Down The Rabbit Hole

Simple yet powerful visual art, a treat for the artist in you. This is easily one of the most beautiful movies I have seen. Simple yet powerful, the visual narrative is breathtaking. By the end, I was rooting for a happy ending, but it wasn't meant to be. This a simple love story powerfully told in an artistic way. One can see the artist's imagination working in the minute details that get captured in each scene. For example, Akari gets up from her seat in her office to go to a meeting, and her chair rotates slightly--empty--as the scene cuts. At that moment, the story is devolving into how Akari has moved on in her life, and this little ending drives the message home. Similarly, Takaki says to himself at some point that he didn't know when he started composing messages on his phone meant for nobody, meaning that loneliness has become a part of him. That standard of storytelling is hard to emulate. In short, a treat for the artist in you. IMDB

When I was younger, I thought my life’s aim was to understand this world. Now I think, it is more specialized than that. The aim is to find beauty. I am drawn towards people and things which seem beautiful to me. I am interested in exploring them.  I spend most of my time with them. I watch movies I find beautiful again and again. I try to write poetry because I feel their beauty. I try to build systems that seem beautiful. I like people who are genuine and truthful, because I find them beautiful. I try to work with people who I find beautiful. Beauty cannot exist without comprehension. To find beauty you have to keep on understanding this world. Ever deeper and beyond. This is why I detest people who I don’t find beautiful. Fake, sycophantic, hypocritical, false, vague and purposeless people. The other thing I really like is clarity. When I find clarity of thought in somebody’s thoughts, I feel interested. I am drawn to them. Clarity is the direct...

A serious letdown, clichéd dialogues and sappy story This movie is a spectacular letdown. You go in with high expectations, get bored with over-the-top clichéd dialogues, hope for it to end before sleep claims you, find an off-color Shahrukh giving life lessons to a confused Alia with adoring eyes, and you wonder, how and why would SRK do this kind of a sappy film. There was only one memorable dialogue from this movie, and it was 'genius is knowing when to stop.' I think if the director had known when to stop doling out the life lessons, we could have had the chance to save some time. Alia tries a lot to play the confused, conflicted young adult, and SRK's is merely the scaffolding the director wanted Alia to build on. But alas, such a sheer waste of talent this film is. Kunal Kapoor is never utilised, SRK seems to totter in some scenes, Ali Zafar seems to come from cheesy-lines-land, Alia seems hysterical in many, and the other characters stay underdeveloped...

Very average action film with incredible graphics Benedict Cumberbatch looks stuck in a particular kind of a role. He is forever playing the role of a genius egotist who has to save the world. When I saw 'The Imitation Game' I gave him the benefit of the doubt and now it's the same thing all over again. The movie follows a fairly predictable path of evolution as we see him making wisecracks at his colleagues and then falling at the hands of his own arrogance. Here again, his portrayal of a genius egotistical eccentric doctor reminds me a lot of Dr House from the TV show House MD. As he enters the world of metaphysical voodoo of inter- dimensional travel, the story starts to make a lot less sense. The little jokes in between were of some relief in the tiresome spiralling of the plot as we chased the camera down to time travelling forces having the one and the only motive of 'destroying earth'. The special effects are amazing in this one. I really liked...

Have a man go search for an aimless arrow Have him think for an indistinct instant Of a life going by with a soundless thunder Have him ride by a murmuring world Through a smog of light-less plight With a quiver of ageing hide And a glass of sightless eyes. When once he stood with a knitted brow Decked with an impatient impulse Of unclear aims and lofty planes And dreams destined too deep Upon his cavernous eyes, he had shot An aimless arrow for the ark. Not by his own will, nor his ka His way is long lost, lorn and torn Moved by earth, tide and whim His path is askew, untold and unseen Forgotten far away lies his mane Flung wide awake now is his soul. Time toiled hard to teach When he lisped his lies to life With his mind in knots, his arms entwined He was moored away From the song of himself. Too late he has learnt It's an uncertain melody--this world Without the beats of your own heart.

A self-deprecating humor statement of Shahrukh Khan the human. 'Fan' is uniquely crafted, brilliantly communicated cinema. Its idea is singular enough to deserve a place among the better films of Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh is superb in his alternating personalities as himself and his fan. This film stands apart from his other films in many ways--there are no songs; there are pretty long chase sequences; and there are no lead actresses. Shahrukh Khan runs his own show, and you cannot complain even for a second. I found it hard to turn away from my screen. Although the first half is better written than the second, I won't complain. A test of an actor's portrayal of a role can be if one could imagine some other actor being able to do it better, and in this case I can't think of any other actor who could have done justice to this role. I think Shahrukh has given us the kind of film which he would be remembered for. This film is a self-depr...

A missed opportunity. This film could have been a turning point for the franchise. There are only three characters worth watching in the film in certain scenes--the Joker, Harley Quinn and Deadshot; despite having an ensemble of talented actors. There are plenty of times when you wish the deafening violence to stop scattering your wits long enough to make sense of the convoluted plot. The scene of Harley Quinn reminiscing about her shared craziness (love?) for the Joker had a powerful effect on me. But the beauty of that short scene soon dissolved into the ugliness of punches and bullets; just like Quinn's sanity dissolved into that pool to give way to her insanity for the Joker. Will Smith is convincing in his role. All the other cast members seem ineffective, especially the Witch. There are numerous plot holes. In conclusion, watch it if you absolutely must watch an action film, or if you are a Joker buff. IMDB

A coming-of-age experience of merit. Joe is in a hurry to grow up. He wants to build his own house, hunt his own food and live without his grumpy old dad. With two of his fellows in crime, he runs away to live in the woods at a self-built log cabin. The story is blasé enough, but the climax is well executed. What seemed caricatures from 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' in the first half, graduated with poignant moments of loneliness when Joe learns what it means to be alone. A month in the woods becomes a long internship to maturity. Friends leave him and love eludes him as he struggles to survive. In short, the film is simple yet engaging. Definitely a one time watch. IMDB

Cooper's haunted looks sear through. He looks so alone. Out cold inside a black hole, he yearns, and remembers. It is his daughter--back on Earth that he had left with a promise. A promise he now knows he can't keep. He has failed. *** This is a film not just about parenthood. It is anthropological in its canvas. Humankind is struggling to survive, and we see all of our species' defining features here. It is about humanity's best and worst. 'Mann' lies to ensure his survival. Cooper braves a black hole to send Brand on her way, wryly quoting the Newton's third law, “The only way humans have ever figured out of getting somewhere is to leave something behind.” Brand still loves someone who she hasn't seen in decades, and is pulled light years towards him. We may be three dimensional beings, but 'love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.' For a moment, I am reminded...

It makes you laugh, it fills you with warmth and lifts you. Forrest's life is not an ordinary one. Lt. Dan maintains that there is a destiny for everyone to follow, while Forrest's mother tells him that 'life is a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.' Forrest ruminates at the end that these two seemingly opposing views may not be irreconcilable after all. His life is proof enough that accidents happen; all you got to do is to follow them to completion, and they would become your destiny. Forrest got a few chances in his life, he followed what his loved ones told him to do, and got through. The feather may represent that randomness that can lead you to your destiny, because it looks as if it is floating idly in the wind, but the wind is not without design. Lt. Dan laughs when Forrest tells him that he would become a shrimp boat captain, but that same business would then make him rich beyond his dreams. This is wonderful cinema. The ...

Amazingly crafted, very convincing indeed Spielberg has dramatized the most difficult months of Lincoln's presidency in intimate and sympathetic detail. I remember the way Lincoln would connect with his audience, share an anecdote and immediately lighten up the atmosphere. He seemed like an immensely likable man. When the moment demanded, he could also be tough and exercise the power his charisma granted him over others. The film focuses on the visionary that he was, the realist he had to become to achieve his vision and the certainty he had in his beliefs. The one thing that separated him from his peers was the ability to seek out the important from the inane. It is shown that he was aware of the historical moment that was upon them in the form of the Thirteenth Amendment, and he 'cepit diem'. Daniel Day Lewis has given us a remarkable performance. It is very hard to make out that the Lincoln we see brooding and connecting is actually an actor; someone for ...

Informative and slightly political documentary. This film details Stuxnet as a phenomenon. It does a good job in deliberating about its ramifications and the situations that fomented it. Although the claims it makes cannot truly be verified, it does give you the general idea about the alleged attack. I would say there was a political angle to the telling of the tale, but the movie drives home the point that Stuxnet was the primer to the era of cyber warfare of this century. We get to see the dramatization of the 'predicament' of the Bush administration, the sepia tinted Ahmadinejad speeches (which should have been subtitled in English, but were not), and the fictional NSA agent who tells us the role Israel and the US supposedly played in the story. In the end it tries to give out a moral message that all war is bad, more weapons just mean more calamities waiting in the wings, and secrecy around a weapon is the first step to let it run amok. Overall, it was an inf...