Addicted to watching The Practice on Hulu

By now everyone knows about Hulu, the website where you can watch full episodes of your favorite TV shows with minimal commercials and at pretty high quality. Recently I’ve gotten addicted to watching one of my favorite programs that was canceled- The Practice. Watching the first few episodes was completely intriguing for me, especially since I’d never seen the pilot. You can tell that the actors aren’t quite sure of their characters, are still trying to settle into a definite history, and even on the filming side the cinematographers are shaky on how to approach the ‘feel’ of the show. I remember watching the first episode of Law and Order; it was disjointed, messy, and utterly unwatchable. Although The Practice never drops that low, it does sag a bit in parts.

But The Practice is good for the simple reason that although the characters themselves can be a bit trite and the acting borderline melodramatic, the cases that they have truly make the viewer question their moral compass, and the sense of right and wrong. I took a personality test a few weeks ago and one of my strengths was ‘Individualization’, which is the ability to see each person as unique; search for differences and nuances between the lines. Figure out each person’s story, and what led to their current predicament. I think this show absolutely tickles that part of me, because I start off thinking that the murderer should go to jail, and at the end go, “But the mitigating circumstances are such that..”. And any show that can make me give pause and question myself certainly goes up as an easily addictive show to watch. Credit David E. Kelley, the creator and writer of many of these first episodes, for capturing those dichotomies so well.

I gotta go- I’m onto watching another episode.

Tags: Acting, TV

Slumdog wins Best Picture

(I think it’ll be the last Slumdog Millionaire post, because on the site are three separate Slumdog posts now. A bit excessive, even for me.)

It did it– like the Little Engine That Could, Slumdog Millionaire somehow managed to win Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, Best Song, and Best Director, and a few other technical awards. That’s a huge coup for any movie to win for THAT many categories as it was nominated for. I think of the nominations Slumdog got, it only lost 1 or 2. Pretty impressive. Personally, I went with history and looked at how pictures that usually rack up the awards at the Golden Globes and BAFTA’s usually end up in the cold at the Oscars. Hence, I put my bets on Milk winning it all. Granted, I haven’t seen the movie, but Sean Penn did end up winning Best Actor for it, and I figured a strong performance by a veteran actor would be enough for people in the Academy to perhaps go for it and break away from the slew of awards that the film had already accrued.

Weirdly, my picks for most of the main categories were all off– I picked Viola Davis (stupid move– it’s her first nomination and as soon as the awards began I knew that I should’ve picked Penelope Cruz instead because she was robbed for her amazing work in Volver), Milk for Best Picture, and I picked– get this– Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon. I know, you’re thinking why oh WHY did he pick Frank Langella? Because Penn had won just a few years ago for Mystic River, Rourke was too edgy as an all-around person for the Oscars, and Brad Pitt wasn’t seen as doing really serious work as Benjamin Button. Langella on the other hand? He’s a respected older actor who’s never won. I thought that would easily put him over the top. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case: take Peter O’Toole, for instance. He’s been nominated some ridiculous number of times and still hasn’t won, even after collecting a Lifetime Achievement trophy.

And yet, I managed to get almost all the other categories right– even the categories that I’d never even SEEN the movie. Stuff like Best Animation Short, Best Documentary, etc. The stuff that most people go, “can we get to the bigger awards already?” I went to a friend’s house tonight for an Oscar party and I won a ‘grand prize’ for getting the most accurate picks. Who would’ve thought it? Pretty cool though.

Last but not least, I was actually rather impressed with the overall efficiency and light-heartedness of the Oscars this year. I thought that Hugh Jackman did a terrific job on the opening sequence, channeling some Billy Crystal shticks and pulling it off effortlessly. The point where he pulled Anne Hathaway onstage and performed with her was especially fun, it seemed. The night got off to a good start and didn’t have as much droll latency as many other recent presentations (which led to much lower ratings). I’m not sure if I agreed with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens being onstage at the Academy Awards at first, but I think the tribute to musicals with them, Jackman, two of the actors from Mamma Mia! and Beyonce was nicely done and fun to watch. Ben Stiller coming in as Joaquin Phoenix was HILARIOUS, and absolutely great to mock fun of Phoenix’s ridiculous behavior on Letterman. True the crowd didn’t laugh too much at the shtick by Stiller, but I was absolutely dying.

The only thing missing from the show was random zaniness, I’d say. Not to say that there needs to be a streaker onstage every year, but some sense of an ‘edge’. Regardless, overall still a fun show to watch, and I don’t think I wholeheartedly disagreed with any winners, except maybe for the massive omissions to The Dark Knight for Best Director and Best Picture. But of course, that’s all in the past. This year’s Oscars is over, and as Jackman himself stated, the race to next year’s Oscars is on.

Tags: Acting, Hollywood

Anil Kapoor is a pompous idiot

I know, this isn’t really worthy of a tirade, but I have to say it: Anil Kapoor needs to shut up. I saw him speak after the Golden Globes during which he acted like the success of Slumdog Millionaire was solely because of him. And now, he does it again in an interview with CNN in preparation for the Oscars tonight. He rambles on about how people ‘everywhere’ repeat his lines and that he’s a source of happiness. Are you KIDDING me?? Dude you were the worst part of the entire movie, and aside from a few people that I mentioned in an earlier post, it wasn’t a top acting ensemble. He exemplifies the grandiose pomposity of the top rung of Bollywood (even though he himself hasn’t been a top star in close to a decade), and it is plainly transparent in interviews. Listen buddy, talking like this might get you legions of fans who read Femina and Filmfare, but it’s not gonna help your rep here.

And with that, I’m done.

Tags: Acting, India, Video

The next Indian superstar

The next Indian superstar is Sam Anderson. Mark my words. He’s got charm, charisma, brilliant acting chops and boy can he dance. Oh I see how it is, you think I’m being facetious. Oh yeah, just follow this link and watch all the related videos of Sam Anderson on YouTube. It’ll kind of rock your socks off. I just hope the Tamil film industry can keep him contained for a little while longer before he gets shipped over to Hollywood to take over. He’s absolutely ready.

Enjoy.

Tags: Acting, India

Slumdog Millionaire is a moving, gripping, visual feast

I just watched Slumdog Millionaire, and it was easily the best film I’ve seen in a very long time. The visuals are breathtaking, the editing, the production– all first notch. And yes, it absolutely deserves all the accolades that it’s gotten thus far. I feel like I have to break this down into parts. So here goes.

The story

To keep it simple, the story revolves around a boy named Jamal who manages to get himself onto the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The question however, is how does he manage to get answer after answer correctly, and the story weaves his story into back-and-forth cuts with the present where the bucolic Indian police are torturing him. Within this is also his old friend Latika, who was one of the slumdogs with his brother Salim, but in a fragmented manner ends up as a love interest later in Jamal’s life.

Direction

By far the strength of this movie– Danny Boyle does a phenomenal job of not just tying the sharp screenplay with the looks and feels of India. There’s a rabid energy that emanates from each frame during the shots shot outside (as opposed to the studio where Jamal is on the show), and sheer vibrance even within the disparate settings of the slums. However Boyle does show some restraint in painting all of India as a slum as many Western filmmakers have done, and also shows the call-centers where many people work, which are just as modern as any in America. (From personal experience, those Dell buildings in Bangalore are a whole lot nicer than that I saw in OKC.)

Another huge triumph by Boyle is getting an amazing amount of emotion and honesty out of the child actors that play Jamal, Salim and Latika during various periods of history. It’s a bit odd to note that the child actors, in my opinion, were better than most of the adults (save for Irfan Khan as a police inspector). Considering that they make up a majority of the film, the emotional highs and lows are fully palpable and Boyle makes sure that the audience is with him every step of the way.

Acting

As mentioned earlier, my favorite actors in the film were the children. Not since The Sixth Sense have I seen so much from such young actors. And we’re not talking about kids who are playing cute– we’re talking about some seriously heavy lifting, acting-wise, and they pull it off with aplomb. Aside from that Irfan Khan gives yet another strong but subdued performance as the police inspector who’s interrogating Jamal about how a slumdog knows the answers to some very difficult question. It’s a role that will not get any acclaim- but Khan impressed me the first time as Gogul’s father in The Namesake.

Dev Patel does admirably and keeps his acting simple. Though most of his scenes are with short dialogue and furtive looks, he avoids the pitfalls of overplaying the melodrama that the script could have fallen into. This is in contrast to Anil Kapoor, a veteran Bollywood actor, who is trying very hard to not slip into his old Bollywood tricks of flat characters. He starts off slimy, and stays slimy, through the end. No arc, no nothing. He sticks with the lines, and doesn’t interpret them to be a fully realized character. I would’ve preferred Amitabh Bachchan, the original host of the show back in India.

Freida Pinto (adult Latika) is also used sparingly, and for good reason. Her line readings were sufficient but not overly impressive. But, and I have to say this– she sure is stunning.

Production

From the score by A.R. Rahman to the quick cuts in editing to the brilliant cinematography, everything about this movie’s production clicked. It felt like one cohesive unit, all striving towards the same message– as movies should be. Rahman, already an award winner in India many times over for his scores, manages yet again to keep the movie firmly based in India in its organic nature, without resorting to the typical sitar-and-tabla whinings that you may hear at your local Indian restaurant during dinner hour. It is breathtaking, and hearing it in a theater makes it all the more impressive.

Final thoughts

Slumdog Millionaire is definitely on my ‘buy when it comes out’ list. The film manages to actually make one laugh, cry, and everything in between without coming off as formulaic or cheesy– a difficult feat. Personally I remember seeing many of these same children when I lived in India and how they begged– it was painful for me at first, but then I had to learn to turn a blind eye in order to continue on with my days. This movie brought it all back, and the true disparity that millions of Indian children live in. And it’s in the despair that Slumdog Millionaire scores well because it gives hope to the human spirit and of never giving up. Watch it.

Tags: Acting, Review

SNL actually does funny these days!

In case you missed it, you have to see Palin’s visit to SNL this weekend– it was hilarious. While you’re on the site, you might want to check out the Mark Wahlberg impression by Andy Samberg because they reference it in the clip. And to top it all off, Amy Poehler doing an outstanding rap (with a cameo again from Palin) that was obviously written by Samberg. It has the same feel as Lazy Sunday and the Natalie Portman rap.

Enough links yet? Now stop wasting time and get back to work!

Tags: Acting, Funny

Quote of the Day

“Okay, let’s not have Michael Phelps never do anything on screen, unless he’s in the water…. I wanted to take all 8 of his gold medals away from him.”
-Vinni, referring to Michael Phelps’s hosting of SNL

Tags: Acting, Funny, Quote of the Day