Nanban Movie Review

Shankar's 3 idiots is a good watch. Having said that, its no different from the original. Its just the same flick. We all know the story so no point in writing all these. Vijay has done well i must say. But the guys who score are Jeeva, Sathyan, Sathyaraj and Illeana in the same order. Sreekanth is as usual a big let down. I hate that guy's so called acting and his feeble voice. Songs are good but nothing extraordinary. Harris' seems loosing his touch. First half is quite boring whereas second half is better with some quirky dialogues and pjs thrown here and there. Logic takes beating in many scenes. Illeana is as pretty as any Shankar's older heroines. Its just a feel good movie you can watch once. Nothing like new wave of tamil cinema, vijay's fabulous performance as most people say IMO.

Emagandam - Short Movie Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZexpAABB1HE

You can see short film video in the above link. Now the review. First scene is awesome. The camera stands still and we see just the legs running forward. Next shot shows the high court of karnataka. Metaphor for judgement? After a couple of shots there is a smooth transition in the story and the flow. Suddenly the camera starts moving slowly and we are into a flashback of which happened before half an hour. What else can we expect in a 6 minute video. We see the same guy who was chased in the previous scene, walking sheepishly towards his home. And the person who has chased this guy is introduced as the police man. And the guy in the shop asks why not in uniform sir? He says came on some other duty. And he again asks "enna sir emagandathula vanthirukenga? " He replies "policekaaranuku ethu emagandam ellam" Honestly speaking, I didn't like this sequence much. Two reasons why. I don't understand why all these policemen are in polos when they are not in their uniform. Starting from Saami Vikram to the recent Samuthirakani in Eesan everyone sports a polo tee. Isn't it clichéd? I have seen many policemen in my place not in uniform but never with polos :) Second thing why he is asking that not in uniform and all? Its understood he is not in uniform. His pant shows he is a policeman.

Next the innocent looking guy with a poor gait walks into his place and our funky police man watches over. Unwanted heavy music over here. Really disrupts the flow of the movie to me. Having said this, all the other places the music and editing were of top notch. Specially using that Saavu kuthu is amazing for the chasing. Harris Jeyaraj tried something similar in Khaka Khaka for a few seconds in a chase and needless to say even that's brilliant.

Out of guilt, the guy tries to suicide by hanging himself and the police man tries to save him. Next the flashback meets with the real time chase. After the chase, the music stops and we see the dead body of the guy who was chased. And the police inspector smokes a fag. This is funny really. Why would any person on the earth smoke a fag when he just sees the guy whom he tried to save was killed. Doesn't it look like a forced one?

Other than these minor qualms, it's a decent attempt. Great work by the editor and the musician. Not to forget the great fluid camera work. Direction is crisp and sharp with usage of metaphors like crushing the pen's nib, etc in many places shows a talented director. I only wish this would have had a little strong story. It didn't create a big impact on me as I wished.

Lets wait and watch how its getting received in Cannes!

Nadunisi Naaygal

Well, How should I start? Like GM? I made a lot of research. This is a true story. I told this to my costume designer and she puked. My wife likes Tarantino and slasher flicks. I wanted to do something different. I don't care what the world says. This is not for the weak hearted..

Excuse me...

A person who undergoes sexual abuse in his early life, turns to be a psycho. He has multiple personality disorder which makes him kill the girls. Mr Gautam is this really a true story or it's a marketing trick to lure the poor audience? May be you can say you are the first to show incest in TC, but that makes no difference. Your screenplay is decades old. The movie moves ahead with the psycho's POV which is plain boring. I felt like I am hearing match commentary in radio. And acting - What to write. I really don't know why they show these psychos always speak in a different tone and yucky mannerisms? Turning to one side, nodding then speaking.. Give us a break..

Speaking of technical departments, the cinematography and editing are of top notch. However , this doesn't help much. Showing an abandoned mansion, with only two characters roaming in it, with no BGM to create an eerie effect doesn't make you Hitchcock sir. What you need is a gripping screenplay which sans all the other things be it the mansion or the yucky mannerisms you(?) or your hero portrays.

And you will hear people saying this is a novel attempt, he has raised the bar - these are nowhere true. Let him come out of his amateur movie making and his self boasting then we can say he has raised the bar. Before that, let him find a produce to make a movie.

Aadukalam

The man behind "Pollathavan", Vetrimaran strikes gold here with Aadukalam. A stylish revenge drama comprises of cock fights, friendship, vendetta - all amalgamated into one fine capsule.

The movie starts with explaining the significances of cock fights in earlier centuries and how it continues to the contemporary days. Then we see a bunch of men who knew the intricacies of this business on how to train them up and everything. This is a nice introduction, given the fact most movies these days follow the same mode of each character one by one. And we see a pretty girl bleeding to death in her home in an attempt of suicide. Then we see a bunch of underdogs searching for someone in pitch dark. And the movie goes back to flashback mode on the classic tamil film style "How it all begun"

We see Karuppu working under an Old man who is dexterous in the job and everyone hails him as the god father.Ratha ravi's voice adds value to the rôle he downplays. And we have the Kishore, who did a cool rôle in Pollathavan, shines here with a different look. Thank god, Samuthra kani dubbed for him and yes this time it was apt. I saw kishore at last in Vamsam speaking some broken tamil with poor pronouncation skills. Can't blame him its indeed very tough to speak Madurai tamil when tamil is not your mother tongue. Vetrimaran is smart enough to identify and fix with a nice alternative. And Karuppu - if Dhanush doesn't act as expected, then that's news. So no news this time. The only thing I want to add is day by day this lanky fellow is growing by leaps and bounds when it comes to acting. And that's real good for tamil cinema which vowes by some pretentious actors around claiming they are the best. And last but not the least , the girl who acted as the Anglo Indian girl did well given the rôle.

Now after this long explanation about characters I don't want to give anything on the story and screenplay front. Its really a darn good flick with nice songs, no clichéd sentiments or need for a mass intro song or fight. This is just a movie about a group of folks who don't know anything other than cock fights. When met with betrayal, shame, love how these men react to the situations form the movie. On hind sight, it may seem like just another revenge flick with a Madurai back drop however it has many layers explaining the little intricacies about what their life is all about. The special effects doesn't look cheap like Ayirathil Oruvan blunder but its used when its needed. It never wants to show off and that's a milestone these days given the obsession in using these tricks in movies these days (read enthiran - that mosquito scene , man i slept for a while) The camera work is brilliant and editing is quite good if not awesome. GV prakash stands out in a couple of songs and BGM sounds great though many times I cant help thinking of Pudhupettai.

And about Madurai as back drop many feel tired of this trend. I really don't know whether they are really tired or is it the feeling that they can't stand the fact most of the big shots come from this place. If a movie works just because its shot in Madurai, then the same should work in case of Chennai or any other place. This is something like in GMenon's films they keep on talking the phrases which none of us have had chance to use in real life. May be he has used in his life. Similarly, these guys want to show their place and they do it. I read a blog sometime back and I clearly see how the writer don't want to accept these flicks.

So what's Aadukalam - It's an honest potrayal of lives of people of a different class. It never tries to be something else and that's where the director outshines everyone. He has given whatever he wanted to give. And yes, with style and class! Three cheers to Vetrimaran.

High Noon

This deserves a place in top 5 of my favorite westerns. Gary Copper though looks old carries his rôle with so much ease. Having said that, its not a very easy rôle to act. I am not going to divulge into the story but this is a story of a real hero who perspires like a normal man when pushed off the limits. He gets angry, he is helpless and hopeless and he is brave. There were great performances in this flick along with Gary but this film stands as a classic because if two reasons. One the cinematography. The long fluid shots and some of the shots are really innovative considering the time. Last but not the least, the background score. This has one of the favorite score " Do not foresake me oh my darling" only after Lux Antenna of Requiem for a dream. This particular flick shows how a movie should be made without any unwanted characters or wasting time on useless scenes. This is a true classic.

Va Quarter Cutting - Can fetch a quarter in any rating scale. Nothing more.

To be very honest, I was expecting something fresh and interesting seeing the promos. However what I witnessed is a plain boring movie which screwed up my expectations big time.

The positives : Well, I gotta think this first. Crazy plot which is really interesting. An alcoholic in search of his last "cutting" before boarding the flight to middle east where liquor is banned. To spice things up, It was a dry day. Whether his thirst remains or he quenches it falls as the rest of the flick. Thediya song was shot creatively and Nirav Shah's lens' has captured the night life of Chennai beautifully.Here and there great subtle humor which leads to some gags and that's it about it.

Negatives: Worst screenplay and poorly sketched characters. Many of my friends left the theatre during interval itself. What i think is the directors duo wanted to make a movie which happens at a night and ran out of ideas on how to make it interesting. Utterly non sense characters roam here and there and make an appearance when not needed and looks like forced ones. This makes it to feel stupid.

What the directors couple want to know is to give any flick with a good screenplay and not the vice versa.

Art of Manliness - Top 100 Movies list

I came across this blog and it seems to have a lot of useful stuff not only for men but for everyone. Great work by Brett. And since this is a movie blog, I am going to watch the top movies from them. I have already watched some in the list and will try to complete the list soon. Already imdb 250 is a long pending list to complete. Currently i stand at 156 out of 250. So let me write some crap about the wonderful flicks which I am going to watch soon.

The Machinist

If Hitchcock is alive now, how does his movie look like? Nobody can say exactly but The machinist would be coming real closer to it. The whole movie feels like a tribute to hitchcock's movie making. The bizarre setting, the haunting score and the chase sequences shot in the way just like in any other Hitchcock's flick.

This movie follows a life of a man who is insomniac and the outcomes of his condition. This is shot in a more engaging way with a bleak setting with grainy and washed out colors hinting the mood swings the insomniac undergoes and not to forget the haunting score which again adds up the momentum of the flick. This is more of a character driven film rather than a plot driven one. So if you like character driven ones, this will savor you for sure. Christian bale as the insomniac is freakingly horrible and ya thats what he wanted. He fits the bill perfectly. Its out and out his show. The climax is brilliant explaining the things straight though keeps as engaged. I am not revealing anything about the story since it will make things normal. Wanna a watch a Hitchcock's film with a modern day settiing ? - "The Machinist" is the one

21 Grams

I guess the pic above is big enough to read the caption in it. And that's all it sums up the whole movie in those words. Simple story told in a poignant manner. Not so simple to catch up with the plethora of events happen in a small time which is told in non chronological order. Though could be told as a straight story, the narration do add up the suspense. The director's brilliance can be seen in each frame. Be it the sharp dialogues or the circumstances he creates, nothing is normal or clichéd here. Including Sean Penn everybody fits the bill perfectly. You would feel you have spent your time wisely when the end credits roll.( yes applies only for who watches the end credits only after watching the movie :)

Endhiran

Puzzled! Thats my reaction when I came out of the theatre. Does the kind of crowd you watch the movie with creates any difference in your views? I am sure it does! Atleast it did with me. The movie didn't meet my expectations when I came out of the theatre.

I come home, lay on the bed and start thinking about the flick. Hmm, mmhm - Come on its not bad! Hell ya! its good enough. That calls for our next important question - On what grounds?

Number 1 - The grandiose

This is nothing short of anything. Given the budget, I feel the same amount how I perceived the costliest Avatar. I dont find any scene which feel cheap or childish.

Number 2 - Acting ( Read it as Rajni)

How many of us wish to see that old Rajni like in Thalapathi or Netrikan or Johny. Where is the powerful actor has gone ? Where is that explosive performance sans punch dialogues and some stupid stunts? Your answer for all these would be Endhiran. No stupid proving the mettle scene or ton of advice in the opening song to show the "Mass". Just a casual introduction - I started liking the movie. And what an explosive performance from Rajni post interval when he shows the other face! Don't get me wrong, he is as good in the first half as well. Rajni starts his show when he starts laughing when he is designed to kill. Oh man, If anybody can do that in style I am game for it. And the following scenes as well. Specially the "Black Sheep" scene. This is out and out an roller coaster ride for Rajni in acting and he does it with panache.

Number -3 Technical Aspects and Music

Tamil cinema is turning heads toward it. Hard to accept but that's the truth. Though many guys from US have worked, the IDEA comes from here. The climax scenes really give goosebumps when you see those stunts and creativity in a Tamil cinema.Kilimanjaro and Irumbiile were the pick of the album, shot exquisitely. Be it the exotic Machu Picchu or the cool choreography - these two songs are going to rule the roost soon if not already :) ARR outshines himself in BGM when compared to his latest flicks.

Flipside - yawn five minutes, watch five minutes, sleep five minutes, swear on the director for ten more minutes and drop your jaw for the last fifteen minutes. This is what really happens second half. First half was pretty much decent though it had dragging fights and few cliched scenes. Coming to second half what should have been a cool ride with an interesting scenario of a robot loving a human turns to be a boring episode in the movie. There were two stupid scenes which are the leads to two good songs are the real culprits of the flick. One involving the mosquito scene and another being Kalabavan Mani's scene with Rai. Come on, we don't want a situation which demands a song. Throw it somewhere between the flick, we would rather like it. Kilimanjaro and Irumbiile were the pick of the album, shot exquisitely. Be it the exotic Machu Picchu or the cool choreography - these two songs are going to rule the roost soon if not already :) ARR outshines himself in BGM when compared to his latest flicks.

I guess I left a guy who is responsible for all the write up above or scribbling. Shankar he is! I don't like him much personally. I am one of the guy who calls him as "Technical Perarasu" :) I want to change my views I guess hereafter. Endhiran is not a simple flick to make. We can talk over this logic is missing or that. Its boring or whatever crap we wanna say. However, what churned out in the screen is a big dream which a guy had. How slowly it has gotten into shape and how its made is to be appreciated for sure.

Coming to the first few lines of the same write up. I watched with a couple of friends in a utter crap theater without any hope. I guess anybody will feel the same when they watch Inception or what so ever:)

Verdict - Rajni, On his bare bones is a great actor. Here utilized properly. Watch it one more time you will understand!

Bass Engira Baskaran - Review

A picture is worth a thousand words. This holds true in this movie. Below is the pic of the guy who is the back and whatever bone of the flick. Kudos to Rajesh to bring another comic caper!

Weekend Watch

Children of Men -2006

Well, the year is 2027 and humans are no longer able to procreate. And the last young human who was 18 odd years was murdered. In midst of all these, a lady gets pregnant and a group wants to transport the lady to a research group. Now that's a setting which i would like to see in a science fiction story. Not like some weird blue tall creatures walking around speaking in robotic voices. Last year's District 9 was interesting but this beats it by a mile! An real offbeat flick to savor. Great background score, sophisticated yet bizarre art work to show its 2027 and last but not the least, splendid cinematography. There is a war sequence towards the end which looks like an Herculan task those camera man performed with knack. I think its a long , free flowing single shot. I guess its nearly 15 minutes or more. Having said all these, on its bare bones it has a beautiful story which the director nailed it with style.

El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) -2006

A beautiful story of a young girl who gets obsessed with her own fantasy world told in a poignant manner. The scene is set in Spain during the second world war and Ofelia comes with her mother from far away to stay with her stepfather who is the ruthless fascist captain there. Her mom is pregnant and Ofelia gets lost in her fairy world. She meets a fawn one day and she is supposed to complete three tasks so that she can go back to her own world. On the other hand, Ofelia's mother gets sick, the captain's cruelty kills more and more people, the rebels want to get hold of the place. The resultant is the beautiful flick.

Great piece of editing there. Its a treat to watch how the director slowly but perfectly handles both the worlds with ease. Ofelia as the little girl is picture perfect and acts naturally with ease. Not like the stupid fantasy flicks which Hollywood churns out every now and then. Performance wise everybody shines specially the captain and the maid, Mercedes. The story is novel and kept me glued all the time. Its a cult classic in fantasy flicks to say the least.

Naan Mahan Alla

Susinderan's debut movie "Vennila Kabadi Kulu" was different and interesting. Next comes "Naan Magan Alla" now, which is again a interesting take on youngsters who take a different stride and their potential outcomes. On a whole the movie is very decent and can be enjoyed a lot.

The first ten minutes of the movie reveals that this is not our usual flick. A group of college going guys show their intoreable violence to a girl and a boy and the title card scrolls up. And my mind said I am going to witness something new and interesting. And what i saw is some clichéd scenes in the first half and the rest is just plain awesome.

Jeeva(Karthi), a cool guy who takes life the way it is meets Priya (Kajal Agarwal), a confused girl and as by the golden rôle in Tamil cinema - they fall in love. The scenes which involves the love and how they talk is made interesting with full of humor. The entire VKK team is here and Karthi pulls it nicely. The story progress as Priya's dad is unlikely about her marriage with Karthi. Karthi takes up his new work , then he quits and things go normally. Meanwhile the police finds different parts of a boy and a girl thrown in different places, On the other hand, the four ultra violent guys try to murder Karthi's father. However he escapes somehow. Why they tried to kill him? What they were upto? To what extent will they go to kill him? Will they really succeed in what they trying to conceal? Susindran answers in style with a racy screenplay and with fine characters moving around without any major logical flaws.

First half is more on the lighter side. There are lot of interesting scenes and a few clichéd scenes here and there. The first song though nice to hear is unnecessary. Second half goes on a perfectly opposite direction and the movie is more serious than expected. Kudos to the director to give a thriller like that. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the second half. So did the others.

Yuvan is brilliant in this flick. It will be a sin if I don't mention the BGM for this flick. Some hard work has really paid for him. It simply takes the movie to the another level.
Iragai Pole is soothing to hear. Mathi's choice of colors and few shots are exceptional. Particularly, the secluded places in the start and end of the flick was shown with the expected vagueness. Take a bow sir.

Karthi is cool and becomes a real baddy when its needed. He is far better here than in Paiya. Thank god, he didn't dance much :) Kajal Agarwal is cute and that's it about her. The real hero is the director and the best characters are not the main cast but those college guys and the one who helps them. You should see in what all possible directions the movie goes. Man, this is brilliant piece of work. On the flip side, the ultra violence has to be cut down as I saw some audience leaving the theater during those scenes. Climax is little disappointing to me.

On a whole a decent movie with loads of laugh in the first half and loads of surprises in the later. Go for it and you won't regret yoour choice :)

Finally a nice movie to watch with your friends.

500 days of Summer

I am not a big fan of romantic comedies. Still this movie is very close to my heart. It makes you feel good and when ends it slaps on our face. I am sure, each one of us can relate to this story and the feelings the protagonist undergoes is a honest portrayal of each and everyone who got dumped by one or the other.

Tom works in a company where his job is to write quotes for the greeting cards on different themes. He studied architecture and out of no choice he started working in the greeting card company. One fine day, Summer joins Tom's office as manager's PA and the sweet love story begins. The story is told in a nice non chronological order which makes us guessing what happened to her. The dialogues are awesome throughout the flick. For instance,in one scene , when Tom's friend says Tom that he is stalking Summer. Summer will be inside the room. When she comes out Tom asks did she hear anything. She says nothing, and she gotta go since she is stalking i mean starving. Like this the film is filled with scenes which will make you smile.


The editing is perfect and the director uses split screens to show what Tom thinks and whats the reality in one scene and that's just perfect. The film is full of OSTs. Some or the other songs is being played in the background if not, somebody holds the mic and they start singing. Nothing bad, those are the cool moments and certainly the OSTs feel so good like very few romantic flicks. Somehow "Notting Hill" comes to my mind.

And coming to the performances, Levitt and Deschanel did their rôle perfectly and their onscreen chemistry is one of the best which I have seen of late. And the sister of Tom. Oh my! Man mark my word, she is going to chew everybody in the next 10 years. Her rôle in "KIck Ass" was phenomenal and even here too. The good part is she knows how to act.

Having said all these, the true beauty of the movie lay nowhere in the things mentioned above. It lay in the relationship between the two and how beautifully its shown and the hard hitting climax. This is one of the movies which will touch every human's heart someway or the other. Period.

Madrasapattinam

It may sound clichéd when every critic or every other person writes as "Chennai to Madrasapattinam" when reviewing this flick. Believe me or not, that's just true. First of all kudos to the trio - director, cameraman and the art director respectively. Its splendid work of art to see the trams running in the city, a beautiful kuvam river with boats plying and the wonderful clock tower and etc etc. The stage was set so nicely and no loose ends when coming to bringing the erstwhile Madras Presidency before us. So what about the story then?

Nothing new here. Yet, the interesting characters make the difference. Aarya as the brawny youth and Amy as the beautiful english lady who visits Madras. As expected, she falls for Aarya on seeing his braveness. Language indeed comes as a barrier between them and the way they tackle it is shown just like a poem. Amy not only looks beautiful but acts very naturally given the scope. There are laughs here and there and nice action sequences when needed. The songs are pretty good though one during the second half halts the pace of the flick. The day of independence was shot beautifully and it's a treat to watch. There are a couple of supporting characters and each played their rôle effectively.

Many complain the movie is like Titanic. May be. The way adopted to tell a story seems like Titanic, but the script is original. The complaint I have about this movie is the exaggerated climax and a comparatively snail paced second half. Forget these flaws and you have a real good flick before you.

Madraspattinam - May be a old story but it glitters.