Category Archives: Movie Review

3 Idiots vs Nanban

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(Countdown – 338 days to “doomsday”)

It suppose to be a quick post but I ended up writing more especially after yesterday I watched again the well made 3 Idiots

(The guy on the far right – your right – seems better than the rest. Trust me, you will be safer watching the original 3 Idiots than the “new” idiots in Nanban – they are nowhere close to the beauty of story-telling and acting in 3 Idiots. Poster source: Indiaglitz)

Indiaglitz in their review of the movie said:-

First things first. Let’s not compare ’3 Idiots’ with ‘Nanban’. Though the latter is a faithful remake of the Aamir Khan starrer, ‘Nanban’ has its own moments. It carries a nice theme presented in an interesting way. It drives home the point that one shouldn’t run behind success and rather pursue his/her own interests. If one develops right skill anything is possible.

I guess they are just trying to be nice here and nothing more. I agree – perhaps Nanban would have made more sense and entertaining if you have not watched 3 Idiots in the first place. This post however will make more sense for those who have. Indiaglitz asks us not compare ’3 Idiots’ with ‘Nanban’ but how we could not do that? Nanban is almost 100% remake of 3 Idiots in many ways including many of the dialogues, settings and characters.

And if you are intending to watch the latest Tamil flick Nanban, please don’t waste your time and money. Despite the big names in the acting roles and film-making (Enthiran’s Shankar being the director here) and having copied almost 100% of 3 Idiots which was released in 2009, Nanban sucks big time. Don’t get me wrong – those acted in Nanban is highly talented in their own standing but coming together in Nanban, something did not just click right. It is missing the fire that we saw in 3 Idiots.

Comparing the two movies side by side, you will be better off watching the more original, the more entertaining and more believable 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan. Take the main character – Aamir Khan is like thousand times better than Vijay in the same role (so does all others). You can see a glimpse of hidden intelligence when you see Rancho the first time in 3 Idiots but you see nothing (despite trying very, very hard) when you see Pari in Nanban.

Nothing seemed natural here – Vijay seemed to be trying very hard to be that innocent but brilliant student who changes the life of his 2 friends. All the actors in Nanban seemed to be trying hard to follow the same style of the actors in 3 Idiots but do not achieve the same fluid. You don’t feel the same agony even after Jeeva’s character jumps from the top floor of the university. And once that key characters in the movie is ruined, you can kiss the whole movie good-bye as well.

(Who is the better “virus”? Boman Irani was a class better than Sathyaraj in the same role. Image source: http://www.moviespad.com)

Even the well talented Sathyaraj seemed to have wasted his energy and time here as well (you want to see Sathyaraj in his elements? Watch Kannamoochi Yenada and you will see why I say that he has wasted his energy and time here). The award winning Boman Irani who acted in same role (as the much hated “virus”) in 3 Idiots have done his role just too well – In 3 Idiots, it was a clear fight between the 3 idiots and the virus but here in Nanban, Sathyaraj hardly come close and ends up playing a very minor role.

Perhaps the film makers with all that talent and resources at their disposal should have done something different that sets Nanban apart from 3 Idiots. Perhaps the film makers should have localized Nanban to more South Indian settings (yes, they tried but it was not enough – speaking in Tamil instead of Hindi does not really count) – perhaps even dropping “All is Well” to something more localized in Tamil.

The only saving grace in Nanban is Harris Jayaraj’s music – it is good to be heard on its own although you need to forget that it was made for Nanban (if you do that, 1 + 1 ends as something else and not 2). My favourite would be Irukkaannaa – nice touch of the various background instruments by Harris.

I have seen 3 Idiots several times before and I still love it but Nanban, despite a “brave” attempt to rekindle the magic that 3 Idiots did, failed miserably in almost every department. It’s sad because we were expecting something better and entertaining from the famed Shankar. If you want to watch any recent movie that is far better than Nanban, I suggest instead you watch Porali – starring M. Sasikumar.

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Tamil Movie Review: Deiva Thirumagal 2011

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(One should have expected such a fine, smooth acting as a mentally challenged adult from Vikram, after all, he was great in Anniyan with multiple role and characters there. Image source: Wikipedia)

From the very first day when my wife watched this movie trailer on the net, we have been sort of keeping tab on the date when it will be released on the local cinemas. And when it finally came, it was my son, not my wife who was urging me to book the tickets.

Thankfully we managed to book the tickets earlier (which also meant good seats) and all that effort did not go to waste – it was a very well made movie and the various characters were well acted as well. One movie that deserves to be watched on the big screen with family members. Vikram was great as usual and Anushka was in a better role as well (one that need not show her in a sexy mode).

Read the detailed review here

Tamil Movie Review: KO 2011

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(Poster source: Wikipedia)

2011 Tamil movie, KO starring Jeeva have been reviewed – read further here

(P.s. it is time for traveling again, so the already “sparsely updated” blog will be even more “sparsely updated” at least for another 2 weeks)

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Reviews Outsourced

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(Image source: http://fabe-lous.blogspot.com)

I started blogging in 2005 – it seems to be “in” thing back then

I started blogging mainly because I wanted an avenue to put my thoughts in writing and improve on my mastery of English (I am still trying). And along the way, I have picked something on presentation, html and coding. Blogging also became a mean of communication between me and my wife when I had to travel overseas.

Then one day, I took a step back and had a hard look at my blog. Surely it was not a specialized blog – it had too many things in it, often driven by my mood, news of the day or simply, the country I was in. I often bring along my camera wherever I go and over the years, my photo collection has been growing too. I have put up some of the photos in the main blog but often it is presented as the “side story” and in smaller resolutions. I had to have a dedicated site for the photos. So, a year later my photo blog was born. It was going great for sometime – yes it has been sometime since I last update it but at least, my blogging on photos will be focused on dedicated site instead of cluttering in my already multi-themed posts main blog.

And over the years, a few more blogs have born (some remains stagnant now) – mainly because I wanted to write on certain things but I do not want it to be mixed up in my main blog posts.

Since I need to travel often and sometimes I end up going to places where there is no entertainment or cable TV (or beer), I often had to bring my own “entertainment” to keep my sanity up (it is either that or bring along a captivating computer games). And traveling also means I spend most of my free time watching movies – mostly via cable TV or when that is not possible, from cheap DVDs and movie files. It is one of the best ways to kill time – watching a good movie is almost as good as reading a good book, almost. And in the last few months, I have noticed that my collection of music, movies, documentaries and animations have been slowly growing too. And it is easier these days to transport it from a “space hungry” discs into a small file that can be stored away in an external hard disc instead of in a cabinet.

And out of the many, on the contrary I have done a very few reviews in my main blog. Reasons for this is rather simple – 1. There is already less time for me to do write-ups for more critical issues (like this) for the main blog, what more on posts on a lesser critical posts like movie reviews, and 2. While I like the diversity in my blog posts, given the number of the movie I watched during my free time, I do not want the main blog to be dominated by movie reviews alone.

Clearly I was running behind on my reviews especially when there are some unknown movies simply that blow you away. But faced with the same dilemma that I had with my photos, I don’t want to have too many movie reviews to clog up my main blog, it was clear that I need to “outsource” again – this time to a dedicated site for English movie reviews (includes others like documentaries, animations and concerts) and another for Tamil movie reviews.

To kick things up, head over here for review on the movie Buried (2010) and here for review on Tamil movie Vaanam (2011)

I hope to do up more reviews soon, now that there is a better place to do up the reviews as compared to previous time and also to distract the focus from the headache that one had when had to content with the issues facing the country and the future generation. And with an unexpected “break” in my daily routines this month, it gives good opportunity to catch up my previous “should have done, should have watched” reviews. Comments and suggestions on the review sites are always welcomed, of course.

Movie Review: The Next Three Days

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(Poster source: http://dischordmusic.blogspot.com)

If you are looking out for a good movie to watch, remember this name – Paul Haggis

The twice Oscar award winning screenwriter & director has done it again with “The Next Three Days” (TNTD) and if you thought “Crash” was damn good, it gets even better in this movie.

The summarized synopsis is as follows:-

Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) is convicted of murdering her boss after an altercation at work. Following the failure of her appeal, Lara’s husband John Brennan (Russell Crowe), a professor at a community college, becomes obsessed with the idea of breaking her out of jail after attempts for appeal looked bleak, while their son Luke ceases to acknowledge her during their prison visits.

John consults Damon Pennington (Liam Neeson), a former convict who successfully escaped from prison seven times. Damon advises John to study the prison, saying “every prison has a key”.

John contemplates several ideas that don’t pan out and is defeated more than once, but latches onto a solid plan and the necessary paperwork after some painful efforts. John falsifies and plants blood work results indicating that his wife is in a state of hyperkalemia, and she is transferred to the hospital. He follows the ambulance and helps her to escape although she is doubtful and reluctant, motivated only by the idea of her son being without either parent.

With the police getting some lucky breaks, they are hot on John and Lara’s trail through a series of chases. At the end of the film, the family is safe in Venezuela. It is also revealed that Lara is indeed innocent.

(Source)

The movie itself is a remake of a 2008 French film titled “Pour Elle”. In essence, the movie is about a husband getting his innocent wife out from jail and keeping the family close – a welcome depart from the usual story of “former special forces” convicts making the break from some high security lock down.

Paul Haggis however narrates it in a rather interesting manner – it starts with the fact that Lara Brennan is having problems with her boss. Lara finds blood on her jacket and the next thing the family knows, the police barges in and arrests her for the charge of murder. At first, the family tries to go by the legal way by filing appeals to overturn the conviction but nothing worked to an extent, Lara tries to commit suicide. It is then, John Brennan (excellently played by Russell Crowe) knows that there is only one thing to do – he needs to break his wife from jail. And this is where the story really starts.

How John Brennan plans and finally executes his plan to get his wife from jail is brilliantly shown in this movie. Paul Haggis was careful, not to rush on things and tells the story on a rather proper pace – from John Brennan doing up his research and trying rather clumsily, failed in his earlier attempts to finally turning out to be professional and precision in his execution, down to the very last second of the plan.

Small things in story telling certainly make big impact and you need to keep an eye for these small things such as:-

1. John Brennan almost getting caught trying to open a door using tips he picked up from the internet but maintains his cool when the authorities question him and immediately as he comes out of the building, go to the side and start vomiting.

2. The prison chief questioning John Brennan and he knows that John Brennan is lying and he tells John Brennan that having both parents in prison is not going to help their son and waits for John Brennan’s reaction. The prison chief finally lets him go.

3. Within minutes to spare to get their son from the zoo, John Brennan decides to take the other route to avoid road blocks, whilst promising his wife that he will try to get their son somehow, not realizing that his wife had opened the door and decided to jump out from the moving car, causing near misses. After managing to stop by the road side, both John Brennan and his wife sit down to catch up on their breath before heading back to the zoo to get their son.

4. The way John Brennan throws the police off guard on whether they might to heading is brilliant – you have to see it to believe. At first, we too lead to think that the plan on the way is John Brennan’s main plan but in the end, that plan tells two different story.

5. John Brennan’s aged father discovering airplane tickets for 3 the night before John Brennan plans to break out his wife from the prison. He knows that he is going to see his son and his grandson for the last time but keeps the secret to himself, not letting his wife know about it. The next morning, John Brennan and his father look at each other – you can see it in their eyes that they know this is the end

6. John Brennan unable to raise enough money in time decides to rob a couple of drug dealers, almost getting killed in the process. The house get burned down and John Brennan managed pull out one of the younger drug dealer who been shot by his own friend and as he drives out with this dying man, all you hear is the cries of pain and then it becomes silent.

Deeply entrenched in this “husband breaks wife from prison and escapes” is a story of a husband still believing in his wife despite the odds and his wife’s lost of faith that things will get better. There is also a story of a father who wants to keep his family intact and as one. There is also a story of a mother losing her communication with her young son who had become distanced after she was arrested.

Similar in the movie “Crash”, Paul Haggis managed to inter-twine the sub-stories into one seamless movie. Russell Crowe who won best actor award in the Oscars for the movie Gladiator is at the very best here. He is just a simple school teacher who drives a hybrid car to work (which also caused some confusion when the police start investigation and wonders jokingly which hard-core criminal is environment conscious). He is not good with fights, often on edge of desperation and simply one of us.

A worthy movie for year 2010…

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