Mr. Brooks

Why it has taken me 7 years to watch this movie – I can never say.  Amongst all the serial killer movies that I have seen, this one has to be one of the most unique storylines ever.  Here, the serial killer, is the protagonist.  And if that doesn’t intrigue you, then the fact that the serial killer is played by Kevin Costner will definitely do the job.  Its playing on Television of late so try and catch up with it.

Death At A Funeral

This was my way of ringing in 2014.  Once we had decided to spend NY Eve at home, the choice of a movie had zeroed down to a comedy.  The last thing I wanted was to ring in NY 2014 with a sad movie – no matter how well it was made.  And in my not so limited collection – I could easily pick Death At A Funeral as one of the top 5 British Comedies (with all due respect, the Americans make slapstick ;)).

Bhool Bhulaiyaa

It took 14 years for Priyadarshan to probably gather to courage – because that’s what it would have taken a lot of – to remake a movie that he was a Second Unit Director.  To his credit, he is the only one out of the 3 in the movie who managed to make a move into Bollywood. 

 

But needless to say, he doesn’t emulate the magic that Fazil created on screen in 1993 with the national award winning Manichitratazhu (read as Mani Chitr tayu).  A movie that coincidentally has been fodder for remakes galore – Apthamitra in Kannada, Chandramukhi in Tamil and Telugu (dubbed), Rajmohol in Bengali, and of course the topic of this write up in Hindi.

 

The only reason I can think of as to why these movies fell short was the incapability to handle the topic with the seriousness that it required.  Of course the character played by Akshay Kumar – Aditya Srivastava – does have a humourous streak in him and enjoys playing the fool.  But I guess AK did a bit too much in his attempt to tell the audience that his comic timing is still alive.

 

Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) & Avni (Vidya Balan) are a newly married couple.  Sidhharth comes from a royal family and is actually the incumbent king of the village.  He has, however just returned from the states where he got married to Avni.  He had been there for his studies.  Upon Avni’s insistence and a little bit of his own desire, he decides to stay in his ancestral palace.

 

However, the resident spirit of the home doesn’t take too kindly to their stay.  A danseuse – Madhulika – who used to perform at the palace many moons ago is in love with Shashidhar (Vineeth) – the royal poet.  The fact doesn’t go too lightly with the Maharajah who in a fit of jealousy, executes the poet. 

 

Madhulika in turn commits suicide but before that puts a curse on the palace – no Maharajah will ever reside in the palace or else I will be the cause of his death.  To date, the curse stands.  And when Siddharth moves in, some funny events start occurring  that point a finger towards his cousin Radha (Ameesha Patel). Siddharth of course doesn’t believe in ghost stories and calls for his friend Aditya Srivastav – a psychiatrist to help.

 

This movie has a Priyadarshan touch to it – loud – REALLY LOUD.  Of course, several unnecessary attempts at comedy are also in order because it comes from his table.  But, to be fair, the movie is a frame to frame copy so there is very little value addition other than the above 2 points.

 

Most of the performances are also ordinary.  Shiney Ahuja in fact looks as constipated as he can possibly get.  I guess his moment of truth passed with Hazaaron Khwaishein – like with most of the people associated with that movie.  Even Vidya Balan is a tad above average but it was early days for her.  The support cast also – ordinary. 

 

It is only the story that makes the movie really worth watching.  I have seen it on a couple of occasions without too much of an effort.  So I guess a 6 on 10 is in order.  However, I encourage you to take a look at the original (unfortunately without subtitles) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdp4xudz958 and make your mind up on which one is better.

 

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adQ3aNpEFXg

Sleuth

This has to definitely move to everyone’s watch list. I mean, how often would you get a movie that has exactly 4 actors. I am not kidding you. FOUR ACTORS. And now wait for more surprises. One of them doesn’t even have screen time. Carmel O’Sullivan’s role is just that of a voice on the phone. How cool is that? Just a voice on the phone. And Harold Pinter’s role of 33.285 seconds is a recorded version of some TV show. That’s it. In a little over 80 minutes the supremely talented Kenneth Branagh directs 2 of the finest actors of our time – Michael Caine and Jude Law – in a psychotic thriller of sorts.
Set in a completely dark background, Sleuth is about 2 men who have one thing in common and nothing else. Unfortunately, the one thing that they have in common is not the most pleasant thing that could probably be common between 2 men – and no you homophobics I am not talking about the same bed. I am talking about the same woman in their lives. To one – Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine) – she is the wife. To the other – Milo Tindle (Jude Law) – she is the mistress. Hows that for a lethal commonality to have. And hows that as a concept to take to the big screen?

And it took a Malaysian Airlines flight for me to figure out that something like this was not just thought of but actually executed. And the write up on the in flight card said nothing to excite me about the movie. The only reason I picked it up as a movie to watch was because it was a little over 80 minutes long and I have this fetish about finishing as many movies I can on a flight. I could well have missed it had it not been for the length of the movie.

The execution is almost like a 2 act play. Maybe that comes from Branagh’s known fetish for Shakespeare. Most of his directorial attempts have involved the Bard. So it is probably not surprising that Sleuth comes across the same way. Michael Caine’s performance as the gilted husband who is out to seek revenge personifies that old saying popularized by Quentin Tarantino – Revenge is a dish best served cold.

The detailed scheme that is put to action by Wyke is made even more eerie with the dark hue that is part of the movie all through. And then there are some superb camera angles such as shooting the first few minutes of Tindle’s entry from the top view. And the use of mirrors when Tindle and Wyke have their first drink together. Superb direction from Branagh who has adapted the play by Anthony Shaffer into a full length feature. And I should not take anything away from Jude Law’s performance either.

I am lucky to have caught up with Sleuth on an in-flight. I have promised myself to pick up a copy at the earliest. This one is a collectible. 7.5 on 10. Wonder why it didn’t make it to the Oscars for some category at least. I would have thought screenplay.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4052222233/

Next

Lee Tamahori gave us one of the best movies last year (2011). It was called Devil’s Double. And it wasn’t a great movie just because of a great performance from Dominic Cooper. Mind you, Tamahori has given us equally good movies such as Die Another Day – now purists may argue that it’s a Bond movie and doesn’t take much – yadda yadda yadda I say… duh. It was a well made Bond movie. And then there was this serial killer movie called Along came a Spider starring Morgan Freeman. So pray tell me what is he doing with my favourite (notice the sarcasm) actor and an equally constipated feminine version of him called Julianne Moore. The saving grace in the star cast is the stunning (notice the drool) Jessica Biel. There is actually no one else who seems to have a role in this excuse of a science fiction action thriller of sorts which doesn’t quite do justice to Tamahori’s direction skills. To put it in a different way, it probably was Tamahori’s most challenging assignment to date. It is so not the kind of movie that he is cut out to direct. Consequently – he failed oh so badly at it.

The funda is that the protagonist – Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) can see about 3 minutes into the future. A gift that can have a lot of advantages. I could fill the next 10 pages about what I would do with something like this. Cris does use it to his advantage for certain by doing simple magic tricks at a local circus of sorts. But he finds out soon enough that, hot on his heels, are the FBI or secret service or whatever you want to call it led by a lady, Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) who believes that Cris is the solution to all problems including the one that involves finding a nuclear war head that has been stolen by some really bad men. In between all of this, Cris bumps into the love of his life Liz (Jessica Biel – the only tolerable part of this otherwise quite sad movie) and suddenly he can see like 60 times more into the future – for those who do not know math we mean 3 hours into the future. If you like the story so far then please go ahead and watch Next.

Personally I thought the story was average at best. Most of you know that I have no love lost for Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew who I believe is one of the most over rated actors of our time who somehow manages to get some great movies down his path. He typically makes the most of it but this time around his constipation gets the better of him. There is not too much really to look forward to in the movie but it is just that it is finished well enough for me to still give it a 5 on 10. I would give it lesser because honestly, my sleep did get the better of me a couple of times during the movie but then there are many Nicholas Cage fans… oops sorry to add the “h” which doesn’t seem to have made any difference to the performance. Watch at your own risk.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1083769113/

Oceans Thirteen

Willy Banks (Al Pacino) has no idea who he picked up to mess around with. It is indeed important and a mandatory trait for any casino owner to have – ruthlessness. But then one can definitely pick and choose the kind of people one messes around with right? But Banks couldn’t care less. He however, doesn’t realize that his biggest strength – his money – is his biggest weakness. He is about to taste what it feels like to be the recipient of a revenge plan. Little did he know that when he was conning Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), he was about to rub a few other people the wrong way. These people are led by a suave, slick and extremely talented conman who goes by the name of Daniel Ocean (George Clooney). And whats more, Willy Banks is so cocky that he doesn’t take the request that he receives from Ocean, seriously at all. In fact, he brushes it off only to incense Ocean a bit more. And as the trailer will tell you, Willy Banks is about to experience what it is like to lose $500 million in less than 15 minutes.

Steven Soderbergh continues to charm young and old alike with his signature style of direction which is a summation of several cuts stitched together rather brilliantly in a sepia hue which is so typically of Soderbergh. The classic jazz riffs continue to create an aura of mystique and suspense around what our team of 11 extremely talented con men are upto this time around. Once you know what the idea is i.e. rob Banks of $500 million, the intrigue builds up yet again on how they are going to manage it this time with the challenge of more “state of the art” security systems especially one that teaches itself what to expect. It is just so much fun.

By this time, the cast of the Ocean’s series has immersed itself into the characters they are supposed to play. And one thing that stands out over all 3 movies is the time and effort that Soderbergh takes to flesh out his characters in as detailed a manner as possible. Right from Ocean’s 11, he has given the correct importance to each one of his characters. Even if they are present only for one movie of the series. Like the stunning Ellen Barkin in this one who is given such a meaty role that she really cannot complain. Not to mention that Ellen Barkin is shown in the truest possible light that she can be shown in –stiff upper lip assistant who is probably the sexiest woman alive – heat personified I say.

Some people believe that Ocean’s Thirteen is the best of the 3 parts. I would be inclined to agree purely due to the way Soderbergh has made it contemporary – a fact that most directors forget by the time they are in the 3rd part of a hugely successful series. They tend to get a bit over confident but with people like Soderbergh one can be quite certain that the guard will not be let down. Quite certainly, there is enough appetite that people have for Ocean’s Fourteen but I guess we may not get it. I for one am game but only if it is the same cast and crew. 7.5 on 10 for Thirteen.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1654522137/

Cast                 George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Eddie Izzard

Alvin and the Chipmunks

For someone who is heavily into movies, I do have some glaring gaps in terms of movies seen. So when Alvin came up with his 3rd movie, I was left in a situation where I consciously decided not to go because I had not seen the 2007 movie or the Squeakel as it was called in 2009. That the franchise has survived upto its 3rd movie is credit to the marketing brains behind the scenes is all I can see. Thanks to Movies Now, I got the opportunity to watch a movie that I haven’t seen before – a rarity on movie channels over the past few weeks (gets immensely boring at times). So on a lazy Sunday afternoon, after a good 10+ hours of sleep on Saturday night, I was quite pleased when I bumped into Alvin on the movie listings. However, my Sunday wasn’t too great with respect to movies. In fact the entire weekend was quite below par with the movies released and on offer on channels . Thank goodness it was quite good in all other aspects.
Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) are 3 chipmunks who are… how do we put it…. Musically inclined. They live in a tree farm somewhere and find themselves transported from wherever they are to Los Angeles where they eventually bump into a song writer Dave Seville (Jason Lee). Now Dave isn’t doing too well with his mushy music and Ian (David Cross) who owns Jett Records thinks that Dave is done and dusted with his music career. The chipmunks find residence in a fruit basket that Dave forcibly takes away from Ian’s office. It takes a while for Dave to find them out and after a bit of resistance and identification of music potential, he takes them in. Things start going out of hand when Ian discovers the munks and turns them into overnight celebrities. Can the kids – as Dave calls them – manage the sudden burst of fame and success?

It is strange to see the success that Alvin has achievement over the years. It is at best an average franchise. The story line is nothing great – if anything it gets all too gooey and mushy for anyone’s comfort. The animation is barely average. The movies have never been rated highly by any critic or not so critical reviewers. It has offered nothing “new” per se for people to be excited about – I mean Chip ‘n Dale were much more fun. The voice overs could have been done by anyone using the right technology. The cast has to really force itself to act. Tim Hill’s direction is average at best (Whats the verdict on Hop by the way? Hasn’t released in this part of the world yet. Not expecting much after this.). Overall – not too great a way to start a Sunday afternoon. Kids would probably love it to bits – which would explain the success. Adults – worth a miss – 4 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi984744217/

Chak De India!!!

16 ladies who were converted to being household names 4 years back (will be 4 years in 1 week) - Vidya Sharma (Malavade), Balbir Kaur (Tanya Abrol), Gul Iqbal (Arya Menon), Nethra Reddy (Sandia Furtado), Soimoi Kerketa (Nisha Nair), Rachna Prasad (Kimberly Miranda), Raynia Fernandes (Raynia Mascerhanas), Nichola Sequiera (herself), Rani Dispotta (Seema Azmi), Bindia Naik (Shilpa Shukla), Gunjun Lakhani (Shubhi Mehta), Mary Ralte (Kimi Laldawla), Molly Zimik (Masochon V Zimik), Aliya Bose (Anaitha Nair), Komal Chautala (Chitrashi Rawat) and Preety Sabharwal (Sagarika Ghatge). It will take a while before people are able to forget these names which probably go us closest to a victory in a world cup hockey. Shimit Amin’s second movie was an even bigger block buster than his first one (Ab Tak Chhappan) and went on to cement his position as one of the better directors in Indian Cinema.

Shimit’s capability to generate enough enthusiasm to deflect the audiences attention from the really finer details is what makes him a solid movie maker. What he does beautifully is creating the excitement from the first shot of the movie where Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh) misses the penalty stroke in the final few seconds and so the world cup. Every few minutes he ensures that the movie actually touches an emotional chord with every viewer – and he does so beautifully with almost every Indian through Chak De India!!! Such as when Nethra Reddy is asked, “Tamil” and she says “Tamil aur Telegu mein utna hi farak hota hai jitna Punjabi aur Bihari mein” (The difference between Tamil and Telegu is identical to that between Punjabi and Bihari) Or when Mary Ralte and Molly Zimik say, “Aap apne hi Desh mein mehmaan banke rahoge”? (Would you like to stay as a guest in your own country) A Superb way to touch the regional sentiments and then get the nationalist sentiment also up and running with “Vidya Sharma. India”. Very slick movie making Mr. Amin.

Each character is clearly defined in terms of origin, aspirations, problems and what she expects to achieve from the campaign to win the world cup. Whether it is Komal’s desire never to be in a kitchen or Preety’s wish to prove her boyfriend wrong or Vidya’s need to win the world cup so that people at home let her live her life or Gul’s family’s legacy which she must live upto. Every single person with the exception of probably Nichola Sequeira, Rachana Sharma and Raynia Fernandes have been given their due.

Having said that, there are enough and more gaffes which would be visible to one if and only if s/he were to watch the movie through the eyes of a critic who wants to find mistakes. And even there Shimit would have a decent explanation to offer. The inspirations from Miracle on Ice are unmistakable though. The only place where I could question Shimit on his complete “originality”.

It is exceptionally difficult to review a movie that the entire world has seen and without doubt is completely in love with. Chak De is definitely the best sports movie made in India to date and could compare with some of the better ones world over for sure. If we were familiar with Ice Hockey or American Football I am certain we would find the same consistency errors that we do in Chak De. But the fact that Shimit has made this move as true to field hockey as possible is all credit to him. I would still give it an 8 on 10. Cant give more because I am aware of the flaws. But for those who haven’t seen it, you have definitely missed something. Add this to your MUST WATCH list.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NWwrarwqPE

Transformers

Four years since the first edition of Transformers too this world by storm if I were to put it very mildly. The world was introduced to characters which weren’t seen before and which were fascinating and unimaginable to say the least. Cars which converted themselves to robots which were larger than life itself and ditto for airplanes and cranes in fact anything to do with automobiles. We were introduced to the fascinating existence of Cybertron and its inhabitants – The Autobots led by Optimus Prime and The Decepticons led by the vicious Megatron. As the story goes, a war between the 2 major tribes or so to speak in a galaxy far far away leads the Autobots to flee with their immense source of power – the AllSpark – and hide it in our very own planet earth. The All Spark has the immense capability of giving life to all technology be it a mixer grinder or an air conditioner or a computer. All of this was over 150 years back. In the current day, the Autobots are back to claim what was rightfully theirs in the first place – The All Spark – and yet again, they are not alone coz the Decepticons have gladly joined the party. Fasten your seat belts folks cause if you haven’t seen this one then you have missed one of the best ever Sci Fi / Action movies made to date.

Steven Spielberg could not have picked up a better person to direct the first of his trilogy (to date and hopefully many many more to come). Michael Bay shot to fame with Bad Boys and then The Rock. It wasn’t surprising because not too often do you see a director of an action movie paying as much attention to detail as Michael Bay. He makes use of sound like very few other directors that I have seen – not that I have seen too many very honestly but the use of sound in Transformers especially when the Autobots actually Transform themselves is quite superb. The special effects with Michael Bay are unquestionable and without them it would obviously be impossible to get Transformers to life. All of this was from a bunch of toys which eventually got converted to a comic book series – Incredible!!!!

Don’t look out for much on the acting front although Shia Le Bouf is definitely quite solid. Wonder how they got Hugo Weaving’s voice to sound like it does through Megatron. Amazingly eerie. Megan Fox provides the required levels of eye candy (sizzling eye candy actually).

All in all, Transformers has shows right from the first release that there is room for a sequel and considering that Spielberg had the foresight to sign up Bay for 3 editions, we are on the verge of the release of Transformers Dark of the Moon tomorrow. Have a wonderful time folks. Transformers I gets a 7 on 10 from my side. Hope TDOM is as good.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi973209625/ and that of and TDOTM at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi543989017/

Atonement

I had to finish Valentines Day with a movie that epitomizes true love. There are enough and more romantic comedies that were aired all through the day; some really good ones also. But what about the truest of love stores? The ones that are gut wrenchingly, excruciatingly painful but represent the concept of a long lasting love better than any other? I reviewed The English Patient yesterday and it was a sub conscious choice without giving much thought to the fact that it was actually a great build up to V Day. But picking up Atonement from my collection was not only a choice driven by the fact that I hadn’t seen it (the previous copy I had picked up was a DVD released by Big Videos and didn’t have subtitles and so was promptly returned) but also because I was looking at a love story and not a RomCom to finish off the day. I had my share of RomComs before Atonement with Hitch and Hope Springs. So a Golden Globe Winner and one with 7 Oscar nominations (one win) seemed to be a great choice.


What would be the emotions you could possibly go through if you are about 13 years old (a very peculiar and impressionable age) and you walked into the library of your massive house and found your sister having sex with the man that she loves who is coincidentally the one that you have a massive crush on. 13 year old - Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan – pronounced SEER sha); Sister – Cecilia Tallis (Kiera Knightley); Lover – Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). The embarrassed couple straightens their clothes and walk away.

The Tallises have their cousins from the north staying with them due some domestic problems – The Twins – Pierrot Quincey (Felix von Simson) and Jackson Quincey (Charlie von Simson) along with their elder sister Lola (Juno Temple). The twins don’t want to stay with their cousins and decide to run away that evening. Obviously the family panics and a search party is sent out. During the search, Briony stumbles upon someone molesting Lola and is shocked even further. Neither Lola nor Briony is sure about who the person was. But using this as an opportunity to get back @ Robbie, the naïve 13 year old gets him arrested as a prime witness. The fledgling romance between Robbie and Cecilia is smashed to smithereens. Robbie goes to prison and then to the war. Cecilia, leaves home and becomes a nurse. They keep their relationship alive through the years despite the frequency of meetings and the distances.

Atonement as the title suggests is a story of a girl’s search for retribution as she comes of age and understands the gravity of her actions. And how she tries to set things right. Yet another adapted screenplay, this one is based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name. I haven’t read the book but can only assume that it did deal with the aspect of Briony’s struggle to come to terms with her actions a bit more in detail. As aspect that was not given as much justice in the movie. The movie focused more on the love story between the protagonists who have done a very good job of bringing to fore the emotions that the lovers go through in sustaining their relationship through the years that build up to the war. Somehow, Joe Wright doesn’t seem to have done justice to the entire concept. Maybe it was in an attempt to keep the movie to under 2 hours. I would have risked extending it by about 30 minutes because the pace is quite solid and doesn’t really drop through the movie. The first thing that does hit you about the movie is the music which seems to be made with a typewriter and one which got the movie its only Oscar. Great cinematography. Some obvious slips on attention to detail – like Kiera Knightley’s luscious red lips in a nurse’s uniform. But Beautiful love story overall. Put this on your must watch list. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3836805401/

Shoot 'Em Up

Are you in the mood for TNA (Total Nonstop Action for the not so educated with wrestling as a sport). But the TNA that I am talking about now has nothing to do with wrestling. Just a TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation) that I wanted to use for a long long time. But then the movie that I saw around 2 pm this afternoon was a heavy load of TNA in the style of Clive Owen. It had guns, guns and loads of guns. It had a chase or a fight sequence every 38.37 seconds. And for most part, you will be wondering as to why are these fights happening in the first place? Thankfully you will not need to wait for too long to find out. Thankfully. The pace of the movie is fast enough through its 86 minutes – 80 minutes thanks to the editing that has been done on Warner Brothers Movie Channel – and you will reach the levels of understanding that you want to reach sooner than later.


Smith (Clive Owen) is waiting at a bus stand in the middle of the night (or so I assume) when he sees a woman (Ramona Pringle) in a bright yellow coat walking past holding her stomach and crying out in pain. Yes – she is pregnant but doesn’t really seem like she is about to deliver immediately. A few seconds later, she is followed by a villainous looking man with a gun. She runs into a warehouse of sorts and the man follows, obviously with an intent to relieve her of her life and the life that she is carrying. Smith, obviously cannot look the other way and mind his own business. Only cowards do that right. So he follows the 2 into the warehouse and just as the man is going to kill the mother to be, Smith stops him and follows it up by killing 10-15 other men while simultaneously helping the woman in the yellow coat deliver her baby. Once the baby is delivered, he is confronted with another bunch of shooters, this time led by the lead villain, Hertz (Paul Giamatti) who is after the girl and her new born. This time around, hero not only manages to keep the bad guys away but does it with the woman and baby in tow – in his arms – after a point of time, you check the screen again to see if its Clive Owen or Rajani Saar. So when they show the woman with a bullet in her head – our hero is unable to save her – you are reassured that Rajani Saar is still in India.

A few more bullets and a few more car chases later, you are more clear on what the entire story is about. Expected a bit better from Clive Owen – in his choice of movies that is. This one is more like a mindless Vin Diesel movie and not one for Clive Owen. Clive Owen is a bit more classy than this. And what the hell is Paul Giamatti doing here? Taking his new found love to be a villain a bit too seriously? Hello – both of you – stick to roles that demand a bit more of you. And if you are running short of money then the find yourself an investment consultant soon. But don’t stoop down to these levels. The silver lining in the movie – and this has nothing to do with good movie making – is luscious eye candy in the form of Monica Bellucci – red hot furniture (a term I have used previously with Eva Mendes in The Other Guys). The direction is average at best. And I would not put too much of money on Michael Davis henceforth if I was a producer. But, if you like action movies of the mindless Vin Diesel, as mentioned yesterday, variety then this one is definitely for you. As a movie – 5 on 10 is what I can give this on my best days. Today isn’t. So it will be a 4 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2256994585/

Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters)

The talent in world cinema and the quality of movies that are available is not funny. No wonder we have 2 full fledged channels providing us with an international fare. Not that all of them are good movies but if you like movies and don’t mind going through sub titles, you will find yourself pleased more often than not. And if you have a choice of seeing some random chick flick on one of the other English channels and any international movie playing on UTV World or Lumiere, choose the latter is what I would say. I have to however thank the wonderful world of in flight entertainment for getting an opportunity to watch Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) and specifically Jet Airways. This was the last movie I saw before touch down into Mumbai. I have penciled in a reminder to catch up with as many as possible in the foreign language selection from the Oscars.


It is around the second half of the 1930s. Salomon Sali Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is a forger par excellence. He is an Austrian by birth and no doubt Jewish too – a lethal combination to have around those times. Puts you in the much sought after list without debate. Even more so if you are a criminal like Sali is. Very few can perform the fine art of counterfeiting like Sali can. His understanding of the business is unparalleled. But when the Germans do take over Austria, Sali finds that his days are numbered. Sturmbannführer Friedrich Herzog (Devid Striesow), an SS officer with a sense of humour finally tracks down Sali in a compromising position and proudly arrests “The King of Forgers”. Sali is sent across to the Mauthausen concentration camp in the north of Austria and sentenced to hard labout.

Five years or so go by and as part of a usual movement, a bunch of prisoners including Sali are sent across to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. As they are being lined up, Sali finds himself face to face again with his nemesis, Herzog. Sali and another transferee Adolf Burger (August Diehl) are segregated from the rest of the prisoners and taken to a separate section of the camp. They are surprised to see several printing machines in this section and are introduced to Dr. Klinger (August Zirner) who is the Kapo or an inmate responsible for guarding the premises. Welcome to “Project Bernhard” – the German effort to print counterfeit currency, primarily pounds and dollars too and get them into circulation in the respective countries to destabilize the economy – Adolf Hitler’s last strategy to prevent anhillation in the War.

Stefan Ruzowitzky does a fabulous job with the true story of a criminal who fights not only with himself but his fellow inmates to stay alive at a concentration camp by doing what he does best – Forging. He portrays the aspects that each one of the inmates go through. The Kapo who has to ensure that his men are kept alive. Burger, who is a rebel at heart and refuses to support the entire activity because he believes they are helping the Nazis out – which is true – but is it more important to stay alive and make a difference or die trying to make a difference in a concentration camp? The story is weaves the conflicts that go through everyone’s minds including the aspect of guilt that the counterfeiters have for being treated much better than the other inmates. The acting on display is extremely good. Markovics plays the role of the perceivably selfish counterfeiter brilliantly. Very intense. Very compact. No riff raffs. Truly deserved the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2008. Could have made it to the main draw as well. 8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwr9nCurEEQ

Bheja Fry

Yet another advantage of visiting your friends abroad.  You get them DVDs that they have always wanted to have and more so with friends down under coz they don’t get most of our Desi Titles and even if they do, it is horrendously expensive.  The best part is that they have probably not watched an all out hilarious movie like Bheja Fry and a maniac like me was only looking for the next available excuse to watch it.  So on a not so warm evening around 8 kms away from a place called Margaret River in Western Australia, I seized the opportunity to watch one of India’s finest comedies to date with my close friends Shilpa and Parikshit. And for those who were wondering what I was doing watching desi movies on vacation – do come down to wine country and try to find some place open after 7. Would love to know J

Ranjit Thadani (Rajat Kapoor) is a successful music producer.  He is married to Sheetal (Sarika – and does she look gorgeous still – wonder why Kamal Hassan left her – the vagaries of the world I say).  Their marriage is going through troubled times.  Ranjit cares more about his work than what Sheetal does.  Sheetal is a reasonably successful singer in her own right and was actually seeing a music director, Anant Ghoshal (Milind Soman) when she met Ranjit, who promptly steals her under Anant’s nose.  Ranjit and his friends have a fetish.  A fetish to have fun at the expense of unsuspecting folk who think that they are searching for new talent (helped by the fact that they are in the music business). Every Friday, the gang meets up to “unearth” fresh talent.  Stuff like people a guy who genuinely believes he has talent because he can spit a really long distance – Ugh!!!  Whats worse is that the group actually believes that the entire process is a great stress buster for all of them.

It would be Ranjit’s turn the next Friday to introduce the next talent to the gang. And he is quickly running out of time.  But a close friend, Jagdish Varma (Ikhlaque Khan) bumps into a genuine “talent” on his way to Pune.  Someone who actually believes that he was born to do only one thing – sing.  Meet Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak).  He is not only under the illusion of being a good singer, but also goes that extra mile to convince people that he really can sing.  He doesn’t waste a single opportunity to sing. And he is a leech to the core.  One doesn’t have much of a choice but to hear him out.  Complete chaos ensues when Bharat Bhushan enters the scene.  And very shortly, you would be holding on to your stomachs in pain – thanks to some amazing comedy that will come your way.

Bheja Fry is the kind of movie that comes every once in a while to reaffirm our faith in quality comedy.  Director Sagar Ballary is far from being a superb director considering the number of inconsistencies that existed in the movie and the editing that was definitely below standard.  But these gaffes are more than masked by the superb performances of everyone in the cast.  Everyone but for Milind Soman who for my money’s worth should realize by now that acting is not up his alley.  He should stick to modeling which he can continue with for the next 10 years plus – he still looks absolutely stunning and is a huge role model for us 30+ paunchy folks who have resigned to not looking smart and fit coz it is all too late.  People are going to remember the performances of Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey for a long time to come.  And Bhairavi Goswami will be talked about till eternity for her classic dialogue as Suman Rao, “Ranjit, Jaane se pehle mujhe ek baat bata doh.  Yeh “Tharki” kya hota hai”? Complete Master Card moment I say!!!! Long Live Comedy.  7 on 10 for this one.

Meet Bill

How many movies can you name that have been single handedly taken to a whole new level thanks to the performance of just one person – typically the lead role. Take for e.g. 300 – thanks to Gerard Butler – no one else worth speaking about right? Erin Brockovich a.k.a. The Julia Roberts show Part 1. Gladiator – Totally Russel Crowe. Raging Bull – Robert De Niro all the way to the end. Get the drift right? If it weren’t for these performances, the movie in itself would not be anywhere close to what it landed up being. Also, these are the kind of actors who can hold a movie together no matter how weak the subject matter is. One such actor who is amongst my all time favourites and unfortunately one who I have been introduced to only in the past couple of years is Aaron Eckhart. When I think of Aaron Eckhart I can think of 2 words – Simply Superb!!! His performances in super satirical movies like “Thank You for Smoking” or as Harvey Dent in the Dark Knight or as Nick in No Reservations – S-I-M-P-L-Y S-U-P-E-R-B!!!! And Meet Bill is no different from the rest.


Bill (Eckhart) is the executive vice president @ Freedom First Bank which is primarily owned by Mr. Jacoby (Holmes Osborne) and is Bill’s father in law. Completing the troika is John Jr. (Todd Louiso) – Bill’s Brother in Law – an irritable guy to the core, whose only thrill in life is to make Bill feel like the scum of the earth. Bill pretty much believes that he has a position simply because he is married to Jessie (Elizabeth Banks) and is desperate to make something out of his life on his own terms. But all is not well @ home as Bill discovers accidentally about Jessica having an affair with the local micro celebrity, Chip Johnson (Timothy Olyphant). When the men go out on a hunting trip (which is not something Bill is very excited about), he sets up a handycam in their bedroom and finds out that his fears are indeed a reality. An obviously upset Bill beats up Chip and gets himself infamous across the town thanks to being on live TV for the wrong reasons. Worse still, the video finds its way to the Internet.

Now Bill is an Alumnus of Tate High which is the most prestigious institute in the area and also part of a mentorship programme which involves him spending 5 hours a week with a student. In the bargain he gets assigned to him a character who through the movie is referred to only as The Kid (Logan Lerman). The Kid is probably the most promiscuous and wild character you can ever meet. Barely 16, he is always smoking up or flirting with as many women as he can and he is quite good at it as well. Now the kid likes Bill a lot but one cant say the feeling is mutual. So in an effort to build confidence with Bill, The Kid decides to help him get his wife back. He takes the help of Lucy (Jessica Alba) a lingerie store assistant to pretend to be having an affair with Bill and use the jealousy card with Jessica (the wife not the actress). What follows is a serious attempt from Bill to win back the love of his life through various ways from putting in several laps in the pool to even shaving off his chest hair (Ouch!!!!).

Meet Bill is a fabulous way to spend 2 hours if you have that available in your itinerary. Bernie Goldman is primarily a producer but does a reasonable job in his only directorial venture to date. Assisted by another debutante Melissa Wallack, also the writer, and add the solid performances of the rest of the cast and you have a very entertaining comedy to say the least. Wonder why it never made the big screen in India. There seem to be so many of these movies that don’t seem to see the light of the day. Definitely a 7 on 10. Playing these days on Zee Studio. Watch it.

In the Valley of Elah

Hank (Tommy Lee Jones) and Joan (Susan Sarandon) Deefield are an elderly couple who have lost one of their sons to war. Their second son Mike (Johnatan Tucker) also joins the army, much to the disappointment of his mother. He returns to the US and surprisingly goes AWOL - Absent Without Leave for those who are unfamiliar with Army parlance. Its very unlike Mike not to have called.



After waiting for a couple of days, Hank who is a retired Military Police Sergeant decides to follow up with the MP and people at the base. A two day drive gets him there but most of them prove largely unhelpful. Other than expressing their concern and surprise, no one is able to give any leads. The officer leading the investigation Lt. Kirklander (Jason Patric) stonewalls any questions that Hank may have.


Luckily, when Hank visits Mike’s quarters, he manages to squeeze out his old mobile phone – illegitimately of course. A local phone / computer geek offers to help Hank with the images / videos that are stored in the phone which is in badly damaged condition. With no choice left, Hank accepts the offer and leaves the phone there. Maybe…just maybe it may have some evidence that would lead him to Mike.


Not happy with the progress @ the base, Hank decides to go to the local police where he meets Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron). Unfortunately, since the case involves the army, the only people who are authorized to investigate are the MP. Sanders and the other detectives refuse to help.


Coincidentally, that very night, the local police is called to investigate a badly burnt body that was found close to the military base. Before further investigations can take place, the army intervenes and claims the property to be theirs and hence out of local police jurisdiction. The local police is more than glad to give up. Kirklander then calls Hank over to the base to identify the body which they have placed as Mike, thanks to a partial fingerprint. The MP now believes that Mike was involved with some drug dealers and was a mule for them and the Drug Dealers were responsible for the murder. The investigation strongly takes shape towards this theory.


Unconvinced and obviously not to pleased that the MP is handling the case, Hank hounds Sanders till she takes him to the spot of the crime. Sanders and Hank then come together using Hank’s experience as an MP and Sanders’ intent of proving a point that she is as capable of being a detective in a male dominated job.


Paul Haggis has in each of his attempts created a super movie. Although ITVOE does not have the concept of parallel story lines that Crash had, it is equally layered and explores the myriad of emotions that people go through. How do old parents feel when they are informed that their only son is no more and no one knows why? What goes through the mind of an up and coming woman in a man’s world when she is continuously ridiculed and questioned on her way up? How does an officer in the army put duty before the truth so that the army does not have to face the brunt of it?


Could not have thought of anyone better to execute the role of Hank and Joan Deerfield. Tommy Lee Jones’ intensity on screen is incomparable. I probably use the word “intensity” too often in my reviews but isn’t that what acting is all about. Susan Sarandon is simply brilliant in what could probably be the smallest role that she has played in her life. And then there is Charlize Theron who cannot but give her best to every single role that she does.


Paul Haggis has successfully portrayed the pressures that defence personnel go through. The day to day experiences of an average private in the US Army OR for that matter a Jawan in the Indian Army have severe repercussions both physically and psychologically. It handles the sensitive topic of Post Traumatic Stress in as bold a manner as possible.


In the Valley of Elah was nominated for the Best Movie in the 2008 Academy Awards. Cant quite remember who it lost out to. But it ought to have been brilliant enough. Else Paul Haggis would have got his 2nd oscar for sure. Surprisingly, Katherine Bigelow made it with the Hurt Locker that handles a similar issue albeit in a with a different perspective.


Definitely a 8 on 10 in my books. However be forewarned that the pace is quite slow and the movie is dialogue intensive.

Fracture

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is an up and coming attorney @ law. He works on crucial cases at the District Attorney (DA) office and has a 100% track record – especially at the tough ones. Little does he know what is going to hit him over the next few weeks – A 50+ year old problem called Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins)


Mr. Crawford is a successful engineer who has smelt a fish about his young, extremely attractive wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz). Most of us would have probably felt this gut wrenching experience, doubled up and died. But not Ted. Ted needs to ensure that his deepest darkest fears are confirmed or not (hopefully). He leaves work early one day and drops into an inconspicuous little motel in outskirts of the city to find Mr & Mrs. Smith (Jennifer) having a romp in the pool.


His fears being confirmed, Ted returns home and waits for Jennifer to get back home. A few hours later and few cold blooded dialogues later (no one else can be that cold blooded on screen than Hopkins) and shoots her in the face.


Now Mr. Smith goes by the actual name of Detective Robert “Rob” Nunally (Billy Burke) who, as bad luck would have it, lands up being the lead detective on the case. It would seem that he doesn’t have much on his hands coz Ted confesses to the crime @ the scene and is promptly put behind bars, pending trial.


Willy, in the meantime has landed up a great job in a leading law firm thanks to the recommendation of Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike). However, before he leaves for good, he has one small case to take care of – that of disposing off a deranged man who has killed is wife and has confessed to it as well. Piece of Cake right….. Not as much.


Mr. Crawford, true to his profession in a manner of speaking, seems to have engineered his wife’s killing and is not about to give up without a fight. He does just enough to ensure that the young Willy Beachum is enticed enough to take up the case against him who Ted decides to defend himself. What follows is a brilliantly crafted murder mystery which holds you to the screen for the next 60+ mins. Like a good 10 round World Boxing Championship match where one is a super experienced crafty fighter and the other who has raw energy and strength on his side.


Gregory Hoblit (Director – Fallen, Hart’s War, Frequency and also NYPD blue) sure had his work cut out for him when he signed on Hopkins for the role of Ted Crawford. But I have this feeling that it was not too challenging. Just run through the role with Hopkins and he delivers yet another one of his masterpieces – but then with Hopkins, every one is a masterpiece to say the least.


Ryan Gosling is good in his performance of the young, raring to go attorney who has not learnt to give up. The rest of the cast really doesn’t have much of a presence but kinda do what was expected.


Like Hoblit’s previous attempts, this one centres around just a couple of characters backed by a really really strong story line.


Playing on one of the movie channels (cant remember which one) in June / July. Worth a dekko. I give it 6 on 10.