Contagion- Not that contagious

Intro

It is a Soderbergh film. Traffic and Syriana type, not the Ocean 11, 12 type.

Synopsis

MEV-1 Virus versus all of humankind. The virus spreads and mutates...the WHO and the CDC look for ways to contain, quarantine and vaccinate the world's population. We don't want to lose 1 % of our population like in 1918 when the Spanish flu ate 3% of us.

Good 

It is another Soderbergh film. I could have finished this part of the review with that line, but I will say more in another small paragraph which follows...

Incredibly well researched but very simply put... This is a docu- drama of sorts for every one. I for one feel well educated about how a pandemic starts and spreads. What is an R-0 (R-Nought)? How do diseases cross borders. And how do these new viruses get formed. The thrifty editing and no nonsense story progression keeps the audience well engaged, though in an indifferent way.... Which takes us to the next section.   

Bad

I will not stop short of calling the script boring by saying the following-

• The different plot lines don't connect
• Some parts of the script are rather forgettable and not needed - for instance Gwyneth Paltrow cheating on her husband Matt Damon
• The parts of the whole do not sink in and causes indifference even as a million people die on screen - for instance after the movie was done, a friend asked me if Kate Winslet was dead or alive at the end of the whole thing

Ugly

This pandemic thing is real- I have a friend who worked in a government hospital when the whole swine flu thing broke out and she told me how one of the doctors had died during the whole thing. I worried for her own safety a lot and I can only imagine the mental agony she must have had dealing with - indifferent nurses, dying colleagues, personal safety, dying people and public anger.

Watch this movie if you want to educate yourself stay home if you want entertainment. 

Marks- 6/10. A Soderbergh movie which is not as good as Traffic.  

Delhi Belly- Rib Tickling

Intro

Delhi Belly is rib tickling... I still laugh thinking about some of the jokes in this movie.

Synopsis

Diamonds are flown in from abroad and an air-hostess (Shenaz) unwittingly hands it over to her fiance (Imran) who makes an attempt to deliver it to the smugglers. The diamonds transform- 'Yeh toh tatti hai!' (still laughing). Shit happens in this movie, quiet literally.

Good 

The entire line of guys at the urinals, after the movie, were still laughing... Its well made, good use of the medium and though it reminds you a lot of modern day english sitcom... it is still pure genius. The songs are short, the action sequences long and comedy spontaneously hilariously dirty. The characters are very real and you will hate them as much as you love them... 

Bad

This is one of those good attention to details films. I will need to watch it 5 more times (which I intent to do at the soonest) to find anything remotely bad. Perhaps not philosophical enough and if there were layers I could not find it.

Ugly

There are many things ugly about this movie. All this comes in pure hindsight- was laughing too much to think beyond the next second of the film. I can imagine that the incredibly dirtiness inherent in the film will be humorous to only a niche albeit a huge niche in the world population. Please do not watch if you are below 18 or if you are a conservative prick or if you don't like silly, toilet, profane, slapstick humour. Also I read somewhere that the women are treated badly in this movie. And now in hindsight (eyesrolling) I realise that the portrayals of the 'bad girl,' 'noisy girl' and 'heartbreak girl' varieties was indeed stereotypical, but what the hell- Its still funny.

Marks- 8/10. I am going to end this review exactly the way that I started it. Delhi Belly- Rib tickling!

Nandalala- Stark reality.

Intro

A Tamil contribution to World Cinema. Though I am not a big fan of these movies, they don't entertain much, I have to say that like most World Movies this one portrays a stark reality using only good filming techniques. A Tamil take on 'Kikujiro' this film adds enough Indian flavour without butchering the original.

Synopsis

What do a mad man in an asylum and a little boy in primary school have in common? A longing to meet their mother. The former to confront her as to why she left him in an asylum and the latter to simply give her a kiss. Fate has it that they travel together and in this journey they encounter unconditional mother's love albeit in a completely unexpected manner.

Good 

Not too many Indian movies have the detail of a good novel, or the aesthetics which fully exploit the medium which is film. Using montages to tell a story, especially in India, requires a lot of guts and the applause has to go to the director of the film. You will love the seeming silence which engulfs the film. And you will notice that there is depressing mood in the film like in most Tamil films which reflect the lives of the outcasts of society- Mentally ill, physically challenged and abandoned children.

Bad

The music was horrible to say the least. Flashes of Ilayaraja's genius are evident but over all it seemed like music borrowed from a cheap fusion CD. And I think that in all the detailing that went into the form or the art, there were many scenes which drew a blank or were confusing in a not so intellectually overwhelming. A little irritating at times.

Ugly

I think this film is Myshkin's failure to fill too many shoes and I think he did not have to put himself everywhere. He is a good director and a decent actor. But he should have done just one role to justify the original he drew inspiration from. There is a paradox here for Takeshi Kitano wrote, starred and directed Kikujiro. But I honestly believe Indian directors cannot play such supermen and these attempts show a vulgar attempt to satisfy the ego rather than for the art of film making. Does Kamal Hasan ring a bell.

Marks- 5/10. A missed opportunity to make one of the best films of the decade. 

 

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)

Do Dooni Chaar

I walked into the theatre thinking this is going to be one of those movies that I have to sit through without choice but I was pleasantly surprised at the end, not only was this movie different from the usual bollywood movies it also made me laugh at places.

Synopsis : The Duggals are a simple middle class family.                 Mr.  Duggal is a maths teacher who earns a simple salary and is also part of a tution centre to make both ends meet. His mode of transportation is his old scooter. His two children are both of the modern kind who prefers to have all the luxuries in life but have no option but too adjust with their family. The Duggals decide one day that their family requires a car and how and what they do to get the car is the rest of the movie.

The Good : The Comedy is good, no songs cutting the narration unnecessarily and the actors all have done a good job. Rishi Kapoor is wonderful as the  maths teacher, Neetu Singh as the mom is also nice. Rishi kapoor literally takes the movie on his shoulders. The Director has really worked well on his script , its tight and its well put on screen, even the twists and turn are nice , the director takes you through a familiar line and finally turns into a completely new lane. I totally enjoyed it and I would ask you all to not miss this one. Very few movies like this have a soul in them and its really nice to see these kind of movies coming up in bollywood. Please don’t miss this movie,I simply enjoyed it totally.

The Bad : I really have no complaints for a movie like this. 

The Ugly : None for this movie

Marks : 7/10 ( Movies like Do Dooni Char is a rare thing, don't think twice just go for this movie and enjoy it fully)

 

The American- Clooney is hollywood's Rajini

Intro- Slow, gentle caresses of long round slippery...barrels...its guns not whatever you were thinking. Subtlety in everything- dialogues, visuals, music. Its hollywood's very own superstar- George Timothy Clooney.  America's obsession with guns, fantasy of being a lonely mysterious stranger who boinks (its the new f* word) beautiful women, psychological thrillers with attempts at many layers.

Good- Though not a big fan of slow movies I could immerse myself in the whole experience, though only to a certain extent. Because this type of plot has been reproduced a million times like the McChicken burger, its hard to enjoy the flavour as you chew on it.

But as it goes down your throat, you think well maybe it has the nutrition of a vegetarian sub.  The cinematography is great, treatment screams I am a digital offbeat, serious, world cinema. The medicine had very little sugar. Mary poppins is going to be very disappointed.

Bad- At this point you are thinking I am not revealing too much about the movie. But there is nothing to reveal. I could tell you the story in 5 lines and you would be angry with me if you were a Clooney fan and you wanted to see the movie. For the rest of you, the movie in five lines-

Line 1- George Clooney and his character progression (layer 1)
Line 2- George Clooney with a dangerous girl
Line 3- George Clooney with another girl who...(suspense and build up)
Line 4- George Clooney with a spiritual dude hence adding a layer
Line 5- George Clooney with an close to extinct butterfly adding another

Don't watch the movie if you are not a Clooney fan.

Ugly- My cultural analysis is this. Like Mr. Rajini Kant and all he stands for in our culture (nobody degrade it or tamil tantrums will sock you where it hurts most) is a paralel to Mr. Clooney and all he stands for in the American culture. Style here subtly there. Punch dialogues here, no dialogues there. I think our brand of cool is so much cooler, because there is recklessness about it. It's maddness and we don't pretent otherwise. I am a big fan of Clooney but this movie is way too pretentious. As Baba is to Rajini, The American is to Clooney.


Marks- 4/10 Just passed