The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012)

Disclaimer: This reviewer confesses to have watched Twilight, and even read the book. He fast-forwarded through most parts of New Moon and never bothered to watch Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Part 1. That said, he is a great fan of the soundtracks. He has always maintained that he wouldn't watch the Twilight movies unless someone paid him to. That day has finally come. With very little knowledge about the plot of the previous three entries, he hopes you will appreciate this perspective. 

From my own experience and from the universal critical hatred, I have come to expect bad things from the Twilight movies.. very bad things. I have most successfully managed to avoid them till now. Breaking Dawn Part 2 brings to end a series that is as fiercely loved as it is hated. I walked in with very low expectations. I am happy the film didn't give me too many reasons to dislike it. 

The central conflict in Breaking Dawn is itself very thin. The Volturis, sort of a governing body for vampires, get the word that Cullens have a turned a little girl into a vampire. This, according to them, is an incredibly dangerous threat to the secrecy of their kind. Bella's new born is, in fact, a half-mortal, conceived when she was still a human. The little girl, with an awful portmanteau name Renesmee, grows six inches over a few weeks and her idiot, happily ignorant grandfather suspects nothing. You know what? Never mind with the plot. I don't fully understand it myself. Just bear in mind that the misinformed Volturis arrive at the doorstep of Cullens to set things right. 

There are many ways to end a love triangle, comprising two men and a woman. You can kill off a guy and hook up the remaining two. You can bring a new girl and make two pairs. Or you can hook two people up, let them have a baby and hitch her to the guy who remains solo. Yes, Breaking Dawn does exactly that! Trying to rationalize one of the most WTF plot lines in the history of WTF plot line, Jacob The Big Dog ultimately finds love in a hopeless place. He is said to have "imprinted" something on Bella and Edward's two day old baby, making her his bitch for life. As if trolls didn't have enough cud to chew on. 

The first hour involves Cullens recruiting Vampires and forming a private army to fight the Volturis. A freak show soon ensues, with weirdos from different corners of the world reaching out to offer their services. Any one who can tell their good movies apart from the bad ones is very much likely to roll his eyes dry. Right from the clunky dialogues to equally creative acting, most part of the movie is pure torture. But, wait, it's not all that bad. The whole part leading up to the final, climactic battle may be painfully boring, but what follows is deliciously fun. I am surprised how much enjoyable the whole sequence was. Michael Sheen's goofiness definitely added to the experience. And to top all that with a twist which I so did not see coming.. well played! 

I cannot promise you a good time, but Breaking Dawn is definitely an adaptation which will satisfy the fans. Avoid it if you can, but if the girlfriend is too persistent, just go. Sit through the first half; trust me it surely gets better. It is only a matter of time before Hollywood, tweenage girls and a few boys with weird taste in movies find themselves another franchise to collectively orgasm over. I am just thankful the series is over. 

Thuppakki (2012)

I have never been more excited to review a movie. Any movie. I attended a 4:30 AM screening- one of the earliest in the city. The infectious energy of die-hard fans screaming their lungs out kind of got to me. By the end of the movie, I found myself clapping my hands high over my head, screaming along with them, who had just witnessed their idol like never before. Thuppaki is easily one of the most entertaining Tamil films in a long, long time. In my opinion, it is Vijay's best film till date. 

The last Vijay film I saw on the big screen was Sachien, and it goes without saying that I have never really been a fan of his. Time and again, he has been criticized for not experimenting with his looks, and his character in general. In other words, he has always been playing himself in his movies. But with this film, Vijay breaks the mold and how. We don't associate the word 'cerebral' with the characters Vijay plays, but his Jagdish is convincingly intelligent. And for the first time, I saw the character instead of the mass hero that he is. He is exceedingly likable and belts out lines in Hindi like it is his second language. There are no quick answers in life, and Jagdish, too, takes his own time as he goes about solving this case. From taking sudden inspirations in the middle of a romantic moment to spending a night on a bench near Marine Drive, it is these elements that make his intelligence seem all the more believable. 

Murugadoss totally owns Mumbai, making a film that smoothly gliding over the language barrier. Setting a Tamil film entirely in another city has to be commended. After critical failures like Thaandavam, Billa 2 and Maattrraan, Thuppakki gives me hope that, one day, Tamil cinema will also be able to make an international film. But till then, national is good enough.  

Vidyut Jamwal's formidable antagonist, who remains unnamed, is instrumental to the film's success. He's not the villain we are used to- there aren't any daais and doois. He speaks in perfect English and confesses to knowing Tamil only konjam konjam. Running a widespread network of sleeper cells, his motives make perfect sense. His fight is not even against Jagadish in the first place. It so happens that their paths cross, before things eventually get personal. Breaking him mentally and physically, it is he who makes Jagadish appear stronger. 

The story is not just about Jagadish hunting down the operator of the sleeper cell network. It also involves his personal life- family, girlfriend etc. So every time the movie pauses for a lighter moment or a song sequence,  it is not cutting out of more pressing issues, but sculpting a different side to his character. Sreekar Prasad's editing does wonders to the film. The pacing is so good and the humor is so well infused into the narrative, it doesn't divert your attention from the primary issue. There's always this feeling that something bad can happen just about any time. There's this sprawling action sequence set across major locations in Mumbai that shows just how good the editing is.

Santosh Sivan's camera makes sweet, sweet love to the streets of Mumbai. Craft-wise, Thuppakki excels immensely. The writing is very smart and unpredictable. Even the clichés are comforting. Also, the fights were choreographed  really well. 

Kajal Aggarwal's Nisha is a pataka. This film will do that to her what Ghajini did to Asin's career. She is gorgeous and acts well enough. Sathyan's presence is necessary but Jagadish's conversations with his character sort of simplifies the movie. The songs may just be okay, but Harris Jeyaraj's background score is surprisingly very effective.

It delivers on almost all the counts, and you cannot ask for more from a commercial film like this. There's little one could do to make this movie better, while retaining all the plot points. At a run-time of 170 minutes, it's a grand achievement how the film never has a dull moment. The armed forces of India couldn't ask for a better tribute. Jagadish is our very own James Bond and I don't see why we shouldn't have a sequel. Turn this into a franchise, I say! 

Argo (2012)

On my way home after watching Argo, I kept thinking how the film probably wouldn't have made the same impact if it was not based on a real incident. That's the advantage when films are based on true stories. But on the flip side, retelling a story people may be familiar with has its own troubles. What makes Argo one of best films of the year thus far is that it offers a deeply involving story with edge of the seat thrills.

The task of getting the six hostages out of Iran is insurmountable as it is. But the odds keep stacking up against them, with problems springing up from the unlikeliest of places. Iranian children putting together shredded documents, a house maid you cannot fully trust, natives who have recently developed a general dislike for foreigners, a movie crew shooting thousand miles away in Hollywood.. obstacles never stop cropping up.

It may not exactly be about that, but it still is one of the best movies about the movie business. Lines like "I took a leak next to Beatty during the Golden Globes", "Groucho said that?!" and “You're worried about Khomeini? Try the WGA." were so naturally insidery. Perfectly complementing the tense tone of the film, the many nervous laughs, courtesy Arkin and Goodman, saved me from having a stroke.

In spite of guessing the outcome of this grand, absurd plan, I was thoroughly hooked. I don't remember the last time I was as nervous during a film's key moments. I sank so deep in my seat during an airplane scene, looking at the screen through webbed fingers.

The opening moments which juxtaposed shots with actual footage instantly reminded me of Oliver Stone's JFK. This film is a tribute to all the unsung heroes who audaciously carried out this ludicrous plan. It's all about trusting the judgments of others and putting every last bit of faith in them. This bit reminded me of Moneyball. 

Affleck has made a movie with something for everyone. He has finally left his beloved Boston behind, has ventured to make a truly international film. The closing images of the film note how this event and its follow up is still considered an example of what can be achieved with international cooperation. The film is politically charged, and is very unbiased when it comes to pointing fingers. For some reason, I found it very heartening to see Canada get the honours. It's a film filled with many heroes.

Skyfall (2012)

Disappointment. I have been a fan of Daniel Craig ever since I saw Casino Royale. I immediately considered him my favorite Bond, because the others, to me, have always appeared like a bunch of pussies with cool guns. I like the direction the series took and I am still glad to see where it ended with this latest film. It's just that I found Skyfall to be a not-so-intelligent film which rehashed most of the ideas recently dealt in Nolan's Batman trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opening sequence. When an action scene makes you duck, twitch and cower in your seat, you can tell that shit's tight. I am trying to recall the point where the movie stopped working for me and I think it was around the time Bardem appeared. After the whole build up they give him, he didn't quite live up to it when he finally appeared. Intentional or otherwise, the homoerotic tension was very weird. In spite of his Joker-like physical deformity, he was never really intimidating. It's not like he's not a formidable opponent for Bond. Also, I wasn't quite taken with his motives either.

I am not well familiar with old Bond films and my knowledge is mostly limited to the ones starring Craig. You can hold this against me if you want to, but I never thought there could be a character as useless as that portrayed by Gemma Arterton in QoS. Now I notice a pattern emerging. The scope of the Bond girl who eventually ends up dead is very limited. I don't know if this is a case of genre trapping but Berenice Marlohe's Severine follows in the illustrious footsteps, showing up in a completely dispensable role. All that foreplay lead to nothing.

I am disappointed and the tone of this review may appear too negative, but the movie is not all that bad. For one thing, there's a real clarity in the events taking place. Unlike QoS, which I still don't know for sure what it's about, Skyfall benefits from Mendes' confident direction. Too bad he was let down by a script that offers nothing new. Every little idea it dealt with have already been beaten to pulp in Nolan's Batman films. It was hard for me to not get reminded of League of Shadows when M talks about Bond and Silva growing up in the shadows. The "die a hero or live long enough.." position M finds herself in, the ageing hero filled with self-doubt that Bond is, Silva's capture and subsequent escape, a disk with information about all the secret agents, an ex-operative going rogue.. I don't know, it never felt novel. Due to all this mishmash, the entire conversation about the relevance of field agents in the digital age sort of got lost.

His relationship with M, which is at this story's core, surprisingly, had no effect on me. Deakins' cinematography is the only thing I wholeheartedly admired. Movie will probably play better on a second viewing.

Film-Viewing Log: October

First Time Viewings: 

1. The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford
2. Boogie Nights
3. Argo
4. Looper
5. Sideways
6. Killing Them Softly
7. Hard Eight
8. Pizza
9. On the Road
10. Magic Mike
11. Butter
12. Cloud Atlas
13. Seeking a Friend for the End of The World
14. V/H/S
15. Aarohanam
16. The Brothers Bloom
17. Maattrraan
18. Damsels in Distress
19. Rock of Ages
20. Sembattai
21. Sivangi

Re-watches: 

1. Gone Baby Gone

Aarohanam (2012)

Taking place entirely in a day's time, Aarohanam is about the disappearance of a mother and how the succeeding events make her family realize her importance. Nirmala, the mother, is a strong-willed, loving woman who works odd jobs for the sake of her children. After being deserted by her husband, she takes it upon herself to provide for them and lead a prosperous life. Plagued with sporadic episodes of mental instability, Nirmala has it harder than most single mothers. She is a constant source of embarrassment to her son, who'd rather be associated with his estranged father than her.

To us, a character going missing may seem like a big deal, but to her family, it is just another day at the office. It is hard to believe a person who has been crying wolf all her life. The plight of a person with such an unpredictable disposition and that of her family unable to see the bigger picture has been portrayed with much sincerity without any sort of melodrama. Viji Chandrasekhar's performance is easily the film's high point.

I found most parts of the film endearing, but it became an unrecognizable monster during the final act- right after a major revelation. Appearing like an awkward cross between commercial and indie cinema, the movie loses most of its charm during a club dance sequence. The film worked well when it was being itself, without any sort of commercial aspirations. I loved the film for its subtlety before it went explicit and became "message oriented".

I didn't care much for the contrasting life lead by the other important woman in the film, who chose to not get married. She's visibly an antithesis of everything we know about Nirmala. What I don't get is which incident from the evening triggered a change of heart in her. The character portrayed by Jayaprakash is absolutely pointless. Are we to gather corrupt politicians are also capable of gate-crashing a party and having a good time? Is he supposed to be some sort of a comic relief? Because I don't see how the film would be any different without him. Also, the whole subplot about some Telugu-speaking IAS officer kind of felt incomplete. A large section of the crowd at my screening were friends of the director and they cheered every time a face known to them first appeared. I just hope the writer didn't just add a string of characters just to cast some of her friends.

Throughout the film, I was unable to shake the feeling that I was watching a better written television show. I don't mind the lack of a cinematic feel as much as I mind the clumsiness of a few scenes. Shooting digital lent the film this odd realism it didn't work to capture. On the filpside, this realism highlighed the bad acting of a few actors with tiny speaking roles. Yes, I can choose to not criticise these issues since this happens to be the director's first film and was produced on a shoestring budget; but it kept niggling me; I had to put it out there. The non-linear narrative sure helps, though.

Aarohanam is a very personal film, attempting to do some good by creating awareness about a compelling health concern. I wouldn't call it self-important, but in my opinion, it fails to do better because it lets the feeling escape that it knows it is doing good. Like its lead character, the film is filled with highs and lows. I hate to put it this way but Aarohanam simply doesn't offer enough to chew on. 

Boogie Nights (1997)

Like the departure from Silent to Sound in Sunset Blvd. and Singin' in the Rain, Boogie Nights becomes a very relevant film when it talks about the switch-over from film to tape. The question that why would people watch a film in such a poor quality has been asked every time a major technological advancement has been made. Digital has pretty much become a norm right now, and the spotlight has shifted to the 2D/3D argument. Having become the most successful producer of adult entertainment in La La Land, the onus is on Jack to embrace the future and move on. The film is set in the 70s and was made in late 90s and lot has changed now from then. Internet has completely changed the way we consume porn. With so much of quality stuff available for free, I have never found myself paying for adult content. Capturing the glory days of the industry, this entire subplot gave this film a great depth.

Does anyone continue watching porn after jerking off? I have always had this doubt in my head and Boogie Nights gave me the answer. Patrons almost always leave the cinema after their work is done. Jack's dream is to make such compelling porn films that people cannot but watch it till the end. Pushing boundaries of the medium by trying to give the sex a context, Jacks's movies are still hilariously bad but certainly an improvement. 

Most of the first act takes place within the close-knit world of pornstars. They aren't ashamed of the choices they made and have learned to embrace this just as any other profession. A sense of pride prevails during the house parties and the self-congratulatory award functions they attend. They are the children of mainstream Hollywood's shady cousin. I often felt the film was taking a dig at Hollywood's holier than thou attitude towards adult film industry. Turns out there isn't much of a difference. The lack of acceptance the characters face in the final act of the film is a sudden contrast. Banks refusing to offer loan, Court taking away custody of a child, dabbling into crime, etc. In spite of everything, PTA's movies are very fair and characters usually get what they deserve, and this one's no different.  

Everybody has a special thing. Apart from being exceptionally well-endowed in the nether region, Dirk is just another silly young man who struck gold. The whole enigma surrounding Dirk's penis is one of the funniest parts in the film. The many reaction shots revealed so much without revealing anything. $5 to just have a peek and $10 to see him jack off? You gotta be kiddin' me! In this one scene, where Heather Grahams is blowing Dirk, the top of her head bobs up to almost reach his neck. Go figure! But the final scene ruined it all by showing Diggler's prosthetic dongle. You just don't do that! It's like showing the content of the briefcase from Pulp Fiction. Who cares if it's a MacGuffin. 

Anderson's debut feature Hard Eight had just four main characters. Boogie Nights, on the other hand, is cluttered with a dozen fascinating characters, all played by pretty great actors. This explains why he chose to go all out with Magnolia. Cheadle, Reilly, Macy, Hoffman,. they're all amazing and embarrassingly sad in their own way. A smitten Hoffman nursing a man-crush on Wahlberg, Macy looking at some random guy boning his wife and Cheadle's obsession with finding a unique identity for himself. Burt Reynolds, along with Julianne Moore, give the film's best performance. Looking at a stone-faced Reynolds calling the shots while another man was giving it hot and heavy to his wife Amber was deeply unsettling. There's also this unexpectedly touching moment when Graham asks Amber if she can call her mother.  

The film is an out and out tribute to Scorsese, right? From the long tracking shots to the great use of music, there were many elements which kept reminding me of films by Scorsese. The final scene was clearly Diggler doing a Jake LaMotta, who himself was doing a Brando from On the Waterfront. Boogie Nights is a story of a Raging Bull alright. 

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Saying Wes Anderson films are divisive is putting it lightly. I felt Life Aquatic was a very self-indulgent, but I probably would have enjoyed the same film on another day. I still don't know how it ends and I frankly don't care to revisit it just yet. It tested my patience and I will try to watch it after I am done watching the rest of his works. Tenenbaums, my first Anderson film, was a delight and I loved it so much. What boggles me is how some people dislike such a densely written, straightforward comedy. So going in with a 50/50 record, I really wanted Moonrise to work. And work it did.

Moonrise shows us many kinds of love: a) the old, withering love - searching for reasons to be together b) the unrequited love and c) a newly blossoming love. Two unusually broken outcasts with no one else to turn to, Sam and Suzy are provided with compelling reasons to be together. Corresponding for a few months through letters, they don't stand on ceremonies when they meet each other for the first time since the first time. One is running away from the family she hates while the other has no family to hate. With the prospect of being institutionalized not too enticing and that of being together dimming, they are left with very few options. There's a degree of sense in their absurdities, even when they are ready to jump off a Church bell tower.

It's very funny and original. The tree house perched on the peak, kids ganging up against Sam and then coming to his rescue, Schwartzman's Cousin Ben, Sam getting struck by a thunder.. it is clear anything can happen in Anderson's fantasy world. He makes these fairy-tale films. I guess it's just me but it often reminded me of Prisoner of Azkaban. It must be the music sung by church choir, the kids and the cold, stormy setting. The pre-existing music chosen and the score composed by Desplat made this the best sounding film of the year thus far.

I really want to live in the world of Moonrise Kingdom. This is probably the most beautiful film about young lovers before they really start thinking about sex. There's this innocence, or the lack of it, which Anderson captures. His characters, the older ones especially, are very quirky. The film's saddest moment comes when Murray talks to McDormand and realizes she doesn't love him anymore. They are sticking together just for the sake of their children and deep down they know that that is not enough. All these broken hearts are mended in one way or the other in the life-affirming final scene atop a Church. There are plenty of characters and everybody wins! Even Edward Norton's Scout Master Ward finds love.

I don't know if children are allowed to watch this film, but I'd love for my kids to see this. I predict a great future for this film. This will go on to attain the status now held by Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. It put a wide smile on my face and I cannot recommend it enough.

Pizza (2012)

This year, Tamil cinema has seen the feature film debut of two products of the popular reality show Naalaya Iyakunar. After Balaji Mohan's successful Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi, it is ex-Software Engineer Karthik Subbaraj's turn to make a foray into the industry. The result is a surprisingly good psychological thriller, Pizza.

Michael, played by Vijay Sethupathi, is a Pizza delivery guy living with his girlfriend Anu, an aspiring horror novelist. Cutting all corners to make a living, the couple are forced to marry each other when Anu gets pregnant. A non-believer when it comes to ghosts and spirits, Michael’s moment of realisation comes when he notices his Boss’ possessed daughter. Things take a turn for worse when he goes to deliver Pizza to a house where things are not as they seem. After giving an impression of a pulpy thriller from the promos, it starts off with a grainy, handheld segment giving off vibes of a found-footage film, only to become something entirely different in the scene that follows. It convinces you of one thing, and immediately shatters your belief.

It’s hard to talk about a film like Pizza and not give away anything of importance. Even if it occasionally dabbles in clichés, the film, on the whole, is a rather well-written thriller. It is evident from the homages to Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer and references to classic horror films including Kubrick's The Shining that the director is a pakka fanboy who grew up on a staple diet of American mind-bending thrillers. There are sufficient nods to Kamal and Rajni as well; for the first time since Aaranya Kaandam, they don't feel like throwaway references, just hoping to score a few whistles from the crowd. But most importantly, the film incorporates all these tiny elements and comes up with an entirely original plot set very well in the heart of Chennai.

The only problem with the film is that its horror elements are caricaturish and fail to scare. Thinking about it, I don't think spooking the audience was ever their intention. But if it was, then I must say they sorely failed at that. The film heavily relies on its twist that it doesn't do proper justice to the tale it is spinning inside the haunted house. The over-confident attitude that 'everything will be alright and audience will forget the dull time they had when we show them our true colors' doesn't help the film's cause. The crowd quickly became restless and were jeering out loud. Personally, I am not a fan of the ending, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the aspect that impresses most people. In its attempt to finish things off with a bang, it goes for something one would expect to see in short films made by high-school students. But I guess it is necessary to drive home the point of Karma.

Craft-wise, the film is very neat. The cinematography has to be commended. A major scene takes place inside a dark bungalow with a torch being the only source of light. Even if the direction is not taut enough to hold the audience's attention during that scene, the beautiful lighting salvages the moment. The sound design was much talked about and is pretty decent as well. Santhosh Narayanan's moody, atmospheric score is a highlight. I have become a fan of Vijay Sethupathi. After being a part of Sundarapandian, which had the best ensemble performance in a Tamil film in recent times, he is back to playing the leading man, and he does it rather well. The film rests on his performance and he manages to pull it off.

Sure, it could have been cleverer. Once the trick became clear, I had a wide smile on my face; but the exposition that followed was way too long and detailed. It went on and on, feeding the audience on every last bit of information. In spite of its see what I did there? smugness, the film more or less wins you over. The film passes through a dry patch but the final payoff more than makes up for it. It doesn't demand a second viewing but it wouldn't hurt to watch it again. Keyser Söze would be proud.

Maattrraan (2012)

For a film with such a promising first half, Maattrraan is a big disappointment. Despite being stuffed with content, the film is let down by a relentlessly overlong second act and a downright awful climax.

Suriya plays Akhilan and Vimalan, conjoined twins born to a scientist/genetic engineer Father who runs a multi-million dollar health drink company. Vimalan is the ideological son who reads works of Bharathiyaar and Marx, and talks about labour injustice. Akhilan, on the other hand, drinks, flirts and pisses in flower pots. The twins are inseparable as they are joint by the waist and share a heart, which beats for Anjali (Kajal Aggarwal). The quick success of Energion baffles the industry players and everyone is desperate to find out the secret ingredient, no matter what it takes. Trouble arrives when the twins find themselves in the midst of this.

The first act is largely entertaining. The first fight happens in an amusement park and takes place very deep into the movie. The sight of two conjoined-twins fighting off a dozen goons, clubbed with the sense of impending peril, made that one of the best sequences in the film. By that point, you root for them so much that every punch resonates emotionally. I was surprised by how moved I was around the halfway mark. I must confess I got teary eyed at one particular moment and that has almost never happened watching a Tamil film.

The film gets a few things right by sticking to a linear narrative structure, but the second half is a big chore, no matter how you look at it. There's not an ounce of suspense and everything that you see here doesn't matter at all. It becomes very evident how things are eventually going to pan out, but we are made to sit through a very long, pointless exposition. It starts taking itself too seriously, talking about world-ending consequences, and loses the good impression it managed to create. The film spends a good 90 minutes trying to fit a missing piece in the puzzle when you already see the bigger picture bright and clear.

I admired how the film was working very well within the framework of its small scale. Then out of nowhere, the crew decides to pack its bags and go to some Soviet country, because why not. One thing filmmakers don't seem to get is how audience find it hard to believe that lives of millions are in the hands of the protagonist. The direction and production value aside, Indian actors have to try harder to break the mold and appear convincingly important and capable in an international milieu. The higher the stakes, the harder it gets to pull it off. The same happened with Dasavatharam, and most recently with Thaandavam. Due to this, the entire episode taking place in Ukvania (!), in spite of being logically sound, hangs like a stump to the rest of the film.

The last song in the film, which doesn't even sound good to be honest, comes at a point where the movie's pace has sagged to its slowest and a relatively important character has died. In spite of mocking himself as a director who places a musical number right after the death of a prominent character, it is evident from this that K.V. Anand hasn't really learnt much. One more thing that bugged me was how Akhilan becomes a Judge Dredd like character, killing people off remorselessly. Don't tell me he is taking out the trash, 'cause he's not.

The final scene left much to be desired, but performance-wise, Sachin Khedekar stood out as the twin's father. Suriya has clearly put in a lot of effort and is very earnest. The person who dubbed for Kajal Aggarwal deserves a special mention. On the whole, Maattrraan is a wasted opportunity, failing to capitalise on its entertaining first act.