Remember Clash of the Titans from nearly 2 years back. The One directed by Louis Leterrier (Transporter 1 & 2)? The one where a Greek man by the name of Perseus (Sam Worthington) finds out that he is no ordinary human being. That he is the son of the great God Zeus. And that makes him a demi god. He then goes on a great adventure to save the world and kill the mighty beast called Kraken. Remember?
Well I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t but I wouldn’t be surprised if you did either. Clash of the Titans was as my close friend Sandy says, “Pop Greek Mythology”. What made Clash even more Pop was known as “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”. But they were both that kind of a movie. Imminently enjoyable when you watch them but with not much shelf life. Well the news is that, Wrath of the Titans is the much awaited sequel and is probably a bit better and maybe a bit more memorable than the first one.
What started off in the Clash has moved a decade and Perseus has decided that he wants to have nothing to do with the Gods or godliness or anything that is prefixed with the “G” word. He wants to move back to the “F” word. OK now don’t get all excited we are talking of the word called “Fisherman”. He is peacefully settled on a coastal village with his son Helios (John Bell). That’s when his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) decides to come back and ask him for help. He doesn’t reveal much but expects Perseus to trust him and leave his son to save the universe once again. This time from the Supreme God Kronos – the father of Zeus, Posiedon (Danny Huston) and Hades (Ralph Fiennes).
I must accept that Wrath of the Titans is definitely better made that The Clash of the Titans. The Clash also had its thunder stolen by Percy Jackson who was I would guess more contemporary (or pop as mentioned earlier). The Wrath doesn’t have that problem lurking around for certain. The Wrath also sees a change of directors and for the first time probably, the direction to a sequel is distinctly better. Jonathan Liebesman doesn’t waste too much of time building up the story and doesn’t leave you short of action at just the right moments.
The use of special effects this time around is also much better. Especially the quality of the 3D which I thought was probably the best since Tintin last year. The recreation of the larger than life demons and the aspects such as Hephaestus’ (Bill Nighy) maze to the underworld prison of Tartarus is simply superb. This one has to be seen on the big screen to get the real impact. Without the effects, there is not much to the movie. Definitely worth a dekko for this weekend. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3446710553/
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Blood Money
Mahesh Bhatt follows a very simple formula with his movies. There was a time that he was the keen producer director who looked at making serious cinema. But he was quick to learn that Bollywood is anything but the arty farty types. At the end of the day, it is the cash registers in the Box Office that determine success and therefore it is important to strike a balance between quality of cinema and commercial viability. That saw the movement of Shri Bhatt from producer director to just producer after Kartoos (1999). The rest as they say is history. Over the past 13 years I cannot remember the last time a Mahesh Bhatt movie flopped.
Blood Money is no different. A simple formula based movie. Take a couple of young actors and give them reasonable roles in a story that is again quite reasonable but filled with clichés. Kunal Kadam (Kunal Khemu) and Arzoo (Amrita Puri) are a newly married couple who have come from a supremely middle class background. In fact Kunal has worked his way up from the streets to complete an MBA (god such a cliché) and finds himself in his dream job (another cliché) in Mahesh Bhatts favourite location – South Africa (cliché 3).
His dream job is with an Indian diamond tycoon Dharmesh Zaveri (Manish Chaudhary) who is actually a presumed to be dead terrorist – Rajan Zakaria. Needless to say, the trail leads to blood diamonds and terrorism across the globe but Kunal is in too deep before he realizes his folly. Now he has to find his way out of it else he meets a gory death like all who have tried to get out of the spider’s web.
Blood Money is filled with the corniest of dialogues such as, “Mujhe yahaan se vidhwa banke nahin jaana hai Kunal” (I do not want to leave South Africa a widow) to call one out. In fact the weakest point of the movie is the screenplay and dialogues. Writers Sanjay Masoom & Upendra Sidhaye sure have a long way to go in the script writing business. Some decent music from Jeet Ganguly, Siddharth Ganguly & Sangeet Haldipur is the better part of the movie – like most movies from Mahesh Bhatt.
On the performance part, Kunal Khemu is decent as always. I have always believed that he is capable of much more but no clue to what is holding him back. Amrita Puri doesn’t quite carry over her good performance from Aisha where she was the highlight of the movie. She is good here but at places quite over the top. Needs to move over to a more serious role that just of a simple girl. Manish Chaudhary is the highlight of Blood Money by far with a very solid performance.
On the whole, Blood Money is a decent one time watch. Not necessarily on the big screen though. nothing that you would not have seen before but not bad at all. I was hoping for a 5+ score when I walked in and I got exactly that. 5.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2cdBzl8qg
Blood Money is no different. A simple formula based movie. Take a couple of young actors and give them reasonable roles in a story that is again quite reasonable but filled with clichés. Kunal Kadam (Kunal Khemu) and Arzoo (Amrita Puri) are a newly married couple who have come from a supremely middle class background. In fact Kunal has worked his way up from the streets to complete an MBA (god such a cliché) and finds himself in his dream job (another cliché) in Mahesh Bhatts favourite location – South Africa (cliché 3).
His dream job is with an Indian diamond tycoon Dharmesh Zaveri (Manish Chaudhary) who is actually a presumed to be dead terrorist – Rajan Zakaria. Needless to say, the trail leads to blood diamonds and terrorism across the globe but Kunal is in too deep before he realizes his folly. Now he has to find his way out of it else he meets a gory death like all who have tried to get out of the spider’s web.
Blood Money is filled with the corniest of dialogues such as, “Mujhe yahaan se vidhwa banke nahin jaana hai Kunal” (I do not want to leave South Africa a widow) to call one out. In fact the weakest point of the movie is the screenplay and dialogues. Writers Sanjay Masoom & Upendra Sidhaye sure have a long way to go in the script writing business. Some decent music from Jeet Ganguly, Siddharth Ganguly & Sangeet Haldipur is the better part of the movie – like most movies from Mahesh Bhatt.
On the performance part, Kunal Khemu is decent as always. I have always believed that he is capable of much more but no clue to what is holding him back. Amrita Puri doesn’t quite carry over her good performance from Aisha where she was the highlight of the movie. She is good here but at places quite over the top. Needs to move over to a more serious role that just of a simple girl. Manish Chaudhary is the highlight of Blood Money by far with a very solid performance.
On the whole, Blood Money is a decent one time watch. Not necessarily on the big screen though. nothing that you would not have seen before but not bad at all. I was hoping for a 5+ score when I walked in and I got exactly that. 5.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2cdBzl8qg
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Hunger Games
I was walking past Crossword in Vashi on Thursday i.e. 22nd March 2012 and I came across this 6 x 3 drop down of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games. I honestly had no clue that it was a book and therefore had to pick it up – despite Crossword’s attempts to deny me the right to buy a book thanks to their gross mismanagement (the guy in the store had no clue to where the book was kept). They finally managed to find it in the Young Fiction section and I was wondering as to why is it that it is kept there of all places. Add to it, it’s a trilogy which I am told is in fashion today. So there is Hunger Games 2 (Catching Fire) and 3 (Mocking Jay) which are already made by the way and slotted for release in 2013 and 2015 it seems. Talk about planning.
Hunger Games starts with a quick backgrounder on how 75 years back, a whole bunch of states in the US rebelled against the government at that time. Of the 13 districts, one was obliterated and no signs of life were left. The remaining 12 now owe their life and allegiance to what is described as the Capitol. The Capitol, in an attempt to keep their memories fresh, holds the annual Hunger Games. Each District (currently based on profession) sends 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages 12 to 18 to a no holds barred fight to the death which in turn is telecast live to the entire population who now don’t have a choice but to view it.
This time around, the draw of lots picks out Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) who is all of 12 years old and has no clue on how to fight – leave alone one to the death. Her sister Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) on the other hand is a fighter to the core and survivor. She has been taking care of the family since her father’s passing. She loves her little sister to death. And so it isn’t surprising that she volunteers in place of her sister to be part of the 74th Hunger Games. The story is about Katniss’ fight for survival.
The book is reasonably paced I thought. Not the best of writing but quite pacy. The movie on the other hand turns out to be quite slow and stretched in parts. A bit too much of time is spent on the build up and very little on the actual action sequences. And surprisingly hardly any special effects. The movie is quite true to the book with very few liberties taken. The good part is the effort taken to show the dialogues that happen behind the scenes before the decisions are taken by the team that runs the show. And there is a sneak peek into President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) character which is absent in the book. And why is there so little use of music? Anyways, read the book if you can before the movie. 6 on 10 overall. Not something that you will sorely miss.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1187553561/
Hunger Games starts with a quick backgrounder on how 75 years back, a whole bunch of states in the US rebelled against the government at that time. Of the 13 districts, one was obliterated and no signs of life were left. The remaining 12 now owe their life and allegiance to what is described as the Capitol. The Capitol, in an attempt to keep their memories fresh, holds the annual Hunger Games. Each District (currently based on profession) sends 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages 12 to 18 to a no holds barred fight to the death which in turn is telecast live to the entire population who now don’t have a choice but to view it.
This time around, the draw of lots picks out Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) who is all of 12 years old and has no clue on how to fight – leave alone one to the death. Her sister Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) on the other hand is a fighter to the core and survivor. She has been taking care of the family since her father’s passing. She loves her little sister to death. And so it isn’t surprising that she volunteers in place of her sister to be part of the 74th Hunger Games. The story is about Katniss’ fight for survival.
The book is reasonably paced I thought. Not the best of writing but quite pacy. The movie on the other hand turns out to be quite slow and stretched in parts. A bit too much of time is spent on the build up and very little on the actual action sequences. And surprisingly hardly any special effects. The movie is quite true to the book with very few liberties taken. The good part is the effort taken to show the dialogues that happen behind the scenes before the decisions are taken by the team that runs the show. And there is a sneak peek into President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) character which is absent in the book. And why is there so little use of music? Anyways, read the book if you can before the movie. 6 on 10 overall. Not something that you will sorely miss.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1187553561/
Friday, 23 March 2012
Agent Vinod (2012)
In a recent quiz, I had asked this question - The kidnapping of a prominent scientist, Ajay Saxena (Nazir Hussain) prompts the Chief of Secret Services (K.N. Singh) to assign flamboyant X (Mahendra Sandhu) to this case. While on this assignment, X meets with Ajay's daughter, Anju (Asha Sachdev), who insists on assisting him. The duo is further assisted by Chandu aka James Bond (Jagdeep) and his gypsy girlfriend (Jayshree T). The two couples will soon have numerous challenges thrust on them, and will realize that their task is not only very difficult but also life threatening. Which 1977 movie am I talking about? The answer was the 1977 movie Agent Vinod – In service of the nation. I was surprised that a team actually cracked the answer.
The biggest controversy of course leading upto the movie was that involving our very own inspired music director Pritam. The Pyar Ki Pungi Song which was apparently lifted from the Iranian Song “Soosan Khanoom” bears little resemblance to the so called original. I think the Iranian Band Barobax should listen to some of Pritam’s other inspirational numbers to understand where the person can go down to. In fact they should thank Pritam because thanks to him, the hits on their you tube video have crossed a million. Judge for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE63JoBA6iI. And they should also feel better because almost all songs have been copied. Including inspiration from that great ode to Russia’s Public Enemy #1 from BoneyM – Rasputin (in case you were wondering).
Now that we have got the useless pieces of trivia out of the way, lets get down to the review of the movie. Do not let the detractors tell you that Agent Vinod is a waste of time or torture (as someone said while exiting the theatre). It is in most parts a smartly made espionage movie – with loads of inspiration from our friend from MI5. It is great to see one from our part of the world. If you keep aside the corny one liners that Vinod makes – attempting to be slick like bond, you will breeze through the movie. And hope that you don’t get into a PVR which takes 30 minutes to start the movie and has a 20 minute interval!!! The cinematography is good. The titling is very well done and gives you feeling of a well made movie in the first few minutes only. The disappointing part was the lack of good finishing towards the end but one could overlook that I guess.
Sriram Raghavan (Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddar), claimed all the way through the build up that the 2012 movie which released today was in no way inspired by the 1977 hit (if I may call it that). I am quite certain there was an inspiration hidden somewhere. While I liked Raghavan’s previous 2 movies – and I wasn’t alone there, Agent Vinod I would guess falls short significantly. The last time Saifeena paired on screen in that famous size zero movie, audiences reportedly left the hall tearing their hair apart – or so I am told. I guess Raghavan had more confidence on them but the chemistry fails miserably. Mostly from Kareena’s side – and it has nothing to do with the absolute bias I have against her. Guess they are one of those couples who have chemistry where it matters to them as a couple.
I must confess that I found myself really enjoying the movie in parts and then Raghavan kind of stretches a point too far and lets the movie wander all over the place before getting it back on track. The good scenes like the fight between AV and Prince of the LTTE have been edited exceptionally by Pooja Ladha Surti (Ragini MMS, Johnny Gaddar). I thought it AV was enjoyable. I leave it to you to decide. 6 on 10. Definitely the movie to watch out for this weekend.
And watch out for the hotties - Maryam Zakaria, Vasilisa Petina, Leeann Roberts, and Malika Haydon
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi929669401/
The biggest controversy of course leading upto the movie was that involving our very own inspired music director Pritam. The Pyar Ki Pungi Song which was apparently lifted from the Iranian Song “Soosan Khanoom” bears little resemblance to the so called original. I think the Iranian Band Barobax should listen to some of Pritam’s other inspirational numbers to understand where the person can go down to. In fact they should thank Pritam because thanks to him, the hits on their you tube video have crossed a million. Judge for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE63JoBA6iI. And they should also feel better because almost all songs have been copied. Including inspiration from that great ode to Russia’s Public Enemy #1 from BoneyM – Rasputin (in case you were wondering).
Now that we have got the useless pieces of trivia out of the way, lets get down to the review of the movie. Do not let the detractors tell you that Agent Vinod is a waste of time or torture (as someone said while exiting the theatre). It is in most parts a smartly made espionage movie – with loads of inspiration from our friend from MI5. It is great to see one from our part of the world. If you keep aside the corny one liners that Vinod makes – attempting to be slick like bond, you will breeze through the movie. And hope that you don’t get into a PVR which takes 30 minutes to start the movie and has a 20 minute interval!!! The cinematography is good. The titling is very well done and gives you feeling of a well made movie in the first few minutes only. The disappointing part was the lack of good finishing towards the end but one could overlook that I guess.
Sriram Raghavan (Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddar), claimed all the way through the build up that the 2012 movie which released today was in no way inspired by the 1977 hit (if I may call it that). I am quite certain there was an inspiration hidden somewhere. While I liked Raghavan’s previous 2 movies – and I wasn’t alone there, Agent Vinod I would guess falls short significantly. The last time Saifeena paired on screen in that famous size zero movie, audiences reportedly left the hall tearing their hair apart – or so I am told. I guess Raghavan had more confidence on them but the chemistry fails miserably. Mostly from Kareena’s side – and it has nothing to do with the absolute bias I have against her. Guess they are one of those couples who have chemistry where it matters to them as a couple.
I must confess that I found myself really enjoying the movie in parts and then Raghavan kind of stretches a point too far and lets the movie wander all over the place before getting it back on track. The good scenes like the fight between AV and Prince of the LTTE have been edited exceptionally by Pooja Ladha Surti (Ragini MMS, Johnny Gaddar). I thought it AV was enjoyable. I leave it to you to decide. 6 on 10. Definitely the movie to watch out for this weekend.
And watch out for the hotties - Maryam Zakaria, Vasilisa Petina, Leeann Roberts, and Malika Haydon
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi929669401/
Thursday, 22 March 2012
The Means War
I think I have seen all the movies that were worth seeing from the director with the shortest name I that I have ever heard of. I am certain there would be someone which less than 3 letters to his/her name. Like Z or X or something like that somewhere in this world. But McG is a really cool I say. The only movie from his table that I have reviewed to date is one of the best Sports movies ever made to date called We are Marshall. The others include the Charlies Angels pair of movies which was also quite good I thought. So, although I kind of knew that This Means War (TMW) is more of a romantic comedy, I was also quite sure that with McG involved it would be a reasonable Romantic Action Comedy. And it turned out to be pretty much that all the way.
Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) works at a product testing laboratory of sorts which helps organizations understand what works with consumers. Not surprisingly, that is not going to be too much help for her – in terms of her love life that is. She has just been dumped by a quite stunning male specimen (not that Lauren is any less mind you) and she keeps bumping into him along with his new girl friend.
The emotional strain that comes from the bumping, coupled with her best buddy Trish (Chelsea Handler) drives her to date not one but two men together – FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy). But what she doesn’t know is that Tuck is not the Travel Agent he claims to be. Tuck is a totally different kind of agent. The kind who jumps out of airplanes. The same kind who also beats the shit out of bad guys who are trying to cause harm to the US of A. Yep. The dreaded 3 alphabets – C – I – A (guttural laughter follows). And whats worse? FDR is Tuck’s best friend and also an agent. Talk about having problems.
TMW has a screenplay that borders on being corny at times but is mostly quite funny. The situation that Lauren finds herself in – torn between 2 men who are both equally good to go – is one that a lot of women would really dream of. But they would not be prepared to go through the complications that come with it for certain. And after watching TMW you can be quite certain of not dating 2 men at the same time – just too complicated. I am sure those with experience will agree with me.
McG’s direction is as typical as he has always been. The action sequences are slickly done and will be loved by the guys. Ditto for the dialogues. The women will also love it thanks to the even balance between the girly stuff and the guy things. There are enough of girl to girl talk scenes thrown into the entire scheme of things. A very enjoyable movie to say the least. 6.5 on 10. Better than some of the RomComs we have seen of late. Watch it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1190305305/
Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) works at a product testing laboratory of sorts which helps organizations understand what works with consumers. Not surprisingly, that is not going to be too much help for her – in terms of her love life that is. She has just been dumped by a quite stunning male specimen (not that Lauren is any less mind you) and she keeps bumping into him along with his new girl friend.
The emotional strain that comes from the bumping, coupled with her best buddy Trish (Chelsea Handler) drives her to date not one but two men together – FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy). But what she doesn’t know is that Tuck is not the Travel Agent he claims to be. Tuck is a totally different kind of agent. The kind who jumps out of airplanes. The same kind who also beats the shit out of bad guys who are trying to cause harm to the US of A. Yep. The dreaded 3 alphabets – C – I – A (guttural laughter follows). And whats worse? FDR is Tuck’s best friend and also an agent. Talk about having problems.
TMW has a screenplay that borders on being corny at times but is mostly quite funny. The situation that Lauren finds herself in – torn between 2 men who are both equally good to go – is one that a lot of women would really dream of. But they would not be prepared to go through the complications that come with it for certain. And after watching TMW you can be quite certain of not dating 2 men at the same time – just too complicated. I am sure those with experience will agree with me.
McG’s direction is as typical as he has always been. The action sequences are slickly done and will be loved by the guys. Ditto for the dialogues. The women will also love it thanks to the even balance between the girly stuff and the guy things. There are enough of girl to girl talk scenes thrown into the entire scheme of things. A very enjoyable movie to say the least. 6.5 on 10. Better than some of the RomComs we have seen of late. Watch it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1190305305/
London Paris New York
Do any of you guys remember Locket Lover? From Quick Gun Murugan? The one in the red dress that Quick Gun is in louv with? Well even if you don’t, it would seem that the same girl – Anu Menon – has decided to get into direction. And I guess her unfulfilled louv from Quick Gun is spilling all over this supposed Romantic Comeday that spans three cities and crosses one big ass ocean.
Firstly, I was quite stunned and I did tweet about this when I saw the trailers for the first time. The producers are Fox Star Studios??? Why would Fox Star be that bad in picking up a movie? Maybe I was too hasty in judging the book by its cover… ooops… a movie by its trailer. And therefore gave LPNY a decent sincere watch. I mean Fox Star cannot be that wrong no? Actually this time around they almost made it – in terms of being wrong that is.
Nikhil Chopra (Ali Zafar) is probably as good at what he does as a cricketer of the same name who really did not trouble the statisticians. His rich producer father has given up on him but a silly tantrum sees him en route to London to see the world and learn to make movies in the bargain. Maybe he could come back and make a movie or two with his rich producer father’s money eh?
However, when Nikhil does manage to deplane @ London he bumps into the extremely attractive but definitely not TamBram looking Lalitha Krishnan who is a self proclaimed feminist. She has missed her flight to New York where she is en route to study political science. No points for guessing that her flight is the next morning and the chivalrous Nikhil has to avoid his traditional Punjabi Mama’s (Mother’s brother) house and spend the rest of the day with someone he calls Lalithapedia. Guess what? Complete louv happens in the short time that they spend with each other. A promise of meeting on the 15th of December 2005 is made.
What follows is a movie that seems to be inspired in parts by the Ashton Kutcher – Amanda Peet starrer, A lot like love and in other parts by One Day (Anne Hathaway). The result is a hotch potch of romance and really uninspiring screenplay. Ali Zafar is good in parts. But then how much can you expect a man to deliver? Music, Singing, Acting, Lyrics all by Ali Zafar?!?!?! Is the rest of the cast and crew expected to do something at all? I guess not. In a movie that has only 2 actors (everyone else has 30 seconds of screen time), Aditi Rao Hydari is anything but good. Net net, a very average RomCom flick. Watch on TV – Cable TV. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3356074265/
Firstly, I was quite stunned and I did tweet about this when I saw the trailers for the first time. The producers are Fox Star Studios??? Why would Fox Star be that bad in picking up a movie? Maybe I was too hasty in judging the book by its cover… ooops… a movie by its trailer. And therefore gave LPNY a decent sincere watch. I mean Fox Star cannot be that wrong no? Actually this time around they almost made it – in terms of being wrong that is.
Nikhil Chopra (Ali Zafar) is probably as good at what he does as a cricketer of the same name who really did not trouble the statisticians. His rich producer father has given up on him but a silly tantrum sees him en route to London to see the world and learn to make movies in the bargain. Maybe he could come back and make a movie or two with his rich producer father’s money eh?
However, when Nikhil does manage to deplane @ London he bumps into the extremely attractive but definitely not TamBram looking Lalitha Krishnan who is a self proclaimed feminist. She has missed her flight to New York where she is en route to study political science. No points for guessing that her flight is the next morning and the chivalrous Nikhil has to avoid his traditional Punjabi Mama’s (Mother’s brother) house and spend the rest of the day with someone he calls Lalithapedia. Guess what? Complete louv happens in the short time that they spend with each other. A promise of meeting on the 15th of December 2005 is made.
What follows is a movie that seems to be inspired in parts by the Ashton Kutcher – Amanda Peet starrer, A lot like love and in other parts by One Day (Anne Hathaway). The result is a hotch potch of romance and really uninspiring screenplay. Ali Zafar is good in parts. But then how much can you expect a man to deliver? Music, Singing, Acting, Lyrics all by Ali Zafar?!?!?! Is the rest of the cast and crew expected to do something at all? I guess not. In a movie that has only 2 actors (everyone else has 30 seconds of screen time), Aditi Rao Hydari is anything but good. Net net, a very average RomCom flick. Watch on TV – Cable TV. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3356074265/
Monday, 12 March 2012
Paan Singh Tomar
One can be quite certain that if Irrfan Khan has picked up a movie to be part of, it will be a good enough for at least a one time watch. And the world is going all ra ra about Paan Singh Tomar. So much so that I seem to be the last person in the world to watch it. Surprising right? Not when u have had a jam packed weekend with commitments to conduct quizzes in front of a massive 25 teams (notice the sarcasm). Bad call. Will be more astute in my calls in the future. Quite certainly, it has cost me at least 100 odd hits to this blog.
Tigmanshu Dhulia is usually a dependable director. But despite the rave reviews, I was a bit cautious approaching PST because of my previous experience with Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster – a movie that I thought had so much more than what it eventually delivered. But somewhere deep down, as I went into the hall to watch PST, I was hoping that I would use the words “Scorcher of a movie” when I write this blog later in the day. I wasn’t totally wrong. I wasn’t totally right either.
Lets talk about the good things first. It was firstly heartening to watch a movie that was centred around an athlete for a change. Probably because it makes it easier? I am not sure. But then I am glad. Also, as mentioned towards the end, it is dedicated to the unsung heroes of Indian Sport. Paan Singh was one such hero. 7 times national champion in the steeplechase – the toughest race on track. Winner @ International events. Forced to take a gun in his hand due to circumstances – genuine ones. Not whining ones. So – a good story line. Well narrated. Some great camera angles too.
The icing on the cake would have been the great performances. Primarily Irrfan who single handedly carries the movie all the way. Ably supported from 2-3 corners. Mahie Gill surprisingly under stated and good execution this time as Indira – Paan’s wife. Brijendra Kala & Zakir Hussain also doing extremely well to keep the movie @ acceptable standards.
What ticked me off though is that where on one hand, Tigmanshu Dhulia pays so much attention to detail, on the other hand, there are horrible consistency errors. Like the pain taken to put up a Rs.10 note from 1980 was very commendable. That it was a cheap print out was way too obvious. The camera work during the ice cream run was quite brilliant. That Paan Singh reaches major saab’s house with a shirt that seems recently pressed is just juvenile!!!
But I guess these gaffes are noticed only by the pathetic, heartless, stone cold, amateur critics like this author. But it still gives me the right to be disappointed with what I though could have finally been Tigmanshu Dhulia’s moment of truth. Where he breaks into the league of an Anurag Kashyap or a Vishal Bharadwaj. Not to be. 7 on 10 of which half the points come from Irrfan. As good as Kahaani – actually, Kahaani is probably better albeit marginally.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwaoPOO0Ik
Tigmanshu Dhulia is usually a dependable director. But despite the rave reviews, I was a bit cautious approaching PST because of my previous experience with Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster – a movie that I thought had so much more than what it eventually delivered. But somewhere deep down, as I went into the hall to watch PST, I was hoping that I would use the words “Scorcher of a movie” when I write this blog later in the day. I wasn’t totally wrong. I wasn’t totally right either.
Lets talk about the good things first. It was firstly heartening to watch a movie that was centred around an athlete for a change. Probably because it makes it easier? I am not sure. But then I am glad. Also, as mentioned towards the end, it is dedicated to the unsung heroes of Indian Sport. Paan Singh was one such hero. 7 times national champion in the steeplechase – the toughest race on track. Winner @ International events. Forced to take a gun in his hand due to circumstances – genuine ones. Not whining ones. So – a good story line. Well narrated. Some great camera angles too.
The icing on the cake would have been the great performances. Primarily Irrfan who single handedly carries the movie all the way. Ably supported from 2-3 corners. Mahie Gill surprisingly under stated and good execution this time as Indira – Paan’s wife. Brijendra Kala & Zakir Hussain also doing extremely well to keep the movie @ acceptable standards.
What ticked me off though is that where on one hand, Tigmanshu Dhulia pays so much attention to detail, on the other hand, there are horrible consistency errors. Like the pain taken to put up a Rs.10 note from 1980 was very commendable. That it was a cheap print out was way too obvious. The camera work during the ice cream run was quite brilliant. That Paan Singh reaches major saab’s house with a shirt that seems recently pressed is just juvenile!!!
But I guess these gaffes are noticed only by the pathetic, heartless, stone cold, amateur critics like this author. But it still gives me the right to be disappointed with what I though could have finally been Tigmanshu Dhulia’s moment of truth. Where he breaks into the league of an Anurag Kashyap or a Vishal Bharadwaj. Not to be. 7 on 10 of which half the points come from Irrfan. As good as Kahaani – actually, Kahaani is probably better albeit marginally.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwaoPOO0Ik
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Burn After Reading
A CIA employee with a level 3 clearance called Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is married to an extremely painful doctor called Katie (Tilda Swinton). All Katie does 24 x 7 is question Osbourne’s existence and demean him by the minute. Also, she is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who is a US Marshall / Treasury Agent. Harry is in turn married to Sandy (Elizabeth Marvel) who is a hugely successful children’s book author. Sandy and Katie cannot see eye to eye although the families are supposed to be friends. They just hate each other – and this without knowing about the affair – wonder what would happen then.
When Osbourne gets pushed to a desk job, he gets quite peeved and decides to quit the CIA much to Katie’s chagrin. But he also starts working on his memoir. A book that will expose some of the not so pleasant secrets of the CIA – or so Osbourne believes. In between all of this, a CD with the memoir finds its way into the hands of Gym Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who starts believing that he can make a quick buck by blackmailing Osbourne. His partner in crime – Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who wants to get some plastic surgery done which will set her back by quite a bit and is not covered by insurance.
Burn After Reading is a rip roaring hilarious comedy if you like the dark variety. It is not in your face slapstick or filled with smart one liners. It is just the entire story and situation that ensures that you cannot help but find it hilarious. Honestly, I could have avoided giving you guys a spoiler by narrating the broad outline but believe me, this was a difficult review to write. I couldn’t figure out where to start. Such is the layered nature of the movie – atypical of the Coen brothers.
The brothers seem to have kind of mastered the art of building up the tempo of a movie gradually, inch by inch, beat by beat through a 100 minutes. Very few who can do that. There are movie makers who can fluctuate between the fast and slow well and there are movie makers who can maintain a consistent pace and yet remain totally intense. And there are the brothers who have their own brand of movie making which is building the tempo from the extremely slow to the absolutely frenetic. Burn After Reading is no different and therefore thoroughly enjoyable.
That Brad Pitt is a phenomenal actor and not just eye candy is an aspect that hasn’t really been acknowledged by too many people. Unlike George Clooney. Both of them are superb here. But it is John Malkovich who takes the cake with his absolutely acidic brand of acting. And brilliant performances from Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand is just the icing. You will like BAR only if u like Dark Comedy. Else avoid it. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1155268889/
When Osbourne gets pushed to a desk job, he gets quite peeved and decides to quit the CIA much to Katie’s chagrin. But he also starts working on his memoir. A book that will expose some of the not so pleasant secrets of the CIA – or so Osbourne believes. In between all of this, a CD with the memoir finds its way into the hands of Gym Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who starts believing that he can make a quick buck by blackmailing Osbourne. His partner in crime – Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who wants to get some plastic surgery done which will set her back by quite a bit and is not covered by insurance.
Burn After Reading is a rip roaring hilarious comedy if you like the dark variety. It is not in your face slapstick or filled with smart one liners. It is just the entire story and situation that ensures that you cannot help but find it hilarious. Honestly, I could have avoided giving you guys a spoiler by narrating the broad outline but believe me, this was a difficult review to write. I couldn’t figure out where to start. Such is the layered nature of the movie – atypical of the Coen brothers.
The brothers seem to have kind of mastered the art of building up the tempo of a movie gradually, inch by inch, beat by beat through a 100 minutes. Very few who can do that. There are movie makers who can fluctuate between the fast and slow well and there are movie makers who can maintain a consistent pace and yet remain totally intense. And there are the brothers who have their own brand of movie making which is building the tempo from the extremely slow to the absolutely frenetic. Burn After Reading is no different and therefore thoroughly enjoyable.
That Brad Pitt is a phenomenal actor and not just eye candy is an aspect that hasn’t really been acknowledged by too many people. Unlike George Clooney. Both of them are superb here. But it is John Malkovich who takes the cake with his absolutely acidic brand of acting. And brilliant performances from Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand is just the icing. You will like BAR only if u like Dark Comedy. Else avoid it. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1155268889/
Radio Days
I love Woody Allen. Period. The absolute nonchalance of his narration is just totally brilliant to say the least. I wonder why all his movies weren’t nominated for Best original screenplay and won it? I was one of the happiest when Midnight in Paris won the Best Screenplay this year at the Oscars which was quickly followed by Angelina saying, “the academy is pleased to accept the award on behalf of Mr. Allen”. And the story behind that is a different long one. Surely quite a few of my readers are aware of it. And I will save that for a different day.
I think its time that someone put together a collection of all movies written and directed by Woody Allen – 42 of them including Nero Fiddled (yet to be released) and excluding the TV Shorts. I will be first in line to pick my copy. Can easily be priced at around 20K and there would be enough and more people willing to lap it up. And how!!! Collection or not, Add Radio Days to your list of must watch Woody Allen movies. It is truly brilliant to see a man come up with such brilliant ideas from just everyday life.
Radio Days starts in the late 1930s/ early 1940s where Woody begins the narration as a boy in a dysfunctional family – His obsessions with the Masked Avenger and how he is willing to probably do anything to get the Masked Avenger Ring. From there on he goes on to describe in excruciating and hilarious detail, all his experiences over the next few years with the radio and things and people around him – primarily his family.
Beginning with his parents who fight over almost everything significant or otherwise. His Aunt Bea (Diane Wiest) who is still single and struggling to find a person that she can like and fall in love with. That includes the process of dating someone almost every day. Each one is funnier that the previous one. Then there is the story of the Cigarette Sales Girl, Sally White (Mia Farrow) who is used by a studio boss and then dumped like a hot potato only to come back after voice coaching to become one of the biggest stars of all time on the radio.
The sheer brilliance of Woody as always ensures that each character is fleshed out to the hilt. Each one is there with a purpose. There is not a single character who doesn’t need to be there. There is not an instance which doesn’t seem funny or out of place. Whether it is grandfather helping the grandmother get into her corset or whether it is the martian invasion that helps Aunt Bea dump one of her potential suitors. Each moment is magical. One of the best Woody Allen movies that I have seen. Bumped into it when I was unwell at home one of these days on TV. 8 on 10 easily. Watch it
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4287863833/
I think its time that someone put together a collection of all movies written and directed by Woody Allen – 42 of them including Nero Fiddled (yet to be released) and excluding the TV Shorts. I will be first in line to pick my copy. Can easily be priced at around 20K and there would be enough and more people willing to lap it up. And how!!! Collection or not, Add Radio Days to your list of must watch Woody Allen movies. It is truly brilliant to see a man come up with such brilliant ideas from just everyday life.
Radio Days starts in the late 1930s/ early 1940s where Woody begins the narration as a boy in a dysfunctional family – His obsessions with the Masked Avenger and how he is willing to probably do anything to get the Masked Avenger Ring. From there on he goes on to describe in excruciating and hilarious detail, all his experiences over the next few years with the radio and things and people around him – primarily his family.
Beginning with his parents who fight over almost everything significant or otherwise. His Aunt Bea (Diane Wiest) who is still single and struggling to find a person that she can like and fall in love with. That includes the process of dating someone almost every day. Each one is funnier that the previous one. Then there is the story of the Cigarette Sales Girl, Sally White (Mia Farrow) who is used by a studio boss and then dumped like a hot potato only to come back after voice coaching to become one of the biggest stars of all time on the radio.
The sheer brilliance of Woody as always ensures that each character is fleshed out to the hilt. Each one is there with a purpose. There is not a single character who doesn’t need to be there. There is not an instance which doesn’t seem funny or out of place. Whether it is grandfather helping the grandmother get into her corset or whether it is the martian invasion that helps Aunt Bea dump one of her potential suitors. Each moment is magical. One of the best Woody Allen movies that I have seen. Bumped into it when I was unwell at home one of these days on TV. 8 on 10 easily. Watch it
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4287863833/
Never Back Down
Now I have never been one to get thoroughly excited at the prospect of watching men or women get together to kill each other with their bare hands. So you will understand the reason behind my poor rating of Never Back Down. But it has never ceased to surprise me that the rest of the world seems to think otherwise. Why as I am writing this review, we have the Super Fight League or something of that sort starting in Mumbai right? So there are very few of the likes of me.
Now in sharp contrast, I love movies that have to do with boxing or wrestling or Jackie chan kung fu. Its just the inane fighting and beating up people that gets to me. Unless you are talking about The Fight Club where there is a darker story behind it. And it is made by a classy director called David Fincher. I can say with complete confidence that Jeff Wadlow comes nowhere remotely close. And before you start getting ideas, neither do Sean Farris or Cam Gigandet come anywhere close to Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Never Back Down in short is a badly made movie about mixed martial arts.
Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has an anger management problem. For someone who is not even 20 years old he is quite a handful. Been to jail some 6 times for outbursts that could have been controlled. Hates his father for having left his mother alone with him and a tennis prodigy younger brother. And obviously he isn’t too pleased with the city hopping that his mother forces them to do. Nevertheless, all this hopping gets him to Orlando where he bumps into Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). Jake’s brawling video has gone viral and Ryan is keen that they get together for some really hardcore fighting. That’s because Ryan and co have a small fight club of their own. Jake wants to have nothing with it but cannot avoid thanks to his short fuse. He eventually starts mastering his anger when he meets coach Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) a MMA professional who teaches him to control his instincts and focus energies on quality fighting.
The only semblance of acting comes from the committed Hounsou. The rest of the cast is pedestrian at best. I have already spoken about the direction so there is nothing much to add there. Background score – average. Story – barely there. Editing – barely there again. Narration – yawn. Add to this some boring love story thrown in with women in different stages of undress and you start to believe quite soon that the only thing that can keep you engaged in this movie are probably the half naked women and nothing else.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that Never Back Down already has a sequel? Also written by Chris Hauty who hasn’t left much of an impression on me at least. 4 on 10. Much more if you like inane fighting.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi697893145/
Now in sharp contrast, I love movies that have to do with boxing or wrestling or Jackie chan kung fu. Its just the inane fighting and beating up people that gets to me. Unless you are talking about The Fight Club where there is a darker story behind it. And it is made by a classy director called David Fincher. I can say with complete confidence that Jeff Wadlow comes nowhere remotely close. And before you start getting ideas, neither do Sean Farris or Cam Gigandet come anywhere close to Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Never Back Down in short is a badly made movie about mixed martial arts.
Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has an anger management problem. For someone who is not even 20 years old he is quite a handful. Been to jail some 6 times for outbursts that could have been controlled. Hates his father for having left his mother alone with him and a tennis prodigy younger brother. And obviously he isn’t too pleased with the city hopping that his mother forces them to do. Nevertheless, all this hopping gets him to Orlando where he bumps into Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). Jake’s brawling video has gone viral and Ryan is keen that they get together for some really hardcore fighting. That’s because Ryan and co have a small fight club of their own. Jake wants to have nothing with it but cannot avoid thanks to his short fuse. He eventually starts mastering his anger when he meets coach Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) a MMA professional who teaches him to control his instincts and focus energies on quality fighting.
The only semblance of acting comes from the committed Hounsou. The rest of the cast is pedestrian at best. I have already spoken about the direction so there is nothing much to add there. Background score – average. Story – barely there. Editing – barely there again. Narration – yawn. Add to this some boring love story thrown in with women in different stages of undress and you start to believe quite soon that the only thing that can keep you engaged in this movie are probably the half naked women and nothing else.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that Never Back Down already has a sequel? Also written by Chris Hauty who hasn’t left much of an impression on me at least. 4 on 10. Much more if you like inane fighting.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi697893145/
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