PK bolo PK

Intro

PK is about an Alien dude who lands in India. He discovers language, he discovers religion or religions, he discovers the contradictions, he discovers India in it's true form. Being an Alien he questions everything and ends up being chased around for it.

Good

This movie is a moment of enlightenment in the collective Indian consciousness. Who are we? Well... an alien who drops from the sky asks us this question. As PK wanders from the desert of Rajasthan to the urban jungle of New Delhi, he holds our collective hand and leads the way. Entertaining us with our own contradictions. This movie will have conservatives, orthodox folks and extremists whimper with displeasure regardless of their race, caste or religion. It is a hit which will become a super hit with violent protests and bans propelling it to popularity unknown to Bollywood. #BoycottPK is actually #WeSupportPK in disguise.

The movie does this hand holding of the Indian identity with excellent acting, an amazing script, crazy ass camerawork and of course the wit and timing of Maestro Rajkumar Hirani's edit/direction.

Bad

I really wished that the shot of PK landing on earth was not the exact same one of Arnold time warping in the Terminator. It is a sort of a crane up from the crouching Amir's calf to his full facade which is clothed by an opportune cloud as he stands and walks away. That one shot plants the suspicion that the movie's making is very influenced heavily by hollywood. 

Ugly

This section is dedicated to our hypocritical religious and political leaders of all sects, who boink in their dancing cars, demand that their sensitive religious beliefs- that get hurt every time someone flushes the loo- be protected because they represent the sentiments of the people. Well go take a chill pill for the movie is against the wrong calls, made by superstitious and regressive beliefs, not against religion itself. The religion of hate, the religion of making gullible people pay through their nose, the religion of fear- is what is discussed in this movie. Watch and laugh, do not watch and organise a religious rally for what you will do is further popularise an epic movie. If you are a religious extremist- do yourself and your friends a favour- stay in your dancing car.  

Nightcrawler- crawls under your skin

Intro

This movie answers the question- what if Arnab Goswami were born in the ghettoes of Los Angeles California?

Good

Well, this story is the growth and development of one very intriguing protagonist. Even Arnab is not as relentless as Lou Bloom. The style of the movie is ultra real, making every turn, pulse pounding, and every anticipative scene, nerve wrecking. At one point I was thinking, what will this guy not do! Our character stumbles upon media goldmines, with sheer persistence and business rational. The angles and lighting somehow draw you further into this flawed genius's progression.  

Bad

I seriously struggle to fill this space in my review. I guess the media force fed modern day mind requires a whole lot of build up music to make scenes intense. But this movie makes the silences painfully anticipative. Painfully contemplative. It is a modern day uber classic. It blows your brains out this one.

Ugly

I have so much to say in this space. The nature of evil was discussed in interstellar, a movie I reviewed recently. I keep pondering- why do our heroes of the screen become more and more negative as the days go by. More and more shades of darkness, criss cross the screens, painting it a flourecent red blood colour. The thickness of these characters attack me at a soul level- is our world inherently evil? I repeatedly ask. Is success only for Arnab like loud and painful characters. If you thought Arnab was bad, you got a whole new level coming Jeeves.

Verdict-If you love media theory then this movie is to die for. For the rest of us, it still entertains. 7/10

Gone Girl- goes the mile

Intro

Think of all the negative emotions one could possibly have about marriage. Now think of a couple that amplifies it further and acts on all these emotions- that is 'gone girl' for you.

The Good

His wife goes missing, he smiles in the press photo op and he takes a selfie with some random woman outside the press center. 'What an idiot' 'What an insensitive prick' may be a few thoughts that runs through your head. But the director of the film has a lot more darkness, and psychological trauma awaiting the protagonists of this film. And that is where this film succeeds. By going all out on the pessimism, the movie does well in playing with the minds of the audience.

The bad

I did not like the end of the film. Maybe the book does better with the specifics of how the story actually ends. But the film's end makes everyone out to be idiots. Including the audience.

The ugly

Well, in the ugly section we discuss the ramifications of the film in real life and Indian culture. What does a man or a woman do, when stuck in a horrible marriage. Our newspapers are rife with reports of domestic abuse and wives getting burnt. Unless the two people who are living together and sharing a life are counselled properly, things always tend to go a bit haywire; maybe not as horribly as what happens in this film. But there are many accidents waiting to happen...

Verdict: A must watch if you like psychological thrillers. 6/10 pass marks, very few points off extraordinary.

John Wick made me Sick

Intro

I lost count of the people who got shot in this movie. I am not against glorifying violence (I did'nt mind 'Game of Thrones' for heaven sake). But this pointless shoot fest, was irritating! IMDB and rottentomatoes have rated this movie as above average, in their custom scale. Not only is this poorly directed film- below average, it sucks. Please read my blog if you want accurate reviews in the   future :P

The Good

Some of the...hmmm... a couple of 'shoot them all' sequences were really cool...

The Bad

...the rest of them were bad. I was rolling my eyes, again and again, with every other bullet that got fired and with very other rock music interlude where Keanu

Reeves struts about like a clumsy Rajini Kant. These sequences passed through my brain like a bullet- this side in and that side out. The movie is about this ex-hitman, who get enraged cause a bunch of punks kill his dog. This happens five minutes into the movie. No time for the audience to feel the love between the puppy and Wick. How is the puppy helping him grieve his dead wife, no one knows.  But it is dead, five minutes into the film and the killing starts. Dishkum dishkum... movie over.

The Ugly

My mom used to say- "Why do you watch these hollywood action movies? they are no better than the Tamil action movies." Either, she does not understand the sophistication required to make fight sequences realistic, or she does not care. Either way- John Hick- proves to be a brilliant case study to illustrate her point. And audiences want something more these days, bad guys get killed in the end by good guy, after a lot of violence, just does not cut it. The dog subtext, simply does not matter.  

Verdict

I will take a swift death by a John Wick bullet, than watch that movie again. 3/10 #avoidable.

An Interstellar experience

Intro

The world is coming to an end. While schools and people in general have become disillusioned about space travel, one man gets an inexplicable message through a gravitational anomaly (which is inexplicable) that he must go into space looking for a new slum. Just watch the movie! I cannot describe this indescribable genius.

The Good

The movie is an experience. It was later that I realised that the script has a lot of holes, the black hole just being one them. But when watching the movie I never thought twice. I was totally immersed. I was the father who was worried about his kids, the daughter who was worried about her father, the astronaut who was worried about his mission, and the astronaut who cared only for his survival instincts all in one! If I typed out the plot twists though- it sounds very silly. To pull such a script off with visual brilliance is the magic of Nolan.

The Bad

The script had holes. I was thinking of these holes, and was wondering if they were necessary evils. But I think that something could have been done... I do not know what it is, I can only wonder for I am not a Nolanian wizard. Secondly, I sort of guessed the ending, because of Nolan choosing to explain too many details through long drawn out dialogues. An excuse that Nolan might give would be- Machan I am targetting mass! Mass audiences need explanations!

The Ugly

I am a Nolan freak. So I will assume the movie is good even before I watch it. And so will producers of hollywood. He walks in with a script, he walks out with 200 million USD. That is 600 crore INR. I am going to let that sink in a bit. The last film I reviewed was a Tamil film that cost less than 1 crore rupees to make. So Interstellar = 1 awesome hollywood movie = 600 awesome tamil movies. Freaking frogs of froggasia....

Verdict

Experience! Do not think too much. Cry with that father, as he watches his children grow up- from afar! Marks-  8/10 Pass with distinction.