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Reviews
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Over the top, unrealistic and unneeded
I think this movies is doing well just because of the shock value; the revelation of violence/poverty in India to the western world. Now, i would have overlooked this fact(in fact i did, for movies such as city of joy) if the plot of the movie hadn't been so unrealistic and bland.
Seeing this movie reminded me of another movie The Color Purple. There is lot of talk in the forum about the movie portraying all African American men as sexists, abusive and mean(not surprisingly most of it comes form African Americans). SM portrays a similar picture of India only way worse. Now, I like hardcore realism as much as anyone and an not denying these things happening in India.
The plot of the movie is universal and could have worked in any country or culture. Imagine this movie is directed by a french or Canadian guy and is set in America and the protagonist is an African American woman. Her parents get killed in a race riot in Alabama. She hitches a ride and ends up in the streets of new york where she works as a hooker being beat up by pimps and cops( And all this has to be shown repeatedly in the most gory fashion) She then goes on to the TV show to find her long lost boyfriend. This may very well have worked but It wont be as exotic or have won as many Oscar nominations as seeing it happen to an Indian, Chineese or Thai.
Like i said earlier i would have overlooked the Gross "exploitation of poverty" if it scored well on other aspect. Now, the plot is very interesting and i was really looking forward to seeing it. But the scenes and the stories behind each of the answers(which should have been the charm of the movie) are exceedingly unrealistic. I cant suspend disbelief and imagine that a blind beggar child in Bombay would know Benjamin Franklin is on a $100 bill, or Salim would know that he was holding a colt revolver, or Jamal would be able to pick up good enough English to pass as a tour guide.
Overall i found this movie to be a disappointment except for the music.
Forrest Gump (1994)
My favorite movie.
Some people call the movie unrealistic or exploitative in using a character with mental disability for entertainment. I agree with it and still say its a damn entertaining movie. I am not American so the historical placement(of Gump) isn't really as important for me as the movie and its message(If they really did intent it) is. Except of course Forrest giving the opening verse of 'imagine' to John Lennon and giving Elvis dance tips.
Now that i have the major issues with the movies out of the way. I'll try to explain why i like the movie. I can say this in one word "escapism". Yes, for me this movie is ~3 hours of unadulterated fantasy( although i am not much a fan of the fantasy genre and FG doesn't figure as a fantasy flick.) I have watched this movie several times and each time i love it even more.
This a movie that is based on the script and the acting rather than on strong characters. The character of Forrest is simple enough, although Tom Hanks does bring him to life much convincingly and colorfully. The story for me is about how an obviously slow, simple and unassuming guy influences the life of so many people around with his spirit and his faith in humanity. How Forrest's childlike perspective of the world lets him ask the questions that we all would love to ask but don't dare, out of fear of appearance. Call me a sissy but i enjoy a bit of emotion and the soft stuff. I couldn't help but feel all the raw and pure emotions(unadulterated by biases) that Forrest felt when he goes through all that he goes through; War, peace, love, heartbreak. There's action, drama, romance and comedy. i cant think of any movie that touches on this many genres and pulls it off as well as this one.
Like i said before this movie is based on the story and innocence of Forrest than about the characters. But still the characters like jenny, Lieutenant Dan and Mama are brought to life wonderfully by a great cast. Gary Sinise especially was great and deserved to win an Oscar for his role. One other thing that stands out is the music. Such classic songs such as the "sweet home Alabama' 'free bird'are featured with great timing. I've never seen any movie that has the right songs for the situations as this one. And the song 'Turn Turn'by The Byrds seems like it was written just for this movie, although it was recorded in 1965.
Although this is my favorite movie i have some gripes with it. I think the ending(or the last half hour) was a bit bland and depressing. I Really didn't appreciate the movie going form flash-back to the present. And I couldn't but help thinking about the movie "i am Sam". I was imagining Forrest junior having to go through everything that Dakota Fanning goes through in that movie. I cant figure out how they could have made it any different. But still, its the reason i give it a 9.
Godzilla (1998)
I find myself watching it every time it comes on..
This is one of the movies that i end up watching every time it comes on TV. I know its not the best movie, but for some reason i can watch this movie without being bored every time. This is really strange because there are movies that i really liked the first time but i just cant stand to watch it again. An example is TDK; I loved it the first time but could hardly sit through it the second time.
I don't know the exact reason i i like this movie but maybe its because its got very few scenes thats taxing on me. There are secens in TDK and Shawshank redemption(two movies i really love)that are a bit taxing for me, like the scenes involving Gordon's faked death and his family or the scenes involving the sisters in SR.
I really like Mattew Broderick. I find his acting really unassuming and straightforward which is perfect for the role and i like the chemistry he shares with the girl.
Coming to the plot there isn't really anything special or surprising(other than they finding a million egg in the garden), just the usual Hollywood disaster movie formula; thinking that they had killed the monster and then it coming back in the end. But the action scenes were well choreographed and the VG was top class. I Never remembering having noticing the VG, it seemed pretty natural(the matrix style dark/blue ambiance helps in that department).
Overall really watchable movie(although not multiple times).
Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
Endearing and funny...
I liked this movie more than the first one. Don't know why. Maybe its because i saw it first.
The movie takes off about a year(or nine months)after the first one. James and Mollie are married and Mollie is expecting her second child. Well the premise of the movie is pretty much simple; the institution of marriage thru the eyes of a Two year old. Actually there's more than that especially about Mikey owning up to the responsibility of having a little sister and his owning op to his own fear of Mr. Toilet man.
James and Mollie have their second child, a baby girl named Julie but they share a volatile relationship. The movies portrays the effect of the friction and power-play between the couple on young Mikey. Mikey is not old enough to know the reason their parents fight, he just knows that they are yelling and assumes he has something to do with it or that his sister had something to do with it. This causes some love lost between the siblings, notably when mikey rips off the head of julies favorite doll. But common sense and love prevails and things work out well for all through testing circumstances.
The Mr Toilet Man bit was funny. Mikeys Conversations with Eddie(voiced by damon Wayan)was the funniest part of the movie. Eddies giving potty tips to mikey was really great.
Overall i think the movie could have been better if they had spent more time on the kids than about acoounting and the fighting.