17 Again

We had planned on going to Bride Wars this weekend, but changed plans last minute to 17 Again – after reading some less-than-stellar reviews on IMDB. I figured a high school movie would be a better chance at having some fun. And thank god we did, because Bride Wars got some really horrible reviews everywhere - almost the same level as Kal Kissne Dekha :) and that’s saying something …

17 Again turned out to be a good choice – although it panders to all the high school cliché’s, it still has enough originality too keep you interested. I had chosen the movie primarily because it had Matthew Perry in it (Chandler Bing if you don’t recognize the name) and I always thought he was genuinely funny. I had no clue the lead was actually Zac Effron – the High School Musical star. But as it turns out, Matthew Perry has almost next-to-no role, while Zac really shines as the younger Mike O’Donnell. The movie is about the high school basketball star Mike O’Donnell who is dating the prettiest girl in his school and is about to get a college sports-scholarship as well. Until, his girlfriend informs him, right before the championship game, that she is pregnant – and he throws it all away and marries her instead.

However things don’t quite go as planned – 20 years later, his job is going nowhere, Scarlett wants a divorce and his kids think he is a loser. The only good thing in his life is his geek friend Ned, who is a millionaire. Mainly, Mike always yearns for that life that he threw away … what all he could achieve if he hadn’t done what he did. And somehow, he gets a chance – he becomes 17 again !! Not back into the past – but becomes a 17 year-old in 2009 !!

So he joins up in the same high-school, acting as Ned’s son – thinking he got a second chance at life. But soon, he realizes that he is getting a second chance all right, but not in the way that he thought it would be.

Ofcourse there are plotholes - like nobody apart from his wife Scarlett recognizing Mike – but then don’t let that bother you too much. And thankfully, the makers of the movie have refrained to putting in that ultimate American high school ritual - prom night – in the movie. I am very thankful to them for that !! Apart from that, 17 Again is very much a highschool movie. The geeky Ned provides a lot of laughs – and Mike and Ned have a great goofy chemistry together. There are some senti moments as well but overall the movie is quite light-hearted and warm – a pretty decent watch.

Acting-wise, Zac Efron was a revelation !! He is not just a cute face – he can do serious scenes just as well. Its safe to label him an upcoming superstar ! All the others do a great job as well – though it would have been nice to see some more of Matthew Perry !!


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Shinjuku Incident

After countless action-comedy roles, Jackie Chan is finally giving serious acting a try in Shinjuku Incident. Yes you heard that right – there is no ‘slam-bam-haha’ action in the movie, where Jackie Chan single handedly fights off scores of baddies. Instead, it’s a story of Chinese immigrants who enter Japan illegally in search of that elusive prosperity – but are condemned to live in ghettoes and do menial labour. For some, the only way out of the wretched conditions seems to be life of crime …

The movie is a Hong Kong production and apparently took some 9 years to wrap up. Thankfully we get the English dubbed version, so we don’t have to squint at the subtitles continuously. And the dubbing is fairly decent, but some flavour invariably gets lost in dubbings …

Jackie Chan tries his best to appear serious throughout the movie and he succeeds mostly – even his smile appears subdued. The action sequences are subdued as well – with no fancy kung-fu stuff. However his age shows through and his opening scenes with Xiu are not at all convincing – they look more father and daughter than childhood sweethearts. The other woman in the movie – Lily – seems better paired with him, though both the women do not have much to do on screen.

Jackie Chan plays Nick, a simple farmer in some unnamed province in China, who’s childhood sweetheart Xiu goes to Japan to ‘earn money’ but then never comes back. Unable to reach her, Nick follows her to Tokyo and settles down with a group of other illegal Chinese, doing low level manual labour – like cleaning garbage grounds and underground sewers.

However, a chance encounter with Xiu - now a wife of a powerful Yakuza boss – while working in a restaurant makes Nick rethink his life. He decides to begin his life in crime – starting with simple fake phone cards, graduating to stealing from supermarkets with credit card fraud and cheating at casino slot machines. And he helps along his friends with him as well, slowly turning to organized crime.

From then on, the movie is very reminiscent of Goodfellas (and various other similar mafia movies). There are quite a few subplots like the relationship between Nick and his best friend, between Xiu and her Yakuza husband and the Japanese inspector – but they are satisfactorily closed out with the climax. The setting of the movie is quite dark and gritty, and the violence quite sudden and unexpected – but gory. The pace of the movie is a little slow at times and you can make out that some scenes have been cut away for the Indian release (but nothing major lost like The Reader).

Shinjuku Incident is a decent film, but nothing outstanding. Jackie Chan does a serious role but doesn’t quite blow the screen away. Catch it if you feel like watching a good gangster movie or haven’t watched an Asian movie in sometime …


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Star Trek

I cant recollect how many times I have heard/read the phrase “Beam Me Up Scotty”. And it ALWAYS irritated me that I didn’t know about it – though I definitely had a vague idea what it meant. Yes, I confess I have never watched any Star Trek – neither the movies nor the TV series. So you can understand my hesitation to watch, what is the ninth film of the series …

But wifey would have none of it, and so off we went to catch the customary Friday night movie.

Turns out, I needn’t have feared anything – because Star Trek is actually the first in the series chronologically – which shows how all the original crew of the USS Enterprise comes together for the first time ... Somewhat like Star Wars Episode 1 : The Phantom Menace. So if you are a Star-Trek-ignorant like me, do not worry – just enjoy the movie :)

Because barring a very bollywood-esque opening scene, it is a very enjoyable movie with some great visuals and racy storyline. The opening scene, however, might cause a lot of dismay – it did to me, so you have been warned now ! But nothing that lasts beyond 10 min, and the taut script soon pulls you along to more exciting things.

The movie, right from the beginning, seems to promise great things as it goes along, with James T. Kirk childhood day’s, his cadet days … it builds an expectation that something big is to come. And when it does come, it doesn’t disappoint. We are introduced to the various central Star Trek characters in the beginning, and we watch how they coalesce into a team. The dialogue, though a bit heavy on science from time to time – black holes, space-time continuum etc – its easy to filter out the jargon and understand what is going on. Visually it’s a delight to see stars exploding, black holes swallowing planets and all other cool stuff.

Acting-wise I didn’t recognize anyone in the movie – but everyone does their job very well. The only name I recognize from the end credits is Eric Bana (Incredible Hulk) but he is totally unrecognizable in the movie !! See if you can spot him.

So should you watch it ?
I say YES, definitely do catch it !!

Its the coolest sci-fi movie I have watched since The Transformers – and it is very enjoyable as a stand-alone movie, without any of the four-decade-history of Star Trek. Its got lots of action, drama and some cool big-bang visual effects. So go for it ..


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Rang Birangi

As I was scrounging around for a book to read in the weekend, I found some DVDs stacked in one corner of the cabinet. I had bought these on a whim at Crossword or Landmark, attracted by the bargains on offer – and conveniently forgotten about them. But with nothing to do in the weekends (and the missus slaving away at the office), I decided to use my time productively …

Rang Birangi was the first movie I watched this weekend. And I couldn’t help but pen down my thoughts about the movie. I normally do not write about movies that aren’t playing at a multiplex near you, but then this isn’t a review strictly. There is no rating at the end of it and I honestly wouldn’t know how to rate such a movie. Plus I do not think old work like this should be critiqued – it should just be appreciated
But enough about myself – more about the movie

Rang Birangi was released in 1983, and was probably the last of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s iconic movies. I knew he had done a great amount of work but I was flabbergasted when I went through his actual body of work. Sample this

• Anari (1959)
• Satyakam (1969)
• Guddi (1971)
• Anand (1971)
• Bawarchi (1972)
• Abhimaan (1973)
• Namak Haram (1973)
• Mili (1975)
• Chupke Chupke (1975)
• Golmaal (1979)
• Khoobsurat (1980)
• Naram Garam (1981)
• Rang Birangi (1983)

And many more in between …

(And I have to confess I am in love with his Chupke Chupke. I can watch that movie again and again and again – and still laugh heartily everytime Dharmendra fools Om Prakash)

Rang Birangi, in a way, is ‘inspired’ from his previous works. While the movie itself references B.R. Chopra’s Pati Patni Aur Woh in the dialogues, the movie reminds you of the chaotic plots of Golmaal, Chupke Chupke and Gulzar’s Angoor. Maybe it is because of the common actors – Deven Varma, Amol Palekar, Om Prakash & Utpal Dutt. And Bindiya Goswami is also there in a special appearance.

It starts off with Ajay (Amol Palekar) and Nimma (Parveen Babi) leading a peaceful but somewhat boring married life – where Ajay spends too much time at his office immersed in work. His secretary is the attractive Anita (Deepti Naval in very modern dresses), but Ajay doesn’t even notice her, being the perfect gentleman. And Anita’s boyfriend is Jeet (Farooq Shaikh), who is a professor and always a little suspicious of her boss’s intentions.

Enter Ajay’s friend Ravi (Deven Verma) who tries to bring the spark back in Ajay and Nimma’s life by encouraging him to flirt with his secretary. And what starts as a simple flirting, snowballs into a majorly chaotic affair as Ravi keeps changing the script as events happen (like Dharmendra does in Chupke Chupke). Mention must be made of Utpal Dutt who makes his entry quite late into the movie. Though he doesn’t have a very big role – but I had to mention him because of his character’s name ! Say it aloud – “Dhurandar Bhatawadekar” !!!

Rang Birangi works because of the wonderful acting by all the protagonists. Amol Palekar is especially comic in the role of poor guy caught up in events out of his control. And the script works because at any time, none of the characters (including Ravi) knows what exactly is happening – everyone knows only the partial truth.

For Rs. 45 (that’s the price T-Series is selling the DVD for) it is an unbeatable bargain. Its lesser than the cost of one popcorn (if you watch movies in Mumbai multiplexes). So pick one up when you next goto a Crossword or MusicWorld - or rent it out from your nearby DVD wala if you already have a subscription. And enjoy some clean 70s humour.
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No movies to look out for this week

There are three movies releasing this week

• Detective Naani [IMDB]


• Ocean of an Old Man [IMDB]


• Border Town [IMDB]

Two of them even IMDB doesnt have any information !!!
So dont waste your time on these random movies and do something else - like watching 99 (if you havent done it yet). Read More!

99

Right from the word go, 99 seems to be a bit ‘different’ !! Even the normally humdrum disclaimers that you see in the beginning of a movie (“Any resemblance to real people or events is a coincidence .. blah blah”) sings a different tune for this movie – you will understand when you see it. And on hindsight, it was a fair warning.

Coz nothing else about the movie – the unknown director pair of Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru, the boring lead pair of Kunal Khemu (who ?) and Cryus Broacha, the cute but hardly a top-slot-actress Soha Ali Khan – nothing prepares you for the absolute blast this movie is !! Simply put – it ROCKED !

(BTW, doesnt Nidimoru sound a little Japanese ?)

The movie starts in 1999, with two small-time crooks Sachin (Kunal Khemu) and Zaramud (Cyrus Broacha), on the run from the police. They hotwire a car and try to escape, only to lose control of the vehicle and smash it into a truck, then a lamppost and all sorts of other things – completely wrecking it. And to their luck, the car belongs to local bhai AGM (Sanjay Manjrekar) – to pay off for the car, they start working for him. AGM is bigtime into satta and has many outstanding debts to him. He dispatches our lead duo to Delhi to extort money from a non-paying gambling junkie Rahul (Boman Irani).

All this is only the first 10 minutes of the movie.

The movie is named so because it signifies just one short of a century – and all the characters in our keep missing their mark in life, just by a little bit. 99 is full of comic twists and turns – AND cricket jokes !! You could probably classify this as a comic heist/gangster story I suppose, but it wouldn’t be doing this movie complete justice. The closest to this movie is probably last year’s Abhay-Deol-starrer Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. Intelligent humour and lot of fun being poked at the city of Delhi itself – there are lot of similarities in the two movies. But storylines are very different.

Performance was standout across the board – Kunal Khemu, Boman Irani, Cyrus Broacha, Mahesh Manjrekar, Amit Mistry (Kuber), Vinod Khanna – and everybody else. Soha Ali Khan & Simone Singh didn’t have much to do, but Soha looked rather cute – and both do their parts very satisfactorily. Mahesh Manjrekar continues to shine in comic roles – though I think his character would have better been named ATM instead of AGM. Boman was good as usual and Amit Mistry as Kuber was a hoot, to say nothing of Dimpy !! But the star was Kunal Khemu – the guy CAN act !! Not that I am complaining about this movie, but he should be getting better roles ! And Cyrus Broacha was a surprise too – he wasn’t as over the top as I imagined he would be.

Being released in the middle of the multiplex-producers dispute will probably help this movie, as compared to being released in a normal schedule, competing with 5 other movies in a week. So yes, definitely go for 99 - it’s a little gem of movie that you shouldn’t miss.


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Movies to look out for this week

99 [IMDB]

Cast: Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan, Cyrus Broacha, Boman Irani

Direction: Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru





Doomsday [IMDB]

Cast: Rhona Mitra, Emma Cleasby, Malcolm McDowell

Direction: Neil Marshall Read More!

3:10 To Yuma

While the producer-multiplex strike drags on and on, cinemas are desperately hunting around for something to show. And among other things, they came up with the 2007 Russel-Crowe-and-Christian-Bale-starrer 3:10 To Yuma. (For those who do not recognize the name Christian Bale, a hint – Batman !!)

It is a classic western – set in the wild west in the late 19th century when the railroads are just making their way across America. Like every good western movie, 3:10 To Yuma is ultimately about the man – who would go how far and where would one draw the line ? And yes, it does end in a shoot em’ up !

Ben Wade (Russel Crowe) is a famous outlaw who is captured in a small town called Bisbee and needs to be taken to Contention City and put on the 3:10 train to Yuma to face trial. For $200, rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) agrees to be one of the escorts for Ben Wade. However, Ben’s gang is hot on their heels and are desperate to free their leader. So the final shoot em’ up is easy to predict …

The relatively straightforward plot lends to a faceoff between the two stars of this movie. While characters like the old bounty hunter Bryon McElroy and Ben’s sidekick Charlie Prince are interesting, the movie mainly revolves around Ben Wade and Dan Evans. Ben Wade is easily the more engaging of the two, showing a light demeanour and jovial mood, but capable of surprisingly vicious violence. Dan Evans is the more silent type, but it is him who reveals more layers at the end.

However, this is where the good things about 3:10 To Yuma end. It suffers from one plot hole too many in the second half and makes for a WTF ending. With all the movie building up to the final shoot em’ up, the last exchange between Dan Evans and Ben Wade left me scratching my head and made the climax an extremely unsatisfying experience.

Not much to recommend in the movie except for the acting by the stalwarts. Watch it only if you HAVE to watch something on the big screen

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