Movie:: Disturbia

Hey,

I just saw a movie that I totally fell in love with: Disturbia. Disturbia is, for those with proper movie knowledge, an updated version of Hitchcock's classic Rear Window, where the protagonist is home-bound in his wheelchair because of his lg injury, and gets to see what's happening in his neighbors homes. Disturbia puts its main protagonist under home arrest for an entire three months. Seems like a dream come true for many, but now for Kale. Kale bides his time playing games, surfing the net, watching tv and pigging out, but then is drawn to his new neighbor hottie who just moved in next door. Using his binoculars, he spies on her, and eventually begins to spies in on his neighbor, including several kids who secretly watch porn on their tv and a neighbor who seems morose.

A series of events leads Kale to believe that there is s serial killer living next door, but who will believe him till he has evidence. So he gets his best friend Roland, and eventually the new hottie girl on the block in his shenanigans. One things to lead to another, where all three are convinced that the next door neighbor is a serial killer. But then it turns out to be a case of misunderstanding.

Is Kale really imagining thing having been inside the house for weeks? Or is there really a serial killer next door? I won't spoil the answers, because I think the movie needs to be seen to truly appreciate the concept. This movie is a heavy dose of psychological-thriller-suspense movie with a lot of unintended humour.

Disturbia also poses a serious question about society. When does a simple observation becomes an act of voyeurism? Is people-watching voyeurism? Is it wrong to watch into the neighbor's house, even if there seems to be a murder going on? Disturbia poses all these questions, and in today's age when everyone seems to be hooked onto YouTube, maybe we all have a voyeuristic tendency in us after all.

Mansur

Movie:: The Reaping

Hello friends,

Saw two movies within the last one week. One I really enjoyed, the other I somewhat enjoyed. Let's look at the one I didn't enjoy as much as I wanted to: The Reaping.

The Reaping is a Christian-Horror movie, something that I haven't seen for a long time. The premise of the movie sounded promising, and the suspense and build-up was amazing. The Reaping stars Hilary Swank (of Boys Dont Cry and Million Dollar Baby Oscars fame) as an ex-missionary, who now works as a professor who debunks religious miracles and explains them in scientific terms. I saw a little bit of myself in her, as I also like to look into all other possible scientific explanations of anything that claims to be a religious miracale. However, our heroine is called down to a small town in Loisiana, in the heart of the Bible Belt region to investigate a series of what the townspeople deem Biblical plagues, which includes river turning red with blood, locusts infection, boils and other plagues.

Our heroine is accompanied by her co-worker who is a strong Christian and has suffered for his faith, and yet does so in this small town. While investigating the river of blood, our heroine encounters a small girl, who is shunned by the townspeople. Certain events lead for our heroine to reassess her decision to renouce her faith, and seeks answers for the bizarre happenings around her. How she comes to term with her own disastrous history regarding faith forms the crux of the story. It's a great movie, but the ending was a let down. It turns into a typical Hollywood movie.

The direction is ace, with a very realistic feeling to the whole series of events. The suspense was top notch, with certain scary scenes (which freaked a friend of mine!), but like I said, the ending was a total wash-out and should have maintained a sense of realism for this movie to be truly creepy.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

I also have to wonder why a two-time Oscar for best actress has to work in movies like this...why aren't people giving her good scripts work with?

Mansur

Movie:: Provoked

Hey guys,

Last night we saw Provoked, starring Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews (Sayid from Lost) I was not willing to go see this movie because of its nature (domestice abuse-- and tend to avoid movies dealing with such issues) but in a peculiar way, I was glad I went to see this one.

Ash plays Kiranjeet Ahluwalia, a Punjabi girl who comes to England having married her husband. Two kids later, all seems hunky dory for Kiran till that fateful night when her husband is burnt in his bed. Kiran is arrested and charged with attempted manslaughter and sent to prison. In prison, like the movie's tagline says, Kiran found her freedom.

There are a lot of good things going on for this movie.

1. Aishwarya did a very commendable job getting into the character and her transformation from a timid woman to a brave woman with her new found freedom was credible. This is the type of movie Aishwarya can excel in and not Dhoom 2 type movies. Her acting was controlled, under-stated and effective. We feel for her through every step of her way.

2. The supporting cast also excel in their own little ways, expecialy Radha and Ronnie.

3. The simplicity of the film made it all the more effective, as it was not filled with Hollywood cliches with over-powering orchestral music in every scene to highlight whatever emotions there are. The treatment of this movie is very much like Dead Man Walking.

4. My favorite thing in the movie was the 'parallelism' that ran throughout to show Kiran's life in home and prison, for example, when she steps into the prison cell for the first time, we intercut to her flashback of stepping into her new home as a married woman. In another case, when she is being served a meal in prison, we see her kids eating lunch at home. I loved this direction!

I would give this movie a 4 out of 5 only because I think the character of the husband was demonized. We don't know why he acts the way he acts. He was not human enough to gain any sympathy from us, but then again, this movie is based on a true story on this woman and it's her side of the story.

Mansur

Movie:: The Namesake

Hello everyone,

The Namesake is based on a great, emotional novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri. Like all over immigrants coming to the United States to fit in, The Namesake tackles upon the idea of changing our names to fit in. Much is made of this in the movie, like it is in the book.

Seen primarily through the eyes of Ashima, who marries Ashok, and moves to New York City and immediately feels like a complete stranger. They make it through and have two kids, Gogol and Sonia. The kids grow up to be completely American in their mind-set and attitudes towards life, much to the chagrin of the parents. Gogol, just having graduated from high school, has an white girlfriend Maxine. Through their several trips back to India, Gogol gets a sense of where his actual roots are, and thus begins an awakening in him as to where he is really from and the origin of his name, which actually is the highlight of the movie.

The story of Ashima and Ashok was the most entertaining thing in the movie, as we get to walk along with them settling in New York City, dealing with the conveniences of life ("do you know we get gas 24 hours a day"). In contrast to their story, the story of Gogol and Maxine seem rushed through, although that's also quite entertaining. When a dramatic event takes place forcing Gogol to re-evaulate his identity and name, the rest of the movie falters and feels like as if the director just decided to wrap up the movie on the spot, which is a let down.

The movie does a good job of translating the book on to the screen, some parts even better than the book, but ultimately the book is a better deal than the movie. All actors have done a commendable job, especiall Tabu and Irrfan Khan, and credit ust be given to Kal Penn who has shown his ability to do some serious acting.

The identity of who we are and how we are defined by our name forms the crux of the movie as Gogol struggles with his name which others around him tease him for. I personally had issues with my name when growing up, but today, I realize that my name is not an accident but that I was meant to have it. Like Ashima says in the movie, "there are no accidents in life" and with that idea, I am convinced I was given the name Mansur because it means "victorious" and having to overcome the struggles in life, I am definitely the victorious one!

3 out of 5 for not being as deeply emotional as the book is.

Mansur

Movie:: 300

Hey friends,

300 is one of those movies which you either love or hate, depending on which age bracket you are. If I were a teenager with raging hormones, 300 would definitely have been my kind of movie, but as a guy in his late 20s, I was left desiring for more substance than just what I was delievered on screen.

300 is about the battle of Thermopylae, set in Greece in 480BC, where the Spartan army of just 300, led by Emperor Leonidas, fight off the advancing Persian army led by Xerxes. Leonidas is bound by custom and tradition to not fight, but he still persists and leads his men of just 300 to fend of what some historians say 20,000 men from the Persian side. The first question that went through my head was how could a mere 300 men fight off 20,000 men? Well, this movies proves it possible, and once the battle starts, you are entirely convinced that it's entirely possible for this to happen.

Let's get over with the good things first. No doubt 300 is one of the most stlyish film to come across the cinema screen. Since it's based on a graphic comic novel by Frank Miller, the makers of the movie attempt to get the same comic book feel on the big screen, with much success. The print is grainy in texture, the action scenes are graphic, full of gore and violence. The fight scene in itself is more like a work of art than the fight scene you would see in, for example, The Lord of the Rings. With Matrix-like action sequences, with slo-mo and then sudden movements, the violence is glorified and passed off as a piece of moving art, which is quite cool.

However, having said that, there are other things that let down this movie. Leonidas is played by a Scottish actor, and everytime he spoke I was reminded of Braveheart, and had to remind myself over and over this is Greeks versus Persians, not Scots versus Persians. Secondly, the story moved all over the place, not giving enough time to me to like the characters. Like I said, it was more about the style and not the substance. Comparisons arise between this movie and other movies like Troy, The Lord of the Rings, Alexander and in particular Gladiator as the end of 300 takes place in a barley field a la Gladiator, which is not a good thing because 300 cannot stand on its own.

A very well made movie, with enough action to please those seeking testosterone filled action. A movie to definitely see in the cinema given it's epic canvas sheet. 300 is let down by it's director and it's structure.

3 out of 5.

By the way, all those six-packs you see, they have been air-brushed in the movie, so don't be fooled by that!

Mansur