Darbar (2020)

Only thing he shaved, is his age...

My favourite Hollywood film director is Martin Scorcese and when it was announced that he was going to work with his old regulars, de Niro, Pesci and Keitel, plus, for the first time, joint force with Al (Frickin’) Pacino, I was ecstatic. I was even “ecstaticker” when it was reported that these actors would be de-aged for the roles that spans from the 50s to the present setting.

Having seen part of it, I must say I was a trifle disappointed with the whole de-ageing thing. It was not that good as I expected. In fact, it did mar the performances of those leads.

Which brings us to this new flick by A. R. Murugadoss starring some 70 years old guy they call “Superstar” in the Tamil film industry. You know who I am talking about….

…. oh…who am I kidding. Rajini is a name that has become a brand of its own that no matter how this once Sivaji Rao Gaekwod tries his best to shed it off his off-screen persona of being this old, worn-out looking (not) geezer that he portrays in life, because the real self comes through his police commissioner Aditya Arunachalam persona where he packs a wallop, setting another milestone in the cop saga, considering the last time I was impressed by a Tamil film cop was one played his goddam rival cum BFF.

The still sprightly star does not look any more older than that stage if one were to shave off almost quarter of a century of his actual age. Unlike the de-aging process Scorcese laboured with which costs millions, all it took for our Superstar was a bit of foundation, a smattering of wig and…shitload of charm that can only come from the one and only most successful actor ever in the land that is only known for Bollywood to the short-sighted western hemisphere film fans (I discount Kamal Haasan who is on equal footing only because Kamal spread himself thin with being a producer, scriptwriter, director, singer, makeup artist…among others that is… and now, wallowing in goddam political mud).

The director of this new flick, Darbar, A.R. Murugadoss is in no way an auteur. He comes close to being compared with Shankar for his “concept” flicks and is nowhere near Manirathnam in being showy audio-visual whip and chair handler. But in Rajini, Murugadoss found something that he did not at all have in his previous film -  an actual explosive device in form of a star...real star...a Superstar... not some goddam pretenders of throne. The director lets his star's out of the world persona to enhance and add glitter and grit to what would have rather been a mundane cop and bad guys routine that has been so prevalent since the days of M.G.R’s En Kadamai or Sivaji Ganesan’s Tanggapathakkam.

What makes this film so refreshing is that, one, Rajini is shown as an older cop, nearing his retirement (or past it), who has a grown-up daughter. The best part of this film is just that, his relationship with his little girl. I enjoyed every moment of his banter with her, the affection he showers on her and how his world radiates, when not revolving around disgusting trashes of humanity, with the angel played heart-touchingly by Nivetha Thomas that gives him a reason to not to be too gung-ho and suicidal in his chosen profession.

Then, the annoying part. One thing that I truly detest is the flashbacks that have been a bit too prevalent in Tamil films lately. At one point it was useful, say in flicks like Kamal’s Virumandi, or, if you step really back, in S. Balachander’s Antha Nal starring Sivaji Ganesan as the antagonist. Here, it goes on too long that if you miss that one part you won’t know that you have slipped back in someone’s memory lane. And the bad guys don’t quite register…frankly, Rajini ran out of formidable bad guys. One wishes that Raghuvaran can be resurrected…we truly miss him.

….and if you are familiar with Rajini’s films (who am I kidding), one thing you frequently do is throw the realism out of the window…because there are some wince-inducing scenes, though they are miles ahead of goofy shit you can find in any Rajini films directed by P. Vasu. If you do so, you can definitely enjoy this film much more.

As to our hero’s performance, they are apt and to the point. I still miss the heavyweight Rajini of Mullum Malarum or Tappu Thalanggal. It’s in there somewhere, and I am still hoping there is still one great film of that calibre in him waiting to come out.

Otherwise, I truly enjoyed this film especially the abovementioned quite moments he has with his daughter, and, of course, with Nayanthara who doesn’t do much anyway (also, I am thanking Murugadoss for not resorting the usual shit of having the bad guys kidnap our hero’s love interest).

Fortunately, or unfortunately, his film belongs to “watch it for Rajini” category because if you take him out, it will be just another generic cop movie that can easily fit in the 90s Vijayakanth or Sathyaraj starrer, nothing more or less. But with Rajini still bouncing and running up the stairs like a 20 year old, and kicking ass, shooting bullets and literally puncturing bad guys with knives, boy, oh boy, arms gripping and teeth gritting will be the order of the day.

And…also with Rajini, this ordinary piece of celluloid fare throbs with energy, pulsates with “style” and is ready to give you time of your life if you surrender to his charm.  If currently Kamal is the patron saint of the Tamil film industry, constantly giving it distinguished outputs, Rajini is the rebellious emperor who, after he had done conquering another corner of your heart, makes you wonder, “what the f_ did just happened?”.

He kidnaps you, holds you ransom, and makes you fall in love with him. He is the personification of goddam “Stockholm syndrome” of film fans….understand this…there are many late converts who fell to his charm after he had forcefully grabbed you and kidnapped your taste and made it fall for all the gimmicks, glitter and silliness that he brings to his performance.

Kudos to A.R. Murugadoss who functioned both as a fan and a genre hack, because the two blends well in this entertainer. I have not spoken about the music...but I found it endearing that Anirudh decided to honour Deva's unforgettable theme. I never liked Deva's output, but I must admit, the OO7 inspired theme surely sticks with you because we are dealing with the only superhero of Tamil film that no Marvel or DC leotard wearing shmucks can touch...even with a tent pole.

The Ten Unwritten Rules of Tamil Films.

(The following is a rewrite/translation of the original article was written by filmmaker/writer Sehnthan Arumugam for the monthly Tamil language magazine Mayil…I wrote them in my personal style but the entire credit goes to Sehnthan whose own biting satiric style inspired this…the original scans are featured, spread over the article...written with the author's permission, by the way...)

Prologue

Clichés are heaven-sent for headline writers, and that’s all there is to it, but when the formulaic scenes, stereotypical characters and somewhat staid plots start reappearing to the point of scaring even five years old, then its time you take up arms and start a revolution. Or in Sehnthan’s case, list them down for you to tear apart. My rewriting begins….

Intro .

The History of Tamil film truly started in 1918, when one R. Nataraja Mudaliar released Keechaka Vadham, a silent feature that kicked started the torrential pour of Tamil films that have peaked to immeasurable numbers of releases per year at some point (if you take into account some dubbed flicks among others). Out of these, only, perhaps, 10 percent would turn out to be original, authentic presentations, while the rest are bargain bin business-as-usual films that may or may have not been blockbuster hits…depending on what the hardcore fans are impressing upon you. And one never knows whether the fans are tired of these “formulaic” outputs…

But it is worth noting that these clichés, or tropes have been in presence for persistently so long in the film industry that they have been holding on to power beyond their expiry dates like many country leaders. Now, let’s look at these clichés, or tropes if you want to call them…or formula…whatever...

1. One hero vs multiple henchmen.

Multiple is an understatement here. Usually, the extras do not come in and kick the heroes butt at one normally do, if henchmen kicking one guys butt is a regular occurrence, like littering. Noooo….they usually come at our Man of masses one by one, like a superhero (that will make actual superhero like Batman to retire in his cave and hang up his cowl), he would “deal” with them successfully by any mean, using any weapon, and any number of invisible forces…until the main villain gives him a hard time…and…duh…you know who wins at the end. These poor extras deliver their punches and kickes feebly in direct relation to their daily coolie wages so that not a piece of the heroes wig are moved by the time the fight is over. Phew!

2. Superhuman strength

Speaking of which…because heroes won’t die…and even if they do, their lookalike or twin brothers all played by the same star will save the day. But they die hard…literally. Imagine if you will (or watch those damned films), with two bullets in him, deep machette cuts on his person, and a dagger stabbed in his back….yet, our hero rises like climaxing Terminator to kick the bad guys ass. Phoenix be damned.

3. Heroes with secret past

Or secret life, rather. The heroes always have a dark past, or is doing something else under the covers to facilitate our film fans devastating addiction for flashbacks. A twist in the plot forces open his closet in the middle of the film, and, or, in case of filmmakers with bushier beard, this might only occur at the end of the film. With sequels clamouring a position amidst lazy producers these days, some secrets are held until the next flick…

4. Man of many talents.

Despite having born and grown in a remotest village, our hero would magically be endowed with all kinda martial arts imaginable, or unimaginable (Re: Vijayakanth). If that is not enough, he would be blessed with brilliant singing vocal (Re: Ramarajan) and ability to outdo Michael Jackson on the dance floor (Re:…oh, never mind).

5. Pregnant gals

If the young heroines, or the ones shown to have married exhibits sudden desire to throw up her entire lunch or dinner… suddenly….you know what’s coming. Which means, time is ripe for bad guys to kidnap them, or, even kill them. These mothers-to-be will never be able to enter the medical facility safely…oh no….not without massive disruptions and even if they do, it won’t be a safe labour, the scriptwriters detest that don’t they? These will be told in detail when the kid grows up so that he can quench his thirst for vengeance.

6. Torrential rain…
 

Yes, rain helps to enhance the emotion. The hero wants to express his deepest feeling to his lover? Let it rain. A complex, gritty situation where the hero confronts (finally?) the baddie? Let the droplets gush down heavily. A climax which nothing much happening but some heavy speech….oh boy, get the cloud squeeze the last drop. The only time the wet weather is forced to stop is when the heroes plead the nature so with heavy S.P. Balasubrahmanyam singing….

7. Time…stand still please
 

We have seen these…the important character is dying…or should have been dead by now. But wait…or rather, the death should wait until the character has said what he or she wanted to say, comma, full stop and all. Then, they close their eyes…or the one holding them symbolically close their chapters by caressing their palms over the deceased eyes (how’s that for corpse fondling?).

8. Village beauties.
 

Oh, how have we seen heroines who somewhat, despicably, does not fit the platform of the story at all. That’s pretty regular. It is fine if a very fair (or north Indian looking) heroines can be found in a typical city setting…but how in heck did these creatures ended up in a typical village is anyone’s guess.

9. Follow…literally, and romance follows.
 

The hero would follow the heroin and pines for her with cupids arrow of any sort. The girl knows and pretends that she’s ignorant. She speaks fondly of this repulsive stalking to her gal pals…but of course, if the established villain does that…. Reports are made and all hell shall break loose.

 

10.  BFF
 

Yes, the best friend forever factor (NanbendA), where these comprises mostly sidekicks of comedic varieties. As the story drags its heavy feet amidst tiring plotlines, these “funny” guys come to the rescue and lift the dying film up. Their gags usually last until things gets heated up between the hero and his lover, after which they become the hero’s counsellors, helpers, postman and of course, in some cases, sacrificial lambs.

Epilogue

Of course, not all Tamil films use these stereotypes, and tropes. But you, dear readers, must be nodding in agreement with what you read just now, because they are everywhere. Occasionally, some good films with original, brilliant scenes do appear and there must be more of them. Only then, these unwritten rules will go away. Till then….

(Thank you Sehnthan Arumugam and Mayil magazine for this well..unauthorised reworking)

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.

Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta

Both Manirathnam and Gautham Menon has this issue when it comes to their serious…very serious films, they don’t go deep enough, or, as a good friend of mine, Joe Milton would say, just “grazing the grass” (better said in Tamizh, “nunippul meythal”).

But here, those mere sampling in collection would have happened if the director had not made the right decision of casting Dhanush in the lead as a young man in the middle of a muddle, ridding the pests that are creating the mess, I may say so.

From the word “go” Dhanush throws himself to the role of a bloke madly in love with a novice actress, getting mutual about it, and then, face the wrath of the actress guardian who may have been abusing her (Gautham must have taken the later sub-plot from Iruvar…but then, what “sub-plot” when it is a norm in the industry)

While the director is busy trying to his best the make the scenes look as gritty as possible at this side of Tarantino, Dhanush looks like he walked out of the film you like into the film you like better only the canvass is not what you wanted. Or, what I wanted.

Gautham’s films, at many times, ran the gamut between truly exciting thrillers (Kakka Kakka), to flipside romances (MinnalE, Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya), and somewhere in between. His action sequences are not terrifically exciting and they are not cheapskate gymnastic events either. He knows about holding guns stylishly according to Hollywood and seem to have firm grip in shooting shootouts. But other than that, I have a hard time convincing myself that he is the next Manirathnam, mainly because I am not even fully taken by Mani myself.

Anyway, back to this film. The biggest issue I have is the flashbacks. A Tamil film is not a Tamil film without flashbacks, it’s a given. It’s an easy narrative tool to help the audience with the understanding if the plot gets murky…but then, most plots are as clear as of the counter aquarium so, they shouldn’t be an issue.

But never since Pulp Fiction (1994) have I seen timeline being reworked in the narrative line like this film…it goes front and back so often I felt like Marcus Brody in Egyptian market (Indy Jones fans know what I am talking about). Flashbacks are good device, for narrative clarity purposes…and also for the style, but too many is too much.

Perhaps it is because of that, that the flashback is centred on the protagonist’s feelings, reactions and weighing the emotional core of the scenes, we don’t feel much for other characters…they are just scissored fortified papers.

And so, my verdict? It gets interesting second half onwards when the thriller element kicks in, but still, the mentioned murkiness keeps us less glued to the seat, let alone, send you to the edge of your seat.

Only Dhanush manages to get our attention during each scene. Yes, he gets to kick butt… but the most pleasant surprise is Sasikumar. Playing a cop, and Dhanush brother, with the “key” to exposing bad guys, he appears in few important scenes and is the actual backbone of the films. He brings comfort to the otherwise tense scenes, except, of course, Dhanush is the protagonist and there are usually no rooms in Tamizh films for two strong leading men…er…hum….

Then, the question of Dhanush kicking butts….It has never been established that he knows how to kick butt…but as all long-suffering Tamil film fans have learned the last sixty years or so, when a hero suddenly becomes butt-kicking superhero…just shut up and enjoy our butts off.

On the audio side, as usual as with most of the current Tamil films, the music never quite registered, and songs appeared at most inappropriate moment, for me (especially the last romantic one, out of nowhere, right in the middle of a very tensed, stressed-out situation), but hey, Tamil film, right?'

I am not much of a fan of Gautham to rank this amidst his other “magnum opuses” but fans of Dhanush can definitely carry this high up on their shoulders for the man has proved to be quite an asset. He can really make the messiest meal taste delicious.  This is not a messy meal if it has been for the fact that before you take a mouthful someone is talking about how each potion was cooked in detail. Sheesh….

Charlie's Angels (2019)

Oh, …everyone knows Charlie’s Angels. That would span three generations to be exact, and perhaps now, the fourth. The boomers introduced it in the TV and the Gen Xers took it to the big screen, and the next two generations have knowledge about it thanks to the stars who shined into the millennium (Diaz, Liu, and my then crush, Drew Barrymore)

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Personally, I have fond memories of the TV series that were broadcasted here in Malaysia in the early 80s. My late cousin sister assigned one of the Angels to us brothers…sort of TV girlfriend, and I got Jaclyn Smith…I don’t know why. And she makes a cameo appearance here as Kelly Garret, the original Angel, as she did in the first film reincarnation.

We liked the series…every day there was an adventure, beginning with instruction from Charlie from phone speaker, and the girls go on kicking butt. The first film remade overdid the butt-kicking, and I didn’t enjoy it…I didn’t like the cast, except my then crush, Drew Barrymore…sigh…

Anyway, how did this one fare? Oh heck, …it was fun. There were some dull moments here and there, but the film really has a pace to sustain our interest. I sort of didn’t pay attention to the plot but dammit, there are lots of thinking done in this version…as it should considering the original TV series butt-kicking were very limited, and, well, it was just a figure of speech anyway.

Here, the characters mesh well, with Kristen Stewart playing against type (this is redundant, all actors are supposed to be playing against type) and the director of this film, Elizabeth Banks, playing the more mature, and sort-of boss for the two girls (in addition to Stewart, we get Ella Ballinska, the most butt-kickingest of the two, in my opinion).

Amidst it all is the central character around whom plot revolves, Naomi Scott (the Jasmine of the live-action Alladin), who is a real delight in this film. She really livens up any scene she is in, and seriously worth the money you spend on this otherwise what could have been by the number action flick.

Banks directed this with only a slight hint of feminism outpouring in the script. Sure, male-bashing is essential to get these girls a step higher in the hierarchy, and frankly, the guys deserve it. The camaraderie between the gals are admirable, sometimes bordering on…you know…

But leave all those analysing aside, and what we have is a fun flick filled with grounded action scenes that prefers wit than speed. If you are with the girls, you will really enjoy it. Plus, we also have Patrick Stewart, hamming it up as their boss (there’re many Bosleys…you have to watch it to understand the whole point).

What I really liked about this is, that it established the fact that the agency is one, but the girls are different from the time of my beloved Jaclyn Smith. We get to see portraits of the earlier gals and so whatever fault or criticism you have previously, you will forgive them because they are different folks.

And so, I liked it to a certain extent, because I never quite liked the earlier big-screen adaptation. To tell you the truth, I’d rather watch this and its sequel than the Mission: Impossible films, the universe in which Angels seemed to be functioning. The grounded Angels team wins me anytime, compared to Supercruise.

Addams Family (2019)

Most of our memory of Adams Family consists of wonderful performances by Raul Julia, Anjelica Houston, and of course, the unforgettable Christina Ricci. I have watched the first feature film aeons ago and I don’t quite appreciate it back then when I was discovering the likes of Scorcese and Coppola in the 90s. I avoided them like a plague.

Not that I am a snob..come one, I relished Austin Powers and both sequels, I have taste like a hobo and am proud of it. It’s just that a comedy about a ghoulish family just didn’t appeal to me.

What drew me to this film? Well, there are not much high profile flicks playing now bar the ones I have seen and wrote about previously in this blog. Plus, I was curious…how are they going to pull it off in animation.

Well, for one, the animation worked beautifully. Giving the character the abovementioned “ghoul”ish look but with more crowd-friendly demeanour worked. The characters are all a delight to watch on big screen.

As to the overall production quality…let’s just say that Hollywood will always keep outdoing themselves each time when the budget permits…they must have learned from the Christopher Reever Superman films, which, by the fourth film was shot with the producer’s kids piggy bank.

Anyway, coming back to this flick…all I can say is, it is a delight to watch. There’s something (Tim) Burton-esque about these films, aided by his composing partner Danny Elfman (Elfmanesque?... sounds like an Elk puking, no?) giving that delightful gothic sound in almost all their collaboration no matter how far away the films are removed from darkness.

Here, everything is in place. The characters look how they should, the scenes plays out as how we would expect them to play out. Yes, there seemed to be some sort of emptiness in the canvas.

The story is nothing new: the odd family moves into a neighbourhood of “normal” folks and they are not happy about it, led by a Internal Design TV star. There are brushes, skirmishes, and lesson learned: normal or not, why can’t we just get along.

I liked the journey…but when I look back, I felt there could have been more. One thing I found amusing though, that is the use of social media. Here’s online critic James Berardinelli explaining it: “When (the interior designer celebrity ) efforts fail to convince the Addams’ to brighten things up, she opts for another approach – one that uses social media to smear the family and raise the spectre of the modern equivalent of pitchforks

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That statement woke me up. Scenes are plenty where mobs do the mobbing carrying hordes of mobile phones, taking pictures and texting. This is the future of media, folks, and it is here to stay. And that is the most “horrific” element in this otherwise quiet, comedic animation.

There will definitely be a sequel, and I might like it then…and so by then, I am going to bury this in my memory bank. Though I might add that the best performance in the film was given by a severe hand. Now, that might be something after all…

Ford V. Ferfari (2019)

I am not a huge fan of sports or related film, where there are extended scenes on the games or races. You know that the good guys will win…or if they are aiming for the awards, lose. Some films are metaphors of some greater philosophies, like the assurance that you are never small and can take on the Goliath.

Or that, it's okay to lose, its the effort and ambition that matters. Or the underdogs…they will come out as big dogs at the end, so on and so forth.

This film fits in either any of those categories or none if you are interested in taking on an alternative platform. I clearly see this film as the filmmakers throwing a bag filled with faeces right at the studios and big producers.

Because, it is what it is…moneyman, and power guardians harassing the talents to dance to their tune, as we see the legendary Ford (the second, the opposite fraction stresses that) harassing Matt Damon’s designer Carrol Shelby to get Christian Bale hotshot driver, Ken Miles, pushed around according to their whims and fancies…with reasons of course…and we are talking about huge business rivalry here where a racing circuit determines sales of automobiles.

The first half of the films moves slowly…too slowly, the setting up really takes time, but thanks to the performance by the two leads, we do not get overly bored. Then, the racings happen and yes, the film shifts gear if I may be allowed to say so.

The race scenes are tame…after watching the likes of Bullit, French Connection and Ronin, where chase matters, here the race bores me to sleep. I almost slept off during some of the supposed intense scenes. I haven’t watched any of the Fast and The Furious flicks, which I believe would have made me Rip Van Winkle.

But what matters are the performances. The leads are impressive, of course, and they should…they have nominations and awards between them. But I absolutely adored Catriona Balfe, who plays Shelby’s wife. She tries to be understanding, while also confrontative where it's necessary.

And I loved that one scene, where she just plays a bored spectator of brawling involving her husband and Miles. It was the funniest scene in the movie where we learn more about the relationship between these characters.

There are many other standoff scenes involving the money men and the talent, but they quickly move on to more mundane scenes. Much of it could have been cropped to make the film crisper. In his excellent review  James Berardinelli notes, “We have reached a point in film evolution where the “Extended DVD Director’s Cut” has become the theatrical release”.

This film is clearly released during the award season and is naturally going to get some recognition, notably for the performances of its two leads, and hopefully one for the gal also. The cinematography will also be getting some attention, especially those with short memories.

But what disturbed me more was the individual talent vs team player issue. At some point, we are applauding and urging Bale’s character on, and in another moment we are conflicted as he was not allowed to shine to let the team win, because, well…at the end of the day, its all about selling the goddam cars, isn’t it?

As such, I didn’t have much too strong feeling about this film. It had its moments, but it also misses something that the good performances could not patch up.

And so, here’s another based on true story film that tries too hard to be dramatic, but end up offering good performances on screen and yet, still leaving audience like me unimpressed. Let us see what happens when they start the self-congratulating award ceremonies…