La La Land

So it's been a long while since a movie inspired me into blogging, but then we watched "La La Land" last night! What a magical, even poetic movie. 

It's not easy making a romance these days, our brains are already so cluttered with these good-looking, witty, lovable characters from so many other romances we have already seen or read. Boy-girl love story is kinda done so often, it's very challenging to keep it interesting. Very cleverly done in this movie though. It's an homage to retro-style movie romances in general, where holdings hands, dancing together and that first kiss do more than any sex scene could. And the only thing that keeps it from being cheesy is that the movie and its characters are completely aware of its excessive romance and even own it. Don't we all want to be in love with a man who says, "what's wrong with romance? You say it like it's a bad word!".... even though we know that no such man exists in the real world! Because its so outrageously blatant about not being real, about being above all a romantic homage to romances, this movie really works for me! 

That, and Ryan Gosling.

P.s. It's kind of hard to believe (but then again also easy to believe) that this movie is made by the same person who made Whiplash. So different. Or so alike. Depending on how you see it.

The Force Awakens

So we finally watched it!!! 

Let me set the stage first: I wasn't a super fan of the Star Wars movies growing up. Though I remember watching the original trilogy on a VCR in the 80s and my dad explaining parts of it to me, I was too little at the time to understand and appreciate fully the trilogy. I had liked it a great deal, but not to the extent of holding my breath until the next episode came out. I watched the prequels trilogy later, but wasn't blown away by it. It's only two years ago, that our little Super-Fanboy at home, used his force to get me to re-watch all six of the movies, and that's when I was really wowed by them. Also, having a human Star Wars Encyclopedia at home helped (he even knows the back story of why Mace Windu has a purple light saber). Evidently, all we had to do was search our feelings and find out what we already knew: We had to get tickets for this movie on the first day of its release. Having already bought every Star Wars merchandise there was to buy, a movie ticket seemed like a cheap cherry on top that we could buy for the Super Fanboy ("Buy we must, my young Mama padawan", he said wisely.)

Back to Episode VII: 

Star Wars was a difficult story to tell. In any era. Having to create the expanse of an alternate galaxy, create alien life forms, political and physical landscapes, droids and battleships, and then to tell the story of good and evil within a 2-hours movie format must've been a daunting task for George Lucas. He did it nevertheless, with a personal passion that's evident in every scene of the original movies. And because it was this 'one man passionately climbing a Mount Everest of a plot', I felt forgiving towards many of the weaknesses of his movies.

Episode VII, on the other hand, is a Disney production. Maybe that's why I don't feel as forgiving. It's a media giant, not a solitary George Lucas. To me, Episode VII is too much laser bullets flying and people running, and not enough quiet time. To me, Kylo Ren isn't as sinister as Vader was and he felt just too amateurish to give me the chills (maybe he's meant to be an amateur baddie, a wannabe-Vader, still grappling with how not to see the light on the dark side). To me, Rey is not as compelling as Luke was. And the movie oozes of overly sentimental rehashes of the original, that just made it feel like a blatant cry for love from the fans of the old movie. Other than those moments, I don't know, this could've been an Avengers or Transformers movie... They all feel the same to me. 

I don't know if I can put my finger on it... Going from Lucasfilm to Disney, was a bit like moving from a crumbly old villa with character to a plush modern condo with a jacuzzi and tennis court. With the same rehashed furniture. You'll either love it or you won't. I didn't.

Will I still watch Episode VIII? Yes, absolutely -in its first week too. I'm every marketeer's shameless dream!

Jafar Panahi's Taxi

Watched a great movie last evening: Jafar Panahi's Tehran Taxi. I didn't know how celebrated and controversial a film-maker Panahi is in his home country of Iran. But I did read a bit about him beforehand. A brief background: He had been banned by the authorities from making anti-regime movies and was even put under house arrest; but had made a couple of movies while he was still under house arrest (I know, what a guy!). Now he has been out of house arrest for a while (though the big brother is still watching him) and working as a taxi driver (well, sort of), and this new movie of his has been shot entirely by a stationery camera in the taxi with the look & feel of taxi camera footage. To emphasize that it's not a movie, there are no credits either. 

With this information, you might expect some sort of rebellious & tough movie. Well it is that, but it's also unexpectedly & wonderfully humorous, fun and sensitive. Loved it!

Whiplash

We were pretty late in watching this movie. Way after all it's Oscar buzz. So glad though that we watched it! It's a movie that stays with you in your subconscious long after you've seen it and brings back flashbacks from your own childhood & adolescenthood, of all teachers good & terrible, of all the tribulations & humiliations of your early days, and puts in perspective what your ambitions really do to you. Most of us make pay-offs not as big as the young drummer, but we do make smaller pay-offs every day to achieve our own version of ambition, unhinging our minds every day looking for that rare approval from someone else. And after all that, we don't even aspire for greatness...'above average' stokes our self esteem just fine.  

I've always wondered how life would've been if I wasn't directionless as a youngster; if I had known clearly what my passion is and what I wanted to do with my life; if I was confident in my individuality & not directed by the herd mentality; if I had ever pushed my ambition to reach for greatness...I wouldn't be me today. On some days that feels like a good thing; on some days it doesn't.

Has there ever been a movie action hero more kickass than Imperator Furiosa?

Avengers

Can't help feeling bad for Hawk Eye... clearly he has the saddest superpower in the bunch.

50 Shades

Watching "50 shades of grey" made me realize how old I am...I belong to a generation for which "Basic Instinct" was a racy film because Sharon Stone opened her legs wide. I'm not being a prude...just saying I feel old.

American Sniper

I've been a Clint Eastwood fan, especially of his war movies, since Letters from Iwo Jima. But this movie felt a great deal like déjà vu of The Hurt Locker. It's probably more hard-hitting because we know it's a true story, but I didn't quite like it as much as The Hurt Locker. I still remember that scene of a disoriented soldier when he's back in an American supermarket alley choosing a box of cereal. In American Sniper I never quite understood the husband-wife relationship between Bradley Cooper & Sienna Miller. 

The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbach, you're as magical and twistedly delicious an actor as your name is! A good movie, but a great character completely owned by the actor playing it. 

Ps: If you think this is going to be a stereotypical version of an 'unlovable-genius-lacking-social-skills' you're partly right, partly wrong. Alan Turing was a mathematical genius & war hero who turned the tide of World War II by finding a way of decoding Nazi messages, but met his end in harrowing misery as his secret life as a homosexual became public. He is seemingly a cold heartless man who can make rational decisions even when people are dying due to them,  but he does have a heart underneath which carries deep scars, sorrows, love & the dark shameful secret of his homosexuality. That's how real Benedict Cumberbach makes that heart look.

Boyhood

So this is a movie made with tons of patience (filming only a couple of scenes every year, over a span of 12 years), so it's only fair that the movie demands the viewer to have some patience (it's a long movie that trudges along slowly and lyrically). I don't know if I loved the movie because I'm a mom of a little boy (very much like the 5-year old Mason at the beginning of the movie), or because it's a movie one can relate to irrespective. Loved the sensitive passive-watcher-through-a-secret-camera feel of what seem like petty everyday events which add up to a portrayal of a little boys coming-of-age journey. Loved, loved, loved it!

Yes, it's an extremely long movie & almost documentary-like, but never got bored. Not for a minute.

The benefit of filming a movie over so many years I suppose, is that the filmmaker doesn't need to stage any of his surroundings to the appropriate era. Britney Spears was the queen of pop 12 years ago, smart phones came along roughly 6 years ago, video games evolved, fashion evolved, hair styles and definitions of "high school coolness" evolved, and it's all captured while it happened. What a master stroke that is!

Haider

So we finally watched the movie 'Haider' and I'm more a fan of Tabu's tragic eyes now than I was after watching 'The Namesake', and as much a fan of Vishal Bharadwaj as I was after watching 'Omkara'. The movie didn't let me down, loved the adaptation, the setting, the story-telling & loved the digs at the Salman Khan brand of entertainment.

The Lunch Box

Non-mainstream Indian movies like "The Lunchbox" don't usually make it to Singapore. I'm glad though that this one did as part of a festival. What a great movie! Set in the suburban struggling class of Mumbai (the old-fashioned folks who travel by local trains & BEST buses, work in government offices for 35 years, have conversations with next door neighbors across the windows), this is a love story between odd & improbable lead characters. Arguably an old-fashioned take on life in Mumbai but the movie is better for it. Loved it!

Reality

The Italian film festival came to Singapore & we found ourselves at a movie named 'Reality' which apparently got some great reviews at the Cannes.

It was an interesting movie about a not-so-rich neither-too-poor fish seller in Naples who happens to audition for the "reality" show Big Brother. I've never watched Big Brother but I have seen enough reality tv to be able to imagine what it must be like. Our protagonist soon starts losing his grip over what's real & what's not. The movie makes you wonder whether selflessness could ever be a natural human trait, how would we behave as humans if we weren't so acutely aware of those watching & observing us, whether we do stage our lives (to varying degrees) based on who we think is watching us, and whether the real me is the person I am in my private thoughts or the one I am in things I say aloud or do. We do all put ourselves in the Big Brother house; seeing ourselves from other people's points of view, don't we.

The movie layers within itself a lot of the movie makers thoughts on religion, the seduction of instant fame & celebritydom, and a social commentary on working class Italy. A great watch.

Argo

Finally watched the movie & enjoyed it heaps....but what the hell is an 'exfiltration expert'? Could that really be someone's real job?

Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

I didn't know what to make of the movie title but it made us curious enough to go watch it. And I quite enjoyed it. I can see why some people didn't though - its a whimsically made movie, bordering on the insane; but thankfully I was in a mood to lap up all the quirkiness that Vishal Bharadwaj could throw at me.

There aren't that many Indian movie makers who are brave enough to attempt a satire that so smugly refuses to put a boundary on imagination. Like Salman Rushdie's writing or Picasso's paintings, Vishal Bharadwaj's movies are gutsy in their quirkiness. That I love. I loved Pankaj Kapur's portrayal of the divided face of the Indian upper class. How tough is that character to pull off, to balance comedy with evil & tomfoolery with graveness. I loved Shabana Azmi's witches-of-Macbeth portrayal, especially in some of her monologues. For a restrained actor like her, it couldn't have been easy to be so overtly over the top. And I loved Vishal Bharadwaj's unhindered style. Its not easy at all to layer a satire under the bizzarre silliness of pink bulls & zulu dance troupes. It could easily be mistaken for just silliness.

Perhaps the movie could've been shorter, snappier; but I didn't get bored. I did wonder where it was going for a while, but that didn't last long. Its not a movie I loved, but I liked it a good deal.

Shanghai

We watched the movie 'Shanghai' this week & I thought it was a pretty good movie. It started off like a political thriller, but towards the middle, one realises that its not edge of the seat stuff that has you guessing what will happen next. You sort of know, having lived in India, that the decadence of the political system starts & permeates from the highest level of the government. The human stories in the movie are far more interesting.

There's an intelligent IAS-type working inside the government but not part of the political system; there's a young activist working against the system; there's a unsophisticated 'man on the street' who is largely unconcerned with whats happening with the system; there's a political-insider state secretary who is very much embedded in the system. This is a story of all these characters coping with this political system; in its brutal corrupt form that India has learnt to accept. The pessimism with which the movie ends is disheartening, but very well put.

I never thought I would say this, but how great an actor is Imran Hashmi!

The Artist

So we finally watched "The Artist". H was never keen on watching it. Its silent, its black & white, and its French; he argued. But thanks to his persistent wife, we finally watched the movie & loved it! It wasn't depressing or brooding.

It was all about angst & insecurity that is brilliantly depcited by the protagonist (without ever uttering a word; except at the end to explain the root of his angst); but there were also elements of comedy, drama, charm & romance. Never got boring for even a second.

Absolutely loved the actor - he looked & acted his part like he actually belonged to the era.

The Avengers

Its probably me getting older; action movies packed with as much action as The Avengers give me a headache. Thank God, I didn't watch it in 3-D.

Not a fan; but if they release a sequel, I'd probably still watch it.

De Vrais Mensonges (Beautiful Lies)

We caught this French romantic-comedy at the Alliance Francaise theatre in Singapore, and I'm tempted to make a few broad generalisations: Do all romantic French movies star Audrey Tautou?... and how does any sentence spoken in French or any story set in France become this romantic?

A good fun movie that's gotten me thinking all over again about how great it would be to get Audrey's pixie hair-cut. Or to live in South of France. Or both.

Hugo

I loved watching this movie. I've been in love with cinema as far back as I remember and this tribute to the movies - the art and the science of it - made me remember all over again the sense of wonder and adventure that going to the movies used to be for me growing up. Often we take technology for granted; computer-generated special effects barely impress us anymore; and the art of story-telling especially in its visual format suffers somewhat from our jaded eyes having seen it all. I smiled when I saw the sense of amazement the cinema brought to the early movie goers; it brought back memories of my first 3D experience (an Indian kiddie movie called Chota Chetan). The story of Hugo too is very aptly set in the magical world of a child.

P.S. This movie reminded me a lot of a Marathi movie we had watched a couple of years ago: Harishchandrachi Factory.