong Kong, Johnny To/Wai Ka-Fai)

War Inc (2008, USA, Joshua Seftel)

Kung Fu Panda (2008, USA, Mark Osborne/John Stevenson)

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008, UK, Mike Leigh)

Heroes (2008, India, Samir Karnik)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, UK/USA, Danny Boyle/Loveleen Tandan)

Tropic Thunder (2008, USA, Ben Stiller)

WALL·E (2008, USA, Andrew Stanton)

Hancock (2008, USA, Peter Berg)

A Christmas Tale (2008, France, Arnaud Desplechin)

Bollywood: 2008 Best Film List

Top 10 films

1) Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (Dibakar Banerjee)

Dibakar Banerjee's second feature is a rare thing -- an intelligent entertaining comedy! Plus Abhay Deol puts in a wicked performance while the little details in good old Delhi are captured perfectly.

2) Rock On (Abhishek Kapoor)

Dreams and friendships are easy to come by in one's youth but as one gets older both start to fade away when the everyday realities of job and money demands attention. Given those sentiments, Abhishek Kapoor does a fine job of capturing the essence of relationships in his second directorial feature [note: correction added. Thanks Nitesh]. Plus the excellent vocals of Farhan Akhtar and the touching performance of Arjun Rampal easily make this one of the best films of the year.

3) Mumbai Meri Jaan (Nishikant Kamat)

A heartwarming film about a few characters trying to deal with the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts in 2006. The film starts off perfectly when a discussion over Zidane's sending off in the World Cup final turns into a debate about Muslim brotherhood and ends on a tender note with a minute of silence to the tune of Mohammed Rafi & Geeta Dutt's beautiful song yeh hai Bombay meri jaan..

4) Mithya (Rajat Kapoor)

Bollywood's talented gang of 4 (Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Ranvir Shorey & Vinay Pathak) rope in Naseeruddin Shah and Neha Dhupia in this highly creative adaptation of Kurosawa's Kagemusha. A dark descend into Mumbai's underworld and even the human soul.

5) Mukhbiir (Mani Shankar)

An interesting look at three hot beds of terrorism in India (North East, Hyderabad and Mumbai) through the eyes of an informer attempting to break into the gang's inner circle.

6) Welcome to Sajjanpur (Shyam Benegal)

Shyam Benegal's film is a breath of fresh air amid the congested Bollywood films set in the major cities. The films takes the story of a simplistic letter writer in an ordinary village and adds the complicated emotions of jealously yet still manages to render everything with an air of pureness and innocence hardly found in Indian cinema anymore.

7) Chamku (Kabeer Kaushik)

A Bihari revenge tale goes full circle with a stop-over in Mumbai.

8) A. Wednesday (Neeraj Pandey)

A gripping thriller about an innocent man taking revenge for the carnage that inflicted Mumbai in 2006.

9) Dasvidaniya (Shashant Shah)

The gang of 4 (Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Ranvir Shorey & Vinay Pathak) are back with Neha Dhupia. This time around Vinay Pathak gets to play two personas just like Ranvir Shorey did in Mithya. While Mithya was dark, Dasvidaniya is a bright shining light. The story of a man wanting to accomplish a few things before he dies may not be unique but the performances of all the secondary characters are quite strong. Plus the film maintains a pleasant tone throughout.

10) Mere Baap Pehle Aap (Priyadarshan)

A funny film about the role reversal that takes place between parents and their children as the parents age. Plus, the cute smile and expressions of Genelia D’Souza are a pleasure to watch.

Some other memorable moments:

Aamir:Raj Kumar Gupta did an excellent job in adapting the story of Cavite to the Mumbai slums in his debut feature Aamir. A worthy film which raised some excellent observances about 'victims' and 'villains'.

Priyanka Chopra turned in the best female performance of the year in Fashion. Her transformation from a cheery aspiring model to a cold hearted fashion superstar was stellar.

One of the funniest cinematic moments of the year came in the film Dostana, a story about two straight guys (Kunal & Sameer) who pretend to be gay in order to share a Miami apartment. Sameer's mother (Kiron Kher) is shocked to learn that her son is gay but Neha (Priyanka Chopra) tries to comfort the mother by saying that "pyar aandha hota hai" (love is blind). To which the mother hilariously replies that love is not so blind that it can't differentiate between a boy and a girl. The dialogue "love is blind" is one of the most over-used dialogues in Bollywood films so it was refreshing to see how the writers managed to get some more mileage out of this over-used phrase.

And finally a song....

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na marked the debut of Aamir Khan's nephew Imran Khan. So it was fitting that Imran danced in a video that paid tribute to key aspects from three of his uncle's films over the last two decades. The song Paapu can't dance tipped a hat to the song Papa Kehte Hain from Aamir Khan's debut film Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, highlighted the spoiled rich kids shown in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and had the energy of the song Koye Kahe.. from Dil Chahta Hai. The video was infectious, cute and delightful. It was probably the only Bollywood video this year that I could not resist dancing to everytime it came on.

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Overall, it was a pretty good year in Bollywood as there were some outstanding films. Ofcourse, the disasters were much more than previous years forcing me to give zero rating for atleast 5 films and rating below 5/10 for quite a few more. But in order to enjoy the good films, one has to pass through the muddy waters of the awful ones.

Korean Cinema

Almost all the films that I have come across from South Korea have been from 2000 onwards making my cinematic education with South Korean cinema only a recent one. Here is a list of South Korean directors whose films I have seen in the last few years:

Park Chan-wook:

Lady Vengeance (2005)
Three...extremes (2005, final short Cut)
Old Boy (2003)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
Joint Security Area (2000)

Bong Joon-ho:

The Host (2006)
Memories of Murder (2003)

Kim Ki-duk:

Time (2006)
The Bow (2005)
3-Iron (2004)
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter..and Spring (2003)
Bad Guy (2001)
The Isle (2000)


Single titles from other directors:

Woman on the Beach (2006, Hong Sang-soo)
Secret Sunshine (2007, Lee Chang-dong)
Soo (2007, Sai Yoichi)
The King and the Clown (2005, Lee Jun-ik)
Save the Green Planet! (2003, Jang Joon-Hwan)
My Sassy Girl (2001, Kwak Jae-young)
Il Mare (2000, Lee Hyun-seung)
Natural City (2003, Min Byung-chun)
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004, Kang Je-gyu)
Repatriation (2003, Kim Dong-won)

While it is much easier in my city to find older Japanese or Chinese films, tracking down South Korean films prior to the 1990’s is next to impossible. I put this difficulty down to only a local deficiency within North America and didn’t think much of it. But in Issue #34 of Film International Soo Jeong Ahn points out that this inability to know older Korean cinema extends to other parts of the world.


Korean films made before the 1990s are largely unknown in the West. South Korean cinema has only very recently and very rapidly emerged onto the international cinematic stage....Within the global art-house circuit, older Korean films have been less acknowledged than their Japanese and Chinese counterparts. For instance, in Britain the prevailing image of Korean cinema is largely constituted of particular films made by contemporary Korean film-makers. Comparing Japan and Korea in a Guardian article, for example, the director of the Edinburgh International film festival, Hannah McGill, associated Japanese cinema with the ‘golden era of Kurosawa and Ozu in the 1950s’ while placing the golden age of Korean cinema in the ‘present’ (early 2000s) rather than the ‘past’. In Korea, however, the golden age is considered to be the period of the 1950s and 1960s.

Soo Jeong Ahn’s article (Re-imagining the Past: Programming South Korean retrospectives at the Pusan International Film Festival) begins with a Q&A involving Bong Joon-ho which followed a French screening of his The Host. Even Bong Joon-ho points out classic Korean cinema did exist yet remains largely unknown.


Q: In the past 10 years, Korean cinema has spread rapidly in France, where it is much loved by local audiences. Considering the fact that Korean cinematic history boasts no great master such as Kurosawa Akira in Japan, isn’t this global spotlight amazing?

A: Have you ever wondered why classic Korean films have long been unknown in Europe? The absence of information about old Korean films may be attributable to Korea’s history. I don’t think the quality of Korean cinema at that period was inferior to other countries in East Asia. While Kurosawa was making films in Japan, there were quite a few film auteurs in Korea whose work was of an equally high standard.


The purpose of the article by Soo Jeong Ahn is to discuss the political decisions behind the Pusan film festival in picking retrospectives of older Korean film-makers Kim Ki-Young and Shin Sang-Ok. Although, I am more interested in the fact that the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) is showing older Korean films than concerned with the motives why PIFF chose to select a particular director’s works. If PIFF continues to screen older Korean films, then there is a chance that in the future Korean retrospectives might even tour the World and even get released on DVD.

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A spotlight, finally...

I wanted to throw a net out to see how many older Korean films I could capture. I was also looking for works from directors I was not familiar with. I came across the following films:

Black Republic (1990, Park Kwang-su)
City of Rising Sun (1999, Kim Sung-su)
Dirty Carnival (2006, Ha Yu)
The Restless (2006, Cho Dong-oh/Jo Dong-oh)
Black House (2007, Shin Terra)

While I managed to get films from different directors, most of the films were still new. Although getting a single title from 1990 seems to be a little achievement. But overall, I think getting older Korean films will be a work in progress.

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The films...

Three of the films (Black Republic, City of Rising Sun & Dirty Carnival) involved a gangster element while The Restless was a martial art/sword fighting flick whereas Black House was a horror film.

If I had turned the volume off Black Republic, I would have initially pegged the film as Chinese as the setting of an old mining town reminded me of the Chinese film Blind Shaft. But after the gangster element makes an entrance in the film, I would have guessed that Black Republic was inspired from old 1960’s Japanese films. In the end, Black Republic stands on its own but given my lack of familiarity with older Korean films, I fell back on cinematic examples from Korea’s neighbours to pin the film’s look and feel.

The Restless features some amazing fight sequences and special effects. Unfortunately, the promising first 20-30 minute set-up involving good vs evil souls is sacrificed for the stunning visuals and eventually the story suffers. Black House is one of those horror films with many false endings. At the hour mark, the twist is revealed and the film could have ended yet it continues on towards a fitting resolution, which is provided about 25 minutes later. But the film does not end then and carries on for another 10 minutes. After which, when everything is finally resolved again, the film ends with the message that pure evil never really dies and appears to take on a new form.

The pick of the films was the gripping Dirty Carnival. While the film starts off as a gangster flick, things get interesting when the gangster, Byeong-du, runs into his old school friend Min-ho. The two share memories in a cafe and head to a old reunion with other friends where Byeong-du meets his old school flame Hyeon-ju. The entire setup among the friends has shades of the reunion from Hong Sang-soo’s Women is the Future of Man and has a very easy flow to it. Min-ho wants to be a film-maker and is struggling to get a realistic script written about gangsters. Byeong-du offers to help Min-ho etch out realistic gangster characters for his film by offering advice and introducing Min-ho to other gangsters. Trusting in their friendship, Byeong-du confides about his real life killings to Min-ho only for Min-ho to include the exact real life murder scenarios in his film as opposed to creating a work of fiction. When Min-ho’s gangster film becomes a hit, Byeong-du is under pressure from his gang members and boss to kill Min-ho lest all the crimes of Byeong-du are revealed to the rival gangs. Byeong-du finds himself in a tough bind and struggles to maintain both his friendship with Min-ho and relationship with Hyeon-ju.

Dirty Carnival breathes new life into the over-worked gangster genre by focussing more on the characters and their relationships. Even though there are some edgy and rough fight sequences involving bats and knives, they are put on the back burner when the film within a film element takes center stage. During key moments in the film the background score is similar to the music one finds on a merry-go round carousel signifying the cyclic nature of business in the gangster world -- round and round the crime business goes and when one gangster gets off the high horse, another is waiting to take his place. There is no time to rest because if one stops, then they will surely get knocked off and crushed.

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Ratings out of 10

Dirty Carnival: 9
Black Republic: 8
Black House: 6.5
The Restless: 6
City of Rising Sun: 4