Movies and Music Part 2

Like other aspects of movies, music is international and being its own language easily flows across borders.  Although many of the composers in part one were born outside the United States, they are best known for American cinema.  Below are others who made their mark overseas and some of whom have been asked to do American films.

Whereas Hollywood used to release soundtracks if they felt the movie had generated enough interest. In India a soundtrack is usually offered before the movie to help promote it.   I have bought a few Bollywood and Tamil tunes off iTunes before the movie was available.

My overall favorite is Shankar Ehsaan Loy who are very well known in Bollywood (which stretches around much of the world), but have not really been courted for western films.  A playback singer, a guitarist and a keyboardist got together for radio jingles and went onto to create an amazing range of movie music  The single song that led to my obsession was "Kal Ho naa Ho" in two versions.  Their versatility amazes me, but movies require a range of emotions and they have mastered them.  Some of their musical creations include "Kal Ho Naa Ho," "Dil Chatha Hai," "Don," "Rock On," Bunty aur Bibli" "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kahna" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" for some of the most memorable music on this list.

A R Rahman, a bit better known in Hollywood from "Slumdog Millionaire" which attracted more Hollywood business.   "Million Dollar Arm," "127 Hours" and "The Hundred Foot Journey."  Did an American movie with a Brazilian theme, "Pelé" and captured the right beat.   In Bollywood he is famous for such masterpieces as "Jodhaa Akbar" "Guru," "Rang de Basanti" and "Lagaan"  He has also done many movies in Tamil and other southern languages including "Kadal" (which has the #1 song on my iTunes)

Pritam Chakraborty has the appearance of a rock band leader, but some of his music defies preconceptions. In "Jab we met" is one of the most romantic songs I"ve heard as well as some other interesting ones.  One other song from the same movie made it to "The Second Best Marigold Hotel."

First noted Joe Hsiashi with the score from "Departures," a Japanese movie about a cellist forced to change his job.  The movie won an Oscar and I feel the music contributed to the warm feeling the movie left.  Other than that I discovered Joe wrote music for a number of animated films by Hayao Miyazaki. that did well in America including "Spirited Away," "The Wind Rises" and "Ponyo"

Ennio Morricone was a school mate with spaghetti westerns producer Sergio Leone.  This helped form a partnership in such movies as   "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."  He has a range  that includes French, American and Italian.   I have admired his music the longest.  Has won one Oscar for "The Hateful Eight" plus an honorary Oscar for musical contributions plus another 5 nominations along the way.  Some of his other great Italian movies include "Cinema Paradiso" "Malena" and "Baaria," working with Giuseppte Tornatore.
http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/08/giuseppe-tornatore.html 

His French movies include "La Cage aux Folles" and "The Battle of Algiers."

Nino Rota worked with Federico Fellini.  He is perhaps most famous in North America for "The Godfather."  His Oscar nomination for that was rescinded when it was discovered he had re-worked his music from an earlier Italian film.  He did win an Oscar for "The Godfather Part II."   Among many others he was noted for "La Dolce Vita."

Gustavo Santalo from Argentina won Oscars for "Brokeback Mountain"and "Babel."   He also composed music for "Wild Tales," that won best Oscar for Foreign films.

Johan Soderqvist had done music for some of  my favorite movies--I can only excuse myself as I too often multi-tasked while watching a DVD- my very favorite "After the Wedding ( did buy one track--interesting combination with Indian music), "Brothers,"  "In a Better World,"   Also collaborated with Gustavo Santaolalla with "Things We Did After the Fire."   One not seen was written for a video game, "Battlefield 1."

K-pop has made inroads in North America, but there are still movie music that really adds to enjoyment.  Yeong-wook Jo wrote music for "The Handmaiden" (with my top rated movie music theme, other than Bollywood) and some other favorites, "The Glove" and "The Beauty Inside." 

Max Richter, German born has left a mark  more widely around the globe than anyone else on my list, except maybe Alexandre Desplat. German language films include "Lore" (actually produced by Australians) and "When We Leave" (about Turkish immigrants).  He composed for "The Lunchbox" for Bollywood.  In French he worked on "The Mark of Angels"  and "Sarah"s Key."  He also did the music for an Arabic movie, "Wadjda". He also composed for a Croatian movie, "Penelope" and for a Polish film and also with Czech.  Oh yes, he also did English language movies.  "Miss Sloane" (http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/09/miss-sloan-under-rated-movie.html), "Shutter Island" "A Sense of an Ending" and "A Testament of Youth."

The Spanish Alberto Iglesias, has 3 Oscar nominations for "The Kite Runner," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." and "Constant Gardener."  Some notable Spanish movies he composed include  "Volver" "Julieta" "Ma Ma" and "The Skin I Live In."  Has also did music for movies in Argentina such as "The Summit" starring Ricardo Darin.

France has produced a number of international prominent composers.

Michel Legrand was well established in France having written music for 7 films of Jean-Luc Godard and most famously "Les Parapluie de Cherbourg"  In 1966 he moved to California and won musical Oscars for "Summer of 42," "Thomas Crown Affair" and "Yentl."

Maurice Jarre, unlike most composers on this post was a latecomer to music.  As a university student he took courses in percussion.  In some of his movies he emphasized percussion and also ethnic instruments.  One of his early compositions was for "The Tin Drum."  Later in English language he worked a lot with producer David Lean and that partnership helped him get musical Oscars for "Lawrence of Arabia,""Passage to India" and "Doctor Zhivago" including the popular "Lara's Theme."

Alexandre Desplat is the most recent Oscar music winner for "The Shape of Water."  Previously he had won for "The Grand Budapest Hotel."  He seems to split his time on both sides of the Atlantic and with a few sidetrips.  In French he has composed music for "Renoir," "Un prophete," "The Valet" "Rust and Bone," "The Well Digger's Daughter."and "The Beat That My Heart Skipped,"  A Chinese film directed by Ang Lee, "Lust, caution."  Some other English speaking films are the "Harry Potter" series, "The Danish Girl" and "The King's Speech."

Creative composers are coming from all corners of the globe. Music truly is an international language.  As they say in restaurants, "Enjoy."

Part 1 is here:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/02/music-and-movies-part-one.html

REGIONAL FILMS FROM INDIA WELL WORTH VIEWING

Over a decade ago I stumbled on Bollywood and it seemed like a good match.  Loved much of the music and found the stories and actors interesting.  It was my dependence on subtitles that fooled me into thinking many regional language films were Bollywood (which speaks Hindi), when they weren't, although there certainly were links.  India is the world's top producing film country, but the numbers are greatly boosted from a rich regional industry.

When I first was investigating Bollywood I watched a Tamil movie with the music from what I thought was a Bollywood composer, A R Rahman.  "A Peck on the Cheek" was involved in the civil war in Sri Lanka, but the main characters were from India.  This was my first acquaintance with Mani Ratnam, Madhavan and Nandita Das who were all also Bollywood standards.  An award winner which I enjoyed and perhaps it even perked my interest in Bollywood.  Because of the setting I did realize it wasn't the usual Bollywood.  The concept of suicide bomber originated amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka and one is depicted in this about a young girl with the help of her adoptive parents (from India) searching for her birth parents in Sri Lanka.

Over a few years I saw a string of Tamil movies that I didn't realize were not Bollywood.  The unifying elements were Mani Ratnam, A R Rahman and Arvind Swamy who was the leading man.  "Roja" (1992) was the first and involved the Kashmir conflict; then "Bombay" (1995), although ended in Bombay started in Tamil area, "Sapnay" (1997) that had Kajol as leading lady and finally" Kadal" (2013) where Arvind played a priest trying to save an adolescent against an ex priest.  This last one had my number one iTunes song, "Nenjukkule" as sung by Shakthisree Gopalan.  Kajol is making another Tamil movie this time with Dhanush.

I had always associated A R Rahman as a Bollywood artist, but he was known as "the Maestro of Madras" -the former name of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. He started with Tamil movies, and moved to Bollywood with some of my favorites, but has expanded to the UK and USA while not giving up southern Indian dialects.  He not only writes very popular music, but also sings and produces for other composers.

Shriya Sarin is one of my favorites anywhere.  She has not only appeared in English speaking roles, but also Canadian directed films, "Cooking with Stella" (2009) and "Midnight's Children"(2012).  I first saw her in "At the Other End of The Line" (2008) where she played a girl next door type, except she flew from India to California to stalk (with no bad intentions) a phone voice.  Intrigued I searched and found her in a Tamil film, "Kanthaswamy" (2009) where her role was sexy, but also bitchy.  More recently she appeared in one of my favorites, "Drishyam" (2015) in a key supporting role (see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/11/driishyam-bollywood-remake-masterpiece.html "Drishyam" was originally Malayalam.  Recently Shriya finished a Telegu film to good reviews (not seen).  She got her first break in Telegu and has also acted in English, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi--an example of multi-lingual actor

Rajinikanth established his reputation over a 100 movie career.  One I saw was "Sivaji" (2007) with Shriya as leading lady.  He was asked to get involved in a major endeavour involving photo realistic motion capture film (like what was seen in "Avatar").  His daughter Soundarya, a director  was heavily involved as was A R Rahman who eventually wrote the music.  It ended up in 2014 as "Kochadailyaan" with a cast that included Rajinikanth, Deepika Padukone and Jackie Shroff.  Presented in 6 languages:  Tamil, Hindi, Telegu, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi.  Criticized on technical grounds, but praised for everything else.  It was a big step forward for Indian cinema in its technological progress.  I saw a demonstration of some of the motion capture before and after the story with the special features.

A younger star in Tamil films is Dhanush.  First saw him in"Aadukalam" (2001) an award winner with an odd topic. The hero was heavily involved in cock fighting.  I saw a feature that demonstrated what looked like vicious cock fighting was really CGI.   Later saw Dhanush in his first Bollywood film, "Raanjhanaa" (2013) opposite Sonam Kapoor.

"Interrogation" (2015) was India's nomination for an Oscar. About immigrants from another region being rounded up to confess to a crime to satisfy a corrupt police force that needed a confession.  Very well done and believable movie.  Watched on Netflix after a tip from a website, Access Bollywood.  Noticed Dhanush listed as producer.

"Sairat" (2016) first brought to my attention by a comment from Aamir Khan who highly recommended it.  Another new language for me--Marathi.  The music both for the background and for song and dance was very pleasant, Excellent, sometimes stunning cinematography.  Mood changes in second half  to grimly realistic with the two main actors showing a wide range of emotions.  The high caste girl can't cook and is sensitive to smells which causes conflict.  If you do not understand the caste system the ending will be a shock, but not so much if you do understand it; it was a shock for me.  The writer and director, Nagraj Manjule is very realistic and took a bit part.  The best of all films I have seen so far in January 2017.

Priyanka Chopra, famous in Bollywood and with "Quantico" formed a production company with her mother Madhu and they came out with a Punjabi movie (not seen).   I didn't see their Marathi "Ventilator" (2016), but bought a song from it recorded by Priyanka called "Baba."

Disney ventured into India and helped produce a Telegu movie, "Once Upon a Warrior," (2011) starring Shruti Haasan and was about a blind swordsman helping to restore justice to an ancient kingdom.

"Baahubali:  The Beginning" (2015) was a big Telegu block buster that took almost four years to complete.  We in the west don't usually realize it was not only Europe that had ancient history and this epic demonstrates civilization started in different places.   Lush scenery and large scale battles.  I had to wait until it was dubbed in Hindi with English subtitles.

"Eeaga" (2012) has to be one of the strangest movies to describe.  Before you dismiss it consider that it has an IMDB rating of 7.9 after over 13,000 voters.  It starts off like many movies as a love triangle, but soon one male kills another.  The dead male, is reincarnated as a housefly.  Improbable as it sounds he establishes contact with his lady love and seeks revenge.  Special effects are noteworthy.  Music by M.M. Keeravani who wrote music for a lot of Telegu films, but also some Bollywood ones.

When discussing Bengali some of the early classics were done by Satyajit Ray who is definitely non Bollywood.  He is recognized as one of the most artful director/writers on the world scene.  No song and dance routines for him, but look for character development, dialogue and camera angles.  I have watched "Aparajito"(1956), Pather Panchalli (1955) and "Charuklata" (1964), all black and white masterpieces.

As a Canadian it is amazing to me that languages I had not heard of until recently have more speakers than our population.  Telegu has 74 million, Tamil 72 million, Marathi 68 million and Urdu over 70 million.  This diversity is not only reflected in India itself, but also in the diaspora that has spread all over the world.  The movies help connect them.

There is a great overlapping of ideas and personnel between the regions and Bollywood.  Just like food from different parts of India.

SHAH RUKH KHAN, WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS ACTOR PART 1

In North America Shah Rukh Khan may not garner much attention, but in the rest of the world he is top of the movie world.  Not only is India the most prolific movie producing nation, they have made inroads in many foreign countries.  He can draw a massive crowd in most countries including United States and Canada.

I have enjoyed more of his movies to a greater degree than any other actor anywhere.  Shah Rukh Khan is above all charming and masculine  His acting ability seems mixed, but he has won his share of awards.  He has also been in his share of duds and has taken time to make commercially acceptable movies.  Having attracted a wide following he gets offered a lot of very good scripts supported by very talented crews.

My sister Rebecca liked "Devdas" (2004) so much she bought me a copy.  Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and also starring Aishawarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.  A story of a man stopped from marrying his love by his wealthy father.  He self-destructs.  My sister knows me pretty well and this whetted my appetite.

"Kal Ho Na Ho" (2003) is the movie that expanded my fascination with Bollywood to an obsession.  Filming was started in Toronto, but the crew left for New York when the SARS scare happened, however you can spot some interesting local scenes.  I checked this out of the local library and was told it was "very sad."  It certainly was that, but in the beginning it seemed very juvenile like perhaps a stereotypical Bollywood movie.  That was just a big setup to make you feel guilty.  The main actors and most of the supporting cast were very good; Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Jaya Bhanali.  The music was also great from Shankar Ehsaan Loy.  If you really like good movies you will be reaching for a kleenex.  After this I looked for movies with Shah Rukh Khan.
  

"Swades" ( 2004) is my favourite.  He plays a NRI (Non Resident Indian).  He represents the successful Indian gone to the United States space program.  He misses his nanny and decides to go back to India in order to bring her to his American home.  Once there he encounters a lot of people who are envious and he offers to help them get to the States, however the romance in the story is a local teacher who won't move.  Eventually with his science and engineering skill he solves a common problem by providing electric power.  He is torn between doing something globally and scientifically significant in the United States or helping elevate the Indian people.  Directed and partly written by Ashutosh Gowariker with music by A. R. Rahman.  With many third world countries the non resident is a delicate issue with most understanding moving to opportunities while other capable people stick around.  Shot in the United States as well as India.  This was considered an artistic success, but not commercially.

"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" (1998) saw Shah Rukh playing a father for the first time.  Kajol starts out as a tomboy friend who disappears when she realizes the more sophisticated Rani Mukerji attracts Shah Rukh.  As his wife, Rani dies.  Shah Rukh raises a young daughter with the help of his mother.  The daughter reads a letter from her mother telling her that her husband, the girl's father should seek out his old friend.  Lots of hokey moments, but a very stirring romance.  First time saw Salman Khan, in a cameo.  Directed by Karan Johar.  Some catchy melodies by the brother team Suleiman-Salim.  This movie started the appeal of Rani Mukerji and you can read more about her here:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/05/anupam-kher-actor-i-now-respect.html

"Khabie Kushi Khabie Gham" (2001) represented a clash with Amitabh Bachchan (who is very good as stern fathers amongst many other types).  Kajol plays the chosen one against the father's wishes (who wished for Rani Mukerji).  Scenes go from India to England and Wales and include a few shots from the pyramids for effect.  Directed and written by Karan Johar as a well produced family drama.

"Khabie Alvida Naa Kehna" (2006) is quite the soap opera.  Shah Rukh is married to Preity Zinta, but soon wants Rani Mukerji who is married to Abischek Bachchan.  A lot of shifting around and lot of anguish, but some really good music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.  Directed and written by Karan Johar.  Set in the U.S., filmed in Philadelphia and Jersey City.

"Paheli" (2005) with Rani Mukerji again not commercially successful, but its fairy tale story was very slickly done with the pairing of the stars very satisfying.  Another of many movies supported by Anupam Kher and you can read more of him here;  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/05/anupam-kher-actor-i-now-respect.html

"Veer Zaara" (2004)  with Preity Zinta.  This time she is the Pakistani Muslim and he the Indian Hindu in a doomed romance.  He is thrown in jail for decades until rescued in time to reunite in old age.  Rani Mukerji plays a sharp lawyer that gets him released for a late in life happy ending.  Anupam Kher plays the mean prosecutor.  Directed by Yash Chopra.

In "Chakdei India" (2003) he coaches a girls field hockey team--as a  disgraced former international player.  His sin was not scoring at a critical point in a championship game against Pakistan.  Shah  Rukh is a Muslim and many of his roles portray him as one and in this movie he is thought to have betrayed India.  No romance, but a typical sports story very well done. Filmed in Australia as well as India.

"Don" (2006) was a revival of an old Bollywood film made famous with Amitabh Bachchan.  There were skeptics, but Shah Rukh played the dual role of the ordinary guy and the gangster very smoothly.  Priyanka Chopra played on the team chasing Don.  My favourite musical team of Shankar Ehsaan Loy provided the music.  There is a teasing relationship between Don and Priyanka who portrayed a very smart cop chasing him down.  Very spectacular stunts over the two films.  Don was filmed in Malayasia with the climax at the Petronas Twin Towers.  "Don 2" (2011) was shot starting in Malaysia, but shifted to Germany.  Farhan Akhtar directed both movies and wrote the scripts.  For more on Farhan Akhtar:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/11/farhan-akhtar-young-man-on-rise-in.html

"Om Shanti Om" (2007) launched Deepika Padukone.  Directed by Farah Khan who had originally been a choreographer very much favored by Shah Rukh.  He plays a dual role, first as a young man who gets involved in Bollywood, but is killed along with a woman he was infatuated with.  Thirty years later after re-birth he is again involved in Bollywood and slowly realizes the back story and seeks revenge.  Lots of complications.

"Rab ne Bana Di" (2008) launched another big star, Anushka Sharma.  At first Shah Rukh plays a bookish type of character who as a deathbed favour marries a girl much younger and active.  We all know Shah Rukh is very dynamic and soon he is masquerading as a dance partner for his wife who doesn't recognize him.  Eventually she is conflicted between her husband and this dynamic dancer.  He proves his love in his bookish avatar in a funny wrestling match.  Anushka emerged as a star in her own light.  For more on Anushka: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/05/anuska-sharma-actess-on-rise.html

At this point I realize I have gone overboard on one actor, but in fact there is more I want to say, but will defer to another post.

Click here for Part 2: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/06/shah-rukh-khan-worlds-most-famous-actor_23.html

TAMASHA, A WONDERFUL STORY ABOUT STORY TELLING

After almost forty movies this year, including many very good ones such as "Birdman",  this is the first I felt compelled to review.  You might think that a Bollywood movie only reflects my bias, but honestly this has universal themes that will hit most of you.  Like many it has a touching romance and like a few others it has appeal to the intellect, but most of all it a great story about story telling.

It is very confusing at the beginning with elements that may not fit in with your first preconceptions.  Eventually the little streams will join together and make a lot of sense.  Flashbacks help bring the present into context.  Tells the story very well after getting your attention.

Most romance movies depend heavily on misunderstandings.  Most finding oneself stories depend on conflict within the self.  "Tamasha" illustrates both of these dynamics uniquely because it also encompasses the dynamics of story telling.

Imtiaz Ali, the director writer has done a lot of excellent movies such as "Jab We Met" "Rockstar" and "Highway."  It seems likely there are elements of autobiography.  Directing and writing are the two most creative jobs in a movie which is really a story with special effects.  In his commentary Imitaz tells us that one of the mechanisms of the story comes from his brother Arif, also a movie director who had a friend visiting a foreign holiday destination and to have more fun didn't want to give his name or learn the name of a romantic partner.

Ranbir Kapoor, son of Rishi Kapoor got off to a pretty good start in his movie career, but has run a few flops.  This movie should set him back on the right path.  Deepika Padukone has been doing very well and has even deviated off commercial movies to more artistic challenges with success.  The two were a couple a few years ago, but broke up.  Deepika once insulted Ranbir on a tv talk show in a very delicate manner.  However they really fit together very well--both loving and hurting each other.

One other actor deserves mention, Javed Sheikh who plays Ranbir's father.  He displays some subtle emotion when it makes a big difference.

A common thread throughout is story telling.  There is some sort of theatrical presentation at the beginning, but before long the camera switched to a scene with a young boy being enthralled by an older reluctant story teller who he pays.  At first the story teller recounts a tale from Hindu mythology and later of the ancient Greeks.  Later we hear references to Biblical stories.

In the romance Deepika is imagined as a bold thief with access to a fortune in gold.  Ranbir pictures himself as a spy chasing her.  Much later this plays into another connecting mechanism.

A. R. Rahman, known to North Americans for the Oscar winning music in "Slumdog Millionaire"wrote the music. He has written some of the best music ever written for movies.  The music in "Tamasha" is good, but not his best.  I did add one song to my iTunes collection.

Interesting locations.  A major part is in Corsica where the two main characters meet and enjoy the land and seascape.  Other scenes included Kolkotta, Delhi, Simla and Tokyo (where rain cut down the scenery they wanted).  Overall the cinematography is excellent.

The book "Catch 22" was the mechanism to allow them to reconnect.  The man brought a copy to Corsica with a book store mark and  he commented on where he got it.  A few years later it enabled the woman to find our hero in a different city.

This is a very visual movie with lots of ingenuous settings.  Many details are used to make a point, some of which you will catch easily, but others you will appreciate more with a subsequent viewing.

In Bollywood stories are told with scenery, music, dance and of course words.  The viewer will see that based on his story telling talents the hero gains more tools over time.

Story telling is important to us all.  I remember writing about how important stories are to selling products and ideas:  see  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/06/tell-to-win-offers-winning-formula.html People don't buy statistics at least not until after they hear the story.  The best story tellers use all sorts of tools when they get the opportunity.

FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2012

Everyone has their own idea of what the best movies are and I can't pretend to be any wiser than any of you.  Movies mentioned indicate my preferences.  Your thoughts are more than welcome in fact it is my hope to check out some of your ideas.  The movies mentioned are movies that I watched in 2012, many of them were made in previous years and come out of over 130 movies.  Many more are deserving of mention, but this is not intended as a list.

Director commentaries and special features often helped me appreciate something I would not have appreciated on my own.  Others think the movie must stand on its own.  Like everything else movies have a context and if you don't understand the context you will not fully appreciate the movie.

There is still a foreign language bias in my preferences and that means there are more choices than time.  Years ago it was common advice not to invest your money in any one country as it might not be safe.  Watching foreign movies doesn't mean that Hollywood is no good, but rather that there are wonderful ideas out there and you would be foolish not to enjoy them.  Like foreign foods they will add spice to your life.

Let's start off with the English speaking movies.

George Clooney figured in two I enjoyed, "The Descendents" (directed by Alexander Payne who also wrote the screenplay after winning Oscar for Sideways) was a family drama where a father draws his two daughters back into the fold while also deciding on a family heritage.

"Ides of March" was directed by George as well as playing one of the lead characters.  George seems to have a cynical view of politics which I share to some degree.  The movie has a few twists and has excellent acting by George, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti and Paul Seymour Hoffman.

"J Edgar," (directed by Clint Eastwood) was recommended to me by one of my wife's closest friends, Barb Martin.  It was a fascinating character study of a man who liked to take credit for things he didn't actually do.  Still he was a skillful manipulator with a strong impact on American history.

"The Debt" (directed by John Madden) had two sets of actors to play younger and older versions of the same people.  It is a cover up thriller type of movie very well done.  Helen Mirren plays a key role.

"Water for Elephants," (directed by Francis Lawrence) was a drama played out on a Depression era circus background.  One thing I remember is that Robert Pattinson is more than a teenage idol.  An enjoyable movie.

"People Like Us" ( directedby Alex Kurtzman also writer, with music by a favorite Bollywood composer, A R Rahman).   Apparently the director had gone through a similar experience as the lead male actor and probably that helps give a feeling of authenticity. Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks and Michelle Pfeiffer all give effective performances.

Filmed in 2009 "Agora", an English speaking film directed by a Spaniard, Alejandro Amenabar got my attention.  The movie stars Rachel Weisz in a woman centric role.  The director was very fascinating as he explained in a special feature that he had wanted to do something that involved astronomy and ended up setting his story in ancient Alexandria focusing on a woman scientist.  Based on fact, but not necessarily 100% factual the director demonstrated how some ancients may have deduced that the earth goes around the sun and even that it uses an elliptical orbit.  Alejandro also co-wrote the script and has written the music for several movies.  An earlier movie of his that impressed me was "Abre Los Ojos" re-written by him as "Vanilla Sky".  Someone to watch out for.

One classic I watched (for the first time) was "Unforgiven."   Directed by Clint Eastwood.  It was numbing.  It was crude and brutal, but in a very realistic sobering manner.  Attitudes were stripped to their cores.  Crudity was brought out as part of every day life.  It was well worth viewing, but you need to have a strong stomach and be open minded.

"The Maltese Falcon" was a classic I had seen before, but was able to take a closer look at.  Black and white movies seem too old fashioned, but they perhaps should be judged by how well they used their more limited resources.  I have always felt the key factor in a movie is the story.  Actors enhance it and directors are the key resource managers.  Technology can sometimes take over and distract from the story. I understand this was the first movie that John Huston directed.  This movie helped Humphrey Bogart elevate himself to a higher level of stardom.  An enjoyable movie.  Just before Christmas I watched "The African Queen" again directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogard and Katherine Hepburn with excellent cinematography.  All around very enjoyable..

One of the last movies of the year for me was from a childhood memory, "Captain Blood".  I had first watched it with my father who was an Errol Flynn fan (and I suspect like myself also an Olivia de Havilland fan).   Later I watched it in stages with my young son Michael while waiting for school.  It was one of the first movies with music by Erich Korngold.  It might look a bit dated, but I loved it when I first saw it and it still gave me a thrill during the holidays.

A strange category with just one entry, "The Artist".  It is English, but it is subtitled.  It justifies the fuss.  One line in there was "mugging", implying without words actors tended to over act.  Some truth to that, but watching the movie it was interesting how they captured the mood without spoken words.  The acting was different, but the emotions came through loud and clear with the two French leads excellent.  A wonderful collaborative effort between French and American staff.   The cinematography was also noteworthy, and perhaps not noticed because in black and white.  Michel Hazanavicius directed it.

If you can't be bothered with subtitles the rest of this blog is like a tease.  You will be tempted, but you might get headaches or eyestrain or you will be forced to concentrate more than usual.  If you give in to the temptation you just might feel you have discovered a brand new joy in life.  The next three listed are my favorite three of the year.

Perhaps my favorite movie overall of the year was "A Separation."  In North America one gets used to thinking of Iran as a backward nation filled with fanatics.  This movie shows they are civilized and have the same sorts of personal tensions we are familiar with.  The story has mysterious elements, but I would emphasize the personal dynamics are done much better than standard movie fare.  The director set out to give the movie a documentary feel and succeeded.  The movie had to work around censors.  The writer and director (and his daughter played I would say the very significant third lead) was Asghar Farhadi who had to deal with Iranian censors and is not really appreciated by Iranian authorities.

Another top favorite is "The Intouchables" from France.  I assumed it wouldn't be shown at commercial theatres in my area, but it was picked up by the Art Gallery of Hamilton film fest.  Francois Cluzet plays a paraplegic in contrast to a previous role in an action movie, "Tell No One."  Omar Sy plays a cultural contrast.  The two give different pictures of modern Paris, the one very elegant and the other more desperate.  The story, based on real lives is funny in unanticipated details and uplifting.  The two characters at opposite ends of both wealth and health helped each other squeeze more out of life.   Directed and written by the team of Oliver Nakache and Eric Toleando.

From Bollywood, one that totally fooled me was "Kahaani".  It wasn't so much that the killer was a surprise, but the whole setup was in line with "Sixth Sense" or the "Usual Suspects" and for most of you this description will not spoil it.  Watching Vidya Balan, even playing an 8 month pregnant wife is one of life's pleasures.  The movie steadily tightens the suspense, but you are not really prepared for the resolution.  The most moving music is at the very end during the credits with religious overtones sung by Amitabh Bachchan, someone who I respect, but had not realized he sang.  Directed by Sujoy Ghosh.

"Barfi" was confusing to me at first.  The trailer indicates there would be a lot of comedy and there certainly was.  Also there would be some sort of love triangle and there was.  In many reviews at IMDB there seemed a reluctance to give out plot details and I now appreciate why they felt that way.  The movie is really about  relationships and was much deeper and richer than I anticipated.  Music played a strong role as it does in most Bollywood movies, but not in its familiar form.  The presentation is different with high reliance on flashbacks.  Directed by Anurag Basu.

"Don 2," heavy on plot, action and special effects was enjoyable. Filmed in Malaysia and Germany with wonderful cinematography.  The plot was convoluted keeping you on your toes.  Shah Rukh Khan showed he is more than just a romantic hero.  Directed by Farhan Akhtar.

"Stanley Ka Dabba" caught me off guard.  I had the idea it was a children's movie and it proceeded in many ways like I expected.  But towards the end I realized it wasn't a chidren's movie, but deeply concerned with education and a social problem in India.  Checking the special features I learned that it was filmed after a series of special classes initially without a script and very low budget.  The brain behind it was Amole Gupte who was also involved with "Taare par Zameen" another excellent movie that focused on an education issue.

Also watched a Bollywood classic, "Sholay".  I am so used to seeing Amitabh Bachchan as a strong father figure I didn't appreciate he got started as a young macho star.  It was very action packed from beginning to end with a few surprises along the way.  Directed by Romesh Sippy.

Canadian movie, 'Monsieur Lazhar.'  Also up for Oscar with "A Separation".  A very good movie, based on a one person play.  It fooled me into thinking they might have a tidy happy ending, but did have a realistic one.  For 2011 I felt "Incendies" was the best film I got to watch.  After watching "Monsieur Lazhar" I followed up an earlier movie of director/writer Philip  Falardeau, "Congorama" and was very impressed with its subtlety.  This year the best Canadian film and one of the best overall was "Monsieur Lazhar" which just demonstrates the strength of Quebec in international movies.

A Dutch film of 2011, "Bride Flight" was interesting following some Dutch women (and one man) headed to New Zealand after the war.  A soap opera plot, but well done and some wonderful scenery in New Zealand.   Directed by Ben Sombogaart.

"Headhunters" from Norway was one that interested me as I had just discovered the original author, Jo Nesbo.  They did an excellent job of dealing with Hollywood standards on a paltry Norwegian budget.

A recent French classic, "A Very Long Engagement" directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunnot who had done the more famous "Amelie" also with Audrey Tautou.  In this movie which was a lot more complex than I had imagined I was surprised to see Jodie Foster in a French speaking role.  Marion Cottilard who is becoming one of my favorites also had a signficant role.

Other movies worthy of watching came from Sweden, Turkey, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Argentina, and Brazil.

  

"El Mariachi" has become a classic. Originally intended for the Mexican video market with a $7,000 budget it drew attention at the Sundance festival.  It is a reasonably entertaining action film, but more entertaining was the director, Robert Rodiguez's commentary where he explained in almost every scene how he kept the cost down.  Most of the actors were not paid, the scenery was taken as it was found, props were improvised and the film was carefully monitored as they couldn't afford re-takes.

Looking forward to:  Life of Pi, Talaash, Lincoln, Cloud Atlas, Midnight's Children, Rust and Bone that have released in 2012.  I also plan to watch a number of classics, movies that told a meaningful story without all the modern technology.

If I didn't mention one of your favorites tell me and also why you liked it.  For my favourites of 2011 check outhttp://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/01/movies-i-enjoyed-in-2011.html

Bollywood Music can grow on you.

My love of Bollywood music is the result of a lot of stumbling and now I am obsessed.  Most Canadians are blissfully ignorant of it or have a stereotypical prejudice.  There is a lot that is strange by North American standards and would take a lot of time to appreciate.  We don't often pay attention to the unfamiliar, which means that part of culture that is not touted by what we regard as authoritative is to be ignored.  Too bad there is lot to enjoy in this world.  I have chosen a few links I hope will appeal to your North American tastes to give you a better feel.

I got launched in my new interest with a song I still think is one of the best.  After some research I decided to watch "Kal Ho Naa Ho".  I was told by a library staff that it was a very sad movie, but the truth is at the first half it seemed pretty juvenile.  Then at one point the hero sings a very philosophical mellow song which caught me off guard as up to this point he had been engaged in a lot of frivolity.  They had another version of the song played towards the end which was labelled sad version and it was even with a little bit of over acting the most sad part of any movie I had ever seen.  My wife thinks it is suitable for doing yoga.

"Kal Ho Na Ho" is perhaps the saddes song I know, but very beautfiul.  Most people will find it very melodious and soothing.  The sad part really comes from the movie context.   Check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTF0iNUVX54

Another song  from "Kal Ho Na Ho", "Kuch To Hua Hai" resonates with me, a song of two people expressing their new love, and you might assume it is for one another, but one is focused on our sad hero.  The lure with this song is most of it is set in Toronto and I recognized a lot of the sights.

I checked who wrote the music and learned it was a threesome, Shankar Ehsaan Loy.  One was actually a playback singer.  They had formed to do radio jingles until someone gave them the opportunity to do movie music back in 1997.  I have enjoyed their music in "Zindagi Na Milega Dobara" which won a well deserved album award,   "Rock On", "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna", "Lakshya" (with one military theme very well done), "Karthik Calling Karthik", "Dil Chatha Hai" and others.  One movie that I enjoyed their music more than the movie was "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" and admit the clever choreography was an important element.

In India, the hit parade tends to revolve around movie music which is actually released before the movie.  In North America musicals have lost their popularity, but music is still a driving force in India.  I respond more to music in context which is what Bollywood offers.  Of course the content of the movie makes a big difference and there is a big variety.  They are heavily influenced by Western music, but they can also utilize unique Indian rhythms and musical instruments.

A R Rahman is the  most famous Bollywood composer in North America with "Slumdog Millionaire" for which he won two Oscars.  Has scored for a number of American movies. In a list of his top hits there are many more noteworthy songs that hit his most appreciative audiences.  Some of his music I enjoyed includes "Ghaljini", "Lagaan", "Taal".  " A Peck on the Cheek",  "Bombay."  He composed music for 3 Deepa Mehta's (a prominent Canadian film maker) films, "Earth", "Fire" and  "Water".   He also wrote the music for my favorite Bollywood movie, "Swades"  He enjoys being a playback singer (in one famous movie seen singing on top of a moving train).  Admittedly I appreciated a lot of his music when I revisited it after my first listen.

One of Rahman's movies I enjoyed early in my education was  "Jaane tu...ya Janne Na" An interesting link from Jaanne tu...ya Janne Na" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX7t8ZwroHQ  with a catchy tune and fun dance.

Pritam Chakraborty is known for both hard and soft music.  He loves to write Punjabi songs with wild dance rhythms, but also has a reputation for soft romantic tunes.  In "Jab We Met" one of the songs from this movie, "Tum Se Hi"  was voted most romantic song.  click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt9xg0mmt28 .  Mohit Chouhan is given a lot of credit for popularizing this song.

Vishal-Shekar have a long list of movies to their credit.  One very popular infectious (to listeners not computers) video from Ra.one sung by American hip hop artist Akon.  Can't recommend the movie otherwise but have a listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4EZHGFK-1c  They have written a number of other catchy tunes.

Salim-Sulieman Merchant are two brothers.   They have produced music for a number of movies that I have enjoyed, but can't remember the music which might mean the songs didn't distract from the movie.  I thoroughly enjoyed "Iqbal"'s background music and noticed the main theme repeated in "Ashayein" another enjoyable bit of movie music.  An irony here is that in "Iqbal", the main character played by Shreyas Talpade was a deaf mute who cracked top cricket play and in "Aashayein" he played a bit role, but sang the song.   Two others I remember the music fondly were "Bachna Ae Haseeno" and "Fanaa"  Sometimes the story is more dominant and sometimes the music, but ideally they blend together.

Jatin-Lalit are another two brothers with a lot of movies to their credit, two of which are considered modern classics, "Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.",  amongst my top enjoyable Bollywood movies.

If you tried a few links and weren't impressed I can only suggest the more you listen and the more in context the more likely these songs will start to grow on you.  I didn't appreciate everything the first time I heard it, but came to love a lot of Bollywood music.  If you are not turned on, your effort is appreciated.  Forgive me, but I do love this stuff.