Pj Harvey Contributes Two New Songs To Mark Cousins Documentary

Amit Kumar's bold noir set amongst corrupt cops in Mumbai acts as a brash, blockbusting corrective to Cannes's more sombre excessesPerhaps to deliver a corrective to all the solemn and high-minded cinema, first-time film-maker Amit Kumar has arrived in Cannes with a brash exploitation picture, a violent thriller on the tough streets of Mumbai about rule-breaking, bone-breaking cops. But there's also an expected parallel-narrative structure: it's Dirty Harry meets Sliding Doors. Adi (Vijay Varma) is an idealistic rookie cop working for Khan (Neeraj Kabi), the kind of senior officer who believes in shooting first and not bothering to ask questions later; they are battling with a gang boss called Slumlord (R Balasubramanian) and his sinister employee Shiva (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a hatchet-wielding executioner who has just whacked a local notable for failing to pay this mobster his million-rupee "tax". On Adi's first day on the job, he witnesses his boss execute some suspects in cold blood, and it is Adi's job to fabricate the elaborate "escape-attempt" which Khan will use to justify his shooting. He has to move bodies around and crash a land-rover, a demeaning and dangerous task which sours him. So when he gets into a tense shootout with Shiva in the middle of the driving monsoon rain, he is paralysed with fatal indecision. He corners Shiva in an alley; his weapon is drawn, but Shiva appears to be unarmed. What should he do? His boss Khan would be in no doubt. Put a bullet in this obvious bad guy's head and celebrate afterwards. But for a fatal split-second, Adi isn't sure and can't tell which set of events and consequences he wants to trigger. It's a moody, broody downbeat drama for most of the time, a rainy noir. But along with the plot trickery, there are some unexpected turns. Adi's old flame Anu (Geetanjali Thapa) — a doctor who has just returned from Britain to practise in India, and with whom Adi is clearly still in love — is a Christian, and there are some scenes in the crepuscular darkness of a church. Adi missed a date with her to show up at the fateful monsoon shootout with Shiva. Was his hesitancy on that night due to a desire to escape police work and simply be with Anu? It's an entertaining popcorn-movie with a twist, for which commercial success is on the cards. There should be space for pictures like it in Cannes.Rating: 3/5Cannes film festivalCannes 2013BollywoodPeter Bradshawguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

New York's most beloved fictional club correspondent is out. On the season finale of "Saturday Night Live," fans bade a teary farewell to veteran Bill Hader, who exited the show after eight years.

submitted by The_Landlady [link] [1 comment]

This man continues to just KILL it with his compositions. His music is pulsing, exciting, always fitting, and really unlike a lot of other composers today. (His filmography here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/). Is anyone else kinda bummed that he isn't doing Star Wars with Abrams? Wouldn't it be awesome if he and John Williams paired together for the music there? submitted by Slings_Green [link] [1 comment]

If the extras handling honor guard duties in the emotional memorial service near the end of "Star Trek Into Darkness" delivered a somber performance, they weren't completely acting. The six actors in that scene had, unfortunately, been in too many similar services before as post-9/11 veterans.