Nowhere in Africa -> 12 Angry men

I was in the mood for good cinema day before yesterday night. I picked up Nowhere in Africa, started watching it, and was forced to leave it halfway, frustrated, when the dvd stopped working. Now, I am worried. Many of the blue disks I bought in Bangalore are showing similar symptoms. Is this the end of 'golden era' of piracy in this part of the world? As such, all 3 outlets in Hyderabad have stopped selling pirated dvds. Nah! The optimist doesn't think so.

Nowhere in Africa got me hooked. I wanted to finish it. So, I went to Cinema Paradiso last night, after about one year, and rented the dvd, only to find later that dvd is Region 2 and both my dvd rom drives were set to Region 3.

Whoa! Great! Frustration continued.

Immediate diversion: 12 Angry men. Randomly browsing through the newly bought dvds, I picked up this one. I knew about this being Sidney Lumet's debut and how it is considered a definite viewing and all that. But, I didn't know the premise of the movie before. I read the synopsis on the back of the cover and I was impressed. A jury of 12 men, 11 think the accused is guilty and one doesn't. No brownie points for guessing who the dissenter is. Entire setting is in a single room and the twelve men just talk. Lovely!



Now, I must read the analysis by Sidney Lumet himself in his book, "Making Movies".

A few other movies seen in the recent past.

Sideways
Blow Up
Mr.Deeds goes to Town
His Girl Friday
Children of Heaven
Millennium Actress
Sabrina

And parts of "That obscure object of desire" and "The discreet charm of burgeoise".

Children of Heaven, in particular, comes highly recommended and is a must see. That reminds me, Baran dvd isn't playing. To end with what I started with.. "Is this the end of good times?"