Movie: THE WRESTLER (English)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Year: 2008 
Country: America 
Genre: Drama
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Duration: 1h 50m (app)

IMDB Rating: 8.2/10

Darren Aronofsky who gave the cult favorite ‘Requiem of a Dream’ at the beginning of the millennium, takes us through a one man’s journey of redemption, this time in ‘The Wrestler’. Calling ‘The Wrestler’ to be a well made movie would be an understatement – it packs along with it an emotional punch.

It follows the story of once-toast-of-the-arena Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson through the fading days of his wrestling career who has to come to terms with his aging. Yes, it has all the unable-to-pay-bills, living-at-the-roadside and familyless-emotionally-deprived protagonist having a soft corner for a single-mom-stripper-with-a-principle but Darren Aronofsky sure knows better. None of the clichéd settings affect the movie in what it wants to be – a straight from the heart tale which touches your aesthetic senses.

Because, in this movie the wrestler is not telling the story, it’s we who watch him to know his life. Aronofosky makes the camera follow the wrestler in his own course of life throughout the movie. The Wrestler lives his life and we get the glimpse of it – a surely wonderful way to do a one man story. Watch out for the scene where we follow Mickey as he enters his workplace on his first day of work after retirement – the ironical applause at the background takes us right into the heart of the lead character without bothering to give a glimpse of his facial emotion. Class!

With a movie being made about a wrestler, it becomes inherently important to etch his profession in the minds of the audience. The Action sequences are amazingly shot thanks to some crisp, powerful, realistic and terrifically photographed fight sequences. The dense cinematography by Maryse Alberti creates part of the magic. The Screenplay is neat and taut and does what is necessary for a protagonist on whom the film should be based upon. The choice of songs adds edge to the story-telling. The ensemble of Rock songs from Scorpions to the climactic ‘Sweet-Child-O-Mine’ by Guns ‘N’ Roses adds an edgy cool to the movie.

Marisa Tomei delivers a neat performance as a single-mom-stripper who shares an unsaid liking with Mickey Rourke. Evan Rachel Wood the only other known player (at least to me) in this movie also gives a performance fitting to the role of a daughter deprived of fatherly love. Yet, as it should be it is Mickey Rourke all the way. ‘The Wrestler’ is to Rourke what ‘Rocky’ was to Stallone. He seems to be the perfect choice to play this character and carries the movie totally on his shoulders. He won the Golden Globe for 2008 and should have won the Oscar too, but was tipped by the method acting of Sean Penn for ‘Milk’.

Looking back at the journey of the wrestler, it’s a touching, raw and heart-felt film although it never consciously tries to be. Darren Aronofsky has produced a gem of a movie based on a single character more than amply supported by Mickey Rourke. Although some might find it pretty slow, the journey is well worth it!

PROS

Direction

Mickey Rourke

CONS

Can’t think of any.

RATINGS

Direction: ****1/2

Mickey Rourke: ****

OVERALL: ****

Personal Value: 8.6 / 10.0

If you liked ‘The Wrestler’, check out:

Requiem for a Dream

Movie: RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Director: JONATHAN DEMME
Genre Keywords: Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Rehabilitation, Wedding
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin
Duration: 1h 52m (app)
IMDB Rating: 7.1 / 10.0

Premise:

Kym (Anne Hathaway) who is under rehab from drugs comes to attend her sister’s (Rachel) wedding. It follows how the family comes to terms with Kym who is involved in a tragic flashback which has also put the relationship of the two sisters into sensitivity. There is a caring father who refuses to accept the culpability of his daughter. There is a divorced mother, a Best Man Co-Rehab’ian and a musical to-be-brother-in-law. The impact the adolescent crime of Kym causes on the family and how their feelings pass through crests and troughs with her.

Style:

Yes, Rachel is getting married and the whole movie flows through the various photographic moments of a marriage. Jonathan Demme has shot the entire movie in a handy-cam mode – which distinctly enhances the film’s marriage connection. It creates the ambience of a marriage effectively. The scenes that highlight an American marriage are also captured in full.

Pros:

Anne Hathaway earned a well deserved Oscar nomination for here role in ‘Rachel Getting Married’. It’s her performance that carries the movie through out.

Look for the scenes when the toast happens during the marriage rehearsal and the musical that takes place after Rachel is married – it’s filled with so much of warmth!

The exchanges that happen between Kym and Rachel after the toast and also when Rachel gets to know about Kym’s lies during her rehab sessions coupled with the indecisiveness of her father fighting between the love for his daughter and coming to terms of her crime - excellently crafted.

Touching!

Comments:

A must watch if you love American family dramas.

RECOMMENDED TO (People who liked):
Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Philadelphia (People averse to the drama genre, please stay away)

GRADE
Anne Hathaway: ****
OVERALL: ***1/2

Personal Rating: 7.7 / 10.0

Touchstone Pictures & Icon Entertainment

presents

Movie: APOCALYPTO (Mayan)
Director: MEL GIBSON
Year: 2006
Country: America
Genre: Historical, Thriller
Cast: Rudy Youngblood
Duration: 2h 13m (app)

Mel Gibson after his blockbuster yet critically ridiculed ‘Passion of the Christ’ comes up with yet another brutal historical/mythical movie ‘Apocalypto’. In the opening scene the camera focuses slowly onto the dark interiors of bushes and trees in a forest and suddenly a wild pig skitters out setting the tone of what is to follow in the next 2 hours.

Mel Gibson’s narrative of a tribal herd group which is rudely savaged by a more powerful gang as a part of the deal to produce humans for the sacrifice to the people of the Mayan Civilization is brutal, fierce, and adventurous with a good share of jolt and pace.

The film begins with a artistic note and gives the impression that the director was inclined to emphasize the brutal differences of various civic/tribal group but then the film take a turn towards what is a racy thriller. The full credits need to go to the direction aspect where details are very much looked into.

The strain to make the movie look as authentic as possible is well noticed from scenes like the way Jaguar Paw’s wife mends together her son’s cut by using ants, the brute techniques of healing like cutting a clot open and the sets in the Mayan township. As the movie proceeds with the captives being taken to the place built of stone Gibson puts in the inevitable material aspects that grows with the civilization just as a character in the movie tells at the beginning – “there is a hole in man, and he tries to keep filling it until the earth finally says, I have nothing else to offer you”.

The direction is the best part, since Gibson has definitely played a wonderful part in moving the film at a pace that suits any chase-thriller best. The camera by Dean Semler deserves specific mention here, though why sudden jumps to digital visuals in the dogma shots of Jaguar Paw running was unclear. Although that could not be immediately recognized it could cause a distraction to the viewer from a palpable tension.

The music part features a number of tunes with an Asian influence. Hollywood filmmakers are finding aesthetics in the Hindustani/Sufi kind of tunes of late. But however the typical tribal drums that background the chase sequences provide good accompaniment. The cream of the movie was Mel Gibson helming with his direction and Rudy Youngblood in his first movie has donned a heavy role to a T.

Despite most of the aspects making ‘Apocalypto’ a good watch, (the contents are Adult oriented because of the excessive violence) the dramatization of the climax involving the birth and save sequence looked as if it was picked from a usual Hollywood movie. However ‘Apocalypto’ is a worthy watch for people who nothing more than a good horror-thriller show.

PROS
Direction

CONS
The Dramatic climax

COMMENTS
A brutal thriller that will dry the saliva in your mouth

TAGLINE
A Thrill Ride

GRADING
Direction: B+
OVERALL: B

RATING: 7.6 / 10.0

Movie: CLOSE UP (Iranian)
Director: ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
Year: 1999
Country: Iran
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Cast: Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Duration: 1h 30m (app)

Based on a True Story, Abbas Kiarostami directs CLOSE-UP, the story of a cinephile who in his deperation to get involved with the art impersonats himself as director ‘Mohsen Makhmalbaf’ enacting his part as an actor being a director. CLOSE-UP proves to be yet another movie in the league of those path-breaking movies that prove - boundaries for cinema are just not there.

This docu-drama involves the real case of fraud on Hossain Sabzian who enters into a family on the pretext of being a famous director with the intention of filming in their house and casting their son as an actor.

The whole movie has a feel of a documentary despite holding onto the reins of the Movie Format. The scripting of the movie deserves a definite applause with some wonderful work by the director in making the whole production highlight the notion of the genuine human tendency to reach out to the passions of the heart at any cost. All the characters play as themselves in the movie with the real director Makhmalbaf making an appearance at the end.

Kiarostami has made sure of the movie to be portrayed very realistic and hence the occasional blurs and distortions with the shaky cameras of documentary-kinda shots along with the real life character-actors makes the whole movie carve the niche where he has wanted it to be.

The occasional music provides the necessary cinematic emotions and the final piece of violin hits just the right note emoting the innocence behind the impersonation of Sabzian. CLOSE-UP not only showcases the suffering of a man unable to follow his desires but proves that the ‘realms’ for Cinema is just an illusion and it needs people like him to break it.

COMMENTS
A must-see for movie lovers.

TAGLINE
Path-Breaking!

GRADING
OVERALL: A-

RATING: 8.5 / 10.0

Movie: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (English, Japanese)
Director: ROB MARSHALL
Year: 2005
Country: America/Japan
Genre: Drama, Cult
Cast: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh
Duration: 2h 25m (app)

What’s an efficient machine if it can’t work? What’s a strong relationship if it can’t be loved? What’s in a mind if it can’t think? ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ falls deeply within one of these genres, trying hard to prove something where it isn’t. Rob Marshall of ‘Chicago’ fame directs this drama about a girl yearning to be a geisha to get closer to a man she loves.

Geisha, a Japanese entertainer with cultures and traditions of their own form an enticing cult to take notice and understand. But when handling a theme where you want to emote the style of Geisha life, it is highly necessary to maintain a balance between the information and the characterization. ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ neither dwells deeper into the geisha life nor does emphasize on the characterization and hence falls flat on a desultory script. But however saving graces of this film elevate the movie to such an extent that it isn’t just watchable, but enjoyable.

The young Cheiko after being sold by her family refuses to cope to the Geisha ways when she meets this stranger who turns her life and infuses in her a will to live. Slowly Cheiko moves up the geisha ladder looking to enjoy for eternity the fleeting warmth of the stranger. Mixed with this is the growing rivalry from one of her co-geisha and propping up philosophies at intervals.

After the studded ‘Chicago’ with the style and grandeur, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ come more of a surprise from director, Rob Marshall. One could never understand what English dialogues were doing in a Japanese movie, though the swarm of Chinese stars in a Japanese movie don’t matter. An American director working on the lifestyle of a Japanese cult is quite astonishing but one could not help noticing the absence of long absorbing sequences where nature of the Geishas could have been emphasized.

Despite so many discontents there comes the savior to this movie in the form of one of the exhilarating camerawork ever witnessed in recent times and a wondrous art that seems to project a realistic-like picture of the japanese miyako. Soothing music by John Williams adds to the grace. Cinema being a visual medium, despite so many holes in the script the movies looks beautiful and warming due to the astounding camerawork of Dion Beebe. The different shades of Black that his camera captures with the excellent artwork of Patrick Sullivan and Tomas Voth, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ makes a memorable watch never giving-in to the infested deficiencies.

After the interesting first half the movie swings from Geishas to rivalry to romance but the beauty of the movie diverts focus towards from all these negatives. The actors though totally foreign to English seemed to have put in so much of effort that their dialogue delivery jells in with so much of ease is definitely worth an applaud. Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh all play their part to the notch. Watching more native movies like Crouching Tiger.., Hero Rob Marshall’s direction despite its softness lacks that which is highlighted – ‘finesse’.

Camera and Acting form the saving grace of ‘Memoirs’ in fact lulling it far above where it should have been.

PROS
Cinematography, Art direction

CONS
Script.

COMMENTS
Enjoy it for the beauty because you won’t get anything else!

TAGLINE
Beautiful, but it takes more to be Great!

GRADING
Cinematography: A-
Art Work: above B+
Script: C
OVERALL: above B-

RATING: 6.9 / 10.0

Paramount Classics

present

Movie: BABEL (English, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic)
Director: ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INNARITU
Year: 2006
Country: America
Genre: Drama
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi, Adriana Barraza
Duration: 2h 20m (app)

’Babel’ – the word signifies “confusion of sounds or voices”. With its numerous well-known actors, many demographic languages, many languages - the director has made sure to put in the obvious influences of all his previous movies which doesnt cause much confusion but pivots the decision of the overall quality of the movie.

Three Stories, one referring to the Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett couple, another the adolescent sensuousness of the Japanese girl Cheiko, and the part of the brothers in the barren lands of Egypt who kick off the story are brought together as an incident chances their unknown meeting. If you say, this theme looks familiar – of Course…you got it. As ‘Amores Perros’(made in spanish) struck the cinedom with the novel attempt of showing how one accident that intersected into 3 different lives, Alejandro wanting to have more piece of the cake shifted base to America doing ’21 Grams’ with famed stars and a manipulative screenplay of ‘Amores Perros’.

With ‘Babel’ he returns to his den again telling stories that run parallel to each other in his same vintage way. Now, coming to the review of Babel, there is no question of his direction. The only thing that holds together this movie despite the redundancies is this awesome craft he put into building the movie.

But the greatest drawback and where the movie fails so miserably is in its emphasis. In ‘Amores Perros’, the different lives that falter/revive as the movie proceeds after the accident is so beautifully emphasized with respect to each, while ‘Babel’ refuses to move forward in the story’s characterization. A simple story with a such a screenplay could have helped if the aspect of reminiscence was not noticed.

However despite all these drawbacks one can never put ‘Babel’ away as just passable. Its got technical content and can definitely be enjoyed for the 2 hours of its watching. The screenplay shifts from one part to another in a smooth fashion, the periodic changes in tones of loudness….especially the switches from the desert to the mexican city and the Japanese cities is pretty exciting. But the necessity to suddenly get internal to the deaf-mute girl’s character by the periodic mutes in the disco scene doesn’t help.

The music plays along and supports the movie well. But the winner is definitely the director Alejandro Gonzales, with his crafty way of handling all the sequences amply complemented by the camerawork of Rodrigo Prieto. The exhilaratingly rustic visuals of Mexico and Tazarine(Egypt) are a treat to watch. All the actors fit their supporting roles pretty well. Special mention to Adriana Barraza and probably Rinko Kikuchi because she seemed to have got the most scenes in the movie.

‘Babel’ stands forward as a cocktail that has been tasted, in fact served by Alejandro himself. The service was wonderful but it’s the content that matters to the consumer. PROS
Direction

CONS
Obvious influences from movies Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Crash etc.

COMMENTS
Mr.Alejandro, you might be an expert in visualizing parallel stories, but that doesn’t need you to keep doing only that!.

TAGLINE
Too many movies – Babel.

GRADING
Direction: B+
OVERALL: B

RATING: 7.4 / 10.0

Paramount

presents


Movie: ROSEMARY’S BABY (English)
Director: ROMAN POLANSKI
Year: 1968
Country: America
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Duration: 2h 15m (app)


If Filmmakers are going to continue to attribute ‘Horror’ to the kind of creepy and colourful faces that make their appearance on screen trying hard to jostle viewers, Roman Polanski had proved them wrong way back in 1968 with his first American feature ‘Rosemary’s Baby’.

‘Rosemary’s Baby’ starts with a beautifully haunting track supposed to be a lullaby sung by the lead actress Mia Farrow herself, as the camera browses over the neighbourhood of apartments. As Rosemary(Mia Farrow) and her actor-husband, ‘Guy’ rent an apartment with dark history, Roman Polanski takes us for a ride of one of the fascinating films of horrow ever made. It takes the viewers through some scary camera sequences by how Rosemary tries to gets her baby to be born among various hindrances.

Technically, a highly quality movie with the necessary aura, Polanski has given his film to have. Be it the editing part where the scenes cut abruptly to the next or the crescendos of vibrations and dark background score that fits the movie to a ‘T’, Polanski has made the most out of his technicians. He is known for his eeire thrillers that seem to have set the way for movies of his kind of genre that had yet to come. If his ‘Knife in the Water’(polish) captured creatively the feeling of insecurity with a stranger, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ pulls just the kind of strings that would give the viewer the necessary blend of horror and thrill with almost no special effects or bloodshed.

It finds a place in the horror genre of my diary with the only other horror movie I cherish till date, ‘The Shining’.

Despite reasons of not explaining why the baby was expected out of Rosemary alone and why the girl who had been brought as a daughter was made to commit suicide and a few other snags, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ lives to what it promises to be – A worthy Horror movie.


PROS
Direction, Music

CONS
The usual unexplained parts in horror fantasy stories.

COMMENTS
One of the few well made Horror movies.

TAGLINE
A spirutual way of telling the horrors of baby-birth!

GRADING
OVERALL: above B

RATING
7.5 / 10.0