Best Movies, 2008

Movie viewing has indeed been exciting for me this year as I have had the opportunity of watching some of the best new films and also of visiting some classics for the first time, after having waited for long. I am particularly indebted to the UTV World Movies channel on television, that has showcased some of the finest films from around the world, especially from Europe and South-east Asia. This year also saw the theatrical releases in languages like Spanish, German, Turkish and others as NDTV Lumiere distributed them at the multiplexes of the major Indian cities, including Kolkata.

Here is a listing of the ten best films seen this year, albeit listed on the basis of personal preference:

1. Into the Wild (2007)

2. Atonement (2007)

3. Persepolis (2007)

4. My Blueberry Nights (2007)

5. Solino (2002)

6. Todo Sobre Me Madre/ All About My Mother (1999)

7. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

8. Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008)

9. Aamir (2008)

10. I'm Not There (2007)


[Beyond the aforementioned Top 10, there were plenty more seen this year that got me mesmerized or hooked to the screen, small or big, like... naming a few of them, randomly,
'Michael Clayton', 'Changeling', 'Igby Goes Down', 'Rendition', 'October Sky', 'Chapter 27', 'Black Snake Moan', 'Southland Tales', 'Secrets & Lies', 'Lost in Yonkers', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Eastern Promises', 'Memoirs of a Geisha', 'No Country for Old Men', 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', 'A Mighty Heart', 'Juno', 'Letters from Iwo Jima', 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', 'The Lookout', 'Scaphandre et le Papillon'/ 'The Diving Bell & the Butterfly', 'Iluminados por el fuego'/ 'Blessed by Fire', 'American Gangster', 'Ladre di Biciclette/ The Bicycle Thief', 'The Jane Austen Book Club', 'A Good Year', 'Hostel', 'The Hottest State' 'When Niezstche Wept', 'December Boys', 'Lions for Lambs', 'Cassandra's Dream', 'Eyes Wide Shut', 'The Machinist', 'Lords of Dogtown', 'The Tracey Fragments', 'Leatherheads', 'Young People F***ing', 'Invisible Waves', 'Riri Shushu no subete'/ 'All About Lily Chou-Chou', 'Rendez-vous', 'Cadillac Records', 'Caramel', 'Rock On!!', 'A Wednesday', 'Magonia', 'Fa Yeung Nin Wa/ In the Mood for Love', 'Bacheha-Ye Aseman/ Children of Heaven', 'Amores Perros/ Love's a Bitch', 'Janghwa, Hongryeon/ A Tale of Two Sisters', 'Das Leben der Anderen/ The Lives of Others', 'Le Dernier Métro/ The Last Metro', 'There Will Be Blood', 'Khuda Kay Liye', 'Ramchand Pakistani', 'Body of Lies', 'The Happening', 'Day Night Day Night', 'Mumbai Meri Jaan', 'Wanted', 'Kung Fu Panda', and 'Wall-E'.]

'There Will Be Blood'

It's That Time of the Year Again.......!!!!!

It is that time of the year again...... the time to celebrate the best films - as the Oscars are given out - essentially it is the muscle flexing of Hollywood, but for us movie-buffs it is also a chance to see some of the acclaimed films that might not have been seen in theaters had it not been for the promotional mechanism going great guns worldwide.

Unlike previous years, here in Kolkata, the lure of big Hollywood releases has dwindled in a major way. Many of the biggies have been biting the dust at the multiplexes of Kolkata in the recent times.
There are many factors - the principal amongst being is the erosion of single screen clout in niche pockets. The multiplex-going audience watches the latest Hollywood blockbusters many months before their big screen release in Kolkata, and hence people can hardly be expected to queue up for the ones that do get released at long last. The distributor chains are thus reluctant to release or promote English-language films in Kolkata. And the trend and culture of watching good English-language films at the theaters is on the wane. Unless a franchise film like 'Spiderman' or 'Harry Potter', with a cross-market appeal, is released, we Kolkatans have to look forward to watching good films on Home VCDs and DVDs only!
I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to watch some of the Oscar favorites in February, the Oscar-month, itself!

And here's the report card: 'Atonement' is the one that I enjoyed most. It is a profound period love story that resonated every which way. 'Michael Clayton' is remarkably poised in its anti-Capitalist stance; very humane, very brave, and very eloquent. 'Eastern Promises' is a shocker of a film for more reasons than one; however, it isn't as effective as Cronenberg's earlier indictment of Americana ('A History of Violence'), but immensely watchable (strictly 'not for all') for the gritty depiction of brute force. 'No Country For Old Men' - which won the top honors at the 80the Oscar Awards - has been a huge letdown for me, I would have liked the film better had not been so grossly overrated; the Coen Brothers have made far better films in the past that are less indulgent and less pretentious, 'Fargo' being the very best. There was yet another surprise, and this one was pleasant, in the form of the Disney offering called 'Enchanted'; nominated for the beautiful songs, which keep ringing in one's ears long after the end credits have scrolled, it is a treat for the entire family. The tongue-in-cheek allusions to the classic fairy tales being firmly planted, the joyous celebration of romance in 'Enchanted' is very very infectious (as the sweet chipmunk Pip seems to be pointing out in the picture on top), to say the least.

'No Country For Old Men'