(2017) Christopher Nolan's epic depiction of the evacuation of Dunkirk - when 400,000 soldiers from England, France, and Belgium were surrounded by the German army during WWII and herded to the open beaches of Dunkirk, France to be picked off - is a curiously bloodless war film that, by far, concentrates more on the war through the eyes of the young, inexperienced soldiers who lived (or didn't live) to tell about it. Fionn Whitehead is ideal in the lead role of Tommy, an idealistic and wide-eyed young British soldier losing more of his innocence every day, but in truth the film's strength lies in its exceptional ensemble cast: from Mark Rylance and Tom Glynn-Carney as a father-son duo hauling their asses - and small civilian cruiser - to Dunkirk to help with the evacuation; to Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden as RAF pilots heading to Dunkirk to keep the German Luftwaffe from picking off Allied soldiers, but find problems of their own on the way; to Kenneth Branagh and James D'Arcy as officers stuck in the middle of it all, having to make impossible decisions that will both save and cost lives - the screen is awash in top-tier talent sharing the screen with equally gifted newcomers who match them stride for stride. Even knowing how things turn out (if you know your history), and a lack of blood and guts normally found in war pictures, doesn't harm the emotional or visual impact of Nolan's vision on the viewer; in fact, quite the contrary. Somehow, again, the one-of-a-kind writer/director has tossed a bunch of balls in the air, juggling them with ease while creating a symphony of sight, sound and story on-screen - and never drops even one. (rated PG-13) 9.5/10 stars
(2016) In a small village in central India, five-year-old Saroo (a remarkable Sunny Pawar) happily lives with his mother and sister, whom he loves, as well as his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate), whom he idolizes and wants to be like. Wide-eyed and innocent, Saroo can also be stubborn, pushing his brother to take him along to his overnight job ... and soon Saroo is separated from his brother and lost, trapped on an empty express train traveling thousand of miles across the country. Scared and alone, the boy ends up on the urban streets of Calcutta, surviving hunger and kidnappers and worse, until finally drawing the attention of a kindly female social worker who, when her efforts to find his family fail (illiterate and too young, Saroo doesn't know his mother's real name or family surname, and can only pronounce his village's name phonetically), sets up an adoption - and soon Saroo is whisked off to Tasmania where his new mother Sue (Nicole Kidman) and father John (David Wenham) await. But two decades later, the college-aged Saroo (Dev Patel) is haunted by memories of his home, his mother, and the brother who meant the world to him. Family he knows must still be haunted, as well, wondering what happened to him; if he is still even alive. So what starts as an online search becomes a years-long obsession, the adult Saroo giving up the present to find his past - to see his brother and beloved mother again - at all cost. To go home. Based on a true story, Lion was the best film I saw in 2017; a compassionate, heart-tugging, brilliantly (and beautifully) told story of finding where you belong in this world, no matter the odds. With a universally spot-on cast, A-listers like Kidman and Patel step aside to give young Sunny Pawar the film's spotlight all the way; he is the heart of the film, and one look at that kid's soulful gaze will both mend and break your heart, every time. Have tissues handy, lots of them, for this beautifully-rendered masterpiece. (rated PG-13) 10/10 stars
(2015) Sahil (Dhruv Ganesh) is a gay music producer living with his handsome but immature slacker boyfriend Alex (Siddharth Menon) - whom Sahil treats rather more like his child than his partner - when he gets word that his old friend Jai (Shiv Pandit), now a big-shot Wall Street success living in New York, is coming to Mumbai on business. Dropping everything to spend time with his long-term buddy, Sahil takes Jai out to the country for a relaxing get-back to nature, prior to Jai's meetings, and it soon becomes apparent that, in the time they've been apart, an electricity - an attraction - between the two exists that is hard to ignore (and comes off very palpable on-screen). Jai knows Sahil is gay - has even met and knows Alex - but it's particularly obvious his teasings have turned to flirtations, and as the two spend time hiking and enjoy the beautiful countryside the tension builds with the question many of us have asked ourselves over time: can long-term friends turn that corner and become more? Should they? And if so, what might it cost the friendship? Loev answers the question slowly, building up the relationship of these two long-term best friends who know and care for each other, but also know how to push each other's buttons until an explosive, impetuous act changes things forever. Ganesh (who, tragically, died at age 29 just prior to the film's release) and Pandit are perfectly cast and have brilliant chemistry on-screen, in a love story that depicts "loev" very much as it is in real life: messy, imperfect, unpredictable - sometimes even devastating. (not rated) 8/10 stars
