Review: Neethanae en Ponvasantham

Movie- Neethanae en Ponvasantham- நீதானே என் பொன்வசந்தம்...

Language- Tamil

Genre- Romance

Director- Gautam Vasudeva Menon

Cast- Jiiva, Samantha, Santhanam and others.

Ok I want to clarify few things before I proceed on with my review

1.     If you have already watched the movie and you wanted to read my take on NEP- please proceed to Section-1.

2.       If you intend to watch the movie after reading my review
                         a.       If you are a Samantha Fan- Please proceed to Section-2.
                         b.      If you are in love- Please proceed to Section-3.
                         c.       If your friends are in love- Please proceed to Section-4.
                         d.      If you are planning to fall in Love- Please proceed to Section-5.
                         e.      None of these- Please Proceed to Section-6.

3.       You have booked for the movie and you came across my review- Please proceed to Section-7.

4.         If you intend to catch it in thirutu (Pirated) DVD-Please proceed to Section-8.

5.       None of the above- Please proceed to Section-9.

Hopefully my dear reader, you fall into some category mentioned above. Ok at least decide which route you are going to take. All the best! (Not for the movie of course!).

Section-1:

Welcome to my take on the movie. Since you are here it means that you have already seen the movie and fuming inside how Gautam could take such a horrible one. Please cool down a little before proceeding any further.

I have taken a neutral stand and also it is my take on the movie so please don’t complain.

Let’s not get into what is good in the movie; I am going to say probably what could have gone wrong. If you think the movie is good, then either you are in love or else out of love. For others it is a torment of 2 and half hours? (Except for Santhanam).

Only if you had been or seen somebody else (especially your friends) you would know that what portrayed in the movie was actually true. People truly behave that way (well most of the times!). This movie is thus a real take on love between two people and it is shown that way from their perspective. There was nothing cinematic about it other than the songs. It is certainly difficult to take such a kind of movie and only a few succeed (Like Vinnai thandi Varuvaya). Hence it is wrong to bash GVM for this debacle, if you don’t like the movie means it is not a bad one. Better say that I don’t like the movie rather than complaining that movie is not good, that is seriously undermining the movie and it will portray a different picture to others.

Is it a perfect movie? No it is not a perfect movie (and please don’t compare it with VTV!). It is difficult being in love; it is hard to hear love stories of our friends. What if we are shown a love story of two unknown people, yes it was rather difficult to watch their story unfold slowly onscreen. Unlike action movies love stories cannot be taken bang, bang, therefore we have no option but to sit through it. This may be the case for many of you, because after sometime you would have felt restless and wanted the movie to end quickly. According to me, ending was good, and this would have happened even in reality.

It could have been taken more interestingly. Probably the long conversation between the lovers would have given you headache (there was some stupid camera angle shot just before the interval! Don’t know what GVM was thinking by using a long shot!). And another thing which added to the disadvantage for the movie is its background score.

My god, never I have cursed like this before. It was so loud and jarring, it gave me nightmares when ever that girl in the background started to wail in high pitch voice. It could have been more subtle, we know what Nithya is undergoing, it was unnecessary to use loud instruments (drums!) and that wailing noise. Sadly this makes even some good scenes rather bad. More peaceful instruments could have been employed. Only if this had been changed, may be your perspective of the movie would change (would have loved if ARR had been in this project, am still mesmerized with VTV’s BGM!).

So my conclusion, it is seriously a good movie. Yes it does have its own flaws, but every movie has them, none is perfect. It could have been made much better, but anyways stop cribbing that it is bad movie.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-2:

One more reminder, you are here because you are a big time Sam(antha) fan. I say you are wasting your time here. You need not know about the story, or even whether the movie is good or bad. What you need to know is one thing… how was Sam?

She is in her most gorgeous avatar till now. She is absolutely adorable, cute, and what not. Man she was a stunner, and no doubt you will fall in love with her again and again. Her costumes are beautiful and add on to Sam’s cuteness.  She is an angel. You may complain the scenes when she cries, but it is alright, we can overlook them.

Some (seriously good for nothing!) people may argue that why spend money to see HER, rather watch her picture for absolutely free for two hours, and we know the difference between seeing a picture of biriyani and eating one in its full glory (especially in a Muslim friend marriage!), hope you know what I mean. Some people will never understand our (me being one of Sam’s huge fan!) feelings though.  

Go watch it, for Sam and for her alone. That beautiful, cute and stunning goddess.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-3:

Since you are in love (and hopefully you are above 18 years…) you may relate many scenes with your love. The fights, the mid-night talks, the romance, night outs, celebrations, the long drives, and of course the pain. These are shown almost realistically.

This section might also apply to you if you had been previously in love too. It will be nostalgic journey. The school scenes have come out wonderfully. Both Jiiva and Sam look cute, and pass of as school students. You might be reminded of your first crush in school (if not then there is something seriously wrong with you). Some scenes are truly romantic, especially loved Ennodu va va and Sainthu Sainthu songs.

It could have been your love story or even could be. The essence of romance has come out very well. You will definitely enjoy this movie. Though the movie has some lags and in some places dragging and long. Since you have been there, or still there, what shown in the movie is just a slice of what actually happens. So I guess you might rather enjoy these scenes than complain about them.

And please do not expect it to be in league of VTV. But is not that bad, as others claim it is. Whatever others tell, or I might say, it is your call. Personally since you are reading this section, I recommend you watching this one. You can certainly relate to many sequences.  

All the best for your love. May you two live happily forever and after.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-4:

My friend, we are the doomed beings who need to undergo (most of the time!) the torment of listening to the love life of our buddies. And most of us would have become a love guru by now, advising our friends and guiding him/her in their love. So what has NEP in store for you?

Do we need to hear problems of another pair of lovers whom we don’t even know, that too on the big screen.  You might hate to sit through another grueling, slow torture even though it has Illayaraja’s music as saving grace.

Well there is nothing new in NEP we have not seen. We would have definitely met Varun and Nithya in some place during the course of our life. It has nothing much to offer. And since you are not that much big fan of Samantha, it would a walk in hell for you. One more thing if your friend has booked tickets for you and you have no other option but to watch it, better convert now to a Samantha fan. If not, then there is no one to save you.

Santhanam’s sequence and his one liners are good but the problem is that, he disappears mid-way and appears only in the second half that too with a pathetic intro spoof on VTV.

No kuthu songs, no fight, no masala. Well it might not be your cup of tea, but I may still be wrong.

I still don’t call this a bad movie at all.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-5:

I seriously don’t know what your plan is (about falling in love!), but it may take a back seat if you watch this movie. Yes! most girls are like either Jessy or Nithya. You might take a lifetime in identifying what they are thinking. And this movie provides no insight into a girls mind. You might very well get confused more.

Better not watch it for inspiration for falling in love; it might lead you to take a completely opposite path. One personal advice if you don’t mind, each girl is unique (ovoru ponnukum oru feeling machi!)  And don’t follow movies for expressing your love, do something different, may be your story will be made into movie one day.

As a movie if you want to watch this you can very well go to next section and read about it.

All the best my friend. Hopefully you get what you desired for.

Section-6:

Since you fall into none of the category and you fall into the group which watches the movies for the movies sake.

Here goes the review of the movie for you.

NEP was overly hyped from the beginning, and over hype is not good for a normal movie. Moreover people start comparing it with the earlier movie of GVM the awesome VTV. So it is normal to hear negative review at first, and let that not be your final decision about this movie. It is not as bad as they claim it to be.

It is a simple and straightforward love story. Varun (Jiiva) and Nithya (Samantha) are buddies from childhood, but circumstances separate them. They meet once again in a tuition center during their 10^th standard. And their love blossoms and grows during 11^th class and abruptly breaks due to some ego issue. After 3 yrs Varun gets to meet Nithya at college cultural, and once again the old spark turns into a flame. They romance, talk, celebrate etc. Varun being a boy from middle class family suddenly learns of his responsibilities.  He chooses his family over Nithya. After getting settled (takes 3 yrs) once again pursues Nithya, who has now a life of her own, once again they fight. Varun decides to marry another girl. So did Varun marry the other girl, what happens to Nithya, what happens to Varun-Nithya equation? Forms rest of the story.

Jiiva is rock solid and looks handsome. Also passes off as a school student. His performance and dialogue delivery is good. Samantha has given a stunning performance. She is the protagonist and the story revolves around her. She looks gorgeous and with some wonderful costumes looks quite adorable. She has dubbed her own voice, it was good, and she made no mistake in Tamil. Way to go girl. Other roles include that of Santhanam (Prakash) and Vidyulekha (Jenny). They are apt for their role. Santhanam’s one liners evoke laughter in the first half, and he has not much role in the second.

Illayaraja’s music is a plus. But the rerecording and BGM are not good to the ears. Most of the time it is jarring and a woman wails at the back in the crying sequence, it is unbearable. Gautam I think has went on the lines of making a musical, but sadly that attempt falls flat, it was too loud and distracting. It made even some good sequence look bad.

GVM could have made some attempt to make it more interesting. Yes I agree that it is a difficult region to tread as, interesting would make it more cinematic, the problem is that more realistic it is, more bore it becomes. Many of you may find this movie long and boring, well that path was taken by GVM for telling his story. Being long and boring does not mean it is bad; it is just that, being so close to reality, the dialogues tend to get repeated, we get frustrated at the leads Varun and Nithya when they behave stupidly, well it actually what happens in reality. 

The intro sequence in the college is good, other than that; most of them deal with love life of Varun and Nithya. Cinematography was good. Showed gorgeous Samantha even more beautifully. Some scenes were good, and nothing special about it, didn’t know what they were thinking in the scene before the interval, it was stupid and irritating. Little more trimming could have been done by the editing department. Overall it was fine.

So, though the movie has its own pitfalls, it is not that bad. You can very well catch it in theatres. You might either like it or not like it. I have said all I can; it is up to you now.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-7:

I know the dilemma you are in. You are getting mixed reviews from everywhere and you don’t know what to do, moreover you can’t do anything right now as you are caught in between. Don’t worry my friend, do read the above Section to get know about the movie. And rest assured, the movie is not bad as many claim it to be.

Section-8:

Since you have more time at hand, read all other sections and decide which category you fall into. Best of luck!

Section-9:

I don’t know why you are here (even you don’t know). Close your eyes and think. Please do answer the following question…

1.       Is your name Sanjay Ramasamy

2.       You don’t know who Sanjay Ramasamy is

If you choose 1: Please see the photograph for what to do next.

If you choose 2: Please watch Ghajini (Tamil version) once again. You may be suffering from short term memory ass.

You can directly proceed to Next section which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-10:

GOOD BYE AND FARE WELL, all those love birds, broken up hearts, would be lovers, Samantha fans (Jiiva fans too!), Time killers, friend helpers, nosy pricks, tasteless idiots, senseless morons, Good fellas, Gangstas, Pirates, terrorists, accused , Einsteins, Newtons, phytoplanktons, would be politicians, next CM-PM, my ex- girl friends, my would be girl friends, Samantha if you are reading this, GVM if you too come across this, my college buddies, my proof reader, Obama, Manmohan, Sonia, MJ if you read this from heaven and you Mr.Sanjay Ramasamy and to all other people the blacks, the whites, the browns, the Chinese etc. etc. etc.

Love All! Peace! <3 <3 <3

P.S- if you are offended by any of the above mentioned, feel free to forget it soon.

P.P.S- I would highly recommend you could leave some comment for me (Not only comments, good tasty baked cakes, sweets are more welcome to celebrate this holiday season! Cheers!).

Review: Kumki

 Movie- Kumki

Language- Tamil

Genre- Love story

Director- Prabhu Solomon

Cast- Vikram Prabhu, Lakshmi Menon, Thambi Ramaiah... and others.

My first Tamil movie review… excited as the director whose first movie is going to be released (Seriously!).

So straight away moving on to… Kumki.

We do have heard about the name Kumki, else you would have caught the name during its promos done back in Diwali itself, Kumki is a Male tusker which is used to frighten away the unruly wild elephants which stray into the villages and damage the crops.

So basic plot of the movie is simple, it is a love story between a mahout and a tribal girl, it also showcases the relationship the mahout shares with his elephant. So there is nothing much for us in store plot wise. It is simple and straightforward and there are no unexpected twists.

 Story revolves around Bomman (Vikram Prabhu… will talk about the performances later), his Uncle (Mama… Thambi Ramaiah), one assistant boy (the boy who eats everything in Boss Engira Baskaran) and Of course our Manikam (The Elephant). We are showcased the relationship Bomman has with his elephant in the initial scenes.  They do odd jobs with the elephant, attending functions, temple festivals etc. As twist of fate Bomman offers help to Mani (who coordinates Manikam’s work) and is sent to a hill village (Adhi Kaadu) as a Kumki elephant to drive out a dreaded monstrous elephant called as Komban. And here in the hill village our hero falls head over heels in love with the daughter of the village headman called Alli, and decides to prolong his stay in the village which regards him as god, and what happens next, was he able to marry Alli, what happens to Komban, did Manikam drive him out, forms rest of the story and a riveting climax.

Brilliant debut performance by both Vikram Prabhu and Lakshmi Menon (Though Sundarapandian released before, Kumki is the one she acted first). Vikram looks good, well toned body and with beard and a rugged look is apt for the role. He also emotes well, only in the crying sequences I found him at loss, but he nailed it in climax sequence. Vikram with such a debut performace will go places, acts like a veteran. Like Karthi’s first movie- Paruthiveeran, Kumki works the same for Vikram. And all credit goes for Prabhu Solomon, could see his hard work in making the actors do their part well, if not for him, Vikram could not have done this much in his debut movie. A good launch pad for Vikram, and hopefully he uses this and tries to act in some offbeat movies which come across his way proving his mettle as an actor.

Also Lakshmi Menon is superb, we have already seen her acting in a previous movie, but even in her first movie she has done an awesome job. She looks pretty and cute. With natural looks and in village attire she steals our heart and it is good to see her on the big screen. This lass is definitely going to go places.

The most important and the backbone of this movie is the character played by Thambi Ramaiyah. We have already seen him win a National award. He is a natural actor, who has a flare for comedy and in hands of good directors we can even see him do wonderful character roles. And Prabu Solomon being one, we can see his potential being exploited to the fullest. His scenes are hilarious and added with some witty dialogue made the theatre go up in laughter. Thambi Ramaiyah has nailed it once again. He Carry forwards most part of the movie on his shoulders with ease. Kudos to Solomon for choosing such an artist, and hats off to Ramaiyah for such a memorable performance once again.

Other cast too passes muster, like the Undiyal (the Guy from Boss) does credible job. Also the entire hill village too performs well (most of them look like body builders, I don’t know why though). The problem is that only few of them can be called as tribal living in hills, because most of them look like our Royapuram rowdies with a tribal ear wear. And also each of them have their own accent and it is difficult to believe they are tribal. Only the village headman talks in a (most likely) tribal slang. Others just carry on with some sort of in between accent of Madurai Tamil. Our heroine too talks more like a normal girl than the one who grew up in the hills, this stood out like a sore thumb. Otherwise their performances were good.

Manikam the beloved elephant too has many a role to play. As I am not well versed in animal acting and their expressions, I have nothing much to say other than that the elephant looked really big with large tusks. It acted well I guess (nothing much except to carry our hero around!) and Oh! I forgot, at one point I really thought when the elephant saved the heroine and after that when our heroine starts going around with the elephant rather than our hero that this was some kind of King Kong remake! (For the first time in Tamil movie history! (No of course TR is/was not King Kong) But sadly it was not to be). My apprehensions were uncalled for as our hero directly proposes to our heroine, leaving me (and of course the elephant) rather surprised and sad I guess.

Coming to the most important part of the movie- the songs. Imman has done an awesome job. Already the songs are a super hit and personally I loved the album and almost every song in it. Was waiting how it got transformed on screen. I was not disappointed. All the songs looked amazing. Wonderful cinematography captures beautiful locales with all the lush green forest and misty hills, serving a perfect backdrop for all the songs. Watching it in big screen is all together another experience. Super songs and wonderful picturisation makes us want more of it. Only the dancing part in the Soi Soi song could have been avoided, it could have been left as such in the background. Otherwise, there are no other complaints. Back ground score is also good and in most part the songs instrumental is played. 

Strength of the movie is its cinematography. Superb locale shown brilliantly, transports us to those forest itself. The waterfalls looked awesome, and seeing it in the large screen was being taken to the falls itself. There are many panning shots, slow motion effects which add to the strength of the movie. The editing is also good, no lag and movie proceeds in quick pace.

The graphics could have been even better. The climax fight between the elephants was ok. We are not able to identify which is Manikam and which is Komban. It was dark and we lose it in all the hullaboo and the confusion. These could have been very well avoided. Technology has improved and employing in the movies is still lagging especially in our Tamil movies. People are seeing some world class stuff from Hollywood (Avatar, Life of Pi etc.), hence our Tamil industry too needs to wake up and employ latest technologies in movie making which will make the movie going experience of the viewer much better. 

Prabhu Solomon’s work can be seen, from choosing an effective cast, awesome locales, coupled with soothing music, and brilliant cinematography, Captain of the ship has guided this team towards the path of victory. Congratulations to Prabhu Solomon for taking such an effort to make this movie.

Cons: After so much work something was still missing from the movie. It cannot be totally called a love story or even as the relationship shared between the man and the animal. Showing the forest officers in poor light could have been avoided. Also Elephant corridor issue is a serious one; even it was not dealt effectively and mentioned as passing dialogue. The romance is slow in picking up; we get to see the hero and heroine together only in the second half, and it gets over quickly too. Also falling in love with the girl and immediate transformation of Bomman looks artificial and forced. As said earlier the accent of so called hill tribe is not effective. People may also find the movie slow at times, since nothing much happens in the first half and the so dreaded Komban is seen only in the climax. Also the graphic scenes could have been much better. No fight sequence, no punch dialogues, no swaggering, no eloping, no proper romance, no man woman dancing in skimpy cloths you may doubt whether this is a Tamil movie at all.

Pros: Some brilliant performances especially from Thambi Ramaiyah, we do not get bored with him. Vikram and Lakshmi Menon both look cute. The Songs are out of the world and their picturisation is like a moving painting. Wonderful locale captured with beautiful cinematography. Good concept. Novel attempt by the director and team without the usual masala of our Tamil movie. A riveting climax (heard that they will be changing it, not confirmed though) but the climax I saw was good and was a perfect ending; anything other than this would have made the movie cinematic. 

Overall: Quite watchable. Not at all a bad movie, a few hiccups can be overlooked. And this is not the best one of the year and don’t expect this to be like mynaa, you might get disappointed. Go without any expectations, you will not complain while coming out.

P.S- Heard that NEP(Nee thanae en Ponvasantham) is not up to the Hype- hence this could be your movie of the weekend. And enjoy it in the big screen. 

P.P.S- Nee thanae en Ponvasantham review will be posted later...

Review: Sinister

Movie- Sinister

Language- English

Genre- Horror, Thriller

Director- Scott Derrickson

Cast- Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance... and others.

What actually is the job of a movie reviewer, is it that he is the being who has to undergo the torment of watching the movie in first place and shout out to the world that they may fare better in hell than watch that movie. Well not quite, it is also crying out hoarse to the people, with tears flying off our (the reviewer group! We do have a group! Seriously) faces, praising our hearts off and praying to every humble being who comes across our review to watch it. People sleep safe knowing that we are out there, watching (every movie!) out for them, keeping them safe from the worst ones and leading them towards the righteous way, towards glory. (Yes yes! It is not connected with the movie I am about to review, sadly it’s the mumblings of a reviewer, which you have been tricked to read. Ha-ha, but it is the truth though! I am a superhero! Trust me).

So moving ahead with the movie…

These horror movie directors have no other go, they either need to be inspired from host of movies made previously (nobody creating a new ghost!), or else they remake the same, or blatantly employ the same ol’ghost to do some stuff they (the Director) Creatively think about.  So expecting nothing new, I watched this movie, but was really surprised (little different though) how little effort was made to scare us.

Sinister has a true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt (perfect Ethan Hawke), searching for his glorious story which could bring him back to the pinnacle, which has been evading him recently. Hence our writer chances upon a case, where four of the family gets hanged, and a girl is missing. He shifts his family to the house where the crime was committed, in order to investigate about the crime and write the story in the location of the crime. He finds a box of 8mm snuff movies and a projector in the attic. What happens next forms rest of the story, did he find the missing girl? Who had committed the gruesome murder? Which are revealed to him (and us!) in the end.

Surprisingly the back story of the writer is solid with some real good performances from the leads. Ethan excels and is sync with his character, which contributes to the credibility of the movie. And also his expression in the scary scenes is good, and does not look like made-up. The wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) is also good and is effective. Also the kids too live up to their role.

The following section may contain some spoilers, those who don’t want them to be revealed, jump to the Pros and Cons section. Sorry couldn't help it.

Our writer finds a host of tapes with some strange names from the box in the attic. When he gets to watch them he finds that all these tapes contain recordings of a gruesome murders dating back to the 60’s. With help of a Deputy- Fan, he pieces together the crime and tries to find the killer and the missing children in each case.

Problem is that, the reason behind killing revealed at the end is found to be an afterthought. For a horror story to be complete, we need credible story for the ghost or whatever evil form that is. We need a reason for it to kill people, no evil kills without any reason. It needs to be shown, how it all began, how it had originated. Only a good story will make the evil and its killings effective.

No! nothing of that sort of thinking crosses our director’s mind and we are left with some obscure name, and a very weak back story. We are never told why it happens the way it happens. What was the reason behind the methods of killing employed, why the hell was it taped (of course! For the sake of this movie), but so many loose ends make the plot very weak.

Basically an evil should be evil, and it should do evil things etc. Here the character looks (with make-up and all) evil but it does nothing of that sort, just reveals its face here and there. The evil thing needs to be more evil, I found the evil to be rather boring, and with no credible back up story to support its case, it was just another pathetic figment of imagination. There is no job for the evil character other than to scare us with close up shots in few places. 

The background score is good and suits well to the horror theme of the movie, most places it is silent and which is just a prelude to the horror to be unleashed. The editing was good, no lagging, fast paced movie. The camera work was good capturing the feel of the movie, and many an instance in darkness. There are many jumpy scenes, which would bring your heart to your mouth, watch out.

Cons: It could have been so much more. With such a backup plot for the main character, solid performance by Ethan, and a good story line, the movie could have made better impact. But sadly it fails in the main part here, the horror story was missing. There needs to be a credible story for the ghost, reason etc. and tying up the loose ends is also highly essential, which is sadly let loose and hastily tied up in the end. A horror movie is not made just to scare us, it needs to have an excellent story backing, only then it can be considered a good movie. The concept of snuff movies was creative, and also the suspense (by then most of you would have guessed!) at the end, but this spirit was not to be seen in rest of the places where it was essential. Hence falls short of being a real scary horror movie, we have seen much better, but any case it was not the worst.

Pros: It really scares you. The background silence and sudden sounds will make any sturdy hearted person jump from the seat. The problem is that these scenes are few and far off. I liked the way the movie ended; the climax was good (sadly it could have been more gruesome! Should have watched unrated version I guess!). Ethan Hawke performance was solid. A good story line, keeps you interested. 

Overall: The movie scares you, and it does not bore you. But if you are looking for something more and much better give this one a miss.  

P.S: Watch it at night, especially when no one at home. Best of luck!

P.S.S: Will also recommend ‘Drag me to Hell’ for the brave hearts who want to try it alone at night.

Review: End of Watch

Movie- End of Watch

Language- English

Director- David Ayer

Cast- Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick... and others. 

Watched a cop movie after a long time. Tears running down my eyes while watching a movie… after a long time too.

Some movie stirs our senses, and this movie does that. Loved every frame of the movie and hats off to the director for bringing this honest piece of work, and cops across the world will appreciate what has been shown. We have seen so many cop movies. Some are exceptional, some are duds, and few movies get into our hearts and we cannot forget them, never. And this is one such movie which I can surely say that stays with us forever. And after watching this, surely your view about the cops on the roads will change. It changed mine.

End of watch is a different type of cop movie, a cop movie taken differently. The plot is simple; it is a story of two cops Taylor (Awesome Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (and Awesome Michael Pena) and their everyday life as patrol men, their personal life, their bonding, their jokes, their marriage, and their life as cops. 

The life of the leads (Taylor and Zavala) are shown taken from handheld camera most of the times, most part of it taken by Taylor, few scenes by the gangsters and we do also have regular camera work in places where it is required, hence this cannot be categorized into the ‘Blair witch Project’ type. Taylor shoots everyday happenings in a camera and also has got front camera hanging from both their shirts, from which we get to see their world as cops, of how they rescue people, of their daily talks, of their personal talks about their life, their jokes and of course their action as cops on duty, there is an awesome sequence of them rescuing children from a burning house, captured by their front camera.

In line of duty, they come across a huge drug cache and in process get crossed with a notorious gang, and what happens forms the rest of the story.

We get sucked into Taylor and Zavala’s world; we share their happiness, tidbits of marriage and even the birth of cute little Zavala junior. Also celebrate when they successfully rescue kids from a burning building.  The handheld camera makes it more real, and the front camera from their patrol cars add to credibility, and moreover I never saw Jake (Gyllenhaal) or Pena (Michael), all there was, was a bald Taylor and Mexican Zavala. Their performance is exceptional and we believe we are into lives of two cops. 

Moreover the supporting cast is also good. Be it Zavala’s wife or Jake’s wife (beautiful Anna Kendrick), the Sarge (their chief), and other patrol officers are perfect to T, an overall brilliant performance. The gang members too are fit for their role.

Songs played in the background were terrific. And never I have seen such a beautiful chemistry between the leads in a cop movie, loved Jake and Anna’s romance and watch out for the dance sequence, it was just awesome! And also the whole marriage sequence, the bonding between the leads- Jake and Pena is superb and it is so realistic, as if seeing someone’s true wedding footage, the speeches made during the wedding, the cop talks, everything were just great. 

The main high point in the movie is the chemistry between Jake and Pena. If it did not work out the whole movie would have been a dud. But it is not so, they two bond like lifetime buddies and we too feel the warmth in their relationship. It is serious; it is funny, their respect for each other, and their love for each other oozes out. We feel respect towards the two friends and also it reminds us of our very own close buddies. Two thumbs up for David for making a perfect choice for the cast and also the leads Jake and Michael, brilliant job. There were no issues in believing them as Taylor and Zavala. The other departments such as editing has done good job, no lagging, movie sails smoothly.

The cinematography department deserves special mention, it has done an exceptional job, no jittery camera works, the handheld cameras are steady, and moreover adding of normal camera shots in between is good thinking instead of the whole movie shot on the handheld camera, kudos to the director. 

Major thing which works for the movie is that, the cops are not shown as super heroes. They are the everyday people we see. They laugh, they fight, they are naughty, they have wives, children, they feel the pain, the loss, and they are HUMAN. This is the success of the director and the team for making us believe that the characters are actually real and we are made to travel their life with them, the human cops, who are no different from us. I salute the director and the team for giving us this wonderful movie, this is totally awesome, brings back the respect to the cops, who deserve much more than that.

Cons: The stupid police reach late every time (watch movie to know why). Sometimes the camera proves irritant as it is hand held in some sequences. A little more background on the leads, their life shown still more elaborately, would have added to genuineness of the movie, it would have taken it from this level to the temple of the legends, but it falls short of being a legend. It is an episode of police life, feels like a documentary as most sequences comes from the handheld camera. Some gruesome scenes could have been avoided.

Pros: The cons above mentioned were minor glitches, which could have made the movie a legend, but I am not complaining, it was the director’s vision and I appreciate that. What else pros needed other than the opening scene dialogue (at the background) telling about the life of police, it was brilliant, just awesome. It is more than enough to make you love the movie. It made me laugh, enjoy, spend some time with good cops, see how their life was, get an insight into their family life, share the bonding between two unknown persons, made me respect their friendship, made me respect mine too, It made me respect the cops, it made me angry, I cursed, I hit the wall because I could not do anything but just watch, made tears run down my eyes, never I have been emotionally involved with a movie. Loved it, will never be able to forget it.

Overall: Must watch! Don’t miss this.

P.S-  Praying that Pena gets nomination for the best supporting actor.

P.P.S- Do read the quote present in the image above.

Review: Argo

Movie: Argo

Language: English

Director: Ben Affleck

Cast: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman… and others.

I was waiting to watch this movie, and at last I saw it, nothing short of expectation. 

And on for my review now.

 Ben Affleck has grown, his directorial movies are class apart (Gone baby Gone, The Town etc). Well now Argo takes Ben to the next level, The Oscar. It could well be nominated for the best director and also for the Best movie, even for best supporting cast. Excellent team work I would say, a taut screenplay, some brilliant performances make this movie a must watch and an Oscar contender.

 This movie is based on an incident known as ‘Canadian caper’. The problem is that, it is a Hollywood take, on a true incident happened in Iran during the Islamic revolution. This movie is a dramatized take on the incident and projects the role played by CIA and Hollywood more than what actually happened (the hero of the movie is someone else in reality, just Google and read, what had actually happened for those who are curious).

 It is 1979; Islamic revolution is happening in Iran, the Shah runs off to America and Ayatollah Khomeini takes over the leadership of Iran. There is widespread resentment over the Americans, as they had given shelter to the Ex-Ruler. Hence people attack the US embassy in Tehran, during this fiasco six people escape and (in the movie) get asylum in the home of Canadian ambassador. These scenes are depicted using some real footages and images actually taken during that time; it gives credibility and makes us get into the mood of the movie.

 And this sets off the main theme of the movie, the rescue of the six Americans. It is now in the hands of CIA, and an expert Tony Mendez (an Awesome Ben himself) chalks out a rather odd plan, rescue the people in guise of making a Hollywood sci-fi movie named Argo (and hence name of the movie is the name of the MOVIE that was never made! Seriously!). And hence sets up a production house in Hollywood with the help of makeup man John chambers. And rest of the movie is about how Tony rescues the six, and how they manage to escape Iran without any problem.

The plot is a made for Hollywood kind, it is a surprise how this has escaped notice of the producers is another story altogether. And this movie is been produced by Ben himself with George Clooney (Indian Industry please take a note).

The movie is brilliant. It is an edge of the seat thriller and never wavers and is bang on. The editing is wonderful; no lag anywhere, the flow is smooth. The background score too sets up the mood of the movie and at places it truly deserves applause. And the best part is the cast; you can see their resemblance to their character during the credits, the acting is excellent, everyone have done their part well, there are no issues in believing that they were truly the hostages. A superb screenplay too deserves credit and also the captain of the team, the director who manages to combine everything together and make such a wonderful movie.

  

 Cons: It is difficult to understand this movie if you don’t know your history or what had happened during the Islamic revolution, and it could make you even biased against the Iranians. And moreover this movie over emphasis the role played by CIA and Hollywood to the rescue of the six trapped people. Many of the events are dramatized to suit the movie’s need, and the onus is on the viewer to find what had actually happened during the time. This again is what Hollywood is all about. Jumping between truth and fiction is really not a good option if it creates or undermines the role played by others.

Pros: If we see Argo only as a movie, it is bang on. A perfect thriller, superb acting, editing, music and with actual footages proving enough realism to make us get into the movie. This movie has everything going for it, and yet another master art from Ben Affleck. Moreover Argo reminds us of the truly remarkable incident and how people from different countries, background come together to help out people in distress, and reestablishes our faith in humanity. The final images shown during the credits are really good and it appreciates the work done by those people, who at time of crisis displayed truly remarkable grit. Hence movie works at all level, a heavy Oscar contender.

 Overall: A must watch piece of Art and an edge of seat thriller, and one of the best movie of the year. And what more reason do you want to watch this?

  

  P.S- No post script. ( :D )

Review: Life of Pi

Movie- Life of Pi

Language- English

Director- Ang Lee

Cast- Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu... and others.

Ok by the time you read this, i guess most of you would have known that this movie is a visual marvel (Next AVATAR!, Yeah from all those posters screaming at you!), and also that people (Nowadays it is easier you see) update their statuses in Facebook, twitter saying Wow, awesome, what a movie!, if you are still unsure what to do, just skip to the Overall section of this review, you may find your answer.

I have already read the novel by Yann Martel (Life of Pi), though it is unfair to compare the novel and movie, but it will surely affect your movie watching experience if you have read it, so better go without any prior knowledge of the story and indulge yourself into the experience it provides.

For starters this movie is not about Mr.Richard Parker (The awesome looking CG Royal Bengal Tiger) and Pi surviving the pacific, it is much more, and don't miss the message this movie offers, while experiencing the visual treat it gives us.

Ok on for the review now...

Yes the movie as a visual medium is truly spectacular. Only few movies (OK!  it was only Avatar! and  if you pardon me i would also add "Legend of the Guardians:Owls of Ga' hoole"! although it was still an animation movie) properly used 3D as a medium for the sake of telling the story. What has the technology done the the movie viewing experience is that, it has taken movie watching experience to a new level. You will never believe that everything is CG, except for the humans (Irrfan, Tabu, Suraj etc) everything is computer generated (Even Pi's mama!). It is so realistic, that rather than fearing the storm and the fury it unleashes, we get mesmerized with the beauty of the storm, it is just the most beautiful thing  i had ever seen on screen, and with 3D it is much more spectacular and seeing it in big screen is like experiencing it in real time, you need to certainly see it for yourself.

Not just the storm sequence, another scene involving Pi and the sinking ship is just epic, was totally spellbound (will surely get special effects Oscar for this scene alone!) and also the flying fish sequence and the floating green island with cute Meerkats too rivet out attention. There are some beautiful set pieces, both terrific and wonderful, brilliant scenes where ocean meets the sky, we don't really know whether it looks the same as how it is shown on screen, and we don't seriously care, it is like an art, like a beautiful painting, moving on the screen. I promise that this is one of those movies where in every scene your age reverses and you go from Wow to Aww... seeing the beauty, fury unleashed before you, we transform into a kid, lost in the surreal world created by Ang lee. Thank you Ang lee, for letting out the kid in us and enjoy the nature at its best. And also for letting us visit the long forgotten zoo from our school days.

Technically it is one of the most brilliant films, we get to see no issues in any department, be it editing, camera work etc. (Well you see, since everything is computer generated we can move over to main issue here). We at last get to hear a Tamil song in a Hollywood movie and get to hear Tabu mouthing Tamil dialogues, how interesting is that!

I have more than established that it provides an experience beyond words. And now moving on to plot of the movie. To say simply in a word it is about Survival, well if i say this movie is just about survival, guess i have not understood it completely and properly. The story is in past tense where our grown up Pi, recounts his tale of survival to a budding author who is in search for a story of survival, courage and also to believe in god, did Pi's tale make a believer out of our author, did he manage to get his spectacular story of survival of a boy and fully grown adult male Bengal Tiger stuck alone in the pacific, forms the main theme of the movie.

Pi Patel (The meaning of name will not be revealed here!), lives in Pondicherry with his family (Dad- Adhil Hussain, Mom-Tabu and a brother Ravi), undergoes crisis of identity of what religion he belongs to(He is a Hindu  who gets baptized and offers namaz too!), plays mruthangam, romances (cute looking!) bharatanatiyam dancer Aanandhi. Well Pi's family decide to leave Pondy for good and head to Canada to make a living, hence sell off their zoo and board the Japanese ship, which is also carrying the animals. 

The ship gets into a storm, Pi  manages to escape in a life boat, with an odd company of a fractured Zebra, a Hyena, a orangutan( Orange Juice!) and of course our majestic Richard Parker  Well then rest is you guessed right, survival, did our Pi make it (Of course it is absurd! we know he survived, he is telling this story ha ha!), well it is HOW PI SURVIVED, how he survived the ordeal with Mr.Richard Parker and of course the pacific.

Irrfan khan( Older Pi) is simply superb in his role. The young Pi too sails through and of course Tabu and Adhil too make their performances speak for them. And Suraj the lead, guess has a lot more job to do, except of course catching fishes, whistling at Richard, and Shouting at the Storm, for a new comer it is a good performance and Suraj manages to carry the movie on his shoulders.

So so, is this movie one among the legends, is it so flawless, will it go down in history like the rest of the great ones, it could have, but there are some issues which could bring it down. Agreed! that visually it is spectacular, but somehow there is hollowness, and something is missing.

The main theme of the movie gets lost in the spectacular visual effects, we forget what the story was about and i guess Ang lee also lost his way towards the end. What was a riveting climax is a damp whimper. It could have been visually showcased, but no, lee thought better and the most important part of the movie is said orally by Suraj, and audience need to hang to every word of it to understand what had really happened and in my case(where i watched the movie) many didn't get home the point, and here Ang lee fails the spirit of the novel. For a wonderful visual movie he could have taken any story, and if Life of Pi was taken to be made into one, it had to take home the message the novel conveyed, and failure to do so is a crime in all sense.

The feeling is lost towards the end, the feeling of how Pi managed to survive in the deserted ocean, his spirit of survival is not conveyed properly  Of course it is not a Castaway (Awesome Tom Hanks!), but we never pity Pi, somehow we never feel for the poor guy stuck in middle of the ocean, with nothing but a Tiger to keep company. And also rather than being a movie which  makes us to believe in god, we do not in many places find reference to that of god itself, Only older Pi ( Irrfan) makes some reference at times. Hence the viewer manages to enjoy the visual treat, but loose the message of the movie, message from the tale of Pi, of how he survived, and what made him survive alone in the ocean WITH RICHARD PARKER.

Hence my appeal to my friends who read this review is that, spend time pondering over the tale Pi says towards the end, therein lies the actual beauty of the movie, else it is just a mere visual spectacle. 

Cons: I am summarizing what i wrote above. It could have been THE most wonderful movie, but falls short in certain areas and the message of the movie gets marred in the visual treat Lee has prepared for us. Hence not every movie goer will understand its theme and what the movie actually stands for and also the actual tale of survival. Hence according to me, Pi looks great, but greatness not only comes from the looks alone.

Pros: Could these Cons be overlooked ? could the movie still be called the best. I won't say so. But still, to  say the truth, i really loved the movie, and my lamenting is the fact that, it was that kind of movie that could have gone down in history as one the most spectacular work of art. It is like having feeling of Kunthi seeing Karna and shedding tears that Karna will never be the son that he was born to be. He could have achieved much more greatness, but also, he was a legend in his own terms. Hence giving this movie its due credit, we could see the blood, sweat and toil of Ang in every frame. It gives me shudders to think the amount of work gone in order to make this beauty. Hats off to Ang lee and his team. 

And the most important and the Best part of the movie is Mr.Richard Parker, one would not believe that he was computer generated. He is majestic, totally wonderful, a beautiful creature ever created by man! never ever our national animal has evoked such a massive reaction from people (Yeah people Tiger is still our national animal! no of course not, MMS( you know who) did not change it into COW!). Richard is quite adorable and cute, even though he sometimes give a blood curdling roar. And Richard Parker will be going down in history as the most loved tiger and also the best acted tiger ever (Hopefully he gets a Best supporting actor nominee! and also the Oscar for it! Go Richard Parker!). Other pros i have already mentioned and summarized in two words- A "Visual Grandeur". 

Overall:  Go! grab your tickets, your 3D glasses, Popcorn bucket and cool drinks! Enjoy the show (What more do you expect!).

P.S- Be sure to watch it in 3D, IMAX would be much better.