MOVIE REVIEW

Directors: David Fincher

Writers: Gillian Flynn
Stars:  Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
Strength: Story, character development and screenplay
Weakness: Very long movie
Runtime: 150 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Plot: With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected he may not be innocent.
Review: For lovers of suspense thrillers, Gone Girl is a godsend. The film marks Fincher's tenth feature film and his most mature work since Fight Club. Centering on Nick Dunne, a husband desperately trying to find his wife all while having police and media accuse him of murder. Lead by an all-star cast featuring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris, Gone Girl rises above the pack with smart storytelling, phenomenal pacing and perfect performances. What Gone Girl does so brilliantly is taps into the audience's psyche regarding marriage and the ideology behind a sanctioned union that is corrupt. It is really heavy stuff. With plenty of twists and turns, Gone Girl keeps you, not only second guessing the whole idea of marriage, but the intentions of every character in the film. It is truly one of the most twisted films adapted from an even sicker and twisted book that's out there now. Gillian Flynn does wonders with her adaption from her own novel. The dialog is crisp and the characters are multi-layered. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are both excellent in this film. This is a different Affleck, a very human and realized Affleck. Nick Dunne is a wonderful role for him and captivates just how good he can be with a terrific director. Rosamund Pike steals the show completely and it is impossible to not fall in love with her character. David Fincher and his longtime collaborator and cinematographer, Jeff Cronenweth create a dreary, horrific tone for Gone Girl that makes every twist and turn that much more gut wrenching. Gone Girl is an impeccably made, beautifully acted and an all-around near perfect film, but it is certainly not for those looking for escapist entertainment.

Reviewed by Mohammad Haque

***

UGLY

Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Stars: Rahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini kolhapure    
Runtime: 128 minutes
Strength: Good story and direction
Weakness: Lack of character development; takes darkness to an extreme level
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot: A terrible tale of corruption, indifference, and systemic violence starts when 10 year old daughter of an aspiring actor disappears.
Review: In terms of storytelling, the problem with filling Ugly with such characters is that there's no one that the audience cares about. Consequently, Ugly struggles to hold one's attention and you start wondering why you're sitting here, peering at these literally dark frames telling a metaphorically dark story. You wonder, sometimes, about Anurag Kashyap's inner life: what is it that makes him veer so much towards the dark side? All his films, even in their upbeat parts, celebrate that part of ourselves which we prefer keeping in the shadow, hidden even from our own eyes. Because some things are too hard to watch. 'There's a parade of fury and ugliness in the film right from its first frame. We see a woman reach the end of her tether, and teeter back from the brink at the appearance of her young daughter. The girl is waiting for her father, her mother's former husband; he turns up, they go off, and then she vanishes. Did she wander off on her own? Did someone snatch her? There can be nothing more disturbing a hook than this: it leaves us anxious and worried, and we want for the little girl to be found, because we know the things that can happen to little girls who are lost. But almost immediately after, I was pushed back by the film's insistence on dragging me through a distracting maze, which keeps looping back on itself. Characters keep showing up, violence is unleashed, and we are left looking for the focal point. Yes, Kashyap's point is to show up the ugliness that all humans have within them, that no one is innocent. But the plot starts to get a little too busy and begins to shoot off here and there. In all the to-ing and fro-ing, it starts feeling too long, and too much, without the requisite emotional pay-off. There are three potentially gripping films in here: one would have been enough. Ugly is a disappointment, not just because it's a whodunit that sinks like a badly-made soufflé but also because we expect better and more of Kashyap. Of him, we expect tauter storytelling, greater sensitivity in characterization, as well as more originality and insight.

Reviewed By Broti Rahman

***

Classic Review

The King and I

1956

Director: Walter Lang
Writers: Ernest Lehman, Oscar Hammerstein II
Cast: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno
Runtime: 133 minutes
Plot: A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children.
Review: Based on the real life experiences of the film's title character, the story revolves around a young English school teacher, Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr), who's assigned to teach English and science to a number of children in the kingdom of Siam. As she teaches the children, she simultaneously teaches King Mongkut how to act as a gentleman even though his stubbornness derails much of that training.
The film relies entirely on the chemistry between the egocentric King Mongkut and the headstrong school teacher Anna. Even though her character is an excellent role model for young women, Brynner is almost the exact opposite. Brynner, who won an Oscar (and the Tony) for his performance gives an effective, if strongly-stereotyped, performance.
Director Walter Lang does an excellent job keeping the film from feeling stage-bound and the production design and the costumes are magnificent. Despite being an unnecessary diversion from the story, the production of The Small House of Uncle Thomas is spectacular. The music, although starting strong starts to get progressively subpar throughout the film's progression.
While “The King and I” may not be to everyone's liking, it's an interesting glimpse into the past and gives one a better understanding of how this genre managed to dominate movie theaters all over the country for three excellent decades.

Reviewed By S.M. Intisab Shahriyar