Crack in the Connection

I’ve loved most animation movies that Pixar and Disney produced for us. The ilk of Finding Nemo, Ice Age (all parts), Shrek, The Lion King, Shark Tale, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, and Ratatouille has always meant more to me than all the Bonds and Joneses put together.
Most of these stories have simple (but not simplistic!) plots with very identifiable characters and great animation. But what makes them really sparkle is the human insight these capture perfectly and effortlessly- be it a father’s endless paranoia about his son; a parent's desperation to be admired by their kids; a kid’s ardent desire to do something different from those around him; the resistance to change; giving a second chance to someone you think is the villain or the eternal dilemma of understanding what success is all about-all these stories connect with us because besides being based on universal themes, they are rooted in thoughts and ideas of real people. That the film makers beautifully weave these into dramatic storylines, magnificent landscapes and likeable characters is an added bonus.
Or so I thought.
The past few weeks have thrown at me animation movies that were ostensibly appealing in the trailers but have turned out to be anything but. I’ve sat through Madagascar 2 and Bolt in the last month and am now even hesitant to say I’m looking forward to Ice Age 3.

When did animation movies become so formulaic and soul-less? When did the special effects guy supersede the script writer? You could almost imagine the check-box approach that these movies & their makers took:
- Goofy but heart of gold character: Check
- Some witty punchlines based on current affairs: Check
- Some cool celebrity voice dubs : Check
- Unlikely characters becoming friends: Check
- One song with populist potential: Check
- Panoramic nature shots: Check
- Journey that leads to self-discovery: Check
- Heart and Soul: With so many checks, this one can be ignored.
- Emotional Connection: What’s that?

There are many things that you can learn to do very effectivly though a manual- there are still others that you can make more efficient through a template. An animation movie is not one of those!
Pixar and Disney- Please do not mix and match modules from what’s worked in the past. Individually beautiful pieces do not a harmonious whole, make! Indulge not in a shallow make-over of old characters and a less than clever rehash of situations. A stale story delivers a still born movie. Infuse fresh breath-Keep the connection raw and alive! It's simple- Tug at the heart and you wont need to tug at the purse strings.
Ice Age 3 will be watched, yes but by a pair of very skeptical eyes.

4 Movies. 4 Questions

This week was rather movie-heavy, what with the serious looting and plundering of Panda's DVD collection. Could have reviewed but most of these movies have been watched and re-watched by most who watch movies. I leave you with the movies and the first question that came to my mind after watching them. {R= repeat viewing}
1. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (R)- Who in the world conceptualized and finally painted all that stuff in Genelia's bro's room? Move aside, Imran Khan, I'd like to meet that brilliant person.
2. Welcome to Sajjanpur- Why was this movie made and who was this targeted towards? Was the idea to introduce village life to slick city dwellers or to show the mirror to our country cousins for introspection?
3. Johnny Gaddar (R)- Why can't more movies be like this one, with attention to detail, no hamming, no lip synching to songs, with a tight script and yes, a story?
4. PS I Love You- Could we promise to not lose our tempers so easily and to not squabble about silly issues? That way we could spend more time building happy memories and less time creating situations and scenes to regret.
Lined up for next week are Kismat Konnection, Blue Umbrella, The Prestige and Hazaaron Khwahishein aisi (R). The only question is on the first one-Do I feel brave enough to watch it after all those reviews that labelled it a disaster?

Crash. Boom.Bang- What a movie!

Biggest miss of 05-06- Not having watched “Crash”. Will not dwell too much on the how and why not (because there simply is no reason or excuse). But I guess this is a call to action for all those miserable cinema buffs who missed this movie.

What I like about the movie is that it's unassuming and stays true to the theme of how dangerous & wasteful it is to stereotype people and why judging the faces and acts around you, on the basis of melanin deposits, postal addresses and net worth, is severely detrimental to your being, especially in the era that we live in.

The movie lures you into judging and then just when you've trudged the hill, allowed yourself a pat on the back for traversing the cliff of that judgment, it gently pushes you onto the edge-to make you see how wrong you were in assuming what you did , when you judged.Of how wrong those milestones were. And how wrong you were to have climbed that cliff.

Black and white. Yellow and Brown. All shades of humanity do a wild dance on the palette called the screen and make you see the world in all new colors.

Who’s the hero-someone who appears racist, but is quite literally baptized noble, by fire? Or someone who is shamed by these acts of racism, but commits something irrevocably horrifying, simply because he tuned into the wrong frequency of suspicion (based on color)?

What’s right and what’s wrong? Who's the sinner and who deserves to be the glorious saint?

The movie provokes you into questioning your own deep rooted beliefs-things about your faith, about your behavior in society, about the people you know-and the scary part is you always took these things for granted-as natural as your breath-based on what you’ve been taught, what you’ve imbibed from your family-so much so, that just acknowledging these things which have so far been invisible atoms of your existence, becomes a source of amazement. It's like being pushed into a swimming pool and realizing that you can't breathe the way you've been breathing all your life.

Turning interrogator, jury and defence on your own self is tricky. What right do I have to judge whether an American is being racist when similar accusations can be made against me and the crime proved? Do I not cringe when I see a dark unfamiliar face peering at me in the train? Why is it easier to smile at someone pretty and with blue eyes? Why did I assume that the person who just spoke in a language I dont understand was saying something rude about me? Just how deep seated is this prejudice when I can not get rid of this inspite of the realization that an individual’s goodness is not dependent on his ethnicity or the texture of his skin. Is mere realization strong enough for me to dispel all shadows of doubt and trust people for what they are and not what they appear to be?
Generate your own set of questions-go beg or borrow this DVD, if Crash missed provoking you. Also, one word of advice- stay away from Babel, the me-too movie tries to be a Crash II and fails miserably-The beauty of Crash is that its is about people like us, people who err and flounder but never seem to preach. Babel does quite the opposite-aims to address what it thinks are the world’s problems by creating & strengthening stereotypes.

And well, on the case of Realization instigated by Crash vs Yours Truly, sentence is deferred, until further notice. After all, its not easy to judge after having watched Crash!

Waiting to be rescued by a pirate

I love Jack Sparrow-never before has a movie character caught my fancy (the only other character that comes close to this kind of devotion from me is Garfield-and no, the crappy Garfield movie has killed the spirit (or the lack of it) that the character epitomizes).
The context-I watched Pirates of the Caribbean over the weekend-both parts and my love for Jack Sparrow just grew exponentially. Orlando Bloom looked more like an excuse for a man in front of him. Oh yeah, he’s the right side of every human being but also so manufactured to be right. Sparrows’s spontaneous in action and well, have to concede, quite pre-determined in thought.

He’s such an unlikely candidate for affection-this vile opportunistic fellow, who puts his interests upfront and in front of anything and everything else. He’s blatantly selfish, even treacherous & yes, grimy as hell-but oh man, is he quirky. Unpredictable. Absolutely witty. Layers of eccentric mystery. Oodles of sinful charm. You just can’t get enough of him-there is so much more you want to know about him and so much more you want to imagine- for example, I want to know how Jack Sparrow was as a kid, what kind of games did he play, did he as a 3 yrs old trick kids twice his age into doing his bidding? Did he get spanked by his mom for being a precocious kid? What would he be like if he was transported to this day and age? Would he be a wheeler-dealer? A politician? An activist? An underworld don? Quite a misfit in today’s scenario where he would be devoid of a cause or of his spirit of adventure. He hardly has a chance to shine through in this religion-fixated, terrorism-dominated consumerist world. Devious he may be, but not soul-less enough to survive in the world of today.

No, he’s perfect as the pirate who plunders but doesn’t stop rob people of hopes or dreams. Someone who needs both a dentist and a laundro-mat, but could slink in a lesson in style to all the dudes out there. Someone who shies away from virtues but yet gets looked upto by honest and god-fearing people in the most unusual circumstances. How I would love to know him in person-this enigmatic charismatic conundrum who speaks his mind via smart repartee but knows not how to express his need for another human being. Turbulent as the sea and grey as the sky above him-he makes you want to dive right into him and explore yourself. That’s the reason I adore him. Savvy?