Column: Cinema Scope

With holidays and the sparkle of Diwali in the air, we thought we'd keep a look out for films that make for good viewing with the family. So this week's recommendation is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole - a film directed by Zack Snyder (of 300 fame) in the fine tradition of Hollywood's computer-animated fantasies. The film tells the story of a young barn owl Soren, who travels across the universe to find the legendary alliance of owls known as the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole", and save the owl kingdoms. The film itself has familiar themes like courage,…

Jackie (Kannada) Jackie has been amongst Kannada cinema's eagerly awaited films of October, if for no other reason than the coming together of director Suri (Duniya fame) and Puneet Rajkumar. Yet before the film is half complete it quickly becomes clear that if all the problems of the Indian film-making could be highlighted in one film, it would be Jackie. The film that is reminiscent of an 80s Hindi cinema potboiler seems confused on whether its intention is to be an entertainer or a film with a socially relevant message. In the end it winds up between the devil and…

Many in India watched with curiosity as Julia Roberts filmed for Eat, Pray, Love in India. Now, many months later, the film directed by Ryan Murphy and filmed by Brad Pitt is finally here. Eat, Pray, Love, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert, tells the story of Elizabeth's (Julia Roberts) journey around the world to find herself after a painful divorce. As the story unfolds on celluloid, the traveler in you can't help responding to moments in the film with a sense of deja vu. For her part, Julia Roberts brings alive the role…

The much-awaited Endhiran, the most expensive film ever made in Asia, hit cinema halls in Bangalore last weekend. The film that has superstar Rajinikanth in a dual role tells the story of Professor Dr Vasigaran's (Rajinikanth) creation of  a super-intelligent android robot Chitti (also played by Rajinikanth). Complications ensue when Chitti discovers his human side. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan takes on the role of Sana, the professor's lady love and Danny Denzongpa is the evil mind all set to steal his idea. Like all Rajini films, this one relies on dialogues and punch lines delivered in the way that he tells…

With most cinema houses postponing their big releases to later this week and the next, new films in Bangalore came from Hollywood and Malayalam cinema. Almost two decades after he made a film in a similar setting, director Oliver Stone returns with Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. In this sequel, Jake Moore tries to save his crumbling professional and personal life amidst the intrigue, corruption and huge egos of Wall Street. Only the agility of his mind can pull him through. In the aftermath of the recent global recession, the theme is topical and hard-hitting. As in films like JFK…

The short film has been a part of the young Bangalorean's vocabulary for some time now. But last weekend the entire movement received a fillip when Suchitra's Centre for Film & Drama (CFD) brought together 50 short films made by 29 filmmakers from six states across India under the Short Film Festival. Even if the cinema was not always cutting edge, there was an abundance of ideas, creative experiments and youthful vibrancy. You could not but help notice the buzzing energy in the air as these filmmakers, many of them just out of college, shared their work in a ‘housefull'…

Anyone who dismisses director Abhinav Kashyap's debut film Dabangg as mindless entertainment has not understood the heart of the Hindi film blockbuster. It is fast-paced, action-packed, loud, colourful, lustily melodious, emotional, romantic, reverential of family and held together by the charisma of a single star who towers head and shoulders above the chaotic concoction. It may not always have sequential logic, but it inevitably invites loud cat calls and whistles. It seldom makes you think, but it always leaves you entertained. That is the heart of Dabangg - an entertainer for the masses, easily shrugging off the aspirations of the…

It's been a happening fortnight at the movies in Bangalore. The fourth Indo-German Film Festival ran between August 20th and 26th at Lavanya Theatre in Ulsoor, drawing a niche audience from across the city. Amongst the top German films screened were  A Year Ago in Winter, Jerichow, Storm, John Rabe, Soul Kitchen, Whisky with Vodka and Lila Lila. The Indian films in the festival panorama included Kanasembo Kudureyaneri, Vimukti, Kanchivaram, Bioscope, Paltadacho Munis, Gabhricha Paus, Harishchandrache Factory and Ek Cup Chya. Next in line were a couple of much-awaited new releases at the cinemas over the weekend. Bollywood had the…