Interstellar Overdrive

The motion picture event of a decade is slowly coming to an end. After ten years and grossing over $5.4billion worldwide, the penultimate film of the series gets its release. And for the first time, since the start of the film adaptations, the makers have got it right. What they had contemplated on with the Goblet of Fire, they have done with the Deathly Hallows; and seeing the first 2 hours and twenty minutes of the five hour finale, one feels a certain sense of satisfaction.

It's very difficult to adapt something like Harry Potter to the screen. One must understand that over the last ten years numerous stories that were there in the books have disappeared in the films. This task of what to keep and what not to keep is extremely crucial. One must create a fine blend out of the parts that are being kept in order to make the films feasible. It is, quite simply, a harrowing task to adapt something of such magnitude onto the screen. Seven books. Thousands of characters.

At some point of time screenwriter Steve Kloves must have asked J.K. Rowling the question as to how she came up with and gave a background to almost all the characters that she created. After a gearing up with the Half-Blood Prince the makers of the films have done a very organized task of polishing up and putting things in their rightful places. It's simply impossible for someone who has not been acquainted with the books or the previous films to understand anything. But that's how things are. The tale is so vast that it requires that kind of special attention.

What they did with the Half-Blood Prince; the frolicking of the seventeen year old wizards, their intorduction into love and loss, is completed right at the start of the Deathly Hallows. The two, extremely grave, opening sequences tells you that things are no longer to be taken lightly. 'These are dark times there is no denying'. Draco Malfoy's coming of age, perfectly shown in the previous chapter, now shifts to the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

This part seems to be more about Hermione and Ron, than Harry himself. There is a clear concentration on character. Finally. Snape, for example, is almost completely absent in this film. Hermione's wiping out the memory of her parents, a scene which was made for the film, only hinted at in the book, is given voice when she erases the memory of a Death Eater. Her charms are what keeps the trio safe whilst they go hunting for Horcruxes. It's also a film about Ron. His constant attention to the radio, listening in to check whether anyone from his family has gone missing or has been killed. His mind trailing off, finding meanings which aren't there in Harry and Hermione's friendship. The grim sight the Horcrux shows him. Dark times indeed. Harry's troubles and pains are reflected on his brow, taking complete shape only at the end with the sad death of a certain free house-elf.

Deathly Hallows Part One is, at heart, a road movie. It is a film where the main characters are on a search. On the path they find several secrets, several hints to achieve what they ultimately seek. Lord Voldemort is close, and getting stronger. Dumbledore's many truths are slowly coming out into the open.

There are also several instances where one will be reminded of the story as it has happened. The Deluminator, from the very first page of the first book, the very first scene of the first film. The first Golden Snitch Harry ever caught; in his mouth rather than in his hand. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, mentioned so many times throughout the books (Babbity Rabbity, no?). One must make a special mention of the animated tale of The Three Brothers as shown in the film. It is indeed something that the films were lacking. A certain Del Toro'ish touch to the whole thing.

Its safe to say that the franchise is finally ignoring the PG-13 cut and going the way the fans of the series would really want it to go. The first part leaves you in a rush, all geared up. Just when you think they're going to have the infiltration into Gringotts in this one itself we see Voldemort take possession of the Elder Wand. And there it leaves you hanging. It is an absolute pity than one has to wait for eight months for the conclusion.

What Else To Watch II

2010-09-23T15:22:00.000+05:30

I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.

Let The Right One In

If he tells you to stick the drugs in your ass, you stick them in your ass.

Get Him To The Greek

It's so dry!

Jackass Number Two

Live long and prosper.

Star Trek

I try.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

It's a gas.

Shine A Light

What's the Klingon for I'm going to die a virgin?

Fanboys

..and there was light.

The Book of Eli

If you aren't an activist you're an inactivist.
The Cove

Hello. We're teachers on sabbatical and we've just won the lottery.
Quantum Of Solace

I need more telephone on my salad.

Kynodontas

He'd always wanted a friend. A friend that wasn't invisible, a pet, or rubber figurine.
Mary And Max

What Else To Watch.

2010-07-05T10:55:00.017+05:30

"It ought to come like leaves to a tree, or it better not come at all."

Bright Star

"My name is Temple Grandin. I'm not like other people. I think in pictures and I connect them."

Temple Grandin

"I'm sorry. I just got out of a long relationship and I don't wanna go from just having sex to just having sex to just having sex."

Greenberg

"I want to tickle your belly button..

From the inside."
Youth In Revolt

"Yeah, you're alright."

Nowhere Boy

"Steven, that is the most romantic thing that anyone ever did for me."
I Love You Philip Morris

"I ejaculated in my pants."
She's Out Of My League

"Just get through the goddamn day."
A Single Man

"Now that you know, either you kill him, or I'll kill you."
Un Prophete

"Well, now that is some fucked up shit."
Slither

"People around here don't know very much about me. I'd like to keep it that way."
Tetro

"Gerty, is there someone else in the room? "
Moon

"The most important thing in life is desire."
Cracks

"I look both ways when I cross the street."
Dummy

Alice in Wonderland.

2010-03-13T13:39:00.017+05:30

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland rides high on the success of the recent 3D release that was James Cameron's Avatar. After looking at the trailers it is no wonder that it has already smashed a couple of box-office records, including the biggest Imax opening ever. A smashing combination of live action and animation, Burton, in his own Burtonesque way creates a whole new kind of Wonderland.

By now, it is safe to say that Tim Burton has had his fair share of success with his techniques of putting a veil over most of the stories he tells. The pale and heartwarming Edward Scissorhands, the sleek and heavy Ed Wood, the unpredictable Batman, the brilliant Sleepy Hollow, the charming Corpse Bride, and the equally strange Big Fish to name a few. His latest ventures with Charlie and Sweeney Todd have met with equal success. To no surprise, he incorporates the exact same elements in his Alice. The film marks his umpteenth collaboration with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Several others are hidden behind the faces of cats and caterpillars, mice and bloodhounds, and at last, the Jabberowcky.

From the very start, one finds something missing in Alice, the film and the character itself. Mia Wasikowska's Alice is lacklustre. She seems to be misplaced everywhere, whether it is in the presence of her peers or in the presence of strange talking creatures. Perhaps Burton's advice to her is to not fit in to her surroundings? Perhaps his Alice is just that, a misfit wherever she goes. We shall never know. The opening 10minutes put the 19 year old Alice in a series of situations where she tries to show us that she is indeed different from the others around her. Much like her father who thought of 'six impossible things everyday before breakfast', Alice wonders what its like to fly or why someone cant paint the white roses red, only to be chided as silly. She is told off as if she is not to speak of such fantastical things lest the royalty around her yell 'Off with her head'. And then there is that preposterous awkward moment between her and her brother-in-law (Spoiler) when she walks in on him kissing another woman followed by the most outrageous exchange of dialogue and acting. Then again, much like Alice and Burton's other films, maybe she doesn't want to fit in. There are numerous exchanges of dialogue that go quite a distance in showing us that there are things that happen undercover. Whether it is the brother-in-law's kissing another woman or the head-to toe clad English ladies skinny-dipping, Burton for some reason, tries to fit in certain behind the scenes actions of the English royalty.

The first bit of glee comes when one sees the rabbit scampering through the bushes. Alice, abandoning all things, follows it. And then down the rabbit hole. Burton's Alice in Wonderland has some marvelous set design. Its often difficult to decipher between what is complete graphics and what is actually a set. The teapot and the room with the doors and quite a few others. Indeed, the first thing one will notice about Wonderland is its complete lack of anything looking happy. The colors, once again Burtonesque, echo Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. All around is grave. Danger lurks.

The broadest smile comes in the form of Chessur, the Chesire Cat voiced marvelously by Stephen Fry. It is his and Alan Rickman's Caterpillar, Absolem, who seem most pronounced in spite of the absence of their physical self. Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter seems to be a display of a wild array of accents and nothing more. Honestly, he is too decked up with make up to give us a performance. Bonham Carter seems to have tried her best at being the Red Queen. It was perhaps her rendition that was most looked forward to given the size of her head.

Alice in Wonderland is a tale of gorgeous sets and technology. There isn't much performance to see here. Its plain popping-out-of-the-screen visuals. Burton seems to have done his best to show us an older Alice. She treads on the many severed heads as she crosses the moat to the Red Queen's palace, she fights the dreaded Jabberwocky, befriends the Bandersnatch etc etc. All the above, things only Tim Burton can execute. A mark of Alice's ageing perhaps. But, as a visual experience Alice in Wonderland doesn't disappoint. The animated characters are far more watchable than the human ones in Alice. Linda Woolverton's script is weak. The dialogue gets repetitive.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is quite bland. It lacks that fine tuning that is often there in a Burton movie. Its almost as if he didn't really want to make it entirely his own. One can only take so much of Bonham Carter yelling 'Off with her/his head'. Somehow certain characteristics are better left to be read in books. It suffers from a few sorry scenes and dialogues post-conclusion. It would have been better called Malice in Underland. Watch it in 3D for the additional thrill which isn't really present in it at all. The trailers are really far better than the film itself.

Disappointing.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

2009-07-17T00:33:00.000+05:30

When Dumbledore tells Harry 'I am much older, much cleverer, and much less valuable'; we get what he means. In the same way, when screenwriter Steve Kloves leaves out certain crucial parts of Harry Potter's sixth outing, we get it. The Half Blood Prince, for the first time, is not a standalone film. It is more of a gearing up to the next two films which Warner Brothers are stretching the saga to to add to the 4.5 billion dollars which the previous five films have already made.

The first and most noticeable difference with the previous films is that this one starts off almost like a continuation of the previous. We see a battered and bruised Harry standing by Dumbledore's side in front of flashing cameras after the attack at the Department of Mysteries from The Order of The Phoenix. The opening sequence is a flash which shows us the slow invasion of the Death Eaters into the Muggle-world. A whoosh of dark clouds leaves the Muggles staring till three Death Eaters swoop into Diagon Alley and carry on to collapsing the Millennium Bridge into the Thames. And then a stroke of genius added by the makers to show us the mixing of a wizard and a Muggle. The introduction, although well-made is a bit rushed.

Somewhere down the line, in the first hour of the film, the grip on the initial setting of the film is lost. It gives way to childish rom-com, rather than mature adolescent behavior. The introduction of the character of Lavender Brown, though important, shifts the mood of the film. It seems almost as if director David Yates set out to make a comedy film with chills and suspense. There are way too many comic scenes in the film for it to develop into something more important, which it is. Half Blood Prince, like Prisoner of Azkaban, is a major step in the saga that is Harry Potter. This acknowledgement is not really there.

However, the best thing about Half Blood Prince is that, unlike most of the other Potter films, with the exception of Prisoner of Azkaban, it does not look like a Harry Potter film. The addition of certain sequences, like the attack by the Death Eaters on The Burrow, add to the brilliance of the suspense of the film. That sequence stands out as one of the most innovative and gripping scenes made in any Harry Potter film yet. There are no unnecessary additions. Quidditch is back, although its inclusion is only for comic relief. No added scenes with visual effects, something that went on to ruin the almost perfect climax of Order of the Phoenix.

The acting in this one is top notch. The fact that this film is meant to be a drama is indicated through the acting. No mention for the lead here. Radcliffe disappoints immensely. His place is taken by Tom Felton. His portrayal of Draco Malfoy is bang-on. He leaves nothing behind in expression and detail. This was needed, given the importance of his character for this part. You can see his burden reflected on his brow. The two actors who play the young Riddle are also worthy of mention. Both Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane are sleek, and evil. The addition of Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn is also a treat to behold as is the slithery presence of Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

This film, also for the first time since Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban, pays attention to detail. The detail in Mr. Weasley's garage house. The immense detailing of the Room of Requirement. However there is perhaps too much detailing on the growing up of the trio. As we witness Felton's Draco slowly developing into a young man, we witness Radcliffe's Harry develop into something that can be only be called an old boy. The necessity of showing the characters growing up is essential, just the method in which it has been tackled for the trio is pitiful. One understands the brilliance of Hermione shooting canaries at Ron in the book. To include the same in the film to show us something as important as coming of age is a gross error. The cross drawn is however, brilliant, when we see Malfoy heading towards the Room of Requirement down a dark corridor with students snogging in a corner.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a big step forward towards the conclusion that is the Deathly Hallows. Why it is being split into two parts is made evident from this adaptation. It leaves a lot to be explained. For every reader and viewer of the Harry Potter series it is clear that one will not entirely understand great chunks of the film unless one reads the book. Keeping that in mind, Half Blood Prince is a pretty good film, just not a worthy adaptation maybe.

The Dreamers.

2009-05-24T01:20:00.000+05:30

I have seen one Bertolucci film prior to this. Stealing Beauty. A film I do not remember much of because its been a while since I've seen it. I do not well know what kind of a film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci is. Going through his filmography one notices strokes of genius, often unrecognized it seems, often unaccepted, leading us to the conclusion that he probably isn't for all and sundry. Then again, who is?

After watching The Dreamers, one notices a particularly heavy amount of things which direct to the reasons why Bertolucci's vision as a director might not suit everyone. However, The Dreamers is such a film that one cant quite think about not liking. There is something exceptionally enchanting about the way Bertolucci tackles his characters, his plot, his sights and sounds, his montage. Something impeccable about his piece. The Dreamers, set in the backdrop of the Paris student riots of the late 60's, is, through most of its length, oblivious to whatever is going on. The characters are such. Obliviousness is a very integral point in the film. As is fantasy.

The Dreamers is a film that is obsessed with films. The classics. The Godard's and the Nicholas Ray's. The Truffaut's and the Hawks'. The Chaplin's and the Keaton's. In fact, it is so obsessed with certain films of the past that a portion of the film are these films. The characters are the characters who were. The dialogues are the dialogues that were. It is in no way paying homage to these films. Its characters are individuals who live in a life of the films gone by, still remembered for their genius. A genius so brilliant that maybe for a certain amount of time, they make you oblivious of what you are or are not surrounded by. Obliviousness is The Dreamers, hence Bertolucci changes the name The Holy Innocents from Adair's novel to The Dreamers.

The lead of the film is an American boy. An exchange student in Paris, there to learn their language, a fan of the film art, spending a predominating amount of time at the Cinemateque Francaise. He says "the first time I saw a movie at the Cinemateque Francais I thought 'Only the French.. only the French would house a cinema inside a palace". The Dreamers spends its first few minutes establishing the French Nouvelle Vague of the late 1950's and 1960's influenced by the Classical Hollywood cinema and the Italian Neo Realism. Once done, we are immersed into the lives of the twins (played by Eva Green and Louis Garrel), and Matthew the American (played by Michael Pitt).

To introduce one to the element of fantasy, one is never given any sort of hint of the world of the twins outside the walls of their house. Twins, of the opposite sex, conjoined at the shoulder. An impossibility. Yet we see marks on the shoulder's of either of them. How that might be possible or what that might be hinting at is unknown. They share a love that is, at first sight, incestuous. At least that is the image we first get through the eyes of Matthew, who is the voyeur.

Matthew likes sneaking around, being secretive. He is at first a bit unsure of his new friends. He notices their every move. The incomprehensibility of the closeness the twins share with one another, the touch of the father on the daughter's waist, often lead us to believe different things. Maybe even things that aren't there at all. It's either all too real and unbelievable to think about, or its not there at all. A mere power that voyeurism has. To mislead the viewer into thinking something that might not even be present. They seem a bit odd. Matthew urinates in the basin, with the tap on. Recall Godard's A bout de Souffle, where Jean-Paul Belmondo's Michel inquires as to whether he can urinate in Patricia's (Jean Seberg's) basin.

There are numerous marks of classic film characters in Isabelle, Theo and Matthew. To make a note of all of them would require an entire report. They play the guessing game, acting out sequences from their favorite films and asking the others to guess. Failure often leads to drastic, unthinkable penalties. In a way Matthew acts as the twins' window into the world outside. The world around them. Changing the Keaton' and the Chaplin's to the Hendrix' and the Claptons'. Introducing them to certain realities which they have so far been ignorant about. "We do not watch television. We are purists" says Isabelle. Matthew echoes what their father had once told them. That one cannot change the world before realizing that one is a part of it. One cannot stand outside looking in.

Bertolucci, through his genius, makes you smell a gas leak through what he shows us. He makes you feel the pain of sex in all its expression. He makes you forget anything else that you might be thinking and drowns you in his vision. A vision which cannot be delved into too deeply for one must understand that there are certain things which are better left ununderstood. You might just spoil it by trying to analyze it too much. From a director who decides to keep an accidental scene of a woman's hair catching fire as an indication of wilder things to come, The Dreamers is cinema in its own way. The same way that Godard said about Nicholas Ray being cinema, which Theo tells Matthew on their first meeting.

It takes the maker less than a second to take you out of this enchanted world, having its own emotional orgy, oblivious of all its surroundings, and throw you into the turmoil of the riots. In a flash, the love that existed is forgotten, taken over by a sudden burst of emotion, of purpose. It is about a near-perfect threesome of two scrumptous French's and one American who, in a way, flips there world upside down for a period of time. I cannot comprehend things about this piece, and in a way I do not want to. It's better taken the way it is.

Dont think too much, you might just end up discovering beauty.

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints.

2009-05-12T09:07:00.006+05:30

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is a 2006 American film written, directed, and based on author and musician Dito Montiel's 2001 memoir of the same name. It his directorial debut and it describes his youth in Astoria, New York, during the 1980's. The film won numerous awards at the Sundance Film Festival of 2006 including Best Director and the Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

A Guide.. is a coming of age film based on the life of young Dito Montiel; the troubles he faced growing up in a neighbourhood gone all wrong. It is based on the people he knew. His father (played by Chazz Palminteri), who does not want him to go away to the big city and leave his family behind; his friends Antonio, Nerf, Giuseppe, and Mike two of whom look him up 15 years after he leaves his hometown to bring him back so that he can help his sick father. His girlfriend, Laurie, who always tries to get him to face reality as a man. Most of all it is about how these people around him changed him, made him the man he became.

The film is technically a marvel, switching between the present and flashbacks of the 1980's. The technique used in certain sequences are praiseworthy. Remembrance is often difficult, and there are sometimes numerous shots of the same scene, where the same words are spoken by the characters, acting for the mind of Dito who is trying to recall certain moments in his life which he cant remember perfectly. That added to the sights and sounds of a 1980's hood acts as a very sweet, clean rendition of Dito's life. The entire sequence where the characters talk to the viewers, saying whatever it is that is going through their minds, is a gem to look at, making a journey out of the film and into out own lives.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Dito Montiel and Shia Labeouf plays his younger self. Both, honest to the character. The acting is overall very good; with Channing Tatum who plays the young Antonio, Dito's best friend through his younger years, who looks out for him and is trusted by his father; and Anthony DeSando, playing Frank, the gay dog-walker deserving special mention.

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is a true memoir. Very honest. An honesty that shines through what it actually is; a film. The play of anger and words between Dito and his father are engrossing. One can relate to the points of view of each of the two. One trying to start a new life outside his neighborhood. away from the futility he faces everyday; the other wanting his son to stay at home, not leave behind his family to escape his own troubles, to bear with it, to fix it, in order to stay with his family and friends who care for him. There are numerous priceless moments in the film. The train rides Dito takes with his Irish friend Mike. The time he spent with his girlfriend Laurie (played by Melanie Diaz, and later by Rosario Dawson). The street-walking he enjoyed, and the gang-rivalry he faced with his friends (the priceless closing credits). Frank, the dog-walker with his obsession with Job from The Bible, and the the manner in which he tries to help Dito and Mike get out and in to the big city.

A Guide.. is a lesson, just like its name. It is a lesson in figuring out who the people in ones life truly matter. The name, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, instead of My. The film talks to you, teaches you things, making it beautiful. It is about love, family, loyalty, rivalry, friendship, knowing when to stay in, and when to get out, knowing who, in the end, you can trust. It is abandonment, and later going back, to realize the mistakes one made, the people who mattered. It is about coming of age, and realizing who one's real saints are.

One could stare out of a train window alone and watch the world flash past; or one could stare out of that same train window with someone, someone special, and talk about the world flashing past.
Sometimes the only way forward, is back.

Ghajini.

2009-01-10T18:27:00.010+05:30

(I would like to go on record and state that this is an informal review.)

Director A.R. Murugadoss's 2005 Tamil film Ghajini takes inspiration from Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed cult film, Memento; and George Cuckor's 1960 musical comedy, Let's Make Love. Director A.R. Murugadoss's 2008 Hindi film Ghajini takes inspiration from the same, and is also a direct Hindi retelling of his former, Tamil, Ghajini. Why remake a Tamil film in Hindi? And why make it as similar as possible to the Tamil inspiration? So much so, that even majority of the cast is the same. I'll tell you why. It is simply because the Tamil Ghajini was a runaway hit in Kollywood. Before continuing to read the rest of this review, I want the reader to take a deep breath and think again about reading this piece.

A.R. Murugadoss's Ghajini is a three hour film. It's story revolves around Sanjay Singhania (played by Aamir Khan), the chairman of Air Voice, a world-famous mobile phone company; his love at first sight, Kalpana (played by Asin, whose title magically remains unspoken throughout the entire length of the film. Yes, even on the news she is referred to as Miss Kalpana. By god, methinks she does not even have a last name); Ghajini Dharmatma (played by Pradeep Rawat), the man responsible for murdering Kalpana, and also for hitting Sanjay on his head with a steel pipe, causing him to suffer from anterograde amnesia.

A.R. Murugadoss' hindi film Ghajini, also stars Jiah Khan (from Ram Gopal Varma's Nishabd, remember? The one with the long face. Yes), playing the role of Sunita. Sunita is the innocent college girl who merely wants to study Sanjay Singhania's case, she has an accent (sometimes. Other times it magically disappears), she dances at the college programme, she is a third year medical student, and she entangles herself in (does not accidentaly get entagled in) the entire mess. Sunita also warns Ghajini, making him aware of Sanjay's desire to kill him. She also wants Ghajini not to mention her name if the need comes because 'mera college mein laphda ho jayega'. However, later, having smiled and awed at Sanjay's love story she decides to change sides and help Sanjay instead.

Does not make any sense? Don't worry, dear reader, it is not meant to make any sense whatsoever. Just like Kalpana's helping every person she finds on the road, making her the epitome of all goodness in the world, but left alone at a time of need, to be warned only by Constable Vaijyanti of the hospital (who does not seem to have the brains to call the police to aid the damsel in distress) that 'woh goonde apke murder plan kar rahe the. Aur woh aapke ghar mein chhupe hue hain', Ghajini ceases to mean anything. After a mere few minutes into the film, you simply don't care. How does no one recognize the chairman of a top mobile phone company? Why is the photograph we see of Sanjay on the computer CGI? Why does the villain not kill the witness of the crime when he has the chance to? Only a few tiny details the makers might have missed. Not very significant at all.

From start to finish, A.K. Murugadoss's hindi film Ghajini never makes any sense whatsoever. Straight from the police officer (played horribly by Riyaz Khan) taking the aid of the bus conductor who had written down the calculation of the ticket change on the tiny bus ticket (how did that bus ticket get there anyways? And under a cupboard too?), to him being set free from the confines of a cupboard after Heaven-knows-how-long, only to restlessly make his way to the fridge to drink some water (I mean, does he not need to go to the bathroom instead?). Then of course there is Ghajini himself. Why call the film Ghajini? The villain is not the main point of the story, nor is the person playing his part well. He does not deserve such importance. He is some kind of a doctor who is always surrounded by South Indian goons (He is South Indian himself too, I guess); he also knows who is actually trying to kill him but still he kills everyone who is actually not trying to kill him; and after Sanjay, single-handedly demolishes 30-odd goons of his without shedding a single drop of sweat, he calls out to him 'Aa gaya? Ab tu dekh. TU DEKH!' What's the point? Oh wait. There isn't one.

The part that Ghajini concentrates on is what the point is not. The love story of Sanjay and Kalpana is given almost half the screen time. So therefore, Ghajini is actually a love story. But wait. It is not. It's a revenge story. But wait. That can't be. Through most of the film Aamir acts like a madman, not a man who is seeking sweet revenge. That is something that Guy Pearce had calmly done in Memento. Oh yes, it seems A.K. Murugadoss had forgotten that little detail. One must not make the hero of the film insane for it does not help the viewer relate to his loss or whatever. Must remember your film studies classes, Mr. Director. All you seemed to be concerned about is recording the noise of shattering glass and steel pipes hitting human heads. Oh wait. You've made a blunder there too. The human head is not made of steel. So when you hit the human head with a steel pipe, the sound that is made is not tthang! That's the sound a steel pipe hitting another steel pipe makes. What happened, Mr. Director? Lost all your notes? Shame-shame.

The worst thing is, Ghajini is horribly miscast. No sympathies to the man playing Ghajini (he sucks. This is an informal review remember?). The role of Aamir Khan should have been played by Rajnikanth. Ghajini has Rajnikanth written all over it (A.R. Murugadoss is South Indian, I believe. So is everyone else in this film, I guess. Except the 'sometime' accent Miss Jiah Khan). You can just imagine Rajnikanth beating up all those goons, making there heads turn 180degress and walking ahead without a scratch, making his way to the main villain. Once there he goes 'Yanna Rascala. Mind it!' No offence to Aamir Khan. He has bulked up nicely for this role, but it just isn't him. It does not involve much acting. All he does is scream and shout and beat people up. Asin is given the duty of making the viewers laugh, which she does cheaply, speaking of things like cchaddi's and khujli. Plus she comes nowhere near to being as captivating as Anushka Sharma was in RNBDJ. Jiah Khan is just there, spilling over her cleavage, acting like the good girl who does not want any laphda, and dancing to some stupid song that goes lattoo lattoo lattoo. Main uspe aye la la la la.

One more thing. I do not get the reviews I have read of this film. The supposedly outstanding critics of Indian cinema have given this film 4 and 4.5 stars out of 5. In that case, films like Good Boy Bad Boy and Race and Tashan are our joy. Let us forget everything and send these films to the great Film Festivals of the world. Ghajini is the boiling point. It is three hours of torture. Even the songs aren't good enough, not to mention uncalled for. The best bit comes at the end, with a two minute panning of camera between Aamir and Asin, concluding with a beautiful shot of Aamir staring into a magically formed valley. It's pretty, and also, it's the end of the film. I simply cannot write anymore about this sorry excuse of a film without abusing. I'm sorry.

Must see. Just for how bad it is.
Highly recommended for people who are willing to pay for self-torture.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

2008-12-12T21:00:00.005+05:30

I paid 210 rupees to watch this film. And entering the theatre, I had no clue what to expect. I had seen just a few promos on television. I knew nothing about the storyline. Unlike other times, here was a film which I knew nothing about before watching it. I had heard the songs a few times. Never really paid attention to them. And as I stepped into the almost full house first day first show of Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi at Inox Swabhumi, I felt highly uncertain.

Rab Ne.. starts off with just random shots of Amritsar. The place where the whole story unfolds. As the opening credits appear on screen we are made familiar with an everyday morning in the city. People slowly starting to make their way to the Golden Temple, workers cleaning the streets, grandmothers making their way to their house roofs to worship the rising sun, vendors cleaning their carts for the day's business. It establishes a city waking up. In the midst of this bustle we are taken to the Amritsar train station where the focus is on a man deboarding a train. The man, probably in his early 30's, is dressed in a full-sleeved shirt buttoned up all the way to the wrists, plain trousers, and white running shoes. His hair is well-oiled and combed, he has a moustache which looks very well maintained. He wears plastic rimmed glasses. Your average middle-class working man. Behind him, a beautiful woman, much younger, wearing a beautiful red patiala. She sports an expression of uncertainty. It is assumed that they are married; a fact that we are made sure of a few scenes later. And so the story begins..

Rab Ne.. is, quite simply put, a love story. The simplicity of its story is clarified by its tag-line- 'There is an Extraordinary Love Story in every Ordinary Jodi'. Expect the unexpected, but not so much as to make the film an unsatisfactory watch. It could indeed be the story of an ordinary jodi. Firstly, what this film does not do is show something absolutely over the top. There are no outrageous and frustrating twists and turns. It is a very straightforward story. Very cutely constructed. The circumstances of the marriage between Shahrukh's character Surinder, and Anushka's character Taani are very believable. The instances that follow, are also the same. This is the story of an ordinary middle-class man who falls in love with a simple family girl. They get married the day after they meet each other for the first time, their marriage is the result of the sorry happenings of one day. What follows is a story involving a makeover, a dance competition, incidences of uncontrollable joy over a yellow tiffin carrier, and figuring out what love, really, is all about.

This is a film for the entire family to watch. Rab Ne.. is a love comedy/drama. It has most of the elements of your average Bollywood film. There is the song and dance routine, there is the melodrama, there is the action brought about by the word bitch, there is even time for some male bonding. For the entire two and half hours, its hard not to either smile or feel sad about the characters on screen. One thing it successfully establishes is characters. It centres around the characters and characters only, never giving way to unnecessary details.

Shahrukh Khan, playing the role of Surinder Sahni, our average middle-class working man; and also the role of Raj Kapoor (Yes, you heard that right. To know more you've got to watch the film), is a gem to watch. What he did in Om Shanti Om he does once again. He makes us laugh, and he makes us cry, telling us again why he is the Khan of the industry. He tackles both roles, one of Surinder, and the other of the flirty and flamboyant Raj, churning out one one-liners after the other, with absolute ease. The contrast between the two is amazing. One wearing the plain shirt, trouser and shoes; the other with the body hugging chain-around-the-neck t-shirt, designer jeans and cowboy boots.

Vinay Pathak is another gem in the cast, playing the role of Surinder's best friend Balwinder 'Bobby' Khosla. You will not believe the fact that it is actually him the first time you see him with his back turned to us, knocking on Surinder's front door. And then there is new-comer Anushka Sharma. Top model. And Rab Ne.. would not be what it is without her. She is a natural. A treat to watch. There is something about her smile that makes you want to smile. With every smile, she lights up the screen. She speaks with her eyes, those perfectly soothing stretched eyes. She has unbelievable screen presence. And the chemistry between her and Surinder, as well as her and Raj is perfect. One, where they sit at either end of a huge family table and have their dinner talking about how nice the food is; the other where they are going neck-and-neck in a golgappa eating competition. Even the chemistry between Shahrukh and Pathak is perfect. It is all about characters.

Rab Ne.. is also a film about moments. Small insignificant moments perhaps, but ones which mean the world to the characters. When Surinder discovers the small yellow tiffin carrier his wife has given him, filled with food she herself has cooked for him, his joy is uncontrollable. This is followed by one of the cutest song and dance routines of recent times. Haule Haule could be a short film by itself. With two excellently choreographed sequences within it, both amongst the hustle and bustle of busy Amritsar, this could be the story of a man exploding with joy about the fact that someone he loves has cooked a meal for him and packed it with love and care. There is also the small gesture of rubbing rang on his cheek in the same song. Then there is the song and dance of Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte. It will remind you of Dhoom Tana from Om Shanti Om, having the wordings and settings of famous hindi songs of old. Shahrukh Khan brings out comedy even when he is dancing. There are several other such instances, involving a sumo-wrestler or the Dhoom-like bike face-off, to name a few.

Taken without complications, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is still a love story. An Extraordinary story, about a very simple couple. Don't judge this film too much. It succeeds in being outrageously funny, very soothing and feel good, all at the same time. Rab Ne.. is all about feeling, realising, deciding, and most of all, about loving. It will make you sad, it will also make you as happy as Surinder was when he discovered the yellow tiffin carrier. Do not forget to stay for the closing credits. This is a very-very cute film.

SMILE :)

Mongol.

2008-12-10T16:40:00.000+05:30

When it comes to the historical epic, Hollywood has not had much of a successful run over the past few years. Big budget productions from directors like Wolfgang Petersen and Oliver Stone have left a bad gash on the historical epic genre. Leaving apart the historical accuracy of the films which could stir up elaborate debates by themselves; Troy was far from satisfactory, and Alexander was just plain sad. The only exception was Zack Snyder's beautifully stylized 300.

Mongol is an offering from Russian film-maker Sergei Bodrov known for his Academy Award nominated work Prisoners of the Mountains, nominated for the Best Foreign Film category. That perhaps is the only similarity between these two films of his. Mongol was nominated in the same category in 2007.

Mongol tells us the story of young Temudjin, of how he became the great Khan, Genghis Khan. The major part of the story is a telling of his early childhood and his growing up by Temudjin himself, now in captivity. Being a story of his growing up, most of the emphasis lies in lessons, learning the ways of life. To fear, to be brave, to defy, to make friends, and so on and so forth. The film shows us Temudjin's slow transformation from being the oppressed son of a Khan, awaiting death once he his found by his enemies who want the crown of Khan, to his becoming the great Khan himself.

The film's lead Tadanobu Asano, playing the role of Temudjin is considerably good. But the one deserving more credit is Sun Honglei who plays Jamukha, Temudjin's 'blood-brother' who became his enemy. Sun Honglei is a revelation. He commands attention with his screen presence. His role is a lesson in how to control the glare of the camera. Apart from some solid acting, the film has a brilliant background score, often haunting; and some top notch cinematography. The fight sequences are exceptionally well-made, and some of the landscape shots are beautiful. The camera tracking in the war sequences toward the end of the film deserve special mention.

Recalling Troy and Alexander, Mongol is a far superior film, from all angles. It shows everything it wants to in graphic detail in its mere two hour run-time. It has an extremely fast-flowing narrative which ensures that the viewers are never tired or bored of what is going on on-screen.

Mongol is only the first of a trilogy on Genghis Khan, and it is a very very good start to what promises to be an epic story. The second installment, The Great Khan is due out in 2010.

8.5/10.
Worth it.

Good Night, and Good Luck.

2008-12-08T23:30:00.001+05:30

At the present times, when the film and film-making in general has undergone such a drastic change that more often than not, a major portion of the viewers is accustomed to a film with either action, a lot of humor, exceptional chills, over-the-top stories, and so on and so forth. The very root of film-making seems to have been forgotten. The film, we must remember, is also an agent of communication. It puts forward a message. Good Night, and Good Luck is such a film.

As we hear David Strathairn's Edward R. Murrow speak, we are reminded of the positive points of what we call television. He asks the public not to underestimate or overlook the fact that television has a potential to inform and educate. Good Night, and Good Luck is basically a political drama, playing out an event that took place in the early 1950's in the Columbia Broadcasting System. The war of words between CBS' broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and Republican U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. It is more of a docu-drama with actual footages and dialogue from the happenings.

Directed by George Clooney, who also stars in the film, Good Night, and Good Luck is completely in black and white. It is exceptionally stylized. The repeated shots of Strathairn holding his cigarette, the light reflecting off his well-oiled hair, and his chiseled expressionless face; the glare he gives the viewers at the end of each broadcast, is the very point of the film. There is no added material here, no extra ingredients to spice up the events and modernize it, no effort to make it more appealing except for giving it the actual look and feel of the 50's. Almost the entire film is inside the CBS newsroom, or its adjacent offices. The music that occasionally plays in the background is more often than not a part of the diagesis, perhaps a jazz recording, or a broadcast in an adjacent room.

Then there is Edward Strathairn's performance. Flawless. His acting, more than anything else, takes us into understanding and realizing the consequences of the events that are taking place. The calm yet ruthless nature of him, the clarity with which he speaks in the broadcasts, is perfect. The supporting cast is also top notch with the likes of Frank Langella, Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson. Frank Langella is exceptionally brilliant in the sequence in his office with Clooney and Strathairn.

At ninety minutes, the acting and the stylization make the film a visual treat. It is however suggested that one be informed of the events that the film portrays beforehand. It is the mere representation of an event; without any explanation, any commentary, any justification whatsoever. The film never tries to be something it cannot. It is not meant to be an entertaining action-packed film. It's action lies in the play of dialogue between characters and the facts that the conversations eventually reveal. It is man against man. One trying to bring out the truth about the other. It is a debate. It is a fiery battle of words between two men. It is about one man who dared to tell the truth, and went to all ends to bring it out into the open. Good Night, and Good Luck is a detailed and accurate account of the feud between broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.

Dare.

An Inconvenient Truth.

2008-12-07T13:10:00.002+05:30

In 2004, the creators of the box-office hit Independence Day came out with another apocalyptic science-fiction film. Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow soon became one of the highest grossing films of all time. The crisis brought into account something that the entire world had been avoiding and hushing up for quite some time. Global warming, although indirectly, was finally being addressed to. Critics however did not much agree with the scientific accuracy of the film. Nonetheless, the destruction the film showed, opened eyes.

In 2006, came out a documentary on global warming. The piece was written by former United States Vice President Al Gore. An Inconvenient Truth was not merely a film on global warming. Not only did it address the entire topic at point blank, it also did not make the use of computer generated graphics to show us the crisis we were facing. Finally, the issue that the world might indeed be on the verge of chaos, the fault being our very own, was coming out into the open.

An Inconvenient Truth, apart from being an eye-opener by the time it ends, is also a film made with a lot of care. Just by looking at Al Gore throughout the entire screenplay, one notices the flawlessness with which he talks about the issues of rising CO2 levels and the state of the earth at the time of the last Ice Age. Even if The Day After Tomorrow was termed as scientifically inaccurate, it showed us things which, after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, one will realize were right. The known fact that students have learnt in school, about the temperature rising and the melting of the polar ice-caps resulting in a rise in sea-level, which eventually drowns low-lying areas, etc etc; is all true. All that and more. A particular sequence in the film shows us Al Gore commenting on satellite images of various low-lying areas of the world- The San Francisco Bay, the area around the rivers of Japan, the Bay of Bengal. Then comes the unexpected turn. The images that follow show us the state these places will be in in less than fifty years time given the continuation of dumping CO2 into the atmosphere at the present rate. The images are shocking, showing us the displacement of over 100million people all over the world. And that, speaking for itself, happens to be just the beginning.

When they marketed the film with taglines like 'Nothing is scarier than the truth' and 'By far the most terrifying film you will ever see' they actually meant it. An Inconvenient Truth beats any blood and gore slasher film when it comes to chills. The photographs of places on earth taken now and decades ago will shock you beyond belief. The change the earth has gone through in the last fifty years is more than the change it went through in the previous thousand. That itself is fact enough to make anyone realize the need for change, and the time at which the chance to act is running out. A very noticeable factor about the film's narrative is that Al Gore explains the entire progress of global warming, its consequences, etc etc; almost in layman's terms. More often than not he uses cartoons to explain the situation and bring it to life. The technique not only adds as a comic relief, but it also acts as a more effective explanatory technique ending with the realization of something dire. Making the truth all the more difficult to handle. It is a contrast that he uses to full effect.

An Inconvenient Truth also shares with us the life of Al Gore. One gets a very warm feeling listening to his story, right from the start. From where he lived, to how he grew up, and all for the purpose of showing us how much he wants us to care for his cause, how much he wants to see this world care about itself. It's very easily noticeable, how much effort the man himself has put into this project. The fact that the entire team have dedicated their heart and soul to this cause shows very clearly. This is not a film. This is a lesson. A lesson about the wrongs we have done to our planet, and the consequences we must face unless we rectify them. A lesson that everyone on the face of the earth should learn to see what Mother Earth is going through at the cost of our progress. It is time to face the music.

At the end of the film, contrasting the image of the Earthrise, which is perhaps the most influential environmental photograph ever taken, Gore talks about another photograph (the one above). It is a photograph taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft taken from a record distance of 6.4 billion kilometers away. Known as 'Pale Blue Dot', the image is exactly as its name tells us. It is the Earth, lost in the vastness of space, a small dot in the middle of nowhere. An insignificant speck on the face of the Universe..
Or is it?

Care.

Children Of Men.

2008-12-05T15:20:00.001+05:30

The closing credits of Children Of Men starts with the laughter of children, echoing a line spoken in the film itself - 'Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices'. That line itself sums up the shocking nature of the film. This is not make believe science fiction. This is not human beings turning into zombies due to some drug. This is the slow death of the human race. This is humanity which has not heard a child's voice in almost two decades. This is chaos. This is disorder. This is dystopia. And amidst all that, this is hope.

Children Of Men sports all the characteristics of an action-packed science fiction film with its outstandingly orchestrated long and drawn-out single-shot action sequences, it's grim setting, the hinted darkness which is present throughout the length of the film, the beautifully grim and dead and at the same time uplifting background score and soundtrack. It is all that, and it is more. Within, lies hope. Lies faith. Lies redemption. Woven together with spellbinding perfection by director Alfonso Cuaron, Children Of Men is an apocalyptic film that raises the bar for films of the genre.

Based on P.D.James' 1992 novel of the same name, Children Of Men is an extremely well-written and well choreographed piece of cinema. The screenplay, most of the credit for which goes to Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton is an absolute gem. Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography takes you to an entire different level in the art of film-making. The action sequences are brilliant. The picturisation, perfect. It is a relatively small film supporting an immense story. At an hour and forty four minutes, it never ceases to be jaw-dropping.

The year is 2027. It has been almost twenty years since the birth of the last human being. Starting of with the death of the youngest living human on earth, we are thrown into a world of turmoil. A world where human beings are grasping onto whatever hope they might have left. People are glued to the telecast airing the death of the youngest living human on earth. And hope, it seems, is fading away, ever so slowly. What Cuaron succeeds in doing at point blank is something we have already witnessed in some science fiction films of the decade. It is the same as what Spielberg did in The War of The Worlds, it is the same as what Abrams did in Cloverfield. We are tossed into the middle of a horrific crisis with no hope whatsoever of question or recovery. It takes us a few minutes to realize what exactly is going on. And therein lies the genius that makes this film brilliant.

The films boasts of some fine performances by Clive Owen and Michael Caine. Michael Caine, there for only a few sequences is a treat to watch. Oana Pellea, who plays Marichka the gypsy deserves special mention. She plays the character, who perhaps, gives you a feeling of hope. She cannot communicate much, yet she goes out of her way in order to help out as much as she can.

Children Of Men is simply a treat to watch. It is a film that will put you on the edge of your seat. It is a film that will get your heart racing. It will get you involved. There will be scenes that will shock you, scare you, awe you. And all to show you something even greater. Something even more important. You will feel the pain. You will feel the fear. You will feel the helplessness. You will feel the human race clawing for a grip at the edge of humanity. And at the end of it all, there will be hope.

Hope.

Pineapple Express.

2008-12-04T13:56:00.000+05:30

The red band trailer for Pineapple Express, released quite a few months back. I remember watching it and being addicted to it, and the song it featured. Paper Planes by M.I.A. Check out the trailer here. To put things straight right at the start.. Pineapple Express is an action comedy inspired by the buddy comedy genre, coming from the team of Apatow/Goldberg/Rogen. The ones who made Knocked Up and Superbad.

Carrying forward the touch and feel of their previous two films, Pineapple Express is quite simply a hilarious film. It is not really to be taken seriously at any point of time. But it has these moments every fifteen or twenty minutes that make you feel light, and heavy at the same time. After all, it is inspired by the buddy comedy. The remaining time, it is a film that is absolutely stoned. Stoned as in high. Yes, you heard me right.

The main story of Pineapple Express, if you can forget the characters for a moment (which you actually cant) revolves around a type of marijuana called the pineapple express. The consumption and/or use of marijuana. The feeling of being almost permanently high from its consumption. The selling of marijuana. The battle for remaining at the top of the list as the seller/producer of marijuana. Well, basically its about marijuana. That is, if you can leave out the characters for a while. Which you still cant. Simply because they have amazing screen presence and the acting is top notch, as is the dialogue.

Marijuana, added with witnessing a murder, added with a couple of outrageous misunderstandings and over-analysis of situations and people, a bunch of hilarious Asian commandos, shouts of fuck you mothafucka , a guy who is obsessed with going home for dinner, a black dude who has a little too much feeling, and a whole lot of other things which i cant categorize right now, forms Pineapple Express. James Franco is a marvel. He acts high throughout the entire length of the film. Perfectly. He slurs, obscures things. When asked 'how could they have found us?', he replies..
Heat seeking missiles, bloodhounds, foxes.
Barracudas.
Seth Rogen and Danny McBride are equally good. You will want to hear the sequence they have together in Red's bathroom over and over again. Just to try and make sense of it, with all the Buddhism. And they aren't even stoned in that sequence. And I quote..
Yeah, except if you're a dick your whole life, you're going to come back as shit. Or a slug or a fuckin' anal bead. But if you do something heroic, then you'll come back as like an eagle or a dragon, or fuckin' Jude Law. Now which would you rather be, an anal bead or a dragon?
And they're still following the laws of Buddhism..

Pineapple Express is a film with a lot of feeling. Just like Superbad, it has very nice, mellow background music. Especially in the sequence that comes after Dale and Saul get into the fight. It's just a marvellous sequence. Reminds you of the last sequence as well as the one in Evan's house in Superbad. Dont take this one too seriously. It is sweet. It is soul. Added with some Asian shouting Neeshi tikomotulya. aah! The response to which is Get out mothafucka!

8/10. Very very nice.

There Will Be Blood.

2008-11-30T09:22:00.000+05:30

There Will Be Blood is visionary director Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. Set in the early 1900's, it tells the story of a man's ruthless quest for power and wealth during Southern California's oil boom. It was nominated for eight, and won two Academy Awards.

There Will Be Blood is, simply put, a powerhouse lasting two and a half hours. By the time it ends, one cannot help but be awed at what has gone on on-screen. Daniel Day Lewis, known for churning out the greatest performances by any present day actor, is at his vicious best. After roles like that of Christy Brown in My Left Foot, and Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting in Gangs of New York, he is back, and with more to offer. It is a treat simply watching him on screen. He is credited for being the most selective actor around, and for good reason.

Expect P.T.Anderson's best work till date as well. Topping masterpieces such as Magnolia and Boogie Nights is not an easy job. So we would think. There Will Be Blood is a whole new arena to what Anderson can do as a screenplay writer. Certain sequences in this gem of a film stand out as particularly magnificent. The background score played during the derrick fire sequence is beyond description. It is a few minutes of perfection. Haunting. Expect to go wide-eyed. The cinematography top notch. The rythm and motion, in perfect harmony.

There Will Be Blood is a story about ambition. Greed. Hatred. About a man who is so self absorbed that he cannot imagine anything apart from what he wants. And he does everything he possibly can to get it. The shock of what the film shows is stays for a while after one has seen it. Not merely because of the actions it shows us, more because of the ways and the circumstances in which the actions have been performed. From greed. From whim. From madness. Daniel Day Lewis' Daniel Plainview is such a man. And his performance puts forward to us as much of him as it possibly can. It is simply shocking.

The character of Eli, portrayed by Paul Dano, deserves special mention. Especially for the way it all comes out in the last 20minutes of the film. Another brilliant sequence there. Paul Dano does marvellously to keep up with Lewis in this particular sequence in the film. It is hard to believe that anyone of his age can stand up to Lewis in so powerful a sequence. The last 20minutes of the film will leave you speechless. It is a lesson in acting and cinematography, in editing and sound mixing. It is a film in itself. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece that deserves a lot more respect and credit than it has recieved.

And I quote Daniel Plainview from the scrumptious final sequence :
Did you think your song and dance and your superstition would help you, Eli?
I am the Third Revelation!
I am who the Lord has chosen!

There Will Be Greed.
There Will Be Vengeance.
There Will Be Blood.

Flat-out masterpice.

Quantum Of Solace.

2008-11-29T22:26:00.001+05:30

After all the success and box office smash of a relaunch to the Bond Franchise, Quantum Of Solace comes in with low expectations, the smallest run-time for a Bond film, an absolutely new and original script, a name suggested by none other than the star of the show himself, and a truckload of critics waiting to write it off as 'just another Bond film which could not live up to it's former'.

Michael G. WIlson's plot and Marc Foster's direction creates an all new Bond. All over again. If Casino Royale re-invented James Bond, as a character. Quantum Of Solace redefines him as a human being. Once again, we must bear in mind the Bond of the old days. One who has a License To Kill, is devoid of all emotion whatsoever, who has gadgets coming out of his toes, who lives the sweet life, and one who is never to be harmed. Well, here, Bond is already, as Mathieu Amalric's slithery Dominic Greene puts it, 'damaged goods'. As is his new partner, Olga Kurylenko's Camille Montes; with a scarred back (very noticeable. believe me!). They both put themselves through danger for very much the same reason. They are merely different people.

For more firsts.. Quantum Of Solace happens to be a direct continuation of Casino Royale, kicking off minutes after where the previous left us. It is not written by Ian Fleming. The script, the work of Michael G. WIlson. The name, inspired by the title of a short story from For Your Eyes Only.

The song for this one, Another Way To Die, performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, is decent. Definitely has a better feel to it in the opening credits rather than in the original video. And similar to Casino Royale, it is the tune that runs through the length of the film. The film is an hour and forty six minutes of edge of the seat stuff. It hardly lets you breathe. The direction, bearing in mind the amount of action it has, is of the highest quality. Quantum Of Solace is, if truth be told, a solid action entertainer. Don't think about Casino Royale while or before or even after watching it. Don't compare. Never compare. Standing alone, Quantum Of Solace is a good film. It is a follow up. The lies, the betrayal, the hatred, the wounds, everything from the previous, gets carried into this one. Whatever happens, happens because of whatever has already taken place before. I recall something I've been taught in film studies class - Cause and effect. Direct relation.

Daniel Craig, I repeat, is still the perfect Bond. After this, it seems more like he was born to play James Bond. The ice-cold blue eyes, the fear-anger-hatred he portrays with them, his sheer physicality, the dialogue delivered as calmly as possibly, the expressionless face - it's all in the eyes. Craig, till Casino Royale came along, is the Bond we never had (all due respect to Sir Sean Connery). Mathieu Amalric is the bad-guy who wouldn't have been had they still been following the old norms of Bond. Much like Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre. He is perfectly slithery. Olga Kurylenko has that fineness in her too. Almost like she was made to play Camille. She's brutal, cold in her own way. Yet she too is vulnerable. She too happens to be damaged goods searching for revenge.

You lost someone?
Find whoever who did it?
Let me know when you do.
I'd like to know how it feels.

With Quantum Of Solace, to James Bond, is added more feeling. More emotion. More brutality. More reality. And the people who undertook this uncertain venture have definitely gone all out in trying to successfuly reboot the Franchise. Quantum Of Solace is a good sequel to an even better film.

8/10. It still is Daniel Craig's party.

Stranger than Fiction.

2008-10-20T09:46:00.003+05:30

Stranger than Fiction is a 2006 dramedy film directed by Marc Forster, also known for directing films such as Monsters Ball, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner, and the upcoming Quantum of Solace. It is written by Zach Helm. It stars the extra-ordinary talent of Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Queen Latifah.

As the narrative states early on in the film, Will Ferrell's character, Harold Crick, is all about numbers; and this story, is about him and his wristwatch. The weird intervenes when Harold starts hearing the voice of the narrator in his head, narrating his every move. All this, unknown to the narrator herself. The concept is taken from Miguel de Unamuno's Spanish novel, Niebla. However, Zach Helm's screenplay is extremely well written, perhaps worthy of much more praise than it got. There are numerous double-meaning references in the film which one would probably miss at first viewing. Stranger than Fiction is a film which demands numerous viewings to spot out any flaws. The film is so perfectly made than one could often find oneself looking for flaws in it, which aren't there at all.

Will Ferrell has never been better. His role as the suddenly frustrated man who many think has gone nuts because of the intervention of that voice in his head, is brilliant. Then there are Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, who seem to have been miscast, but a few seconds into their roles, the roles seem made for them. They own their characters. Like I said before, everything in this film seems too perfect, and also, too simple. There is also a very cute, nice chemistry between Ferrell and co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal. Every one of the characters seem to share a beautiful chemistry between them.

Stranger than Fiction lies in the league of films like The Truman Show, Fincher's Zodiac; all amazing in their own way, but simply not for everyone. Hence their underrated-ness. This, remember, is a story about a man named Harold Crick, and his wristwatch.

8.5/10. Loved it.

A Wednesday.

2008-10-12T16:14:00.002+05:30

A Wednesday is a film about an idea. The idea of one man. An idea by one who can make a difference. And it is about what that one idea can accomplish. It is directed by Neeraj Pandey and was released by UTV Spotboy Productions. It stars Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Amir Bashir, and Deepal Shaw.

The script of A Wednesday is extremely well written, as is the screenplay. Sanjoy Chowdhury's background score is gripping, as is Fuwad Khan's cinematography. With numerous uncanny camera angles and slow motion shots with involving background music, A Wednesday is technically brilliant. The acting could not have been better. Naseeruddin Shah is a revelation, as is Jimmy Shergill. Anupam Kher also does a good job. The fact that the characters are absolutely involved in the situation makes it more of a treat to watch. The flow of dialogue and human emotions is perfect.

A Wednesday is Neeraj Pandey's vision portrayed to perfection by Naseeruddin Shah. There isn't a moment throughout the two hour film when you will not be involved. There isn't even time for you to look away. It's thrilling, keeping you on the edge of your seat, from start till end. It will get you thinking. It will shock you. You will be awed, and you will thank yourself for seeing this film. It's only that good.

9/10.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan.

2008-10-10T16:07:00.002+05:30

You Don't Mess With The Zohan is a 2008 comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It was co-produced and co-written by Adam Sandler, who also stars in the lead. Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, produced the film; and it was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

With it's fake accents, elaborate storyline, in-your-face dialogue; You Don't Mess With The Zohan is solid-entertainment. It pulls jokes at the most unusual things, in the most unusual ways, at the most unusual times. It is satire of the most raw kind. Straight from the acting - Presenting: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Rob Schneider, Michael Buffer; and cameos by Henry Winkler, Mariah Carey, Kevin James, and John McEnroe; Zohan is a fun ride with moments which can make your tummy ache with laughter.

Negatives come in the form of it's running time- almost two hours, a tad too long. But remembering certain sequences makes it feel worth it. The background score, with a host of middle-eastern tracks, is highly engaging. With everything from hair-dressing to fast-food outlets, from shoe-selling dreams to fake breats; Zohan has a numerous laugh out loud things on offer.

6/10. Yes, John McEnroe has a cameo in it. Believe it!

Welcome To Sajjanpur.

2008-09-28T20:36:00.001+05:30

Welcome To Sajjanpur comes from visionary director Shyam Benegal. It stars Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao, Ravi Kishan, Ila Arun and a whole host of others. Benegal, popularly known for his parallel films, with Welcome To Sajjanpur, shifts to a comedy/parallel film. The touch of realism/naturalism in terms of social and political conditions is unmistakeable in this film, and more often than not, it is the base of it's happenings.

The most flashy thing in Welcome To Sajjanpur comes even before it's opening credits. The UTV Spot Boy banner. From then on, everything about the film is primitive. It's setting. 'Some' village which was once called 'Durjan'pur, but was renamed by Nehru himself to Sajjanpur. It's people. Mostly uneducated. There is a man who portrays a doctor in the film, but he appears in a grand total of one scene. There are the numerous bai's and mausi's, and Ramsingh's and Ramkumar's (among the numerous Ram's whom the narrator speaks of in the introduction, while brushing his teeth with a twig). The comes in the superstitions. I shall only speak of the one that says a girl must get married to a 'kukur' (yes, a dog) because she is, well, unlucky (or whatever one calls it when translated into primitive, religious hindi. Then comes the political state of things. It's election time. There is a eunuch (acted brilliantly by Ravi Jhankal) running for it, along with your gang of gangster-type people who roam about on motorcycles with their 'mamaji's' sitting behind them, carrying a rifle. Etcetera etcetera..

Shreyas Talpade does well as the film's lead. The narrative, always having a comedic spark to it, does not dissapoint. The acting is top class. Ila Arun, Yashpal Sharma and Ravi Jhankal are priceless. Also the man who plays the Subedar (damn, i forgot his name). The songs are mediocre. Bheeni bheeni's picturisation is done very well, with what one can only call a dream sequence. Aadmi azad hain acts as the revolutionary (comedy) song, as does Munni ki baari (yes, it was sung after Jhankal's Munni bai won in the election). Kunal Kapoor makes a nice guest appearance.

You wouldn't miss anything if you do not see Welcome To Sajjanpur. It's a decent watch though, which introduces you to certain bits and pieces of primitive Indian thought and action. 6/10.

The Kite Runner.

2008-09-14T19:18:00.004+05:30

The Kite Runner is a film based on Khaled Hosseini's bestselling novel of the same name. It is directed by Marc Foster, and was adapted for the screen by David Benioff. Most of the film's dialogue is in Persian Dari, with subtitles for the regional language. English is also used in the film. It was nominated for an Oscar for Alberto Iglesias's background score.

The Kite Runner is, simply put, a very good book to screen adaptation. It is so predominantly because of the engaging background score which switches comfortably between Middle-Eastern music and Spanish music. Most of the songs are not in English, and the one that is, is sung by a native. The cinematography is decent, never letting one take ones eyes off the screen. The sequences of the kite-flying tournament are particularly well done. The film is never raw in it's depictions of certain political situations. It is frank. Precise.

Marc Foster, better known for directing Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland, captures moments very efficiently. The actors are all very good, which makes the film all the more fun to watch. Khalid Abdalia, who has previously starred in United 93, is of special mention here. He plays the role of Amir as an adult. The Kite Runner is worth a watch. By the time it ends, a soft smile is guaranteed.

7/10.

Wanted.

2008-08-31T20:44:00.004+05:30

Wanted is a loose adaptation of Mark Millar's comic-book mini series of the same name. It is directed by Timur Bekmambetov who is better known for directing the Russian blockbusters, Nochnoy Dozor (Night Watch), and Dnevnoi Dozor (Day Watch). It stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.

The story revolves around a 1000 year old organization of assasins who are gifted with superhuman killing abilities, and young Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) in general. The first noticeable element of Wanted are its flashy visuals. The film itself is quite ragtag in nature. James McAvoy's narration, which is actually quite good, never gives you any time to think at first. Right from the start, one is thrown into a series of disjointed events. It actually takes a while to settle down and figure out what exactly is going on. The visuals are downright flashy and outrageous. Fun, awing, magnificent. The acting, with the exception of James McAvoy's lead, is passable.

Wanted is not a film for everyone. It is a film which certain audiences will love, and some others hate. It mostly supports itself on popular graphic novel to celluloid adaptation elements; such as the narration, which is often angry and often calming, it also has the ability to make you think a little. Then there are the obvious comic elements. A lot of comedy. One scene in particular got me into splits. 'Iii'm Sorrryyy', he says, in slow motion, while putting a bullet through a man's chest from his car's sunroof. Yes, in Wanted, expect the unexpected, and you might just enjoy it.

6.5/10. James McAvoy is good. Very-very good!

I Am Legend.

2008-08-31T20:22:00.003+05:30

I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. It is the book's third celluloid adaptation. The film stars Will Smith and comes from director Francis Lawrence who earlier directed Constantine.

I Am Legend is a futuristic film which is dependent on basically two things : Will Smith, and stunning visuals. The later succeeds in grabbing one's attention to an extent. The visuals of a 2012 Manhattan; empty, deserted, abandoned completely after the spread of a deadly man-made virus, are truly something to marvel at. However, if one remembers, this is nothing new. We have already seen such images in Danny Boyle's earlier film which revolves around a similar story, 28 Days Later. The only difference is that the setting there was London. The let-down here is that the film is a little too dependent on the visual effects. Even the zombies here are CGI as opposed to what they were in 28 Days Later. After a point of time, it no longer seems interesting anymore. There are just two sequences that are actually scary throughout the 100minute film.

However, the marvelous thing about I Am Legend are not the visuals, it is Will Smith. The actor shoulders just about everything on his own. It is entirely upto him to keep us involved, to keep us interested. And therein lies the savior of I Am Legend. The film itself might not prove to be much of a legend, but the individual who shoulders just about every second of the film is. Will Smith is The Man. He, singlehandedly, makes I Am Legend what it is. He makes you care. For him, for his pet dog, for his remaining cans of food, for his mental state, everything. The ending of the film was a bit of a let-down, as was the background score. Then again, maybe I was expecting a little too much. It loses out to 28 Days Later when it comes to being a solid post-apocalyptic film with zombies, but it still is quite a good watch.

6.5/10. All for Will Smith.

Rock On!!

2008-08-31T13:56:00.001+05:30

Rock On!! is Abhishek Kapoor's second directorial venture. This one with Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the masterminds behind Dil Chahta, Lakshya and Don. It also marks the acting/singing debut of Farhan Akhtar. There are also a few not-so-familiar and ok-average actors in Rock On!!. With music from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and lyrics from Javed Akhtar, Rock On!! reaches high, and clutches the stardom which it's characters dreamt of.

Rock On!!, with it's first promos seemed like it could be one more of those wannabe rock-star films. But the very thought of it being Farhan Akhtar's production and his launch as an actor/singer, and the introducion of the title track borrowing the main theme of Lakshya, pretty much took away the whole concept of a wannabe film. Right from the opening sequence which shows us a band performance in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, till the time when the closing credits start rolling, Rock On!! is a star in it's own right.

The whole feeling of the film just feels right. It's almost a kind of tribute to rock bands down the ages in it's own special way. It even puts in bits of the situation that is prevailing in India, where rock bands are mostly recognised by their lead singer (Read : Euphoria). The story is simple enough.. A couple of friends had a small rock band. They got separated from each other due to a nasty incident of clash of egos and personal desires at what could have been the launching of their career. Years later, they lead lives different from what they could have been like had the mishap not taken place. Then comes the re-introduction, the make-up, the flecks of vintage Bollywood, and voila.. Rock On!!

After watching the film, one almost feels a bit dazed. Sometimes, it almost seems like it tries to achieve what Dil Chahta Hai succeeded in grasping almost 7years ago. Given the fact that it is quite shorter than Dil Chahta Hai, and it goes a little less brutally on its characters, Rock On!! too succeeds, in a way; for it never really tries to hit at deep friendship and it's separation and re-uniting. It, more importantly, stresses on togetherness, personal aspirations, and moving on. This is something that is clearly clarrified by the inter-titles before the closing credits. Rock On!! never tries to be something it cannot be, or take us somewhere it cannot go. It remains on the ground throughout. There are no big arguments here, there are no cheesy break-ups or make-ups. It is all very-very personal. It beats, tortures, but eventually sets free it's characters.

Supporting all that is a brilliant set of actors, some wonderful music, and off-the-chart stunning cinematography. Most of the character shots which create tension between characters are never concentrated on the characters directly. A very efficient replacement is used in it's stead. Reflections. There are instances of magic in between (The photo-shoot session in the empty pool, the Goa trip, the jeep rides and and most noticeable - the basement jam sessions, and the concerts). The background score always goes back to a theme which started the film, and it keeps coming back. As far as the songs are concerned, asking for better is madness. The title track is not a strong rock song simply because it comes about in the film in not so raw a moment. It does not show the band performing the title track at any concert. It's a collection of flashback images that go on with Rock On. What it does not do, another song conquers.. Pichhle saath dino mein. It's a great track. The pick of the lot with ease. Then there are modern-day partial-rock versions of old hindi songs which are absolutely hilarious. Adding a considerable amount of heart are Tum ho toh, and Phir dekhiye.

The casting is perfect. At first Arjun Rampal seems to be in the wrong place, but by the time he lets loose his emotions (and also his hair), you know why he is so perfect for the role. Purab Kohli makes a great transformation, as does everyone else actually. But his is the most noticeable. From absolutely raw to simple. Kohli has a lot of jokes (some good, some really-really bad, but kind of funny), which establish him as the goof-ball of the lot. Luke Kenny efficiently plays who turns out to be the central character of the story. Prachi Desai is a revelation, as is Shahana Goswami as the insecure and all family-caring wife. Then comes Farhan Akhtar. You never get the feeling that it's his debut. He seems to have been doing this for years. His acting/singing seems to be something that he had wrapped up in a cloth and stored safely away in a box for all these years - For this. For exactly this film. I do not know when the concept/script for this film came along, but it totally changes Farhan Akhtar's career. The man can sing rock tracks very very well.

Rock On!! never feels like a 150minute film. It is extremely fast paced owing to it's refreshing technique and take. The whole rock music concept acts as a mere connection between the characters, yet it is crucial. It adds the flavour. It could as well have been four friends working as partners in a business, just the flavour would have been different. The essential rock music aspect, missing. Therein lies the secret to the success of this film. Therein lies the reason why it gets you. Watch this. It is very very interesting.

9/10. Rock On, gentlemen. Rock On!!

The Ruins.

2008-08-24T13:43:00.003+05:30

The Ruins is a psychological horror/thriller film based on Scott Smith's bestselling novel, and directed by Carter Smith. Scott Smith is best known for his novel A Simple Plan, his screen adaptation of which earned him an Oscar nomination in 1998. He has also written the screenplay for this film. The film stars Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey and Joe Anderson.

Unlike the new age slasher films that come out of Hollywood in the name of horror/thriller these days, The Ruins differs. It will not disappoint fans and critics of the psychological thriller genre. It does not switch gears to become a slasher film. Like what D.J.Caruso did with Disturbia last year, Carter Smith does even better with The Ruins. Disturbia's shift to a slasher film was a huge let-down by the time the closing credits rolled. The Ruins stands out because of its independent nature. It does not depend on blood and gore to make you feel queasy. It plays with your head, your views. It churns your insides by showing you fear and pain instead of spilled guts and decapitated heads. The sounds, the silent breathtaking visuals, the close-ups; are the elements that make the Ruins work. The tension that it succeeds in creating halfway through the film never backs out. It remains throughout.

The Ruins is a simple film, with a simple story. There aren't any digressions in it. It's all given to you straight. Take it, or leave it. The viewers are thrown smack in the middle of the situation. The popular nature of the film becomes evident after the introduction of the main characters themselves. A few 20 something's on vacation. There is nothing new in The Ruins when it comes to setting or characters, it's the technique that makes it stand out. It delves as deep as possible into the human mind as it can within its 93minute running time.

Loved it. Love the song in the closing credits (Phenomena by Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
8/10!

Sleepy Hollow.

2008-08-24T11:52:00.004+05:30

Sleepy Hollow is a period horror film released in 1999 and marks the third collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. After making Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, the teaming of Burton and Depp has become one that works wonders. Loosely based on Washington Irwing's story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the film takes the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman one step further.

The first thing about Sleepy Hollow is it's elaborate, haunting and eerie set design. Tim Burton is best known for giving an eerie turn on everything he makes (Recall : Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yet another Depp/Burton film). Sleepy Hollow already had elements of horror in it, Burton's task was to make it worth remembering. The use of fairytale music is prevalent in this film. Indeed a lot of its background score comprises the music from a music box or a doll house. The setting is silent, yet it screams. The town of Sleepy Hollow is always covered in fog. The woods are silent apart from the occasional brush of leaves underfoot. However, the excessive use of blood, like in his later Sweeney Todd is required to make the film what it is for the crisis comes from someone who does not have a head and who excels in chopping off others'. The horrific image of the witch, the sight of dead eyes through the floorboard, a sarcophagus spilling out its contents; these are what make Sleepy Hollow a work of art. The tree of the dead, with blood dripping from its roots uncovering what is hidden within its trunk will make one squirm in the seat. The cinematography is worthy of praise.

Acting in the film is top notch. Everyone convincingly plays scared, and even tries to be a hero. None more so than Johnny Depp. One can understand his situation when he hides behind his blanket in bed and says,'It was a horseman, a dead one. Headless!' The flashbacks of Ichabod Crane are done marvelously. The echoes and imagery in those particular sequences are outstanding. Sleepy Hollow is probably the finest piece of cinema Tim Burton has made to date.

9/10. Watch it alone, at night. The Horseman cometh.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

2008-08-14T22:18:00.002+05:30

Forgetting Sarah Marshall comes from breakthrough producer Judd Apatow. Directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by and starring Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the latest offering from Team Apatow after the success of 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad.

The film, very delicately and realistically deals with the period of post break-up. It also sheds light on celebrity/part-celebrity relationships. Containing a huge amount of situational as well as slapstick humor added with a hilarious performance from Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is another success story in the book of Apatow. The fact that men are as emotionally involved in a relationship as women are is clearly shown in this film. It is more reality than fiction. The fame aspect added in by the character of Kristen Bell brings in the slapstick humor. The characters are all perfect in their roles. Russel Brand and Jonah Hill are two very important pieces of this jigsaw puzzle. Mila Kunis is plain cute.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is just a good time at the movies. No real complications here, just a simple story of a highly complex situation, well told. It's wonderful how Team Apatow just come up with these films. It's getting impossible to think of comedy without them now..

8/10! Love the Rock Opera on Dracula..

The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

2008-08-02T19:20:00.006+05:30

The Mummy : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor arrives in theatres right at the end of Hollywood's 2008 Summer Blockbuster Season. The film is directed by Rob Cohen better known for making XXX, Dragonheart and The Fast and the Furious. Stephen Sommers who directed the previous two Mummy films, produces this one.

The good thing about the film is that it brings back Brendan Frasier in the lead, as Rick O'Connell. If you have seen the first two films, you will know why it is so crucial that he plays the lead role. He is the landmark in a Mummy film when it comes to comedy, timing, expressions, everything. Rachel Weisz makes way for the flat, but funny and expressive Maria Bello. John Hannah as Jonathan is once again a treat to watch. We have a new mummy. An Asian mummy - Jet Li plays Emperor Han, with style! He singlehandedly leads through the film. There's just something about Jet Li that makes me pay attention to his every move. Whether it was The One or Cradle to the Grave or Fearless, Jet Li is amazing. That being said, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor lacks the urgency that the first two Mummy films had. The special effects are not as good as the previous ones. The cast additions, namely Michelle Yeoh, never really impress. The one hour and 45 minute film doesn't seem that long, solely because it fails to get you involved. The narrative is a huge let-down.

However, given the fact that it is a Mummy film, it is fairly enjoyable, although the first one is the best of the series, then the second and now this. They leave us with the promise of a fourth installment, which I will most definitely watch because anything to do with mummies is fun! Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is B-grade stuff, and the makers probably knew that when they made it. It is harmless fun, with a lot of bad jokes at the wrong time. Then again, that is what makes a Mummy film so special. Definitely worth a watch, especially if you liked the previous two.

6/10. Next up - Peruvian mummies. Hoorah!

The Dark Knight.

2008-07-22T07:20:00.000+05:30

After months of waiting, and one of the most aggressive viral marketing campaigns ever seen, The Dark Knight is finally here. With the tag of 'most awaited film of the year', The Dark Knight has so much expectation on its shoulders that one wonders whether it indeed will suffice, or disappoint. The Dark Knight is not merely a comic book to celluloid adaptation. It is not merely a superhero movie. It is not merely about a masked crusader killing the bad guys. It delves deeply into human nature. It shows us the tolerance of the soul to the limit of choking.

Gotham's need for a hero is glorified in this film. And so is it's hate for that same hero. A masked hero is not a hero at all. He is more like a vigilante who is to be arrested on sight. For it is he who has brought darkness upon them. Hence, they await a 'White Knight'. One who does not need to hide his face from the people. One whose identity is known by all and sundry. One who fears nothing. We find ourselves witnessing sacrifice. Then again, it isn't merely the sacrifice of a person, or even many, for the sake of something good in the end. It is the sacrifice of oneself.

The genius of Christopher Nolan brings to us the sequel of Batman Begins, a revamp to the entire saga of Batman on screen. A film that changed the way the entire world looked at comic book superheroes. The Dark Knight succeeds in taking it not just one, but a couple of steps further. Christian Bale's hoarse voice is still the same under that black mask. He still fights all his battles with his hands. Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is not just terrifying or shocking, it is beyond belief. That voice, that walk, that laugh! It is nothing short of haunting. Then there is Aaron Eckart, playing Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent, who is just as good. Everyone in this film is spot on. Everything about it is a revelation.

It's two and a half hours long. The dialogue is gripping. It is absolutely magnificent seeing something like this on the big screen. The entire concept of Batman wanting to go back to becoming Bruce Wayne and be done with his superhero days, and how he tries to achieve that by glorifying Harvey Dent, the DA of Gotham City, goes deep into the character of Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is, after all, only human. The character of The Joker, his want to give Gotham a 'better class of criminal', to prove that 'when the chips are down, civilized people will eat each other' shows us an entire different side of the common people. It is one that contrasts the entire 'we will throw garbage at the bad guy for hitting Spiderman theory.

Indeed, The Joker is perhaps the most complex villain created in comic book history and giving him a simple 'bad guy' tag would not be doing justice to him (Read: Venom from Spiderman 3. Horrible. Absolutely excrutiating!). The wonders they have done with him is unbelievable. He robs millions of dollars only to burn it. He is indeed a man one 'does not understand'. He is one who 'just want to watch the world burn'. The film is a work of art, often obscure. The sequences have been made with the utmost attention to detail, the last 45minutes being absolutely outstanding.

There are probably a million other things I could write about, but I would probably be giving away the story, so I shall refrain. The Dark Knight is one HUGE film. It perhaps might even be one of those few summer films that make it till the Oscars. It should. It will break box office records, and it will create new ones. The Dark Knight is destined for superstardom, and that is indeed what it shall get.

Outstanding!

Kung Fu Panda.

2008-07-13T20:01:00.004+05:30

Kung Fu Panda is Dreamworks' latest animation flick. It features the voice talents of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan. The film has an absolutely amazing opening dream sequence with some off-the-chart hand-drawn animation. It reminded me of Samurai Jack, a cartoon series. The sequence, made to resemble shadow puppetry could as well be published as a comic book.

Simply put, Kung Fu Panda is a brilliant animation film. Using China and the art of Kung Fu as its backdrop, it resembles stories that one would expect to hear in Chinese Mythology. The storyline is serious in nature, yet it is never stupid. The entire Panda thing is what makes it an animation-comedy. I loved the character of Tai Lung, the would-be Dragon Warrior gone wrong. Same with all the others. The emotions portrayed by the characters are very human. Those of rage, the search for limitless power, glory; they seem almost too well done.

The Kung Fu fight sequences, Tai Lung's prison escape, the entire Chinese look and feel of the film, everything seems to have been made with immense attention to detail. The slow-motion scenes are hilarious, and also scary when they need to be. The dialogue is terrific, so is the background score. I'm finding it very difficult to find anything wrong with this film. Kung Fu Panda is a film that strikes a chord for it's message. Recalling Tennyson's Ulysses ~ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Watch this with the entire family. LET THE PANDA-MONIUM BEGIN!

10/10!

Hancock.

2008-07-13T19:13:00.003+05:30

Continuing Hollywood's run of Summer Blockbusters for this year, Hancock is a brand new superhero film. It is not adapted from a comic book, but an original story written by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan. Directed by Peter Berg; the director of Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom, both of which are outstanding movies; and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman, Hancock delves deep into a superhero who simply 'doesn't give a shit'.

Hancock wears a ski-cap with an eagle knitted on it, humongous shades; he hardly shaves, he drinks throughout the day, and his abusive skills are good enough to win a competition. And like I quoted ~ He simply does not give a shit. Kids abuse him, the city hates him for all the damage he causes (Read: hang a SUV from the top of the tower of a multi-storied building, derail a whole train to save one individual, etc etc), yet he is the only one of his kind. He 'gets the job done', although clumsily. He is, what one would call, a superhero needing a serious makeover (In every aspect!). In comes Jason Bateman, a public resources spokesperson, rescued by Hancock, who decides to help him successfully change his public image.

The first thing about a Peter Berg movie is style ~ The way the film is hot. Second is the background score ~ with very engaging music. Hancock falls short in both spheres. However, what it misses there, it makes up for with it's witty dialogue and great comedy. Hancock, if truth be told is a comedy film, tackled with the utmost care. Timing is almost perfect. Will Smith, once again, like he did in I Am Legend, singlehandedly shoulders most of the screen time flawlessly (Amazingly close close-ups, done brilliantly!). He smiles once throughout the entire duration of the film. Some painful, yet funny sequences (A man's head up another man's, erm, behind. The girl sitting next to me went 'Oh shit' and covered her eyes), and good special effects make the film visually quite good, though below par. The film suffers from the absence of a central villain, but succeeds in creating a new superhero with a very solid background storyline. He has strengths, and he also has weaknesses. It's short - barely 90minutes, and it makes for a great launching of a new superhero franchise..

6.5/10. I want a sequel!

King Kong.

2008-07-06T08:40:00.001+05:30

King Kong is a 2005 Academy Award winning film directed by the visionary Peter Jackson and starring Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody and Jack Black. Andy Serkis, who played the role of Gollum in the Lord of The Rings, through motion capture, plays Kong. King Kong won Oscars for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing. The film is a remake of the 1933 classic.

Peter Jackson's King Kong is one of my all-time favorite movies. Fresh from the success of The Lord of The Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson picked up this project.. and he did wonders with it. At a screaming three hours and twenty minutes, the Director's Cut edition is a treat to watch. You don't get a seconds rest throughout the length of the film. Jack Black gives the performance of a lifetime. His portrayal of an obsessive film-maker, Carl Denham, is Oscar worthy! It's a shame he didn't get one for it. It truly is a gem of a performance. The film itself is a marvel. With visual effects that make ones mouth hang open and with sound that makes one jump up in their seat, King Kong is, technically, mind-blowing! The sequences of the SS Venture moving into the fog, the first coming of Kong, his showdown with three Tyrannosaurs, his rampage through New York City, and numerous other sequences are simply unbelievable to witness. King Kong requires a giant screen and surround sound for one to get absolutely involved in the film. After that.. Prepare yourself for 220minutes of outstanding film-making.

King Kong too is one of those grossly under-rated movies. It is one of those films that you have to see to believe, and see you must! The tribute it pays to its previous versions, or the new age of visual amazement that it brings, Peter Jackson's King Kong gave me a feeling of intense satisfaction after I saw it. It was much much more than I had ever expected it to be. Just an amazing piece of cinema!

10/10! One day, it will become a classic.

Superman Returns.

2008-07-06T08:29:00.000+05:30

Superman Returns is a 2006 film directed by the critically acclaimed Bryan Singer. Singer, best known for his work on The Usual Suspects and The first two X-Men movies, co-wrote the screenplay for the relaunch of the Superman franchise. He turned down the offer to direct X-Men 3 to make Superman Returns.

The Superman franchise is more popular for the performances of the legendary Christopher Reeve than the films themselves. Superman Returns is a continuity 'branching off' from elements of 'the first two films'. Personally, I have never been a big fan of the franchise. However, Superman Returns deserves praise! It is probably, together with Steven Spielberg's War of The Worlds, one of the most under-rated films of recent times. It is ground-breaking cinema. You do not expect Bryan Singer, who Peter Jackson called up to direct scenes of his phenomenal King Kong, to pull off some cock and bull movie. I seriously do not understand why this movie doesn't have a rating up their in the 8's. It is, together with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, one of the best comic book to celluloid adaptations ever made. Right from newcomer Brandon Routh's portrayal of a very vulnerable Superman (With all due respect to Christopher Reeve!), to Kevin Spacey putting the icing on the cake with his chilly take on Lex Luthor, Superman Returns is a treat!

Be it the straightforward storyline or the realistic performances (Loved Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane!), be it the minimal dependency on visual effects (Superman actually gets beaten up with a person's bare hands!) or the smash-bang edge-of-the-seat action sequences; Superman Returns is a film worth watching.. Over and over again.

8/10. The sequel, Man of Steel, is in the making already.

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na.

2008-07-05T17:59:00.004+05:30

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na is a film that I have been wanting to watch ever since I saw the first promo with Imran Khan posing behind a cardboard cutout to make us believe that he is the next big hunk of Bollywood. That, until the lovely Genelia D Souza comes prancing in only to reveal that Imran is not much of a hunk, but rather cute. Seeing the Pappu can't dance promo was rather weird (did NOT believe that it was an A.R.Rahman composition), till I listened to it a thousand times in a row and absolutely fell in love with it! That said, I shall get to the point..

We've seen the rather unsuccessful launch of Ranbir Kapoor (No game, just fame! - so far). There's one more out this week itself - Read: Harman Baweja in Love Story 2050. Plain creepy if you ask me! (Well, so far - again). In comes Imran Khan who no one had ever heard of (Aamir's cousin who??) till we saw his chiseled face in the promos. And, to put it straight - He is indeed the pick of the lot (I don't even want to watch 2050! - Don't judge me by that).

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na is another one of those mushy romantic films - yes. It's predictable - absolutely! It's boring - Not even close. Is it worth it? - Drop your books, dishes, whatever and run for the theatre! After Jab We Met, this is probably the movie that EVERYONE in India is going to watch. It's not only because of the launching of another 'Could-be' star, but also because it brings a whole package. Awesome music! Great looking people. All the sweetness that not even a chocolate cookie can give you..

Here is a movie that deals with stereotyping in its own way. You have the old 'boy and girl can never be best friends without eventually falling in love' bit. You have the 'boy will find girl boyfriend and girl will find boy a girlfriend' bit. You have the father (played brilliantly in four short cameos by Naseeruddin Shah!) who is wise, preachy, fun, and also dead (sorry about that). You have the mother who is simply trying to protect her son and ensure that he does not become the rebel that her husband was (Read: I quote - 'That was my husband's son!' - you will know exactly what she means, and how effective a line that is when you hear it for yourself). You have the brother who is a git outside, but very very caring on the inside (Great performance from the guy who played that part!). Then there are the villains who are made to be hated by everyone (Recall Ishaan's father from Taare Zameen Par - same technique used. I hated that man enough to start abusing in the theatre!). The fiance (a lesson in how to be a creep!), and the police inspector (Paresh Rawal is still the most hilarious man in Bollywood!). It's saluting stereotypes when it comes to predictable Bollywood movies. However, it's the way it is done that deserves all the credit..

The slow, yet never boring pace of the film; the songs, added in at the right moment; the background music, absolutely engrossing; all add up to two and a half hours of great fun! Don't go for this one alone. Take someone you truly love with you to watch this. Preferably your best friend or your partner! You'll find yourself wanting to comment about a lot of things in it. The film shows events which you can criticize and relate to very straightforwardly. That is single-handedly the best thing about the movie (Don't get me started about the music. I could literally write a full scale review like this one on the music itself. It's only THAT good!). However, the film, like Aditi herself, suffers from extremities. It does not take much to make you feel the good part. The comedy and love is done wonderfully. The sadness and pain needs extremes to get you believing. A slap or a punch!

The performances from the youngsters is, however, not a strong point in the film. Imran is good. Genelia overacts in parts. The girl who is listening to the story is just not believable. They could have picked a rather BIG actress to fill those shoes. The group of friends are just too cute to criticize. Be it Jignesh (Heaven knows how he transformed from spiky hair dude to moustache village-lookalike! Yes I'm stereotyping, I know), or Rotlu and Bombs who fall in love under the most relatable circumstances. Naseeruddin Shah is the pick of the lot. From the moment he turns real from his painting, he makes you pay attention to him.

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na is probably going to be the biggest hit of the year so far. Both commercially, and critically; Jodhaa Akbar being the runner up. Whether it is the witty dialogue (Bond, James Bond), the friends (Rotlu, Jiggy, Bombs, Shaleen - you'll love everyone!), Pappu - who really cannot dance, or even the horse riding eve teasers - Sohail and Arbaaz Khan(with a whole 'other' story!); the predictability factor simply disappears from your mind once you listen to the first song. You'll be enjoying it thoroughly. That is a guarantee!

Here is a movie made with a lot of care by Abbas Tyrewala. A great directorial debut written with the utmost attention to detail. The camerawork, the settings of the songs, the comedy.. It's a well spent 150minutes that redefines what Bollywood is all about!

8/10 for technique. 7/10 overall! - They should have given 'Tu bole, main bolu' a slot. That song is a gem!

Dead Poets Society.

2008-07-03T08:30:00.004+05:30

Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film directed by Peter Weir. The film tells the story of a group of boys from Welton Academy who are inspired through the teaching of poetry and literature, by their English teacher, to change their lives of hardened conventionality . The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and won for Best Original Screenplay.

Dead Poets Society is not a film for everyone. For people who delve too deep into the meaning of the film, you might find yourself rather cheated or disappointed because of its radical nature. However, if you take it for what it is.. A film that wants to incite the senses to accept change; you will end up getting that warm feeling one gets when having a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly December morning. It works itself up from a simple saying ~ Carpe diem, which is Latin for 'Seize the day'. It is what the new English teacher asks his new 17 year old batch of students to do (in quite a bizarre manner). Together with The Truman Show and Master and Commander, it is one of Peter Weir's best films. The football match with Beethoven in the background, and the climax with bagpipes are the two best sequences in the film. I found Robin Williams' impersonation of Marlon Brando and John Wayne hilarious!

Dead Poets Society is a film that has been widely criticized for its ending. You will know why once you've see it. As far as film-making goes, the ending is done perfectly. However, it could mean different things to different people. To challenge your views, to look at things differently, give Dead Poets Society a go. It is based in 1959, so don't give it as hard a time as some critics have given it.

O Captain! My Captain!
10/10. I love the ending.

21.

2008-06-28T10:06:00.003+05:30

21 is a film by Robert Luketic starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, and Lawrence Fishburne. It is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team, and is based on Ben Mezrich's bestselling book, Bringing Down the House. The film revolves around Ben Campbell, a Harvard Medical School hopeful studying at MIT. His dreams of going to HMS are put on hold because he does not have the necessary amount of money required to enroll. He is pulled into a group of 'geniuses' who, under the supervision of Mickey Rosa, their mathematics professor, learn the art of counting cards in order to outplay the casinos in Vegas.

All of the above added with some flashy Las Vegas images, heartfelt (not really!) best friends, a cheesy sequence near the end, and a non-existent romantic chemistry between Sturgess and Bosworth, makes 21. It's not as bad as I make it sound. The introduction is nice, so is the technique in which they show how one learns card counting. I had no difficulty in understading it at all. The film is fairly gripping with some nice background music, and the Vegas shots are kind of okay. I've seen much better though. Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey are the only ones who actually act. Kate Bosworth is flat. I loved her in Superman Returns. Here, she hardly makes an effort to act. Plus, she looks highly weird (with her whole doll-hair). And lets not even talk about Lawrence Fishburne. The film is verging on two hours. It might have been a better movie if they did away with about 15 minutes (read: the whole best friend thing!). It got a little boring near the middle.

I liked Jim Sturgess in Across the Universe. He was quite good here too. He's building a nice career for himself. Getting to the main point.. If you've got nothing better to do, you can watch 21. You surely wont be missing anything if you don't.

5/10.

The Longest Yard.

2008-06-26T23:25:00.002+05:30

The Longest Yard is a 2005 remake of a 1974 film of the same name. However, unlike the original which was more of a dark comedy, this new version is a slapstick comedy film. It is one of Adam Sandler's biggest hits, MTV Films most successful production, and the highest grossing comedy remake of the modern box office era. Burt Reynolds, who starred in the lead role in the original plays the coach.

Starring Chris Rock, Nelly, and numerous World Wrestling superstars, The Longest Yard is a hilarious popcorn flick! Paul Crewe, an ex pro-football quarterback is sent to prison for grand theft auto. He is asked by the prison warden to form a team from among his inmates and put them up with the guards of the prison in order to boost their confidence before the start of the season. The prisoners however, have better plans. They build up a team in order to beat the c**p out of their oppressive guards, and disgrace them by winning the football game. Right from the word go, the film is rib-tickling fun. Whether it is the rap and rock music that ensues with a showdown or an introduction to the characters; or the priceless dialogue; or, what one calls, the bling-bling of American football; The Longest Yard is high octane entertainment! Rob Schneider, in his cameo as an enthusiastic supporter; Kevin Nash's girly-ness after being estrogen induced; and the 'Ready 58. Ready 58 hutt!' and smack in the referees area - I think I started crying with laughter!

Sit down one afternoon with popcorn, chips, pepsi, and a bunch of buddies; turn up the volume; and enjoy The Longest Yard. It's going to make you laugh your head off!!

7/10!! (I still can't stop laughing about the 'Ready 58. Ready 58 hutt - Smack!')

Requiem for a Dream.

2008-06-26T07:14:00.002+05:30

Requiem for a Dream is a an Academy Award nominated film directed by Darren Aronofsky and based on Hubert Selby Jr's 1978 novel of the same name. The film revolves around four characters - Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, and his best friend and girlfriend, Tyron and Marion.
It's primary theme revolves around their individual dreams, and how their addiction to drugs imprison them in a dream world of illusion which, later on, mixes with reality, leading to their ruin.

Point one to be noted is that Requiem for a Dream is not a film for the faint hearted. It got a NC-17 rating on its initial limited release in the US. Everything in the movie is made in such a way that it leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. Whether it is the opera-style background score which is more effective than any I've heard in recent times; the camera-work, often hooked up to the characters neck in order to give the viewers a dizzy feeling which is exactly what the leads are feeling in the particular sequence; or the absolutely heart-stopping performance from Ellen Burstyn; Requiem for a Dream is one of the most well made movies of all time. I still find it hard to believe that Ellen Burstyn did not win an Oscar for her role as Sara Goldfarb. You'll have to see it to believe how amazing her portrayal of a woman gone deranged is! Everyone else in this movie give the performance of their lifetime.

You will squirm in your seat when you see what could happen to a human being's arm because of taking drug shots. It will scare you more than you've ever been scared. For any of you who are curious about the effects of drug use, this film is a must see. Like Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, it gives you harsh reality. Be afraid, be very afraid..

10/10. Freaked me out like anything!

Signs.

2008-06-24T08:20:00.007+05:30

Signs is a 2002 science fiction thriller film written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was one of the highest grossing films of that particular year, and garnered critical acclaim worldwide. The film stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. Shayamalan himself also has a small, yet crucial, role in the film.

Signs is a more personal take on a worldwide event. The film delves into certain events that really occurred, giving them a science fiction turn (Read: The crop circles which caused a worldwide uproar in the 1970's). Once again, like most Shayamalan films, Signs is visually terrific! It's edge of the seat value is off the chart. The film has as little plot as possible, and all of its time is concentrated on building up the characters. The fear and the tension it creates is the work of a master film-maker. There are no flashy special effects. It is all Tak Fujimoto's moving photography; and an outstanding background score from James Newton Howard, which, without changing its main tune, is both scary and comforting. Straight from the opening credits, Signs is, simply put, a work of art.

Whether it is the sudden shot of a figure standing on the rooftop in the darkness, the sound of a dog barking, the sound of the wind, a thump, a reflection - everything is done perfectly in order to create something scarier than any blood-and-guts gore film you've ever seen. The sequence at the Brazilian kid's Birthday party - I almost ran out of the theatre after seeing it. Like the newscaster puts it, "What you are about to see may disturb you." I cannot put into words how brilliant a film Signs is.

10/10!

Friday Night Lights.

2008-06-22T08:43:00.003+05:30

Friday Night Lights is a 2004 film based on H.G.Bissinger's award winning book of the same name. The true story revolves around the 1988 high school football team Permian Panthers of the small football-crazy town of Odessa, Texas. After losing their star player, Boobie Miles, to a career-ending injury in the very first game of the season, all hope seems to be lost. The coach, Gary Gaines, together with a team full of 17 year olds, now have the responsibility to satisfy the hunger of the town by winning the State Championships.

Peter Berg's Friday Night Lights is not a film on American soccer. It is a film about the players, the coaches, and most importantlly in this case, the obsession of the fans of a soccer team. When a 'loyal' fan talks to the coach about winning the State Championships, you can feel that the manner in which he almost demands results is life threatening. So much so, that even if light-heartedly, there are considerations of shifting houses in case of failure. This is a movie about a team which is overburdened by fan pressure, pressure from the press, and in some cases even from their families. When you see a father beat up his son because he has missed a pass, you know they mean business. Football is all that they've got. And the very manner in which the film is made, concentrating on the personal struggles of the entire team together, as well as on the players individually, and their very very influential coach, is worthy of praise.

With worthy performances from Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Garrett Hedlund, and Tim McGraw; a knockout background score which comfortably shifts from prayers to rock music; and, some magical camera work (Read: The State Finals at the Astrodome!), Friday Night Lights is a film worth watching. I'm a big fan of American Football movies, whether it is Denzel Washington's Remember The Titans or Adam Sandler's very funny The Longest Yard. None more than Friday Night Lights..

8/10.

Be Kind Rewind

2008-06-22T08:13:00.005+05:30

Be Kind Rewind is a one of a kind heartfelt comedy movie coming from the mind of the visionary Michael Gondry. Gondry who has made quite a name for himself after making the Oscar nominated Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He not only directed that film but also co-wrote it with Charlie Kauffman. Like La Science des rêves (The Science of Sleep), Be Kind Rewind is his independent project. He writes as well as directs it.

Starring Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover, Be Kind Rewind is a film that is unbelievable at times, yet too cute to be given amiss. Not only is it well made, but you can feel the message that the movie tries to put forward. At heart, it is quite a serious film, yet, circumstances and the manner in which they are tackled, are comedic to an unimaginable degree. The shenanigans of the two lead characters are hilarious. As they head out to make their own versions of hit Hollywood films, you wont be able to help it but laugh till your tummy aches. Trust me, whether it is their version of Ghostbusters, or Rush Hour 2, or even King Kong, they rule the screen, and everyone else for that matter! It is, simply put, a laugh riot, when they get down to business. Danny Glover, who has proven his worth at numerous versatile roles, though not getting any younger, is probably getting better at what he does.

By the end of the hour and forty minutes, the film leaves you wanting a little more. If not more of the slapstick comedy it created midway through the film, you'll be wanting some of the laughter and that warm feeling one sometimes gets after having watched a movie with a big heart..

7/10.

The Incredible Hulk.

2008-06-21T11:56:00.004+05:30

The Incredible Hulk continues Hollywood's list of 2008 Summer Blockbusters, as it does the number of comic book to celluloid adaptations for the year. With Iron Man already smashing the box office to become the first film this year to get over the 200 million dollar revenue mark, and with Berg's Hancock, Del Toro's Hellboy 2 and Nolan's The Dark Knight to come out next month, The Incredible Hulk has a lot of expectations on its head, especially after the failure of Ang Lee's The Hulk, five years ago.

Unlike in The Hulk, where Ang Lee put in a lot of effort to bring forward the origin of the Hulk, Louis Leterrier's new adaptation does that in less than 3 minutes via the opening credits. They probably did not want to show us what we had already seen and not appreciated in Ang Lee's version. There is no Nick Nolte here freaking us out with his creepy (not great!) performance as Bruce Banner's father. There are no gigantic poodles and bull dogs here. There film is not two hours and fifteen minutes long. It's doesn't even get to two. All that, added with a couple of good performances, great visuals, a gripping plot, and one helluva final showdown make The Incredible Hulk a brilliant movie!

Louis Leterrier isn't a very well-known director. He directed The Transporter 2, and thats about all his resume says. The casting here is good. With Edward Norton capturing the essence of Bruce Banner very well. William Hurt gives us a the rather obsessive General Thadius Ross, where he acts like he owes no one nothing as long as he able to capture the green beast. Liv Tyler, however, is quite flat. Her dialogues dont really have any feeling in them. Now, I haven't seen Tim Roth in a long time. His portrayal of Emile Blonsky is the pick of the lot in this movie. Not only does he effectively act insane, but that part-Russian accent does wonders for him.

What they did, and did correctly in this film was the fact that they gave us a very raw and very real Hulk. (Read: No clinging on to a fighter jet till he reaches space!). Although all of it is CGI, it is very well done. The effects are mindblowing. The expected showdown between Iron Man and Iron Monger which was given amiss by Jon Favreau in Iron Man, Marvel makes up for in The Incredible Hulk. The final fight between the Hulk and the Abomination is really something!

Control - that is what the objective of this film is. How Bruce Banner takes control of the beast inside of him. He is desperately seeking an antidote, hiding from the Army, who have labeled him 'A fugitive who stole military secrets'. His living in tranquility for months and months so that he can grasp his anger instead of letting it lose. He even wears a heart-rate calculator. 'Can't get too excited', he says while on a kissing spree. Yes, it does have its fair share of comedy; and also eye-candy. Read: Débora Nascimento who plays Martina. She's there only in a few scenes.

Incident - is what they call the transformation in this one. They even show you a timeline that says - Days since Incident. The shots of rural Brazil in the introduction of the film are very nice. The Hulk too seems more lifelike. Not as rubbery as he did in the previous adaptation. Also, The Incredible Hulk hints at a good many other films that could be in store for us. Tim Blake Nelson plays Samuel Sterns - The Leader, a character from Marvel. There is also a small cameo by Robert Downey Jr. And yes, he is Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man. The weapons too, if one notices, are all Stark Industry products. Who knows.. this film might be an excuse of a movie just to introduce numerous other adaptations. Think - The Avengers!

The Incredible Hulk does justice to one of Marvel's most famous characters. Although unexpected since most associate it with a rather comedic version of the Hulk, we finally hear the green beast say 'Hulk Smash'. And he really does..

8/10. Good. Very very good!

Get Smart.

2008-06-20T13:30:00.006+05:30

Get Smart is among the surprise releases on Hollywood's list of 2008 Summer Blockbusters. With more hyped projects such as Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Indiana Jones doing the rounds at the theaters; and with Hancock, Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight still to come; for some other movie to grab the attention of audiences would be quite bizarre. Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, The Happening, tried - and didn't grab as much of their anticipated share. Get Smart, although not as big a project, might just go in the league of Prince Caspian when it comes to being a Summer Blockbuster.

Fisrt things first.. Get Smart is an adaptation of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's television series. The series garnered critical acclaim in the mid 60's. They starred Don Adams in the lead role as Maxwell Smart, an undercover agent for a secret U.S. Government Spy Agency called CONTROL. Their nemesis was a terrorist organization called KAOS. I have never seen the television series, so I will not be able to throw in any sort of comparison between that and the film. Dont judge anything by that.

Steve Carell is someone I have a huge amount of respect for after being practically awed by his hilarious Prime Time show The Office, his portrayal of The 40 Year Old Virgin, and also his small cameo in Bruce Almighty. In this 2008 revamp of the hit series, he stars as Maxwell Smart a.k.a. Agent 86 (A weird number for a top-class secret agent. It has no significance whatsoever!). With a team of CONTROL agents, they must take down KAOS.

The leaders of the respective organizations are portrayed by rather elderly men. Alan Arkin plays The Chief, head of CONTROL. And Terence Stamp plays Siegfried, the leader of KAOS. Both, fit right in to their roles in the presence of a cast who are half their age! Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson turns up another fun performance as Agent 23. Dalip 'The Great Khali' Singh also has a role in this film as Siegfried's handyman. Watch out for him. He is the cause of many 'aww's' and 'ooh's' among the female-going audience. Although I still fail to believe that the pig he fell on, nor him, died after that God-knows-how-many thousand feet drop!

I'm seeing Anne Hathaway for the first time since The Devil Wears Prada. She plays Agent 99 (Now that's a cool number for a secret agent!). The chemistry between her and Carell is all over the place. It's great fun to watch them working together. The expressions Steve Carell makes in certain scenes is just unforgettable. Sequences like the one with Bill Murray, an agent posted inside a tree; the dance with an enormous woman; the one in the lavatory of the airplane, and loads of others, make this film worth a watch.

However, my pick of the lot remains the pairing of Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura from Heroes) and Nate Torrence as Bruce and Lloyd, two wannabe secret agents who develop various gadgets and devices for CONTROL. Their undying love for Maxwell Smart gives us a rib-tickling sequence (refer to the facial expressions in the above still).

Get Smart is one of the better spoof movies. I enjoyed Rowan Atkinson's Johhny English immensely. This too, ranks in the same league. The climax, with Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, is surprisingly funny given the parodied Bush'ism from the U.S. President.

After the no-show that was The Happening, watch this one for a break from the big blockbuster films that are coming out all through the summer. Get Smart. You won't be disappointed.

7/10 overall. Full score for Ode to Joy in the climax, and what followed for Siegfried!

The Happening.

2008-06-18T10:43:00.010+05:30

It is a well known fact that Manoj Night Shyamalan is a prodigy when it comes to making our hair stand on ends, and make you cringe in your seat with fear. It is also a well known fact that he might be losing his touch a little bit. Although his scripts are among the most original to come out of Hollywood, since Signs, his films have failed to capture the attention of audiences. With all due respect to Shyamalan, I have loved all his movies immensely except Lady in The Water, The Happening shows signs of lack of care in making the movie. Something that one would never associate with him.

Shyamalan is famous for the tension he creates on the screen. The scary and awe-inspiring moments which he is able to create on celluloid is nothing short of pure genius. Read : The scene with the boy with half a head from The Sixth Sense, the green man running across the screen in a flash from Signs, and the sight of a police jeep driving up in the middle of what seemingly is nowhere from The Village. M. Night Shyamalan is truly brilliant when it comes to things like that.

Like all the above mentioned, The Happening too has a fair share of such sequences. Namely, people falling off a rooftop (the poster above), a man walking straight into a lion pen - swarming with lions, and another man laying himself down in front of a giant grass-cutter. The loudness of the sounds which accompany these are shocking, not to mention spot-on! From shots of the wind ruffling through giant oaks and tall grasses, to shots of utter silence, visually The Happening is stunning. But that is about it.

The storyline is merely a different take on what one calls, in layman's terms, global warming. The biological accuracy of the plot is unknown to me. The consequences however, are, simply put, freaky! It is some sort of toxin or whatever you would like to call it, that makes human being suicidal. It looks mostly like a zombie movie. Though, films like 28 Days Later and I am Legend tackled the situation differently. The acting is way below par. Mark Wahlberg is not suited to play a science teacher. Zooey Deschanel, blue-eyed wonder, (Shayamalan has one of these individual's in most of his films) is flat. No expression, no nothing. The little girl, Ashlyn Sanchez is also flat (Why not Dakota Fanning? - though she wouldn't have much to do). There is no character development at all. The timing for most things is wrong. You never really feel for the characters. Just the sheer apocalyptic nature of the plot is enough to dismiss everything else about the film. It just seems a bit too over the top.

There are also too many misleading plot twists. The hippy family, and old Mrs. Jones (plain insane I tell you. I felt like smashing her head with a shovel). The two kids which accompany the main cast midway trhough the film - What were they even there for? All over, just the background score and the visual look and feel of the movie are commendable. Shayamalan still stands out in that field. But, be serious. The Happening is nowhere close to a good movie. It's just all wrong. Why would anyone crack a romantic joke when they have better things to worry about? Concentrate on staying alive - that helps!

Dont waste your time on this. Catch a few of the scenes I mentioned above, on YouTube, stay home and watch a rerun of The Sixth Sense, Signs, or whatever.

3/10 overall. Give us something better, M. Night. We know you can!

Next up - Get Smart and The Incredible Hulk.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-05-31T12:53:00.008+05:30

Well, it has been 19 years since the Last Crusade, 27 years since the franchise began. They probably did not plan this far out, like what Lucas did for The Star Wars saga. Releasing the first three, then another three. This is quite easily the most awaited movie of the year so far, The Dark Knight being the next one. For all I care, I would totally stick around if they made two more Indiana Jones installments. To put things straight right at the start, I do not know why people are giving this film such a hard time. I mean, have they forgotten what Indy is all about? Have they not seen the previous three? All of which were logic defying in their own special way? No one expects logic from an Indiana Jones movie. It's supposed to be fun, full of non-stop action and adventure, and with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the magical combination of Spielberg, Lucas, and most of all, Ford, have struck gold. Real gold!

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is probably the first of a brand new series of Indiana Jones films. Having turned down a script from the amazing Frank Darabont, questions were already being asked about how David Koepp's script could out-do one by Darabont. Frank Darabont is credited with films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, and surely Koepp's script had something in it that rose above Darabont's.

The film is set in 1957, 19 years after The Last Crusade which brought the discovery of the Holy Grail. To say that the storyline of the fourth Indy movie is a surprise would be a mistake. One probably saw something like this coming. Although I wont give the whole thing away, for the record, it is bizarre, like all the previous ones. Think Area 51, which happens to be the warehouse where everything kicks off. It is also the same warehouse which we saw last in the closing credits of Raiders of The Lost Ark. Read : Ark of the Covenant being put away in a wooden crate!

Unlike all the previous films, this one kicks off with opening credits without anything significant happening in the background. They do have loud version of Elvis's Hound Dog playing all the while. It does get you in the mood. And the gophers. I swear they looked like they were going to be appearing throughout the movie! Apart from that, the film looks the same as the older ones. I dont know how they did it. Even Ford looks like he just returned from his Holy Grail discovery trip with his father and started running around in search of the Crystal Skull. Its nostalgia in its highest level. Whether it is the secret passages or insects, or the fight sequences or the snakes, its all reminiscent of the old Indy.

The casting is perfect. I hated that annoying little kid from The Temple of Doom. Shia Labeouf, the new kid on the block with hits like Disturbia and Transformers under his belt, plays Mutt Williams - a greaser. He repairs bikes as a profession, school dropout, combs his hair at the drop of a hat, fiddles with his penknife, and drives a mean looking bike! Ray Winstone gives us some laughs, but you just know what's going to happen to him by the end of the movie. Cate Blanchett is a whole other story - She's flat. Right from the outfit she's wearing to her acting. She's flat, and in some strange way, hot! There's just something about her that is so bad that she actually owns her role. Karen Allen is just there.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will not go down well with Indiana Jones fans of the present time. Word of advice - Suspend your belief, step into the theater expecting full throttle action and adventure, like all the previous movies. C'mon, guy blocks a cannon head with a stone and it blows its face up? That's an Indy movie for you. I cannot get why people dont like this. I loved it!

8/10 overall.
You ain't nothin but a hound dog, cryin all the time..!!

Next up - The Happening.

Jannat - In Search of Heaven.

2008-05-24T11:19:00.004+05:30

The best thing about a Mukhesh Bhatt release is that no one expects much from it. And more often than not, his films turn out to be quite entertaining. He is also credited with having launched budding directors in this new age of Bollywood (Recall : Anurag Basu). Jannat is the directorial debut of Kunal Deshmukh, and among all the flops that have come out of the Indian hindi film industry this year, Jannat happens to be a huge surprise.

Jannat has two parts to its story. The former set in India, the later in South Africa. Essentially, like most Bhatt films, it is a love story. However, its main storyline deals with betting and match fixing in the cricketing world. Arjun, the character portrayed by Emraan Hashmi, is a man with, what he calls, a 'sixth sense'. He is a master predictor of cricket matches. He becomes a bookie and soon gains attention in the eyes of underworld don Abu Ibrahim, who buys arms and ammunitions with the money he makes from betting on cricket matches. Torn apart by his love for the girl of his dreams, Zoya, and his greed for money, Arjun is left with making a choice between living a normal hard-earned life and an easy, yet deceiving one.

The first good thing about Jannat is that it has a solid storyline. Whether it is the childish, yet well defined love story, or the complexities of a man who is clearly suffering from some obsessive compulsive disorder or other. Then there is the cricketing world and underworld bit. This is one of the most original and well written storylines to come out of Bollywood this year so far. When it comes to being effective, it achieves that in its entirety in its two hours and twenty minute running time. With everything from the mention of a cricketer turned comedy show host, to the murder of a coach at the World Cup, the storyline is the strongest point of the movie.

The music is not as good as one expects it to be. Judai being the pick of the lot. However, the version sung by Kamraan Ahmad is not there in the film. Zara si is just okay. Characteristic of a Bhatt film. Rupam Islam's hindi singing debut is noticeable, although missable. The song is too similar to the songs of his band, Fossils. The background score is very good. It gels in very well with the pace of the film.

Emraan Hashmi, apart from having earned the tag of 'serial kisser', happens to be a freakishly good actor. The versatility of the roles that he has done clearly shows that. From being a wife-thief, to an undercover agent, and now a simple man with quite a serious mental disorder. He is like what his dad states in the film - 'A compulsive liar'. And in order to get himself out of any situation, he does what is characteristic of him. He lies some more. Newcomer Sonal Chauhan is okay, making the transition from a sweet and bubbly Mumbai girl to a sexy bar dancer in South Africa. She does look quite anorexic in certain scenes, but as a whole she looks great. Javed Sheikh, as Abu Ibrahim is cold. Effective. Vishal Malhotra, as the sidekick serves the humor quotient well. The lad has come a long way from hosting Disney cartoons on Doordarshan.

Bollywood's only great film this year happens to Jodhaa Akbar, with Mithya and Shaurya being the other two 'good' films. Race might be a commercial success, but it is a highly frustrating film. Even Bhootnaath failed to click. Tashan is a no brainer! In a year when Bollywood is churning out flop after flop, Jannat serves as a breath of fresh air. Although far from heavenly, Jannat has a lot to offer at a time when cricket is on the lips of almost every Indian (Read : The IPL).

The IPL has come to a stage when it gets boring to sit down and watch an entire game. Do yourself a favor, grab a Jannat ticket and spend two and a half hours in an air conditioned theater watching a film which redifines all the 'Ishtyle' and 'Pharmoola' that Bollywood has been coming up with off late.

7/10. Worth it!

The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian.

2008-05-16T21:20:00.001+05:30

In 2005, when The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came out; I found myself introduced to a brand new epic tale. The film is probably one of the best when it comes to adaptations from children's epic novels. With recent failures in the form of The Golden Compass(Bad. Very bad. Absolute waste of time), and The Order of the Phoenix(700+ pages in 2hours and 15minutes? No, thank you), it is high time we got to see a real epic children's movie. I haven't read any of the novels by C.S.Lewis, however I have read that there are similarities in his and J.R.R. Tolkien's writing. With Prince Caspian, the second installment in the series, a saga which has been compared time and again with The Lord of the Rings, the journey could just be beginning.

Prince Caspian, probably the blandest of all the Narnia novels, starts off 1300 years after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when it comes to Narnian timeline. In the real world of the Pevensie children however, merely a year has gone past. Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne of the Telmarines is forced to flee because of his corrupt uncle, King Miraz, who is trying to steal the throne from him. Caspian blows the ivory horn given to him by his professor when, while fleeing, he chances upon Narnians in the jungle. The horn, in turn, summons the Pevensie children - The Kings and Queens of Old, back to Narnia, to aid the young Prince in a fight to obtain the throne which his rightfully his.

The first, and only complaint I have, is the sudden start to the movie. The journey of the Pevensie children back to Narnia, although shown wonderfully, when, while in a subway, they get taken back to Narnia, comes way too quickly. There is hardly any time spent in the real world here, unlike in the first part, where there are glimpses of the ongoing war and the journey is more drawn out. There should have been a little more detail with the Pevensie's in the real world. That would have made the journey back even more interesting.

That aside, the movie moves fast enough. With simultaneous shifts early on between Prince Caspian, the Telmarines, and the Pevensie's, there is a lot of attention to detail. Lucy's dream of meeting with Aslan is particularly well shown, where she imagines the jungle to be what she remembered it as, with the dancing trees and flowers, unlike the 'more savage' Narnia of present. Highly detailed, and it just shows us beautifully the connection between Lucy and the great lion.

There are an array of new characters in this movie. Ben Barnes who plays Prince Caspian could have been better. His accent however, promises better things in the future installments. From cynical dwarfs to a swashbuckling mouse, every new character gets more screen time than any character except Harry has ever gotten in a Harry Potter movie. The pick of the lot being Reepicheep the mouse, voiced brilliantly by Eddie Izzard. You will find similarities between him and Puss in Boots from Shrek 2. Both, Errol Flynn'ish in there portrayals. Whether it is jumping up at being called cute, as if it is insult, or darting into an army of human soldiers, Reepicheep is bound to capture the hearts of everyone. Cannot wait to see what they do with him in the upcoming films.

The Pevensie children are all back.William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley playing Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy respectively. The younger two play there part well. Moseley is good, and you'll know why he was once considered for playing Harry Potter once you see this. Popplewell however, is bland. The White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton, has a small cameo here, and is as icy as ever. The other, very integral character is Aslan. Although he doesn't appear till the very end of the movie, there is a definite air of expectation around him. Everyone is waiting to see Aslan again, powerfully voiced by Liam Neeson. And the roar. What a roar! Enough to awaken the trees to wreak havoc through the Telmarine armies, enough to send ripples through the lake.

The war sequence is brilliant, with some of the best visuals I have seen off late. As is the square off between King Peter and King Miraz. Very well choreographed. With a very engaging background score, Price Caspian runs to two hours and fifteen minutes, keeping you interested throughout the length of the feature. I do have an objection to the song near the ending. It was really cheesy.

Following up the great The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is difficult. But, Prince Caspian does justice to that. Keep aside the fact that you are seeing a bunch of children killing people in a magical world since, after all, it is a children's epic. There isn't much emphasis on the killing part anyways. Thankfully, more importance is given to how Lucy brings the dead back to life with her potion.

The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian is a good film. Its a pity, however, that director Andrew Adamson, who has made this and the previous one will not be returning to direct The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third in the series. It is often seen that such series' lose their lustre if they undergo a change of directors.

8/10 overall. Loved Reepicheep more than anything else in this movie. Worthy follow-up to a saga going great guns!!
(Next : Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Speed Racer.

2008-05-09T17:35:00.000+05:30

It was a huge surprise when the Wachowski Brothers, after making two cult favorites - The Matrix and V for Vendetta, announced that they were going to make a live-action movie based on the widely popular cartoon series Speed Racer. Somehow no one expected them to shift gear from making such mature art-films to a cartoon adaptation. After running after people like Shia Labeouf, Elisha Cuthbert, and Keanu Reeves, they ended up with Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, and Matthew Fox. Replacements who are given a huge responsibility to bring the cartoon to life.

Before walking into the theater one must bear in mind that it is a cartoon adaptation. No one expects this to be groundbreaking cinema by any means. It is not an attempt at making a cult classic. To start off with, after watching it one will realize that the movie is aimed at audiences aged between 5 and 10. No one would ever expect the Wachowski's to come up with a film aimed at children. But, they have. It doesn't fail. But it doesn't succeed either.

Right from the word Go, Speed Racer is hugely dependent on its visual effects and sound, which are both considerably good. Background music is like the cartoon itself. The title track is kept on hold till the closing credits. The whole movie is shot in front of a bluescreen it seems. Except for scenes inside a house, or in a garage, everything is CGI. The races are what attracts one most to the movie. They get your adrenaline pumping. Its like Fast and the Furious, animated. And that itself is the biggest let down. Its too much eye-candy, and less movie.

The film itself is too long to be a children's movie, stretching to over two hours. The first hour and a half is quite boring. Too much politics and stock market. The stylization, like the cartoon itself, is very good. It is what keeps one interested for the whole length of the movie. There is too much detail when it comes to the plot, too less character development. Only Speed seems to be important. One forgets that there are others in the movie as well. There are really too many sequences which try to be funny, with Speed's little brother Spritle and his chimpanzee Chim-chim. Only one, right at the end, succeeds.

Matthew Fox is the one who stands out in this wannabe artsy adaptation. He has great screen presence. He's lost a lot of weight it seems, and he has never looked better. John Goodman, Susan Sarandon play the parents well. Christina Ricci is a treat to the eyes. She looks years younger than she really is. Roger Allum plays the villain, Royalton. He's vicious with his dialogues, the cartoon element adds to the viciousness. I dont know why they'd want Shia Labeouf to play Speed Racer because he is too tall. There is no doubt about his talent though. Emile Hirsch, however, fits the bill perfectly. Although he still is growing as an actor, his casting as Speed Racer is perfect.

Speed Racer is a film with a million and one flaws from the starting itself, where instead of concentrating on the race, there is more attention paid to showing the history of the characters. An efficient technique, if only they did it well. Someone will have to explain to me how Spritle and his little chimpanzee survived in the dickey of the Mach 5 when the car was travelling at over 300miles per hour. Racer X seems to be the only character who doesn't do anything cartoonish, which is a good thing. He's cool.

The last quarter of an hour is what saves the film. The Grand Prix race is breathtaking. An old fashioned Colosseum-style stadium, the track and the race itself, with the efficient use of flashbacks, is a treat to watch. The last fifteen minutes is when the Wachowski Brothers got down to being themselves when making a movie. It is perfectly made. From the roar of the crowd, much like what we saw in the Quidditch World Cup Final in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to the flash of the cameras, it just clicks.

Speed Racer, minus all the adults talking about the stock market, minus Spritle and his annoying chimpanzee hogging the screen time, minus 20 minutes, probably would have been something better. If they ever make a sequel to this, they'll have to put a lot of work into it. If you watch this, remember that it is based on a cartoon and that is exactly how it is made. Like a cartoon. That done, you might just like it by the time it ends.

Good visual effects, good music. Otherwise just a 5.5/10 in my book. Expected better. Then again, it is based on a cartoon.
(Next Week - The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian)

Lars and the Real Girl.

2008-05-05T23:44:00.000+05:30

Its quite amazing that so many independent films release at Film Festivals, are appreciated wholeheartedly by everyone around, yet fade away so quick. Most of them go unnoticed. No one, apart from the people who saw them at the festivals themselves, ever hear of them. Some however, get noticed to the extent of being recognized by the Academy Awards. Lars and the Real Girl is one such film.

Starring Ryan Gossling, who perfectly plays the lead role of Lars, a man peculiar in his mannerisms and in his interactions with others around him, this film strikes upon a certain mental delusion that people often suffer from due to neglect or lack of a proper upbringing. Certain times, such a delusion is brought about due to close interaction with a person who suffered from a similar illness, which is the case here. Lars lives alone. He does not interact much with people, especially females. Hence, he is scared of his sister-in-law who tries to get him to break out of his shell.

Lars purchases a life size doll, often termed as sex-dolls, and treats it as a real person. As odd as the situation might sound, it is sad. What he merely thinks he does not get in real life, love and comfort from people, due to his own fear of fellow humans, he gets from the doll. In time, the entire town, small in its size, learns to treat the doll as a real person. All this in order to, perhaps, help Lars break free from his delusion. The care which his brother and sister-in-law have for him is really touching. Played by Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer, these two people are the closest thing Lars has to a family.

The film is very simple in what it wants to portray. The kindness of human beings in order to help one of their own. Initially it is shock and awe. Disbelief. Mistaken madness. In time it turns to love, care, and simply the sacrifice one makes to help another. This is shown beautifully in Lars and the Real Girl. Perhaps the most caring of the lot, the character of Lars' sister-in-law. Emily Mortimer, the great actress that she is, gives a gem of a performance, no less than that of Ryan Gossling. Other commendable performances include that of Patricia Clarkson, who plays the psychologist who tries to learn what exactly is wrong with Lars, and helps him become more comfortable in the presence of others. Kelli Garner, playing Margo, a cherry-sweet girl, who seems to be in love with Lars but can never say it because he shuns her aside every time she tries to get close to him, will make you smile with her screen presence.

Lars and the Real Girl, though dealing with a very complex subject, is simple in all the right ways. Whether it is giving CPR to a cute brown teddy bear, or the tension which is often present between two people who are interested in each other when they shake hands, it speaks out quietly, yet it is clear. It does not take much to care for a friend, a brother, or a colleague. Caring for another is one of the simplest things one can do in one's life.

8/10. This is lovely. Simply beautiful. Everything about it is perfect. The performances, the music, the setting. Everything. Watch this. You will not regret it.

Wristcutters - A Love Story.

2008-05-04T10:36:00.000+05:30

Wristcutters is a little known film directed by Goran Dukic and loosely based on Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers". It stars familiar faces like Patrick Fugit, best known for his role as a rock-music writter in the breakthrough film Almost Famous; and Shannyn Sossamon, from a Knight's Tale. Wristcutters is truly one of the most odd, yet most pleasant movies I have seen in a very long time.

It shows us a strange afterlife way station reserved for people who have committed suicide. They live here, much like people living on earth. It is like a normal place. However, it lacks bright colors, smiles, flowers, and all that makes a place look lively. Just when you thought you had escaped it all by killing yourself, you land up in a place that makes you want to kill yourself again. But you dont, only fearing a place devoid of much more.

Wristcutters succeeds without even trying. It is just too simple. To understand, to believe, to lose yourself with its flow. The story is simple enough. Zia, a 20-something who committed suicide by slashing his wrists after his girlfriend, Desiree, left him lands up in the afterlife where he becomes friends with Eugene, a Russian rock singer who's entire family has committed suicide. On learning that Desiree has killed herself too, the two set out to find her, in turn coming across Mikal, a girl who claims she is in the afterlife by accident, and is searching for the people in charge.

Through the course of the one and half hours, the story takes a couple of turns. All realistic though. There was hardly anything in the movie that was predictable. The whole dull setting adds to the feel of the movie, which predominantly is very morose. The only bit of bright color we see comes from a matchstick at the station of the Angels. Yes, there are Angels too. Watch out for the miracles. It is like they say,"A miracle will only happen when you least expect it to. When you dont even think about it." The bit of music 'bad music' in the movie is really good with a Russian bloke singing "Through the roof and underground' with the lead characters singing along, out of tune, whilst in the car whose headlights dont work. The music is all over pleasant. Simple acoustic guitar solos, or the mouthorgan, maybe some piano. As simple as it can get. The acting is very down to earth. Tough roles really, because you cant even smile. Your face has always got to be straight. The acting is effective. Very well done.

All over, Wristcutters is a short, sweet film to watch when you're feeling down, bored, and disgustingly depressed. It guarantees a smile on your face by the time it ends. If you can tolerate simplicity in its full, like good 'bad music', prefer seeing someone as pretty Shannyn Sossamon smile at the end of it all, watch Wristcutters. It will make your day.

Loved it. Wont rate this. Just a smile. A pleasant one.

Iron Man - The Element of Cool!

2008-05-03T19:37:00.000+05:30

Iron Man is one of the lesser known Marvel Super Heroes, especially for us, living in India. To most of us, his past is unknown. With a sense of humor one rarely gets to see in a superhero, Iron Man is something of a revelation, deviating from the normal "Saving the World" type of Superheroes. With the coolest outfit one could ever lay eyes on, Iron Man is merely the beginning of a Trilogy that could as well be remembered for a long long time to come as one of the best comic book to celluloid adaptations ever made.

Actor/Director Jon Favreau, along with a stellar cast of superstars who have been absent from the big screen of late, have come together and made something top notch after the recent spell of disappointing superhero movies made(think Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four 2, Spiderman 3). With the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges, Terence Howard, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man is the first big hit to come out of Hollywood this year.

Iron Man stays true to its comic book, telling the story of billionaire industrialist Tony Stark who devises the idea of a man covered in metallic armor after he is captured by Afghan terrorists. Upon his escape, Stark improves upon his design. And in order to stop 'under the table' sale of his weapons to terrorist groups by his business partner, Obadiah Stane, he becomes the man in the gold titanium alloy suit, named Iron Man by the press.

Certain sequences in the film are highly detailed, some others not so much. It suffers from a spot of bad editing, and it really wouldn't have been bad if it were extended by 10-15 minutes. It is entertaining enough to hold anyone's attention for 15 more minutes. Guess we'll have to wait for a Director's Cut for that. In the theatre, it has a modest running time of 2hours. Broken into two parts, the introduction and the origin. The former being more detailed than the later.

One of the first things one will notice about Tony Stark is his amazing sense of humor. Robert Downey Jr., who is at the peak of his career at age 43 has an undeniable flair when it comes to playing a man who is full of himself and cracks jokes at the drop of a hat. He doesn't even have to try. Its a flawless performance. He acts the part, and boy oh boy does he look the part! Even Gwyneth Paltrow plays her part well as Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts. She looks better than ever. There is a magnificent amount of chemistry between the two which will be something to look forward to in the upcoming movies. Terence Howard and Jeff Bridges are just there, portraying the sidekick and villain respectively. Fair enough, though I would have liked Howard to be given a bit more screen time.

One, very integral part of the movie was the making of the original suit. Shown till the last detail, it was just a treat to watch the testing and assembly of the suit. And once again, even this contains a fair amount of humor. You really dont expect such a lot of humor in a superhero movie, but by the end of it, one realizes that that exactly is what Tony "Iron Man" Stark is all about. He isn't your average superhero. He is as much the khaki professional as he was before he become Iron Man. He did not get transformed accidentally by being bitten by a spider, neither did he descend from space. A little similar to Batman, he chooses to become someone different. Someone who can change things. Unlike most others, he isnt gifted with super powers. Wait till the last scene of the film for deviation, and an amazing piece of rock music in the closing credits along with concept art from the making of the film.

Iron Man ranks right up there with the likes of Batman : Begins, Spiderman 2, and Superman Returns(which, I think is grossly underrated by critics) when it comes to being a comic book adaptation. And it adds a dose of coolness to the genre of superhero movies. Whether it is the miniature arc reactor/pacemaker on his chest or the part French-cut beard he keeps, Robert Downey Jr. will be best remembered as Iron Man. Iron Man, who can take phone calls while flying through the skies with two fighter jets on his tail. Now, thats what I call cool!!

Great start to a promising Hollywood Summer!!
8/10 overall. Great background score. Loved the suit. Cannot wait for the sequel!
(Next Week : Speed Racer)

Zodiac.

2008-04-19T23:50:00.001+05:30

David Fincher, in my opinion is a movie-making genius. He hasn't made, what one would call, a LOT of movies, but each and every one he has made has stood out. I've seen all his full-length features to date. From Se7en to Fight Club. Now, I know many people will disagree with what I'm saying, but, in my opinion, Zodiac is his best. And for more reasons than one, if I made a list of my Top 20 Hollywood movies, Zodiac would be one of them.

In the late 1960's through till the late 1970's a notorious serial killer who called himself The Zodiac haunted the San Francisco Bay Area. It is not known exactly how many murders he committed. For the purpose of publicity, he used to mail letters and zodiac codes to famous newspapers in the city giving them information which only he could know, taunting the Police to carry out a mass investigation. Till date, the case remains one of the greatest unsolved crimes of San Francisco. The movie is based on actual case files, and adapted from Robert Graysmith's Zodiac account books.

I saw Zodiac on a sultry afternoon, in the dark confines of my room. It is a two hour thirty seven minute movie. It felt no more than ninety minutes. By now, those who have read my takes on movies will know that I hold the background music as, perhaps, the most important factor in getting the viewers into the basic feel of the movie. Zodiac has got a blend of 60's Jazz, Pop and Rock music. Even the closing credits have got music enough to make you remain seated and hear it out. It has a gripping background score. The film starts, and ends, with the same song. The song : Hurdy Gurdy Man. It is stylized, almost scary, along with a nod-ya-head vibe to it.

The movie has an ensemble cast. With the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Brian Cox, the acting is stellar. Ruffalo's portrayal of Inspector David Toschi is the pick of the lot. Gyllenhaal, playing the role of Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle whose obsession with The Zodiac leads to the most striking amount of evidence in the case, carries on the express that he started with Brokeback Mountain. I have never seen Chloe Sevigny's other avatar, but her coldness shines in every scene we see her. The whole 1960's/70's setting merely adds to the excellent screenplay. The film has a black imagery. The only clear amount of brightness we get is in the first five minutes, coming from a flashlight.

The dialogue is gripping. The delivery is perfect. The screenplay, sublime. Everything is just right. The cinematography, the setting, the direction. It just fits right in. There was not a moment during its length that I looked at my watch or thought that it was long. It is edge of the seat stuff. The movie is perfect. I didn't know much about the Zodiac killings till I saw this movie. It interested me enough to spend a day reading whatever I could find on the net. When a movie gets you to do that, it says something. For all that its worth, I cannot find a single reason why this movie was overlooked at the Oscars. If this isn't Oscar material, I'm not sure what is.

By the time the movie ended, Zodiac left me stranded with a million random thoughts jumping in my head. It's a thriller of amazing proportions. It just gets you. Whether it is Downey Jr's stylized portrayal of an engaged reporter, shifting to a drunkard who doesn't really give a damn, or the very voice of the Zodiac over the phone. The opening sequence, 5 minutes long, only sets you up for a treat of a movie. This is vintage cinema.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Watch out for the opening sequence. It rocked me to my core. Highly recommended to anyone who loves watching movies. Straight 10!

The Water Horse.

2008-04-18T13:03:00.001+05:30

I have seen numerous documentaries and films on The Loch Ness Monster. Most of the movies told about a man-eating beast lying in the depths of the Loch Ness in Scotland. Amateur films more than anything. The documentaries told of a wild goose chase, and sightings of perhaps a prehistoric creature that had somehow survived through the ages, living in tranquility. The Water Horse is by no means any of those things. It shows us a clear and fresh take on the famed Nessy. It is adapted from Dick King Smith's novel of the same name.

It comes from the Producers of The Chronicles of Narnia, another well-made fantasy feature. To put things straight, the story speaks of the legend of a water horse, a sea-creature that hatches an egg before its death, and dies at the birth of its offspring. It is asexual. There can be no more than one water horse existing on the planet at a time. It grows in size freakishly fast. It is hard to say the period of time through which the story runs.

The story of The Water Horse is told by an aged man to a couple of tourists, sitting in an Inn in Scotland. The old man, played suitably, by Brian Cox. He speaks of Scotland at the time of the 2nd World War, of a country-boy named Angus MacMorrow(Alex Etel), living in a huge manor with his mother and sister. His father, a veteran of the War, hasn't seen home in years, and is presumed dead after his ship was sunk. Young Angus, on a pleasant day of collecting sea shells by the shore, discovers an egg. An egg of a Water Horse. He cares for it, looks after it, and calls it his greatest friend.

And so begins the life of the Water Horse. It is a friendly, lovable creature at first. Adorably cute. Named Crusoe by Angus, within a very short span of time, it grows to monstrous proportions, and is set free in the Ness. Angus still cares for his friend Crusoe. He goes to the Ness to see it. And much like Harry Potter and Buckbeak the Hypogriff, Crusoe gives him a ride on his back. To the depths of the Ness and back out again.

There are pros and cons in the movie, but the pros outnumber the cons by a mile. Apart from having commendable visual effects, the acting is exciting, with awe and anguish from the young Angus. Ben Chaplin, who plays Lewis Moubray, an injured/decommissioned soldier of the war, is the best of the lot. Morissey is the flaw in the casting. A spot of overacting, but he just looks plain weird in this role after that disaster of a sequel to Basic Instinct. The others fit the bill in the casting department. Alex Etel is perfect in the role of the young Angus.

The movie, perhaps a tad 15minutess or so longer than it should have been, suffers from the impressive amount of detail it has. It falls short when it comes to editing. There were times I found myself thinking,"Now why did they jump that scene?" However, if it falls short there, it makes up in the background music. A Scottish tinge to it. Pleasant to the ears.

The Water Horse is a nice film to watch, especially with the family. It comes across as a children's movie, and the utter cuteness that the creature possesses when it is young will just make you go "Aww" at times.

The film, in its simplicity, shows us man's undying eagerness to help other living creatures around him. A cross shown to greatness in Spielberg's E.T.. This might not be an E.T., but it doesn't disappoint like most of the boy-rescues-animal flicks. Definitely worth a watch after all the mess they've made with movies based on the Loch Ness Monster. This one differs. It's good.

7/10 for the acting. 7/10 for the story. 7/10 for the visuals. They ended the movie the way lots of movies end. Doesn't necessarily mean that they'll make a sequel. But, if they make one to this, I'll watch it.

Cloverfield.

2008-04-11T15:58:00.004+05:30

I'm yet to get out of the dizzy feeling I got after seeing Cloverfield. Basically for two reasons. The first being that its been shot on a hand-held camera. Secondly, what a movie!

To say that J.J.Abrams and Matt Reeves make an awesome movie-making couple just doesn't say it. I loved the movie they had made a couple of years ago, The Pallbearer. This is contrast at it highest point. It's like Laurel and Hardy decided to make movies, and it was oh so good.

Yes, Cloverfield is a monster movie. But, unlike the monster movies which have been made more recently, this one works. It's from the point of view a few 20-something's living in New York on the night of a farewell party. It's Blair Witch style. But better. It's Godzilla, but more terryfying. It's fear, its pain, its horror, its loud, its everything. All packaged into an hour and fifteen minutes of a roller coaster ride.

It is a look into the monster attack on Manhattan on 22nd-23rd May, 2007, recorded by an individual on a hand-held camera. It was later found in Central Park. The name of the movie is basically the name of the sighting. Read : Multiple sightings of case designated Cloverfield.

What I enjoyed most was the hype created before its release. No one had a clue what it would be like. Whether the monster was Godzilla, some dragon, etc etc. I recognized no one in the cast except Jessica Lucas, whom I had seen on Life As We Know It and The L word. So, it was even more of a surprise for me. The casting is perfect, mind you. I haven't seen a bunch of 20-something's running for their lives more horrifically in my life. You can feel the terror. It's like its sitting there right beside you.

There is no background music. Its real time sound. Man, is it loud. Man, is it freaky. There's just something about the fact that there's a 400 foot monster roaming around somehwhere near you that freaks anyone out. And that isn't all. Wait till you find out that its dropping little many-legged-thingies making sounds like 'ayayayayaya' which could tear you limb from limb. Not just that. If you happen to get bitten by those little thingies, guess what happens.. Na, I wont give that one away.

Behind all the horror and all the havoc of this 'monster', their lies a very well pronounced story. Something that most films lack these days. A bunch of people trying to save a loved one. It ain't no tear-jerker, but its bound to make you care for the characters. That, added with "Dude, I really think we shouldn't be here", and stuff that happens so fast that you'll go,'What the Hell was that!?"makes Cloverfield one of the best creature feature's you'll ever watch. Just listen to the havoc when the severed head of the Statue of Liberty falls to the streets. You'll know what fear is. Cloverfield, like Spielberg's War of the Worlds, totally immerses you in the crisis of the situation with no room for you to think.

Cloverfield is short, exhilarating, sad, scary, all at the same time. Sure it leaves certain questions unanswered. But, that is really what its all about. Even the closing credits were scary because of the background music, the only piece of composed music in the length of the picture. I was hooked on to this movie, from the time the thump hit and I saw that red robot running around the bushes. Then came the writing, Bad Robot Pictures. And the movie began..

9/10 for acting. 9/10 for story. 9/10 for direction. Straight 10 for the sound. DO NOT miss the musical piece in the closing credits. And I cannot get enough of the dizzy camerawork!
YOU DID SEE THE THING THAT FELL FROM THE SKY INTO THE OCEAN BEFORE THE LAST CONY ISLAND CLIP, RIGHT??

Krazzy 4.

2008-04-11T12:44:00.001+05:30

Bollywood, it seems, is on a flop run after Jodhaa Akbar. Observe, One Two Three and Race (Yes, it was crap). I expected a slapstick comedy after looking at the promos of Krazzy 4, choosing this over the weeks other release, U Me aur Hum.

The story is simple enough. Four 'mad' guys, are taken out on a field trip by their doctor. Doctor gets kidnapped, havoc ensues, or should I say, krazziness. Fullstop. Simple enough. Doesn't torture you like the 'come-sit-down-and-let-me-tell-you-how-I-planned-your-murder' way of Race.

The mad people under question..
Krazzy a. Arshad playing Raja, a man suffering from sudden bouts of rage. Anger disorder.
Krazzy b. Irrfan playing Dr. Mukherjee, suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. He's a cleanliness freak who'll try to get dirt of the backside of a nurse's uniform.
Krazzy c. Rajpal playing Gangadhar. He thinks he still lives in the Gandhian era. Vande Mataram.
Krazzy d. Suresh playing Dabboo. Hasn't talked since he was four years old.

Their doctor played to utter sweetness by Juhi Chawla. Dont think I'm being sarcastic. The places where Krazzy 4 succeed are its utter sweet moments. Apart from being extremely tenderly acted by everyone, it also isn't very long. Hardly an hour and fifty minutes. All four leads play their roles very efficiently. Rajpal being the one who offers the most laughs. Just wait till his ending speech. Irrfan Khan, the great actor that he is, gets a small role, easy for him to play. He plays this even more delicately. Suresh Menon, for a guy who hardly talks, is fun to watch. His expressions will get you laughing. Rajpal Yadav had me in splits everytime he spoke. His way of delivery is such. Watch out for the scenes with 'Aazadi - 50% off' and the one with Gandhiji and Nehru. The backing actors, Rajat Kapoor, Dia Mirza, and the 'bad guys', serve their purpose well. The guy playing Dia's father deserves special mention. You've seen him before.

The songs are merely there. No romantic hus-phus etc etc. Shah Rukh Khan has never looked better. Trust me. Stay back till the end to watch Hrithik too. The two music videos are sheer eye candy proving to us who the real pin-up boys of Bollywood really are. High point of the movie is where a little girl sings Jana Gana Mana. If the people in the hall stand up to attention to it, like they did in the show I went to, you'll feel good. Vande Mataram. I shall not go far enough to say Rakhi Sawant 'does not' look good in the music video, but I would have preferred Mallika Sherawat in it. The song is Beedi'ish, but not nearly good enough. And we finally did it people. They've written a song about One Rupee. An amazing one at that too. They've added everything, from Kajra re to Dum to Opera - style. Hilarious.

Krazzy 4 tries the Munnabhai-way of entertainment, preaching about the ways of society and how people who are 'different' have no place in it. It misses the Munnabhai mark by a long shot. But it really doesn't matter. It's a sweet short movie. You could say it was made with a lot of care, and they promised us a sequel at the end. So, to be continued..

6/10 all over. The music is just okay. However, 10/10 for the two pin-up boys. P.S.: Get Mallika to do an item number in the sequel.

My Blueberry Nights.

2008-03-22T07:46:00.001+05:30

I've never seen a Wong Kar Wai movie before, and I didn't know what to expect from this movie. Just that Norah Jones was debuting in it. I love her music. And the movie is spilling over with her beautiful voice.

My Blueberry Nights, very aptly named, firstly, is a very short film. Hardly stretching to an hour and a half. By the end of it, I wished it would go on and on and on and on and on... Well, you get the picture. It's just lovely.

The characters. Complex in their simplicity. A phenomenal cast. David Strathairn, after Good Night and Good Luck, this defines him. Like everyone else, his role is small in the movie. The fact that Wai is able to put together such a colorful blend of characters and churn out their individual stories so beautifully and in such a minute amount of time is amazing.

A special mention for certain bits and pieces of wonderful cinema. Scenes where you'd normally expect a man and a woman to be paired is nowhere there. Particularly the one with Rachel Weisz and Norah Jones. Both characters, quite clueless in their position. A sweet awkwardness. Comfort. Film-making brilliance. Absolutely beautiful. The movie jumps. Comforatably. From one setting to another. Natalie Portman, the versatility of her accents. You'll have to hear it to believe it. Jude Law. Silent, husky pretty-boy. Makes every second of screen-time memorable.

Every scene with Norah Jones just made me feel warm inside. She has amazing screen presence. Everyone in this film fits exactly the way it should. Its perfect. And the kiss at the end. It made me melt. I almost cried. I loved My Blueberry Nights. Kudos, Mr Wai. It was wonderful. Thank You.

8/10 for the acting. 9/10 for the directing. Straight A for the background score. Its Norah Jones' singing, man!!

I'm not there.. Anymore.

2008-01-23T08:49:00.000+05:30

Now, I am not someone who has seen all of Heath Ledger's films and know every detail about his personal life. I am, and will be, an honest fan of his. Caught my eye in The Patriot, where he took on the role of Mel Gibson's son, hence giving him a run for his money. Young, charming, a lot of screen presence. He was what one would call.. "One out of the oh so many future actors of Hollywood". He did prove us wrong.

I've seen quite a few Heath Ledger movies. And I've liked each and every one of the ones I have. Monsters Ball, where he portrayed a psychotic convict to glory. Shooting himself in the end. A Knight's Tale, a good movie, one of my personal favourites because of the rush of blood it gave to me. Playing a young peasant squire named William Thatcher, raised to Sir in the end. A wider take on his acting skills, after The Patriot. Then came Lords of Dogtown, a rough skate boarding movie which didnt strike much of a chord. Just another underdog movie, based on a true-story was it? I'm not quite sure. The Brothers Grimm I enjoyed a lot. Brothers Will and Jacob on a scam rampage of killing monsters and evil apparitions until they met a real-life one. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger made it more fun than anyone could have. Casanova was fun too. Sienna Miller made it even more nice.

And then there was Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's western which shocked the world. I never got a chance to see it in a theatre. So I watched it on my pc instead. Almost had tears in my eyes. The movie was that good. Both Gyllenhaal and Ledger in there career defining roles. Won the then twenty-five year old Ledger an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor.

Well, that was a Filmography. I know Heath and his ex-fiance, Michelle Williams, looked real cute together. Even in Brokeback they looked nice. His daughter, Matilda, sweet, more like her mother. He plays the role of The Joker in The Dark Knight, the upcoming Batman movie. He looks scary in the trailer. Terrifying. Perhaps, a great amount of maturity too, as he churns out the famous lines.. "Let's put a smile on that face" and laughs away, hauntingly, to glory.

I never knew Heath Ledger. I only respected him. Whether he was on drugs, whether he did charity, I do not know, and frankly speaking, I do not care. I know him as talent. Young talent. One who was growing with age. And could have only got better.

Heath Ledger was found dead in a Manhattan apartment last night. He was all of twenty-eight years old.

Atonement.

2008-01-17T11:29:00.001+05:30

Well, just like most of the good movies I watch, I had to download Atonement to watch it, since the city does not approve of bringing critically acclaimed films to the theatres. Let's all go and watch Air Buddies(that too in hindi). Yaaa whatever.

Well, browsing through IMDB, I found myself caught onto the home page of this movie. Read a review, liked it. Didn't know anything about the story except that it was set in wartime England or something. Searched it up, downloaded it. Watched it. Wow!!

Atonement comes from Director Joe Wright, director of the critically acclaimed Pride and Prejudice(2005), with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, and is based on the novel of the same name written by Ian McEwan. It also happens to be the movie that kick-started The 2007 Venice International Film Festival.

Well, all of that aside, the first thing that struck me while watching the very opening scenes of Atonement, was the background music. It's hooked with a typewriter, and sounds like something I've never heard before. It's a very very integral part of the movie, mind you, and is something that might just make anyone go,"Damn! Now why didn't I think of that?" .. It's only that good.

Atonement does not have an ensemble cast. Keira Knightley shows us how much it is she's matured over the years. See this and compare it with her role as a Bounty Hunter in Domino. The results are shocking, and outstanding. The lead actor, James McAvoy, is someone you might recognise. But,"What's his name?" you'll go. He was the one who played the fawn, Mr.Tumnus, in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. And was also there in The Last King of Scotland. A known face, yet unrecognized by many.

To put things straight, the acting is spot on. From the little 13 year old Brionny Tallis(Saoirse Ronan) who expresses situations oh so easily it seems; to her older 18 year old version(;Romola Garai) jumping to her elder sister Cecilia(Keira Knightley) who(still thinner than you can imagine) gives us as much of a visual treat as one can ask for. It would come as something of a surprise to me if James McAvoy is not nominated for an Oscar for his role as Robbie Turner. He is what keeps you captivated to the screen. Young, dashing, almost flawless. Walking through a beach-camp. No words, nothing.. Just visuals. Created, not CGI.

Certain scenes.. One being the long walk down the beach. The only love-making scene of the movie, in palled darkness, passionate, in a library. Amazingly done. The five minutes where Brionny sits and converses with a soldier in the hospital. The very opening scene, focusing on a herd of plastic animals as the young Brionny applies finishing touches to her play, The Trials of Arabella. Twice the opening music is played, the exact same. At both introductions to the young Tallis. One, when she's 13; the other when she's 18. A genius concept.

The panning of the camera, the cinematography, the editing(allowing you to look at something you want to for an elongated period of time, and vice versa), everything has a high amount of graphic detail, making it even more attractive. The musical jumps, with the typewriter clicking in the background. Actually, I could sit and write a whole review on just the background music of the film.

The story is simple. About a misunderstanding, mistaken innocence, and perhaps a little more. The desires of the young, seemingly mature, yet not so. A juvenile crush. Revenge. Anger. Most of all, jealousy. Ian McAvoy is a master storyteller. One must read the book to get the whole impact of this brilliant story. It is simply riveting.

The storyline being the main driving source of the movie, you will be hooked, from beginning to end. It's just the quality of the picture. It leaves a benchmark for all the others. Atonement is, quite simply, one of the best films of 2007. It's a pity that us Calcuttans aren't allowed to go and see films like these in the theatres. They deserve some amount of attention from the Central Board of Film Certification. Are you listening, Sharmila Tagore?

A fair 8/10. Loved the ending a lot. And, do I need to start blabbing about the background score again?

Sunshine.

2007-10-28T10:28:00.001+05:30

Sunshine comes from the Director of 28 Days Later, which unarguably is the best Zombie movie to come out of anywhere in a few decades. With Sunshine director Danny Boyle, known for his take on the awe-inspiring has come out with a "Wham-bam-thank-you-mam" of a movie. Sunshine isn't just any other Sci-Fi "Save the World" movie where a bunch of Astronauts are put into a Space Shuttle and sent into space to do there 'thingy' and rescue the Earth. It is all of that.. And much more!

The story, states that 50years into the future our Sun is dying. A crew is sent on a journey to the Sun with a payload containing half of all the world's nuclear power to cause an explosion in the Sun in order to
restart its glow. It fails. Seven years later, another mission is sent. Earth's last hope. Her last chance. The Icarus II space shuttle is armed with a payload containing the remainder of Earth's nuclear power, and a group of scientists-cum-astronauts in whose hands lies the Fate of our planet.

Right from the opening sequence one will realise that the movie is visually stunning. It has got some scenes which would make any person go "Wow!" The cast - A surprise. Most will notice that the faces are familiar. But who are they? Whoever they are, they have done an amazing job. Cilian Murphy, who was the lead actor in 28 Days Later, gives us another display of what he can do. This movie is non conventionality redifined. Every character has a story to tell. Every moment has an emotion to capture. Every shot has a lasting effect. Right from the Commander of the ship to the Botanist cum Austronaut, everyone plays an equal part in making up the movie.

Sunshine has a distinct background score. It is a mix of electronica, with alternative rock and jazz. Particular splashes of beautiful music occur in two sequences. One with two of the lead characters in the payload, and the other in the observation room with the whole crew awed at the sight of something so amazing that I could not help my jaw falling open and the occassional smile. The alternative rock score at the end of the movie is, simple put, magnificent. I would love to own the soundtrack of this film. The song at the closing credits by I Am Kloot - Avenue of Hope, is mesmerising.

At an hour and fifty minutes, Sunshine is never a bore or a waste of time. The director, with his minute details; and the cast, even with its silence is as gripping as is Will Smith kicking some bad-ass aliens (ala Independence Day), or Bruce Willis blowing up a whole darn asteroid (Armageddon). What the heart wants, what it desires to know and see, can lead one till death. This is one of the many things about human nature that is shown clearly in Sunshine.

Sunshine comes as a breath of fresh air to the Sci-fi movie go'ers as well as lovers of a good action movie, with a storyline. It comes across as a sci-fi/thriller/action film for. It is not merely cinematic pleasure, it is also a feeling that makes you say,"Ya, that was a good movie. Worth the ticket money!"

8/10 for the acting. Same for the story. And straight A's for the visuals/music/direction. I loved this, I absolutely loved this!

"And we wait to see just what we will become.." - Avenue of Hope(I Am Kloot - End Credits)

Casino Royale.

2007-08-01T13:04:00.001+05:30

Casino Royale is quite simply the best Bond movie ever made. And that in itself is saying a lot. After the likes of the two best Bond's(in my opinion) : Sean Connery, and Pierce Brosnan, do we have the best Bond yet.. ?

Pierce Brosnan, who portrayed 007 with unmistakeable charm and arrogance was brilliant. But the Bond movies he acted in were quite pathetic when it comes to storyline(with the exception of Golden Eye).

The Bond Girls during his time were also quite pathetic. Teri Hatcher(Desperate Housewives anyone?), Famke Janssen(The X-Girl), Halle Berry(No, thank you), and quite outrageously, Michelle Yeoh(Haiyya!).

As for Sean Connery, oh let's not talk of him. He is flawless in whatever he does. Whether it be as Bond, or as the over-aged thief standing side by side with Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment. Trying to judge Sean Connery would be murder. His portrayal of Bond in Dr.No deserves special mention. Hats off, Mr Connery.

After Brosnan, came up names like Hugh Jackman(Mr.Wolverine), Clive Owen(King Arthur), and even Jude Law(Future Captain of the World). After all of that, they come up with Daniel Craig?? Blue eyed, blonde haired, chiseled faced, blabla blabla??

Oh stop the speculation, people!! He's brilliant, hands down!! In my opinion, the Best 007 yet.

Right from the opening 5mins of the movie, Daniel Craig captivates. A certain screen presence which Connery had, he has too. Perhaps even a little more. Two simple words in the opening sequence make him stand out.

"Yes, considerably," he says, after shooting a man.

As for the Bond Girl. Eva Green is captivating. She has a screen presence quite similar to Craig. The screen time she shares with Craig is worth watching. And she isn't a Bond girl who plays just the damsel in distress. She is one, but with high complications. Her first appearance too, makes her stand out.

"I'm the money," she says, seating herself across the table from Bond.
"Every penny of it," says Bond, with a smile.

Beginning with a smash-bang 15min action sequence(without CGI or crappy gadgets), Casino Royale soars, keeps soaring, and flies out of sight. Le Chiffre played by Mads Mikkellsen(Eye-bleeding super villain who is Banker to the World's biggest Terrorist groups), is slithering, and scary. Every dialogue he delivers has a certain amount of villainy in it.

"Welcome, Mr.Beach. Or is that Bond? Ah, I'm a little confused," unmistakeably sarcastic, Le Chiffre holds out his hand.
"Oh we wouldn't want that, would we?" says Bond, shaking it.

The only flaw in the plan of Casino Royale is that it pays a little too much attention to Bond's weakness, which results in 10 to 15mins of drolling. The movie, at 2hrs and 20mins is a tad too long thanks to that. For the remaining 2hrs, the movie proves it's worth.

Gadgets are thankfully given minimal attention in this movie. The audience isn't even allowed a good-clean look at Bond's Aston Martin. The action is brutally physical unlike other Bond movies. Sex is surprisingly kept at it's minimum too. Acting is brilliant. The new Bond is more of a man than some guy with gadgets coming out of his toes.

Watch out for the torture sequence. It is painful, yet humourous. The title song, You know my name by Chris Cornell plays throughout the film, and the opening credits are amazing. The Bond theme and the main Bond dialogue is kept on a hold till the very end.

Watch this Bond film for it's sheer guts, brutality, brains, and reality.

Casino Royale ain't any other Bond film.
It's Daniel Craig's party!
Straight A.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

2007-07-18T18:54:00.001+05:30

Well, with all due respect to David Yates, I would like to say that The Order of the Phoenix came,tried,and failed. Now don't get me wrong, I am still a faithfull follower of Mr.Potter but I expected a lot more from OOTP.

Firstly, I want to make it a point that the start of the movie was 'great'. The opening with Dudley's ever growing belly and scary yet funny head, together with two Dementors who look like they've gone unfed since they first visited Hogwarts in The Prisoner of Azkaban, and a very fake scene where Harry sticks out his wand in front of a 'bunch' of Muggles, and then a chase down a sewer. There is nothing in the sequence that leaves a lasting impression. Nothing!

The opening sequence in Little Whinging is where Daniel, hanging in midair, his throat clutched by a Dementor, shows us that I'm Daniel Radcliffe and not Harry Potter. I am an actor, not a fictional character. Who would have thought one could deliver all that from just saying,"D-Dudley r-r-run"?? But then again, that piece of cinema is ruined by the entrance of Mrs.Figg who made me want to kick the casters for selecting such a moron!! She can't act. Mark my words! There was no feeling in what she said!! But I've got to hand it to The Dursley's. They are brilliant in their little shot.

And then,the real bore. The movie jumps from scene to scene without us being allowed any time to think about what just happened. Reason why I think The Prisoner of Azkaban was the best movie in the Series(so far) is that Director Alfonso Cuaron made sure the actors were actually acting and that the audience got enough time to breathe after a sequence. He paid homage to the Dementors, the Whomping Willow, even something as small as a bat or a leaf, in between scenes. And the music was sublime. Here, however, the editing is so terrible that just after Harry is hit by a freak scene through Nagini's eyes he is thrown into a chair in Snape's Office and down to learning Occlumency. He hasn't even been allowed to stop sweating from what he saw!!

The training of Dumbledore's Army is shown better than expected and I still don't know what the big deal was with the kissing scene. It was poor rather than cute(and they did it in 16 takes!) The visual effects are great but they are a bit too abundant. Even when two characters are conversing there's something going on in the background which acts as a distraction from the real scene.

The only part of the 'movie' which deserves real praise is the climax. From the time the final battle in the movie begins the audience is treated to some solid acting and not to mention, special effects. The Death Eaters look great but they could have looked better. The Department of Mysteries is good, but overdone. Too many orbs. Too many shelves. But, a great fight sequence. The part which everyone wanted to be long and drawn out, wasn't. And then it all came down to Lord Voldemort. Now, whether you like Ralph Fiennes or not, he demands attention when he's carrying out the role of He Who Must Not Be Named. He is brilliant. The little time that he gets on screen is worth savouring. The way the connection between Harry and Voldemort's mind is shown at the end is perfect.

Discrepancies aside; hats off to Imelda Staunton who plays Dolores Umbridge oh so well with her little squeaky laugh and her voice and her Office and her eyes and her hair(I could go on forever). Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange deserved a LOT more screen time than what was given to them, but they pulled off their 'small' cameos flawlessly. Grawp is cute but fails to leave a mark. Daniel Radcliffe proves his worth as an actor. He even shouts out,"Look at me!" with demanding conviction. The sequence where the Weasley Brothers, Fred and George storm out of Hogwarts with a grand show of firecrackers in between an examination is one of the funniest ones in the movie and definitely deserves a kudos. But the absence of acting sequences just ruins the movie. More importance is given to Parvati and Padma Patil than to Ron and Hermione.

Their are no praiseworthy sequences here like that in The Shrieking Shack in The Prisoner of Azkaban or the conversation where Mad Eye Moody confesses his true identity in The Goblet of Fire. Even the Pensieve was given importance in the fourth installment. Here, everything is mute.

OOTP is more like an attempt at a movie than a real movie. It isn't even an adaptation. The acting is mostly dull. The editing is terrible. The length of the movie is ridiculous if not outrageous, and in the end all we get is 2hrs of hardly anything and 15 minutes of cinema. I mean,The Prisoner of Azkaban is a 300something paged novel and it got a 2hrs 20minutes adaptation, Goblet of Fire was 600something pages and that got 2hrs 40minutes of game time whereas Order of the Phoenix is 700something pages and it gets 2hrs 15minutes on screen?? Are you freaking kidding me?? You'd have been better off giving it to Ram Gopal Varma who would have mixed it up with songs and a turned it into a full length 3hrs 30minutes movie!!

Look at The Lord of the Rings. The first two movies are verging on 3hrs whereas the third one stretches to 3hrs 30minutes plus. The movies remain true to the storyline. The only reason why The Harry Potter movies aren't getting enough recognition as the LOTR movies is because it's more commercial entertainment than 'movie making'. The only movie which had 'movie making' in it was the 3rd one. And most fans call it the 'worst' film. Why? Because there wasn't enough special effects and there was too much of talking!!

6/10 overall. Enjoyed the 25minute closing sequence. That's about it. Nothing cinematic to see here. As for the next installment(due to release in November 2008), I hope that The Half Blood Prince isn't murdered like this.

Tyranny will rise. The rebellion will begin.

2007-07-08T20:16:00.001+05:30

Above is the French poster for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The reason why I've posted the French poster and not an English one is because it looks better.
Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy and the Death Eaters on one side. And Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna on the other. It's War!!

According to many(majority of the Potter fans I know)this book is the 'most-boring' of the series(so far - the last one soon to be released). Well,"Shut up" to them!! I mean look at it this way. This book has ..

1. Details about the 'history' of the battle against Voldemort.
2. History of the Black family.
3. The Order of the Phoenix(The sexiest bunch of Death Eater butt-kickers on the face of the ... uhm ... Wizarding World!).
4. Bellatrix Lestrange(One of my favourite characters.The only surviving lady Death Eater so to speak.The wicked appearance. Her 'murderous' history. She's just one amazingly crafted character).
5. Luna Lovegood(Aah now she's great.The whimsical-carefree little girl that she is. I just feel so warm inside whenever she's mentioned in the book. She just makes things seem more real by saying whatever she says. She's a misfit - Yes. She's the best misfit ever!).
6. The Prophecy(I won't even go into details there. If you don't remember what it is then 'shame on you'. Go read the book again!! You're a disgrace to the name of Potter!!)
7. Sirius Black,The Longbottoms,The Ministry of Magic,Dolores Umbridge(Ooooo),The kiss(Dont know why it's 'such' a big deal),Lestrange and Luna again,etc etc. Uhm -- Go read the book again will you??

For all of you "Potter-fans" -- All those points above(and dozens of others)are just unimportant eh? The book could have done without em right? What are you -- A bunch of freakin psychos who only want mushy 'under-mistletoe' kissing scenes?? Get a life "Potter-fans" -- Get a life.

And for the bunch who think this book is as important as the other ones -- Hats off!! You do proud to the name of Potter. I myself am a fan and I would like to say that I'm waiting eagerly for the fifth movie and the seventh book to come out.

City leaks.

2007-07-05T09:46:00.001+05:30

A third rainy day in a row.No school again.It's been raining almost non-stop for the past 60hours and it doesn't look like it's gonna stop.Just read the paper which arrived 4hours late - At 9:30am.Parts of the city are still inacessible.Dare you point to Mumbai Mr.M?!?!
Above all that -- The Met Office says there's a huge depression 150kms off the Bengal coast.And hey -- It's headed this way.And if it doesn't change course there's gonna be even heavier rains for the next two days.
My dad just got back from the market a few minutes ago.Food.The prices of vegetables have been multiplied by 1.5 their original price.Supply has gone down by 40%.Sexy huh? If this rain doesn't stop soon the city's literally gonna be reduced to what Mumbai had been reduced to 2 years ago.
Right now when I look out the window I see that it's raining quite heavily.I have my Economics tuition in an hour.If it continues like this I ain't going!
People in Kolkata hate leaks -- Shower leaks,basin leaks,etc etc.And to top it all off now there are sewage leaks all over the city.I have a friend who lives near AJC Bose Road.He says that the manholes are throwing up sewage waste there.Yesterday there were fishes swimming around thanks to the fact that a lake somewhere nearby had overflowed!
The sewage lines are leaking,the lakes are overflowing,prices of vegetables and fishes are rising .. All hail the rain!

And hey -- I still ain't complaining -- No school!!
P.S.: Sorry for the crapy photograph.Actually I haven't been able to get out much in this rain and that's the best I could muster.

Under the sky ..

2007-07-04T21:25:00.001+05:30

Uhm.See the photograph? I snapped it on my digicam a few days ago.It was taken a few metres away from my house.There's this multiplex coming up there.I forget what it's called.It's big and in it's initial stages of development.The sky was a bit cloudy and all but anyways .. It looked pleasant,and that's why I snapped this pic.See the clouds? The formation .. Looks nice.And the big-big pillars that are coming up. With thick,strong steel rods for support.Solid metal and concrete!!
There was this worker there when I snapped this photo.He was eyeing me with great interest.He was about 30 or 35 years old.Strong,muscular,rugged.I looked back at him and he asked..

"Photo le rahe ho?"

I replied to the point.."Ha."

"Kya karenge photo lekar?"

I thought.."Kuchh nahi.Aisehi."

"Oh.Aap kya aisehi photo kheech-te ho?"

"Ha.Aisehi."

"Oh.Kheech lijiye.Shayed kal ye tasveer nahi kheech paenge."

I didnt know how to react to that. I was bewildered. I didn't know what he meant by that.

"Perhaps you wont be able to take this photograph tomorrow."

What was it that he meant by that?
What was it ..?

The Mon-soon is here.

2007-07-04T15:47:00.000+05:30

Well,they're late.Given the amount of carbon emmissions etc etc that's being added to the atmosphere daily,it ain't much of a surprise that the mon-soon is lashing through the city almost a month late.There were just two days of proper rain before this.And now it's Venice!

School has been closed for the past two days.Over 250mm of rain in the last 36hours.That's something to talk about.And the M is pointing towards the present state of Mumbai.Why?
Here's why ..

Public : Mr.M,what are you going to do to ensure that the city is up and running asap?

M : Oh.We are doing the best we can.

P : Clearly that is not good enough.Look at the streets.They are all under water.

M : That is a nothing.Look at Mumbai.It is virtually inaccessible.Almost like what happenned in 2005.The commercial activities etc havent been running properly for the past week or so.

P : We are not concerned about what's happenning in Mumbai.We live here -- In Kolkata.

M : Oh not to worry.We are doing the best that we can to ensure that we are up and running in no time.

P : And that is?

M : Our officials have been sent all over the city to open up all the manholes.

You be the judge.But hey,what's it to me? I get two extra days off from school.Woo-hoo.All Hail the Rain!!

What's in a name?

2007-07-04T15:23:00.000+05:30

Cliched question huh?
Well,as most of you will agree,there's a lot in a name.It is one's identity in the world.
The World -- Wow!! Big place huh? Well,you'll get to know exactly how big it is aif you just look at the picture to the right.

In the world I go by my name.I am not going to say what that is since you already know that.I will however discuss the name that's displayed on top of this blog.

Interstellar Overdrive.All those who find it familiar will be taken back to 9minutes and 41seconds of psychedelic music by none other than the masters of the art -- Pink Floyd.Syd Barret being the composer in this case.

Interstellar -- Between or among the stars.
Overdrive -- A state of heightened activity or concentration.

That is precisely where and in what state I always am.Simple as that.And that is what is in a name.It's a definition.

As for The World -- That's what it is...A Pale Blue Dot.