FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2010)

Boggis, Bunce and Bean are three the meanest, nastiest, ugliest farmers in the history of some so called Fox valley. There’s children rhyme for them-

‘Boggis, Bunce and Bean

One fat, one short, one lean

These horrible crooks, so different in looks,

were nonetheless equally mean’.

Close to their neighborhood comes Mr. Fox, a professional thief with his last big master plan to steal these three mean guys. Partner in crime is good for nothing Kylie and nephew Kristofferson who’s smarter and talented one than Fox’s own son Ash. There’s rivalry between cousin Kristofferson & wannabe athlete Ash to be a hero in Mr. Fox’d eyes and it’s just fun to watch their attempts to prove it. The master plan went so well in the first two phases but in the third and final plan at Bean, they invited trouble to their own existence and it’s like waging a war of personal vendetta. The only way to survive is digging the earth deeper and deeper.

Director Wes Anderson’s this debut animation flick, based on the book of Ronald Dahl, the writer who gifted us ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and its not conventional animation high on CGI; its stop motion one and made with fabricated puppet characters that looks so alive and fresh in their expressions. It has cool soundtrack and wonderful lovable characters. I just loved that good for nothing Kylie and wannabe athlete Ash and Karate Rat. The climax is as chilly and exciting as watching cowboy western shootout. In a nutshell the animation which is equal funny for kids as well as grown up kids. ;-)

Ratings-8/10

THE THING (1982)

Two films based on alien subject and theme released the same year in 1982. Where Spielberg’s film portrayed alien as one of the friendliest creature that Hollywood had ever seen, the other film directed by John Carpenter became one of absolutely terrible alien film that in a long run proves to be a cult horror. ‘The Thing’ begins with chilly tension in almost isolated Antarctica and we see a strange man in flying helicopter constantly shooting a dog running around US Research station. Within moments we witness an unknown terror of uncontrollable intruder organism that strikes from outer space that assimilate and imitate the life forms of any other live organism and spread its infection. It started with dogs followed by humans.

It’s not like those high on special effects kind of run on the mill alien entertainer, instead it’s more built on tension which is shifted from unknown to known. The doubt and danger of infection turned the team of researchers suspicious and hostile to one another. It could be anybody where trust is the least expected word. The second half is paranoia set free in that claustrophobic setting of frigid and isolated Antarctica where they’re cut off from any sort of contact with outside world. On one hand we see grotesque and bizarre creature like those Cronenbergian degenerative body horrors and on other it has edge on the seat rolling fear of strange happenings and its aftermath out of human control.

Undoubtedly one of that horror which raised the bar of its genre and remains haunting in memory for long time.

Ratings-8.5/10

TANGLED (2010)

Walt Disney pictures’ brought us a fine fairy tale on their 50^th animation motion picture. It is a fantasy tale of a princess named Rapunzel gifted with magical long hair you’ve ever seen. She was kidnapped from birth by an evil lady and for 18 years held her to stay in a closed high tower telling her that the outside world is too scary. So to help a damsel in distress comes the dead or alive wanted thief of royal crown named Flynn Rider who first time let her out to embrace freedom. Next is the journey full of beautiful eye candy visuals, romance, action, adventure, and drama what you expect from well made animation. Unfortunately the songs that keep popping up into the story like those old classic animation; don’t sound as sweet and memorable and that’s what makes it quite stretching exercise.

Its fine fantasy and Disney tried to make it just like those fine memorable classics like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Snow White and Seven dwarfs’. The cute and full of life princess with the golden hair that glows and heals when she sings accompanied by a smart thief and other worth to mention characters like the Chameleon named Pascal, who remained Princess’s silent partner and a sniffing royal Horse named Maximus. Tangled is surely an entertainer that you love to relish if you still want to go back for bedtime story.

Ratings-7.5/10

FEMME FATALE (2002)

Rebecca Romjin-Stamos is a bitch to beware and irresistible femme fatale hard to avoid. She’s woman with inscrutable past and her new bait is paparazzi photographer played by Antonio Banderas. Brian De Palma’s this last made film opens with jigsaw puzzle kind of intriguing plot that unfolds the things at moments when you least expects it. Palma paid his homage to ‘Double Indemnity’ with the very first scene of the film and then continues to play with audience’s psychology like his inspirational Master Hitchcock. He knows damn well what to hide and what to reveal with camera, narration and complex characters. The brilliant high angle shots and fine voyeuristic camera work with erotic thrill remain thumbprint of De Palma thrillers and it’s not exception here. However I love and prefer to watch his earlier B movie thrillers like ‘Sisters’, ‘Body Double’ and ‘Dressed to Kill’.

Recommended to thriller fans.

Ratings-7/10

DARK CITY (1998)

We all love memory loss, memory theft and memory inception, Christopher Nolan and Hollywood gave us enough puzzling exercises. How about getting it all packaged in one film which didn’t get as much audience, acclaim and popularity as ‘Memento’ or ‘Inception’ and yet it’s as great as both of them and let me tell you very honestly and without exaggeration that while watching it gives me enough clues to say that it must be surely remained a strong inspiration behind Nolan’s idea and execution of ‘Inception’!

John Murdoch wakes up from his sleep to witness a nightmare about his own existence. He completely lost his memory and the world outside is too hostile to survive for him. He’s wanted man for strange group of men who want him dead, he’s wanted man for city police as prime suspect of serial killer who killed several hookers, he’s wanted man for his doctor who knows about the experiment done on him and he’s wanted man for his own estranged beloved wife. Alex Proyas’ ‘Dark City’ starts with intriguing beginning and as it moves further post half hour, it gives you absolutely mind-blowing thrilling experience about human memory till its end.

If Nolan’s ‘Memento’ is a mind bending personal jigsaw puzzle exercise about memory loss of its protagonist that involves active participation of its audience to fathom it fully in single viewing; Proyas’ ‘Dark City’ is straight but highly intriguing one grand exercise on epical scale where not just the man but the whole city’s memory turned to transformation as clock ticks 12 at night. It’s a city where sun never exists and erasing memory of people is daily routine. It is difficult to say what’s fake and what’s true memory where everything is fabrication and it would be considered a great spoiler and insult to the film and writer-director Alex Proyas, if I’ll say anything further about its labyrinthine plot. It is hard to categorize the film into one particular genre and yet it has elemental and atmospheric ingredients of well made mystery, thriller, sci-fi and Noir.

Brilliant production design, setting and special effects are well packaged to correspond to its awesome plot and theme narrated, unfolded and tightly edited the way to get you hooked to your seats. It has stunning and bizarre visual textures with touch of German Expressionism and it reminds me one of my favorite silent masterpiece ‘Metropolis’. While reading it on net, I come to know that the film was unfortunately released the same week of ‘Titanic’ and while remaining neck to neck in first week, it’s ‘Titanic’ magic that ruled that year to audience and awards.

A modern masterpiece and highly recommended to all who yet haven’t seen it and please go for Director’s cut version.

Ratings-10/10

THRILLER - A CRUEL PICTURE (Swedish) (1974)

One of the most controversial and cult revenge films ever made, which was censored and banned in Sweden for its depiction of explicit sexual and violent revenge theme. The original uncut version, which I managed to watch, has shocking and disturbing depiction of graphic sex including many scenes seems like hard core porn. Undoubtedly the film is belonged to low budget B genre cinema but it’s not just another run on the mill film made for selling controversy of tabooed theme of that time. Even the extreme sexual images strike the audience without any sort of titillation; it invokes anything apart of hatred and disgust.

It begins with an eight or nine year old Madeleine raped in the park by an old man. Under the trauma and mental shock she became mute permanently. When she reached her youth, her innocence is kept on tormented by another man who first gave her lift in a car and next making her hooked to heroine to exploit her sexually to forced prostitution. Her refusal to first customer cost slicing of one of her eye. Soon under daily dose of dope addiction she surrendered her body to maniac customers- one who took her nude snaps on Nikon and another who’s a sadist lesbian. But she took all her humiliation damn seriously and started using her saved money and a weekly day off learning, practicing and planning for her revenge and the rest his blast of ticking dynamite.

Director Bo Arne Vibenius brilliantly used techniques of mise en scene, close ups, and POV shots correspondingly with chilly silence of mute victim who can’t show her pain or trauma through sound. The innovative use of electronic radio frequency sound used in graphic sex or violence or stylish use of super slow motion shootout bloodshed are things to feel audio visually. Remember Daryl Hannah’s one eyed killing character with an eye patch in Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ which is a clear lift from this film. If I’m not mistaking its pioneer stepping stone of all those lady revenge flicks that keep popping up time after time whether it’s ‘Kill Bill’ in Hollywood or ‘Zakhmi Aurat’ in Bollywood. Its film which either you hate as disgusting crap or love for its eccentricity!

MELINDA AND MELINDA (2004)

‘If you’re somebody who’s nobody, it’s no fun to be around anybody who’s everybody.’

How you see the life? Is it a tragedy that confronts or a comedy that escapes? Well here’s is a group of art aficionados making impromptu discussion about what’s best option to life as the film begins and one of them starts narrating a story while keeping the fingers crossed for the group to decide whether it’s comedy or tragedy! Melinda is a strange woman surprisingly barging as uninvited guest into a dinner party. Before we see further progress of that plot, another man at the table punctures the story and lets us witness the same character and same setting into different direction leading to comedy. The shifting of both these stories continues for the rest of the film and out of that we see some of the routine formulaic mixture of typical Woody Allen cinema bundled with crime, guilt, romance, relations, extra marital affairs, and finest crack jack one-liners; this time from Will Farell trying to get into the skin of the irreplaceable bespectacled genius!

It’s universal truth that one may never regret watching any of Woody films. But what’s so amusing about this film is that on one moment it seems heartbreakingly serious, on another turns into light romantic comedy. It brilliantly blends the contrast between pain of rational and joy of irrational and after watching many of Woody films, I must say that he’s is better and brilliant writer than actor or director and I know that most of Woody admirers do agree with me.

Ratings-7.5/10