Ace in the Hole (1951)

Ace in the Hole is a movie which has been made in 1951 but after watching the movie I firmly believe that the movie still holds valid in the current mad mad Fourth Estate race.


Ace in the Hole is directed by Billy Wilder and was a flop when it opened in 1951 that too one year after Wilder had provided a real treat in 'Sunset Blvd.' in 1950.

With all the venom that Wilder spewed at Hollywood in 'Sunset Blvd.', he outdoes himself here. His teeth are clenched, his fists are up and he's out for blood but this time his target is mass media as represented by newspaperman Chuck Tatum played by Kirk Douglas (Michael Douglas's dad). The film opens as he's driving through Albuquerque, New Mexico. Tatum stops by the local paper, The Sun-Bulletin, to ask for a job.

Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career, an amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime, and will do anything to ensure he gets the scoop.

After months of living in a rut he finally stumbles upon the perfect story. Deep within some old Indian ruins, a treasure hunter has gotten himself stuck in a cave-in (Co-relate it with our own Prince story which bombarded our TVs couple of years back). Guy in a well. That'll sell papers, right? What follows is genius, as Tatum engineers the story to be far bigger than it really is. We watch as he manipulates the rescue engineers, the local sheriff, the victim's wife, all with the intent of prolonging the incident. He wants to keep the guy underground as long as possible. This gives Tatum time to write more stories, sell them at top dollar to other newspapers, become a major celebrity in his own right and land piles of cash.


When thousands gather outside the cave and a feverish media circus begins to grow, Tatum smells victory. But of course things go downhill from here.

Wilder has always been a master of tone and he continues that trend here. The film starts very funny in a dark, sadistic sort of way, but Wilder slowly lets the humor drain from the proceedings.Wilder often considered Ace in the Hole to be his greatest film and he'll get no argument from me. As of this writing, I can think of few films that are as timely and relevant as this one. It feels fresh and contemporary, and not dated in the least.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) - Review

Do me a favor, will you? Keep away from the windows. Somebody might... blow you a kiss.

'Kiss Me Deadly'' was ignored when first released but now seems to be a touchstone, a sacred object in the film world. 'Kiss Me Deadly' is the definitive, apocalyptic, nihilistic, science fiction film noir of all time at the close of the classic noir period. Being a huge fan of film noir I bet that this movie is a perfect example of this genre.

People always talk about good endings in film and a lot of these films stick in the mind. By comparison, the beginning of a film is rarely talked about or remembered.

The film opens with a striking pre-credits sequence. A pair of naked feet stumbles and runs down the middle of a lonely highway at night. A near-hysterical, panting, barely-clothed woman with closely-cropped hair who wears only a white trenchcoat, rasps and breathes heavily on the highly-amplified soundtrack as she helplessly tries to flag down passing cars that flash by her. Desperate to get one of the cars to stop she strategically positions herself in the middle of the road by standing and holding her arms out in a V as a two-seated Jaguar sports car/convertible approaches and blinds her in its high-beamed headlights. The driver swerves to avoid the apparition while applying his screeching brakes. His tires squeal as he pulls sharply off the road into a swirling cloud of dust and barely misses running her down. I consider it a perfect opening and the opening which is still talked about in the film circuits even today.

Hard-hitting detective Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) takes on thugs and atomic secrets in Robert Aldrich's fast-paced thriller 'Kiss Me Deadly', an adaptation of the Mickey Spillane novel. The night goes awry for Hammer soon after he picks up a scantily clad hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman). The next thing he knows, he's assaulted by a couple of goons and the sultry drifter turns up dead. As Hammer tracks down the murderers, he realizes he is involved in an international conspiracy .'Kiss Me Deadly' boasts nightmarish imagery, a careening, sinuous plot and an unforgettable shock ending.

Filmed in a scant three weeks, 'Kiss Me Deadly' was a late entry into the film noir genre, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable.It's pretty doubtful that anyone at the time realized how important Kiss Me Deadly would loom in coming years. It was lionized by French critics, hailed by French New Wave directors and went on to influence everyone from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh to countless up-and-coming directors. I recommend it to anybody who wants to understand just what the whole noir craze is about.

For the people who do not know the root cause of the problem I suggest going through the BBC website link below and for others please read on.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/south_asia/2002/kashmir_flashpoint/default.stm

The issue of the Amarnath Land Transfer was on the forefront right from the begining of year.
I'll address the issues one by one.

1. Amarnath land row

The trouble started in Jammu & Kashmir on May 26 after the Congress-led Govt decides to transfer 100 acres of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. First there was agitation in Kashmir Valley against the transfer of the land to Sri Amarnath Shrine Board which forced the Government to take back the land allotted to The Board and now for more than a month Jammu is burning demanding the land back for the Sri Amaranth Shrine Board. What has sustained the agitation so long in Jammu? Who provoked it and for what? Is the peace of land a real issue? These are important questions which must be answered satisfactorily. It need not be stressed that it is BJP which is trying to cash in on this agitation and is having its eye not only on election in Jammu and Kashmir but on forthcoming Loksabha election in early 2009.

2. Agitation in Jammu

The agitators in Jammu claim that no party controls the agitation and that people of Jammu – meaning Hindus of Jammu themselves are leading the agitation, not any political party. Though not wholly but partly it is true. Jammu is really on fire.

The agitation in Jammu is indeed draws its dynamics not from 'land for Amarnath' issue but it is highly complex thing. There has long been simmering against "Kashmir Raj" in Jammu region of the state. Basically it is regional divide but unfortunately now it is being turned into communal divide mainly by the BJP by raising the Amarnath land issue. The noted scholar and journalist Shri Balraj Puri who has for years dedicated his life for just and fair settlement of J&K issue has repeatedly pointed out that different region of J&K be given regional autonomy. He also headed a commission to find solution to this problem appointed by Farouq Abdullah Government. However, the report prepared by the Commission, was thrown into the dustbin.

It is important to mention here that during the agitation in Jammu, the mob attacked the police/army and stabbed a sub-inspector and torched a police station and several police vehicles. Policemen were beaten with their own lathis and yet in over 70 days of voilence in Jammu 5 people were killed as compared to the peaceful protests in Valley where more than 30 people were killed. Their only fault they were carrying green flags.

3.Economic Blockade of Kashmir

Was there an economic blockade in Kashmir?? Most of the people in India can say no this is because they are ignorant of many facts which happen in Kashmir and ONLY believe the news comming from NDTV and CNN-IBN (Which is another topic within this blog ie Role of Media). Comming back to the blockade, was there a blockade....the answer is plain YES. I was there and i can vouch for it. Currently Kashmir is connected to outside world only by India’s National Highway No. 1(NH-1). All the supplies, be it medicines, food items etc come into Kashmir through NH-1 all the imports and exports go through this very road. In wake of recent Amarnath Land Transfer controversy(which was a different story all together), Jammu and some other states of India like Punjab imposed an economic blockade on Kashmir Valley for 2 long months stopping all the essential supplies to the Kashmir, leading acute shortage of essential commodities. Empty departmental stores and medicine less hospitals were enough proof of it.
While Government of India and Jammu(including other states) were consistently denying the economic blockade, one needs to be present here in order to witness it. After visiting 30 medical stores i swear I couldn't get a tin of baby food. Such was the condition. Like me there were hunderds of people searching for such stuff.

4. Protests in Kashmir against the blockade