Review - Inside Out

Inside Out is a triumph of vivid imagination.

Inside Out is an absolute joy ride.

You may call Pixar's new creation as Inception for kids, but don't let others fool you. Director-Writer Pete Docter's Inside Out is a terrific ride for adults; not only it simulates brain, but your tear-glands too. Past few years, Pixar has somewhat lost its innovative thread of films, but with Inside Out, they're back on track. This film brings back the good old experience of Pixar gems like Toy Story, Up and Finding Nemo - in short, a real treat for animation lovers. 
  

The script - what an outstanding script - is a right away classic. The premise goes like this - we all know our brain is controlled by our emotions - joy, anger, disgust, fear and sadness. In this film, our emotions are controlled by little human-creatures who reside our brain. Each of them have corresponding personality like the emotion they convey. We have Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling), controlling brain of eleven-year old girl called Riley. Things go pretty well until one day, Riley's family decides to move from Minnesota to San Francisco, which causes a havoc in the Headquarters of the brain. Things go awry when both Joy and Sadness are thrown out of Headquarters and are stranded on the big stretches of Riley's brain-land.

Her brain-land is full of utterly marvelous stuff, which includes various personality islands, a dream-land, subconscious cellar, memory hall and what not. Watching Inside Out is like a visit to your first theme park ride. It is wildly creative, with its own consistent logic and details. I have never been so utterly amazed by sheer display of imagination, perhaps since Inception. 

The film explores the idea of human emotions like never before. Even though on paper, the idea of little folks living inside your head and controlling you may sound a bit ridiculous, but the way Pete Docter has executed this, is an absolute master-stroke. He never makes the movie overtly jolly, but goes for a more bittersweet approach. It is not to say that the film is without laughs or comic situations, but it remains balanced, like a classic animation should be.

Inside Out is the best animation movie of not only 2015, but perhaps the best since Up. With another great score by Michael Giacchino and great voice performances by every member of the cast, the film is a wondrous joy ride, filled with wonders of imagination and creative ideas. By the end, it may leave you teary-eyed, so keep your handkerchiefs close.

4/5

Review - Spectre

Spectre is epic failure.

Cheers to the doom!

"You are a kite dancing in the hurricane, Mr. Bond." That is the only single line of dialogue which falls in the category of substantial writing, in Sam Mendes' heart-shattering, disappointing affair called Spectre. In his newest (and hopefully the last) outing as the Bond director, Sam Mendes has staged some brilliant set-pieces, shot extremely well with his cinematographer, added some pretty girls - but has completely forgotten to build tension, or at least devise some sensible plot. But even with the big bunch of four writers no less, Spectre is half-baked and clumsy - to put in another words - very poorly written.

We have James Bond (Daniel Craig) pursuing another criminal organization called Spectre - even though he is grounded by M (Ralph Fiennes) and is not allowed to leave London. Worst, the entire double-oh programme is to be shut down and a new surveillance system is to be introduced by C (Andrew Scott), head of another privately owned intelligence agency. As Bond digs deeper into the reaches of Spectre, he travels to Mexico, Rome, Austria and Africa; makes love with Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux; and then goes back to England for a final showdown with head of Spectre - Franz Oberhauser/Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). 

The plot seems pretty simple, but believe me, it is indeed, without any complexity or character development. Bond seems to be hopping from one woman's bed to another like a butterfly flying from one flower to another. There is absolutely no reason for existence of Monica Bellucci's character, apart from a PG-13 sex scene. Romance between Seydoux and Bond is rushed - there is some chemistry between them, but alas, filmmakers hardly focus on that. It has so many scenes which are throwbacks to previous James Bond films, that it feels more like a rehashed version of older Bond movies. There are funny moments in between - like the one between M and C, debating meaning of the respective words. Everything else is so suppressed by mindless car chases and demolishing buildings, Spectre becomes monotone and pretty flat by its end.

Daniel Craig plays Bond with all his acting capabilities - he broods, sulks, despairs and gets annoyed- trying hard to elevate the trash script. Seydoux is serviceable, her character is underwritten and is surface-level, but her looks makes her job easy. Fiennes has done another film for paycheck, and unfortunately Waltz seem to have done the same. He has played Blofeld half-heartedly, without any dramatic flair - which could have actually worked well for a psychopath. But he performed his character with a flat, bored look, as if he is having detention during school. Only Naomi Harris and Ben Whishaw remain unscathed from the atrocious script, and for that record, the script actually develops both of their respective characters to some extent.

To give credit where its due, the film is brilliantly shot by Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), the colors used here are bleak and dark. Score by Thomas Newman and "Writings on the Wall" by Sam Smith are welcome addition to Bond music. Sam Mendes is one of the best directors alive - it does not requires any proof. He should forget Spectre as a nightmare; and move ahead and do other non-Bond stuff. Maybe Skyfall was such a cinematic achievement that Spectre, even though not awful by Hollywood standards, feels awful. Perhaps it is unexpected from such a great director and such a talented actors and crew. I hope we all see better stuff from them in the future. Until then, leave Spectre and rather watch Skyfall or Casino Royale, if you are in the mood for Bond.

2.5/5

Review - Sicario

Sicario could have been a lot better.

Deakins captures some brilliant images in Sicario

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve is being hailed as the new visionary film-maker, largely because of his trademark meandering and somber thrillers - Prisoners being the most recent and deservingly acclaimed. This time, he has taken his turn to US-Mexican Drug War, layering his story with underlying currents of political power and personal vendettas. An idealistic FBI-agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), enrolls to a secret mission with CIA and Department of Defense. Her boss, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is fairly tight lipped about the mission and Kate is fairly unaware of the true agendas of the seemingly fishy mission. Add character of Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), we've got our protagonist almost blindfolded in front of plots and conspiracies.

Taylor Sheridan's brisk screenplay changes its protagonist in the last act - first two acts have Kate as our central character, and in the final act, Alejandro swaps the role - which as a storytelling structure doesn't works flawlessly. I wouldn't call this turn of leads as a complete disaster, Sheridan does makes a fine conclusion for both the characters near the end, but it does comes out as abrupt and forced.

Script issues aside, Sicario works fairly well for most of the part - thanks for the convincing performances by the actors - Del Toro and Blunt particularly shine, given the meaty parts in the film. Villeneuve as a director handles and balances the film between the drama and thrills quite well, and the film never goes beyond the scope of the script for loud hysterics or for mere set pieces.

Roger Deakins has shot this film digitally (and brilliantly). The difference between film and digital cinematography has never been so obvious - Sicario looks pristine and without a single speck of noise. The dynamic range is absolutely gorgeous - in one of the remarkable scenes, we see agents in their silhouettes, equipped with guns and gears, walking towards a tunnel against deep violet twilight sky. In another scene, near the beginning, we see Kate's troop travelling across Juárez's dusty roads - the camera follows the group of SUVs like a shadow, bouncing when there is a speed-breaker, just like the vehicles themselves. Deakins transports you to the scene immediately - without added dimness of 3D.

With all round top notch production (special mention to Jóhann Jóhannsson's electronic score - polar opposite to what he did in Theory of Everything), Sicario is a watchable crime-thriller, a nice companion piece to works like Traffic and Breaking Bad. It could have been infinitely better - its muddled screenplay reduces the impact of the great acting on display and focused direction. But it does provides you enough chills down the spine to warrant a viewing.

3.5/5