AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY: Emotionally multi-layered, gravely funny and deeply-moving at some parts! [3.5/5]

Towards the end, when a moody, erratic, unstable mother [Meryl Streep in a tailor-made role] confesses to one of her daughters that she had always known that her late husband had a secret affair with her own sister and even they both had a son together, little she knew that the daughter has already fallen in love with the same cousin who’s none else but her half-brother. Moments later, the daughter walks off the place crying and the mother asks in plain inexperience, “Who’s the injured party here?”

John Wells’ family-drama or rather dysfunctional family-drama AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has plenty of such good black humor illustrations coming out from left, right and centre with the exposé of dark secrets everyone in the family holds. Supported well by an imposing cast, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is an emotionally multi-layered, gravely funny and sometimes a deeply-moving film to watch!

Soon after the accidental death; also suspected as suicidal affair of Beverly Weston [Sam Shepard], everyone related by blood and affinity to the third degree joins Violet [Meryl] in her sufferings to deal with the current loss and an incurable illness to fight for. The visitors include her eldest daughter Barbara [Played by Julia Roberts] with her separated husband [Ewan McGregor] and teenage daughter, second daughter Karen [Juliette Lewis] with her latest boyfriend, youngest daughter Ivy [Played by Julianne Nicholson] and the family of Violet’s sister. At first, it may seem and sound a strong emotional family re-union that comes together in the times of despair but soon you enter their lives, you get amazed by the dark secrets and the darker inner of their characters. The best part is that it never attacks to make you feel sorry for them, in fact the plot unravels itself in such a delectable manner that you would bound to smile till you burst in giggles.

Meryl Streep plays a drug-addict fighting with mouth-cancer and that appears totally in-sync with her loud-mouthed, mean and morose housewife who never stops being argumentative about things and blasting on others. She even doesn’t miss any of chances to put others down, no matter how close she/he is to her. Her intensive mood-swings are worth watching. 

Julia Roberts’ Barbara can equally be judgmental, dominating and ruthlessly practical. Watch her on the dining table scene where she jumps, bumps and wrestles with her mother to seize the addictive tablets from her. She is perfect to her part. On others, Juliette Lewis manages to create some comical ‘oh, how can you be so dumb’ moments. Julienne Nicholson gives a sensible performance in her cutely amusing love portions with her cousin in the film, the nervous, anxious but overtly emotional soul ‘Little Charles’ played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Though he’s there in just for a couple of scenes, still he grabs yours attention with a sincere performance.

Overall, it is a film that establishes no one is pure, no one is what he/she looks like and no one is so simple to deal with but then, that’s life. It’s complicated, intricate, difficult but in your face. Dark humor subtly weaved in the plot and a charmingly beautiful cast makes it a good sight for eyes with a constant smile! Watch it. [3.5/5]                  

12 YEARS A SLAVE: Dark, depressing, tragic tale of survival that fails to overcome & overwhelm! [3/5]

Sitting in an air-conditioned auditorium of a multiplex & holding a bucket full of buttered popcorn in one hand and the iced cola glass in the other, if I would dare to confirm that I could actually feel the pain of slavery in the proclaimed measure, either I would be lying or the creation is truly empathetic. I would save myself from going either ways. Steve McQueen’s potential sweepstake at Oscars and a real-life drama ’12 YEARS A SLAVE’ does make me uncomfortable with the impact of brutality in the storytelling. It also succeeds in evoking my angst against this unkind, inhuman ill-practice called slavery but not the way Tarantino orchestrate in DJANGO UNCHAINED or Spielberg embraces in AMISTAD & SCHINDLER’S LIST. I am not overwhelmed.

Based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup, 12 YEARS A SLAVE is an inspiring survival saga of a free Negro’s journey through 12 years of unfortunate times in the custody of slavery. Kidnapped by two of his acquaintances, Solomon is now forced to live the life of a slave. His past as head of the happy family of a loving wife with 2 beautiful kids haunts him to make a run for life but the necessitate of survival keeps him forever on trade-board from one master [the generous & bighearted William Ford played by Benedict Cumberbatch] to another [Michael Fassbender playing Mr. Epps- strong believer of slavery and inequality of all kinds in human race]. Meanwhile every pain and sufferings Solomon and his people go through become a significant part of Solomon’s memoir.

12 YEARS A SLAVE doesn’t stick to linear narrative and moves back & forth on the timeline to create an effective after-effect of the change in circumstances. Film’s strength is definitely the ruthlessly real portrayal of brutality. Man & women getting stripped and whipped till their skin peels off and showing it on screen without having any apprehension is bad enough to make you feel gnashing your teeth in anger, desperation and anxiety. Background score makes varied impressions with thumping sounds, grasping silence and instrumentals that form ripples of emotions in you. Camerawork is superb. It takes out something from you in those horrific scenes of torture, rape and hopelessness and fills you in with conspicuous visuals in daylight especially.

All these and then the performances! Chiwetel Ejiofor is more than just flesh & bone to Solomon Northup. His gazing empty eyes with a little ray of hope to find everything in place in the end are totally engaging. He deserves every inch of Oscar trophy in the category. Film also gets a certain somber touch of realism with shots that long more than a couple of minutes. In one, you get to see Solomon being hanged by neck to a tree and he sweats like anything to find his feet on muddy surface. This one sequence goes on and on till you feel suffocated by yourself.

Good for some but then this less dramatic approach with all dark, depressing, gloomy feel & pace to it turns regular and routine after a point when nothing actually comes forward as a solid storyline and rests merely on series of incidents. Even the climax comes out of nowhere and merges into the end very conveniently. The actual events might have happened like that but if not cherished as awe-inspiring celebration of life at the end, it would be difficult to rejoice as a good comfortable viewing. Watch it for the performances! [3/5] 

THE HOBBIT- THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG: Breathtaking visuals, breathless action, good entertainer! [3/5]

Confessions first, neither I am very fond of creepy creature sci-fi Hollywood adventures nor I had been a factual follower of ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS’ series. So without bothering about what was all in the first of THE HOBBIT trilogy when I decided to visit the nearest multiplex to watch the latest in series, my only expectation was to have a good leisure time of nearly 3 hrs at a stretch without being supersede by excessive power play of visual effects and extreme action mixed with unwanted labyrinth of subplots.

I know I was hoping for much, considering recent science fiction movies not being competent to overwhelm us but to my surprise, Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT- THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG didn’t disappoint me at all. With no assessment of earlier parts in hand, I must say it is quite an engaging experience all together [though being in 3D viewing format itself brings lots of advantages to not have much option but to keep yourself looking at the screen].

Martin Freeman plays the courageous-gutsy & street smart hobbit Bilbo Baggins, responsible to lead a group of dwarves headed by once a ruling king Thorin [played by Richard Armitage] in order and desperation to regain their power. En route to this quest of their lifetime; first they need to pass through a pathway in the mysterious jungle crammed with confusions and giant Spiders then to wrestle their muscle and mental strength out with defaced-dreadful evil forces and finally to unleash the wrath of fiery dragon Smaug [Benedict Cumberbatch in his ‘hear me only’ voice-over avatar].

Watching a film for almost 3 hours is not very regular idea of entertainment these days, but Peter Jackson makes sure despite a ‘predictable at most places’-lengthy- less juicy storyline, the breathtaking visuals especially grabbed in the most-effective aerial shots, non-stop breathless action providing you very less time to counter its significance, a smartly written screenplay to give more playground to humor component than going one-dimensional to the emotional route and the flawlessly charming VFX works fill your appetite for a good entertainment.

On the performance page, it is Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug the dragon who steals the show in the last 45 minutes. His monstrous, gruesome, ghastly tone of voice never falls short in chilling your bones in fright. Martin Freeman charms with his effortless acting skills and the comic timing even in midst of mountain-high fear. Watch out for his face-off with the dragon and also the barrel fight sequence that stands out in many of such engaging scenes.

Overall, you may not be very familiar with the breeds and names if you are watching it for the first time as your first exposure to the series [like me] but do not you worry, this film never bothers you much for that but sure leaves you unfulfilled with an open-ended climax that urges you to wait for the next in the lot. Holding a fort for 2 hour 42 minutes is not an easy task. Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT- THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG does that effortlessly. Watch it for a good time with friends. [3/5]