Review: Raja Natwarlal

164. Raja Natwarlal
"Raja Natwarlal" seemed to me to be an unofficial Indian remake of "The Sting". The basic plot setups in both films are identical. A small-time con artist and his friend pull off a big (for them) score, but turn out to have unwittingly stolen from a very dangerous man. When the friend is killed in retribution, the small-timer seeks out a big-time con artist with a connection to said friend. After some reluctance, that man agrees to train the small-timer, and they form a team to carry out a big con on the dangerous man to avenge their friends' death. While "Raja Natwarlal" isn't nearly as good a film as "The Sting", it still manages to have a lot of fun with the premise.

Anyone looking for realism in a film like this is going to be disappointed. Most of the fun comes from watching the big con while not fully aware of the entire plan. Each new piece sliding into place evokes a gratifying chuckle at the cleverness of it all. There is, of course, a montage near the film's end that details how everything was pulled off, revealing the moments of misdirection. It's easy to poke holes here if you want to. There are several times where, in retrospect, luck plays a huge role--the villain and others needed to behave in just the right way in order for the plan to proceed.
The goal here, however, isn't to be realistic. It's simply to be entertaining. And when a con film like this is made with such energy, entertainment is usually going to be found.

I usually mention the musical sequences when I review an Indian film. In this case I found them to be especially impressive. It's not that the songs or choreography were necessarily better than those in the others. It was how vibrant and energetic the sequences were. The frame was filled with bright, lively hues, and I can only assume that there was some post production work involved in making the sunglasses frequently worn by the main character impossibly, yet gloriously, reflective. These sequences were a visual treat.

While the film clearly lives in the shadow of "The Sting", it is a fun, energetic film with a good cast. Plotwise, it is probably the most "Western" foreign film I've seen this year.

B

Review: The Admiral: Roaring Currents

163. The Admiral: Roaring Currents
I went into this film with a little trepidation, as the last historically based South Korean film I'd seen, "The Fatal Encounter" had briefly put me to sleep. While the first half of "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" drags at times, it is anchored by a very strong leading performance from Choi Min-sik, and serves as the setup for one of the best naval battle sequences I've ever seen.

The film is set in 1597 and Choi plays Korean Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, who had been falsely accused of being a traitor and only recently cleared and reinstated to his position following torture. He finds himself with only 13 ships at his command, facing an invading Japanese fleet of hundreds. The first half of the film establishes the characters (both on the Korean and Japanese sides) and sets up the dire stakes Korea is facing--Yi has been ordered to disband the navy and join up with the army, but knows that this would give the Japanese an easy route to the Korean capital. He is determined to stand and fight, and must deal with those in whose own ranks who disagree and will go so far as to sabotage his chances.

Choi's performance demonstrates his extensive range as an actor. In both "Oldboy" (where he was fantastic in a great movie) and "Lucy" (where he was the rare bright spot in an otherwise disappointing movie), Choi was frequently given license to chew the scenery. Several scenes required him to be shouting, whether out of terror, anger, or desperation. For much of this film, his face droops and his shoulders slump in a way I'd rarely seen before. He speaks softly, and the weight of command that lays on his character's shoulders is palpable from the first second he appears on screen. For a film much more grounded in reality than either "Oldboy" or "Lucy", this subtle acting approach works wonders. It also makes it far more powerful when, after experiencing a major setback, he does break down. It's an earned moment, sharply contrasting with what had come before.

At times the film reminded me of the Old Hollywood Epics, albeit with more violence. The blaring music that accompanied the first appearance of an especially imposing Japanese regiment would have been right at home when the Roman Legions showed up in "Spartacus". There's also a decent amount of time spent establishing some minor characters, each with their own small story to tell. This is where the film lost a little of its steam. Some of these moments felt shoehorned into the story, and their payoffs during the second half were often the most melodramatic, clichéd moments in the film.

Aside from those few brief moments, however, the second half of the film is absolutely fantastic. It features a very lengthy (but never dull) naval battle between Admiral Yi's 13 ships, and the Japanese Armada, where Yi is forced to pull out every trick he knows in a desperate gambit to turn the invading fleet back. One of those tricks involves not even using 12 of his ships for a significant chunk of the battle, so for a long while, it's actually a battle between one ship and the entire Japanese force. The tide of the battle shifts back and forth several times. Each time, defeat and death for Yi are imminent, but he tries one more risky, yet clever ploy to buy himself some more time. At one point, his ship is being boarded on three sides, but he still manages to repel the boarders (using a daring tactic I won't reveal here) and prepare to face the next wave of attackers.

Even though many of the ships and effects in the battle are computer generated, the film still remains firmly grounded in reality. That's part of what keeps things so exciting. If it had gone too over the top, it would have been easy to mentally check out and just enjoy the eye candy the battle had to offer. Instead, the film keeps you invested in Admiral Yi's desperate struggle that he has been fighting through for the entire film. Choi's performance kept this struggle interesting in the first half, and once his "fight" becomes literal, the action is given intensity and layers of meaning that a pure "action film" would not have had.

The few moments in the first half where the film dragged, and the even fewer moments of melodrama during the battle can be easily forgiven. The stunning naval battle sequence that serves as the film's raison d'être makes it a standout.

A-

Mini Review: Ghostbusters

162. Ghostbusters
This is going to be really short. I only feel the need to write a lot about the rereleases I see if I either have something new to add to the conversation, or if the theatrical viewing experience made an especially strong impression on me (as was the case with "Spartacus").

I'm not what you would call a "fan" of the "Ghostbusters" franchise in its film, television, or videogame incarnations. I'd seen the original once, several years ago, but that's as far as my exposure goes. This mitigates most of the appeal that comes with seeing the film upon rerelease. There wasn't anything in the way of nostalgia for me to experience. Instead I had a reasonably good time watching a reasonably funny movie whose standout feature was a good performance by Bill Murray.

There are several films I've seen over and over again where half the fun becomes waiting for your favorite lines and quoting them to other fans any time the film comes up in conversation. I know that is something many fans of this film experience, but it was not a factor for me. I enjoyed the film, but wouldn't place it on a pedestal.

B

September 5 Weekly Preview

This is a very minor week for new releases. Only two films are coming out in wide release, along with one smaller release, and a few more foreign films (which I won't mention here because I'm not 100% sure I'll get to them).

The Identical- I'm very skeptical about this one. It seems to be about a boy, separated from his twin at birth, who grows up to look just like a famous musician (unbeknownst to him, the twin). They've gone so overboard with making the characters look like Elvis that I thought it was a biopic for the first several seconds of the trailer. When I realized it wasn't an Elvis biopic, I assumed it was still a biopic, but for a lesser known musician I wasn't familiar with. Nope. Turns out it's completely made up.

The Trip to Italy- I saw the trailer for this once, but don't recall it very clearly. I'm assuming it's at least in part about a person or persons going on a trip to Italy. I'm going out on a limb there, I know. It does star Steve Coogan, who was very good in "Philomena", so I am somewhat intrigued.

Innocence- I don't know? Might be a cross between horror and a girls' young adult book?

Review: As Above, So Below

161. As Above, So Below
Unfortunately, this film did not live up the promise I found in my initial viewing of its trailer. While I find it cool that much of the film was actually shot in "off limits" parts of the Paris Catacombs, the sense of claustrophobia I was hoping to experience was never truly realized.

The movie does get some things right. It establishes its heroine, Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), well, showing her sneaking into Iran to uncover some archaeological evidence. This sets up her obsessive dedication to her work, and helps bypass the eternal problem in horror films--when the audience wonders: "Why is she doing that! She's so stupid!". After going into Iran, just about any extreme risk she could take wouldn't seem out of character. It's also a clever idea to have the character, on the hunt for the Philosopher's Stone, searching for more clues while she tells others around her what she already knows. This creates a more dynamic situation. Instead of droning on, force feeding the audience endless exposition, said exposition is provided while she is actively pursuing goals, making it go down much easier.

Soon Scarlett discovers that the stone is hidden in the Paris Catacombs, and she enters in search of it with her cameraman, a reluctant friend, and several local guides in tow. At this point all of the characters put small cameras on the front of their helmets, allowing the film to jump back and forth between everyone's point of view. This is also the point at which the film must follow through with its promise of "horror". It is here that it mostly fails.

There are a few "jump" scares and some moments of tension, but the film never reached the sense of unease I got seeing its trailer for the first time. It had been the idea of being stuck, unable to move, deep under ground that had struck a primal chord with me. Sadly there are few moments in the actual film when anyone is physically trapped. They're almost always moving forward in one direction or another. I also thought that the decision to make this a "found footage" film severely handicapped it. The few times when a character is actually struggling to get out of a tight space could have been much more effective in the hands of a capable cinematographer and editor. Having everything being shot from the characters' points of view really limited the types of shots the film could have. These various points of view were sometimes edited together so rapidly and nonsensically that it was difficult to tell what was going on. Not in a mysterious way (potentially good for this type of movie), but in a needlessly confusing way. In some cases "found footage" is an effective sub-genre, helping to get us deeper into the characters' world. In this case, they had a great setting (the catacombs) that could have been put to much better effect if the filmmakers had been able to compose each individual shot.

This film did a lot of things well early on, but a lack of truly frightening moments, combined with a less than ideal shooting style, keep it from standing out overall.

C

Rant: The November Man

160. The November Man
A couple weeks ago, my mom and I went to the Kids Clubhouse screening of "Mr. Peabody and Sherman". It's one of the most flat out fun and enjoyable films that I've seen this year, and I was excited to get to see it again, especially for the special one dollar ticket price.

I don't get it. He's not talking about "The November Man".

Ahem. I understood that it was a screening intended for children (which is why I got my mom to come along--I didn't want to seem like a creep). Indeed, it was shown in a large auditorium, and was very crowded. I was willing to put up with some chatter from the younger moviegoers, and even expected it as the cost of attending such a screening. There was a lot of noise before the film started, but once it actually began everyone got quiet. The only noises were laughter and other reactions appropriate to the film.

This is a marked contrast to what I experienced when I went to see "The November Man" last week.

He just mentioned the title! He's about to tie it in somehow!

Uh...excuse me, where was I? Oh, yes. There was a couple sitting behind me that completely ruined my experience with the film.

Oh no, that's not good!

Ahem! For the entire film, this couple did not stop talking. They spoke at a little above a whisper, just loudly enough to make tuning them out impossible and to give their voices the sense of Chinese Water Torture. And they commented on everything. If something particularly violent happened, they told each other how violent it was. And the plot twists! Good lord, I became conditioned to live in deathly fear of each new plot twist, because I just knew that they would feel the need to explain it to each other. Since they both seemed to be doing the explaining simultaneously, it's clear that no explanation was required, but that didn't stop or slow them down. At one point a villain, discussing another character, says something along the lines of "They're the only one who can defeat us now." The film then cut to another scene, in close-up on the character they'd just been discussing. "That's who they were talking about" the woman explained to the man and, sadly, everyone in earshot.

Wow. He's really not happy about this.

Excuse me! I'm trying to write here! It's getting really annoying having to deal with your constant interruptions! I appreciate you reading my blog, but if you feel the need to comment, there's a section down at the bottom of the post where you can do just that. There might be some people who actually want to read what I'm writing, without seeing your commentary throughout the whole thing. Save your comments for the end!

Screw you, man. You're mean. I'm leaving...

Are they gone now? Thank God.

There are sometimes that I wish I wasn't so nice. It would have its advantages to be the kind of person who could have turned around and told that annoying couple to shut up, but I'm just not built that way. I don't know where the sense of entitlement that some "movie talkers" seem to have comes from. Perhaps they feel that since they've spent money to buy tickets (and maybe popcorn and a drink), they have the right to do whatever they want in the theater. But you know what? Everyone else has bought tickets, too. Is their experience less important? The occasional genuine, natural reaction to moments of shock or humor is fine, and is what can make seeing a film with a theatrical audience a real treat. But when you treat a movie theater like it's your living room, we have a problem. And maybe you'll have a problem, too. Next time you might not be sitting behind someone as nice as I am.

Ultimately, I don't feel like I can write a review for this film. I was never able to get into it, but I can't blame that on the film. If I had to guess, it would probably be around the "C" range, with a decent performance from Pierce Brosnan. Some plot twists were better than others, but the promise of the "mentor versus protégé" conceit never truly paid off, as Brosnan always seemed to be too far ahead of the game for it to be competitive.

And by the way, this loudmouth couple...they were sitting in the seats clearly marked as reserved for those accompanying the disabled.

Assholes.

Review: When the Game Stands Tall

159. When the Game Stands Tall
The "Inspirational Sports Drama" is a very crowded genre for one that is so narrowly defined. While "When the Game Stands Tall" has some effective moments, most of them are ultimately unremarkable, feeling almost focus-grouped as they are so similar to moments from other films. The failure to stand out in its own field is what dooms the film to mediocrity.

From a basic filmmaking perspective, the major problem here is that the film is aimless for a good chunk of its opening minutes. Eventually it is about how a high school team, having set the longest winning streak of all time, finally loses, but manages to persevere in spite of this newfound adversity (aww...). It takes way too long for the film to get to that crucial loss. I wasn't timing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was over half an hour into the film. Instead, a lot of time is spent on establishing the team's winning tradition, then on showcasing a few tragic events before their next season (their coach barely survives a heart attack, and a recently graduated player is killed). I understand that the film is based on a true story, and they may have been trying to accurately depict real events, but for the purposes of a film, they should have gotten to the point much quicker. Why even spend time building up to their victorious, season ending game near the beginning of the film? Why not just start with it? That would have been an easy way to establish whatever they wanted to regarding the team, but in much less time.

Once their big loss finally does come, the sports movie clichés show up in full force. From the dramatic locker room speeches, to unconventional team bonding, to last minute nail biting victories, it's all here, and rarely presented in a way that could be considered new or exciting. Some moments work better than others, usually dependent on the ability of the actors to carry the material. Some of the more experienced actors manage to breathe temporary life into the film. Jim Caviezel and Michael Chiklis acquit themselves well as the teams coaches, but most of the younger actors portraying the players aren't able to do as much with what they're given.

Some of the gameplay scenes are well shot and carry with them some excitement, but it's still not nearly enough to combat the "been there, done that" feeling that permeates the entire film.

C