New World (2013)

No matter what kind of an impression you had earlier regarding Asian action and gangster movies, New World will open your eyes to some thing so heart pounding that when it ends you will be hungry for more. With well-executed bloody action sequences and top of the line performances and with a  twisted  plot this movie just pulls you off the chair more than once.

Though some of Hollywood experts will call this a rip off of the great gangster flicks like the Godfather or Departed I solemnly disagree to that statement as for the fact that though this carries certain similarities it is brilliant and unique in mostly Asian way.

New World is a long movie that runs over 2 hours but it does not waste a minute. It has this elegance that the Asian crime movies commonly has with gangsters in dozens wearing clean suits and pitch-black and dustless cars that rolls on blood money. With that beauty of cinematography with panning and high angle shots New World creates a dramatically enjoyable crime thriller. And the music is so good it just swiftly blends in to the scenes and gives the viewer goose bumps.

The plot is not that complicated yet will take a while to make sense. It is twisty beware but some might be able to foresee the ending from far. But there is no solid assurance that thing will go as planned so viewer will stick to the end. Even at the end it gives some answer and leave the viewer with more questions perhaps. And all this thanks to the brilliant acting and direction.

Like I said at the start no matter what opinion you have around New World there is no doubt it is one of the finest of gangster crime movies you saw in a while.

Genre: Crime | Thriller

Original Title: "Sin-se-gae"

Country: South Korea

Language: Korean |Mandarine

Director: Hoon-jung Park

Rating : Genre 4/5 | Overall 3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

678 (2010)

This powerful drama from Egypt speaks of sexual harassment that woman faces day by day and how the majority of society reacts to them. Not to mention that it’s shameful to be seeing by men knowing that men has the sole power and control to eliminate this situation around the globe yet men don’t choose to do so. And in a society where woman pays the price for every harassment she goes through and their silent cries get disappears in the breeze. 678 will open up your mind to this ugly truth and the director has done a good job at making the message clear.

In a world dominated by men the voice of women is hardly heard. In some regions of the world (Including ours) woman has less opportunities to follow their dreams and live an honorable and an independent life. And many become tools of selfish men and harassment is not a rare thing.

678 is well directed. It is packed with strong acting by several lead characters mainly female. Though its storyline may seems a bit too coincident based it is loosely grounded on some events that took place in Egypt that led to controversial changes in law systems of the country.

It is not a surprise that the movie faced with controversy and several attempts of blocking of screening at cinema festivals etc. However it is to be understood that the subject is universal but not only limited to Egypt. 678 will give the viewers a fresh look at a silently burning issue and it is very heart felt.

Genre: Drama

Director: Mohamed Diab

Score: 4/5

A Touch of Sin (2013)

Every crime has a victim and every criminal has a story of their own to tell. A Touch of Sin is one of the most powerful of such crime stories I have seeing recently and its directed by the well-known Chinese director Zhangke Jia. Zhangke is famous for his style in powerful dramas that mostly speak of the contemporary themes that surround the rise of Chinese economic boom and the resulting cultural changes.

A Touch of Sin is a collaborative of four different storylines that has minor connections with each other (which remind me of the great Mexican production Amores Perros-2000) that had the same style of story telling. There are more than few main characters in this due to it’s nature of the plot and each story has certain uniqueness’s and similarities to fathom. For me it’s hard to tell which story is my favorite and which is not as I see a certain beauty in all of them. As all the stories are based on some sort of a crime (large or minor) at a certain point viewer comes to the realization of where it is heading.

Though there is no hard hitting ending to this movie once it’s done the viewer will be still living a trance. There is beautiful cinematography, acting and very little of music and laughter going around. But I completely like the way it flow at times wished that some stories has more. And truly this portray the cultural and economical effects the modern China and its people are going through and some of it may seems overwhelming.

Genre: Crime| Drama

Director: Zhangke Jia

Original title: "Tian zhu ding"

Score: 4/5

Like Father Like Son (2013) (Japanese)

Like Father Like Son is a tale of parenthood and for some very good reasons it proves that parenting is not about how much wealth you posses in the bank but the love that you carry in side your heart. Directed by the well-known Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda this story is brilliantly woven and will give you a tear or two on the way. But its so beautiful that you will see the beauty of human nature and the unending love parents posses for their children no matter how stiff they may seem from outside.

When Mr. and Mrs. Nonomia discovers that the only son they have and love so dearly is not their own they face the most painful decision of their life. After raising a child for 6 years and giving him so much love and making so much dreams for his future, Ryota Nonomia the successful businessman is struck by the discovery that his own blood is elsewhere. With his wife Midori he must find a way to let go of his son and welcome the true son to their lives. But in the process children suffers more than adults.

Like Father Like Son is beautifully directed. It’s subtle and less noisy throughout and the script is kept to a minimal with more emotion filled faces makes the story. The director makes the viewer feel the tragedy of the characters lives and at the same time it keeps the viewer guessing of the ending. With good cinematography and power filled performances this movie is capable of touching the viewers heart and mind.

Genre: Drama

Original title: Soshite chichi ni naru

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Rating: 4/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Fargo (2014)

If I phrase that Fargo is the most intensely satisfactory crime drama with a comedy twist in recent TV I don’t think my statement is wrong. With just 10 episodes it builds a brilliant plot, staggering performances, class A soundtrack that spread across the series right from the catchy first episode to the final show down. Created and written by Noah Hawley This show is inspired by the 1996 film of the same name written and directed by the Coen Brothers.

With clear similarities between the movie the TV show goes many steps ahead and roll out a larger and detailed plot given that TV has more space for being greater than a movie ‘if’ done right. I believe that Fargo (2014) is one of the best of that TV done right and no one can say otherwise. Fargo is brilliant from the start. You will not come across a single episode that slow things down or drags its overall progress backwards. This is very important especially for a mini series since there are only few episodes for the whole show and each episode has lot of weight. The director cannot afford to drop the ball in any episode as there will not be enough episodes to recover the damage. With Fargo the episode layout is fantastic no doubt.

Fargo has a gripping story line. It is based on crime and sometimes it’s gory yet the crime is based on a clever execution of criminal minds and police work alike. The viewers are given the opportunity to equally witness both sides of the blood trail and each side is equally interesting. To be honest there are times the dark characters seem to be winning and they appear to be more attractive. But ultimately the justice is served and the finishing is well knitted.

The quality of Fargo depends on many factors and performances are one of the key ones. Right away there are 2 good characters and 2 negative ones. All 4 of them pull off their roles with energy and persistence. With less dialogues as much as possible Fargo says a lot through action than with words. The actors make the journey a remarkable one.

Maybe the best thing about Fargo is its mood. The majority of the story takes place in the winter and there are a lot of whites and cold around. This atmosphere creates a challenging environment for the plot and as viewers we feel it. The feeling of isolation, abandons and insecurity are very well portrayed and they all fuel up this one of a kind story of hate crime. This is a must watch for TV lovers. 

Genre : Crime | Drama | Thriller

TV show

Rating 4.5/5

 

The Train (1965)

Maybe you are a fan of war movies or you are a keen locomotive enthusiast. Or you can be a classic movie lover. If you belong to either of those categories or few don’t look far The Train is the movie for you. This brilliantly executed gem of a movie will keep you at the edge of your seat and will expose you to one of the most wonderfully told story of heroism in the closing days of WW2.

The story takes place in France in the final days of German occupation. The German is in the process of leaving France while a colonel is in the process of removing valuable set of art pieces via train to Germany. The French resistance must give their lives to pull out a brilliant effort to stop this train from reaching Germany. Will they success or fail? The Train will give you the answers.

The Train is way ahead of its time in execution, story telling and performances. There are ample amounts of nail biting action and suspense and loads of heroism to go along with. I have not seeing them all but this could be the best movie based on Trains ever made! Bravo.

Rating: 5/5
Director: John Frankenheimer