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darann92
Reviews
The Lego Movie (2014)
Everything is Awesome!
How far would you take your wildest imagination and breathe some life into it? I think someone asked this similar question to the creators of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. And The Lego Movie was their answer.
I had humongous doubts when I came to know a film as such was being made. First of all, I had no idea or experiences with Lego construction toys. To me, it appeared to be boring and the hype that has always surrounded it was very overrated. When it was hard to even consider it as a toy, I was very sure the directors have lost their minds upon the decision to generate a full fledged movie featuring a world made out of Lego.
First few seconds of the film was a bit hard to digest as the animation was new and there weren't many scopes for free movements as we are looking at toy bricks. What began this way unfolded into a terrific comedy action entertainer that I honestly didn't anticipate at all.
Emmet, an underdog who is a construction worker, leads a normal life. He is destined to save the world from evil President Business who plans to destroy it. His travel, the people he meets and the way he saves the world forms the movie's crux. I have just narrated a story line which has been told in over thousands of movies. But all the differences were made by the Lego and admirable screen writing. Based on the real life construction toys solely, Phil and Chris has meticulously formed a world that resembled ours. It looked easy to create man-like toys as the film's characters. But I bet building clouds, fire, smoke and sea using Lego sets weren't a painless execution. To build it is one thing, to perfect it is another thing. And to make it work and tell us a story speaks of a rare success.
One thing is for sure. The Lego Movie will never allow you to yawn, thanks to the tight and gripping screenplay by the directors. Once you enter the film, you will be out of it before you know it. Even if you were keen to detect mistakes, the screenplay doesn't give you time. Characters such as Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman), Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) and Uni-Kitty (voiced by Alison Brie) were amazing additions which without the film wouldn't have been as appealing as it was. Cameos by Superman, Green Lantern, Gandalf The Grey, Kung Fu Panda, Shakespeare, Wonder Woman and so on are surely creative and leaves you wanting more for their screen space.
Similar to many Disney animation films, there are several motivational dialogues that pops up to encourage everyday people. With random characters thrown in the film, backed up by a different story-telling, towards the end, you would think that you already know The Lego Movie is just another Disney-inspired film. Prepare to be proved wrong.
From the outside, The Lego Movie might appear as an animation feature. But one has to look from the inside to realize that the animation was just a part of the true story - a kid's imagination in the real world. When a kid has things to say and wasn't given a chance to do so, he or she uses a different platform to express it out. In this case, it was Lego. We all had toys once in our life and this is totally relatable. When the real world was shown with Will Ferrell as a strict dad who prohibits his son from messing up the set of Lego toys, that is when the entire movie made sense. Emmet is a representation of the kid and the villain represented the father. Emmet has always required instructions to do (build) things in his life, like everyone else. And the entire movie was about the protagonist learning to be different from the rest of the world and comprehending that success would come to him if he never stops believing. The analogical simultaneous ending is something to watch out for.
Today, animation genre has been brought to another topnotch stage. There is always great support and feedback for healthy cinema, and as for The Lego Movie, it is currently tasting a remarkable success. What can I say? Keep it coming as everything is awesome!
Her (2013)
Go to Her
What comes into your mind when you hear love being described as 'Love knows no boundaries' and 'Love is blind'? The answer to this question will have to be divided into Pre-Her and Post-Her.
Before watching Her, I would have said the love descriptions above are cheesy. Not only that it sounds like a fantasy, it makes the idea of love totally unrelatable too, at least for me.
In order to give both literal and figurative meanings to those, Spike Jonze has decided to redefine relationships by delivering a masterpiece. Set in the near future, Her is about a loner who gets into an intimate relationship with his Artificial Intelligence Operating System, Samantha. There are two ways to go about the film. One would be to watch and grab the entertainment it provides on the surface. But that wasn't the purpose the movie was made for.
Her is all about understanding the idea of relationships itself. Her pin points the weak relationships humans share in the current era by showing its fate in the slight future. Her depicts things that would happen if we give permission for technologies to control our daily life. The movie starts off with Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) at his workplace. As a man who is experiencing a lonely life due to a break up and soon-to-happen divorce, his world is extremely quiet. His communications, job and entertainment are all heavily dependent on technologies. One day, he decides to buy a new Operating System. It is an artificial intelligence based OS which grows on itself. The moment Samantha (OS voiced by Scarlett Johansson) enters his life, the movie gears up for an enthralling ride. As the story progresses, we would come to the realization that Theodore is not a distinguished character in the film. In a society where weak relationships, break ups, divorces, sex-based relationships are dominant; meaningful conversations are given no time (described via protagonist's occupation); uber cool technologies are allowed to construct our daily life, he is just a typical sample of the set. Look closely into the film and you will see yourself in Theodore too. Samantha is another strong character whom completes Theodore. Casting director has done an the most excellent job by picking Scarlett Johansson to carry out the task. It is arduous to make you admire, adore, feel for, cry for and finally hate a character, only by its' voice. Hats off to Scarlett for pulling it off with ease!
What I love (and fascinated) most about the film is of course, the relationship between Theodore and Samantha. Although human-OS based, but it is nothing short of romance, love, pain, trust and betrayal. It resembles real relationships cent per cent! That is when you will realize we do not fall for a person for their physical appearance, but for what is within, regardless of the type or medium (or in this case, medium-less!). Hollywood's library should be very proud of owning outstanding love stories like Titanic, Brokeback Mountain, The Reader, Revolutionary Road and now, Her.
Today, Her stands as one of the finalists of Academy Award's Best Film, because the amazing content and screen writing has been backed up by sound technicalities. The red and yellow color palette used throughout the film is for sure a refreshing experience! For an intense drama, editors Jeff Buchanan and Eric Zumbrunnen has made full justice by providing simple yet powerful narrative sequences (especially the flash back footage). Hoyte has sure brought 'everything is happening next door' effect with his adequate use of lenses. Art direction by Austin Gorg spells perfect from start to finish.
Go to Her and she will let you know that love is indeed blind and knows no boundaries, at all.
Irandam Ulagam (2013)
Selvaraghavan's Brilliant Idea Brought Down By Many Flaws
Irandaam Ulagam (IU) bears a very unique yet simple idea of love. When you love someone sincerely, even if the person leaves you, you will always be able to live with them, be it here or in an alternate universe. To put it short, loving a person sincerely makes love itself becomes your destiny, regardless of the person you love. Although IU had so many flaws in the making, Selvaraghavan's brilliant and novel concept of love is inarguably astounding! For IU had perfect execution, audiences would have had the chance of experiencing one of the best love stories ever told in Kollywood's history. Oh well, I guess the concept itself is ahead-of-time making it hard to be understood and digested.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Martin Scorsese makes a film, again!
When Martin Scorsese makes a film, he makes a film! Nothing could ever go wrong with the products he chooses to come up with. After a long wait, here comes a legendary filmmaker's latest offering with his favorite star cast DiCaprio.
Based on a memoir written by Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street speaks about the rise and fall of an American stockbroker. Although the movie shared similar story craft with The Departed and Goodfellas, what made the movie very interesting was the black comedy genre. As usual, Scorsese's trademark of profanity enhanced dialogues worked big time. Under his direction, the screenplay was faithful to the memoir; cinematography was classic and scenes execution was incredible.
DiCaprio is the one man who breaks his own record each movie he performs. The man surely seemed aged a little, but his performance proved otherwise. He is a director's actor and with that being said, it was very evident that he gave his heart and soul for the success of this venture. And it proved worth it. This deadly combo of director and actor provided massive entertainment to put it short.
The Wolf of Wall Street is strictly an adult product. The only flaws could be the slow-mo effect that certain scenes had and slightly overdosed nudity enhanced scenes, unlike in previous Scorsese's masterpieces. Nevertheless, if one could successfully render a 3 hour long movie and at the same time engross audiences for the entire duration, that person could only possibly be Martin Scorsese.