Coming Soon

After a pretty bad year for movies (2005), except for the very end, 2006 promises to have a whole lot of "good" releases lined up. Of course, only time will tell how good they actually are but going by their plot outlines and the pedigree of the directors, one can make a reasonable estimate as to what kind of stuff is on offer. We have tried to put together as many as we could find though there mey be others that we may not be presently aware of. So here goes the list for the movies to look out for in 2006.

1. Volver - Pedro Almodovar

Plot: After her death, a mother (Carmen Maura) returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life. Of her family left in the town, her ghost slowly becomes a comfort to her daughters (Penelope Cruz, Lola Dueñas), as well as her grandchild (Yohana Cobo). [Source:imdb.com]

Comments: If its Almodovar, you just have to see it!

2. The Fountain - Darren Aronofsky

Plot: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world. [Source:imdb.com]

When asked about the film Darren said, "It's a post-Matrix, metaphysical Sci-Fi movie, and it's very different to anything you've seen. I call it post-Matrix because Matrix reinvented sci-fi in the same way Star Wars did, or 2001. I'm in a new environment, I'm trying to figure out what type of film would play to an audience now, and I think we came up with something really cool." [Source: aronofsky.net]

Comments: Aronofsky is sure to re-define the way movies are made, his previous movie "Requiem for a dream" seems to have made an ever-lasting impression.

3. Babel - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Plot : Three stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan. The story begins with a tragedy striking a married couple on vacation.

Comments: Hopefully, another Inarritu and Arriaga classic.

4. Flags of our Fathers - Clint Eastwood

Plot: The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

5. Marie-Antoinette - Sofia Coppola

Plot: Based on Antonia Fraser's book about the ill-fated Archduchess of Austria and later Queen of France, 'Marie Antoinette' tells the story of the most misunderstood and abused woman in history, from her birth in Imperial Austria to her later life in France. [source:imdb.com]

6. The Prestige - Christopher Nolan

Plot: Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. The title refers to the product of a successful trick [Source: imdb.com].

7. The Good German - Steven Soderbergh

Plot: In post-war Berlin, to find his former mistress, an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery [Source: imdb.com].

Comments: Another one from Soderberg's stable, the film has a great cast (George Clooney, Cate Blanchett) and is shot in black and white. Should be a great one.

8. The Illusionist- Neil Burger

Plot: Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is a magician in early 1900's Vienna, who falls in love with a woman well above his social standing. When she becomes engaged to a Crown Prince, Eisenheim uses his powers to win her back and undermine the stability of the royal house of Vienna.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Country: USA/ France
Dir: Tommy Lee Jones
Genre: Drama/Western
Rating: 6.9/10

Academy award winner Tommy Lee Jones makes his directorial debut with Guillermo Arriaga's The Three Burials..... and I should say it's been a rather impressive one. It is a tale of murder and injustice. And Like his other stories (21 Grams, and Amores Perros), screenwriter Arriaga (whom I call the Mexican Equivalent of Charlie Kaufman) weaves yet another tale which is nonlinear in its narration. But this nonlinearity unlike in his other stories is only limited to the first-half of this movie, and does not have multiple threads running in parallel like in Amores Perros, or 21 grams. To me, these movies represent a whole new genre of cinema. An articulate camerawork with intelligent sequence construction makes for an interesting storyline, and not just merely reflects on "what to show" but palpably on "how to show". This type of movie-making has brought about skillful and thought-provoking developoments in story line, which constantly keeps the viewer glued to the screen and on "high Alert".

The Story is set in Permian Basin, Texas, and is about a Mexican cowboy (Julio Cedillo) who gets killed under mysterious circumstances. Jones learns about the killer and kidnaps him and sets to ensure that justice is served with or without the local police authorities. Well...anyway the story is more than that (It also takes a look at some of the existing social issues).

The movie is beautifully filmed, although early in the movie the editing is not very impressive. Tommy Lee Jones may be a director to watch out for like the veteran Clint Eastwood. Jones won the best actor at this years Cannes Film Festival, and so did Arriaga for his screenwriting. I am sursprised!! that the academy did not take notice of this. Jones and Pepper have given superb performances. I would especially like to see Pepper in more films. All in all, this movie deserves a lot of credit for writing and direction.

Tsotsi wins Oscar

Gavin Hood, right, director/co-writer of the South African film "Tsotsi," and cast members Terry Pheto, middle, and Presley Chweneyagae hold their Oscar for Best Foreign Film at the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton's in West Hollywood, Calif., Sunday, March 5, 2006. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

with Dir Hood at the premier of his movie Tsotsi, at the Magnolia Theater, Dallas

Tsotsi is a well-made coming-of-age tale about a shantytown thug (generic name for Tsotsi) called David. The movie takes a look into the mind of a boy who has grown up alone most of his childhood in the slums of Johannesberg, and so out of necessity has acquired a talent for being violent. He robs people and makes a living. One night he steals a woman's car only to discover later that he has her infant with him. He decides to take it home, and what follows is a heart rending story of self-discovery and remorse. Presley Chweneyagae is remarkable as Tsotsi. The director's vision of Tsotsi in the movie (and that of Atul Fogard's in the novel) comes in part from Hoods previous experience in making small docu-dramas on AIDS and other related issues, as part of his academics (he is a product of UCLA film school). I had the previlege to meet him in person towards the end of the screening session (all thanks to my new pal Joshua), quite intimidating I should say, considering the fact that I am not a film student per se, and in the end it was all very mesmerizing and insightful.

And the Oscar goes to...

Just a day to go before the most prestigious... rather the most conspicuous movie event of the year, and so it is time to take a look at the present Oscar nominees, and make some "safe" guesswork on who will win the oscars this year. I use the word Safe, because the academy, in the past, has had this inherent quality/inclination to repeatedly make the so called safe choices, these big budget films, that deal with big themes in a big way. And whenever the academy does make (an unexpectedly) good choice in nominating films/actors/directors, it does not however follow through by awarding the most deserved ones. Take for instance, 1995 best picture nominees Il Postino, and Babe, compare this to that years winner Braveheart - one the most overrated movie of our time. In my opinion it (Braveheart) did not even deserve to be nominated. This year however has been a little different though, Paradise Now (from Palestine) has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category, Although I haven't seen the movie myself, my gut feeling says that it deserves the oscar, but as I said earlier, the academy is going to make the safe choice of not awarding it. And the reasons for that will be dealt by Aniruddha in his post. Surely, when Brokeback wins the best picture oscar the academy would have made an ostensible progress, given the film's theme and its frank exploration of homosexuality. However, Hollywood seems to be congratulating itself for it's own success. Only movies which are expensively marketed in magazines like Premier, Hollywood reporter, etc. get nominated for the Oscars, and sadly (independent) movies like "me and you and everyone we know" (one of my favorite movies this year and also nominated in Zero categories!!) get left out and never see the light of the day. Coming back to this years nominations, starting with the best picture category - Brokeback will break the ice, and so will Ang Lee for best director for his subtle and sensitive portrayal of the theme. Coming to the Foreign language Film category I have a (safe) hunch that Tsotsi (South Africa)- a very well made movie, will take home the Oscar. I had the pleasure of meeting the director of the movie Gavin Hood a few days back at the premier of the movie here in Dallas. Excerpts of the Q&A session (held after the screeing) will be posted soon. moving to the best documentary feature, March of the Penguins seems to be the box-office favorite and so my safe guess is the penguins will slowly march away with an Oscar. My personal choice for the best actress is Felicity Huffman, but going by the results from award shows in the last couple of months it seems like reese witherspoon may win the oscar. And Hoffman not to be confused with Huffman (Huffman plays a Transsexual, whereas Hoffman plays a Gay!) without doubt will win the oscar in a leading role category (and he rightfully deserves it). It is hard to take a guess at the supporting roles without taking a look at all the performances, but I guess I have nothing much to lose by making a few speculations except that I may lose whatever credibilty I have accumulated over the past few years!! Anyways, just like the academy I would say the safe choices of actors (and having witnessed their pefromances on screen) are Michelle Williams, and Jake Gyllenhall. One last category that I would like to mention is the best animated feature and the winner in this category in all probability will be Dreamworks's Wallace and Gromit.

So there you go, at the end of listing all this I feel like a member of the academy! (I hope I am on the board some day!). But for now I'll have to let go of that feeling and resist it atleast till the end of ceremony.

Happy viewing!!

Prasad.