An Iranian Film, Supposed to be one of the most charming movie of all times. Now being remade by Priyadarshan starring the Kiddo from Taare Zameen Par - Darshan Harsheel . Still searching for the DVD
http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/3144
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Movies to watch....
An Iranian Film, Supposed to be one of the most charming movie of all times. Now being remade by Priyadarshan starring the Kiddo from Taare Zameen Par - Darshan Harsheel . Still searching for the DVD
http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/3144
Movies for the week
Caramel - for the charming Lebanese Ladies
Nothing gr8 about the story line; but d the way the story was dealt with.
Give it to Hollywood & it would have been nothing but sex ..sex & more sex.....
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/caramel-is-a-predictable-chick-flick/70211-8.html
The Hunting Party : Mr. Gere takes on the job of a journo who's KRA is to capture The FOX.
Not a gr8 movie but worth onetime look.
http://www.thehuntingpartymovie.com/
Kungfu Panda : Its a confluence of Animation, SFX , ZEN philosophy & cute characters. Definitely worth a watch on the Big Screen.
Kairee : This Amol Palekar directed flick sent in the hinterlands of Maharashtra . The film is abt 6-7 years old... but brilliantly shot & enacted by the versatile cast from marathi films.
http://movies.sulekha.com/hindi/kairee/reviews/pageno-1.htm
Singh is King : Senseless, Mindless, Eccentric ... A Laugh riot all the way... :)
Keep those intellectually critical gene stuffed in the freezer befr you hit the cinemas.
Capable of blowing ur head into smithers .. just the right kind of movie for Mumbaikars
The movie is actually wellmade (since there is no story in it) neatly edited , good action scenes & a short n compact script. It is shot more like a Hollywood flick. Akshay da puttar's poplularity is definitely on teh rise; while Katrina who is just a figure head looks definitely Hot.
Nothing gr8 about the story line; but d the way the story was dealt with.
Give it to Hollywood & it would have been nothing but sex ..sex & more sex.....
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/caramel-is-a-predictable-chick-flick/70211-8.html
The Hunting Party : Mr. Gere takes on the job of a journo who's KRA is to capture The FOX.
Not a gr8 movie but worth onetime look.
http://www.thehuntingpartymovie.com/
Kungfu Panda : Its a confluence of Animation, SFX , ZEN philosophy & cute characters. Definitely worth a watch on the Big Screen.
Kairee : This Amol Palekar directed flick sent in the hinterlands of Maharashtra . The film is abt 6-7 years old... but brilliantly shot & enacted by the versatile cast from marathi films.
http://movies.sulekha.com/hindi/kairee/reviews/pageno-1.htm
Singh is King : Senseless, Mindless, Eccentric ... A Laugh riot all the way... :)
Keep those intellectually critical gene stuffed in the freezer befr you hit the cinemas.
Capable of blowing ur head into smithers .. just the right kind of movie for Mumbaikars
The movie is actually wellmade (since there is no story in it) neatly edited , good action scenes & a short n compact script. It is shot more like a Hollywood flick. Akshay da puttar's poplularity is definitely on teh rise; while Katrina who is just a figure head looks definitely Hot.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Joker - by Vir Sanghvi (Mint Column - 080808)
I know that Lounge has already devoted an entire issue to the new Batman movie (The Dark Knight). So forgive me for going over some of the same territory again. My defence is that I’m not writing about Batman but about his most famous enemy: The Joker. Of course you know who The Joker is. The hype surrounding the release of The Dark Knight has focused less on Christian Bale, the British actor who makes an excellent Batman and more on Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker. Partly, this is because Ledger died some months before the film was released. His sudden demise in dramatic circumstances led to a long and tedious debate about the ethics of using his likeness in the movie’s publicity campaign.
Dark Knight: Fans say Ledger may be the second actor to get an Oscar posthumously. Photograph: Warner Bros/NYT
Dark Knight: Fans say Ledger may be the second actor to get an Oscar posthumously. Photograph: Warner Bros/NYT
And partly, this is because Ledger is very good in the movie. He has a menacing, compelling presence and his performance is so brilliant that he outshines such actors as Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Bale (all Brits, oddly enough). Only Aaron Eckhart seems to hold his own.
But even before The Dark Knight, The Joker was hot property. The publicity campaign for the first of the Tim Burton Batman movies, released way back in 1989, ignored Michael Keaton (who made a so-so Batman) and concentrated on Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Of course, Nicholson was a far bigger star than Keaton but he also effortlessly stole the movie.
If you are as old as I am, then your memories of The Joker will go even further back in time. There was the Batman TV show (which ran from 1966 to 1968 but is still repeated) in which veteran Latin seducer Cesar Romero made a very bad Joker (the old rogue refused to shave off his moustache so they had to smear the white Joker make-up over it). There was the movie version of the show (also featuring Romero’s Joker) and there were rumours to the effect that Frank Sinatra had wanted to play The Joker.
And if you are a fan of comics/graphic novels—which I guess many of you are, given that Lounge features such an excellent column devoted to the genre—then you’ll know the original Joker, the guy who fought Batman in the comic books.
What makes The Joker so special that he is regarded as Batman’s No. 1 enemy, that Sinatra and Nicholson wanted to play him, and that Ledger will probably get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal?
My guess is that it is the relative credibility of the character. Of course, when you talk about Batman, the word “credibility” seems strangely inappropriate (a man who dresses up as a bat? That’s real?). Part of the problem with comic book heroes is that you can’t have them fighting normal criminals. Do we really need Batman (or Superman or Spiderman, for that matter) to foil a bank robbery, to catch a smuggler or arrest a murderer? These are things that normal people—policemen, detectives, etc—can easily do.
A superhero needs a super-villain, somebody who is his equal, if the story is to have any dramatic balance. So Spiderman fights the Green Goblin; Superman has General Zod. And Batman fights people in costumes (Catwoman, The Riddler etc.) or with special powers (Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy etc.)
Once you enter the realm of super-fantasy, of men and women in tights beating each other up, it becomes difficult to imagine the action as occurring in the real world. Jim Carrey’s Riddler was ridiculous. Tommy Lee Jones’ Two Face was a joke. And when Danny DeVito tried to make the Penguin seem darker, he made him too repulsive for us to care.
Originally, The Joker was a mere cartoon character. He first appeared in 1940 with crimson lips, green hair and a purple suit. As time went on, he got even more cartoonish, telling silly jokes, wanting to be regarded as the world’s greatest comedian, driving a Jokermobile (like the Batmobile) etc.
It wasn’t till 11 years later that the comic book explained his origin: He was a crooked lab worker who had fallen into a vat of chemical waste while robbing a playing card company. This explained both, his complexion and, why he called himself The Joker.
Of course this explanation was totally unrealistic. Who gets white skin and a silly grin from falling into chemical waste? But it was in keeping with the tone of the comic books of that era.
The conventional wisdom is that Batman was reinvented in 1986 by British writer Frank Miller who wrote a story set in the future called The Dark Knight Returns. But almost as influential was Miller’s Batman: Year One series dealing with the character’s origins which also came out in 1986. Miller’s conception of Batman as a lonely, driven figure who appears only at night became the basis for Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie.
The Joker, however, was really reinvented by two other British writers. Alan Moore made him a psychopath in The Killing Joke, a theme further developed by Grant Morrison in Arkham Asylum in 1989. This version differed substantially from Miller’s —his Joker was gay and called Batman “darling”. The Nicholson portrayal preserved the traditional vat-of-chemicals origin but emphasized the lunatic nature of The Joker’s criminality.
Now, in The Dark Knight, Ledger has given us our most convincing Joker yet. He is not a cartoon in a costume. He is a psychotic murderer whose madness makes him act randomly. The funny skin colour does not come from a chemical accident. It is make-up, the sort of war paint that a psychopath might wear before a massacre. The motivation for Ledger’s Joker is not criminal greed. He wants to fight Batman because in his mad way, he enjoys it so much. More than any other Batman villain, The Joker seems like a real person.
My concern now is with the proposed third Batman movie (of the Christian Bale series). In the first one, they dealt with Batman’s origin. In the second, they made him fight a psychopath. But what will they do for a plot in the third?
If Batman goes back to fighting costumed, cartoon villains then, that’s it for the credibility and tone of the series. Sadly for all fans of the series, both Heath Ledger and The Joker are now dead.
Dark Knight: Fans say Ledger may be the second actor to get an Oscar posthumously. Photograph: Warner Bros/NYT
Dark Knight: Fans say Ledger may be the second actor to get an Oscar posthumously. Photograph: Warner Bros/NYT
And partly, this is because Ledger is very good in the movie. He has a menacing, compelling presence and his performance is so brilliant that he outshines such actors as Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Bale (all Brits, oddly enough). Only Aaron Eckhart seems to hold his own.
But even before The Dark Knight, The Joker was hot property. The publicity campaign for the first of the Tim Burton Batman movies, released way back in 1989, ignored Michael Keaton (who made a so-so Batman) and concentrated on Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Of course, Nicholson was a far bigger star than Keaton but he also effortlessly stole the movie.
If you are as old as I am, then your memories of The Joker will go even further back in time. There was the Batman TV show (which ran from 1966 to 1968 but is still repeated) in which veteran Latin seducer Cesar Romero made a very bad Joker (the old rogue refused to shave off his moustache so they had to smear the white Joker make-up over it). There was the movie version of the show (also featuring Romero’s Joker) and there were rumours to the effect that Frank Sinatra had wanted to play The Joker.
And if you are a fan of comics/graphic novels—which I guess many of you are, given that Lounge features such an excellent column devoted to the genre—then you’ll know the original Joker, the guy who fought Batman in the comic books.
What makes The Joker so special that he is regarded as Batman’s No. 1 enemy, that Sinatra and Nicholson wanted to play him, and that Ledger will probably get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal?
My guess is that it is the relative credibility of the character. Of course, when you talk about Batman, the word “credibility” seems strangely inappropriate (a man who dresses up as a bat? That’s real?). Part of the problem with comic book heroes is that you can’t have them fighting normal criminals. Do we really need Batman (or Superman or Spiderman, for that matter) to foil a bank robbery, to catch a smuggler or arrest a murderer? These are things that normal people—policemen, detectives, etc—can easily do.
A superhero needs a super-villain, somebody who is his equal, if the story is to have any dramatic balance. So Spiderman fights the Green Goblin; Superman has General Zod. And Batman fights people in costumes (Catwoman, The Riddler etc.) or with special powers (Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy etc.)
Once you enter the realm of super-fantasy, of men and women in tights beating each other up, it becomes difficult to imagine the action as occurring in the real world. Jim Carrey’s Riddler was ridiculous. Tommy Lee Jones’ Two Face was a joke. And when Danny DeVito tried to make the Penguin seem darker, he made him too repulsive for us to care.
Originally, The Joker was a mere cartoon character. He first appeared in 1940 with crimson lips, green hair and a purple suit. As time went on, he got even more cartoonish, telling silly jokes, wanting to be regarded as the world’s greatest comedian, driving a Jokermobile (like the Batmobile) etc.
It wasn’t till 11 years later that the comic book explained his origin: He was a crooked lab worker who had fallen into a vat of chemical waste while robbing a playing card company. This explained both, his complexion and, why he called himself The Joker.
Of course this explanation was totally unrealistic. Who gets white skin and a silly grin from falling into chemical waste? But it was in keeping with the tone of the comic books of that era.
The conventional wisdom is that Batman was reinvented in 1986 by British writer Frank Miller who wrote a story set in the future called The Dark Knight Returns. But almost as influential was Miller’s Batman: Year One series dealing with the character’s origins which also came out in 1986. Miller’s conception of Batman as a lonely, driven figure who appears only at night became the basis for Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie.
The Joker, however, was really reinvented by two other British writers. Alan Moore made him a psychopath in The Killing Joke, a theme further developed by Grant Morrison in Arkham Asylum in 1989. This version differed substantially from Miller’s —his Joker was gay and called Batman “darling”. The Nicholson portrayal preserved the traditional vat-of-chemicals origin but emphasized the lunatic nature of The Joker’s criminality.
Now, in The Dark Knight, Ledger has given us our most convincing Joker yet. He is not a cartoon in a costume. He is a psychotic murderer whose madness makes him act randomly. The funny skin colour does not come from a chemical accident. It is make-up, the sort of war paint that a psychopath might wear before a massacre. The motivation for Ledger’s Joker is not criminal greed. He wants to fight Batman because in his mad way, he enjoys it so much. More than any other Batman villain, The Joker seems like a real person.
My concern now is with the proposed third Batman movie (of the Christian Bale series). In the first one, they dealt with Batman’s origin. In the second, they made him fight a psychopath. But what will they do for a plot in the third?
If Batman goes back to fighting costumed, cartoon villains then, that’s it for the credibility and tone of the series. Sadly for all fans of the series, both Heath Ledger and The Joker are now dead.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The DARK Knight – Cult or Crap
The lat
est edition of Batman seems to have caught the fancy of the masses; so it appears from the Box Office results. The last show that I attended yesterday was no different. 2 weeks after its launch in Mumbai, it still manages to rake in a full house. Therein lies the secret of the latest product from Hollywood.
At the outset, let me be brutally honest in saying; I was never a gr8 fan of the Gotham Warrior. For starters, compared to Superman, Spiderman, He-Man, Giant Robot & many other Jockey Clad flying Dikros; this bloke had a penchant for dark n dingy places. No doubt he had to exhibit behavioral traits similar to a BAT; but all said, he thoroughly lacked the charisma of a Superman or Phantom; not to forget Mandrake & Lothar. So, never managed to read or watch 2 many of the BAT movies; until the Dark Knight came along. It was more curiosity than anything that dragged me into the cinemas.
Comparing the opportunity cost of 200 bucks for a movie ticket vis-à-vis a Pitcher of Draught BEER while watching F1; discounting the latter in my opinion would definitely lead to a better ROI. To cut a long story short, instead of watching BATMAN, would have preferred to hire an old VCD of the Big B classic – Shahenshah or DON with the cult lines ‘Rishtein Maim Hum Tumhare BAAP lagte Hain, Naam hain… Shahenshah…!! ‘ Whacko… even the most creatively doped Hollywood script writers can’t match that one.. J . Copying the Sholay coin (which I am sure was inspired from a Hollywood movie) was another act that I feel jelled with the audience. However, there wasn’t the customary ‘Taveez’, Tumhare Pass Kya hai, Mere pas Maa Hai’ dialogues that a BATMAN could even dream of emoting. That apart, we had enough melodrama, emotions, suspense & some good old Dishum-Dishum aided by the SFX factory. Sorely missed was our BATMAN matching steps to the tune of ‘Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar hai, Meri Jaan Mujhe Khabar hai’ when his lady love was snapped up by the District Attorney.
I guess Hollywood is yet to come in terms with the power of Music in films; especially pertaining to matters of the heart. AR Rahman; hope his new projects manage bring in the much needed warmth to an otherwise dead pan script.
You might feel I am berating the movie for all the wrong reasons.. hold on till we analyse the Joker.
If Batman was to be the anti Venom for the Jokers Venom; we are back to the good vs evil wars; repeated a zillion time on television; especially now that Ekta aunty has unleashed her armada of Greeek Pandav’s on the silver screen. Talking of Pandav’s; I felt Sophia Loren would have been bewitching as Draupadi; giving vastra haran & its likes, the much needed Ooomp & TRPs. But knowing Sophia Lauren, wonder if there would be any vastra in the first place to steal..!! if all that was left was just bikinis… anyways, sorry for taking the discussion on a tangent.
Heath Ledger’s performance has been critically acclaimed, a much as Mogambo was a cult villain out here. Wonder what would have happened, if Mogambo were to speak in English…!! With due respect to the character of the Joker, he has been portrayed as an Spiritually ‘n’ Enlightened Villain on the lines of his peers in ‘Silence of the Lambs’, ‘Cape Fear’, ‘Psycho’ etc…
The violence was numbing… hello; wasn’t BATMAN supposed to be a comic book meant for bachas….
Dark Knight was definitely meant to pander to the 9/11 generation; for one could sense the desperation from the botched attempts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran & West Asia forming the basis for the senseless violence that was on display.
As a villain, the Joker has definitely set the benchmark in terms of characterization. That apart, the story line appears crappy; with the boat scene displaying the typical Americanised emotions so typical of many a b-grade Hollywood stuff.
Final Verdict – Highly Over rated !
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Cinema Cinema
Offbeat Movie Scripts & Cinema seems to have finally taken off after a series of false starts @ the box office. If the events of past 2 months is any indicator, this trend might soon become mainstream leavings the traditional Sharukh & Bhansali razmatazz to the sidelines; an event that was long overdue. If Lagan set the coffers rolling ( Havent seen that one yet), movies like DCH (aka Dilchahta hai), Swades, Paheli, RDB have unleashed a chain reaction .... not to mention Hazaron Khuwahishein Aisi.
Then came along Chak De - Hockey Babes who managed to whip a frenzy of nationalistic pride... it acted as a catalyst to bring home the Asia Cup (hockey), Nehru Cup (football) & Twenty20... The best thing abt the movie - undoubtedly the simple script & the Gorgeous stick wielding Lasses ... So what abt Sharukh..one might ask..... well!! the stubble & the subtle screen presence seems to have done him a world of good. The kind of movie which struck a chord across generations.
My name is Bourne - Jason Bourne ..... how would that sound as a replacement for Her Majesties Most Dependable Spy - Mr. Bond.
Bond steadily seems to be loosing his magic - blame it on mundane scripts & Bond leads who lack charisma. The problem with Bond appears to be a dependence on hi-tech wizardry which has made the characters rather obsolete & ridden itself of the old world charm & spunk - the Bond movies of yore (Conney & Moore) were famous for.
Robert Ludlum - the quintessential narrator of many a classics including the Bourne series has finally managed to achieve where the modern day Bond has failed miserably - a watertight script, smart editing & brilliant acting.
Jason Bourne has surely made Matt Damon a household name.
Bourne Ultimatum - last of the Bourne series is a prequel to the earlier movies - Rediscovering his convoluted past.
An extremely fast paced movie; with some brilliantly choreographed fight sequences - gripping @ times while managing to recreate the intricate web so well established earlier.
Offbeat Movie Scripts & Cinema seems to have finally taken off after a series of false starts @ the box office. If the events of past 2 months is any indicator, this trend might soon become mainstream leavings the traditional Sharukh & Bhansali razmatazz to the sidelines; an event that was long overdue. If Lagan set the coffers rolling ( Havent seen that one yet), movies like DCH (aka Dilchahta hai), Swades, Paheli, RDB have unleashed a chain reaction .... not to mention Hazaron Khuwahishein Aisi.
Then came along Chak De - Hockey Babes who managed to whip a frenzy of nationalistic pride... it acted as a catalyst to bring home the Asia Cup (hockey), Nehru Cup (football) & Twenty20... The best thing abt the movie - undoubtedly the simple script & the Gorgeous stick wielding Lasses ... So what abt Sharukh..one might ask..... well!! the stubble & the subtle screen presence seems to have done him a world of good. The kind of movie which struck a chord across generations.
My name is Bourne - Jason Bourne ..... how would that sound as a replacement for Her Majesties Most Dependable Spy - Mr. Bond.Bond steadily seems to be loosing his magic - blame it on mundane scripts & Bond leads who lack charisma. The problem with Bond appears to be a dependence on hi-tech wizardry which has made the characters rather obsolete & ridden itself of the old world charm & spunk - the Bond movies of yore (Conney & Moore) were famous for.
Jason Bourne has surely made Matt Damon a household name.
Bourne Ultimatum - last of the Bourne series is a prequel to the earlier movies - Rediscovering his convoluted past.
An extremely fast paced movie; with some brilliantly choreographed fight sequences - gripping @ times while managing to recreate the intricate web so well established earlier.
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