Tuesday, July 24, 2012

TDKR : The Rise and Rise of Christopher Nolan




Here I simply try to answer few questions about TDKR which are asked in this website, in the way I have perceived the movie. I've watched it twice and with English sub titles for the second time! I wanted to watch the movie for much more times but after watching it with subtitles, almost all the missing parts in my mind have been very well cemented! 

Q : Why did Gordon still have his speech about Harvey Dent in his jacket?
A : After finishing the speech, Gordon went directly to that roof to call batman if he could come and then Blake came and informed him about the missing congressman! Then onwards, as per the sincerity of Gordon, he involved himself in the search of that congressman and in doing so he almost forgot to even change his cloths ! This may sound over exaggerated but so is the rubbish question !

Q : Why did ALL of Gotham’s cops go underground to investigate Bane’s plot?
A : Gordon was hospitalized and the deputy commissioner Folley instructed the cops to go in all without looking into longer future. Blake did all the investigations as a detective and found about the explosives in the tunnels and called Foley to take out his men but it was too late! Some 3000 cops were locked into the tunnel because of hasty decision of Foley and not of Gordon! If Gordon would have been at that spot and not at the hospital, he wouldn't have made this mistake! And even though we saw few of the cops managing the crisis along with Blake and Foley!

Q : How did Batman have time to escape the nuclear blast when we saw him in the Bat’s cockpit with 5 seconds to go on the clock?
A : Batman fixed the issue of autopilot and he used that option as soon as he decided the exact direction  and altitude of the BAT and then he switched on  the autopilot mode and jumped off! If Nolan would have shown these scenes just for the sake of our convenience which he is far more capable enough of doing, then the entire discussion wouldn't have started! He likes to play with the mind of his fans! TDKR is not at all for those who like spoon feeding and this is just my imagination of what would have happened but if Nolan has left this upon us to think, why not to think in a positive way?

Q : How did both Batman and Bruce Wayne go missing for so long with nobody connecting them?
A : This question is well answered in the link itself and I also agree with what they have pulled out of this situation so I would like to go with their explanation !

Q : How did Bruce Wayne get from the prison back to Gotham?
A : Well, we all know it's far too easy for a man like Bruce Wayne to reach up to the borders of Gotham! The real question is how he managed to enter the Gotham city?
Well, we very well know that the entire map of Gotham city is well memorized by Batman and since he almost instantly moved anywhere in the Gotham for emergency situations in the past, it's not difficult for him to go the place he wants to go! When he returned, he met Kyle and offered her that Clean slate and also offered her a way out! I figured it out from the subtitles that he used the words like "I will show you the way out" to Kyle! It's his city and he loved his city more than anything! Oh come on, Batman knows hundreds of thousands of ways of entry and exit of Gotham! Silly of those who ask questions like this!

Q : How does John Blake know Bruce Wayne is Batman?
A : When Blake went to meet Bruce Wayne, he told Wayne that he grew up in that orphanage watching Wayne hanging around with girls, roaming around in Lamborghini and doing all those useless and baseless things which an orphan can not do out of the loss of his/her parents! He discovered this fact because he himself was an orphan and he knew  what the loss is of being an orphan! So what Wayne was doing as an orphan was just an alibi for covering up his real task which was figured out by Blake! Rest is he just put the missing pieces in place and discovered the connection between Wayne and Batman! At the time of telling this fact to Wayne, Blake noticed the silence of Bruce and that consolidated his belief!

Q : What happened to The Joker?
A : As Heath ledger died, The entire world knows that no one else can substitute him for the role of Joker! So for me, Joker was in Arkham jail for few years, let's say 3 or 4 and then he died of natural death! If anything would have happened, why not this? If Nolan is unable to bring Heath Ledger back and for the real tribute to this legendary actor, he chose not to even touch the role which was meant to play by him and only him! I haven't read the DC comics of Batman and I don't know what happens to Joker there! But, Nolan managed to retain the integrity of Joker's character by not touching it!

Q : What does Bane’s mask actually do?
A : This question is well answered in the link itself and I also agree with what they have pulled out of this situation so I would like to go with their explanation !

***

And after all, for the entire length of the movie, which  scene did you find being misfit with the story? If each and every scene is just perfect even after editing such long conclusion, Nolan avoided showing how Batman manages to come back to Gotham city or how he jumped off the Bat or how Bane removed or medicated his mask! Instead, what is shown is much more subtle and worthy of our appreciation.

It's Nolan's genius which is constantly present throughout the movie! Viewing it second time, I realized how many hints he left throughout the movie for one to find out who Miranda Tate actually is! But how intelligently he used every scene to make it the most difficult for everyone to figure it out!

I also felt that, If Batman would have died in the end, the movie would have more lived to its standards but oh my my! The promos used this words, "The Legend ends" and not the Legacy ! And Nolan did exactly what he promised! He ended the legend by killing the Batman but not the one who was underneath! By keeping Bruce Wayne alive, he added more power to his genius!

I feel like writing much more about how I perceive his movies and how effectively he concluded this saga but everything I can conclude writhing only this…. Nolan Is God !!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

The Avengers : My experience that marveled !



[After assigning each superhero the job he/she is meant for, Captain America instructs Hulk] 
Steve : Hulk........... Smash !!
And I know what is now coming my way in the form of madness, blood starts flowing fast throughout body, fists are closed, teeth are pressed and I come to the edge of the seat! And when Hulk smashes my mouth opens up and I simply feel pure adrenal !


[Few months back, Hot bite, 22 : 35]
Dhruv : Monarkbhai, did you see the latest trailer of Avengers?
Me : Yes I saw it.... I think Ashtaad put it on our fb group!
Dhruv : We all will watch it together!
Me : Let's see!


Loki : I am a God! I'm not going to be bullied by a.........
And I just started taking his words seriously that he might put his sword over Hulk's chest and Hulk's strength will be compromised and........ but all of a sudden some BoOm! BaNg! BAnG! BOoM! And I'm like..... What was that?? And along with shouting and LOLing on Hulk's response, I witnessed THE best scene of movie!!


[22nd April, 2012, Premises of Galleria Mall, 22 : 15]
Me : When this new multiplex Cinemark is going to be opened?
Security : Next week!
Me : Should we come here to watch Avengers?
Dhruv : We've heard very very positive reviews about it, Let's not miss our chance of watching it in 3D at Cinemax! I'm so much excited to watch it!
Me : Me too!


Steve : Big man, in a suit of armour! Take that way, what are you?
Stark : Ohh.. Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist!
And I laughed, like others who are not in the position to control their laughter, I laughed! What Stark replied, we know that it's mean and arrogant but 100% true! And with that dialogue, Tony Stark, The Iron Man proves that he cares for nobody! All he cares about is his freedom, his strength......


[26th April, 2012, At my home, One day before the movie, 14 : 05]
I fetched all websites for updates, all mobile apps and even tried calling Cinemax for the show timings of Avengers but no response! Inox updated its show timings and they decide to show it in 2D but Cinemax didn't update! Calls, messages and DMs of friends were flooding my mind and I was completely blank out of these!


Steve : Stark, we need a plan of attack!
Stark : I have a plan....... Attack!
And Stark flies off the aircraft to chase Thor who has captured Loki from the aircraft because of his unfinished business with him!
He picks on Thor and the fight begins! When The God of thunder and lightening fights with a genius minded Iron Man, the celluloid experience of this Mega fighting can't be described in words!


[Late evening prior to Avengers day, 19 : 30]
Me : Are you so busy that you can't come even for a cup of coffee?
Dhruv : Ok, 10 p.m. Hot bite!
Me : Cinemax is not showing Avengers! What should we do?
Dhruv : UFO at Inox sucks big time! I'm ready to go anywhere to watch this, but not at Inox!
And my mind goes blank............................


Loki : I have an army!
Stark : We have a Hulk!
And audience laugh off! Through out the movie, Stark with his utter sarcastic and brilliantly funny comments engage us to laugh! And when Loki throws Stark away of his building, Stark shouts...... Deploy.......
Rest of every frame, every second I shout in sheer excitement! This is the magic Avengers have created on my mind!


[One day before Avengers, At Cinemax, 21 : 30]
Me :  Avengers?? Running??
Ticket counter : Yes! 3 shows, 10 : 30 a.m, 04 : 30 pm and 10 : 30 pm. Hindi.
And I started scratching my head......Arrrr We need an evening show! I was about to return back and I heard a voice from behind....
Ticket counter : 07 : 30 pm show is in English.....
Me : What?? you could've said it first man! WOW! Let me make some calls........We are coming tomorrow!








The Avengers is one of the rare movies which deserves more than 5 star rating! Enough of positive reviews have been credited to it along with huge box-office collections! It has anything and everything you need in a super hero movie! Story is just filling the gap like a cement! This movie is meant for watching on a giant screen along with friends or family where you can shout and laugh out! LOUD.......

Monday, April 16, 2012

Good Will Hunting : Life and times of Mathematical Fountainhead!



You know what's the biggest problem with all these prodigies, the fountainheads? They're loners! Most often orphans! At a very early age they see so much around their lives that they don't give shit about what they possess! And that, the very attitude of theirs start rocking the boat! And once you start rocking the boat, you are not allowed to be in the boat! That's how our societies deal with such prodigies!

Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is one such gifted soul, a true prodigy who solves any mathematical problem almost instantly! Even those proofs which some Harvard professors are trying to prove for 2 years, he proves while sweeping the floor of the lobby! But the only problem with him is his brain is unpredictable for rest of the things! He dates a girl, hangs around with friends, listens to the psychologists but when it comes to opening a door of his inner world in front of all of these, his defense mechanism ruins everything! He behaves unexpectedly and disturbs the  harmonious space around him!

There's no doubt why Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the Oscar for best writing and screenplay! And to add to that, Robin Williams won the Oscar for best supporting actor! While watching it, I didn't know that but halfway through it, I was certain for these two categories.

Good Will Hunting is a movie to make you realize some very intricate and unnoticed things about our life. Though it chooses to traverse its path by going through life of Will, somewhere into it, we have moments and dialogues to treasure for our lives too! Sean (Robin Williams) says to Will that it's all with our lives, we always try to find a perfect match. What if we have someone very close in our life who has some imperfections? We try not have someone like that into our life, but such little imperfections, such idiosyncrasies of that loved one are the only good memories we fondle when a loved one is gone forever.

Robin Williams is like an angel! He (and some others like Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks) smiles and you start feeling comfortable. You are outside the screen and he's inside! He's just an actor and out of all fussy things happening around you, he's not coming out of that screen and solving your problem. But when he smiles, you feel like being home. His matured and intimate smile is an answer to all the problems of life! That's the power of true actors and that's the legacy of their movies!


While watching Good Will Hunting, we treasure the warmth of their acting. Both, Robin Williams and Matt Damon are completely into the characters throughout the movie. I was desperately waiting for the scene where Matt Damon finally breaks into tears and I feel no hurry in telling that it is the best breaking scene ever I've seen so far! Rest of the cast do justify their roles. Score by Danny Elfman is perfect as an ingredient!

This is one of the rare masterpieces, which makes you laugh in the beginning, makes you serious and worried halfway and makes you smile in the climax! 

It felt like 'The Shawshank Redemption' was somewhere around while watching Good Will Hunting!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Tree Of Life : Camera's play with Cornea




First thing first. This is not a movie review. The Tree Of Life in my opinion can not be considered as a movie. Definitely not a documentary. It's something which reveals you about your existence, about your life in its own way. I am just expressing my thoughts which were generated by my mind while watching it. This blog contains SPOILERS as without it I can not go ahead. But, I insist to read it even if you have not watched this masterpiece. This is because I personally feel that It will help you understanding the movie in a better way and reduce the chances to quit watching this masterpiece somewhere in between (As it happened with few people).

A family. A complete family. Father, mother and three energetic boys. Happily living their lives through the way of grace. Grace never tries to please itself. Grace is all about acceptance. Appreciating the beauty, admiring the awe of elegance, recognizing the bliss of eternity. After all, Grace is a way of living life with all its charms and flaws.

And then, there is another way of living. The way of Nature. Nature always tries to please itself. Nature likes to play with its elements. Nature creates a labyrinth for Grace to be trapped in. Nature turns the happy moments into painful wounds. Humans (like this family) always prefer to live their lives through Grace and Nature always supersede in due course.

Not every sunset bids a happy farewell to us. Nature sometimes delivers unwanted packages through coming nights. One such sunset brings a mail to the family. Death of their middle son. The one who used to play guitar to accompany a piano playing father. "Life goes on. People pass along. Nothing stays the same. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, that's the way he is" says the neighbour who tries to sympathize the mother for her loss adding that "You've still got the other two".

"He was 19 years old when he died" recollects the elder brother, who now lives in a huge centrally air-conditioned house but his mind wanders into barren deserts and empty valleys along with the memories of his younger brother. He conflates himself in his childhood playing with his brothers. Curses himself of how did he lose his brother. Apologize to his father for his harsh words. Father also repents for making his late son feel ashamed of his deeds.  And how did the mother respond? Aah ! Mother's heart is constantly crying for his son. She asks God "Why? Where were you?"

Even God can not remain silent to such heart wrenching question of mother. Nature has to respond. And it responds.

Now this is unique. I haven't seen such diversion in a movie. It can actually be considered as a movie within a movie. What Terrence Malick have created on this celluloid, I think even Discovery or National Geographic channels can not create to explain the Origin Of The Universe. The entire sequence of creation of the Universe is  about 17 minutes long. Let me put it in the way it is shown  in the movie. You can skip the ">>" part if the science of evolution does not provoke you.

>> Clouds of Hydrogen gas fuses & leads to fusion reaction.
>> First light of the Universe comes into existence.
>> A star is born which in turn creates various metallic and non-metallic elements by burning its fuel.
>> More stars born & now the Universe is filled with stars.
>> Galaxies start taking shapes.
>> Out of millions shown, one is Milky way, our home.
>> The Sun is born & starts emitting out the radiation off its surface.
>> The raw material used in making the Sun starts the formation of the Solar System.
>> Planet formation starts and our earth starts taking shape.
>> It's still red because of molten lava.
>> Turbulence is created in the lava because of meteor falling in it due to the lack of atmosphere.
>> The core breaks into pieces and eventually solidifies to make hard rocks.
>> Volcanic eruptions occur here and there which accelerates the solidification of molten lava.
>> Cloud formation starts due to evaporation of water.
>> Rocks have now almost taken shapes.

Reading this? Then you must have enjoyed the cinematic visuals & nature's blessings in the form of life through the eyes of Terrence Malick. And the sequences continue to stun you....

>> First life in the form of prokaryotic cells originates under water.
>> Newly created atmosphere now contains Oxygen which leads to the development of life forms.
>> Cell division through binary fission starts. [Amazingly captured]
>> Formation of jellyfish and primitive aquatic plants occur.
>> Protochordates & Chordates start filling aquatic and other ecosystems like desert and grasslands.
>> And finally first complex form of organism in the form of Dinosaurs start residing near sea shores.
>> Hammer-head sharks & Sting fishes occupy the oceanic premises & food web starts.
>> Development of rain forests and millions of organisms depending upon it continues.

Again Nature tries to please itself by creating imbalance to balance it in more sustainable form. So formation of Jupiter as a brown dwarf which has resulted into giving birth to millions of meteors release one such large meteor and that meteor takes a detour and enters the orbit of the Earth. A huge impact results into the extinction of most occupied species of dinosaurs to make room for us, human beings to dominate the Earth. Out of all human beings occupying the planet, a new baby boy is born in the family.

He is the first one to enter in the family and movie advances through the growing of that boy. His encounters with every new thing is shown quite naturally. Superbly captured moments. Some of the encounters are...

>> The first touch of mother and father.
>> The first breathe in the open air lying in the warm hands of mother.
>> The most common habit of putting thumb in the mouth.
>> The joy of taking bath experiencing the coldness of water.
>> The first crawling through knees to catch the ball rolling on the floor.
>> The first attempt to walk with two little legs with the help of father.
>> The first sound of quirking of birds and blossoms of colourful flowers.
>> The first alphabet and different shapes to feed the brain.
>> The first time running in the backyard and getting injured.
>> The first pain of bleeding and watching mother to dress it.
>> The first encounter with the rain and rain-drops on the surface of the leaves.
>> The first time playing of hide & seek with mother.
>> The first time facing own face in the mirror and looking at it with amazement.
>> The first time pronouncing rhinoceros and alligators by touching their toy shapes.
>> The first encounter with someone younger and smaller in the form of brother.
>> The first jealousy of mother's love and care towards younger brother.
>> The first time gardening with father, swimming underwater and facing a barking dog.

And then life grows. The family spends the happy and sad times together. All three brothers enjoy their childhood playing in the company of each other. Life still brings new experiences. It slowly transits from childhood to adolescence. Body starts showing the changes and a girl sitting next bench grabs attraction. Being beaten by father hurts and emotional responses change with time. Out of hormonal changes, curiosity leads towards mother's bedroom to touch her inner garments and maxi. First masturbation and the feeling of guilt and embarassment takes hold. 

Movie continues and leads to the climax. This part is not yet properly understood. May be the director wants us to conceive it in our own way. But by this time the seed of director's vision starts germinating in mind. I have never seen such unusual flow with such openness to the climax. Not all movies are made with "The End" kind of climaxes.


It leads you to the inner world of yours to understand The Tree Of Life. To understand the way Nature plays with Grace. The way Terrence Malick plays with the story. The way the camera plays with our cornea. The way characters play with essence of acting....

This is by far the finest movie of 2011 and one of the best movies which intriguingly creates cinema-driven complex approach to LIFE.
 ___________________________________________________________________________________

If this blog manages to create even slightest of interest in you to watch this masterpiece, Don't let this idea to die down. Allow it to germinate and watch the movie in the first place. Spread the word if it grows a Tree Of Life in you after watching it.