Movie Review: Captain Fantastic - 6/7

What would it be like to raise children with complete isolation from modern day influences of technology, capitalism etc? What is it to live like hunter gatherers and be completely self reliant in this day and age? Will it be more meaningful? These are the themes upon which the movie Captain Fantastic builds on.

A father decides to raise his children in complete isolation from the society in the wilderness of the pacific northwest. The movie showcases the beauty of living in the forest, skills need to survive without support from society. An unfortunate circumstance leads the family to visit the normal society once. The movie explores the contrasting ways in which the family reacts to situations and how they finally stay together despite the odds.

This movie reminds me of little miss sunshine! but deals with a bit more heavy and idealistic situations. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this movie is directed by "Gavin Belson" (Played by Matt Ross) from the TV show Silicon Valley. Kudos to him for writing and directing such a thought provoking movie. I watched this movie while on a very long flight and it made the two hours pass very fast.

Skyfall - The best yet in the Daniel Craig Era - 6/7

The trailer of the latest James Bond movie showed Daniel Craig taking a dive from a moving train (hence the name Skyfall) after being shot at by one of his own and then resurrecting himself to save the day once again. So as long as we are talking about resurrection, let us see whether Skyfall has resurrected the famed 007 series in the Daniel Craig era after the not-so-spellbinding Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

The movie starts off on the same lines as the trailer with a high-speed chase which involves cars, bikes, trains - the usual suspects. But then Bond is shot by his partner-in-mission (Naomi Harris) by mistake as she misses her target – a thief, all this in an attempt to retrieve a hard drive which contains all the identities of secret agents embedded in terrorist organisations.

But Bond comes back when he comes to know that MI6 is under attack and that M’s life is in danger. But Bond is not in his best shape, thanks to the near-death experience due to which everyone assumed he is dead. Finding out who is after M’s life and how a worn-out Bond snuffs out this threat forms the rest of the story.

Javier Bardem in Skyfall

James Bond movies typically involve high-tech gadgets, awe-inspiring cars and last but not the least sexy Bond girls. But Skyfall scores low on all these things. They are all there, but without the adjectives. Where Skyfall does score high is in the essence of the movie itself - the attention given to the story, the characters and most importantly the villain – all of them missing in the last two movies with the exception of the beautiful characterisation of Vesper in Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig can thank Javier Bardem for sharing the burden of carrying the movie because seriously, when I think of Quantum of Solace; the only face that comes to my mind is Daniel Craig’s.  Bardem has absolutely nailed his character in the movie. Watch out for the scene where he seduces Daniel Craig and says ‘They haven’t taught you about this in training, did they?’

Coming to Daniel Craig himself, he has delivered a composed performance and after Skyfall, he can deservedly claim the mantle of 007 which many felt he could not after Pierce Brosnan. Judi Dench as M features much more prominently in Skyfall than the previous editions and the rapport between her and Daniel Craig is a delight to watch.

On the whole, Skyfall has a good story and has good performances to complement it with action sequences that may not give you an adrenaline rush, but will definitely keep you entertained. It may not be a must-watch, but it is definitely worth a watch.

Movie Review: Crazy Stupid Love (2011) - 5/7

The Expectations

It is somewhat a rarity for comedy movies to get a rating of 7 and above on IMDB. At least, that is what I have observed. So this movie turned my head with its 7.5 rating while promising to make me laugh.

The Story

Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is shocked when his wife asks for a divorce and in the aftermath, he befriends Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who does a makeover on Cal to transform his married middle-age look to that of a sexy man-cougar.

Let me just say that there are intricate polygons of love in the movie from there on and anything more I say will only serve as a spoiler.

The Analysis

This movie delivers its fair share of laughs, especially in my favourite scene somewhere in the 2nd half of the movie when everything comes together (literally) along with a little twist in the story and chaos reigns. Prior to this point in the movie, you don't see where the movie is actually heading, but after this, you start smiling a lot more than you laugh and that is where you begin to understand what the movie is trying to convey - that love is crazy, love is stupid and you cannot rationalize it. Hence the title.

The message is simple and ironically, the director coveys it with a help of a complex set of relationships.  

The performances of all actors are natural. Ryan Gosling steals the show in the first half and Steve Carell in the second. Emma Stone is a lively presence throughout the movie as is becoming her wont.

Watch out for the cheesy pick-up lines that Gosling uses to pick up women from the bar. There is a thing or two we can learn from them. :P

The Verdict

While it may not be a must-watch, it is certainly a pleasant one. :)

Movie Review: A Seperation (2011) - 6/7

IMDB Rating: 8.6/10

Description: A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.

This one was on my watchlist for a long time now, partly due to my reluctance to watch a movie in another language and partly because I thought the pace of the movie will be too damn slow. 

But I finally manned up and decided to see for myself why this movie was rated so highly on my beloved IMDB.

The Story

Anything I say about the story will not exactly be a spoiler alert, but the strictly-spoiler-fearing people can skip a paragraph here because here is what the story is about. A married couple splits up because the hero wants to take care of his dad instead of leaving the country. As his wife leaves him, he hires a lady to take care of the dad and the lady screws up by almost killing his dad due to some negligence on her part. So, the hero gets pissed off and in an attempt to get the lady out of his house, he pushes her out the door. No big deal, only the lady is pregnant and consequently, suffers a miscarriage. The rest of the story is about how the lady's quest for justice affects the hero's family, all this attributed to the separation in the first place.

The Autopsy

Well, initially, as expected the movie starts off at maybe not a snail's pace but you feel that you have to wait for some time to know why the film was so well-appreciated. But it slowly revs up its engine and then starts to cruise along while managing to hold your attention with some subtle suspense and not-so-subtle emotions.

The movie also manages to give you a peek into the general lifestyle in Iran and as I had not watched many non-English movies, I was also mildly surprised at the strong religious beliefs expressed in it. Although it is an emotional drama, it never quite manages to take you to the realms of developing a lump in your throat right up until the climax.

What really impressed me the most about this movie is the wonderful way it was ended. All this time you are thinking whether the hero will be acquitted or not, but you realize that the movie is about something entirely different, something that you do not notice and the fact that you did not notice it makes it all the more touching.

Watch the movie, you will know what I mean. :)

The Verdict

I recommend that you watch it. With a little bit of patience. Just a little bit.

Super Sunday!!

Yesterday was one of those days when you wish you had a Video Recorder on your TV. Two big clashes in football, one F1 Grand Prix and a T20 match of India, all jam-packed into one evening!!

Most of them yielded results to my liking, with only Liverpool coming out as the major casualty. Mark Halsey, upon seeing the huge word of justice being held up in the stands at the start of the game, decided to whip out some of his own brand of justice and we all know what happend from there on.

Even with 10 men, Liverpool dominated the match for large periods, until Gerrard scored. Then they decided to soak up the pressure and defend their lead and that is when United's extra man advantage started showing.

Liverpool now find themselves in the relegation zone, with just 2 points from 5 games, somewhat similar to the position Arsenal was in the last season. But their next big fixture doesn't come until mid-November when they face Chelsea. So they will be hoping to start picking points from now on.

Moving on to Man City vs Arsenal, Arsenal took home a well-deserved draw. But it was slightly disappointing to see Gervinho back to his non-lethal best. He can take on any defender in the world, but it looks like he has no clue what to do after that. Otherwise, the game was a good one, with Mertasacker the standout player for me as he stretched his lanky frame and made several key interceptions to keep the odd City counter-attack at bay.

In other events, India crushed England comprehensively with Harbhajan Singh making an impressive comback (on a spinner-friendly pitch, mind you) and Rohith Sharma too grabbing the opportunity at last. As soon as Gautam Gambhir started to mount a decent score, my friend pointed out to me that someone else will also score well today so that the Man of the Match award can be given to not-Gautam-Gambhir!! :P

But it turned out someone else bowled well instead!

Money vs Arsene Wenger

First things first, we are going to witness a shifting trend in this blog from now on towards football, football, football, movies, movies, series and some random thoughts in that order. Because I don't think the other contributors of this blog can take me on when it comes to the amount of leisure time that I have now. So now I suddenly have so much time when the total no. of my posts in this blog is two?!! Long story short, I am out of college (read a year long project making a formula-style car, don't get me started on this, we will come to it in the future sometime).

So football eh? What do I know about it? I am no pundit, but I am one of those guys from the facebook memes who will marry a girl if she can name the starting XI of Barcelona! :P

So moving on, today is a big day, huh? Liverpool vs Man Utd. and Man City vs Arsenal. The former  will be a sensitive one due to the Hillsborough issue and Fergie has gone to some length to ensure it will be played out respectfully. #RESPECT

So we shall also refrain from talking too much about that match.

Therefore, we will move on to the title of this post. This is not just another match for Arsene Wenger. He is essentially pitting his philosophies against his criticisms and if he wins this one, that will keep the mouths shut for some time to come. Although those mouths  will be sewed shut only if Arsenal wins some trophies this season. So don't get carried away Arsene! :P

For Mancini though, it will be the usual pressure of a big game against a big club. If anything goes seriously wrong, he should just hire Yaya Toure as his body guard. Seriously though, how can somebody stop Yaya without getting road roller-ed?!!

If Diaby starts for Arsenal, for me, this is the single most important match-up today. Diaby vs Toure!! :D

In other news, Barcelona scraped through 2-0 against Granada after taking out the magnet from inside the ball that was causing it to repel from the goal posts. Messi had a torre(ndou)s match. But all is well as they got the 3 points, so over to you Madrid!!

I see this post is getting too long, there are hundreds of other sites to satisfy your hunger, this one is only to satisfy mine!! :P

My Prediction: Man City 1 -2 Arsenal

Yeah, I support Arsenal.

See you after the match.

Book Review : The White Tiger

Rating: 6/7
Author: Aravind Adiga
     
   This book is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga for which he won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The book follows the life of the driver Balram Halwai from his beginnings in a village in Bihar, his experiences in Delhi while serving his master Ashok to his breakout from the rooster coop and forming a new life in Bangalore. The story is told from Balram's perspective in the form of a letter he writes for the Chinese Premier on the pretext of educating the Premier on entrepreneurship.
   The book is smart, witty and most of the time biting in it's portrayal of the people from the opposite extremities of the social class. Even though the book is written in a first person narrative as told by our hero Balram, you could see the authors presence while writing about the various injustices the 0.01% inflict on others. Through it's narrative, it feels like the book is not addressed to the average indian but to outsiders who have a very misconstrued perception that is projected outside our country or even to the upper elite who want to believe these lies. There are some very smart observations the author has made about the life of a poor rural villager and the forces which try to keep him in his place without any way of escape-  the author uses the concept of a rooster coop to describe the prison that are born into to illustrate this.
   Even though words in the book drag the reality of the situation to the ground and shoves it in our face, I am partly skeptical to the overall realism of the story which the author narrates. There is an article which contests the reality that the author paints. Here's the article
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/11/02/stories/2008110250010100.htm .
   I would recommend this book to people who are dissatisfied with how our country presently is, the people who are lucky enough to be born into affluence and people whose drivers practice Yoga and anyone one who can enjoy harsh criticism at ones own country. This is not a game changer but it does make you see the people who service you in a new way. I would also like to say that no one book can contain the spirit of a billion people and anyone who claims so is lying. This book provides a much needed picture but not a full picture.
   If you have already read this book I would recommend a gem called The Guide by a little known author called R.K.Narayana which is a pure and bittersweet version of The White Tiger or you can go with Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects which has a murder mystery, non linear story line and deals with similar themes of The White Tiger but on a larger scale.

What to make of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games - Rating 6/7  
   If anyone asked me what was the story of The Hunger Games my answer would have been "24 teenagers battling to death in a jungle until only one remains". After watching the film I think this answer is right and wrong at the same time. Right because this seems to grab the attention of your listener rather quickly and wrong because they don't start killing until the second half. Well, what happens in the first half then? The first half is about how and why these teenagers are chosen to kill each other and the circumstances surrounding about why and for what purpose these games are created.

   This movie talks about various points of views of this event as seen from the inhabitants of The Capitol where the hunger games are held, the tributes (teenagers) who are brought from 12 districts of Panem the country where the movie is set, previous winner of the hunger games who is assigned with the task of mentoring Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of district 12 and more individual observations that seems to be mirror the class differences of our own present times. 

   Fighting the critic in me: One year ago, I read Suzanne Collins book The Hunger Games and I have to concede that I was impressed by the book. The only thing which won my admiration was Collins narration of the story entirely from the first person view of Katniss Everdeen. And then I heard they were making a movie, which brought the critic out like a boss. Until the moment I walked into theater my boss ego kept going "They will screw up the movie big time. There is no way they can capture the book in the way it was written and this will be another franchise for the twilight bitches."  Watching jennifer Lawrence bringing the character to life is the only reason I would be interested going again for seconds. The film was very faithful to it's book and didn't pull any punches.
 
   Fighting other movies: Another reason which my boss ego was vehemently betting against this movie was because of the overworked storyline which seems to be used more times than my friend saying "This is the last fag". The major contender is the Japanese film Battle Royale where the no of players is upped  to 40. My only argument in defending THG is that while Battle Royale is more about group dynamics and keeping a birds eye view on the whole, THG invests screen time only on our protagonist. There have been others like The Condemned, The Death Race, Logans Run, Lord of the Flies which deal with similar story lines.

   Fighting the fans : For this I was thinking of an analogy...

  
    Building up the fanbase for THG must have been the same as campaigning for President of US. On the right we have all the dumb and stupid people a.k.a the twilight fans who could be persuaded with a simple "This is the new twilight(I refuse to use CAPS for twilight)". In the center we have the Independents like myself, who made curious with the trailer and the book to film period which was rather short. On the left are democrats who are proud fans of HP series reeling under the loss of beloved series with the promise of a bold new series tailor made for them. The campaign ignored the Tea party people generally meaning old people who were better put to use as a vessel for carrying the 13 year old's to the theater.
   
   Even though all the above bull shit doesn't amount to shit, this movie did what films were supposed to do - Forgetting everything outside the screen for two hours.

Arbit Awards 2012

2011 is over and we have entered into 2012 with a host of award shows at our window, so I thought I'll make up my own awards. Here goes,

Best film in the category "Fuck the book, let's make a kick ass action movie" -
       - Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows part2

Best film to show to your bible loving friend -
      - Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Best movie to show your kids to teach them to wash their hands after using bathroom -

      - Contagion

Best Buddy Cop movie -

     - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Best film in the category "Sneeze and u confuse the whole fucking story" -

     - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 

Best weird fighting technique -
     - In Time

Best dance sequence in a film -
     - Real Steel

Dumbest sequel of the year -
     - Hangover 2

Best movie in the category "Let's make a animated film for children inspired from all the violent western films of the 60's and 70's which I used to watch as a kid" - 
      - Rango

Best movie which was marketed as science fiction but had nothing to do with it -
     - The Adjustment Bureau

Best movie for being the only good court room drama in 2011 -
     - The Lincoln Lawyer

Best movie for using as a prank -
     - The Tree of Life

Best movie for testing your noise cancellation headphone on -
     - Transformers 3

Best movie for having the most "wowww" moments -
     - Mission Impossible 4: Ghost protocol
     - Tintin : The Secret Of The Unicorn(seems that you really cannot compare two infinities. Until now I thought it was a conspiracy made up by all the mathematicians to get grants for inventing new numbers)

Best movies which were awesome just from the premise -
     - Limitless
     - Source Code

Best movie to watch when you are dating a Literature major -
     - Midnight In paris

Best Psychotic movie -
     - I Saw The Devil (Seriously for the hardcore people. I am not kidding)

Best hand to hand fighting movie -
     - Warrior

Best comedy movies -
     - Crazy, Stupid, Love
     - Bad Teacher

Best movie to watch other than Bridesmaids -
     - The Help

Best political drama -
     - The Ides Of March

2nd Best Animation Movie -
     - Rio    (1st tintin ob)

Music Muzik 'Musing

   Recently I began listening to UK top 40 singles album and found these 5 songs to be very interesting.

1. Labrinth - Earthquake ft. Tinie Tempah
  
   First up, my favourite song in the list is this song by Labrinth containing full bass, synthetic beeps and sounds and all that that shit. It's seriously good when listening at full blast on my ipod.

2. We Found Love - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris (Boyce Avenue piano acoustic cover)

   I heard the original and it was good, but this one takes the cake. His voice and the piano's a definite hit.

3. Videogames - Lana Del Rey

   This song is very mesmerizing to from start to finish and Lana Del Ray captures everything. 

4. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

   Very funky rap and a titillating background.

5. Loca People - Sak Noel

   First time I'm hearing a song like this. It's wacky, beat busy, dead pan vocals. Addictive.