*Spoiler Alert
The only thing I’ll sincerely advice would be to please click your pic, and write the words ” Myself ” on it, before you go for Aamir Khan’s Ghajini, so that when you come out of the movie, you can refer to it in order to regain your senses.
If you’re taking your brains to the movie hall, please make it forget a certain movie called Memento; and forgetting things won’t be a difficult task; otherwise you might end up with the migraine, to top up the 180+ min runtime.
There’s a funny movie playing, alongside an amnesic thriller, a revenge flick, a women’s rights’ fight, the ever-unbelievable Bollywood love story, along with the best B-flick bad guys Rajanikanth would’ve been proud of bashing up.
Aamir does well with his Sanjay Singhania, atleast when he’s amnesic; though the flashbacks with Asin keep producing incredible story-lines, the most unbelievable being the fact that not a single person recognizes the face of the owner of supposedly the biggest Cellphone company in the country.
Asin makes an impressive debut, acts well, does well with her dialogs, but the dialog-writer(s) were at their woeful best, its almost pointless to have a go at them, coz they were a shambles.
And, finally Mr. Ghajini Dharmatama; how often do we have movies named after the villian-prima. Pradeep Rawat and his bad-gang comes straight out of the B-cult classics (Gunda anyone), and would make the best negative leads for Mithun da. Although, being a part of an immensely immature screenplay, Rawat does make his Mr.Ghajini fearsome to an extent, with a well-pronounced finishing move.
I believe the director forgot why he signed up Jiah Khan.
6/10 for Ghajini
Watch it if you like the unabashed Bollywood. The best part during the movie was probably the 2 min extended trailer of Chandini Chowk to China, hope you have similarly great luck.
I’ve discussed a lot about movies here, taking individual movies under the scanner, n i believe it would be nice if I could talk a bit about genres, some movies/genres that I’ve tried n liked in the various genres, n those which I won’t ever recommend. Guess it’d be an alphabetical list, I begin with A today:
Action: I don’t watch many action movies, never a great fan of violence, and out n out stunts bore me. Action, hence, generally comes across as a supporting category for me. Disaster flicks, Westerns, Sci-fi, Superheroes would generally be the main themes. The thing I believe with action movies is that, most of them, in their sole purpose of fight situations, often tend to wander away from a definitive storyline. The one movie which wins me over on this theme purely would definitely have to be Brad Pitt and Ed Norton starrer Fight Club.
Action Recommends: Fight Club (Action + Sci-fi), Sholay (Western + Action + Indian), The Bourne Series (Action + Sci-fi + Adventure)
I just can’t go through: Kill Bill’s, Eastern Martial Arts flicks.
Adventure: Its interesting defining an Adventure genre different from the more likely parent categories of Action, Sci-fi, Fantasy, etc. An adventure movie maybe classified as one which involves the central character(s) involved in an unprecedented situation (an adventure), generally undertaken to serve a cause, and involving action as an undertone. I could classify a very wide range of movies to fall into this category, from the Harry Potter’s to LOTR’s to Forrest Gump to Indiana Jones to even Wall-E. Adventure is an appetizer upon which most movie buffs devour, n I’m no different.
Adventure Recommends: LOTR series (Fantasy + Adventure + Action), The Prestige (Adventure + Fantasy + Sci-fi), TV series Lost (Adventure + Sci-fi)
I just can’t go through: Not found one yet (can’t remember any right now)
Animation: Animation as a taste appeals only with a few of its examples, although kids love any anime they get. Pixar animation deserves a special mention for its excellent work in bringing out some of the best modern-day animation movies. Old names like Walt Disney, Hannah Barbara also keep contributing heavily into the anime genre. Anime as a genre has also seen contrasting main themes over the years, and modern day anime, especially a lot of the Japanese work covers almost all things comprehendible.
Anime Recommends: Wall-E, Ratatouille, Death Note, South Park, Crayon Shin Chan.
I just can’t go through: Most of the other kids based anime programming, n almost all other Japanese anime shows.
Another month went between my previous post and the one that progresses… a few things of importance before the reviews begin:
- Barack Obama got chosen as the 44th President of the US of A.
- Mumbai had more to worry than the menacing ‘Raj’. Terrorists attacked the city on 26th of Nov. (the same day as my parents married). The attack claimed nearly 200 lives and injured many more. It seems this time the world is determined to come together and crackdown Pakistan originating terror organizations.
- Chelsea haven’t been having the best of times. Defeats at Roma, and to Arsenal and Burnley at home, mean that the blues find themselves 2nd in the premiership, knocked out of the Carling Cup, and needing to desperately win against CFR Cluj in a few hours from now, in order to ensure a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Wall-E
IMDB rank 34 ( as on 9 Dec,2008 )
That Pixar is the best when it comes to modern-day animation technology, is not questioned by many , but in Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E, Pixar have probably found their masterpiece ( Yes, after considering Ratatouille and Finding Nemo ).
The story is set in a distant, but not so unrealistic future, where mankind has abandoned earth because it has become covered with trash, WALL-E, a garbage collecting robot has been left to clean up the mess, alone, except for a sprightly pet cockroach. One day, Eve, a sleek (and dangerous) robot, is sent to earth to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with Eve and the rest of the story revolves around sci-fi spaceships, robot chase sequences and umpteen hilarious situations.
What clicks the most for WALL-E is its complete story package, exploring robot emotions, human ignorance and the ultimate fate that technology may bring upon us. Pixar’s superior animation techniques leave you amazed after every scene, and Stanton’s ever-fresh ideas add to the brilliance of the show.
Wall-E is a must watch for all the animation buffs out there ( though I ain’t 1 really), and is currently the highest rated animation movie on the IMDB at 34.
10/10 for animation, direction, voice-overs, storyline and Pixar.
Snatch
IMDB rank 159 ( as on 9 Dec,2008 )
Snatch is a movie, I can never get enough of. I love British movies, I love dark comedy, and I love the English accent. Snatch is all of that added to a brilliant cast, excellent direction, and a story that leaves you awe-struck. Its also the only real thing Guy Ritchie ever made. Here’s a nice plot summary I borrowed from IMDB:
Turkish ( Jason Statham ) and his close friend/accomplice Tommy ( Stephen Graham ) get pulled into the world of match fixing in illegal boxing by the notorious Brick Top ( Alan Ford ). Things get complicated when the boxer they had lined up gets the shit kicked out of him by a Mickey( Brad Pitt ), a ‘pikey’ ( slang for an Irish Gypsy)- who comes into the equation after Turkish, an unlicensed boxing promoter wants to buy a caravan off the Irish Gypsies. They then try to convince Mickey not only to fight for them, but to lose for them too. Whilst all this is going on, a huge diamond heist takes place, and a fistful of motley characters enter the story, including ‘Cousin Avi’, ‘Boris The Blade’, ‘Franky Four Fingers’( Benecio del Toro ) and ‘Bullet Tooth Tony’( Vinnie Jones ). Things go from bad to worse as it all becomes about the money, the guns, and a damned dog!
Add to the above, some of that eccentric British accent, a buch of witless characters sporting guns, and ovcousre -> ze blood. Please watch Snatch and if it clicks with you, you’ll watch it again n again, just for the sake of it. The background score ain’t bad either.
9/10 for acting, cast, setting, and editing.
10/10 for the storyline.
Watch out for Jason Statham ( in his career best-performance) and Brad Pitt’s a ‘pikey’.
Slumdog Millionaire
IMDB rank 222 ( as on 9 Dec,2008 )
I haven’t seen the Slumdog Millionaire, but from what i hear this promises to be one hell of an India based movie. This genre has been attracting notable interest in the recent past with decent movies like The Darjeeling Ltd. becoming audience favorites. The thing with Darjeeling Ltd. was that none of it was real, neither was the story believable, nor was the India in it. But the west loves its ‘Indian’ image and loved the movie, which frankly, becomes a bit tiresome for an Indian to go through. But Slumdog is different; its set in the real India, with a realistic situation, and is already making heavy Oscar vibes, with lead actor Dev Patel becoming a fan-favorite. Watch out for this movie in the coming days, that is, if you haven’t marveled it already. I sure am looking forward to it.
(*Images courtesy IMDB)
Ok! i kno every1s ready to bash me up for dis…. after the review i gave it, i’m gonna watch Jaane Tu again, this sunday.N dere’s reasons y i hv to contradict myself (talk of a ‘a 1 time dvd watch’, ‘don’t waste 160 bucks lyk i did’)
1. Fame Adlabs ( Raghuleela ) this morning declared an inaugural offer advertising recliner seats for 100 bucks.
2. My mom n sis had more or less made up their minds on watching this muvi despite the warnings.
3. Sunday is a holiday.
4. Dad asked me if i’d come along, n i ws: “sure! if we’re going 4 recliners”
5. I wasn’t there wen he got the tickets, recliners wr all booked upto Tuesday, we wr goin 4 normal billets.
6. I think all de songs r good.
7. I’m not wasting 160 dis tym, jst 60.
N nw u cn LOLLZZZZ me.
viewed on : 04-07-2008 (release date)
Amateurish! is the first word that comes to my mind when i think of
Jaane Tu, the latest product out of the Aamir Khan production
house, and i surprise myself.
I went to the movie on its release day, expecting some more of that intelligent cinema that Aamir, one of my few last remaining bollywood hopes, has mastered so wonderfully, but found the movie a package full of age-old cliches mixed with cameo gigs revolving around an umpteenth remake of the best friends turned lovers theme.
So, Imran Khan plays Jai Rathore, a harmless guy next door who has a best friend in cat-fighting Aditi( Genelia ), who think they’re great friends, but not made for eachother( despite everyone else believing that ).
Hence, they undertake the cliched path of searching partners for eachother, and end up realizing that they’re infact the only 1s for eachother(as every1 else had known all the time ). Although the side gigs are not all that bad, wid nice parts by Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan, the movie fails to keep u interested, especially through the second half. The dialog delivery through most of the film is very mediocre( esp. Genelia ), and the acting is on occasions over-done, just to emphasize on the cheerful goings-on. The American sitcom style gang of friends approach also fails to provide anything refreshing. AR Rehman’s catchy music is probably the only good part.
Why Aamir, known to be so selective with what he works on, decided to go ahead wid this movie is unknown, and i’m not saying dat it’s gonna repel every1 lyk it repels me( esp. the lovers of masala time pass hindi flicks ), but it just seems to let down on the series of great works coming from Aamir’s production house( read Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, RDB, TZP ). I won’t really recommend ppl to spend 160 bucks lyk i did, but rather make it a 1 time dvd watch, just for the sake of Imran Khan’s debut, who plays his part well enough.
Rating: 6/10 + bad job 4 editing,n dialogues.
Watch out 4: Prateik Babbar ( interesting debut )
Graffiti