Category Archives: Movie Reviews

MAD MAX = Maximum Madness

Like one critic said “Believe the hype it will melt your face off”. 36 years after the original Mel Gibson epic comes Mad Max: Fury Road both directed by the same genius George Miller (Can you imagine in the interim he made adorable kids movies – Babe and Happy Feet…. This is certainly not a kid’s movie, though!!) . Call it a remake, reboot or a refuel, this movie is a perfectly orchestrated symphony of violence, beauty and insanity at the same time! Consider a T20 match with sixes hit in 18 of the 20 overs – it just doesn’t slow down to let the audience catch its breath. The vehicles are in constant motion for maybe 100+ of the 120 minutes running time.

The story is simple. A perpetual war for fuel will turn a sandy region of the world into a wasteland crawling with barbarous death cultists in souped-up stock cars. (Incidentally most of the filming was done in Namibia). In our ruined future, the Wasteland is run by a grotesque, misshapen tyrant called King Immortan Joe. Max, a prisoner finds himself swept along on a mission of vengeance and recovery.

And so commences a two-hour death race, enlivened with such impressive stunt work it’s seriously hard to believe that dozens of people weren’t killed getting it all down on film. There’s barely any reliance on CGI and amazingly, Miller paces the almost nonstop action so that it’s neither tiresome nor hard to follow. No shaky-cam here; we see the spectacular stunts and choreographed fights in full clarity.

Buried within the sand and the smoke is a surprising amount of heart as well. It is universally understandable even without subtitles for someone who doesn’t speak English – its that clear!

Buckle up for the adrenaline rush because this is the fastest and most furious movie I have ever seen (Apologies to the FnF series).

This is not a movie its an event so the ticket price is immaterial – go watch it on the biggest screen possible (and maybe it will help rid the disappointment of having watched “Bombay Velvet”)…

SAUMIL BHANSHALI

AVENGERS – AGE OF ULTRON … Awesome to look at! – But we’ve seen it all before !! – But we must see it again !!!

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Another year. Another crisis. Another time humanity is saved…. The déjà vu is strong with this movie…

This movie offers a handful of intriguing developments but lacks the same dynamic chemistry that made the initial installment so much fun. Though impressively made and visually remarkable, it suffers from the hollowness that plagues so many blockbusters carrying the sense that we’ve been through this before. …………In layman’s terms it has the air of a rerun.

Fortunately, Joss Whedon has done justice to the nefarious cybernetic villain, appropriately voiced by James Spader who joins the most impressive cast ever assembled including (…deep breath) Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Andy Serkis, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen — when you juggle more than a dozen marquee names the multi-tasking seems more like scatter-brain!

But the main reason to watch the movie is that it feels like the pages of a comic book come to life.. Age of Ultron not only feels like a Joss Whedon movie, from beginning to end – with its emphasis on flawed heroes, the repercussions of choice and characters trading not only witticisms but smart, deep ideas about existence – it feels like a Marvel Comics crossover, it has the wacky sweep of a comic book, whose boundaries are defined only by the crazy imaginations of the writers and artists.

Think of this as the movie equivalent of the world’s best, but longest, roller coaster ride. You’re never far from a moment of heart-stopping excitement even if, by the end, you’re more than ready to step off.

The original Avengers took just over $1.5billion at the worldwide box office and it’s predicted the sequel will smash this figure with the force of a Hulk punch. So, if a ticket at a Mumbai multiplex costs Rs. 500 it’s irrelevant what this movie is worth…. Just go and buy the ticket – the spectacle is spectacular……

SAUMIL BHANSHALI

Why “BOYHOOD” should win BEST PICTURE

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Switching off from cricket for one night all eyes will be on the Oscars on Feb.22 and I hope that Boyhood will win the Best Movie statuette.

Starting off as a project – filmed over 12 years Richard Linklater’s labor of love is the definitive time capsule of a lot of our childhoods. It charts the growth of Mason who begins the film as a young child and ends it as an 18-year-old on the cusp of college. Along the way, his growth is juxtaposed with that of his separated parents and his older sister, and also evolution of tons of pop and real culture !! For instance, at one point, Mason and his dad agree there should be no more Star Wars films after the prequels, an excellent joke on the upcoming films made even more amusing by the fact that no one involved could have known more were coming when the scene was filmed… An interesting fact, they shot the President Obama scenes when he was still running and hadn’t actually won. There are tons of such instances of foresight which made the film in the making for 12 years still relevant today.

It’s the subtle accrual of details, argues Linklater, that defines a life, not the big moments. Instead of wedding ceremonies and clichéd depictions of awkward virginity loss, Linklater luxuriates in the minutiae: a cruelly enforced haircut here, a trip to the bowling alley there, camping trips, sibling arguments, the first day at a new school, a first kiss, lying about sex, making awkward friendships and so much more. The perfect definition of adolescent life (if it had a definition) – it just happens …

2 words sum up this film “Casually Complex” and its a feat that will almost surely never be replicated in the annals of cinema again. “Boyhood” is a singular, masterful work of art. Linklater and his team have done something incredibly difficult and made it look effortless. The result is easily one of the best films of the year.

So in conclusion on the 22nd of February hopefully there will be two winners —- India will triumph over South Africa in Australia and Boyhood will trump all the other nominees for Best Picture in Hollywood.. Also being a stock market participant – Full disclosure – I have wagered a small sum of money on both my picks. (You know where the party is on the 23rd if either/both win !!)

SAUMIL BHANSHALI

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

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If you scoffed at the pretentiousness of the title, perhaps dont see the movie, but if you were intrigued by it – you will be entranced by the magic of Alejandro Inarritu’s film-making…..

Life is weird. It’s frequently disturbing and often downright depressing. But there are moments when human beings attempt to do something beyond our selves in an effort for redemption. And whether we succeed or not, it’s the undertaking that forgives us. This philosophy is at the core of Birdman…. Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson, who once ruled Hollywood as the star of a superhero franchise – he was the titular Birdman – but whose career crumbled when he balked at making a third sequel. So now here’s a washed-up action hero seeking to validate himself as an artist by staging a Broadway play based on the work of Raymond Carver.

Technically the film is superb. On screen we’re watching what appears to be a continuous take that snakes through the narrow backstage spaces, massive auditoriums, rooms, Times Square, a bar and more without stopping…. In many instances you will wonder where the cameraman would have been to take the shot…
There’s no shielding yourself from the percussive score, with its shattered beats and crescendoing chaos enhancing the contagion of Riggan’s mental state.

Someone or many on the technical side should start preparing their acceptance speeches… Antonio Sanchez – music, Emmanuel Luzbeki – cinematography, Inarritu – direction.. Also the ensemble cast works. So while it won’t win Best Movie since its not great “great” there is no denying that the movie is a work of art.. Art needs to be appreciated since the Earth without art is just Eh…

On the flip side this movie is definitely not for everybody, only for a niche demographic.

Circling back to the beginning – if the title and the concept appeals to you then only go for it – keeping in mind that art has a relatively lower entertainment factor than some trash…

In conclusion if a ticket at the multiplex costs Rs. 300 this movie is worth Rs. 300 for those who will see it with the right mindset… Like a majority of critics have written – “Birdman is a work of great ambition, a unique and beautifully executed vision that celebrates the creative soul.”

SAUMIL BHANSHALI

American Sniper

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A little more Bradley Cooper, A little less everything else…..

Clint Eastwood returns to solid form with this tale of the real life exploits of Chris Kyle, a United States Navy SEAL who was awarded the dubious title of most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

A stark, powerfully-acted drama featuring a career-best turn from Bradley Cooper.

The story is wafer-thin , not even worth getting into…. School essays on Kyle would have more depth. But this is all about the two men – one behind the camera and the other in front who are on top of their games…

Both the action scenes and the scenes at “home” are filmed with extraordinary spatial clarity – very much filmmaking 101

Its because of these two “heroes” that despite its missteps, American Sniper is still a powerful, deftly pulled-off film which works more as a competent character study of a single-minded man, and less as a lesson on war and its aftermath.

In conclusion, if a ticket at a multiplex costs Rs.300 this movie is worth every penny if you treat it as a movie and not some deeper meditation on war….

SAUMIL BHANSHALI