Differential.

Okay, so this is good business. You take a movie that's already done well, hire a popular actor, someone with halfway decent principles (which in this world means an actor who refuses to dance on Dard e Disco or Ishq Kameena type item numbers), for a halfway decent script (which in this world means sweeping away a script of a critically acclaimed movie and giving it the desi touch) and lo and behold. You've got a brand new standard of what people like. Movie based on another movie that wasn't popular enough to the general masses.

Ghajini, ladies and gentlemen, and Memento. May God give peace to the soul of Christopher Nolan and more sense to Aamir Khan. Not surprised at the swipe, though would've expected something better from the Khan.

"How to Steal a Million (1966)"

I return with an ode to Audrey Hepburn, who, in this flick, plays the granddaughter of art-forgerer Bonnet. Her grandfather, out of obsession, out of a sense of adventure, likes fooling art-lovers and museum curators that he is in possession of pieces by none other than Monet and Van Gogh and since,

Bonnet: American millionaires must be all quite mad. Perhaps it's something they put in the ink when they print the money.

The film is considerably glib with characters that are justifiably witty (one's an art-lover, one's an art thief, and one's an heiress). Consider this:

Nicole Bonnet: I didn't want to keep you waiting, so I got engaged to him. Is it alright? Am I on time?
Simon Dermott: Perfectly. In fact, we have ten more minutes, so if you want to go back and marry him?

The film is 2 hours long and passes with enough enjoyment if you're an art-lover or an Audrey Hepburn fan.

"Wait Until Dark (1967)"

What starts as simply a creepy thriller ends up being an intelligent, well-crafted film with Audrey Hepburn outclassing everything else onscreen with her portrayal of the "world's champion blind woman" being tricked by a set of crooks. Wait Until Dark promises more to the audiences in its one sequence than at least 20 of those Final Destination-type blood-and-gore-filled flicks.

I absolutely and wholeheartedly fell in love with the talent Hepburn has. She has been irreplaceable. Alan Arkin has played the psychopathic villain brilliantly, his performance pairing up well with Hepburn's. Great watch, splendid cast and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat for sure. Stop wasting time. Go watch.

"The Color of Money"

And then there is that one actor no one can take their eyes off of.

Shocking as it may sound, I am not and sincerely not referring to Tom Cruise. If you ask me, he's one of Hollywood's overrated stars and if he jumps on a couch, it just doesn't make him any more interesting.

I am actually referring to the legend, Paul Newman. If there's anyone who can parallel Brando and Peck in grace or DeNiro and Redford in artistic achievement, it's this guy right here. In this 1986 flick, he's got more poise and gallantry at 61 than most men do at 30. Tom Cruise was aptly chosen by Scorsese to play the slightly goofy-but-talented pool savant in front of a seasoned liquor-seller (Newman). There is no way anyone could have managed looking better than Newman.

The plot of the movie is a treat for pool-lovers but for those of us who haven't been around a pool table apart from our Iphones or desktop games, this film is more than just 9 balls rolling around on the table. It explores characters deeper than pool-playing money-winners. Scorsese has this knack of humanising elements which are untouchable, elements that can only be viewed from afar. Although this humanising is done brutishly, not as elegantly as Coppola, it nevertheless breaches the divide between a luxury sedan driver and an average Joe or any of the streetside hoodlums you avoid gazes of.

A must-watch. A must-must-must watch. Newman is truly one of the finest actors Hollywood has ever had - and they are absolutely right to mourn his death.

The Dark Knight - Cinemascope.

And here I thought I wouldn't get tickets.

The Cineplex's Cinema 2B, practically empty, was only occupying the four of us, a rowdy family with kids and ladies who looked dressed up enough for a prom and insisted on transliterating every scene to people sitting next to them, a couple with their tiny, well-behaved son wearing the cutest orange baseball cap over his stiff kurta and a dad with his three overactive boys. The latter repeated every shout and scream uttered in the movie and wanted a play-by-play of every scene including a loud session of trivia directed at their Dad regarding each and every one of Batman's personal reasons for anything from jumping off a high tower to driving his Batmobile at a deathly pace.

Which can only tell you one thing. Pakistanis: not ready for cinema.

After buying ridiculously expensive popcorn and soft drinks, we settled down to watch Heath Ledger in action, ready to devour each line of the film, for the fifth or sixth time at least since the release of the Dark Knight. We tried to ignore the loud disturbances and were actually happy to hear the eardrum-shattering noise drowning the "dhishoom-dhishoom" shouts of the kids (honestly I love kids, but some parents don't know when to tell their kids to zip it) and basically had a real nice time watching the 2-hour-plus flick again on the big (well, compared to my tv anyway) screen. During the intermission, the little dhishoom-dhishoom boy began dancing his butt off at Kismat Konnection's remixes.

After watching it again, my favorite parts of the movie are highlighted thus:

1. "People deserve to have their faith rewarded." - Batman.
2. "Because I'm not wearing hockey pants." - Batman.
3. "I like this job, I like it!" - The Joker.
4. "I'm not sure they'll let us," Harvey Dent referring to the bringing together of two tables together at a posh restaurant. Bruce Wayne responds, "Oh I'm sure they will. I own the place."
5. "Accomplice?" says Wayne to Alfred. "I'm gonna tell them the whole thing was your idea."
6. "Whatever doesn't kill you ... only makes you stranger." - The Joker.
7. "Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred.
8. "It was a big dog." - Wayne.
9. "Why so serious?"

And number 10:


The Joker: Aaah, never start with the head. The victim gets all fuzzy.
Batman: You wanted me. Here I am.
The Joker: I wanted to see what you'd do. And you didn't disappoint. You let five people die. Then you let them take your place. Even to a guy like me that's cold.
Batman: Where's Dent?
The Joker: Those mob fools want you gone because they want the way things were. But I know the truth. There's no going back. You've changed things. Forever.
Batman: Then why do you want to kill me?
The Joker (laughs hysterically): I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you! Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, no. You complete me!
Batman: You're garbage who kills for money.
The Joker: Don't talk like one of them. You're not. To them you're just a freak. Like me. They need you right now. When they don't, they'll cast you out. Like a leper. See their morals, their code, it's a bad joke Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down ... these civilized people .. they'll eat each other. See I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
Batman (has had enough, begins to beat the crap outta the Joker): Where's Dent?
The Joker (undeterred): You have all these rules! You think they'll save you?
Batman: I have one rule.
The Joker: Oh. Then that's the rule you're gonna have to break to know the truth.
Batman: Which is?
The Joker: The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. And tonight you're gonna have to break your ONE RULE..

"Chocolat"

Storyteller: Once upon a time, there was a quiet little village in the French countryside, whose people believed in Tranquilité - Tranquility. If you lived in this village, you understood what was expected of you. You knew your place in the scheme of things. And if you happened to forget, someone would help remind you. In this village, if you saw something you weren't supposed to see, you learned to look the other way. If perchance your hopes had been disappointed, you learned never to ask for more. So through good times and bad, famine and feast, the villagers held fast to their traditions. Until, one winter day, a sly wind blew in from the North...

The sly wind brings in Vianne Rocher and her young daughter who open up a patisserie in a conservative, orthodox town. What follows is a battle between the new order and the old, as Marie begins to sell the 'sinfully delicious' chocolate to the locals. The attraction is natural as more and more people begin to draw nearer to the unlikely character from abroad.


Marie doesn't just sell chocolates. Marie defies tradition. She doens't wear black shoes like other women. She doesn't have a husband. She doesn't fear in befriending the local nut (enter Olin) or greeting the 'pirates' of the time (enter Depp) or challenging the traditions of offering chocolate in the season of Lent.

The film is packed with a strong message for non-conformists and otherwise. It shows the resistance to change and it comes with a price (although is heavily chocolate-coated in this movie, in my opinion) which is never easy to pay. But like all good feel-good movies, this movie has that note of optimism, that bittersweet lesson that is so necessary to keep one's head sane at moments of despair and dejection. Being different isn't easy. But you've got to keep on going anyway.

Père Henri: Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think... we've got to measure goodness by what we *embrace*, what we create... and who we include.

"Dan in Real Life"

This story has been probably done a million times. Guy meets girl, guy finds out girl is brother's girlfriend, guy pines, girl pines, eventual family drama. You know how it goes.

What is refreshing about this flick is Steve Carell. Everyone who is anyone watching television in the past few years has to note that this guy is nothing short of a quiet, unassuming genius. Unlike Jim Carrey, who has the loud, rambunctious act to his personality (I like him anyway though) or witty, dead-pan humor like Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Carell adds that awkward, very-human, sensitive bit to comedy. He's extremely versatile though but his niche is in the roles he's done as the pausing-too-much kinda guy, the often-ignored, talking-to-self characters such as Little Miss Sunshine, Get Smart and even Evan Almighty. Those were serious roles with the humorous edges to them and Carell did them extremely well.


The story revolves around Dan, an advice columnist for a local paper, living with his three daughters and struggling through each day after the demise of his wife. On a fateful weekend when he takes his daughters down to a family get-together, he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche). Playful, fun to be with and plenty of sparks that alight their conversation in which Dan finds himself talking about his most personal and deeply felt thoughts to a stranger.

What is more fateful is that the stranger isn't a stranger at all - she's his brother's girlfriend whom he's brought to meet the family.

Awkward.

Steve Carell, I repeat, has done this role remarkably well. A little too well in fact for a story that was basically cliched and not quite well executed. It lacked the pizzazz for the romcom and didn't really cut it as a slightly-poignant romantic tale. However if you see it the way I did - being a die-hard Carell and Binoche fan - you're bound to love it much more than if you'd seen the same flick with Delmort Mulroney and Sarah Jessica Parker.

"The English Patient"

The desert begins and akin to it, begins the journey of two lovers set in the Sahara. The story however begins much before it.

The English Patient is the burn victim of a plane crash. He has vague memory of who he is and what has happened to him. His scars do not tell his story, as most scars do; in fact they have vanished for him any traces of his past, any recollections whatsoever. One act that does not leave him - is that he hums. Constantly.
The film swings back and forth through the flashbacks of Count Laszlo de Almasy, under the care of a devoted, passionate nurse, Hana, played by Juliette Binoche in her Oscar-winning role. Most understandably so. Binoche's bohemian, careless-yet-careful portrayal is heartwarming and sensitive. It caters to the senses as she tries to find beauty and solace and hope in the arms of war and plunder, serving to a burn victim in an abandoned monastery.

It's a sad, romantic little love story with a cast so stellar and performances so solid that despite the slightly mindnumbing length of the movie, you'll find yourself riveted.

But only if you're not used to happily-ever-afters.

Because believe it or not - they don't have to happen for every single one of us.

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

I had no idea that this movie would be so charmingly life-affirming. After 19May80 advised me to watch it after I saw A Street Car Named Desire, I had certainly put it in my to-see list. Had I but known what it would make me feel after it was over, I'd have watched it sooner.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the story of a family that stands at a critical turning point. "Big Daddy" (the Academy Award nominated role for Burl Ives), the father of the family is diagnosed with cancer and his two sons arrive for a celebrating of his birthday party. The elder married with a stereotypical breeding machine of a wife with four (or five, can't recall how many) kids and another one in the making, the younger Brick Pollitt (Newman) married to Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and 'on the rocks' with each other. Big Daddy and Big Momma are both kept in the dark by the doctor about Big Daddy's terminal cancer and the celebrations of his birthday proceed as normal. The overall twist is the money Big Daddy shall leave behind after him which the elder son, Cooper (Jack Carson) along with is wife, are deeply interested in. Brick however has no interest in anything whatsoever, including his wife, his father's estate and his teeming alcoholism.

Margaret "Maggie" Pollitt: We've still got one thing on our side. No, two things. Are my seams straight? Big Daddy dotes on you, Brick. He can't stand Brother Man and Brother Man's wife. That fertility monster, she's downright odious to him, I can tell. That's the second thing we've got on our side. He likes me. The way he looks me up and down and over, he's still got an eye for girls.
Brick Pollitt: That kind of talk is disgusting.
Margaret "Maggie" Pollitt: Did anybody ever tell you you're a back-aching Puritan, Brick? I think it's a fine thing that a man on the doorstep of death can still look at a woman like me with what I call deserved appreciation.

Brick's story is only half tragic. He is an alcoholic ex-football player who has lost his will to live after the suicide of his close friend "Skipper" whom he accuses Maggie to have had an affair with. Maggie tries to talk to Brick about it but he does not want to discuss anything since his loss of faith in most things in life after Skipper, including Maggie and her love for him. Maggie, desperate for his attention, tries to seduce him, reason with him, yell at him in coming back to her and having her talk over the matter to no avail, is frustrated with her situation but continues to plow at it with all her might.

Brick Pollitt: What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?
Margaret "Maggie" Pollitt: Just staying on it I guess, long as she can.

The truth of the story isn't in Brick and Maggie's marriage however. It lies deeper and interconnects all of the Pollitt family. Cooper's dissatisfaction in finding him always second-best even when he has complied to each and every wish of his father from career to personal choices. Mae's persistence in showing just how perfect she is in producing heirs and thus deserving for a fair share of the estate. Big Momma's deniail that works with everything, her love of her husband and the family. Maggie's troubled and one-sided relationship with her husband. Brick's unique bond with his father that somehow includes estrangement and resentment as a key factor. Big Daddy's intervention that somewhat clears the air between Brick and Maggie. Big Daddy's own fight against life, against circumstance. These themes are powerful, universal attractors. They rivet in the watcher as he/she sees relationships strayed around all over the place instead of the cohesive whole that you expect a family to be. What's more important is how it starts from the opposite end: from dilapidated ties to a stronger bond.

Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: - It's easin' somewhat now. When you got pain, it's better to judge yourself of a lot of things. I'm not gonna stupify myself with that stuff. I wanna think clear. I want to see everything, and I want to feel everything. Then I won't mind goin'. I've got the guts to die. What I want to know - do you have the guts to live?
Brick Pollitt: I don't know.
Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: We can start by helping each other up this stairs.

So this movie has done a number of things that are good. It's got my faith back in some things. It's made me a Paul Newman fan. And it has put a smile on my face again. Granted not as big as one as Wall-E. But a smile nonetheless.

"Adaptation"

The first two minutes of the movie are spent listening to Nicholas Cage say exactly what is coming to his mind. His random, completely digressive thoughts, that help us roll the credits onto the movie.

A movie which is about a digressing, ill-focussed screenwriter, aka Charlie Kaufman, given the job to write a script for the book written on Orchids. Kaufman says this film is going to be 'about flowers'.

What starts off as a languid-paced film ends up as a dramatic thriller. I didn't find it as great as the critics did but I did enjoy extremely convincing performances by the lead actors. The idea of the story within a story within a story got little attention amidst all the drugs and rare flowers. This movie isn't something you'd see to hear good dialogs (though some had a rancidly realistic punch to them) or believable stories; this movie is to be seen solely for its quality performances, especially by Nicholas Cage, who always does seem a little high to me throughout his movies, whether he's playing a law-abiding citizen or a car-theif. 

Something Streep fans will enjoy, Cage fans will appreciate and flower-lovers will watch expectantly. 

"Keeping The Faith"

This movie is the directorial debut of the critically acclaimed Edward Norton. The story is simple and straightforward. I don't see what much of a challenge Norton must have faced to make a movie with very basic a plot and really no room for dramatic achievement. It's a sweet romantic comedy with a theme of religious tolerance hovering in the background. Norton plays the priest, Ben Stiller is the rabbi and Elfman is the childhood friend who revisits just when Stiller needs to find a wife to get a promotion.

There really isn't much to be said about the film (which is a first considering Norton is in it) except for this dialogue:

Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: The truth is, I don't really learn that much about your faith by asking questions like that... because those aren't really questions about faith, those are questions about religion. And it's very important to understand the difference between religion and faith. Because faith is not about having the right answers. Faith is a feeling. Faith is a hunch, really. It's a hunch that there is something bigger connecting it all... connecting us all together. And that feeling, that hunch, is God. And coming here tonight, on your Sunday evening... to connect with that feeling, that is an act of faith. And so all I have to do is look around the room at this packed church... to know that we're doing pretty well as a community. Even if all of you failed my pop quiz miserably.

"Wall-E."

After a very long time a movie has been able to leave a smile on my face.

Even long after it was over.

Pixar doesn't fail. It just doesn't intend on disappointing. From the tales of inanimate toys to a monster that wants to become a comedian and a rat that wants to become a chef to now the robot who after 700 years of living alone on a deserted planet craves the human (?) connection, Pixar has proven that it is not going to be beaten on its winning streak any time soon.

Wall-E is one of the best movies of the year. Including the Dark Knight and Hancock and The Incredible Hulk, Wall-E takes my cake. Wall-E makes you laugh and feel and experience through the entire length the journey from space and back. Such is the impact of the movie that I find myself murmuring "Eeeeveeee" and "Waaalleeee" as my mind goes back to his drooping eyes and a loneliness that is desperately adorable.

It is a given how far animation has come. The story is sensitive and intelligent, the tone is light-hearted yet influential as it touches the globally critical dilemma of pollution. The whole movie is just plain darn fantastic and it gives Kung Fu Panda a good run for its money, though both are remarkable in their own right. A must-watch for anyone. Yeah, just anyone, anybody. If you're a human, a robot or on auto-pilot. Just watch the damn thing and go back to being human.

"X Files: I want to believe"

Critics at Rotten Tomatoes say that it was dull and boring, though it's worth mentioning that the movie remains true to the 90's series that involved less graphics and relied more on creepiness and of course the 'x' factor. This movie holds strong to the X Files mystique and couldn't have been any more satisfactory to a fan such as myself. The first movie was bigger in many respects but the second movie doesn't altogether prove to be as big a disappointment as RT suggested. Fans would love to see Mulder and Scully together (in the literal sense of the word ... finally!) to discover the 'darkness' and fight the paranormal forces all over again.

I don't care what critics say. I am a die-hard X-files fan. I want to believe and I loved it.

"Bachna Ae Haseeno"

There were only two good things about this movie.

Ranbir Kapoor and his acting. He's charming and refreshing. He's learning the ropes of being a chocolate-hero and so far he's doing pretty good!

Okay, so technically that's just one thing but that's the best I could do. I frankly don't know if this movie did any business whatsoever but it's plotless, themeless and seamless. How am I supposed to be interested in a roguish Don Juan who breaks hearts in half of the movie and tries to mend them in the other half? Originality, hello?

Stellar-casting can only take you so far. Deepika needs to understand some of that philosophy too. Looks can only be a bidding factor until you're in a masala movie like Om Shanti Om. When it comes to at least some amount of acting, she needs to see some movies without women-drenched-in-makeup. Maybe Shabana Azmi or Smita Patel flicks will do her good.

Minisha Lamba is actually not half bad, even though Bipasha certainly is forgetful, as all item-girls are. The Italian model sequence has 'we-needed-pretty-sights-apart-from-Basu' written all over it, so good for those who want to see Italy and Bipasha.

The direction is sloppy, though the dialogs aren't. Ranbir is going to make it big. All he needs is another couple of box-office hits and a critically acclaimed pack of films and he's set to elbow Hrithik and Abhishek out.

So all in all, basically just another Ranbir flick.

"Singh is King"

Singh is King is by any definition a masala movie, all set to spice your weekend family outing. Akshaye Kumar, in my opinion, is one of the most under-rated actors of Bollywood, rolls in plenty of laughter with his natural Punjabi good looks and good humor, calling morning cereal as "Doodh and chewera" and quips thus, when Katrina shows him a nice, tiny halter top for her to buy, "Bachay toh aik saal baad hongey, abhi se shopping kar rahi ho?". Om Puri is the other villager who accompanies him to Australia where Sardar-gang-mafia head "Lucky Singh" is blowing everyone to bits. Enter "Happy Singh" (Kumar) to bring the don back to his parents in Punjab where they cry and pine for him.


It's got everything, in good quantity and quality, that we look for in an entertainer. A beautiful, tastily dressed heroine, corny-yet-laugh-out-loud humor and a centre star who has the capability to carry off nonsense drama as well as thrilling action sequences, such as jumping from two lifts to an escalator. Bravo.

But. I've decided I'm not going to write about how beautiful Katrina looked, how Akshaye Kumar is akin to wine (getting more and more productive and fruitful as he grows older), how Neha Dhupia's wardrobe was breathtakingly classy and how Bollywood will continue to rule hearts even if the hero is a rooster-chasing villager to a gang-mafia-king.

I'm going to talk about the magic of CINEMA.

Jokes that are ordinarily quite unfunny will seem hilarious. Women who might sound sheepishly American will look adorable. Dance numbers that would on any other occasion leave you wondering what they were doing smack in the middle of a fight-sequence, will make you jig a bit in your seat.

That's all part of the magic. That's all part of the enigma we call the silver screen.

In the past given years, cinema has declined in Pakistan due to various reasons. Bad filmmaking being the topmost one. And then there's evergreen Saima who refuses to move a day beyond 16, who also, according to my friend, if jumps in a sarsoon ka khet, they won't have sarsoon for years.

Then there's Shaan. The terribly misplaced soul. I'd like to see him as Brando. And he insists on dressing up as Maula Jatt.

Too many people have had too many debates about this issue: why not the revival of Pakistani cinema? There are factions of society that refute it as much as they possibly can, considering cinema the work of Satan and the core cause of the downfall of any civilization. I'm guessing they're forgetting corruption, bhatta, cheating, bribery, adultery, rape, prostitution, child-molestors, robbers, dacoits as their top contenders. Ah, well.

Then there are factions who are remotely interested in it as a business proposition, watching it fare with the masses. Now that they see people are duly bored with cable television and Star Plus (fingers-crossed), it's time they seek other methods of entertainment. Cinema seems to be the next best thing and I can see the tide turning. Singh is King was sold out, advance booking, on Sunday afternoon. That's why I had to go see it today.

And then there are suicide bombers. But they haven't spared hospitals, mosques and army cantonments either, so cinemas don't have much of a fighting chance against those odds.

I can't say with much assurance that I'll like Meera shaking her groove-thang on a big screen where I saw Katrina batting her beautiful eyes at a man 20 years her senior, but I can definitely say that if they produce more movies like Khuda Ke Liye, I'll definitely go watch.

"A Streetcar Named Desire"

This is probably one of the finest movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh have outdone their capabilities. Vivien Leigh is especially to be lauded (and already has been, with her Academy Award) for her complex and extremely realistic depiction of the near-mad Blanche DuBois.


Marlon Brando on the other hand proves that it is possible to look like a jock and act like a pro. Although his "Stellaaaaa!"s kept reminding me of Raymond's daughter's rendition of it in Everybody Loves Raymond, when she and Frank are watching Brando movies (knowing Frank, you'd see why he loves the guy), I couldn't help but notice how flawlessly he executed the role of a macho stereotype of the 1950s. They can hit a woman and at the same time call her 'honey'. What's worse is the women can go silly putty as soon as they are on the letter 'h'.


The conflicted Blanch DuBois (White Words in French, as Blanch ostentatiously informs a smitten and befooled Mitch) is of course the center of the play but it is important to note how the rest of the characters hold the story together. The dialogs are also exquisite enough to keep the windmills of the mind running and discovering with each fabrication that Blanch produces, a new layer to the character of a delusional, adding to the twists and turns in the impacts she is creating in the lives of her sister's parasitic marriage. Towards the end when we see Stella walking away from Stanley (Brando) with her baby in her hand saying that she would never return to him. But somehow it doesn't seem to be quite as convincing. Women who are victims of abuse tend to develop either a self-blaming or a fruitless patterns of dealing with their abusive husbands, fathers, brothers or sons. Even if they realize what amount of injustice is done to her, she does not have the courage to walk out or walk away. If she does, there's a big chance she'll return to the same home soon enough.

As for Blanch, her diagnosis is simple enough. She is somewhat a nymphomaniac afflicted by delusions of grandeur that are clearly evident in her mannerisms and fancies and reminisces of the past. Vivien Leigh gives a final touch to that forged delicacy through batting eyelashes at the right time - not to mention the writer's talent when he introduces the rhinestone tiara.

Thus the film is not only symbolically well-integrated but is clearly filled with overt images of mental and interpersonal conflict.

Definitely, I repeat, one of the best movies of all time.

"Kung Fu Panda"

You know it's a good movie when you start forgetting about the socio-cultural implications and start believing what the characters are trying to involve you in. Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan star in such an animated picture from Dreamworks, their dream-big, do-big blockbuster of the year, Kung Fu Panda.

Po is the Panda son of a restaurant-owning duck, in a Chinese valley where his ultimate dream is to become the 'awesome' Kung Fu 'dragon warrior'. But don't we all know that flabby bellies and cookie-love don't produce warriors that can move faster than light and swing sharper than a sword. Destiny however has great things in store for this dumpling-seeking ball of fur that breaks all previous records of heroic stereotypes.

Ogres, pandas, I'm really looking forward to what Dreamworks designs next as their unlikely hero. Now that I can safely say that I very much enjoyed this animated adventure, I am pleased to see audiences giving warm receptions to this redefining old schemas and images of what a hero should or should not be.

A definite thumbs up and mustn't forget a big-fat-Panda kudos to Jack Black for the relatable, believable Po.

"Kismat Konnection"

Aziz Mirza is a Bollywood asset. His movies are always on a different parallel compared to the rest of the mindless plots-with-dance-numbers. "Yes Boss", "Raju Ban Gya Gentleman" "Chalte Chalte" etc have been memorable movies indeed. Though Kismat Konnection lacks the same elements the aforementioned movies, being far too bubbly and a little cheesy for the likes of an increasingly cynical audience of the day, it still proves to be a good watch. Two point five hours still is a lot longer than necessary in my book to see Shahid Kapoor struggling with fate, but hey. At least the good part is, I don't have to see mindless life-and-death dialogs between the guy and the girl and Imran Hashmi smashing glass so he can steal the ring his latest crush wants. Blakh thoo.


It's hard for me to ever like Vidhya Balan. She seems to be trying for the whole Kajol-naturale, which I'm afraid is just not cutting through. Amongst all the actresses I do see right now, Rani Mukherjee tops my list. I don't quite project whether Rani would've been a better choice for "Priya" (honestly, why does it always have to be Priya and Raj Malhotra?) in particular, but I definitely feel some other actress could've done a better job. Even Kareena Kapoor - but whoops. That's a definite faux pas.

Shahid Kapoor is a natural. Especially when he's being the regular guy who can throw fits when he's angry. People need to understand even heroes have temper issues. Unlike Shah Rukh Khan who can always manage to grin soppily or give an emotional speech when it's time for due irritation.

All in all, definitely something you could watch over the weekend, even with all the needless hip-hop beats and the happy-ever-after ending.

"The Dark Knight"

You'll see, I'll show you, that when the chips are down, these uh... civilized people, they'll eat each other.

The much awaited movie of 2008, especially after the death of critically acclaimed Heath Ledger, arrives and exceeds expectations of reviewers, box offices and most of all, non-Batman fans. Fantasy and comic-book fiction hardly have the appeal for audiences that prefer movies with a little zest and oomph. But turns out, every once in a while, there comes the movie that blends carefully fantasy, action, class and creativity.


Christopher Nolan has already been praised of his initial work of Batman Begins and with The Dark Knight he has simply proven once again that his filmmaking talents are a force to be reckoned with. Corny old city of Gotham and cliched villains such as Two-Face and The Joker are now characters with depth and study. Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker deserves all the critical applause that it is receiving. Acting as Batman's trusty nemesis, he turns an intolerable villain into a feat of art, depicting the ravings of a madman, his paranoid schizophrenia and the unquenchable thirst for chaos.

Christian Bale deserves no less credit. His conflicted cape and plastic suit, he delivers a great role, a greatly admirable performance. Gyllenhaal is forgetful enough and Gary Oldman makes superb acting look like a piece of cake. What disappointed me a little was Aaron Eckhart who looked a little steely and a little too predictable in his role as Harvey Dent. But I guess it was because Bale and Ledger had already set a bar high enough for this movie to be a treat to all movie goers.

I'm expecting a posthumous Oscar for Ledger; no doubt he'll be the favorite for the award owing to his mysterious death and a career that had only just taken off. Unfortunately in more ways than one, this year he certainly went down Hollywood history.

You truly are incorruptible, aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because - you're just too much fun. I think we're destined to do this forever.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Darker, surlier and creepier. Goodbye, Chris Columbus, I will not miss you!

Hello, David Yates! Bring on the ugly childhood, traumatic memories of the past, the boy who lived and the boy who grew up to be You-Know-Who.

And of course. The Boy Who Grew Up to be the Half Blood Prince.

Fans, enjoy. Non-fans, make an exception and anticipate this one. I guarantee you this will be worth the wait.

November 21, 2008.

T minus 113 days.