When you have
Alejandro González Iñárritu directing a movie you can be rest assured that it
has to be at least a little bit “hatke” (off the beaten path). With movies like Amores Peres, 21 Grams,
Babel and Biutiful under his belt Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
could not have been straightforward. It
would not have been Iñárritu.
Showing posts with label Edward Norton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edward Norton. Show all posts
Friday, 30 January 2015
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
American History X
How many times have we seen or heard of a point of view that seemed absolutely ridiculous and immediately taken a stance against it. And at all points of time, there is a simple piece of learning that we had all through school – there are always 2 sides to the story. Simple but yet too difficult to digest.
Especially when you are faced with the prospect of going head on against a neo-Nazi, shaven head, hot blooded young man who believes that ethnic races have all but invaded the US of A and are responsible for ALL the problems that the country is facing today. All of this is fuelled by the fact that he lost his father – a fire fighter – at age eighteen leaving him with the responsibility of handling a slightly warped family.
Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) picks up the cause for the white man at a very early age. He is extremely influenced by Cameron Alexander (Stacy Keach) who is a smart operator who doesn’t have age on his side but surely has the strength of experience and capability to manipulate young white blood.
After his father is killed, Derek joins the movement with a vengeance and ensures that all ethnic communities are put through as much suffering as possible. So ransacking a supermarket that has been taken over by a Korean is just part of a day’s work for Derek. He is the uncrowned king in a manner of speaking.
All going reasonably well till a few African American goons decide to steal from him. Derek kills them and in the bargain gets 3 years in prison. Along the way, his brother Danny (Edward Furlong) also joins the white supremacists. But when Derek gets out of jail, he seems to be a completely changed man and no one is able to figure out why.
I speak a lot about intensity in my blogs and Tony Kaye gets that aspect bang on. He has used Edward Norton to the hilt. I have always believed that Ed Norton is a superb actor. Especially in roles that are dark or grey. There is a sinister tinge in him that makes your blood crawl in a weird way (Primal Fear). And he has given the character of Danny the harsh intensity that makes you hate him from the first shot itself.
It is not for some random reason that American History X is one of the top 500 movies on imdb. I only wonder why Tony Kaye never got around to making a better movie. Some brilliant work in AHX. Aspects like using black and white over colour in flashbacks just gives the movie just that additional seriousness it needs. All of it with a clear message at the end of it all. Not too many movies can claim that. 8 on 10. Must Watch it you haven’t.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0VEstvjMM
Especially when you are faced with the prospect of going head on against a neo-Nazi, shaven head, hot blooded young man who believes that ethnic races have all but invaded the US of A and are responsible for ALL the problems that the country is facing today. All of this is fuelled by the fact that he lost his father – a fire fighter – at age eighteen leaving him with the responsibility of handling a slightly warped family.
Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) picks up the cause for the white man at a very early age. He is extremely influenced by Cameron Alexander (Stacy Keach) who is a smart operator who doesn’t have age on his side but surely has the strength of experience and capability to manipulate young white blood.
After his father is killed, Derek joins the movement with a vengeance and ensures that all ethnic communities are put through as much suffering as possible. So ransacking a supermarket that has been taken over by a Korean is just part of a day’s work for Derek. He is the uncrowned king in a manner of speaking.
All going reasonably well till a few African American goons decide to steal from him. Derek kills them and in the bargain gets 3 years in prison. Along the way, his brother Danny (Edward Furlong) also joins the white supremacists. But when Derek gets out of jail, he seems to be a completely changed man and no one is able to figure out why.
I speak a lot about intensity in my blogs and Tony Kaye gets that aspect bang on. He has used Edward Norton to the hilt. I have always believed that Ed Norton is a superb actor. Especially in roles that are dark or grey. There is a sinister tinge in him that makes your blood crawl in a weird way (Primal Fear). And he has given the character of Danny the harsh intensity that makes you hate him from the first shot itself.
It is not for some random reason that American History X is one of the top 500 movies on imdb. I only wonder why Tony Kaye never got around to making a better movie. Some brilliant work in AHX. Aspects like using black and white over colour in flashbacks just gives the movie just that additional seriousness it needs. All of it with a clear message at the end of it all. Not too many movies can claim that. 8 on 10. Must Watch it you haven’t.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0VEstvjMM
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Moonrise Kingdom
My first experience with Wes Anderson was with a very quirky animation movie called The Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you haven’t seen it, then it should be on your must see list. And very soon after Mr. Fox, I encountered The Darjeeling Limited. Another fabulousl effort from Anderson – this time with music from Satyajeet Ray and Merchant Ivory movies all through. This too should be on your must watch list. Then pray, why should Moonrise Kingdom not make the cut?
It will not make the cut, if you are not into the quirky, dark satire that Anderson flirts with throughout the ninety odd minutes of the movie. You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because you do not have the patience to go through a rather slow start. You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because for about 30 minutes you would be scratching your head as to why the guy at the counter insisted that this is an “A” rated movie when all you can see is a bunch of Khaki Scouts in uniform and one twelve year old girl who comes from a rather demented family.
You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because you have not been able to, are incapable of and will not be ever in a position to sift through the finer nuances of sarcasm and irony that Anderson is such an expert at. Because you do not have a liking for comedy of the darkish variety that involves a bunch of fantastic kids taking a dig at the lives of us older people.
I must admit that I walked into the hall only because I had seen Anderson’s earlier movies and loved them. I also found it quite surprising that the distributors in India had managed to keep such a compelling and talented star cast under wraps till the date of release i.e. yesterday. Why would you not want to maximize your opportunity when you have the likes of Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Harvey Kietel on your rolls? Add this to the mysteries of the unexplained that comes from Reader’s Digest.
Look out for the superb, understated performances from each one in the cast particularly the two twelve year olds – Kara Hayward & Jared Gilman – who play the role of 2 kids who claim to be in love and elope at the tender age. Set in 1965 in an otherwise desolate New Panzace Island which you can reach only by ferry or a bumpy propeller powered experience, Moonrise Kingdom is as quirky as quirky can get. And yet, totally enjoyable. Don’t leave the hall till you view the final credits. The music is simply superb. 7.5 on 10 for Wes Anderson. One of the better movies of the year to date.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi562733337/
It will not make the cut, if you are not into the quirky, dark satire that Anderson flirts with throughout the ninety odd minutes of the movie. You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because you do not have the patience to go through a rather slow start. You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because for about 30 minutes you would be scratching your head as to why the guy at the counter insisted that this is an “A” rated movie when all you can see is a bunch of Khaki Scouts in uniform and one twelve year old girl who comes from a rather demented family.
You will not like Moonrise Kingdom because you have not been able to, are incapable of and will not be ever in a position to sift through the finer nuances of sarcasm and irony that Anderson is such an expert at. Because you do not have a liking for comedy of the darkish variety that involves a bunch of fantastic kids taking a dig at the lives of us older people.
I must admit that I walked into the hall only because I had seen Anderson’s earlier movies and loved them. I also found it quite surprising that the distributors in India had managed to keep such a compelling and talented star cast under wraps till the date of release i.e. yesterday. Why would you not want to maximize your opportunity when you have the likes of Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Harvey Kietel on your rolls? Add this to the mysteries of the unexplained that comes from Reader’s Digest.
Look out for the superb, understated performances from each one in the cast particularly the two twelve year olds – Kara Hayward & Jared Gilman – who play the role of 2 kids who claim to be in love and elope at the tender age. Set in 1965 in an otherwise desolate New Panzace Island which you can reach only by ferry or a bumpy propeller powered experience, Moonrise Kingdom is as quirky as quirky can get. And yet, totally enjoyable. Don’t leave the hall till you view the final credits. The music is simply superb. 7.5 on 10 for Wes Anderson. One of the better movies of the year to date.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi562733337/
Saturday, 11 August 2012
The Bourne Legacy
So firstly lets get some facts absolutely straight.
1. The Bourne Legacy was and is NOT part of the Bourne series
2. The Bourne Legacy was written by a guy called Eric Van Lustbader in 2004.
3. There are 6 more novels in the series – Betrayal, Sanction, Deception, Objective, Dominion and Imperative
4. The movie has nothing to do with the novel or any of the 6 novels released thence.
5. Robert Ludlum has nothing to do with the novels of Lustbader. He has just permitted him to use the character. He has also been credited as the inspiration for the movie but that’s where it all ends.
First Doug Liman, then Paul Greengrass and now Tony Gilroy joins the list of directors who have been involved in Bourne Movies to date. Liman kick started it all and Greengrass was responsible for the 2 sequels that followed and are rated by many as the best in the series. Greengrass has nothing much to fear after the release of Legacy. Not because Gilroy is a bad director by any stretch of imagination. But more because if Matt Damon is not in a Bourne movie then it has probably lost half its sheen.
Thankfully, Jeremy Renner doesn’t play Bourne. The character of Bourne as shown in a few pics and rushes from the previous movies is played by Damon. But 13.839 seconds of screen time is all he gets. Renner plays the role of Aaron Cross who is part of a programme called Outcome which is being run in parallel to Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. It is spearheaded by Eric Byer (Edward Norton).
With the shit hitting the roof after Pamela Landy’s (Joan Allen) exposé on Blackbriar, all so called “patriotic agencies” start dismantling their respective programmes. Outcome is part of this initiative. For the un-initiated, dismantling would mean doing away with – leaving no proof – incinerating all evidence – killing everyone remotely associated with the programme.
And so each and every field agent is done away with from Karachi to Seoul to back home. Aaron Cross is however, in a training exercise in Alaska and manages to evade extermination. He heads straight across to the only person who also miraculously survives these attempts to eliminate - Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). And the story that follows is like most other Bourne movies.
Credit to Gilroy – who has also written the previous ones – for ensuring the consistency in the story line and little or no gaps. But then, he has also not come up with anything spectacular or new. So if you have seen the previous ones you may be a tad disappointed. But if you haven’t then you may miss out on certain key connections that are important. More importantly – where were you when all the excitement was happening?
Bourne Legacy is a must watch for self confessed Bourne fans. The final chase sequence is very good and edge of the seat material. The build up towards the finalé is however quite slow with just a couple of exciting moments such as when Martha and Aaron meet for the first time after they escape being killed. Overall a well made movie. But not so important to watch on the big screen. Good performances overall. 6.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1065461017/
1. The Bourne Legacy was and is NOT part of the Bourne series
2. The Bourne Legacy was written by a guy called Eric Van Lustbader in 2004.
3. There are 6 more novels in the series – Betrayal, Sanction, Deception, Objective, Dominion and Imperative
4. The movie has nothing to do with the novel or any of the 6 novels released thence.
5. Robert Ludlum has nothing to do with the novels of Lustbader. He has just permitted him to use the character. He has also been credited as the inspiration for the movie but that’s where it all ends.
First Doug Liman, then Paul Greengrass and now Tony Gilroy joins the list of directors who have been involved in Bourne Movies to date. Liman kick started it all and Greengrass was responsible for the 2 sequels that followed and are rated by many as the best in the series. Greengrass has nothing much to fear after the release of Legacy. Not because Gilroy is a bad director by any stretch of imagination. But more because if Matt Damon is not in a Bourne movie then it has probably lost half its sheen.
Thankfully, Jeremy Renner doesn’t play Bourne. The character of Bourne as shown in a few pics and rushes from the previous movies is played by Damon. But 13.839 seconds of screen time is all he gets. Renner plays the role of Aaron Cross who is part of a programme called Outcome which is being run in parallel to Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. It is spearheaded by Eric Byer (Edward Norton).
With the shit hitting the roof after Pamela Landy’s (Joan Allen) exposé on Blackbriar, all so called “patriotic agencies” start dismantling their respective programmes. Outcome is part of this initiative. For the un-initiated, dismantling would mean doing away with – leaving no proof – incinerating all evidence – killing everyone remotely associated with the programme.
And so each and every field agent is done away with from Karachi to Seoul to back home. Aaron Cross is however, in a training exercise in Alaska and manages to evade extermination. He heads straight across to the only person who also miraculously survives these attempts to eliminate - Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). And the story that follows is like most other Bourne movies.
Credit to Gilroy – who has also written the previous ones – for ensuring the consistency in the story line and little or no gaps. But then, he has also not come up with anything spectacular or new. So if you have seen the previous ones you may be a tad disappointed. But if you haven’t then you may miss out on certain key connections that are important. More importantly – where were you when all the excitement was happening?
Bourne Legacy is a must watch for self confessed Bourne fans. The final chase sequence is very good and edge of the seat material. The build up towards the finalé is however quite slow with just a couple of exciting moments such as when Martha and Aaron meet for the first time after they escape being killed. Overall a well made movie. But not so important to watch on the big screen. Good performances overall. 6.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1065461017/
Thursday, 17 February 2011
25th Hour
Montgomery Brogan (Edward Norton) has lived his life with his name thanks to his mother being a huge fan of Montgomery Clift. His father James (Brian Cox) wasn’t too pleased with it but doesn’t really bother with a debate with the wife. Monty loses his mother when he is 11 years old and his dad goes into a depression that drives him to alcohol. However, Monty gets into a prestigious school on a scholarship thanks to his above average intelligence. Now it is the same above average intelligence that gets him started very early in life with drugs. We are not talking about consumption – Monty is way too smart for that. We are talking about dealing. Pressures at home are increasing continuously with Dad getting into a financial mess and Monty wants to help him out. So he chooses the easiest way out that he sees at that time. Marks the beginning of a hugely successful and profitably career as a drug dealer which gets him thrown out of school but gets him into the company of Uncle Nikolai (Levan Uchaneishvili) a Russian Drug dealer who has made New York his home and Nikolai’s henchman Kostya Novotny (Tony Siragusa).
Monty seems to be doing quite well for himself not only monetarily but also on the personal front with a very hot Puerto Rican girlfriend with an exotic name – Naturelle Riviera (Rosario Dawson – who of late hasn’t been looking too hot but was quite sizzling in 2002 I guess). He continues to be close to his bum chums Frank Xavier Slaughtery (Barry Pepper) and Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Frank is a successful broker on wall street and Jacob is a high school teacher who is lusting for a 17 year old Mary D'Annunzio (Anna Paquin). Yep its quite a warped bunch I guess. But the story is still due. Monty gets squealed upon to the DEA who raid his house only to find a kilo of narcotics and loads of cash. They try to set him up to compromise Nikolai which Monty wriggles out of. He gets 7 years in the pound in return (surprising coz he should have got 15 for a first offence with so much of narc). He is spending his last day as a free man (didn’t know you could plan your dates for going to prison but I trust Spike Lee to have done his research. Damn convenient arrangement right?) and is tearing his hair apart to figure out who gave him away.
Spike Lee weaves a slow but intriguing story primarily focused on the emotions that Monty seems to be going through and the emotions of people who are closest to him. The fear of being beaten up in prison, being degraded to the level of someone’s bitch and a host of other worries. His doubt about Naturelle being the one who gave him away. His best friends who are caught in the conflict of being there for him through the seven years or just moving on. And most of all his dad who in the hypothetical 25th hour convinces him to run away from all of this into some remote place where he cannot be traced back to ever in his life. 25th Hour is a mélange of emotions which could have been pulled off only by a director as talented and under rated as Spike Lee. Other than the fact that it was very slow, I for one could not find out any errors in the movie per se. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. The acting performances were all above par making it into a movie that more than made the cut but wasn’t too brilliant over all. I give it a 6.5 on 10. Worth a dekko when u find the time.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3350397209/
Monty seems to be doing quite well for himself not only monetarily but also on the personal front with a very hot Puerto Rican girlfriend with an exotic name – Naturelle Riviera (Rosario Dawson – who of late hasn’t been looking too hot but was quite sizzling in 2002 I guess). He continues to be close to his bum chums Frank Xavier Slaughtery (Barry Pepper) and Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Frank is a successful broker on wall street and Jacob is a high school teacher who is lusting for a 17 year old Mary D'Annunzio (Anna Paquin). Yep its quite a warped bunch I guess. But the story is still due. Monty gets squealed upon to the DEA who raid his house only to find a kilo of narcotics and loads of cash. They try to set him up to compromise Nikolai which Monty wriggles out of. He gets 7 years in the pound in return (surprising coz he should have got 15 for a first offence with so much of narc). He is spending his last day as a free man (didn’t know you could plan your dates for going to prison but I trust Spike Lee to have done his research. Damn convenient arrangement right?) and is tearing his hair apart to figure out who gave him away.
Spike Lee weaves a slow but intriguing story primarily focused on the emotions that Monty seems to be going through and the emotions of people who are closest to him. The fear of being beaten up in prison, being degraded to the level of someone’s bitch and a host of other worries. His doubt about Naturelle being the one who gave him away. His best friends who are caught in the conflict of being there for him through the seven years or just moving on. And most of all his dad who in the hypothetical 25th hour convinces him to run away from all of this into some remote place where he cannot be traced back to ever in his life. 25th Hour is a mélange of emotions which could have been pulled off only by a director as talented and under rated as Spike Lee. Other than the fact that it was very slow, I for one could not find out any errors in the movie per se. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. The acting performances were all above par making it into a movie that more than made the cut but wasn’t too brilliant over all. I give it a 6.5 on 10. Worth a dekko when u find the time.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3350397209/
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