Being forced to stay home for atleast week due to my cornea transplant has led me to a movie watching binge, and while I never back down from watching Never BACK DOWN, I finally got a chance to empty out my netflix queue (who would have thunk it that even that would get stressful?)
I was excited that I could finally rent blu rays as I have become a high definition snob, but was underwhelmed at the lack of selection on the site. After going through all 10 pages of Netlfix selections, I decided upon The Invention of Lying featuring Ricky Gervais (because I heard he was funny), the Brothers Blood (because I have an affinity for Racheal Weisz) and finally 500 days of summer (because I thought it was a racing movie. No idea why.)
I couldnt get through the Invention of Lying because although the premise was intriguing (no one lies in the world and Gervais invents it), it got old pretty fast. I will admit that Preeti’s dazed but determined look to get through the movie with me was inspiting but her declaraion that the movie was “stupid” quickly sealed its fate and led me to not even bother finishing them movie (a rarity since I pride myself on watching through the end no matter what it is).
After a few days of feeling guilty, I finally moved on to The Brothers Bloom but this time I chose (wisely I think) to watch it alone. I love movies. In fact, anyone close to me knows that besides reading, I will watch movies in a second (a recurring complaint from Preeti since that’s all I will watch on cable.
I admit I didnt know that Rachel Weisz was in the movie (if you dont know who she is, google her), but as soon as I saw her on screen playing a rich girl about to be conned by the Bloom Brothers, I knew there was no way in hell I wasnt going to hate this movie. Although a bit long (at less than 2 hours), the concept is that the older brother uses cons to write his younger brothers “unwritten” life. I didnt quite like the whole “mute Asian” sidekick (too old school Jame Bond-ish for me) but I could relate to the theme of deep family bonds and how even when one is rich in material wealth, nothing is as filling as love (sounds a bit hokey I know). Definitely, a movie you can watch with others and get into a discussion about life. I loved the word play and the Bloom Brothers is written extremely well.
So I was on a tear (of sorts) on finishing my queue, and decided what the hell, might as well get the “action” movie out of the way until the beginning told me this is “not a love story,” catching my attention and really just holding on to me till the end while you discuss how someone named Summer really just stole 500 days away from this guy, but fate mattered because in the end, he needed to finish summer so he can finally be with Autumn. I am sure your confused, but I dont want to give away too much except to say this is one you should watch with a significant other. Again, well written, and at some points you will probably hate Summer like I did.
Finally, I got Preeti to sit down (yea, she aint a movie goer), and Law Abiding Citizen with me. Ofcourse, it helped that we kinda ended up watching almost half of it at Hidden Cafe during Hookah, and since we knew nothing about the movie, got totally sucked into staying to watch as much as possible. It’s been almost 2 hours since we watched the movie and although the theme of the movie was straighforward: Dont make deals with murderers, it could kill you, its a bit gory and blunt for almost 2 hours. Gerard Butler and Jamie Fox carry this movie through the end, yet its a bit unbelievable that the avenger is smarter than tthe whole city put together (now, in real life, I KNOW I am smarter than a lot of people), but the warning that your better off killing him since Butler is a human think tank is far fetched but completely believable. A bit preachy near the end but still a good rental (I thought I would buy it, but dont think I would watch it again for a few years).
Phew. I think I will give you some rest tonight from my fake Roger Ebert Ass.
Sanjay Sabarwal's Blog 