Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Cast:
          Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Joey King, Cillian Murphy, Josh Pence, Liam Neeson, Nestor Carbonell, Alon Abutbul, Juno Temple, Matthew Modine, Ben Mendelsohn, John Daggett, Burn Gorman, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis, Aidan Gillen, Rob Brown, Christopher Judge, William Devane, Tom Conti and Desmond Harrington.

Director:
                  Christopher Nolan.

Quick Takes: Studio Ghibli Marathon (Only Yesterday - Ocean Waves)

Only Yesterday (1991)

Voice Cast:
                        Miki Imai, Toshiro Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Michie Terada, Masahiro Ito, Chie Kitagawa, Yuki Minowa and Yorie Yamashita.

Director:
                    Isao Takahata.

Review: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Cast:
          Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Ivan Shvedoff, Anil Kapoor, Lea Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Pavel Kriz, Miraj Grbic, Ilia Volok, Tom Wilkinson, Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, Mike Dopud, Ivo Novak, Brian Caspe, April Stewart and Nicola Anderson.

Director:
                  Brad Bird.

Quick Takes: The Housemaid - Le Havre - Tomboy

The Housemaid (2010)

Cast:
         Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jung-jae, Seo Woo, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Ahn Seo-hyeon and Park Ji-young.

Director:
                  Im Sang-soo.

Review:
                The Housemaid is a South Korean melodramatic thriller that i watched earlier this year. I wasn't actually planning to watch this movie so it was a last minute thing for me. I had no idea of director Im Sang-soo nor the original movie it is based on so i really did not expect anything. The Housemaid is a movie about a maid Eun-yi, played by Jeon Do-yeon and how slowly she falls into the destructive relation with the upper-class family she is working for. Hoon played by Lee Jung-jae who is the Owner of the house gets in a physical relation with the maid while his wife Hae Ra played by Seo Woo is pregnant. They already have a daughter too. This movie starts with a scene which is not connected with the actual plot of the movie, we see a girl killing herself by jumping off the roof. This movie acts like a seductive, melodramatic soap opera thriller with some satire on the upper class life of Korea. That's not to say that it happens all the time but this is just one of the stories, fictional or taken from an incident, it happens.

Oscars 2013 - My First Attempt at Predictions

              So yesterday, it was announced that "The Silver Linings Playbook" won the Audience Choice Best Picture Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie being from the infamous Weinsteins already made it something to look forward to but winning this award which did wonders for recent winners like Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech and both of them for being "Crowd-Pleasing" Movies might do the same for Silver Linings. Okay maybe not exactly but you never know... Argo was destined to win this award due the very enthusiastic response that it got (it was a runner up along with The Impossible). Both of these "Crowd-Pleasing" movies can definitely win or at least get nominated for many awards including the Oscars. Roger Ebert as you may know already predicted Argo to be the winner.

My Most Anticipated Fall Movies of 2012

1. The Master
2. Argo
3. To the Wonder
4. Amour
5. The Place Beyond Pines

The reason why The Master is my most anticipated movie of the year should be no surprise because i am a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson. The synopsis of the movie sounds very interesting and so does many other things if you check out the trailer. Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams are having the time of their lives, they are on top of every one's Oscar Predictions. PTA's follow up to There Will be Blood looks visually stunning and more of a atmospheric character study than a plot driven drama. Argo on the other hand is the third directorial feature of Ben Affleck who got a unanimously positive response at Telluride for a movie that is said to be free from period movie cliches with more suspense and a good humor. Third most anticipated movie is of course, Terrence Malick's follow up to my 2nd most favorite movie of 2011. To the Wonder is no simple romantic drama, as Affleck himself said after watching it "it makes Tree of Life looks like a Transformer movie" the boos it got at Venice (same as TOL at Cannes) looks like the usual Malick movie and his own unique approach of tackling subjects like nature, faith, God, love, affection ,creation.... but moreover its about two people in love, losing the faith and falling for someone else. I am expecting another masterpiece.

A Look at Telluride-Toronto-Venice Film Festivals 2012

                   Here comes the Fall Festival Season where movies are booed or given standing ovations, where movies either get buzzed or busted! Telluride Film Festival Opened with a surprise Screening of ARGO and Venice Film Festival Opened with a-not-so-great-choice THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST by Mira Nair. 

           Below is the lineup for ongoing Telluride and Venice Film Festivals followed by the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival which will open with screening of this fall's one of the most awaited action movies, LOOPER.

Movies of September 2012

Let me start my post by saying that September 2012 is going to be one of the dullest month for movies! Just one look at the releases and i was shocked to see not many great looking movies. However, my most anticipated movie of the year The Master is among the few notable releases of this month which is a great thing.