- 145. Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru“ (To Live) (1952): A prescription for curing our ailing souls and to live our lives meaningfully.
on May 14, 2013 in
Japan Berlin winner - 145. Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru“ (To Live) (1952): A prescription for curing our ailing souls and living our lives meaningfully.
on May 14, 2013 in
Japan Berlin winner - 144. US director Terrence Malick’s sixth feature film “To the Wonder” (2012): Love your spouse in the context of divine love
on Apr 24, 2013 in
Venice winner USA - 143. Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s film made in USA “This Must Be the Place” (2011): Place and time continuum reinforced for the reflective viewerPaolo Sorrentino is definitely a talented director. His films considerably rely on visual statements. Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place indirectly urges the film’s viewer to observe the details of visual statements, which often put...
- 142. British film director Ken Loach’s film “The Angels' Share” (2012): A comedy that entertains and makes you think as well
on Mar 17, 2013
If you get half a dozen viewers of this lovely film together across a table and ask them what the film was all about after they had watched it, you are likely to get up to six different views on the same film. One would say it is a comedy. One w... - 141. Italian directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s “Cesare deve morire” (Caesar Must Die) (2012): Meta-film at its thoughtful best from the venerable octogenarian directors
on Mar 3, 2013 in
Italy Berlin winner - 140. Uruguayan director Rodrigo Plá’s “La Demora” (The Delay) (2012): Meaningful and mature cinema that has universal relevanceAn evocative poster of the film at the Berlin Film FestivalThe conventional posterUruguay is not a country that one would easily associate with great cinema. Even for Latin American standards, Uruguay cannot boast of major cinematic w...
- 139. Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s “Dupa dealuri" (Beyond the Hills) (2012): Beyond the obviousRomanian cinema produces fascinating movies from time to time. Beyond the Hills is one of them. There are several reasons why this film is remarkable. First, it is amazing to have a film with two women, who have never acted in a movie before, t...
- 138. Austrian director Michael Haneke’s French film “Amour” (Love) (2012): Well-crafted, comprehensive cinema that will touch both the heart and the mind of the viewer equallyAmour is the best film that this critic viewed in 2012. There are two ways to appreciate this film. One way is to appreciate its subject and the second is to appreciate the artistic manner the contents of the movie are presented to the viewer. ...
- 137. Mexican director Carlos Reygadas’ film “Post Tenebras Lux “ (After Darkness, Light) (2012): Visually and cerebrally stimulating cinema.Carlos Reygadas is one of the few exhilarating filmmakers alive and actively making movies. His films are never easy viewing. His films’ images and his films’ soundtrack stun your senses with their groundbreaking ability to make you w...
- 136. Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s film in English “Life of Pi” (2012): Visually spellbinding cinema made standing on the shoulders of a marvelous novelistAng Lee needs to be congratulated for making an engaging movie Life of Pi. Few other directors would have dared to even attempt the feat. As a Taiwanese director, the odds were stacked against him—filming an award-winning book populated with...
- 135. Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu’s film “Süt” (Milk) (2008): The Turkish "artist as a young man"
on Nov 26, 2012 in
Turkey - 134. US film director Mike Nichols’ debut film “Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966): Nichols’ finest work to dateIt is nearly half a century since Mike Nichols made his first feature film Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Richard Burton, the lead actor, is dead. Elizabeth Taylor, the lead actress, is dead. Its screenplay writer Ernest Lehman is dead. The f...
- 133. Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar’s English film “Agora” (2009): An admirable subject for a remarkable feature filmOften good movies should be evaluated both by its subject and by the interesting manner the director and the rest of the production team contributes or presents the subject as the final product. Rarely does one come across amazing subjects capt...
- 132. Spanish director José Luis Cuerda’s film “La lengua de las mariposas” (Butterfly Tongues/Butterfly) (1999): Touching and thought-provoking cinemaCuerda? Who is that? When you read about modern cinema from Spain most critics seem to talk of Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, and Alejandro Amenábar. But rarely do you come across the name José Luis Cuerda in informed discussio...
- 131. U.S. director Arthur Penn’s “The Missouri Breaks” (1976): Re-evaluation of a Western trashed by many film criticsThe Missouri Breaks deserves more attention than it has received over the years. Apart from the fact that it contains one of the most darkly comic lines ever used in cinema "You know what woke you up? You just had your throat cut,” most reviewers h...
- 130. Korean filmmaker Chang-dong Lee’s “Shi” (Poetry) (2010): Learning to look at apples anewGood Korean cinema often involves very little verbal talk. The visuals often do the talking which is not common for movies made in most parts of the world. Chang-dong Lee’s Poetry is one such example where body language is more eloquent than...
- 129. Chadean filmmaker Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's “Un Homme Qui Crie” (A Screaming Man) (2010): A subtle perspective from African cinema on an unusual father and son relationship“Be careful not to cross your arms over your chest, assuming the sterile attitude of a spectator, because life is not a spectacle, a sea of pain is not a proscenium, and a screaming man is not a dancing b...
- 128. Russian director Alexander Sokurov’s German film “Faust” (2011): Reflecting on the Faust syndrome in our livesAlexander Sokurov’s Faustis a complex film. It is also an amazing film dealing with the good and the evil in each of us. There are sections of the film that can be revolting to a viewer and there are others that offer spectacular beauty. This inher...
- 127. Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “Bé omid é didar/See you later” (Good bye) (2011): A courageous film capturing terror on screen without a scream being heard
on Mar 20, 2012 in
Iran Cannes winner
Jugu Abraham
Join Date:
2012-03-06
