There are those refreshingly eye-opening pieces of writing that you chance upon from time to time. Pieces that, by dint of their sheer persuasion and clarity awaken you to points of view that you didn't know existed. That make you sit up and go "Oh! Why didn't I think of that myself"
The piece that I'm referring to is not one of those ;-)
The article in question is the latest by my old friend and all-round excellent individual Pushkar. One of those chaps who, apart from having humongous brains that spill out on the sidewalk each time he shakes his head, is blessed with a gifted sense of humour, and whose penchant for translating his numerous movie experiences into highly entertaining (and usually fairly accurate) blog posts is only exceeded by his newfound penchant for fatherhood.
Which is why I was shocked to read his rather lukewarm take on some of the movies that I personally consider to be the Reel God's Greatest Gift To Humanity.
So for the first time in my life, I'm going to attempt a bit of a rejoinder refuting his views. The rather lukewarm ones. That you can read about here.
Ok, so here goes...
Avatar:
This one, to put it simply, is brilliance personified. IMHHHO (in my humble, honest and huncensored opinion), is one of those iconic movies that stand in a class by themselves. The ones that trigger a mad rush of cheap clones and are milked to death in a (usually fruitless) effort to regain past glory. The only others in this class I can think of, off the cuff, are Terminator I & II and Jurassic Park.
Of course, the ground-breaking special effects have been praised to no end already, and rightfully so, so there's nothing I can say that hasn't been said before. But then special effects, even of the pathbreaking variety, have seldom (if ever) catapulted a movie into the higher echelons of...ummm...moviedom. Ultimately what you need, pure and simple, is a storyline that is worthy of mention. And I think this is where Avatar scores.
All the IMAX 3D and CGI effects aside, this could well have been a documentary that said "Save the planet". Cameron's vision of Pandora's literally inter-connected, intelligent ecosystem was a very clever way of depicting the more subtle (but equally real) connections among Earth's own ecosystem. Another stand-out aspect was his pitting of a highly evolved, machinized, scientific civilization against one that, although highly evolved in its own way, relied entirely on nature for its needs. And I mean in a symbiotic, not parasitic way. Also, as something of a die-hard sci-fi fanatic, one recurring theme you're constantly subject to is Earth's constant invasion by various bullying alien races that ravage their own worlds before suddenly realizing "Hey, here's a liveable planet with a bunch of dumb-headed fools that we never bothered to visit" and then descend on our precious Earth before being sent packing by a Humankind that miraculously, gloriously, impossibly unites in retaliation. I think Cameron's done well to turn that concept around on its head. Mankind becomes the evil alien race that needs to be sent packing. And although it is ultimately a human who miraculously, gloriously, impossibly saves the planet, this at least made for a different point of view.
The only crib I have is the movie's excessive fallback on time-worn cliches. Be it the no nonsense, tough as nails, expletive spouting marine, or the heroine-passionately-hates-but-subsequently-adores-hero routine, or the brave martyrdom of the suporting cast, or the hopeless-student-inexplicably-betters-teacher routine, you take your pick. Almost feels like Cameron was handed a $10 wager saying "Bet you can't take every single cliche from every single movie ever made, and put it into one single film and make it successful". But hey, if he had to do it, at least he did it well!
3 Idiots:
There's very few things to not like about the movie. One among them is definitely the tear jerking deliver-baby-with-vaccum-cleaner-on-TT-table scene, and other is...well...casting a bunch of 30 or 40 year-olds as engineering students. Although I must say Aamir plays his role a gazillion times better than, for instance, the Big B in Paa. And since I'm talking about negatives, another one is the sterotypicalization (if there is such a word) of characters and the oversimplification (there is such a word!) of concepts. Everyone in the movie is a very clear shade of white or black, there are almost zero greys anywhere. Oh, and there's Kareena Kapoor.
But then (ignoring the K factor) this movie was clearly meant as an entertainer first and educator second, so you can't fault the above too much. Nothing to find fault with in the message either. Although, of course, being a first-rate example of the dithering specimens of humanity that are wasting away their life, I can clearly attest that the most difficult thing in life is knowing what you really want to do. But that's a philosophy for later.
So, as a wholesome family entertainer, and that too one with a coherent, cogent message (albeit not one as original as Lage Raho Munnabhai), I really think this movie is top class. The acting was excellent all around. The character of Chatur Ramalingam I thought was excellently portrayed, and Boman Irani was all out brilliant, in a different league altogether. I'm starting to think this guy could compete with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! Ok, so that's a bit of an exagerration...ok, so its a huge exaggeration ;-), but you get my meaning.
So well, in summary, excellent movie that is a genuine rib-tickler without trying conspicuously to be a rib-tickler (the whole Balatkar speech and various other bits throughout the movie are sheer genius), one that doesn't have a half-bad message, one that isn't totally all out of the bounds of realism and that keeps you thinking for a bit once you've left the theatre...you can't really ask for more!
So yeah, that's my take on the whole thing. Of course, I could be wrong in everything I said, but I'm probably not ;-) I haven't really gotten to watch Sherlock Holmes yet...will probably try downloading it sometime. And then probably bore you to death with another inane post. And oh, in the interests of completeness (yes, I am that jobless!), here's brief reviews of a couple of other flicks I watched recently:
Paa - An exercise in gimmickiness and unrelatedness. If R. Balki was a blind tailor stitching a shirt with 10 different hues of cloth and no measuring tape, the end product would not be dissimilar. The protagonist's role should probably have been given to the Big B back when he was only a Little B...he would have looked infinitely more natural then. And word is that a sequel is being planned, called Maa (I kid you not) starring Mrs. B. God save us all.
Ishqiya - Loved Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, the authenticity of the settings and the dialogue. Everything else sucked.
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: SRK is irritating enough as it is. So I don't know why anyone would cast him as an irritating as hell oldish dude who tries hard to be hep but only succeeds in being even more irritating. I'm not even going to talk about all the flights of fancy and the absolute suspension of realism. And the wife comes across as a kind-hearted but egocentric bitch. BUT (yes, that's a huge but) there's something about the film that makes it watchable. No clue what...but I actually saw it twice (seriously!) without being bored witless. And the musical score is brilliant, with the title song having some of the best lyrics this side of R.D. Burman.
Ok, well, that's all for now folks! Until the next brilliant (or hopelessly horrible) movie comes along, or another equally jobless individual comes up with a refutation of this post...seeya later!
The piece that I'm referring to is not one of those ;-)
The article in question is the latest by my old friend and all-round excellent individual Pushkar. One of those chaps who, apart from having humongous brains that spill out on the sidewalk each time he shakes his head, is blessed with a gifted sense of humour, and whose penchant for translating his numerous movie experiences into highly entertaining (and usually fairly accurate) blog posts is only exceeded by his newfound penchant for fatherhood.
Which is why I was shocked to read his rather lukewarm take on some of the movies that I personally consider to be the Reel God's Greatest Gift To Humanity.
So for the first time in my life, I'm going to attempt a bit of a rejoinder refuting his views. The rather lukewarm ones. That you can read about here.
Ok, so here goes...
Avatar:
This one, to put it simply, is brilliance personified. IMHHHO (in my humble, honest and huncensored opinion), is one of those iconic movies that stand in a class by themselves. The ones that trigger a mad rush of cheap clones and are milked to death in a (usually fruitless) effort to regain past glory. The only others in this class I can think of, off the cuff, are Terminator I & II and Jurassic Park.
Of course, the ground-breaking special effects have been praised to no end already, and rightfully so, so there's nothing I can say that hasn't been said before. But then special effects, even of the pathbreaking variety, have seldom (if ever) catapulted a movie into the higher echelons of...ummm...moviedom. Ultimately what you need, pure and simple, is a storyline that is worthy of mention. And I think this is where Avatar scores.
All the IMAX 3D and CGI effects aside, this could well have been a documentary that said "Save the planet". Cameron's vision of Pandora's literally inter-connected, intelligent ecosystem was a very clever way of depicting the more subtle (but equally real) connections among Earth's own ecosystem. Another stand-out aspect was his pitting of a highly evolved, machinized, scientific civilization against one that, although highly evolved in its own way, relied entirely on nature for its needs. And I mean in a symbiotic, not parasitic way. Also, as something of a die-hard sci-fi fanatic, one recurring theme you're constantly subject to is Earth's constant invasion by various bullying alien races that ravage their own worlds before suddenly realizing "Hey, here's a liveable planet with a bunch of dumb-headed fools that we never bothered to visit" and then descend on our precious Earth before being sent packing by a Humankind that miraculously, gloriously, impossibly unites in retaliation. I think Cameron's done well to turn that concept around on its head. Mankind becomes the evil alien race that needs to be sent packing. And although it is ultimately a human who miraculously, gloriously, impossibly saves the planet, this at least made for a different point of view.
The only crib I have is the movie's excessive fallback on time-worn cliches. Be it the no nonsense, tough as nails, expletive spouting marine, or the heroine-passionately-hates-but-subsequently-adores-hero routine, or the brave martyrdom of the suporting cast, or the hopeless-student-inexplicably-betters-teacher routine, you take your pick. Almost feels like Cameron was handed a $10 wager saying "Bet you can't take every single cliche from every single movie ever made, and put it into one single film and make it successful". But hey, if he had to do it, at least he did it well!
3 Idiots:
There's very few things to not like about the movie. One among them is definitely the tear jerking deliver-baby-with-vaccum-cleaner-on-TT-table scene, and other is...well...casting a bunch of 30 or 40 year-olds as engineering students. Although I must say Aamir plays his role a gazillion times better than, for instance, the Big B in Paa. And since I'm talking about negatives, another one is the sterotypicalization (if there is such a word) of characters and the oversimplification (there is such a word!) of concepts. Everyone in the movie is a very clear shade of white or black, there are almost zero greys anywhere. Oh, and there's Kareena Kapoor.
But then (ignoring the K factor) this movie was clearly meant as an entertainer first and educator second, so you can't fault the above too much. Nothing to find fault with in the message either. Although, of course, being a first-rate example of the dithering specimens of humanity that are wasting away their life, I can clearly attest that the most difficult thing in life is knowing what you really want to do. But that's a philosophy for later.
So, as a wholesome family entertainer, and that too one with a coherent, cogent message (albeit not one as original as Lage Raho Munnabhai), I really think this movie is top class. The acting was excellent all around. The character of Chatur Ramalingam I thought was excellently portrayed, and Boman Irani was all out brilliant, in a different league altogether. I'm starting to think this guy could compete with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! Ok, so that's a bit of an exagerration...ok, so its a huge exaggeration ;-), but you get my meaning.
So well, in summary, excellent movie that is a genuine rib-tickler without trying conspicuously to be a rib-tickler (the whole Balatkar speech and various other bits throughout the movie are sheer genius), one that doesn't have a half-bad message, one that isn't totally all out of the bounds of realism and that keeps you thinking for a bit once you've left the theatre...you can't really ask for more!
So yeah, that's my take on the whole thing. Of course, I could be wrong in everything I said, but I'm probably not ;-) I haven't really gotten to watch Sherlock Holmes yet...will probably try downloading it sometime. And then probably bore you to death with another inane post. And oh, in the interests of completeness (yes, I am that jobless!), here's brief reviews of a couple of other flicks I watched recently:
Paa - An exercise in gimmickiness and unrelatedness. If R. Balki was a blind tailor stitching a shirt with 10 different hues of cloth and no measuring tape, the end product would not be dissimilar. The protagonist's role should probably have been given to the Big B back when he was only a Little B...he would have looked infinitely more natural then. And word is that a sequel is being planned, called Maa (I kid you not) starring Mrs. B. God save us all.
Ishqiya - Loved Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, the authenticity of the settings and the dialogue. Everything else sucked.
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: SRK is irritating enough as it is. So I don't know why anyone would cast him as an irritating as hell oldish dude who tries hard to be hep but only succeeds in being even more irritating. I'm not even going to talk about all the flights of fancy and the absolute suspension of realism. And the wife comes across as a kind-hearted but egocentric bitch. BUT (yes, that's a huge but) there's something about the film that makes it watchable. No clue what...but I actually saw it twice (seriously!) without being bored witless. And the musical score is brilliant, with the title song having some of the best lyrics this side of R.D. Burman.
Ok, well, that's all for now folks! Until the next brilliant (or hopelessly horrible) movie comes along, or another equally jobless individual comes up with a refutation of this post...seeya later!
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