Witch of Them is It?

Small-time Kansas conjurer Oz (James Franco) finds himself whisked off to the land of Oz – where three beautiful women – Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams) – play a veritable whodunit in terms of who among them is the Wicked Witch. Suffice to say that while Oz – The Great and Powerful – does not do disservice to L Frank Baum’s original, it is markedly different – in particular, invoking the great Thomas Alva Edison and a different kind of magic in 20^th century science. Well taken, and contemporary enough overall to be relevant

13.5/20

Blow the Right Whistle

The distressing reality of the “war whores” - women trafficked from their homelands into war torn Bosnia, as a part of a trade that tears into the heart of the establishment – is showcased in The Whistleblower. The unfolding starts the newly promoted Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) unearthing the heinous nexus between the people who are purported to be liberated, and those ostensibly sent to liberate them. With generous doses of the emotive, Kathryn goes about her mission, is duly sidelined the establishment right up to the topmost brass, and eventually has her say - but not before she has lost much in the process. As depicted many times in movies and real life, the road to hell (for do-gooders) is indeed paved with good intentions (that are shared with but a few)

14.5/20

Family, Heaven, Anger, Love

A few weeks back there was Shutter Island. Now comes another movie - this time from none less than Peter Jackson - that is truly enthralling in its scope, brilliant in its execution, poignant to the core, and genuinely moving. Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), teenage daughter of Jack and Abigail Salmon (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz), is brutally murdered by George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), and finds herself in the afterlife, in a zone between earth and heaven, in The Lovely Bones. With the power to influence the emptions of her parents and siblings, the anger in her heart against her murderer, the love for her classmate Ray Singh (Reese Ritchie) unrequited, and the call from those in the afterlife to her to cross over to heaven, Susie must face the full complement of her emotions, while allowing her family to move on from the tragedy. I felt weak watching the depiction of a father’s love for his daughter, the great anger of Susie and the humble contrition as her anger leads her father into danger in the real world, and the quiet revealation and eventual poetic justice in respect of her captor. A movie to cherish for a long long time, beautifully woven, not a hint of superfluousness, on human relationships, coping with personal loss, and eventually moving on

17.5/20

Shoot thy Enemies

Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Joseph Fiennes and Ed Harris capture both the all-out poignancy of war as well as the fraility of man in the face of personal and extraleous challenge, in Enemy at the Gates. Easily one of the best war movies that I have seen, young Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), sharpshooter from the Urals, finds himself the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad on account of his superlative sniper skills. He also finds love in the beautiful Moscow-educated Tania (Rachel Weisz) and the two catch some fleeting intimate moments in the midst of the horror. The fame and love awaken jealousy in no small measure in Commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) who clears his conscience in one last cathartic act. And the showdown between the deer-hunting German nobleman sharpshooter Major Konig (Ed Harris) and Vassili is the piece-de-resistance of the movie. It is a rare combination of the depiction of the large-scale brutality of war coupled with the cat-and-mouse game of the two sharpshooters

16/20

The Lobby

The Runaway Jury covers the science and scheming behind professional lobbying in America. The gun lobby with its vast resources versus a single widow fighting for her right to justice. The story of John Cusack and Rachel Weisz is a bit of over-the-top idealism, but this movie unlike the former two reviewed here should be treated purely as entertainment perhaps a shade more than the others. The right to bear arms for self defence and for sport is supported even by Obama – and that means a 5 year lease of life at least! And not quite as slam dunk an argument as rejected insurance claims, or racism.