Hugo- Movie review- Hugo – One of the most legendary directors takes us on an extraordinary adventure

It is said that Martin Scorsese’s daughter Francesca presented him a copy of the Brian Selznick book as a birthday gift which became the driving force behind the Academy Award Winner “Hugo”.  And Scorsese does a wonderful job. Hugo is not just a story but its a celebration of cinema world over. As he says-

“Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetime. We need to keep them alive.”

And that is exactly what Hugo does.  He tells a tale of childhood adventure, with the earliest days of cinema and film preservation wrapped in a big-screen technology. The movie is an experience. The visual effects, cinematography, art direction everything is just technically superb. A flat story though to capture children’s attention for long but cinematically it is grand.  It feels like Hugo is Scorsese’s homage to the history of cinema.

Hugo is set in the Montparnasse station of 1931 France. Hidden within the station’s giant clock is Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), an orphaned 12-year-old with a talent for fixing things. When Hugo’s not tightening the screws and adjusting the levers of the clock, he’s sneaking his way through the crowded spaces of Montparnasse, stealing food from bakeries and fruit carts. The only thing that his father (Jude Law) left him was the broken automaton that they were determined to rebuild. Holding on to the belief that the machine contains a valuable message from his departed father, Hugo intends to finish the work that he and his dad had started. Dodging the tenacious station inspector (Baron Cohen), Hugo makes his way into the life of grouchy shopkeeper Georges (Ben Kingsley), and has a series of adventures with his goddaughter Isabelle (Moretz). When they learn that Georges is forgotten pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies, they decide to help bring him back in the limelight.

Scorsese recreates the legendary presentation of the Lumiere brothers’ 1897 Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. As the plot thickens and Melies’s classic silent film A Tip To The Moon (1898) and the image of a rocket ship wedged in the eye of the Man in the Moon plays a large role in the film’s plot. Then movie kaes us to the journey of Melies’s work as a magician, his discovery of moving pictures at the hands of the Lumiere brothers and the construction of his glass-walled movie studio. The richness to detail and care in framing each and every old frame is tremendous. The movie shows resonance and intricacy of the theme of clocks, clockworks, animatronics and our fear. As the movie quotes -” It is like the whole world is a giant machine and we all are parts of that giant machine and everyone has a reason.”

Robert Richardson’s cinematography is quite beautiful, where as everybody’s acting is good.  Dante Ferreti’s production design is amazing and Howard Shore’s scores keeps up to the tune. Ben Kingsley deleievers another impressive performance as George. He always makes you believe in the character. The young Asa Butterfield as Hugo gives a truly incredible performance.  Sacha Baron Cohen is seffective as Station Inspector but would have been great if that French accent would have donned there.

Scorsese has not only brought a child’s dream to life but have also written a love letter to film-making with Hugo. The movie has a weak storyline and continuity but it makes up with the overall grandeur look and feel. It feels that as the film goes on Scorsese has forgotten the child and has concentrated more on telling the history of Cinema but then he does it through a child’s eye.  A grand 3D experience one must say.  Scorsese shows he is not just a film maker but he brings dreams alive. Its your time to be that Dream catcher.

Rating- 4 Out of 5

Kahaani- An Engrossing Journey- Movie Review

So they said it’s the mother of all stories. And you know what. It was! Directed and co-produced by Sujoy Ghosh, “Kahaani” is yet another feather in Vidya Balan’s hat. Kahaani manages to keep you glued to the screen. Inspired from The Usual Suspects” in the main twist with the final scene inspired from the final scene of Taking Lives starring Angelina Jolie, Kahaani is a thriller. Story of Vidya Bagchi who is in search of her lost husband Arnab Bagchi of who no one has heard of.  With the help of Sub-inspector Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) Vidya struggles to find trace of her missing husband. All clues seem to reach a dead end when everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist and what she feels or thinks is wrong. Kahaani take you around the city of joy to unravel the truth.

With a good story by by Sujoy Ghosh and Advaita Kala, Kahaani moves a good pace till the second half post which it gets a bit slowed down.  Kahaani is a celebration of womanhood, which is best portrayed in the end scene specifically where women wearing red and white sarees during Durga Puja. This is where the final twist takes place. Perfect place, perfect day, perfect time. The city of Kolkata has been showen very well to the depth even with the dialect where Vidya becomes “Bidya”.  The magic of Kolkata during the Pooja has been captured in all its chaos and beauty. Kahaani instantly makes you a part of Vidya’s quest building a strong emotional connect with the character.

Vidya Balan delivers yet another very good performance and a solid punch to her role. Parambrata Chatterjee is excellent wit his role supporting Vidhya wherever necessary. Nawazuddin Siddiqui was disappointing. Would have loved Vijay Raaj in that role. Saraswata Chatterjee as Bob Bishwas is another winner in the movie.Playing an LIC agent, meeting sales targets, carries a Beretta in his leather bag. The dumb looking Bong man with a nerdy look is enough to fool you as one of the crowd. I support that Bob Bishwas as a character deserves a movie on him.  Editing by Namrata Rao keeps the film nice and pacy. Movie’s cinematography captures Kolkata’s underbelly beautifully. Vishal- Shekhar’s music just blends in the background and Ekhla Chalo comes in the limelight again in AB’s voice.

Not women centric movie carries the weight of the heroine. But here Vidya carries the story. She is surely the Hero among Heroines. Overall Kahaani is a winner. A layered movie with each passing frame revealed a lot. From Usha Uthup’s “thoda bizarre hai”, to Amitabh Bachchan singing “Ekhla Cholo“, Kahaani comes a long way. It engrosses you down and makes you wait to see what happens next.  The movie is surely with a twist and yes has a mother of some stories if not all.

Rating 4 out of 5

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – Movie Review

There was Sherlock Holmes and then there was Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie takes the movie away from the book and I say takes it to the next level. Those who would have read the book might say that it’s no where close to the book. Yes it is not as Guy Ritchie modifies the storyline to suit today’s audience. And for me he did a good job. A lot of times we compare the sequels and we end up getting disappointed. But not this time.  The reason so many Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loyalists dismissed the film is that the frenetic pace and towering action sequences (besides the modified storyline) seem to go against what made the original stories so great. So what does Guy Ritchie do? He goes bigger, better & faster!

A Game of Shadows picks up shortly after the first Sherlock Holmes, with Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) trying to solve the web of a series of bombings and assassinations across Europe suspecting Professor James Moriarty as the mastermind behind all these events. Meanwhile, Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is preparing to wed fiancé Mary (Kelly Reilly). Moriarty’s targets  those closest to Holmes.Holmes manages to wrangle the honeymooning Watson into helping solve this final case, and the two begin an odyssey across Europe, following each subsequent clue they discover to the next strand in Moriarty’s web. With the help of allies like Sherlock’s brilliant (but lazy) brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry), or knife-wielding gypsy, Simza (Noomi Rapace), for every step Holmes and Watson take forward, they find that Moriarty is already two steps further ahead and then the game of Shadow begins.

There are lots of action scenes that keeps the film exciting and running at a constant pace. The sequences are louder, much more explosive and exuberant. Best is the sequence where Sim and others escape from the German area. Guy Ritchie is known for inventive and momentum shifting action scenes. Sometimes bullets fly faster than the speed of light and then shift to ‘Matrix’ time . The sequence is one of the best shot sequences of the year. The simple chess game sequence between Holmes and Moriarty is another high rated sequence. While you think a chess game would be boring, Guy Ritchie films it as if it was a grand battle with Hans Zimmer’s music in the background setting up the tone.

Ten years ago, Robert Downey Jr’s drug abuse made him uninsurable; now he’s one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. For turning his life around, he deserves respect. And he continues from where he left in the first movie. With his roughish charms and quick wit, Downing Jr.is just brilliant in portraying the detective but also at places went overboard. His bizarre behavior, regardless of his intelligence adds a layer of comedy to the film. His trademark hobby, disguising into several unexpected people is just purely entertaining.  Jude Law is again very good as Watson, lovely Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler disappears from the film far too early on, to be replaced by Noomi Rapace playing a gypsy with an incomprehensible accent. While Downey Jr. and Law are just as impeccable and well matched as ever but the addition of Jade Harris as Moriarty makes it even better. The character’s presence was felt throughout the film.  Watching Harris match wits with Downey is simply astounding, and makes for the most wildly enjoyable parts of the film.  There is never a dull moment when he is around, and instead of making the film drone on, he invigorates it with an immense amount of energy. He and Downey Jr. have a fantastic chemistry, wherein Holmes and Moriarty are two sides of the same coin, and have just as much respect for one another’s intellect as they do disdain for how the other man chooses to use it. Watching the onscreen rivalry here made me compare it to the onscreen rivalry of Batman and The Joker.

The screenwriters, Michele and Kieran Mulroney, have drawn on Conan Doyle’s novel  for Moriarty’s character. Hans Zimmer’s melodramatic score incorporates arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and a jaunty Morricone theme from Two Mules for Sister Sara.

Overall Sherlock Holmes 2 is entertaining in terms of pace, humour and style. Ritchie compels us forward, making us want to see what happens next and he achieves in doing so. As I said earlier it is bigger, better and faster than the first part. And yes its a different Sherlock but then we got a different James Bond too in Daniel Craig. Watch it for Downey Jr. Watch it for guy Ritchie and watch it for the duel between Moriarty and Holmes.

Rating- 3.5 out of 5

P.S- Thanks to Prassana @labellagorda & @warnerbrosindia for the special preview

Rockstar Movie Review

Sometimes its difficult to understand a painting. Every person will have their own opinion about it. Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar is one such painting. Borne entirely out of the imagination of Imtiaz Ali, Rockstar is the story of Janardhan Jhakar, a small town boy with big dreams of becoming a rock star like his idol Jim Morrison and who is looking for some pain and inspiration for his music. And then he falls in love with the beautiful Heer who can’t act. Like other Rockstar type stories it captures the  moment when music draws a man into the realm of the divine and then to his downfall. Rockstar is not a mere love story, but it’s much more than that. Rockstar can be summarized with lines from Rumi’s poem -

Out Beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field and I will meet you there…

Some places where not everyone can reach.

Delhi boy Janardan Jhakar (Ranbir Kapoor) and exotic Kashmiri girl Heer (Nargis Fakhri) meet as students in Delhi college.  Heer dubs him “Jordan,” and the name sticks to him for life. Jordan has music in him; the one thing he’s missing, according to an old friend, is angst and pain. “Nobody can make great art until they’ve experienced real pain,” says his friend. He goes on a quest for love and then embarks on a journey of Janardhan to Jordan and the it’s penultimate end being both leads battling for their survival literally.  When When the pain embarks on him,  Jordan seeks refuge at Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, where the melodious AR Rehman croons Kun Faya Kun. Gradually Jordan changes . I think the metamorphosis of Janardhan to Jordan are the high point of the film.

First the negatives of the movie- love story angle is so disjointed even by Imtiaz’s standard, the beautiful Nargis Fakhri can’t act. Not using actors like Piyush Mishra to their full potential. The title served to be a misnomer with the movie losing it a bit post interval.

Now what is good about the movie- First and foremost A R Rahman’s music is at the helm of the movie. I think this is the factor that all the negatives can be kept aside for the movie. Guitar wunderkind Orianthi Panagaris (This Is It) lends her blazing licks to the background score. Ranbir is top notch.  He blends in the several layers of his character seamlessly into one and then what we see is just a matured actor. Using a  a non linear narrative style, Imtiaz Ali  creates the genesis of the tormented artist. Ranbir reportedly learnt to play the guitar for the role and his performance so realistic that. I loved the idea of  playing with the stories chronology & the documentary style concert footage giving it a different feel all together. Anil Mehta’s camera work capturing  Kashmir, Dharamsala, Delhi and Prague is brilliant. The jerky shots and quirky angles capture the actors’ emotions effectively.  Shammi Kapoor’s cameo is heat-touching especially Ranbir and his jugalbandi. Imtiaz Ali gives an ode to Shammi ji with Ranbir performing the evergreen- Yeh Chaand Sa Roshan Chera, Zulfon ka rang sunhera- in his style on a shikara.  Both Ranbir & Nargis showed great chemistry, lunacy and passion.

‘Rockstar’ is a movie you will have to allow to grow on you. It is change of the Love story style from Jab We Met to Love Aaj Kal to Rockstar. Is this the mordern love?? I don’t know but yes it can be something beyond. This love story is dark like our lives. Surely the film is slow and moves at its own pace which I think was required for the movie. It can best be described as a cocktail of love and fame and what effect is has on each other. It’s the free-falling nature of the story which borders on self-indulgence every once in a while but wonderfully balances it out with realism. As my friend said that its good to see the idea of ambiguity settling in the filmmakers mind and using it in today’s cinema. For every person the movie has a different ending. I have already talked at length about A R Rahman’s music and Mohit Chauhan’s voice in the music review.  In short they are the soul of the film. Rockstar is like Rumi’s poetry on screen.

Rating- 4 Out of 5

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn – Movie Review

Long after Hergé penned Tintin, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson bring it back to life in The Adventures of Tintin. And I should say they have don a good job.  Steven makes the young Belgian reporter Tintin, a CG character filled with 3D effects and ya some British accent. Now this is what you call a film for all ages. Steven takes it a notch ahead by using performance capture – A method by which actors’ movements and expressions are translated into 3D computer graphics which makes the animation look real.  And amongst all this storytelling, character and dialogue are not ignored at all. The movie still has the old adventure of the book with a modern touch.

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn is story of Tintin(Jamie Bell), who gets tangled in the affairs of smugglers when he buys a model ship from a scrap meet. He with his loyal dog Snowy are intrigued as to why so many desire it,and once the model is stolen, more information surfaces and the pair set out to discover the truth, teaming up against evil Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig), after a surprise meeting, with the boisterous drunkard Captain Haddock ( Andy Serkis) . He’s a pure-hearted old drunk, who has information on a great treasure, told as a legend in his family for generations. He just needs to get sober enough to remember it. The adventure takes the pair to the Atlantic, Sahara, Morocco and finally back home.

The movies has great detailing which can be scene in every scene and every shot. The bike chase sequence in Morocco where Tintin is gliding on a wire and the camera is following him throughout the whole scene in a continuous shot which makes it look fantastic. Also Haddock’s flashback sequence where he recounts the sinking of the Unicorn are of the best scenes in terms of editing, cinematography and visual effects. The animation is magnificent and looks very realistic. The action scenes are brilliantly written and directed, the era has been set up beautifully and Spielberg get back to the basics in style with the simply joys of  storytelling. Spielberg sticks to  Hergé’s Tintin as a character.Kaminski’s delicate cinematography John Williams energetic score and the three British screenwriters- Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish and Steven Moffat turns everything in a timeless screenplay making the film a rollercoaster ride. For me Andy Serkis as Haddock steals the show. Snowy chases cats, digs up fossilised bones from the desert, and gobbling sandwiches wins audiences heart. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson, the Interpol agents provides the laughs.

So if you know the Tintin story or not, the movie will entertain you and keep you engaged and interested. One can even watch the movie in 2D without missing any great details but 3D has its own charm I guess. It’s a joyous movie  with a good  mixture of action and adventure. Its fast-paced action and the realistic animation,makes The Adventures of Tintin a top notch entertainment. Quintessentially a perfect family film and has plenty to offer audiences of all ages. Great Snakes, it’s good

Rating- 4 out of 5