Au Revoir to Cannes 2014 | Blue Is the Warmest Color

Yesterday was the last day of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the day that I saw last year's Palme d'Or winner La Vie d'Adèle, Chapitres 1 et 2 or Blue Is the Warmest Color for the first time.

Do you remember the time when a beautiful, fresh French face made a short but effective appearance in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? Back then, it was still questionable whether there was more behind that intriguing smile. Not anymore - last year, Léa Seydoux (the actress behind selfsame smile) was awarded the Palme d'Or along with her director Abdellatif Kechiche and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos. The two ladies are the only women to have won the award beside Jane Campion. Blue Is the Warmest Color is indeed a very feminine film that explores women in various ways. Firstly, there is the most apparent theme - homosexuality. The films main character, Adèle, finds out that being with men doesn't give her the same sort of satisfaction as being with a woman does. More so, there is one particular woman that Adèle falls head over heels in love with: the artistic and charming, blue-headed Emma. The two spend several years together as Adèle finishes high school and starts studying to be a teacher. Meanwhile, Emma is becoming an acclaimed artist and doesn't have as much time for her girlfriend anymore. After Adèle cheats on Emma with a male colleague, the two break up, leaving Adèle cold and lonely. 

Musical Chairs (2011) | The Thin Line Between TV-Trash and Guilty Pleasure

With tv-shows gathering more viewers than many films and producing higher quality than ever, the bad reputation of the tv-film is nowhere near upgrading itself. For centuries, tv-films have been regarded as the black sheep in the world of film - and there is a reason for this. One half of the tv-films I watch are German, the other half are Disney Channel movies - and few of them are rememberable for cinematic quality. Tv-films have low budgets and lower pressure than the next blockbuster, they are filled with clichés, stereotypes and most of the time don't have to be seen from beginning to finish. They are escapism in snack form - a little bit of adventure to finish up your ordinary work day.

Musical Chairs fits in to much of the criteria I just summed up, yet it has something else to offer as well. Telling the story of a group of people in wheelchairs who decide to start ballroom dancing, it's a typical feel-good, joy-of-life story that is supposed to be inspirational and uplifting. There's a couple of love stories involved, many typical rom-com elements and characters bounding to stereotypes. But Musical Chairs manages to make its character just realistic enough, the dialogue just cheeky enough and the story just fresh enough to be different from the rest of its tv-film siblings. The performances range between okay and really good, especially leading lady Leah Pipes makes the struggle and the fear of her character seem relatable instead of whiny. Some of the side stories are very cute while others are a bit unnecessary, so the runtime could've been cut with 15 minutes or so. But it's not like the film ever gets boring. You know where it's going but still, you are invested in the journey of these characters and the execution of the plot. Furthermore, the visuals look less cheap than expected and some shots have a cinematic quality to them, while the sound design is delicious. It's okay that most of the soundtrack is composed of the same ballroom track then and that there is your usual dose of melodramatic slow-motion.

This isn't the renaissance of the tv-film or the rise of feel-good films but an enjoyable flick that won't hurt anyone and really does add some adventure to your ordinary day.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

2011 • USA • English

director Susan Seidelman

author Marty Madden

★ Leah Pipes, E.J. Bonilla, Laverne Cox

FINAL FRAME | STRAWBERRY

Beyoncé, eat your heart out!

Why The Grand Budapest Hotel Is Definitely Worth a Visit

- http://thegrandbudapestrp.tumblr.com/

Aren't we all more or less attracted by shiny objects? As toddlers we were. In kindergarten we were. In high school we really were. And even though we're getting better at hiding and transferring this primal instinct, we still are: attracted by shiny objects.

Wes Anderson is one the most talented, living craftsmen who make shiny objects. He taps the sunshine, freezes the quicksilver and literally blows the dust from the treasures of ancient (European) families. I have talked about Wes Anderson and his films before, at length. With the surprising arrival of The Grand Budapest Hotel to a cinema "near" me, I finally have more to talk about. A wise man once said that it is "the most Anderson that Anderson ever Andersoned" or something among those lines, and it's about the truest thing you could say about this film. It has the carefully and lovingly designed sets that create an atmosphere of a doll's house, the craziest... oh well, there's no evading the word, quirkiest characters, played by the most hyped actors. It has the props, the songs and the poetry. And - this is probably the most important thing - it has Europe. If we're being very black-and-white about it, Hollywood produces glamorous, entertaining movies while European films are thought-provoking and low-budget. Europe would not have made a film like The Grand Budapest Hotel. Nor would the United States. It's an inbetweener, a curious outsider, a cinematic weirdo. And that's part of why I love it so much.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is not just a film though, it is a place as well - and this is important to remember. It's a similarity that the film shares with Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, which just so happen to be some of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. To be true, most of his movies are some of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. Still, his latest work stands out from the little crowd. It's a pink bubble of nostalgia, romance and Ralph Fiennes being funny. Shining bright till the credits. 

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

2013 • USA/ Germany • English/ French

director Wes Anderson

authors Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, (Stefan Zweig)

★ Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan

FINAL FRAME

„You're looking so well darling, you really are.“

My Big Fat Indian Drama Overdose

Try to imagine 'Bollywood' in one picture. What do you see? Is it, by any chance, a massive, colorful jumble of different spices and beautiful people you think must be too white to be Indian, embroidered with glistening pearls and golden sequins? If so, you are not wrong- but you're not exactly right either. 'Bollywood' is often used to describe a certain kind of film. Genre is the wrong word, but something among the lines of how indies or arthouse represent a certain kind of film. 'Bollywood' reflects a certain trend that has been predominating a big chunk of the Indian and Hindi language film industry, always. But something I like to point out whenever someone asks, and whenever someone doesn't, is that 'Bollywood' is not equal to Indian cinema and that yes,
 - there are good Indian dramas
 - there are good Indian dramas that feature song-and-dance and most importantly,
 - there are good Indian dramas that don't feature song-and-dance.

Song-and-dance in this context also represents any other trademark most people associate with Indian films (or Bollywood), like over-acting, strange side plots, strange side characters, extravagance and a long runtime. This month, I have seen a comparatively big amount of Indian drama of different quality, style and purpose- films that had been hovering on my DVD shelf for too long. My big fat apologies to the cool friend who borrowed me these and a few other films last summer, it has taken me far too long to watch them. All of these films had caught my interest either recently or a very long time ago and are on the 1001 Indian films you have to see before you die list that I've been secretly putting together for about two years. No, it's not done yet. Each of the films proved to be worth the watch, some more than others, but most of all it has been delightful to delve back into the rich and different world of Indian cinema for so long at a time. Here's what I take away from this adventure in a serious land.

HAPPY NEW YEAR + Anticipating 2014

With the new year being only 13 days of age by now, I don't think I'm stretching it by posting my end-of-year post only now. Am I? Don't worry, I'll keep the celebrations short.

Movie-count: 239

Book-count: 34

Not bad, definitely not bad, there's always room for improvement. One thing I'd like to do - or rather need to do - is to watch more movies from 1900 - 1979. This year, I saw 10 or less movies for each of these seven decades and less than five for five of them! I haven't checked my movies for countries but I'm pretty sure about 80 or more percent of them are from the US or the UK - another thing I want to change. It's been a bad year for Indian movies for me too - most of them I watched at the film festival. This is something I want to try to change. Otherwise, the new year is all open. I definitely want to finish watching Supernatural and then dip my toes into either Mad Men or Breaking Bad (help?). Book-wise, I want to read more non-fiction, poetry and short stories. I have the feeling that YA Dystopian fiction is very overexposed, at least in the internet book-loving society, and I don't like following that trend blindly anymore. 

Apart from those plans, I'm looking forward to watching these movies in particular in 2014:

Writing Elsewhere - Divergent: 5 Options For This Future Franchise

In the future, I will assemble posts that I've written for other websites under the tag 'Writing Elsewhere'. As you may know, I was selected as a writer for The Artifice about a year ago, but after I had written my Love Actually Review, I never got around to writing more for the site. I'd like to change that and at least write one post per month there. The content will be a little bit different from my usual blogging content, since there are stricter guidelines for tone and quality on The Artifice, so that's exciting for me. 

The first post I wrote is a post about the upcoming Divergent Franchise - I compare it to 6 other big YA franchises of the last few years and try to decide how the turnout for this one will be. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

CLICK TO READ

My 9 UNOFFICIALLY Favorite Films of 2013

You already know my 9 UNOFFICIALY Least Favorite Films of 2013, now it's time to take a look at the most magnificent, most wonderful, most splendid film viewing experiences that I've had with some movies from the last year.

Let me remind you once more; I have only seen 35 films of 2013 (one more than in the previous list since yesterday's 12 Years a Slave) due to various reasons, I do not claim this list to represent the 'best' of the year nor am I going so far as to make it an official list. That list is going to be published some time at the end of the year. Or perhaps even later, who knows? I'd love to wait until I've seen 100 films from the year but that's a very high aim. Perhaps 50 or 70 will suffice.

But back to the UNOFFICIAL list - let's start with the bottom of the top then, shall we?

My 9 UNOFFICIALLY Least Favorite Films of 2013

A new year has come upon us in all its shining glory... and I haven't even seen more than 34 films of the last one. There are many reasons for this - lack of money, lack of interest in paying too much money to watch movies, lack of possibility to watch new releases in English (I can't handle German dubs more than 4 times a year), outdated German and Danish release dates, lack of time and the fact that we moved to the country side. So maybe I should be happy that I've even seen 34 movies!

To honor this little bunch of flicks while not dishonoring the film year itself, I have decided to put together an unofficial list of my favorites and least favorites. Be gentle with this one though; I don't deliberately go out and watch the movies that are supposed to be bad, so it's nowhere near representing the worst last year had to offer. Let's start with the top of the bottom then, shall we?

How I Learned to Stop Worrying

a HOW I LIVE NOW review

Growing up 21st century's Europe has its perks - technology redefines the limits of communication, consumerism and culture, we can travel without having to do little more than showing our passports and politicians seem busy sustaining peace in our own little world as well as the Middle East. It becomes difficult to differentiate between documentations of the World Wars and movies like Independence Day, both depicting horrible, life-threatening situations and ending on a happy note (more or less). I for one find it incredibly hard to believe that my own grandmother fled (mainly by horse waggon) from what was once Pommern (the eastern part of Germany) to the north, and had to work under more or less slavery-like conditions for the Russians. Hell, I can't even fathom there was once a great wall separating Eastern and Western Germany - that fell only 6 years before I was born! However, once in a while, I am reminded of the actual danger that still surrounds every living creature in this world; the animal-esque war of survival that is hidden beneath health care, unemployment benefits and supermarkets. Watching How I Live Now was one of those experiences that made me realize there is a threat of war in my life and the lives of the people surrounding me, and that our little bubble of peace, equality and freedom of the mind could burst any day. 

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Perdition

Do you remember back at the beginning of summer, when I wrote one of those rambles you're hopefully not missing so much (or should I hope you do?) on the Percy Jackson series? If you've read it - and you should, if you're going to stick around to read about Sea of Monsters - you've probably figured out the following: Percy Jackson is not my favorite fandom, the books are not one of my favorite series of all time and neither is the first movie. But I enjoyed the material for what it was. Simple yet very intriguing entertainment. Yes, there's a lot of Harry Potter in this, yes the first movie is very different from the first book - and yes, it's trashy. But it knows what it is and hence works perfectly well.

This month, new material was finally released in the shape of a sequel movie to The Lightning Thief. I'm writing movie because - like every fan should know and/ or finally realize - the movies and books are two very damn separate things. Sea of Monsters starts where the first movie ended, and like the book it centers around a new quest for Percy and his friends; the tree that guards Half-Blood Camp is slowly dying and can only be saved by the Golden Fleece, which is currently owned by a blood-thirsty Cyclops living in the middle of the dangerous Sea of Monsters. There are a lot of details that are similar to the story in the novel, actually more than in The Lightning Thief and the tone is typical Percy Jackson. Everything's very light-hearted, propped with one-liners and the cast seems to be having fun. Now that's all I expect from the Percy Jackson series by now. Fun, just plain fun. I don't need accurateness or plausibility or award-winning performances. This is not the place for stuff like that. As long as I get Logan Lerman being absolutely lovable (and talented), Alexandra Daddario sporting her incredible eyes and everyone else being either funny or hot, I'm fine. And the acting isn't even terrible. Douglas Smith owned the role as Percy's Cyclops brother Tyson and Anthony Head was a far better Chiron than Pierce Brosnan. Even the CGI was fine this time (keyword: adorable rainbow ponies aka Hippocampi).

I understand why some people didn't like Sea of Monsters. 6.5 on IMDB is an understandable average, because clearly this isn't a critic's movie - nor a universally appealing entertainer. 38/64 on Rottentomatoes? Fine with me. What I don't get though is the shit that this movie gets from the people that were supposed to back it up. The ones that knew what they were getting into, knew the source material and enjoyed it. The worst thing is, they don't even tear Olympus apart by pointing out all the things that went "wrong" technically - directing, soundtrack, editing, whatever critics could probably argue wasn't all that great from an objective point-of-view. No, the Percy Jackson fandom, or a big part of it, is pissed off by the fact that Riptide isn't the cursed blade from the prophecy (it's still a cursed blade and you don't know how they're going to continue that plot). Because Kronos was defeated (as if). Because of stupid details. Just chill, people, and accept the fact that a book and its cinematic adaptation can be very different from each other, okay? Just saying. Because if nobody goes to watch Sea of Monsters, or at least buy it, we're not getting The Titan's Curse. We wouldn't want that, would we? 

PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS

2013 • USA • English

dir. Thor Freudenthal

authors Marc Guggenheim, Rick Riordan

★ Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson

Final Frame: STRAWBERRY

OBSTRUCTION 2/5: A Revienterview

The 5 Obstructions Blogathon continues and I'm as late as one can possibly be, but I am here with an ultra-last-minute review of a movie I recently re-watched with my sister. She's also the one I interviewed and if you like what came out of that, tell me. (I have plans).

Obstruction #2: Write a review of a movie but also include an interview about it.

Back in the early days of my obsession with cinema and all things related, one of the rare occasions of me watching something valuable in theaters came up. What made it even better was the fact that my whole family - mum, sis' and myself - went to watch it. A female power night!

Joe Wright's movie is entitled after its main character Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), who lives in the forest of Alaska with her father who teaches her everything you need to survive in the world. From hunting to languages to cooking, Hanna is prepared to be let out into civilisation as a teenager. When the time comes, she has to let herself be found by CIA agent Marissa in order to kill her and then reunite with her father in Berlin. But something goes wrong and Hanna has to go on a long journey that includes many unexpected conflicts.

My love for this movie was strong enough to keep it in my 100 Favourite Movies list for two years without having re-watched it in all that time, and mentioning it whenever I can, be it in one of my own lists, a comment on someone's post or even in real life. And it has only become better with age. Soundtrack, cinematography and direction are all top-notch and the movie is one hell of a stylish ride with the (teenage!) female action hero being only the tip of the iceberg. Despite her sometimes unfortunate choice of roles (cough The Host cough), I still have high hopes for Saoirse Ronan who still appears besides names such as Jennifer Lawrence in lists of the most promising up-and-coming actresses. The girl can portray anything from pitiable loner (Atonement) to brave revolutionary (City of Ember) to the ass-kicking killing machine that is Hanna. Cate Blanchett is a tough opponent and both underline the talent of the other. The action itself is gritty and stylish at the same time and filmed in a way that makes you feel you were actually in there yourself. And then there are also some tender and humourous moments that build a nice contrast to the rest of the movie, especially in the middle part of the movie. I always like when an action movie does that, so it doesn't become too heavy. 

Bottom line: Hanna has still got it.

And as the obstruction demands, I present to you my first interview on this blog. I went down the easy path and had a cosy chit-chat with my sister - if I had been smart enough to check out obstruction #2 at the beginning of the month, I might have had the opportunity to interview someone film-related. But then again, I really liked this interview, we had a lot of fun watching the movie so... enjoy!

The first time we watched Hanna was back when it was released - do you remember your first reaction towards it?

My first reaction was that I was really impressed by the idea of Hanna being so strong and independent. I nearly don't remember though... but what I remember is that I really liked it and that I liked the soundtrack.

Why did you decide to buy the DVD and re-watch it?

I decided to buy it because I was at the store with you and I walked past it and then I just thought like, hey, I haven't watched that for a long time and how I was really impressed by it the first time we watched it. And I couldn't really remember much from it except that I liked it, so I just... well, decided to buy it.

So how do you feel about the movie now?

I still like it, I'm still impressed by the skills Hanna has... and what I noticed was the cinematography. It was different but it was really, really good. I also like the ending, that it's a bit open... but yeah, you can imagine what Hanna's going to do now. A little. 

What is she going to do?

Well, I think... she said that she didn't want to kill people anymore. So I think she's just going to see the world now. Because she was kept in that little house in, what was it, North Pole? And I think she really wants to see things now.

Can you identify with Hanna?

Yeah, a little bit, because she's really strong-minded... and well, she likes her father and wants to do things that he wants her to do. But she's also... she'd rather make her own decision. I don't know, like, the fighting stuff is something she learned so it's nothing I could identify myself with.

What do you think of the acting in general?

The acting was really good, I think. Especially from Cate Blanchett as Marissa, because she's this psycho CIA hunter, and she's really strict. She really did a good job with that. Hanna's father was also very good. Well, you didn't see much of him, but I liked it. Especially his fighting scenes were impressive. I think Saoirse Ronan did a really good job too. She was quite young when she did the movie, but she could mimic the accent pretty good...  and she had to learn all these sentences in Arabic, Spanish etc. so that was really good.

What do you think of the way Germany and being German is presented in the movie?

I think that there's a little bit prejudice in it still. The one guy Marissa knows always has two Nazis with him. Otherwise it's presented pretty well. Well, they shot the movie in Germany, so you see that city as it is. Otherwise the movie's not very German.

Would you classify the movie as an action flick or a thriller?

I'd say it's more of an action movie. But it has also has, like, strings of a thriller. So it's kind of hard to tell.

You haven't seen Kick-Ass yet, but do you think that there needs to be more female action heroes and do you think they work for the mainstream audience?

I think it works, but not like... if they're too typical. If they're always dressed in sexy costumes, I think they wouldn't really be respected as... not role models, but well, as action heroes. Then they'd just be like many other female characters in movies. But generally I think it would work really good, and there should be more female action heroes.

What's your favorite scene?

My favorite scene is when Hanna escapes from the CIA... and the other is when she tells that girls she meets that she can't tell her everything, and that they're friends and stuff, the one in the tent.

And what do you like most about this movie?

I like that Hanna's mother, not her biological mother, but the one that steals her, I like that she says "She'll never be yours", and then that's really true. That's cool.

So do you think the DVD was a good investment and you'll re-watch it again?

Yeah, definitely. And I already have a couple of friends that have to see it.

Thank you for the interview!

As for you guys, I hope I pass obstruction #2 despite my very late post, so you can read the next post in August.

Fabulous Filmic Fashion and more: SPRING BREAKERS

FABULOUS FILMIC FASHION is back with a bang, providing you with the hottest summer wear from the coolest flick of this year so far. And probably a lot bit of non-fashion related raving. Spring Break Forever, Bitches.

Harmony Korine's layered, colourful and inspiring portrayal of the annual American celebration of hedonism entitled 'Spring Break' is by far my favorite movie of the year so far. Since his latest movie is the first I've seen and on the way to become my favorite of 2013, I can't help but notice how similar these circumstances are to my introduction to Wes Anderson through Moonrise Kingdom last year. If you remember, it was one of those instant favorites that soon led to an obsession, making me watch every single one of Anderson's movies (even though they're not that many).

Much like Moonrise Kingdom, Spring Breakers is a very stylish movie with visuals that are almost painfully beautiful, the bright colours burning their way through your retina into your heart. A small and interesting difference between the two movies may be that while there's one incontestably heavenly creature in Moonrise Kingdom and the rest are rather quirky beauties, in Spring Breakers each of the four main characters is an incontestably heavenly creature (look-wise anyways) and Alien is a rather quirky... beauty.

My Heroes: Scott Pilgrim (or whatever)

I met Scott about a year ago, when I was on my summer holidays in Denmark. It was a hot summer night and stuff, at least for me - he was chilling up in Toronto. Chilling as in "it was cold". My initial plan of the night certainly didn't include Scott, but then again I didn't know him before that night - how could I have known that he would win me over in a second? My telly-companion that night wasn't as enchanted by Scott, however. Every other minute a sigh or differently disapproving sound escaped from her lips until she finally left me alone. Alone with Scott.

Always a Good Time for Classic Good vs. Evil: Percy Jackson on Screen and Page

Don't be fooled by the teenage boy on the poster/ cover - this is more than a series for middle school youngsters. Or Greek mythology scholars.

Rick Riordan:
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
(The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian)

The Lightning Thief (2010) by Chris Columbus
Sea of Monsters (2013) by Thor Freudenthal

I always dread the moment I start reading a new series of books or start watching a new tv show. It's different to read single books or watch a single movie every other night. The thing about series - on screen and page - is their addictiveness. Human beings are fragile, we're emotional animals and easy to trap that way. We can get addicted to all sorts of things, mainly referred to as drugs, such as stimulating herbs and chemicals, sports, all the stuff that is put into micro-wave pizza. And yes, we can also get addicted to the arts of reading books and watching movies. With the breakthrough of internet platforms, especially tumblr, these addictions might have increased, but perhaps they've just become more visible. Staying up all night to finish reading The Hunger Games or watching season 2 of Game of Thrones has never been cooler. Geeks, ahem: we, are everywhere.

Across the Universe Podcast Eps 2: Gatsby? What Gatsby?

Across the Universe: The Chicks With Accents Podcast is brought to you by Nikhat Zahra from Being Norma Jeane, Sofia Teixeira from Film Flare and my own humble self.

In episode 2 we discuss a new release that we've all been anticipating for various reasons. Almost like a reflection of the general consensus of this movie, each of us has a different opinion on the outcome of Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby, but we all agree on two things: Leonardo DiCaprio looks stunning once again after his entertaining yet less visually pleasing performance in Django and he certainly deserves that long-overdue Oscar.


0:32- Chick-chatter
3:10- Feedback
9:00- Interesting Movie of the Fortnight
31:00- General Discussion on The Great Gatsby
74:14- Plugs and Goodbyes

Music:
Jay Z and Kanye West - No Church In the Wild
Lana Del Rey - Young and Beautiful
The Beatles - Across the Universe


CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com
Find us on iTunes: search for Across the Universe

Let Me Tell You a Story: Kahaani

IMDB | TRAILER

Another movie that dares to center its story around a strong female character, Kahaani was a surprise hit that Indian audiences loved even more than similarly "daring" English Vinglish. 

The female hero, Vidya Bagchi, is played by one of India's most talented actresses of our times, Vidya Balan. The London-based NRI (non-residant-Indian) computer programmer is searching for her husband, who has been missing ever since he went to Kolkata/ Calcutta for an assignment. Advanced in pregnancy, Vidya roams the streets of the crowded city that is busy with preparations for the yearly celebration of the goddess Kaali. Even though she finds a helpful companion in police inspector Rana, - who soon falls for the stubborn beauty - Vidya finds that it's not going to be easy to find her husband: there is no trace of him in the city whatsoever.

 

Surely, Kahaani wouldn't have been the same movie without the strong performance of Vidya Balan, just like English Vinglish couldn't have worked as well as it does with any other actress than Sridevi in the lead. Vidya brings just the right amounts of strength and vulnerability to her character, who seems both lost and determined in the narrow streets of Kolkata. No supporting character or actor stands a proper chance beside her, although Parambrata Chatterjee is sweet in the role of the innocent police inspector. The brilliant character actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui also has a small role that manages to capture the viewer in his short screen time. But what really makes Kahaani stand out, especially among other Indian films of the thriller/ mystery genre, is the well-told story. We don't know more than Vidya does, and the short flashback clip rather confuses than helps solve any of the mysteries. There's also a twist that I dare say nobody ever saw coming, which makes the female hero even more special - but no spoilers at this point. People have praised Kahaani for delivering a surprisingly exact and realistic portrayal of the city of Kolkata itself, which is often depicted in a less coaxing way. The movie doesn't conceal the flaws and the dirt of the city, but it gives a more multisided impression of the city and thus is very far from the so-called "poverty-porn". Indian mythology is cleverly woven into the plot yet there's no patriotism - a welcome exception. This way, Kahaani finds a balance between many extremes that Indian movies like to use and finds a good balance between a suspenseful plot with western inspirations and an Indian "soul". The only drawback is the still rather long running time of two hours - I felt that some parts could've been edited out in order to keep up the pace.

STRAWBERRY

Kahaani is a must-watch for fans of Indian cinema, since it delivers a felicitous mixture of many currently trending elements of the industry. The lack of song-and-dance and the Hollywood-inspired narration may also please an audience outside the Indian film scene. 

This post is part of the "2012 Bollywood Essentials".

The New Language of Indian Cinema: English Vinglish

Essential HINDI Films of 2012

IMDB | TRAILER

The simple yet absolutely wonderful movie of English Vinglish was already the 8th Hindi movie of 2012 I watched, but it's safe to say that this is where my journey in 2012's Hindi movies started for real, as it had been a while since I had seen the disappointing Oscar submisson Barfi! and the awesome double-movie Gangs of Wasseypur. The other 6 movies were mainly unnoticed ones that range anywhere between lime explosion and hybrid. I created a little list of 2012 Hindi movies that I'd describe as being "essential" for the common Bollywood fan/ viewer, and as I climb up the ladder to reach comprehension and up-to-date-ness, I'll update and enlighten you as well, the dear readers of my blog. That is, those who are interested in Indian movies - a topic I've not been writing about as much lately, but that motivated me to actually create a blog in the first place.

English Vinglish is a movie full of surprises, the first one being the actual story. It's the story of a woman. A middle-aged woman. And not only a woman, but a housewife. Bingo. All these three subjects are rarely the center of a Hindi movie and therefore I had been thrilled to watch the movie from the moment I heard about it. Sridevi, a classic star of Indian cinema whom nobody probably had expected to see again in anything but the role of a mother, proves that there's a place for middle-aged heroines too, and that there's an audience that actually wants to see them. Especially when they're as relatable and down-to-earth as her overly sweet and innocent Indian housewife Shashi, who struggles with her English and gets mocked for this by her husband and children. Especially her young daughter, an A+ English student, is ashamed by her mother who seems uneducated and stupidly suburban to her. One day, Shashi discovers an unexpected opportunity to (im)prove her independence, as her niece invites the family to her wedding in NYC. Since Shashi is all free to go, she decides to leave for the preparations a month before the rest of the family, although it takes some time to convince her husband of the idea.
Once arrived in the US, Shashi is met by many an uncomfortable situation, but is also deeply fascinated by the American lifestyle. While her sister is at work and her niece at college, Shashi decides to join a 4-week English course where she meets the helpful (and sexily French) Laurent, who is highly attracted to the intelligent, older-than-him housewife in her dashing sari.

While pairing a middle-aged Bollywood A-star with a fresh-as-a-mango newcomer is a common thing in Hindi movies, the mature "heroine" mostly has to settle with her role as a mother. There were some few exceptions, as in the 2001 classic Dil Chahta Hai, but otherwise it remains a tabu. Not even the slightest possibility of a happy ending, though if you would like to know whether English Vinglish breaks this tabu as well, you'll have to watch the movie yourself. The important thing is that it dares sketch a relationship between to persons from two very different cultures, the woman being older than the man. And perhaps even more important is the fact that this is never an issue in the movie at all - the only thing Shashi worries about is her marriage and her values. So the movie is left with various opportunities to create a sexual tension between the two, which it utilizes often enough - Laurent being French and all.

In this respect,  hope that English Vinglish will open a lot of new doors in Bollywood or even the Indian film industry in general. Doors for female directors (actually most film industries could gain from that, although I'm guilty myself, wanting to become a journalist instead of a director), doors for mature female actors in the lead, doors for new stories and new perspectives. Change is happening already. Many female actors that have been called "newcomers" are already in their late twenties, while 30 has long been the date of expiry date for them. There's only one thing I can say to that: Sridevi sure as hell didn't look expired in this one.

Final Frame: STRAWBERRY

A refreshing movie that explores the boundaries of Hindi cinema in a suprisingly traditional way. Melodramatic as it may be in times, and some stereotypes aside, this is a triumph for the Indian woman.

FABULOUS FILMIC FASHION: THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Featuring Matt Smith's favorite suit and no glasses.

Costumes designed by Keith Madden (no one you should know), The Woman in Black is a hauntingly beautiful and slightly scary horror movie based on the novel by Suzanna Hill. It's not a movie that'll creep into your dreams and make you want to not fall asleep, but it holds up for an entertaining and as I said very pretty view. People who thought that there was nobody attractive in the Harry Potter series will have to reconsider their arguments - although admittedly, Daniel Radcliffe is short - as the Victorian suits make the best out of who's wearing them. There's not much variety in the costume department and the characters rarely change clothes, but what we do get to see is certainly worth a mention. Or a post.

The three sisters that are seen at the beginning of the movie wear typical adult clothes as was the tradition at that time (I do know this much about historical fashion). Of course theirs are a bit "cuter" than the real adult dresses, a tad shorter and paired with hair bows. Interestingly, the girls' hair is open instead of braided, which I reckon would be unusual, but perhaps they were just playing and didn't want braids. By the way, I love what Photoshop made me do to this picture.

 

Daniel Radcliffe wears a very posh suit throughout the whole movie, which as I said makes him look more handsome than he usually does look. The upswept sleeves add an interesting contrast to the otherwise very tight and formal wear, so I loved the scenes were he just relaxed and y'know, chilled in that suit. With an axe.

But the suit is definitely most beautiful when complete. I like the way the tie is somehow above the collar - and of course the watch-chain (I think it must be a watch). Very classy. And Daniel Radcliffe definitely is the type for sideburns. The whole outfit also set his character apart from the villagers, who wore more used and practical clothes, so it was part of what defined his character. Perhaps the movie should've been named "The Man in Black". I mean, you seldom ever see The Woman herself, much less than in the TV movie from the 80s. Which, by the way, isn't wort a watch - except in case you can't resist seeing the guy who played Harry Potter's father play the same character the guy who played Harry Potter plays in this movie.

That's that, I hope you all have a wonderful, fashionable weekend and that you're not all too disappointed with my irregular blogging habits at the moment. There's just a lot of other things on my mind and on my schedule. At least I've started watching more movies again. And the secret plan with two of my favourite fellow bloggers is starting to take shape.

Seriesly: Doctor Who

Self-proclaimed Queen of the Abandoned Features is back with another brand-new blogging series about (drum roll please) TV series. Serials, shows, whichever word you may choose. The first lucky production to be featured is a show that has enthralled British and international audiences for half a century, celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall.

THE SHOW IN ONE SENTENCE

The last of his kind, alien "The Doctor" travels through time and space in a blue box, saving whatever there is to be saved, whilst having as much fun as possible.

Unglamorous Indie Rock 'n' Roll of 2012: Wild Girl Waltz and Gut

It's been a while since my last proper review and I thought I'd use the occasion to write about two films that I've been meaning to write about for a while. They've both been sent to me by two different indie film makers, who funnily asked me to review them almost the same time. That was one of the first times I felt that blogging actually has some material advantages, something you can touch. Like a free DVD. That's pretty cool for a poor student.

Wild Girl Waltz

Written and directed by MARK LEWIS

www.wildgirlwaltz.com

    

WILD GIRL WALTZ is a light-hearted comedy set in the middle of nowhere, centering around three friends who have an exceptionally messy time together. It also strikes some more profound notes in the middle of all the madness and despite some technical "flaws" I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.