Which non-indian film u saw recently has made u post here???

**Arvind Srinivasan** · 5th January 2012, 10:39 PM

The best thing about TTSS is that it warrants the viewers attention completely.....Even if you miss one scene it could cause you trouble understanding the movie....Moreover in some movies you could gauge as to whats going on by the reaction of the protagonist. But here smiley's ( protagonist) approach is cold and he gives the possibly the same reaction for any thing.....Even during the circus meetings he prefers to be the listeners type....He rarely gives an indication or any emotion there in the film and also to us viewers....

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**ajithfederer** · 5th January 2012, 10:48 PM

Manchi review. Nenu vethukovalisindhe cheppinaaru meeru.

**kid-glove** · 6th January 2012, 08:07 PM

TTSS -

Late to the party, but still

For Le Carre fans & fans of mini-series, it's a wholly satisfying experience! But even as a standalone piece, it should have worked for most.

Oldman as the decidedly passive but extremely calculative Smiley hasn't disappointed. The walking style, thin upper-lip & thoughtful roll of eyes does remind one of the great Alec G. But both actors differ in many ways. It's with his voice that Oldman dictates his unreadable chess player of a character. Tomas adds a couple of scene of the lone Smiley uneasily swimming up & down the river, the sagging skin of old-age, matched by the simmering calmness of the river (70's England). It's perhaps the visual exposition of Smiley being essentially Anti-Bond. There are no carefully packed abs & beautifully stacked bikinis, no Hawaii/Barbados to look at. What we get though is trapped masculinity, of hot-war nostalgia, lost virility & closeted sexuality. As the lady says to Oldman, those times had past, with the war.

Now it's all left to a matter of preferences & orientation. It's of manners, in utmost rudimentary way. Disappointed that the film didn't have that extended ritual of the men in the room. The extravagant dressing sense of tinker, the boorishness of soldier, the less apparent snitchy nature of the tailor, etc. When Firth slams the door shut with his foot in Westerby sequence, I'd have thought they'd have used the other room sequences to contrast the change in behavior.

Love it when Tomas has fun, it's not like it should be stripped of meaning. When the fly bothers Guillam, Smiley observes, rolls the window, flushing it out without a fuss.

Speaking of Guillam (Like other men in the film, is slightly more vulnerable on the outside, unlike Carre's version of this character, played here by excellent Cumberbatch. Who leaves out the assured qualities of his Sherlock - Season 2, Episode 1 is out already btw!), one is in to the in-joke, Tinker Tailor Soldier Poorman Beggarman Gaymen.

The spectacle boy (Prideaux's scout watcher!) in the mini-series looks like mini-Tomas Alfredson! Lol! This one is understandably less pronounced than in the series, unlike that expansive medium it's these sort of characters & extended moments that a feature film should dispense with.

And it's especially rewarding when a filmmaker sets a pace & tone from the first shot. The cafe scene (we see this in objective pov later, but again, it's so seamlessly fit) here doesn't seem flashy. In the change of setting (not just Czech -> Hungary, but also the military base), for a film that's set in the coldest of atmospheres & emptiness of non-war, it's this fat waiter who isn't particularly skilled & near-embarrassment that typifies the Spy-world. Not having men in military uniforms is a potent choice.

Smiley wages a war, to be sure. Like with all wars in the film, it's a personal one. His nemesis Karla isn't shown or heard (a wise choice. As much as I liked Patrick Stewart's muted cameo in the series). But the meeting is viscerally described by Smiley. In Oldman's behavior, it so seems like he regrets the words said to the tortured man. That the lighter with his 'Ann' engraved on, isn't only going to be kept a memento, but a tool to carefully toy around Smiley's emotions (which the uninitiated fans might gather in the end). The lost sense of perception in emotive state is a master move, but that'd also be the downfall of Karla's mole.

**kubrick** · 7th January 2012, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by Arvind Srinivasan

The best thing about TTSS is that it warrants the viewers attention completely.....Even if you miss one scene it could cause you trouble understanding the movie....Moreover in some movies you could gauge as to whats going on by the reaction of the protagonist. But here smiley's ( protagonist) approach is cold and he gives the possibly the same reaction for any thing.....Even during the circus meetings he prefers to be the listeners type....He rarely gives an indication or any emotion there in the film and also to us viewers....

I definitely have to watch it again. Preferably alone at home.

**Arvind Srinivasan** · 11th January 2012, 02:05 AM

watching colin firth in TTSS made me watch Kings speech again.....wonderfully restrained performance in a role that could have been easily spoiled by some hamming.....

**AravindMano** · 18th January 2012, 09:08 AM

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Mildly frustrated as I felt the film royally snubbed the uninitiated at many places - esp the first half hour(roomie slept off). I felt like chasing two express trains - one what is shown on screen and one what I had to infer. Add to it an overdose of elliptical narratives, a totally reordered time stack, subtle expressions and filler shots (that makes sense if you totally follow the film), the film could have been a disaster just because of the writers, but terrific film making saves the day. Mighty impressed with the direction and cinematography. The latter, in particular, is well worth the time spent.

**littlemaster1982** · 21st January 2012, 07:37 AM

Killer Elite - decent action, but what the heck is that plot about

This post from IMDB sums it up,

Uh, let's see. Your orders are to kill three (or was it four) ex-SAS soldiers. Tough M.F.s. The kind of guys who won't just roll over and die without a fight. Only you don't just have to kill them. You have to make their deaths look like accidents. Even though they're dying one after the other and all are from the same regiment. Nobody's ever gonna notice that, right? AND before you kill them, you have to extract an on camera confession from them. That's all. Crikey - even James Bond would reject that one. And let's not forget the clock is ticking on how soon to get it done. It would have been easier for Statham to put together a merc team and go and break De Niro out of the sheik's prison compound. He seemed capable of almost doing it single handedly. I think he would clearly have taken that option rather than accept the ridiculous terms the sheik put on the table.

**kid-glove** · 21st January 2012, 01:22 PM

Descendants - not one of Payne's best. But worth watching. Clooney is terrific, but ultimately one is wary of Payne's lead protagonist and the motions he goes through. So rather predictable how it'd proceed. And the supporting characters were all quintessentially Paynesque.

**kubrick** · 21st January 2012, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by kid-glove

Descendants - not one of Payne's best. But worth watching. Clooney is terrific, but ultimately one is wary of Payne's lead protagonist and the motions he goes through. So rather predictable how it'd proceed. And the supporting characters were all quintessentially Paynesque.

I hardly remember Sideways, the only other Payne I've watched, so I found Descendants to be great but too emotional for my taste. Definitely have to appreciate the way awkwardness is always around the corner. Clooney and the girl are extremely good. I dint understand certain inconsistencies in the film like the way Clooney runs to his & his wife's friend's place in a weird way when he clearly is a proper runner and even the elder daughter seems too sweet to have a past, which I understand to be a very brief one.

Winter's Bone

Jennifer Lawrence all the way. Every scene in this movie builds up and reaches an appaling end. Cinematography keeps up with the movie like a child trying to let out a secret before another.

**kid-glove** · 22nd January 2012, 01:26 PM

It wasn't that emotional to me. Every emotion is at best a corollary derived to the clauses applied prior. Awkwardness, and wanting to add dimensions (even though certain supporting characters are dimensional in mechanical fashion, something that every filmmaker has to wrestle with ), is his forte.

The Elder one did well. Mourning inside the pool was terrific filmmaking, and very good acting. I don't know, but I'd really want to try that sometimes. Adolescence, obviously she's a lot less turbulent & revolting once she revealed the reason of her fall-out and indifference to the family. There's something for 'em as a UNIT (for the first time in their lives) to tackle with. Towards the end, they're all seated together. It's that 'moment' that we're taken into, what the future holds isn't really implied, isn't it?

Clooney's character made to run in a quirky manner? There's 'The American' Clooney, 'Syriana' Clooney, & there's 'Descendants' Clooney. Descendants one is a old 50-something rich widower, and I thought for a sedentary worker, his running style to be apt. Be it over the hair-pin bend slopes of the road, or the linear run across the sands of the beach. Of course, there's an element of humor in it. But it didn't seem out of place.