Argo (2012)

[***1/2 stars / *****] 

Iran, 1979 - a time of repression and hostility, certainly not a time to be featured on tourism brochures. 

CIA agent Tony Mendez finds himself in Iran posing as a Hollywood film producer, in order to save six stranded US Embassy employees. Argo, the sci-fi film he is 'producing' exists only on paper. 

Time is running out and Mendez must act fast to gain the confidence of the six people, already shattered by their self-imposed 70-day seclusion at the Canadian ambassador's house.

Partial Depiction? 
The denizens of Iran come off a little less hostile than the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.The depiction of the country is harrowing and fits into US paranoia. How much of it is true is but a matter of cinematic liberty and political flavor. 

Just like his tight 2010 heist movie The Town, Ben Affleck directs with detachment and control, even as he plays the possible saviour.

Political Backing? 
Why did Argo won the Best Picture Oscar at the 2013 Academy Awards and why did first lady Michelle Obama announce it from The White House makes a prominent appendix to the movie's streaming afterlife. In a way, Argo ended up as a potential mob instigator for gathering support against the Iranian government.

Political shadows aside, Argo is a well made Hollywood thriller based on true events and in a treatment that amplifies the tense situation cleverly. Worth watching, not a classic but a cut above the rest.

Recommendations  

If you want an insider's view into the Iran of 1979 and beyond, the wonderful graphic novel memoir Persepolis and to a trimmed extent - its movie adaptation, provide some genuine insights. 

The Social Network (2010)

[**** stars / *****] 

Filled with characters going blah-blah-blah, The Social Network could have been a bore of a movie. 

After all, this is about the real and alleged founders of Facebook, the global social networking phenomenon, of people who mostly sat at their desks and typed code. 

The great outdoors - sunshine, rain and a rowing race make fleeting appearances. In fact, the film has most characters seated, most of the time. 

Instead, thanks to the genius of a screenplay adaptation by Aaron Sorkin of the Ben Mezrich book - The Accidental Billionaires, and David Fincher's (Seven, Fight Club) serene, matter-of-fact vision  of the proceedings, we get a gem of a picture - contemporary, one of the wittiest and funniest films ever, a tongue-in-cheek perception into the world of the so-called nerds.

No other movie has keyed into the detained borders of the computer and Internet world with such delicious bite. Go for it!

Groundhog Day (1993)

[****1/2 stars/ *****] 

Imagine retiring to bed tonight and waking up the next morning to the same day, yet again! 

You get through this duplicated day in rising alarm, go to sleep and ... the horror! It is today again!

Disbelief turns to disillusion. 

As another Feb 2 follows another Feb 2, you go wicked, rob a bank, seduce women, eat like a pig, drink like a fish, drive a car off a cliff, get killed, but unfailing wake up to a Feb 2 morning. 

Every day is a new day? 
Groundhog Day makes an ingenious, comic and heartwarming fun life lesson of this preposterous, out-of-the-box idea. 

Bill Murray, plays the hapless celebrity TV weatherman experiencing this endless cycle like he was born to do it. 

Murray has built an acting reputation for playing bored, irked and resigned from life characters.Groundhog Day showcases that reputation. 

The lovely ‎Andie MacDowell makes for a charming, intelligent heroine. 

"Groundhog Day" has since become a popular cultural term to imply routine, boredom, repetition, and stagnancy. 

Why does that sound eerily true and familiar? 

Hugo (2011)

[*** stars / *****] 

No f*** word, no murders, no gangsters, no outrageous anger, no catharsis, no greed, no blood spouting, no gun-wielding violence in a Martin Scorsese film! Yes, you read that f****** right! 
  
In 1931, twelve-year-old Hugo (Asa Butterfield) anonymously maintains clocks at a Railway Station in France. Orphaned and taken over by his now missing drunkard uncle, Hugo spends his time snooping at the people around him from his hidden residence inside the station. These include the tough station master (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his intimidating dog, an elderly couple, and an old man (Ben Kingsley) manning the toy store.

Hugo (2011) originally released in 3D, is a heart-warming adaptation of Brian Selznick's fiction book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. 

The Relatable Factor
Scorsese did suggest in an interview that Hugo's isolated life reminded him of his own childhood as an asthmatic kid who was forced to stay indoors. Another intimate connection was Scorsese's then 12-year-old daughter. The director's own passion for restoring rare, prized cinema seems to be a deciding factor too. After all Hugo celebrates the origin of film making, the magic of going to the movies and honors Georges Méliès, the amazingly creative, special effects pioneer. 

Asa Butterfield is particularly haunting and charming as Hugo, as is Chloë Grace Moretz as Hugo's friend Isabella. Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Christopher Lee and Sacha Baron Cohen shine in their parts too. 

Hugo is a big bulge of a surprise from Scorsese, charming, beautiful, poetic and exquisitely cinematic. In retrospect, for adult viewers, the film's final act may seem predictable. But for a children's film, it's a great watch, a potential masterpiece. 

Lamhe (1991)

[***1/2 stars / *****] 

Viren (Anil Kapoor), a young man visiting his ancestral home in Rajasthan, India falls for Pallavi (Sridevi), a gorgeous neighbor next door. Alas, the woman is in love with another man. Heartbroken, Viren organizes the couple's marriage and abruptly leaves for London. 

A few months later, the married couple dies in an accident leaving behind an infant daughter, Pooja. The daughter is raised by Viren's nanny in India. Years pass and Pooja grows up to be a cheerful, lively teenager (Sridevi again), a startling physical replica of her mother. Over the years, Pooja develops a fiery, undying love for the now middle-aged, elusive Viren. 

Lamhe is quite simply Yash Chopra's best romantic drama. It sensitively portrays the dynamics and layered complexities of love like few Hindi films do. 

Unconventional, timeless, against the norm, rebellious, deeply engaging and compelling, Lamhe is a remarkable work of cinema and justifies Yash Chopra's reputation as a fine, nuanced director. 

Sridevi towers and sparkles in her mother-daughter double turn. Lamhe is among the few great films that matches up to Sridevi's incredible talent. 

Anil Kapoor is at his best, chirpy and lovelorn as the young man, effectively toned down as an older businessman, Anupam Kher is a genius mad streak as Viren's friend Prem, while Waheeda Rehman adds dignity and poise as the ever-caring dai-ma. 

For those who love Hindi romantic dramas, skillful direction, great locales, with a dose of gorgeous film song picturizations and an incredible timeless story, Lamhe, but for some minor flaws, is fabulous viewing.