Bride & Prejudice film: August P&P Pick

While I have a particular weakness for Indian RomComs, I'd never actually seen a Bollywood production, and since I didn't have time to read any P&P JAFF I thought I'd watch some.

A little about Bollywood:

These films are HUGE productions with large budgets, lots of colorful costumes, and many many so many frickin' musical numbers. Like every five minutes for the first half of the almost three hour film.

Bride & Prejudice is a modern and interesting interpretation of Jane Austen's classic love story; if you're going to choose a present-day culture to set a story about a "Mama" trying to find four (Kitty was left out of the movie) daughters excellent marriages, India makes sense.

William Darcy is a rich American hotel mogul whose come to India with Balraj (Bingley) and his sister Kiran-- played by the amazing Indira Varma from Luther and Rome)-- for a huge wedding in which Balraj is best man. Balraj and Kiran are wealthy, well-connected, career driven Londoners. While in India, Darcy hopes to take a side trip in order to purchase a hotel. At the wedding, two of the bride's attendants are Lalita (Elizabeth) and Jaya (Jane) Bakshi. The men see the women, and BOOM, love makin' MAGIC.

Many of the plot points in Bride & Prejudice remain the same: Johnny Wickham shows up, Mr. Kohli (Collins) from LA gets rejected, and Jaya's heart is broken. You and I both know how it ends, but there are plenty of differences: Wickham actually got Georgiana pregnant, the character of Lady Catherine takes the form of Darcy's mother, and Kiran has no real interest in Darcy other than friendship.

If I'm being blunt (and I usually am), skip Bride & Prejudice. The film was far too long, the amount of musical numbers began to grate on my nerves, and the acting by New Zealander Martin Henderson playing Darcy was bad. It was frustrating seeing Literature's sexiest 18th century hero as a subpar, boring character with absolutely no chemistry between him and Lalita. I would've been more interested in a Bollywood adaptation with no Western influences. There's still plenty of Pomp and Circumstance, the music is good when not inhibiting the progression of the story, and the film is in English if you're not a fan of subtitles. However, I'd suggest subtitles anyway because many of the actors have thick accents and talk fast, plus the songs are in Hindi.

Not my cup of tea but if you happen to love Jane Austen and Bollywood, this one's for you.


Rating: 2 out of 5 Ribbons

The Avengers Movie

Kicking off Summer Blockbuster season is the much anticipated Avengers, where we watch many of our favorite Marvel superheroes finally, if not reluctantly, team up to do what heroes do best: save the world. Okay, so that's the basic plot, nothing out of the ordinary or too complex mainly because you're dealing with a large cast of leading men, as well as more famous actors and actresses playing side characters and villains. The writers were careful not to overdue the complexities of plots and subplots as it would be an overwhelming amount of information. And of course, because of all the previous films for each superhero, the time that would have been spent on backstory is now spent on action and the explanation of how Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Ironman come together as a team.

Joss Whedon-- director and writer of all things nerdy (Buffy, Serenity, Firefly, Dollhouse, Angel... did you also know he's one of the writers for the Toy Story screenplay?!)-- did a wonderful job expressing his enthusiasm for action-filled Comic Book films peppered with one-liners, his obvious goal being BALANCE. A film with an ensemble cast of heavy-hitters like Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo (etc etc) requires balance in every aspect: screen time, action sequences, dialogue, story, and characterization (aka each person gets to have their moment). From the pacing to the teamwork, Whedon satisfies every fan who wants to see his or her favorite character kick some butt.

And let's not forget about FX. One of the best things about evolving computer technology (besides advances in medicine, defense, & education) is the freedom in filmmaking to create and destroy stuff. These FX artists made the amazing floating battleship that is S.H.I.E.L.D. far more impressive than what I've seen in comics, cartoons, and video games, yet stayed true to the layout and overall look.  At the same time, poor NYC (what a surprise) was torn apart during a thrilling 40 or so minute battle sequence that was nothing short of engaging. It does make me feel bad for New York though, that city and LA get beaten up all the time in movies. Yet look how much more Whedon and his crew can give us moviegoers with CG technology-- the Avengers wouldn't have been possible 10 years ago... or at least not a good quality version.

Overall, as an intelligent individual capable of making smart decisions, you will ultimately know whether or not a film like Avengers is right for you. If you're not a fan of explosion littered action films or superhero movies, you might want to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (also on my list to watch and review), Last Call at the Oasis, or take in Hunger Games one more time. Personally, I loved it and can't wait to see the movie again. I think we all know not to expect the likes of The Dark Knight or Inception, but you can expect plenty of action, entertainment, and a great cinematic ride from beginning to end.

P.S. STAY FOR THE CREDITS ALL THE WAY UNTIL THEY END!!!  There are 2 bonus scenes.