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Lucy (2014)
A voyage through unknown territories
I enjoyed the movie very much. I have seen better movies, yes. I would not rate this as the best movie, no. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie. I liked it for its original idea, its bold courage to explore that idea and make it entertaining enough.
I do realize that the movie may not be everyone's cup of tea. It moves away from the conventional approach; the way how the storyline has been handled may leave some disgruntled at the time spent watching this. I am fairly confident that Scarlett's stone-faced performance of Lucy during the second half of the movie may raise critical views on her acting.
Personally, I believe that her performance in the movie was fantastic. One has to compare her portrayal of the initial fear-stricken, vulnerable, victimized, ordinary Lucy in the first half to the over- intelligent, multi-talented, highly-skilled, all-knowing and calculatingly-cold Lucy in the second half to really appreciate her performance. If the portrayal of the first Lucy was heart-wrenching, that of the second Lucy was chilling to the bones. It had to be stone- faced because at the level of knowledge she has then, hardly anything is of consequence, gratifying or painful. Few actors can stand up to a Morgan Freeman performance, but this movie belongs to Scarlett all the way and she surely outscores Morgan by leaps. The role does not do Morgan much justice, but there are a few actors who could have rendered his 10 minute introductory monologue with such clarity, yet keeping the audience's attention. Apart from that, his talent is totally wasted.
The movie is a good take on the concept of the unchartered territories of the human brain and what can be achieved. The movie has further gone in to deconstructing the fundamentals of existence as a factor of Time. There is a logic to it, for there were no Time, we cease to be. We exist because we measure time. The people and world around us matter because at some level we measure them with Time. The scene where Lucy describes this with a car disappearing at sufficient speed clearly depicts this connection, for it is not that the car does not exist but that it is beyond the measurement of time or known coordinates and hence not visible.
The movie leaves with a thought provoking note when Lucy communicates via text on Capt Del Rio's phone - "I am everywhere". A subtle reference, for those who chose to believe, on existence of God beyond our measurable limits of time and space. Why He may be everywhere and yet nowhere to be seen. For those who chose not to, it is still an apt ending to the movie, because without a time and space, nothing exists as we know unless it can be proved, even if it is a text saying "I am everywhere".
Carrie (1976)
This is not a horror movie, but one that should not missed.
I find it intriguing that this is quite often put in to the category of a horror film. I saw the movie nearly 40 years after it came out and, surprisingly, enjoyed it very much. This may be a disappointment to those who watch it, expecting a horror movie. It is not.
There is no horror aspect in the movie at all, except perhaps for the contrived religious leanings of Carrie's mother. Carrie herself is a victim of her mother's unrealistic faith as well as a subject of her college mate's cruel pranks. Socially isolated and frequently ridiculed by most, except for a few handful who sympathize with her, Carrie hones her telekinetic skills which she initially uses to defend herself and ultimately to exact revenge on her college mates when she is pushed to her limits. Through the length of the movie, you tend to like Carrie for the girl she is, trying desperately to fit in, to belong and you sense the hurt she feels at being rejected or ridiculed. Even as she exacts revenge, it is easier to support her than to condemn her for her actions.
Sissy Spacek, as Carrie, did carry the movie entirely on her shoulders and she did a fantastic job of it. From putting on Vaseline on her hair at the auditions for this role to getting her nomination for Academy Awards, this movie belonged to Sissy all the way and she will always be remembered for it.
Overall a great movie, and sure not one to be missed. It has everything in it to be a cult classic.
Limitless (2011)
Entertaining
The movie is about Edward Morra who is suffering from a writer's block and has not been able to put one word to paper for a book contract he signed. Perchance, he is introduced to a new drug that opens up the limits of his mind. His misadventures take him through expected channels of fantasy, murder, pursuit and survival.
The movie has many loose ends, especially on the murders that happen. It struggles at times to move forward logically from a scene to the next, but you will be willing to excuse the lapse as the story-line brings in the next twist of events. Bradley carries the movie on his shoulders pretty well, but it is a disappointment to see the talent of Robert DeNiro wasted in the movie. DeNiro does justice to the role given to him, but when you put an actor of his caliber in a movie, you expect more. The only scene where he inspired was close to the climax when he is Eddie's office. Personally, I liked the Russian antagonist, played by Englishman Andrew Howard, more impressive that the rest of the cast.
With no real villains in it, but everyone dealing with a negative identity of their own, the movie does well to keep you entertained.
7/10 - probably I may have given it an 8, if DeNiro's talent was better managed.
Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri (2007)
Interestingly disappointing...
The movie is an attempt to recreate the charm of "No. 20 Madras Mail", and heavily emphasizes its attempt of projecting it as a thriller right from the start. However, the very first scene of the protagonist disarming a suicide bomber is a forewarning of things to come in the next three hours.
The movie revolves around three different murders in the same compartment of the same train, all within the space of a few hours. Therein lies the movie's problem. The audience does get lost in which murder they want to know about. The cases remain unsolved for sometime before it is handed over to the new RACT, which is an anti-terrorism wing of the railways.
As the movie progresses, two of the murder mysteries are solved, and one cannot be blamed for letting out a sigh of relief that they are over with. But the third one still remains to be solved, and it turns out that the murder victim has a twin sister and one twin murdered the other. She gets caught because of different their different blood types. That knocks you off right there, as two identical twins do not have two different blood types, and so, technically the movie flaws.
Suresh Gopi as the lead role is his usual self, and does not give anything additional. However, he does carry forward the movie on his shoulders. Kavya Madhavan is possibly the only actor who studied the story well, because she appeared as lost doing her role as I was watching it. Rajan P Dev does add some meat, while Siddique's character is at best a scarecrow in a desert. All decked up to scare nothing, but it helps the movie to complete 3 hours.
Some Malayalam movie fans may like the movie, because there is yet to be a really good investigation thriller in Malayalam cinema, which has seen its best in the CBI Dairy cases, which were mediocre in its investigation but impressive in its entertainment.
Boeing Boeing (1985)
A good laugh riot, but a copy
A good script from the pens of the unmatchable Srinivasan, well filmed by Priyadarshan. The roles are very well enacted by Mohanlal and Mukesh, supported by the incomparable Sukumari. This movie has since been remade in to the Bollywood hit "Garam Masala", in which Paresh Rawal takes on Sukumari's character, Akshay Kumar takes on Mohanlal's and John Abraham takes on Mukesh's.
The movie itself is a remake from the 1965 Hollywood movie by the same name, featuring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. At about the same time the malayalam movie was released in 1985, Boeing Boeing also got released in Norwegia in their native language.