cellular
Director: David R. Ellis
Cast: Kim Basinger, William H. Macy, Chris Evans
4.5/10
The best part of this film is its surprise element. Five minutes into the movie and wham ? a lady is kidnapped, gangland killings erupt on television screens, a dude gets a weird call on his cell from a panicky woman who claims she has been abducted and needs his help ? all this before you can have a sip of your cola.
But what’s cellular about the plot? Well, only that the whole film hinges on cellphones. Kidnapped lady (Kim Basinger) manages to get through to hunky Chris Evans as he zips through Los Angeles, past gorgeous bikini-clad women and bronzed men on the beach that her very life depends on him. The next 85 mins is a racy, nail-biting account of how Evans gets embroiled in deception, murder but saves feisty Kim from the bad guys with the help of a humble cellphone.
Nothing great about this movie, but just the kind you would like to watch after a hard day’s work. Oscar-winner Kim Basinger is a ghost of her seductive LA Confidential self. Chris Evans’ debut is no great shakes either. Watch it, enjoy it, forget it.
Pallabi Biswas
Caste, ‘culture’ and call girls
tapasya
Director: Raj Mukherjee
Cast: Rituparna Sengupta, Jisshu Sengupta, Samrat Mukherjee, Anuradha Roy, Sabitri Chatterjee
3.5/10
The tale is good. The telling is bad. Strangely, the film manages to capture some very interesting points like the Brahminical fanaticism as well as the presence of camouflaged pimps which is a hard hitting reality in the villages of West Bengal. However, Tapasya instead of ‘wasting’ footage on this, eagerly jumps into the masala wagon and there vanishes any chance of it being even mildly interesting.
Rituparna as the simple belle appears almost hysterical at first. But regains her mettle soon. The change of expressions she displays when she is undressed each time marks her as one of the powerful actresses in Bengal today. Debutant Samrat is all brawn and extremely stiff. Tapasya definitely depicts the worst kissing scene since Ghare Baire. The music is an abomination. Also, one would be happy if Sabitri Chatterjee declined these inane cameos in future. In fact, Tapasya is like the curator’s egg, good in parts.
Sunayani Ganguly
