Ultimate Protection And Then Some

So you are coming back home after destroying the Death Star and The Galactic Emperor, this after taking down the T1000 and some martial combats against Agent Smith. You step into your home and you see this: hall strewn over, things lying upside down and a low groan/moan from somewhere in the dark. Unsure how you missed such a natural threat? Feeling under-prepared? Relax, Ultimate Protection against the Undead is just a library away.

When you see a title like "The Zombie surivival guide" subtitled "Complete protection from the living dead" with a rifle and machete right beneath, you look forward to reading a "shaun of the dead" like comedy-horror. At least I did. What I got was a complete tongue-in-cheek parody of all survival guides, only a little too tongue-in-cheek for my tastes.

Not sure how to spot an outbreak? Check the guide. There are reports of an outbreak and you don't have enough time to get out? Check the guide. Have a whole cache of weapons ranging from sub-machine guns to swiss army knives and unsure which one to choose? Check the guide. Want to team up with some Resident Evil fans and take out the undead? Yep, check the guide.

In short, When the undead do roll out their plan of hostile takeover, make sure you have this book in hand to run, hide, kill, clean and reclaim our planet. The book itself is partitioned into aforesaid sections with great detail on what weapon to choose, how to fortify your location, how to identify an outbreak and most importantly, how to plan for your hideout. Whew.

The premise is beautifully set for Max Brooks to take his dad's signature sarcasm and run with it. But he lets the juicy half volley safely to the 'keeper without offering a stroke and hopes you liked the twist. Not me. The "zombie incidents" section was fun, but the guide itself was just about okay. In a planet where people stored firewood, canned soup and cartons of paper napkins ahead of "Y2K", am sure this is a holy manuscript alongside other potential best sellers like "Trekking through Mordor" and "What to order at the restaurant at the end of the universe".

FWIW, the bonus chapter from Max Brooks' next book (World War Z) has me looking out for that. The fact that the second book has already been optioned out as a film, more so.

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...

Ego custodiet ipsos custodes

Arunthur's Journal: 1987. Moore and Gibbons just released novel. Can't read right now. Book rated 'R'. Also no time, have to memorize 13th table for tomorrow's class.

Arunthur's Journal: 1991. Terry Gilliam wants to make movie out of novel. Called novel unfilmable and gave up. Couldn't care less. It cannot beat "Thalapathi" anyways.

Arunthur's Journal: May 2005. Using torrents heavily. No MP3s or movies, such downloaders should be lynched. Only graphic novels. Should be commended for that. Got the entire novel today and trying to read on Acrobat. Wish me luck.

Arunthur's Journal: June 2005. Read the novel. re-read it. Reading it for the third time now. Acrobat hurts. Eyes aching. Will not rest. Will not give up. Will laugh in the face of fatigue.

Rorshach's Journal: 2006. Novel languishes in development hell. No one ready to dare. Cowards.

Rorshach's Journal: 2007. Ray of hope. Zach Snyder wants to film novel. Good man Snyder. Loved 300. Heavy metal music. Lot of blood. Nice.

Rorshach's Journal: 2008. Watched trailer. Kicks ass. Cannot wait for March 2009. Gutless hollywood execs saying 'No' till now. They will all have to answer to me. And when they scream for mercy, I will say 'No'.

Rorschach's Journal: March 2009. Jet streams of blood pounding in heart. Have tickets in hand. Show starts in 5 minutes. Here I come.

Rorschach's Journal: Gilliam was right. Novel is indeed unfilmable. Snyder chose 300 wisely. Lot of action, linear narration, tonnes of eye-catchy moments. Worked out well. An entirely different beast this one. Snyder tried. The innovative narration of the "Minutemen" story, casting, novel panels translated to screen with precision, truthful to whatever original material it covers, the "grassy knoll" sequence and other nice touches. Snyder tried, hats off. But novel not just story of 6 individuals. Novel much more than that.

Minutemen appear only in title sequence, Hollis appears for 5 minutes, Hooded Justice shows up only to beat up comedian, Ozymandias' comes out as crazy guy, not the twisted-yet-determined genius. Whats with the doctor who interviews Rorshach ?? The folks at New Frontiersman, The lesbian lovers, The apocalyptic painting, the news vendor, the "black freighter" fan ?? Where are they ?? All wrong. Completely wrong. Need to be fixed. Need some time alone with film producers and iron pipe. Need to politely instruct them to stay off "Sandman".

Biggest gripe on how Snyder filmed Rorshach. Jackie Earle Haley did justice, Snyder did not. Rorshach's backstory dumbed down. Rorschach's jail interviews dumbed down. Nothing on Kitty Genovese and the Rorshach Blot. Shame. Importantly, Rorschach has tears in the end ?? _The_ Rorschach ?? Too bad, Snyder. Too bad.

I know what you think. "Greatest novel of all time, made into a movie, idiot blogger does not understand". "Need a 12-hour movie to film everything, stupid blogger". "I waited all my life for this movie adaptation, if you didn't like the movie, crawl back in your hole, tasteless blogger". Had a choice. Could have taken easy way out. Could have showered glory on film. Could have gone with the crowd. But, Never. No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...

Good Knight, Good Luck

How many times have we been able to say there is "no let up in the action" about a movie? Die Hard comes to mind immediately. How many times have we been able to say that "its an interesting look into our own minds" about a movie? Did you just say Fight Club ? How many times have we said "a refreshing super hero movie thats better than the prequel"? Spiderman 2, maybe? How many times has one been able to say all of it about one movie? Not until "The Dark Knight". Before you click the link to read further, be warned there are a lot of spoilers below. If you haven't seen the movie, you are going to feel quite miserable if you click that link. Even if you have seen it, its quite possible that you might feel miserable after having to read through my blog, but that an entirely different point.



Its easier for Bale fans to write reams about him in this movie. Heck, I would probably defend him in "Reign of Fire". I'd probably go on about his under-playing of the batman role to an extent where it looks like a Joker film at times, or his portrayal of his wayne-vs-batman conflicts - but coming from a fanboy, you are better of skipping to the next bunch of paragraphs.

That leaves us with a lot of people - Caine, Oldman, Eckhart - all who do their roles good service. But the one that towers above all them is the late Ledger. There are already talks of Ledger being nominated for an Oscar. First up, I don't understand the hype about Oscars. The academy snubs Denzel for "Hurricane" and awards him for "Training Day". Crowe gets shafted for "Insider", but wins for "Gladiator". Scorsese is screwed a tonne of times, for Good Fellas - no less, and wins it for a remake. So, whats all the fuss about Oscars?

There are also going to be comparisons between Nicholson's Joker and Ledger's. We could do well to compare SMG and SRT's ODI strike rates. Nicholson's Joker comes from a pseudo-comic-book world, where villains and heroes and everyone around them are a bit larger than life. Ledger's comes from our own confused times. His one dialogue sums it up: "I am like a dog chasing a car, I don't have a plan". And true to all the hype, he gives one of the memorable performances by a movie villain because of the way he has chosen to interpret his role. There are several scenes that stand out. The interrogation sequence, the hospital scene where the Joker actually convinces the disturbed Dent that he isn't the bad guy or the last sequence where the Joker says how Batman "completes" him. The way the movie is set up, the Joker is an integral part of the next movie and the sad part is that we wouldn't have Ledger to take this character to yet another level. However, is this the best-ever performance by an actor in a villainous role? Nope. Not even in the last two years. Anton Chighurh would have shot the Joker with a cattle bolt rifle and not ruffled his hair-do.

As a batman fan, I like the way all the characters from the batman universe find a role in Nolan's movies. Gordon, Fox, Pennyworth - they are all there and they have strong roles. However, I am a bit disappointed with the end(??) of Two-Face. Please tell me he isn't dead, but is safely stashed in Arkham and will be back for the next movie. Two-Face is perhaps the second-best Batman villain after the Joker because he comes from the same place as Batman does, but lost his way in the middle. Having Batman fight the Joker _and_ Two Face in the next one has me lining up outside the theaters for the midnight show right away.

The best thing to happen since inventing the Zip would probably be giving the reins of the Batman franchise to Chris Nolan. While other 'brothers' have lost their steam (read: Wachowskis) and some others have very different priorities (read: Scotts), the Nolans are spot on in whatever they do. The screenplay and tempo of TDK is just flawless. They take a superhero movie, which, by definition is super-human, but add so many human elements into it than anyone has. Be it the choices that people have to make, our conflicts with our own heroes, the thin difference between a good guy and a bad guy, our trust in the next guy, the never-ending debate of civil liberties vs security - Nolan has a way of including all these elements into the story. But what strikes me most is how reflective Nolan's work is of the core elements of Batman. As many of the pre-release articles indicate, I see a lot of similarities with Alan Moore's "Killing Joke". In "KJ", the Joker goes all out to prove to Batman that all that it takes is one bad day to reduce a hero into a crazed nutcase. Compare that with how the Joker tries to break Gotham's belief by destroying it's heroes - Batman and Dent - by intentionally switching the locations and have Batman go after Dent instead of Dawes. In the novel, Gordon who gets caught in the middle, survives and holds on to his sanity. In the movie, Dent loses it while Batman doesn't. Towards the end of the novel, the Batman and Joker share a lighter moment knowing that they have to live with each other. Although not in that scale, TDK ends on a similar note where both the characters realize that they are more entwined than they ever could have thought.

As a fan, what more can you ask from Nolan? He assembled a classic cast for both his movies, he saved the franchise, he gave us two great movies, each of which satisfies the entire spectrum of fans - both the casual movie fan and the comic/graphic novel fan, he gave a human element to both his movies much like how Raimi did with his Spiderman movies, but quite darker, he sets everything up neatly for a great third movie. What else can a fan ask from a director? Probably a promise to come back for the third movie. Probably a quick thriller like the "Prestige" in between this and the next movie. Probably picking up another 'considered-dead' franchise and bring it back to life.

The next few years are going to be fun. A new actor has to be signed for the Joker. Bale needs to find time between filming the Terminator movies. But we can all rest in peace as long as the franchise is in the able hands of Nolan. To paraphrase the Joker, "Here....We....Go".

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...

Kingdom Come

"He has to be here somewhere. Look again"
"I found him"
"Where ?"
"There !!"

What follows next leaves you with a feeling you cannot explain in words - like a sunset in sandy island or a layup in the dying seconds of a game - Indy on top of a german U-boat with the theme playing in the background, stopping just a second for a salute and then disappearing. That scene captures the entire spirit of the Indiana Jones series. "How did he get to the submarine without being spotted ??" "Its a submarine, how can he hide _outside_ ??" "It's the whole German army against 1 man ??" - these questions apply to mere mortals, not to Dr Henry Jones Jr.

I am admittedly an Indy fanboy. The one who looks at the replica hat at the disney store who later sighs at at the price tag, the one who sings the theme in full gusto while going on the Indy ride while other adults look on amusedly, the one who will argue endlessly about how Temple of Doom is far superior and highly underrated. Naturally, the expectations rocketed beyond the outer-most-osphere. Usually when they do that, they come down with a resounding thud. So read this review at your own risk.

After multiple viewings of the trilogy on DVD over the years, and two marathon viewings of all the films (in pieces) over the last weekend, I knew exactly how fans of Star Wars would've felt waiting for the midnight showing of "Phantom Menace". At about 3am this morning, I still knew how Star Wars fans felt _after_ watching "Phantom Menace".

Here is a sneak peek from Spielberg's production notes. There are spoilers abound, so watch out.

On a lazy saturday afternoon after having two eggs for breakfast and scratching the lower chin

Yawn, I've made one too many serious films and I just want to relax. Look at that Soderbergh guy who goes on a vacation with an ever-growing entourage of stars every two years only to shoot a home video and release it as an Ocean movie. Can I make Jaws 5 ? or Jurassic Park 4 ? Or are they off their shelf life already ?

Hunting game at Skywalker Ranch

Splendid. Ford is bored after his critically acclaimed, smash hit films like "Firewall" and "Hollywood Homicide". Lucas just realized that he can't go on milking Luke Skywalker forever. As they say, it takes three to tango. Background music start.

After watching a sweaty Lucas trying to blather something on the lines of "phantom, clones, revenge"

Lucas acted a bit strange today. When I said I am planning a sequel to an iconic series after 19 years, he hid all copies of "The Phantom Menace" before offering to help. Should enquire further.

After encountering a serious director's block

Hmm, we had the truck chase in RotLA, the rail car chase in ToD and the tank chase in LC. Today, Ford is approaching the age when he plays roles like Presidents (absolutely no need to overwork oneself) and Software Experts (-ditto-). George wants an intensely-CGI filled car chase where no one knows whats going on. Incidentally, he also owns ILM. Enquire this further too.

Desperate to get an idea and accidentally sitting on an ant hill

We did snakes, we did bugs, we did rats. What shall we do now ?? Think Steven, think. Ah, let us do Ants. A lot of fake-looking CGI ants. There.

Weighing up the paying public

Snake gag, check.
Whip gag, check.
Hat gag, double check.
Now the audience will forget everything else and agree its an Indy movie. Thank goodness.

After watching "Queen Elizabeth" and "Beowulf" in makeup

Its funny how many people said okay to be in this film without even reading the script. Take Cate Blanchett, the Meryl Streep of this generation, who just gave her nod for a terribly one-dimensional character. Wait till she meets Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone and William Hurt who have no-dimensional roles. Chuckle, chuckle.

Planning for the future

We are planning to shoot the last sequence tomorrow. Now that Ford cannot do another movie, George and I have planned to have a symbolic scene where he hands over his whip and hat to LeBeouf. Then, we can continue to make a truckload of money with direct-to-video movies, young Mutt Williams/Jones III tv shows, an animated series on MW/J3, MW dolls with funny limbs and a string of blockbusters for memorial day weekends.

After getting horrible nightmares of being tossed around by fans

Yes, I re-shot the transition scene. Now all you fans, allow me to make another Indy movie. Tan ta dattan, tan ta dan, Tan ta dattan, tan ta dan tan tan.

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...

NSHOTB

There is a saying : What starts well, ends well. Ironman, the New Super Hero On The Block, gets that just right. A fast-talking Robert Downey Jr, showing some "Tony Stark" attitude and downing some alcohol while "Back In Black" plays in the background. Ironman, you have arrived and arrived in style.

I am not a big fan of the Iron Man novels, so much so that I started digging up comics only after I saw the trailer. Even that was primarily due to the namesake soundtrack. And am glad I did. Marvel has had great success with it's super hero franchises, but almost all of them have their best days behind them. After two splendid movies in the series, the Spiderman and X-Men movies have hit a trough with their third. Ang Lee had great visions for the Hulk, but after a major overhaul, the series hopes for Norton to give it a boost. The Fantastic Four movies were terrible anyways (Jessica Alba included). To top that, Marvel just started their own studio and a success was needed more so than ever. Enter Robert Downey Jr.

Having someone say a movie's success is attributed to, of all things, Downey is similar to attributing success to a Silambarasan or Van Damme - entirely laughable. I would've too, only he gave sufficient notice with his brilliant performance in Zodiac. Downey plays the irreverent-rich-whizkid turned womanizing-hard-drinking-billionaire turned high-flying-innovator turned impulsive-crime-fighter like second nature. Be it his "Merchant of Death" speech at the beginning of the movie, or his impulsive blurt at the end of it, Downey fires a salvo at everyone who thought he was yet another hollywood-made alcoholic wreck.

Favreau has got many things right in this movie - a tight script (IMHO, could've been a bit longer), staying true to the origins of the character, enjoyable humor, visible nods to future directions in this series (loved Rhodes' "next time, baby"), a well-performing cast with Paltrow and Howard and the subliminal choice of Downey as Iron Man, probably because what lies ahead for Iron Man is what lies behind for Downey.

There are interesting times ahead for Marvel. They are trying to establish what they did in comics/novels into movies - which is to weave a broader arc with all their major superheroes. Tony Stark has a cameo in the upcoming Hulk movie, Rhodes gives a hint of where he is headed, S.H.I.E.L.D is in, there is a mention of the Avenger initiative (and you know who else is in by that). Add the 25c/copy sale of comic books that we found yesterday. There is no better time to be a comic book fan.

Iron Man treads oft-treaded territory where a Superhero is intentionally made to look more human than hero. Iron Monger is no Magneto nor Green Goblin. But still, its a great start to a promising series as long as Downey stays on-board. Its not my top Super Hero movie, that would still be Batman Begins followed by a bottomless chasm, but Iron Man has a refreshing feel after enduring the pain of X-men-3 and Spiderman-3. If nothing seems to interest you enough, go and watch it just for the stan lee cameo, the end-scene after the credits with someone you know from before or Gwyneth Paltrow. Heck, just go watch it for Gwyneth.

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...

Scores Say "See"

this Scorsese blockbuster and undoubtedly, am one of them. If you are really expecting an impartial review from someone who used to check IMDB on a daily basis over the last year to see what's up with this movie, all that I can say is that my heart, well and truly, goes out for you.

Before I get into the review, do be informed that there are spoilers aplenty. A spoiler is anything that reveals information about a movie which could spoil the viewing pleasure. So, if you are one of those eccentrics who barks at your friends even for spilling inconsequential information, leave now or hold your peace.

With the movie being a remake of "Infernal Affairs", a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, comparisons to the original are inevitable and more often than not, the remake is conveniently thrashed concluding that it would never match it's original. "The Departed" begs to differ. Although I wouldn't say that it beats the original, it clearly stands up on it's own merit. Before I start on what worked, let me get the "What Didn't Work" part done.

Why the "rat on the railing" scene ?? Shouldn't those directorial touches pass you by instead of trying to jump and strangle you ??

The equivalent of "344 Wash Ave" in the original was iconic. The DiCaprio/Sheen sequence and the DiCaprio/Damon sequence pales in comparison to the Leung/Wong and Leung/Lau scenes from the original. In the original, the building was a character. In the remake, the building is, ermm, a building.

A plot hole to drive a hovercraft in : Leung had to call Lau to the building because the only person who knew his real identity, his best friend and mentor - Wong - had been killed there trying to protect Leung's identity. He was at a dead end and his reaction is understandable. DiCaprio, on the other hand, only had to sit at home and watch re-runs of Seinfeld waiting for Wahlberg to return.

Costigan vs Chan - A desperate, angry Chan over a neurotic, angry Costigan.
Sullivan vs Ming - A conflicting, but somewhat sympathetic Ming over an opportunistic, dislikeable Sullivan.
Advantage Infernal Affairs.

Now for what works:

Jack Nicholson - I forgive you for doing "Anger Management". You still have to beat "A Few Good Men" and "The Shining" before you retire.

Matt Damon - Sullivan is probably second only to Ripley.

DiCaprio vs Leung - An absolutely brilliant performance by DiCaprio, but a powerfully moving one by Leung. Let us just call it a tie.

"With a loaded gun at your head, What is the difference ??"
"I am the one who is doing his job. You must be the other guy"
"Cranberry Juice ??"
"One of us had to die. With me, it tends to be the other guy"
William Monahan, I am going to wait for your next movie.

The music score with Rolling Stones (Gimme Shelter), Roger Waters (not exactly the best rendition of "Comfortably Numb", but still) and Dropkick Murphys (Shipping up to Boston). Awesome.

Watching Scorsese get back to a genre which has his stamp all over it. I now know how people would have felt watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.

Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...