June 07, 2007

FILM
Spider-Man 3 has probably been the most awaited film of 2007. Written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent, it is the third film in the spellbinding Spiderman series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spiderman. Set in a larger, dynamic, free-roaming New York City, the film stars the adorable Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Spiderman, beautiful Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, James Franco as the New Goblin, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, and Topher Grace as the Venom.

The film begins with Peter Parker lazing around in his success as the famous super hero Spiderman, while Mary Jane Watson begins her Broadway career. Harry Osborn still seeks vengeance for his father’s death, and an escaped convict, Flint Marko, falls into a particle accelerator and is transformed into a shape shifting sand monster.

With all that, an alien crashes to Earth and bonds with Spiderman, changing him from super-hero to super-villain. The big idea of having Mr-good-guy Peter Parker explore his dark side is what will make the film big. The scene that is the most fun to watch is in which Peter parades around the city with a funky new haircut, ogling women and humiliating Mary Jane with some aggressive nightclub antics.

Spider-Man 3 was commercially released in multiple countries and broke most of the opening weekend records, both in the US and in foreign markets. — Rabail Qadeer Baig

OR
Time and time again one witnesses monotony in the pattern of films being made in Bollywood. As soon as a particular film hits the bull’s-eye, a huge group of filmmakers, directors and producers follow suit and within a year’s time the viewers have a dozen films based on the same plot, the same theme and so on. Keeping that in mind, one wonders whether there is something special about Anurag Basu’s Life in a Metro or it’s just another Salaam-i-Ishq or Honeymoon Travels. But it turns out that there is.

Life in a Metro is all about survival and narrates the individual lives of seven people living in Mumbai. The film may incorporate the same old routine extra-marital affairs, bride and bridegroom hunters, wives who sacrifice their future for family welfare and struggling artists, to name just a few but this particular film has what most Indian movies don’t –– a soul.

Though the movie reminds one of the 1960 classic, The Apartment, it continues to be highly original with a voice that seems to echo across a limitless canvas of feelings of people in a concrete jungle of a city.

Performances by Kay Kay Menon (Ranjeet), Sharman Joshi (Rahul), Irfan Khan (Monty) and the brilliant Konkona Sen Sharma (Shruti) stand out.

However, the rest, including the local Ms Controversial Shilpa Shetty (Shikha) simply fade as the movie progresses. Legendary Dharmendra has definitely chosen the wrong bandwagon to make his comeback as Amol, for he looks pretty ‘lost’ throughout.

The soundtrack provides a refreshing change with guitar strings complementing a few soulful numbers, which means that Pritam Chakraborty has done quite a fine job with the music of the film.

After his well-known Gangster, Anurag Basu has got another winner. He has an incredible eye for performances for every actor is nearly flawless in the chaos of corroded commitments in the city. — R. Q. B

Single
Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl in love and part of the band No Doubt. When the boy (Tony Kanal) dumped the girl (Gwen Stefani), they remained friends and bandmates, and she wrote a slew of hits including a mega-hit about their break-up called Don’t Speak.

Since then, superstar Stefani has married hottie Bush front man Gavin Rossdale and professionally gone solo, creating some impressive recent songs including Hollaback Girl, I’m Cool and Wind it Up. Her latest release 4 in the Morning has been produced and co-written by Kanal and the question is whether the two former lovebirds still have their musical chemistry.

The single depicts an argument she has had with her lover and how she doesn’t want them to break-up over it. Stefani originally started to write the track while she was pregnant and later teamed-up with Kanal to finish it. Hmmm …

The Diva has referred to the track as one of her favourites from the album and while it is sweetly sensual, it lacks the lingering quality of some of the better songs on the album. It is also nowhere near as poignant as Don’t Speak. The chorus is phat, however, with the lyrics Don’t ever wanna have to go and give you up/Stay up till four in the morning and the tears are pouring/And I wanna make it worth the fight.

It’s the perfect song to listen to when you have just had a fight with someone you love. — T. U. Dawood

ALBUM
Breaking news: this much attitude has not been seen in country music since the Dixie Chicks bashed US President Bush. Miranda Lambert has just released her new album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and it’s already makes waves.

Although officially labelled a country star, Lambert shot to fame as mainstream, with such crossover styles as pop country and southern rock, all of which are showcased on this new disc.

Album opener Gunpowder & Lead reveals the artist’s strategy for taking care of a boyfriend who hit her too many times. Classic lines like His fist is big, but my gun’s bigger would make Charleston Heston of the US National Rifle Association simultaneously scared and proud. Lambert’s attitude only becomes more forceful in the song’s chorus, when she belts out “This little girl’s made of gunpowder and lead.”

Guess, it’s 2007 and the sugar and spice days are long gone.

Lambert hits a very different note on the ballad Love Letters. She even becomes emotional on the track Desperation which reveals a vulnerable side to her as a woman and as an artist.

Dry Town and Getting Ready are more classic country but the title track is absolutely rocking.

A welcome follow-up to her smash debut disc Kerosene, this latest CD is likely to set fire to the charts as well. — T. U. D