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The Truant Tales

Expect nothing. And I'll live upto it.

Posts tagged with "movies"

Man from Earth

Wednesday, 7. January 2009, 13:55:36

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I can't begin to describe the brilliance, ingenuity and efficacy of this small movie. It's low budget, in fact very very low. But that doesn't deter the narrative of this cleverly crafted sci-fi tale. Last post, I marvelled at 'The Day the Earth stood Still', especially at its ability to maintain the pace of the movie without special effects, expansive action sequences , instead just relying on the crisp dialogues. Well, Man from Earth easily surpasses these standards expected.

The movie is solely based in the living room of the protagonist's (a badly punned 'John Oldman') and the porch of this house. It's amazing how the movie sustains itself for one and a half hours just in these two places. Reminded me of '12 angry men' or even 'Rear Window' (Cinematically, no where as close, but, one has to give leniency keeping in mind its shoe-string budget).

I can't divulge much details about the movie without revealing its little twists and turns. The protagonist is a Faust like figure (without the extensive mythos) who uses his longetivity in the quest for knowledge. A bunch of professors discuss the possibility of such a 14,000 year old man existing in today's society. In the process, it brings forth ideas of science, human nature, faith and religion. The latter being the film's strong point. It basically highlights the evolution of a simple thought into current-day religion that is so full of futile rituals and absurd mythology. Its conclusions make 'The Da Vinci Code' sound like kindergarten literature.

On the flip side of the coin - the movie does have its foibles. The acting is average, but it does in no way hinder the narrative. There's lot of flat jokes (especially from the biologist) and a few inane dialogues. The movie has a very low budget feel to it (well, it is very low budget). But these are amply compensated by the story itself.

The movie is apparently impossible to find (Which is why I downloaded it. Apparently the producers have no problem with illegal downloads). But, if perchance, you can procure the movie DVD, I would suggest you catch it. Any movie that kept me thoroughly engrossed (I slept half-way through movie behemoths 'Transformers' and the recent Star Wars prequels) deserves,
10 out of 10

7 comments

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Tuesday, 6. January 2009, 07:02:02

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After the debacle that is The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) (Should have been called 'Klaatu and GORT's bogus journey. Imagine a film in which GORT, the robot, has a better emotional range than Keanu. It's the day movie sensibilities stood still), I decided to see the original 1951 version. And what a great sci-fi movie it turned out to be.

For starters, the story and direction is really good. A sci-Fi movie with a story! A rarity indeed. And luckily, it doesn't rely much on special effects (Thank heavens too. The special effects look like they've been done in MS paint. Can't expect anything otherwise in 1951). The spaceship looks impressive, but GORT, looks like a rejected power ranger. And even with little action, little special effects, the movie does not tend to lag - credit that must be given to the director Robert Wise.

The acting is generally good, especially when compared to 2008 version. Some allowance must be given for the sensibilities of that age - like, overly melodramatic scenes with delayed, irrational screams, walking two steps forward and talking to the camera when the interlocutor is behind this character (like the soap operas of today).

As with most sci-fi classics, the movie does have a moral message to give. As with most sci-fi classics, humans, with their inherent trait of despising and threatening any species that is different from theirs, are shown in poor light. The moment that this benevolent alien lands on Earth, he is shot. He is immediately regarded as a threat. And, you can't help but agree with him that humans do pose a threat to all other civilizations (His message: Stop this violence, else we'll kill you ALL). We're inherently war-mongers.

But, the movie is hindered by too many minor plot-holes. Well, it just shows how simple that time was:

1)The space ship is said to travel 4000 miles/hr (it was later updated to 10^7 miles/hr in the 2008 version). 4000 was considered to be inhumanely fast!!!
2) Stranger (the Alien, incognito) to Mom: 'Can I spend time with your son'. Mom:'We'll ask little Billy how he feels'. She does say yes without any hesitation. Child safety related paranoia was non-existent in the pre-Michael Jackson era.
3) The Spaceship landing is the most important event in Human History. Yet, the spaceship was guarded by only two guards and a feeble corrugated steel wall! Even when GORT attacks the guards, the military persists in placing only two guards around it! When Klaatu is placed in the hospital, hi-tech military security involves locking him, and hiding the key!

But, even with all these minor flaws, the movie is still a Classic.
8 out of 10

1 star removed for its niggling plot holes.
1 star removed for the spaceship scene (when GORT lifts Mrs Barley and takes her into the spaceship). Slightly irritating.

4 comments

Ghajini

Sunday, 4. January 2009, 15:30:37

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Ghajini is the Bollywood version of the Kollywood (The Tamil film industry) version of the Hollywood classic "Memento". It was one of the year's most anticipated Bollywood releases. And, does it live up to he hype? Yes and No. Let me expound furthur:

It is true that I judge Bollywood movies with a lower standard. Bollywood are marketed for the mass audience and subsequently changed to suit their tastes (The concept of "independent movies" is still in its nascent stage).

The main character has anterograde Amnesia, a condition brought on by a severe blow to the head, which basically implies that he can't form new memories (a 15 minute memory). He spends his every waking minute, in the quest for his fiance's killer. Yes, the revenge plot again. This story is unfolded by a series of flashbacks (and extremely detailed diary entries). But, that's where its resemblance with Memento ends.

While Memento was a thriller that dealt in the morally ambiguous, Ghajini pretty much stuck to the 'Bad guy' vs 'Good Guy' act. While, Memento had incredibly complex character development, with even more complex sub-plots, Ghajini has mainly two-dimensional characters - The wife is unnaturally good to everyone around her, while the baddie is unnaturally bad and the rest are just forgetable.

Ghajini also concentrates on the romance between the leads. And, even though that makes the movie package-able to Indian audience, it tends to dilute the unfolding of the story and the pace of the film. At 3 hours, the movie is about half an hour too long. The movie does lag in the first half. But, the last 45 minutes, beginning with the killing of his fiance and then concluding in the 'vanquishing of the baddie'
in his 'seemingly impregnable fortress', is fantastic.

Ghajini is all about Aamir Khan. He's built up, looking like the Incredible hulk. Even though his look might be a marketing gimmick, it does lend credibility to the carnal, raw, almost animal like aggression of the 'hero'. He screams around for every little reason and, mostly, roams about shirtless. But, his performance stands out in the movie (especially in the climax when he snarls at the villain). The supports are average at best, with Jiah Khan as a medical student (who breaks all laws of medical ethics by divulging medical records to random people) being totally wooden.

Overall, I would say that the movie was a little better than average. It should have been tauter, better edited, with probably a song or two removed. But, with slim pickings this season, it is a pretty enjoyable watch.

6 out of 10

1 star removed for bad pacing.
1 star removed for being an unoriginal concept.
1 star removed for bad acting (Jiah Khan being responsible).
1 star removed for some pretty inane dialogues, small plot holes (screenwriter's amnesia).

7 comments

Wall-E

Saturday, 3. January 2009, 12:40:12

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Wall-E is one of the best animated movies I've seen, well, it's one of the best movies I've seen for a long time. It's rated number 34 in imdb's top 250, 8.6 stars and it deserves every star. It's tied with Toy Story 2 (funnier than Wall-E, cruder in animation, but it still warrants a sort of nostalgic liking) as my favorite animated movie. And unsurprisingly, both are Pixar.

Wall-E is animated, sci-fi, and a romantic-comedy! And, it mellifluously shifts between these genres. The story is relatively simple, but is incredibly done.

The animation is nearly flawless. Earth, or whatever remains of it, looks eerily real. Wall-E, the other robots (Mo, Eve, the stewards, the police and the rogues) look great. The live-action footage (Fred Willard and scenes from 'Hello, Dolly') are seamlessly inserted into the movie.

Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class) is one of the most endearing characters in recent movie history. It's rare that an audience emphasizes with a character, let alone an animated one. Wall-E is funny, charming and clumsy (very Chaplin like), and he does all this without even saying a word! The scene where Wall-E shields EVE from from the capricious Earth weather is particularly heart-warming. So is the climax (EEEEE-Vah!).

As a science fiction movie, Wall-E has a very relevant message. We, humans, are destroying the Earth. We do realize our vision of utopia, but it comes at the price of the planet. We've generated so much garbage, that it becomes impossible to sustain life on the planet. We're so dependent on machines, that we become obese, almost inhuman, with no human physical contact and largely unaware of our surroundings. For anyone skeptical of such a vision of humanity, refer to the obesity figures over progressive years. As a science fiction movie, it is very much reminiscent of '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

In conclusion, Wall-E is one of the best movies of the year and is a must watch. A sure shot 'Best Animated Film' at the Oscars.

9 out of 10

2 comments

Holidays.

Saturday, 19. July 2008, 10:18:45

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Yeaaaaaaaaaah. Hooooolidays!!!! Oh, wait. That post has already been written.

Writer's Block. I'd like to blame that, but actually I'm averse to ANY thinking during the holidays. Instead, I shall regale you all with my holiday escapades.

Movies Seen:

One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest (Pretty good. Great ending)
Dog Day Afternoon (A Classic. Al Pacino is brilliant. "Attica, Attica"!!!!)
Monster House (An average Animated film)
Next (Hopeless. Bad. Rubbish. Crap. Its a typical Nic Cage fare)
The Inside Man (Loved it. Spike Lee, Clive Owen, Denzel Washington)
Blades Of Glory (outrageously funny)
Anchorman (Silly. Rarely funny)

Music :

Thin Lizzy - The best of
Aerosmith - Pandora's Box
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Steppenwolf - The collection
Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies 1 and 2

I'd recommend all of the above.

Books :

Children Of Men - P.D James (Good Premise like 1984, but loses track towards the end, unlike 1984)
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (An absolute Classic. A must read)
The Awakening - Kate Chopin (Archaic. Boring. Got it because it was there in the Everman's Library)
Misery - Stephen King (Good book. Glad there are no aliens, demonic possession, rabid dogs in this book, unlike the other King books)
Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (A classic. Very entertaining)

Currently reading 'Nostromo' - Joseph Conrad. A great Read.

And, I've been spending a lot of time at cracked.com . Hilarious.

The Bat Battle
Retarted Gas Saving Schemes

3 comments

My Top 5 Bollywood Movies

Thursday, 13. March 2008, 06:53:08

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Its hard to believe, that after all the mocking, I do find some Bollywood movies appealing. I had to sift through a lot of rubbish, but here are some of my favorites;

My Top 5 Bollywood Movies

5) Black

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Magnum opus took Bollywood by storm. Initially meant for the niche urban market, its was surprisingly well accepted by the masses - a shock considering that it had no song and dance sequences, was saturated with rich dialogues (mostly in English) and presented a 'de-Glam' version of Bollywood's leading actors - Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherji. The story dealt with the relation between an alcoholic eccentric teacher (AB) and a blind, deaf and mute child (RM) and how the she overcomes all the obstacles to graduate. The final scenes featuring a reunion of the two is the most touching of them all, with the student guiding the teacher. Absolutely ravishing sets and cinematography, with the movie shot with a blackish hue.

4) Legend of Bhagat Singh

In 2002, there was a spate of movies based on the life of Indian freedom fighter 'Bhagat Singh' (Infact, one friday saw the release of two such movies). Most of them were average being littered with a lot of those bollywood formulas. But this one, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, was a little short of brilliant. From the first scene depicting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, to the final hanging, the movie treated this shaheed's (martyr) life with the dignity and respect. Even though it did take liberties with his love life, the movie sticks to his life story. Helped by brilliant acting by Ajay Devgan and his supporting cast, this movie absolutely blew my mind. Also note the similarities between the actors and the freedom fighters.

3) Guru

Mani Ratnam is one of the premier directors of Bollywood, so it was only him that could pull off such a story. Loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani (the founder of Reliance Industries), it follows of the life of a dreamer who makes it big and struggles to maintain the balance between the either side of the ethics spectrum. The start is a little slow, but when it does pick up pace it amounts to riveting cinema. The movie stands on the shoulders of breathtaking acting, especially by Abhishek Bachchan who gained a lot of weight for this role. The cinematography, music is also breathtaking.

2) Black Friday

The most powerful film to come out of the bollywood stables. Directed by Anurag Kashyap in 2004, it took three years to get the censor board's approval for release. The film Chronicles the events leading upto the March 13th serial bomb Blasts and the police investigations following it. Absolutely riveting. A taut story line supported by some of the best acting I've seen in a long long time. Kay Kay Menon is brilliant as the cop who struggles with his conscience for torturing suspected terrorists, Aditya Srivastav as the terrorist who questions the morality of his actions , but most of all its Pavan Malhotra as Tiger Memon the mastermind of the attack who is baying for revenge following the demolition of Bombay riots. Brilliant in every possible way.

1) Johnny Gaddaar

Number one and for a good reason. I would never have imagined a hindi movie riped with so much black humour (Infact, it has deposed Fargo as my favorite 'Black humour movie'). 5 partners plan a deal that would yield them a huge monetary reward, but greed takes over one of them who pulls of a heist. But after that, his plan goes bad. Very bad. The story is absolutely brilliant. A classic crime caper (a lot of references to James Hadley Chase) handled beautifully by the director Sriram Raghavan. Great acting, cinematography and everything one would expect from a perfect thriller. The start is good, but after the heist the movie is gripping. There is no song and dance sequence. The title song is brilliant, suiting the mood of the film. A MUST SEE.

Note : Except for Guru and Black (to some extent), none of the other movies made an impact in the box office. They all still remain cult classics, to be collected in DvD's by the faithful.

Narrowly missing the scene : Taare Zameen Par, Being Cyrus, Bheja Fry (a remake of the french classic 'The dinner game'), Sarfarosh, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Kaante, Hera Pheri, Rang De Basanti (didn't make it because of its shoddy hasty ending).

9 comments

Taare Zameen Par and more

Sunday, 6. January 2008, 09:36:14

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HOLIDAYS...HOLIDAYS...HOLIDAYS...WOOHOO....Happiness at last. One and a half weeks of torturous exams are over and now I have a WHOLE month of holidays to look forward to. The moment the last exam got over, ecstasy (the good kind) filled the students. To celebrate, we ran (literally) to the nearest theatre and saw 'Taare Zameen Par'. Now I know why everyone calls it the Hindi movie of the year.

TZP is a great movie. Not a classic by cinema standards, but compared to the mindless mass produced crap in Bollywood, TZP is superb. It's a charming little movie (reminds me very much of 'little miss sunshine'), with no glamour or any sort of 'commercializing' of the movie. Its simple, with a great story and a brilliant brilliant lead. Darsheel Safary's animated expressions are hilarious and the films first half rests only on his shoulders. In fact the only big name in the movie - Aamir Khan (the director too) comes only in last 1 hour of the movie.



The story is simple and is brought alive by all the actors. Ishant is dyslexic and everyone around him has trouble understanding his condition. From the pushy father to the overachieving brother to the frustrated teachers, all are acted beautifully. The boy is then sent to a boarding school in a hope of getting him 'disciplined'. It is in the boarding school that he meet Ram Prasad Nikumb who helps him out. The climax is really touching, and beautifully handled by the director.

It follows the same formula of other 'inspirational teacher movies' like "To sir with love", but what sets it apart is the direction and the lead. Can't stop praising the kid.

In short, the movie was soooo good, that I forgot about the horrendous last week or so. NO, I'm not talking about my exams, I'm talking about the India-Australia Test Series. India has lost the first two test matches. We could've atleast drawn the second test, but dubious and shitty (for the lack of a better word) umpiring decisions that set India back. Aww, I'm depressed again.

Ok, So in keeping with the theme of this post, Here's this weeks lists (Friday night list on a Sunday);

5 Movies that ALMOST made me weep

Firstly, I DON'T cry. Very few movies actually touch me ( I was the only one who was laughing when Jack died in Titanic). But some do get me thinking and sympathise with the lead. So here's a list of movies that almost almost made me weep;

5) Phenomenon : Such a campy movie. Its stereotype and tries to tug your heartstring all the time. But, John Travolta is great. A very thin story line, but my god Travolta is great. Everyone hated the movie except me. He also touched me in Mad City (which would've made the list, if not for the fact that its a crap movie). One more time, Travolta is great.

4) Taare Zameen Par : Its fresh in my mind. The only Bollywood movie in the list.

5) Schindler's list : So very realistic. Spielberg's masterpiece is also his best. Saving Private Ryan was great, but not "Schindler's list" great.

2) My left foot : Wow!!! Daniel Day Lewis (Yes, the same guy who in the horrible 'Gangs of New York') is perfect as Christy Brown, a Cerebral Palsy patient. A Must see.

1) Life is beautiful : Wow, Wow....After seeing the movie mom looked at me and said "Is that tears?", I replied "No, that's dew accumulating near my eye". I obviously saw the English dubbed version, but it didn't dim Roberto Benigni's brilliant acting.

Narrowly missing the cut : Forrest Gump, Legend of Bhagat Singh, Monster, The mighty, The Iron Giant, philadelphia (Damn that Tom Hanks), Vaastav.

5 Movies that made me cry

I usually do a lot of research before seeing a movie in the theatre, but once in a while I listen to my friends (or family) and be a little more spontaneous. Big mistakes have been made.

5) Transformers : All the Little kids in the theatre were so excited that they kept screaming "Optimus Prime", "Megatron". I couldn't believe that I was the smartest person in the theatre. Horrible Horrible movie, that made me cry. Also tied with Tansformers is another Michael Bay movie, Bad boys 2. The first half was OK, but then it quickly disintegrated into utter farce, not even fit for Bollywood. Can't believe I blew up another 100 bucks on a Michael Bay movie.

4) Ghostrider : So tacky, so corny, so baaad. I liked Nic Cage in Matchstick men, Moonstruck and snake eye, but this is his low point. If I had set fire to the 100 bucks, I would've had more fun.

3) Aap Ki Khatir : I never see Hindi movies in the theatre. But a family friend wanted to treat us before he left Bangalore, and unfortunately, this was the only movie playing in the theatre. It had himesh Reshamiyya's music, the 'acting' talents of Akshaye Khanna, Priyanka Chopra, Dino Morea, Amisha Patel, Sunil Shetty and Anupam Kher, (i.e all the B-grade Bollywood actors) all adding to the pain. Its a 'remake' of a really bad Hollywood movie 'The Wedding Date' .

2) Spy Kids 3-D : We were in the multiplex and all movies were sold out except two; 50 first dates and Spy Kids 3-D. Thinking that 50 was a campy love story, we saw SK3-D. What a waste. The 3-D effects were annoying and can't believe that the Oscar winner (for screenplay of Rocky) Sly Stallone was there in this crap. This movie makes 'Rambo III', 'Cobra' and 'demolition Man' look like masterpieces.

1) Battlefield Earth : I didn't see this in the theatre, but I bought the DVD, so it qualifies. Very bad special effects, and a horrible performance by Travolta. John Travolta is horrible. One more time, Travolta is horrible. But atleast the CD makes a great Frisbee.

Narrowly missing the cut : Pirates 3, Matrix Revolutions (I didn't understand a thing), 102 Dalmatians, War of the worlds.

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