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from India Masala:
Aatma: No soul in this horror flick
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Reuters)
The real test of a good horror movie, at least in my book, is when you can’t stop thinking about it and feel a shiver down your spine at night. All the great horror movies do that to you.
Suparn Varma’s “Aatma”, about a violent man who abuses his wife in life and in death, is one film that doesn’t scare you most of the time. Instead, there is much twiddling of thumbs as you wait for the next predictable twist and yet another person to die on the way to the climax.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the angst-ridden ghost out to take revenge on his ex-wife by taking his daughter along to the world of the dead. Abhay (Siddiqui) haunts the house and his daughter’s school, killing anyone who dares to offend the child -- whether it is the strict teacher or the class bully.
When his wife Maya (Bipasha Basu) realises what is going on, she and her mother (Shernaz Patel) enlist the help of a priest who reveals that the husband is back from the dead.
from Photographers Blog:
Inside Kabul’s theaters
By Danish Siddiqui
I believe that sometimes you learn about a city and its society from its local cinemas and the genre of films they choose to screen.
Coming from the heart of the Indian film industry in Mumbai, popularly known as Bollywood, I had no idea what to expect from the cinemas in Kabul. I had several questions on my mind. Did families go out to watch films or was it only a getaway for men? Is watching films at the cinema as popular as it is in other parts of the world? What kind of films entice the Afghan cinema-goer?
from The Great Debate:
How movies explained the lone unrecorded event of 9/11
The opinions expressed are his own.
Certain events are seared into the collective memory of those who lived at the time the event occurred. Those most affected are those who experienced the event during their critical ages of adolescence and early adulthood; those least affected are those who are born after the event occurred because of their psychological distance from the event. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the assassination of John F. Kennedy may be historical footnotes for those born after the event, but few that heard of the tragedy at the time fail to remember where they were or what they were doing when they first learned of its occurrence.
The collapse of the WTC may be even sharper on the mind than earlier historical events for those who lived through it. In part, this is due to the extensive television coverage that took place as the twin towers collapsed and to the ensuing search for survivors and cleanup efforts that followed. In part, it is also owing to the video-recording equipment widely available to the man on the street. This visual coverage of the collapse of the twin towers, the narrator of In Memoriam: New York City 9/11/2001 points out, is the reason it is “the most documented event in history.” The amount of film footage also explains the outpouring of documentaries examining the collapse.
from FaithWorld:
“The Ledge” equals “God for Dummies” – film review
(Actor Charlie Hunnam poses for a portrait while promoting the movie "The Ledge" during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah January 22, 2011/Mario Anzuoni )
Can't wait until Thanksgiving dinner to witness a pointless conversation between a pompous fundamentalist Christian and a sneering atheist? Then "The Ledge" is the movie for you.
from FaithWorld:
“Neither God, nor Master” film angers Tunisian Islamists
(A Tunisian flag at a peaceful demonstration in Tunis January 15, 2011/Zohra Bensemra)
Six months after Tunisia's uprising, religious tension is rising over the limits of freedom of expression, as Islamists challenge the dominance of liberals in what was once a citadel of Arab secularism. Last week several dozen men attacked a cinema in Tunis that had advertised a film publicly titled in French 'Ni Dieu, Ni Maitre' (No God, No Master) by Tunisian-French director Nadia El-Fani, an outspoken critic of political Islam.
from FaithWorld:
Family, Taliban scare off actresses in Afghan film industry
(Afghan film actress Nafisa Nafis puts on make-up at the sets of a television series directed by Saba Sahar in Kabul June 7, 2011/Ahmad Masood)
A young bride silently sobs on the floor watching her mentally disturbed husband gorge on chicken, rub his greasy hands through his hair and scream at her for more, just another chapter in the couple's violent life together. Film director Saba Sahar anxiously watches the scene by the cameraman, squatting in blue jeans and wearing a bright pink headscarf. "Cut!" she calls.
from FaithWorld:
Witch hunt or wise move? Cannes ponders expulsion over Nazi “joke”
(Director Lars Von Trier arrives on the red carpet for the screening of the film "Melancholia" in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, May 18, 2011/Jean-Paul Pelissier)
Witch hunt or wise decision? That was the question on the lips of movie-goers, critics and executives at the Cannes film festival after the sudden expulsion of Danish director Lars Von Trier. The annual cinema showcase is the world's biggest and well-known as a haven for provocative voices like Von Trier's. But organizers clearly decided the 55-year-old director had overstepped the mark when he jokingly told the world press on Wednesday that he was a Nazi who sympathized with Hitler.
from Photographers Blog:
Simple people, proud actors
The inhabitants of a Caribbean fishing village with no cinema, have become movie stars.
When I was invited to attend the screening of the movie “The Kid Who Lies” (El Chico que Miente) in the same village on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast where it was filmed, I had no doubt it would be a fantastic experience.
from Photographers Blog:
India’s touring cinemas under threat
The sleepy Indian village of Ond comes alive for a week every year when trucks loaded with tents and projectors reach its outskirts. The tents are pitched in open fields, converting the trucks into projection rooms for screening the latest Indian blockbusters to exuberant villagers, who otherwise have few chances to see a film at all.
Photographer Danish Siddiqui travels to these "talkies" to document the decades-old tradition. View the multimedia below for an in-depth look or click here to read the full story.
from FaithWorld:
Dracula goes dry as Turkey’s new drink rules bite
Guests at the Istanbul premiere of a new vampire film were among the first victims of new curbs on alcohol that have raised secularist fears Islamic strictures may be encroaching on everyday life.
The rules, announced earlier this month by the tobacco and alcohol watchdog, tighten up licence requirements for serving alcohol, impose restrictions on alcohol marketing and limits sales to designated areas in stores.
