Standard Deviations » Movies

Color of Paradise: See It Now

Parand — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:18:50 +0000

Just watched Rang-e-Khoda, or Color of Paradise, for the second time. What a breath-taking movie. It’s amazing in every aspect. The casting, the acting, the direction, the cinematography, the story. Every scene is beautiful.

The title is mis-translated. It actually means color of god, which is really what the movie is about.

If you haven’t seen it, see it.

In Bruges: Not Too Bad

Parand — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:01:31 +0000

Watched In Bruges. Really not too bad. The British do good gangster movies – not shy about violence, but also layers of introspection and classical tragedy elements. I recommend it, worth seeing.

Turtles Can Fly: See It

Parand — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:22:59 +0000

We watched Turtles Can Fly tonight. The story of Iraqi-Kurdish refugee children before, during, and just after the US invasion.

The movie is harsh. The life, the sheer numbers, and what they have to do to get by is just harsh.

The movie is well done; it’s not preachy and doesn’t dwell on the negatives. But it’s hard to watch at times.

Well worth seeing, give it a look.

There Will Be Blood: Surprisingly Good

Parand — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:14:07 +0000

I had watched about half of There Will Be Blood, enjoyed it, but was surprisingly un-motivated to watch the rest. Tonight I finally watched the second half.

The first half of the movie is quite good, and Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic. But the second half takes an unexpected turn and suddenly you’re face to face with a beautiful character study.

I don’t recall a movie diving into hatred as well this one has in a long time. Little by little it turns and material success unleashes the deep misery of the main character. “I have a competition in me” he says, and we see the results of that competition.

Nicely done, well worth watching.

Bella: See It

Parand — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:27:10 +0000

Bella is an interesting movie. It flashes back and forth in time – my uncle commented the direction reminded him of 21 grams. It strikes a nice balance of being obvious and mysterious at the same time. Worth watching.

No Country For Old Men: See it

Parand — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:08:44 +0000

No Country For Old Men is an odd film. The film ends and you’re sitting there thinking: huh, that was strange…

The next day: that was a good movie, I should watch it again…

The following day: That was a great movie!

It’s the quintessential non-hollywood movie, consistently doing things that make perfect sense but surprise you. Javier Bardem is particularly good.

Go see it.