BLOOD DIAMOND

DIRECTED:EDWARD ZWICK

Produced by: LenAmato, Benjamin Waisbren, Kevin De La Noy

CAST:Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Arnold Vosloo, Michael Sheen


Sometimes we do get lucky in life, if not in life then def in films. Coz once in a while there comes a film like 'blood diamond' which shakes you wakes you up, because the story has managed to touch you in various ways, through the character of the father desperate to get back his son, through the character of son who is being taken away by the rebels and has forgotten his way home, through the character of Leo who is desperate to get that pink diamond which will make him super rich, and through the character of Jennifer Connely who being a reporter, who despite knowing the real intention of Leo, knowing the real Leo can't help falling in love with him.

The film hits not just on the level of characters, but also on the bigger picture. The mans quest for money and the more flamboyant things in life [like diamond], at the cost of his life and above all at the cost of other peoples lives and values.

Caprio's, performance is immpecable. His undaunting nature and the layering in his character, which initially looked simple turns out to be more complex. Playing as an ex mercenary and diamond smuggler, heis unmatched. His savory, English-flecked patois in which he converses with the thugs is delightful, and there’s a ready humor in his open enjoyment of deceit, bribery, and dirty deals.

Hounson, as a fisherman separated from his family and enslaved by rebel forces terrorizing his village is forced to work in the diamond mines of Sierra Leone, where he comes across a large pink diamond. Caprio comes to know about the diamond and he wants it at any cost. Houson is ready to give it to him, but on one condition if Caprio helps him get his family back.

Caprio agrees.

Along the way the horrors of the chaotic and brutal civil war are revealed. Soldiers recruit children to perform hideously violent acts and drug them to keep them mollified. The film posits the idea that whenever a valuable natural resource has been discovered in an African nation (such as oil, gold, ivory or diamonds) the country itself rarely profits. The standard of living of its citizens is rarely improved. Instead, strife reigns and the spoils go to corrupt, affluent businesspeople in Europe or the USA.

Jennifer Connelly, is an American journalist looking to write a story exposing the diamond smuggling industry. She tries to seduce Caprio at the same time put him off just to get her story.
But ultimately she falls in love with him.

This socio political and action film manages to send a dent in the audiences heart through it breath taking locales, through children being made a part of the violence and the drug crime, and through the brilliantly performances from all the quarters.

A MUST WATCH FOR THE DIAMOND LOVERS!!

watch the trailer

="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSrXKf_eNfY&mode=related&search="

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Directed by: Davis Guggenheim .
Produced:Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns, Lesley Chilcott

Well we all know that the Earth is going to die someday, a million years may me two when we would probably become one of the stars in the universe. This film tells you its going to happen right now, tomorrow may be day after. This documentary about global warming shakes you from head to toe to the last atom your body is made up of, unless of course, you have a choice not to be human.

Narrated and demostrated by the once U.S Vicepresident Al Gore the film chronicles the chronicle effect of global warming our generation next is going to be facing if we do not do anything about it now. The window of now being maximum ten years. Beyond that the damages are going to be irrepairable.

The film is essentially a visual[power point] presentation on global warming, very different and challenging way of telling a story and yet making it interesting and hooking the audience till the very end. That main presentation is intercut every now and then with the life of Al Gore, the life he has lead, fought, won, lost. His thirty years dedicated involvement to the issue of global warming, and still raring to go. His reasons for getting involved with the issue [ he almost lost his son, he lost is sister due to smoking, the irony being tobacco was a family business, his close connection with the environment during his upbringing]

The film highlights the hard core facts of how we are contributing every day to global warming. population, pollution[ increased use of cars, cutting down of trees, increased food electricity any form of consumption] is destroying nature, putting pressure on it.

A simple formula will explain it better. the sun rays fall on the earth- some is absorbed other is reflected back into the atmosphere. Now due to thickened blanket of co2 already forming above us, the rays get caught in the blanket and more rays get caught and further more every day, due to which the temperatures are increasing like hot oven. And we are going to be melting soon.

The film reflects the chunks of icy mountains falling down like trees being axed. Its shuddering. If greenland or Antarctica melts, the sea level in the entire world is going to rise by 20 feet, which means regions on the Eastern side are going to go down the water by a sizeable amount. There are milion other issues demonstarated graphically by Al Gore. Its a must watch film for every single person existing itn he world. WE TALK ABOUT AIDS, ABOUT CANCER, ABOUT TERRORISM, ABOUT MILLION OTHER THINGS, BUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WHEN THERE WOULD BE NO ONE LEFT TO TALK ABOUT!

The film also tells about the things we can do in order to get the the Earth back in a stable state. So go watch it.

Other effects of the global warming added by my data are:


.Climate change could drive a million of the world's species to extinction as soon as 2050, a scientific study says.

.The United Nations says the prospect is also a threat to the billions of people who rely on Nature for essential goods, food, shelter and medicines for their survival. 12000, species - plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, butterflies and other invertebrates - are expected to move in response to changing temperatures and climate.

. John Lanchbery, of the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has studied the science and diplomacy of climate change for many years. He has told BBC News Online: "It would appear there is really nothing we can do to avoid at least some extinctions. We are bound to be near to the study's minimum scenarios, even if we can avoid the higher ones ." which means we can avoid the higher disasters

. "If one million species become extinct... it is not just the plant and animal kingdoms but alsoThe the beauty of the planet that will suffer.

.Greenland's ice sheet could disappear within the next 1,000 years if global warming continues at its present rate, a report in Nature magazine suggests

.Of Hawaii's 125 endemic plants (species found nowhere else) added to the Red List this year, 85 are threatened

"The Red List tells us that human activities are leading to a swathe of extinctions that could make these islands ecologically and aesthetically barren."

. Among the countries with the highest numbers of threatened birds and animals are Indonesia, India, Brazil, China and Peru. Plants are declining fast in Ecuador, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Sri Lanka.

. European researchers say last summer was the hottest on the continent for at least five centuries

THE APARTMENT

THIS BILLY WILDER FILM,IS A SIMPLE NARRATIVE OF A SWEET, GUY BAXTER,PLAYED BY JACK LEMMON. MOST OF THE BILLY WILDER'S FILM REFLECT THE VULNERABLE SIDE OF A CHARACTER, WHERE HE ALWAYS SACRIFICES HIS SELF TO SURVIVE. IN CASE OF SUNSET BOULEVARD THE STRUGGLING WRITER BECAME THE KEEP OF A YESTERYEARS ACTRESS, IN THE APARTMENT C.C.BAXTER LENDS HIS APARTMENT TO THE SENIOR COLLEAGUES TO BE USED FOR THEIR PLEASURE, THE FILM REFLECTS HIS SUFFERING EVERYTIME HE LENDS THE APARTMENT, HE HAS TO SPEND THE NIGHT OUT, OR GIVE UP HIS PRIVACY. BUT THEN HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH ONE OF THE GIRL'S[SHERLY MACLAINE] WITH WHOM THE BIG BOSS IS SLEEPING WITH, AND HE IS WITH HER ALL THE WAY. RELATIONSHIP GROWS AND THE GIRL REALISES THAT JOH N IS THE REAL MAN, THE TRUE GUY, SHE SHOULD GO FOR.

PLUS

AMAZING CHARACTERIZATIONS

VERY GOOD PERFORMANCE BY BAXTER

BILLY WILDER FILM


THE FILM REFLECTS THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE, THOSE WHO TAKE AND THOSE WHO GET TAKEN!!

AMERICAN PSYCHO

THIS FILM DIRECTED BY MARY HARRON,WAS RELEASED IN THE YEAR 2000.

INSHORT, THE FILM IS ABOUT A 27 YEAR OLD PATRICK BATEMAN, PLAYED BY CHRISTIAN BALE. THE FILM APLTY DEALS ABOUT THE PYCHE OF A STRANGE,ECCENTRIC,INACCESIBLE COMPETITIVE,GUY WORKING FOR MERGES AND AQUISITIONS AT P AND P, WHERE HE IS A VICE PRESIDENT. HE JUST WANTS TO 'FIT IN' AS HE SAYS TO HIS FIANCEE, PLAYED BY REESE WITHERSPOON, BECUASE OF WHICH HE HAS NO TIME FOR ANYTHING ELSE.HE IS A TYPICAL PERSON WHO IS AMBITIOUS AND WANTS TO BE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE AROUND HIM. IFACT, HE CAN'T TAKE ANYONE TO HAVE EVEN A BETTER 'BUSINESS CARD' THAN HIM. HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SECRETARY TO WEAR SKIRTS, AND HIGH HEELS, SOMTHING WHICH HE LIKES SHOWS THE CHARACTER DESPERATELY WANTING TO RULE, BE A CONTROL FREAK OF NOT JUST HIS LIFE BUT OTHERS AS WELL.AS THE STORY GROWS IT SHAKES YOU UP BECAUSE HE KEEPS GOING INSANE TO SUPER INSANE, AND BY THE TIME HE CONFESSES HIS CRIME, HE HAS ALREADY MURDERED NUMEROUS PEOPLE FROM WHORES, TO HIS COLLEAGUES WHOM HE DISLIKES, TO STREET BEGGARS WHO DON'T MATCH UP TO HIM TO OLD WOMEN WHO HAVE LESSS POWER THAN HIM. THW TWIST IS THAT ALL THESE MURDERS REFLECT A STATE OF HIS MIND, AND ARE JUST A FIGMENT OF HIS IMAGINATION, BUT BY THE TIME YOU ARE ALREADY QUITE SHAKEN UP WITH THE BLOOD AND GORE, AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT IF IT WAS REAL

PLUSES


THE NARRATIVE IS VERY TIGHT AND KEEPS YOU ON YOUR TOES WITH A FEW SQUEAKS, MOUTH OPEN AND EYES SHUTTING INSTANCES.

ITS A VERY WELL DIRECTED FILM.

ONE OF THE GORY FILMS, DIRECTED BY A WOMAN DIRECTOR, WHO GENERALLY GO FOR ROMANTIC AND CHO CHWEET MOVIES, THE FILM CHALLENGES THAT

ITS IN YOUR FACE, AND MAKES YOU THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE WE MIGHT ALREADY HAVE STEPPED IN

GO WATCH IT, BUT ITS ONLY FOR THE ADULTS AND DEF NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.

SUNSET BOULEVARD

THIS 1949 FILM BY THE WRITER DIRECTOR BILLY WILDER IS DEFINITELY WORTH YOUR HOME LIBRARY . THROUGH THIS FILM HE HAS MANAGED TO CREATE CHARACTERS WHICH WILL REMAIN IN YOUR MIND FOR DAYS TO COME.

NORMA DESMOND [PLAYED BY SWANSON THE FLOURISHING ACTRESS OF THE SILENT ERA]IS DESPERATE TO COME BACK TO THE LIMELIGHT. JOE GILLIS THE STRUGGLING WRITER[ HOLDEN] IS ON THE BRINK OF A COMPLETE BANKRUPTCY.

THE TWO HAPPEN TO MEET, AS DESTINY MAY PLAY A PART AND THE STORY UNFOLDS AS THE DESPERATE CREEPY NORMA TRIES TO TRAP JOE ON THE BASIS OF HIS STORY WRITING SKILLS, SHE MAKES HIM HER SEXUAL TOY AND SOMEONE TO BE BELITTLED IN FRONT OF HIS FRIENDS!

THE FILM ENDS WITH JOE DECIDING TO LEAVE HER FOREVER BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GET OUT OF THAT "PRISION" AS HE CALLS IT AND LOOK FOR A BETTER LIFE WITH BETTY WHOM HE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE WITH.BUT THE SELF OBSESSED NORMA KILLS HIM SAYING 'NO ONE LEAVES A STAR' SHE THEN GOES ON THE BRINK OF MADNESS HOGGING THR LIMELIGHT AND THE CAMERAS AND THE PRESS ALL THAT SHE HAD BEEN CRAVING FOR, BUT THIS TIME IT IS FOR A MURDER.

THE SCREENPLAY THE CHARACTERIZATIONS AND THE PLOT IS EXCELLENT.IT'S A THOUGHT PROVOKING FILM, A FILM WHICH TELLS THE DARK SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD. IT'S A DARK FILM WHICH MANAGES TO CREATE AMBIVALENT EMOTIONS IN THE VIEWER. NORMA IS A CREEPY SELFISH WOMAN WHO HAS MADE HER FIRST HUSBAND A PROP AND A DRIVER, WHO IS USING JOE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU FEEL SYMPATHETIC TOWARDS HER. THIS AMBIVALENCE IS WHAT MAKES BILLY WILDER SUCH A GREAT DIRECTOR. IT MAKES YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF HIS FILMS.

THE SCENES WORTH MENTIONING ARE THE SCENE WHEN JOE TRIES TO RECOGNISE HER SAYING "SHE WAS A STAR?"
SHE SAYS I AM THE STAR ITS TH EPICTURES THAT HAVE GOT SMALL"

THE SCENE WHERE SHE LANDS UP IN THE PARAMOUNT STUDIOS AND SCREAMS AT AN OLD GUARD "TEACH YOUR FRIENDS SOME MANNERS, BECAUSE WITHOUT ME YOU WOULDN'T BE HERE BECAUSE WITHOUT ME THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY PARAMOUNT STUDIOUS" ITS THIS SELFOBSESSIVE AGEING ACTRESS HER PERFORMANCE IS WHAT MAKES THE FILM A 'NOIR'

GURU

ManiRatnam, according to me is one of the best filmmakers in our country.

Guru is another tale from the master himself. Obviously we all know that the film is a take on the father of the Indian capital market and the creator of wealth unheard of! The film explores about the man and the very creation of wealth by him!

Gurukant desai is an ambitous young man. He leaves his village, his family in Gujrat, against the wishes of his head master father, to work in Turkey. He returns to start his own business in india. He gets married to a girl who can bring him enough dowry to start that business. He works under all odds to start his own unit of manufacturing 'kela silk'.HIs wife Aiswarya Rai is with him as his support throughout the film. The man grows the scale of his production by bribing everyone who came in his way from the press to the bureaucrats. He smuggled machinery,evaded taxes, and broke every rule to march ahead, and all in the name of creating wealth for others.

Well, that is where, the moral ambivalence of the film, could be the reason where it fails. Or, on second thoughts that's where it could work, because it leaves the entire question very subjective in the people's mind. They have to decide whether the character was doing right or wrong.

The first half of the film is pacier, with a strong chemistry between Ash and AB ad also his rise from a teenage to a industrial icon, the second half looses the pace with the subplot of Vidya balan and Madhaven adding breaks to the main plot. Instead if the screenplay had been able to put a hurdle in the path of guru with Mithun OR WITH with Madhaven as a more powerful charactertrying to make his life even worse[ which is not justified] it could have derived more sympathy for Guru and probably justified his means of creating and manipulating the system. Also second half looks a lot edited [patchy] with no transitions due to what ever reasons.

The cinematography, framing and music by Mr. Rahman add to the story, though I think Rahman has definitely given far better music in Roja , Yuva etc [ Yuva being one of my favourite top fifty films] Dialogues provide humour but lack the depth which was essentail for Mithun's and Guru's character. The work on language for a period film like this could have added to the story the way they did for Lagaan or Omkara!

But despite that its a take on a fresh subject, a biography, if I may say and definitely a dekko for the sake of filmmaking rather for Abhishek Bacchan for he is really good in the role!