Day 49, 31 Movies so far

Disclaimer: We've been travelling for the past 3 weeks, so my schedule has been thrown completely out of whack. In the interest of time and my fingers, I'm going to cover the next couple of films as briefly as possible. The blog will be back to steam post this entry.

The Proposal

Surprised the hell out of me. I didn't expect to enjoy this at all, but did - at least till the final act where it gets reduced to horrible cliches and a completely implausible finale. Still, the going is good till then, and it features great comedic timing from Bullock and Reynolds.

Das Experiment

I loved this film. It follows an experiment where everyday Joe's are put into a prison setting, with half of them playing the guards, and the other half, the prisoners. Needless to say, things go horribly wrong, when the players begin to take their roles a little too seriously. This film pulls no punches & is creepy in the max. Its greatest strength (I think) is that, it doesn't take the easy way out and use a dumb plot point to ratchet up the tension. Instead, the film slow boils at an even pace, with every escalation played out subtly, till the end when the drama becomes almost unbearable. A fantastic film, with fantastic performances.

Hearts of Darkness

I've wanted to watch this for years, and am thrilled, that I finally got the chance to do so. A docu, following the making of Apocalypse Now, the film is intimate and harrowing all at once. If you thought that film was filled with drama, wait till you watch his documentary. For the casual viewer, its filled with cool trivia, but on a much deeper level, it acts as a chronicle of Coppola's descent to madness while making the movie. Sample this: During the making of the film, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack, and Coppola (in his own words), screamed "He ain't dead till I say he's dead". They didn't even have a finished script and Copolla drew nth minute inspiration from a local cattle sacrifice, to figure out the end to his film.

This is a must watch. For fans of the film, this documentary is a testament to the blood and sweat that went into creating the masterpiece. If you haven't seen Apocalypse Now (why!?!?), its the ultimate reality show.

Waltz with Bashir

Waltz with Bashir is pure poetry. Nothing I can say will justify how great, a film I think it is. So I won't. Please watch this. It will change the way you see documentaries, or animated films for that matter.

My Sassy Girl

I'm convinced that there was an interesting film in here somewhere. It just wasn't for me. The film is built a burgeoning love story, which in turn is built around more and more ridiculous plot turns. Unfortunately, he final 'twist', intended to explain the prior going ons is so vapid and weak, that the rest of the film just falls flat. Like I said, not for me, and not for most others, I'd think.

Hitman

Its ironic that a game that burdens its player with realism and thoughtful game play would turn out to be such an exaggerated, brainless piece of crap. In short - I loved the game, HATED the movie. Avoid this like the plague.

REC

REC's a good movie and it has enough scares to keep you on the edge of your seat. But for me, having seen a bunch of similar movies before (Blair Witch, Cloverfield etc.), I thought it didn't bring anything new. If you're going to tread familiar ground, you owe it to the viewer to show us something we haven't seen before. This film didn't do it. So, a good horror movie, but I've seen better. Manuela Velasco's performance is really good though.

3 Men and a Little Lady

In my defense, we were in Hong Kong, I couldn't sleep and there was nothing else on. This movie is just plain terrible. OTT performances, a pretentious script and corny cliches. I looked it up and the film was made by Emile Ardolino who also directed Dirty Dancing. Figures.

Evil

Evil is great! (Sorry couldn't resist) Seriously, I loved this film. It follows the lives of boys in a boarding school, and the politics of bullying and power play between the seniors & juniors there. Its really gripping stuff, and like the bullies featured in it, the movie rarely takes its foot off your throat. But beyond being a great thriller, the movie also has several themes in the undercurrent. The hero, Erik Ponti doesn't just fight off the bullies. He rebels against hateful politics, and a society that demands conformity without question. If only, we all had his strength and tenacity.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

This is amongst my top 10 of all time. It is the Hitchcockian film of our time. It gets everything right - a fantastic, nail biter of a plot, great performances (Matt Damon has never been better) , beautiful cinematography, elegant editing and an awesome soundtrack. This is a film whose beauty, is only contrasted by the complicated, layered and twisted Ripley. There's a little bit of him in all of us and that's what makes him so scary. Its too bad Anthony Minghella isn't around anymore. It would have been awesome to see his take on a possible sequel, rather than the follow up trash that's been making its way to a discount DVD bin near you.

Day 27, 21 movies so far

New York

Wow! Times of India actually gave this piece of crap 4 stars?!?!

Bollywood's always trying to be 'different'. by that they mean, they will make a film about a non existent love triangle, involving 3 friends, 2 of whom are married, and one of whom is a suspected terrorist who's master plan is to blow up a building, while he's standing on top of it. What a mess! Completely devoid of tension or coherence, the film rambles on - the story being an excuse to fill in the gap between songs that seem to go on forever. What makes this worse, is that all the actors seem convinced that they are contributing to the greater good, and living up to some higher artistic aspiration. Sadly, they couldn't be more wrong. Between John Abraham's screaming bouts, and Katreena Kaif's hilarious attempt at sustaining her American accent, you just can't find the emotional core of the film. Niel Nitin Mukesh, tries hard and I'd expect more from him. At least on the surface, his character's conflict seems interesting. Maybe he just stopped caring during the production, when he realized how the movie was destined to turn out. Irfaan as usual, is stellar - being the only one who brings any sense of irony to the proceedings.

Kabir Khan's previous effort was the equally bad 'Kabul Express'. At least that film didn't take itself so seriously. This movie is just plain terrible - it makes you wish that the producer's strike went on a little longer.

17 Again

I saw this on a plane, because there was nothing better to watch. I wish I hadn't.

American Gangster

American Gangster is an amazing film. That's a no brainer. I've seen it a couple of times, and it only gets better with each viewing. The plot is fantastic and Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington are on top form here. Like every Ridley Scott film, its strengths lie in pacing, editing and cinematography. I can't help but gush about this movie enough. Which brings me to my next point - Why am I always rooting for Frank Lewis?

Denzel's Washington's Frank Lewis is the consummate underdog. The driver to a mob boss, he rises through the ranks, with commitment, ingenuity and perseverance. Before long, he's got half the Italian mob working for him, owns a couple of clubs, and living in a lap of luxury. But make no mistake - he's a drug lord with serious psychotic undertones. In an amazing scene in the film, Frank seething with anger at his cousin's behaviour at a party, finally snaps, yanking him into a grand piano and bashes his head in. His brand of drug, 'Blue Magic', runs rampant all across New York, but the effects of this are barely skimmed upon, the focus staying primarily on his success. Its as if it doesn't matter how amoral his actions are, as long as he succeeds. Frank's redemption arrives with his act of snitching on his police contacts and serving jail time. But more importantly, Ridley Scott attempts to hold up a mirror to the character, in an amazing scene where his mom, played by Ruby Dee finally confronts him about his actions.

So, make what you will of the film. My minor quibble apart, the film is littered with brilliant scenes, and fantastic performances from all involved. (I particularly love Josh Brolin's smarmy detective)

Ice Age 3

I had zero expectations from this film, and was pleasantly surprised. The plot is wafer thin, and cliched, but the film more than makes up in the animation department. Seriously - most scenes were inventive, and the action set pieces were really well animated. Having said that, I think that the best thing about the film was Simon Pegg's Buck - a deranged weasel with a vendetta against a huge dinosaur called Rudy. Its now official - Pegg can do no wrong! The man's a genius! His Buck is a strange amalgamation of Steve Erwin and Mad Max, and is by far the most entertaining thing in the film. The rest of the film is pretty kid friendly, so if that raises alarm bells in your head, its probably not for you. Still, go in with an open mind and you might not be disappointed.