Posts Tagged ‘Movie Reviews’

After enjoying so much the before-reviewed Jodhaa Akbar Dean decided to order another Indian film from Netflix — the suspenseful Eklavya (2007, Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Film). No romance this, really — more like a drama of family secrets, betrayals and score-settlings that centers around the near-perfect loyalty of Eklavya, a royal guard, and his need to meet his dharma, his purpose in life, of protecting his king at any cost. Threats arise  both from low-caste farmers over land rights and from the king’s own extended family.

Amitabh Bachchan plays a loyal palace guard with a tortured soul in "Eklavya"

The word “dharma” comes from the word “hold.” According to my simplified understanding, one’s dharma represents a kind of supernatural hold on them. The dharma asserts a person’s place in the universe, and by holding to one’s dharma an individual is by extension “holding” everything together. Eklavya has dedicated his entire life to the purpose of a single dharma given him by his mother upon his father’s death — he is to defend his king at all costs, or, as she says, “nine generations of our family will burn in Hell.”

Now an old man, Eklavya’s sight is growing dim, so that his detractors begin to mock his ability to protect the king. But his hearing is as keen as ever. Blindfolded, he can throw a knife straight to its mark by listening alone.

The family which he serves has its own secret desires and acts of vengence, and a palace guard like Eklavya cannot hold himself apart. Long before the movie opened, he became entwined and entrapped within the intrigue — and now it seems he will have to sacrifice either his dharma or that earthly relationship which is most sacred to him.

Yes, there will be murders in this film — yes, people will have mixed character, so that at moments you will not know whether a person is good or bad. Scenes of the palace are both stirring for their beauty, and haunting when tales of the cruelty the building has sheltered arise — and, as in a good suspense film, vengeance will be taken on the wrongdoers.

I never did quite "get" Poldark.

Back in the old days, when I was a teenager, my parents would watch Masterpiece Theater and I just knew there was something strange going on. My teenaged mind wanted to know, who cared about history, American, English or Continental, enough to watch movies about it after school was out? And what was so interesting about this Poldark guy who had so many dramatic problems which he brought upon himself anyway?

The characters in my parents’ movies wore period costumes and talked in a strange accent. There was no soundtrack of exciting background music and the sets were all in England, either grey healther covered moors or grey castles, which looked depressing.

And now, years later, here are Dean and I sitting around watching historical movies while the kids ask us why we are doing this. Do I feel nervous seeing what’s going on? Yes.

This movie was every bit as romantic and exotic as the poster suggested.

I would like to say in my defense that the current crop of historical movies have 1) unbelievable sets b) high production values, c) exciting sound tracks, d) stirring battle scenes and e) attractive actors and actresses. In these regards, they totally eclipse Masterpiece Theater.

So, yes, we watch historical dramas, long ones, just like my parents.  Our taste runs to the HBO Rome Series, Showtime’s The Tudors, or the movie we finished last night, Jodhaa Akbar, which was perhaps my favorite, which was made in India.

Why is it my favorite? Well for one thing check out the hero, Hrithik Roshan, the handsomest guy I’ve seen in a movie since … a long time ago. Perhaps its the pale eyes that got me. The leading lady, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is stunning as well. Apparently, Hollywood has no monopoly on incredibly beautiful people.

A historical romance/adventure story set in 16th century India, the predictable part of the movie concerns that young emperor’s efforts at consolidation of his empire and the constant problem of seditions friends, relatives, and advisors. The romantic part is far more unusual; although Jodhaa and Jalai are married (arranged without her consent) she won’t let him anywhere near her. She has her standards, both religious and personal, and she expects her husband to win her heart personally, not through arrangement with her father. If Jalai is ever to have an heir he will have to succeed in capturing her heart.

I’m sure romance novelists have come up with this plot hundreds of times, in books I would not have read, but here, in this movie, it worked for me. And Dean watched it too, giving the conquest/violence/sedition part of the movie credit for the “best fight scene he’d come across in years.”

Masterpiece theater it is not. But if you like romance, adventure, palace intrigue, and incredible sets this might be a good choice. What’s more, the  movie is current available on Netflix “watch it tonight” online streaming.  I highly recommend it, and may be watching it (again) tonight myself.

I posted recently about “media with great replay value.” Today, I’ll share the movies that I watch – repeatedly. For years. This is a sampling.

Topping the list for movies is the ultimate in “comfort media” Notting Hill. It makes me happy inside, from the beginning, when Hugh Grant as scruffy bookshop owner tries to woo Julia Roberts – the world famous Anna Scott – with the contents of his paltry bachelor fridge:

all the way to the end, when, rejected by the still-scruffy Thacker’s worry of a broken-again heart, Anna softly says:

Don’t you just melt? He did – about an half hour later, just in time to race to his friend’s car and catch her before she left the country for good.

Next, Amelie, which appeals to feeling of being different. I can quote it in English and French. This is the only movie that I actually refrain from watching too much, because I love it so much I want to save it.

Eat Drink Man Woman, a movie filmed in Taiwan about the travails of family – especially siblings. I like to listen to the Chinese, and drool over the food – the movie begins with a ten minute segment of Old Chu, the chef and father of the family, preparing a sumptuous feast.

Of course, the original three Star Wars movies – which I religiously watch every time I am sick.The ones produced later have little for me – though when I was younger I loved the second, as it had the budding (and insipid, to my later self) relationship of Anakin and Padme.

Little Women is the tearjerker of the bunch. Involving both Christian Bale as a young cutie pie and Susan Sarandon as wisdom incarnate, it’s like rolling up in a big quilt next to a softly crackling northeastern fireplace. And yes, every time Beth gets sick and has that scene with Jo, I sob like a small child. I am of the opinion this is actually rather healthy – cleansing, sortof.

Studio Ghibli will forever have a special place in my heart. Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro got me through some tough times – and every time I watch Howl’s Moving Castle, I believe in magic again (and finding a man whose voice is as sexy as Howl’s). In Howl, a young girl is cursed into old age by a jealous witch, and finds herself as the cleaning lady of an enigmatic wizard with multiple personalities. A fire with an attitude adds spark. Kiki’s Delivery Service, also a Ghibli, fits in with the rest as a beautiful work of art.

Movies aren’t just about plot, about excitement, for me — they’re about feelings. One has to believe that one is not the only one who’s ever felt the way one does — and that is something my favorite movies list brings to me again and again.  No, I am not alone. Feeling various ways is normal. I’m not the first and not the last to feel the way I do, and I’m not the first or last to keep watching the same movies over and over again incessantly. There must be someone else out there who does this!

—–N–ss

By Dean Cassella

I always look forward to seeing new incarnations of the Star Trek franchise, and this latest film, simply titled Star Trek, was no exception.  Although many disliked the last series, Enterprise, I had found it to be a refreshing change from the saccharine characters oft to be found in Voyager and, at times, Next Generation. Enterprise attempted to go back to the early, swashbuckling “cowboy diplomacy” days of the original series. So, for me the idea of extending the theme to a kind of prequel of the The Original Series was appealing. The film seems to have generated a lot of positive reviews (Rotten Tomatoes has given it 95%).

When I took my two older boys (ages 12 and 14) to see it, I was expecting, if anything, a thrilling ride. The opening of the film—it turns out that Captain Kirk was born on an escape pod in deep space—piqued my interest and then . . . it was all downhill from there. 

You may ask why I took to disliking the film, especially when almost everybody else seems to love it? This calls for a bit of explanation, so please bear with me.

Among university teachers today there is a term that is occasionally bandied about: the “digital natives.” These are the current freshmen and sophomores who were raised from the youngest age with the internet, ipods, text-messaging, etc. It has been said that they have a particularly difficult time focusing on anything that is not delivered in an electronic format, and even when it is electronic, their attention span is very short indeed. Such young adults, for example, tend to describe ‘old’ films (i.e. those produced before they were born) as “boring.” I suspect this is a result of constant exposure to video games and film editing that make the two-second-per-cut TV commercials of yesteryear appear glacially slow by comparison.  

I would further add that the hallmark feature of the digital natives’ primary and secondary education has been a steady diet of self-esteem training. Such young people tend to have an aggressively positive view of their supposed academic/professional accomplishments, and often become impatient with anybody who suggests otherwise. With many of these young adults, to insist upon correct grammar or the use of non-internet based sources when writing essays brings frustrated accusations of pedantry against teachers. Learning how to express oneself in an articulate, grammatically correct manner appears to many of them to be a waste of time. Moreover, failure to learn how to do these things supposedly will have no bearing on the exciting, high-paying careers they believe are their due.

Obviously, not every young person conforms to this dreary scenario (I have had some excellent students from this group in my own classes), but the effects can definitely be seen everyday at the State U.

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with Star Trek? Quite simply, I find the film to be mythmaking for the digital natives. The producers of Star Trek want us to believe that James Kirk was essentially a hard-drinking, muscle car/motorcycle driving yahoo with a criminal record, before deciding to sign up with Star Fleet. His recruiter, Captain Pike, explains that this is just the type of person that Star Fleet needs. The situation reminds me of a friend’s wry assessment of Terminator II at its premiere run: “white trash people save the Earth!!” Although the film barely alludes to Kirk’s three years in the academy (how boring!), we are rest assured that his extremely high aptitude scores more than compensated for his deviant misbehavior. 

I have yet to speak to a parent whose child was doing poorly in school that did not claim that said child was ‘brilliant’ but simply lacked the focus and motivation to do outstanding academic work. 

Mr. Spock, as it turns out, was a rebel in his own right. Understandably touchy about his half-human origins in a society as racist as is that of the Vulcans, Spock over compensates by throwing himself into his studies, and by striving to be an über-Vulcan. All this is well and good, until almost everybody, including his own father and his older self (thanks to yet another breach in the time-space continuum . . .yawn . . .) urges him to get in touch with his emotions! One of the most well-defined traits of the Vulcans in the Star Trek universe is that they systematically repress their emotions: to do otherwise results in a return to brutal savagery. Consider what happened to T’Pol in Enterprise when a charming rebel Vulcan talked her into getting in touch with herself and quitting her meditations … she became violent! But in modern ideology, getting in touch with your feelings and ‘letting go’ is a necessary prelude to brilliance.

There are other such problems with characterization throughout the cast of characters. One example must suffice for now: Uhura (who in the Original Series was a refined and genteel lady) is now an alcoholic. I do not see any other way to interpret her first appearance in the film, wherein she walks into a bar and orders several drinks for herself, to be filled all at once. The scene cannot help but remind me of the binge drinking problem that plagues American college campuses. In digital native lore, women are supposed to be able to hold their liquor as well as men can (no matter if this flies in the face of current research in both science and social science) and hedonism never gets in the way of brilliant accomplishment.

The film’s idea of moving into high action is to ask us to believe that a whole motley crew of greenhorns (the only seasoned officer of any note on the bridge is Captain Pike, and Mr. Sulu does not even know how to disengage the emergency brake of the Enterprise!) sets out on its maiden voyage to answer a distress call from the planet Vulcan. Pike is quickly dispatched, which then leads to a power struggle for command of the ship between Kirk and Spock.  It should be added that Kirk is, for all intents and purposes, a stowaway who was barred from participating due to misbehavior at the Academy. In the end, it turns out that the raw recruits save the day, and Kirk is transformed from a court-marshaled lieutenant to captain of the ship literally overnight. 

Now that’s what many people today, particularly, I would argue, young people, want to hear. Raw talent, which, due to self-esteem training seems to be in enormous abundance (think of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegone “where every kid is above average”), will cover any number of follies and indiscretions, and catapult the bearer to superstardom. Although the original Captain Kirk was on the impulsive side, it was also true that he was a very hardworking and disciplined young man (how could he have been otherwise?) I distinctly remember him describing himself as drearily serious at the academy. If I were on the crew of the Enterprise, the new Kirk would inspire no confidence in me whatsoever, simply because it would be obvious that he was going to get himself killed, and me along with him.

The acting in the film was, overall, quite good, but the editing is so fast that it is sometimes hard to focus on the story. Even at those brief moments when two people are merely talking each other, the camera has to swirl around them in a frenetic way. 

In conclusion, the film may well prove to be the perfect symbol of American culture and society as it makes the transition from its Silver Age to its Bronze Age. Let us hope that, for us, there is someone left responsible enough to steer the ship.