Five cokeheads decide to fake one of their own's kidnapping to bribe a police constable for covering up a hit-and-run accident. It becomes a media event with all of them presumed kidnapped and things turning ugly.
The film as a whole is a mess not necessarily in a bad way. The second half of the film works more like a commentary on the Indian news media circus and the Police. Plenty of stylish flourishes, some very good set-pieces in what is essentially a tiresome film at over two hours. It would have maybe worked out better if they kept the dark humor tone over the entire period of the film.
Hit and Run thing is getting a bit cliched and lazy. They could have come up easily with something else like getting caught with dope or something.
Creators: David Simon & Ed Burns Cast: Dominic West, John Doman, Wendell Pierce, Michael K. Williams, Idris Elba, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn, Lance Reddick etc
Plenty of things have been told about 'The Wire', with it being unarguably the greatest TV drama series of all time.Like good films, during it run it had a limited audience and won very few awards and they made season by season without knowing for sure there will be another one. We are all lucky that HBO let it run for five seasons of total perfection.
I saw it for the first time about 2-3 years back. I had seen the first episode and it took me a one year gap to get back into it. As many fans of Wire would testify it will take about three episodes to get into it. After that you will be like an addict who cannot wait to get his next fix. I started my re-watch again from season one in April this year and finished the first three seasons in no time. Over the last two weeks I finished the last two seasons. It gets better on every watch as all good things usually does, with you noticing all the things that you missed on the first watch and marvel at the way in which the creators have carefully carved out characters who you might think playing just minor roles: Slim Charles, Bodie, Poot, Randy etc. As the joke goes-difference between 'The Wire' and a 'Tweet' is that the former has more than 140 characters.
The shows creators are David Simon was a journalist with the Baltimore Sun and Ed Burns who was a Police detective. They manage to depict the reality of their city 'Baltimore' with all its problems and ultimately the main character of the series is the city itself. By the end of season five all the human characters get replaced by new people who take over their roles and for the city nothing really changes which is ultimately the message of the Wire. There is no happy ending or resolution. It just puts a mirror in front of the society. Even though drug scene in Baltimore is at the center of the series, whatever it depicts is applicable to many other parts of the world as it deals with corruption, bureaucracy, inequality, failure of institutions, cyclicality cynicism etc. Its all very 'Dickensian' if you know what I mean.
The realism with which it is made will make you feel like you are watching a docu-drama. It doesn't conform to the usual TV norms like ending episodes on a cliffhanger, resolved standalone episodes or explaining/reminding the viewers to actually connect the dots or making seasons stand on their own so that people can choose to watch it anytime at any point of the series. It has to be seen from the first episode to the last as it is just like a 60 hour film. David Simon followed a 'Fuck the Average viewer' policy while making it. Your intelligence is taken for granted and there is hardly any explaining done. The street drug lingo will take some time to get used to but it is not a significant obstacle. Hoppers, 5-O, Testers, G-Packs, Carrying weight, WMDs, Pandemic etc, don't worry: you'll get used to it yo.
****SPOILER ALERT****
The First Season focus mainly on the Barksdale gang and the police effort in getting a wiretap going to nab the kingpin Avon Barksdale, who is the gangster type, and his associate Stringer Bell who is the brains behind the group. Stringer want to do things professionally without much bloodshed whereas Avon cares more about his reputation in the streets and the corners he holds. The characters like D'Angelo Barksdale, Bodie, Poot and Wallace who operates in the lower end of the food chain gives us a peak into how it is done at the street level.The series start with the killing of a citizen who was a witness against D'Angelo Barksdale in a murder case. Dominic West's Jimmy McNulty leaks this info to a judge who starts a shitstorm because of which a unit is formed under the leadership of Daniels played by Lance Reddick. Case gets a breakthrough when Omar Little (Michael K.Williams), who moonlights as a guy who robs the drug dealers, comes forward as a witness to the killing. The Barksdale gang is using codes through pagers for communication and Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) uses the wire to crack the code and finally to put Avon Barksdale behind bars. The first season primarily shows the ground level activities of both the Police and the drug dealers. We see that the both sides are just trying to do their job within the constraints they are operating in pursuing their own self-interest. They are just two sides of the same coin.
The Second Season of series take a serious deviation from the first by focusing on the plight of stevedores in the Baltimore city port. It examines the problems the blue collar people in the developed world are facing because of the globalization. Baltimore's port is one that suffered greatly because of increased trade between US and China as most of the cargo is handled by the ports in the west coast. The protagonist for the second season is Frank Sobotka who is the union leader for the stevedores. He is trying to improve the infrastructure of the port through lobbying. He is getting money for it by aiding smuggling of goods through his port. Problems start for him when a container turns up unclaimed with dead women who were meant to be sold as prostitutes. This causes attention to fall on their activities which included abetting smuggling of drugs into the country. The East Side drug lord Proposition Joe has the connect to these high quality drugs. Meanwhile Avon's territory of West Side is overseen now by Stringer Bell and he is struggling with poor quality drugs. Stringer starts sharing territory with Joe to get access to the higher quality drug behind Avon's back. We start conflicts developing between Avon and Stringer as Stringer uses Omar to thwart Avon's plans to get back the territory. Street level drug story is just a sideshow this season setting things up for the third season. It is more about the wholesale side of the operation through the ports and story is told through the travails of the Sobotka family. Many viewers had a problem with this but it is one of the most heart breaking story of the entire series told in a very powerful manner with all the inevitability surrounding it.
The Third Season starts to focus more on the upper section of the Police Department and the City Hall. We see that the unholy relation between the two is leading to short-termism, juking of stats and corruption in the Police Department. A new character, councilman Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillan), who has mayoral ambitions is introduced. Another new character is Major Bunny Colvin who is fed up with the futility of the 'War of Drugs'. He starts the project 'Hamsterdam', designated areas in which people can buy and sell drugs without fearing the police so that other parts of the city could be kept clean, without letting his superiors know. It is ultimately David Simon's opinion that the legalization of drugs is the only solution is shown through the Hamsterdam story arc. Why it is not possible is also shown as the politicians use the issue for point scoring even though they know it is perfectly feasible solution.
Meanwhile in the drug trade business Avon gets out of jail and a new gang led by Marlo Stanfield is starting to compete for territory in the west side. Rifts between Avon and Stringer continue to widen leading ultimately to Stringer's demise. As Avon says to Stringer he really was a character who ended up in the middle neither comfortable with the gangster bullshit nor the business side of things. Avon is nabbed again by the Police through a wiretap but the cycle just repeats as Marlo Stanfield takes his place as the Kingpin of the west side.
The Fourth Season takes a look at the school system showing how it fails the students who inevitably falls into the drug system. We are given the teachers' side of the story through the character of Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost) who is an ex-detective from the previous seasons. Colvin is also there, after getting chucked out from the Police, as a consultant for an educational research project wherein which to study the behavior they create a separate class for the troublemakers who are more or less the corner kids from the drug trade. We learn that the school system is also very similar to the police department with short-termism and juking of stats through the gaming of exams whose results decides the fate of the teachers and school.
Meanwhile in the drug trade business Marlo Stanfield establishes his dominance through his muscle Chis Partlow and 'Snoop' Pearson who executes people for him leaving the bodies in boxed up vacants. The rise is very bloody but the Police are not aware of it because of the lack of bodies. Marlo is not part of the co-op established between the drug gangs led by Proposition Joe. To induce him to the co-op Joe uses Omar to create trouble for Marlo. Finally Marlo joins the co-op and but one of their resupply is sabotaged by Omar who retires from the game and leaves the city. The bodies in the vacants are finally discovered by Bunk and Lester but they don't have enough evidence to convict anyone.
In the Democratic Mayoral race Tommy Carcetti is facing almost an impossible task being a White Candidate in city that is too Black. He chips away continuously at the Mayor's base and with plenty of good luck and chance (another witness killing which was just an accident) he manages an improbable victory. His story has great parallels to the Obama story. In the political side of things the fourth season ends on a high note with Carcetti promising plenty of things and grooming Daniels as his next Police Commissioner. It is apparently a 'New Day'.
The Fifth Season starts one year on from Carcetti's election to the office with the promised new day having not arrived. Meanwhile Carcetti has set his sights on next year's Maryland governor race. Police are facing extraordinary budget cuts because of the fiscal issues with the school system. This causes winding up of the Marlo investigation without any results which brings out again the rebellious nature of Jimmy McNulty who fakes some of the random killings of homeless guys as the work of a serial killer. This catches media attention and we are given a glimpse into the media through the office of the struggling newspaper 'The Baltimore Sun' where a journalist eager to rise through the ranks is faking stories and quotes. The attention gained by the serial killings give more people to McNulty to divert for real 'Police Work'. They are diverted to investigate and ultimately nab Marlo but the evidence is tainted. Finally a deal is cut so that Marlo walks free with the promise that he won't enter into the game again.
The whole media side of the story is an allegory to the Iraq War showing how easily they can be manipulated. When the fact that Jimmy faked the serial killings comes to light no action is immediately taken because Carcetti cannot afford it due to the Governor election. In the closing montage we are shown some of the characters taking the roles of the main characters like Omar, McNulty, Bubbles, Burrell etc to drive home the point that nothing really changes without the system getting changed.
The greatest thing about the wire is that it lacks sentimentality and is very realistic and pessimistic. As David Simon himself put it, 'It is a Treatise on the decline of the American Empire'. I gave an idea about the plot for all the seasons because they are necessary to show how the series continuously expands on things that they are taking a look at. There are plenty of characters I have not mentioned who are the life and blood of the show. Hats off to David Simon and HBO for creating the greatest television drama series of all time.
Director: David O. Russell Writers: David O. Russell, Mathew Quick Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Bradley Cooper plays an ex-teacher who has returned to his home after being in a mental hospital for a while because of bipolar disorder and is trying to reconcile with his wife. He hooks up with Tiffany played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is also a neurotic struggling to cope after the death of her husband, to help him in his endeavor. It is not much of a stretch to imagine how it is gonna progress from there.
The plot is very formulaic and contrived but because of the characters in it the film is an interesting watch. Some of the story progression will certainly make you cringe. Least impressive film I have seen from David O. Russell. Didn't really deserve the critical reception it got during the awards season but Jennifer Lawrence probably deserved her academy award. She is really a terrific talent.
The film was adapted from Mathew Quick's novel of the same name.
Director: Zack Snyder Writers: David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster Cast: Henry Caville, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe
Well, it is the Superman origins story. The first half hour of the film is really crap but you cannot blame the filmmakers because they cannot deviate much from the basic superman story. Next one hour of the film, till superman meets Zod for the first time is the best portion of the film and it actually raised my hopes. Then it again turns crap with the action sequences being too long, boring and very Michael Bayish. Didn't understand why Lois Lane was asked to accompany superman to meet Zod.
The cast is good with all the main characters portrayed well and Michael Shannon stealing the show. It is a watchable film.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron Writers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
A medical engineer and an astronaut have to work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.
The accident happens when a Russian missile accidentally hits one of its satellites and its debris hit other satellites creating a chain reaction with space debris cascading. This is a very real possibility and is known as 'Kessler Syndrome'. If it happens it will make it impossible to launch satellites and space exploration missions for decades.
In the film after the first debris hit they have 90 minutes before it rotates back and hit them again. They have to get to a Chinese station to get a pod to get back to Earth. The film is visually and technically amazing with a very basic disaster story at its core. Don't know how much the 3D added to the whole thing unless I see it in 2D and the glasses are fucking annoying. However when the second time debris hit, 3D added something. George Clooney plays the typical George Clooney character. The film has been universally praised with people comparing it to 2001 and all that. In that sense it was a bit disappointing for me. Expositions really felt like expositions which is never a good thing. Cuaron should have given a bit more allowance for the intelligence of the audience. I also felt the whole dead child back-story for Ryan's character was not necessary and I didn't care much for her character either as the film went on.
All said and done it is still a stunning film and a great visual achievement unlike a certain film like 'Avatar' which I had to cringe my way through because of the cheesiness of the story. Should be watched on a big screen.
Director: Paul Greengrass Writer: Paul Greengrass Cast: David Alan Basche, Khalid Abdalla, Chrisitian Clemenson
Real time account of what could have happened on United Flight 93, the only one which failed to reach the target among the 9-11 hijacked planes and crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Many of the air traffic control ground-staff are played by real people and the documentary style in which the film is made is perfect. No well known actors play any of the roles which makes it all the more real with no silly back stories given to any of the characters. The passengers behave as they should and they don't even know each others name as they try to get control of the plane. No patriotic bullshit is given as they are shown to act purely on survival instincts. The terrorists are also portrayed very well and the emotional state they are going through is shown without demonizing them. A gripping watch even if you know how it is gonna end.
Director: Neil Burger Writers: Leslie Dixon, Alan Glyn Cast: Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Abbie Cornish
A struggling writer gets his hands on a drug which helps him to use the more than the usual 20% of his brain. He becomes a financial wizard but has to be mindful about the dangerous game he is playing.
It is an above average Hollywood thriller which is good for a one time watch. There was sufficient possibilities in it to make a great film out of it but as it stands it is just a good film with the usual Hollywoody ending. They have ended in it in such a way that sequels could be made and it is certainly a possibility with it doing very well at the box office.
Basically a super hero origins story enhanced by some good actors and vibrant cinematography.
Director: Edgar Wright Writers: Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson Cast: Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, Nick Frost, Julia Deakin, Mark Heap
Two people Tim and Daisy, who meet accidentally in a restaurant, pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment that they can afford.
It is basically the Cornetto Trilogy crew + Jessica Stevenson before they made it big in the British film industry. You can see all the elements that make Cornetto trilogy great in this TV series which was broadcast in Channel 4. It is different from other British comedies with plenty of references to scenes from famous Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, Shining, Matrix, One Flew Over Cuckoo's nest etc thrown in. It might not be as enjoyable for those who haven't seen these films.
A must watch for those who love Cornetto Trilogy. Just 14 episodes over two seasons.
Director: Charles Laughton Writers: David Grubb, James Agee, Charles Laughton Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Billy Chapin
A preacher turned serial killer marries a widow to get to 10000 dollars whose whereabouts is known only by her children.
The film is very dark for its times and it came out much before the likes of Lolita which generated so much controversy. The film didn't do well commercially as well as critically but have gone on to be considered as one of the best films of all time with the daring role taken by Robert Mitchum being the highlight. It is based on a true story. The acting by other members of the cast are not up to the mark even after considering the time it was made but its still a great watch.
