FRACTURE

Sky and I decided to watch a movie today. After giving a few recommendations, I typically leave the choice to Sky. During the time that Sky takes to pick a film from one of the three platforms, I manage to watch a film AND write its review.

Sky is a fan of Anthony Hopkins. The first movie that we watched together was The Rite.

After dismissing the movies on Prime and Hotstar, Sky finally decided that he wanted to watch a lawyer movie. So, I suggested Fracture.

Fracture is a 2007 film starring Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) and Ryan Gosling (Hey Girl, you got to know him!). The Director is Gregory Hoblit, who is also the Director of Primal Fear (one of my favourite legal thrillers).

This film is available on Netflix and listed under the genres of crime movies and crime dramas and listed as dark and suspenseful.

Sky put up with me predicting every move of the characters. Halfway through the movie, I realised that I may have watched this movie earlier. It’s either that or I have great deduction skills.

PLOT: Ted Crawford’s (Anthony Hopkins) wife has been shot dead and he’s been arrested on account of having confessed to the crime. The arresting officer also happens to have a personal grudge against Ted. Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is the District Attorney conducting this trial. Willy has had a 95 percent success rate and has recently been hired by a leading corporate firm. Willy agrees to take on this matter as his last as it’s an open and shut case. But is it?

The police have not been able to retrieve the murder weapon and the case that was already built on a weak foundation begins to crumble. Things aren’t going well on the professional front either as now Willy’s employment with the new firm is at stake.

Will Ted manage to hoodwink the system and escape scot-free?

REVIEW: If you love legal thrillers, courtroom dramas or if you have watched Primal Fear and enjoyed it, you most definitely will enjoy this film too.

The plot is entwined with twists and despite having your detective hat on, you may not be able to predict the next move.

Anthony Hopkins is at his Hannibal best. He has that eery, sinister smile plastered on his face, constantly provoking the District Attorney and even succeeding at it. Gosling is his usual cocky self. He starts off as the smug, “I’ve never lost a case” lawyer until he has his smile wiped off his face by Hopkins (not literally though, remember this isn’t Hannibal!)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) plays the role of Gosling’s boss and love interest and barely has much of a role.  

This film is a classic cat and mouse thriller with excellent performances by Hopkins and Gosling and a well-spun script.

TRIVIA: Chris Evans had auditioned for the role of Willy Beachum.

VERDICT: Some old films that had gained enormous popularity during the period of their release have not withstood the test of time. Here’s one that you can watch and still enjoy.

Do you like legal thrillers as well? Then please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent. 

Image Source - Wikipedia

THE LION KING

Image Source - IMDb

It’s only fair; I compare this film to Aladdin. I liked Aladdin better and Skip, The Lion King (his reason being cute Simba). The visual effects though are far, far superior in the Lion King. I was captivated in the first 5 minutes. The Lion King is a live action film with photo-realistic animals. The intricate details of the flora, followed by the appearance of lifelike animals would in the words of R3 (my cousin sista) give you a realistic experience of being on a safari. In certain scenes that pan across the forest landscape, if you observe carefully, you can even spot tiny balls of seed hair fibres floating in the air.  If you thought The Jungle Book was impressive (which also happens to be directed by Jon Favreau, the director of The Lion King), be prepared to be blown away with the graphics in this film. The characters have been rendered digitally using photo and video references of real animals.

In case you’re wondering who Jon Favreau is (tsk tsk). Here’s a picture of him, do you recognise him?

Image Source - IMDb
If you're Happy and you know it clap your hands!

Following the footsteps of Aladdin in being inclusive and racially diverse, the live action film seeks to undo the criticism faced by its predecessor of having an all white cast. Here’s the list of the voice cast:

Young Simba – JD McCrary

Simba- Donald Glover (more popularly known as Childish Gambino)

Mufasa – James Earl Jones ( who voiced Mufasa in the animated film as well)

Nala- Beyonce

Timon – Billy Eichner

Pumbaa – Seth Rogen

Scar – Chiwetel Ejiofor

Zazu- John Oliver

Shenzi – Florence Kasumba

The actors were a perfect fit as the voice-overs considering the film is set in Africa. I particularly liked Timon and Shenzi. Timon is hilarious and Shenzi gave us all the chills.

I’m glad that they retained certain iconic scenes from the animated film and it was refreshing to see them in live action.

It is a film that can be enjoyed by both adults and children, alike. A word of caution for parents with younger children: children who aren’t used to non-animated films or those younger than 5 may find the film a bit frightening.

The film features songs from the original soundtrack plus a few new songs and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which had us all humming and singing along (thank you subtitles).

As in all Disney films, this film too had its share of inspiring messages for all. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the film:

“Everybody is Somebody, even a Nobody”. - Rafiki

“To change the past is a big order, but you can change the future”. – Timon

“I may run from Hyenas but I always fight a bully”. – Pumbaa

A must watch film and one to be watched in the theatres.

A question for all you Disney fans – Do you prefer the original animated films or the present live action ones?

While I enjoyed watching the animated films as a child, it’s nice and refreshing to see the same being recreated as live action and more so as the creators haven’t diverted much from the original script and storyline.

And now repeat after me – “Hakuna Matata”

Skip manages to keep himself entertained on most days. But on some days (days when I'm too tired to even move a muscle), he decides he needs his mommy dearest to play with him and that's when we try our hand at Origami (courtesy YouTube videos)

ALADDIN- A MAGICAL TREAT

Image Source - IMDb

The year was 1996. We had been invited over to our neighbour’s house for dinner.  Raucous kids were getting in the way of adult’s (boring) chatter and our game of indoor hide and seek came to a halt with us being shooed into a bedroom and being asked to quietly watch a cartoon film. It was Aladdin. It was the first animated movie I’d ever watched and I remember being completely mesmerised by it. Soon, it was time to leave and the movie hadn’t finished. The next day, I asked my mother to borrow the cassette from Madhu Aunty and I watched the movie twice before we returned the cassette. That year, I secretly hoped for an Aladdin cassette to be magically dropped off at our doorstep.

I watched the movie next, two weeks ago when I had recorded it for Skip. A hilarious genie, a flying carpet, a tiger and a monkey for a pet and a whole lot of magic – What’s not to love in the movie and though I’m not one much for musicals, I loved the songs in Aladdin. However, surprisingly, when I saw the trailers for the live action movie, I didn’t feel like watching the movie until I began receiving messages about how good the movie was and that I should take Skip for it. After postponing the plan by two weeks, I finally got about to watching the movie.

I LOVED IT! LOVED IT, LOVED IT.

I am going to skip the plot, we all know the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp and the three wishes.

Here’s why I loved the movie:

1.  The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). I enjoy his films and was curious to watch a musical fantasy directed by him. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is the first in this genre of films that he has directed. Though I did read that film critics haven’t appreciated his direction.

2.    I wasn’t too enthusiastic about watching Will Smith play the role of Genie. In fact, when he made his first appearance on screen, I almost shouted “we miss you Robin Williams” but Skip was already squirming as I was singing the songs out aloud and I didn’t want to embarrass him further. What a brilliant portrayal of Genie by Will Smith! He has brought his hip-hop swag to the role and is hilarious. I almost felt disloyal to Williams as I had a big grin on each time Smith appeared on screen.

3.    Disney has cast culturally appropriate actors. (Well, almost...) Mena Massoud plays the role of Aladdin and while Naomi Scott (Jasmine) is not Middle Eastern (She’s British Indian. Woo Hoo Indian !), atleast they didn’t whitewash the film . (Remember Scarlett Johansson portrayed a Japanese girl in Ghost in the Shell). When Massoud is turned into a Prince by Genie and he makes his grand entrance to the song, Prince Ali, he looks exactly like the animated version of Aladdin. The film also does away with religious stereotypes that were portrayed in the earlier film.

4.   The actors are a treat to watch. While Smith, Massoud and Scott have been receiving accolades for their acting, I must also mention Marwan Kenzari (who plays Jafar ) and Nasim Pedrad ( who plays Dalia, a handmaiden to Princess Jasmine).

5.  The set is grand, larger than life and colourful. The costumes are appealing. Some scenes reminded me of Sanjay Leela Bansali’s grandiose setting especially the ones that involved dancing.

6.      Princess Jasmine is a sassy rebel; she’s outspoken and doesn’t need a knight in shining armour to rescue her. In short, she’s not your typical Disney princess. Feminists, rejoice.

7.   Take a deep breath, Disney purists; there are some differences between the animated and the live action film. A new character has been introduced in Dalia, handmaiden to Princess Jasmine, Genie has a love interest and Jasmine gets to become the Sultan.

8.    The film sends important messages to children about honesty, being true to oneself, the power of friendship etc.

Aladdin is the 4^th highest grossing film of 2019 and has passed the original at the Box Office.  Go watch it! It’s a ‘feel-good’ movie. It has magic, music, dance, romance, drama, action. It’s a Bollywood film with great CGI effects.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Image Source - IMDb

Archie had been going on and on about wanting to watch Crazy Rich Asians and then I also heard Howie Mandel on America’s Got Talent tell us all how hilarious the movie was and the plan was made. After a delayed release in India, the three of us went to watch the show on a weekday and were pleasantly surprised to see we had company. Now there were 6 heads in the theatre.

The movie is based on a book of the same name penned by Kevin Kwan. It has Michelle Yeoh (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, Tomorrow Never Dies fame) in it and features an all Asian cast. This is Henry Golding’s (the male protagonist) first film.

PLOT: Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), an Economics Professor NYU is dating Nick Young (Henry Golding) unaware of the fact that Nick comes from a crazy-rich family who are real estate tycoons in Singapore. Nick has to travel to Singapore to attend his best friend’s wedding and decides to take Rachel along and introduce her to his family. Rachel comes to know about Nick’s affluent background and with the help of her Singaporean friend Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina) tries to fit into Nick’s family. Nick’s mother, Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh) doesn’t hide her disdain for Rachel. She disapproves of Rachel’s background, economic status and the fact that Rachel has her roots in the US and that she is passionate about her work. To make things worse, Nick’s friends consider her a gold digger. This creates a rift between Rachel and Nick.

Will Nick’s family accept Rachel for who she is? Will Nick and Rachel work things out or will Nick choose to stay back in Singapore and join his family business?

Does the plot sound all too familiar to our Indian audience? Boy takes Girl to meet his rich family. Girl, being from a lower social stratum doesn’t meet their approval.  Girl is shunned by Boy’s family and friends and not to forget the baddie in such storylines- the mother in law.  Spoiler alert for those not familiar with such storylines – Girl then reveals her goodness by some act of benevolence, good wins over the ‘not so good’ , Boy proceeds to cheesy proposal with the blessing of his family. Boy happy, Girl happy.

As the credits rolled at the end, I questioned Archie, “How is this movie a hit? The creator of this age-old formula, our very own Bollywood, too, has stopped churning out such stories”. Archie is ‘Amreeka returned’ and well versed with their way of thinking. She tsked tsked me and said “All this is very novel to them”.  The movie is fully Bollywood ishtyle, complete with songs and Cinderella-esque makeover of the female protagonist because it’s important to look pretty. Who cares that you are a Professor at NYU.

If I were to keep the storyline aside and review the movie for what it is, I’d say the movie is average- a typical rom-com ‘time-pass’ movie. When I watched the trailer of this movie, it reminded me of Monster-in-law, which has a similar storyline. Now, that movie was HILARIOUS. The title is a misnomer. Yes, the movie does involve rich Asians, but I was expecting to see crazy toys and exorbitant splurges especially with a wedding involved in the film. On that front too it was disappointing.

Besides Michelle Yeoh, the other actor you’d recognise is Ken Jeong (Hangover). Sadly, he’s been given the role of a shady father who hits on his daughter’s friend. His role is minor and failed to evoke any laughter from the audience of 6.

Michelle, Constance, Henry and Awkwafina have acted well. However, the story was predictable, the movie not funny enough and sadly there wasn’t any vulgar display of wealth to leave us flabbergasted.

When Rachel is first introduced to Henry’s mother, Eleanor mentions that Henry’s father is out of town on a business trip. I was expecting the father to be the hero of the film (figuratively) by making an appearance towards the end, standing up to his wife and reuniting the lovers. I have been so accustomed to our films where we’ve had our sanskaari Alok Nath follow the righteous path and protect our frail women from harassment. I was wrong!