From KKKKiran to Marry Me, Marry Me

Neither a fan of ShahRukh Khan nor of typical Bollywood movies, My Name is Khan ended up being the second hindi I've watched in the US and this years after Khosla ka Ghosla!

Before the credits even began rolling in, we got a taste of the true Indian spirit. You eye those perfectly placed seats which look like they are available and head out there all quietly happy that you decided to walk in 15 mins early only to be stopped by the person at the end of the row with something like 'I'm holding these seats for my saas aur bhabi aur uski behen aur uski behen ki friend'! It happens on every row until you decide to cover your losses and head down!

Why would you be researching on the erstwhile US President George Bush's itinerary and scribbling notes if you weren't a terrorist, right? Wrong, you might want to meet him in person to tell him just that and in the movie's timeline he's not yet erstwhile!

Coming right on the heels of watching Khuda ke liye, the racial profiling theme seemed repetitive. It's certainly not your typical Karan Johar movie until about the last half an hour. It skips the melodrama, the constant breaking into song, the lavish parties in locales that either resemble the Mysore palace in all its grandeur or some swiss mountains, soaked handkerchiefs full of tears of the heroine or her mother or her future/current/ex mil, her sister, her best friend ... you get the picture.

I get that this movie wants to convey a message - there's only good or bad people in this world, there's no middle ground, there's no varying degrees of good either or bad for that matter. I don't agree, but I'll probably not dwell on that now! And guys if you say Marry Me long enough and show her the San Francisco skyline on a foggy morning she will start singing the same tune back to you! How cornily Win-Win!

Kajol is as resplendent as ever but I feel like there wasn't anything in her role, her portrayal as a mother and as a lover and a wife were really lacking. It's probably going with her character's theme of resilience. Some little attempted humor with the intercourse for dummies scene is blatanly ignored but again probably going with the movie theme this time.

There definitely are some truly moving moments, like when Kajol's character keeps repeating time of death, the we shall overcome/ham honge kamiyab singing but the last half an hour ruins it all. Crisscrossing from west to east while the military and FEMA is cooling their heels seems possible only for bollywood, and that too in a bus!

And then we got conveniently stuck in traffic, so that made a total driving time of 6 hours for a 2.5 hour movie. Well, I shouldn't really be complaining although I'd have written a better review if they decided to cut that last half an hour!

The ugly truth about the proposal with a hangover!

It seems like forever since I did one of these multiple movie reviews.

Two rom-com’s and one com on the table! That’s their classification, not mine.

First 'The Truth', which in my opinion is not as ugly as it is made out to be and I’m not talking about the movie here. I think whatever is wrong with the ‘Ugly truth’ stems from our need to google for every single thing in our lives and a convoluted belief that we can't do without it. Can I use the eggs beyond their expiry date? how do I overcome a lingering cough? and of course the most important of them all... advice. Of course, I am guilty of all this too and my web history is something I'm not proud of!

Except in this case, it’s not google, it’s the once sensitive bloke from P.S, I love you, Gerard Butler, to the now sexist TV personality doling out advice to women on the supposed ugly truth. And sucking on his every word is Katherine Heigl, she can certainly do better than the role of Abby, although I must not forget 'Knocked up'!

I think there’s no truth in this movie, it’s just demeaning to the female population and well if there’s any truth then it sure is ugly. Of course, the checklists, control freak are claimed to be classic modern women attitude but is that the justification for this version of the truth?, eating tricks, hair truths!, dirty jokes in the workplace that should ideally be limited to someplace else?

Despite all, it had it’s funny moments and will manage to make you laugh which is probably only just what you really want from a movie, without applying your analytical skills! Again, Why did they fall in love?

'The Proposal', another rom-com sure was a better watch despite being predictable, but the chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock… so not there.
And why is it always yin to yang, for once can't it be yin to yin?

'The Hangover', is a 95 min movie which seemed endless, that about sums it up, but no, the tireless charade through Las Vegas, the baby, Asian thugs, Mike Tyson and the protagonists… phew, what were they thinking? Stu was the only saving grace, who broke up with his long time cheating girlfriend. Lost tooth withstanding!

Movie Review: Rachel Getting Married, A wedding

The title of the movie is catchy enough, unlike the plot which revolves around Kim not Rachel, a recovering addict and alcoholic who spends a trying weekend at home surrounded by her dysfunctional family on tenterhooks, seems familiar enough doesn’t it? 

Kim (Anne Hathaway's)is out of rehab to attend her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie Dewitt) wedding. The family is made up of a doting, understandably over-protective father, a seemingly absent mother, a frustrated almost jealous sister, a dead brother and Kim herself who is supposedly remorseful for her behavior yet who does not show this by her actions. Her remorse seems limited to words and her actions are reckless and hence comes across as narcissistic. The entire movie seems to span a couple of days and this included two rehab sessions complete with the serenity prayer! 

There are some sparks of brilliance especially in the conversations between Kim and Rachel however there is too much chaos all throughout, non-stop singing, dancing, music and toasting! Some parts are extremely sleep inducing, especially the toast at the rehearsal dinner, if so many people gave such long winded toasts at weddings there would be no guests left!

I don’t know why the wedding had an Indian theme. The bride and bridesmaids were dressed in Saris with a rather odd sweater top kind of a blouse, the groom wore a sherwani, paneer was one of the dishes so I'm assuming it was Indian food, an elephant with a chariot adorned the wedding cake and to top it all Kim compares herself to Shiva, the destroyer! Maybe it was some multicultural, the world is flat kind of theme since the wedding was inter-racial although there was never a mention of race which was noteworthy, and then were Asians and South American dancers too! The camera work with the continuous panning of shots makes the movie almost seem like a home video. 

Despite the flaws, the movie would have been a good watch if the conversations were complete, if we'd seen more of the mother daughter relationship which seemed pivotal to the plot and if there was some closure and the unresolved rage was addressed. Anne Hathaway was nominated for the best Actress at the Academy awards for this performance.

Movie Review: In Bruges, A Belgian Vacation

I must admit, I'd not heard of Bruges until this movie. Bruges is panoramic amidst stoned streets, beautiful canals and Flemish/medieval architecture. The movie starts with Ray and Ken who have made Bruges their stop on the request ( more like a demand I guess!) of their boss , for reasons unknown to them. 

While Ray (Colin Farrell) cribs about how Bruges would not impress him even if it was the last place on earth or something to that effect, Ken is literally breathing in the sights and has decided to make the best of this stop all the while contemplating the reason for this particular vacation. Along the way, we get to know about their job as hitmen and about an unfortunate accident that occurred in their previous job. The movie is about the consequences of that accident and the effect it has on their lives. 

The introduction of Ralph Fiennes as Harry, their boss happens about three quarters into the movie. Ralph is like a moth to a character like Harry and it is equally not surprising that he could pull off a Maid in Manhattan. We go through the rather odd pairing of Ray & Ken, as roommates, co-workers and genuine friends who take care of each other despite the odds. We have to dwell on the complex mindset of Ray, Ken and Harry and also the midget, the drug dealing girl, her ex, the pregnant owner of the bed & breakfast all amidst some truly amazing shots of Bruges. 

A few facts
1. In Bruges is not a comedy movie by any standards even though the trailers seemed to convey that bit, there certainly are a few hilarious conversations but not enough to qualify and there's way too many gross death scenes!
2. Colin Farrell is of Irish origin, however it just seems so very weird hearing him speak in that strong Irish accent
3. Belgium they said is famous for Chocolates and notorious for Child Abuse
4. Alcoves is the right word, Nooks and Crannies is good too :) Some good acting, deep conversation, strong characters despite some extreme(profanity, gross/violent scenes) make this an okay watch.

A few good movies

The next few posts are movie reviews (I'm not sure how many at this point), I've wanted to post them before the Oscars but you know what. Anyway, I'll try not to spoil the movie for you, if you have not watched it, however I do not guarantee that the reviews will be spoiler free. 
And yes, to those who asked the lone coconut tree has a story, just no one who can write it yet!

Fashion Wednesday!

This post has been lying in my drafts for more than a month and I was almost going to discard it… it thus has the most un-intuitive title I could think of!

'Fashion' started it all. I can safely say that to date this is the maximum number of bollywood movies I've watched in a stretch. Decided to watch 'Fashion', since one of my classmates had a non-talking appearance, whatever be the reason, I was not disappointed. The movie is set at a good pace and portrays an almost common and plausible story. The actresses Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut performed true to their characters and it was not set to the usual stage dance, tree song theme!

'A Wednesday' was another movie that has an impressive storyline. I have never really appreciated movies that portray excessive lawlessness, unless it were a superhero kind of a movie. Don’t ask me why, that's just the way that I like my movies! However the flow of this one and the non-paranoid rationale behind the main protagonist's actions are justifiable. Exactly the reason why I could not appreciate Rang de Basanthi, I was watching this movie with a group of people all of whom had already watched it before and seemed to be heaping praises galore on the movie. Halfway through and I was not impressed and I did not change my opinion when the final credits started to roll too. The turnaround from a fun, entertaining story to lives been plunged into a black hole was hard to digest. What was the purpose of the whole act?, All action seemed needless and the casual attitude of young men towards life irked me to no end.

A few other pure entertainers - Jaane tu ya jaane na, Rock On. Mere Baap Pehle Aap - leave your brains out of this one!

I don't want to over-analyze every movie I watch, but I'd like my brain to play a part, for the scenarios to be plausible of course the primary intention of watching a movie should not be lost. I would not watch a mundane portrayal of daily lives, entertainment counts!

Yes, we did

It has been a historic week for the US and the world too. Of course, I am glad the election and the debates are done, no more interruptions for my favorite TV shows! Today's episode of The Amazing Race like the previous one had India as the pit-stop. It's great to see India in popular shows like this, but unfortunately the nastier side of India seems to be dominant, hilarious moments nevertheless.

In my attempt to to catch up on the backlog of movies, it was Body of lies and Nights in Rodanthe this week. Both the movies are miles apart however good in their own little ways. Surprisingly Quantum of Solace was released in a number of international locations and including India before the US release...wonder why the week's delay?

It's already that time of the year, shopping malls are decorated in red and green, supermarkets have created a special holiday section and people are changing their ringtones to 'Deck the Halls'!. This year is going to be unlike the past two years, I've already made sure of that! Thanksgiving 2006 was midnight shopping in LA, while 2007 was Lake Tahoe, 2008 is going to be brilliant!

Grasping at straws

A couple of brilliant trailers, if only the end result were half as good. Spoiler alert for those who have not yet watched 'The Happening' and 'Wanted'

What's happening in 'The Happening'? Manoj Night is one of those guys, who you could bet on getting India within arms reach of the Oscar's, I do believe he has the ability to direct a Oscar winner movie. The Sixth sense, Unbreakable and Signs were truly commendable efforts. Despite the strong presence of Mark Wahlberg, this work of his fails to make an impact. The lead actress seemed in a constant drug induced wide eyed state, almost as if she was going to collapse in a fit! Incorporating global warming and all in the movie didn't really pay off and the story seemed very open ended.

In one line - Poor acting, horrendous dialogue and absolutely no substance in the storyline.

Wanted - I really don't get the need for all the extreme close up shots of bullets going through heads!, dreadfully painful movie to watch and I must say I am surprised at this movie's pretty good tomatometer ratings.

The storyline seems close to Minority Report. That was a well made movie with brilliant flow and execution, full stop to the comparison. The mistakes in the woven fabric spinning out the perpetrator's (the person who has to be assassinated next) name, fate and belief to made a heady cocktail... which unfortunately is unbelievable! Too much violence and too much slow motion for my liking, neither of James McAvoy(brilliant performance in Last King of Scotland and Atonement), Morgan Freeman or Angelina Jolie's performances were worth talking about either.

Wesley Gibson, the lead protagonist, its not a wonder that he is Ego surfing, but it is a wonder that his search yielded no results. I can bet that even before the movie was released google would have thrown up at least a couple 100 pages of dirt!

and the Oscar goes to...

No country for old men, There will be blood and Michael Clayton.

It was time to catch up with the Oscar winners and it's no surprise that the Best Picture movie did not appeal to me in the slightest way.

Michael Clayton: However biased I may be towards George Clooney, this was one brilliant performance, interesting plot and solid climax too. I don't think Tilda Swinton's performance was worthy of an Oscar though, but since I haven't watched any of the other actors she was pitted against, can't really compare...

There will be Blood: No conversation for about the first 15 minutes, but powerful images. Weird storyline, does this movie have something to tell the audience and what's with all the Church of the third revelation stuff. Despite that a truly oscar worthy performance by Daniel-Day Lewis and an equally spellbound role by Paul Dano as Paul Sunday. Two main characters having the same reel and real first name. I was however captivated by Junior Plainview! a poignant character.

No Country for Old Men: Why is there no country?, and who is old? Tommy Lee Jones I presume! This is truly an Oscar worthy movie!!! isn't it true that most of the Best Picture nominated movies at the Oscars are the abstract surreal ones! with no much public appeal, all the more reason to keep away from them... beyond a point there was nothing much happening, and I was only waiting for the end. Quite a drag with no real end.

Let’s talk movies

in LIFO order...

Bourne Ultimatum, With a running time of a little under 2 hours, this rendition is fast paced, with non-stop action, awesome international locations and starts with a pledge to tie all loose ends. And tie they did and also more...

I haven't read Robert Ludlum's version of the story but the Bourne series has been one of the best trilogies to date. The pace of the movie is easy without wasting time on frivolous details and Bourne's quest to learn the answer to 'Who am I' leads us through the streets of Madrid, London and finally New York. Somehow found Pam Landy's character very endearing...With a touch of brilliance and a touch of charisma, there can be no David Webb without Matt Damon and no Jason Bourne without Matt Damon.

In my book, Ultimatum is the #1 movie of the year so far…

And there were all those movies...

No reservations: It has an easy pace and with a decent storyline and good acting, it is one of the 'Worthy watch' movies of the year.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Recapped in my previous post, this is a 'must see' if you've been following the wizardry world of Harry. While on the topic, I managed to put an end to the question of 'What becomes of Harry Potter' that was not really on my mind. A disappointing seventh installment in the Deathly Hallows to what has been a brilliant series so far. My perception for whatever reason coz i know a lot of people who absolutely loved the book.

You know those times, when you did a ctrl-X on some text and forgot about it momentarily only to do a second ctrl-X and then fret that you lost all the original data that you had control x’ed… Well today was one of those days, after constantly reminding myself to always use ctrl-C rather than ctrl-X, well the mind has a mind of its own and here I am having lost all my thoughts on ocean’s thirteen, don't care enough to recap it all, its been ages and there's no way of recalling it from cyberspace!

Ocean's thirteen: Good one, fast paced and there's enough in it to keep you from looking away from the screen, well being a die hard George Clooney fan, and with the awesome rest of the cast, I couldn't possibly entertain thoughts of turning away from this one!

Shrek3: You could skip this one, and if you can't, make sure you don't watch it on big screen. The entire cast of the books I used to read as a kid, seem to have made their way into this movie...If we didn't have enough of Puss in Boots and Prince Charming, we have to contend with Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, Gingerbread man, Pinocchio, Cyclops, Ugly Ducklings and a host of other characters I can't even remember. Some of the scenes were so frivolous such as the one where the toad king dies... there's nothing to say!

Knocked up: with Katherine Heigl and an insane story line which could probably happen, filthy and vulgar humor but an okay watch overall.

Perfect Stranger: My only motivation to watch this movie was coz Halle Berry’s character name is Rowena, another disappointment... Gracie's Choice, an old one but found one more Rowena, two characters in a day and both anti-social!

Worthy watch: Wedding Date, Nancy Drew, Hitch, Babel, Deja Vu
Don’t go near them: Absolute zero

Haven’t yet caught up with Spiderman3 and POC3…some day, some time!

Oscar night

I read the title of this post and thought 'how cliched!', it reminded me of my neighbor Oscar Weltha, and cute little Ross... the story behind the name, well it's not as straightforward as I thought!
Ellen Degeneres was the host of the 79th Academy awards held last night, she was very refreshing to the extent that the entire show being watch worthy, couldn't say the same about most of the other award shows. Have watched her talk show only a couple of times and it was not particularly riveting but her style, her flow last night was absorbing.

Well, no major upsets as far as the awards go unlike the last time around or maybe there was one, Best Supporting Actor, have watched 'Little Miss Sunshine' and frankly couldn't see the reasoning behind the award to Alan Arkin. Not my place to comment anyway!
Complete list of winners

The Prestige is not so prestigious!

Time: Friday, 10:30 PM
Venue: Tinseltown
It was our date with 'The Prestige'. Hugh Jackman in the cast seemed like reason enough to watch the movie but it was not to be! This movie is about two magicians, Angier and Borden each trying to upstage the other in terms of their performances on stage and unseemingly offstage too. All this leads to a cat and mouse game in the awfully long 2 hours 10 minutes that the movie lasts.

The title refers to the last act of a magician, the Prestige or the final act, an act so spectacular it should leave the audience awe-inspired. It is their quest to achieve such a splendid act. It is a narrative movie but somehow midway loses focus and gets into confusing plots, there seems to be a very thin line between the narration and the story. The narration follows Angier and his quest and the rest of the plots are intermingled. It even has a reference to Thomas Edison trying to get hold of a formula for electricity? A plot that gets so hazy and messed up, it requires full concentration...take a few minutes off screen and it could be tough to follow.

Great acting by Christian Bale as Borden while was it a pretty ordinary performance by Jackman.

We somehow seem to pick all the wrong movies to watch as a team!

WTC

Not first day first show, but close enough!

WTC is the real life account of two port authority police officers, John (Nicholas Cage) and Will, their struggle as they survived the rubble of the twin towers and how their families cope with the events of the day.

The date is Sept. 11th, 2001, the movie starts with the officers heading out for their mundane patrols and on that particular day with special instructions to be on the lookout for a missing girl, why the line about the girl, it wasn’t taken up at all later on in the movie…
A shadow of an aircraft and seconds later, the officers are a part of a rescue team, to rescue people trapped inside tower 1. They show people walking, awfully slow I thought in a situation like that, some with injuries, some with a helping hand to others as they made their way out. Back to the officers, who at the concourse level get stuck, when the tower collapses, the focus of the story is on the officers pinned under piles of rubble and their families on that fateful day. That’s the complete storyline!

Don’t expect much out the movie, the name seems so inappropriate, I mean WTC should have signified something on a greater scale, the focus here is very very narrow.

Some of the dialogue is so clichéd, John and Will talking to each other on an almost dark screen, talking about not going off to sleep. It was as if they were telling the audience not to sleep, coz most of them did or some others just went out for long breaks…, humor at the most inappropriate times, its not a scene where you should laugh, but you did!

Most of the scenes are news footage, the pace real slow; the storyline generic to say the least, Ladder 49 was better.

One of the best moments was the scene at the hospital, John’s wife and another lady who was awaiting news about her son, the bonding of two complete strangers at a point like that was well brought out.

A complete disappointment