Monika’s Pensieve

{FILM DIARY}
Afghan Star (UK, 2009)
Seen: Friday, 8th May 2009 (cinema, Planete Doc Review)
Runtime: 87′
Director: Havana Marking
Production House: Aria Productions, Roast Beef Productions, Redstart Media
Plot: A look at today’s Afghanistan through the Afghan version of “Pop Idol”.
Trailer

Impressions In Short
Probably the best film I’ve seen in terms of showing what life in today’s Afghanistan is like. It’s [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Dhoom:2 (India, 2006)
Seen: Thursday, 7th May 2009 (DVD)
Runtime: 152′
Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Uday Chopra
Production House: Yash Raj Films
Plot: (from imdb)
ACP Jai Dixit and his best friend Ali takes on an international thief known only as Mr. A. Will they be able to catch him?
Trailer
I think the trailers [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Yuvvraaj (India, 2008)
Seen: Monday, 4th May 2009 (cinema, special screening)
Runtime: around 2,5h
Director: Subhash Ghai
Cast: Salman Khan, Boman Irani, Anil Kapoor, Zayed Khan, Katrina Kaif, Mithun Chakraborty
Production House: Eros International, Mukta Arts
Plot: Deven wants to marry Anushka, but Anushka’s father hates him. When Deven’s father dies, he tries to get his hands on the family [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Driving Lessons (UK, 2006)
Seen: Thursday, 30th April 2009 (DVD, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 98′
Director: Jeremy Brock
Cast: Rupert Grint, Laura Linney, Julie Walters
Production House: ContentFilm, Rubber Tree Plant, UK Film Council
Plot: (from imdb)
A coming of age story about a shy teenage boy trying to escape from the influence of his domineering mother. His world changes when he [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (USA/UK, 2007)
Seen: Friday, 24th April 2009 (DVD, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 116′
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener, Ed Sanders
Production House: DreamWorks Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot: (from imdb)
The infamous story of Benjamin [...]

{FILM DIARY}
White King, Red Rubber, Black Death (Belgium/Australia/Canada/Denmark/Finland/France/Germany/Netherlands/UK, 2003)
Seen: Monday, 20th April 2009 (cinema, Afrykamera festival)
Runtime: 84′
Director: Peter Bate
Production House: Périscope Productions, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Arte, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland (IKON), Vlaamse Radio en Televisie (VRT), Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF), Yleisradio (YLE), History Television, SBS Television, Danmarks Radio (DR)
Plot: (from [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Y tu mamá también (Mexico, 2001)
Seen: Monday, 13th April 2009 (VHS, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 105′
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Ana López Mercado, Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal
Production House: Anhelo Producciones, Besame Mucho Pictures
Plot: (from imdb)
In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Waltz with Bashir (Israel/Germany/France/USA/Finland/Switzerland/Belgium/Australia, 2008)
Seen: Monday, 13th April 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 90′
Director: Ari Folman
Production House: Bridgit Folman Film Gang, Les Films d'Ici, Razor Film Produktion GmbH
Plot: An animated documentary that tries to piece together a memory from the Israeli-Lebanese war in 1982. Where was Ari Folman during the Sabra and Shatila massacre and what was [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Blindness (Canada/Brazil/Japan, 2008)
Seen: Sunday, 12th April 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 121′
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Yusuke Iseya, Yoshino Kimura, Don McKellar, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal
Production House: Rhombus Media, O2 Filmes, Bee Vine Pictures, Alliance Films, Ancine, Asmik Ace Entertainment, BNDES, Corus Entertainment, Fox Filmes do Brasil, GAGA Communications
Plot: A mysterious and [...]

{FILM DIARY}
The Reader (USA/Germany, 2008)
Seen: Sunday, 12th April 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 124′
Director: Stephen Daldry
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Kate Winslet
Production House: Mirage Enterprises, Neunte Babelsberg Film, Weinstein Company, The
Plot: (from imdb)
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as [...]