15 Minutes

Director (The Death and Life of Bobby Z)
Cast
Year 2001
Genre Action

15 Minutes deals with a topic that has probably been spoken about over the past decade to death. In my limited knowledge, 15 Minutes could have been the first movie to deal with the topic. What is the extent to which the media can go to generate stories? What is acceptable and what is not? In the race for the highest TRP is it acceptable to take someone’s life?

Detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro) is one of New York’s finest cops. Well at least he is the most popular if not the best there is. Why is that? He ensures that crime scenes are well covered by the news channels. So, the media gets there as quickly as he does. How cool is that? For the media that is. In return, he gets repeatedly featured in the important news segment and a show that is run by the famous Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer).

As Eddie is going about his day to day attention grabbing activities, 2 Eastern Europeans have made their way into New York City to settle some old scores. A Russian by the name of Emil Slovak (Karel Roden) and a Czech guy called Oleg Razgul (Oleg Taktarov). They are bank robbers and have come to NYC to track down an old partner in crime. A bank robbery from back home which left Emil and Oleg serving hard time.

Oleg is also a movie buff and doesn’t take time to steal a camera from a store. And when they find out that there is no money left (how surprising), Emil decides to cut open his old friend and wife. And as if that was not enough, they torch the place down. But Daphne (Vera Farmiga) sees this from the apartment across. Of course Emil and Oleg cannot take any prisoners.

The amazing part about the story as it unfolds is the manner in which Oleg and Emil actually take advantage of the rot that has set in the system to sell the footage of the killings and some more that they get done along the way to Robert Hawkins’ channel for a mere $1 million. Awesome isn’t it? Harsh truth I guess.

15 Minutes is one of the better movies on the topic. It is of course helped with some strong performances led by the man who played The Raging Bull and ably supported by Edward Burns & Kelsey Grammer. Karel Roden makes your blood crawl & cringe. Oleg Taktarov is more amusing than fearsome – exactly like his character should be. There is also a fleeting glance of the amazingly talented Charlize Theron.

In all, 15 Minutes is a decent watch. The performances prop up the movie to a level that it would not have been able to reach otherwise. But there is something missing in John Herzfeld’s direction that I am unable to place a finger on. Therefore, I will go with a 6 on 10. Watchable on DVD.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCa4c8D5THc

Snow White and the Huntsman

How many adaptations of Snow White in a single year. 2 already. Mirror Mirror and now Snow White and the Huntsman. And news is that Disney is already planning a re-mastered release of the original animation this year. Technically, Mirror Mirror released last year world over and came into this country a wee bit later. So I guess it is one adaptation a year. The good news though is that all of them have been really well made and distinctly different from the other. Not just for getting news bites which say, “We have a different take on Snow White” but a serious attempt at differentiation.

Snow White and the Huntsman, is my first experience with a version of the fairy tale which is distinctly action oriented and not soppy fairy tale types. It begins with the story of Ravenna (Charlize Theron) who is saved by the king and taken back home to be the queen. But little does the king know that he is adding to the list of Ravenna’s victims to date. Ravenna’s desire to stay young forever drives her to move from kingdom to kingdom and she uses her power and magic to suck the youth out of young girls at frequent intervals. She takes over from the king and jails his daughter Snow White.

Many years later, when Snow White turns 18 and the mirror has to inform Ravenna that she is not the fairest anymore, Ravenna sends her brother to get Snow White. However Snow White escapes into the Dark Forest where Ravenna’s powers are useless. So she sends a desperate huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) after her by promising him a life time of joy and happiness by bringing his wife back to life. And so the chase begins.

This time around, the emphasis on the dwarves is very minimal. Although we have the likes of Ian McShane and Bob Hoskins playing them, their part is restricted to less than 25% of the movie. There are other aspects such as the sinister nature of the Dark Forest and the village of women who have scarred themselves in an attempt to stay alive have been given a lot of screen time.

And that’s what makes this version very watchable to say the least. Add to these twists, a finale that has an amazing set of special effects. Actually made me wonder why this was never released in 3D in India. Would have been brilliant. Something that debutante director Rupert Sanders missed out on I guess. And surprisingly too. Because he had only Charlize Theron to play with in the cast – who was brilliant as Ravenna – but the rest of the lead cast with the insipid Kirstin Stewart and plastic Chris Hemsworth gave him nothing much to play with. As such, it didn’t matter because the movie was well made and entertaining for certain. 6 on 10 and worth a dekko I say.

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2494275609/

Prometheus

3 movies released this weekend and I got the chance to watch all 3 of them. The one I picked last night was Ridley Scott’s much awaited multi starrer – Prometheus. Once again it was an opportunity to see a master director with a style that’s clearly differentiated from any other director. You will not find it too difficult to identify a movie from Ridley Scott if you are in a quiz. He has maintained the same style over the past 30 plus years.

Whether it was Blade Runner or Aliens in the Sci Fi genre or the more serious American Gangster, there is an attention to detail that would amaze most people. In the Sci Fi genre where Ridley Scott seems most comfortable with, the quality of the effects have gone sky rocketing with the increase of technology available. However, the basic essence of slowly building up tempo to a stunning crescendo and leaving enough room to build a franchise at the end of the day. Prometheus is no different.

Prometheus revolves around the basic question that has dogged mankind for eons as of now – Where did it all begin? Where did we come from? Do we blindly accept 200 years of Darwinism or do we look upon it with the skepticism that we have always looked at things around us? All it takes is Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Dr. Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) to stumble upon some interesting murals dated back to over 3000 years in Scotland in the year 2098 to raise questions. A pattern clearly emerges around murals discovered across the world that points to a galaxy trillions of miles away.

It takes a very rich man – Peter Weyland puts his financial muscle behind Shaw and Holloway. A space mission over a 2 year period on a shuttle called Prometheus finds itself in the same planet indicated by the patterns. The planet is extremely similar to earth and could actually give us answers that we have been searching for.

Prometheus is, as always an extremely well made Ridley Scott movie. The emphasis on the alien beings is again – as always – very high. The detailing of every single feature is stunning. And therefore, the fear of what the being is capable of is supreme. Right from the small and insignificant looking worm to a gory octopus like being or the thing that is left behind at the end of it all that looks like the alien from Scott’s earlier movie of the same name – everything has the stamp of Ridley Scott on it. Now all you need to do, is to find your way to the IMAX Screen to maximize the impact. 7.5 on 10 again. Superb.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2405016345/

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/

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.