The Namesake

A rare movie of rare quality, tha captures the dichotomies and life's nuances of the Bengali diaspora. I think the vignettes of the Bengali existence in a home away from home are never brought out better. I thought little of the book, but I guess relationships are so much better shown on celluloid. Mira Nair surpasses herself. Of special joy to me is that the movie was made at all, the laidback and somber Bengali NRI existence in stark contrast to the boisterous material Punjabi/ Gujju way of life. It is a statement in itself that overt aggression aside, quiet erudition and homily is also an idiom that exists and very much works. Two thumbs up

Girls, Maxim

I love the women of Mumbai. From the fighters on the Western Line, to the girl gangs in the watering holes, and the office militia, I love them all. When gender is a basis of discrimination in so much of the world, it is easy to see where women place in a liberal cosmopolitan largely professional society. It is an exciting subculture that will possibly acquire greater definition as India develops, and Mumbai, one way or the other, becomes the center of it all. The New Age Amazons? Ouch!!!

The movies of today. High quality. Exceedingly well-researched. Every aspect led by the specialists of their respective trades. Babel - cross cultural incoherence, Japan, California and North Africa. The Last King of Scotland - Idi Amin, charisma and insanity. Flags of Our Fathers - war for friends, war as the activity of the time. Blood Diamond - bounty hunter with a heart. The Pursuit of Happyness - victory over circumstance. Apocalypto - Maya savagery and individual courage.

Each movie a spectacle. Each a guided missile towards the Golden Globes and Oscars. Each a marketing success

Are any of these movies a tool of self-expression? A story that someone was yearning to get out of his system? I doubt it - for most

In the modern tradition of order out of anything at all, here would be my ranking of the above:

1) Apocalypto: Simply too authentic to be anywhere else but at the top. Mayan dialogue and Indian/ Hispanic cast. Gory to the point of revulsion - the sack of a village, torture and human sacrifice, killing for sport, death by jaguars snakes poisoned darts traps and the ubiquitous mace. An unbelievable and sensorily shocking spectacle

2) Blood Diamond: This movie is DiCaprio and Djimon Housnou. A bounty hunter and a victim of a brutal land. Sierra Leone's agony. And at the end a positive ending, a ray of hope that resonates with modern legislation against conflict diamonds and the fact that Sierra Leone is at peace

3) The Last King of Scotland: Forest Whittaker in the performance of a lifetime. More of TIA (This Is Africa). Between this and #2, brings in stark relief the modern-day apathy of the Dark Continent

4) The Pursuit of Happyness: Dont get me wrong, #5 is a great movie. But Will Smith surpasses himself here, in a serious role to boot. The agony of the human condition and the conviction of sticking to the right decisions in the face of near-insurmountability, make this a poignant, heart-warming and inspirational tale. The fact that the real-life protagonist - Chris Gartner - is alive, well and prospering doesn't hurt

5) Flags of our Fathers: A "Saving Private Ryan" style landing, less intense and focused on the humanity of it all. Why we need war is I guess a theme for many many more movies to come

6) Babel: Highly rated but if truth be told I did not like this movie. This is too much a transnational copy of "Crash", the theme of disjoint existences

Watch these movies. I would throw in "Letters from Iwo Jima", Clint Eastwood on the other side of the battle, and acheiving yet another milestone on his way to possible directorial immortality