As always let me begin with the Trailer of this Movie:

The movie revolves completely around one of Chennai’s busiest market streets – the Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar and hence the name Angaadi Theru which means ‘Market Street’ in pure Tamil. The Movie is directed by G Vasantha Balan and produced by Ayngaran International. It stars Newcomer Mahesh as Jothilingam aka Lingu, ‘Nijama thaan Solriya’ Anjali as Sermakani aka Kani, KKK Fame Pandi as Marimuthu aka Mari, Director A Venkatesh as Karungali and many other new faces. Brilliant acting by everyone, especially the actress Anjali. Her eyes speak everything.

‘Angadi Theru’ celebrates the triumph of human spirit over overwhelming odds, and the kindling of hope in the midst of all the pain and misery. It tells the story of the workers, the sales people in the shops of Ranganathan Street. It is like tracing the story of few random people whom you will come across in those busy streets, blowing it up and making a movie out of it. Though the story parodies a particular store in T.Nagar, I would say it is the same case with many other shops in India. Especially because there is not much of an opportunity in the interior parts of the country, people come to the cities and take up low paying jobs. The employees are exploited from early morning to midnight, and they too bear all this because of their helplessness. They need the money, the job, to survive. The exploitation is similar even in the IT companies, but people are in a better bargaining position than those shown in the movie.

The movie’s technical brilliance is something which you will not be able to appreciate at the first viewing. The film has such an engaging screenplay, that you will not be able to digress away from the story. You can’t notice any flaws with the cinematography, editing or the music as you would probably be very busy following the details depicted on the screen. The scenes are impact oriented and consequential – You will be simply occupied with the emotions that engulf you with every scene that is exhibited. The music too is Good and I liked the songs after listening to it for a few times and understanding the meaning. Jayamohan’s pithy lines lend a natural feel and deserve a special appreciation.

Verdict: A Must-Watch for those who appreciate Good Cinema.

Let’s begin with the Trailer of the Movie:

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya is one long flow of emotions and events. As the tagline says (“A different love story, yet again!”) it is a different as well as an interesting story about falling in love, the emotions, the confusions, and the innumerable roller coaster sensations associated with it. The movie title “Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa” means “Will You Cross The Skies And Come To Me?” and is inspired from the lyrics of the song ‘Vennilave Vennilave’ from Minsara Kanavu (Sapnay). Gautham Menon is the writer and directer of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. In this movie, Silambarasan Rajendar plays the main character as Karthik. Trisha Krishnan plays the role of Jessie. Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman is the music director of the Movie.

Our Hero is Karthik, a Mechanical Engineer (yet again!) who dreams of making it big as a Movie Director. And our Heroine Jessie, a Malayaali Christian is an IT Professional. Karthik falls in love with the gorgeous Jessie at first sight, similar to Surya’s Love at First Sight for Meghna in the director’s previous movie Vaaranam Aayiram. He comes to know that she’s a year older than him, but still proposes her. Jesse doesn’t want to pursue the love, as she doesn’t want to hurt her conservative father, who is against love. But she is courageous enough to break away from the marriage arrangements made by her family. Karthik is thrilled by this development but Jesse wants more time to convince her father. The film drags on with no significant happenings but it takes an artificial break when Jesse decides to break the affair for an unconvincing reason, which as my friend Srivats explained, showed the character’s indecisiveness and uncertainty about choosing love over family. The rest of the movie deals with what happens to them and their love. And we also have a twist in the climax.

I wondered what the title Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (Will you Cross the Skies for Me?) implies. After watching the movie, I guess it is about Jessie’s reluctance to come into the life of Karthik, crossing the distance between them, because she can’t decide what to do.

The dialogs and the execution of scenes are top-notch. Simbu and Trisha perfectly fit in the Characters. Simbu has given us a nuanced performance, never seen from him before. He steals the show with what I would call, an underplayed overacting! Trisha looks her ravishing best, in Saree. Good Job by Nalini Sriram as the Costume Designer. Chinmayi has lent her wonderful voice to Trisha which needs a special mention for the exact Tamil and Malayalam accents. Love her Voice! ARR’s music is one of the main reasons to the much acclaimed hype. Music has been the greatest asset of the movie right from the beginning till the end. The re-recording and the background score are really amazing. Though, I didn’t like the songs initially, I am hooked to it now.  Cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa is Brilliant and is a Visual Treat to Watch. I didn’t see Gautham Menon giving his trademark guest appearance in the Movie, though he had given his voice to the rugged brother (bad casting here!) of Jessie. Did any of you see him in the Movie?

Verdict: On the whole, the Movie is a Must-Watch (atleast once )!

To sum it all up in a few words, I am quoting Sudish Kamat here: Well Written & Performed, Stretched & Indulgent but very Romantic!

I saw an Interview of Kunal Nayyar when i was at the Slutzker Center. I wondered what’s this Indian Guy doing in American Television and asked Abhijeet. Abhijeet Bhanoori, one of my colleague cum friend at the Slutzker Center, told me that he is an Actor in the famous SitCom “The Big bang Theory”! He said that it is really good. I have been hearing about many TV series like 24, HIMYM, Scribs, etc etc for a long time now but I haven’t had any time to watch any of that – until now. As I write, I have finished watching all of season 1 and am going through the season 2 of  TBBT.

For the benefit of those who have not seen or heard of “The Big Bang Theory”, the show focuses on the life of two geek roommates, Leonard and Sheldon. Their IQs add up to 360 combined but they have no clue as to how to interact with people beyond their circle. Penny is a hot blonde who moves into the apartment across their hall. Leonard is immediately interested in her (saying “our babies will be smart and beautiful”), but Sheldon feels his friend is chasing a dream he’ll never catch (adding “not to mention imaginary”). I have to say, these Hilarious dialogs and Kaley Cuoco(Penny) got me hooked to the Series!

Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper, Howard Wolowitz, Rajesh Koothrapalli, Penny are the main characters in the Series. Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon has been nominated for the Emmy Award. All the Cast, the dialogs and everything in the series is really good. Though i can’t understand the Physics part, it is still hilarious how they interact with each other. The Third Season is going to begin this September, and I can’t wait to see if that’s as good – or better – than the first two!

I watched this Movie yesterday after hearing that my brother and parents are going to the Movie. I wanted to see a Trailer of the Movie at least and searched for it in You Tube. Surprisingly, i found the entire movie in You Tube. Here is a Review of the Movie…

The stroy is about two families who live opposite each other in a small town called Virachalai in  Pudukottai District. The narration of the story is based on the Children’s Point of View, where one kid is a Good Guy (Anbukarasu IAS) and the other kid is the Baddie(Jeeva)… Not a Baddie exactly, but a little less Good Guy than the other.

The story starts with a Cinematic entry of the Kids, with the Children imitating Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyadu Vilayadu in many scenes. It then shows the enmity between the two kids which later becomes a feud between both the families. In parallel, runs a sweet love story between Anbu’s uncle (MeenakshiSundaram) and Jeeva’s elder sister (Sobikannu). Then there is a fight between the parents of Anbu which affects the Children. Jeeva’s Dad who is also a Teacher in the School and is portrayed as a villain in some parts before, then advises Anbu’s Dad and everything is resolved. “Naama thaan uyiroda irukuravangala paaraatamaatome“. The love story gets a nod from both families. And finally the two kids get together in the Climax. Though, the Climax is cinematic and we have seen numerous other climaxes like this before, this Movie right from the beginning till the Climax is very interesting and nice.

I would also commend the director for staying focused on the kids throughout the Movie. Even though he handles the love between Anbu’s Uncle and Jeeva’s Sister, he makes sure that the movie does not lose track.  The Scene between the two with the dialog “Avan Pitchai eduka koodathu nu nee ninaikira, Avan Thirudanaida koodathu nu naan ninaikiren” was the best of all. Sometimes, the Scenes between the two gets boring, but still it is fun to watch the subtle Village based love story. When the parents are first informed about the love affair by the kids, they individually discuss the issue with their respective family and then without much hue and cry they agree on each other’s choice. No Screaming, No beating up the Couple, No locking them away… They analyze the pros and cons of this relationship as adults and decide to let the couple marry. And the way the two kids act at home, when the parents discuss the issue is funny. This part of the movie shows the maturity that the current generation expects from its parents.

I loved the Songs Anbaale Azagaagum Veedu and Mazhai Indru Varuma Varuma. Nice Lyrics and Music. The Back Ground Music Score is wonderful. Very good work by James Vasanthan.

On the whole, Pasanga is Refreshingly New and a Must Watch Movie for Tamil Movie Fans.

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Yesterday, I saw the FDFS of the Movie Vaaranam Aayiram, with my college buddies at Kamala Theatre. Its all about the journey of life and learning of one man. I had expected the story to be something like this even before watching the movie, so i cant say the Movie was not upto my expectations unlike many others who watched the Movie. Infatc, I liked the Movie.

The Trailer was very cool:
This is Not an Action Film…
It’s a Celebration of Life…
It’s Emotional…
It’s about a youngster..
…and the Moments in his Life…
…his Love…
…his Passion…!

The movie opens with an older version of Surya, suffering from throat cancer, succumbing to his disease. With the bare minimum background score and subdued acting, the scene helps to mound the expectations for a few minutes. The news then is conveyed to the son, played by Surya again, who is on a defense operation somewhere in Kashmir. The rest of the movie is the son’s reminiscences of his father – the son’s role overriding the father’s in the process, however. I feel that, ‘Varanam Aayiram’ giving more emphasis to incidents rather than connecting them well.

But, the Movie was, at least in bits and pieces, the stories of our lives, with characters all of us have met or lived with at some point in our lives.

Life’s tragedies that can wreak havoc as suddenly as a crack of lightning.
Immense pain that is a human being’s true test of strength – give in to the pain and perish or beget even more pain, only to emerge from it stronger?

Cycle of life that calls for the loss of the physical self but shows one how immortal the self, thoughts and memories are.

Gautam has derived inspiration for Vaaranam Ayiram from his own life and hence the movie is by and large close to real life with only very few scenes seeming out of place. Like the middle-class Surya, whose dad struggles to keep up with his family’s expenses, flies down to the USA in search of his love-at-first-sight Sameera – now that is far fetched. However, as clichéd as his love might seem, his sufferings sound more genuine – a feeling that the ‘Anjale’ song only upsurges.

The Movie is intended to be a biography of an ordinary man. I think there was too much of daddy-glorification, Daddy you are my Hero and emotional I-love-you-and-I-see-you-in-everything-dialogues. However, this memoirs-of-my-dad would have been a wonderful watch if it did not adopt a schmaltzy narrative.

I liked the Music and Songs very much. From the background score to the situational numbers and of course, golden oldies sung in Gautham and Suriya’s own voices, this music forms the structure of the entire movie and the attention to detail even while painting blending melodies is superb. The Songs are wonderful not only for the Harris Jeyraj music but also excellent Lyrics!

Surya – Sameera’s first meet in the train is well conceived and executed. The lip sync has been quite good for sameera reddy considering this is her first movie in Tamil.
When Sameera Reddy tells Surya she’s in love with him, the dialog and scene had as much emotional intensity and feeling as a routine pass the ketchup request at the dinner table. I’m in love, its a beautiful feeling. Blah Blah. lol. Also, the younger Surya’s descent into alcohol and drugs were crudely handled by Menon. And that the loving daddy is concerned only when the son is at a point of no return from drugs, is a bit too much and unnecessary!

The Dialogs were Nice in  most of the scenes…
Hey avan nenjula kaiya vechutaan avana thadukatha…

I’ll Come into your life Meghna and Sweep You Off your feet…!

Machan, avana oru adiyavathu adikanum da…

Gumthalakkadi Gumma va Mechanical na Summa va…

Heat and Mass Transfer innum iruku, adutha september thaan paarkanum… I barely passed that Subject!

Whatever happens, Life has to go on…

I need some… OXYGEN!

There are touching and heart-warming moments in the movie; however, they are few and far between. Like the scene in which the cancer patient dad expresses his helplessness in telling stories to his grandson since his vocal chords no longer support him…

The Movie has the potential to become a Classic!

Life is a circle. You are what you make of yourself. Thus is the story of Surya, son of Krishnan, who grows up surrounded by the one emotion and bond that is – love. His father Krishnan is his hero, his icon, the example he has to live up to. His mother Malini is calm, grounded, strong; a pillar of all that a woman and mother should be. And Surya’s inspiration for everything starts with their absolute love for each other.

It’s a normal, happy family and the strength of the children comes from the inner strength of their parents. Surya and his sister enjoy growing up with parents whose only advice to them is: nothing is impossible, not if your heart is pure and your dedication complete. This advice goes beyond the usual schoolchild and teenager’s academic stress, beyond peer pressure and beyond the emotional confusion only growing up can bring. The movie carries you on the strength of its narration and Surya is a child, becomes a teenager, then a young man on the verge of all the wonderful things life can give him, then a tortured lover, then a man emerging strong and at peace with himself, then a partner for life, then a true patriot and through all of this, a good son to good parents. In this journey, he encounters many things, many people; good and bad.

Life’s tragedies that can wreak havoc as suddenly as a crack of lightning.
Immense pain that is a human being’s true test of strength – give in to the pain and perish or beget even more pain, only to emerge from it stronger!

New beginnings that are like warm sunrises after torrential rains.
Purpose and drive that keeps that spark in the soul alive and burning.

Cycle of life that calls for the loss of the physical self but shows one how immortal the self, thoughts and memories are. Beautifully told and intricately woven, Vaaranam Aayiram is a tale on the backbone of realism and beautiful music.

Speaking of music, here is an orchestra of melodies that will at once make you laugh, become wistful of those oh-so-beautiful years and get into the verve and mood of the moment. From the background score to the situational numbers and of course, golden oldies sung in Gautham and Suriya’s own voices, this music forms the structure of the entire movie and the attention to detail even while painting blending melodies is superb.

The actors are simply superb, in the sheer simplicity of their roles and thus, maximum impact. One just cannot pick a better actor than another because they are in their element in this movie.

Except Suriya, of course. He is nothing short of brilliant and it is no mere flattery to say that he has (while doing this most difficult job of being a father, teenager, young lover, deranged addict and a man with a purpose), simply risen to standards of histrionics far above the rest of the industry. The hurt rage in the underdog schoolboy’s eyes; the gleam of love and enthusiasm in the young lover’s gaze; the intolerable pain of separation and solace found in hallucinogens; the torturous path back to normalcy; the newfound sense of purpose and meaning; the rekindling of love and passions – this time, mature and lifelong; the closure of life’s cycle (which is also the beginning of the same cycle for another)… all these emotions and nuances have been brilliant portrayed with his eyes and body language; so much so that even if this movie doesn’t go on to become a box-office success, his work will be critically acclaimed for a long time to come.

Meghna, the love of his life, the woman who made things bigger, brighter and more beautiful, even as she left him for a career and a future for herself.

Simran is Malini is, simply, Simran. Fabulous with her iconic representation of a strong, silent and calm mother.

Divya Spandana is Priya, who is the fragrant, yet tough flower that has always bloomed around Surya, but went unnoticed until he went through his own heaven and hell and came out stronger, more mature.

Perhaps the only drawback of the movie is its length. At 3 hours, it’s a daunting task to think about watching a movie as deeply introverted as this. But once the tale begins, there is no putting down this story.

Yesterday, I saw the Movie ‘Poi Solla Porom’ with my Family. Thankfully all the Movies that I watched this week were Good! Poi Solla Porom has an unique theme and is pleasantly delivered. Here’s a Review of the Movie.

The film opens with Sathyanathan (Nedumudi Venu) dreaming about his irony death and his family members are not paying any attention to the situations. The irony is that nobody cares about his death; instead his children & neighbors are more interested in their materialistic needs. His elder son Uppilinathan aka Uppi/Uccha (Karthik) is a Software Engineer, who plans to go abroad for work. His younger son Viswanathan aka Viccha (Om) is a carefree youth, leading a happy life.

Sathyanathan invests all his earnings in a plot of land near Velachery. A real estate dealer (Haneefa) cons them with the backing of the land shark Baby (Nassar), who grabs the plot and claims that he has documents to prove it as his own.

All attempts by Sathyanathan to get back the land end in vain. The Police, Lawyers, Ministers and even the NGOs demand money to help them. And thats the Truth these Days. The younger son brings in Rowdies headed by Royapuram Terror to get back the land. As soon as i heard the name Royapuram Terror, i could not control my laughter. My Sutherland Friends who are reading this blog will understand! A Friend of Mine in Sutherland is a real Royapuram Terror and as soon as i heard that Rowdy telling the name Royapuram Terror only his face came in front of me! And that’s Karthigaram from Pachaiyapas! Well back to the story… All Attempts fail and then Uppilinathan steps in to get back the land.

With the help of his friend Amritha (Piya/Suchitra’s Voice) he enacts a drama featuring Mouli whom everyone calls Daddy. Uppili is aided by his visa agent Asif (Bosskey) – a former accomplice of Baby. And thereby they win back their lost properties, which forms the rest of the story.

It’s great fun fare, but the film moves slowly in the first half and warms up only towards the rip-roaring climax. The realism in the situation and humor of PSP easily strikes a chord.. Though the tit-for-tat solution is not realistic enough, you cant grudge it simply because you can’t get hardcore realistic in the cinematic format while trying to find a solution for land usurping cases.

Karthik, Om and also RJ Balaji score with their natural performances. The Scenes where RJ Balaji chases off the Guys from the Fisheries Department, was really very funny! Piya hasn’t got much to perform, but with her cute looks, she is sure to attract everyone. And I think i have seen her in some ads before. Was that a Mysore Sandal Soap Ad?! Mouli, Nasser and Nedumudi Venu – these versatile actors bring the entire spotlights under them. Songs aren’t so appealing for they go along with the story.

On the whole, Poi Solla Porom is a great and clean entertainer. Watch it without expectations and you will like it for sure.

The guys are enjoying the road trip but fate plays spoilsport; midway to Hyderabad, they are caught in a traffic hold up. It will be hours before the traffic will clear, and the boys decide they may as well get back to Chennai, so they’ll at least have a chance to catch the match on TV. But Ajay has a brilliant idea. He takes a detour – a small, rugged path that barely qualifies as a road, calling it a ‘shortcut to Hyderabad’. By nightfall, the guys are lost and find themselves in the midst of an abandoned industrial estate. Over there, they find something mysterious happening there and it more horrific for them when a police officer is murdered by group of unknown people murdered. However, they escape from the place without any troubles and while they are yet to catch a goods train that is running by the place, Jagathpathy Babu realizes that he has dropped his purse over there that carries his identity card and all his details. With no option left, all of them return to the same place and find that a girl has been tied there and it is none other than Saroja. Well, they get her freed and run together outside fighting against the baddies. But things aren’t so simple as they expected. Again starts a roller coaster ride of thriller with unexpected twists and turns.

The Movie was completely enjoyable with lots of funny scenes. I wonder why in Tamil Cinema, even actors who are a few films old, do not want to act in a multi-starrer film. Its so fun watching a bunch of guys, instead of one single ilayathalapathi or ultimate star. I was kinda bored watching these stars repeating their commercial formula. And after Chennai 600028 and SAROJA am expecting a string of Multi-Starrers in Kollywood!

The Song at RJ Shiva’s engagement Party reminded us of Om Shanti Om, but it would have been great if it were popular Kollywood Actors instead of the TV Serial Actors. And almost all the actors in Chennai 600028 appeared in guest roles. The Actor Jai who appeared in the Traffic hold up, speaking in English and then Local Tamil was very funny and best among the guest roles. The Fight scenes were realistic and believable. The TV Serial mockery in which RJ Shiva gets introduced was funny. Premji’s amusing face, the foolish air he sports and the timing and chicness of his dialogues made all the scenes in which he appears, funny and entertaining. I almost fell off my seat when he said I was cornered, I was helpless!

Certainly there were pace dropping moments, shots that lacked editing slickness. And i couldnt understand why the friends called each other sir/saar! That was Odd! But I guess I can’t complain after having sat on the edge of my seat and having fallen off (almost literally) every time these men next door delivered punch dialogues!!!

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Music Score was Cool. Though the songs were unnecessary, they were good. The Lyrics of the song ‘Nimirnthu Nil’ was rejuvenating. ‘Cheeky Cheeky’ and ‘Dosth Bada Dosth’The Background Score was superb i would say. I loved the BGM when the baddies drive in with the black jeep.

SAROJA was like watching a Hollywood Movie with local Flavor. You would surely Enjoy the Movie! Especially, with all the laughs and thrills and the Timing Comedy! A thumbs Up for the Movie SAROJA… And Venkat Prabhu, am expecting ur next Movie!

Pixar is one of the best animation film studio in the business. This company simply doesn’t know how to make anything less than excellence. Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars… Man, all brilliant movies… So whenever a new Pixar film is in development, it instantly gets my attention, and Wall-E was no exception to that rule.

When i stepped into the cinema hall, my expectations were skyhigh and i’m happy to say that this movie lived up to its hype and my expectations.

The new short “Presto” that precedes the movie is fantastic. I about an arrogant magician and his hungry rabbit. The entire audience was roaring with laughter by the end.

Wall-E opens with a what seems like Earth as it is now, only with lots of trash floating around the stratosphere. The year is 2700, and planet Earth has long been uninhabitable. On closer observation, the skyscrapers that we see, are actually towers of compact trash cubes stacked together by WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class). This little robot was left behind along with plenty others of his kind but he seems to be the only one “alive” (along with his pet cockroach). All the people in the world (assuming) are up in a Noah’s Ark of sort, called the Axiom, roaming up in outer space awaiting the day that Earth is cleared of rubbish by WALL-Es.

The Hero of our Movie, the last Wall-E spends his lonely hours sifting through garbage to collect items of interest, compacting garbage, and storing it in cubes. He collects remnants of humanity to keep for his own amusement. Zippo lighters, Bubble Sheets, Rubik’s Cubes, Christmas lights: these are what Wall-E surrounds himself with. He watches Hello, Dolly! on an iPod that he somehow hooked up to a VCR, emulating the dancing and learning about love.  When you see Wall-E try to imitate the dancing using a hub cap he collected just for that purpose, you know that this is more than a piece of machinery. Proving Pixar’s raison d’etre, this little silent robot has more humanity in him than most movie characters played by actual humans. WALL-E is one of the cutest Pixar hero ever, despite the fact that he’s a trash compactor with eyes. A story centering on a wordless robot could be cold and uninviting, but not in Pixar’s capable hands. Never has a robot been this compassionate: WALL-E’s got heart. And that makes his so lovable!

Things change drastically for WALL-E the day EVE shows up. She is slick and futuristic and quite obviously a girl; WALL-E falls in love almost immediately. It turns out EVE has been sent from the Axiom to scan the earth for signs of habitable life. Their convincing courtship is done completely without dialogue, quite a feat for sound designer Ben Burtt who found a way to make ambient noise into recognizable words for WALL-E. Trying to impress the cooly modern EVE, WALL-E shows her the seedling he found, at which point EVE goes into a hibernation state and awaits the return of her spaceship. WALL-E, of course, cannot abide by his beloved EVE’s status and hitches a ride into space to save her. And, thus begins the story. At the end of which Wall-E saves the Earth and Humans!

A bit disturbingly, all the humans on the Axiom have regressed to babyhood (enormously fat, with little bone density) after 700 years of living up in space and drinking their meals through a straw. Though WALL-E’s only aim on the Axiom is to find his beloved EVE, he finds himself wrapped up in a race to save the seedling he collected on earth from the treacherous tentacles of Auto.

When your two main characters (Wall-E and EVE) have about 90% of the screen time, and each basically only ever say “Wall-E” or “Eva”, the burden for storytelling falls onto the shoulders of the character performances (animation) and the art of visual storytelling. Wall-E communicates worlds of information to the audience without ever saying a word just by how perfectly and beautifully he’s animated. His movements, his expression and his very nature are the tools by which this story is told without the use of words (there is dialog in the film from some other characters… but the majority of the movie is told by just watching and experiencing Wall-E himself).

While on the surface it’s a movie about robots and spaceships set centuries in the future, deep down it’s about humanity and its place on Earth and in the universe. It uses its out-of-this-world settings and characters as a lens to reflect our own world back at us, showing us both the beauty and the ugliness of our existence through the eyes of a guileless, trash-compacting robot. Wall-E is worth your every rupee. It is funny in ways that are actually bittersweet, reminding us of our sad fate in time to come if we stop doing anything about pollution, global warming and all that nonsense that will eventually turn Earth into an uninhabitable sphere of trash.

Andrew Stanton, who won an Oscar in 2004 for Finding Nemo, with WALL-E, he has taken not only the art of animation, but the art of storytelling to new, unimaginable heights.

In a movie season that’s overpopulated with superhero movies, remakes and sequels, it’s incredibly refreshing to see a movie that stands on its own as a completely new and unique creation. You wud’ve never seen anything like Wall-E, and you might not see anything like it again. Go. Go see it as soon as you can.

The Dark Knight is almost undoubtedly the most ambivalent of superhero movies. Because Nolan’s film eschews the supernatural elements that are a mainstay of the genre, there is no absolute good and evil here. Instead, there are defenders and there are murderers. There are men trying very hard to do the right thing, and others trying just as hard to do the wrong thing.

Even the film’s title is a double entendre — Gotham City has been plunged into a long, dark night. Remember that Batman is an ego-driven superhero — he wasn’t forced into existence by a radioactive spider bite or some science experiment gone awry, but instead made a conscious decision to become a highly trained, dark-masked vigilante. And he remains haunted by the idea that his presence may hurt as much as it helps. Certainly, it’s only Batman’s celebrity that made his beloved Rachel Dawes a target for the Joker, who uses her death as the punchline of a sadistic practical joke that tweaks the ostensible hero for doing the wrong thing.

As I observe from the film, when Joker kidnaps both Rachel and Harvey Dent — the crusading District Attorney that Batman believes may actually be the kind of real, law-abiding savior that would finally let Bruce Wayne hang up cloak and cowl — it’s to set up an elaborate test of Batman’s moral compass. Joker tells Batman Rachel is tied up at one address, and Harvey Dent at another, forcing him to choose which of them to save before timed explosives go off. If he saves Rachel, Gotham City loses a politician with courage and a moral backbone. But if he saves Harvey, he dooms the woman he loves. (Honest politicians are apparently rare enough on Gotham City that this is a real issue.) Helplessly in thrall to his heart, Batman heads out to save Rachel, but discovers on arrival that he’s been tricked — because Joker switched address on him, his relative selfishness has actually consigned poor Rachel to oblivion.

So Batman suffers not only from the guilt of having failed to rescue Rachel, but from the shame of having been manipulated by the Joker. Not only was he nailed for making the more self-serving of the choices available to him, but he was simultaneously punished by having the only possible justification for that choice — his love for Rachel, and his willingness to continue patrolling Gotham as the Batman in exchange for her safety — stripped from him as a result of his making it. This aspect of the story is surprisingly underplayed, even confusing, but it certainly explains Batman’s decision, after Harvey Dent’s death, to take credit for the murders committed by Dent’s bitter alter-ego, the vengeful Two-Face. And it sheds some light on the Joker’s insight into humanity. Later on, when he tells the passengers on two different ferries that are scheduled to be blown up at the stroke of midnight that the potential victims on either boat can save themselves by making the decision to kill each living soul on the other ferry, is there any doubt that the detonators he gives them are wired to blow up their own boats instead?

The Dark Knight argues that it’s fairly easy to manipulate people through fear — when the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless an arbitrary assassination is carried out, the presumption is that anyone from the average man on the street to a cop worried about a sick relative may suddenly turn into a killer — but there are some more specific ruminations on the ease with which people can be manipulated through lies. The Joker is a liar. So is Batman, who takes responsibility for Harvey Dent’s crimes, just as Harvey had falsely claimed to be the Batman earlier in the film. Trusted confidante Alfred (Michael Caine) lies to Bruce Wayne by failing to deliver his Dear John note from Rachel after her death. Gordon lied to his family when he faked his own death. And so on. Crucially, while the Joker lies to promote chaos, the lies told by Batman and his friends are meant to preserve order.

That’s the closest The Dark Knight comes to making explicit reference to the contemporary political landscape. The science-fictional eavesdropping initiative Bruce Wayne develops to get a visual image of the surroundings of any powered-up cell phone is similar to the USA’s Patriot Act, and is itself a form of deception, or at least a betrayal of the public trust. That’s why Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), clearly functioning as the conscience of Wayne Industries (as well as of The Dark Knight), insists on destroying the system as soon as Batman uses it to track down the Joker. Because Lucius betrays his own principles by agreeing to play along for even a moment, it invites the interpretation that Nolan’s film advocates the use of otherwise indefensible tactics under extraordinary circumstances. But it’s clear that Lucius has compromised in his pursuit of a worthy goal, and the film assigns a moral weight to that compromise. The Dark Knight is about how hard it is to do the right thing – not least because in Gotham, as in the rest of the world, moral certitude is more difficult to reach than either idealists or ideologues would have you believe.

A self-proclaimed agent of chaos, the Joker claims he was born out of the disturbance in the mundane cycle in which the mob and the cops fought for control of the city block by block. Before Batman, came on the scene, the Joker writes himself off as nothing more than a skilled pickpocket ripping off common men and mafia members alike. Bored with his life, it could be inferred that his self induced scars were an attempt to stop having to gaze upon a veneer of depression. Spewing various origins for his scars, he makes it clear that it was not one moment that made him this way but instead a prolonged state of boredom in which he wanted to do anything to gaze upon a smile. The Batman provided him a release, someone that would let him perform depraved acts of insanity that would not reach any conclusive goal. Like the Joker says, “I am like a dog chasing a car, I have no idea what I would do if I ever caught it”. The Joker does not want Batman dead, he wants the Batman to kill him so he can corrupt the Caped Crusader’s moral code. He knows this is out of reach, because then life gets boring again. As a result, the movie becomes a mosaic of this escalated realm of heroes and villains.

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”

This Saturday(27th July 2008), I got to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, with Naveen, my childhood buddy. We wanted to watch Kung-Fu Panda and/or The Dark Knight. Since, the show timings of Kung-Fu Panda didnt suit us, we settled for this movie.

My personal favorite Super-Heroes are Wolverine n Spiderman! I must admit, I am not a Batman Movie fan. In fact, I even used to avoid them because it was always too dark and you couldn’t see anything properly and hence not understand it. But, All the Rave Reviews abt the Movie in the Papers/TV made me go watch this movie

My opinion abt the Movie? – The movie is grimly dark, vicious, egregiously violent and nasty – and totally engrossing! Outside of this being one of the best action/comic book movies I’ve ever seen, this is simply a great movie. The entire movie was perfect. The acting, the story, the music score, the writing, etc. The cinematography is stunning, having been shot in IMAX. All of the other rave reviews you may have been reading are not gushing for no reason either.

“The Dark Knight” isn’t simply another superhero movie. In fact, it’s really not a superhero movie at all; It’s a super villain movie! This is how a Batman movie should have been made at the first place. Complex, dark and believable. A brilliant one from Christoper Nolan. Memento (the inspiration for Ghajini) was also a very interesting movie.
For as much action as there is in this movie, it’s the acting that makes it a great piece of work. Between all the punches, explosions and stunt-work is some great dialog work. All the actors have their moments.

The performances by the actors are stellar. And Heath Ledger, in particular, steals the show. I was mesmerized by Heath Ledger portrayals of the Joker. Destroying an entire hospital without flinching nor remorse. Killing without a thought. Dark and pyschotic. You will really hate this guy. Heath Ledger’s performance is so spine-chilling and complete, I would not be surprised if he were to get the Oscar nod for Best Actor/Supporting Actor. Unless somebody comes out with something better. In which case, I certainly am gonna go to theatre to watch it.

Another example of perfect casting, Aaron Eckhart shines as Harvey Dent aka Two-Face. Starting off the film as the white knight of Gotham City fighting crimes and injustice, his transformation into the dreaded Two-Face gives us much to empathize with.

Christian Bale once again captivates as the caped crusader who handles Bruce Wayne’s inner turmoil more convincingly than the last film. Though he might have his thunder stolen away from him by Ledger in The Dark Knight, Bale is still effective as the conflicted anti-hero who is destined to be portrayed as a vigilante in the eyes of the public.

Back to the cinematography, this is purportedly the first full-length feature film shot entirely in IMAX. And it shows. If you’re interested, take a look at the sheer complication that went into producing the visual effects for the Dark Knight in IMAX resolution. There was such detail shown by director Christopher Nolan, and it shows.

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Here are some(Yea… Jus’ some) Scene/Dialogues I loved in the Movie:

>>>Bank robbery scene. And in the robbery itself, all the robbers kill each other and only one is left standing. This is (rather predictably) the Joker. Then he makes away in a truck loaded with cash and merges into other truckers who appear from everywhere. Geth Scene!

>>>The joker crashes the party and sees Rachel n says “Hello Beautiful” and fixes his hair. rofl

The Joker: You look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got them? Come here. Hey, look at me. So I had a wife, beautiful; like you. Who tells me, I worry too much. Who tells me, I ought to smile more. Who gambles, and gets in deep with sharks. One day they carve her face. We have no money for surgeries. She can’t take it! I just want to see her smile again. I just want her to know that I don’t care about the scars. So I stick a razor in my mouth and do this… to myself. And you know what? She can’t stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I’m always smiling!

The Joker: [Rachel kicks the Joker away] A little fight in you. I like that.

Batman: Then you’re going to love me.

>>> The Joker: Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was…a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. Turns to me and he says “Why so serious?” Comes at me with the knife, “Why so serious?” He sticks the blade in my mouth. “Lets put a smile on that face!” And… Why so serious?

>>>The Joker: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” (Enna Thathuvam!)

>>>The Joker: I use a knife because guns are too quick. Otherwise, you can’t savor all the emotions. You know who people are in their last moments.

>>>The Joker: “I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to Do with one if I caught it! I don’t have plans. I just do things.”

>>> The Scene where, Harvey is taken to the prison. On the way, the Joker tries to attack the van. And Batman comes to the rescue. Batman whizzing by in his batpod is supercool! The most notable aspect of the chase is a monster truck that flips over.

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The Joker:

What people don’t really understand about the Joker is that he doesn’t even understand himself. People keep asking, “Why did the Joker give two different stories about how he got those scars?”. The answer is the Joker Himself doesn’t even know. He’s so completely insane [or supersane...read the comics!], he makes himself every day. He doesn’t Have a personality. He just goes with the flow…! And this is why he’s my Favorite Super-Villain!
Whether it’s been Romero, Nicholson or Ledger behind the makeup, and whether he’s been a maniac or a prankster, a clown or a killer, one thing has always remained constant with the Joker: the laugh — a laugh that with each breath seems to say he’s the only sane man in an insane world.

The Joker was portrayed in the film as someone who’s likable, as someone who acts as a wish fulfillment part of us. It really is the idea that within us all is that notion that if you could get away with murder, you would murder someone. I find that message to be extremely disappointing in terms of human nature, but you can’t deny that that’s what makes film interesting.

This Joker is the most thoroughly principled and incorruptible character in modern movies. He doesn’t care about money - he contemptuously burns a pile of cash containing millions of dollars — and, unlike Mr. Nicholson’s Joker, he doesn’t even care about power. He consolidates the various mobs of Gotham City merely as a means to his end, which, contrary to numerous editorials we are seeing, isn’t terrorism. Terrorists, in their hearts, believe that they are really the good guys; Mr. Ledger’s Joker has no such illusions. He’s a nihilist whose avowed purpose is to disrupt society by corrupting and destroying its heroes — Batman and Aaron Eckhart’s straight-arrow D.A., Harvey Dent.

In the most unsettling scene ever presented in an action movie, Christian Bale’s Batman is left to interrogate the Joker in a police lock-down room while the police simply watch. Mr. Ledger snickers, leers and goads Batman into beating him up — thus violating his civil rights, which is precisely what the Joker wants Batman to do. It’s a stunning victory for the villain that makes Batman seem helpless.”The Dark Knight” seems to be telling us that, ultimately, we’re completely helpless against any characters as ruthless and ideologically pure as the Joker.

“Some men,” says Michael Caine’s Alfred the Butler to Bruce Wayne, “aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. Some just want to watch the world burn.” Is the only alternative to become as merciless as your opponent? It’s a dilemma that leaves Batman in the dark.

Anyway, it’s based on a comic book series, so we should not take any of it too seriously, but it should be seen for Heath Ledger’s last great performance. Oscar? I wish I had a vote.

With only its weaker point being the character development, The Dark Knight is without a doubt, the must-watch film of 2008. If you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly encourage you to take in this soon-to-be classic.