Why oomph sells !

Admakers have always known it but now there is some scientific proof that marketing products using glamorous females do make sense (via Nature.com). A recent study found that males abandon rational decision-making when in sight of a beautiful face. After eyeballing pictures of pretty women, men were found more likely to want immediate monetary gratification than to wait for a bigger bonus.

Females on the other hand were far more accurate in their calculations, proving to be far more resistant to male eye candy. Men were apparantly not so bad after ogling plainer women or just fancy cars!

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Why being a Pirate pays !

Especially in a slick big studio movie that grosses millions worldwide I guess. People magazine was influenced enough to name Johnny Depp the sexiest man alive in it's yearly poll. Depp now lives in France and has two young children with his girlfriend Vanessa Paradis. And earlier in the year he had stated rather candidly his views about the U.S and also expressed a strong anti-war stance. All the furore those statements caused is apparantly forgotten after Pirates of the Carribean became such a big hit.

I actually loved his oddball movies more but for once People is right, he's anything but P.C. And if this new sex-symbol tag and current box-office clout means more movies for him it's great news. That is, as long as he keeps doing the quirky movies too...

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Is the freedom of press in India a myth?

India only shared the 128th place with Pakistan(out of 165) in the 2nd world press freedom ranking released by the Reporters Without Borders(download PDF here). The ranking was compiled by asking journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists to fill out a questionnaire evaluating "respect for press freedom" in a particular country from September 1, 2002, to September 1, 2003. The study does not look at human rights violations in general, just press freedom violations and is not a ranking of the quality of the press, just its freedom. The scandanavian countries predictably are on top while only Islamic/communist states, countries ruled by dictators and press of United States of America (in Iraq) & Israel (Occupied Territories) were below us.

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My Tomb Raider connection...

One of my favourite people in the movies, Angelina Jolie was given the U.N. Correspondents Association's Citizen of the World award last week by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (report). This is in recognition of her recent good work as the goodwill ambassador to the UNHCR. She has in that capacity visited refugee camps in Cambodia, Pakistan, Namibia, Thailand, Ecuador, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Ingushetia and Congo to promote their cause. Two years back she was in the news for making a personal donation of $ 1 million to help Afganistan refugees. And earlier this year she pledged to donate 3.2 million pounds to the Cambodian Wildlife Fund. Apparantly it was after reading the script of Beyond Borders her upcoming movie, 5 years back that started her off in this new direction. Among other things she also finally discovered what I did a decade back - that fried frogs on a stick goes down well with a beer ! Now she says that she has grown quite fond of - frogs, bugs and beetles as a part of her cuisine, since buying a home in Cambodia for her adopted son, Maddox. Wild child, talented actress, devoted mother and now a social activist - through it all she's always been a breath of fresh air...

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Amadeus: Ode to an artist's inner life...

I was always curious why my "listen to everything as long as it is rock" philosophy didn't come in the way of appreciating the peace Mozart's music brought me. After all complex structures & musical visions beyond my powers of comprehension didn't seem reason enough. So when I finally decided to see Amadeus sometime early this month, there were a few answers to seek. And about an hour into the movie, when Mozart upon being asked to change a part of his composition, says innocently(without a trace of ego) "But how can I change something which is already perfect." I was enlightened...

A 1984 multiple Oscar winning movie by Milos Forman, Amadeus is based on a play by Peter Shaffer which focussed on a prominent theory that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was poisoned to death by Antonio Salieri, the court composer in Vienna at that time. The movie starts long after Mozart's death with Salieri, F. Murray Abraham in a stunning performance, locked up at an asylum after yet another suicide attempt. With his own music long forgotten, Salieri's plight was due to a long painful life witnessing the genius of Mozart's music finally triumphing, giving his musical legacy its rightful place in history. The movie plays out in the form of Salieri's recollections of Mozart(a freewheeling Tom Dulce) in a confession to a naive young priest in the asylum.

What follows is a compelling story of how Salieri's narrow-minded view, of an artist being an instrument of God's voice, seeks to impose its moral strictures on the free-flowing genius of Mozart which is bound by no such rules. All of this is brought about when Salieri discovers Mozart to be a young man more keen on chasing pretty women, than live up to his religious and moral beliefs. Though Mozart remains clueless about Salieri's gradually more evil plans to destroy him, his genius shines through to protect him, in a series of memorable encounters. And all throughout his machinations, Salieri is among the few people who actually recognizes and appreciates Mozart's musical genius. This makes his gradual decline from moral uprightness to depravity even more disturbing and real. The movie captures Mozart's irreverence for conventions and crazy indulgence delightfully, right down to his hyena laugh(historically true). It also gives us insightful glimpses into his creative process & passion and reveals the choices he had to make for writing his various operas.

Filmed in Prague in authentic locales(the theater in which Don Giovanni actually debuted is used) the production design is immaculate. The cinematography also does the accompanying great music justice. In particular the funeral sequence with the Requiem playing in the background is simply stunning. Forman in what is regarded his best work, extracts incredible performances from his cast enroute to creating cinema's most successful musical epic ever. Murray rightly got the accolades and the best actor Oscar in this career-defining role. However it is Tom Dulce's cruelly ignored, heart-rendering performance as an innocent artist caught in intrigues his mind has no time to fathom, that ultimately makes Murray's & the movie's triumph possible. By the end any arguments about the historical veracity of the plot is just blown away in a perfect fusion of great music, splendid acting and classic storytelling by a master craftsman.

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They really said it!

A selection of recent quotes from Hollywood report:

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The 'real' 007 no more !

British war hero, Former Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Patrick Dalzel-Job, the inspiration behind secret agent James Bond, has died aged 90(report). He had carried out a series of daring exploits behind enemy lines during World War II, including some while serving under 007 series author Ian Fleming. Although he never claimed to be the real James Bond, Fleming had told him he was the model for the heroic spy. Some of his real life adventures could put 007 to shame. In one of most daring exploits in 1940, he disobeyed orders to rescue all the women, children and elderly residents from the Norwegian town of Narvik in local boats just before it was destroyed in a German bombing raid. Later he only avoided a court martial after the King of Norway sent his personal thanks and awarded him the Knight's Cross of St Olav !

He recounted tales of his wartime achievements in his memoir "From Arctic Snow to Dust of Normandy." And unlike the womanising 007, Dalzel-Job returned to Norway after the war to marry his childhood sweetheart. He actually even shunned the Bond films saying "I prefer the quiet life now. When you have led such an exciting life you don't need to see a fictional account of it". Guess he must have found all the hype around a fictional James Bond quite funny...

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Deadly entertainment... Live !

Last week's rock show by Hell On Earth, which attempted to stage a suicide by a terminally-ill patient, drew widespread condemnation. The common view being that though some found the cause(euthanasia) valid, the public spectacle and the selling of tickets made it just another gimmick by a band seeking instant fame. The city officials had requested a judge for an injunction and the Mayor Rick Baker issued a statement saying that "Using a suicide as part of a concert for purposes of entertainment value or for purposes of profiting is a sick concept.". The judge then issued a temporary order last Monday blocking the performance and any advertising for the show(report). The show was later cancelled as the website where it was to be telecast was brought down by a hacker.

Last night mind control expert Darren Brown pulled off a live Russian roulette stunt on TV (report). Brown was seen firing a handgun containing a live bullet at his own head three times on Channel 4. He then pulled the trigger twice while pointing at a nearby sandbag, one of those being the slot with the live ammunition. Unofficial overnight figures showed an average of 2.9 million tuned in to see the hour-long stunt which was aired from 9pm. The figure peaked at 3.3 million as 32-year-old Brown's stunt reached its climax shortly before the end of the show. Despite the controversial nature of the show, there were only 4 complaints so far. Time maybe for Hell on Earth to try stage death on TV next...

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Austrian Oak marching towards a new career...

This report says that according to the latest opinion polls, Arnold Schwarzenegger has streaked ahead of his rivals in the campaign to become governor of California. So far apparantly his strategy to reach out to the voters through TV commercials and on chat shows rather than in direct confrontation with his competitors is paying off. The biggest budget of any candidate is helping of course. Arnie has pulled off some amazing things in his life so far. Starting from becoming the first bodybuilder to win 6 Mr. Olympia title in a row(he won 7 in total) to breaking through in Hollywood without speaking a word of comprehensible English. One scene from his cult documentry on his preparations for the 1975 Olympia competition Pumping Iron comes to mind. Still only 28, Arnie confidently talked about how he would win the title, retire and then become a big movie star & get an Oscar. His interviewer had laughed then but Arnie went on to do most of that in the coming yrs. Of course he had to be satisfied with a Golden Globe for his debut film Stay hungry. Maybe a political career too was in his mind since he did end up marrying a Kennedy. And as an aspiring politician he was smart enough to not add that bit in his prophetic interview 28 yr back.

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Teen Deewarein: Indulgence amidst brilliance...

Nagesh Kukunoor's latest venture Teen Deewarein shows his continued growth as a filmmaker to watch out for. To create an authentic atmosphere Teen Deewarein was filmed in Musheerabad Jail in Hyderabad( in only 36 days). It also uses synch sound, a remarkable feat since the jail is apparantly in the hub of the city. Nagesh also maintains the same realism in his characters. No frills in writing the lead roles and even the side characters are well fleshed out. The movie initially tries to bind numerous incidents under the common theme of abuse. Be it abuse of political power in prisons, homosexual abuse among prisoners or physical abuse in a unhappy marriage. But in attempting to do so the movie meanders along a bit, weighed down by all these diverse topics that it touches upon. Grim realistic scenes are at times interpersed with scenes poorly lighted or needlessly drawn out. So the movie also reveals that Nagesh seemingly hasn't quite mastered the art of sustaining the pace of a complex movie yet.

But his lead characters do continue to hold the attention thanks to some good casting and handling of actors. Jackie Shroff as Jaggu the sensitive, remorseful lawyer on deathroll eager to pay out his sins is left to do what he does best - emote with his eyes. Naseerudin Shah as Ishan the unrepentant bank robber on deathroll, is in his elements playing the most complex role in the plot. Alternating between charm and menace he casts a spell only he can. Juhi Chawla too has her moments playing Chandrika, a documentary filmmaker who's researching on conditions of deathroll prisoners. In a side theme Chandrika is also shown as a victim of physical abuse in her marriage. Gulshan Grover is quietly competent as a warden trying new reforms in the prison. But in what is the weakest link in the entire movie, Nagesh inexplicably decides to cast himself as Nagya, the deathroll convict who proclaims innocence, and exists on the hope that truth will truimph. Apart from the rare lighter moments which work Nagesh is simply out of his depth in dramatic scenes with the likes of Naseer.

The movie does redeem itself in the 2nd half which is much better edited. The gradual bonding between the 3 deathrow convicts is beautifully handled, though their cell seems to defy nature at night by always being bathed in moonlight(!). As Juhi's character by her gentle conversational style draws them out of their shell, we are left musing which one is speaking the truth. The treatment of all the characters is realistic making for a healthy buildup of tension & curiosity about underlying motives. As Jaggu, Ishan & Nagya reveal their deepest feelings and aspirations even Chandrika too is not left unmoved. In one of the more poignant details in the script, it is her talks with Ishan that finally enable her to see her own marriage for what it was. The movie does however play out to conventional form in the end where all the loose ends are skillfully tied up. In a curious move Nagesh chooses to not go through the sequences linearly or spell out an indictment to leave other interpretations open. But such ambivalence (which IMO would have increased the impact) isn't totally supported by his handling of certain crucial scenes at the end. Nevertheless Nagesh does nearly pull off this tale of coincidences which showcase his improved writing & directing skills.

[update(22/09/03): Edited the last para since I got too vague(as starfest pointed out) in trying to avoid spoilers . Hope I didn't give away too much.]

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Elitism, frustration, pretentiousness or just old age ?

Yesterday I was browsing through an old issue of MAD which had a section termed Totally Honest Cable Listings. Found out that since I absolutely love the NBC show Frasier their opinions would make me an elitist snob!!. And I thought I love the show just because it is hilarious - plain & simple. Now I have no qualms with being termed elitist or a snob either for that matter. But I confess I've absolutely no clue when Frasier & his family talk about epicuristic tastes and find the bon mots(the reason why MAD considers it elitist) rather simple and funny. Now Grisham(the head of CSI crime labs) in typical scientific lingo, would say that humour is an involuntary motor reflex to human survival needs issues i.e love, food, sex, shelter( as he did in this weeks episode). So since Frasier is about the frustrated love-lives of 2 sons & their father I guess that should give me a clue. Hmm... relationships have been a bummer in recent times but I've loved the show ever since I saw it aired so that theory doesn't quite hold.

So maybe my failure to gloss over that MAD insuination reflects symptoms of taking myself too seriously. I know it's been in the air of late among Indian blogs. Well I hope not. As far as blogging goes I still haven't got over the thrill of watching my words come up in my own space, embellished with all the css styles I ape from JustZen(my online advisor on matters html, graphic art, zen & music). And though I have things to say at times, the responsibility of acting as a regular moral guardian/social commentator is too tough an ask and goes too much against my respect for individuality & personal choice. And to top it off I'm quite lazy too. And in real life I still continue to trip on old songs of Black Sabbath where they espouse the virtues of Sweet Leaf and tell me Fairies wear boots among other such pearls of wisdom. And I honestly think that Peter Jackson couldn't be right when he simplifies LOTR to attract a new audience. Because I know exactly what happened as I've walked down those trails of middle-earth together with the fellowship each time I've read/browsed through the book :)

So I guess I'll have to conclude that it is just my years taking a toll, since I do have a sense of humour and can laugh at my myriad inconsistencies. It's just that I can't seem to trust blindly old favourites like MAD or take its occasional faux pass easily. I still find myself in splits of course when they say 'Two Towers should win, because it's high time the Academy honors dwarves - especially after snubbing Tom Cruise all these years'. But an entity(now owned by Warner Bros) that exists on deriding others by playing up to the lowest common denominator of the public no longer has my respect. Just like rant-a-day blogs which throw at your face all that is wrong in the world without also acknowledging what is right or what moves the people behind them positively on a personal level. I sense more a gratification of personal inadequacies in real life than noble intentions there. Well since I'm just getting too cynical and this post's veering towards a rant I'll end here. And just reach out for the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album I bought & trip on Anthony Kiedis' crooning The Zephyr Song instead. Hmm... wonder what RHCP would think of an 'elitist' fan :)

[note: Just found out while doing this post that Bon Mots means 'good words' in French & denotes cute memorable quotes.]

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Random T.V musings...

C.S.I seems to be having plotlines that deal entirely with my random passions nowadays. Robot wars last week and now Hitchcock movies :) This week the protagonists are art-house patrons who employ a plot lifted from a Hitchcock movie Strangers on a train to committ the crime. I haven't seen the movie, which seems to from his early period but it seems predictably intriguing from the plot. I've never been able to put much objectively judging Hitchcock's work anyway. He kind of blows me away with his quirky choice of subject much before my critical senses can home in on the movie's nuances. After all who else could pull off a totally whimsical plot like in The trouble with Harry and provide us with such comic moments at the same time.

Meanwhile a new era is set to dawn in the world(?) of Robot wars U.K competition. Chaos II failed to become the first robot to win a hattrick of titles going out after a gallant fight in the semis. They were actually lucky to have even got past The Wild Thing in the prelims, when they should have been pushed to the pits as they were tottering on the edge. Razor, I'm simply in love with its birdlike design, the current world champion move to their 1st U.K final. Previous years have seen them lose due to some bad driving & mechanical failures. And since so far they have avoided those, its platinium claws are slicing through all competition. Was really impressed also by Bigger Brother which beat Chaos II to a place in the final. It was quicker, its flipper more powerful and they employed the right tactics. That is to simply wait for an arrogant Chaos II team to run out of CO2(which drive the flippers) with its all out attack policy from the first.

Saw bits of Notting Hill that romantic commedy starring Julia &Hugh Grant. It had elements of the wonderful Four weddings and a funeral by the same screenwriter(Richard Curtis ). Or at least tried to have them in the form of Grant's oddball group of friends. But way too 'big studioish' in its implementation to achieve any meaningful moments. Anyway I have finally realised why I like Julia Roberts. That is because she looks like Juliette Binoche whom I simply adore. Just loved her in The English Patient and more recently in Chocolat. Julia is beautiful as always in Notting Hill. Almost as beautiful as Elvis Costello's song She(well... maybe not quite !) in the movie's soundtrack, which provides the one moment of bliss in the movie. Too bad it comes along with the ending credits...

She may be the face I can't forget
The trace of pleasure or regret
maybe my treasure
or the price I have to pay
She may be the song that summer sings
may be the chill that autumn brings
maybe a hundred different things
within the measure of the day...
                    - Elvis Costello (Notting Hill OST)

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My lamp was lit by another lamp !

Some 'thoughtful' quotes from Mahesh Bhatt, who after running out of auto-biographical incidents to make films, has become Bollywood's current king of plagarism.

Fortunately more of his ilk didn't exist in the Neandarthal Age. We'd still be wearing animal skins and playing "Me Tarzan, you Jane" otherwise.

[note: Bhatt takes the usual refuge of plagarists by citing Shakespeare's alleged inspirations from peers but I thought the notion of comparing the Bard with himself too absurd to include here]

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MOVIES: Insomnia... great locales & a acting masterclass !

Al Pacino has been in prime form in recent years after his somewhat unexpected Oscar win in Scent of a Woman. Critics had commented then (rather harshly) that he got the Oscar for his worst acting in a movie. He was strangely uneven though in Scent of a woman - brilliant at times & playing to the gallery in other parts. Anyway he should have got it (fairly) long before for Godfather II, definitely his best ever performance. In Insomnia he approaches somewhat near those heights in a role & movie tailor-made for him. He plays an old renowned cop who's struggling with present moral dilemmas, in the form of an internal investigation, at the twilight of his career. Seeking redemption on a small-time case he is face to face with two interactions on different levels that make him question his own morality & sense of values. A hero-worshipping young cop (a brilliant Hillary Swank) with an untarnished conscience & a first-time killer (Robin Williams) who himself is struggling with his justifications for the crime provide the engaging confrontations.

A remake of a critically acclaimed Norwegian film(same name), Insomnia is a perfect example of a well-made thriller- good direction, superb acting & above all a taut plot that dwells on underlying moral issues. Pacino with his haunted eyes & tired/harried look is the physical embodiment of an insomniac (the never ending days in Alaska force him to be one). And he would consider himself unlucky to miss an oscar nomination for his flawless performance here. The interactions between Hillary (a long-time Pacino fan) and Pacino provide the best moments in the movie & probably deserved more focus (I'm just being picky here !). Robin Williams has his moments too in a negative role with all sorts of hues. He continues his recent resurgance after having abandoned his silly sentimental image & digging into meatier negative roles (eg. 1 hr Photo) with relish.

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MOVIES: X-2... more action, a little less conviction !!

I love D.C /Marvel comics heroes so this review will be longer than it should be & quite biased :) I remember being hooked on to the complex themes & scientific allusions inherent in these stories as a kid. So the recent discovery of this potential treasure-chest of great scripts by Hollywood studios, driven largely by advances made in sfx & to some extent lack of ideas for blockbuster movies, has been very welcome. Most studio adaptions of D.C comics have been successful in recent yrs with the exception of Daredevil(yuck!) This sequel to the engaging first part(X-Men) is the latest movie among that genre and it works for the most part.

X-2 continues from where it left off in the last part. Magneto's still in his glass prison while Wolverine continues his search for his past. The battlelines continue to be drawn between mankind & mutants throughout despite the best efforts of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Thanks to Stryker (an advisor to the President) &Magneto (Ian Mckellan) who represent the extremist sides of both kind. Along the way we are introduced to several new characters like Pyro (manipulates fire), Nightcrawler (teleports himself) while old favourites like Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Storm (Halle Berry), Dr Jean Gray (Famke Janssen) are all back. I've read reviews that criticized the 1st part for all the description & slow build-up to the action. Funnily enough I thought that those were its strong points in this age of SFX movies with all style & no substance. Unfortunately the producers seem to have noted those critical remarks. So what we have is a more slick, fast paced thriller. To his credit Director(Bryan Singer) does take time to develop romantic themes(Cyclops-Gray-Wolverine, Storm-Nightcrawler, Iceman-Rogue) and continues to highlight minority communities thru aspects of 'mutant' family life. In an inspired moment when confronted with Iceman's mutant nature his Mom hesitantly asks "Have you ever tried to be different?". Accusations of a gay subtext to the X-Men movies have been made, though to be fair they are a tribute to minorities of all kinds(teens, gays & in general communities misunderstood to be dangerous because they are different)

But despite these positives, the characters are too numerous to get enough space to reveal their quirks or make a big impression. Also the pace of the movie doesn't leave you with any gaps to absorb fully the info thrown at you. Actions scenes are more plentiful, elaborate and spectacular. Among the characters Kelly Hu(stunning) is wasted in a bit role while Rogue(Anna Paquin), Cyclops have reduced roles. Wolverine (Hugh Jackson) has more fight scenes but doesn't make as big an impact as the first movie while Mystique is still an eyeful. Ian Mckellan & Patrick Stewart continue to impress in the limited screen time they have.

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Bollywood: a promising debut & a scary movie...

For a change I watched some hindi movies last week.

Haasil: a debut movie for director Tigmansu Dhulia is for most parts a good honest effort. Set in authentic locales in the hindi heartland the first half of the movie is a taut study of student politics at a university in U.P. The script & the directors balance kind of tapers off sometime after the interval though. So we are witness to a overblown sequence of events leading to a very 'filmi/filmsy' climax. The lead actors are all good but Irfan (The Warrior) is quite outstanding. When he's on screen you can't look at anyone else. The support cast(especially Tinnu Anand) too is good, comprising mostly of a host of unknown actors from a theatre background.

Bhoot: is quite scary... Unfortunately spirits from the other world aren't the cause. They are mostly quite rational, justice-seeking & law-abiding. But the depths to which Ram Gopal Verma has fallen in his latest venture is a bit frightening. The plot is wafer-thin & you have probably come across better ones in 'Zee Horror shows'. Ramu tries hard to add some substance by using not using songs(a very welcome decision), weird camera angles, an overblown use of sound-effects(which are actually not bad) & employing an array of talented actors with walk-on parts. But Ramu who has made this same movie before(Raat, a self-confessed failed attempt to adapt The Exorcist) only ends up showing us that he hasn't quite managed to adapt this genre of filmmaking to Indian settings yet. His career-long aim of exploring well traversed themes in the Indian milleau is now a mini-studio/production house. Unfortunately for us he hasn't quite learnt to maintain his Satya/Company standards with this '7-movies-at-a-time' assembly line film-making.

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Matrix Reloaded...stumbling on unrealistic expectations!!

Finally convinced myself to see Matrix Reloaded. My expectations were down after seeing the spate of negative reviews on the net. Maybe that's why I didn't find it that bad. A letdown after the first movie yes...but that was on expected lines.

Anyway while watching, I just went with the ride & thankfully managed to gloss over the weaker parts. And looking back there were many, unlike the first part which by intent or happy accident held all the SFX, wire-bound martial arts stunts, the wild background score & the new-age philosophy bound together tightly enough to be heralded a sci-fi 'classic'. In reloaded Morpheus(Laurence Fishburne) eases with dignity to a support role leaving Neo at the centrestage. Keanu, like the first part & despite the cool shades and frequently begining sentences with 'I believe', unfortunately still looks bewildered. That suited the first part but not now when 'The one' is a committed revolutionary with much higher powers of conviction & skill. He even flies(a M.I.B with kryptonic powers) though is strangely reluctant to do so, choosing to engage a replicating Agent Smith(Hugo '2 cool 2 die' Weaving), & show his new wire-bound moves on a pole instead. Keanu does a much better job with the stunts than in the first part(where he was so stiff !!) but I still continue to wonder what a feast Jet Lee would have made of the stunts. With or without wires ... :)

But to give credit the 'freeway stunts' are worth the rights of admission on their own. And Trinity(Carrie Ann-Moss) still looks cool in black leather(latex?). The story too does go forward. Now we are exposed to Zion & its politics while Neo & Trinity do take their relationship forward. As in the first part philosophy of various hues are splattered all over the script and is under heavy scrutiny on the net.(related site) We also understand 'The Matrix' & its creation process better. In case you need to take a closer look, the transcript of the final revelation of Neo & Oracle's identity is here. The best place to search for cool trivia you may have missed for the first part is :Matrix faq's& for reloaded: Reloaded faqs. The background score unfortunately is a big letdown & not a patch on the original movie soundtrack.

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Martin Scorcesse: a look beyond the oscars..

Making lists are often a very subjective affair, particularly for something like movies which are a intensely personal experience. But a pretty representative & respected list of Hollywood movies released in the past century(till 1996) was released a few yrs back by the American Film Institute(link). Being a devout Martin Scorcesse fan(my rant on GONY should convince you of that !) I am happy to note that his 3 best movies in that period all make the top 100 movies. A comparision with the ones they lost the Oscars to(numbers being positions in the AFI list): Raging Bull(24) lost to Ordinary People(not in top 100) which got(Picture + Director), Taxi Driver(47) lost to Rocky(78) which got (picture + Director), Goodfellas(94) lost to Dances with Wolves(90) which got(Picture +Director). Being prejudiced I naturally don't agree Dances with Wolves(an historically inaccurate Hollywood attempt at appeasing native Red Indians) being on that list, let alone higher than Goodfellas :)

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Gangs of New York(Postscript/rant)

The fuddy-duddy Oscar members have been historically good at finding excuses to not give a directing Oscar to Scorcesse(eg. Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas). They probably found the dark portrait of class, race and religious war too much of an incendiary assault on the foundations of 'Dubya's land of the free & brave'. And the honesty and candour in showing riots & civil unrest taking place due to military drafting is probably not welcome at this time. By ignoring it at the Oscars they would have us believe that New York has always been the cosmopolitian, secular city it is now and its populace all agog with patriotism.

Well , history will no doubt judge how much social 'consciousness' was present in giving the oscars in acting, in this war-dominated year, to Adrien Brody's soulful take of a pianist tale of survival in Nazi- held Poland in The Pianist'. Or how much of its recently acquired 'progressive outlook' was at work in giving best direction to ex-rapist, Hollywood outcast, Roman Polanski. To his credit, Scorcesse, a long term admirer of Polanski's work was one of the first to stand up & applaud(many didn't) when the Oscar was announced. As for the best picture Oscar going to 'Chicago' I'll just attribute it to the world watching too many bad Bollywood movies :) But seriously, I'll remember this year as the momentous time when even Time magazine was influenced enough to name 'Devdas' as one of the top ten movies made worldwide, while nominating 'The Hours' as the worst movie of the year. A study in contrast that...

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Gangs of New York... a brutal, flawed masterpiece !!

At 2 hrs 48 minutes Gangs of New York is long even by Bollywood standards. Not long enough though for Martin Scorcesse to explore what has been his favourite muse over the last 30 odd years, the city of New York. And he has been at it over & over again... exploring, as only he can, all of New York's vivid spectrum of life - Mean Streets, Goodfellas, &Casino(searing underbelly of crime), The Age of Innocence(hypocrisy & politics of social life), The Raging Bull(the inter wining ties between boxing & the underworld), Taxi Driver(post-Vietnam loss of innocence). And now finally after 25 years of research, sweat & toil he is ready to look at New York's history itself. And as Bono(who sung "Hands that Built America" on the OST) said in introducing the movie at the Oscars, every nook & cranny of the dark heart of America's greatest city is laid bare. To remember the blood spilt & the ethnic cleansing that took place in the past for the greatness achieved now to be possible.

Everything about the movie is a grand & an authentic spectacle. A perfectly realised recreation of 19th century New York is the backdrop to the chaos & mayhem that reigns on the streets of Manhattan. The bloody opening clash between the anti-immigrant gang of 'natives' led by Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) & the Irish immigrants led by Leonardo DiCaprio's father (Liam Neeson) sets the tone for the remainder of the movie. Leonardo DiCaprio playing a role with shades of 'Hamlet' is quietly competent though we never sense the 'rage of blood boiling over' Bill 'the Butcher' senses in him. And towards the final stages he actually looks a bit out of depth confronting a stunningly brutal Daniel Day-Lewis. Normally an epitome of English(err.. Irish)-breed gentleness & decorum on screen, Daniel Day-Lewis transforms himself magnificently into the foul-mouthed, brutal butcher who reigns over the 5 point district of Manhattan with fear. He actually even incorporates a dialect similar to those spoken at those times in playing out the dialogue, which frequently appropriates biblical language. Maybe Leo was just being smart by underplaying his role because everything else on screen & beyond is just blown away in a performance about which Rolling Stone mag's reviewer says "Daniel Day-Lewis, stalking the streets of Manhattan like some savage animal, simply strides into Hollywood legend".

Cameron Diaz doesn't quite belong there in a role which seems too much of a digression & the pace of the movie is uneven at times. But a work of such staggering ambition, grandeur and terrible beauty leaves little scope for analysis or criticism. In simple words movies aren't made like this anymore. And Martin Scorcesse, one of cinema's greatest living artists, is also one of the very last of those breed of epic storytellers.
[Edited(12/7/03): added quote & removed postscript(my rant !) to another post]

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MOVIES: An Irish star on the horizon... !!

Saw a couple of movies last weekend featuring Colin Farrell, the young Irish actor who is being hyped as the next Brad Pitt in Hollywood circles. My first impressions are that he is probably a better actor than Brad Pitt. He has screen presence despite his dimunitive stature & certainly held his own opposite Al Pacino in "The Recruit".

The Recruit is about a CIA training facility('The Farm') which has old-pro Pacino playing the role of a recruiter who is 'a scary judge of talent'. Colin, playing the recruit is an ex-M.I.T grad, encryption expert, who has to undergo all the 'Cloak n dagger' C.I.A training. The movie ends up exploring familiar territory but the good acting by the lead players holds it together. Verdict: Definitely watchable, if only to observe the crackling chemistry between old-hand Pacino taking new kid Farrell 'thru the paces' in 'reel' & real terms both.

The Phone Booth: A much more experimental movie. This showcases the acting abilities of Colin Farrell as he has to hold your attention for the span of the movie with only a phone booth(at most times) as his support cast. Directed by Joel Schumacher& written by Larry Cohen the movie explores one day in the life of a conniving, lying movie publicist when his well ordered & hyprocritical life threatens to spill over the national media after receiving an anonymous phone call in a phone booth. Verdict: Good. Even gripping at times. There are some weak moments initially & maybe in the end but most of it is engrossing stuff. Possibly a 'breakthrough' role as far as Farrell's Hollywood future is concerned. Interestingly quite a few actors had turned down the role when first offered.

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A Beautiful Mind: Love , lies & personal notes

I did see the movie much earlier when released but now catching it on cable I kind of reminisce on some not so happy memories. The movie itself is good though it takes several typical Hollywood type liberties with the actual story. For example John Nash wasn't as clueless as shown in the movie. He was already seeing someone when they met. And later when married he did keep a long-term mistress. The reason they seperated was because his wife forced him to undergo all those shock treatment therapy. They only got back because she promised to not send him to the shrinks again. And as dramatic as it sounds I'm not too sure he ever ended his speech saying something to the effect of "... a beautiful mind is cool but a good heart is a greater gift/achievement".

But it does raise several issues that bother me personally. Mostly concerning the definition of love & related issues like involvement and committment. When you say you are in love what exactly does it say about your level of involvement in the relationship. Or even committment. I suppose it's relative according to your personal beliefs , ethics, moral code ..etc. But then if you are unsure about the other persons exact definition of those terms it can get messy. For then one fine day you can well end up with a nice little "I was in love but not quite ready to make a committment" quote. Nice, clean & ready to use at any point of time....

Favourite related quote: "The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

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Hollywood Movies have storylines which seem right out of Bollywood these days. Caught "Final Destination"(sequel is out in the states) on cable recently. All about destiny & fate coming together to attempt to kill off a group of friends one by one by various odd coincidences. The movie has its moments & the basic premise of the movie is to scare you with the wide range of possible ways in which nature can conspire against up at any given moment. The inevitability of these incidents & their complicated details all arising out of day to day activities is the movies way of dealing with "Naseeb". Of course here it is a chain of events (a logical one) triggered after one specific incident. The lead character is the only one able to see the truth a.la Fox Mulder & he has to battle these mystical forces(God/Devil??). The ending is farfetched & a simplification leaving loose ends to uncover in a sequel; which apparantly did quite well too in The United States.

Fate, destiny/ karma, family values, reincarnation, ghosts & lately musicals... Holywood is obviously seeking new markets eastwards. Already China has taken the lead by releasing attempted crossover movies directly targeted at the U.S market. Crouching Tiger... was only the first of a new wave of movies made with an eye on the western markets. "The Hero" was released last year in the U.S & promptly got quietly nominated in the best foreign movie at the Oscars. Too bad that "Devdas" was all gloss & no substance(apart from being a sick story) or it would have been a nice followup to "Lagaan" for us...

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Indian movies have been in the news in more ways than one this last week. The Cannes film festival had an Indian night recently with Ash being on the panel of judges. Shilpa Shetty presented a dance representing Bollywood thru the ages. Incidently she is likely to be interrogated by the police as her Father has just been granted bail on a charge of extortion from the makers of Praful sarees.

Also last week a tv soap (starring Karisma Kapoor)pulled out of air as a plagarization suit has been filed in court by the original author from U.K. Of course this had the customary effect of the usual suspects questioning Hollywood about its own record of finding inspiration elsewhere.

Mahesh Bhatt going to the extent of doubting that even William Shakespeare had lifted plots from contempories. Of course he kind of spoilt his intentions of raising eyebrows(his favourite past-time) by stating human beings are incapable of doing anything original (??) or artistic. Hmmm.. maybe we can conclude that at least one is so. His "Raaz" is a scene to scene lift from "What lies beneath"&"dil hai ki manta nahin" similarly copied from "It happened one night". Raaz incidently was nominated in the IAAFA awards for best screenplay (Bollywood is cheeky if not original!!)

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