Monday, September 27, 2010

Wall Street. Money never sleeps 2010

The original Wall Street and Gordon Gekko created a cult around stock broking. People wanted to get into finance specifically for all the wrong reasons portrayed in the film (money, power, sex) The excess of the late 80's has continued unabated and recently we all payed the price for that greed. The story starts when Gekko gets out of prison and the world has changed (or has it) the bulky mobile phone illustrates just how out of touch he is supposed to be. But Gekko being Gekko writes a books and predicts the market crash. A very green, miscast Shia Lebeouf [ god knows why he is cast again and again by big directors] is in love with Gekko's daughter and in awe of Gekko himself. Lots of the usual crap about the crash is hurled around and Carey Mulligan as Gekko's daughter and voice of conscience (she edits a leftist website called Frozen Truth) trembles her lips, not very convincingly for atleast 20 mins in the movie. 


[spoiler]


Winnie Gekko and up and coming stockbroker Jake are in looouuuu. Jake works under Lou Zabel(briliantly portrayed by Frank Langella) and specialises in green tech. He is trying for funds for a laser fusion project which he thinks is the next big thing.  Lou has made a few bad decisions (the ones all big banks in the US made recently) and the bank is on the brink of collapse due to some rumours spread by Bretton James (a sleepwalking Josh Brolin). Lou gives a huge bonus to Jake and tells him to enjoy life while he can. Jake believing blindly in his mentor and the bank, uses up all the money to buy its stock and an engagement ring. The bank crashes. Lou commits suicide by dramatically jumping in front of a train before eating a packet of Lays (good product placement?) Jake wants revenge and spreads rumours about Bretton's bank Churchills something (supposed to be Lehman?) causing some loss. Bretton is impressed and invites him to join his green tech department. A few token chinese clients are also present (one talks like he has a serious Bharatnatyam fetish) Meanwhile he also gets in touch with Gekko to help Winnie get over the bitterness she has towards her father and also because he is in awe of Gekko. He starts getting advice from him, and we all know what happens to people who follow Gekko's advice. They take their revenge on Bretton. Winnie gets pregnant. A few scenes later, where the US market crash and the governments role is played out, Jake realises all the acting and tears and advice were given so that Winnie would sign over the 100 million Gekko had placed in her name in Switzerland (where else?) She reneged when her brother committed suicide, for which she blames Gekko.  Jake and Winnie break up.


The writer for the original movie was Stanley Weiser, he wrote a script and then pulled out, to our great loss. We would have been spared the sight of a sonogram as a plot driver. Jake actually plays it to Gekko to entice him to give the money back (he wants to use it to fund his fusion lasers) We should be a little thankful though that he doesn't fall for it immediately. He uses the money to make a few more billions and then gives the original amount back to the simpering thankful couple. Though the recent movie's writer Allan Loeb is supposed to be a licensed stockbroker, it doesn't have a single original thought. Except maybe the juxtaposition of the market graph with the New York and London skylines. 


6/10

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Ghost by Robert Harris 2007

The Iraq war is a plot driver in the book and just like in that war, shock and awe tactics have been used in the book to gasp inducing effect! It is a wonder how the author was able to avoid any slander charges.

The thinly veiled fantastical plot based in reality:
The book is narrated by a unnamed ghostwriter known for his services to rock & football stars. He is hired to replace a dead ghostwriter who was writing the memoirs of Adam Lang, the charismatic but empty (I can't think of any other description) ex british prime minister. The Ex PM has a huge contract from a publishing house for his memoirs. He is also facing some flak for his role in the Iraq war. Things hot up by the time our ghostwriter reaches Martha's Vineyard where the Lang's are staying during a US speaking tour and questions are raised about the previous ghostwriters seemingly 'accidental' death.
[ spoiler]
It is a thinly veiled description of Tony Blair and the "secret role" attributed to Cherie Blair is preposterous. Lang is charged with war crimes on evidence given by a former foreign secretary. (again thinly based on reality) Mr. Ghostwriter meanwhile sleeps with Mrs. Lang, then investigates a bit and stumbles upon a CIA operative (guess guess) with clues from Lang's Cambridge past. Unfortunately Lang is murdered/bombed and the shock tactics come into play in the final paragraph which reveals that the manuscript we are reading was to be published after the ghostwriters death. An ending used before but not for such a contemporary plot.

PS: Robert Harris was a political editor so the book reads right. He has contributed to and supported the Blair government.

PPS: It has been made into a movie by none other than Roman Polanski starring Ewan McGregor. Mr. Harris seems to love controversial figures.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Dabaang 2010

Now that the song "Munni badnaam hui.....zandu balm hui.."is under litigation, I fear one of the very few reasons to watch this movie is also going to disappear. The song is catchy and so it Malaika Arora's luscious behind. Directed by Abhinav Kashyap (Anurag's younger brother, in talent too) and produced by Arbaaz Khan, this movie makes maximum use of Salman Khan's persona and minimum use of logic. Which would have been good if it was an out and out spoof, but the director/writer couldn't make up his mind.



The movie begins with the hero and his brother's childhood. Hero Chulbul Pandey (Salman) and his mother (Dimple Kapadia) live with his stepfather (Vinod Khanna) and step brother Makhi (Arbaaz Khan) Chulbul hates his step family with good reason and grows up to be Robinhood Pandey - a policeman with a heart of gold and fists of iron. Lots of Bhojpuri references, fights and dialogues follow. Sonakshi Sinha appears in between as the love interest potter girl and Mahesh Manjrekar plays her drunk father. All the characters are cut out from the normal bollywood milieu.

[Spoiler]

The movie follows a not very convoluted plot, Pandey catches a dacoit and takes the money. The dacoit is working for the local political gunda (Sonu Sood) who is not very liked by the main political honcho (Anupam Kher) whose assistant is the heroine's polio afflicted brother. (take a breath) Makhi steals the money that Pandey had got from the dacoit to marry his love (Mahi Gill), their mom dies, Pandey is thrown out of the house, Makhi goes ahead and prepares for his wedding with the stolen money, Pandey asks heroine to marry him, she says she can't cos she has to look after drunkard father.Pandey advices father to make daughter agree or move out of the way, father commits suicide, Heroine isn't resentful at all and cuts the funeral short to walk out with Pandey. Makhi's wedding is arranged, Pandey crashes the wedding and gets married himself. Makhi's wedding is cancelled. The political gunda wants his money and revenge against Pandey, he burns the step father's mill down and the step father has a heart attack, Makhi goes to goon for help, Goon uses him to bomb the honcho down, heroines brother is also killed. Makhi is then asked to kill Pandey. He can't so he goes to Pandey and spills the beans and then goes back to the villain (why? nobody knows) and is informed that the goon actually killed his mother while looking for the money. The showdown begins.

The only good part of the movie begins now. The director throws away all pretense and makes it a full fledged masala pow wow with shirt tearing flexed muscles, slow motion punches, bullets, explosions and blood that would make Quentin Tarantino proud. After the fight fest, everybody becomes friends and lives happily ever after. Apart from the continent sized plot holes and confusion, the only other mystery is how this movie became such a hit.

3/10

Friday, September 17, 2010

Dark City 1998

    
Sci Fi drama with Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Conolly and Rufus Sewell that looks more like a noir thriller from the 50's than a sci fi film. Had heard a whole hoard of good reviews so decided to watch it when it cam on TV. 





It looks like the 50's, it sounds like the 50's - at night. The city is in perpetual darkness and everybody goes about their business not seeming to care except at 12, when they all fall asleep and the city changes- literally. Buildings melt and mould into each other, other rise and then everything is back to normal again. A man awakes in this city (Murdoch) who has lost all his memory (and his clothes). He is contacted by a mysterious Dr.(Sutherland) who warns him to run from the strangers. Surprise, surprise they are aliens experimenting with humans. These aliens have taken up human bodies and know how to manipulate matter with their minds but apparently are dying out. The secret of sustaining their species lies in the human brain/mind. The mysterious Murdoch is the only one immune to their ways and also has their powers! Its a nice plot but somehow I wasn't pulled into the story. There are better alien/ monster /Telepathy movies out there.

5/10





Boss (alias) Bhaskaran 2010

The trailer is a laugh riot, the best scenes are found there. There are a few other gems interspersed in the movie that follows Boss( Arya) a lazy, jobless bum who falls in love with Chandrika (Nayanthara) and wants to marry her and be 'kept' by her. She is also coincidentally his sister in law's younger sister. The typical plot involving the useless guy becoming rich to convince his to be in laws rises a little above average with the comic twists, mostly revolving around the hilarious Santhanam. His comic timing is impeccable! Like all Tamil comedians, he came, he saw, he peaked and now I hope he doesn't start coming in every Tamil movie released and then burning out into 'double entrende's' and 'propping the hero's ego' roles. Arya's character does not evoke any sort of empathy. Whether it is intentional or not, it doesn't do any justice to the story. He is insensitive, callous and unsympathetic yet for some obscure reason, everyone in the movie roots for him. Or the director/writer decided that since it was a comedy, you did not have to give any depth of character to the hero, his callousness can just serve as fodder for the humour. Nayanthara is at her artificial best. Time to get married/ reveal you are married and sit at home darling or go for roles that require that sort of 'glamour'.

There are references to old movies galore (another Tamil cinema trend) and a few relatable scenes. Obviously the ending is happy, but then it has a funny kid of deviation(I will not spoil it for you), which in parts seems like the director (Ramesh of SMS fame) didn't know what to do with the final scene. All in all a brainless time pass.

5/10

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Inception 2010

If Christopher Nolan was there next to me when the movie ended, the same movie that ended with others going 'whoa!!' I would have slapped him. Hard. I like movies with resolution if not then atleast a debatable resolution. Not and ending where we go 'whoa!!' and not in an entirely good way too. Not that I did not like the movie, it was superb, but the ending was like the oldest trick in the entire book. Yes, you heard me right, the hallowed Christopher Nolan used the most abused trick in the book!

Almost the entire movie happens in someone's mind. Cobb (Leonardo di Caprio) and his team are corporate(mostly) thieves, they enter minds and steals thoughts. The breaking in is done during the dream state by experts who enter the dream and construct a world that is familiar to the dreamer and then seek out the secret they are after, usually hidden in a physical location in the dream world. Cobb is on the run and is given a chance to remedy that with a very specialised mission. Instead of stealing an idea, to implant an idea in someone's brain. A thing that has never been done before (or so we think) The visuals are breathtaking, the science seemingly possible, the acting is taut. We are slowly but surely drawn into the dream world or is the real world?

Now coming again to the slapping part, I know that it was imperative to the story, I know it was the best ending you can give a story like that. I know it was thought provoking, but I hoped it ended in a way that made it easier for me (brain laziness to be blamed)

7/10

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus 2009

Heath Ledger...every movie buff I know would be heaving a small sigh for that lost talent. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Firth did too. With clever twists in the story, they took on the role that Heath could not complete due to his death (what better excuse, if I may sound a little uncaring, but again we see the actors worth through his characters, excluding the tabloid crazy side of the public that is)

Written and Directed by Terry Gilliam is attraction enough plus the cast including a very sweet Andrew Garfield as a very sweet young man who works as a busker for the Imaginarium run by Dr. Parnassus, played by Christopher Plummer and a very strange yet alluring Lily Cole as Valentina, his daughter.

The three together with Verne Troyer (which respectable road carnival does not boast of a midget?) travel across London(?) to attract people into the Imaginarium(actually the Dr's mind where dreams come true), with dismal results. Flashback tells us that the Dr. had made a deal with the devil that 20 people would resist temptation in the imaginarium or he would give him his child in 16 years. All in return for youth, to woo his love. Valentina's 16'th birthday is approaching and they haven't got a single soul when they rescue Tony, a man with a questionable past,hanging by the neck, under a bridge. He turns their operation around but at what cost?

The movie is loud, convoluted and full of references, just like the dream sequences it portrays. Some of the scenes look like they come straight out of a painting. (later I discovered they were inspired by paintings) All in all, along with the sympathy that it arouses whenever you see Heath Ledger on screen, it is a decent watch.

6/10

Monday, September 13, 2010

The Reader 2008

Nicole Kidman was going to play this role but apparently did not, due to her pregnancy. Thank God and her reproductive system! Because Kate Winslet breathed such life into this role that even though she is a Nazi in the movie(that one word contains loathing fit for centuries) doing her 'job' we are drawn to her and even at times sympathise. The storyline and direction should also be given its due credit, because it managed to paint such an unbiased picture, letting the audience make all the judgements (all Indian media- take note) Playing perfect foil to Kate's Hanna was David Kross as the young Micheal. If only we had more young actors who had even half as much grasp of the craft  as this young man had. Actually looking back, everyone was cast brilliantly.

The story takes us from a summer romance between a young german boy and an older woman to the war crime court rooms of post WW2 Germany and finally to the deep echoes of past actions that reverberate during the present. It is not a tale of redemption or absolution because this story closely follows real life. Rather it is a complex exercise dealing with what the young Michael exclaims in his Law class after a particular gruesome testimony about the holocaust "We are trying to understand!"

The plot is not hard to determine, even at the beginning of the movie, we understand the why's before Michael does but yet you will be riveted to the slow unveiling of Hanna and her motives, her life and its repercussions mirrored in Michael's life. A precious movie.

8/10

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Peepli [live] 2010

The hoopla surrounding Aamir Khan sometimes has adverse effects. Every loud news channel turns louder about the impending release and you are inundated with repeated clips and sound bytes. But this time, unusually I must say, the hype was warranted. The only downside I could think of was that the calculated brilliance and charisma of the producer overshadowed the actual talent of Anusha Rizvi, the director. Set in Mukhya Pradesh and centred around a poverty stricken farmer family with two brothers. The older one smart, the younger one, not so much, his sharp tongued wife, sharper tongued mother, kids and a few goats. Satire rules the story with the driving plot centered around the government policy of "rewarding" the family of farmers who commit suicide. But thrown in are other barbs like the various government policies named after dead prime ministers that as is hilariously shown, do not always work. Every character is brilliantly caricatured yet seem so real. I was especially taken by Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Rakesh, a local journalist and the conscience pointer in the story. Of course the main characters of Budhia and Natha played by the always brilliant Raghubir Yadav and the much celebrated Omkar Das Manikpuri also deserve to be mentioned for their brilliance. They absorbed the audience into their plight. An audience that was watching this slice of rural India from an air conditioned multiplex theatre in a metro where hunger is understood only by the upper middle class women on a diet and farming is a distant concept. They laughed along (so did I), were disturbed by some of the messages, agreed with most of the accusations against our system and walked out shaking their heads and saying "someone should do something" while throwing the plastic coffee cup or water bottle out of the car window , "our system is so corrupt" while paying the traffic policeman outside a 100 rupees instead of the fine for talking on the mobile phone, explaining the movie to a colleague or even going back to a nice cup of tea prepared by the 11 year old girl from their village.  After all, living in the city, you cannot do much about farmer suicides. 


8/10





Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Madaraspattinam 2010

Period movies in Tamil cinema are few and far between. The ones that did come were not even worth a second glance (bushy mustaches, cardboard crowns, jute togas and earrings) This movie is a refreshing change, attention has been given to detail. Including a nice touch with an antique flight tag on a piece of luggage. The story is set in the backdrop of the independence struggle and independence day. (this part was predicatble) but atleast it didn't overpower the love story which is the actual plot of the movie.

Arya and Amy Jackson did a great job with understated performances that seemed possible. The story of a british girl falling in love with a washerman/ wrestler was handled with a lot of tlc. The background of a freedom struggle didn't overpower the performances, though a few scenes were unnecessary.

The star of the movie was Madras in all its pre independence glory. Everybody played their part well and it was touching to see the dedication to the Late Cochin Hanifa at the beginning of the movie. The only performance that was out of place was the older Amy who seemed too wooden. The villain of the piece (the sadistic british officer of course) also didn't seem too taken by his character, but I don't blame him. The convoluted sadistic death sentences carried out would have been more at home in a Bond movie rather than a period piece. All in All worth a watch.

6/10