Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

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.

Diana

The British press has panned Diana with some of the choicest of words.  But then again, one can expect this kind of panning from the Brits because they are usually never satisfied with a product especially if it is a Biopic about someone British.  And if directed by someone German then all hell apparently breaks loose as we have seen here.

The Impossible

I think I now know why I did not write this review late last night and saved it for early this morning instead. I can speak for both Prarthana and I when I say that we were quite overwhelmed from memories of over 8 years back flooding back into our heads. We were left quite muddled and somber.

I can clearly remember the morning of 26th December 2004. It was a lazy Sunday morning to begin with. I was @ my parent’s place for some reason. I woke up around 730 am if I am not mistaken and customarily switched on my television. My mum used to get quite irritated with that (she still does).

But for around an hour after that most of us barely spoke a word because of the shocking visuals all over international television. Every channel from the less astute Aaj Tak to the most composed BBC was airing visual after visual that shocked the living daylights out of us. All of this on the laid back morning after Christmas.

Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry Belon (Ewan McGregor) were a Spanish couple who decided the spend the Christmas and New Years Eve of 2004 @ The Orchid Resort in Thailand – a gorgeous beach facing property. They were based out of Japan because of Henry’s assignment there.

Accompanying them were their three children – Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), aged 12, 7 and 5 respectively. One big happy family as most would have guessed. With their normal problems and their normal issues. But happy nevertheless.

While their nationalities have been changed in the movie (to address a larger audience I would guess – they were Spanish), the story is true. The family was around the hotel swimming pool when the wall of water washed them away splitting them into two groups. Maria and Lucas managed to find themselves in the raging waters. Henry, Thomas and Simon come up closer to the hotel.

The story, like many others who were devasted in the Tsunami, is about how they managed to not only hang on to dear life but eventually find each other in the chaos and carnage that reigned supreme. All through the movie, I could only think to myself that they family must have been very close to the creator to have found each other. Most of the others were not so lucky.

If you do walk into the cinema hall then brace yourself for a not so pleasant blast from the past. One that has been shot extremely well and directed in a manner that is probably best possible by a 38 year old Spanish talent called Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage). There is a lot of attention to detail. And obviously the effects are fantastic.

I was wondering why it took 8 years for someone to make a movie on probably the biggest natural disaster that most of us have ever seen. My guess – 90 out of 100 dropped out because they could not handle the devastation and the gut wrenching stories associated with it. Of the remaining, very few could have handled the balance between sensitivity and reality. 8 on 10 for the movie and Bayona.

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi118006809/

Dream House

It would not be wrong to suspect that Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz (oh you broke my heart Rachel) kindled their romance on the sets of this movie. Considering that they got married in 2011 and started seeing each other as confirmed from most sources around December 2010. So I think it is safe to assume that Dream House indeed was the Dream come true for one of the more popular Bonds in the world to date and also the reason for a million hearts (including mine) breaking. *sigh*

But having said that, the million hearts breaking would not be the reason for Dream House not having done too well @ the Box Office. One would have expected a deeper story line from the likes of a Jim Sheridan. I mean, one look at Sheridan’s resumé and you would not have a question about the capabilities at all. There are at least 6 Oscar nominations there. Ergo, it would not be unfair to expect a movie that was definitely better than quite most released last year. However, I guess age and fatigue catches up with the best of us and it has with Sheridan.

Somehow, Dream House, never really grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me up as I would have expected it to. It takes a few minutes to settle in first of all and once done, it takes about 5 minutes for someone with reasonable intelligence to start predicting the next scene or 2. The predictability being one part of the reason for disappointment, the other being the not so great performances from the entire cast. I could imaging Craig and Weisz being more focused on each other but will someone please explain to me what is happening to Naomi Watts as the days go by? She seems to be getting more and more jaded by the movie. The support cast doesn’t add much value either.

The movie is intended to be a thriller and does achieve the objective in parts. But unfortunately doesn’t build up to a great finish like a thriller should. Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) is a successful editor with a leading publication who decides to quit his job in the city and get back to his family. The reason being he has not been able to spend enough time with them. As much as he or they would like to. And he does get back to them to their immense happiness. But only to realize in a matter of a day or so that he is probably not Will Atenton. And with all the neighbours staring at him as if he is a ghost from the past, it doesn’t take much for the audience to also put 2 and 2 together either.

Somewhere I think Sheridan lost the plot by making it a bit too obvious. There was no element of suspense. One would expect that in a movie of this kind. Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed in the end. 5 on 10 is my rating. Downloadable watch.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi64658457/

J Edgar

Is it just me or is there anyone out there who believes that Clint Eastwood has seemingly gone low on his Clint in a manner of speaking? I was one of the few people who thought that Invictus wasn’t really upto the Clint Eastwood mark that kept going up till The Changeling. Hereafter was a notch lower than Invictus and now we have J Edgar which can be at best called out as being at par with Hereafter. Don’t get me wrong here. I love Clint Eastwood. I am just a wee bit disappointed because the intensity and class that we seem to have gotten used to in slowly fading. I think he should also take a cue from the Academy because both Hereafter and J Edgar have been given a cold shoulder of sorts.

Like any biopic would be, J Edgar is centered around the life and times of the longest standing director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – J Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio). It brings to the fore a very well written story of a man who was not so popular during his days as the Director. Someone who every single president tried their best to oust but with little or no success – because J E knew everything that was worth knowing and not worth knowing about the most powerful men in the world. It shows how he quickly works his way to being the director of the bureau even before he turns 30. How he goes about pushing the use of technology to make the bureau as fool proof as possible. His fights with the government to give the bureau its proper place in the sun which he strongly believes it deserves. His gay romance with close friend Tolson (Armie Hammer) and attempted romance with his secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts). And even why he was called “Speedy” as a kid.

I guess what adds to Clint Eastwood losing his sheen as a director is Leo DiCaprio getting into character roles that are beginning to stereotype him and probably get people to believe that even personally he has becaome like his characters. His performance as JE wasn’t too different from his portrayal of Howard Hughes in The Aviator. Gets the audience also thinking as to whether there has been a genuine attempt or not. Both Watts and Hammer were good but not great in any ways. And I am honestly not qualified enough in any manner to comment about Dame Judi Dench’s acting capabilities. Stunning – yet again!!! Oh the woman never ceases to amaze me.

The other departments are quite good. Like Make up for example - by Alessandro Bertolazzi for Watts & Sian Grigg for DiCaprio were worth mentioning but I guess not good enough for the Academy. Check out the photograph of the real JE in the link below http://content9.flixster.com/photo/12/98/51/12985179_ori.jpg and make up your minds for yourself I guess. But even here, Tolson’s make up was a tad over done.

J Edgar is a very slow movie and will take a lot of patience from your end. But Clint Eastwood has never made fast paced movies. Not great by Clint Eastwood standards but way ahead of the curve with respect to some of the crap that we see these days. 7 on 10. Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1849990169/

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/

Fair Game

Add one more to the list of movies on Iraq. How many more movies would need to be made to get the world aware that the entire issue in Iraq was nothing but a sham. Are we actually expecting some justice to be delivered in probably the largest case of genocide after Hitler and Vietnam? What would take for the world to realize that there is no point in taking on “the most powerful people in the world”? I tip my hat to the patience that people have in churning out movies after movies on how the entire effort of “THE War against terror” was all made up. Now, sustained effort should hopefully get justice but as Nixon proudly proclaimed after Watergate, “The President is the Law”. Now how does one expect to get around that? Is the legal system in the land of the free so strong that it can give any immunity to anyone who thinks can take on the system or will we just see movie after movie getting the so called truth out and makes it look eventually like just a political propaganda that the Democrats are running against the Republicans?


Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a CIA Operative. She finished top of her class during the training period and the Agency obviously has a lot of faith on her. She has nearly 10 covert operations running simultaneously in different parts of the world from South East Asia to the Middle East and even parts of Europe. She works under various under cover names and is quite successful in most of her efforts in generating information and getting things done. She is married to Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) who is the ex Ambassador of the United States to Iraq and some countries in Africa as well. Her operations lead her to a chemical’s dealer in Kuala Lumpur and then eventually they team stumbles upon some information on shipments of a large quantity (500 Tons) of “Yellow Cake” a.k.a. Uranium Ore from Africa, specifically Niger (pronounced Ni-j-er) to Iraq.

Knowing that Joe has spent a lot of time in Africa, she recommends his name to the panel and Joe agrees to help with a reccee of sorts. Using his best contacts, Joe does get out as much information as possible and comes to the conclusion that it is just not possible to have sent out so much of Uranium without a whole trail of paper work. He reports the information accordingly and considers his job done. But when people in power want something badly, they go out and get it. Reports start trickling in that loads of Uranium have been shipped out from Africa, specifically Niger to aid the manufacture of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Joe doesn’t take this too lightly and shoots off a note to the newspapers about how the entire thing is a sham and there is no proof etc.etc. etc. That begins the downfall of Valerie and Joe and what follows is the story of how the two of them try and take on the system.

Fair Game doesn’t give you too much to look forward to. It is an extremely convoluted movie like most movies about Iraq have to be – consciously I guess. There are just too many conspiracy theories running around and one doesn’t really know what to believe. If spy thrillers which get more dirt out on George Bush and the entire Iraq war is your thesis topic for your Ph.D. then Fair Game is worth a watch. It is pretty much like Green Zone meets Hurt Locker meets Farenheit 9/11 meets the dime a dozen other Iraq oriented movies which are supposed to give us that “slightly different” perspective. Difficult to sustain attention coz after a point of time your heading is screaming out – GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW GUYS!!!! Doug Liman not the best director in the block and after his debacle with Mr. & Mrs. Smith, he doesn’t seem to have made too much of progress. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are the only saving grace for the otherwise quite average movie. I give it 5 on 10.

Le Divorce

When the killer pair of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory come together on any project, one can be rest assured that the movie is going to be watchable. So the base scale at 5 on 10 is really bad for this super successful cinematic pair. Rest assured, Le Divorce lives upto the average Merchant Ivory fan’s expectations. It is not the arty kinds that take you back to the MI movies of the seventies where there are severely long pregnant pauses to create the impact desired. And don’t let the cast misguide you into thinking that they have succumbed to the temptation of making movies that are super commercially viable. It’s a good combination of the traditional Merchant Ivory values with some new blood spiked in. Le Divorce is a refreshing, stylish, classy Rom Com.
Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson) walks into Paris to visit her pregnant sister Roxanne (Naomi Watts) who is a poet and married to Charles Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud) and has a 5 year old daughter. Roxanne is out grocery shopping and is unaware that her husband is planning to take off that very day with his mistress and new found love, Magda Tellman (Rona Hartner). Roxy walks back home only to find CH hurriedly leaving their home. He offers her no reason and runs off as quickly as he can only to bump into Isabel on his way out. Very non chalantly, he plants a kiss on Isabel’s cheek and before you know it he’s gone.

Isabel and Roxy try to soak in the shock of the moment in as best a manner as possible. Its not always that a pregnant woman walks into her house to see her husband walk out and leave a 5 year old girl to take care off. They try to piece their lives back together. The weekend was to be spent with CH’s parents which cannot be cancelled. So in atypical French style when asked where CH was, the answer is deflected to an official reason – to sell a painting for e.g. That in French custom is a good enough hint to the mother that something is amiss.

Roxy does not believe in divorce but when CH initiates proceedings, she is left with no choice. She is introduced by her author friend, Olivia Pace (Glen Close) to Maitre Bertram (Jean-Marc Brar) who is a lawyer to help her with some advise on the divorce and most importantly a painting of St. Ursula which is speculated to be the original by Georges de la Tour. Parallely Isabel is making the most of her time in France first with Yves (Romain Duris) who is introduced to her by Olivia and then with leading French Politician and CH’s uncle Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte). The main twist is yet to enter the story when one day on her return, Isabel finds at her door, Tellman (Matthew Modine). Tellman is the husband of Magda who CH has run off with. Tellman for some reason believes that the only way to get back and CH and Magda would be for him and Roxy to also have an affair.

James Ivory goes on through the movie as a satire on French customs and divorce laws that are super archaic. Woven in between all of these are the cultural differences between the Americans and the French – some of which seem very exciting (read better) for the Americans. Others which are fundamentally flawed – American or otherwise. The dialogues are smart and classy which is expected of a MI movie. The humour is very very very French. The locale…. Ah… Paris (pronounced with the silent s). Made mental note of making enough money to retire into somewhere in France eventually .

The cast is wonderfully picked up. Very balanced between the French and the American. The language is again balanced with quite a large portion of the movie in French. Trust MI to understand that the nuances of the movie could have been best delivered only in the local language. And with the ever trusted Ruth Pravar Jhabwala are their side they probably could not go wrong. Glen Close is oh so serene in her role as the retired author. Simplest of roles but such amazing screen presence!!!! Watts and Hudson give very good performances but somewhere they pale in comparison to the French cast which is outstanding.

Good concept, lovely humour. Very classy as mentioned earlier. 7 on 10 for this one