They like to move it... and well!

Hola!

There are few movies that can be credited with their ability to get better or at least stay as good through its series, and the Madagascar franchise just joined that list.

Madagascar 3: Europe's most wanted Review

Appropriately short with a gripping fast pace, Madagascar 3- Europe's Most Wanted, is an animation movie made for viewers of all ages to enjoy. The old characters are as fun as ever, but it's the new characters that add a load of freshness to the movie.

What made me happy? King Julien (my favourite Madagascar character) finally finds a love interest! And so does Alex. Melman and Gloria's chemistry remains ever-so-cute and Marty is in his brightest best. Talking about the characters, I REALLY wish that the Penguins were real AND a part of my life. Their part in the journey of the 4 main characters in vital; and how the hell are they so cool and so, so smart?!

Amongst the new characters, French animal-control officer Chantel DuBois, who trails the animals with the objective of slaying Alex's head, makes for one evil, very talented antagonist. On the other hand, Alex's new love interest, Gia, makes for one pretty jaguar (with a very pretty turqouise neck piece.)


While the story had a very fast pace and all that, there were weak moments in the story; such that I thought they got confused about what they really wanted to focus on for the story. However, I think this sequel was far better than its predecessor. Lessons learnt by team Madagascar?

The music was great and had me grooving in my seat. The only thing I really missed was the old granny from the previous movie. I still remember how I loved the penguins for kicking her around.

However, I am going to insist, do watch the movie if you can! It had some great humorous moments and conversations, especially for adults. For children, it had truckloads of visual appeal, which is primarily what they're there for. It's a movie with rich animation and funny moments for the whole family and might just be the last one by the franchise. (Or so I think)

Me love: King Julien

Like Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, I like to move it, do you?


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/


P.S.- I'd like to tell you, DO NOT GO TO STUPID CINEMAX. They charged a NON-refundable cost on the 3d glasses and when I called the manager to tell him no one has ever charged for 3d glasses and that they are cheating us outright, he told me I could return the tickets and leave. :| I will pay obnoxious high rates even at PVR, but I am NOT going to Cinemax. Nope. (Couldn't even find their customer care/ complaint service's email address or anything).

I'd like to share another funny thing that happened while lots of disgruntled customers were talking to the manager. A lady said, "Now we should all ask Aamir Khan to fight for us." I found it SO funny; but I'm keeping my lips sealed on that one.

All white and no red...

Hola!



Talking about a movie 6 days after it has released is practically criminal. I know. But I just had to talk a wee bit about Snow White and the Huntsman.

I'd like to start with the truth. The movie Snow white and the Huntsman is NOT a fairy tale. Furthermore, I don't think it is about Snow White OR the Huntsman. Not really. They might as well have sub-titled it as: Snow White and the Huntsman: a journey of the step-mother/witch. A lot of time was given to the witch, Ravenna's past, present and emotions.

The story was confused. Just when I thought "I'm going to get seriously bored now", the story picked up; and just when I thought "wow! This is so good", the pace dropped like cow dung. The pace of story kept dwindling. What added to its drop was the acting; particularly Kristen Stewart's. But truth be told, there has been a 5.8282894729% improvement in her acting skills since the Twilight Saga. For the sake of her movie viewers, I hope it keeps increasing.


On the other hand, I think Charlize Theron made for an amazing evil queen (far batter than Julia Roberts). Her features made for the perfect match of beauty and evil. Chris Hemsworth too did fairly well as the huntsman. Another actor who acted befitted to the character was Sam Spruell as Finn, the queen's brother.

Symbolization 

The best part of the movie, for which I thought this review was a must-write, was the symbolization included in the movie.

The creative heads did a a great job of including points and ideas were particularly related to fairy tales. In the beginning of the movie, young Snow White's friend plucks an apple, which falls on the ground and the red, bitten apple then rots and simultaneously the scene fades as the kingdom falls into the arms of evil.

The 3 drops of blood in different parts of the movie were beautifully and strategically placed too.
The presence of dwarves was a good touch too. Truly I didn't think there would be any before I had seen the movie. Even the personality of each of them was pretty much like the ones in the original Snow White by Brothers Grimm.

One great addition to the original story was the mirror, which in the movie, took a human form, visible only to Ravenna and had the support of a great voice-over.

This scene where Chalize Theron comes out of a milk bath looked excellent too

Ravenna agony at turning old and losing her powers were well  shown by Charlize Theron.

Where Snow White and the Huntsman disappointed...

While they took great efforts and reportedly did a lot of research to get fairy tale elements, they failed on some very basic points. Snow White is supposed to have rosy lips. Stewart's lipstick shade was red nowhere in the film. Furthermore, her lip colour was very unbalanced and even uneven in some places.

While the title of the movie is Snow White and the Huntsman, their chemistry is so mildly treated that until the moment that he kissed her, I had no remote expectation of something possibly happening between them.
The script could have been edited a bit more and made for near perfection. 

Where are Snow White's famous rosy lips?  

All in all, the whole movie was filled with characters, locations, animals, names, etc. from classic fables. It made for excellent viewing and was a great fairy tale for the eyes. I say, give it a watch. It is a different perspective of the story we have heard since we remember hearing. You might be pleasantly surprised.  


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

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PC Sorcar and the Sorcar's stone....

Hello!

The things and thoughts of the 90's put a smile on most of us who were brought up during that period. I too have been smitten by the revisiting-the-90's bug and last evening I spent it in the most magical way possible. Literally.

I had the opportunity to go to PC Sorcar Junior's Magic show last night! Well, he is back in the city after 12 years and well, I had to repeat history from back then. Many of my friends apparently have never seen his show yet; so I guess I was really lucky when I saw it the second time yesterday.

A lot of people asked me how the show was and wanted to know more. So  here comes the details about the great PC Sorcar's  Magic Show!

Artist: PC Sorcar Junior, joined by magicians: wife Jayshree and daughter Maneka

Name of the Show: Indrajal (which means magic in sanskrit). "Indrajal" was also conducted by his father, PC Sorkar Senior

Indrajal troupe: They use about 48 tons of equipment, 75 artists, 12 jadoo girls (who will remind you of extras from the 80s' movies), psychedelic laser lighting systems, over 400 dresses made of brocade and original music composed by his own orchestra (which also sounds like the background music of action or comedy scenes of movies).

Photography and Videos are not allowed. Like they said, it will disappear on its own. Slick

Miss Bee's Rating: *****
% whole stars because it was so much fun! The only suggestion I could possibly have is that the show could have been a little shorter. It was about two and a half hours long.

Indrajal

The show started with psychedelic laser lights beaming everywhere in the auditorium with one of Sorcar Junior's songs warning us of the impending magic, waiting to be performed around us. And then out of nowhere appears the Magician on the stage.

A magician, should not only be a great performer but also be a  good orator; and Sorcar Jr possessed both these qualities. The way he spoke was very entertaining.

He was dressed in very shiny, brocade kurtas and even shinier pajamas. In any other circumstance, it might have been an eye sore. But on stage for a magic show, it was PERFECT. Besides, I think it added a nice Indian, ethnic touch to the performance.

What is a magician without his crew? Not much, I'd like to believe. Well, Sorcar Junior's crew is an added brownie point. The "jaddoo girls" and the extra artists are all dressed in the jazziest clothes, with great expressions accompanying every emotion they are supposed to portray and smiling and moving constantly through the acts to keep the viewers interest unwavering and active.

The Acts

PC Sorkar Junior included many Indian street magic acts in addition to some international ones.

The 'Water of India' is a famous act by magicians where they have a jar that constantly pours out water. PC Sorcar and daughter Maneka performed this act almost after every 3rd act. It sort of kept a humorous element and by the end of the show whenever they were about to announce the next act, the audience expected the 'Water of India' to be poured.

There were many acts through the show. Some we all have heard of. For example, the act which involves the parts of a person in a box' body cut; the one where ducks in a box disappear and instead a huge white cloth rolls out; or an act where as many as 6 girls come out of a small box in which 2 girls had entered.
Further ahead, I'll mention just a few that really blew my mind.

Like most of us know, PC Sorcar Junior made the Taj Mahal and the train: Indore-Amritsar Express disappear for a couple of moments disappear. So honoring these great acts, his daughter Maneka Sorcar performed an act where she made a huge, life-size statue of Goddess Venus disappear right in front of our eyes! 
Additionally, she, herself, also went through a huge, running fan on stage. When I say a huge, running fan, I mean a HUGE, fast-running fan!

'Father of Indian Magic' PC Sorcar Junior also performed  many such great acts; many of which involved his crew members disappearing, reappearing, and being cut,. It may sound gross, but it was magical.

His wife Jayshree Sorcar, appeared for the  final act where she cut her husband into two! Magic hath no fury like an angry wife? Haha... The really cool part of this magic was that after cutting him up, they did lift the boxes up and there he was! Lying on two separate beds.... separately. :P

Summary: 

The show was everything you can imagine a magic show to be like. It was absolutely entertaining and it makes for an excellent program for the whole family. I sincerely pray that all of you get a chance to watch this show sometime. A little bit of magic in life could do wonders.

Abracadabra until the next...

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

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Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/



Extra Note:  An acquaintance and I were discussing during the interval of the show about how rare it is to see magic shows, let alone PC Sorcar Junior's show in today's time; and he said: "Nobody's interested in magic anymore." And what I said to him, I am going to say to you now:

It's not the magic that people are no longer interested in, it is the  fact that we look for logic  in everything we do. So even when a wondrous magic TRICK is being performed, instead of enjoying the magic, people ruin their experience of the show by looking for the logic.

Of course, it's not magic being performed. I knew that too. But I really had a great and memorable evening because I chose to enjoy the magic. Try doing the same if you get lucky enough to go for a magic show.