Film Impressions

REVIEW: The Social Network

FACEBOOKED!

Everybody who owns a computer knows what Facebook is, and it is now a part of our lives—we network, give and gain information, wish friends on birthdays and keep track of what’s on. The idea was the thing and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook stole it, and feels no remorse.  This must be a rare film that paints a living contemporary figure in such a negative light, and he didn’t care to sue.  That apart, we live in times when the end justifies the means, and we see as a hero, a boy-man who stole an idea, betrayed his best friend and all he has to say at the end of it is “Oops.”

REVIEW: Golmaal 3

WHAT? AGAIN?

Golmaal 3 is an odd bird of a film.  It takes its plot from Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha (which took it from Hollywood’s Yours, Mine and Ours), and then goes for a full-on Mithun Chakraborthy tribute, with the man paying homage to himself; or making fun of himself, if you prefer.

Mithun films and B-grade Bollywood films of the seventies have become the stuff of nostalgia, but when they were actually released, most of those feeling so affectionate towards them now, must have groaned through them---the tacky, gauche, loud, stereotyped junk, sometimes, wrapped in good music. We cringed when we saw Disco Dancer, now sensible people write books on it. Ah well!

REVIEW: Due Date

DUDES AWEIGH

Todd Phillips, whose The Hangover was such a hit, does another mismatched-males-on-a-trip film, reminiscent of John Hughes’ 1987 film Planes, Trains And Automobiles; but he proves that good writing and skilled direction can wring juice out of a dry shell of an ideal.

Put one uptight man and one weirdo together on a forced road trip and the result partly very funny, partly gross out and one small part tender—the idea of grown men realizing what it means to be really grown up. Hollywood calls such movies ‘bromances.’

REVIEW: Action Replayy

KNOCK IT OFF

It’s shameful that we gloat about being the biggest film industry in the world, and now, with all the money and technology at the successful filmmaker’s disposal, still rip off ideas from 25 (or more) year old Hollywood films.

The funkiness of Vipul Shah’s Action Replayy (idea stolen from the classic Back to the Future) is all in the ads and promos.  The seventies’ psychedelic look is cute in small doses but not when the screen looks like someone poured buckets of primary colours over the frames. The seventies were not the way today’s silly spoofy films are portraying them… only Farah Khan got the retro spoof element right in Om Shanti Om. Now everyone seems to be copying her take, and not doing even doing their own research.

REVIEW: From Paris With Love

IF  THIS IS LOVE...

Maybe John Travolta just got tired of playing nice guys most of the time, and trying to retain his old sex symbol image.  But was the alternative Charlie Wax (who thought of such a creepy name?)—an overweight, bald, goateed American CIA agent, who spots lines like “Wax on Wax off” and calls his bulky weapon Mrs Jones. Funny? Ewww is more like it!

In Pierre Morel’s From Paris With Love,  Americans and Asian baddies rum amuck in the beautiful city, with hardly any stops to admire the scenery.

REVIEW: Daayen ya Baayen

UP IN THE HILLS

There are several reasons why Bela Negi’s debut film Daayen ya Baayen could be lauded. A female filmmaker managed to get the opportunity to make a film; she made a film she believed in, about a milieu she understands.  She did not to fall into the crowd-pleasing trap, she avoided gimmickry and instead went about a heart-felt film about the little people. All of this makes you feel guilty for not treating the film as a rare gem—unfortunately, there are many flaws too, its slow pace being the least of them.

REVIEW: Jhootha Hi Sahi

FRIENDS AND OTHER CREATURES

Abbas Tyrewala’s debut Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, had endearingly real characters, people like us, with lives pretty much like ours -- and to make it filmi, a good over-the-top climax. His second film, Jhootha Hi Sahi, following the same ‘Hero and Friends’ formula, set in London is a bit of a let down.  It’s contrived, derivative and very deficient in the joie de vivre that should be the mark of a successful romcom.

REVIEW: Rakta Charitra-1

GORE AND MORE

A director with the cinematic skills of  Ram Gopal Varma ought to be able to reinvent himself, but all he does is reinvent the wheel.

After every string of failures he keeps going back to violent sagas of gangsters, but, while his first Shiva and successful Satya,  had a sense of control, social comment and artistic merit, his subsequent returns to gangland have been needlessly violent and meaningless. 

REVIEW: Letters to Juliet (2)

PURE MUSH

Sometimes an American film outdoes Bollywood. Gary Winick’s film Letters to Juliet, could very well have been a Hindi film from the Chopra/Johar camp--it even has a Veer Zaara moment-- but this one is much more likeable than most of their recent romantic offerings, in spite of its 100 percent predictability.

REVIEW: Knock Out (2)

DIAL M FOR MAYHEM

All of Mani Shankar’s earlier films reveal his penchant for gizmos, and Joel Schumacher’s Phone Booth (2002) offered him a readymade plot. It’s just that, plagiarism has become a bit tougher, thanks to Hollywood’s vigilance.