Tuesday, April 21, 2015

12 STOREYS BY ERIC KHOO - A Intense , Compelling, Moving And Most Importantly A "Thinking" Film !

As the poster of the film says... 12 Storeys is a film that has Desire , Hatred and Lust all woven amazingly well by the craftsmanship of the director Eric Khoo.

Eric Takes up the theme of urban isolation and alienation in modern Singapore. Four sets of narratives – ‘Sister’s Keeper’, ‘San San’, ‘China Bride’ and ‘Spirit’ – are built and set within one Housing Development Block (HDB) block, all of which come together to portray a day in the lives of the ordinary. In ‘Sister’s Keeper’, a domineering eldest brother, Meng, attempts to put his rebellious younger sister, Trixie, and little brother, Tee, through the wringer while their parents are away. Meng’s persistent interrogation of Trixie’s personal life leads ultimately to something far more explosive. ‘San San’ tells the story of a woman who lives with only suicide on her mind. Fat, silent, and alone, she constantly hears the ghost of her mother upbraid her as she used to when she was alive. Ah Gu, a middle-aged man, brings home a pretty young wife, Lili, from China in ‘China Bride’, only to find himself struggling to cope with her high material expectations. Their relationship is caught in mounting frustration and disappointment, especially as they realize their expectations does not map onto reality. 

There is also the story of ‘Spirit’, about how the ghost of a young man makes his rounds, observing the rest of the households after he has jumped from that very block of flats. 

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Just Who IS THE BUNNYMAN ??

It's an ELEPHANT !!... No It's a BULL !!.. Naaah... It's THE BUNNYMAN !! ...



Slower than a SNAIL !! .. With No ESP(s)... Will NEVER !! Come between YOU and a GUNSHOT !! (I ain't BULLET PROOF !) ... Doesn't Wear A Mask , A Cape and his Undies Outside (pssst...sometimes not even inside....Come on man ... I live in a HOT & HUMID Climate / State/ City etc... !! ) ...Roams Free in plain sight... wants to be DISCOVERED !! .. (Otherwise Why the HELL would I BLOG !! and by now you guys know that I ain't so easy to miss cause I a V shaped psyche...only in my case the V is like UPSIDE DOWN or उल्टा .. LOL !!   ) ... But has 1 power (or so he thinks) of WRITING ! and bringing his Blog readers GENUINE , UNBIASED , NON-PAID (on 2nd thought I'd not mind the cash flow)  Reviews on / of FILMS, MUSIC , FOOD , ART and all that jazz ! :-) 

Friday, April 3, 2015

iLo iLo - A Beautiful & Relate-able Tale / Film by Anthony Chen

So I'm back... new day new post... !!.... I've already told you'll that my love and quest for movies surpasses languages ....So here's a review of a BRILLIANT !! short film by Anthony Chen ... By me The BUNNYMAN !! ;-) 

I got invited to the preview screening by the  Singapore Consulate - Mumbai on 31st of March 2015 @ NCPA , for the critically acclaimed short film ilo ilo by Anthony Chen .. 

ILO ILO 
The film festival marks the start of the celebrations lined up to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Singapore and India. more on the festival will be written @ the end note of the blog (remember the social message always has to come LAST... hehehe).

At sharp 6:00 pm The little theater @ NCPA preview screened the movie...99 mins of no drama or hamming is what the film gave to it's viewers... ilo ilo is set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis/ recession of a middle class family...and is primarily the tale of  a bond / friendship between a boy and his Filipino maid ...such close is the bond that it becomes the reason for igniting the mother's jealousy towards the maid , because she thinks her boy / son is getting more close to the maid than her ...  At the start the maid is new to the place and the family and the boy tries his best to harass the daylights out of her !...but her economic scene back home is not such that she can backtrack so her persistence with genuine care makes her win the boy's heart who now calls her auntie  :-) 
Anthony Chen

So this is the tale in a nutshell (I've avoided some parts of the story because I think when you write a review of / for a film you should leave something for the audiences to explore themselves)...where a  debutante director Anthony Chen  who's also very young himself ! (just 30) tries to tell the viewers that in today's world where working parents are a fact of life and an unsaid norm ...such a scenario is possible ...his treatment to the subject is very mature and at the same-time is not very heavy or taxing on the viewers, because this if not treated lightly could have easily become a film that would give the viewer a heavy heart but you leave the hall with a smile on your face and that's the beauty of this film ..must say he surely knows his work...and as they say when brilliance is an inborn trait the AGE doesn't matter ! ...If I was to compare it with an Indian film makers style then I'd say it comes very close to the styles of Sai Paranjpe and Basu Chatterjee...where cinematic treatment comes very close to REALISM ! ....which is why I say it's relate-able.

I was also placing and evaluating this in current times and to my surprise I think this is a universal phenomenon in all the so to say developing countries so yeah this is also a crossover film for me...I'm not a parent yet (at least of what I know..hehehe).... this can be the case with India's urban cities too ! ...  for all those working parents ...I ain't saying it's bad of course with the cost of living going up both the parents have to and should work...but try spending some golden/quality time(s) with your child in his / her's growing years (I'm aware it's easily said than done, but no harm trying) .. otherwise what you''ll end up doing is thinking of a situation / scene who's existence in reality is questionable, which the mother in this movie does.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Why The Name BUNNY ??







As I sit down to write my 1st post I feel an influx  of IDEAS, THOUGHTS & ADRENALINE RUSH !! in me ...and I have Lawrence Fishburne as Morpheus speak those GOLDEN WORDS !! / LINES to me from the movie MATRIX "Welcome To the REAL world ...NEO !! " ..Nope I'm not saying I'm NEO.. but then again Never did He believe in himself as well. 





Coming from a family that even till today takes an active interest in CINEMA  and produced and launched Aparna Sen in her 1st movie with JEETENDRA named VISHWAS (1969) ... It's no ROCKET SCIENCE to kinda guess that you'll be named after a popular Bollywood figure ! ... only in my case it was or is JEETENDRA (THE KING OF WHITE) ... yeah that's what I have as a name JEETENDRA ...now it's not bad...but you'd agree that there isn't a SINGLE comeback from where you've showed up at your school in WHITE TENNIS shoes and uniform and your homies  start to pick on you for the COLOR ... !! ...And then the enemies .. of course even GOD has enemies !!.. why wouldn't I ?? (LOL) !!...they start calling u JEETU...!!... Grrr... :-P

This is where I tried selling my nickname which my maternal grandmother (Naani yaar !!.. sorry I'm just being to politically correct) gave me BUNNY !!.. now this too wasn't easy because it sounded to gayish and girlish ....but then I had to stick to one !...so I hard sole this and after a point of time as I was growing up AGE-WISE... HORIZONTALLY I'm still GROWING !! (LOL) ..In college girls started finding the name CUTE !! and the theory goes that if the girl likes it then it's GOOD !! (LOL).... 

FINAL APPROVAL came when the super hit movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani realized 2013 and RANBIR KAPOOR's name in the movie was BUNNY !!... DROP .. DEAD.... SOLD !!... 


Badhaai Ho - Movie Review

How often have you watched a movie about a middle class family living in a cramped flat and wanted to move in with them, if not forever t...