Review of 'I'm Still Here'

I can usually dredge up one redeeming element in a movie that is all-round bad. I’m afraid I grant no such respite to this terrible attempt at ‘mockumentary’. (Oh, no wait, there were some rather funny parts).

***SPOILER ALERT***
I was intrigued to see what Phoenix would bring to this production – I was already convinced it was a hoax and the opening sequence where we see Phoenix with his back to us in some threadbare hoodie, mumbling about his identity issues confirmed that this was going to be a piss-take. This wasn’t some good to honest revelation; this was just going to mock the whole idea of it. I think. I still don’t get it (and for those who have read previous reviews of mine, if I don’t get the point, for me that’s the worst kind of experience). I would have switched it off if I happened to check it out on TV.

A reviewer on IMDb (Colin_George) puts it thus:

'…This ineptly assembled alter to egotism harps incessantly on a point it never makes about the nature of fame.’

It was shot with awkward steaming from each frame like some silly home film. I’m still perplexed as to what Affleck was hoping to get with this – it felt like they arrived at the cutting floor with no decent content.

'But put-on or not, the Phoenix in the film has no arc. His character is no closer to achieving his dream by the end, nor are we any closer to understanding what that dream means, to him or anyone.’

Review on 'Raajneeti'

Most people know I don't have a lot of love for Bollywood of late. There are a rare few gems that the industry churns out (usually the ones with Aamir Khan starring) but otherwise it's mired in insane storytelling, over the top aesthetics and 'acting' and more focus on vulgar portrayals of 'beauty' than paying service to the beauty of story and/or character - or lack there-of.

It was with low expectations therefore that I went to watch 'Raajneeti', a film starring the hot and popular stars, Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor. I had been told that it was loosely based on the Indian epic, the 'Mahabharata'. I think I would fared better had I not been told that because I was constantly trying to align this story with that of the Mahabharata. 

There are several shortcomings in this film. Firstly, there are no politics (raajneeti) in this story - it is basically a family feud film, which began resembling the Godfather half way through (i.e. the relunctant son who stays outside the dodgy spheres of his forefathers is roped in, in the name of family honour and ho hum, vengeance). I found it rather unsettling that each speech the wanna-be leaders dictated to their people was about their rival party and how they were going to get back at them or prove them wrong, etc etc. No one gave a damn about their electorate. Of course, this is an exaggeration somewhat but the fact that these parties encourage their followers to engage in their personal disputes induces a state of despair.

Secondly, the film is too long; it dragged and dragged with the outcome being both flat and powerless. I think this is in part due to Ranbir Kapoor's character of Samar - he was so void, he had one expression. I didn't know whether I was supposed to warm up to this man or feel pity for him or what...and you all know how I feel about stuff that doesn't make me feel anything :)

The acting was strong from veterans like Nana Patekar (saving grace of the entire film), Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan. All the others floundered or were just plain useless.

And what about that random 30 sec 'club' scene that was injected in there - is that a mandatory requirement now, to have some slutty scene with flashing lights, just because you can? Clearly doesn't matter whether it serves the narrative. 

The continual violence and blatant disregard for life and the lack of subtlety in political manoeuvrings left the film with no suspense - one was just waiting around for the next person to be shot or blown up. If the ending was supposed to inspire hope, I didn't buy it, I simply felt sorry for the next person who would be forced to get mired in dodgy decisions, corruptions and assassinations.

Verdict: 4.5/10

Review on 'Kick Ass'

Ok, so the other day I went to watch 'Kick Ass' ready to laugh out loud for the better part of the movie. I mean, correct me if I am wrong but the movie marketing is clearly preparing you for a spoof-like experience, bashing the whole superhero genre etc.

I was hoping that Matthew Vaughan would bring something infinitely better than 'Stardust' that mucho cheese infested excuse of an adventure/love story. Well it certainly brought it, and well it's over a week since I watched it and I'm still unsure about the whole experience of viewing it. Not a good sign I guess, I believe a film needs to make you feel something on either side of the spectrum - if you're still on the fence, then that can't inspire more viewing - not in me, anyway, I'm not in the least tempted to re-watch it, just to make sure how I do feel about it.

'Sacred Hearts' by Sarah Dunant exceeds expectations

I finished reading this book a couple of weeks back and have yet to write a review of my thoughts. So here it will be.

I picked up the book courtesy of the raving compliments the panel from the TV Book Club lavished it with, otherwise it would never have been a book I would have read. The only pulling theme was the idea of sisterhood.

Needless to say, I was entranced from the first few chapters. Sarah Dunant brilliantly weaves a tapestry of the details of convent life without feeling you have necessarily slipped back in time. You appear to be immediately there, within the confined space of this place and whether this in part due to the fact that it is written in the present tense, it achieves the engaging hook.

What's more, I love a book that promises more than it lets on. As Dunant commented herself, the skeletal premise is based around whether or not the new novice to the convent, Serafina, will escape or succumb to accepting being a nun for life. Dunant never allows us to stray far from the turmoil and shocking injustice that Serafina feels at being tricked into the life of the nun; it's not thrown in our faces and the details emerge slowly with only implied hints, yet it underlines the days that roll on by as the novice comes out of her rage; it seeps through the seemingly impenetrable wall of the convent.

The highlight of the book is encompassed in the character of Sister Zuana, the dispensary mistress who unconsciously forms a bond with Serafina, whom she is charged to look after initially. The details of the various healing concoctions and methods of the time, (being 1500s Italy) are meticulously outlined with the same vigour the sister herself employs in her work. Her characters also highlights the dilemma between religion and science and consequently, the humanity that is needed to heal, versus the reserve the life of a nun requires.

The rest of the nuns are as brilliantly painted and there's a sense of madness in the more senior ones, all individual in their own bizarre natures. Despite the camaraderie shown at times, you get a sense that the place is still not inducive to the stability of mind or spirit. Essentially it's a power play that rules the comings and goings.

Lastly, the book's last hundred or so pages are simply riveting. There is a brilliant twist, (though I do not like to use this word)- rather a character defies our expectations, so much so that I was cheering at the book at various intervals. Thank god I was reading it alone otherwise I would have received rather strange looks. The ending is just as brilliant and supremely clever in a Shakespearean stroke of genius (quite literally!)

All this without missing the presence of a male character.

RATING: 9/10 stars.

Slumdog Millionaire

Listening to - Alicia Keyes 'Empire State of Mind'
Reading - Scriptwriting in the UK

Ok, so on our new flatscreen TV on Channel 4 HD I watched 'Slumdog Millionaire' again last night. I remember I wasn't as keen to watch it when it came out on the big screen as my sis. But I relented and found I enjoyed it, though was surprised to see it being tagged as an 'uplifting film', when so much awfulness happens in the story - which is the point in a sense, for it's only from the lowest levels a story of rising right to the top actually holds weight.

I enjoy the film for the first third me thinks, when the children are very small. The opening where the boys run down from the police through the slums is probably one the most powerfully cinematic sequences there is and all credit goes to director and cinematographer for that. I'm not sure whether it's because it feels really authentic and superbly acted when the child actors speak Hindi but something is definitely lost when the film progresses and it's in English; not to mention I am not a fan of Dev Patel and thought his accent just disappeared by the time his character finds Latika. The film painted some powerful points on India and the madness that is the development there, though I am not best placed to comment on it from a first hand perspective as the last time I visited was ten years ago. Perhaps I am in a total minority here, but it didn't convey to me, (not entirely convincingly) that the little Jamal we see is the same Jamal Dev Patel portrays. I think my story nitpicking alarm is blaring now but by the time Jamal flatly tells Latika 'It's our destiny' and she replies with 'I thought we'd meet only in death' (a line that only works in Hindi because love and death are always dramatically paired together), I'm not buying it much. What happened to the side of Jamal that quipped 'Tu mere naal dance karengi, na?' (You'll dance with me, right?)  Oh, anyway, I leave it at that. People love it and fair does. I just think the kid actors MAKE the film and it's because of them it actually stands up in the first place - so my thanks go to the brilliant casting director who cast them.

Essentially I think the Indian co-director, Loveleen Tandon gets no real credit and she's the one who probably cast those kids while Gail Stevens possibly cast Dev Patel - never mind! Plus, I've watched Danny Boyle's 'The Beach' and [some of] '28 Days Later' (partly due to Cillian Murphy) and with the former, I felt there was something missing and perhaps dragged a little too long for my tastes. But I will leave it on a typical film student note, 'But it was shot really beautifully'.