Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Movie Review

I’m not the kinda guy who will willingly walk into a completely artsy movie just for the heck of it. But I do enjoy the occasional flick that is miles away from stuff getting blown up.

I heard about “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” from a coworker and was immediately intrigued with that very unique title. I’m so pleased that I actually watched it.

The movie is about a debonair, flawed and all-too-human French magazine editor who suffers a massive stroke and is basically completely paralyzed except for one eye. As he says, he has his eye, his imagination and his memories.

And what a wonderful imagination it is. The filmmakers take us into the victim’s brain with roving images of glaciers, deserts and gorgeous sights around the globe. They take us to his memories at Lourdes, the French countryside, sex on the beach with a beautiful French woman.

I won’t say much more because I’d hate to ruin it for you, but please do yourself a favor and watch this movie. You won’t regret it.

Bourne Ultimatum Is A SnowBlower’s Movie

Or something to that effect. Watching The Bourne Ultimatum is like snorting a pound of cocaine while just sitting around. The movie is so thrillingly quick and just so much goddamn fun. Most reviews have supplicated themselves at the throne of the King of Jerky-Camera-Land Paul Greengrass (the movie director who also did the ultra-wrenching United 93); that being said, there isn’t much of a point in me telling you the same things that everybody else has already reiterated.

What I will say is this; watch out for the background score. I’m no audiophile, but the action wouldn’t be half as fun (and even half would be awesome) without John Williams’ fantastic musical touch.

If you haven’t been to Europe yet, the movie will serve as a voyeur’s dream; you’ll feel you are right there with Bourne. The locations are nothing short of amazing - Moscow, Turin, London and of all places Tangiers, Morocco. The sequence in Tangiers is my personal favorite since that’s not a city you see frequently in American cinema; Greengrass uses that fact with amazing effect as Bourne jumps Crouching-Tiger-style from roof to roof. The sequence reaches its crescendo when Bourne and another CIA assassin go at it mano-a-mano in a dingy Tangiers apartment. Watch out also for the kick-ass shot in which Bourne jumps off a roof and flies right through a glass window - nothing short of exhilarating.

The end is a little bit weak since the rug that the moviemakers are trying to pull out from under us ends up being totally threadbare; the suspense is totally overstated. But it’s Bourne’s journey home to NYC that makes the movie a massive adrenaline surge.

Now you just have to hope that someone can convince Dick Cheney to watch it.

Ratatouille - Movie Review

When I first saw the preview for Ratatouille, I wasn’t so impressed - a movie about rats? No thanks, I’ll pass, I said to myself.

Then I saw the Metacritic reviews with all these critics lining up to drool over Brad Bird’s new oeuvre. It might be worth it after all, I thought to myself.

But this didn’t prepare me for the wonder and glory that Ratatouille brings to the silver screen. I don’t remember the last time I sat in a movie theater so mesmerized, so enveloped by what Fake Steve would call “a sense of childlike wonder”. The story holds its own against the fantastic animation work throughout the movie - no small task, since Pixar has done a fantastic job of imagining Paris in Pixar-land. Cobblestone streets, little European cars, lovely fountains and rude Frenchies - they’ve got it down to the last little detail, as is their wont.

For those who are joining us late - the movie is basically one rat’s quest to go from scavenger to culinary master, from a French countryside cottage to a chic restaurant in Paris. In order to make it happen, the rat must use a young garbage boy who can’t cook worth a damn but has, ahem, a nice heart.

Sound cliched and disgusting? Don’t worry, that’s only because I don’t know how to write. Go watch this one.

SiCKO Is Part Powerful Tearjerker, Part Bullshit - Movie Review

This is the movie review for SiCKO, Michael Moore’s new “documentary” about the U.S health care system and its relative spot against the rest of the world.

The first half of the movie is powerful stuff - primarily because Moore stays behind camera (unlike his other films) and lets the treatment denial horror stories of insured Americans and their tears do all the talking.

Notes on a Scandal - Movie Review

If you want a creepy movie that generates its chills without bloody corpses, moonlit nights, howling wolves or a pack of roving zombies out to get Grandma - watch “Notes on a Scandal“.

This is a British film with Judi Dench playing her usual Ill-chew-your-nuts-out-like-an-irascible-grandmother self as a high school history teacher. Cate Blanchett plays a colleague, a 37 year old teacher who may have a thing for men not quite in her age bracket. Barbara’s (Dench) attraction towards Sheba (Blanchett) is fairly bone-chilling, accompanied in no small part by great background music.

When Sheba (unaware of Barbara’s feelings) commits adultery with another, uh, man (watch for yourself), Barbara sets down a course of manipulation that is bound to end badly for all involved.

Once again, this is a small movie with no surprises, explosions or blood; but the fabulous cast, the taut storytelling, crisp dialogue and a frigid background score make for a good ninety minutes. I highly recommend it.

A Mighty Heart Indeed

It is hard to make a movie when the ending is not only well known but also shatteringly gruesome. But that is exactly what Brangelina and co. have pulled off with “A Mighty Heart”, which I managed to catch this evening.

For those of you who haven’t heard, the movie is a chronicle of the tense few weeks between Danny Pearl’s kidnapping and his eventual demise at the hands of crazed fundamentalists. The story is set in Karachi and feels like a documentary (supposedly the director’s signature style).

Since I am Indian, the movie was a voyeuristic journey into Pakistan, an oft-hated “enemy” that (unsurprisingly) looks and feels so much like India. The city streets, the people, the coarsely uttered Urdu/Hindi look and felt strangely familiar and foreign at the same time. Hell, I even noticed the electrical outlets and chipping paint in a horrifyingly realistic torture scene. Kudos to the filmmakers for doing a kick-ass job of the visual elements of the movie.

Love her or hate her, Angelina does a great job of playing Mariane Pearl and portraying her quiet dignity and resolve in the face of egregious odds. For my money’s worth, she carries the show. You have to see it to believe me.

While the movie is sad enough, the worst part was that on opening night, most of the movie theater was empty. Should we consider that a sad commentary on our society? I’ll leave that up to you.

Shut Up and Sing - Movie Review

I’m not a part of what you would call country music’s core demographic. White? Nope. Suburban? Nope. Right wing supporter? Hell no, are you freaking kidding me?

It is therefore with great pleasure that I watched the Dixie Chicks’ documentary of catharsis - “Shut Up And Sing”. It’s nice for someone to wave a big fuck you flag in the face of death threats and musical boycotts over little more than a jokey, running-the-mouth statement.

The movie is told in the fly-on-the-wall style and captures all the raw emotion backstage and in hotel rooms as the “top of the world comes crashing down” for the all-American girls of country music. It traces their cautious steps from that misstep to the recording of a new and defiant album “Taking the Long Way” in sunny Los Angeles.

The story is exceedingly well-told and framed with a failing war in the backdrop. It jumps back and forth between 2003 and 2006, from disaster to rebirth. The movie also lays claim to a totally kick-ass soundtrack, this coming from some one who had never heard a Dixie Chicks song until this movie came along.

Oh yeah, and the fact that you get to see a bunch of country rednecks look foolish on wide screen? Icing on the cake.