The Times they are a Changing

Somehow Dylan’s timeless lines come to mind. America is changing, the Age of Superheroes is giving way to the Age of Introspection and turbulence. And the movies are following suit. Motivational guru and executor of retrenchment mandates, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) criss-crosses America in a life wherein emotional detachment is part and parcel of what he needs to be, But how detached is he? Up in The Air is about Ryan making the connection with what he believes to be a kindred perpetually airborne soul, and then losing it. It is about a man, bereft of family and emotion, his only definable goal in life being the accumulation of 10 million frequent flyer miles, landing in bland landscapes, spreading the chill wind even as he ostensibly helps people find meaning in their new state of catastrophe. Most of all, it is about the relationship between Ryan and Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a newly recruited hotshot, who breaks in with new paradigms of operational efficiency in the art of firing people, but eventually finds her soul. This is a difficult movie to watch in parts, and I really wonder what kind of people labeled this in the comedy genre. This is a different Clooney, detached, reserved and vulnerable, as he changes with the ebb and flow of those whose lives he is tasked to change for the worse

16/20

Fake Money, Real Feeling

Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is perhaps the world’s best counterfeiter – and a Jew in Nazi Germany. Apprehended for using counterfeit money in a casino, and sent to a concentration camp, Sally finds himself part of an elite and select group of people with complimentary talents. Starting with IDs and passports, the group moves on to the defining mission – the forging of the British Pound – and delivers. In the meantime, the war and the horrors of the concentration camp rage on around them – and the question of whether they are actually helping finance the bankrupt Nazi war effort becomes the overarching moral question and Sally’s source of increasing discomfort. In the face of great pressure, the team manages to delay the “delivery” of the US Dollar – enough to see the tide of war turn and liberation ensue. Not without the poignancy of many innocents falling victim along the way. With a narrative that uses a clutch of small incidents – the man who finds his children’s passports in the paperwork, the “second-hand” clothes from the gas chambers of Auschwitz, the TB patient who has no medication and is shot down even as Sally almost trades in the dollar for the medication – to show just how strong and weak people can simultaneously be, in the face of incomprehensible adversity. Based on the largest counterfeiting operation in world history, Karl Markovics (Sally), protagonist of Die Falscher (Counterfeiters) will make you ponder over your own frailty

16.5/20

Human, Weakness
Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) is a NASA scientist who will never be an astronaut, while wife Norma (Cameron Diaz) has lost use of one of her feet in a tragic accident. And they both need the money. Along comes the money in the form of The Box that asks them to choose – and they have a choice of getting no less than a million dollars – with a price tag – they can choose to take the money, but a person, unknown to them, will die. The money is useful, but life gets really complicated. An alien lifeform is invading the minds of people they know, and before they know it, they are subjects of a bizarre social experiment that demands and takes from them the ultimate sacrifice. Hair-raising and genuinely scary in parts, this is worth a watch for the noir-style exposition that all comes together at the end. Richard Kelly is the same man who directed Donnie Darko, remember?

11.5/20

Corn-y

What a twisted world we live in! Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), family man and star performer of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), blows the lid off a global price fixing racket in lysine, in The Informant!. The same draws the attention of the FBI and together they literally bring the house down. And the movie takes off from there. With generous brushstrokes of noir, the lines between justice being served, and Mark Whitacre’s own relentless pursuit of the ADM corporate ladder become blurred. Things get even murkier as Whitacre is discovered to be on the take well into the investigation, a fact that may destroy the prosecution’s case in its entirety. The movie rounds off with a large sentence for Whitacre – justice served or denied? Well you need to decide for yourself, because director Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11 to 13, Erin Brokovich, Solaris) wants you to make up your own mind in this dark comedy

14/20

The Arsonist

Here is a modern day top morality play, starring the yet-again wronged-in-respect-of-family Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). But Law Abiding Citizen is over the top poetic justice! The two men who kill his family – and one of whom strikes a deal with the prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) to do in his partner, do not reckon with a “spy” having plotted and schemed their demises ten years later. After ensuring that the death row inmate does not die a painless death, he takes out the partner, with slowness and cruelty. The rampage continues, Philadelphia is brought to a halt, when will the cleansing of the system end and the rage subside? There are limitations to the extent to which this story has been carried, and even Gerard Butler appears unconvinced in parts about the extent of his actions. All part of the plot – or not?

10/20

Game On

Never never never underestimate Gerard Butler. In terms of the most recent “good to great” finds of Hollywood that need to replace a galaxy of stars that are past their fifties, Gerard Butler does himself little discredit and delivers another great action performance. Not a great character actor in the mold of say Christian Bale, this actor is a perfect compromise between the latter and say an all out action hero like Jason Statham. The plot of Gamer is hackneyed – death row inmates in a live television fight to the finish, a certain (and impossible) number of wins for a pardon. The protagonist does not fail to realize that he is not getting out the easy way, that there is too much at stake if he does. So he gets out the hard way, and with the help of some counter-culturists, gets back his family and ends the TV regime of the aptly named Slayers. Have fun, till the next meaningful Gerard Butler movie

13.0/20

An Unconvincing Love Triangle

The success of Ishqiya is Arshad Warsi to a great extent and Naseruddin Shah to a good extent. The failure of Ishqiya is Vidya Balan. What can you say of a movie in which pretty much everything except the central (female) protagonist came together, where I can imagine the frustration of the perfectly good scriptwriter, editors, cinematographers, etc al, when the central character appears somewhat disinterested in the goings-on. Now to the plot. Arshad Warsi and Naseruddin Shah are “freelance” crooks – needing to repay a large sum on threat of their lives, they flee to a kindred soul’s home in northern UP near Gorakhpur, finding instead his widow. The three hatch a plot to get their required money, while the two men lose no opportunity at one-upmanship in winning Vidya Balan’s attentions. A dramatic and somewhat inconclusive ending wraps up this passable fare, that could have been an Omkara if only the cast cared. For a debutant (Abhishek Chaubey) this is great directorial fare, though Vishal Bharadwaj as producer fails to take the movie to a different plane

10.5/20

Doubly Brilliantly Executed

You may have seen Race. You may find the B&W Hollywood era a drag. You may not see the point of watching a movie that dates back to World War II, and stars Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (who???) All I have to say is, get out there and watch this movie. For this is character acting at its finest, with overtones of say Twelve Angry Men. Phyllis (Barbara) falls for insurance agent Walter Neff (Fred), and the two hatch a plot to effectively profit from a “Double Indemnity” clause in the life insurance policy of Phyllis’ husband, so kindly provided by Walter. The two work out an unlikely accident, and all is on track (literall), till Walter’s astute colleague Barton Keyes (Edward G Robinson), inch by inch, and with clinical examination of various hypotheses, finally unearths the plot. But this is not all – a lot of skeletons fall out of Phyllis’ cupboard, and in the end it is Walter and Phyllis staring at the just desserts for lives poorly led. Un-missable performances

15.5/20

Rann from the Press

Ram Gopal Varma produces an Indian morality tale that, by genre, should really belong to Madhur Bhandarkar (remember Page 3, Corporate and Traffic Signal… how did he miss the visual media??) In fact the undifferentiated clutter, mediocrity and one-upmanship that is the Indian TV news manufacturing industry was crying out for a solo performance in the likes of Page 3 and Mumbai Meri Jaan – and has got it now. Now to the movie Rann. Vijay Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh) is the pliiar of ethicality in journalism, but his two sons – played by Rajat Kapoor and Sudeep respectively – are not. One motivated by the TRP wars and a personal battle for financial survival, the other rooting for an opposition leader’s scam and corruption tainted rise to prime ministership. Both of them almost implode their lives and the channel, and hand over the baton of the most respected news source to the competition. It takes a firebrand Ritiesh Deshmukh as the impressionable newbie to even things out – but not without some collateral damage. The story lacks originality in all respects, but the cast holds it together well. Notables - a great performance by Paresh Rawal, and some pretty provocative lyrics on the fly. BTW, a near empty hall on Saturday evening, second day, shows how enamored Mumbai is of morality tales

11.5/20

Easy Sell

If you have seen the brutal Indian “retail sales” culture firsthand, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year strikes an immediate chord. Harpreet Singh Bedi (aka Rocket Singh) is the quintessence of naivete and idealism (and that too not backed by great grades, as a trainee), and totally out of place in cutthroat computer retailer AYS (At Your Service) where sales clearly predominates over service. Things come to a head when Rocket Singh in all his innocence almost loses the firm a client whose liaison is clearly on the take. The firebrand in the Sardar takes over, he moonlights with a bunch of likeminded people and starts a renegade firm within the firm – Rocket Sales Corporation – that creates a proposition around impeccable service and very soon gets a small but valuable client audience. The encroachment is not lost upon ATS and its honchos – and Rocket Sales is unearthed and swiftly amalgamated. But not so the service culture and the loyal customers. This movie will strike a chord with anyone who has hated the quarter-on-quarter run rate and commission-driven sales culture. Not the least because Rocket Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) clicks as the naïve newbie with fire-in-the-belly beneath the baby face

13.5/20

More like “The Book of Conning Women”

Do you really want to know a rating for this movie? There is no possibility of really saying anything redeeming about American Pie Presents The Book of Love. This is a bunch of wasted American teenagers whose primary purpose in life is to get laid. Through a mix of faux-pas-es at house parties and various malls and other such, the dudes finally refine their strategy through stumbling upon a chain-diary of sexual escapades by the old masters. They connect with these dudes - many of whom are now captains of academia and industry (American kids always seem to have the time for this sort of thing..), and eventually score on a ski trip. There, you now know the plot. Now go watch something else

3/20

Super-Sleuths

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law play unconventional super-sleuths as Guy Ritchie boldly re-incarnates Sherlock Holmes. At first (and, especially, not having read the graphic novel), it appears that this is a more of a mix of the typical graphic novel elements - mature themes encompassing the dark occult, complex relationships and the like - than vintage Holmes. The movie eases up after a while, and in the end, when all is clarified, you may be forgiven for having believed somewhere along the line that this was a bit too noveau a reincarnation. Irene Adler adds a classic touch to the melange, and the female leads as well as the villian and his retinue, are exceedingly well-developed characters. An easy watch, with new dimensions to offer on the central character, an out-and-out hit, and a great entertainer that does not falter

16/20

A Night to Remember

If you remember Bheja Fry, you realize that when Rajat Kapoor and Vinay Pathak team up, they could go wrong but not very wrong. Raat Gayi Baat Gayi is a low frills release from their stable – the first caught with his pants down lusting after a delectable Neha Dhupia at a party (did he? Didn’t he?..) and the second evicted from home for surfing porn. The two set out to unearth the truth and in the course of the same, many skeletons tumble out of the closet. Neither comedy nor drama, watchable but unmemorable fare

10/20

To the Moon and Back

Given that this is a private blog, I think the Moon deserves a closer description lest I forget later what this was all about (at the cost of giving away some of the movie’s secrets). I remember watching Solaris and 2001 and their ilk and the loneliness and silence of space, and I got that same eerie feeling all over when I saw Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) at the fag eng of his 3-year long mining stint on the moon. Sam Bell ventures out to study a leak, and finds himself next at the sick bay in the base station. Ventures out again to the crash site, and finds himself – or a copy of himself – at the site – alive. Succeeds in hatching a plan to return to earth and succeeds in bringing the diabolical plans of The Lunar Corporation to light and put an end to the trauma of clone usage in the mines of the moon, all clones that have been implanted with memories of lives back on earth that were never theirs to begin with. A science fiction movie that is convincing, touching and flawlessly executed by Sam Rockwell in two concurrent avatars, and Kevin Spacey as the voiceover for GERTY, the resident robot who faces moral choices – and chooses right

15.5/20

And Here Are My Rankings (For Movies Released In 2009 And Reviewed Herein Under “2009”)) Under A Few Categories:

BEST MOVIE OVERALL: District 9

Comedy: The Hangover

Hindi: Kaminey

Drama: Taking Woodstock

Politics/ War: Inglourious Basterds

Thriller/ Action: Public Enemies

Graphic Novel/ Animation: Watchmen

Sci Fi: Star Trek

Bombs, Away

Like Enemy at the Gates (snipers), The Hurt Locker focuses on a single war-zone (Iraq, circa today) and one category of soldier (bomb detection squads). Unlike the morality tales like Lions for Lambs, The Kingdom and Body of Lies, there is no lesson purported to be delivered herein. This is about the intensity, and the role of each of the members of an elite bomb detection squad, in the heat of combat. Unavoidably, the groups gets embroiled in other aspects of war that is strictly not their domain, such as sniping across vast expanses of desert, or giving chase to bombers across dark urban alleyways in the dead of the night. The spirit of the group is epitomized by Sgt Matt Thompson – who returns injured and cussing from the epicenter of battle to home and family, and then in an epiphanic moment in a supermarket, decides to return to the Bravo Company for another 365 day stint at what he really loves doing. Great “action” sequences delivered with a deliberate lack of melodrama

14.5/20

A Perfect Little Movie

You may actually like A Perfect Getaway, if for no better reason than the fact that there is nothing obviously wrong with the movie. Cliff and Cydney (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) and Nick and Gina (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez) are two couples doing the long hike across a Hawaiian island, and strike up a friendship. And a (reasonably predictable) twist later, the couples find themselves in a race against time and each other on the island. A fact paced movie, reasonably believable, well-acted, uncomplicated, low-engagement, and with a comely cast. Time-pass fare and decent, even

12/20

Get The Formula Right

And how much better could London Dreams have been only if the music was right! In a country where, as far as I can make out, people are falling over each other trying to out-sing each other on every single (of two dozen) TV channels every single night, to have sub-standard music in a movie where the core is supposed to be musical talent, is a travesty that is unforgivable (and the audience did not forgive – this was one of 2009’s quiet deaths). And then there is the cast. Salman Khan is great as the foil who becomes the lead, Ajay Devgan is watchable, Asin – the third key character in the movie – has nothing to do except jive on stage with the group and show her obvious lack of fit for the role. London Dreams should have spent time studying Rock On and its likes to figure out what made these movies click – spending a bomb on the sets is no excuse for a surprisingly bad job

5/20

Normal Activity

There is nothing much wrong with Paranormal Activity. It is just that the horror genre is becoming woefully bereft of any fresh ideas. Yet again there is a movie that chooses to place you in a familiar setting – a regular couple in a regular affluent American suburb, and the gradual changes in their lives on account of an increasingly intensifying haunting. The “lack of originality” problem is compounded by the average cast and the truly mediocre script (for one, find the burning curiosity of a day trader continuing his incessant surreptitious solo investigation of a phenomenon that does not really concern him, less than believable). End of the movie, I felt boredom with the horror genre itself. Post Mirrors, I cannot think of a single movie in the horror genre that has not been an out and out disappointment

7/20

What Idiots!

3 Idiots is a perfect example of why Bollywood is not world class. Here is the perfect showcase for explaining what learning is all about. 3 students – one from a lower middle class background who desperately needs that job, another from a slightly “better” background and with an unrealized passion (wildlife photography), and lastly – the protagonist – Aamir Khan as the precocious nonconformist who time and again shows how engineering should be taught, while excelling at it in evaluation and in tests of real life. All great so far. What is incongruous is a full blown romance (and a poorly cast Kareena Kapoor whose large framed glasses cannot quite obviate her glamour quotient), a sloppy treatment of all subjects to do with medical care – insensitive vignettes on a paralytic, unscientific child delivery, and a second paralyzed man who comes to his senses through an improbable turn of events – the whole approach appears trite and insensitive – and not in the least uncommon in Hindi movies (though one would imagine that Aamir Khan and his ilk would have raised the bar by now, sadly the Indian audience seems inured to the insensitivity of this stuff). And the fairytale around our protagonist continues in science, in love and in being a general do-gooder. In the end I got the feeling that this movie is about as representative of the Indian middle-class struggle between the need to survive by being on the beaten path vis-à-vis the need to self-actualize, as some of the airy thoughts that I heard from many at various points of time in IIT and IIM – idealistic but only lacking in any real substance, depth or conviction. Saving grace – getting to see the alma mater (IIMB) campus all over again, including (improbably) a good deal of d-mezz (my ex-wing)

7.5/20

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

No reviews of Bollywood movies for 2009 would be complete without a mention of Kaminey. Shahid Kapoor is in a double role (why is this so endemic to Bollywood?) as Guddu – the simple folk in love with the minister’s daughter Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) and Charlie – a man at home in a life of crime. Oh, and Guddu and Charlie are identical twins. But this movie is not about the inevitable and hackneyed faux pas that ensue between the brothers (and Bollywood has so much of that that that could emerge as a genre in itself). This is a movie about the sheer nature of people, and Vishal Bhardwaj’s (Maqbool, Omkara) triumph is about showing that people – or most – are inherently rotten out and out, and the movie leaves this message without a twinge of cynicism. Where Kaminey strikes out on its own it strikes a chord – it fails wherever it attempts a Tarantino – the kill ‘em all shootout for example does not click, by a mile

13.5/20

Talking about a Revolution

Eliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and family are down and out. The man leaves a mediocre job uptown to salvage what he can of his parent’s motel in the Catskills. One nondescript day, upon a chance encounter, Eliot finds that there is the possibility of helping host a major hippie music concert in a neighborhood farm, and that would bring in business to the dilapidated motel. Things are not quite what they seem, and the few hippies metamorphose into the half a million visitors that would define a generation by Taking Woodstock and would change Eliot’s life forever. Another masterpiece from Ang Lee of Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame. However, the movie could have done with a little more of Woodstock and a little less of the Tiber family – just to show what it all meant, if you know what I mean

13.5/20

Men without Women

Peter (Liam Neeson) has the perfect – or not quite so perfect – marriage with Lisa (Laura Linney) and Lisa is dying. All of a sudden, Peter has to contend with the trauma of the revealation that his wife’s various business trips were cover up for a raging 10-year long affair. Investigations lead to Ralph (Antonio Banderas) and what follows is a cat-and-mouse game where Peter tries to draw in his quarry to the final confession. It takes the eventual demise of Laura and subsequent vignettes, to uncover the fact that The Other Man was no other man at all. Intense exchanges between Neeson and Banderas – watch this movie if for no other reason than a study in the emoting ability of two great stars

12.5/20

B Grade beyond a Doubt

Michael Douglas in 2009 incongruously creeps into a B-Grade movie called Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, that captures two ambitious men – one a potential candidate for District Attorney (Michael Douglas – Mark Hunter) and the other a very ambitious investigative journalist (Jesse Metcalfe – CJ Nicholas) looking for his Pulitzer-winning scoop. As CJ relentlessly pursues his quarry, including using newfound love Ella Crystal (Amber Tamblyn) from the opposing camp’s office, the shocking truth about Mark’s rise to power is overshadowed by revelations from CJ’s own no-holier-than-thou past. And in the end, all the three in the lead cast end up losing in the game of life. Strictly onetime fare, and not particularly well made

10/20

Avatar = Reincarnation or Recycling?

Avatar does not seem to be a movie that is suited to the Indian cynic as audience. What of Ehwa (Gaia?) in a distant planet, an indigenous people with lifestyle and roots in the bounty of nature around them, their inevitable conflict with the human race and its endless quest for resources – this is all schmuck, says the Indian audience. And I cannot help but agree to some extent. There is a been-there done that aura about the movie – whether it echoes the indigenous tribes and fragile ecosystem of the Brazilian (and a dozen other) rainforests, or whether the unlimited greed for mineral resources brings to mind America’s global warmongering in search of oil, it seems that the core of the movie is drawn around a rehash of all-too-familiar elements and the fact that these elements are of course finding increasing resonance in an increasingly aware world does not take away from the fact that the core of the movie is somewhat unimaginative. But what is undeniable is the sheer quality of the graphics and the overall cinematography – the attention to detail and the sheer quality and complexity of the visual imagery bring to mind Jurassic Park – another genre-defining milestone in the use of technology by Hollywood. This is a movie that is likely to be a resounding commercial success in the short to medium term, but on a more measured inspection both critics and the junta may find it wanting

12/20

Hope this is the Twilight of This Series

In some quirky way, I can actually empathize with a vampire romance series. I suppose there are people out there who would find a love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf respectively, intriguing if not downright charming. And I also suppose that if I had the inclination to read the Stephenie Meyer novel that forms the basis of the series, or had watched the first part, some of the movie may have actually made sense to me. The fact of the matter is that none of these aforementioned wonderful things came to pass. So here I was, watching The Twilight Saga: New Moon wondering what’s going on. Which viewer in his right senses would be moved by the mediocre acting, the uninspired dialogue, and the downright horrific graphics. Was left wondering how the disjointed pieces that came together in the movie fit together. Wondered whether someone actually expected that the revelation of Jakob Black (Taylor Lautner) as a werewolf was actually a matter of suspense. In the end, I could not recall a single thing that I actually liked about the movie. And this is one of those reviews that I am glad I am penning down, because two weeks down the line I am not going to be able to recall a single thing about this eminently forgettable movie

5/20

Shoot thy Enemies

Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Joseph Fiennes and Ed Harris capture both the all-out poignancy of war as well as the fraility of man in the face of personal and extraleous challenge, in Enemy at the Gates. Easily one of the best war movies that I have seen, young Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), sharpshooter from the Urals, finds himself the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad on account of his superlative sniper skills. He also finds love in the beautiful Moscow-educated Tania (Rachel Weisz) and the two catch some fleeting intimate moments in the midst of the horror. The fame and love awaken jealousy in no small measure in Commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) who clears his conscience in one last cathartic act. And the showdown between the deer-hunting German nobleman sharpshooter Major Konig (Ed Harris) and Vassili is the piece-de-resistance of the movie. It is a rare combination of the depiction of the large-scale brutality of war coupled with the cat-and-mouse game of the two sharpshooters

16/20

Raining Ninjas

Expect high octane hand to hand combat with ample servings of blood and gore – possibly the first movie that is singularly focused on the Ninja for a while (leaving aside cameos in Kill Bill and Batman Begins) in Ninja Assassin. The story is stereotypical – a trainingground for Ninja assassins tucked away somewhere, a set of orphans in captivity being trained to be the soldiers of one of the nine ninja clans. Protagonist Raizu (Rain) loses love and questions the autocratic ways of the master, and leaves the clan - a battle with the clan ensues in Germany (why Germany??) and later spills over to the homestead. An eminently watchable no-holds-barred action movie with some brilliant combat sequences and consistently good cinematography

14/20

(Indian) Gangs of New York

The theme is hackneyed now. We have not forgotten Khuda Ke Liye nor New York. The cast may not be the best in the world. But what is remarkable about Kurbaan is the Indian cast fitting in seamlessly into what is a pure Western milieu – the archetypal American suburb. And for a Hindi movie, the pace of the movie can also leave you breathless. Saif Ali Khan courts Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) on Delhi campus, trails her to the States. A series of revelations later, Avantika finds herself, along with eponymous righteous and recently bereaved (of colleague and fiancé Dia Mirza) Muslim journalist Ayaaz (Vivek Oberoi) find themselves in a race against time to prevent an attack on the subways of New York. The performances are fair (Saif Ali Khan) to excellent (Kiron Kher) and the disturbing undercurrents of life in the American suburbia are well-portrayed

13/20

Reserving Judgement (Day)

Roland Emmerich of Independence Day, The Day after Tomorrow and Godzilla fame brings another doomsday magnum opus that seems to be pieced together from all three, with a few dollops from say Volcano and the likes. 2012 starts well and the heightening agitation of Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) as events start unfolding that give credence to barely believable theories, and the ame along with the sense of urgency of young scientist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are quite well depicted. In fact it is quite remarkable that the failure of this movie is identical to that of The Day After Tomorrow - a lack of believability in the emotional content - beyond the fact that Jackson Curtis does appear to be attached to his kids, every other interpersonal relationship in the movie for some reason appears contrived - and this is just why all of the one hour or so oard the ark is quite excruciating. In summary, it will be difficult for Emmerich/ Hollywood to keep attracting audiences to these doomsday sagas with ever-improving special effects alone - the movie needs to hold together with genunie human emotion - the rest is just programming

12/20

Uncharted Waters

..And every instinct in me tells me to warn you – don’t watch Blue (Hindi). The plot is non-existent. The players are bland and stereotypical. Words cannot describe Katrina Kaif’s lack of emoting ability. Akshay Kumar’s need to acknowledge that he is growing old. Sanjay Dutt’s insult to an action movie by landing up with a devil-may-care resplendent paunch. The fact is – the movie is spectacular. The diving scenes are as good as any (only minor shades of difference from a full blown Hollywood diving movie like Out of The Blue). This is allegedly one of the most expensive Bollywood movies ever produced, it is surely one of the most spectacular. And it is great to see that Indians look at home in what is an out-and-out adventure sport in an international location. Do not miss this movie – the visual spectacle (the Bollywood stars being at home in the water, not the marine life) is quite extraordinary

13.5/20

This is Not It

How much better a documentary could Michael Jackson - This is It have been! Perhaps the makers of the documentary, instead of being in a hurry to cash in on the inevitable interest following the demise of the superstar, should have spent some time and got this one right. While the lack of a voice-over lends authenticity, there is nothing in the documentary that shows any facet of Michael’s personality, nor does it show or purport to show any change in the superstar. What of the clashes with the media, the eccentricisms that finally culminated in the allegations that destroyed his life, the competition and the peers that he left behind. While this documentary is ostensibly oriented around a set of backstage shows in London, the fact of the matter is that this one could have made much more of its subject matter, especially given its timing

8.5/20

Come Confess

As Chuck Barris, Sam Rockwell given the performance of a lifetime, in this intriguing blend of cinema noir foreseeing the coming of the brooding graphic novel movies a half decade or so later, and blending it with a scathing indictment of the travesty that is modern television, in Confessions of A Dangerous Mind. The skewed moralities of adolescent sex, killing without compunction for the greater good of the United States, the numerous women and the singular lack of attachment and the double-crosses, and the overarching peddling of the “lowest common denominator” of reality TV brings to the audience a movie that swings from passion to global intrigue to self-flagellation. A movie that leaves me reflecting on the overarching question of seeking our own individual identities and the eventual price of fame

14/20

Sleepless Dreams

Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale is a haunted man. Of horrifyingly thin visage, tormented by illusions indistinguishable from reality, he has not slept in a year. He tries to come to terms with the present – but strange visitations, bodies in the freezer that do not exist, chased by cars that belong to him, visits to the coffee shop and the lady there, and her son and which of them is real – it is all difficult to make out what is reality and what are, well, the dreams of The Machinist. This is a role that has absolutely no resemblance to anything that I have seen from Christian Bale, and clearly shows just how great an actor this Hollywood find-of-the-decade is. A cathartic movie, that makes clear that the Machinist did sleep at times, and all the visitations were really about his darkest fears and greatest regrets

14.5/20

Little to Report

Observe and Report fits the mood for the lowest common denominator in popcorn fare. While I am about to trash the movie below, because of its sheer lack of imagination, the fact is that this movie does not pretend to be anything more than it actually is – a strictly “one time viewing” experience of a mall security guard and his fantasies of being a policeman, and his trying circumstances – an alcoholic mother, a group of misfits for friends, a bunch of chronic haters at the police force, a two-timing here-today gone-tomorrow girlfriend. Indeed Ronnie’s (Seth Rogen) life is so miserable that you almost end up wishing that the underdog would finally make it. And he does – somehow

5/20

The Strangest Resistance

Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) gives a stunning performance in Tanantino’s latest – Inglourious Basterds, - that sees alternate history as two parallel and similar plots are hatched to put an end to the Third Reich. Rather limited in the insanity quotient, and actually serious in parts, the plot revolves around the Nazi-killer team led by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and their encounters. Typical chapter-based Tarantino narration – the first scene about the purge and introduction to the central character of menace, the long scene and encounter wrt Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) in the basement, the showdown between Hans Landa and the German actress, are the most memorable. The inexplicable fact of Shoshanna owning a theater in the heart of Paris explained away rather trivially, the sharpshooter Pvt Frederick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl) and his mixed emotions, the ramblings on Goebbels’ propaganda, the strange silouhette of Marcel and his giant pile of inflammable film make sure that Tarantino’s quirky touch is very much alive and kicking. A mellower, more circumspect Tarantino, but enough to keep fans engaged

15.5/20

The Darkest District

In Metamorphosis, Kafka explores social reaction to a man being transformed into a giant insect. In Blood Diamond, bounty hunter Leonardo DiCaprio shows the best and worst of humanity as he races through strife-torn Africa to liberate a family. District 9 has a Blair Witch Project style reality TV format buildup – aliens land up in Johannesburg with little to offer and nowhere else to go. They are stigmatized (“prawns” as epithet), victimized (“humans only”), and isolated and forced to live in a giant slum on the city outskirts. Their only hope of returning to their planet finds an unlikely hero in the form of Wikus Van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), who, largely motivated by his own desire to return to normalcy, brings hope of deliverance in a disturbing milieu. District 9 manages to showcase the best and worst of man – persecution and sheer human cruelty, the arms race, and the profiteering from vice, in sharp contrast to the coming of age of Van De Merwe and his last gasp effort that gives the “prawns” their only last vestige of hope for escaping from the cruelty of man. An outstanding movie and one that, irrespective of the analogies I began with, I find it hard to think of a parallel

17.5/20

Taking to Pasture

If U2 were to play in Mumbai or Bangalore, it would pretty much indicate that the band's shelf life in terms of live shows has run its course in the Western World. Why would the likes of U2 submit themselves to poor infrastructure, non-discerning crowds and possibly poor execution. In the same light, I would hope and pray that The Taking of Pelham 123 is not a dirge for two of the greatest stars that Hollywood has ever seen - Denzel Washington and John Travolta. A low engagement movie with poor visual effects, a very weak storyline, and - above all - extremely poor camera shots and - lo and behold - we actually saw two Hollywood greats in a B Grade movie! The list of the number of things that could have been done differently in the movie is endless, suffice to say that we hope that for the continuance of their careers, Denzel and John choose their next respective engagements with a lot more forethought
7.5/20

Go Joes!

Expect the usual blend of high quality special effects and hand to hand physicality from GI Joe - The Rise of Cobra. A circumspect Duke (Channing Tatum) is on a mission to deliver certain warheads, runs into a skirmish with the “Joes” and ends up joining them, an enemy mission with former flame Ana (the Baroness, ie Sienna Miller) steals back the warheads, and a race against time ensues to save the worls from destruction. The series sees the creation of the GI Joe core team as well as their arch villains (Destro and Cobra). This is straight-up unbridled action without the morality tales of the Marvel comics superheroes that held our breath all of 2008. Good entertainment without appearing too gizmo-laden for comfort

14/20

Laying Down, the Law

Rarely do you find a TV series that brings together panache, endless style, and in the same breath cold logic and quality of debate that at moments can leave you breathless. Boston Legal's little caselets seem to veer in one of two distinct directions. The first set throw really unexpected surprises, sometimes a trifle contrived, that nonetheless keep the viewer engaged. The second are the real piece-de-resistance - the cases where there is a slam dunk logical argument presented, where all the facts of the case, dear viewer, were available to you, and you were nowhere close to working it out. And it is this second set that completely distinguishes the serial - at times I fould myself pausing the DVD and asking myself - "What could he possibly say next? What could extricate him from this hole?" A serial focused on litigation sanitizes law, takes away the dust and grime of endless hours of grunt work, and displays the smooth polished surface of glamour and confrontational argumentation. This is a TV series that is near perfectly casted and scripted. Near impossible to better (till the next one comes along, I suppose!)

18/20

Vile Fare

Is Borat degenerate? Is it a bit too over the top? What has the movie tried to depict anyway? Has it poked fun at a particular community because they are the way they are? Or has it picked a community at random and gone over the top? What sense do some of the sequences make, anyway? You Dont Mess with The Zohan is a refined version of some Eastern-Europe bashing, that I happened to see some time before I saw Borat. And Zohan was reasonably entertaining without being offensive. But I come back to the original question - what is the purpose of this movie? What is the reason, notwithstanding all disclaimers, that the sundry communities who are denigrated in this movie, will not find the movie offensive? Sorry, but I tried to laugh right through, but somewhere down the line, felt that this was really tasteless fare

7.5/20

Alas!

Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is the sheet anchor central role in Alias. Without her tantalizing mix of emoting and physicality, this is a TV series that would simply fall apart. Consider the weaknesses in the plot. Do you seriously believe that something like the SD-6 is proliferant in the US in terms of the scale and scope? Are you expected to believe that it occurred to none of SD6's inmates that they have never been to, and never deal directly with, Langley (including to Sydney, for a period of (hold your breath - seven years))? Father and daughter, two double agents living under a knife, and their CIA handler, meet on an almost daily basis and even speak on the phone and exchange messages. And what on earth are the artifacts of Milo Rambaldi and the Nazi - allusion justifications of seeking the occult becoming a matter of national security? If it were not for Jennifer Garner, we would never have heard of this series. Having said that, one has to give some weightage I suppose to the sheer entertainment value of the series. The episodes, standalone, are engaging and if one simply skirts the complicity of believability, Alias is as good a timepass as any

10.5/20

Enemies of an Ineffectual State

Public Enemies tests the thespian skills of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, but hardly to their limits. John Dillinger, hardened Depression-era bank robber pulls off audacious heists right under the noses of the law, and follows up with equally audacious escapes across state lines. The latter prompts the then head of the police forces, J Edgar Hoover, to set up a law enforcement organization that cuts across state lines called – what else – the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The romance with Marion Cotillard arouses a (on hindsight) misplaced twinge of sympathy for a hardened criminal. The movie is about the chase and how John’s world is slowly decimated, not only in the face of concerted legal action, but also on account of the return to prosperity of America that takes away several of his partners in crime. An interesting movie, but could have had a lot more to offer

13/20

Stalking and Entering

Mickey Rourke continues where he left off with The Wrestler, and in the tradition of gracefully ageing Hollywood stars, to deliver quiet menace as a cold blooded murderer in Killshot. Diane Lane and Thomas Jane (the Colsons) are witness to a crime, enter witness protection, and then are hunted down by Armand “The Blackbird” Degas (Mickey Rourke) and the hare-brained violence-prone character of Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The performances are hard, the pace engaging, the outcome uncertain till the last minute. This is the return of the unadulterated thriller. Best watched in a movie hall, though. What next from Mickey Rourke I wonder? Or from John Madden (the class that brought you Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Proof clearly shining through)

14.5/20

Echelons of the Inquisitive State

What is the Echelon Conspiracy? Max Peterson (Shane West) can hardly believe his luck as he receives phone messages from an unknown source – the first saves his life from a plane crash, the second makes him a lot of money in a casino. The gravy train abruptly ends and Max finds himself in the custody of the FBI trying to help track down the “sender” of the messages. Nothing is quite what it seems, and the messages are discovered to come from a wholly unexpected source on the lookout for an “upgrade” denied to it by Congress. A fast-paced movie with a somewhat lame ending. Shane West would have a future in thrillers, though

14/20

Faith Cures All

A modern day fairy tale, a heartwarming drama with a positive ending, a man with a terminal disease and sundry others cured, the power of prayer. It would be touching if it was not a trifle trite. A movie like Henry Poole Is here panders to a certain type of gallery. While I have all respect for faith, I cannot condone movies that take self-renewal to a level beyond believability. But then, I suppose that a movie like this is meant to be low on realism and high on faith. Whatever happened to Bucket List style pragmatism and courage in the face of adversity? Why the recourse to such easy ways out? But do listen in to the soundtrack

9.5/20

Four of Five was Enough

With twists that start about fifteen minutes into the movie and end in the last fifth, Five Fingers is an engaging drama that brings out the nuances of the war on terror and throws up questions on aspects of interrogation technique. On the surface, Ryan Philippe is this Dutchman with a Moroccan girlfriend and a happy idealistic life, a job at a bank and a passion for working with an aid program for “the children of the Rif mountains”. Scratch the surface and nothing is what it seems, and the twists in this movie and the cat and mouse game between Ryan Philippe and Laurence Fishburne will leave you spellbound. Once you figure out the context of the movie, I have no doubt that you will rank this among the best on the war on terror – the element of surprise taking it to a league above the likes of Body of Lies

16.5/20