Foxcatcher

Steve Carell in a role that is not comic and over the top would be perceived by most people as laughable for sure.  But believe me when I say this – Steve Carell as John Eleuthère du Pont will be spoken about for time immemorial.  It is a stroke of casting brilliance and Carell grabs the opportunity with everything that he possibly can.

Coriolanus

Ralph Fiennes’ first movie as a director leaves a lot to be desired to say the least. First of all, I have no clue to why he would experiment with his first movie in a language that is not really up everyone’s comfort level. I mean it is English alright but why Shakespearean English????? And that too in verse????

And the morons who seem to be running the movie houses in India could not think of adding subtitles to the movie? Else they should have sold 2/3rds of the tickets and kept a translator for every 2 patrons walking into the hall. Not a feasible solution right? SUBTITLES YOU MORONS!!!! As it is, we aren’t the largest market for Hollywood in the world. Your rank stupidity is not helping the cause. Surely Ralph Fiennes had his reasons to convert a lesser know Shakespearean play in Shakespearean but what is your excuse darlings? And then there is PVR who super intelligently decides to play J Edgar in Juhu and Phoenix but decide to release Coriolanus across all PVRs in the city. I cannot begin to imagine the plight of the Gujju Bens and Bhais (Sisters and Brothers) in Mulund and Goregaon wondering how to pronounce the movie – leave alone walk into the hall and try to understand it. Weird people have infested this industry I tell you.

Coriolanus is about this Roman general called Marcus Caius (Ralph Fiennes) whose arch enemies, the Volscians are led by Tulius Aufidius (Gerard Butler). Marcus Caius has fought several wars for Rome and has successfully defended its pride and honour not just by leading from the front but also by ensuring that orders are followed to the T. So much so that the people of Rome do not quite like him much. But a few wise people in the right places appreciate his efforts and would like to annoit him as Counsellor (the highest authority) in Rome. His closest friend, confidante and Senator of Rome – Menenius Agrippa (Brian Cox) lobbies really hard for his case. However, as luck would have it, he faces severe opposition from not just some of the common people of Rome but also the Tribunes (Paul Jesson & James Nesbitt) who not only oppose him but also get him embroiled in a serious scam which questions his integrity and also get him banished from Rome. Incensed, Marcus Caius Coriolanus, approaches the Volscians and joins hands with them to conquer Rome.

In terms of acting talent and execution, the movie doesn’t leave too much to be desired. It takes great courage to use a dialect of English that may not be best accepted by the people. And even more to get the likes of Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave to narrate with consummate ease. So hats off to Ralph Fiennes for the same. He has also converted the story into a modern day setting with the use of costumes which is equally good. But watch it only if you have subtitles or else you will definitely be left groping in the dark for what was said. OK to watch on DVD. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2877398553/

Letters to Juliet

Gary Winick is the director of chick flicks such as 13 going on 30 and Bride Wars. Both of which were movies that would barely manage to make the cut. He also did Charlotte’s Web which was more in the kiddie genre and 6 other movies that I haven’t seen or heard of. But with Letters to Juliet, he kind of gets his direction to the proverbial next level. He does get it soppy and a bit hard to believe in between but gets the movie to feel quite good overall.

The first thing he does is get the story right. Now how many of us would have heard about the Secretaries of Juliet? I know I did not know about them. I am not a shining example of knowing everything (although I would love to believe so) but it would be fair to assume that most people did not know about the concept and it was therefore a novel story in the first place. People from all over the world can send letters to Casa di Giulietta / Juliet’s House, Via Cappello, 23, Near Piazza delle Erbe, Verona, Italy and a team of volunteers sit down at the end of every day to answer each one of them. A practice that has been in place for over 70 years today.

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) bumps into the concept and therefore into Isabella (Luisa Ranieri), Francesca (Marina Massironi), Donatella (Lidia Biondi), Maria (Milena Vukotic) & Angelina (Luisa De Santis) who have been volunteering as the secretaries of Juliet for quite some time now. Sophie is visiting Verona for a pre-honeymoon of sorts with her husband to be – Victor (Gael García Bernal) – a superb chef but a person who doesn’t really know how to take care of Sophie. Needless to say, Sophie starts drifting away from him. The secretaries offer her an avenue to take her mind off Victor and she bumps into a letter that was left in the wall 50 years back. She does take a chance to reply to the letter – just to check on what could happen. And before you know it, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) who is pushing 70 currently, arrives in Verona with her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan). Thus begins the search for Lorenzo Bartolini – Claires long lost love of 50 years.

Letters to Juliet is a lovely movie to catch up with on a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon when you are all cuddled up in bed with your boyfriend. As mentioned earlier, it does get a bit soppy in between and the love story between Chris and Sophie is expected but comes in a bit too fast for my comfort. But Gary Winick, more than makes up in the other parts. There is a good bit of Italian humour thrown in and the performances are also quite good. Vanessa Redgrave is stunning in her role of Claire. And I have previously sung enough praises of Amanda Seyfried who continues to be one of the better actresses in recent times. Worth a dekko for sure. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1896810265/

Atonement

I had to finish Valentines Day with a movie that epitomizes true love. There are enough and more romantic comedies that were aired all through the day; some really good ones also. But what about the truest of love stores? The ones that are gut wrenchingly, excruciatingly painful but represent the concept of a long lasting love better than any other? I reviewed The English Patient yesterday and it was a sub conscious choice without giving much thought to the fact that it was actually a great build up to V Day. But picking up Atonement from my collection was not only a choice driven by the fact that I hadn’t seen it (the previous copy I had picked up was a DVD released by Big Videos and didn’t have subtitles and so was promptly returned) but also because I was looking at a love story and not a RomCom to finish off the day. I had my share of RomComs before Atonement with Hitch and Hope Springs. So a Golden Globe Winner and one with 7 Oscar nominations (one win) seemed to be a great choice.


What would be the emotions you could possibly go through if you are about 13 years old (a very peculiar and impressionable age) and you walked into the library of your massive house and found your sister having sex with the man that she loves who is coincidentally the one that you have a massive crush on. 13 year old - Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan – pronounced SEER sha); Sister – Cecilia Tallis (Kiera Knightley); Lover – Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). The embarrassed couple straightens their clothes and walk away.

The Tallises have their cousins from the north staying with them due some domestic problems – The Twins – Pierrot Quincey (Felix von Simson) and Jackson Quincey (Charlie von Simson) along with their elder sister Lola (Juno Temple). The twins don’t want to stay with their cousins and decide to run away that evening. Obviously the family panics and a search party is sent out. During the search, Briony stumbles upon someone molesting Lola and is shocked even further. Neither Lola nor Briony is sure about who the person was. But using this as an opportunity to get back @ Robbie, the naïve 13 year old gets him arrested as a prime witness. The fledgling romance between Robbie and Cecilia is smashed to smithereens. Robbie goes to prison and then to the war. Cecilia, leaves home and becomes a nurse. They keep their relationship alive through the years despite the frequency of meetings and the distances.

Atonement as the title suggests is a story of a girl’s search for retribution as she comes of age and understands the gravity of her actions. And how she tries to set things right. Yet another adapted screenplay, this one is based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name. I haven’t read the book but can only assume that it did deal with the aspect of Briony’s struggle to come to terms with her actions a bit more in detail. As aspect that was not given as much justice in the movie. The movie focused more on the love story between the protagonists who have done a very good job of bringing to fore the emotions that the lovers go through in sustaining their relationship through the years that build up to the war. Somehow, Joe Wright doesn’t seem to have done justice to the entire concept. Maybe it was in an attempt to keep the movie to under 2 hours. I would have risked extending it by about 30 minutes because the pace is quite solid and doesn’t really drop through the movie. The first thing that does hit you about the movie is the music which seems to be made with a typewriter and one which got the movie its only Oscar. Great cinematography. Some obvious slips on attention to detail – like Kiera Knightley’s luscious red lips in a nurse’s uniform. But Beautiful love story overall. Put this on your must watch list. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3836805401/