SUICIDE SQUAD - GO WATCH IT INSTEAD OF READING A REVIEW - EVEN THIS ONE

Yes, I'll be as short as I can, and no am not sweet talking you into a deal. Suicide Squad​ is a movie that looks like the end product of a bit of muddled editing, there is no denying that but David Ayer​ drops you in the middle of the action in what should be the template for how comic book movies should be made. There is no beating around the bush in the action, nor is there too much of an attempt to pull back fantasy with ground rules. Instead of using tame CGI, Roman Vasyanov​ goes over the top and works with the special effects team to transport us to places. Talking of special effects, the trippy end credits are super groovy.

Deadshot​, Harley Quinn​, Captain Boomerang​, El Diablo​, Slipknot and Killer Croc​ are assembled at a facility by the devious Amanda Waller​. Under the command of Rick Flagg​, they're supposed to take on a few challenges that will ensure their jail terms cut short. But it ain't a cakewalk...and hence their nom de guerre - Suicide Squad. And how does Amanda control them? Well, she has a few cards up her sleeve. And then there is the Enchantress (DC Comics)​.

WillSmith​, Margot Robbie​, Cara Delavigne​, Joel Kinnaman​, Karen Fukuhara​, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje​, Jay Hernandez​, Viola Davis​ and last but not the least Jared Leto​ with a few more I've left out for good reason round off the heavy hitter cast. Almost all of them justify their presence with a few promising to come back in later movies. The attempt to join dots in the DC Extended Universe​ is clear from the get go, maybe a little too clear? But I can live with it.

There are infectious relationships and there are noxious relationships and then there is the relationship that sent little shivers down my spine. If there is a Joker​, then there is a Harley Quinn. The chemistry between Jared Leto and Margot Robbie is resplendent in its weird and disturbing nature. Will Smith is, well Will Smith, but then he fits like a trigger glove into the role of Deadshot. Jai Courtney​ is an under-rated talent - and the movie gives us the impression there is more of the tinny guzzling aussie than what they show us.

Given its nature, we cannot talk about this movie without talking about its soundtrack. Bohemian Rhapsody​, Sympathy for the Devil​, I Started a Joke​, Creep (Radiohead song)​, Sucker for Pain​, Spirit in the Sky​ and much more add to the neat atmosphere that Steven Price and crew have put together to support the chaos that goes on on screen. Lovable is the word I'd use for the badass soundtrack.

Reading the rest of the reviews, I can only say that this is a movie that has been weighed down by expectations that were unreal, probably built up by two superbly cut trailers that should have showed some restraint while they could. Ensemble movies work for David Ayer for a reason and my secret wish is that at some point his intended cut is released to the public.

At Paradise Talkies​, we rate Suicide Squad a fun 2.5 out of a possible 5 stars. But don't just look at a rating and decide, go ahead and give it a watch. You probably wont regret it.

Raman Raghav 2.0 - not so Ugly after all

Our choice of venue was curtailed to Fame ShankarNag in Bangalore, a

cinema that was once a single screen highlight that is now in tatters.

Our feeling on leaving the cinema was not as acute but not very

different about Raman Raghav 2.0. Anurag Kashyap has never shied away

from showing the basest emotions that a human being is capable of, love

and its infinite shades included. It works in Raman Raghav 2.0 only

because he has two very talented actors backing up his slightly weak

spined screenplay - Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal.

Given the way 'Bombay Velvet' was received, the expectation behind

Anurag Kashyap's next was always going to be a factor in the way Raman

Raghav was going to be received. A lot of us would have expected Anurag

to have gone all out, but there is a certain amount of restraint that

comes through in his handling of the screenplay. His leads though, have

no such restraints in their portrayal. 'He said my eyes used to glow in

the dark' says one and 'how can you stay with someone who puts anything

into his nostrils, his veins?' says the other.

Vasan Bala's screenplay with Anurag Kashyap - walks through streets of

Mumbai - grime, sweat and ripe(with decay) colours painted roughly on

the screen. While the actual Raman Raghav 2.0 terrorized Mumbai with

random killings, the contemporary Sindhi Dalwai takes inspiration from

him only to paint his own gory graffiti in Mumbais slums. Duality is an

interesting dynamic - crime and punishment, criminals and policemen,

God and the Devil - Anurag Kashyap works with Venn diagrams showing us

where a circle stops and where another begins and where they intersect

but perhaps pulls back too soon - to use his own cinematic language. We

are at times left languishing for more of the whys and wherefores even

though some may argue open- endedness being paramount.

Siddiqui - bright eyed, unkempt and thoroughly scary pulls off another

top tier performance yet never goes over the top keeping everything

under the surface. A short run up of his, helmet clad and dragging a

tyre iron quite literally sends us backing into the seat knowing whats

going to happen next. Vicky Kaushal on the other hand, as has been the

discussion since his performance is a surprise package. A police launda

who cannot bear to keep himself away from any kind of high, his

neurotic and taut performance complements Siddiquis frightening

psychosis but we end up feeling we see too much of (a weakly

scripted)Raghav when we want to see more of Siddiqui.

Ram Sampath has scored the movie and the constant thrumming in the

background helps set the mood for the bashing-in-of-the-skull and

assorted goings on off screen. The camera handled by Jay Oza helps us

waltz through the muck and blood always keeping a perspective of

Siddiqui and Kaushal on screen even when they aren't physically present

in the frame.

Incisive as the acting and story set up is, we still come away wanting

more - two factors contribute to this. The editing could have been a

little more sharper, condensing the story to what it should be and the

screenplay should have been tighter when it came to the why's which is

where the editing might have contributed as well. The hype behind Raman

Raghav 2.0 and the trailers promised devilishness of the kind we were

used to from Anurag Kashyap in Ugly, Gulaal et al. What we realise is

that his latest is not so Ugly.

Our rating - Three and a half stars out of a possible five.

Pure(itanical) Horror - The VVitch

Witches have always been the source of myriad emotions - and that in this, our enlightened age, the 21st century. 'The Witch' (stylized as The VVitch) is more of a fable - almost a surreal catechism. It is not, of course, something that judders your bones and causes you to jump out of your seat. Rather, the atmosphere puts us back in the New England of the Puritans. Would you question God and if you do, well you have pledged your allegiance to the devil is the circumstance in which we find ourselves.

Robert Eggers remarks that the film was made to be a Puritans nightmare, something directly out of the mind of a 17th century New England-er. And such a nightmare, given its time would have to be purely inherited. We are treated to how this nightmare is inherited as well, with a father-son sequence that isn't about bees and bird but more about how humans are born and bred in sin and redemption is a distant dream. Never are we allowed to distance ourselves from the fact that the family who's life we are deposited into do not exactly have a happy life of living off their produce. William, the head of the family,banished from the plantation where he lived and farmed with his then pregnant wife, sons and daughters builds a modest farm at the edge of the woods. The rest of the story is designed to be and works as a beautiful bed time horror story.

Before we get to the actors, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Robert Eggers is first and foremost a production designer, someone who and I quote 'if I got asked for dirty green curtains, I gave them the best dirty green curtains they'd get'. The proof of course is the clawing natural light photography, faithful production design, costumes and imagery. His sense of design extends and is shared by his team in researching New England Puritan history and most of the dialogue and helps in the time travel we are subject to. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke and composer Mark Korven lend beautifully atmospheric imagery and background score so much so that at a certain point in the tension, silence has already etched a melody in our minds.

The cast in the meanwhile almost seem as committed to the movie as the Vatican was to killing off women of wisdom in the middle ages. Ralph Ineson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson comprise the entire cast save a couple of supporting actors. Not only does keeping a small circle of actors the main cast pay off in terms of keeping us engrossed to their fate, it also shows us the darkness that descends on them. The actors are almost fiercely committed to the movie, mouthing their 'thou''s and 'thy''s with such casual conviction that we are sucked into the soul of their plight. Anya and Kate Dickie in particular and it should come as no surprise are brilliant in their characters.

Without going into too many details, 'The VVitch' if it were necessary to be described in comparison would be in the same coven as 'The Shining'. Moody, atmospheric, generative and degenerative, the images flicker across the retinas like out of a crystal ball that has told you the future, murky and realistic at the same time. When a cold dreary sky is offset by a thick brownish grey wood, when the wind blows across a reinforced barn roof and howls down the chimney, when the rising full moon is blurred by the cast of a shadowy fear - 'The Witch' wins you over in the chills it sends down your spine. It is not be missed as a classic concocted in genius fashion in the masterful hands of Robert Eggers, Jarin Blaschke and Mark Korven.

Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice - A comic fans late (3/5) review

Batman is a comic figure that almost all of us can identify with. The psychological reasons are numerous - starting from the shallow, for example - who doesn't want to be a billionaire playboy who gets to play around with gadgets that can potentially kill and maim! The broader psychological reasons would be along the lines of anyone being receptive to the idea of facing their inner demons and facing them in a way that helps not only them but the society that bereaved them. And the caped crusader became something of an inner answer that resonates with the interpretation of most of the authors who have spun stories around this legend clad in gray and black.

Why go into all that, you ask? Well, because its been a puzzling month for the bat-fan in me. While I abstained from reading reviews before the latest installment featuring the Bat on the silver screen came out, I was aware of the heavy expectations riding on this particular outing. Warner has long wanted to launch their Justice League world and given the success of Man of Steel it was only logical that the sequel be used to hint at it. I say hint but Zack and Charles Roven might have had different ideas and used this as a pedestal. They literally built this universe up and used the latest outing of Batman and the continuation of the Man of Steel to launch an extended universe. Should they have been heavy handed even though they were invested in it? I don't know. But the spate of sour reviews that I read after I watched it, were, for want of any other word, overwhelming. 

Given there has been a lot of objectification of reviews which are supposed to be subjective, here is a quick rundown of what critics' popular opinion is, here's what I think wasn't very good about the movie and should have been addressed for sure -

1. Superman's mum has a name, Batman's mum has a name. Zack Snyder sissies up one of the darkest screen hero's of all time. It is not done, I accept this view, there are no two words about it. I officially hate the name 'Martha' and I totally agree with popular opinion here - this was a bit of a lame-i-fication of the dark knight.
2. Superman's love interest literally has Superman on a leash, be it in the African continent or in Metropolis. Who wants to watch a sappy female lead who sort of takes the movie away from where it is going? To everyone else who disliked Amy Adams' role in the movie - Am with you, I'd say delete her role, maybe drop her off a cliff with Kryptonite at the bottom and be done with it.

And here's where I wont agree with what some of the critics seem to be harping on -

1. Rehashing an origin story - Zack Snyder showed the reason why Batman is Batman - starting from a young boy uplifted by the realisation of his fear to a battle worn warrior who will do all it takes to protect his own. For some reason, almost all critics who dislike the movie seem to be seeking a new sort of handling of the only possible story of the Bat. Me - I see nothing wrong with Zack's take.
2. Lex Luthor - Jesse Eisenberg according to most of my friends in India channels Shahrukh Khan. A fleshed out psycho, someone who does not consider meddling with things vastly beyond his control as dangerous, in exchange for knowledge. For that is his primary aim. The majority of critics seem to this this is a fault - given Shahrukh Khan, I'd say it was if I didn't believe Jesse managed to elevate the role to what was needed in this particular DC universe. There is something frightening about a man who is prepared to give up his humanity just to see what comes next or to put down a force he does not understand, Jesse show us that - scornful 'ding ding ding' included.
3. Too Dark - this was another common verdict. I have no basis for comparison to a statement like that. There have never been consistent sunny skies, happy people or forced humor. I am unsure what the expectation of critics was but the tone set by the film was consistent with the happenings of the past few years in the Justice Leagues universe
4. Too Unfunny - See above, can't say much except that well...its not supposed to be a funny movie!
5. Too serious - There is an alien who has superpowers, there has been large scale disaster and a feeling of unrest and doubt all over the world. In the sister city of where the alien spends most of his time is a vigilante who fights crime primarily by instigating fear among criminals. When they come face to face, to kill or to be killed,  I cannot see any justification to why this situation can be not serious.
6. Too many visions - A story teller usually employs everything he can in terms of words, in a movie the director being the story teller needs to use visuals to get us through a story. Do these visuals need to be in sequence, especially when we are dealing with concepts of multiverses and visions that might not be current? Non-linearity is not seen as an issue elsewhere so in a serious movie I cannot accept it as a serious flaw. In my opinion - almost all the Knightmares worked well

Given the blockbuster nature of the movie, casting was always a question mark and when Ben Affleck was announced as the next Batman, almost the same frenzy as the reviewing ended up with a petition against his casting. But then I was not very surprised to see Ben Affleck owning the character in this Bat universe. Admitted, Henry Cavill can't emote beyond a raised eyebrow, but his story continues on as a conflicted metahuman and comes through a full arc. In case I wasn't clear earlier Jesse Eisenberg could not have played Alexander Luthor better - hungry and greedy to know, to be two steps ahead and to surpass physical manifestations of power and take control.Amy Adams should have been killed off with the supposed Jimmy Olsen character, don't get me wrong, am a big fan of hers but she just sapped Superman's mojo! But the rest of the supporting cast did quite good - Jeremy Irons is perfect (read Batman - Earth One if you want to catch my drift further). We get brief glimpses of the upcoming Justice League and without seeing too much action we can only say that Flash has been cast really well.

A major highlight - Wonder Woman was great, we loved her, the critics loved her because well they can't ignore entire movie theaters cheering when her theme twanged out. Gal Gadot has been called different things, too skinny, not busty enough, does not have a repertoire fit for Wonder Woman but when she smiles that derisive smile after being thrown around by Doomsday - well, that's enough to call bullshit on all her critics. The fact that out of all the rotten reviews if one thing stood out it was Gal Gadot, says something about the strength of her performance. Wonder Woman was always a tough character to have brought to screen, especially given the costume, the lasso of truth and the as yet un-introduced mode of transport she uses. But Gal and Zack ensure our disbelief is suspended and how.

The movie is beautifully shot - am going to be called names for this, but its almost a mix of impressionist and classical painting styles. Shots of chiaroscuro post apocalyptic visions, sharper than normal icy landscapes, brightly lit caves and sombrely lit congressional committees add to a story line where the alien threat on humanity adds confusion to not only the normal population but the meta humans themselves. Visions or Knightmares as they have been termed haunt Batman's consciousness along with a visitation by Flash in full armour asking if he is too soon. Sometimes reading a chapter is not reading the novel. Zack Snyder pays full homage to the comic origin of Cyborg and the abilities of Aquaman and the Flash in the quick peek we get into other metahumans existing among Waynes World (if you'll pardon the pun).

Junkie XL and Hans Zimmer pound out a score worthy of the first time DC's most popular superheros clash on screen. The raw violins, cellos, bass guitars and the metal added to every instrument churning out a tune fits in with the sombre nature of the story where Zack pays homage to a lot of different takes of Superman and Batman meeting in combat. Did I mention Wonder Woman's them? The tribal barrelling of the cello literally makes ones hair stand on end, no wonder the human mind that resonates with certain frequencies, felt the need to cheer when wonderful casting, perfect action and superb music score combined on screen. Batmans' theme in case someone paid a little attention is another of those perfect scores - subtle but noticeable and effective. Overall, what was described as over-loud, in my opinion suited the mood of the movie superbly, especially when the Bat and the Alien face each other off.

I'll quote a friend who is also a great screen writer - 'Movies should not come with instruction manuals'. And that having been said, I do not understand the 'business' of movie critiquing anymore. While it is always welcome that everyone who can express their views should, not even watching a movie but feeling entitled to critique it is something I came across for the first time in the bloodbath that was the review storm for 'Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice'.

Should the video with meta humans have been left to a post-credits scene is a question that I would answer to with a yes but apart from these points(around 6 minutes of editing like I mentioned earlier) this is a perfectly good addition as a world builder. A few swift cuts, and a bit of repositioning in the narrative would have made this the best comic book movie ever. The latest outing of Batman and Superman is worth three stars out of five and it definitely did not deserve the abuse it received, again in our humble opinion.

Kapoor & Sons - Since 1921 - It is all in the closet

Indian families aren't simple places to grow up in. Not only do we have a convoluted family tree because of joint families living together from aeons ago, we also pass down sensibilities via the family way. Children are very often asked questions like - 'who do you love more, your mother or your father?'; 'why can't you be more obedient like your brother?' ; 'why can't you be more soft spoken, like the girl across the street?'. And these are questions that not only have answers drilled deep into young minds, they also imprint behavioral patterns in them. No wonder then that dynastic families of actors are even more complicated - well 'Kapoor and Sons - Since 1921' definitely isn't a movie about film dynasties but it does have Rishi Kapoor - who after a long series of strange characters, plays a lovable nonagenarian in a clan that has its full cupboard of skeletons.

The movie is directed by Shakun Batra and starts up like 'The Darjeeling Limited' does - as a sort of comedy of dysfunctional family members. The nonagenarian having had a genuine heart attack after playing at dropping dead for a long time results in the homecoming, at least for a short while, of his two grandchildren - the perfect son Rahul who is a published novelist living in London and Arjun who aspires to be a successful novelist and is working bars in America while trying to reach his goal. Their mum and dad, played by Ratna Pathak and Papa Kapoor(played by Rajat Kapoor - not of the other Kapoor clan) have their own issues. The sojourn of the grandsons provides a platform for all the actors to gather together on the stage and takes us through what I feel is one of the best comedy dramas of contemporary Hindi cinema.

Shakun Batras innate understanding of characters and typical situations in a family almost feels too good to be true for a Bollywood movie and leaves us highly satisfied even though the acting is a little rough around the edges in the younger department - Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt seem a little wooden while Fawad Khan(free of the trappings of inane comedies like the earlier movie he did with Sonam Kapoor, the title for which I do not even want to remember) is definitely going places. His angst as a 'perfect son' remains slightly unbalanced on the other end by Siddharth Malhotra's (who for the most part is convincing) overly taut jawed performance of a younger sibling who has always been compared to the elder and cannot seem to catch a break. Alia Bhatt acts as herself for most of the movie but fails to emote in the one crucial scene she is required to. All in all, the direction keeps us engrossed to the point that we don't notice the acting hiccups - mostly.

By stages, 'Kapoor & Sons' leads us down a laugh gallery into dark alleys and then proper melodrama. Where it succeeds is that not one bit of our journey feels strange - there is almost a constant feeling of identification with what the characters are going through. Every relationship needs a lot of work to substantiate it as does every family which inevitably has buried secrets. The difference in this Kapoor family is that the patriarch is not a french beard sporting accented gentleman, the sons are not swaggering mules who think they are imports when in fact they are exports. The characters are for the most part, grounded and identifiable and the location - Coonoor, ties it all down neatly into a movie with verdant highs and shaded lows and tangible middles. Par for the acting being low, I would still rate this one of the best Hindi dramedies of late.

We at Paradise Talkies rate it 4 stars out of a possible five.

Star Wars : The Force Awakens - a tick in every box

Not that that is ever a bad thing - a tick in every box. But sometimes the fastidiousness of the ticking does make us not want to relish a movie as much as we otherwise would. George Lucas opened the minds of the 70's to adventure that wasn't strict science fiction - it bundled romance, villainy, hope and the idea of an all encompassing 'force' that just stuck with audiences and would not let go. So much so that when he made his average prequels (don't have too much to complain about 'Revenge of the Sith'), a movie commentator observed that the movie does not even need to be watched for it to turn a profit, such was its success as a franchise. But we digress - post his 4 billion USD landfall profit from his sale of this lucrative franchise to Disney, George moved away from the creative cockpit. The world has waited with bated breath over the past three years to see what J.J.Abrams can bring to the cantina table and the verdict is - he does not disappoint.

Episode VII - The Force Awakens is everything that a moviegoer would want from a blockbuster - the return of characters beloved to fans, the continuance of a superb music score (more on that in the following paragraphs), a story that springs surprises and leaves us euphoric with a pace that sags in the middle but otherwise punches through to light-speed more often than not. At the same time, it would be remiss of anyone who has followed the original trilogy to not notice that 'The Force Awakens' is in fact more of an up to date remake of 'A New Hope' with the nicer bits of 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'The Return of the Jedi' thrown in. Does that warrant the price of whatever you pay in your neck of the woods for an IMAX ticket(believe me, no other format does this movie justice) - I would say go for it, especially if you're not an old fan and are new to the series(not that there are too many of you weirdos around).

The casting choices are excellent what with the trio from the previous trilogy showing their age. Peter Mayhew and company are back as Chewbacca, R2D2 and C3PO. The newer generation (pardon the ugly pun) is represented by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and a sublime Adam Driver. Given we all know Harrison, Carrie and Marks' prowess in front of a camera lets move on to the newcomers. Daisy Ridley plays a desert scavenger who's destiny inevitably is what we are going to learn about in the movies to come. It is a little disappointing to see the brilliant Oscar Isaac restricted to a few scenes with a bit of smart trigger happy dialogue bits and a bit of pizzazz. John Boyega plays his part well as a stormtrooper whos not convinced about his day job. There are a fair bit of cameos but Max Von Sydow's extremely small role as a possible force adept disappointed me. Maybe we'll get to see a bit more of him? Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, JJ's friend Grunberg all have cameos including that person who originally played the most active Ewok(yes, I know his name and no am not being rude). A note on the CGI only characters - we never get to see Supreme Leader Snoke in person - he seems to tower over everyone in a couple of holo-transmits but Andy Serkis is once again relegated to mocap histrionics as is Lupita Nyong'o who plays Maz Kanata(another possible force adept perhaps). Also before I forget we've got a female captain of Stormtroopers (plus you'll see that the First Order has in a span of 30 years gotten more or less gender equal as has the Resistance) in Captain Phasma(we never get to see Gwendoline Christies face behind the gold stormtrooper helmet).

Now that we've gotten everyone else out of the way, Adam Driver can be discussed. We get introducted to this new helmeted warrior who's working with the First Order as egged on by Supreme Leader Snoke and in conjunction with General Hux(did I miss out on mentioning Domnhall Gleeson? Well, he's there and is menacing and we get to see his face stretch across an Imax screen contorted with..er..menace). A lot has been spoken of his portrayal of this character that we are sure is going to arc across the current set of three episodes. Without giving away too many spoilers, his portrayal of a wayward son being tempted by forces he wants to align with but realises are way beyond his control is brilliant. Petulance, anger, curiosity, helplessness and sheer menace ripple through in his performance. Yes he does smash up equipment and generate what can only be interpreted as amused consternation among the storm troopers when they are not in complete terror contemplating what he's going to do next. But the crazy uncertainty gives us a lot of tense expectation as well. His tall, gaunt frame and almost innocent eyes add to the darkness of Kylo Ren's presence on screen. Of all the positive additions to the new cast, Adam Driver stands out - tall, force-enabled and menacing.

This would also bring us to another positive continuance of the Star Wars saga - John Williams. In my fan-deluded view, I would venture to say his score is almost driven by the force. This story, as was 'A New Hope' plays out along the formula of a modern space opera and while Mr.Williams ensures we realise we are watching Star Wars, unlike JJ, he keeps this a creation of its own. Be it Rey's theme which is slightly melancholy or the track that accompanies a chase of the millenium falcon(did I forget to mention its possibly one of THE best flight chase sequences choreographed?), the music pops a very slight hint of a trumpeting fanfare or a melodic interlude on strings that will tap into your nostalgia. The score literally creeps through Kylo Ren's abductions and blasts through an X-Wing attack, it reminds you of Han and his royal love and gives you goosebumps when it flows into the Force theme. For want of a better word to describe this and without any intention of landing a pun - the music by John Williams is stellar.

To return to a story that has been well established and taken through an arc at some length is always a dicey project to undertake. And when the fan base is skewed heavily in favour of a movie that was first released in the seventies and has more man-boys(and women-girls) in its fan following, it does make sense to endeavour to please them. But is that the prerogative of an auteur is the question people are asking of JJ, Would you rather not displease the fans and ensure the box office is a kicker or would you bring a little originality into the picture? Ah well, the question has been answered to the pleasure of (apparently), the mild discomfort of a certain number and the open scorn of a certain other demography. My verdict - 'The Force Awakens' is a good addition to the Star Wars saga but I would certainly not rate it on par with the mind-blower that I had expected. And yes, that does skew towards being judgemental - but I will side with those of us that yield ownership of a creation to the creator but appreciation of it purely to the patrons. After all, we are not talking about modernist art, we are talking about a well loved and established science fable.

My rating - 7/10

Wild tales - colour me amazed!

There is a certain thing about multi-story movies that make them not really the best of movies to be able to appreciate. For one, sometimes there is no clear border of when something ends and when something starts. And sometimes, thats what is necessary but does not exist, at other times there is no flow and its like your feet are stuck in the swamp of one short and cannot move into another. Amazingly, none of these things happen in Relatos Salvajes, Damian Szifron's extraordinary Argentinian surprise. I was not surprised to see that this excellent feature was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar in 2015 given its beautifully clever, entertaining and cohesive wit.

The stories that are brought together as neatly as the packaging of a cake in 'Bombita' are more often that not dark and laced with perhaps darker humour. 'Pasternak' to start with starts ringing the ominous bell in the viewers head within about 2 minutes and while we have an inkling of whats to come, it brings out the shadowed areas in ones psyche by making us actually relish the happenings on screen. One does not have to be intelligent to guess whats coming next but did the director actually think of what he's stirring up in the viewers mind? I would rate this one of the best opening takes among almost all of the movies I've seen in the past five years.

The second short 'The Rats' reminded me of something I noticed in Agatha Christies 'Murder on the Orient express'. Sometimes, there is a notion created around a character that literally smells and the subtlety with which the notion is created provides a lot of satisfaction, no doubt to the auteur as well as the viewer. No one likes a condescending man, but is that enough for revenge thats best served with ketchup? Moral boundaries are a thing of the past in todays swift moving non judgemental world but when an individual insists on having moral boundaries, the only thing to check is the expiration date and the only thing to wonder about is, does a thing get more or less strong after its exprired? What better way to leave a question unanswered if not with a question itself.

The third short 'Road to Hell' is explained expertly by a question my wife asked of me when we were in the middle of it - Are they trying to discourage me from ever taking a road trip in an unknown country? Class differences are a big part of contemporary life - have you ever overtaken a slowpoke who tries to keep you from moving forward in a fast lane and then given him/her the finger? If you answer yes or even if you answer no, this little short is an explosively darkly humorous look at actions and consequences. It even led me to wonder about the false bravado of all of us man children when it comes to maybe a little bit of verbal provocation. An excellently edited bit of cinema, again we do not feel its been almost an hour into the movie when we get to the end of this.

Modern and large cities often have issues related to their locally legislated laws when it comes to utilities. The next short reminded me too much of the city I currently live in - Bangalore and also a few other cities from around the world. There is a part where the frustrated protagonist of 'Bombita' explains that just working for a thief does not distance one from the thievery. The exasperation of an average city dweller is made to go through our brain like a fever in this story of a normal man taking on almost the role of a revolutionary when the system brutally forces him to do so without explicitly targeting him. Every one of us is part of this macabre system and so is justice. As one of the women in 'The Rats' explains - too many of us watch the evil around us without doing anything about it. A good movie almost always succeeds in the amount of empathy it generates and 'Bombita' is a wildly successful little short.

Which brings us to 'The Deal'. I was reminded of Salman Khan in not too subtle a way and that again shows the winning nature of this movie. True cinema is nothing but a reflection of real life and the deal through its corrupt shades of black, grey and yellow shows us the truly pathetic nature of governing bodies and the people who are supposed to bring us justice. It resonated more in my hollow skull because of a recent incident where I saw a cop came over to collect 10 rupees from a bhel puri stand and the similarity world wide is underlined only in the corruption of it all. In my mind I had another title for the short movie popped in - The Negotiator.

The last short left me with one word in the back of my mind - bittersweet. What better than a wedding scene - one of the best and most raucous to boot - than to frame a twisty bendy dark tale of romance and human nature around. Without going into details the fickle nature of modern relationships is analysed in great detail in wide, zoomed, tracked shots that follow people around in the banquet hall of what looks like a high rise hotel and moves between its kitchens, corridors, the terrace and back to the banquet hall. The human mind sometimes only accepts what it wants and nothing else - no less no more and sometimes it breaks down and other times it puts itself together. As someone once said it is the seat of savage grace and 'Till death do us part' puts this in perspective.

These are probably winners as individual short stories, but when put together there is something about them that flows like a dark rippling current in the background of all these stories. Sometimes it causes our heart to jump into our throat, our eyes to widen, our inner mind to smirk with satisfaction and at other times it just makes us nod along in approval and acknowledgement. In this participation that Szifron entices out of us with his movie, he wins and wins in a fashion that makes him an international director to watch out for and his movies, features that we would want to await.

Five stars in my book.