Costume Design


Jane Eyre
Michael O’Connor won an Academy
Award for costumes in the
2009 film The Duchess. He received
his second nomination
this year for another period drama,
Jane Eyre, directed by Cary
Fukunaga. Inspired by Charlotte
Bronte’s classic, the film is about
Jane (Mia Wasikowska), an orphan
ill-treated by her aunt, who
becomes a governess to the
ward of Mr Rochester (Michael
Fassbender), and later falls in
love with her employer.
Unlike in The Duchess, where
O’Connor had to dress up the ultra
fashionable duchess of Devonshire
(played by Kiera Knightly)
in hats and elaborate dresses
of the Georgian era, Jane Eyre is
about a governess in the Victorian
period. What works in O’Connor’s
favour is how natural it all
looks — Wasikowska’s black
dresses with white collars look
like they’ve been inspired by a
nun’s habit, Fassbender looks
comfortable in knee-length
shirts with elaborate collars and
high-waist gabardines, and
Amelia Clarkson, who plays the
young Jane, makes the layers of
petticoats under her dress look
normal.

Anonymous
Enough films have been set in
Elizabethan England for one to
get a clear visual of what life was
like for royals, peasants, the
bourgeois and the artists. For the
most part, costume designers
seem to have extensively
researched the wardrobe of the
era, effectively capturing the
fashionably vast divide between
the classes.
Even a film like Anonymous —
despite scenes of Elizabeth
I wantonly performing fellatio,
and screaming unbecomingly,
“Aaaaghh! But I love him!” — can
be a decent reference for costumes.
The film, about whether or
not literature’s icon William
Shakespeare wrote the works he
is credited with, is almost worth
watching for the costumes alone.
The plain gown held by a string
around the bodice that the queen
wears in her bedchambers, for instance,
or the neck ruffle of her
ministers, noblemen in armour,
each with his own coat of arms,
or the earl’s cape draped deliberately
yet casually over one shoulder,
are designed to belong the
era, while also distinguishing
themselves from other films set in
the seventeenth century.

W.E.
W.E., Madonna’s second directorial
venture, has been panned by
the critics and rightly so. The film
is about Wallis Simpson, an
American socialite who falls in
love with the prince and soon to
be King of England, Edward VIII,
who in turn abdicated the throne
to marry the divorcee.
WE is a well-staged film. It looks
beautiful, and as every period
piece set in the upper echelons
of society, the costumes are fabulous.
Arianne Philips designed
the costumes, for which the film
has gotten an Oscar nomination.
I guess when you’re Madonna
it’s not difficult to get designers
like Philips, John Galliano and
Issa to do costumes for your film
and get Pierre Cartier to design
your jewels. Unfortunately no
matter how much polish you put
on the shoe, if it’s not a well
stitched it’s bound to come
apart. Sadly, that’s the fate WE
suffers.

Adapted from a George Moore story by Glenn Close, the lead actress, and John Banville, Albert Nobbs deals with the relationships around the main character who is a woman dressing as a man for 30 years

Nuances of Close’s acting are easy to miss

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Adapted from a George Moore story by Glenn Close, the lead actress, and John Banville, Albert Nobbs deals with the relationships around the main character who is a woman dressing as a man for 30 years. It’s a decision that is at first an attempt to find work in conservative 19th century, but becomes a part of the woman’s identity. Albert has tucked away his real personality along with tips under the floorboards of his neat room, saving for the day he can buy a shop, and maybe even a wife.
The nuances of Close’s performance are easy to miss. Albert Nobbs is a spare retelling, and Close’s face, carefully blank for the most part, can seem a prison for the character. Albert remains an enigma. But when I learnt that Close had been inspired by Chaplin, the character became clearer. Albert makes his way through the film miming quiet masculinity. He could be made out of wax, But he is the the catalyst that — unknowingly — fuels as well as watches the events around him.

Oldman excels as the anti-Bond

Oldman excels as the anti-Bond

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Gary Oldman’s performance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a thing of beauty. As British intelligence officer George Smiley he speaks his first words 17 minutes after the film begins. By then, though, you know almost everything there is to know about Smiley. That quality of acting, where a twitch of the jaw muscle or a baleful glance tells you more than a thousand lines of dialogue ever could, one would presume, is the toughest act to pull off in front of the camera. Oldman makes it look effortless.
Tinker Tailor, is a film adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy novel of the same name. Set in the 70s at the height of the Cold War it depicts a particularly paranoid time in the MI6’s history, when the agency was riddled with Russian double agents and no-one knew who to trust. In those grey corridors filled with mistrust and silent contempt, Smiley is asked to unmask a Russian mole at the top of the spy pyramid.
Smiley is the quintessential anti-Bond. Pot-bellied, taciturn and a cuckold, he is as deliberative as Bond is impulsive. A former British secret agent said of Bond that if he were real then he would be the worst spy around. Smiley is probably what spies really are like.
So will Oldman walk away with the Best Actor Oscar? Tough to say. The best actor line-up is quite accomplished this year. Also, the Oscars are notorious for rewarding histrionics rather than restraint. Al Pacino, for example, didn’t get the Oscar for probably the best performance of his life as a quiet and menacing Michael Corleone in Godfather 2. He did however, for his over the top turn as a blind war-veteran in Scent of a Woman. If Oldman truly does pick up the much coveted statuette, the Oscars will be straying from type.
Tinker Tailor is also up for two more awards, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. Tinker Tailor is not an action packed movie. There’s no hand-to-hand combat, explosions or car-chases. However, it is a thriller that grabs your attention from the first scene and refuses to let go even as it tightens its grip on you. That is a function of Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan’s excellent screenplay and Alberto Igelsias’ haunting score. Yes the writers had John Le Carre’s novel as source material, but to make a detailed narrative about the internal machinations of a spy agency into a gripping thriller on screen takes some elevated writing chops and the two writers rise to the occasion admirably.

Bridesmaids has been described by some as Hangover for women

McCarthy’s comedy can exist only in an ensemble

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Bridesmaids has been described by some as Hangover for women. But the film, an acerbic look at female friendships, love and hate — deserves to stand on its own merit, rather than be compared to a trope it willfully avoids — that of a male-centric world in which women are reduced to the props of a nagging wife, needy girlfriend or career dominatrix. The movie begins with Annie, played by Kristen Wiig (who also co-wrote the screenplay) whose life is in disarray — she sleeps with a jerk and has a dead-end job. When her best friend Lillian gets engaged, she is forced to attempt to get her life together, or at least fake it enough to make it through the bureaucratic nightmare of arranging a ‘dream’ wedding. Annie gets into a mental - and eventually physical - battle with another bridesmaid for Lillian’s favour. The movie is one of the funniest of the year, and the female-dominated cast nails comedic zingers with deadpan panache. The crude and brassy Megan, played by Melissa McCarthy, steals the show. McCarthy plays the red-faced, large woman with complete self-belief and a gruff swagger (“I bought an 18-wheeler a couple of months ago just because I could”), but the performance is largely one-note and broad; a comedy sketch that can only comfortably exist in an ensemble. The film has a better chance of winning the Best Original Screenplay award, in case the Academy attempts to — in a move that would be out of the ordinary — be in tune with popular tastes.

Mara plays the role of a serial hacker to a fault

Mara plays the role of a serial hacker to a fault

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Iisbeth Salander, a disturbed 26-year-old computer hacker, with piercings on her lip and eyebrow, a dragon tattooed on her back and a wasp tattooed on her neck, hates men who hate women. After Noomi Rapace played Salander so convincingly in the Swedish adaptation of Steig Larsson’s bestseller, Rooney Mara had rather large leather boots to fill. Mara, who had a small yet integral role as Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), does justice to Salander’s character in Fincher’s English remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (TGWTDT). She even looks the part — decidedly unattractive and, at times, like a teenage boy.
Salander, a researcher, is hired to dig out the background of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who’s recently been convicted of libel. Industrialist Henrik Vanger wants to hire Blomkvist to find out what happened to his niece Harriet, who disappeared from the island 40 years ago. Henrik believes that she was killed and the killer was someone within the huge Vanger clan. Salander joins Blomkvist in his quest. Over the course of the next few months, as they track down a religious serial killer, they become friends, and later, lovers. Mara plays the silent, brooding, socially awkward girl with a photographic memory to a fault. However, her nomination may come to naught, given the competition — Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Glenn Close and Michelle Williams.

Bichir in the big league now

Bichir in the big league now

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There’s a beautiful moment in A Better Life, where the teenager Luis goes to meet his father, Carlos (played by Demian Bichir) in prison. The two have almost never seen eye to eye, the former averse to embracing his Mexican roots, the latter wanting nothing more than to give his son “a better life”. But here they seem wistful of never having been able to communicate before, and the affection is all too palpable. They make a promise to each other. And you’ll know they’ll keep it too.
A Better Life is a largely grim film about the uphill life of an immigrant wanting to lead a comfortable life in the US. A series of events lead to much heartbreak and angst for Carlos, but he never gives up, mainly for the sake of his motherless son. When things hit rock-bottom, though, the relationship between the two emerges stronger than ever, the film ending on a hopeful note that leaves you optimistic and with a smile on your face.
For Chris Weitz, who has directed films as diverse as American Pie (with his brother), The Golden Compass and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (both individually), A Better Life is clearly a coming-of-age. The film has gravitas, and the filmmaker has extracted some great performances from the cast. The best among them, of course, is Bichir as the doting and disciplinarian father, and he deservingly earns a Best Actor nomination. Even though chances of him winning are almost nil, the actor must be glad to have been recognised by the Academy and placed among some of 2011’s best performers. From here on, surely, the Mexican actor can expect to lead a better life in Hollywood.

Oscars will be televised live on Star Movies on Monday at 6am. Repeat telecast at 8pm

Oscars will be televised live on Star Movies on Monday at 6am. Repeat telecast at 8pm
Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Hugo (2011/II): Thelma
Schoonmaker
Moneyball: Christopher Tellefsen
Best Achievement in
Art Direction
The Artist: Laurence Bennett,
Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 2: Stuart Craig,
Stephenie McMillan
Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca
Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris: Anne Seibel,
Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse: Rick Carter,
Lee Sandales
Best Achievement in
Costume Design
Anonymous: Lisy Christl
The Artist: Mark Bridges
Hugo: Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre: Michael O'Connor
W.E.: Arianne Phillips
Best Achievement
in Makeup
Albert Nobbs: Martial Corneville,
Lynn Johnson, Matthew W.
Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 2: Nick Dudman,
Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J.
Roy Helland
Best Achievement in Music
Written for Motion
Pictures, Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin:
John Williams
The Artist: Ludovic Bource
Hugo (2011/II): Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Alberto
Iglesias
War Horse: John Williams
Best Achievement in Music
Written for Motion Pictures,
Original Song
The Muppets: Bret
McKenzie("Man or Muppet")
Rio: Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos
Brown, Siedah Garrett("Real in
Rio")
Best Achievement in
Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:
David Parker, Michael Semanick,
Ren Klyce, Bo Persson
Hugo (2011/II): Tom Fleischman,
John Midgley
Moneyball: Deb Adair, Ron
Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed
Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon:
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers,
Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
War Horse: Gary Rydstrom,
Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart
Wilson
Best Achievement in
Sound Editing
Drive: Lon Bender, Victor
Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo: Ren Klyce
Hugo (2011/II): Philip Stockton,
Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon:
Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
War Horse: Richard Hymns, Gary
Rydstrom
Best Achievement in Visual
Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 2: Tim Burke,
David Vickery, Greg Butler, John
Richardson
Hugo (2011/II): Robert Legato,
Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann,
Alex Henning
Real Steel: Erik Nash, John
Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor,
Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes:
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R.
Christopher White, Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon:
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza,
Matthew E. Butler, John Frazier
Best Documentary,
Features
Hell and Back Again: Danfung
Dennis, Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the
Earth Liberation Front: Marshall
Curry, Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory: Joe
Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Pina: Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero
Ringel
Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J.
Martin, Rich Middlemas
Best Documentary,
Short Subjects
The Barber of Birmingham:
Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights
Movement: Robin Fryday, Gail
Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis (2012):
Rebecca Cammisa, Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad:
James Spione
Saving Face (2012): Daniel
Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry
Blossom: Lucy Walker, Kira
Carstensen
Best Short Film, Animated
Sunday: Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of
Mr. Morris Lessmore: William
Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna: Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll: Grant Orchard,
Sue Goffe
Wild Life: Amanda Forbis,
Wendy Tilby
Best Short Film, Live
Action
Pentecost: Peter McDonald
Raju: Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren
The Shore: Terry George, Oorlagh
George
Time Freak: Andrew Bowler,
Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic

and the Oscar nominees are...

and the nominees are...

Best Motion Picture of the Year

The Artist: Thomas Langmann
The Descendants: Jim Burke,
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Extremely Loud & Incredibly
Close: Scott Rudin
The Help: Brunson Green, Chris
Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Hugo: Graham King, Martin
Scorsese
Midnight in Paris: Letty
Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
Moneyball: Michael De Luca,
Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
The Tree of Life: Sarah Green, Bill
Pohlad, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill
War Horse: Steven Spielberg,
Kathleen Kennedy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The
Descendants
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt for Moneyball
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams for My Week
with Marilyn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh for My Week
with Marilyn
Jonah Hill for Moneyball
Nick Nolte for Warrior
Christopher Plummer for
Beginners
Max von Sydow for Extremely
Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
Jessica Chastain for The Help
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer for The Help

Best Achievement in Directing

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo (2011/II)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig,
Annie Mumolo
Margin Call: J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

The Descendants: Alexander
Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Hugo (2011/II): John Logan
The Ides of March: George
Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau
Willimon
Moneyball: Steven Zaillian,
Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy:
Bridget O'Connor, Peter
Straughan

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

A Cat in Paris : Alain Gagnol,
Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita : Fernando Trueba,
Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2: Jennifer Yuh
Puss in Boots: Chris Miller
Rango: Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Bullhead: Michael R.
Roskam(Belgium)
Footnote: Joseph Cedar(Israel)
In Darkness: Agnieszka Holland(
Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar: Phili
Falardeau(Canada)
A Separation: Asghar
Farhadi(Iran)

Best Achievement I Cinematography

The Artist: Guillaume S
The Girl with the Dragon
Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo (2011/II): Robert
Richardson
The Tree of Life: Emma
Lubezki
War Horse: Janusz Kam

Best Achievement in Editing

The Artist: Anne-Sophie
Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants: Kev
The Girl with the Dragon

Plummer gets out of his comfort zone

Plummer gets out of his comfort zone

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Beginners is a sweetheart of a film. That doesn’t mean it’s fluff. It’s a cheery, bright-eyed jaunt through the much-plumbed depths of love, loneliness and sexuality. Ewan McGregor plays a 38-year-old artist, Oliver, whose father Hal (Christopher Plummer) comes out of the closet after his mother’s death. How Oliver reconciles his parents’ passionless marriage to finally find love constitutes the rest of the film.
Christopher Plummer, who has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor is cast against type. He’s made a career playing authoritarian patriarchs, so it’s refreshing to see him inhabit the skin of Hal, a gay museum director. Plummer plays Hal perfectly. He’s gay, but without the affectation because he’s lived his entire life pretending to be straight. Hal is also figuring out how to position himself within a whole new culture that has opened up to him in the winter of his life. He has a boyfriend for the first time in his life and in some ways he’s like a teenager, giddy in love and unsure what to do. Hal is also dying. Plummer peels through Hal’s various layers with a natural dignity, never once turning it camp. It’s a bitch of a role to get right, and Plummer gets it spot on.

Warrior is story of two estranged brothers

A role close to Nolte’s real life


Warrior is story of two estranged brothers, Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) who enter a mixed martial arts tournament and face off against each other in the final. Of course like The Fighter, which released the year before, it’s about much more than just the fighting. Warrior follows a very similar narrative arc to The Fighter, where the family reconcile their differences and redemption is delivered with a punch in the face and knee to the gut. Nick Nolte plays Paddy, Tommy and Brendan’s father. A recovering alcoholic and wife beater, he’s fallen out with his two sons. It’s a story of his redemption too. Nolte has the perfect face for these sort of roles. One look at his care worn face, pitted with the scars of battle and age and he’s totally believable as Paddy. Nolte expertly illuminates the exhaustion of a man, who knows that his life is one endless string of regrets. Nolte is very good in the movie, but he’s also in his comfort zone. In some ways Nolte, with his drug problems and ex-wives, is Paddy. And I’m not sure if mostly playing yourself deserves a nomination

How good is Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady? Streep, as the frontrunner for the Oscar for Best Actress, has been called the redeeming feature of this largely plodding and sentimental film

The saving grace of The Iron Lady


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How good is Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady? Streep, as the frontrunner for the Oscar for Best Actress, has been called the redeeming feature of this largely plodding and sentimental film. But what does her performance say about the film, as well as the controversial figure of Margaret Thatcher herself?
Streep, in her usual style, engrosses herself completely in the character — Britain’s longest-seated Prime Minister — that she makes it too easy to forgive the historical blemishes of a very flawed political character. Streep arrives on stage as a vulnerable, forgotten, tottering Thatcher; a shrunken 80-year-old figure who immediately inspires the audience to feel protective of her. Wearing a scarf and queuing for milk at a grocery shop, no one recognises Thatcher. When she returns to her residence, her caretakers are palpably shaken that she “got away”. Thatcher pokes sly fun at her caretakers with her husband, Denis Thatcher, a man in many ways shown to be the core of Thatcher’s existence. But the problem is that Denis died many years ago, and Thatcher keeps chattering company with a ghostly delusion. Thatcher’s dementia supposedly plagued her for years in reality.
It is 2008, and Mumbai’s 26/11 is splashed over all the newspapers that Thatcher peers at in the grocery shop. At this point the story slips back in time as Thatcher recollects the IRA assassination attempt, as well as the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984.
The film is a slapdash of events: it seems to go through events just to be over with them. The Falklands War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, a waltz with conservative comrade Ronald Reagan: there is an over-reliance on montages that takes away from the film’s impact.
Back in the present, Thatcher reaches home and begins to pack her deceased husband’s belongings. Memories of their tender courtship mix with her political memories — real, imagined and confused — as well as archival footage of British unrest. At the end of the film, Thatcher summons her famous ‘will’ to banish the ghost of her dead husband. It is a scene of cloying sentimentality; if only it was so easy to defeat dementia in real life.
Streep is indeed the saving grace of the film. She plays both the doddering old woman beset by dementia, and the most powerful woman in the world at her absolute height, with complete authority. There is no Americanism allowed to slip through: the imperious gestures, the annoying ‘upper-class’ voice, and the perfectly coiffed presence are spot on.

My Week with Marilyn is a biographical film

Marilyn: drugged, insecure and lost

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My Week with Marilyn is a biographical film about one of the most fascinating icons of our time. The film fascinates by focusing on merely a week, an interlude during the making of the 1957 film, The Prince and the Showgirl. Monroe was purportedly shown around Britain by Colin Clark, a third assistant on the film who briefly catches Monroe’s eye.
In a Roman Holiday-like setting, Monroe flees the pressures of her Hollywood life to escape with an infatuated Clark. But the outcome has nothing in common with the Hepburn-classic: this scenario will end in tears. At no time does Clark appear to be dealing with a ‘real’ person (though he ardently hopes the real Marilyn has revealed herself to him): Monroe is a confused, miserable character who appears to have lost the ability to connect with others on a genuine level.
It is to Michelle William’s credit — something recognised with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress — that we are able to see through Clark’s point of view in the film. An often drugged, insecure and lost Marilyn — her eyes eerily dead when not in character — makes it clear that there is no relationship. There is no moment of salvation or grace, no love affair to be remembered with affection. Most of the time, she is listless, bored and drugged. She doesn’t seem much like the Marilyn we visualise. But then, neither did Marilyn.

A battle of unlikely heroes Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 are the frontrunners for the best animated feature. But Chico And Rita may well spoil their party,

A battle of unlikely heroes

Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 are the frontrunners for the best animated feature. But Chico And Rita may well spoil their party,

What if toys could talk? Do ogres have feelings? Can a dad swim halfway round the world braving sharks, jellyfishes and whatnot to save his son?
Some of the best animated films have given character to objects or animals and put them in settings that can’t be explored in real life. In that sense, Rango stands out among this year’s nominees for the Best Animated Feature. What sort of adventures do the animals of the desert go on? You know, those crawling reptiles that subsist on, well, anything. Rango is anything but cute, cuddly, smart or brave. When the movie started, I couldn’t connect with Rango, the way I did with Po (Kung Fu Panda), Nemo (Finding Nemo), Lightning McQueen (Cars) or even Shrek. But by the end, I cheered for him and his companions, and looked beyond the rough scales of the iguana, horned toad and the armadillo.
To be honest, Kung Fu Panda 2 entertained me more easily. But it didn’t immerse me in Gongmen City the way I was immersed in Mojave desert. What sealed it for me was the chase sequence in Rango — a classic scene from a Western, made even better in animation. The heroes are on a cart with precious cargo. Bandits giving them chase, riding on bats. Verbinski’s imagination comes to the fore, as Rango is swept up a lasso and through a series of comical errors brings down the bandits. The cartwheel chase in Kung Fu Panda 2 is brilliant in its own way, but not hard-hitting like the one in Rango.
From unlikely heroes we move to cats. Two of the other contenders have cats playing title roles. Puss In Boots is a film typical of a Shrek franchise. There are plenty of fairy tale creatures around — from Puss’s friend Humpty Dumpty to evil siblings, Jack & Jill. The humour certainly is better than some of the Shrek movies that followed the original.
Far from the sophisticated graphics of the films mentioned so far, A Cat In Paris is sweet French film employing simple graphics to tell the story of Zoe and her cat Dino. By day, Dino cuddles around Zoe, by night, he assists Nico, a master thief with a good heart. The other person in Zoe’s life is Jeanne, her mom and a police officer. The villain is Victor Costa, a delusional maniac who is after an antique statue. Costa is also the one who murdered Zoe’s father. All their paths cross due to the cat: the cat follows Nico, Zoe follows the cat, Costa’s gang follow Zoe, and are in turn pursued by Jeanne. Costa’s bumbling mates provide the laughs, while the plot itself is gripping with enough twists and turns.
I’ve saved Chico And Rita for the last since it is expected to spring a surprise by taking the Oscar. The film begins in Havana, Cuba in the late ’40s. It tells the story of Chico, an upcoming pianist and the sexy Rita, a singer. The two fall in love, become a smash hit and are drawn to New York. Here Rita becomes a celeb, while Chico is merely recognised as an important pianist in jazz circles. But Chico and Rita is more than just a love story. The people lending music and voice such as Bebo Valdes and Idiana Valdes are celebs in their own right. It also documents a period when Latino music started influencing jazz in America. Real-life music celebrities of the period such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and Chano Pozo are characters in the film. Also making cameo appearances are Charlie Parker and Marlon Brando.
The characters, the setting, and the music help this films succeed as a fictional story as well as a documentary on Cuban music.

Mind over matter Pina carries a powerful message and it may score over more visceral films like If A Tree Falls and Undefeated,

Mind over matter

Pina carries a powerful message and it may score over more visceral films like If A Tree Falls and Undefeated,

Choreography’ is a word that conjures up images of prissy hippopotami inducing twinkle-toed lovers to prance about in front of backup dancers in popular films which are disdainful of continuity and the intelligence of audiences. For German modern dance teacher Philippina ‘Pina’ Bausch — the leader of the troupe Tanztheater Wuppertal and subject of Wembers’s documentary — choreography, music and theatre were organs of the same living, breathing form of expression.
While the original nature of the documentary was supposed to be the woman and her craft, this was rendered impossible by her passing away before the shooting. Archival footage, testimonies and tribute performances stand in for the dance doyenne.
The tribute performances, on and off stage, are interspersed with the reflections of reminiscing acolytes and associates which come in like hypnic jerks interrupting the oneiric effect. Being prone livelier forms of expression than futile language can contain, their words (not restricted to solely the German tongue) are few, but their grief is apparent and immense and their sense of loss very much tangible. While performances acquaint us with Bausch’s logic, reasoning and sometimes less-than-sparse production design. The testimonies dubbed over still-lipped diverse pupils offer viewers testimony to her gentle, nurturing influence.
Pina faces competition from documentaries that are in truer spirit to style of the genre such as the perspective-broadening If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front and the inspiring Undefeated. The former throws light upon environmental extremists, in particular, arsonist Daniel McGowan (don’t scoff, the FBI wouldn’t call the ELF the number one domestic threat for nothing). The latter, directed by Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin’s is cited as a favourite to win the Best Documentary by IndieWire, a daily news site for the independent film community, celebrates the human spirit and in a US football team that, with the prodding of a coach, rises above circumstance in 2009. Also, there are more visceral subjects such as the less-than-smooth journey of an army sergeant from the battlefield to domestic and civilian life in Hell and Back Again. And then again, Pina doesn’t talk about the justice system in the US, advocating the cause of the release of innocent prisoners of 18 years like HBO’s Paradise Lost 3.
However, we pick the film for its appealing quality to the aesthetic sensibility and the power and beauty of its message on self-expression .Whether viewed in 3D or not, the documentary is as visually gripping as it is quirky. The camerawork does justice of the artistic expression with one scene capturing Bausch’s earthy, savage even, rendition of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with its mud-caked players and their primal trace-like gyrations which is contrasted by entrancing solo performed by her exponents that range from spiritedly odd to the elegiac.
While a must-watch for modern dance enthusiasts, Pina is definitely one for those who think dance, as an art form, is secondary to musical expression.
No, the documentary isn’t a chronicle (and may not display the street credentials associated with the genre), but a playful farewell that paints a vivid portrait of a mortal who took strove to find meaning within the dynamism of dance and wanted no less than for everyone to join in.

The puzzling web of truth A strong story, good casting, tight editing. Asghar Farhadi has the perfect recipe for fantastic cinema with A Separation,

The puzzling web of truth

A strong story, good casting, tight editing. Asghar Farhadi has the perfect recipe for fantastic cinema with A Separation,
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Post revolution, there came a phase in Iran when cinema was feared dead. Films were banned en masse, movie halls were shut, filmmakers — portrayed as evil-doers — were forced to flee.
Then Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, the country’s Supreme Leader, quite serendipitously caught Dariush Mehrjui’s Gaav (The Cow) — a film set in rural Iran — on television and decided to ease the noose. Filmmakers could once again do their jobs as long as they adhered to the tight code set by the ministry of culture. Not easy but yes, it is possible to make meaningful cinema without inviting the wrath of a paranoid government, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (in Persian: Jodái-e Náder az Simin, ‘The separation of Nader from Simin’) proves.
A Separation is a true to life, deceptively simple family tale that will annoy none, puzzle many, and cajole you into questioning notions of truth, right and wrong. Farhadi gently questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual without showing any contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality.
The film opens with Nader (played by Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami), a modern middle-class Iranian couple, fighting before court for divorce. Simin applied for it as she wants them to emigrate with their 11-year-old daughter, Termeh. Nader doesn’t agree as his father has Alzheimer’s and needs constant care. The court dismisses Simin’s application, and she moves out to her parents’ house. Now, following Simin’s suggestion, Nader hires a caregiver, Razieh, to tend to his father. Razieh is poor, pregnant, has a young daughter and a hot-tempered husband. She has religious qualms about taking care of an incontinent old man. She badly needs the money, and so overlooks her uneasiness. She slips up at work, Nader panics and pushes her out of the house. Next day, Simin hears that Razieh was in hospital. Worried, she and Nader visit and learn that Razieh miscarried. Her husband, Houjat, blames Nader for killing his four-and-a-half-month-old son, and presses man-slaughter charges on him.
That’s just the premise. The rest of the movie, Rashomon-style, is about the truth, or rather the many truths. Every character carries guilt and fear, each scene adds to the tangle, and the crescendo builds. Right and wrong, ego, truth and morality, socio-cultural divide in Iranian society, marital equations, child custody struggle and demands of age-related infirmities form layers that tug at you. Farhadi’s mastery is at how he presents these issues subtly, more as undercurrents. He doesn’t nudge you to the truth or let you take sides. Instead he forces you to puzzle over them. He lets scepticism play but not the Persian brand of cynicism.
Critics have already predicted that A Separation would be an enduring masterpiece. The film has bagged most of the Foreign Language Film awards at earlier ceremonies, and it will be little surprise if the Oscar goes to its kitty as well.

War Horse is a sappy, melodramatic film about the relationship between a farmboy and his horse — perfect material for a tearjerker

FOR EMOTIONAL DRAMA LOVERS
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War Horse is a sappy, melodramatic film about the relationship between a farmboy and his horse — perfect material for a tearjerker. And a tearjerker it is. The film has some truly moving moments, many of them captured superbly by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. The last shot of the film — a boy riding down a field, the red sun shining in the background, as he alights and greets his parents — is as memorable for the relevance to the story as it is for the way Kaminski’s shot it.
The story of Albert and his horse, Joey, War Horse is set against the backdrop of World War I. Albert’s father sells Joey off to a high-ranking British officer, Captain Nicholls, and the film then charts Joey’s journey from being war horse, to being a French girl’s pet, to being a carrier of weapons for the German army. Albert, meanwhile, enlists himself in the army, always on the lookout for Joey.
Some great scenes aside, you are left with a sense of being manipulated while watching War Horse, with several sequences pulling at heartstrings in a little-too-obvious manner. If you are a sucker for emotional dramas that make you weep copiously, War Horse is for you. Sadly, the film never goes beyond that.
Which is disappointing given that director Steven Spielberg has hardly ever adhered to norms. Sure, it’s commendable that Spielberg can deliver films as contrasting as War Horse and the animated The Adventures Of Tin Tin (which is the better of the two films and has been inexplicably ignored, even in the Best Animation Film category) in the same year. But you are left underwhelmed and wondering what this film is doing in the Best Picture category. Nominated for six awards, the only truly deserving one is for Kaminski’s cinematography, although he faces stiff competition in the category.

The selection of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close among the Best Picture nominees is the kind of ridiculous move that makes you want to take the Oscars with a pinch of salt

Puzzling Choice
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EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

The selection of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close among the Best Picture nominees is the kind of ridiculous move that makes you want to take the Oscars with a pinch of salt. The film is a terrible adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same name, about a nine-year-old boy dealing with the death of his father in the 9/11 WTC attacks.
It might seem like a story tailor-made for Oscar glory — the Academy members like nothing more than a sappy tale. Add to it the twin tower attacks and you have the perfect material for a real weepathon, one that helps milk both box office rewards and the sympathy of the Academy. However, filmmaker Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Reader) tries to tug at heartstrings a little too hard, and fails spectacularly. The film came a cropper at the box office, and received largely negative reviews from most critics. The Oscar nomination, then, is as surprising as the exclusion of Nicolas Winding Refn’s marvellous film, Drive, in the running for the top prize.
The film has a few good scenes, most of them between the little boy and his estranged grandfather, a role played well by seasoned actor Max Von Sydow, who was a regular in Ingmar Bergman films. Sydow has won the film’s second nomination, for Best Actor In A Supporting Role, but is likely to lose to another veteran, Christopher Plummer, for his performance in the film, Beginners.

Bennett Miller’s Moneyball benefits greatly from the presence of two of Hollywood’s most talented writers, Steven Zallian and Aaron Sorkin, collaborating on the script

Sorkin-Zallian combo works


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Moneyball

Bennett Miller’s Moneyball benefits greatly from the presence of two of Hollywood’s most talented writers, Steven Zallian and Aaron Sorkin, collaborating on the script. The scenes between Oakland Athletics baseball general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and his assistant Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) are memorable, the camaraderie between the two actors interesting and the dialogues sparkling with wit. When Beane asks Brand, “Would you rather get one shot in the head or five in the chest and bleed to death?”, Brand’s reply is, “Are those my only two options?”
Hill, really, is the life of the film, shining in every scene and playing the perfect foil to Pitt’s shenanigans. He’s rightly scored his first Best Actor In A Supporting Role nomination, along with Pitt who’s in the running for Best Actor. Frankly, though, I was left slightly underwhelmed by Pitt’s act — he was good, but I couldn’t see what he brought to the role another actor could not. His portrayal of the strict, arrogant father in The Tree Of Life was really his better performance of the year. In any case, the chances of Pitt clinching the award are minimal, with George Clooney, Jean Dujardin and Gary Oldman (for Tinker Tailkor Soldier Spy) in competition. The film, in spite of six nominations, just might go empty-handed unless the Sorkin-Zallian can score one for Best Adapted Screenplay.

WOODY ALLEN SCRIPTS ONE OF HIS BEST

WOODY ALLEN SCRIPTS ONE OF HIS BEST
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Midnight In Paris

Midnight In Paris is what you call a ‘Woody Allen special’. Beautifully shot in hues of red (Allen says the idea was to emanate a “warm feeling” as you watch the film), it’s the director’s 41st film, and his first completely shot in the French capital.
Midnight In Paris tells the story of a popular Hollywood scriptwriter, Gil, who’s trying his hand at his first novel without much success. A romantic in love with all things vintage, much like his novel’s protagonist, Gil is shown to have a rocky relationship with fiancé, Inez, a far more practical and slightly dominating woman. On a trip to Paris with Inez and her parents, Gil chances upon a mystical world, one where all his inspirations — Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali among others — come alive post-midnight. Gil realises he is transported to Paris in the 1920s, the “classic era”, where art, literature and music is thriving, with the greats shaping art and culture as we would later come to know in the modern world. The film is a literature lover’s wet dream come true. Allen seamlessly merges the real world with the dreamy one, the film bursting with witty writing and “warm” moments. Allen’s trademark humour is apparent right through, and the art direction makes every frame a treat. Allen opens the film with a rather indulgent three-and-half-minute-long montage showing some of Paris’ most famous landmarks, familiarising you with the most important character in the film, Paris.
Owen Wilson gives a delightful performance as Gil; you’d think he’s an unusual choice for the role but he portrays Gil’s social awkwardness and ability to revel among like-minded people efficiently. Of the four nominations it has scored at the Academy Awards (Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay and Art Direction), the film’s best chance would be to win the screenplay award for Allen, with The Artist giving it tough competition in the category. The film is surely one of the best written ones of 2011; you can’t but marvel about Allen’s mastery over scriptwriting, still so fresh nearly six decades since Allen started out as a television writer and playwright.
Midnight In Paris may not have the emotional depth of, say, Annie Hall but is a delightful watch nonetheless, probably Allen’s best since the turn of the millennium. It makes you wonder what the auteur may have in store for us next.

Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life is a visceral experience, the film’s narrative interspersed with visuals of the origin of the universe and the inception of life

Not everyone’s cup of tea
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THE TREE OF LIFE

Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life is a visceral experience, the film’s narrative interspersed with visuals of the origin of the universe and the inception of life. Malick, in a career spanning over four decades, has made only five feature films, each of which has come to be critically acclaimed. The Tree Of Life stays true to the filmmaker’s craftsmanship.
A middle aged man (Sean Penn) reflects on his childhood years in the 1950s, and growing up with an authoritarian father (Brad Pitt). A death in the family changed their lives forever, the relationship dynamics altering too. The film follows a non-linear plot, unraveling at a pace that will be found to be excruciating for some. But then, The Tree Of Life is not everybody’s cup of tea, and if you are willing to give it a chance, it will grow on you like fine wine and leave you with a feeling of elation.
The film, fittingly, has won a Best Picture nomination and a Best Director nod for Malick, but in a year where the Cinematography category features films as well-shot as Hugo, The Artist, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and War Horse, its Emmanuel Lubezki’s work on The Tree Of Life that might actually score a win.

The Help has everyhing o please Academy members: racial discriminaion heme, period seing, moving soryeal

Voila! She’s better than Meryl
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The Help

The Help has everyhing o please Academy members: racial discriminaion heme, period seing, moving soryeal. The real riumph for he film, hough, lies in he fac ha i encapsulaes all hose hings, bu does so in a smar manner, no once playing o he gallery. I is full of warm, genuine momens ha ug a your hearsrings, bu wihou having o resor o hyperbole.
Direcor Tae Taylor is unhurried in his elling of he sory, he film unraveling a a pace akin o a lazy Sunday afernoon. I has a running ime of almos 150 minues bu never lags, no a scene seeming ou of place. A solid scrip by Taylor (adaped from he Kahryn Socke novel of he same name and, surprisingly, no nominaed for a Bes Adaped Screenplay award) holds he film ogeher beauifully.
Afer aking his ime o esablish some really complex, confliced characers (mos of whom are women), Taylor ges down o narraing he cenral sory of Eugenia ‘Skeeer’ Phelan, a 20-somehing whie girl who has reurned home afer graduaing from universiy in he early 1960s, and aspires o wrie a book on he lives of he domesic helps working in many upper class American homes in Mississippi.
The Civil Righs era acs as a backdrop, and he film relies on is well-fleshed-ou characers o capure he angs of ha period. Many scenes leave you mois-eyed; suble humour helps ease he ension every now and hen, before an explosive finale ha leaves you inrospecive and moved.
The big ake-away from The Help is he work of a well pu-ogeher and alened ensemble. Emma Sone as Skeeer pus in a fine performance, her warmh and friendliness conrasing wih he bichy, negaive vibes emanaing from Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays a crusader agains righs for he black communiy. Three of he film’s nominaions include Bes Acress In A Supporing Role for Jessica Chasain and Ocavia Spencer, and Bes Acress for Viola Davis, who delivers he film’s sandou performance.
Davis go a Bes Acress In A Supporing Role award for her 11 minue role in Doub hree years ago, and she sparkles in every scene in The Help, delivering a performance ha will be revered for years o come. Meryl Sreep may be ipped o pick he Bes Acress award for her porrayal of Margare Thacher in The Iron Lady, bu frankly, Viola Davis’ is he performance of he year among female acors. Jus for her, The Help is a mus-wach.

The Descendants is one of three films nominated in the Best Film

This time for Clooney?

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The Descendants is one of three films nominated in the Best Film category that revolves around the theme of death (the other two being The Tree Of Life and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). Filmmaker Alexander Payne, who has given us such gems as About Schmidt and Sideways in the past, expertly deals with issues like infidelity, familial ties, estrangement, and coping mechanisms in The Descendants.
The film is about Matt King (George Clooney), a lawyer living in Honolulu, whose wife lands in a coma after a boating accident. Matt is the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of land on an island called Kaua’i. He is saddled with looking after his two daughters, 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller), both of whom he’s kept a distance from for the longest time. The story takes a turn when Matt realises that his wife, now facing death, may have cheated on him.
Payne, while maintaining a sombre mood throughout, laces the film with dark humour. You empathise with Matt but can’t help laughing at many of his miseries. Many scenes bring a lump to your throat, while many others have you break into a smile, part-credit for which goes to some brilliant acting by Clooney, Miller and Woodley (who missed out on a Best Actress In A Supporting Role nomination).
If there is one thing you probably know about The Descendants already, it’s that Clooney has won a string of awards for Best Actor at various award ceremonies, making him a favourite to pick the Oscar too. Clooney, really, is marvellous, his body language and mannerisms not once straying away from character, but I’d pick his portrayal of Ryan Bingham in Up In The Air (for which he lost the Best Actor Oscar to Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart two years ago) over The Descendants any day. However, experts feel this will be Clooney’s year, with the Academy wanting to reward him for having lost two other Best Actor nominations in a span of five years (Michael Clayton being the other one).
The film has four other major nominations (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Editing). With The Artist also in the running for Best Picture and Director, The Descendants’ best chance would be to win one for Screenplay, apart from Best Actor.

The kids will love it too

The kids will love it too

Hugo is a technical marvel. Martin Scorsese, the godfather of American crime films, tries his hand at a family film with a fantastical element this time, and makes it a visual extravaganza unlike any other. The first shot of the film shows the inner workings of a clock, and before you realise it, the Paris landscape appears right before your eyes. From there on, you remain transfixed by the imagery, a lot of which leaves you open-mouthed.
Based on Brian Selznick’s historical fiction novel, The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, the film is about 12-year-old Hugo, living at a train station, stealing food and staying away from the prying eyes of the station master who would give Hugo away to an orphanage if he ever caught him. Hugo befriends the god-daughter of the toy shop owner at the station, and lets her in on a secret: he has kept hidden away an automaton — a mechanical man — given to him by his now-deceased father, who was a clockmaker. Hugo, blessed with the talent of his father, works towards repairing the now-defunct automaton with single-minded dedication; he feels his loneliness will vanish once the doll comes to life. What the two kids discover in the process, though, is far greater.
Like The Artist, Hugo pays tribute to cinema — the film’s main inspiration being the life of illusionist and visionary French filmmaker George Melies, who created the automaton, and many of whose films have been lost in oblivion. Scorsese, apart from being one of the most influential filmmaking voices over the last half-century, has devoted the larger part of his life to restoring forgotten classics. In that sense, Scorsese has given to cinema more than what he’s taken, his love for the movies apparent in his passion to save many gems. Hugo, then, would have been his pet project, and one that few filmmakers other than Scorsese could have done justice to.
The film is the most nominated one at the 2012 Oscars — it has 11 nominations in all — and it deserves to win many of the technical ones, especially art direction and cinematography. Even though Hugo will likely be upstaged by The Artist in the Best Picture and Best Director categories, the film is a fitting addition to Scorsese’s prolific filmography.

Of the nine films that made the cut for Best Picture, two doff their hats to motion pictures, while three deal with the theme of death. Throw in the Civil Rights era and the 1920s’ ‘Lost Generation’, and you have quite a number of period films this year,

Odes to top cinema are top contenders...

Of the nine films that made the cut for Best Picture, two doff their hats to motion pictures, while three deal with the theme of death. Throw in the Civil Rights era and the 1920s’ ‘Lost Generation’, and you have quite a number of period films this year,

Sound & Awe

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Films like The Artist come along once in a while. How oten does a ilm capture your imagination, have you transixed, entertain you every moment it unspools, and leave you eeling elated in the end? This is movie-making at its best. It’s poetic justice then that the ilm itsel is an ode to cinema, a recreation o the time when motion pictures had just entered our lives, and when going to the movies was a joy that was unparalleled. It also relects a time when cinema was on the cusp o a revolution that would change everything — the advent o sound.
French ilmmaker Michel Haznavicius continues to salute cinema in his ilms. Two o his earlier ilms, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest o Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio, were ashioned on Hollywood spy ilms. This time, the director dos his hat to 1920s’ Hollywood, and pays it the ultimate tribute by writing a script sans dialogue. He goes a step ahead and treats The Artist like a ilm not just about the 1920s, but one that ollows the tenets o the ilms made then.
The Artist is the story o Hollywood superstar George Valentin and his love aair with starlet Peppy Miller. Valentin’s an entertainer par excellence, a charmer. But while he reigns the silent movie era, he is lustered and shaken when sound makes its entry in ilms.
The storyline may have nothing new to oer, it’s clichéd even, but Haznavicius makes every moment a treat. The background score, given its importance with the absence o dialogue, is eective, the art direction spot-on, and the cinematography captures the era aptly. Not surprisingly, the ilm has received a host o technical nominations.
There is no other way to put it — The Artist is the best ilm o 2011, a cinematic triumph, and deserves to win the prize. Haznavicius does everything a director could do right with this ilm, and surely deserves a shot at the Best Director Oscar, but Martin Scorsese (or Hugo) and Alexander Payne (or The Descendants) could prove to be diicult competition to beat. Haznavicius has won a ew Original Screenplay awards or the ilm earlier in the year and could win here too.
Jean Dujardin, as Valentin, plays a character most actors rom the current generation would ind diicult to portray — he has to rely on expressions and body language more than dialogue, and he delivers beautiully. I the Academy isn’t as gung-ho as it seems to be on George Clooney this year, Dujardin could be an unlikely winner.
One thing is certain: The Artist’s perormance in the major categories (Picture, Direction, Acting) is what will decide how we remember Oscars 2012.

Musical feast alert!

Musical feast alert!

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Music lovers in the city are in for a treat. Gear up for an enthralling evening dedicated to music, and some smashing performances by some of the most popular Indian rock bands at an upcoming popular Annual Rock Awards.
Slated to take place at Mehboob Studio, Bandra, this evening, the event will see several indigenous musicians churn out live music. Nominees include established rock bands like Indian Ocean and Menwhopause from Delhi, and Pentagram from Mumbai (featuring Vishal Dadlani). Together with them, there are also a host of young music bands like Undying Inc and Sky Rabbit that will be playing at the function.
Aimed at promoting and celebrating the rock ’n roll culture in India, this is the seventh edition of this annual event. A combination of internet-based popular vote and a distinguished jury ballot will determine the winners at the awards.

‘It was fantastic to perform in front of Sridevi’ …says Parichay from popular band RDB on remixing the classic song Chandni oh meri Chandni

‘It was fantastic to perform in front of Sridevi’

…says Parichay from popular band RDB on remixing the classic song Chandni oh meri Chandni

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You guys remixed the classic song Chandni oh meri Chandni. What was your initial thought process behind choosing the song?
We have a saying in the West, “If it ain’t broke then don’t try to fix it”. Just like Yamla Pagla Deewana we didn’t want to spoil a cult, and instead built on the rhythms, dhols and basslines giving it the RDB flavour. The normal process in making a remake is normally quite quick. However, for this particular remake it took a little longer, simply because Samir has a very keen ear to the music we create. He sat with us most of the production journey tweaking and adjusting the song. As a kid, I loved this song and used to keep on humming it in my free time.
At a recent event you performed in front of Sridevi and dedicated the song to her. How did it go?
We performed to the track of Chandni on Valentine’s Day at the film’s music launch event. Chandni Oh Meri Chandni has turned out just the way we wanted it to be. There’s great rhythm to it and also a soulful melody. We had all been waiting to dedicate this song to Sri Devi, and it was a great experience for us performing it in front of her.
You collaborated with Sunidhi Chauhan for the song. So, how was the experience?
Sunidhi Chauhan is a very talented singer; it was a pleasure working with her. Samir discussed the tracks with us and we found it appealing to our genre of music. Also, the fact that we have been great fans of the track, made the decision almost impulsive to do the music.
Tell us about your new album All New Everything.
All New Everything is my sophomore album, encompassing a mesh of various musical influences that have defined my signature melody, that are vivacious and fresh in essence. The album boasts of a repertoire of musical tastes, representing the multiculturalism of my home town, Toronto, Canada. I have not only defined my own inimitable style on this album but have also collaborated with some of the most talented artists from Rap and R&B to Pop and bhangra, enhancing the album’s cross-over international appeal.

Actor Aman Verma who has been juggling a rather successful TV career with films, was most recently seen play an all out negative character in Zee TV’s Choti Bahu. In an exclusive tete-a-tete, the actor talks about his journey so far...

‘I was never close to Ekta Kapoor!’

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Actor Aman Verma who has been juggling a rather successful TV career with films, was most recently seen play an all out negative character in Zee TV’s Choti Bahu. In an exclusive tete-a-tete with After Hrs, the actor talks about his journey so far...

You have been playing a negative role in Choti Bahu. Does playing the baddie excite you as an actor?
I have been getting those kind of roles more often of late. Today every actor dies out in public memory soon after their show ends, so it is a scary situation. Considering that on Indian TV, more importance is given to women, than men, the only way I can perform is with negative characters. I like how the story can revolve around me, I change the way a show is going, so I feel good about it. When I am there, I stand out, so it keeps me happy.
Films, TV or theatre which do you enjoy doing the most?
I enjoy all of them. I like theatre when it comes to getting an instant response. With TV you are more like a daily newspaper, it fills you in everyday. When I need to be a part of eternity, it is films. I have been lucky to do few films and I’m looking to doing a lot more.

There’s buzz that some of your co-actors find you very intimidating...
It probably means I am growing old then and it’s not a happy thing (laughs). All you do is try and make an impact and go home. Actors don’t connect to the audience anymore, that is why shows come and go.

The industry is crowded with new comers and not every actor gets to bounce back like Ram Kapoor did in Bade Acche Lagte Hain...
When I worked with Ram, I always felt Ekta (Kapoor) and he were really close. The bond that they share is quite strong. And Ekta has an eye to pick up good actors and Bade Acche Lagte Hain, needed a big, fat, yet cute and cuddly above 40 looking man. It is the physicality of the character that is more important than the performance. But I give due credit to him, he is a fine actor and is doing a good job. Ekta has an eye for sensibility. No actor really works well outside her camp, that’s why I proved myself with different banners.

You were said to be very close to Ekta...
I was never close to Ekta Kapoor! I have just met her a couple of times.

If she offers you a meaty role will you take it?
Yes, of course. If Ekta gives you a role, you should quietly take it and do your job. She makes sure you get what you want and you must simply try and deliver your best in return.

Will you consider directing?
I do have something in my mind. May be this year or next year.

That dishoom dishoom moment! Brawlgate’s on the upswing in B-town now more than ever. Trade talk explores the recent scuffles that rocked Bollywood and why

That dishoom dishoom moment!

Brawlgate’s on the upswing in B-town now more than ever. Trade talk explores the recent scuffles that rocked Bollywood and why

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While there’s no dearth of masala in Bollywood onscreen, B-Town’s been witnessing enough real action off screen too, these past few days, as the heroes choose to show off their herogiri beyond the camera. Though trade analysts reveal that such incidents are not a new occurrence in Bollywood, the increased frequency of brawls and scuffles in the public domain is certainly setting the alarm bells ringing in the industry. Insiders reveal that higher competition and raging insecurity, coupled with the private lives of the celebrities being all out in the open now, leaves them more vulnerable to outside elements.
A look at the recent events that rocked the industry is proof enough. Close on the heels of the slapgate incident wherein filmmaker Shirish Kunder faced the ire of actor Shah Rukh Khan at Sanjay Dutt’s bash, came news of actor Vivek Oberoi roughing up a man at a political rally that he was attending in Mathura, where he had allegedly grabbed him by the collar. And now actor Saif Ali Khan finds himself in the news after being booked under IPC section 325 when he got involved in a public brawl on Tuesday night.
“Guilty or not, it’s not the first time however, that Bolly heroes have found themselves in the news for the wrong reasons,” informs trade analyst Taran Adarsh. Apparently, Saif was involved in a media scuffle several years back too, when he and then wife Amrita Singh reportedly beat up a journalist. Besides the recent incident, Vivek was earlier a part of the public melee, when he had called for a press conference alleging actor Salman Khan of making threatening calls to him and then girlfriend Aishwarya Rai. Actor John Abraham had apparently threatened a guy, who had misbehaved with then girlfriend, actor Bipasha Basu. SRK too has been a part of several such infamous incidents including one where he apparently lunged at a reporter when asked about his equation with his Maya Memsaab co-star Deepa Sahi. Much later, in 2008, the actor got into a fight with Salman at actor Katrina Kaif’s birthday party, in what was considered a Bollywood-dividing incident. Govinda too had apparently slapped a visitor on the sets of his film Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, while there have also been rumours of him having slapped a co-actor as well. Ashish Raheja was apparently roughed up by actor Sohail Khan after the former passed some snide remarks about his sister Arpita. Zayed Khan too has a history of displaying violent behaviour in public and the actor is said to have gotten into several fights over the years in public domain, not very much unlike his father, Sanjay Khan and mum Zarine, who had apparently roughed up actor Zeenat Aman in the lobby of a hotel.
“Bollywood’s always had its set of bad boys who were in news for their fights and bratty behaviour way back in early 90s, but there has been a sudden surge once again in such incidents,” adds Taran. But there’s a segment that feel that the stars are being wrongly targeted. “True, their lives are up for public consumption, but sometimes people just cross the line and it’s only human then to snap sometimes when that line is crossed,” says a filmmaker.
Psychologist Seema Hingorrany points out that the high pressure lives that the stars lead is the culprit. “There’s so much stress, competition and insecurity, it’s like they are sitting on a ticking bomb. One wrong trigger and they just take off. Nothing can justify their actions, but they are not always entirely at fault too,” she says.

‘Always wanted to visit India’ …says Grammy award-winning international DJ David Guetta of his first India tour next month

‘Always wanted to visit India’

…says Grammy award-winning international DJ David Guetta of his first India tour next month

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French music sensation David Guetta rocked at the Grammys recently where he played with international pop singer Chris Brown. Best known for his tracks Sexy Bitch, Memories, Guetta is set to play in India for the first time, this March. And though Mumbai will miss him play, he’ll be touring Pune (March 9), Delhi and Bangalore instead, as a part of the Eristoff Invasion music festival. Guetta is bringing down his festival set to India — the same set-up he has at festivals abroad like Tomorrow Land and Ultra Music Festival, a complete sound and light treat. Excerpts from an interview with After Hrs:



Your concert in India is much awaited. Tell us what’s in store?

I have wanted to play in India for a long time, but it was just not possible with my recording and touring commitments. I’ve heard that my records have reached your shores before me though. I’ve always wanted to visit the country! So it’s great that I’ll also be able to perform live on my first visit. Of course I will play my hits, but mixed with the more underground beats I love as a DJ.



You’ll be performing to a completely new set of audience. Is that unnerving?

I get a little nervous when I play to people for the first time. But I’m really looking forward to it. I read the people; it’s my mission to make them go crazy, so what I will play will depend on the connection we make together.



How aware are you of the music scene in India?

To be honest, I don’t know much about Indian music or Indian musicians, but I’m hoping to be able to listen to a lot more music from India when I get there.



What’s next on your mind?

I’m working on many projects. I am always creating. I play in Ibiza every week during the summer, and am constantly touring. I make music as I travel. Every day is a new beginning.

Why Vivek got lucky, Not Saif Unlike actor Saif Ali Khan, a brawl involving actor Vivek Oberoi went unnoticed. After Hrs explores the anatomy of star brawls

Why Vivek got lucky, Not Saif
Unlike actor Saif Ali Khan, a brawl involving actor Vivek Oberoi went unnoticed. After Hrs explores the anatomy of star brawls


Actor Saif Ali Khan found himself hogging tremendous news space, soon after reports of his brawl with a fellow diner on Tuesday night broke out. The actor’s subsequent arrest and release on bail was much followed as well. Not too long ago, it was actor Shah Rukh Khan who made headlines in the same public domain for the slapgate incident, wherein he allegedly had roughed up filmmaker Shirish Kunder at a bash hosted by Sanjay Dutt. A few days post this incident it was actor Vivek Oberoi who apparently was involved in a brawl at a political rally being held in Mathura. According to sources, the actor had allegedly caught a man by his collar after he continued to pester the actor despite constant requests by Vivek to step away.
But while the incidents involving Saif and Shah Rukh became topics of discussion overnight, sparking off public interest and triggering off innumerable debates, Vivek’s public spat failed to arouse the same level of interest, as his senior peers. Though there’s a segment of industry that believes that the incident in itself was not huge in magnitude, there are others who insist that a celebrity’s popularity and star status is directly proportional to the extent to which an incident gets mileage.
“Celebrities always draw attention and when it comes to a public tamasha it gets all the more interesting for everyone. So bigger the name, the more eyeballs it grabs. So, had it been a bigger star than Vivek, even that incident would’ve been highlighted that much more,” says trade analyst Komal Nahta.“But in a way it works in favour of Vivek too, as he is spared by the excess of negative publicity that such incidents generate,” says a filmmaker.
“What can’t be ruled out completely though is that Vivek was involved in a brawl in a smaller town, even if it was a political rally, while both SRK and Saif incidents happened in the city, especially where the incidents are likely to draw more attention,” opines Nahta.
However neither of the industrywallahs disagree that a star’s standing in the industry is what will ultimately decide the impact of the incident. “Salman’s (Khan) infamous black buck shooting case had happened in Rajasthan, but it did not dim the impact. Incidentally Saif was involved in the case too,” they point out.