Look, Back in Centre: The wildest 'Black Swan'

This year along with Chris Nolan's most original & dreamy 'Inception', Darren Aronofsky’s 'Black Swan' hits the mark and captures the attention of global cine-goers. This film is a composite poetry of dark, starky truth and swallowed complexities of human nature. A commendable effort to measure the distance from the outer world to inner world. This motion picture gives us a chance to feel the 'perfection'.

'Black Swan' opens with indulging dream sequence, indicating that some of the sequences follow only in the subconscious imagination of Nina, an emotionally charged ballerina played

with bold ferocity by Natalie Portman. Nina desires to own centre stage and, after years of hard punishment-like training, she has the opportunity to star in the double role of the White Swan and Black Swan in a re-visionist staging of 'Swan Lake'. Nina is an instinctive wonder, a sexually innocent, completely dedicated ballerina bent on taking it to the next level by acquiring the lead role in 'Swan Lake'. The character of the White Swan suits her, the lead role requires she also play the Black Swan, a role she can't snag until she travels her dark side. The White Swan is very pure, innocent and virginal, and the Black Swan is a seductress and in-control. It’s a rare and an invisible split to explore all the greys between the white and black. The ballet director (Vincent Cassel) is not convinced she’s capable of justifying the Swan Queen’s dark side, so he chooses another dancer, a cunning and playful rival played by Mila Kunis, to challenge her. As that weren’t suffice, Nina’s also got Beth (Winona Ryder) haunted and disturbed prime ballerina and her over-obsessive former ballerina mom (Barbara Hershey). Naked rivalries, manipulative friendships, a ruining body and an increasingly tenuous trap of reality all pressure Nina on the verge of a breakdown. Her demons are haunting her every effort along with destructive forces. She is scared by her jealous competitor and ill-experienced dancer- Lily, Nina's undying hard work in pure unexplored realm of perfection lead to catastrophe as startling events begin to unfold in her life, making her question her own sanctity in the pursuit of excellence on stage. Her quest ends when she feels a sphere of complete Nirvana. That's the highlight of this film.

Sculpting psychological intricacies to the changing world of an artistically obsessed ballerina, director Darren Aronofsky has followed up his outstanding The Wrestler (2008), Requiem for a dream (2000) & Pi (1998) with another injuring syllabus of physical pain and enduranc

e in the pursuit of a dream. With Natalie Portman dominating the movements and showing a screen presence not seen from her before, this all - enough blood, sweat and tears to touch nicely beyond the ballet audience. With its sexual underlying and a 'fantasy' lesbian love scene between Portman and Kunis, Black Swan offers more than enough to spellbind cinema seekers. It's a powerful and frightening bravura of filmmaking and should do some nice business with descent accolades across the globe.

The director, exercising from a screenplay by Mark Heyman, Andrew Heinz and John Mclaughlin, has crafted a totally original look as a quest for artistic interpretation and performance; in the process he has perceived the not-so-coherent plot of the classic ballet. Portman remarkably showcases the difficult dancing with a confidence and injects it to articulate the confusion and the guilt of a blended young woman. It's a gorgeous mind trip. All these layers, which are the use of a Gothic symbol- the power of the female body.

Portman, showing the benefits of ten months dance training and becomes a leading Oscar contender, but she is accompanied every step by the lively Kunis, a commanding and competent Cassel and a resistive and repulsive Hershey. Ryder is in brief yet effective portrayal of the cheated ballet diva. Background score and re-orchestration of swan theme is top notch as is the extraordinary hand-held camera work of Matthew Libatique, which gives a cinematic reason to breathe for the first time. Black Swan is unpredictable, a piece of sheer brilliance & a thrilling journey to watch. The film takes its visual and thematic authenticity of demons and evils in Nina’s head. Portman, so often required to play a wide-eyed colonial queens, here she has driven and unhinged very believably.

For his part, Aronofsky is inspired from the intense European films and is created a psycho-drama that’s deranged and daring and utterly uncompromising while also making it clear that there’s a strong hand on the throttle. Beneath the eye-boggling cinematography and other cinematic dynamism lurks a grim and intrigue fairy tale about passion, ambition and obsession. This film is a must-watch to introspect ourselves and it floats between our godly constructiveness and destructive evilness. It makes us travel

led beneath our own layers of brains. It's amazing and beautiful, but when you get up close, you will see the breath, the sweat & the blood. It seems there are so many swan feathers flowing in the heads of every thinking individual. Perhaps?!!

Neeraj Joshi,

Ingen Advertising

reachus@ingenads.com

Charles Darwin & the Tree of Life:

“That Mr. Darwin Should have wandered from this broad highway of nature’s work into the jungle of fanciful assumption is no small evil”

“Fails utterly”

“I have read your book with more pain than pleasure. It is the frenzied inspiration of the inhaler of a mephitic gas”

These are some of the initial reviews which Charles Darwin’s revolutionary theory & book “On the origin of species” provoked on its initial publication on 24^th November, 1859.

Produced by BBC to mark the bicentenary of Darwin's birth, with the presenter Sir David Attenborough Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life is a 2009 television docume

ntary that is vividly a catalogue of major scientific events and contributions enhancing the theory of Natural Selection

The one-hour documentary covers a wide range of subjects from Darwin’s visit to Galapagos, his collection and observation of different kinds of species, his reflections over it, formatting a definite theory in 1844 A.D. and patiently waiting for next 14 tiresome years in collecting the mountain of evidence in his theory’s support. The documentary also embarks on the nostalgia of Attenborough, visiting his own college and practical class rooms along with Attenborough’s old footages from his previous LIFE series.

It takes the audience on a tour to Natural History Museum in London, most prestigious of its kind, giving a glimpse of the 20 years of close friendship and then lifelong rivalry between two renowned and scientists of intellectual spectrum of the era, Charles Darwin and Richard Owen, the highest fossil collector of bones and the man behind naming the dinosaurs.

The documentary also covers in context and relation to natural selection some of the important theories and inventions like Marie Curie’s Dating System to calculate

the age of rocks by studying the amount of Uranium in it, Nobel laureates Watson’s and Crick’s Double Helix structure of DNA, Continent Drift theory explaining the same species on continents apart, connecting links between primitive organisms to today’s complex living entities deduced from fossils (archaeopteryx) to present living creatures ( Hoatzin & Platypus ).

The film starts with Attenborough quoting from the Holy Bible, “On the third day, plants were created. On the Fifth day, Fish and birds were created. On sixth day, He created Man. God asked Adam and Eve to leave the Garden and establish their dominance over the fishes of seas and the fowls of land. Thus Holy Bible has given man, a right to exploit the nature.”

The Climax of the film magnificently deals with the idea, ‘All Life is one’, illustrated by creatively imaginative animation suggesting that all life came from a single cell. The film pays a tribute to Charles Darwin by showing the footages of Natural History Museum, where after 150 years, the Statue of Charles Darwin has been relieved of its duty of being seated in a Cafeteria of Museum, idly watching science lovers munching on donuts and grabbing the sips of coffee, and now rightfully being placed at the centre hall of the museum (replacing the statue of his lifelong rival Richard Owen)

Rahul Bhole,

Foreshadow Pictures

swades_wethepeople@yahoo.co.in

Shutter Island is Awesomely 'Dark & Demented'

Martin Scorsese has mastered the art of presenting some of the most cinematic psychos on celluloid screen. You gotta believe Marty has got those element in himself!

Shutter Island runs with mysterious pace from very first moment as you see a ship emerging out of dense fog, giving you a clear indication about what to expect for next two hours.

Two US marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule have come to the Shutter Island to investigate a case about the missing patient named Rachel Solondo. She is alleged of drowning her three children to death. Teddy is told that Rachel “just disappeared from her room suddenly, like she just evaporated through the walls” The only trace about Rachel they find under a loose floorboard; ‘The law of 4, who is 67?’ Teddy interrogates patients and staff members and he finds no body is authentic. “There are many mysteries on this island, do you think she just escaped by her self? Everybody here is involved!” says Teddy to his investigation partner. ”Why would somebody try to heal the most dangerous mental patients on this secluded island? Even when most of them are involve in brutal murders? Some thing is going on here that we need to know and tell the world about it!”

There is a pretty good cast on this Island; Leonardo again gives a heartfelt performance as Teddy Daniels, an ex marine with nightmares of world war experience and his wife’s death in a mishap. Ben Kingsley plays as Dr. Cawley, who is one of the leading staff members of psychiatrics on the island. All the characters are perfectly realized with typical Scorsese peculiarities.

As the movie proceeds towards to the climax, Martin plays with your mind in such a way that you will start to feel agony of being a mental patient. Teddy’s past makes him a perfect candidate to loose his mind on this crazy island with mysteries. “I am not Teddy, I am Laeddis!” “No I am Teddy, I am pretty sure about it!” What the hell is going on here!! Is it really going to happen?

What is wrong with Shutter Island? You won’t believe, but the only negative part of this movie is script itself! The storyline is fine but too intricate to its own good. Even Martin Scorsese won’t be able to answer about the big holes that he left while he was preparing the path to this Island. Everything jibes together perfectly fine until the climax, which is actually a surprise twist. Instead of blowing you away it just puts a puzzled expression on your face. You will feel that somebody tried to be smart with you.

Martin somehow got away with his talent of making great movies but this time he could not control the dimensionality of the story line. But let’s just welcome this master to the new genre! He has done perfectly fine job here, giving us one of the best films in 2010!

Watch it if you like true horror mysteries, which do not come with cheap sound effect scares!

Rating: B+

Rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.

Run Time: 138 Minutes

Deep Panjwani

FORESHADOW PICTURES

universalexperiment@yahoo.co.in

1984 by George Orwell

“But how can you write about books on the blog? The blog is meant explicitly for movies and movies only.”
“Because I firmly believe that movies and books are intricately inter-related to such an extent that both of the arts are utterly inextricable.”
“Well, you may continue. Nobody reads your articles anyway. See, you never get any comments. It always shows ‘0 comments’. ”
“Thanks for your honest opinion.”
“Then let me be honest completely. You know, your style of writing depicts that you don’t care for the readers. Your elements of humour are always bland and mundane. You never beautify your article with attractive images. And your conscious attempt, to deliberately use the toughest words of the dictionary in order to make your article look impressive, insulates the article from majority of the readers. I think if you abandon your frivolous attitude and try to write in a serious style then we can talk.”
“All right. I’ll try to write in a serious style today.”
“Go on. I am watching.”

The ‘serious’ article starts:

1984 by George Orwell

Genre: Fiction (But nothing like the moronic recent fictions)

Pages: 326 (Very much finisheable)

Surfing through the Internet, I came across the legal Oxford-definition of the word ‘literate’. It went on as follows:
literate (adj.): a person who is able to read, who is able to write, who is sensible, who is educated and who is knowledgeable.
I think Oxford people won’t object if I add another ‘who’ from my side:
literate (adj.): a person who is able to read, who is able to write, who is sensible, who is educated, who is knowledgeable and most importantly who has read 1984”

If you read any newspaper carefully, I assure you that you will find terms such as ‘Big Brother’, ‘Doublespeak’, ‘Room No.101’, ’Vaporised’, ‘Orwellian society’, ‘dystopia’, etc recurring at least once a week. These were coined by George Orwell in his magnum opus 1984. Very few fictions have changed the way of thinking of people and 1984 has radically overhauled the outlook of society since its publication.

Written in 1949, Orwell delineates an image of a futuristic world in the year 1984. He imagines that in future there will be only three countries in the world, each one of them being a totalitarian State. The State will have such a tremendous authority over the individuals that even if you dared to think anything which was ostensibly against the State, you would be immediately confiscated by the ‘thought-police’, you would be charged under ‘thought-crime’ and then you would be vaporized! Orwell inarguably alludes to the Soviet Union and entire communism in general since the Cold War was at its peak when he wrote it. My favorite part of the book is when the protagonist reads ‘the book’ and comes to know how the State justifies its ubiquitous motto: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”.

Written in a lucid style, 1984 is a satire in its most extreme form. There will be many occasions in the book when you will want to stop at a line and take a moment to exclaim, “Wow!” Open any list of top 100 books of all time and you will find 1984 sitting right there. (Well, that is not my reason for eulogizing it! Of course not!) I can continue to elaborate various aspects of the book interminably but I’ll have to restrain myself over here. (Read the other details on Wikipedia.)

“1984 is one of my all-time favorite books.” – Steven Spielberg

I think I don’t need to praise it any further. To put in Newspeak parlance, “1984 is ‘doubleplusgood’!”

The ‘serious’ article ends here

“You just cannot write an article. Your serious style sucks!”
“Okay…. That was brutally honest.”
“You should quit writing. You… you are an ass-hole!”
“Well, I was not aware that we were allowed to use such vulgar expletives on this blog… Anyways, I’ll have to check it out.”
“Was that a pun?”

Paritosh Bhole
FORESHADOW PICTURES
paritoshbhole@yahoo.co.in

A Poster says a Thousand Words...

Well yeah, you caught the mistake. The phrase is “a picture says a thousand words, but as you scroll down the article and read further, you might just want to agree with my mistake.

Posters are the first-ever glimpses of a forthcoming movie, or to put it the other way, the first piece of temptation (apart from trailer) that the director puts before you to try and imagine the power of his film. Therefore, it becomes inevitable that the poster when you see it, arouses your excitement for the film pretty strongly.

The conventional way of designing a poster that has been existing since ages is to take up the lead stars of the movie, either individually to show the firmness of their characters or posing for a scene from the movie to show the relationship that they share, all depending upon the genre of the movie. Thus, if its an action movie (Terminator), you would see the hero Arnie in his dark jacket and goggles, completely devoid of any emotions – suggesting that its nothing but a pure action movie, or if you’re expecting a touching love story, consider Titanic, characters Jack and Rose framed over the picture of the ship that was the centre of exploration. If it were family dramas, it showed a full-of-life young lady dancing in front of blue skies and green meadows (The Sound of Music).


The idea thus seems to be the best way to introduce a film to public.

However, the magic of changing times castes its effect on everything living or that has been created by the living and the movie posters in the past two decades give a striking proof of the same.

The new age movie posters create audience’s idea about the film not by simply picturing the characters in the poster but by giving metaphorical hints to the film’s story and characters that pretty well sum up the entire movie itself. The metaphors could be anything that the film is all about as we will soon see. The object remains the same – to introduce a movie to the public but by arousing public interest by surmising the entire film plot in some minutest aspects of the movie which are capable enough to tell what the film is all about.

Now, let’s have a look at some of the posters that changed the way we look at movie posters and gave a complete touch of the movie itself without the look of its characters.

(1) Jurassic Park:

Jurassic Park was the oldest and the most successful poster that started the trend of metaphorical posters. The epic-scaled movie marked new heights to which a man could reach through modern day science and the aftermath of the same too. The poster you see is simply a facial skeletal of the dinosaur – far better than picturing John Hammond, Dr. Ian Malcolm, Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler or the several breeds of dinosaurs shown in the movie.

(2) The Da Vinci Code:

The film based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel starred Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and many other strong characters searching for the replies of intriguing codes left behind by a dying man. The several codes and symbols which revolved around the works of Leonardo Da Vinci (i.e. Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and others) were the essence of the film and had a stronger impact on the film than any other element. The painting of Mona Lisa being turned over by an array of codes and numbers as were reflected in the poster here increased the curiosity of every movie lover for the film.

(3) Ratatouille:

The story of a food-loving rat that turned into a cook and a cleaner boy who inherited a restaurant was all about following your heart’s desires. The film starred several major characters like Chef Gusteau, Anton Ego, Linguini and Collette but one of its earliest posters just pictured a rat moustache and nose wearing a chef’s cap that signified the central character Remy the rat with a background of Eiffel Tower, Paris – the city where the film was created.

(4) The Dark Knight:

One of the best crime-based movies, The Dark Knight combined the conventional and modern ideas of framing a poster – a determined looking Batman with a skyscraper in background Of course, that was just the conventional part. The metaphorical burning batman logo engrafted in the building signified the Batman’s arch enemy in the movie and the action that the movie was all about.

(5) Angels & Demons:

Another movie based on Dan Brown’s novel directed by same director (Ron Howard) again starred Tom Hanks as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in search of replies to cryptic clues left behind by the brotherhood “Illuminati”. Set against a Vatican background, dark cathedrals, catacombs and graves, the movie as the name signifies was a battle between good and evil, a subject that could have been treated with a very monotonous poster. However, as you see here, the earliest poster was an edifice against a background of Vatican city that had features of both, compassion (angels) and cruelty and deceit (demons)

(6) Up
Pixar’s adventure story of Carl Fredrickson, a boy named Russell and several other characters begins when Carl decides to blow away his house with thousands of balloons to see Paradise Falls as a tribute to his dead wife’s wishes.


Several posters were printed for the movie, one featuring the movie characters hanging down on each other’s support through the house – the conventional way. The other poster however pictured a house floating in air supported by colorful balloons against blue sky minus all the movie characters – and it successfully retains the crux of the entire film, even adds to its beauty.

(7) Avatar

Cameron needed to stir the world with the magnum opus that marked his comeback since his last direction, Titanic. The wonder was beautifully created with just the look of a olive-eyed half-face in deep blue – just enough to hint that the film is out of this world – as it really turned out to be.

The inquisitive face of Navi tribe was good enough to create a curiosity in all the movie fans worldwide about what Cameron’s going to present us with.

A modern day poster thus emphasises on a movie goer's imagination to feast on the poster and fill up his ideas or simply wonder in awe at the impression of the images in it. To sum it all up, it can be said that lesser the known elements of a movie in its poster, the better it gives out the real picture, or like the title says, speaks a thousand words.

Meet Thakar
meet.thakar@yahoo.com
FORESHADOW PICTURES

“Johnny Sharma was not intended to be funny”

It was 8 am. My phone beeped suddenly. The reminder for the interview served its purpose as I had unabashedly forgotten the appointment. After a quick bath, I took a sharing rickshaw to Kalaghoda. Manubhai Towers was at a walking distance. Knowing the fact that the office of Foreshadow Pictures was on the 5^th floor, I pressed the elevator button. When the contraption did not give a propitious response at my incessant button-pressing phenomena, I took to stairs. May be this was my punishment for skipping the morning exercise. After reaching the fifth floor, well, first of all I caught my breath, and then moved towards the place where I believed the office was. But I was puzzled to find a hoarding displaying ‘Nine Enterprises: Study Abroad’. I was impressed that Foreshadow Pictures had taken to advertising to such an extent. I plodded myself into an open door. There I found 2 genial men working diligently on their computers below a board displaying all the film-posters of Foreshadow Pictures. All of a sudden, Paritosh Bhole conjured up and greeted me gently. He invited me to an air-conditioned room where I sat on a reclining chair. Ordering some sandwiches from the neighboring Hot Bite restaurant, he himself set in the front of the table - a standard set-up for an interview.

Well, first of all, hearty congratulations at the opening of the Foreshadow Pictures’ own office- a long cherished dream…

Oh yes, of course. But I think I am the wrong person to get congratulated. The entire credit for this remarkable feat should go to Rahul (Bhole), Vinit (Kanojia) and Parikshit (Marathe). It became possible because they realized that the moment was ripe enough for Foreshadow to go professional. Initially, I was cynical about the idea. But with nearly 7 projects in hand now, I think, their stand has been vindicated.

Currently you have been working on a script called ‘A Beautiful Image’ which has caused many to speak enthusiastically about it. Tell us something more.

Well, nothing is yet decided. The script is still in its inchoate stage. Even the name ‘A Beautiful Image’ is not yet fixed. All I can tell you about it is that it’s based on an absurd but novel idea. I still need to work hard on the script but I am afraid I have been facing a blank wall. Let’s see what happens. (Chuckles)

You faced a similar kind of blank wall in retrospect. And then you gave us Johnny Sharma…

No, there was never a blank wall while writing Johnny Sharma. Its complete structure was decided in one seating. The thing that media hyped as ‘blank wall’ was that in draft-1, Johnny Sharma was not intended to be funny. Neither was it intended to be gloomy. I just thought it to be an amusing concept. But when I approached Deep…

You mean Deep Panjwani?

Yeah… He enriched the script with some really innovative and funny inputs. Even then, we did not put it under the comic genre. We used to call it a smart tongue-in-cheek film. But when we witnessed the deafening gales of laughter during the competition(Hot shorts), we saw each other and concluded that we had made a smart tongue-in-cheek “comedy” film, if I am not bragging too much. (Laughs)

You have been noted saying, “Jack Anand is better than Johnny Sharma”. Do you really feel so?

I might have said that but my implications were different. While making Jack Anand, we were better equipped and had an incredible management experience. Thanks to Ganesh (Rananavre). I think the unique feat was to complete the production of such a hefty project in just 2 days. Honestly speaking, I thoroughly enjoy watching both the movies. But I never want to compare them.

That was the cliché answer of every director.

(Uproarious Laughter)

Then what went wrong with Jack Anand?

For me, it is still a fully satisfying film. I still get the goose bumps at the scene of denouement. The most positive thing about the film was that it was a ditto manifestation of the script. We were able to portray what we envisaged. However, I capitulate to the accusation that the language was indeed a problem. I think it could have been translated into a good hindi. I humbly take the entire responsibility for that discredit.

What’s the fuss about Hemlo? Some say that you have been kept away from the project?

No, I would like to clear the air on this matter. I have not been kept away from it. On the contrary, I myself have not shown any prying interest in the project owing to my busy schedule these days. Apart from that, I believe that the very idea, of making a film on a renowned book and hence to read the book then, is ill-founded. It should be the other way round. If you enjoy a book immensely then if you feel to make a movie on it; it’s perfectly all right. Let’s just not make a film because 'V' has made a film on Macbeth and 'B' has made a film on Othello. But I heard some rave reviews about the initial scripting process. The incipient script has been proclaimed by many as being outlandish and promising. If that’s the case, then keep it up! I am with you.

What do you feel about the future of Foreshadow Pictures?

I feel that we are at par with the contemporaries in the technical aspects. Also, we are enthusiastic and passionate. Vinit has been working on an animated film. Ostensibly, Deep is also planning to do so in his summer holidays. Rahul has been working on Hemlo as well as other professional projects. Deep, Vineet(Shah) and Meet(Thakar) have been assiduously working for the betterment of our website. So everything should probably go on smoothly. The only thing that concerns me is that many of us, including me, are very shallow readers. I think every member should be encouraged to read more and more meaningful books. Every good director is a voracious reader. It is an imperative and prerequisite trait. If you are a director but not a good reader then there are very probable chances of you being a Vikram Bhatt or a Michael Bay. Moreover, all the films that we’ve made until now were concept-driven. A good director does not just rely upon the novelty of concept but it is his own perception which counts. If we succeed someday in telling an ordinary story- a story that does not merely depend upon the concept but also upon the human emotions- then we can call ourselves good filmmakers. I think we’ve yet to prove ourselves on those grounds.

Paritosh Bhole

paritoshbhole@yahoo.co.in

FORESHADOW PICTURES

Is Avatar Anti-American?

"This movie reflects that we are living through war," - James Cameron, Director, AVATAR

Every decade has its share of breakthrough movies, some of which touch us to our core and set us thinking and admiring the picture and the idea behind it. Undoubtedly, Avatar is one such movie of this decade. It is already cruising to bank at least $2.5 billion worldwide and $700 million at United States Box office. Officially, Avatar is the most bankable film of all time across the globe.

The question: is it really a flawless film? Does it really extend to the boundaries of being called one of the best films of all time? According to critics, it is in no way close to perfection. Many of the top critics have quoted that the dialogues are reminiscent of Star Wars saga. The story is absolutely trite; it is "Dancing With The Wolves" in space where our hero goes native after leaving Kansas City. The characters are thinner than a cardboard sheet. Well, this is what the critics say but ‘intelligent beings’ may not always have the final word.

The second trailer clearly suggested a highly predictable story line - that Na’vi's will kill the gung-ho army head and win the battle in the climax. But there are all possibilities that James Cameron clearly aimed at giving us a simple and enjoyable story line with indirect messages!

To an American citizen this movie might sound a little unpatriotic because of several enunciations against the America’s past and present policies. Avatar is not just a popcorn segment but also an intentionally spoken out political statement by James Cameron.

Direct Resemblance to Native Americans

Everybody knows that like any history, America’s past is filled with blood. The Europeans slowly but surely wiped out the indigenous people during “The Indian Wars” from American continent in name of “progress” of New England. Very few Indians are left today who have seamlessly merged with the American society. The merger has not been easy - the ancestors had to sacrifice their roots and culture to adjust with the modern society. The children of indigenous people in 18^th century were sent to the Native American Boarding School to “civilize” or to assimilate them with the European culture where they were not allowed to speak in their own language and made to follow Christianity.

“We are providing them education & teach them English, we build them roads but after many years our relationships are only getting worse because all they want is to play in the mud!” – Parker Selfridge in Avatar

It is not hard to make out that Na’vi people look like Native Americans and their language is inspired from Mayan. James Cameron has clearly expressed his sorrow over large scale extermination of indigenous people from the continent.

The Climate Issue

For a long time there has been a debate in American Congress whether climate change is real or not where all the scientists across the world are already preparing to prevent the catastrophic effects due to global warming. Though United States has emphasized more on green energy, it has still taken controversial stance on international treaty (Kyoto Protocol) to reduce emission of greenhouse gases due to economic priorities. At present, countries like China & India are also contributing a large part of carbon emissions but they are just coming out of third world status! On the other hand the western countries have been emitting greenhouse gases since almost a century now. The world is waiting for America’s major contribution to overcome this threat to mankind’s future.

Avatar portrays Earth as dying world due to energy crisis & global warming in year 2154 and humans who have set out to explore the lush and rich land of Pandora to look for the resources.

“If Grace is with you, look into her memory - the world we come from. There is no green there. They killed their mother and they are going to do this here!” – Jack Sully in Avatar

The Iraq War

The 9/11 event has changed the equation of world politics completely. United States went for war on Afghanistan to dismantle Al-Qaida and find out Osama Bin Laden. Many countries across the globe supported this war due to shock and awe of 9/11 but after Afghanistan, Bush administration continued their venture on Iraq in the name of “threat to national security” and alleged Hussain for possessing Weapons for Mass Destruction (WMD). Bush repeatedly said, “We will fight terror with terror”

“Our only security lies in preemptive attack. We will fight terror with terror.” – Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar

We all know that no WMD were found in Iraq. Many experts on international issues have quoted that war in Iraq was just a battle of oil. In the movie it is shown that the sole reason for human presence at Pandora is highly super conducting material ‘unobtainium’, which would help to over come energy crisis back home.

“This is how it's done! When people sitting on shit you want, you make them your enemies and then you justify taking it!” – Jack Sully in Avatar

The character of Colonel Mile Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in Avatar seems so obsessed with war that he actually does not want the midway out to avoid the conflict. The characters like Jake Sully & Dr. Grace Augustine represent the image of United Nations & International community opposing war and asking for dialogue process.

Iraq war alone put the load of three trillion dollars on American Economy and in this recession time people across the globe hated the policies of Bush Administration and may be that is the reason everyone is able to relate with this movie.

“I have heard people say this film is un-American, while part of being an American is having the freedom to have dissenting ideas”

“The movie reflects that we are living through war. There are boots on the ground, troops who I personally believe were sent there under false pretense, so I hope this will be part of opening our eyes and I don’t know if this is a political agenda exactly, but as an artist I felt a need to say something about what I saw around me. I think we all need to take stewardship of our planet” – James Cameron

Deep Panjwani
universalexperiment@yahoo.co.in
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Pixar – Enter The World!!!

Your childhood is where it all starts – the wildest thoughts but still possible, the most colorful worlds, the talking animals and what not. For most of us, the word “animation” is synonymous with “cartoons” and if you’re talking of cartoons, you can’t miss the good ol’ days of your childhood when Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Tweetie, Tom & Jerry and others were your most sought after characters. Their heroisms, dumbness and pranks left you wanting for more of them.

But then comes the time to say goodbyes. Our childhood starts dissolving in our memories. All the bright and colorful worlds go blurry. The talking and laughing animals and birds seem a laughable idea. We’ve grown up. Cartoons become a thing of the past. Thrills, sex, knowledge-power and real life give us a call.

Amidst all this, somewhere faraway a world was in the making. A world of few technicians, animators and creative minds for whom cartoons were not just a reminiscence of their childhood but an untapped world of entertainment with great potential of satisfaction for them as well as the world. These were the people who gave us our favorite animation movie house “Pixar”, which initially worked on producing film sequences with Lucasfilm, was then purchased by Steve Jobs and finally joined Disney Studios to give us some of the best animated movies we’ve ever seen.

Since more than a decade, each year Pixar takes its worldwide fans on a joyful emotional ride into the most stunning animated worlds of characters that are amusing and still equally believable. Like the touch of Midas converted everything into gold, Pixar’s touch to animation and CGI made every object and being beautiful, real and most of all true to life. Let’s Enter the World of Pixar and have a look at some of its works:

(1) Toy Story (1995)

We see the world from our eyes. Pixar saw it through the eyes of toys by bringing them alive in this wonderful film about life in the world of child’s closest love - toys.

The film was about friendship, unity and rivalry in the world of toys of a boy after he brings to his collection a modern spaceman toy who easily takes the top position over other toys in the list of his favorites. The movie was loved not only by “toy-playing” children but even the youngsters and elders for the story and its adorable toy characters Buzz Lightyear, the spaceman, Woody the cowboy and Mr. Potato Head to name a few. Though the movie has already taken us “To infinity and beyond” of fun and entertainment twice, hope the best is yet to come once again this year.

(2) Finding Nemo (2003)

The most commercially successful Pixar film, grossing over $800 million worldwide, Finding Nemo was the tale of a lost baby fish that started at the bottom of the ocean and reached to the hearts of its viewers and stays there till date.

Audience sincerely appreciated the father-son underwater adventure that explored the animated worlds of rich blue ocean with Nemo as it moved through its coral reef home to the school with its most weirdest, often funny talking sea creatures to the dangerous human world in Sydney and back to ocean with the help of its father and others of its species. No wonder, how lost Nemo is, someone somewhere’s always finding him out.

(3) Cars (2006)

What begun as a world of victory and glamour ended on a stunning realisation and redemption of the meaning of friendship, love and family in this world of Pixar’s live automobiles.

We all loved Lightning McQueen’s pride, Doc Hudson’s secret and the unforgettably funny Mater in this Pixar classic that came with a simple message – “Life means more”. Also, the simultaneous story of Route 66 – a once brimming with traffic countryside road finally abandoned for human convenience and development created a beautifully somber emotion in the lives of movie’s characters and for many of us as well. Combined together by Pixar’s unique story-tellers and animators, Cars surely were winners all the way.

(4) Ratatouille (2007)

Set amidst the beautiful city of Paris (now animated and even better), Ratatouille is the story of following your smallest dreams and making it big in life against all odds – a philosophy that was beautifully explained through the characters Remy (a rat dreaming to become a chef), Linguini (from “nobody” to somebody), Anton Ego (the food critic) and Chef Gusteau (“the figment of Remy’s imagination!!”)

Undoubtedly, the show stealer seems to be the hardcore food critic Anton Ego who’s hard as a shell critic character melted down after trying his childhood favorite “Rat.aa.too.ee” and realising that “Anyone can cook!!” As for the audience, they returned back again to relish one of the Pixar’s most palatable dish.

(5) Wall-E (2008)

Wall-E, acronym for Waste Allocated Load Lifter – Earth Class was another Pixar film that earned applause all over the world for its levels of creativity, story-telling and animation.

A serious issue like what the future might hold for us if we continue to live the way we do today was combined with a light-hearted love story of a lonely robot left behind on planet Earth as Waste Allocated Load Lifter – Earth Class, or Wall-E. The most endearing part of the movie truly was Wall-E’s light-hearted love story with EVA and the friendship he shared with the sole being on Earth’s rubble – a tiny cockroach. Director’s vision for putting an emotion as natural and pure as love in a mere manmade machine was truly appreciated. And the message that a tiny two-leaved plant could save the entire human generation’s a message to us all too. Try interpreting yourself or search for Wall-E.

(6) Up (2009)

When we all thought how much Pixar could excel its own works, it presented us with Up. The film combined Carl Fredickson’s emotional tribute to his wife with Russell’s attempts to bag the Ellie Badge, all in the background of an adventurous trip to South America’s Paradise Falls by a most unbelievable route – blowing Up the house with thousands of balloons. And like always, during the journey, we met some more “Pixar”ed characters like Charles Muntz, Kevin the bird, and a dog talking through its collar – that made the trip as memorable a Pixar film as it can be.

The film’s already won two very deserving Golden Globes – for the animated film and for original background score by Michael Giacchino. We all hope it goes Up somewhere at the top of the list.

As is evident, apart from stunning animation and creativity which have been the foremost strengths of any Pixar film, what has given it a strong fan following is the style in which it creates emotional situations by touching the core sentiments of its lead characters - sometimes by taking you to the most unthinkable worlds and creating a story out of it that stays with you long after and at other times, by simply creating a theme piece that speaks more for the characters than the characters themselves.

No wonder, Pixar lives upto its motto – “We believe in impossible.”

Meet Thakar

meet.thakar@yahoo.com

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Dr. Editor Or How we learned to stop lumbering and love the fast-paced

LONNNNNG FADE IN… A beautiful landscape of a lofty knoll… A lonely side by road surrounded by verdurous fields… Nothing happening except an occasional howl of a distant eagle… 5 minutes pass by… (A boy in the audience starts becoming uneasy and gives a nasty look to his grandfather who has forcibly brought him to watch what he calls one of the ‘literate’ movies. The boy otherwise would have gone to watch some animated movie of Pixar which, according to his grandfather, was worse than watching ‘Rich and Richie’.) A small car appears near the horizon of the lonely side-by road.(Thank God!) The car takes its own sweet time to cover the entire journey. (This was probably achieved when the director was agitated since the actor always drove at 30Kmph and the director wanted him not to go beyond 20Kmph and so after many takes somebody might have suggested to jam the brakes so that even if the actor tried he would never surpass 15 kmph. At this, the director was ecstatic.) The car applies the brakes near a dilapidated house. An actor slowly emerges out of the car. He walks near the door and gives a knock. Nobody responds. He knocks again after a minute or so. (A critic in the audience tries his best not to allow sleep to lull him. He has to stay awake since he came to the theatre after reading the review of a more renowned critic:”FASCINATING! A MUST WATCH. 4/4”) A beautiful but slatternly actress opens the door and is confounded to find her husband. Her eyes instantly become watery and she hugs the man. The man:”jebuna…jebuna…ipsa femiissa..” The subtitles:”Don’t cry…don’t cry… I’m back.” (In the audience, a girl tries to caress her boyfriend. But the boyfriend snubs austerely at her lascivious attempts because he has to make her believe that he is a part of mature audience and is currently enjoying the “allegorical” and “metaphorical” movie. However, he has already smothered many yawns; the muffed yawning has caused his eyes to water and reveal the reality.) After an age, the screen shows “Fin”. The audience claps.

“KKUNNTS film festival. The filmmakers should submit their movies before the due date.”- The newspaper read the next day. A well-made slickly edited film was sent. Its director received a mail: "We apologize for your film has not been shortlisted for the competition.” A somewhat tardy film received the nomination. But no prizes for guessing, our film (aforementioned scene) received the ‘The Golden Lion and Tiger’ (The biggest accolades!).

Nobody can deny the veracity of abovementioned anecdote. For many years our critics had been praising such films and have been finding out the “implied meaning” which even the director would have never thought. Anybody opposing this tradition was called a ‘Philistine’ and immature. This was because of some highly conceited, pretentious and sanctimonious directors (Please note that I don’t mention any names. Especially you: Anthony Minghella!)

However I jubilantly announce the good news. Fortunately, this notion is depleting now, at least here in Hollywood. More and more importance is being laid on the slickness and watch ability. The Golden Globes and the Oscars have helped immensely in doing so. The most prominent example that I reckon is that of ‘The Departed’. ‘The Departed’ competed with some, let’s just say, dawdling movies. Nobody expected ‘The Departed’ to win; having known the predictable tradition of the Oscars. But because of a few honest men in jury, ‘The Departed’ grabbed the Oscar. This incident not only obfuscated the conventional audiences but also defined the future of the cinema. More slick films were made and they got the recognition. The formulaic classic films have started to become obsolete. The Editors have started enjoying special prerogatives now.

Fast-paced films not only help to hold the audiences but in this process they aptly reflect the necessary human emotions. Think of Schindler’s List- the Paramount of human sentiments. It succeeds in making you experience all emotions without allowing you to look at your watch. In fact, Spielberg has always adeptly maintained the balance between the emotions and the entertainment. Talking about recent times (by which I don’t mean that Spielberg is outmoded), Christopher Nolan has taught us to raise the bar, to push the envelope and eradicate the sloppy cinema. The Dark Knight and The Prestige are inarguably some of his most absorbing films.

With Avatar grabbing both the biggies at the Golden Globes, (though ‘The Hurt Locker’ would have been a better option) we have conquered the cinema. Even the revered film makers are now daring to be outlandish and risible. So even now if you claim that you love the slow-paced, prolix and prosaic movies then “of course you are not looking. You want to get fooled...”

Paritosh Bhole

paritoshbhole@yahoo.co.in

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Movie Review: Hurt Locker

Hurt Locker is pulse raising and thought provoking!

During my childhood I happened to live close to Army personnel’s colony. Sometimes an old signboard in that campus caught my attention. It said, "War is an art” It always perplexed me, how can horrible event like war be an art? Hurt Locker is undoubtedly one of those very few war movies which somehow explains this philosophy. War is indeed horrible but art is not always romantic either.

The movie begins right at ground zero in Iraq, where bomb squad technicians are trying to diffuse a bomb. This courageous group comprises of soldiers who are ready to challenge against the odds and risk their lives everyday. Sergeant Sanborn & Specialist Eldridge are already mentally exhausted after loosing their team leader in a deadly blast, to make the matter worst they are joined by a cowboy personality, James (Jeremy Renner) who just does not seem to fear anything. He is willing to step into the deadliest fields without even hint of hesitation. When he is introduced to the audience, it feels like we are witnessing another Hollywood reckless hero but as the movie unfolds, he turns out to be much deeply realized character with uncanny decision making ability in highly critical situations of life and death. It feels mysterious the way he behaves with extreme alertness with willingness to face life threatening situations as if he cannot live without pulse raising acts. He resembles to those sportspersons who get addicted to drugs when they are not on the field because their daily life just does not seem to be exciting enough! The uniqueness of the James lies in his hatred for war. He hates unwanted battles but he cannot live without it!

Kathryn Bigelow is in commanding position in direction, realizing all the characters with distinguished landscapes. She has succeeded in taking care of minute details to fill up the frame with the most believable images of posttraumatic era in ragged Iraq.

What makes‘ Hurt Locker’ a unique war movie? It’s action sequences? No! The sequences are breath taking but not something you have never seen before. The dramatic moments? No! Still, you will feel the agonizing pain with tiring and pulse raising stress. The script? Well, of course not. The whole story line feels like events of different timeline arranged in best possible manner, it does not feel like conventional film. Then which factor makes this movie stand out as a great war movie? Well, It’s sole philosophy on war. War can be an addictive drug.

Surely, Hurt Locker is an Oscar contender this year for best movie and best direction. Watch out Avatar!

Running time: 130 minutes. Rated R (profanity, graphic violence).

Deep Panjwani
universalexperiment@yahoo.co.in
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Avatar ready to sink Titanic

Avatar Eclipsed original Star Wars this weekend, racking up 54 Million in 4 days and reached 500 Million milestone in North American box office with record of 32 days beating The Dark Knight which managed this unprecedented feat in 45 days. This movie is now on third position in domestic market of United States Lagging behind only Titanic & Cape Crusader movie. The Pendora flick easily broke record for highest collection during 5th week after the release, both on Domestic & International markets.

When Avatar opened with below expectation 77 Million with bad timing of snow storm alert in many states across America, no box office guru would have imagined this colossal collection across the globe. In fact for many years Titanic's 1.8 Billion tally remained fantasy even for Hollywood Moguls like Peter Jackson & Steven Spielberg. Avatar is still very strong on both the fronts and ready to challenge the 2 Billion mark in next three weeks.

There is no question about whether Jim can sink his own Titanic or not, the only question is when!

Deep Panjwani
universalexperiment@yahoo.co.in
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The Many Moods Of An OST

Music is a very integral part of story-telling in any movie. The picture running on screen can capture the viewer’s vision and attention but an apt musical piece will enthrall the very mind of the viewer immersing him right inside it – straight to the character.

An OST (Original soundtrack) or Music From The Motion Picture is a collection of a theme, its variations and other instrumental pieces played in the background of any scene in a movie. It defines the emotion that is being expressed by the character on screen – the emotion that the director wants his audience to feel so as to make them connect well to the movie. And this is what the right music does – it can bring tears to your eyes, fear to your nerves and a hope to your mind.

Take for example the theme from Titanic (1997) (Music - James Horner) – a single theme music sung in different voice variations and instruments alone captures the love of Jack and Rose (Rose, The Portrait) as well as the gloom of its survivors (Never An Absolution). The title theme of King Kong (2005) (Music - James Newton Howard) a mere 60 second piece takes you to the deep and dangerous forests of Skull Island but “Central Park” from the same OST beautifully reflects Kong’s love in an alien world for one single human being without saying a word.

The tinkling theme with which Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (2002) raises a beautiful curiosity about the magical world of Hogwarts from Harry’s vision gives an hint of battle between terror and courage when played for Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix (2007). Disney Pixar’s Ratatouille’s (2007) (Music - Michael Giacchino) theme inspires in you hope despite all odds – like it does in movie for Remy and Linguini but Up! (2009) (Music - Michael Giacchino) which comes from same animation house has a theme to remind of a lost relationship that still brings joy and tears to Carl’s eyes and eventually yours too.

The theme by John Williams for E.T. (1982) reflects the innocent friendship of E.T. with a human child but the same musician gave theme for Jurassic Park (1993) which extensively captured man’s pride and victory over nature alongwith an anticipated excitement of finding the extinct creatures back on earth and “moving in herds”!

Of course, the list is endless. The above references covered just a few of the many, often unknown and unrealised sentiments that a movie can make you feel with the right musical note - excitement, joy, gloom, hope or dread being the most common ones.

No doubt, you have to be a real movie buff to let the soundtrack (sorry, after all this, I’ll prefer soul track) spread over you. People often take no note of a playing instrumental piece in the background thoroughly stunned by what’s presented to them on screen but a consecutive watch simply makes them realise that what’s unseen on the screen has truly enhanced the beauty of what’s seen on the screen.

To put it in short, it might not be wrong to say that an OST is to the mind what 3d effect is to the eyes. Both make a viewer’s experience almost as real as life itself...

Meet Thakar
meet.thakar@yahoo.com
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