Of the city, sex, gangsters, hulks and con-men

Okie, so I have been terribly busy, sorry lazy, these last few weeks. Blame it on the weather. Mumbai, since I moved here with my hubby, has been behaving so beautifully that its too good to be true. No deluges that fill my compound (yet), no sweltering heat, and the winter was beautiful and cold. So much so, that my husband has started to genuinely wonder why I used to complain about Bombay. Well, just you wait, dude, once the Gods are done being nice to this city, you won't know what hit you.

So, anyway, Mumbai or not, the last couple of weeks, saw us watching 5 movies at the multiplex. Yup, five. Not even going to count the DVD ones. Nope, haven’t reached the stage where we can’t stand each other yet. Our dish-tv connection has gone kaput. Wakes up sometimes - when there is absolutely nothing to watch on TV - and does a bunk when I really want to watch Hell's Kitchen, or hubby his F1. If a piddly bit of rain can do this, am wondering what will happen once it starts pouring in earnest. And we used to think cable tv was irritating!! So, multiplex it was. And the new PVR nearby just in time for our dish-tv blackout.

So, anyway, here are very very short reviews of each of the five - I know it’s been a long time and most of the movies are old news, but hey!! you should be happy that I am posting!! In the order we watched them, then:

Sex and the city - If you loved the TV series, you will like this movie. The usual yummy stuff is all there, the clothes, the to-die-for-shoes, the fashion stuff (check out the Vogue photo-shoot) and the gal-pal stuff. What is missing though - other than the usual lack of eye-candy - is the talk: remember the talks/discussions etc that gave made you either giggle or goggle? Well, conspicuously lacking. Surprising, really. Coz, come on, that is one thing you do expect from SATC right? Actually, it’s more of a romantic movie than the dare-to-bare-all-secrets kinda movie. But what surprised me was that most of the clothes in the movie were very wearable. Most of them – not counting the liberal use of gladiator heels throughout the movie - are classics that will never go out of fashion. Final word: Great movie to chill out with your gal friends, and if you don't have THAT great gal friends, watch it with your guy - just a way to show him what high-maintenance really means. Most certainly worth a watch. And own on DVD :)

Sarkar Raj - Watch it. Walk out. Forget it. Yup, imminently forgettable. Agreed, Sarkar was a tough act to follow. But, seriously, when even thinking of making a sequel, isn't it taken for granted that the second one should be AT LEAST as good as the first? This movie is nothing on the first one. The dialogue is forced and weird. The camera angles, well, sooo Ram-Gopal-Verma-on-steroids that it irritates you to try to watch Amitabh through the legs of a table. Where Sarkar was slick, fast-paced and intense, Sarkar Raj is intermittently plodding, brooding and boring. The movie seems like most part of it was improvised on the sets itself. The sudden inclusion of Aishwarya in almost every scene post interval seems weird and illogical to say the least. Until the climax. That is when you realize that it was all done to set scene for the next movie. The human element in this movie is blatantly ignored, till it suits the director to find it for the latter part of the movie for Amitabh Bachchan. Till the, when the wife dies, with child, not a tear is shed and in a matter of days the guy is thinking of another woman. When the father, though emotionally estranged, is murdered, a widening of the eyes is the only evidence of having acknowledged the news. In the first movie, RGV had proclaimed that the movie was his tribute to The Godfather series. He incorporated a lot of details in this movie as well. But the problem is, in this movie it kind of seems put together or hastily incorporated whereas in the first installment, most of the stuff was part of the story. So you see a car bomb killing the Appolonia-esque wife, the Sarkar senior going into semi retirement (and shown almost helpless and uninterested in his business) after junior takes over the reins, the grieving mother sidelined and not shown at all etc. Too many situations that are illogical, the stark one-dimensional black-white characters, stilted dialogue make this movie a strict one-time watch, if you are a RGV fan. I guess we should just expect aberrations like Sarkar from RGV once in a while and not a string a brilliant movies.

21 - A smart movie. With the required twists and turns and excellant performances. Not worth a theatre watch though. A Sunday afternoon DVD-kinda movie. About a handful of MIT students who try to each win a shit-load of money by trying to count cards in Las Vegas at blackjack. All are genius at math and their professor is the brains behind the whole operation. I loved the premise, story and the execution of the movie. Definitely worth a watch.

The incredible hulk - When does a movie stop being a documentary and start becoming a movie? For me, when I can identify with a character. No, that didn't come out right. Ok, try this out for size - in a movie, the lead protagonist is being victimized and hunted through no fault of his own. Wouldn't the director want to play on the audience's empathy for him to get the audience hooked onto the narrative and indeed, sit through the movie coz they care what is happening, and going to happen, to the said guy? Well, this is the one main thing that is missing in the movie. It doesn't hook you. The actors are all great and all and so are the special effects, but it makes you go 'Get on with it'. On the bright side though, Edward Norton in this avatar is a little new to me and does full justice to the role, Liv Tyler looks good. The hulk, however, is the best. He is better depicted here than in the movie Hulk - the one with Eric Bana - where the hulk looked like some overgrown rubber or plastic toy. The action scenes though are few and far in between. Wished there were more fights and action sequences. The story is interesting and the surprising addition at the end of the movie is what you will talk about more after the movie than the movie itself. Not a movie that is made better by the large screen - you will like it as much on DVD.

De taali - Don't ever watch this movie. The only reason I decided to watch it was coz the only promos I saw of this movie was being aired between FRIENDS re-runs and it said that it is about friendship. Note to self - never ever watch any Bollywood movie which is about friendship. It might just mean a bunch of 25-something brats sniveling in a tree-house that they call their 'club' or worse .... oh forget it.. Don't want to be reminded of that terrible movie. How terrible? Well the only song that is bearable- the title song - starts just after the title. Should have left then...