Housefull

There were mixed reviews for this movie – laugh-out funny and cringe-fest (my newly coined, by the way). I honestly had no idea which one was more accurate. Turns out, both were spot on.

The movie has a storyline, somewhere deeply buried in slapstick and pseudo-dramatism. It swings bewilderingly from point to point, where the jokes are freely interspersed with tearful monologues. Some of the scenes were so awful that I couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open; but there were some scenes that made me laugh my guts out. However, I’ve watched the movie once – and once is MORE than enough.

Akshay Kumar is the main lead in this crazy movie. He plays a karma-impaired individual with no luck. The epitome of anti-Midas, everything he so much as looks at turns to dust. He is spurned by women he loves, over and over. Dejected with the miserable shreds of his romantic life, he decides to visit an old friend.

This old friend, Riteish Deshmukh, is a casino dealer in London. Happily married to Lara Dutta, they come home one evening, fully intending to amorously demonstrate their love. Only to find Akshay Kumar snoozing comfortably in their bed. Suffice it to say, utter pandemonium ensues.

After the plate-crashing, parrot-vacuuming, and electric-shocking is over, there is a tearful reconciliation and hugs are exchanged. Very touching. (Barf)

All this lovey-dovey family-ness leads to Akshay’s marriage. Then to his honeymoon. Then to his new wife taking off with another bloke. He tried to commit suicide. Deepika saving him. Them falling in love (a couple of songs). Riteish and Lara showing up. You get the point.

In all of this, Lara has an estranged father, Boman Irani. And Deepika has a militant elder brother, Arjun Rampal – who incidentally is also the brother of the girl who turns him down at the beginning of the movie.

Of course, this entire motley crew converges on the two hapless couple ALL AT ONCE. Utter surprise! What! How original! Wow! Misunderstandings in a comedy movie?!? NEW concept.

The movie becomes too complicated to explain after this point. But thankfully it becomes funny too. The first half is awful, but the second half has a few great (if slightly obvious) laughs. Watch out for the English ‘queen’. Absolute. Riot.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

 

I loved this movie. The actors, the acting, the storyline, the simplicity, the possibility that it could potentially happen - everything. I loved the less-than-perfect characters, the teenage drama, the music theme as a backdrop and the fledgling signs of romance.

Nick is hopelessly in love with an ex at another school. He makes and sends her mixed tapes of music, which she then passes on to her friend. The friend in question, Norah, loves the music. Through some twist of fate, Nick and Norah find themselves together on the town for one night. As time unfolds, various incidents happen leading into comical situations and pseudo-dramatic moments. They fight, they argue and eventually realize they are attracted to each other. That part was predictable, but still nice.

The movie was great fun, and it a complete chick-flick. Love.

Law Abiding Citizen

I was waiting for this film to release for ages. Lots of reasons really: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx and a vengeance story, being just the top three. No need for explanations for the first two, but the third I think needs a little one.

I adore vengeance stories of vigilante justice. It is all about victims taking control. I live in a country where the victims suffer so much because of selfish and egotistic villains. Just today my family was talking about police atrocities. The stories are sickening. It's about time people stood up to fight for their civil rights.

So when Gerard Butler starts by dismembering the criminal who killed his wife and child, raped his wife's dead body and got off virtually scot-free, I was THRILLED. I was a one-person cheering squad.

But then he started targeting innocent people. That's when the movie went completely downhill for me. He turned from a victim into exactly the sort person he wants to get rid of.

The ending had a powerful message: one is responsible for the consequences of their actions. Those consequences don't always pan out as one thinks. It can backfire dramatically. It is all about the choices.

Inglourious Basterds

I have never really been a fan of Quentin Tarantino. There I said it. I do not belong to the elite club of discerning movie-goers. I am not into blood, gore or 'realistic' cinema. I like light-hearted, fun flicks which remain within the realms of reality - stuff that potentially CAN happen - or out-and-out fantasy flicks. In sum, I like it when the good guys win.

Inglourious Basterds is about Hitler and the Nazi regime. Nothing sparkly and happy about it. It is about a rag-tag group of American Jews that exact bloody revenge on Hitler's nasty minions.

I turned on the movie, thinking I would watch it in instalments. But I was utterly hooked. Perhaps morbid fascination, maybe cinematic excellence kept me glued to the seat waiting for the next scene to unfold. I was horrified by some of the scenes, with their overt displays of gore, but yet I watched.

The movie itself is beautifully laid out, thankfully eschewing the usual non-linear format of previous Tarantino movies. The plots were simply followed and there were no great mental gyrations required to follow the thread.

To some extent I felt vicarious pleasure in imagining the dire deaths of the perpetrators of the Holocaust. But there was one scene, heralding the entrance of the Bear Jew, where a German soldier is kneeling waiting for his certain fate. The Basterd taps the soldier's lapel with his club, asking whether the medal hanging from there is for killing many Jews. The soldier responds with one word, "Bravery". He then died a horrible death. In that moment, I realized that although I always envisaged gruesome deaths for people like that, maybe in the thrall of sinners there may have been one person who didn't deserve that fate. It was merely a question of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Having watched it though, the movie didn't make a deep impression. By the next morning it was forgotten, without any regrets. It was worth the watch though; if one has a strong stomach.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

I always rather liked Rani Mukherjee, with her smallish stature and relatively girl-next-door appearance. However I didn't want to ever watch this movie because I find the whole concept of prostitution depressing. Not disgusting, depressing. I always knew that helplessness and the need to provide for oneself and family can be an overpowering one. Lots of people are driven to do things that under normal circumstances would go against the grain. So who wanted to watch a Hindi movie - which is usually prone to overdramatization and extreme moments of uncomfortable melodrama - about a small town girl forced by circumstances to become an escort? Certainly not me.

I caught this movie on television. I watched the kind of Indian mentality which leads a father to tell his daughter not to try and become a son. It is positively criminal. She of course grits her teeth and makes up her mind to become successful at all costs, little knowing that that is the minimum that would be required.

Mumbaikars are painted with a harsh, uncaring and selfish brush. The imagery is true, with most city-dwellers rarely condescending to deal with encroaching mushrooms from the rural areas of the country. There is also the selfish streak that allows people to use others for their own ends and then cast them aside once they are done.

Rani Mukherjee's character discovers all this and much more, before she is forced into making a decision that is irrevocable. Once done, she picks up the tatters of her dignity and makes the game her own. Only a handful of people know what has happened and they all behave with varying degrees of acceptance.

She becomes happier as her family finances improve, and she moves around in the best circles. Her sister comes to town and finds work and love quickly.

The ending of the story could not have been handled better, and although I was prepared to be up in arms with regards to a male chauvinist plot, the ending left a good feeling all around.

Uncle Fred in the Springtime

Ordinarily, I love P. G. Wodehouse books. There are the odd couple of reasons why I can't read through his books in one sitting, but that's mainly a personal shortcoming. It is certainly no reflection on the sumptuousness of his writing style.

I discovered Wodehouse very recently, having been weaned on a diet of Enid Blyton in my youth. I was so delighted with one book I happened to pick up, it has become an ambition to acquire and read all his books. (I tend to be a little compulsive about sets and sequences.)

I finished Uncle Fred in the Springtime yesterday, after the book lay on my nightstand for almost a month. Part of the reason was due to excessive traveling, but sometimes I find Wodehouse plots to be convoluted beyond rational imagining. However, even though I sometimes close the book due to sheer exhaustion, these seemingly impossible tangles seem to resolve themselves quite satisfactorily in the end.

In my opinion though, that didn't happen with Uncle Fred. The tangle does resolve itself, without a doubt, however the satisfaction was definitely absent. The usual smooth ending was completely absent, and in its inimitable stead, there was a fresh tangle of lines. The ending was improbable and flimsy, again in my opinion. Apart from that though, the book is truly Wodehouse with chuckles embedded in every turn of phrase.

I just wish it had ended differently.

Avatar

Few movies have the power of being so absorbing that you find yourself almost in the very landscape. Avatar was definitely one of them. And I watched the 2D version yesterday.

The movie is chockful of technical brilliance, but that isn't what makes it special. That merely ties up an important message in a very pretty packaging. Or so I think.

The movie is about the human race, mining for a valuable mineral on the planet Pandora. The planet is alien and beautiful, therefore there are a team of biologists who try to interact peaceably with the natives, through the use of a hybrid body known as an Avatar. The natives, otherwise known as the Na'avi, are a spiritual race, deeply attuned to the pulse of the forest. Each tree and animal forms a microcosm of an interconnected web of life that sustains all life on Pandora. The Na'avi are able to connect, even thought they are a race roughly equivalent to the human race. (Which we all know is a selfish one.)

The Na'avi village is actually a huge tree which also happens to be sitting atop the largest deposit of the mineral. One of the Avatars attempt to befriend the tribe, hoping to find a way to remove them gently from their place.

The movie proceeds along predictable lines to its conclusion. There are really no surprises.

But. (This is a BIG 'but'.) The movie contains some very powerful messages.

Firstly, those of us who have had the pleasure of being invaded by other people can sympathise with the unfairness of one's rights snatched away from us. Foreigners come in, take by force what is not theirs and persecute the indigenous natives. It has happened throughout history with tragic consequences.

Secondly, the deep connection with nature portrayed in the movie should shine a light on the wanton destruction of our planet. Resources are chewed up and spat out without thought by heartless corporate entities, leaving this once-beautiful green planet a pile of rotting rubble.

And thirdly, when Jake Sully (the infiltrator Avatar) is saved by a woman from the tribe, she has to butcher a number of forest creatures -vaguely modeled on wild dogs. She then mourns the unnecessary violence and death. Throughout the movie, even when hunting, the death of prey is conducted with grace, thanking the being for the nutrition it is about to provide. The act is humane and spiritual, giving the animal the respect it deserves.

As the movie came to a close, I could really think of very little else. As I have grown older, my true disdain for the human race, and the disgust it inspires in me threatens to overwhelm me entirely. Avatar merely reinforced that opinion.

It is a fabulous movie, and even though my father slept through most of it, I think his taste in movies is dubious at best. If not for the messages, go for the story. If not for the story, go for the special effects. It is worth the experience.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Marvel Comics are always so dark and dismal. There is no clear good and bad, all the characters are shades of gray. I enjoyed X-Men and its sequels because the effects were spectacular and the superpowers were awesome.

The storylines had me slightly confused though; mostly because I like the end of the movie to clear up any fogginess that surrounds the characters. I watched all three X-Men movies avidly, hoping that one of them would shed some light on Wolverine.

After all, Wolverine was the central character. And he was played by Hugh Jackman, who I absolutely adore.

So when X-Men Origins: Wolverine came out, I was sorely disappointed about not being able to watch it on the big screen. And I waited patiently for it to come out on DVD.

The story starts even before the credits, with James (the future Logan) a young boy with a high fever. From that point on, everything spirals into the darkness. Sabretooth, played by Liev Schreiber, turns out to be Wolverine's brother. They are virtually indestructible, so they survive through the centuries, even though they actively participate in every war that tears the land apart.

Sabretooth is volatile and vicious, caring for no one except maybe a tiny bit for Wolverine. Due to an insubordination, the brothers are sentenced to death by firing squad. Which of course doesn't work.

During their incarceration, they are approached by a army guy named Stryker. He recruits them because of their strange abilities into an elite task force. Their mission is not revealed.

Wolverine finally tires of bloodshed and leaves the task force, to settle with a girl in the Canadian Rockies. The story follows his descent into revenge and rage after Sabretooth kills her.

Stryker appears out of nowhere and offers him a way to beat Sabretooth: coating his skeleton with adamantium.

Of course, there are double-crosses upon double-crosses and finally the tale gets tangled up in itself. The story isn't ground-breaking, but Hugh Jackman is fabulous. The special effects are pretty good, but they are no where in the league of the X-Men movies.

There is no suspense here, thankfully, and the movie ends by explaining how Wolverine loses his memory.

Seven Pounds

Will Smith is sometimes enough advertisement for any movie. That holds true for some percentage of the movie-going population, including me.

I hadn't heard about Seven Pounds before I watched it, and we decided to go only because the poster had a Will Smith picture with the movie title across the bottom.

I don't think it is feasible to describe the plot of the movie without giving away a lot of the story.

The movie is profoundly sad, and explores the deep-seated guilt that a good person feels when he has wronged innocent people, however inadvertently. Will Smith goes to great lengths to attempt to even out the wrongs he has committed.

I think the seven pounds borrows from The Merchant of Venice when Shylock demands his 'pound of flesh'. Here, Will has wronged seven people.

The movie is profound and depressing. There is very little happiness, but at the end you feel respect for a man who gives up so much just to ease his conscience.

Definitely worth a watch.

The Water Horse

Like many, many people all over the world, I am totally fascinated by the Loch Ness creature. I say 'creature' because my definition of a 'monster' is Hitler.

The Loch Ness creature is stuff of fables and legends, and even today people have sightings of the majestic being.

The Water Horse is a delightful movie, set in the time of war. I usually hate those movies because I hate the thought of war and what it does to humankind. Soldiers perish on the front, and families suffer away at home. There is nothing gained from war.

The movie is about a young boy who lives in a big house. His mother works as a housekeeper for the lord of the manor, and he is a lonely little child with an all-abiding fear of open water. One fine day, while playing with sea shells and ocean debris, he finds an unusual egg. He picks it up and takes it home, where he hides it in his father's workshop.

A few days later, a small gray creature breaks its way out of the egg and blinks up at him. It is the fabled Loch Ness creature. He names it Crusoe, after Robinson Crusoe, and proceeds to bring him up in secret. Of course, before long Crusoe becomes too large to fit in a tub, and has to be set free in the loch.

The story follows the adventures of the small boy and Crusoe through war times. The movie has beautiful moments as the bond develops between the two.

However, I felt tremendously sad, as the legend says that every water horse is born an orphan. There can be only one water horse in the world at any time.

I turned off the movie, hoping very much that it wasn't true.

The Incredible Hulk

My first Edward Norton movie was Primal Fear. I had that movie on LD, and the last scene when Richard Gere is leaving the holding cell has remained with me till today. I thought Edward Norton was one of the most sinister characters I'd ever laid eyes on.

Of course I was very young at the time, plus I associated all actors with the roles they played. So I was dead wrong of course. Now the sinister aspect I had imbued Norton with has been replaced with a profound respect for the angular-featured actor.

I watched The Incredible Hulk more than a year ago, so there is very little I remember of the movie except for Edward Norton. He plays the troubled, mild-mannered Bruce Banner so well it left an impression. He struggled for control over a volatile temper, with far more serious ramifications that any normal temper.

I thought the movie was well-made, without crazy action sequences that I more often than not find difficult to follow. I respect advancement in technology, but sometimes it is just plain hard to understand what is going on. I imagine this is why armies in the old days wore colours - instant identification.

I enjoyed the movie, and probably will get it on DVD, although it doesn't top the list.