Posts filed under 'Movies'
My early memory of a Batman movie had been pink-green-yellow lights, the Gothic comic book sequences and I remember Arnold playing
Mr. Freeze in the 1997 movie called
Batman & Robin (with George Clooney portraying the superhero - eek!). Since
Christopher Nolan has taken over as the director of the new movies he’s moved away from the stereotypical depiction of Batman as just a comic book hero to a more stylised contemporary setting.
The Dark Knight is the sequel to Nolan’s 2005
Batman Begins and is made in the mold of a
complete action crime thriller.
Christian Bale reprises the role of the fictional DC Comics character.
The movie begins with a bank heist in the typical Hollywood fast-paced genre. Batman’s nemesis the Joker played by the late Heath Ledger makes an entry brutally bludgeoning his associates to keep all the money for himself. The superhero is introduced in a garage action sequence later where he undergoes some injuries that prompt him to demand strengthening his body suit. The new design of the body suit would come as a pleasant surprise for everyone. It’s more chiseled and downplays the yellow-black batman insignia which was so prominently displayed on the chest (even the logo itself has been modified now). To say the least it’s awesome and another proof of the director’s ingenuity towards resurrecting the comic book franchise. Morgan Freeman returns as Lucious Fox the wily CEO of Wayne Enterprise and the creator/inventor of the advanced equipment necessary to fight crime in the city. Michael Caine comes back as Alfred the butler that can be trusted as a father figure and a guide in crisis.
It’s a movie with edge-of-the-seat action every few seconds. The most exhilarating one is when Batman extradites (rather abducts) a Chinese mobster called Lau all the way from Hong Kong. He overpowers a gang of shooters armed with automatic weapons, then grabs the Chinese boss and latches onto a C130 transport aircraft with the help of a chute back to Gotham city where he delivers the culprit to Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman). It’s a proof that Batman is committed to fight the city warlords and can go to any length to bring the criminals to justice from any corner of the world. Heath Ledger with his erratic make-up and restless stance plays the antogonist Joker and he’s incredible in the role. I doubt whether the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presiding over the Oscars would recognize his talent in the film and grant him an award posthumously [Read More on CNN.com]. In my humble opinion, the film belongs to Ledger’s class act and the surrealistic execution of the character — and hence his picture at the end of the review. You could be excused for being completely impressed by his style and trying to be one like him from the movie. Here’s to a great actor Heath. R.I.P my friend. Katie Holmes who played Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins is replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal who looks so much like her. I couldn’t make out the difference until I came home and read the character list (because I thought “Katie” was looking older?).
Of the few of his special carriages that Batman rides in his movies we have the “Tumbler” or the Batmobile in this one, a smart thinking vehicle that “intimidates” and even self destroys at the snap of the fingers. And the newly introduced “Batpod” or the motorcycle equipped with latest gizmos and weapons systems that zooms past the narrow lanes blasting obstructions of any kind in the path. The scintillating parts are when Batman crashes his Batmobile into an oncoming dumper truck making it to tumble around. And the portion where he drives his “Batpod” bike straight into a trailer and skids underneath it unscathed. All these portions are magnificiently shot and need no recommendations of any sort. Just as the character has evolved into a coexistent 21st century vigilante with Kevlar suit and modern weaponry so has his vehicles that look sporty and vivacious and technologically more advanced than the previous versions. Even the batcave has been refurbished to accomodate modern communications systems like Sonar in this instance. It no longer looks the typical cave as portrayed earlier. Unlike in the past where the storyline stuck to the original artworks, in this movie it can be seen that the director has taken tremendous amount of creative independence by marrying realism with stunning digital effects that makes the story more believable and entertaining. Some of the sequences have been shot using an IMAX camera for the first time that make the scenes more brighter, wider and more immersive. It’s Nolan’s film all the way to say the least. Don’t miss this one in the theatres.
An Appeal to the Parents
Indian parents must realise it may not be a good idea to accompany their young ones to the theater for this movie assuming its a comic book adaptation. Bear in mind that there are scenes of intense violence and blood in the film which are distasteful and kids may not relish them. In the midst of the violent and gruesome action, I was not surprised at all to find kids howling in the dark maybe signifying that they were frustrated and wanted to leave the dark ‘dungeon’ immediately. The parents had a tough time consoling them and it was disgusting to see their attitude frankly. They must understand that it’s a different matter watching a movie then reading a Batman comic. Subjecting a child to an audio/visual medium of such gruesome nature assures a high degree of attention and memory retention that may have a damaging impact on the child’s mindset (sometimes permanently). In India The Dark Knight has been granted a U/A certification by the CBFC for exhibition. Please practice restraint while taking your child below the age of 12 years to the theater.
Interesting Links:
» Warner Bros. The Dark Knight website
» A List of Batman movie series on Wikipedia
» Dark Knight director shuns Digital Effects for the real thing
Heath Ledger reprising the role of Joker in The Dark Knight
Technorati Tags: the dark knight, batman, dc comics, hollywood, heath ledger
July 21st, 2008
Aamir is a tantalising story of a young man who gets trapped in an intriguing web of crime. Rajeev Khandelwal makes his big screen debut after enjoying huge popularity on television with soaps like
Kahiin to Hoga and
Left Right Left.
Aamir Ali (Rajeev Khandelwal) returns to Mumbai from London and is rather unwelcomed by the immigration officer. His polite demeanour notwitstanding, the religiously biased officer is bent upon harassing an innocent man because he’s a Muslim. The real drama starts to unfold outside the airport when two suspicious bikers hand him a cell phone and speed off. The gentleman on the phone wants Aamir to follow his directions in exchange for the freedom of his beloved family. The ordeal similar to a treasure hunt leads him to the ghettoes of the city and makes him puke disgustedly at the living conditions. In an attempt to win over his emotions, the voice mentions the purported brutality of the majority community over the Muslims in India and across, how the Muslim brethren globally are financing the jung and how Aamir, who’s name literally means a leader is not caring for his kaum and fighting for them. It’s shown while the man on the phone eats and drinks merrily in his chambers, he ensures that the terrified Aamir is made to run across the city without food, water or any respite. It’s clear that this racket of terrorists is well organized and is dedicated to mislead the Muslim youth into forcing them to commit serious crime.
The only emotion that I felt was one of distraught looking at what the young man was being subjected to in Mumbai. Don’t worry if there’s a palpable lump in your throat as that’s always the case with this movie. Aamir has shades of Nick of Time (Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken) and Phone Booth (Katie Holmes, Colin Farrell), both exploited themes of subjugation through coercive actions. However, the director Raj Kumar Gupta makes the script tighter and does not allow a moment of dullness creep into our minds. Though after having undergone such trauma for the hero I would have changed the slightly predictable end. On the part of Rajeev who has is more known for his lover boy image, he’s able to deliver a serious and mature performance that very few would have chosen for their debut film. I won’t be surprised if he wins a few awards for Aamir which was nothing short of magnificient. Alongside the performances, it presents a completely creepy view of the landscape of Mumbai (remember Dharavi and the slums) reminiscent of such movies like Chakra (1981) and Satya (1998) and just like them, Aamir is sure to leave you spellbound.
Technorati Tags: aamir, rajeev khandelwal, bollywood, india, mumbai
June 8th, 2008
Before I start to say anything about this movie, I must make a note of a few things that occurred with Ram Gopal Varma, the director of the Sarkar series. Last year he took the liberty of remaking one of Indian’s best known cult movie called
Sholay (1975), aptly titled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. It was hardly a coincidence that it crash landed at the box office. What followed later was even spectacular and not astonishing for the class of media publicity that we sometimes prefer. He was mocked and scoffed at every awards function, FM and TV program, even flash animations were utilised to depict the “torture” inflicted by his imbecilic work. He was in short, written off by the media at every level. Since I come from a creative background, I could understand Ramu’s dilemma. In his zest to recreate a 21st century masterpiece he forgot he was toying with a movie that many in India consider to be a landmark film in cinema. At the same time it could only take the guts of a man called Ram Gopal Varma to even attempt something like this. Don’t forget that his CV has the colurful
Rangeela (1995) that launched the careers of many including Urmila Matondkar,
Raat (1992) and
Bhoot (2003) that were successful experiments in the genre of horror while his
Shiva (1989),
Satya (1998) and
Company (2002) showcased his class in making gangster movies. It’s unfair then to judge the likes of Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) with just one ‘Aag’ from his ‘Factory’.
It’s a well-known truth that Sarkar (2005) has been inspired by the Godfather series directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Some believe that the main character comes close to depict Balasaheb Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo and his family. The dark cinematography, angled camera close-ups with no songs and only a haunting background music is a hallmark of this drama series. Sarkar Raj (2008) is a continuation of the life and turmoils in the Nagre family as portrayed by it’s central cast of Amitabh (Subhash Nagre a.k.a. Sarkar) and Abhishek Bachchan (Shankar). This time they are joined by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Anita Rajan, the suave director of a power company that wants to set up a plant in Maharashtra.
Due to his ideological moorings, Sarkar refuses to buy the idea until after he reasons it out with his son who is looking for development and prosperity for the people of Maharashtra. To spoil the fun, we have a bunch of bad guys in the form of Karunesh Kangaa (Sayaji Shinde), Hassan Qazi (Govind Namdeo) and Kantilal Vora (Upendra Limaye), each of them portraying an interesting character. In the music instead of ‘Govinda govinda’ we have ‘Saam Daam Dand Bhed’ as the new theme song for this second installment. Just when we thought the movie is turning colorless, there’s a twist in the tale at the end. Is there going to be a third edition? let’s wait and see but Sarkar Raj is a must watch for all.
Technorati Tags: amitabh bachchan, ramgopal varma, sarkarraj, bollywood
June 8th, 2008
There cannot be a perfect culmination to my long Christmas break then watching
Taare Zameen Par (TZP) in the theatre. Before I begin talking about the movie itself, I must first congratulate
Aamir Khan who has taken a grave risk (as always) by opting to produce, direct and act in what seems to be a complete non-commercial storyline. In other words, to a lay man this project would have looked good in a book or a short story somewhere in a children’s magazine. But it only proves that Aamir is (who else?) the only commercial actor in the Hindi film industry in a class of his own who believes in making meaningful cinema — one you can easily relate yourself with.
The movie bought back some old memories of my childhood. The days when I would be woken up by my mom and was helped to prepare my school bag and so on. The lunch box and the homework and most importantly the mathematics class which I hated so much (I am still hating maths no doubt). Most importantly it reminded me of some classmates who were “duffer and idiots” just like the protaganist from the movie and I cannot help but think if they were suffering from a similar situation that went unnoticed. It’s a movie that proves that every child is indeed special (that’s the tagline) and that we must find that speciality in our children rather then pushing them into a rat race.
Before you watch the movie it is necessary that you DO NOT know anything about a disorder called Dyslexia. I am serious! and I am also aghast at how the media played out this story about a kid suffering from this disorder even before the movie was released. The entire fun and the tribulations of the kid is lost when you preempt him to be suffering from something. I realised that his actions in the first half of the movie were making sense to me and the “suspense” of knowing it all was lost forever. This was my personal experience because I had prior knowledge of the symptoms of Dyslexia to some extent. Anyway, I was talking about Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), the hero of the movie, the boy-next-door, bucked teeth 8 year old who has little interest in what is being taught in school but loves to dream and paint all day apart from the little fishes in the school gutter. Along the way he meets Ram Kumar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan), the over zealous lover of children who notices something unusual in the young boy and grooms him to achieve the unachievable.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is soothing and pretty much childish if I may say so. When the songs are used at specific portions of the movie it creates an even bigger effect around like the title song which is the icing on the cake. Talking about which, there are some parts which you cannot experience without a lump in your throat at all. Just to inform you that the end credit titles carry short snippets of kids from across the region that you must wait till the end to see it. It’s a great experience in itself — kids are playing, some are bathing, some are doing their own funny little tricks that make you feel cuddly and cute and lovable while the title songs plays in the background. TZP is a must watch movie. One which deals with the basic facets of children’s lives and one which I believe is made with a lot of conviction and truth. This one is for the young crowd of India and the parents of course who might find it necessary to understand this fairly old brain related disorder.
Important Notice - This is a movie for the children and NOT a children’s movie and it’s highly imperative that parents take note of this difference before taking their kids to the cinema halls. The storyline appeals more to the parents then the kids and they may find it boring to watch.
Technorati Tags: aamir khan, bollywood, dyslexia, taare zameen par
December 25th, 2007
The computer at my place has been inaccessible for the past 5 days because my house is undergoing some renovation work as we speak. The flying dust and flowing sweat has become unbearable for me. On the other hand, the new office I have just shifted to is fun to work in. I am realising the benefits of the peace and tranquility around me not to mention the wide open spaces and brightness as well. Anyway just to tell you that I like to write only when I have something interesting to share with the rest of the world. So here’s something worthwhile now.
As you’d know, Aamir Khan has become a director with his forthcoming venture Taare Zameen Par (TZP) and he has launched the movie website last night. TZP is produced by Aamir himself and it is a story that deals with a dyslexic kid being played by Darsheel Safary. Watch the curtain raiser which I think is classy — in true Aamir style.
I also admired Aamir’s thoughts on his previous blog. He has now launched his official website/blog which appears to be the first instance of a bollywood actor posting some of his frank opinions online. There’s also a chat application so one can have a 1-1 session with Aamir Khan himself! All my best wishes are with Aamir and I wish Taare Zameen Par becomes a landmark movie in Indian cinema.
Quick Links
Aamir Khan’s Website: www.aamirkhan.com
Taare Zameen Par (Official Website): www.taarezameenpar.com
Technorati Tags: Aamir Khan, Bollywood, India,
October 11th, 2007
