Midnight in Paris

If it is Woody Allen then it has to have the Oscars against it. Especialy in the category of Original Screenplay. He has received 15 nominations for Original Screeplay to date!!! And if you haven’t seen Woody Allen movies you would be tempted to now. If you have, then you would not be surprised with this fact. The capability to create a story line and then pepper it with humour that can best be described as acidic is an art that the 77 year old has probably mastered better than anyone else. Lets face it. There cannot be a badly written Woody Allen movie. It is possible that people may not understand it because thanks to the layers that Woody has put in it but it just cannot be bad. I am a huge fan and Midnight in Paris has done nothing to harm my position.

The other nominations have been in the categories of Direction, Art Direction and Motion Picture of the year. I also think that Owen Wilson has been overlooked for the acting Oscar simply because he has this slapstick non serious image about himself and not because he hasn’t acted well in this one. Somehow I think Owen Wilson is cut out perfectly for the Woody Allen type of care a damn humour. The nonchalance that he gets to the screen is just apt for playing the part of a writer who is not cutting much ice in his relationship with a supremely rich girl whose family doesn’t approve the relationship one bit. And it gets even more convincing when he starts imagining that at the stroke of every midnight, he gets picked up by a vintage Peugeot and meets all his idols of the early 1900s. An era that he is fascinated with and wants to be back in.

Woody Allen has a knack of surprising most people with his casting. And for the first time I see Rachel McAdams in a role that is quite unlike her. One in which audiences would resent her and not look at her as the girl next door that she always plays. And she essays her role with ease. Which is even more surprising. Proving to us inadvertently I presume that there is a lot of serious acting acumen that hasn’t gone on display yet.

I don’t need to comment on the capabilities of the likes of Kathy Bates (Gertrude Stein) or Marrion Cotillard (Adriana) who really have nothing to prove to anyone of us lowly mortals anymore. And the support cast in any Woody Allen movie is always superb. Somehow I think all of these guys just get into a groove that is most natural to them and were waiting for Woody to actually show it to them that they are capable of performing this way. Woody himself doesn’t play a role in this one and the eccentricities are conspicuously missing. But he more than makes up with his humour. Deservedly in the top 10 movies of the year. Watch it. 8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi853581081/

Blood Diamond

Now here is a movie worth watching over and over and over and over again. And then when you have seen it enough times over you can watch it once more for good measure. I think Leonardo DiCaprio came of age somewhere in 2002 when he did Catch Me If You Can. I could give him credit for The Beach as well but I guess he was just starting to warm up. But my word did he take off after his portrayal of Frank Abagnale Jr.!!! As the corny one liner goes – there was no turning back. Danny Archer was his 3rd role after Frank Abagnale Jr. and man did he get it to rock. Truck loads of effort gone into getting the accent right. Another few truck loads of effort gone into getting the overall feel of a diamond smuggler. Quite a bit of hard work Leo boy and a pity you could not grab hold of Uncle Oscar despite all of the effort. Hope in hell that you would have known about Mr. Whitaker and his portrayal of the Butcher of Uganda. Tough Luck Leo. I am quite certain you will get this sooner than later.
Now let me see. Why do you think Blood Diamond was never even nominated for an Oscar. I have tried to rack my brains for a long time over this. But then the Academy may have its fetishes for finer nuances which us lowly mortals are not familiar with. Did Blood Diamond have a storyline – hell it did. A cause that no one had picked up to date which also made it fresh i.e. never before told story of conflict diamonds which had started getting into the news a while before Edward Zwick picked it up. And it is an original. So was it the performances? Maybe. But then both Leo and Djimon earned nominations. So I guess it cannot be acting. Yeah I guess no one else had much of a role to play in the entire movie which I agree to but one cannot fault either Jennifer Connelly or Arnold Vosloo with bad acting. It was a well knit movie in terms of performances.

So it has to be editing right? But there again there was a nomination for the golden statuette. Well I kind of gave up after going through the list. Maybe the direction was not upto mark or maybe the screenplay. What it was, none of us will ever know. If there the nominations are based on a voting system then I would guess Blood Diamond would have lost out extremely marginally for some more awards. Or put this entire concept of a doubt to my account because I am an amateur critic – probably need that FTI class really really soon (makes mental note).

If you haven’t seen Blood Diamond yet then I suggest you catch up with it whenever it plays on any of these movie channels or better still – buy your own copy ASAP. It will truly be worth it. I give it an 8 on 10 easy. Yenjoy the show I say!!!!

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi180027673/

Tron Legacy

6 months ago, I saw the trailer of Tron Legacy and was mighty intrigued to say the least. As the months went by, I kept seeing the trailer over and over again and was quite exasperated with the goddam never ending wait. Finally, a couple of weeks back, the release date was announced as 17th December 2010 - coincidentally the same date, Avatar was released last year - coincidence I am sure. But Walt Disney recreates magic once again!!! The wait was well worth it I say.


Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a geek. A young geek in 1989 who has thought of the concept of WiFi way back in 1985. He is the founder of Emcon, a gaming company that has created many a wave over the past few years. Most importantly, he is the reason the organisation has fallen back on track and is a huge hit with the shareholders. Sadly, he loses his wife in suddenly and is survived by his only son Sam (Garret Hedlund) who he loves very very dearly. He now lives with his son and parents who are his support system. He also owns a gaming arcade that is called - surprise surprise - Flynn's . How predictable I say!!! Corny. But sweet. On a regular night, Flynn Senior, after putting Sam to bed, decides to go to the Arcade to check something out. He has promised Sam that he would unravel a particular mystery the next day. But he never returns. The mysterious disappearance doesn't go too well with the markets and Emcon stocks start to tumble. More importantly, Sam turns violent and then slowly but steadily into a recluse. Much to the disappointment of his father's closest aide – Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) - who is unable to explain the reason why Sam's father is not back home.

Twenty years down the line, Sam has grown up to be the major share holder of Emcon but least interested in who is running the company or where it is headed. He is a rebel without a cause. A loose cannonball whose single thrill in life is to make the people who are turning his organization into a money spinning machine look like jokers. And he does that quite successfully and quite frequently. After one such stunt, he returns home to his ever faithful mutt Marvin, only to find that Alan has made himself comfortable. He informs Sam about a page that he received from the Arcade. Surprisingly the arcade has been shut for 20 years. Sam pretends not to care but he cannot hold himself back. He gets there and finds a door that he didn’t know existed. A door that is about to open a Pandora’s Box in a manner of speaking. Fasten your seat belts at this stage for what is undeniably the ride of the year.

Super special effects, amazing make up and brilliant use of Computer Graphics make Tron Legacy a heady concoction not only for the fans of the game or the older movie but for anyone who get their thrills from action movies. Light Jets, Light Bikes ala Star War Light Sabres. The works. Have a joint before you walk into the theatre and you can be assured of the best trips in your lifetime. This has been a year for first time directors all the way and Joseph Kosinski joins the gang although he could do with a crash course on consistency. Like how can everything electronic at the arcade work perfectly after 20 years? A bit far fetched I say. What is surprising is that otherwise there is a level of attention to detail like the best directors would. Some obvious gaffes mar an otherwise nearly flawless execution of a classic.

Tron Legacy is Disney’s next franchise. I would refuse to believe that there are no sequels planned. It would be a waste of a fabulous idea. Don’t miss this one. Clearly a 7 on 10.

Signing off with best wishes – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers!!!! You may not hear from me for the next month as I embark on my one month vacation starting in under 3 hours from now. I just had to ensure that the Tron Legacy review is put up before I leave. And I will do my best to get a dekko @ TMK in Oz Time which would be ahead by about 4.5 hours from India and u may just about get the review on time. Will keep you posted on that one. Till then – keep watching movies!!!! Have a blast folks!!!!