Primer (2004)

I rank it reasonably high as a good sci-fi movie; but I still haven't been able to unravel the complex plot-twist.

Abe & Aaron; manage to build themselves a time-machine. In fact if you haven't given up on the movie in the first 20 minutes, without scratching your head, then you really are a sci-fi geek. The fundamentals are clearly expressed; although there's no mind-boggling quantum physics, it's all quantum mechanics, they've put human morality into the equation. Time-travel's longterm side-effects include bleeding earlobes & ugly handwriting. It's a kind of movie which you have to watch atleast twice just to get a timeline on a mental map. Then you have to watch it again, to map other coordinates on this map. Then, while the map is fresh in your mind, you need to have a intense discussion with someone else who has watched the movie & can sleep soundly only if the movie makes sense.

Alas, I've only managed to have that discussion with myself. I was silently screaming at myself, trying to bring Schrodinger's cat into the argument to justify many of the unexplained occurances. I had even conceded into accepting an altered reality for Thomas Granger's unshaven appearance. I had a tight grasp on the movie until the fail-safe device is mentioned. How many failsafe devices are there !!?? No, cross that. I had everything clearly mapped out in my mind, till the airport scene; until I see Abe crawling on the toilet floor. I had to pause & rewind several times to make sure it was Abe & not Aaron. & I have no explanation for that.

Morally, Abe tries to correct his doings. But Aaron's deep voice-over suggests otherwise. Some of it just does not compute.
I put my hands together for Shane Carruth's attempt as writer, director, producer & actor (there are also credits for music & editing)

Fav scenes: Abe's explanation to Aaron, regarding his accidental discovery of timetravel through protein-creating fungus on the weeble. The last scene with Aaron building a much larger machine.

Alternate Ending: Why was Aaron trying to be the hero, to make a stand against Rachel's ex? it clearly needed some explanation. & I couldn't figure out the intentions of Abe outside Aaron's home in the last scene. It's left to interpretations, but the open-ending is so wide, that the whole premise can collapse.

First viewed: Alone at home in Mumbai.

The Matrix (1999)

I bunked college with Abhishek & Zaryab, shared a autorickshaw & went to Basant cinema to watch a new release. This was a very rare occasion, since bunking class is a once-in-a-blue-moon scenario for me. I didn't know anything about what the movie was about. I was just hoping it wasn't about matrices & differential calculus; I was just skiving a lecture to avoid that! Ah, it was a such a wonderful time; when I would watch movies without having any prior expectations from them at all. Nowadays, I can watch a trailer or teaser for a flick & cancel it off my list.
We were slightly late for the movie, & when we entered the cinema-hall the first scene I saw on the screen was Trinity running... & then leaping off a building & landing on one across the street. This was certainly not a Maths class!

What is the Matrix? The iconic green digital rain; bringing to life imaginations from cyberpunk and distopian fiction. The Greenish-Yellow lens filter gave it a very eerie effect, something that I had never seen before. & that was not the only first for this movie. There were so many influences for this movie; hardline phone teleportation, virtual reality, Alice in Wonderland, Buddhism, perpertual dreams, hairless rebirth in a gooey pod.
FedEx delivery with a Nokia mobile-phone. I still remember the Morpheus phone-call scene each time I see window-cleaners outside a skyscraper. The scenes are so memorable; Follow the white-rabbit; What good is a phone-call if you are unable to speak; The choice between the pills; Kansas is going byebye; I know KungFu !; there is no spoon!

I liked the seriousness of the movie; & I'm glad for the wonderful casting (Extremely happy that it's not Will Smith or Nicolas Cage playing Neo). & I liked the story being revealed through the eyes of Thomas A Anderson. It allows the viewers to connect better. I find Everything about this movie cool. Everything. the deep meaningful dialogues, the cool sunglasses, the push-button mobilephone, the Red chairs, the way Morpheus cross his arms behind his back, the structural designs adopted by the sentient machines, the Nebuchadnezzar (there's tonnes of biblical & religious references for hardcore fans) & its assorted crew. The Wachowski brothers made sure that people who really wanted to enjoy this movie would watch it repeatedly & hang onto each of it dialogues. I did. Multiple viewings later I'm still enjoying every single bit. The movie takes sci-fi to a different level; & provides tonnes of fodder for intellectually stimulating conversations. This was the first time when a director's imagination made me question the laws of physics and the self-induced handicap where humans limit ourselves to five senses. Bullet-time! fully-destructable-environments! there really is no spoon...

Alternate Ending: I have several grievances against the sequels; that's a different story. But only thing I didn't like in The Matrix is how little credit is given to Agent Brown and Agent Jones. That's a real pity.

First viewed: With friends at a cinema in Mumbai.

Die Hard (1988)

Take Roderick Thorp's novel about a single man's defiant stand in a hostage situation.
John McLane, a NY cop, out to visit his estranged wife & kids in LA, gets invited to her office Xmas party at Nakatomi Plaza. Trivia: Fox Towers (offices of the production company) was used as Nakatomi Plaza. & there are Xmas jingles playing at all the the right moments to remind us of the holiday setting.

Cue the entry for german-speaking bad-guys... Big courier truck filled with armed criminals (alongwith a computer-systems genius) party-crash to steal bearer bonds worth 640 million.

Walter Bruce Willis fresh from the success of witty Moonlighting TV series, fits into character perfectly. The witty one-liners, easy-to-understand plot, plenty of gun-fire'n'exploxions & a really die-hard hero to root for. That makes me rank Die Hard very high on my list. "Call me Roy", John McLane's manly sense of humour makes multiple viewings enjoyable each time. Personally, I'm terrified of crawling inside air-duct shafts. My heart palpitates each time I view those scenes. John's sole friend on the outside, Sergeant Al Powell, an LAPD officer provides the much needed appreciative moral support in desperate times.

The other deterent characters are just as important; the callous news-reporter, the oversmart office-colleague, the Deputy Chief of Police, Johnsons the FBI agents; all played vital memorable parts. I haven't read the book, but I have to commend director's John McTiernan ability to keep the thrills coming.

Fav scenes: Argyle's analysis of McLane's relationship; John talking to himself; all of John's interaction with Al; terrorist stealing a Nestle Crunch chocolate; the bazooka attack on the LAPD RV & the c4 explosion in the elevator shaft; Hans' demands; John & Hans' interaction; the music playing when the vault opens; the fist-fight with Karl; the roof explosion; Hans' face when he falls; song in the end.

Alternate Ending: No changes at all. It's the ideal guy-movie. Only things that didn't add up was the amount of ammunition John had; & how did Karl survive the choking & explosion? I have several grievances against all the sequels; that's a different story.

First viewed: Alone on TV at home in Mumbai.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

It starts off in the year 2688, San Dimas California, setting the base for this excellent adventure. & quickly, travelling 700 years back, we are introduced to our handsome head-banging heroes. Baby-faced, charming and failing their History class.

It's very clear from the very start that there isn't a bone of seriousness in this flick. & there's no surprise why it grew on to become such a cult classic. The Telephone booth timemachine was clearly a reference to the TARDIS. The scale, the wit, the air-guitar... everything's 'Excellent!' The movie doesn't waste anytime in setting the premise; it's all about an excellent history report. Napoleon, Billy the kid, Socrates, historical babes, Sigmund Freud, Beethoven, Joan-of-arc, Genghis Khan, Abraham Lincoln they're all there. & Napoleon actually enjoyed Waterloo! The director's vision to let loose a bunch of historical figures in a suburban mall is unique. & the time-travel aspect of the movie is brilliantly witty. Predictability goes out of the window.

This is exactly the kind of script a dazed out teenager would come up with, when asked to combine timetravel & 2 goofy musicians. It made me smile, & that's where it earned all its points. But from a realistic scientific time-travel aspect, this movie very cleverly handles self-consistency & paradoxs; somethings that other alleged time-travel movies don't. The 'Wind up your watch' comment & the 'Duck!' note may seem trivial at first glance; but if you really think hard about it, it'll put all your gears into a spin!

Be excellent to each other &... Party on, dudes! Its a fun film; later dudes.

Favourite scenes include: The air guitaring; So crates; the mall-sequence; the prison-escape, the history presentation.

Alternate Ending: I'd give the princesses a bit more screen-time as they are going to be part of Wyld Stallyons ultimately; & I'd make Rufus a bit more fun, he came across very dull.

First viewed: Alone on StarMovies at home.
Rating-3.5*

CJ7 (2008)

I was watching the annoying English-dubbed version of the movie, since I couldn't get the original Cantonese one. It did take some fun out of the movie, as dialogues lose their original intent when subjected to the boundaries of lip-sync. I liked the father's intro scene with him atop a really high skyscrapper eating his lunch. Since this is essentially a kids movie, I didn't mind the cringeworthy bullying-at-school scenes. & I liked the first interaction between the boy & CJ7. & that doesn't happen for the first 30 minutes. So the initial 30 minutes is spent on building up characters & scenarios & plotlines. Even Iron-Man would be envious of Dicky's new sneakers. I loved how the little boy's imagination run wild; & what really happens.

For a kids movie, the potrayal of death & the subsequent revival is a very strong point. But it also made sure that CJ7 was not shown to be a wish-granting genie.

Favourite scenes include: roach-killing while dinner; Dicky's dream; the final summer-picnic scene

Alternate Ending: CJ7 used up all his Chi & turned into a rag-toy, he can't come back !! the bunch coming in at the end should be depicted as a whole new group called in by CJ7 to aid Dicky.

First Viewed: Alone at Harborne in Parramatta.

Rating-2.5*

What's Up, Doc? (1972)

Frankly, the only reason I gave this movie a shot was because of Barbara Streisand. She's really cute & a delight to watch & she's got the most amazing blue eyes. They distracted me from the craziness happening with 4 identical bags. I couldn't figure out who was after which bag & what was happening in the background. The chemistry between Howard (Ryan ONeal) & Judy (Barbara) overshadowed everything.

I had never seen Frisco like the way shown in the car chase; culminating with 4 cars jumping off the pier. & then there's the ridiculous court scene.

Favourite scenes include: her pounding heart; Eunice's heel-marks as she's dragged out of the banquet; "I hope it's not your coccyx"; the uphill-downhill car-chase;

Alternate Ending: There was never any other way it could have ended. But what's the explanation for Howard's improved eyesight?

First Viewed: Alone at Harborne in Parramatta.

Rating-2.5

A perfect murder (1998)

I was told this was based on the Hitchcockian 'Dial M for murder'; basically a retelling of the story. 15 minutes into the movie I knew exactly what was gonna happen. Every scene played out into the next one & there was no thrill at all in this thriller. For a moment I did imagine a slightly more cheerful ending, but the director stole that from me.

Ok, the wife knows several languages... so what? Why have an interesting detective character when you have no use for him? The wife's emotions are a joke. & lover seemed very confused about his own intentions; is he conning her or not? The title of the movie was completely misleading. I wish I had seen 'Dial M for murder' instead. I guess I'll end up avoiding a much better movie because of this one.

Favourite scenes include: There wasn't a single moment in the movie which is worth a mention.

Alternate Ending: A 3-way confrontation would have been better; atleast would have kept some thrill going. That ending was colder than frostbitten toes falling off.

First Viewed: Alone at Harborne in Parramatta.

Rating-1*