A SINGLE MAN - A Wonderful Tale

Tom Ford’s A Single Man is swimming with emotion and heartbreak. The wonderful performances, combined with a striking depth of character, brings a sense of joy and heartbreak in the heart of the viewer. The beautiful cinematography adds a charm to the film which is perfectly contrasted by the woe and tragedy of the story and the life of the lead character. As we journey with George through his daily life we become engulfed with him, in his tragedy. After losing his partner in an accident, George’s life has become monotonous, meaningless and painful. As we join him in his morning routines in the first few minutes of the film, we are instantly drawn to his suffering. Colin Firth is at his best ever in A Single Man.Firth gives a performance so raw and so fascinating that it is impossible not to feel the sorrow and solitude that consumes him.

Julianne Moore is dazzling in her role as George’s one true friend, Charley (She always is). Her empty marriage and the lack of real love in her life are replaced with the material. As George’s comfort, Moore gives a delicious performance that highlights her ability as an actress, to truly understand a character and deliver the inner workings of a woman on to the silver screen. Nicholas Hoult also compliments Firth brilliantly as the new love interest and the lingering reminder of freedom and youth.I came across this guy recently in Warm Bodies and I wish he delivers more in the coming years.It is the combination of these performances, along with Ford’s exquisite direction, that makes A Single Man such as striking piece of work.

A Single Man is wonderful without trying to be. It is cool, collective and chaotic all at once. This film succeeds in the wonderful art of making you care about characters that aren’t necessarily very likeable individuals. George is matter of fact, slightly arrogant and closed off. Charley is shallow and selfish and yet our hearts break as we watch them try to cope with losing true love and the heart wrenching agony of never being able to say goodbye. A Single Man combines a masterful script with detailed characters and performances that do such characters justice. It is the use of visual colour that adds a perspective to the suffering in this story that only cinema could do. This is undoubtedly one of my favourite films of the last ten years, A Single Man will draw you in, consume you and leave you feeling both empty and elated.

WORTHY MENTIONS

The film was shot in just 21 days. 

Tom Ford financed the film himself and this was his directorial debut.

MY VERDICT

**** - Sublime

INSIDIOUS - Scaryyyyyy with a Wildddd theory

I have been watching a lot of horror movies lately which I may have missed lately. Insidious was the one I started out with.I had heard a lot about this film but the storyline never tempted me enough.But I must admit its damn scary in parts but with a predictable storyline.The film mainly tries to build on the jump scare moments, but boy they succeed in doing so in some of the scenes.

The Lambert’s have just moved into a new house. Renai (Rose Byrne) quit her job to focus on music and raise the kids, but the latter is proving to be more time-consuming than expected. There’s boxes to unpack, a baby who won’t stop crying and a husband (Patrick Wilson) who’s becoming increasingly distant. Josh assures her nothing’s wrong, but something feels off. She knows it. She just can’t put her finger on what. Unfortunately, that proof comes by way of a terrible accident. Oldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) goes exploring in the attic and lands on his head. Apart from a few bumps and bruises, he initially seems fine but fails to wake up the following morning. He’s rushed to the hospital where the puzzled doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong. He’s not in a coma. He just won’t wake up. onths later, the family has gotten somewhat used to their comatose son, but the weird occurrences have continued, getting more and more menacing to the point of them actually seeing frightening beings wandering around their house. Changing houses doesn't rid them of the problem, and by the time they call in a paranormal investigator with her crew, the situation has put you well on edge, not knowing what exactly is going on or what will happen next. 

The best thing about the movie is that the above events constitute two-thirds of the movie and the audience still  has no clue of what is going on. And this answer is the key to the movie.Its as wild an explanation as I have ever come across. Either it would go down well or it would spoil the whole experience.I somehow accepted it as it was sort of interesting.

A key component to any of it working as well as it does is the perfect casting of Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, two terrific actors who have proven they can do anything. They're incredibly believable as a married couple and they really pull you into the lives of the characters just as it's disrupted by them being pulled into the unknown.Although Wan and Whannell are working in a genre that's been done to death, they're able to keep things from getting too predictable due to their quirky sensibilities, ably avoiding the clichés despite the obvious influences. Sure, there are a few jump scares but they're never done in a cheap way. In fact, most of the scariest moments take place during the most innocuous dialogue sequences, just as you're relaxing from the last one, which just makes the whole freakier, since you never know exactly what might happen next.

Insidious is  one of the scariest and creepiest movies in some time - Wan does one better in his latest -and the odd sense of humor that permeates the film's darker moments just makes it that much more enjoyable.Recommended for all horror fans.Films like these proves that a film can be scary sans the blood and gore.My only complain - THE DEMON COULD HAVE BEEN MADE TO LOOK SCARIER.

 

WORTHY MENTIONS

 

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell gets into the act, showing up as one of the paranormal investigators named "Specs" (yes, he wears glasses), and it's infinitely entertaining to watch him and his partner Tucker (Angus Sampson) pulling out an odd array of gadgets to investigate the paranormal activities. 

 

MY VERDICT

 

***1/2 - Nice gem from Wan

 

BESHARAM - The name says it all

BESHARAM was released on a Wednesday keeping in mind the national holiday in our country, and with no major releases the week before, this film was guaranteed a grand opening. The film boasts of a director whose previous work set the balls rolling for the mass entertainers in Bollywood. It has the whole Kapoor trio of father-mom-son and some hummable songs. How bad could it be??? Must be a one time watch to be enjoyed on a lazy wednesday evening - i convinced myself and my friends - and set out to watch it. The only suggestion I can give to the others who has not seen it yet is PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS.

The title of the film takes itself too seriously. The film is loaded with crass humor and toilet jokes but the problem is that it never tries to be smart or even sensitive.We have seen Jim Carrey pull off films doing crazy things wearing even crazier outfits, but there was some great stories to back him up. The only thing reminiscent of the great comedian is the expression the protagonist and his sidekicks borrows from him at the start of the film. But it goes downhill from there. Besharam turns over every cliché from the Big Black Book of Hindi Movie Plots section that lists “Robin Hood-inspired Thief Takes Good Turn After Heart is Stolen."During its course it even tries to pay tribute to the 70s with its settings and songs but you don't even care for it after a while.

The film's plot is centered on a loutish car thief, Babli (Ranbir Kapoor), who must steal back a car that he sold to a murderous money launderer (Javed Jaffrey), when he falls for the poor girl who owned the car (newcomer Pallavi Sharda). The plot is wafer thin but if handled adequately, could have been less treacherous.Add to that the pair of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor who never decide upon their character shades and suddenly disappear in the second half only to return inexplicably by the end of the movie. The same can be said about the only likable actor Titu (Amitosh Nagpal) who never appears enough in the second half.

But whats most disappointing and a curious case is the association of one of the finest actors in this generation with this tragedy of a film. For a actor who has done varied roles in movies like Wake Up Sid, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Rockstar and Barfi, the actor sure needs to choose his roles carefully. He has become more of an icon for the youngsters and this film will certainly not go down too well with them. He never fails in way of acting, but his mannerisms and histrionics will certainly not make the parents happy who bought their kids along with them to view the film. I dare say that this movie wouldn't even have got a decent opening if not for the association of Ranbir Kapoor and that's a big responsibility and he has let his fans down on this one.

The movie has certainly got a good opening but it's future in the box office depends on its content and sadly there isn't any. But so didn't  some of the recent releases which has gone on to become hits. I don't care about it's collections, but don't waste your time and money on this tacky and off-putting mess.

MY VERDICT

* - Avoid this