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Black, a review by dfmorgan

Black

Year: 2005
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Shernaz Patel
Overview: I know now that there is God... He is not in the Holy Spirit we pray to... He isn't written about in religious texts... He is someone who is a part of our lives... Whom we live for...
Because of whom we live...

Michelle McNally is "special" in more ways than one. She cannot see... nor hear...  nor speak... She inhabits a world of infinite black... of a seamless, endless void where nothing reaches her and she reaches nothing. Her world is frightening in its complete remoteness. On the sheer will of her ferocious rage against destiny, Michelle struggles to stay afloat in the impenetrable whirlpool her life has become.

Into this devastating isolation enters a battle weary teacher, Debraj Sahai, life's wounded but arrogantly insolent warrior. With a single minded obsession, Debraj takes up a challenge that is next to impossible - to lead this wild, uncontrollable child into the light of knowledge.

Thus begins a journey of two headstrong individuals. They will overcome  what they seek is that moment of miracle -  when the ray of knowledge will penetrate through the dense black of Michelle's life... Black is the cathartic tale of a deaf, mute and blind girl who saw what people with sight fail to see - a vision of her God. Michelle McNally saw what other lesser mortals could not. She saw her God... heard Him... and walked with Him... into the light...

Watched: 6th Jun 2010
My Thoughts: Thank You Tom and Thank You Jon for recommending this wonderful film.

This film takes us through the life of Michelle McNally (Rani Mukherjee) from a few months after birth where she has now been diagnosed as both deaf and blind, through feral childhood onto a fairly confident young womanhood and finishing with a very confident woman. The bulk of the story is told in flashback but this doesn't detract from the storyline as it was easy enough to follow. One area I thought the director handled well was the sibling rivalry and reconcilation. When he chose to show the rivalry it was understated just enough to ensure that you were aware of it until he brought it to its head at the pre-wedding dinner. In the middle of all this was the teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan) who brought Michelle out of herself and into the light. The film is top and tailed with Michelle seeing/visiting Debraj in hospital after finding him and finding out that he is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

My Rating: It has to be 5

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on June 6th, 2010)

Yi Yi, a review by Achim

Title: Yi Yi
Year: 2000
Director: Edward Yang
Rating: NR
Length: 173 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: Mandarin: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Nien-Jen Wu
Elaine Jin
Issei Ogata
Kelly Lee
Jonathan Chang

Plot:
With the runaway international acclaim of this film, Taiwanese director Edward Yang could no longer be called Asian cinema's best-kept secret. 'Yi Yi' swiftly follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-aged father NJ's tenuous flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang's attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, Yang imbues every gorgeous frame with a deft, humane clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes

Hmmm, the synopsis above from Criterion really says it all. The film follows the family and a neighbor through "every day life". We see the father dealing with his business partners, who don't have the same ethics as him, and his fist love who suddenly appeared. The wife is troubled with her mother's coma and the can't cope. The teenage daughter Ying-Ting deals with relationship issues (not just her own). The 8-year old son Yang-Yang is being bullied in school and discovers the hard ships of life. We also get glimpses of the father's brothers life, the neighbors (a divorced mother with her daughter, friend of Ting-Ting).

Describing the story of the film almost does it a dis-service. It is not about what happens, but about the people and how it affects them. We, the audience, are watching this family's every-day life, which is often emphasized by the framing of the shots; through a window (which reflects the street life at the same time) or door way so that we keep a distance to the people we observe. I don't recall any or at least not many close-ups in this film. Everything is carefully framed, mostly with static shots, again emphasizing the nature of us looking into these peoples life. The camera often lingers on the subjects for a long time, given us chance to see what is going on in their minds, almost to the extend that some shots look like still photographies.

It's all in the details, how little things make an impact later on or on other people. Like Yang-Yang, the eight year old taking pictures of the back of the heads of the people around him. The father's past being reflected by his daughter's actions. Or the japanese business partner providing wise insightful comparisons.

Acting is very good throughout the cast.

If you generally enjoy ensemble films like those of Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) or Robert Altman (Short Cuts) I strongly recommend to give this one a try. The Criterion Collection has taken good care and provides a good looking transfer (I noticed a few drop outs on the audio) and a few extras (short featurette, comentary)



(From Achim's entirely random reviews on July 18th, 2010)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

JAG


Pilot
Lt. Harmon "Harm" Rabb, a JAG lawyer who investigates and litigates crimes committed by Navy and Marine personnel, looks into the mysterious death of a female pilot aboard an aircraft carrier. Harm is convinced the female pilot who fell overboard didn't commit suicide, but was actually pushed, with all the suspects still aboard the aircraft carrier.

My Thoughts:
This is another of my favorite shows... unfortunately I have fell way behind on collecting this series... as I only have the first 5 seasons (of 10) so far. While this is a good pilot episode... I did enjoy every minute of it. I definitely prefer seasons 2 on. I like the character of Mac much better then any of his other partners. Gotta love Catherine Bell!  The storyline for this episode is very good. It really keeps your attention!

My Thoughts:

(From Pete's Pilots on February 22nd, 2010)