Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A marvel indeed! 

Despite being their first avenger, Captain America has probably been Marvel’s least successful superhero. However directors Anthony and Joe Russo seem to have struck gold with its sequel ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier.’

Asking for more

The sequel is a character driven story. Nick Fury is losing control of S.H.I.E.L.D. to sinister outside forces. His clearances seem to be flickering out just as Operation: Insight, an obscenely expensive plan to construct a fleet of massive hovering battleships, is reaching its completion. Meanwhile, fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. administrator Alexander Pierce tries to counteract resistance from a skeptical World Security Council. This makes Steven Rogers unexpectedly and undeservedly a wanted man. When S.H.I.E.L.D turns against him he and his partner in crime, Natasha Romanoff, learn that HYDRA has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and, like the neo-Nazis they’re meant to represent, plan to orchestrate a mass extermination of “undesirables” using the airships.

Writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have made the script delightfully ironic in certain instances. One such moment is when Rogers argues with Fury saying, “You’re holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection.” Such witty dialogs not only stir interest but also bring on the smiles.

The tension between Fury and Rogers immediately comes to light during the opening set piece in which Rogers, Ramanoff and a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D agents take on a pack who has hijacked a ship. This keeps the audience at the edge of their seats asking for more.

Alive and kicking

The climax of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ occurs when Rogers is locked in an energy fuelled battle with the Winter Soldier. Amid the skull shattering blows he manages to unmask his opponent to make the shocking revelation that he is actually locked in combat with his former WWII best friend ‘Bucky’ Barnes. Though the Winter Soldier gazes blankly back at him we later learn that the encounter has an impact on him. A few episodes down the line we see that memories are triggered in Bucky’s memory. However his handlers quickly strap him down and wipe out his memory.

Though some of the scenes seem to be repeats from Marvel’s previous successors, the filmmakers manage to keep the action alive and kicking so that the audience does not have time even to bat an eye lid. Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow is especially effective in such episodes. She often overshadows even the protagonist with her action sequences.

Another noteworthy aspect in the film is that humour is inserted in the least expected situations. One such memorable incident is when Romanoff and Rogers are fleeing from S.H.I.E.L.D agents. They are forced to perform the roles of a newly engaged couple to throw the goons off their scent.

Despite being Marvel’s second longest movie, running for 136 minutes, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ never drags.

The real appeal

Unlike its predecessor ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ sees a more human side of Rogers. Though he throws a giant metal Frisbee around, Rogers is moulded more on the scale of Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan and James Bond. In episodes in which he is disarmed from his shield, he uses other objects like a knife to defend himself.

Evens seem at ease with his character. He sets off charm in the least expected moments and never lets you forget that though he is almost invincible, he does have his wimpy side. Such facts are revealed not only through flashbacks but also in moments when he hesitates to take action.

Johansson is amazing as Romanoff. She even manages to steal Even’s thunder at times. An equal to Rogers himself in terms of her importance to the mission, she delivers another killer turn. She has aptly been given ample screen time to perform her stunts as well as reveal a bit about her personality to the audience.

Samuel L. Jackson makes a fitting Nick Fury. He manages to keep up the suspense on whether he is using Rogers or whether he has truly laid his trust on him. Anthony Mackie is likable as Sam Wilson who it is later unveiled is also The Falcon. Instead of looking like it is straight out of a silly comic book, the filmmakers have used the character to entice the project. Robert Redford performs Alexander Pierce’s character with expertise.

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ embodies the real appeal towards the studio’s flag-wearing hero. This may wards off the criticism that he is merely USA’s poster boy. This is a marvel by Marvel indeed!

www.dailynews.lk -Ruwini Jayawardana

Book Launch On 4th May 2014 at National School - Kotapola

ඉතින් සතුටින් යන්න.................

මේ මහා සෙනග මැද

හුදෙකලා වූ

විඩාබර දෙනෙත්

නොපෙනුණිද නුඹහට ?

ඇමිණූ හසුන්වලද

සෙනෙහස පිරි වදනක් 

සොයනු නොහැකිව

බෝ දුර ආ බව

මතකයි නම් නුඹට....?

වෙඬරු මෙන් දියවෙන

හිතක තරම නොදැන

ඔච්චම් කළ තරම

දන්නේ කඳුළු මිස.....

නෑසූ කන්ව හිඳ

අඩිය ඉක්මන් කළා මිස

නිකමටවත් 

හැරී බැලුවාද 

මගේ කඳුළු පිරි දෑස් දෙස ?

නුඹ යනෙන දෙස

පසුපසට වී 

බොහෝ කල් සිටියෙමි

සිහි එළවාගත නොහැකිව

රාත්‍රිය පුරාද

බියකරු සිහිනයක්ව

මහදෙහි මැවෙයි 

මදෙස නොබලාම

නුඹ ගිය හැටි

සෙනේ දිය උල්පතක්

හිඳුණු පසු

යළි 

තෙතමනයක් නොදෙන බව

දන්නවද නුඹ?

ඉතින් සතුටින් යන්න.........

FB - Sindu

Blue Jasmine - A rare feat!

Woody Allen's late life period drama is a sharply observed comedy which addresses real world concerns. 'Blue Jasmine' explores the pretense behind the high class society and unveils them for who they are.

The flashbacks

Cate Blachett plays Jasmine French, an icy New York socialite whose life came to a sudden downfall when her crooked and unfaithful businessman husband, Hal, is arrested by the FBI. With her marriage in tatters and having lost her fortune to government liquidation Jasmine is forced to move to San Francisco to start life afresh with her adopted sister, Ginger.

Jasmine is use to the best luxuries that life could provide. Thus she finds it hard to find her feet in Ginger's homey abode. She finds Ginger's finance vulgar and her friends annoying. She is unable to shake off the highfalutin attitude she cultivated during her former lifestyle. Instead of taking on the job of doing clerical work for a dentist immediately, she ponders over whether to go back to studying anthropology, a pursuit she abandoned 20 years ago, or learn interior designing online. She stubbornly refuses to deal with life in her new setting and manages to drag her sister into a situation by criticizing the tastes in men and whisking her off to a high socialite party held in town.

The flashbacks are effective in constructing the psyche of someone who cannot recover from the loss of her past life. It tells us about how exactly Jasmine feels when she is exiled from the heights of New York society and has to start scraping to make ends meet in San Francisco.

The 'better genes'

Jasmine has been introduced to the story purely as a psychological character study. Allen effectively constructs a portrait of how dishonest someone has to be to themselves and their loved ones to maintain sanity. Her fatal flaw is how oblivious she is to her husband's infidelities and crimes. Any suspicions she might have harboured has been erased by an expensive jewellery piece which her husband presents to her. As Ginger states, "Jasmine has always had a way of looking in the other direction," a habit she continues even when her life is in tatters.

It is clear that she has penchant for revisionism from the moment we learn that she has changed her name and married to a higher caste. She is often dubbed as the sister who has the 'better genes'.

'Blue Jasmine' vividly portrays some of the post-meltdown realities of the working class America, ones which Jasmine is ill equipped to deal with. Such scenes generate satire and humour and are one of the movie's greatest strengths. Jasmine's painful attempts to build her life back again, stooping to the level of a mere gold digger, are well observed by the filmmaker and crafted into the tale in a genius manner.

A drawback in 'Blue Jasmine' is while the director's main focus is on the protagonist, the supporting characters in the story such as Ginger, Augie, Chili and Dwight are underdeveloped.

Kudos to Allen

Blachett masterfully plays a complex picture of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She digs at the core of the character and balances Jasmine's varied moods. Though she is self-centered and picky at almost everything she attempts, Blachett also makes Jasmine's character likable and therefore wins over her viewers. This is definitely an Academy Award winning act and a rare feat!

The rest of the cast is sensations as well. Sally Hawkins too plays her role skillfully as possible as Ginger. Though there is sisterly bonding when Jasmine convinces her of certain things, their relationship is that of resentment and rivalry. Bobby Cannavale too does well as the big hearted Chili. He is the perfect foil for Jasmine's cool exterior and posh poise. Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, and Louis C.K play the rest of the key roles. Kudos to Allen for making a work of such incisive brilliance coming at the age of 77, 'Blue Jasmine' is probably his best film in years, probably since the Oscar winning 'Annie Hall'. It is Brilliant, delightful and funny. 

www.dailynews.lk - Ruwini Jayawardana

Sanga – Man on a mission

It was confirmed on Wednesday that Kumar Sangakkara will be involved with county champions Durham earlier in the season. He is available for the county’s first few Championship games. Here the star batsman is seen after carrying Sri Lanka to win in his last T20 match.

Star batsman Kumar Sangakkara has conquered tough conditions all over the world. His magnificent 192 in Hobart in 2007 against an attack that comprised Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart MacGill is the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan against Australia and perhaps the best too ahead of Aravinda de Silva’s 167 at the Gabba in 1989 against an attack that featured Merv Hughes, Terry Alderman, Carl Rackermann and Geoff Lawson.

Sanga’s masterclass century in the Boxing Day Test Match of 2011 set up a historic win against the Proteas. The deadly South African attack comprised Dale Steyn, Marchant de Langa, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis.

When Sanga scored his first ever double century in 2002 against Pakistan, that attack had Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akthar and Mohammad Sami. The champion batsman has scored centuries and loads of runs all over the world.

Playing fast bowling has been child’s play for Sanga, but England has been a place he has failed to conquer. The moving ball has been his Achilles’ Heel. To put it bluntly, in England Sanga’s record has been below par.

Only in the last Test he played in England, Sanga managed a century. Yet, the figures are hardly convincing. Sanga averages a mere 30.58 in England in nine Tests whereas his career average at 58.02 is almost twice as bigger.

So what does Sanga do? He decides to forgo the IPL and instead play some county cricket to acclimatise to the conditions in England and better prepared to take on the English attack and the Duke ball.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that Kumar Sangakkara will be involved with county champions Durham earlier in the season. He is available for the county’s first few Championship games.

Sanga had a massive impact when he played a season of county cricket in 2007 for Warwickshire. He produced big knocks and returned home as a better player. Later he revealed that the demands of county cricket had helped him improve as a batsman. Like Kent helped Aravinda reach new heights, Edgbaston made Sanga a complete batsman.

The upcoming exposure will stand him in good stead and the fact that this time around Sri Lanka play the limited-over games early and the Tests come last is a massive bonus for the tourists as the team will benefit spending a few weeks in England prior to the Tests.

Although Sri Lanka’s Tests have been cut to two from the customary three this summer, when players like Sanga put lot of effort for preparation for the tough challenge, a Test win in England is a possibility. Sri Lanka hasn’t won a Test since beating England in Trent Bridge in 2006. And Sanga has never won a Test series away from home other than against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Previously, Sanga has been blamed for playing the IPL and missing warm-up games in England ahead of the Test series. Last year he was leading one of the IPL teams and this year his gesture to pull out of the IPL auction and instead make himself available to play county cricket needs to be applauded.

With their cricket in disarray following the whitewash in Ashes and their best player – Kevin Pietersen no longer in the set-up and their premier spinner Graeme Swann retired, England are unsettled. They also failed to make it to the semi-finals of the World T-20 in Bangladesh and this presents Sri Lanka with an opportunity to cash in.

Sanga is 36 now. It’s unlikely that he will be around for another tour of England. His effort to improve his record in England and thereby help the team win will only win him more admirers.

by Rex Clementine - http://www.island.lk/

සිත් පැහැපත් වන අවුරුද්දක්‌.............

සිත් පැහැපත් වන අවුරුද්දක්‌

මෙත් සුවපත් වන අවුරුද්දක්‌

සෙත් සිරිඅත් වන අවුරුද්දක්‌

සත් ගුණවත් නව අවුරුද්දක්‌

නිසි කල වැසි ලැබ යල මහ දෙකටම

කෙත් වතු සරුවන අවුරුද්දක්‌

හැම පැල්පතකම හැම වෙලකටම

ලිප ගිනි මොලවන අවුරුද්දක්‌...

Brutal but beautiful - Noah

‘Black Swan’ director Darren Aronofsky’s latest blockbuster ‘Noah’ is an ambitious mythological epic which centers on man’s folly. Noah is the last remaining person of the ancestral line extended down from Seth. Noah and his family dwell under the radar in volcano-scorched outskirts until Noah starts having visions of blood seeping from the bedrock and the waters of the earth reaching to meet the sky. Intimidated by these omens, the group venture on to meet Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, to know the meaning of the premonition. However he can only offer cold comfort since it is revealed that The Creator, discouraged by the barbarity of humans, intends to cleanse the earth with mighty floods.

A two fold character

The Creator wants Noah to build an ark which can hold two of every animal. This he does with the help of some fallen angles named the Watchers.

Noah’s struggle with the belief that the human race is meant to die out with his youngest son even after he discovers that his formerly barren daughter-in-law is now miraculously pregnant is vividly captured by Aronofsky. Noah’s battle with his conscience, whether to heed The Creator’s words or to let his grandchild live, is one of the highlights of the movie which keeps the audience at the edge of their seat in anticipation.

As Aronofsky reveals Noah is a two fold character. At the beginning he is seen as the saviour who unites and releases fallen angels from their misery. He saves thousands of animals from becoming extinct and builds an ark to keep them and his family safe from the storms. Yet he is also an accomplice in the implacable Creator’s plans to wipe out mankind from the planet. He lets an innocent young girl who has besotted his son, Ham, die brutally by being trampled by a frenzy crowd making their way towards the ark. He turns deaf ears upon the screams of multitudes that cling at straw to survive from the floods. Later he terrorizes his own family in typical patriarchal tyranny noting that even Seth’s line should die out with them.

More suitable for grown up

Another interesting point is when Noah relates the fable of creation. Aronofsky employs aeons-spanning time-lapse to present an eye-catching vision of Darwinian evolution where animals evolve into man and Adam and Eve are formed. Such imagery is created in the form of fallen angles that turn into a band of massive, lumbering, stone-encased giants known as the Watchers.

here are many moments of wonder and creative spectacle in the tale. The manner in which the beasts enter the ark is a sight to behold. However there are a few moments which audiences might find too gruesome to watch. One such instance is Noah witnessing a vision of a lamb being torn apart by a mob. Thus ‘Noah’ is more suitable for grown up audiences because the younger crowd will find it difficult to grasp the philosophy behind the production.

This is echoed towards the end when Ila tells Noah of why The Creator has chose him for the task. It is not merely because, as Noah himself puts it, “He knew I would complete the task, nothing more” but because he was given a choice. As Ila puts it “You chose mercy. You chose love.”

Not just for Christians

Aronofsky also places the flood as the centerpiece of the tale rather than its climax. Fortunately it has worked wonders on the movie. The movie has a firm grasp of mood and atmosphere. The end of mankind is no laughing matter. It is something to be taken seriously and considered even in the modern setup.

Russell Crowe does a magnificent job in portraying the protagonist who is the hero as well as antagonist of the tale at times. The rest of the cast from the fiery Emma Watson to the humble Jennifer Connelly add depth to their characters. They are the backbone behind the success of the film. Anthony Hopkins does well as the berry-obsessed grandfather. Ray Winstone however is less effective as the ferocious Tubal Cain.

Movies based on biblical tales will always spawn controversy. Many critics have accused Aronofsky for not sticking to the source material. His film may not be perfect but the fact that he has done his homework well is apparent. It is timely film which sheds light on conflicts of an ancient world which is relevant even today. ‘Noah’ is not just for Christians but should be watched by people sans religious, ethnic or cast barriers.

‘Noah’ is screening at Majestic Cineplex’s Platinum cinema. 

Ruwini Jayawardana - www.dailynews.lk

Once again world champions!

අප වසර 18ක් පුරා මේ දිනය උදා වන තෙක් ඇගිලි ගනිමින් සිටියෙමු...

2014 අප්‍රේල් 06, ජීවිතය පවතින තුරු මේ දිනය මිහිරි මතකයක් ලෙස මා සිතේ තැන්පත්ව පවතිනු ඇත.

අද වගේ දවසක කපුගේ....

සබද අප කුදු වුණෙමු

ඔබේ හඩ පෞරුෂය අභිමුව

ඒත් අර අකීකරු කෙස් එක්ක

සිනා සී අප අතරට එන විට

සමවැදී තාලයට භාවනාවක විලස

ගයන විට 'සබද අපි කදු නොවෙමු' ගීතය

ඇස් වලින් කදුලු කැට කඩන් වැටුණා කපුගේ...

''කියා දෙමු පියඹන්ට අපි අපේ පැටවුන්ට

නිදහසේ තටු ලැබුණ කුරුල්ලන් වී දිනෙක..."

ගයන විට ‘ලිහිණික‘ක අමතමින් මුදු හඩින

පියෙකු සෙවණැලි පහස ලැබුණු පරපුර අපය...

මතක බණ වර ගැයෙන

උපහාර දින නොමැත

ඒත් ඔබ අප අතර

හදවත්හි ගැඹුරු තැන

හීල දෙන දිය බුබුල...

බිම්බරක් සෙනග මැද

මල් වලට

බමරුන්ට

මීවිතට

හරිම පාලුයි කපුගේ...

කොවුලා නොමැති

වසන්තය

දම්පාට සද නැති

අහස මෙන් 

පාලුවට ගිහින් කපුගේ...

Courtesy - Facebook

දවසක මා හමුවෙලා යනවද ආයේ ලං වෙලා

දවසක මා හමුවෙලා යනවද ආයේ ලං වෙලා

යලි එනදා සිහිවෙලා සිත මගෙ නෑ හිලෑ වෙලා

භාවනවක් වාගේ ඔබ දෙසම බලා සිටියා

කල්පයක් කල් වාගේ අපි නිහඩ වෙලා සිටියා

දවසක මා හමුවෙලා යනවද ආයේ ලං වෙලා

යලි එනදා සිහිවෙලා සිත මගෙ නෑ හිලෑ වෙලා

හෙතුවක් නැති වෙන් වු දිනේ

රෑ තරුද හැඩුවා රාත්‍රියේ 

සිනිදු සියුමැලි කම්බුල් ඔබේ

තාම අමතක නෑ මේ භවේ

යන්තම් බලන්න දෑස් මගේ 

දැන්වත් කියන්න ආදරේ

දවසක මා හමුවෙලා යනවද ආයේ ලං වෙලා

යලි එනදා සිහිවෙලා සිත මගෙ නෑ හිලෑ වෙලා

ආ දුරත් බොහොමයි ජීවිතේ

නො‍ලබ ඔබ හද පුජාසනේ

සිතුව පැතුවේ බොදවී ගියේ

ලෝකයම මට නැති වී ගියේ

යන්තම් බලන්න දෑස් මගේ 

දැන්වත් කියන්න ආදරේ

දවසක මා හමුවෙලා..........

A splendid mirage - The Great Gatsby

Despite Jack Clayton’s Robert Redford and Mia Farrow starrer in 1974, no movie has been able to capture wholly successfully the vivid pose version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 tale ‘The Great Gatsby.’ The same can be said of Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic venture of the same name.

Obsession and tragedy

The 2013 remake of the movie unveils the tale of the young millionaire Jay Gatsby who becomes part of Long Island society in the 1920s. His life is spent hosting parties dripping with champagne and watching other people enjoying themselves. The only flaw in his existence is that he is in love with the married Daisy Buchanan with whom he has had an affair with five years ago.

Nick Carraway makes his entrance into this setting and becomes Gatsby’s neighbour. He is fascinated by his landlord’s mysterious past and lavish lifestyle. Gatsby too takes a liking to the young man and invites him over to a party. Carraway meets Gatsby at the party and discovers that he is not the old business magnate he imagined him to be but a good humoured youth with an infectious smile and a catchphrase that he uses to address his allies as “old sport.” Carraway is soon drawn to Gatsby’s circle and becomes a witness to obsession and tragedy.

Like the charming Leonardo DiCaprio himself ‘The great Gatsby’ is a handsome attraction. This is a film which takes classic source material and imbues it on screen with a sense of wonder commensurate to its prior form. Glamour and mammoth sized sets are the highlights of Luhrmann’s version of ‘The Great Gatsby.’ It is more of a extravagant and luxurious wonderland which is brought before the viewers than reality. Therefore there is an aura of unreality in Luhrmann’s vision. It operates more like a lucid dream rather than the real thing. Gatsby unashamedly flaunts his wealth to court the favour of the society and the society in turn, despite the rumours circulating about him, is only to eager and to grab these opportunities with both hands.

Simply beautiful

The parties are tastefully decorated. The director takes the trouble to describe what kind of people as well as what kind of deeds are taking place in the events. The backdrops of the scenes are either full of colour or details. Some scenes are simply beautiful. The rain soaked reunion between Gatsby and Daisy too work beautifully on screen.

A lot of symbolism is involved in the movie. One of the interesting points in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is that the audience is made to identify with Carraway. Similar to the would-be writer the viewers too are much part of the party as well as outside of it. We too stare up at the windows of the mansion behind which lark all kinds of human secrets but only see ourselves staring back via the reflection.

The green light at the end of the Daisy’s dock is a trance like-beacon from the start, the pendulum that hypnotizes Gatsby and, in turn, the audience. At one point a shooting star is projected to symbolize Gatsby’s love for Daisy.

It also drags a bit too much to stay interesting. Apart from the storyline we get quite a number of scenes which could have been cut out of the story because they merely drag the film. One such scene involves how Daisy and Carraway spent their time exploring Gatsby’s mansion, the house he ostensibly built for Daisy. This itself is a powerful statement but Luhrmann further emphasizes this by creating a picture-perfect setting for their romance to blossom again.

Hangover and a headache

DiCaprio makes a smart Gatsby. Though the storyline is a bit similar to his famous ‘Titanic’ pursuit, the actor has reinvented himself for Gatsby’s role, adding a sly nod to his famous heartthrob characters. When the filmmaker finally introduces him to us after a few shots from behind and afar and with a handful of hearsay, it is delightful to see that DiCaprio lives up to the introduction. The image of him holding up a champagne glass with fireworks exploding behind him and the climax of “Rhapsody in Blue” crashing on the soundtrack is a fitting tribute to his role.

Tobey Maguire does well as Carraway. Joel Edgerton’ does his bit as Daisy’s bullish and unfaithful husband Tom. Isla Fisher is effective in her appearance as Tom’s mistress. Even Indian screen Mogul Amitabh Bachchan makes a presence in the movie as one of Gatsby’s acquaintances.

The bitter pill of the casting is probably Carey Mulligan who seems ill at ease in Daisy Buchanan’s shoes. Mulligan is naturally too empathetic to pull off the cruel carelessness which is required of Daisy’s character. Nor does she fit into the picture of the enchanting heroine who has Gatsby bewitched for five long years.

‘The Great Gatsby’ is very much like the New York society at that time - full of excess and emptiness. Much like Gatsby’s parties overflowing with champagne it is initially intoxicating yet ultimately its overdose brings on a hangover and a headache.