The legend of the Gaurdians- 'Gaga over Ga'Hoole'

Intro

 Prepare to be transformed into an owl and prepare to enter their world. There is good and evil. There is ‘the will to power’ and a fight for the weak to survive. Treachery, revenge and war take the form of the owls, some of them from Ga’hoole.

Synopsis

This is the story of two brothers Soren and Kludd who are kidnapped by ’The pure ones,’ a fanatical group of owls who want to dominate the owl world. The pure ones train the strong owls to become fighters and ‘moonwink’ i.e. brainwash the weak ones to become gatherers. Soren refuses to be trained but kludd seeks the power the pure ones have to offer in the leadership of Metal Beak.

  Soren escapes with Gylfie a girl owl to go look for ‘the guardians.’ The guardians are a part of owl legend and fairy tales which Soren is very fond of, so when he learns they exist he is willing to risk his life to find them. Will he find the guardians? Will the guardians save the enslaved owl or will they become the victims of a treacherous plot?

Good

This movie will make you believe that there is such a thing as a completely awesome movie experience. You will feel the flap of the wings, the drops of icy waters, the flakes of fiery flames. You will feel moved by the story and your brain will want to make all sorts of connections between the animated world and our real world.

I for once made the connection between the enslaved moon blinked owls with the poor in India. The prosperous Indian minority believe that the weakness or poverty is because of behavior, caste and mindset of the gatherer owls. Their sole purpose is to serve ‘the pure ones’ and cannot be empowered to use their skills in a better way. The guardians on the other hand believe in cultivating the capacity of all owls not by dominating them but by working with them.  This is a utopia which modern India must embrace.

Bad

 Express avenue’s parking lot is a disgrace! They made me pay 45Rs to park in a smelly uneven debris filled parking lot. All the opulence the mall emanates cancelled out when you walk a quarter kilometer to get to this rubbish pile. Do not go to Express Avenue on a two wheeler!!!!!!!!

By the way- there was nothing bad in this movie. If you miss it then you lost out on pure awesomeness!

Ugly

I don’t like how the movie follows the cliché in colour- dark and black represents evil while the leaders of the gaurdians are these white birds! It follows on the lines of the ‘Lord of the rings,’ banishing the evil orcs and trolls to the east while the west has wonderfully white and pure wizards. It goes against the basic theme of the film! The poor live in black, the powerless in the east. Mamatamtan resents this. Good movie though!

Marks- 8/10 Overall awesome movie experience

Boss Engira Baskaran. Excuse me boss, can I have some fun please?

Intro-

It is about time the Tamil film industry produced some original movies which can truly say- we are tamilians, this is how we are and we are enjoying being who we are! Though there are still a few clichés left intact, the story is original, the twists and turns are the funniest we have seen the industry produce in a very long time! This film is my ‘Nanben Da!’

Synopsis-

Baskaran (Arya) or Boss as he calls himself, has been trying to pass his arrear exams for a long time. In his bid to impress an intelligent English speaking professor (Nayantara), he decides to make something of his life. Pushed by his family to get a grip of his life he starts a tuition centre with the help of his best friend (Santhanam). Being a loser in life does not stop Boss from succeeding till one last obstacle forces him to take up the country sword (Aruval) and chase someone, which is how the movie starts.

Good-

The above synopsis might you think that the movie is one of those hero conquers all, beats every one up, impresses the girl kinda movie. But far from it! The twists and turns are surprisingly surprising, culminating in perfect comic timing. This is a modern day ‘Thillu Mullu’ the old Rajini starrer which had Tamil audiences ROFL. I think the glory days of comedy might be returning to Tamil land and let’s thank Arya for seeking out this wonderful script!

Bad-

Songs! No songs in good movies. Please. Please… I can only think of a few reasons to have songs in our films-

1)      Sell audio CD’s

2)      More screen time on Sun Music

3)      Hit songs, sometimes carry a crappy movie in the Tamil box office

None of these reasons explain why these songs should have such long screen times! I have a friend who has a theory- “Tamil movie culture mama! Tham break! (cigarette break)” Let me tell you this. Not too many smokers in our state anymore! And the only break we need is the bathroom break at interval. Morons! Reduce songs screen time. Ghajini hindi did this beautifully. They cut the item number to less than a minute. Watch the whole damn song in Sun Music you Perv!

Ugly-

Why are movie protagonists, especially in Tamil films these days, useless characters who have arrears. Duh… it is because most movie going tamil youth have a long list of arrears. Vaalga – VVVVS Varuthapadatha, Vekkapadatha, Vetti, Valibar Sangam. Translation- Long Live- No worry, No shame, No job, Youth Peoples of Tamil land.

Marks- 7/10 – Don’t miss it if you understand Tamil (even partially would do)