In all the years
of movies about World War II, we have never ever heard about The Monuments
Men. It is indeed surprising that such a
wonderful story was the world’s best kept secret till September 2009 when
Robert M Edsel published his book - The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi
Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (http://www.monumentsmen.com).
Showing posts with label Jean Dujardin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jean Dujardin. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Thursday, 2 January 2014
The Wolf of Wall Street
WARNING - WHILE THE MOVIE IS MAINSTREAM IT HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SEXUAL CONTENT AND DRUG ABUSE AND FOUL LANGUAGE - THIS DESPITE THE CENSOR BOARD'S BEST EFFORTS TO CHOP AS MUCH AS THEY COULD. DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT THESE ISSUES.
When you have 2 of the biggest names in Hollywood coming together for the fifth time in a decade, you usually wait with bated breath for the first sign from people who are more fortunate to have seen before you. You wait to hear if this one is remotely as good as the previous ones – Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and now The Wolf of Wall Street – the 5th Time Leo DiCaprio and Scorcese have come together.
When you have 2 of the biggest names in Hollywood coming together for the fifth time in a decade, you usually wait with bated breath for the first sign from people who are more fortunate to have seen before you. You wait to hear if this one is remotely as good as the previous ones – Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and now The Wolf of Wall Street – the 5th Time Leo DiCaprio and Scorcese have come together.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
The Artist
One of the best parts about writing reviews – other than watching some stellar movies of course – is the research that I have to do before and sometimes after the movie. And the number of interesting tidbits it throws up is just amazing. I came across a dime a dozen interesting facts and figures while researching for The Artist. However, the one that is bound to get repeated over the next few weeks, leading upto the big day – 26th Feb 2012 – is the 1927 movie titled Wings which is the only silent movie to have ever won an Oscar for Best Picture. An effort that The Artist is touted to soon emulate. Now lets see why people say that shall we?
What shall we say, goes into making a movie? Theres firstly a story that needs to be interesting enough to hold the audience’s attention for about 90 minutes or thereabouts. And the story should have 3 parts – The start (5-10 mins or so), the body or the middle (60-70 mins or so) and the end (10-15 mins or so) – the ratios can change depending on the movie but not too much. A good movie creates enough excitement in the first few minutes to generate enough excitement in the audience’s mind to want to watch the balance isn’t it?
Lets now move onto an integral part of movie making i.e. direction. The guy behind the camera who is responsible to paint a vision of how the story needs to come to life. The person who is the brain of the project – a leader who is capable of carrying the entire crew with him. The clearer this guy is in his head, the better movie is right?
Forming an integral part would next be the cast – the lead actors (female & male) who need to be capable of translating the director’s instructions into exactly what is expected. There is the support cast who is there to perform a role and must do so to the best of their ability. There is a possibility of some animals in the story and therefore it is important to get some who are great @ following instructions i.e. very well trained.
Lastly there are the support staff i.e. camera men, light men, editors, special effects guys, pre-production people, post production people – all of who need to ensure perfect execution for that perfect movie. Right?
Chances are that if a movie were to score 8 on all counts – unlike a few who score 9+ on some and less than 6 on the others – would be more likely to win awards and accolades right? The artist checks all the boxes at 8 or more. And who says you need talkie to get across a story. The expressions of the actors and the placards which come in between to call out the dialogues more than make up for the lack of spoken word. I could not find a flaw in The Artist at all. If I were forced to find some, I would say, it is just too simple and straightforward – but who says that’s bad eh? I am going to stick my neck out on this one. Close call between The Artist & The Descendants for best movie this year. I would say The Artist just for refreshing our memory on that old adage that a picture paints a thousand words. 8.5 on 10. And not to forget that the Academy will have only one statue to give out against 3 for The Descendants :):):)
So rest at ease folks. It is not for nothing that the Academy has put this one up for 10 nominations. Simply put, it scores more than 8 in all of them!!! Therefore not surprising either that it is @ 126 in the imdb Top 250 movies of all time. I have a grouse though – why not Bérénice Bejo for Best Actress and why put her in the Supporting Actress Category? Nevertheless ….Do not miss this one!!!! It is fantastic!!!
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2003082265/
What shall we say, goes into making a movie? Theres firstly a story that needs to be interesting enough to hold the audience’s attention for about 90 minutes or thereabouts. And the story should have 3 parts – The start (5-10 mins or so), the body or the middle (60-70 mins or so) and the end (10-15 mins or so) – the ratios can change depending on the movie but not too much. A good movie creates enough excitement in the first few minutes to generate enough excitement in the audience’s mind to want to watch the balance isn’t it?
Lets now move onto an integral part of movie making i.e. direction. The guy behind the camera who is responsible to paint a vision of how the story needs to come to life. The person who is the brain of the project – a leader who is capable of carrying the entire crew with him. The clearer this guy is in his head, the better movie is right?
Forming an integral part would next be the cast – the lead actors (female & male) who need to be capable of translating the director’s instructions into exactly what is expected. There is the support cast who is there to perform a role and must do so to the best of their ability. There is a possibility of some animals in the story and therefore it is important to get some who are great @ following instructions i.e. very well trained.
Lastly there are the support staff i.e. camera men, light men, editors, special effects guys, pre-production people, post production people – all of who need to ensure perfect execution for that perfect movie. Right?
Chances are that if a movie were to score 8 on all counts – unlike a few who score 9+ on some and less than 6 on the others – would be more likely to win awards and accolades right? The artist checks all the boxes at 8 or more. And who says you need talkie to get across a story. The expressions of the actors and the placards which come in between to call out the dialogues more than make up for the lack of spoken word. I could not find a flaw in The Artist at all. If I were forced to find some, I would say, it is just too simple and straightforward – but who says that’s bad eh? I am going to stick my neck out on this one. Close call between The Artist & The Descendants for best movie this year. I would say The Artist just for refreshing our memory on that old adage that a picture paints a thousand words. 8.5 on 10. And not to forget that the Academy will have only one statue to give out against 3 for The Descendants :):):)
So rest at ease folks. It is not for nothing that the Academy has put this one up for 10 nominations. Simply put, it scores more than 8 in all of them!!! Therefore not surprising either that it is @ 126 in the imdb Top 250 movies of all time. I have a grouse though – why not Bérénice Bejo for Best Actress and why put her in the Supporting Actress Category? Nevertheless ….Do not miss this one!!!! It is fantastic!!!
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2003082265/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)