The Japanese Win? About a 2D viewing. This is very clearly produced under Party sponsorship to celebrate the soldiers who won the country. The contrast with US WWII films is striking. We require tough heroes, where here there is something more noble. Two remarkable things...
Meera and Arjun are professionals living in Gurgaon. On their way to a luxurious desert holiday they stop on a Highway dhaba for dinner, where they witness a young girl being picked up by a bunch of hoodlums. Arjun chooses to step in, unmindful of the danger ahead.
The Nation's Road When I write about folding, rarely do I mention this sort. There are two threads here, designed to reinforce each other. One thread is a story about a modern Indian woman, someone who might fit into an American movie well enough. In standard...
After the disappearance of a young scientist on a business trip, his son and wife struggle to cope, only to make a bizarre discovery years later - one that may bring him home.
Narrative Logic I think I would like to warn you off of this one. The opportunity that time travel stories offers is the ability to retroactively change what you have seen. In normal stories, this is one of the most effective devices we have, a way for the...
After India Stoker's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.
Not Thirsty Enough Having seen and been unhealthily engaged in ‘Thirst‘ I acquired this. It reminded me of a similar disappointment. One of my most trusted filmmakers is Kar Wai Wong, someone who has expanded my electric cage. His first non-English film 'Blueberry Night‘ was every bit...
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Bicycle, not spacecraft The strangest thing: when films are made of Christie structures, the first thing they worry about is the characterisation of the detective: Poirot or Marple. Clearly, the filmmakers obsess over the potential for engagement within the constraints of the original text, but they...
In a post-apocalyptic future, bounty hunter Attica Gage pursues a ruthless outlaw at the head of a dangerous criminal gang.
Scorched Script Well, it seems that all women on a path to stardom have to go through this, a cheap revenge movie. I think this actress has a future, and I suppose she knew that this would be a risk. The movie itself is unremarkable. What...
With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty's prison, the St Trinian's girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However, when the sixth form take a fancy to winning a trip to Italy through means fair or foul, the army discover this is one battle they can't win. Let loose in Europe, it is not long before St Trinian's have succeeded in endangering European relations.
Girls This is remarkable stuff. It has the normal amount of silliness, but the discriminating thing with this series is the notion of the girls school. Its absolutely amazing, what they have done with this notion. The school is a girls’ school that destroys every location it...
The comedic stylings of four sort-of famous funnymen are brought to the big screen courtesy of this 2002 documentary.
Embrace Ignorance It used to be that a standup comic would make an LP. Cosby, Prior...
Four friends gather at a villa with the intention of eating themselves to death.
Sit, Eat This is a sort of adventure in shocking an audience. It failed with me because I’ve been exposed to so many more incisive things. But I like the way it is put together. It is a sort of “Love’s Labors Lost” meets “8 1/2 Women.”...
Tortured into a false confession while a POW in Korea, Major Lincoln Bond returns to active service as a test pilot. Determined to clear his name, Bond battles a hard-nosed base commander, prejudiced officers and his own insecurities.
Spam in a Jan Three things noteworthy about this movie, which though big in its day is almost completely forgotten now. It is one of a class of movies where the humans are second class citizens and the prime characters are machines. This class originated almost at...
