In "A Ghost Story", C loves the home he shares with his wife, M. She isn't so fond of the place and wants to move out and move on. They both get their wish by way of a grave sacrifice. C dies in an accident right outside the house and returns as a ghost draped in a white sheet; to spend the rest of his time (ironically, for a ghost) in the house while M moves on with life. The movie is a sincere study on stillness and change and how they're often counterparts, equally welcome and not, equally scary and relieving. There's a great monologue on the temporariness of life: what do we do when anything we do, doesn't last forever? Do we leave artifacts, imprints of ours for our successors to discover and reminisce over?
Writer-Director David Lowery wonderfully handles this study, never sermonizing, yet always indulging the viewer sufficiently for these questions to be held on to or to let go and move on, however one may choose to. Both Casey Affleck (C) and Rooney Mara (M) pepper their characters with great tentativeness and vulnerability. The visuals of the movie are quite evocatively done by Andrew Droz Palermo and so is Daniel Hart's music, in combination with external music that makes up for one of the best movie soundtracks of the year. To better appreciate the movie: ever wondered whatever happens to our lives' moments, their places, and the people involved, after we move on to others or even beyond. Is life all about a stationary world through which we traipse in all glory or clumsiness? Or is it all a revolving universe around a stationary personal self? It's often said that change is inevitable but what amongst it can we hold on to? When do we let go? "A Ghost Story" is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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Best movies from every year of my life.
So, this activity is doing the rounds on Twitter, so I figured I'd take a shot at it. Just so I could go nostalgic for all the wonderful movies that have been made over the years and for the times I discovered them. Two disclaimers though, one, this may not be an all encompassing list and only covers the flicks that I've had the pleasure of watching. The second, owing to my love for the budding genre, I've tried including as many examples of possible of world class Indian Cinema. 1990 - Internal Affairs | Goodfellas 1991 - JFK | Silence of the lambs | Terminator 2 : Judgement Day 1992 - Roja 1993 - Dazed and Confused | Schindler's List 1994 - Pulp Fiction 1995 - Leaving Las Vegas | Casino 1996 - Fargo | Trainspotting | Ninne Pelladatha 1997 - Lost Highway | L.A. Confidential 1998 - Run Lola Run | The Big Lebowski | Ronin 1999 - Eyes Wide Shut | The Matrix | The Mummy | Sarfarosh 2000 - Almost Famous | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Cast Away | Requiem for a Dream 2001 - Enemy at the Gates | Monsoon Wedding | Dil Chahtha Hai 2002 - The Pianist | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | The 25th Hour 2003 - Lost in Translation 2004 - Finding Neverland | Ayutha Ezhuthu | Swades 2005 - Kingdom of Heaven | Munich | Sarkaar 2006 - The Departed | Casino Royale | Rang De Basanti 2007 - Into the Wild | Manorama... Six Feet Under 2008 - Slumdog Millionnaire | The Hurt Locker 2009 - Inglourious Basterds | Dev D | Kaminey 2010 - Udaan | The American 2011 - Rockstar | Drive 2012 - Skyfall | Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2013 - Her | Lootera 2014 - Ex Machina | Birdman | Haider 2015 - Sicario | Mad Max : Fury Road | Detective Byomkesh Bakshi | Tamasha | Piku 2016 - Arrival | Pellichoopulu | Udta Punjab 2017 - Dunkirk | Baby Driver | A Ghost Story | A Death in the Gunj | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Angamaly Diaries 2018 - A Star is Born | First Man | Isle of Dogs | A Quiet Place | Tumbbad | C/O Kancharapalem 2019 - Jojo Rabbit | 1917 | Parasite | Midsommar | Gully Boy The most surprising element in play with this movie is that it is a piece of American Cinema in the 21st Century. The typical tropes would have one believe this was the work of a far flung European or South East Asian auteur. To create such a direct, dark, and stark portrayal of the vagaries of life is a daring act for one, yet it is a different ballgame to balance a fine attention to emotional detail with a fine grip on the overarching themes that sum human existence. Writer-Director Martin McDonagh aces this balance in what is a very layered screenplay with oodles of subtext and unpredictability. The kind of unpreditability that defines life and those aforementioned vagaries. There's great sadness and burning anger in the portrayal yet there is realistic humor. It's all quite refreshing to behold. |
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