Reviews

The Highs... A cracker of a concept: what happens when the convict whom you turned in returns to take his revenge; and you find yourself all alone to face his wrath? A superb screenplay: the protagonist, a man celebrated and glorified, goes to a bar, to a church, to his best friends place; but meets nothing except a smattering of either cold or sympathetic stares. defeated, he returns to his place, and as he hears the whistle of the approaching train, perhaps carrying his to-be killer; sits and patiently writes out his last will. The Lows... wooden acting : Gary Cooper; as he goes through the entire range of emotions :surprise at the news of Frank Miller returning, to shame at he first running away from the place of action, to dismay at finding no support, and his just-married wife also leaving him stranded; at all these stages, just displays no emotion at all. I was thinking of a thousand other actors who would have chewed the scenery. the same with the other characters, who look like they are just phoning in their lines,reducing what are actually genuinely interesting characters into plain cardboard stereotypes. incompetent direction:don't get me wrong, its not that I stumbled upon this movie, completely unaware of the prestige both the movie and its cast enjoy. but, did not work for me. did not work for me at all. except for one stirring scene, where the impending doom is writ large on all the characters'faces as they hear the whistle blow; the rest is a simple out and out amateurish dramatization of the script, bereft of any sign of creativity or the directors touch. Again,thought of so many directors under whom this would have become something else.

In the end, the movie just did not leave up to the reputation it enjoys, was a big disappointment. And in the spate of remakes that are being made, this is one which is crying out loud for a good director-actor to give the absolutely riveting concept and storyline the movie it so much deserves.

Bruce Almighty

Bruce Nolan is one sore guy.And he has every right to be. He's been kicked out of his job, has been beaten up by goons while he tries to save an old beggar, has a fight with his long time girlfriend Grace( played by the oh-so liekable Jennifer Aniston).In desperation, he calls out God and accuses him of not doing his job properly. Next day he starts receiving calls from a no. on his pager.When he calls the no. he gets a message which rouses his curiosity, and he goes, without knowng that the encounter is going to change his life. There he meets ...God!(played absolutely superbly by Morgan Freeman) He gives Bruce 2 weeks to be God, and see how difficult his job is.Although suspecting some elaborate practical joke, Bruce gradually realises that he is in fact God The next 30-45 mins are easily the most enjoyable of the movie, with Jim Carrey in his elements, playing cocky arrogant but yet sooooooooo likable the way only he can.He extracts vengeance on all those who had wronged him. the goons, his rival, has the most amazing sex with Grace , gets himself a car to die for, and so on. u get the idea.

However, like all romantic comedies, it loses steam halfway through when it goes into the love story gone sour part.The second half basically drags on to a conclusion which everyone already knows. A watchable movie, thanks to Jim Carrey. nothing more, nothing less.

Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah Anderson is is a talented 11 yr girl who can memorize truckloads of spellings in an instant, spell words like prostedigitization or something like that correctly even though she might be hearing it for the first time, and regularly max out scores on scrabble.A natural for the spelling bee contest, u had say. But before u spell out w-i-n-n-e-r, wait!For starters, she does not know that there is a thing like a spelling contest.Added to that, she is a reluctant person who does not like being under the spotlight for she is afraid of failure.And just to make things more interesting, she is parented by a single mother who is having her own difficulties adjusting the work life balance after her husband dies. A recipe perfect for an ugly-duckling-turns-swan kinda movie. Oh but there is one thing missing.What Dumbledore was to Harry, Morrpheus to Neo,Yoda to Luke.Yes!a teacher, a motivator,a guide!Though nowhere as exotic as these guys, what we have here is a UCLA professor who himself was a Bee contest winner but has now retired from the taxing job of managing pesky kids to the more serene hobby of gardening.He sees the potential in Akeelah, and agrees to train her.Our setting is almost complete.Throw in a bunch of other kids (ur typical 'best friend' ur helpful co-competitor' , ur 'i am not here to make friends, i m here to win' smartass kid) and there! its done!lights camera action!

OK! OK, enough of the sarcasm. the movie is quite good actually.Keke Palmer is cute and likable as Akeelah.Laurence Fishburne plays the subdued, grumpy professor with a past to perfection.The screenplay is also smartly crafted out to tug at ur heart strings, and u end up getting involved into the movie, cheering Akeelah and holding ur breath every time she's called on to spell some wickedly difficult word. The movie neither promises nor delivers anything new.It is just one of those movies to watch with ur family, have a good time ,and then forget all about it.

Everything is connected.A market analyst for a top notch Swiss firm.An intelligent and ambitious attorney who will sell himself to the highest bidder. A disgruntled immigration worker.A CIA agent.A senator.A king.The claimant to his throne.His brother.Everyone.Everything. Syriana is a mind boggling concoction of the ultimate conspiracy theory, where people from different walks of life, from different countries, from different phases of their life become witting or unwitting participants.Thank the heavens, intelligent cinema is not dead yet. In Iran, the king has played puppet to America, and is about to pass on the reins to his successor.Problem is, one of his sons is foreign educated, forward looking who wants to free his country from the US shackles, and has begun this by selling a lucrative oil-exploration contract to a more efficient Chinese company rather than the US competitors.The other one , however, is someone the US feel they will be able to rein in.Meanwhile, a merger between Killen( which has recently won rights to oil exploration in Kazakhstan) and Connex(the US giant which lost to the Chinese company) is being investigated by the Justice Department.The job of seeing the merger through is in the hands of an ambitious attorney , who is told that the merger is also in the country's interests.Then there is the case of the workers who previously worked before the more efficient Chinese company took over and laid off the workers.Treated unfairly and cruelly, a disgruntled Pakistani worker finds acceptance in a madarsa, where 'self-sacrifice' for the greater good of humanity is drilled into him, making him a jihadi. We then have the CIA agent who in the course of his missions sees a theft of a missile.However, his warnings fall on deaf ears, as the higher ups are more interested in focusing and emphasizing the changing and progressive face of Iran, and what the agent says is both inconvenient and embarrassing.Hence, he is made a scapegoat . A market analyst specializing in the energy sector sees his child die due to an unfortunate incident at a party thrown by the king.As a way of recompensating and making up, he is made the adviser to his son. The movie focuses on so many themes, and leaves one with a feeling of despair and inadequacy as we see how each of these players becomes a mere pawn for the good of a few people.The dialogue is minimal, most of it uttered in whispers,secretive tones.It's the gestures that do most of the work.Some scenes are bound to blow your mind away, as in the scene where the prince points out how US has been milking his country , purposely denying progress ; or the scene where Amanda Peet and Matt Damon quarrel about their son's loss; or the torture scene of George Clooney; or the wordless struggle between the ambitious attorney and his father. Hats off to the makers of the movie for making such a brilliant movie on such a sensitive theme.

The big screen adaptation of the 1st novel under the chronicles of narnia series by C.S.Lewis is a winner.All aspects of film making, from the cinematography to the art-direction to the editing to the rousing score all come together to deliver visually stunning and immensely satisfying movie experience. The world of Narnia and it's inhabitants are brought to life under the expert Andrew Adamson who has previously worked on the Shrek franchise.Fawns, ogres, beavers, magical horses, eagles who turn into flames, mermaids...the whole breadth of fantasy creatures are captured in the movie.And of course, Aslan, the lion messiah who guides the 4 children towards their destiny.Maginificient, grandiose, imposing and with a terrific screen presence. A special word here for Tilda Swanson who plays the role of the Snow Witch.I cannot imagine anyone else in that role,after having watched her. She is like, born for this role.She oozes evil in every movement, every gesture.The final battle scene, where she appears wielding swords and with a lion's mane around her, boy!

A must watch.

It's the same old tired and beaten to death conspiracy theory about pharma companies doing testing of drugs on poor African people upon whom the world has given up, and doctoring the test results by quashing those who resulted adverse side effects.This is because the potential market for the drug is too high for it to go into re-designing and re-testing , by which time other competitors may enter the market.Tessa Quayle is a hot headed , passionate human rights activist and worker.She unearths this conspiracy between the UK government and a pharma company that could have serious repercussions for both.And, so, as the lingo goes, "she is silenced". However, her husband Justin Quayle distraught, heart broken and ashamed of having suspected her wife involved in an affair, sets out to complete the unfinished work of his wife.

There was nothing new in the story.So, the only thing that could have saved this movie are good direction and good performances.Fortunately, both the director and the actors are up to the task.Ralph Fiennes is perfect as the soft spoken and charming British diplomat,and so is Rachel Weisz as the truth seeking activist.The supporting cast, in particular Bill Nighy and Danny Huston also turn in good performances.As for the director( whose previous work includes City of Gods among other things), the sun , sand, poverty,suffering,disease in Africa are all beautifully captured to provide a superb setting to the plot.

However the movie is not without drawbacks.Although this seems to be a really high level cover up, the information seems to be lying around that almost anyone who puts a little effort can find it.I mean this is something that involves the whole government, for Gods sake! And still, our Mrs. Quayle unearths everything by just talking to a few people on the net.It all seems too easy to be true.Also, the watchdogs ,which seem omnipotent, become conveniently absent to allow the story to continue.A British diplomat, who, as the beginning suggests has spend his life giving boring lectures suddenly is able to elude the government and make trips from kenya to London to europe to again some place in Africa.and it seems these days almost everybody has a contact who can make u the perfect passport to get u thru customs.wow.

So if you are willing to allow yourself a few logical flaws, this movie is definitely worth a look, for the brilliant performances, if not anything else.

There is absolute zero chemistry between the lead pair.All attempts at comedy fall absolutely flat( old woman hitting herself with a pan???!!) and evoke misery and apathy rather than any smiles.Meryl Streep is a complete miscast as the psychiatrist.The plot is so so worn out, clichéd and predictable,dear reader, that if you and I sat together to write a script, we would come up with something better than this.Oh, and that is not all.Oh no.You see , the lead actor is this wooden piece that goes by the name of Bryan Greenberg, who , it seems, was not able to overcome the shock of being cast opposite Uma Thurman in a lead role, and that the shock has wiped off all qualities of acting, expression that he might once have possessed.huh!Uma Thurman?fall for this walking zombie?

If even after this ,you still care enough to know the 'story' , Uma Thurman is this 37 year old woman , just divorced, who holds regular sessions with her psychiatrist Meryl Streep, who encourages her to go! have a fling! only thing is this fling happens with her 23 year old son, the walking zombie, and it seems that this will not be a fling at all,gr and things are quite serious.Meryl gradually comes to know , and then Uma comes to know, that things are well...complicated.So?what will Uma do?Will she stay out of the whole thing, terming it too risky , or take a chance with her feelings and pair up with the zombie?yeah. as if u didn't know.

All the clichés are there. The good-for-nothing best friend, the hidden-yet-unexpressed talent of the lead guy(painting, in this case), the drunk-and-slept-wit-another-gal incident...its as if the director made a checklist and just ran through the scenes, as if he was completing a grocery visit, rather than make a movie.

Enough said.A movie to be avoided unless u have ur girlfriend on a movie date wit u, and all other shows are running full.

Before one can say anything about the movie, it has to be said that this is 2 hours of non-stop visual delight.Scene after scene is laden with some stunning landscapes and cinematography that would make you gasp in awe and delight.And just when you have started breathing normally , you are bombarded by another heart stopping landscape.And no, I am not talking about the crazy and grand cinematography that , say LOTR had.This is much more mellowed, much more soothing and pleasant.Be it the endless succession of rooftops that young Sayuri sees from the roof, be it the strands of red cloth laid out against running water, be it the Chairman and Sayuri walking in grass and a gentle shower of pink blossoms from a nearby tree, it is as if the worlds most romantic poet crafted and created each and every scene from that corner of his heart which ached the most.And that alone makes this movie worth a watch.

Faced with extreme poverty, Sayuri's father , a fisherman , sells off his 2 daughters to get money for his sick wife.The two sisters are separated, and Sayuri ends up at the mercy of Hatsumomo, a cruel and heartless geisha.And because of her ,she ends up being a slave , destined to pay off her debts through years of service.However, an encounter with a kind man(The Chairman) makes Sayuri yearn to be a geisha so that she can finally end up with him again.Enter Mameha, the rival of Hatsumomo, who takes Sayuri under her tutelage and transforms her into the most sought after geisha in that part of the world.Things take a turn for worse unfortunately with war, and Sayuri is reduced to just another worker, the magical art of Geisha being long lost.However, she is called back to help the Chairman get through a deal with the Americans.Will she be able to express her love to the Chairman? or will it get lost in the hard world of geisha, where ,as Mameha put it,"We do not become geisha to pursue our own destinies."

The plot moves along at a languid, unhurried pace, which is just right for the content.Ziyi Zhang is perfect as the mesmerizing Sayuri(boy, she IS mesmerizing.the deep green eyes of her...), and so is Ken Watanabe as the Chairman.The one drawback is initially it does take time to start gathering steam and converge into an engaging story line, and you want to scream, "Ok! Got it!Now can we move ahead PLEASE??"

Overall however, I would say that it definitely does deserve a look.Personally?One of the best movies of the year.

3 people go on a road trip, with the intention of trekking and camping at Wolf Creek.While returning from the trek, they find out that mysteriously, their car battery has died, and they are left with having to spend the night out in the middle of nowhere.Thankfully, a stranger arrives, who agrees to take them to tow their car to his place(which he points out , is unfortunately in the opposite direction to the main city) , where he will repair the car FREE OF COST. The 3 people , although a little spooked by the little weird mannerisms of the stranger, decide to go with him.And of course, as it turns out, this guy is completely sadistic, who has been responsible for the murder of a large no. of backpackers.What follows is a story of struggle and torture.

Yes, this seems to be just another addition to the already long list of movies that exist in this genre.About the actors, well, they scream and cry and become appropriately hysteric when called on for, and really, that is the extent of acting you expect in these kind of movies.John Jarrett, according to me, was a little miscast in that while he was believable as being a little weird and spooky when they first encounter him, when he is required to be a complete nut and psycho. He is not frightful enough, and that is really a huge negative, because the main focus of the movie being the torture and the inhuman suffering that the trekkers have to go through, with John Jarrett not being able to radiate that kind of a feeling, these scenes lose their edge.

Also, this movie takes too long a time to build the mood. Almost an hour goes by before we first meet John Jarrett.Why??That is too valuable to be spent on the 3 characters.We all know what they are going to encounter.And its also not that their acting skills are so great that they are capable of building up their own characters so that we can sympathize/identify with them when the torture starts.There are also some logical gaps in the movie.

However, that is not to say that there are no redeeming features about the movie.Themovie is equipped with some stunning visuals and scenery, which seem to add on to the mood of the movie.I would say that this is definitely worth a look, as it is by far one of the better movies to have come out in this genre over the past few years.

I was a generation too late for the Doors.Yes , I had heard some of their hits, knew that they were led by the mercurial guy Jim Morrison, who in the footsteps of true rock legends, had committed suicide.But that was about it.Why I am mentioning this is to clarify that I the praise that is going to follow is not because I am a true-blue Doors fan, and that I dig anything and everything related to Doors. The reason is because, quite simply, it is a brilliant film. Oliver Stone handles the subject matter with a kind of mastery that ordinary directors won't even dare. Who would dare to start off a movie on Doors with what initially seems a scene of no consequence in the desert? The whole atmosphere of the 60s is built up superbly.Yes, the ,mandatory wigs, big sunglasses, beads and amulets, naked women, Woodstock...all are there, but there is more.It's the intangible, that feeling which you get that yes, this is what the 60s was.The wild world of rock and roll, made more complicated by the fact that Jim Morrison was far more enigmatic and complex than your typical rockstar,and at the same time an absolute brilliant song-writer is all conveyed just the way it should be. And as if all this was not enough, you have Val Kilmer playing one of the most brilliant lead performances as Jim Morrison.In fact, the similarity between is quite eerie.I watched a couple of Jim Morrison vids after the movie, and boy,u would think that they are related. Yes, liberties have been taken with the actual events.Morrison was not as moody and self-destructive as shown in the movie.So don't go into the movie expecting a documentary on Jim , instead, watch it as a glimpse into the crazy world of 60s, and each and every minute of the movie will be worth it.