Barfi! is a Delicious Fairytale

The last time Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, two of my favourite actors, were in a movie together I was supremely let down. While they both looked exquisite, the story of Anjaana Anjaani turned out to be disappointing to say the least. Barfi! is the exact opposite: their looks are entirely unappealing (lose the mouche, Ranbir, I beg you!) but the story is a fantastic dream! The type of modern fairy-tale that we see so little of even in World Cinema, let alone coming out of India.

The trailer leads you to believe that Barfi! is the love story of a deaf-mute manic-pixie-dream-boy (as one of my Twitter friends hilariously calls Ranbir) and the gorgeous out-of-towner Shruti (played by long-time favourite from South-Indian movies Ileana D'Cruz). With a dash of tear-jerking moments provided by what seems to be the autistic sister (or close friend).

None of that is true. Barfi/Murphy is not a manic pixie dream boy, in fact he is very much his own character even though his influence on Ileana's character could match a loose definition of MPDG/B. Also, the film is not a love story. Or better said, it's not ONE love story. Add to that the very well-played mystery factor (yes, it plays a bit like a whodunit too!) and a dash of comedy and you're closer to what Barfi really looks like. I was extremely pleased with the way the film was put together overall, with the flashbacks taking their time to reveal the story and with different characters telling the story at different times. Narration is hard enough to handle even from the point of view of one character, let alone several, so I was truly impressed with the outcome.

The other reason why Barfi! blew me away visually, and this may also be my TIFF hangover, was how well they used close-ups and details. Whether it was zooming in so close that I could trace the liner on Ileana's eye-lids with my finger, or making old Barfi's white hair stand on end in a giant mess, everything about these characters felt so close to you and endearing. But, and this is the impressive part, never overbearing. (Of course, they could still improve on the wigs, but heh... nobody's perfect.)

Speaking of Ileana, one of the reasons why I'll be very happy to see Barfi! succeed is because it will mean seeing more of Ileana D'Cruz in Bollywood. Not that I don't love her in the South (where they make full use of her exquisite body shape, unlike Barfi!), but she deserves more than just being arm-candy for the hero.

I must admit that on occasion I can be very easily amused by old-school movie gags like people walking into lamp-posts or pies thrown in someone's face. But it can also get old for me just as easily. Barfi! uses a lot of physicality for its comedy, but considering a lot of it had to do with Saurabh Shukla rolling his eyes and making faces as the police officer always on Barfi's tail, I didn't mind it too much. I would have found Barfi unbearable if the antics had been only on Ranbir's side, but with an actor as entertaining and hilarious as Saurabh Shukla, he was well balanced (and dare I say, out-goofed!).

When a movie like "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is your benchmark for characters with mental illness, it's really hard to not be apprehensive about other actors and actresses attempting these roles. Because nothing can top that movie for me. So despite my well-documented love for Priyanka, I was afraid. I was very afraid. At the same time I have very little real life experience with this type of issue, so that usually works in my favour when I watch movies because I tend to be forgiving if everything seems reasonably realistic. As it turns out, it was a good place to watch Barfi! from. Priyanka was adorable and so hug-able and with the exception of a couple of over the top moments she got it as right as one could hope for.

It's not just that she's not relying on her looks to stun us, but apart from Saat Khoon Maaf I've never seen Priyanka use her body, her eyes and even her hands so much to develop a character. My favourite scenes would be too spoilery for this review, but let's just say she had me at the headbutt.

I was also afraid of Ranbir overdoing his Charlu Chaplin act, which in this fan's opinion has been done to death and I was ready to never see him goof around like that ever again. Go figure, even that turned out to be an unfounded fear. It's not that he doesn't abuse it, but it didn't bother me one bit because there were plenty of serious moments to make up for it. His character has far more depth to it than the trailers had us believe and mercifully he's not running around banging his head against a wall the entire movie. His permanent smile is not, as I had thought, just an expression of permanent optimism, but also at times a mask behind which he can hide when the words he cannot speak fail him.

I think the moral of the story here may end up being that I need to stop watching trailers and base my expectations on them, huh?

Because despite all these expectations that the trailers built (for better or worse), Barfi! is not a goofy story. It may be a fairy-tale, which means its characters seem to live in this world that is conveniently supportive, but it's one well-wrapped in a healthy lesson about unrestrained love and loyalty. About settling or moving on. And about recognizing that you found what you were looking for even in the strangest places.

Barfi! has a simple message: companionship and having fun with each other are the key ingredients to making a relationship last, not teenage crushes. And oh, how I love a movie that shows love is not a one-time deal! Few Indian films subscribe to this philosophy and you all know it's one of my biggest pet peeves with Indian cinema, Bollywood and elsewhere. So with that as the cherry on an already sweet and delicious cake, what more can I ask for?

Rockstar - a Love Story Made for Me

There are movies that punch you in the lungs and leave you breathless.
Rockstar is not that movie.
There are movies that leave you mellow and lazy as if you had just woken up on a Sunday morning.
Rockstar is not that movie.
Most movies just leave you unmoved, and some, too few, leave you thinking.
Those are not Rockstar either.

But then there are movies that you just feel in your gut, even when your mind can't explain them. Rockstar is like leaving a dry white sheet out in the rain. Every drop that falls on it is a new emotion, a new song, a new moment. At the end the sheet is heavy with rain, but even if you tried wringing it, the drops would not come out individually, as they came in. Rather they'd all flush down in a rush to sink back in the ground. So you don't wring it. You just let it sit there, heavy with all its meanings, until time slowly dries it and it's safe to offer it to the rain again.

I refuse to deconstruct Rockstar into its characters, its songs, its narrative, its dialogues, its first and second half, how it's Ranbir's career best, how Imtiaz Ali always speaks straight to my soul, how Rahman's music is immortal. It would be like trying to get each drop of rain back out of that sheet. Even if I managed to, it would leave it wrinkled, devoid of its meaning. I'd rather hold on to that heaviness it left in my stomach with its last images, its last flashback dialogue, with Rumi's poem. Over Mohit Chauhan's smooth voice.

"I couldn't live outside again", says Jordan to Heer. For anyone who wants to see it, that is the key to his character and to his thorny story. But that outside world doesn't know that. They only see the rebellion, and feed on it without understanding it. The more he tries to push them away, the more they are attracted to this darkness as if to a black hole. And while being drawn to it, they, in turn, exacerbate it. It's funny how the same society who constrains us to live and die in a certain "suitable" way, falls for the ones who won't conform, wants to posses them in a badly veiled attempt to hide the envy that they got away. When in fact... they never did get away. They're just as trapped as everyone else.

If you forget all that, it's easy to look at a song like Saadda Haq and call it a youth anthem, an inflammatory slogan, a middle finger raised to rules, war, and corruption. Because it's brilliant enough to also mean all these things. How easy it is to forget that it is, at the core, just a song about being allowed to cut your own path, to live after your own heart, whether it leads you to the right place or the wrong one.

It's also easy to look at Rockstar and rip its metaphors into little pieces of trivialities. After all, don't all painters use the same colours? But it's the big picture that makes an artist. Then again, all artists are often misunderstood.

Wait... Didn't I say I wasn't going to break it into pieces? Yes, I do believe I did.

Do I stop here saying it's my favourite love story of the year? Yes, I think I should.

"Main galat hoon, toh phir kaun sahi?" (If I am wrong, then who is right?)

Ajab Ranbir's Silly Happy Movie

Now that Kapoor Khazana is in full blast, a quick reminder that this is a wonderful month-long international event, hosted by Totally Filmi's Katherine, so in case you didn't land on my blog through this event, do check out all the other happenings and posts collected by Katherine here. It's already been a blast and we haven't even completed a week!

While on the topic of shameless promotion, I take this opportunity to also pimp out my page of Ranbir Kapoor avatars, because you know, why not?

And now back to business as usual. I'm a little behind of actual reviews, so one was long overdue. Since I have so far talked at length about 2 Ranbir movies on this blog, and briefly touched on another 2, there was no other option but to finally review the wacky Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani ("The extraordinary tale of oddball Prem", as I like to translate it, very inaccurately I'm sure). A simple or not so simple love story between Prem (Ranbir Kapoor), the good for nothing self-elected president of The Happy Club and Jenny (Katrina Kaif), the new girl in town. Essentially it's just another one of those growing up from slacker to hero stories that Ranbir Kapoor excels at, but as usual with him, the theme stays fresh and fun. Katrina Kaif doesn't typically impress me, but this is the role where I found her glorious and perfectly cast. Her best acting yet, even though that may sound inadequate for such a silly film.

Namak: Ewww!!! Converse shoes and a skirt???

Dolce: Oh don't worry, in terms of sartorial choices, there is much worse in this one!

Yes, Ranbir, that IS a satin suit and no amount of staring at it will make it better...

Well then, we're off to a good start! Though I must also congratulate the costume department in this one for the persistence with which they kept repeating the colour yellow (my favourite) in Katrina's outfits. Loved every single one of those yellow dresses and let me tell you there were many!

Namak: Actually, you criticize it for no reason, the clothes were young and fun for the most part.

Dolce: Too yuppy for my tastes, but that's something I have to learn to live with. At least they were colourful!

But one thing that the above poster does nail is the cartoon feel of this movie. One will never make it past the first 20 minutes unless they have understood and embraced that. The comedy in APKGK is very much reminiscent of Tom and Jerry cartoons, and even though it pauses for the serious moments that take the plot forward, ample warning about it is still needed.

I'm usually not the type to go for goofy comedy, but this is one of those films where you have no choice but to laugh out loud. It's not just that the comedy is funny, it's also so self-aware that you feel like a condescending schmuck if you don't go along with it. At least I did.

I mean for crying out loud: they escape on a ski jet and climb onto a train stopped on the bridge on a rope ladder!! That alone should tell you it's an insult to expect any seriousness from this movie! But at the same time I appreciate that unlike many comedies lately this one doesn't rely on causing someone pain or on insulting people in order to be funny. It's all in good heart: people sitting on cakes, exaggerated reactions, over the top acting, Ranbir dancing goofily at the wedding, Katrina making faces, Salman Khan in a very self-referential guest appearance, the kind of stuff that good old-fashioned comedy is made of.

Namak: Trying too hard sometimes maybe?

Dolce: No way! Just right!

Namak: Definitely too much comedy for my taste at times, but I must admit the non-goofy moments do make up for that.

Another reason why Ajab Prem works so well as a cartoon is the set: a very artificial town, reminiscent of Saawariya, where only a fairy tale can take place. This blends nicely with the outlandish feel of the whole story, removing all claims for realism.

Dolce: But you know what I think is this movie's biggest strength?

Namak: D-uh! Ranbir, right?

Dolce: Hah! Very funny, but no. THE SONGS! It's not very often you watch a movie these days where every single song is not only perfectly placed but also impeccably shot! I can't even pick a favourite they're all just so good!

Namak: And of course that has nothing to do with Ranbir?

Dolce: Erm... well, of course they work even better because he's such a great performer, but... Well yeah, I guess that's a big part of it.

Namak: Mm-hm. I knew it.

No really, someone please try and find one thing that is faulty in this one:



Wonderful, just wonderful!

And while on the topic of the songs, I really wish one day I could analyse what makes Tu Jaane Na so exquisitely beautiful, but I'm afraid dozens of rewatches later I still am not able to think straight while watching it. I get the old lump in the throat when it starts and coherent thought is replaced by a storm of emotions until it ends.



I also always forget just how much I love Aa Jao Meri Tamanna until I see it again in the movie. And it's not only the beautiful lyrics and the soulful melody, I blame a lot of it also on Ranbir's natural gift for lip-synching. So many other actors look either uncomfortable or just goofy when doing all those broad gestures and pretending to sing at the top of their broken heart, but not Ranbir. He was born for this, there's no doubt about it!



Oh but enough of the songs, I could be here all day talking about them and I never even mentioned Ranbir's dancing yet!

It's a difficult task this movie took on: to tell a story with the emotional pathos of the olden days, but also to keep it entertaining and funny with goofy moments and situational comedy. I think they nailed it most of the time.

Namak: Except for the stammer stuff. That was unnecessary, no?

Dolce: What? I thought that was cute! 

Namak: It seemed so tacked on, they just couldn't find a better excuse for their first fight so they added it to the script.

Dolce: Not at all. It was a cute little detail that makes both characters even more endearing.

Namak: Hmpf! Suit yourself. I think the movie would have worked just fine without that.

Dolce: That may be so but how would you have had this wonderful umbrella moment without it?

Jenny realizes that she had no reason to be mad at Prem so in a pinch for how to say sorry, she quickly advances to cover him with her umbrella. This is the kind of Bollywood we live for, isn't it?

By the way, for more adorable and romantic umbrella moments in all kinds of Kapoor movies, Totally Filmi has a post dedicated to them here.

What is there left to say about Ajab Prem? Plenty! I haven't talked about the gangsters / men in black...

...haven't mentioned the twist that brings Upen Patel into the tale (not that that's a good thing, just for the record)...

(Sorry, no screencap for this one, I refuse.)

...haven't praised Prem's perfectly cast parents: Darshan Jariwala and Smita Jaykar...

...have also not even touched on Prem's gang of ever so helpful and good-hearted friends...

...and nor did I say a word about the fight in the end that has me rolling on the floor laughing every single time!

But then I always get criticized for writing too much and besides: there must be some surprises in the movie for you too, no?

Wait, is that...? No, it can't be! But it... !?!?!

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is like blue cheese. It's strong, stinky and surprising so you have to really know what to expect to not be disappointed. But behind the slightly odd first aftertaste, the hard ripe deliciousness of it will leave your palate with some very sweet memories. And once you get into it, you're hooked for life!

Wake Up (Sid) Aisha! Review

I've been wanting to rewatch Wake Up Sid for a couple of months, but it always felt like I should watch something new instead. Until this week one night I knew I had no energy or brain power for anything new, so rewatching something for an hour or so seemed ideal. Little did I know that I'd get so excited about watching it that I'd end up sitting through the whole thing despite the late hour and that I would have to resist the urge to play it again when it was over.

I guess it's obvious by now that I'm a huge sucker for subtlety. Probably why melodrama classics like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam only manage to make me laugh, and that's only on a very good day. Films that don't look like they're trying too hard on the other hand, win me over by default. I like films that speak to me in soft images, and actors that communicate in little gestures. And Wake Up Sid is exactly one such film.

Namak: You mean except for the cheesy picturizations of Kya Karoon and Life Is Crazy, right? Because if we're talking cliches, I wonder how many more times we have to see people showing they're carefree by popping their whole upper body out the car window during a drive, and how many times those walls in Aisha's apartment could have been splashed with a million colours that no primer will ever be able to cover effectively.

Dolce: Oh, that's true, but tell me the yellow walls didn't remind you of home!

Namak: Our first bachelor apartment with vanilla yellow and mandarin orange painted walls? Yes! That did bring back memories.

Dolce: See, it's not all bad!

I wonder if this is now my favourite Ranbir Kapoor movie? Just when I thought I couldn't think any higher of him, I rewatched this movie and fell in love with him all over again.

Namak: I can't believe we called his looks unfortunate the first time we watched this. What were we thinking?

Dolce: You know what is still unfortunate about him in this movie though? That he doesn't get to dance until the end credits, and even then it's hardly a proper dance number, as fun as it may be. But his looks are definitely nowhere near unfortunate.

He pulls off the most subtle performance I've seen from him in Wake Up Sid. There's an innocence and a sincerity in it that he couldn't even muster up in his first film, Saawariya. The fact that Aisha lays down the ground rules about being just friends from the first 5 minutes of their story translates in Ranbir only having stolen glances at his disposal to reveal his feelings for Aisha to us. One gets a pretty good idea of his determination to prove himself to Aisha, but it's only his eyes that tell us why. And that wonderful drunken moment...

I could talk about Ranbir Kapoor in this role all day and not get tired of praising him, but for once maybe I'll refrain from that... so I leave it at: Ranbir is nothing short of perfect as Sid.

Because as much as Sid is the centre of attention and his journey fills up the film like a balloon in too small a box, the story isn't only about Sid discovering life, it's also about Aisha discovering love. It may be "Wake Up Sid", but Aisha also wakes up to find her inner child and to realize that independent and serious don't have to be synonyms. I find her journey equally interesting.

Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha gets to be her usual confident self with a little bit of a soft side, and ever so unaware of just how much the camera loves her. In this case, both the director's camera and Sid's.


If anything, Aisha makes Sid's journey backwards: starting off as the confident, mature woman, and ending up as an antsy teenager. She goes from feeling safe and uninhibited in their friendship to feeling shy and just a little bit insecure, which makes her feisty and moody. She goes from thinking she knows what she wants to finding out that getting excited about old Hindi film songs may be childish, but it's also nothing to be ashamed of. I especially loved the progression from her uneasiness in front of Sid's camera in their first scene, to her coquettish posing in one of the songs towards the end.


Speaking of photography, that's something else that impressed me about the movie. Bollywood is not exactly famous for showcasing art within art.Take away the singing and the dancing and the other arts are rather poorly represented in films. So to have one that does justice to photography is no small thing. Of course, they could have done a crash course with Ranbir about how to hold a camera without looking like he's holding a soccer ball, but well... can't have it all, because where would you put it, right?

Namak: Don't you feel gypped that they didn't include a mini photo album with all of Sid's pictures with the DVD?

Dolce: Considering I have postcards of Jodhaa Akbar and Taare Zameen Par, Lagaan official filmstrips and even an Anjaana Anjaani poster, you bet I feel ripped off that these guys didn't think of it. Especially when the cinematographer comes up with some of the most creative images in this one. For example call me crazy, but I'm always up for having random chicken thrown in the mix.

Wow, that was random. But that is exactly the type of thing that makes Wake Up Sid such an invigorating little film. That and every single scene and image in it. And Ranbir Kapoor rocking my world... Oh, and to think I haven't even touched on how Iktara and Kya Karoon have never left my "top 25 most played songs" list since the film came out...

It was easy to find a cheese for wake Up Sid! Of course it had to be my favourite cheese: Brie. Tasty but not overpowering. Soft but not messy. Delicate and special but dependable and unpretentious at the same time. I love the understated taste of Brie cheese about as much as I loved the subtlety of Wake Up Sid!. And I can't imagine ever tiring of either.


ETA: This is as good a place as any to mention that my Ranbir Kapoor avatars page is finally up. Yay! Next up: Mumaith Khan!

Boy, Oh Boy, These New Bolly Boys!

My inner fangirl has been neglected lately, I feel, so it seems like it's time to give her her due. And what better way to do that than a rant about this new generation of Bollywood actors that consistently blow my mind in the best ways possible!!

It's pretty funny how my favourite young man in Bollywood, Shahid Kapoor, at 29, is not even part of the new generation anymore. With over a dozen films, he sure seems like a veteran by now. So I guess I can't squeeze him on this list as much as I would love to. But that's ok, as they say, plenty more where that came from! Let's see...

FARHAN AKHTAR

Technically not a newcomer since the boy has been making movies since the turn of the century (I love how big that sounds, even though it's only 10 years!), and definitely not a boy since he's actually 36 (and a Capricorn - big yay for all the Capricorns in the film industry! Another one coming up in this list, there's just something about them...). But since his proper acting debut wasn't until 2 years ago, I consider him very much a newcomer. And since he's only done 3 movies, I have no problem picking my favourite one: Luck By Chance! One of the best Bollywood movies of all times, one that I will never get tired of recommending!

So what's there to love about Farhan? For one he has a killer asymmetrical smile that crumples up his whole face in the most adorable way, then he has that raspy voice that is to die for, he is incredibly funny in his talk-show "Oye, It's Friday!", he's subtle and brilliant in his acting, and the cherry on the cake: he wrote and directed Dil Chahta Hai, the movie that brought Bollywood romance into the 21st century, when he was only 26! Talented you say? I say: proof that there is no justice in the universe!

Also, the fact that he is now shooting for Zoya Akhtar's next movie, Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, with the next yummy Bolly boy on my list increases his appeal exponentially. (As does the fact that he's grown his hair longer again.)

ABHAY DEOL

I confess I still have difficulty pronouncing his name right, even after extensive research down to the Devanagari script of his name (which no one seems to pronounce the way it's written), so hopefully I'll never run into him on the streets of Toronto and have to shout after him to get another look at his larger than life dimples. Oh who am I kidding, the day I saw him from relatively up close at the Toronto Film Festival in 2009 my hands were shaking so badly that I didn't even manage to get a good picture of him until he turned around. I got this boring guy instead, and a good shot of Abhay's shoulder and cheek... What an epic fail!

But all that drama aside, like all the other newcomers it seems, Abhay took his sweet time to grow on me, but grow he did. In fact he grew on me so much that I was even digging his mustache in Manorama Six Feet Under. And yes, that was before I got into South Indian movies and started seeing the light about mustaches altogether.

Abhay is what we would call the anti-hero of his generation. He doesn't do the song and dance routine (though sadly that seems to have become the norm, instead of the exception), he doesn't do loverboy roles (except for Ahista Ahista and Socha Na Tha, his first two movies), he hates to promote his movies, and get this one: he's smart! Whoa!

His choice of movies has always been on the eclectic side, and despite having seen them all, I have trouble naming a favourite. Maybe Road, Movie? Maybe Dev D., his brilliant take on the done-to-death (and horribly done at least in this century) Devdas? The dark drama Manorama Six Feet Under? But then he's so adorable in Socha Na Tha! See, I just can't decide! Maybe Road Movie after all...

Abhay for me is for the new generation what Aamir Khan is for the old one: the pathbreaker, the thinker and the only one whose movies I will reserve the entire opening weekend for, because no matter what movie it is, there is no doubt in my mind it will be brilliant enough for me to want to see it at least twice in the theatre. A random guy I met at the Film Festival last year said it best: "Abhay Deol is the only actor whose movies I have no problem showing to a Westerner, even to a Bollywood-hater-by-default, because I know I can't go wrong with them."

RANBIR KAPOOR

Ahhh... Ranbir... This one took the longest to dig the tunnel to my heart, but now that he's there, there's no removing him. What took me so long? I'm not going to lie, it was his looks. He just didn't appeal to me. And I am convinced the only reason I find him appealing now, 6 movies later, is because he's become like an old friend. My opinion of people's looks always reflects what I think of them: the people I dislike look ugly to me, while my friends all seem damn good looking. It's perhaps my way of solving the cognitive dissonance created by liking someone as a person and disliking their looks (call me shallow, it's ok, I know it). Ranbir just fit into that pattern: it got to the point where he felt so familiar in his movies, like I should know what he's going to do next (and I mean that as a compliment), that my brain just confused him for a friend, and ta-dah... made him good looking! Go figure...

Looks aside, clearly there must be something to him if I was watching all his movies even when I was comparing his charm to that of a vacuum cleaner. Well there's no denying he's a wonderful actor, but there are some things he positively excels in. He's energetic, he's full of life and most importantly he feels real. On top of that no one does confused better than Ranbir, no one does bemused better than Ranbir, no one does hurt puppy better than Ranbir and definitely no one in the new generation dances better than Ranbir. Give me ten movies in a row with him playing a good for nothing, a la Wake Up Sid! and I will not even require popcorn to watch them all!

And because this one is better seen in action than in pictures:

IMRAN KHAN

If I hadn't written this list in alphabetical order by last name, Imran would have probably been first, because right now, I am crushing on him a little too much for decency. Not enough to make me forget his lack of dancing skills (I have definitely been spoiled by Allu Arjun's mad energy and talent), but enough to make me forget that I was not going to buy any more new movies at least until next month. Kidnap had better be worth it, or rather, I know it's not worth it, but Imran had better make it worth it!
Somehow after seeing this:

I think he'll manage just fine!...

As the huge Aamir Khan fan that I am, I was so happy to discover just how much of uncle Aamir's features Imran has inherited (physically but also acting-wise). Which makes me think that maybe Bollywood did get it right: maybe acting talent IS genetically ingrained. When he can sell me a bad movie like I Hate Luv Storys (sic), I simply must bow to his charm and screen presence.

I do have a soft spot for actors with good facial expressions, the ones that no frame is wasted on because their face is never idle (Shahid is the other one at the top of this list for me), so I suspect that's what won me over about Imran. He seems so spontaneous in his acting, and he puts the fun back into watching Bollywood. Not fun the opposite of boring, but fun the opposite of serious. All that on top of the fact that he is ridiculously good looking and he has the perfect body (ok, maybe he shares that title with Ranbir). What more can a girl ask for? Did I mention he's also a Capricorn?

My favourite thing about this new generation is that I get to love them all! Unlike the Era of the Khans where fans were polarized (myself included: out of the three, I can't stand two of them), this new generation is the Love Generation, where no rivalries have shown their ugly faces yet, and comparisons are useless because these guys are so different in their range that they CAN each have their own place without outshining one another.