Movie review for ‘Game Night’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ (2018)

The 90th Academy Awards has just concluded last weekend with ‘The Shape of Water’ being the biggest winner this year with 4 wins. As mentioned earlier, I’m mostly satisfied with the outcome this time (most are predictable) especially with my favourite (The Shape of Water) out of the 9 nominees winning the top honor; best picture. It successfully beats out the other favourites, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ and ‘Get Out’ to win best picture in a very close race. Some disagreed with this selection while some find ‘The Shape of Water’ very much deserving of a best picture win (me included).

‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ which is released end of last year may stand a chance of hitting US$ 1 billion in worldwide box office before the end of its run as it has now grossed somewhere around US$ 930 million. It is still airing in some cinemas worldwide and I think it has not been released in Japan yet. So, it has a chance to become the 5th 2017 film to gross over US$ 1 billion in the end. On the other hand, ‘Black Panther’ which is released last month has already reached US$ 920 million. This movie which is the last before the upcoming ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ will be the first film in 2018 to gross over US$ 1 billion. Surprisingly, I have not even watched it yet.

I didn’t have that huge excitement to watch ‘Black Panther’ but I’m sure I will watch it somehow later…most probably before the highly anticipated ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. I went for two other movies instead recently. They are ‘Game Night’ and ‘Tomb Raider’. ‘Game Night’ is a comedy film that starred Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdam and it follows a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life murder mystery. The movie is entertaining most of the time (there are some fun twists and black comedy added in) but still I do find some of the intended funny scenes to be a little pretentious (forced). The cast did amazing work and that compliment includes the supporting cast. It’s a nice movie for those who want to get their stress out but it is one easily forgettable film. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Game Night’ a total of 7.2.

‘Tomb Raider’ is my next movie for review. It is a reboot of the Tomb Raider film franchise and it immediately reminds me of the past two films that has Angelina Jolie in them. The effects are poorer back then but Angelina Jolie carried the movies with confidence and delivered them with great actions. Now, the leading lady is Alicia Vikander. She is a great actress but I don’t think she fit into this role well enough. It is mostly due to her small figure despite I knew she placed a lot of effort on it as can be seen from her abs in the movie. She lacks that aura of strength. Nevertheless, the movie is also very entertaining with some great actions especially near the end when the team entered the tomb (predictable yet still exhilarating adventure there). Daniel Wu is her supporting man and I’m glad that Asian is also starting get to a bit more prominent role now. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Tomb Raider’ a total of 7.4. Well, I hope this reboot just didn’t stop here as the story’s ending for this movie has already hinted that there is much more to do for Lara Croft.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

B.V. Doshi wins Pritzker Architecture Prize 2018

You may not have heard his name. I didn’t know who he is before today. B.V. Doshi (Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi) is the winner of this year’s Pritzker Prize, the highest honour presented annually to a living architect and is often referred as the Nobel Prize of architecture. Although he is not as popular as those star architects, but he now joined the elite group of past Pritzker winners such as Richard Meier, Oscar Niemeyer, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Peter Zumthor, Toyo Ito, etc. He is the first Indian architect to win the prize.

Excerpt below is from an article in Archdaily (https://www.archdaily.com/890126/balkrishna-doshi-named-2018-pritzker-prize-laureatez):

Doshi has been a practitioner of architecture for over 70 years. Previously, he had studied and worked with both Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. Doshi’s poetic architecture draws upon Eastern influences to create a body of work that “has touched lives of every socio-economic class across a broad spectrum of genres since the 1950s,” cites the jury. 

Born in Pune, India in 1927, Doshi began his studies in architecture in the year of his country’s independence, 1947. After a period in London, he moved to France to work under Le Corbusier, and from there he returned to India in order to oversee work on Le Corbusier’s plans for Chandigarh, and on Le Corbusier’s projects in Ahmedabad such as the Mill Owner’s Association Building (1954) and Shodhan House (1956). Doshi also later worked with Louis Kahn on the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, beginning in 1962.

Since founding his practice Vastushilpa (now known as Vastushilpa Consultants) in 1956, Doshi has combined the lessons learned from these two modern masters with a local sensibility. His distinctly Indian form of critical regionalism synthesizes the sculptural concrete and brick forms of his mentors with recognizably Indian architectural layouts and urban morphologies. One of the clearest manifestations of this style is perhaps his own studio, known as Sangath, where striking concrete barrel vaults are combined with gardens, sunken communal spaces, and water features to mitigate the heat. In 1978, Doshi founded the Vastushilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design to develop planning and design approaches suited to the Indian cultural context; today, the foundation serves as a crucial link between the academy and the architectural profession.

In over 100 projects completed during his career, Doshi has also worked on a number of low-cost housing developments. After completing his first in the 1950s, he stated that “It seems I should take an oath and remember it for my lifetime: to provide the lowest class with the proper dwelling.” The apotheosis of this oath was perhaps the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore. Completed in 1989, this network of houses, courtyards and internal pathways provides housing for over 80,000 people ranging from low- to middle-income families, and won Doshi the 1993-1995 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Some of B.V. Doshi’s past projects are Sangath – B.V. Doshi’s Office at Ahmedabad (first picture), LIC Housing at Ahmedabad (second picture), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (third picture), Amdavad ni Gufa (underground art gallery) at Ahmedabad (fourth picture), Aranya Low Cost Housing at Indore (fifth picture), Kamala House at Ahmedabad (sixth picture), etc.

In recent years, the jury behind selection of Pritzker Prize winners is more inclined towards selecting those who use architecture to contribute critically to the community and to the lower class society rather than opting for those with highly popular names attached with ‘loud’ and extravagant projects. It is a good move.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)