Bringing comic heroes to the movie screens seems to be all the rage now. And the latest, to hit the screens was Iron Man (well, technically as of today it would be Speed Racer). I wasn't a great fan of Iron Man after all he was only a normal guy in an iron suit. He has none of the interesting mutations of the XMen nor the supernatural powers of super-hero aliens. The movie was pretty good and I enjoyed it. It lived up to its 92% rating in rotten tomatoes.Robert Downey Jr. portrayed a very convincing millionaire playboy genius and Jeff Daniels as the backstabbing executive was good. The narrative and screenplay din't wander off or slouch in between as it usually happens. The only misgiving I had was that after sitting through all the initial build-up to the final suit Iron Man had to resort to a clever trick to defeat his adversary in the other suit of armor. A little display of energy shields, sonic blasts and holographic decoy generators would have been exciting though. If you are a fan of comics and cartoons you will not regret watching it. Oh! don't forget to wait till all the credits have rolled past (and almost at the point where you are sheepishly edging to the door wondering why you even believed that rumor about it on the internet) you will be treated to a small cameo featuring Sgt. Nick Fury. So, don't miss it.
Last weekend (Feb 23, 2008) I had the misfortune to be left alone in the apartment I shared with room-mates in Bangalore. And being my lazy self I planned to spend it entirely browsing and watching television. Well, fate had other plans and my broadband connection chose to give up and die. So, here I was alone, without internet access on a weekend. While most people would have chosen several creative and interesting ways to entertain themselves I chose to rent a DVD and watch a movie.The idea by itself does pose some serious challenges. In addition to being a internet-addict I'm a movie buff too. Its is customary in our apartment to watch another movie after coming back from a night show...that should give you a fair idea :|. We have membership in 2 video rental libraries and just recently started frequenting another video rental library (simply because it was on the way home from our ususal weekend luncheon). So, on sunday I sauntered into our latest video rental library. Normally any attempt to rent classics or black & white movies will be met with sharp resistance but now that no one was around I chose to rent the 'Alfred Hitchcock Collection'!!There were 5 movies on the DVD
'The Trouble with Harry' is about a corpse of an outsider in a small village. The story unravels itself as the characters reveal portions of their stories based on the information that is available to them at that particular point of time. Which interestingly leads to the corpse being buried and exhumed thrice. But, I thought the ending did not completely tie up all the lose ends. For e.g. Capt. Wiles flicks the deadmans shoes from the deputy sheriffs car and put it on the deadman later to be found by the the widow's son (Arnie Rogers).'Torn Curtain' tracks the adventures of an American physicist defects to East Germany because the US government supposedly closed down his research on an anti-nuclear missile. Hell breaks loose when his fiancee insists on following him there. Then the physicist reveals that that he is deceiving the East Germans to get access to a brilliant East German physicist to pick his brain to solve a problem he was facing. An unfortunate murder upsets all plans and the rest of the story is how the couple escape to safety.'Marnie' is about a pretty young girl who is a pathological liar and thief. Her usual mode of operation is to get a job and steal from the safe a few weeks later. Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) recognizes her, later falls in love and marries her. He tries to help her resolve her psychological problems which forms the rest of the story.'Frenzy' is the story of an innocent man who is wrongly accused and sentenced as being the necktie murderer. Innocent circumstances incriminate him and he is betrayed by his own friend. The plot then revolves around how the actual killer is convicted.'The Birds' is about an innocent weekend in Boedega Bay which turns into a nightmare when the birds begin attacking humans. The plot also has a dash of romance and a little unsavory family history. The movie ends with the Brenner family and Melanie Daniels leaving Boedega bay. But, the reason for the birds attacking humans is never explained.
I was really excited about this movie mainly because of this awesome trailer and the presence of Jessica Alba. As usual I also headed up to wikipedia for some healthy dose of trivia and info about the Silver Surfer and he seemed a worthy adversary(though I don't fancy the FF4 too much!! I prefer X-Men above all else). But, nevertheless an underdog against a mighty adversary is usually a good watch :D. So, when I headed for the movies and found no tickets for this one I was more than happy to see FF4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer.It certainly wasn't the effects that were jaded, though the trailer captured the best scenes of the movie. I think the movie audiences have evolved beyond mere computer-generated effects. The plot was weak almost implying that the surfer saved earth more because of invisible woman who supposedly reminded him of his sweetheart!! And Galactus the powerful almost god-like entity is defeated (killed ??) in the last few minutes of the movie by a mere herald!! Taking into consideration that the surfer possesses just a fraction of the power-cosmic of which Galactus is the keeper is just ...STUPID :(
Its been a long time since I found time to update this blog. Had lots of interesting stuff happening meanwhile. But, first things first :).About the movies...The Wind Game - is about the letters to an old writer from his young friend in search of his father. Most of it was really abstract and I had a difficult time figuring out whether I really understood anything at all. The scence kept changing from an elusive white horse among ruins, to an equally elusive old loremaster among the same ruins, to a pretty lady seated among cool fountains, to the main protagonist despairing over the parched desert surface, clutching about six small hollow bamboo sticks. When the movie got over I really had no idea if he found anything about his father. I'm still confused if I'm dumb or it was just meant to be that way.Clear Skies After Rain - is a story of a beautiful girl who likes to sing and likes to believe she is a good singer. How she is stuck with a rude, arrogant husband who thinks he is Sylvester Stallone and a slick agent type who is trying to seduce her.Ararath - is actually the name of a mountain in Armenia. Its shot using a really interesting concept of a movie inside a movie. In the movie "we" are watching a movie is being shot so, whenever there is a flashback to the original event the movie inside the movie kicks in. And when its done the the film smoothly transitions to the actual time (with respect to the movie that is...). The story is really complicated and encompasses both the timezones. The central character of the movie is Arshile Gorky who is a painter famous painter. Now he has only a token presence physically in the movie but everything in the movie is about him and a self-portrait of him with his mother which is actually painted out of a photograph. Gorky was a kid when the massacre of the Armenians happened and later he comes to Canada marries, has a daughter, marries again to a writer who has a son from a previous marriage(to an Armenian revolutionary who blew up someone). The step brother and siter share a incestous relationship. The daughter accuses the writer wife of murdering her father but the writer claims he commited suicide...There are several interconnections for example the painting hangs in a museum where the disgruntled daughter tries to wreck it, the security guard's gay partner stars in the lead role of the movie inside the movie and his father is a customs officer who (disapproves the marriage...) and on his last day of duty catches the son of the writer inadvertently smuggling drugs into the country but eventually lets him go. I know most of the above does not make too much sense :) but the movie was a great watch.Dance of the Wind - is a sad tale of a movie director who goes location scouting somewhere in tunisia for a movie he is going to shoot which is about a guy getting lost in the desert and dying...and the poor guy himself gets lost in the desert and dies(just like the movie he was going to shoot!! is it coincidence or what?).
Mademoiselle - is about a little excitement in the life of a happily married mother of two sales executive, who is out of town for a meeting and misses her train. She hitches a ride with the same entertainment troupe that entertained them the previous evening. This entertainment troupe consists of a married couple and a single guy. They call themselves the "Impromptu Company" and have no script ready for anything but pick each others cues excellently to astonish and entertain the audience. The sales executive does a little bit of impromptu herself and falls for the single guy and happily returns home to her family. (Realy cute
story...)
Just came back after watching "Kadhal", a real life story of a tragic love. Apart from few scenes where the emotion had been intesified to cater to the majority movie going masses. I must confess that this is one movie where I have not been a let down by the movie after hearing great reviews about it (usually the agony of expectation does not make up for actual reality...). One factor contributing to that I feel is the absence of any big names/stars. Apart from the hero and his friend there are no familiar faces (most of the starting credits had introducing...). This probably freed the director from the customary punchlines, stereotypical jokes etc.
The story by itself is simple. Girl with a rich and powerful family falls for a poor grungy mechanic(nothing new there for the average moviegoer, but this mechanic actually manages to look convincingly grungy and never fully cleans up to be a smashing hero). The fact that the girl is still studying in 12th standard (B section Roll No. 16 if I'm not wrong which is intriguing because the heroine's name is Aishwarya...unless there were many Aashas, Aakilas, Aanamikas, Aannapooranis and Aannalakshmis ahead of her...) does not deter her father (Rich, ugly, powerful wine shop owner and local ganglord) from arranging for her marriage. Girl panics and elopes with the boy to Chennai and after a street corner marriage, find refuge among the hero's friends who set them up in a rental house.
By this time the heroines uncle (fathers younger brother who misses his left arm but still rides around in a Bullet) tracks them down and convinces them to return back to town for a fitting marriage. Which does not happen (no happy ending here folks...). The heroine is forced into another marriage, meet the crazy hero a few years (and a baby) later. Breaks down feeling guilty for leading a normal life while because of her the hero is raving mad. The husband simply accepts both of them (i.e. puts the crazy hero in a mental institution and continues his life supporting both the lovers).
Read an interview of the director who had met the husband on a train. While in school I've read "Thirukkural"s by Thiruvalluvar stating that the presence of good samaritans brings rain. Now you know why it rains.
