ashcoounter

Michael Moore has not let a single stone unturned in his quest to disparage the loose gun-control this country faces. Although this is definitely an opinionated piece of work, I would refrain from saying it is one-sided. An example is when Moore talks to the arrogant and care-free pool player who when questioned whether the buyers of his stolen arms and drugs were black, replies "Yeah, predominantly."

In the same documentary where Moore tries to inform us that TV series like "COPS" encourage false perception like majority of criminals being black, he shows this true on the face comment of a guy who from his own experience tells us that most of the gangsters are black. If moore were really one-sided he would have excluded that footage since he himself would be falling into a pit of showing blacks in bad light.

I particularly liked the K-Mart scene and also the scene where he appeals to the news media to cover pollution that blocks the view of the Hollywood sign. The documentary takes a gripping and chilling turn when Moore focuses on the Columbine shooting and when he reveals to us a harsh truth that this country breathes with fear which is also a view that is expressed by Marilyn Manson the rocker. Manson definitely did not soil my stereotype of an arrogant rocker who does not give a damn about the society and media. Manson did not judiciously justify that the kids and teenagers followed the President more. How many of us believe that kids today come home from school and turn on CNN or MSNBC to watch their president brief about middle-east or something? On what basis did Manson conclude that the president has more influence on kid's minds? It was even more sillier when he says that with an undeservedly arrogant tone!

Moore's courage and guts to ask the supercilious NRA chief Heston to apologize to the people of Columbine and Flint deserves a special mention. So does his last act in the Heston estate when he places the girl's photo against a pillar.

Over all, a great film that made me laugh, cry, fear and finally sit up and think hard about something that convolutes this country into unending fear violence and paranoia!

At first, I thought Pedro Almodóvar must be crazy to combine sex and comatose patients. It was appalling to think of for a few moments, but later you seem to realize how he has portrayed desperation and love in a crude way.

Beningo and Marco are two friends who happen to meet by chance and the women they love are both hospitalized in coma. The relationship and lives of the four are shown in varying dimensions of time. Particularly touching is the relationship between Marco and Beningo. The way they both relate to each other's concerns is enchanting. Beningo is portrayed innocently but he proves that he is very serious about his passions.

Almodóvar (1999 Academy Award Winner for `Todo sobre mi madre') narrates a tale of love in the lives of two men. This film showcases his mastery in film craftsmanship and like many other of his previous works evokes a multitude of feelings without taking the characters too far. Almodóvar who is known for presenting his characters in a sensitive and honest way does so in this film too and these characters are perfectly unambiguous.

Javier Cámara (Beningo) has given an ingenious performance and you can see innocence flowing not only through his speech, but also through his body language. Darío Grandinetti's character is very interesting. He is seen being emotional in many scenes but his expression and personality are rather stoic most of the times. It is easy to be mistaken that Grandinetti has done little to emote effectively, but it has to be understood that his character and personality warrants such restraint in expression. However, his acting is impeccable and heart-warming in the scene he cries for his 'big' loss. I was personally aroused by his performance and maturity.

Alberto Iglesias's music is delicate with an appealing Spanish tinge encompassing it. Javier Aguirresarobe's lenses have captured the visuals with adequate light and color that adds poignancy to the theme. Many have described `Talk to Her' as Almodóvar's best. The film also won the `Best foreign Language Film' award at the Golden Globe Awards 2003. It is definitely a film that is worth watching and I hope it inspires many more American movie-goers to patronize more foreign-language films rather than sticking just to the over-rated high budget flicks. A compelling 9 out of 10.

Polanski has depicted the gory details of the holocaust without much restraint. But, the most wonderful aspect of the film is that the director has not lost focus of his story and instead of focusing too much on the holocaust horror he has weaved the true-life narrative of survival around devillish happenings.

Every single act of escapade Szpilman goes through is depicted like a drop of water on a barren desert. However, the Oasis in the driest desert comes in the end and it is here that Polanski captures the essence of human emotion. I had this very strong urge of jumping into the theater screen and magically adopting a character in the movie and doing something about the helplesness portrayed so convincingly.

Overall, Polanski has given a stunning visual narrative of the cold war. Survival indeed is a privilege though it is taken for granted today. Performances by Brody, Kretschmann deserve applause.

Pawel Edelman's camera work is moving and he has brilliantly captured the dark sadness in the visual canvas in an effective way. The lighting is amazing. Pre-dawn shooting schedule could have helped a great deal.

Hervé de Luze's editing work has ensured that the narrative does not slip away from focus. Most notable is the scene where the human bodies are lit on fire and the camera raises to show the smoke. The darkness of the smoke is enhanced and is used effectively to fade the scene out.

The scene where Brody's fingers move as he rests his hands on the bars of the tram handle only goes to show the brilliance of Polanski as a film-maker.

Great film that will be in the running for this year's Oscars. I will give it a 9 Out of 10.