A "Wild" review

All you guys who have read my blog for quite some time, by now, should have figured that I have one of the weirdest of tastes when it comes to movies. Whenever you hear me speaking about movies, it is highly probable that you would have never heard the movies I would have watched. And my reviews – always over the top. But hey, let me tell you - see the brighter side of things!

So, here’s another movie, which in most probability, you would not have heard of – “Into the Wild”. The reason I watched this? Well, I had 2 and a half hour to burn and none in my movie collection lasted that long. So, this was my only choice. It was only when the credits rolled out; I got to know the hero – Emile Hirsh. The director is Sean Penn (the same guy who won the best actor Oscar this time). The movie – I would not recommend it to anyone. Its lengthy, it’s preachy, it’s boring sometimes and insane some other times. But, I have to rent my suffering on you guys too. So, here I’m with the review.

The movie starts off with our hero graduating. He has plans of pursuing a career in law (or so we are told). As the movie progresses, we come to know that the hero is being a witness to quarrels between his parents. Both he and his sister grow up under the shadow of this domestic violence. So, soon after he graduates, he pretends to study at Harvard, but instead, hitch hikes to places where he can find freedom and happiness. He goes places, meets strange people, and opens himself to new adventures. He leaves behind a long lasting impression on the people he meets. In his quest to find happiness, he decides to try Alaska. He sets up his camp in an abandoned bus. He learns to endure the intense climate and leads his life all alone. Things don’t always end up as expected, no exceptions here too. The movie ends on a tragic note.

This movie is not that bad as I had sounded earlier. Once you start to think in the same lines as the hero, the movie becomes interesting. The movie has very tender moments, like the one scene where he hunts down a moose, and finds out he couldn’t have anything from it or the scene in which one of the characters requests him to be adopted. The movie’s ending is quiet fabulous. The message which he leaves as the result of his quest of happiness left me in awe. The acting is top notch. Along with the wonderful vibes the director creates and the awesome photography, the narrative and the music score is what pulls out a smile on you at certain parts of the movie. If you think you are open to some preaching and think you have the patience, “Into the Wild” is your movie.

Rating: 3.5 on 5

Underdog to a Victor. But yet, I hate it somehow!

It’s almost a year, since I started to write. So, here I stand wishing myself of the feat that I have managed to achieve. Oh yeah, before I forget, thank you also, for reading (and I’m saying it ONLY if you have ever read my posts. No free “thank you”s here)

An anniversary special is about the one thing I always love to do – complain! The victim this time, The Oscars! Ever since 6AM today (you better believe, I watched the Oscars live!) the one movie that is getting on my nerves is – unfortunately – Slumdog Millionaire. It has managed to win 8 out of the 10 awards for which it was nominated. Although I am really proud of AR Rahman being part of 2 of the 8 awards, I really don’t think a movie like the Slumdog deserved such accolades.

When you think of Rahman, the songs that resonate in your mind, is definitely one of the many classics he has created till date. I can safely bet Jai Ho may not even rank amongst his top 10. So, if Jai Ho deserves an Oscar, so did all his previous songs that have kept us humming. Rahman deserves an Oscar for sure, but I don’t think it was ‘the’ movie to do so.

The movies that I had hoped that would stand out in the award ceremonies were The Dark Knight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (of course, Dark Knight being an action masterpiece, it stood less chances in such ceremonies) While The Dark Knight amassed a billion dollars in box office and other collections, The Curious Case was a great movie. I was equally blown away by these two movies. I was happy to see The Curious Case getting the nod in 13 different categories. But today, it was the Slumdog’s day I guess.

What I have against Slumdog you ask? Well, as a matter of fact, I had liked the movie. But seeing it win so many awards, I started to wonder was that worth so many wins. It was a clear “No” for me. I mean, there are a lot of such movies in Bollywood, right? Taare Zameen Par and Lage Raho Munnabhai were much better a movies than Slumdog. Aren’t there such numerous “Feel good” movies? What made Slumdog so special? I totally agree, Lagaan had somewhat an “Anti-British” ending, but it was so very good. I couldn’t believe Slumdog could beat the likes of Curious Case and Dark Knight in all the categories like Best Movie, Movie Editing and Cinematography. I still don't think it deserved so many of the statuettes.

Huff… I’ve done a lot of complaining by now. How great I feel now… While the whole country is ecstatic for Rahman and Slumdog, I am drawing pleasure by this post, complaining! The only thing I now ask, continue celebrating the success, but please, please stop playing “Jai Ho”. I’ve heard the song a couple of million times now. Oh, that makes me “Song-listener Millionaire”! (Yuk, that was an awful ending to an awful post. I know…)

Valentine's Day: A follow up

First things first, I would like to thank both Vanitha and “The Ekaangi” for their time to pen down their opinions on the post “The Valentine’s Day special…”

With all the chaos reigning around the Valentine’s Day, this year saw a pretty muffed celebrations. Thanks to the scare, you can say. But this is how it should always be. You don’t want your private life to be put up for exhibition. The pro-Valentine’s day group of people appeared especially ridiculous when they came out saying they want their freedom in their private lives. When they are saying they want to celebrate the Valentine’s Day publically, how come they are still talking about “Private lives”? With the pretty dampened celebrations, did it do any harm to “Love” at all? Was it dead because there were no celebrations? Didn’t the lovers prior the V Day remain lovers after it even after not celebrating? There is no point in arguing and defending something so trivial, right? Anyways, Feb 14^th was here, and is gone now. The only difference it did make for me was, it helped me write 2 most stupid posts for my blog. Oh thanks St. Valentine…

By the bye, this 14^th, I did have a date. That was with the fighter jets. That was my date, the Aero India Show ’09. What an awesome place to be. I have fallen in love with Su-30, F16, F18 and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas. Too many to fall in love, don’t you think? Well, I couldn’t help it…

Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

It had been a while since I reviewed a movie, don’t you think? So, here I am… In fact, It has been a while, since I saw one, which I felt like giving an opinion about. This one blew me away. It’s called, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ever since I heard the movie’s weird plot, I was attracted to it. It is unique and is unlike any I had heard before. Any dissimilar story line is what I look at, in movies. The combination of genres: fantasy, drama and romance, is my favorite. I’ve loved movies like Forrest Gump and Stardust. It is always refreshing to watch them.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P.Henson and Tilda Swinton amongst the cast. Directed by David Fincher, this is easily his masterpiece. I have watched Zodiac, Panic Room, Fight Club and Se7en. Clearly, this is his stand out performance as a director. Brad Pitt has always been a star, whose movies, I jumped to see. The Oceans series, Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club, Snatch, Troy; they all find places if I ever make a list of 50 great movies I have ever seen. Cate Blanchett is also a great actress I hear. Haven’t had the opportunities to check that though. Till now.

The plot, the strangest I had heard: A man (Pitt) is born in his 80s on the day when the First World War ended. He ages backwards! Ain’t that an intriguing plot line? The movie has much more to offer. Born ugly, Benjamin is abandoned by his father. He is brought up by Queenie (Taraji) in an old age home which she runs. Daisy (Blanchett) is a granddaughter of one of the resident. Even as Benjamin is aging backwards, he seems to lead a normal life. His and Daisy’s life keep intersecting. Rest of the plot, its better watched than said.

The positives are many to speak of. Let me begin with acting. There’s no better word than splendid. Every character is so near to real life characters. You don’t feel seeing a movie, but watching a real life documentary. The visual effects are great, not over done. After all, the story is from birth to death, you get to see different stages of the character’s lives. So, visual effects had to be top notch. The main complexity behind the film, is keeping the film grounded in reality, while maintaining the undeniable magic within. As a director, you don't want to lose too much of either quality, instead keeping a healthy balance of the two. I feel that Fincher accomplished this perfectly.

But the main stay of the movie is the romance between Benjamin and Daisy. Despite both aging in different directions of time, the chemistry they share is what keeps you rooted to your seats. The dialogues are awesome and very intriguing. Even when you’d have finished watching the movie, I bet you will be wondering about the movie. It is one of very few movies which does not spoon feed you with emotions. It speaks about life and moments that go by and how we cherish them. Losing loved ones is a part of life, which is an inherent part of our lives and there is no escape from that. The movie tag line is more than meaningful: Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments. Truly, this is a movie which comes by very rarely. Do watch it, it would sweep your feet from the ground (I’m saying that, hoping that you have loved movies like Forrest Gump). Definitely this movie deserves the 13 Oscar nominations.

Rating: 5 on 5.

A Valentine's Day special... Sri Rama Sene!

Heard the word Sri Rama a lot these days right? Thanks to Sri Rama Sena, I get to say “Sri Ram” a lot many times in a day. A day doesn’t go by without a discussion on the self appointed moral police and so called protectors of culture. Be it the TV, be it in the class or any group for that matter, there has to be a reference to them once in a while. So, what am I doing when all are speaking the same? Well, I am writing about the same. After all, what I write here can happen to be either crap or what everyone knows!
Don’t worry if you are going to continue – I won’t trouble you with all the details. The pub attack; I strongly decry. While the intention may have been good, the implementation was way too terrible. While that wasn’t enough, now it’s the controversy surrounding the Valentine’s Day. But this time round, I am with the Sri Rama Sene’s ideology. Why has there to be a day for something that’s so common? Love is an emotion, express it every day. Why do we need some day of the year to say that you love? When you say World Environment Day, it has a meaning, especially nowadays when everyone is so indefferent. But for emotions, I don’t see the need.
Coming back to the Ram Sene, their course of action is what kept me interested in the matter. They claim to wed the couples on Valentine’s Day. This is just a fabulous idea. This is, a matter of fact, very our own culture. Well, what culture says date someone, love somebody else and wed another? Once again, I find myself supporting the Ram Sene. So, kudos to them. Hope they execute this at least in a proper fashion. Good luck to lovers who don’t want to marry…

That time of the year...

It’s that time of the year, when you don’t want your phone to buzz with SMSes. Classes get tensed with anticipation. Even you have the confidence; you’ll start to wonder ‘what if…?’ You try to recall how you had done, you begin to doubt whether that performance was enough…

No idea what I am talking about? VTU students are in the phase that I have described. 6^th semester results are just around the corner. Results are out for Belgaum and Gulbarga regions. So, it would be within another week, our fate will have a definite direction. But, for me, it’s just another week with full of anticipation, anxiety and tension. So guys, those who are expecting your results, here I am wishing you all the best. It is more important to wish now than before facing the exams.

Think again if you say you've seen an 'insane' tennis match...

How many adjectives do you know to praise or appreciate something? You think you can manage with them for 5 hours and 14 minutes? That’s 314 minutes! What am I saying, you ask? Well, that was how even the commentators felt witnessing the Australian Open semi-final match between Rafael Nadal and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
5 hours and 14 minutes of tennis at a feverish pace! I bet I can’t even play carom for that long. But this match, it seemed that the two players were on drugs or were being run on batteries. Neither of the two was willing to let go of the tempo of the game. Of course, I don’t expect that to happen, but at least, after a couple of sets, the pace should have slowed down. Not to be, in this match. Every point in the game was a war being fought. Verdasco’s scorching serves, Nadal’s relentless return of shots, the player’s stamina and strength was just too much to ask for from a tennis match. Nadal being the top seeded player, hadn’t dropped even a set till this match, such was his form. Verdasco, ranked 14th, was a surprise element of the championship. Enroute to the semis, he had got the better of 4th seed Andy Murray and 5th seed Tsonga. Interestingly, the first set lasted more than what Nadal had taken to wrap up his first match. Eventually, the match ended in Nadal’s favour 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. The commentator Alan Wilkins, rightly said, “The great pity of the match is there has to be a loser.”
I remember writing after the 2008 Wimbledon match between Federer and Nadal. This match had all the qualities to match up to that reputation. Once again, this grand slam final is between the same two phenomenal athletes, Federer and Nadal. This final too, could be a ripper of a clash. Definitely, don’t miss the action, sure you’ll regret if you do.
Do check out this video, it is not an exaggeration if I say most part of the match was like this...
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=FDeboVmambo