Over the past couple of months or so, I have been blogging at Movies.Newscrux.com as well...you can read some of my recent reviews there. I will continue to post links as well as write reviews on this blog from now...thank you all once again.

Do read my posts on my new blog as well...http://hemanthology.wordpress.com

Yours

Hemanth

Title: Run Lola Run (English)

Lola Rennt(German)

Language: German (Original)

Year of Release: 1998

Director: Tom Tykwer

Actors: Franka Potente , Moritz Bleibtreu

Awards: The film was nominated for 41 awards, 26 of which were won. These included the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival, and seven separate wins at the German Film Awards

Verdict: 4/5 (Awesome! Must Watch)

Have you ever wanted to change your destiny? What happens when you alter some things in your present? How does that impact your future? How far can you go to save the one you love? Is it possible to earn $100,000 in 20 minutes?! Sounds impossible...but it's not so. Check out this awesome German Flick, "Run Lola Run" for all the possible answers. And you will end up admiring much more than you will realise.

The story begins with Lola receiving a call from her boyfriend Manni who tells her about an impending danger to his life. And to save himself, he needs $100,000 in 20 minutes which has to be delivered to his boss. Lola forseeing a possibility of Manni making some stupidity warns him from doing anything and pleads him to wait for her. And she drops the phone and runs....runs....runs.

Probably that's the maximum story I can divulge, anything more would be stupidity and anything less doesn't serve the purpose of this post. Coming back to the story, its divided into three parts which each ending in a different way. So, the movie is all about, what happens when Lola arrives after 20 minutes, just before 20 minutes and right at 20 minutes. The story brings forth an important perspective that the road to your destiny is paved by your present actions. The brilliance of Run Lola Run lies in its ability to surprise you at every stage. The style of film-making, soundtrack, editing and narration are awesome and mind you calling it "awesome" is denigrating the fast paced action and the adrenaline it boasts of. Of all the people associated with this film, Tom Tykwer(director and writer), Franka Potente (Lola) and Mathilde Bonnefoy (Editor) need special mention.

Tom Tykwer relies on the pace and narration of the story, so much so that, the entire story rests on Lola and her bumping into several people. With a clever mix of animation and themes like time limit, Tom scores the maximum in leaving a great impact on the audience. Honestly, I wouldn't have stopped raving about this film, had I seen this 2 years ago while I was in college. I say so, because you rarely get to such a film where there's no threat of a terrorist attack or someone threating to blow up a bus/building! It's a concept driven by love and doing anything for the ones you love.

Franka Potente (who later appeared in "Bourne Identity") is more than good in her role. She captures your imagination with her bleached hair and a zeal to earn 100 grand in 20 minutes. Watch her in one of her runs when she manages to get the money from the bank, it's possibly one of the best shot sequences in the flick. She's what I would call a perfect diro's actress! And at the end of the day, the most important thing is, she delivers a stunning performance!

Mathilde Bonnefoy, the editor of the movie is another asset. It's not easy to show three acts back to back with the same beginning but a different ending. With her brilliant editing, Mathilde makes sure that we as audience, don't fret about the repitition of certain scenes.

I have always wondered why our Indian film-makers don't make such genuine fast paced action flicks. Although they have over the past few years, it's still a long way to go before they reach a stunner! Perhaps some sensible people should watch this "Run Lola Run" over and over again....I would hate them to the core if they rip the entire movie and give it a local name, but some budding sensible film-makers, I believe have the conviction to do what's right. And hopefully we will get to see a truly stylish and genuinely good action flick sometime in future.

Watch this film over and over again....it won't fail to surprise you. One of my favourites!

Title: Quantum of Solace

Language: English

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Marc Forster

Actors: Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench

Verdict: ***

First things first...What happened to Bond, James Bond?! To put into a proper perspective, the iconic character of our age seems to have been slowly stripped off his panache. Of course, the new interpretation of James Bond is enthralling for those who bask in realism. But where is his wit?! Where are his jaw-dropping gadgets?! Where is the charm which women find irreristable?! Where did his Tuxedo go? What happened to his own Martini?! There are way too many questions than this if you have just walked out of the latest James Bond flick, "Quantum of Solace". Having said all this, I will not take any credit away from this. Despite all its shortcomings, including a theme which is very unBond like, wayward editing and total absence of everything what we have known Bond for, "Quantum of Solace" is still a movie which has loads of energy and edge-of-the-seat action.

Daniel Craig stars as James Bond, tracking down the people behind Vasper Lynd's death with vengeance in his heart. The movie begins with a stunning car chase in Italy as Bond tries to escape from the henchmen. In Siena(Italy), M awaiting Bond to bring forth Mr.White tries to know about the organisation for which Mr.White works for. And sooner she finds out that the organisation has infiltrated even Mi6, she's caught unaware when her own aide shoots at her. Back in Mi6 as the forensic experts successfully tracks down some of the key people associated with suspicious money transfers, Bond is on his heels. His voyage to track down those responsible for Vasper's death takes him to Carribean and later to Bolivia, Austria. Dominic Greene, the chief of Green Planet, and as a member of Quantum, the organisation behind some of the most heinous crimes across the world. How Dominic tries to dictate terms to the governments in South America? Who helps Bond in his path to redemption? Does Bond successfully tracks down those behind Vasper's death? All this form the basic theme of Quantum of Solace.

Quantum of Solace originally is a short story adapted from Ian Fleming's "For Your Eyes Only", and it really is SHORT! With a running time of around 105 minutes, the film hardly has time to lay down the plot for the convenience of its audience. It's stuffed with as many action sequences, car chases, hand to hand fights ., etc in those 105 minutes. And we end up getting a half-baked plot which could have been a much better one to talk about. When you clinically look at this movie, you will realise that, despite some great cinematography and action sequences, the editing is so wayward that, atleast I had no clue what was happening in that scene. The frames change faster than you can gaze, the scenes and the acts are just too short to give much of a thought and in the end, the void is so clearly seen. Daniel Craig as the Bond, looks as good as any other action hero, but isn't it the charm which the likes of Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan once displayed which makes Bond, the Bond?! These are the moments when I truly miss Brosnan, the erstwhile Bond, who despite not having the muscle, had unparallel charm and wit. Olga Kurylenko as Camellie is good in her role, but with zilch chemistry between her and Craig, it's as good as not having her in the same frame as Bond. And what happened to the "Other" Bond Girl?! She's supposed to be the hottest chick in the flick; and they had to choose Gemma Arterton, of all the beautiful women in the world! Phew, if this is what the hotness parameter has fallen to, God save Bond! (She supposed to be the one who can surge the adrenaline levels when she's on screen, but watch Gemma on screen, and you will realise why I am fretting so much!). Dominic Greene(Mathieu Amalric) is perhaps the worst antagonist of Bond I have seen in ages. It's not that Mathieu hasn't done a good job, but his character in the film is so weak that you will realise that the purpose of his existence is to wait for Bond to kill him!!!

The only reason why you cannot walk out of the cinema hall is because of some stunning action sequences (however incongruent they may be), the conversations between M and Bond, and a new theme which takes us to places where no Bond film has ever gone before! And Thank God, the antagonist is not from a country which US and UK always has on their blacklist. He's not into building nuclear weapons or any other such thing to create havoc. Judi Dench as M, shows why no other woman can usurp that role atleast for the next few years. She's almost perfect to her role and delivers a commendable performance. This film was said to be most jinxed in the history of Bond flicks. You will realise why stunt drivers lost their lives and others ended up with broken bones when you see the first 5 minutes of the film....don't miss the beginning!!!

Lets hope that someone who's thinking about the next Bond film's script sees what Bond has missed in this flick. Bring back his gadgets, his tuxedo, his style, his wit, his way with women ! Put the sex back into Bond!!! You don't feel like having seen a truly genuine Bond movie unless we see all this on screen and hear his iconic line....Bond, James Bond!

Amen!