My 1st pre-release screening invite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Q: So guess WHO is invited to their 1st movie screening?

Ans: Me

The Movie: Where the Wild Things Are

Genre: Animation

Where: Paseo Colorado, Pasadena

When: Tomorrow Afternoon!!!

The way it works: Approximately a year before release, a movie is pre screened before a small, select audience, to get feedback on the movie. Based upon such feedback, the movie, is edited, sometimes modified- often a movie is shot with multiple endings, and the pre-release screeing serves to help the producers decide how they want the final product to appear. It goes without saying that such a screeing helps rope in bloggers (thats me, yes) and critics to talk about the movie and get the buzz going.

Expect a full report tomorrow!!!

Emotionally done in.....

So I finally "did" my first painting in a good 6 years last night. Yes, yes, I sketched randomly in those years, but the number of times can be counted on the fingers of 1 hand.

Needless to say, the painting was pretty awful- my skills today are what they used to be between grades 4-6- which honestly is still better than what I had anticipated. I also watched my first Telegu film last night as I worked; the movie was almost therapeutic in its absurdity- it'll come up this weekend on this blog.

I felt remarkably drained when I laid down my chalk after 2 hours of scribbling- emptionally wrung out, but definitely happy. Am determined to do artwork more often now- my fingers are rusty after years of neglect- but they'll be fine with some color added :)

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal - EUGH!

Title: Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

Year: 2007

Cast: John Abraham, Boman Irani,, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi

This movie isnt worth the reel it was filmed on.

I am SO disappointed in every individual involved- yes, Boman included.

The name and background (football) are of course lifted from Goal (2005). As for the plot:

Southall United is a football club in "Southall City", UK (yes yes, I know- but it is kinda nice to see the Southall neighborhood in the movie). A motley group of South Asians are club members- but the team hasnt won anything in 20+ years.

Then a threat appears in the form of Johnny Patel (Dilip Tahil, looking like NO Patel I've ever met- as a sports commentator and businessman and developer- how convenient isnt it?) joining hands with the corrupt city councilwoman (huh?) to replace the club with a mall. The club's owner has no money to renew the lease of 3M pounds at the end of 1 month (what the heck? didnt he realise his lease was running out???) or be kicked out. Also, most propitiously for our team, there is a national football games at the end of the month, which ironically has the SAME amount of 3M as the prize money (will wonders never cease?)

At this point, I almost wanted to walk away- but honor-bound to end what I started, I somehow continued with this disgrace of a movie. Shaan (a bloated Arshad Warsi), the team captain (and restanteur) takes matters in his own hands- he decides the way to win the games is to get a new coach (what IS a new coach expected to do in 1 month???)- so he drives around Southall what appears to be twice, enters a pub, and grabs Boman Irani- a ex-football player, who hasnt played in years, and is an alcoholic. What doesnt make sense is HOW Shaan figures an alcoholic is the team's best chance to win with 1 month of training. What also doesnt make sense is why initially Boman refuses, Shaan walks away without much pleading, and the next day Boman just shows up at the club, without another word. I understand macho silence, but the suspense isnt killing here- its just dumb.

The coach decides that the team must have a doctor- the minute he says this, Shaan's sister (Bipasha- at this point, I wasnt beyond caring about remembering names, and the movie isnt IMDBing- hah! new word!) walks through Shaan's restaurant (where they conveniently happen to be talking) serving drinks. A team member suggests they get Bipasha to be the team doctor- since she just got her medical degree (this movie has amaxing coincidences ALL the time, in case you havent noticed yet). Someone does ask why she would be doc to a team instead of working in a hospital- I'd like to know why, if she has trully got her degree, is she working as a server in a restaurant????

Whatever. scenes fly fast and adrupt now...

The coach next decides they need a "kit" and more money. Those appear right away as well. No plot development, no character development are in sight- nor are they expected anytime soon.

The coach also decides he needs a new hitter- the minute the words fly out of his mouth, Bipasha, who is standing next to him, walks him to another club- where Sunny (John Abraham, looking fine) is the star hitter for Southall's rivals, Aston, despite being from Southall, he is playing for another club, since Shaan rejected him years ago (when he was too young to play). As soon as Boman predicts Sunny will play with Southall, Sunny's teamates suddenly start passing racist slurrs etc.

A little more of such nonsense, and Sunny does join Southall. But nope- another fly in the pointment- the team doesnt like Sunny (since he doesnt live with his parents (HUH?), played with a team of white guys (wth??) and therefore doesnt belong to his clan or country (wtf????????). Yes I know none of this makes a decimal-ounce of sense. Just concentrate on John's ripped abs here, and forget all else- it helps.

The shaky team is apparently all ready and winning games- when Sunny gets a better offer from another club, and leaves to join them, jsut before Southall's last and crucial match with Aston for the 3M (remember those?). Oh, and in between, Shaan's wife is preggers and Bipasha and John have begun to dance and kiss.

An hour before the game, Sunny find out that his semi-estranged dad was a huge Southall fan- until his heart (and body) were broken at a game by white supremacist type football lovers, while he was savign Boman (then a star player)'s life- of abotu 20 years ago.

Rather than take his dad to a psyciatrist, Sunny races to the game, just hops into a jersey lying around conveniently, and runs to join the game. Umm- what about game strategy? doesnt the coach need to regroup at least- assign new positions, explain defence and attack? oh whatever..

Nevertheless, the Sunny wins the day despite a broken nose and near-death expeiences. Bipasha is jumpy and happy. Boman is not an alcoholic anymore. Shaan has the baby he has long for forever. Sunny's dad is smiling for the 1st time in the movie- maybe the actor was just happy to see it over at last. Ditto for Sunny's mom, a older but alwasy cute Shernaz Patel.

End.

Do I need to reinstatehow HORRIBLE this was? Oh ok- I dont mind at all....You know a movie is bad when even John's abs cant save it. Its thankfully only about 2 hours long- perhaps if the director had allowed more time for character development, this would have been a better if longer movie. Little factual basis and bad dialogues (Boman is screeing during 90% of the screen time he gets) are the last nail in this coffin.

Naya Daur

Title: Naya daur

Year: 1957
Cast: Dilip Kumar, Vaijanti Mala, Ajit, Jeevan, Chand Usmani, Leela Chitnis.

What is the difference in the quality or content of a movie, whether it is in full color or black and white? Color or schema in a movie may suggest the tone of a movie (remember Schindler's List), but personally, I do not believe it makes a movie any greater or lesser.

Which is why I do not understand the re-release of colored versions of Mughal-e-Azam and Naya Daur. The movies themselves have stood the test of time, and are infinitely more memorable than 80% of the cinematic product delivered every day. Perhaps the addition of color is to create new memories of these movies in the minds of a new generation.....

But let us briefly discuss the plot:

Shankar (Dilip Kumar) lives in a remote Indian village with his mother (Leela Chitnis) and sister Manju (Chand Usmani). While Shankar drives a horse-carriage for a living, the primary job available for the average man in that village is at the lumber factory belonging to kind-hearted businessman Maganlal (Nazir Hussain). Shankar's best friend Krishna (Ajit) works for Maganlal as a lumber-man.

One day Maganlal takes off to teerath (Hindu religious pilgrimage), leaving behind his foreign-educated son, Kundan (Jeevan) in charge of the factory and property.

Kundan embodies the modern, progressive man of the day, and wants to cut back on labor and mechanize the business. He brings in new machinary, which requires lesser, but highly skilled operators from the city- leaving the majority of villagers jobless. He further introduces a bus that shuttles between the train station and the village, which makes for faster transport, but takes jobs away from local horse-carriage drivers.

The villagers beg and cajole Kundan to change his mind. He flatly refuses, but makes a bet with Shankar: Shankar will race his horse-carriage against Kundan's car, and should Shankar win, Kundan will remove the buses from the village.

Aided by the villagers and a city reporter (Johnny Walker), of course Shankar's unprecedented win is in fact expected by the viewer- but the journey to ultimate victory makes the rest of the movie all that much worth-watching.


Also in the shadow of the main plot, we have a sub-plot of a love "quadrangle" of sorts: Ajit and Dilip love Vaijanti, who loves Dilip. Chand Usmani loves Ajit, who realises this by the time the movie ends.

Aside from the obvious social comment on the need of post-independence India to maintain its agricultural roots while embracing industrialization, the movie comments on love for one's country and neighbor (hint, hint: newly created Pakistan and Bangladesh and omnipresent China). Vaijantimala fairly dazzles with her beauty, and it was actually rather fun to see Ajit in a non-out-and-out villainous role- he looks really handsome.

It was actually really refreshing to see this movie again. The color really made no difference- except perhaps to highlight the utter ridiculousness of Kundan's outfits- his wardrobe, in an attempt to be "western", is utterly overboard.

There are huge holes in the plot-we aren't told why Shankar's horse needs another road to run on, which the villagers spend days building- I discussed this with a race track guy (a friend) and a construction guy (a client), and in their opinion an unpaved road may have been better for the horse- but whatever. The movie has really lovely songs (must download), and a boisterousness all its own- reminds me of why I love Bollywood so very much.

The Mist

Title: The Mist

Year: 2007

Cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Toby Jones, Nathan Gamble

It took me a while to think this one out.

I am not a pessimist by any stretch of the imagination, and avoid depressing movies as a general rule- I am one of the few movie-lovers of my generation who walked out of The Titanic (and never saw it in complete format- too much tragedy) after the 1st 15 minutes, simple to avoid songs and tears.

And much as I loved "The Mist" as a novella, the movie turned out to be more disturbing than I would have earlier imagined.

Let us go through the Plot first:

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is a movie-poster artist, who has done substantially well for himself, and lives on the shore of a natural lake in Maine with his wife and son Billy (Nathan Gamble). On the other side of the lake is a mountain and army base housing the so-called"Arrowhead Project."

One night, there is a huge storm, and David wakes up to find much of his and his neighbor's (Norton) property wrecked. Normally not on good terms, the storm brings them together and they drive down with David's son to pick up supplies at the local grocery store.

David's wife is alone at home, with a thick mist drawing closer over the lake....he will never see her alive again.................

Things are chaotic in town as well, and David and Billy find themselves stranded in the grocery store with other shoppers when the mist envelops the town completely. There is "something" in the mist, that brings out the monsters outside the store and inside the stranded towns-people's hearts.

The other stranded folks' begin to evolve: A Bible-thumper Mrs Carmody (Marcia Harden) who is normally ridiculed about-town becomes the reigning evangelist of the store, while mild -mannered Ollie Weeks, the painfully shy assistant-store-manager becomes a leader of the frightened, weaker folks in the store, with a sense of command and direction. Mass-hysteria and human sacrifice strike fear inside the store, while monstrous creatures (results of the Arrowhead project) stalk the streets.

Eventually, David leads his son and a few others successfully out of the store- and they drive off ....... until the gas tank runs out. He then shoots his son and the rest to save them a worse death in the hands of the monstrous creatures- but is plunged into black despair when moments later, the army arrives to save the day. His sacrifice, his bravado have all amounted to nothing- he has lost all that he had.

The end of the movie is extremely unpleasant, and leaves one feeling more than a little cheated. I watched it with my cousins, sister and husband, and we were all properly scared and enthusiastic till the very end, which left us all somewhat shocked. It took me the past 4 days to actually come to terms with it and write about it- the death of a child is just very very disturbing to me.

Pros: For once, a director has managed to properly reflect the psychological terror and angst of Stephen King's writing- some would argue a little too well. Thomas Jane makes for great eye-candy though..:)

Cons: It seems a little premature for David to shoot his fellow travellers and son. So fine: the gas ran out- but wouldnt one rationally wait until SOMETHING attacked them before killing everyone????- after all David couldnt have been eager to start randomly shooting- or would he?

A pair of dumb movies :)

Title: Raqeeb

Year: 2007
Cast: Tanushree Dutta, Rahul Khanna, Jimmy Shergil, Sharman Joshi.

Oh my goodness! What an awful awful awfulllll waste of time this was! Someone (namely the director ) has to have been smoking something to even assume that this rubbish would make any sense.

Here is the plot: Remo (Rahul Khanna) is a eligible bachelor, who lives alone, but has the complete support of Siddharth (Sharman Joshi) his best friend and business partner. Sid sets Remo up with a blind date, Sophie (Tanushree Dutta) whom he ends up eventually marrying. What Remo does not know is that Sophie is having an affair with Sunny (Jimmy Shergil) behind his back. Sophie gets Sunny to shoot and kill Remo.


And then comes the twist in the tale- Sophie has been playing Sunny too- she is actually Sid’s girlfriend, and together they have managed to paint Sunny in a corner- his fingerprints are on the gun that shot Remo, and he goes to jail.


We are then (mis) treated to a flashback: Sid is actually Remo’s step-brother- his dad had left his mom to marry Remo’s mom, and which drove Sid’s mom to the dad’s murder and madness (huh? Yep, I agree). HOW actually, despite all this, Sid and Remo ended up best friends and business partners- we do not know (??!!). Regardless- Sid and Sophie are chilling somewhere in Mauritius when Remo- basically comes back. He didn’t quite die, and Sunny had blurted the truth to him and the police to save his own skin (WHYYY didn’t the police simply nab Sid ‘n Sophie??- Who cares??!!).


Lots of bloody fighting ensues, Sid and Sophie die in each other’s arms, and Remo decides to donate a bunch of money that will take care of Sid’s mom in her asylum. End of story.

How utterly idiotic! The cast is utterly disjointed, the dialogs are excretory, and no one apparently knows the basics of acting. Ms. Dutta compensates for lack of thespian skills by pouting and wearing wet, filmy outfits. Jimmy, normally a good-looking man, has strange blond high-lights that make him look really old. Sharman and Rahul are usually not bad actors- but here they have basically decided to desecrate whatever body of work they have managed to put together. What the heck were they doing in this movie anyway??? I give up…………………..

___________________________________________________

But apparently I didn’t give up entirely, since I tortured myself with yet another dumb movie:

Title: Nanhe Jaisalmer
Year: 2007
Cast: Dwij Yadav, Bobby Deol

Nanhe (Dwij Yadav) is a guide in Jaisalmer, and takes visiting tourists on rides on his camel. He is ten and knows multiple languages owing to his job, but doesn’t go to school. He also has a fake-pretend friend: Bobby Deol, the movie star, playing himself. (COULDN’T they find ANYONE else???)
All he wants is to meet the matinee-idol, which happens one day when the star visits the desert city for a movie shoot.


And they become friends….but hang on a minute- it’s apparently all in his head. Bobby may/may not have actually visited- but we do know that the “friendship” bit was all in Nanhe’s head. Anyways- all this somehow has inspired him to study, and he grows up to write the story of his experiences in novel format, that wins (what else?) the Bookers Award, which is presented to him by Bobby himself (assorted laughter, sniggers and giggles).


Oh man- so unintentionally funny! Bobby wears weird “rockstar” outfits, which when the credits rolled, I found had been designed by his own wife! WTH- is she trying to get a divorce? He looks terrible- aging and sagging, in tight outfits meant for a teenage-boy. Look for yourself:


And also:


Seriously dude. tsk tsk tsk.

Dwij however is another story- he is a consummate actor, and stops the movie from becoming utterly despicable. Unfortunately for all of us, Bollywood (and for that matter, even Hollywood) has few movies that have kids in starring roles.

Saawariya

Title: Saawariya
Year: 2007
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherji, Zohra Sehgal.

How is it, that I watch a entire movie, and still prefer Salman's 10 minutes to Ranbir's 2 hours??? How is it that I prefer Rani's 1/2 hour to Sonam's 2 hours?


Lets try to analyze why, beginning with the story. We find Raj (Ranbir), a singer, comes to town, and meets Gulab (Rani) a prostitute- and they become friends. Keep in mind, the town, and for that matter the entire movie is a fairy-land-type set of peacock blues and greens- looks like Mr. Bhansali has been to the Venetian (a casino in Las Vegas, for those who have kept away from the western United States) too many times and under the influence, has coughed up its replica in his movie. That would have been fine, but it is BORING to see the same backdrops for 2 hours! If I wanted to do that, I'd go see a play! Whatever.



Raj meets Sakina (Ms Kapoor, who btw is NOT his sister- different Kapoors, for those of you (again), who are far removed from Bollywood movie family histories). He is in love- she is too: but with someone else. Sakina is waiting for Iman (Salman) to come back to her- he is out of town for a year, on some business we are told nothing about. Raj tries every trick in the book to attract Sakina (even kick-boxing exercises- weird) and she begins to give in- a little- when Iman comes back. he leaves with Sakina, Raj acts loopier than ever, end of story.


Pros:
Dear Mr. Bhansali:
The casting for the movie was excellent, including (but not limited to):
1- You did well in getting Salman as Iman- his act of the ardent older lover is almost absurd in its ease- his gentle flirting with Sakina's grandmother is a splash of adorableness and humor- his romansing of Sakina is completely ethereal- he justifies himself as romance personified in the limited time provided to him ably and well.
2- Ms Mukherji is beautiful- the most elegant prostitute on the planet, I am certain. She is looking prettier than ever here, and you are to be congratulated for it. Her wit sparkles- mmm but hang on a minute- she, for at least me, manages to overshadow the heroine completely.
3- Zohra is a grandmother I would have liked to have- we need more Zohra in Bollywood! Thank you for recognizing this need.

Cons:
But also, dear Mr. Bhansali:
1- Vegas casino replicas should not serve as movie sets for the entire duration of a film.
2- Kickboxing isn't a dance form. Ranbir just appears idiotic when he does that- makes me fear he wants to bop Sakina on the nose.
3- Please make sure you have a story before you make a movie. Filling a film with songs makes it a musical, but even musicals must have a more than a wafer-thin storyline to give them substance.

We thank you for your patience,

Apni East Indian Company
:)

Aside: Ranbir's voice reminded me of Sanjay Dutt's. He also bears a slight facial likeness to Mr. Dutt from the late 70s-early 80s- did anyone else note that?

I am a brave woman...

I steeled myself and watched Om Shanti Om...in all of Shahrukh's romping glory (eugh).
Here is how it went down:

Title: Om Shanti Om
Year: 2007
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Deepika Pudkone, Kiron Kher, Arjun Rampal.

Its the 70s, Om (Shahrukh) is a junior artiste in Bollywood- in love with superstar Shanti (Deepika), whom admires from afar. His mother (Kiron) and friend Pappu (Shreyas) support him through thick and thin.

Since this movie is a spoof of all Bollywood movies ever, he does meet and become friends with Shanti, and is about to propose, when...he finds out that Shanti is secretly married to Mahesh (Arjun), and expecting his child.


Om is reconciled with this- Shanti's happiness is his happiness- until he finds out that Mahesh is planning to marry a rich producer's daughter, and kill Shanti in a fire to silence her forever. He tries to save Shanti, but they both perish instead- in a fire started on set by the wily Mahesh.


Fast forward 30 or so years-
Om had been reborn the night of his death as Om Kapur, the son of a Bollywood superstar. Today he is a movie star himself. He slowly remembers his previous life, meets up with his ex-mom and Pappu again, finds Shanti's lookalike, and brings Mahesh to justice. End of story.


But the story is not the point here. The movie is basically a collection of spoofs, inside Bollywood jokes and the unabashed masala that the Indian movie industry is famous for, loosely stuck onto a rehash of the 70's hit Karz. Movie stars parade in and out of the frames, laughing at themselves sportingly enough. Despite all that, I just didn't feel satisfied with it- it just didn't seem enough. I feel I was expecting substance in a movie that never even attempted to pretend it had any!

Pros: Shreyas Talpade is a rising star- and Ms. Pudkune did well enough as well., as did Arjun Rampal- he should stick to villainous roles, and not smile :)

Cons: Brilliant jokes and spoofs aren't enough to make a successful movie- case in point: Hot Fuzz had every spoof in the book, but also a story- which made for a brilliant movie. Om.. had the former, but not the latter- but that's just my two cents!

"The Mist" is coming to town!!!!

This Wednesday, November 21- one of my favorite novellas: Stephen King's "The Mist,"is being released as a movie!

Have to see it- albeit with trepidation- did they mess up or create a masterpiece???
:D

Dan In Real Life

Title: Dan in Real Life
Year: 2007
Cast: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook

Steve Carell is a star- how do we know that: very simply: without him, this would have been a non-movie, despite Juliette Binoche's greatest efforts. He comes through- endearingly, engagingly, he comes through with a performance that moves you despite everything.

Its a simple enough story.
Dan is a widower with 3 daughters, who he has conscientiously raised one since his wife's death 4 years ago. He takes off with his daughters to his parents' house (which looks like it is in Maine) one Thanksgiving weekend.


When there, early one morning , he meets Ann Marie (Binoche). They DON'T exchange names, and he falls head over heels in love n first sight as she drives away...which leads to a slight problem, because later the same morning, she is introduced to him again- as his brother's girlfriend.

And then ensues a rigmarole of pretense- at first they deny the mutual attraction, then try to distract themselves with others, etc etc...


It is pretty obvious how it would end- the entire family finds out, and is promptly horrified, Dan and his daughters gain a mutual understanding, he ends up married to Ann Marie, and of course his brother (Dane Cook), finds someone else.

There is nothing complicated with any of this, and the movie is definitely not Oscar material. Regardless, Carell's performance lends substance and renders the movie immensely watchable.
Not a bad idea for a quiet night.

Thinking...(yes sometimes I do :D)

I have received a lot of solace from this blog- an opportunity to air out my thoughts, vent my reactions. So much so, that I have been thinking, more and more often, about other venues of self-expression.

I am an artist, but haven't done any significant work for about 7 years now. That said, I have new paper and pastels in a corner of my bedroom waiting for me to begin on them. Why do I hesitate? Having not picked up a pastel in years, and I am undecided on a subject. All I can think of right now is oceans of color, and the female form- I am considering travel and poster -style art...anyone have any bright ideas?

Have also been reading a fair bit: I was introduced to "The Cat Who..." series by Irina, a co-worker, and I have done the series in full. There is little literary value here, but the novels are entertaining and make decent bed-side reading. I am eagerly awaiting the allegedly last book in the "Dune" series due out in a few months, or so the grape vine suggests. Am re-reading the Lord of the Rings- that is always relaxing. I am looking for Sam Pepys' diary...cant seem to get my hands on it yet....And I am pulling a childhood favorite from the library: Dr Doolittle! Will begin those this weekend, and hopefully be done with those before the India trip. I love reading for the joy of it!

Gosh- not a word about movies! I know "Om Shanti.." and "Saawariya" just came out, but I rather abhor Sharukh (despite "Chak de", yes) and am afraid of Saawariya- Salman I hear isnt portrayed very well, which kills it for me.

We Own The Night

Title: We Own the Night
Year: 2007
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall, Mark Wahlberg

Joaquin Phoenix has charm- loads of it, which enables him to carry “We own..” on his shoulders pretty much entirely. If we take him out of the picture, it has no legs left, despite the fairly gripping action sequences. The trouble largely lies in the fact that “We own..”'s director, James Gray, is too heavily inspired by Scorsese’s brand of movies, especially last year’s “The Departed” (both films share Mark Wahlberg as a key player).


“We own..” is centered at the drug wars of 1988 in urban New York, where drug lords and dealers are beginning to outnumber the police. Robert Grusinsky (Joaquin Phoenix) calls himself Bobby Green and works as a manger at El Caribe, a nightclub in Brighton. He is happy with his girlfriend Amanda (Eva Mendes), but harbors a secret: he is the son of Deputy Chief Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and brother of Police Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg). He is not proud of the family connection (why? It is never really explained), and therefore uses his late mother’s last name.


El Caribe is owned by Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov) and frequented by his nephew Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov), who is a drug dealer. Bobby imbibes but does not deal, but things come to a head when Vadim shoots Joseph as payback for a drug raid. Incensed, Bobby joins hands with the police and does a short stint as a snail at Vadim’s head-quarters. He is quickly found and turns witness for the case against Vadim when the latter is nabbed by the police via a tip-off by Bobby.


Vadim escapes and Burt dies during an altercation saving Bobby from him. Bobby realizes at the funeral that he must now go on the offence to save himself and his brother from Vadim’s onslaughts….

The final showdown feels anti-climatic- with all the build-up to it, I somehow expected a little more. Once its all done, Joseph turns admin, while Bobby joins the police for good- Amanda has left him for good, and his personality has taken a 90-degree turn since the beginning of the movie. I don’t really understand Amanda’s leaving either- it isn’t well represented, and appears to be simply a ploy by the director to amp-up the angst quotient. Like I said when we started- if you have seen enough Scorsese, you are liable to be bored by this.

Pros: For the girls: Joaquin is gorgeous and oozing charisma, while Wahlberg is honestly rather cute too. For the boys: Eva Mendes’ sex-kitten act- though she overdoes it eventually. 2 sequences- Joaquin at Vadim;s HQ, and Vadim’s attack on the Bobby’s car- are really thrilling.

Cons: Been there, seen that.