a_humble_movie_lover Reviews

The Dark Knight (2008)

Sir Heath takes the Bat to epic standards

[9/10 · 5 January 2009]

When I first saw the online trailer of The Dark Knight, my wife said "so do you reckon the movie would be that good, the man bettering Jack N's Joker, or its just a well made trailer trying to cash in on Ledger's legacy?" Not really a fanboy, I just ignored the question shrugging my shoulders.

I am glad to say that now, I can answer the questions in a major affirmative: yes, the movie is that good; Heath Ledger makes Jackie boy's portrayal campy. And thank God that for once the hype created for a superhero movie by Warner Bros. doesn't just live up to it, but far exceeds it! What does this review have new to offer? Nothing really. Just that I had forgotten to post it on IMDb when the movie had come out, so finishing off my to-do list!!!

One wishes that there be a spin-off graphic novels based on The Dark Knight, not the other way around; its far superior to 'The Killing Joke' and 'Death in the Family'. For Gotham looks and feels like a real city, with real people and real emotions. This is a complete movie and you start feeling for the characters, you wait with baited breathe for your hero to succeed and you don't ridicule the villain, nor do you empathise with him: quite simply, you're very scared of him. You shiver every time he says "WHY SO SERIOUS! " The plot is fairly straight forward and perhapssplashed all over the internet. Here's a quick recap: The last good cop Lieutenant Gordon and Batman, assisted by his Man Friday Alfred and able brain man Luscious Fox are on a cleaning spree, joined by the new District Attorney Harvey Dent (who is, btw, dating Bruce Wayne's ex-flame Rachel Dawes) and whilst all the bad boys are being put in jail, the Joker makes an offer to the underworld to kill Batman. Quite simply, he won't do something that has a price for free. People die, Batman's insecurity and vulnerability is brought to the fore, the Joker bleeds yet laughs; and as our hero undergoes it all, we hope and pray that the movie never comes to an end! Late Heath Ledger is simply outstanding as the Joker. He's eight steps ahead of everyone-including the trying-to-workout-the-plot-smarty audience. There is no denial that he deserves an Oscar nod, and if posthumous Knighthoods are bestowed, sign me up for the petition to get him one. He's crazy, psychotic, calculating, and makes the audience think forever as to what is up his sleeve. His portrayal instills fear even with a pencil! At the expense of probably being the one-billionth person saying it, Heath Ledger's Joker surpasses all hype & expectations, is way better than Jack Nicholson's take on the same character and makes the world realize what a great actor we've lost.

It's hard to put the rest of the cast in the same level as Ledger, but everyone does brilliantly. Had this been any other movie, probably right now everyone would be rooting for Christian Bale and Gary Oldman's magic on screen. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Maggie Gyllenhall are so perfect that you possibly can't imagine other actors playing these characters. Aaron Eckhart is efficient, but just leaves the audience a little wishing-for-more from Harvey Dent/Two Face. One wonders if Good Will Hunting Matt Damon would've scored the areas that Eckhart missed on.

If there is one person who matches Heath Ledger here is the Director Chris Nolan. Take a bow, Chris, as you have truly created a masterpiece, without compromising on the comic book charm or the tragic hero pathos, or the twists and thrills we have known and loved you for. Thank you for rescuing Batman, and giving the movie colour you did! Please don't stop here, and we look forward to your final instalment in this trilogy All in all, it's a wonderful movie. A movie that deserves respect and admiration, more importantly repeat viewing to fully appreciate the little tricks that Nolan has left.

As I sign off, once more, my salutes to Heath Ledger, the actor, who's swansong is this magnum opus, and May You Rest in Peace, Sir Heath!

Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984– )

funny for the era

[7/10 · 1 September 2008]

I am a firm believer that a film, TV serial or any form of art should and would be fully appreciated once the timing factor- as to when written, produced or conceived-should be taken in to account.

Yeh Jo hai Zindagi is one such series. I remember watching it in the mid-80's on TV and the re-runs via the video cassette libraries during early 90's. and laughing out loud and being addicted to it. That made me buy the full series DVD set and surprise of surprises- the comedy and the moments of the good 'ol days simply fell flat for me. Even the very popular "30 years ka experience" "GULAAAAB JAMUN!" and "Sofa cum bed" did not invoke the kind of mirth I thought it would. The timing factor: for the 80's, this was the showstopper. The main event. The mother of all TV comedies. And it worked during the age and time! Perhaps the same cannot be said right now, but nonetheless, watching the DVD did bring back pleasant memories.

I wish the seasons with Shafi Inamdar and Swarup Sampat were longer. Satish Shah has been un-believably good as the heart of the show, with equally effective support cast of Farida Jalal, Tiku Talsania and the bengali neighbours. Rakesh Bedi hams throughout.

All in all, an experience that will bring back memories for those who saw it during the prime times, might not appeal to the younger viewers or first time watchers!

Gandhi, My Father (2007)

a good movie....could've been great!

[8/10 · 8 August 2007]

Keeping all political views aside, Feroz Khan and Anil Kapoor's 'Gandhi, My Father' is a good movie that cleverly explores the confused-towards-family side of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and the fight of his eldest son Harilal Gandhi with the society, his larger-than-life father, and most importantly demons in his head. One draws parallels to Gandhi the father of the nation and struggles any son could have with their father

The acting is good. Shefali Shetty, Darshan Zariwala and Akshaye Khanna-strictly in that order- add color and pathos to this heart wrenching tale of Harilal who weeps to be hugged just once and also runs away at the faintest touch of the finger.

Feroz Khan's direction and the production canvas is lavish and attractive, however, the screenplay could've been tighter. I had seen the play some years ago on a pirated video type DVD (it was called Mahatama vs Gandhi, I think) and it was certainly more gripping. Though, the movie's background score and the father-son and mother-son moments are just a brilliant treat.

This movie could have been great. It's borderline to that. It has the potential so huge to have been just a story differences between a father and son or just Gandhi or even both. somewhere, the plot is lost and when you expect absolute epitome of emotions, nothing comes to you.

It compares decently to other Gandhi's. Certainly not an overview film like Kingsley's Gandhi,or abstract as Kamal Hassan's Hey Ram. The film just about manages to find its footing; however, one is left wondering "what if..." Worth a watch. 7.5/10

Single White Female 2: The Psycho (2005 Video)

SWF2: The waste of time&money

[1/10 · 10 May 2006]

what was this?why was this made? and more importantly, why did I waste my precious 2hours and £1.50 on this? the movie is about 2 girls sharing a flat, having a fight (over a man+job) one moving out and right into the "Psycho" girl's life. the psycho girl falls in love, gets obsessed with her new roomie/best friend and tries to eliminate everyone, including the love of her life. yaaawn.

this movie has NOTHING. the "thrilling" scenes don't thrill; the sexy scenes don't make you hot and you're not scared by anything. the acting is lame, to put it very mildly. the plot thin and direction weak.

do not even go anywhere NEAR SWF2. I liked SWF because I did encounter a person like that in life, and thought the sequel won't be THAT bad. but it was. and worse.

City of Joy (1992)

Passable, but thanks only to the Indian cast.

[5/10 · 7 February 2006]

Having been born and brought up in 'the City of Joy' and living in the western world for the last 5 years, I have mixed feelings about this movie. The locales (VERY much of Calcutta- the by-lanes, the rickshaws, tea stalls, colleges, streets- all of them) give it a sense of realism, but I'd have to say that the movie does get too preachy. The hero does save the day in the end, but well, this is not the Calcutta one relates to. It is the centre for art, culture, music, drama, books, literature- and the now-made-famous-by-Late Mother Teresa's work, the outskirts of Calcutta. Cinematically, the movie does get dragging at times and one starts questioning the motive of the director Roland Joffe (sympathy or point blank nakedness? Trying to make people aware of hit them at weak points to arouse interest?) but it is a passable "entertainer", strictly due to the wonderful work by the Indian cast, especially the great Om Puri as Hazari. Could have been a great one if it followed the book a little closer.

Kaal (2005)

Disaster!

[2/10 · 4 May 2005]

When you have a reputable banner, Dharma Productions, BIG stars-Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, and a fantastic publicity campaign backing a film, you KNOW the movie will make money. The fantastic start that KAAL has got at the box office is obviously, no surprise. But, the movie, dear Dharma productions, is sad, bad and very boring.

The movie is about John Abraham, a tiger expert working for National Geographic, his photographer wife, Esha Deol who goto Orbit Park to unearth the secrets of man-eating tigers. Surprisingly, this happens without any information to the channel, and they just land up there and try explore. The story then brings in Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and their two friends, all of whom are on vacation, and as their car breaks down, a sudden turn of events lands them at Orbit Park, and after they meet Abraham and Deol, the story moves on. They meet the tigers and Ajay Devgan later, and soon tragedies happen around them, and I wouldn't spoil that for anyone who'd want to see this ridiculous excuse of a movie, which has no narrative and pace.

Soham tries to make his audience THINK. Like Oberoi lighting the cigarette and Abraham making that scary face. Obviously, the audience add two and two and make i four, but Mr. Soham is no Hitchcock. Dude, when you throw in something confusing at least offer an explanation for it. THAT's what makes the movie interesting and adds repeat value. Remember when Kevin Spacey says "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was to convince the world that he did not exist" or when Haley Joel Osement says "I see dead people around...the big problem is they themselves do not know they're dead"...well, it all had a meaning! Oberoi saying "smoking kills" and then smoking, eeesh! Care to explain? There are a gazillion more loop holes! A lot of people have spoken about the 'mixed reactions' the movie as got. Heck, the movie has got bad reviews everywhere, except for from Mr. Taran Adarsh, leading trade analyst. And that makes me think, why and how. Quite simply, he is obsessed with everything Karan Johar and ShahRukh Khan do. And he has no qualms about it either. He'd even rate admittedly bad things from the Khan-Johar camp and make them sound good. So, when such a reputed analyst rates the film so highly, most of the audiences are given further incentive to go watch the film.

I remember when DHOOM released, Mr. Adarsh very categorically said that "after the initial hype, this movie will die down". Taran, DHOOM was still an entertainer. KAAL, to which you give 4 stars out of 5, is dull. You may love Johar and SRK, but call a spade a spade man! I'd give this movie a */***** and that too for the brilliant sound, and the very first item number on SRK and the hot hot Malaika. The movie is downhill from there. Of course, SRK and Johar would go laughing to the bank, but guys, please don't torture us like this anymore.

My Brother... Nikhil (2005)

Story of a sports champion, who gets HIV-positive,and his life turns around

[9/10 · 7 April 2005]

I just came back from a special screening of this movie.

As a rule, I try avoid sentimental films- those with an extra doze of emotions, life, et al.So, i was avoiding this one, until today when I was invited for a special show.

And I must say, what a movie! It tocuhed me deeply, throughout.

The basic premise of the movie is that Nikhil Kapoor, a National level swimming champion, is tested HIV positive. And fearing the deadly disease AIDS, the society neglects him. The very people who could not let go of him, start shunning him, and this includes his parents. The only people who stand by him are his sister and most important person in his life, Anamika (Anu), her fiancé Sam, and Nikhil's partner, Nigel. The film has an important message: not HOW a person gets AIDS (or HIV virus) ; but how the life of one with AIDS gets affected. Shot beautifully in the picturesque Goa, the story is told from view points of all people important to Nikhil's life, and his legacy beyond death.

Must watch! Nothing too revealing. Its something WE ALL KNOW these days. Just that its hard for most to accept. The movie got a standing ovation at the screening . Very well and differently made, it gets slow and dragging at times, but is so heart warming, one can let go of this minor drawback.

Go watch it!

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Overall a wholesome, relaxed entertainer, just sit back, and enjoy!

[7/10 · 10 December 2004]

Everyone 'thinks' before the movie starts that well, we'll crack the heist before Steven shows it on screen. So, you rattle your brain, try add everything around and start jumping to your own conclusions. The show I went for had a 15 minute break to accommodate a presentation of sorts, where most people were outside sipping cola. And everyone was coming up with their own predictions 'Oh, Lahiri is the twelfth. Terry Benedict is helping as the twelfth'.

The fact of the matter is, whether you are an Ocean's 11/ 12 hater or lover, the developments leave you a little surprised, if not confused. I'd say just keep the basics of Ocean's 11 in mind, but do not compare the two. The heist this time is more complicated, and they do not have as much time to plan or even think. They're on the run from the start. Obviously, end of the day you expect and get the group to pull of the heist, but credit must be given to the writers and director for keeping everyone in suspense, which at times frustrates also. Like, you want Julia Roberts to pull off the thing; (btw, her sequence sounds ridiculous, but when you see it, it's very neatly done!) you want the group to not be arrested, you want Zeta-Jones to be a thief; you want Danny and Rusty to be in control of the situation like in the first part- and all of this does not happen! Though, it's revealed in the end how they were 2 steps ahead of the brilliant Vincent Cassel.

Must admit was disappointed with the usage of some characters- thought that Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia and Elliot Gould could have been given more footage. At times it looks like they could not accommodate roles for everyone and have compromised a lot. I generally do not like him, but loved Matt Damon as the 'wannabe' kid! Very funny. Seasoned performers like Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts sail through their roles very efficiently. Catherine Zeta-Jones is adequate, and looks good. The director in Steven Soderbergh scores, but the efficient story teller is missing. Very slick, most of the scenes look classy.

The film is very easy on the eyes, and like some people have been pointing out, looks like the cast had a lot of fun doing it. In fact, the last shot when the party is on, it looks like it was a real party, and there were cameras rolling.

Do not be fooled by the negative publicity generated by certain sections of the media. If you are comparing this movie to a Citizen Kane- well, can't do much about it! Leave your brains at home, and enjoy this entertainer.

Rating: 3 and ½ on 5