Second Time Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Before discussing this movie I would like to state that I never liked Sherlock Holmes (Stories). The reason is plain and simple - he made a fool of me in every story. I never liked it that he could deduct and I could not. I always came to the obvious conclusion while reading about the case and he would come out with anything but the most obvious.

Now to this movie. I liked the movie right from the first casting scene, where they show the Warner Brothers symbol etched on street bricks. I like the creativity. I assume they actually went ahead and carved those symbols on footpaths and it is not a photoshop trick. The drama grows in the second scene itself when we meet Lord Blackwood. The director creates a sense of eeriness about him with all that chanting and the out of her own sense girl. The brilliance of Sherlock Holmes is on display in the first scene itself. His planning on how to encounter the goon of blackwood- by hitting ears, the belly etc followed by a prognosis is brilliant. The director follows it up with the boxing scene (with wonderful music mind you).

Another aspect well approached in the movie is the friendship of Watson and Sherlock holmes. I always assumed Watson to be a willing second fiddle to Sherlock holmes but here the director shows Watson as a somewhat reluctant and confused  Watson who is played on by Sherlock. Watson is shown to be harrassed though at the same time secretly enjoying the thrills.

Why you should watch this movie again however? I would list down the following in my response:

1. The depiction of an era. Though I have seen a lot of movies depicting England of those days, Sherlock's perspective (commentary) gives a more detailed outlook of those days. Their way of life, eccentricities and beliefs.

2. Music: The background music throughout the film is top notch and well suited to the occasion in consideration. Special mention to the background music while Sherlock Holmes boxes.

3. Story: Though a little far fetched the story is entertaining. Ofcourse Sherlock holmes is the ultimate genius (Yawnnnn). But if you willing to take that in your stride the story is actaully quite good.

4. Characterization: There is depth to characters if you look a little deeper. Sherlock trying to cope with a departing friend. Watson not able to let go. Iren Adler who cant decide if she is good or bad and Professor Moriarity who is extremely manipulative in whatever little we do or do not see of him.

5. Action: Though not a strong point of this movie, the action is entertaining.

A word of caution, rather a disclaimer. Though i recommend a second watch, I dont put this along with a Few good men or Dark knight. This is not a nth time watch in my book

Second Time Movie Review: A Few Good Men (1992)

Now this is a movie which I might end up really watching a zillion times.

Though I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise (and Demi Moore) I still love this movie.

If you closely watch one of the first few scenes where Tom Cruise gets the case from his supervisor. Even a minor inconsequential character like him has been given attention. His character has been thought through and in the few lines given to him the character shows. Not that I suggest you should see this movie for Tom Cruise's supervisor. The point is it is that kind of a movie- made with thought and passion. Each scene to the level of detail of each dialog hasn't been written but beautifully crafted.

My comment about character comes too soon if I were to list down the merits of this film. The main strength of this movie is its story rather than just the characterization. The intensity of the story of this movie builds up in a linear fashion to "the" final scene. A few good men successfully makes the viewer feel the tension of Kathy and joe ann etc. You sympathize with Harold and Downey, you hate Jessup, you mercy Markinson and u understand Jack Ross.

I don't know anything about the United States army but i liked the whole army setup right from the march during the initial casting to the sparkling court rooms etc.

Coming back to the story it is a weak against the strong, sailing against the wind, standing up against adverse circumstances and all such fairy tales. To put it more appropriately it is a fairy tale for adults. A fairy tale which is believable. As soon as Jessup confesses all of us celebrate, we say hurrah and celebrate like kids do.

As with all great repeat watchable movies the fun is maintained in the small things each character says and my favorite is "he really thinks better with the bat".

Whenever I watch this movie I think I understand a thing or two about fighting against odds, taking the hard way out and being an unlikely hero. The idealist in me considers Dawson as his hero and reveres him.

This is definitely an Nth time watch. dont watch it second time but watch it third fourth fifth and any n number of times. I most certainly do love this movie. I hope you share my passion

Second Time Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)

I am making a brave attempt at putting up a second time review for this movie. Frankly speaking every time I see this movie I find new reasons to watch it again. So there should ideally be third time review, fourth time review, nth time review and so on.

The first thing i notice every time I watch this movie is the tone it sets. The dressing, the ambience and mannerism- they all convey a fictional world. A world slightly different than ours. Its a world struggling with crime, crime is open dominant and the mass is helpless like a pack of sitting ducks. (Actually the real world is also similar but there is a certain distaste added which makes it look surreal).

Then there is the element of competence in the characters. Batman, Joker, Harvey and Gordon they all are characters who are at a higher level of competence then the rest of the world. Almost on an another plane and they make light work of it. This is why they radiate an extremism in heroism or anti-heroism. Harvey looks pleasing when he says simply : "She shares the same passion as me, Justice". No big brandish, simple and effective. Such are the people going through their personal struggles in this whole movie.

If you are watching the movie for a second time it will be good to ensure that you don't miss out on those finer dialogs (one may call them comic). I say they are things that a person may just speak it in situations. Small take on things. Like when Batman says: "I am not wearing hockey pants". They bring a sort of relief and some realism to the scenes. My favorite is when Scarecrow says: "Not my diagnosis". This single line means a lot in this movie and probably more about the whole Batman trilogy. Christopher Nolan's Batman is not above flaws and thats the beauty of it.

Flawed superheros are the "in thing". Audiences don't like a Mr. Perfect anymore, they need flaws. I like a superhero with flaws and thats where i loved Batman Begins.

This part of my article I am being haunted by one question: Should I comment on Heath Ledger???

Naaaahhhh. Nobody can miss him or his excellence. I need not say more on this topic.

However for the character of the Joker, well i want to take that liberty. " A two bit whack job wearing a cheap purple suit". Its amazing how the whack job terrifies a whole city. People hoping to remain alive in front of the onslaught by a single man. The hidden message in the movie is on our own vulnerabilities. How easily the public is willing to believe when threatened and how easily they can ditch their heroes to stay alive.

Last comment i would have is about the gadgets. Though the fingerprint deduction part i believe was a little over the top I loved the bike and i loved the rest of the gadgets. The last gadget , using all mobiles as Sonar was also extreme but this is a superhero movie and i guess it is ok.

Watch this movie again and again and enjoy it. I loved it, the world loves it and i bet u wont regret watching it again

Second Time Movie Review: SNATCH (2000)

SNATCH (2000)

My blog is for those who have watched a movie once and want to watch it again. I simply try to highlight why it should be watched again.

SPOILERS WILL BE THERE AS INTENDED AUDIENCE HAS ALREADY WATCHED THE MOVIE ONCE. JUMP OUT IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS.

Snatch is a typical Guy Ritchie movie. For anyone who has watched “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” he does not need the credits to know that it is a Guy Ritchie Movie. I first saw this movie 5 years ago and 5 years since I am writing a review. What is the sense of writing a review 10 years after a movie is made is anybody’s guess including mine.

As you have already seen this movie you would know that it revolves around a diamond. Diamond the size of a “F****** fist”. But it takes a repeated viewing to realise that there is something else Caravans. Point taken that people died for the diamond but a lot of them fought for caravans (Gorgeous George, Mickey, the hare and two huge dogs).Turkish, Mickey and Mickey’s Mom want caravans (rather Mickey wants it for his mom). Mickey doesn’t even know about a diamond even after the movie ended (even we don’t know about him when the movie ends... kind of makes it even). Which makes me think what would the crazy piker do if he knew?

Why should we watch the movie again? (and again and again ??)

Conventionally genre for this movie maybe comedy or crime. A lot of people may not agree with me but for me this movie is a musical. Almost all interactions in this movie have a background score and each and every bit of music hits the nail right on its head. The music is used to convey the mood and intentions of the characters perfectly. First timers will definitely notice “Golden Brown....” which creates the perfect feeling of upheaval of circumstance. However you may need to watch the movie more than once for those tiny bits of background music when characters talk. The effect is splendid.
Probably in order to ensure that they don’t rush up the movie there is a lot of small talk irrelevant to the movie. They have been put there to expand the characters mostly.

“Yes Tyrone what have you done”
”It was two minutes five minutes ago”
“Its Tip-Top just i am not sure about the colour”
“Are we gonna ever get in this place?”
And lots more...

They have been craftily written and keep you entertained. For a second timer just ensure you haven’t missed any. Probably try to make sense of Brad Pitt’s dialogs, Best of Luck.

The story of this movie moves with almost each and every scene. Speaking of which the director is actually handling two stories , half integrated in the mid (via brick top) and completely joined at the very end only(The dog). Ofcourse milk throwing scene is also there. An interesting aspect of the movie is that a few of the characters never meet each other still significantly impact each other’s fortunes.

Bets go off due to Mickey hitting Gorgeous George and fighters being changed leading to frustration of Vinny and Sol and killing of Franky Four Fingers and so on. Mickey was only trying de-fraud Tommy look what happened. So forth there are many such butterfly effects.

The movie has a dark shades in it throughout. I suppose “Bad food worse weather London” is like that? I don’t know. However the characters are all very colourful. My theory is that the dark shades of the movie are there to ensure the colours of the character don’t lose focus.  We don’t have a single brooding type in the movie- not even Tommy. The only brooding in the movie is when Bad boy Lincoln scratches his neck trying to understand what moissanite is. There is a definite finality in the way people make their remarks. They have a conviction in their beliefs though I am not sure if they have belief in where they picked up these beliefs. As Turkish tells Tommy “What have you been reading?” These interactions add a fun element to the whole experience. Actually the movie rather than being a series of unrelated events is more about these characters who mouth off wisdoms to each other. Some who think they are in control like Bullet Tooth Tony and Brick Top die and the fools like Sol and Vinny stay alive (in jail).

There is a way of illustrations in the movie which give it a edge over many. One being whenever Franky Four Fingers and gambling are mentioned together the track “Viva Las Vegas” plays. Other one is the way “REPLICA” is shown on guns with sound of a typewriter. There are many such scenes in the movie.
Though there is violence in the movie I never felt bad about it. I guess that is because of the sense of unrealism about characters and events. Boris the Bullet Dodger- who dodges bullets, Bullet tooth tony who lives after being shot six times etc are very surreal. Yeah the death of Mickey’s mother was sad and I wished Guy Ritchie would have found a better workaround. She is one of the only four ladies (two of them twins) by the way. I guess no lady in the movie got a screen time of more than three to four minutes. All were strong characters by the way. The lady at the bookies being the best.

My favourite character in the movie is Vinny. He is thief but has a heart and not much brain. His love for the dog causes a lot of what happens in the movie eventually. Too bad Vinny ends in jail.

I sometimes think about the end. What is in store after the movie ends? Cousin Avi reaches London and then what happens? Does he simply buy the diamond and go back. Won’t that be too boring?  I guess there will ba another series of hilarious events involving some curious characters. I love it that they didn’t come with a sequel. Lets keep the future Snatch world to our own imagination.

Waiting for your comments. Will love to hear your views. Thanks for patient reading