Bridesmaids (2011)

Bridesmaids

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Director : Paul Feig

Writers : Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig

Actors : Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Chris O'Dowd, Jill Clayburgh and others...

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Overall : 8.5/10

Direction : 8.0/10

Acting : 8.5/10

Cinematography : 8.0/10

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Let me end the debate here and now : Bridesmaids is better than the Hangover trilogy.
YES, you read this right.

It has something for everyone, boasting an acceptance among girls and boys, the ladies and the gentlemen alike : something that the Hangover movies were not able to generate.

The plot is deceptively simple but laced with humour. Even the most common of scenes in the movie have an unspoken comic element about them. Kristen Wiig is talented and everyone knew that, but this script confirms her position as the comic lady who could someday become better than her ex-boss Tina Fey.

SNL people sure have a lot to offer.

Bridesmaids revolves around the pre-wedding stages of a certain Miss Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph) and the constant clash of egos between Lillian's best friend and maid of honour Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig), and her fiance's boss' wife Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne). Melissa McCarthy as Megan, Lillian's mysteriously weird future sister-in-law, is the pick of the lot. Her expressions in the movie are to die for and one can see how she was nominated for an Oscar in the capacity of a Supporting Actress.

The direction is nothing exceptional but it is able to do justice to the superbly authored script.
Maybe that's where The Hangover - Part I edges past it.

Nonetheless, this is one movie where you would definitely be flaunting a smile on your face the entire time.

The cameo by Jon Hamm as Ted, a self-absorbed sexual animal, is a nice touch to the movie. Wiig is true to her role of a damsel in distress, with her bakery shut down and her non-reciprocating boyfriend Ted. However, the manner in which she is saved by a traffic officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd) is a tad bit predictable. Their chemistry, while not the best part of the movie, is enough to keep you interested. 

All in all, it is a good movie with clear-cut intentions to make you laugh. It never tries too hard.
It doesn't need to.


PS : Wait for sometime after the credits start rolling. McCarthy has a "treat" in store for you!

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Official Trailer

Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

Witness For The Prosecution

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Director : Billy Wilder

Adapted from : Witness for the Prosecution - a play by Agatha Christie, with screenplay by Billy Wilder.

Actors : Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester, John Williams (II), Ian Wolfe, Henry Daniell, Norma Varden and others...

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Overall : 8.5/10

Direction : 8.5/10

Acting : 8.5/10

Cinematography : 8.0/10

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Billy Wilder is GOD.

That is neither an understatement nor an exaggeration. It's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Witness For The Prosecution is a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The dialogues are something to be treasured. The performances are so memorable that you're left wishing for the opportunity to have been born during such a glorious era.

Billy Wilder knows the pulse of his audience and does much to test it at every turn. Agreed that this was not an original screenplay, the material being adopted from Agatha Christie's wonderfully crafted play of the same name, but, notwithstanding, Wilder deserves full credit for bringing to screen one of the most exceptional stories of all times. And with such wicked ease...

Sir Wilfrid Robarts, played by the immeasurably talented Charles Laughton, is a very experienced barrister, who is not in the prime of his health - however, as soon as he is discharged from the hospital, he craves for cases that his nurse (Elsa Lanchester) classifies as being of the stimulating nature.

But the man is helplessly drawn into the particularly interesting case of a certain Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), partly because of the cigars that the deal had in store for him, and partly because of the case's simple, yet challenging, nature. Vole is accused of murdering Ms. Emily French (Norma Varden) and the fact that he is later revealed to be the main beneficiary of her will doesn't make matters look any good.

Having heard Vole's side of the story and to establish his alibi on the night of the murder, Robarts has a very uncomfortable encounter with a rather cold Christine (Marlene Dietrich), who is Vole's German wife - through a flashback scene, you're shown that Vole had a romantic encounter with her whilst stationed in Germany during the War.

As time passes, things go out of hand, there is a lot of court-room drama, statements are made, and then retracted - this flick has it all. The twist at the end is something I had guessed - or, at least, a part of it anyway.

But, the fact that you may just decipher some of the codes before the last frame is shot shouldn't be the thing worrying you - the meticulous direction, a crisp screenplay and the sublime performances will be more than sufficient to make up for it.

This is one Billy Wilder movie which you shouldn't miss.


PS : Don't think for a second that this is Wilder's best work. Double Indemnity and The Apartment are on a completely separate level. Reviews coming up soon! Till then wilder away!

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Official Trailer

Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises

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Director : David Cronenberg

Writer : Steven Knight

Actors : Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahland and others...

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Overall : 5.5/10

Direction : 5.5/10

Acting : 6.0/10

Cinematography : 5.5/10

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Eastern Promises is nothing more than a bravely foolish attempt at creating the never-needed Russian version of The Godfather.

You have an old patriarch at the head of the business, one hot-headed son and an budding mafia leader in the making. The ingredients are there to be fused together. The ultimate dish, though, disappoints.

The plot is alright for a mafia movie, that much I should clarify. The execution? Not even close.

Cronenberg was obviously of the opinion that more blood and gore will add a touch of realism to the movie. In fact, the beginning of the movie has as much blood-spilling as that in Saw or Grudge. Repulsive nature of some of the scenes aside, there is not much of note in this bland flick.

The director's mediocrity filters down to the cast.

The actors are nowhere near their potential. Normally, a cast featuring Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen would have taken my breath away. Quite to the contrary, their dull and listless performances end up making something impossible, possible - they kill an already dead movie.

The plot isn't even worth discussing. For all of you who have seen The Godfather trilogy, this will be a very, very dismal affair.

Just for the sake of discussing this piece of almost worthless art, the story revolves around the death of a underage prostitute, whose baby is delivered by the midwife Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts). She also finds a diary on the dead girl, which leads her to the Trans-Siberian Restaurant owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahland). Little does she realise at that point of time that she had walked into the lion's den - that Semyon was an old and respected vor of the Russian Mafia. Things go out of hand when the undertaker Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) and the son of Semyon, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), get involved.

The flick then moves at a glacial pace, till a small surprise towards the end. However, I was too disoriented by then to even acknowledge the sudden change of direction.

Honestly put, you can miss this one. No one will kill you for it.

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Official Trailer

Hypocrites

Hypocrites

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Civilization is a pain in the ass.

People are so hypocritical nowadays, it almost fogs their ability to see others who aren't. They don't give a shit about anyone, doing things exclusive to their whims and fancies.

I, for one, also don't care much about every stupid and trivial thing that is unfolding around me - we just aren't meant to! But, once in every few acts of life, shouldn't we take a dramatic pause, and think about the repercussions our words or actions might have on others?

It's a shame that it doesn't quite happen. Sensitivity and maturity are so dead.

What does actually take place is a charade - the quiet, and rather coerced, reciprocation of fake emotions. It's a long journey, starting right from the moment you are ushered into the world, right upto the moment when your good is interred with your bones.

Therefore, it's only sensible to stop expecting. That's when you'll be really happy. The twenty-first century creature can best survive (and happily so) by being self-sufficient.

Often, self-sufficiency blends into selfishness. That's when civilization (if there ever was one) becomes nothing but a mere genocide of clashing interests.

It's safe to assume contradictions run the world. They always have. They always will...

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Se7en (1995)

Se7en

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Director : David Fincher

Writer : Andrew Kevin Walker

Actors : Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, (plus one) and others...

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Overall : 10/10

Direction : 8.5/10

Acting : 9.0/10

Cinematography : 9.0/10

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Se7en is perfection, personified.

David Fincher is one of my favourite directors. With the kind of command he possesses over the art of story-telling, Fincher creates a classic with this venture. Crime thrillers come and go, but this movie will stick with you.

The actors are a class apart. Morgan Freeman, as the almost retired detective William Somerset, and Brad Pitt as his young protege David Mills, are absolutely phenomenal. Dark and gritty, once his movie gets hold of you, it never lets go.

The crux of the story is this : there is a serial killer named 'John Doe' on the loose and Somerset, who still has a week before he hangs up his boots, pairs up with the guy who has been called in to replace him - David Mills. The duo are like fire and ice. Somerset is the anchor, and Mills is the engine. Mills also brings his wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow) to the city, acknowledging that this opportunity to tackle big cases would be a boost to his career. Sometime later in the movie, the three have dinner together and Somerset exhibits paternal instincts towards the simple Tracy, who is like the daughter he had always wanted.

Meanwhile, the killer is staging ghastly murders, all in connection with the Seven Deadly Sins. The duo come very near to catching that psychopath, but fail by an excruciatingly thin margin.

In a scene towards the end of the movie, Tracy meets up with Somerset to ask if it would be wise to bring a baby into this world - she reveals that she was pregnant. Uncertain of the city and his dark secrets, she needed the older man's approval before telling her husband.

The conclusion to the movie is so ethically revolting and so unpredictably delicious that you'll be stuck in a dilemma - whether to smile at the amazing anti-climax, or pause for a second, and soak up the gravity of the situation.

Keep a look out for the "plus one" I have listed in the cast above. To keep the intrigue going, even Fincher had not included the actor's name in the movie's opening titles, only to list the man twice in the closing credits.

After all, who are we to tamper with this gory masterpiece?

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Official Trailer