Rank - 22/23 || The Incredible Hulk

Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth
Director: Louis Leterrier

The Incredible Hulk is the unloved child in the family. The one whose existence cannot be wished away, even though the thought has crossed the parents' minds. Which is not so fair.

I prefer to look at it with What if… glasses. Both Iron Man and Incredible Hulk were in production at the same time. If this was the movie that was released first – not a stretch as Hulk was definitely more popular than Iron Man when 2008 started – would the Marvel juggernaut not have happened?

Strangely enough, Incredible Hulk eschews an elaborate origin story. Instead, the opening credit sequences give you the background. Though I am sceptical as to how much someone who didn’t know the story would understand. But then again, those were simpler times – if you had no interest in comics, you definitely wouldn’t go for a comic book movie. 

This movie continues from where Ang Lee’s Hulk ended – South America. I am not going to start the discussion as to whether that is the first MCU movie. After a brief interlude in Brazil, Bruce Banner (Norton) comes back to the state to get a cure for his condition. He connects with his former flame Betty Ross (Tyler). But his bete noire, General Ross (Hurt) is not too far behind. He takes the services of Emil Blonsky (Roth) and they prepare to take down the Hulk.

This was back when Ed Norton was a big shot to be reckoned with. The stories of how he prompted re-writes and re-shoots might have been true. But he never inhabits the role, the way Ruffalo did later. Benefit of hindsight, I guess. The supporting characters, despite being played by capable actors, are not likely to remain with you long.

The Incredible Hulk is not boring. It just does not soar. Later MCU movies perfected the wow factor, here it is rarely present. The Marvel method of getting a very similar villain as a foil to the hero continues with the Abomination. The visual effects were not bad for their time, but they have dated. Unfortunately, the movie seems to be held down by its lack of ambition. It only reiterates the unfortunate truism: too much of Hulk is not a good thing.

Stan Lee cameo: Thirsty Stan takes a swig. Something that played for laughs despite being a pivotal plot point. 

Post-credits scene: I remembered the scene for long. I thought it silly. Tony Stark may know General Ross, but why would he discuss the team-up with him, of all the people? However, upon watching the movie again, I realised in the context of how the movie ended, this was extremely possible. 

Rank - 23/23 || Thor: The Dark World

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo
Director: Alan Taylor

The Dark World is a franchise-killer. Let’s get that straight. If this was the first Thor film, we probably wouldn’t have him in the Avengers movie. Widely derided and at the bottom of most people’s lists, The Dark World is not very easy to sit through. 

To begin with, this is an unfortunate example of the title describing the movie. The background colours are dark and it is worse in 3D. it is set mostly on dark planets and in England. Kind of the same thing. Though you do willingly suspend disbelief to accept a god as your hero, the remainder of the plot forces you to continue doing that for every scene where they cannot think up a half-reasonable explanation. 

Jane Foster (Portman) gets infected by the Aether, a powerful virus/weapon that has the ability to change any battle in its host’s favour. Thor (Hemsworth), who had been missing in action since the incident in New Mexico, suddenly appears and takes her to Asgard. There they have an encounter with the Dark Elf Malekith (Eccleston). That doesn’t go well. But Thor decides to take the battle to Malekith and recruits half-brother/war criminal Loki (Hiddleston). The location of the big battle is present-day London.  

The above should be quite confusing, right? It requires elaborate plot points to make it palatable to the common viewer. Instead, here we are told the story in a series of narrations by different people and we stop caring. The computer graphics are an assault on our senses and lucky is the viewer who doesn’t get a headache at some point.

The actors are just going through the motions. Natalie Portman does have a bigger role than in the first movie, but her character actually narrows down instead of growing. The meet-the-in-laws setup turns out quite tedious. Thor gets to take off his shirt again. Christopher Eccleston, an actor I admire a lot, is hidden beneath acres of make-up and has his voice act for him. But when the lines are downright stupid, there is only so much he can do. 

Mindless entertainment gets a bad rep. It maybe stupid, but it ensures the viewer doesn’t have a bad time. Entertainment can take itself seriously. But when it fails to deliver on that serious note, then it makes for journey best not taken. The Dark World goes for broke in all the wrong ways and comes out with an empty hand. It exists plainly for being the bottom of this list.

Stan Lee cameo: Stan wants his shoe back. We want our money back

Post-credits scene: The scene introducing the Collector is cool. We know it ties up in the big picture. The next two are dumb. We already saw the lead pair kiss. And why do we need to know if there is a giant frost monster running around London?

Marvel Movies: A Personal List

Ubuntu. The Zulu term that stands for Us before Me. Usually interpreted as ‘I am because We are’. Basically, a call for humanity above all else. The optimist in me wants to believe that Ubuntu existed once upon a time. The realist in me accepts that it only exists as an open source operating system. We, as a people, are obsessed with ranking. It is all about winning and not about taking part. 

Recently, ranking entered pop culture in the form of lists. People ranked whatever they could. The internet made it very easy to share these rankings. I am interested in lists because it is completely personal. It is an individual’s like or dislike. There is no requirement that it should be the same as someone else’s list. I am entering the list-making world. 

I am going to rank all the movies that constitute what is called the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phases One through Three. From 2008’s Iron Man to 2019’s Spiderman: Far from Home. These movies started as comic book adaptations that would be watched only by a bunch of geeks and steadily moved into mainstream. So much so that the highest-grossing movie on the planet (not accounting for inflation) is Avengers: Endgame. Because of that reason, I know this will not be a nerd’s exercise. Starting on August 15, I will list out one movie a day, worst to best, along with what I felt about the movie. Ironic, that on Independence Day I declare my dependence on these movies.  

God's Own Cinema: The Return

An original movie may be appreciated by a lot of people. But then it inspires a sequel, which is literally the worst enemy of originality. The review for which I got most appreciation was for a bunch of Malayalam movies that I saw last year. And I shamelessly set out on a sequel! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Njandukalude Naattil Oridavela (Director: Althaf Salim)

It’s hard to be objective when a movie strikes this close to home. The wish for it to be good may be high, but the critic in one will be merciless if it is not. Njandu is good as a family movie. It is very good considering the scope of its ambition and the challenges it takes to achieve it.

The Chacko family is in turmoil. Mother Sheela (Shantikrishna) has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Chacko (Lal), till then the loud head of the family, goes into pieces. Junk-food eating son Kurian (Nivin) was summoned from London. Daughters Mary (Srinda Ashab) and Sarah (Ahaana Krishna) have their lives and aspirations brought to a standstill. Bedridden grandpa (Antony Kochi) has to get used to not being the primary rogi in the house. How will the family cope? With laughter, of course.

Cancer and comedy don’t go hand-in-hand. Till now that is. Can you bring laughs around a life-threatening disease? Can the suffering of the patient and the family be used for humour? It’s easier to make Chathiyan Chandu a good guy or tell the story of tiger hunter in a land where the only tigers are only to be found in zoos. But the new breed of directors in Kerala do not lack in courage, if anything. Add to it the fact that cancer has become so widespread, this is no longer a road not to be travelled.

The cast rise to the task with no exceptions. Nivin Pauly uses his new found girth in the best way possible – by making fun of it and his eating habits. The potato chips brand Lays is a character in this story. Lal is spectacular, playing against type. Shantikrishna, one of my favourite yesteryears actresses, plays a difficult role with aplomb. You cannot say that she was away from the screen for 20 years.

Director Salim, who wrote the film with George Kora, strives to find a balance in creating a comedy around a family battling cancer without closing an eye to the suffering. They succeed immensely. Introducing very believable characters, they don’t so much tell a story as they invite you to be a part of a family that faces a crisis. Many a time, I felt like I had shared instances of my life with them. On the basis of this movie, I can say Althaf Salim is a director I would pay to watch.


Happy Wedding (Director: Omar)

Njandu rang too close to my own experiences, so I sat to watch something which definitely would not be – Happy Wedding! Guess what! The hero is a Civil Engineer from Thrissur. Will Malayalam cinema leave me alone already? 

Hari Krishnan (Siju Wilson Joseph) is a Civil Engineer who is trying to get lucky in love. He attempts to get cosy with his colleague Lakshmi (Delna Davis), who prefers to play the field. He is desperate to have a love marriage, as opposed to the arranged marriage his mother threatens to set him up with. After another unsuccessful attempt to woo Lakshmi, Hari and his cousin Manu (Sharafudheen) end up drinking in one of the few Beer and Wine parlours open in Kerala. They meet a guy who claims to be a motivational speaker. They are drunk and do not even ask his name, but address him as Bhai (Soubin Shahir). Over a few mugs and pegs we get to know Hari’s story from his Engineering days and his affair with his classmate, Shahina (Anu Sitara). 

The three of them decide to travel to Thrissur in one of them fancy AC buses. In the bus they meet Drishya (Drishya Raghunath) and get chatting. Hari starts to fall for her, but back home, amma has been going through matrimony agencies to find a bride for him. Will Hari finally set up shop with someone? Who the hell is Bhai and what is his angle? 

Unfortunately, the hero’s job was pretty much the only good thing in an otherwise forgettable movie. The story meanders along with flashbacks and sad jokes. Siju and Sharafudheen try gamely, but the script doesn’t do them any favours. Soubin has the most interesting character, but he resorts to hamming. The sequence in the bus was well shot and threatened to become interesting, but it was a mirage. 

Newcomers in all areas have brought a fresh wind to Malayalam cinema, but the law of averages will still be there. Even if we have a bunch of good movies there will be a turkey here and there. Happy Wedding is a dish best forgotten fast.


Thondimuthalum Dhriksakshiyum (Director: Dileesh Pothan)

What is needed to convict a thief? A witness who saw him? The stolen article that is now submitted as evidence? Or is it something else altogether?  Who suffers when a theft occurs? Who benefits? Director Dilesh Pothan and writer Sajeev Pazhoor do not want to give us the obvious answers. Yet, is what we see onscreen any different from what happens in real life?

Prasad (Suraaj Venjarammoodu) and Sreeja (Nimisha Sajayan) are a young couple travelling by bus in Northern Kerala. Sreeja, who was dozing off, suddenly awakens to find the man behind her stealing her necklace. Caught in the act, he swallows it. At the local police station, they find he is also named Prasad (Fahadh Faasil). Constable Chandran (Alencier) is the person tasked with getting the evidence and charging the culprit. Easier said than done.

All-round comedian Suraaj and debutante Nimisha are sensational as a couple caught in the middle of a crime. It is a perfect two-hander of a performance rather than two distinct ones. The supporting actors, led by a convincing Alencier are excellent. Fahadh has a very different role and he is amazing. Already proven to be one of the better actors we have, he uses his smile as an acting tool. I can’t recall seeing something like that before. 

Kerala went gaga over actor Pothen’s first feature as director, Maheshinte Prathikaram. I liked it, thought it was beautifully shot, had great visuals and music, but was not bowled over by it. Thondimuthal changes that. You can see an assured director in control of his art. There is a long tracking shot that lasts for a couple of minutes. It serves no purpose. But you don’t mind because it is a young director trying out new tricks and getting more and more confident in his art. 

Thondimuthal’s premise may sound cynical, but onscreen it is all heart. It shows that even a minor crime is not minor in our judicial universe. The line between who is a perpetrator and who is a victim gets blurred as time goes by. And with a strangely feel-good ending, you actually understand more about how our judicial system has its flaws and its benefits. It just depends on how we view it.


Ayal Sasi (Director: Sajin Baabu)

The proper noun Sasi has assumed a slightly derogatory verb status in Malayalam in the recent past. It stands for someone who unwittingly ends up a loser, or someone who has zero watts in his bulb. Social media is rife with Sasi jokes, a la Santa Singh ones. So, when someone made a movie titled Ayal Sasi (literally, That Man Sasi), starring the peerless Srinivasan, I was intrigued. 

Sasi is someone we often see around us. Someone who tries to wedge himself into every conversation and attempts to increase his circle of contacts every few minutes. A man whose livelihood depends on more people recognizing him. Our Sasi is a painter. More accurately, he paints his signature on paintings done by Fine Arts students. He has a coterie around him, a bunch who know him for who he is and yet stick by him. Once, after a particularly boisterous party, Sasi is taken to the Emergency Room, where it comes out that his days are numbered. 
Hearing the news he relocates to his village. One day, he reads the news of a company selling smart coffins; the kind that operates with finger print identification and has four TV screens. Whether it is for the people who come to pay their respects or for the ghost of the dead man to watch his own exploits is not clear! But Sasi decides to buy one. He becomes a minor celebrity and his lifetime ambition comes true. But at what cost?

Srinivasan thows himself fully into the role. However, the ravages of age are very visible and it is painful for us to see a beloved actor struggling. The supporting cast, made exclusively of non-famous actors, play their part ably, but there is no standout performance. 

Black comedy is not something common in Malayalam. Ayal Sasi is definitely one. However, between trying to find humour in the absurd, proclaiming a message in a wry way, and attempting to make a slow-moving art movie with extremely long cuts, director Baabu loses his way. The result is a frustrating movie. One that could have achieved so much more if it had just stuck to one purpose. And the audience becomes sasi.


Take Off (Director: Mahesh Narayan)

‘Inspired by real-life events’ is a tricky affair. How much do you take from actual happenings? How much of what the protagonists tell you is true? How much masala do you add? How much cinematic license can you take? When the event in question is still in people’s minds how do you go about it? 

Based on the rescue of 46 nurses from IS-occupied Tikrit in Iraq, Take Off takes liberties, but stays within the realm of possibility for most part. Instead of becoming an all-out thriller, it spends almost half of the movie building up the characters whom we would empathize with. 

Sameera (Parvathy) is a divorced nurse trying to get a visa to work in Iraq to pay off her family’s debts. Her colleague Shaheed (Kunjacko Boban) is in love with her, but she spurns his advances. Faizal (Asif Ali) is her ex-husband who has custody over their son, Ibru (Eric Zachariah). We learn through flashbacks the story of their life and how they parted ways. Once in Iraq, Sameera has other challenges to meet. Shaheed goes to Mosul to take care of injured in fighting  and the IS take over the hospital. The nurses become human shields. How does Sameera, with the help of the Indian Ambassador Manoj (Fahadh Faasil), escape their captors? That is the crux of the second half that moves to full-on thriller mode.

Editor Mahesh Narayan moves behind the camera for the first time. Working off a script he co-wrote with P.V Shajikumar, Mahesh shows tremendous confidence as he weaves a tale straddling countries. Except for a few scenes in the beginning when I couldn’t figure out what was real-time and what was flashback, he has control over the flow of the story. You see the hardships that force people to go to the desert, the family dynamics, a mature marriage and even a mini revolt over unpaid dues. And, yes, in Kerala, even though you may be a nurse, you still know nothing about birth control! The two halves of the film are quite distinct in pace, but do not feel out of place. In fact, one feels it necessary to have the two follow different beats.

The performances add weight to the film. Of course, it is made easier because they have such developed characters to enact. Kunjacko Boban is extremely believable as a considerate lover, while Asif Ali gamely takes on a thankless role. Fahadh Faasil changes track to play a suave, modern ambassador. Prakash Belawadi, who played an important role in Airlift, the Akshay Kumar drama about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, essays the role of the Secretary of External Affairs. The various actors portraying the nurses are quietly efficient.

But, at the end of the day, most movies live or die by one critical performance, something the other actors recognize and support. Here, it is the role of Sameera that is enacted by, no, lived by Parvathy. This is one of the best performances in Malayalam for quite some years, by a male or female actor. She is the heart of a movie that beats to her tempo. She essays an extraordinary human being in the most ordinary way. She has her faults and she is stronger because of them. The title of the movie may allude to the rescue of the nurses. It could just as well point to a career that should surely go places.

Exploding embers

Film: Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani
Director: Jiju Antony
Cast: Sanal Aman, Adnan Khan, Amit Singh, Yash Bhosle

1995. Bombay had just changed to Mumbai. I arrived in the mahanagar for my first job. My lodgings were in the Central Government Staff Quarters in Antop Hill, Sion. I stood at the balcony of my third floor flat and looked out. I saw a few Fiat taxis parked and some of the drivers talking to young girls. Wow, my innocent mind went. What a place. Even the drivers have girlfriends. Later I found that those were the ladies of the night and the drivers were their facilitators. My awe was tempered, but taxi drivers still fascinated me.

Fast forward 20 years. My college-mate Jiju has made a movie about a Mumbai taxi driver. A frightening, yet hard-hitting story. Of imbibing violence and enacting it. Of mundane lives and repressed rages. A debut that soars without ever not touching the ground.

Prashant Jadhav (Aman) is a taxi driver. A violent act occurs in his life that leads to consequences. But that’s just the beginning. We go back in his life, all the way to his childhood, to understand the extraordinary circumstances that led to it. And realize they are not so uncommon after all.

Jiju uses the Memento style in that the story is told in reverse. But that doesn’t seem at all a gimmick as our journey is to go back in time. A root-cause analysis, for want of a better phrase! It follows an episodic structure with 10 chapters going back in time. A reverse countdown. Jiju and his cinematographer Pratap Joseph use colour and its hues to separate the various chapters in an ambitious way. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, the director of the controversial Sexy Durga, supports the venture by taking on editing duties. 

The actors are mostly not that. Sanal Aman is an incredibly loud actor, especially considering he barely talks most of the time. His eyes scream out at us. We experience how anger and anguish are not that far apart. Adnan, Amit, Yash enact Prashant at ages 16, 10 and 5. And prove to be excellent finds. Rajshri Deshpande, who cameos in a small role, is probably the only experienced actor. But, at no point, does one feel you are watching non-actors. 

A lot has to do with the effortless way Jiju crafts his film. A run-time of 81 minutes leaves you wanting more. The limited budget of the crowd-funded movie never comes to the fore, nor is there any attempt by the professionals working on it to show off. 

The title of the film means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is a biblical phrase known to scholars and a religious few. While retaining it in Aramaic (or Hebrew) will be contested, I don’t think there will be another title that is apt for this story.

The Vinu School of Film Appreciation, Evaluation and Reviewing, of which I am the founding and so far only member, lives and dies by the dictum that you cannot be a good reviewer unless you want to make a movie yourself. So far it has worked on the big Hollywood fare that I tend to write about. But this is much closer to home. I am mad that a country cousin has made a movie in Marathi, a language he knows as well as Vulcan. I am furious that he has done it without any formal training whatsoever. I am incensed that he now has Film Director on his CV. Trust me, I will take out my wrath on his next movie. Because this one didn’t give me any chance.

For a Few Westerns More

The Western. That most American of genres, across literature and movies. That which replaced the grit and grime with guns and gals. The drudgery and desolation with scenery and sunshine. The hardships were romanticised, loneliness glamourised and history bastardised.  And (American) audiences got good bang for their buck, authenticity be damned. But then, real genius will out itself. Good filmmakers used this genre as a medium to tell their stories and audiences didn’t run away from them. We take a look at some of the commonly acclaimed Westerns. This is only Part 1, mind you.


Shane

It wasn’t all black and white (pun definitely intended) in the West. There was much more than Indians bad, cowboys good. One of the other conflicts was the fight between the cattle barons and ranchers over land. Shane (Alan Ladd) a lonely cowboy with a past comes to a small ranch owned by Joe Starrett (Van Heflin), his wife Marian (Jean Arthur) and their son Joey (Brandon de Wilde). He finds that the Starretts, along with other ranchers, are being harassed by a cattle owner Rufus (Emilie Meyer). Rufus wants all the lands for himself and he is willing to go to any length for this. 

The 60 plus years since its production haven’t exactly been kind to Shane. The colour is rough around the edges, and the acting a bit theatrical, as was the case those days. But the ambition cannot be hidden. Director George Stevens set out to make an epic and he does. The Oscar-winning cinematography by Loyal Griggs (The Ten Commandments) lovingly captures the vast outdoors, showcasing the loneliness that was meant to be Shane’s lot for life.

Alan Ladd is far too pretty-looking and stylish to be convincing as a lonesome cowboy a long way from home. Jean Arthur, in her last big screen outing, is saddled with a rather thankless role. As young Joey who hero-worships Shane, Brandon de Wilde is the audience surrogate and he is very good. Jack Palance, in one of his early roles, shows a bit of the menace that he would embody later on.

Shane has a lot of ticks in the pluses column. But ultimately, it will be more of fond memory than a true classic that stands the test of time.


High Noon

The best compliment High Noon received would have been from Super-Cowboy John Wayne calling it “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen”. It is that good!

Marshal William Kane (Gary Cooper) has had enough of policing. He has met his match and is marrying her. He and his wife-to-be Amy (Grace Kelly) are leaving the town of Hadleyville and moving to another town to start a new chapter. The wedding just got over when word arrived that dreaded outlaw Frank Miller (Iain MacDonald), who was sent behind bars by Kane, was released and now on the train to Hadleyville to take revenge.

Despite almost everyone convincing him to leave town, Kane refuses and stays back to face Miller. He asks the townspeople to help him, but no one comes forward. Both his wife and his former flame, Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), leave to the station to catch the same train the outlaw was arriving. The clock is ticking and Kane comes to the realisation that he was all alone. It is high noon and the train’s whistle blows from the distance.

Written by Carl Foreman during the years when he was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee for his Communist sympathies, High Noon is a thinly-veiled allegory but also highly effective as a bloody good film. The desperate Marshal, who is just a decent guy who wants to do the right thing, is also a scared man. Not the fearless gunslinger. The townsfolk are appreciative of all that Kane had done for them, but they didn’t feel that warranted a sacrifice from them. A good man is going to his doom, not because of people’s actions, but, rather, their inaction.

Gary Cooper is extremely effective as Kane, even though he looked a bit too old for the role. He won an Oscar for his efforts, but was unable to make it to the ceremony. Guess who accepted it on his behalf. Yup, Mr John Wayne! Grace Kelly lightens up the black and white film. A certain Lee Van Cleef made his debut in a fascinating career of menacing heroes. And does not even utter a single word.

High Noon is not as revisionist as McCabe and Mrs Miller, but within the boundaries of a traditional Western, it subverts expectations.  It follows, as far as possible, a real-time narrative and that heightens the suspense. Director Fred Zimmerman claimed that he didn’t think of the various metaphors the story-line could have stood for, but treated it as a damn good yarn. Which it is. And that is what will make the movie stand the test of time.


The Searchers 

I was lucky my first John Wayne film was also the one with his best performance. When the All-American cowboy abandons the black and white in his major movies for grey, there is bound to be something special. 

Ethan Edwards (Wayne) returns to his brother’s ranch after an eight-year-absence fighting in the war. His domestic stint is short-lived as the Indians raid the ranch, abducting Ethan’s nieces and killing everyone else. Ethan begins a five-year search for his younger niece after the older one was found murdered. 

Director John Ford makes no apologies about painting the Comanache Indians jet black. But what is interesting is Wayne’s character. Edwards is borderline racist. At one point he is ready to kill his niece rather than let her continue to live with the Indians as was her wish. He is a brutal man and his actions do not leave room for any explanations.  For someone whose actions in movies, and otherwise, were strictly black or white, this was a welcome change. The Duke ups his game and ends up elevating the movie as a result.

The technical parts stand out even today. Much has been written about the last shot of the film. People tend to forget that the same movie started with a similar shot. The Searchers is a prime example of why genre becomes irrelevant if you have a good director ready to tell a good story.


Stagecoach

The movie that made John Wayne and began his long association with director John Ford, Stagecoach is a classic in its own right. While always tagged a Western, it could easily be the father of another very American genre – the road movie.

It’s 1880 and a motley crew take a road trip on the eponymous stagecoach. Among them is a prostitute who is being driven out of town, a whiskey salesman (imagine!), a drunken doctor, a pregnant lady, a gambler and a banker. The coach’s driver and a marshal accompany them. Soon, a fugitive joins the group. Just as they are about to start, they receive info that a bunch of Apaches were on the warpath. Thus begins the journey.

The various characters have their own set beliefs and flaws. As the road-trip progresses, we see how everyone changes. Now that I said that, Stagecoach might also be the father of another genre – the dysfunctional family reunion movie. Albeit with a slight twist in that the get-together happens and then everyone comes together as a family without being related. 

John Wayne was pretty much a nobody when he acted as the fugitive Ringo Kid. In fact, he got second billing to Claire Trevor. One of my favourite touches in the film is how when Ringo joins the party, the stagecoach is already full and he has to sit on the floor. Wayne plays the decent guy without any hang-ups or image hanging over him and it is an endearing performance. The rest of the cast are efficient, especially Thomas Mitchell who won an Oscar for playing the doctor. 

Stagecoach is a ride that is rare in the annals of American cinema. It blazes a trail that has inspired many across genres, but never been surpassed.


Winchester ‘73

‘Those Magnificent Men and their Flaming Guns’ could be the entire Western genre in a phrase. While there would be an inkling of a plot here or there, the gun would always be a strong supporting player. Until someone decided to make it the main character. A preposterous conceit, one might say. True, but they make it work.

It’s the fourth of July in Dodge City. There is to be a shooting competition. The winner would get an 1873 Winchester rifle as the price. In rides Lin McAdam (James Stewart). He is after an outlaw Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally). Marshal Wyatt Earp (Will Geer) who runs the town has a strict ‘no guns in town’ policy. Lin and Dutch end up being the finalists and McAdam gets the Winchester. But he hadn’t taken it from its sheath when it is taken away from him. The remaining part of the movie is how the Winchester changes hands and the stories of those characters. 

James Stewart somehow makes everything he appears in seem 25% better. Winchester ’73 is no exception. Shelley Winters goes through the motion in a thankless role, something not different to most of the women in a cowboy movie. There are bit parts from Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson, the latter as an Indian chief.

There must have been a temptation to let the Winchester go through more hands to add to the story. Thankfully, the writers decided to stick with a few and develop the characters. The plot seems to have been tied up a bit too smoothly, but that is a small matter. Among technical aspects the locations and the cinematography by William Daniels stand out.    

Oh, Woman, Thou Art the Wonder!

Film: Wonder Woman
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Robin Wright
Director: Patty Jenkins

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”                                      - Judy Garland

For years DC was trying to catch up with Marvel in the movie business. For years they tried to be another version of Marvel. And they failed miserably. Until now. What changed things was a decision to go boldly where Marvel had had not gone before – give the reins of the film to a woman. The said woman just made a small movie, but, in the process, also broke a rather thick glass ceiling.

It is a comic book story after all. There is the fun and the fantastic. Little Diana grows up in the misandristic (look it up or ask Tharoor) island of Themyscira. There are no men on the island, only female Amazons. Diana’s mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) wants to keep it that way. She also wants Diana to have a peaceful life and not grow up to be a warrior like her mother and aunts. Easier said than done. Diana (Gadot) grows up to be a confident young woman with a natural affinity and aptitude towards fighting. Until one day she finds out she has a few more skills.

But before she has time to brood (a trait that has ruined the DC Universe movies thus far), a plane drops out of the sky. The pilot, we later find, is Steve Trevor (Pine), an American spy serving with the Germans. Did I mention the First World War was just reaching its end when this happens? The Germans pursuing Steve find the island and the idyllic charms of the island are forever lost. Steve wants to go back to England as he has proof the Germans are developing a deadly weapon that could end the War to End All Wars quite differently from what it was shaping out to be. Diana wants to go for a more mythical reason. 

After a brief stopover in ‘hideous’ London, allowing for a few fish-out-of-water jokes, Diana, Steve and a ragtag gang go to the French front where the last battle will be fought. The British generals are loath to let a woman come into the room, much less give them ideas about how to fight the war. However, Sir Patrick Morgan (Thewlis), a member of the War Cabinet, realises the threat posed by mad General Ludendorff (Huston) and his scientist Dr Maru (Elena Anaya), and covertly supports Team WW. How does the mission go? 

The only person who came out smelling of roses from the truckload of manure that was Batman v Superman, was Gal Gadot. But could she carry an entire movie on her shoulders? Oh, me of little faith! Gadot oozes charisma. She has that rare movie star quality. Time will tell how she will fare in other roles, but when she is on screen as Wonder Woman you just cannot peel your eyes away. Gadot brings a quiet confidence and real empathy to the role. She is adept at humour and anger. Even the love story that is so integral to who she becomes is underplayed in a way that it stays with you long after you exited the theatre. 

Chris Pine takes on a rather thankless role in a woman-centric movie. The exact thankless role that thousands of woman take on in 99.9% of the other movies that are made. But the writers and director love him and that works to his advantage. His earnestness rubs off on us. The rest of the cast support, but do not stand out. Possibly because there is no time to develop all characters.

The action is incredible and I haven’t seen slow motion used this effectively in a long time. It helps that other than in the last fight it is about beating up bad guys and not blowing up the scenery. It also means the climactic fight is also the weakest. The incredible cello theme that was introduced in Batman v Superman continues here, but is sparsely used, thereby rendering it much more effective. The cinematography, especially in Themyscira, is stunning.

Patty Jenkins. Remember the name. Taking Allen Heinberg’s script, Jenkins went on to eschew the grandeur and flab that defined Zack Snyder’s Superman/Batman films and instead went about making a small, personal movie, but one that did not skimp on the action or the money shots. This is an origin story like any other, but it is told with respect and affection. Wonder Woman works because Jenkins does not make a movie she doesn’t want to make. It works because, for some reason, Warner Bros let her do her thing. There is no post-credits scene, no nod to the upcoming Justice League movie. Just a letter beginning with ‘Dear Bruce’. Wonder Woman works because Patty Jenkins is a superhero.

There is a scene where Diana and friends are in a trench at the battlefront. She climbs the ladder and into the enemy fire. Because she has to. Because she can. That is when the fanboy in me exploded. That is probably the juncture when the small personal movie bared its big comic heart. Showing the two can exist together. That you don’t need to keep your sense and sensibilities at the door when you come to watch a superhero movie. 

That is the lesson, one hopes the DC folks take note of. Listen to Judy, stop aping Marvel. Above all, give the keys to your kingdom to women. They are much better at everything.