I’ve always been a die hard aficionado of animated movies, and I try not to miss any! But it’s also true that most of the animated movies I have seen have invariably been on DVD, I guess I don’t have the right company or maybe the opportunity to sit through a movie in the hall. But nonetheless, I pride myself at having seen most of the animated movies. My latest viewing treat was (of the animated variety) Kung Fu Panda. With voices of Jack Black as Po, Angelina Jolie as the Tigress, Lucy Liu as the Viper, Jackie Chan as the monkey, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu.

As all movies of the animated kind go, this to had a plot to defeat-a-bad-guy and over-come-obstacles and rise-to-the-occasion by the lead character/ protagonist! So the movie didn’t let me down! Po the Panda is a simple bear who dreams of “Awesomeness” and wants to be Awesome! Unfortunately he is very lazy when it comes to shaking his ass so he’s not a go-getter (that makes perfect sense, had he been ambitious, there would have been no need to make a movie now would there?!)

His father is a (a duck of some kind!) runs a restaurant and makes noodle soups, and hopes that one day Po, his son (who is a Panda) will make him proud. But luckily they haven’t made the father this conservative and society-fearing father, he lets go of Po and lets him try to find his destiny without being made to feel like an outcast!

So, Po gets chosen as the ‘Dragon Warrior’ by Oogway who is the highest master in the Jade Palace. Master Shifu doesn’t believe in Po being chosen as the Dragon Warrior because neither is Po trained in martial arts nor does he look the warrior type! So logically (to himself, Shifu) he tries to get rid of Po in any way possible. The ‘Furious Five’ (The Tigress, The Viper, The Mantis, The Monkey and The Crane) are the legendary warriors and at first don’t accept Po as one of them. When they find out that Tai Lung (a snow leopard who was almost like a son to Shifu) has escaped from prison and is on his way to grab the Dragon Scroll and learn the secret it possesses, they try to stop him, but sadly return home defeated.

By this time Oogway moves on to the ‘eternal life’ and leaves Shifu to guide and train Po as the Dragon Warrior. Shifu and Po start training to battle Tai Lung. And as predicted, Po truly is ‘The Dragon Warrior’ and he defeats Tai Lung in a showdown of sorts.

There are no particular morals in the story except for ‘there is no secret ingredient’. This literally means that his father added nothing to his ‘secret ingredient soup’ to make it scrumptious, you only need to believe in the ‘secret ingredient’. There is nothing more to it than that! If you believe in something, you can make it happen. Among the Furious Five, the Tigress resented Po the most, she realized in the end that he truly was the Dragon Warrior for he was the only one who defeated Tai Lung in battle. So greatness sometimes does get thrust upon some people!

There are no stale jokes, no cute animals jumping about all cuddly, no serious issues being discussed (example- the Lion King was about Simba avenging his father’s murder, or Aerial giving up her voice for love etc. yes these are serious issues in an animated movie!). This movie was good entertainment nonetheless!

Filed under: Movies | No Comments »

Blame me for behaving like a prepubescent girl with a hunger for Disney movies and everything PINK! I don’t know about you but I’ve always been fascinated by princesses (Boys, stop daydreaming – I was not talking about you). A big closet full of the prettiest dresses ever and jaw-dropping accessories, an even bigger and luxurious bedroom ‘fit for a princess’, a bevy of maids and attendants at your service 24/7, always being surrounded by handsome and charming royals…and the gorgeous tiara, oh my god! What about a long, elegant royal name uttered drawlingly, like Princess Mia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi? Somebody pinch me quick before I permanently surrender myself to this dream sequence.

I am a self-confessed lover of everything Disney even to this date, when I should probably be watching things appropriate for people my age. But the charisma of the whole “Princess” act never really wore off me and I can see many of you nodding your heads in approval in my support. So, I watched Princess Diaries Part One and loved it thoroughly for everything. The latest in the series is its sequel, aptly named “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”. You can almost read through the movie’s title and guess the plot. But hold your horses darling because the beauty lay in the details.

So the story of PR2 is a seamless continuation from its predecessor PR1. Princess Mia has graduated from college, while maintaining her royal appearance all along, and intends to return to Genovia to inherit the throne from her grandmother Queen Clarissa, as the mythical country’s new queen. But life is not all rosy for Mia because according to an archaic rule, a princess ought to be married before she ascends the throne. So our princess is left to hunt for a husband for herself within thirty days! She settles for an arranged marriage with the insipid Lord Andrew without any romantic feelings for him whatsoever (doesn’t that sound so Indian?). Meanwhile, Mia finds herself in a love-hate relationship with the utterly dashing Nicholas, incidentally the man who is trying to dethrone her to become Genovia’s future king. Torn between her feelings for both these men in her life as well as preparing for the responsibilities of becoming a queen, Mia makes some interesting decisions in a fateful turn of events.

Anne Hathaway, who became my personal favorite after The Devil Wears Prada, does complete justice to her role as Princess Mia. She delivers her lines with ease and portrays the depth and elegance of the character of a princess. Moreover, she looks absolutely stunning in whatever she wears, even in a sloppy poncho. But somehow I feel that she would look even better cast opposite an older love interest. But Chris Pine in his debut role as Nicholas is charismatic (and yummy) to say the least and he really pulls off the bad-boy act quite well. The movie also has liberal Disney doses in the form of an extremely cute bridal-shower slumber party hosted by Princess Mia and the mattress-surfing scene stole my heart. I heard Julie Andrews’ lovely singing voice on screen for the first-time after The Sound of Music but this was gleefully ruined by an appearance by Raven from the famous That’s So Raven TV show. Even though I guess Disney was promoting the show through this act, Raven sharing screen space and even singing a duet with the legendary Dame Julie Andrews was simply not my cup of tea. Also, somebody tell me why do all Genovians have Yankee accents, when Genovia is supposed to be a European country? Even the princesses from “around the world” at the slumber party had the American hangover. I didn’t like the way Princess Mia, the class act, was throwing herself at the wannabe king Nicholas. Whatever happened to your dignity and the whole fuss about a princess’ ways, Mia? Also, the way Mia decides who she is in love with is simply outrageous. The movie is trying to tell us that the man who can sweep you off your feet with his kiss is your “true love”, even if your other suitor is a truly caring and respectable man, just that his kiss can’t make sparks fly. May the ‘Best Kisser’ win!

I recommend The Princess Diaries 2 Soundtrack to all pop lovers as Kelly Clarkson, Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavinge make great appearances in this Disney album. The PR2: Royal Engagement is not about abstract ideas, intellectual thinking and all that la-di-dah stuff. It is a great movie to sit back and watch with the little (or older) “princesses” in your family and enjoy the cutesy, cheesy entertainment that life has to offer you.

Filed under: Movies | 1 Comment »

June 27 was an important day for Microsoft, and potentially for the whole world. One of the 20th century’s most important persons retired from the capacity of CEO of the world’s largest company. Bill Gates was no ordinary man, no ordinary boy for that matter! No boy writes a program at the age of 13, and very few young men are reckless enough to drop out of Harvard to chase their dreams! Not many matured men dream of and end up manufacturing a product that is a part of every human’s life worldwide! Not every middle-aged man is the richest man in the world for 11 continuous years, and no old man leaves the chairmanship of the world’s largest company to do full-time philanthropy!

No man is like Bill Gates! No man can ever be! Like our very old Narayanmurthy, Bill Gates has retired and let the younger generation take over the mantle of Microsoft. Bill Gates has been an object of admiration and envy of many for many years. While many may term him as “shark” who never really let competition flourish, many also admire him for his sharp business acumen and technical brilliance (he’s a nerd by his own admission)!

For me, what remains of utmost importance is that Bill Gates has finally left Microsoft to work for a foundation that if he grows to even half the size of MS will make this world a better to place to live in for many homeless and illiterate Asians and Africans! One of my American Clients who had visited India a year back had remarked “Every American should visit Indian to realize how lucky he is that he gets bread to eat and wine to drink every day!” Bill Gates, I guess has done enough traveling to understand that.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the premier charity organizations in the world. They are funded by heavyweights such as Warren Buffet and Gates himself. Now that Gates will indulge full-time into the organization’s work, we can expect the foundation to work more systematically and money being used judiciously. With Gates being a very influential person, we can also expect more funding to the organization. Officially, the foundation aims at fighting disease, reducing poverty and improving education around the world.

Good Luck, Gates!

And Mr Mallaya, Mr Premji, Mr Ambani, Mr Tata, Mr Birla et al– are you listening?

Filed under: World | 2 Comments »

Okay I thought I knew a lot about birds and bees…Oops! I meant just bees, until I chanced upon a particular animation movie about these industrious insects, simply called “Bee Movie”. If it were not for the cover of the DVD or the ceremonious flash of the movie’s title in the beginning of the film, I would have continued thinking that the movie was named “B Movie”. Hence my hopes rose to a certain level after this great revelation and more so when I was informed that the lead character had been voiced by Jerry Seinfeld, one of my favorite stand-up comedians ever. I thought, at least I would get to hear the voice of the man on the big screen if not see the man himself. It also turned out that Jerry had co-written and co-produced the film. So I geared myself up for some serious Seinfeld-ish fun. But the movie left me with mixed feelings.

Since I knew that Bee Movie would be an animation flick, I was expecting the same-old standard practices used time after time. You know what they deliver: Have a huge elaborate plot with a blue-eyed, non-conformist protagonist who doesn’t identify with his herd’s mentality. Also, throw in some important messages and morals about saving the Earth, believing in your self and living together happily ever after. Well, Bee Movie contains all of that, but its main attraction was the whole bee gimmick and that was exactly focus of the movie’s marketing ploy before its release in 2007. The story is about Barry B. Benson, a regular bee living in New Hive City, who is a recent college graduate of the class of 9:15 A.M. Barry and his best friend, Adam (voiced by Matthew Broderick) are about to begin their careers as honey-makers for the hive’s Honex Industries. Barry develops cold feet about going into the honey business after knowing that on picking his job, he would have to stay in it for the rest of his life and work without a break. So Barry leaves the hive to see the world along with the elite “Pollen Jocks”. In an unexpected turn of events, he encounters a human female by the name of Vanessa Bloome (with the sugary-sweet voice of Renée Zellweger) who saves him from getting killed. Weirdly enough, Barry falls in love with Vanessa and goes on to violate a major Bee Law: Don’t ever talk to humans. Both of them instantly form a bond and spend time talking and hanging out together, much to the discomfiture of his friends and family. One day in a grocery store, Barry finds out that humans steal and eat the honey made by the bees. He even gets a first-hand experience of the honey-making industry of the humans. Barry realizes that practice to be an act of theft and gets set to sue the entire human race for the act of crime, for the benefit of all the bees of the world. What follows is a hilarious courtroom satire, featuring the voices of well-known celebs like Sting, Oprah Winfrey and Ray Liotta (of GoodFellas fame). The rest of the movie is about ruining the ecological balance and then setting it right.

The movie was high on its measure of fresh jokes, which was a welcome change from the tired clichés that I had been seeing in every movie of late. The color scheme used in the animation was really “bee-guiling”, though the detailing could have been much better. I was intrigued by the ‘Bee Facts’ shown in the movie, like “A bee dies after it stings someone”, “Bees as a species haven’t had one day off in 27 million years!” and “Bees can’t fly in the rain”. The movie beautifully explained the process of pollination and its importance in nature. The kids would love the movie for the usual cutesy stuff, but surprisingly, other than that there is nothing much for the kids. The observational comedy and subtle references to pop culture instantly brought a smile to my face but I was sure that any of that humor would fly right over a child’s head. So I can safely declare that Bee Movie is really not meant for toddlers. There were also some unwanted parts in the movie like Barry and Vanessa’s discussion about committing suicide and there should have been shorter dialogues between them. Personally, I feel that the best thing about this movie is that it doesn’t try to tickle you into laughter but lets the hilarity of the situation get to you. But after watching the movie I don’t think I’m going to swat another bee that gets close to me, for the sake of harmony between the Bee and the Human “Bee”-ing. Amen.

Filed under: Movies | 2 Comments »

I believe that this is the classic one because when you read further you, too, will realize that what I am saying will make (for the first time) perfect sense! Also, I am imploring anyone out there to explain this one to me if they have any knowledge of what is being discussed at hand. Anyway let’s begin…

One of the things I am most proud about is my ability to make a short story long, and unfortunately for me many times I begin to resemble one of those old storytellers who will tell their tale to anyone who gives two-hoots! So moving on, on Saturday mid-morning I was at home watching TV and trying to desperately think up of a new blog post because it’s been a while since I found something “writeable”(it’s my word and my post so to you!).

While praying for inspiration to hit me, I sat and watched the whole “Batman and Robin” on ‘Zee Studio’ after what seems to be an eternity! Movie went on, bad guys got beaten up, poison ivy delivered some very cheesy dialogues, Batman and Robin almost turned gay (and not in a good way!) etc. etc. etc. Then at the absolute end, just before the end credits started rolling, Batman, Robin and Batgirl (their silhouettes actually) come running towards the audience, there it was…my perfect and most classic “things I can’t understand”…WHY DO SUPERHEROES WEAR CAPES?!?!?!

YES! Why the hell do superheroes need to wear a cape? What does the cape do? And is that a way of identifying a superhero…apart from the underwear over the clothes? I mean in the movie, Poison Ivy didn’t wear a cape and neither did Mr. Freeze, so do capes act as a means of identifying a superhero from the villain? Think about it…what purpose does that cape serve? Does it help them fly? Does it act as a shield? Does it give them invisibility or super strength? What does the cape do?

Superman, Batman etc. are almost classic heroes, but they need capes for what? And if they do, why doesn’t Spiderman, or the Fantastic 4 or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles need them? Baffled by these inconsequential stuff, I felt so full of inspiration to sit and write a blog piece, but as luck would have it, one of my friends called and twisted my arm (figuratively) and so I had to go meet her. My excitement couldn’t be contained so I asked her and a few other whom I met and the reaction I got was a look which half said that they think I need therapy and the other half I need a job!

But if anyone out there can sit and answer my question, I would really like to know the sense in superheroes wearing capes! It’s completely useless from what I can understand, yet, most of them wear them. I have followed cartoons religiously since I was a kid, and either they’re wearing their underwear over their clothes or just underwear (remember He-Man?!) as though they were trying to prove that they too can be as sexy (if not more) than a Victoria’s Secret model!

Filed under: Movies | 8 Comments »

About a fortnight or so back, I had borrowed DVDs of There Will Be Blood and Schindler’s List from my cousin, and I am quite embarrassed to confess that I didn’t touch either of them till last night. I chose to watch There Will Be Blood – a movie that one of my friends had endorsed quite well, not to mention the rave reviews I had earlier read about movie, especially critical acclaim that the actor Daniel Day-Lewis won for portraying the role of oil Mogul Daniel Plainview.

The picture reflects the early (circa 1900) oil drilling activities that took place in the US (California, et al), the technical challenges the companies faced during drilling exercises and how men were regularly lost during such activities. More than all, it brings to the fore the greed, hunger and ruthless ambition of a man called Daniel Plainview – who can mercilessly kill others and himself (not literally though!) to be the numero uno in oil the lucrative business of oil.

I read on Wikipedia that the movie is loosely based in a novel called Oil, which again is loosely based on a true story of an oil tycoon. So, it is not entirely a piece of fiction (in any case, fiction and reality are inter-changeable)! Plainview is shown as a laborer in the first scene of the movie, and works as a poor but hard working driller in the oil wells. He rises to a position of significance, courtesy his shrewd mind, ability to strike lucrative deals, and strategic thinking. According to his own confession in the film, he “wants to beat the competition” and has “general hatred for everyone.” Well, isn’t that what ruthless first-generation industrialists are made of?

The movie wholly revolves around this reckless and hyperactive individual, whose life is punctuated with virgin oil field acquisitions and turning them into goldmines (why I am thinking of one Mr LN Mittal here?) and that gold always goes into one pocket, and nor oil for guessing whose. There Will Be Blood, apart from being a pictorial piece of business and its prejudices, shows that the wealthiest are never short of fake friends and genuine enemies.

The director Paul Thomson Anderson also brings in the movie the role of church, and I am not too sure why. Plainview is strongly atheist, and he purchases an oil-rich ranch from a missionary named Eli! Does the director want to show the conflict between the God and Sinner? Or does he want to engage the reader in this conflict and leave the answer open-ended?

All in all, There Will Be Blood shows the good, bad and ugly side of oil business. It shows the celebration of oil, the casualties of oil, the politics of oil, and what oil makes of a man! Watch it for Daniel Day-Lewis!

Filed under: Movies | 2 Comments »

Either age is catching up to me or my soul is slowly escaping leaving me incapable of appreciating and enjoying humour! Due to the void in entertainment on TV during the morning hours, my brother decided that we should watch this movie ‘Be Kind Rewind’ (starring Jack Black) on DVD. Since he had already seen it, he went off after the first 10 minutes and left me watching. I’m not a big fan of Jack Black, but I did like ‘School of Rock’ and ‘Shallow Hal’ so I decided to sit through this one in the hope that it too might yield humourous (only to soon find out otherwise!)…

The movie is about some old man who runs a video store in New Jersey (?) and is desperately trying to improve his business. And for some reason, he leaves his video store under the charge of his only salesman who also happens to be friends with Jack Black. Now due to some freak accident, where they are trying to destroy some electricity plant, Jack gets left inside the plant and while trying to escape, he gets electrocuted which leads to him getting magnetized (or some such crap!).

When he gets magnetized, he goes back to the video store and in this day and age of digital videos, the video store only stocks video cassettes (go figure!). So because of all the magnetic vibes, all the cassettes gets destroyed (they all went blank). Now, the salesman and Jack don’t want to get into trouble with the store owner and neither do they want to disturb him on his trip, try to find a solution. And Voila! Whatever movies people come to order and rent, these guys make the movies and give it to the people to see. If someone asked for Rush Hour-2, these guys shoot it and store it (eventually to give it out on rent).

Finally people seem to enjoy these alternate versions of movies better than the original and word spreads and there is a big line of potential patrons outside the video store. When they start taking orders, I turned off the DVD player because I had had enough of that mind-numbing-(masqueraded) CRAP! I failed to find humour in that movie and I failed to understand how people can be dumb enough to actually fall for the bullshit these guys were doing!

A couple of question I was asking myself while I was sitting and getting over the atrocity I had just committed…Is it me or has humour these days gone down the drain? Why would anyone make a movie like that? Has entertainment come to be synonymous with CRAP???

Be kind rewind…do yourself a favour and don’t bother watching this sad excuse for a comedy!

Filed under: Movies | 3 Comments »

I get a strange feeling that the world today seems to pass of anything (worthwhile and worthless alike) as entertainment! I’m afraid I might be too cynical and quite vindictive but seriously, the level of intellect when it comes to entertainment is going into negative! I might end up sounding like an old hag who probably has been wronged by society, but if you want to put yourself through what I did, by all means waste the money on what can only be described as ‘A-atrocious-waste-of-time-and-money’!!

I went to see ‘Get Smart’ recently and was told before the movie that it is unbelievably hilarious and is probably one of the funniest movies, boy! Was I shocked after the movie ended! Now, from the trailers, the movie seemed like a good timepass and decent fun (I’m being far too generous!). Steve Carell (?) being the next Jim Carrey (and maybe Vince Vaughn being the next Adam Sandler (?)), I figured this movie might be worth watching. I was a big fan Anne Hathaway after seeing ‘Princess Diaries (1&2)’.

But when the movie began and progressed I found myself questioning myself as to ‘When does the funny part come?’ or ‘What’s funny about that?’…seriously speaking this was the first time I found myself more interested in sending out SMSes to friends rather and sitting and paying attention to the flick! My cousin brother who is 14 years old loved the movie and could not stop laughing, I, looking at him tried to desperately search for the humour! I mean it felt like I was armed with all sorts of scopes (microscopes and telescopes whichever would help me out best!) in my quest for humour, alas I returned empty-handed!

It didn’t have the raunchy humour of ‘Austin Powers’, neither did it have the sophistication of ‘James Bond’. I’m certain that ‘Jaque Clousseau’ (from Pink Panther) would have done a much better job than Maxwell Smart! It was this comparison that got me thinking, there are so many “Secret Service Agencies” and more “Secret (terrorist probably) Organizations” that have been invented that it seems to be a new cult of some sort. Movies that come out these days, have so much of this “Secret Service/ Agencies/ Organization” crap in them that any movie without it seems incomplete! Why is the latest trend a big plot to disarm a nuclear bomb?!?!

Anyway, if you haven’t seen the movie, don’t bother! I mean the kind of nonsense we try to pass off as entertainment these days is unbelievable! Take a hint form the title of the movie and try to ‘get smarter’ (and not watch this one, you’re in danger of getting dumber if anything!).

I read somewhere that Anne Hathaway wanted to take up movies with a more serious and more challenging character/ role. No more of the girl-ie roles like the ones she did in Princess Diaries, something a bit more mature. After ‘Get Smart’ I’m sincerely questioning her as to how and where does ‘Agent 99’ qualify as a serious/ mature character?! Does she use a dictionary that we don’t?! I could confess that maybe because people who had already seen the movie had said that it was immensely hilarious and that I would be clutching my stomach by the end of it, so I might have raised my expectation and hence I’m being let down so badly, but really speaking, this movie was just BLAH!

Filed under: Movies | 4 Comments »

After watching a slew of modern-age Hollywood flicks covering a wide range of genres, I eventually got tired. My quest to watch something new drove me to the point of watching some really mindless 90s Bollywood acts. Thankfully, my mom recommended that I get hold of some reel classics and try to analyze their artistic merits with my pseudo-intellectual abilities. I was a bit skeptical, not because I thought old films were trashy but probably because the essential feeling of déjà vu would be missing. But how do you define a classic? Wouldn’t its definition differ for people of different generations? Can you really compare the taste of a baby-boomer to that of someone from Generation-Y? So what probably appeals to mom may not appeal to me at all. You must have realized by now how I end up suffering from severe brain burn-outs, even because of non-issues like choosing a movie to watch. Anyways I picked up the 1961 classic “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”, starring the graceful and sophisticated Audrey Hepburn and I must say if nothing else after watching the movie, I’m a fan; not of the story but of her stunningly classy ways.

Honestly, I don’t know why they deemed this movie a classic because the story is nothing to write home about. But there is something completely magical about the movie. So right now I feel split as a person because I have two opinions: one that of an average movie-goer and the other that of a discerning critic who likes to wickedly point out flaws every time he chances upon one. So I’ll give you both. But coming back to the story, Breakfast At Tiffany’s is a romantic comedy which centers on Holly Golightly (Go-lightly, get the pun?), a charming and free-spirited lady who comes to the stylish and upmarket New York from a small town to begin a new life and reinvent herself. She is essentially a gold-digger who uses her enchanting ways to live-off rich men but in real, she’s very lonely. Holly befriends her neighbor Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a struggling writer who is supported by his much-older mistress. Eventually, as expected Mr. Writer falls in love with Holly and stupidly, even breaks up with his mistress who was sponsoring him pretty well. However, Miss Holly-Golly-Whatever, like any dignified gold-digger, has her eyes firmly set on the bigger things in life: getting married to a rich guy, having a family with him and milking his cash cow all her life. To make the plot more complex, Holly’s ex-husband shows up, her beloved brother Fred dies and she even gets entangled in a court case. Paul keeps on trying to get Holly to fall in love with him with inevitable results in the end.

I loved the glamour-factor of the movie; the cigarette holders and the society parties wowed me. Audrey Hepburn was sort of the only star attraction for me in this movie and her classiness was oozing out of the screen every time she uttered a dialogue. She looked great in the gowns Givenchy designed for her (he’s my personal favorite) but she seemed to be getting more anorexic with every passing frame. But there were so many character flaws in Holly that I was actually getting sick of her immoralist nature. This was probably the first-time that I didn’t fall for the male lead of a romantic comedy flick which is weird to say the least, so you get the idea about George Peppard. The landlord, Mr. Yunioshi, was an obvious add-on for a few gags but the Asian stereotyping was too obvious. Maybe they should have tried someone from Sweden or New Zealand. The music was lovely with the “old-world” feel to it and I was compelled to download the track “Moon-River” after the movie ended. The movie starts with Holly, dressed in her iconic evening gown, window-shopping outside Tiffany’s early in the morning while drinking coffee and eating a danish. It is revealed during the course of the movie, that the lady is pretty fond of the Tiffany’s and a scene is shot inside the store itself. I had expected more references to the famed jewellery store but ended up disappointed. So all those expecting liberal doses of gleaming diamonds in mind-boggling designs, beware! The title could be as misleading as the protagonist. But overall it is a very feel-good, light-hearted movie about discovering your own self and finding your true love. Recommended for mush-lovers who miss the good old days of simple, predictable love stories. Classic? Yes, but certainly not a masterpiece.

Filed under: Movies | 2 Comments »

What would you do if you had a remote control which could CONTROL your life and everything around it? I can think of a lot of things (naughty me!), but let me reveal a few of the things Adam Sandler did when he got hold of a similar item. He loves the fast-forwarding function on the remote which fast-forwards or skips everything from taking a shower to getting promotions to arguments with his wife (now which man wouldn’t want that?). The color adjustment function gives him an enviable tanned look in seconds because he can change the hue and saturation of his skin! Oh! We can’t afford to forget the extremely important ‘Mute button’ which helps him shut people up, quite literally. So you want one too, right? But like always, there is a catch to this magic device too, and that is what the movie “Click” is all about.

Click stars Adam Sandler as a workaholic architect Micheal Newman whose life revolves around getting promotions. He has no time for his gorgeous wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) or his children Ben and Samantha. One night he goes out looking to buy a universal remote control and encounters Morty, an eccentric salesman, who offers him a remote control which can make him control his own universe, and the TV of course. But the gift turns into a curse when Michael overuses the device and loses control over it, which turns his life upside-down. As it turns out, the remote also has a unique memory feature which learns Michael’s actions and habits from his past reactions, and begins to automatically fast-forward moments similar to the ones he’s previously avoided. So our ‘lucky guy’ manages to skip through the most crucial moments of his life like his divorce with Donna, his battle with cancer and even the death of his beloved father. Michael realizes his mistake (wow! that was unpredictable) and tries to destroy the remote but it keeps coming back to him. The rest of the story reaffirms the saying, “Be careful what you wish for. It just might come true.”

The premise of a remote control to manipulate one’s life is awesome to say the least, and that is exactly what drew me to watch Click. Time-travel movie fans might accuse the movie of drastic unoriginality. I’m not even going to talk about the clichés used in the movie, because I’m just sick of them by now. But you have to give the story brownie points for its originality with the functions on the remote and their respective applications as shown in the movie. Christopher Walken was just too good as the wacky, crazy-looking Morty but honestly by now, I expect to see Adam Sandler in more versatile roles. He just keeps on playing the troubled guy and there seems to be no end to that. I also didn’t understand Kate Beckinsale’s role as Donna; any exotic-looking actress could have done her role, so I conclude that Kate was just an essential ‘glamour accessory’ to the film. The story had a good, steady pace throughout its length but I felt some of the incidents in the second half, like the scene with a fat Ben, could have been easily edited out. I say this because I almost died out of suspense till the finale scene came on screen and these extra scenes just tested my patience in the worst way. Also, the second half was dark and kept on getting darker till the end and I wondered, “Who the hell sucked all the comedy out of this?” But to tell you the truth, I was in tears during the last ‘dark’ scene of the movie and the message that it delivered to the audience. A watchable movie with lots of fun-filled moments but don’t have any high expectations regarding the climax or the story line. Tune in if you want, otherwise CLICK!

Filed under: Movies | 3 Comments »