Quick review: Bourne, Stardust, Chak De and Maus

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The Bourne Ultimatum: Really, really good, but so overrated! I liked the movie a lot, but still don't understand why everyone raves about it so much. And I agree with this dude: "Someone get the director a steadicam!" :)
Unconventional choice of a marketing partnership too.



Stardust: Its kinda sweet. I liked it. If you enjoyed the Princess Bride, you might be a candidate for liking this one. After the moview was done, I was reminded of this interview with the screenwriter/author, Neil Gaiman in Time. The comment: "It's not like a comedy like Shrek that's making fun of the thing," Gaiman says. "It's the thing itself."
I'd remember reading this before somewhere else as well. Most fairy tale-ish movies that make it to the theatres now are irreverent towards the fairy tale genre, which I prefer as an adult, but what about the kids?

Chak De India: Increases the count of decent Hindi sports movies in the last 20 years (in my opinion) to 3 (maybe 4?) Increases the count of Hindi movies where the King Khan hasn't had to ham it up to exactly 2. Now, Hindi film directors mess many things up. If the scene is in a sports stadium, both their probability and scope increase dramatically. This is the only film where I could believe at times I was actually watching a real game (they simplify a couple of things but...), but then I'm not really into field hockey, so maybe that's just it. The movie has the usual sports team movie cliches and executes them well, but what makes the film really interesting though is the little choices the director makes in developing the characters especially SRK's. Anyway, enough about that.

P.S: The reason I put the 20 years caveat above is that I remember thinking when I was ridiculously young that this film was really cool, though couldn't find any references to it.:(

Maus: I'm not done yet, but I have a feeling that this is the second graphic novel that's going to leave me sombre and brooding for a while, even as I admire how brilliant it is. When you go looking for a comic book that a friend recommended, and find it in the Holocaust section of the public library, you should probably expect that though. More on this one later...perhaps.

Comments

shmoo said…
I still need to see Stardust. Read it back in college.

What was the first somber/brooding graphic novel? Persepolis?
10:37 PM
mkk said…
I loved loved LOVED the Bourne trilogy. LOVED. I watched the first two again days before watching Ultimatum. I like the way it is shot as well. The extras on the second DVD delve deeper into the camera work and the fight and chase sequences and I appreciated those scenes even more after watching the extras. I'll be first in line when they come out with the triple DVD set.
10:50 AM
salgar said…
Believe it or not, the novel that left me depressed once I'd finished reading it was "The Watchmen".:)
Yeah, I know...weird.
1:48 AM
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