El ultimo verano de La Boyita / Last summer of La Boyita (2009)

Country: Argentina

Language: Spanish

Actors: Guadalupe Alonso, Gabo Correa, María Clara Merendino, Mirella Pascual & Guillermo Pfening

Director: Julia Solomonoff

This one shook me, it caught me completely off guard. The first 50 minutes was just another movie chronicling adolescence. It was about this little girl who suddenly loses the attention of her big sister, and is extremely upset about it. She knows her sister has become a big girl, being a doctor's inquisitive daughter she understands the process.

In the absence of her sisters company she decides to go with her dad for a ranch / farm vacation, just her dad, dog and herself. There she meets Mario, the boy who would prove his manhood in a matter of days. The son of the caretaker of the farm, who has discontinued his studies to assist his father in running the farm and as well as horse racing.

Things change from a movie about adolescence to something more sensitive when she & Mario go for a ride (together) on a horse and she finds blood on the saddle, on the riders side when Mario is at the helm.

This is the moment the film changes its colour. The typical “Application form” loving people we are we can’t relate to certain dictates of the reality. There also can be situations that still have not become part of an application form. And that is natural, the unfortunate the reality is that we all know it but never acknowledge.

This is one film which is not about stereotypes. About the adolescent boys trying to fell mangoes from a tree in one frame and trying to fantasize the girl next door or their teacher the next. This one is a serious film, about adolescence and the many realities of it. Some tick the boxes of the form and some search for a place in the form. The world calls them names, those who search for the boxes. They have a name but still depend on the public sentiment to reveal their real name.

This one is a fabulous movie, not everyone would like. The music, of a guitar that is heard in the background is amazing. It captures the pulse of the movie amazingly.

Overall, this is a must watch for those of us for whom sex is exotic and sexuality is a couple of boxes in forms.

Amazing movie, And lovely treatment of the script by the director which translates to a SuperWatch, if you are sensitive about things

My wife is a gangster II (2003)

Country: South Korea

Language: Korean

Actors: Shin Eun-Kyung, Park, Jun-Gyu, Jang Se-Jin & Zhang Ziyi (in a cameo)

Director: Jeong Heung-Sun

A sequel of the 2001 movie of the same name. In this the gang boss Eun-Jin is badly hurt in a fight and loses her memory. She is rescued by a guy who runs a small Chinese restaurant and then remains there as a delivery woman / chef till about 1 hr 20 min 20 sec into the movie (without regaining her memory of course).

In the interim without realizing who she is, she fights 3 armed robbers in a bank, get feted. And gets to become the president of a commercial district (where her Chinese restaurant is) which is threatened demolition by a rival gang to build a commercial complex. That is the time when the rival gang realize who she is and her own gang finds her.

Then comes the climax that lasts the next 20 mins of the movie. Here she regains her memory, fights her rivals to stamp her authority and then comes the unnecessary entry of Zhang Ziyi (why did the producer waste money on her ?) in the last scene. She is the boss of a Chinese gang who fight Eun-Jin’s gang. And only god & the director know what happened afterwards because they freeze in the air trying to attack each other when the closing title rolls.

Did they really need to make a sequel ? And that too with a new director and new writer ?

Giving it a miss will save you 2 beers (for another auspicious & useful occasion !!) and a headache.

PS: I fear of a terrible hangover when I move to “My wife is a gangster III”, god save me !!

City of Life (2009)

Country: United Arab Emirates

Language: Arabic, Hindi, English

Actors: Sonu Sood, Alexandra Maria Lara, Saoud Al Kaabi, The Narcicyst, Susan George, Jason Flemyng, Ahmed Ahmed, Jaaved Jaffrey

Director: Ali F Mostafa

This is the second time I watched this movie. The first time was at DIFF (Dubai International Film Festival) quite some time ago. The first time I watched it there was a certain amount of awe, a WOW factor enveloped me. A film from & about the place I live in, Dubai. By a Emirati director, an young director who was trying to break the stereotype and addressing issues that are discussed a great deal and detail within and outside Dubai.

This time I watched it as another international movie. There were some things in common I found both times I watched this movie.

It is a good movie, gripping storyline and it is very well done. The director I’m sure did a great deal of research to chisel the characters to perfection, you can feel it when you watch the movie. All three protagonists, the Emirati youngster, the taxi driver & the airhostess remain in your mind for a while after you’ve finished watching this movie. You should also commend the director for his narrative, that is another reason why the characters and story get etched in your mind for a while.

May be this movie would have been a bit more interesting if the 3 episodes were treated as standalone rather than running all three stories in parallel. When I try to visualize this movie in my head as a pulp fiction it sounds as interesting as a Amores Perros. When I say this don’t try to compare the storyline, just imagine treating "City of Life" the Iñárritu way. Doesn’t that sound exotic ? That would have raised this movie to the next level, a SuperWatch.

Very well done movie, surely a good watch. Highly recommended.

My wife is a gangster (2001)

Country: South Korea

Language: Korean

Actors: Shin Eun-Kyung, Park Sang-Myeon, Ahn Jae-Mo, Kim In-Kwon

Director: Cho Jin-Gyu

This is the story of a young underworld bosswoman who gets married to satisfy her dying sister. Good masala watch, but you would be disappointed if you are expecting to see blood & gore that are standards of a gangster movie. That said, this movie has some good action the most notable being the fight in the climax.

This movie has all ingredients to become a successful Tamil / Hindi movie. The one thing you need to add is the song & dance routine. The boss is a woman and therefore we can have the in-thing, a male item number. The underworld boss then marries and goes for a honeymoon, so you have the opportunity for that dream sequence in a foreign location. Plus numerous other situations to add some more songs and dance.

Ctrl C + Ctrl V, you have a lovely commercial Tamil / Hindi flick.

Overall this is a masala entertainer you can sit through

Kerala Café (2009)

Language: Malayalam

Actors: Dileep, Jayasurya, Prithviraj, Suresh Gopi, Siddique, Sreenath, Rahman, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Salim Kumar, Anoop Menon, Mammootty, Sreenivasan, Navya Nair, Shwetha Menon, Jothirmayi, Rima Kallingal, Nithya Menon & Dhanya Mary Varghese

Directors:

Nostalgia: M Padmakumar

Island Express: Shankar Ramakrishnan

Lalitham Hiranmayam: Shaji Kailas

Mrithyunjayam: Uday Ananthan

Happy Journey: Anjali Menon

Aviraamam: B Unnikrishnan

Off-season: Shyamprasad

Bridge: Anwar Rashid

Makal: Revathy

Puram Kazchakal: Lal Jose

An anthology movie comprising of 10 stories directed by 10 different people and crew. The common thread is Kerala Café, the railway canteen which is the epicenter of all the stories. Credit should go to the producer, Ranjit for bravely bringing together a bunch of talented & acclaimed directors, crew and artists.

There are some standout performances across the 10 episodes in the movie. Some heart wrenching, a few light and some out of the world. The camera work across all the 10 episodes are pleasant and pleasing. Madhu Ambat (Makal) and Suresh Rajan (Bridge) are two standout cinematographers.

It is 10/10 with all the episodes being equally good. Good story, super narrative and amazing acting.

There are 4 episodes that are worth a special mention.

Happy Journey by Anjali Menon: A black comedy with Jagathy Sreekumar & Nithya Menon

Bridge by Anwar Rashid: A heart wrenching drama that has Salim Kumar, Kalpana & Kozhikode Santa Devi. You get to see some amazing acting in this episode, especially the mother-son bond between Salim Kumar & Santa Devi

Makal by Revathi: Probably the darkest of all episodes, the one that will sure move even a stone, very well made too. It is about girl children being trafficked from poor households in the TN-Kerala border. The entire crew deserves a mention here

Puram Kazchakal by Lal Jose: Has one of the most high profile cast among the episodes, Mamootty & Sreenivasan. Again another human drama where you see a completely different Mamootty

There is nothing negative you can talk about this movie, except of course my pet topic of the usage of songs in a movie. There are only 2 songs in the movie. One nice song when the end credits roll by Jayachandran. And there is another bit that comes by the end of the episode titled Off-season, do we really need that bit ? At the end of one good light hearted episode I don’t think we needed the cast to jump up and down strumming a guitar.

Overall, as mentioned earlier this movie gets 10 out of 10. One really nice Indian movie I’ve seen in the recent past.

Very highly recommended

The Whistleblower (2010)

Language: English

Actors: Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci & Vanessa Redgrave

Director: Larysa Kondracki

Screenplay: Larysa Kondracki, Eilis Kirwan

This movie chronicles the (true) story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a US policewoman & UN peacekeeper in Bosnia. She blew the lid about human trafficking that was happening which involved the officers in duty from many countries. Initially persecuted by her own employers & then fired from her job, she later took her employers to court. Although she own her case, the CASE was lost. Most of the people indicted were let off (they were just struck off rolls) because of the immunity they enjoyed in Bosnia.

Rachel Weisz does fantastically well as Bolkovac, so do the other cast. Strong narrative, amazingly seamless, although graphic at times this one is a lovely movie. Credit for this movie should definitely go to the screenwriters, Larysa Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan. Although the last 3-4 frames gave you a bit of a documentary feel, this is an out and out feature based on a real life account.

The one drawback I faced was my not understanding Bosnian (I presume that is the language that comes in the movie in some parts…), what compounded the problem was the non-availability of subtitles. I’m not sure if that was a problem with the print I was watching or the film was made this way. All I could pick-up was a few Romanov’s & Molotov’s, I hope it was the print I was watching and not the movie.
Another movie I would place between SuperWatch & GoodWatch… The lower meniscus wins again, I would put this in the GoodWatch rack.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Language: English

Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy & Marisa Tomei

Director: Brad Furman

A thriller adapted from a book of the same name by Michael Connelly. Simple plot, a lawyer find out that his client is guilty, not only of the case he’s defending him but also in a few others. The client gets to know that his attorney knows a bit too much and wants to get even.

Does the client get even ?

Does the lawyer play by his conscience or the profession ?

That is the movie.

Nothing out of the blue or amazing about the storyline. Once you fix who the hero is between the lawyer and his client, you know which side to take. We normally take the side of the good, right ? Very predictable. The writer, director & the actors do really well to keep you engaged and ensure that you don’t get bored.

I haven’t read the book and I don’t intend to. But I’m sure the director has done his job well in casting these actors. And the actors have repaid the faith the director had in them. Definitely not a Super Watch but a bit more than a Good Watch. But, I would settle down the lower meniscus. Good Watch.

This is a movie the direct marketers, CRM & Loyalty experts shouldn’t miss. At least the last dialogue of the last scene where the protagonist says, “Repeat customers, stick it to them next time”. A very important lesson on Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

There was also one thing I didn’t quite like about the movie, the music. I think it opened well, but followed a downward curve with a rap themed music. Probably one of those predictable “Rap = Crime” kind.

And the other interesting thing is that he could have been a Toyota Land Cruiser Lawyer or a Chrysler 300C Lawyer or even a Honda CRV Lawyer. So why Lincoln Lawyer ?

PS: I'm tempted to steal the story and remake it in Tamil as Ambassador Vakkil... The driver and the lawyers assistants can be comedians and we can have a minimum of 2 item numbers. A complete movie !!

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics - Volume 1: Microeconomics

Paperback

Author: Yoram Bauman (Economics) & Grady Klein (Illustration)

When I did Economics courses in Post Graduate college I had one goal, to clear them. For me, a Physics major Under Graduate, Economics was close to Quantum Physics or a little better. A little better because I could get more marks in the Economics courses, at least 25% more than the 35% passing minimum I managed to muster in Quantum Physics. I would term my performance a quantum leap for the below “the average” mankind.

Economics was not all that bad, more than the 50 odd names, I could also remember a few theories. And most importantly tell “Supply” from “Demand”, once you did this you’ve already passed the course. Many of us in the class had a doubt if it was the subject or the professor. The doubts grew stronger because the person always started his classes with the customary, “Economics, is a little dry subject… You need to put some effort to get it”. By the time I understood that it was a healthy combination of both, I had already managed to clear the course with some decent marks.

Economics came back to my life much later, when I saw this book called “The Undercover Economist” on a bookshelf. This one by Tim Harford lead me to another, to another and to one too many. So when I saw Harford’s recommendation of this book I thought it is time for me to do a crash course on the basics and do some catching-up. The other thing that interested me was the fact that Yoram Bauman is touted the first stand-up Economist. We people from Dubai have a special fascination about “firsts”, so I was tempted to check this “first”, one of the few contemporary first's not to be from Dubai or the region.

And this book didn’t disappoint me, more than just the crash course I was looking for it has offered me a great new perspective on Economics. The other face of Economics which is not dull, drab & boring as the popular face we know. And mind you, this is the first part that deals only with microeconomics. Macroeconomics would be his next book and that is coming soon.

The cartoon presentation is spectacular and it doesn’t take anything away from the concepts or doesn’t make the book something like an Economics joke book. The other thing I loved in the book was the way the concepts of microeconomics are introduced and how simply they are explained.

Every concept (or most of them) is cross-referenced with a Nobel winning Economic theory. And every time this introduction happens, the king of Sweden pops up with a “Congratulations, you win the Nobel prize” which I love.

This is a superb book that should be read by students taking an Economics course for the first time in their lives. Reading this book gets them do two things, (1) They get to understand the subject in a much, much better way compared to the conventional course material and (2) They will understand that Economics can be lively and Economists are human beings too.

A lovely book I would recommend to people who want to know what Economics is or to those who have done Economics courses and want to understand the concepts better.

Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006)

Language: Tamil

Actors: Kamal Hassan, Prakash Raj, Jyothika, Kamalinee Mukerjee

Director: Gautam Menon

If you have watched Kaakha Kaakha by the same director and think, OK yet another cop flick by Gautham Menon then you are in for a big surprise. To summarise the difference between the two movies in simple terms…

Kaakha Kaakha was about enforcement… Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu is about investigation.

The best thing in this movie is that the protagonist Raghavan (Kamal Hassan) does his investigative policing work & the camera just follows him. As a "super" rightly says in the start of the movie, this is another episode in a police officer’s life.

As any Tamil movie demands, there are the human elements in this movie too. When we say human elements, we talk about 3 things – Romance, songs & comedy. Thankfully the director hasn’t forced any comedy in this movie by plugging in 2-3 cops who ass around in the name of a comedy track.

There is romance & songs but they are a seamless part of the movie. It is not like the police officer sees this girl on the way to a crime scene, cut to a dream sequence and cut back as they propose to each other following which is the customary kidnap and release scene and then the end !! The director has handled this part with utmost care and Jyothika has delivered one of her most powerful performances. Surya’s gain is the Tamil film industry's loss !!

The next important mention is the music of Harris Jeyaraj. It is pleasing and not on the face, although I personally feel that the song sequence in Goa is unnecessary and could have been avoided. Except that one instance where you get a Tamil movie feel, this one is a great movie otherwise.

I kicked myself for having not watched this one for almost 5 years since it was released.

Amazing movie, recommended for all those who love crime thrillers and that too a well-made & matured one…

PS: I was laughing when I saw the English title (that would go on the posters for the foreign market) “Hunt, Play” couldn’t they have thought of something better

The Circle / Dayereh (2000)

Language: Persian

Actors: Nargess Mamizadeh, Maryiam Parvin Almani & Mojgan Faramarzi

Director: Jafar Panahi

As many of the other Panahi movies this one is also banned in his native Iran. This movie is about the challenges women face day to day in Iran. There isn’t a central character or hero in this movie, it is a sequence of events that happen in the lives of the subjects (women).

This is one movie where there is no start or an end as conventional movies have. That leaves the most important question, “What happens next ?” to the viewer's imagination.

Great watch, the last scene would even move a stone. Another Panahi masterpiece.

Red Cliff 1 (2008)

Language: Mandarin

Actors: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling & Zhao Wei

Director: John Woo

Any war based movie costs, the costs are even higher especially if that is a period subject. This one is a Period War Movie, it is based on the epic Battle Of Red Cliffs (208 – 209 AD). It chronicles the Han dynasty towards the end of their reign.

Amazing movie in terms of the production value, this is one the most expensive films made in Asia. And this movie grossed more than Titanic in mainland China. Which means the costs didn’t sink.

Due to the length of the story this movie was made in two parts, the second part was released in 2009. The movie has a very talented cast, one of the actors being the most talented Tony Leung. An amazingly multi-talented actor comparable to the best in business – yesterday, today and hopefully tomorrow. And he doesn’t disappoint you.

Overall this is a very good movie, with great background music, superb visuals thanks to the mindboggling production value and to top it all has a greatly talented ensemble cast.

Great watch, the moment I finished Part 1 the reflex wanted Part 2 to start. Such is the interest this movie creates.

I love it.

PS: The reason why I chose to watch this movie is thanks to G V Prakash Kumar and his plagiarized credit title tune from this movie for the rooster fight of Aadukalam.

Well done G V Prakash and Vetri Maaran, I wish you had at least doctored a bar or two of the original track to make this look / sound an original. May be you were short of time !!

Udhayan (2011)

Language: Tamil

Music director: Manikanth Kadri

Song: Yevan Ivan

Singer: Shruthi Hassan

My grandmother had a beautiful voice, but unfortunately she sang only during weddings or ceremonies when the cacophony overcame her voice… Poor Shruthi Hassan, has a beautiful voice like my grandmother.

Song: Ring Tring

Singers: Baba Sehgal, Suchitra

Baba Sehgal could have been the pioneer of Rap in India but a bad cacophonic tune and lots of boom shaka laka in the lyric and whistles don’t ring a bell in our ears. Poor Suchitra, did you really sing ?

Song: Ithanai Yugamai

Singer: Karthik

Redemption… Karthik saves one. I don’t hear any music but Karthik, probably that is why this song sounds any good in my ears.
I’m confused with the treatment of this song, what’s that statement the music director wants to make ?

Song: Laka Laka

Singers: Darshana Karthik, Prasanna

The mandatory kutthu pattu…

Headache. No reality show contestant can sing this unique song, Mind you, these days reality shows are the new tea shops… If your songs aren’t heard there you are a failure…

Song: Udhayan

Singers: Manikanth Kadri, Timmi Madhukar

Noise… Songs have a lyric, does this have one ?

Song: Ponga Vechom

Singers: Divya, Vivek Narayan

The song that would prove that this is a Tamil movie and get that tax relief. I still don’t get that feel, I don’t smell the soil.

Overall I don’t see a lyricist’s role in any song here, for it is mostly fitting words into cacophony. I pity the producer who invested in the director of this movie. For the director is responsible for the music output.

The director and the producer have been taken for a ride by the music director.

Verdict: This music Sounds Beautiful with Ears Closed

A History of Violence (2005)

Language: English

Actors: Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Maria Bello

Director: David Cronenberg

Screenplay (Adaptation): Josh Olson

An adaptation of the novel of the same name written by John Wagner & Vince Locke. As the name suggests it is a crime thriller.

The story works on a simple premise, the tried and tested "once a bad man who tries to be a good man is pulled back to his bad ways by circumstances". The one subtle difference here is that the man is pulled into the crime muddle inadvertently, when he kills two robbers in self-defence, he becomes the small town’s hero overnight. The new found fame gets his old pals back to him and then the bloody drama unfolds.

While the premise might look similar, the storyline and the treatment are refreshingly different from the “once a baddie, now a goodie, pulled back into badness stories” we are familiar with.

William Hurt appears for less than 9 minutes in the movie, he was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscars in the 78th edition. Though I personally liked Viggo Mortensen’s portrayal of the protagonist, Tom Stall / Joey Cusack. A docile family man from a small town in a frame and the bloodthirsty, ruthless mobster in the second.

The one thing I didn’t like / understand is the need for a full frontal exposure in a scene (the heroine does it, if that interests you and would spur you to watch this movie !!). That particular scene for me is like the foreign location dream sequences in Indian cinema, meaningless.

Good movie to watch.