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Le Violon Rouge (The Red Violin)
I have been thinking of writing about “The Red Violin” since i saw it. I saw this movie by chance. Yes, i am really happy to have stumbled upon it.This movie is about an epic journey of a perfect musical instrument, The Red Violin. Some might say the movie is a collection of small stories and I wouldn’t disagree. The movie shows us the journey of the beautiful red wooden piece for over three centuries around the world and several owners, eventually ending up in an auction .
The movie begins with the tension filled auction in contemporary Montreal, where “the red violin”, a famous Nicolo Bussotti violin, is being auctioned off. It is also attended by New York-based musical historian (Samuel L. Jackson). But instead of staying with the auction all the time, we flash back to the creation of the violin in 17th century Italy and then follow it as it makes its way through an 18thcentury Austrian monastery/orphanage, a violinist in 19thcentury Oxford and China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Each time it brings the person who owns it a lot of fame, but also bad luck and despair, often resulting in the death of the owner or someone the owner really loves.
It is not just an ordinary drama or thriller, the story is as original as it can get. The physical setting, the background score and the superb acting only authenticates the movie. So we might feel uncomfortable with the subtitles, but it only makes you feel the movie more and draw you into the story more.
Enough about it, I will not give away any of the plot in hopes that when reading this you will take my advise and see this film and judge it yourself. You will not be disappointed.
Happy watching 
Trivia: According to wikipedia: The film was inspired by one of Antonio Stradivari’s violins, the Red Mendelssohn (1721), which is currently played by Elizabeth Pitcairn, heiress to the PPG fortune, whose grandfather purchased it for her 16th birthday for $1.7 million at auction at Christie’s London. She is one of the few soloists who performs the Red Violin Chaconne composed for the film by John Corigliano.
Sunshine Cleaning
This movie is not all fun and comedy, its a story of real people in the real world.
Its a story about two sisters Rose (Amy Adams) and Norah (Emily Blunt). Rose , a former head cheerleader who’s now working as a maid, taking care of her trouble-making son, Oscar (Jason Spevack), and sleeping with her ex-boyfriend, Mac (Steve Zahn), who married someone else. Norah can’t hold down a steady job …except for babysitting Oscar and telling him horror stories. Rose comes across this lucrative opportunity of crime scene clean-up specialist, and somehow convinces her sister Norah to join her in her new blood and body fluid cleaning business, and the two of them quickly learn how lucrative it can be, and how little they know about its machinations. But Rose is doing it for her son so that she can afford to send him to an appropriate school, and Norah is doing it so that she can be close to her sister.
Movie Poster
It is the intermix of relationships and how each character deals or doesn’t deal with them that holds this film together and makes it a surprising success. Amy Adams does another great job acting as
a vulnerable yet determined woman trying to make good for her son. Emily Blunt is stunning as the confused and embittered sister who loves the smell of everything her mother left behind and
deals with her puzzled relationships.
The performances are top notch. Adams is terrific. She’s one of those actors that manage to express a million emotions on her face at one time. She is a natural. Blunt’s performance is understated, and vastly entertaining to watch.
While there are several films out there trying to take advantage of the current world’s state, making quirky comedy out of desperation, Sunshine Cleaning is one of the better ones, definitely worth a watch but just don’t expect to leave feeling like all’s well in the world.
ROMANTIK–A Turkish Treat!
I am delighted to be invited by Shikha to write a guest post. I am not a big movie fan but I like to explore and this blog is a great place to discover unique movies from around the world. So I decided to do my bit as well and share this Turkish movie with you.
In life there are inevitable moments where we assume and judge a person, a place, an occasion, or a thought. And we go ahead and take actions. Actions, regardless right or wrong, they have butterfly effects on our environment and change our lives for the better or the worse.
The movie “Romantik” presents a love story between a girl and two men that love the same girl. When her boyfriend has to leave her to run away from the law, he comes back after three years only to find out that she is about to marry his best friend. He feels betrayed and she is confused. Things start happening…
It might sound like a cliché story or it is a cliché story. However the amazing point with the movie is how it plays with the audience. It shows the audience only one part of the story and as soon as we start assuming why the characters act the way they do, the story changes and shows us how bias we were. It is a great lesson the movie gives with a sweet love story and romantic scenes. There are great actors in the movie including my favorite Turkish actor “Okan Bayulgen”. He is a sensation in Turkey with his intelligence, humor and the ears that stand so far from his face that he could easily use them on his sailing boat. No seriously, he is a great actor and he chooses great movies. The other actor is a great singer who played for this movie for the first time.
I think “Romantik” is a nice movie with a great purpose and very easy to watch. I love the soundtrack of this movie as well. Worth watching it J
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Love Me If You Dare! Wickedly Delicious.
I am a big fan of Marion Cortillard since I saw her in La môme, I am always on a look out for her movies. I came across this movie while browsing the French section from Netflix, and I’m glad I chose this one! This movie tells the story of Julien(Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Cotillard), who meet in grade school and make a pact that binds them together for a lifetime. Their pact/game revolves around a little tin box, a toy painted to look like a merry-go-round. When one hands the other the box, along with it comes a dare. The other “Must” do what they’ve been dared to do. This begins as a childhood game and continues into adulthood, where it gathers dangerous and dark undertones.
P.S: One of the highlights of the movie is its music. They have used Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” as the sound track, which suits it to the core.
Sliding Doors
There have been times in life when we look back and think..”what if..?” Many filmmakers are fascinated by this concept of destiny, the road not taken. Sliding Doors is not the first movies which touches the concept of destiny, this issue has been fodder for several movies. But what makes it a special movie is the concept’s treatment. It was rather a brave step for Peter Howitt to make his directorial debut in an uncharted territory in 1998, but paid him off well.
The movie hovers around two versions of Helen’s life (Gwyneth Paltrow) after she catches/misses a train. How the destiny of two Helens unfolds is the movie plot. Paltrow, i would say is the heart of the movie and is a delight to watch. For me SLIDING DOORS is a quiet romance that entertains as well as makes you think. A lovely fable about fate, love and life. For me this movie has romance, humor and infinite possibilities.
Worth mentioning scenes are when she almost catches her boyfriend cheating, the boat scene and of course the climax.
Happy watching 
Priceless.
At one point he offers her a one-euro coin for 10 seconds of her time. He spends the 10 seconds gazing at her with huge love-struck eyes. ( isnt that Cute) . Now now Irene and Jean have an intense emotional and physical attraction for one another, but she needs more money to ‘survive’ than he can afford, and he needs the sponsorship of his own mistress to keep himself afloat. How they resolve the entanglements that tear them apart is both amusing and heartwarming.
The plot twists and turns as the film progresses, but, since this is a romantic comedy, we have a fairly good idea of where things will end up – but it still is fun to watch this odd couple volleying back and forth. This isn’t any kind of masterpiece, but is effortlessly crafted and thoroughly entertaining with spectacular locales.
Happy Watching
OMKARA.
Omkara is an adaption of Shakespeare’s Othello. We all are aware of the story of Othello, but watching it on the big screen is a different experience altogether, and mind you when the director is Vishal Bharadwaj then the experience becomes all the more memorable. I still remember when i first watched this movie i was awestruck but the sheer magic he created on screen.
Omkara/Omi (Ajay Devgan) heads a band of outlaws in a semi-lawless rural area in Uttar Pradesh. Bhaisaab’s (Naseer’s) election win promotes Omi, leaving his “Youth Leader” seat empty. In a logical political move, Omi selects Kesu Firangi (Vivek Oberoi) as his successor ignoring his loyal right-hand-man Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan). Green with envy, Langda slowly poisons Omkara’s mind against Kesu leading him down a path too dark for anyone’s good. Kareena, Konkona & Bipasha play Omi, Langda & Kesu’s love interests respectively.
When Vishal is directing the movie he makes sure he takes the actors whom he can either mold or are just exceptional. Ajay Devgan is brilliant as usual, though on the flip side, his U.P. dialogue does come across as forced. Nonetheless, Devgan made a fine Omkara. Kareen showed that she can perform too. Well, with Vivek Oberoi, Vishal made him act this one time. Konkona Sen, she is a beautiful actor with genuine talent, she was a treat to watch, she commands her scenes and takes control of her fantastic dialogues, making the rest of the cast look like amateurs.
Saif Ali Khan.. at his best.
Saif Ali Khan was the soul of this movie. He did in this movie what Pankaj Kapoor did in Maqbool with Abba Ji, which is to re-invent how a character is portrayed, it can only be achieved by legends. Langda is a bit of Jack Sparrow and Bill the Butcher at the same time, which means quality. The best thing was, for the entire movie Saif killed himself to become Langda. Where Dil Chahta Hai gave Saif Ali Khan a new life in the industry, Omkara showed his versatility. Omkara proved that he could be more than just a comedy or second lead actor. He won Popular Award and Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role.
Another character who made a mark with this movie is Deepak Dobriyal who is simply perfect, providing the appropriate and realistic relief from the intense proceedings of the plot. His idiocy and pining for Dolly are laudable.
The opening scene of the movie was one of the best i have seen in recent times. Another scene that was really scary and haunts me till date is the scene with the eagle on the wedding day.
Have you seen the movie? Share your fav scene or dialogue.
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is one of the rare movies which does justice to the book. The best thing i did was reading the book before watching the movie, which is so masterfully written by Khalid Husseini.
The start of the movie shows Amir a young, just-published novelist who lives in California with his wife. One day he receives a phone call from an old family friend, Rahim Khan. He asks Amir to come see him and tells him “there is a way to be good again”.
I prefer not telling the whole story, so go watch it yourself, even if you have read the book it will be a great watch, you wont be disappointed.
Every major and minor characters acted well, i was especially floored by Ahmad Khan Mahmoodcada, who played young Hassan.
My favorite line of the movie is “For you, a thousand times over”
Happy watching
Temple Grandin…different, not less!
I wish it was not a TV movie. If released theatrically it would have surely won an Oscar.
The movie is an excellent biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who in the 1960’s through 1980’s revolutionized the stockyard / slaughterhouse industry.This movie places us inside Temple’s brain and lets us view the rest of the world from her point of view. This film gave a different view of the character in a way many other films of this sort often fail to do, it enabled us to appreciate the fact that this person is an intelligent, nuanced human being who simply sees the world differently than a “normal” person. To see Temple battle her own inhibitions and logically formulate solutions to situations which might be simple for most people but which are tremendously challenging for her is both thrilling and intensely affecting. One of the most intriguing elements of the film is the manner in which it accentuates the fact that many problems those with autism have are generated by the often inconsistent, illogical, exasperating way in which “normal” individuals conduct themselves. It’s both infuriating and mind-boggling to see the manner in which Temple’s masterful mental processes are dismissed as goofy, weird, and stupid by so many of her peers.
Claire Danes plays the title character and I was amazed how well she acted, she did such a convincing job that I forgot I was watching Claire Danes on screen it was as if I could see/feel what Temple Grandin is going through, this is what we call getting into the character or being the character.
Mick Jackson’s direction is brilliant, he so amazingly shows us how Grandin is able to picture things in her mind. Catherine O’Hara is great as Aunt Ann and Julia Ormond is phenomenal as Temple’s mother who is sometimes frustrated, sometimes angry and sometimes helpless watching her offspring doing something strange and blaming herself for the child’s condition.
My only complain in the movie is that they should have focused a little bit more on her growing years and shown more about her sibling and her father rather than just mentioning them once. Still its a great watch.
Do yourself a favor go watch this movie.
Happy watching☺
Watch Temple granding receiving Emmy Award:
Emmys: Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Directing, Actress (Danes), Supporting Actor (Strathairn), Supporting Actress (Ormond). Golden Globe: Best Actress (Danes).
The Royal Tanenbaums
The Royal Tanenbaums: A Must Watch!
The movie starts with Alec Baldwin narrating the film as if reading a novel. Royal Tanenbaum, played by Gene Hackman, wants to reenter the lives of his abandoned family. He does it by faking cancer. Each of the Tenenbaum kids was a precocious genius: Chas (Ben Stiller) made a killing as a child investor. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior tennis champ and three-time U.S. Nationals winner.
The adopted Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright who won a 50,000-dollar Braverman Grant in the ninth grade and then they had Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) as their neighbor and childhood friend. Their past resentments are bitterly held against Royal when he suddenly reappears, claiming to have six weeks to live and a desire to reconnect with his family. Thrown together under one roof, Royal tries to make amends by driving them crazy. His urge to be a part of their life is somewhat inexplicable, and though they resist, they also open the doors just a bit. In one funny moment, Royal kidnaps Stiller’s two overprotected sons and takes them on an outing that includes running in traffic, shoplifting and swimming. He also offers to take them all to the cemetery to visit their grandmother’s grave, forgetting that Stiller’s wife is also buried there.
There are so many reasons why i like this movie, its not one of those regular comedy, its just DIFFERENT. There are endless hilarious scenes and all in the cast are absolutely radiant and deserve praise.I like the scenes where Gwyneth Paltrow locks herself in her bathroom and her conversation with her weird husband (played by Bill Murray). The dialogue delivery is just brilliant. If you listen to all the dialogues carefully you’ll die laughing. The concept of Dalmatian mice is just so hilarious, the spots on the mice were actually created using a Sharpie pen.
This film truly depicts the creativity of Wes Anderson, he has a unique way of looking at the world, even if its ridiculous. This was Wes Anderson’s third project with Owen Wilson after Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, as writers. Luke Wilson has appeared in all the three movies.
