A tribute to dark knight trilogy

The dark knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan is considered to be one of the best movie series ever made. It changed the way super human movies are made. Instead of concentrating on the power of the super heroes the movies started focusing more on their vulnerabilities, which gave a totally new dimension to these genres of movies. Sam Mendes director of  the latest edition of James Bond movie Skyfall talked about the influence of dark knight series in his movie. Though a failure still it shows the effect Nolan movie had on other directors. Failure in the sense that Sky fall was more of mimicry of dark knight rather than an inspired art work. Remember the villain who plans and gets himself captured and hero’s emotional attachment to characters surrounding him. I seriously could not understand why Roger Ebert gave 4 rating to this mockery stuff while giving only 3 to The dark knight rises, which I felt was a completely original work.

            Now coming back to our topic of Nolan’s dark knight series, I would like share some of the interesting things which come to my mind when I remember those movies.

Fear

            Most common element in all the three movies is the treatment of fear. The first movie almost entirely revolves around fear- Bruce Wayne’s fight to overcome fear, villain scarecrow with fear as the weapon and so on. When we reach the last movie it all reverses now Wayne has to find his fear back to help him to find a way out of deep well. Like the blind prisoner in the movie says “How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death.” In the second movie there is no direct reference to fear as such. But the villain Joker always plays with the fear of people throughout the movie to execute his plans.

Games theory

            The dark knight uses the concepts of games theory throughout joker’s plan of action. Game theory is basically a mathematical tool designed to help in strategic decision making. Usually in situations involving complex decision making where outcome depends on the actions of all participants you can make use of this tool to help you. The classical example would involve two prisoners interrogated separately. They have two option either to confess or not. Accordingly four output is possible if both of them does not confess they will be set free. If either one of them confess other one will get 5 years in prison and  other one will be set free. But if both of them confess then both will get 2 years in prison. Above situation can be shown in the 2x2 matrix below:-

If both does not confess both will be set free	If Prisoner 1 confess then prisoner 2 does not confess then prisoner 1 becomes free and prisoner 2 gets 10 years
If Prisoner 2 confess then prisoner 1 does not confess then prisoner 2 becomes free and prisoner 1 gets 10 years	If both  confess the both will get 2 years each

The best solution for them will be to do not confess and then both will be set free. But since there is a fear of confession of other, both will confess and arrive at a suboptimal solution of two years.

            In the movie Joker’s all moves be it the climax when he gives detonators to explode each other’s boat to people in the other boat or any other we can see that he is playing games with others forcing them to take decisions he wants. I believe that Nolan brothers derived the idea from this economic concept and used it in the movie.

The climax:- The way villains are removed from the movies

            In all the three movies villains are suddenly removed from the movie. Scarecrow, joker and Bane three super villains disappear from the movie suddenly after a scene and no information thereafter. May be to show that with comic book villains there is always a chance of come back.

Nolan’s improvement in shooting fight sequence

            Over the movies we can see a great improvement in Nolan’s directorial skills. In batman begins the fight sequence involving the bat-mobile jumping of the roofs and all were not that great. After the bat mobile lifts from one place it suddenly cuts off to the other scene of landing. It was more like using the editing techniques as a cover up. But in latter movies you can see Nolan showing a great improvement in the way he handled complicated fight sequences.

Reference to populist movement in The dark knight rises

            The recession and the many events following it have resulted in a widespread criticism of corporate world and their mishandling of economy. There is a general feeling that 1% of people control the majority wealth of the world leaving little to others. This issue is the central theme of the 3^rd installment of Nolan’s trilogy. The most interesting part is that Nolan has done this without taking sides, because he criticizes Bruce Wayne and other wealthy people for not being handling their wealth in a proper way. At the same time he is not supporting the violent and outlaw methods of Bane and his group.

            Overall the series has been a great watch with memorable characters and quotes. Like I said before Nolan’s ability to adapt the real world to a fantasy level has played a major part in the success of the series. But now everyone is trying to imitate Nolan, which I feel is not great news as a viewer. I would like to taste different styles rather than same mode of storytelling.                                                                     

                       

My favourite movie quotes

My favorite time pass is like many others, watching movies.So today I would like to share some movie dialogues which I found interesting.


"There are three ways of doing things around here: the right way, the wrong way, and the way that I do it. "

CASINO

 "There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door; those that come in by the window"

GOOD BAD AND UGLY

"If you're good at something, never do it for free"

DARK KNIGHT

"Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate"

INCEPTION

 "It's not personal. It's strictly business"

GODFATHER

"How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants."

ONCE UPON A TIME IN WEST


"I am going to make him an offer he can't refuse"
GODFATHER 


"Hasta la vista, baby"
Terminator 2:judgement day


"Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, And like a forest it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in."
KILL BILL VOL.1


"You don't have to trust me as long as you can persuade me to trust you."
MALTESE FALCON


"I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things"
MALTESE FALCON


 "I picked you for the job, not because I think you're so darn smart, but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit"
DOUBLE INDEMNITY


"The truth, is always the right answer"
SCHINDLER'S LIST


"Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't"
SCHINDLER'S LIST


"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
SCHINDLER'S LIST


"You need three things in life - a good doctor, a forgiving priest, and a clever accountant"
SCHINDLER'S LIST


"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."
FIGHT CLUB


" The things you own end up owning you"
FIGHT CLUB


"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken"
FIGHT CLUB


"The answer is out there, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to"
THE MATRIX 


 "Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence/'
REAR WINDOW


"Sometimes it's worse to stay than it is to run"
REAR WINDOW


"Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION


" When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural"
BATMAN BEGINS


" Men fear most what they cannot see."
BATMAN BEGINS


"Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share."
BATMAN BEGINS


" I admire people who do things"
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN


" If you keep going over the past, you're going to end up with a thousand pasts and no future."
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES


 "If you want to make God laugh... tell Him your plans."
AMORES PERROS


" Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself. "
GOOD WILL HUNTING


" You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to."
GOOD WILL HUNTING


"God must be a painter. Why else would we have so many colors? "
A BEAUTIFUL MIND


" They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up. "
BIG FISH


"Sometimes, the only way to catch an uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring."
BIG FISH

Best sites for malayalam movie lovers

Movieraga
                This is one of the best sites to read reviews and news about the malayalam  movie world in malayalam. Most of the reviewing sites online always give positive reviews and acts like they are talking for the producers. But this site is absolutely sharp in its review. You may not always agree with them but you will enjoy their language and humor in reviews. Main reviewer is G Krishnamurthy and I have always found his reviews interesting. Also the comment section of the site is also very engaging and you see can a number of hot debates going on every time you visit. Keralites is known for their intererst in debates and talk shows as we can see from the ratings of evening talk show in channels. This critical attitude is clearly shown in the comment section of this which has got some regular visitors.
              All over the site is great and also provides you option to buy dvd's and books on films. A must visit site for movie lovers. On the negative side, some time the review gets delayed. So we cannot get a report on first day itself.

mad about movies
         This site has reviews and news about movies from different languages including malayalam. I am just a beginner in site so I cannot write a detailed review. But I am posting the site here because I saw a short film there 'inganeyum oru katha'. I felt this site is by some serious movie lovers. So I would take it to my list of good malayalam movie sites.

metromatinee
        Most of you would know this site. They are the official internet partner of many movies released thsese days and you would have seen their logo at the beginning of movies.  You can get trailer and stills of the movies really quickly. I would not suggest the review section of this website. I felt it is not up to the mark.

Other sites are:-

Priyayude vellithira- It is a blog. But presently not very active.
Re-vi-you- A high quality movie review sites. Includes many language movies. really interesting.

Review:- Malayalam movie 'ordinary'

Ordinary is a new Malayalam movie with Kunchakko bobban and Biju Menon in lead roles. They are portraying the roles of a KSRTC conductor and  driver in a bus to remote village Gavi . Shritha sivadas and Ann Augustine are the heroines. Baburaj, Asif Ali, Jishnu and Lalu alex are in supporting role.

The major plus point of the movie is location Gavi. Amazing scenery. I haven’t heard much about this place before watching this movie. But now I would definitely give a visit to this place somewhere in future. This movie will be a boost for the tourism in this place. This shows that there are many unexplored locations in kerala for malayalam movie industry which may give possibilities of new kind of stories.

The movie does not have a proper story structure. The buildup toward the story takes more time than the story itself.In fact first half of the movie does not have a story element. It just portrays some incidents happening in Gavi and do not have a shape of a connected story. Only towards the end of first half, story gets a move on.

Even with dragging first half director manages to keep audience interested with some jokes and funny moments. Script writers mainly use the drunkard character played by Baburaj to create humorous situations and they succeed in it. This underutilized actor once again proves his caliber. Without using usual irritating gimmicks of modern day Malayalam comedians he manages to create laughter among audience. Slang used by Biju Menon was also interesting and as usual he has done justice to his role.

About the songs I felt some of them are not fitting to the flow of movie. If songs are not fitting to the script then it is better to avoid it. Otherwise it will spoil the entire movie.  Also visual beauty of locations could have utilized in a better way in songs.

I am not planning to get into the story but the movie relies on usual suspense and ‘minimum probability twist’ trick of Malayalam movies. By minimum probability I meant usual trick of script writers in which the character who do not have a reason to commit a particular act suddenly turns out to have done that in the climax twist, supported by reasons revealed in the end. This is an overused technique and I am not a big fan anymore. But there was applause in theatre and it seems like many still likes this kind story telling. So depending on your liking for this kind of twisted climax you can decide whether to watch it or not.

Simon Pegg movies

            They says that once an art is created artist dies and what remains is people who enjoy the work of art.This is applicable even to movies which is the most modern art form. The writer and director may produce whatever he wants onscreen  but it is ultimately viewers who decide whats it all about.
             Now coming to Simon Pegg movies, I like to enjoy those movies as a take on conventional beliefs. Take hot Fuzz as an example, a village and people living there who are unwilling to accept the changes and willing to do anything to prevent their village from the changing and forcefully tries to implement their moral beliefs and thoughts on entire society. I don’t want to see it as a mere action movie. I like to visualize it as a symbol of real world where moral police tries to control the entire society with what they think right or wrong. In the movie the villains are depicted as old. So they are the people who have deep routed beliefs .They are unwilling to change themselves and they won’t allow others around them to change.

                Same is with Shaun of dead. More than just a zombie movie one person infected with these moral values is trying to bring others to their group. It spreads like an infection or disease. Only a few with luck and courage can survive. You may ask all the zombie movies have same concept so what’s special about this, because this is a Simon Pegg movie. His dialogues like “Are you men of god?” makes me to believe that his movies are more than just simple movies. The more recent movie Paul about alien has more direct indications like the dialogue on Darwin’s evolution and all.

                You may agree or disagree with me, but movies are all about how you want to enjoy it. By bringing these symbolic concepts I feel the movie have got more beauty and value. Philosophies are not boring only if you are a good teacher. And I believe Simon Pegg is an extremely good teacher for such philosophical concepts.