Rang Rasiya

I began watching Rang Rasiya in the frame of mind of an amateur critic like I always do. The single minded objective was to find every mistake that Ketan Mehta made and believe me that I could find lots of them. There were errors galore to say the least and some of them made you cringe.

You Don’t Mess With The Zohan

OK its Denis Dugan again.  And if it is Denis Dugan then the lead male has to be Adam Sandler.  So we have yet another festival of the so called slapstick.  This time around, it is set to the background of that eternal fight between 2 countries that used to live in peace for a long time – Israel and Palestine.

Made of Honor

My first memory of Patrick Dempsey was when he was all of 25 years young in a movie called Run (remember that movie starring Sanjay Dutt & Urmila titled Daud? Now you know that even the name was ripped off). That was over 20 years back. But most of you would know him as McDreamy a.k.a. Dr.Sheperd from Grey’s Anatomy. Well, for those who fall in the latter category, let me assure you that Dempsey’s repertoire extends far beyond the walls of Seattle Grace Hospital.

Made of Honor (MoH) is one of Dempsey’s more recent movies. He plays the role of the Casanova – Tom, who is best friends with Hannah (Michelle Monaghan). Yep. They have never heard of that Salman Khan one liner – Ek Jawan Ladka aur Ek Jawan Ladki kabhi dost nahin ho sakte (A young man and a young girl can never be “just friends”).

Or hasn’t he? Over a casual conversation with his friends, Tom realizes that the years that he has spent with Hannah, since their college days, are actually a good enough indication that he should consider moving from being just friends to much more. All of this, when Hannah is in Scotland for some personal work for over a month.

Tom lands up @ the airport specifically with the intent of telling that it is time to move to the next level. But instead, he is introduced to Colin (Kevin McKidd) – a Scottish Lord, an owner of a distillery and a lot of land in Scotland, with a line of royalty of sorts in the family and most importantly, Hannah’s fiancé. The wedding is in 15 days. And guess who is going to be the MoH and therefore best placed to break up a wedding?

Paul Weiland has been a Television director for most of his life and his claim to fame can be only some parts of the Mr. Bean series. So, I guess it was expected to have a TV like feel and nothing spectacular in terms of direction. With that expectation you would not fall short. In fact with that expectation, MoH is a very reasonable movie. Average on most counts and feel good at the end of it all.

The movie does have some interesting points (cannot call them high points). Patrick Dempsey juggling China, Kevin McKidd dunking in a basketball game, and of course the Scottish strongman tradition (amongst several others) where Tom fails miserably to say the least. But the best has to be Grandma Pearl and her pleasure beads. And of course – riding a horse into the altar as part of the climax. 6 on 10 for all of these.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3081896217/

Taken

I saw Taken for the first time only about 2 years after its release. It was before I started blogging. And my inputs were restricted to a facebook post that I don’t quite remember. What I do remember is an edge of the seat drama that kept me glued to the screen and made me wish that I had an HD connection – the ads just ruined the stunning pace that the movie gets into within 15 minutes of the start and stays there all the way to the last frame. Truly a Thriller fan’s delight.

And as I had the good fortune of watching Taken a few minutes back on Star Movies (this time on HD), I kind of managed to put a finger on what is it that I missed in Taken 2 that prompted me to slot a score of only 6 on 10 for the sequel. One word – INTENSITY. The complete commitment that one can see in Liam Neeson’s eyes as the father who is desperate to get his daughter back from the clutches of a ruthless bunch of Albanians who are driving a flesh trade operation through Paris.

Unfortunately for the Albanians led by Marko (Arben Bajraktaraj), Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) turns out to be an exceptionally well trained and equally ruthless ex-CIA operative. And as he says in as many words when his daughter is kidnapped, “I don’t know who you are. But if you do not let my daughter go right now, I will find you. And I will kill you”. The manner in which Neeson tells Marko can be best described in 2 words – SPINE CHILLING. And that my friends was the missing ingredient in Taken 2.

Within 72 hours, using some of the most obvious techniques and common sensical methods – backed with an ice cold calm, Bryan goes through the task of tracking down his daughter and getting her back home safe and sound. He is definitely helped with some movie luck – dodging bullets and the likes. But any such instances are fleeting in nature and well edited.

There are very few consistency errors (if any). All members of the cast do their best despite the ominous presence of Neeson and one has to accept that this was a lead character movie all the way through. But the composure of the cast goes a long way in the making of the end product.

Taken is also crisply edited. The entire movie is under 90 minutes but does not compromise on any aspect whatsoever. Taken must be screened to as many movie makers in this part of the world as possible. Just to prove a point that “Less is indeed more”. 7 on 10 and put it on your must watch list for certain.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3488219417/

Rock On!

Rock On! was an absolute hit when it released. Personally, I was quite surprised at the huge success that it had at the BO. I wasn’t too impressed when I saw it for the first time. I thought it was good alright. But I didn’t quite get what the entire hullabaloo was about. But then as the days have gone by and as you see the re-runs on TV and start looking at the story again and again I guess it kind of grows on you.

I really cannot put my finger on one thing that makes Rock On! a good movie to watch. Would it be the story which has a genuine aspect of making things work against all odds? Possible. Magik is a rock band that has 4 people – Aditya Shroff aka Adi (Farhan Akhtar) – lead singer, Joseph Mascarenhas aka Joe (Arjun Rampal) – guitar, Rob Nancy (Luke Kenny) – keyboards and Kedar Zaveri aka Killer Drummer aka KD (Purab Kohli) – Drums.

They are quite a rage with the crowds and win the annual Rock Band Hunt. En route to cutting their first album, the hang ups that come with the producers and the record labels get them quite worked up. And when Joe decides that enough is enough, it comes down to a fist fight with the Music Video Director and eventually Adi. Of course the band breaks up.

A few years later now and each one of them are on different ways. Some – like Adi are successful but unhappy Investment Bankers. Others – like Joe are unsuccessful but unhappy out of work guitarists. A chance meeting occurs between KD and Sakshi (Prachi Desai – Adi’s wife – at the jewelry store that KD helps his dad with. One thing leads to another and the band slowly but surely gets back together.

Another success factor of the movie could have been the sincere effort put in by the entire cast. Sincere and really good too. Actually, I cannot think of a single person – even the small role that the likes of Suraj Jagan played – who did not come up with the goods in terms of what the role demanded. I thought the band – together – was very good. But the find of the movie had to be Shahana Goswami in her first major role.

However, what I believe has kept Rock On! in the minds of everyone since then has to be the music from Shankar Ehsaan Loy which was as rock as it could have been – at least in this country. They even experimented with a hard rock number in “Zehreelay” which was sung very well by Suraj Jagan. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t the most popular number. And much as I am not a huge fan of Javed Akhtar – I think he was fantastic this time around.

Much as I hate to correct myself on my initial assessment of the movie – Rock On! is one of the better ones to come out of Bollywood in the past decade. It could actually make it to the top 10 of the decade quite easily. Different. Brave. Well treated by Abhishek Kapoor. All the ingredients that go into making a good solid musical. Watch it if you can. It keeps playing quite often on TV these days. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugzdDjnqfW4

Seven Pounds

There is a terminal heart patient who answers to the call of Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson). She runs a pressed wedding card business – the one that used to be run in the days of old. The one which had to be worked upon manually to set the print or the one that is semi automatic. Machines which are over 50 years old at least. She is weak but by her own claim – and I must agree to it – used to be – unauditably hot.

Then there is a a blind man who is called Ezra (Woody Harrelson). He works at a call centre for a meat packing business but is a vegan by choice and a virgin by chance. Quite a weird combination right? And an unfortunate combination which one has to accept I guess. He likes the local waitress at a café a lot but has never gotten around to tell her that in as many words. Just doesn’t have the courage.

There is a middle aged woman who has two children – a boy and a girl. She is called Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrillo). She is a Spanish immigrant – a legal one thought. Divorced. Her current boyfriend is a no good person. He beats her up quite often. And despite the best efforts of people close to her, she refuses to report it to the cops and get her boyfriend behind bars. Sigh. The vagaries of the female mind.

What connects these three to Ben (Will Smith) who seems to be a man on the verge of a suicide and has a past that keeps flashing through his head? Is it the car crash which seems to be a fatal one? One that obviously involving 7 people whose names he keeps calling out in absolute angst. Ben visits each one of these people, representing the Internal Revenue Services, and tries to help them in some way or the other. Connie Tepos gets his house. Emily gets a relief for her tax payments. And Ezra gets a gentle push towards that waitress of his after receiving a very rude earful from Ben.

Written by Grant Nieporte, Seven Pounds is the kind of movie I should have seen at the time of release itself. And I have no clue to how I missed it. The screenplay is written extremely well to figure out the story only towards the end. While one gets reasonable clues as regards the past, one doesn’t really get clarity on the reason for Ben’s actions till the very end. The editing by Hughes Winborne and the music by Angelo Milli create an extremely haunting aura around the movie.

Full credit to director Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness) for giving us another poignant and heart wrenching story that has been executed to near perfection. But be forewarned that Seven Pounds could result in a lot of exercise for the lachrymal glands. That one of the best actors of our time – Will Smith – leads the cast is just an added reason to watch the movie. I have never seen Woody Harrelson in such a helpless role ever in the recent or distant past. Everyone in the cast seems to have given the movie a 100%. Even the poor Hotel owner who has to endure Ben’s nuances and the horse (read great Dane) that Ben gets along with him for a day or 2 when Emily is at the hospital. Seven Pounds easily makes the cut to anyone’s must watch list. 7.5 on 10.

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1057359641/

Burn After Reading

A CIA employee with a level 3 clearance called Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is married to an extremely painful doctor called Katie (Tilda Swinton). All Katie does 24 x 7 is question Osbourne’s existence and demean him by the minute. Also, she is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who is a US Marshall / Treasury Agent. Harry is in turn married to Sandy (Elizabeth Marvel) who is a hugely successful children’s book author. Sandy and Katie cannot see eye to eye although the families are supposed to be friends. They just hate each other – and this without knowing about the affair – wonder what would happen then.

When Osbourne gets pushed to a desk job, he gets quite peeved and decides to quit the CIA much to Katie’s chagrin. But he also starts working on his memoir. A book that will expose some of the not so pleasant secrets of the CIA – or so Osbourne believes. In between all of this, a CD with the memoir finds its way into the hands of Gym Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who starts believing that he can make a quick buck by blackmailing Osbourne. His partner in crime – Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who wants to get some plastic surgery done which will set her back by quite a bit and is not covered by insurance.

Burn After Reading is a rip roaring hilarious comedy if you like the dark variety. It is not in your face slapstick or filled with smart one liners. It is just the entire story and situation that ensures that you cannot help but find it hilarious. Honestly, I could have avoided giving you guys a spoiler by narrating the broad outline but believe me, this was a difficult review to write. I couldn’t figure out where to start. Such is the layered nature of the movie – atypical of the Coen brothers.

The brothers seem to have kind of mastered the art of building up the tempo of a movie gradually, inch by inch, beat by beat through a 100 minutes. Very few who can do that. There are movie makers who can fluctuate between the fast and slow well and there are movie makers who can maintain a consistent pace and yet remain totally intense. And there are the brothers who have their own brand of movie making which is building the tempo from the extremely slow to the absolutely frenetic. Burn After Reading is no different and therefore thoroughly enjoyable.

That Brad Pitt is a phenomenal actor and not just eye candy is an aspect that hasn’t really been acknowledged by too many people. Unlike George Clooney. Both of them are superb here. But it is John Malkovich who takes the cake with his absolutely acidic brand of acting. And brilliant performances from Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand is just the icing. You will like BAR only if u like Dark Comedy. Else avoid it. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1155268889/

Never Back Down

Now I have never been one to get thoroughly excited at the prospect of watching men or women get together to kill each other with their bare hands. So you will understand the reason behind my poor rating of Never Back Down. But it has never ceased to surprise me that the rest of the world seems to think otherwise. Why as I am writing this review, we have the Super Fight League or something of that sort starting in Mumbai right? So there are very few of the likes of me.

Now in sharp contrast, I love movies that have to do with boxing or wrestling or Jackie chan kung fu. Its just the inane fighting and beating up people that gets to me. Unless you are talking about The Fight Club where there is a darker story behind it. And it is made by a classy director called David Fincher. I can say with complete confidence that Jeff Wadlow comes nowhere remotely close. And before you start getting ideas, neither do Sean Farris or Cam Gigandet come anywhere close to Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Never Back Down in short is a badly made movie about mixed martial arts.

Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has an anger management problem. For someone who is not even 20 years old he is quite a handful. Been to jail some 6 times for outbursts that could have been controlled. Hates his father for having left his mother alone with him and a tennis prodigy younger brother. And obviously he isn’t too pleased with the city hopping that his mother forces them to do. Nevertheless, all this hopping gets him to Orlando where he bumps into Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). Jake’s brawling video has gone viral and Ryan is keen that they get together for some really hardcore fighting. That’s because Ryan and co have a small fight club of their own. Jake wants to have nothing with it but cannot avoid thanks to his short fuse. He eventually starts mastering his anger when he meets coach Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) a MMA professional who teaches him to control his instincts and focus energies on quality fighting.

The only semblance of acting comes from the committed Hounsou. The rest of the cast is pedestrian at best. I have already spoken about the direction so there is nothing much to add there. Background score – average. Story – barely there. Editing – barely there again. Narration – yawn. Add to this some boring love story thrown in with women in different stages of undress and you start to believe quite soon that the only thing that can keep you engaged in this movie are probably the half naked women and nothing else.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that Never Back Down already has a sequel? Also written by Chris Hauty who hasn’t left much of an impression on me at least. 4 on 10. Much more if you like inane fighting.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi697893145/

The Brothers Bloom

If you are in the mood for some not so light comedy (cannot call it dark really). Something that is not run of the mill and bordering on esoteric (for lack of any other word). Something different or Hat Ke (off the beaten path) as we would like to call. And yet, something that keeps you entertained and rooted to the screen. A movie that keeps you interested and eager to find out – what next? A movie that has its dull moments but they are few and far between. Then I would recommend that you don’t miss The Brothers Bloom the next time it plays on Television. For the life of me, I cannot remember which channel it was playing on. But I do remember that it will play all this month and you will have many an opportunity to catch up with it. Keep your eyes open for that promo that calls out the time or the TV Schedules that appear in the TOI every day and are reasonably accurate.


The Brothers Bloom is directed by Rian Johnson whose only reasonable claim to fame seems to be another off-beat movie called Brick starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and is rated at 7.5 on imdb which is quite high I must say. So I need to now add Brick to my watch list. But independent of that, Johnson seems to be the one who believes in disjointed stuff which keeps the audience engaged. But he may just be flirting a bit too much with the disjointed in an otherwise quite straightforward story. The experiement therefore leads the movie to be a tad slower than the pace it actually should have set. When you have a storyline about 2 brothers whose only skill set has been conning people since their childhood, one would expect that the movie would be a bit more pacy than the final product.

The Brothers Bloom has a cast which is extremely talented. Despite the scowl that he has on his face most of the time, I have always felt that Mark Ruffalo is a tad under-rated. He is definitely capable of much more than what we have seen – an aspect that is evident with his very strong performance as the elder brother Stephen whose aim in life is to come up with the perfect con – one which is so life like that it is perceived to be true by all those who were involved or affected. And the trust one can put on the youngest winner of the Best Actor Oscar is unquestionable. Even the supporting role played by Rinko Kikuchi as Bang Bang (now hows that for a name) is good. But of course, taking the cake not just with her looks but also with another super performance as the versatile heiress of a huge fortune is the current Mrs. Craig (Rachel Weisz for the ill-informed). It would suffice to say therefore that The Brothers Bloom is a movie led by a strong star cast. It is definitely watchable. In fact you should make an effort to see it. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi457245465/

What Happens in Vegas

Several corny dialogues dot this RomCom that stars the vastly over rated Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Lets see if I can remember some.  Go get your future ex-ex-wife OR you are so lame that your father would not want to hire you.  So screenplay as you can imagine is nowhere close to being reasonably entertaining. But then one has begin to expect that from a movie starring Kutcher.  That too nearly 4 years back when he was far from being a reasonable actor that he is these days.  And the number of movies that Diaz has definitely acted in can be counted on one maybe two fingers :D.  But I am not going to ever take this away from her that she looks stunning and will continue to look gorgeous till her dying day.  And lets see – is What Happens in Vegas any different from the other movies that we have seen which feature these 2 pieces of eye candy (together or independent of each other) – NO.  It is just a normal run of the mill each and every day kind of RomCom at best really.

Joy McNally and Jack Fuller pick the best day in their lives to get hitched.  They get smash drunk in Las Vegas after Joy is dumped by her fiancé. Joy has always had this feeling that she is not good enough for the man and takes this as an opportunity to really forget herself.  Jack on the other hand is a victim of a perfectionist father who cannot find anything right in what Jack does.  Joy is a stock broker by profession with a boss who is a prick to put it lightly.  With a name like Richard Banger, what else can you expect (now you know what I mean by corny).  Jack would like to take up his family business which is making furniture.  Mind you he is quite good at it but not good enuf for his dad.  So when these 2 naïve young creatures wake up the next morning, they have only one thing on their mind – how do we get out of this mess (read marriage) that we have gotten ourselves into.  Simple – tell each other and get it over and done with right? Wrong.  Wrong when you have just won yourselves $3 million!!!!

“What Happens in Vegas” was not really worth it for me to have put some other work that I had to do on hold.  But I didn’t take much time to figure it out and hence focused my energies in getting a few of my long pending reviews out of the way.  It is the kind of easy viewing movies that you can watch like any other RomCom.  Like you would on a Saturday afternoon cuddled up with a special someone idly flicking the remote in the breaks and maybe even having enough time to do something else on the side.  Not a movie that you desperately need to see.  Definitely not the kind of movie that I would have liked to finish the year on but well what the heck.  5 on 10 for this average chick flick.  Happy New Year 2012 folks.  See you on the other side on this year.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2092040473/

Hancock

If ever there was an award ceremony for the world’s worst super hero movie then Hancock would be there somewhere in the top 5. For the life of me, I have not a clue as to why Hancock was never nominated for the Razzies in the year of release. In fact it was defended quite strongly by the razzies that the movie was actually not all that bad. I beg to differ with the Razzies on this count and retain my point of view. There is hardly a point of view that Peter Berg even attempts to make through the movie. I definitely give credit to Peter Berg for his versatility of acting and directing which very few people can claim to do. But just putting your name in the director’s slot does not a director make right? One has to pay careful attention to aspects that go beyond stating, “Lights, Camera, Action”. There are several elements of movie making that you would be best placed to identify and us amateur film critics would not be so sure about. But I would guess that the list would include, acting, editing, screenplay, dialogues, cinematography, script amongst the more important aspects and would then go on to the lesser ones. Dear Mr. Berg – with all due respect, I would guess you have missed out on almost every single aspect of film making and focused on just putting together 90 minutes of crap based on some really big names in the business of acting.

Well you weren’t all that ill placed Mr. Berg. Quite certainly there would have been enough and more in the world who loved the concept of a normal looking human being who is a super hero. So what if he is drunk out of its wits more often that not? And so what if he causes more damage to general property that most of the bad guys would have anyways caused? It is all supposed to be for the greater good right? Wrong as the people of the city say over a period of time. It is not possible to sustain this random destruction of property in the name of saving human lives and stopping crime. And therefore, Hancock (Will Smith) very quickly finds himself in jail doing some time. But not before he is backed up by a Public Relations expert called Ray (Jason Bateman) whose life is saved by Hancock (what is the probability of being stuck in front of a train at a manned level crossing and the train doesn’t stop but continues to run into you. Obviously there is no one who has flagged the train to a stop earlier). Together Ray and Hancock try to repair Hancock’s ruined image in the market.

The only saving grace about Hancock seems to be the ethereal presence of Charlize Theron. Sadly, it has nothing much to do with her acting prowess and only to do with her looks. But I am not complaining. I could look at her for the rest of my life. So 90 minutes seemed more like 90 seconds. Consistency errors are the hall mark of Hancock and as mentioned earlier, there are no aspects that are basic to movie making which are actually followed in the movie. It may be random fun but it is not a good movie by any stretch of imagination. 3 on 10 is my verdict.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2497904921/

Yes Man

Peyton Reed is one of the few successful transitions from Television to the big screen. Those who have been reading me regularly would know how critical I have been of some of the attempts that have been made in the past. But here is an example of one director who knows his limitations and has slowly but surely made a place for himself in the evergreen and vastly successful world of Romantic Comedies. His previous attempts include the musical RomCom starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor called Down with Love which was pretty and decent. And then there was the one which got most tongues wagging about the relationship between Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn which was called The Break Up – didn’t do much for the alleged relationship between Vaughn and Aniston as you can see currently but made a reasonable amount of money at the BO for Reed. And his 3rd attempt is called “YES MAN” which stars that one person who I cannot decide whether to really hate for his histrionics or to love for his capability of pulling off those histrionics better than most people that are doing their rounds these days. At 46 (when this movie released) he still manages to look like a 33 year old and behave like a 3 year one. And whats more he gives most of us average 36 year olds a complex by going around with 24 year old Indian women!!!! :’( :’(:’( WTF!!!! Leave some for us Mr. Carey. Go find someone your own age. As I was saying, don’t know whether to hate him or love him.


Carl Allen (Jim Carey) is (I can only assume) a 30 something banker who is responsible for putting stamps on loan applications. These go by the names “APPROVED” and “NOT APPROVED”. Simple right? The job – Yes. His life – not so much. Its been 3 years since his divorce from the extremely hot Stephanie (Molly Sims). His friends Peter (Bradley Cooper – steady girls steady) and Rooney (Danny Masterson from That 70s show – remember?) have been chasing him loads to get his life back on track. But Carl is just not upto it. He would rather spend his time watching DVDs at home and has made it a habit of ducking everyone’s calls. But this time around Peter is successful in getting him out of home thanks to an important announcement of his upcoming wedding to Lucy (Sasha Alexander). Not that it excites Carl too much. But at least gets him out of home. The turning point in Carl’s life, however comes when he meets an ex-colleague Nick (John Michael Higgins) who has decided to live life and not get into the rat race and seems extremely thrilled about it. Much against his wishes, Carl decides to attend the session of the 'Yes' Guru - Terence Bundley (Terence Stamp).

Yes Man is an atypical Jim Carey movie – like most others that he stars in. Thanks to the immense love that he has to hog screen time. The presence of Zoey Deschanel is refreshing to say the least thanks to her girl next door kind of image and her ease of playing the care a damn, fly with the wind girl which I fear she is getting stereotyped into. The rest of the cast is as good as furniture very honestly. Enough said about the direction earlier but would just add that it is indeed very compact and to the point. A fast paced movie, Yes Man will not let you doze off and is as good as any romantic comedy you would see. I give it 6.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3042902041/

Australia

LARGER THAN LIFE. EXTRAVAGANT. BRILLIANT COSTUMES. SUPERB VISUAL EFFECTS. LOADS OF SONG AND DANCE. VEREY LONG. HINDI MOVIE. Just some of the adjectives one would associate with a movie that comes from the table of Mark Anthony Luhrmann more popularly known as Baz Luhrmann. And one wonders why it took him so long to make a movie on his country of origin. It would have seemed the most obvious thing to do. But he did get around to it after 3 movies that have very much established a unique identity for Luhrmann. But Australia is a bit pale in comparison to the ones that Luhrmann has given us before. And I am not sure if my eyes were playing some games with me. But some of the sequences in the movie seemed very obviously made with the use of the blue / green screen. One can easily make out the difference in the colours and the tones between the main story and the background. Something that you would not expect from a Luhrmann. But the rest of the adjectives hold good even this time around. I would have been surprised if they hadn’t.


Luhrmann takes us down memory lane to a story that came to the fore only after the turn of the century, in fact towards the later part of the previous decade. On the 13th February 2008, the then Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Kevin Rudd offered a formal apology to what is referred to down under as “The Stolen Generations”. For about a century from 1869, maybe a bit longer, children of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent were taken away by force from their natural aboriginal parents by the police and handed over to church missions so that they could be bought up in the Australian way. Several of these children were never heard from again. Many movies have also been made which talk about the concept. “Australia” covers the story partly through Nullah (Brandon Walters) a love child of Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) and an aboriginal woman, Daisy (Ursula Yovich) on a cattle farm called Faraway Downs in the Northern Territories. Faraway Downs is owned by Lord Maitland Ashley and is the only cattle farm that doesn’t belong to King Carney (Bryan Brown). Obviously King Carney wants a monopoly and has been trying to squeeze out Faraway Downs from existence. But when Maitland dies in mysterious circumstances – allegedly by an aborigine who goes by the name of King George (David Gulpilil), Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) takes over the reins of the farm. Along with a cattle drover who goes by the obvious name of Drover (Hugh Jackman) she manages to take the first step in keeping the farm alive. Along the way, she builds a close bond with Nullah and wants to adopt him.

Set in the backdrop of the period just before World War II, Australia offers you fantastic visual effects and gargantuan sets ala Baz Luhrmann. But as mentioned earlier, it hasn’t been finished as well. Nicole Kidman is as over excited an actress as she has always been (probably in line with her character) and Hugh Jackman is as ice cold and rugged as he has always been (probably in line with his character again). In between all of this predictable acting, Brandon Walters comes to the fore in his portrayal of Nullah and the relationship he has with Mrs. Boss (Sarah’s name on the farm since she is the Boss’s wife). In short if you like well made larger than life Hindi movies which have acceptable levels of acting on display, then Australia is a fabulous way to spend your weekend afternoon. Preferably watch it on a larger screen TV or at a friend’s place on a home projector. That’s the only way to come as close to the effects that Baz wanted to portray. I give this one 6.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1784152089/

Mamma Mia!

I wonder how Mamma Mia! did when it was launched a couple of years back in India. I thought I was one of the few people who was unable to watch it then. But I am guessing it should have. I mean it is as good as a Bollywood love story – only much bolder, much more slickly made, much much much much better acting talent on display and much more ABBA thrown in for good measure.


Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is all of 20 (and I challenge someone to believe that!!!! With her face she doesn’t look a day over 15 – but in the real world she will be 25 in a month). She has been bought up on a Greek island by her single mother, Donna (Meryl Streep). She is about to get married in a few days to Sky (Dominic Cooper – who is also her boyfriend in the real world). But she is a confused soul. She feels a void in her life. She is troubled with a question – Who will walk her down the aisle? Who will give her away? The worry is not that she doesn’t have a father. The worry is she doesn’t know who her father is. Its Donna’s well kept secret all these years.

But the wily Sophie digs around and finds her mother’s old diary – coincidentally of course. She traces the diary back to 20 years ago and is now even more confused. She could have been fathered by one of 3 possible men that her mother was seeing at that time. Now Donna was not promiscuous in any manner. She just moved out of failed relationships much quicker than anyone else. So now, Sophie has zeroed down to one of 3 possibilities – Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) – an adventurous writer, Sam (Pierce Brosnan) – an architect & Harry (Colin Firth) – a extremely successful financial advisor of sorts. Obviously her mother will not hear any of it an so without a choice, Sophie – to the background of “I have a dream” – sends across invitations on her mother’s behalf to all of them – What’s to lose anyways?

The movie unfolds at a really solid pace after this. Mind you, I have only written about the first 10-15 mins till now. Mamma Mia! is a beautifully made movie, with a generous dressing of ABBA. Almost every ABBA number worth its salt and even not worth its salt finds a place either through normal dialogues or full fledged songs. And mind you – all songs are not the studio versions but covered by the actors themselves. Simply amazing I say!!! I picked up the soundtrack much before the movie (a quizzer’s habit) and was floored with the voices of Streep, Walters, Seyfried and Brosnan. Thanks to DVD – I have seen the movie as well now.

No point in waxing eloquent about the seasoned Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan or Colin Firth, all of who have very rarely or never disappointed on screen. Who stands out is Amanda Seyfried. She seems to have come a really long way from her days of portraying the bimbo Karen Smith in Mean Girls. Mental note made to watch Letters to Juliet which is her latest flick. She seems to be very comfortable on screen and most importantly not over awed by the really huge stars. Direction was pretty much spot on with very little loose ends towards the second half. Phyllida Lloyd comes on tops in her first serious attempt to date. Overall a 7 on 10. Must must watch.

The Cutting Edge III - Chasing the Dream

When it comes to movies on Sport or games, most people are huge buffs. The nail biting excitement, , the non-stop excitement that keeps you rooted till the edge of the seat climax sequences, all make for an extremely heady mixture but an extremely satisfying experience…… right?

Sadly not always…. Not when there is the extremely classical and beautiful sport of Figure Skating involved. And definitely not when there is a cast that includes the likes of Matt Lanter (8 simple Rules; Disaster Movie) and Francia Raisa (really nothing worth mentioning) and a notorious director who goes by the name of Stuart Gillard (quite well known in the Television circuit – one Emmy nomination some 30 + years back – maybe the oscars are quite a distance away Stuart @ this rate that is)

In a case like the above, you get a certified Chick Flick!!!! Which I have confessed in the past, that I have nothing against. But stop masking them as Sports movies. Sports Movies are intense with a capital “I”. Sports movies have passion so thick you need a hacksaw to chop through it. Sports movies have everything that a normal thriller would have but with just that little bit extra which connects to the heart of every single human being better than a thriller would – the complete unadulterated joy of winning against all odds. Stuart Gillard does try to put all of these into Cutting Edge III but as they say comes a cropper. My guess is actually because he tried too damn hard.

Zack Conroy (Matt Lanter) is your super rich, gorgeous looking kid who super awesome @ figure skating and is gunning for the world championship along with Celeste Mercier (Sarah Gadon). Both are comfortably poised to take the nationals hands down when disaster strikes and Celeste injures herself badly which puts her out of the running. Now our chocolate boy has to hunt for a new partner, who he goes to look for @ a ice hockey rink. Turns out that the person who he is jostling with for the puck is the petite (read mouth wateringly delicious) Alejandra “Alex” Delgado (Francia Raisa). Now Alex can do her bit of skating and leaves Zack tongue tied and twisted. And so Mr. Chocolate Boy Ice Skater goes and tells his agent cum manager cum coach, Bryan Hemmings (Stefano DiMatteo) that he has found the one and only replacement for Celeste.

But hello – Mr. Hemmings is not about to pick up some random skater off the streets and put them up for the world championship. So he huffs and he puffs his way through the first few weeks and then calls it quits with our lead pair who is now left with no coach. So they go to Jackie Dorsey (Christy Carlson Romano) who in her time was the world champion to take up the good cause. At this point of time it is important to point out to the readers that the movie is called Cutting Edge III. Jackie Dorsey was the lead character in Cutting Edge II (2006) and her parents were the lead characters in Cutting Edge (1992) which I am quite certain would have been far better movies.

Nevertheless, Ms. Dorsey very reluctantly accepts the honour of coaching potential world champions and goes about setting her rules as always. In the bargain, she actually makes one extremely relevant and smart move – She gets her protégés to overcome the weakness of experience with each other through executing one seriously brilliant move that would get most eyeballs popping. Will our lead cutie pair be able to pull this one off through hours and hours of training and the romancing in between?

Cutting Edge III is a classic example of what a Sports movie should not be. It is fine to have an element of romance but not soak it in overnight. It is fine to have even an element of double crossing and vice to get some excitement in but not @ every single corner. It is fine to have a love triangle but to get it into some warped pentagon is downright ridiculous. At the risk of repeating myself – Mr. Gillard – Seriously get back into movie school if you really want to make progress in your career with movies.

The only thing worth seeing in the movie is some 2.5 minutes of breath taking figure skating shots which are really well done. But all in all very poor effort – 3 on 10 – this time i am not being generous

Marley & Me

“A Dog doesn’t care if you give him diamonds or gold. He just needs a wet stick. A Dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor or live a huge house. Give him your heart and he will him yours back. How many people can you say that about? How many people really make you feel extraordinary”?

I loved the last line of the movie and if you are dog lovers then you would too. Not because its feel good and deep and etc. etc. But because only a dog lover would understand that the statement is 120% true!!!!

John Grogan (Owen Wilson) is an up and coming journalist who has always wanted to be a reporter. Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) on the other hand writes for the Palm Beach Post but gets much more importance than John. Nope this is not leading towards a friction between husband and wife. Both are very much in love and do not really consider the other as competition. Ideal nah? Sad that life unfortunately is not the same way.

Sebastian (Eric Dane) is John’s more prominent reporter colleague who writes front page news unlike John. Now Jenny wants to go the family way and John is lets say, not quite ready for it. Over a conversation Sebastian suggests that John should get a dog since they are the best way to prepare for a baby (I second that opinion) And therefore for Jenny’s birthday, John decides to surprise her with a puppy. Now, I am a huge dog lover (for those who know me) and seriously found the scene with 6-7 golden lab puppies irresistible to say the least.

And they name him Marley after the Bob variety.

However, what they were not prepared for is the fact that Marley is one hyper active li’l beast whose only passion in life is to completely wreak havoc with the house. Now I say that’s one normal dog . But, not only does Marley bring in happiness at home but also luck. John is able to crack a deal with Arnie Klien (Alan Arkin) for writing 2 columns a week to discuss everyday life in general. Marley becomes his inspiration for the column.

What follows is the life of an everyday family who tries to cope with the nuances of having a growing dog at home. The movie shows very common place situations that every dog owner would be familiar with. The irritation at the constant demand for attention, the disgust at the poop and pee in all the wrong or the right places, the trauma of cleaning up a house that has been ripped to shreds when u were away. The usual stuff. But all that is replaced with the unconditional love that one receives when s/he is back from a tiring day at work.

One failed pregnancy and a trip to Ireland later, John and Jenny are finally blessed with a baby boy Patrick. He is followed by another boy Connor and then a daughter Colleen. As the pressures of the family get to the couple, Jenny in a moment of weakness asks Marley to be sent away. Reluctantly John agrees to the idea and leaves Marley with Sebastian. However, like most people, they quickly realize that a dog is an integral part of a family and not just a pet.

Probably for the first time, a movie handles the bringing up of a dog and the effects it has on an normal family. The transition from being perceived as an incorrigible brat to an inseperable part of the family. The panic that sets in when he decides to run away. The pain that one goes through when he falls ill. The immense vacuum that is left in your life when he passes away :’)

The movie is well directed by David Frankel (Devi Wears Prada, 6 episodes of SATC). Imagine having to use 22 dogs in the same movie to play one part. Would have been one really difficult experience. But he comes out trumps.

This is the first time I have seen Owen Wilson playing a serious kind of role and not something dreadfully slapstick. I think he does a really good job. Jen Aniston is as always successful in playing the kind of woman, every man would like to get married to. I think she is getting to be an expert in the same after Bruce Almighty, He’s just not that into you, Love Happens and many others over the past decade. Alan Arkin as always is superb in his execution of Arnie Klien.

Marley and Me is a wonderful movie to catch with your family on a Sunday afternoon. Just like I did. It also gives you reason to change your mind about not getting a dog – if u were undecided till date. Trust me, it would be the best decision you take. And while you are at it, adopt a stray. Score for the movie – 5 on 10….. actually 6 on 10. Marley independently deserves to take the movie a notch higher.