Monday, 29 June 2015

Movie Impressions: Inside Out

A family sitting at a dinner table, in a discussion about the daughter's first day in a new city, and all of a sudden, zoom into their heads revealing their personified emotions working as a team and we see how the back and forth of the family members are reflected as these different emotions respond  to other emotions that literally 'drive' the humans. And so is the premise of Inside Out, Pixar's latest film. It is a colourful, fun and an inventive joy ride that is really creatively executed by director Pete Docter (UP 2009), in what could be Pixar's return to form for a foreseeable future.


The film revolves around an eleven year old girl named Riley and the 5 emotions inside her head, Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger. The main story involves around Riley's Core Memories, the important ones that define her, and I would tell no further unless I wanted to ruin the emotional experience.That being said this movie is definitely not a story-driven/heavy movie, nor is it so much a character driven movie as much is it an idea-driven movie, where the story/plot seems to serve a singular purpose to showcase these wild ideas throughout an 'exploratory tour' of the movie world, akin to Toy Story or Wreck it Ralph (which is not even a Pixar movie).Though with UP,  Docter did deviate from this formula as it told a story first rather exploring a concept. But with Monster's Inc. we do know he can go further than the formula.



And this proves true here as well since those ideas are so fun and inventive. Even though to my realisation that the overall premise is not entirely novel as other reviews have pointed out, but it is what  the movie does with its premise is what makes it stand out from the competition. In true Pixar fashion, they built the world wonderfully and showcases just how may layers are there in the brain and how busy it gets in there using wildly creative analogies (Dream Productions being my personal favourite) with a vibrant colour palette coupled with Pixar's tech prowess in terms of details and animation certainly makes this movie good eye-candy and invites the audience to experience this 11 year old's brain.

This movie also boasts with some great voice talent including Amy Poehler as the over enthusiastic in-charge, Joy , Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Mindy Kaling as Disgust and Lewis Black as Anger that form up the basic emotions that control the 11 year Riley, played by Kaitlyn Diaz. This list of characters does go further that are equally entertaining and serve the story well. All the emotions do play off each other very well and also show character depth which makes each one distinct enough both from character design and performances. Joy and Sadness are the main characters here as they find their way back to the Headquarters(from where they drive Riley), and on the way they realise the importance of each other while the other emotions struggle to keep Riley stable. The arc here is satisfyingly good


The one area where the movie falls short is in the real-world story, most of it coming from Riley herself. She just does not feel like it's her own character and her Emotions seem too independent to make it seem that they are a part of Riley since those emotions don't represent in Riley very well. Furthermore, this hinders character motivation since it always feels like the Emotions are driving this vessel and Riley is just not aware of her emotions and have any sort of input to it like a human should. Even the some of the other characters and relations in the real world feel not so fleshed out and makes this part of the movie very secondary to the 'Brain' where it should compliment each other. Not that it doesn't work at all, because the overall story uses the dichotomy well but the level of detail in the Brain-world just lacks in the real world. That is disappointing.


In essence Inside Out celebrates childhood, growing up, and not always having a singular experience or response to life. The story produces heart-warming moments which are super-effective. It's great entertainment for audiences of pretty much all ages. Kids can admire the colourful worlds and inventive ideas while finding their own take on the message while the adults can reminisce on those days and get the deeper angles. It is a family entertainer through and through. However, again lack of motivation and weight between the humans and emotions does make me cringe, though not really movie breaking in the grand scheme of things since it has such a wild imagination to make up for it. Pixar was getting worn down by competition but with this movie I can say with assurance and 'joy' that Pixar is still in the game and has some tricks up at sleeve still.








Monday, 15 June 2015

Movie Impressions: Jurassic World

I do not need to explain the significance that Jurassic Park has to the history of cinema, revolutionising special effects with a captivating premise of seeing extinct beasts come to life once again and the repercussions of fiddling with nature. 22 years and 2 fairly disappointing sequels later, we have a decent film as Dr John Hammond's vision is finally come to fruition and it seems that it is time to play god again in Jurassic World, helmed by Colin Treverrow this time round. If you come into it expecting to hold-up to the original, then you will be disappointed. This iteration is definitely a different style of Jurassic Park while it hits the classic beats from time-to-time though you cannot deny it that it definitely an enjoyable experience on its own merits and it uses the nostalgia factor in a satisfying way without feeling phoned in.

We return to the island of Isla Nublar 22 years since the Jurassic Park incident, and the park is now open for a good number of years, but the audience is now getting bored of dinosaurs (somehow..) so the genetic scientists cook up a new species of dinosaur that is bigger, smarter with more teeth, the Indominus Rex. However when it escapes, it is up to dinosaur behaviourist, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the rest of the crew of the Park to handle the situation before it goes out of  hand, however in true 'Jurassic' fashion, things do not go exactly to plan.

Let's start at the eponymous resort. It is very refreshing that we finally get to revisit the original island of Isla Nublar which with updates, looks better than ever. The resort/park is meticulously detailed, littered with all sorts of attractions where you can look at the different dinosaur species first-hand in a hamster-ball, or see the genetic scientists doing their thing or watch a dinosaur movie at an IMAX screen. This park pretty much what you can call a glorified zoo mixed with Universal Studios and Disneyland, not unlike the dinosaurs don't you think? There is something grand and darkly poetic about seeing Dr.Hammond's vision come to life. The attractions are fully designed and well thought-out which makes this park seem plausible enough and for this reason it really immerses you in this world .This movie is quite the watch just for the park alone.



If you look at the story of Jurassic World from a very general perspective will seem like a re-tread of the same ' running from a dinosaur' story, but it is by far the most interesting and better motivated story than the previous sequels combined with really interesting new underlying themes and plot-lines that refresh the whole lore and forwards it in a natural progression such as gene-splicing dinosaurs to attract guests, which does 'up at the ante' with the fact that people are getting bored of just seeing dinosaurs which works both in respects to the film world and the real movie audience in terms of how we have seen the evolution of special effects. These ideas are well presented in the movie, though they take the back-seat to the action ( a bit too common with summer movies this year, I've noticed) but nothing really cringe-worthy. The story does take some time to start where it only starts to take-off after the first hour and even far into the second act there is a feeling that there is lack of 'epic' if you will. However it is in the third act where you will start to get your money's worth and it is the highlight of the movie, which is why I shall not spoil though if yo have seen the movie, you will probably agree with me. Also unlike the previous sequels, Jurassic World is able to recapture some of the wonder and awe of the original, largely due to its premise of the 'open park' and there are also references to the original park, some bigger than others, and there is a logical inconsistency as to why they exist since I should expect them to clean the island before construction. Speaking of logical inconsistencies, the radios over here are so conveniently malfunctioning and overall park security still hasn't quite improved for some reason that even though it is funny for a few giggles, is seriously immersion-breaking. I must address that Chris Pratt playing dog whisperer with velociraptors does not feel as far fetched than most people would assume and frankly have used this relationship in a satisfying way.

The human characters are written well, though most of them lack depth. Chris Pratt as Owen Grady is definitely a very likeable hero much due to the contribution of the buoyant personality Pratt is and he leads the movie effortlessly and also his character is not a generic wise-cracker and his humour is toned-down and he is an all round bad-ass.It looks with this one he has solidified his screen presence as a star. He is another important reason for you to watch this movie. Claire is arguably the main
character in the movie since she is really the only character who has a clear arc from an uptight businesswoman who is ignorant to someone who really cares for dinosaurs as beings. Bryce Dallas Howard also puts up a very good performance and certainly lives in the active, no-nonsense character that Claire is. Though you have to put up with a rather forced/unnecessary romance between Owen and Claire .The brothers Zack and Gray played by Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins are on a sort of family vacation here and they really play off from each other.Though my investment in their story pretty much ended when they stopped just visiting the attractions and allowed to let me see the park more. Though what will come as a surprise to you is just how likeable and funny Jake Johnson is as Lowery, part of the monitoring crew of Jurassic World who sits in the new command centre. Lowery is just a really likeable character and Johnson's performance just makes him that much more than just comic relief. We also have Vincent D'nofrio, Kingpin himself, as the head of security at the park and again he is 'love to hate him' kind off person he is a major player in the story, without getting in to spoilers. Special mention goes to Irrfan Khan as Simon Masrani, the new owner of the park, who inherited the park from Dr. Hammond. Khan really portrays this optimist billionaire very well and it was very nice to see an owner who actually cares about consumer experience rather than profits and sees the park as a sign of showing humility to humans and how small we are in the world. I really liked his character and was quite sad that he was not used more, but he had his moments just like every other character which is a good thing.

We have finally reached the meat and potatoes of the Jurassic franchise, the Dinosaurs and there is no surprise in saying that they are the best part of the movie, not as well used in the original of course but there is a good variety of species to be found here such as the fish-like Mososaurus, Pteranodon, the iconic Velociraptors and of course the genetic abomination that is the Indominus Rex. My problem with the I-Rex is that even though it is supposed to be a like a super-dinosaur with plot convenient super powers like camouflage and such, it is really is underused for some reason since every single ability of his is just shown one-time and does not really result into something bigger like we show you what it can do bit-by-bit and then she will use everything she has in a finale. And because of the fact that the plot really focuses on a singular threat and when it is underutilised really starts to bog down the whole movie, and it starts to overshadow the other dinosaur species in a bad way. A singular threat should not really be the focus of a Jurassic Park movie since the whole premise really is that pretty much any and every dinosaur is a potential threat and we do not know how a dinosaur will react and that unpredictability I felt was missing and made the I-Rex a missed opportunity. The special effects are also really well done overall although there is still an over-reliance on computer imagery than animatronics which again prove the superior form of special effects especially in the Apatosaurus scene. The only real problem in the CGI I felt was that it seemed to inconsistent, at some parts it held-up but in others it really seemed a bit rubbery(Although it could be just me). But for the most part the dinosaurs look wonderfully photo-real. Again I said before the dinsoaurs really shine towards the later part of Act-2 and the entirety of Act-3. The climax is something that is truly the highlight of the movie and may have given us one of the best contributions to the legacy of Jurassic Park.




I think that Jurassic World (as many have said before) should be viewed as a monster movie than the classic horror-action roller-coaster that the original was, and it really is a personal preference as to which style you gravitate to. For me a Jurassic Park is all about a huge T-Rex head coming at you in total darkness with your heart coming in your throat with fear. So its obvious that I was not too into the movie here that was largely daylight and was more 'action' than 'horror-action'. A monster movie is a more accurate appraisal of this movie than calling it a classic 'Jurassic' style film though it definitely does not discredit this movie and its direction. In fact I am really quite surprised that it took 22 years for us to get a decent sequel though Treverrow and all the cast and crew have really done a marvellous job in recreating some of the magic that we sorely missed and once you see the movie you can see the passion and respect the film-makers have to the legacy of the original without it being copy-paste, and permeates through every aspect of the film from the writing to acting to the visuals and the amazing score by Micheal Giacchino (a phenomenal homage to John Williams score while adding his own stamp) and this respect to the source material helped in re-invigorating the franchise and our love for it. Does it stand any chance against the original ?, of course not,  but is the only one that came closer than the others, at that alone should make it worth for at least one watch. The story is a bit long and weak unlike the tighter and focused plot of the original, it may lack the horror aspect but again just seeing that vision of the park come to life and seeing these new characters plus dinosaurs and going back into that universe is a blast nonetheless.


ps. I would suggest a front row sitting for a full experience...





Friday, 5 June 2015

What makes the Awesome Mix (Guardians of the Galaxy) so Awesome ?

OK....I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy, for the first time (I know timing...) and somehow kept myself out of the gaze of spoilers for a year so I that I ruin it for myself and I am glad I did that since I got to witness the awesomeness that is Peter Quill's Awesome Mix Vol's 1&2. Though, if we really take a look back, its definitely not the first time famous hit songs of yesteryears have been used in films. So the question here is, what makes an arrangement of random songs resonate with us as an audience into what I believe, one of the most inventive uses of soundtrack in film ?

A movie's soundtrack does wonders to define its tone, to drive home points in the movie.  And Guardians takes full advantage of that fact through its Awesome Mix with its arrangement of light-hearted yet emotional mix of both rhythmic and soothing songs that prepares you for an adventure, couple that with clever tonal shifts and its impact is fully realised(eg. that intro feat. 'Come and Get your Love' by Redbone). However, if you remember, Watchmen (2009) was also going for a similar thing by using 'period-appropriate' pop music for setting its tone and it did that very well. However, what was different is that each song in that was pretty much used in isolation to add a layer of emotion to events in the story, unlike Guardians, where its soundtrack goes beyond the plot of the movie itself, as I shall explain further

Where most soundtracks in film (meaning cherry-picked songs, not original soundtracks) most of the time is used to set a mood or too depict a certain situation, However, what Guardians has to its advantage is its setting, space, and it is really far away  from Earth. The director James Gunn explained in the commentary on the blu-ray that he wanted to use the cassette as a link or his attachment back to the Earth. Even if we do not see the Earth, the Awesome Mix acts as our little memento of Earth and I believe that sets-up a really great context for the movie that makes us realise that we are indeed in a far place, but because of the music it makes the world seem to us more Earthly because it attaches us right back to Earth and makes us forget about poisonous lizards or talking genetically Raccoons. Also as a bonus, through this Mix-tape, it also touch upon the point that music transcends species where they may not understand the words but the rhythm and melody is just something that they intrinsically connect to, like the Mean Guard.

The idea behind the Awesome Mix in the context of Quill was that it served as an attachment to his mother, who died of cancer and (metaphorically speaking)  that through music she was still able to communicate to him. Again paraphrasing from the commentary, Gunn said that the all the songs that were put in the cassette represented her character, which can be seen in the form of a mix upbeat, energetic and soothing rhythms that illustrate a hopeful and optimistic character. That in itself is an example of a very clever usage of soundtrack, but when I was browsing through the official listing of songs given in the mix, I noticed something. For anyone who has seen the movie, you will know about Peter's 'questionable' ancestry, and if you look closely at the official order of the playlist for the Awesome Mix Vol.1 you can notice that it tells the story of Quill's mother meeting and falling in love with 'someone' and her being abandoned with Peter, her feelings about the whole thing and raising him as a single parent with help from his grandparents, while she still remains hopeful for a better future. Trust me pay attention to the lyrics and the themes in the song's themselves, you can notice as well. Now, I could very well could be over-thinking, but if this is true, then my mind is blown, it is fascinating as to how a bunch of seemingly random songs can be put together in order to tell a coherent story. This kind of subtlety is what puts this Mix in high praise in my eyes.

I think we really can learn something from this, to use soundtrack not only to set a mood or a situation but also using it as a tool for character development. Trying to string together a bunch of random songs to convey a singular emotion can be a very hard task and it gets harder once you decide that the same group of songs will be used to serve a variety of  functions other than what it is usually implemented for, it went the extra mile in terms of what period soundtrack can be used for and hence goes beyond than just setting a tone, but increasing immersion in a whole new way. Such little touches is what makes the Awesome Mix great and also the general world-building of the movie awesome that even the littlest of things/ideas in the movie which appear for seconds has several pages worth of thought put into it. Furthermore, it seems that James Gunn has announced that he has selected all the songs in Awesome Mix Vol 2.  for the sequel as well, and as for many fans, I am very excited as to revisiting this 'awesome' world.