“SRK may go over the top, but ‘DON’ remains cool,
Style over substance, is the operative rule.”

DON begins, 007 style, with a deal set-up in Paris where an unarmed Don turns the tables on his opponents in a stylishly choreographed action sequence, subsequent to which the titles flash to a thumping score. And so the remake of the 1973 blockbuster blazes across the screen in its signature green hue.

Story goes thus - Don runs various illegit activities on behalf of his boss Singhania, and operates from Malaysia. Inspector D’Silva is the man who makes it his sole mission in life to capture Don, and shut down Singhania for good. He is able to capture a fatally wounded Don, and loses him to death, but not before he has recuited a lookalike, Vijay, to infiltrate Don’s gang for an incriminating computer disc. Vijay is almost successful in his task before all hell breaks loose, and he becomes wanted not only by the police, but also by his gang members. Film springs several surprises that deviates from the original storyline, and brands it’s own mark on the remake.

So why am I endorsing this film even though it has terrible performances, uneven pacing and a plot filled with more glaring holes than a paper-target in a shooting gallery?
Firstly, the film has been stylishly rendered, and the action sequences are worth the price of the ticket alone. The theme music that reverberates through out the film is excellent. All the actors look ultra cool, and you could be forgiven to think that you might be watching a Honk Kong crime actioner. Finally - I absolutely loved the surprise element and wish more directors would deviate from formulaic story arcs. This is one remake that dares to go better on the original in that department.
Few songs register with the viewer - “Yeh Mera Dil” though well choreographed causes temporary blindness due to Kareena’s recently adopted pounds, but “Main Hoon Don” does the film proud in style & execution.

Where it suffers from the original?
SRK (Shah Rukh Khan) is obviously a terrible choice to step into a role made famous by legendary Amitabh Bachchan. Hritik Roshan, or Akshay Kumar would’ve rocked the viewers with their portrayals.
Then there are the previously stated holes in the plot - it seems likely that the scenes were played out in the director’s mind but he simply forgot to jot them down. The original never had that problem, but then it also had a simple narrative.
Major actors have been sidelined to showcase King Khan.

Director Farhan Akhtar has been fascinated with the original since he was a kid, and that passion shows in each and every frame. His technical crew are upto the task, and Don emerges as one of the most technically superior product from Bollywood. But Akhtar loses himself in all the glitz, and fails to extract meaningful performances from his principal cast.

Shah Rukh Khan as Don/Vijay is smug enough to carry off the designer wear and flashy cars, but absolutely goes over the top when it comes to performance. Priyanka Chopra as Roma is appropriate and has nothing challenging to do except look hot and lethal. Boman Irani is the only one who earns an honest paycheck as the tunnel-visioned Inspector D’Silva. Arjun Ramphal as the handicapped Jasjit, a man who has scores to settle and a kid to find, is suitably restrained but does not get much scope. Om Puri, Isha Koppikker, Pawan Malhotra, Chunkey Pandey & Kareen Kapoor have been cast in guest/special appearances.

Don is an unabashed popcorn entertainment and I liked it.

DURATION: 171 mins.
CAST: Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Ramphal.
DIRECTOR: Farhan Akhtar

“Norton & Giamatti are suitably intense,
In a entertaining tale of twists and tricks,
Climax could a let down,
In comparison to the rest of the flick”

It is the turn of the century Vienna, and Eisenheim is an extra-ordinary magician who returns to the city of his childhood, 15 years after his teenage love, Sophie, was forcibly separated from him due to class differences. Having been around the world, he brings an other-worldly quality to his stage performances that attract the attention of the likes of the Chief of Police, Uhl, and to a greater extent the next-in-line to the Crown, Prince Leopold.

During one such performance where the Crown Prince is the guest of honour, requesting a stage volunteer for a trick brings the young magician in touch with his childhood sweetheart who is fiancee-to-be to the Prince. Old flames are rekindled, romance is in the air, but it all comes at a heavy price. The magician’s life is slowly turned upside-down, the police official is torn between his duty and his loyalty to the Prince and the general populace turn increasingly obsessive about Eisenheim, and his evolving stage tricks that are beginning to border on the supernatural.

Director Neil Burger (’An Interview With An Assassin’) fashions an entertaining film that moves at a brisk pace while extracting low-key and arresting performances from his three male leads. For the least demanding viewers, neither the climax nor the weird foreign accents will hinder their appreciation of the movie. If you liked ‘The Score’, you will lap up ‘The Illusionist’.

Edward Norton specializes in using his eyes to convey is intensity, and has been suitably cast as the intriguing Eisenhem. Only his vocal chords sometimes betray his magnetic personality. Matching strides with him is the powerhouse of talent, Paul Giamatti, as Inspector Uhl, a man who is ambitious, realistic and conscientious. His on-screen exchanges with Norton are what makes the film so difficult to dismiss. Rufus Sewell as the royal Crown Prince is at once regal, snobbish, intellectual and quite anal. There is no common side to him, and he portrays that part effortlessly. The usually captivating Jessica Biel, as the love interest Countess Sophie, fares relatively less well amidst all the pissing-contenders. And she looks dreadfully very European, with pasty skin and unbecoming lightened hair.

Production designs are fantastic, as is a low key and hypnotic musical score by the legendary Philip Glass. Technical creds are suitably well executed.

It may not have set the box office registers jingling, but ‘The Illusionist’ will fare much better on the home circuit. It’s been a while since Norton has been cast in anything worth his salt, and Giamatti is always a welcome presence (except in a Night Shyamalan movie).

DURATION: 110 mins.
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexuality and violence.
CAST: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel & Rufus Sewell
DIRECTOR: Neil Burger

CRANK’s a high-octane, pulse-pounding (and several other adjectives) actioner that moves at blinding speed, delivering enough juice to last you several weeks. And it’s funny.

Chev Chelios (now there’s a catchy name), is a hitman who awakens to a throbbing head and a bad feeling - he’s right on both counts. Having been injected with a deadly poison intended as a slow death, the only thing that can keep his ticker from falling asleep is adrenaline. Needless to say, Chelios uses everything in his power to keep the rushes flowing - from speed chases to suicidal shootouts, picking fights in bad neighbourhoods to having public sex in Chinatown with his girlfriend, all in the span of an hour, just so that he could get the antidote, and even out with the man behind his predicament. In the situation that Chelios is, I bet even Woody Allen could turn lethal.

The entire film has been shot in video game mode, with quick jerky camera movements, and things happening at the speed of a mouse-click. People with short attention spans will be mighty pleased, and the regular folks will just have to hold on to their bladder lest they miss something.

Directing duo Mark Neveldine & Brain Taylor display a passionate flair for the genre, embellishing the proceedings with a heavy metal score, and using every possible technical flourish known to them.

Although shot on a mere $15 million budget, the film bears a slick and stylish look, and feels visually flawless. Wonder what they could’ve done with a Bruckheimer budget.

Acting department, Jason Statham delivers the requisite chops as Chelios, a man in a race against death, with too much to do and very little time. Amy Smart as his ditzy girlfirend lends capable support. Efren Ramirez in a direct departure from the icnonic Pedro (NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE), is too brief to register any impact as Chelios’ loyal aide. Others lend serviceable support.

DURATION: 87 mins.

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use.

CAST: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez

DIRECTOR: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor

In the first of many WWNN instances (wink-wink-nudge-nudge), Nicholas Cage plays Edward Malus, a cop who has recently turned damaged goods due to his inability to save a life from a horrific crash. Enter a letter from an old flame, Willow, pleading for his help to find her daughter who’s been missing. In order to do that, Malus has to fly to a privately owned strip called the SummerIsle, where he gradually learns that women are the boss on the isle and men are treated more or less like beasts of labour.

His efforts at locating the girl, who may or may not be dead, turns into frustration as he is calmly refused any information or lied to by the natives who look down upon the stranger and his gender. They are also into some really ancient pagan religion that celebrates the Earth Goddess. Eventually, everything leads to a “shocking” climax.

Neil LaBute (of “In the Company Of Men”, “Nurse Betty” and “The Shape of Things” fame) seemed like an odd choice for a remake - normally, odd is good and with a producer and actor in Cage, things couldn’t have sounded better. Plus, Labute excels at dark material and characters. But here, all LaBute seems interested in are the exotic locales, and portraying women as thoroughly dislikeable (I am sensing a misogynistic mind here). He also exhibits impotency in areas where eerieness, dread and shocks are required to make for an effective chiller.

Nicholas Cage tries very sincerely, but in vain, to infuse his hollow character with some depth, and is unable to erase Edward Woodward’s portrayal from a loyalist’s head. Ellen Burstyn taking over from Christopher Lee in the original, goes dykey with her Sister Summer Isle, and seems like in serious need of rehab. Kate Beahan, LeeLee Sobeiski, Molly Parker and others comprising a major female-cast are thoroughly irritating in their respective roles. And let’s face it, Sobieski is no Brit Eckland, with or without a PG-13 rating. The only one who seems to have survived any dignity is Frances Conroy (mother from telly’s “Six Feet Under”), who plays the resident doctor, and the official photographer, Dr. Moss.

James Franco, Jason Ritter and a blink-and-you-miss Aaron Eckhart show up in cameos.

The only life “The Wicker Man” is assured of, is at the video shelves as a comparative oddity. Others, stick to the 1973 cult fave. I have my own personal copy, and am going back to it to erase the bitter after taste of LaBute’s offering.

DURATION: 103 Mins.
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for disturbing images and violence, language and thematic issues.
CAST: Nicholas Cage, Kate Beahan, Ellen Burstyn
DIRECTOR: Neil La Bute

Despite it’s humble budget, Headspace manages to entertain and keep the viewer engrossed for most of it’s duration, something I find difficult to say for most of the studio-financed horror outings that are thrown at the audiences these days in PG-13 packagings.

Director Andrew Van Den Houten’s directorial debut is an ambitious undertaking, hampered only by lack of big bucks in the SFX department. Iconic cult stars like Dee Wallace Stone, Olivia Hussey, William Atherton, and yes the ubiquitous Udo Kier, grace the cast in pretty interesting roles.

Plot concerns Alex Borden, a shy collegiate who begins to develop amazing mental powers after a a relatively harmless game of chess. His powers are also accompanied by debilitating migraines that the doctors are unable to explain. He is recommended to see a ’specialist’ and things dont improve much. To make matters worse, he may or maynot be responsible for demons unleashed from his mind, that have laid down a blood path for everything that he comes in contact with.

There are a couple of well executed sequences including one that gives a camera view from the other side of a gunshot wound, and another that involves Udo Kier. Inspite of the simplistic synopsis, the film is anything but, and much head-scratching should be anticipated, if not a repeat viewing.

Film gets the casting right, and benefits greatly from a fantastice performance from newcomer Christopher Denham as Alex Borden. Sean Young as the mother is a treat, as is Dee Wallace Stone as Dr. Denise Bell, ageless Olvia Hussey as Dr. Karen Murphy, the speciliast, and lastly, the charismatic Udo Kier as Rev. Karl Hartman.

Technical creds, apart from the monster suits, are pretty decent and quite amazing for a low-budget flick. Special nod to lensman William M. Miller (who also serves as one of the producers) for an exceptional job.

An ‘R’ rated film that has pleasing gratuitous nudity & gore, is well-acted and last but not the least, boasts a well-scripted storyline. What else do ya need?

MPAA RATING: Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, sexuality and language
DURATION: 89 minutes.
CAST: Christopher Denham, Erick Kastel, Olivia Hussey
DIRECTOR: Andrew Van Den Houten