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.

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. 

Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom

Intro

A new chapter for Tamil movies? This new wave has already begun, but this film signifies a no compromise approach. Ultra real characters, who speak real dialogues, thrown into real life situations (although crazy ones). What happens when four carefree youths decide to play cricket, one day before one of them is to be married? It really is as simple and real as that. 

Synopsis

Prem is set to marry the love of his life Dhana. His friends decide to get him to play cricket to ease his mind of the wedding tension. The game becomes very competitive and reaches a point where an important catch is dropped. It was not just the ball which went for a toss. Some parts of the middle (literal translation of the title) also go missing. I am keeping the synopsis a little cryptic for those who want the movie to speak for itself.

Good

This movie is a belter when it comes to keeping everything real. Even the actors were amateurs except for a few lead artists. The standing ovation the movie received at the end (at the Satyam movie screen) showed that the audience connected with this movie. The cricket scenes were so funny that some of friends could not stop laughing. It reminded them of, all that actually goes on in the cricket field. The humour creeps on you like a reptile. Slow and innocent looking at first, but deadly in the final third. The music complemented each scene brilliantly.   

Bad

The editing and dialogues of this movie could have been better. I felt a little bored at times when I found the shots and dialogues repetitive. The director will argue that the nature of the script warrants this. But I will have to disagree. The movie could have been brought down to two hours from the two hour 30-40 mins. I felt some close shot in the movie were a little un-aesthetic. Since the movie was shot in digital I could see some colour and textural flaws as well. 

Ugly

(I would like to clarify here as to what the 'Ugly' part of my reviews are. It is is not what is horribly wrong with the movie, but it is my reflections on what this movie means to my life, to this world and to various cultures notably Indian Tamil Mallu cultures. It is a deeper meaning to all this chaos that we usually encounter in a movie or anything for that matter in the media!)

Strangely the reviews for this movie were  mixed. Tamil magazines gave this movie bad reviews, where as the english papers gave it great reviews. I think some audiences and the dominant media are not letting this new form of cinema grow that easily.

On a very deep note- this movie brings to light the need of our Tamil society to have be doing something productive. Like going to work and earning money. Playing cricket and watching television are for either the retired or the jobless youth. 

Marks

Watch only if you are willing to embrace something entirely new. No song and dance conventional tale this.

7/10 

The Dark Knight Rises like brilliantly baked bread

Intro

The epic conclusion or epic failure? 'Batman Begins' set the tone to one of the best movies ever made- The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan sets the bar so freaking high with that movie and then leaps over it with 'Inception.' But what has he done with the 'Dark Knight Rises?'

Synopsis

Eight years after going into hiding, for crimes he did not commit, Batman comes out of retirement because Bane has risen an army of anarchists from under the sewers. They have infused dynamite in a lot of the city's  and put the entire city under hostage with a moving nuclear bomb. Will the Batman rise to this challenge that might be his last one?

Good

The usual Nolan ingredients have been mixed so generously in the base of the movie. Some outrageous action scenes, if the Joker wanted to see the World Burn then Bane wanted to pressure cook it into submission and destruction. Stunning dialogues and dialogue delivery infused with intricate plot lines which you will not miss but will not digest entirely the first time of viewing. Yes I have seen it twice now and hope to see it again. The complexity of all this yet the simplicity of the taste or the experience delivers on a platter an absolute stunner of a dish.

Bad

Unfortunately there are some cracks in this pastry. I think a movie this big and this good should not have let these cracks to appear and the chef should be blamed for this. I think the primary reason for the cracks is that there are too many characters and unlike in the Dark Knight 'I' the viewer am not allowed to sink into and experience each character enough like I did the Joker, Harvey two face and ultimately the Batman.

Why have so many characters? He should have done away with either the detective (the guy from inception) or the cat woman. He should have perhaps trifled with making the core ingredients the king and queen of this desert so that the taste remains for longer. 

Then there is the unforgivable shallowness of the fight scenes. Some of my friends compared it to Vijay Kanth the Tamil action hero. And I forgive them (being a harcore Nolan Disciple that I am) because there were certain scenes where the anarchists chose to wait for Batman to hit them them with his bare hands before making a move on him with the bloody gun they are using. Catwoman has a point when she complains of Batman's 'no guns rule.' So in which case the fight scenes should have reflected the deception and speed the batman employed in the first two movie. Instead unfortunately he moved like a Vijay Kanth. I am the hero of this movie and these men shall fall!

I am leaving out the problems with the screenplay because we have a strict 'no spoilers' philosophy at mamatamtan :)

Ugly

I would like to clarify here as to what is the 'Ugly' part of my reviews. It is is not what is horribly wrong with the movie, but it is my reflections on what this movie means to my life, to this world and to various cultures notably Indian Tamil Mallu cultures. It is a deeper meaning to all this chaos that we usually encounter in a movie or anything for that matter in the media!

Having got that out of the way, I would like to discuss what Nolan might have wanted to show with the anarchist 'Bane.' More than the obvious references or seeming reference to a violent version of the occupy movement. 'What will happen if you live so large and leave so little for the rest of us' leads to the fact that Batman himself is an anarchist but one who tries to restore the order or 'Hegemony' that already exists and the only reason it is justified is because he does not 'kill' (no guns policy). He does lead and army of cops in the end 'the symbols of oppressions. ' 

This is further deeply engrained when the batman from a priviledged class fights bane the one who rose from suffering and from hell. Well, all I can say is that this leaves a bitter sweet taste for http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

Marks

Watch only if you have seen the first two parts, and watch twice if you wanted digest this heavy meal.

7.5/10 

The Amazing Spider Man

Intro

The Amazing Spider Man is a reboot of the Sam Raimi - Tobey Mc Guire - Spider Man Franchise, a fresh start on how Peter Parker becomes spider man and bashes up the bad guys, Sam Raimi’s  Spider Man 1 and 2 were both amazing, even though the third part failed to match the level of the second it was a decent movie, Unlike Nolans Batman Trio logy which was a reboot to the Batman Franchise after a complete mess up by Joel Shumacher, Mark Webb has to beat an equally good set, now that’s going to be a tough job

Synopsis

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield)  is a normal school boy, who gets bullied but still likes to stand for what he believes is right and loves to shoot pictures especially of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), In search of his past he goes to Oscorp to meet Dr. Curt Connors who along with his dad were together working on Cross Genetic Species, but this search results in him getting bitten by a radioactive spider and acquires spider like abilities inclusive of spider sense, climbing walls etc, Peter uses his new found powers to get back at Flash Thomps on the school bully , one such day where he comes home late Uncle Ben gives him a lecture on Power and Responsibility and after a heated argument storms out of the house and this leads  to Uncle Ben's death from a man who walks right under his nose, Peter believes he led Uncle Ben to his death and goes in search of Uncle Ben’s Killer and wants revenge but see’s the bigger picture with Dr. Connor becoming the The Lizard and how Spidey kick’s some Lizard ass is the rest

Good 

This movie is closer to the comics, in this movie we really get to see how spider man becomes spider man, on how he learns to swing and how he makes his spider web blasters, one thing that has to be noted is that this spider man is leaner, meaner and faster, he moves like a spider, when he swings we get to see where he shoots his web and from where he swings, There are some POV shots in this movie when he is swinging which is nice

Andrew Garfield is a good Peter Parker and also makes a good spider man, Does anybody remember The Famous Spider Man – Mary Jane  upside down kiss well there is something interesting on those lines, Mark sure has taken a few leaves from both Sam Raimi’s Spider Man, comparisons apart there a few scenes which are equally awesome

Bad

Spider Man’s Costume Totally, No Offense, his head was made to look small, his eyes were small like a bugs and tights were all shiny like as if he is going to break into a dance, so less shine and more webs please and the story in certain ways was similar to Batman Begins

A little more time for the action sequences please, I really want to see more and some more sarcasm, The comics are filled with one liner's when spidey kicks ass

Ugly 

Nothing much in this department,

Marks- 8/10. This is a really good movie but I still like Sam Raimi’s Spider Man a wee bit more for a few reasons, when spider man was first released it really elevated Superhero Movies to a whole new level and second the film was just simply awesome