Tryst with Cinema

I must admit that I didn’t want to watch Speed Racer. Worse, when I saw some promotional footage I found the manic pace and presentation mind-numbing. In fact, when the opportunity came to watch Speed Racer, I preferred to stay home and I literally took out a Matrix Revolutions DVD and watched it late into the night!!! (that’s nostalgia for you)

Anyway, so just today I got to see Speed Racer and struggled for the first few minutes getting exactly what I expected… manic presentation. I shuddered to think that I would have to subject myself through this for another hour. But then, the story slowed down a little and suddenly it made sense. I was able to follow the plot… and basically it turned out to be a simpler more palatable story.

By the end of the movie, I was not only appreciating the pace of the film, but left feeling satisfied with another summer-fare.

So what’s the problem? Well, while I enjoyed the movie… I found myself wishing for a little more realism. The cartoony filming became tiresome quite quickly and I found myself wishing for a more realist race. OK, fine, the jumps and the effects were cool… even in the end… but the whole background, the graphics, were too overloaded for my taste… and ultimately… I found myself blanking them from my vision (and hopefully memory).

All in all… it’s a movie I DID enjoy… but one I won’t be rushing to see again, any time in the near future.

There are two kinds of people in the world; those who love sequels, and those who don’t. I love sequels (though not all sequels are good). Yes, I’m shallow, but still, I love the character/plot development possibilities that sequels brings.

The following is a personal compilation of the movies I really really really wanted a sequel for. Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes the sequel was worth waiting for, sometimes not. But nevertheless, my memory of movies takes me to about 5 films that I looked forward to (will look forward to) to see the sequel.

1. “Back to the Future” series

When I first saw Back to the Future as a child, I was enamored by the story and shocked and excited when it ended with “To be continued…” I remember as a child wanting to immediately see the rest of the story, but I had to wait. Eventually Back to the Future II was released and I remember watching it with my friends… and yet again, it ended with “To be continued…” The “awwwww” in the room when we saw the sign were audible for miles, I think. We never anticipated (as children) that Back to the Future would be a trilogy, it took us completely by surprise. But we really enjoyed the experience of waiting for the story to enfold. Till today, while it is not the best trilogy ever, I think it still remains the most anticipated sequel of all time… in my mind.

2. Matrix 3 (Between Matrix 2 to Matrix 3)

I remember loving Matrix, and being a little surprised at the announcement that they were making a Matrix 2 and 3. It seemed like a sell-out (compromise kind) at the time. But when I saw the trailer of Matrix 2, I was in love with the movie already. And actually I loved “Reloaded“. When it ended… in the middle… I was drooling for more. Till today, I must add, the Matrix remains my favourite trilogy.

3. Incredibles

Super-hero movies are made to be remade. I realised the truth of that after seeing Pixar’s Incredibles. What an amazing story of an amazing family. But it ended just when we were getting into it. I want more, I don’t know if I’ll ever see more, but I certainly want more.

4. Lord of the Rings 2 (between 1 and 2)

Many people I know didn’t expect Lord of the Rings I to end where it did. I did, because I’d read the book (yes it is actually one book, not three). And I knew after seeing such an excellent part I that I wanted to see the rest… the whole story. I waited and waiting… and was shocked at the outcome (Part 2 was terrible, for LOTR-book fans, I think). But still, I really wanted part II and thankfully even though after part II I didn’t really want Part III, at least Part III saved the series a little.

5. Pirates of the Carribean 3 (between 2 and 3)

Oh I loved the Pirate movies, of course Part I, people will say, was the best. But somehow I like seeing films as they develop and now feel that all three actually work together quite well. Still, I loved the Part II ending, not just the (spoiler) Jack dying part, but the Captain Barbosa return (end of spoiler). What an ending! It certainly left a thirst for more, a lot more.

(not on the list)

Star Wars

I saw Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (now VI) first. And so the desire for sequels was already quenched. In a sense, going to Star Wars was an exploration of Prequels and I enjoyed IV-V-VI a LOT! But the other three, hmmm. The less said about them, the better. I wasn’t even looking forward to them.

Anyway, that’s my two bits. On to other things of life

I just saw Mad Money. And the verdict?

Mad Money is funny. Mad Money is long (unnecessarily long for its genre). Mad Money has some good and some over-acting (by the whole crew, especially by Diane Keaton on both counts). Mad Money has little character development (ie. works largely with stereotypes). Mad Money has a decent plot (storyline… keeps you engaged). Mad Money makes a good light-hearted watch.

Does that sum it up? Yes!

Call me shallow, but I love the superhero genre. I love the Hollywood summer releases and look forward to the latest action movies. When I first heard about Iron Man, however, I wasn’t too thrilled… until I saw the trailer to especially see Downey Jr. play the lead. Like Will Smith in Hancock (another movie I’m waiting to see), these were superheros with actual experiences (rather than eternal boys, Spiderman or even Superman). You could hope that their characters, and in this case, Iron Man’s character would be robust. After seeing the film today, I’m certainly thrilled and entertained. I’m not sure about the sequel though, somehow it does not leave me hanging as much as other franchises… but the Iron Man movie in itself has been a good opening (because I’m sure there will be more) salvo!

The movie features flashbacks, gritty action, decent (though not spectacular) special effects, and average side-characters. But the movie is run on the back of Downey Jr and too some extent Gyneth Paltrow. The rest of the cast are too weak to engage with. Though it must be said that Jeff Bridges character, (SPOILER ALERT) though predictable, is much more scary in plain human form, than as the Metal Transformer that he later becomes. (SPOILER ENDED)

The two main leads, Downey and Paltrow, bring a human element to the story that has been essential to the success of Spiderman. You want to root for their characters, you want to root for their relationship, and unlike Moneypenny in Bond, Paltrow’s character gets a lot more to do.

Comparison with Spiderman

On the whole, Iron Man is not a classic movie. Neither was Spiderman by the way. Iron Man, the movie, was supposed to get it’s 300 million dollars (or about 600 mil globally) and move into DVD sales. And then it is intended to spawn a bunch of highly lucrative sequels. That’s the purpose of this movie; clearly. And that was certainly the purpose of the first Spiderman too!

Yet knowing that, it’s still good to see a grown-up, or even a growing up, of the superhero franchise, that is able to look beyond perfection to find redemption (whatever that means!). This is in stark contrast to Spiderman which featured (and still to some extent) more boyhood and adolescent struggles. (I mean, just say “I love you Marie Jane and marry her” you nut!) In constrast, the relationship between Pepper and Stark is more believable and playful, and certainly feels more mature.

I think this is a much better super-hero film than Spiderman (1) ever was, though is probably almost as good as Spiderman 2. The advantage of Spiderman 2 was that it brought in a lot of human element to it, and benefitted from character development of the previous movie. In Iron Man, the character development is only on the two or maybe three characters. The Terence Howard character and most others are all flat, going nowhere. Doesn’t feel we can relate to him yet.

Nevetheless, Iron Man is certainly a fun movie, and I would recommend this movie for all the blockbuster hunters out there. This is certainly one of them; worthy going to, worth watching and munching popcorn through.

I just saw 10000 BC and was glad to see that it wasn’t as bad as I heard. But I couldn’t help but think the movie is just like Apocalypto… but a more sanitized, and less passionate version of it. There was even an unintentional homage to 300 (the movie), with the final spear throwing. hmm… talk about hollywood originality!

Still that doesn’t mean that 10000 BC has nothing. I liked the anochronistic slave-pyramid scenes… and also the movie kept making me want to see “how” things would pan out, even though I knew exactly what would eventually happen!

So a decent pop-movie I guess. Worth a simplistic watch!

I just finished seeing Darjeeling Limited, and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are winsome, the ‘action’ flows freely, and in view of the journey motif, it takes us on quite a ride.  I didn’t know what to expect when I started to watch it; in fact I feared that it would be terrible… it was actually quite good.

In its depiction of India; well, I guess a western view will always be an outside view. But it’s not so oppressive, or negative. Sort of brings you to the nostalgia of older movies’ about India.

But basically, this is a good journey movie; a road trip movie for grown ups.

I’m surprised by the lack of attention for Talk to Me. I was hoping it would get some attention through some of the earlier awards, but somehow it has been ignored.

I haven’t seen Daniel Day Lewis’ latest, and I wouldn’t grudge him if he won, but I would have loved to see  Don Cheadle get a nomination for acting, but I guess that’s not gonna happen.

Similarly, I think I would love to see Ratatouille get nominated for Best Picture… because certainly it is a good movie. But again, that’s probably not going to happen either.

I’m the kind of person who thinks Pirates of the Carribean 3, and 300 were two of the best films of 2007. So yes, I’m shallow. I like action movies. And I like movies that do not surprise me too much.

But “Once” surprised me, and I think it’s an excellent movie. One of my saving graces, from my shallow film sensibility, is that I love music. And while August Rush was nice… “Once” was fantastic. It was a wonderfull musical experience… but also, with its documentary type of footage… it was extremely realistic. The acting was great, as well. But the kind that makes you think that the actors weren’t acting.

Anyway… even if this movie doesn’t make it to the top of 2007 (since it was released in 2006), still I would certainly put it high on the best-movie-I’ve-recently-seen list; certainly top 10.

This movie is a must watch: Read this roger ebert review if you don’t believe me! http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071224/REVIEWS/237678516/1023

After seeing what’s come out in terms of (popular) animation… Ratatouille is still way above the overall fare… I still hesitate to put it above some Pixar classics… but it certainly is an amazing movie.

Simpsons

Simpsons, surprisingly, has been getting a lot of mileage in award nominations. Regardless of the pop-culture humour the Simpsons represents, I felt the movie was pretty “noisy”… literally a bunch of episodes strung together. There were funny parts… but on the whole, quite irritating.

Bee Movie

This wasn’t that bad… though it had a “quicky” feel to it. Started and finished quite soon, without too much in the movie that lingers.

Surfs Up

Now this film certainly deserves attention… even through nominations. I really liked it’s cool presentation… but more importantly, it was a simple (even conventional) story told well (unconventionally). Not as good as Ratatouille, but certainly one of the better animation movies this year.

Shrek 3…

I’m glad this film is being ignored.

When I first saw High Fidelity, I didn’t like it. Primarily because I didn’t like John Cusack, and the extensive “talking” was irritating. Only recently I watched it again and actually quite liked it.  The music is good, the theme is good… the talking (to the camera) is still a little irritating… but I think the makers pull it off.