Mumbai Academy of Moving Images Festival

MAMI festival 2010. To learn more about this festivalCLICK HERE

Social Network, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg

"Social Network"  a movie based on the founder of "Facebook" seems to have become a hit with both critics and the movie audiences.


The Box Office report:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/03/box.office.social.network.ew/index.html

More on Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook.

The White Ribbon- An appreciation

I finally got to see "White Ribbon" a film that was nominated for the Oscars and won the Palmd'or in 2009. Shot in black and white by the Austrian Director MichaelHaneke, it is an exploration of events in a German village before the World War1. It is a chilling examination of human conflict and uses it to mirror the underlying cruelty and erosion of basic human values, even as things seem normal on the surface. It is a brilliantly told story and the use of black and white, the stark absence of any music, the choice of similar looking characters and suggestive of the reflection that this human drama has on society as a whole. It is not a soothing film and in its climax, it does not offer any answers, other than to suggest and warn us of monstrosities that society's sometime become even as they seem civilized and progressive on the surface.
There are some reviews and I am posting them here:
The link immediately below is a classic example of immaculate review writing. Well researched, well referenced, insightful, authoritative and with an excellent command over the language...it is at once both erudite, illuminating and edifying.
http://grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3776

These reviews provide you the synopsis and details in a simpler fashion.
http://www.flicks.co.nz/news/review-the-white-ribbon/
http://www.flicks.co.nz/news/review-the-white-ribbon/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149362/

Teachers and Student Films

Michelle Pfieffer has been a favourite and in this movie, she does a turn as the teacher in a tough school. The movie is Dangerous Minds and the lyrics still ring true. I like most teacher- student movies and this one was among the better ones made after "To sir with love", "Dead Poets Society",Mona Lisa Smile,The Great Debaters and many others. The Class(entre les murs) which was a french movie was brilliant and won an Oscar nomination in 2008.It had the teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau playing himself.

A short film on boys and girls:)

This one is a lovely, charming and beautifully short film on boys and girls and the lessons you learn growing up. Short and sweet.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=102992196384637

Short and stunning films: French Roast

French Roast from Piokaz on Vimeo.

Hindi Erotic Film Songs or Item numbers

The Indian film industry banks on a mandatory "item number" which is nothing but a sexy and provocative dance number, to set the box office ringing.
Evidence suggests that promos featuring clips from this sequence does bringing in the "initials". It also gets a lot of air time and is a very viable tool to promote the film. So much so that many movies are recognized by the "item number". It sometimes also becomes part of the sub-culture.They also generate revenue as ring tones and through live performance royalties.Careers are made sometimes on the strength of these item numbers.Here is a look at some of them.

The most popular item number is from Sholay and the song became a rage, yes the Mehbooba Mehbooba number.


There are many who however claim that it was in "Johny Mera Naam" that this feature came into its own with this highly talked about strip tease sequence which was crucial and integral to the plot.


The most popular one in recent times is the "Babuji zara dheere chalo" which made Yana Gupta a celebrity of sorts. This however is a cover version of an old Hindi song. It also marked the spread of remix versions with raunchy dance videos.

It seems to have taken inspiration from Hollywood.See this scorcher from Salma Hayek in "From Dusk till Dawn" a movie directed by Roberto Rodriguez. Quentin Tarantino is looking stunned in it as do most viewers:)




This one is another scorcher. This is from an old film called Roti Kapda aur Makan which was directed by Manoj Kumar. This version I believe features a Pakistani actress by the name of Nargis.



After item songs started pushing music sales,the trend of remixes with erotic videos blossomed. It propelled music sales for a period of time and was very popular with TV channels airing them incessantly.


Another number from the movie Teen Patti. Very stylishly choreographed and well photographed. Great body language. The film flopped but the song was popular.