Let’s put a smile on that face!

I had plans of writing a post on the anime feature: Gotham Knight before I wrote this review, but the last two days were spent in anticipation over the wait for the Dark Knight. And having seen the movie   today on the big screen, I don’t remember what I saw on the anime. Hell, I don’t remember what I saw in the previous Batman movies and once I walk out of the cinema, I get this feeling - that might be the best superhero movie, ever, if not the best movie ever ( Lee thinks so !!). And it is totaly worth all the hype, all the viral marketing, all the fanboism and hoopla at Comic Cons et al, coz it delivers. No that is not the correct word choice. Coz it overtakes your expectations, by glueing you to your seat, grabbing your collar and make you WATCH with your eyes wide open as the Joker giggles and the Batman glides.And guess what? Anyone who enters the theater with great expectations would leave the theater without the desire of doing so, wanting desperately to watch it a second time, a third time, or even more, with the stark realization that the word “great” in one’s expectations earlier is SORELY inadequate! There are reasons why movies like these need to be 2 hours and 32 minutes long. Because there is only one Dark Knight. Read the rest of this post »

I can still remember the spine chilling grrl that came out of the mouth of Oswald Cobblepot. The white-skinned flippers, the gaze and teeth which had a “dark green toxic liquid” layer on them. That was 10 years ago, when I watched a glimpse of Batman Returns, and could not complete watching it because of reasons I cannot remember now. And even before that, a very young me was completely frightened by the horror of a smiling man. A face whose smile did not bring a sense of joy, but instantly meant evil. Such was the power of the Joker, that when I saw the newsreader girl fall on the floor and watch her face turn into a white smile, I went ahead and switched off the TV. And till date, I had not completely watched Batman-the first two. I can hear many wtfs in the background, but that’s true. And having survived through the worst two (which is the topic of the next post on OKS), a good amount of well written Batman Beyond series and of course Nolan’s darker,better and most mature treatment of Batman in Batman Begins, I really wanted to go back and finish my task of watching Tim Burton’s Batmans. This had been a pending job for me more than a movie watching thing, and I knew it wouldn’t be a better timing than watch it NOW, when the Dark Knight releases next week on July the 18th. So to officially begin with the week long celebrations for the welcome of the Dark Knight, Ladies n Gents, I give you: Batman -The First Two.

Screenshots after the Jump. Read the rest of this post »

Yeah, the red jacket and the ghost gang dancing turned 25 this year. The album is being revamped and the Silver Jubilee edition is in stores now. But what actually reminded me of Thriller and made me listen to it (and yes, I even did the famous arm-swinging routine as well) throughout the week, was this- Signature performing the Bhangra mashed up with Thriller in Britain’s Got Talent’s first Semi Finals winning performance. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve been living in a cave.

Having said that, the magnitude of success of Thriller as an album to hold the Guiness Record of the most selling album worldwide does raise a lot of questions. Is it pop culture blown out of proportion? Is it showmanship winning over melody? Or is it just plain and simple-Jackson at its best. Sadly though, 25 years later after, the success story of Thriller still continues whereas Jackson has transformed into one of those zombie dancers (both physically and mentally) back and forth (Any one keeping count of the transformations, from Black to White to Nose to just Oh-I-donno-what’s that ?). Read the rest of this post »

하나, 둘, 셋 ( One, Two , Three )

There is a big reason why  I am not writing three different reviews for the three movies constituting the Vengeance Trilogy- Sympathy for Mr.Revenge, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance, besides the obvious ones that it is a huge task to. Of course, they deserve individual appreciation and applause for the portrayal of immensely disturbing human stories. But then, it is very important to state on a single page, that even if the element that connects these three- Vengeance-is full throttle, it is the underlying human stories which actually steal the show, in each film. And needless to say, they are all very different and very awesomely disturbing as well. We have seen Hollywood’s brand of violence in many shades, colors, lights and sounds. We have been thrilled, scared, often left disturbed and then by the end of the third night we almost get over it and probably start pondering over the latest action flick. And that is where the Vengeance trilogy scores. It has been almost two weeks since I watched OldBoy and I watched Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance today (I watched Lady Vengeance in between, which again states another fact that in this trilogy, unlike any other, the order of watching doesn’t really matter). And yes, I still vividly remember the corridoor fight scene, the octopus eating scene and the tooth plucking as much as the grotesque smile of Oh Dae Su in Oldboy. That is the power of story telling. And I start this post by offering a salute to the genius of Chan-wook Park. Read the rest of this post »

Also published at: Wordsutra.com

How do you just outdo yourself once you’ve made a movie like “Fargo” or “The Big Lebowski”? The answer is, not make a sequel. The answer is, translate Cormac McCarthy’s novel about the relationship between the hunter and the hunted and take it to a totally elevated dimension with riveting performances, groundbreaking shooting moments and most importantly fill it with spine-chilling silence, coz nothing works as good as plain simple silence when it comes to “thrills”. And that is what the Coens have done with “No Country for Old Men”. Not only have they explored the characters of the three main protagonists with so much ease and detail, but have also managed to paint a perfect depiction of the “West” replete with Sheriffs on horses and the Cow Boy hats, the leather boots, the gas stations owned by some old guy, and the cheap motels. But wait, am I forgetting something here? This is a movie totally owned by Javier Bardem, which is actually how the Coens would’ve planned and hell yeah, they have succeeded.Never been a better and stronger onscreen depiction of evil since “Silence of the Lambs”. Read the rest of this post »