Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010) : A Review

What does a movie that blends the genres of action, romance, musical, fantasy and comedy remind you of? Definitely Bollywood for me. But, Edgar Wright has managed to put all these elements into a crazy Hollywood movie which is not even remotely Bollywoodish in nature. Based on the graphic novel series by Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a fantasy-musical-action-comedy along the lines of Stephen Chow flicks which are mad, energetic but also extremely entertaining.

The movies revolves around Scott Pilgrim(Michael Cera), a bass guitarist for the band named "Sex Bob Ombs". He starts dating a Chinese high school girl Knives(Ellen Wong), but one fine day when he meets Ramona, he falls head-over-heals in love with her. From that moment, he starts ignoring Knives and begins wooing Ramona. But little does he know that to gain Ramona's love he has to fight her seven evil exes.

Spoorloos (1988) : A Review

The Usual Suspects, Sixth Sense, The Others, Seven, Fight Club, Identity, Saw, I have seen them all, so there is no ending out there that is going to shock me. Right? And that too from a movie of the late 80s. Well Spoorloos challenged me, crumpled my belief and threw it in the waste bin. Spoorloos not only has one of the most shocking endings in the movie history but also a satisfying one.

There are some spoilers ahead, so I must warn you that if you not seen or heard about this movie, then stop reading further and run down to your nearest DVD library or wherever you can locate this gem of a movie.

Spoorloos a.k.a. The Vanishing, directed by George Sluizer is a Dutch/French thriller based on the novel "The Golden Egg" by Tim Krabbe who has also written the screenplay for the movie. It begins with a young Dutch couple Rex and Saskia on their way to Tour De France. They halt near a gas station on the way and Saskia gets down to buy some refreshments. When Saskia doesn't return, Rex starts searching for her in vain for the next three years. The story then shifts to Raymond's perspective, who is a regular French guy with a wife and two kids and the one who has kidnapped Saskia. We are shown how Raymond prepares for the kidnap with some humorous unsuccessful attempts. After three years of Saskia's disappearance, Rex suddenly starts getting postcards from the kidnapper and he decides to launch a fresh search campaign. Raymond one day reveals himself to Rex and offers him to tell everything about Saskia provided he accompanies him to France. Rex's curiosity to know the whereabouts of Saskia makes him accept the deal and they both start for France. On the way to France, Raymond reveals more about his character and the motivation behind the kidnap.

Chloe (2009): A Review

These days, you would find a plethora of movies that start with an interesting premise and run out of juice midway. Atom Egoyan's Chloe, a remake of a French erotic thriller Nathalie,  is an addition to that list.

In the movie, David(Liam Neeson) and Catherine(Juliane Moore) are a middle aged couple who have found a perfect balance between their professional and personal life. When David fails to turn up for his surprise birthday party, Catherine goes through his messages and starts suspecting him of cheating. His flirting with the waitress the following day, further adds to her suspicion. She decides to keep a tab on him and hires an escort named Chloe(Amanda Seyfried). Chloe has to meet David in a restaurant, start a conversation with him and report back to Catherine on the developments. Chloe updates her with the stories of their meetings that are leading to a sexual relationship. Her stories start arousing Catherine and she finds herself gradually getting attracted to Chloe, leading to some complex situations.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) : A Review

The story of Deathly Hallows Part 1 continues from where it left off from Half Blood Prince. Dark Lord and his associates have taken over the ministry and began tormenting and prosecuting the Muggles in the Wizarding community. After Dumbledore's death, Harry, Hermione and Ron are on their own and have to find the Horcruxes while on the run and destroy them to bring down the Dark Lord.

The Harry Potter series has come down a long way from the heavily toddlerized Philosopher's Stone. The boys have become men and the girls have turned into nice women. I must say that this is the most complete movie in the series. Unlike the others, the movie doesn't take a hurried approach and gives ample time for the story to unfold. This had been possible only due to the division of the story into a 2 part movie. I wish the same approach was taken for some of the other movies in the series. The story though drags a bit where Harry and Hermione continue their search in the absence of Ron, but this attributes to the same dragging sequence in the book. The Part 1 concludes well and doesn't look like an incomplete movie. Kudos to director David Yates and the screenplay writer Steve Kloves for this.

Chiriakhana (1967) : A Review

Byomkesh Bakshi is a popular, fictional private detective from Bengali literature and was created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay inspired from Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Having only seen his Apu trilogy prior to this, Satyajit Ray for me has always been an auteur who gave utmost importance to realism while the movies of that era were mostly melodrama with heavily theatrical acting. Therefore, it aroused my curiosity of how Ray would have treated a story that didn't belong to his sensibilities (or so I thought as I didn't know about Feluda then).

Chiriakhana (which means Zoo in Bengali/Hindi) begins with Byomkesh and his friend cum trusted associate Ajit awaiting for their next case when it finally knocks their door. The client, Mr.Sen who is a retired judge, runs a reformist colony (named Chiriakhana) which houses some of the ex-convicts who were sentenced by him. He seeks Byomkesh's services to investigate a song that he overhears someone humming in the colony. Byomkesh figures it out to be a song from an abandoned film whose actress cum singer is accused of a murder and has been absconding ever since. One day Mr.Sen suspects something and requests Byomkesh to visit his colony urgently when someone murders him while he is still on the call. Byomkesh now has to investigate his client's murder and also link the mystery of the song with the murder.

POSTER POURRI : Polish Movie Posters

I stumbled upon this unique art form of film posters from Poland. Apparently the poster art started in Poland sometime in the late 19th century and evolved over the years to its current form. It is characterized by its peculiar use of colors and its abstract and surreal nature. Poster art is not just limited to film posters but extends to business advertisements, theater, politics and other arenas as well. Here I have put up some samples posters comparing the Polish posters[on the left] with the Hollywood ones[on the right]. Though I like them both, Polish ones look more artistic and hence demand more respect.

Apocalypse Now

    

Jaws

    

Platoon

     

Roman Holiday

    

Rosemary's Baby

    

Star Wars

    

Sunset Blvd.

    

Vertigo

    

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_School_of_Posters
http://www.cinemaposter.com/ [Contains a huge collection of poster art for purchase]

Adam's Rib (1949) : A Review

I have just finished watching Adam's Rib and am still smiling while writing this review. This is a charming, romantic, comedy about the battle of sexes fought mainly by the two protagonists, played to perfection by Ms. Katherine Hepburn and Mr. Spencer Tracy.

Adam's Rib, directed by George Cukor, starts with a house-wife following her husband to the mistress' place and fires shots at him in anger. The husband survives and the wife is charged with an attempted murder. Adam(Tracy) and Amanda(Hepburn) are a happy lawyer couple who till now have managed to keep their profession out of their personal lives. Adam, a public prosecutor, gets the case to prosecute the wife while Amanda takes it up to defend the wife. Their arguments in the courtroom by day, gradually mounts tension in their domestic lives in the evening.

Videodrome (1983) : A Review

I have come across this movie many a times in the past, but I always for some reason have given it a miss. But after seeing so many blogs placing this movie in their best-of-horror list (for the Halloween season), I decided to give it a try.

The movie starts with Max Renn - the president of a controversial TV channel "Channel 83" that airs shows on porn and violence - coming across a transmission of a violent snuff-video called Videodrome. The video captures Max's attention for its grotesque and realistic nature and he shows interest in purchasing it for his channel. This leads him to Prof. Brian Oblivion who believes that television has the power to alter the reality of its viewers. O'blivion's recordings make Max realize that Videodrome is not an act but rather a real torture video which induces a tumor in the brain of those who watch it and eventually causes hallucinations. He himself starts hallucinating about his abdomen splitting open, the TV getting alive and inviting him, etc. From then starts a surreal journey of Max trying to uncover the mystery of Videodrome.

Writer/Director David Cronenberg very effectively conveys the idea of the television's extreme power to manipulate the thoughts of the viewers. And people finding even real violence to be entertaining, shows how adversely the medium is affecting the audience. James Woods is natural to the core and comes up with a faultless performance. Only other movie in which he has done so well is "Once upon a time in America". The make up and special effects are excellently done, especially in the scenes where Max's abdomen splits open and where the gun merges his hand.

Do not expect a hard core horror, which it is not. Rather, expect a thought provoking, surrealistic sci-fi that would leave you thinking long after the movie ends.

The movie has quite a few quotable quotes which explain the philosophy behind Videodrome.

"Telivision screen is the retina of the mind's eye and it is a part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore whatever appears on the television screen emerges as a raw experience for those who are watching. Therefore television is reality and reality is less than television."

"The visions cause the tumor and not the reverse. The visions coalesce and become flesh. The tumor removed was called Videodrome."

IMDB Page
Trailer

Rated

Nine (2009) : A Review

Musicals have never fascinated me. Even classics like "Wizard of Oz" and "Sound of Music" could not grab my attention. But Rob Marshall's musicals have evoked a certain interest in them.

Nine is Marshall's second musical after Chicago. It tells the story of the star director Guido Contini (Daniel Day Lewis) who after giving a spate of flops, is struggling with the script of his come-back venture Italia. Luisa (Marion Cortillard) is Guido's wife who is an ex-starlet, now retired and supporting her husband. Though she has sacrificed her career for him, she often feels neglected by Guido. Carla (Penelope Cruz) is Guido's mistress who is madly in love with him and can not stay away from him. Stephanie (Kate Hudson) is a fashion journalist fascinated with the work of Guido. Lili (Judi Dench) is the costume designer for his movie. She is a friend who Guido confides in. There is Guido's late mother(Sophia Loren) whose always comforts him in moments of despair. Sara (Fergie), the prostitute from his childhood, who danced to him for money, and gave him the first ever lessons on sex. And finally his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman) who has been his inspiration for most of his movies. Guido has to find the script for his movie while struggling to manage the relationship with his wife and the mistress while also seeking help from these women.

Nine is similar to Chicago in terms of the treatment, but is more personal in nature. You sympathize with the protagonist and relate to his problems. And the credit should definitely go to Daniel Day Lewis who has time and again proved that he is one of the greatest actors alive. His portrayal of a director who has to find a balance in his professional and personal life is brilliant. Marion Cortillard portrays her character with a lot of depth. Penelope Cruz once again proves that she is as versatile as they come. Nicole Kidman brings the aura of a diva to the character. And all the women look gorgeous in the songs. The actors should be lauded for their vocals and dancing skills as much for their acting. Special mention should go to the cinematographer who makes each and every frame look picture perfect with brilliant use of lighting. And finally the director who envisioned such a beautiful looking musical.


PS: I know its a musical based on the Broadway show which in turn was based on 8 1/2. But I am glad that I haven't watched the originals and hence safe from the comparison syndrome.

IMDB Page
Official Site
Trailer

Rated

Where the Wild Things Are (2009) : A Review

Director Spike Jonze, who in collaboration with Charlie Kauffman gave us gems like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, comes up with another beautiful, coming-of-age fantasy "Where the Wild Things Are".

It is the story of Max, disobedient but a lonely eight year old boy. He often wears a wolf costume and pretends to be an animal. One day his divorced mother brings her boyfriend to dinner. Max insists on showing her the castle that he has built and when she ignores him, he wears his wolf costume and throws a fit. When she tries to stop him, he bites her and runs away from home. He reaches a remote wild place where he encounters several monster like creatures. He convinces them that he is a great king who can solve all their problems. Carol, one of the monsters, is an impulsive and destructive monster, very much like Max. KW is a female monster who often leaves the group to meet a secret friend which irks Carol very much. Max and Carol form a friendship owing to the similarity of their nature.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) : A Review

Based on the popular video game, Prince of Persia hit theatres this weekend worldwide. The pre-release buzz was very poor and so we managed to get the tickets easily on the opening week. The trailers for the movie were not too exciting and that set the expectations to an extreme low.

The story goes like this. The King of Persia gets impressed by the fearlessness of a slum orphan Dastaan(Jake Gyllenhal) and adopts him as a son. Tus, the eldest son of the King, on the advice of his Uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) raids the holy city of Alamut. With the help of Dastaan, they succeed in seizing the city. Meanwhile somebody conspires against Dastaan and he becomes the victim of a conspiracy that charges him with the assassination of the King. He flees the kingdom along with the Alamut princess Tamina and tries to bring forth the real culprits behind the conspiracy, while also trying to save the world from destruction.

BOLLY REVIEW: Mission Istanbul (2008)

I had the great fortune of discovering this movie called "Mission Istaanbul" starring Zayed Khan and Vivek Oberai. It falls in the category of "Its so bad that its fun". I would put it in my hall of fame movies along with "Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani" (# 1 in my list), "Qahar", et al.

Zayed Khan is Vikas Sagar, an IIT graduate with a computers degree and working for Aaj Tak as a journalist. He has absolutely no work experience in computers but is supposedly a computers expert (the expertise in which field? Not mentioned). He is infamous for his face-to-face interviews with the terrorists who put on a mask while recording a murder video but forget about it during the interviews. Vikas decides to move on to "Al Johara", a news channel in Istaanbul, for better opportunities of terrorist interviews. "Al Zohara" boss is a crooked looking, suspicion raising individual who is doing some confidential activities on the highly secured 13th floor of his office building. "Al Zohara" has a hall of martyrs room with portraits of all the journos who died mysteriously during the terrorist interviews. Sunil Shetty is the latest victim of Al Zohara. Vivek Oberoi plays "Rizwan Khan", a mysterious local, who keeps warning Vikas of the dangers at Al Zohara. He is supposedly a cool guy who can do loads of action with both hands and guns. Rizwan is capable of single handedly gaining access to the 13th floor but needs a computer expert to hack into some system. That is where Vikas comes into picture. The rest of the story is how these two guys unveil the mystery behind the 13th floor.

The movie is extremely entertaining due to its unintentional humor. Watch it to believe.

Highly Recommended for the same reasons as "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

IMDB
Trailer

Three Days of The Condor (1975) : A Review

Three Days of The Condor is a 1975 movie directed by Sidney Pollack. Josey a.k.a. The Condor (Robert Redford) works for CIA in the literary department where they read books from different nations and feed their plots and other suspicious content into the computer, for analysis. One afternoon, he goes for lunch and on return finds all of his colleagues assassinated. Thus starts his run from the perpetrators which also includes the director of his division. Josey kidnaps a young woman (Faye Dunaway) and with her help tries to solve the mystery behind the killings and the actual people behind them. A German professional hit-man (Max von Sydow) is hired to track and kill him.

The story of the man on the run reminds you of some Hitchcock classics. The movie is a fine thriller and no where do you feel the pace getting slowed. And the idea of CIA trying to control the oil producing Middle Eastern nations is so very relevant even today. Robert Redford plays the ordinary man stuck in a fatal situation with ease. Faye Dunaway looks extremely beautiful. But it is Max von Sydow who is excellent as the assassin and completely steals the show with his great presence.

Overall "Three Days of Condor" is a pretty entertaining fare.

IMDB Page
Trailer

Rated