Category Archives: Movies

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

Pale Rider…

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In one of the best introduction fight scenes for a hero, preacher played by Clint Eastwood, after dousing a match fire by a goon says “You shouldn’t play with matches’ and before the rest of the gang react, gives them a  bashing they will remember for the rest of the lives.

Pale Rider is  classic commercial film woven around a legend, someone who shows up when evil forces are at full play and meek have nothing else to do but pray.  Clint Eastwood on a pale horse appears as if the prayers of a teen girl are answered and with him brings hell.
In short, Pale Rider is a about how a hero who rescues a poor village from the plunder of a rich businessman. Producer-Director Clint Eastwood, makes it a different fare, with religious undertones and a preacher as the lead character, who is out there to execute God’s will.
It is Clint Eastwood’s film all the way. As an actor and a director, he carries the film on his broad shoulders. A must watch for all time pass film and Eastwood’s fans.

Few good scenes, that are shot pretty well

  1. Preacher’s introduction and first fight.
  2. Preacher and the rich villain’s meeting
  3. Preacher rescue of teen age girl
  4. Lead scene to climax and the final action scene.

Related Links:

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Wiki on Pale Rider

1-By Laksh, ET, Etc., Movies

Carlito’s way : A few bumps…

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We often use a hook in our conversations, to engage. In a screenplay  writers, directors need more than one, spread across the movie span. Carlito’s way is an excellent example of how such hooks can be employed to good effect.

Movie itself  starts off with the end scene, the shooting of the protagonist. Will I make it? As he wonders, so does the audience with his voice over guiding the flashback which begins at a point where the patient trolley hits a small bump. And so begins the story of Carlito, who just got out of prison and committed to change his life better. In his own words, he had enough of the old ways and is ready for a brand new beginning. He has it all figured out…just 70 grand short to get started with rental car business in Bahamas.

The rest of the story is about how four things come in his way–his past, his character, his friendship and his love interest. How he gets sucked into trouble, how his friendship turns fatal and how his love almost redeems him–these provide the structure of the movie and the related hook scenes.

A must watch  for anyone who is interested in how an actor (Al Pacino) takes his time to unravel the character and the director(Brian De Palma) boosting the visual style of the film through several key scenes.

My picks.

  1. Al Pacino’s portrayal of the inner conflict, specially with his girl friend (“It’s who I am Gail, it’s what I am. Right or wrong, I can’t change that.”) and towards the end, when things start falling apart.
  2. Brian De Palma’s execution of the first shoot out and the climax train scene.
  3. Sean Penn’s excellent performance to contrast with Al Pacino.(Hyena Vs Lion)
  4. Terrific support cast with a special mention to Luis Guzmán (Steps scene with Benny Blanco)

 

1-By Laksh, Movies

Whiplash: Perfect Trio…

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‘Whiplash’ deals with controversial themes…and explores extreme angles of a relationship between a music student and his teacher. How hard an aspiring musician should try for perfection and how hard a teacher can and should push to spot and hone greatness in his disciples….these are a couple of questions that linger in the mind, while watching the film. But, from a cinematic experience, the film is pure joy, with a superb cast making it all believable.

JK Simmons (Fletcher-Teacher) and Miles Tiller (Neiman-Student) compliment each other very well and hold the film together to make sure it doesn’t slip out of the audience belief zone. Mike Tiller displays the range of emotions perfectly, as his character goes through a seesaw of feelings …in quick succession. Worth mention is the initial change in his feelings when Fletcher plays with his psyche, with a bit of unexpected praise and following it up with a chair thrown at full speed.

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But ‘Whiplash’ can never be the movie it turned out to be without JK Simmons and he deserves the Oscar every bit of it. Right from the word go, he is unpredictability at its best, which is the core of this character. He has to be both unpredictable and believable at that very moment and he pulls it off with elan.  He keeps the audience guessing as to what his real motives are….and that becomes the driving force of the screenplay.  Worth mention is the scene in the restaurant with Neiman just before the climax, getting him to accept as a drummer in his upcoming programme. It’s tough to be nice without showing any motive and that too after a sonofabitch portrayal he had shown until that point of time and he does it effortlessly.

Of course, Whiplash couldn’t have been possible without the director Damien Chazelle. To conceive and execute such an offbeat story is an extraordinary feat and in the process creates a music-based film that compares with the classic ‘Amadeus’. Interestingly the love-hate relationship of the student-teacher in Whiplash is a tad similar to that of  Salieri-Mozart. In ‘Amadeus’ Salieri’s struggle is more internalized and only comes out as narration…whereas in ‘Whiplash’ it is brought out in several scenes, with ambiguity thrown in, for the sake of driving the plot.

Like any good movie, the heart of the film lies in its climax. All three–Damien Chazelle, JK Simmons and Miles Tiller leave their best to the last. It’s a unique set-up and a mini-movie by itself. If you decide to watch just a portion of the film then this has to be it. And after watching it, there are quite a few takeaways…and it is up to you to pick the version you like. I for one would like to think that Fletcher found both his genius and nemesis.

Related links:

Laksh online on Amadeus