Ocean's 8: Film Review

The Ocean’s series pretty much owned the heist genre in the first decade of the millennial. It was the perfect recipe - a compelling plot, a complicated-but-brilliant con job, a star-studded cast, clever lines and even cleverer situations, and perhaps more importantly the easy, spontaneous, natural chemistry between the characters. The movies had a flow that was totally irresistible. It took us along for a smooth, oomph-filled ride, that was as slick and stylish as it was funny and entertaining. For a heist plot, who’s ending we always knew, it was amazing how these films grabbed our attention completely, just for the way the story was told. It was almost like the end didn’t matter. It was what happened up until the climax that we were hooked on to. The power of story-telling. The magic of Steven Soderbergh.

#Oceans8 is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the Ocean’s series. 

’Not quite entirely unlike the Ocean series’. 

It’s a totally enjoyable slick non-chick-flick, with a compelling heist plot, a cleverly planned con job, a star studded cast with some of our favourites like Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and even Helena Bonham Carter and Rihanna. 

The story revolves around Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), Danny Ocean’s sister who returns from a 5 year prison sentence, ready to plot her biggest heist, getting a group of 7 women together to steal one of the most expensive diamond necklaces in the world. The plot follows the seen-before-yet-we-can’t-get-enough-of planning the big night with meticulous precision, and then leading upto the final climax when it all goes according to plan… almost. The twists and turns are there, the clever lines are there, the slick-ness is there. And in that sense, it’s what you would expect from an Ocean’s franchise.

Sandra Bullock is a delight to see, as Danny Ocean’s sister, and the leader of the pack, defining and detailing the mission. Cate Blanchett, as usual, plays her role to the tee, as an able partner-in-crime, helping put the crew together, co-directing the whole plot.  Helena Bonham Carter is true to type, a not-all-there fashion designer who is the central part of the plan. Anne Hathaway, as the self-obsessed celebrity being unknowingly used in the heist, brings good cheer to the film. Sarah Paulson, as a suburban middle class mom who can’t resist making an extra buck, breaks the format. Rihanna as the computer genius, hacker millennial plays the part well too. And the other girls in the gang give their predictable-but-cute Asian girl (speed smart) and Indian girl (nerdy jeweller) performances.

‘Almost unlike the Ocean series’

The movie, however, does not have the X factor that the original Ocean’s series had. While we enjoy watching the movie, we also feel that it’s not the same. Gary Ross (director) is no Steven Soderbergh. And Bullock and Blanchett don’t share the same chemistry that Clooney and Pitt gave us. There is no goofy Damon, that provided that oh-so-vital foil to the Clooney-Pitt duel. Carter provides the cuckoo-contrast to the well-dressed-and-groomed duo, but it doesn’t stick. And all the other characters end up becoming just insignificant side-kicks unlike the other characters in the Ocean’s series, who each had a distinct presence and personality (remember Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia). 

Ocean’s 8 misses a youthful and mischievous, instinctive and a quirky sense of identity that is so important to the Ocean’s series.There is a missing randomness in the story-telling that made the Ocean’s series so light and effortless, never taking itself too seriously. (Remember the sequence about Clooney’s age in Ocean’s 12). Ocean’s 8, by contrast comes across as being older and more controlled, a bit more deliberate and a bit less free-spirited. Is it because women take their jobs more seriously than men?

Despite all that though, the film is very much part of the Ocean series, and considering the franchise it has to live up to, it does a fairly decent job of being a thoroughly entertaining film. And even though it is a ‘me-too’ (;), it needs to be watched for the love of the Ocean.

Book Review: Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami

How does one even write about a Murakami novel. You could use words like beautiful, poetic, surreal, mystical, out of this world, deep, soulful, and yet it wouldn’t really capture the experience. Because, it IS an experience. This is my first Murakami (and I’ve been told not the best choice for a first Murakami), but ‘reading’ is not the word I would use to what is really, turning the pages and experiencing the world of Murakami. 

The ‘world of Murakami’ is probably the closest I can get to describing the book. It’s a world that is full of metaphors, where every emotion in one situation is felt through another and often unrelated situation. It’s a world of parallel dimensions that we experience all at the same time, just by being connected and disconnected from who we are. It’s a world of fierce individuality at odds with an Asian culture, that is born out of decades of developed urban living. It’s a world of sensorial experiences of everyday things around you that you didn’t know could have that impact. It’s a world of hopeless desire that struggles to stay alive like a flickering candle just before it dies out. And it’s a world that you enter, every time you pick up the book, leaving the reality of your own world far behind. 

And just like the protagonist wonders when his friend disappears into the ‘other side’, we also wonder while reading the book, which is the real side of our lives and which is the other side. What if our real lives everyday is actually the ’other side’ of our lives.

The story of the book revolves around a naive young girl, Sumire, a dreamer, wanna-be-writer, who is trying to find herself, through conversations with her best friend, college mate, K. Sumire falls in love with a much older woman, Miu. And after starting to work with her, during a professional-cum-holiday trip through Europe with her, suddenly disappears. As Miu struggles to reciprocate Sumire’s desire, just like Sumire is unable to see K’s love for her, the story takes us through a futile journey of trying to find Sumire and more importantly the reason she disappeared. 

Through the eyes and emotions of Sumire, K and Miu, the novel tells the story of how our identity forms through our love for others and the love for ourselves. 

It’s a story of our life-long attempt at making sense of what our life-plan really is. It is a story of endlessly chasing the mirage of purpose, that in fact does not exist. 

It is a story of who we were and who we are today. Over the years of living our lives day-after-day, what have we gained, what have we learnt, how have we grown… but perhaps more importantly, what  have we lost, what have we had to unlearn and what part of ourselves have we left behind. Are we still the same person that we once were? Or has that person gone to the ‘other side’?

But, most of all, it’s a story of loneliness. A loneliness that creeps in on you over the years, and seeps into your bloodstream and without you knowing, becomes your primary life-force.

In one of the last chapters, K wonders to himself “Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the Earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?”

…

And to think what I read is the English translated version from Japanese. I can only imagine the richness of the experience of the World of Murakami, if I could read his language.

Norwegian Wood, next! 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Film Review

May be there IS such a thing as getting over dinosaurs. 

Jurassic World (the last one) was entirely enjoyable, because it came 14 years after the last Jurassic Park and a whole 21 years after the first mind blowing Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Can you believe that was 1993! A whole millennial generation was born and grown up in that time. And for a new generation, the formula worked by keeping the same story of a good intent of playing with genetics going horribly wrong, with dollops of special effects, kids in danger, and lots and lots of dinosaurs. Plus it had the new cool guy Chris Patt, who was actually training raptors. And then if you thought T-Rex was the scariest thing extinct, there was the newest scary-Dino-on-the-block, the Indominous Rex. It was a perfect come back of an iconic franchise. It made us ooh and aah, mixing the nostalgia of the old movies with the newness of some fresh dino action, that we hadn’t had a taste of in a long long time. 

Jurassic World 2 (Fallen Kingdom), however, comes only 2 years later, and brings nothing new. 

The plot is something we have seen before. It starts with a reason to go back to the abandoned island. There are again unscrupulous characters who want to profit from these creatures. There are the good guys who want to save the dinosaurs while also saving themselves. There are dinosaurs running, looking huge, killing, grazing, groaning, smashing, and generally on the loose, having a good time. There are those hiding-from-the-dinosaurs-in-closed-spaces and many narrow escapes. And once again, there is a new genetically modified creature that is more dangerous than any other creature before (but don’t hold your breath for it). 

In short, it’s more-of-the-same-of-the-more. Watch the movie for the kids who don’t really remember the last 4 Jurassic movies, but don’t expect to be thrilled. 

May be there is something about getting the dinosaurs back to human land, that just doesn’t work. Remember, Jurassic Park 2 (the lost world) was again a let down, and again there they get the TRex back to main land to create havoc. I feel may be, in our imagination, the dino world is a place so far in the past, and so far in the unreal world, that it loses its magic the minute it touches the real world. May be the real world is so scary by itself, that the dinosaurs don’t really make the cut for giving a chill down your spine. I mean, honestly, what’s scarier “13 Reasons Why” or “Jurassic Park”? 

But, then may be there is still a chance for the 3rd in the Jurassic World Series to bounce back, if the Jurassic Park pattern is to repeat. Remember, how Jurassic Park 3 totally redeemed itself by going back to the island! May be the makers will realise that dinosaurs work only in a world where they can rule, where man and his twisted rules don’t apply, where man is as much at the mercy of natural forces as the dinosaurs are.

Well, we can only keep our fingers crossed for the third one. Because it’s a bit depressing to feel that we may be over dinosaurs! I seriously hope that is not the case...

Veere Di Wedding - Film Review

#VeereDiWedding

So, let’s make a “realistic” movie about modern Indian single women and their “real” issues and their “real” lives.

Let’s take the most realistic issue they face - obsessing about men and about getting married or not getting married. 

Enough movies made on fictional stuff like harassment, careers, ageing parents, identity seeking, living in a big city, coming of age, ambition against all odds, etc etc.

Then let’s cast the most realistic actors as the main protagonists - Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, with more layers of make up than a trifle pudding. 

But, that’s not enough. We also need some non-glamorous actors to make it more real - what’s that girl from Anarkali from Aara and Tanu weds Manu (oh ya, Swara Bhaskar). And one more unknown face (because it has to be 4 friends like sex and the city), but preferably a little chubby (Shikha Talsania). Check!

Now to build the ‘realistic’ characters of these 4 ‘veere’. Here we go, let’s make one getting married, one who is desperate to get married, one who is happily married, one who is divorced. That covers the spectrum.

What else do we need? These women must come from dysfunctional families. Check.

Oh, also let’s get them to swear a lot and not just the English f-word, but also classic Hindi gaali’s. That’s what real women do. Check.

They must also talk about their sex lives. Check.

An alcoholic and a smoker. Check.

We also need gay uncles in the family. Check.

So, the women characters are done. We now have the stereotype of the modern Indian single women complete.  

Now, let’s get to the single men. Let’s make their families the opposite of the modern Indian women’s families, so we can show the contrast. Here’s a new idea. Let’s make them the traditional West Delhi Punjabi stereotype - loud, in your face, forcing their points of view on the bride-to-be, full of shoo-shaa, swearing and praying at the same time, thousands of relatives, big sangeet, bigger wedding. 

Next, a modern man, who can’t help follow everything his mom and dad say to do for the wedding. Check.

A letch of a cousin who can’t stop harassing the girls. Check.

And by the way, this cousin, let’s make him get lucky with the girl he is harassing, and then make him eventually get together with her.

We are making such a progressive film, dude.

We also need some kind of a story. Let’s see. How about the ups and downs that the protagonist friend (Kareena Kapoor) goes through trying to cope with the traditional in-laws demands, that are against her modern liberal up-bringing. All this while simultaneously, also fighting the demons of her past dysfunctional family - her dead mom, her absentee-dad, her presentee-gay-uncle, and her pillars of strength - her soulmates, her veere, who are also going through their own shit.

Ofcourse, eventually it all ends with a happily-ever-after - all issues sorted, dysfunctional families become functional, the protagonist gets married, her single friend finds her mate (the stalker cousin), the divorced friend gives back to the gossiping neighbourhood aunties, the happily married with kid..er, well stays happy. And oh, there’s also a Phuket holiday with beach and pool and cocktails, thrown in the middle. A modern Indian woman’s tale is not complete without a girlie holiday, is it!

The last scene is a never-seen-before grand big wedding dance that leaves you with a bright glow inside (or may be that’s just the gaudy sets, the make up and the shiny clothes and jewellery). Please wear your kala chashma's for this movie!

And after all this, against this final gloriously shiny ahuja scene, we hear a philosophical voice over giving us the message of the story, saying something like “these girls will continue to live their imperfect lives in their own way, and not like some fairytale”!!!!!

Admittedly, this is not Angry Indian Goddesses or Lipstick Under My Burkha, but after movies like Queen, Piku, Highway, Dangal, Secret Superstar, Tumhari Sulu, Pink, Mary Kom, Raazi, even Neerja (ahem, Sonam Kapoor) and many more, to see a movie that is basically an ‘Aisha’s’ attempt at reality is not just disappointing, but depressing.

Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania try to give authentic performances, but it’s not enough to save the film. 

The only thing worse than a ‘plastic bubble gum’ movie is a plastic bubble-gum movie that pretends to blow an authentic organic bubble so big that it bursts on our faces, leaving a stale slimy sticky after-taste.  

I say, just hold on to Baadshah’s catchy number Tareefan, and move on.