SPIDER-MAN:FAR FROM HOME

Lulu: Do you see that guy? He plays Spiderman. His name is Tom Holland.

Skip: That’s not his name.

Lulu: What’s his name?

Skip: Peter Parker.

Lulu: Oh yeah, that’s right.

We had quite an adventure on our way to the film. On Skip’s advice, I left home an hour early even though the GPS indicated a distance of 28 minutes ( I measure distance in time). We sailed past traffic signals and reached Lido Mall 20 minutes early. I made a mental note to use that spare time to help Skip revise for his dictation test, use the restroom, buy popcorn and click a few pictures of the poster.

Near the mall entrance, we joined the long queue of cars, waiting to get in. When we were 2 cars away from getting in, we were told that parking was full and that we would have to wait. I took a deep breath and looked at Skip. Skip is great at giving advice in moments such as this.

He excitedly said, “Look”. I looked around and thought a spot had opened up and then realised that Skip was pointing at his pants. Skip had forgotten to zip his pants. He was pointing at his underwear that was peaking out. “My underwear looks like Spiderman’s suit”.

I turned around and decided to park at the mall close to Lido’s only to be stuck in a massive queue inside the parking lot there. It was 4.20 and the cars were moving at a ‘snail on a freshly tarred road’s’ pace when I heard Skip say “Look” again. He found a spot that the cars ahead of us had missed.

We reached the theatre 10 minutes late, huffing and panting, only to be told that the movie hadn’t begun yet! (Shugu, Archie – I missed the national anthem).

Here’s the plot in brief lest I give away any spoilers like you know who (let’s just call him Parker) though I wouldn’t mind Marvel sending Cumberbatch to keep us quiet.

PLOT: Peter is going to Europe on a science field trip with his classmates and he has a Plan – to proclaim his love to MJ atop the Eiffel Tower. Things don’t go as planned. Earth is attacked by the Elementals and as luck would have it, Europe is the target. Enter Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) a superhero from Earth 833 in the Multiverse who takes on these Elementals. Peter is summoned by Nick Fury to assist Mysterio. With Iron Man and most of the Avengers gone, who shall step into Tony Stark’s shoes and have full access to the Stark Industries’ database and weapon supply. Will Peter step up or would Mysterio step in? After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

If you are a Marvel fan, irrespective of reviews, you ought to watch the film.

The movie is a blend of teenage romance, comedy and some great psychedelic action sequences. This film seems different from other Marvel films as it doesn’t merely focus on saving mankind. Peter wants to be a normal kid on a vacation and is not interested in destroying monsters or taking over the Stark Industries. This film feels more real where the superhero and the villain are not from outer space (Did I just leak a spoiler?)

Gyllenhaal and Holland are the scene stealers no doubt but the others in the film provide great comic relief. Peter’s friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Happy (Jon Favreau ) have more screen space this time and are hilarious. I’ve been a big fan of Samuel L Jackson and continue to remain so. MJ is not shown as a damsel in distress and even manages to strike down a drone.

The fast paced sequences alternating between the real and illusory worlds will leave your head spinning. The CGI effects are great and had me comparing them to the bull fighting scene in Kalank (that’s the movie I’m currently watching on Prime). I wish I had watched this film in IMAX.

Do not walk out of the theatre post the mid-credit scene. Wait for the post credit scene as well.

Teju, thank you for the tickets J

Look what I found at my office parking spot : Butterfly Girl

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!

CAROL

Image Source - IMDb
Released in January, 2016

You all know that I record movies and series on our Tata Sky set top box. Oh the excitement, when I spot a movie I’ve wanted to watch since ages or a movie that I’d missed watching in the theatre!

How often have we begun to watch a movie and then have had to skip it half way through? I find it very annoying when that happens because I have to start over again and by the time I get to the scene I had last watched, I would have lost interest.

I had watched the first half of Carol on a flight and post 50 minutes, our flight landed. This was in 2016. A few days ago when I was channel surfing, I came across a new movie channel ‘&Prive´HD’ that was showing some really nice movies and what do you know? There was Carol too.

Carol received 6 nominations at the Academy Awards (2016) including Best Actress (Cate Blanchett) and Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara).

Carol is based on the book ‘The Price of Salt’ (later republished as ‘Carol’in1990) by Patricia Highsmith.

The movie is set in the 1950s in America and covers the story of Carol (Cate Blanchett) and her relationship with Therese (Rooney Mara). Carol is estranged from her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) and is on the verge of divorcing him. Carol is shown unable to cope with Harge’s way of life and his mother’s constant interference in their lives strengthens her resolve to separate from him.  Harge is unable to accept this and is still in love with his wife and blames Carol’s relationship with Abby (Sarah Paulson) for their separation. Abby is not only Carol’s best friend and godmother to Carol and Harge’s 4 year old daughter, Rindy but was also at one point of time Carol’s lover.

Therese is a shop assistant at a Departmental Store and that is where she sees Carol for the first time. Carol is besotted with Therese and comes up with excuses to keep meeting Therese. Therese too begins to have strong feelings for Carol, which her boyfriend Richard dismisses as a crush.

In the meantime, Harge gets wind of this “yet-to-blossom affair” and files for sole custody of their daughter on the grounds of a ‘morality clause’ and gets an injunction restraining Carol from seeing her daughter, in an attempt to coerce Carol to return to him. Carol resigns herself to this fate and plans a road trip with Therese until the court hearing.

The relationship between Carol and Therese progresses during this road trip until a telegram and an encounter with a fellow traveller send things spiralling for Carol. Carol leaves Therese and returns home where she agrees to see a psychotherapist to cure her off these “unnatural feelings”.

In the meanwhile, Therese who would click photographs as a hobby pursues it seriously and gets a job at The New York Times.

Will Carol get custody of her daughter, Rindy? Will she resign to her fate and get back with her husband or will she pursue the forbidden love affair?

It is easy to understand why Cate and Rooney were nominated for the Oscars while the movie wasn’t for Best Picture. The actors have done a wonderful job of portraying their respective characters. Cate as the older, unhappy woman who is always impeccably dressed and appears nonchalant but on a closer look reveals a frightened, confused woman with low self esteem. Carol constantly sets her hair and face, worried she’s not looking good enough. Rooney is the wistful, innocent little shop assistant who is clearly infatuated with Carol and her rich lifestyle but at the same time is not needy or parasitic. Carol describes Therese as a strange girl, flung out of space.

The movie was also nominated for cinematography and deservedly so.

The story is set in the 50s when homosexuality was still a taboo and looked down upon. The film is very subtle in its references and there is no garish display of feelings between the characters. The film has also captured the emotions and the feeling of resignation/helplessness that a woman in Carol’s shoes would have felt during that period. When Carol is not allowed to meet her daughter, she decides to go on a road trip by simply stating “what else am I going to do?” Carol needs the certificate of a psychotherapist to be deemed a mother capable of bringing up her daughter.  (We can let out a sigh of relief that that this was in the 50s, we have made much progress since then OR have we?)

I love observing the background and the objects in films that are set in different eras.  I particularly remember the ancient looking door handle of the fridge. The filmmakers have paid great attention to detail.

The film focuses on the most conflicted question we face in our lives - to follow ones heart or mind?

 I got a bit bored halfway through because I do not like films that have melancholia lurking in the background. The movie is a bit slow to my liking and this is not my favourite movie of Cate Blanchett.