Lawrence Jamieson is a proud prince
of some small far away kingdom. His royal Highness operates out
of Beaumont-sur-Mer, a beautiful little place located in what they call
as the French Riviera. His major occupation is to get help in the form
of hefty donations from the rich ladies who visit the place, in order to
help the cause of his enslaved people. All is going well, until one day
he stumbles upon one Freddy Benson, an American, who is in the same
line of work as himself. Except for the fact that Freddy is trying to
get help for his very sick Grandmother.
There is just one problem. Actually a
set of problems. Namely, Freddy is fishing in the same waters as
Lawrence. He is younger. Less experienced. Not to mention, an utter
moron, according to His Highness.If nothing else, he would scare away
the fish on which Lawrence relies on for his living. So Lawrence tries
to convince, persuade, or scare Freddy in order to leave voluntarily.
But to no avail. The young cocky grandson of a very sick grandmother
becomes the thorn in the backside of his highness - a thorn which will
not dislodge itself so easily.
Something
needs to be done. So they both decide to settle matters once and for
all, by placing a bet. The first one to get 50000 bucks from a lady
wins. The lady in question is ... A Soap Queen of America. The race is
on. Who will finally win?
Lawrence Jamieson, played by Michael Caine has been brilliantly portrayed. Michael Caine's
acting skills are extraordinary, as is evident in this movie. His
straight faced comedy is as refreshingly hilarious as the serious
performances he had to give during one or two scenes in the movie. The
klutzy but persistent role of Freddy has been played quite nicely by Steve Martin.
I felt his acting was a bit awkward and contrived. But it suited well for the character of Freddy. In fact he fit the role so well, he
almost defined it. After watching the movie, I can't imagine anyone else
playing the same role. Glenne Headly, who played the role of the Soap Queen of America, has also performed well.
The movie captures the beauty of some
idyllic European towns along the Mediterranean coastline, during that
golden age before such beautiful places became expensive,
commercialized, crowded and polluted...
What I liked most about this movie is
that it gave me quite a few good laughs. Its pure unadulterated humorous
good old-fashioned entertainment. A rare gem of a movie that will not
fade with age. Something you can watch and enjoy with your family
without having to worry about adult content. I had a really good time
watching it. But most importantly, it was so good, that I am sure I will
be watching it many more times in the years to come. And I am sure it
will still make me laugh and give me a good time every time I watch it!
My rating: 3.5
8 candidates prepare for the final round of an extremely lucrative job opportunity. The recruitment is supposed to be for a very high post in a very big company. An opportunity worth dying for. An opportunity worth killing for.
The exam hall is a single closed room, with no windows, a single door, a guard besides it, 8 desks and chairs and 8 question papers, one for each candidate. The invigilator sets forth a set of rules: they cannot communicate with the guard or the invigilator at any time. They cannot leave the room for any reason. And they should not spoil their own question paper. There is one question. And one answer is required. The invigilator starts a timer. They have 80 minutes to give the correct answer. Then the invigilator leaves the room. Each candidate opens the question paper. Each of the paper is blank...
So starts the quest for the question. And the correct answer. At first its a very intriguing puzzle. But as the time begins to run out, the pressure increases. Which candidates will snap under pressure? Which ones will manage to find the right answer? What is the right answer? But before that, what is the question? This is what forms the heart of the movie. This is what fuels it, grabs the audience by the collar and hardly ever lets go...
What I liked about this movie was its entirely original premise. The idea is unique. Who would have thought of making a movie based on a recruitment process for a big job opportunity? It thankfully refrains from using the age old spices of love, action, romance, murder, etc. Which makes it a refreshing watch. There is mystery and suspense. Its a puzzler, which reminds me of movies like Cube and Fermat's Room. Just like the Cube, it not only entertains by making the audience use their grey cells as they get absorbed in the puzzle, but also explores the human psyche.
Somewhere in between the movie seems to veer off from the path that one might have expects. For, it starts off as an intriguing and intricate puzzle and then turns into a psychological thriller where it explores the impact of pressure on human psyche. How a situation of stress and pressure can bring out the best or the worst in people. And how some people would go to any lengths when the stakes are high enough for them.
And the climax comes with a twist that you would never have anticipated. Some of the ideas in the movie, like how each of the candidates came to know about the job opening, may sound a bit half-baked. And some of them, for example the explanations at the end, may sound a bit far fetched and fantastic. And yet it manages to keep it all as realistic as possible, refraining from taking unnecessary leaps of fantasy.
The movie is a single room drama, where the entire story takes place within a single room. Which shows the talent of the co-writer and director Stuart Hazeldine, to be able to make the entire story work within such a limited location / set.
The camera work is pretty impressive too. Many aspects of the story are narrated very well by intuitive visuals. It exemplifies the rule that visuals can express better and are more powerful than words.
The acting ranges from very good to mediocre. I especially liked the acting of the candidates who are referred to as "white", and "dark" in the movie.
The characters are neither too shallow, nor too intricately sketched. But each character's personality is portrayed with enough details to fit the requirements of the story.
The movie will not afford you easy entertainment. It will demand your brain power. It will make you think. If you don't mind that, then its certainly worth watching at least once.
My Ratings: 3.5
Shaun is your regular working class type, staying with his annoying and dim-witted friend Ed, and trying to keep things from falling apart with his girlfriend, his job and his mom and step-dad. And failing miserably. His only solace, the regular trips to the local pub Winchester with Ed.
Shaun's buddy, Ed does not wish to grow up. His girlfriend wants Shaun to grow up. His Mom expects him to remember her every now and then. His step-father expects him to do what his mom expects. Being a nobody at the job isn't helping. His world falls apart when his girlfriend splits up with him. But it is not his world alone that's going down the drain... People all around, who had been busy doing their daily chores in a zombie-like fashion, have suddenly started turning into actual ... need I mention the famous Z-word?
To say that Shaun of the Dead is a parody about Zombie movies, would be as accurate as stating a theorem. For it does sum up the movie, but fails to elaborate on its intricate and interesting content. In a funny yet realistic way, the movie, as it starts, portrays the pains of being a nobody in his late twenties. It parodies the daily life of the urban populace where people go around their daily chores in a zombie-like fashion devoid of life or excitement, even before the outbreak.
The unique crisp direction, and the dialogues loaded with satire make this a refreshingly comic romp through the zombie-movie-land. But its not just about the comedy. There are scenes loaded with emotions too - for example, scenes between Shaun and his stepfather, and with his mom, before he has to part ways with them... It displays the acting skills of Simon Pegg, proving that he can be versatile enough to take on serious scenes too.
It is the first movie in the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, co-written and directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It is a complete movie in itself and has no relationship whatsoever with the other two movies in the series. The fact that the three movies form a trilogy is probably a joke by the movie makers, in the same way they poke fun at a specific genre through each movie. Though its story is not as intricate as Hot Fuzz, nor is the characterization and scripting as well-crafted as that of The World's End, yet the movie stands out because of the unique directorial skills of Edgar Wright and good script for a parody.
This parody about Zombie movies, does not contribute anything new to the Zombie movie genre, except to add a few laughs and poke fun at the outrageously ridiculous outbreak of the Z-word in movies across the world. There is action and gore aplenty, apocalypse and adventure, and lots and lots of dumb zombies out to get you. But don't watch this one for the Zombie fun. Watch it instead for the rollicking antics of Simon Pegg who plays Shaun, and Nick Frost who plays Ed, both good comic actors.
I had quite a lot of laughs watching this one. Its certainly worth watching at least once...
My ratings: 2.5
No. This is not about the World's End. Or is it?
The World's End is a pub at the end of what the teenagers of Newton Haven call the Golden Mile - a pub crawl that covers 11 other pubs before terminating at this one. On the day of their graduation, Gary King and his 4 buddies decide to "conquer the Golden Mile", drinking a beer in each of the "twelve pubs along a legendary path of alcoholic indulgence"... They never manage to finish it...
That was 20 years back. Flash forward to the present. All the 4 friends are busy and settled down in their respective professions. And Gary King? He is institutionalized. Trying to come to terms with the disappointment and meaninglessness that life has become. But there is the business of the Golden Mile. The crawl they started but never finished. Unfinished business.
So Gary decides to go and finish it once and for all. But of course he cant do it without his 4 buddies. But its "Gary fucking King". The guy who, according to his best pal Andy, can do anything... So Gary visits each one of them. And using his obnoxious charm, manages to convince, persuade and at times emotionally blackmail them to join him in their 20 years old quest.
So the four friends find themselves back in Newton Haven, following the indomitable and insufferable Gary King. And while they are at it, they stumble upon a conspiracy that threatens to change their world...
This is one movie that, for me, defies classification. It is the concluding part of the famous Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (though, it is in no way related to either of the 2 predecessors). But unlike its prequels, it is not really a parody. It is a good comedy. At the same time it is quite an interesting piece of "social science fiction". It boasts some pretty cool action scenes. But best of all, it paints the characters of the 5 friends quite well. The shattered promise of youth, the nostalgic collective memories of a bunch of friends before life separated them, their trip down that memory lane, and their unresolved hopes, conflicts and desires. The movie manages to capture all this very nicely.
The script is well written. Much detailed and well crafted than either of the predecessors. Hats off to the Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Edgar Wright's direction is, as always, awesome - bearing the unique signature that anyone who has seen the other two movies in the trilogy would quickly recognize.
Simon Pegg plays the role of the cocky, obnoxious and gritty Gary King. That Simon Pegg is a great actor has been evident in the previous two movies from the trilogy. But this one exhibits equally great acting skills by Nick Frost. He plays the role of the adorable but grumpy Andy, Gary's best buddy. The rest of the actors have played their parts well too.
The movie picks up very nicely and never once slows down.
The dialogues are at times funny ("What the fuck is WTF?"), and witty ("He used to ask me what I wanted to do with my life.told him I just wanted to have a good time. He thought that was funny. It wasn't meant to be."), and at times serious enough to the point of being philosophical ("How can you tell when you're drunk if you're never sober"). Sometimes they are a commentary on us humans and our idiosyncrasies ("Your reliance on profanity is a measure of your immaturity as a man and a species.")... That's what I liked a lot about the script... It has a lot of substance to it.
The action is at times intense. As compared to the other two movies in the series, the action sequences in this one are very professionally shot. Many action movies rely on the shaking of the camera to portray intense action. This one avoid the shaky camerawork. Instead it portrays the fight sequences very lucidly and in detail. Its fun to watch, except if you can make yourself digest the fact that all the five protagonists who are bashing up so many people, are supposed to be in their middle ages, with no indication of their acquaintance to martial arts.
Compared to the other two movies in the trilogy, this one has the best climax. The climax of Hot Fuzz was, according to me, a serious botch up. The climax of Shaun of the Dead was simply mediocre. But the climax of this one is well executed. It wraps up the story to a very satisfying and logical conclusion.
The science fiction part of the movie does not necessarily consist of an original premise. But the idea is well executed. The main idea is to make a social commentary on the vagaries of the human race, while proclaiming our right to be free to mess up ourselves the way we please. Which the movie sets forth pretty effectively, using comedy or satire as a medium.
According to me, this one was the best one of the three movies that make up the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. And its certainly worth a watch at least once.
My ratings: 3.5
Have you ever suffered reprimand for being over-competent?
Have you been transferred to a remote country-side village as a reward for your over-competence?
Did your girlfriend dump you because you are more in love with your work? And is she right
Is your new work-place too good to be true?
Have you ever felt that you are the only one who thinks something fishy is going on there, and no one believes you?
If yes, then you will identify with the protagonist of this movie, Nicholas Angel, played by Simon Pegg - a very competent and workaholic police officer (a.k.a. "Fuzz" in local slang). Too competent for his own good... Ditto for being a workaholic... The department rewards him for his good work by transferring him to a remote village in the "country". Its a nice little village, where crime is virtually unknown. For an ambitious and workaholic Fuzz from the City, this is a nightmare. The attitude of the Police department is laid-back and lax. The most challenging task he is entrusted is to track down a missing swan. Nothing is going well it seems. Until one day there is an accident that kills two people. But was it really an accident? Officer Angel believes not. But in a village where the "M" word has not been heard of for decades, no one will believe him... And the truth, as it turns out, is even more sinister than officer Angel had thought...
The movie hooked me right from the start. The logic of Angel's supervisors for transferring him is flawless. The reasons for his Girlfriend to leave him are not at all irrational. His introduction to the village and its folk, and his interactions with them is anything but cordial.
There is another reason for the movie's quick pick-up. All these sequences are portrayed without "mincing the words" so to speak. Its a unique style employed by the movie-makers - they show quick short snippets of things happening, one after the other in quick succession, to convey an idea. For instance, Angel's journey from London to Sanford village is portrayed using little 2-3 second consecutive shots of him traveling in a taxi, then in a train, and then again in a cab... Due to this quick snappy portrayal of certain events that need not be prolonged unnecessarily, the movie runs along at a steady clip.
The mystery behind the deaths will reel you in. You will never guess who the suspects are. And their motives behind these crimes are so unbelievable that they sound utterly realistic and logical.
The only thing that robs points from this movie is the climax. This is where it mutates from a nice little comic but intricate murder mystery to an action parody. It was an utter let down for me. Even though the rest of the movie was pretty nice.
Hot Fuzz is the second part of the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy.
But don't let this little fact stop you from watching it, just because you have not watched the first part. The three parts are not related. In fact, apart from the facts that:
- they are all directed and co-authored by Edgar Wright
- they feature actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
- each of the movies afford the audience pure fun at the expense of a specific genre, and
- each one features in it a specific flavour of Cornetto
there is nothing else common between the three movies that form this Trilogy. So believe me, you are not missing out on anything if you watch this one without having watched its "prequel" (Shaun of the Dead). Nor does it leave any untied ends to be tied up in its "sequel" (The World's End). It is a "stand-alone" movie, thank you.
My Ratings: 2.5
For me it started with 28 Days Later. There was something about the idea of the world and the life as we know it, being shot to hell, that sucked me in... Empty streets, abandoned houses, crashed lonely vehicles, not a being in sight... And add to that, the danger of your fellow humans gone wild, crazy and, technically dead... Zombies out to get you on the mean streets of a deserted city, chasing you down dark corridors of apartment buildings... It was your worst nightmare come true...
I lapped them all up. Right from Rec and Rec 2 to I am Legend and Frank Darabont's Walking Dead TV Series. Some of them were groundbreaking and stunning. Many others were just copy-paste jobs with hardly any inspired or original contributions to the genre.
World War Z does expand the horizons of the Zombie genre by portraying the zombie apocalypse on a global scale. Its does for zombie movies what 2012 did for natural disaster movies.
It is the story of a former United Nations investigator who is out with his family when the streets around him abruptly erupt into chaos. He manages to flee with his wife and two daughters as they try to survive the sudden outbreak of a rabies like disease (what a cliché) that turns a human bitten by an infected one into a frenzied biting zombie within seconds. He gets help and shelter from his former boss, a high-ranking official in the UN. His family is safe for now, but on one condition. He is reluctantly entrusted the task of accompanying a virologist and a team of soldiers, as the venture out into the midst of danger and chaos, in search for the origins of the disease, hoping to find a cure. Thus starts his perilous journey which will take him round the globe, in search for a possible cure to this apocalyptic disease.
Seriously speaking, story and concept-wise, there is hardly anything original about this one. Some of the ideas are almost preposterous. The plot and the story are too over-dramatic and unrealistic. And yet there are two things that make this movie worth watching at least once. Awesome visuals and breathtaking action sequences.
It portrays the zombie outbreak pretty nicely. Throngs upon throngs of frenzied infected zombies fill up the screen like hundreds of ants. The action is intense. The story roars ahead at breakneck speed, hardly allowing the viewer a moment to mull upon the ridiculousness of some of the ideas. Arial views of fallen cities and zombie-infested landscapes are visually stunning. An international cast of actors that ensure good acting that went waste thanks to an over-dramatic script.
If you don't mind switching off your brain and watching the movie for pure entertainment's sake, then you are in for a pretty intense joy ride. For me, the movie earns no points for realism and originality. But it succeeds to entertain pretty well.
My Rating: 2.0
This is an anthology of six unrelated horror short films, each one directed by a different director. Each story is depicted in found-footage format using the shaky camera-work technique.
The movie starts off with "Tape 56" directed by Adam Wingard. This one is used as a frame narrative, where the other 5 stories are shown within this as the central story. It shows the exploits of a group of criminals who record their exploits and post the videos on the net. Someone has hired them to break into a house and retrieve a VHS tape. The house belongs to some old guy. When they break in, they find him dead in a room with multiple TVs and VCRs. While the others search the house for any more VHS tapes, one guy has to sit in the room with the old mans dead body and go through the tapes available there. As the guy plays each tape, we are taken into the narrative of each of the other 5 stories. Needless to say, this story ends with a nice but predictable twist ending. Except for the short sequence in the basement, the story lacked much of a punch and on the whole, turned out to be just a simple filler between the other stories.
The first video the criminal guy from the frame narrative watches is "Amateur Night" directed by David Bruckner. A trio of young guys have recently bought a spectacles with a camera in it (Google Glass???). They ask the most nerdy guy among them to wear it. Then they go have some fun in the bar. There they pick up a couple of girls and return to their apartment to spend a night of obvious debauchery. But they are in for a nasty surprise. This story had potential. But they ruined it for me by putting in way too much gore. Not to mention it was sexually explicit. And the camerawork was at times too shaky. But I give points for the interesting twist at the end.
The next story is called "Second Honeymoon" directed by Ti West. I have watched his famous movies The Innkeepers and The House of the Devil, and I enjoyed them both. So I had great expectations from this one. But I was quite disappointed. Apart from a bit of suspense and a very unexpected and original ending, the short lacked entertainment for me.
"Tuesday the 17th" (sounds like Friday the 13th? You bet it does) directed by Glenn McQuaid is about a bunch of two guys and two gals who visit a lake deep in the woods. This one is a pure no-brainer that lacks originality, but certainly adds the thrills (if you prefer slasher movies, albeit with a possible supernatural twist)
"The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" directed by Joe Swanberg has a pretty original but utterly preposterous story. It does have some good thrills. But overall, I would rate it as average.
The last one is "10/31/98" by a group of directors who call themselves Radio Silence. It is about a bunch of guys who visit a friend's house for the Halloween party. But it seems that there is no one in the house... Or is there? Personally, I think this is the best one among them all. Its your good old-fashioned horror tale. Where it lacks in originality, it makes up for in suspense, thrills, scares and the supernatural.
The beauty of any short film is that it does not beat round the bush. It delivers the goods quickly without the overhead of character or story building. And that is its drawback too. It is too short for explanations. One is left to assume certain things, concentrating more on delivering the gist of the story and the action involved. The same is true for these short films. They deliver the punch pretty effectively. But please don't go around looking for explanations or background stories.
These short films do aim to push the boundaries of the found footage horror genre. And to some extent they do succeed. For there is a certain uniqueness in each of the story, that deserves appreciation. But somewhere, I think, it failed to deliver the stories to their full potential. May be the direction could have been a bit better. Same can be said for some of the scripts. Overall, it is a case of hit-and-miss, where some stories are good, while others are disappointing.
Some of the stories have sexually explicit scenes, which is a bit of a turn off. Also some of them show way too much blood and gore. Call me a prude if you will, but according to me, a good horror story need not take help of unnecessary sexual scenes or excessive blood and gore in order to entertain.
On the whole, this one is worth watching once, but not more than that.
My Ratings: 2
Some Sci-Fi movies are about ideas and the science of the future. Some, or rather most of them are about high-tech action based in the future. This movie is about the the pursuit of discovery, and how far can a team of humans go, in order to make that discovery...
I am a sucker for Sci-Fi movies. The ideas and the science in them appeal to me. While trawling through the net for prospective Sci-Fi movies of this year, the name "Europa Report" caught my attention. The title itself sounded so appealing. I have always been fascinated by Europa. With its shiny white surface covered with red patches and what looks like scratch marks, I find it most intriguing among the four famous "Galilean Moons" of Jupiter (so named because they were first discovered by Galileo). So I dived in without even looking up its trailer...
When the movie started, I was a bit disappointed to know that it used the Found Footage format, making use of footage from various stationary and hand-held cameras to tell the story. I have seen one found footage Sci-Fi movie before - Apollo 18, and I was a bit disappointed by it. No doubt it had its share of thrills and suspense, which are a hallmark of any good Found Footage movie. But the basic premise, the idea behind the story did not appeal to me at all. Plus, Sci-Fi movies are a lot about eye-candy - VFX, beautiful outer-space locales, a spanning panorama of stars, fancy space-ships, the works... And one can't expect good VFX in the found footage format because of the stationary camera and its comparatively mediocre ability to capture good visuals.
But by the time the movie ended, it left me feeling mildly enthralled. The movie's story had managed to invoke in me the awe and wonder I had felt as a youngster, every time I would let my imagination soar at the prospect of travelling through space, wondered what we would find out there...
The movie does not weigh itself down with an over-ambitious scientific idea. Its premise is quite simple. A team of six astronauts embark on a voyage through interplanetary space to Europa - one of the moons of Jupiter. Their mission: to search for signs of life under Europa's crust of ice.
The mission is being sponsored and executed by Europa Ventures, a private firm. For a welcome change, NASA is nowhere involved - its a privately funded mission. The footage from the various cameras on board the spaceship are being broadcast back to earth.
The first half depicts their journey through the vast chasm of space that lies between the planets. The movie captures well the enthusiasm of the crew. And its infectious. After all, they are going farther than any Man has ever gone before. But like any ground-breaking voyages, this one is full of perils. The first disaster strikes, when halfway through, they loose all communications. While trying to repair the comm modules, one of the crew members is lost. All the exhilaration of the unique voyage suddenly dies out. The harsh reality of the perilous nature of the voyage suddenly dawns upon them all. But this will not be the last disaster they face... The stakes are high, for, if successful, they believe that their discovery could prove to be a most profound one in Human history. So they press on. How the crew members face one difficulty after another, and how they press on against all odds, and the sacrifices they make in pursuit of their discovery, is what fuels the rest of the story.
The found footage format does put a damper on what could have been a very good movie experience. But there are moments in the movie which not only justify the found footage format, but actually take advantage of it to give an entertaining movie experience. For example, this is one of the very few rare Sci-Fi movies which explains and portrays the use of centrifugal force to generate artificial gravity in zero-G. Its a nice little scene where a guy is shooting a personal tour of the ship for his kid. The guy hands the camera to his colleague, and then climbs the stairs from the ground (which is the inner surface of the rotating ship) towards its center of the ship, and as he ascends, he begins to float. And while he floats, we can see beyond (or above?) him, another astronaut descending (going upwards in reverse) at the opposite end of the ship.
There are moments when the found footage format does get on the nerves though. And it doesn't help that during the first half, the story keeps toggling to and fro between flash-back and flash-forward, giving us a sneak-peek of impending disaster. It gets a bit confusing at times. One has to concentrate on the timeline displayed in months : days : hours format every time the story switches back or forward in time.
If you have seen the movie Mission to Mars, then you will recognize the similarity of the plots. To be frank, Mission to Mars scores over Europa Report, because it was shot in normal format. So it was able to render some really awesome sequences (the space walk rescue attempt is one of my most favourite sequences in that movie). But it loses to Europa Report in one aspect. Its climax was too over-done for my taste. But Europa Report has managed to maintain rationality in its somewhat action-wise subdued but utterly realistic and believable climax. And in the end, it does manage to answer a question raised within the movie itself: "Compared to the breadth of knowledge yet to be known, what does your life actually matter?"
On the whole a really nice Sci-Fi flick. Worth watching at least once...
My Rating: 3.5
They say that one should not bite the hand that feeds. Very True. But what happens if the hand that feeds, itself becomes the hand that kills?
Parallelly released in Marathi language under the title Lalbaug Parel, it is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. If you have seen Vaastav and Astitva, need I say anything more? But I feel I do need to say more... For this is a unique movie, about the city I was born and brought up in. The city I love, like so many others. And hate, like so many others too. And I feel it needs to be told...
Truly speaking, this is the story of a standard lower middle class mill-worker's family, one of the many millions of similar families that formed the cogs in the machinery of this City till the 80's... Till the mills were shut down, to make way for Shopping Malls and sky-scrapers. A family of six living in a 10 x 10 feet room in one of the many chawls that formed the landscape of Mumbai during that time.
The father, who used to work in one of the textile mills, has taken retirement. He is waiting for the gratuity amount promised him post-retirement - but the mills are yet to settle the dues of all the retired workers. One son is a struggling writer whose plays don't ever get sold. Another one, Mohan, works in a bank. The third son roams around being a "bhai" - a local goon. And the only daughter works in a beauty parlour. Somehow they are all trying to make ends meet.
The Mills are shutting down one department after another, claiming loss in business. The workers go on strike. While this drama unfolds, the family faces one problem after another. And they are not the only ones. The mill workers have not been paid for months. How are they to feed their families, pay the school fees, the rents?
And in the backdrop of their tribulations, unfolds the untold story of Mumbai, currently one of the costliest cities in India, maybe in the world too. How this City of the working class turned into a City of Gold. I think each city is like a person. It has a unique personality, a unique past, present and future. If I have to describe the personality of the city of Mumbai, I would describe it as that of a worker. For it is the city of the working class. A city born out of economic necessity, build and developed out of economic progress. Everything in Mumbai is economy driven.
One of the major trades in Mumbai post-independence, was the Textile Mills. Millions of mill workers worked in these mills, which worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in three daily shifts. All these workers mostly stayed in chawls near the mills itself, in the area around Parel, which came to be known in the local slang as the "Giran Gaon" - the village/town of the mills. Hence the name of the Marathi version Lalbaug, Parel. At the end of every shift, the iconic Siren would go off, indicating the end of one shift, and beaconing the workers who would toil and shed their sweat and blood in the next one. They would work one or two shifts a day and make ends meet.
But all this changed when the mill owners began to shut down parts of the mill, claiming losses. The mills might not be profitable, but the abundant land on which they stood, could gain the owners a lot of money. This was what they secretly desired. The untapped development potential of the land on which the mills stood. The land, so the movie claims was not owned by the owners themselves, but was given to them on lease for 99 years by the Government. And so, they began to make things difficult for the workers. The movie depicts this very nicely.
It depicts the hunger and desperation of the common mill worker and his family. Some commit suicide. The kids of some turn to crime and violence, driven by the most basic need to feed the fire within their hungry stomachs. It is sad and horrible indeed.
The movie also depicts the machinations that go on behind the closed doors of the mill owners' offices. The corruption and the under-handed deals would make anyone's blood boil.
All the major characters are quite well-sketched. All the actors, most of them from Marathi film industry, have played their part extremely well.
The directorial talent of Mahesh Manjrekar is evident in the brilliant portrayal of the harsh life of the mill workers, before "they became extinct, like dinosaurs" (to borrow a dialog from the movie itself). The story does not flinch to depict illicit love affairs or violence, in the same way it unflinchingly depicts the desperation and the sad state of the mill-workers' families after the mills shut down. The life in the chawl is portrayed very realistically - life in small 10x10 rooms, where there is no space for personal privacy, but lots of space for humanity, and neighbourly love and care.
As far as I know, the Marathi version - Lalbaug Parel - became more famous than the original Hindi one. One of the reasons probably was that the Marathi speaking localites could identify with its content. And second reason being that, the Hindi audience, who were looking out for mere entertainment, probably found nothing new in this movie. For Mahesh Manjrekar has already explored similar concepts (like common man turning into a criminal) in his previous movies like Vaastav. If that is the case, then I think they missed the point entirely...
Because this is an important movie for anyone who wishes to understand the events that triggered the transformation of this city of mills and chawls, into a city of skyscrapers, huge corporate offices and shopping malls. A city where people who own a piece of it's land, need not really work for a living. And ironically, a city where a hard working common man can no longer afford to buy a home of his own. A City of Gold...
My Rating: 3.5
After watching Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuarón, I was eager to watch his newest release Gravity. And the wait was worth it!
For a movie named 'Gravity', most of it takes place in an absence of it. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are a part of a team of astronauts on a mission to do some repair-work on the famous Hubble Space telescope, when disaster strikes. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are the only survivors. And in the cold, dark and empty loneliness of Space, with communications and vital instruments down, they have to battle against seemingly insurmountable odds to survive and get back to Earth.
If I were to describe the movie in minimum amount of words, I would call it "visually stunning". I am glad I watched it in 3D. People associate 3D with action scenes where fast moving things hurtling towards the camera appear as if they are actually coming straight at you. I was under the same misconception until I saw the movie Sanctum in 3D. Much of that movie is shot within caves and under water, where most of the scenes have a dark background. This makes the feebly illuminated portions stand out. And it looks even better in 3D, where the contours appear so well-defined. The lights playing over the huge caverns, or on the surface of the water way above (when the camera is under water), or on the bubbles floating around, look almost magical in their clarity, thanks to the 3D effects. Same is the case with Gravity.
In Space, everything is either dark, or very brightly illuminated by the naked sun rays. This contrasting interplay of light and darkness makes things stand out very nicely in 3D. Most of the movie takes place in orbit around the Earth. The slow graceful movements of the astronauts in space is captured very nicely. So are the various objects, large and small, floating around in empty space. It all adds up to a very stunning visual experience.
The views of the Earth as the backdrop, from far above in orbit are stunning. So is the depiction of the space shuttle and the ISS. The movie depicts the rare beauty of the Earth and the nature from space, even as the tense story-line moves from one catastrophe to the other.
In spite of being a Sci-Fi movie, it does not have your distant planets, fancy star-ships, aliens or super-advanced technology. The director has tried to keep it as near to the present-day science as possible. Though I am not sure how much of the science portrayed in the movie is realistic or actually plausible, it does not seem improbable to the layman. The harsh and dangerous environment of space is the villain and the indomitable human spirit to survive against all odds is the true hero of the movie.
For most of its part, the story hurtles along at break-neck speed. It does slow down a bit in the second half, which many of you might find a bit boring. But its worth the wait as the story once again picks up speed as it approaches the climax.
The characters of both the protagonists are neither too shallow, nor overly well-defined. But at least they are sketched realistically. Both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney do justice to the characters with their great acting skills. Sandra Bullock's acting is especially nice.
The story is not as complex as some other Space disaster-survival movies like Apollo 13. But the visual effects are ground-breaking and worth the money.
My Ratings: 3.5
Our life, the world we build for us, our entire system works on our hope for the future. All our plans, expectations, speculations are based from future's point of view. But what if there was no future to look forward to? With no hope for the coming tomorrow, our system would slowly but surely decay and collapse. This is the premise on which Children of Men is based.
The movie starts with the protagonist viewing a news report in a bar. Its the news of a famous celebrity who passed away. Its a kid. He was famous because he was the last kid to be born. In the future, mankind has inexplicably lost the ability to give birth. Everyone has, for some reason become sterile. And this has lead to a slow but certain Global Meltdown. As the protagonist comes out of the bar and walks away, there is a blast in the bar. It is one of the regularly carried out arsonous acts carried out by the Foogies (for Refugees) against a totalitarian government regime.
This is how the movie starts. The lead protagonist's ex-wife asks him a favour. He has to arrange for a pass to get someone out of the country. He manages to get the pass, but it turns out, he will have to personally escort that someone. Somewhere on the way, things take a turn for the worse. And while trying to cope with the sudden turn of events, he realizes that his mission is much more important and critical than it appears.
The story is based in a hypothetical future. So it certainly is a Sci-Fi movie, but without the aliens and the hi-tech stuff. And the story never really explores the why and the how of the apparently sudden sterility of the entire human race. It has some very breath-taking action. But its not your usual action flick. The direction ensures that the main theme of the movie never gets lost in the action scenes and the depiction of a future gone bad.
The movie starts with a bang but soon looses momentum for a while, as the stage is set, and the character-building happens. This initial character and story-building is nice if you don't mind the slow pace. And then suddenly the movie picks up speed. And then it hardly ever slows down...
The protagonist has to get involved in lots of action and intrigue. But he is never depicted as an action hero. He is a normal empathetic human who is doing what has to be done, like a normal human. neither are the antagonist portrayed as totally evil. The characters in this movie are more realistic shades of grey, instead of the usually shallow black and white ones that most simplified movie plots depict.
The director Alfonso Cuarón (director of the famous recent movie Gravity), pretty nicely depicts a world where hope is lost and all is shot to hell. And yet, we are shown the human side of things, where common people try to survive against all hopelessness and unnecessary violence. Even the violence is depicted with empathy, where we feel the unnecessariness of it, and the shock of its sad aftermath. And in spite of its dark dreary background, the movie gives us a message: that however dark and hopeless the future may appear, there is always hope...
On the whole its a pretty decent flick. Much better than your run of the mill Sci-fi action movies that attract so much audience. This is certainly not for everyone. But if you like sensitive movies, that add a pack of pretty slick action, pace and suspense, then you will certainly enjoy this movie the way I did.
My Ratings: 4
I have never been much of an Old-Black-&-White-Movies guy. Not until recently, I began exploring some such old movies. And I am surprised to come across some really fine ones, even for their time! This is one such movie...
It reminds me of Fail Safe, another awesome Black and White movie I recently watched. Both are based on a similar premise - what if, by mistake or deliberately, someone triggers a military action that will lead to a certain Nuclear War? Whereas Fail Safe is a very serious movie, Dr. Strangelove is a black comedy on the same subject. And yet the seriousness of both the movies cannot be undermined
The name is pretty misleading. At least the Dr. Strangelove part. For though there is a character with that name in the movie, he hardly appears for a few moments somewhere during the second half of the movie.
The movie is full of a lot of zany characters, with unusual names. We have a Russian Premier named Kissoff, a US General named Turgidson, and another one named... Jack D. Ripper :-P And each one plays an equally zany role in this really eccentric movie. Some of the witty dialogue will make you laugh out loud and long. For instance: "Gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the war room."
The comical storyline might over-shadow the fact that the props and effects shown in the movie are really nice for their time. The bomber plane's flight is traced quite nicely by the camera. And though, one can sometimes discern that the plane is really a model being moved over a set or a background motion picture, other times the plane's flight looks very real indeed. Not to mention breath-taking and elegant... The instrument panels displayed look realistic too (at least to a layman like me who has never set foot inside a cockpit).
The story has its moments of suspense that keeps us holding onto our seats. But the tense atmosphere is soon broken as the scene shifts from serious impending catastrophe to idiosyncratic high-level politicians and military men bungling up the efforts to avert the said catastrophe...
The actors have played their part really well. I personally liked the acting of Peter Sellers who has played all the three roles (Group Captain Mandrake, the President and Dr. Strangelove himself) quite admirably. Though his acting as Dr. Strangelove appears a bit over-done, and gets overshadowed by his other two brilliant roles. And by the way, I was not aware that the three roles were played by the same actor, not until right this moment, when I checked out the Wikipedia page for the movie to get the names of the actors ;-)... I also liked the acting of George C Scott as General Turgidson.
There is something very serious about this supposed-to-be-funny movie. In the guise of a black comedy, it gives a very important message: It shows how greed and paranoia led up to an Arms Race. How building up an arsenal of Nuclear Arms as a Nuclear First Strike deterrent, might not always work. How the Fail Safe mechanisms put in place to avoid such an event may fail. And how we can end up destroying ourselves if we don't stop being so paranoid... The Cold War is thankfully over. But not the danger of a Nuclear War wiping us out altogether, even in this age...
My Ratings: 3
It is difficult to imagine a movie without the spicy elements of action, adventure, romance, omnipotent heroes, deadly villains. And yet, imagine a film that has a puzzle as its central driving force. Actually, a series of puzzles...
Imagine you wake up in an unknown room. The last thing you remember is doing something ordinary in an ordinary and familiar environment, like your home or your work-place. And the next thing, you wake up in this room. Its a medium-sized room. A cube-shaped one. All painted uniformly with a single colour. Each wall has a little hatch at its center. Ladders lead towards the hatch from up, as well as down. Hand-holds on the ceiling to access the one there. You go and open a hatch. it leads to another cube-shaped room. Albeit, with a different-coloured lights / walls. Each hatch opens up in another cube-shaped room.
Where are you? How did you come here? How do you get out? Why are you here? What is this place? How do you get out of here? And while you are trying to figure that out, you better watch your step. For some some of these rooms may hold unpleasant surprises...
This is the puzzle of the cube. It starts with a set of strangers trapped in a series of cube-shaped rooms. How did they get here? What is this place? Who built it? What is its purpose? Why were they brought here like this? How big is this place anyway? And where the heck is it? The movie does not complicate itself in order to explain away these conundrums. Though, the characters engage in rational discussions while they try to figure out what exactly is going on. As the story progresses, they try to contemplate on some rational possibilities to these questions. And their probable conclusions are revealing, intellectual, profound and rational.
There are no heroes and no villains here. No known heroes at least, and no known villains. Just a bunch of strangers in a race against time to solve puzzles of the cube - that's what fuels the pace of the movie. And finally, it is a revealing exploration of how humans react under pressure, exhaustion and desperation...
It does not explore the past lives of the characters much. Nor does it add unnecessary emotions and romance. Yet the personality of each character is plausibly well defined as the movie progresses.
The pace of the movie never slackens. Every few minutes, we are treated with new revelations about the intricate puzzles of the Cube. And though the movie purposefully does not clutter it plot to answer some of the questions about the purpose and existence of the Cube, it does end with a satisfactory, if a bit unexpected climax.
Its a well-thought of movie, that may not have achieved financial success, but, over the years, has become a cult classic. To this day, it remains one of my favourite movies in the puzzle genre (not that there are many movie to appear under this genre - unfortunately).
If you like movies with a bit more brain and a bit less spice in them, an unusual and unique concept and rational plot-line, then you will certainly enjoy this one, the same way I did.
My Ratings: 4
Not many movie series can boast of sequel that's better than the original. But this is one of them. The second movie in The 3 Investigators series, is certainly better than the first one. If you are a hard-core fan of the T3I, or if you have read the book The Secret of the Terror Castle, then please don't expect the same story from the movie. The book was one of my favourites and I was quite disappointed to know the kind of liberties the movie makers have taken to almost completely change the original story... Though it was to be expected, considering the first movie which was completely different from the original book (except for the title, the central characters and a few little details here and there). The same can be said about this movie.
And yet, the movie has a charm of its own. The direction is ok again, but better than the first part. The story, though quite different from the original book, is better too. More complex than the first movie's story, it also boasts more puzzles, thrills, humour and action.
Lets look at the central theme of the movie. The Terror Castle itself. From the day I read the book, I have always been fascinated about the Terror Castle. Time and again, I have tried to imagine how it would look like. The Terror Castle portrayed in the movie does not necessarily match the one in my imagination. But it certainly is worth appreciating. The setting, design and portrayal of an old abandoned castle full of mysterious devices and an unsettling brooding atmosphere has been done quite nicely. The story about who built the terror castle and why is entirely different from the original one. And though it is not as good as the original (may be that's my personal prejudice), it certainly is complex, plausible (within fictional limits) and quite interesting.
As for the central characters, the three kid artist portraying the Three Investigators have played their part pretty well, as in the previous movie. Jupiter Jones is smarter than before. We get to know some more about his personal life in the movie (which as far as I remember, has not been explored much in the books). Pete and Bob both add a nice touch of humour. Apart from these famous trio, we get to meet some other characters famous in the original book series. For instance, we get to meet Uncle Titus Jones and Aunt Mathilda (but only for a minute or two). And we get to see the great Rolls Royce, and its chauffeur, the famous Worthington, whose short role has been well-portrayed in the movie. And we also get to meet some other characters, like the eccentric sheriff, an equally eccentric girl who falls for Bob, and the spectre of Steven Terrill, the century old creator of the Terror Castle.
Rational explanations of almost supernatural mysteries and almost impossible puzzles has always been a hallmark of the original T3I series. The movie-makers have tried to keep this in mind as Jupiter his pals try to figure out some almost seemingly inexplicable events and occurrences in the story. There are some obviously glaring holes in the story. But one can always ignore them as the story hurtles along with a steady pace.
The T3I have been known to be tech-savvy for their time. But time and technology has changed a lot. And the arsenal of tricks up the sleeves of these new 3 investigators looks like some stolen props from the Spy-Kids movie. But the movie-makers have tried to keep the use of these hi-tech devices to a minimum, and rely on the cranial abilities of Jupe in order to solve the major puzzles in the story.
If you are a die-hard fan of the T3I, and can still manage to forgive the movie-makers for not being faithful to the original story, then this movie is worth watching at least once. Certainly a welcome addition to the Kids Movies genre...
My Ratings: 3
At first there were the fairies and the giants, magicians and evil witches, magic and myth that made up the major mass of kid stories for ages. Then they became a bit more sensible when mystery and adventure were used to make these stories entertaining. But this era of relatively rational kid stories did not last long. The kid story genre was thrust into the Dark Ages as once more the crutches of magic and fantasy were used to entertain kids, instead of real-life down to earth adventures. But before the rise of this Dark Age, there were the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Famous Five... and the Three Investigators...
As a kid, I stumbled upon T3I while reading a Hardy Boys book. At the back was a full list of titles. Mystery of the Terror Castle, Haunted Mirror, Moaning Caves, Talking Skull. The titles captured my imagination. Soon I had my first T3I book in my hands and I was hooked. For the longest time, I trawled the net in search of any TV serial, any movie, animated or otherwise, about the T3I. After reading the books, staring at the covers and the illustrations for long wistful moments, I was eager to see the terror castle, the haunted mirror, the Jones Salvage yard, the T3I headquarters. But alas! No one seemed to be interested in making a TV series or a movie on such an awesome series. Sad...
And then, a few days back, I stumbled upon this movie. The Three Investigators - Secret of Skeleton Island. Someone had finally made a movie out of one of the T3I books! I had to watch it! And I did.
The story is nice. It has its usual set of ups and downs. Suspense and Puzzles. Humour and action. But as far as I remember, it is not faithful to the actual story in the book. There are quite a few differences. But that does not make it in any way boring or uninteresting.
The cinematography is quite nice. The shots of some of the natural beauty of South Africa are quite breath-taking. So much so, that it looks more like an advertisement for SA Tourism rather than a T3I movie.
The direction is OK - your standard one for Kids movies. But some of the sets and props are quite nice. The Jones Salvage Yard and the T3I headquarters are quite nicely and imaginatively portrayed in the movie.
The actors have acted well. Especially the kids playing the three investigators kind of fit their roles quite well. Jupiter's acting was good, and so was Pete's. Bob's was a bit over-done, but it was charming in its own way.
Frankly speaking, I was a bit disappointed. Being a die-hard hard-core fan of T3I, I find it disappointing that the movie-makers took the liberty to change the actual story to such an extent. Agreed, it was targeted at South African audience. Yet, for me it was disappointing. Moreover, I have always thought, that the T3I would make a great animated TV series. It they would stick to the original story-line, it would make a great series. So the portrayal of T3I as a real-life movie was a bit disappointing to me, personally.
And yet, the try was worth it. Our generation of kids enjoyed the T3I books so much. And I wish that the kids nowadays, who are so enamored to Harry Potter and similar new-age stuff, should be introduced to the T3I universe. And I hope that this movie (and its companion "Secret of Terror Castle" - which I plan to watch soon) would prove an ideal platform for doing just that.
My Ratings: 2.5
This movie is not about Monsters.
It has aliens. And Soldiers fighting them. But it is not about Aliens. And it is not about war. And certainly not about Humans fighting Aliens.
And its less of a Sci-Fi movie, more like an art flick. Somewhat like the movie The Road, only less intense, less apocalyptic, less tragic and much more positive.
If you are expecting any of this masala (spicy) stuff in this movie then I recommend you go watch something else. You and this movie may have compatibility issues.
If you are still reading on, it probably means you are open to watching something that is more substantial, subtle yet meaningful than the mindless movies that depict the above mentioned scenarios. If so, then this little piece of audio-visual treat may surprise you.
In defiance to what its name and its story-line may suggest, its about a little voyage. Involving two humans. One is a photographer. Another is the daughter of his boss, a big-shot publisher. He is unwillingly entrusted the responsibility of leading her out of Mexico and back into US across the "infected zone".
Science-wise, the premise about the aliens and how they appeared on earth is sadly quite shallow. Nor is the depiction of the aliens original or inspired. But it does no injustice to the story-line which uses the alien "infestation" as a base to build upon, nothing more.
The characters of both the protagonists are complex and very well-sketched. He is a care-free soul, unscrupulous when it comes to savouring the little joys life has to offer. She is a some-what disillusioned woman, probably searching for a meaning out of the meaningless chaos that life sometimes appears to become. The chemistry between them is depicted pretty nicely.
The dialogues are pretty thought-provoking. The one I liked best was a sequence where the lady asks the photographer (who is dying to get a good shot of an alien's attack) "Doesn't that kinda bother you, that you need something bad to happen to profit from it?" And his answer to her is mind-blowing. I wish I could quote it here, but that would ruin your experience of actually stumbling over it during the movie.
The script and story are well-crafted enough. For instance, the sequence about how they loose their only chance to leave Mexico via a ferry ride over the sea, is both comical and tragic.
The post-apocalyptic scenes of a countryside ravaged by calamity are sometimes visually stunning, sometimes subtle, beautiful and touching. Its a pretty slow movie. Don't expect quick and stunning action from it. It has a slow but enjoyable pace of its own.
The direction and photography are technically pretty amateur, crude, by commercial movie standards. Yet the story is depicted with maturity and empathy. The visuals are artistic and pleasing. In spite of its slow pace and not much action involved, some of the scenes build up the suspense pretty nicely. It makes good use of the background score and audio effects to do that.
And in the end, we are left to wonder, who exactly are the "Monsters" in the movie?
This is a little unknown gem. It was released in 2010, and I don't remember ever hearing about it. Like all the best movies I have ever seen... yes yes, I know I am repeating the phrase... I did "stumble upon this" one too, while trawling for such unknown gems over the net. And am I happy about this find.
My ratings: 3.5
If you ask me a list of my most favourite Bollywood movies, Iqbal will feature in the top 5. Like most of the finest movies I have ever seen, Iqbal was an accidental discovery. Until I stumbled upon it, (thanks to a friend who was heavily into p2p and 'import-export' of movie rips), I knew it only by name. Which led me to draw completely baseless and wrong conclusions.
But all my misconceptions were shattered as I plunged into the life of Iqbal as depicted in the movie.
The movie starts with a cricket match being broadcast over radio. The radio is in a remote village, surrounded by lots of villagers listening in on the action taking place on a ground somewhere far away. One of these villagers is a pregnant lady. When the announcer announces the victory for the Indian cricket team, the crowd erupts in applause and jubilation. It is during this celebration, that the lady feels the first pangs of labour. And that's how Iqbal is born.
One thing Iqbal shares with his mother is the passion for cricket. But he never gets an opportunity to follow his passion. The reason being the handicap of being born deaf and mute. And the even greater handicap of being born in a poor peasant's family. His father, a hard-working farmer, wants Iqbal to help him out in the fields. But its not farming that drives young Iqbal, its the passion for the game. But his physical and economical handicaps come in the way.
With unfulfilled dreams and desires, life looks grim for Iqbal. Then one day an accidental encounter with a drunken fellow in the fields changes his life forever.
To say that Iqbal is a movie about cricket would be like saying that Mumbai is a city in India. Its true. And yet hardly touches the tip of the iceberg. No its not about cricket. Cricket is just a platform to build the story on.
As the name suggests, it is the story of Iqbal, his dreams, his struggles, and his final triumph against all odds.
Its also the story of a mother, a peasant's hardworking wife, who is ready to go to any lengths - even go against her husband - to help her son realize his dreams.
Its the story of a father, a poor peasant toiling day in and day out to help his family make ends meet; who only wants what he believes to be the best for his son - even if he has to be hard on him.
Its the story of a sister who believes in her brother; who becomes his ears and his voice; and who, with undying dedication, supports him every step of the way.
Its the story of a brilliant cricket player who was robbed his chance at glory; who, giving up all hope, whiles away his lonely days in a drunken stupor; and who has to rise again and find his own redemption as he helps a deaf and mute boy reach a goal millions dream of, but only a handful can achieve...
The script is very well written. Nagesh Kukunoor's direction is superb as always. The characters are so realistic and well sketched, it hardly feels like a bollywood movie at all. Equal justice is done to all the characters, not just the character of Iqbal. All the actors have performed very well. Shreyas Talpade who plays the role of Iqbal, has taken great efforts to portray a deaf and mute boy. Its not easy to express your emotions without the support of words. And Shreyas does it effortlessly. Naseruddin Shah, one of my favourite actors, plays the role of the drunkard former cricket player superbly as always. The role of Iqbal's kid sister played by Shweta Prasad is brilliant. I liked her performance most. Preetksha Lonkar and Yatin Karyekar have done justice to the roles of Iqbal's patents by their great performance. Even the role of the antagonist, the famous cricket coach who turns down Iqbal, is played very nicely by Girish Karnaad.
There are many movies about sports. Quite a few about cricket itself. But few can manage to make the workings of the game interesting, entertaining, and effortlessly weave it within the tapestry of the movie itself. This movie does it so brilliantly and plausible that I almost applauded during the movie's climax...
I could continue ranting about how good this film is. But after reading this, don't you feel like watching the movie instead of reading my raves and appreciation? Well then why wait? I enjoyed this movie. And I hope you will enjoy it too...
My ratings: 4.5 !
Right from the time shaky camera / found footage genre captured my imagination after watching Paranormal Activity and Rec, I have searched for and viewed quite a lot of similar movies. Some were mediocre. Many were disappointing. After a while, it just becomes s.o.s (same old story). Boring and repetitive.
But sometimes, a movie comes along, that does something different with a worn out formula, and leaves a mark on your memory. One such movie was The Last Exorcism... When I read that the movie used shaky camera technique, my first impression was: "Paranormal Activity meets The Exorcist"... Which proved wrong.
To be frank, the movie does not have anything new to add to the well worn shaky camera technique. The acting is strictly ok. So is the direction. But the real winner was the story. I will not disclose exactly why, except for stating that its a pretty rational take on the ritual of exorcism. The only thing that one might not like is the twist ending that might leave a bitter aftertaste for the rational viewer. Personally, I enjoyed the end as well.
My rating (for "The Last Exorcism"): 3.5
And then I stumbled across a sequel to this nice flick. I was surprised, because as far as I could tell, there was nothing left in the climax of the first movie to warrant a sequel. Maybe it won't be the continuation of the same story. But a different story with different characters but same central theme? I was wrong...
If you enjoyed the first movie, and expect something similar, you will be disappointed. First of all, the sequel veers away from the shaky camera technique used in the first movie. It has your traditional movie camera work. Secondly, it continues the story from the first part, which by all means should have ended right there in the first part itself. And thirdly, the theme of the story is entirely different from the brilliant theme of the first part. So by all counts, the sequel is a disappointing flick.
But why do I mention it here? Because there are two things that make the movie stand out.
First is the brilliant direction and camera-work. Its pretty neat for a horror flick. They have made good use of the light and the settings instead of excessive and unnecessary use of CG. The direction is nice too. Throughout the movie, they have managed to maintain the pace. Instead of using blood-and-gore or horror, the movie creates an unsettling atmosphere, which manages to satisfy the hunger of the horror movie fan.
Second thing worth mentioning in this movie is the acting of Ashley Bell who enacts the lead protagonist. Sometimes a bit overdone, her acting still manages to seem very convincing and professional. She certainly has good acting potential and I hope she does not get stereotyped for these kind of roles only.
But both of these good attributes cannot hide the disappointing fact that the story of the sequel is really below average. Yet these two points make it worth watching once, if not more.
The movie ends with an opening for yet another sequel. But I seriously hope they don't go for it. As it is, the current sequel was stretching it a bit too far. Stretch it more, and the rubber-band will break...
My ratings (for the sequel "The Last Exorcism II"): 2.5
It was a dark winter evening. Just past 7. The room was dark, as I put on the TV. It was the year I had to take a drop during my Engineering studies due to too many KTs. My confidence was running low and I found myself in a self-imposed house-arrest.
So there I was, unable to concentrate on the studies, with my mood as dark as the evening, I put on HBO. The movie had just started. I had missed the name by seconds. I was about to switch the channel, when the screen told me that this particular anonymous flick was based on a true story... 'Oh, is it?' I thought with mild interest and decided to stick around and see what it was about...
To my surprise, the very first scene started with the radio broadcasting the launch of Sputnik - the first man-made satellite to be launched into space... From that point on, I was hooked.
During my childhood years, I had a fascination for space and space-travel... So any movie having anything to do with space was bound to capture my interest... So I stayed on for a while... And ended up watching the entire movie....
The start is a bit slow. Its where the stage is set, the characters sketch themselves, slowly taking shape as they blend into the story.
Its a biopic of a boy named Homer H Hickam. Homer is born and brought up in Coalwood, a typical American "coal town" - a town built around the coal mine. A town where each boy follows his fathers footsteps into the coal mines as a miner. Only one lucky guy will escape this predestined fate - the one who can bag the sports scholarship.
Homer is no good at sports, unlike his brother. His father, a supervisor, who has spent all of his career in the mine itself - for whom mine is the only way of life - wants Homer to either win a sports scholarship or follow his footsteps into the mine...
Overshadowed by his brother's achievements, stifled by his dad's expectations and unable to come to grips with the fact that he may well have to spend the rest of his life working in the mine, life looks grim for poor Homer...
Then one day, a single little event changes the straight predestined course of his life. On an evening in October, he sees a majestic shooting star in the sky. But this is no ordinary celestial body. Its the first man-made object to revolve in orbit round the earth.Its the recently launched Russian satellite Sputnik. As he gazes with awe at this man-made wonder in the sky, he suddenly realizes what he wants to do in his life...
Does a movie require bad guys, super heroes, gorgeous heroines, romance, disaster and the climactic fight between good and evil, to be entertaining? This movie proves that age old formula wrong. Here dream and determination are the heroes, and difficulties, obstacles and fate are the villains.
It glorifies a boy who dreams to be different. A father who wants the best for his son. The clash between a fathers expectations and his sons dreams. A teacher who inspires her students and shows them that sports is not everything, and that science can be a fun hobby too.
Its a movie about an era that's now long gone. And yet it manages to entertain as well as inspire even today...
May be I like this movie more than others will. It still featured at the top of my most favourite movies list. And there is a reason why...
It was my dream to become an astronaut or at least an astronomer. As I grew up, I went for Engineering instead. It was my dad's dream, and I just went along with the flow. And the dream remained just that - a dream.
And here I was at a point where I seriously doubted my choice of a career and how good or bad I was in it... It was at this low point of my life, that I stumbled upon this gem of a movie... Not that it changed me for the better. But it gave me hope that some dreams do come true...
My rating: 5
