30
July , 2010
Friday
Departures is nakedly manipulative. Its director, Yôjirô Takita, doesn’t show any sensitivity to tone or ...
Ghost stories. They have haunted many genres – horror-slash-supernatural, comedy, romance,  fantasy. They have been ...
Hot Fuzz is the type of movie that offers up something for just about anyone, ...
"Are you my friend now?" Connor (Michael Fassbinder) asks Mia (Katie Jarvis) about mid-way through ...

Departures - Yôjirô Takita

Departures is nakedly manipulative. Its director, Yôjirô Takita, doesn’t show any sensitivity to tone or character. He aims to wring tears out of us by any means necessary, underlining every emotion with a blatancy that borders on shamelessness. Not content ...
Departures - Yôjirô Takita

Kwaidan – Masaki Kobayashi

Ghost stories. They have haunted many genres – horror-slash-supernatural, comedy, romance,  fantasy. They have been told to us by friends and parents around campfires, or during blackouts, with “Ooooo” sound effects and torch-lighting. They have been around almost as long ...
Kwaidan – Masaki Kobayashi

Hot Fuzz - Edgar Wright

Hot Fuzz is the type of movie that offers up something for just about anyone, though unlike many such films it excels at multitasking. Easily classified as a comedy, an action movie, a mystery and a satire, it is an ...
Hot Fuzz - Edgar Wright

Fish Tank - Andrea Arnold

"Are you my friend now?" Connor (Michael Fassbinder) asks Mia (Katie Jarvis) about mid-way through Fish Tank. It's a fair question, given how turbulent her emotions are, particularly where he's been concerned. One moment she likes him, the next she's ...
Fish Tank - Andrea Arnold

Neil Simon’s Chapter Two - Greasepaint

Let me say it right away – if a new kid on the block such as Greasepaint could do justice to a play as rich as Chapter Two on their very first attempt, I am positive ...
11 November 2009 || Read the full story

The Cove - Louie Psihoyos

The important question The Cove doesn’t answer, because the filmmakers can only venture to guess, is why? The documentary showcases such a strange stubbornness on the part of the Japanese government, working in defense of a ...
22 January 2010 || Read the full story

Nine Lives: in search of the sacred in modern India

India is in the throes of massive and multi-dimensional socio-economic change. That has already – in some circles at least – become cliché. Also, a lot of people are determined to call this change unqualified progress, ...
5 December 2009 || Read the full story

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed. "It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed. Let me start with the obvious – Catch-22 is the kind of book I have never read ever before, and in all probability, ...
15 June 2010 || Read the full story

Bikash Bhattacharjee: The Artist of the Artless (Part 3)

February - 22 - 2010 Author: Sourav Roy 1 Response

Holding a prism to the twilight sky
As united as the art critics were in lambasting Bikash Bhattacharjee’s work in his early days, in his later years they were as divided in interpreting his work. Because, it’s a common ailment of the common art critic not to rest in peace till he has categorized an artist [...]

A Jihad for Love, Small Town Gay Bar, Trembling Before G-d

November - 2 - 2009 Author: Daniel Montgomery Respond

If there’s one thing Christians, Muslims, and orthodox Jews agree on, it’s that gays aren’t welcome. Of course, each group believes the other two are eternally rejected by God too, so what are you gonna do?
Director Malcolm Ingram’s compassionate 2006 documentary Small Town Gay Bar isn’t about religion, per se, but it takes place in [...]

Of Dimes and Dames - The Mesmerizing World of Film Noirs

March - 29 - 2009 Author: Shubhajit Lahiri 9 Responses

Welcome to the world of film noirs – a world infested by two-bit thugs and crooked cops, anti-heroes with a thing for cynical wisecracks, platinum blondes ready to take a good man on a bad ride, femme fatales in the garb of damsels in distress, shabby joints where men of dubious intents plot shady deals over cheap whiskey and cigarettes, seedy hotel rooms where love is just another word. This is a dark, dark world where you get greed, lust, betrayal, double crosses and murder in plenty – a world devoid of the so called good things of life.

Oscar – sold to the studio with the biggest promotion?

February - 6 - 2009 Author: Roy Stafford 1 Response

The film industry, in the form we understand today, is approaching its centenary. The first attempts to organise and standardise production, distribution and exhibition date from around 1910/11. A few years later, the first Hollywood studio majors began to appear in nascent form (Universal and Paramount in 1912). But it was not until 1927 [...]

Satyajit Ray – Auteur Extraordinaire (Part 3)

June - 8 - 2009 Author: Shubhajit Lahiri 2 Responses

While speaking about Ray’s contributions to the world of cinema, it is very easy to overlook, especially those who do not speak Bengali, his prolific literary output. In fact it can be safely said that, had he not been a filmmaker, he would still have been as famous, at least in Bengal – such was [...]

Satyajit Ray – Auteur Extraordinaire (Part 2)

June - 5 - 2009 Author: Shubhajit Lahiri 1 Response

Ray covered a host of genres in his lifetime – from psychological, urban dramas to satirical comedies and musicals, from political films to children’s fantasies, from historical epics to detective movies, from noirish tales to simple fables, from road movies to buddy films – he covered ‘em all. In Jalsaghar (The Music Room) you have [...]

Satyajit Ray – Auteur Extraordinaire (Part 1)

June - 3 - 2009 Author: Shubhajit Lahiri 1 Response

Satyajit Ray was a Renaissance Man – a versatile genius of immense capabilities. A towering personality, he wasn’t just one of the great auteurs of world cinema, but also a prolific writer, a brilliant illustrator, and an exceptional composer among others. Born to a family of literary giants, Ray is a cultural icon like few others.

  • On The Canvas - Vladimir Kush

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Police recovers Picasso’s Little Guitar

Art News, News

The Roman police have recovered Picasso's Little Guitar, from a local businessman, CBC news reported. ...

Gold fresco by Richard Wright wins Turner Prize

Art News, News

Glasgow-based artist Richard Wright, who created a gorgeous fresco in gold leaf, has won this ...

Nabokov’s unfinished novel reappears

Literature News, News

Vladimir Nabokov wanted it burned on his death, but The Original of Laura survived and ...

Paltrow joins Kidman’s transsexual film The Danish Girl

Cinema News, News

Gwyneth Paltrow has signed on to The Danish Girl, a film chronicling the real-life story ...

Haitian-born Montrealer wins Blue Met writing prize

Literature News, News

Dany Laferrière, a Haitian-born Montrealer known for his provocative and thoughtful novels, has won the ...

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