Martin Scorsese's Hugo - A true epic!!

I am still in awe of those 2 hours I spent at the cinema last night. Its a routine for a film buff like me to spend several hours in the cinema watching over 3-4 movies over each weekend. The last few years, I have witnessed deranged stuff to totally inspiring set of movies, language not being a constraint.

There have been some truly epic movies and Hugo just fits on my Top 5 of all time. I have been a fan of Scorsese for a long time having watched his classics as The Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Gangs of Newyork, The Aviator and many more. Each of them have been either a character or a genre understudy. When it was announced that he was making a movie of the book by Brian Selznick (The invention of the Hugo Cabret) after it was so suggested by his grand-daughter, I was in anticipation of how Scorsese would bring this lovely story to life. All the more a veteran having decided to embrace the 3D technology was met with some deal of skepticism, me included.

There are decidedly infinite reasons why I recommend Hugo. Here are some of my thoughts (May contain some spoilers)-

The Story - However you look at it, the story, always sounds simple. A boy named Hugo Cabret is orphaned as his father (played by Jude Law) dies in a fire accident, leaving behind an Automaton(A robot) which has a secret. How this boy goes about unlocking this delightful secret and the discoveries he makes of people around him forms the crux. All though, as I earlier pointed out, the story sounds earnestly simple, but is all the more beautifully layered and has a great deal of depth.

The setting - From the lovely setting at a train station of Paris, Hugo from his father has mastered the art of clockmaking and chiming. There are a host of delightful characters at the station. Each of the characters are watched and studied by Hugo from behind a large station clock, which is also his dwelling place. There is the toy seller who is grumpy at most times, a station master with a touch of evilish charm, an elderly man and lady with a dog, a charming florist, an elderly librarian and many side characters.

The Characters(along with performances) - Asa Butterfield, plays Hugo and is admittedly charming. He embraces the brave yet emotional Hugo Cabret, with a twinkling set of eyes. Ray Winstone in a short role plays Hugo's uncle. Ben Kingsley, essays the role of a toy seller at the station (more about him later). The ever so charming and wonderful Chloe Grace Moretz, plays Hugo's friend and a grand daughter to Ben Kingsley. Moretz will no doubt go a long way and turn to be one of the best actresses in the coming generation. Emily Mortimer, comes late into the movie and is terrific in her short role!! Sacha Baron Cohen is the evil station master and plays the role with an old school charm. Watch him when he is asked to smile by the lady whom he sees at the coffee bar. Its a clapworthy scene. However the special mention and the film's most bravura performance comes from Ben Kingsley. Without giving much away about his character, he is the biggest key to the mystery of the Automaton. This is a performance that enhances Kingsley's already possessed reputation and in the latter part of the film is sheer magic.

The 3D- Exceptional. That's one word to describe the usage of the effects. The 3D in this movie is used with a lot of purpose. Its not a shove in your face cheap 3D that is being used in movies lately. After Avatar this is the only movie, which deserves a 3D experience.

Martin Scorsese - Its been said that awards have eluded this giant of a filmmaker over the years. There are many who judge films and their directors by their awards cabinet. All though alluding to this may bring about some doubtless classics to the fore, just following them blindly, is injustice to oneself and the filmmakers. I have no doubt also been charmed by the Oscar's over the years, but I clearly have learnt a lot. No amount of awards can merit the genius of Scorsese and his movies over the years. Clearly @ 69 his isn't done and there is a lot he has to offer. If you have a chance and are a fan of the Beatles, his documentary, George Harrison, Living in the material world, is a chanceless piece. Hugo is most definetely, Scorsese's most personal film to date. The hidden and deepest feelings of his journey as a director is laid out in the film in many parallel references. So is his tribute to one of the greatest directors, George Meiles and the references to Lumiere brothers.

If I was allowed to rate a film as 6 stars out of 5, then this definetely is one of them. Embrace Divinity.

More Movies

Picked up The Last king of Scotland and The Insider over the past few weeks. Cant stop raving about them since then. Watch Al Pacino(The Insider) and Forest Whitaker(The last king..) and you know why these are actors are truly the best in what they do. Pick it up for your weekend.

Der Untertang (The Downfall) and Others

Its been long since I posted something on my blog. Have lost out on the new one I started. Its all because I have been reading a lot off late.

But then, time and again there are some things that inspire me to mention of them in high regard. Of those was the DVD's which I picked up last week.

Der Untertang(The Downfall) is a movie inspired from a book about the final days of Hitler in the bunkers before his downfall. Ravaged by the Russian's in 1945, who then ask Hitler to surrender unconditionally, this story tells us of his unwillingness to do so. It is a story told through the eyes of one of his secretary Traudl Junge. The movie follows the events that unfold into Hitler's suicide and the surrender by its Army General's. It depicts the raw spirit of nationalism that Hitler exhibits towards his nation, in turn not acknowledging the very human lives who make it up. Its also tells the story of the General's, some of who are completely faithful to their Fuhrer' and some who choose to betray him.

Though being a German movie and in its national language, the subtitle's conjure up the proceedings. Its slow paced, but brilliantly edited. The acting is absolutely first rate, if not mindblowing. Watch an unknown Bruno Ganz play the Fuhrer. Its a character he brings out so explicitly that you feel you are watching the Fuhrer himself. Watch out for the body actions which depict Hitler of suffering the Parkinson's disease. The war sequences are executed with commendable finesse.

I was completely awed at the end of this 3 hour drama. It just felt as if I was drawn into the place and that the events were for real.

In one word this is an absolute classic. Rent/Smuggle this from the nearest DVD store and I am sure you will agree with me no ends. Also thinking of picking up the book Inside Hitler's Bunker by Joachim Fest.

And another weekend classic I picked up this week was an old timer called "See no evil, hear no evil". I remember watching this when I was around 10 on my age - meter.

Its about these two fella's , one who is blind and the other deaf. They fall into a trap where they are accused of the murder they did not commit. How they manage to find the killers and prove themselves innocent is what the story is about.

Its a hilarious movie, if you are looking to laugh your guts out. The two actors manage to depict their handicap with all simplicity and all filled with humor.

Again, its a recommendation that wont dissapoint anyone. Pick it up and garnish it with a popcorn in hand.

New blog!!

With all the reading on the news and websites that I do everyday, I thought I would do a neat little post on my viewpoints. Each day as I comment on the news channel websites, they go unnoticed. With this initiative I aspire to get my thoughts across atleast to the people I know.

Also looking to revamp my blog page at the earliest. Seems like I ll have to gather HTML up my sleeve.

For the moment though here is the webpage!!

http://coolsail123.blogspot.com/

And folks!! Dont worry!! My Musings still remains on this page, while it would come in rare doses.

Metro Music Rocks!!

Have been listening to Metro recently and the music absolutely rocks!! In Dino being my favourite. Dunno who that Soham lass is. The vocals are rocking!! Also watch out for Baatein Ankahee, O Meri Jaan and Rishtey!!
Kudos to Pritam and team for giving me those sound bytes!!
Hope this movie rocks as much as the music does!!!

A note on Indian Cricket

As I write this blog, as much as others are writing on Indian cricket and their disastrous performance in the world cup, many would regard this piece as pickings from some of the comments and blogs that I witnessed. Being a thorough follower of the game and Indian cricket, I have been wanting to write about my viewpoints.

It just ran across my mind when I saw one of the Indian movies quote "Become Sachin, not Kaif". Thats a piece of thought which emerges very frequently in most of us Indians. We want our friends, children and upcoming cricketers to be batsmen!! Dig deep into the system and the seeds are sowed by us. The problem is grassroot. Everyone wants to emulate Sachin, Sourav or Dravid. No one wants being agilent to be made a part of our routine. Ofcourse the question is are you ready to be Kaif? Is it being on the wrong end to emulate him?

Let me take you through each and every aspect of the game that spurns World class teams against what India has been over the years.

On Batting: Whether on paper or on the field, this is one aspect which we Indians have been known for. Right from the likes of Sunny Gavaskar, Amarnath, G. Vishwanath, Dravid to our little man we know of their records and onfield contributions. We have had them all , perfectionists, rage, thinking and the limited. I have missed a few and large here , but my point is they have all come good at some point or the other. I attribute batting to have won more than 80% of our games. To blame our batsmen for all the turmoil over the years is to make mockery of their deeds. Afterall how many times would anyone depend on them to make a big score or chase one. Its utter folly, that we have made them toil, made them demigods and then turned them to burden when they came near their end. If its commitment that we are talking about on few individuals then we must get our tongues burnt. Its not a question of who dosent want to be rich and earn all the money.

On Bowling: Whether on paper or on the field, I don't think we have had the bowlers that can match the mighty WestIndians of the 80's , the rage of the Pakistani's or the endurance of the Aussies. I could only recite a few on my one hand fingertips that could just come close if not better. India has never been a bowlers paradise and its a shame that we could not produce them. Ofcourse, I am not questioning the commitment of any individual. They have tested and toiled, but only a few have made the cut. Its not a gimmick that the countries of WestIndies and Aussies have won matches with their bowlers and a fair share of them at it. If you look at the statistics, the mighty Aussies today have faith towards their bowlers. They may score only 200 but still fight with the bowlers to win the game. My view is that we have simply not encouraged a lot, havent invested a fair share in them towards training and having a world class fitness. We havent won or have had a backing of the bowlers at an appaling number of games. While most countries have a bowling coach separate to the batting one, ours with so much money hasnt been channeled right. Also, to make a point , we have had spinners and a lot of overdependence on them for ages now. How much can they salvage on a fast bowlers track? I would still salute them for their contributions

On fielding: As I write this one third in the order of my paragraphs, its true of its investment too. For this one, I need to give Rahul Dravid a pat on his back. I mean it because he has been completely truthful. He said our batting can salvage what we lose on the field. Its so true of India for all the cricket we have ever played. As I said it at the start of my blog, none of us strive to be a Kaif!! Its in our minds that he fails at frequent events while he bats. He is the favorite brickbat boy for the selectors, the media and us people. Its really appalling to see comments from former cricketers that one cannot be picked up for only his fielding. If only we understood the evenness of saving 30-40 runs than bat the same number. Infact batting any extra would be a bonus. What good is batting 50 runs and giving away 30 of them fielding away lethargically. Its this difference that the SouthAfricans, Aussies or even Zimbabwe for a few years made. One of the minnows of cricket is known to be a better fielding side than ours. Thats what I meant when I said about Rahul, he simply is pointing out that this department needs more attention.
Its a highlight that if some side can field well, it helps the bowlers spirit and the overall team spirit. How many times do we stick our mouths in awe when we see that brilliant catch or that piece of good run out or that throwing oneself at the ball. It also provides a sense of restlessness among batsmen which creates them to do something differently than what they are used to.
Overall our team lacks that ability to provide that shot of brilliance in big dollops. Either we are too lazy to keep fit or too ignorant of the contribution of fielding well. In terms of sheer efforts, towards the betterment, our BCCI has been a lazy sloth.

Team spirit and commitment has never been the problem as far as I can note in the Blue boys or the past Indian teams and in that I stand by them. Its probably the leadership thats been lacking. But yet, we have come a long way on the performance meter. The side has definetely improved by many yardsticks. We have been winning more Tests abroad. The element of luck and a few other things have been missing in ODI's. Its not long ago that this side ran close to beating the most successful run chases made by a team. The same must mandate for the successive defending efforts. If we pick up the nuances of some points, we can be highly competitive and be ready. I think the mass is not angry about the defeats in particular , but more so about the lack of trying hard.

Many have pointed out that this team has worn out and is not fit to be world beaters. The doldrums will continue to pave the failings, while trumpets will follow each win.

I would rather end by saying "Try being Kaif most times, Sachin will not be hard to come"

Long time no blog!!

Well i ll be back!!