Tackling '1001 Movies' list: Mini Reviews

At the end of last month I promised that I will dedicate this whole month of April to watch movies from '1001 Movies' list only. I swear I tried hard and even kept my promise to a certain extent. Even though I did see some movies out of the list here and there, I stuck to the list even when Netflix decided to take half a dozen movies in my queue off their instant watch. So if I am dedicating so much of my movie watching time to the list, it only makes sense if I dedicate a post to it, right? In March, I also decided to concentrate more on the list for the rest of the year. So there is a good chance that I might make this a monthly feature, at least for the rest of the year to talk about some of the movies from the list I saw in that particular month? How about that? Now for the three movies in this post; when I chose them, I did not have any specific theme running through them all but as Sat down to write, it turns out that there is something there. You'll see everything in the right time. Let's get to the movies.

Mulholland Drive(2001): This was quite a surprise for me. I still haven't seen a lot of David Lynch's work but from little that I have, I have to say that I won't call myself an admirer of his work. Rather I am kind of predisposed to hate him. I have seen Blue Velvet(1986) before; which, except Laura Dern, I pretty much hate to the core. I have also seen Twin Peaks(1990) series and I swear to god, there is nothing else in this world that gets under my skin as much as that serial. It only has 30 episodes in it but I was watching it for months because there was only so much of it I could take at a time. I still don't think I have finished it yet. The Elephant Man(1980) is probably the only movie I have seen before today that I have some admiration for. His films are weird and unreachable for no obvious reason and I hate that. I feel like Lynch tries to shock his audience all the time and more often than not I end up either laughing at it or with 'Why the hell am I doing this to myself?' expression on my face. So when judging a Lynch film, my parameters of judging them have changed over the years. They are not how I like the story? and characters? They are more like how many times I feel like killing myself or bang my head against wall?  

Mulholland Drive, however, turned out to be something I genuinely liked. I won't go into the story for, one, I think I should be one of the last persons on the earth to see it and two, there really isn't much I can say about it without giving everything away. It does have its fair share of Lynchian moments and I still don't think I have my head wrapped around it completely. But despite some loose strands dangling here and there, which I am not sure I'll be able to tie together even on the subsequent viewings, I believe it is one of the best mysteries I have seen(Disclaimer: this assessment is based on usual standards and not my custom Lynchian standards :)). And I am certain, Naomi Watts in this is one of the best performances I have seen. From her very first scene as this dove-eyed, Hollywood-smitten girl with a dream of making it big one day to devastated, hallucinating self in the end, she was really a sight to see. Another thing that distinguishes Watts from typical Lynch characters is how real her character feels. One of the major turn-offs for me in Lynchian world is I can not think of a character in any other Lynch movie that feels real like Betty, maybe except for Laura Dern in Blue Velvet. Betty however, I'll never be able to forget how perfect she was in her audition scene. Wow! And to think that this was her breakthrough role, that Lynch got her out of almost obscurity. Just Wow!!

Rating(out of 5):

The Wedding Banquet(1993): So apparently Brokeback Mountain(2005) wasn't the first time Ang Lee featured a gay leading couple. He had done it in his second movie, even before people started knowing him after Sense and Sensibility(1995). Like Lynch, I still haven't seen majority of Ang Lee's work. However, unlike Lynch, I am very much interested in getting more acquainted with him. I have heard people admiring him for seamlessly venturing into multiple genres from one movie to another with equal finesse and that is something I really like about any director. My experience of his work so far, however limited it might be, isn't bad either. However despite all this admiration for him, The Wedding Banquet isn't something I generally would even touch with a six feet pole. I added it to my Netflix queue because Lee directed it and it's on the list and I saw it because it expires this month-end. But we love surprises, don't we? and it surely did surprise me. I don't mean to say that it does something ground breaking or something that will change your opinion about anything but it is definitely worth two hours of your time. Maybe because I had minimal expectations from it, it turned out much better than I thought but in either case, I am certainly glad I watched it.

It is a story of young Taiwanese guy, living in Manhattan, named Wai-Tung. He is gay and has been living with his boyfriend Simon for 5 years but he has kept it all secret from his traditional parents, living in Taiwan, for the fear of their disapproval. As he gets older, his parents keep on asking him to get married and settle as soon as possible and for obvious reasons, he has always been stalling them. Wai-Tung owns a dilapidated building where he has a painter tenant Wei-Wei who is not only poor but also has some immigration issues. One day, Simon puts forward an idea that might help them get rid of all their problems at once - Wai-Tung and Wei-Wei fake marry each other. It will help Wai-Tung to get this marriage monkey off his back, his parents will also be satisfied. Wei-Wei will get her immigration issues sorted out and they can go on with their life just as quickly. However Wai-Tung's parents have long since waiting for this day and decide to visit immediately to see their new daughter-in-law and from there on, their drama takes many turns none of them anticipated. It is such a beautiful story. First half of it, when fake married couple is just trying to satisfy Wai-Tung's parents is really funny and provides multiple hilarious moments like Wei-Wei's vows in court, their first kiss and finally Banquet. In second half, things take a little serious turn but Lee handles it with poise, making it very heartfelt story that audience can immerse in, rather than going down the cheesy lane.

Rating(out of 5):

Three Kings(1999): Third movie from another famous director that I have seen very little of(BTW, that is the theme I was referring to earlier). In case of David O. Russell, he falls somewhere in between Lynch and Lee for me. I am not as apathetic about his movies as Lynch but I am not as enthusiastic about delving into his filmography as Lee either. I have previously seen two of his latest movies, Silver Linings Playbook(2012) and The Fighter(2010) and even though I am not the biggest fan of either, I like them enough especially for all the acting talent involved in it. I am also very much looking forward to his recently titled American Hustle(2013) which again is based on the virtue of brilliant cast he has assembled(Who am I kidding? It is because Amy Adams is in it). However as I look at the rest of his filmography, I have nothing to look forward to. Thankfully, I liked Three Kings as well which should give me a little more drive to get into movies that I know absolutely nothing about. Hopefully a few of them will surprise me just like The Wedding Banquet above.

As for Three Kings, I had heard quite a bit of praise but it is still a bit mysterious to me. Let me try to explain why? The thing is I can think of about 100 reasons not to like this movie. It is very predictable - everything that happens after Clooney and Co. find that gold is pretty much exactly how I thought it would; it is almost cheesy 'and everyone lived happily ever-after' story which should not make sense; it is shot in weird way, especially with all the saturated colours during desert sequences and uses slow motion, among other things, ad nauseum and I am still not sure if it is a parody or a serious movie trying to take stand on very serious matter. Everything above dictates that I should hate this movie, even one of the reasons above would make me hate it. Yet... in this case, surprisingly I Do Not. I don't know. It is predictable, cheesy and happily-ever-after story but there was enough emotional involvement for me; enough reason, enough substance in the story to warrant that involvement. Half the time, screen is over-saturated and more often than not, he could have done without slow-motion shots but they still add to the tension on the screen. And his humour, almost certainly at the wrong time, in the wrong place keeps in tone light while making the strong statement. I swear, if you ask me few months down the line, I might say I hate Three Kings for all the same reasons but for now, I have to go with - I like it.

Rating(out of 5):

10 Movies I am looking forward to in 2013

2013 is officially off and kicking now. With Gangster Squad(2012) out last week, we even had our first notable release of the year as well. 2012 was a great year for cinema, one when the ticket sales went up for a change. Even though I am still scrambling to wrap-up the last year with some of the movies that have missed through the cracks, I think it is time to see if 2013 can be as good a year as 2012 was, it is look forward to what the next year has in store for us. So, today I give you the list of some of the movies that I am looking forward to this year. We have very limited information about most of the movies on the list right now. Some of them are bound to disappoint, some movies that are not in the list will probably surprise me as well but I think it will be interesting to see what do I think of these movies at around the same time, next year. Here we go.

Honourable Mentions: 

The Great Gatsby - I would have been much more excited for it, had it been released in 2012. And even though I loved Moulin Rogue(2001), Baz Luhrmann can be a hit or miss. 

Only God Forgives: After Drive(2011), Nicolas Winding Refn is teaming up with Ryan Gosling once again and is taking us into the kick boxing world of Thailand. What's not to like?

Gravity: I am not a big fan of Alphonso Cuaron or Sandra Bullock but I won't turn my head from them either. Story doesn't look half bad and Mr. Clooney is there. So, we have hope. Let's see how much it delivers.

Passion: In my opinion, Brian De Palma is an over-indulgent director who takes his movies a little too far. But after last year's Love Crime(2010), I have hopes from this movie. If De Palma can keep him in check, it can be something worth watching.

The World's End - Only reason this is in the honourable mentions and not in the actual list is because I still haven't seen Hot Fuzz(2007). But Shaun of the Dead(2004) is one of the best comedies I have seen and if it is anything like that, I am game.

And now, 10 movies that I am really looking forward to this year, in no particular order.

I'm So Excited: We couldn't have started with a better title. All I need to know about this movie is it's directed by Pedro Almodovar. All I DO know about this movie is it's directed by Almodovar and casts Paz Vega, Penelope Cruz and Antonio Benderas. Over the last couple of years, I have sat through a bunch of his stuff. Like Every movie Almodovar does, this will probably make me a lot uncomfortable and ask questions that I'll probably won't want to talk about openly. But despite knowing that, I go and watch Almodovar movies because I cannot deny the fact that each and every one of them is a real piece of art. This one won't be any different. 

The Wolf of Wall Street: Not only Martin Scorsese is back after endearing Hugo(2011) little over a year ago, this is Scorsese once again teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio. Looking at their track record, this should be a good enough selling point. But off course, there is more. They have assembled quite a good cast however most important thing from my point of view, is they have an intriguing storyline. "Story of a Long Island Penny Stockbroker who served 20 months in prison for refusing to cooperate in massive security fraud case that involved the corruption on wall street, banking world and also mob infiltration" I am Sold. 

Inside Llewyn Davis: This is Coen Brothers returning to the scene after True Grit(2010) couple of years ago. Coen Brothers have tried some unconventional casts in last few movies they have done and more importantly, made every single one of them work perfectly. This is yet another unconventional cast of Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake plus Coen Regulars like John Goodman. We still don't have a trailer or a poster or even a synopsis for this February release but if anyone can make this work, it will be Coen Brothers. Plus No Deakins who does play a major role in their movies. So that should be interesting too. 

Twelve Years a Slave: Discounting some of his shorts, Steve McQueen has only made two movies but they are Hunger(2008) and Shame(2011). I don't think I know any director whose first two movies are as good as these two. So, after that if he wants to shoot a movie about how to eat a matchbox, rest assured I will be there. But being Steve McQueen, he isn't. He is making a movie on slavery and even if look at the cast he has assembled, I am sure you will be as excited as I am - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Quvenzhane Wallis, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch with Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson and many many more. 

The Monuments Men: Over the past few years, George Clooney has turned into a man who can do no wrong. Almost every project he has touched has become successful. Even his directorial efforts aren't any different. Following his usual line of movies with political background and a strong moral message, he is going into the holocaust period focusing on group of art historians and museum curators trying to save the renown pieces of art that Nazis have stolen from destroying. With a strong cast of Clooney himself, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Daniel Craig with Bill Murray, John Goodman and Jean Dujardin, this will be worth the wait till December.

Now You See Me: Up until the moment I saw the trailer for this movie, this was no where on my radar. I wasn't even aware of it's existence. Even now, I have no interest in any of the director's previous films but the trailer of this movie was one of the bests I have seen and got me really intrigued. The Concept of FBI agents tracking a team of magicians pulling of actual bank robbery during their performance sounds quite interesting. Also cast of Jessie Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco with Martin Freeman and Michael Caine should be worth seeing. 

Before Midnight: Third installment of Richard Linklater's trilogy following Before Sunrise(1995) and Before Sunset(2004). When I first heard about the possibility of such a film, I kind of shrugged it off. After all, it's 9 years after the second installment and there is no indication in Before Sunset that we need any follow-up of that. But then I realized there is a 9 year difference between first two as well and if someone asked me in 2004, I probably would've made the same argument against Before Sunset and guess what, I ended up loving it even more than Before Sunrise. So lesson learned. I am not going to write it off or at least till I have seen it.

Her: Like Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino, Spike Jonze movies are first and foremost Spike Jonze movies, if you know what I mean. Now I wasn't crazy about Adaptation(2002) neither was I head over heels for Being John Malkovich(1999) but I saw both these movies out of sheer curiosity based on the insane story lines. I also think they went a little too far delusional but still I can not deny how unique these movie are. Her looks like yet another venture in a similar direction. Plus, it has Amy Adams in it. I have seen every movies she has done in a last decade and I have no intention of breaking that streak.

Labour Day: Jason Reitman is another director who might have very few movies on his resume but I think the fact that every single one of them impressed me a lot makes up for that. It seems like he makes 1 film with Diablo Cody then one without her. This is his 'without' turn. So if it is anything like Up In the Air(2009) or even Thank You for Smoking(2005), even though for a strange reason it reminds me of Little Children(2006), I am ready to wait. From the looks of it this might be his most dramatic movie yet but he does have a great cast of Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Jacki Weaver along with others to carry it.

Lowlife: I have actually not seen any movie James Gray has directed. So, I am taking a kind of blind shot here as I am not sure what exactly to expect from this. But the first thing that caught my attention was its eclectic cast. Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Pheonix and Marion Cotillard is a really interesting cast which can do wonders together. Plus, what little we know about the plot makes me further intrigued. An Immigrant woman, dazzling magician, Ellis Island. I don't really know much about this movie right now but from what I do, It is safe to say I am excited for it. Hopefully by then I would seen some of the Gray's movies and it will be worth it.

So, what are you waiting for in this new year?