Bringing Out the Dead – (1999)

Over the weekend I watched two movies, ‘Awakenings’ (Robert Di Nero and Robbin Williams) and ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ (Nicholas Cage). If you have been following my reviews in Satyam blogs then you’d be knowing that I am little biased towards Martin Scorsese’s movies, and this is the reason i’d review ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ first. Martin Scorsese tried to create another ‘Taxi Driver’ with ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ but, honestly speaking, failed at it. The movie is not that awesome but it is not bad either, rather it is a rare misstep for Scorsese. Unlike most Scorsese’s movies which have lot of bloodshed in them or are gangster movies this one is quite different although there are some scenes in movie which have blood in them. The movie revolves around Frank. Nicholas Cage plays paramedic Frank Pierce. Frank is in the midst of a serious downtime in his life. He hasn’t been able to save anybody from dying in several months and it’s starting to get to him. In fact it’s driving him crazy. Frank isn’t able to sleep well and when he’s awake he’s haunted by the face of Rose, a young homeless girl who died in his arms. Frank is at the brink and he is starting to lose his mind. Bringing Out The Dead does have it’s moments though and it isn’t a complete loss. The movie starts out really strong with a lot of dark humor and beautiful night time shots. Frank has a different partner each of the three nights in the movie and the differences between them are really interesting. John Goodman is the first partner and he has a really strong role here. Unfortunately he disappears and Ving Rhames (who is almost unrecognizable with his hair) steps in. I normally like Rhames but his character is so over the top in this movie that he just wasn’t very believable. Tom Sizemore, playing a psychotic paramedic, steps in to provide a little lift near the end of the film. ‘Bringing Out The Dead’ really doesn’t try to be the same movie ‘Taxi Driver’ was and so comparisons between the two are probably unfair. Unfortunately for Scorsese, the comparisons will be made, mainly due to the similarities of the two film’s respective protagonists. I think this movie showed a lot of promise early on but ultimately falters in it’s delivery. Recommended if you are a Martin Scorsese or Nicholas Cage fan.

Blade Runner (1982)

"Wake up, Its time to Die"

Welcome to Ridley Scott's lurid slither into sci-fi noir. Blade Runner was definitely ahead of its time with a post-industrial, seemingly post-apocalyptic future, reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984. Ridley Scott has made movies in almost all the genre be it war ( Black Hawk Down), epic (GLadiator, Kingdon of Heaven), thriller (Hannibal/American Gangster), drama (Matchstick Men) and sci-fi (Aliens, Blade Runner). Scott set the sci-fi banchmark with Aliens which many directors tried to imitate afterwards. And which he himself broke with Blade Runner. Set in a vast, vulcanized Los Angeles in the year 2019, complete with flying automobile and a neverending assault of rain, Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a "blade runner": a cop who's hired to "retire" androids. There are four dangerous androids who have escaped from an "off-world colony" and Deckard's duty is to track them down and kill them before they wreak havoc in this already dreary world. Blade Runner is not an easy film to like. It has little overt characterization, a slow pace and a lot of background information to absorb before the whole thing makes any sense. Although the plot is a simple manhunt, the story stopped explored many issues. Things like 'what makes us human,'is it morally right to exploit the human genome' and other classic science fiction themes are competently explored. The replicants are not just mindless killing machines. In fact, some of them were portraying more sympathetically than some of the human characters. The acting is a bit unnatural, but that's obviously because of the movie's subject. There's minimum dialogue and maximum expression through nuance and innuendo in this movie. This kind of acting style is very effective in a movie that successfully captures such a dark mood through its artistic direction. It's also fitting that all the characters have mechanical, robotic interactions with each other, signifying the often obscured line between humans and androids and the overall closetedness of emotional life in this bleak city. What I really appreciate about Blade Runner is its acuity in visual detail. Ridley Scott has taken a lot of pains to make this an intensely visual experience. I've never seen such a variety of styles in lighting technique in a movie. Blade Runner utilizes darkness to set the tone of the plot - a harsh, fluorescent kitchen light, the rays of sharp illumination through a broken skylight from a passing blimp, and the reddish sunset that permeates the sky like a layer of smoke. The movie also challenges us with some modern interpretations of genetic manipulation and human experimentations in being god. It serves as a horrible reminder of what could be and what is happening: a lot to deal with in the span of two hours, but of course Blade Runner accomplishes that feat expertly.In conclusion, this is one superb piece of filmmaking. It reached new heights in cinema in terms of its cinematography, its audacious storytelling and its pessimistic outlook. A true classic.

You can own this movie by buying it HERE

ARR concert, Pune

Just returned from an ARR concert held in Balewadi sports complex, Pune and to tell you, it was just awesome as expected. It was a part of Jai Ho concert. Being an ardent fan of ARR it was unlikely i would have missed it but Id've loved it if it had gone for some more time. Although the concert started late at 7:45 instead of 7, it went on till 10:45. But after the closing song Jai Ho, i felt i was there for few mins only :-) ARR performed some of his best tracks among which were some tamil tracks also. He mesmirised the audiences with two back-to-back qawallis from Jodha Akbar and Dilli-6. Some of the noted singer who lent their voices were Blaze, Sadhna Sargam, Hariharan, Roop Kumar Rathod, Raja Hassan etc. The only flip side was the seating arrangements...But when ARR is playing who cares...... Hmm well here are some pics of the concert and don't curse me for poor photo quality, i went there with my digital cam but the security guys confisticated my batteries and I had to rely on my cell phone.