Exodus: Gods and Kings

The outstanding part about Exodus : Gods and Kings is the courage that Ridley Scott has shown with telling the story without any qualms about rubbing people the wrong way.  The Old Testament (from whatever little I know) shows God in a very dark form.  One who didn’t hesitate before wreaking havoc amongst the Egyptians.

American Hustle

My admiration for David O Russell keeps growing with every movie that he directs.  My first experience was with Fighter where he took Christian Bale and Melissa Leo to Oscars.  Next up was Silver Linings Playbook with Jennifer Lawrence making her mark with the coveted statuette.  Now it seems to be the turn of Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence who have brilliant roles and have backed it with performances that deserve their nominations.

The Dark Knight Rises

With every Christopher Nolan movie, I dread walking into the movie hall. Because every time, I see a new one from his table, my older ranking starts seeming like a joke. In 7 years, this is Nolan’s 5th movie. And every time, I am tempted to give a 9 on 10. I land up giving it only to bite my tongue a year or two later. So I am really not sure whether I should rate The Dark Knight Rises at all.

No one but Nolan has really shown the story of Bruce Wayne, the way Bob Kane would have wanted it to be narrated. And that can happen if an only if you love something so much that you give it everything one has – not to mention the truck loads of talent that is required to bring a passion to life. TDKR is no different. There could not have been a more fitting finale to give Batman the status of “the most popular superhero to hit the silver screen”…. Or can there be?

Disclaimer – I am a huge fan of Nolan and more importantly the Dark Knight as narrated by Nolan. So this review is definitely going to be biased. So if you want to read a genuine critic talking about how the movie could have been better etc., then I suggest you look elsewhere coz here you are going to find only good things being written about Nolan. In fact Nolan has to actually commit hara-kiri and we may still pardon him.

In true Nolan fashion, this part also is brilliantly scripted and shot with great emphasis on each frame and character. No hero can or will ever be great without an equally brilliant villain. I will not even think to venture into The Joker’s territory as one of the best villains ever but you need to watch out for Tom Hardy as Bane in TDKR to believe what I am saying. And it is not just the eerie nature of the mask or the gruff muffled voice through the mask which makes you cringe in your pants. One cannot help but admire casting director John Papsidera. How can anyone pick such perfect actors for each role?

I cannot say that TDKR is flawless. The exceptionally trained eye will pick up some glitches – but they are too insignificant in the context of the movie. But I also haven’t yet seen a standing ovation to a Hollywood movie. I haven’t seen so many people staying glued to their seats till the last line of the credits moved out of the screen. And I haven’t seen a housefull 7 am show anywhere in the country.

Enough said. Time for you to go out there and try your luck. Watch it on the IMAX Screen some time at least – even if it is the 2nd time – don’t worry… you will be back for seconds. 9 on 10 once again!!!! Chris Nolan – you rock our world!!! I know… I haven’t given any sneak peek into the story this time. But believe me that’s intentional. I would not want to ruin the best movie of the year so far with even the smallest of spoilers. The shows @ IMAX are full upto Monday I am told. So if u get lucky…. U get lucky… enjoy.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2376312089/

Batman Begins

I could not have missed the opportunity to kick start my movies for the weekend with a Saturday nite show of Batman Begins. And it obviously helped that on a Saturday I had been movie free!!! Sacrilegious I say!!! So I wasn’t going to let this pass. And my respect for Christopher Nolan keeps going up every time I see a movie. I wasn’t watching Batman Begins for the first time mind you. But each time I see it, I build a deeper sense of respect for Nolan who is not just one of the finest directors of our time but also one of the visionaries of cinema. Bob Kane couldn’t have asked for a better director to bring to life “Batman” – the way it was supposed to be.

People must have been doggone bored with Batman by the time this one released. 4 Batman movies had preceded Batman Begins – none of which had told the story of Batman, the way it was supposed to be told. More importantly, there were 3 Batmans in 4 movies. And 3 directors. With the exception of the Tim Burton / Michael Keaton combination, the other 2 not only failed to excite the audiences but also left them with a distaste for Batman movies like never before. Thankfully, Batman Begins came in after a hiatus of 8 years and audiences had probably forgotten the trauma that they went through with Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy. One of the few movies on imdb that has a score of below 4 (from what I have seen). Thankfully Catwoman (2004) didn’t feature Batman and so people were fine with another Batman movie.

They wouldn’t have regretted spending the better part of nearly 2.5 hours watching the saga of Batman unfold from Bruce Wayne’s “scaredy cat” days as a child with fear of bats to his nerdy looking days when he is studying at college to a point in time where he decides to really follow best friend Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) advise and decides to really do something about the grime around him rather than just claim to be a good man below his façade. Batman Begins sees the introduction of Ra’s Al Ghul and The Scarecrow aka Dr. Johnathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) both of whom are portrayed brilliantly by Nolan. It kind of sets the tone for the sequels to come where very clearly, the villain would have as much screen time & content of role if not more than Batman himself. A fact that had till then been vastly underplayed with the exception of the first Batman where Jack Nicholson played the role of The Joker.

Batman Begins is the truest and the most sincere representation of the Batman Story that I have seen so far. It was no surprise that the movie closes with the introduction of the “calling card” and sets things up beautifully for Dark Knight. Must watch. 8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2743468569/

The Prestige

Every magic trick has 3 parts or Acts. The first step is the pledge where an ordinary object is introduced and if required the audience is invited to check on. Then there is the Turn which is the first part of the trick like making the object disappear. But the most important part is the third. The audience needs to see the object coming back before they genuinely place their faith on you and applaud. This is THE PRESTIGE.

In the late 1800s, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) & Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are 2 up and coming artistes who work for an elderly magician Milton. Cutter (Michael Caine) is Milton’s Engineer – the person who controls the backend of all the tricks. Lastly there’s Julia (Piper Perabo) is the beautiful distraction to the audience, Angier’s wife, Milton’s assistant / helper who also is part of the lead trick – the underwater escape. In one of the attempts, Borden ties Julia’s hands in a different knot. Unable to escape, she drowns. And the story of vengeance between Borden and Angiers begins.

Since Milton’s show is now officially closed, our protagonists decide to start making a living off their own skill sets. Borden is convinced that good magic is all about getting ones hands dirty and is in his first show itself attempts to catch a bullet. A trick that can get a bit nasty if not executed well. Angiers shows up here and demands to know if Borden had tied the knot differently when Julia died. Borden maintains that he does not remember. In disgust, Angiers shoots 2 of his fingers off leaving him almost incapable of performing any further magic.

Both Angiers and Borden continue their rivalry over time and keep sabotaging each other’s shows with a pure intent of vengeance. They are now known as The Great Danton and The Professor respectively. The Professor, however, continues to be a better magician and Angiers the better showman. The constant attempt to stay ahead of the competition leads The Professor to his latest trick – The Transported Man – A seemingly simple trick of getting into a closet at one end of the stage and reappearing through a door at the other end in a split second. The trick, of course turns out to be a huge hit.

Incensed by the success of the Transported Man, Angiers now is desperate to get a trick of his own which is as impactful. However, his limited intelligence only leads him to resort to a body double and launch The New Transported Man which receives reasonable favour with audiences but does not manage to satiate Angiers’ apetite to know what exactly is being done. He starts going to great lengths to find out what is being done. He sends across his extremely attractive assistant Ms. Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson) as a defector to the Professor’s camp. Gets her to steal the Professor’s book to which he needs a key to crack the codes. Kidnaps the Professor’s engineer, Fallon who he buries alive all just to find out the secret to the Transported Man. Borden succumbs into the pressure and gives him a one word answer – TESLA

The movie is set in the late 1800s, as mentioned earlier. It is slow but amazingly gripping – atypical Nolan style. This was Nolan’s 5th movie and by now the signs were ominous enough that we have with us someone who is going to be talked about in the movie business for eons to come. The magic that Nolan weaves by taking us way back in time through a rivalry between 2 professionals who are willing to go to any extent possible to be termed the best is simply superb. The cinematography is as always brilliant – with a golden hue that we have come to associate with most of Nolan’s movies to date – even those that have been released in the recent past.

The performances by almost everyone is simply amazing. Even David Bowie in his bit part of Tesla is immaculate to say the least. By now, quite surely, Nolan and Tarantino would be the most sought after directors to work with from an actor’s perspective.

I had mentioned in one of my earlier write ups that Nolan has raised the bar with almost every movie that he has made. One has to watch Batman Begins followed by The Prestige to really make this out. Slightly different genres of movies but distinct improvement in all aspects with no offence meant to any of Nolan’s works prior to The Prestige. I give this 8 on 10.