RIFLE RANGE BOY

Chinatown (1974) Director: Roman Polanski This movie sounds like a police drama set in Chinatown with all its vice activities and subversive elements. Well, it is nothing like that. 'Chinatown' is a red herring, actually. It can be summarized as a film with the typical noir elements, set in the 50s, convoluted story line, a lone investigator against the establishment and a neither black nor white kind of morality and ending. The 2 1/2 hour story is based on a tragic water dam controversy that happened in the early 20th century. This film also strengthened Jack Nicholson as a reputable star. JJ Gittes (Nicholson) is a private investigator handling domestic issues. He is approached by a lady who hires Gittes to investigate her cheating husband, who is a senior engineer with the LA Water Department. After finding proof of his infidelity and pictures of which later made it to the dailies, Gittes is confronted by a foxy lady, the real Mrs Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), with a lawyer...

La Collectionneuse (The Collector, French;1967) Director and Writer: Eric Rohmer The 4th offering of the 'Moral Tales' by Eric Rohmer is again another film about love and morality involved. Here, the protagonist who is the narrator is telling his point of view about his uppity moral values and degrading of a fellow tenant of a bungalow in a French countryside. The story with the introduction of the three main character - Haydée  (a curvaceous body perfect 20 young lass, carefree and impulsive); Daniel (a painter who has his own high thoughts about himself); Adrien (the protagonist is introduced engaged in a tête-à-tête with his girlfriend and her girlfriend about beauty and attraction). Adrien is a antique collector who goes to the country side for a getaway. The painter Daniel is also there. The serenity of the bungalow is somewhat disturbed by the presence of a carefree easygoing Haydée. The presence of different men to take her out every eveni...

So it just fizzled out, just like that. All it took was a carefully worded press statement on Facebook, how they, the organizers, stating their heartfelt empathy decided to call it a day. After days of speculation, they called the international level KL Marathon off! Just as soon as the announcement was made, as if the Gods were cheekily laughing, all the skies cleared up like a scene from Jurassic Park with a computer-graphic generated prehistoric crystal clear skyline. Anyway, The Air Pollutant Index (API) was spiraling down since yesterday, much aided by the occasional showers seen all over the country. So, I do not see the great rush to postpone the meet by three months. To top it off, the Met Dept. predicted next days of continuous rain. Guess the decision has been made - no run, no go, no way! Anyway, the mad Met Dept. has always been the butt of any weather joke as they are known to have missed more remarkable things, like a hurricane, for example. All those hours of scr...

Niagara (1953) Is another noir film but not so in the real sense as it is done in colour. To justify the use of colour, they highlighted the various dresses and the undressed form of America's favourite sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe. And of course, there is the picturesque full glory of the misty and rainbow filled Niagara Falls. Marilyn Monroe takes the role of a conniving femme fatale wife who destroyed the life of her slightly older husband (Joseph Cotten, who had been seen in many Hitchcock and Wells' movies) to the brink of insanity. A honeymooning couple (Mr and Mrs Cutler) lands in Niagara Falls just to find that the room that they booked is occupied by Mr and Mrs Loomis. Mr Loomis, who is apparently unwell, discharged from a mental hospital, was resting. Hence the Cutlers took another room instead. The Cutlers noticed that Mrs Loomis was dressed to kill and was seen embraced in a passionate kiss with a younger man. Mrs Loomis is actually planning to kill her husb...