Prisoners

Apparently Canada is looking forward to that annual ceremony held by AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) more than anyone else.  The person responsible for this is one Denis Villeneuve.  His attempts to date haven’t been under a banner as big as that for Prisoners.  However, he has been much lauded over the years both within and outside Canada.

Oblivion (2013)

Josephy Kosinski is building up to be a specialist in Science Fiction cinema.  First there was Tron Legacy, now Oblivion and the grapevine suggests that he has already been roped in for the sequel to Tron.  One thing is for sure, Kosinski can dish out an absolute visual treat.  If only, he was supported with even average stories like Tron.

Olympus Has Fallen

I have always been a firm believer in Antoine Fuqua.  I have an exceptionally firm belief that he has far from reached his best.  And I firmly believe that if he doesn’t really pull his pants up sooner than later, he will lose whatever possibility he has to deliver a stunning piece of work.

The Fighter

How many boxing movies can you think of that were utter flops? Hope in hell right? Think as hard and as far back as you may want to. But the stores of the Rocky Balboas of the world and the Reuben “Hurricane” Carters of the world and the Jake La Mota’s of the world make every single hair on your body stand up and take notice. Surely there are a zillion such stories about boxing and boxers but very few which make it to the silver screen. What you can be assured of in Hollywood is that a movie with boxing is what we call here as a “Formula” movie. And so we are now presented with the story of “Irish” Mickey Ward from the small town of Lowell, Massachusetts and his road to fame from extremely backward and not just humble beginnings. True Oscar fodder. Superb use of “Formula”. But backed with tremendous execution capabilities. Lets take a quick look at the story first.

Dicky Eklund Jr. (Christian Bale – and an extremely frail Christian Bale at that) is a crack addict par excellence. His claim to fame other than being in the running for the crack champion of the world is that he once knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard. This was way back in 1978. The debate which started then, continues to date. Did Sugar Ray actually get knocked out or did he trip. There are subscribers to both versions of the story. However, when Dicky dear doesn’t make it to too far in the world of boxing, crack comes along and becomes his crutch, along with that ever faithful friend of crack called alcohol. Combining forces, they ensure that Dicky moves on his way downhill despite the best wishes of his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) who goes by the 2nd name of Ward after she married George Ward (Jack McGee). Alice has tremendous patience I must say coz after having 7 children from her first marriage, she chose to have 2 more from her 2nd. Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is Dicky’s half brother and a solid boxer at that. Both Alice and Dicky are hell bent on ensuring that Mickey makes a career out of boxing. Probably out of an unfulfilled aspiration. But as manager and trainer respectively their efforts leave a lot to be desired. When Dicky gets jailed for assaulting a cop amongst other offences, Mickey decides that it is time to move on. And so when a sponsor presents himself, he decides to go into full time training and is also persuaded by his girlfriend Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams) to not get Alice and Dicky involved anymore in his boxing.

The Fighter is yet another movie that gives us hope. Truly one which has followed the footsteps of its predecessor. Did it have it to emulate Rocky? Not really. But what it did have is the presence of either Melissa Leo or Christian Bale in almost every frame. Made me wonder half way down the movie if both of them should have been nominated for the lead role and not the supporting role. And let me tell you that if they had been nominated for the lead, Colin Firth and Natalie Portman would have been left sucking their thumbs. In what can be considered as one of THE finest examples of method acting, Bale and Leo keep the audience rooted to their seats. One begins to feel sorry for Mark Wahlberg especially because try as hard as he may, he could not and probably cannot take his performance to the level of Bale in this movie. I also felt that the character of Dicky Eklund is just so much stronger for the screen than that of Mickey Ward – with no disrespect meant to Ward in any ways. Eklund just gave Christian Bale the right fodder to take his acting status from average to superb overnight.

I haven’t spoken about one of my favourite actors yet but much as I am totally in love with Amy Adams (like I am with several other actresses) I think this was a performance that was just above her par level. Superb but not brilliant like she was in Doubt or for that matter even Julie & Julia. Maybe it was also the content and screen time that leads me to give this view. Rounding off with direction which was overall quite solid from David O Russel. Probably his best to date. But could have been cut a little better and therefore got it down to around 2 hours. Nearly 2.5 hours is a little stretch. Overall, I give this 7 on 10 but a clear 9 on 10 t both Bale and Leo. Watch it for them if not anything else.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2330986777/

21 Grams

This one is going to be extremely difficult to write. Anything that I write could be considered as a spoiler alert for the story. Advance apologies if at any given point of time I land up giving away something that I probably should not have. Have never found a more challenging movie to write about to date. Add to that the factor that it has been directed by someone who I consider to be one of the most talented directors of our times - Alejandro González Iñárritu. 21 grams is his second movie. After he stormed into the circuit with another masterpiece titled Amores Perros. Urban legend would say that Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel are a trilogy but that’s definitely not verified on date by the man himself. Would be glad if someone could. They all however deal with the same topic of life and death and how everything in the life seems to be interconnected in some way or the other.


The basic essence of the movie can probably be surmised with one dialogue. I quote, “They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death. Everyone. And how much fits into 21 grams? How much is lost? When do we lose 21 Grams? How much goes with them? How much is gained? How much….. is gained? 21 Grams – The weight of a stack of 5 nickels, a humming bird, a chocolate bar. How much do the 21 grams weigh”? Coming in a review it may seem like a whole bunch of philosophical words that you stare at. Watch the movie and these words suddenly take the form of poetry or fall into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The vagaries of death and the complications that come with it are brilliantly portrayed in atypical Iñárritu style by blending the lives of three completely unrelated people (or for that matter their families as well) and building it up to a superb climax. Paul (Sean Penn) and Mary Rivers (Charlotte Gainsbourg) are a couple struggling to keep their relationship alive. Paul is counting his days thanks to a bad heart and a chronic smoking problem. Mary is desperate to conceive before Paul passes away but cannot thanks to a bad abortion earlier. Cut to Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro), an ex-convict and a born again Christian who is married to Marianne (Melissa Leo). They have 2 children and are struggling to earn an honest day’s living. Jack also tries to get more people into following The Saviour. Completing the trio is Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) a reformed drug addict, now happily married to Michael Peck (Danny Huston). They have 2 daughters. Unfortunately, anything more I say would probably ruin the viewing experience.

21 Grams is a film maker’s delight to say the least. It has the powerful performances of 3 of the most talented actors ever to have hit the screen along with the direction of Iñárritu. Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro are exquisite to say the least. Naomi Watts, however, does show some gaps especially in the scenes that involve shedding a few tears. The editing is near perfect with the story shuttling back and forth and left and right all through the nearly 2 hours that it runs. The screenplay from Guillermo Arriaga is superb. The supporting cast is also very good. Melissa Leo is outstanding in her portrayal of the wife of an ex-convict and the desperate attempts that she makes to keep the family together. Funnily, all of this got it only nominations in the major awards for 2004. Maybe well worth the effort to find out which were the movies nominated for the Oscars in the same year. If there is anything that the movie falls short on, it is pace. The above average movie follower will be rooted to your seats and waiting to catch what happens next. Definitely not one for the masses though. I would be very harsh if I were to give this less than 8 on 10. Guess the academy thought otherwise. But then again, I am an amateur critic.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3383951641/