Reflections

Music and Film

The scene is from the film “Slumdog Millionaire”. The name of the song that plays in the background is “Paper Planes”, it has been written and produced by M.I.A, Diplo and Switch for the album Kala. The lyrics of the song quite match the situation in the movie. The original version of the song was used in the film “Pineapple express”. A special remixed version has been used in the film. This song’s backing track is a sample from the 1982 song “Straight to Hell” by The Clash, while the chorus is based on that of the 1992 Wreckx-n-Effect song “ Rump Shaker” I would like to explain the situation in which both the boys are in right now so as to make sense with the background score. The boys have escaped from a criminal who has kept them captured for his own needs. Their parents are no more so they have no place to go of their own. They are afraid to stay at one place because they have a feeling that they may be captured once again by another person. At the beginning of the scene, one of the boys says to other that he is hungry. So as little boys their only source of income is to work, steal and cheat. The lyrics of the song clearly say “All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!) And (KKKAAAA CHING!) And take your money”. When the lyric say “I fly like paper, get high like planes” the boys are shown jumping from one compartment to another; “If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name” the boys are shown travelling and the surrounding landscapes become the main attraction of the show. The scene is a typical view of the general compartment in an Indian train.

Comparing Styles of Reviewing

A 1985 popular TV show has been remade into a blockbuster movie for 2010. Mel Gibson a veteran actor who has disappeared from the big screen since 2004 has re-entered with this film. Film Director Martin Campbell has bought many blockbusters in recent times like Casino Royale and The Mask of Zorro has directed this movie. The cinema “Edge of Darkness” is about a detective investigating the murder of his activist daughter while he uncovers a deep routed political conspiracy and many cover ups in the process. The role of detective Thomas Craven is played by Mel Gibson and the role of Emma the daughter of Thomas Craven is played by Bojana Novakovic.
The reviews I would like to compare are by Joe Morgenstern form the “Wall Street Journal” and by Anthony Lane published in the “The New Yorker”. Joe Morgenstern writes negative about the movie while Anthony Lane publishes the good in the cinema.
Joe Morgenstern compares the small screen version to the big screen version of the same story with the same title. He believes the movie is made in a style that the Hollywood producers intend to see. One the points he gave is bringing back a big star Mel Gibson. He thinks that the movie has been made in a hurry and the director could have been more creative. The conversations between Thomas and Emma after her death are effecting in bringing up a sentimental situation in the television show whereas they are cloying and manipulative in the movie. Morgenstern thinks that the plot has been compromised to make it simple, easy to understand for the general public. Emma who was a primary part in the serial does not have role as an activist in the new version. He expresses his dissatisfaction by saying that “In the film, she's a young physicist and a whistle-blower at a giant corporation that's ostensibly working on fusion power, yet the update feels perfunctory and unconvincing.” The plot does not seem convincing for Morgenstern he thinks that nobody is going to try to shut the military research in Massachusetts.
He thinks that all the secondary characters in the movie are big stereotypes even though they don’t matter more because it is a movie and not a serial. The movie is like a monodrama for him. He writes “Secondary characters have either been turned into caricatures (a lizardly U.S. senator, an oily CEO) or trivialized into genre stereotypes.”
Morgenstern publishes that “Mr. Gibson's performance is certainly intense, but the gleeful energy he once brought to such hits as "Lethal Weapon"—or even to "Conspiracy Theory," an excellent flop—has turned toxic, and his somber scourge is no fun at all.” which is a bit disappointment for Mel Gibson’s film.

Finally he adds that the movie is nowhere close to the source of its origin by saying that “In further fairness, there's no way that this film could have risen to the level of its source material. For one thing, a lot's got to give when five hours are telescoped into two. And unlike Craven, who refuses to play by the rules of society, the filmmakers have subscribed to the increasingly rigid rules of an expensive studio feature in a global market.”


For Anthony Lane the movie is an adventure, an efficient and a politically inert fantasy that uses the hammer blow of violence to palm itself off as pertinent and gritty. Lane also compares the movie with the old television serial but thinks that the original story was not altered that much. He thinks that the old “Edge of Darkness” was an ordeal, digging up surreal images from the conspiratorial musk. He agrees with Joe Morgenstern that the plot has been simplified and states example like “The Craven of twenty-five years ago, searching through his daughter’s bedroom after the murder, found a vibrator, a gun, and a Teddy bear; the Craven of 2010 comes up with just the gun. That says it all. As if in deference to the story’s roots, we also get a mysterious and dapper Cockney (Ray Winstone), who is brought in—by whom, we never find out—with the sole purpose, as he admits, of making everything unintelligible”.

He says that he liked the pace of the movie and pulse of the film but it looks like he was disappointed that there is not much suspense in the plot. He says “Campbell leaves us thrilled yet reassured. One man, it seems, can stanch the flow of evil—not difficult, perhaps, when the evil isn’t half as forbidding as the man. Gibson is the best thing about “Edge of Darkness,” at once despairing and decisive, although I’m not sure he was wise to agree to the scene where Craven says to a bigwig, “You’d better decide whether you’re hanging on the cross or banging in the nails.” Sorry, Mel. That was the other movie. “
Lane also writes well about the action sequences like “It’s been thirty years since “Mad Max,” but, when it comes to man vs. machine, Gibson is still up for a fight.”

I saw the trailer the on the day of release. It was really impressive. I have not seen the old serial but I seriously intend to watch it. The plot looks new to me but as both the critics say the suspense was out half way through the movie but the trailer looks action filled.
After watching the trailer and reading all the reviews I feel like watching the TV serial. The only problem with the movie is that the plot is very obvious from the trailer. The movie starts with Emma coming to visit his father Thomas. She tries to explain him that she is a big trouble. Then they show that she has been shot and lying death in her father’s hands. The action sequence is what makes it look really interesting.
Both the authors had interesting points. Even though they had different ideas they had their own observations. They are many points that both of them agree on. For example the performance of Mel Gibson was not as great as his previous performances like in “Lethal Weapon” and that it was a stunt by Hollywood producers to bring him back. After reading both the reviews and watching the trailer I definitely want to watch the movie.

Anticipation and the Movie Trailer

I am writing about a film titled “Leader” shot in Telugu, a South Indian language. The theme of the movie is current day politics and the behavior of contemporary politicians in India. Mr Rana Daggubati is making his maiden appearance as a Hero with a very successful young director Sekhar Kammula who had all hits to his credit, is very talented and creative. Added attraction to this movie is being produced by the prestigious South Indian film banner AVM productions, with a history of more than 100 years. Before I actually write about the movie, I would like to give a small briefing about Indian movies, for those who are not familiar with them. Normally, the length of the movies on an average is two hours and a half with six or more songs mostly suitable to the situations with good lyrics composed with vernacular music.





The production banner, director and the music director of the movie are added attractions that tempt a normal film goer to watch the trailer. The music audio of the movie already a big hit. The movie is scheduled to be released by this month end. The starting of the trailer shows news reporters interviewing politicians and freedoms fighters at the end of the trailer. we see a clipping of the actor walking with the green background of trees and then the title of the movie. The reason I specifically pointed the green trees is because according to Telugu people the color green is a symbol of good.Coming back to the trailer we see news reporters oppose the current leaders with questions regarding the flaws in the current political system. Some of the questions are “Why do people choose a leader who is incompetent and Why do believe in election promises made by them?” and the freedom fighters reply them with a question in return “Why doesn’t a common man enter politics and try doing some good for the people?” The best part of the trailer is that a question is always opposed by another question. Nobody answer's anybody’s question.All the dialogues in the trailer are related to the political injustice done by the current leader. This kind of interests you into the movie because you want to know in which direction the movie is heading. One of the leaders at the end try’s to put his understanding of the political situation in the country by saying that good people do not enter politics and if they do enter they are not going to stay good.

When it comes to the background music, at the start of the trailer there is absolutely no background music. There is perfectly silence to make sure that the audience can hear the news reporters and the honoree men talking clearly but when one of the leaders says the word “common man”, that is when the background music starts, indicating that the movie about a common man. The music is very inspiring for the Telugu people because it is an extract from one of the famous independence movement songs of India. They also use only one word “Leader” with such powerful music to make sure that people actually believe that a leader will rise.

To conclude from the trailer we can say that a common man who is a good responsible person is going to enter politics. When he does, what are the reforms he going to bring into the political system or is the system going to reform him is the big question? I personally think the biggest suspense in the movie is what are the situations that led him to enter politics? If he enters politics is he going to win the elections? If he wins the elections what is going to happen to the state and him?

I am looking forward for this movie. I hope this movie will teach the uneducated back at home about the importance of elections and picking the right leader to lead them in the future.




--Aditya Uppukonduru

Introduction

Hey all,

My name is Aditya Uppukonduru. I was born and brought up in Visakhapatnam. It is a city in the southern part of India. The city is also known as the”The city of destiny” in India, not because of religious reasons but because of the immense recourses available in the city like a natural harbor, a steel plant and many more. My hometown is not only a place of industrial development but also an enjoyable tourist location in India, for its splendid beaches and the hill resort which is approximately 40 miles from the city.


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I like to play tennis for the love of the game and my best pass time with my buddies is to play board games because I am good at them. Personally I like to travel, I lot do not like to stay around at one particular place for a long time. One game I really enjoy following on the television is Cricket. India and Pakistan are the biggest rival teams in my mind. When they are playing against each other it is must watch match.

Since a child I wanted to be big. I always wanted to go abroad, study in a better country and the best schools possible. I am a CSE major. As a child I liked to play with mechanical toys. I used to unscrew them just to know how they work. I always found joy in understanding how they work. Sometimes I was able to screw them back, sometimes not. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to become an engineer. When I grew older, I liked computers, so I picked my major to be computer science engineering.

There was a big change in my life when I came to United States for college. First there was a little “Cultural shock”. Then I missed my home, but you know as times goes by people settle down and get busy with life. The best part of life today is that I can live life independently which is something I could not have done a year ago. Sometimes thinking back I feel proud of myself to be brave enough to do everything I have done with my life.

In high school I did not concentrate much on English, so did not concentrate much on writing courses. I was more involved with science classes, in fact only science classes. Hope, you guys had fun reading my blog.

--Aditya Uppukonduru