Weekend movie marathon

This past weekend I saw 3 films, very different from each other.

Everybody Says I'm Fine | imdb
This is one of the recent (though made almost two years ago) Indian English films that I wanted to see. I first got wind of the film when I listened to the soundtrack composed by Ustad Zakir Hussain. The soundtrack is a very interesting, and entertaining mix of Blues, Qawwali, and Indian film music (and has Carlos Santana playing on the title song). The film itself is a mix of a variety of influences - most importantly, the fact that its set in moden day Mumbai means its a very cosmopolitan film. Thus, the set of characters - Bombay socialites, college kids, young romantics, a struggling actor and a powerful businessman. The small idea - a hairdresser who can read his client's thoughts as he cuts their hair - is unusual and leaves a lot of scope for creative interpretations.

I thought that the film on the whole was pretty good. The cast was fabulous, especially Rehan Engineer and Koel Purie in their so-called lead roles. The build-up of the story was gradual, building up to a climax; it was more subtle, a bit too understated rather than powerful. All the characters were decidedly one-dimensional - except for Koel's - possibly explaining why Xen couldn't read her mind.

This was a good start to what turned out to be a fabulous movie-watching weekend.

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Old Boy | review
An awesome, twisted, funny, cruel, one-of-a-kind movie. This Korean movie won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival 2004. Its a fabulous film, period. The soundtrack, which uses Beethoven, techno and compositions in the western classical style is absolutely amazing - and perfectly suited for the film. The film can be very emotionally disturbing, and has been known to cause sleepless nights.

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The Dreamers | imdb