The Hat Trick – Part 3

After the morning debacle, it was time to ride to Express Avenue to catch up with Johnny Depp’s latest flick “The Black Mass”. The journey to EA was more than eventful. The traffic police caught him for not wearing the helmet.  In his hurry to reach the theatre @ 8am, he had forgotten to wear his metal head cap. As soon as the traffic police pulled him over for breaking the safety law, my friend’s initial reaction was to give me a quick signal so that I am not there in the vicinity when he spins his own yarn to them. He knew that I couldn’t suppress my laughter when he is in his own story telling world. After waiting for more than 15 minutes, my friend hurriedly asked me to give Rs. 100 so that he could pay it as fine to them. 20 minutes later, he emerged victorious with a beaming smile on his face with a printed ticket in his hand. I couldn't stifle my giggle and burst out into fits of laughter on seeing my friend's ingenuity from escaping the clutches of the court to retrieve his vehicle. Driving slowly and my friend's abundant knowledge of short cuts in that area, I was able to reach the EA with more than 1200 seconds to spare for the movie to begin despite the comic obstacle. 

I had another bout of shock when I called up my friends with whom I was supposed to meet at EA and learnt that they were still in Guindy at that time. Taking a couple of pictures for an elderly couple, I was able to beat the time with my amateurish photographic skills. My friends were well in time and we started to watch "The Black Mass" after Depp's very much disappointing outing with "Mortdecai". Infact, his previous films - Dark Shadows, Lone Ranger were also as disappointing as Mortdecai. But, the reviews for "Black Mass" was good with "Sherlock" Benedict Cumberbatch in the film as well. So, we were expecting Captain Jack Sparrow to deliver his suave performance. The movie was based on a true story and Depp's character as James Bulger was very impressive. Mean. Menacing. Ruthless. Depp had all the ingredients of a gangster and delivered a power packed weighty performance. It was finally good to watch Depp in his full splendour. Yeah. I am a Johnny Depp fan! So, it was really heartening to see him in such a manner. Though the movie was slow, it was compelling unlike Puli. So, after a short ride to Black Mass, rats started to skip in my tummy and only then I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat since morning other a small popcorn. Munching to our heart's desire at Zaitoon, it was time to bid adieu to my friends and march to the Mars mission @ Sathyam

Problem Solving. Creative Engineering. Spontaneous Innovation. Frustration. Anger. Wisecracks. Cooperation. Coordination. Faith. Hope. All for a survival. Science beautifully wraps all these elements into a single intricate story to remain alive and  make through this tough ordeal on an unknown and lifeless environment which is hostile for any person to be alive. I wondered what would be the effect of 3D for such a film. But, the depth of the picturesque Martian landscape was better than one would have imagined because of the 3D effect. The Martian was an edge of the seat thriller though you know what's going to happen at the end in the beginning itself. But, it's the screenplay that keeps you engaged and you show a sense of empathy to Matt Damon who had reprised a similar role in "Interstellar" as well. Damon's convincing acting and intelligent dialogues made it a memorable movie. Dialogues like "I am the greatest botanist on this planet". "In your face Neil Armstrong". "Hi, I'm Mark Watney and I'm still alive... obviously". "I admit it's fatally dangerous, but I'd get to fly around like Iron Man". And when he did manage to fly as Tony Stark in the metal suit , the entire theatre was behind this guy who had single handedly managed to survive the unkind and unfriendly Martian tribulations. The Martian was indeed a tribute to NASA for their achievements to have the courage to go into the unknown and explore the deepest abyss of the universe.

Epilogue:

After a fantastic day's trip excepting the morning catastrophe, the day ended on a really high note when as soon as I stepped into my home, Duminy was thwacking and blazed away Axar Patel for 3 consecutives sixes and single handedly turned the tide in South Africa's favor that enabled them to clinch the first T20 from the jaws of defeat. As a matter of fact, as soon as I saw the 3 sixes, a bright idea lit up my mind to have my new blog into 3 parts weaving my reviews for 3 back to back movies and the 3 sixes with the title "The Hat Trick"!


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