Jairam's Jives

Before the Rains - Movie Review

2013-07-08T17:16:00.000+05:30

A couple of reasons why I watched ‘Before the Rains’ were Santosh Sivan, its director and Nandita Das, its lead character. While I am a huge fan of Santosh Sivan’s cinematography in almost all of the movies in which he collaborated with Mani Ratnam (Roja, Iruvar, Dil Se, Raavanan, need I say more), the fact that I had seen quite a few interviews of his and he came across as this amazingly imaginative person who knows how to get the maximum detail in each and every frame of his piqued my interest in him. Santosh Sivan is almost like an university of cinematography and the script that he picked up for this movie lent itself to be filmed extraordinarily beautifully.

The second reason that I watched this movie was Nandita Das. With her unconventional looks, this powerhouse of a performer had managed to grab my attention with her awesome performances in Earth, Azhagi and Kannthil Muthamittal. In all of these roles, her eyes always seemed to convey a deep sense of sorrow, I don’t know if she was just playing her characters in these movies or whether her eyes do really betray some sorrow in them.

In any case, to get back to the movie itself, it deals with Henry Moores (played competently by Linus Roache) a rubber plantation owner in Kerala (in 1930s Kerala) and his attempts to building a road connecting the prime part of his rubber plantations to the town from where the rubber would find its way to the markets. Henry is ably assisted by his driver, servant and man-Friday in general, TK (a part played wonderfully well by Rahul Bose, yet another powerhouse of an actor who is so grossly under-appreciated by all Indian movie lovers). TK endears himself to Henry due to the fact that he is ambitious, knows English and very wilfully acts as a conduit between the English owner and the Indian workers. In fact, Henry relies a lot on TK and his tact to achieve his ends. Both Henry and TK are working hard to ensure that the road linking the plantation is built ‘before the rains’ in Kerala which are notoriously torrential and will surely end up washing away any unfinished roads up in the hills.

While the road is being built, Henry is also having a clandestine affair with his married maid Sajani (Nandita Das). Coincidentally, when Henry’s wife and son return from Oxford to Kerala, Sajani’s husband discovers her affair with Henry and physically abuses her. Sajani then seeks refuge with Henry who refuses to accept her into the household under the circumstances which leads to her killing herself with a gun. Her disappearance causes quite a furor in the town and what unfolds next forms the rest of the movie. I am not going to reveal the rest of the plot as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anybody who is inspired to watch the movie after this review.

Cameo appearances by Indrajith (as Sajani’s brother) and Lal (as Sajani’s husband) add a lot of value to the movie. The fact that these two are extremely competent actors in the Malayalam industry does not deter them from taking up small roles and delivering extremely competent performances in them. Maybe the fact that they were working in Santosh Sivan’s movie is what prompted them to take up these roles in the first place.

From the perspective of cinematography, Santosh does a brilliant job with the visuals. Each and every frame of the movie manages to capture the natural beauty of the surroundings, and brings to life an entire forest on the movie screen. The fact that the rains keep playing hide and seek throughout the movie also adds a lot to the relevance of the title to this movie. Santosh Sivan has been quoted as saying that Raja Ravi Varma, the great painter king from Kerala inspired his use of lighting in all the indoor shots for this movie.

In a nutshell, as I stated at the very beginning, I was so moved by this movie and the visuals that whenever I think of rains or monsoon, my memories immediately go back to this movie…

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_the_Rains
IMDB link to the movie – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870195/

Image Courtesy : Wikipedia

Neram - Tamil - Movie Review

2013-07-05T16:42:00.001+05:30

These days Tamil cinema is in the middle of a silent revolution. While movies continue being made with big budgets, big stars (such as Singam 2, poised to release on 5^th July), there is this entire other stream of movies being made with smaller budgets, smaller ‘stars’ which give much more weightage to crisp scripts, taut screenplays, and an overall appreciation to the different facets of film-making. Some recent examples of this new stream are Pizza, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanam, Soothu Kavvum, Neram, etc, most of which have already become 2013’s so called ‘sleeper hits’. And trust me, as an avid movie-lover (even movies of the big budget, big stars kind), this entire silent revolution excites me a lot. All of the movies named here and others as well have been so good that I cannot stop ‘gushing’ about them and recommending them to all other movie lovers I know.

Neram (classified as a ‘romantic comedy thriller’ film by Wikipedia [Link to article]) is one such movie which captured my attention first because of its hit song – Pistah being played on the Tamil music channels. Apart from the fact that the song went viral due to its catchy lyrics and beats, the fact that the video itself features off cuts from the movie itself piqued my interest in the movie. The catchy tags to the characters – the main villain, the tall villain, the short villain, the fair villain, the dark villain, etc, immediately made me go the web and read up a preview of the movie.

The premise of the movie where the protagonist has just one more day to go before his deadline to return borrowed money expires, was something that immediately made me to put this movie on my ‘must-watch’ list. And believe me when I say this, that probably was one the best decisions that I have made in a long time.

Neram, written, edited and directed by debutant Alphonse Putharen is one movie where people will be extremely hard pressed to find even one loose end. Everything in the movie, all the scenes, shots, situations, characters, dialogs, have a specific purpose to play and no knot remains loose at the end of the movie. As stated earlier, the premise of the movie is very simple, Vetri (played wonderfully well by Nivin Pauly, one of the up and coming Malayalam heroes) has borrowed money from Vatti Raja (portrayed extremely convincingly by Simhaa, a character artist whom I am seeing only for the second time on screen) for his sister’s wedding. Vetri has run out of time and has only till 5 PM in the evening to return the money with interest to Vatti Raja. What follows during this particular day forms the crux of the movie.

The fact that the script borrows the premise for its thrills from the fact that the hero has a clock against which he is running, and this by itself has been made into numerous successful thriller films. What takes the cake in Neram is the fact that it uses the non-linear storytelling technique. While this also is nothing new to Tamil cinema and has been tried in various movies in the past, the fact that the director makes it work wonderfully well, especially in the climax sequence, is what makes Neram stand out from the crowd.

All in all, watch this movie if you want to have an edge of the seat experience wondering what the hero will do and how he will manage to repay the money, if at all, for a crisp 117 minute running time experience.

PS: Veteran actor Nasser makes his presence immensely felt in a wonderful little cameo performance at the fag end of the film. This character by itself can form the subject of a separate movie by itself.

Image courtesy : Wikipedia link to the movie

Ustad Hotel - Dum Malabari Biriyani at its best...

2013-01-08T07:53:00.001+05:30

I don't remember when I first heard of this movie, but for whatever reason it eluded me until Asianet finally decided to play it again (or was it the first time on TV?) on Sunday, Jan 6th. I guess the fact that this was one of the legendary Thilakan's last movies or this was one of Dulquer Salman's (Mammootty's son) first few movies played large in keeping the name 'Ustad Hotel' right on the top of my 'to watch list' of Malayalam movies. And I wasn't disappointed with the wait, the Dum Malabari Biriyani turned out to be well worth the wait for it.

The movie itself is a sweet, no-frills, bittersweet romantic one. The script is relatively uncomplicated and the pace is quite nice, not too slow nor too fast given the genre of the movie. The story primarily deals with Faisi's (played by Dulquer) love for cooking, his fall out with his father who wants him to be a businessman and how this leads to Faisi discovering his grandfather (Karim ka played by Thilakan) and the eponymous 'Ustad Hotel' in Kozhikode.

As the name suggests food is an overarching theme in this movie and the love for it pretty much forms the basis on which the story revolves around. Looking back though, I can't help but wonder if this movie had shed its entire commercial angle and focused more on the food, whether it would have seen the commercial success it did. If a gutsy filmmaker had taken this script and made it more about the grandson's and the grandfather's common love for good food and dared to make an entire movie with this subject, now that would've made this movie all the more interesting for me to watch.

In any case, the movie as it is today manages to strike the right balance between the love for food and the other necessary commercial elements such as the token love story between Faisi and Shahana (played wonderfully well by Nithya Menen who remains enigmatically beautiful to me whenever I catch her on TV). Shahana’s character is also used by the director to portray an extremely forward-looking modern Muslim girl who is actually a lead singer of a Fusion Band in the movie. She comes across as an extremely self-confident, spunky leading lady who is quite clear on what she wants from her life and what needs to be done to grab her dreams.

The movie in my opinion does take some unnecessary detours into Ustad Hotel trying to be acquired by an unscrupulous business tycoon who wants to expand his existing Five Star property on the beachfront, etc. But then, these script elements were necessary to keep the movie moving from a commercial angle I guess.

To conclude, I would rate Ustad Hotel reasonably high and would recommend it, especially for people who love food, love their grandfathers (and the accompanying treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom nuggets) and also for people who like light hearted rom-com movies.

Unknown - Movie Review

2012-11-19T14:18:00.000+05:30

"Unknown" was just that, an unknown choice of a movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon. When the Missus, my cousin and me decided to sit down to watch some nice movie, the onus of choice of the movie was left to me. Browsing through my cousin's collection of movies, I happened to come across "Unknown". Not knowing anything else about the movie other than the fact that Liam Neeson starred in it, the three of us sat down to watch it.

The movie begins with Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife arriving at Berlin to attend a biotechnology summit where the Doctor is one of the researchers expected to present a significant breakthrough in his field of expertise. At the hotel, when he realizes that he inadvertently has forgotten his briefcase with his passports and other important papers at the airport itself, he hops into the nearest taxi and asks the driver Gina (Diane Kruger) to take him to the airport as soon as possible. On the way to the airport though, the taxi meets with an accident where the cab crashes into a river. Martin in knocked unconscious and wakes up in a hospital 2-3 days later.

When he returns to the hotel, he discovers his wife with another man who is living the life of Dr Martin Harris. Enraged, confused by this sudden turn of events, Dr Harris starts off in quest of reclaiming his life, identity while trying to figure out what exactly is transpiring. That forms the gist of the movie. To say anything more would end up in revealing too much about the movie and that would prove to be quite a damp squib for anybody who has plans to watch the movie.

Liam Neeson as Dr Harris plays his character to the hilt. His ability to emote portraying his anger, confusion, frustration speak volumes for his credentials as an actor who always goes the extra mile to bring to life the writers' characters (other notable roles of his include Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins, the protagonist in Taken, the list goes on). Diane Kruger (Helen of Troy in Troy, Abigail Chase in National Treasure) plays the role of Gina competently enough. As somebody who unwittingly gets caught up in a situation that she has no control over, her portrayal of the illegal immigrant taxi driver is quite good and adds to the plot.

The movie itself follows the standard template of its genre of movies - the cloak and dagger thriller, but it does so with just that bit of flair, panache and individuality that makes it quite a good watch. The screenplay, the locations, the chase sequences, the casting, all of it has been done with eough care and attention to ensure that the audience is treated to a competent action-thriller movie.

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie **contains Plot Spoilers**
IMDB link to the movie **contains Plot Spoilers**
Youtube link to the movie trailer

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Movie Review

2012-07-28T14:19:00.005+05:30

In a departure from normal protocol, Agent Ethan Hunt is not necessarily given a choice to accept the mission in this instalment of Mission Impossible. Hot on the trail of "Cobalt" (the mandatory code-name for a MI villain), things go horribly wrong and "Ghost Protocol" is activated which basically disowns Agent Hunt and the entire IMF, and to further complicate things, the IMF's secretary is also assassinated which basically leaves Agent Hunt and his team with practically no support of any kind.

What Cobalt's plan is and how Hunt and his rag tag team of Jane Carter, Benji Dunn and intelligence analyst William Brandt try and thwart his plans make up for the rest of the movie. while the story pretty much moves on predictable lines, what makes this movie stand apart from the rest of other spy movies and makes it the best in the MI franchise is the sheer scale of this movie.

From blowing up a part of the Kremlin to the amazingly crazy unbelievable action sequence shot at the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, this movie has to be the grandest in terms of imagination for a spy-action genre. The fact that Tom Cruise manages to bring his A-game to the screen in terms of performance and the style with which he portrays Ethan Hunt is a huge bonus. He doesn't look a day older than Jeremy Renner (who plays William Brandt, and who is 9 yrs younger than Cruise is) and kudos to the efforts that the entire crew of this movie has put in to pull off some amazing stunts on screen.

Simon Pegg as Benji brings his trademark style of British comedy on screen and portrays the role of the 'gadget guru' (once again a mandatory items of all movies of the MI franchise, and all spy-action movies in general). Paula Patton also is quite commendable and plays her role decently enough.

All said and done I liked this movie and liked it a lot. Having said that, WTF were the movie makers thinking bringing in the entire India angle to the story. Whoever did their research on India and whoever was in charge of designing the sets, props for this section completely messed it up. While I had read articles and seen leaked photographs of the India sets on the web, I didn't realize that a studio as big as Paramount and producers such as Tom Cruise and JJ Abrams would end up overlooking such shoddy work. I mean, if it was so hard and inconvenient for them to recreate India on a set, they might as well have shot that entire sequence in any other country where it would have been easier for them to shoot a movie. The fact that this portion seemed to have been added to pander to the Indian audiences is something that I find hard to believe given the fact that Indians anyways download movies for free and watch them.

Another question I have in this regard - What was decided first? The casting of Anil Kapoor which forced the makers to select India as one of the locations for the action to take place, or the choice of India which forced the selection of Anil Kapoor as one of the characters. In any case, to summarize, both India and Anil Kapoor have been wasted in the movie completely, and there is not even an ounce of saving grace in this regard.

If Indian viewers are willing to overlook the extremely stereotypical version of Indian streets, traffic, etc during the climactic sequence, this movie is good fun. Tight screenplay, decent story telling, awesome stunts, and Tom Cruise performing as Ethan Hunt, all of these are really compelling reasons to watch this movie.

Related links
Wikipedia link to the movie
IMDB link to the movie
Official website of the movie

Trailer

The Descendants - Movie Review

2012-02-11T11:33:00.005+05:30

At the outset "The Descendants" is a movie based on two, maybe three thin threads of stories with common characters.

The first one deals with Matt King who is the Managing Trustee of a trust which controls 25000 acres of virgin untouched land in the island of Ka'aui in Hawaii. King and his family members (read cousins, extended cousins, etc) are in the process of finalizing a deal to sell off the land and make a fortune.

The second thread deals with how Elizabeth King, Matt's wife has met with a boating accident and has gone into a coma. The doctors declare that she is not going to come out of the coma and as per Elizabeth's 'living will' she must be disconnected from life support and allowed to die. Matt, who all this time has only been a 'backup parent' to his daughters must now figure out how to reconcile to Elizabeth's death, bring up his teenage daughters who he barely even knows well enough while dealing with the entire Trust dealings.

As if these weren't enough, Matt's elder daughter Alexandra reveals to him that Elizabeth had been having an affair with another person behind Matt's back. This all but completely drains Matt's patience and tests him to the extreme.

The beauty of this movie is the fact that all 3 of these threads have been so nicely interwoven and despite the fact that each one of these is big enough for individual movies by themselves, the fact that they have been dealt with extremely matter of factly without too much of drama thrown in is what takes the cake. Each one of the characters, Matt King, his daughters Alexandra and Scottie, Scottie's friend Sid, Elizabeth's old father, the real estate agent with whom Elizabeth was having an affair, have been well written and do complete justice to their roles.

George Clooney, as Matt King, who is torn between anger at his wife for her affair, sorrow for losing his wife, utter confusion and despair as to how to be a good father to his daughters, plays the role of a lifetime in this movie. I personally thought Clooney touched new heights in his roles in Michael Clayton and Up in the Air, but with The Descendants he takes it a couple of notches higher. Now I really have to watch The Ides of March in which he is once again said to have done an awesome job. That probably is going to be watched and reviewed sometime soon.

Roger Ebert who in my opinion is probably one of the best movie reviewers around gave The Descendants a 4 Star Rating and goes on to say - "What happens is that we get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies. We come to understand how they think and care about what they decide." Now if that isn't reason enough to watch this movie, what else is?

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie
Roger Ebert's review of the movie
My review of Michael Clayton
My review of Up in the Air

Trailer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Movie Review

2012-02-08T07:12:00.001+05:30

If any of the readers of this post have read the book 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and intend to watch the movie sometime soon (albeit not in Indian theatres given that the Indian Govt has decided to ban its release in India, will soon write a separate post on that topic), request you folks to read this review with great caution as there are quite a few spoilers ahead which might end up ruining the entire movie watching experience for you.

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CAUTION - MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD
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When I first heard that Daniel Craig was going to be portraying the role of Mikael Blomkvist, to be honest I didn't know how to react. While Craig brought the smartness and tough-as-nails personality to the character, whether he would be able to portray the more sensitive, thoughtful part of Blomkvist still remained a question to me. However, given that David Fincher (of The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fight Club fame) has taken liberties with the original script from the book as well as a few liberties with the character sketches themselves meant that Craig does more than an admirable job of translating Blomkvist's character in the movie.

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander was, is and I guess will remain pretty much of an unknown entity, at least until all three movies of the Millennium trilogy are released. I am pretty sure that by the end of the trilogy she will become quite the sensation over the world with her well researched, and well crafted portrayal of the complicated character that Salander has been made to be by Stieg Larsson.

Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger is extraordinarily competent and manages to breathe life into the character despite the fact that the movie does not spend as much time with him as the book does. The fact that he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 2012 (albeit for a different movie, Beginners) means that he brings a lot of competence and life to this character. Although I wish that the screenplay had devoted more time to the character, well, to be honest I wish the screenplay had devoted more time to all the other characters as well, but then the movie would have ended up being a 4 hr movie then.

In any case, am not going into more details of the plot of the movie here but will restrict myself to saying that the primary premise of the movie deals with the investigation of the missing case of Harriet Vanger who disappeared approximately 40 yrs ago and Henrik Vanger uses the services of fallen journalist Mikael Blomkvist to try and find out what really happened to Harriet. How Mikael comes to use the assistance of Lisbeth Salander, how he unravels the mystery using old photographs, how the story unfurls makes the crux of the movie.

Like I mentioned before the only couple of things that I had complaints with was the fact that the screenplay chose to gloss over almost all the characters, including the leading ones of Blomkvist and Salander. While I am Ok with the Vangers being overlooked, my personal opinion was the character sketches of Blomkvist, Salander and Erica Berger should have been dealt with in a little more detail, even at the cost of lengthening the movie. Given that there are two more movies to follow with these characters, it would have helped the cause of the trilogy.

Apart from that, notable mention must be made of the fact that the background score for the movie adds a lot to its entire character. Trent Razor and Atticus Ross have done an awesome job of ensuring that the edginess and quirkiness of the Salander character is aptly captured in the music as well. Overall the entire sound recording and the background score of the movie add a lot to its already wonderful premise.

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie
Movie preview of this movie

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Movie Preview

2011-12-21T07:02:00.002+05:30

Now if you are a book lover and a regular reader of the thriller action genre of books there's no way that you could have missed reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. This book made the literary circles and the bestseller lists of the world go ga-ga sometime ago.

The plot deals with the case of a young girl who has been missing for 30+ years and how the girl's grandfather hires an investigative journalist to trace the girl. Interspersed with the fact that the journalist himself is in the middle of a career threatening situation and in the company of a maverick young lady detective, the plot has all the elements that a thriller action book should have. An extremely compelling read, and this coming from somebody who had not actually read a book completely in quite a while.

Enough about the book because I could go on and on and my opinions on the book itself could make up yet another blog post by itself, or maybe even more than one because that was how impressed I was with the book. While I first heard that they were about to make an English movie based on this book, I was piqued as the Swedish Movie made on this book was apparently quite a hit and did justice to the complex book that this actually is. The English version stars none other than our very own gritty Daniel Craig. Now with the main character of Mikael Blomqvist being played by Craig, there is no way that I can afford to miss this movie when it does come down to India.

For now the YouTube version of the trailer has to suffice -

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie

Wikipedia link to the book

Transformers : Dark of the moon - Movie Review

2011-12-02T06:17:00.001+05:30

You know you are in for a ride when the movie begins with a panoramic view of the Earth from the other side, the dark side of the Moon. Quite a nice touch there, using the actual dark side of the Moon to mean much more than just literally the dark side of the moon, but then, hey we aren't discussing the philosophical side of this title are we? Because if we are, then that is pretty much the topic of an entirely different post or maybe even a whole blog devoted to that :)

In any case, if you have read my earlier reviews of Transformers and Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen , you can clearly see that I am quite a fan of the Transformers franchise and the characters itself. Something about the fact that these vehicles 'transform' into these awesomely huge robots which kick some serious butt is exciting and takes me back to my teenage days. Having said, I will start this review with the disclaimer that I will tend to be a little biased probably towards making this movie actually sound a lot better than most of the world probably found it to be.

The story begins in 1961 when a Cybertronian spacecraft called the Ark carrying an invention capable of rebuilding Cybertron crashes into the dark side of the Moon. In fact the movie claims that this is the main reason that JFK put all his money and resolve behind getting man on the moon before the Russians did so that they can recover the alien spacecraft and keep it for themselves. I loved this particular distortion of history for cinematic purposes, plus it probably gives a more plausible reason as to why the USA and the Russians were in such a hurry in the 1960s to get to the Moon. It was not like there was water on the Moon in any case :)

The Autobots, while investigating Decepticon activity in Chernobyl come across a fuel cell from the Ark. This in turn leads them to the dark side of the Moon where they find Sentinel Prime, former leader of the Primes guarding the rest of the fuel cells in the Ark. He however is in a coma and Optimus Prime uses the energy from the Matrix of Leadership to revive him and brings him back to Earth.

So far so good. However, it's only after Sentinel Prime lands on Earth that the real plot begins to unravel. Giving that part of the story up in this review would spoil the entire movie for anybody who's not yet watched the movie itself. In any case, suffice to say that good ol' Megatron is back for the party, Chicago as a city is almost wrecked and we have enough and more explosions and stunt sequences to keep the kids happy till they become teenagers.

All in all, this movie turns out to be a stock summer blockbuster just like the earlier two movies in this franchise, albeit marginally better than the second one though. That being said there's nothing really memorable about this instalment though. I guess the novelty kind of wears off and the fact that there's only so many times that you can actually see robots taking each other on in urban settings and get excited about it. In fact what works against this movie is the fact that given that most action movies have these awesome stunt sequences nowadays there's nothing really spectacular or different about this movie that makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd. That being said, if you are a fan of the Transformers franchise and the characters, this movie has enough to keep you excited. What is good about this franchise is that each movie almost seamlessly picks up from where the earlier one ends.

Related links -
Wikipedia link to the movie
IMDB link to the movie

Trailer -

Vaanam - Movie Review

2011-10-05T13:10:00.002+05:30

While the posters of Vaanam bandied around Anushka dressed glamorously, Bharath posing with a guitar and Simbu in various poses, it gave me the impression that this was a run of the mill masala movie with the usual mass elements such as songs, dances, fights, glamour, etc etc. However, people who actually went to the theatre and watched the movie gave quite decent reviews and asked me to watch it at least once due to the fact that it was quite a different movie, in a nice way.

However, when I did pop in the VCDs into the player I personally didn't expect the movie to be as good as it actually turned out to be. And that's probably why I felt quite refreshed and did quite enjoy the movie as well. Guess having low expectations and having them belied works well in some cases.

An ensemble cast of Simbu, Bharath, Anushka, Prakash Raj and Saranya make the most of the limited screen time given to each of them. Five different stories of each of these characters, each of them making up a nice short film by itself, each one of them promising to be reasonably good and meaningful by itself and how they all end up converging at the climax makes for an interesting premise.

With movies like these where there is more than one single primary story line, it is quite a tricky job tying up all the loose ends and making a coherent movie. Krish more than manages to do this, and in the process ended up making a nice movie. The one single theme through most of the movie revolves around the difficult circumstances for each one of these characters.

While Simbu and Saranya are struggling for some money, Prakash Raj is looking for his brother who disappeared three years ago. Anushka wants to get away from the clutches of her villainous pimp, and Bharath is in the process of rediscovering himself. While each one of these story lines pull their weight in the movie, the themes surrounding Prakash Raj and Saranya can probably be made into individual movies by themselves. And kudos to the director Krish and the respective actors that they bring a lot of credibility to these roles with their prowess.

All in all Vaanam probably was the most under-rated, under-hyped and good movies to hit Tamil movie theatres in a while. A must watch movie for all movie lovers.

Related links
Wikipedia link to the movie

Trailer

Rann - Movie Review

2011-09-30T05:44:00.002+05:30

While the buzz created around the entire "Jana Gana Rann" song in the movie Rann helped people realize that Ram Gopal Varma was making a movie around the Hindi News Media and probably also helped draw people into the theaters during the opening weekend, I now know why the movie didn't have even a decent run at the box office, so much so that even I had forgotten about this movie of his until I was reminded of it in quite a funny way, more on that later.

Now any movie which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh (or is it Ritiesh or Riteish) Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal, Rajat Kapoor, Sudeep (of the Kannada movie industry fame) naturally has high expectations running on it. Add to this mix is the fact that it is directed by RGV, and the expectations are sky-high. Putting aside all the hype and expectations from this crew, the fact that RGV is making a movie which supposedly exposes the politician-businessman-media nexus and whose tag line reads "when a voice of conscience cannot be heard & when democracy is remote controlled", I expected at least some intelligent fare.

Rann, the movie itself is quite pedestrian. And like most of the reviews read (whose links I have pasted down below), I too have to say that the movie reduces itself to the sensationalistic and jingoistic attitude of the Hindi News media which Rann portrays. All in all, this movie is a total waste of time, energy and effort spent in watching it.

I am not even bothering to go into the plot details of the movie as it would be another waste of time, effort and the energy expended in it. Watch this movie if and only if you are a really big fan of Sudeep, the Kannada actor. His performance is quite nice and given the level of mediocrity displayed by the rest of the ensemble cast, his performance would qualify as the 'stand-out performance' in this movie. And Rajat Kapoor seriously needs to re-think his roles. He seems to be playing too many of these suave, smooth, nasty businessman-with-dirty-political-connections kinds of roles. I know for a fact that there is more to his repertoire than just that. And what in God's name was Amitabh Bachchan doing in this movie, I fail to comprehend.

PS: Just for the record, I watched it free on Yahoo India's new Movieplex website.

PPS: If you look carefully at the poster, Amitabh seems to be imploring us not to watch the movie at any cost :-)

Related links

Nikhat Kazmi's review for the Times of India
Rajeev Masand's review for IBNLive.com
Mayank Shekar's review for the Hindustan Times
Anupama Chopra's review for NDTV Movies
Wikipedia link to the movie

Watching Movies alone...

2011-09-25T06:43:00.000+05:30

Now I have had friends and family look at me like a madman when I tell them that I watched a movie alone, either at home or in the theatre. For whatever reason it is almost like taboo to watch movies alone. I have always had serious reservations about this particular habit of 'community movie watching' that all of us practice, however, I thought that it was more of a personal trait until I came across this piece by Baradwaj Rangan (who else) in The Hindu. He talks about the same topic and it honestly is quite scary how similar him and me think, at least when it comes to watching movies alone. (BR, you could take this as a humble fan's tribute to all your writing, and it gives me great pride to get an opportunity to say that I think the same as you do on a few things :-) )

I don't really remember when it was that I watched a movie alone, but I guess it must have been sometime when I was in my high school back in the early 90s. Both my parents were working, and the standard routine during the Summer breaks in high school was to go to the nearest Video Cassette rental store, pick up a Hollywood Action flick and pop it into the VCR to enjoy the movie. While it has to be said that usually my neighborhood friends joined the movie sessions, I guess there were more than a few days when they had to be absent from these sessions as their mothers were usually at home and had some chores for them to perform. My guess is that somewhere around this time is when I actually started watching movies alone, and to date, I still find it the best way to watch movies. Let me tell you why.

When we watch movies in a group, we are forced to laugh at the comic scenes even if we dont' find them funny to be part of the group's fun. After all we don't like to stick out like a sour puss in the middle of a well natured fun loving group, do we. And most of the time, when people watch movies as a group, they either opt for the Romantic Comedies, Action Flicks or the one movie which doesn't involve any taxing of the brains to understand and enjoy. While I have nothing against such movies (and in fact, enjoy some of them once in a while), I guess I have reached a stage where I enjoy movies that pay a little more attention to the art and the craft of storytelling nowadays.

In any case, this post has pretty much spurred the movie lover in me back to action. Enough of the days of making lame excuses for not having caught up with my movies. Lots of movies (old and new) are waiting out there to be watched and reviewed (in my own amateur, subjective, opinionated way) and it is time that I heed to their cries to be watched and reviewed. Movies, here I come !!!

Related links
Baradwaj Rangan - In the dark, and all alone

Moneyball - Movie Preview

2011-09-24T07:08:00.000+05:30

If any of you are fans of sports movies like Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday or the like, then I am sure that you folks are gonna love Moneyball, the latest Brad Pitt flick based on the true story of Billy Beane, manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in early 2000.

While I still am yet to watch the movie, having read initial reviews and seen the trailer itself, it looks like one movie that I will enjoy quite a bit. It involves Brad Pitt, sports, and sports statistics. Add to this mix, the fact that it also involves one underdog team defying the odds to become successful, now what more do you require to make a good movie???

Wired.com in this review quotes "Moneyball is the most cerebral sports drama since Any Given Sunday", and given that I loved Any Given Sunday for multiple reasons, it looks like Moneyball is a sure-shot watch for me. Until the movie comes to theaters, lick your lips with the trailer below.

Update: I just read this review of Moneyball in the New Yorker magazine and had to put up the link here. Now if this doesn't pique your interest in watching this movie, I don't know what else will.

PS: Another bonus in this link is that it contains the review of another movie 50/50 as well.

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Wikipedia link to the movie

Wired.com review of the movie

New Yorker magazine review of the movie

Trailer

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Prince of Persia : Sands of time - Movie Review

2010-10-22T04:52:00.001+05:30

I remember those days when I used to be a big fan of 'Prince', the computer game which was pretty much among the few good games that one could play on computers which used to have 386x speed processors, 2 MB RAM memory, DOS operating systems, you get the drift. Prince used to be a fun game to play with the protagonist having to climb walls, jump over open abysses, fight the guards using his sword, solve puzzles, etc. While there have been multiple games, both PC and Console versions under the Prince of Persia franchise, I never got around to playing them. However, when news was announced that a movie was being made based on this franchise, I had made up my mind to catch it given the amount of thrills and excitement the game had given me as a teenager. And the movie does not disappoint.

In the mould of the Mummy franchise (read my review of the latest Mummy movie here), this movie deals with how the protagonist has a tough mission, manages to overcome extreme odds, and finally ends up with the prize and the lovely lady at the end of the movie. All along the way, the plotline and the screenplay being extremely tight, this is one movie which will pretty much keep audiences engrossed without actually getting bored at any point of time.

The story deals with Dastan, an orphan who is adopted by the King of Persia, his foster brothers, and his foster uncle Nizam (portrayed wonderfully by Ben Kingsley). During the attack of the city of Alamut, Dastan manages to come in possession of a dagger which contains the 'sands of time'. The caretaker of the dagger, Princess Tamina manages to get back the dagger from Dastan. In the meantime, King Sharaman of Persia is killed and Dastan is implicated in the death, and is branded a murderer.

While on the run from the Persian guards and his foster brothers, Dastan and Tamina end up together where Dastan learns about the dagger, and also figures out why his uncle Nizam wants it for himself. A lot of action sequences, chase sequences, thrills and spills later, the movie ends up with the climactic sequence where Nizam is in possession of the dagger. And this to me is the part of the movie which is the most fun. How it all ends up is something that most audiences will not expect. I will not give away the ending as it will end up probably being the biggest spoiler of this entire review.

What worked for me in this movie is the tight screenplay, fun action sequences, good and appropriate use of CGI sequences, and for the most part the breezy story and plotline of the movie. All in all, a good fun movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon lazing in your couch with some popcorn or chips at your side.

Trailer

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Robin Hood - Movie Review

2010-10-19T06:57:00.002+05:30

For anybody who has seen 'Robin Hood - Prince of thieves', the 1991 film starring Kevin Costner and directed by Kevin Reynolds, this particular Ridley Scott adaptation of the popular legend of Robin Hood surely is going to be an eye-opener. Doing away with almost all the fun elements of Robin Hood and his band of merry men, Scott focuses more on his tale of how Robin Longstride arrives at Nottingham, makes it his home, and how finally he is outlawed by the same king and crown who he so gallantly serves during the French King Philip's attempted invasion of England.

The movie begins with Robin fighting alongside King Richard, the Lionheart at the fag end of the crusades when they are trying to take the Chalus Castle. Robin commits the mistake of speaking his mind out when asked to do so by the King, and in turn gets punished to be whipped. Luckily for him, the King gets killed in the battle before the actual punishment is handed out, providing Robin and his mates an opportunity to escape and find their own ways home. Fate puts them in a situation where the King's knights are ambushed by Sir Godfrey and his French allies, and gives them control of the King's Crown which needs to be taken back to London, as well as possession of the family sword of Sir Walter Loxley. Robin then decides to pretend to be Sir Robert Loxley carrying the crown back to England, as this is his easiest way to get back to England.

Back in England, at Nottingham, Lady Marion (Sir Robert Loxley's wife) is struggling to keep the Loxley household running. She is plagued by problems such as high taxes to the crown, a lecherous Sheriff of Nottingham, and constant grain theft raids by the runaway children of the village. She however, is depicted as a fiesty character who knows well how to keep her wits about her, and manages to make ends meet with the limited means at her disposal. Robin's arrival at Nottingham however, changes things at Nottingham. Sir Walter requests Robin to impersonate his son, in order to prevent the family lands from being taken over completely by the crown, and this puts him in the uncomfortable situation of playing Lady Marion's husband.

In the meantime, Sir Godfrey, who all this while has secretly been plotting with King Philip of France, manages to secure the confidence of the new King of England, John, who gives him the authority to take a small group of men and collect long outstanding dues from all the barons to the North of England. Sir Godfrey has an agenda of his own in this regard. In the name of tax collections, he unleashes terror in these regions and effectively manages to get all the Northern barons to put together an army to march against King John.

How Robin gets caught up in this situation, how he learns about his father and childhood from Sir Walter, and whether they manage to thwart King Philip's invasion of England makes up for the rivetting climax sequence of the movie. This sequence is a Ridley Scott battle sequence, and therefore, any words in this review really cannot do full justice to the cinematic excellence displayed on the screen.

What worked really well for the movie are the amazing chemistry between Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. Blanchett remains one of my all time favorite actors simply because of the depth she manages to put into each and every character she plays on screen. Whether she is enacting the role of Brad Pitt's love interest as Daisy Fuller in 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', or playing Katharine Hepburn in 'The Aviator', or an over-the-top character such as Irina Spalko in 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', Cate Blanchett manages to leave an indelible mark and impression on the minds of her viewers and fans. No wonder, she is one of the highest rated actors in Hollywood today. Robin Hood is no different and her portrayal of the fiesty Lady Marion is just another feather in her cap.

Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott work well together. And while some of the battle sequences of this movie remind you of 'Gladiator', the fact that this is a much darker movie, and deals with a more famous legend, makes this movie a worth watch. The sheer intensity that Crowe brings to the role, coupled with the large parts of grey that his character displays makes him the perfect casting coup for this role. Watch this movie if you like either of them, and you won't be disappointed.

Trailer

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Sherlock Holmes - Movie Review

2010-08-23T07:15:00.002+05:30

My earliest memories of Sherlock Holmes are that of a pipe smoking, round hat wearing, sharp nosed tall gentleman, who could pretty much deduce an entire day's happenings, and maybe even more just from a speck of dirt or tobacco stain on another person's sleeve or any other part of his dress. Such was Holmes' reputation for deductive reasoning that he had gained legendary status in my mind, and to this date remains one of the best detectives of all times. The fact that I devoured a complete anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories in no time when it was gifted to me stands testimony to my admiration for this character. However, that being said, I absolutely loved Guy Ritchie's wonderful interpretation and adaptation of this wonderful detective. The pizzazz and panache with which both Holmes and his friend and confidante Watson have been presented in this movie has to be seen to be believed.

Not one frame in this movie has been wasted. Right from the very first sequence where Holmes is shown rescuing a hapless girl from a ritual murder which leads to the arrest of Lord Blackwood, the movie takes viewers on a riveting adventure. The story revolves around the series of murders committed by Lord Blackwood into which Holmes gets drawn deeper and deeper into. The movie also features Irene Adler, Holmes' muse, the only adversary who has convincingly managed to outwit him on more than one occassion in the past. What adds to the fun though is Holmes' unfettered admiration and at times, even adolescent infatuation for Adler which leads him into trouble, more than once in this movie itself.

The plot takes a serious turn when more murders are committed by the supposedly dead Lord Blackwood, and what happens during Holmes' investigation pretty much forms the rest of the movie. The ending especially has die-hard Holmes fans, and anybody who liked this movie licking their lips and waiting for more, reason being one name which is mentioned, which surely conjures up visions of an equally good sequel to this movie.

One couldn't have asked for more competent actors than Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law to play Holmes and Watson. The bonhomie and camraderie shared by both these guys on screen is nothing short of brilliant, and the chemistry between them has to be seen to be believed. In my opinion, Guy Ritchie's casting of Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, because he brings to screen his already quirky and edgy traits which the character of Holmes so rightly deserves. Anybody who has read the stories long and hard enough will realize that this could very well be the most apt interpretation of the character on screen ever. Plus the fact that Ritchie picked the action-movie route for this movie rather than a drab, dry detective movie which involved solving a case after the crime had been committed speaks volumes for his foresightedness. He enjoys giving the viewers some nice action sequences in the form of fist fights, situations where Holmes and Watson find themselves hopelessly outnumbered yet try to fight their way out of the same. All in all, a nice movie, which will leave you eagerly waiting for the second instalment.

Trailer

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The Italian Job - Movie Review

2010-08-21T17:13:00.003+05:30

Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Edward Norton and a cameo appearance by Donald Sutherland. Now, if you need more reasons to catch a movie, here is one more, a heist movie. Need I say more about this movie at all, any further words would be unnecessary for you to actually catch this movie at least once. After the Ocean series of movies, The Italian Job remains one of the better heist movies made. In fact, considering the wonderful action sequences shot at Venice and Los Angeles, I might just even put this probably just a notch above the Ocean movies even.

The plot itself deals with how one of the members of a successful Venetian heist goes rogue, and tries to kill the other members of the crew. Unknown to him, the rest of the crew quietly plots its revenge under the able leadership of Charlie (Wahlberg). While the rest of the crew is doing it for the money as well as revenge, Stella (Theron) mostly does it for revenge for the killing of her father. One master planner, one demolition expert, one cyber geek, one wheels guy and one expert lock-picker, how the merry crew plans and extracts their revenge makes up for the main storyline of the movie.

The movie has some amazing action sequences, especially the ones involving the 3 small Mini Coopers. The cars with their distinctive paint patterns, are part of the some of the most memorably action sequences of all time. How the director and the camera crew actually shot these sequences would make the Special Features DVD itself worth a careful watch. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron share some good onscreen chemistry, while Jason Statham does what he does best, look good and kick some mean butt with an awesome series of action sequences involving cars.

My only grouse with this movie is the character of Edward Norton. For an actor of his calibre, his character could have been written much better. In my opinion, this movie would have looked much better with a stronger, more complicated villain. Norton instead ends up looking quite like a caricature at the end of the movie. Apart from that, a double thumbs up for this movie.

Trailer

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Chariots of Fire - Movie Review

2010-07-09T06:12:00.006+05:30

Now anybody who has an interest in Western Classical music or Western Instrumental music in general would surely have heard the 'Chariots of Fire' theme from the soundtrack of the movie with the same name. And therefore, on a lazy Saturday morning in Bangalore when I was waiting for the postman to deliver something important, I popped in the 'Chariots of Fire' DVD into the player expecting to watch a nice movie, but it turned out to beat my own low expectations quite handsomely.

While I have always been a big fan of sports in general, and sports movies in particular, the ones that appeal to me the most are the ones that deal with the human aspect and the human emotions of sport. The sheer joy of victories, the abysmal heartbreak of defeat, the hardwork that went into making a winning team, the subordination of personal interest in favor of the team doing well, these are the usual recurring themes in all good sports movies, and the Chariots of Fire is no different. What makes this movie so special though are two things - the first is that it is a period movie which deals with events surrounding the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, and the second is that it is almost completely based on real people, events and happenings of that time.

The movie deals with Harold Abrahams, a new student at Cambridge University, who uses his natural running skills to prove a point to all the anti-Semitic (or anti-Jews in other words) people there. Being subjected to taunts due to his Jewish parentage from a very young age, Harold is doubly (maybe even triply) determined to make a mark at Cambridge, to the extent of being madly focused on his running and more important being the best at his chosen event, the sprints.

Simultaneously, the movie follows the travels of Eric Liddell, born of Scottish Missionary parents, who is very strongly into Christianity and believes that his purpose in life is to spread the Lord's message in far flung areas of the world. Eric truly believes that the Lord has made him fast for a purpose, and that when he runs, he feels the Lord's pleasure within him.

Fate, their talents, and constant winning ways put both Harold and Eric on the boat to Paris for the 1924 Olympic games, where they are team mates. What happens at Paris, and whether both of them realize their dreams make up for the last 20 odd minutes of the movie.

All in all, a simple movie with no unnecessary twists and turns. All the actors play their roles competently, and a reasonably tight screenplay keeps things moving at a decent tick. What stands out about this movie though is the sheer simplicity with which the subject is treated. Even though it deals with real people and their stories, at no time does it get boring or slow and manages to keep the audience engaged throughout. Very few movies can make the audience relate to the emotions and the state of mind of its characters, and Chariots of Fire excels in this regard.

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Fracture - Movie Review

2010-07-05T18:28:00.001+05:30

Now, the first time I heard about the movie Fracture was when HBO or Star Movies played a 5 min segment of the movie with an interview of Anthony Hopkins stating that this was only the second time in his career that he had played the role of a murderer after the famous Hannibal Lecter character. And if this isn't enough to pique anybody's interest in this movie, nothing else can, given Hopkins' masterful portrayal of Hannibal in that series of movies.

Fracture deals with the events that unravel after Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) shoots his wife in the face after he discovers that she has been having an affair with police detective Robert Nunally. He confesses to the crime and is taken to court. This enables the entry of the 'soon to be corporate lawyer' Deputy District Attorney William Beachum (played wonderfully well by Ryan Gosling) into the case who is in charge of prosecution. While Beachum approaches this case as an 'open and shut one' what with Crawford signing his confession, and also opting to argue his case himself, he fails to take into account a few unforeseen surprises.

During the trial, Crawford reveals that Nunally, the arresting officer had been having an affair with his wife, and it was in fact he who forced a confession out of Crawford. This forces the judge to disallow the use of Crawford's confession in the case, and also puts Beachum in a tight spot. By the time Beachum fully realizes the seriousness of his situation, he loses his new corporate job and is also thrown out of the DA's office. With nothing left to lose, Beachum starts investigating the case with a lot more seriousness to bring Crawford to justice. Whether he does so forms the rest of the movie.

A surprisingly good movie, which keeps viewers stuck to their seats during its entire running length. Some masterful performances by Hopkins and Gosling, a good plot, storyline, all of these make this a must-watch movie.

Trailer

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Raavanan - Movie Review

2010-06-23T06:05:00.003+05:30

Am sure that by now all readers of Jairam's Jives would've watched Avatar at least once and been awestruck by the amazing psychedelic world that James Cameron presented to us with in the form of Pandora. Truth be told, I was blown away by the first sight of that magical forest in Pandora, especially the first brush that Jake Sully has with the 'touch-me-not' flowers which wrap up whenever anybody touches them. Now before you start wondering why I am talking about Avatar and Pandora so much in a review of Raavanan, I am just trying to give you folks a context, a yardstick, a frame of reasoning to measure the cinematographic efforts of Santosh Sivan in Raavanan.

While James Cameron required a whole lot of blue screens, props, and a helluva lot of computer imagery to bring to life his vision of Pandora, Mani Ratnam and Santosh Sivan required an amazing scouting crew (or location crew), some crazy trekking adventures in places such as Tumkur, Hogenekal, Athirampalli, Malayattoor, jungles in Maharashtra to bring to life, Mani Sir's (as he is fondly known by anybody who works with him) vision of Vikramasingapuram and its surroundings to life. The jungle is where Veera rules, his happiness, sorrow, anger, frustrations, love, hate, all of it is inextricably linked to the jungle. He is lord and master of all he surveys in this jungle, and this is beautifully brought out in the first scene of the movie where he is perched on the top of a 90 odd foot cliff overlooking a flowing river. The camera pans out from over his shoulder down into the gorge below, and the next shot is a long one from below, which gives the audience the sheer magnitude of the cliff he is actually overlooking. Sheer brilliant opening to a wonderful movie.

Veera (Vikram) is a Robin Hood type renegade brigand in the forests running a parallel kingdom of his own. Though he is not shown to be engaged in anything unlawful, the fact that the people of Vikramasingapuram pay more heed to his words and deeds than 'official' ones by the Government is something that irks the authorities. The movie opens with how Veera kidnaps Raagini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), the wife of Dev Prakash (Prithviraj), the local Superintendent of Police. This small 2-3 minute sequence in which Veera trashes the boat of Raagini and takes her hostage is reminiscent of some of the best action sequences in any Hollywood blockbuster.

Dev's incessant search for Raagini through the jungle, Veera's persistent efforts to keep her away from Dev's clutches, why Veera kidnaps Raagini, these 3 themes form the crux of Raavanan, the movie. Interspersing all these 3 linked plots is a water-tight screenplay which doesn't go loose for even one moment (except probably for 2 songs, which serve as breaks for the audience to gather their thoughts). In the middle of all the traipsing around the jungle and multiple failed attempts to escape, Raagini gets to see the real Veera, who she realizes is as human (or probably more human) as she is or for that matter Dev is. Whether Dev manages to catch up with Veera and rescues Raagini makes up for the rest of the story, and if I say anything more I will surely end up spoiling the movie-watching experience for the viewers.

Dev's brooding intensity and single minded focus in bringing Veera to justice is wonderfully brought out on screen by Prithviraj. I personally haven't seen him in a movie in which he portrays such intensity throughout the movie, and he was a revelation. Little wonder then that he is considered among the better breed of actors in the Malayalam movie industry. Aishwarya Rai has always been Mani Sir's muse when it comes to giving her enough space and a meaty character which plays to her strengths. Her portrayal of Raagini, who is pretending to be brave through her ordeal while in reality she is scared to her wits, and terrified at her situation is brilliantly brought out in the scene where she prays out aloud to an abandoned ruin of Goddess Parvathi in the jungle. Vikram as Veera is the life-line of the movie. Almost single handedly he carries 3/4ths of the movie on his shoulder. This is probably his best role yet, running a close second only to Pithamagan, in my opinion.

A few things most people might tend to overlook in this movie is the shimmering chemistry between Veera and Raagini, which gradually develops over the course of the movie and reaches its peak in the last frame of the movie. Another notable directorial touch is the fact that Dev's character is so obsessed with justice and doing the right thing, that he takes it to any length which is again brought out in the last 5 odd minutes of the movie. While most people might disagree with the means, Dev is somebody who seriously believes that the ends justify the means. This to me, is the most 'stand-out' aspect of this particular character.

AR Rahman and Vairamuthu have combined once again to merge wonderful Tamil and music together to give us an eminently listenable album in Raavanan. It would be extremely pretentious of me to comment on the excellence of either of them. Suhasini's dialogues and AR Rahman's background score also deserve special mention, and so do the Art Directors of this movie. All in all, I personally believe that Madras Talkies, Big Pictures and Sony Pictures have a winner on their hands. Go watch this movie to enjoy a thorough visual treat.

Related links

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Official site of the movie

Trailer

Seven Pounds - Movie Review

2010-03-27T15:57:00.004+05:30

Ben Thomas (Will Smith) is an IRS Tax Auditor who is prone to performing random acts of kindness to people. He has a unique way of selecting the people that he wants to perform these favors to, and goes on to the extent of donating his bone marrow and kidney to people for no apparent reason other than the fact that he just wants to do something good.

The first hour or so of this movie, the audience is left wondering as to why Ben actually performs these acts of kindness. The movie does show snippets of Ben being troubled by some disturbing memories of a car crash, and there is the news clipping that he keeps referring to which reads something like "Fatal car crash kills seven people". However, the viewer is not given a clear idea behind his motive for his actions.

One of his kindness target benefactors, Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) has a heart condition and a rare blood type which makes it almost impossible for her to find a donor for a heart transplant. The movie picks up pace when Ben falls for Emily who in turn seems to love him despite the fact that she knows her days are numbered.

To add to the confusion, we are introduced to Ben's friend Dan who apparently seems to know what exactly Ben is upto, and also his brother, who turns out to be the actual Ben Thomas, IRS employee. The unravelling of the mysterious acts of Will Smith forms the climax and the crux of the movie 'Seven Pounds'. Albeit a simple script, Will Smith's wonderful portrayal of emotions and acting prowess take this movie to another different level altogether.

Like Roger Ebert said about this movie, the fact that the audience is completely kept out of the loop as to why Will Smith does what he does is what makes this movie so interesting and rivetting. All in all, a must watch movie for anybody who likes Will Smith, as this coupled with 'The Pursuit of Happyness' elevate him to one actor whose future projects will be eagerly anticipated.

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LAMBScore for this movie

The Hurt Locker - Movie Review

2010-03-19T12:05:00.004+05:30

"The Hurt Locker" begins with a sequence of how Staff Sergeant Thompson is killed during the process of defusing a radio controlled improvised explosive device (IED) in Baghdad. This sets the tone for a grim movie which details the travails of an US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit (fancy name for bomb disposal squad) during the last 30 odd days of their company's posting in Iraq. Post the demise of their Staff Sergeant, the team is joined by Sgt William James, a battle tested veteran who had already seen some action in Afghanistan as well.

Initially the methods of Sgt James are not understood nor appreciated by Sgt Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge. Both of them think James is too trigger-happy and is more of a cowboy in his approach to defusal of bombs. But as time goes by, and as they see more of James in action, they develop a grudgingly high level of respect for him. While the movie itself doesn't have too many script-angles or story-plotlines to actually discuss or disclose in this review, suffice to say, it is not too hard to see why this movie won so many accolades.

Having said that, between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, I personally would probably not have given the Best Picture Academy Award to either of them. But then, I am not a member of the Academy nor does my vote count, so I will rest my case here.

Academy Award controversies aside, why you should watch this movie, is primarily to understand at least a little of what US soldiers currently serving in Iraq have to face on a daily basis. While it is easy for us to sit at our homes and criticize what the US govt is doing with its soldiers there, it is completely another thing to watch a reasonably realistic movie which pretty much depicts conditions there (at least from an EOD team perspective). The best part about this movie is the fact that it presents a no-frils version of a war movie (albeit a limited perspective only), and does not take any unnecessary twists or turns with the subject matter.

LAMBScore for this movie

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Con Air - Movie Review

2010-03-18T13:47:00.003+05:30

Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) is an ex-US Army Ranger who is jailed when he inadvertently kills a man while defending his wife from them. Eight years later Poe is on parole and on his way back home to Alabama, to be flown back on "Jailbird", a place carrying several convicts to different places. Except that this is no ordinary prison transport plane because it contains some of the most deviant, devious, notorious, interesting scum-of-the-earth prisoners known in recent US crime history. This motley crew of murderers, rapists, serial killers, druglords are under the charge of US Marshal Vince Larkin (Jon Cusack).

Shortly after the take off, the Jailbird is taken over by Cyrus, the Virus, Grissom (John Malkovich), who in co-ordination with a few other prisoners manages to convince the rest of the crew that they will all be taken to a non-extradition country if they co-operate. Poe makes a choice to play along with the situation deciding to try and recapture the aircraft at the first possible opportunity.

Whether Poe manages to get the Jailbird in his control and prevent the prisoners from escaping make up for the rest of the movie. Suffice to say the movie has enough action, mid-air sequences, fights, guns, bombs to keep all adrenaline-junkies glued to their seats. The fact that this is a Jerry Bruckheimer production speaks volumes for the money spent on explosions, bullets, and pyrotechnics. Add to this is the fact that the cast comprising of Nicholas Cage, Jon Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi and more notable 'regular action movie stars' make this movie a fun-movie to watch.

This movie is a nice throwback to those days when all you needed for a good action movie was a bankable leading man, a mean villain and a simple situation which put them in each others' path. No complicated twisted storylines in which the US Govt ultimately ends up being the villain, etc.

LAMBScore for this movie

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Vinnaithandi Varuvaya - Movie Review

2010-03-17T10:49:00.003+05:30

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya is Gautam Vasudev Menon as his self-indulgent best. If Vaaranam Aayiram was Gautam's tribute to his late father, VTV seems more like Gautam reminiscing about his first love and how it never really leaves you. Be that as it may, VTV is a good attempt at making a commercially viable love story. And the fact that this is his first effort in which he has teamed up with virtuoso AR Rahman, makes this a brilliant movie, musically. ARR's melodies, Nalini Sriram's lovely costumes, Manoj Paramahamsa's slick cinematography, all of these under Gautam's watchful eyes make the songs of this movie particularly memorable. And the standalone soundtrack as well scores simply because of ARR's wonderful melodies.

The movie starts off with the protagonist Karthik (a wonderfully underplayed role by Simbu) narrating how he fell in love with Jessie (Trisha in a refreshingly girl-next-door role, more importantly a good, solid, pivotal role akin to her role in Abhiyum Naanum). The usual hurdles exist in the form of Karthik being a Hindu, an unemployed mechanical engineer looking to become an Assistant Director in films. Added to this is the fact that Jessie is an orthodox Malayalee Christian, whose father hates films in general, and to top it off, she is an year older than him as well.

As is the norm, Jessie spurns Karthik's advances, eventually falls in love with him, and then the mother of all cliches, the separation sequence happens. What happens after that, whether the two of them get together again is what makes up for the climax of the movie. All said and done, there is absolutely nothing new about this love story, but then, Gautam's unique way of handling the subject, and his flair for relatively natural story-telling is what makes this movie a must-watch, especially if you are a fan of Gautam's earlier outings as director.

In terms of critical reception, while most people have loved Simbu's portrayal of Karthik, people are divided over Trisha's outing as Jessie. In all fairness to her, she has done justice to the confused state of mind and frustratingly fickle mindedness that Jessie is supposed to portray. And if you go by recent interviews she has done, apparently she is like that in real life as well, guess it shows in this character. To me, the chemistry between the leading pair was simply awesome and has to be seen to be believed. The fact that a majority of the movie deals only with these 2 characters also makes it all the more important that their chemistry on-screen clicked so well.

A completely spoiler-ridden review of the movie by Sudhish Kamath (hat tip to you Thalaiva) can be read here, and you could also read Baradwaj Rangan's thoughts (as usual, Rangan at his candid best) here and Balaji's views here. To sum it up, go catch this movie only if you are fan of romantic movies, Gautam Vasudev Menon's style of story-telling, ARR's music, not necessarily in that order.

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie
Sudhish Kamath's views on the movie
Baradwaj Rangan's views on the movie
Balaji's views on the movie

No Country for Old Men - Movie Review

2010-03-15T13:39:00.003+05:30

No Country for Old Men is one of those movies which you'll probably not sit up and notice, nor will it attract your attention in the local DVD Rental store. And for good reason. It is probably not one of those movies which you would want to pop into your player, sit back and enjoy the movie. It is as disturbing, thought provoking and as serious as a movie can get. The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen have done a wonderful job of ensuring that anybody who actually watches this movie ends up being at least a little affected by it. It leaves a lasting impression on your minds. The screenplay, the characters, the casting, the cinematography, all of these simply creep up on the audiences to leave a lasting impact.

The story deals with the circumstances where Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) accidentally comes across what remains of a botched drug deal. He encounters several dead bodies, a wounded Mexican asking for water and to top it all two million dollars in cash. His decision to pocket the cash sets off a series of events in motion, accentuating the rest of the movie. Realizing that he is being pursued by a hitman, Anton Chigurh (played eeriely well by Javier Bardem), ha makes his way to a motel on the road to Mexico.

Now Anton is reasonably ruthless as a hitman and his weapon of choice is his custom-made captive bolt pistol. His methods of disposing off his victims with as little noise and hullabaloo as possible also make him the man to watch out for. He almost gets his hands on Moss and the money, but Moss being just a tad ahead of Anton manages to get across the border. Whether Moss succeeds in getting away with the money, or does he succumb to the chilling, ruthless efficiency of Anton make up for the rest of the movie.

Some wonderful acting by the lead characters, a taut screenplay coupled with some wonderful cinematography make this movie a must-watch movie for any serious movie lover. The fact that this movie pretty much made it to the Top 10 lists of almost all movie critics in 2007 when it was released speaks volumes for its class. The list of awards and accolades this movie won also almost runs into a 100 separate awards. Now if these aren't reason enough to watch this movie, nothing else is.

LAMBScore for this movie

Related links

Wikipedia link to the movie
IMDB link
Allmovie link
Rotten Tomatoes link
Metacritic link
Box Office Mojo link

Trailer