3 IDIOTS

Directed by: Rajkumar Hirani
Run time: A well spent 160 min


I can't believe this, this month I have just seen two Hindi movies, first My Name is Khan, which is good and satisfying (plus no abrupt scene of dancing and singing) and this one.

Well this one has a skipped dancing and singing scene in case you don't like it. The whole story is just simply amazing, it makes me jealous. How come no Indonesian movie ever try this sort of theme?

I mean such problems (or stigma) posed in this film is so true to Indonesian education system and Indonesian society where most parents want their kids to be engineers and other high profile majors in the university (so they can get high profile jobs), not for the sake of studying but for the sake of prestige in the society. You know, such thought makes me sick. Not everyone is custom made to be an engineer, besides, what would the world be if everyone is an engineer? Who will write movie review like this then?

Enough for my rant, lets dissect the movie now. 3 Idiots is not about three idiot people, it is about three university students; Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancchoddas "Rancho" Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) who share a room in a boarding room at the Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best college in India.

They have their own background, Raju comes from a poor family where they hoped that he will graduate, get a job and uplift their family from poverty and Farhan is secretly wanting to become a wildlife photographer. What about Rancho? Well he is the smartest among these three. Together they have to encounter an education system not friendly for the free and original thinkers lead by Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani) or called Virus by the students. The campus itself felt like a factory producing graduates suited for the needs of big corporations, not for the needs of their own soul.

Unlike most Hindi films I have seen, the dialogue is very smart in explaining that the education system is too rigid and pressurized for human being, like how the teacher explain things that doesn't resonate simply in real life into how every students is busy getting good marks and good jobs instead of following what their heart wants.

To add the spice there is Pia (the beautiful Kareena Kapoor) as the daughter of Virus who fell in love with Rancho. The story itself told via flashback where Farhan and Raju, 10 years after graduation, embark on a journey to search for the missing Rancho. They meet the annoying Chatur (Omi) one student who is a true believer of the established education system who claims that he is now very successful and boast about his achievement. People like his is so plenty in this world.

For me Chatur is very real, I have several friends of mine who behaved (and sadly never changed) just like Chatur, only live for a prestigious degree and think life is a competition at all cost. Other character is also felt real and I have met them in real life, like a student who study hard to help his family and those who had to hide their true passion because they respect their parents wish.

Humor and emotional scenes (a bit overly melodramatic sometimes) are balanced and some songs are just fit perfectly for this film. At first I am afraid that the Virus character is only a one dimensional 'villain' character, but at the end of the film, his character grew more interesting. This film feel like a combination of Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society.

After watching this you will smile since it is a feel good movie without the pretentiousness we all hate. As for me, this film is so true to the bone, the story and characters are things I encounter in my real life. You have to watch this film since this is the best investment in time you will have, 160 minutes feel so good for your soul.

If you missed this film, the producer announce that 3 Idiots will be released legally 12 weeks after its premiere on Youtube. In case you wonder when it will be, the film itself released on 25th of December in India. So open your calendar and count the week because all iz well!

MY NAME IS KHAN

Directed by: Karan Johar
Run time: 160 min

I have seen several Hindi films and I have to say, although it ran more than 2 hour (sometimes clocking at 180 min) and features numerous dancing and singing that sprung up from nowhere with plain green fields as the stage and exotic place in Europe as the backdrop, I still have an interest on Bollywood products.

Sure most Bollywood films are overly melodramatic but one cannot simply ignore that they have color palette for visual imagination on the screen and the dancing and singing".

But it turns out to be that this latest film from Karan Johar defy the usual Indian movies presented. No one running wildly in a plain filed carrying five meter sari accompanied by melancholic song. The story is not some cliche Bollywood flick where a handsome and poor prince wants to win the love of a single woman. Basically this one is more realistic than Karan Johar's previous outing and addresses more complex issues.

Sometimes it's more effective to talk about big issues in a small way. Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan in his most amazing performance up to now) is the central character, he has asperger syndrome, loving mother who pays too much attention to him, draw jealousy from his brother. Moved to America from India and fall in love with Mandira (Kajol) a widow with one son. To makes things more complicated, Rizwan is a Muslim who marry a Hindu.

It is a simple love story but inside the context of 9/11 where that event shatter everything, including Rizwan's life. This film touches many issues like racial profiling, discrimination and racism because of 9/11. So Rizwan is on a journey in America to explain to POTUS that: "My Name is Khan and I am not a Terrorist".

The first part of the film is the strongest, where audience can relate more to the characters, the second part felt like a road movie, a bit too long since it tries to address other issues too like helping others and family breakdown.

Shah Rukh Khan has managed to deliver his best performance, he can make the audience not familiar with autism to understand and sympathize with them. So was Kajol, her chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan is fantastic, I cannot imagine this film being acted by another performers beside them.

For those who waited for beautiful songs, this film didn't disappoint you. Several songs in this film is well placed and interesting, although there are no subtitles for the songs.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Directed by: It's him! Wes Anderson

Run time: 87 minutes full of fresh quirkiness

The first time I saw the trailer I mutter to myself "Gosh look at the stop motion, so raw and uninteresting, it must have been a failure".

But I was wrong, this film is very good and interesting. Well surely not for kids since it has deeper theme. The story is very weird, but funny. I like how Wes Anderson put dysfunctional family at the center stage. There's always be something interesting and deep about dysfunctional family. It reminds me of The Darjeeling Limited and The Royal Tennenbaums and I believe that Wes let the stop motion look raw for artistic reason.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is a foxy fox (all pun intended) who like to steal chicken (well duh, what else then?) who promise to Felicity Fox (Meryl Streep) that he wont steal chicken again. But 12 years later (or 3 human years) Mr. Fox, jaded with his job, back to his old habit, stealing chickens.

To add the flavor, there's Mr. Fox's 'unique' son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), and a cousin named Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). For some reason, Mr. Fox like Kristofferson more than Ash. Why? Since Kristofferson can do karate, good at sports and athletic also a deep thinker. This makes Ash worried that he cannot be as good as his father.

Sure, the farmers, Boggis and Bunce and Bean, who got their chicken, apple cider and ducks doesn't like with Mr. Fox's stealing streak. So they set up a plan to stop Mr. Fox at all cost which consumed the rest half of the film.

But that's not the end, with his endless wit, Mr Fox try to outsmart them and collect a band of wild animals, including a possum with a different teeth set (so cannot kill chicken in one bite), to counter attack while try to reunite his family again.

The whole film is amazing and interesting, the raw stop motion technique doesn't disturb the viewers at all and the dialogue (yeah I always pay attention to it) is charming at its best. It is funny, deep and unique at the same time.

I don't see Wes as a director, he is an artist who had his own vision. Trying to compare this film to Up or Avatar, or Jennifer's Body (huh?) is something you cannot do since this film stand on its own. Hey you know what, I wish this review is as unique as the film.

UP IN THE AIR

Directed by: Jason Reitman
Run time: 109 min

The story of a man ready to make a connection

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a heartless bastard, he travels around the country firing people with near zero remorse at all, even in this kind of economy. It appears that Ryan works for a company hired by another company who doesn't have the courage to fire their own employee. Does such company ever existed? I don't know for sure.

Ryan is a man who flies around the country and collect airline mileage (frequent flyer). I am not familiar with it and find the concept of collecting mileage as something new and exciting. Surely it is amazing if you have traveled 10 million miles and have your name printed on a very special card. That makes you feel important or different and perhaps you can have special services for that like entering VIP lounge and free flow of snacks and cookies.

Ryan loves his job, he loves being up in the air, he loves being all alone all by himself without any baggage to carry. But that was about to change. His days of plenty (traveling and firing people) is about to be over when Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), propose a new system, firing people via internet.

Well, that is just plain rude, firing people via internet is like breaking up with your boyfriend/girlfriend via SMS, that is just inappropriate.

But since the company that hires Ryan doesn't have the balls to fire people (that's why they sent Ryan) and find that sort of 'solution' could save money, they began to ponder on that revolution.

This is a threat to Ryan who cannot and will not like to be grounded. So Ryan and Natalie must travel across the country since Ryan will have to 'train' Natalie on how to fire people professionally.

In the hand of mediocre director Natalie and Ryan will have a spark, but don't worry Jason Reitman is not a mediocre director, he manages to escape all the cliches of this sort of film. The rest of the story is hard to predict, if you predict that Ryan will finally settle with Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), the female version of him who also share the same life philosophy with him, you are wrong. If you think that Ryan will 'repent' then you are wrong too. The ending is very nice and open. The whole film is amazing and deserve to be nominated for this year's Academy Award for Best Picture.

Sure, some people wouldn't like this film because it has too many dialogs. I have no idea why but here in Indonesia, films that has too many dialogs tends to be disliked by people although the dialogs here are smart, edgy and witty. As for me, I like movies with too many dialogues, even though sometimes the dialogue is pointless like in Quentin Tarantino's movies.