Thoughts

Hi peeps! Question- if you were a celebrity, what would you name your baby? I once joked about naming all my future adopted children after various alcoholic drinks. Clearly, I am destined for fame.

1. This week brought with it the very sad and shocking death of actor James Gandolfini, who was just 51. Though I have never watched The Sopranos properly, I really loved his work in True Romance and Where the Wild Things Are. Alex wrote one of his excellent In Character posts on Gandolfini's best performances.

2. So The Amazing Shit-Man 2's production is as all over the place as the first movie was. They cast the lovely Shailene Woodley as the awful Mary Jane Watson and then kicked her out after filming her scenes. Now apparently Sarah Gadon is going to play her instead, but in The Amazing Shit-Man 3. I don't understand why they have announced release dates for parts 3 and 4. What if the world ends by then? And gosh, as adorable as Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan are, they are going to be really old to play teenagers!

3) Well, to be fair, Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play Iron Man in The Avengers 2 and 3, which will release in 2015 and probably 2017 respectively. But then, he is awesome and I really cannot picture the Avengers without him, even though it's already like a huge spoiler for his character since he possibly cannot die in the first sequel. If you remember, Joss Whedon (Happy Birthday to him!) had promised more death in The Avengers 2. Ah well. Empire has an infographic on the various cinematic phases of the Marvel universe.

4) Sam Taylor-Johnson, director of Nowhere Boy and wife of Aaron Johnson, is going to direct the very very very very very very very very very very unnecessary adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. I have read the book due to well, Ryan Gosling, and I just don't see it happening unless they go like, full porno. There are just too many sex scenes. I don't know what they're going to do with this. Felicity Jones's name has been mentioned for the role of Anastasia Steele. I will admit, I am curious as to who finally gets cast as Christian Grey, since every tall, attractive actor in his 20s or 30s has been linked to this role. Hmmmm.

5) Other casting news- Anna Kendrick has been cast as Cinderella in Rob Marshall's musical Into the Woods along with Daniel Huttlestone, who was brilliant as Gavroche in Les Miserables, and will play Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. This film is getting quite the cast. Speaking of Cinderella, Helena Bonham Carter is going to play the fairy godmother in the new live action movie with Cate Blanchett playing the Evil Queen and Richard Madden as the Prince. Though this is kind of a lazy casting choice, I hope the film is good. Next, Jason Schwartzman is joining the Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes, which is being directed by Carter's baby-daddy, Tim Burton. Awesomesauce! Finally, Casey Affleck will be seen in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar along with Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine. I really cannot wait for this film.

6) Matt Smith is a bastard. His Doctor Who goodbye video-

ALL THE FEELS! 

How does he manage to look adorable in that get-up?

7) Steve McQueen's next, Twelve Years A Slave, has a number of promotional pictures out which shows stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dwight Henry, Sarah Paulson and newcomer Lupita Nyongo in full costume and action. Early word has it that the villain Fassy is playing is going to take evil to a new level *happy shudders*.

8) Trailers- Sundance-winner The Spectacular Now looks really good, but I don't know how much longer I can take the "being young is awesome" thing. The Perks of Being a Wallflower sort of broke me. The LEGO Movie has a trailer out. Yaay? I don't really care. One of my most anticipated movies of the year, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues has a trailer now and it looks pretty funny, especially that little scene with Steve Carell's Brick and an equally weird Kristen Wiig. The teaser to Disney's Frozen is actually awesome. I am going to look forward to this one. Jobs, which has Ashton Kutcher playing Apple creator Steve Jobs, looks okay. I am not holding my breath though I want to give Kutcher a chance. Finally, I kind of hated The Wolf of Wall Street trailer when it came out but it's like one of those awful catchy songs you can't quite stop listening to, or in this case watching, till it becomes a part of your being. I mean, I can watch an entire film with Leo just bustin' out them moves.

9) Finally, these need to be on my blog because of reasons-

What Graham Norton said.

No, seriously-

*insert the sound of angels singing because this is what Heaven looks like*

And with that, I say toodles.

"You know, it's moments like these when I realize how much of a superhero I am."

         Just as Iron Man had a lot riding on its back being the first film in the Avengers Phase 1, Iron Man 3 also comes with sky-high expectations as it starts the cycle of Avengers Phase 2. Added to that, it is following-up to what I believe is the best "superhero" superhero film ever, The Avengers, and the slight disappointment that was Iron Man 2. The odds were pretty well-matched as to whether it would fail or pass. Thankfully, with the help of a slightly mature but not overly-serious cough*The Dark Knight Rises*cough storyline, a very interesting villain, spectacular effects, a super hot Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr.'s Robert Downey Jr.-ness, what we have is a solid superhero movie that is a great start to this year's summer blockbuster season proper.

           The film starts after the events of The Avengers, when Tony Stark had had a near-death experience while fighting the aliens in New York which has left him shaken, so much so that even the mention of "aliens" or "New York" gives him panic attacks. His fiery lady-love Pepper Potts is concerned as this is taking a toll on their relationship. Plus there is a new baddie in town called the Mandarin who likes sending out really well-edited video clips of his terrorist attacks as "lessons" to the American president, amd may or may not have something to do with a very jaded Aldrich Killian. When the safety of his friends and Pepper is put in harm's way, Tony has to take "good old-fashioned revenge" with the help of his best friend Colonel James "Iron Patriot/War Machine" Rhodes, and his occasionally unreliable iron suits.

          That's so much for the basic plot. The Iron Man movies for me have always been about Robert Downey Jr.'s plain awesome portrayal of Tony Stark. I tend to side with the supervillains in most cases, but not here. Casting Downey Jr. as Stark has been one of the most inspired casting choices in perhaps ever, and that is not only because of the cockiness and the one-liner spewing splendour that he possesses, but also because he is a fantastic actor who can act with just his face in most of his "big" scenes. Before going for this film, I saw the first two Iron Man movies and realised this. I mean yes, the iron suit is cool as hell, but we wouldn't be half as crazy about Iron Man were he not played by Downey Jr. His Tony can be both a narcissistic jerk and an emotional, caring man, sometimes at the same time. Just watch all of his scenes with the precocious kid, Harley, in this film and you will agree with me. Also he gets to do a lot without the iron suit in it and we see how he is a hero through and through. He IS Iron Man.

         I have always loved Gwyneth Paltrow's performance as Pepper Potts. She is someone who is an equal to Tony, and can both reprimand him and care for him. Iron Man 3 sees her doing so better than ever. She was just incredible in this movie. I am not going to talk about what she does or what happens with her, but trust me, she is as kick-ass here as Natasha Romanoff was in The Avengers. Totally fangirling.

            The rest of the impressive cast includes Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ty Simpkins and of course Sir Ben Kingsley. As I said, I just rewatched the Iron Man series and while I still have a soft spot for Terrence Howard's portrayal of Rhodes, Cheadle does a more than decent job with the character. He gets to do a lot of stunts in this film and his chemistry with Downey Jr. is excellent. I think for spoilers sake, I will not go into much detail about Pearce's and Kingsley's characters, Killian and the Mandarin respectively, except that they are both very effective antagonists to our man of iron (see what I did there?). Kingsley particularly shines after his big twist is revealed. I felt that Hall was quite wasted in this film, which is a shame because she is a very engaging actress. My favourite supporting cast member however turned out to be a child actor, Simpkins, who plays Harley. He ends up being a total match for the wit and sarcasm of Tony Stark himself and completely holds his own in all of their scenes together.

           Among the returning cast members, we have Jon Favreau as Happy who very good as comic relief, especially with all the Downton Abbey-loving and Paul Bettany who voices Jarvis and I feel is a very integral member of the movies as he tends to be as much a part of the Iron Man suit as Tony. This is the first time we don't see much of S.H.I.E.L.D. though there is a tiny morsel of something related in the post-credits scene.

          The story was written by the director Shane Black and Drew Pearce. As I said in the opening paragraph, it would not have been easy for them to write something that follows The Avengers but they did quite a good job, especially when it came to integrating the events of The Avengers and making Tony a much more human figure as a result. He is, after all, a man with as many problems as the rest of us, though he deals with them differently since he is a genius, playboy, philanthropist, millionaire. The scenes when he has to fight back as himself, without the iron suit, were very well-written and just added layers to the character of Tony. I also liked how they represented evil in the form of Mandarin. The dialogue of course was as snappy as they come, and if this indeed is the last solo Iron Man movie as the closing events of the film seem to suggest, they have written a perfectly satisfying and enjoyable end to the trilogy.

           Black has done a remarkable job of directing this film. The cinema crowd that I saw the film with broke out in applause a number of times while watching the film and rightly so. It was quite a tight movie that kept us rapt and entertained throughout. Effects-wise, the "barrel of monkeys" scene and the entire last act was very impressive and even awe-inducing at times. Those of us who are Iron Man fiends will have a field day seeing ALL of the iron suits that the film, well, shows off.

           Many people are calling this the best film of the trilogy. I still believe that the first one was the most perfect film of the three and remains as one of the best action movies I have ever seen. Iron Man 3 does falter in parts, with its slightly incoherent plot regarding Extremis and a rather rushed ending, but it is still leaps and bounds ahead of Iron Man 2 (which personally I don't find *that* terrible).

          A true summer blockbuster with a superhero for the ages, do check out Iron Man 3 as soon as you can. I personally can't wait to see Iron Man back in The Avengers 2 now.

Thoughts

Hello! College 2.0 has started. I have never been this tired in my life. But I like this college. There is film studies among my subjects, which feels like the class I have been waiting for all my life. Anyways, my thoughts for this week-

1) Super duper awesome casting news- Johnny Depp has been cast in Wes Anderson's next film The Grand Budapest Hotel. I have been praying for Depp to do something smaller that will truly show off his immense acting talents. This is exactly it. Anderson's brand of quirky is totally different to the Depp's natural eccentricity and I believe that both of them together can create movie magic. Among the other potential cast members are Anderson regulars like Owen Wilson and Bill Murray. There is also talk about Jude Law, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Angela Lansbury and Jeff Goldblum joining in. I have to say here that if there is a film with Depp, Norton and Brody, I WILL DIE OUT OF HAPPINESS!! PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN, PLEASE!!

2) The other casting news that has me buzzed is Daniel Radcliffe starring in two very different movies after Kill Your Darlings, the Beat era film he is currently filming. The first is the adaptation of Joe Hill's (Stephen King's son) novel Horns, which is about a 26 year-old man who, after being wrongfully accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend, finds horns growing out of his head which grant him the power to make people confess their sins, and this comes in handy in his quest to find the real culprit. It sounds pretty batshit crazy and added to that, will be directed by Piranha 3D's Alexander Aja. Still it will be interesting to see Radcliffe do something so far-out. The other film, one which I am more excited about, is a romcom (yess!) alongside Zoe Kazan, named F Word. It is about two people, Wallace and Chantry, who hit it off at a party, but then are forced to stay friends because Chantry has a long-term boyfriend. Radcliffe is incredibly funny in all his interviews, and was quite good in Extras and SNL, so I have high hopes for him.

3) Links- It was the ultimate badass and king of awesome, Harrison Ford's birthday this week and check out M. Hufstader's brilliant post on him where she makes him the BAMF of the Week. Speaking of awesome, this is The Dark Knight Rises week (Accio Sunday!) and pretty much everyone is writing about it, or its director Chistopher Nolan. While I am steering clear of any reviews of any kind, I love posts about the latter. Alex is doing The Week of Nolan, which is brilliant and do check out all the posts. Last but definitely not the least, is the biggest Nolan fangirl herself, Stevee, with a Christopher Nolan Retrospective/ Appreciation Post.

4) There are literally no trailers this week, but instead, I bring you something infinitely better and more brilliant- ladies and gentlemen, Robert Downey Jr.-

5) After so much brilliance, a little albeit very imperative rant- Pixar is going to make a sequel to Finding Nemo. Andrew Stanton will helm the project, which is now being developed. This is awful. As I have said time and again, I am a total Pixar worshiper. The people working there are geniuses who make the most incredible animated movies, and one of their best qualities is their originality. Now they too have fallen under the franchise spell. It is so terribly sad. I mean they have seen what happened with Cars 2, and while the Monsters Inc. prequel looks acceptable, they should just stop there. Pixar movies make a lot of money, and it is a good thing because their films are excellent and deserved to be watched by everyone, but this is just greedy. This article at The Film Experience speaks a lot about this and I agree with most of it, especially about the possibility of a Toy Story 4 (blasphemy!!).

6) Also Emmy nominations were announced today and here is the full list of nominations. I am still not a TV person, though I do watch a shitload of shows now. My favourite nominations are that of Sherlock of course- Best Miniseries, Best Actor in a Miniseries for Benedict Cumberbatch and Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for Martin Freeman. Sherlock is probably my favourite thing on TV currently, tied with Doctor Who and Parks and Recreation. Amy Poehler bagged a Best Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for that, so yaay! Others were snubbed :( Other nominees I am happy about are Peter Dinklage for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his splendid performance in Game of Thrones, Lena Dunham and Zooey Deschanel for Best Actress Comedy for Girls and New Girl respectively, Jim Parsons for Best Actor Comedy in The Big Bang Theory, Girls for Best Comedy Series and Max Greenfield, who plays the adorable douche Schmidt, for New Girl.

7) Finally, this happened-

I said goddamn! Goddamn!

It's getting hot in here people *fans herself*. Bye.

"I still believe in heroes."

Note: What shall now ensue is a highly excited, and most likely klutzy, energy-bubble-of-a-review. Just think that a happy Hulk wrote it :)           


             WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT?! As much I was looking forward to it, a little part of me was certain that The Avengers, with so many other generally entertaining films leading up to it, a plethora of "heroes" ready to outshine each other, a probably incompetent script, and possibly one too many Michael Bay-esque explosions, would be a bust. Even my more hopeful side was pretty convinced that it would fall prey to at least one of the dangerous missteps above. But WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT IT WILL BE *THIS* MINDBLOWINGLY BRILLIANT!!

                 Nick Fury, director of the secret agency S.H.I.E.L.D., has the Tesseract, a mysterious object that is the source of unknown energy, and with the help of physicist Dr. Erik Selvig, is trying to harness its power. When the Tesseract suddenly gets activated, it opens a portal through which the exiled god Loki steps through. Loki has made a pact with an evil alien race called the Chitauri, who will help him conquer Earth in exchange for the Tesseract. Loki, forever the god of mischief, starts to wreak havoc the moment he comes and soon Fury has to recruit a team of super soldiers, assasins, a demi god and a Hulk to fight these lethal enemies and save the earth.


                 I am not going into more detail than that. Prior to watching it, I carefully, and with rather difficulty, avoided all the reviews of this film, and I think everyone should do that (except this one of course *wink*). You may think that the one billion promotional photos and videos may be giving things away, but it really is not the case. The film was literally nothing like what I expected it to be. I mean I am no comic book nerd, and those who are may know details about the stories that I didn't. Still I am quite the lover of superhero movies, well-made action movies, smart movies, movies with great one-liners, movies that are outstanding ensemble pieces and movies with a superb supervillain for me to geek out on. The Avengers was all of this, and maybe even more.

               Let's break this down one by one. This might just become my favourite "superhero" superhero film ever, when compared to every other film of this genre except the Nolan Batman trilogy because those films are a number of other things too. Ever since Ironman in 2008, the big screen adaptations of Marvel comics have been a big marketing campaign with little clues and pointers spread out throughout them. One may even say that the whole of Captain America was more or less a trailer to The Avengers. It must have been a colossal task to put it all together in such a way that everything fits and that all the major characters that we have seen and loved in the previous films get enough spotlight, while also creating a unique and effective story. Joss Whedon of the Buffy fame, who also directed the film, co-wrote the story with Zak Penn and they were successful in completing this task. Sure there was some science-y jargon that no one got, but it is an intelligent script, and equally important, a really funny one. This film is packed with one-liners and humorous situations. Like in the case of Tintin, it is a whole another experience when a full house laughs and cheers at a joke or a scene, and The Avengers provided us with many such instances that made it really fun.


             Now since it is a superhero film, there are some expectations that we all go in with. We know that there will be a few blasts and and a couple of brawls and maybe some shooting etc. The special effects in The Avengers were very good. While I wouldn't call them groundbreaking, I will say that they were exactly the right amount. There wasn't the novelty of Ironman's suit, which is still incredibly cool, or the glittery world of Asgard, or an astoundingly tiny version of Chris Evans. But I liked the fact that the effects in The Avengers don't overwhelm you, which is what they usually seem to do. I did see this in 3D and too much CGI becomes painful, but the film used the technology skillfully. The overall look and feel of the film definitely was quite stunning. Even amongst the booms and bangs, we see characters fighting at street level and it just felt so normal when compared to say huge metal robots bashing down buildings like bowling pins. The action sequences were quite cleverly crafted so as to use the various powers of all these different superheroes perfectly. Also, this is the film where I feel Hulk has the most realistic look yet.

              Coming to the cast, this film truly wins for me in what it manages to do with such an assortment of extraordinary persons. Too many cooks can spoil the broth, and similarly too many superheroes probably can destroy the world, or worse a film. However, The Avengers finds itself in the company of those rare films where ensemble casts work immaculately well with each other. The story gives enough room for each character to grow and flesh out without focusing on any one individual. Even someone as relatively common as Agent Phil Coulson, played by the lovely Clark Gregg, has an excellent character arc and story. Talking about them separately, the returning and already established superheroes- Ironman, Thor and Captain America, are as fun and heroic as ever. Robert Downey Jr. who plays the "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark/Ironman is cocky and epic and has some of the best lines in the film. The ginormous Chris Hemsworth is Thor, who is now humble, but still has the airs of a god and a complimenting presence. Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America is remains as the goody two-shoes, and adorably so. These three clash the most because they have each battled evil before, and they each think their own way is the right way.


             But I really appreciated the script when it came to the characters we didn't know as well. Jeremy Renner plays Clint Barton/Hawkeye, a character we knew nothing of, and he is given an interesting story. Another elusive character is that of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow played by Scarlett Johannson. This is definitely one of the best performances that she has ever given. She was cool and tough and though in no way Russian, pretty kickass nonetheless. Now Bruce Banner/Hulk has been portrayed twice before onscreen and though I like Edward Norton, I was never into the big green guy. However with Mark Ruffalo's nuanced meekness, the change becomes all the more amazing. While I still proclaim that all the characters were on an equal footing for me in this film, I have to give extra credit to Whedon for finally making me a fan of Hulk. I can now see what little boisterous boys see in him and I seriously admire that.

             Last but not the least, Tom Hiddleston as Loki was a fantastic supervillain. It is no mean feat for a relatively new comer like him to stand his own against so many more accomplished actors playing such juicy characters. But Hilddleston's Loki, with his eloquent and poisonous way of talking, chilly glare and snarly smile, and quite a commanding presence, is a serious antagonist for all our heroes. One scene where I especially liked him when he almost slithers down a flight of stairs in Germany before striking someone with his sceptre. It is quite an Alex DeLarge sort of moment. Also when he is ruthlessly insulting Natasha, I couldn't help but think about The Silence of the Lambs. These are some of my favourite negative characters, so you can understand how much I love Loki.


            All hats off to Whedon for what he has done with this film, against all odds. He has managed to make an impeccably entertaining film, with rich and memorable characters and some splendid action sequences. I had written in my review of Chronicle that it is the superhero film to beat this year. Well, the Avengers have just hauled its little telekinetic ass out of this world. This may just become the superhero film to beat ever. I hear people are already campaigning for The Avengers to get a SAG Best Ensemble nod, and I am totally joining the party. It is too early to say now, but this may also become my Harry Potter film of the year, which is the film I personally will dream about getting a Best Picture Oscar nomination in spite of well, reality.

            In conclusion I will just like to say that I threw a fit to watch The Avengers on the opening weekend, and I am a person whose aim in life is to get independence like a fully-functioning adult. However, I acted like a child to see this film, and that is just what some of us have to do sometimes. Of course it was completely worth it, but it is also fun to be a little kid for a while with the big explosions, the whole bunch of hilarity and the good old heroes beating the villains.  The Avengers let me be that little kid and it was marvelous (pun maybe intended).

Happy Day -April 4th!

"I have a lot of affection for Norman Bates and a lot of sympathy. So does the audience, I think. He`s not just a monster. He`s tortured. The real secret of the "Psycho" movies is that they`re  tragedies first and horror movies second."

- Anthony Perkins

"The Joker, so far, is definitely the most fun I`ve had with any character. He`s just out of control -- no empathy, he`s a sociopath, uh, a psychotic, mass-murdering clown. "

-Heath Ledger

"I have an Iron Man head at home and various other bits downstairs but my home isn’t a shrine to Iron Man. But I think it’s cool."

-Robert Downey Jr.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF THEM!!

WE CAN BE HEROES JUST FOR ONE DAY

The Oxford dictionary definitions of a hero are - “1) a person, typically a man, who is admired for their courage or outstanding achievements- a person of superhuman qualities. 2) the chief male character in a book, play, or film.”

Now three weeks ago I had a completely brilliant weekend, filled with heroes! However, I was too lazy or busy to write a post on it. Until now… *insert loud triumphant classical music*

They are:

1)      About A Boy- this follows the second definition more or less. I thought this was Hugh Grant’s best performance. He generally plays the charming elusive bachelor, but he perfected that image in this film. In addition, it is Nicholas Hoult’s first film…and he is sooo adorable. He is the other hero in the story. Hugh’s and Nicholas’s onscreen chemistry makes this story of a lonely man and a lonely boy and their relationship an absolute pleasure to watch. Hugh’s character Will thinks of himself as an island, until he meets Nicholas’s character Marcus. Marcus, with his suicidal hippie mum, played superbly by Toni Collette, finds in Will the missing father figure he needs in his life. With hilarious incidents that follow- like Will’s and Marcus’s crushes, a profane hip-hop CD, and Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly, their relationship deepens as each of our heroes find happiness and contentment in their lives. Their co-narration too is quite funny and enjoyable. They are both heroes in each other’s eyes and hence I consider this to be a hero flick. This is a classic example of sheer British comedy brilliance and I would recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour or a Hugh Grant/Nicholas Hoult lover. (I happen to be all of them)

2)      The Shawshank Redemption- First! This film has the highest ratings in IMDB. Why? Because it is one of the best films ever made, and one of the best I have ever seen. It tells the amazing story of a man, Andrew "Andy" Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, who is sent to Shawshank prison for the alleged murder of his cheating wife and her lover. There he meets Morgan Freeman’s character Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding along with other inmates. He also meets the diabolical and bigoted Warden Samuel Norton, played by Bob Gunton, who believed in two things: discipline and the Bible. Andy is no ordinary inmate, as Red, who is also the narrator, understands first hand. He was an educated banker and because of his persuasiveness and accounting abilities, he is able to rise in the prison. He does all kinds of things in the prison and Red, who is his right-hand man and also the supplier of all things needed inside the prison helps him always. Andy spends nearly two decades in the Shawshank prison after which he does something that no one expects and gets brilliantly away with it. I really don’t want to tell what happens in this film, as it HAS to be watched. It is based on a book by Stephen King but I can’t imagine it being any better than the film. Tim Robbins’ acting is so awe-inspiring. He is one of the best heroes ever portrayed in the silver screen. He is brilliant and idealistic and such a complete leader and role model. He makes one want to be like him, or be friends with him. Morgan Freeman is a good sidekick too. I get such happiness out of films like these because they are masterpieces. They teach and inspire and give us hope and make life brilliant. MUST WATCH!

3)      Ironman 2- Again First definition but especially focussing on the ‘a person of superhuman qualities’ part. Ironman is not only a hero, but a superhero and a brilliantly funny, careless, reckless and narcissistic one at that. But it works. Why? Because Robert Downey Jr. is Ironman. Robert Downey Jr. is the coolest actor to ever walk on this planet. Ironman would be nothing without him. And the world would be nothing without Ironman. It is the best action super hero movie franchise that has ever come out. I love Batman etc. but the level of Awesome that exudes from every shot…I do not have words. Plus the remaining cast- Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Favreau is GENIUS!!! The action, the dialogues, the effects, the Ironman suits and drones makes this film an action gem and I don’t want to give the synopsis because everyone must have watched it already. If one hasn’t, he or she must because it is THE CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE! Blogs cannot describe it.

4)      One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest- it is sort of both the definitions, except the fact that he is absolutely mental. And if any actor can play a mental hero, it is the seraphic master of acting Jack Nicholson. If you don’t believe this description, just watch the one-minute long shot in the film which just focuses on his face. Emotions and expressions ooze out of every little square millimetre of his face. It’s breathtaking to watch. And the film is just so good. It is about a man Randle P. Murphy who is sent to a mental institution after numerous criminal offences to be examined. There he meets all the other inmates, especially Chief who was the narrator in the book. Also, he meets his adversary, the chief nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher. He is loud and different and clever, she is calm and tyrannical and clever too. He wants to make other inmates feel good about themselves, while she undermines and controls everyone with perfected subtlety, except Murphy sees through it. Their clash of wits and trying to suppress each other’s authoritative influence is what the film is mostly about- with all the insanity around it. It has an excellent ending. I love the fact on how the hero and the villain have the characteristics of each other- McMurphy is a rebellious criminal and Ratched is an excellent nurse. The film is among the only three films to have won the Big Five at the Oscars- Best Film, Best Director for Milos Forman, Best Actor for Nicholson, Best Actress for Fletcher and Best Screenplay for Laurence Hauben, Bo Goldman. Again a Must Watch!

So with this my hero weekend ended. I also watched Schindler’s List a day later. I think I’ll write a review about it sometime later. The reason why I did not include it in this list is that even though Oskar Schindler is a hero, a real-life one no less and Liam Neeson is spectacular, I was in love with Ralph Fiennes in this film. And he played the evil, apathetic, cruel, murderous Nazi Amon Goth- not a hero, but a complete villain. But his performance, which is considered to be one of the best ever, just like Nicholson’s, was so chillingly good that I cannot help but hero-worship him. And also Ralph Fiennes’ face was made to be seen in black and white, it is just that gorgeous! This too is a must watch film.

HEROES FTW!!!