अपना काम

शायर है मेरा नाम, शायरी है मेरा काम 
किसी को पसंद आया, तो वही है मेरा इनाम 
लाया था अपने साथ लफ़्ज़ों को और न था कोई इंतेज़ाम 
मर भी गए तो ग़म नहीं, कर जो दिया अपना काम 

HITCHCOCK (2012) - ENGLISH

A narrowed down film, myopic and predictable.

It is a film that deals with how Alfred Hitchcock made the thriller called 'Psycho'. It is good nonetheless but never becomes great. 

Are there any moments of greatness at least? Absolutely not. It comes across as a fictionalised documentary more than a fascinating drama. Having said that, the performance by Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock is worth appreciating. Other performances are good enough too. 

What failed me was the script that kept many things obvious. There was no guile, secrecy or a metaphor in any of the scenes. The screenplay followed a well-documented path. Yes, for few instances it gets into the psyche of Hitchcock and tries to interpret some actions but they come very much late in the film. 

Overall, I must say the viewing of this film was daunting more than being insightful for me. The actual interviews of Hitchcock himself are more interesting than this film.

It's a 2/5 for showing few days of an illustrious career and personality. 

FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009) - ENGLISH

A film that’s nostalgic in many terms and terrific technically.

This is an animated stop-motion film and one of it’s kind in today’s world where there is a huge amount of technical brilliance. Stop-motion animation is one of the oldest techniques as old as Alice in wonderland in 1903 and even much before that. This film adopts the same technology and adds up a lot of speediness to make the stop motion to look real animation. So technically it is great.

The content is fun, but there is a strong script over a not so strong story which is an inherent ingredient of  Wes Anderson film.  Had there been a stronger story, this would have been more wonderful. The voice over is stupendous and the dialogues are well written too. Above all, the humor is subtle and yet hilarious. 

Music by Alexandre Desplat is worth a mention as it adds a lot of weight to this film. It's a great score and gels well with the film, 

Wes Anderson can take a simple story and make it more than a worthwhile watch and he proves yet again with this. The art direction and the colors used are great and made the film an treat to the eye. 

The characterisation is one that you would find in a typical commercial film. There is a hero, a heroine, a sidekick and a villain. Together, there is a family too. So this is a perfect stop-motion family entertainer I would say.

I loved this for many reasons and thanks to Anderson for bringing stop-motion back. Big thanks for his wit and sense of humor that are displayed generously in the film.

A 4/5 to a great stop motion animation film.

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) - ENGLISH

The Lord of the Rings has changed the scope of fantasy films forever. The Fellowship of the Ring was just the beginning.

This is a fantastic fantasy film and just a start yet.

I have seen the trilogy 3 times and after nearly 10 years, I am revisiting the trilogy. Even now, if give me a thrill that is unparalleled. Now, I know what is going to come but still I wait for the unfolding. I am seeing this in awe and for appreciation of the caliber that was put in the making of these films.

The fellowship gave details and the tone is perfectly right. There is a backdrop story that is explained so that those who have not read the book can understand what the story is all about. Why is the title named "Lord of The Rings in the first place? Also, why is this part called "The Fellowship of the Ring".

As we travel with the film, the mysteries and solved and we get a clear and bright picture of what the whole thing is about. 

I watch these films and am now revisiting them because in all these years I have not seen any fantasy film that has such great usage of graphics and keeps things real. The sky, the grasslands, the mountains, the marshes, the landscape everything seems real. Perhaps, all these exist in some part of the world today.

The major part of the film was shot in Norther Islands of New Zealand and no film I believe I can capture or depict New Zealand's landscape as this film has done.

Peter Jackson deserves all the kudos for translating a novel by the same name, into a near perfect film on celluloid.

Perhaps, I will revisit this some time again. Till then 5/5. Thanks to all those, who made this film and this trilogy a possibility of such magnanimity. 

IN THE SCHOOL

When I was in the school
I had made myself a fool
I saw her coming to my side
She seemed to be a high tide
From, the sea for an unknown reason
Turning this moment a romantic season
As she was about to cross
I held her hand in a fizzy
She said “It’s so Gross”
And slapped me back that make me dizzy
I fell into the dreams of her where she embraced me
But, truly she did walk away while fell on ground
Going round and round as I dreamt, she embraced me
But when I opened my eyes
I saw many laughed at me, and even her
That made me a fool
When I was in the school.

THE REVENANT (2016) - ENGLISH

A revengeful survivor story set in a terrific landscape.

It's beautiful to look at from the word go but it's a painful to see the protagonist coping with adversities and becoming a hero. It's a story set in the 19th century so there are horses for commuting and stones for making fire. Yet, the theme is universal and so it can be considered a contemporary story with a couple of centuries old backdrop. 

I went to see the film for two reasons, the director Alejandro Inarittu and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and both seemed to in good form although not in their prime form. Nevertheless, that's enough to make a good film. 

Technically, the cinematography is top notch and the production design is terrific. The whole crew has to be complimented for working a whole film in such a drastic and unpredictable weather and landscape. The editing could have been more precise. Too many frames of nature, I felt and I hoped for more characters than nature. Makeup is amazing and I suppose it's makeup and costume design is one of the finest I saw in recent times. What disappointed me was the screenplay. This film seemed a bit stretched out and predictability killed the fun. When you know, the path and also the destiny, there is no fun anymore and this film showed me both after few minutes into it.

Leonardo has invested a lot of his time and his physical transformation and fearless acting tells why he is one of the finest actors ever. I got my money worth, solely by his performance. Though for me his Aviator, Blood Diamond, and The Departed are his best, this performance stands tall too.

Overall, it's a well-written film but 20 minutes short, this would be a great film. As it is, it's fine for me.

A 3/5 for a good film, but once again full marks to Leonardo DiCaprio. Respect.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE

AUTHOR: GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: SPANISH

TRANSLATOR: GREGORY RABASSA (translated from Spanish)

This is a masterpiece for sure, but it's not an easy read. 

I found myself to be going back and forth many times while reading this book. The reason is that I had to figure out the time frame for most instances. This book is not as linear as I thought it would be. Also, the names are tough to get a hold of. Yeah, too many Aurelianos, Arcadios and Remedios. After a point, I lost count of how many Aurelianos were there. So, I mapped the to different names in my virtual memory for ease of understanding. Yes, it's not an easy read and it took me nearly 6 months of on-off reading to complete this. 

Nevertheless, this a book from which a whole country perhaps a continent can be created. The Caribbean and the people in it would have been easily created even if they did not exist. So, in one way, it acts as a travel help book that can help familiarise with the conditions of Caribbean. As a fiction novel, I certainly shall put this a must read and a book that deserves to be on every book readers shelf.

It created a century of time travel and generations of a family in nearly 300 pages. That in itself is a feat and I bow my head in humility to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He is a great writer I can confirm, after reading this novel. Let me tell you, that this is the only book of his, I read. Yet, as per what this book gave me, I concluded that he is a great man and a great writer. 

I loved the book, the characters, the objectivity and above all, the feeling it gave after completing it. 

A 5/5 for a definite masterpiece written by a master.

THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE (2015) - ENGLISH

Sherlock: The abominable bride. This seemed an abominable ride for me.

I am a fan of the sherlock series as Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman formed a terrific duo as Holmes and Watson. In this special one-off film, the viewers were given a Christmas treat. I can confess it was not as delicious as I thought it would be. There are moments of awe, but there are few in this film as compared to previous nine episodes of the three seasons.

This is a special film and the only one till date, to be coming in theatres from the series. There are many special things after the film is done. While the film was on, I only wondered what happened to specialities of Holmes and Watson.

Yes, I could explore very much of the mind palace of holmes and also a period which was thus far not shown as the episodes are contemporary. This film is not a one-off case but seemed like a curtain raiser to the coming season. It tried to blend the now and the then, but it seemed flawed overall. I only wished to be watching a real sherlock holmes doing real business in real time. But his mind wanders centuries too quickly which is not to my liking.

The technicalities are superb as always in this terrifically presented film. Yet, I wish the screenplay was more fluid and not as haphazard as it was.

Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis are terrific writers as per earlier episodes but I felt that they could not pull off this experimental one-off special.

I am going with 3/5 in a good film, but it's average as a sherlock episode. 

WHIPLASH (2014) - ENGLISH‏

Drums, drumming and drummer. I precisely put what this film is about.

There is a kid in his twenties who joins the so-called best music school in America and it's about how he goes about his passion that is Drums.

Drums are percussion instruments that make a lot of noise if not played well. But here, they seem to have been played to the beat.

Okay, now let me give this to all the jazz lovers. If you are going to watch with an expectation to learn or know more or to understand jazz music, stay away, please. Except for few mentions of Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Buddy Rich and a few more, this film has not got any jazz. In the garb of jazz, it has got music that is as good as any other film with no greatness added.

The movie is more about abuse of power and authority than Jazz for sure. Not one frame I saw can be termed "musical".

The acting is superb above all else. The whole outlook is dark and I was very surprised because that's so not music. Perhaps, it deals with dark emotions thus, it is set dark.

I am going with a 3/5 for a good one, but only for some good acting. All else, is just OK.

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Fireworks for New Year's Eve 2016 in Hong Kong. Taken at Wan Chai Pier, Hong Kong.