Monday, September 24, 2007

Sept 24, 2007

Unforgiven (English): The scenes were composed so splendidly that though they look simple they have lot of action and suspense. Clint Eastwood was at his best. It did not have some fast/loud background music but it was still interesting. Every scene makes us expect something to happen and a different thing happens. The action scenes were awesome. They are violent and also make a huge impact on the audience. I liked it very much.

Jaws (English): Its an old movie (1975). So, the initial part where most of the talking between the people goes was not much interesting to me. but as soon as the 3 actors go out on the boat to kill the shark, the story turns out interesting. This also had all the scenes filled with suspense, action and thrill. The camera work and screenplay was very good.

Syriana (English): The movie was slow paced. Some of the violence scenes were done good. The camera work was neat. I had no interest in the story so I did not like it.

American Beauty (English): I watched it for second time and it was more interesting. It had a very good script. Kevin spacey was awesome. The character etching for all the characters was done superbly. The conflict was plenty. Its a character driven movie. The narrator is Lester (Kevin Spacey). The opens with the actor saying "Today is my last day". The character transforms to a more optimistic state by the end of the movie and dies but the contradictory thing is now he feels life is all those moments which he enjoyed. He is no more afraid of losing anything. He even quotes to his boss "I am an ordinary man who has nothing to lose". Every character undergoes transformation in the movie but the major change is of Lest. The inciting incident happens when Lest meets his daughter's friend. The dramatic question is will Lest be able to achieve that girl by changing himself. So, the goal is to attract that girl, need is to change himself. He achieves the need by the end. He leaves the girl. The mid-point of the movie is when he starts working out and says the dialogue: "Everydays is the first day or your life except the day you die". Crisis is when he realizes that his daughter hates him, his wife is hooked up to someone else. He doesnt feel bad for any of those things. He is a changed man now. In the climax, he doesnt seduce the girl. This is a MUST watch movie.

Disturbia (English): Pretty good movie. Its a fairly simple story presented in a new way. The best thing of the movie is the camera. The first accident in which the father of the hero dies is awesome. I felt as if it happened to me. I dont know how the cinematographer was able to capture it but its breath-taking. The same kinda work is done in the last part where the hero fights the killer. The remaining part of the movie is good and entertaining. I felt the movie ended very easily. The kid kills the killer so easily. The tension and other things were excellent but a different ending would have made it a very good one.

Mr. Brooks (English): An OK killer movie. Kevin Costner did a wonderful action. The movie revolves around a killer who kills because he is addicted to it. He does the job without leaving any clue for the police. Overall you can watch it once.

thats it for now.

--Shiva

Monday, September 17, 2007

Sept 17, 2007

movies I watched over the weekend are:

Life as a house (English): Good story, cinematography. The movie is kinda simple story revolving around a family. The emotions are picturized very nicely. The goal of the central character is to build the house and the need is to connect with his son. He dies without finishing the house but succeeds in connecting with his son and making him a good human-being. Finally the son donating the house to the girl who lost her legs in the accident made by his father is moving. The guy in the son's role did wonderful acting. His arc moves perfectly and he did fit the role aptly.

The lives of others (German): I felt the movie was slow. It revolves around the lives of people in East Germany in 60s. One thing I like in this movie is the characterization of the professor. The opening of the film is good. Overall the movie is OK.

Tootsie (English): It was hillarious. The movie was fast paced, interesting and funny. The characterization of the main actors is good. Dustin Hoffman gave an excellent performance for his role. The movie keeps you stay glued to the screen. The highlight of the movie is its climax. I have expected all different other endings but to my utter surprise the climax was completely different. The dialogue delivered by Hoffman in the climax is so lengthy, so funny and so surprising. The dialogue writer and Hoffman for delivering that lengthy dialogue should be given the praise. Its a must watch. It had a tight screenplay and plot.

Dhamaal (Hindi/Indian): The first act was slow and kinda expected but the movie picks up pace as it moves. The later acts are well packed and have lots of comedy. Some of them are already known but still make you laugh. The climax is good. The characterization is OK but not excellent which makes the first act not interesting. Overall the movie is good. Can watch it for the comedy.

Heyy Baby (Hindi/Indian): I did not like this one. The screenplay was not good. The events were very weak. The plot is not interesting. The plot-points are the routine expected cliche ones. Managed to get some comedy in 1 or 2 scenes but other than that, its not worth it. I wouldnt recommend this one. The camera work and direction were sufficient enough but as there was no good script it was bound to fail.

Broke back mountain (English): Its a slow paced movie but it makes you feel. Its a story about two guys who are in love with each other. I couldnt connect with it so might not have felt the depth of emotions but at the end it really creates the impact. The camera, script are all fine.

that was it for the weekend.

-Shiva

Monday, September 10, 2007

10 September 2007

back in form after a long time. watched 5 movies over the weekend.

RGV ki Aag (Hindi/Indian): Its a remake of the old movie "Sholay" released in 70s. The story is almost the same except a few scenes where the events are different. The director chose different camera angles. He wanted to try something different for his much awaited movie. I personally feel that whatever the technical stuff you use should to maximum level improve the way the story is told but not make the stuff complex and difficult for the audience to understand. I guess the second thing has happened in the case of Aag. I was watching the movie and the camera moved so fast (or scenes edited so fast) that at some point I got headache and my eyes couldnt stay on the screen. The other most important reason behind failure of the film is the actress in the role of "ghungroo". She didnt have the correct expressions. She did overact all scenes. The way she says the dialogue "Too much hain" was aweful. The complete characterization was worst. May be the director should have chosen a good one for that role. I assume the director was under pressure to make the movie differently and so he tried ways to do the same stuff differently and I feel there was less creativity in it. The villain "Babban" imitated Marlon Brando in Godfather for some of the scenes and some of the scenes were kinda comic. The positive things were the role of "Rambha bhai", few changes to the old story. Overall the movie is a below average movie. I think the selection of the actress and ordinary camera angles would have made it an average movie atleast.

Requiem for a dream (English):This movie is a good example for presenting stuff differently, novel, effectively,...etc of an old concept. The movie is about "the plight of drug addicts". An ordinary person can make a documentary with this kind of subject but the movie is not a documentary. By the end of the movie I can feel the pain, agony experienced by those people and I never want to get into that stuff. I mean I can literally feel its happening in front of my eyes. Simple narration, absolutely fabulous camera work, good background sound, fine editing and justified ending made the movie a good one. The best camera work was the way the maker portrayed the drug injection done by the guys. The pressing of needle, the adrenaline rush, the enlarging of the eye-ball,..etc. I dont know if this is all true or false but they definitely made an impact on me. As a sub-plot the director also showed that addiction to TV is also not less than consuming drugs. It makes you go to that farthest extent possible. At the end, everyone (all characters) is a loser. This is also an example to show the larger affect images have on human mind than lengthy/boring dialogues. Nothing is said in the climax. All the images are shown with a good back ground music which rises the tension in its audience. It made an impact on me. This movie is an example where the "Goal" and "Need" both are not achieved by the characters. The Goal of these guys was to become big, earn money, live rich life but their need was to earn this movie through selling drugs, consuming drugs, ...etc. This has a moral too, just as a documentary but just not pushed onto us. If your path is drugs,..etc you cant achieve your goal. Nice work by the cast and crew.

Sideways (English): This portrays the life of a loser. I analyze it to be a character-driven movie and not a plot-driven movie. The character doesnt have distinct goal and need. The publishing of book, his reunion with his divorced wife or new life with Maya could have made him happy. His life is just like any normal man's life. The presentation is pretty simple and neat. Miles saves the chevy blanc '61 for a great occassion but at the end when everything goes against him, he drinks that in a burger store, hiding it from people. He decides to let loose everything and live life as it comes. The next thing is he hears back from Maya. So, we assume that he gets Maya and then he might achieve other stuff too. Not a hi-fi flick but a pretty decent one to watch and connect with if you think life is going against you.

Good Will Hunting (English): I liked this a lot. It had so many intense moments and so much of emotions filled scenes. The dramatic question of the movie is: "Does Will Hunting take up the job or act as imagined by the Math professor?". The goal of the movie is that Will take up the NSA job. The need of the character is to solve his personal problem. We come to know by the end that the problem of Will is that he fears losing the people he want. So he acts defensively and loses them before they leave him. But after the counselling by Robin Williams, he gets cured and finally goes back to his girl friend. He doesnt take up the job. So, the need of the movie is fulfilled but not the goal. The inciting incident/catalyst is when Will solves the difficult Math problem, the way he answers the kid in the bar. The mid-point is when he starts talking with Robin Williams. The crisis is when his girl friend leaves him, his friend (Ben Affleck) tells him that he should get into a good job rather than working at the construction site. The climax is the point where Robin Williams tells Well "thats not your fault". Will breaks at this moment and his inner fear comes out. Resolution is that Will starts toward his girl friend, leaves a note for Robin, leaves his home as said by his friend. The last scene when Ben Affleck finds that the guy left made me feel very emotional. The director picturized the scenes awesome. A must watch movie.

The Prestige (English): A different/creative screenplay. The core concept of the movie is about jealousy, hatred-competition. The two guys in the same profession feel jealous and does things to make themselves great to such an extent that they can kill each other for it. The thing that makes this a different movie is its screenplay. The movie is presented as a flash-back revealing incidents from one guy's diary in which that guy reads this guy's diary. So its like seeing a mirror through another mirror. The inciting incident is when ideas of both the guys clash. The big event happens when one person's wife dies. The dramatic question is "who wins the competition and how?" Actually I feel there is no protagonist here. Both have done evil deeds. So, both should be punished. Hence two guys die at end. The only thing is that the identical brother of one of the guys' is alive. The moral is that if you are obsessed with something and do evil acts to gain success, you fail. Though the person loses his wife, he doesnt care. The only thing he always thinks is about is to become famous than the other guy. The other guy is married but keeps secret of his identical brother from her, giving his jealous-filled competition more importance than his wife. So, both of them die at the end. The mid-point is when one of the guys does the "Transported man" magic. Crisis is when the opposite guy tries to achieve the same magic through Tesla. The climax is when the other guy succeeds in performing the trick. Resolution is both of them die, the identical brother is revealed and also how did the Tesla's incomplete experiment work for the guy. A good screenplay.

thats it..
-Shiva

Monday, August 20, 2007

Aug 20th, 2007

Hello...

Past few weeks have been pretty hectic. So, did not get a chance to watch a lot of the movies. Here are some of the (unseen) ones, I watched.

Bourne Ultimatum (English): A good action flick. Technically the movie was good. I did not understand the story quiet a bit because I havent seen the "Bourne Supremacy". The fights were designed were well. The camera work for the last fight (climax) was superb. They captured the scenes just as real. You can feel it happening in front of you. Majority of the movie is action. To me it was just like any other Bond movie or Die hard one.

Chuk De India (Hindi / Indian): Good movie with a different subject (atleast for bollywood). The movie is all about how a sports person achieves his victory. Most Indian movies, have a bit of love/marriage concept attached to any story. This one is different in that perspective. The hero of the movie walks in as a sports person, walks out as a winning coach. He doesnt fall in love with any person other than the game. He is so passionate about the game that he can risk anything for it. The movie has a very good plot, screenplay, dialogues, music, direction...etc . I would say all. The other perspective in which the movie is different from the routine is that it doesnt have exclusive songs or songs deviating from the story. The songs run in the background as the movie progresses, depending on the situation. The music, movie, comedy, action etc are all in the story and are not added to the story for the sake of having them. Performances are good and natural. I can see the enormous effort the crew of this movie has put in to make it a big success. It has all the elements of a good movie and is definitely a visual treat for all the audience. Kudos to the people behind this one mainly for choosing a different subject and then for bringing it out perfectly.

Thats all for now....

Monday, August 6, 2007

August 06, 2007

Bheja Fry (Hindi/Indian): This was a different one from the routine movies. I read that it has been inspired from a french movie (Dinner game). I dont care if its from somewhere, but the characters are Indian. The way they speak, act, etc. Its a hillarious movie. I enjoyed it a lot. Its just 90 minute movie, setup for 90% of the time in just a single room and with 3 or less characters at a time. The dialogues, conversation was so funny and interesting that I could not resist bursting out laughing, falling on floor. The main character "Bharat Bhushan" was carved very nicely. There are no songs, no big huge dialogues, no artificial stuff, no huge sets, no animations, no graphics, no big make ups, .....etc. Just a perfect script. This shows the importance of script for a movie. If the script is tight, we dont need anything else to make the movie a big hit. I read that this movie was made at a minimum of 50 lakhs (5 million) rupees budget and it earned 10 crores at the box office, which is 12 times more than the investment. This should be an example for all those big bollywood movies, which have no story but huge starcast, huge sets, filmy dialogues, over cost production,...etc (dhoom2). Its a must watch for everyone. Highly recommended. I mean I cant forget the way Bharat Bhushan says "Redial", "Its ringing",..etc. This is the good movie, I found after Knocked up in the recent days.

Gandhi my father (Hindi/Indian): I saw the movie in theatre, after reading the great reviews given for this movie. I feel the movie is excellent in technical perspective. This is a period film, so the sets to represent the 1906 - 1940s are good. The dressing, the houses, the people, the culture, the traditions, etc of those days are etched out wonderfully without even a minor mistake. They took a lot of care to represent the old days. The performances are fabulous. Shefali Shah as Kasturba Gandhi is perfect, same is true with Gandhi and Akshay Khanna's character. The b&w film (grainy) to represent the film in those days is awesome. The only weak point, I feel about the movie is the script. I did not understand why Harilal behaved so. Meaning does the director wanted to show Gandhi as a cause of it or Harilal as a cause for his life or what ? who ? The way Harilal ruined his life is portrayed but the movie is all about why did it happen? Gandhi is shown as a good father in the movie, so I couldnt understand whom is the narrator blaming for Harilal's condition. Also the caption of the movie is "One family's suffering is one nation's pride". There was no justification for this caption. The script should have been still tight, reflecting the reason for Harilal's behavior at his each action. Movie seems to be a bit slow in the second half. Overall it can be watched once for the technical brilliance.

Jagadam (Telugu/Indian): Its based on Sigmund Freud's theory of animal instinct in every human being. The movie suffers the same problem of script. The first half is OK but the second half seems to be boring. The narration, the director chose is different but for this kind of film, he should have chosen a different perspective to make it more interesting because the end of the movie concludes the leading actor as a loser, which will not be accepted by Indian movie goers (non-multiplexes). So, that might be one of the reasons for its failure at the box office. Other than that, the cinematography is excellent. The audio is very good. The taking is perfect. I can say everything else is very good, just the people do not agree with the conclusion because violence is a fashion through out the world and if you are justifying that we should stay away from violence, nobody is going to agree with you. So, should have chosen a different way to end or narrate the story.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Hurrrrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! my blog now shows up on googling

I have been busy with work, so could not post articles here. Alright, so here is about my movies... - 07/28/2007

Live Free or Die Hard (English/US): Good action movie. Except for the climax fight, all the fights are believable. The climax one is like a bit too much. The concept is good. Meaning in this period of time, the hacking,...etc seems to be logical. So, overall the movie is a good one.

Transformers (English/US): I did not like this movie because I am not interested in video games or gadgets doing something and I feel the movie is like a video game, where all the gadgets are playing. The initial part where the hero does something is good but after that its all gadgets, their re-structuring. Moreover they have emotions; they cry, cheat, laugh,fight, help,..etc. To my mind its not logical. How can an electronic device cry or have emotions??? The yellow truck in the climax says "I ll live them on earth and it kinda cries". This doesnt make any sense to me. The movie can be watched for the hero and heroine. Heroine is cute, hot and sexy. But they did not make good use of her. Not even of the hero. So, overall I dont recommend this movie. But yeah if u like video games, you might try it. You might feel it interesting.

Lakshyam (Telugu/Indian): First half is boring as hell. The same concept which we have been watching from years is put in. Nothing new / interesting in first half. Second half is OK. The only interesting thing, I found good about the movie is the actress Anushka.

Anand (Hindi/Indian): Its an old movie (seventies...). The one liners are good. The acting by Rajesh Khanna is good. The movie is good but it doesnt appeal much now because I have watched many of its kind. Anyway can watch it once.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

as of June 20, 2007

Last couple of weeks was pretty slow. I think I havent watched many "new" movies. I watched movies but they are all old ones (which I had already watched).
7/g brindavan colony, athadu, pokiri, sri ramadasu, etc.

The new movies, I watched are:

Aadavari matalaku ardhale verule (Telugu/Indian): The movie is good in bits and pieces. As a whole its not a good one though you can watch it once. The interesting bits are some of the comedy bits performed by the hero Venkatesh, the conversations between Venkatesh and Kota Srinivas Rao are excellent and couple of songs. The interesting thing I found was the action by hero Venkatesh was really different, not a cliche. I dont know if this is what the director made him do or whatever the action was not the routine stuff. I liked it. I could see the maturity in his action.

Amelie(French): The photography was different. The narration was interesting but I did not understand what the director wanted to conclude at the end of the movie. I did not feel it was a perfect ending. I dont know if this is my problem, but yeah I did not like/understand the way it ended. The camera work was very good and different.

Fatal Attraction (English): The movie was boring. I did not like it may be because there are many of its kind now and so seeing an old movie of similar story is not that interesting.

so thats all for now.

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