2012: A year end list

2012 was not an ideal year for me as far as movie watching went. As opposed to last year no major film festivals were attended by me & neither was I able to completely engross myself in the passionate fervour of dedicated film watching. Other things came calling in life & sadly this one aspect got left behind a bit. My bad. I'll try & make up for it in the year to come.

Never the less, here are the films that made a resounding impact on my heart & mind & made 2012 a much more tolerable year. They're in no particular order really, because again, my list isn't as meticulously worked out as they have been in previous years.

Looper

Time travel is one of my favourite genres & Looper is as good a time travel film as they come. Avoiding all the frivolous razzle-dazzle & complicated time-space continuum collisions that are often associated with time travel stories, director Rian Johnson's film primarily concentrated on the character of Joe Simmons, a hired assassin who is faced with the daunting task of killing a futuristic version of himself.

Looper forces us to think about the predicaments of whether we would really like a see what becomes of us in the future? How the machinations of life turn us into something we never thought we would become, & how does a man stick to his job when his entire being is held into account. Aided by some cleverly executed action sequences Looper proved you don't need to spend a gazillion dollars to make a good, potent sci-fi film.




To Rome With Love

I don't believe there's any such thing as a "bad" Woody Allen film, & although I admit TRWL might not be as spectacular as last year's 'Midnight in Paris' it still had enough gumption within itself to make me fall in love (yeah I know) with it.

Following 4 interspersed yet unrelated story lines TRWL gives you characters that live in your imagination long after the end credits roll out. The film has its fair share of comedic misunderstandings, magical realist meanderings. & a sense of uninhibited pleasure. Not to mention a dream cast for a Woody Allen film if there ever was one. This film was such a delight for the sheer quirky Woody Allen-ness of it all.







The Hobbit

For anyone who has seen even one of the 'Lord Of The RIngs' films (& if you reside on planet earth & have even a fleeting interest in the world of cinema it's highly unlikely that you haven't) it is no secret that director Peter Jackson likes to remain religiously faithful to the source material. Hence it was no surprise to know that Jackson would be splitting up the much loved prequel to LOTR into another trilogy. What one did wonder though was if he'd be able to recreate the same magic?

The good news is yes, he does. So off we went once again into this glorious, larger than life, grand world of Tolkein's middle earth, met some familiar faces & got introduced to plenty of new ones & an unforgettable adventure was had. Never mind the slightly bloated mid section & the slightly overplayed climax, for it's all forgiven because of the sheer magnificence of it, Hey, YOU look at that awe-inspiring waterfall in the city of Rivendell & tell me you weren't spell bound.


21 Jump Street

Hands down the funniest film of the year for me. 21 Jump Street is the ideal screwball comedy that's as funny on repeated viewings as it was on the first one. Mad props to Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum for pulling off this hilarious feat.

The film had the ideal comedic premise of 2 police officers who're forced to relive high school as they go undercover for a case, & by exploiting this premise from every nook & corner directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller gave birth to this laugh-a-minute gem. Equal parts raunchy, loud, affectionate & satirical 21 Jump Street was an absolute rib-tickler.









Prometheus

Though it polarized audiences across the board I for one simply loved Prometheus. Maybe it's just the affection I have for stories that end with an open interpretation, that DON'T answer all the questions raised through the tale that made me appreciate Prometheus all the more. Or maybe it was scribe Damon Lindelof's treatment of the script, after all Lindelof was the head writer on the TV show 'Lost' which remains my most  favourite show of all time.

At face value Prometheus is brilliaint science fiction. Space ships, aliens, mystery, horror it's got it all. But then there's a slightly deeper more introverted aspect of the film which begs to ask us where exactly we came from, & where do we go? It's a seamless blend of story, special effects & pitch perfect casting. I honestly believe Michael Fassbender's performance as the android David was one of the most compelling performances of the year. In my view Sir Ridley Scott's return to science fiction was a winner all the way & I cannot wait for the sequel.

The Dark Knight Rises

Let's be fair. Probably no movie ever would've been able to live up to the hype that TDKR had to live up to. No other film this year elicited a response from fanboys across the globe as TDKR did. And despite such huge expectations the average fanboy/movie lover/film enthusiast/Nolan-worshipper came out of the movie halls fairly satisfied. Now I would count that as an achievement.

I personally though see TDKR as the "anti-Batman" movie, and here's why- for a major chunk in the middle of the film Batman is absent. The running theme throughout is how things would be WITHOUT the Batman, that's the starting point & that also turns out to be the end point of the film. Hence it makes Batman's character all the more relevant & heroic.

The most challenging task faced was probably by the bad guys as they were filling up the mighty shoes left behind by Heath Ledger's iconic portrayal of the Joker, & though Tom Hardy did a fairly good job as Bane the surprise package was Anne Hathaway's Machiavellian turn as Catwoman. And of course not to mention Joseph Gordon Levitt's pleasantly surprising kick in the side (apologies for the horrible pun). 

The best super hero trilogy ever made. Period.

The Avengers

I love comic books. I love super heroes. I love popcorn flicks. And I love Joss Whedon. So how in the blue hell can I not bestow my unconditional love upon The Avengers?

Eeeverything fell RIGHT into place with The Avengers. Rarely does one come across an instance where a film gives everything you expected out of it & then some. 

Heck, this movie is the definition of pure unadulterated FUN! It completely does justice to all the characters who've come to life from the vibrant action packed panels of comic books bursting on to the screen, you get 6 superheroes (+ 1 Nick Fury) in one single movie, you get a giant ass ship in the sky going BOOM! you get flying inter dimensional beings taken out like pithy tin soldiers by a big green monster. OMG WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE??? 

The 2 key elements to take away though are the humour, unlike TDKR The Avengers celebrates the fact that it doesn't take itself very seriously almost holding up that quality like a shield & the other of course is balance, where each hero's voice is so distinct that it stands out in a crowd.  

Yes, The Avengers is every comic book geek's wet dream come to life.

Argo

Argo was by far the most gripping film I saw all year. No other film kept me at the edge of my seat like Argo did. Tense, thrilling, nail biting, Argo's one of those rare films that's so good that you're energized after watching it. 

In order to extract six fugitive American diplomat personnel out of revolutionary Iran CIA agent Tony Mendez (played excellently by Ben Affleck who also directed the film) goes in with the cover of making a fake science fiction movie called 'Argo'. Yes, the movie is based on a real life incident which blows my mind even further.

There is never a dull moment & the film is both spellbinding & at certain instances rip-roaringly funny. The supporting cast is pure gold. The tale is wonderfully woven & told through the language of cinema. I especially loved the prologue which is played out in the form of a motion comic & how real life images have been recreated in detail to give the film the gritty realistic look it deserves.

It's fairly convenient to incorporate gunfire & chase sequences to give shape to a thriller, but to manufacture a thriller out of such exquisite craft is a tremendous achievement. Kudos Ben Affleck, you're one ace director. 

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So that was that. Here's hoping 2013 will bring another bagful of interesting films along with it. Till then have fun & Happy New Year!

Smashes and Crashes 0f 2011: A year end list of the best & worst films

I was pretty sure that I'd seen lesser number of films this year than I did back in 2010, but as I sat down to compile a year end list I realized my list this year had many more contenders for the top 10 than they did last year.

Maybe I'd seen lesser number of films but the quality of the films had gone up, thanks to various film festivals I attended in the year gone by & also the exposure to various film clubs & making friends with fellow film geeks who would take copious notes about cult films with the enthusiasm of a nerd at a science quiz.

So this year's list is an eclectic bunch of arse kicking superhero flicks, auteur directed mass entertainers, screwball comedies & also films that've been winning accolades across the festival circuit.

These are the films that have made a nice, warm, cozy home within the confines of my memory & imagination over the past 12 months.

10. The Tree of Life

The reticent Terrence Malick's 'The Tree of Life' aims for a vision & scope that very few films before have achieved. It tries to bring us face to face with how the earth's existence came into being, while alongside portraying the life of a family living in the American midlands. Naturally, it polarized audiences. So while many complained they weren't able to "get" the film, others labelled it an instant classic.

Well, here's what I think:- Malick's film was an experience to behold, a landmark film, but yes it moved at a snail's pace. It has long stretches of scenes with absolutely no dialogue & when they are spoken they're merely in whispers, & let me be honest I may never watch it again, at least not in its entirety. But I'm glad I experienced it. The film shall hover in my mind for a long long time.

The "problem" with 'The Tree of Life' lies in the fact that you have to peel through layer upon layer of subtext in order to get to the themes of questioning God, the limits of inflicting suffering & the ambiguous nature of death, and unfortunately not many film goers prefer to travel that far out as a movie going experience.

Well, at least Terrence Malick had the balls to throw out that challenge to us without caring about the cash registers. And for that I salute him.

9. Bridesmaids

Judd Appatow is a modern day comedy genius, who has mastered the art of making the stoner/dude comedies (Superbad, Pineapple Express, Knocked Up etc.), but this time round he teams up with Paul Feig (director of a royalty of TV sitcoms-30 Rock, The Office & Arrested Development to name just a few) & a brazenfaced bunch of chicks who show us they can do an equally good (if not better) job at making a gross-out, raunchy, slapstick & outrageous comedy.

But beneath the slapstick & boorish humour is a steadily beating heart which makes it so very lovable & charming. Bridesmaids throws up a myriad of stupendously funny characters but my personal favourite was Melissa Mcarthy's sturdy Megan. Try not to burst out laughing when she's on screen & you might die of asphyxiation.

Appatow may have pulled off the ultimate trick with Bridesmaids- A chick flick that the boys can genuinely laugh out loud to on a guy's night out. Undoubtedly the best comedy of the year.

8. The adventures of Tintin: Secret of the
    Unicorn

There were a hundred & one ways in which 'The adventures of Tintin' could've gone wrong. At least 3 generations of fans to satisfy, justice to be done to the mammoth scope of Herge's adventurous tales all the while maintaining their boyish charms, the apprehension regarding motion capture & finally, the last few outings of auteur Steven Spielberg hadn't quite been hitting the nail on its head.

But don't you just love it when each & every piece of a puzzle fits RIGHT into place?

It was heartwarming to see Herge's comic panels come to life quite literally as they were drawn. Also blending 3 Tintin stories effortlessly to give birth to one grand adventure was a stroke of genius, and to top it all off, the film was scored by the inimitable John Williams (which pretty much made it magical by default), and if anybody had doubts over characters been done justice to, they needn't look beyond Snowy the dog's histrionics.

The film left me smiling from ear to ear & was nostalgia inducing. Lo & behold! Mr. Spielberg is back in form. 

7. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows
    [Pt 2]

Its' next to impossible that you haven't seen a Harry Potter film if you exist on planet Earth. A generation has grown up with the celluloid adaptations of J.K. Rowling's iconic characters, so naturally it was essential that the makers provide us with a fitting finale, and owing to what they built up last year, DH pt.2 had a HUGE responsibility of making sure that every Pottermaniac goes home happy.

Not to worry. The saga goes out with a big bang.

When I wrote about 'Deathy Hallows Pt.1' last year I ended it by saying, "hopefully in Part 2 all hell shall break lose" & I was not disappointed. Pt.2 was as action packed & brisk in pace as Pt.1 was introspective & moody. The battle of Hogwarts came alive onscreen in all its bustling glory, and the remotest of characters were there to make their presence felt (even Madam Pomfrey showed up!). All in all the saga has come to a solid & satisfying conclusion & we bid goodbye with damp eyes & warm hearts...unless...erm...never mind.

6. Moneyball

Moneyball is a sports film that even a non-sports fan can thoroughly enjoy, because it isn't as much about baseball as it is about Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) & Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) & the atypical bromance between the resolute game coach & a nerdy number cruncher.

Aided by a spectacular screenplay written by 2 of the best screenwriters in Hollywood - Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zallian & some zany dialogue, Moneyball ventures into the world of a man trying pull himself out from the depths of despair, & we all have experienced what that feels like at some point or the other. Pitt displays finesse & class in his performance but the real delight for me was Hill who finally gets to dig his teeth in a meticulous, meaty non-stereotypical role. Look at his expression in a scene where Brand successfully bargains a player over to their team over the telephone. Pure delight.

Its a melancholic movie but still stirs enough joy in itself to steer through.

(Here is my original write up of Moneyball after watching it at MAMI)  

5. Pina

Wim Wenders' mesmerizing documentary is about Pina Bausch, a German dancer & choreographer, who sadly passed away during the principal photography of the film. Wenders had almost given up the idea to make it, but convinced by members of Pina's dance troupe he decided to go ahead with it. So now, the film stands as a homage to the ambitious choreographer.

Its hard for me to define this film. It does not tell a particular story & yet it tells hundreds of stories. Wenders takes a unique approach that involve set piece reenactments of Bausch's dance routines performed by her fiercely devoted company of dancers. These are interspersed with their interviews, where they narrate how Pina's impact changed the way they experienced life, how she taught them to express the deepest of emotions through dance.

The film is an ideal example for the usage of 3D. instead of the gimmicky nature which many films have subjected 3D to, Pina shows exactly how immersive an experience 3D can be, it takes us inside the performance spaces of these wonderful set pieces.

Pina almost borders on being a meditative experience.

4. X-Men: First Class

I was pretty sure X-Men: First class was gonna suck. I mean seriously, how far can you milk a franchise? The third X-Men from the original trilogy was extremely unimpressive & X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a tepid excuse of a movie to display Jackman's brawny star power.

But boy was I pleasantly surprised by this juggernaut of a movie!

Not only was X-Men: First Class the best superhero movie of this year, but the best we've seen since Nolan's The Dark Knight. Director Matthew Vaughn does an excellent job of coalescing the many backstories & still maintaining a tightly structured story of the film itself to keep us hooked to the edges of our seats. Charles Xavier & Magneto are to comic lore what Dumbledore & Gandalf are to fantasy, & to tell their origin stories was a heavy burden but it is completely done justice to. Michael Fassbender totally NAILS it as Magneto, the  revenge spewing, Nazi killing badass who (as we all know) would later demand a more dominant standing for the mutants. 

X-Men: First Class has all the trappings of an action movie - things blow up, rockets fly, elaborate fight scenes take place, but there's a very good reason behind all of that happening. All of those things affect the story & characters, and that's what makes a quintessential super hero film.

Take that Transformers!

3. Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Drive' is a very very rare fusion of a snug art movie & a high-adrenaline violence fueled actioner. Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman by day who switches over to a wheel man for hire at night to help out robberies & thefts. Things hot up when Irene (Cary Mulligan) moves in as a neighbour with her son & our mysterious driver starts growing affectionate towards  them. Then her husband Standard (Oscaar Isaac) returns from prison. Now, instead of the story veering towards the expected jealousy angle,it takes a wicked turn when the driver finds out about Oscaar's impending debt to the mafia. They plan a million dollar heist. It doesn't go according to plan & instead ends in a blood bath.

Well, this is just a warm up. Winding's film has a profound impact because it brings violence to the forefront as it is in real life-Sudden, agressive, ruthless & unpredictable. Scenes we expect to be serene & lovable are jagged by nasty spurts of staggering violence. 

The 80's soundtrack provides a strange subtle harmony to the milieu & acting performances are top notch. Gosling is pitch perfect as the mysterious brooding Driver who has a past which in keeping with movie-lore we aren't introduced to. He just IS. And that's that. Carey Mulligan provides the much desired role of a template of vulnerability. Ron Perlman & Albert Brooks are menacing as the mob men & Bryan Cranston provides the father figure potently.

Its that strange wonderful violence driven film that still leaves the aftertaste of serenity in your mouth.

2. The Ides of March

Banking on a star cast that would probably make the Hollywood walk of fame jealous, George Clooney's Ides of March is a taut political thriller that will go down in the history books as one of the very best. What works for the film is how it unravels the dirty nitty gritties & the malicious mind games of political parties in the guise of a razor sharp, pulse racing screenplay (Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon). 

The movie throws ample amounts of twists & turns to keep you on tenter hooks & the performances are top notch (what else can one expect with the who's who of method acting raining down in the film?) but the pick of the lot is Ryan Gosling. The transformation of his character Stephen Myers from a humble press secretary who looks up to potential president of USA Mike Morris (Clooney himself) to the guy who could turn the political scenario upside down is superbly crafted. 

But what really makes 'Ides' worth sitting up & taking note of is that just like 'The Social Network' last year it is very much a film of today, of this day & age, where smart work is held in higher esteem than hard work. 

'Ides of March' packs a punch. 

(Here is my original write up of Ides of March after watching it at MAMI)

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And finally

(Drumroll)

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1. The Artist

The best film of 2011 does not have a spoken word & is shot in stark black & white. Michael Hazanavicius' 'The Artist' is a film that belongs to a league of its own. Ever since I saw it I've been revisiting it in my head. I could not imagine comparing it to any other feature film this year, & therein lies its victory. The film made me fall into a state of enchantment that no other film did.

On paper you might say the film has lots of handicaps -  Silent film, Black & White, unknown director, no star power, in fact you might even mistake it as one of those award winning snoozefests that bore you to death. But you would be thoroughly mistaken.

The Artist is an out & out joy. It's almost impractical that you walk into see this film & do not come out with a smile plastered across your face.

Haznavicius tells the quintessential Rise-fall-rise story of an actor with all the tenderness & affection that he has for the silent era Hollywood bursting out on screen. Each & every frame makes your heart flutter with merriment.

The excellence of the acting prowess on display here is almost unparalleled, its no child's play to replicate the  mannerisms & characteristics of the silent actor's from the 20's, but Jean Dujardin, Bernicie Bolo & all others involved take the challenge head on & come out with flying colours.

The film has already won plenty accolades & I won't be surprised if it takes home the Oscar this year. In an era where the souls of movies seem to be more or less withered, The Artist brings pure, unadulterated joy. Kudos to that.

(Here is the original write up i did after watching The Artist at MAMI)
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Honourable mentions:-

The following missed the top 10 by a whisker

Jane Eyre:- A good old fashioned romantic drama. Think of a Jane Austen novel in a gothic setting. Riveting performance by Mia Wasikowsa & Michael Fassbender's Edward Rochester is like a bad ass Mr. Darcy.  

Thor:- Chris Hemsworth's chiseled body made the perfect Asgardian superhero & Tom Hiddleston was menacing as Loki. Best popcorn movie of the year & a close contender to X-Men: First Class' throne.

Rise of the planet of the Apes:- Andy Serkis knocks it outta the park as Ceaser-- probably the most memorable character at the movies this year. So what if he was an ape?

Kung Fu Panda 2:- The ever lovable Po (Jack Black) returns to kick some more Kung Fu ass, only this time round its about family. Laugh out loud fun with just the right measure of sentimentality.

Rango:- A cowboy western, but with a lizard as the protagonist (voiced by Johnny Depp), A far cry from the cutesy Pixar films, this one's got rough edges. Totally worth a ride.

Horrible Bosses:- A group of friends decide to kill their respective overbearing bosses & what ensues is a sheer laugh riot. The star cast is perfect for a film like this. Jennifer Aniston is a scene stealer as the nymphomaniac dentist.

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THE CRASHES

Enough of the good, let's take a look at the bad....and the ugly...and the downright disgusting. Here are 5 films that came riding with tons of expectations on them but turned out to be epic sized duds.

The Hangover 2:- So basically they dusted the script for the first one, & merely replaced the word 'Vegas' with 'Thailand' & the word 'Baby' with 'Monkey' right? *Sigh* Todd Phillips, you just HAD to ruin it didn't you? To say that it wasn't half as funny as the first one would still be giving it a compliment. 

Cowboys & Aliens:- How can a film with the coolest effin' title in the world turn out to be a disaster? Directed by the guy who made 'Iron Man', produced by the guys who made 'LOST' & 'Apollo 13', & starring James Bond & Indiana Jones, for Chrissakes HOW? The movie starts of pretty decently, setting up the brooding cowboy characters in the wild west, And then the aliens come & destroy everything...including the movie.

Green Lantern:- While Marvel was busy putting out one awesome superhero flick after another DC thought they might as well try a hand. Well, they should've just kept their hands in their pockets. Firstly, Ryan Reynolds looks like a nincompoop as Green Lantern. Secondly, the so called story was a pathetic half assed attempt, what did they do put 6 year olds in charge of the writing dept.? Oh wait, no even THEY would've written a better script, & lastly whoever the hell chose the colour scheme for this film should be imprisoned in Oa. All that BRIGHT GREEN & PINK makes you downright queasy. Ugh!

Sucker Punch:- Dear Zack Snyder, you forgot the golden rule of filmmaking - Never let technique override content. If only you'd given half as much importance to the story as you gave to maintaining the cool graphic novel/video game-y look & making the hot chicks in short skirts look glossy we would've had a winner on our hands

Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides:- A 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie was right on top of the "things the world doesn't need anymore" list. Just by Johnny Depp putting mascara around his eyes doesn't give birth to a good movie. Sorry Captain Jack, your ship sank...without a trace.

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So that was that, but if the internet buzz is anything to go by, 2012 is going to be an epic year for movies - 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'The Hobbit', 'MIB 3', 'Prometheus', and many many many more...so hopefully next year will be much more fascinating than this one...if the world doesn't end that is!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(You can read my last year's best & worst of list here)

Best films of 2010: a year end list

So it's the end of the year again & every Tom, Dick & Harry will be making a list of the best films of the year. And as much as I try not to be a 'Dick' I definitely fall into the category of the Tom's & Harry's of the world. So here's my list of the best/favourite films of the year 2010 :-

Although I'm yet to see some of the films that have been doing the rounds of the award nominations like the Oscar test tube baby 'The King's Speech', the indie gem 'The kids are alright' or auteur directed flicks like The Coen Brothers' 'True Grit', Danny Boyle's '127 hours', Clint Eastwood's 'Hereafter' or Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer' I think I still have seen enough to muster up what I think are the 10 best (11 actually) of the year. So here goes...

10. The Other guys

This buddy cop comic caper starred Mark Wahlberg & Will Ferrell as detectives in a police dept. who get nothing more to do than warm the benches. Their big moment comes when detectives Danson & Highsmith (played by Dwayne Johnson & Samuel L. Jackson) "fall" victims to an accident (pun fully intended) & these two are called in to solve the mystery.

The other guys has some absolutely ROFL moments, the chemistry between Wahlberg & Ferrell is awesome & Jackson, Johnson & Keaton are comedy gold in their cameos. Throw in some pretty cool action sequences & a hot as hell Eva Mendes & you have a sparkling movie.

9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows part I

Ok, yes this was just one half of the puzzle with part 2 coming to our shores in July next year, but what impressed me the most about this Potter installment was that for the first time it screamed out unapologetically that it was meant for the hardcore Pottermaniacs. Only people who know the characters & situations inside out would be able to 'get' the movie.

Gone are the sun-kissed quidditch pitches of the 1st 2 films, gone is the slight buffoonery expected from the side characters & instead what we have is the darkest, eeriest, most intense Potter film we've seen. Focusing more on character introspection rather than huge epic sfx moments (though yes they are very much present, the 'Tale of the three brothers' sequence steals the show) Deathly hallows pt.1 satisfied the majority by striking the best book-to-film balance yet. The trio of Dan, Rupert & Emma stand up to the challenge & deliver triumphantly. Yes you miss the stalwarts (Rickman, Maggie Smith etc.) a bit but then there's part 2 coming up where all hell shall break loose. Amen.

8. Easy A

Emma Stone shines in this wonderfully bright teen/high school comedy of a girl who tells a tiny little lie in school, which then turns into a rumour which turns into an epic sized rumour & the next thing she knows is the whole school branding her a 'slut', 'tramp', 'harlot' & various other connotations of the same thing. Based loosely on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic english novel The Scarlett Letter this Will Gluck directed film does much more than just modernize the novel's plot. It shows the perspective of this 17 year old girl who uses the school rumours to her advantage-yes they're talking bad about her, but at least they're talking about her, rather than being an invisible nobody at school that she previously was. In a weird off-kilter way she's "cool". Of course later on the rumour snowball grows far too large for her to control without the danger of being crushed herself. Not to worry all ends happily.

Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci play the coolest parents I've ever seen in my life. And Lisa Kudrow & Amanda Bynes glow in their small roles. Easy A is an extremely witty, inventive, sweet coming-out party for Emma Stone.

7. For the number 7 spot we have a tie. I've picked 2 of the most awesome comic book to film adaptations I've seen.

(a). Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Hollywood has always struggled with making satisfactory & cool comic book adaptations & even more so with video game-to-movie adaptations (hitman, doom ugh!). Well fret no more because the perfect most scintillating, inventive, cool, & visually awe-inspiring comic book/video game movie is here.

Based on a series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim is an indie rock/comic book/video game saga in which a young, Canadian bass player, while dating a teenage girl named Knives Chau, falls for Ramona Flowers, a cool American girl with funky hair, but discovers that in order to become her boyfriend, he will first have to vanquish her Seven Evil Exes in combat, each battle of which is presented in the style of a mid-1980s/early-1990s era console game. But wait a minute, Scott Pilgrim's story isn't based in this feeble real world of ours where jumping from tall building will result in broken limbs. No, this movie is based in hyper-reality where a high school bad boy can literally punch a hole into the moon, or Veganism can give people superpowers, or the loser of a fight will always explode into a pile of coins like they do in video games.

Scott pilgrim Vs. the world oozes every characteristic comic book/videogame cornerstone, so phone rings & fist punching are illustrated with text flowing across the scene- “RIIIIIIING!,” “POW!,” “KAZAAM!”, there are power-ups, one-ups, status bars for boss fights, cheesy electronic video game music & sounds to cut scenes.

Michael Cera is superb as Scott Pilgrim a role he was probably born to play. The set & character designs are breathtaking right from the way the characters look, to how they speak & move

Scott Pigrim Vs. the world totally kicks ass. Which brings us to our next movie...

(b). Kick Ass

In a 'normal' movie if an 11 year old girl pointed a gun to the camera & quipped with full aplomb "show's over motherf****ers" & then went on to pull the trigger you'd be extremely offended. Nope, not in this one. And that's pretty much Kick ass's audacity in a nutshell.

This 11 year old kid with bright pink hair is a hyper kinetic powerhouse named 'hitgirl' (Chloe Grace Moretz) who along with her father 'Big Daddy' (Nicolas cage) are caped crusaders who fight crime in gruesome ways you cannot imagine. Now they fight crime 'for real'. In another part of the city is a comic book loving nerdy teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who puts on a patchy green coloured costume & 'aspires' to fight crime. He fancies himself to be called 'Kick ass'. Well, his plans of figting crime don't entirely go the way he plans but he doesn't give up.

Trouble occurs when Hit girl, Big daddy & Kick ass cross paths & all hell breaks loose.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Mark Millar & John Romita Jr. 'Kick Ass' was developed side by side as a movie along with the comic books, hence it works in close proximity with some scenes being exact reproductions of how they looked in the comic pages.

Kick ass is kinetic, colourful, aggressive, humorous & playful all at once & yes has a very healthy & heavy dose of violence & profanities. There were criticizms about showing a kid involved in the midst of this violence but come on, the film is too much fun & cool to be taken that seriously. In case they haven't noticed action comics/graphic novels aren't exactly about selling tea cups & playing with unicorns.

6. The Town

This gritty crime drama proves once & for all that Ben Affleck can totally nail it behind the camera. Based on the novel 'Prince of Thieves' written by Chuck Hogan The Town is set in Charlestown, Boston, an area which has bred the most number of bank robbers in the U.S & quite presumably so as we see in the movie that bank robbery is more of a family business in that part of the city. We follow Doug (Affleck), Jem (Renner), Gloansy (Slayne), & Dex (Burke) prowling the streets & robbing banks with intimidating masks, keeping up the family business.

That is until the emotions sizzle with Doug falling for Claire (Rebecca Hall), a bank manager his crew took hostage and then released. Jem, thinking Claire knows something, wants her dead. Doug wants her to live, & has hope for a future.

The Town is one of the most solid, potent cops & robbers gangster flick that I've seen in a while. The shoot-out & chase squences though filmy are still meticulously coreographed, especially the climax. The characters & situations are familiar, yet enticing & attention worthy. Acting performances are stingingly good all around, But The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner steals the show, & Mad Men's John Hamm totally aces it as the FBI agent.

5. Rabbit Hole

'Rabbit hole' is full of those hundreds of tiny instances in our day to day life which occur when we lose a loved one. Motherhood is most special to every woman, and so how does a woman cope when the motherhood is suddenly snatched away from her?

The film is about Becca and Howie- played by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart- a couple whose 4-year-old son ran out into the street in front of their handsome suburban house and was hit by a car 8 months ago resulting in the child's death, and how the parents are trying to restore a measure of normalcy to their lives, or the more preferred term-- "move on" with their lives.

Based on an acclaimed play by David Lindsay-Abaire, this John Cameron Mitchell directed film is heartbreaking yet hopeful, poignant yet humourous. In spite of the fact that the subject matter seems very grim & maudlin, the film is not. Instead it's sensitive & considerate. The humour in the film basically comes from the situations these characters are in, & their response to it. It's humour but not comedy.

Nicole Kidman delivers one of the best performances of her career, Aaron Eckhart is superb & Dianne Wiest shows a deft hand.

'Rabbit hole' is a conventionally made yet extremely well-acted film. Despite the fact that maybe not many of us have experienced death closely we can't help but nod in approval with the characters, because these characters are trying to get off a heavy load of burden from their shoulders & move on with their lives, & God knows all of us have our burdens we're trying to unload.

4. Shutter Island

'Insanity' is the key word in Shutter Island. Very few films this year extracted as keen a level of involvement from me as this one did. It will make you question your principles, your psyche, your "reality". Martin Scorsese gives us a prison movie that's right up there with the likes of 'The Shawshank Redemption' & 'Green Mile'.

The prison in question here is the dreaded Ashecliffe asylum for the criminally insane (which believe me can give Gotham city's 'Arkham Asylum' a run for its money as far as the inmates go) located on Shutter island where US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) & his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) arrive to investigate the disappearance of a patient who supposedly vanished from a locked room. Sounds spooky? Well, that's just the beginning. As Teddy questions the other inmates & staff of the asylum under the supervision of the creepy & foreboding, yet suave & affable Dr. Cawley (excellently portrayed by a very un-Gandhian Ben Kingsley) things only get further convoluted & twisted. Also there's the torrential rain & heavy storm which makes it impossible for them to escape the island if need be.

It's extremely difficult to map out a plot summary for a film like this because everything seems to turn right on its head in the last 15 minutes.

What I like about Shutter Island is that it makes no qualms about what it's going to be- a straight up noir psychological thriller. And the ominous background score, dreary grey skies, drizzly weather & scraggy landscapes only help in getting the point home. DiCaprio gives one of his most inspired performances because unlike other characters that he's portrayed in Scorsese films like 'The Aviator' & 'Gangs of New York' Teddy Daniels doesn't have a set agenda or aspiration here, in fact quite the opposite, throughout the film we witness Daniels as a disturbed individual haunted by a horrific World war past & a lost wife. The flashback scenes are as ghastly as they are beautifully shot.

Shutter Island is at times a deeply unsettling & disturbing film but that's exactly how it was supposed to be. Some people called the film formulaic, but I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the formula is done to perfection note for note.

3. Toy Story 3

It's almost next to impossible that Pixar releases a film & one doesn't put it on a top 10 list of the year, but let's just step back for a minute & see the scale of what we're talking about. This is Toy Story for heaven's sake. One generation of kids had Snow white & Pinocchio, another had Peter Pan & Cinderella, yet another had Luke Skywalker & E.T. Well, my generation of kids had Woody & Buzz Lightyear. They're a part of the perfectly & heartily etched collage of childhood memories in our minds. And we don't want it to be disturbed even to the slightest. So when Disney announced that after 11 years they were coming out with a third installment of Toy Story I had mixed feelings, "will they ruin that perfect childhood portrait by making a substandard or (gulp!) mediocre movie?" But then as I sat there in the movie hall watching these visuals pass by in front of my eyes I realized that director Lee Unkrich is giving us kids of the 90's a much needed closure.

Toy Story 3 was a joy to behold this year like no other, it hit all the right buttons & took us through a whirlwind of emotions- from laughter & adventure to tears & heartbreak.

Our beloved toy characters Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Barbie & the Potatoheads are in a crisis. Their "human" Andy has outgrown his playing age & is off to college. He plans to put his toys in the attic but they mistakenly end up in a box of toys to be donated to the Sunnyside daycare centre. Upon reaching the centre Andy's toys meet new toys, Barbie even gets to hook up with Ken! & all is hunky-dory till they meet Lotso the plush 'hug me' bear with cruel ulterior motives. This teddy bear is pretty easily the most sinister villain I saw on screen this year :)

The epic sized adventure of the toys is punched at regular intervals with dollops of fun & humour. The part where Buzz gets his language button switched to spanish is the funniest in the movie

And then it all culminates to that climatic scene where Andy is finally giving away his toys to a cute as a button shy little girl named Bonnie. This is when the fiercest of stone hearts will start to bawl like babies. There's no embarrassment in those brimming tears though. It's one of the most moving climaxes you'll see. Pixar did it last year with the sequence of Carl Fredrickson looking at his late wife's photo album in 'UP', & they do it again here. It's heartbreaking but its the perfect ending.

It makes us realize that these characters are much more than just cartoons, they belong to "infinity & beyond"

2. Inception

It came, we saw, & it freakin' conquered.

Do I need to sketch out a plot summary? You all saw it, you all raved about it, you all spend hours trying to figure out what exactly that ambiguous ending meant, one particular website went as far as measuring the tilt of Dom Cobb's top in the last scene to decide if it had tilted enough to fall or keep spinning. It was the most discussed movie on the internet of 2010. It gave a shot in the arm to psychology classes around the world because people want to know more about lucid dreaming & dream reading. What more do I say?

For once people didn't give a damn for their cell phone interjections, you pretty much slapped the guy next to you if he tried to make conversation, you came out of the cinema hall & you thought, you went home & you thought some more, you went to bed & thought about it further, & then the next morning when you woke up you weren't sure if you were actually awake or still dreaming! :)

I have raved & ranted in detail about Inception & other Christopher Nolan films here, so in this particular entry I'd just like to add a few more points.

As a film about architecture & architectural procedures, Inception is visually stunning, even if you keep the visionary plot & fantastic screenplay aside, Inception is just a fabulous movie to look at. Whether it's the eerily silent beautiful beach on which Dom Cobb wakes up on in the beginning, Saito's lair which looks like a cross between a chinese restaurant & a mafia conference room, the fantastic skyscrapers & city landscapes or the snow capped mountains or the plush hotel lobbies, or a bustling market place in Mombassa. The visuals are stunning & mark a clear line of demarcation of one dream sequence from the other which was so very essential in the last half hour of the film.

Hans Zimmer is first-rate with his musical score whether it's the haunting piano melody during Cobb & Mal's flashbacks, frantic African drum rythms during the Mombassa chase sequence or the loud, full blown, imposing orchestral powerhouse during the last 30 odd minutes of the film which more than aides in building up the tension.

There are those who criricize Nolan's films for being too mechanical & lacking the emotional quotient. Well I beg to differ, I think Cobb's agitations with his & his wife's past are what is at the crux of the film

It's one thing to make a great film, & quite another to make 2 great films back-to-back in a very short span of time. After giving us the superb & groundbreaking 'The Dark Knight' in 2008 Christopher Nolan found some further ground to break with this meticulous mind bender in just the next 2 years. Inception came with gargantuan expectations on it's back & still left us breathless. Now that's something.

And the no.1 spot goes to...

Drumroll...

1. The Social Network

Yup, no prizes for guessing this one. 'The Social Network' surpasses all other movies this year as far as impact, craft & characterization goes. I have seen it 6 times & can sit down for 6 more viewings without the slightest of hesitations.

So is this the story of how Mark Zuckerberg founded facebook? Well, yes. But it isn't just about the finding of facebook. Facebook is used almost as a metaphor to hold up a mirror to the way we live in today's world. How we are willing to fore go human contact & comfortably become slaves to technology. How unlike the good old days where working hard brought you benefits its working smart that reaps the benefits in today's day & age.

I don't know why Zuckerberg had a problem with him being portrayed the way he is in this movie, because quite frankly if anything, he seems way more cooler than he probably is thanks to this film! He is played to potent perfection by Jesse Eisenberg, & this movie's Mark doesn't seem to be driven by the greed & lust for power of the millions that he will eventually earn but as someone who is driven by an obsession with an abstract system, who finds satisfaction in manipulating systems, a genius who is a social outcast. Those types often go on to change the world.

Andrew Garfield's performance of Eduardo Saverin raises the emotional stakes of the film & he is the only one who comes across as the "good guy" in the movie. Justin Timberlake is terrific as Sean Parker the founder of music file sharing website Napster (see the irony of how a musician is made to play a music pirate?), Armie Hammer shines as Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss (yes he played both the parts).

The Soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross is eclectic & literally pumps life into the story. Sample a scene in which the Winklevoss' are competing in a rowing boat competition with a hyper kinetic 'electronified' version of "In the hall of the mountain king" playing in the background. Pure genius.

The Social Network doesn't come across as some boring step-by-step procedural of setting up a company, instead it plays out as a fast paced thriller, keeping you at the edge of your seat. The dialogue is sharp enough to rival a Tarantino flick, & the screenwriting stupendous. Credit for that goes to Aaron Sorkin who does his most ballsy work here.

David Fincher defined a generation's frustrations with his gritty action drama 'Fight Club' in 1999 & 11 years later he does it yet again with 'The Social Network'. Just like Sean Parker says in the movie "this is once-in-a-generation holy shit idea", The Social Network is a once-in-a-generation holy shit movie.

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Runners up:-

These didn't make the top 10, but were still very good. Definitely deserve a dekko...

Green Zone:- Matt Damon stars in what can best be described as a Bourne movie set in Iraq.

Date Night:- Tina Fey, Steve Carrell. Need I say more?

Despicable Me:- A fun filled animation film where a supervillain is caught in a dilemma of destroying the world & playing daddy to 3 cute little girls. The minions are the epitome of awesomeness.

Tron: Legacy:- Every guy's cult favourite 1982 video game flick finally gets a sleek & glossy makeover. The story still sucks, but the orgasmic visuals more than make up for it, the soundtrack by Daft Punk is a winner & did I mention a super hot Olivia Wilde?

Iron Man 2:- Robert Downey Jr. puts on the metallic red suit once again to kick some Russian Mickey Rourke ass!

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The Worst:-

Where there's good, the bad is bound to follow. Below are 5 films that came with tons of expectations but eventually turned out to be epic sized duds...

Due Date:- Todd Phillips' follow up to the rib tickling 'The Hangover' wasn't half as funny. Even the superb Robert Downey Jr. had nothing more to do than be a spectator to Zach Galifianakis's odd screwball act. Agreed it's a little harsh to call it a bad film. but it sure was a disappointing one. Gimme the air-drumming Mike Tyson over the masturbating dog any day.

Robin Hood:- It's quite ironic that in a year in which the Oscar winning team of Sir Ridley Scott & Aussie bad boy Russel Crowe re-teamed to make a film called 'Robin Hood', I still preferred Salman Khan's 'Robin Hood Pandey'.

Salt:- We've enjoyed Angelina Jolie kick butt before but this time round it was just plain uninteresting & stupid. Not only does this one lack salt but also every other spice required to make a film tasty.

Clash of the Titans:- 3D or no 3D 'Clash' sucked in every dimension. The special effects were patchy & I've probably seen school plays with better dialogue. Sorry Sam Worthington you don't look half as cool in 3D if James Cameron isn't directing you.

The Last Airbender:- Why Shyamalan Why? This is probably the film they screen in hell to make you pay for your sins. That's all I can say about it.