Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s beloved and acclaimed animated classic, comes back to cinemas, this time in glorious 3D! If you missed its original theatrical run back in 1991, now is your chance to make amends and view this classic in all its glory and more. Courtesy Italia Films, we have 15 pairs of tickets to give away to the advance screening of Beauty and the Beast 3D. Win a pair of tickets to the screening on 11th February 2012, 11:00am at Reel Cinemas, Dubai Mall by following the simple procedure outlined below:

What is the film about: Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced “affections” of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle’s father, causes the two to meet.

Here’s the trailer:

What’s the prize: One pair of tickets each for 15 lucky winners to the premiere of Beauty and the Beast 3D! The premiere will take place at Reel Cinemas in The Dubai Mall at 11:00am on Saturday February 11th 2012. To take part in this competition and win tickets, follow the rules outlined below:

How to take part and WIN:

1: “Like” our Facebook post entitled WM’s Beauty and the Beast 3D Giveaway (remember, you must first “like” WearetheMovies on Facebook).

2: Once you’ve done the above, just answer the following simple question:

In Beauty and the Beast, what is the name of the beauty?:

(a) Ariel
(b) Belle
(c) Fiona
(d) Jasmine

Answers should be emailed to win@wearethemovies.com

Last step: Please make sure to mention in your email what name you go by on Facebook.

Last date for responses is 8th February 2012.

War Horse
Steven Spielberg | USA | 2011
146 min

War Horse is the kind of quaint, old fashioned film that they don’t make anymore. It advocates the virtues of hard work and having faith in the goodness of humanity. Despite being set during the First World War, and having a title that references it as well, it is not as much about the war as it is about the companionship between an animal and its owner transcending all adversity.

Spielberg, a master of staging battle scenes, outdoes himself here, with spectacular scenes of horse mounted attacks and fierce sword fights, but the episodic structure of the tale results in a sprawling narrative that spans many years, numerous locations and half a dozen characters, never letting the film be about the war itself. In this way, the film almost becomes a series of vignette’s, like Cold Mountain, with the journey of Joey, the titular horse, becoming the connecting thread that ultimately leads us back to where it began. It also shares a lot in common with Spielberg’s very own Empire of the Sun in the way it has mainly British protagonists, is set during a great war and is from the point of view of a child (or as it is here, a young man) coming to terms with the effect of the war on the self while trying to survive.

The films setting lets Spielberg’s tender optimism take over. What starts of as a simple story of a family man on a farm trying to plough his field with the help of his son and his newly bought horse (this is essentially the films first and better half) gives way to a heartwarming, intermittently funny, genuinely uplifting tale of survival through bloodshed, suffering and the chaos of the battlefield. The film’s best scene though takes place during its last act and has Spielberg experiment with dark humour, where an English soldier indulges in conversation with his German counterpart in the no man’s land between their trenches. Such moments break the ice for viewers who expect a shallow, banal treatment from a director often mocked for his naivety and child like view of the world. Spielberg’s long time collaborators also perform to their usual high standards of technical perfection, but composer John William’s swelling, sweeping score is a standout. None of them however upstage their director, who lets viewers feast on some of the most gorgeously shot scenes of the year in a film that is as remarkable as it is pure and honest.

Liam Neeson turned into a bad ass with 2008′s Taken. Ever since then, he’s been chomping bad guys on screen like a more graceful Chuck Norris. He returns in 2012 with The Grey, which reunites him with his A-team director Joe Carnahan and looks like an edge of your seat thriller. Courtesy of Italia Films, we are giving away 15 pairs of tickets to the premiere of The Grey taking place at Reel Cinemas, Dubai Mall on Monday January 30th at 9:15pm.

What is the film about:

In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders.

Here’s the trailer:

What’s the prize: One pair of tickets each for 15 lucky winners to the premiere of The Grey. The premiere takes place at Reel Cinemas in The Dubai Mall at 9:15pm on Monday January 30th 2012. To take part in this competition and win tickets, follow the rules outlined below:

How to take part and WIN:

1: “Like” our Facebook post entitled WM’s The Grey Giveaway (remember, you must first “like” WearetheMovies on Facebook).

2: Once you’ve done the above, just answer the following simple question:

In The Grey Liam Neeson takes on:

(a) Chuck Norris
(b) Illegal immigrants who have kidnapped his daughter
(c) The Thing
(d) A pack of wolves

Answers should be emailed to win@wearethemovies.com

Last step: Please make sure to mention in your email what name you go by on Facebook.

Last date for responses is 28th January 2012.

Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed drama War Horse arrives in U.A.E. cinemas on January 26th. Here is your chance to catch the advance screening, 10 days before the release! Courtesy Italia Films, we have 15 pairs of tickets to give away to the premiere of War Horse. Win a pair of tickets to the premiere on 16th January 2012, 9:15pm at Reel Cinemas, The Dubai Mall by following the simple procedure outlined below:

What is the film about: Young Albert enlists to service in the war after his beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry. Albert’s hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on.

Here’s the trailer:

What’s the prize: One pair of tickets each for 15 lucky winners to the premiere of War Horse! The premiere will take place at Reel Cinemas in The Dubai Mall at 9:15pm on Monday January 16th 2012. To take part in this competition and win tickets, follow the rules outlined below:

How to take part and WIN:

1: “Like” our Facebook post entitled WM’s War Horse Giveaway (remember, you must first “like” WearetheMovies on Facebook).

2: Once you’ve done the above, just answer the following simple question:

War Horse is set around the period of::

(a) American Civil War
(b) World War I
(c) World War II
(d) Napoleonic Wars

Answers should be emailed to win@wearethemovies.com

Last step: Please make sure to mention in your email what name you go by on Facebook.

Last date for responses is 14th January 2012.

Another year ends. Another year begins. Year after year, we are treated with another barrel-full of movies and, quite obviously, 2012 is no different (unless you believe in the whole Mayan end-of-the-world doomsday prophecy). The aim of this list is to sift through the heap and shortlist a selection of movies that will bring some sense to the release calendar. So here’s a list of movies to look forward to in 2012, one list to rule them all: action, comedy, drama, sci-fi, animated, super-hero and… Middle-Earth!

Note: All release dates mentioned are for the USA, for the sake of some order. They are also, owing to some random reason, subject to change.

Haywire
Action, Thriller
Release date: January 20th

Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11, 12, 13) picked real-world mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano as the action heroine of his new film. The movie also stars Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender. Going by the trailer, it looks kick-ass. It’s about time Hollywood gets a good female action star apart from Angelina Jolie.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Superhero, Action
Release date: February 17th

Don’t judge this sequel by the previous Ghost Rider movie. Although it stars the same actor playing the lead (the one & only: Nicholas Cage), the key difference here is that it is directed by the duo who made Crank and Crank 2. For a fiery demon with a flaming skull for a hero, these are just the guys the movie needed: over-the-top and never taking it seriously. Fun!

John Carter
Fantasy, Action
Release date: March 9th

Owing to the amount of special effects and aliens this movie has (it is set on Mars afterall), it may as well have been an animated movie. Even so, John Carter is an enduring character having appeared in books and comics for a century! My anticipation for this movie though is based on only one fact: Director Andrew Stanton has made the most lovable Pixar movie/character to date – Wall-E.

Mirror, Mirror
Comedy, Fantasy
Release date: March 16th

The first of two Snow White adaptations in 2012, this is the funny one. It is directed by a once-upon-a-time visualist, but now just a director for hire Tarsem (The Fall, Immortals). The one thing this movie has going for it: Julia Roberts plays the Evil Queen. In a comedy, that’s perfect casting. Unless you also count the seven real life dwarfs playing the dwarves.

The Hunger Games
Action, Thriller
Release date: March 23rd

12 districts vying for better rations from the Capitol send two competitors each to take part in the annual Hunger Games, a survival game that ends with only one player alive. The popular series of books gets its first movie adaptation in what is promised to be a franchise. Jennifer Lawrence (the new Mystique from X-Men: First Class) is the one we’re rooting for, and she’s trained by Woody Harrelson. FTW!

The Avengers
Superhero, Action
Release date: May 4th

A movie that features Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Dr Banner, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. This is as awesome as it gets. In fact, only one word can make this awesomeness more awesome: HULK.

The Dictator
Comedy
Release date: May 11th

How does Sacha Baron Cohen do it? Borat, Bruno and now this. If the trailer is anything to go by, this may as well trump Borat to become his most recognizable persona. What is The Dictator? It is the heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. WTF indeed! (watch the movie’s hilarious trailer for to find out what the “F” stands for).

Dark Shadows
Mystery, Horror
Release date: May 11th

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp continue their mutual love for the bizarre in this gothic tale about a vampire and his encounters with witches, ghosts, werewolves and other such wonderful folk. And here I thought these two were in for happy times after Alice in Wonderland. Sigh. Also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green.

Men In Black III
Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Release date: May 25th

After a 4 year hiatus, Will Smith is back and just the way we like him: all charming, smooth-talking and funny. In this third Men In Black movie, he goes back in time to meet/save a younger Agent K (Josh Brolin doing a fantastic Tommy Lee Jones impersonation). Let us hope this movie is more like the original rather than the utterly forgettable sequel.

Snow White and the Huntsman
Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Release date: June 1st

The second Snow White adaptation of the year, this is the cool one. The trailer boasts some excellent visuals, pulsating music and glimpses of some promising sequences. Expect the story to stray freely from the original tale, as is evident by the title. Kirsten Stewart plays Snow White with sword and armor, Chris Hemsworth plays the gruff Huntsman with an axe and Charlize Theron is the beautiful evil Queen. Long Live the Queen!

Rock of Ages
Musical, Comedy, Drama
Release date: June 1st

After Hairspray, Adam Shankman brings us another comedy musical that looks like a bagful of fun. Featuring an all-star cast, the pick of the lot are Tom Cruise as a rockstar and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who returns to movies and to the genre that got her the Oscar, playing a religious zealot. This one’s gonna play to the crowd.

Prometheus
Sci-Fi, Action, Horror
Release Date: June 8th

The last two (and only) times Ridley Scott made sci-fi, we got genre defining movies Blade Runner and Alien. While Prometheus is based in the same universe as the Alien movies, this is set earlier and without the xenomorphs. It stars Noomi Rapace as the heroic lead with Michael Fassbender (human-form robot?) and Charlize Theron (traitor?) as other members of her space crew. Watch trailer, get goosebumps.

Jack the Giant Killer
Fantasy, Adventure, Action
Release date: June 15th

Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2 , Valkyrie) is one of the best yet highly under-rated directors of his generation. After Superman Returns did not fly the way the studio intended (pun intended), he was contractually obliged to deliver another non-Superman movie. The result is this big-screen re-telling of “Jack & the Beanstalk”. Expectation: watch, enjoy, forget.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer
Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Release date: June 22nd

Russian director Timur Bekmambetov is a minor genius when it comes to visualizing fantastical action sequences. In his second Hollywood movie (after 2008’s Wanted), he pits America’s most bad-ass president as a 20-something against creatures of the night: vampires. Note to boys: zesty Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays wife to the axe-wielding future-president.

Brave
Animation, Comedy, Adventure
Release date: June 22nd

One word: Pixar.

G. I. Joe: Retaliation
Action, action, action
Release date: June 29th

If Fast Five has taught us one thing, it is this: put The Rock in the sequel to an inconsequential movie, get the crowd screaming hoarse. But the makers of of this movie did not want to take any chances. So they upped the equation. They did not just cast The Rock. They also cast, as the original Joe… Bruce Willis! Don’t scroll, here’s the release date again: June 29th.

The Amazing Spider-Man
Superhero, Action
Release date: July 3rd

Spider-man again. From the origin. Just like the comics. And in 3D. The announcement of the movie was *the* super-hero movie news that got eyes-rolling. But then… it is directed by Mark Webb (hehe). And it stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Irrfan Khan (yes, the Bollywood actor), Martin Sheen and Sally Field. And it has that amazing trailer.

The Dark Knight Rises
Superhero, Action, Drama
Release date: July 20th

Batman Begins. The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan & Christian Bale’s trilogy comes to a close with this movie. Expect a befitting finale. And Anne Hathaway.

ParaNorman
Animation, Fantasy, Comedy
Release date: August 17th

From the directors of Corpse Bride and Coraline comes another dark yet funny animated movie. After those two earlier movies, I’m willing to surrender my time in the cinema to these directors, even if the premise reads like a run-of-the-mill plot for a movie: A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse. No really, trust me on this one.

The Expendables 2
Action
Release date: August 17th

The crew is back: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture and Terry Crews. This time Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have expanded roles too. That’s Terminator, Rambo & John McClane in one movie! Being greedy? There’s two more names added to the mix: Muscles-from-Brussels Jean-Claude Van Damme and, wait for it……… Chuuuuuuuck Norris!

Argo
Drama, Comedy
Release date: September 14th

Two movies, two home-runs. Ben Affleck is proving to be every-bit the critically acclaimed director that nobody expected of him. After a crime-drama (Gone Baby Gone) and an action-drama (The Town), Mr Affleck turns his sights on comedy-drama. His latest is based on the real 1979 incident of a CIA specialist who fabricates an absurd plan to rescue six American hostages from Iran: convince Iran that the six are part of a film-crew for a (non-existent) sci-fi movie called Argo.

Looper
Action, Sci-Fi
Release date: September 28th

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a killer who works for the mob of the future. There’s no paradox there, since you kill someone from the future, it doesn’t change the past, right? And the law (of the future) can’t do much, because the killer isn’t even from their time, right? But then, Joe is assigned a target who he realizes is his own future self! But wait, here’s the kicker: Older Joe is played by Bruce Willis. Uh-oh.

Gangster Squad
Crime, Drama
Release date: October 19th

An all-star cast of Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Brolin, Robert Patrick and Nick Nolte, playing cops and gangsters of 40s and 50s Los Angeles. In addition to the awesomeness of having Penn, Gosling, Ribisi, Brolin and Nolte on screen together, imagine some of them also being in pinstripe double-breast suits with hats and sporting tommy guns!

Cloud Atlas
Sci-Fi
Release date: October 26th

Apart from the cast & crew, not much is known about this science fiction movie with six stories set across distance and time. It has an unusual combination of directors: Wachowski siblings (The Matrix) & Tom Twyker (The International). What’s fascinating is the cast of those six stories: Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry and Susan Sarandon. Curious, I am.

Skyfall
Action, Thriller
Release date: November 9th

With Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) directing, expect a character-driven story. But since this *is* OO7 we are talking about, the action won’t be in short-supply. Seems like a smart move to bring a critically-acclaimed director to this action franchise, especially one who has proved he can handle action splendidly. This time, forget the Bond girl, expect the stakes to be claimed by the baddie: Javier Bardem.

Gravity
Sci-Fi, Thriller
Release date: November 23rd

Alfonso Cuarón working on a sci-fi space-survival movie should give any film fan short breath. The premise adds to the anticipation, setting it up to compete for the best of the year: In space, a lone survivor of a mission to repair the Hubble telescope desperately tries to return to earth. Survivor = Sandra Bullock. Undefined role = George Clooney.

Les Misérables
Drama, Musical
Release date: December 7th

Tom Hooper last directed the Oscar winning movie The King’s Speech. Next, he adapts Victor Hugo’s classic, which many consider to be the best novel of the 19th Century, as a musical! But of more immediate interest, the movie has Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe facing off as an ex-convict and a cop, with Anne Hathaway watching from the bylines. Now, I’d pay to watch Hugh Jackman & Anne Hathaway sing (and dance), but Russell Crowe? Who’d have thought it!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Fantasy, Adventure
Release date: December 14th

After much delay and shuffle, the two-part movie is on track, with the second part following in December 2013. Peter Jackson is directing. Gandalf returns with cameos from other Middle-Earth veterans promised. No Aragorn though. Look towards Thorin Oakenshield (played by Richard Armitage) to be the new Hero. And if the first trailer is anything to go by, expect lots more LOTR-ish goodness, albeit in a lighter vein. Fun, fun, fun! (p.s.: Read the book. It’s a lovely 300-page adventure.)

World War Z
Action, Drama, Horror
Release date: December 21st

The “Z” in the title, you see, refers to Zombies. Based on the best-selling (and awesome) book, Brad Pitt plays a UN representative who travels the globe interviewing survivors, writing a report on the great zombie war. Great, I say. High time Hollywood gets an A-list revival of the zombie genre.

Life of Pi
Drama, Adventure
Release date: December 21st

After hand-picking a college student from India to play the titular character, Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plans to make this his next reason for a trip to the Oscars. The movie, based on the best-selling book, is about a boy shipwrecked on a life-boat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger for company. Irrfan Khan plays an older Pi, while Tabu plays Pi’s mother.

Django Unchained
Western, Drama
Release date: December 25th

Quentin Tarantino directing a western = cowboy is a black man. Has to be. Will Smith was rumored for the part of Django, but it eventually went to Jamie Foxx. He plays an escaped slave, intending to save his wife from the evil plantation owner Leo DiCaprio. Christoph Waltz plays Django’s Obi-Wan Kenobi style mentor (yes!), with Samuel L. Jackson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen in supporting roles.

The Great Gatsby
Drama, Romance
Release date: December 25th

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, Baz Luhrmann directs Leo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carrey Mulligan and Isla Fisher in this movie set in 1920s about a guy (Tobey Maguire) tempted by the riches and lifestyle of his affluent neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leo DiCaprio) and smitten by Gatsby’s cousin, Mrs Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan). Amitabh Bachchan makes his Hollywood debut as a Jewish gambler. Note: This is NOT A musical.

Lincoln
Drama, Historical
Release date: sometime December

Daniel-Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln. Wow. And Steven Spielberg directs. Wow.

Cogan’s Trade
Crime, Thriller
Release date: sometime 2012

Directed by Andrew Domink (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and starring Brad Pitt as an enforcer for a mob. He’s investigating an heist that went wrong during a mob-protected poker game. Just the one image has been released yet. But Brad Pitt’s in it, and he’s carrying a shotgun. Count me intrigued.

There are more movies that will be worth looking out for. Some of them: Project X (a high-school senior’s house-party gone Hangover-style out-of-control); Total Recall (Colin Farrell in Arnie’s role by the director of Die Hard 4.0); American Reunion (American Pie reunion); The Bourne Legacy (no Matt Damon but Jeremy Renner playing a Bourne-type); Stoker (Oldboy director Chan-wook Park’s Hollywood debut) and Warm Bodies (a zombie falls in love with his victim’s girlfriend – I kid you not!)

Happy 2012, and pray the Mayans were wrong.

Sherlock

If the commercialism, crudity and the generally botched up characters in Hollywood’s latest Sherlock Holmes movies is putting you off, look no further than 2010′s 3-episode BBC series, aptly titled Sherlock. In an astute mix of the original stories and new writing, the series takes liberties but adheres to the main characters’ details making them easily identifiable and even respectable. Made with the elegance required of its lead character, the series exudes the crew’s love for the character, and the actors’ understanding of theirs. With Season 2 ready for broadcast on 1st Jan 2012 (just 3 episodes again), this is as good a time as any to indulge in this well-made series if you have not watched it already.

Sherlock is set in present day London. Dr John Watson is introduced to Sherlock Holmes, a self-styled Consulting Detective who an officer turns to when he is stuck on a case. Since both were looking for room-mates, Holmes & Watson move into 221N Baker Street together. Dr Watson’s qualification and past experience as an Army Doctor come handy for Sherlock Holmes, who uses heightened observation and deduction skills to identify clues and solve crimes. Together, the duo works to solve cases, establish a reputation with the British police and develop a bond of friendship. But Holmes’ isn’t aware that, matching his skill and fascination with mysteries, he’ll eventually have to face-off with a person who will become his arch-enemy – Moriarty.

The series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr John Watson. In casting these two actors, the production succeeds in realizing most of what it achieves. Cumberbatch plays the detective as a young and arrogant genius – his youth easily accentuating his arrogance. His lean figure, height and deep voice lend to the personality splendidly, making him an attractive figure, yet one easy for other characters to dislike for his ability to overshadow them. Dr Watson, though mildly annoyed by this at times, admires this about Holmes. As the soft-spoken, passive character playing second fiddle to the lead, Freeman plays the everyman – a character that the audience will identify with. Though his character is not as charismatic as the detective’s, Freeman’s performance is at par to that of Cumberbatch, perfectly balancing the multiple requirements of bringing normalcy and humor to the narrative.

By having the series set in the present day, the production gives the characters and stories the fresh feel that was much needed. It also gives the writers a shot at being creative, something they take full advantage of. The episodes are, therefore, as loyal to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories as they are defiant. Stories are adapted from the classics, so “A Study In Scarlett” becomes “A Study in Pink”, while the other two episodes are a combination of a few of the original stories. Tailored for the present day with vigor, the episodes are full of energy and efficiency, matching Sherlock Holmes’ mind-process. Holmes uses text messages and the internet while Dr Watson is a blogger! Even the magnifying glass used by Sherlock Holmes is a modern contraption, while what he does for the traditional pipe-smoking is to be seen. Going by modern day behavior, the characters even address each other by their first names: John instead of Dr Watson; and Sherlock instead of Holmes (hence the title of the Series).

The biggest advantage to the series, making it one of the most accessible good TV series is its limited 3-episode season, each episode running for 90 minutes. This gives the episodes enough time to invest in the mystery, focus on Holmes’ detective work as well as character development. The stories are neither half-baked, nor do they span multiple episodes with cliff-hangers making the series’ format simply perfect. For those not native to the English language and/or English accent, I highly recommend watching the episodes with subtitles – the pace of Sherlock Holmes’ thought process reflects in his lines, and you may not want to miss the details.

Below is our list of what we think were the best of the festival (at least from the set we saw anyway).

#1
This Is Not a Film
Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb | Iran | 2011
100 min

This Is Not a Film is both an honest title and an apt description of what directors Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb come up with when filming Panahi during a day at his residence following his 6 year prison sentence and a 20 year ban on filmmaking and travelling imposed by the Iranian government. A documentary about nothingness, it resonates in a way that very films have this year and leaves you marveling at the determination and insight of its makers. Read our full review here.

#2
Good Bye
Mohammad Rasoulof | Iran | 2011
100 min

A lawyer barred from practicing and expecting a child, goes through enormous government bureaucracy in her quest to obtain a visa to leave Iran. Under the formalist direction of Mohammad Rasoulof, the film is executed as a collection of brilliantly composed static shots and dialogues that unravel scene by scene to add up to an intriguing whole. Read our full review here.

#3
Kill List
Ben Wheatley | UK | 2011
95 min

Kill List is a fusion of the British gangster and horror. It doesn’t completely work, but is gripping and helmed with sure confidence by first time director Ben Wheatley who creates something frightening out of the familiar hitman genre. Read our full review here.

#4
Cut
Amir Naderi | Japan | 2011
132 min

Lamenting the death of cinema as an art form is the daring and fascinating film Cut from Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi. A plea by its director using the story and its protagonist, it conveys the agony and frustration of finding peace in the never ending debate about cinema as art or entertainment. Read our full review here.

#5
Le Havre
Aki Kaurismäki | Finland | 2011
93 min

Le Havre is about an old man, a young illegal immigrant and the police investigator who doggedly pursues them. Despite seeming like a film that presents a dire situation, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki mixes deadpan humour, verbal wit and sure fire optimism to make the experience both oddly chirpy and easily enjoyable. Read our full review here.

The last day of the film festival featured a gem from a debutante director and an average documentary by a master film-maker. It certainly could not have been more unpredictable than this!

Combat Girl
David Wnendt | Germany | 2011
102 min
Marisa is a 20-year old girl who identifies herself with a neo-Nazi group. Practicing extreme racism, the group propagates hatred towards anyone who appears of non-white ethnicity. One day, in a fit of rage, Marisa gets involved in an incident that makes her realize the real harm such hatred can cause. Also, in an astute move, the director does well to include in the movie the character of a younger, 15-year old girl inspired by Marisa and attracted to the group – in effect telling us much about Marisa’s probable backstory without employing the conventions of flashback. Combat Girl is director David Wnendt’s debut, as well as film-school graduation film, but this fact is not obvious from the excellent movie he has made. The performances, production values, script and the direction are on par with that of seasoned directors. More importantly, Wnendt’s film, although specific to one country and about one extremist group, presents the attraction to and effects of such hatred with universal resonance.

Into The Abyss
Werner Herzog | U.S.A. | 2011
106 min
Werner Herzog’s documentary on Capital Punishment, Into The Abyss is a look into the lives of two perpetrators and the families of the victims of a triple-murder crime. Michael Perry is on death-row and his accomplice Jason Burkett serves a 40-year life sentence. using interviews of the guilty, victims’ families and officials, the documentary provides in-depth information on the motive and details of the crime, it’s effect and the process of capital punishment. Herzog, though, seems apathetic to the plight of death-row inmate, yet concerned about the victims’ families. Hence, even though it doesn’t take any obvious sides (for or against the death penalty), the film sets up a sublime thought that the perpetrators are getting what they deserve. It also fails to dig deeper and ask the questions that needed to be asked – What drove the two boys to commit the crime? Why do they say they are innocent when they had confessed earlier? How wide-spread and frequent is this issue, and/or capital punishment? The documentary provides asks no such questions, provides no such answers, and therefore remains just a mediocre documentary – especially coming from a master director.

With that, the 8th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival comes to an end. Midway through, I was concerned that this year would not be as good as the past editions, but these last three days have elevated my experience. After a well-deserved rest for a few days the annual cycle restarts, waiting in anticipation for next year’s festival.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

You will have to wait very long and follow very intently the plot and dialogues of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia to catch onto what the film is really about. On the surface it presents itself as a simple police procedural, but the film has bigger ambitions, a darker undertone and more layered subtext that reveals itself using a slow boil approach.

You may remember the director’s previous film – the exquisitely shot but testing Three Monkeys from a few years ago. Nuri Ceylan Bilge has learned nothing of the art of brevity since then, but his filmmaking has also not lost any of its deft touches in creating painterly scenes, presented via fantastic looking shots using the magic of cinemascope. Scenery after all plays a major role in the plot, which follows a troupe consisting of police investigators, the town doctor, a prosecutor and the criminal in their midst, travelling the barren countryside together to seek out the burial spot of a murder victim.

What makes the film very watchable, and slowly gives way to its central themes (the film hints at a few) are the conversations that all of these men have with each other. Their topics – diverse, unstructured but never dull – range from being light-hearted (about buffalo cheese and Clark Gable) to morbid (death and its variations), but all of it adds up to reveal character motivations, prejudices and cynicisms shaped by living in a town where the folk cannot reason because of their small mindedness. The tell-tale signs of this are not immediately certain and this may frustrate viewers who look for more direct interpretations of situations that are seemingly uncomplicated. The director however is precise. His scenes function to draw you in (the autopsy towards the end being the prime example) and this sometimes works against the film because these scenes are set up in a way that gives them the mistaken air of being revelatory even when they are not.

Anatolia is certainly challenging – we don’t know who the central character is supposed to be (this is answered in the last thirty minutes) and know nothing about the crime either till about midway through the story – but the rewards outweigh whatever you have to invest in it as a viewer. The depth of the story keeps building as long as the men keep talking, and talk they do, in elaborate, stagey conversations that give you a sense of the self-perceived might that their position within society gives them. When it eventually ends, the film feels like a long journey, which in some ways it is. It stays with you long after the lights come on, and this is both its achievement and intended purpose. It becomes like a fable. You are almost expected to talk about it to others by starting with “Once upon a time…”

The stats in favor of good movies over not-so-good ones was not looking too good after the first four days of DIFF. But two days have changed that. Including the last two movies I watched on Day#5, I have now seen five movies consecutively that have won me over. Read on for my report on the three I watched today.

Las Acacias
Pablo Giorgelli | Argentina | 2011
84 min
The debut feature of Argentine director Pablo Giorgelli, Las Acacias is a road movie that observes the seeds of a new relationship between a truck driver and his erstwhile passengers, a mother & her infant daughter. Given the charge by his boss to bring a woman from Paraguay to Argentina on his trip, the lumber-truck driver initially sees this as a tepid inconvenience, eventually warming up to them. Directed with the patience and aesthetics of a mood-piece, the film does well to capture the journey the two adults make, on the road as well as towards each other. An observant start bereft of dialog sets the movie up nicely for a snug 84-minute experience of eloquent cinema, an experience easy to relish in.

In his full review, Faizan Rashid describes Las Acacias is “rhythmic in its pacing even when not a lot happens in the film itself.”

Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey | 2011
157 min
Unnecessarily long and self-conscious to a fault, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Once Upon A Time In Anatolia is, on the surface, a police procedural of a murder.The murderer has confessed to his crime, and the movie begins with him leading a team of policemen, a doctor, the prosecutor and sundry to the scene where the body was disposed. It ends two and a half hours later with some insight into some of the people involved and a fair understanding of what may have transpired. While the movie is shot extremely well in the director’s recognizable style (numerous wide-angle shots of landscapes, many that include clouds), there is a deliberate formulaic feel to many sequences. Case-in-point: the ineffective final scene. By a less-recognized director, this movie would have been a commendable effort. However, for the well-regarded Ceylan, this is a step-down. The opening two-shot prelude of the movie though is a master’s work.

P-047 (Tae Peang Phu Deaw)
Kongdej Jaturanrasmee | Thailand | 2011
96 min
P-047 is a movie in the form of a jigsaw puzzle that gets the format mostly right. A key-maker and a film-continuity-assistant who aspires to be a writer team up to sneak into empty apartments during the day when the residents are away. They do this to observe and experience the varied lifestyles of people, thinking of it as borrowing their identities for a few hours. As expected, something goes wrong. The movie is about understanding these two characters, and the machinations of the plot that is told in a non-linear fashion. Without ever getting too complex, yet never really unraveling the entire puzzle, the movie works for the mental exercise it instigates, during and after the movie. The movie leaves itself open to multiple interpretations, yet neither is completely satisfactory as there will always be someone who will counter-debate a different but equally plausible interpretation. And therein lies the fun!

The festival is almost at an end. Just one day of two movies remain. Although I would prefer the last day to end on a high, suffice to say, my hunger has been satiated.