CASE 39: You might just be CASE 40 if you are easily scared or startled!

MOVIE REVIEW

By FRANCIS DASS


CASE 39
Directed by Christian Alvart
Starring Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane, Kerry O'Malley, Callum Keith Rennie, Bradley Cooper, Adrian Lester, Georgia Craig, Cynthia Stevenson, Mary Black

(SPOILER ALERT: The first paragraph pretty much reveals what the film is all about. Read on at your own peril.)

Remember that fabulous modern Japanese horror classic The Ring (Ringu) from 1998? If you are a horror aficionado, you probably do. Well, if dear departed and supremely demented pre-teen Sadako had an American kin, she would probably be very much like Lily in Case 39.

This movie starts off innocuosly enough. Lily (Jodelle Ferland) is just an ordinary child who is so very sweet. Sadly, she is having a troubled young life. Her grades, you see, are down. And she is unable to sleep. You'd be distressed too if your parents are trying to kill you all the time. And mind you, these are not her foster parents. These are her own BIOLOGICAL parents -- and they are very biologically intent on killing this sweet child.

(I know, I know -- that comparison with Sadako gave pretty much a lot away. But the real fun is in watching this film -- it is rather well constructed.)

Anyway, it should come as no surprise at all that a child welfare woman Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) is terribly concerned when she reads the case file numbered 39. She wonders if poor Lily is being abused in anyway at home. If that is the case, could Emily perchance do something to help the poor child?

Following departmental procedure, she pays Lily a visit and finds her parents' behaviour odd. To be frank, they are freaks. The opening scenes that extend to include Emily's visit, are excellent with really, REALLY tight shots (so tight, you feel like saying out aloud, apologetically, "Oh, so sorry Miss Zellweger -- I didn't mean to be so in your face! Oops, you two too -- Mr and Mrs Lily's parents!"). The tension during these moments are so, well, taut, in fact, if you were a musician, you could pluck the spooky Psycho violin tune during these times! Provided you could un-tense yourself, in the first place, to pluck the strings. The acting, of course, has to work for such directorial devices to work and the cast is rather up to the task.

Anyway, not following departmental procedure, Emily pokes her nose into the Lily family's affair and ends up rescuing the little girl from being roasted alive. Yes, literally, as her parents go completely Middle Eastern on Lily and try to "kebab" her.

Lily, is a little maestro at mind games and before you can say, "Emily you stupid fool...", Lily's parents are jailed and Emily has already taken the girl into her very own home. Oh, and a few people around Emily either die or are murdered under suspicious conditions soon after.

What transpires as a result and what Lily is capable of make for an intriguing watch indeed. Case 39 sees, Zellweger (who, incidentally, looks like she has those chipmunk cheeks that are full of nuts, or whatever!) giving a good leading lady performance. We can only hope she attends therapy regularly after being so frazzled playing the role. The child actress Ferland is suitably creepy and understated at times and menacingly over-the-top at the right moments. Mercifully, she is nothing like the horrid child actress that Dakota Fanning was -- Fanning always over-acted or constantly over-emoted and ruined many movies in the process! (However, luckily for movie addicts, Fanning has grown up finally understanding what tolerable acting is all about in "Push" and "New Moon").

Case 39 ends as it should and you won't leave the hall saying, "Why do all horror movies have such stupid endings, as if anyone wants to see a sequel!" Oops, did we just give away the ending?

This is not a major movie by any measure, so the spoliers sprinkled here should not spoil your appetite if you are an avid movie fan and enjoy a good scare!

AVATAR: AN ASTOUNDING MIND JOB!

MOVIE REVIEW

By FRANCIS DASS


AVATAR
Directed by James Cameron
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Joel Moore

When James Cameron accepted his Best Director Oscar for Titanic, he'd declared, "I am the king of the world!" That was eleven years ago!

Many writers and critics everywhere were shocked by his hubris. I had absolutely no problem with what he said. I loved his Terminator films, Aliens and, of course, Titanic. Never mind that his The Abyss was abysmal! He was a consummate filmmaker whose mastery of the technical aspects of making a film and storytelling expertise were second to none as far as I was concerned.

And, now, more than a decade after disappearing from the silver screen, he is back with Avatar.

All I can say is that, he has crafted a spellbinding film that works at so many levels that this is THE definitive event movie in a long, long time.

As all gamer boys and girls would already know by now, avatar in computer gamers' parlance roughly means a human player inhabiting the virtual shell of fantastical characters in computer games, role-palying anything from soldiers to warriors and sorcerers.

Of course, this being a James Cameron film, the director takes the whole virtual reincarnation game play to a whole new level.

The film is about Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a soldier who has lost the use of his legs and, as fate would have it, ends up stepping into a world where he is recruited to explore another world in this futuristic sci-fi that blends live action and cutting-edge computer animation like you have never seen before.

The world Jake explores is an alien world called Pandora, inhabited by 10-foot tall blue aliens called the Na'vi. Funding the human exploration initiative is a bunch of heartless capitalists (a common theme in Cameron's films, as reflected in Aliens) who are determined to exploit Pandora for a priceless mineral that it possesses.

As the trailer for Avatar already made clear, a large mineral deposit is directly beneath the Hometree, an area that a group of these primitive but tough Na'vis call home. The "corporation" has already failed in its earlier negotiations (ploys which included offering colonialistic English lessons and the supply of medicines etc) with the blue natives to have them relocate so that the minerals can be mined for profit.

These diplomatic dialogues, intriguingly, were initiated with the help of scientific experiments where Na'vi clones were merged with human DNA and these lab-created Na'vi "vessels" are "piloted" by humans via some super sophisticated neuron networking devices. The three Na'vi bodies used by the humans are the avatars and the humans feel, see and experience everything that their avatars go through. Besides Jake, Dr Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm Spellman (Joel Moore) are two scientists who have Na'vi avatars.

As is usual with corporations, time is money and time is exactly what they insists they do not have. These capitalists (represented by Giovanni Ribisi's Parker Selfridge) have guns for hire (led by Colonel Miles, played by Stephen Lang), and decide to take a hardline stance against the Na'vis reluctance to relocate.

This being a James Cameron film, things are not as they seem. Through the Na'vi avatars, the human pilots see life from the Na'vi people's benign and nature-loving perspective. And Jake especially connects with them.

But, before Jake reaches such a compassionate stage, as filmdom's dramatic device dictates, he is just a grunt for hire and in doing his soldierly duties, he feeds back intelligence to the corporation about whatever he learns about the Na'vi. Such information in the hands of the corporation, of course, spells doom for the alien species. Only thanks to the Na'vi-friendly Dr Grace's expert manoeuvering, Jake slowly begins to see and understand the fantastic relationship the Na'vis share with their land.

Into this bowl, writer-director Cameron throws the ingredients that include an interspecies romance, the already mentioned ruthless colonel, the heartless capitalist, a compassionate scientist and a courageous hero, and he sets the Hollywood Kitchen Aid mixer on an "are-you-insane" spin, resulting in a volatile mix of action an adventure. Simply unforgettable stuff!

As is his style, Cameron does not stinge when it comes to effects or details. Audiences are given a thorough sampling of the Na'vis' life philosophy, better than a National Geographic or Discovery channel programme ever could. Their oneness with the world they inhabit is mind-expanding and the way they are built to connect with everything around them is mind-blowing. Their love for nature is very Indian -- Red Indian as well as Asian Indian! (Indians on the subcontinent and in the global diaspora, as you would already know, revere animals and trees.)

The way the planet is organically linked is also impressive -- with roots of trees not only holding everything on and in the ground together but also stringing airborne chunks of Pandora's landmass in a state of connectedness.

The special effects in Avatar, needless to say are out of this world. Things that you or I could never have imagined are depicted in realistic three dimensionality on the screen. The plants, the animals, the terrain -- everything is exceptionally done, rendered and delivered. And these are not offered as quick glimpses but fully orchestrated and visually satiating scenes and sequences.

The way the story folds out is classic Cameron stuff: the premise is clearly laid out, the details are lucidly spelt out, the logic extremely sound and top quality performances are expertly harnessed from the actors.

The multilayered-relevance of this film (it could be a parable for the American invasion of Iraq for oil and Colonel Miles could double up for the Blackwater guards, or to cast your minds back a few centuries earlier in human history, it even reflects the European invasion and annihilation of the South American civilisations hundreds of years ago) makes Avatar perfect and resonant for the time we live in now.

Cameron poignantly delves into the many modes that the human mind works on: the desire for profit, the pursuit of materialsim, the need to defend the weak, the desire to be compassionate and maintain our humanity, the powerful intuitions to obey rules and to break rules.

Worthington is stellar as a soulful man and Weaver is a delight to watch. My favourite actress Michelle Rodriguez gives a memorable performance, as usual.

A visual wizard if there ever was one, the way Canada-born Cameron expertly alternates between reality and computer wizardry will come as no surprise to his ardent fans. His direction is flawless here.

At the end of this amazing work of silverscreen magic and art, you wonder whether you were actually James Cameron's avatar? Or, was the movie your avatar?"

SHERLOCK HOLMES IS A TIMELY RIP ROARING MUST-SEE UPDATE!

MOVIE REVIEWS

By FRANCIS DASS


SHERLOCK HOLMES
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Robert Maillet, Geraldine James, Kelly Reilly, WIlliam Houston, Hans Matheson, James Fox, William Hope, Clive Russell

When watching Sherlock Holmes, remember that you are probably watching a film that will most probably win the Best Picture Oscar in 2010. That's because Sherlock Holmes has to be 2009's best movie so far. Heck, I would even say that it is the best movie to have come out in the last five years.

It is the kind of film that starts off as a curiosity as you wonder how differently can Holmes be portrayed other than wearing a deer stalker hat, wearing a tartany cloak and, possibly, smoking a pipe. The truth is, initially, anyway, Basil Rathbone's traditional portrayal of Holmes from ages ago still seems definitive and sticks in most people's mind. But then you quickly become enthralled by THIS reimagining of the Victorian Holmes as delivered by -- of all people (I was surprised to find out, anyway) -- Guy Ritchie!

The acting is smart, the script is sharp, the direction is aces and the soundtrack that chases each scene in the film is SO very funky that your sense of delight will be switched on throughout this most excellent film!

The film tells the tale of Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) -- a character created by Scottish doctor-writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) -- solving the case of magic and mystery involving the sinister Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), who is part of a delusional secret society which practices the black arts. Lord Blackwood, like all his fellow megalomaniac cinematic villains, has a keen eye on world domination and he uses trickery to manipulate the weak minded masses (you know, supposed sacrifical offerings, rising from the dead and the like) and comes very close to achieving his dastardly dreams.

Luckily for us, Holmes is on our side. The combination of our heroic detective's keen sense of observation and deduction AND the able assistance of his good friend Dr John Watson (Jude Law), overcome and foil Blackwood's plans, causing the latter to be apprehended and hanged.

But HANG on a minute indeed! As news of Blackwood's rising from the dead spreads and people fear his great powers, Holmes dives headlong into the secret world of research that Blackwood had commissioned and undoes (or rather, explains to the audience) the so-called magic as nothing more than science. If our beloved Gil Grissom from television's CSI had an English forefather, then you can bet that it would have been this particular Holmes!

A movie is nothing without good actors and what really makes Sherlock Holmes fly as a movie is Downey's performance. There's absolutely nothing down-ny about this superb actor's portrayal of the supersleuth. He carries this movie on his strong able shoulders with equal measures of a rascally disdain for propriety, manly callousness and machismo.

Downey's Holmes is very alert to the world he lives in and at the same time very bored with it. He thrives on challenges and lives for it. There's a recklessness to his character that could only come from Downey's real life drug-and-drink excesses. The actor is anything but a bore and he most definitely has character!

The witty lines are superbly delivered. Downey's expressions are also rich and priceless. Despite the films masterly use of stunts and special effects, if anyone deserves a Best Actor Oscar this year, it has to be Downey!

Jude Law, who is absolutely not leading man material at all as all his previous films have made obvious, is surprisingly effective as Holmes' good friend and confidante, Dr Watson. They share a believable bond of friendship and a fondness for one another. Their banter, willingness to protect one another and "addiction" to danger is infectious. Theirs is a friendship that promises to endure through many more sequels. (Hint: Moriarty is sinisterly introduced in this movie with a sequel in mind!)

Into this manly mix of things, we find two rather interesting women. There's the spunky Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) who is as wily, rascally and off-the-straight-and-narrow-path as Holmes, her lover, is. Their attraction towards one another is beguiling and the way they foil one another is delightful. At Dr Watson's side is Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly), who is a trustworthy and strong woman. The women match their men equally, in Ritchie's imagining of the Victorian universe. The characters appeal to our modern sensibilities of justice, right, wrong and equality are spot on.

Scattered throughout the film are also highly watchable characters like Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan). Everyone, it appears, is working with a certain level of intelligence.

As for Guy Ritchie. One can only say that it is good that he is rid of that trampy Madonna as a wife. It looks like this man-solo is revitalised as a director, as you can clearly see here. His direction in Sherlock Holmes is tight, the look sexy and the pacing riveting! His eye for details is nothing short of impeccable. Magic moments that everyone will remember surely must be Ritchie's cinematic reconstruction of how Holmes' mind works: the way in which Holmes works out his sequence of actions when confronted by a foe.

If Ritchie's earlier "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) and 2000's "Snatch" both seemed gimmicky and came across as trying-a-bit-too-hard to win him respect as a filmmaker, then, you can safely say that the man has indeed arrived as an ace director with Sherlock Holmes.

If there is one movie that you just simply have to see in this brand new year, then make it Sherlock Holmes. It will take your breath away in the most satisfying manner!

New Moon fails to shine

MOVIE REVIEW

By FRANCIS DASS

NEW MOON
Directed by Chris Weitz
Starring Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon, Christian SerratosJackson Rathbone, Cam Gigandet, Peter Facinelli, Graham Greene, Dakota Fanning,




The stunning success of director Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight onto the big screen in 2008, helped audiences buy into the kosher and wholesome tale on teen love, albeit one half being the mortal Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and the other the vampire hottie Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), in a big way.

Twilight was well scripted and the excellent Hardwicke managed to harness as much of the limited acting talent that the cast collectively possessed in a masterful way and gave us a movie that delighted everyone who saw it. Almost every scene in Twilight worked its vampiric charm on the viewer.

New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, is a sad story, on the other hand. Both literally and… well, actually, literally in every way.

The opening title sequence for New Moon is quite the bummer indeed. It shows a moon in the process of being eclipsed. And it’s downhill from there most of the way.

In part two of this film series, the love between teenagers Bella and Edward blossoms and the lass visits the Cullens household to celebrate her birthday. Lo and behold, what does Bella do when she opens a present? Get a paper cut. In the midst of vampires? Oh well, Meyers’ books were originally meant for teenagers. And such things could and do happen, we tell ourselves, living as we are in a world where suspension of disbelief is as easy as A-B-C.

Anyway, this causes Edward “I-don’t-want-you-to-turn-into-a-vampire” Cullen to rethink his relationship with Bella “Just-bite-me-dammit-and-turn-me-into-a-vampire-already” Swan, and the noble bloodsucker decides to break off with Bella rather than constantly risk having her as a possible chef’s special on the Cullens’ menu every time Bella meets his family.

As a result, the bulk of New Moon is about Bella pining and whining for Edward after the United Studs of Cullens and their lady companions leave town to “protect” Bella.

This is where the film bounces the idea of love on the rebound with He-Man Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) trying his darn best to convince his friend Bella that he is the right choice as her mate. Jacob, as you all already know is not only a dishy young man but also a ferocious wolf.

There is little resistance from the lonely Bella and she gets close to him. But it is clear to see who is numero uno in her heart. She pines hard for Edward and her unbelievably (and annoyingly) loud moans in the middle of the night attest to it. Why her poor father does not pack up his bags and leave the crazy howling daughter of his is anyone’s guess.

And all of this, as car-reviewer extraordinaire Jeremy Clarkson would say, of course, neatly brings us to the new director of New Moon.

His name is Chris Weitz and he is an unbelievably bad director. The cast already has limited acting talent going for them (except for Lautner and Dakota Fanning, who are the only ones with decent acting chops) and Weitz does absolutely nothing to help them along with his direction. His set-up of scenes are very, very unremarkable as are his framing of the actors in the shots.

It is a shame indeed, after the glorious work done by Hardwicke (which is the only reason why New Moon was rather highly anticipated compared to any other movie this year), that someone else with lesser talent was brought in to replace her and direct New Moon.

The final word, though, is that if you are an ardent Twilight fan, then you would catch New Moon if only to see what’s been happening to the characters after the first film, and before the next movie in the series comes along sometime next year. If you are not an ardent fan, then be warned that New Moon suffers from a severe case of middle-child syndrome as it is absolutely insipid as a cinematic piece of work.

A tale beautifully wrapped for Christmas

MOVIE REVIEW

By FRANCIS DASS

(fdass@yahoo.com)

A Christmas Carol

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Starring the voice talents of Jim Carrey, Steve Valentine, Daryl Sabara, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Bob Hoskins

Like a pretty Christmas present, A Christmas Carol -- the classic Charles Dickens tale of the awakening of a cold human heart -- is beautifully wrapped around striking computer-generated visuals.

The tale is still the same, set in the industrial age which Dickens was not fond of for what that intensely capitalistic age did to people and their values, and director Robert Zemeckis’ deft screenplay adaptation keeps the issues that were raised by Dickens’ novel relevant for the times we live in now.

A Christmas Carol is a tale about the importance of putting people and kindness above materialism and central to conveying the film’s message is Scrooge (Jim Carrey), a mean old man who is so utterly driven by profit that he drives people away from him with his unkind words.

The story is set seven years after Scrooge’s equally mean and nasty business partner, Marley (Gary Oldman), dies. The ghost of Marley visits Scrooge on Christmas eve to warn him to mend his selfish ways or suffer a miserable existence of bearing heavy chains for eternity after death. To open Scrooge’s eyes, Marley explains, three ghosts will appear: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet To Come.

Of course, prior to Marley’s creepy visit, audiences get to see ample display of Scrooge’s nasty side in his rude dealings with his employee Bob Cratchit (Oldman), his nephew Fred (Colin Firth), some fund raisers and Christmas carolers.

Besides Scrooge, Carrey, displaying a gluttony for roles, also voices the three Christmas ghosts as well as Scrooge when he was a young boy, teenager, and middle-aged.

The visits from the ghosts are self-explanatory by their very names. In the past, Scrooge is seen a little boy affected by a strict and almost-cruel father. Then, as a teenager, he displays sparks of interest in life and goodness. Later, as a young man, he works for a wonderful man, becomes very likeable and meets his lovely wife. However, by middle-age, Scrooge’s marriage falls apart when he starts obsessing about money and his path towards a hateful existence is well and truly on the way!

This being a Zemeckis film, the story packs quite a bit of wallop indeed, all the way from the stunning visuals (I hear Oscar bells ringing) to the delightfully punchy script.

Keeping to Zemeckis’s fascination with horror and dark things (he is, after all, the producer in films like The Frighteners, House on Haunted Hill, Thir13en Ghosts, Bordello of Blood and many television episodes of Tales from the Crypt), the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is depicted as a death spectre and the moody and dark visuals powerfully depict scenes of death and misery. This can be a tad scary for really young children watching this movie.

Thankfully, humour is used generously to balance the serious message of the film, albeit in a dark or grotesque manner. The opening scene where Scrooge is dealing with the undertaker, is wickedly funny as are his dealings with his housekeeper. His interactions with the ghosts of Christmas past and present are also infused with humour at times.

The movie showcases vintage Zemeckis filmmaking skills, from the way he tightly frames close-ups and in the way the camera is angled.

However, although the super-talented Zemeckis, who is famous for his cinematic masterpieces like Back to the Future trilogy (1985, ’89 & ’90); Death Becomes Her (1992); Forrest Gump (1994) and Cast Away (2000), has many fans, those tired of Carrey’s one-note performances will not be too impressed by the latter’s Scrooge or the first two ghosts (Christmasses past and present).

But, hey, it is the season to be jolly after all, and Disney’s A Christmas Carol is definitely worth catching. In 3D, too!