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Movie Review: 2012: Special Effects 'Save the Day'

Leading the dull loser lives that we are, I wouldn't mind dying in epic style with millions of earthlings for company - watching open-mouthed as a 1500-foot giant tsunami rolls magnificently over, watch a whole island turn into a mammoth volcano all around me or fall into those deep cracks caused due to a mega earthquake, screaming like hell as I disappear.

Nobody dies the usual way in the latest Hollywood disaster movie 2012. Predictably, the lead characters survive to save the day. So it is left to the special effects team (hail the VFX people!) to make it all fun and convincing, even as cities fall apart and world-famous monuments are reduced to rubble. The loud soundtrack does the rest.

Don't look for a story, expect emotional pep talk on universal brotherhood and have fun. 2012 is a movie to be enjoyed and forgotten, on the 70mm screen.

DVD picks: Groundhog Day

What would you do if you were to wake up today that find that you are reliving yesterday again? You may find it eerie and too coincidental for your comfort. But what if you woke up to the same day again and again, and found that nobody realises this apart from you. The 1993 film Groundhog Day is based on this central idea and Bill Murray plays the hapless celebrity TV weatherman who has to relive this one bad day for many never-ending days.
A surprising comedy with unexpected lessons in life, relive the incredulity and magic of Groundhog Day on DVD.

DVD picks: Be Kind Rewind

A little sweet comedy, Be Kind Rewind may be a bit contrived but it doesn't disappoint. To cut the story short, Mike and Jerry end up making their own versions of the biggest Hollywood hits after all the VHS tapes they give out on rent go blank (due to a liberty the screenplay writers had to take for setting up the comedy). Moreover, they also include the whole neighbourhood as extras in the films, only adding to the popularity of the store.

Surprisingly these 20-minute versions are a hit, but now with the store owner back from a holiday, and film studios suing for copyright violation, there is one last film to make.

The storyline is thin, and the film mostly hangs on the innovative remake of films like Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2 and Driving Miss Daisy. Jack Black stands out and adds energy and much needed warmth to the weak screenplay.

A pleasant watch.

DVD picks: CITY OF GOD

Based on true events, you can almost smell the sweat, the groove, the heat and the rebellious madness of youth that the characters exude even as Rocket, one of the many denizens of the notorious slum in Brazil - the City of God, finally finds what he wants to do. It is his story and the story of other people who crowd the world of crime, robbery, drug-peddling and the dream of escaping the slum.

Even the subtitles can't extinguish the arresting tale of human beings so desperate to live, whatever the implications. You will be lucky to catch it at some film festival. Meanwhile, catch it on DVD.