Thor : Ragnarok - Trying too hard to be funny

I just came out of Thor: Ragnarok and the fight sequence music is still ringing in my ears!! That is the exact same music I hear in my head before I blow my top at anyone so I definitely identified with that 😄😄 

Writing a review about movies in the MCU is getting harder because they are becoming more like pieces of a big puzzle than a stand alone movie. So for someone who does not follow the MCU diligently this might be a let down. Because almost all the contrived jokes, hulk moments and loki-thor banter all reference previous movies and The Avengers. So you would not get any of that and it would fall plain flat for you. 

For MCU enthusiasts, 
-The biggest fault of this movie is that its basically trying too hard to be funny. Instead of throwing in thr jokes organically but now its more in-your-face. They were trying to make it more like the Guardians but ended up just bouncing of zingers as the second part of the ones in the Avengers. 
- Cate Blanchett as Hela is the best villain so far in the MCU. They should replace sedantry Thanos with Hela.. thats my 2 bits. She is really impressive in the very soft spoken, evil menacing way Meryl Streep played Miranda Priestly in The Devil wears Prada. A villain who whispers but chills you to your bones.
- It is the best Thor movie. But thats not saying much as the character didnt do very well as stand alone. MCU Thor is a team player.
- Hulk who used to understand one word dialogue like "Smash" "Attack", is now well on his way to an MA in English Literature!! 
- Valkyrie should have gotten more screen time and action sequences. She became an after thought by the end. 
- The BG score is really good and great music selection. 
- Ideis Elba as Himedall NEEDS TO/WANTS TO / HAS TO get more screentime and his character cannot be just a few minutes!!! That was my takeaway from the other two Thor movies and the same happened here also! 
- Dr Strange does not have much to do storywise and does not push the narrative forward. But I think Strange and Thor maybe be connected in the Infinity War movies, so this might have been like getting their introduction out of the way.  Dr Strange really seems to have grown into his own and he seems well on his way to becoming the Sorcerer Supreme. Cant wait to see his part in the next Avengers movie. 

ABCD - American Born Confused Desi

Went for ABCD yest. Dulquer Salman really is a guy to watch out for. Confidence and poise is what this guy really stands out for and great comic timing! And theres one thing he has, which his dad can only dream of.... being nimble and light footed! He dances like a dream and is great at fight sequences... unlike Mammootty whose feet are made up of lead!

Dulquer has the "clueless-smarty-pants-NRI-guy" act down pat. We saw it in Ustad Hotel and we see it here, though the values the two characters stand for are miles apart. Faizi of Ustad Hotel had dreams and a definite vision of where he was headed to. He was only hindered by the fact that his dad saw a different direction for him. Whereas in ABCD, Johns lives for each day and parties away his life which his father has a really hard time steering in the right direction.

Our dear Girigiri from Akkarakazhchakal has done a neat job (acting) as the bumbling sidekick. But even though he is the one authentic US-settled guy in the movie, his absolutely terrible "american accent" with atrocious levels of MTI is the one glaring fault of the movie. It just sticks out like a sore thumb.

I have lost hope for Innovative Multiplex Marathahalli. It is the one place in Bangalore that has not changed or improved an ounce in the past 4 yrs! Alas I am forced to go there as it is closest to my place and all the latest malayalam movies always have a show there.

Bilsila Bilsila

If there is anything worse than the "Silsila" song and Santhosh Pandit it is the song "Bilsila" sung by Jayasurya in the movie Three kings :-P

2 Harihar Nagar - 2 thumbs up :-D

"Ee kalyanam kudumbam ennokke parayunnathu oru sambhavan thannee aanu alleda? Avaleyum kuttikaleyum kaanaathe ithrayum divsam ..........................
............................................................................hoo enthoru ashwasam"

:-D Well, that's Appukuttan's take on the few days he got away from his family. And so on goes the other gems in this well written second take on the 4 rascals of Harihar Nagar. In the season of remakes in malayalam, the latest one to hit the bandstand is '2 Harihar Nagar'. The original was a total out and out riot and even now 19 years later our stomachs continue to pain from laughing out loud watching or even remembering those scenes.

The movie starts with a small backstory of when the friends first ganged up as school kids, following with small snatches from the original as we go thru the opening credits. Then starts the roller-coaster of the new take of things at Harihar Nagar, 15 years from where they left it. The main characters are just like how we would have imagined them being middle aged. All older and settled into lives with jobs, wives and kids but still the basic dimwit-cassanova streak doesn't dissapear. They have reunited now to celebrate the betrothal and marriage of Thomaskutty and they run into another Maya and so goes the ride.

The director doesnt resort to any flashiness, superhuman or techno stuff and just keeps alive the charm of the original by being believeable with some great twists; which something many directors have failed to do with sequels. The only thing that could have improved is the music. They have just remixed the old songs.

Have to say the movie is a perfect successor and will easily run for a 100 days and be the first smash hit of 2009. Lal proves a point or two with his first directorial outing after the split from Siddique. For those who missed the trailer :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFg4OhM0moU

Sagar Alias Jacky- NOT reloaded

Note: Contains Spoilers. This is not a movie review. Just my take on it.
After seeing the movie Irupatham Noottandu again recently on cable, I was quite impressed with the effect it had on me even 22 years after its release and had me looking forward to Sagar Alias Jacky - Reloaded the much hyped sequel to it.

SAJ-reloaded, as the title goes, is quite a pity of a movie as the director has not undrestood even the one basic thing about protoganist. Sagar is a well known gold-smuggler, who is also known as Jacky in the shady circles. Therefore Sagar alias Jacky. Note: alias is not his middle name or initial, 'alias' is a word which means "other name or assumed name' :-P So the first choice of title 'Irupathonnam Noottandu' was definitely better than this mistake of a mouthful.

Bullet points to be noted:
- The movie is not a sequel. The only thing common with the first movie is that it has Jagathy in the same useless telugu speaking role, which could have been avoided even in the first movie and absolutely done without in this one. He's not even remotely funny in this one.
- The only stunt in this 'action' packed thriller is a scene in which Bhavana jumps down a storey from her home. Mohanlal doesn't have to even flex his flubby cheeks; even for a smile.
- The camerawork is pretty slick and stylish even for Indian movie standards and the whole movie is in shades of black, grey and sepia just like Big B.

- Only one decent song in it. Well picturised but Lal and Bhavana do make a pretty mismatched couple.

- Hero does an occassional diamond smuggling but main job is to give people promises like "I will save your Husband" or "I will save your Brother" and just walk over and untie those people.

- Lal never ever needs to wear a bullet proof jacket or anything he just walks straight into a shower of machine gun bullets and they all just bounce off his big tummy.

My tips to the main actors:

@Mohanlal: Walking so much in real life might just help you to shed those 8(family)packs (sorry my mistake! not 8 but just one giant bean bag size stomach) and black is definitely not a slimming colour for you!!!
@Sobhana: I dont know how u manage it so well in your dance recitals; but definitely you have lost the magic touch of acting. And I dont think more makeup will also help in covering up the hag look!! (sob! sob! this is coming from one true fan of yours!!)
@Bhavana: Keep it up girly.... you look good enough to eat!! hehe but pls pls pls stick to ppl in your age group not the grand-daddies! you surely have a long way to go :-)
@Manoj K Jayan : Dont you ever get bored of yourself? Well doing the same heros-best-friend-turned-sneak routine over and again will definitely take its toll on the audience. Better try and change course.
@Jyothimayee: Well you have almost succeeded in doing a Nayantara. But next time please make sure you get a good song to back it up with instead of just a string of sounds.

@Amal Neerad : You really are a master cameraman. But you have to understand that movie making and arranging walkathons are 2 things absolutely different! Pls do not try to mix them up!! Dont even think of re-hashing scenes from Big B for your next movie and maybe you can try out a different set of supporting cast also. Also next time please try not to make kochi based anglo-indians the villains!!

This one scene from Irupatham Noottandu is enough to show the character's slickness. Not exactly a Don type scene but still one of my fav : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSVeDVLjL6A

Crazy Gopalan

The first malayalam movie i got to see in 2009! Crazy Gopalan.... A movie that can be neatly classified among the likes of older Dileep no-brainers like CID Moosa, Parakkum Thalika. If you are not a fan of those types then u can stop reading this review right now and give this movie a miss!!

Story is a bit difficult to put into a review as it starts on one note and ends on a totally unrelated climax. Gopalan (Dileep) is a medium-time crook in a tiny village called Oonjalaadi. Cant describe him as a small time crook as he steals much bigger articles like door frames and cycles than small items like wallets. The villagers hatch a plan to catch him but they do not succeed. This gives Gopalan a fright and he shifts base to Ernakulam town and meets up with Salim Kumar another crook. They are then caught up in a big bank robbery plan and end up becoming the accused!!! How they try to get out and how Dileep takes revenge forms rest of the story. Why the story should start in a village and then shift base to the city is something which baffled me. He could just have been made out to be the same crook in the city also. The movie was initially named as 'Run Gopala Run' which would have been more apt than the final Crazy title because he just doesnt do anything crazy all throughout. :-P

The heroine Radha Varma is an absolute waste as she cannot even smile properly forget mouthing the dialogues!!! and she just ends up looking like a way-side pick up instead of the millionairess shes made out to be. Manoj K Jayan is the same ditto stereptype villain he is as in every movie and has just sleep-walked through this role. Same with Jagathy. The saving grace of the movie is Salim Kumar who is a riot in every scene he appears. :-)

Dileep tried really hard in movies like The Don and July 4th (both which sank without a trace) to change his image from slapstick hero to larger than life hero like Mohanlal and Mamootty. But i think he has now finally figured out hes not of the same material and has gone back to his roots albeit with some small action scenes in place. The director has managed to fit in a couple of neatly choreographed stunt sequences which do not (for once) look funny but on the other hand we can clearly see he has put in some work against his flabs and it shows also. Well, good for him!!

Crazy Gopalan is not hit material but it might turn out to be an average collector and rake in the money spent. A movie you can afford to watch when your train has been delayed by 5 hrs!! (so now you also know the reason behind me sitting through the entire movie)
Rating : 2 stars.

Akashagopuram

Castles in the air, they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build as well - Henrik Ibsen

There was something about the trailers and and the few seconds in which they showed the characters of the story that makes the viewer want to watch this movie even though it is of a parallel cinema genre.

Akashagopuram can be summarised in a couple of words:
Type: A European drama spoken in malayalam.
Story : The old Perunthachan story with some small tweaks here and there.

If one goes to the theater with a mindset of watching a malayalam movie i guess you are going to be dissappointed. But viewing it as an English drama, its certainly commendable and to imagine so much has been done with an entirely malayalee cast, maybe it would be better to say the western technicians and crew have done their job excellently.

Performances are all too subdued with limited dialogues. It is supposed to give the viwer the feeling of the torrent of emotions bubbling within each character.The casting is almost perfect and fits to the T. Veterans like Mohanlal and Bharat Gopi have all done their job well and as expected. Newcomer Nitya is the real revelation in the movie. She has the second most important role in the movie after Mohanlal.

Akashagopuram gives quite a few dissappointments and some of those are :
~The house which is supposed to be the architechts "best work ever" looks more in shape like an ant-hill turned into a house than a collosal building it is supposed to be.
~The dialogues could have been modified a small bit to suit an indian audience, like maybe avoiding the usage of MR. MS. in front of everone names. Also the ettiquets followed by every character giev sa feeling of a few decades back.
~There are some mismatches here and there like the dating of the movie. While most of the movie gives the viewer the impression that it is set in the modern world with flat screen conputers and swanky cars, many things like Nityas costumes are certainly dated and not the type worn by 20+ GenNext ppl.
~In an era of skyscrapers and coutries competing to build the worlds tallest building, a young girl getting awed by a tall church building are few of the things that do not sink in easily and gives a certain confusion about which decade the story is set in.

On the whole the movie seems to be tailor made with a stifled view to bag a couple of critics awards or soem 'arty' awards. But as to how much it will score is yet to be seen.