I seriously fail to understand the reasoning behind remaking a classic. They should leave them alone. Let them be!

So, here’s what’s happening to Don.

And I’m already a little afraid for Umrao Jaan and Sholay.

Okay, now you just can’t go for a Karan Johar movie and expect intellectual stimulation. So don’t expect wonders when you’re watching KANK.

I was keen to watch the movie on the day it was released (for some reason I have this fascination for watching movies the day it gets released), but we couldn’t get tickets, so we had to wait till Sunday.

Meanwhile. My hair grew 2 inches in anticipation.

(more…)

…Omkara yet?

Quite a watch, I must say. Firstly, I have to admit that I did not understand a lot of the dialect spoken in the movie. Not being a native Hindi speaker, most of my abilities were picked up during my 5 years in Mumbai. And Mumbaiya hindi does not really help! But apart from that little obstacle, I would say that it’s quite a interesting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello in an Indian setting.

Among the actors, Saif was impressive and so was Ajay Devgan and Konkona Sen Sharma (who is always such a delight to watch). The surprise for me was Kareena, who once, without make-up and her usual trademark pouts actually puts in a decent performance as fair Desdemona (and fair she is :).

A must-watch from my side. And preferably take one good Hindi speaker to get the translations!

The other movie that I enjoyed was Yun Hota To Kya Hota. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the overdramatic ending. I thought Naseeruddin Shah could have hinted at the events that took place instead of showing us all the details all over again.

Konkana is her usual good self – expressive and beautiful. The other cameo worth watching out for is Boman Irani. Then there’s a cute curly haired nerdy kid who keeps spouting shudh Hindi and is apparently Naseer’s son. The only role that seemed a little overplayed was Konkona’s mother-in-law. There was no explanation as to why she’s an American and her act really jarred. Mostly because she came across as a raving lunatic without any particular reason.

The movie deals with the ‘what if’ possibility and don’t we all wonder about it sometimes :)

And another movie I really enjoyed was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Johnny Depp makes one hell of a sexy pirate and has some funny, witty lines that will keep you laughing. He’s an amazing actor and I can’t really imagine anyone else in that role. He gives Jack Sparrow an identity that we are unlikely to forget for a while. The end as usual is open-ended, thus paving the way for another sequel.

Fast paced, clever dialogues, some brilliant star power (Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, you could watch the movie just for them!) and a bank robbery situation. I quite enjoyed Inside Man, which I watched last evening. The twists and turns keep you guessing and you’re not quite sure why the robbery is happening and whether it is a robbery at all. If you’re looking for wholesome evening entertainment, then this movie is worth watching.

The day before, I finally watched Da Vinci Code. I can understand why people might come away a little disappointed with the movie. I think it’s a tough task to come up with a movie that is equally thrilling as the book.

Also, if you haven’t read the book, some of the flash back sequences (Silas and the Bishop), Sophie’s childhood, the ritual she encounters, won’t make too much sense. Ron Howard gives it all he has, and comes up with a decent film. I’ve read some pretty harsh reviews, but I think a lot of critics react that way because of the impact the book had already created. I found it, if not anywhere as exciting as the book, reasonably well done. And Audrey Tatou had me impressed ever since I watched her in Amelie (what a movie!) and I thought she fitted quite well into the role of Sophie Neveau. So, while the book gets my vote, the movie is still worth a dekko, I’d say.

(PS: I got a phone call during Da Vinci from a friend and I smsd him saying I was watching a movie and I’d call back. He smsd back saying he had wanted to enquire about my health and that I had answered his question already! So yes, I am definitely much better, and on my way to 100% pretty soon! )

When I first heard about Crash, I thought it was a movie about cars, thanks to the title. A few months ago, we had plans to watch it one evening on DVD but something transpired and we landed up gazing at the stars instead! I’m quite glad I didn’t see it then actually. Because I’m still a sucker for larger than life on screen action.

The expectations were obviously high after its Oscar win. And I must say, I wasn’t disappointed at all. The story and screenplay were better than anything I’ve seen in a while.

The story comprises of characters of diverse racial backgrounds cross paths and ‘crash’ into one another, and the outcome of all these interactions is what is portrayed with great finesse by the director and writer Paul Haggis. The characters are real, the situations are real and all laced with both humour and irony.

The frustrations and travails of everyday life are manifested as racist attitudes, and yet when you scratch deeper, it’s much more than that. Everyday life and the blows it deals to people take its toll. These people who then go out into the streets and need someone else to take it out on. It portrays how race comes into the way of interactions and prevents people from seeing the actual person in front of them. Sandra Bullock for example, thinks the man fixing her lock is a part of a gang who will sell duplicates of the keys, and is especially rude with her Asian househelp. “I’m angry all time. I wake up in the morning and I’m feeling angry,” she confessed to a friend. In the end though, it’s the help who comes to Bullock’s aide when she has a nasty fall.

There are many other characters including:
- An old Persian shopkeeper who loses everything because of his stubborn attitude
- A young Mexican man who just wants to keep his daughter safe
- A woman (Sandra Bullock) who just wants her politician husband’s attention
- A black woman (Thandie Newton) who feels betrayed because her husband (Terence Howard) couldn’t utter a word while a cop conducted a body search
- A cop (Don Cheadle) who does everything and is still not appreciated by who he cares most about – his mother
- Another frustrated and racist cop (Matt Dillon) who lives with an old ailing father

The whole story is put together with the help of several sub-plots and to the director’s credit, he keeps firm control not letting anyone of them get out of hand. Instead, they all intersect beautifully, creating a story that is difficult to ignore.

You can’t help but feel for Matt Dillon’s character, for Thandie Newton’s humiliation and her husband’s quiet anger. Or Don Cheadle’s helplessness as the cop who tries everything to make his mother happy and yet fails. Her younger thieving son will also be the apple of her eyes. Haven’t we all come across such situations and such characters?

Paul Haggis comes up with an amazing script. Not only do you laugh with the characters, you feel what they’re going through. You get involved with the characters right from the beginning though you have no idea where they’re going next or what they’re going to do!

I absolutely loved the way the characters lives interspersed and the story comes full circle. A satisfying and most well made film. I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain yet, but this one is definitely worth the nomination it received!

So Brokeback Mountain (BM) got crashed out at the Oscars! I was pretty surprised since I was expecting BM to win after all the hype and hoopla leading up to the event. And it did win several of the other awards, including Best Director for Ang Lee.

Then, suddenly, I hear it’s not BM at all. But another movie called Crash. Where did it come from? I remember once having nearly seen the movie at a friend’s place but we never got around to it (now I wish we had!). According to news reports, this shock decision might have been due to the fact that BM made some of the Academy fuddy duddies a little uncomfortable with the whole gay love theme and Crash was their safe harbour.

Since I haven’t watched any of the movies, I can’t really tell whether it was a deserving win for Crash. But I’m really eager to watch all the movies now!

I have 4 must-watch movies this week – Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and Pride & Prejudice! A couple of back-to-back sessions should do it!

Has anyone watched any of these movies?

It’s not often that you see a movie and want to write about it. But recently, I watched 2 that are worth mentioning…

There’s magic in the air

The first one was Chronicles of Narnia, a really well crafted fairy tale by CS Lewis and equally well rendered onto the silver screen by director Andrew Adamson. I’d say it’s a must-watch inspite of its ‘Hindi moviesh’ length. The acting overall, was especially good and the one character that I particularly loved was young Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley).

It also brought to mind an important question. What do these young people eat while growing up? They’re definitely feeding them things we never ate. She’s 5 and acts like a total pro! And she has the most beautiful eyes. What a darling. Apparently Adamson gave all of them i-Pods once they had finished filming and she thanked him profusely before turning and asking: “What is it?”!

CS Lewis’s magical tale is brought to life in true technicolor glory by Adamson who recreates a world where animals talk and where the landscapes are overwhelmingly stark but beautiful (the ice castle looks overwhelming!). The war scenes with mythical creatures like the half men-half horses and those huge birds all seem to come to life on screen drawing us into a world, where you can’t help but believe for a while that there is magic everywhere!

And the lion – voiced by Liam Neeson… Wow, what can I say? Being a lover of cats, I have a soft spot for all animals in this particular family, including the lion. What a majestic creature. One forgets after a while that it’s “talking” lion and actually begins to believe it is really talking!

This is only one of CS Lewis’s novels in the series. There are quite a few more (perhaps enough to keep Adamson occupied for the rest of his career!), and since this one has been brought to the screen successfully, we will no doubt see the sequels…

Publication Order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician’s Nephew
7. The Last Battle

Chronological Order:

1. The Magician’s Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

(Source: Wikipedia)

Adamson is now working on the sequel, Prince Caspian slated for release in December 2007.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, caught up with the much talked about Rang de Basanti.

The acting: Unlike what was expected, Aamir didn’t hog all the attention. It was well divided between all the friends. I especially liked Siddharth & Kunal Kapoor. The whole first half exuded such vibrancy that you couldn’t help but be affected by this group of friends and especially their humour, which was so relatable.

The story: The historical parts interspersed with the present integrated well into the storyline. The end yes, it has been much debated. Despite its extremity, in its defense, I have to say that it makes one think and that’s more than what many movies these days do. After having watched and reviewed many crappy movies I must say this one definitely stood out in all aspects – whether it was cinematography, music, editing, acting etc.

On the downside, it is hard to digest what they do in the end as a feasible solution and I’m not sure why Rakeysh Mehra decided to go with this particular ending. Was it optimistic? Was it pessimistic? What was it trying to say to the youth? I, for one, wasn’t really clear. Especially the whole cracking down scene on demonstrators, and the finale at the radio station seemed like taking things too far. I know the director has creative licence, but I did wonder since otherwise the movie unfolded so well.

Was such an extreme step necessary? Couldn’t there have been an alternative if Mehra’s point was to show that the youth are responsibility for making sure the country moves in the right direction and not just sit around and complain. Perhaps a more feasible story, to an otherwise really sane, interesting and youthful film would have gone down well.

And on an end note, the songs I think were quite brilliant. They not only wove themselves into the fabric of the film, but also conveyed a sense of vibrancy that nearly had me up and doing the bhangra along with the rest of them. All in all, I’d give it a 8/10 from my side. What’s your take?

I did the unthinkable! Despite the considerable star power and heat the couple were generating, I dozed through the second half of Mr & Mrs Smith :) On the first day of the show last Friday. After the interval, when both of them were really getting at each other, I was lulled into sleep! Here’s a rather flattering review. I have never done this before in a hall - sleep through a movie that is. At least for a long while. Maybe, I need to see it again. This time, with my eyes open!

I had written about a bad experience at Millers 46 a few weeks ago. Jude, who’s the owner of Millers 46 actually left an apology on my blog and sent me a voucher towards my next meal. Thanks Jude! Can imagine how demanding the service business is and will definitely go back for more at Millers :)

22 people so far for the Honnemardu trip this weekend. Yayay! Am really excited. Have wanted to go to this beautiful place for a while and am totally looking forward to it. My weekend French classes hardly allows me to travel these days. But I have 2 weeks to go before my finals and if I don’t go somewhere, I am going to be very unhappy. So Honnemardu, it is!