Takeways from I (the movie)

For the first time, I've actually seen a movie on the day of it's release. And it'd be a shame if I didn't blog about it. Instead of a long, running story that I usually write, I'm going to break it up into points.

1. Revenge is a dish that's best served cold. Or hot. Electric, hairy, stingy and sneaky as I demonstrated. +100
2. Shankar is known for his extravagant budgets, sets, costumes, going by that he must probably be the inventor of "go home or go big" (not really). But with all that money, he could've given Amy Jackson some clothes. I can sense your counter that she's a model so she requires skimpy clothes but I'm just going to say no. The poor thing must be freezing even in Chennai. -50
3. Speaking of Amy Jackson, I guess there are different ways in which you can depict a woman's boobs to make them look attractive because just parading them in a bikini isn't enough. -89
4. While Rajinikanth was the first (rather doubtful) to depict his heroine as an object he handled (Meena as a veena he plays in Muthu, the rhyme is unintentional), Shankar shows Vikram riding Amy as a bike, squeezing her as a fish and so on. I really have nothing else to say for this. Just old-fashioned horror and disgust. -105
5. Suresh Gopi as the quiet, scheming villain earns full marks from me but his character as the lustful paedophile under wraps made me squirm in my seat. At one point, I just yelled out in the theatre when he was trying to cop a feel. And she didn't recoil. undecided
6. Amy Jackson's boobs (again, I know. But they deserve another mention.). When she's sporting a bikini, they're her true size and then in some clothes the padding is way too much that they're in her face and ours. -36
7. Dubbing for some people is utter fail. Especially the fellow who agrees to marry Amy is mouthing his dialogue in Hindi (and so is Amy's mum, I suspect), while the words are Tamil. He could've at least chewed gum like Kamal in PKS. -28
8. Santhanam. NO. Glasses suit him, although. meh 
9. Loved the music. Picturisation kinda ruined it for me. Not pookale. +42
10. Not a fan of how Amy used Vikram and then the love following soon after (very predictable). But big fan of how she didn't want to leave him orphaned. (Also, what happened to Vikram's parents and Amy's mum?) +15
11. Could've portrayed the transgender community in better light and not break into the usual making-fun-song-and-dance. They deserve so much better. -56
12. How did Vikram lose his 'galeej' accent all of a sudden and speak polished Tamil and English? -12
13. Upen Patel's face is a minus, but body is a plus. +9
14. Vikram looks hot after makeup (everyone has sung paeans about his acting; I fully agree so not repeating it here) thus proving that men look better with makeup and decent styling. It's only because society doesn't expect them to wear it. (yes I went there) +67
15. Also, no matter how muscular or toned guys are, one doesn't want to see them in thongs at a Mr. Tamil Nadu contest. Neither do we want to see Ramkumar Ganesan (Prabhu's brother) in boxers, topless. I might be partially blind. -53
16. Today, while applying a moisturizing lotion I was slightly, only slightly scared. Sincerely hoping no one's seeking revenge against me. Thank you Shankar, for making the process of applying lotions and creams, frightening. -5 (this point is for me alone)
17. 30 minutes too long and Ennodu nee irundhal could've been axed. -18 

I had to stop drooling

Okokok so hot. Older guys are HAWT.  

I'm talking about this. THIS.

Look at Ian McKellen and Colin Firth! Ooh Christopher Walken, and Stephen Fry looks ohsocute! MYGOD Sean Bean sucha hottie. Okay the women featured are hot too. Like Meryl Streep and of course Helen Mirren.

Gary Oldman. Cha he still looks hot now.

Clint Eastwood, how can I forget you?

OK off you go now. Shoo. Go drool. And let me drool in peace. *sigh*

Hugo: Life in clockwork motion

I suppose the theme of this year’s Academy Awards had something to with Paris (or France). Why would three films—Midnight in Paris, The Artist and Hugo have a  French connection?

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the opening shot. Wonderfully created, it starts with parts of a clock in motion and segues into a scene of Paris at night. The camera then slowly moves into a railway station—Gare Montparnasse—and proceeds quickly like a train that is gathering momentum and focuses on a clock, from which a boy, Hugo Cabret, peers.

Hugo sees an old man, Georges Méliès, at his shop, where he sells and repairs toys. Hugo is an orphan and is effectively in charge of adjusting the time of the clock towers in the station—a job his uncle was supposed to be taking care of. Hugo is searching for something: a hidden message from his father, who died in a fire while he was working at the museum.

Hugo meets up with George’s goddaughter, Isabelle, who is craving for some adventure in her life, and together they have their own escapades.

 

Hugo’s obsession with an automaton passed onto him by his father leads Isabelle and him to discover Méliès’ secret—which is the turning point of the movie. The second half moves a lot quicker than the first and then the importance shifts to George from Hugo.

This film has delightful characters: Asa Butterfield as Hugo, the lonely orphan who travels through the station by ducts and roofs and pinches food from the station café while finding the missing pieces to the automaton; Ben Kingsley as Méliès, who initially comes across as cantankerous, but has a sorrow hidden inside; Sacha Baron Cohen as the overbearing but funny station inspector who fancies Emily Mortimer, the florist; and Frances de la Tour and Richard Griffiths, a pair of station workers who find love through their dogs. Jude Law plays Hugo’s dad in a blink-and-miss role, but he does justice to it.

Martin Scorsese has pulled a shocker in this one, that too in 3-D! Completely different from his signature films—Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, which focus on crime and violence—this one is a children’s delight and an adult’s fantasy.

Hugo is adapted from Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by John Logan. The film’s background score, by Howard Shore, is haunting and stays with you long after you watch it.

Although Butterfield is the central character, after a point the movie is taken over by Kingsley, which seems partly unfair as this is primarily a children’s movie. Nevertheless Kingsley does what he is supposed to do, as he unconsciously did for Gandhi.

Hugo won five Oscars—for cinematography, art direction, visual effects, sound mixing, and sound editing.

Watch it for Scorsese who has given a gem of a movie, a roller-coaster ride into Hugo’s life, a fulfilling experience, and fall in love with it!

Harry Potter, a post was in order

Okay so the title isn't exactly captivating, I assure the post will be. Tons more. 

When the trailer came out I was all gung-ho about watching it first day, first show. But you and I know better that it did not happen. Worse, my sister and her gang had watched it before me. And other non-Harry Potter fans. That's when it infuriated me. I had grown up with the series (along with other books, of course) and vividly imagined Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and the like in my mind while reading. But I still stand by books > movies. Always! (Ok except for Chocolat where you can see the chocolate and drool) 

So while I was deciding whom to go with and when to go with, (after starting to work, I'm either busy or lazy to do other stuff) a perfect opportunity in the form of cousin from US of A (yes, he already has been mentioned twice in the earlier post) presented itself. We therefore decided (friend, cousin and myself) on an impromptu night show, notwithstanding the amount of work we had the next day. Carefully laid plans were given a toss. So on 15 of December we set out to HP and the Deathly Hallows - I with much excitement. As stuffed as we were we still bought a large packet of popcorn topped with seasoning, waiting for the movie to start.

This movie was touted to be the darkest of them all. Even Scrimgeour looked scruffy. Anyway moving on, the movie was interesting and mostly silent. For most parts the theatre was dead quiet. I kinda enjoyed the silence  though, it showed how intense the movie was. One of my favourite parts was the one where Ron comes back with the sword and exclaims he's back and Hermione's all angry. It's just so damn cute! Another favourite part was when Dobby dies. My cousin had to kill the moment by shouting (when the theatre was silent) "Are you crying?" (It was just a few tears ok) Ditto with my friend. I sunk into my seat. In my defence, it was Dobby, and if you'd read the books (and lived it) crying would've been the right thing to do. 

I liked how it ended, with Voldy facing us (I swear he's one of my fav villains) and leaving me wanting for more.  

Cannot wait for the second installment! And it's in 3D (sigh I'm predicting a headache).