COPYRIGHT FAIR USE:In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.
Age lowers your tolerance for pain - mental pain specially. Old people get irritated easily and would like to be free of unwanted chores, assignments and social obligations. Even a visit to the doctor can be a mental torture of a kind. They have done that a million times. They are tired of people telling them what to do; they are tired of constant chatter surrounding them. They like their families and friends but only on their own terms. They also get scared easily. They have discovered quite a few health issues in their bodies, you see. The curtain will draw soon on their play on the stage of the world and they are aware of that !!
Jack Lemon illustrates that well in the movie 'That's Life' . He is 60 and seems to be falling apart. His wife is very patient but she has her own problems. But this being America, they have to be involved in extra-marital affairs on the side. And our hero, Jack L, gets STD because of that !! Everybody in the movie seems to be self absorbed and doing their expected routines.
I recently saw this movie on Amazon Prime and was reminded how 'real' those old actors like Jack Lemon appeared on the screen.
That is the impression that Hollywood has created of dads who have such busy 'work' lives that they have to invent lies for their families when they miss their birthdays and anniversaries. The moms get frustrated with their lies eventually and leave them along with the kids. Then comes the part where they 'sob and cry' to see their kids by hook or by crook. I could insert a small list of Hollywood comedies that follow this story line.
'Liar, Liar' is a little special because of two factors. The first factor is that our hero here is cursed by his son and so he is not allowed to lie even in the courtroom (he is a lawyer) and God makes sure of that. Because of that we have very many comedic situations in this movie. The second factor is that Jim Carrey attempts to act normal rather than annoy us with the facial contortions, silly hairstyle etc as he did in other movies.
Personally, I like the movie because, like some of us simple people, the hero is cursed with telling the truth even under trying circumstances. And also because the American legal system has turned me into Jim Carrey of 'Lair,Liar' to some extent, though I have not had any large breasted clients so far !! I had to overcome several hurdles and suffer big financial losses so I could see my child, you see....
If you managed to watch COMEDIES like the Naked Gun and Police Academy from Hollywood, then you might be brave enough to tolerate this movie as well.
Some would call it as crude as the actor / producer Mehmood's language. I think it is a funny movie using the format popular at the time in Mumbai's film world. The movie uses ingenious way of exposing us to the milieu of the poor (and couple of middle class people) in that part of the country by placing them in a bus going to the city of Goa from big Mumbai. You have an educated girl running away from a crime ring (which lures pretty girls by promising them a bright future in Bollywood), you have a schizophrenic woman from the village who thinks she is a goddess and scares people by cursing them, then there is a team of driver and conductor named 'Rajesh' and 'Khanna' - which is synonymous with a popular actor of the Bollywood screen; you have the special appearance from the famous singer of Bollywood Kishore Kumar. There is a thumb sucking half naked severely obese south Indian kid who is larger than his dad and goes crazy at the sight of food. There are even a cobra and a hen !!
Lastly, you have the tall and energetic Amitabh B. lip syncing to the song 'Dekha na' in one of his earliest movies ! What more could one ask for. So....
People are generally honest, except when they choose not to be !
- me
These two movies ( The Heart breakers and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) seem to be siblings from the happy Hollywood family. The main characters in these two movies raise conman-ship to an art form ! If you have come across ladies/men who run apartment complexes , the ones who sell insurance, the recruiters and receptionists, you will value the education these two movies provide specially for newcomers to America. If you do not learn anything, you will at least become familiar with their style of conversation !
You will see very colorful and impressively big mansions, hotels and boats in these movies. Then you will see people with equally big greed hovering around their owners trying to outsmart them out of their wealth. Who wins the game - the ladies or the gentleman ? the owners or the cons ? You will have to watch these two humorous and 'intelligent' movies to get the answer !
In Heart-breakers, the mom confesses at the end that she was orchestrating all the con games to monitor her daughter who is always scheming to get rich. A noble cause indeed. She and her daughter work as a team but stay away from each other while they lure rich men to fall in love with one of the two. The other one then starts a seduction game to cause a divorce that yields them a tidy severance amount!! The two use ingenious tricks to get free stay and meals at fancy hotels and restaurants while the con game is on!! [ Kids, do not imitate this in real life!].
In DRS, the men end up losing but take their loss in good humor until their so called 'victim' shows up again !! They hold a bet to see which one of the two can lure a rich woman out of her savings just like the ladies in Heart Breakers. However, their location is France and the actors give an impression of being suave and sophisticated.
Now we know why there is little trust these days between people specially in USA!
'The World Gives With One hand And takes back with a hundred I have seen 'friendship' of the worldly people One by one they deserted me....' - from the background song in the movie.
Kagaz Ke Phool - means a bouquet of paper flowers ! It implies the superficial and fleeting nature of people's adoration and hero worship, especially in the movie business. This movie was a follow-up to the movie Pyaasa, discussed in a previous post, made by the same team of movie makers. Guru Dutt again stars in and directs the movie. It has a serious story with a sensitive touch made in a very unusual style. The talented Guru Dutt , Waheeda Rehman and the songs are the stars of the movie. [I wish I had access to a better dvd print] . The story is told as a flashback and starts with the scene where the director now poor, old,grey haired and bent with age, comes to visit his studio....
The main story revolves around a famous and handsome director of Hindi cinema who is adored by the masses and chased by them wherever he goes. Everyone respects him. He comes across a lady while taking shelter under a tree from the monsoon rains and hands over his coat to her because he notices that she suffers from cold. Then he departs for his shooting schedule. She visits him the next day to return the coat. The director is impressed by her innocence and hires her as his leading lady.
Meanwhile, we learn that his wife had separated from him because his overbearing in-laws do not respect the movie business. He looses his daughter to his in-laws. The daughter likes her father and visits him often and wants to stay with him. But again his father-in-law manages to convince the judge, during the custody hearing, that the director will not have the time to care for his daughter because of his busy schedule!! The father/director is heart broken because of that.
Our director then suffers a big loss because of the failure of his subsequent movies. From living in a palatial estate, he is reduced to living in poverty. The heroine he had promoted becomes famous, while our hero now in torn clothing works as an extra in his own studio where he once adorned the seat of the director!! One morning they find his body lying lifeless on that director's chair in the studio. Only one person, who was his assistant once, in the crowd has tears for him while the others go about their business.....
[The real star and director Guru Dutt himself committed suicide(drug overdose?), according to old media reports, in 1964 at the age of 39!! This movie did not do well at the box-office but is still considered a classic. Maybe the theme was a little ahead of its time!!]
