Monthly Archives: May 2012
Dark Shadows : Burton fans stay away
We have all come to expect dark stories with quirky undertones and a special eye for detailed set & art direction when it comes to dream weaver Tim Burton, and his latest offering “Dark Shadows” is no different. Led by his ever dependable and permanent aide Johnny Depp, it tells a tale of lost love, revenge, family drama, transcending across the vampire genre with the 70′s rock n roll culture providing an elaborate backdrop. All in all an exceptional prospect all going in favour of the movie.
But as you can imagine, exceptional prospects does not warrant exceptional cinema and that’s pretty much the case with “Dark Shadows”. The added weight of expectations that a Tim Burton production carries with it eventually weighs this one down to its knees. A rushed screenplay of a fairly straight forward narration falls apart with undercooked sub plots leading to a climax that didn’t answer a lot of questions that were asked during its runtime. I found myself checking the time twice or more during the third act, when the going ons become almost unbearable. It was either that the ordinary viewer didn’t sympathize with the protagonist or worst of all, it just didnt matter anymore. Good cinema is one that demands your attention while gently sweeping you away to a world that the makers wanted you to be a part of. Sadly with all the explicit art direction and well thought props, this one lacks coherence mainly due to a lacklustre story.
Finally a clean shaven "Depp"
The better aspects of “Dark Shadows” is its relatable but few and far between humour and make up (we’ve come to expect both from these guys haven’t we ?). A wonderful cast led by Depp and well supported by Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Grace Moretz pulled in a lot of weight with brilliant portrayals of the average written material. The cosmetics of the production is also noteworthy. A linear narration and rather well developed characters means a larger target audience. A story based in the early 70′s almost guarantees a beautiful soundtrack and this is no different here. There is also a tastefully done cameo of a rockstar that augurs well for the music fan 
Keep 'em fangs clean
But all that aside. Sadly the ever bankable Tim Burton falters in treating a story that you’ve heard before with dexterity which has been a hallmark of all his previous work. For reasons stated above, a new breed of cinegoers will buy the tickets, which means more than average turn out at the box office. But no one can complain if his ardent fans feel short changed at the end of it all. Depp who is known for pulling off complex and intricate characters must have slept walked through his role with attributes harbouring on single faceted and border line boring. For a story that had so much going for it, its depressive turn of events and a climax that doesn’t do justice to the developments and its liberal takes on misleading sub plots makes its a 2.5 / 5. Make no mistake, there are far worse movies at the cinema today but for a Tim Burton’s production this is well below par. Recommended to anyone with new found penchant for the dark humour.
Burton fans stay away.
The Dictator’s Interview & Scorsese in Pajamas ?
Here’s Admiral General Aladeen the opinionated dictator of Wadiyah in his first late night interview for American public, has a surprise for you. Watch and learn, and be very scared.
Martin Scorsese in pajamas. This one takes the cake !!!
& for the ones who have’nt seen the REDBAND trailer yet, here it is. It as expected is one of the politically most incorrect movies to be ever made. This trailer does total justice to this claim with references to serious issues like girl foetus killings, child abuse, 9/11 tragedy, Avatar, sex (what were you thinking?), small boobs, :
“The Dictator” will be reviewed once I illegally download it after its release (waiting for the banning news in Malaysia 
). Hold on to your horses until then. Looks like a winner to me
A production still from the sets 
The Dark Knight Rises : The New Trailer #3
So here it is, the 3rd and the most convincing (if that was humanely possible) trailer of the most discussed movie of the decade.
As good as it’s production values are, I wonder who cuts his trailers ? How can they be these darn brain freezingly awesome? The first time I watched “Inception”‘s trailer in the theatre I was convinced that it couldn’t be topped. Well this one pretty much smashes it out of the window and that’s a bloody good thing. Its the same brain behind both. & Dont we just adore the man.
Here’s Christopher Nolan’s version of the cape crusader’s story, in his 3rd and conclusive edition called “The Dark Knight Rises”.
Anyway here we get a glimpse of what’s in store. It’s obviously classical mayhem at its best with slow build-up in the background score leading to its theme hitting crescendo by the time the credits come up. I mean consider a feature with a line up that includes Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and you still await its release for the story and the action. Only Nolan could have done it. & I dont usually count my stars before a movie’s release but this trailer has pretty much left me with no choice.
Damn 13 more weeks to go. How unfair incredibly unfair !!! LOL
P.S. I love how Nolan releases his movies right before his birthday (which I coincidently share with him Go figure LOL
Christopher "MY GURU" Nolan
The Avengers : 6 heroes at the price of 1
Well, summer’s almost here & so are the summer movies. Kicking off proceedings in more ways than one is Marvel superheroes union of sorts “The Avengers”. & everybody from 6 to 60 is queuing up at the box office to stake their claim at “I have watched it. Haven’t You?”. Touted by every data crunching site as the biggest superhero movie outside the US ever, the feature is raking up profits in the proverbial “truck loads” since its release 6 nights back.
As for the movie itself, writer / director Joss Whedon has put together a dish that should serve and appeal to a wide variety of palette or as in this instance, the cinegoing demography. In his quest of universal appeal the man has barely left any twist and turn in tits screenplay to anybody’s guess. Equal screen presence to almost all the pivotal characters and measured attention to their character developments, culminating into their meeting and an elaborate climax also means a longer than usual runtime. That is if you agree that 135 minutes is much more than your average Hollywood potboiler. Most of your friends, who have watched it, will make you believe that it didn’t feel that long, but try telling that to the distributors, who if given the opportunity would have gladly slid in one more show and make optimum usage of this 4 x A lister led cast. In perspective to the story itself considering a predictable end, I personally feel the climax could have done with a few scissor work here and there. Besides that, a multitude of CGI induced action sequences from start to finish, peppered with a few smart one liners will keep you quite interested through out, or almost through out. Special mention to the aspect of the heroes trying to outsmart each other sometimes with their skills but mostly with their knuckles, makes for a fun and unique experience. A couple of scenes that attributes to this, was the highlight of the premise for me. The villain, owing to the painstaking build up could or should have been done with some more sinistry. He caves in exactly when you were expecting a boombastic retaliation.
As for the actors, the lone bad man Tom Hiddleston does a terrific job to outshine the collective glare of a long line up of hammer wielding, shield dangling, mind twisting, mixed with bunch of bow trickeries & a fancy suit along with a blown up rage monster in green. The man who should have had more lines, makes up for his leaner image against his bulkier opponents through tremendous poise and screen presence. Specially when a gamut of super powers also meant the subconscious mind of the audience focussed a lot on the solo bad guy in the screenplay. This brings me to a couple of glitches, of an otherwise spotless production. Loki, should have had more in his arsenal than being the one trick pony that he was eventually made out to be. Even if that was at the expense of the elaborate introductions of of the heroes, a couple of who are pretty well established with two sequels and two remakes, so be it. Secondly, an attempt at being a crowd pleaser sometimes comes with a dubious distinction of being a nobody, a particular someone who is a no one. In the long run this is what “The Avengers” looks like it could suffer from. But then again considering this is also a business of making money, I see sky being the only limit for this swashbuckler.
Watch “The Avengers” for the fun tongue wagging of heroes having a go at each other, who you’ve come to know and associate with over the years. Enjoy for what’s it worth. A case in point being all the action (nothing like you’ve never seen before), and if not for that, then for Scarlett Johansson’s skin fitting PVC suit, Tom Hiddleston’s dialogue delivery, Chris Hemworth’s overgrown biceps, Mark Ruffalo’s awkwardness, Jeremy Renner’s brooding sleepwalk, Chris Evan’s ridiculous uniform and IronMan for being Robert Downey Jnr. Obviously not for Samuel Jackson’s run of the mill Nick Fury and definitely don’t watch it just for the 10stars that every 15 year old is giving it, in IMDB If anything watch it because you get to see 6 heroes at the price of 1. Period.
“The Avengers” is an entertaining film and it will earn unbelievable amount of money. There’s no two ways about that. I am just not that thrilled because it could have been much, much more than that.
4/5
Awesome – Awesome Trailer
