The Grand Budapest Hotel – is a English comedy film released in 2014. The movie revolves around the adventure of Mr. Gustave, concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel and Zero, the Lobby Boy.
I did not have great expectations before I watched this movie. I was in for a very pleasant surprise. The movie starts off with switching multiple time context from the present to 1968 and then to 1932 where the actual incidents of a story take place. The movie is presented in a Novel format and narrates the incidents surrounding the Grand Budapest hotel, its concierge and the lobby boy. Wes Anderson has got a very good cast ensemble and the shots covering various sequences around the Grand Budapest hotel and the fictitious town of Zubrowka. One of the things impressed me was use of fantastic visuals for the establishing shots to cover the context of movie. You would have the satisfaction of finishing a novel by the end of it.
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum – is a Tamil comedy drama released in 2014. The movie plot revolves around the fact that humans have taken their ability to speak and communicate for granted. Either they do not use it properly or they use it to speak unnecessary stuff. The message is conveyed in the backdrop of a fictitious town names Pani Malai where there is a serious disease spreading which takes away the ability for people to communicate. The protagonist has an aspiration to become a radio jockey which is put in jeopardy when there is a law passed which prevents people from speaking.
The movie is very notable for its different story line. The plot is very simple and cute to outline the importance of speech for humans and how they keep wasting the valuable gift by over using it or not using it. As it is a very simple concept the movie it does not warrant the length it currently has. The director has taken a huge risk by not having dialogues for a large portion of the second half. Despite the length, the movie works for the plot and the humor it carries. This one deserves a watch for the different attempt and creative plot. I personally liked this better than Balaji Mohan’s previous Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Eppadi.
Vadacurry – is a Tamil thriller released in 2014. A novice medical representative gets into trouble when he gets a iPhone that had been misplaced by someone else.
The movie had a promising promo but the screenplay and execution is a big letdown. Hardly there are entertaining and engaging parts in the story. The screenplay is a mash up of sequences that are far related to each other. The director has created multiple characters and fails to utilize them in the movie. Like that of his brother, sister in law and their daughter hardly have any role to play. During the establishing sequence these are the characters that are stressed upon. The characters in the establishing phase are different from those in the buildup phase who are different from those in the climax. Overall you can skip this one as this has very little to offer.
Kochadaiiyaan – is a historic film made in many Indian languages employing performance capture technology. Rana runs away from his city at a very small age. He is adopted by the citizens of Kalingapuri , grows into a very talented soldier and eventually becomes the Commander in Chief for the kingdom. However Rana’s past forces him to act against the interests of Kalingapuri. What was it about his past and how Rana handles it is the story of Kochadaiiyaan.
It has been a much awaited movie from Superstar Rajnikanth. It is also the first ever full length Indian movie made using performance capture technology. The real hero of the movie is KS Ravikumar. He has created a very compelling story line tailor made for Rajnikanth. The story keeps you engaged throughout the movie. Rajnikanth proves he is much beyond technology. His voice is a big plus for the movie. AR Rahman has created very soulful music that suits the story line. The major let down is the visuals. Of course all of us understand that it is hard to make a movie of this sort given the quick timeline with a shoe string budget. If you take that out the product finish is not something you would remember. They could have still done better in many places. First and foremost is the lack of data for pupil and eye lash movement of the characters is an issue. The color palette they have used to render the scenes is very inconsistent. You would see some bright visuals for songs but rest of the scenes are dull. The third important factor they haven’t given much thought is for the materials (like the terrain, walls, objects) used for the environment. These make it look like a 3D cartoon animation movie you had watched 15 years ago. However you would see moments of brilliance in certain scenes, in particular the stunt scenes have been done very well. They have really done a good job with the character that resurrects Nagesh on to the screen. Despite the short comings the screenplay of the movie, Rajni’s voice and AR Rahman’s music would entertain you and keep you glued to the seat. Kochadaiiyaan is a good attempt to start a trend towards performance capture technology. If it is used in a proper manner it could create wonders for Indian Cinema and enable us to make movies which are very difficult to make otherwise. Spending a good amount of time in the pre-production stage is very vital to make a good movie. If our Indian film makers concentrate on this department they would be able to make movies that could compete with many western movies in production quality.
Overall Kochadaiiyaan is worth a watch if you are not going with a mindset of experiencing a visual treat. If you are able to look beyond the shortcoming of the visuals – the story, actors and music would be a treat for you.
Watchable –for the first time effort, brilliant story line, music and of course for Superstar.
Vallinam – is a Tamil sports movie based on basketball released in 2014. Krishna decides to quit basketball after losing his close friend in an inter college tournament. When he moves to Chennai to pursue his studies, he is pushed into a situation to lead the college basketball team to win one of the biggest inter-college championships.
Director Arivazhagan has been bold enough to take up a sports movie after his success with Eeram. The movie opens with a very promising note and gets you prepared for an exciting game. However the romance sequence which has been forcefully fitted into the movie drags down the pace of the script. He could have totally avoided this. The movie is brilliant when the sports events are covered. He could have concentrated more on the sport rather than getting distracted. Given that basketball may not be the most popular game in India, going through the various rules and situations in the game would have been very interesting and would have given a lot of scope to make the final game very interesting. Sabu Joseph’s editing has been brilliant for all the basketball scenes and the national award is well deserved. There is a very strong message for people aspiring to get into sports. Overall Vallinam is a predictable game with lot of unwanted commercial breaks. You could watch it on TV.
Tenaliraman – is a Tamil comedy movie released in 2014. The ministers of Vigada Nagaram plan to bring in foreign traders into the kingdom and setup shops. This leads to poverty of locals. Tenaliraman, the witty and wise minister plans to bring this to the attention of the King and save the people.
Vadivelu’s come back movie after years. Taking up the role of the Tenaliraman is a very wise decision. Tales of Tenaliraman has always been fascinating and still they bring a smile on your face. The movie is a collage of many of the tales you might have read or watched on TV. Director Yuvaraj Dhayalan has neatly arranged it together to create an engaging screenplay. The film also has a very decent production quality. He has also tuned Vadivelu’s acting to suit to the story line. You may not enjoy the movie if you are expecting a laugh riot from Vadivelu like Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi. You would enjoy the movie if you go with an open mind and for Tenaliraman for the wise man he was. Overall the movie deserves a one-time watch.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – is an English superhero action movie released in 2014. Marvel’s next edition of Captain America sees him fight against a deadly assassin known by the name Winter Soldier. The assassin attacks S.H.I.E.L.D agents, his motive is unknown. Was Steve Rogers (Captain America) able to stop him, did he find out the reason behind his attack? – is the plot of the movie.
The movie jumps into action right from the first scene and keeps the audience very connected to the movie. The action sequences are done well. Directors Russo brothers (Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) have built a very compelling plot and have managed to unfold the suspense at appropriate time. Atleast this time around the One of the big plus for the movie is that it is not just a Captain America’s show. It also contains equal importance for the characters Nick Fury, Black Widow and War veteran Sam Wilson. Overall Marvel’s third outing with Captain America is a very enjoyable commercial package. If you are fan of superhero movies this is a must watch, all Marvel fans you would enjoy this even better. Don’t miss the two post credit sequences one which is building up for the next Avenger movie and the other for the next Captain America movie.
Thattathin Marayathu – is a Malayalam romance drama released in 2012. A Hindu boy living in Kerala falls in love with a Muslim girl. Were they able to get together in life is the plot of Thattathin Marayathu.
Thattathin Marayathu means “behind the veil”. A very apt title for the movie as it is related to the beauty of the lady behind the veil. A very well-known plot of an Indian romance movie, yet the movie is enjoyable for the way it has been presented, the characters are sketched and the sequences are tied together. The nativity of Malabar area is captured well and people from that area would be able to relate to the movie and its location better. Nivin Pauly and Aju Varghese havedelivered a very convincing performance for director Vineeth Srinivasan. One of the big positives for the movie is that the scenes are very realistic and sketched with a feel good factor in it. If you are a fan of feel good romantic entertainers this one is a must watch for you.
Pandiya Naadu – is a Tamil Action film released in 2013. Sivakumar leads a simple middle class life, believes in not getting into any hassles and like any common man puts up with any wrong doers in the society. However things turn when the city’s dangerous mafia group is up against his brother and his friend. How does Siva come out of this situation is the plot of Pandiya Naadu.
How a common man transforms himself to stand up against the evil forces in the society has been seen in many movies. However the way director Suseenthiran has narrated the story makes it an interesting watch. We have seen Vishal in many hard core action movies so his transformation doesn’t come as a surprise. He had essayed the part of the common man staying out of trouble very well. The movie doesn’t bore you at any point in time which makes it watchable.
Friday Fundas: Recipe for movies to connect with Audience
There are numerous reasons a film script is successful. One of the factors for success is the ability of a movie to connect with the audience. The more the audience is connecting to the script the more engagement happens and eventually they like the film.
Naturally human beings react to 5 senses see, hear, smell, taste and touch and 6th intellectual sense. If the script is able to connect with the six senses then there is a natural connection that happens.
View of a train through paddy fields in Pather Panchali
See: Film is a visual medium and it can easily connect to this sense. The visual portrayed connect to the audience. Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali has an iconic scene of the kids running through the fields to see a running train. The scene would connect well with people who spent their childhood near a railway line and have experienced this or even run through a paddy field.
Slumdog Millionaire Kids running in Dharavi
Hear: Audio plays a very important role in the movie. This is where sound engineering plays a major role. Slumdog Millionaire created the sounds that one would hear in the Dharavi area very aptly which made the visuals look more real.
Smell of the Lunchbox
Smell: This is one of the difficult senses to get across to the audience although there has been experiments made to create smell in theaters based on the visuals but nothing has been put into commercial use yet. However through the characters in the movie or in the dialogues this could be manifested. In the movie Lunch box you see the lead character smelling the tiffin box and leaving for lunch immediately. This would get the audience connected to the scene.
A shot from Kahaani with road side eateries
Taste: This again can be conveyed through a visual medium. The movie Kahaani had Kolkata as a character in the movie. The street side chat shops have been used to create an ambience and many scenes involve the actors or the side characters eating in those shops. Lunch box is another good example where food plays a major part of the narration and it is shown beautifully that you end up feeling hungry. This makes the audience relate to the sense of taste.
Making of Mahatma
Touch/Feel: Similar to smell this can be narrated through visual elements. Many a times you would have felt goose bumps when watching the movie. In the movie Making of Mahatma when Mohandas starts walking on his own and slowly the scene builds up where more and more people join him the march you get a sense of pride and goose bumps. Compelling narration could manifest a variety of feeling in the audience to have them connected.
Jurassic Park
Intellectual: The sixth sense of the human is intellectual and a good script should never “insult the intelligence” of the audience and would never connect well with them. In the movie Jurassic Park Director Speilberg and writer Crichton prepare the audience in the first 20 minutes to create a convincing case for the possibility of recreating the dinosaurs which had got extinct 65 million years ago. This created a very successful movie and also allowed them to create more sequels to this.
Every individual is different and there is not a single movie which everyone has liked it. A movie or a script becomes a hit then many people have connected to it. If it is strongly liked only by a set of people then it gets a cult status. Not all hit movies would have connected to the six senses of the audience but all movies that have failed to do so.
Planes– is anAmerican animated movie released in 2013. Dusty is a crop-duster plane who aspires to become a racer. But there is one problem he has to overcome before he becomes a successful racer… he has to let go of his fear of heights. Whether he was able to do it to become the successful racer is the plot of the movie.
This is in line with the Cars movie where it is the world of automobiles with personalities. This uses a tried and tested formula where a protagonist coming from ordinary background aspires to achieve something extraordinary. His journey and the obstacles he would have to overcome to become successful. The animation quality is inline of what you have seen in Cars. However the story line might remind you of other animation movies you have seen using the same plot. So you end up feeling that it is repeat of some movie you had seen some time back. However Planes definitely has some interesting sequenceslike the one where they have created the iconic landmarks in the world including Taj Mahal as the planes fly across the world. You can watch it with your kids at home.
Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal – is a Tamil romantic comedy released in 2014. Kathir is a staunch devotee of Hanuman and believes in bachelorhood. However things take a turn when he meets Pavithra. He goes head over heels for her only to find that Pavithra already likes someone else. What happens next is the plot of Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal.
A very old formula which has been beaten to death in many movies is used here. The only way you could make it work is by bringing in fresh frames, unique situations and different narration style. Rather than concentrating on this director S.R Prabhakaran has tried sticking to the elements that worked for Udhaynidhi in his previous outing OK OK. Santhanam’s comedy also works only in parts which makes the script more dragging and less enjoyable. Instead if he had concentrated on building the characters and situations as he did with Sundarapandian it might have worked better. Overall the movie is a forgettable one.
