Aiyyaa: Let’s hear it for the girl

When I was a teenager in Catholic school, somewhere in either Junior or Senior year, I remember sitting in Mass one day and hearing the priest tell the congregation during the homily (the discussion of that day’s gospel reading) that sensuality is bad, and I remember thinking “Really?  But why?”  His sermon didn’t answer my […]

The Oranges

I attended a screening of The Oranges as the last hot, steamy days of summer trailed off, and beside wanting to see a film with so many favorite actors (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener), I relished the thought of spending 90 minutes watching a holiday comedy set in the weeks between Thanksgiving […]

Trishna

Trishna opens with a quartet of well-to-do British Asian guys, all in their 20s and currently stoned to varying degrees, rating the places they’ve just visited on their India trip.  As their holidays end, they twice cross paths with the 19-year-old Trishna (Freida Pinto) and one of them, Jay (British-Pakistani-Indian actor and rapper Riz Ahmed) […]

Bol Bachchan

This sure is turning out to be a season of movies set in Rajasthan (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Trishna, and now Bol Bachchan).  Who can blame them – what with the havelis and camels and colorful turbans and such.  And boy, does Bol Bachchan have colors all over – practically every shot is a […]