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Reviews
Omkara (2006)
Cinema at its finest.
If you like cinema, it's beyond me how you can not like this movie.
There's so much to love here. The precision and nuance the director employs is beautiful. There are so many scenes that only last a few seconds, but they leave such an indelible effect. Like cinematic poetry. So many opportunities for extended conflicts and contrived drama is eschewed in favor of a shot that lingers for just a few moments, letting you know everything you need to.
The director really gets it. And because he gets it, the actors are free to act, all doing much better work than we're used to seeing. Saif steals the show. Othello, the play, needs Iago.
And Saif takes that ubermensch archetype and runs with it, from the broad strokes of the character, the obvious facets embodied in his physicality and his his presence, to the more subtle notes like that glimmer of lonely angst in his eyes. And he does it without ever trying to upstage anyone, or at least does a good job of giving that impression.
The birthday party scene, where he quietly begs for some sign of affection from anyone gathered and finds himself all alone, was touching in a surprising way - I've seen a lot of movies, and I think I even pride myself on not falling prey to the usual appeals to emotion; the same techniques that directors and actors use over and over again. But, this caught me off-guard. There's a level of depth to the verisimilitude and nuance that's hard to come by.
The role that music plays in all this is also amazing. Not surprising because the director, Vishal Bharadwaj, comes from an accomplished musical background. It rarely calls attention to itself and always seems to complement the visuals and action in perfect sync. A thing of beauty, really.
Anyway, reading what I've written so far, you might think that this movie is only for people who take movies too seriously, maybe. People who're very concerned with the technical aspects of it etc.
But, that's really not the case. It is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, and it never strays too far from it's source. It's Shakespeare, that yardstick of universally applicable human experience.
I found myself relating to every character in the movie, even the minor ones. It engages you on a level that few movies ever do and does it without asking too much. Because there are no long monologues. The dialogue is succinct and apt. The visuals are always pretty, many of the frames like paintings taken by themselves. In other words, despite belonging to that post-Tarantino MTV generation, expecting constant stimulation and engagement to be provided to you instead of actively investing it, I had no trouble with this movie.
The film doesn't have the arrogance to ask you to sacrifice your viewing pleasure because it's Shakespeare and invest extra amounts of energy and attention. Without using the word in a bad way at all, there's plenty of entertainment here. And that's Shakespeare too.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
If you don't like this movie, then **** you
The title of the post is an in-joke for people who've seen the movie, so relax.
I enjoyed this more than Anchorman, even Old School. I enjoyed Old School somewhat although I thought it was infantile at some points and pretty predictable.
This one seems to be a different breed. It only pretends to be stupid. You get some social commentary, people dealing with emotional hang-ups with more depth than most comedies, but not nauseating in an Oprah-esquire way.
The unconventional opening already takes out of garden-variety comedy territory. It almost seems to follow Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey motif which got a lot of press thanks to Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc. Unusual Birth, estranged from father, impressive achievements at an early age, meteoric rise to fame and the like.
But, actually, it all feels pretty natural. If you buy into Campbell's notion of hard-coded archetypes in the psyche, then it at least feels like the script for this movie came out of someone's natural creativity, and not a paint-by-numbers attempt to cash in on the Hero's Journey as a formula.
Most people care about the comedy, and I laughed plenty of times. Many jokes fell flat, but there was always something funny just around the corner. That's just the way it has to be, because there's something about Will Farrel's humor, some extreme ADD quality that makes it beyond random. It's only one step from the ridiculous to the sublime.
The ending provides closure without completely selling out and being afraid to send anyone 100% satisfied. But, you won't care too much - you'll get what you came for.
About 70% of the people in my theater stayed for the outtakes - they wanted more.
The Break-Up (2006)
Schizophrenic, daring, inconclusive, worth a look
The movie seems to suffer from schizophrenia. Tries to be a drama with comedic elements. Could've been good if it stuck to one or the other, or maybe blended the two in an artful way. But, that's not how it turned out. From the get-go, there's something lacking and it turns out to be the light-hearted, somewhat carefree atmosphere of a romantic comedy. The intro, which shows us the genesis of the relationship, suggests that we're entering Hollywoodland, where the rules of rom-coms apply. The rest of the movie doesn't so much cleverly subvert this notion as much as suffer from indecision in regards to whether it wants to be dramatic and maybe even poignant or light-hearted, witty, and bordering on being a sitcom.
Still, I enjoyed it overall and I'm not quite sure why. I admired the cast and crew for taking risks and trying something new, something which audiences might not prove receptive to, and in hindsight, didn't.
I almost sort of felt like the characters were almost aware of being in a romantic comedy, and were aware that the rules didn't apply anymore and desperately wanted to get back to fairy-tale rules where a mad dash to the airport can salvage everything, or a few choice words spoken to romantic tunes will heal all wounds.
I don't want this to be a spoiler, so I won't say anymore. But, it tries something something new. The dynamics between Jen/Vince feels more real, more raw, and might hit too close to home for a lot of people. I'd rather Hollywood try something new and take some risks and fail.
In the end, I think its redeemed by its sense of daring and not catering (fully) to expectations, even if the movie never quite pulls itself together.
Beerfest (2006)
Worthwhile if you like Broken Lizard
I watched both Super Troopers and Club Dread, the comedy troupe's past two movies, on DVD with my roommate who has the sense of humor that I do, and I laughed a lot more often. I saw this one in the theater, and it was a lot harder to enjoy the movie, because there was a palpable air of awkwardness, uncomfortableness. The audience didn't seem quite prepared for this brand of humor, it seems, I don't know what they were expecting.
But if you liked Super Troopers, you should enjoy this. It has the same random, off-the-wall humor that somehow manages to be funny. Yes, it has gross-out elements, but that's not what makes it funny. Yes, it is a spoof of traditional sports movies, but that's not what makes it funny. In the end, there's a distinctive Broken Lizard X factor that sets this movie apart. If you know you belong to the demographic that responds to this element, then you should enjoy it.
Again, I wasn't as entertained by this as the other two movies, but it could be because I was in a theater that just didn't get it.
But, I got my money's worth, and then some.