Oz The Great And Powerful

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 8th March, 2013
Time : 130 minutes
Director : Sam Raimi; Writers : Mitchell Kapner, David Lindsay-Abaire based on the book by L Frank Baum; Music : Various Artists
Starring : James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Tony Cox, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King


Disclaimer : I haven’t read Wizard of Oz or seen any of the earlier films




This movie is nice. The special effects, visuals are very good. The story works, to an extent. Like all films about things like magic, witches, another realm, it depends on how easily you are able to suspend logic, disbelief and immerse yourself in the world of the film. It works to the extent it does because of the scale of the film and the performances of its lead actors…



James Franco is a two-bit hustler, conman, Casanova, traveling with a small time circus in Kansas as a magician, with the stage name Oz. He has a signature move to bed the ladies, involving a cheap music box. While escaping from an enraged husband in a hot air balloon, he is sucked into a twister and reaches the magical world of Oz.



The people of Oz are, as per a prophecy, waiting for a powerful wizard, bearing the name of their land to free them from the clutches of a powerful witch who murdered their beloved king. Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams play the witches. Each with their own characteristics, traits. Each looking lovely, stunning, alluring. And everything is clearly not what it seems.





James Franco gets his role spot on, looking every inch the hustler, looking for a shortcut to wealth, fame, greatness. With a roving eye for the pretty ones. Attracted a bit to each of the three lovely witches. And looking for the first opportunity to run, when the going gets tough.





There is nothing in the story that you haven’t seen before. It’s a light-hearted fable, running along fairly predictable lines. It runs primarily on star power. The allure of watching James Franco woo the likes of Mila, Rachel and Michelle taking the movie to another, higher level

Silver Linings Playbook

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 25th December, 2013 (USA)
Time : 122 minutes
Director & Writer : David O Russell (based on the book by Matthew Quick); Music : Danny Elfman
Starring : Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Anupam Kher, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver, John Ortiz, Julia Stiles, Paul Herman, Dash Mihok, Brea Bee



The first time Brad Cooper and Jen Lawrence meet, they swap notes on the different medicines they’re taking, for various psychological disorders. The next time, she ambushes him while he’s going for a run and chases him around a few blocks while he begs to be left alone. On another occasion they go out to a diner and he orders Raisin Bran cereal with milk (a bit taken aback by his order, she asks for tea) because he doesn’t want it to look like a date. However, I wouldn’t classify the film as a romance, definitely not a chick-flick. Its that kind of a movie…



I’m not clear on the exact terminology of what Brad is in therapy for, anger management is a part of it and I vaguely remember words like bi-polar and schizophrenia being tossed around, possibly even together. He basically snapped when he came home early one day and found his wife (an English teacher) in the shower with the history teacher. He, however, once released from therapy, only wants to get back with her. But she has a restraining order against him.



Jen has also been in trouble. Has lost her husband, a cop, and decided to cope with it by sleeping with as many people as possible. Including everyone at her office, which leads to her being fired.



But the film is not just about them. Both stay with their parents. Brad has a lovely mother and a dominating, eccentric father, who has a restraining order against going to his beloved Eagles stadium. Is currently running an illegal book-making operation. And has a superstition that his son is lucky for the Eagles, so wants his son to be sitting with him whenever the Eagles are playing.



Jen’s parents are just trying to protect her as best as they can. She lives in an outhouse at the back. Where she can sleep with anyone at night as long they don’t keep the lights on.



At one level, it’s a slow moving film about these whacky yet eminently relate-able people. There is Anupam Kher, Brad’s psychiatrist. There is John Ortiz, Brad’s friend, who is struggling to cope with work, the depression, his wife, a new baby, the sheer pressure of it all. His wife, Julia Stiles, is a bit of a diva. And is also Jen’s sister. And, to round up the picture, there is Dash, the neighbourhood police officer in charge of Brad, who is quick to land up at the first sign of trouble.


At another, and a possibly more enjoyable level, I found it a fascinating film about how tough we make life for people who show any sign of deviant behavior. How quickly we can call the cops if there are raised voices at a neighbours. The insensitivity that makes us want to go and video them while they are in trouble. We want them to behave, we want them to take medicines that cloud their thinking, make mini-zombies out of them, so that they don’t create trouble. We want them to deal with their hurt / grief in ways they are possibly not strong enough to do.



I really enjoyed the film and the performances. Anupam Kher is engaging, it was so nice to see him in a good, meaty role. Jennifer Lawrence shows she is more than just a pretty face, displaying love, hurt, rejection and vulnerability in the right doses. Bradley Cooper impressed a lot, despite being completely stripped of his sex appeal. Shown running in slacks and a hoodie with a garbage bag on top (so that he sweats), turns up for dinner wearing a football jersey. Its that kind of a movie.

PS : Special Mention of the Ernest Hemmingway incident. Made the movie come alive for me…

Race 2

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 25th January, 2013
Time : 146 minutes
Director : Abbas-Mustan; Writer : Shiraz Ahmed; Music : Pritam
Starring : Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, Anil Kapoor, Ameesha Patel, Aditya Pancholi




The template of the film franchise requires beautiful locations (half-tick with Turkey, glitzy overwhelming resorts), beautiful bodies (tick for Jacqueline, double tick each for Deepika, Saif, John plus bonus point for getting Anil ‘You could lose an orangutan in my chest hair’ Kapoor to wax his foliage) and more twists, and turns than your average cork-screw (yep, done). Now, if only the makers had paid attention to also getting a halfway plausible story…

Saif is a hundred Agent Vinod’s rolled into one in this film. He can effortlessly shoot bullseyes in archery, fence, last a few minutes with an undefeated, indestructible prize fighter, charm the knickers off women and jump fifty-sixty feet walls with time to spare. He is pitted against John Abraham – ex-fighter, now billionaire and card cheat. Also happens to be Jacqueline’s boyfriend and Deepika’s brother. Anil Kapoor is the person who brings Saif and John together but with his new sidekick, Ameesha provide the most irritating side track with really horrible, disgusting jokes in which they leave the modesty of no fruit untouched.

The plot includes an unintentionally hilarious con of a casino owner, a robbery of a national artifact (ludicrous, makes you squirm with the stupidity of its execution) and several other points that insult your intelligence (the characters of the film, to make their multi-million dollar decisions, rely on that beacon of authentic news reporting, India TV, for their breaking news, for example).

There is a serious problem with the way the characters are built up. None of them really seems to be real or does stuff consistent with their character. They seem to be more driven by a script-writers whims and fancies than any real, credible motivations.

The music is also a disappointment, not a patch on the original which had the soulful ‘Pehli Nazar’ and the iconic ‘Zara Zara Touch Me’, the song that had a whole generation of harried mom’s begging their daughters not even to hum it, lest it be taken literally.

I guess this one is more about being easy on the eyes than taxing either your brain or the mind of the story-writer. The eye candy is good with no dress ever covering more than 30% of the female form (and I’m just exaggerating slightly), the locales glitzy and the sets blingy in a Versace gone mad kind of way. Kind of alright if you’re willing to detach your brain and watch. Painful, if you’re not.

Les Miserables

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 18th January, 2013
Time : 157 minutes
Director : Tom Hooper; Writer & Music : Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil, based on the book by Victor Hugo
Starring : Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathway, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Huttlestone, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tvelt




The story
An escaped convict, currently mayor of Paris, Hugh Jackman, is tracked down by a zealous policeman, Russell Crowe. But not before he makes a promise to one of his dying factory worker’s, Anne Hathway, that he will care for her daughter. He rescues her from the inn where she has been left, raises her and protects her, all the while hiding from Russell, till at a time when revolt is brewing on the streets of Paris, she (Amanda Seyfried) runs into Eddie Redmayne, one of the revolutionaries. The lives of Hugh, Russell, Amanda and Eddie intersect, possibly for a final time.

I’m probably the wrong guy to review this and would like to explain why

1. May sound strange coming from someone who rates Sound of Music as one of his all time favourites & has been weaned on Hindi films but I don’t like Musicals as a genre. Especially those where the singing / spoken dialogue is skewed almost 95% / 5%. Like this one.

2. This is a tragedy and I’m not particularly fond of this theme either. Yes, there are some uplifting, heart-stirring moments but overall the film is dark, grimy, depressive. Don’t see the point of watching such a film in your spare time

3. I found all the hype for Anne Hathway’s performance, all the PR, press articles quite over the top, given that she is only in the film for less than fifteen minutes. Nominated for best actress in a supporting role, BTW

4. I think there were several occasions when a song didn’t suit the emotion, the situation. A few prosaic, well chosen words would have done more in moving the story along and quicker.

My verdict
Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe steal the show with bravura performances. The sets, recreation of Paris was great. Couple of very touching moments – especially towards the end when Russell removes his medal of honour and places it on someone else. The rest just didn’t work for me.

Broken City

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 18th January, 2013
Time : 109 minutes
Director : Allen Hughes; Writer : Brian Tucker; Music : Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Claudia Sarne
Starring : Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alona Tal, Natalie Martinez, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper, Kyle Chandler



Russell Crowe loves being in power and will do anything to stay there. He is the Mayor of New York, a wheeler dealer, media savvy, into bed with big business and real estate (sounds like one of our politicians, doesn’t he) and is not afraid to using a bit of brawn or blackmail when he gets a chance.

Mark Wahlberg is tough as nails cop turned private detective. The kind of guy though, who’ll quit alcohol for seven years to please his wife (Natalie Martinez). Or the kind who’ll let his clients run up a tab of $42,000 almost making him broke, kept afloat only by the diligent efforts of his devoted secretary (Alona Tal). He’d left the force under a bit of a cloud, the full story behind that being revealed later. But now, seven years after he’d left the police, he gets a call from the Mayor’s office.

The mayor, right in the thick of a neck & neck re-election campaign, wants Wahlberg to check on his wife, Zeta-Jones, whom he suspects of adultery. And is willing to pay extra for quick results.

The film is a slow, gripping portrayal of politics, love, betrayal and the lust for power. Of murder, shady real-estate deals, adultery and blackmail. The calm, collected Wahlberg is a fine balance to Crowe’s physicality and restless energy. Add Catherine Zeta-Jones’ smouldering presence and barely concealed antipathy for her husband. A rival, Barry Pepper, who is determined to be mayor. A police commissioner, Jeffrey Wright, who doesn’t get along at all with the Crowe. And you have a film that unravels slowly but surely, the whole picture never revealed till right at the end.

What I like about this film is that everyone here has shades of grey, no one is black or white. Probably, the world today is such a place it wouldn’t allow anyone pure to truly exist. This is not a film that will blow your mind away, or make you clap with excitement. But, it’s a simple story well told. And some of their well-etched characters just might stay with you in the trek back from the cinema.

Inkaar

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 18th January, 2013
Time : 150 minutes
Director : Sudhir Mishra; Writer : Manoj Tyagi; Music : Shantanu Moitra;
Starring : Chitrangda Singh, Arjun Rampal, Vipin Sharma, Deepti Naval, Shivani Tanksale, Mohan Kapoor




Flirting. Sexual harassment. Power politics. Consensual sex. The corporate rat race. Love. All ingredients blend seamlessly and a bit confusingly as the lives of two people intersect, both high in terms of hierarchy, both unwilling to back down and both it seems, with motives other than what is apparent. The first half is quite good, builds things up well. The second falls apart with an end that’s unexpected as well as disappointing.

Chitrangda, the National Creative Director of an ad agency, has filed a complaint against her boss (?), the CEO, Arjun Rampal. He also happens to be her former mentor (has taught her everything she knows), lover, friend and advisor. The story unravels as the two depose before a panel, headed by Deepti Naval and populated by other agency people like Vipin Sharma, Shivani Tanksale, each of whom have their own point of view, their own loyalty and friendship. Frequent flashbacks trace the past, including incidents brought up as proof or rebuttal, sometimes the same episode shown from different perspectives.

The first half is tight, filled with tension. A scowling Arjun Rampal feels insulted at having to talk to the panel, angry that he is being of accused of something he he denies. “What is the difference between flirting and harassment ?”, he thunders once. “Who has benefited from whom ?” he asks, “I’ve taught her everything she knows !”. “Yes, he’s taught me everything”, replies a feisty Chitrangda, “but does that mean I should spread my legs everytime he walks in ?”. They both come across as honest, earnestly trying to convince the panel the other is at fault.

Other motives creep in the second half. Other people, other vested interests enter the picture. And suddenly, we’re not really sure what the two characters are about ? What makes them tick ? What is the true reason behind the case ? How will it solve itself ? But when the end happens, there is a feeling of being let down – its not consistent with either Arjun or Chitrangda’s character, nor does it seem logical.

Arjun suits his role, putting his limited facial expressions to good use, coming across every inch as a man with a touch of hubris, one to whom flirting comes naturally and scoring has never been an issue. Chitrangda sizzles as she tries to balance the different aspects of her character – part Alpha Female, part giddy teenager, part vengeful, part seductress and a little bit of a victim of her own success and circumstance. Vipin Sharma, Asheesh Kapur and Viveck Vaswani also stand out in their respective cameos.

Advertising agencies are always seen as being more bohemian, more permissive than other workplaces. Successful women often do have to face the slur of having slept their way up. Love is usually hard to find in modern office spaces, commitment probably harder, especially from men at the top. There are several insights that make sense, issues raised that hit uncomfortably home. But unfortunately, it doesn’t tie up or come together perfectly. At the end of the film, I’m not sure what either Arjun or Chitrangda were about anymore. And that’s not a nice feeling to leave with, in a drama dominated by these two characters …

PS : My bias for Chitrangda is well documented in my reviews of her earlier films, so not repeating that disclaimer here…

Last Stand

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 18th January, 2013
Time : 107 minutes
Director : Jee-woon Kim; Writer : Andrew Knaeur; Music : Mowg
Starring : Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Eduardo Noriega, Luis Guzman, Jaimie Alexander, Johnny Knoxville, Rodrigo Santoro, Zach Gilford, Genesis Rodriguez



Mindless action, where not much makes sense, the kind only Schwarzenegger can pull off, despite looking and playing the part of an ageing Sheriff, making a last ditch stand against a notorious criminal.

Arnold is the sheriff of a small town, having chosen to return from LA after seeing too much of blood and crime. His team of deputies are bored and completely unused to any action. The most exciting thing one of them has faced was rescuing a cat, while another shakes in terror when gunshots are fired and a third shoots beef joints for kicks. But all that changes when master drug kingpin Eduardo Noriega, just escaped from the FBI’s clutches, finds reason to include the sleepy border town in his plans.

Forest Whitaker is the FBI agent determined to recapture Noriega but is strangely unable to do anything tangible, apart from piss Arnold off, while Johnny Knoxville and Rodrigo are residents of the village who do their best to help their Sheriff.

Logic takes a definite backseat as the plot unfolds. The FBI coming across as markedly toothless and at a loss on what to do, even when the details of the escape plan become known, with Noriega and his mercenaries outwitting and outpacing them reasonably effortlessly till running into our angry hero and his merry men.

Fans of Schwarzenegger will not be disappointed, nor will those who rate movies based on the body / bullet count or by the number of vehicles blown up. Anyone looking for something else, a little bit more, will come away feeling something was amiss.