Pirates of the movie industry..

Just today when S was watching a series of videos on Indiaglitz, I eavesdropped on an interview by Karthi, the star of the recent movie, Aayirathil Oruvan. It was basically a plea to stop piracy and avoid the flooding of bootlegged copies of the movie on CDs and Internet likewise. And it sparked this entire blog and a worthy discussion at that.

Of course anyone with the slightest scruples of morals would agree that it is indeed unfortunate for the producers who dished out all that money in making the movie to not get their fair share from the movie watchers. But you know what? All of that makes sense if you were pretty petty sitting in India with a million theatres available to see the movie, and still chose the slow internet + download-cap ridden broadband to sit and download a lousy copy of the movie to see it at the comfort of your home. Indeed I know of no one who does that. On the other hand, bootlegged CDs and DVDs are a real problem. What's shocking in some cases is that the print is pristine. Practically as good as what the late "officially-released" versions are likely to have, indicating that the leak is somewhere high up the order, alongside the copies being distributed to theatres for shows. And that comes down to trusting the wrong people, which is up to the distributors.

On the other hand, I am certain that less than 10% of the people want to see a shaky handy-cam footage of a movie on a CD that cost 30 bucks (Indian rupees) anyways rather than pay a bit more and hit the cinemas or wait further for a decent copy to turn up. But the real conundrum lies with the actions of people living away from immediate access to these movies. Eg. People like me. What do we do? None of these movies release here in Paris (Hindi and Tamil alike) unless they are of exceptionally big banner (read Rajinikant). And hence the pseudo-Indian market is strewn with copies of the latest movies, weeks after the release. So are we morally wrong to buy them as the only opportunity to watch the movies? Or is it worse downloading a semi-decent copy of the movie before all the copyright infringements pounce in and wipe them off the Internet? In this case, is it the fault of the distributors for not catering to scattered audiences across the world or is it ours for wanting to see them with the best solution to the earliest-possible-time-cum-least-cost problem?

All the same, I know of people with extremely high morals who would never buy music unless it was the original CD, and the likes of that. I must admit that my ethics aren't on that kind of pedestal as far as the entertainment business is concerned. It was like I was trying to explain to S. It isn't that I go looking for opportunities to "pirate", but I don't unconditionally stop them either. In other words, if someone invited me to watch a downloaded version of a brand-new movie, I wasn't going to call in the cops and raise hell. Unfortunately I guess most of us are in the same page. Which brings us to the other big issue. Are we at fault for downloading these movies/songs or does the blame solely rest with the people who first obtained pirated copies and put them up for download? For a wafer-thin argument siding "us", if it wasn't freely available, we weren't going to do anything phenomenal to find it, are we? Another of those grey areas in the context of right or wrong. And since this topic relates to something we've all done or seen done in the past, I'd like to hear from the rest of you on where you stand in this whole issue from the moral viewpoint and otherwise. Anti-piracy? Prove it.

One ticket please...

I had an interesting discussion with a friend just about 30 seconds ago which is what sparked this post in the first place. So, she expressed a desire to see the new HP movie. And the reason she hadn't seen it yet was because she didn't have any company. I suggested she go alone and well, she dismissed the idea, opting instead to die. :D. But this is just an opening line for a very interesting discussion. Are you one of those people who can't eat/go to a movie/shop alone?

I am not. Sure, I'd prefer to go to a movie with someone, but I can name a handful of movies that I've been to by myself... mainly because I have a unlimited movie pass (for which I pay monthly) and partially because no one was available to accompany me at a time that suited me best. But I have done it nonetheless. Similarly I have actually lunched alone a few times, mostly in college when my lunchtimes don't match anyone else's. But I've done it all the same. And with no pretenses. I have never used books/notes/ipods to be a pretend companion with me. I just enjoy looking at people around me and eating. Sure, some probably thought I was a loser. But here's where my don't-care attitude benefits me. For everyone who thought I was a loser, there might've been someone else who thought it was cool that I was secure enough to eat by myself with no props. At least with eating alone, I can understand the discomfort. Perhaps it is a little unsettling. You do feel like an invisible spotlight is around you. Everyone knows you are alone and wonders why you have no friends. That's what you think. But here's the thing - very few people give a damn... and that actually works out to your advantage! But as far as a movie is concerned, I am very comfortable going all by myself. After all it is dark and no one is looking at you... everyone is there only for one reason - to see a movie, during which even if you went with a companion and discussed in loud whispers, the only extra thing you get is dirty looks. Sure it's totally great going with a friend or a group of them, but it's hardly that horrible to go alone. In fact here are some tips to surviving a movie alone (all totally dumb) -
1. Go there just in time - Well obviously if you don't want to be thought of as being alone, you can just get into the cinema hall at the last minute when everyone's gushing in and no one knows if you're joining someone or not.
2. Skip the snacks - Well, people tend to notice you only if you are loudly cracking on pop-corn or guzzling down pepsi. If you don't want to be noticed, the easiest way is to not give anyone a reason to.
3. Sit between groups of people - When people are in loud groups, they don't care who's with them or not. Ergo, they don't care about you.

Well, that concludes my simplistic guide to lone movie-watching. I hope the friend is reading. Just coz no one else joins you, doesn't mean you can't have a good time alone. And well, if you miss a friend to "discuss" the movie with, that's what cell phones and free nights n weekends are for. Go girl!

Slumdog Millionaire - The reaction review

If you're thinking that it is pretty late in the day to be reviewing the movie that took the Academy Awards by storm, you are mistaken (I already reviewed it-read it here). This is more about the mixed reactions that the movie has evoked and importantly the interpretations that have been made of these reactions. Having been in the premiere show here in Paris, I know for a fact that almost everyone, Indian or not, enjoyed it. There is no doubt that the movie was great fun. It was a total Masala flick, feel good and nothing Hollywoody about it. But soon, I read that Big B was pissed. (Read an insight article here). Surprisingly so were many of my friends. And the main issue that caught everyone's attention was the portrayal of the poverty in India.

Let's be honest here. Poverty exists at large in India. There's no denying that. But what ticked off most people was that this was exploited by Westerners to make a movie to win awards. Had the movie been made by Indians, there would've been lesser complaints, I bet. But to be totally truthful, I do not think any part of the movie was exaggerated. It was commercialized for sure.. but not exaggerated. In fact the whole poverty deal was vital to the screenplay and that's why it should be left at that. As a matter of fact, later in the movie itself, the opulence and advancement of Mumbai is shown. Perhaps because this display took a backseat to the actual script, the dissed Indians probably thought that the "Foreigners" reveled in the misery of our country, perhaps secretly thanking their stars to have been born in a richer country.

Come now, rich is a loose word, isn't it? Is there any country that can hold a torch to India's richness in culture, in colour, in diversity of religions, people, races, languages,in food, in architecture,in intelligence and what not? We have no reason to be ashamed of one segment of reality shown in some movie. Like Big B pointed out, every country has a murky underbelly lurking somewhere. With a population of over a billion, it's not surprising that India does. But that hasn't hampered the success of Indians world over in any field and we should all take pride in that. And finally take a movie to be just that - a movie. Jai Hind!

Slumdog Millionaire - A review

Spoiler Alert: Duh, of course there are spoilers.

The movie released only yesterday here and that too it was 'Avant Premiére', meaning that it would release in the WHOLE of Paris on ONE screen. And with the Golden Globes giving it all 4 awards that it was nominated for (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Original Soundtrack), the expectations were sky high. And the French folk turned out in high numbers to catch the movie, even if with subtitles. So, expectedly without reserving ahead, we were left ticket-less (5 of us sincere movie buffs). We are holders of the UGC Illimite, which is a card that at a given rate entitles you to watch infinite movies in a month in all the finest cinemas. The only catch is that you can only book tickets one hour ahead of the show you want to attend. And that's not even a 'catch'. Most movies are ee-ootifying (pretty vacant). But Slumdog, at 6:30pm, for an 8:00pm show was sold out. Our movie maniac friend, SA told us that they would 'release' the unclaimed reserved tickets out at 7:50pm. So judiciously we sent ahead another friend to hold 5 seats in case we got tickets. To make a long story short, with a stroke of unexpected luck, we all landed tickets and seats right next to each other in prime location.

Until a day ago, I had no idea that the movie was based in India, nor that it was based on KBC.. nor that they spoke a whole lot of Hindi in it. I checked out IMDB for a review and read the blurb there and was amazed at the original story. In one line, it's just this: The story of a poor slum guy who enters KBC and wins 10 million without effort and is suspected to cheating to get to that standpoint. Why he enters it, how he knows the answer to all those questions forms the core of the plot. What it's not is a 'rags to riches ' story. At it's core, the movie is a love story. It is about how Jamal Malik, a slumdog believes that he is meant to be with Latika, another slumdog, the girl of his dreams and how he yearns for her even after losing her time and again and how he believes that destiny wants him to get together with her. Seldom has such an authentic Indian movie been made, especially by a Western director. The movie is based in the slum suburb of modern Mumbai, Dharavi and every aspect has been shown as is... the crazed fanatism for Bollywood, the life at the slum, the gore inflicted by the money launderers who send out children for begging, parts of the gangster world and what not. What gets you is the way that the story has been narrated. The cinematographer and the director truly deserve a standing ovation. And our Rahman... oh Rahman.. what music! Normally in English movies, the music takes a back seat. Apparently Danny Boyle promised to give Rahman's music free reign only if he would please compose the music for the movie. And he kept his word. It's all Indian... right down to the song n dance sequence at the railway station in the end. There's not a single 'foreign' face. It's all India.. except that it's in English a bit and many of the kids in the movie are actually from slums. I loved the first 3 kids who played Jamal, Salim and Latika.. they were adorable.

Some scenes were gross, some disturbing and they were entirely meant to be. the gravity of the situation and the point of view could not be conveyed otherwise. And everything depicted there is 100% true and not the least bit exaggerated. The movie's gripping and the plot works only because it's based in India... it would'nt have stood a chance elsewhere. What was amazing was that the entire theatre was glued to their seats even after it was obvious that the movie was long over when the Bollywood song took over. It was that good and I am not exaggerating. This time the Oscar buzz rings true. And then there was applause when everything was over and the credits had almost finished running.

Jai Ho! - You gotta watch the movie to know what I am talking about.

Comparitive review - Ghajini

Spoilers ahead

Well well... I got to seeing the much-awaited Ghajini (Aamir Khan's latest) and if you haven't seen the Tamil original, there's a lot to look forward to. Of course in one catch phrase, I'd call it a violent love story. Aamir of course looks like a million bucks... The first time he takes his shirt off to reveal his newly sculpted amazing 6 packs, it almost looks digitized. He can give those 300 men a run for their money, no questions asked. But other than that, the screenplay and everything else is straight off Murugadoss' original Tamil movie, featuring Surya, of the same name. In fact many of the actors have been kept the same, including Asin, the inspector, Riaz Khan and the blind uncle whom Asin helps cross the streets.

Having seen the original, I did expect a lot of improvements... and while there weren't a "lot", there were a few. Atleast the new movie has a reason why it is named Ghajini in the first place while that point is still unclear in the Tamil version... It almost seems like Aamir watched the original, liked almost everything about it and just had the director stitch the few loopholes to make a more seamless fabric. Asin was far better and her role, though the same, cuter in the Tamil movie. Here I had the feeling that she overacted a tad. However the reviews outside are glowing and it looks like she's set the right foot into Bollywood... good for her. Other than that, in my unsolicited opinion, I thought Surya was better for the role than Aamir was. Aamir is a more mature actor and is no longer set in any mould to carry off the chocolate-boy romancer in the singular romance part of the movie nor the obsessive grunting revenge man wielding an array of weapons. It felt like he's stuck in a bit of a limbo. I thought the role was made for Surya though and he was more convincing... However not to take anything off the stellar performance by Aamir. I doubt any one could've done as much justice to this role and looked the part of it and as has been mentioned everywhere, even with the lesser dialogues, his eyes speak volumes.

Other than that, I did think Nayanthara had overacted immensely in the Tamil version and I found that she crawled my nerves effortlessly and was glad to see Jiah Khan, both clothed and subdued in this one and it sort of took the focus off the overly meddlesome med student who couldn't keep her nose to herself. So I am glad for that. Also, importantly the climax and the crux of the story was a bit different in the Hindi version and I liked it better.. But it was also more brutal.. and all in all, the movie is not a feel-good one. Indeed the dull clunk of the iron bar ending lives of many in the movie has a haunting quality about it and I've found myself pinching my ears shut and watching through slitted eyes. Coming to the senstive issue, the music. Hey, I am big ARR fan and everyone knows that and by itself, I think this album is great, especially Guzarish... but maybe in comparison, I liked Harris Jeyaraj's score for the Tamil one, including the BG music and the songs. Maybe this is just like movies don't match their book originals...

I realize that this review must be extremely odd for the ones who haven't actually seen the Tamil version. So, to assuage your worries, I bet you will enjoy Aamir Khan in this movie and will certainly laud it as a good to Hindi cinema for the year 2008. Absolutely worth a watch..

Harry Potter again..

Well, it looks like I can be 72 and still be mesmerized by the series. I had seen the teaser trailer for the Half-Blood-Prince eons ago and had completely forgotten about it. Having had a lull at work, I was randomly surfing, when I found the full-length trailer. And as always, straight from the trailer I can tell that they have mixed up the facts to make the tapestry of the movie flow easy. But also, I was hooked and am eager to watch it. But then I got all bugged that the movie was supposed to release in November but thanks to wanting more money to be churned, they pushed it to a mid-summer July 17 release. I tell you, by the time the 2 parts of the last book are made into movies (which they are being filmed currently, I believe), those kids are not going to look 18 at all... and I will probably have kids to whom I read Harry Potter to. Anyhow, here's the trailer of the movie releasing in July -

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince/

Enjoy!

The way they were

This past weekend was a movie marathon for me... mostly at home on the HDTV and just one outside in the theater. But really this post is about those movies I saw at home. Amongst others, I played DDLJ, Barsaat (1995), HAHK, K3G, and KKHH. For people unfamiliar with these abbreviations, the rest of the post isn't going to make much sense either. Well, as I watched I noticed so many things with a fresh perspective which I probably didn't in the past, either because I had no opinions back then or was in awe of these actors/actresses.

1. The costumes - what were they thinking? When I saw some of Kajol's clothes in DDLJ and many of Madhuri's in HAHK, I visually cringed. Add colour to the screen, ok.. but what about style/quality or class? What about Kajol's halter blue dress in Ruk ja or her glasses throughout the movie? I still do think Maddy's Didi Tera was a good outfit and one to be copied, but the green/white lehenga in Joote Do Paise Lo - what the heck was that?

2. The melodrama - Yes, all our movies have been dramatic. But something were a bit too much to take. Like Twinkle Khanna in Barsaat overall. no wonder she isn't in movies anymore. Or like Jaya Bacchan in K3G or even Hrithik for that matter - that movie was all about the sobs.. Everyone was weeping in some frame or the other... Eeks... Portraying India with a colourful song n dance culture is one thing... and conveying that family does matter and everything is another, but making us look like tap-eyed people is plain dumb.

3. Timeline - There is no concept of timelines in these 'family movies'. For example, Rahul in KKHH would be married and have an 8 year old before Anjali was even engaged. And Tina chose to reveal the love reunion of her surviving husband to her 8 year old daughter in the last letter fully trusting that Anjali would still be single and in love. Oh and here's another one - Rahul (again!!) in K3G has a family tiff that's securely kept from Rohan for God-knows-how-many-years and when he wishes to find him, all it takes is one internet search!! If that's the case, why haven't we found Vishal Taneja yet???

I know it's all just a movie... and one shouldn't take many things to heart. But there has to be some logic in the sequence of events. When there are perfectly sensible movies like RDB, Lagaan (come to think of it most Aamir Khan movies with the exception of perhaps Fanaa), the brain just begs reason. But well, I do thank the Karan Johar genre... my weekend melted away. And sensible or not, these movies are all definitely timepass. And that's all most of the public wants anyways.

Movie Review - A Wednesday

Warning - Spoilers ahead.

It's been a very long time since I wrote a movie review. But this movie warranted one. My dad had touted this movie for weeks even as he CD-mailed me the DVD. As is usual in such cases, I was expecting that it wouldn't live up to the hype that it was given. I was wrong. It was everything and more.

It had stellar performances from everyone in the movie. In a short 95 minutes, the movie manages to grip the viewer and make every frame powerful. Of course at the helm are 2 of India's premier performers delivering unfailingly yet again, Naseerudin Shah and Anupam Kher. The director Neeraj Pandey has ventured a bold script with just the right actors. The plot revolves around the wrath of a common man played by NS, who is outraged at the (lack of) action by the police with respect to even the terrorists who had been captured and held in custody. Misleading them to believe that he is a terrorist himself, he manages to force the police into accumulating 4 major terrorists at a single secluded location, with the promise of revealing hidden bombs that are poised to rip the city apart. The climax of course is when he blasts the terrorists instead, rather than the city and turns out to be a hidden samaritan. The plot is crisp and very fast paced and has the viewer glued for a well-invested 95 minutes. The end whilst unexpected is inspiring and it is indeed a bold movie by Bollywood, given the fact there are some undeniable ties between the industry and the real underworld.

To me at least, it was thought provoking and I found myself reflecting what would be the 'right' thing to do, ethically and morally. And it has that 'Indian' (movie) kind of feeling. All in all, definitely worth your time, but not one of those timepass movies that you can watch while doing something else. Give it the time it deserves. The dialogues are definitely worth that much.

****1/2

Tamilgrounded

Well, I am sure many of you are aware of the 'popular' online Tamil movie site, Tamilgrounds. But what you're probably not familiar with is the pathetic customer service that they (donot) give. For starters, their customer service is restricted to 'creating tickets' to which the admin people supposedly respond. And get this... at the end of the monthly membership, instead of offering you the option of renewing it, they 'automatically' do it. And when you send disgruntled tickets asking them to discontinue the account and inform you about it, they delete your ticket to make it look like there is no record of it. I am appalled at the service and after repeated tickets, I think I am going to have to shut the bank account or block them out to have them NOT renew the membership automatically. For what it's worth, the movie qualities are pretty bad and most movies do not open at all! It's crazy how they rip you off and take absolutely no action to try and pacify their disgruntled customers! For anyone considering memberships with Tamilgrounds or Bollygrounds or any of their 'family', think again and please avoid it.

Update: I am happy to say that all my cursing has led them to discontinue my account. However, they have to 'discuss the refund' it seems. I plan to link this post to them so that they know what I am thinking. Hmph

Cinema Cinema

Disclaimer: There is no doubt about Kamal Hassan's genius... Fewer movies have made as much an impact on me as Michael Madana Kamarajan. But did he have to do these 10 roles?

So out of sheer boredom and fueled by the summer vacations, I ended up buying an account with one of the Tamil movie online sites. I chose Tamil thinking S and I could see a lot of dinner time favorites. I don't know about that but the first choice of the movie was also the most obvious, Dasavatharam. This Kamal Hassan movie has made headlines all over the world for a variety of reasons from budget to plot and obviously the most important being the fact the Kamal, the lead in the movie has played 10 different roles. Having heard terrifically rave reviews about the movie from tabloids to reliable friends, we were very excited to watch the movie.... for about 15 minutes. At the end of the movie, I was left gawking... and not in the good sense. It became very obvious that the script was tailored to somehow accomodate the 10 different roles that the lead man wanted to play and create history. And in that sense, he did. I don't think anyone is going to attempt anything like this for a long long time. But the worst part was that none of those getups were really required. He could've been content with just playing 2-3 of the main roles and hiring accomplished actors for the rest. Instead they spent a whole lot of cash, time and effort in creating 10 distinct personalities, 7 of whom were totally uncritical to the plot and a couple ended up resembling one another! Some of the get-ups actually looked like the human version of Shrek in Shrek II. And chaos theory as the central theme turned out to be too chaotic and the tsunami scene that people raved about was total disappointment. It was crazy. And Kamal Hassan taking up the screenplay as a 11th role was probably the big damper in the whole fiasco..

On a totally unrelated note, I acquired a DVD of Dhoom II and decided it was well worth a wasted afternoon to gawk at Hrithik. So subconsciously as I watched it, I counted him wear 8 different disguises - all of which looked convincing and looked great on him. While I reached no.8, my heart beat a little faster. What a humungous disappointment it would've been to Kamal Hassan had Hrithik equalled 10 in a totally unintended and unassuming manner. Lol!

Om Shanti Om

Note: Spoilers ahead.

All I knew when we were going to go see OSO was that it was something to do with the 70s, that Deepika Padukone was supposed to be very very goodlooking and SRK had a new six-pack. All of these ideas were garnered through promos of the songs in SS's house. That was before SS was kind enough to tell me that the story involved reincarnation. Not that I expected anything from the movie, but when I heard the theme, I completely threw away every iota of expectation and logic in my head.

We underestimated the popularity of a SRK/Farah Khan/Bollywood movie and arrived fashionably late at 7:03 pm for a 7:00 show. Not bad, we told ourselves. That was before we stepped into the tiny theatre. It was packed and the noisy desi crowd was laughing, crunching popcorn and talking over the promos of many more movies to come. We waded our way all the way to the front, some 7 rows from the screen and looked up at the massive screen. At first, it took some getting used to... By the time my eyes scanned the length from the left of the screen to the right, the scene had changed. It was funny really. Us girls had subconsciously decided to throw the brains away and have a blast.

And a blast, we did have... The first half was amazingly funny and after Main Hoon Na and now Om Shanti Om, I can safely say that I like Farah Khan's style in direction. She is not afraid to make SRK look stupid and dress him up in red leather, in his skin or even the ridiculous wigs in the movie. And everything is soo obviously melodramatic and overexaggerated that the audience is left in peals of laughter. There is absolutely no logic as suspected and the spoofs of Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, etc were also very entertaining. While SRK plays the comic relief with his sidekick, Iqbal fame - Shreyas Talpade, Deepika Padukone impresses with her elegant 70s do. She looks very refreshing and as the movie progressed, my opinion of her from "Ok what's so great about her" changed to "Wow.. she is very goodlooking". And not just that. She can act too! My favorite sequence in the first half is when SRK spoofs I am assuming Rajnikant in a flying-shooting-tiger fighting sequence with his funny "Enna rascala" and "Mind it.. Never mind it and Find it". It was hilarious and I was roaring so much that I had tears from laughing. Haha.

By the end of the first half, tragedy of unrequited love on either side and the heinous plans of the appreciable villainous producer played by Arjun Rampal have surfaced. And the intermission comes in when both lead characters die. And then comes the story of the reincarnation, past memories and what not. Completely unbelievable, unexpressibly tacky and way corny, the second half seems to drag a bit with a bhooth sentiment woven in the fabric. But the drag is lulled a bit by the appearance of the "star song" where all of Bollywood makes an appearance. I also especially liked the teeny cameos by Akshay and Abhishek. Conspicuous in her absence was Aishwarya. Frankly though, I have tired of seeing Rani/Kajol/Preity make an appearance in all these songs. As for SRK's six-pack, I must say that the man looks fabulous neck-down for his age. His face gives him away. The lack of proportionate arm muscle makes his body look too taut on his frame and not as natural as it is on say, Hrithik (sigh).

All in all, the movie is a complete entertainer, completely predictable, totally laughable and a sure watch if you don't have much to do. Its a certain time-pass and from what I have seen of some recent movies, (LCMD or Darling for example), a sure sound choice. I particularly liked SRK's goofiness (It was such a relief not to see him weep because of some idiotic ultrasentimental love story), the date song sequence and both the Om Shanti Om songs... Music's catchy if not phenomenal. To bolo Ommm Shanti Ommmmm.

The Brave One

Ok.. I am not going to waste too many words on the movie.. The movie's tag line reads 'How many wrongs make it right'. Instead they should have said 'How being near death makes you a serial killer'. That would've been more precise and to-the-point. The only credit to the movie was Jodie Foster herself who's delivered another flabbergastingly realistic performance. You can smell and feel her fear and she has conveyed every emotion to perfection. But that's all that there is on the movie. It drags on for over 2 hours with the audience dying for the movie to get over.

The bottom line: See it if you are big Foster fan... Otherwise, you ain't missing much.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Spoilers/Plot Details Ahead

Ever since I saw the "Bourne is back" trailers back in May, I have wanted to see this movie. It is what appears to be the last of the 3 books by Ludlum on his amnesiac CIA assassin, Jason Bourne, played to a hilt by Matt Damon and the rest... The movie picks up right where Supremacy left off, the car chase in which Bourne evades the Moscow police.

Succintly,

The greats...

1. The Photography/Cinematography/Blah Blah - The camera is literally on Matt Damon's shoulder and they've made no attempts to smooth over the bumps, the jitters as the character melds his way around throngs of people. The effect? Brilliant. Worth everything that they had to suffer through to bring it in.

2. Matt Damon - He looks tired and old (thats because he has a new born baby girl with whom he spent sleepless nights) but it blends beautifully to form the core of his character and he's done a brilliant job throughout the movie. With his versaltality, he is definitely one of Hollywood's major male actors to reckon with.

3. The series - It was a well-knit tapestry with few holes and none gaping. The whole trilogy made a lot of sense and came together extremely well. Flashbacks from previous movies have been used very effectively to jog the audiences' memory.

4. The stunts - Some seriously brilliant stuff in the movie, many of which were performed by Damon himself. There's this one sequence in Tangier where Bourne jumps from the terrace of one building into a very narrow window through a glass pane which is sure to draw gasps. This is one of those stunts Damon has done himself. Quite brilliant.

The not-so-greats

1. In and out a sequel - Like many other Hollywood sequels, this movie is definitely not a stand-alone movie. Anyone watching without a background in Bourne, let alone not having watche dthe preceding two will surely find himself lost in the maze of facts, old and new.

Thats all the bad I could think of. The movie was swift, very very fast paced, fluid and gelled excellently with its past. At the end of it, though I saw it a week after its release, it invoked feeble applause from a very appreciative audience. Far more than just a 'time-pass', this movie's a must see for anyone who has seen any of the Bourne movies.

Rating: 8.9/10.0

No Reservations

Finally.. another movie review.. Ofcourse it wasn't like I away from the movies or anything but its refreshing nevertheless. In short, this movie was sweet. There was nothing phenomenal.. nothing boring either. The movie was paced briskly and didn't feel like close ot 2 hours at all. Its a low budget movie with no major plot lines, no major sets, nothing too impressive at all. And as anyone who's seen the trailer must've, the plotline is barely anything to figure out. Catherine Zeta-Jones looks old but is as classy as ever. She's an ace-chef in NYC and is the queen of her kitchen. When she's away to tend to a personal tragedy. the owner hires a charming new sous chef, Aaron Eckhart. He's a roguishly charming, opera-loving, easy going cool dude, the exact opposite of Kate and this does'nt go unnoticed. While he is very talented, she notices him only when he succeeds in what she has not - opening up her grieving niece, Abigail Breslin who has just lost her mom to an accident. While Kate hasn't succeeded in making the kid eat anything over the week, Nick (Aaron) succeeds in no time. Abigail's cute and very lovable through the movie. And as it moves along, the three find their places to coexist and create the perfect recipe for life.

The verdict: Its a chick-flick. If you're expecting any major twists or turns, there are none. At one point a half hour before the movie actually ended, everything seemed so smooth that I thought that the movie was over. And then came the barely acceptable twist. Its a very likeable movie but certainly not a must-watch.

Transformers

I was very reluctant to watch the movie considering it was sure to be a guy-flick, the opposite of a chick-flick with loads of action, tonnes of fights, etc, you know, the typical extra dosage of testosterone. And I also knew it was based on a comic series, which I hadn't really read. So it was going to be a drag.. I thought.

But I was in for a surprise. I thought the movie was fun for the most part though it did last a little longer than I would've liked. But there was a real nice plot and the graphics were mouth-dropping. I am not ashamed of accepting that my mouth was open in awe of some of the graphics that I witnessed on screen and the whole thing was carried out very smoothly.

Having not read the comics myself, I can't vouch for its exact credibilty. But it was sure fun though a bit too long. I would definitely recommend it and I completely agree with the 8.0/10 rating that IMDB has.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I was sooooooooo excited about watching this movie and of course you knew that! I read mixed opinions yesterday after the midnight preview show. Some said that it was a let-down and the others that it was classic. A true HP fan who's seen it told me that it was fantastic. And thats the opinion I took with me when I went to see it last night. Being the shortest installment of the Harry Potter movies, at 2hr and 18min, I did expect a whole lot to be cut off as the Order of the Phoenix was the longest book. I figured that the movie would revolve around 4 main sub-plots -

1. Harry vs. Umbridge
2. Fred and George Weasley
3. The DA meetings
4. The concluding fight at the Ministry of Magic

I had almost accurately summed up the movie. For a true fan of the book, like me, there were like 250 deviations, if not more, from the book. This is perhaps the most casually adapted version of the series where details were slipped at ease. Where things and events were changed at random to fit the tapestry of the flowing movie. The movie was all about Harry.. much less about any of the other DA members... And some events were shockingly changed, like Cho being the tattletale instead of Marietta... which made the audience question Harry's choice in romance. And somethings were funny too.. Like Grawp actually harboring affections for Hermoine. (Ooh by the way, Grawp looks much better than you would've visualized.. in fact he's positively cute!) And Fred and George's antics were a little underplayed and their exit from Hogwarts not as dramatic as it needed to be. And it did no justice to the book. But once you brushed these silly comparisons away, the movie is quite brilliant. It was very fast-paced, interesting and kept the main thread of the story alive. The effects, cinematography, and sets were brilliant. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has blossomed from a boy to a young man (you can't miss his neck muscles)... Sirius Black looks much better... Dudley has grown sooooo much..he looks the total punk but whatever is with his cross-eyed, mubo-jumbo accent!! Bellatrix Lestrange is exactly how you'd have imagined.. The DA meetings were tastefully handled.. The Umbridge rampage was fantastic.. her inspection of classes was funny (but they skipped her inspecting Mc Gonagall which is supposed to be hilarious) And I was disappointed that Umbridge looked as nice as she did, She was suppsed to be a toad! And the hem hem was replaced by an irritating girly giggle. :) Luna Lovegood is fantastic.. just as I imagined.. dreamy and perfect. And they skipped the spicy Quibbler interview. And don't blink.. you may miss Malfoy! And there was no Quidditch which was a wee bit disappointing.. meaning that Ron didn't get to be keeper - there was no 'Weasley is our king', and Harry, Fred and George weren't banned.

The movie is soo much more advanced and fluid than its predecessors. The Ministry fight which is a bit of a drag in the book has been made really well in the movie, capturing the interest of everyone and keeping it going very well.. All in all, its a thorough entertainer for anyone who's heard of the Boy Wizard. But that teensy weensy Harry Maniac in you is likely to get up every 2 scenes and scream in your head - This is not how it was in the book!! But once you put them to rest, the movie's a winner. A must-watch. Definitely, go see it or you are missing something.
Rating: 8.0/10

Movies on my mind

Being summer, there's always looooooads to expect in terms of movies... Here are some of which you as readers are definitely going to get my visesh tippani on...

1) Sivaji - The BOSS (I finally get to see it tomorrow)
2) Ratatouille - Have been waiting for this movie ever since I saw the first trailers back when Shrek III came out- This is going to be one of Disney-Pixar's bests... I can just feel it.
3) Live Free or Die Hard - I hear Bruce Willis is absolutely smashing in this sequel of the Die Hard movies and whats more - its PG-13? So no swearing I guess, unlike its predecessors.
4) Transformers - The next Spielberg movie and anyone who is someone in the ad industry is using the Transformers idea to make catchy ads. I especially like the Mountain Dew's ad. See it here.
5) 1408 - The Stephen King novel based horror thriller. I have been a fan of horror movies though I watch it through a window my fingers create over my eyes. But this title is especially intriguing coz it has the magic numbers - 14's my Bday and 8's my bro's. So its a must-see.
6) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I don't think anyone who has ever read my blog will need an expansion to this title - this remains one of the movies I am DYING to watch.
7) Being Jane - Its Jane Austen's life story. Being a big Jane Austen fan, it will be fascinating to see how her life is and supposedly a clandestine love story in her own life inspired many of her great classic stories.

And many many more to come... Coming soon.

A Mighty Heart

I saw the Larry King show sometime last week. Angelina Jolie was on it talking about her latest movie, 'A Mighty Heart' which is based on true-life incidents that happened to the journalist, Daniel Pearl (who was beheaded by the Pakistan terrorists) in 2002. I remember it creating a huge splash. I even remember vaguely that the actual video of the beheading was aired on the internet before it was banned and a few million people had already seen it. The movie is based on the book by the same name written by Mariane Pearl, the wife of Daniel Pearl. I was intrigued as I watched the LK show and immediately bought the book online, knowing that the movie was releasing on Friday. I am a strict believer of reading the book before seeing the movie. The book got here on Thursday evening and without further ado I delved into it. This post is a review of both the book and the movie.

Book review - A Mighty Heart - By Mariane Pearl

I expected it to be a poignant, heart-wrenching story of sorts but was taken aback by how objectively it was written. It was a narration of events for most part and has admirable details of dates, events and names. After a while, all the names start melding into one another because they are all Islamic names with 2-3 names to one person (eg. Omar Saeed Sheikh). Mariane Pearl was obviously not fascinated by the Indian subcontinent as her book continually indicates spoke much about the "filthy" conditions, begging children and what not. Writing about how she would need to experience a place like India would completely negate the point of the review. So, sweeping right past, the book does its work in making you feel her apprehensions, her pain , her anxiety as an expectant mom waiting for any news from her kidnapped husband day after day after day. She and her Indian-born, US-raised Muslim friend, Asra are the highlights of the home-based involvement in finding Danny. They set up fort at Asra's home in Karachi as they wire telephones, comb Dannys computer for information, colloborate with the FBI, the Pakistani police force and what not. It also conveys the horror on the day she finds out that he "didnt make it" and how she is so dignified in the way she copes with it. Amid all this is Captain, the Pakistani CID chief, who is almost waging a one-man battle to help find Danny. His involvement in the case is spectacular and he does everything in his might to try and find the man.. alive. The book is for her son Adam, who was born a few months later. So he can know that is father was not a hero, just an ordinary man who tried to fight and survive what happened to him under extra ordinary circumstances. The book concludes with a collection of letters written by people world-over to Mariane and her son, Adam about how brave Danny must've been to how brave Mariane is.

Reading the book most certainly paves way to understand the movie, which otherwise might be just a wee-bit confusing.

The movie

I must hand it over to director, Winterbottom for making what is the most dedicated version of the book as a movie. This is the movie that has stuck most to the book from what I have seen. From the way Jolie's (who plays Mariane) wedding costume actually matches Mariane's (found on the jacket of the book), to the French-accented English to the very dialogues, it does justice to the book all the way. Mariane Pearl couldnt have asked for more. Angelina Jolie has performed her class and is sure as hell to receive atleast an Oscar nomination for her performance. I think she peaks when she portrays Mariane's reaction to the news of Danny's death. She screams agonizingly loud and pained and you can feel her pain. The other actors in the movie have also to be commended. Dan Futterman (who plays Daniel Pearl) is a close fit and does a great job. But more commendable is Irfan Khan (who plays Captain). he has done a wonderful job of portraying the character just as Mariane portrays him in her book. All in all, I think the movie is certainly worth a watch though the first half, which is a lead up to the actual sequence of events is a bit of a drag, the second half makes up for it. Can watch.. surely atleast once.

Knocked Up

This is the second movie from the same guy who made 40-year-old virgin that shot Steve Carrel into the limelight. The plot is typical.. Rich, sophisticated girl, Allison (Katherine Heigl of Grey's Anatomy fame) gets together with rogue and drinking-time-away wastrel, Ben (Seth Rogen). Its a typical story of one-night-stand gone bad and Allison ends up pregnant. But whats different is that she amazingly decides to keep the baby. And the rest of the movie is a comic relief as to how a wasted man shirks his drinking, pot etc and rises to the moment - to becomea DAD.

The humor is much on the same lines as 40 year old.. a bit adult, a bit weird, a bit uncomfortable, but all time-pass nevertheless. Overall, the movie was just a normal flick, something a guy could watch and be happy too (sort of a chick-slick) but with more guy-like humor in it. There were a couple of gross scenes up in the end and a few gross dialogues... but then we've come to expect that from this director. The verdict: The perfect solution to melt away 2 hours when you have absolutely nothing else to do on a Sunday Afternoon.

Nancy Drew

This is going to be my shortest movie review ever. In one short sentence - I don't think the makers of the movie read even ONE of the Nancy Drew books. Its a pretty bad movie and I wouldn't recommend anyone who even had free tickets to watch it. A total let-down, very incongruous, pretty dumb, totally unworthy movie... If anyone needs elaborations, watch it for yourself :)