Who else but Clint Eastwood can carry a Western like this? I have seen many movies of John Wayne (personal favs. Stagecouch (1939) and The Searches (1956)), but I almost always prefer this man with no name to ubercool and overweight cowboy Wayne. Clint has become a great director off late but we can see his directing genius as early as this movie which came more than 35 years back.
Stranger comes to town, has an agenda in mind and carries his plans out meticulously. Sounds familiar and most of the Westerns have this theme. But when Clint is the stranger, things are a bit different. He is probably the most remorse-less cowboy I have ever seen portrayed. The rough rider comes out of the prairies and dissapears back into them. In High Plains Drifter, which Clint himself directed, a gunfighter comes to the small mining town of Largo, and tries to bring the people together in their fight against three outlaws who are about to attack the town. This is the basic premise on which is built more intrigue and a hidden motive. In the process of bringing townmen together, Clinton tears the town apart, creates more problems than he solves and ultimately seeks his revenge without a trace of compunction.
High Plains Drifter is probably the darkest Western Clint ever directed. Unforgiven (1992) is a close second and surely more mature in terms of direction but this movie is a beast. The hero is a ghost, does not blink before opening his gun, treats women like dirt and leaves without a trace. We are not told what his motives are until the second half by which it becomes clear about his plans in Largo. The movie is full of excellent dialogue and non-stop surprises. The screenplay is tight without a dull moment. There is no love in this movie. Only vendetta and Clint delivers it in full style. A must watch for any fan of Clint Eastwood and/or Westerns. This is one of the great film-noirish westerns from the 70s.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Paul Krugman - Nobel Economics 2008
This just in..
Paul Krugman of Princeton University wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for the year 2008 "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity".
Congratulation Paul, as much as you and I differ on politics (you hating Obama), we still agree on one thing...free trade, free trade for the dumb! :-). I am a regular reader of your NY Times columns. I have also read some of your books. I admire the way you write without jargon so non-intellectual people like me can understand the complex world of economics. You are easily the most popular economist ever to win a Nobel!
Paul Krugman of Princeton University wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for the year 2008 "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity".
Congratulation Paul, as much as you and I differ on politics (you hating Obama), we still agree on one thing...free trade, free trade for the dumb! :-). I am a regular reader of your NY Times columns. I have also read some of your books. I admire the way you write without jargon so non-intellectual people like me can understand the complex world of economics. You are easily the most popular economist ever to win a Nobel!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Blame it on the PC :)
"The whole thing, starting with the subprime, is the fault of the computer. I was just talking to a banker the other day, and not that long ago, 20 years ago, an investment banking house, let’s say, Lehman Brothers, when it got a package of mortgages, they would go through every mortgage, every single one, and they’d throw out the ones that just seemed absurd, they just wouldn’t accept them. Things used to arrive on paper. Today things arrive on a screen, and a screen is back lit, and one of the biggest pains in the neck is trying to read something dully written and complicated on a computer screen. It will drive you nuts—I mean, try it sometime. Now they say, ‘Oh, to hell with it,’ and they just accept the whole package. And if it hadn’t been for that, they’d be going over each loan. What’s happened is the backward march of technology."
-- Tom Wolfe
-- Tom Wolfe
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Android, Paranoid!
Google's Android, based on HTC's Dream, is gonna be out on Oct 22. I first heard about Google getting into telephony a couple of years back. Apparently Goog has already sent out a few hundred phones out in Silicon Valley for real-world testing. Here are some useful links on the phone, if you are curious!- code.google.com/android/
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJHYqE0RDg
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Android
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJHYqE0RDg
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Android
Android appears to be bulkier than iPhone and surely not as slick. Glu Mobile chief Greg Ballard said last June that Google's system would help developers to take advantage of data, especiallycontact lists and Global Positioning System information stored on the phone. The phone will hit select markets on Oct 22, so we have to wait and see what tech's most promising company has for us. But analysts are cooling off a bit since most think that Android is not too radically different from existing phones. But surely, this has to be the most eagerly watched launch since the iPhone. Android signed with T-Mobile (iPhone with AT&T), and T-Mobile does not have as extensive networks as AT&T does. Also, personally I am curious about the O/S in Android since HTC uses Windows Mobile and just imaging a Google product using Microsoft technology seems weird to me. Besides, I personally hate Windows Mobile since I believe what works on desktop will not necessarily work well in hand. WM has progressed well since inception and has some nice syncing features with PC's but there is a long way to go. Will this Android makes the Apples and Nokias paranoid? Gotta see, its exciting...I love anything Google so this is an exciting time for me although I gotta admit that Android is surely not bringing sexy back, at least in looks. Who knows, maybe Android will run killer applications!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Greed isnt good, look it just killed Wall St.
Wall Street, as we know it, is dying. The masters of the universe are turning into mendicants. I think there is a semblance of sanity dawning over this iconic street. Starting with the demise of Bear Stearns, now Lehman, most certain death of Merrill (owned by BOA now), things have turned so ugly that the last of the Mohicans Goldman and Morgan are being converted to corporate banks. Thats the final nail in the coffin for the sexy world of investment banking. For some reason, I-banking had a glamor unparalleled by any other profession. Big ticket deals, high profits and cuts of successful trading, sex appeal of M&A, etc etc have all built an aura on Wall St. As one of my best friend has pointed out recently, this episode has shined light on the WASP model of capitalism. Profits are private, losses are public, how disgusting.
These ivory tower, ivy-league educated bankers come up with the most esoteric and exotic derivative transactions, make big cuts from them when the going is good and keep spreading the greed. They are the role models for younger generations in undergrads. The stylish I-bankers tying their laces on the way to work, with a starbucks in hand and ready to bite the ass of the bear. Whey they face the comeuppance for their rotten transactions (which most of the exotic deals such as Mortgage Backed Securities, IOs, POs, complex derivatives, securitized assets are anyway), they beg Govertment to bail them out. Actually, if Govt. doesnt bail them out, its us the common investors who get screwed since there will be a systemic collapse. Bottomline, greed makes people blind to reason. Gordon Gecko is wrong, greed isnt good!
There is no value creation from these exotic transactions. Nothing positive happens to the society. Warren Buffet has always insisted on the perils of these derivatives. Its high time we realize them. In school they taught me that derivatives are used for hedging, well yeah and I am Batman. They are almost always used for speculating and the underlying is stock or bond or bullion or commodity and hence everything is tied together in a complex mess. The undoing of one is the undoing of the other. No synergies created here, only a zero sum game!
I am happy the shine is lost from the sex appeal of I-banking. The Goldmans and Morgans of the worlds will now be like the State Bank of India or Bank of America or Bank of Nigeria etc. Goldman and Morgan will now take deposits and you can have checking accounts in them. They will now report to Fed Reserve and not SEC. They will just become banks, only a little bit more sophisticated in look and feel from ordinary banks. Which Ivy leage B school grad would want to work for, say Syndicate Bank?
Check this. The US Govt. is going to spend a staggering $700 billion to salvage this home loan mess. This monster that Wall St. created is going to cost the Americans a lot of money. Some facts now. The deficit for this budget year, which ends on Sept. 30 2008, is expected to rise to $407 billion, a figure that is more than double the $161.5 billion imbalance for 2007. The Bush administration is estimating that the deficit for this budget year will hit $482 billion, a record.
And that forecast doesn't include the $200 billion the administration committed to spending two weeks ago when it took over the nation's two biggest mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the $80 or so billon the US Govt. put into AIG, and the $700 billion the administration is now seeking to soak up the bad mortgage-backed securities. The legislation Congress passed this summer that gave the authority to rescue Fannie and Freddie boosted the limit on the national debt by $800 billion to a mind-numbing $10.6 trillion and the new package the Govt. is working on will further the debt limit to $11.3 trillion. Now think about the Iraq war (cost upwards of $2 trillion according to various estimates) and imagine the mess the US Govt. is in. All that glitters isnt gold. It takes a lot of hard work now to fix the American financial system and its important, very important that someone fixes it sometime soon because the world needs a healthy US. Its time to look at the problem square in the eye. I sincerely doubt war-mongering McCain is the man for the job and I have no doubt that Obama has the right intentions if not the vast experience. But sometimes, all it needs to fix a mess like this is chutzpah and not experience.
Remember the post-Milken S&L crises? The US Govt. stepped in then too, to undo the wrong doings of Wall St. That tab was around $700 billion again and it was a mess. But this housing bad loans seems a bigger mess and might take longer to resolve. Maybe, the title of Sin City should move from Las Vegas to Wall St., perhaps Sin Street! The smart bankers who wrote this mess and orchestrated this economic crime should have some shame when they look at the mortgage valuation mess they made. Someone somewhere said this and I quote "If these guys were so smart, why couldn't they value a mortgage properly and insist on proper documentation and collateral?".
These ivory tower, ivy-league educated bankers come up with the most esoteric and exotic derivative transactions, make big cuts from them when the going is good and keep spreading the greed. They are the role models for younger generations in undergrads. The stylish I-bankers tying their laces on the way to work, with a starbucks in hand and ready to bite the ass of the bear. Whey they face the comeuppance for their rotten transactions (which most of the exotic deals such as Mortgage Backed Securities, IOs, POs, complex derivatives, securitized assets are anyway), they beg Govertment to bail them out. Actually, if Govt. doesnt bail them out, its us the common investors who get screwed since there will be a systemic collapse. Bottomline, greed makes people blind to reason. Gordon Gecko is wrong, greed isnt good!
There is no value creation from these exotic transactions. Nothing positive happens to the society. Warren Buffet has always insisted on the perils of these derivatives. Its high time we realize them. In school they taught me that derivatives are used for hedging, well yeah and I am Batman. They are almost always used for speculating and the underlying is stock or bond or bullion or commodity and hence everything is tied together in a complex mess. The undoing of one is the undoing of the other. No synergies created here, only a zero sum game!
I am happy the shine is lost from the sex appeal of I-banking. The Goldmans and Morgans of the worlds will now be like the State Bank of India or Bank of America or Bank of Nigeria etc. Goldman and Morgan will now take deposits and you can have checking accounts in them. They will now report to Fed Reserve and not SEC. They will just become banks, only a little bit more sophisticated in look and feel from ordinary banks. Which Ivy leage B school grad would want to work for, say Syndicate Bank?
Check this. The US Govt. is going to spend a staggering $700 billion to salvage this home loan mess. This monster that Wall St. created is going to cost the Americans a lot of money. Some facts now. The deficit for this budget year, which ends on Sept. 30 2008, is expected to rise to $407 billion, a figure that is more than double the $161.5 billion imbalance for 2007. The Bush administration is estimating that the deficit for this budget year will hit $482 billion, a record.
And that forecast doesn't include the $200 billion the administration committed to spending two weeks ago when it took over the nation's two biggest mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the $80 or so billon the US Govt. put into AIG, and the $700 billion the administration is now seeking to soak up the bad mortgage-backed securities. The legislation Congress passed this summer that gave the authority to rescue Fannie and Freddie boosted the limit on the national debt by $800 billion to a mind-numbing $10.6 trillion and the new package the Govt. is working on will further the debt limit to $11.3 trillion. Now think about the Iraq war (cost upwards of $2 trillion according to various estimates) and imagine the mess the US Govt. is in. All that glitters isnt gold. It takes a lot of hard work now to fix the American financial system and its important, very important that someone fixes it sometime soon because the world needs a healthy US. Its time to look at the problem square in the eye. I sincerely doubt war-mongering McCain is the man for the job and I have no doubt that Obama has the right intentions if not the vast experience. But sometimes, all it needs to fix a mess like this is chutzpah and not experience.
Remember the post-Milken S&L crises? The US Govt. stepped in then too, to undo the wrong doings of Wall St. That tab was around $700 billion again and it was a mess. But this housing bad loans seems a bigger mess and might take longer to resolve. Maybe, the title of Sin City should move from Las Vegas to Wall St., perhaps Sin Street! The smart bankers who wrote this mess and orchestrated this economic crime should have some shame when they look at the mortgage valuation mess they made. Someone somewhere said this and I quote "If these guys were so smart, why couldn't they value a mortgage properly and insist on proper documentation and collateral?".
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Beat, Scarred But Not Out
This is the second economic turmoil I am seeing in my professional life already. First was the .com crash which I was privvy to from close quarters since I was born in that boulevard of broken dreams. I enjoyed the exuberence with limit-less expense accounts and daily festivities, which all got to an abrupt end when people started realizing that it makes no sense to fund Pets.com! But when the party lasted, it felt like there would be no tomorrow. I miss those days! That crisis came from funds which invested in everything from online petfood to online astronomy websites. This second crisis is again started by banks which invested in shady real estate transactions and the subsequent fall of their prices. Credit rating companies, where are thou? How many times have we seen these ratings companies fall flat? Why did they not proactively whistle-blow before all this crap started anyway? Its because those ratings companies work like white elephants in ivory towers.
I grew up wanting to get into banking and dreamt of working for the Goldmans and Lehmans of this world. I ended up doing something totally different and I dont have an iota of interest in banking now but it feels strangely sad to watch the demise of banks that survived railroad bond collapses and great depressions. Pundits say Morgan could be next, AIG could not survive without taxpayers money and Wamu is in death rattle. ML is no more independent and is taken over by a corporate bank. These really are strange times indeed.
My stock investments tanked in India and DJ wiped out close to $1 trillion of wealth in a few days. As Dollar gets stronger to Rupee these days and Oil hitting below $100, we are facing some weird situations in India to what we faced few months back, rising crude and falling dollar. The vicissitudes of life. The smartass analysts give the same reasons for these strange about-turns as they gave for the vice versas. As I read these opinions and analysts reports, I get the same feeling that kept me away from making a career in banking. Analysts know nothing and star analysts are even worse. If their reports come when the market timing is right, they are stars or they fall from grace. When times change and they do in days in these markets, all analysts are wrong so why pay for any analysis anyway? And when banks have trading divisions and corp. advisory (M&A, etc), the Chinese walls usually disappear as Elliot Spitzer knew before his fall from grace. I have stock reports from star analysts that cry BUY BUY and those stock turned out to be damp squibs soon. It baffles me that people actually pay for bunkum. DCF does not hold here brothers! Those approximations sound kewl in class rooms but in real life, seldom do they come true!
But like the wiseguys say, what dont kill us makes us more strong (wrong English but sounds right), I am sure I will be up again as will the US economy and I pray for it. I dont know about you but I strongly believe that since we are so integrated globally, when America does well, we will do well and vice versa. Besides, I just want the US to do well for many other reasons. I hope America gets back on its feet stronger than ever and shows its resilience to the doubting thomasses who are predicting doom. We are down, we rise, we are down and we rise again....
What better! Obama is leading in the polls again..I would be sad to watch a hockey mom with lip stick stand in the way to his astounding run.
My stock investments tanked in India and DJ wiped out close to $1 trillion of wealth in a few days. As Dollar gets stronger to Rupee these days and Oil hitting below $100, we are facing some weird situations in India to what we faced few months back, rising crude and falling dollar. The vicissitudes of life. The smartass analysts give the same reasons for these strange about-turns as they gave for the vice versas. As I read these opinions and analysts reports, I get the same feeling that kept me away from making a career in banking. Analysts know nothing and star analysts are even worse. If their reports come when the market timing is right, they are stars or they fall from grace. When times change and they do in days in these markets, all analysts are wrong so why pay for any analysis anyway? And when banks have trading divisions and corp. advisory (M&A, etc), the Chinese walls usually disappear as Elliot Spitzer knew before his fall from grace. I have stock reports from star analysts that cry BUY BUY and those stock turned out to be damp squibs soon. It baffles me that people actually pay for bunkum. DCF does not hold here brothers! Those approximations sound kewl in class rooms but in real life, seldom do they come true!
But like the wiseguys say, what dont kill us makes us more strong (wrong English but sounds right), I am sure I will be up again as will the US economy and I pray for it. I dont know about you but I strongly believe that since we are so integrated globally, when America does well, we will do well and vice versa. Besides, I just want the US to do well for many other reasons. I hope America gets back on its feet stronger than ever and shows its resilience to the doubting thomasses who are predicting doom. We are down, we rise, we are down and we rise again....
What better! Obama is leading in the polls again..I would be sad to watch a hockey mom with lip stick stand in the way to his astounding run.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A Soil of Bones...
The poor are fast forgotten,
They outnumber the living, but where are all their bones?
For every man alive there are a million dead.
Has their dust gone into earth that it is never seen?
There should be no air to breathe, with it so thick. No space for wind to blow, nor rain to fall;
Earth should be a cloud of dust, a soil of bones. With no room even, for our skeletons.
- Sacheverell Sitwell, 'Agamemnon's Tomb'
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
R.I.P. Richard Wright
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today, And then one day you find ten years have got behind you, No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking, And racing around to come up behind you again, The sun is the same in the relative way, but you’re older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thank You Rick Rubin, The Mojo is Back in Black!
DM is growing on me like a bacterium growing on a spoiled potato. This album is special. Yes, some tracks are a smart rehash of Killridemasterjustice, but what the hell! All Nightmare Long, Suicide & Redemption and Broken, Beat & Scarred are kicking my ass from morning to night. Rick Rubin, you did a terrific job to motivate and get the boys back on track, so here is a heartfelt, balls-out thank you for bringing back America's greatest metal export!
Death Magnetic is exactly what Rolling Stone calls it: "the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant".
Death Magnetic is exactly what Rolling Stone calls it: "the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant".
What don't kill Ya make you more strong!!!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A Pop Culture Blitzkrieg...
A true summer blockbuster indeed. But what makes The Dark Knight (TDK), such a cultural phenomenon as it stands today? Only after 10 days of release the movie has raked in about half a billion dollar bounty at the global box office and more than three hundred milion in the US alone. Along the way, scores of records were broken. Not just financially, but critically too the movie is a phenomenon. Displacing Godfather from number 1 (with more 150,000 votes as of July 29,08) spot on IMDB Top 250 list, getting a score of 95% on the highly respected Rotten Tomatoes website and getting glowing reviews from the east coast to the west, TDK seems to have reached a cross-section of audience that is bewildering, at the least. A real pop culture phenomenon indeed...
Movie producers and businessmen often talk about what is known as a four-quadrant hit. A movie that appeals to kids, women, adults and old people. If you think of such movies in the last decade, there are only a handful that come to mind. First, Titanic (although it dint appeal to me), Spiderman, Pirates, LOTR and maybe Indiana Jones. Titanic was leaning more towards young women and older audience not men and kids. Spiderman and LOTR had a great appeal to kids and young adults not older audiences. Women did not digg too much into the adventures of Indiana Jones or the fantacies of LOTR. But TDK, a movie which is not supposed to be shown to kids below 13, seems to have broken all these barriers. Similar to Pirates, which had a mass appeal to almost all the four in the quadrant. Tough thing to accomplish, since its only a comic book movie and besides, it has already been done to death before. Think of this. Before Batman Begins' relaunch in 2005, there were four Batman movies so, for the general audience (not the hardcore fanboys like me), TDK is in fact a sixth Batman movie. Would you watch a sixth Ironman or X-men with this kind of anticipation that TDK is getting? I doubt it. We have seen these characters before (Joker in 1990 in Batman and Two Face in 1994 in Batman Forever) and we also remember Jack Nicholson's Joker very fondly. But TDK rebooted all those memories. Well, I realize public memory is short but the point is, the true value of a franchisee is only known to be appealing when it keeps churing out hits after hits, right? Batfranchisee was sent to grave in 1996 thanks to the efforts (or lack of) of Joel Shumacher (well, he also took a lot of rap of doing so anyways) and after 12 years, we again have another Batmovie, and a true blockbuster, unstoppable behemoth at that.
What is this appeal? Why are people dressing like the Joker and wearing capes to movie theaters? Why are some watching it more than 3 times on screen? Why, even critics (New York Times, Wall Street Journal) who gave terrible reviews of TDK were vehemently attacked by fanboys (I never did, I respect others opinions and agree to disagree). Screening after screening is booked out weeks ahead by repeat audience. Are we seeing a true pop culture blitkrieg?
I strongly think following points offer some insight into this blitzkrieg.
- Heath Ledger: Initially, the movie created fantastic anticipation on the web by the supern marketing campaign launched by Warner, for the Joker. Through clever websites (http://www.whysoserious.com/ etc) and Harvey Dent's campaign ridicule (I believe in Harvey Dent too), and the official Joker look of Heath launch last year-end, the response from fans and others was sky high in this movie. Every serious movie buff knows the caliber of Heath. I havent seen all his movies, but I did see some and to imagine that man was playing Joker was amazing to believe (Watch TDK and Brokeback, back to back to see what I am saying). He is one fine young actor, and from the day TDK launched, the word was out. HIS PERFORMANCE IS TERRIFIC! Heath nailed the Joker, if you read the comics like I do, you will agree and even if you dont read the comics, I am sure you will agree. He created a psychotic, purposeless fiend, who just loves mayhem for the sake of mayhem. His lines, he walk, everything was bang on the money. Well, finally, we all know that the pent-up demand to see TDK was sky high since Heath passed away six months before TDK hit the screens. So, this factor was really crucial to pique the consumer interest. Warner did a fantastic job not to overdo the hype since Heath was no more. I am sure he must be smiling looking at this below, well, why so serious?
- Other cast: This cast can do Shakespear forget a comic book adaptation. When you have Bale, Cain, Freeman, Eckard and Oldman can pull any damn story off on the big screen and make it believable. I agree Joker was terrific, but all these guys above deserve praise in their own right. TDK would not have been possible without these fine contributions.
- Economy: What? Yes, economy. The gas prices hit the highest before TDK released and housing problem continue (Fanni mae, freddi mac), while the uncertainty on the political front for the Presidential race is higher than ever. The consumer wants to escape from all this dammit! I want 2 hours of entertainment that will make me forget the real world outside. TDK gave that vicarious pleasure that no other summer tentpole came close this year. With breaktaking action, minimal CGI, great acting and a superb narrative, Nolan nailed it with TDK.
- Chris Nolan: Last and not the least factor, whats TDK without Nolan at the helm? The visionary, along with his brother wrote the screenplay, and hand picked everything in the movie and eveything on screen. The batmobile became tumbler, batcycle became batpod, the caves were left out for a rad apartment overlooking Gotham. The gorgoyles were gone, replaced by slick city scrapers. The nipples were replaced by torn flesh wounds :), and the blockbuster theme of Danny was replaced by the psychedelic music of Hans. Nolan did to TDK what I guess no other director could have done, he got an element of reality to this otherwise unbelievable franchisee. He also got a seriousness and sense of brooding you will get when you finish reading say, Miller's The Year One or The Dark Knight Returns. He got a sense of beauty and chemistry between the hero and villain on screen not seen since The Good, The Bad and The Ugly..you guess who are what in TDK. He also brought the complexity of gangster movies like Godfather, Heat and Untouchables into, of all things, Batman movies. Without Nolan nothing would have been the same with these two Bat movies he made. I just hope and wish, he gives us one more, or many more!
All these factors, along with astounding word of mouth contributed generously in making TDK one of the finest commercial entertainment seen in a long time and the reception vouches for the quality of the film making. I rated TDK as the best comic hero movie ever made and of course the best Batman screen adaptation ever. But I never said, its the greatest movie ever made, nor will I say its the greatest comic book based movie ever. I have a strong contender for that title, which is Road to Perdition (by another great British film-maker Sam Mendes). But what we are seeing as a public reaction to TDK is truly unprecedented. People read comics for escape reality. I know, I do it too. Well, all movies are escape mechanisms anyways and comic book movies even so. Can you imagine how ludicrous the idea in general is if I tell you that, there is a billionaire strapping young lad in my town who dresses like a rodent at nights to fight crime? Hihihiihiih, but I like the idea.
If art can wipe the dust away from the soul, the dust of everyday living, so be it dammit. As expressionist as early German film-makers like Fritz Lang, as noir as Billy Wilder and as sizzling as Coppola, Nolan did a great realistic take to Batman, which is quite incredible. This is a true pop culture phenomenon; to appeal to the mass audience, including the few "more enlightended" ones including and hitting a pulse that hasnt been hit in a long long time. And indeed this is a swell blitzkrieg!!!
Movie producers and businessmen often talk about what is known as a four-quadrant hit. A movie that appeals to kids, women, adults and old people. If you think of such movies in the last decade, there are only a handful that come to mind. First, Titanic (although it dint appeal to me), Spiderman, Pirates, LOTR and maybe Indiana Jones. Titanic was leaning more towards young women and older audience not men and kids. Spiderman and LOTR had a great appeal to kids and young adults not older audiences. Women did not digg too much into the adventures of Indiana Jones or the fantacies of LOTR. But TDK, a movie which is not supposed to be shown to kids below 13, seems to have broken all these barriers. Similar to Pirates, which had a mass appeal to almost all the four in the quadrant. Tough thing to accomplish, since its only a comic book movie and besides, it has already been done to death before. Think of this. Before Batman Begins' relaunch in 2005, there were four Batman movies so, for the general audience (not the hardcore fanboys like me), TDK is in fact a sixth Batman movie. Would you watch a sixth Ironman or X-men with this kind of anticipation that TDK is getting? I doubt it. We have seen these characters before (Joker in 1990 in Batman and Two Face in 1994 in Batman Forever) and we also remember Jack Nicholson's Joker very fondly. But TDK rebooted all those memories. Well, I realize public memory is short but the point is, the true value of a franchisee is only known to be appealing when it keeps churing out hits after hits, right? Batfranchisee was sent to grave in 1996 thanks to the efforts (or lack of) of Joel Shumacher (well, he also took a lot of rap of doing so anyways) and after 12 years, we again have another Batmovie, and a true blockbuster, unstoppable behemoth at that.
What is this appeal? Why are people dressing like the Joker and wearing capes to movie theaters? Why are some watching it more than 3 times on screen? Why, even critics (New York Times, Wall Street Journal) who gave terrible reviews of TDK were vehemently attacked by fanboys (I never did, I respect others opinions and agree to disagree). Screening after screening is booked out weeks ahead by repeat audience. Are we seeing a true pop culture blitkrieg?
I strongly think following points offer some insight into this blitzkrieg.
- Heath Ledger: Initially, the movie created fantastic anticipation on the web by the supern marketing campaign launched by Warner, for the Joker. Through clever websites (http://www.whysoserious.com/ etc) and Harvey Dent's campaign ridicule (I believe in Harvey Dent too), and the official Joker look of Heath launch last year-end, the response from fans and others was sky high in this movie. Every serious movie buff knows the caliber of Heath. I havent seen all his movies, but I did see some and to imagine that man was playing Joker was amazing to believe (Watch TDK and Brokeback, back to back to see what I am saying). He is one fine young actor, and from the day TDK launched, the word was out. HIS PERFORMANCE IS TERRIFIC! Heath nailed the Joker, if you read the comics like I do, you will agree and even if you dont read the comics, I am sure you will agree. He created a psychotic, purposeless fiend, who just loves mayhem for the sake of mayhem. His lines, he walk, everything was bang on the money. Well, finally, we all know that the pent-up demand to see TDK was sky high since Heath passed away six months before TDK hit the screens. So, this factor was really crucial to pique the consumer interest. Warner did a fantastic job not to overdo the hype since Heath was no more. I am sure he must be smiling looking at this below, well, why so serious?
- Other cast: This cast can do Shakespear forget a comic book adaptation. When you have Bale, Cain, Freeman, Eckard and Oldman can pull any damn story off on the big screen and make it believable. I agree Joker was terrific, but all these guys above deserve praise in their own right. TDK would not have been possible without these fine contributions.
- Economy: What? Yes, economy. The gas prices hit the highest before TDK released and housing problem continue (Fanni mae, freddi mac), while the uncertainty on the political front for the Presidential race is higher than ever. The consumer wants to escape from all this dammit! I want 2 hours of entertainment that will make me forget the real world outside. TDK gave that vicarious pleasure that no other summer tentpole came close this year. With breaktaking action, minimal CGI, great acting and a superb narrative, Nolan nailed it with TDK.
- Chris Nolan: Last and not the least factor, whats TDK without Nolan at the helm? The visionary, along with his brother wrote the screenplay, and hand picked everything in the movie and eveything on screen. The batmobile became tumbler, batcycle became batpod, the caves were left out for a rad apartment overlooking Gotham. The gorgoyles were gone, replaced by slick city scrapers. The nipples were replaced by torn flesh wounds :), and the blockbuster theme of Danny was replaced by the psychedelic music of Hans. Nolan did to TDK what I guess no other director could have done, he got an element of reality to this otherwise unbelievable franchisee. He also got a seriousness and sense of brooding you will get when you finish reading say, Miller's The Year One or The Dark Knight Returns. He got a sense of beauty and chemistry between the hero and villain on screen not seen since The Good, The Bad and The Ugly..you guess who are what in TDK. He also brought the complexity of gangster movies like Godfather, Heat and Untouchables into, of all things, Batman movies. Without Nolan nothing would have been the same with these two Bat movies he made. I just hope and wish, he gives us one more, or many more!
All these factors, along with astounding word of mouth contributed generously in making TDK one of the finest commercial entertainment seen in a long time and the reception vouches for the quality of the film making. I rated TDK as the best comic hero movie ever made and of course the best Batman screen adaptation ever. But I never said, its the greatest movie ever made, nor will I say its the greatest comic book based movie ever. I have a strong contender for that title, which is Road to Perdition (by another great British film-maker Sam Mendes). But what we are seeing as a public reaction to TDK is truly unprecedented. People read comics for escape reality. I know, I do it too. Well, all movies are escape mechanisms anyways and comic book movies even so. Can you imagine how ludicrous the idea in general is if I tell you that, there is a billionaire strapping young lad in my town who dresses like a rodent at nights to fight crime? Hihihiihiih, but I like the idea.
If art can wipe the dust away from the soul, the dust of everyday living, so be it dammit. As expressionist as early German film-makers like Fritz Lang, as noir as Billy Wilder and as sizzling as Coppola, Nolan did a great realistic take to Batman, which is quite incredible. This is a true pop culture phenomenon; to appeal to the mass audience, including the few "more enlightended" ones including and hitting a pulse that hasnt been hit in a long long time. And indeed this is a swell blitzkrieg!!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Remember The Titans - John Huston
I thought I should write about the man who made The Maltese Falcon, since I just watched it a few days back. In this series, I will write about the few directors who contributed greatly to the art of film noir.
A man of many interests and talents, John Huston, made great contributions to cinema in general and noir art in particular. His stellar career began in 1941 with a film many consider as an all time noir classic, The Maltese Falcon. This movie single handedly established Humphrey Bogart, who was playing second fiddles till then, as a superstar. This classic combination of Huston and Humphrey went on to make many many classics. Some of the more notable ones include Key Largo (1948) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1949).
Huston also made several crime thrillers with other actors. The most notable of which is The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which is again considered as one of the most original heist movies (even inspiring the classic French heist movie Du Riffifi (1955).
Huston won an Oscar for Tresure of Sierra Madre and received 15 Oscar nominations in the course of his career. He also went on to make classics such as The African Queen (1951) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975), the latter remembered fondly today for stellar acting by Michael Cane and Sean Connery.
An avid painter, Huston painted throughout his life and was particularly interested in Cubism and the American school of Synchromism. He died in 1987, having received an Oscar nomination just two years earlier for Prizzi's Honor (1985), the oldest person ever to be nominated for the Best Director award.
If you want to check Huston's work out, start something like this, these are my top five Huston flicks (as of this year):
- The Maltese Falcon
- Key Largo
- Treasure of Sierra Madre
- The Asphalt Jungle
- The African Queen
Friday, July 18, 2008
TDK - Review
Watched TDK this morning on Imax, in all its splendor. First thought, how do you create a work of art? Secondly, how do you create a mythos, established in fiction and actually make a grown up person believe it? How can you make summer blockbusters brainy? Well, I dont know about that but I surely know this. TDK is not what I thoght it would be, its more than anything I ever imagined Chris Nolan would make Batman comics to be.
First of, I am a huge fan of the Batman universe. Although not all, I have collected a large amount of the comics from the past seven odd decades. Loved Batman Begins and hated everything before it. Besides, I admire the work of Chris Nolan, Chris Bale and a large part of the main cast in these two movies (BB, TDK). So, you could say I am biased. Let me be for now.
The movie begins right where Begins ends. If you remember, BB ends with Gordon telling Batman that there is a new criminal in town and he goes by the name Joker (Armed robbery, double homicide, a penchant for theatrical...), so TDK starts with a armed robbery and the escalation of crime in Gotham. And escalation it is. The action keeps flowing from one scene to another as we watch in high anticipation what to expect next. On the edge of my seat for most of the movie, what I found remarkable was that although the action was loud, it never took you away from the narrative. It was an essential part of the plot. Things did not get blown up for show off or to be just loud. The special effects are fantastic but the beauty is in them not overwhelming the storyline. Right after the bank robbery we have Batman on his toes along with Gordon and the new knight in town, Harvey Dent.
Meanwhile, a triangular love plot develops between Dent, Bruce Wayne and Rachelwithout really being corny or too sentimental. On the one hand, you have Joker creating mayhem after another in the city. A deeply conflicted hero (is he?), addressing his personal demons as well as his public, Batman is constantly kept on his toes by this Joker. Along the way, Batman makes his first international appearence in what I thought was a homage Nolan paid to the James Bond movies he loves. There is a great action sequence in Hong Kong that made me numb with happiness since I always wanted to see Batman outside Continental United States, like he does in the comics. Back home in Gotham, things are only getting worse. Crime bosses (Falcone famly) conspire with the Joker to make the lives of Dent, Gordon and Batman miserable. As crime escalates into crazy proportions we have the creation of another monster, Two Face. With some classic special effects, we finally see Two Face in all his gore. This version of the Two Face will make Tommy Lee Jones' version piss in his split pants. Finally, you have a tragic confrontation of all main characters at the end, while one of the main characters is killed along the way. What a beautiful tragedy that left me with more questions than I had at the end of BB. Starting with hope, TDK slowly but steadily disintegrates into anarchy and complete chaos by the end of it all. Can you ask for more if you are a true batfan?
Had Heath Ledger been still alive, I would have loved his Joker just the same. Its out now, so go and gauge for yourself, his portrayal of the clown price of crime is bang on the target. Drawing inspirations from perverts and punks as diverse as Alex (A Clockwork Orange) and Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols), Heath delivers a maelstrom of performance that gets under your skin and stays there. When he is not around on screen, I missed him. When he is on screen, I could not take my eyes off him. Right now, I can hear him wispering in my ears, "Why so serious"? I dont know about the Oscar hype, but here is the lowdown, this Joker is the creepiest and most menacing comic villains on the silverscreen, without even a close second! The genius of Heath is in keeping things simple and true to the core. Whats the core? If you check the first appearence of the sinister jester/arch criminal/masterfiend Joker in Batman 02 (1938), you will know where Heath in TDK is coming from, you will know how close he stayed to the source. Lets also not forget that Joker actually is based in The Man Who Laughs (1926), which Heath quoted as an inspiration. Pure genius, in his walk, laugh and body language. Heath will be badly missed for the fearless actor he is and the many great roles he could taken up! Rest of the acting is all top notch. Bale continues to evolve as the tormented Bruce Wayne/Batman. There are some classic nods to the source comics in his portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Unlike his predecessors, he is someone who seems to have taken the efforts to know what he is doing, and Bale does that for all roles he takes up anyway. As a Batfan, I could not ask for more. Bale is effortless as the suave and sexy public Bruce Wayne, introspective and brooding private Bruce Wayne and ruthless / dark Batman, all at once. One man playing three roles in one movie and all bang on. Aron Eckhart is on the money and actually made me feel bad for his predicament. Great actors Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman do what they do best. I actually would have prefered Katy for Rachel than Maggie, but thats my preference.
Special mention about the creepy music pieces composed (Why so serious?/I am dog chasing cars/A little push) by Hans Zimmer for the Joker and moving and touching music composed by James Howard for Two Face. Brilliant! The mood of BB was similar to The Blade Runner and the mood in TDK is Blade Runner, and the ganster movies like Heat (Which Nolan wanted anyway), Untouchables and should I also drop the G bomb? Constant tension, constant heat and just no respite...
Comic book movies are not going to be the same anymore after TDK, hopefully not atleast. To watch this movie and slowly digest the fact that its source material in comics, is truly incredible. The range of emotions TDK brings out in you (even if you casually watch it), and the range of thoughts it leaves you with, afterwards is amazing. The film address and raises questions on moral complexity and ethical dillemmas not should be part of mainstream popcorn summer entertainment. The thin red line between justice and revenge, the corruption of harmony in civil societies, the systematic breakdown of justice and the internal torment of a hero who doesnt want to be, but wants to be one, everything is in TDK. In a much larger and darker proportions than in BB. Well, if this is the road ahead, its going to be a road less travelled for comic movies when the next installment comes out. Nolan did something magical with TDK, he created a work of art out of comics. Now I slowly realize how one can create a work of art. If you believe in it, and feel the love from the bottom of of your soul for it, and I can just imagine Nolan sitting and reading The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, The Man Who Laughs.....and loving it! Keep digging out the classics, Nolan, you are a rare breed!
First of, I am a huge fan of the Batman universe. Although not all, I have collected a large amount of the comics from the past seven odd decades. Loved Batman Begins and hated everything before it. Besides, I admire the work of Chris Nolan, Chris Bale and a large part of the main cast in these two movies (BB, TDK). So, you could say I am biased. Let me be for now.
The movie begins right where Begins ends. If you remember, BB ends with Gordon telling Batman that there is a new criminal in town and he goes by the name Joker (Armed robbery, double homicide, a penchant for theatrical...), so TDK starts with a armed robbery and the escalation of crime in Gotham. And escalation it is. The action keeps flowing from one scene to another as we watch in high anticipation what to expect next. On the edge of my seat for most of the movie, what I found remarkable was that although the action was loud, it never took you away from the narrative. It was an essential part of the plot. Things did not get blown up for show off or to be just loud. The special effects are fantastic but the beauty is in them not overwhelming the storyline. Right after the bank robbery we have Batman on his toes along with Gordon and the new knight in town, Harvey Dent.
Meanwhile, a triangular love plot develops between Dent, Bruce Wayne and Rachelwithout really being corny or too sentimental. On the one hand, you have Joker creating mayhem after another in the city. A deeply conflicted hero (is he?), addressing his personal demons as well as his public, Batman is constantly kept on his toes by this Joker. Along the way, Batman makes his first international appearence in what I thought was a homage Nolan paid to the James Bond movies he loves. There is a great action sequence in Hong Kong that made me numb with happiness since I always wanted to see Batman outside Continental United States, like he does in the comics. Back home in Gotham, things are only getting worse. Crime bosses (Falcone famly) conspire with the Joker to make the lives of Dent, Gordon and Batman miserable. As crime escalates into crazy proportions we have the creation of another monster, Two Face. With some classic special effects, we finally see Two Face in all his gore. This version of the Two Face will make Tommy Lee Jones' version piss in his split pants. Finally, you have a tragic confrontation of all main characters at the end, while one of the main characters is killed along the way. What a beautiful tragedy that left me with more questions than I had at the end of BB. Starting with hope, TDK slowly but steadily disintegrates into anarchy and complete chaos by the end of it all. Can you ask for more if you are a true batfan?
Had Heath Ledger been still alive, I would have loved his Joker just the same. Its out now, so go and gauge for yourself, his portrayal of the clown price of crime is bang on the target. Drawing inspirations from perverts and punks as diverse as Alex (A Clockwork Orange) and Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols), Heath delivers a maelstrom of performance that gets under your skin and stays there. When he is not around on screen, I missed him. When he is on screen, I could not take my eyes off him. Right now, I can hear him wispering in my ears, "Why so serious"? I dont know about the Oscar hype, but here is the lowdown, this Joker is the creepiest and most menacing comic villains on the silverscreen, without even a close second! The genius of Heath is in keeping things simple and true to the core. Whats the core? If you check the first appearence of the sinister jester/arch criminal/masterfiend Joker in Batman 02 (1938), you will know where Heath in TDK is coming from, you will know how close he stayed to the source. Lets also not forget that Joker actually is based in The Man Who Laughs (1926), which Heath quoted as an inspiration. Pure genius, in his walk, laugh and body language. Heath will be badly missed for the fearless actor he is and the many great roles he could taken up! Rest of the acting is all top notch. Bale continues to evolve as the tormented Bruce Wayne/Batman. There are some classic nods to the source comics in his portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Unlike his predecessors, he is someone who seems to have taken the efforts to know what he is doing, and Bale does that for all roles he takes up anyway. As a Batfan, I could not ask for more. Bale is effortless as the suave and sexy public Bruce Wayne, introspective and brooding private Bruce Wayne and ruthless / dark Batman, all at once. One man playing three roles in one movie and all bang on. Aron Eckhart is on the money and actually made me feel bad for his predicament. Great actors Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman do what they do best. I actually would have prefered Katy for Rachel than Maggie, but thats my preference.
Special mention about the creepy music pieces composed (Why so serious?/I am dog chasing cars/A little push) by Hans Zimmer for the Joker and moving and touching music composed by James Howard for Two Face. Brilliant! The mood of BB was similar to The Blade Runner and the mood in TDK is Blade Runner, and the ganster movies like Heat (Which Nolan wanted anyway), Untouchables and should I also drop the G bomb? Constant tension, constant heat and just no respite...
Comic book movies are not going to be the same anymore after TDK, hopefully not atleast. To watch this movie and slowly digest the fact that its source material in comics, is truly incredible. The range of emotions TDK brings out in you (even if you casually watch it), and the range of thoughts it leaves you with, afterwards is amazing. The film address and raises questions on moral complexity and ethical dillemmas not should be part of mainstream popcorn summer entertainment. The thin red line between justice and revenge, the corruption of harmony in civil societies, the systematic breakdown of justice and the internal torment of a hero who doesnt want to be, but wants to be one, everything is in TDK. In a much larger and darker proportions than in BB. Well, if this is the road ahead, its going to be a road less travelled for comic movies when the next installment comes out. Nolan did something magical with TDK, he created a work of art out of comics. Now I slowly realize how one can create a work of art. If you believe in it, and feel the love from the bottom of of your soul for it, and I can just imagine Nolan sitting and reading The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, The Man Who Laughs.....and loving it! Keep digging out the classics, Nolan, you are a rare breed!
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