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..

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

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.

Mamma Mia!

It was my first ever Broadway musical and I thought it was tooo expensive at $80 each. That is, till I saw the show. I was a little reluctant to go in the beginning but am I glad I went or what.. It was incredible to say the least. And anyone who has any preconceived notions that one had to know all the songs before they went for the show, I have to strongly emphasize that as far as this one was concerned, that isn't true! It was extremely engaging, the performances absolutely stupendous and mannn, they can sing!!

The show with the intermission was just over 2 hours and 30 minutes comprising 22 hits from ABBA's collection. The songs were so tastefully placed with relevance to the story and everything gelled dramatically well. What amazed me most among many things were the performers themselves. Not only was their singing out of this world, they all look nice and danced great and acted brilliantly.. Bundles of talent! The lead performer, actress-singer-dancer Mary Jayne Raleigh was nothing short of brilliant. The story was simple and choreography seamlessly wove over 30 performers at the same time into a fantabulous fusion of music, color, costumes and performances... What I loved most was how these people were saying these dialogues and all of a sudden broke into songs and it wasn't the least bit odd. It wasn't odd when the other unrelated 20 people popped onto stage to dance and melted away towards the end of the song leaving the stage intact as before they'd entered. It was sort of analogous to a flashback in movies.. only that here its all happening in front of your eyes. The last part was my favorite. The encores, the curtain calls, the applauses... It felt entirely exhilarating at the end of the show and I was sure I could watch it all over again immediately if I could.

We had great seats for the price that we paid (Thanks Sandy for booking the tickets) and I enjoyed it enormously. Here's the official site for the musical: http://www.mamma-mia.com/default.asp and I must urge each one of you to definitely go and see for yourself what I am talking about. No wonder this one's a global smash hit...

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.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - **** SPOILER ALERT ***

There's been all hue and cry about the final HP book that came out yesterday. And I have been dying to read it! Having read it, I am going to summarize my review into concise goods and bads without giving away too much..

I loved................

1) The book itself - It almost tied most loose ends though somethings were obviously let to imagination. And finally, this is a children's book which probably may not do justice to adult expectations. Read it in that view and you'll probably love t too.. It is clearly the best book among those from Goblet... up until now
2) Hermione - She is sparkling and it truly shows what it is to have a brilliant mind by your side. Some of her ideas and presence of mind are glorious..
3) Kreacher - His transformation is very enjoyable
4) The Deathly Hallows - Cool concept, well-explained and also proves that Dumbledore isn't as good as he sounds
5) Neville - Though he plays a very small part in the end, it is absolutely crucial to the story line and I love him for that
6) Polyjuice potion - Its been tactfully used at every conceivable place and you have to hand it to Rowling for thinking it up at most places. The plots surrounding its use are delightful
7) Lack of the Pensieve - The fact that Rowling didn't lapse back to the Pensieve as many times as she did in the Half Blood Prince. This was refreshingly better
8) Potterwatch - It was brilliant inclusion and refreshingly nice
9) The chapter name and illustrations - I mean Ghoul in Pajamas was sheer brilliance!

I didn't love...........

1) The epilogue - Such a wasteful ending. Why did she have to make it so feel-good and sappy? And why wasn't any son of either couple named Fred? And what do all these people do for a living?? And the epilogue seemed incomplete, almost a feeble effort to ensure that if she decided to, Rowling could pick up the strands of Harry Potter and get on with it and as if no one else could. If the book had ended just before the epilogue, it would have attained Masterpiece status in my head
2) Snape as headmaster - Why? At the end of Half Blood Prince, McGonagall was rightful deputy headmistress. What happened to that? I guess Voldemort took over the ministry but it still sounded bizarre
3) Utterly insignificant roles for Snape and McGonagall - There should have been more action for these two spearheads.
4) Why Dobby, Hedwig and Fred? Why not someone a little more major?
5) Harry being too good to be true - He's utterly flawless
6) No Hogwarts - Because our trio don't attend school, there's no Hogwarts, nothing on the teachers and no feel-good stories about the kids interactions.. makes you feel you are in unfamiliar territory
7) The Patronus messages - I loved the concept, But if it were possible, why wasn't Sirius able to send one to confirm he was alive and well in the Order of the Phoenix; why couldn't anyone have done this before to pass on secure messages? Seems futile in the past if you had such a fool-proof method of passing important messages...

All in all, a great conclusion to the series....drags a bit here and there but which big book doesn't? But I can't help but feeling lost now. No more Harry Potter books to look forward to.. in the near future atleast. All Harry Potter fans are sure to find closure with this book. A huge blood bath was imminent and the readers who expected it won't be disappointed. But you would think someone utterly significant like the main cast would die... Well, Rowling doesn't think so. A certain bestseller and a totally worthwhile read. A feel good end to the entertaining series.

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

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 :)

Pirates of the Carribean - At world's end

Major spoiler alert!

When you are in a town like Ames, its the best time to catch up on alllllll the latest flicks considering there isnt much else to do.. But that wasn't the reason I saw Pirates the night it released. The reason was the trilogy (or so I think) itself! So, me n my housemate gallavanted over to the theatres for the 8:40PM show. And lucky we went 40 minutes early coz when we entered, the theatre was almost packed to capacity. We did manage to find excellent seats though.

So, the movie begins almost where it left off... the quest to find Jack Sparrow. He's dead and put away in Davy Jone's locker. I am not going to go too much into the plot itself. But as the East India Company capture the pirates and hang them for, well, piracy, the dying ones start the pirate song. And the song when sung in distress echoes across the 9 coins of 8 belonging to the 9 pirate kings. I won't reveal anymore at this point. So, Jack as it happens has been locked away in Davy Jone's locker and so the crew that abandoned him go back to fetch him. Jack's intro itself is an unnecessarily close shot of his nose (so much so that u can see the pores on his nose - eew... Ok, We all love Johnny Depp.. but not THAT much :D ). And then comes an unbelievable sequence with stone crabs. I give whoever thought of it full marks for imagination, but it did get a li'l weirdly boring here.

After Jack is back, they have to escape the locker.. And this sequence of the movie is completely delightful. The cinematography, the visual effects and everything else was purely brilliant as they make their escape. As the movie twists and turns with each person in the crew having his/her own motive (Will - wanting to rescue his dad; Elizabeth having wanted to rescue Jack out of guilt at first and then get together with Will; Barbusa wanting the Black Pearl and its crew ofcourse; Jack wanting to retain the Black Pearl, to name a few), it takes one through a journey through the unbelievable pirate life. Davy Jones is captured by the East India company, now ruled by Capn Beckett, a ruthless 'businessman' who gets to capture Jack and Will individually and sets them free for good deals he thinks he has made. The Dutchman, the ship captained by Davy Jones with the sea creatures (which has one day in land and 10 years at sea) has to have a captain at all times. So the person who killed Davy Jone's heart in that chest would have to give his heart up and be chained with the ship forever. This forms the crux of the movie towards the second half.

As it progresses, you realize that neither Will nor Jack have as much a say or do in the movie as Elizabeth. This is her movie throughout, from being crowned the 'King' at the Pirate Shipwreck Brethren to being named Captain of the Singapore Pirate crew. But this is sort of the pattern. The Curse of the Black Pearl was through and through Jack Sparrow, and the Dead Man's Chest was a whole lot of Will. So, this one was a tribute to Elizabeth. The last sequence of the maelstrom at sea was a bit too long and dragged unceremoniously with a lot of haggling between pirates and typically dumb east india company folks, and with some melodrama such as Will and Liz getting married amidst all that fighting all the way to a climax no one really expected.

Pros

1) The plot - everything was woven in so well

2) The comic timing that Jack has

3) Return of Barbusa

4) Incredible fight sequences and fantastic cinematography

5) Last but certainly not the least - Jack's dad (!!!) from whom he's gotten his obvious dressing style! And whats most interesting is that the character is played by Keith Richards, the famous Rolling Stones guitarist from whom Depp himself claimed to have inspired many of Sparrow's characteristics!! - Excellent casting and very fitting!

Cons

1) The length of the movie

2) Unnecessary drags at many points which may have helped retain all the interest and reduce the length of the movie.

All in all, if you loved the first two movies, you are sure to like this one as well. There is no doubt about that. But as in most trilogies, I maintain that Pirates-I was the best for the sheer originality of the concept. And as we got exposed to more, our expectations rose that much more and not too many movie sequels have stood up to that. But for the length of the movie, this is a good follow-up to the two movies and has excellent contiguity to its peers and provides an unexpected closure to the series. At the same time, because they gave it a slightly loose ending, I wouldnt be surprised if a year later they came up with a Pirates IV. Definitely worth a watch.

Spidey 3 - Entangled

Warning: Detailed plot outlines ahead. Limited spoilers. For a brief, one-para review, skip to the last paragraph.

I was sooo excited to catch this movie, the third in the trilogy the day of its release and all.. and that too in Ames, Iowa... So, me n my newfound roommates went to Movies 12, the only complex in the 5-mile radius town that shows the latest flicks and bought tickets instantly for the 10:25 PM show.

As the plot unravelled, it was clear that ofcourse the movie had taken a few twists and turns of its own and wasnt going to be nearly as faithful as its comic... And fromt he trailers (if not the comics), one would know that Harry Orborn was going to be Spidey's next nemesis. The first fight between the Harry Monster (the new Goblin?) and Spidey was downright unbelievable.. and not in a good way. (Okay, if you are one of those people who wants to tell me... listen babe, you are watching a superhero flick and you are talking believable, you n I shd have a chat.. there are limits to even superhero fights!) And while the Goblin's moves and stunts were phenomenal, Spidey shoots sad-looking 'web-bullets' at Harry... And through a twist of events through steel, concrete and glass of the Manhattan skyline, Harry ends up in a pile next to a dumpster, waking up with.. well, you guessed it, a memory loss.

In this phase, is the introduction of the Sandman and his creation ofcourse... A criminal, the guy who murdered Ben Parker, nevertheless is being chased down by the police and in his run finds himself trapped in a particle physics testing facility. The 3 huge probe kinda things are supposedly whipping the silicon (silica?) in the sand beneath them and because of their sheer intensity and power, end up whipping the man in between them also! The scene's been graphically done quite tastefully.. And then rises the Sandman.. this weird superpower that can become sand as he likes and take his original human form as he likes. His one leading goal is to aid his ailing daughter for which he is ready to literally 'blow the city apart'. And so is formed Spidey's second nemesis for the movie.

While all this is happening, how could we forget MJ, Spidey's forever love interest.. She is in a Broadway musical and isnt doing so well... She's fired. While she wants to talk to Peter, her boyfriend about it, he's too busy glowing in the pride of Spidey's acceptance by the whole of New York... Here's where Gwen Stacy is introduced as the daughter of the police chief and Peter's labmate (Comic-wise, Gwen was actually Peter's college girlfriend who's tragically killed by the Green Goblin). While saving her and revelling in glory, Spidey kisses her upside down very much the same way he kissed MJ for the first time. This doesn't go unnoticed and MJ seeks Harry out for solace... Ofcourse Harry in his attempt to look innocent and 'I-don't-remember-anything-that-happened' ends up looking a wee bit retarded. Meanwhile, there's this black goo that makes its way to Spidey's house... And while he's in bed climbs all over him and makes this pretty cool-looking black Spidey outfit... (I know you already think there's a lot happening.. but read on to find out more!)

And with the outfit comes a reckless power, a power in which Spidey loses all compassion, all goodness and becomes downright selfish n evil. And the Peter that goes with this Spidey is not this well-groomed kid we've gotten used to seeing. Instead, he is this supposedly cool-looking dude with his hair flicked all the way across his forehead and some kajal (I swear!) and funky dance moves while walking etc. Harry gains his memory back, threatens MJ to break up with Peter.. and then fights him. Reckless as Spidey is now, he doesn't care no more...

Between allllll this drama, another nemesis remains to be introduced. A young photographer vying for Peter's job at the Daily Bugle to take Spidey pics, also being Gwen's boyfriend. Reckless Peter not just steals his girlfriend, but also his job.. And the guy wants revenge...
And how does he get it? When Reckless Peter forces himself to desparatelyrid his black suit, the goo sticks on to this guy making this toothy black villain. The rest of the story ofcourse is about how Spidey has to survive three formidable nemeses as they let dangle his most precious possession.. MJ ofcourse... I am not giving away the most important part of the plot here.. Go see it!

The movie was a little over 2 hours... but felt much longer... It was packed with stuff.. Three opponents to one Spidey, a whole new angle to his love interest on MJ, avenging his uncle's killer (who wasnt the guy who died in Spidey I), balancing his responsibilities and his fame and I could go on forever. The stunts were as usual out of the world (though I didnt think much of the first fight between the new Goblin and Spidey). The final sequence of stunts that ends the movie is worth a watch. All in all, I think Spidey III had definitely bitten more than it could swallow...

Ta Ra Rum Pum

No major spoilers ahead. :-)

Its been movie-time here at San Diego and 'Ta Ra Rum Pum' happened purely by chance. Lazing arond on a Sunday afternoon, Sandy and I decided to check out if there were any Desi movies. And we chanced upon this one. I was certain that we weren't going to get tickets for the show an hour later. And it was a PayPal deal. Before I knew how, we had tickets and we rushed...

The Desi public had turned up in fullflow for this brand-new movie. I barely knew anything about the movie and had no expectations whatsoever. This was probably the YashRaj's next movie after Dhoom II. So, I thought we could expect another movie full of exotic locations, extravagant clothing n accessories, etc. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the movie was all set in New York (with a hint of Mumbai here n there) and was paced pretty swiftly. There was no drag between the "love-at-first-sight" (or close) to marriage to kids.. Or the story from tyre-changer - ace racer... The whole race thing had the audience's adrenaline racing.. And the couple of Saif n Rani reuniting after Hum Tum couldnt have been cuter. I was pleasantly surprised at the subtle make-up that the two had on so much that you could see the freckles on Rani's nose. It was natural.

As in all stories, something had to go wrong and the ace-racer becomes a 'loser' and the rich lifetsyle gives way to poverty. And the protective parents tell the kids that they are a part of a reality show in which they had to live on a budget to win a fictitious reward. The kids called Princess and Champ (never revealed if these were nicknames or not) are sweet but annoying sometimes. And as poverty strikes, the man loses is values and stoops to low levels to try and save the family he loves. To cut a long story short, through a quirk of fate, his morals fall in the right place and then follows the rise of the phoenix from the ashes. The movie actually is very 'child-friendly' and is very enjoyable for kids with an animated song n everything. And in fact the whole movie is narrated by a child and so is all in all a "family movie".

All in all, the movie is definitely worth a watch,a chick-flick feel to it, some catchy songs, a fast-paced entertainer and a pleasant family movie with an underlying theme for kids to 'save' the day... which is revealed through the movie.

Fracture

So me and Sandy decided we had to make most of an evening that she had worked very late here at San Diego.. And what better relaxing thing to do but to catch a latest flick?! So, we like good diligent people went to yahoo! movies and read reviews of a multitude of movies before choosing 'Fracture' after all the good reviews and the fact that we were both suckers for courtroom dramas.

I'd seen the trailer before and I knew that that Anthony Hopkins was accused of shooting his wife in what seemed like an open-n-shut case. But what followed was a classically different no-nonsense movie. It was refreshingly different in that it didnt leave you guessing at any stage EVER and had no weird inexplicable twists and turns. It was subtle, slick and pretty much to-the-point. I was very impressed with Ryan Golsing as well. This was the first movie I was seeing him in and I had heard rave reviews of him and I must vouch for his performance in this one. He was all character.. the accent, the walk, the talk... Was pretty cool.

The plot in itself is simple... You know who shot who... You see it happen in the movie. The plot relies on the loopholes in the US judicial system. And its pretty cool.. And while it comes together, most of us would've guessed what really happens.. And they didnt dwell on that too much either. All in all, it was fast-paced, sleek and totally worth the watch... And Ryan's quite cute... :)

Meet the Robinsons

Warning: Spoilers ahead

I soo feel at home now... Another movie review!! And make way for the Robinsons! This was my first 3-D experience after I grew up (I dont remember Chotta Chetan or Kutti Satan) So I was really excited. Two versions of the movie released, a normal one and the 3-D one. Me and Sachin were really enthused to see the 3-D version.. I imagined the red and blue paper glasses and everything as we went to catch the 11:50 PM show. And we were in for a surprise.. the glasses had become suave.. They looked like sunglasses but unfortunately carried a warning that they had no UV filters and werent to be used as sunglasses. Hmph.

So back to the movie... It starts out with the awesome animation that Pixar has come to be known for... This baby, the hero of our story, Louis being left at the orphanage... a sort of Harry Potter feel to it. He grows up to be a boy genius and ends up scaring away most prospective parents with explosive science experiments. He has this jock roomie, Goob, who loses night after night of sleep over his nerdy roomie's experiments. At the center of the plot is a Science Fair where all the students are falling over one another to showcase their talent. And Louis has his memory machine... And ofcourse there is a villain - a man in a bowling hat, who foils the brilliant invention. Why? And how? I am not going to go into the details coz that will just plain give it away. And this "boy from the future" - Wilbur sees through the bowling hat guy and his plans! But to credit it, the movie had oooooodles of imagination... and a lotta fundu stuff, even if scientific - a time machine, singing frogs, an artificially-intelligent hat (which learns and grows against you!), a memory machine, and even a dinosaur! The plot was pretty cool and was woven together in an adorable manner. It almost felt like it was dragging a little in between when we actually Meet the Robinsons. But the movie quickly slides back on track with a brilliant twist.

With its awesome effects (I took my glasses off ever so often to compare the effects), sweet storyline, fabulous imagination and fantastic animation, you all have got to Meet the Robinsons atleast once. This may not be one of those animation movies people speak about for yeaars (Shrek), but its definitely worth your while.