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Dabangg (2010)
Thunder Moush
Dabangg has a James Bond like wit action scenes shot and directed in a The Matrix style and in-between, moments of pure excellence, dance scenes so overstated so intentionally mushy so riotously humorous and cheesy that they will even satisfy whatever accidental female that has strayed into the cinema, thinking it was a love film. The main character of the story Salman Khan can't dance so all the dance steps has to be really simple while he stands stationary wriggling his belt sometimes lifting an arm or a leg. And all this should entice you to see this film. However this film did not received the script it deserved and someone was negligent in the choosing of actors department in-between its two states of excellence, there's some really bad acting and the writers department must have been thinking about other things you can't escape the notion that someone should have told someone, that this was a masterpiece they were creating. It is despairingly sad to see such an idea and such mastery treated with such lack of care. The beginning is such an inept cliché that the man who came up with that idea should be hung from the nearest tree, the acting so poor in parts that even the photographer drop into TV soap opera style and the ending isn't much cop either - first rule of writing boys, is to write the ending first. Then again let us imagine this film without its foibles what if the missing components had been there, it would have been a truly remarkable thing, the cowboys better pay attention; for the Indians are coming.
Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (2012)
Paul McGuigan kill the last 49 seconds and you have a masterpiece
As in the first series of Sherlock the job of directing has been given to two different directors and as in the first series Paul McGuigan is in a different class than his counterpart, this time Toby Haynes (episode: The Reichenbach Fall) last time Euros Lyn(Episode: The Blind Banker) and this one (A Scandal in Belgravia) is to my mind the best of them all. It is extremely close to a masterpiece, unfortunately he had to pamper to the American audience by putting a Hollywood ending on it the very last 49 second if he had resisted it would have deserved 10 stars no doubt instead he went a long way destroying it which is a tragedy. Since seeing it I just been annoyed over how he could have destroyed something that superb with such a half arced ending when what before it was so sublime.
Sharpe: Sharpe's Rifles (1993)
An enjoyable fairytale
A fairly entertaining series, but with a too little economic backing to carry it off properly, the events of 1808 was on such a scale that a realistic recreation is difficult. However when a force that consisted of 30 000 or 120 000 men is attempted recreated with 30 to 60 men some of the sense of it all loses its meaning. The only way to hide such inadequacies is to have a clever and inventive camera man sadly lacking here which gives the production a veneer of amateurishness it could well be without. Another problem is that the extras they have used are non-military ergo they don't know how to march, or fight, or shoot and all the battle scenes look thoroughly fake. That said the main characters in the series for most parts do a passable job; with a few exceptions who are about as involved as cheddar cheese. Sean Bean is an actor who I before this series, never have liked in any role he has played, but the role of Sharp suits him and he is believable in the role.
As for the historical aspect to this series it is interesting to observe how liberal the English are with historical events, while simultaneously complaining over the Americans and Hollywood for falsifying history.
I read the books the series is based on some years back and had an impression that they were more true to the actual events than this TV series, then again I might be suffering from a laps of amnesia. I cannot speak for the part of the series that unfolds itself in India but to anyone versed in European history it is a known fact that the French pulled out of Spain due to the troubles the Spanish guerrilla was causing them. The relentless fighting against an enemy they could not see was bleeding the French ranks and draining their resources, demoralizing their troops and when Napoleon in 1813 suffered great losses in Russia the French began pulling out their troops from Spain as they were needed for the defense of France against the advancing Russians. Since then the English have told us that they kicked the French out of Spain and in this series, even giving the impression that it was them, not the Russians; who marched into Paris having defeated Napoleon in 1814.
Secondly, in the first part of this series the French intelligence service is depicted as completely inept compared to the English one. This is perhaps even more preposterous than taking credit for what the Russians and Spanish did, for French intelligence services was led by a man called Fouché and he had developed the most effective intelligence agency Europe had seen up till then, compared to this the English were amateurs (to use a French word, of which reconnoiter is another one).
The third preposterous allegation from the series is that it was Wellington who single handed beat Napoleon at Waterloo. We have heard this lie so often now from the British that the man who really beat Naploeon at Wateroloo and ended his reign has almost been forgotten. But his name was Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, count of Wahlstat. Unlike Wellington, Blücher had met Napoleon in the field before, at Jena and was for a long time the only one who got away from it with some honour intact. The 50 000 strong Prussian troops (the English had 30 000)was what got Wellington's boots out of the fire rescuing him from a battle he was losing. it was them who captured Napoleon and was the first to take Paris. As a reward the English has pretended he was not there at best he is a foot note.
In spite of this the Series is as I said at the start an enjoyable little fairy-tale just like Harry Potter and well worth watching, for most parts it is better than the mindless rubbish one usually is served on TV; but like Harry Potter, not to be taken too serious - if you are looking for historical accuracy from the English I would rather suggest Black Adder.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)
The misunderstood gem
Duly I must report that I didn't get it at first. First time I saw this film I thought it mediocre at best but it had something going for it: the music, the music was superb and due to it I saw the film over again and realised that my first impression of it was perhaps not quite correct and again the music caused me to see it once more at which point I realised that I had lost out on much of the dialogue the first two times due to the rapid subs I've come across in any film – you have the choice, follow what's on the screen or follow the dialogue you can't do both. However third time around I realised it was actually rather good for what it is, a romantic comedy. In fact I was very surprised when I discover that the film had got such appalling reviewers from film critics obviously I was not alone in my first impression of the film; then again as Sibelius said: don't worry about what the critics say there has never been made a statue over a critic.. It is not perfect, it has two low points I think which is the scenes when the two main characters reflect back in time which become somewhat longwinded but apart for this the film is a gem. It is funny stylishly photographed and choreographed and Preity Zinta, Bobby Deolm, Lara Dutta and Abhishek Bachchan delivers some of the best acting I've seen from them – as usual you can see on Abhishek Bachchan whether he thinks the script is any good, as he is not a man to give at the door, if he doesn't like the script, it is like he is on holiday, or has gone on strike (just check Bluffmaster or the Dhoom films) but in this film it is obvious he likes what he is doing, he is involved and is obviously having fun. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is in point of fact the closest I've seen any Indian film come to Bend It Like Beckham. Personally I'm not a great fan of Bollywood comedies compared to English, German French and even American comedies they are a little too infantile, this one however is rather refreshing. I hope the critics hasn't scared them from doing it again.
Enter the Void (2009)
An incredible piece of art Noé
Gaspar Noé has achieved something few others in film have managed, he has twice given me lasting images that will stay in my mind till my grave. He did it in Irreversible when Vincent Cassel goes amok with a fire extinguisher and he did it again with Soudain Le Vide. As I am a photographer of profession I have got a somewhat blasé relationship to photography and I am not easily impressed but Soudain Le Vide is something very, very special in fact singular, I have never seen such photography and if you have not seen the film, then neither have you. Though I have a preference for films with a more complex and less dispiriting story line I can none the less not avoid to applaud this truly magnificent masterpiece, it is art in its highest form and unique in its existence the only thing I can think of even vaguely in its style is Prodigy's video for Smack My Bitch Up but the latter is hardly in the same category. Due to the way it is filmed one cannot shake the notion of being present in the room with the characters themselves. The acting is also masterful no lose treads no weak link all characters are believable even down to the extras, which is a rather stunning feat and the ending suits the film perfectly. As for whether you should see it? Well put it like this, it doesn't really matter whether you in the end will like it or not, this film is something unique you have never seen before.
Taxi No. 9 2 11: Nau Do Gyarah (2006)
This one should be in your film collection
This film opened my eyes to Bollywood films, it is simply superb especially Nana Patekar an unknown actor to me up till this point, who suddenly entered my top five list of male actors. The original: Changing Lanes is not a poor film either compared to what usually get out of Hollywood, but this Bollywood adaptation of the story runs rings around it with ease. Thanks to superb acting and some subtle changes to the manuscript of the original story Taxi 9211 becomes a more intense and engaging film. It should perhaps be told that it is, perhaps somewhat unusual for a Bollywood film for though there is a brief song and dance routine at the very beginning of the film as in most Bollywood films the director has gone out of his way to hide it and integrate it into the film so that it blends in without being disruptive and without it leaving the stamp of Bollywood on it, the film itself has more in common with French cinema than Indian.