GRAVITY in IMAX-3D. (My Love Letter to this experience).

You may probably never become an astronaut in your life. But the least you can do, is watch Gravity in IMAX 3D and feel the near astronaut experience. But, if your parents watch Gravity, they will never allow you to become an astronaut in the first place. Because, that is what this movie is about. It captures the worst possible nightmares of an astronaut, the hazards of working in space. It’s not a good idea to be working in a place which has no life, which has utter silence as the only companion, where there is maximum risk with minimal possibilities of rescue, where no one can hear your cries for help and be stuck in there in a space station in a line of work which has very thin margin for error. Yet the director Alfonso Cuaron strikes a chord with his beautified vision of the space job, hence giving us the most memorable imagery and breath-taking set pieces we have ever seen in a space film. This is the masterpiece of all the space films so far since the Stanley Kubricks Space Odessey 2001 in 1967.

Set in today's age with today's technology thankfully, Gravity is a survival-thriller-horror story of two astronauts on a usual space mission, who have escaped a major space disaster of their space shuttle at 337 miles above earth with no one to help. But there are no villains here, like aliens. It has a plausible disaster and believable physics. But the sheer experience of watching those disastrous events on a giant IMAX screen will only suspend your imagination in disbelief. It is nothing but 127 hours + Life of Pie set in space, but it’s more visceral. It has the story’s proximity with a single character like in 127 hours, surrounded by the infinite visual beauty like in Life of Pie. It is simply amazing that Alfonso Cuaron created everything in Gravity out of a $100 million budget and just 2 on-screen actors (plus other voice actors for mission control of earth). But the entire movie is populated by the amazing performances of Sandra Bullock (as Medical Engineer Ryan Stone) and George Clooney (as Lt. Matt Kowalski), their conversations, jokes, back stories and most importantly their emotions. Both have a perfect chemistry and display such mutual importance for each, you wonder if they have ever dated in real life. Sandra Bullock gives a solid performance. Imagine this, you are a 50 year old woman, and you are left hanging in rigs and robots twisting your body up and down like a toy to simulate floating in Zero Gravity, yet still you are never to let that strain show up on your face. Sandra Bullock hits bull’s-eye in every scene despite all the physical strain around her, and successfully carries the entire burden of the story on her shoulders. Hats-off  to her composure. She is the one-woman army of this movie.

But what really stole my eye is what Alfonso did with his $100 million budget. I left the theatre wondering about these following questions, and so will most of the audience, especially the movie-makers and VFX geeks:

How did he do that opening shot in a single take for 17-minutes? What a beautiful choreography and execution of that opening shot? How did that camera went floating around with characters and eves-dropping at their conversations for 17 minutes without a cut? How did the camera’s point-of- view shift from outside the body to inside helmet in a single take without cut, that too with continuous spinning? Did they really shoot in space? If not, which element is CG, which element is real? How did they manage to do Zero gravity? How were the actors and objects shown floating in space so flawlessly? How was their complicated trajectory designed? How did they manage to show that ferocious speeds of debris? There is no sound in space, but still, i was able to feel the impact of those collisions. How? How long did they plan this thing? what a precision ? What an execution? What an accuracy? Is it how it is in space for real?  What a vision? what a movie.!! What a seamless marriage of acting, direction, imagination, technology, science and spectacle !!

James Cameron was right, and I too must confess that this is the most beautiful space photography ever done in any space movie. Couple that with the amazing IMAX 3D, it gives you an out-of-the earth experience. Advantage of IMAX 3D is, you get to see those beautiful but minute details like, that sunrise on earth as seen from space, that line of Day & night moving towards west, the Google earth-like-POV of the towns along the river-Nile of Egypt dimming their lights as the day approaches, those beautiful patterns of clouds and hurricanes etc. On one side you feel the colourful vastness of earth and on the other side you feel the lifeless emptiness of Space, an experience only reserved for space travellers is now available for the movie-goers in those IMAX screens. The Dark space and the bright earth serve as metaphors for helplessness and hope, a beautiful theme evident in the movie. The camera moves (floats) with such a slow and steady fluidity that you have all the time on this earth to observe those beautiful images and little details, scan every corner of the giant IMAX screen and still be able to follow the dialogue and absorb their underlying themes like a sponge. The Audience go floating through-out this movie, they are into a virtual Zero-G environment in their sub-conscious already. That image of the earth's gloriously vast curvature shimmering in the sunshine might as well be your desktop's wall-paper.

Gravity is filled with loads and loads of thrills. There is no sound in space, so how to achieve that without murdering the simple physics? Firstly, the camera never shakes or blurs like in your typical action movie. It is steady, and hence allows you completely feel the terror of the space collision by multiplying the impact with an intelligent background score and the amazingly précised reactions of the actors. The scenes of colliding, tugging and pulling of objects and bodies in Zero gravity environment are so beautifully choreographed, that all the lessons of your physics textbooks will be flashing in your mind. A fan or a geek of the Physics subject will be delighted to see all those Newton’s laws come to life for the first time, and put to practical  use right in front of his eyes. The geography geeks watching this movie will be busy spotting India, Srilanka, Egypt and River Ganges going by the shapes of the Land-masses visible from space. Because the Camera beautifully settles down and lets the audience enjoy the 'unbeatable' view as mentioned by the George Clooney. Get ready and hold your breath, for those breath-takingly spectacular action sequences that will blow your mind and drop your jaw in the salute of Alfonso Cuaron’s vision.

On one hand you will be fascinating about floating like super-man in zero gravity. On the other hand, you will be terrified to see how the astronaut is helplessly drifting away into deep space in the same zero-gravity with nothing to stop, after being thrown away by the collision impact. Real time astronauts will be thanking their Gods after seeing what kind of situations these Characters go through in Gravity. Such is the way Alfonso captures that that terror, with his immersive camera movement and super long takes with precise choreography of these sequences; he simply sucks you into this experience. That shot where the actress is continuously spinning in zero gravity, the way the camera is spins outside the body for a while and fluidly shifts the POV to inside her space suit’s helmet, giving you an inside-out feel of that situation, is one example of his genius. You can even observe the reflection of the earth spinning upside down on the glass of that helmet. For me that is one of the best images of this movie, and there are so many of those.

When you are surrounded by a cacophony of terrible movies, when you are in a dire need of some terrific entertainment on all levels, its movies like these that come to our rescue. They pat our shoulder and make us feel safe about the future of good movies. Alfonso captures every imaginable terror of an astronaut, ranging from the fear of getting lost in the vastness of space, the lifeless loneliness that this dark space offers to the fear of getting stuck on those small space capsules alone forever. He really captures some breath-taking images, making you wonder how huge the earth is and how small and alone are we in this gigantic universe. Kudos to Alfonso Cuaron, his vision and his five years of dedication behind this movie. May his movie win Oscars in best movie, best director, best actress, best cinematography, best VFX, best sound design, Best background score and what-not?

Krrish 3 (not a review).. :P

JUST IMAGINE ..!!!! (A dialogue in Krrish)
The reactions of various people watching Krissh 3..

1) A Indian kid who usually spends his entire childhood with POGO and Chota Bheem :

He enters the theater and with gleaming excitement in his eyes, huge expectations in his heart and beautiful memories of Koi Milgaya and Krissh in his brain. And he will not be disappointed. He'll cross his heart with promise, when the Krrish says "Don't try my stunts at home". He'll try to whitsle for krrish, which he can't and empathize with him, when he can. He'll go ecstatic when he sees Krrish flying along side an Aeroplane.  And since he dint see any thing beyond Chota Bheem, he'll go "Wow" and "Awesome" for all the action scenes because they are something " Beyond his Imagination", at-least to his level of exposure. But bottom line,  He'll have a Blast and waste 1GB of Internet data two months later to download a 1080p of Krrish 3 from torrents and store it in his computer forever. (If he has a parent like me, he'll probably hide that movie with a password, fearing the parent would delete anything from computer that will increase the child's dumbness. :P). Yes, kids will love this movie. But then again, they also love eating mud. What do they know ?

2) A poor Rickshawala, a Bollywood worshipper in his youth, a generation which sent Whats-app messages to their Girl Friends using pigeons :

He'll be pretty darn impressed. He'll be thinking, " Agar aaj Rajesh Khanna zinda hotha". He'll typically clap for all the old-school dialogues in Krrish 3, because they are quite similar to the old masala movies of his generation. Same applies for everything, from songs to sentiments. Even the villain's character is nothing but a mash up of X-men's magneto+professor X+ Amresh Puri of 1980s. After seeing all the grand impressive Hi-tech sets, his eyes will be rolling with tears of happiness. Happiness on seeing how advanced and "Posh" Indian cinema has become. And since he would have obviously seen Titanic and jurrasic park, the biggest english hits in India on those days, he is quite convinced that, "Yeah, We are reaching there, Bharat mata Ki Jai."

3) Rich-ass youngster, a Hollywood fanatic :

These guys would have spent half of their life speaking in Fake accents. So they enter the theater their ya-yas and yo-yos. They will be wearing sun-glasses INDOORS. And as soon as the movie starts, they'll go, " Dude that's copied from spider-man, Dude this is from Batman, Dude that scene in is X-men ya, Dude this, dude that, dude your-a** " and they'll finally end up with, " Indians never change man, Always copying". Though they are partly right, i wish they had spared a little thought for the imagination of the director, If not his execution. (Though i agree climax was like in Man of Steel, with the Hero and villain "9/11-ing" all the buildings in Mumbai, with unexciting action scenes Stretched like a bloody Chewing Gum, Never ends).

4) Our Neighboring Aunties. (Read : Star plus serials Fanatics)

" Oh how sweet na ? The father-son sentiment, the Husband-wife sentiment, The Grandfather-Grandson Sentiment. 'Shame-to-shame' (i mean it) Just like our Saas-Bahu serials, but with fancy-dress-Latex-suits costumes." (So any science-fiction movie is incomplete without Latex costumes huh ?)

5) Science Teachers :

"We should ban this movie or else children will get wrong opinion on Human Evolution and Adults will forget the Science they read in their 3rd Class CBSE science textbook. (LOL). For the Entire movie, they will just  be ROFLOL-ing to all those scientific terms that are explained in pure Hindi.

6) A Serious Film Critic who criticizes sharply, like a slap on a face  :

" The Back ground music is so bad, I would rather stab my ears with Anu Malik's Tongue. Why does the Villain's costume in Climax looks like it was assembled by the monkeys of Madagascar movies using a stolen aluminium foil from a lunch box. ? Why do we see so many brand hoardings in every shot ? Is this a 2.5 hour long Advertisement with a 10-minutes interval for extra advertisements. ? Why does that villain just kills his scientists and dad for no reason ? Is it just for the sake of showing villainism ? How mediocre ? Why is that side actor looking into the camera ? What is the  exact role of Kangana Ranauth, apart from Flaunting her b**bs ? (oops. :P). 

(But those are true valid points you'll ask yourself while watching this movie).

7) Hrithik Fans and Admirers :

"Why Hrithik Why ? Why this Kolaveri di ?"

( But They obvioulsy don't observe that Hrithik is only-and-only thing or person watchable in this movie. His performance as Childish-Adult Rohit Mehra, is still as awesome as it was in Koi Mil Gaya, though everything around him is shamelessly funny. No change in that fact mama..!!!).

8) Smart-asses, those whose predict ahead about the story, every thing is so obvious to them :

"Now she'll  kiss him obviously, Now there will be a song obviously, Now she'll fall in love with him obviously, Now there will be fight obviously .
 (Well yeah buddy, they are called Bollywood rules. i agree with him. Most of it is obvious pretty much. Though there are few surprises, they are not really worth your bucks. And if you had hopes that Bollywood will make something on par with Hollywood in the near future, you will lose them obviously.)

9) VFX and action movie fans, who have watched the climax of Avengers, 10000 times.

Guy 1  : OMG, so awesome, what software did they use man ?

Guy 2  : Looks like MS paint man. Hahahahaha. (They both LOL and Hi5 each other.:P)

Guy 1 :  Do you like those fight scenes, their choreography and all ?

Guy 2 : They Remind me of Pokemon fights. (they repeat the above. :P)

Guy 3 : If the guy who invented this green screen technique saw Krrish 3, he'll faint, then wake up and then he'll kick himself for inventing it in the first place. He'll try to dis-invent it to avoid further insult to his invention.
Guy 4 : Seriously bro, Shaktimaan's fights would have looked better if they had this budget in those days.

10) My reaction.

Honestly, I was glad that it was not as worst as Ra.ONE. Ra-one is an insult to the intelligence of humanity. Of all the movies I've seen, I had the worst of expectations on Krissh 3, thanks to trailer. After movie, there was disappointment, but less painful than i had for Ra-one. In krrish 3, the director atleast tries to bring some logic to the movie. Atleast Rajesh Roshan had some good intentions and made mention-able efforts to bring together all the plot-points and make some sense through it. That's something definitely worth a comment. Hrithik was very much watchable, but priyanka Chopra was plain annoying. And i have explained the role of kangana Ranauth above (LOL, but dude, she is hot, seriously. :P). Every single point i have pointed above under every reaction is absolutely true and valid. But overall it's a "For the Kids, by the Kids, With the Kids" movie. Despite it's rare positives, I wont recommend it to my city friends who will have to spend 200 rs because of me, so that they will come and kill me Later. Because, in that situation, even Krrish will not be able to save me. Even he knows what i deserve if i do that.

So folks, before watching, just decide to which category of audience do you belong and save your money. It's up to you now. May God ( Read krrish) save you from turning into atheist after watching those God-Allah-Bhagwan songs of Krrish 3. LOL :P.

HITCHCOCK (My Review)

Before watching this wonderful bio-drama directed by Sacha Gervasi, ask yourselves just one question...

Are you a worshipper of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies, especially Psycho ?

If no, then this movie is just another boring drama where you have no idea about who is going through what. If you don’t even know who Hitchcock is, if you’re one of those first time hearing his name – type of oblivious living beings, completely avoid this movie instead of watching and ranting about it later. But if you’re a fan of Hitchcock, and especially a fan of Psycho, here is something you can geek about. Hitchcock is a movie about the making of a movie which had kept 60% of the Americans away from having showers. It focuses on the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife Alma during the production days of Psycho.

Well what can you expect from this movie?

If you are a fan like me, expect a wide grin on your face the moment you see Hitchcock handing the novel Psycho to his wife and saying “I just want you to read a little bit here, it takes place in the motel Bathroom”. Find yourself documenting each every detail of the Production and go OMG when you see the sets of those phenomenal scenes of Psycho we all know about. Expect yourself floating in the air, when you see your Norman Bates in Anthony Perkins’ look-alike James D’Arcy, when you see the use of a rear screen and a dummy car to film the scene of Janet Leigh running away, when you see Hitchcock and co. discussing about the music for the Shower scene and when you see secretary Peggy saying “I think I’ll never have Shower again”. Expect yourself to go nostalgic every now and then in those little moments. We are talking about a movie that is talking about what the makers went through when they were busy making our favourite movie.

If you’re a good observer, you’ll notice certain scenes in this movie that serve as a nod to Hitchcock’s obsession with voyeurism, something which is also reflected in Psycho itself. If you’re a film-maker, you’ll relate yourself with the hurdles a director has to go through with the censor and the Studio CEOs to retain his artistic vision. If you’re a family man, you’ll realise what it feels like to work in a glamour world and still hold your family, your collateral assets and your secret temptations on the charming blondes together. But what we all observe in the end is a vibrant celebration of the making of Psycho and a perfect tribute to the Master of Suspense. I am sure that this movie would have impressed Hitchcock himself, if he were alive.

Based on a novel Alfred Hitchcock and Making of Psycho, the film opens in 1959 after the success of one of my favourites, North by Northwest. You are greeted with the sumptuous production design of 1960s, equivalent dressing and a Corpulent badly figure of Hithcock himself, thanks to some amazing make-up work on Anthony Hopkins. Getting obsessed with the novel Psycho, and eventually deciding to bring it on screen, Alfred finds everybody displeased around him with his decision. But he casually quips about that saying, “That’s the whole point my dear”. After failing to find producers for his movie, Hitchcock hangs his finances in balance, after selling his house to back his movie. These are one of those took-by-gut decisions, which make great stories worthwhile to make a movie out of them. From here the movie takes a turn like suspense movie, despite the fact that we know how ends. But the suspense is not of any murderer and the victim here is not a blonde. The suspense lies in how Hitch manages to show nudity without showing nudity, how succumbs to his own subconscious’ thoughts and his nightmarish-delusional rendezvous with Ed Gein , how he puts his assets at stake, falls ill, gets rejected and still manages to make a movie that scared the hell out of an entire generation. The suspense lies in how he will retain his well-mastered artistic creativity with all these cobwebs around him.

Sasha Gervasi took excellent care in every detail of the movie, from casting to production design to the look of the movie. They way he treats all the scenes, especially while dealing with all the nostalgic references, shows his respect for the master himself. Though there is a danger in getting lost in the Aura of Psycho, Gervasi still manages to keep the focus of the story on relationship between the main leads. It’s a sumptuously shot movie, cinematography wise, full of brightness and colours. The screenplay is amazing, with dialogues varying from the witty tongue –in-cheek British style humour to serious conversations. The leads get the best of the dialogue. They not only provide us many a laugh but also keep us hooked and engaged even when they are in a serious exchange of words. Hence the one-on-one scenes of the lead roles stand out in the movie despite so much nostalgia surrounding them. Though not a fan, but atleast as a general audience, you’ll find yourself rooting for these characters.

The casting is fantastic to say the least. Interestingly, Anthony Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter in silence of Lambs, a Character inspired by Ed Goin, is cast as Alfred Hitchcock, whose Norman Bates was also inspired by Ed Goin. I am convinced that our generation fans don’t have to cry for not having seen Hitchcock. Because Anthony Hopkins is the closest of what we can possibly get to see of Alfred. Thanks to the magic of Make-up and prosthetics, the shadow of his Plump figure and balloon like face itself is enough to convince you that he is the man indeed. Add that to Hopkins’ effective performance, his funny accent and his expressions, you will feel the essence of Hitchcock in Hopkins, right through the movie. From Hannibal Lecter to Hitchcock, what a transformation has he gone through. It’s quiet unbelievable that it’s been twenty odd years between Hannibal and Hitchcock. But the real show stealing performance is by Helen Mirren. With her startling act as Hitch’s wife, Helen gives you a perfect idea of how it feels to be sidelined amist the fame of her genious husband. Battling her way to find her own thing with her personal life, Alma still remains that one woman who is behind every great Psycho. Watch out for that scene where she bursts out in a fury of monologue at her husband and asks him to stop treating her like his "Contracted blondes". And off-course, Scarlett Johansson is so beautiful; you’ll have to watch her under parental guidance.

All in all, Hitchcock is one of the funniest bio-pics i have ever seen. It’s cleverly written, well casted and well-directed movie. The story has been treated with humour and respect, instead of making it into the usual boring self-introspection banter with dark and brooding overtones. This movie is more of Light-hearted tribute, a love letter in all sorts to the man himself and his iconic motion picture. I've enjoyed this so much that I stayed awake till 3:30 am to complete this review after having watched it by 12 at midnight. Because after all, I am a Hitchcock worshipper too.

MADRAS CAFE (My Review)

Madras Cafe would have easily become the Blood Diamond of Indian Cinema if not for its few short comings. But let’s not talk about them first. Let talk about the goodies and appreciate that:

1) The director and the producer had the balls to make a movie on a very sensitive issue of LTTE and Tamils. They have risked this project against a mindless Backlash from Tamils, the most sensitive livings on this planet who won’t even tolerate a feather pointing at their culture and sentiments.

2) The film-makers dint give-in to the commercial demands. They completely avoided Bollywoodization of their movie, and did not rape the subject with item songs and fancy dance numbers.

3) John Abraham, the producer, took the risk in investing in something that was not commercially viable & yet maintained an authentic feel to the movie without making it a yet another “Desh-Bhakti” movie with over-loaded lectures on Indian Patriotism. The Zeal to do something different was evident in John Abraham, as it was in Vicky Donor.

An Indian movie, something about armed forces. What do you expect? The obvious story of Indian Soldiers Battling in the mountains of Kashmir against the obvious enemy, Pakistani army? Or the usual rescue of Indian hostages and teach the terrorists a lesson type of movie? Along with a long lecture of commander-in-chief to his boys before the final Battle, like Shahrukh khan’s speech in ChakDe ? The cheap thrills of time bomb defusing when we obviously know that the Hero is going cut the right wire? And the display of Indian Flag and echoing of national Anthem & Vande Mataram every now and then? This is the Bollywoodized version of a war movie in India.

But John Abraham is set out here to do something different. The film makers choose a different subject and a neighbour entirely. And against the culture of Bollywood, this story is a mixture of actual History with Fiction. Madras Cafe is about the events that led to the assassination of the Rajiv Gandhi, and the story of our hero John Abraham, his covert missions in Srilanka, how he gets tangled in the Srilankan Politics while uncovering an assassination plot of an EX-prime minister and eventually fails to stop the assassination (Yes dear Indian audience, we can’t change the history, just to make our hero win). The names are changed for obvious reasons we all know. The villain is Anna something (synonymous to Prabhakaran) and is the leader of LTF (synonymous to LTTE). The historic details are laid out at the start so there is no problem for people unaware of the Sri-Lankan civil war.

What i enjoyed was, the authentic tone, the raw & gritty feel of a military war movie, giving a complete idea of the conditions these soldiers fight in. May be its the magic of that shaky Blood-Diamond style cinematography, we get to see the some real-life military action, genuine military tactics and manuovers and some gruesome guerrilla-combat. The camera captures that harshness in the terrain of those lush green swamp lands, and Amazon-like-dense forests and since all the action is set here, it is double gritty and gruesome. There is a lot of blood spilled and some images are not for the faint hearted. The second half really picks up the pace like an express train and gives you no time to breathe. Crisp editing and an engrossing back ground score take the thrill in the second half to a notch higher and leave you spell-bound when the movie reaches its climax.

 From the standard military tactics to the tactics of guerrilla warfare, from the procedures followed by the suicide bombers to the secret communication protocols followed by the Indian Superiors & terrorists, an authenticity is maintained throughout the movie and nothing in this aspect will sound artificial. The final scene, where the bomb explodes & ex-PM is assassinated, leaves you speech-less in its impact. Wonderfully made and executed, this scene works big time though you know how it ends because, its edited so well that you feel like seeing something live of what your father would have told you in few words about that fateful assassination.

Here, our hero is not a fancy JAMES BOND type secret agent who sleeps with sexy girls during a secret mission. He is a real man, has a real wife, who has real worries. This relationship will make you feel sorry for all the wives of the military men. The movie has underlying themes of political conspiracy, War profiteering, and exploitation in a humanitarian crisis and throws light of the devastation in the lives and infrastructure of the Lankan people due to the war. It also manages questions the motives of war where destruction reaches to a point where there is no one left to win.

But what makes this movie fall short from likes of Blood Diamond or Black Hawk Down is the clumsy screenplay. The story itself is narrated as a flashback and the writers here, could have found a better excuse to tell the story than John Abraham confessing this story to some father in the church. Why do you need a love-making scene a movie of this kind? Its placement was absolutely redundant and blundered. Some of the acting was quiet plastic to say the least. Especially Nargis Fakhri, whose character was written only to insert a female role in this scheme for the movie’s sake. The only important thing that Nargis Fakhri’s character, a British Journalist (with American accent), does is, provide a piece of vital information. Before and after that, you have no idea what she is doing in the movie. Majority of the scenes fade out abruptly every now then, giving a dis-continuity feeling, as if this is a Quentin Tarantino movie divided into chapters. The first-half is tiring to sit through. But as i said earlier, let’s not talk about the short-comings.

Though you a get a “Something missing” feeling after walking out of the theatre, Madras Cafe is worth-a-watch, at least for the sincere effort of the director and producer. If still in a dilemma to watch or not, just think of the “bollywood” movies you have in theatres as alternatives right now. I hope you’ll be convinced enough.

SHIP OF THESUS (My review)

For my “normal“ mind, Ship of Thesus is my first “art” film. If not for Anurag Kashyap’s persistant tweets about this movie, like literally dozen’s of them everyday, I would have never watched this movie. Because, hey!!! I am the normal audience. I rarely get to watch smart movies in our culture. They don’t even make it to the screens in most of the towns in the first place. And the big city audience simply rule them out as art films. They simply cant sit through those long endless shots of raw beauty, through those philosophy lectures of life, death, soul and what not, and are least interested in investing their minds to follow what the movie is trying to say. I don’t blame them. Because, i can’t sit through them too. No one can sit through a movie which is not engaging enough. I rather prefer escapist entertainment which makes sense to me than a movie which sounds like my professor’s lecture on “deeper” things.

So i entered the theatre not knowing what to expect from Ship of Thesus. Then started the magic of Anand Gandhi, the director. It started with stating the thesus’s paradox, a theory or more of a question on which this movie is based: Does a ship, whose every part has been replaced piece by piece, remains the same ship in the end? My 22-year old “normal” mind understood that much. But it also said, “ wow, this is something i never thought of”. Well, i guess that’s why this question was intriguing enough for Anand Gandhi to make a movie out of it. It cannot be answered, but Gandhi showed us that it can realised. And the way he does that is what that got a “normal“ 22 year old like me hooked on to the movie for the entire three hours.

Anand Gandhi chooses to realise this theory through stories of three people: A blind photographer who is not satisfied with her work, An ailing monk risking his life and liver to stand on his perception of humanity and a stock broker guilty of his kidney transplant. All these characters undergo organ transplants. And as the stories gently unfold, i started to realise that this not your average art film that bores you. This is a film that sucks you in with its mesmerizing hand-held camerawork, which walks along with its characters, gives us an atmosphere to be in and haunts the characters along their journey through vast windfarms, cramped slums and gloomy corridors. This is a film that constantly questions your conceptions of humanity, argues with your beliefs and faith, and intelligently engages you into the characters’ conversations, which i think are the most interestingly thought-provoking ones I’ve ever seen in a movie. Last time I remember enjoying this much by listening to dialogues was while watch Quentin Tarantino’s movies, but off-course they deal with entirely something else. What astonished me even more is, the way most of these In-depth arguments between the characters are written with at-most simplicity and clarity, hence making the movie more accessible to “normal” audiences like me. And all those stories and conversations are set in the raw streets of Bombay, and the splendid cinematography gives us a nice lived-in feel of the world these characters live, a world with which we all can relate to.

But the actual thing that had me wanting to take a bow for Anand Gandhi is the way he managed to soak all the three stories with the metaphor of Thesus’s paradox, where a person serves as the ship and his bodily organs serve as the ship parts. Does a person who receives others organs still remain same person? Can the blind photographer with someone else’s eyes be as good as she was when she was blind? Can a monk still stick to his definition of humanity after discarding it once to save himself? And all these stories are finely tied to one string of pleasant climax which satisfyingly serves in completing the arch of the movie with respect to its central idea. Though the movie shifts to foreign locations once, it does not stray from its tone. The lead characters are portrayed by wonderful performances, notably by Neeraj Kabi as monk. He transforms into an ill ailing patient ala Christian bale in machinist and delivers the best performance in the most crucial role of the most important part of the movie. In some scenes, he remained of Mahatma Gandhi, both in his humbleness and his stubbornly uncompromising will power to stick to his belief. This wonderful screenplay not only presents you the gritty side of the subject but also infuses a little humour and emotional tension too.

Ship of Thesus is one of the rare movies that made me gather patience to sit through the super long single take shots, open my mind and follow all the complex of arguments and theories, which I usually try to avoid, with complete attention. I hope this rare gem prevails in the cobweb of India Cinema and make our heads high on international stages. Beware of the people who walkout of the theatre in the middle and post rash comments about this movie on Facebook. Yes’ this movie has its budget constraints hence has those little faults like pedestrians in roads looking into camera etc. But those are the people who paid attention to these little “technical” details rather than following what characters are going through and what their thoughts and words are pointing at. This movie is something more than its technical values. It’s more about the basic values of us, the humans. Go watch this movie with an open mind and you’ll come out puzzled on your own apprehensions on things around you and amazed on how Anand Gandhi unfolds an entire movie that constantly taps your conscience through three different stories and yet echoes that one question at the back of your head, the question that puzzled Thesus himself.

PACIFIC RIM in IMAX 3D (My Review)

Honestly, This is not a movie review. It’s actually my love letter to the director Guillermo Del Toro & his movies, a tribute to his imagination, a salute to his infinite passion for fantasy genre, a little token of admiration for his genius.  I am still trying to gather as many words as i can that can help me describe the experience of watching PACIFIC RIM on the world’s largest IMAX 3D screen in Hyderabad. I am still skeptical about writing this piece, as am not sure if i can do justice in describing this big screen wonder, marvellous than all that mindless-transformersque crap, Hollywood has been mercilessly throwing at us since last decade. It took a few hours to come out of the ever-lingering IMAX 3D effect, giving me a dizzy, phew-back-to-reality feeling that i thoroughly enjoyed after coming out of the theatre.

Where do i start? Well there are fist pumping action movies like Avengers. Then there are movies of sheer grandeur and spectacle like LOTR. And then there are grand-schemed-sci-fi movies like Avatar and star trek. And then there are Battleship and Battle LA, which bring apocalypse to apocalyptic genre itself. But here is a movie which is a delicious mixture of all these awesomeness-elements of Hollywood blockbusters and delivers big time through a seamless marriage of sound, brains and visual splendour. Pacific Rim not only unleashes the fury of Monsters and Robots, but also the fury of all action movie buffs, who are sick and tired of endless want-on destruction in today’s movies. Every single punch of the robot on that monster is a metaphorical to Del Toro’s punch on all those save-the-earth formulas of Hollywood.

 The premise of this movie is an old wine in new bottle, ala Independence day or transformers. Humongous Alien monsters called Kaijus are trying to invade earth, hence equally humongous Robots called Jaegers are designed to fight them. These robots are piloted by human beings sitting in their heads, their movements synchronizing with their pilots’. Now that’s old wine. Remember that, these aliens and robots are as big as  Manhattan's skyscrapers. The new bottle is, what if these robots use a cargo ship as an iron rod to smash a monsters’ head ?, what if these things start throwing huge metal containers in the hongkong harbour, as if they are throwing bricks at each other ? What if this movie’s human characters and their stories are not over-shadowed in this grand scheme of “Things”? This new wine is nothing but a movie Del Toro has pulled off on the largest possible scale imaginable, on the biggest possible canvas available and hence quenched the thirst of all the action movie fans for a smart and kick ass entertainer. It stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman. 

It said that Del has spent 40 extra weeks on the 3D conversion, monitoring every single frame. That shows how Del Toro has treated this movie, with great affection and child-like enthusiasm. This is the best IMAX 3D conversion i have ever seen. Apart from the initial fight sequence which was blurry, the IMAX 3D pretty much sucks you into the action-zone. Watching those giants fight between giant buildings and vast oceans, smash each other using giant things reminds you of that pleasure, you used to get as a little kid while watching a WWF fight between two giant wrestlers smashing each other with metal chairs and ladders. Every single frame has an amazing depth in 3D and you can see the hardwork put on this aspect. The toughest challenge i believe in this conversion is to retain the hugeness of these robots and creatures, and still maintain an appropriate scaling of them with respect to their surrounding environment, which is relatively smaller. It’s here where the craftmenship of the vfx army comes into play. All the CGI, set pieces, 3D and real life actors blend in with such a meticulous detail from scaling to depth, that the amateur vfx geeks will dive head first into the fodder this movie has given and geek about it for the weeks to come. But i still wished there were more actions set in daylight than at night.

Every single image in this movie qualifies for the movie poster. Though original in content, certain elements of this movie are derived from or referred as a tribute to various pop-culture phenomenons. The wet and murky look of the Hongkong where the smuggler-Don Ron Perlman lives is in reference to the mood and atmosphere of LA in Blade runner. The names of the characters themselves sound very comical. The Basic DNA of this movie off-course comes from the old GODZILLA-MECHA genre movies of Japan. The Kaiju are creatures like a big-arse hybrid-mix of reptiles, the creatures majority of us hate and scared of. They are divided into categories, more the category, wider your jaw will drop in awe of their gargantuan design. To our delight, even their tails and nails start fighting against our poor heroes. The robots are equally huge and Del Toro ensures every robot is unique with respect to its origin country. Attention is given to every detail of the specifications about each robot’s armory and the detailing here is phenomenal to say the least. The thumps of their punches are felt right under our butts, thanks to 7-channel-12,000 watts sound system of Hyderabad’s IMAX.

The fight scenes are not only big and bombastic to say the least, but they are inventive too.  With each new category of kaiju unveiled, comes a new complication we dint see coming and eventually forcing the jargers to improvise a new trick or pull out a new weapon. Hence things keep getting bigger and bigger to our amusement. Amidst those selling action scenes lie those little scenes which have an equally astounding impact, which set this movie apart from the usual soulless apocalyptic actioners. For Eg. That moment in a battle off the coast of Alaska where one picks up a fishing boat in the path of a monster and tenderly sets it aside, like a rubber duck in the bath, A simple shot of Elba's character taking off a helmet is infused with such emotion, thanks to its placement in the story and the sunlight haloing the actor's head etc.. The simple back stories of the characters makes us more relatable to them and avoid bringing lame twists to the movie. Thankfully, none of the characters have those typical daddy issues of self-guilt & anger like batman etc.. Del Toro has hit bull’s eye indeed by making this movie exactly the way he envisioned,” an earnest, colorful adventure story, with an "incredibly airy and light feel". And yes, no human beings are killed in this movie. The cities are evacuated before it becomes a play ground for these bots and aliens (unlike man of  steel).

The casting for this movie defies the usual rules. Here the commander Idris Alba is not wearing a standard military uniform of an army general. The heroine isn’it a sex kitten wearing short skirts and tank tops. The chemistry between the lead pair is platonic but so what ? It is still a lot more romantic than the ones where the protagonists are thrown into dating-live-in relationships eventually. Charlie day & Burn Gorman steal the show in comic department. Watch out for the terrific cameo of the Hell Boy fame, Ron Perlman. And thank god our hero Charlie hunnum is not that accidental wiz-kid teenager who saves the world. He is a trained pilot, suffers a real loss, has a real story. Leading lady Kikuchi, has a sequence involving her flashback, which is the most stunning scene of the movie that will nearly wrack your nerves out of tension. The wonderful images of a shoe in the ash combined with unbelievably amazing expressions of fear and sobbing by the cute 9-year old Mana Ashida, make this the most terrific scene in the movie. Idris Alba is off-course is the most dashing commanding officer, carrying the burden of saving the world and his men and he too pulls off a little comic bit in the middle. The rule that two pilots’ minds are connected as one to pilot a robot, resulting in sharing of their memories, adds the to emotional element in this movie.

I can write about Pacific rim forever, but bottomline, it’s the best movie i have seen this summer. It is so heart breaking to know that this movie isn’it really getting much attention in USA. We got something Hollywood never gives us: an original story with new characters on a massive scale. And what did America do? They went to see Grown Ups 2 instead.

 I don’t blame Americans, they have seen too much of mindless destruction this summer in crap like Man of Steel. They are having a fatigue with apocalyptic movies. But listen to what Bryan Young  an author, American himself said “ We deserve better, America. Pacific Rim is that much better. But if we don't support it, we won't get more of them. Instead, we'll get dark and gritty, like today's Superman. But everything Man of Steel does wrong, Pacific Rim does right. Everything Man of Steel did right, Pacific Rim did better. It's truly the summer movie we deserve. And we won't get more like it if we don't vote with our dollars”. If we, the audience do not pay to original stuff like this, Hollywood will stop investing in original movies like this one and it will continue to make those dumb-arse comic-movies tirelessly in cheap 3D.

I may sound like i have voluntarily taken the cause of promoting this movie, but guess what, it deserves it. Because i loved it so much and Am sure you will love it too. You will love the love of Del Toro put in this movie, on an uncompramising budget of 200 million$. If this movie makes more money, we’ll be lucky enough to have a sequel too. SO, if you think you deserve better movies, then do yourself a favour, Watch this movie in IMAX 3D, coz Giant things are fun to watch in Giant screens. If you are still not convinced, have a look at this trailer. Skip to 2:14 if you are too lazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxnQi1qAvdM

RESERVOIR DOGS (MY REVIEW)

Reservoir dogs (My review)

Which director on this earth will start his debut hollywood movie with the kind of dialogues given below :

“ Let me tell you what Like A Virgin is About ? It’s all about a girl who digs a guy with big dicks. The entire song- It’s a metaphor for Big Dicks“.

Let me talk in his language, Which director has the balls to describe a World famous song, sang by Madonna the superstar, in the above way, that too in the opening scene of his opening movie.  The funny thing is, the director himself is the actor speaking those dialogues. What’s even more funny, is the fact that this a very serious movie, it’s about a diamond heist gone wrong that has turned into a violent Blood-bath. But who has this amazing ability to thrash all those genre conventions into a Garbage Can & recycle it back again in a way he wants to see them ? Which director has this ability to make you laugh in situations where you are supposed to be serious? Yes you know who am talking about !!! It’s none other than QUENTIN TARANTINO.

Only Quentin Tarantino can make a team of Robbers discuss about Madonna, Virgin & dicks while having breakfast before a serious job, stealing diamonds. I mean, thats how Reservoir dogs opens. I can write an article on that opening scene itself. The camera rolls around the table & you would be watching one of the most famous Hall marks of Tarantino movies, the Long Unusual conversations. This is where Tarantino’s dialogue writing ability comes into picture. Watch out for a guy’s explaination on why he never gives tips. Watch how Tarantino himself goes dick dick over a Madona’s song. I am sure you will be addicted to those dialogues like i am, coz it’s not just mere lines, its dialogue porn. It’s amazing how boldly, Tarantino embodies pop-culture references in his movies. His dialogues should be made a separate language called Tarantinise.

I simply cannot control my urge to write all the lines of the opening scene in this article, but i don’t wanna spoil things for the readers. But what follows after that is a series of twists & turns, Flash backs & flash forths of the story. But with Quentin Tarantino, it’s never simple & usual. It’s always unusual & it’s always about some thing, that you have never given a Tinker’s Damn about. This movie is about a diamond heist gone wrong, Robbers on the run hiding in a Ware house, now thats usual stuff. The unusual stuff is how Tarantino tells his story by his choice of bizarre soundtracks, his Black humour, his Pop-culture references & tongue-in-cheek dialogue. He makes his characters talk about Lee Marvin even with all that bullshit around them, he has a cop’s ear chopped off with a hip-hop song playing in the back-ground. He is not a director here, he is the Director-DJ of this movie. And are all the famous hall-marks that the movie-goers have witnessed in his movies since then.

Can you fucking believe the names of our “Heroes“ in this movie ? They are named after colors Mr.White, Mr.Blue, Mr.Orange, Mr.Brown, Mr. White, Mr.pink etc.. One of the characters questions, “ Isnt Mr.Brown a little too close to Mr.Shit ?” , for which the other guy anwers, “ Mr.Pink sounds like Mr.Pussy”.  Got the picture ? This naming scene reminds me of an equally funny scene in Django Unchained, where a bunch of guys are fighting over an issue of wearing masks for the raid. These kind of Black humour moments are the ones that make his movies a fun to watch. And reservoir Dogs has plenty of those in it’s belt.  And not to forget about the amazing ensemble cast, who played the above characters by successfully bringing life to Tarantinise. Especially watch out Steve Buscemi’s remarkable dialogue delivery potraying all levels of a freaked out & a frustrated “Professional”. Micheal “Mad”sen is the monster which your mother used to scare you about as a kid, when you refused have a glass of milk. Watch out for how Chris Penn goes Mad towards the end.  The cast’s performance is what that makes you feel the way you are supposed to in every particular scene. The movie itself, like other of his movies, is divided into non-linear chapters like in a High School Textbook and this time, he names each chapter after his Character (color).

Man !! i can write about Quentin Tarantino forever. But Bottom Line, Reservoir Dogs is one of Tarantino’s earliest Khichidis, which are nothing short of a Genre smashing Recipe, paving a new genre for himself. From non-linear Chapters to aestheticised-violence, it has all the ingredients for which he later became famous in years to come. It defines the way Quentin Tarantino wants to make movies, which is - the way he wants to see it. And believe me, that’s the way we want to see it too.  For me, this movie has the strongest of all his other stories, more  gripping than Inglorious & Django put together & no wonder Empire Magazine named it “ The greatest Independent movie of all time “. Go take a popcorn & Watch it, for sure i know that you are gonna have a blast watching this. 

MAN OF STEEL (My Review)....

Here in India, whenever a movie becomes successful on a large-scale, atleast a dozen movies pop-up following the same formula hoping to cash in with the vibe created by the former. For example, after the Telugu movie Happy-days’s success, there were atleast a dozen films that followed on the same formula of College, love & friendship. I was always dis-pleased with that fact. And now, it’s so unfortunate to see that even Hollywood has fallen prey of what i choose call a disease.

Just because Christopher Nolan made Dark knight trilogy, not every super-hero movie can be Nolanized. Making your super hero look like a loser in the first-half, subjecting him to wall-to-wall action in the second half has become a fashion in Hollywood. I believe there are a lot of super-hero movies in the queue, which are ready to carry this so-called “realistic” tone of Dark Knight movies. Yes it worked with Dark knight trilogy, but all this intentional Dark & gritty sophistication when appilied for certain super-heroes looks so Fake. Not every super here is real. Why should every super-hero go through this typical phase of self-realisation, childhood trauma & question himself about his “ Mis-placed sense of self-righteousness (in joker’s own words)” every now & then, only to fight his ass-off in the climax, a chance to show-off the budget put behind this movie. Why can’t Hollywood invest more effort in Characters as much as they do on CGI. And that CGI goes in vain like a paneer in a cow dung when they label it with 3-D just for some extra money. Why cant the superhero & us the audience, just have some pure awesome funs?
Well anyways, About the man of steel,

What i liked...

There is no doubt about the sincerity of the director Zack schnider put behind this movie. He has a very good eye for comic-book-movies & with all the fancy tools of today’s film-making; he can be a sure master of this Genre. This movie is made with the best-of-intensions, loyal to the fans of super-man. Superman, his motives & the reasons of his super abilities are more relatable & Schnider brings the “Today’s world” authenticity to the movie. The flash-back moments of Clark Kent’s are very well-potrayed, and one can feel the anger of a guy who had to never use his super-power no matter how much humiliation he faced. One of the bright aspects of this movie is a good cast. Russell Crowe as Jor-EL is perfect, i especially loved his voice. Back in the trailer itself, his voice brings a God-fatherly feeling to his character. Henry Cavil is a bulky & handsomely-chilsed superman, an image that always reflected in my childhood drawings. He is perfect in his cape & cowl, and quiet a sincere performance too as a Clark Kent. He may not have the Comic-like-charm & innocence of Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent-the-reporter, but of-course it’s the fault of the writers since he dint become a reporter yet. Johnathan & Martha Kent’s characters bring additional Warmth to the flash back scenes, though ample time wasn’t devoted to explore the relationship between them & Clark. Given the length of this movie, It was reduced to few lines exchanged between the characters.
I still laugh on the ending of 1978s superman & the fact that it worked with the audience in those days. But this one is no less over-the-top-story, yet quiet logical to accept. The eye-popping CGI is treat to the VFX ehthusiasts as they would spend weeks dissecting it’s making secrets. Krypton is a planet full of Metal and Avatar like creatures & much of it created with a very meticulous detail. I really wish this movie was in IMAX format provided the scale of the set pieces in this movie. And no matter how grown up we are, the scenes of super man’s flight still excite us. This time, the flight is more realistic thanks to the fancy-CGI-tools of 2013, unlike those cables & rigs used in 1978 which made the flight look more like a hanging than flying.

What i hated & missed

Now this would make a very long list, given the amount of expectations i had on this movie. My friends have told me on my face that this movie “Sucks”. But i couldn’t dare to tell that to myself & others, because i love Superman soo much. I have grown-up with super-man & superman has grown up on me. Everybody loves superman. I post-poned my stay in Bangalore, just to catch this movie. No Kidding, I saw a cute kid in the theatre, whose parents, apparently superman fans, dressed their little son in a full-size Superman outfit (Including the Red under-wear outside, And the cowl) and am sure he had a blast of whatever he could makeout of the movie. I saw fans come with their own T-shirts and other merchandise to cheer their super-hero. But honestly, there are no stand-up-and-cheer events for these loyal fans in this movie. Because i never felt a sense of victory & inspiration of whatever super-man achieved in this movie. Take out superman from it, The movie itself is like transformers 3, your usual Aliens-want-earth science fiction adventure and shifts its gear in that direction in the final 40 minutes both in terms of endless destruction & zero character involvement. The action scenes are filled with Destruction porn, So loud and mindless, they guarantee you a head-ache. They become even less enjoyable because, they don’t have enough humour in it, which exactly makes Avengers, a treat to watch. Even though Henry Cavhill’s superman destroys so many buildings, surrenders to Zod for the “ Sake of earth “, am sure Christopher Reeve’s superman won more hearts by just saving a cat from the tree. And how much today’s super-man cares about the people who died in all those buildings he destroyed while fighting for the “Sake of Earth” is a different matter entirely. The prologue and the dramatic parts of the movie rush in a hurry one after the other, while the numb action scenes are stretched like a chewing gum, only to get back all the investment of the producers.

And as the Joker says it, “ Why so serous” ??? How could a little humour, possibly hurt this movie? The main reason why i enjoyed 1978’s superman is it old-school humour, wit and charm. It was so cute & romantic, this pair of Superman & Lois Lane. How can we forget the scene were super-man takes his girl to a flying date, holding hands and almost touching the moon & stars. The funny interview scene of Superman with Lois Lane is the most enjoyable scene of that movie. I loved the way Richard Doner’s superman dint take itself seriously, yet successfull installs the image of our hero as both a saviour & protector. How do you expect me to believe that, when superman openly destroys countless number of buildings ignoring all the people who are in it ? I really missed that in this movie. And i missed a lot of other things. The flight scenes were awesome, but i missed this excitement i feel when a guy who slowly realises what he can do. My favourite part of any super hero movie is the process of becoming the super-hero itself. A guy accidently realises is power, tests himself, fails, realises, attempts again, he improves & finally, BINGOO !!! I missed all that in this movie because of this non-linear treatment of his story & our hero straight-away dons the suit and goes flying. I missed the nerdy Clark Kent of Chris Reeve, the funny Lois Lane & their instant chemistry. I missed all the fun Clark secretly has in his childhood with his super powers, like having a running race with a train. Here we get a serious kid always frustrated with humiliation & restricted to use his super powers for retaliation.

There are certain scenes which i simply cannot dig my teeth into in terms of logic, but i wont mention here to spoil the show. Like Clark kent not using his super powers to save his dad from tornado, just because his dad told him so is utterly dumb. I would never do that to my dad, And the writers hardly give any time for Clark Kent to regret on his act. Though General Zod’s plot is plausible, how was letting a city turn into a Post-apocalyptic playground for Kryptonites a viable plan for Saving the earth is what i never understood. But the end of the movie bought a smile on my face when Clark Kent joins the Daily Planet. That’s exactly what i have seen in cartoons all my life. It gave a hope that the sequels will have ample time to explore their characters with better stories and gripping adventure. So rather than ranting, I simply chose to believe in the S “the symbol of hope ”. Because i love superman & always want whats best for his legacy.

SUPERMAN (1978) ...

Yes.. !!! I am a 21-year old "adult". Yes, i watched the superman movie for the first time. Yes, my mind has over-grown with batmans & Iron man's. Yes, my mind is used to the Avatars & the Minority Reports than star wars & space odessey's in terms of visual effects. BUT ...

I was an 8-year old kid once. I was that kid who used to watch justice league cartoons on power-zone, Cartoon Network. I was that kid who followed newspaper's comic strips regularly and tried to replicate those pictures by hand. I was that kid who was so curious about what happens in the next strip, just like my mom was curious about the next episode of a Saas-Bahu serial. I still remember sketching Superman without missing the excruciating details of his dress colour, his muscles, especially his bieceps and shoulders. I used to color his blue-red body with such a care and conviction. Oh, and i always added a six-pack though he never had one. My drawing of superman was a Salman-khaned version with the Christopher reeve's rectagular face. Awesome body with a charming face, may be that was something my 8-year brain envisioned for myself when i grow up .. !!!

And this superman movie took me back to those days. . Had my childish brain been wise enough to maintain a proper drawing book for all my drawings, it would been such a sweet nostalgic feeling to see them after watching this movie. And things that re-evoke your memories really move you. And this Superman movie has done exactly that. I knew this story of superman's origins. I have seen it already in those Cartoons. And seeing those Cartoons come to life in a movie is another experience entirely. I have seen novels come to life, Short stories come to life, real stories come to life but never cartoons. I would really love to see the entire power zone come to life. 

But there's one thing i could say about this movie. Had i seen this movie when i was 8-year old, i would have gone crazy about superman beyond doubt. Batman & Ironman would have never mattered to me. I mean, which kid wouldn't want to just fly away aroud the world like superman. Flying like a bird has always been a man's fantasy & i think the creators of superman Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, captalized on that fact. That is the point of super-hero genre, to amaze & amuse the people. Make them drop their jaws & get them fantasizing about the un-doable. Had i been 8-years old, I would have definitely tucked a red towel behind my neck & atleast try to jump a few feet to see that towel fly around. Such is the power of this cultural Icon. It's no surprise that Till today, the most popular raging style is the superman's under-wear-on-pants style. I wonder how many times i would have imagined doing things like superman when i was a kid, how many times i would dress like super and strech my hands in excitement.

And of course, the Rock-star of all of this is the one only CHRISTOPHER REEVE. Only If you could cut a picture of either super-man or clark kent from a comic book & place beside a photo of Chris Reeve, you would understand how he fit the bill. Christopher Reeve is the superman and no body else. May be Jerry siegel & Joe Shuster created superman's face seeing accidentally seeing Chris reeve. Christopher Reeve brings Charm to superman & Innocence to Clark Kent. Lets not forget that he shared that screen space with legends Marlon Brando & Gene hackman. But never in the movie, was he over shadowed by their presence. Because Chris Reeve gets you to root for his Clark Kent & cheer for his superman. Christopher Reeve is that charming superman every girl will dream to fly away with, he is that kind superman every kid would love to befriend with & he is that powerfull superman every countryman would want to be protected with. Chris Reeve was the solution for the producers whose problem as described in Tom Mankiewicz's (writer) words "We found guys with fabulous physique who couldn't act or wonderful actors who did not look remotely like Superman". Christopher Reeve is indeed the Superman.

Movie itself is spectacular. These old movies may have outdated Visual effects, but they convey a lot of effort & money put behind them in those "Non-digital" days. The various cranes, greens screens & mattes have done a fine job to make our hero's flight look nearly seamless. I could imagine how Those scenes of those huge Crystalline set pieces blown apart, krypton destruction, hoover dam collapse & the helicopter scene would blown the audience's minds apart back in 1978. It's like our 2012 & pacific Rim. I was really delighted to see the comic feel retained within the movie and it's characters. The subtle wit in dialogues make scenes like the Lois's romantic interview with superman absolutely enjoyable. To put that in Roger Ebert's words, "Superman is a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of: adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshaking special effects and wit ". Yes it has all those elements. And the unforgettable music by John Williams will make you stand & whistle in ecstasy like a Tamil fan Whistling for Rajnikanth 

As we head towards the release of MAN OF STEEL, am curious, nervous and Excited. Am Curious about how would a re-boot of a movie based on Cartoon would turn out to be, Am curious about Zack Snyder's taking who gave use the Watchmen & 300. Am nervous about how much of comic charm & wit it would ignore & Excited off-course because the DARK KNIGHT team ( Chris Nolan, Hans zimmer, David.S Goyer) is involved with this. It would be an insult on my part if i dont catch MAN OF STEEL on first day first show. Have you seen it's Thrid trailer yet ... ?

DEAR STEVEN SPEILBERG

.....Thank you for thrilling me to nerves with Jaws and Duel..Thank you for the Roller Coaster ride of Indiana Jones... Thank you for the cutest character of all aliens called E.T... Thank you for bringing Dinosours back to life in Jurrasic Park.. Thank you for making us realise the Horrors of World wars in Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List....Thank you for showing the conflicts of technology and human emotions in Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report...Thank you for bringing Tintin to life from the comic books.. Thank you for bring Abraham Lincoln's life on screen.... Thank you for Inspiring us, Entertaining us, Amusing us and opening our mind in a different direction, taking us through some amazing stories on screen....I wish you live on Forever...Remain immortal and keep making movies for the rest of eternity...People may come and people may go...But you'll emain my favourite Director forever...Because you are one of the reasons, why i started watching movies, Admiring movies & even making movies too...

Your's Die Hard Fan
MOHAMMED NAJEEB

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