I tend to repeat myself a lot – people complain that I praise every film I see. However, I choose my viewing list very very carefully after extensive research, and that helps keepign the trash away. Today they were ‘Man On Wire’ and ‘Gran Torino’.

Man On Wire is an exquisite film, a documentary about Philip Petit, the tight-rope walker who performed his class act by doing a high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in NYC back in 1974.

The filmmakers must have had quite a few challenges – especially since remarkable documentaries are made of stark truth, however easy or difficult that might be. Furthermore, a documentary about an (literally high-wire) act such as this, itself needs to be complex enough to stand up to the task that its trying to portray… or else, it falls flat very easily.

And yet, James Marsh proves himself in this one. Starting from outstanding storytelling to classy cinematography, from slick yet arty editing, to extreme honesty about every single detail, this film had everything. I especially loved the build up to the act, from the point they smuggle in the gear into the Twin Towers to the actual act.

However, the best part of the film of course is the man himself, a character whose mesmeric tone and passion for the insane act carries so much force, so much vehemence, that you find yourself wondering about this world — why do we have to have a why for everything?

Next up was Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood film thats been playing foever in the theaters in the US, the man whose name they sing in the same breath as Hollywood approaching the peak of his talent as he gets older. This wasn’t a Million Dollar Baby, but it is definitely worth a watch due to its classic character reversal narrative and Dirty Harry elements.

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The film begins with a pleasant day at a German beach in 1967, introducing us to the gorgeous Ulrike Meinhof who was then a very well known journalist working for a left wing magazine. As the police atrocities begin against the student protesters, she finds herself empathizing with their cause, writing the following lines after assassination attempt on Rudi Dutschke.:

Protest is when I say this does not please me.
Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more

The film the picks up a raging pace that left me at the edge of the seat till the very end, shifting constantly between the key characters of the RAF and the devolution of their entire belief structure from high idealism to rioting and terrorism. Amongst the characters, Mienhof’s story is the most fascinating, her intelligence and natural empathy constantly in conflict with the hard-hitting nature of the group. Played by Martina Gedeck, Mienhof’s beliefs and sacrifices provides an immediate contrast to the rebellious madness of the hardliner Andreas Baader, who was one of the first members of the RAF.

As I walked out of the theater after two and half hours, I realized that RAF’s tale has many parallels. Naxalite groups that originated from Bengal, for instance. (Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi‘ is a must-watch for anyone who is interested in similar story based in an Indian setting.) Outstanding direction, great acting, and superb screenplay all make for a very compelling watch for anyone who has the stomach for the aggressive violence that’s rampant throughout the film.

Rating: 4.5/5

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“Imagine a kung fu flick in which the martial artists spout Situationist aphorisms about conquering alienation while decadent bureaucrats ply the ironies of a stalled revolution. This is what you’ll encounter in René Viénet’s’s outrageous refashioning of a Chinese fisticuff film. An influential Situationist, Viénet’s stripped the soundtrack from a run-of-the-mill Hong Kong export and lathered on his own devastating dialogue. . . . A brilliant, acerbic and riotous critique of the failure of socialism in which the martial artists counter ideological blows with theoretical thrusts from Debord, Reich and others. . . . Viénet’s’s target is also the mechanism of cinema and how it serves ideology.”

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Saw this today morning when I woke up…. my POD airing on Current TV. Nothing much to say though…

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The small quiet town had literally transformed itself into one giant… eh… fair… with about 50000 camels, equal number of horses and ten times more people. It was also a perfect opportunity for photographers, filmmakers and journalists, with all the Rajasthani colors and flavors, and the full moon night when the pilgrims take bath in the holy lake.

This year, the dates are from Nov 2nd-6th, and I am planning a second trip. It’s hard not to, if I am in the country. Drop a word if you are reading this, and plan to be there. We could sit and chat by in the havelis and down a glass of bhang lassi one of the nights.

Last time, I created several video blogs to give an idea of the atmosphere. One of them won the leaderboard in Current TV recently. You will find more in my video blog.

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“As you probably learned before, machinima is filmmaking in a virtual environment. To clear things up, let’s talk a bit more in detail about how machinima movies can actually be produced and what ways there are to do machinima.
Generally speaking, there a two main ways to produce a machinima movie:

Live Action Machinima

The action takes place in a networked computer game, mainly using a FPS game. Every player controls a virtual character via mouse and keyboard commands.
Each actor uses a headset with a microphone to perform dialogue, if there is any. Though, sometimes the dialogue is added later in “Postproduction”.
One of the players is serving as the cameraman/-woman. His/her point of view is recorded to tape (or harddisk) and represents the “film-footage”.
Most of the time, the settings and characters are taken from the game that’s being used for filming.

This way of making machinima is easy to learn and feels close to “real-life” filmmaking. It has room for spontaneity and improvisation and adds that human touch to the behaviour of your actors.”

A highly recommended one is Red Vs. Blue series, which is a must watch. I have been trying to figure out if I could create Machinima films using my Mac laptop, but am yet to find the right gaming engine for it. One day…

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