[Movie] Michael Jackson - This is it!!!

Directed - Kenny Ortega

 

Produced - Paul Gongaware, Randy Phillips

 

Starring - Michael Jackson and his group of dancers, singers, musicians, performers...  

 

This is it released on 28th Oct and was gonna be in Theaters for only 2 weeks.. I was hoping to catch it and i sure did... the last day it was being screened, at Sathyam Cinemas.. And what an experience it was.... !!!

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson's songs and the day he died, i felt very sad... Like someone i knew close was gone... After watching this movie, this tribute, i miss him more..!!  Here's why..

The movie opens to show his dancers and backstage guys sobbing and talking about how much they were looking forward to the shows, and how close they'd gotten to MJ during the practice sessions.. From there, it is an amazing rocking beautiful soulful music filled tribute to the Man himself.. Rehearsals for various songs, dancers setting the floor on fire, the film editing, singing, vocal sessions, and so much more is what we get to see during the 2hr movie...

It's amazing to watch MJ control every nuance of the performance, from the dancers' cues to details in the music that goes unnoticed most times... even how he describes his earpiece hurting -"it felt like "fists in my ears, but am trying to get used to it"... The little "God Bless you"s he says every now and then to his team and to the director.... 

The part when the music director makes a joke about bringing more booty into the song, Jackson sort of walks away giggling like he'd heard a naughty joke. When Ortega tells him that the cherry picker he's on is only on the low setting, he laughs and says that Ortega shouldn't have told him that because Ortega knows he'd just want to go higher. :-)

Be it Beat it, Earth Song, Man in the Mirror, I just cant stop loving you, The way you make me feel, each of the songs shown, each step they practice had us engrossed.... Woww!!! Words fail to describe the amount of effort that goes into a show [ i know this much effort goes into every show, but not many you get to see, right!!?] The footage they shoot for  Thriller is just mind blowing, almost like they've recreated the video as it were... hey were working on and the music video intro shoot for "Smooth Criminal" that uses '50s movies with Jackson merged into it. I am curious to know if Thriller was finished after Jackson's death, because the doc shows him and Ortega watching the screen wearing 3D glasses as it's being filmed, and we're shown a 2D, more final version. 

Audiences are given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. Michael Jackson's "This is it" captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show........... It was like watching a live performance, actually a live rehearsal i should say... had me singing along with the songs, grooving to the beats and wishing He was alive.... 

Have never seen my mom so engrossed in a show before.. Infact she called saying - can we go for a movie and when i was browsing through Satyam website, and saw MJ's This is it, i was tempted to ask her, but thought she might not like watching it.. Alas, who would have thought.. she picked that exact movie and said "chk if tickets are there and lets go"... Am so glad!!! She was engrossed it.. completely emotional... Infact i think the entire theater was glued in like never before...  probably the  1st movie where not a soul [ apart from the ones sittig right in the front, they just pay Rs10 and come sit in theater for AC comfort i guess.. most of them look like that ]... Everyone was in their seat as credits rolled on and till the very last word was done with!!!  Beautiful................

Only thing i felt could have been incorporated was his interaction wit others, few words from his family, an interview... something more than just practice...!!!

[Movie] Inglourious Basterds

A name that kept resounding in my ears, a movie i had been wanting to watch but that hadnt hit Chennai theaters then... And finally, one day my uncle walked in home with the DVD in his hand... Aaaah.... *rubbing hands together and sparkle in my eyes, i grabbed it from him* ... what movie you ask -- Need you even ask[err, since i had put it up in the title of the post..hehe] .. it is Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarentino....

Infact, i took the dvd with me on my holiday thinking if i find time or am bored, i shall watch.. Alas, that dint happen... managed to watch it day before, here at home!!

Cast: Brad Pitt , Mélanie Laurent,Christoph Waltz
 

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Rating: ****3/4 

Remember, its a Tarantino movie!!! So, watch out for a bit of goryness, full on action and plenty of blod shed... ;) You also need to remember to read the subtitles [since most of the movie is in French and German] and not to miss any of the action, verbal exchanges happening on screen... 

Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

The film, divided into five chapters, begins in Nazi-occupied France. Landa, known as the Jew hunter, waltzes into a quiet farmhouse to flush out hidden Jews. After drinking two glasses of milk, Landa, quietly, chillingly, calls his men in and has them shoot a Jewish family hiding under the floorboards. Only the daughter, Shoshana, escapes, running for her life.

Chapter 2 introduces us to the Basterds --- Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution.  The Basterds pulverize Nazis by killing as many as they can, in the most hideous way possible, and then scalping them. To watch them actually do it has us takes quite a bit of grit...[but luckily these scenes are far and few]  

 

The following Chapters are all about the clashes between the titans.... !! 

 

Lt Aldo, the Apache demands 100 Nazi scalps from each of his dirty dozen.. Must make a mention of the "Bear Jew" played by Hostel movie director Eli Roth. After sneaking into France dressed as civilians to take down the Reich, the Basterds team with British soldier Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), a film critic assigned by a British general.. Adding spice to the movie is femme fatal German actress Bridget Von Hammersmark, who is now a spy for the allies. The two revenge plots converge at Shosanna's theater, which will premiere a propaganda film, Nation's Pride, and boast a red carpet walked by the Gestapo elite and the man himself, Herr Hitler (Martin Wuttke). Shosanna along with her Black assitance Marcel is  all set and completely poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own....  :-) 

What happens then is the climax of this gripping movie...

 

Hats off to Waltz, as the "Jew Hunter" of the SS, who dangles his host French farmer over the precipice of revealing what he cannot reveal numerous times, then pulls him back with obsequious lines of friendship and understanding. Every scene where he takes charge is amazing, has us amused at the way he gets the point across -- the opening scene where he switches languages so the Nazi's wont understand him,  How he speaks fluent Italian and stumps the Basterds at the movie premiere or the scene where he has captured and confronts the Basterds trying to make a deal with them... the shot where he calls Bridget aside into the room and shows her he knows she was in the bar and was the one who escaped the killings... Absolutely brilliant acting...

A second sadistic German, well-played by August Diehl, functions as an important actor in the final plot twist. Diehl's Nazi Major, who has an ear for German accents, is almost as good as Waltz...... just about.. almost!!

A movie that i thoroughly enjoyed and wouldnt mind watching again...

[Movie] Air Buddies.

Its been raining incessantly here in Chennai, and there was no way i could head out yesterday.. Sunday, spent at home driving myself up and over the wall.. Finally, decided enough is enough and pulled out my external hard drive and started scanning thru to see what movies i had on it...

The one that i knew would cheer me up was "Air Buddies"... What better movie than one with Dogs and pups!!! :)

Air bud, a succesfull ball player finds true love and they bring into this world 5 adorable pups- Air Buddies!!

The next generation comes along with five puppies. Budderball is crazy about football and all he thinks about is his next meal. B-Dawg plays basketball, isn’t exactly a team player, and speaks of himself in the third person. Buddha is into meditation, yoga and  loves baseball. Mudbud loves playing in the dirt and is a mutt who enjoys simple pleasures, including volleyball. Rosebud is the only girl in the clan, loves soccer, and is a true lady, but one who will do anything to protect her brothers!! :)

Five puppies around the house, all of them active and rambunctious, turns out to be too much for the family. That’s made particularly clear when the nanny the family hires to look after the puppies gets tied in her chair  and her blueberry pie completely devoured by the pups, while the family is at a basketball game. 

The movie is all about the family wanting to give the pups up for adoption and they running away just so they can be with each other.. What follows is an amazing tale of how the parents go looking for their pups, and the twists and turns they encounter and what happens in the end has us all going "Awww, how chweet"...

Air bud and his girl are kidnapped all bcos a rich spoilt brat wants a pet he can play with... A tiger was the 1st choice, but Duh, whats the point of having a wild tiger for a pet, right?  What follows it that the bad guys are sent to find the pups as well, cos they are worth quite a lot... This is when the plot thickens and the pups decide to go looking for their mom and dad[ parallely the bad guys are looking for them] , they come across quite a few interesting characters... But the 1st thing they do is to consult the town map to figure out where the bad guys are headed..The chase through the farm involving the billy goat is especially well done, and the showcasing 101 Dalmatians receives while at the movie theater fits in nicely. The dogs run helter skelter, proving to be more than a handful to the bad guys...!! 

Even the silly Sheriff's Sniffer dog is adorable.. How he thinks a skunk's spray cured his sniffing problems... and ultimately helps lead the boys to their pups.. And how can we forget the wolf that takes the pups into his den and helps them find their way....

Air Buddies is a great family film.. how can it not be right? It has it all - Romance, drama, thriller, mystery, comedy...  Was quite impressed with how good the head movements and body language of the puppies works beautifully. Not only that, but the character of each of the puppies is clearly defined and allows them to sound and act unique.

If you are a dog lover, do watch it..