Movie Review: Hancock July 16, 2008
Posted by Saurabh Garg in Movies.Tags: Hancock, Hollywood, Movies, Will Smith
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Hancock is a very simple story. John Hancock (Will Smith) is a gifted guy with super-natural powers that include, but are not limited to, stopping trains with his one hand, flipping whales in the ocean at the flick of the wrist, flying like the Superman at his whims and fancies, taking hazaar bullets on his chest like our beloved Rajnikant, juggling SUVs like any circus jester and obviously razor sharp fingers that can be used to shave and even draw things on a wall.
Our superhero is law abiding. He knows the good guy from the bad guy. He intends to help the good guys and punish the bad guys. In fact he is everything what a superhero should be. But for one thing. He has a drinking problem, he cant control his anger and he tends to go overboard with his heroics. So much so that the police actually subpoenas him for all the side-effects (read damage to buildings, vehicles, property etc.) of being a superhero. No one in the city loves him even though he is making the city a better place to live in. In six words – he has a bad PR problem.
Incomes a PR consultant (Jason Bateman) who, like everyone else, wants to change the world some day. Hancock happens to save this consultant’s life (and damaging few cars and a train in the process). The consultant is gratified beyond belief and since our consultant is struggling with his endeavor to change the world, he thinks that if he could successfully solve Hancock’s PR problem, it will give him great mileage.
And this is where I shall end talking about the plot and if you are curious, I would recommend you to go watch. It’s a fun movie. Something like Om Shanti Om. Story is very weak. Acting is just above average. Special effects are nothing to write home about – they are good but then now a days all special effects are good. If you are looking for some mindless entertainment, please do see this movie.
Apart from the mindless part of it, there are some interesting intellectual discussions on heroes, gods and regular human beings. They also talk about life and death and togetherness and separation. But there are very limited and shallow and don’t really provide enough food for thought.
I would rate it 2.5 on 5. And the movie is family friendly.
Pursuit of happyness (The misspelling of “happiness” refers to a mural decorating the exterior of the Smith son’s day care center on which the word is spelled that way.) June 26, 2008
Posted by riddhiparekh in Movies.Tags: Hollywood, Will Smith
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Well I have watched innumerable films till now but the one that really stayed with me even after leaving the theater hall is the movie ‘Pursuit of happyness’. The movie is no different in terms of story or anything else… it’s not grand and loaded with special effects… its on a similar plot as Guru but what makes it different is its subtle in its approach… and the exceptional performances by Will Smith and his on screen and off-screen son Zaden Smith is so real that it seems unreal. Set in 1980’s it talks about Linda and Chris Gardner living in a small apartment with their son, Christopher. Chris has invested the family’s life savings in a franchise selling portable bone density scanners which he is unable to sell. After a series of unpaid rents and debt Linda decides to leave Chris and Christopher. Chris accepts an unpaid internship at a brokerage firm Dean Witter Reynolds that promises employment to only one trainee at its conclusion. His lack of salary, and his lack of scanners to try and sell, leaves him riddled with debt, he and his son eventually become homeless. As he struggles to provide a semblance of a family life for his son under the most dire of circumstances, Chris becomes more determined to complete the intern program. In the end, Chris gets the job.
One particular dialogue that I fell in love with was when Chris reaches for his interview late, just out of the jail and not wearing any shirt…Conversation goes like this… “Interviewer: What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Christopher Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.”
The film did not talk about 10 steps to success or optimism or how to achieve the ultimate happiness and contentment…it talks about life and it talks about well….‘PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS’.
Haasil – My Favorite Movie June 26, 2008
Posted by Saurabh Garg in Movies.Tags: bollywood, entertainment, movie
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Bollywood is known to release the maximum number of movies in a year. And most of them are forgettable. A lot of them go onto become big hits and send the cash registers ringing. And then there are times when a movie creates a whole new world. The way people think. The way people talk. They way people perceive cinema. One of them is obviously Sholay. The other one is Haasil. I cant really compare the two but Haasil deserves its place along side any other acclaimed movie in the history of Indian Cinema.
The plot is really simple. Its about a small town in India where people are happy go lucky and go about their own tasks. Its a typical story of a young guy. Its a typical story of a pesky father. Its a typical story of a guy in love with a girl and trying to express it. Its about a typical university in India where student politics is more important than the academics or anything else. Then its the typical story of hatred, envy, love, politics, corruption, anger, wars and other such things.
And this is where all the typicalality ends. The story is interesting and compelling enough to captivate the audience. The dialouges are impressive and more importantly their delivery makes every small scene a cult. To the extent that I will probably call each scene a conversation between two characters. Characters who are small yet giant. Who are incapable by themselves yet can do anything if situation demands. Performances by Irfan Khan and Ashutosh Rana that can put any other actor to shame.
Personally, for me, the best two conversations are “Pandit hum der na lagaenge maarne main” and “Hum to ShivJi kay bhakth hain, saara zeher humein hi peena hai“. Although I don’t support piracy, the entire movie is available here for watching online and free download.
Haasil fans, please share your stories. And please note that this is not a movie review.
Links
Orkut Community for Haasil Fans
IMDB on Haasil
Wikipedia on Haasil
