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A chance channel surfing expedition on a Sunday morning got me hooked to this documentary on HBO today. Something that drew me towards it initially were the attributes that goes into making a world class documentary from its first shot. But eventually ended up being a piece of history that should do well in drawing a perspective of the what's and why's of the 2008 economic debacle, for anyone who has a knack for "money". Which I'd like to think is all of us. Narrated beautifully by Matt Damon, "Inside Job" tells a story for what its worth without resorting to dramatics or kneeling on fabrications. The fact that its entire runtime lacked a single hint to a government propaganda, should serve it in good stead for a long time to come. If not as a guide on how to terminate a civilization; at least as a reference on how to avert the possibility of one. Having said that, what really stayed with me long after I'd finished watching it though, was a reality check on how ill-represented the knowledgeable of the world's strongest democracy is. I'd not be delineating from the truth if I assume the one's we trust with our money & future are as susceptible to personal greed and are as misinformed as were the cavemen from once upon a time. The authorities we elect to represent us, to secure and protect us from the evils of the very society we live in, are the ones who are nonchalantly eating into our future, spewing out the remnants of what was rightfully ours. And then you include the prestigious institutes that shapes the great minds that will lead us tomorrow like Columbia University & Harvard into the mix and what you have is "fear" instilled in your minds, almost bordering on depression. While the economic downturn of the late last decade, was a bastard child of some "designer suit clad" but "shot sighted" go getters of the far west, the global economy of today ensured that its impact was far and wide spread. Anyone who buys and sells to another nation irrespective of bi-lateral trade policies is fated to be a part of it's collateral damage. As such everyone I know or work with, had borne some degree of brunt from this downturn. Point in case is me. I work in a developing nation in the South East of Asia for a company that headquarters in California and is the world's biggest IT company. Go figure

The feature starts with a panoramic shot of Iceland and its lush green covered undulating landscape that suddenly cuts into a few shots of it's man made concrete infrastructure which I think was intended to represent progress and development of an urban society. It's a short retrospection at what transpired in this Nordic European island nation in the North Atlantic ocean that is strategically placed between North American and the rest of Europe around the same time. It involves the collapsing of all three of their major commercial banks and their inability to refinance their short term debts. They eventually were dependent of the run ins from Netherlands & the UK. Relative to the size of its economy, Iceland's banking collapse is the largest suffered by any country in economic history. In the documentary, this piece works as a preamble to the main chapters that follows right after. A large group of men from Wall Street across its food chain, twisted and turned the laws of finance to yield immediate and exponentially high results that were mutually exclusive and with almost no regard to morality or limitations. It gave way to a world of illusion, which under the garb of rapid financial progress was in reality infested with lies, deceit and cover ups for the common men which sadly was to be only found out after much destruction to the system itself. So much so that, even the most revered thinker of the trade cannot put a timeline to its complete recovery. My bet is, no one can even tell its true meaning anymore. The then Bush government's initial buying into the same school of thought as those greased mouth scavengers is as much revelation as realizing that the one in power i.e. Obama has not been able to to extract much result from all the promises of his presidential campaign that got him elected. I mean what else do you expect when the apples of discord who deserved to be trialed for treason are appointed heads of initiatives that are formed to eradicate the very evils they inculcated in the first place. That in gist is what "Inside Job" is all about. It is told through interviews of the who's who from the various factions within the financial world that calls the shots, sometimes at the expense of our tomorrow.

Some pundits would make us believe that although the tax paying men suffered a great deal, the final storm was averted and that we should thank a handful of them for their disaster recovery plans. A movie named "Too Big To Fail" that followed right after in HBO, tends to elaborate on that notion. But for both reasons technical and factual, "Inside Job" is a documentary heads and limbs above any that I have seen in the past few years, including HBO's above original feature. For a piece of history that is both compelling in its taut execution and for its relevance to our future and that of our children, watch "Inside Job". RECOMMENDED 5/5 Read more at http://mayurdeep.com

I walked into the theater with very little expectation, besides a dormant penchant of some cheap thrills and chills. But the one thing that kept coming to my mind, while going through the pre-show commercials, was what Total Film called it in one of their past month editions : "reinventing the horror genre". While that may not mean much or anything at all, my subconscious self was yearning for something interesting, minus the torture gores of Eli Roth and his counterparts, that I detest.

The Cabin In The Woods, through its trailers, shouts out aloud that here is a movie that you've seen it all before, and just like what you've come to expect by now, we too have twists, and turns and surprises along the way. In the movie though, what does stand apart by almost a telling yard is that, these twists and turns come to life in the narration, a lot earlier than you'd have anticipated and follows a coherent motive of surprising the viewer, the moment conventional wisdom looked to be the order of the day. Drew Goddard and Josh Whedon wrote a good story but the former, directed it even better. The acting was a well oiled support group that left no stone unturned in exploiting every given opportunity at pulling off histrionics, that such scripts provide. Special mention to the Fran Kranz, who I am told has been a regular in Wheddon's past works. As a nerdy, dope head, his weed act is the catalyst of this experiment and serves the flavour sumptuously with a long ending after taste. There is also no doubt that post Thor and the soon to be released pre-summer blockbuster "The Avengers", Chris Hemsworth's stock price is on the rise. & that will do a world of good, in pulling the Youtube demography into buying cinema tickets for this cabin.

Jenkins & Whitford were pitch perfect Overall, if entertainment was the yardstick to a film's success, The Cabin In The Woods, is an assured and comprehensive winner. Its a shot in the arm to the horror genre. It'd be a crying shame if the most cynical follower of such movies would have anything to complain about this one. In my attempt at not giving too much away, I'd just say that the elaborate climax and all the mayhem that the proceedings give into, all mixed at a tastefully timed pace, should keep you glued to the edge of your seats for minutes that seem to be never ending. The humour quotient is immaculately placed in the entire narration and is never used as a tension diffuser. Such was the balance between perception and truth of the premise, that I had people in my cinema guffaw and shriek in the same scene in a matter of seconds. And I consider them both, bloody genuine reactions. As a film enthusiast I can only imagine the kind of fun the makers and everybody involved in the project may have had. Speaking of which. A homage, although sometimes projected as unintentional, has rarely missed my sights. The opening credits have a subtle touch of Tarantino's flair about them. & the look of the cabin itself and a few other sequences will remind you of Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead. Now you know what we're talking

As you can imagine, being compared to past classics that have done their bits in reviving a genre that sometimes produces overdose of solemn and mournful, can be a great thing. There are times when we tend to take going ons far too seriously and forget that its actually just a movie. If you're one of them, the likelihood of you coming out of the theater feeling shortchanged is very high.So my word of advice, in the words of Mr. S from "School of Rock" is that loosen those hinges on your shoulder, go loosey – goosey, grab your popcorn & soda and find the time to go watch this hilariously frightening piece of work, that has cult written all over it. Look, if not now; than at least in another 10 years perhaps ?

Recommended for the Horror & Thriller lovers. 4/5

After waiting for about 2 months since I first watched the trailer and more than 5 since I first heard about it, I finally managed to watch "The Artist". Between then and the night before last, I've grown accustomed to hearing only the superlatives and most glorious adjectives in reference to the movie. Although none from my close friends, I am referring to my favourite pastimes like Facebook, Twitter, American Cinematography Magazine, Total Film, Time Magazine to just name a few. Apart from setting unimaginable expectations in the sub conscious, it did generate a sense of delirious excitement in me, while I sat down for the experience. Here's what I think, how it fared.

The Artist is an accomplished piece of work that should / would appeal to a wide spectrum of cine goers across the world. But "a lump in the throat" is reserved for the absolute fanatic of the craft. In my books, I consider myself a member of such a make belief club. Before I indulge in the sparkles and the fireworks, the movie managed to create while watching it and right after, let me get into some of the facts.This is as much as some may hate to accept, is a French production shot on location in Los Angeles and includes various craftsmen from both French cinema and Hollywood. But in true heart and soul this is an American story of the industry that sells dreams and most successfully so.There have been many stories about it in the past and so will be in future; that may have or will manage to tell it successfully and some not so much. The Artist, I perceive will have a special place amongst them all, a first among equals if You'd like. At a time, where the advent and renaissance of "Social Media" has brought fans of cinema and the ones who don the grease paints to unbelievable and sometimes unacceptable proximities, the process has inadvertently led to considerable degeneration of the mist that surrounds them and their lives outside the spot light, between "cut" and "action". And at such times, "The Artist" is a breath of fresh air and works as a reminiscent of what movies right after its conception, stood for. A celebration of one such art form, from one such factory that has outlived itself in many ways in the past millennium. he story itself is about an indispensable act of nature, "change" and how it affects the one's who take success and in this case fame and admiration for permanency or as some would call it, granted. In life as much as in the world of glamour, nothing is constant. The protagonist's fights with his inner demons about accepting change is projected in the simplest of manners which is why it works. Research of how it worked in the 1920′s and technical excellence in achieving the feel of those times more than the costume, make up and body language which we have come to expect of movies these days, makes it a product par excellence. The fact that the makers shot it at 22 fps as opposed to the standard 24 fps, helped them achieve what they did and is a serious case in point. Although its USP, "a silent film" will manage to draw the crowds and more so with all the nominations it has been getting, what would make them savour the experience is, how good it is, at it. Michel Hazanavicius who held this dream / passion project close to his heart for long before it came true chose his confidants for the lead roles, Jean Dujardin & Berenice Bejo (who also happens to be his better half). They have achieved major success in the OSS 117 series in France before this. Along with that some very familiar faces that constitutes the important players list includes the likes of John Goodman & James Cromwell who by the way pull off excellent character roles pivotal to the story line. Special mention to Uggy the Dog, who by the way has his own IMDb page now. But by and large Jean Dujardin with his impeccable sense of timing besides an affable charm, the original score produced by Lodovic Bource and performed by Brussels Philharmonic and most of all, Michel Hazanavicius who did not have to depend only on intertiles to tell a silent story, should be held high, very high in respect to what they have given us, the fans. Come February 26th, people who watch movies and follow them for what it is worth, will wait to see if "The Artist" stakes claims at the 10 Oscar categories it has been nominated for (including BEST Picture). My only concern is, people should not give it a miss if it does not get some of them "Gold Statuettes" in the bag because for once, let's not make The Academy the yardstick of its excellence and achievements. Martin Scorsese for all I care should have earned it long before for far better works than "The Departed", for which he did. Lets for once, stand up and applaud "The Artist" wherever You are, until it deafens the ears that have grown accustomed to appreciation of the mediocre, because this one is not it. It is quiet truly and literally if I may, in a league of its own.

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