It's been a busy weekend for movies for me!
Friday night, I saw Slumdog Millionare. I can honestly say that if there is one movie out in theaters right now that you must definitely see, it is Slumdog. Although it tends to be exceedingly rare, the awards committees certainly got it right with this movie.
Director Danny Boyle (who also directed Trainspotting, The Beach, and 28 days later, to name a few.) worked with screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Who simply sounds like a Jane Austen character...) to adapt the novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup. The result is Slumdog.
The movie follows a young man named Jamal, played very well by Dev Patel. Jamal has managed to get on the Indian incarnation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and when the movie opens he has already won a lot of money. The problem is that hes just a kid from the slums, a tea boy in the office in which he works. How is it possible he could know all of the answers? Thinking that he is cheating, the police haul him away for questioning and he tells them of the specific events in his life that taught him these facts. You follow him from early childhood with his brother in a small slum in Mumbai to events that carried him all over the country, and the lengths he goes to to help out his cildhood friend (and the girl he loves), Latika.
I don't know very many Indian actors, so I'm sure that rattling them off wouldn't help either of us, but Freida Pinto, who plays the older Latika, is stunning. There is also Amil Kapoor, who plays the spot-light-loving host of Millionare, and Irrfan Khan, the police inspector. Khan is a more familiar face, who seems to be edging into American cinema slowly but surely. Recently, he's been in A Mighty Heart, Wes Anderson's flop- The Darjeeling Limited, and the last place I saw him, The Namesake (with Kal Penn).
All in all, the movie is very, very good. I found myself rooting for Jamal more and more as the movie went on, to the point of crossing my fingers and muttering, 'Please be right, please be right, please be right...' near the end. The score is very good, with some grungy hip hop and pop thrown in for good measure. The story moves quickly and smoothly, so you don't sit for ten minutes twiddling your thumbs waiting for it to get interesting. The ending matched up perfectly with the beginning, and I can't wait to pick up the DVD in a few months. One of my favorite moments is in the very beginning when they flash the title credits during a cricket game on an airstrip in Mumbai.
For extra cool points, stay during the credits for the psuedo-bollywood dance scene and watch for Dev Patel to break out some surprising moves, not to mention the chuckle-value of the little kids dancing.
Definitely a 4.5 to 5 out of 5.
Saturday was Taken.
Now, I had high hopes for Taken. I adore Liam Neeson (a jedi who can kick Batman's ass, alriiight!) and went in hoping for the best. The movie took a few minutes to get into the real thick of the story- the director took the first few minutes to bludgeon you with how much Neeson's character cares for his daughter and how awkward he copes living his 'normal' life. His daughter wants to go to Paris with a friend, and begrudgingly, he lets her go. There, of course, she gets taken, and its up to Neeson with his 'very particular set of skills' to go in and save her.
Now let me begin by saying that the movie wasn't bad, I was just expecting something more along the lines of the Bourne movies. The action was good- fast and detailed. The cars, although mainly Audis and Renaults, were nice. The acting wasn't horrible either, the movie just wasn't great. Neeson had an American accent and sadly, it sounded far too camp. At one point he said, 'dude', and I swear something inside me cried. Now, I'm dramatizing a bit, but his accent just didn't feel very genuine. Also, for a moment in the beginning, he gives another character a 'hip' handshake and appears more awkward than I would have expected.
Other than my nitpicks, Director Pierre Morel did a decent job, but I will admit that I went because the script was written by Luc Besson, writer of my favorite movie, The Fifth Element.
All in all? 2.5-3 out of 5.
Tonight was Coraline.
I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman (I'm currently working my way through Stardust, which I highly recommend) and I was very excited for the first few trailers I saw of this one.
Coraline is a young girl who has just moved to a new house with her parents. Her parents don't pay much attention to her (though, admittedly, she is quite difficult) and after talking to the eccentric bunch of housemates and ending up quite bored, she finds a door in the wall of the house that leads to an alternate version of her home and the people living within it. But, as is common with these stories, not all is as it seems.
Director Henry Selick keeps up with his usual dark and twisty, Burton-esque cinematography, and this movie is just as interesting as usual. Dakota Fanning provides the voice for Coraline. Ian Mcshane does a great voice for Mr. Bobinsky, and even Saunders and French stop by to voice the two huge, terrier-loving former actresses living in the basement.
The movie is clever, and moves quick, and the 3d was surprisingly less annoying than usual (of course, the last movie I saw in 3d was My Bloody Valentine, so perhaps I need a new control group). The graphics are beautiful, and the characters are very interesting.
Mostly, it's a kid's movie, but a few clever jokes were stuck in for the parent in tow. Not one I'd necessarily want to see again, but good none the less.
So... 3 out of 5.
Hoping to see He's Just Not That in to You tomorrow and Push on Wednesday. I'll drop by and let you know how that goes.
I have the graphics work for Musical DJs to drop here, but I need to talk to the client first, so expect to see it in the next few days. Other than that, taa for tonight.
T
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment