Reviews

Right from the day the trailer was released, 'Prometheus' had a hype among the movie goers. I was not an exception. I wanted to see this film, as, from the trailer and from the internet, I learned that Scott will be presenting his take on the incidents happening before his big hit 'Alien' (1979). Also, since Ridley Scott is venturing in to a very familiar territory, I was wanting to see this film first day first show. I did.

What does this film say?

If you an alien expert, 'Claude Vorilhon' would ring a bell in your head. The Alien guru. Inventor of Raelism. The man who wrote the book called 'Intelligent Design', about how the alien master appeared in front of him and explained him the secrets of the creation. In short, the alien said: 'Listen. It was we who designed the humans, out of a scientific experiment. There is no god. I am the oldest of your creators'.

The question about the origins of the humans has long haunted the minds of many people, and out of them, Ridley Scott decided to pursue his 'prequel' dreams. As a result, Prometheus.

Before seeing this film, I had a huge respect for Ridley Scott. His films like 'Matchstick Men', 'A Good Year', 'Thelma & Louise', 'Body of Lies', 'Robinhood' were a few favorites of mine.

The movie begins with the scene of an alien, descending down on an uninhabited Earth, and disintegrating down to create the one celled organism, and from then on, life flourished.

We subsequently see Prometheus, a space craft, in search of a distant planet in the year 2089. How did they find this planet? Well, there are numerous 'evidences' from the pre historic days -the cave paintings - which we get to see in different parts of the world, with a similar pattern - the reference of six planets in the sky. By 'analyzing' these paintings, the scientists have found out about the distant galaxy and the sun there, with a planet resembling the earth and it's moon !!!

The members of the space craft are quite similar to the members from a mental asylum. Each one has specialized in his particular area of pissing off the others.

I'm giving out certain points, which, if considered the plot points, would provide the premise for any movie about the aliens.

1. The captain of the spacecraft would be a black guy. His only duty would be to keep shouting 'Oh my God!' or 'Hurry Up. They are coming' or 'America! Here we come !'

2. The crew of the spacecraft, as I said, are a bunch of clowns.

3. There is definitely a person among them who ridicules everybody else, and gets to die first in the hands (or rather, in the fangs of) the alien.

4. There has got to be a big cave in the alien planet.

5. There is most definitely a snake shaped alien, who drills down the body of the victims and emerges out from the stomach of the dead person.

6. The lone survivor at the end, would be the female lead.

7. The alien aircraft is hidden somewhere in that planet, whose controls are known very easily to an android robot with the humans.

8. The alien aircraft would start from the planet at the end.

There are some more. But, these would suffice.

Ridley Scott has miserably failed in trying to come out a yet another alien attempt. Every scene is known to the viewers, and they create nausea in the minds of a fan, who believed in Scott and who wanted to get a good experience out of this film. The climax is pathetic, to say the least. I didn't find even a single scene, worth watching.

Overall, this is a huge let down. I would suggest the movie goers of this weekend to see 'Madagascar 3' instead, as I am sure, it would never be - for that matter, no other film would ever be - as uninteresting as 'Prometheus'.

A sincere advice to the senior director Ridley Scott - please rest for a while. Please spare us from your outrageous ideas of making an alien film, and please take rest. The days of Ridley Scott as a director are over. Let's cherish his older movies, and let's bid him farewell.

What a film ! Went to see this flick today morning at 8:30 @ Abirami - Chennai and was drawn in to it from the first scene ! What a film !! WOW! Gowtham Vasudev Menon had certainly gone to the next level. Every shot, every scene is like a wonderfully carved out statue or a beautifully written poem. This is how the incidents will unfold in a normal family. There is absolutely NO exaggeration whatsoever and it has a lot for the ordinary masala genre (Vijay, Ajith, perarasu, Hari sort of guys) to learn. Guys - this is the new age Tamil film, for the international world.

The direction is flawless. The screenplay is clever. The dialogs are natural and short. For the first time, I noticed (rather, heard) Harris Jeyaraj doing a commendable job at the background score. Usually, he tends to be jarring, but here, he has subtly underplayed. Especially, the 'anal mele' whistle which comes mostly during the last 45 minutes or something. Well done Harris! Simran - has given a good performance. Samira reddy - Surprise ! She acts well! All credit goes to Gowtham menon. Divya Spandana too, has rendered a nice performance. Well, guys - U've guessed it rite. Whatever I point out in this movie tend to be great!

Surya ! Dude - you've certainly matured to be a fantastic actor. I don't like to compare Surya with Kamal or anyone, but he is spontaneous. Be it the school kid, or the middle aged father, or the young son, or the drunkard, or the military officer or the old ailing father - he is juz marvelous! I was amazed when he came out as a school kid in this movie. Well, how many guyz can do it, that too, he and Vijay are of the same age! Imagine any other actor doing the school boy role . . . People would've smacked him ! I'm giving ten out of ten for this great film - both hands raised! I'm gonna see it again shortly :) . .

To summarize, this is one of the great films I have seen this year! Hats off to Gowtham Menon for making Vaaranam Aayiram - his best so far (according to me)!

Batman . . My most favorite comic hero. Even while I started reading comic books, I'm an ardent fan of the Batman. So, obviously every Batman movie made attracted me more to this character. I loved the previous generation of the 4 Batman movies made in the nineties. Except the 'Batman returns', I loved all the others, since they came during my schooldays and it felt great to see my favorite character on screen.

Now, I saw Batman begins two years ago. Only after seeing it, I understood that this is how a Batman movie should be; Dark, sinister, gloomy and terrifying. That's what the real Batman is. And all the other characters. Christopher Nolan has brought Batman on the original road he should be walking. Now, went to see 'The Dark Knight' at Sathyam Cinemas on 20th July 2008 morning.

Before starting my review, I read everywhere about how great this film is. And, I've seen for the first time a new movie, only just 2 days after it's release, gaining the #1 spot in IMDb. That really is an achievement. It has got 9.7 ratings out of 10 till date. Now, what's my take on this sequel? The movie begins well, with the introduction of Joker. From the first instance we see him, he makes it clear about his intentions. He is absolutely not a comedian; he is someone who's psychotic to the core, mad, cynical and above all, he loves what he does. From there, we move to the introduction of the Batman himself. Then we see the D.A Harvey Dent, who, along with Commissioner Gordon, hunts down all the criminals in Gotham city, to make it a better place. We get introduced to all the characters quickly.

Then, the story unfolds. Joker slowly gets on the nerve of Batman by committing murders one by one, to push Batman to reveal his identity. At this point, the D. A declares that he is the real Batman, thereby making Batman to track down the Joker. The Joker gets arrested. But the D.A Harvey dent is missing, along with his girl friend. Joker has kept them tied down, in a building, and while Harvey Dent tries to escape, he falls face first on a puddle of inflammable material. There, in the police office, Joker finally reveals to Batman about the place, and while Batman tries to rescue the D.A, the building is blown away and the girlfriend dies. The D.A's face gets half burnt and he becomes the legendary 'Two-Face'. Joker escapes from the prison by this time, and now Batman has two dangerous men to track. Finally, what happens is the crux of the story.

Well, to me, Aaron Eckhart was more impressive, as the D.A/Two-face. He's played an exceptional role. Christian Bale too has done justice to the role of Batman. Gary 'the Dracula' Oldman subtly plays our favorite commissioner Gordon. Technically, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Great camera work and fantastic music. It adds to the tension.

Heath Ledger – how can I put it? Throughout the movie, I didn't see him at all. I saw only the Joker. Cruel, demented, psychotic to the core – tearing people's mouths with his knife to make them 'smile'. This is what the real Joker is known, among us - the Batman fanatics. He deserves a real applause. He provides kick – the life - the backbone - to the movie. This Joker's characterization is from the initial two comic books of the Batman, along with the comic books "The Long Halloween", "The Killing Joke" & "The Man Who Laughs". I have read both ' The man who laughs' & 'the killing joke' and while watching the movie itself, I remembered the comics very much.

Overall, this is one movie which talks a lot – many people may find it boring – the talking. But, to me, this is how a Batman movie must be. Everything works well in this film, making it a truly memorable one. Good movie from a good director.

R. I. P Heath Ledger. His sudden death has given the movie some publicity, but even without it, this is one HELL OF A FILM !!

Amidst huge expectations and hype, Dasavatharam got released on Friday the 13th June 2008, worldwide. This movie was in the making for the past two years. Everyone were aware of the ten different characters Kamal was playing in this film, and as more stills got released then and there, they added to the expectation factor. Also, the songs were a hit. Overall, this movie, as they have announced, is 'the most expected movie of the year'. I was able to grab the tickets online, and off we went to see this film on 14th – Saturday morning.

What's my opinion after seeing it? Well, the movie is an absolute crap! This movie has absolutely NO screenplay at all. It has been filmed ONLY for the sake of showing Kamal in the different getups. I'm not saying this bluntly, but I'm giving the reasons below. Read them and decide on your own, after seeing this film.

First of all, all the hype about the Chaos theory.. It's rite that this theory has been used in this movie. It's the undercurrent of the entire film. But, the film has to have a good screenplay to make people get in line with it. Without a good screenplay, all the concepts go in vein. To see the best utilization of the chaos theory, see The butterfly effect and Babel. This film comes nowhere near.

As I have written in May in my blog, I was well aware of the initial sequence where Kamal plays Rangaraja Nambi, a devotee of lord Vishnu during the 12th Century – Kulothunga Chozha's period. That sequence is for around ten minutes, and has been filmed fantastically! I was filled with awe as I watched Rangaraja Nambi thrown in to the ocean, tied up with the idol of Vishnu. Then, the story shifts to the current period – 2004.

The story is about a deadly virus which, if unleashed, can be a dangerous biological weapon, invented in the US, and about a scientist who tries to save the world by stealing the virus and a CIA agent who tries to track the scientist to get the virus back.

An interesting storyline. When an ace like Kamal writes the story and screenplay, he can easily make this story a gripping thriller, which can keep the audience taut, glued to the edge of their seat. But, what has happened here is that the pace is weakened by sudden thoughtless interventions by the various characters (all played by Kamal) and the irritating dialogues between them.

Take the example of the initial sequence. The first ten minutes were really interesting. What has made that sequence interesting? It has a well defined beginning, a strong middle part and a gripping end. The protagonist Rangaraja Nambi has a dramatic need of trying to stop the king removing the idol from the temple and thrown in to the sea. He is driven by this need all through the initial 12th century sequence. That part has the audience spellbound. The entire movie must have been filmed in this manner. A well established dramatic need for the main character, the conflicts he faces and finally, the resolution of how he achieves his need. But, what we see is that the screenplay meandering after all the different characters Kamal plays, and as a result, what we get is a boring film.

Also, the Rangaraja Nambi sequence has no connection or relevance with the main story. It stays aloof in the movie, even though it's well filmed (even though the chaos theory unites it with the main story).

It's high time for Kamal to stop writing dialogues which are exactly the 'Crazy Mohan stuff'. Also, it'll be better if he concentrates only on his acting, instead of penning the screenplay. Almost all the films he had written the screenplay have got the single most blunder in common. The story meandering beyond characters. Otherwise, he can at least discuss the screenplay with good screenplay writers, thereby trying to correct this problem.

Out of the ten different get ups, the only characters relevant to the story are the Protagonist (Hero), the Telugu speaking officer & the villain. The story is woven around these three characters. So, why introduce the other characters just for the sake of donning a different get up? This weakens the script enormously. What's the relevance of the tall Muslim, or the old granny, or the black leader, or the US president, or the Kung fu master, or the Singh singer, to the story? Absolutely NOTHING. These characters spoil the story.

Also, the make up is not that great. The Villain, Fletcher looks like a guy wearing a mask. The same with the old granny, and the tall Muslim guy. Also, Kamal sports the same body language through out for all the characters. This spoils the fun totally. I mean, take a look at his hand gestures, his turning the head, his running and walking, and his body movements. All are the same for all the characters.

My sincere advice to Kamal: Try to discuss the screenplay you write with some good movie makers like Manirathnam, and then you will know the flaws you have.

Overall, this movie is a let down. It has absolutely ZERO screenplay. Watch it and you will understand.

The man with the hat is back – This time he is aged, accompanied by his son and his wife; Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull has opened on 30th across India, and is receiving tremendous response all over. At this point of writing this article, it has grossed $359,881,000 world wide – it stands #116 in the world's top grossing movies till date – that too, within ten days of release ! I'm sure it'll gross even more and will stand on par among its prequels, in the days to come.

Okay. Having said this, how is the movie? Is it good like its predecessors? Nice question. The answer – If you are satisfied about a flick and if there are more parts of it to come, go see them with an open mind. Don't always have the original one in mind and expect the sequel to be like the original. Sometimes, they do surpass the original & sometimes they don't. Well, then what category does the new Indy adventure belong to? To me, I loved it. It was interesting, every scene of it. I never felt bored for even a minute. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Before writing further, lemme tell about what I felt about Indy all these years. I saw the previous 3 movies a few years ago. I loved the first one, hated the second and again loved the third. So, when I got the news that it'll be released in India on 30th of May, 2008, I felt exited. I wanted to go see it the first show. 'She' booked the tickets in B'lore (Which again was a complete surprise – I never expected it), and off we went, to see Indy.

As soon as Indy was thrown out of the car's trunk – his hat – the famous one – comes first, thrown in to the sand, and then we see Indy's shadow, pushed to the ground and slowly rising, wearing the hat – I let out a huuuuuge whistle in the theater ! From that moment, began the adventure, filmed in great style. Throughout the movie, Indy is first reacting to the circumstances and then starts acting on his own. The film is filled with fantastic CGI work, with good camera (Spielberg's regular 'man Friday' - Janusz kaminski). The screenplay is good throughout (David Koepp, again a Spielberg regular).

This film also has something, which also is a 'Spielberg regular' – The Alien! It comes in one scene, without dialogues. Spielberg's love for the aliens is widely seen in most of his movies.

Harrison Ford is terrific as Indy. He looks like the same man from the previous three movies, without being worn down by his age. He is fit, muscular and casual. This time, he pairs with his son and his first heroine (from Raiders of the lost Arc), to uncover the secret behind a crystal skull. It has been filmed in such a way that the tone of the film is exactly like the previous 3 movies. It's not digital, and it has the same kind of color shading. It figures that comic book kind of look also throughout. The stunts are also enjoyable. The chase inside the jungle, the final confrontation, the bike chase – every stunt has been well done.

Overall, this movie will make you smile – Go see Indy and cheer for him, as he exactly carries on from what he left 19 years ago - adventure in full throttle !

Shivaji – the single, most used ultimate phenomenon for the past one year. For the past one year,almost every week,every website, magazine,group kept publishing stories and stills and trivia about this movie,that one started to get loads and loads of info about the movie , either willingly, or unwillingly, on his head, for the past one year. Now, the film's been released finally, the mega combination of Rajni himself, with Shankar, the showman, and AVM, with Rahman, Thotta, KV. Anand, Peter Hein, with a bunch of mega choreographers, technicians and crew.

Now, when I'm about to write the review, lemme first talk about the movie, as a typical Rajni fan. Then, I'll give the neutral views on it.

From the first scene, Rajni rules!!! I was really amazed to see the first scene. Fantastic crowd!! It was like seeing a lion's walk, when Rajni walks amidst the crowd, face covered. WOW!! This scene provides a launch pad for the things which are to come...Then, the story unfolds. Rajni falls in the first half, and he arises in the second. Typical Rajni formula.

Shreya has done her part aptly. Portraying a typical Rajni heroine (agmark Tamil girl, who covers all her body in scenes, and dances semi nude in songs  ). . Suman, as the villain, scores with his subtle cruelty. Without raising his voice, he's able to terrorize. The rest, play a typical support cast.

The songs are Juz amazing !! The sets for 'Vaaji Vaaji' and 'Sahana' are mind-blowing!! Fantastic art work!! The other songs also, have gobbled up lots of money, and are nice to see and hear. My favorite song is 'Adiradi' which is the last one. Great choreography for the song, and good work by the crew, behind and on the camera.But, moat songs are "pushed" in to the movie. No real situation for them to play.

But, I liked very much the small sequence where Rajni plays kamal for 'Nethu raathiri yamma' song. He is absolutely like Kamal, and has done a good piece of dancing as well.  ..

Overall, Rajni has Juz played a home run!! Rajni Rajni Rajni!!

Well, this is what the typical fan inside me blurted out, when I finished viewing the film. But, I just want to give a few points from the critic point of view as well. Those who don't wish to take a look at the negative points may very well skip this.

The point to be seen with Shankar's films is that, whenever Shankar finishes a full length serious film, he takes a lighter kinda movie. Kaadalan, Jeans, Boys all belong to that category. All were average, in the story content. Here, after finishing Anniyan, he has taken up Shivaji. After seeing the film, it makes one to wonder that has Shankar lost himself in the magnanimity of Rajni ? Even in Anniyan, in most scenes, it was absolutely like one can easily expect the forthcoming scenes. They were very ordinary. Here too, the same thing happens. Very meager storyline; No screenplay at all; If at all this film had other heroes , it'd 've become an absolute goner. Shankar's capability has vanished slowly in the years, and after 'Mudhalvan', it's very much evident. Juz take a look on the quality of his movies(not technically, but the story and screenplay), and anyone will agree. Boys had no story at all; It was too boring, man.. to be frank. In 'Anniyan' , the flashback appeared just like a formality, which has to be there.

Also, these days, all Shankar's films are like the same. There is one burning problem, and the hero gets affected by it and becomes as the savior, vying against the problem and ultimately clears the country. Juz gimme a break , dude !! For how many more films u r gonna do this ? If u do the same thing the next movie, I promise u I'll lead the pack who Juz tear the screen apart!! It's too much dude !

Even the skills of Sujatha, as a dialog writer, goes in vein. I'm mentioning this here 'coz of the fact that, thru most of his works, Sujatha keeps on telling the importance of screenplays. Even in his 'thiraikkadhai ezhuduvadhu eppadi' , he tells this. There is one great example of this in Shivaji.Initially, which I've mentioned in my blog. Here, there is no space to explain it. This is a classic example of what Sujatha keeps on saying, that a scene should never come all of a sudden; it should be shown previously that it is in the making. Sujatha has given many examples in his articles about the Hollywood way of screenplays, and this is exactly what he has insisted here too. Since that the viewer will question the director about how the hero is getting saved, after being electrocuted, they have "inserted" a similar scene, previously in the beginning itself. How smart!!  .. Come on guys Don't keep following the Hollywood way,blindly. Have Ur own ways of screenplays. Juz the fact that u r following will never prove Ur screenplay on par with them.

There are such huge holes in the script. The entire first half is dragging, and boring. Juz that there was Rajni has cemented certain holes, but that was not sufficient. Wakie Wakie Shankar!! Else, u'll be a goner soon! As Ananda vikadan aptly summed it up, Rajni has hit sixes in Shivaji, but Shankar has lost the match. Better luck next time Shankar!

First of all, lemme say a few words abt the director.. Gautham 's first film is 'Minnale' , a nice romantic flick, which's been a trend setter for many films, since today ! ! He directed the same movie in Hindi also ('RHTDM').. Then, he did 'Kaakka Kaakka', again a real mind blaster and one of the superb cop movies in Tamil, ever made! ! He again, did it in Telugu and then has directed this movie.

I personally think Kamal Hassan's 'Kurudhippunal' is the greatest cop film ever made in Tamil ! ! Now, He joins hands with Gautham for this flick, and this raised expectations all through the Tamil film Industry..

This movie's been released after facing a truckload of problems .. . A highly expected movie too in Tamil nadu... Has some 'firsts' associated with it..Combines the skills of Gautham for the first time with Kamal Hassan. . . Harris Jeyaraj too joins Kamal for the first time....

Now, to be frank , I really loved it just for it's technical brilliance alone. . Combine with it the apt screenplay and some good acting... U get 'Vettaiyadu Vilayadu' ! ! The camera work is stunning, to say the least ! ! ! No Tamil film 's captured the beauty of America like this one, before. . . Also, the editing ! ! It's clean and crisp . . . Kamal too has done a nice piece of acting. The only point to say is that He spoils some scenes with his overacting, a factor we see regularly in his films , of late. Also, I would like to say something about his freaky English accent ! ! As far as I know, He thinks he 's a real English pundit in his mind, and uses a totally freakish accent which I think only he speaks in the entire universe ! ! God ! He 's doing this regularly in his films where there comes a situation when he has to say a few words in English.. Remember the train sequence in 'Guru' where he talks to a foreign lady ? I felt like laughing thru' my ass when I saw that. Since then , he uses the same kinda language in all his films ! ! Here too he does that in perfect style (???!!!!) and tickles the audience.. I think this really makes up for the fact that there is no comedy in this movie ! !

Jyothika has done a decent piece,as like kaakka kaakka. Prakash raj comes for some scenes, and captures our mind where he cries for his daughter's death .

The huge negative point in this movie, as far as I'm concerned, is the music and the songs ! ! This flick's been a nice movie sans songs.. They really tamper the speed of the movie. Especially, the 'sikki mukki neruppe' song's a needless one. Also, the flashback song 'paartha mudhal naale' and the duet with jyothika are definitely slowing down the pace, I think. The background music's been horrendous, to say the least ! ! I dunno why Gautham 's sticking with Harris Jeyaraj !! He has spoiled many movies with his background score . . He does it with style here also (!!!!) . .Those jarring noises are really a pain , to hear.. It's high time to keep him out of the recording room and let someone else do the background score ! ! Also, there are some small holes in the screenplay . . Like , how can kamal forget the fact to guard his fiancé's home when the killer's are on the loose , and how can the villains escape the police and roam freely in chennai ?? Except these, it's a good flick . .

I've heard some friends say to me that this is a slow movie. .I think it's been purposefully taken like that. This is what happens in real life too. U can't expect the chase to be very crisp in real life. . When a cop chases psychopaths, it's a slow one.. Nothing wrong with it.

My final say : Well, see it , Njoy and feel good for Gautham for making yet another stylish cop movie ! ! Don't compare it with 'Kakka kaakka' or ' Kurudhippunal'. They are the two best ever cop films in Tamil and this can be(remember, it's a 'can be' . . Not 'will be') the third one !!