Change Your Image
cinnatusc
Reviews
Know for Sure (1941)
Screamingly funny
Yes, the director of the amazing "All Quiet on the Western Front" made an educational film about syphilis. Don't expect art, this thing is pretty atrocious, but hilarious, especially the flagrant Italian stereotype in the opening. "It was just a little sore!" If you're wondering how Lewis Milestone wound up "reduced" to this, it's actually his contribution to the war effort in the '40s, later re-edited into an educational film for America's Youth. The original is, to my knowledge, currently unavailable and probably lost. Not that we miss it, but it's sort of too bad. This can be found, in its "safe-for-schoolkids" form, on the "Educational Film Archives: Sex and Drugs" DVD from Fantoma.
Aankhen (2002)
Topnotch directing and good acting over somewhat weak screenplay
That pretty much sums it up. As heist thrillers go, this is a pretty solid movie. The lengthy time actually works in its favor, because it allows the main characters to be fully fleshed out. Unless you're David Mamet, it's pretty hard to do a 90 minute heist movie and have you care about the people involved. From an American perspective, this movie is quite fresh, both in the concept and the lack of American stereotypes (there's no young punk, retired thief returning for one last score, or anything like that here.) Also, the tension level is excellently done. That said, there are some major credibility issues; you can buy something like "Heist" working, but "Aankhen" it's best to turn your brain off. This is more along the lines of something like "To Catch a Thief"; you don't buy it but the ride's so much fun you don't care.
The directing by Vipul Shah definitely deserves kudos on the visual end and with the actors; the director uses both the foreground AND the background, unconcerned with what's in focus and what isn't (and in fact drops in a few jokes), and the framing is quite precise. Even when he's constrained by the necessity of suddenly making a music video, he does his best. The acting isn't perfect, but the actors are convincing in their handicapped and Amitabh Bachchan comes off as one cold-blooded hombre.
This is definitely worth a look, a superior slice of dumb fun.
Super Troopers (2001)
Really funny
I freely admit this isn't for everybody, although I was busting a gut. If you're looking for something in the vein of "Caddyshack" or "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", this is definitely your kind of movie. It's not a classic, but it's still a lot of fun and worth seeing at least once.