Sivaji has pretty much dominated the Indian news/entertainment sites for a few weeks now. It's like people can't get enough of all the photographs, interviews and reviews. But not one of them will mention how the movie really is. For me, it was too long (at three and a half hours), too noisy and made me think that if Rajni had accepted to do Mudhalvan, I wouldn't have had to go through this.
Aside from Suman's appearance, Shriya's dancing and the pictuization of Athiradi song (to an extent), I can't think of one other memorable moment.
$15 + all that wait - wasn't worth it.
If you excuse me I have to take a nap ... I have a bad headache.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Freedom Writers - Old Bottle, New Wine
Sometime ago, I had seen a trailer for Freedom Writers on some other DVD. It seemed like yet another underdog(s) story, but I put it on my list anyway. I never get tired of underdog stories, inspite of the fact that I am going to know pretty much how the movie is gonna end.
If its a sports team, they are going to get to the finals and its going to end with the whole stadium applauding for the heroes even if they lose in the end. But I have liked every single underdog story I have seen. Coach Carter & Glory Road are among the more conventional ones. Million Dollar Baby is not really in the same category, but that's the basic story thread. The goofiest two of all were 'Dodgeball' & 'Bad News Bears', which was worth seeing just for Billy Bob Thornton. Akeelah and the Bee was another one that benefited from the kind of performances that will keep you interested inspite of an inevitable ending.
I guess this pretty much tells you that I was going to like Freedom Writers even if it was going down the beaten path. But it wasn't like that. It is not about a sports team, but a group of students who find themselves in an integrated school in Long Beach, which has seen better days before 'these people' came in.
'These people' are the Latinos, Cambodians, Chinese & African Americans who come to school, but have no interest in studying. The teachers are more interested in whining about 'the good old days' rather than try and interest these kids in a basic education. Most of these kids will dropout and become drug dealers and bums, if they survive all the violence around them. Life doesn't hold much a of a promise for them until their new teacher Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) comes to teach them junior grade english.
She faces the usual 'You don't know us', 'You don't have to live our lives','You are white' nonsense, but that is where all comparisons should end. From then on, the direction and the writing is unconventional (in a good way) and that's a relief considering that we know where it is all going to go.
The movie is also based on a true story and that might explain the presence of a side story about Erin's battle at home which indicates that life is not very simple and paying a lot of attention to one thing you care about takes away something from another.
All in all, this is worth renting. I thought that the promotional material did a bad job of convincing people to see it.
If its a sports team, they are going to get to the finals and its going to end with the whole stadium applauding for the heroes even if they lose in the end. But I have liked every single underdog story I have seen. Coach Carter & Glory Road are among the more conventional ones. Million Dollar Baby is not really in the same category, but that's the basic story thread. The goofiest two of all were 'Dodgeball' & 'Bad News Bears', which was worth seeing just for Billy Bob Thornton. Akeelah and the Bee was another one that benefited from the kind of performances that will keep you interested inspite of an inevitable ending.
I guess this pretty much tells you that I was going to like Freedom Writers even if it was going down the beaten path. But it wasn't like that. It is not about a sports team, but a group of students who find themselves in an integrated school in Long Beach, which has seen better days before 'these people' came in.
'These people' are the Latinos, Cambodians, Chinese & African Americans who come to school, but have no interest in studying. The teachers are more interested in whining about 'the good old days' rather than try and interest these kids in a basic education. Most of these kids will dropout and become drug dealers and bums, if they survive all the violence around them. Life doesn't hold much a of a promise for them until their new teacher Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) comes to teach them junior grade english.
She faces the usual 'You don't know us', 'You don't have to live our lives','You are white' nonsense, but that is where all comparisons should end. From then on, the direction and the writing is unconventional (in a good way) and that's a relief considering that we know where it is all going to go.
The movie is also based on a true story and that might explain the presence of a side story about Erin's battle at home which indicates that life is not very simple and paying a lot of attention to one thing you care about takes away something from another.
All in all, this is worth renting. I thought that the promotional material did a bad job of convincing people to see it.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Chennai - 600028
I haven't written anything since December, in spite of the fact that I have been watching at least 5 movies a week. In this time, I have had the pleasure of watching fantastic movies and as much as I wanted to scribble a few lines about movies like 'The last King of Scotland', 'The Queen' and 'Mozhi', I couldn't find the time. Damn! Work gets in the way of everything these days.. Even an absolute dud like Maayakannadi that left me seething, couldn't bring me back to the blog, but I have to say a few words about this one.
I didn't have the slightest expectation from 'Chennai 28', but it was about street cricket and that was reason enough to watch it. The last time one of Gangai Amaran's sons directed something, the result was utterly pathetic (Bambarakannale).
This movie isn't short on cliches but the lack of a 'hero' character is a big plus. I would pick a flick like this over any Ajith/Vijay movie every time. I had a great time watching it. Of course, it helped that I was crazy about playing cricket as a kid and I could identify all the little things associated with it.
It's far from perfect. There are 5 people speaking at any given time in the movie and the acting feels straight out an amateur drama, but beyond all that, its a very simple story told in a fashion that suits it. There is no grandiose fight sequence, nothing to glorify any single character. Most of the sequence are straight out of life.
The pick of the actors was Premgi Amaran (thats really how it's spelt) who has a couple of great scenes and most of my friends would surely identify with his 'Enna koduma saar idhu?' and 'Saroja.. Saamaan nikalo' and I was rotf-lmao while my better half was wondering what the joke was about.
It's a welcome change and I hope more people think about small and entertaining movies like this. I hear it's doing very well in Chennai and that's a sign to so-called 'Heros' of Tamil cinema as what people really want to see.
I didn't have the slightest expectation from 'Chennai 28', but it was about street cricket and that was reason enough to watch it. The last time one of Gangai Amaran's sons directed something, the result was utterly pathetic (Bambarakannale).
This movie isn't short on cliches but the lack of a 'hero' character is a big plus. I would pick a flick like this over any Ajith/Vijay movie every time. I had a great time watching it. Of course, it helped that I was crazy about playing cricket as a kid and I could identify all the little things associated with it.
It's far from perfect. There are 5 people speaking at any given time in the movie and the acting feels straight out an amateur drama, but beyond all that, its a very simple story told in a fashion that suits it. There is no grandiose fight sequence, nothing to glorify any single character. Most of the sequence are straight out of life.
The pick of the actors was Premgi Amaran (thats really how it's spelt) who has a couple of great scenes and most of my friends would surely identify with his 'Enna koduma saar idhu?' and 'Saroja.. Saamaan nikalo' and I was rotf-lmao while my better half was wondering what the joke was about.
It's a welcome change and I hope more people think about small and entertaining movies like this. I hear it's doing very well in Chennai and that's a sign to so-called 'Heros' of Tamil cinema as what people really want to see.
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