Sometimes the Best Movies…

… are the ones that we makeup. What’s a better way to illustrate how the YouTube generation is reshaping movies as we know. Be Kind Rewind is one movie to watch out for.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille rises above our staple expectations (Kid-friendly storyline, eye-popping visuals, morals to be learnt) from the Pixar movie machine. In many ways Brad Bird displays the charm that he first displayed in the captivating The Iron Giant. Swinging between humor and emotion, Ratatouille will have you engrossed every single moment; can’t say the same for our 5-year old though.

When it comes to visuals, Pixar has always raised its own bar with every movie. In Ratatouille the visual enhancement goes beyond the characters and backdrops. Pixar dresses Paris to its graceful best and captures the city like no live-action movie has.

The standout performance comes from none other than Peter O’Toole as Anton Ego, the punishing critic whose final exposition could not have been delivered by any other actor.

Let’s laugh at that Indian guy

If Michael Bay has mastered the art of playing to the gallery, he excels here, in a nasty sense. In an promo from his upcoming Transformers, an Indian call-center guy is shown as being apathetic to a desperate call for help. I don’t think its in bad taste to use the offshore call center thing for a comic relief, but to actually portray the guy as a disgusting character speaks volumes about Michael’s low-brow approach!

It’s not just that, there is a very subtle and vicious twist to portraying the issue with outsourcing call centers. On screen, the guy isn’t just failing to help a regular American, they’re actually turning their back on the ultimate American Hero, the soldier who’s braving it out on an Arab soil. Wow! Class act that Mike.

Beauty, pixel deep

The guys who turn everyday Trishas 60% fairer have taken their trade to the next level. Digital skin grafting – the secret to Rajnikanth’s fair complexion [via] in Sivaji (and how a British girl had to match Rajni’s every single move).

To begin with, we (Indian artists) did an in-depth study of the European complexion. We found that white skin reflects more light and has less shadow when compared to dark skin and is translucent in some areas. Therefore a simple color correction of the hero’s skin would not achieve the desired effect.

For the shoot a London based young white lady with a fresh complexion and flushed cheeks was chosen and with the help of Cinematographer Mr. K.V.Anand every single shot of the hero was repeated with her because lighting conditions change in every shot.

Sivaji – BOSSa Overa Sodhapitanda Shankar

By Shankar’s own admission, the hype for Sivaji had gone out of his control. To keep up with such an enormous burden, he had to fire on all cylinders and hold on to his grip steady. Somewhere in the second half, he runs out of gas, freaks out and loses his control over the script and any semblance of direction. I kept rubbing my eyes in disbelief! Was this Shankar at his worst! His letdown was worser than what the Indian team pulled off in the world cup.

Rajnikanth delivers his best effort in recent time – the style, the punch-lines; the works. Blame for the letdown squarely lies on Shankar for screwing up such a great chance. A dashing version of the Superstar that everyone’s been waiting for (and not just his fans) has everyone spell-bound. His sheer appearance invites deafening roars from the audience (first day first show’na summava), which itself is worth the ticket. All I wanted was the storyline to back him. Unfortunately, Shankar tanks and takes the movie down with him.

Here are five reasons I left the theater disappointed with the movie:

1. The Script – Agreed! A story with Rajni playing the lead can’t stray too far to offend his fans; it comes with a bunch of clichés and time-tested formula. For Sivaji, Shankar pulls the proverbial dead horse out of the ground and flogs it to the bone. To me, the story was over within 15 minutes after the “Intermission”. Sivaji gets even with Adhiseshan almost too easily, so you’ve drained all the emotions/adrenaline that you were pumping up when you settled down with your interval popcorn. What goes on beyond that is one excuse after another for stretching the movie for the sake of your ticket.