Skyfall - The Reboot's Done!

With Quantum of Solace bringing down the chips on 007 - MGM's huge financial mess, buy-back and take-over issue and a hundred other problems one kept wondering if Bond-23 would ever see the light of day.

The wait was worth it - in Skyfall Daniel Craig is back in form as 007 chasing a group which is in possession of a disk-drive which has the identities of secret-agents embedded in terrorist organiations all over the world.

An adrenaline-rush inducing start sequence in Istanbul funnly similar to an animated Tintin on his motorbike earlier this year and a fight atop a train and a shot - that plunges 007 down into a river in Jason Bourne style.

007 is presumed dead, MI-6 is rocked by bomb-explosions and agents are killed. M played by Judi Dench is called for an enquiry and we have Ralph Fiennes making in an entry as the next head of MI-6.

The bomb-attack brings 007 back to London - a bitter man waiting to find justice and to know why he was shot - "If you had trusted me I would have had the disk-drive for you".

After a new Q - who looks suspiciously like Rajendra Kumar's son Kumar Gaurav - training and reassesmment of fitness - 007 is back in the hunt landing in Shanghai attempting to discover the mastermind behind the attacks.

The trail thickens as an assassin falls to his death - a gambling chip takes 007 to Macau where more intriguing stuff happens as we meet a seductive lady who loks like a cross between Sophie Marceau and Lucy Liu.

Finally we are introduced to the villain - an ex MI-6 operative Silva - played with aplomb by Javier Bardem. The parallels with Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight' do not do justice to Bardem's portrayal.

There is a moment when we almost expect Silva to grab 007 and kiss him but the moment is diffused when 007 states nonchalantly - 'What makes you think it's my first time?'

Silva expertly gets arrested - hacks into the MI-6 system creates chaos as he escapes from his high-security cell and sets up an explosion and crash in the London Metro.

All this to avenge the injustice meted out by M and the 'spy-masters' on him - when he was betrayed many years ago and left to his Chinese captors.

007 foils the plan and then starts the final chapter.

007 taking M to safety in the classic silver Aston Martin and driving to Bond's family-abode - Skyfall in Scotland. Here we meet the caretaker Albert Finney who steals the show with a classic line - "Son I was ready even before you were born".

The three wait with limited ammunition, innovate and come up with traps and wait for Silva and his goons to land. Shoot-outs and explosions and a final climax in the chapel as Silva, M and 007 come to terms with their inner demons.

Watch the movie for Sam Mendes does a reboot in style - ticks all the right boxes, fights, Bond-babes, intrigue, stunning music and cinematography and Adele's lovely rendition, crackling humour. There's even a quotation from a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Watch the movie to witness a Bond who is the truest to what Ian Fleming envisaged in his novels.

My only grouse - a villain of Silva's stature deserves a better death!

Three and a half stars!

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

There is a strange sense of joy when you manage to sit in the AC comfort of a plush cinema-hall and get to watch a movie for TEN bucks right in the first row. The joy is compounded when the movie is The Dark Knight Rises - before I go into the review a prayer to the dear departed souls whose lives were snuffed out by a deranged psychopath in the US.

All tickets in the executive class were full and the helpful attendant gave me a Rs 10 ticket to my shock and surprise the three gorgeous (make-up magic) girls who stood behind me in the queue managed to get the executive tickets! 'Anything for you madam' seems to be PVR's new mantra :)

Before the movie started there were trailers of Superman to be released in 2013 and The Bourne Legacy (am not going to miss it). The movie started finally and the incessant chat of two dumb chaps in Telugu was beginning to irritate me. Before I could say anythin another chap a Sardar methinks said - 'Oye chhhup kar yaar picture dekh'!

The movie starts with a plane flying with a CIA recovery team who have seemingly captured a nuclear physicist and some mercenaries who work for Bane! Then we are introduced to the menacing Bane himself played by Tom Hardy attired with a Hannibalesque mask! A crash is engineered and Bane escapes with the physicist hanaging from another plane! What an introduction scene :)

Commisioner Gordon's homage to Harvey Dent and then introduces us to the now retired Batman / Bruce Wayne. We are also introduced to the ravishingly seductive Catwoman / Selina Kyle played by Ann Hathaway:)!

To cut a long story short we have a stock market attack initiated by Bane in which Bruce Wayne loses control of his company. This follows Bane terrorising the city by blowing up parts of the city specially the stadium when an American soccer match is in progress.

He threatens to blow a nuclear device if his demands are not met and unleashes a reign of terror and revolution wherein the commoners hold mock-trials and punish the upper class society members.

There is a parallel track of a rookie cop who holds the key to the climax!

SPOILERS AHEAD - I guess half the readers of this blog would have seen the movie already!

The caped crusader wears the mask again and tries to fight Bane. But Bane overpowers Batman and sends him to a dungeon at the bottom of a well-like structure and there we see Bruce Wayne recovering from his bashing supported by two old men in the prison.

During this period complete unrest and anarchy breaks out in Gotham City while a whole contingent of policemen are trapped in the underground tunnels.

The movie keeps shifting from Gotham to the dark dungeon - apparently a few shots of the exterior landscape depicting the location of the dungeon were shot in Rajasthan!

Bruce Wayne rebuilds his strength and attempts to climb out of the well, fails a couple of times and then climbs out without the aid of a rope!

Gordon and the rookie cop meanwhile try to prevent the nuclear bomb from detonating. Batman returns to Gotham and a massive fight ensues and good triumphs over evil.

We have a lady who sleeps with Bruce Wayne turning out to be Ras al Ghul's daughter who seeks vengeance and the Catwoman becoming Batman's saviour!

The movie ends on a positive note we are to believe that Wayne / Batman escapes a nuclear blast and lands in Florence with Selina Kyle in tow and a memorial gets erected for Batman in Gotham City.

The ends also brings the option of a new Batman franchise. Watch the movie!!!

Special mention as always for Michael Caine as Alfred the butler and Morgan Freeman as Fox the tech-guru!

Nowhere near the Dark Knight because Heath Ledger was a villain in another mode and Tom Hardy has to portray a more physical and brutal villain.

I wonder how Bane eats / drinks and if the mask is to be there always, how come there is no beard or side-burns if he can't shave :)!

Quick Movie Reviews

The Spirit - Malayalam
Starring - Mohanlal, Kaniha, Shankar, Kalpana and others

The movie is a social commentary on how alcoholism is becoming a big issue in Kerala. Every day the number of alcohol-related deaths are rising. This movie is about the writer cum media-person Raghunandan played by Mohanlal who is a chronic alcoholic and is divorced but maintains a friendly relationship with his ex-wife her new husband and the mute son from his marriage.

His friend and poet dies in his arms spitting blood and tissue because of alcohol dependency forces Raghu to change the way he looks at life.

A documentary is shot titled a 'Day in the life of an alcoholic' as part of his TV show - the documentary bit shows the frustrations and problems of an alcoholic.

Definitely worth a watch Ranjit's script and direction is top-class.

Three and a half stars!

Pan Singh Tomar - Irffan Khan, Mahie Gill, Raghuvir Yadav, Nawazuddin Sidiqqui and others. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia.


Based on a true story of an army officer cum athlete who ends up becoming a dacoit and is shot dead in a brutal police encounter. The movie is stunning for the sheer intensity that Irffan brings in his portrayal as the long-distance runner and then the dacoit who wreaks vengeance.

Have not seen Gangs of Wasseypur yet so cannot comment on Manoj Bajpayee's acting but Irffan deserves an award for the sheer effort he has put in to portray the champion runner.

Deserves four stars :)

Movie Reviews

Aravaan - Tamil:

I have been a fan of Vasanthabalan since 'Veyil', not many know that he made a movie called 'Album' before it. Aravaan is based on a section from the award-winning Tamil historical novel 'Kaaval Kootam'. The movie set in 17th-18th century Tamizh Nadu focusses on a clan of thieves and their actions.

How a stranger joins their group, and what his secret is - forms the crux of the story. Good cinematography, below-par graphics, good songs and great performances by Aadhi and Pasupathi.

Definitely worth watching once :)

Second Show - Malayalam:

Mamooty's son Dulquar Salman makes a power-packed debut as a thug/drug-trafficker with the story starting in flashback-mode - worthy of a Tarantinoesque twist - the movie has great camera-work some wonderful lines a great support cast and Sudesh Beri as the menacing villain Vishnu Buddhan. Special mention for Rohini who plays Salman's mother :)

One line that remains etched in my memory - 'Annum, Innum, Ennum - pennunu pannam aana kamughan!'roughly translated as - 'Be it then, now or ever after for a woman - money is a woman's preferred lover!' - The intensity with which he delivers this dialogue when in jail realizing that the girl who promised to be with him through thick and thin has now married someone else has to be seen to be believed!

A great start by D. Salman :)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

When the Millennium Trilogy got translated into English - the mammoth size of the first book with an intriguing cover was too tempting for me to resist buying it. I bought it at the Chennai Book Fair at a 10% discount. I finished the book over three days - essentially seven hours of reading on my train-ride to and from work.

It was undeniably good the next purchase was buying the remaining two books.

The books have been successfully made into movies in Swedish. When David Fincher was named director for the English version - I was really happy after Se7en and Zodiac David Fincher has been a firm favourite. Please note I have not seen his earlier movies that cemented his name as a man who could muddle your mind with his movies like - Eraserheads. Daniel Craig after a pathetic show in Quantum of Solace and The Golden Compass redeems himself to an extent as Michael Blomkvist the journalist.

The movie belongs to but one character like the books - the girl - Lisbeth Salander - a hacker / researcher par excellence - a thin and frail girl with body art, rings, and openly bi-sexual a ward of the state because she attempted to kill her father when she was 11. Naomi Rapace truly deserved an Oscar for this role.

The movie is about bilionaire Henrik who wants Michael to investigate the case of a missing girl Hannah. How Michael and Lisbeth solve this case and uncover a serial-killer who sexually violated women forms the crux of the story.

The movie is technically banned from a theatrical release in India as far as I know because of nudity and disturbing behaviour on screen. It's a shame but well torrents abound and you know where to go to get the DVDs be it Palika Bazaar, Chor Bazaar, Burma Bazaar, Singapore Plaza, Chandini Chowk etc...

Watch the movie......

Mynaa - Movie review

Directed by Prabhu Solomon, Mynaa starts interestingly with the preparations being made in a huge joint family for celebrating Diwali. We are shown various women speaking with another woman regarding the saree they plan to wear. We realize that the youngest daughter of the family would arrive to celebrate her "Thala Diwali".

From here the scene shifts to the woman's husband a police inspector who leaves for duty assuring his newly-wed wife that he would come in the afternoon.

Then we are introduced to an unkempt bearded youth - Suruli in a jail-cell who reminsces about his childhood - a gambler for a father, a loud-mouthed aunt and the love of his life Mynaa(played by Amala Paul). A girl whom he rescues and falls in love in childhood itself.

A visitor a 12-13 year old boy visits Suruli and gives him a message. Suruli escapes from jail. The senior inspector and his subordinates are put into a tizzy and leave in pursuit of Suruli.

The rest of the movie is about Suruli's love for Mynaa, his arrest by the policemen and the journey of all four back to the police station.

Excellent photography, good performances, a Braveheart-inspired music score and a couple of good songs ensure a fairly enjoyable movie.

The movie is let down by its climax. I am not revealing it.

Watch the movie to find out if Suruli succeeds in marrying Mynaa.

Inception

Finally saw Inception today. To be honest I did not understand most of it. There were phrases like "dream within a dream", "implanting ideas", "mind architecture" etc.

Great background score, superb performance by Leo. Stunning photography and slick editing.

If time permits I will watch the movie again. May be a detailed review will follow if I understand the movie.

Knight & Day

Image source - Wikipedia

Jolly good fun!

Good chemistry between Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

Tom Cruise is Roy Miller a rogue CIA agent who holds a zephyr a pocket-sized battery that can power an entire city!

He meets June (Diaz) a car modelling expert on her way to her sister's wedding and uses her to get the zephyr passed through the checking counter at the airport.

The movie has its share of twists, chases, humour, shoot-outs and is shot in Austria, Germany and Mexico.

Roy and June are chased by CIA agents, the police and an assassin hired by a Mexican weapons dealer. Watch the movie to find out how Roy outwits everyone.

Rating - 2.5 stars.

Prince of Persia

Image source-Internet

Jake Gyllenhal goes into six-pack mode and comes out as a convincing Prince Dastan. The boy who was picked from the streets of Persia and became a prince. The movie is based on one of the most successful video games of all time and has excellent production values.

The story is about the King of Persia who is poisoned and killed by his brother Nizam played by Ben Kingsley. Dastan is falsely accused of killing the king and is chased by the rightful sons of the king Tus and Garvis.

How Dastan proves his innoccence is linked with a magical dagger, which allows its holder to control time. The dagger is safeguarded Princess Tamina played by Gema Arterton. The chemistry between Dastan and Tamina is forced but has its share of laughs. There is a slavetrader and his faithful African slave as a side-plot.

Great timepass but not an adventure of epic proportions. The biggest problem is how does a supposed Persian speak with a prim and proper British accent:) Children will enjoy the movie.

I am still waiting to see Inception.

Hope to see it soon.

SALT

Tom Cruise missed a chance to belt out a blockbuster. Yes, the role portrayed by Angelina Jolie in SALT was originally written for Tom Cruise.

The story is about how a section of Russia's KGB trains children to become spies and sends them to the U.S. In addition, to children they also replace American adults with look-alike Russian spies.

Angelina plays a CIA agent Evelyn Salt who is accused of planning to assassinate the American President. This info is provided by a Russian defector. How Evelyn goes about escaping from the CIA and proves her innocence forms the crux of the story.

Chases, shoot-outs, plot-twists; it's all there.

The climax proves that there is room for a sequel and SALT might well end up becoming a franchise like the Mission Impossible series.

With Knight & Day tanking at the U.S. box-office, Tom Cruise might be regretting his decision of skipping SALT.

The Wolfman

Image courtesy Google Images

Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Benico Del Toro, the movie is a remake of the 1941 classic with the same name.

The story starts on a dark night in the woods of Blackmoor. A man seems to be chasing someone when he is mauled by something. The next scene shows a performance of Hamlet. A woman Miss Gwen approaches Lawrence (Benico) and says that her fiancee Ben is missing.

We learn that the person mauled at the beginning is Lawrence's brother, Ben. During the train journey to Blackmoor, Lawrence is given a cane with the head of a silver wolf by an old man.

The old castle holds many secrets, we learn that Lawrence found his mother dying in his father - Sir John(Anthony Hopkin's arms)many years ago. This resulted in young Lawrence losing his sanity and being admitted to an lunatic asylum.

Lawrence investigates his brother's death. He sees his corpse and is shocked by the mutilated body. He discovers a medallion in his brother's belongings, which leads him to the gypsies. It is a full moon night and again the strange creature attacks the gypsy camp. In trying to save a young boy the creature bites Lawrence.

The gypsy-woman nurses Lawrence and stitches his wounds despit others asking her to let Lawrence die. The woman answers "He can die only at the hands of someone who loves him."

Lawrence finds out that his father is the werewolf. He realises his father killed his mother many years ago and is now tormenting the people of Blackmoor. Circumstances cause people to suspect Lawrence to be the werewolf and he is once again sent to the lunatic asylum.

Lawrence escapes from the asylum seeking revenge.

What happens? Does he become human? Is he killed? Does he kill Sir John?

Watch the movie to find answers.

The movie moves between slow suspense and super quick CGI action. The fight between the two werewolves brilliant. The cinematography and music catch the essence of the dark theme of the movie. Acting is good. Worth watching once.

The Ghost Writer

Image Courtesy-Wikipedia

You are an ex-prime minister (Pierce Brosnan, living in a foreign land. Your auto-biography is being written by a ghost-writer, who is found dead. A new ghost-writer played by Ewan Mc Gregor is appointed to complete the auto-biography.

Tension builds slowly and we realise that things are not correct. Was the death of the earlier ghost-writer an accident or a murder? As Ewan tries to find out the truth allegations of war-crimes are thrust upon Pierce Brosnan. He becomes the centre of media attention and a bitter war of words starts.

Ewan digs in to the PM's past as skeletons slowly tumble out regarding the PM's college days. Ewan rummages the belongings of the earlier ghost-writer and discovers photos and a telephone number. As he tracks his predecessor's activities many secrets are revealed. Ewan realises that the PM was a CIA agent and helping USA.

He confronts the PM with his findings. Pierce is shot dead as he steps out of a plane. The autobiography is published and becomes a best-seller.

I am not revealing the climax!

It is a minor twist and somehow the movie is let down by it.

Do watch the movie for an old-fashioned cloak and dagger kind of thriller.

Roman Polanski's direction is great, Pierce and Ewan excel in their roles.

Background music is restrained and the visuals of the sea and the rain are well shot.

Raavanan

An unintentional comedy:)

Aish manages to track down Vikram's hideout without any troubles.
While the police and special commandos could never find him.

Loved seeing Karthik as the drunken forest guard.

Songs were good.

The climax-fight on the wooden bridge was executed well.

The Karate Kid

Jaden Smith does a great job.The presence of a legend Jackie Chan does not bother him at all and the kid proves he is a worthy son to Will Smith.

The kid plays Dre who lands up in Beijing with his mom after his father's death.

The first day in Beijing, results in a visit to a park, a crush in true Hindi film fashion and a beating up by the local teen bully.

School has surprises as both the girl practicing for a violin concert and the bully training for a Wushu tournament study there.

Jackie Chan works as Han the maintenance man in the apartment block where Dre and his mother stay.

One day Han saves Dre from the bullies. A few scenes later the trainer of the bullies challenges the kid to participate in the Wushu tournament.

Training starts and Dre is disappointed when Han asks him to remove his jacket, put it down, pick it and put it on a hanger.

This continues for a while along with some friendly banter between Dre and the Chinese girl.

The training sequences are well shot. A journey to the Dragon Well atop a mountain looks good. Jaden has worked hard for this role and his sparring sessions with Jackie Chan are a treat to watch.The tournament climax is predictable and executed well. Dre wins it by beating the bully. The bully and his compatriots become the students of Jackie Chan to learn Kung Fu under him.

Jaden has a great future and is sure to do well.

Rating ***/5.

A Triple Movie Treat

Saw three Malayalam movies over the weekend:


Ividam Swargam Aaanu

The Mohanlal starrer was slow to pick up its pace. Directed by Roshan Andrews, the movie is about a farmer's fight against the land mafia.

Innocent, Thilakan, Srinivasan, Jagathy and all the usual stars were there.

With three heroines, Laksmi Gopalaswamy (bank manager), Priyanka (TV reporter) and Lakshmi Rai (lawyer), Lalettan has a tough choice to make.

Lalu Alex as the scheming land-grabber - Aluva Chandy does a splendid job.

The last thirty minutes remind one of Khosla ka Ghosla.

Good movie to be enjoyed with the whole family.

Nayakan

No not the Kamal starrer. This movie surprisingly went unnoticed. Stylishly shot with an awesome performance by Indrajith and Thilakan, this is a revenge saga with a difference.

Indrajith is a Kathakali dancer. Thilakan plays Vincent Karanavar, an old don kind of person, a protector of a small community of people living in an old part of Kochi.

Indrajith's father and sister are killed by Siddique a magician who became a rich political kingmaker. He is beaten by Siddique's goons and left to die.

Thilakan rescues him and plans a revenge saga.

The movie unfolds at a quick pace and some great shots of Malaysia and a twist in the climax increase the suspense.


Kerala Cafe

This collection of ten short movies produced by Ranjit uniting ten of the most popular directors in Malayalam cinema is a great effort.

This movie will be reviewed in a separate post.

SURA

Vijay's fiftieth movie is a golden bomb. The movie which released with very little pre-publicity appears to have been made in a hurry. Listless acting by Vijay, same boring expressions by Tamannah voiced by singer Chinmayee, the buffoonery of Vadivelu make this an absolute mess.

Vijay's list of flops is as follows now--Azhagiya Tamizh Magan, Aadhi, Kuruvi, Villu, Vettaikaran and Sura.

In Sura, Vijay plays the titular role of a fisherman who works for the upliftment of his colony of fisher-folk.

An evil minister Dev Gill intends to destroy the colony to build a theme park. Sura manages to botch up the minister's smuggling operations and uses the money to build houses, schools and improve the living conditions in the colony.

What could have been presented as an interesting cat-and-mouse game between the hero and villain ends up as insufferable idiocy.

The fights, the dance, the plot, everything looks like if the movie is made on a Vijay template.

Vijay is working with Asin in Malayalam director Siddique's Kaavalkaran the remake of the Dileep-Nayanthara average grosser Bodyguard.

If and only if the movie hits the mark can Vijay rescue his career now.

I have enjoyed his earlier movies like Priyamudan, Kadhalikku Mariyadhai and Kannukul Nilavu. Mass hero movie Pokkiri was enjoyable in bits and pieces, since then is a downward journey.

The powerful theatre distributor owners of Tamil Nadu have asked Vijay to act in a film free of cost to help them recover their losses.

I am sure Vijay will bounce back with Kaavalkaran. With Ajith firmly moving in to racing and unlikely to act in a movie any time in the near future, Vijay has a chance to redeem himself with some good author-backed roles that break away from the mould in which he has been typecast in to. Surya is the actor who has benefitted the most because of Vijay's debacles.

Let us see what the future brings for lovers of Tamil cinema.

Free Willy-4

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie about a young girl Kirra, played by Bindi Irwin, helping a young orca return to its family in the ocean.

Bindi is the daughter of crocodile-hunter Steve Irwin. The movie starts in Australia, where Kirra's father a vet is injured and hospitalized.

She lands up at her grandfather's amusement park in South Africa till her father is discharged from hospital.

The banter between grandpa and Kirra is fun.

The amusement park has a lagoon in which an orca is washed up after a storm.

The orca becomes the star attraction in the park and loads of people start visiting it. Kirra tries to convince her grandpa to free the orca who is named Willy. During all this the owner of another amusement park offers to buy Willy for 500000 dollars.

Watch the movie to find out the fate of Willy!

A simple, well-made movie with two good songs. Great photography combined with animatronics and underwater effects. The scene where the pod of orcas swim after a school of smaller fish during a storm is shot well.

My rating-***/5.

The Lovely Bones

A fascinating movie.
Detailed review coming soon.
Do not miss this movie!

Omar Mukhtar-The Lion of the Desert

Fantastic movie, with a great performance by Anthony Quinn in the titular role. Based on a real character who tried fighting Mussolini's Fascist army in Africa during WW-II.

Authentic shooting locations, a good technical crew and a racy narration make the movie interesting.

Definitely worth watching.

Paiyaa

Waste of money!
Songs were OK!
Lingusamy needs to break out of his RUN days and present a better script!

Movie is making money because of Tamannah dancing in the rain.

Milind Somani is wasted as the villain!