I also saw Live Free and Die Hard, which I liked. I like all the Die Hard movies and this was a worthy addition to the franchise. Kevin Smith had a cool little part (although it took me half the film to finally figure out that the kid with McCain was familar because he's the Mac in the Mac vs. PC commercials).
I'm still working my way through a stack of Bollywood films. Duplicate was an early effort from Karan Johar, before he started directing. The movies he writes and directs are all terrific, really intricate character studies that stand apart from the rest of Bollywood. So Duplicate was a bit of a disappointment. It steals lines and scenes from Dirty Harry and Desperado, and I swear I've seen the same plot in a Jackie Chan film (although I may be mashing two together in my head. But didn't Jackie play a chef who had an evil twin who was a gangster?). It was a fun enough film, and Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chalwa are cute together. Still, it wasn't remotely a Karan Johar type of film.
Kal Ho Naa Ho was. This is another one he wrote but didn't direct, but it's more recent and might as well have a Karan Johar trademark stamp on it. Very much a "you'll laugh, you'll cry" type of film. This is the third thing I've seen Saif Ali Khan in (he did the most brilliant Iago in the Hindi Othello, Omkara) and I'm quickly becoming a fan.
Maa Tujhhe Salaam. This one was in the 99 cent section at Eros (I'm a sucker for a movie that's less than a dollar). Quin wanted to watch this one, on account of Malaika Arora being in it (for one dance). It stars her husband Arbaaz Khan (Salman's younger brother. Moviemaking in Mumbai is very much a family affair). His first scene he is barechested, tying his hair back with a headband, looking for all the world like Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots 2 (I loved Hot Shots 2). Gradually I realized this movie was reaching for the same source - Rambo (it became clear when Arbaaz whipped out his impressive hero knife). The movie concerns the fight for Kashmir, a fight with three sides (those who want Kashmir to be part of India, those who want it to be part of Pakistan, and those who want it to be its own country). I think the filmmakers were intending a Band of Brothers type salute to the Indian soldiers freezing on the frontlines, but alas it was not quite that. It was more like Rambo, fun enough but not terribly deep. (And Malaika's dance was a hit around here. So were the ones Tabu was in. In general, I think my husband enjoyed this one more than me. Not as a movie, though, just as a vehicle for songs).
Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai and Yeh Hai Jalwa: For diehard Salman Khan fans only. 'Nuff said.
I mentioned Bollywood is a family business. Salman Khan is a second generation guy himself; his father was a screenwriter. His most successful films were when he wrote as half of the Salim-Javed duo. I've already seen two of their films: Sholay (their most popular film, and it really is very cool. It's sort of India's answer to Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. I'd highly recommend it) and Don (which I picked up when I couldn't grok the plot of the remake. It turns out everything that made no sense in the remake was something changed from the original. Yes, the original was very low-budget, very 70s, but at least it made sense. Plus Roma in the original kicks ass. She's clearly stunt-doubled by a short man, but it's the thought that counts. Roma in the remake disappears from the climatic fight entirely).
Being one who likes to track the careers of writers more than actors, I've been frustrated by the lack of prominent screenwriters in Bollywood. Salim-Javed are one of the few who actually had a track record (and were coincidentally key players in getting the screenwriters names put on the movie posters). They worked decades ago, so their films are dated, but the stories are all good. Trishul was a bit frustrating; the subtitles started out fine, but as the movie progressed they started disappearing for a few lines of dialogue, then coming back, then disappearing again. The last half hour of the film had no subtitles at all. Which was frustrating. I've been learning a little Hindi (1771 words right now, according to my flashcard program). I could catch enough to follow the story, but all the nuance was gone. And the scene where Amitabh Bacchan talks about what life as an unwed mother was like for his Mom - well, that was probably all about the nuance. I can't really say, all I know was he was talking about his Mom. Shame, really; it seemed like a good film.
I really loved Seeta Aur Geeta. Remember how I said that the original Roma kicked ass? This one has another great, strong woman. It's about twin sisters separated at birth. One grows up poor, a total tomboy running with the street boys. The other starts out rich, but when her parents die she ends up in a Cinderella situation, working as a maid for her evil aunt who keeps all the money that the parents left her. When Seeta runs away from her evil aunt (and her lecherous brother) the police pick up her twin Geeta by mistake, and Geeta terrorizes the whole evil family, while Seeta settles into life in the poor part of town, cooking and cleaning for people who actually appreciate her efforts. Cool to see a movie where two women rescue each other rather than leaving it to their love interests to do.
The last movie I saw in April was Shaan, Salim-Javed's answer to Bond. It's not about an Indian spy or anything (the two characters are two-bit hoods trying to make good after their older brother the cop is killed). But it has lots of Bond elements in it: the evil villain with the secret fortress on an island who kills his enemies in overly elaborate ways. Quin felt I enjoyed this one a tad too much. But you be the judge. Doesn't the evil villain, Shakaal:
Look a lot like sci-fi writer John Scalzi:
...or is it just me?
1 comment:
"TV on DVD is worse than potato chips"
Love this line!
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