Still reeling from Part 1? Are you all cross-eyed and sleepy? Yeah? Then come back later... this post will still be here...
For the rest of you, Welcome to Part 2 of my blog-arc - this was Part 1. Glad ya joined me for the ride...
This post is going to be about yet another of Ms. Austen's book - debatably, my favorite - Sense and Sensibility (Div, did I hear a gasp from you?)
Once again, in a tale rich with emotional complexities, which Ms.Austen so superbly navigates, is set mostly in the English countryside (no, not the place pointed to by the signboard in Austin Powers: The Spy who shagged me - gotta stop here a sec and wipe my away my tears of laughter - that memory cracks me up everytime. every.time.) - is, again, a social drama with her (Jane Austen's) unflinching commentary on what was then considered perfectly normal.
Again, I saw the movie first, so I will only comment on what I know of it...
So far, of the newer Austen movies, I think this has the most stellar cast - Emma Thompson (I think she is, for lack of a purer adjective, awesome), Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman (I heart him) and of course, Hugh Grant & yes, even Hugh Laurie (go House). Star-crossed yet?
Gotta say here - it is a marvel, how after all these years, a story like this is still relevant... If Pride and Prejudice was about how the younger sister's (Elizabeth) prejudices almost came in the way of her true love, Sense is mostly about how the older sister keeps the family together... even at great personal cost...yes, the dreaded word, love.
Featuring once again, a strong female lead - someone who is well-read, accomplished, resourceful and yet puts family first... I think I'd turn to Sense for more realism that Pride. From the number of versions that Pride has had, you'll understand it has waaaay more drama and hence 'sells', if I may be so crude...
Sense hasn't had as many versions, atleast to my knowledge... And I will attribute that to how grounded and level-headed it is - be it Elinor or Col. Brandon. Those two words right there - grounded and level-headed - automatically make it tank at the box-office... Cos who wants real-life right? We want the tears, we want the drama, we want the costumes, we want the locations - but wait, Sense has those too... If only people stayed long enough to find that out...
Anyways, did you know Rajiv Menon's Kandukondein Kandukondein is an adaptation of Sense ? Tabu plays Elinor's character and Mamooty plays Col. Brandon's character - and these two, are my favorite. More about them later...
It is a fact that I saw Kandukondein before I saw Sense and I remember thinking to myself Abbas' character (Willoughby) was completely unnecessary... Only after I saw Sense did it make sense to me (pun definitely intended) - that Willoughby had to come into Marianne's life (Kate Winslet) to show her that what she thought was love, wasn't.
Ok, does it bug anyone else, that Aishwarya Rai (or should I say Rai-Bachchan now?) has has the privilege of playing two - not one, but two - Austen characters? Aishwarya as Lizzie Bennett? Really? Come on people!! Give me a BIG break. AND as Marianne Dashwood ? Kill me, kill me now. No offence to Ms. Rai - I wish her great personal and professional happiness.
I did honestly think that Tabu & Mamooty did justice to the parts given to them - but I must say here, the Indian twist to the story - Mamooty being a drunken, handicapped war veteran & Tabu as the un-lucky charm to Ajit's Edward Ferrars? I think that may have been the sugar that tried to make the intended medicine go down... I didn't agree with that...
As I said before, I heart Alan Rickman - I love him as Snape (heart heart heart), loved him in Die Hard, Love Actually, even Galaxy Quest. He's always played the drawl, sarcastic, with dry-as-sandpaper humor... I was quite pleasantly surprised to see him in Sense as the quiet, soft-spoken, caring yet firm Col. Brandon - the kind of guy they talked about when they said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.... Col. Brandon's the kind of man I could possibly dream about - even if he only is a fictional character... feel free to go get coffee or something.. while I look away dreamily into the distance...
I was rather amused by Hugh Grant's portrayal of Edward Ferrars - attentive yet shy, accomplished yet grounded to Emma Thompson's Elinor and in particular, his scenes with Margaret Dashwood *chuckle*... This one film redeems all him from the Notting Hill/Mickey Blue Eyes/Bridget Jones' Diary fiasco...
Which brings me to an important point - the screenplay for the 1995 version of Sense was written by Emma Thompson and won her an Oscar the following year for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Is that proof enough? That when great material meets a great interpreter /actor, magic happens? Her acceptance speech was so, so witty (it was on the DVD extra) and she is so humble....
I've always held her in high esteem... Starting from yet another fave Much ado about nothing, Remains of the day, Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually and down to even the Harry Potter movies as Trelawney... I think she truly is a star...
If you've noticed, I've said a lot more about Sense than I did about Pride... and I'll go so far as to say, I really do identify and relate to Elinor's character... I totally get why she did what she did and the way she did it... and along the same lines, I totally identify with Tabu's character too - not the unlucky charm part of it, but almost everything else...
And like I said, I did order a paperback copy of the unabridged Sense and Sensibility (its part of a 3 book collectors item - P and P, S and S and also, Persuasion) ... so once I get the books, it definitely going to be a toss-up between Sense and Pride... *chuckles*
Anyways, Sense (1995) is an equally lavish, captivating production with fascinating portrayals of characters written a hundred year or so years ago... the movie is a living,breathing homage to one of the best books of our times and arguably, one of the best authors of our times ...
I'll take your leave now... Part 3 is coming soon...
Monday, August 18, 2008
To read & to be read - Part 1
Ok - I am going to break my own unwritten rule and publish more than one post on the same day...
If you read my earlier post today, you'll know I saw, like a ton, of movies this weekend and it got me thinking. A lot. Mostly due to 3 movies in that list (one unnamed yet of course) and here we go...
*WARNING*: This is part 1 of a blog-arc, so to speak - it is literary, extremely cerebral, mildly boring and I don't mind saying so myself, bordering on a rant. I will be more than happy if you read this, but don't say I didn't warn you...
Does a word like 'disingenuous' send you running towards the nearest WordWeb or Google tab?
Well, 'disingenuous' didn't send me off on a Googling spree.. but some other words still do... err let me say, phrases, like 'invigorating in a non-rigorous, pragmatic sort-of way' ...
And at the risk of sounding like an old crone, I'm wondering, what ever happened to the value of being well-read and well-spoken... Nowadays, we all seem to have attention spans that would only last a news ticker or a web-clip in gmail... I know they said "Keep it simple, stupid!" - but, really, this stupid?
I am not going to lament on how we all don't read books any more.. ok forget books, atleast newspapers? End to End? no waaaayyy.. right? Me either...
But I want to change - I'm going back to my roots... in a manner of speaking... I've always felt sorely inadequate in the company of my many, well-read, uncles - who, during the formative years of my childhood (look how that turned out!), have emphasized to me, the value of reading classics - the unabridged versions... And take my word for it, when they say they were 8 or 9 when they finished Dickens' writings or Keats' poems, I do not doubt them. Yes, they were brought up in a different time, we're brought up in a different time... still...
We're all looking for meaning, right? Life's small moments? Something we can connect with.. something that makes us feel less insane... For me, it just might be reading some classics... Personally, I have always found that, reading books is like looking at life through someone else's eyes, walking in someone else's shoes... I find it stimulating and you know what they say, once a new idea enters your mind, it stretches a little and never goes back to the way it was...
So I'm gonna start with one of my fave authors, the wonderful Ms. Jane Austen... I can see those eyes rolling... stop here if you want... you can still make a run for it...
Part 1 of this blog arc is going to be about one of her most celebrated works, Pride and Prejudice... And although I could, at this point, launch into a full-blown review of the movie or of the book, I'm going to just jot down some random thoughts about both...
So ends Part 1. But only because I have some other stuff to juggle... I'llll be back....
If you read my earlier post today, you'll know I saw, like a ton, of movies this weekend and it got me thinking. A lot. Mostly due to 3 movies in that list (one unnamed yet of course) and here we go...
*WARNING*: This is part 1 of a blog-arc, so to speak - it is literary, extremely cerebral, mildly boring and I don't mind saying so myself, bordering on a rant. I will be more than happy if you read this, but don't say I didn't warn you...
Does a word like 'disingenuous' send you running towards the nearest WordWeb or Google tab?
Well, 'disingenuous' didn't send me off on a Googling spree.. but some other words still do... err let me say, phrases, like 'invigorating in a non-rigorous, pragmatic sort-of way' ...
And at the risk of sounding like an old crone, I'm wondering, what ever happened to the value of being well-read and well-spoken... Nowadays, we all seem to have attention spans that would only last a news ticker or a web-clip in gmail... I know they said "Keep it simple, stupid!" - but, really, this stupid?
I am not going to lament on how we all don't read books any more.. ok forget books, atleast newspapers? End to End? no waaaayyy.. right? Me either...
But I want to change - I'm going back to my roots... in a manner of speaking... I've always felt sorely inadequate in the company of my many, well-read, uncles - who, during the formative years of my childhood (look how that turned out!), have emphasized to me, the value of reading classics - the unabridged versions... And take my word for it, when they say they were 8 or 9 when they finished Dickens' writings or Keats' poems, I do not doubt them. Yes, they were brought up in a different time, we're brought up in a different time... still...
We're all looking for meaning, right? Life's small moments? Something we can connect with.. something that makes us feel less insane... For me, it just might be reading some classics... Personally, I have always found that, reading books is like looking at life through someone else's eyes, walking in someone else's shoes... I find it stimulating and you know what they say, once a new idea enters your mind, it stretches a little and never goes back to the way it was...
So I'm gonna start with one of my fave authors, the wonderful Ms. Jane Austen... I can see those eyes rolling... stop here if you want... you can still make a run for it...
Part 1 of this blog arc is going to be about one of her most celebrated works, Pride and Prejudice... And although I could, at this point, launch into a full-blown review of the movie or of the book, I'm going to just jot down some random thoughts about both...
- The book was first titled 'First Impresssions' before it came around to be what we know as P and P
- Both Hollywood & Bollywood have made attempts at converting P&P into a movie that takes place in our times, or at the very least incorporating some elements from P and P. Case in point, You've got mail that has our charming Mr.Hanks and the elfin Ms. Ryan discussing Ms. Bennett and Mr.Darcy. Bollywood's take? Well, its more of a cross over, but still, Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice. These apart from the other P and P versions with Colin Firth, the one with Laurence Olivier etc. Oh and did I forget to mention Bridget Jones' Diary, too.
- The film adaptations of Ms.Austen's books have always commended a top-notch cast - I mean, look at P and P - the 2005 version. Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Kiera Knightley and last but not the least in any sense of the word, Dame Judi Dench. If that doesn't dazzle you, nothing will... I haven't seen any other Matthew MacFadyen works, but he deserves a mention here too.
- P and P will be to girls what the Godfather is to guys. No argument.
- The 2005 version of the film is more like a lush painting than it is a movie. Striking visuals, masterful panoramas (yes, panoramas, not panoramae. Wiki it.), rich orchestration and not to mention bloody brilliant dialogue delivery
- I am yet to see the 1995 Colin Firth version, but have heard only good things about it
- I admit, I started P and P, never to finish it - but I blame the teeny black and white printout I took. That was a mistake. A big mistake. I am making amends though - I'm getting a brand new copy of the unabridged, paperback version in a couple of days, so I can sink in and lose myself in it. Hats off to my lil sis for finishing it earlier than me (of course you had it easier - no office work, no status reports, no meetings and generally, a little more energy. Don't even argue.)
- Mr.Darcy - pause while I melt - is that guy. Really. (yes ladies, I hear the collective swooning in the background) and Elizabeth Bennett, in one way or another, is something we all have been/want to be/had to be at some point in our lives - strong, independent, intelligent and resourceful (I'm not a feminist. really. I like what this quote says "Timothy Leary - 'Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.'" Haah.)
So ends Part 1. But only because I have some other stuff to juggle... I'llll be back....
Weekend lineup
Yaaawwn… strettchhh… is it Monday already!?! Do I have to wake up now? Time flies… especially when you’re having a good time… I had a rather enjoyable weekend and I’m sad to see its over already…
Anyways, y’all know my appetite for movies and this weekend was no different… Here’s what I ran through this weekend (in this order):
1. Swades
2. Lakshya
3. National Treasure
4. Constantine
5. Heroes S1, disc 2
6. You've got mail
7. Before Sunrise
8. Before Sunset
9. Pride & Prejudice
10. one more movie I am not going to reveal just yet - you'll hear about this soon though
And so, from this weekend, has sprung quite a little well of thoughts...
I'll be back soon....
Anyways, y’all know my appetite for movies and this weekend was no different… Here’s what I ran through this weekend (in this order):
1. Swades
2. Lakshya
3. National Treasure
4. Constantine
5. Heroes S1, disc 2
6. You've got mail
7. Before Sunrise
8. Before Sunset
9. Pride & Prejudice
10. one more movie I am not going to reveal just yet - you'll hear about this soon though
And so, from this weekend, has sprung quite a little well of thoughts...
I'll be back soon....
Friday, August 15, 2008
Happy independence day!!
Here's a lovely quote I thought would be very relevant today:
It is important to honor our beginnings; to remember that we matter and that we have a place in this world that no one else has .... Anonymous
I have immense respect for where we've been these last 61 yrs, proud of where we are today and very excited about where we are heading as a nation...
It is important to honor our beginnings; to remember that we matter and that we have a place in this world that no one else has .... Anonymous
I have immense respect for where we've been these last 61 yrs, proud of where we are today and very excited about where we are heading as a nation...
Happy Independence Day everyone!!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Withdrawal
After watching the explosive series premiere of Heroes on Netflix (S1, disc 1), I was waiting badly for Disc 2 from Netflix... as it turns out, Netflix's Shipping system has had an outage and discs haven't been shipped...
Entire story at this link - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080814/media_nm/netflix_outage_dc
Looks like I'll have to wait a bit... now am left with a weekend wide open.. no Heroes, nothing...
Lets see, I ran through the entire 1st season of Angel (yeah baby!!) on Hulu's Days of Summer, online..
Done watching two of my fave fave fave sci-fi flicks - The Fifth Element and MIB on Hulu...
Only thing left to do is watch Burn Notice, again on Hulu, I guess... *sniffle, sniffle*
Can't wait for the fall episodes of all my fave returning shows - Bones, Grey's, Heroes, Ugly Betty, House, Brothers & Sisters ... yes I'll even go as far as saying, I'm waiting for Pushing Daisies and Private Practice.. oh and Eli Stone too... did I miss anything out? *scratches chin thoughtfully*
But these are, at the mininum, 3 full weeks away... poor me...
Now that I think about it - there's still "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to catch on Hulu.. If only my internet connection were fast enough to stream Netflix's free "Watch Instantly" service that's part of my account... maybe I will check that too...
anyways, this rant stops here - this minute.
till the next post then... ta!!
Entire story at this link - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080814/media_nm/netflix_outage_dc
Looks like I'll have to wait a bit... now am left with a weekend wide open.. no Heroes, nothing...
Lets see, I ran through the entire 1st season of Angel (yeah baby!!) on Hulu's Days of Summer, online..
Done watching two of my fave fave fave sci-fi flicks - The Fifth Element and MIB on Hulu...
Only thing left to do is watch Burn Notice, again on Hulu, I guess... *sniffle, sniffle*
Can't wait for the fall episodes of all my fave returning shows - Bones, Grey's, Heroes, Ugly Betty, House, Brothers & Sisters ... yes I'll even go as far as saying, I'm waiting for Pushing Daisies and Private Practice.. oh and Eli Stone too... did I miss anything out? *scratches chin thoughtfully*
But these are, at the mininum, 3 full weeks away... poor me...
Now that I think about it - there's still "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to catch on Hulu.. If only my internet connection were fast enough to stream Netflix's free "Watch Instantly" service that's part of my account... maybe I will check that too...
anyways, this rant stops here - this minute.
till the next post then... ta!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Happy
You know that giant movie poster that hangs in Chandler & Joey's apartment... well I'm getting one of my own!! well, two actually... One is a movie poster reproduction of, yes, you guessed it - Casablanca and the other smaller one, is a matter print of Monet's "Water Lilies"...
Where did I find these? The Museum of Modern Art store (momastore.org) - check it out why don't you...
Can't wait for these to get here... l8r .. ta!!
Where did I find these? The Museum of Modern Art store (momastore.org) - check it out why don't you...
Can't wait for these to get here... l8r .. ta!!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Wicked!
ok ok... so I swore I would not gush all over my blog about summer movies .. cos, you know, they are summer movies... pure summertainment - not real movies, right? ... but a couple of summer movies I have watched this summer, have changed my mind and I don't mind saying that I've been pleasantly surprised...
*WARNING*: long post ... hear me out people...
the movies that changed my mind? Ironman and The Dark Knight... now, now, before you roll your eyes, let me lay it out for you - a) I am NOT a comic book fan and b) my stand on superheroes so far - meh.
So, the fact that I am here, writing about two superhero movies - well, even I am surprised...
For those of you who haven't seen these movies yet - please stop here - major spoiler alert - but take my word for it, go and watch them - these movies will leave you quite entertained and satisfied that you got your money's worth - and nowadays, that saying a lot...
And for those of you who think I must probably be a blind fan of the actors in these movies - well, you're wrong...
First - Ironman... I had zero info about what the character/comic book was about - only what I'd read in the summer previews that it was about a normal guy who Macgyver's together a suit and becomes Ironman...
That being said, I also knew Robert Downey Jr. was playing the lead... and I knew him from - don't roll your eyes - Only you and I've always thought of him as handsome, you know, easy on the eyes, great smile... Haven't really followed any of his other work, although I have heard of his drug problems and arrests...
So anyways, as the movie progressed, I realized I was quite won over by the intelligent script, not to mention top of the line action sequences (no, I am not going to squeee about the sexy Ironman suit) , Robert Downey Jr's deadpan delivery of some of the funniest lines in the movie and good old fashioned solid acting... and the movie made quite a statement about war too - it is all about who's got the biggest guns...
Yeah - predictable story - rich, I-don't-give-a-*** industrialist, weapons innovator (that pic of RDJ with Bill Gates had me in splits) gets kidnapped by his biggest customers - Middle-Eastern terrorists - builds himself a suit from scrap parts of his own weapons and escapes.... turns around 180 and goes back to save the villagers in the area he was kidnapped in... vows to stop building weapons... so what if it takes his own grenade that blows up on him and causes a million pieces of shrapnel racing towards his heart - to change it!
RDJ is absolutely charming and suave as Tony Stark - the industrialist-playboy-innovator-indifferent rich guy turned super hero...
Highlights of the movie for me - his scenes with Pepper, played by the beautiful Ms.Paltrow, his scenes in his lab while coming up with his suit, his test drives of them and most importantly - the fact that in spite of being an the industrialist-playboy-innovator-indifferent rich guy, he was still in touch with his craft - his ability to invent things, be it in his lab or in the caves - he was still hands-on with the thing that made him who he was ... not some - oh-I-am-so-rich-I-don't-even-care-about-how-I-got-here types....
Very intelligent - that too for a summer movie... screenplay was tight, acting was top notch, effects were so good, you wouldnt know that the suit he puts on is all effects and not a real suit...
I found a theme here that seems to be recurring nowadays - more about that later...
Onto The Dark Knight... ok so I havent really cared for Christian Bale's work... may have even seen a couple of movies of his I dont remember... and the man everyone's talking about - Heath Ledger - who I first saw in, wait for it, 10 Things I hate about you ... heard about him in movies I never saw - A Knight's Tale, The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain...
But yes, I do have a past with the Batman comics/movies/tv in the past - I grew up on the 60's Batman TV Show featuring Adam West - my 10 yr old self was so in love with him ... anyways, that show was more comedic than serious about crime-fighting and I rofl now thinking of the dialogues and the execution...
Annnnyways, yeah, so I did see a couple of Batman movies - the ones with Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney - oops, that's one more than a couple - so yeah, that's all I had on Batman so far and all I knew about Batman Begins was that it had Christian Bale in it along with, wait for it, (rolling my eyes) Katies Holmes - and after watching such suave, charming men play Batman, watching Christian Bale as the caped crusader in Batman Begins, was NOT a priority...
Anyways, so I heard all about the Dark Knight and how Heath Ledger is so darn amazing in it - and yes, I am one of the people who went into it having heard all the hype about a posthumous Oscar for Ledger (what with his recent death and all)... I had this line in my head from some review I read - "people may just watch it for the fact that they are seeing Heath Ledger's ghost on screen" - I was all, wow this is so cool, this has never happened to me and all that jazz...
But you know what, that lasted for like 2 seconds - Ledger is that darned good - you forget all about the real him and get lost in the madness that is the Joker... And yes, I am an ardent Jack Nicholson fan - I think he is one of the finest actors of my time - my fave movie of his so far, As good as it gets - till date, his performance as the Joker is the one I've measured quite a few villians upto...
But Ledger, my god... his performance was all it was cracked up to be and so much more... only adjectives come to mind - chilling, riveting, brilliant... the singularity of the character's purpose - to watch Gotham city burn ( no no, definitely not for money - he *gasp* burned a room-high pile of greenbacks) and two memorable lines - "Why so serious?" and "If you are good at something, never do it for free" - now that's what I am talkin about!
yeah, so I did sit there cringing through most of the havoc that the Joker unleashed on the city... but you just have to give the guy credit - this line comes to mind - If you wanna be bad, yeah, you gotta be good ...
And yes, I'm gonna say it - his performance as the Joker was more chilling than Mr. Nicholson's... his scenes with Batman - where he so clearly points out that he has brought Batman to the point where he cannot do anything even with all his strength and has absolutely nothing to threaten the Joker with - sheer genius ... and towards the end, where he talks about how incorruptible Batman is, how noble he is in not killing the Joker out of self-righteousness and how they may be destined to do this good guy-bad guy dance forever... some of the best lines ever... right up there with Casablanca quotes...
Why am I not talking about Bale, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman (another fave of mine) and Michael Caine? The story and screenplay + Ledger = little reason to talk about these other elements... fine performances, yes - esp. Eckhart & Freeman... but the overall wow-ness is the story and Ledger more than anything else... I'll take an intelligent villain over a mildly-interesting superhero any day...
Both these movies left me thinking - which not very many movies have made me do ... that was a pleasant surprise... thinking about what makes us human and more importantly, good, bad or somewhere inbetween ... As the Joker says, people are only as good as they are allowed to be by society and don't even get me started about his rant about plans - man, the stuff really hit home ... here's the link for quotes from the movie - go on and read a few, you won't regret it and I'll wait right here for you...
And yet, this is a Batman movie, so it still is about him and why he is the Dark Knight as opposed to Eckhart's white (D.A) knight... A tad bit long - honestly, I was ready to pack up and leave at the 2 hr mark - I really did think the movie was over, but noooo, there was more to be seen & heard... brilliant...
Other Dark Knight links:
http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/06/the-dark-knight-review
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/04/mondaymoviebuzz.darkknight.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/
And here's the theme I was talking about - deconstructing the classic hero - he is not indestructible, he is not all powerful and he is certainly not a one man army...
I mean look at Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne - the "heroes" - the bleed, they burn , they hurt and *gasp* have real emotions... and yeah, they are flawed and they're not afraid to show it - but that's what makes them all the more relatable.... right? I don't mean that in a 'now I think I can also be Ironman' sort of way... I'm just saying - they've made it ok for heroes to be as human as any of us...
This is also a theme I ave noticed in two of my (don't yawn) fave TV shows - Bones & Heroes - yes, Booth is a knight-in-shining-FBI-standard-issue-body-armour but he is also a normal guy who loves his kid to death and loves his beer & apple pie and doesn't want to hurt his shoulder breaking down a door (Season 3, last ep. Pain in the heart) ... and in Heroes - all of 'em - Bob, Peter, Noah, *gasp* Elle, Nathan, Peter, Hiro and yes, even Adam - all with superpowers but driven purely by their own humanity...
Wicked awesome these movies... loved them... And so comes an end to a weekend I managed to pack in 7 movies into (including the latest Mummy movie) ... probably won't be back here for a while though ... till the next post then... ta!
*WARNING*: long post ... hear me out people...
the movies that changed my mind? Ironman and The Dark Knight... now, now, before you roll your eyes, let me lay it out for you - a) I am NOT a comic book fan and b) my stand on superheroes so far - meh.
So, the fact that I am here, writing about two superhero movies - well, even I am surprised...
For those of you who haven't seen these movies yet - please stop here - major spoiler alert - but take my word for it, go and watch them - these movies will leave you quite entertained and satisfied that you got your money's worth - and nowadays, that saying a lot...
And for those of you who think I must probably be a blind fan of the actors in these movies - well, you're wrong...
First - Ironman... I had zero info about what the character/comic book was about - only what I'd read in the summer previews that it was about a normal guy who Macgyver's together a suit and becomes Ironman...
That being said, I also knew Robert Downey Jr. was playing the lead... and I knew him from - don't roll your eyes - Only you and I've always thought of him as handsome, you know, easy on the eyes, great smile... Haven't really followed any of his other work, although I have heard of his drug problems and arrests...
So anyways, as the movie progressed, I realized I was quite won over by the intelligent script, not to mention top of the line action sequences (no, I am not going to squeee about the sexy Ironman suit) , Robert Downey Jr's deadpan delivery of some of the funniest lines in the movie and good old fashioned solid acting... and the movie made quite a statement about war too - it is all about who's got the biggest guns...
Yeah - predictable story - rich, I-don't-give-a-*** industrialist, weapons innovator (that pic of RDJ with Bill Gates had me in splits) gets kidnapped by his biggest customers - Middle-Eastern terrorists - builds himself a suit from scrap parts of his own weapons and escapes.... turns around 180 and goes back to save the villagers in the area he was kidnapped in... vows to stop building weapons... so what if it takes his own grenade that blows up on him and causes a million pieces of shrapnel racing towards his heart - to change it!
RDJ is absolutely charming and suave as Tony Stark - the industrialist-playboy-innovator-indifferent rich guy turned super hero...
Highlights of the movie for me - his scenes with Pepper, played by the beautiful Ms.Paltrow, his scenes in his lab while coming up with his suit, his test drives of them and most importantly - the fact that in spite of being an the industrialist-playboy-innovator-indifferent rich guy, he was still in touch with his craft - his ability to invent things, be it in his lab or in the caves - he was still hands-on with the thing that made him who he was ... not some - oh-I-am-so-rich-I-don't-even-care-about-how-I-got-here types....
Very intelligent - that too for a summer movie... screenplay was tight, acting was top notch, effects were so good, you wouldnt know that the suit he puts on is all effects and not a real suit...
I found a theme here that seems to be recurring nowadays - more about that later...
Onto The Dark Knight... ok so I havent really cared for Christian Bale's work... may have even seen a couple of movies of his I dont remember... and the man everyone's talking about - Heath Ledger - who I first saw in, wait for it, 10 Things I hate about you ... heard about him in movies I never saw - A Knight's Tale, The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain...
But yes, I do have a past with the Batman comics/movies/tv in the past - I grew up on the 60's Batman TV Show featuring Adam West - my 10 yr old self was so in love with him ... anyways, that show was more comedic than serious about crime-fighting and I rofl now thinking of the dialogues and the execution...
Annnnyways, yeah, so I did see a couple of Batman movies - the ones with Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney - oops, that's one more than a couple - so yeah, that's all I had on Batman so far and all I knew about Batman Begins was that it had Christian Bale in it along with, wait for it, (rolling my eyes) Katies Holmes - and after watching such suave, charming men play Batman, watching Christian Bale as the caped crusader in Batman Begins, was NOT a priority...
Anyways, so I heard all about the Dark Knight and how Heath Ledger is so darn amazing in it - and yes, I am one of the people who went into it having heard all the hype about a posthumous Oscar for Ledger (what with his recent death and all)... I had this line in my head from some review I read - "people may just watch it for the fact that they are seeing Heath Ledger's ghost on screen" - I was all, wow this is so cool, this has never happened to me and all that jazz...
But you know what, that lasted for like 2 seconds - Ledger is that darned good - you forget all about the real him and get lost in the madness that is the Joker... And yes, I am an ardent Jack Nicholson fan - I think he is one of the finest actors of my time - my fave movie of his so far, As good as it gets - till date, his performance as the Joker is the one I've measured quite a few villians upto...
But Ledger, my god... his performance was all it was cracked up to be and so much more... only adjectives come to mind - chilling, riveting, brilliant... the singularity of the character's purpose - to watch Gotham city burn ( no no, definitely not for money - he *gasp* burned a room-high pile of greenbacks) and two memorable lines - "Why so serious?" and "If you are good at something, never do it for free" - now that's what I am talkin about!
yeah, so I did sit there cringing through most of the havoc that the Joker unleashed on the city... but you just have to give the guy credit - this line comes to mind - If you wanna be bad, yeah, you gotta be good ...
And yes, I'm gonna say it - his performance as the Joker was more chilling than Mr. Nicholson's... his scenes with Batman - where he so clearly points out that he has brought Batman to the point where he cannot do anything even with all his strength and has absolutely nothing to threaten the Joker with - sheer genius ... and towards the end, where he talks about how incorruptible Batman is, how noble he is in not killing the Joker out of self-righteousness and how they may be destined to do this good guy-bad guy dance forever... some of the best lines ever... right up there with Casablanca quotes...
Why am I not talking about Bale, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman (another fave of mine) and Michael Caine? The story and screenplay + Ledger = little reason to talk about these other elements... fine performances, yes - esp. Eckhart & Freeman... but the overall wow-ness is the story and Ledger more than anything else... I'll take an intelligent villain over a mildly-interesting superhero any day...
Both these movies left me thinking - which not very many movies have made me do ... that was a pleasant surprise... thinking about what makes us human and more importantly, good, bad or somewhere inbetween ... As the Joker says, people are only as good as they are allowed to be by society and don't even get me started about his rant about plans - man, the stuff really hit home ... here's the link for quotes from the movie - go on and read a few, you won't regret it and I'll wait right here for you...
And yet, this is a Batman movie, so it still is about him and why he is the Dark Knight as opposed to Eckhart's white (D.A) knight... A tad bit long - honestly, I was ready to pack up and leave at the 2 hr mark - I really did think the movie was over, but noooo, there was more to be seen & heard... brilliant...
Other Dark Knight links:
http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/06/the-dark-knight-review
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/04/mondaymoviebuzz.darkknight.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/
And here's the theme I was talking about - deconstructing the classic hero - he is not indestructible, he is not all powerful and he is certainly not a one man army...
I mean look at Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne - the "heroes" - the bleed, they burn , they hurt and *gasp* have real emotions... and yeah, they are flawed and they're not afraid to show it - but that's what makes them all the more relatable.... right? I don't mean that in a 'now I think I can also be Ironman' sort of way... I'm just saying - they've made it ok for heroes to be as human as any of us...
This is also a theme I ave noticed in two of my (don't yawn) fave TV shows - Bones & Heroes - yes, Booth is a knight-in-shining-FBI-standard-issue-body-armour but he is also a normal guy who loves his kid to death and loves his beer & apple pie and doesn't want to hurt his shoulder breaking down a door (Season 3, last ep. Pain in the heart) ... and in Heroes - all of 'em - Bob, Peter, Noah, *gasp* Elle, Nathan, Peter, Hiro and yes, even Adam - all with superpowers but driven purely by their own humanity...
Wicked awesome these movies... loved them... And so comes an end to a weekend I managed to pack in 7 movies into (including the latest Mummy movie) ... probably won't be back here for a while though ... till the next post then... ta!
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