Talking Films » Movie Reviews

Review: Johnny Depp in Alice in Underland

John — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:51:05 +0000

The past couple of weeks there have been whole lot of negative buzz going around for the film Alice in Wonderland. One of the major issues was the soundtrack of the film that is just plain bad. Danny Elfman seems to be trying to hard to get the towering music which the director has tried to ask for. There seems also a lot of repetition of scenes from Sweeney Todd in the form of a flashback. But one and only one thing stands that is the madness behind the Mad Hatter.

There are very few actors who can bring in freshness to any of his roles. It is worth a single viewing for what Johnny Depp selflessly gives to the film. He is driven by a momentum that seems to stem from a seminal thought process: An actor par excellence. Very few of the moments will linger in your mind. Helena Bonham Carter has also vested a great deal of grace to her role. Her sequences with frogs need to be watched to digest the comic timing. But loads of the characters are meaninglessly placed in and around her very tight castle. This is one of my concerns there has not been a great deal of thought gone into many of the sets. It feels like a half baked effort on the part of the director.

It is this spatial arrangement that has kind of killed much of the depth in many of the scenes. I would say a lack of richness is a cause of concern. There is a lot of time spent in characterization which could be interesting if there were a lot more details. The tone primarily used around the film is dark with hues of colors for taste. A candy that is better chewed than savored. Will it take over the mantle of Avatar? I hardly see that happening.

Where are we going with all this darkness?

What if investing in it leads to a loss of good content? Loss of good content is a cause of concern for many of the studios. Not a single star can assure you a safety net unlike before. There needs to be a careful examination of what is perceived to be good. Studios need to have a lot less control over content. A control that needs to be more sentimental is more warranted. The end seems to begin for the Great American film.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars
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Review: Shutter Island brings back the Hitchcockian Experience

Prem — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:02:16 +0000

Martin Scorsese after winning his first oscar two years back, is back with a movie quite different from what he normally does. If someone else had made this movie, maybe Michael Bay, he would have just blown up the island to bits in the first scene itself. This movie not only shows Martin Scorsese’s masterful touch but also how he flawlessly tells a story that is unreal from the very first minute. Fueled by some brilliant performances from his cast, stunning cinematography, and his own incomparable skills as a director, Scorsese has woven together a thriller as intricate as it is haunting.

It’s 1954, and U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Shutter Island Hospital for the criminally insane. He had been gunning for an assignment on the island for reasons of his own, but before long he wonders if everything is just a twisted game by the hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal. The officials never allowed him to access patient nor staff records for unknown reasons, and thats when things start to get a bit murky. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, all kinds of improbable and confused clues keep surfacing and Teddy begins to doubt everything, his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

The first thing to strike me was the fantastic score Scorsese compiled. Classical music was used sparingly and effectively. Also, the use of silence in this film was remarkable. As Teddy is walking through the terrifying halls of the mental hospital, the silence scares the audience more so than the darkness and the cells patients are thrown into. The cinematography was also fantastic in this film. I loved the switch in color palette between life on Shutter Island and the images in Teddy’s mind. This plays a huge part in the story line, helping the audience decipher what is real and what is clearly a hallucination, but at certain times, one cannot distinguish the other. The visuals here are especially rich and vivid. Everything from shots of a lakeside house to a concentration camp is given a dreamlike treatment that provokes awe and horror in equal measure.

The acting was wonderful. DiCaprio is at his finest. He has given his best performance as he always does. You can’t help but empathize with his character, no matter what. Ben Kingsley is intellectually terrifying. The manner in which Sir Kingsley carries himself is so eerie that you are sure he is up to something. Mark Ruffalo is overshadowed in this film but does a nice job. Emily Mortimer is quite convincing as a mental patient and Michelle Williams’ depth was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think she’d play quite as large a role as she did.

The twist ending, which is predictable in hindsight but handled with such maturity that it seems less of a twist than an inevitable conclusion. DiCaprio’s best work comes in these last few moments. Shutter Island raises questions as troubling as the last dialogue in the film. “Which do you think would be worse,” Teddy says to Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) near the end of the film, “to live as a monster or to die as a good man?”

Rating: 8 out of 10 starsSimilar Posts:

Review: Shah Rukh towers in MNIK

Pratik — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:17:40 +0000

As the lights dimmed in the cinema hall, I must admit; as a bona fide cinegoer of Indian Cinema, it was truly a sight to witness, the deafening trumpet of the Fox Searchlight Logo plastered before the all too familiar K2H2 Chant of Dharma Productions. The juxtaposition reinforces your expectation at what is widely being hailed as the first true cross over mainstream movie that Bollywood has to offer to a world audience. And, the fact that it has arguably the biggest superstar in India headlining a movie almost after a year ( Billu Barber disregarded) and the presence of a modern day cinematic Jodi, that’s already the stuff of legends. And who better than Karan Johar, our modern day master-sculptor of the “Indian” melodrama, to helm this enterprise.

Months before the release, there’s been talk about how this is Karan Johar’s attempt at a more serious (mature?) kind of cinema; finally getting him out of his comfort zone. That’s quite a statement, coming from one of our most celebrated directors in recent times. The very notion that Johar was trying to alter his modus operandi (which until now consisted of assaulting the senses of the average Indian viewer via his brand of melodrama) seemed like a mouthwatering prospect to me.

To begin with, this is the least Karan Johar of Karan Johar movies. And that isn’t necessarily a good thing, as I discovered to my surprise during the two and a half hour runtime. The story of Rizwan Khan, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, journeying across the country to meet the President in order to convey a message, seemed like good enough fodder for Johar to apply his natural instincts to. However, he seems determined to break away from his brand of filmmaking (save for a few occasions) and thus in the process loses out on what makes his films so singular (if not always satisfying) It’s his most uncharacteristic work till date, and with material that probably would have sat better with the audience had it been served out with a tad more, dare I say, drama? The movie is pitched as a minor key movie with big emotional beats. The change is not all bad though. There’s an easiness to the pacing of the movie that’s missing in most commercial fare these days, and that’s a refreshing change where aren’t face to the breakneck editing that recent commercial fare suffer from. The movie is shot well enough and (occasionally gets inventive at times with its first person framed scenes). Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s compositions are wonderfully restrained, adding resonance to the movie (Noor –E-Khuda being the stand out track) and is used effectively as a background score to the events (a SRK-KJ movie without lip syncing, has to be a first)

The film skims the surface of the relevant issue of what it is to be a Muslim in this day and age, but ultimately doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. Baring a scene at the masjid, where Rizwan encounters a muslim professor whose wrongly looking to brainwash the youth, the film doesn’t stake a big enough claim into the issue. And that’s a shame, as the audience is purely left hanging onto Rizwan Khan’s unremarkable journey across the American states to take the narrative forward; occasionally coming to life due to ShahRukh’s endearing narration.

And therein lays the problem with MNIK. The film struggles to find the subtle balance between a message movie and a melodrama, (not unlike Hirani’s 3 Idiots, although this is a much lesser experiment in audience manipulation). The climax is particularly hokey. The story takes a diversion involving the residents of a catastrophe-struck Georgia town that seems quite out of place. Also the decision to go with a Black American President serves as a major distraction, rather than a case for casting authenticity)

While looking at gorgeous as ever, Kajol is unfortunately left with a surprisingly thankless role, as Mandira is a poorly written character that only serves as a springboard for Khan to build his performance upon. Other than on the most primal level, it’s hard to fully sympathize with her character in the scene where she lambasts Rizwan, that she couldn’t foresee the hell that marrying a Muslim would bring upon her world. It’s a scene that needed to work, especially considering the context with which the confrontation takes place, and the events that follow but doesn’t achieve the heights that it set out to emotionally. We’re told that her first marriage had ended sourly, and the scope to convey emotional turmoil at the inevitability of losing someone close to you again could have been affecting, but doesn’t come across completely due to weak characterization despite Kajol’s best efforts ( the breakdown scene being outstanding)

The supporting casts have a pretty inconsistent outing. The actor playing Rizwan and Mandira’s son (the slightly older one, i.e.) is purely bad casting, putting in a particularly awkward performance; almost stripping the movie of its weight during the major turning point. The childhood scenes work nicely to set up the growing days of Rizwan and the influence that his mother (Zarina Wahab, outstanding as the graceful Ammi) had on him. And finally, Tanney Chheda, as the young Rizwan, puts in a delicate and nuanced performance.

Ultimately the film works because of ShahRukh Khan. It wouldn’t be totally unfair to say that the character of Rizwan, lends itself quite conveniently to Khan’s already hyper animated acting method (SRK haters are going to have a feast of a time dissecting the various contortions that his face makes during the two and a half hour running time) but he still has an easy charm and earnestness that he brings to his roles, that even the best of the industry seems to have a difficult time dishing out these days. While comparisons to the Dustin Hoffman are inevitable; Khan finds ways to make Rizwan unique and his own, displaying vulnerability in the role and making it palpable to the viewer. The film works best when the camera is trained purely on him; allowing him to perform.

I realize that this piece might seem overtly negative, but it must be said that the film ultimately merits a watch. It doesn’t quite know what it’s trying to be, but it’s memorable because of what ShahRukh makes of Rizwan Khan, a full bodied embodiment of goodness, which is what we ultimately take back with us. And it’s a timely reminder that the King of Bollywood is still around. And it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

Rating: 6 out of 10 starsSimilar Posts:

Avatar Review: The King of the World experience

John — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:49:51 +0000

It is surely an event that many of us have been waiting for quite sometime. To be accurate more than 10 years a James Cameron film has not come to a theater near you. There is surely a reason for that he was waiting for things to advance in cinema. Has the wait been fruitful you will have to go through this with a little more patience to find out.

Avatar is a film that will have its share of cult followers and probably new groups. The story is nothing new but it is the treatment that will make you wonder if James is for real with his concept. The plot involves a peculiar planet Pandora found by humans in the distant future and they have been investing a lot to gain access to the planets richest resource. In order for them to penetrate this resource they make some of their warriors gain the trust of the lands inhabitants by creating an Avatar of the aliens and superimposing their selves on to it. The concept of the Avatar is what pulls this story to its heightened points.

Now meet Jack Sully played by Sam Worthington a man who has fought couple of hellish wars but has lost the use of his legs and the life of his genius twin Brother. His brother lost his life while being called on duty to Pandora. So Jake takes his place because of his resemblance to his brother and the Avatar they had made for his brother at Pandora. The situations are perfectly constructed for an event that is about to change each of the people on this ship.

The humans are left with 3 months to salvage their operations on Pandor. The natives who are the Na’vi inhabit with mysterious ideals and logic. There is kind of an allegory to the War on Terror with a lack of knowledge and sensitivity on the part of the humans. At this point the film has not taken any drastic turns spending time bringing out character sketches with a lot of shoddy dialogue. But don’t be perturbed by it wait till the Na’vi land on the screen with full force. Till then you have to take some of the observations of each of the crew members on the Na’vi in a sort of pedantry manner.

Then we have the saviors of the film. The main crux which joins everything together like a stone stuck at the edge of a cliff about to make it’s descend. The first 40 minutes of the Na’vi is truly and unforgettable experience. Learning the ways of the Na’vi reminds you of movies like The Last Samurai and The New World. But there is no plagiarism in all of this. It is totally a unique vision more like ordinary wine in a great bottle.

But the finale is not something that can be avoided. It is surely predictable but the images created will leave a huge impression on the viewers mind. There is a reason why the characters take their time to build up. It is for the war that ensues. A war the natives were forced to embark on. A war that made them realizes the true nature of their selves through the eyes of an outsider. It is true of every civilization an outside view of their lives is certain to make them look at their lives differently.

We are also subjected to some of the most beautiful images in cinema in recent times. You have to give credit to James to make this whole film work. The detailing in the film is so dense it will require repeat viewing to sink in. There is a total immersion of the audience’s thoughts while watching this film. James Cameron has given us a film that is not really going to change of cinema if he himself pushes for sequels of this one. But it will certainly pave the way for more interesting use of the entire tech used. Probably Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson need to learn a lot from James before they take on Tintin.

Don’t miss this movie out on the 3D Imax. It is truly something else with touch of the leaves, the slash of the guns and fire burning all around the place.

Rating: 10 out of 10 starsSimilar Posts:

Review: ‘Invictus’ is packed with powerful performances

Prem — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:56:36 +0000

Each time Clint Eastwood makes a film, you just feel that it has an air of brilliance around it and he just does not disappoint. He has been very consistent since he started directing films and is one of the best directors around in the country today. His latest film “Invictus” is a film not just of historical meaning and terms, but it’s interesting how it connects with people of a once torn apart country to inspire them to be happy all thru forgiveness. This film is more than just a Nelson Mandela biopic. It’s more about how Mandela out of everything he could have done, sought the support of the country’s rugby team to inspire them and the people of South Africa which would eventually unite them against the fear of Apartheid.

Starting in 1990 when Mandela (Morgan Freeman) is released from South African prison to a country that’s still split by racial tensions and transitional violence. As for years the blacks have always had problems with the whites as the popular rugby team the Springboks are detested by the blacks. Yet Mandela showers love and learning about forgiveness which surprises his people and supports the team as this is his way to encourage the country to be more loving and compassionate.

The rugby team lead by captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) meets with Mandela and he becomes inspired to work harder so they can win the World Cup and prove to all South Africans that peace and love is possible for all as all of them no matter what as the team represents everyone. True this film is an inspirational one that’s connected to athletics yet deep underneath it’s more about the changing times of a nation. The film moves along well as Eastwood paces the action field shots well as the rugby scenes are entertaining as you cheer for victory even though you know the Springboks are gonna be winners.

With such performances by both Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, it will be interesting to see if either gets an oscar nod especially Morgan Freeman who I thought was the only person who could pull of such a great leader. His expressions and emotions in certain scenes are just amazing. This one scene when he enters the rugby field just after becoming the President of South Africa, he gets lot of boos, but the smile of his face despite all that shows the kind of person Mandela was and Morgan Freeman had really nailed that scene. The cinematography was well done, as the film was filmed entirely on location. Eastwood truly respects the audience’s intelligence by not shoving material or dramatic events down our throat. Instead, he backs off and lets us ingest the scenes, interpret them, and allow them to mean whatever we as the audience want them to mean. This film is a lesson in film directing at its finest.

Rating: 9 out of 10 starsSimilar Posts:

Review: ‘The Blind Side’ will inspire everyone

Prem — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:23:43 +0000

Every year lots of sports based movies come out, but how many have been really able to have a moving effect on you. Incase you haven’t watched Blind Side yet, you should. This is not a movie entirely based on football, but is more about making the right decision to do the right thing and sticking with it.

This is the real-life story of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), her husband Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) and their new found son in Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron). Leigh Anne is the type of person you do not want to deal with as she talks mostly to a person’s face and gets what she wants. One night when she spots Michael walking in the cold rain without a coat, she approaches him and changes his life forever.

Michael’s father left when he was just a baby and his mother is a drug addict. Even though he is homeless and wanders from couch to couch, his spirit is never broken. He has the body of a giant and the heart of a lamb. The love that Leigh Anne and her family show Michael is true to heart and is unbelievable. They treat Michael as their own son and provides him with all the comforts of life. What you never see are the real children ever arguing or being selfish towards Michael and that goes to show how humble the kids were and how good parents Leigh Anne and Sean were. They then make sure he goes to college, hires a tutor to help him out, which in turn leads to college football coaches all over US trying their best to get Michael due to the huge talent he possesses in the game.

There is a lot to like in “The Blind Side”, with strong support by the secondary characters, and the way the story is kept from becoming over-sentimental. It moves well, and it does give you a refreshing twist on something we have seen before. Here it all depends on how it is executed and much of the strength lies in Bullock’s performance which I must add is one of her best till date.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

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‘The Twilight Saga:New Moon’ is worst movie ever

Prem — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:11:29 +0000

This might be my shortest review yet. Let’s start with the good first. The soundtrack I thought was decent, as well as Michael Sheen who had like 5 minutes of screen time. Dakota Fanning had about 45 seconds to show her face. That is about it. Acting is worse than first part. Pretty much every scene is cheezy and cliched with dialogues heard over a million times. The so called hyped special effects turned out to be something from a tv show.

Everyone is saying this movie is true to the book, and it might be, but the way its been approached with some really crappy editing and poorly directed shots, it makes the book look really bad. Why can’t the producers make this as good as the harry potter series or any other book to movie adaptation. The scene where Taylor Lautner removes his shirt off in slow motion to stop Kristen Stewart’s head from bleeding was very funny that the audience, the so called fans of the book were laughing too. Another scene where Edward and Bella and eloping in the forest again in slow motion sequence, was just too laughable.

How important are dialogues to a film. Every line that Bella or Edward or Jacob says has been said in every movie made by hollywood literally. If the producers can’t make a good movie, then they should not waste everyone’s time in creating a hype that will be looked upon as fans as an insult to their favorite book. Why doesn’t anyone want to make this movie good enough so that all non fans would love it too. Trying to squeeze every cent from the audience is not going to salvage any pride for this film which will be forgotten the moment the movie starts.

The film made all the vampire and werewolves related movies look like some of the greatest movies in this genre. And worst of all, I can’t believe that the cast members think they are doing something great by acting in this movie. A piece of advice, you may never have an acting career after Twilight is done,dusted and forgotten, so get out while you still can.

Rating: 1 out of 10 starsSimilar Posts:

Review: 2012 is the Ultimate Disaster thriller

Prem — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:31:17 +0000

The End isn’t Near….It’s already upon us. So,Where do I begin? If your looking for great character development, brilliant acting or fantastic dialogue’s, this movie is not for you. Also the plot is a bit too simple to be enjoyed by a thinking mind and the characters pretty one dimensional, directly borrowed from many worn out disaster flicks. Scene after scene occurs where the director wants to have these emotionally-charged scenes where you’re affected but, because there’s no foundation, so you really don’t care. The only noteworthy performance is that from Chiwetel Ejiofor as Adrian Helmsley.

But apart from all that, where the movie actually kicks ass is the jaw dropping unprecedented scale of destruction that you see unfolding before your very eyes. The visual effects are beyond imagination. The cinematography is near perfect. The film has a 2hr38 min runtime but it flies by as director goes on destroying one city after another. Earthquakes tearing apart freeways or huge tidal swallowing entire cities has never been shot better.

You got to love Emmerich’s storylines. It’s as trivial as earth going to get destroyed, destroy it but end it on a happy note. Leading it is John Cusack who gives a decent performance and the last time I remember seeing something similar was way back in Con Air. Amanda Peet plays his ex-wife who has pretty much nothing to do other than tag along with Cusack. Another fine performance comes from Chiwetel Ejiofor as the scientist who sounds the alarm on impending doom and becomes a voice of reason amongst the chaos. There’s admirable performances from Oliver Platt as the White House chief of staff Carl Anheuser, Danny Glover as the President caught up in the greatest crisis ever to face humanity and Thandie Newton as his daughter, but the guy who steals the show yet again is Woody Harrelson (Zombieland).

There has been a lot of speculation and prophecies surrounding the date 21st December,2012. The movie starts off with the aim of trying to show what really is the cause, but somewhere once the disasters start occurring, you just want to see more and more cities go down to the earth and the whole idea of 2012 or even for that matter, the purpose behind the film gets lost in the sad pleasure of seeing places getting destroyed that the length of the film doesn’t matter in the end.

If you’re a fan of these types of movies, than chances are, you know Roland and you exactly know what you’re paying to see when you walk into the theater. The film is a triumph for its genre and will not disappoint those looking for to see some major destruction.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

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Anton Cotbijn gets hold of George Clooney

John — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:50:05 +0000

George Clooney couldn’t really get his campaign this fall to a flying start. His first film of the fall was Men Who Stare at Goats. I guess it will take some time for him to get it right. But he does have the season’s most critically acclaimed movie coming Up In The Air. So that is something we can look forward to.

But next year he has got his hands full with a sniper gun in The American. This is surely going to be classic. In the film George Clooney plays a sniper assassin. He plays an assassin with an amazing track record; always in a state of paranoia. But when an assignment goes wrong and a lover ends up dead, he vows that his next job will be his last.

His next assignment takes him to the picturesque Italian locals with some beautiful piazzas bursting with life. But to Jack every location is a potential threat. He also sort of basks in the beauty of the city and gets involved with a strange beauty. But by slowly getting his guard down he gets himself into a little trouble.

Things began to get all foggy when the person he has hired is not all that dependable. The film then delves into the mind of this man and leaves us with interesting pallet of action, intrigue and passionate romance. This is just perfect for George Clooney more like a slower version of the Bourne series. Anton Corbijn of the Control fame will be directing the film.
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Review: Broken Embraces

John — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:01:37 +0000

What happens when you live the life of another?

Your Old selves begin to die out and you recreate a new world through the mind’s opaque corners. Harry Caine is one such man who designed something of a similar nature. But there is a catch to all this he was forced to do this because of his blindness.

The blindness he encounters becomes more of a destruction of his self. Just a little of his charm actually remains; traced on his face we see pictures of his past; scars of his images; broken down parts of his soul. Harry Caine was once the evergreen Mateo. Mateo Blanco was in awe of a millionaire’s mistress Magdalena Rivero better known as just Lena. This affair takes its time to enter the story. Pedro has always called himself a bigamist of plot. So over here we see an immersion of that ideal. Both the men in Lena’s life are obsessed by her uncanny charm. There is a tribute laden in an interlude to a love scene with an image of Romy Schneider. She is a woman Pedro would have like to channel with Penelope through this film.

The simple affair turns sordid with a enchanting documentation of it by the millionaire’s son Ernesto Martel Junior; through his eyes we see a very narrow vision of what the affair is about. Very little details are revealed with several innovative perspectives that seep into the narrative. The film seamlessly shifts from the present and the past with acute fluidity that is so Pedro. Yes this is a film for fans of his mastery; even though it might be one of the lesser of his works. But lesser is at times all we need to mirror our feelings.

There are quite a few similarities in the film with Pedro’s earlier works. Sometimes it feels he is making the same film over again; turning some of the conventions over their heads. The shot of Martel throwing Lena down the stairs is shown with a heightened reality: We are not meant to judge any of the actions. Martel is played by Jose Luis Gomez who can’t over the thought of loosing her to Mateo. His whole day is more of an obsession of attaining her for himself.

Pedro also plays to the sentiments of all the vampire movies coming out this season: a dialogue between Mateo and his writing partner Diego leads to a story regarding Vampires. The story makes you feel like it was there in the movie but it was just a story within another one. Pedro also employs many of the ideas he had thrown out in Bad Education by having a character speaking her lines while watching the scene muted on the projector: An effect that relishes the doppelganger elements of cinema.

There is also an ode to the time in which these films were taken; by placing horribly edited shots of a film that got unfortunately released; without the knowledge of the main protagonists: A careful study of filmmaking is regenerated with so much of the lost footage. We even have images that create spaces and times lost bringing in a lot of depth to each of the characters.

This film review will be irrelevant without a mention of what Penelope Cruz has given to this film. Penelope: An actress living the life of an absolute starlet; reverberating through each frame; touching the heart of cinema and making it her own. This film belongs to her in every respect: the epitome of all things bad to come. But it is the film that sort of fails her: A sorbet with a single scoop that will leaves you craving.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars
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