Times are awesome for cine-lovers as the movies which one gets to watch are so damn different from each other & not just that, they keep exploring new territories for movies taking the subject/plot anywhere & everywhere.Last week was one such week where I saw 4 movies last week, all recent releases & all of them impressed me, some more than the other.
Pick of the lot has to be "Beast of the Southern Wild" & what a viewing experience it was. I was extremely unhappy having missed an opportunity to watch the movie on big screen during KFF, my pain increased post watching the movie. I mean if one considers the fact that the movie has been made by a first time director, screenplay written by first time writers, awesome performances by first time actors & then try to assess the movie it becomes a daunting task. Its a great movie with multiple interpretations & it lets viewers interpret according to there imagination. The movie is set in a place called bathtub which is shown both close to & far away from civilization. Close in terms of distance & far in terms of lifestyle, in its broadest sense. Here people live like beast with no rules, they just want to be happy all the time. A daughter-father duo happens to be at the center of all the activity here & how change in weather & melting ice-caps affect their home & fading health of the father affect their life.
Movie captures attention from the very first scene, where 6 years old girl Hushpuppy is shown checking various animals & listening for their heartbeat as she doesn't understand their secret language & heartbeat is the only thing through which she can connect with them. Throughout the movie she does a narrative voice-over which impresses even more. The scene where she thumps the table & answers her father shout of "Who the man", with "I am the man" stayed with me for a long time. Quvenzhané Wallis gave a performance which is getting her quite a few awards in the festivals the movie is visiting & it should not end here, this girl definitely deserves more. There are some real talent which are getting unearthed early on & viewers can't be happier. Dwight Henry who portrayed the role of the father worried about the daughter, trying to teach the important lessons of survival to her as he knows that she would not have the support of a guarding father for long time, with utmost ease. He himself is a revelation & does more than required to impress. I wont even get started with praising Benh Zeitlin. The manner in which he created a world where aurochs (a mythical creature) are approaching with civilization close by, would definitely look forward to the future work of this impressive director/writer.
Next movie on the agenda was "Life of Pi", a very simple & beautiful movie. It has nothing which viewer would not like, at least I can't point fingers towards anything. Yes there were things which could have been improved, but they were minor things & can be overlooked easily. The fact that movie has very decent performances, very strong story, one of the best 3D effects, Richard Parker, nature at its best & religion & belief system at its crux, ensure that not even a moment is dull in the movie. Richard parker, the tiger, was the most impressive actor on the screen, much above Irrfan Khan & Suraj Sharma. He looks awesome, instills fear & induces love/sympathy into viewers with equal ease. And there are other similar elements which makes the experience of watching this movie great, for which primarily the director has to be credited.Ang Lee has made many movies which were great, but none of them would be visually better than this one. Overall a movie which everyone should enjoy. Somehow the quality of 3D glasses improved at the theater where I went to watch the movie & it played a big role in my loving the movie.
Post this I saw "Lawless", now I must mention post watching "Warrior" I have become a fan of Tom Hardy & his choice of cinema is getting better by every passing day. He also is a risk taker, one just have to look at some of the movies this guy has done, the most noteworthy one being "Bronson", which is almost like single act of awesomeness by Tom hardy. Coming back to "Warrior", I strongly believe the movie deserves much more than what it has received. A family drama with a plot which deals mainly with professional fighting, was nothing new it was the performances & the treatment which made the movie special. So will make my point now, i.e. Tom hardy is a crucial part of the movie "Lawless". But the star cast does not end with him, Gary Oldman has a small role in the movie which he delivers without any concerns, Guy Pearce does a phenomenal job as mean cop with tones of manic disorder, Jessica Chastain also continues to impress with her range of performances & is definitely one of the actors to watch out for, Shia LeBouf does OK with the tailor made role. Movie is based on a real story & does connect with viewers, definitely connected with me. Its not a great/brilliant movie, but an impressive one for sure. The movie deals with times when moonshine production was illegal but was done with "co-operation" of cops & how a family fights with cops, when a bad cop tries to change thing in order to make his own life better & establish full control. A good one time watch & thoroughly enjoyable movie.
In the end comes the movie which many were waiting with bated breadth, Reema Kagti & Aamir Khan's "Talaash". Best part of the movie also ensured the disappointment which was to come later. the best part according to me was the first hour of the movie. My expectations went sky-high after watching the initial bit of the movie. It was flawless, the feel of the thriller which one used to get from old great suspense movies, the setting where you know a bit & plenty remains unknown, characters entering & leaving not before impressing within limited amount of time, etc. Just when I felt that the director cannot go wrong, before the interval, I knew what was in store for me as the climax was crystal clear. Still everything was good, Aamir khan, Raani Mukherjee & even Kareena Kapoor did the job entrusted to them & things were shaping well for a decent climax, that's when the calamity strikes the movie & directors tries to treat viewers like idiot. Now had it been a brainless movie, I would have understood the reason for making the movie idiot-proof, but a movie with such an intelligent start & a new story (for Indian cinema ;) ) need not have done that. I don't know about others but I felt bad about it, more so as my expectations were really high. But everything said & done, it is a good movie & by the standard of some of the recently successful movies it is even great. Aamir khan gives a restraint performance, Rani Mukherjee looks completely in control, even Kareena Kapoor didn't overdo her part. Story is inspired by a few English movies, but that's nothing new, at least this one did use the concepts nicely & does contextualized the borrowed concepts thereby giving an Indian touch to those concepts. If the climax was better & reduced by 25 minutes it could have been a much better movie. All in all for me it was like Gail Wynand from Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead", the movie which could have been :)
Pick of the lot has to be "Beast of the Southern Wild" & what a viewing experience it was. I was extremely unhappy having missed an opportunity to watch the movie on big screen during KFF, my pain increased post watching the movie. I mean if one considers the fact that the movie has been made by a first time director, screenplay written by first time writers, awesome performances by first time actors & then try to assess the movie it becomes a daunting task. Its a great movie with multiple interpretations & it lets viewers interpret according to there imagination. The movie is set in a place called bathtub which is shown both close to & far away from civilization. Close in terms of distance & far in terms of lifestyle, in its broadest sense. Here people live like beast with no rules, they just want to be happy all the time. A daughter-father duo happens to be at the center of all the activity here & how change in weather & melting ice-caps affect their home & fading health of the father affect their life.
Movie captures attention from the very first scene, where 6 years old girl Hushpuppy is shown checking various animals & listening for their heartbeat as she doesn't understand their secret language & heartbeat is the only thing through which she can connect with them. Throughout the movie she does a narrative voice-over which impresses even more. The scene where she thumps the table & answers her father shout of "Who the man", with "I am the man" stayed with me for a long time. Quvenzhané Wallis gave a performance which is getting her quite a few awards in the festivals the movie is visiting & it should not end here, this girl definitely deserves more. There are some real talent which are getting unearthed early on & viewers can't be happier. Dwight Henry who portrayed the role of the father worried about the daughter, trying to teach the important lessons of survival to her as he knows that she would not have the support of a guarding father for long time, with utmost ease. He himself is a revelation & does more than required to impress. I wont even get started with praising Benh Zeitlin. The manner in which he created a world where aurochs (a mythical creature) are approaching with civilization close by, would definitely look forward to the future work of this impressive director/writer.
Next movie on the agenda was "Life of Pi", a very simple & beautiful movie. It has nothing which viewer would not like, at least I can't point fingers towards anything. Yes there were things which could have been improved, but they were minor things & can be overlooked easily. The fact that movie has very decent performances, very strong story, one of the best 3D effects, Richard Parker, nature at its best & religion & belief system at its crux, ensure that not even a moment is dull in the movie. Richard parker, the tiger, was the most impressive actor on the screen, much above Irrfan Khan & Suraj Sharma. He looks awesome, instills fear & induces love/sympathy into viewers with equal ease. And there are other similar elements which makes the experience of watching this movie great, for which primarily the director has to be credited.Ang Lee has made many movies which were great, but none of them would be visually better than this one. Overall a movie which everyone should enjoy. Somehow the quality of 3D glasses improved at the theater where I went to watch the movie & it played a big role in my loving the movie.
Post this I saw "Lawless", now I must mention post watching "Warrior" I have become a fan of Tom Hardy & his choice of cinema is getting better by every passing day. He also is a risk taker, one just have to look at some of the movies this guy has done, the most noteworthy one being "Bronson", which is almost like single act of awesomeness by Tom hardy. Coming back to "Warrior", I strongly believe the movie deserves much more than what it has received. A family drama with a plot which deals mainly with professional fighting, was nothing new it was the performances & the treatment which made the movie special. So will make my point now, i.e. Tom hardy is a crucial part of the movie "Lawless". But the star cast does not end with him, Gary Oldman has a small role in the movie which he delivers without any concerns, Guy Pearce does a phenomenal job as mean cop with tones of manic disorder, Jessica Chastain also continues to impress with her range of performances & is definitely one of the actors to watch out for, Shia LeBouf does OK with the tailor made role. Movie is based on a real story & does connect with viewers, definitely connected with me. Its not a great/brilliant movie, but an impressive one for sure. The movie deals with times when moonshine production was illegal but was done with "co-operation" of cops & how a family fights with cops, when a bad cop tries to change thing in order to make his own life better & establish full control. A good one time watch & thoroughly enjoyable movie.
In the end comes the movie which many were waiting with bated breadth, Reema Kagti & Aamir Khan's "Talaash". Best part of the movie also ensured the disappointment which was to come later. the best part according to me was the first hour of the movie. My expectations went sky-high after watching the initial bit of the movie. It was flawless, the feel of the thriller which one used to get from old great suspense movies, the setting where you know a bit & plenty remains unknown, characters entering & leaving not before impressing within limited amount of time, etc. Just when I felt that the director cannot go wrong, before the interval, I knew what was in store for me as the climax was crystal clear. Still everything was good, Aamir khan, Raani Mukherjee & even Kareena Kapoor did the job entrusted to them & things were shaping well for a decent climax, that's when the calamity strikes the movie & directors tries to treat viewers like idiot. Now had it been a brainless movie, I would have understood the reason for making the movie idiot-proof, but a movie with such an intelligent start & a new story (for Indian cinema ;) ) need not have done that. I don't know about others but I felt bad about it, more so as my expectations were really high. But everything said & done, it is a good movie & by the standard of some of the recently successful movies it is even great. Aamir khan gives a restraint performance, Rani Mukherjee looks completely in control, even Kareena Kapoor didn't overdo her part. Story is inspired by a few English movies, but that's nothing new, at least this one did use the concepts nicely & does contextualized the borrowed concepts thereby giving an Indian touch to those concepts. If the climax was better & reduced by 25 minutes it could have been a much better movie. All in all for me it was like Gail Wynand from Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead", the movie which could have been :)
