Iruttu (2019)

Please haunt me, tonight...please...

I shall come out straight and declare that Tamil film industry, in my book, can’t, for nuts that squirrels stash away, make a horror flick.

The last time I ever got scared watching a Tamil film was somewhere in the early 80s watching Sigappu Rojakkal on TV. The garden scene, the frickin’ black cat, and not to mention, the psychotic Kamal, scared the shit outta little me.

Then, there was Yavarum Nalam (2009), which relied heavily on its lead, Madhavan’s performance to give us the scare. I felt uneasy, not scared, but then again, take Madhavan out and put some amateur, and the movie would sucks llama’s balls.

I suppose that is what seemed to be lacking in this film. I can imagine how it would have worked if Madhavan himself was the lead here. Sunder C. is a fine genre hack. But he seemed to be not interested most of the time. Nothing here seemed to be working….except…except…

….I have a confession…I fell in love with the frickin Ghost herself, played by Sai Dhanshika. Man, she’s not only gorgeous, she has that certain exotic eeriness that makes you feel it is okay to make out with a bloody ghost. Not that she shows skin….hardly, considering she plays a Muslim ghost…but she certainly exuded the exotic eroticism effortlessly, for me that is. Okay, enough about her, Rakesh, stop it!

I suppose that could be one of the reasons the film failed on me. I mean, this film should be slightly away from the other usual stereotyped Nane Varuven type female ghost flicks, considering this time it involved Islam.

Yes, usually it would be some Catholic Fathers or Hindu PoosAris grappling with apparitions and perform the exorcism. But this time, its some Muslim Imam (?) who does the job. In that way, this film sticks out slightly and worth checking out.

Otherwise, it's just another supposedly horror flick with the usual clichés, formulas, stereotypes and tropes that the filmmaker use to ensure that it satisfies the audience who would immediately seek these out in the first place.

There are hardly jump-outta-your-seat scenes, but that depends on how jumpy you are. For someone who had seen the abovementioned Barathiraja directed flick about red rose, and many, many fine Hollywood horrors flicks (I prefer sci-fi horrors, like Alien and its sequels, Invasion of the Body Snatcher, The Thing, etc)….I am not too affected by those scenes.

Also, as a well-wisher of Sunder C who had enjoyed his early semi-comedic films, I know well that this is not within his territory, though he himself had already directed and starred in the Aranmanai films which had strong comedic content, which lacked in this film.

All in all, this is a so and so film, only worth it if you are fine with the cast, and intrigued by the Islamic angle to it.  As for me, if I come across it again, I am watching it for Sai Dhanshika. What a lovely ghost she is…. please haunt me.

Ejen Ali (2019)

To add, the cat stole the show...but I didn't mention that in the
review in order not to upset dog lovers.

I have no clue what Ejen Ali is all about, except I have been seeing its posters at the movie theatres I frequent here in KL. I totally didn’t know that it is a big-screen version of a highly viewed Malaysian TV animated series. Good, in that way I will not judge too much.

The last Malaysian made film I watched on a big screen was in 1990, one Fenomena, directed by Aziz M. Osman, that I recall watching with my late brother Balan, because we liked M. Nasir, the star of that flick, and the rock band Search which appeared in it and gave the title track. It was a good flick, judged by our standard here. But I stopped there, and just watched old P. Ramlee films on TV and discs.

Now, something urged me on to watch this, mainly because I was curious. Computer-generated imagery has been around for around three decades in Malaysia (our first exposure was the Benson & Hedges World Cup advertisements in 1986), and this film, an animated one at that, pricked my interest.

Needless to say, it was worth the price of the ticket. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the animation. It was clean, professionally done, almost good for the international market (almost, there could be more done with facial expressions which somehow seemed limited to me, but that’s me, a fan of Cagney, Brando, Sivaji Ganesan and P. Ramlee).

The action scenes were pretty good. I would want to complain about how sometimes it seems not clear, but I would complain the same about some contemporary live-action Hollywood films as well, so I will put the blame solely on my need to seek detail (I looked up for the condition that is a direct opposite of ADHD. It is called Sluggish Cognitive Tempo….Me? Hmmm).

And so, this is an action spy flick involving a kid, the title character, and his family, friends and the agency folks, which include an entire Mamak restaurant seemingly on the payroll of the spy agency cleverly abbreviated as MATA (I had to look it up online, I don’t recall it being spelt out in the film).

And so, the vocal acting is fine as far as Malay language films are concerned, more workmanlike I shall say. And the trouble is, they do talk a lot. Like, a lot!! Which I would say does not suit this kinda sci-fi infused animated spy flick. There’s awful lotsa yakking, and the dialogues seem to lack the authenticity of a Malay speaking environment. They seem more like written first with Hollywood English complete with the clichéd expressions and translated back to Malay.

What surprised me the most was the sub-plot concerning Ejen Ali and his “missing” mother. I mean, I actually did get a bit emotional during those scenes. Perhaps its because I am older, has a son of my own and am not exactly with him. Oh well…

All in all, it’s a fantastic output from a local production company. I salute the talent involved…and trust me, I believe I may have met some of them during my journo days when I used to cover ICT, and frequent Cyberjaya, especially Malaysian Digital Economy Development (MDEC) and these are serious hardworking young men and women who do not fall within the stereotypes of their background…Malaysians would know what I mean. They are good. Seriously good.

And so, I salute the folks behind the creation of this flick…apart from too much of yak yak yak..one other thing they should look at is the facial expression of the characters…its animation, therefore, more animated please. These are my only complaints.

Otherwise, bravo. Fantastic effort, and a good output guys!

Irandam Ulaga Porin Kadaisi Gundu Review

Along the way of watching this film, it struck me that the stray bombs from the World War 2, or “unexploded ordnance” device, as they are known technically, is a metaphor for the waiting-to-explode issues that are also highlighted in this film.

They may seem to be ordinary issues, one being the class differences and how it affects relationships…and the workers' exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Ordinary as they seem, these are big bombs that is going to explode in the mass destructive way one day, and the director cleverly lined out the various plots using the bomb itself as a MacGuffin (plot device, termed especially for Hitchcock films where an event, or even a thing or animal that actually moves the plot by exploring the surrounding characters’ reaction).

The plot in nutshell is when these bombs start to turn up, folks start to panic…especially the cop, except those who are gleefully ignorant about it which forms the thrill in the film.. It is the ignorant ones, the ordinary ones that literally drives the bomb with the audiences' heart ticking, especially the workers at a scrapyard that is central in this film….again, the recycled items themselves are symbolic of the folks surrounding who had to live on handouts and beg for the rightful remuneration from the employers.

The corrupt cop and unscrupulous bosses cliché and the related stereotypes aside, the film feels fresh. It runs along smoothly thanks to the performances of all the cast members and the humour that is the lubricant of an otherwise very rough film.

The leads, that is the trio comprising of Dinesh, Anandhi and Rythvika are superb, delivering the right amount of shots required at the right time for the film. Especially so by the girls, the former, demure, silently a strong-willed girl who just wants out of her orderly life and join a lorry drivers adventurous journey…and the later, an activist who risks her neck doing an expose of all those nasty things being done with those stray bombs.

The comedy comes mostly courtesy of Munishkanth, who is a supposed spy for the boss to check on Dinesh’s character. Their friction is a delight, to the point where we actually care for both of them. Oh, and there are some inevitable fight sequences, and again, we are not let in to the secret as to how the hero seemed to be able to take on multiple men with ease (though Dinesh do get beaten up quite a bit…a fact that is conveniently forgotten later), but this being Tamil movie, is likely to remind us that…hey, this Is Tamil movie, so shut up and accept it.

Other than that, this film zips along fine and the thriller element do raise up the tension level a notch or two up, but most of the time we stop caring whether it will explode or not….till the end, of course. A very, very interesting scene that involves the total devastation and a seminar.

And so,  I really liked the film. And I liked the fact that these bombs are a reminder of our past atrocities that we need to leave behind…especially the Indian community and their caste/class mentality. These are supposed to have been deconstructed and thrown away long agao…but they still are around and in the wrong hands. It will explode and destroy all those that the civilisation should be clamouring for – a society that is free of this class, caste shackles.

A very good job by the first time director, Athiyan Athirai, who also wrote it. And kudos to Producer Pa. Ranjith for making this project a reality...

A Deliberation On Malaysian Cuisine...

An idea cropped about when I was in a heated debate with a beloved cousin sister of mine on Facebook messenger on the merits of Malaysian food, dishes, delicacies as compared to the rest of the world. Okay, I made that up, there was no heated debate with Vithiyasri…we are too close for that. But we sort of agreed that as Malaysians it is only natural that we love our gourmet outputs.

My favourite...will get emotional talking about it...

However, at the same time, we also noted that the food culture here is very much unlike anywhere in the world. Now, look, if you walk into any food court, you will get the sort of varieties that you are not going to get in a similar setup, say in, Los Angeles, let alone Timbuktu (for the worst comparison everyone uses Timbuktu…I hope things are good in Timbuktu…because I can imagine the PR team working hard to repair the country’s image…probably calling themselves Team Book Two….haha..you know, second chance…reboot…hmm…well, I shut up).

But, as the Indian superstar (now Global superstar, lick it, RDJ), would say, “bro, this is mere trailer (sounds better in Tamil, “kannA ithu verum trailer…”….let us also note that the curries itself has snaked its way out of the Indian cuisine basket and went into the Malay pot and Chinese wok, and we have Malay styled “gulai” and Chinese styled milky curry.

And the Indians make their own version of non-sweet Sambal-ed Nasi Lemak and Chinese too have their own version to boot, non-halal type. And I have not even started talking about the Nyonya cuisine, brothers and sisters...you have been warned...

So, should we be arrogant about our dishes, meals, cuisines, gourmet mouth waterers that can be even found by the street side? You betcha.

Walk into any cafes you can see the Western dishes proliferating. There are restaurants especially in Klang Valley that are dedicated to dishes from various nationalities, specialities, that is. You want steak and anything western, take a look at this list. You have a stomach for Japanese dish, and why not go through these restaurants. Hey, there are even Mongolian restaurants that are not owned by a certain ex-PM, listed here.  

But let us come back to just Malaysian dishes. I would like you sceptics to take a look at this list from CNN nevertheless, and evaluate yourself the varieties, that would make the café of any Star Trek Star Fleet canteens green with envy…unless they are not Martian. Here’s the link.

And then, there is this issue concerning Malaysian versus Singapore, our friendly neighbour (that had to keep their courtesy campaign going from the 1979 and was so “successful” that its mascot resigned. A mascot resigned)

This is my complaint to my cousin, I reproduce here in verbatim what I wrote in the Messenger:

“....Singapore sure has varieties.  But... but... you get the same bloody taste everywhere.  I am talking about food court dishes here.  Even the mamak fried stuff.  Only the curries and stuff are different from one place to the other.

.”..wherelse,  in Malaysia,  all have their own thumbprint... that's why we can get into fights over who has the best wan tan Mee or which roadside stall has best goreng pisang.  And the taste changes and we whine,  complain and bitch about it till someone intrudes and reveals another location where an obscure stall sells brilliant kuih lopis ....not lapis,  this will generate another near bloodshed arguments... That's why,  here the awesomeness of food is unparalleled. “

I purposely chose this pix of Kuih Lopis, as how it was supposed
to be eaten. Pix courtesy of Cerita Kak Z blog.

Did you see that? “lopis” and “lapis” is only one letter apart, and yet the deliciousness is million tastymeter apart, awesome in their own ways. Damn, I am crazy about Kuih Lopis.

Speaking of kuih, growing up in the plantation, there was a period of time when my mother made and sold these delicacies. Selfishly, as kids we wished that they don’t sell all so that we can have some as well. Hey, we were kids, I feel bad now, wish I had helped her to “market” it. But the love for those delicacies was firmly instilled and till today when I walk into any of the stalls selling them, I would get greedy and buy as many needed to enlarge my belly tenfold.

But I am going off the topic. What makes Malaysian cuisine amazing is, you don’t get the same stuff anywhere. If you enjoyed a chicken curry in this restaurant, you may get something even more awesome towards the end of the road, in a stall.

If you had enjoyed the Roti Chanai in one Mamak stall, beware, a Malay restaurant in the next town has something even more magnificent complete with side dishes that are not Mamak but…come on, have you guys tried Roti Chanai with northern styled beef rendang? Huh? Huh?

And I have not even started talking about east Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak where the dishes can go to awesome to the extreme.

So, there you have it. In just less than a thousand words these are all I can say about the awesomeness of Malaysian food. You can’t argue because let's face it, even an average Malaysian has not even tried 30 per cent of the dishes here. I merely scratched the surface, as far as the discussion is concerned. Verum trailer, kannA….just a trailer…

And, sure, there are more to try, to relish, to indulge, to satisfy our poor overworked gut, and don’t look at me, I have eaten monitor lizard curry and pangolin pirattal. Have you?

Knives Out (2019)

That time when Craig was first announced as the new OO7...

My beloved Raymond Chandler once wrote that, and I paraphrase, a good mystery book is one where you can still read even if someone has ripped off the final chapter. I concur. That is why his own books are highly readable....and are my writing Bibles...

It’s the ride that matters. Many whodunnits that emphasise on the ending, never truly stood the test of time. Those which emphasised on character study played with the dialogues and are careful with the staging of the scenes, each scene, are still enjoyed today, whether they are books or films.

The director of Knives Out, Rian Johnson must have had these in his mind when he made this mildly intriguing flick. We know “whodunnit” at quite an early stage. But it’s the other Ws, and the How that we need to figure out.

This film works when it lets the actors each whip their own acting chops out, or should I say, their performance knives out. All shone and glittered accordingly. Those are big names you see on the screen, especially the venerable 89-year-old, still going strong, Christopher Plummer, as the killed patriarch of the family that will gather in traditional locked-room mystery scenario, answering the detective’s queries, so on and so forth.

What works well in the film is the fact that it keeps us engaged all the time. As mentioned, the onscreen performances are riveting all around, as expected especially for the more seniors. But I was happier and connected with the girl, Ana de Armas, who was brilliant, as the maid who could be the murderer.

Leading them all is Daniel Craig as a southern accented detective who gets to solve the case. He managed to leave behind his superspy persona and proved that he was originally a wonderful character actor before they picked him up for that, THAT tux and gun.

I first saw him playing Paul Newman’s sadistic son in Road To Perdition. It occurred to me back then, that what if someone like this would play Bond, having had disappointed that they did not renew Timothy Dalton’s contract. Dalton, who basically was proto-Craig/Bond who happened to be in the wrong era.

Here, Craig, and his southern drawl (or is it a twang?) with his English accent creeping in here and there is a draw by itself. He doesn’t do much as the detective called in to investigate the murder, and he somehow seemed to be working things out as the characters clash in front of him.

And when the denouement arrives, you feel his presence even greater, and appreciate his affinity for the main suspect for the supposed homicide. Or is it a homicide? Was there an accident? Foul play….oh well, the usual questions you ask in a typical whodunit.

There isn’t many whodunits that excited me of late. It was far too back…the last one I truly enjoyed were not even of that genre: Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992) and The Usual Suspect (1995)….and both had Kevin Spacey…hmmm…

Anyway, it’s the ride that matters and not the destination as far as my own preference for mysteries are concerned. Especially its not whodunits, but whydoit that intrigues me, and this film does not quite get to that department all that much as it involves the usual motive: dough.

And so, it’s a good film…and works only because it has a wonderful cast. And I am terribly impressed with de Armas. Hope she makes good career choices…the history of Hollywood is littered with the corpses of many dead hopes for young, bright talents.