Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Only if i knew that this movie was so wonderful and breathtaking, i would have seen it last year only. I got to watch this film in NYC with a friend of mine. The Curious case is a slow drama movie and is a long movie from an American's point of view. The film starts well depicting an era after WW-I in 1918 when benjamin button is born. He is born as an old crippled ugly man whom anyone would abandon and disown. You have to watch out this film for its Visual Effects. They were awesome and there is a reason for Curious case to bag an Oscar in visual effects. The driving force in the movie is Benjamin played by Bratt Pitt aging backwards since his birth. It requires a strong vision to bring this possible on 35 mm screen and Director David Fincher makes its possible. Am disappointed that he couldnt bag the best film or director oscar but the art direction and makeup oscars are credit worthy.
This is the best brad pitt film i ever watched in my life. Brad i simply adorable and is immensely so into the character of the role. The film has introduction scene of his wife played by Cate Blanchett (who acts superbly too) narrating her lifes story to her daughter. I felt she was made look too old for her age as her daughter sitting next to her looked mere 35-40. The logic of aging backwards is also irking me. When benjamin is born, he is old and crippled in a young childs body. He has arthritis in a young childs body but as he grows old he is aging backward and i would have expected him to die as a child in an old man's body. But this doesnt happen. Perhaps i am thinking wrong but i just think of having reverse logic being put in place. The saddest scene is when brad now a baby since he is aging backwards dies in the arms of Cate Blanchette. YOU have to watch this scene. Brad is poised throughtout the movie and delivers an oscar performance. All supporting actors like Taraji do a commending job lifting the spirits of the movie high. This movie is very emotional and will keep you glued to your seats if you are interested in watching how brad will look like now. In one of the scenes, brad is shown as 17 yr old. Surely the makeup dept convinced the academy for an oscar on this. I liked one of the dialogue when brad tells Cate (Daisy) that he needs to leave and that she cant raise both of he and his daughter. For me, the best movie of 2009 and for coming years. I strongly recommend you watch this movie. I'll rate this movie 9.5/10

Delhi-6



I heard a spate of Delhi movies are in the Bollywood pipeline. Feels good because i am a Delhite. Director Prakash Mehra captures the spur and warmth of delhi in Delhi-6. The whole story revolving around "Kaala Bandar" (Black Monkey) is hilarious. As a delhite, we all know that this story was making rounds of Delhi's towns which seemed to be menaced by a man dressed in black monkey suit and haunting people. Mr. Mehra gives a good start to the film as his cinematographer did a brilliant job with different camera angles. The one i liked the most was the camera motion moving swiftly in up and down motion enacting scenes just like from the eye of the monkey. I still feel glueing Kaala Bandar topic with his story, Mr Mehra is late as this happened long years back. Anyways, Abhishek's journey to India does not seem to bother him much except the electricity issues. He gets used to Delhi's closed streets very soon, earlier than with any family ! Abhishek fails to deliver an Indian American accent i was looking forward to. He definitely disappoints me in that department. In some shots Abhishek speaks fluent hindi, in some he tries to get the slang then Indian English. Someone who has seen the Daniel Perl Story (Well this is what i can remember now), watch out for Angelina Jolie's cuban accent in that film who is originally an American. She is simply superb !
Abhishek has more clothes to wear than his stay in Delhi which is very unnatural for any American who would be very casual for his attire. Somehow i have observed that Abhishek suits for films which require deep thinking and contemplation. There are actually some scenes in the film where his work is praise worthy as he thinks of all loose strings in the families. Waheeda ji gives a performance close to her heart and is delightful to watch. Am banking heavily on Mamdu (Deepak Dobriyal) and Jalebi's (Divya Dutta) work in the film and i hope they bag a filmfare for their supporting actor performance. They were brilliant and add stars to the film. Mamdu who plays a muslim character is full of spontaneity and energy. You have to see his work in the forgotten "1971" film. Great acting by him in the midst of Hindu-Muslim agitation makes him stand out. Divya Dutta is another actor whom i cant stop praising. I liked her in Veer Zaara as well and i dont know why she doesnt get noticed by filmfare academy. She is brilliant with her acting and Haryanwi fluent accent in the film. Please watch this drama queen !
The casting director fares well in his choice of cast selection except Sonam Kapoor. She is the biggest disappointment in the film. Abhishek just doesnt seem to have the right chemistry with her in the film. The theatre actors from Delhi (Pavan Malhotra, Om Puri, Supriya Pathak, Akhilesh etc) add to the spark in the film. This is a family film and has minor glitches from my point of view. City locales in Chandni Chowk have been shot well and will resonate with the heart of every Delhite. I recommend you watch it. I'll rate the film 7/10.

Gran Torino



Am pretty sure only the die hard fans of Clint Eastwood went to the theaters and watched it. Am turning into a fan of Mr Eastwood and this was an amazing film to watch. I had no clue what Gran Torino meant so i googled and found it was a 1972 ford car. The film is interesting because it shows how one can bridge the differences one can have with his neighbors which ofcourse in this film were the courteous and extremely hospitable Hmong people. Sir Clint Eastwood directorial gives a superb acting performance who is always frustrated not only by his own family members but also a racial disgust for the Hmong Asian neighbours. Not untill one of the Hmong teenager tries to steal Eastwood's car, the story takes a turn. The young teenager later apologises and wants to work for Eastwood for redemption. The closeness between the 2 families starts to grow. Clint starts visiting the Hmong family and gets aquainted with Hmong people.
With no support from his own family, Clint slowly finds company with his Asian neighbours and protects them against all evil and gang members. The movie is simple and draws attention to the way Clint becomes part of the Hmong family helping and protecting them. The dry and cold Clint transforms into a person who looks beyond his near ending life after his wife's recent death. His racial differences against the Asian neighbours vanish soon as he gets closer to them and understands their culture. And in the end, when he sacrifices his life being gun shot by all sorts of ammunication a gang would possess is very tragical and emotional. His never visiting sons and their family hope to get his car "Gran Torino" in Clint's will. For Thao (the young teenager), its a bliss to get Clints car after his death from his will. Sir Clint plays his never shown selfless part even after his death. You need to watch this for Sir Clint Eastwood, an amazing movie. I'll rate this movie 8/10 because i feel direction could have been better.