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Movie Review: Gone Girl

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Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers from the movie Gone Girl!

“This man of mine may truly kill me.”

Gone Girl is a chilling story of a married couple, Amy and Nick, from Missouri. Amy Elliot Dunne was happy in a five year long marriage with Nick Dunne, but he wanted an exit from it. The day he was going to tell this to his wife, she disappeared. What followed was Nick being suspected for the murder of his wife. A vicious circle of lies and proof deepened his already difficult life in Missouri, into that of constant upheavals and disturbances. He was constantly dictated around Amy’s directions from the Anniversary Special Treasure Hunt, even in her absence.

Now, he was sinful with infidelity, and he was an ignorant husband. But, Amy was not the damsel in distress after all. She wasn’t ‘missing’, she was in hiding; hiding to see her husband get penalized with death for the murder of his wife. A carefully planned project by a very clever sociopath-psychologist, Amy Dunne planned her own assault and ran away, waiting to kill herself carefully, so that her corpse be found at the correct time. But, she couldn’t do it, and that is when she involved Desi Collings, her since-high school-smitten-ex. Soon however, she found Nick begging her to come back on national television to put an end to all this. This is when she decides to frame Desi. She first assaulted herself and then slit the unsuspecting Desi’s throat and ran away as a fleeing victim, back to her husband. What’s more she used IVF to keep her husband in the marriage. This dramatic turn of events comes as a startling surprise to the audience.

Coming to the actors, Ben Affleck, contrary to what critics say, has proved again that he is a brilliant actor. Neil Patrick Harris does a spectacular job as Desi Collings, what with his eyes doing the talking! Tyler Perry as the lawyer, Tanner Bolt and Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne, Nick’s twin, were great too. But, I give all my congratulations and applause to Rosamund Pike, who, as Amy Elliot Dunne, was  shocking and impressive, and she pulled it off above my expectations.

The book of the same name, by Gillian Flynn is a must-read! But I’d recommend reading the book before watching the movie. It will scare the brains out of you, and is a skillfully crafted masterpiece. As for the movie, it complements the book as an apt adaptation. Watch it and you will be amazed!

Image source: msmagazine.com

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Small Screen

TV Show Review: Penny Dreadful

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When I say Penny Dreadful, I expect half of the people to assume the gothic leading lady from the poster to be the ‘Penny’- supposedly, the villainous and thereby the dreadful. Somehow reminding us of shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

But we can’t help it, can we? Well, she is wearing a necklace made of scorpions and no matter how badass it appears in the posters, it does warrant an assumption of her being a good old vampire goddess. Though I assure you, this is definitely not the case.

The show derives its name from a 19th century British publication type under which ‘Penny’ stood for the fact that these books were rather cheaper to purchase than any other publications running in the market. Similarly, ‘dreadful’ stood for the lurid and suspenseful storylines that this publication offered. So, just to clear it out, there isn’t a ‘Penny’ in the show.

Set in the same century as the actual Penny Dreadful publication, the show is extraordinarily refreshing, considering the fact that it delves into the genre of fantasy, which is repeatedly churning out the same story lines again and again. Penny Dreadful is a psychological coaster running for about 60 minutes as it aims to keep you at the edge of your seats and at the same time satiating your appetite for science fiction and the supernatural. Not to mention, its standards to adapt from the classics. Yes, not ‘classic’ but ‘classics’ given that several adaptations like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Frankenstein, Van Helsing and even Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Grey have been successfully made into one single show.

And I must add, Penny Dreadful has an amazing cast helming the project. Eva Greens (the women with the scorpion necklace/ Vanessa Ives) and Josh Harnett (as Ethan Chandler) being the crown jewels of this loaded casket.

As they say it rightly ‘There is something within us all.’

 

Priyanka Kapoor

[email protected]

 

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DU Dhaba

Food Review: The Booty Call

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The Booty Call is a pocket-friendly cafe and another addition to the wide range of cafes in Satyaniketan, opposite Sri Venkateswara College. To locate the cafe you’ll have to navigate a little deeper into the market. Its USP is that the cafe also undertakes deliveries from dusk to dawn (which explains the off beat name), coming as a huge boon to college students living as paying guests in South Campus.

The cafe cannot exactly be said to have ‘dine-in’ facility. However it can accommodate 6-8 people on the mattress laid on the ground and another 2-3 on the bunk-bed style loft. The walls are covered with interesting one-liners like, “Live by the booty, die by the booty” and posters of popular culture references including The Joker from the Batman series. The cafe also provides some popular books and a few board games for customers to enjoy as their food is prepared, with the dishes being served on bed trays. Overall, The Booty Call offers quite a ‘jugaadu‘ experience as far as arrangements go.

For the food review, we were served cheese burgers, pasta in Alfredo sauce and tandoori sauces, grilled chicken sandwich and paranthas.

One can literally taste the freshly melted cheese slice between the buns. In spite of being an ardent chicken devotee, I found the vegetarian burger to taste better than the chicken variant. Next came the pastas. The sauce was a bit sour for my tongue, and olives dominated the dish more than the pasta itself. Nevertheless, ‘tandoori pasta’ isn’t an item you see on menus everyday. Full marks for innovation!

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We were told that one of the chefs has previously worked in Old Delhi’s famous Paranthe Wali Gali. With that information came the final serving of paranthas and grilled chicken sandwich. The parantha did not match the hype it was surrounded with. On the other hand, the regular-looking grilled chicken sandwich turned out to be one of the best I’ve had in a while. The chicken was as minced as required and the bread was perfectly grilled. I did not even share the sandwich with my team!

In totality, I would go to The Booty Call again if I were a South Campus student. Although it faces stiff competition in Satyaniketan, the café is rather different when it comes to its concept and has a relaxed and easy going feel to it-perfect for those lazy late afternoons after grueling classes during the day.

Featured image courtesy: The Booty Call’s official Facebook page

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Flicks

Movie Review: The fault in our stars

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The Plot

A movie adaptation of the book by the same name by John Green, The fault in our stars is a love story, more so, a tragic love story of two cancer patients. The story is narrated by sixteen-year old Hazel, who suffers from lung cancer. She carries around with her a bag containing her oxygen tank all the time.Forced to attend a cancer support group, Hazel one day meets in the group Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters. Gus, who suffered from a bone tumor, but recovered later, walks around with a prosthetic leg. Soon, Gus and Hazel develop a thick bond.

While Gus from the very beginning makes his attraction towards Hazel known and constantly flirts with her, Hazel slowly gives in to his tries. They connect over a book and Gus, with his carefree and living-in-the-moment attitude mails the author of whom Hazel is a huge fan. Things turn exciting when Hazel gets invited to Amsterdam by the author.

But, Hazel falls sick and asks her second Dying Wish which is to go to Amsterdam. Gus too asks for the same wish from his parents, to go with Hazel. The parents do not relent and soon Hazel, Gus and Hazel’s mom fly to Amsterdam. There, in the heart of Amsterdam, their love blooms and Gus confesses to Hazel that his cancer has returned, this time damaging his internal organs. They bravely stand by each other and finish their trip together.

On returning back, things get darker as Gus’ condition begins to deteriorate. He, thus, asks Hazel and his friend Isaac to write eulogies for his funeral. Hazel, while consenting to do so, mentions that she has no friends who would speak at her funeral. The free-spirited Gus soon gives in to his ailing body and becomes scared and sad. Hazel finds this personality change the most disturbing. At his funeral, Hazel gives an impromptu speech. While going back, she meets the author they went after to Amsterdam. He gives her something to read, which she doesn’t. But, later through Isaac, she gets to know it was written by Gus. She finds that he had written a eulogy for her funeral, in advance. The story ends with a much alive Hazel, remembering the memories she had with Gus.

The Negatives

The plot, aimed to be moving the viewer, is very emotional if one thinks about it or even reads. However, the movie fails to do so. The actors have done justice to their roles, proving their mettle. But, the story somehow, does not connect with the viewer. There were parts that needed improvement. The instances where the family’s situation was talked about did not have the emotional pull. You know and you can understand, but you cannot see it or feel it. The connection between Hazel and Gus does not seem to be smoothly developed. While Gus is confidently seen hitting on Hazel, Hazel’s feelings are not clear until a very long time

The Neutrals

Amsterdam, on the other hand, improves the viewing experience, as you will see the relationship strengthening. Infact, the visit to author Peter Van Houten is a very engrossing part as Hazel and Gus both show their edgy sides. It is also, where one stops pitying for them and starts viewing them as normal, as neither of them mention or emotionally blackmail Houten with the points of their short-life.

 The Positives

The best part in the whole movie is when Gus begins to deteriorate. It was not supposed to be. Hazel was expected all along to die and one would accept Gus’ lonely life, but the role-reversal takes you by shock. You don’t want it, and yet you find it a change. It is unexpected and for once, you begin to see Gus’ fears. The most tear-filled part is when Hazel gets the news of his demise and when she reads his letter. It is almost painstaking to see her shatter, gather and hold herself up.

The book The Fault in our Stars, as far as I have heard, is a masterpiece. Well, then I think the movie  is nowhere near to it, in comparison. However, I recommend that you watch it for the plot, while the book-readers who will watch it to compare, please do not get your hopes up.

The Official Trailer of The Fault in Our Stars directed by Josh Boone starring Shailene Woodley (as Hazel) and Ansel Elgort (as Gus).


– Ayesha Sareen for DU Beat.

[email protected]

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Flicks

Movie Review: 2 States

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From the campus love and drama to the family fights and rights, 2 States based on Chetan Bhagat’s best selling novel by the same name would take through a laughable ride filled with a lot of ‘aww’ moments here and there. The movie that runs in the flashback mode of the narrator’s story portrays different cultures of families across India.

Cast : Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Shiv Kumar Subramaniam and Revathy
Director : Abhishek Varman
Music Director : Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Based on Chetan Bhagat’s best selling novel : 2 States – The Story Of My Marriage.

 

Krish (Arjun Kapoor), a Punjabi boy who is an IIT graduate from Delhi happens to join the ‘serial proposers’ list of Ananya (Alia Bhatt), a tamilian girl at IIM Ahmedabad where they study for the much over rated MBA degree. The conversation that starts by offering a rasgulla ends up with both the characters falling in love (well, that had to happen). The campus story that is wrapped up by the director in the initial 30 minutes may leave you craving for more of college masala. The steamy scenes between the lead pair must have left Chetan a little nervous, but the audience seems to enjoy it quite a lot though one never stops wondering that how Krish and Ananya share the bed at the hostel room on campus (there is a different hostel for boys and girls. Obviously).

The movie that shifts from the colour and flavour of college at Ahmedabad to the rich homes in Delhi and Chennai, holds the viewer to watch how the predictable story will be paralleled by commendable acting and direction. The typical fussy Punjabi mom (Amrita Singh) and a strict retired army father (Ronit Roy) at their Hauz Khas makaan (because ghar toh pyaar se banta hai), bring both smile and disgust on the faces of the viewers. As disciplined south Indian parents, Shiv Subramanyam and Revathy are very particular yet boring in their actions. The cultures of these ‘2 states’ seem to be exaggerated a little but this much cinematic liberty can be entertained.

Krish who also teaches Ananya’s brother finally after a lot of buttering takes on the proposal. The twist is where he proposes all members of the Swaminathan family and not only the girl (that is quite innovative). Ananya and her parents then go all the way from south to north to convince Krish’s mumiji (his dad is least interested by now) but his mom is a typical muhfatt punjabi. Her racist remarks on madrasi people forces the Swaminathans to withdraw their interest from this inter-caste rishta. Krish’s irritating massi and other members of the family who finally reach the wedding venue in the school bus (like yes, a school bus decorated with flowers) leave the audiences laughing. Now how this happened even after so much of ‘marriage politics’ is something you need to watch this movie for.

Music of the movie by Shankar Ehsaan Loy and dialogues by Hussain Dalal convey all the emotions in the fancy Bollywood manner. Alia’s beauty and her costumes do not fail to impress the people of both sexes. Arjun takes the heart away by his cute smile and his look supported by nerdy glasses.

All you out there with a very soft heart, you may feel the need of handkerchiefs in the few scenes. But as you reach out to your pocket, something on screen will stop you. The book by Chetan Bhagat is surely a better tale of these 2 States but Abhishek Verman as a director makes a significant debut.

Oh yes! The movie forces all the young heads to think, “Why don’t we have such a life?”

DU Beat correspondent, Iresh Gupta sat with the stars of 2 States, Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Click here for an exclusive interview.
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Arts & Culture

Food Review: Dig in at Diggin!

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The new eating joint, Diggin, right opposite Gargi College at AnandLok shopping centre has caught quite a few eyes ever since its opening around the annual fest of Gargi college this year.

The ambience of the place will definitely seem inviting as you step inside with a brightly lit dine-in area and painted walls. The book shelfright next to the entrance sets the feel of the place from the start. Diggin also has an outdoorset up for those good weather days when you can use a great ambience and food. The staff is friendly and will make you feel at ease and even volunteer to click your photos.

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The food at Diggin has its good, okay, bad and amazing moments. The usual delights of the place are its pasta especially Penne Arrabiata, Mint-Oreo shake, Gelato and Rocher ice cream, however, you can also enjoy their pizzas which would not disappoint you when it comes to their size. What probably won’t live up to the expectations is the blueberry cheesecake ice cream (you might enjoy it too, you never know!) and crème brulee.

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Despite the good enough food, the one thing that’ll keep you from coming back again is crunch it puts on your wallet. The restaurant is not price friendly despite being opposite a Delhi University college and that is its major shortcoming. An interaction with a Gargi student who has visited the place a couple of times revealed that “The food is good but it is hideously expensive, the prices are not at all compatible with a DU student’s budget”.

We all know how important money is in college life and how frequently we end up splurging our monthly pocket money in a day or two, however, if you are in a mood to splurge and don’t know where and how to spend it we would recommend you to go and try out Diggin and hopefully the burn in your pocket won’t hurt much after a good and heavy meal.

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Movie Review: Midnight’s Children

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It has been 31 years since Midnight’s Children got published and despite the unparalleled popular and critical adulation, no one has, for the best part of three decades attempted a screen adaptation of the modern literary masterpiece. As Deepa Mehta and co found out, this is not without reason.

So, a review of Deepa Mehta’s latest offering will necessarily have to take into account the reasons why this project was so difficult to begin with and examine how the movie makers tackled these. Firstly, Midnight’s Children is a 600 page monster. A movie that covers every page of the novel would probably run up to 5 hours. Thus, the first challenge was to modify and edit the story to fit the canvas of a movie. Deepa Mehta, assisted by Salman Rushdie tackled this challenge particularly well and the story in isolation feels both complete and justifies the novel.

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The next challenge comes from the type of novel that Midnight’s Children is. Rushdie’s Magical Realism makes a caricature of issues as important as India’s history and while this may only add to the virtues of the novel, in a movie it looks surreal and out of place. The characters of Midnight’s Children are not mere human beings; they represent events, communities, countries and the like. As a consequence, their actions, mannerisms and personalities are not intended to be consistent with nature but to serve the needs of the narrative. In a book, as steeped in allegory and metaphors as Midnight’s Children is, these anomalies are assimilated by the reader. The challenge for the movie maker is to make sure that the sublingual meaning is not lost even as the characters seem plausible. But unlike in a book he cannot explain each reaction.

The movie struggles all the way with this challenge being in places too tedious and in others too breezy. There in lies the main issue with Rushdie writing the screenplay for the movie. He has little experience of the role and the movie proceeds much like a novel and the characters seem hollow and unattached. It seems that Rushdie is too busy footing in as many of his allegories as possible while Mehta at the same time cuts them to bare bits such that each message remains under-explained.

The hollowness of the characters is the reason why such a talented cast underperforms. Of the actors only Rajat Kapoor and Rahul Bose manage to distinguish themselves.

If you have read the book then despite the flaws the movie is not to be missed. For the rest of the populace its a rather tedious affair. In the end it seems that Mehta doesn’t know whether to cater those who have already read the novel or those who haven’t.

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Arts & Culture

Movie Review – The Hobbit

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Movie – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Director – Peter jackson

Music – Howard Shore

Rating – 4/5

Afficianados of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series mostly would have been familiar with the prequel to the events of that series which are chonicled in The Hobbit, the tale of Bilbo Baggins’ journey to ‘there and back again’. For them, and for those who find themselves hearing of it just about now, Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation of Tolkien’s earliest work, presents an enthralling 169 minutes of Middle-Earth fantasia, a compelling watch for hobbits and men alike.

The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins (the uncle of Frodo, hero of the  LOTR franchise) as he is taken, most unwillingly so, aboard the Dwarves’ expedition to the Lonely Mountain to recover their home and treasure form the terrible fire-breathing dragon, Smaug. Gandalf, the pyrotechnics expert and wizard of fame, handpicks Bilbo as the official burglar for the team of the Dwarves, who are led by their prince Thorin and it remains to be seen whether the timid and reclusive hobbit will make himself of use for them, or be a liability, and whether the Dwarves, a most exclusive race among  themselves will accept him into their fold.

While it seemed implausible at first that Jackson could make a nearly three hour-long movie while still covering effectively only the first six chapters of the book, in his bid to make three full length movies out of only a 300 page novel, this first installment in Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy pans out as a very well structured film. With the constant action occurring throughout, there is no dull moment, nor does the entire movie seem forcefully elongated. In addition to Tolkien’s own ingenuity, the director has lent the movie generous dollops of his own ingenuity by creating new and parallel storylines and a certain authenticity to the battles in the tale, which in the novel seem to read as juvenile.

This brillanct example of directorial intervention is further embellished by the convincing performances of Ian McKellen as Gandalf, a character to which he has lent expert performances over four movies now. Martin Freeman as the bumbling, timid, constantly bemused, yet guileful in his role as a burglar makes an impressive first appearance in the series of movies revolving around Middle-Earth. Richard Armitage, as Thorin, the leader of Dwarves puts in a comprehensive execution of his role, charismatic and confident. Howard Shore, who already gave us the award-winning music for the LOTR series once again is spectacular, providing the exact strain of music as every scene demands individually.

By way of summing up, we suggest that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the perfect film to watch to sign of 2012 on a high, with the promise of a 2013 that promises much to us by way of cinema lurking right around the corner.

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Arts & Culture

Review: Life Of Pi

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A decent amount of knowledge of the book, a fare share of exposure to Ang Lee’s work, and every friend’s Facebook or Twitter grandiloquence about the movie- this was the baggage that we carried when we entered the movie hall to watch the Life of Pi. We indeed chatted up a lot about the movie and all our varied expectations, only to drop them all and get completely engrossed in the film within the first five minutes itself.

For starters this movie is a huge ray of hope for 3-D animation, the opening song and sequence is evidence to this. For me personally 3-D had lost its charm with movies like Don 2 being released in caveman quality 3-D. In many places Ang Lee’s camera portrays places like Pondicherry in a very pristine way. And for that matter this movie is very much grounded in nature, the environment and nature’s miracles, or its processes in the purest of form.

Coming to the performances, the actors in the movie have done an exceptional job. Suraj Sharma, who plays Pi for most part of the movie, has done a great job, and as a new comer is like a breath of fresh air. What deserves special mention is the fact that Suraj spent most of his screen time as Pi, who is stranded in the middle of the Pacific with wild animals and this is where his real talent shows. He has done surprisingly well given the fact that he was acting all alone before as green screen and really brings the story to life. Irrfan Khan- naam hi kaafi he, and this holds true even for this movie. The scenes where he is on screen his eyes did the talking, and when he is the off-screen narrator the timbre of his voice moves the audience along with the story. What is striking about Irrfan Khan’s character is his accent. “He (Ang Lee) told me to have a French- Canadian- Indian accent.” Irrfan Khan was quoted saying on a TV show. And that is very true; Irrfan keeps his signature, ere of mystery alive even in this quirky tongue. Tabu played her part of a typical Indian mother very well and together with Adil Hussain (playing the part of her husband) keeps the dynamics of a typical Indian household alive. Last but not the least, the animals, the movie has woven the parts of the animals so beautifully in the story that they leave a lasting impact on all. The film is doused with scenes where the animals interact with the audience, and Richard Parker- the majestic Bengal tiger takes the lead here. The audience is left pondering over the part those animals had to play that were stranded along with Pi on a lifeboat. The movie also delves into the realm of the divine and for that matter divinity is a major subject that the story uncovers.

For those of you who have read the book, let me give you some good news, there are many elements in the movie that are different from the paperback. Let me also tell you to be prepared for many, many surprise scenes that Ang Lee drops like bombs on the audience.  I risk sounding like a spoiler but let me say this though, there will be a lot of fireworks when you expect the waters to be still.

The lasting image that the film leaves is that of the surreal cinematography, and the careful story telling that keeps everything fascinating yet close to reality so that the surreal doesn’t seem to be unreal, hats off to Ang Lee for that.
The Life of Pi deserves 4 out of 5 beats!

 

Anugrah Gopinath
[email protected]

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Seeking a Friend For The End Of The World-Review

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What would you do if the world was ending? We’re often posed with that question as an inanity used to understand you. It’s asked in slam books, memoirs, interviews but we never really quite treat it as real. To understand the immensity of everything we know vanishing in an instant, we have to enter this world written and directed by Lorene Scafaria.

‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ is not an ordinary movie. It lives with ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. They’re not just going to die as a race and civilization, but with foreknowledge of the same. Steve Carrell plays an insurance salesman who has lost meaning in selling whole-life insurance policies along with Keira Knightley, a neighbor he meets on the fire escape. It isn’t helping the situation that his wife has left him for another man in the three weeks preceding their extinction. The film deals with several themes in a humane manner which has the capacity to make us wryly laugh and cry at the same time. Loneliness, which doesn’t stop looming on the top of our heads, or the meaning of life, which evades us with an ever-greater certainty. The two set out on a road trip to fulfill their last greatest desires. Meet a loved one, gain the courage to do something they never did, but a road trip is never about the trip but the people you meet on the way. In this case, even the sides of themselves the two encounter in the trip.

They might fall in love. They might just be blatant momentary creature comfort for each other. They might not. The film doesn’t stop or wish to reach a Happily Ever After but explores all that even momentary relationships can hold in meaning for us. In the midst of the riots, the paranoia and the panic, finding something to live for in an irreversible Armageddon – someone perusing our existence, might just find it redeeming. Seeking a friend for the end of the world. Maybe that’s all we’re looking for.

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