“Only in New York”. Verdict - pretty awful!
A film by a Sri Lankan director Nalin Goonatilake named “Only in New York” is about 3 Sri Lankan roommates living in New York City. Curious after sitting through the experience of watching the movie at a benefit screening in New York, I googled the movie name and the name of the director with little success. There is also no record of the movie in any movie information site. And interestingly, the only place, supposedly, it is to be screened next is at the Staten Island Psychiatric Hospital (I can’t confirm this is true). So all in all, I am not all that sure if the movie actually is a movie but if it is one, then my review isn't a pretty one. In addition to bad acting and an awful script the movie seemed to have been filmed using a hand held camcorder. Notwithstanding the quality of the film, it also doesn’ really make much sense. We, Sri Lankans are probably one of the smallest communities in the big city that is home to millions of people from everywhere. We are also neither very conspicuous nor socially very active. Except for the occasional gathering at the temple or a cricket match in the burbs, we Sri Lankans aren’t exactly trend setters nor are we victims or survivors of horrendous prosecution back home. So, I would imagine, a story about 3 ordinary Sri Lankans with ordinary problems set up in an ordinary situation is hardly a story to tell and even harder to sound funny. Yes, I know, a bunch of movie classics were indeed about very ordinary situations but ... errr "Only in New York" is far far from that. But I suppose some kudos is however deserved for the initiative.
www.OnlyinNewYorkMovie.com
www.OnlyinNewYorkMovie.com
posted by Hitch at 9/12/2006 01:01:00 AM
9 Comments:
Hahah but whatever it is, it is a good attempt. Hope his next movie is better.
Being someone who is in new york, i must say, that i agree with you for the most part of it, except for the following.
" ...We are also neither very conspicuous nor socially very active. Except for the occasional gathering at the temple or a cricket match in the burbs, we Sri Lankans aren’t exactly trend setters ..."
I would like to say, that everytime we, sri lankans go out, its always a rocking blast with the places we go to asking us to come back again because of the life we bring to it. We really know how to liven things up..
Come on, we are sri lankan;s after all. Who know's how to party better than us? :-)
True if partying hard means drinking out of your senses and starting fights!
First of all, who are you to say it was filmed with a hand held camera ???? What do you know about CINEMATOGRAPHY???
Anyway, you must be a sri Lankan that does not know reality. We do not only gather at a Temple or a cricket match. No wonder, you do not know much about us and you need to get a life and enjoy NYC beyound the temple and the cricket matches!!!
GOOD JOB NALIN, Hope you have more films coming out soon. Excellent first movie.
He said seemed. It is immaterial if it was or not. Yea good try but long ways to go. Do commend the effort though.
True!! even my room mate situation in NY makes a better story!! This is a diabolical 'movie'
after recently seeing this film, i found that it has some parts that are funny and some sad.
i think that the screenplay tried to keep the story real without exaggeration into a hollywood style of storytelling.
for an independent film on a low budget, the story was good and there were twists and turns around each corner. the character development was pretty good given the time the movie ran.
best of all, some parts were funny. i think this film was a good attempt at showing the immigrant experience of a newcomer to america.
hitch is a bitch
It's funny how the people who often know the least about a subject feel the most compelled to speak on something they know nothing about. I don't know which social circles you run in (or exclude yourself from out of your own obvious insecurity), but there are a lot of Sri Lankans in the "big city" who have very active social lives outside of the temple (which is more a place of worship than it is a forum to set trends) or a cricket match in the suburbs (which is really more indicative of the kind of carefully orchestrated conspicuousness that you seem to be attempting.) While no one is saying that this film is "Gone With the Wind" or even a good film, "pretty awful" is a bit of a harsh assessment of a film that piqued your interest enough to scour the web for information about it. And while you are indeed entitled to your own opinion, I would like to see you try and make a film about your experience (or lack thereof) as an active member of our very social community. Until then, keep your kudos to yourself.
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