home stale; greener abroad

Rediff presents a list of movies hitting the marquee back home (and in selected theatres here in the US -- chiefly in areas inundated with numbskulls ready with $$$ to throw away). We have Ramji Londonwaley (bad for iTrans), dead-weight adaptation of a KH-penned Tamil flick with strong Bawarchi vibes and guaranteed to lack people gifted with comic timing. I haven't had a chance to sample Vishal Bhardwaj's songs for the film. But I ain't jumping in anticipation of this flick. Madhavan should stick to the South. Then there's Pyaar Mein Twist, which, as is evident from the Rishi/Dimple pairing, is ready to hit the nostalgia jugular. If you need more reason to stay away, how about "this is the same guy who made Plan" ? Then there's the first of two forthcoming Tanushree Dutta [yet another pouts-equal-talent dame; surprise me!] releases bearing a clearly numerologically influenced moniker Ashiq Banaya Aapne. Finally, there's the low-key Kay Kay Menon/Sonali Kulkarni starrer Dansh, one of two adaptations/lifts of Death and the Maiden (the other one being the Neha Dhupia infestation called Siskiyaan). A Polanski lift competing against a fresh Polanski movie. Aah, the irony. Oh well, if only to watch another performance from Kay Kay Menon (and hopefully Sonali Kulkarni's painfully hard accent won't be in evidence in the dialogue ...).

On the other hand, their list of forthcoming US releases (trying hard to ignore the text by the garrulously inconsistent faux-pompous Raja Sen) is much more interesting. There's Cronenberg's A History of Violence. I've been waiting for this one, 'cause any Cronenberg makes for interesting viewing IMHO. Then there's the Nicolas Cage starrer Lord of War, which, although a likely candidate for wait-for-DVD, manages to offer some elements of interest. There's a new Roman Polanski film, Oliver Twist. It's an adaptation , the story's well-known, but it'll still be interesting to see Sir Ben Kingsley exercise his acting chops. And Edward "Watson" Hardwicke's on the roster too. There's a play adaptation in Proof with Gwyneth Paltrow reprising her role from the stage. I don't care much for Miss Paltry (refuse to accept that frail delicate veneer which passes off as acting -- see also: Aishwarya Rai). Yet, there are reasons to try and get a look at the original play's script, and watch the film to study the trade-offs made for adaptation. There's another Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration called Corpse Bride, which boasts some interesting technical details on the production front. Despite the strange vibes that prevented me from watching their last collaboration yet, I'm still willing to accept that they can still work the magic.