Got a preview invitation for Juno from Fox Searchlight, and saw it in a packed theater last week.

Even before the movie started, Fox put off the audience by pushy/blatant marketing – Free T-Shirt is one thing (thanks!:), but they also gave a postcard which read like a SPAM we receive in our inboxes daily. "Win a XYZ prize!!!" sign-up for ‘Junoverse’ website, post reviews, blogs, videoblogs, invite friends,  design poster, Tshirt etc etc etc… for each activity u receive points (bleh) and see the movie many many times…. each time you get…. gasp…. more points! It seems they naturally assumed everyone will like this movie and make it a hit cult classic (like L.M.Sunshine) – thats in-your-face marketing. It would have been great if they gave it *after* the movie ended.

Coming back to the movie, it stars an oversmart irritating character Juno, who gets knocked-up and how she goes about dealing with it, is the story. Sort of like Knocked Up, sans all the wonderful characters and devoid of its humor . As a bonus, Juno has a major side-story arc of adoption, which goes nowhere except as planned.

The story, by itself, is a straight linear narration without any surprises – She plans to give away her kid, and she does – Thats it. The filmmakers had few chances to make the story much more interesting, but they chose to stick to the main thread, thereby making the payoff much boring for us. Two such instances:

- When the prospective adopting parent, Vanessa, who is childless and really really yearning for a child - is seen holding a kids hand in the mall while Juno accidentally sees her – I was intrigued by this sudden development – if Vanessa already has a child, why is she SO keen on adopting Juno’s kid. What kind of sinister plot is this going to be – how is Juno going to save her baby from schizophrenic Vanessa. But the filmmakers used that scene to show how much Vanessa loves kids. Yawn.

- When the adopting parent, Marc is dancing with Juno in his dark room where they were about to have a tender moment… he whispers to her that he is leaving Vanessa – join that with the next scene where Juno confesses to her dad that she has found her perfect lover – I thot ‘hmm… interesting… Marc is leaving Vanessa, and Juno is in love with him’ – K.Balachandar would have been so proud - but no, it went where it was supposed to go – Marc left Vanessa and disappeared from the movie, and Juno found her perfect lover in her old nerdy boyfriend (who reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite)

Acting-wise, Jennifer Garner as Vanessa was great – she appeared overacting, but that can be contributed for her overzealous desire to be a mother. The brat Juno McGaf was played by a great actress, Ellen Page, who earlier played an annoying, irritating teenager in Hard Candy – which was wonderful as the subject demanded it – she walked into this movie with the same annoying smart-cracking character, which didn’t suit the tone of this movie.

Junoooooo!!

Movie opens December 2007

2/5

Its one of those movies whose poster repels people. I have come across this movie in Blockbuster many times – and each time I thought its one of those funky LA hip-hop movies. But picked up to watch it yesterday and was deeply shaken by the movie.

The first half of the movie just lazes around without any point with 100s of characters coming in and out. It sort of crystallizes into a something resembling a story in the last 30-40 mins, before shocking your system in a unnerving climax.

Its almost like a scripted movie with drugs, teenagers, guns, violence, sex, endless parties and kidnapping – but shockingly its based on True Story. I didn’t realize it first, but the director kept peppering the screens with timings and various text (eg: Vick’s Bar – Day 3 10:22pm) – which I dismissed as his technique.

Except the lead actor, and a fat Sharon Stone (only in the last reel) – everyone’s acting was exceptional. Particularly the guy who plays the elder brother of the kid. Go see it, it has Bruce Wills and Sharon Stone as guest stars,

[Deliberately vague to avoid possible spoilers]

4/5

Update:  An Indian version of this tragedy happened last week.

"The body of 16-year-old Adnan Patrawala has been found at Navi Mumbai. The persons we have arrested had committed the kidnapping and strangled him to death out of panic when they realised that the kidnap story was being broadcast on television channels," Deputy Commissioner of Police V Chaubey told PTI.

When I pick a DVD box, more than the cover, I look at the back for the Director than gawk at the who is starring, or who is the Heroine (ok scratch that… except for Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Natalie Portman… and so on . And the last 2 movies I picked made me wish I looked at reviews before picking the movie.

Danny Boyle’s ‘Sunshine’ & Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Shooter’. I loved their ‘28 Days Later’ and ‘Training Day’ respectively.Both movies tried to appear more than what it was – maybe it has to do with my expectations.

Sunshine (2007):
Sunshine was billed as an unique sci-fi movie on the same vein as "2001 A Space Odyssey". It had an interesting premise – Sun is Dying, and a group of 7 astro’nots’ are aboard a spaceship to drop a nuke into the Sun. They had a chance to do something unique here –  But it was the same painful recycled sequences: Intro to Inmates, Fight Among Inmates, Major Tech Problem, Becomes a bigger problem when they try to fix it, Starling new Discovery…rinse repeat, and a July 4th fireworks climax (camera, sound, BGM, actors, equipment all spewing sparks and fireworks) – and a "what?" ending. There was nothing new – even Armageddon (similar lines) had a emotional thread to it. Seems they took the cool new problem, and wrapped a cheap thriller around it.
[3/5]

Shooter (2006):
Next was even more ordinary – Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Shooter’ – Till the end of Act 1 – it held promise. Mark Walberg was superb as a patriotic sniper – but it was downhill from that point on. And in an attempt to salvage the train-wreck, the director introduces new ‘techniques’ – usually in movies, when the villain goes on an exposition on why he did what he did – the hero secretly records it on tape (yes, screenwriters seem to still think thats clever) – here the hero does that and burns the tape (?!) – and even lets the baddies escape, and surrenders to the FBI – before another ‘clever’ stunt. But wait, any self respecting action thriller cannot end like that – so we make a painstaking journey into the villains lair – and all the villain’s are sitting in comfy leather chairs in front of a fire *sigh* – how much dumber the screenwriter/director thot we were?
[3/5]

So if not the director – whom to trust? (rotten tomatoes? I hate to form an opinion before watching the movie – if I can help it)

Another fabulous comedy from HBO (after Curb your Enthusiasm) and Ricky Gervais (The Office, BBC). He writes, stars and directs his show (with partner Stephan Merchant). This man is a genius… the writing is so fantastic and witty.

I chanced upon it while browsing my local library – and having loved the original office, I picked it up – and watched all 6 episodes in almost one sitting!

Each episode guest stars a big star (Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller, Sam Jackson..) playing themselves – and it revolves around the life of the extras who ‘act’ in the background with the stars. Andy (Ricky) is an aspiring 43 year old actor, who is on the constant lookout for a single speaking part (he almost gets one in each episode, before blowing his chance spectacularly). Maggie, a cute lovable character who always seem to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. She is a heart-breaker with her cuteness. After resigning to the fact that she is just an extra, she is on a never ending quest for a perfect boyfriend (needless to say, she blows … i mean, she loses her boyfriend spectacularly each time). Can’t wait to watch the second season when it comes out on DVD (July10,2007)

British accent is a bit hard to follow – but its an half an hour well spent.

5/5

I saw the preview show of this years Sundance favorite – The Waitress a charming little story, set in a charming little town It may well become this years Tiny Little Miss Sunshine.

Felicity star (Keri Rusel) was faboulous in the title role of Jenna (The Waitress). The film had very little characters, but everyone served their purpose well, and more importantly they were well characterized (each one had an exagerated quirk about them). Their comic timings were perfect, everyone hitting the right notes. Its a story of adultry, pregancy and coming of age comedy mixed with right amount of spice – like a good pie, but with a bit sloppy sloshy end.

The director knew exactly how to frame the scene to extract maximum emotion out of the settings & actors – whether it was comedy or emotion, particularly considering this was the directors’ first movie, and as cruel as fate can be, it was her last movie as well. She was murdered before the movie hit Sundance.

4/5

I finally saw Scorsese’s’ The Departed (TD) after waiting for months for it to come to DVD. I had seen the HK original Infernal Affairs (IA) last year and loved it. So I was one of the fans eagerly awaiting for its Hollywood release. Sure, I have a nagging suspicion whenever an Asian remake is involved. Usually they end up watering down the movie, and embellishing it up with fancy fireworks. But some movie like ‘The Ring’ based on ‘Ringu’ was okay – but not so with ‘The Grudge’ and other fine Japanese horrors suffering in the hands of Hollywood horrors.

I thot my fear was misplace with an esteemed Martin Scorsese at the helm – or so I thot. *Deep Breath*. Where do I begin – I have a few questions for screenwriter William Monahan who wrote TD. WHY?! why did you take a razor sharp thriller and make it into a Gillette shaver with 5 blades, 2 lubricating tips and a long handle. Sure its comfy, shaves great and its damn smooth – but tell me, which one sends shivers down your spine when held on your neck – a rusty razor or a Gillette fusion?

I remember while watching IA, I was on the edge of my seats all the time. Andy Lau and Tony Leung held you captivated, you just do nothing except watch wide eyed and enjoying every moment of it, waiting to see what happens next. It was visual assault. But TD, but with all the fancy back stories and forced emotional connections looked and sounded hollow. IA with its simple story was far more emotional and more believable.

Maybe I was expecting too much, as all reviews praised it to the sky. Or maybe I watched IA first. For those who watch TD first and IA later will surely say “TD is more rich”. Why does it need richness? Martin took a B-Grade potboiler and tried to inject it with substance, when it doesn’t need any. IMHO Martin was a misfit for this movie – what was needed was a mindless action director in the lines of a Micheal Mann or a Joel Schumacher. The movie should have had a fast pace like Crank, not letting you think about the huge holes of logic, just bang bang bang…

3/5

A well done movie adaptation of Othello! Vishal is one director to watch out for. For once I was surprised by Kareena Kapoor’s performance. Nasser, Ajay and Saif was, as usual, top notch. Cant wait to see what Vishal throws together next.

4/5

I stumbled upon this British series, and loved it. Having seen the American knockoff with the same name, I can confirm what other have already said, the British original is hillarious! (but sadly the accent is so hard to follow without subtitles).

Gareth, as a self righteous ex-miliatary assistant (to) manager, make the whole show shine. And then there is Ricky Gervais whose timing, both as the director and actor, is impecable. They take themselves so seriously that its so funny to watch. Seriously funny, but not in a Larry David way, but great fun nevertheless.

5/5

 

Club Dread was directed by Jay Chandrasekar, one of the only 2 NRI directors (directors of Indian Origin) who do studio movies (the other is obviously M.Night Shyamalan).

True to its name, it was a dreadful movie! Coming back from the moderate BO success (and super success with under 20s) from Super Troopers, the Broken Lizard team has made a movie devoid of any dry humor – infact any humor at all – dry or otherwise, which made the first one a runaway hit in college campuses.

I suppose it was a satire? I couldn’t tell for sure..

2/5

Iranian film Kandahar received 88% positive reviews in RottenTomatoes (a wonderful site where u can gauge popular crictical opinion about movies), which should make it a wonderful movie. But sadly it falls into the familiar trap, western reviewers viewing a 3rd world film spotlighting on the problems which are unheard of in their native land. Seeing a film (sitting pretty in an airconditioned theater with plush velvett seats) with all the sufferings, pain and oppression, they write the review with a guilt ridden pen, hailing the movie (condesendingly so) as a masterpiece, without any qualifying merits.

Though the movie took us to a world unknown and unseen, it fell flat as a drama. It used mostly stereotypical characters (except for a little boy; somehow kids shine in Iranian movies), injects a false sense of urgency, and generally manipulates its way to Kandahar. Interestingly the film makers chose to use South Indian Carnatic music base in lieu of real Middle Eastern music. Maybe Klasik, a derived Afghan-Hindustani music, is getting popular in Middle East, as Carnatic Music is in Africa.

A reviewer has to review what he sees, not what he doesn’t. The underlying thought maybe noble, but that doesnt make it a good film, maybe a good documentary.

3/5

This was a great little Indie movie, it was hilariously funny and heart wrenchingly cold sometimes. It has the most wonderful ensemble cast since Crash, with 7 year old Abigail Breslin (who played Little Boo, in M.Night’s Signs) leading the pack. I like simple stories which moves the story forward with smart dialogues, stellar acting and well written scenes, so I was in for a treat. It starts with a cliched, often overused, dysfunctional family… I started to roll my eyes looking for an exit – then the movie introduced Greg Kinner – one of the finest actors I’ve ever seen, talking about what appeared to be a pyramid scheme – mmm, juicy! Then the next 100mins was sheer magic. The adorable fat lil’ cutiepie Olive, who just was chosen as a finalist in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ contest. To participate in the finals, the family, with all its inbuilt conflicts (whats a movie without conflicts?:), agrees to embark on a roadtrip to Los Angeles from Albuquerque (786 miles) on a beaten VW mini bus. The family consist of:

1. Dad – Professional Motivational Speaker (Greg Kinner)
2. Mom – Frustrated Nagging Housewife
3. Bro – Who is on a vow of silence for the last 9 months.
4. Grandpa – Foul mouthed Cocaine sniffer
5. Uncle – Suicidal Gay scholar (Steve Corell)
6. Vehicle – a yellow VW minibus
7. and … the darling of the movie, Olive – a beauty contest wannabee.

A triangular bounce off between conservative Dad, gay Uncle and neurotic Grandpa keeps us engaged without yelling "Are we there yet? are we there yet?". One struggle after another leads to a mildly shocking+amusing finale. Truth be told, the destination wasn’t half as much fun as the journey itself. First time directors Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, have handled the material very un-music-video-ish, given that they come from a Music Video background. Granted, the material did not lend itself to MTV style of editing, but they did show tremendous restraint in letting the actors performance move the story forward. Yesterday was the premier of the movie – so they made a special appearance after the movie, so we were able to shoot off our questions to them. I asked "How did u divide up the responsibilities as a Director" They said in unison "We never contradict each other, we plan ahead and work as one - Thats secret of our marriage" … and the movie, I might add. Must see.

(Releasing on Aug 4th 2006)

5/5

Update – Jan 2007: It has been nominated for an Oscan in ‘Best Film’ & ‘Best Screenplay’ Listen to the writers interview

Bryan Singer’s Superman has a great start, great characters, and a great climax…and another climax..and another sappy climax…and another false weepy climax..and the final funny one..and at last… the real ‘The End’ – but you never can be sure – so I stuck around to see if the Titles roll – yes, it did – the movie did finally end.

Don’t get me wrong – the final was great entertainment fodder – a perfect flying start to relaunch Superman – but alas, the ending was just a drag..just like I drag here…repeating the same thing over and over again, till I nail it to your head that the ending is long, too long, probably the most weakest point of the whole move is that the THE END didnt come sooner – you got the point didnt you? if not read my lips – the climax drags on… LOL I am out of steam here

Now the postive points – I liked the new guy – he looks like Clark Kent I know from back in the 80′s. The screenplay (written by the XMen team) cleverly layers all his history without the aid of flashbacks. Nice adrenaline packed action sequence (which is a must have in superhero movies) kickstarts the movie. Then some romance, or lost romance, some funny bits and the super villain with a earth shattering plot (?). Frankly I didnt understand what Kevin Spacey’s masterplan was… to build a new land? thats it? why over USA a measly 5million sq.miles? when there is 60 million sq.miles of Pacific Ocean waiting to be built upon. I read somewhere that Superman was rewritten to tone down political references – my guess is that the old screenplay talked about Kryptonite laced Missile Defense Shield over US or something of that nature (to deter Superman entering airspace..of course)

The special effects aren’t that spectacular, in fact it looked lazy - When Superman helps a plane to take off- it would have been cool if he bends his back and throws the plane (like a slingshot) - not just stands there are lazily nudges it. Same with his flying – there is no real drama in his vertical take off and vertical landing, there was no sleek action in his flying – he just looked sleepy and lazy. Some of his feats looked ridiculous, even for Superman.

Casting was perfect – except the villains group of baddies were a disgrace to baddies (Indian Kal Penn included) – they just stood there blinking. Kevin Spacey as usual was magnificent.

First and Second Act was great - 3rd was not.

4/5

Paradise Now is a tale of 2 Palestinian suicide bombers – the last 2 days of their lives as they embark on destructive paths. Two ordinary men, auto mechanics in fact, volunteer themselves for the ’cause’ as they fight their enemy and their own demons.

As expected, one of the guys is on the verge of falling in love. He also has a very happy family (naughty brother, loving sister and doting mother – just a family dog was missing) who is oblivious of their sons decision to blow himself up the next day. But this melodramatic set-up is effective as it sets up some very poignant moments in the movie, where we see even ordinary things seem very deep. Like for instance, whilst video recording their last war mongering script to the people of Israel (similar to Bin laden tapes) he suddenly remembers a message which he forgot to tell his mom, so he adds “mama, I saw a cheaper water filter at the nazamul market – so don’t buy from Syed’s store” – all while holding a AK47 wearing martyr uniform. These kind of moments are sprinkled throughout the movie which effectively separates it from a documentary.

Shot on location inside Palestine – the filmmakers endured a lot of risk in canning the shots. Including Israeli missile attacks, kidnapping of crew and other extreme challenges. And, no, they didn’t use the car explosion footages in the movie – no doubt Shanker would have .If you thought this was a Palestinian propaganda machine at work, think again – this film was partially financed by Israeli Film Fund, and had a Israeli co producer. Following the 5th century “Art of War” by Tsu, it conveys the message ‘In order to fight an enemy you must know him fully’. Thought Israelis lobbied against it, it was nominated for an Oscar.

Very interesting film.

4/5

A couple of strangers wake up to find themselves imprisioned by an unknown force. A frantic race against time to free themselves from their prision. Hidden traps and cruel contraptions, that kill, if handled wrong. One wrong step, and your body gets sliced into little pieces. During the course of events – they learn about the meaning of life, and the life that is worth living or dying.

Reminds you of Saw?

Well, this is the grand daddy of Saw – its Cube (1997) - a little canadian indie movie which the makers of Saw undoubltely saw.

Armed with a miniscule budget and a 14″x14″ room with a group of 7 actors – debutant director Vincenzo Natali weaves a fantastic sci-fi/horror thriller.

A group of unrelated people wake up one day in a weird room with little doors on all sides, they have no idea where they are or why they are here. They soon find out that rooms are randomly booby trapped. Then starts the 90minute thriller which keeps you at the edge of your seat all thro. The movie, doest try to explain some big picture things (why? who put them there) but tries to explain some small details some of which are incredulous. It sports the highly geeky mathematical mumbo-jumbo like Darren Aronofsky’s Pi. A very surreal atmosphere and the errie background score sets the stage for this very enjoyable thriller.

A must see if you are sci-fi or horror fan.

5/5