Fantastic Four (2015)

I can only guess or speculate when I make this statement that even Hollywood seems to be running out of good ideas for cinema.  Why else would one try and relaunch a superhero franchise that was not perceived as a great one to begin with.  More importantly, why would someone try to narrate the same story again?

Divergent

The size of the Young Adult Fiction Market in 2009 was estimated at about $3 billion!!! (yes – with a “buh” – Alan Harper).  A certain Veronica Roth was terribly cued into this market at published her first book “Divergent” somewhere in 2011.  Even before she graduated, the movie rights were sold.

21 and Over

Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are the writers of Hangover and Hangover 2 amongst some other movies.  They have also written a small movie called Flypaper that starred Patrick Dempsey.  But they surely weren’t the writers of 21 or the American Pie series – at least not to my knowledge.

Footloose (2011)

I must admit that the reason I saw Footloose (1984) for the nth time was that Footloose (2011) was also playing in-flight en route to Oz. I first noticed the 2011 version was playing and luckily the 1984 original also happened to be on the list. I am glad I saw the 2011 version in-flight and not in the theatre because it is really not a movie that will finish with a feeling of you having utilized your time well for nearly 2 hours.

Firstly let me dispel any doubts that anyone may have had about the 2011 being different from the 1984 hit. 27 years on, Craig Brewer has done nothing to add any value to the classic. In fact if anything, he has eroded the classic tag that the movie had and ruined any possibility of a fan following from the generation of today. Neither Kenny Wormald nor Julianne Hough can come close to the acting capabilities of Kevin Bacon or Lori Singer. Maybe I am begin harsh when I say that of Hough because Singer wasn’t anything much of an actress as such. So I could reconsider that opinion. But Wormald has a long way to go and if he harbours any hope of becoming as versatile as Bacon turned out to be, then I guess he has to put in many times more the effort that what Bacon had to. What disappointed me most was the severe cut in the role of Dennis Quaid and therefore I am probably not surprised with his lack luster effort. Surely Quaid is a better performer than what I saw. More or less the same analysis for Andie MacDowell.

The 2011 version of Footloose is so uncreative that Brewer has taken the concept of a “remake” to the level of a Xerox Machine. Even the dialogues are the same. And the famous scene where Ren reads out passages from the Bible just falls so flat on its face that it ceases to get funny after a while. Changes if any are exceptionally few in number and may get missed as well. The feet tapping in the titling is marginally different but nowhere close to being better.

Footloose (2011) hasn’t released yet in India and for once I would say that the people in the business have made a sensible decision. It really doesn’t have much to offer that is different, new, inspiring or fresh from the original. If you would really want to watch the movie, see the original. Even if I were to ignore the existence of an orginal, independently, Footloose (2011) would be an average movie at best. With the benefit of the doubt – 5 on 10. Sorry Craig Brewer. Got this one wrong I guess.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1510841369/

Rabbit Hole

Have you ever lost someone who you were really close to? I am sure most of us have at some point or other in our lives, gone through the pain. I personally went through it only a couple of years back when I lost a very close friend in an accident. But what if it was a blood relative? I may sound very crude and heartless if I said that losing a parent is difficult but probably not the most difficult of situations to have, and I am at no point of time under playing the pain here. What if it was someone younger? Your brother? Worse still, what if it were your 4 year old son who chose to run after a your dog because the dog ran after a squirrel and as destined, he gets run over by a car which is doing 31 kmph, maybe 32 kmph in a 30 kmph zone and the impact is enough for him to pass on. I could not even begin to imagine the trauma that one would go through and would hope and pray that it would never happen to anyone – whether known to me or otherwise. But it is exactly with this extremely sensitive and poignant topic that John Cameron Mitchell has achieved an Oscar nomination for Nicole Kidman.

Becca (Nicole Kidman) has spent the past 8 months trying to come to terms with her son’s death in a car accident. She has pretty much cut herself off from the rest of the world and speaks to people in the best possible way that she can muster herself to, without hurting their sentiments. Her support structure involves her husband Howie (Aaron Eckhart) who is in the same boat as Becca – probably worse. Between the two of them, they are putting their life back together – bit by little bit. They are past the stage of what they could have done to avoid the situation. Should they have locked the gate? Should they have bought a dog for their son? Who should have kept a look out for him? Still very much in love but the spark has gone off in some way. Add to that the conflicts of watching people who really matter to them getting on with their lives. Such as Becca’s sister Izzy (Tammy Blanchard) who is in a relationship with a musician Auggie (Giancarlo Esposito) and are expecting their first child. Or Becca’s mother Nat (Diane Wiest) who is trying her best to support Becca much to Becca’s disappointment. In the midst of all of this, Becca bumps into Jason (Miles Teller) who was driving the car that killed her son and slowly but surely builds a relationship with him – probably a way to come to terms with the loss of her son. The human mind acts in mysterious ways at times. Simultaneously, Howie is drawn to Gaby (Sandra Oh), one of the participants at counseling who has lost her child 8 years back and is still struggling to move on.

John Cameron Mitchell weaves for us an extremely complex web of human emotions and one cannot find much fault with the path that he takes the movie into. Not too many of us would be in a position to say if it is the right or the wrong direction. But irrespective of that, he ensures that the movie doesn’t drift about endlessly and keeps it on track and most importantly keeps it tight. Performances are the hallmark of Rabbit Hole across the board. Nicole Kidman is edgy / eccentric as always but has proven that she is much more than a pretty face. I personally thought that Aaron Eckhart was better in his performance of Howie with the exception of a couple of super emotional scenes where he falters. Diane Wiest, Miles Teller and Tammy Blanchard have all given probably their best shot towards making this movie what it has turned out to be. Warning though – not meant for the emotionally weak; this one is sure to break you down if you are. And question to the guy who made the poster – why make it so confusing? People should be able to get the movie by looking at the poster right? I always thought that was the idea. Nevertheless, try and get a dekko @ Rabbit Hole this week before it leaves the theatres – 7.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3003816217/