Re-Watch: MacKenna’s Gold (1969)

When the ‘Re-Watch’ section was introduced, it provided the perfect platform to revisit some of the movies deemed as ‘Classics’ and see how relevant they are in our age.

A friend once mentioned that older movies are slow and laborious; which is true, as movies are a good reflection of the society they were made in. Today’s movies are fast and edgy, in accordance with our lifestyles, while olden cinema took the audience on an unhurried (yet measured) path, which synced with their routines.



Armed with this perspective and almost 20 years later, I watched the 1969 classic MacKenna’s Gold again. Starring the usually impeccable Gregory Peck as marshal MacKenna and the highly talented Omar Sharif as the outlaw Colorado, this Western is has the perfect ingredients for an adventure: lost Apache gold and, of course, ‘cowboys and Injuns’ (Indians, for those who can’t read accents!).

Director J. Lee Thompson starts the film off with a turkey buzzard flying high in the desert skyline while the titles roll. And they roll and the turkey flies. Then the turkey flies and the titles… well, you get the drift. That’s all you’re going to see for the first five whole minutes of the movie – no exaggeration!

When the buzzard finally lands, MacKenna is attacked by an old Apache, who has the map to the fabled Canyon d’Or – a land of pure gold! A gun fight pursues, MacKenna fatally wounds the old man, disregards the map as an old Indian legend and burns it.
Tailing the old Apache is the outlaw Colorado, his band of ‘free thinking’ Apaches and a captive daughter of the town judge, Inga Bergmann (played by Camilla Sparv). They soon capture MacKenna, who has a history with Colorado. But since he’s the only one who knows the way to the canyon, Colorado makes a deal to keep him alive and let Inga go free if MacKenna takes him to the gold.

 A pact is made between MacKenna and Colorado for the girl

From here, it’s all adventure as the motley crew moves from landmark to landmark on the map as more characters come on board, like the villainous Sgt. Tibbs (Telly Savalas).

Characters make or break a movie, but McKenna's Gold squanders the tremendous potential that its great cast of actors held: From the ‘hardened but upright’ marshal MacKenna to the ‘victim of circumstances’ outlaw Colorado, none of the characters have been fully explored in the movie. Yet, both actors manage to deliver great performances in the circumstances.

The randomness of new characters is particularly irksome. New ones are introduced after every 30 minutes, without developing the existing characters. And just as suddenly as they were introduced, they get bumped off for no apparent reason. Eli Wallach (Tuco, from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) is the prime example of this. What a waste of a fine actor!

The rest of the story is filled up by a love triangle between the Apache woman Hesh-Ke (played by Julie Newmar), Inga and MacKenna; savage Apache attacks; and gold fever. The plot goes completely wayward, leaving only the mystery about the legend’s authenticity.

Love triangle between MacKenna, Inga and Hesh-Ki (not in picture)

Oh and one more thing: When the sun climbs higher in the sky, shadows grow shorter and not longer! The entire movie ending was based on that alone! Bah!

For the benefit of those who have not seen the movie (although I seriously doubt it), I won’t play spoilsport and reveal anything further. But should you watch it? Only if you answer ‘yes’ to the following questions:
A. For pure nostalgic value of the childhood fantasies about finding hidden treasure
B. You want to find out which is Gregory Peck’s worst movie
C. As a child, your parents forced you to shut your eyes during Julie Newmar’s nude waterhole scene
I would strongly suggest that you do not soil your perception of McKenna's Gold as a ‘classic’ and give this one a total miss. But I would say that it’s worth a watch for how much it makes you respect the rest of the movies of that age.

 Mysteriously, as the sun rises, the shadow lengthens

MacKenna’s Gold actually makes you realise how underappreciated most Westerns are. Working with the static and desolate deserts as backdrops requires great skill from a director to induce life into a shot. The climax in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly followed only the eyes of the three men in the gun duel. It was not only stylised direction, but was also done with a purpose to introduce dynamism. And the prime example of dynamism going horribly wrong is watching a buzzard fly around the screen for five whole minutes.

The movie also makes you value the amazing direction and photography skills required at the time, when modern tricks like CGI were nowhere to be found. This is one of the saving graces of MacKenna’s Gold. The movie is replete with trick shots and wide-angle frames. There are scenes where a camera was fixed to a horse to give the audience the horse’s perspective, and one where it was attached to Gregory Peck’s back as he is dragged around the desert carpet by a horse. And it was among the first few movies to boast of helicopter shots!

MacKenna’s Gold is full of trick photography and wide angles

If you can forget all the flaws, then the movie is good to watch as a lesson in the history of Westerns and inventive camera-work: The trick photography, camera angles and the fantastic imagery of the Canyon d’Or are all breath-taking.

P.S. – If you don't believe what you have just read and think I’m being too harsh, here’s the YouTube clip of the opening title credits with the smash hit Ol’ Turkey Buzzard. I dare you to watch it…

Ol’ Turkey Buzzard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRA3SrkqDSE



Rating: 4.5/10

Review: The Soloist

If you ask me, the best movies are those that make you sit back and ponder. Great cinema is that which has a vicarious effect on the audience, leading to a personal perspective about situations that you have not experienced yourself.

I imagine it is a difficult art to make a movie that compels the audience to relive someone else’s experience. Such film-making has been mastered by directors like Scorsese, Lynch, the Coen brothers and Almodovar; and while they may not always taste commercial success, they usually remain immortalised in the audience’s mind.

With The Soloist, director Joe Wright (Atonement) has attempted this tough act and almost manages to pull it off. The film is based on the book by the same name, which in turn is based on the true events in the life of an LA Times columnist named Steve Lopez (played by Robert Downey Jr.), who is searching for his next big story.

A chance meeting with Ayers gives Lopez the story he is seeking

He finds the story in a chance meeting with the homeless Nathaniel Ayers (played by Jamie Foxx) and his two-stringed violin. After some research, Lopez discovers that Ayers is actually a brilliant musician with an unsound mind – a former cello prodigy who has taken to the streets after being abandoned by his family due to his illness.

Nathaniel Ayers: A young and talented soloist

Lopez goes on to write a series of articles on Ayers, while personally helping him out away from the spotlight. The true friendship that develops between the two has its share of ups and downs like any relationship; but ultimately – and predictably – it transforms both their lives.

A friendship that transforms both their lives

But to be fair, The Soloist is not about the story line, and instead is an exercise in bringing a few issues to the light as well as letting two fine actors spar on screen.

The movie provides an interesting take on schizophrenia, dispelling the popular perception that equals it with multiple personality disorder, as done in films like Primal Fear. Schizophrenia is about a person who suffers from distortions of reality, and director Wright has portrayed it very well indeed.

A nice touch is the depiction of intermittent moments from Ayers’ past, which goes deeper into the affliction and adds a flavour to the general atmosphere of the movie.

The other issue that The Soloist seeks to highlight is the plight of ‘transient people’ (legalese for homeless) in the US. Given the strong familial bonds in India, it’s very difficult to imagine a person from a well-to-do family that ends up homeless. From a desi perspective, it’s a good look into the self-centred nature of the American societal system.

As for the acting, Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx does a decent job as the musically gifted Ayers. But the passion that should accompany an intense love for music seems somewhat superficial; which is odd when you consider that Foxx is a musician himself and won an Academy Award for playing Ray Charles!

Robert Downey Jr., once again, proves his acting prowess as a successful journalist with a flawed personal life. The Iron Man gets a heart as the movie unfolds, as his own life is enriched in the process of helping Ayers.

Downey once again demonstrates his acting prowess

But just as the movie soars, it all comes crashing down with an abrupt climax and you won’t be able to shake off the feeling that you got cheated out of some closure. The Soloist promises a lot but fails to deliver by the time the credits start rolling. I just hope that Wright isn’t keeping an open slate for a sequel (based on the pursuits of the real Ayers and Lopez) but rather kept it as it is for an artistic touch. Not that it worked…

So should you watch the movie? Well, there are three types of people who I would recommend it to: those interested in learning more about schizophrenia; those looking for a break from pot boilers and slick action flicks; and fans of Robert Downey Jr.

Rating: 6.5/10

TV Review: The Thin Blue Line (1995)

As an anglophile, I was thrilled when one of our readers asked for a recommendation of a British sitcom, or 'Britcom' (and yes, we take requests in the comments section). The first names to pop into my mind were Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minster and Black Adder — two of the finest television comedies of all time. Still, someone who specifically asks for Britcoms has to have already covered those basic shows anyway. So I finally got around to watching a TV series that I have put off for a long time: The Thin Blue Line.

The creative team of Rowan Atkinson and Ben Elton (Mr. Bean, Black Adder) has delivered yet another fine show; but this one never really got the attention it deserved. The Thin Blue Line is a funny take on the life at a British police station, headed by Inspector Raymond Fowler (played by Atkinson, who is impeccably hilarious, as always).

Standing (from left): Kray, Goody, Habib and Gladstone

Sitting (from left): Grim, Fowler and Dawkins

Fowler is a ‘by-the-books’ intelligent cop and an outright geek: he loves his modeling kits, Sherlock Holmes novels, lives to serve The Queen and frowns upon the tele. He also has an absolute disinclination towards his marital duties — a situation mourned in each episode by his wife, Police Sergeant Patricia Dawkins. Naturally, hilarity ensues…

Patricia: We are not the first, and we won't be the last couple to have problems with our sex life.

Fowler: We do not have a problem.

Patricia: We don't have a sex life!

Fowler (deadpan): Exactly, so I can hardly see how there could be a problem with it!

The mixing of home and office lives is just one of the plot mechanisms of this finely-written show. The other most highlighted aspect is Fowler’s ‘Uniformed’ vs ‘Plain clothes’ rivalry with the head of the detective squad (which sits in the same large room as the police squad), Detective Inspector Derek Grim.

Grim is the proverbial village idiot and the writing talents of Ben Elton show through here. The wonderful play on words, meant to appear inadvertent, will leave you chuckling. If there was ever a case to be made that only Brits should be allowed to write puerile jokes, it’s a show filled with lines like this:

Detective Grim: Just remember, Raymond, it's my arse and if you stuff it, I'm going to be very red in the face!

The back-and-forth between Grim and Fowler is the highlight

Other regulars on the show are Constable Maggie Habib (an Indian-origin officer and the voice of reason in this mad circus); Constable Kevin Goody (a bumbling, inept pansy who chases after Habib); Constable Frank Gladstone (a senior West Indian cop who generally tries to pass on his ‘wisdom’, or the lack of it, to anyone present with the help of personal anecdotes); and Detective Constable Robert Kray (a cynical, smart cop and the only man from Grim’s unit who gets any importance on the show). Kray is replaced in Season 2 by DC Gary Boyle, who is basically a different actor playing the same role.

Each of the seven episodes in both seasons have a simple and predictable sitcom plot: A situation arises that entangles everyone in the station only to have finally resolved to status quo at the end of 30 minutes.

Apart from Atkinson, James Dreyfus shines as the junk-food-addict momma’s boy in playing Constable Goody, who admits to joining the force only because it involves wearing a nice uniform. All in all, everyone in the show does a competent job in this laugh-a-minute Britcom.

The Thin Blue Line is not of the class of a Black Adder or Mr. Bean, but it’s a mighty fine swan song from one of the best comic-writing duos of all time. As light viewing to unwind after a long day at work, it’s simply perfect.

Rating: 7/10

And as a parting gift, here are a few funny moments from the show (although the clips missed out on most of the better ones that I laughed out loud at):

Review: District 9 (2009)

One of the first few lines of District 9 — a unique movie about an Earth-based conflict between aliens and humans, shot in the style of a documentary — sets the tone for what’s to come: “To everyone’s surprise, the ship didn’t come to a stop over Manhattan or Washington or Chicago, but instead coasted to a halt directly over the city of Johannesburg.” Director-writer Neil Blomkamp has spun a tale of social commentary, mockery and chuckle-inducing irony that promises to make this one a cult classic.

In 1982, with their ship damaged due to a part that fell out onto Earth (which no one has been able to find, of course), the aliens were stuck here and so begin a slow process of settling on the planet. The eventual colony they set up is called District 9.

The district is pretty much a fenced-in slum. Naturally, human-alien interactions ensue and the dominant population of the planet labels the aliens with a derogatory term, ‘prawns’, due to their resemblance to a South African species of king crickets called Parkton Prawns.

The best part about District 9 is how convincing it is. It takes a lot of persistent imagination to write a science fiction story and you have to immerse yourself in that world for days, playing out different scenarios in your head. Writing a socio-political commentary, on the other hand, requires tremendous amount of research and understanding of how humans work. It must have been an unfathomable effort to do both things together and make it seem like this was the only logical way the world would react to the events of the film. It’s probably because I watch movies from a writer’s perspective that this was apparent to me, as a couple of people I talked to did not even notice this aspect of the plot. To craft a masterful story — nay, a world — and then to resist the urge to bring it out as the real star, rather than the characters? For me, that’s something only George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien have managed to resist. Take a bow, Blomkamp, take a bow.

The undertones of social commentary run throughout the film, touching upon topics such as xenophobia, ostracism, apartheid, racial politics, etc. In fact, a little bit of digging on our friendly neighbourhood Wikipedia throws up the fact that the movie title is a direct reference to District Six — a residential area in Cape Town that the South African government declared as a ‘white-only’ place in 1966, leading to the “relocation” of over 66,000 citizens.

And that’s where the movie starts: Thirty years into the alien occupation, the powers-that-be decide to move the Prawns to a new refugee camp, outside of human contact.

The film is shot from the perspective of a documentary crew covering the life of Wikus Van De Merwe (played by Sharlto Copley), the agent in charge of the relocation plan which is being implemented by leading security corporation, MNU. Needless to say, MNU is the world’s second largest weapons manufacturer and they want to get their hands on the aliens’ superior armoury.

Wikus Van De Merwe confronts one of the ‘Prawns’

The plot shows the intriguing journey of Van De Merwe as a man who thinks he is protecting the world from the aliens to one who finally transcends such distinctions. What is great to see is how wonderfully flawed his character is. This is no morally upright citizen, nor is he up to his neck in shady deals. Van de Merwe is as human a character as you will see on celluloid, and director-writer Neill Blomkamp throws a superb ironical twist into the mix: Our protagonist is infected by the alien genes and is in a race against time to stop from being turned into a Prawn. The plot thickens, Watson!

I’m not good enough a judge of acting to know whether being a new face is what makes Sharlto Copley so believable as Van De Merwe. He seems immensely talented and completely soaks in the character. In all likelihood, it’s a role he will be defined by for the rest of his career; but I do hope that’s not the case.

Big alien gun makes humans go sploighk!

As a casual movie-goer, District 9 is a must-see for a whale of a time. And stop squirming in your seat, you will be rewarded for your patience by a gore-filled climatic action scene with lots of alien weaponry that makes humans go sploighk (no, really)!

But as a writer or avid cinema-goer, it’s a movie to be watched more than once for the numerous references and layers it carries. At times, it’s almost like Blomkamp threw in too many things out of the fright of it flopping and never getting the chance to make another movie. Thankfully, that’s not the case and the world will get to see another of his future endeavours.

Rating: 8/10

P.S. — Blomkamp had previously made a six-minute short film based on the same premise, called Alive in Joburg (2005). The cool part? All of the interview statements which do not explicitly mention extraterrestrials, were taken from authentic interviews with South Africans who had been asked their opinions of Zimbabwean refugees! Watch it here:

Re-Watch: The Lion King (1994)

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There are quite a few movies seen as kids that we never revisit as adults. So now that we are all grown up (well, at least technically), here’s a review ‘re-watch’ of a fond memory, but with a whole new perspective…

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When The Lion King released, there was huge hype created about its incredible new animation, although it was still 2D. My brother and I were among the first to rent a video cassette of the movie and huddled up in front of the TV. Carmen Twillie started belting out ‘The Circle of Life’ as the entire animal kingdom rushed to catch the first glimpse of the new prince. But for me, the most everlasting memory of that isn’t the hero shot of Rafiki the mandrill holding up baby Simba; instead, it’s a scene at the very beginning of the movie, where the camera is focused on a line of ants walking up a tree and slowly switches the focus to the background as a herd of zebras marches on. They looked almost real!

Cut to 15 years later and on a dull Saturday afternoon, I decided to return to The Lion King, just to see what effect it has now. The quality of animation has obviously gotten a lot better since then and while the film can’t compare to modern productions, I was glad to see that one shot still stands out just as much. Believe me, there’s nothing cooler than having a nostalgic memory stand the test of time…

Makes for a wonderful wallpaper, eh?

I’m not going to waste space on the movie’s story or other such introductory factors here. If you haven’t watched the movie (and in that case, go stand in the corner, you heathen!), you can check out the IMDB plot synopsis and its Wikipedia page to know more about it. The movie’s great and well worth your time; if it wasn’t, people wouldn’t be talking or reading about it years later.

What really surprised me about The Lion King while re-watching it now was that this was a ‘kiddie movie’ with messages that are aimed completely at adults.

The most explicit message to film is to embrace one’s past by learning from it rather than running away from it. Honestly, what is someone with 8-10 years of experience on this planet going to gain from that?

One of the best parts about re-watching the movie is that certain conversations and dialogues bring about a new depth to them. As a kid, I hardly even noticed these! Take, for example, this little exchange between Mufasa and Simba about the ‘Circle of Life’:

Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.

Simba: But Dad, don't we eat the antelope?

Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

Another cool bit about watching the movie as an adult — especially one who has been exposed to hours of Discovery and National Geographic — is to observe the attention to detail that the animators and the writers have put in. As a child, I watched Simba and Scar face off in a vengeful final battle, hoping the noble, prodigal prince takes out the undeserving, evil king. As an adult, I noticed a lion’s instinct to rise up on his hind legs when fighting another lion, so as to use those powerful paws that can easily crush a human spine. These are little things, but they mean a lot to a keen viewer.

Hakuna Matata! (Click to listen)

Oh, and the soundtrack! I loved the songs even as a kid and had the album, but always fast-forwarded them while watching the movie. Now, the songs suddenly seem so integral to the film that it would be sacrilege to skip through them. The Lion King is an all-out musical with the songs being used as narrators and to take the story forward. Take a bow, Elton John, take a bow.

In the end, it’s almost poetic that the first feature of the Re-Watch section is a movie that tells us to revisit our past and learn from it to understand who we really are…

Rating: 7/10

Review: Burn Notice [TV Series]

If you think it’s difficult to find a good movie, try finding a good television series among the many broadcasted by over 500 TV channels in the US. The effort is worth it, though, as your reward upon finding one is a veritable gold mine that will keep you entertained for a long time. One such recent find for me has been a lesser-known series called ‘Burn Notice’.

Created by Matt Nix, Burn Notice is based on the premise that spies don't get fired, they get ‘burned’ or terminated. Set in sunny Miami, the protagonist Michael Westen (played by Jeffery Donovan) is a spy burned in the middle of a covert operation for reasons unknown, and forcefully deported to Miami. With all his assets and bank accounts frozen, he is forced to reconcile with people who will still accept him: an ex-girl friend and field operative Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar); an old friend and former navy seal Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell, famous as Evil Dead 3’s chainsaw-toting Ashley J. Williams); and a dysfunctional family led by his mother Madeleine (Sharon Gless).

The series follows Michael’s transition from ex-spy to your average Joe’s knight in shining armour, while trying to find the reason why he was burned and black listed by his own agency.

Every episode is a complete story in itself, while a common thread runs across all in the background. This makes the show perfect for the flirting viewer, who can miss a few episodes and still come to par after watching the next few ones.

Burn Notice: (L to R) Madeleine, Sam, Michael and Fiona

Usually, detective/action series are based on a tried and tested formula: A heinous crime in the opening act followed by solving it with clues or forensic evidence unearthed during investigation. And with so many shows adapting that (Life, Dexter, The Mentalist), the only difference between two shows is treatment and characters.

Burn Notice, thankfully, doesn't follow the thumb rule. It’s an all-out action series and the treatment is where it excels. Matt Nix has combined stylish execution with light whimsical humour, thrown in small portions of serious drama, and added insights from the world of espionage to create a refreshing change from the norm.

What we get is James Bond, without his fancy gadgets, performing covert operations while the protagonist’s voiceover doles out funny excerpts from ‘Espionage for Dummies 101’. Take this one for instance:

To build a listening device, you need a crappy phone with a mike that picks up everything. But you want the battery power and circuits of a better phone. It's a trick you learn when the purchasing office won't spring for a bug.

Michael shows useful ways to make spy gadgets on a budget

Successful TV shows also have good characters which the viewer creates an emotional bond with. This is one aspect where Burn Notice is slow to catch on. It’s a case where the creators try to do too much of everything, as meticulous perfection in every episode often does not give enough room for character development.

In season 1, this was slightly disappointing as I would have liked to see a softer, emotional side to Michael’s otherwise spy-like demeanour. However, towards the end of season 1 and start of season 2, the series sees some major efforts in this direction.

In season 2, new dimensions have been added to Michael’s personality depicting a certain kind of vulnerability for the people he cares for. For example, he consciously distances himself from his ex-girlfriend Fiona as he believes his growing emotional dependence on her is distracting him from getting to the bottom of his burn notice. While the interactions that follow add depth to the character, it also makes for some funny scenes.

Fiona the ex-girl friend who is quite the tactical situation expert

Even some serious mother-son bonding moments are shown in a very humorous tone, thus helping maintain a light feel to this charming series, which could easily have been heavy-handed if handled by someone else. My only complaint, as such, is the lack of screen time given to Sam, and I hope that gets fixed in the coming seasons.

Sam (Bruce Campbell) known for his role in Evil Dead franchise

All in all, Burn Notice is a cool action series and is perfect for those evenings where you don’t have time or inclination to watch a full movie, and would prefer something light and engaging.

Rating: 8.0/10

Review: Groundhog Day (1993)

Some movies are all about the director, others about the actors, some about a great plot. But there are very few movies that are more about a concept and a writer/director who wants to see where he can take it. The Man From Earth (a must-watch, if you haven’t seen it) was one, and Groundhog Day fits the bill perfectly too.

So what would you do if there was no tomorrow — in fact, every day is the same, with all the people in the city going about a set routine of events every time you wake up? Groundhog Day puts Bill Murray in an infinite loop of what he describes as the worst day of his life.

Murray plays TV weatherman Phil Connors who is set to the little town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — along with his new, cheery producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry — to cover the Groundhog Day festivities on February 2nd, where a badger predicts whether spring will come early that year.

After wrapping up the report, the television crew tries to make it out of the town but is thwarted by a blizzard that blocks all roads. Having been forced to spend another day in the place, Phil wakes up to find the radio playing the same song as the day before and the RJs spewing the same lines. Of course, it soon dawns upon him that he is reliving the day.

But upon waking up the next day to find that it’s still Groundhog Day, he realises that he is caught in an infinite loop.

And it seems that he is the only one unaffected by the event. Everybody else in the town is a slave of routine and they continue to perform the same actions and say the same things, day after day after day…

That’s when director Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Analyze This) puts across a question that is directed more at the audience than our protagonist: What would you do if your actions had no consequences? Groundhog Day is a cool representation of the question and a wonderful concept overall.

Phil, of course, goes through mood swings as he uses his new power to spoil himself with food and women; then reach utter depression and try to kill himself; finally — and predictably – falling for Rita and trying to win her over. I won’t spoil it much, do watch the movie for yourself.

One question does remain though: Why doesn’t Phil just try to get out of town as soon as he wakes up? The film does have a few such loopholes, but it would probably be best to ignore them and enjoy the ride.

As usual, Murray delivers a solid performance — understated, sarcastic, funny and prone to moments of utter madness. The concept and the script, though, overpower his role as Ramis tries to depict what pros and cons come with immortality. Still, this is the writer of Ghostbusters and Analyse This, so don’t worry about the movie getting too heavy or philosophical at any point.

Groundhog Day is a light, fun comedy that doesn’t overstay its welcome and is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon, where you don’t want to tax your mind but still want something more stimulating than a Schwarzenegger movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

Trailer: