All Movie

Another good site abt the movies: http://www.allmovie.com/

Christendom Overdose

Dan Brown’s eponymous novels clearly do not translate to the silver screen. While The Da Vinci code was merely insipid, in Angels and Demons, the latest edition, the incredulity of generating antimatter in a pilferable bottle in Zurich that Implodes in 24 hours (remember cold fusion in Moscow in The Saint?), the agony of following antagonists that need to commit heinous acts in indecipherable patterns, the casuality of interaction between papacy and the hoi polloi, and the overarching theme of an irrelevant conflict in today’s day and age (Illuminati vs the Church) – if it were not for pleasant movie halls and the visual spectacle that is Rome, this would be agony compared to its predecessor’s light torment. Besides, Tom Hanks is ageing and in a merely ageing kind of way, ie not the graceful Harrison Ford way

9/20

The First Trek

The first thing that struck me about Star Trek is the simplicity of execution. For a TV series that I remember for its inherent complexity in terms of the issues depicted, the introduction to the key characters, their motivations and their budding interrelationships is surprisingly devoid of complications. The special effects though undoubtedly top of the line (and hence in sharp relief to the TV series), are by no means the focus of the story. This is about how young leaders take responsibility for thinking through and resolving challenging situations, well too aware of the consequences if they take a misstep. In terms of characters, while Kirk is a little over the top as a brash young man, Spock comes across as the conflicted half-man half-Vulcan with all the inherent conflict in such a character. Not worth # 46 all time on IMDB, but definitely an un-missable movie of the year

16.5/20

If Truth Be Told
Kate Beckinsale puts in a stellar performance in Nothing But The Truth, where a matter of principle is taken to its morally logical end. Much suffering is endured – a family broken, a child’s custody lost – because of the need to protect a witness. The identity of the witness, though, comes as a surprise to all. A movie that has overtones of Angelina Jolie in Changeling – and all the associated undercurrents of prejudices against a woman taking up a cause. This is a movie that gradually builds up in its intensity and rounds off with a delectable surprise. After a long hiatus, a thriller worth the time

14/20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQxdIjyujZA
Times We Are In

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQxdIjyujZA
Times We Are In

Out of this World Consistency

What can I say about the Dreamworks franchise except that for me the name has become an eponym for the perfect animated movie. Monsters Vs Aliens is no exception. Will remember this movie for the fact that Rikk (all of 1.5 yrs old) watched it in total silence. And that is no mean feat for a movie, notwithstanding the large screen and digital audio et al. Reese Witherspoon anchors a near perfect animated performance that sees her co-star with a snob fiance, a genius cockroach, a "missing link", a jello and a giant larva. And it all makes sense, and mankind is saved once again, and none of it looks trite or boring. Rob Letterman (Shark Tale fame) roduces another near perfect entertainer. Go watch it irrespective of age. Any age

15.5/20

The Long Watch

To do justice to a critically acclaimed movie like Watchmen one should have done one’s homework – i.e. have read the cult 12 part graphic novel series. Perhaps that in itself explains the movie’s principal failure. Throught the movie, the viewer does not for a moment doubt that he is watching a remarkable visual spectacle and possibly the most intricate character portraits of superheroes since The Dark Knight. The additional challenge being that unlike The Dark Knight and its likes, Watchmen profiles several different characters at a difficult time for America, juxtaposing their individual moral ambiguities against the tribulations facing a nation. The failing is the attempt to try to condense a 12-part series into a single movie. It is a surfeit of emotions and animation, and the viewer would find it difficult to absorb any train of thought before the movie moves on. This is not a movie to be watched over a 2 hour popcorn munching session. This is incursion into serious moral territory and at the least one should have read the related novels and braced oneself for a 3 hour

10/20

Intrigue Entree

Clive Owen and Naomi Watts lead in The International, that dwells on a topic close to every Swiss Banker’s (at the time of writing) heart – the world of offshore private banking. A personal rant would be that the offshore private banker has really little chance of escaping vilification in this tumultuous economy. Cut to the movie. Fast paced script, action scenes that range from good to exceptional (the one at the Guggenheim in New York), great locales. On the other hand, not much of a storyline, a complete absence of suspense, and the rounding off in an unconvincing morality tale fashion. Worth a watch, but definitely not one for posterity

10/20

Charmed
Vicky Christina Barcelona, like good food or fine wine, lingers in the senses long after the movie. Vignettes stick in one’s mind – in no particular order:
- The beautiful sights and sounds of Barcelona, in a lovely yellow tint. Last time I remember it is the no less beautiful French countryside in A Good Year
- A strictly right-side-of-the-brain movie with art and spontaneity and passion
- Vicky’s confused affections that cannot reconcile till the very end
- Christina’s clarity about choosing ambiguity in relationships
- The torrid Hispanic Elena
- The matter-of-fact narration that lets you draw you own conclusions, unhindered
Watch the movie as a strictly sensory pleasure without judgement. With of course Woody Allen’s masterful hand at depicting relationships

14/20

Grappling with Fate

The hardest thing in life is to reclaim it from your own mistakes. Gradually, you fade into the sunset, or, in the case of Randy the Ram in The Wrestler, into an existence where reconciliation with one’s daughter and seeking means of leading a so called normal life with so called normal jobs, has become one’s raison-de-etre. And then, over a night of being spurned in love, relapse into the ghosts of the past, and estrangement all over again are all brought to a head over a minor incident at the butcher’s shop. And Randy the Ram becomes a wrestler again, and stops running away from his place in destiny. This is a movie without a definitive storyline, and without a definitive end. But you will share the journey of a man trying to find his calling, While the story is heartwarming, the vignettes are somewhat repetitive and the movie a tad too inconclusive.

13.5/20

French Fun

True to the first installment, The Pink Panther 2 begins with much promise by way of Inspector Clouseau’s own brand of semi slapstick humour, loses its way somewhere around the middle, and then finds it again to round off a fairly watchable movie. As far as humour is concerned, one gets the feeling that there is an overlap of far too many elements – the stereotypes, the action sequences, the warped logic, the karate kid family create sequences that are delightful but in certain instances a trifle too much. Good to see Aishwariya in a substantial role, not the least towards the end. The ending is definitely not guessable, though I am not sure whether it is entirely logical. Well, all is fair in Clouseau’s end-justifies-the-means-and-hilarity world

12/20

War of Conscience
What makes Valkyrie clearly stand out from the common or garden Third Reich movie is the depiction of the careful build-up and execution of a plot where a majority of the participants are engaged throughout in a zone of ambiguity where while they are fairly sure of what to believe in, they are not clear about what their role in the same should be. Apart from the clear ideology of von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), the indecision of the likes of Olbricht (Bill Nighy) and the ostensible undying allegiance to the Fuehrer from the likes of Fromm (Tom Wilkinson), make for immense viewing pleasure. In the end, this is a movie set in war where there is not a single genuine battle scene, just the air raids in different circumstances – with his troops and with family respectively – that reinforce in von Stauffenberg his belief in the futility of it all. Rather, this movie is all about strong and carefully constructed character portrayals of a set of distinct individuals who chose to differ from the establishment, but in their own separate ways

15.5/20

Mother of Interviews

In an amazing character portrait, director Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, Apollo 13) pits the dilettante-ish English talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) with all his charm and naivete and susceptibility to “mind games”, against the redoubtable Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) whose pugnacious redoubtable personality was bruised but not beaten by the experience that was Watergate, in Frost Nixon. The clash of unequals is not concluded by any unexpected victory in favour of Frost – it is perhaps more of a case of the former president clearing a heavy conscience, going through a televised catharsis for all to see. Yes, as the movie mentions, television simplifies, and a single shot becomes the summary statement on a complex and difficult presidential tenure. Witness today’s reality shows the need to capture that defining moment that woos audiences and “sums it all up”, while completely missing the undertones, the buildup and the complexities therein. And it takes a brilliant performance by Frank Langella to show us just how acute those nuances can be.

17.5/20

Out.

Once in a while there comes a movie that leaves absolutely no impression of any sort whatsoever. The performances are average, the storyline is reminiscent of many movies that one has seen (in this case, perhaps, that would be say the noble stranger in Norseland of The Thirteenth Warrior, the salivating alien of, well, Alien and the chivalry and romance of say Beowulf), the special effects are nondescript, the emotional content is not engaging. In the last half an hour of Outlander, I guess I had ceased caring about who, including the salivating evil (something called the Moorwen that looks like a Komodo Dragon with lights), lives or dies. Some amount of originality, and a storyline where the producer/director took a few chances with some out of the box thinking, would definitely have helped this movie

7.5 on 20

What Were You Thinking?

W captures the disastrous second stint of George W Bush and the decisions, especially Iraq, that near term history finds difficult to understand. With the highest office in the world, statements of being misled or gullible or plain misinformed are a sorry excuse for taking a country into an utterly pointless war and ignoring a worsening domestic reality. Bush Jr comes across as the quintessential regular guy - authoritarian father who held him in little esteem, a depraved youth of dates and alcohol, the natural abilities shining through through a Harvard MBA, the seemingly effortless journey to the highest office in the land and then all the flaws of character leading to the inevitable. This movie is Oliver Stone's search for why a President was the way he was. Engaging but narrow in its scope

11.5/20

LA Changing
Clint Eastwood continues his glittering directorial second coming with Changeling. While Angelina Jolie is better known for her more “commercial” performances (with the possible exception of A Mighty Heart), here is a clearly well-deserved Oscar nomination. The movie is about a single mother and her boy that goes missing and her search for that boy. In the course of that search, many wrongs are righted – the LAPD is reformed, laws regarding detention without sufficient evidence are passed, a serial killer is unearthed and executed, a boy returns to his family. And in the middle of all this is the poignant undertone of the search by Christine Collins of her son Walter Collins, alternating between hope and despair and taking the viewer along with both

Rating 16.5/20

Thanks for All the Fuss

Slumdog Millionaire, for all the great cinematography, does not really capture the essence of Mumbai. Plenty of Indian movies capture the true stigma of poverty, or the true horror of the underworld, far better. Let us for a moment give Danny Boyle the artistic license, and run through the vignettes here. The depiction of poverty is a sham. The rioting is unconvincing. The beggary racket is trite and equally unconvincing. The fact that each answer coincidentially relates to each (painful) vignette in the life of the protagonist is a cruel joke? Is this even a movie worth making a fuss about? There is great cinematography, but in the end I feel sorry for the legions of Indian directors, unwept unhonoured and unsung, whose far better portrayals of Mumbai go unnoticed simply because they lack the "brand" of a Danny Boyle. If this movie is worth four Golden Globes, some of our movies of 2008 are worth at least as many Oscars

PS: The BBC's Soutik Biswas seems to echo my thoughts - saw this link on 25th Jan 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7843960.stm

Rated 10.5/20

Rating System

With a vew to "crystallizing" my overall feeling about a movie, which is usually difficult, I will apply a holistic single digit as a "rating" to future writeups. This will follow a 1 - 20 scale. Why 20? Because it is easier to think of movies as being in four distinct quadrants:

1 - 5: The truly avoidable movies

6 - 10: The worse-than-average movies (the "average" being the average movie that I watch)

11 - 15: The better-than-average movies

16-20: The good movies, with the upper end of this quadrant being the must-see movies

A Different Western

Appaloosa is not Ed Harris’ directorial debut (there is the movie Pollock from 2000) but is quite a movie. Unlike the conventional Western (and the last I saw was the copybook 3.10 to Yuma), this dwells on a morally ambiguous woman (Alison - Renee Zellweger) and the cast’s interrelationships with her. There is the very public romance with the marshal (Virgil - Ed Harris), the ambiguous relationship with the deputy (Everett - Viggo Mortensen), and then the obvious promiscuity and Everett’s final solution that is as abrupt as it is surprising. Life does not always take the paths that one desires, and sometimes one takes ingenous solutions to get it around to our choices. What truly is the moral high ground of a mere vigilante prone to violence, or the calumny of a villain (Randall Bragg – Jeremy Irons) who is erudite and convincing and commits little that can be unequivocally labeled as villainy in a difficult time.